//------------------------------// // Inquiry // Story: Whipstitch // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// In his many years in the Everfree forest, Eclipse had never seen anything like Whipstitch's reaction before. Even as far as far as fairytrail reactions went, he hadn't seen anything as horrifying and fascinating as that before. Not since Discord's main battle with Threadmane, the original reason for Fairytrail's "curse." Nopony had seen him watching the events unfold from one of the stained glass windows, but he had seen the entire transformation unfold. He had watched his "student" suffer as her hair grew to enormous lengths and trapped her in its strands. He had watched this with both a mix of awe and horror, holding himself back from helping her for only one reason: he needed to see if there was any way that she could overcome it herself, almost as a test to see if she would be allowed to continue her lessons. She had managed to convince him in spite of her failure, but something that one of the other ponies had said had piqued his curiosity. "I've seen Whipstitch's 'time of the year.' This is much, much tamer..." The unicorn had been a friend of Whipstitch's, he knew that much, but he didn't know where the pony lived. Wasn't his name... "Penn-something?" Well, maybe I should have a talk with "Penny..." I have to know more about this, both for her sake and the sake of those around her. He looked side-to-side, checking to make sure that neither Celestia nor Luna were nearby, then snapped his fingers, disappearing from sight and existence. Whipstitch let out a long yawn as she finally arrived home, happy to hear the buzzing of her bees and the running water in her house again. Canterlot was nice, but she wouldn't trade all the plush pillows and down comforters in the world for her home. With a flash of her horn, she pulled open her door and walked inside, using the magical glow to light her way in the rapidly setting sun. Setting her bags down to be taken care of later, she walked to her bedroom, exhausted. As she pulled open the door, however, a small piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Despite her yawning, her curiosity outweighed her tiredness, and she picked it up to read it. A challenge awaits you to see the payoffs of your formal training as a "Daughter of Chaos." If this special surprise you wish to see, take a quick trek into Everfree! Chaos waits you, and many a puzzle. So go to bed, wake up, and get to work, on the double! If you wind yourself troubled, and don't know where to go, here's my hint for you: Follow winds that don't blow! And if you don't like my riddle, no need to say much! I'm not Discord, got that? When it comes to riddles, I suck. Your Mentor, -Eclipse Tumult "Give this to Pennington, and he'll have a hernia..." Whipstitch muttered with a grin, placing the riddle on a nearby table. "That was horrible..." She slowly climbed into bed, picking up her special brush for her nightly care of her mane. "But, if a draconequus has a surprise for me, who am I to refuse? I guess I know where I'm going tomorrow... I should ask Penn if he could loan me his map of Everfree." With that, Whipstitch finally ended her night and shut off the light, letting cozy darkness steal its way into her room and surround her, carrying her warmly into the land of dreams. Meanwhile, back in town, one pony was still awake, locked in his study with a softly crackling fire to provide light. Pennington Inkwell sat up in his chair, looking down as he found that he had filled yet another scroll with text, from top to bottom. He reached for a new one to continue his most recent piece of fiction, only to find that he had once again exhausted the small supply that he kept in the study, and only the bare wood of the desk met his hoof in return. Rolling his eyes, he glanced around the room to find his normal supplier of scrolls, a young dragon whom he was only just getting used to having around. "Moonstone, I need-" He cut himself off abruptly as he finally spotted the small dragonet. She had curled up in the fireplace, nestled among the coals and flames. The red glow nearly made it impossible to see her lavender hues, but Pennington couldn't hide a smile at the sight. Moonstone was usually watching him at all times, taking Luna's order to "watch for his well-being" more seriously than Pennington believed was necessary, but in this quiet moment she looked at peace, with her tail curled around her like a cat and the tiniest of smiles tugging at her lips. Her body slowly rose and fell with each breath, and the occasional purple flame out flash among the red. Pennington knew that he was going to have to put her into bed later but, for now, she looked as if she were dreaming of something good. He smiled to himself and quietly slipped out of his chair, doing his best not to make a sound as he snuck across the floor and out of the door to his study. He kept the majority of his writing supplies upstairs, where he had his living space. At this moment, he regretted the dozen locks that he had installed on the door. He knew that they were there with good reason, but he also knew that the sound of unlocking them would probably wake Moonstone. As he continued to look, however, he noticed that the door was actually