//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Everfree Maze // Story: The Goddess Inside Us All // by That_G3_Obsessive //------------------------------// "Oh, come on!" scoffed Dashie. "We can't be lost!" "I'm afraid we are," Twilight said solemnly. "Eek! What was that? Help!" whimpered Fluttershy. "I know, I know," muttered Twilight. Probably to Arcana, her godly hitchhiker. Hey, uh, Risumna? I asked. Any advice? For once, she was quiet. Some help. "What now?" Rarity started to swoon. I feared that she would faint dead away. Thankfully, she didn't. "We keep movin'," said Applejack. "Right!" I bounced. "We're never going to find that old castle just standing around here, silly fillies!" "Pinkie Pie, not now!" Rainbow snapped. "We're trying to find which way to go!" "Hey! Look at me! I've got an idea!" I hopped at the back, trying to get somepony's attention. "Well, that trail looks dangerous," muttered Twilight. "Hellooo? I've got an idea!" I repeated. "But that path is dark, and scary, and full of trees..." Fluttershy whispered. "Guys! I know which way to go!" I yelled. "Pinkie Pie, dear, we're trying to concentrate!" Rarity finally looked at me. "But I know how to find the way!" I said to her. "...but we've already been that way!" Applejack sighed. "What if we mark the path we've taken with a rock or something, and if we get back here we know not to take that path!" I chimed. "I've got it!" Twilight exclaimed. "We mark the path we've taken with a rock, and then if we get back here, we just take a different path!" "But that's what I just-" I protested. "Perfect! Twilight, mark that rock over there, by the second path," Rarity instructed. "Uh!" I sighed. They were never going to listen to me. Twilight's horn glowed magenta, and soon there was a glowing mark embedded into the rock in the shape of Twilight's Element of Harmony. "Why does it get to be your symbol?" Rainbow complained. "Rainbow, we don't have time for this!" Twilight groaned. "Just deal with it, okay?" I wondered if they had had a fight or something. "Great! Let's go!" I trotted to the path, but was stopped suddenly by Applejack pulling my tail back. "Settle down, Sally. We're in this together," she said. "Then let's go!" I tried to go into the woods again, but AJ held fast. "Pinkie's right," Rarity said, strutting past me. "The longer we dawdle here, the more that thing can plan an attack!" "A-attack?" Fluttershy whimpered. "Eek!" "Fluttershy, get out of my tail," Rainbow grumbled, disentangling Fluttershy from herself. "Come on, girls! We've got a shadow monster to get rid of!" Twilight shouted, and the rest of us cheered. And we set off deeper into the forest. We were hopelessly lost now. The path didn't lead us back to the clearing. It was like a maze in there, sometimes the paths so thin we had to walk single file. We couldn't let our guard down in there, for fear of being attacked by one of the many monsters in the forest. It was scary! Poor Fluttershy hid in Twilight's tail and refused to come out, so it was like a train. Rainbow Dash flew next to us, looking bored at the rest of us "land ponies". Meanwhile, I was having a great time! This was like a big adventure! As I hopped around, enjoying the scenery, something in the shadows caught my eye. It looked like a stallion, either that or it was my imagination. I ignored it. The others would call me crazy anyway. The path broadened up into another clearing, but this one was different. While the last one had three paths branching off, this one had five. We chose one. It was the most overgrown, and Twilight said that the oldest part of the forest would have the ruins. Twilight marked the path, and we set off again. Suddenly, I saw daylight up ahead. "What's that?" I asked. "Daylight? But how? We were supposed to be going to the heart of the forest!" Twilight gasped. "I don't know about you," Rainbow shrugged, "but I welcome open space any day. This maze is making me claustrophobic." And with a burst of rainbow light, she zoomed to the light. "Me too." AJ and Rarity both took off after the pegasus, followed by Fluttershy. "Wait-" Twilight called after them. She looked at me, but I was already gone, zipping to the sunshine. When I got there, I nearly crashed into Applejack. She was standing still, staring at something. So were Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. "Oof!" I grunted as Twilight smashed into my back. "What are you guys staring at?" she asked. I jumped to see above their heads, but came immediately down after the sight registered in my eyes. "Why are those ponies in pens?" I asked nopony in particular. "I don't know, Pinkie," whispered Applejack. "Oh! Look at their bland coats!" cried Rarity. "They don't have cutie marks," murmured Fluttershy. "Does that mean they don't have any talents?" "What do you think, Pinkie-" Twilight froze when she saw me. "Pinkie, no!" I had bounced right on up to the strange ponies. "Hi!" I said. "I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?" They ignored me. "Hey! Look at me! Look at me!" I said, trying to get their attention. "Loo-loo-loo! Wee-ooh-wee-ooh!" They still ignored me. "Tough crowd," I muttered. "Pinkie! Get back here!" hissed Rainbow Dash in my ear. I hadn't even heard her approach. I felt a sharp tug on my tail, and I was pulled back into the forest shade. "What in Equestria were you thinking?" demanded Rarity. "Those ponies could be dangerous!" "How?" I asked. "They can't even talk!" "Really?" Fluttershy sounded interested. "Yeah! Come and see!" I bounced back to the pen, this time with the rest of my friends in tow. Twilight still looked nervous, but she followed anyway. "Hey, Twi, you don't have to follow us if you don't want to," Applejack said. "No, I just think we should stay together," she replied. I stopped at the edge of the pen, and showed the ponies to my friends with my hoof. "Excuse me, sirs and madams, but if you'd be so kind as to tell my friends and I what you are doing in that pen..." Rarity smiled at the ponies with no avail. "Hey!" shouted a gruff voice. "How'd you get out?" When I turned, I saw a figure on the hillsides standing on two legs and holding a long tube. It didn't have any fur except on the top of its head. And then the thing charged.