The binoculars that Rainbow carried were removed from her eyes, the shock was clearly visible within the pair of them. Whomever she had seen up there, it must have been an old enemy of hers. One that she rather saw to the grave more than anypony else in the entire world.
The binoculars were placed back inside of her jacket before she shook her head a little bit. “Gilda,” whispered Rainbow in hatred to herself before the turn back was made. The eyes glanced around through the vegetation of the forest in the hope to catch at least a glimpse of the remaining mares.
Though much to her own bad luck, that didn’t seem to be the case. Which resulted in Rainbow releasing another deep exhale through her nostrils. She was tired of it all, she wanted to just get back to her home for a change without much trouble chasing her. The only problem was, that trouble laid right above the clouds.
“Just, great,” she muttered to herself. There was nothing that could be seen. What then followed was that her wings spread outwards and gave a flap of two. A gentle moan was released by Rainbow before she made the jump into the air.
Her cover had been blown and the griffons must have seen her taking off. Whatever plan they were having for the company of mares, it would have been accelerated by ten times instantly. The pegasus found herself flying through the air and over the treetops. It was as she said, it shouldn’t have been too difficult to find five brightly colored mares among the green leaves of the forest.
With her sharp eyes she glanced from right to left as she had to find the others. Doubt began to fill her though. She was doubting whether or not the griffons would already had set in the chase or not. Everything pointed out that they would be storming right after her. Yet the yells that usually went accompanied with them remained silent.
It was all just a little bit odd in the mind of the pegasus. What was the plan of Sharpbeak? What had his mentally insane mind came up with again for the lot of them? Or even worse, the land of Equestria?
All of those questions just surged through the sub consciousness of Rainbow. She didn’t thought about them, yet the feeling in her guts told her perhaps more than enough. Trouble laid ahead, as per usual. Or better said: behind her and lying in wait. Waiting for them to make a mistake.
Rainbow just couldn’t think about it too much, she had to find the company of mares no matter what. The pegasus thought that she wasn’t gone for that long, but it was a mistake quickly realized. She had forgotten that they all had the energy to go back home again. And that very energy had caused them to advance a whole lot more than the major had originally expected.
A grumble was released through her throat, she just couldn’t find the group that easily. The vegetation only became thicker and thicker. Which meant that she had to descend if there would have been any chance of them being found again.
So that was exactly what the rainbow haired pegasus did. She made the descend through the treetops and avoided a couple of branches that were in her way. Before she knew it did she stood back on the ground and released another exhale.
Her signature landing pose had been assumed before the head looked back upwards. The eyes went from right to left as she inspected everything. It was quiet in her nearby surroundings. Perhaps a little bit too quiet for her liking.
The silence that had been placed over the little forest was frightening. It meant to her that anything could have happened. Rainbow gently rose back up to her full height and tucked her wings behind her back. The eyes then looked behind her and the mare realized just how thick the vegetation was. Which caused a whole new problem to be emerged.
“Now this is going to be fun,” the mare chuckled to herself just before a cocky grin formed itself over her lips. She gently shook her head and just began to wander in a direction. To her it felt as if the company had been going that way. Whether she was right or not, remained to be seen.
Step by step did the feelings got stronger. She was making her way to something that remained hidden throughout the forest. Everything just looked the same in her eyes. But there the little bit of luck that she could see the sun from time to time and therefore adjust her heading. The pegasus had to be close to the company. She could hear whispers from ahead of her position.
The voices were unknown to her, the words were inaudible to her. It could have been anything and anypony that was walking ahead of her. Rainbow realized the little fact and made the decision to not just barge in. Instead she would approach the mysterious group in silence and stealth.
If it were the griffons, she could follow them for a little bit to figure out what their plan was. If it was the company she was looking for, all of her prayers would have been answered. The mare nodded calmly to herself before she hunched a little bit and increased her speed.
A couple of seconds later she hid herself behind a tree and looked to the other side, at both sides of the bark. One side revealed nothing to her except more sounds. The other revealed just nothing. Not even the sounds of the mysterious beings could be heard.
Not only was it a heading for Rainbow, she also knew in which direction the group was going. Once again she initiated her sneak mode and crawled further over the forest floor. She tried to make as little noise as possible as the silence of the forest got to her. Not even the usual birds were singing their songs.
The mare looked around her position before she glanced through the branches of a little bush in front of her. Her eyes went wide as she finally managed to get an eye on the group she had been following. Mixed feelings went through her and she couldn’t determine whether or not they were good or bad.
