//------------------------------//
// WHTMF chapter 3 
// Story: What happened to my friends 
// by bryonyTheWolf 
//------------------------------//

After coming to the door, Twilight tried opening it, but this one was locked tight. She couldn't go further down, as the floor wouldn't allow her to. So she looked around, to see if she could find anything that would unlock the door.
It didn't take very long before twilight started to ramble to herself, trying to put together what she had seen so far, while trying to figure out how to open the door.

  “Ok… So this is where all my friends have gone? They’ve been trapped in this castle and Applejack seems to have been lured here by a fake Applebloom. But what would cause Rainbow Dash to come here? She isn't one to fall for suspicious acts. She wouldn't be so easily lured into a place like this. But here we are…I guess inside that door will explain a few things… but HOW DO I GET IT OPEN!?”  

Out of frustration, she gave a loud groan and ran at the door, attempting to headbutt it open. But the moment she came within inches of the door, it swung open, letting Twilight run through at top speed and collide with… a tree?
It took Twilight a second to recover as she pulled her horn free of the tree’s grip. But once she did, she saw that the door had closed itself, and the surrounding crystal wall looked to be overgrown with vines and foliage, such as Poison Ivy.

Slowly getting to her hooves, she looked around at the room she had just come into. But it wasn't a room, it was a forest. The dirt path stretched beyond the castle's walls, just like the last room. And each side was cloaked with trunk after trunk of different species of tree, aside from the bit of wall that surrounded the door, which seemed to fade into the greenery, the further it went.

Twilight spread her wings with a sigh, mentally preparing herself as she took that first step. Only to be thrown to the ground again by a strong gust of wind. Landing on her front, she groaned as she lifted her head, spotting a display box, similar to the one that was in Applejack’s room. It was bolted to a thick oak tree, and the tree itself seems to have grown around the box a bit, forming hand-like branches that clutched the box like its life depended on it.

  “that will explain the items i have… They’re all for display boxes in my friends' respective rooms.”  
Twilight said out loud to herself, managing to connect the dots while she got up, once more.
Making her way to the box, she saw that this one only had 1 pin, while the other had 2.  She also noticed that it was also lacking the stuck on note that she saw before.

Taking out Rainbow Dash’s flight goggles, she opened the box and hung them on the pin. The door slammed shut and the slam echoed into the air, quickly fading into silence again.
It was now quiet. Too quiet.
The hair on the back of twilight’s neck stood up as she felt a pair of eyes on her again. Looking around, she saw no one around within her immediate vicinity.
Looking back at the box, she saw a small hole open up, just wide enough for the tip of twilight’s horn to fit into.
Just like last time, twilight put her horn into the hole until it clicked, and the same white magic began to fill the indents of her horn.
As soon as it got to her head, her eyes glowed a light magenta, matching Rainbow’s eye colour, and her memories began to play, just like before.

  “Ill see you later Tank, i'm going to visit Twilight today! She said she’d help me with my new moves!! I just hope Applejack will be there this time…”   
Rainbow’s voice echoed in Twilight’s ears as the memories played out, it took Twilight on a trip, Rainbow flew through the clouds, doing a quick rounds check of Ponyville, looking around with growing worry. She even stopped by Sweet Apple Acres to as if Applejack had come back.

 [/color=#A4C040] “Oh.. Ah’m a might sorry darlin’ but Applejack hasn't come back since your last visit to Canterlot… Applebloom has been askin’ around her school, and Big Mac has been putin’ up them, there missin’ pony posters.. We haven't heard anythin’... How about you? Any luck on your end?”   Granny Smith explained, looking a bit down, that she couldn't find her granddaughter.

Applejack had been missing for about 2 months now, with Rainbow Dash hunting all across equestria for her marefriend, while the rest of the apple family did what they could to help too. She wasnt about to give up on finding the one she loved. Giving a sigh, she shook her head and spoke to Granny Smith in a solemn tone.

 ”sadly nothing here either… Me and the others still havent found her… How does a pony just up and vanish? We even sent a scroll to Twilight and Celestia, but they havent seen or heard from her either! We even asked Cherry Jubilee, and contacted Braeburn, all the way in Appleloosa to see if they had seen her… Nothing…”  
The Blue pegasus rambled to the elder pony, her ears folding back as she stopped flying for a moment, standing in front of Granny Smith.
Granny slowly walked forward, putting a gentle hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, reassuringly.

