//------------------------------//
// The Forest 
// Story: Navigate 
// by Sleestack 
//------------------------------//

	The rope had allowed for about 15 feet between them. Stickler had taken to the front, keeping everyone else’s lines taught. The loops weren’t tight enough to the point to cause choking as long as they kept a decent pace.
Trip kept by the Rose and the other two. They all seemed terrified of the forest. Trip wasn’t at ease, but he knew that the forest possibly had worse in store for them. And if Stickler was trucking along with no fear, they probably had nothing to worry about yet.
“So, uh, what are your names?” said the white one. His voice was low, but bright. “I’m Ivory Octaves. You can call my Ivy. Or Octy.”
“I’m Rose Entrance.” said Rose. “And this is Trip.”
“Just Trip?” Said Octaves. “That’s quite a short name.”
“I know!” she agreed. “That’s what I said. He has something weird about names.”
“You know, I’m right here.” Trip interjected. “I can talk for myself.”
“Oh! So now you wanna be social.” Rose smirked. “He’s not very comfortable with talking to other ponies.”
“No, I can, I just don’t want to.” Trip muttered.
Octaves turned to the blue one, who still had his head low to the ground, scared witless. “And you are?”
Once he caught on that Octaves was talking to him, he stood up straight and put a cocky smile on his face. “Bonjour,” he said. “My name is Jacques Amour. I am very pleased to make all of your acquaintances.” 
Trip groaned. “Tell me something, Jack, do you speak like that all the time?”
Jacques looked confused. “I don’t see what you mean?”
“Never mind.” Trip looked forward again. “So, what brings you two here?”
Jacques and Octaves both began talking at the same time.
“Well, it all-” said Jacques.
“I had come to-” said Ivory.
They looked at each other, and Jacques nodded at Octaves. “Well,” the white pony began. “I came to Ponyville for a concert. I’m a pianist, see.”
Trip chuckled a little. Octaves gave him an odd look. “No, no, continue.” Trip insisted.
“Anyway, I had been practicing for this concert for a while, even staying up late to make sure I didn’t mess up on the sections I was having trouble with. So when the concert came around, I was somewhat on edge. I was about to walk up on stage, and one of the guards said I wasn’t allowed on. I told them I played the piano for the orchestra, and he told me there was no piano. I told him that was nonsense, that I ought to know there was a piano in the orchestra I toured with! I finally ended up pushing my way past him, and...” he paused.
“And what?” asked Rose, fascinated. “What happened then?”
“I don’t really know how to explain what happened then.” He rubbed his forehead. “It’s kind of blurry to me now, but I remember blacking out, and waking up in the town center, shaking and covered in sweat.”
Trip and Rose exchanged looks of surprise. “How long ago was that?” asked Rose.
“A few weeks ago. After I had gotten up and tried making my way back to the concert, Stickler Sweetheart found me, and he seemed to know something had just happened to me. So he told me he could ‘show me what I needed to know’.”
“He used those same words with me,” said Jacques. “I came here a few months ago. Just where I ended up in my many-a travels. I come to this town, make friendly with the residents, you know, and eventually, one day, they all forget who I am. I had been in this town three days and they had somehow forgotten about me! So I try and talk to this girl I had been getting really comfortable with, you know, a real beauté blanche, and I get within twenty metres of her, and the same exact thing happened to me as did to Ivory. I somehow ended up on the complete other side of the town, shaking on the ground.” He turned at Trip and Rose. “I’m guessing you two had similar experiences?”
“I did.” said Trip. “I tried asking for some help from people who couldn’t help me, and I blacked out and teleported somewhere else.”
“Hmm. And you, miss?” Jacques leaned towards Rose.
“Oh, I haven’t had anything like that happen to me, no. I’m with him.”
“Oh!” Jacques turned away. “I didn’t know that you two were together.”
“We’re NOT together!” Trip yelled. “I don’t see why people keep saying that!”
“Oh?” Jacques turned back and eyed Rose. “So you are not currently in a romance?” he lifted one brow.
Rose giggled. “No, not currently.”
Trip stepped in between the two of them. “Nothing is going to happen here as long I’m tied to the two of you.”
“Oh? Trip, I didn’t think you’d be jealous if you weren’t involved with her.” Jacques said, hintingly.
“I’m not jealous, I just don’t want to have to watch the two of you ‘get involved’.”
“Trip, he’s just being nice.” Rose said.
“Well, no, I must admit, you do catch my fancy, Ms. Entrance.” Jacques took a step forward, showing an elegantly crafted heart symbol on his side. “As you see, I am a lover at heart. It is my natural tendency to try and win the hearts of the female persuasion.” he fell back into the line and looked at Rose. “And the rose is a symbol of romance as well, in most cases. I am just naturally drawn to you, Ms. Entrance. But if your friend here wishes for me to keep my distance, I shall!” he put his hoof over his chest, swearing. “Je le jure!”
“Oh thank you!” She responded. She looked back at Trip. “Looks like someone here knows how to treat a lady.”
“Look, do you want me to start hitting on Octy?” Trip said, waving his hoof-hand at the white pony. “Just so that no one is left out of this flirting equation?”
“Um, I’d really prefer you didn’t.” Said Ivory.
“You kids,” said Stickler from ahead. “This is gonna be an interesting journey, considering how we’re not even halfway there.”
“Ugh. I’m so tired of walking everywhere. Don’t some of you guys have wings? Why couldn’t I have wings?”
“Trip, none of us have wings.” said Rose. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Yes, I just meant some of your kind in general. Like, pegasuses and stuff.”
“Trip, I’m a unicorn, not a pegasus.”
“I know! I just meant, ugh, God dammit...” Everyone in the group stopped, even Trip, who was now wide-eyed. Everyone else was looking at him as if he had just spoken gibberish. “How did I just-”
“Things get a little weird when you start getting to the place we’re going.” said Stickler, still far ahead of everyone else.
Ivory looked at him strangely. “You told us we weren’t even halfway, though.”
Stickler nodded. “Yeah, but this place has got a big blast radius. It’ll only get worse from here.” He continued walking, forcing everyone else to trudge on as well.
“Worse? More like fucking awesome!” Trip said, smiling from ear to ear. Everyone else in the group was turning their heads away uncomfortably.
“Euh, Monsieur! How much longer would you say, until we reach this place?” Jacques called, rubbing his hoof on the back of his head. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but something about this predicament, makes me feel, euh, not so good.”
“Well that’s one hell of a problem you got there, lover boy.” Trip said, patting his hoof-hand on Jacques’ shoulder.
“Euh, please-” Jacques said, brushing Trip’s hoof off of him. “I’m fine. Don’t... don’t touch me.” 
Trip noticed the entire group was starting to inch away from him. “Guys, the hell’s the problem?” He asked. “Is it the cussing?”
Rose responded. “I don’t know, something about you right now... I just feel like something bad’s gonna happen.”
“Well, I don’t think you have to worry about it, okay?” Trip said, catching up with the group, inserting himself with them. “I’ll stop cussing if it fucking bothers you so much. I mean, sorry. I’ll stop. Seriously.”
That didn’t seem to calm any of them down immediately, but soon, all three of them were calm enough to the point where they stopped trotting tightly together in what seemed like a defense against Trip. Stickler just kept moving along, ignoring all of them.

