//------------------------------// // Chapter XXX // Story: Journey to the center of Equestria // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// The circulation of the watch continued all the way through until deep in the next day. Even though the sun was already high and shining down bright into the woods of Everfree, the anthrony who was having the last watch decided to have them let their sleep. Major Rainbow Dash was the last of the group to be having the guard shift as she just peeled her eyes into everything that seemed to be just that little bit unusual. The hours of the morning just ticked away while the sleeping mares had been cutting down the whole of Everfree with their snoring. A sound that was actually highly annoying for the pegasus but also one she could live by. Her spotting point was something a little bit more unusual. For Rainbow made the decision to hide herself somewhere up in a tree. A tree from which it was difficult to spot her but she would be having all the time to look around. As well as being able to see what could be heading their way. She rather played it safe than sorry and even with the light of the sun that shone down upon her, she still remained difficult to be spotted. Though one thing had to be admitted by all of them, the night was a lot different than they had expected. The calm after the storm was genuinely taken advantage of as the rest of the company still laid vastly asleep. Only Twilight wasn’t granted the guard watch as she was having her own difficulties to deal with. Being wounded by the devilish creature and hunted by the timberwolves made certain she could be sleeping all night long. Rainbow wasn’t even mad on it. She could understand that Twilight wasn’t the same old as she came  her to know. The magenta red rimmed eyes continued to pry themselves through the vegetation of the forest in the hope to see a sight she had been seeing for a long time already. The calm of the woods. Of course had she seen wolves and even shades of anthronies wandering through the forest, but they all stayed on a relatively safe distance. Their location was known by pretty much everything that lived inside of the woods. Yet they did have something they didn’t. And that was the light of the sun. The very light that seemed to vanquish most of the dark souls and spirits that wanted to harm the group. The wind that made the leaves rustle was something that comforted the pegasus as well as gave her the chills. The wind that she felt was the one that came almost straight from the Frozen North itself. Almost as if it was going to repeat the thing that had been done before. Almost as if that same wind would be calling them again, for yet either another problem or revelation. Or in the worst case scenario, it would have been both. Rainbow got a shiver down her spine as she sat a little more straight upon the branch afterward. “Now that’s just cold,” she mumbled to herself. Her head turned itself gently around. With that was the wind not only blowing into her back but also right in her face. It was without a doubt a good wake up call for not only her but the entire group as well. Though just below her could Rainbow hear the sounds of the other anthronies finally waking up. Those sounds caused a massive weight to be fallen off of her shoulders as it meant they had come safely through the night itself. The pegasus nodded calm to herself while she thought to have done a rather good and impressive work when it came down to guarding the place. Little did she –or any of them– knew that the forces of Everfree were still preying upon them. With a couple of quick, swift jumps and her wings, she got back to the forest ground where she silently greeted all of the other mares. Their mumbles of ‘good morning’ weren’t exactly sounding all too happy but it was just another day at their office. Breakfast was served a little while later. Everypony had managed to make itself up for the day. All of them were widely awake as they either leaned against trunks from trees or sat on them. They had already wasted precious daylight and any further delay would be causing them to sleep yet another night in the hellhole. Something Twilight really didn’t wanted to at all. The soothsayer herself extinguished the fires with one mighty blow of her hands. The dying fires almost looked sad that it had to leave them after having protected them all night long alongside the watch. Yet Twilight showed little to no mercy. Eventually she turned herself around to the eating company of mares as the words left her still tired throat. “So today, we need to get out of here as soon as we can. I’m still planning on taking the detour and walk around the last bit of Everfree. Unless any of you objects against it, that is.” “After what we have seen yesterday? No thanks. Just keep going straight and let’s get out of here.” Rainbow was the first to reply once more. All of the others could have said their