“What is it with these brambles!?”
Of all the copies Twilight had made with the Mirror Pool, this one had the misfortune of choosing to head straight through the Everfree Forest, which — even in this alternate Equestria devoid of dangerous creatures — still proved hazardous. The thorns pricked and poked her with reckless abandon, leaving scratches and cuts of various severity all across her body, staining her coat red with her own blood in many places.
The thought of teleporting had crossed her mind once or twice, but not knowing where in the Everfree she could end up — and possibly getting lost as a result — kept the clone from doing so. Also, she swore she’d heard a faint call for help in the direction she was currently heading, so she knew trudging through the brambles — much as they hurt — meant going in the right direction.
Eventually, and much to her relief, the clone stepped out of the bramble patch and into a clearing. The forest canopy was thick, only letting a sliver of sunlight shine through. Willow snags permeated the edge of the clearing, their twisted branches reaching around like clawed, dead hands searching for unsuspecting victims to drag to the murky depths of some cold, dark place.
Twilight stepped into the clearing, taking a moment to shake some bramble remnants out of her hair before looking around in search of a break in the snags to continue her trek. Suddenly, a twig snapped to her left, and she spun around just in time to see a blue and purple blur disappear behind one of the snags.
“Hello!?” Twilight called. “Are you all right?”
Silence.
“I understand if you’re scared!” she continued, taking a step closer to the snag. “But there’s no need to worry!” Another couple of steps, then she began walking toward it, slowly in case trouble jumped her.
Nothing happened as she approached the snag, but as she neared it she heard someone whispering under their breath. All she could make out was one word, or rather, a name she guessed, that being ‘Lyn’.
“Please don’t be afraid of me,” Twilight said. Carefully, keeping her horn at the ready in case something happened, she stepped up to the snag and peered around its trunk.
She only barely dodged the sharp, metallic lance which shot at her face. Stumbling back with a yelp, Twilight fell aside the snag on her back, quickly scrambling to her hooves before shouting, “I said I’m trying to help!”
Silence.
Twilight breathed an exasperated sigh before continuing. “Look, whoever you are, I get that you’re scared. You’re away from home in a strange place with no recollection of how you got here.” She re-approached the snag, turning halfway around the trunk, keeping her head back a safe distance. “The same thing happened to me— er, well, the original me. And everyone else.” She smiled. “I can take you to a whole group of people who can empathize with you, but you have to trust me when I say I mean you no harm.”
Another minute of silence passed, throughout which Twilight could hear more faint whispers coming from around the snag. The person was clearly of the nervous variety, and possibly a warrior of sorts if the lance was any indication. Twilight made a mental note to tell her original self to keep a close eye on this person once they got back.
Finally, she heard leaves rustle, followed by a tall, bipedal figure stepping around the trunk. It was a human, and the lithe figure along with the long, purple hair it sported indicated them to be female. They wore a loose-fitting white top with a brown pouch strapped around the waist and long, fingerless turquoise sleeves, an armored blue tunic, and thigh-length blue boots strapped tight on their legs. The lance they held in their hands was very similar to the ones Twilight was accustomed to seeing Princess Celestia’s royal guards wield, but bigger as a result of their taller human stature.
Twilight took another step forward, putting on what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she resumed speaking. “My name is Twilight Sparkle; what’s yours?”
The human girl stared blankly for a moment before looking down and muttering, “Um… I’m Florina.”
Twilight leaned forward a little. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
They looked to the side so one eye was covered by their hair. “Um… my name is Florina.”
Twilight shook her head. “Didn’t quite catch that.”
The human was silent at first, but eventually breathed deep and turned back to face Twilight, their expression a little more hardened. “My name is Florina.”
“Florina, huh? That’s a lovely name.” Twilight stepped forward some more, to which Florina instinctively raised her lance a little, causing her to stop where she was. “Like I said, you’re gonna have to trust me if you want to be okay here.”
Florina seemed to shrink in on herself, but nonetheless lowered her lance and held it at her side, standing upright. “Sorry, I won’t do it again,” she said, very softly.
Twilight smiled. “Good. Now, there’s something I need to do so you’ll understand where you are and what’s happening.” She lit up her horn. “I need to tap my horn to your forehead. You might feel a little dizzy, but I promise nothing truly harmful will happen to you.”
Florina stared at Twilight’s horn with a wondrous look in her eyes, and nodded her approval before bending down to Twilight’s eye level. She gently tapped her horn against Florina’s forehead, letting her select memories transfer. Once she was done, Twilight stepped back a little to give Florina some much needed space to digest everything she’d imparted.
The effect was as she expected. Florina’s eyes gained a faraway look for a second before she clutched her lance — hard enough that her knuckles turned white — and collapsed into a quivering pile on the ground, mumbling panicked ramblings under her breath. Twilight waited for a few minutes until she’d calmed down a little before walking over and placing a comforting hoof on Florina’s shoulder.
“There there,” she said, stroking her shoulder. “Everything will be alright. I– no, we promise.”
Florina flinched in response. Twilight raised a curious brow at that, but said nothing and continued stroking. Once she felt Florina had calmed down enough, she stopped and gestured back the way she’d come. “So, how about we get going? We’ve got a bit of a journey back to base camp, but I’ll be able to teleport us a fair ways once we’re out of the Everfree Forest.”
Florina slowly nodded. “Okay,” she whispered, and stood up, still clutching her lance as tight as she could.
The two of them began heading for the treeline, side by side. They’d only taken a couple of steps before Florina was startled by a sudden flicker of movement through the trees. She stumbled back out of reflex, gripping her lance even tighter.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“There’s something else here,” Florina replied in a half-whisper.
“Really?” Twilight followed Florina’s gaze into the trees. “Is it a friend or a foe?”
Florina said nothing, instead shifting her lance into a strike ready position. Twilight followed suite, lighting her horn with an offensive spell, pointing ahead at the forest. “Who’s there!?” she called.
Silence.
“You don’t have to be scared!” she continued, edging closer to the trees. “We don’t want to hurt you, so if you’re confused about where you are, then please show yourself or say something!”
More silence.
Twilight looked over to Florina. The human girl’s breathing was irregular and her legs were quivering. The fear present in her eyes was very pronounced, and Twilight could only guess how feeble she’d be without her lance, which seemed to be her only source of courage.
Suddenly, Florina’s eyes bulged and she took a step back. Twilight’s ears then perked in response to a twig snapping from in front of them, and she swiveled her head back, only to freeze up at what she saw.
Standing at the tree line, facing them with nothing but a black, toothy maw dripping with saliva, was a creature that looked like something straight out of a nightmare. Its head was elongated and dome-like, curving over its black, humanoid body, standing around seven feet tall. Moving tentatively through the air beside it was an extra long, snake-like tail that ended in a sharp, deadly-looking barb.
Twilight was too surprised by the newcomer’s terrifying appearance to say anything at first. Florina stayed much the same, gripping her lance so tight her knuckles must’ve popped a few blood vessels, looking ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.
Eventually, with a deep, relaxing breath Twilight mustered the resolve to speak to the newcomer. “H-hello,” she stuttered. “I-if you’re lost and scared, then please don’t be.” She took a hesitant step forward, to which the creature didn’t react. “The situation right now is a lot more complex than it may seem, but I can explain everything really quickly, and you’ll feel a lot better afterwards.” She allowed herself a small smile, hoping her nervousness didn’t make it look too awkward. “Is that alright?”
The creature did and said nothing, aside from breathing and continuing to drip thick globs of saliva onto the ground before it. The air became thick with tension during the reigning silence as Twilight waited for an answer and Florina kept her fear-ridden eyes on the creature.
Suddenly, the creature shot its tail straight at Twilight, cutting through the air like a hurtling sharp spear. She was caught off guard by the suddenness of the attack, having been given no warning at all. She was only able to dodge in the nick of time, and even then she felt the creature’s tail slice a part of her flesh as it passed, eliciting a wince from her.
Twilight rolled along the ground, coming to a stop at a willow’s base before getting to her hooves. She felt a wetness on her cheeks, and a rub of her hoof showed she was bleeding. She didn’t have time to process that fact before spying the creature’s tail rushing with another attack, the air whistling past it as the knife-like appendage sailed with blinding speed toward her head. Twilight wasted no time in grabbing the creature’s tail with her telekinesis, stopping it just a hair’s length from her face.
What followed was a reverse tug-of-war as the creature tried to force its tail forward to impale Twilight’s face while she pushed it back. The creature was impeccably strong to be able to fight against her mental prowess with pure brute strength. Back and forth its tail was pushed, Twilight taking a slow intake of panicky breath as she poured more power into her telekinesis every time the creature’s tail came close to her face.
Eventually, Twilight’s hold began to waver as her magic ran thin, allowing the creature to gain airspace. Twilight poured every last remaining ounce of magic she had left into her hold, but to no avail as the creature’s tail inched ever closer to her face, tip poised to impale her skull. Twilight could only watch as it came within a hair’s length from the space between her eyes, which were wide and panic-stricken. Once she felt the last of her magic dwindle and her hold break, she shut them instinctively, anticipating the hard squishing sound of bones being crushed and flesh being ripped in unison.
