//------------------------------//
// Chapter Six: QRRRRRRAAAAAA! 
// Story: A Tail of Two Ponies 
// by Lilyheart 
//------------------------------//

🥜
I never liked being alone. It comes with having brothers.
“Lilyheart!” Andrew!
Nothing.
There were a few large branches which I could try what Lilyheart had suggested. If it were a video game, I’d already be back down. If it were a video game, I would have been up the tree before Lilyheart even had the idea. She would sit there, overanalyzing, and I would just go.
I glared at the branches. Flashes from dreams. Falling through the sky, to the inevitable end below. Waking to sweaty sheets.
I leapt. The branch swayed under my weight, and I felt the limber wood under the hooves. I scrambled, but found my footing. Yes! I repeated and solidly landed on the next branch. It is like A Hat in Time. Or Mario 64. 
The hoof slipped.
“Ja–fff–whe!” And down I went. But there was no waking up from this pony nightmare. SPLAT.
Pain. I felt this body pancake, and then spring back into shape. Oh, I don’t like that. I don’t like that, I don’t like that!
On my feet. I bolted into the forest. Shades grew darker still, and shadows shifted under the gentle sway of the trees. Those yellow eyes followed me. Everywhere, I was being watched. Judging me. “Who are you to enter into our forest? Who are you to think you can save her? We will see you when you fail.” They seemed to ask. But that was only my imagination.
“Lilyheart!”
Nothing. On and on in the night, ever with those yellow eyes staring. I looked at the ground to check for tracks. Anything. The horse ears craned back and forth. Nothing. Nothing!
“Lilyheart!”
I didn’t stop running. And promptly ran straight into a pond.
Cold. Very cold. Crud. How do you swim as a horse?
I thrashed about in a panic. Robinwind’s hooves squished into the scummy bottom… and my head was above the water. Oh.
“Ribbit!”
A frog sat on a lilypad beside me, giving me a glare. Great. Frogs can glare now. Waitaminute.
“Hey… so…” I feel like an idiot. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen a blue pony with a yellow mane? Looks like a cupcake? Being pulled by some unknown dark force?” Useless and always needs someone to take care of her? Darn it, brain, not now!
“Er-ert.” The frog blinked.
Is that a no?
“Rr-Rr.” The frog hopped into the pond.
It was my turn to blink. “Right, that was a waste of time.” I climbed out of the pond and shook myself off. My heart fell. I didn’t even think of what I was doing. The horse-stincts took over. I just shook myself dry. Like a dog. Like an animal. A sharp pang pinched my heart. Tears came to my eyes.
I used one of the hooves to wipe the tears off. Great, now I have swamp water in my eyes. Everfree swamp water. Who knows what sort of bacteria exist in that water. Might turn me into a frog for all I know.
“Lilyheart!” I called. And then, quietly, “Answer me, please.”
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. I offer this prayer up for Lilyheart… that she might be safe, and that I can find her. Hail Mary…
I continued on into the forest, but more slowly this time, praying as I went. Rushing won’t do me any good. I already don't know how to find my way back. But what if she needed my help? I kept praying.
My…the horse stomach grumbled; a horrible sensation where I could feel mid-barrel, organs pressing out, kicking in protest for food. How long had I been stumbling through the forest? A half hour, maybe? Still I prayed. I offer up my hunger to you. I offer up my confusion to you. Hail Mary, full of grace…
Upon stepping past a tree, it appeared. A clearing on a subtle slope. Crumbling stone ruins, overgrown with bramble and vine. Two spires remained standing, and some remains of the former wall.
“The Castle of the Two Sisters…” I mumbled.
If Lilyheart had gotten away, maybe she could have hidden here? Maybe whatever it was that grabbed her took her here? Either way, I… trotted with the horse legs towards the ruins. The cinder-colored legs were almost invisible in the night. But it was best I didn’t think about Robinwind’s legs. If I didn’t think about them, the easier it was for me to control them.
Now that I was in the clearing, I could make out the stars glimmering overhead. Starlight. Heh. It was prettier than in the cartoon. Which is odd, because most things here look exactly like the cartoon.
“Lilyheart!”
Mangled bushes were scattered about the entrance. Shattered stone littered the grass, crushing underneath Robinwind’s hooves. I had to admit the crunch was a little bit satisfying. Before me was a short flight of stairs and a grey door.
Rattling of twigs and leaves. I turned to see an amber-colored ball roll out of a bush.
“Huh?”
The ball split open like an Easter egg and looked at me. It was a small rodent. A sort of fuzzy armadillo?
I blinked. Still it stared with these little beady eyes. Two eye sparkles. The artists really liked that look, didn’t they?
“Uhhh…” Great. Here we go again. “Can I help you?”
The pseudo-armadillo opened its mouth–to reveal a set of remarkably sharp teeth. “QRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!”
Dozens of more fuzzy balls jumped out of the bushes and landed near my feet and unfurled to show the same hideous face. Echos of QRRRRRRAAAAA followed.
I jumped back.
“Um. Sorry? I, uh… is this your territory? I’ll leave.” Please don’t hurt me.
More appeared behind me. “QRRRRRRRAAAAAA!”
“Okayrightbye.” I dashed into a gallop towards the castle.
“QRRRRRRAAAAAA!”
Something like darts whizzed through the air and clattered against the ground next to me. I ignored it. And then prickles of pain shot through my flank.
“Yeow!” Were they biting me? Is this what it’s like for an elephant with a lion on its back? Flashes of the little compies from Jurassic Park entered my mind. Videos from the Discovery Channel of a wildebeest with lionesses pouncing on it from behind… until finally it fell to exhaustion to the inevitable end…
Robinwind was an animal. Now, I was an animal. Was I going to die like that? All humanity stripped away. An it.
I looked back. To my surprise, rather than a pile of these little monsters, instead there was a collection of quills embedded into my flank. Wait. These were a kind of Equestrian porcupine?!
And with my luck, they were probably poisonous or something.
“Lilyheart!”
“QRRRRRRAAAAAA!”
To my horror, more porcupines rolled up, cutting off my way to the castle. And they were turning their backs to me. I scrambled with Robinwind’s hooves; trying desperately to turn around and  skidding to a halt. Flipping over, I covered my face. More pin pricks in my backside.
I was surrounded. Most of the porcupines had their backs turned to me, the sharp bristles ready to launch into my flesh… Robin’s flesh. The ones that weren’t, kept their mouths agape, the rows of sharp teeth clear in the night. Sharp teeth perfect for tearing into horse flesh.
Robin’s head slumped down, burying his head into his hooves.
“Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed be the fruit of your womb, Jesus…”
“QRRRRRAAAAA!”
Robin pressed his canons into his ears. “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour–”
VOOOM.
An explosion. But a bit like a lightsaber. Blue light filled my vision through Robin’s hooves. A warmth tickled and soothed. “…Holy Mary?”
Robinwind looked up. The porcupines were fleeing. Waves of sapphire light flared into the night. Almost like a shield of pure light. I could feel each pulse as it passed. It was coming from behind me. But I couldn’t be bothered to look at that now. Because there she was; a woman with a blue veil and a serene face. Stars twinkled in her robes. And there were the holy angels, coming down with their queen. One even lowered a crown upon her head.
I looked eagerly to see the Infant Jesus in her gentle eyes… but my vision cleared before I could get a chance.
The light wasn’t blue, it was violet. The angels were just speckles of light.
And the woman? She was a horse with a purple body. Dark blue hair with streaks of violet and pink. Large wings, and a glowing horn.
Before me stood Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship.