//------------------------------//
// Chapter 60: The Spider's Parlour 
// Story: The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse: The Equestrian Adventure 
// by wingdingaling 
//------------------------------//






	Chapter 60: The Spider’s Parlour


In a deep part of the forest where the trees grew thick, Twilight Sparkle continued her journey onward.
She had nothing to guide her. No magical light. No friends. Only a gut feeling and a vague, general direction that Souris had pointed out to her.
What she would find, she didn’t know. But Twilight knew she had to keep going. No matter what presented itself to her.
Her hoof caught a root and made her stumble slightly.
The mitten on her rear left hoof had slipped loose, and was dangerously close to falling off. Taking a moment to sit down and reset her mitten, Twilight looked around to see exactly where she was.
The forest was so dense now that it seemed liable to swallow anything within it. The trees were packed so closely together, Twilight wondered how (or if) any animals were able to live there.
The root that she had stumbled over was only one of countless others that protruded above the ground. Even with the heavy snowfall, the roots of the trees grew above the snow. She could see that they were all long and large, tangling around one another and mounting one on top of the other. Some of the trees had even succumbed to the clutter and grew with their trunks jutted out to awkward angles.
It was a place nopony would dare get lost in. But, for the feeling at the core of her very being, Twilight knew that she had to trek onward.
“Do it for everypony,” Twilight quietly told herself, before she disappeared into the treeline.
There were no landmarks to tell her where she was going. Everything within the densely packed trees looked almost identical, except for the direction which the trees grew.
Twilight squeezed her way between two of the trees, and found her hooves resting upon a trunk that angled up into the air. Walking along its length, her mind began to wonder about how the trees could have grown in such a way. Or what magical force it was that allowed them to do it.
When her path was blocked by the branches of the tree, Twilight jumped to a nearby root, down to another, then to the ground. There, she found herself facing a wall of tangled roots.
Without any magic to simply shrink the roots, or part them, the young alicorn was left with one option.
Reaching up, she started to climb the first of the mighty roots. Her strength was still recovering from her close brush with death, and the climb was made all the harder by the snow and frost that covered the roots.
Twilight was suddenly reminded of when she was a filly at Canterlot Palace. How every step on the staircases had seemed so large to her, and the time she had trying to pull herself up each and every one of them to be on time for her lessons.
Back in those days, she had tried using a separated curtain rod as supports to aid her in those indoor hikes. But, it all ended when she was scolded by one of the palace guards who caught her doing so.
In that moment, when she was faced with those frigid steps, she wished she had something to help her out.
Just as her hoof was gripping the next step up, the wind blew something that bumped her hoof.
Peering up, Twilight saw that it was an icicle. Likely fallen from one of the tree branches. Recalling the curtain rod that she had used as a filly, Twilight had doubts that such a thing would help her at all in that particular instance. But, it was all that she had to work with.
Taking the icicle between her hooves, Twilight struck it to the next highest root. When it didn’t break, she used it to assist in pulling herself upward. And just the same as it had been when she was a filly rushing to class, she found that she was able to practically glide up to the next step.
From the deepest parts of her mind, the feeling from the first time she figured out that solution crept forth, filling Twilight with a sense of warmth and accomplishment that normally came from solving a friendship problem, or acing an exam, or mastering a new and particularly advanced spell.
It was a feeling that Twilight had all but forgotten. Something that had always raised her spirits, even during her lowest points. It was always that which kept her going through even the hardest times of her life, from something as grandiose as defeating evil, to something as mundane as her study sessions.
“Study…” Twilight thought, pulling herself further up the roots.
What Souris had told her to do was little more than a homework assignment. Just like Princess Celestia would have assigned her as a filly. Only this time, books and study wouldn’t help her. She would have to look deeper for something less tangible.
“Souris asked me: what is it that I do, and why do I do it?”
She already knew those answers. Magic was what she did. And friendships too. And she did them because it was what she was good at. From those simple, easy answers, more questions formed in her mind.
“What made me pursue magic?”
The rainboom? That had only been a catalyst that made her and others realize her potential. At any given time, she could have quit to pursue other paths that her life could have taken her. Instead, she chose to continue with magic.
“What was it I wanted to do? What made me pull down that curtain rod, just so I’d get to class more quickly? Why did I want to be there so badly, even before I studied with Princess Celestia?”
A simple love of magic was the obvious answer. But, if Souris were anything like Princess Celestia, she wouldn’t accept something so simple.
“Why did I love magic so much? What made me so interested in how it worked? What enthralled me to the point I wanted to learn as much about it as I could?”
She climbed to the next step, and the answer came back to her clear as a bell.
Before she ever started school, there had been something that stuck out clearly in her mind. The day that she read in a book how to perform a spell where she would be able to draw with her horn. After days of practice, she was finally able to use her horn to draw to her heart’s content on anything she pleased. Much to the displeasure of her parents, who put a stop to their daughter’s drawing on any solid surface that was in front of her..