own words but the major just spoke the ones that they all had upon their very minds. Which then made it rather pointless to also comment. “Good, then I, I, ah!” Twilight winched in pain before she fell down to her knees and reached all over her bandages that went around her middle. “Pain, pain, pain, pain!” she exclaimed in despair. Fluttershy knew more than enough. All of the other anthronies of course wanted help her, though their expertise in the medical field were pretty much zero. Only the doctor held the knowledge with which she could be helping the unicorn. So the yellow skinned pegasus quickly made her way over to her and dropped herself next to her. A strand of hair was placed between both of her ears as she needed to have her eyes completely free from any other obstacles. “Hey, Twilight, listen to me. You have to lay down. You need to stay flat if you want me to investigate.” Fluttershy’s calm and kind tone echoed through the air and into the air of Twilight. Even though the words happened to be well meant, they weren’t taken that way at all by the unicorn. “You try doing that, while it feels like you’re on fire!” she snarled towards the doctor. Another winch was being given by her. Fluttershy just rolled her eyes away for a second before she forced the unicorn down with all of her strength. “Can any of you just hold her for me?! I need to inspect if the wound has been infected,” yelled Fluttershy to the other members of the company. In an instant had they rushed forward in order to get a hold of Twilight. Applejack threw herself on the legs of the soothsayer to prevent her from kicking anypony else. Whereas both Rainbow and Rarity each took an arm. It still left the matter of her head being able to move around. A little fact that worried Fluttershy as well. She had already began to remove the bandages slowly. The screams and curses that came out of the soothsayer were just painful to listen to for all of them. Luckily she never charged up her magic to zap them all off of her. If they didn’t know any better had the soothsayer actually become afraid of using her very own magic. But the head, the head of Twilight never wanted to stay still.  It was a massive annoyance for all of them and Rainbow was perhaps the only one who actually managed to do something against it. A forearm was placed against the throat of Twilight. Though she never squeezed it down like Sunset Shimmer. It was more meant to keep the head in place instead of suffocating the soothsayer. “Keep quiet will you!” hissed Rainbow through her teeth towards her. Rarity focused her attention of Fluttershy. Whatever could have happened to the mare, it wouldn’t have been something nice or good. Slowly but surely were the gruesome details of the wound revealed to each of the anthronies present. The nasty flesh wound that was being made by the organ pipe just didn’t wanted to heal up even as the blood was clotting to seal the wound. The eyes of the doctor went over almost over every single inch of it as she was looking for an infection of some kind. “What do ya think it is, doc?” applejack asked in a low tone as the legs of the unicorn wanted to just keep on kicking her right in the belly. “It’s bad, ain’t it?” Yet Fluttershy shook her head from side to side. “Bad it isn’t. Losing a limb or an eye, that’s bad. This is just a minor setback. I don’t see any form of infection luckily, but the pain shouldn’t exist. Unless…” The doctor had come up an idea. One that seemed to have been almost too crazy to actually work. It was a long shot, but they were all running out of options. She left the body of Twilight with haste and instructed the others to keep it down to the ground. Curses and nasty words were flung all over their ears but they knew they weren’t meant, luckily. Fluttershy then reached for the staff of the unicorn with which she managed to open the void storage again. Fluttershy was truly lucky to have figured out that it was something that actually worked into her own advantage as she began to search for her medical stuff. Bags were taken out, opened up and searched through until they were finally placed back again. Time and speed were both of the essence as she took a couple of test-tubes from a bag. Then she closed the storage again with the help of the staff. As quick as she went, she made her way back to the unicorn. The deed that needed to happen next was one from which she wasn’t all too happy about. Yet it was one that needed to be done in order to perhaps save the life of Twilight. Her eyes looked over to Rarity as she asked the question. “Captain, do you know a really powerful light spell, like a flare or anything. But one that can be taken hold of for a long time without being fired.” The request was something Rarity hadn’t expected to be coming out of the mare her mouth, but she didn’t argue against it. Whether it was liked or not, Fluttershy was in charge for the moment. “Yes, yes I think I might