cracked open, and the locks had never engaged. He let out a long sigh, shooting a bemused glare at the fireplace. I'm going to have to remind her not to leave the door open... With a shrug, he pulled the door open and silently stepped into the hallway. Or, at least, what should have been the hallway. Somehow, he seemed to have walked into the Canterlot gardens, instead. "What the-" Pennington spun back around, but his study was gone, too! He had been somehow transported all of the way to the Royal Labyrinth. His eyes narrowed in suspicion of foul play, and a white mist began to leak off of his horn. As he formed his weapon, he took a moment to analyze his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be the Royal Labyrinth, though there were forces at work here that he obviously wasn't going to trust. The moon was high in the sky, casting everything in a milky glow and leaving long shadows that could be hiding any number of enemies, pony or otherwise. Looming over him, on the other side of a small courtyard, was Discord's statue, encased in stone and still in the grotesque position of horror that it had been in the last time that the Elements of Harmony were used against him. Even in his prison, though, Pennington refused to trust the deity of chaos. As the mist finally solidified into a short sword, specifically a scimitar, he saw a small object begin to emerge from behind the statue. Pennington's eyes immediately caught the movement, watching it intently for any kind of threatening action. After a few seconds, he finally recognized what it was: a flag. A white flag. Immediately, he looked to either side, looking for some kind of enemy to pounce while he was distracted. "I've had that trick used on me before! You surrender, then your friends jump out of the shadows!" "N-no! Really! I don't want any kind of fight, I just want to talk..." As the flag continued upwards, Pennington saw an eagle claw holding it, and a pair of mismatched horns began to emerge. He watched in shock as a draconequus came out from behind the statue, moving slowly to avoid any kind of suspicion. Immediately, Pennington stepped back, brining the glowing blue sword in front of him. It was easy to pick up on the fact that this wasn't Discord, they acted nothing alike. Where Discord had been confident and seemingly without fear, this new draconequus seemed almost afraid of him. He didn't want to take any chances, however... "The last time there was a draconequus around, my study got flooded... with ink." "I'm sorry if my brother caused you any trouble... he's gotten bitter over the years, I'm afraid." Eclipse replied, taking slow steps forward. When Pennington didn't retreat, Eclipse walked closer, waving the white flag every few seconds. When he was close enough, the draconequus extended his lion paw to Pennington in a friendly gesture. "My name is Eclipse. Eclipse Tumult..." Pennington eyed the paw suspiciously, keeping his hoof to himself. "So, if you just want to talk, why transport me out of my home, away from where anypony could see or hear us? Seems suspicious to me..." "Well, if you'll believe it, I feel slightly more confident about talking when I don't feel like there's a pony out to get me around every corner... I would have written you a letter, but this is slightly urgent." Eclipse frowned and let down his paw, realizing that the pony's suspicion wouldn't allow him a hoofshake. "Besides, from what I know about Fairytrail, this isn't something to be talked about in a place where others can hear." He sat back down at the base of Discord's statue, putting the tips of his fingers together. "Whipstitch recently came to me to learn more about chaos and how to use it to her advantage. I think that her episode in the grand hall may have been a result of that. You, however, mentioned that this was not what we would call a 'fully-fledged freak-out.'" Pennington finally began to put the pieces together, realizing Eclipse's next words before he even spoke them. "She made the choice to continue her lessons, but I need to know the full potential of what could go wrong. I need you to tell me what you know about Whipstitch's full transformation. Pennington thought for a moment, then let his mental grip on the sword fade, allowing it to dissolve back into magical energy and float back into his horn. He shuddered when he did so, since it always left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth. "Whips would kill me if I told you. You know that, right?" "Judging from what you said to the princesses when you came to rescue her, she might kill somepony else if you didn't..." Pennington nodded. "Touchè, Eclipse Tumult... Fine. I'll tell you about what happens to Whipstitch." He scowled as he sat back on his haunches, settling in for a while. "But I'll only tell you my way... As an author does anything: with a story." His scowl deepened, however, with the moonlight casting dark shadows across his face. "But let me warn you, Eclipse... What you're asking for isn't some pretty little adventure. It's a tale of horror. One from which I barely escaped with my life..." "I'm serious, Penn! Don't follow me!" Whipstitch gave me her most serious glare, one which was almost enough to make me take her warning seriously. "I'm going to be in Everfree for about