 [/color=#A4C040] “Ah understand you’re worried deary… We all are… But Ah'm sure Applejack would love to know that we’re trying our darndest to find her. Ah’m sure she’ll come around.”  
Granny Smith gave Rainbow Dash a warm smile, who smiled back.
The 2 ponies quickly embraced before Rainbow backed away, waving goodbye to the elder pony and making her way to Twilight’s old castle.

Once she arrived, she saw that the others were waiting for her, and they waved Rainbow over as she came in for a smooth landing.

  “Hey rainbow Dash. Any luck with finding any sign of AJ?”  
Pinkie Pie greeted the blue Pegasus with a gentle hug, along with the rest of the group. Rainbow then shook her head at Pinkie’s question, hanging her head a bit as she tried to think harder on where Applejack might have gone.


  “I'm sure she’ll come around… Now c’mon! Let's not let this get us down! We have a purple alicorn to visit!”  
Pinkie piped up with a small hop, causing whatever was in her saddle bag to jingle a bit, causing the rest of the group to break into wide, excited smiles. They hadn't seen Twilight since their last visit, which felt like it was an eternity ago, since they skipped a visit to hunt for Applejack.

The group began to make their way to the train station, and Rainbow paused. Seeing a group of royal guards that were looking around for Applejack. Looks like Twilight sent yet another search party for her.
This gave Rainbow Dash comfort in the fact that everyone was doing their best to find her marefriend.

She then tilted her head as 2 of the guards broke off from the group, running straight for Rainbow Dash. Their eyes glowing a bright red. Just like the fake Applebloom from Applejack’s room.

Before Rainbow could react, the 2 guards tackled Rainbow into the castle, and she could hear Rarity, Pinkie and fluttershy let out a loud gasp as they saw the 2 guards drag her into the castle, followed by rapid hoofprints of the group giving chase.

As soon as the castle door closed, all sound from outside was cut off, leaving Rainbow Dash in pure silence. The blue Pegasus immediately got to her hooves, getting into a defencive stance, her head low, her wings spread as she waited for a moment, waiting for rarity, fluttershy and Pinkie to join her side in what could be a pretty rough fight.

But they never came. 
This caused a spike of anxiety to rise in Rainbow Dash, and she looked around for the 2 guards.

  “HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?! YOU THINK YOU CAN DRAG ME IN HERE AND GET AWAY WITH IT?!”  
Rainbow called out into the castle. This was followed by a voice echoing through the room around the rainbow. 

  “And what are you going to do little pony? Your friends arent coming to get you… Neither is that prissy Princess of yours…”  
The voice sounded a lot like the shadow bolts she met back when they were looking for Nightmare Moon.
But it was distorted and echoey…

Her eyes widened as she saw the glint of the golden armour twilight’s guards wore, run into the pillar that homed the staircase. One way in, one way out, she had them cornered.

Rainbow sprinted after them, only to be greeted with the winding staircase.
She paused for a moment, watching the guards movement, seeing them run into one of the doors.
Spreading her wings, Rainbow shot up the centre of the winding staircase, coming to the door and barging through it.

Then twilight came back to reality, standing up straight with a small gasp.

  “She wasnt lured in… She was forced in here… And she gave chase.. But why..?”  
Twilight said quietly to herself, before slowly looking around at the forest, she looked up, the trunks stretched up far beyond what her eyes could see. Slowly fading into a dark void of shadow and mystery.

Well, the door hasn't opened, which means she can't leave yet. So she decided to walk a bit deeper into the woods. Looking around for either the 2 guards she saw in her vision, or Rainbow Dash.

As she was walking, she noticed that a 2nd set of hoofsteps were echoing around her. She paused for a moment, and the steps paused when she did. Thinking it was just her own steps echoing, she continued to walk. But as she walked, she noticed they were getting more and more out of sync with her own steps, and when she paused, the 2nd set of hoofprints didn't stop.

