“Wait. I heard something.”
Twilight shifted her gaze towards her pair.
“It was just the wind, Applejack. Let’s keep going. We need to find that filly as soon as possible,” she said to the orange mare.
Applejack said nothing to answer. She just kept on walking. But the thoughts of the two were the same:
´Hopefully that filly is still all right.´
But neither one knew that they had no hope.
----»«----
“Dash, how long do we have to walk?”
Rainbow looked at her pair who just had repeated the same question for the tenth time.
“For the last time Pinkie, I don’t know!” she answered in a slightly annoyed tone.
“Okey-dokey-lokey!” was the answer she got.
They just kept on walking. They couldn’t stop. They had to find that filly and they had to get out of here.
“Uh, Dash?” asked Pinkie. A slight nervousness could be heard in her voice.
“What?” asked Rainbow, keeping the same tone.
“What’s tall, black, has no face, and walks on two hooves?”
“I don’t kn… What?”
Pinkie pointed towards the horizon, a horrified look on her face.
Dash slowly shifted her gaze towards the spot Pinkie was pointing at.
“What? There is nothing there…”
“Look closer,” said Pinkie. “I’m sure I saw it.”
Rainbow tried her best to zoom to the point where Pinkie had pointed, but she still couldn’t see anything. She was just about the turn around and keep on walking when she felt someone touch her shoulder.
“Boo!”
Rainbow completely freaked out. She let out a high-pitched scream, and jumped high in the air.
It was only when she heard rather familiar giggles that she realized what had happened.
“Pinkie!” She tried to protest, but it was unbelievably hard to speak to the pink party pony when she was giggling.
“Ugh, let’s just go already. And don’t you do that again. I want you to Pinkie promise here and now.”
Suddenly the giggling stopped and Pinkie performed her ritual. And when it was over, Rainbow felt a lot better. No incoming pranks would mean that she could ease her mind.
They kept going forward, completely unaware of the dark figure that was now in the very spot where Pinkie had pointed.
----»«----
“Eep!”
´What now?´ Rarity thought to herself.
“What is it dear?” she asked.
“I-I saw a b-black f-figure over t-there,” said Fluttershy, pointing towards the edge of the path they were on.
“Oh it must have been just a tree. Don’t worry. Nothing is going to hurt us,” said Rarity, trying to comfort her friend.
“Oh. Well, if you say so,” answered the timid one.
“Let’s keep on going. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. My hooves are killing me, and this place is all black and icky,” Rarity complained and kept on walking.
Fluttershy had no options. She couldn’t get behind. Rarity was her only support. She couldn’t do this alone.
And just as she left, a black figure appeared from the depths of the forest behind them.
----»«----
“Wait. There is an opening. Straight ahead.”
Applejack shifted her gaze back to Twilight.
“Are ya sure? Ah wouldn’t like to git lost in here,” she answered.
“Yes, I’m sure. This map is the most update copy of the forest. It covers almost 40% of it,” said Twilight. She didn’t like it when someone doubted her map-reading skills.
“All right, let’s go that way then,” said Applejack and began heading back to Twilight.
They then took the path that was supposed to lead them into the opening.
And just few hundred feet to their left a dark figure was looking to the very opposite direction.
----»«----
Rainbow was the first to enter the opening. It was well lit thanks to Luna’s moon, and relatively safe. So she decided that they would take a little break.
“Hey Pinkie, how about a break?” she asked from her pair.
“Okay,” was the simple answer from Pinkie.
´Phew! Finally! ´ thought Rainbow.
And all of a sudden Pinkie pulled a picnic-basket filled with cupcakes from Celestia-knows-where.
“You want one?” she asked, offering a sugary treat to Rainbow.
“Sure. Thanks,” answered Rainbow and took the cupcake from her friend.
And there they were, sitting in the middle of The Everfree Forest, having a picnic in the late hours of the night. And it couldn’t have been better.
Rainbow turned towards the basket in hopes of getting another one of Pinkie’s delicious cupcakes.
And just at the same moment Pinkie turned towards Rainbow in order to give Rainbow another cupcake.