Even if her parents had stopped her from drawing on the walls, Twilight felt as if a door opened for her. From an act so simple as using her horn as a crayon, she felt as if she had conquered the world.
“Did I just want to have fun? To conjure as I pleased?”
As a filly, whenever she conjured as she pleased, she was often corrected and shown the right way to do anything. Even when her own experimentations led to new things that she had never read about in any textbooks.
“Was it just the whimsy that I loved? Not ever knowing what I could do with what I knew, then finding out for myself?”
She climbed the next step, and meditated momentarily on that point. Back then, instead of ever working solely on logic, she was driven by every whim, notion and fancy that entered her mind, and tried to make it a reality.
A small, warm scoff escaped Twilight’s throat at the memory of how misguided and unrealistic she felt she had been. That everything she had once thought was pure nonsense.
Then again, there she was using an icicle of all things to assist in her climb.
For a moment, Twilight thought that it was just like Souris had said: applying logic failed her. Now, she was relying on nonsense to solve her problems.
Was this the right track? Was she finally on her way to discovering the kind of magic that could never be taken away?
Twilight sighed, wishing Souris were there to guide her. And for a moment, she regretted not taking the lady-bat’s offer to study under her.
In all that time, Twilight had been staring out into space through the trees. And she saw something that made her gasp.
Somewhere further off through the trees, just visible through the blizzard, a long, spindly leg disappeared behind a crooked trunk.
Twilight’s relief and enlightenment was replaced with gradually rising panic. Not wanting to risk what would happen if she climbed back down, she hurriedly jammed the icicle into the next step and pulled herself upward.
Her muscles were still recovering. And a dull throb of pain slowly spread through her body.
She rushed up to the next step, and the pain in her body intensified.
Glancing over her shoulder, Twilight saw another leg disappear behind a tree. Closer now than before.
Twilight jumped and hooked the icicle she held to the topmost step.
Her body was stretched along the remaining steps, making it so only the tips of her rear hooves were touching anything solid.
Mustering her strength, Twilight pulled her aching form up, getting her knees onto the next step.
There was the sound of a step. One that was all too close by.
Fear overtook Twilight. She dropped the icicle, and jumped up to the final step, pulling herself up and rolled once along the top of the surface.
When she stopped rolling, Twilight tried to stand. Except that the moment she put weight on her hoof, it slipped into the space between two roots.
She pulled her hoof out easily enough, but lost her mitten in the process.
Looking down, Twilight saw her mitten on the ground below.
The ease of pulling her hoof loose sparked what she felt was the most brilliant idea she had since she had left Ponyville.
She reached down, putting her hooves on either one of the two roots. And with a painful burst of strength, she pushed them apart enough for herself to slip between them.
Before she could judge how close the steps of the creature sounded, she disappeared between the roots, which snapped shut behind her.
After collecting her mitten, Twilight looked around and saw that what she had hoped for was correct. The many roots of the trees were interwoven overhead, creating a ceiling that almost completely blocked out the rest of the world.
Most surprisingly, Twilight noticed how warm it was underneath there. With only a few vapors from the blizzard seeping through the cracks, she suspected that most of the heat from the warmer seasons was trapped beneath the roots of the trees.
Any other time, she would have taken the opportunity for a good, long rest. Unfortunately, the roots Twilight had pulled apart to reach that place started sagging above her head.
With a quiet gasp, she started crawling through the understory, dodging and squeezing her way through the roots that grew to the ground.
Above her, she could see the roots sagging slowly, as if a gentle weight was deliberately applied to each one. And it happened directly above her, no matter which way she turned.
She continued crawling her way through the winding passages of the roots, always keeping her eyes turned up, hoping the creature wouldn’t notice her through the cracks of the roots, however miniscule they were.
Gradually, for no reason Twilight could discern, the roots above her ceased to depress and the sounds of the creature’s weight upon them faded to silence.
It was all the more unnerving for Twilight not to know the reason for the sudden cessation. The creature was frightening, unstable and borderline insane. But, she was not unintelligent. There was a reason for doing what she was. And Twilight dreaded its purpose.
For many moments, the young alicorn laid perfectly still. The only sounds she could hear were the wind howling above and her heart pounding in her ears.
So focused was Twilight that she didn’t notice the long, skinny fingers that were slipping down through the cracks in the roots.
The tip of one finger brushed the tip of Twilight’s horn.
Twilight stifled a scream and crouched to the ground as flat as she could, leaving only mere centimeters between her horn and the creature’s fingers.
Moments later, Twilight noticed the creature’s thumb wrap around the root. And she slowly backed away for the inevitable moment her opponent would rip the root away and crane the rest of her nightmarish arms into the gaping hole.
