//------------------------------// // The Everfree Forest // Story: Lightning Aura Strike // by Mischievous Blue //------------------------------// The Everfree Forest Lightning quickly stepped behind a tree as several pegasus guards approached. They all stopped on the other side of the tree that Lightning was hiding behind, and they split into four groups. They took off and after a couple of minutes, Lightning emerged out from her hiding place. She sat down and examined her damaged wing. It wasn’t broken, but the bone seemed bruised, which restricted her to the ground. She sighed, gently folded her wing, stood up, and examined her surroundings. It was a forbidding place. Tall trees blotted out almost all the sun, and bushes on the ground sucked up what small light there was. She had heard rumors about a forest below Canterlot that had a strange feel about it; some said evil magic. Also, they said that the clouds moved on their own, with no assistance from magic or pegasus. And worst of all, they said that ponies that went in never came out, because the monsters that dwelled within were always looking for fresh meat. She knew where she was. This was the infamous Everfree Forest. Lightning shook slightly. This was not the place she wanted to be. She would have rather faced imprisonment and execution without a jury. She decided that she was going to get out the way she came and find a way around. She turned around only to find that there was no entrance or exit. The way she had come in had vanished. She looked around in despair. There was no sign of light anywhere. She groaned, remembering her father’s advice for when she was lost: Continue walking forward until you find a familiar landmark. “Great,” she muttered to herself as she started off in the direction she felt she came from. “Just great. That advice would be helpful if there was a familiar landmark!” She shouted the last four words. No response or sound followed. Silence was her only accompanying friend, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if that left, too. She continued trotting down the route she had chosen for close to twenty minutes without a sign of open fields, sky, or even searching guards. Then she noticed something: a large tree with moss growing out of it in a bizarre spiral shape. She gaped with disbelief at what she was seeing. This was the exact tree she had hidden behind to elude the Canterlot guards! She had gone nowhere, except in a circle. She groaned again and flopped down. Her useless wing fanned out and dropped to the ground as well. “That’s just bucking great.” This day kept getting better and better. === After building a fire and cooking something with some kind of oil from some strange plant, she decided it was time to find a place to sleep. She managed to flap her one working wing well enough to gather the lowest pine needles from the lowest branches. She splayed them out into a workable bed on the ground. If she had more time, she could have made a hammock, but it was getting dark, and there was little light before. She curled up into a little ball, holding her tail between her hooves for comfort and warmth. She could still taste the bitter tasting plant she had eaten in the back of her throat where she couldn’t quite cough it up, and she couldn’t quite swallow it down. “Worst haybacon strips ever,” she quietly grumbled before she closed her eyes and let sleep carry her off to a place far away from this cursed forest. She was getting ready for the Gala with her friends, Moon Gem and Sunset Breeze. Each had a beautiful dress, made by the finest dress maker in Canterlot. Lightning had a dress that had a magical ability that when it caught the light just right, a large wave of static flowed down the length of the dress. The magic used to make electricity controlled and restricted with simple fabric was not enough, as the fabric burned when the static was set off. The dress maker had to gather the assistance of other dress makers from Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Ponyville to design a fabric that was flame-proof, as well as would irritate the static within for a more impressive display. Needless to say, when the dress arrived, the bill from the dress maker was about as much as one of the smaller houses in the neighborhood, equaling no less than 5000 bits. But Lightning paid the bill, galloped to her friends’ houses, and started to get ready for the night of their lives. Lightning woke the next morning to a strange sound next to her ear. It was a sort of snuffling sound, like when a dog sniffs your ear while you’re asleep. She stirred slightly, trying to get away from the uncomfortable breathing. “Come on, sis. Let me rest. Go bother Dad,” she sighed sleepily before rolling back over and opening her eyes a crack. Her eyes flew open so fast she thought her eyeballs rolled 360 degrees in her skull before realigning straight ahead of her. Sleeping, not ten feet from her, was a giant translucent blue bear. Its blue fur was dotted with stars, and through it, Lightning could see trees and shrubs. She jumped up, bumping her injured wing on the nose of the sleeping Ursa Minor. The giant bear just moaned in its sleep and moved its head to the other paw. Lightning started backing away, wondering what she should do. In her haste, she stepped on a twig behind her. The small SNAP was enough to rouse the Ursa. It opened its eyes, and yawned. As it fully woke up, it noticed a small red creature on the ground in front of it. She quickly ducked behind a tree as the Ursa Minor rose to its full height, which was taller than a two-story house. It started to sniff the tree Lightning was cowering behind, when she noticed her flank was warm. Her cutie mark was glowing again. She rolled her eyes. I realize I’m in trouble, mark, she thought to herself. As the Ursa’s nose hit the glowing mark, it recoiled with a snort. The large bear turned and waddled away, giving the tree one last look before disappearing into the underbrush. Lightning let out a large breath and slid down to a sitting position along the tree. She tried to calm her frantic heart. She couldn’t believe she had almost been eaten, and she felt her cutie mark saved her. The Ursa had seemed alarmed by the glowing cutie mark. Maybe this could be used to her advantage? She continued through the forest, looking for an exit. Lightning continued to walk for another hour until her nostrils picked up a stench that made her want to gag. She hesitantly moved forward to the edge of a ridge and looked over. Below her was a river of…something. And there was something in the river. It had three heads and was digging through the mucky river for something. A movement off to the side