It was a relief that she had at least found the mysterious trekking group, but it wasn’t the group she had hoped for. Through the branches of the bush they could be seen. They were just walking around there as if there wasn’t anything going on. They were unaware of the dangers that lurked and whom was in fact spying on them.
“Twilight,” the major said before she slowly rose back up. Finally was she granted a full on view of the group before her and gave off a smile. Even though it wasn’t the group she had secretly hoped to have found, it was still equally as good. “Hey Twilight!” she spoke up in a louder tone.
The ears of Twilight Sparkle twitched when they caught her name. The unicorn soothsayer turned around to see where it could have possibly came from before she finally saw it. A smile then formed upon her face as she was relieved to see her again.
The pegasus walked out of the bushes and up to the company. A massive sigh of relief from both sides was given off was the mares. “I thought we had lost you, how did you find us?” asked Twilight before she spread her arms to give the major a hug.
It felt a little bit unusual to Rainbow to actually fall right into it. But for some unexplainable reason, she fell right into it and gave it just as firm back to Twilight. Perhaps it was the relief and the gladness of seeing the whole company once more. “The vegetation was thicker than I thought,” the pegasus explained before the hug was broken, “but something told me I had to head in your direction and then I heard voices. I thought it was something else, but turned out to be you lot.”
Twilight gave off a little chuckle before she shook her head. “Yeah, we had a little argument about what needed to be done next and what direction we should be taking,” the soothsayer explained. But she was just extremely happy that Rainbow had rejoined the company. The mares were complete once more and they could venture onwards. At least that was the plan.
“You’ve seen anything of interest up there, Rainbow?” was asked by Rarity. The pirate captain still remembered the little fact of why the pegasus left them.
Rainbow turned her attention over to the pirate with a near confused expression upon her face. One that quickly changed to one of worry as she nodded to them all. All of the mares suddenly focused their full attention upon the pegasus. Whatever she had seen, it could only be a trouble to them. “Go on then, don’t let us die of anticipation,” the ivory unicorn added to the pressure.
“Alright, alright, don’t push me!” Rainbow snarled in return before she regained her cool. A deep exhale was given off before she said the words that were on her mind. “Gilda is on top of the mountain, and I’m pretty sure they too have descended by now. I don’t know what Sharpbeak has planned for us, but it’s not going to be pretty. Anything involving him isn’t pretty.”
Just the name of the maddened griffon emperor caused the shivers to be traveling down the spine of every being with the exception of Pinkie. She didn’t knew who this ‘Sharpbeak’ was and wanted to ask the question that was on her mind. Though before she could have even spoken a single word was the answer given to her. “A being that gives us a lot of trouble if we aren’t careful enough,” said Rainbow to Pinkie with a serious look.
The lamia nodded in an understanding manner, she then didn’t ask anything else. But Twilight’s worries became only greater. She moved herself over to Fluttershy and charged her horn a little bit.
“W-What are you, p-planning?” the other pegasus eeped out. Fluttershy hadn’t expected such a thing to happen. Not in that very moment at least.
“Whatever it is, Twilight, just make it quick. I don’t want to end up as griffon chum anytime soon and you know it,” commented Rainbow before she began to look around her. Any sign that could be of notice of the griffon’s presence among them, would have been too close of an encounter already.
“I just need to examine her a little bit. If we’re going to run for our lives, I need to know whether or not she’s in great condition,” commented Twilight.
Those words alone caused an eyebrow to be risen by Applejack. She –as well as Rainbow and Rarity– knew of course that something had happened down in the depths of the mountains. But what it was still was unknown to them. The time was there for Twilight to come clean to them all. The time was there that she told what had happened.
"Twilight, just what happened down there?” the admiral asked. She glanced deep over Twilight’s own eyes. The piercing looks she gave were naturally annoying for the unicorn before she turned herself around to face her.
She wanted to speak the words that were on her mind and tell the mare what she had told a couple times before already. Yet before she could even say a word, she was cut off by Fluttershy who spoke up. “That’s none of your concern, Applejack,” said Fluttershy quick and simple, before Twilight returned to her examination.
The magical aura travelled all over the pegasus’ body while the unicorn stroked her cheek. Every single inch of the body was coated within the light at one point or the other. Seconds ticked by when haste was of the essence for them all. Rainbow deemed that they had wasted a little bit too much time with it all, but if it helped the pegasus, so it had to be.
Annoyance came up in the admiral before she just seemed to shrug it off. “Fine then. If y’all wanna play mystery games with me, fine,” she said before she turned away from the group. The feeling of mistrust naturally came up in her and she had all the right to feel it. But she also realized the fact that there was something down there. Something that was too dangerous to be spoken upon on the surface. The knife sliced once more at two sides but the admiral only felt one side of it. The other side could leave her slightly cold as she didn’t care.