be having one,” she replied with a bit of a struggle. The arm of Twilight wanted to do its own things. “Good, because I will be needing your help soon enough,” the doctor said before she dropped herself once again next to that of Twilight. One of the three test tubes was being opened and with a deep exhale did Fluttershy just drive it right into the wound. A scream of agonizing pain was released by the soothsayer as it felt as if vultures were picking from her insides already. “I’ll kill you all for that! Oh just you wait until I’m out of here! The pain I shall give each of you is something you won’t forget!” she growled and snarled up to the other mares. Of course she didn’t mean them but she had no control over anything anymore. “Yes, yes, yes, just keep quiet!” Rainbow snarled in return . She had almost stepped over the borderline of squeezing the throat shut. But the chance was never given to the pegasus when Fluttershy rose the tubes back up again. All three of them were filled with blood and the three remaining anthronies were looking at it with a curious expression. “Guess this is where I come in?” Rarity then asked. Fluttershy turned her attention over towards the pirate captain and gave a simple nod. It was indeed her time to literally shine. The doctor reached inside of her coat where she took out a pair of glasses that were unlike any other they had ever seen. The glasses that were set on the nose of Fluttershy almost looked like they would be fit for a welder of some sort. “You all might to look away or close your eyes really firmly. The light that comes is going to be really, really bright,” she said to the other mares. Rarity lowered her head a little bit. Applejack and Rainbow couldn’t be doing much else than to just obey to the actions. They both turned their attention away from Fluttershy as Rarity began to charge up the spell. Slowly did the sapphire blue colored magic became brighter and brighter. Almost to the point where it was even whiter than her actual coat. Rainbow Dash moved her arm from Twilight’s throat and over to the eyes which she blocked off. She placed pressure against as well so that she couldn’t be going any other way. The doctor then turned a couple of knobs upon her glasses before the three test-tubes of blood were held within the light separately and then together. The pegasus would have taken her sweet time in order to analyze the blood under different settings from her glasses in the hope to throw out a lot of predictions. One by one they were actually eliminated but the eventual conclusion that she came from was one that perhaps wasn’t liked all too much by the others. One that even endangered the life of Twilight Sparkle herself. As well as showed the utter insanity that was Sunset Shimmer. “She planned it all along. Everything that happened, she must have planned it,” mumbled Fluttershy aloud. She couldn’t believe what she saw inside of the blood. Each of the tubes was given a long time to be looked at. The light of Rarity revealed the secrets that laid within. Secrets that didn’t exactly made the pegasus happy in the least bit. “Oh this isn’t good… Rarity, can you..?” Without a further word spoken had Rarity already began to discharge of her horn. Mere seconds later it was safe again for them all to look at the doctor. “It’s not an infection, she’s poisoned or cursed by something. Something that I don’t even know what to think about. Something arcane, that’s for certain. It is mutating her body from the inside out, that is why she’s having so much pain right now.” Though as Rainbow removed her hand from the eyes of the soothsayer. They looked like the eyes of a demon for just a couple of seconds. The major stared down into those very same eyes before she saw them literally changing back into the normal sized eyes again. Whatever was happening to Twilight, it wasn’t going to be pretty in the least bit. “Ah, girls. I think, Twilight might be turning into that thing she fought. The eyes, they, they kinda looked the same, for just a moment,” stated Rainbow almost immediately to the rest of the group. All of the eyes were aimed at her. Fluttershy rushed herself over towards the soothsayer’s head, she had to confirm it. “W-What did you do to get the conclusion, to get the eyes like…” With a couple of oddly funny looking hand gestures she explained what she wanted to see. As Rainbow Dash actually managed to get it and did it again. Though that time for a whole lot shorter. Once the hand was again removed from the eyes were the demonic pupils visible for only a fraction of a second. That was something that concerned Fluttershy a whole lot more all of the sudden. “Oh this isn’t good at all,” she said to herself. Applejack and Rarity were left quite literally touching the dark. Though before either of the two could have even asked about what was going on, Fluttershy was giving them the answer. The glasses were taken off of her nose and