The pace into the forest was a brisk one, the six ponies looking dead ahead toward the ominous woodland. Twilight couldn't believe this was happening, despite having just been there. Fluttershy fought every urge in her body to turn back, somehow thinking it was even scarier in Ponyville, with what happened. Jacqueline stayed focused on her family, reasoning that if Nightmare Moon took them away, she could give them back just as easily. Rarity wished they had done more preparation, all she had time to grab were a few vials and a basic first aid kit. "Pink." thought that everyone reading their thoughts should stop peeking.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was actually getting a little excited; this was a challenge the likes of which she'd yet to experience. She might never get this kind of adventure again, and though she knew this was serious, she couldn't help but find it kind of... cool. She didn't know if they would succeed, something told her their chances were slim, but there was no choice, and she liked it. Around others, she kept her enthusiasm hidden, taking point with the group while giving them a concerned look. It was already too late to change their minds, but she thought again how she should do this on her own. Could she do this on her own? 'No,' she thought, 'I already failed once. This is bigger than me, they have every right to be here.' That thought didn't hit her as heavily, as she looked back with a smile. 'I won't let anything happen to them.'
The path leading into the forest seemed straightforward enough. It looked like it formed naturally between the trees, as if the plants themselves knew the way they should take. The foliage around them seemed so strange, untamed and unkempt, unlike anything any of them had seen before. Haunting, is what it was, made worse by several unidentified cries in the as-of-yet-unending night. The rustling of leaves and snapping of branches caused Fluttershy to jump to Rarity's side.
"Something's following us!" She squeaked out, barely audible to anyone else. Rarity reached a hoof to the frightened pegasus, keeping her close with an encouraging smile.
"We'll be fine, dear," She consoled Fluttershy softly, "As long as we're together, we can fend anything off."
"Oh, please," Twilight spoke out with a roll of her eyes, "That's no comfort. We're a large group, and that will just attract even bigger predators." Fluttershy's eyes went wide at that, visibly trembling. "What?" Twilight glanced back curiously. She soon noticed Fluttershy wasn't looking at her, but something above. She turned only too late, wandering into a thin, sticky barrier which everypony else had stopped in time to see. "What is this?!" She cried out. Twilight struggled to remove herself, but it was far stronger than the thickness of the material would suggest, and just tangled herself up even more. "Get me out of here!"
"Sit tight, Twilight," Rainbow Dash reassured her, looking over her companion's predicament. "We'll get you out of... whatever that is. It almost looks like some kind of..."
"Web," "Pink." spoke out. "It's a giant spider web. It's probably coming for you right now."
"You've gotta' be kidding me!" Twilight fought that notion, trying to back up and stretching the filmy strands out. "Giant spiders overhunted their prey centuries ago, and went extinct!"
"Then what's that?" "Pink."'s words of choice were perhaps the most disconcerting of all she could have chosen, all eyes following as her hoof pointed upward. Sure enough, a collection of long, hairy legs descended from above, carrying a bloated body and a head containing eight beady eyes, flicking out its mandibles in rapid movements. Each leg expertly placed itself along the almost-invisible strands, descending for Twilight rather directly, the creature soon being close enough to gauge. It was easily the size of eight or ten ponies in the abdomen alone, but that was hardly the worst of it. Their gaze being locked on the being, Fluttershy pointed now, past it, and several more climbed from the forest canopy in tandem. The gang was frozen in place, all except Rainbow Dash, which rushed to the occasion, drawing attention by plucking at the web from a higher point. Twilight, having sense enough to know what she was doing, stopped moving, remaining perfectly still as they all followed along.
"That's right, come on!" Dash taunted the arachnids, readying herself to fight. Leaping beside her, however, Fluttershy floated in front of her, between her and the spiders.
"Wait," she implored, no more, no less. She fluttered over to the first spider they saw, which paused as they came into reach of one another. Fluttershy made eye contact, for what that might mean with such beings, and they just stared at one another, perfectly still except for the beating of her wings. Rarity in particular was intrigued by this display, wondering what would possess Fluttershy to face such a terrifying creature. Then she turned her sights above, noting several sacs in the webbing. At last, she tested parts of the web herself, and began climbing up to meet her friend. Fluttershy, at this point, approached the spider, stroking a hoof over its back as it let out a strange, chittering purr. "It's okay... we didn't mean to intrude. We didn't see the signs."
The spider was not wholly satisfied, but certainly not hostile. Rarity got up to the web sacs she saw, investigating them for the moment. "They're starving," she realized aloud, looking to the other spiders as they approached.