Seconds later did the light of the horn disappear and Twilight closed her eyes. Silence had taken over everypony as she seemed to analyze readings that she had gotten. But why she didn’t just made an arcane paper out of them was a mystery to Rarity.
It almost seemed as if Twilight wanted to keep something hidden about Fluttershy. Something that only she and the pegasus herself seemed to know. The unicorn then didn’t gave it that much thought anymore, after which she walked over to Applejack. Only to stand next to her in silence.
The pair of them were sunken deep in their thoughts. They had been working together for such a long time, it almost seemed as if the chase of one another had been given up. Though deep in their hearts, they knew they were still too different from one another.
“Is it bad, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy while the soothsayer just remained silent to her. Not even the slightest bit of sound could have been heard out of her throat. Pinkie became a little worried when the seconds continued to tick by.
“Just hurry up, alright! I am not in the mood to fight the griffons again!” Rainbow exclaimed. All of them seemed to have gotten on edge of the events. But all for different reasons.
“Fine then,” the soothsayer muttered after she had opened her eyes again. The sudden voice of Rainbow had broken her concentration. A hand was placed upon the shoulder of Fluttershy while a gentle smile went across her lips. “You’re able to run and fly at high speeds, but you might be a little stiff if you try so. Because of the whole, you know what I mean.”
The doctor nodded towards the soothsayer before a sigh of relief was given off. Before Twilight even knew it had she emerged in the second hug in a short time. The arms of Fluttershy could be seen around her as the mare was just glad that everything was alright.
The soothsayer chuckled a little bit as she then returned the hug just as tightly. “It’s alright, it’s alright,” she said in a calm tone. The hug was broken shortly afterwards. The doctor then gave of a smile to her in a thankful manner.
Twilight smiled back with a nod before she turned around. “Is everypony ready? It’s about time we continue to go forwards. It’s time, to go home,” said Twilight. Those words were much to the relief of the other mares as they finally could trek on. Rainbow seemed to have been the most relieved of all as she finally had gotten her way.
Rarity and Applejack were taken out of their thought when they both caught the words in their ears. But instead of turning their heads away from each other, they turned towards one another. The mares glanced deep in the eyes of the other and for a second saw everything.
Just for a second could the two actually see the amount of trouble that the other had been going through. In the eyes of the others it would almost have seen as if they had fallen in love. For there even was a massive blush that went across both of their cheeks.
Pinkie just tilted her head whereas Rainbow brought the palm of her hand to her face. “…Ugh, that’s about the last thing we need!” she exclaimed to the pair of them. Instantly were the looks just utterly destroyed as their attention shifted over to Rainbow.
Perhaps it was just for the better that it was done, as the glances exchanged were truly awkward to look at. “Excuse me dear, but what is the last thing you need?”
“You really are thick, aren’t you?” were the last words that could have been spoken by Rainbow. After that was it Twilight that gave the go signal. They had wasted too much time there and they had to continue onward in silence.
~~~~
Which was then exactly the thing that they did. The talking was done in whispers as they had formed one massive line behind one another. The smaller they appeared to be, the smaller the chance was that the griffons would have been able to track them down. At least that was the plan made by Twilight.
Yet with the lamia’s thick body slithering around like it did, that proved to have been a little bit more difficult than expected. Still, the chances were taken upon the sets that they had. Anything was better than nothing in their eyes. Not to mention the fact that with Twilight ahead of them, followed by Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity, Pinkie followed suit. Which meant that her body would be wiping out the traces of them four.
It only left the fresh trail of Applejack’s hooves in the ground. The excuse could have been given that she was some kind of hunter that traced down a giant snake, or even a giant cockatrice perhaps. All kinds of things could have been made up if one looked at the trail.
Twilight continued to press on forwards while she charged her horn slight. The small amounts of arcane power were enough to summon up a map that she would use to navigate through the whole place. She could enhance the zoom upon it if she wanted and pinpoint exactly where they were. Though exactly pinpointing took a lot of time. And that time they didn’t had.
So the unicorn was resorted to just mare guesses as she then made the decision to plan a little bit ahead of them. For at one point or the other, they had to plot their way back to Canterlot. Whether the group liked it or not, they would be going to the soothsayer’s and capital of their land. The one place were two of them would be instantly in trouble.
