A Rabbit Hearted Mare

by MissytheAngle

Chapter Six: Toward Everfree

Chapter Six

Toward Everfree

The whole walk to her house that night had been filled with silence. The Doctor didn’t say a word on their trek back to Ponyville, not even a goodbye as she arrived at her house. Roseluck snuck a look at him every once in awhile, but his icy stare had stayed on the ground.

Even if she could think of what to say to him, did she really want to say it?

That answer was certainly no. No words were spoken, even as she returned to her house. The Doctor simply… walked briskly past it, as if it were nothing. Roseluck could feel a tinge of fear in her chest, knowing she could not bring herself to say anything to him. At least until his anger died down. Though he never said where to meet him the next morning.

She failed to sleep most of the night.

Even though the music stopped once they returned home, the worry of it returning in her sleep didn’t leave her as she tossed and turned in her bed. As if she’d be next. Her mind refused to turn off.

Poor Muffins… she thought in her bed, eyes wide and her mind running miles and miles afar. How could she possibly have let this happen? That was number three to add to her list of ponies she would worry endlessly over until they were safe. They had slipped away in a blink of her eyes.

Eventually, however, her mind slowed and slowed, exhaustion taking over. The long day overwhelmed her, and with a weary sigh, she fell asleep just as the sky began to brighten.

***

For once, Roseluck found herself not waking up as soon as it became bright out. Checking her clock downstairs, it turned out to be after noon. Under normal considerations, she would panic and rush to her rose stand. But work, for once, was pushed into the back of her head for another day, a day when she knew her friends were safe and sound.

She did her daily morning routines—though her stern cleaning would have wait another day—and once finished with breakfast, she walked to the door With some clues as to where their friends were, she knew that today she and the Doctor had to search through the Everfree Forest for any of them. She gulped, realizing her hoof was shaking.

Roseluck sighed. Let's just get it over with, alright? For Daisy, Lily, and Muffins, and everypony else!

Stepping outside, she looked around. Then she jumped. Doctor Hooves stood outside, one side of his body pressed against the wall of her house. His ears perked when she walked in front of him, and he blinked several times.

“H-have you been standing there for too long?” she asked.

“Nahh, just stumbled here a bit ago. Coincidences can be fun, I think. Hello!” He waved and smiled weakly.

Roseluck did not believe that entirely. With one look, she saw the lines under his eyes. She frowned and stepped forward hesitantly, hoof hovering in the air, as if ready to point at his face. “Did you sleep last night?”

The Doctor scoffed, a smirk falling on his lips. “I don’t need sleep much, actually. I’m a very perky night person. Besides, I’ve been keeping an eye out in case the pony might’ve come back. The fake money bit probably wasn’t pleasing to them.”

She nodded. “Or… how about breakfast? I just had some pancakes, but I could make you some more or—”

He chuckled, cutting her off. It failed to lessen her concern. “Don’t worry about me, okay?”

Too late. However, pressing on the matter would not convince him to spill; this much she knew. So she changed subjects.

“So did that pony use his, uh, his magic spell again?” she asked. “I-I fell asleep sometime late in the night.”

“Nope.” He popped his lips on the ‘p.’ “I suppose that that was just to… have someone to bring him the money instead of going himself. Plus, no one else went missing, according to Mayor Mare. He’s likely done this before.”

Roseluck’s face paled. “What, kidnapped ponies for ransom?”

He blew a raspberry in response. “Probably not. Then we’d know more about this sort. Ponies notorious for that sort of thing aren’t swept away from the news that quickly.” He shook his head. “No, no, I’m thinking of using this gift to lure any sort of creature around. Like a Pied Piper.”

“Pied Piper?”

The Doctor shot her a look, appearing shocked at this revelation, and sputtered, “You don’t have that here, either?”

Roseluck raised a brow at him. “No?”

“Fine.” He sighed, and brushed a few strands of hair from his face. “Come on. I have a few things to get before we go into the forest.” He leaned in towards her, eyebrows quirked. “You sure you don’t mind following me into the Everfree Forest?”

She failed to respond immediately. It took a long gulp followed by a sigh under her breath. “Yeah, yeah. I want to help.”

The Doctor smiled lightly. “That’s good of you. I know this is tough, but we’ll fix everything.” When she nodded with slight agreement, he added, his hoof tapping his chin, “But first, I need to get something from my house. It’ll only take a moment.” He gestured for her to follow him, and he started walking. Roseluck quickly caught up with him.

The town was quiet. The occasional pony or group of ponies would pass them, but that was it. Even an upbeat town like Ponyville could get scared enough to keep to themselves within their safe abodes.

They arrived to the Doctor’s house, and when he went inside, he flicked a switch to bring the dark living room to life. She followed him into the building but stopped at the sight of what lay inside.

An endless array of gadgets spread all across the room, from the ground to the tables, and some even hung on the ceiling. Computers spread across some sides, revealing numbers and equations that flew over her head. She eyed most of the objects, thinking as to what they’d do, if they do anything. Looking around again, she failed to see any normal furniture. No couches, and little space to actually sit down.

