"Can't the pegasi just... fly away?" I realized, flipping my white hair back behind my ear.
"No. No, there's a time lock. Leave the bubble and you're erased from history." The Doctor seemed to reach for an unknown pocket, then growled angrily.
"What?" Twilight asked, confused.
"I don't have my sonic, either. It's in my coat." He sighed, trying to keep his frustration in check." Okay. You know what? It's fine. Because I've got--" He threw a hoof over my shoulder, followed by Roseluck's as he pulled us into a hug. "My trusty companions. Eh? We'll be fine. We just have to stick together, and figure this out."
I watched as he trotted off, heading through the fog into some deeper part of the woods. Something about his pace was rather... jaunty. He seemed almost pleased with the whole 'impending doom, evil creature in the woods' thing. I rolled my eyes, but was the first to follow him into the dark.
We hadn't gone too far when we came to almost a wall of trees. It looked too dense to want to worm through comfortably, so the Doctor turned around. "Okay. Left or right, then?"
And the inevitable happened.
Soarin and Rainbow said right.
The rest of us said left.
"Well, then, you four go left, and we'll go right!" The Doctor suggested.
"Didn't you just tell us to stick together?!" Twilight yelled, exasperated.
"Well... yes, but I think as long as we're in small-ish large groups we'll be fine. Safety in numbers, eh?" He said nonsensically, patting Soarin on the cheek.
"I'm still not sure what exactly it is we're looking for," Twilight said, after a moment of confused silence.
The Doctor sighed dramatically. "Listen, please! They're little pieces of notebook paper with... disturbing messages. I want to find them all, and bring them together."
"Why?" Twilight asked.
The Doctor stuttered a bit, trying to form words, but only letting out odd sounds. Finally, he said, "Because it makes sense!" He pointed an accusing hoof. "Don't question my logic! I've done stuff like this lots of times!" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, judging by the position of the moon, daylight is coming in... ooh, three hours. Meet back here at sunrise. Got it?"
We nodded.
"Good. Good, good. Okay, good luck all of you!" He trotted off to the right. "Allons-y, Rainbow! You too, Soarin!"
We watched silently as the mist swallowed up the Doctor and his two friends. Needless to say, it got scary pretty quick. Not that I would ever admit that.
"Um... looks like we need a leader," Rose murmured.
"I nominate Twilight." I said, pointing at the purple pony.
"I-I--" Twilight stuttered.
"Yeah, that sounds good!" Pinkie agreed.
Rose shrugged. "Why not?"
"Okay..." Twilight muttered. "Yeah, I guess."
"Cool." I said. "Lead on, leader"
Twilight gulped audibly, then took a shaky step toward the left path. The soft pine needles dulled the sound of her hoofsteps as she plunged into the darkness. We followed her, only seeing the swaying navy blue tail through the fog.
It felt like the mist went on forever, and I was starting to worry that we were wandering in circles.
I was feeling a sort of ache in the pit of my stomach, and a sort of tingle in the back of my neck. The feelings were keeping me alert, and I was jumpier than I had ever been. I, Lyra Heartstrings, was afraid. Deeply afraid.
And it all went downhill from there.
Twilight shrieked suddenly, ducking to the ground and covering her ears. We ran to her, shaking her and trying to help her to her hooves.
Then Pinkie screamed. She stuck her hooves in her ears, too, and laid down, shaking violently.
Next, Rose howled in pain. She cowered on the ground, too.
Then I heard it. It was a low-frequency whine coming from the center of my head. It got louder and higher in pitch until it was painful, and I think I screamed. Then there was a pop, and the world went quiet. All I could hear was this low, static-like hum that buzzed around my head. I rubbed my ears with my hooves, trying to get feeling and use back into them. I wasn't sure if I could see, and there was no chance I was opening my eyes. The sound in my head was becoming more and more like the sound of a radio between stations. Just static that droned on and on.
I felt a gentle hoof on my shoulder. It shook me, trying to get me to open my eyes. I relented, my right eye opening a tiny crack. Twilight stood over me. She mimed taking my hooves out of my ears. I trusted her, so I slowly removed my hooves. There was still no sound, but Twilight charged up her horn and cast a spell around my ears. For a moment, the whole world was in shades of pink and purple. There was a pop, and my hearing returned.
"Wh-what the hell was that?" I panicked.
"It was a numbing spell. An incredibly powerful one, cast with a very small zone of affectation. That means it was cast by an extremely adept user."
"Translation?" Rose asked.
Twilight sighed. "Somepony in these woods has magical skills of my level." She looked worried, then added, "And that's saying something."
Pinkie gulped.
"Well... l-let's just keep going," I stuttered with shaking breath.
Rose nodded. "Good plan."
Twilight took a deep breath and continued. She brought her pace up to a trot, trying to get through to some sort of landmark. Luckily, within a few minutes, one presented itself to us.
At first, it was just a single branch. It had no leaves or needles to speak of, and it seemed to spiral out of the fog as we approached it. The branch was thin, giving the impression of illness, and it grew in an unnatural twirling form. Twilight slowed, following the branch with her eyes to a trunk that was thick and grounded. It's roots were knotted and gruesome, and it almost appeared to be reaching up through the earth to grab at your ankles. The entire tree seemed to be twisted, contorted, and wrong.
The four of us walked slowly towards it, ducking the claw-like branches to reach the base of the trunk.
A single piece of paper flapped in the breeze. It was thin, definitely notebook paper, and was attached to the tree with an out-of-place piece of cellophane tape.
Twilight grabbed it with her magic. The corner was missing, but it was still perfectly readable.
In large, hasty letters, were three chilling words:
LEAVE ME ALONE
Each word had been underlined, and there was a crude drawing of one of the pine trees near the right side.
We stared at the page, trying to analyze it and derive it's meaning.
But the rattling breaths above our heads made it hard to concentrate.
Twilight's once steady magic shook, and the page dropped to the ground. She looked up, as did the rest of us, straight into the featureless face of what had to be the Slendermane.
The worst part was, we couldn't even try to run.