Robert’s POV, Dusk
Light, that’s all I needed, I needed light.
That and to get away from the horses chasing me through the forest.
I was running back to the spider den, why? Because it’s a path I traversed before, and it was close to the castle. It made it easier for me to go through, and making it more difficult for the horses behind me. Then there was the den itself, I needed to find it before I got stuck in its web again. After a while I started to panic a bit, for I could not see the den anywhere, and it was getting too dark for comfort. I never got a break, for the horses where, slowly but surely, catching up to me. So I kept running, hoping to get away, or at least find something to hel-
“Whoa!?” There were three of them now!
I stopped altogether, mere inches from the sticky-white floor. Was it just me, or where there a lot of spiders walking around? They haven’t noticed me yet, good, I really hate spiders.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!”
“Huh?” I turned around and A FLYING BLUE HORSE!
The horse tried to tackle me, but I dodged and circled around the dens, wanting no part in having to deal with giant spiders. The horse however, wasn’t so lucky.
*HISSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAARRRHHHGGGGGGG* *HIIIIIIISSSAAAARAAAHHHGGGGGGGG *
*HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHH * *HIISSSSSSSSSSSSS* *RAAAAAAAAASHHHHHGG*
I screamed like a girl let out a manly battle cry at the sound of a lot of angry spiders, or were they just hungry? I didn’t know, and frankly I didn’t want to.
*thack thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack*
“Huh, what the hay!? I’M STUCK!” She, I took from her tomboyish but feminine voice, exclaimed.
Oh crap, if she couldn’t get out, then the spiders would try and get her, she was in danger!
“Rainbow, hold on!” Another horse wearing a cowboy hat said, using her mouth to form a lasso, which somehow worked. The western sounding horse threw the lasso towards the blue winged one, pulling her out of the web before the spiders could harm her.
*thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack* *thack thack thack thack* *thack thack thack*
The spiders, not seeing the horses, went back to their homes. It seemed that as long as you weren’t on their web, or directly in front of them, they wouldn’t notice you. Good to know.
I realized I’d wanted to get away so I could find a place to stay the night, for the sun was almost out of sight. So I ran, albeit more quietly, back towards the way to the castle.
Mane Six, Dusk
“Don’t let it get away!”
“ON IT!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, flying as fast as she could. Since the trees prevented her from going in a straight line, she was forced to slow down to avoid hitting them.
Everypony was wondering who or what was watching them, and a certain purple unicorn needed those answers yesterday.
They kept running and flying after the strange creature, but only the rainbow mare was able to keep up with it. The other mares, unable to match the pegasus’s speed and agility, were slowly being left behind.
Sometime later, they lost both her friend and the creature, and hoped for the best. This was, until, they heard an unholy screech from multiple, not so friendly, monsters.
They doubled their efforts and before long they managed to arrive at the scene. Dash was stuck in some massive webbing, and enormous spiders where crawling towards the helpless pegasus. Applejack managed to catch her with her trusty lasso, and pulled her out of trouble.
But after making sure their friend was alright, they had no sight of the creature, and night was quickly approaching.
“Rainbow, dear, are you ok? You look, erm, white and, well, sticky,” asked the white unicorn to the pegasus, who was trying to get as much web out of her coat as possible.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, but IT got away,” she responded, more disappointed of losing the creature than anything.
“Don’t worry Dash, we will catch it later,” said the drake reassuringly, before looking somewhat scared as he added, “but I didn’t know the Everfree had spiders THAT big!” It was clear he was somewhat terrified of the dog sized arachnids.
“Maybe we should talk somewhere else, it’s almost night,” suggested the purple unicorn, there was something about the dark that begged them to find someplace lit to stay the night.
“Ah agree with ya Twi, we can’t stay here,” said the cowpony, getting some nods of agreement from the group.
“Maybe we could go to Zecora’s hut, Ponyville is too far from here, and, um, I don’t want to walk in the dark,” offered the timid pegasus.
“With everything that has been going on I can’t really blame you Fluttershy, who else agrees?” Asked Dash, surprising the group a bit, before they all nodded and went towards the zebra’s home.
Walking through the Everfree proved slightly harder than before. They had to keep avoiding the spider infested places. This was new to everypony present; for nowhere in Equestria had they heard about giant spiders roaming this forest.
After some time they encountered the familiar hut, with their stripped friend welcoming them into her home.
“Hello my friends of seven, have you come to seek safe haven?” She greeted the crowd, before Twilight stepped up to speak to her.
“Thank you for letting us in Zecora, It was getting dark and this was closer to us from Ponyville, I hope you don’t mind.”
“I understand your distress, truth be told this has me in quite a mess. But now in you must come, or to the dark you might succumb,” she rushed them inside, getting the group closer to her fire.
“Now tell me why you have arrived at my door, so that I may help you some more.”
“I don’t know if you have noticed, but the forest feels like it’s, different,” said the purple mare.
“Not only that but we caught something spying on us, I chased it down, but got stuck in giant cobwebs, with giant spiders trying to EAT me!” Added the energetic pegasus.
“You live here right? Do you know what’s wrong with the Everfree?” Asked a somewhat nervous Spike.
“There is something corrupting the land, not just the forest where we all stand,” the zebra said in a somber tone. The group of ponies and dragon went tense, not long ago they had to deal with chaos destroying their homes.
“Was this something Discord did? We thought the Elements got rid of his corruption,” exclaimed Rarity, getting looks of approval from everypony/zebra/dragon present.
“I do not know why it happened, but it seems the entire forest has darkened,” she said motioning to the outside of her home. Past the light her fire emitted, it was pitch black outside. No matter how long they tried to look for something past the darkness, their eyes never adjusted.
“But I think we are all tired, why don’t we sleep close to my fire?” Zecora suggested as tired yawns met her ears.
“I guess some sleep won’t hurt, we can try and solve this mystery in the morning.” Twilight was already getting comfortable in her friend’s home, everypony else following suit.
“Goodnight everypony,” she finally added before the rest replied tiredly, “Goodnight.”
Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins
I tried to find the castle again, even encountered the same den from before and oriented myself to find the ruins. And after what seemed like an eternity, I found the clearing, the ruins in plain sight, and the darkness was close to engulfing me. I made a quick campfire inside of the building; I didn’t get deep, for I was very close to the entrance. But despite the gigantic hole in the ceiling, I now had a roof over my head.
By the time I was done with the fire, the shadows around me seemed like they were watching me. I could have sworn there where eyes in the dark, but whenever I tried to look at them, they winked out.
Must be my head failing to cope with my situation. I mean, seriously!? Giant water monsters!? Giant turkeys?! GIANT SPIDERS?! Oh and let’s not forget the multicolored talking horses, pegasi and unicorns…
Whatever that madness was, I still needed some sleep. If I kept thinking about how everything that has happened to me so far was impossible, I would’ve gotten a migraine.
Making sure the surroundings of my fire where clear from anything that could burn, I lied on the cold, hard ground. I pulled my amulet out of my shirt just to look at it for a few brief seconds, before I closed my eyes, and slept.
I was going to desperately need it for what I had planned to do tomorrow.