After what felt to Trip like an eternity, Stickler finally stopped in front of a dense cluster of trees forming an almost perfect circle around something that was casting a bright white light. He took the loop off of his neck, carefully making sure it didn’t move his hat as he did. He looked at the group he was leading, and gestured to them to do the same. They all followed suit.
“Alright. Lover Boy, Piano Man, you follow me first. Girlie and Potty Mouth, you hang tight.” he said, squeezing himself between two of the trees. Jacques and Ivory looked at each other and headed in after him, one after another.
After a second of silence, Rose looked at Trip. “What do you think is in there?”
Trip looked at the cluster of trees that revealed nothing. “I don’t know. But I think it’s pretty fu...” He stopped his own swear for once, and continued “...messed up that he can’t remember our names.”
“Trip, what if he’s hurting them?” Rose asked, folding in on herself.
He paused. “I hadn’t thought of that.” He took a step towards the trees. “I’m gonna look. If I run away screaming, that means we have to get out of here. Got it?”
She nodded. “I think I can remember that.”
Trip walked between the two trees and poked his head through.
He saw Stickler standing off to one side, and Ivory and Jacques standing in front of a tree, completely entranced by it for some reason. At first, Trip was confused, but as he kept his eyes on the tree, it changed before him. It’s bark wasn’t the same shade as all the other trees as he thought, it was black. And it had black leaves. It wasn’t a tree, it was the silhouette of a tree. And it was surrounded by an aura of white, and Jacques and Ivory were dipping their front hooves into the blankness cautiously.
“You starting to see clearer now?” Asked Stickler, who hadn’t seen Trip.
“I... I think.” said Ivory. “I see... names. Faust? Who’s that?” 
“Just keep still, it’ll all become clear eventually.” Stickler nodded.
“What... the... fuck?” Trip mouthed to himself. Suddenly, the aura surrounding the tree expanded, swallowing the two ponies, and just barely missing Stickler. Soon the light from the aura was so bright that Trip had to look away. He still heard screams, muffled, but echoing. He tried looking back and saw two blue, blurry shapes of horses floating around in the white, contorting until they no longer resembled any living thing. Stickler, who was now covering his face with his front leg, looked over at Trip.
“What are you doing!?” he yelled.
Trip backed out of the trees as fast as he could and bumped into Rose. He turned himself around, and as she came into his sight, he told her, “Run.”
But as soon as his feet started moving, he was frozen. He turned his head and saw Stickler, with his hat in hoof, revealing a horn on his head, that was glowing. “You two,” he said through gritted teeth, “need to leave.”

Trip opened his eyes, and instead of seeing the dark colored trees of the forest, he saw the bright green. “Rose?” he called out, getting a mouthfull of grass. He sat up and spit out a few blades. “Rose?”
“I’m over here!” he heard from the distance.
He started running towards her voice. “Why did he have us walk all the way into the woods if he could teleport us?” he cried frantically. “I don’t know if we should run away, or run back, or what, it’s like my whole brain is-” he stopped as he saw Rose standing in front of two ponies dressed the same as the guards from the Royal Archive.
“Trip,” she said, smiling nervously “These gentlecolts say that Princess Celestia is requesting our presence at The Royal Castle. Isn’t that something?”