That sound came, but not from her.
Upon realizing she was still alive and well, Twilight opened her eyes, which widened considerably at what she saw. Sticking out of the creature’s chest, coated with yellow ooze, likely the creature’s blood, was the tip of Florina’s spear. On the ground in front of it, a large pool of the yellow gunk lay splashed outwards from it, and no sooner did Twilight notice it then steam began rising from the ground everywhere it had landed. The creature stood stock still out of muscle shock to being impaled, frozen stiff like a statue. It stayed like that for a few seconds before starting to paw at its chest with its spindly arms, futilely attempting to push the spear out.
Twilight managed to tear her gaze away from the creature and crane her neck to look behind it. There she saw Florina with her hands still on the spear, face holding a grimace while her eyes were closed and facing away from the creature. Her grip remained tight as the creature struggled a little, and even pushed the spear in a little further with a barely audible grunt of exertion, eliciting a pained moan from the creature.
The creature let out a series of low howls as it continued pawing at its chest. Its movements gradually weakened, however, until its arms eventually went limp. Then, with one final breath, the creature slumped over onto the ground, dead.
Twilight stared wide-eyed at the creature’s corpse for a moment before casting her gaze up at the girl who’d killed it. Florina stood rooted to the spot while keeping her grip on the spear’s length, while her eyes seemed to be looking at some distant point beyond Twilight.
Eventually, Twilight managed to regain her composure and began approaching Florina. She kept her steps slow and careful, as she didn’t want to startle the seemingly traumatized girl. Florina showed no reaction to her as she came closer, and even when Twilight was literally right in her face she still didn’t acknowledge the unicorn’s presence.
“Florina?” Twilight said, shaking the other girl a little with her hoof. Still no response. Another shake. “Florina! Snap out of it!”
Florina finally seemed to come out of her daze, blinking once before turning to look down at Twilight. Her eyes widened a little upon seeing the cut across Twilight’s cheek. “You’re bleeding,” she said, softly, but with no small amount of worry.
“I’ll be fine,” Twilight said, wiping at her cheek again. She looked down at the creature’s carcass, wincing at the wretched sight but keeping her composure. “Well, at least that thing is no longer a problem, though, I would’ve preferred we didn’t kill it.”
“I’ve never much liked killing living creatures either,” Florina said, and began pulling her spear from the creature’s chest. “But I’ve learned from experience that some people are better off dead, and if they seek to do harm to my friends and allies, I shouldn’t hesitate to strike them down first.”
Twilight suppressed the urge to shudder, memories of the incident with the shark attacking the original playing through her mind. “Yeah… I guess that’s good justification.” She looked down at the creature, a small frown crossing her muzzle. “I just hope that thing didn’t have any loved ones back home.”
“Me too,” Florina said as she pulled her spear free from the creature’s chest, only for her eyes to bulge at the sight which greeted her. The spear tip was gone, leaving only the wooden length and a small stump where it once connected to the tip. Small puffs of steam rose from the wooden stump, as well as from the hole in the creature’s chest, while a faint sizzling sound could be heard from inside. “Oh my…”
“It appears this thing’s blood is acidic,” Twilight said, her tone taking on a studious vibe. Then she noticed Florina looking wistfully at her now destroyed spear. “I’m sorry, was that spear special to you?” she asked.
Florina shook her head. “No, I have many more just like it. It’s just…” Twilight watched as she again seemed to shrink in on herself, letting the destroyed spear fall to the ground as she placed both her hands against her chest in what looked to be a feeble manner, while her eyes gained a look of worry. “Now I have no way of fighting back against anything that tries to hurt me,” she finished with a small whimper.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Twilight said with a little smirk. She let her horn shine with a little magic, drawing Florina’s curious gaze to it. “My special talent is magic, and I’ve got plenty of spells at the ready in case anything decides to jump us. This creature was just a little faster than I can handle on my own, but rest assured I’ll keep us both safe on our way back.”
Florina smiled. “Thanks, Twilight,” she said.
Twilight then resumed heading back the way she’d come, gesturing for Florina to follow her, which she did.
“So, Florina,” Twilight said, now sounding casual despite what had just happened, “tell me a little about where you’re from. What’s your home universe like?”
Florina gazed up in thought for a few moments before replying. “Well, it’s a little dangerous, but also very exciting.” Her smile widened a little. “And it’s very easy to find new friends to help you fight against evil...”
Twilight smiled as well. Just like home…