And when their gazes met, reality was suddenly a far less important thing.
They just stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity, and neither one wanted it to end.
But everything good has to end eventually. The ender of this one magical moment was Twilight.
“Ahem. Rainbow? Pinkie?”
Both immediately snapped their gazes towards the source of the sound.
“Oh, sorry,” Twilight said when she realized what she had done. “But what are you two doing here? How did you know how to come here?”
“It’s simple, really. We just walked down the path and it led us here,” answered Pinkie, seeing that Rainbow was still speechless from their little moment.
“Wait, the path led here? That can’t be right. Only a single path is supposed to lead here…”
And just at the very same moment Rarity and Fluttershy stumbled out of the forest.
“My, everypony seems to be here already. Finally a pleasant surprise.”
Fluttershy gave a simple nod from behind Rarity, indicating that she completely agreed.
“Okay, now as we are all here, we should plan what to do next. We won’t find anything in the nighttime,” said Twilight, receiving agreeing mumbling from her friends.
“I’d say that we head back home. It’s much easier to look for someone when it’s daytime and this place is well lit. Does everypony agree with me?”
The group agreed yet again.
“Well, let’s get goi-”
Twilight stopped speaking when she noticed the dark figure in the edge of the opening.
Everyone turned to look towards the place Twilight was looking at in order to find out what had caused this pause.
The thing would have stared back if it would have had eyes. But the face was all blank and white, and just looking at it made them feel uneasy.
The body was no better. It was tall and slim, taller in the vertical direction instead of the horizontal. No-one had ever seen any creature with a body like that.
Out of its back were pointing out long, thick tentacle-like things that were moving and stretching like they would be made out of rubber. And as of a warning of their incredible hazardousness, one hit a tree that was behind the creature, easily cutting through the thick bark.
It appeared to have a black skin with a small white and red dot near its head. And the black just kept going. Its legs were all black. Even the tentacles were black.
And the most disturbing thing? It was moving towards them.
“Everypony… RUN!” Twilight commanded.
Five ponies immediately dashed into different directions. But one stayed in the spot. A certain cyan Pegasus.
“Rainbow, you’ve got to come!” shouted Twilight. She had stopped a few hundred feet away from the opening.
“No. You go. I’ll hold it off.”
Twilight knew that she couldn’t get Rainbow to come. So she just nodded, and kept on running, whispering a small “thank you” towards her friend.
----»«----
Pinkie had also stopped. Rainbow was still there and she couldn’t leave her best friend.
Pinkie turned back to face the opening and began running towards the cyan dot in the horizon.
----»«----
Rainbow was ready to charge. This thing might be big and all, but there was no living creature that couldn’t feel pain.
She waited for the perfect moment, licked her lips, and charged.
And everything went wrong.
When she touched the creature, she felt an incredibly sharp pain navigate its way through her left forehoof.
Ignoring the pain, she tried to buck the creature. No use. Now the pain was in her both rear hooves too.
She had no escape. She couldn’t even get up. She was completely defenseless.
She was just ready to take the final blow when she felt a sudden warmth on her side.
She opened her eyes and saw Pinkie on the ground, pressing tightly against her.
“I’ll never leave you,” said the pink pony, tears forming up in her eyes.
“Never.”
And not even a single scream could be heard.
----»«----
Twilight was running as fast as she could. She successfully dodged every tree and root, as tripping would be fatal.
She just hoped that her friends were doing the same. They would get out of here. And they would get out of here alive.
And when they’d get out of the forest, they’d go get Princess Celestia.
And when they’d get Princess Celestia, she would come and destroy that creature. Twilight was sure about that.
Twilight chuckled to herself, a sudden wave of warmth embracing her in its tight yet so comfortable grip.
In the dark there was no-one to see the somewhat twisted look she had on her face.
----»«----
Fluttershy ran. Nothing else mattered. She just had to make it out.
But running can be hard if you can’t see where you run. And the tears in her eyes didn’t make it better. She was just jumping randomly, hoping not to stumble.
And then she did the biggest mistake she could. She stopped and looked back to see if any of her friends were following.