No such thing happened, as Twilight looked up and saw only a glimpse of the creature passing by overhead. Strangely, she seemed to be walking along the sides of the tree trunks.
After the creature had gone from sight, Twilight slowly resumed crawling through the understory of roots.
In the dim light that was allowed beneath the roots, Twilight saw that the roots were growing too densely for her to pass. She would either have to backtrack and find a new way, or she would have to stay, until the creature left. And who knew how long the creature would patrol the area.
A blast of cold air struck her from the side, making her jump back from it. What she had expected to be the creature pulling back a root to get in was instead an opening created by one of the trees that had grown at an odd angle.
There was little else to go, and the magical quest would never end if Twilight stayed where she was. And so, risking another encounter with the creature, the young alicorn set forth toward the exit.
Though protected by her winter clothes, the cold air chilled her more deeply than ever before, banishing any of the warmth she had felt from the shelter of the roots.
Cautiously, Twilight peered out. There was no sign of the creature, no matter which way she looked.
Unsettled by her opponent’s sudden disappearance, Twilight silently squeezed her way out of the roots. Once she was in the open, she stopped herself midway through her first step.
A shimmering, gossamer strand of silk hung taut in the air before her eyes. Barely visible, Twilight followed its length, and saw that it was connected to another. And another. And infinitely more silken strings.
One look, and Twilight knew their purpose. She was trapped by a thousand tripwires that ran all around her, waiting to alert the creature to her whereabouts.
She wouldn’t spend the rest of her life trapped in a hole like a rabbit on the run. Swallowing her fears, she focused on her conviction to finish what she set out to do, and carefully walked onward.
Every step she took was made deliberately and slowly, mentally marking the position of every thread she had passed by. One touch of the threads. One broken strand. One wrong move, and it would all be over.
Twilight’s eyes strained to register any sign of the strings. Any sight of a telltale shimmer that vibrated in the winds, and she knew which way to twist and turn her body to avoid detection.
Her already aching muscles strained to support her body, as she contorted herself to avoid giving herself away.
Nearly too late, she noticed how her horn was about to touch one of the threads, just as the phantom strand lent itself to visibility in the blowing wind.
Glancing down, she saw that there was another thread directly below her chin. And Twilight knew that there was another thread less than twelve inches behind her head. Possibly closer, if it had been blown by the wind.
In that moment, Twilight froze completely. Her hooves stopped between other threads that had been strung low to the ground, and her entire head was entrapped. Any move she made, even a flick of her tail, would alert the creature to where she was.
There was nothing else for it. She would have to break one of the strings in order to escape. Only, there would be no escape for her, once the creature knew where she was.
She nervously scuffed her hoof, trying to think of a way to survive.
Twilight had to restrain herself to keep from jumping when she felt a waft of warm air engulf her hoof.
Looking down, she saw a space where the roots were spaced ever so slightly apart and the heat from the understory was gently billowing upward.
Quick as a snap, Twilight hoped that what entered her mind was some semblance of a plan or idea, and not just the desperate grasping of a mare in mortal danger.
Clenching her eyes shut, the thought of finishing her quest firmly in her mind, Twilight thrust herself forth, breaking through the threads.
There was no telling how quickly the creature was upon the broken threads. One moment, there was nothing. The next, there she was, eight legs and all. But, Twilight had gone.
In the densely packed trees, there were many places for prey to hide. But, the creature knew where hers had gone.
The webbing in one particular direction had broken as well, creating a trail to follow.
The creature climbed the trunks of the trees, above her web of tripwires and followed the broken strands around the nearest tree.
Every step, she knew she was climbing closer. The trail was even clearer as the breaks were seen closer to the particular tree trunk. That was where Twilight would die.
The creature stealthily set herself on the trunk and reached her hands around both sides, slowly, silently hovering them toward her prey. And with lightning speed, she lashed forth, collecting a handful of bark.
She quickly swiveled around the tree, and saw that Twilight was no longer there.
The creature knew that the mare who had rescued the ruling goddesses on countless occasions wouldn’t go easy. But, she was proving to be far trickier than once thought.
Glancing around, the creature investigated for any more places where the threads had been broken. And indeed there were.
She knew that Twilight was still running from her. And though finding her in the midst of the closely-packed trees would prove difficult, it was only inevitable. Twilight Sparkle would never leave the woods alive.
The hunt continued.
The creature carefully crawled along the trunks of the trees, so as not to make a sound that would give her away over the blizzard.
Where Twilight had run to was at times obvious. The tears in the threads were perfectly evident. Other times, the creature had to circle around a trunk in order to find where the next break had happened.
With every broken thread, she knew that she was growing closer to her prey.
It was when she could no longer find a broken piece of webbing that she paused her pursuit. There was nowhere that Twilight could have gone. And it was inconceivable to think that Twilight had deliberately slowed herself down, so as to avoid touching anymore of the threads. Then again, it would be easy to lose anyone in such a densely wooded area.
