Gradually, through the help of two golden apples apiece, the unicorn and the earth pony alike had lost their wounds and were eating apples under their own power. Twilight ate one too, marveling at the smooth, delicious flavor of them, and kept an eye on the moon for time: it looked as if they'd only lost an hour or so, but she knew she had to get going again soon. “So... Scratch, right? And Octavia? What... Why're you...”
“Out here?” Octavia said softly in a voice like crystal chimes. The earth pony had come to after the first apple, and had given Twilight the most peculiar look before turning to help Scratch. “That depends, what's Twilight Sparkle, the Terror of Canterlot, doing in the realm of the Beast looking after lost changelings?” Changelings is what they had called themselves, from the old term for a faerie construct left in place of a foal. She had always dismissed those tales as excuses of overworked parents, or grieving mothers, but in the Hedge it rang ominously true.
“Somepony ought to, as cliché as that sounds,” Twilight joked, though the piercing gazes from the two mares seemed so unamused she coughed embarrassedly, “A-and I'm looking for the little sister of a friend of mine, who was taken by the Beast, and I have until sunrise to bring her back. So if you want to go back, go ahead, but I have to save Applebloom.”
Scratch and Octavia looked at each other, and nodded. They rose as one and bowed to Twilight, “Twilight Sparkle, we owe you our lives, but we're unsuited to work like this.” Twilight's face must've shown her disappointment, because Scratch continued hurriedly, “But if you want our help once this is over, just look us up in Canterlot. Also, keep those apples,” she pointed to the pile of golden fruit still remaining, “If you survive, give those to Princess Celestia, she needs them terribly.” Octavia nodded mutely, never really one for words, emphasizing her mate's soft alto voice with her glowing purple gaze.
Twilight nodded and focused for a moment, then conjured a pair of saddle-baskets, into which she piled the golden apples before securing them with a conjured bit of tarp. She turned to thank the mares, but they had already dashed off down the way Twilight had come. Twilight sighed, “Alone again...” The purple unicorn's attention was grabbed by the whimpering of the green unicorn-thing whose horn was still trapped between the two horrible standing stones despite its constant attempts to escape. At Twilight's thought, the stones released the creature, who fell backwards and found himself staring up at the grim, burning visage of Twilight Sparkle.
The green equinoid scrambled to his hooves and groveled before Twilight, “Greetings, oh Maiden of the Flames, whose unsullied wrath brought low the Bloody Walker... Uh... What can Scum do for you?” Scum tried another smile, but the horrible visage above him seemed impassive and enigmatic. He felt himself magically lifted and placed on his hooves, facing the tall purple unicorn with the mane of violet flame and whispering words trailing off her like living cobwebs of shadow.
Scum wasn't the sanest pony in the Hedge, as his sojourns into the real world were brief at best. He distantly remembered he used to have a family, but one of the first things the Beast had made him do was murder them. Ever since his whole life had been shaped by the Beast, serving his master's every bizarre, cruel whim. As a consequence, he didn't see Twilight in the usual manner. To Scum, Twilight appeared as a dark unicorn of purple, orange, shadows and grinning teeth, like Nightmare Moon but with dusk, full of the terrible potential at the end of the day. To Scum, Twilight's mane was like living flame, full of fire and shadow with whispering words at the edge of his hearing. Scum started trembling, “Scum applauds the Maiden's victory, but... T-The Beast will be most short with her for assaulting his guest.” He winced, expecting a buck to the face from those terrible hooves.
Twilight frowned. This creature seemed more like a whipped victim to her than a villain really, and something about him seemed not entirely there. She smiled, then said brightly, “Then I had best go apologize. Scum, can you show me the way to the Beast please?” The green creature looked at her like she'd gone mad, then flinched and nodded. “Show me then, Scum.”
Scum swallowed, then nodded to the path beside the golden fruit tree, from which the Bloody Walker had emerged. “That way, Maiden, the Beast is past the two other clearings like this one, in which a mighty garrison will be ready to greet thee with... Pomp and circumstance.” Scum had a cunning glint in his eye, and Twilight suspected there would be more than musical greetings at the next clearing.
Still, she had no other way to go and so approached the path with the green Scum in tow, who was too terrified to run now on top of his injury, especially when Twilight's presence alone was making the path of the Hedge here like a twisted library with her ambient power, where the books fluttered and thrashed in the brambles-turned-shelves like birds caught in the blackberries. Scum tried not to listen to the whispering of the pages, which hissed terrible things to him as he walked, but they were everywhere, so instead he talked to the tall unicorn, “Um... Scum wishes to ask, Maiden, why you seek the little pony-child, since she is not your own.”
Twilight kept walking for a little while, “Because, Scum, I promised to.” Surprisingly, Scum nodded understandingly and dropped back into silence. After a long while Twilight asked, “Why were you hurting those ponies, Scum?”
“Hurting, Maiden? I was preparing them for their new keeper,” said Scum with a trace of puzzlement, “The Bloody Walker insists his charges be almost bloodless, that he might save them with the blood from his own body. Besides.” Scum continued, “My master, the Beast, ordered me to do so.” Twilight and Scum walked for a while in silence, the latter sure this creature beside him was no Lady, but equally sure he couldn't run with the damage the white thing had inflicted on him or the horrible consequences his actions would have. Twilight however, found pity welling up for this strange, mad creature, “So, Scum, where are you from? Where did your master pick you up?”
Scum blinked, and said softly after several long moments, “Scum... Doesn't know. There was... A farm, I think, with... With grain... And... And carrots...” Scum felt strange, recalling the farm, and almost missed directing Twilight down the correct fork towards the next grove. He would've gotten her happily lost, but for a lingering fear that she'd somehow find him afterwards. Something about this mare scared him deeply, there was something unpredictable and volatile about her that had given her the strength of will to completely destroy the Bloody Walker, a Faerie Lord of significant power, though nowhere near the power of his master, the Beast. Something about her was iron, he decided: cold and hard, with a heart that burned with fury, and it terrified him.
The Red Bastion was the name of the second clearing, Scum informed Twilight subserviently, and like the last it had a very clear entryway that resisted the bookishness of the rest of the Hedge, but unlike the last it came with a building. The Bastion itself was a huge, blocky stone building with doors that were made of solid silver that, while polished to a mirror shine, didn't reflect the two equines. In the case of Scum, this was probably a blessing, but Twilight found it deeply unnerving. Some sort of industry was going on inside, and some sort of stench was gently wafting from the closed door. “The Red Bastion, Maiden,” Scum said obsequiously, “I will arrange passage through, Maiden if you will but wait...” But Twilight had already knocked on the door, which cracked and disintegrated under her iron-shod hoof, to her surprise and Scum's silent horror.
Twilight almost passed out from the stench that powered out once the door fell away. It was horrible, like every terrible scent she'd ever smelled rolled in Diamond Dog muck. And it was loud: a constant grinding, rumbling noise, like a gigantic mill that pressed against her ear drums. She winced, then straightened and walked in, with Scum trailing warily after, whimpering softly.
Author's note: Chapter postings will slow down now, got lots of classwork to finish, but never fear, I shan't leave you hanging! Well, for long anyway.