placed back inside the pocket of her coat. She stood up and began to pace up and down near the head of the unicorn, who managed to actually have calmed down her struggling. Either she realized it didn’t help, or the pain that surged through her body had laid down a whole lot. Either way were the other anthronies very happy that she remained quiet. “Believe it or not, but Twilight is turning into one of those horrid creatures we saw her fighting against. I don’t, I don’t have the solution for that on the spot. If there even is one to begin with actually.” Fluttershy spoke up as she released a deep sigh afterwards. Though deep within the mind of Twilight did the conflict just rage one again and again. The memories that she was forced to live through time and time again almost seemed to be more devastating than the fact that she was slowly turning into a demoness. The mental image of Twilight went past the memory of her standing next and staring into the pond of water where she saw it. Her own demoness form in the same fashion as Sunset Shimmer.  It was unbelievable that that puddle of water actually held the power to look right into the future. A fragile looking future that was actually about to become a reality. Though her mental image even dared to travel further backwards. All the way back to the moment just before she tore herself open on the organ pipe. For that was the very moment in which the unicorn realized that everything had gone wrong. Never had the blade of Sunset pierced through her body and never could the balls of fire have had the power to infect her. So the only logical –yet at the same time illogical– explanation for the whole thing was that either all of the organ pipes were coated within the poison, or just the one she crashed into. It was a conclusion of madness of course. But it was the same madness in which Sunset Shimmer had actually fallen into. The poison was something that came from the depths of Tartarus, possibly even created by the devil herself. Otherwise had the demoness become even more powerful than Twilight could have ever imagined her to be. Then she was knocked back into the there and then again. The body of the unicorn began to spasm just a little bit as bit as she regained control over all of her muscles. She had to fight the transformation and actually manage to get the stuff out of her body. There was only one way that she knew that could be helping her to purify her body. A way that wasn’t all too harmless either. “N-Not on my, w-watch,” the mare managed to say in a weakened tone. The attention was again shifted over to the unicorn. Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack loosened their grips on the mare. “I shall not, b-become, like, like you. I won’t, become… your triumph.” None of the mares knew exactly what she was talking about, but they all had a pretty good guess as of what she was aiming for. It was the real Twilight Sparkle who said to those words against the air. The two anthronies who held her arms offered their hands to slowly rise the mare back up into a sitting position which was taken all too thankfully. “Keep fighting it, Twilight, do whatever you have to do,” said Rainbow. Applejack almost felt herself just a bit useless. But then again, none of the others did have a steam powered leg that could literally break at any given moment. They were far from getting out of harm’s way and they all knew that little fact. “My staff, I need my staff to c-channel the magic, purify the poison flowing through… Ah!” The unicorn began to winch once more. The pain shot through her body and down her spine. It knocked every single nerve out of her for just a fraction of a second. Twilight had in fact been dead for that fraction of a second. For nothing in her body worked in that small instance of time. Not her muscles, not her heart and not her brain. It was only because of the high currencies of arcane power surging through her that she managed to get back into the land of the living. All of the others held the mare to the best of their abilities as Applejack rushed over as fast as she could. The admiral looked around for the staff before she finally found it on the spot where Fluttershy left it. She then rushed back and gave the arcane tool to Twilight. From that moment on they could only hope that the mare would be able to recover. Yet in the meantime had Fluttershy really quickly managed to change the blood soaked bandages with a set of new ones. All of them were actually surprised to even see it. “When..?” Rarity began to wonder before she just made the decision not to question it. The staff was finally back in the hand of its rightful owner, who thanked Applejack with just a simple nod. Words couldn’t be released from her mouth when she struggled to get up. But she did get up under her own powers and strength. Something that the other hadn’t expected her to be doing that quick already. Though they had to admit that they