//------------------------------// // Lost // Story: Terror Begins at Twilight // by maxxxxxx //------------------------------// “W-what do you mean lost?” Rainbow's head swung back, staring down the trail behind them before bringing her attention back to Twilight. “We didn't even make any turns, it's a straight path all the way back to Ponyville.” “I know, it's really strange. I don't remember us taking any turns, but this walk has taken us longer than it should have and we ended up right back here...” Twilight placed a hoof on her chin as she focused, trying to recall if they had accidentally wandered down another path that took them in a circle. “So we got turned around, no big deal, we'll just fly out of here,” Dash said nervously, trying to suppress her eagerness to leave White Tail Woods behind. “That's probably a good idea, if we got turned around in the daylight, I don't think we would fare much better in the dark... still, I'm surprised I didn't notice it, I'm usually more attentive than that...” “Oh well, don't beat yourself up about it, let's figure it out when we get home. Come on, we need to- Gah!” Rainbow winced, groaning in pain as she extended her wings, her teeth gritted hard against the ripping sensation that pulsed through her wing. “Rainbow are you alright!?” Twilight rushed to her marefriend's side. “I- I don't know, my wing really hurts...” She tried to slowly flex out her wing, stretching it gingerly until it was half extended and the pain again shot through her. An involuntary gasp escaped her lips and her legs went weak as she slowly retracted her wing. Rainbow was left huffing for breath as the searing dulled to an ache until her wing was folded back to her side. “Are you going to be okay?! Did you pull a muscle or-” “I don't know Twi, it was fine a minute ago...” Rainbow cut Twilight off in the middle of her panicked questioning. The pain finally faded as her wing was comfortably tucked back to her side. She forced a smile as she looked to Twilight. “It's alright, the pain's gone.” “You looked like you were in a lot of pain, I've seen you with some serious injuries before but you never had a look that that.” Her fretfully eyes filled with worry and compassion as she trotted beside Rainbow. “I told you Twi, I'm better, it doesn't hurt anymore. We should focus on figuring out which way is home, you know, since it'll be dark soon and all.” “I know you Rainbow, you like to put on a brave face but you could be seriously hurt, I need to take a look. I have a spell that will help, can you extend your wing again?” “I'm telling you I'm fine, but if it'll make you feel better, you can take a look.” Despite her words, Rainbow looked back nervously at her side and braced herself for pain as she slowly and cautiously extended her wing. Her mind eased as it unfurled, one-fourth extended and still no pain. Mentally, she was preparing to chalk it up to a coincidence. Good, it's seems like it's better, now we can fly out of here. I've got a bad fee- “Gah!” Rainbow cried as the pain flooded her body, she could almost swear she felt bones snapping as she forced it to stay open. Twilight's horn lit up and surrounded her wing in a purple aura. Dash was trembling, she knew she had to keep it open but the pain was nearing unbearable. “Hurry... up!” “I'm trying, just a few more seconds!” Twilight's eyes darted up and down Rainbow's wing, examining it as fast as she could until her aura faded. “Okay, I'm done!” “Finally!” Rainbow snapped her wing back, hitting her side so fast that even with her feathers and fur, the impact made a smacking sound. Twilight winced, at the sound, sure that it would only cause her marefriend more pain, but to her surprise, a look of relief swept over Rainbow Dash. After catching her breath, regaining her composure, she turned back to Twilight. “So, what was wrong?” “W-well...” Twilight could see Dash trembling, and her seemingly calm breaths seemed synthetic and forced. Worry furrowed Twilight's brow as she took a deep breath before relieving her findings. “Nothing.” “What?!” “Nothing that I could detect anyway! I mean, your bones, muscles and ligaments all seem perfectly fine. Your nerves look right but they might be conducting pain for some reason... I just can't tell why.” “Well something is hurting it,” Rainbow said with a hint of outrage. Does she think I'm faking? No, she knows I wouldn't pull a prank on her like this. What are we going to do though? It'll be sunset in an hour... “Calm down Rainbow, I never said you were lying, I just can't tell you what it is right now.” “If we can't fly out of here what are we going to do? I mean, if we tried to backtrack would might just end up going in circles.” “I don't want you walking around too much since we don't know what's wrong with your wing. I'll just teleport us back to the library, then you should see a doctor.” “Oh yeah, I almost forgot you could do that! Sounds like a good plan!” Rainbow tried to smother her eagerness of leave the forest behind them as quickly as she could. Something felt strange to her, and it became more and more off by the minute, an unsettling pressure in the air, just vague enough for her to be unable to discern anything about it, other than that it wasn't right. “Alright then,” Twilight said as she poured her strength into her magic. Even for her, transporting them far would take up quite a lot of energy. Taking a deep, calm breath, she focused her magic. “Here we go.” A blinding flash of light surrounded the could, enveloping them in powerful magic. As the light surrounded them, an eased feeling of relief overcame Rainbow she felt the strange pressure fade away. As the light faded, Rainbow and Twilight's vision adjusted, the former eagerly awaiting the familiar sights of home as she opened her eye. “W-what happened?” Rainbow looked around her, still surrounded by the familiar golden woods she wished to leave behind. Only, now more frightened than she was before, despite the sun more than an hour away from the horizon only moments ago, the sky was now painted in vibrant shades of pink, orange and dark blue and the sun was low and glowing with a dark, almost blood like red. Now, not only was she still stuck in that forest, her wings bound to her sides from fear of pain and sunset was upon her, but now to her horror, she found, she was more lost than before, as she looked all around her, Twilight, was nowhere in sight.