"Can't we do something?" Fluttershy implored, leaving Rarity to ponder.
"Twilight, you were right about one thing," Rarity spoke up. She opened one of the sacs carefully with her horn, letting shriveled plant matter fall from it. "They did overhunt their prey..."
"But... nature found a solution!" Fluttershy interjected, her joy subdued by the pain of the spiders' plight.
"That... that doesn't make any sense," Twilight stammered, as she spotted the fallen beans. "Look at them! They're predators!" The spider hanging over her gave her a look, sad as one could ever imagine from such a creature. As her eyes met its own, she faltered, balancing fear, confusion and pity in her head. The evidence was all there, staring her in the face both literally and figuratively. "What... what do we do?" Twilight hung her head in shame, so sure of everything she'd read until she made it this far. The first spider turned back to Twilight, climbing down and untangling her at last. She shuddered at the touch of the long appendages, but after another look at Fluttershy and Rarity, she got a crazy idea; she reached a hoof out, brushing the arachnid's leg with hers, and it returned the gesture, dropping to meet her on the ground. 'It is kind of cute,' she mused to herself, 'For a humongous, creepy bug, anyway.'
Rarity smiled, breaking into the emergency rations she had readied, setting some soy supplements on the web. It seemed silly, but the spiders closed in, taking them in their mandibles gently, Rarity looking at their non-expressions for any sign of what was to come. Twilight couldn't believe her eyes, seeing them actually eating the protein bars, even splitting them up between one another methodically. "That should keep them going, at least for a little while," Rarity explained, climbing down to meet the others.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Jacqueline spoke up, working up the nerve ever since the spiders descended.
"Um..." Fluttershy murmured a little, but relaxed as one of the spiders gave her a gentle hug. "I didn't do anything special. Everyone needs a little kindness sometimes."
"Ah," Jacqueline seemed satisfied in her, then moved onto Rarity. "And what of our supplies? Not that I'm saying they didn't go to a good cause, but what will we use?"
Rarity just smiled, reaching around Fluttershy as moving on. "We'll find a way... just like they did."
The arachnids stood back, the one on the ground moving ahead of the ponies with a motion to follow it. The being drew them through thin, nigh-invisible webbing into much thicker concentrations, then through a veritable spire of silk. Twilight marveled at the intricacy, nothing like this had ever been described in any book she'd read. Nonetheless, they found themselves led through to another path, which they started on again. Twilight wondered if they would be coming back this way, as farewells were offered.
Back on the road again, "Pink." began humming a familiar song, starting with that line. Twilight wasn't sure why, but she felt like decking her, as if she'd just made some terrible joke. It seemed like such a long road, and that humming wasn't making things any easier. She edged away from the pink companion a little, in turn separating from the rest of the group. She closed her eyes, nodding in triumph, as she could no longer hear that song. All was peaceful, and quiet, and she could focus on moving forward.
That wasn't meant to be, however, and soon she ran out of level ground, a sudden incline causing her to fall, stumble and crash. She soon achieved some semblance of stability, but she was still descending, her eyes going wide as she saw the cliff the fall ended in. She instinctively dug her hooves into the ground, getting as much resistance as she could, only barely escaping falling over the edge.
Rainbow Dash noticed somepony was missing, doing a brief headcount of her traveling party. "Hey, which way'd Twilight go?" She implored them each. Only one seemed to have an answer.
"Oh, we lost her at that last fork in the road," "Pink." answered in utter monotone.
"And you didn't stop her?!" Rainbow Dash was shocked, that she would know and did nothing.
"I guess she didn't like the music," "Pink." shrugged, moving on. Jacqueline patted Dash's shoulder, giving her a reassuring nod.
"You go look for her. We'll keep going this direction, you can get her back."
"Thanks," Dash smiled, immediately taking off into the canopy. She didn't want to waste any time going over the forest, so she ploughed through, doing her best to keep an eye out below for where the other path led.
Twilight hung onto the cliffside with all her might, whimpering as the sharp rocks bruised her sides. Her weight was shifting faster than she could compensate for, and there was nothing to hold onto but the cliff itself. It had happened so fast, and nopony knew where she wound up; they were separated by the thick trees and the incline. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat as her eyes wandered sideways, seeing the long drop ahead of her. There was nothing down there, nothing at all, her eyes told her as vertigo set in. She would fall, and that was the last thing she would ever remember happening; only a very strong flyer could get her out of this horrible fate, and her mind went blank, screaming out the only name that seemed to matter. "Rainbow Daaaaaaaaash!!!"