were glad she could be doing it. With both of her legs trembling did stood Twilight just there. Her eyes looked over each member of their little company before a deep sigh was released. Those very same eyes then closed themselves for a couple of seconds as the question wasn’t asked. But the knot was just cut in half. The decision had fallen upon Twilight and she was determined to do just that. “Pack up girls, we keep on trekking,” the soothsayer said. It was a thing that caused the lot of them to actually raise their eyebrows high. Never had they expected that the weakened Twilight would have been even able to make the journey further out of the forest. Never had thy expected that she even wanted to continue traveling the way they would be doing. With one flick of her horn was the void storage opened again. The sleeping bags were rolled up. Fluttershy didn’t found it a great idea to begin with. Which she then addressed to the soothsayer. “Are you wanting to be killed here, Twilight?!” she exclaimed in a whisper to the mare with the mulberry skin. Only then did the eyes of the mare turn themselves over to Fluttershy. Twilight’s lips gave off a weak smile. “Oh Fluttershy, I’m weak, feeble. This forest, is going to be my death if I don’t, if I don’t get out of here soon. I heard what Rainbow said, my eyes turn already once exposed to darkness. Can you image, can you image what would happen to me, if I stayed here for just another day?” Those words were more than enough to silence the pegasus. The scenarios went through her head as vivid as ever before a deep shiver was send down her actual spine. “I, I see your point.” Within her eyes could the terrified expression already be found. She was terrified for her life that Twilight would eventually turn into a demoness and side with the other. Making them a near invincible team to wreak havoc in Equestria. “It’s going to be alright, doctor. I just, need to purify, my body. Send the corruption, to my stomach and then, well, one of two ways actually,” said Twilight while she gained a shiver as well. Luckily she knew a little bit of how to be getting the arcane poisoning out of her body, but she never had been actually having to do it. Until then. Something just didn’t feel good about doing it in the first place but it had to be done. No matter the cost. ~~~~                       Time had passed by them as if it was nothing. The group was once again wandering through the forest. With all of their weapons locked and loaded were they again ready to tackle any enemy that came their way. Though they weren’t looking for trouble in the first place. Instead they wanted to just out of the forest and get as far away as possible before the evening would be setting in. They gave themselves until the moon would rise again to travel just to be sure. They could only have hoped that after it, they would have left the forest behind them. Though as their eyes looked deeper and deeper into the darkness of the woods, they began to realize more and more just what horrors could be found within them. The darkness wasn’t the thing that they were afraid of, with the exception of Fluttershy that was. The rest of them were a whole lot more scared about the things that could be found within the darkness. What kind of horrors were lurking for them behind it? What kind of troubles from their past could be found and perhaps above all, what enemies could be made? Yet they had the luck on their side that they consisted out of three abled anthronies that knew their way with their weapons as well as an almost fully disabled unicorn with a staff. They were a dangerous lot to cross and fighting would ensure of even one thing as much dared to go after them. It was perhaps the safest to travel in the numbers that they did, but it never ceased the fear that was traveling through their eyes and hidden deep inside of their hearts. Fears that caused the trees to moan within the wind as they moved in and out of their positions. They just needed to get the hell out of there as fast as they could. Rainbow’s route was still the quickest and the pegasus took off into the skies every so often to inspect whether or not they were still going the right way. Not to mention whether or not there was any form of trouble that laid ahead of them. Though every time when she landed were the two questions asked by the same anthrony every single time. The question of whether or not they went the right way, and if trouble laid ahead. Yet the answers were almost every single time the same. They were going the right way and trouble didn’t seem to be lying ahead of them. Though it was easier said for Rainbow then for them to find out. The pegasus rose of course over the leaf covered tops of the trees which means she had not a single of what was actually hiding within the vegetation. Maybe it was for the better that they didn’t knew what laid in front of them. Twilight on the other end was still