“I’ve never seen anything like… any of this before,” she said, gesturing out across the room. Saying this as opposed to something like, “Weird, weird, and extremely weird,” sounded preferable.

“Well, that’s to be expected. I don’t know many ponies that are fascinated with the sort of stuff I’m into. Everyone’s all about the magic of things, not asking for many explanations.” He scoffed. “You silly ponies fail to understand the beauty of science! Perhaps I’m just in the wrong place…” He shrugged, kneeling down while moving different objects aside in search of whatever else he needed.

“So what do you need? Will it help us find everypony?”

In a second, he straightened his posture and turned back to her. He grinned widely, almost like a madman. “Yes! And of course, the one behind all of this. I just need to find it… hmm, hold on.” And he dived his whole head into a pile of what appeared to be junk, but he’d likely disagree about that.

When he pulled back, he held a square metal object in his grasp. With a press of the button on the side, it whirred to life with a small start. And a radar at the top echoed, but nothing else changed otherwise.

“What is that?” she asked, trying to hide back her surprise.

“Don’t have a name for it, but it does go doot! An adorable little noise. When there’s a particularly strange source of magic, it goes off. Not just regular magic from unicorns, because this thing would go off too much. And not… not Discord weird, thankfully. Because this manipulation magic from music is more like a curse, so there’s got to be a source to track. But if we try and use this on our walk through the forest, then we can find the source. So long as we’re careful and sneaky, we could find him without getting caught.” The more he explained, the more animated his expression grew. And he even waved it around in quick, dance-like movement.

“Well, that’s good,” Roseluck giggled. “But… why couldn’t it find out where it was coming from before?” It would’ve been nice to use a few days ago!

“Not a large enough radius. This small thing can only do so much. If we search around the Everfree Forest, we’ll have a better field to search around. Hopefully,” he muttered in equal disappointment, but he gave it a small pat. “Better than nothing, though! We should get going. Don’t want it to get dark before we find them.”

“Yes,” was her immediate response, the memories of the forest last night the least welcoming.

***

The entrance of the Everfree forest stood before them. The sky looked normal, and no noises could be heard. So far, she had no reason to feel nervous, yet she rubbed her foreleg anyway.

“I’ll be honest, I’m, uh… I’m still worried,” she muttered as they entered the forest. “About what’s in there.”

“Oh, it could be far worse!” the Doctor said. With his gaze away from her, he failed to see the tightening of her expression. “Maybe we’ll miss them! Or find that friendly little spider.”

“That doesn’t exactly make it any better,” she said under her breath. She raised her voice to add, “But I’ve never really been in here. Lots of ponies don’t just… just go in there, and it’s for a good reason. It’s too dangerous.”

“We were here for the situation with the Isos, remember?” His eyes shined.

“B-but weren’t we outside the forest? We never really went into the… the really dangerous parts. I’ve only heard of the stories, but there are t-timberwolves and bears and tons of other creatures. Creatures that probably bite and just… they just sound awful, okay?” She grit her teeth.

“Then we’ll keep an eye out for them.”

They arrived to the entrance of the forest, and her hooves instantly began to quake. Despite the brave face she pulled, she could feel it cracking as the whistles of unknown creatures echoed from inside. There was that one spider, but how many would act the same?

“And this place is weird… aside from that! It’s not under control of the Pegasus weather. The weather just… it just happens!” A shiver crawled down her spine as she looked up at the sky. Through the shades of the trees, clouds breezed through the sky—on their own schedule.

The Doctor nodded curtly and reached up to grab a branch of a tree. “As it should. Nature should be natural. It’s in the name! Nature, natural.” He tilted his head to the side with a crooked grin.

Roseluck shook her head. “I guess, but… it’s still weird.”

Atop the branch, he reached up as high as he could, standing on the edges of his back hooves and dangling one forehoof against a branch above him.

“Anything?”

A moment of quiet, and once his face lit up. “Something! A little bit northeast, and pretty far away, but a signal is better than nothing.” He jumped from the branch, though he lands with little grace and some stumbling in the end. Under his breath, he muttered something about not getting used to something, but Roseluck failed to catch it all.

Straightening himself up, Doctor Hooves pointed forward. “Onward, Roseluck!”

And he all but skipped deeper into the mouth of the Everfree. Roseluck smiled a little, despite herself, and hurried to keep up with him. Losing him so instantly while travelling inside was one of the last things she wanted to happen at the moment.

Crickets chirped somewhere far off. They had to walk over thick bushes, some of which were filled with thorns, and duck under low branches. Flowers were a treasure to her, but all this bothersome foliage started to make her grumble under her breath. To her left, path caught her attention, and off in the distance, she caught a door dug into a large tree.

“I’ll never understand zebras.”

The Doctor stopped and gave her a quirked brow, but he grinned. “Now that’s a little rude, I think. And a bit random, though random pieces of conversation will make time go by quicker. Why’s that?”