a week, and I need to be alone while I'm there! You can't be in Everfree while I'm there, okay? Okay?" She paused for a moment, forcing me to purposefully nod my understanding. "Now, I need you to take care of the bees while I'm gone..." Immediately, I stopped nodding. I hated bees. "Your little monsters can take care of themselves! They do it in the wild all of the time!" I regretted the "monsters" comment almost immediately, as Whipstitch gave me a glare that left me somewhat concerned for my safety. She shifted her glare only slightly, as if expecting some kind of changed answer. "I told you, I'm not getting anywhere near them..." "Fine. Just make sure nopony breaks into my shop or my house." She muttered, turning away again to lock her door. "If they do, I'm going to blame you." I rolled my eyes, knowing that her things would be perfectly safe. There hadn't been a burglary in Ponyville in years, and no pony was going to rob Whipstitch's home, which was built into the trunk of a huge willow tree. "Penn, I know what's going on in that sneaky little head of yours!" She suddenly spun around, poking her hoof into my chest. "Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you to come into Everfree until I'm back home! Got that? Your life could depend on it!" "Yes! Fine, Whips! I wasn't even thinking about following you..." I gently moved her hoof away from my chest. "I can take a hint, okay? You don't want me in Everfree!" Whipstitch looked at me, still obviously unsure. She had good reason to be, because nothing was going to stop me from coming this time. She had done this every year since she had moved to Ponyville, making a mysterious trek into Everfree around late autumn, missing Nightmare Night, and returning looking beat-up and tired. I'd always wanted to know what she did out there, but something had stopped me every time. One year, my publisher had decided to pay me a visit about my next book, the next, Pipsqueak had made me promise to take him to the Nightmare Moon statue after trick-or-treating. This year, however, I had cleared my calendar. I had no visitors coming, no transcripts to be sent or commissions to be written, and no plans for Nightmare Night. This year would be the year that I unraveled the mystery, just as sure as the air was turning chilly and the leaves were changing color. Little did I know that what was about to unravel was going to be the boundary between reality and nightmare... This was it. I took a deep breath of the night air, feeling the crisp air fill my lungs and cool my pounding heart. I had been in Everfree many times before, and hardly batted an eye at the monsters and dangers within, but something felt different, this time. It was almost like the forest didn't want me to come in, sending me a subliminal message of warning that sent shivers down my spine. I quickly shook off the feeling and began to walk forward, entering the dense foliage without abandon. Rather than the typical sensation of pushing my way through branches and vines, it almost felt as if I were being pulled inside, and the trees were simply pulling me in. I came to a stop until the feeling passed listening to the chirping of nearby crickets and other insects. For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that, while Everfree was familiar territory, I had never been in the forest on Nightmare Night, and there might have been some kind of change. "Come on, Pennington! Snap out of it!" I whispered. "Nightmare Night was a holiday made by ponies for ponies. There's no supernatural phenomena about it! It's just another night..." My nerve regained, I pressed forward again, ears open for the sounds of dangerous animals and intently focused on my sense of smell. While most dangers would give away their position with noise, many of Everfree's resident perils, such as poison joke or a timber wolf, would be earlier detected by their distinct aromas. It was my normal frame of mind for traveling through the forest, keeping every sense keen and alert. I was glad that I did, too. After almost an hour of trying to find some small remnant of whatever path Whipstitch must have taken, I detected a light trace of a familiar scent. It smelled like decayed wood and mildew, mixed with the sickly-sweet stench of rotting meat. My eyes grew wide with fear as I realized that I had to be close to a timber wolf. Or that a timber wolf was close to me. I continued walking, trying to act as if nothing had happened, as my eyes darted from side to side, trying to spot a sign of where it was. Timber wolves never travelled alone, so it was safe to say that I had picked up the scent of a pack The main problem was, of course, that if I could see them, then they could see me, and that meant that I was not only being hunted, but they were confident enough to close in on me. I had dealt with timber wolves before, true, but as the awful smell grew stronger, I could tell that there were more than a few of them. This was an entire pack. I finally stopped walking, letting my magic flow out and surround my body. As I felt the warm energy press against my skin, slowly solidifying into a set of spiked armor. The ability to form items out of magic had been a skill that I had learned years ago and put into good practice, but the tiredness that washed over