//------------------------------// // Trials [Part Two] // Story: Day & Night // by Reminisce //------------------------------// The darkness of the forest seemed like it was encroaching on the five ponies traveling within it. No words had been spoken for a while, and their pace even seemed to slow. At that point it was painfully obvious that something was wrong, but they kept moving forward. Even as the trees around seemingly got closer, and the air grew colder. It was the moment that Pinkie could see the visible chill from her breath that she decidedly stopped. Everypony else stopped as well to observe Pinkie start sniffing the air, and digging her hooves in the dirt. Pinkies grew a terribly wicked grin after taking the time to analyze her surroundings. “Applejack!” A small and familiar voice called out past the trees. “Apple Bloom?” Applejack responded with mounting confusion. “Yer supposed to be with Mac?” The filly in question jumped past the trees, coming just short of giving her sister a hug.  “I found the Princess!” Apple Bloom jumped excitedly. No sooner had she said that, a tall ivory Alicorn made her way past the trees as well, chromatic mane shimmering in the darkness. “Princess you're ok!” Twilight immediately perked up. “Here we go…” Pinkie sighed. Before Pinkie could receive a single strange look, the Princess transformed Before everypony's eyes. The once pristine Alicorn, now looked like a monster that could only be formed from the most wicked of dreams. Her fur no longer Ivory, it turned gray as if she ages a thousand years in an instant, and her majestic mane drained of all color. Even as her mane fell over her face, it failed to hide her single eye that turned a piercing blood red. Even her trademark eye patch fell to the dirt to reveal her empty eye socket that suddenly started oozing pus and blood as if the age old wound had reopened.  Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight all screamed when the imposter Princess rushed towards the group; mouth hung open. Even Applejack backpedaled when she saw the things decaying maw stretch wider as it started to move faster. But what caused the most alarm was that the thing changed direction at the last second, going for the frozen Applebloom. No pony could react quick enough for what would happen next. The thing scooped up the screaming filly in its decaying maw, and as soon as Applejack tried to reach out, the monster scrambled back into the forest.  “Apple Bloom!” Applejack was prepared to give chase, the monster left a clear trail of blood from where it retreated. “Th-what was that!” Rarity's fear filled voice stuttered. Her question was answered by the violent reaction of the forest around them. The trees grew larger and more alive, their branches reached out like limbs prepared to snatch a pony away. Fluttershy was too scared to even scream, instead she fell back onto the nearest pony, shaking violently. The nearest pony was Pinkie, who was watching the scene unfold with mild amusement, she didn't even glance at the shivering mare gripping her barrel as she sat. “Seriously, this is all you got?” Pinkie questioned. “A thousand year old monster, and your best illusion only managed to get a pretty mare wrapped around my waist?” Everypony stopped panicking for a second to hear Pinkie's rant. Rarity even let out a chuckle from hearing what Pinkie said last. Twilight just looked confused, much like Applejack at the moment. “Nightmare Moon huh, I can't tell… I mean, maybe your title applies to foals. But I'd like to consider myself a grown mare, with my own little demons, and you think one scene will break us?” Pinkie finally looked down and patted the trembling Fluttershy on her head as the monster from before returned. “Came back to salvage your ego?” It was Applejack's turn to snicker a bit as she finally caught on to the situation. With that, the world around them seemed to crack slightly, and the monster noticed it as well. It let out an eerie wail as its bloodied maw opened again, the monster made a beeline for the unmoving pink mare. Its red eye met Pinkie's dull blues as it rushed towards the two mares. Fluttershy finally was able to scream as she could feel the thing approaching, but the unexpected happened when Pinkie actually embraced the scared mare with a hoof. The monster stopped just short of Pinkie's face, its maw was opened wide enough to swallow the two of them whole. They could literally count the endless rows of fangs, because it was so close, but it wouldn't follow through. The monster seemed frozen in the moment of attacking, and Everypony noticed, even Fluttershy. Pinkie laughed haughtily at the abysmal attempt of scaring her, but she did enjoy the interesting reactions of the ponies around her. Following up with another unpredictable move, Pinkie extended out and kissed the monster square on its snout. Then like that, the thing shattered like glass, leaving not a trace of its existence behind. That was enough to elect a light giggle from Fluttershy and Twilight simultaneously, and that's when the world followed suit and shattered like glass. Everything was back to normal, the trees were no longer reaching out for them, and the blood that stained the ground from the monster's attack was no longer there. Applejack couldn't believe she fell for such nonsense, but she couldn't ignore the fact that she did. The Nightmare would have captured her mind if she had chased after her imaginary sister, luckily Pinkie had seen through it instantly. “I… it was so real, how did you know?” Twilight asked, now prodding the ground herself. “Reality has never really been a consistent theme for me.” Pinkie responded while getting up and dislodging Fluttershy, who was blushing at the moment. “Oh.” Twilight then remembered their conversation on the balcony. She took a long hard look at Pinkie, who in turn decidedly ignored her as she began to move towards their destination.  