Her eyes pointed down the path. “She’s the only one I even know of that decides to live here. Fluttershy kinda lives at the edge of the forest, but she doesn’t live in it. Zecora’s all the way in the middle of this place! How could she possibly live around here?”

“She’s loads of fun, actually. I visit her from time to time, have drinks, talk about this and that and that and this.” With each word, he swerved his body around.

She rolled her eyes.

“Even her speech is fun. It gets contagious, and often, I’ll start joining in with the rhyming. That’s fun, too! Even if her magic and potions still befuddled me.” He shrugged, and then directed them at a sharp east. “You just have to get to know her.”

“Well, I don’t really know her. I don’t talk to her, actually. Maybe once or twice, I did.” She paused, and a little hope rose within her. “Do you think she could help?”

“I asked her after you went home,” he replied, eyes falling. “She heard the noise but couldn’t trace it. Almost like the music was everywhere. So searching for it through ears would be fruitless.”

Roseluck simply made a noise of disappointment.

The forest’s mass was larger than she anticipated. And filled with more flora, certainly. They had to brush past thick bushes and even a few thorny plants. Roseluck could feel a prick in her side, but only for a second. Doctor Hooves moved forward, so she had to catch up. It was as if he was barely phased by his surroundings.

Her… not so much.

She gave small attempts to try and enjoy something of this place. Some plants and flowers bloomed that she had not seen in Ponyville, such as a red flower with white spots, and whenever a strange animal crossed their path, it either ignored them, or the Doctor guided them around it. The strangeness and mystery of the forest intrigued the Doctor. They ranged from bears that strolled with the lunch in their teeth, too satisfied with their findings to bother the ponies, to flocks of butterflies, completely harmless. She guessed they were wandering in a safer part of the woods.

But she almost swore there were whispers, and the darkness in between the trees brought more shivers across her spine. And though they were blessed with what types of creatures they had seen, she peeked around every corner in concern for other, more dangerous animals lurking about.

About an hour in, she sighed, and she wiped a hoof across her forehead, drops of sweat sticking to her forelocks. “Doctor, how much longer will this take? I mean, I feel like we’ve been trotting in circles. Like… we’re not getting any closer.”

The Doctor stuck his tongue out as he whacked the side of the device. “Well… hmm.”

“W-what? Something wrong?”

“The directions does appear to be changing quite a lot. I didn’t notice, but… see?”

He leaned toward her, bringing the device into her face. One minute, the red dot appeared and disappeared further northwest. After a few steps forward, the dot changed its mind and moved into the opposite side, more south. Roseluck’s eyes grew smaller.

“What is it doing?” Roseluck squawked, then covered her mouth. Birds from the trees flew off in fear.

“It is possible that the magic is interfering… on purpose. Fighting back! Could be, at least. You never know,” he mused.

“How could it be tricking that thing?!” she shouted, then caught herself. She covered her mouth once more, then continued in a low whisper, “How does magic interfere with strange technology that doesn’t… that doesn’t even know it exists?!”

“I share the same irritation with the anomalies of magic,” he grumbled, his lips pouting out similar to an annoyed child. “Besides, I just made this about a week back. I haven’t had the chance to use it yet, technically.”

“Seriously?” She couldn’t help her exasperated tone, but he failed to notice it anyway and just nodded. Roseluck clutched her head, and dread washed over her. “Then what if we’re going in the wrong direction?”

“Then we keep going! And look, we haven’t found trouble yet. Well, trouble usually finds me, but that’s the fun part.” His smile grew, the kind of oblivious look that drew in more anger and even panic into the mare.

“This is awful. Doctor, what if we’ve been going in the wrong direction the whole time?” Her voice shook. “What if we’re nowhere near where that pony is?”

He only stared at the device, even tore the back of it open. Wires stuck out from its insides, but he made no attempt to answer her question. A creature howled out in the distance, and her hooves shook.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Roseluck said. “Can’t we try tomorrow?”

“Roseluck,” he addressed her with stern strictness in his voice. She froze up, shoulders stiff, and she looked up at him with scared eyes. “I know you’re scared, and what we have to go by isn’t a lot, but we need to keep trying. Ponies are relying on us, Roseluck, and we owe it to them and our friends to try and try, until we get there.”

“You don’t need me,” she whispered. “I’m here just because… just because! I-I...” Her voice caught in her throat, and she shook her head. “I’m going home. I’m sorry. I can’t.”

She turned around and ran. Ran far, far away. Even as she found it difficult to find a sense of direction, she ran with tears slipping from her face.

“Roseluck!”

Author's Note:

With finals, I delayed putting this up a bit. Thankfully, I am all done and can breathe again! Here's to a decent summer. <3

Was originally going to post this later in the afternoon, but I'm waiting for my ride so I thought I'd get it out of the way while I wait. :P

Comments

[The Bricklayer]

Poor Roseluck... Something tells me though as she's the main character she'll be more useful then she thinks she is. Great part, and also loved the Pied Piper reference. Very apprioate for this.