The thoughts continued to rush through her mind. The unicorn had located the general area of just where they were. The unicorn nodded to herself while she plotted out a gentle course through the forest. One that would be taking them already to the south. The sooner they were out of that forest, the quicker the actual final leg of their journey could begin.
Though the options weren’t as great as Twilight had hoped for. The options that were given to her by the map, only caused her to worry even deeper and more. Shivers went down her spine when she thought about a previous encounter. She wasn’t in the mood to repeat any of it again.
“No, we can’t do that,” she spoke to herself in disbelief. The words were loud enough to be caught by the rest of the company who all rose their eyebrows. It would only have been a matter of time before the lingering question was asked.
Rarity moved a little bit upwards up to the point to where she stood right next to Twilight. “What can’t we do, if I may be so free to ask?” she asked of the soothsayer. The pirate captain had fired the shots and it was up to the soothsayer to take the hits.
Twilight turned her gaze over to Rarity as the answer was calmly spoken by her. “If we’re going home, we have to go through the woods of Everfree once more. But that means…”
“Meaning there’s a chance we meet that demoness again. I remember her very well. Never seen a more gruesome creature in my life. And given how it went last time, I don’t think she will be that forgiving,” said Rarity as she too remembered the sight of the demonic Sunset Shimmer before her. The memory was powerful enough to let a slight shiver travel up her spine.
Twilight nodded in response to the spoken words before she rubbed her neck. She still felt the talons of the demoness just taking a hold of her like it was nothing. Twilight had fought the Dark Witch before and she managed to survive it. But what about a second time? Luck ran out eventually and they didn’t knew how much they had left.
A deep exhale was given off by the soothsayer before her eyes were shut for a moment. “We can’t go through the Everfree, I refuse to go through the Everfree. But the forest is too large to travel around to in a reasonable time. No, there must be another way.” The thoughts were left behind for the moment. The eyes were opened up again and she glanced over the map.
The other mares had of course listened to the words said but made the decision to not tell anything in their behalf. Just the thought of Twilight fighting the demoness was a worry big enough. And with the images still pretty fresh in their minds, they all knew that travelling through the Everfree wasn’t going to be an option.
Twilight zoomed out upon the map to see what other possibilities there were. Going around the woods was considered as well. That meant that they would be gone for yet another week if the weather was against them. No, there had to be a quicker way to get from their location to Canterlot. One that was also considered a whole lot safer than anything they had done so far.
“Hmmm, there, that looks like a good spot in my eyes,” said Twilight while she pointed to a specific place on the map. Rarity’s eyes glanced over it and could have sworn that it was a place near the sea. Her attention then shifted over to Twilight once more with a questioning gaze in them. Almost as if she didn’t fully understood where the soothsayer was pointing to.
“We make for the nearest harbor and take a boat from there to Canterlot. Once there, we shall be safe and our quest shall finally have gotten to an end,” commented Twilight with a content tone to her voice. It almost seemed as if she was genuinely happy about the fact that they finally could have made an end to everything.
But the idea of going to the nearest port troubled nopony more than Rarity. She was a wanted mare of course and the company would stick out like a sore thumb. Perhaps the idea to go for the nearest port isn’t the smartest one to do. Especially when she thought deeper about it.
All kinds of different and horribly scenarios went through her head from just a simple capture by the town’s guards, up to a personal bounty hunter finally able to claim its prize. The horrors that rushed through her were unsettling to say the least. But that was Rarity in essence. She was both unsettling to begin with, as well as slightly paranoid whenever she was on land. Not to mention a master of deception.
The mare looked a little bit better to the place where they would be going to port and noticed how it was the settlement of Manehatten. That alone caused a deep exhale to be released through her nostrils. “I have to object against your decision to go for Manehatten, Twilight. There’s nothing there but villainy and scumbaggery.”
“Good, should make you feel right at home then,” the soothsayer grinned in return. She couldn’t resist herself to make the horrible joke. But Rarity couldn’t laugh about it and just rolled her eyes away from her. The unicorn pirate then dropped back to her original place in line and sunk a little bit in her thoughts. Perhaps one of the other members would be able to talk her right out of it.
The longer she waited, the more Rarity began to get the feeling that the mares all just wanted to go straight for the nearest port. None of them had the desire to walk either around and through the Everfree. And since there wasn’t any kind of air transportation over the forest, that was excluded from the planning as well.
Manehatten was the nearest port they could be going to and Rarity had lied about it. It was one of the places where she had made one of her greatest plunders right before the coast. A merchant ship filled with gold and treasure. The early morning went through her head as if it was the day before.