Only a few feet behind her was a black figure. It was staring right into her eyes. At least that’s what Fluttershy thought. It was hard to say.
She tried to turn and keep on running, but her feet refused. She couldn’t move. She was doomed.
The creature was slowly coming closer, prolonging her suffer.
And when the horrifying the creature lowered its head to the level of hers, observing the face of the small mare, she let out the most heart-rending scream.
And that scream took over every inch of the forest, informing the remaining residents that their numbers had decreased by one.
----»«----
Rarity had recognized the source of the scream immediately. Her best friend was gone. She felt the feeling take her over, making her let out quiet sobs. She didn’t care anymore.
She just stood. Stood waiting for the unavoidable. And when the unavoidable came, she welcomed it.
She knew the creature was right behind her. But she didn’t try anything. She knew that revenge or fighting would not work against this thing. It was a hunter.
And when she felt the figure get closer, she turned around, looked straight into its face, tried her best to remain calm, and simply said:
“I’m ready.”
For her slight surprise the creature didn’t show any kind of emotion when she said that. It just stood there observing her, tentacles moving behind its back.
But it wasn’t for long. It soon grew bored to trying to break her. It reached one of its tentacles out, and let it smoothly slide down her back, leaving an incredibly cold feeling to the spots it had touched.
And then, without a warning, it made the final strike.
And even though Rarity had already given up, she couldn’t keep the small scream inside her.
With her last remaining powers she managed to whisper a silent “thank you” to the creature.
----»«----
Applejack was panting hard. She had never ran this fast. And yet, it wasn’t fast enough.
She had heard the screams. She knew that she couldn’t avoid the creature. It was too fast.
But that didn’t mean that she couldn’t try.
Forcing her hooves to increase the speed, she took the path that was supposed to lead home.
Big mistake.
After only a few hundred feet, she saw the creature. It was standing in the middle of the path, looking towards her. As Applejack looked towards it, her vision started to blur and her eyes began to hurt.
She quickly turned around and started running back into the forest.
But that was no use. Suddenly it was there, blocking her path again.
Wherever she would go, it would block her path, slowly but surely decreasing the distance between itself and the orange mare. It was just playing its little game with her.
So the only option was to fight it.
She ran left, hoping to lure the creature to a suitable place. And when she saw it on the path again, she didn’t turn. She charged towards it at full pace.
For her surprise, the creature just stood there. It was making no move to dodge her. ´This will be easy´ she thought to herself, keeping the same pace.
But she didn’t see the slightly moving tentacle that was waiting for the right moment.
And just when she had almost reached the creature, the tentacle got launched towards her.
Surprised by this sudden attack, Applejack tried to stop and dodge it, but managed to stumble on her own hooves.
Just as she painfully landed, the tentacle hit the ground only inches away from her head, leaving a cloud of dust and a small hole to the cold ground.
Applejack tried to move, but the landing had been hard. The pain she felt inside her was horrifying. Her left side hurt the most, hinting of a broken rib. She was doomed.
She was basically lying there in the front of the creature, waiting for it to take her. But it wasn’t going to do it anytime soon.
No, the creature had time. It looked at Applejack’s painful squirming, doing nothing to speed things up. It was just enjoying the little show.
But every show has to end. And as this one ended, the creature just disappeared, leaving only a small hole to the scenery.
----»«----
Twilight had heard the screams. At least two down.
And according to her fast calculations, the chances of Rainbow and either Pinkie or Applejack surviving were really slim.
So the most likely case was that she and either Pinkie or Applejack were still alive.
But she had a plan. If the creature wouldn’t get her before she got out of the forest, she would be safe.
And when she’d get out of the forest she would inform Princess Celestia right away.
And then the Princess would come and destroy the creature. And she would bring her friends back, too!
Chuckling to herself, Twilight kept on going as fast as she could.
And just a few minutes later she saw it. The creature was standing on the edge of the forest, blocking the easiest escape.
But she couldn’t give up now. She was so close.
Twilight turned to the left, and dashed into the dense forest.
But the creature was there too. Running was no use. Wherever she turned, the creature would appear.