Rainbow was lost amid the leaves and branches of the thick canopy, some unknown force knocking her down. She'd spun so many times she couldn't tell one direction from the next, and barreled straight now, surmising no matter which way she went, she would be free of this brush eventually. And indeed, she broke free of the foliage, tumbling down to the earth with a hard landing on her side. She'd managed to clear her wing of the impact, but in doing so felt the air knocked from her chest, struggling to breathe for a moment. Only when she opened her eyes did her breath leave her again, as she looked over a tall, mighty stallion in dark blue armor, covered from the neck down, giving way to his black coat and violet mane. He offered a hoof to her to help her up, and after a second, Rainbow silently accepted the gesture. He, too, said nothing for the moment, bringing her hoof up to his chest level, leaning down and planting a soft kiss to it. It was only then that he spoke, in a quiet, but projecting voice, very deep without being gravely; "Such beauty one hardly finds within Everfree. Might I have the lady's name?" Rainbow Dash visibly flushed, averting her eyes with a barely contained smile coming to her lips. Oddly, though she had been called 'lady' many times, this was the first time she truly felt like one.
"Rainbow Dash," she spoke out demurely, "My name... is Rainbow Dash." It was all she could say, especially as her eyes turned back to his, feeling her heart skip a beat. He was gorgeous, strong yet gentle, welcoming yet mysterious.
"Well, Rainbow Dash, how does such a fine young mare find herself in these woods? Seeking adventure, are we?" As he said that, Rainbow softly nodded, not even aware of the gesture. It was true, that's why she really came, wasn't it? Looking forward, to the new and exciting, venturing toward the unknown, why else would she be chasing such a lofty goal as saving Equestria? The unnamed stallion laughed a little, not the false, humoring laugh of Canterlot, but a genuine one, that she had only heard from herself in so many years. "Then by all means, one should go and find it. There's a wide world out there, a lady such as yourself should see it all." There was that word again, 'lady.' It pleased her to hear from his lips, and she could only focus on his voice for the moment.
"But," she spoke, "Isn't that an awful big place to be all alone?" She stepped back, realizing her tone. Did she want something from this pony, like all those in Canterlot wanted from her? No, it was him she wanted. He Laughed again, that glorious, boistrous laugh, and nodded to her.
"That it is, and far too big a world for just one pony. So many things to see..."
"So many things to do..."
"So much left unsaid..."
"So many ponies to say it to."
"Rainbow Daaaaaaaaash!!!" Rainbow snapped to, with that sudden interruption. She recognized the voice, but pushed it back in her mind, returning to the subject at hoof.
"Never mind her, she's probably just mad about something," the stallion quipped, smiling slyly to Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, you're probably..." Rainbow stopped herself. "No. Twilight is a blowhard and a fool, but she doesn't call out for anypony, for any reason. I have to go back." Her current companion was aghast as she turned away from him. "I must move on... I will not be here, when you come back."
"Then I apologize. Twilight has caused me nothing but trouble since I met her; she's alienated everypony I tried to speak to, always demanding inordinate tasks, and constantly flaunting Equestrian law, sure to drag me down with her..." Rainbow shook her head, and then smiled, already beginning her way back. "But she's my friend. I can't just leave her behind, not for all the world." Without another word, Rainbow Dash took off, above the trees, and toward the voice she heard. Immediately, she saw her friend, dangling for dear life, lose her grip and plummet into the chasm. Without one thought, she dove below her, swooping in fast as she could with the trees in the way, the two of them once again tumbling, though on the other side of the ravine, and together.
Twilight stared in quiet awe to Rainbow Dash, mane in her eyes, finally able to breathe again. There was so much she wanted to say, to do, to show her appreciation, but she found herself brushing her coat off, turning away with a huff. "Took you long enough," she said with a huff. Rainbow was speechless, staring in disbelief at that, but soon, her confusion gave way to a small smile. She stepped up beside Twilight, patting her on the back with one hoof before heading back up the hill.
"Yeah, I'm sure when you come to save me, you'll be a lot faster about it." She was a pain in the flank, but Rainbow Dash could take it; somepony had to. Twilight was puzzled herself, her head tilting as wondering where their spirited banter went just then. She realized they had to get going again, and rushed behind Rainbow.
"Wait up!" She cried out, as it occurred to her about another facet of their journey. "Where do you suppose the others went?"
Rainbow Dash looked back through the trees, trying to remember all the twists and turns she took to get to this point. "I don't know," She finally responded, "But we're going to find them. I can promise you that."