Finding Twilight was now made all the more difficult. But, it was not a problem for anyone such as the creature.
She climbed nearly up to the branches of the trees and started climbing around the many trunks, caring no more for stealth or silence. If Twilight was moving more slowly to avoid detection, she would be easily caught up.
The creature wove her way in and out of the trees, finding no trace of where Twilight had gone.
Just as she began to think Twilight had somehow gone from the forest, the creature noticed something. Nearby, one of her threads was shaking violently. And not from the wind. Somebody, as though stepping very carefully, had touched one of her tripwires.
As though some force had possessed her, the creature started clambering through the trees, knowing precisely where and which way to follow the thread. And then another one next to her started to twang.
It shouldn’t have been. She knew which thread led to where, and from what direction it would have to originate from. And it was in a completely different spot than where she was first headed.
Ignoring the vibrating webbing, the creature continued on her way. And then more of the webbing in front of her started to shake.
Though from the same direction, it led to a different part of the forest that had been rigged. As if suddenly more creatures had joined in the search for Twilight.
Who or whatever they were, they would have to wait. The Princess of Friendship was the one Yen Sid ordered eliminated. It was her who was the top priority.
All of a sudden, every single thread that was around the creature began to shake as if the entire forest had been invaded by an army of unknown intruders.
She looked around herself, trying to find any explanation. Knowing nothing would be accomplished by staying put, the creature continued following the thread, until she reached a point where it intersected with two more threads.
The intersected threads were all shaking violently. And with a rudimentary look around, the creature saw that all of the threads that were around her were shaking as well.
What had begun as irksome confusion was becoming infuriating indignance. Somehow, the alicorn on the run had managed to trick her. And it was becoming all the worse. The creature had memorized the layout of the densely wooded area by way of her tripwires. Now, when they were all going at once, she was rapidly growing disoriented.
The trips were of no more use. Lashing out, the creature tore them down in a desperate hope of singling out the one that would lead to Twilight.
She ripped them from the trees, pulling bark, roots and branches out in her mad fury, nearly injuring herself as she was practically boxed in by the trunks.
When the strands of webbing had gone from around her, the creature followed the one remaining line that she had missed. As she crawled along the trunks, she felt something under her frontmost hand. Something soft and fuzzy that didn’t feel at all like something that belonged in those woods.
Looking under her palm, the creature discovered a long, woolen strand of deep blue yarn. One that was tied around a tree root and led further through the trees.
Intrigued by the find, the creature followed its length. Until it stopped in a space between the trees.
There, the creature saw not one, not two, but three pieces of yarn that were tied at one end by the nearby roots, and tied all together at the other end in a central knot. Most curiously, the central knot was floating above the ground, gently hitting all of the creature’s tripwires that were around it as it waved around, as if pulled taut by an invisible fourth string.
The creature lashed out a hand and caught the knot of yarn, when she felt what was moving it. A warm waft of air was jetting up from a gap in the roots, allowing the knot to levitate on its slack strings and shake all of the webbing around it.
With a frustrated growl, the creature yanked the yarn loose, ending the trick.
She stopped. Waited for any sign of movement from any one of the other tripwires.
Nothing happened. Nothing but the normal swaying in the wind.
“Tricky...Tricky indeed,” the creature muttered.
Further off through the woods, Twilight Sparkle had run clear of the webbing traps. Her body was tired, but her mind was whirling with how she had successfully pulled off her escape plan. She even felt liable to laugh at her victory, if not for the fear that it would attract the creature to her.
Though she had to sacrifice the hat that had been so generously gifted to her, she knew that Souris would have been proud of her ingenuity in the situation. An idea that made Twilight feel all the more accomplished.
And things were only looking up when the trees started to thin out, revealing an easier path to mark through the trees.
Soon before her, the trees ended. And as if her luck had suddenly run out, they ended at the foot of a mountain.
Not feeling she was strong enough to climb a mountain, Twilight looked back to the dense woods. The creature would surely still be looking for her. And there were no visible openings beneath the roots for her to crawl beneath.
Taking the option that would more likely ensure her survival, Twilight walked toward the mountain.
She trekked through the overgrowth of dead, frozen greenery, and saw through the frosty vegetation that there was a path hidden beneath it. One that led up to the side of the mountain.
As she walked along the path toward the mountain, she found something else just at the very foot. A wooden statue of a grand eagle, who was set into the foothills. The statue itself was overgrown with dead foliage, and its wood was splintered and cracked by the elements. One thing was for certain, the path she walked was not one that had been taken in a very long time.
The going was sure to be just as difficult from that point onward. But, with little recourse, Twilight began her hike up the mountainside.
“Just like the filly who wanted to get to class so badly,” Twilight quietly told herself, before disappearing into the snowstorm up the mountain.