And now it was slowly making its way towards her. The sound of its tentacles tearing the tall trees out of its way echoed in the air. Twilight was obviously starting to panic.
And when a unicorn with the talents of Twilight starts to panic, things start to happen.
The brains send an alarm message through the body. This prepares the unicorn for the upcoming.
Then the magic of the unicorn gets triggered on, causing a powerful spell to complete itself. The chosen spell is what the brains find to be the most suitable for the situation
In this case, it was a simple teleportation spell to the closest safe location.
In a bright flash the unicorn was gone, leaving a blank-faced humanoid standing alone in the silent forest.
----»«----
Twilight had no idea what had just happened. First she had been in the forest and the very next second she was home.
But the only thing that mattered was that she was safe. No resident of the Everfree could come out of the forest.
But she knew that she still needed to inform the Princess immediately.
She ran into her bedroom, grabbed a scroll and a quill from the nightstand and began writing.
The letter was pretty simple:
Dear Princess Celestia.
I need you help immediately!
Some horrible creature is in the Everfree Forest and it took my friends!
- Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
Sending it was a bit harder. Spike was seeing an old friend in Canterlot and there was no spell she knew, save for the magical fire-breath of Spike, to send a letter.
But a familiar hoot gave her the solution.
After she had tied the letter into the leg of Owlowiscious and ordered him to take it to the Princess, she had completed the number two on her mental checklist.
But the hardest part was ahead. Waiting.
----»«----
Princess Celestia was in the throne room, just relaxing and enjoying a nice cup of tea when she suddenly heard a hoot from come from the window.
She put the tea down on the small desk she had moved into the room and went to open the window. As she swung the small window open, Twilight’s pet owl dashed in with a scroll tied to its leg.
Celestia straightened her right forehoof and let the owl land on it. She then carefully untied the scroll from the owl’s leg with her magic.
When the scroll finally came loose, she let the owl fly over to the throne to get some rest. It had had a long trip.
Celestia opened the scroll and began reading.
----»«----
The letter was obviously a prank. And Twilight was a horrible prankster.
Celestia folded the scroll into a small paper airplane and threw it towards the trashcan, correcting its course when it was about to hit the floor too early.
“Did she really think I’d fall for that? I’m an eternal Alicorn goddess! I’ve been here since Equestria was made! And I have a little sister. I know everything about pranks. And she thinks I’d go for an old one like that.”
She got a small hoot as an answer.
“And what if I would have gone there? Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie jump from somewhere and try and scare me. Not going to happen!”
Again a small hoot.
“Actually, I think I could send then all to the moon for, like, a day. They would learn a valuable lesson: Never try to prank the Princess.”
This time the answer was two hoots instead of one.
“Oh come on! I’m an eternal being. Can’t I have a little fun? I mean, I’d even give them extra oxygen. And it would be just for a single day.”
Yet again a single hoot.
“All right, I’ll do it next week. And you better not slip any of this to them. It must be a surprise.”
A single hoot and the owl was on its way back.
“This is going to be so good,” Celestia said, chuckling to herself.
----»«----
Twilight wasn’t feeling very patient right now. And when the minutes kept on rolling with no answer, she decided to go do something else to make the time pass faster.
The only thing to come in her mind was to go brush her mane. It was still in simply horrible condition thanks to the running in the thick woods.
So she grabbed the brush from her nightstand and went to the bathroom.
She lit up the bathroom lamp, positioned herself in front of the mirror, grabbed the brush into her magical grip and started brushing.
The brushing even managed to make her relax a little. But not enough to stop worrying. It was taking awfully long for the princess to respond.
Suddenly she noticed a slight blur in the corner of the mirror. And the longer she stared at it, the larger the blur grew, forming up a clear symbol.
She quickly turned around in order to stop the blurring that was consuming her vision.
And there it was. A tall slender creature was standing right in front of her.
And if it would have had a mouth, it would have been wearing a grin even Pinkie would have envied.
The last thing Twilight saw was the symbol, telling her that all hope was lost. Her hope, her friends’ hope, Equestria’s hope.