Twilight quickly whipped around, her horn lit as she realised the steps were coming from behind her, only to be greeted with the blue pegasus herself. Her eyes widened as she saw her friend, and then she was confused. Rainbow Dash looked normal. No holes to be seen, tilting her head, she scanned the pegasus with her eyes, only seeing that her pupils were a bit smaller.

  “R-rainbow dash?”   Twilight hesitantly spoke as she approached her friend, only for Rainbow to put a hoof to her chest, smirking.

  “Theeee one and only!”   Rainbow dash responded with a soft, sly giggle. Her ears twitched rapidly as she spoke and twilight immediately knew something was off. 

The purple alicorn tilted her head as she noticed something sitting upon Rainbow’s back. It was a Katashiro doll of… Spike? 
Looking back at her friend, she saw that Rainbow also had 3 nails sticking out from between her lips now. Pointed end out.

  “What’s wrong twilight? Do you need someone cursed? Someone nailed to a wall? Maybe you need someone or something to disappear from your life?”  

As she said this, she burst into maniacal laughter, her ears folding flat against her head as she took out the ragdoll of spike. Moving it so it sat on her head between her ears instead of on her back. 
Twilight had no idea what to make of all of this, but she was definitely uncomfortable, so she began to walk, hoping she could find the fake guards that got Rainbow trapped here in the first place.

 ”Are you looking for the guards?” 
Rainbow suddenly spoke up, almost as if she had just read twilight’s mind. The purple alicorn looked at her friend in shock before raising an eyebrow.

 ”You know where they are?”  Twilight asked, her tone low and suspicious. She was already tense from seeing Rainbow Dash in this strange state, and this just made things a lot more uncomfortable. But she had no choice but to hunt for these guards.

 ”Well i dont know where they are, per say… But i can bring them to us~” 
As Rainbow spoke, she couldn't help but giggle again, her ears twitching wildly once more as she reached behind her, pulling out 2 more dolls that look like Twilight's guards. Or in this case, the 2 fake guards.

Rainbow put the 2 dolls on the ground and sat down beside them, resting on her front as she moved the 2 dolls with her hooves, mincing them walking. 
At this point twilight simply rolled his eyes, so rainbow hadn't turned into a hole filled pony like Applejack. But she had turned into a crazy pony that was obsessed with dolls?

She began to walk away, before she heard 2 sets of hoofsteps approaching them, rapidly. Twilight lit up her horn again and her ears folded back, ready for some kind of fight. Only to see the 2 fake guards coming to them, her eyes widened as she turned to look at Rainbow. Who gave her a wide, crooked smile, revealing many many more nails in her mouth.

Twilight looked back as they guards, and they stopped right in front of her.
Before she could respond, one of the guards was sent flying into one of the trees. She looked back at Rainbow to see that she had thrown one of the dolls at the tree beside her, forcing the fake guard to mimic her actions.

  “Dark magic… Rainbow has been cursed… And blessed… with DARK MAGIC?!”   Twilight shouted out, mostly to herself.
She then looked back at her friend, only to have her eyes widen in horror.
Rainbow had pulled out one final doll, a doll that looked like her.

  “Yes I have heheheh, right on the money… Now i suggest you beat it twilight and dont ruin my fun here. I'm now capable of things you only DREAMED of. You never know… I could be more powerful than you! How about we find out?~”  
Rainbow asked with a psychotic smile spreading across her face, as she aimed one of the nails at her, shooting it out of her mouth at a fast pace, it clipped Twilight’s ear and caused her to wince at the pain as a small bit of blood began to trickle down into her mane. 

Twilight took off running, her head lowered and her wings clasped tightly to her sides as she galloped as fast as her hooves could carry her. Soon she saw the door.
It had opened! Thank celestia!

She bolted for the door, using her magic to shut it tightly behind her. As soon as she closed it, all the colour faded from the door, leaving it in the same grayscale tone that Applejack’s door had.

Her ears folded back and her eyes began to well up with tears. Her friend could use black magic, and just tried to hurt her by shooting nails at her? 
She took a moment to piece herself back together before wiping her eyes, shaking her head and making her way down the stairs to the next door.

It was a dark purple door, with 3 light blue diamonds at the top in a triangle formation.
It was Rarity’s door…