caught Lightning’s attention. She looked in time to jump out of the way of a Crocodile, whose jaws snapped shut where she had been standing. She whirled around, angrier now than afraid. The croc looked at her with hunger in its eyes. She gave a snort and the croc charged. Because of its bulk, Lightning easily dodged it and jumped on its back and gave it buck to the back of the beast’s head. It gave a strange squeal and ground to a stop. Lightning hopped off and moved to the croc’s face. As she moved toward the river, she gave the crocodile one more kick. She leaped down the embankment, trying to avoid alerting the Hydra to her presence. She started to sneak around the river of sludge and almost made it. During the last couple steps, a large bubble from the river popped and a drop of the foul liquid hit Lightning in the eye. She gave a quiet gasp of disgust and pain, but it was enough to catch the Hydra’s attention. Three heads turned and six eyes fixed themselves on the red pegasus. “Shit,” Lightning said. All three heads of the Hydra licked their lips and the body started towards her. Lightning decided it was time to stop playing around, because this creature probably wasn’t as stupid as the croc, or as timid as the Ursa. She spotted a large bubble off to the side. She ran and jumped at it, and the Hydra followed. Lightning landed on the large bubble and it popped just as she knew it would, propelling her straight up. She forced her useless wing to open. It may not flap, but it still made for a good sailing implement. Her other wing unfolded as well. She landed on the other side of the bank, but the Hydra wouldn’t give up on its prey. One of the heads went for the back of her body, and both of the other heads for her sides. Lightning gave a jump and gave a flap with her one good wing, sending her into a tight corkscrew. The three heads of the Hydra collided into each other, promptly knocking all three of them out simultaneously. Lightning landed on the ground again without a scratch. Seriously, were there any smart monsters anymore? She continued to walk, hoping she was getting close to the exit. This forest was getting more dangerous the farther she went. === Lightning cursed herself as she found herself in this cursed forest for the second night in a row. She figured that she would get out of the forest before dusk. She never imagined that the forest was this big. The only thing she was glad for was that she hadn’t run into any other monsters since the Hydra. But as fate would have it, she spoke too soon. There was a blur off to the side so fast she didn’t catch it until it hit her with the speed of a daredevil pegasus. She slammed chest first into the ground and her arms were wrenched behind her back. She felt cold metal just above her hooves, and she knew what hit her: a Canterlot pegasus guard. They had finally found her. Another guard came out of the bushes, fixed a muzzle over her face, and began reading Lightning her rights. Well, I guess this is better than wandering through this forest for the rest of my life, Lightning reasoned as the guard on top of her pulled her to her hooves. She felt something go around her waist and the guard on front of her secured some straps across her belly. She felt some pressure across her wings and knew what this device was. It was a wing restraint system. It was used on criminal pegasi so they couldn’t use their wings. Now she couldn’t use her hooves, mouth, or wings. Not like I could use my wings if I wanted to. The guards started dragging her away, until they stopped suddenly. Their ears flattened and they started backing away from the dark clearing. Two yellow eyes glowed from the dark and a timberwolf emerged from the trees. The guards bolted and took to the skies. Now it was only Lightning and the timberwolf in the low-lit clearing of the Everfree Forest. She slowly sat down and moved her hoofcuffed hooves under her legs and in front of her and started undoing the wing restraint from her chest, never taking her eyes off the wolf. The wolf growled low in its throat, drool dripping from its mouth. She finished undoing the straps and pushed it off her back. She then raised her hooves and proceeded to remove the muzzle. She really hated those things. They were way too tight and left marks if left on too long. She realized that she didn’t have the keys for the cuffs. Well, this will be interesting. Let’s see how long I can outrun a timberwolf cuffed before I’m caught. The timberwolf was now obviously angrier than before. The growl was much louder and it started moving at Lightning. Lightning got to her hooves, and started circling. The timberwolf followed suit. As Lightning got the spot the guards had starting dragging her to, she turned and bolted. She figured that if the guards were trying to take her this way, there must be a place to live over there. “Come on, come on,” she muttered as she tried to run with the cuffs and their restrictive chain. She could hear the sound of the wolf crashing through the trees and plants behind her. It didn’t matter if it hit a tree straight on, it would just split apart and heal on the other side. She noticed something sticking out of the ground in front of her. It looked thin and strong enough to cut her chain, so she leaped as hard as she could with her hooves extended toward the sharp object. As the object cut through the chain, she rolled away from the sharp object and missed it so close that she felt the blade rub against her fur. She could now run full speed, and she did. As she took a quick look behind her, she saw the wolf run into the blade and stumble as it lost a leg. Lightning looked back forward and was relieved to see a small patch of light. She ran faster, knowing what waited ahead. In just a few seconds, she burst through the forest into the light, still hearing the snorting and puffing of the timberwolf behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw six ponies and a lake. She tripped on a rock and fell heavily to the ground, and she knew her life was over. There was no way that she could get back up and still avoid getting eaten by the wolf. She lay on the ground and waited for the sharp teeth to puncture her skin and end her life. She had seen what those things could do to ponies. She waited, and waited. No teeth hit her. She flipped around to see the remains of the timberwolf lying around the ground. As hunger and exhaustion started stealing her consciousness, she heard an orange pony say in a country accent, “It’s a good thing we put up that wolf defense, ‘specially after las’ time.” Just before her vision was consumed by darkness, she saw a purple face appear above her and ask in a distorted voice, “Are you alright?”