busy purifying her body. All of her arcane powers were was focused upon both her body and the staff. The staff was used to store the cleaned blood for a little while before it was pumped back into her heart. Yet all the pieces of the corruption were sent down to her stomach. There they combined itself with the acid that laid within it. It made her nauseous for certain but it was the price that she needed to pay in order to be cleansed. It was a lot better than becoming a demoness for certain. At least in her eyes it seemed that way. Rarity and Fluttershy couldn’t help themselves but to also keep a watchful eye over the other mare. They always looked at her from two sides. Though their pace had come down to a snail’s pace. But they were at least advancing forwards. That alone made the whole thing just worth it in their own eyes. A couple minutes further down the makeshift road began to Twilight to feel herself both better and worse, at the same time. The time was there and her blood had been filtered from the corruption. It was a sickening process to begin with that would only have been gotten a whole lot worse. The throat of the unicorn seemed to have been on fire. The stomach wasn’t really liking the amounts of corruption that it held and just wanted to throw it out. In the only way it knew how. Quickly did Twilight look from left to right before she left the group alone and ran off somewhere in the bushes. All of them glanced right after her. They wanted to go after her until they heard the gross sounds that came from behind the bushes. The sounds of somepony throwing up was never a pleasant one and Twilight confirmed that very thought. A couple more hurls and splashes could be heard before the eerie silence had once again returned. But Twilight hadn’t yet. It scared off the other a little bit. They wondered just what would have happened to her. Fears and horrors once again began to consume their hearts as worries filled their minds. Nopony spoke a word while all of them were prepared to deliver the blow if it was needed. They were ready to fight the demon that could appear at literally any given second. Seconds seemed like minutes in their eyes as the anticipation was becoming dreadful. Then she appeared. The unicorn soothsayer finally appeared out of the vegetation with a smile that went pretty much from ear to ear. All of them lowered their arms as the sighs in relief actually followed right away. They were just so glad that it wasn’t the demon that stood before them. And from the looks of it seemed Twilight to be cured. “So, you doing better now?” Rainbow Dash asked her with a tilted head. She never stopped inspecting the unicorn to see whether or not it would have been actually her. It was something that the others couldn’t deny her. But they all knew that it was the real Twilight who stood there. The soothsayer gave a nod towards the pegasus. “I think I am. My blood has been filtered and every last bit of corruption has left my body as far as I know. I think I’m all ready and set again. However, I did save one little thing.” She then held up a little test tube of her own that was filled with a black goo. “This, is what caused me to change. I need to analyze it once this all is over. To prevent any other innocent anthrony to be turned into one of those beasts.” “A noble cause indeed, Twilight,” replied Rarity. She gave the mare a genuine impressed nod. The rest of them were just horrified that Twilight had picked up some of her corruption. “Thanks Rarity, but I think it is best for us that we finally continue to our destination. I don’t want another night in this place.” Those words could be understood by all of them as the soothsayer quickly hid the tube again out of their eyes. Of course there was still the stab wound that concerned her, but that was wound made in her flesh and one that would be healing itself over time. In the late afternoon had they finally managed to do it. They had finally managed to themselves out of the dreaded forest of Everfree. Each member of the company of extraordinary mares stood on top of the same hill. Their eyes looked over the setting sun as the winds of ice blew in their faces once more. They were heading into the right direction again. Behind them laid the forest of dangers and nightmare fuel. But before them, before them laid the never-ending plains of Equestria. Plains that could be going into a literal eternity before they would be cut off by the mountains that separated the parts of the land. With the wind that blew through their hair, stood each of them in a different pose looking over to the plains. All seemed to be smooth sailing from that point onwards. But they all knew that once they hit the mountains of the north, the smooth sailing would have become a massive storm. But for the time being, they took the time to savor the moment. They would just watch over the near endless beauty that their land to offer in the setting sun.