Twilight didn't understand, Pinkie was a mare, she was physical and very much alive. So what did she mean back then on the balcony, that the real Pinkie was the one in the dreamscape. How was it possible, and how does an entity no less a pony exist in such a state? Those questions might forever elude the small Unicorn, and that irritated her to no end. “Umm, Twilight… w-why are you staring at her like that?” Fluttershy quietly questioned. Twilight jumped in response, just to hastenly continue with the group. Fluttershy looked a bit confused, but decided to leave it be, she wanted to get it all over with soon. With Everypony back in the rhythm of traveling through the forest, they faced little interruptions as they finally felt like they were making progress. Much to Twilight's interest, it looked like they were passing a small town. The Unicorn was able to look past the eeriness of it being seemingly abandoned to pay attention to the details of the structures and signs. The small buildings were built from some type of slate she had never seen before, and they were covered in hoof painted designs that closely resemble the tattoos of the Lunar elements. Then the signs were unreadable to her, she had no idea they had a totally different written language, which meant they probably had their own spoken language as well. Which was strange considering they spoke fluid Equestrian, and never signaled that they spoke anything different. They had an extremely deep culture in the forest, they could easily be defined as an independent nation. Possibly even being able to be compared to Equestria as far as cultural significance was concerned, that worried Twilight a bit. If they are successful, Equestria now knows of their existence, and because of Nightmare Moon, might make Equestrian’s perceive them as a threat. Ponies like Blueblood would foam at the muzzle to subjugate them to Equestrian Law. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rushing water. As they moved forward they finally saw what was making the sound, Twilight was surprised by the sound of strong water flow, she was unsure if they could all actually swim across. Fluttershy could carry a pony or two across. But she wasn’t exactly the strongest flier. “We'll cross it here, it will be our most straightforward path to Nightingale.” Applejack then pointed forward. Everypony then could see what could be considered the top of Castle spires in the distance. Fluttershy looked curiously at the spires and thought to herself, how could they've gone unnoticed by the high flying Pegasi. However, Rarity questioned if she would be able to make it across the waters in her state. The young Unicorn looked down at her barrel and noticed how her blood had yet to stop dripping from her wound; she had no idea how deep it really went, but it was painful nonetheless. “Can Everypony swim?” Pinkie sarcastically asked. “No one is swimming tonight…” A dark voice gurgled from underneath the water. “Of course, shocker!” Pinkie mockingly shouted in response. The source of the voice the bursted from underneath the water it called home. The sight of its green, scaly, and elongated body was enough to identify it as an ancient sea serpent. Its dragon-like snout blew out water, and he shook his golden mane and mustache to get the wetness out of it. There was a noticeably fresh wound on the side of his face. It had scared his vision and lopsided his mustache due to the way it ran from the base of his left brow down to his scaly cheek. The serpent leaned over to the ponies with an irritated look on its face as he trained his one good eye on them, inspecting them intently. “Let us pass Serpent.” Applejack demanded. “Rude as ever I see, didn't your quaint little family build a bridge ages ago to cross my river. As of now, I don't want you ponies dirtying my water.” The Serpent replied, not backing down. “Besides, why cross when Nightingale is an absolute mess right now.” Applejack began to growl. “I won't ask again.” “My my, you've even brought some delectable guests… I thought you creatures didn't dine on Equestrian meat?” The Serpent spoke, wearing a dubious look while doing so. “I haven't had any pure pony meat in ages myself, I'd love a taste, then I'd might just be will-” “Steven!” Applejack shouted. “Oh, getting called out by name now… Or I'm I just scaring your dinner away?” Steven then flashed his pearly white fangs. “Oh stop with the