Facing Consequences, Making Choices

by 1Bit

Chapter 13 - Loss

The next few seconds were all but a blur with mystical roots attacking from every side. No matter how fast they ran, the forest around them clawed at their fur and tried to drag them to an unknown and impending doom. Fluttershy was the first to be snared as a vine twisted it's way around her hindleg. She squeaked in surprise as she was helplessly dragged away from her friends who instantly turned, galloping after her. Twilight desperately cast a spell on the vines, causing them to release Fluttershy and let out a shrill cry. Twilight's face went white with fear when she realised they were now hunting her.

Applejack set about smashing through every branch she saw. She could feel a primal instinct growing inside her as she set about cutting through the waves upon waves of terrors that hurled themselves at the mare. In one swift move, she pushed Rarity and Fluttershy out of the way of yet another enchanted vine, grabbing it in her jaw and tearing it in half.

"Everypony! This way!"

The yell from Rainbow made the mares momentarily look up, searching for their friend...which gave ample time for the forest to fight back. Just as they started to run, more monsters came, growling with a ravenous hunger in their belly. Everypony screamed as they ran for their lives, diving in and out of cover as they frantically reached for their pegasus friend. Purple hue's illuminated even the darkest of shadows as Twilight fired off bolt after bolt of magical energy from her horn until the sweat was quite visible on her brow. Applejack grabbed Fluttershy and Rarity's frozen figures and led them forward. They inched closer and closer to Rainbow, the cyan mare frantically waving her hooves in the air at them. They barely leapt through the small opening in the thicket when a thousand hungry jaws seemingly tried to dig into them simultaneously, narrowly missing them all.

For a moment, everything was dead silent, aside from the rapid breathing of five terrified and exhausted ponies.

Wait, only five...

"Uh, y'all?" Applejack spoke softly. "Where's Pinkie?"

Panic broke loose among the group as they looked around to find their friend was nowhere to be seen. There desperate cries into the thick fog yielded no results as the pink pony was still nowhere to be seen. And just like that, Fluttershy began to cry.

"W-what if those awful things got her?" She whimpered, sobbing in the comfort of Rarity's hooves. "W-we may never see h-her again-"

"No. We'll find her." Twilight couldn't even look her friend in the eye.

"But what if we don't...?"

"We. Will." Twilight's voice was unusually calm in comparison to her feathered friend's and they all exchanged looks of worry about the purple unicorn but none were capable of speaking up after what had just happened.

Applejack crawled weakly over to Rainbow and held her close. "Thanks Rainbow." She whispered in Rainbow Dash's ear. "Without you, we woulda been plant food." She planted a small kiss on her cheek and smiled.

"I know, but we can't stay here long, this whole forest's gonna be on us any second." Rainbow replied, searching for the best path onward.

"You can't be possibly suggesting we keep going, dear?" Rarity was rather taken aback by the idea.

"What other choice do we have?" Rainbow argued. "Pinkie's missing and we're pretty much lost in the middle of Tartarus here!"

Applejack piped up, stepping forward. "What if this all links to this virus thingy Twilight said about? Ah reckon it caused all this mess to begin with."

"No evidence, but it's a perfectly logical explanation." Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, scanning around again until her face suddenly lit up. "A-ha!"

"What's up, Twi?" Rainbow perked up.

"Drag marks, just back here." She pointed the small group towards some clear marks dug into the damp soil just at the edge of the thicket. As they explored deeper, more of the track became clear. "Whatever was dragged through here clearly made a fuss about it. There's plenty of broken twigs and disturbed earth around it. And..." Twilight's horn glowed and she turned around to her friends, holding a single shimmering piece of coloured material in her magic. "Confetti. I know only one pony who'd leave a trail of confetti as she's dragged through a forest like this."

"Come on y'all! We gotta pink, party pony that needs saving!" Applejack reared up and galloped down the tracks. She was swiftly followed by Rainbow, Twilight and a reluctant Rarity who helped Fluttershy to her feet and guided her down the tracks towards the others.