~~~~
The vessel had only just sailed out of port when her ship approached it. The weak but annoying morning sun she had behind her. The shadow that was cast only gave off a terrifying shade of darkness in front of them. With the unicorn at the helm, the crew had prepared everything. Months of planning were being placed in the sinking of the merchant’s ship.
Finally had the time been there as the cannons made their deafening noises. Timber flew all around as the screams of anthronies falling in the water was relived vividly. The battle was over quickly, but it still felt like a massive chore to the unicorn. With the ship sinking before hers, the gold was recovered and brought aboard her own ship.
One of the greatest raids before the coast of Manehatten and it was her who had done it. She was a wanted mare throughout the whole settlement and that worried her to no end. Applejack could only grin a little bit as she had heard about the raid and who had done it. The very fact that they would return to the scene of the crime only seemed to have actually amused her in some sickening manner.
~~~~
The admiral shook her head a little bit as she didn’t even spoke a word on the matter. But inside she was just laughing her flanks off. Yet Rarity wasn’t sitting down either. Once she had realized the little fact that nopony wanted to divert from the given course was there one thing she could have done. She had to take the matters in her own hands if she wanted to survive.
Manehatten was the place where they all would embark on one last sailing trip to Canterlot. Yet it also could have been the place where she would separate herself from the company. Plans were forged deep inside of her mind as she thought about the near needless possibilities. Possibilities to blend in with the folk of the settlement as well as getting on the ship that the company does before she finally would just leave.
Leave and once again be as free as a bird.
“So we all agree then? We go to Manehatten and take a ship from there?” Twilight asked them all while she had a look to them all. Nopony seemed to have been either in the mood or the place to argue against her. So it meant that they all agreed in unison. And with that had the decision been made. They would travel to the place, get a ship and sail to Canterlot. But one more thing could have been added to the list. The little thing that the griffons would be leaving them alone for the rest of the journey.
Whether they liked it or not, those creatures were still hunting them all for who knew what real reason. They were still just hunting them like small prey. But the location of just where they had taken their refuge was something that remained unknown.
Rainbow never ceased to remove her eyes from the skies. She had to know just where they were at any given time. Not even with her binoculars could she spot them clearly. But a feeling that laid ever so deep within her soul told her that they were there, somewhere. Lurking around, waiting about, waiting for a mistake to have been made on their behalf.
The feelings never seemed to have been too right in the matter, but it was just about the best that could have either been done and said. They had all to be cautious about it and from time to time, other members of the group looked up to the skies and the ground.
They weren’t out of the woods yet. Not by a longshot.
It seemed to have been just smooth sailing for the mares. Weren’t it for the exception of the fact that they were hunted down like prey. But the reality of the matter actually went a whole lot deeper than that. Literally, a whole lot deeper. For next to the griffons above them there was also a danger that lurked beneath them.
~~~~
It wasn’t anything in the range of some kind of wild beast that dwelled beneath the surface of the land. It wasn’t the Gorgon One either. No, Twilight Sparkle had managed to get the attention of the devil herself. The devil herself had set her very eyes and gaze of darkness upon Twilight. Ever since the settlement down in the deep had been covered with the symbols of both the goddesses of the sun and moon, she had been preying on revenge.
Upon her throne she sat, hidden among the fog it carried before a deep snarl was given off. The devil herself –the creator of the Dark Witches– held an orb in her hand. The elongated nails that looked like knifes held it while the set of eyes looked in the orb. There she saw them walking. Just walking through the forest as if there was nothing going on.
They were all unaware of the terror that was brooding beneath them and the lips of the devil curled up in a sickening smile. “You have given me so much trouble, little Sparkle. Hmhmha, but fear not dire child, for you shall soon be reunited with the one friend you ever had in your life. You shunned my arts for so long, but I shall show you, just what they can be doing.”
A sickening laughter was given off through the inner circle of Tartarus before the orb was just shattered as if it was nothing. Shards of crystal fell down to the ground just before the devil stood up from her throne. She made the descend down the stairs of her spiked throne before the eyes fell upon the near endless magma pits before her.
“You think you’re so strong with that mind of yours, but I shall reveal to you just how easily it is to have it broken. One more night, Twilight. One more night…and you shall forever be, different.” Another sickening laughter of pure dark enjoyment was then given off by the devil while she spread her arms.
Soon enough began all of the magma pits to erupt like they were geysers of some kind. The deafening sounds of the magma even managed to crawl over the laughter of Nightmare Moon. The devil herself had set her eyes upon Twilight Sparkle. Nopony would be safe anymore if the plan succeeded. Whatever it was in the first place.