my body reminded me of the sheer amount of energy that it took to create my armor. A low growl rolled out of the darkness, and I snapped my head toward the source. A pair of glowing green eyes leaped out of the darkness, and a timber wolf erupted from the bushes, jaws open wide and snarling. I had been expecting this from the previous times that I had fought a timber wolf, and I remembered what it was that I needed to do. Ducking down, I grabbed one of its front legs and threw it over my head in a practiced motion. Instead of the usual clatter of the branches shattering from formation on a tree trunk or large rock, however, I was surprised to hear the sound of wood striking wood, and more low growls. I slowly turned around, and the smell of decay washed over me in a wave. Blinking, I saw my enemies for the first true time: five timber wolves were helping their comrade to stand again, and glaring at me with their eerie green eyes. One wolf would have been simple. Two wolves, harder, but manageable. Three wolves would have been very dangerous. These six, in addition to even more that I could hear growling behind me, was a death sentence. I was surrounded, and the hairs raising on the back of my neck seemed to be telling me that the others were about to take their own turn to pounce. There was only one way out, and it was going to be risky, because the moment had fallen to a test of nerve. If I acted first, I risked spurring an overwhelming counterattack. If I waited for them, they could make it impossible for me to maneuver my way out of the situation. I slowly bent my knees, trying not to provoke them. I was only going to have one shot. As the growling grew in volume I finally made my move, jumping up an launching myself as high as I could into the air. The wolves all jumped at me at once, and I made a desperate grab upwards, latching onto a tree branch just above my head. The timber wolves all crashed into a heap below me, and I pulled myself onto the branch, struggling to muster the strength as I let the magic of the armor melt back into my body. After a few seconds, the timber wolves all had stopped and looked up at me, some jumping up and trying to grab me from below. "Ha! You guys only figured it out in three seconds! You're not as dumb as you look!" I laughed, waving down at them. It was too early to be celebrating, but it was either that, or let them hear my knees clattering. Acting overconfident steadied my nerves. "Tell you what! If you're good little timber wolves, maybe Santa Hooves will bring you all a little something on Hearth's Warming Eve!" One of the wolves seemed to recognize my mocking tone, and slowly prowled to the tree trunk. With a small jump, it pressed its front paws against the trunk. I could almost see a smug grin in the wooden teeth as it dug its claws into the bark, and its eyes flashed with a brighter light. Suddenly, the branch I was standing on jarred upwards, knocking the wind out of my stomach and throwing me into the air. I cringed as I flew up, then down, and cringed as I slammed into the ground, having the breath pushed out of my body anew. "Controlling trees... That's a new one..." I wheezed and staggered to my hooves. I had been thrown only about twenty feet from the wolves, who were beginning to advance, all smiling with the confidence in their victory. They moved forward very slowly, and I knew why they were doing so: they wanted to chase me. My heart was pounding, and my lungs seemed to be working again, so I nodded my understanding. If it was a chase that they wanted, it was a chase they would get! "Forgive me, Pennington..." Eclipse interrupted, rolling his eyes. "I know that you're proud of you're visit to Everfree, but some of us know what timber wolves are like! Mean, nasty, can make a tree go from 'Weeping Willow' to 'Whomping Willow' in about three seconds... I want to know about Whipstitch!" As Pennington seemed to grow angry, Eclipse's waning patience was pitted against his desire to know about Whipstitch. The desire for knowledge quickly won out. "Look, what I mean is... You're not exactly making a long story short!" It was the pony's turn to roll his eyes, as if Eclipse were some uneducated foal asking a stupid question. "I'm an author, Mister Tumult. If you wanted a quick summary, you should have asked a journalist! I'm giving you all of the details, as if I were writing a book right before your eyes, and you seem to be intent on calling me out for it just before I reach the part that you wanted to hear!" It's EXACTLY like he's writing a book. Can he not just tell a simple story? Eclipse took a deep breath, looked at the quickly-rising moon, then sat back down again. "Fine, but could you try to hurry it up a little?" "You want the info? You get the story. You want the story, you get the whole story." Pennington spoke flatly, his awe of Eclipse having obviously worn off. "Now, do you want to know about Whipstitch, or not?" Eclipse despised being talked down to like this, but he could tell that Pennington would be perfectly willing to leave and take his chances in the maze, not even batting an eye at what might happen if he didn't tell anything more. Folding his arms over his chest, the draconequus nodded his consent, even as his rabbit's foot tapped impatiently on the ground.