dramatics will you.” Rarity piped up. “Dramatics?” Steven surmised. “I didn't know getting my face mutilated by some dark tentacle monstrosity, and me being understandably upset about it was considered dramatics.” Rarity hobbled forward, gaining the shocked attention of Everypony. Now the full extent of her injury was brought to bear, and it was concerning to say the least. It was a large gash under her barrel from what most could tell, blood dripped freely from the unattended wound. Pinkie looked critically at the hobbling mare, clueless on how she managed to hide such a wound. Neither Applejack or her were able to even catch the scent of her blood. “Rarity!” Twilight was in the motion of rushing to her friend's aid, but was waved off by Rarity. Twilight skidded to a halt, it puzzled the mare to no end, what was her friend planning. The Sea Serpent was also curious as well, he leaned down even closer from his river to inspect the injured mare. “Ah, I see, it seems as though you've met the same nuisance as I have. That doesn't change a thi-” Rarity cut off Steven by lighting her horn, the Serpent recoiled in shock. He hadn't expected instant escalation, he had only been teasing as far as he was concerned. Rarity had targeted a misplaced scale on the side of Steven's scared face, her glowing blue horn then turned swiftly to a dull red as she focused on her own wound. Steven's shock doubled at the mare’s action, he didn't know much about magic, but what she was doing looked extremely painful. “D-darling… don't move.” Rarity uttered through clenched teeth. Steven could only blink and cursed himself for his close proximity to the weird mare as her horn then was directed towards him. A red glow enveloped the side of his wounded face, his dislodged scale, and Rarity. Miraculously his wounds rapidly healed, even his vision was restored back to full. Steven's newly restored eyes bulged at the sensation of her magic and his restoration, much like Everypony else. After it was all said and done, Steven felt his face with his claws and was amazed with the results. But his amazement shifted to something that resembled a subtle understanding, his golden eyes lowered down to the mare that helped him. She was visibly shaking, the scale she once had turned to dust, and one of the bright blue jewels that were her eyes had dimmed considerably. The milky haze that covered her pupil made it painfully obvious what the exchange had included. “I am no mage nor Unicorn, but I do understand that all magic comes at a cost…” Steven grimaced.  “Passage.” Rarity said, barely managing to get the word past her lips. “That wasn't what I…” The Serpent paused and looked at the concerned ponies surrounding the selfless mare. What did they plan to do once they got past him, surely they didn't expect to challenge the thing that fled there, but who was he to deny them. “Very well.” Applejack turned to raise a brow at Steven, who in turn flashed her a winning smile. He then immediately took to Rarity and tenderly picked her up with his claws, she didn't even flinch in pain, which concerned him to a degree. Yet he had to repay her generosity, so he gently coasted to the other side of the river. Once they were on the opposite bank, he sat the mare down as tenderly as he had picked her up. Rarity looked up to the Serpent with gratitude, but he couldn't return her gaze after what she just gave him, it just didn't feel right. Instead he floated back to the other side and extended his elongated body to make a makeshift bridge to the other side. Without hesitation, Twilight and Fluttershy zoomed across to get to their injured friend. Applejack and Pinkie then took their turn across his body without a word, they didn't know what to expect after that display. They were surprised she was able to cast so effortlessly in the forest. “Good look, and thank you. There needs to be more ponies like you in this world my lady.” Those were the last words Steven spoke before dipping back down into the rushing river and disappearing “Why would you hide that from us?” Fluttershy's concern was evident by the raised volume of her voice. “We have to treat your wounds immediately!” Twilight said, rushing to Rarity. Rarity didn't respond, she just sat on her haunches, looking past Everypony. Twilight nearly threw up when she saw the severity of Rarity's open wound and the self mutilation of her vision. Twilight instantly went into panic mode and attempted to light her horn, but was immediately met with a throbbing pain shooting from her horn right to her head. “I said watch the magic!” Applejack shouted, slowly approaching the trio. “Watch the magic, do you not see Rarity’s injuries!” Twilight exclaimed. “Rarity.” Applejack spoke past Twilight, directing her attention to the injured mare. “Yes darling?” Rarity replied courtly, almost as if nothing was wrong. “Can you walk?” Twilight was prepared to protest, but Rarity stuck out a hoof to shush her. “To Tartarus if need be.” Fluttershy just looked down to her hooves, contemplating suggesting a withdrawal from their mission. It was very evident that any of them could die here, and Rarity looked close, too close for a timid mare like herself. She then thought about Rainbow Dash, and whatever she was doing at the moment, wondering if she was faring better than they were. Shaking her head and looking back up to the group, there was no turning back now, not after Rarity’s apparent sacrifice.  “I don’t think you can, and I don’t need no element to tell ya that. Whatever magic you managed to pull back there gots ya down and bleeding like a stuck pig.” Applejack commented while examining her wounds more closely. She also still couldn't comprehend why the alabaster mare was able to cast magic without hindrance, unlike her friend who failed to even keep her horn lit. “Here, wrap her up with this.” Pinkie stepped forward, producing a bundle of cloth and bandage wraps. “Bu...W-where?” Twilight hadn’t been paying attention to Pinkie, but she knew that she hadn’t been lugging that stuff around that whole time. That was the second time she had done something like that to Twilight’s amazement. Then the amazement faded for a serious expression as she snatched the cloth and bandages with her hooves and started to work on her friend. Her basic medical knowledge was enough to allow her to adequately wrap her friend's wound, and even after several rolls of cloth, blood was still seeping through it all. Fluttershy, who had slightly more medical experience dealing with animals, looked over Twilight, nodding in approval when Twilight swapped the cloth for the bandages. Rarity laid there, seemingly lost in thought as her friends tried to stem the bleeding. Applejack saw her faraway look, and her resolve grew, those ponies were strong. “There!” Twilight said triumphantly, wiping her bloodied hooves in the grass. The blood was no longer seeping through the layers of cloth and bandages, Fluttershy tested the tightness of them, making sure nothing would come loose. In the end, Twilight did an amazing job for her first attempt, and Rarity knew it as well. “I’d be tragic if this leaves a scar.” Rarity sarcastically grimaced from her lying position before successfully sitting back up. She didn’t even try to hide the pained expression she displayed from the simple action, and that caused a problem. “But I suppose I'll have to make eye patches a fashionable proposition now.” “Blood magic…” Twilight spat. Rarity frowned darkly. “Another time darling, now if one of you would like to help a lady up?”  Applejack was surprisingly the first to react by standing next to the young Unicorn, allowing her to use her as leverage to stand. Applejack was a wall to Rarity, she was able to lean her full weight on the large orange mare. Still that wasn’t enough and Applejack knew it, she sat down on her haunches, leaving Rarity a bit curious as to her intention. “Pinkie, help her up onto my back.” Applejack commanded. “Giving pony rides now Speaker?” Pinkie teased, making her way to the two. “Could you not…” Rarity painfully sighed. “I could.” Pinkie dead-panned. Rarity rolled her tired blue eye before obliging with Applejack's command. The Unicorn positioned herself for maximum comfort, but that didn't seem to matter to Pinkie. The large pink mare just shoveled her head unceremoniously underneath the gasping Unicorns flanks to plop her on top of Applejack. “E-easy!” Rarity hissed. “Don't have digits like the Serpent.” Pinkie dead-panned. “That doesn't mean you go underneath my tail without permission.” Rarity turned her nose up the best she could without causing pain. “How uncouth!” “...” Applejack just shook her head at the Unicorns complaining. Just a moment a go, she had nearly committed suicide, now she was complaining about the ethics of lifting a mare. “Yer situated up there?” “Yes, thank you.” Rarity's emphasis on the ‘yes’ wasn't lost on the Applejack. “How far are we now?” Twilight asked, coming to terms with Rarity's situation. “Not far, maybe a half of a mile till we’re at the south entrance of the castle.” Applejack replied, starting to move forward towards their objective again. “But we got to cross that stupid bridge to get to the south entrance.” Pinkie duly noted. “So?” Applejack saw no problem with that. “We only got one pony that can fly here, and I'm not trusting miss magic to teleport us across when we find out the bridge is down or something.” Pinkie pointed out, as if she was predicting calamity. “Offense taken?” Twilight indirectly replied. However she understood what Pinkie meant, her magic wasn't reliable here, they could end up anywhere if she attempted teleportation within the confines of the forest. “You don't know that, and even if it is, we'll find a way.” Applejack reassured. “You almost sound like an Equestrian?” Pinkie seemingly sounded sincere, but everypony at that point knew it to be some form of a joke. Rarity chuckled as Twilight and Applejack both rolled their eyes at the bored looking mare as they walked. Fluttershy wasn’t concerned with the joke, she had her eyes fixated on the strange moon. Thinking about Rainbow Dash, her friend probably wasn't going to come back, still she held out hope that she could save her. But Fluttershy was struggling to understand what she’d be saving her friend from… was it the nightmare, or was it this forest.