Chapter 17 - Deep in the Forest
Deep in the Forest
In the Everfree forest lived an innumerable number of wild beasts, animals, and creatures that could hardly subsist in another place of Equestria, where the peace and security provided by Princess Celestia reigned, for that forest was wild and dark, with its own ancient magic flowing from the deep roots of the trees to their tall crowns. It was the perfect place for the savage beasts who didn’t want or could not follow the rules of harmony, unlike the ponies who could understand. That is why many ponies, mainly those who lived in Ponyville, knew that they shouldn't enter the dark forest without a good reason to, a self-imposed rule that precisely two ponies were breaking in that dangerous night, risking their own safety enormously: a lavender unicorn next to an earth pony in a cowboy hat, they walked between thorny wooden vines, surrounded by the tall dark trees of the forest.
"You still don't know where we are?" Dusk asked somewhat impatiently, seeing that they had been walking for some time without a specific direction.
"Nope." Applejack replied. "Ah' told ya that Ah've entered the forest bafore, but Ah'd never gone off the road, that... it's som'thin that should never be done."
Dusk looked at Applejack and saw that, although she tried to hide it, it seemed that Applejack was also nervous, so he lowered his head and gave a heavy sigh. He knew they had gone astray because of him, when they got away from the bull, which finally turned out to be only a shadow, Dusk thought that the only alternative was to get out of the way at the time, something that probably had hurt them much more than the appearance of the bull, since after deviating from the road, they couldn't find their own tracks and therefore could not find a way back to the road, so they had spent a great deal of time walking in a straight line, as much as the wild nature of the forest allowed them, going to where they thought the main road should be, something that they could not verify for sure since they couldn't even see clearly because the treetops almost completely covered the sky and prevented the moon from illuminating the depths of the forest.
As they walked on, Dusk felt a chill again, something that had been repeated a few times already because of the low temperature, which had begun to fall gradually. At the same time fog began to form, which was dense but lucky for them stayed flat on the floor, so it only managed to cover the lower part of their hooves, however, it was freezing enough to make the ponies feel the cold through their fur.
Suddenly Dusk put his ears on alert and stopped.
"Did you hear that?" Dusk asked, looking back.
"Hear what?" Applejack asked, looking at him.
"It sounded... like a laugh." Dusk said without being able to hear what he had heard again.
"Hmpf! Well, a laugh would be the least of our problems." Applejack said with a small nervous smile, turning around and walking again.
Applejack didn’t want to appear weak to Dusk, but she was very nervous. She knew the dangers of the forest, a life living near this dark place had taught her to respect it and to not risk her neck going out of the way, as many ponies had done, ponies that never came out again. Without both realizing it, the fog began to grow slowly, surrounding them and giving everything a gray and dark tone.
"Ouch!" Applejack suddenly shouted, holding one of her hooves.
"What's wrong?" Dusk asked worriedly, coming closer.
"Ah' hit som'thin." Applejack said, looking down at the ground, to see the ‘something’ covered up in the fog.
Both ponies looked down and saw that it was a huge square stone, with its edges well defined, somewhat cracked and with something written on it... at that moment both ponies were startled, as they realized that it was not just any stone, but a tombstone! Both ponies felt a chill again, but this time out of fear.
"I'll use my magic to light things up a little." Dusk said timidly since after verifying that Nightmare Moon was in the forest and wanted to stop them, he had decided not to use his magic unless it was really needed, to save his power in case of a sudden attack and to prevent her from tracking his aura. Nevertheless, after seeing the tombstone, he decided it was necessary to take the risk and brighten up a little.
As Dusk's horn gently illuminated, both ponies could see that it was not just one tombstone, but many, extending far and wide in all directions.
"It's... A cemetery?" Dusk said with some apprehension, looking at what seemed to be different tombs. "There's a cemetery in the middle of the forest?"
"A-Ah' dunno..." Applejack blurted out, unable to hide her nervousness anymore.
Suddenly a giggle was heard in the distance, something that would not have attracted much attention at any other time, nevertheless in that place full of tombs, with its dark, cold, silent atmosphere, the laughter heard was very creepy.
"M-Maybe we should head back..." Applejack said with fear, involuntarily touching Dusk with her hoof.
"We can't." Dusk replied. "If we deviate from each obstacle, nothing's stopping us from walking around in circles without realizing it. It's best to keep going straight as we were."
Dusk looked at Applejack, trying to look at her with certainty.
"Follow me, and stay close." Dusk told the earth-mare.
Applejack looked at Dusk and had to admit that Dusk's warm look reassured her a little. It was enough to make her realize that she couldn't act like a silly scared filly in front of Dusk, so she stopped touching him and put on a look of certainty.
"Okay, Ah'm right behind ya." Applejack said decisively, approaching Dusk. The frightened mare inside her screamed to embrace Dusk now that he was leading her, but the strong and independent mare inside her prevented this, so to reconcile both thoughts, she approached as much as possible without touching him.
Dusk continued to dimly illuminate his horn, just enough to light a few steps in front of him, hoping that this didn’t catch the attention of Nightmare Moon, and seeing that Applejack was ready to continue, he began to enter the great field of tombstones.
Walking among the tombs, Dusk noticed that all the headstones had something written on them, probably the name of the pony or creature that lay there. However, he did not stop at any time to read them, he was totally focused on going straight to get out of this place soon. Meanwhile, as gradually as it had been ascending, the fog became denser and denser, so much so that a moment came that the light on Dusk's horn was not enough to keep seeing what was in front of him.
Dusk stopped and bit his lip, unsure of wanting to use more magic to illuminate more, knowing the risks involved.
"Maybe I should lighten up a little-" Dusk said looking back at Applejack, but he stopped short when he saw that the mare was not behind him.
"Applejack!?" Dusk said nervously as his blood froze in fear. He'd been able to face the danger of entering alone in that dark forest, just like being in that old cemetery, but knowing that he had lost his companion in such a place made Dusk's heart paralyzed with dread for the first time that night.
"APPLEJACK!" Dusk shouted, looking around to try and locate the missing mare, unable to see anything because of the dense fog.
Dusk took a couple of steps and prepared to use his magic to lighten and clear the fog if necessary, nevertheless as soon as his horn lit up, while continuing to walk blindly, he tripped over a tombstone and fell face first on the ground. The unicorn was dizzy for a few seconds while he slowly began to open his eyes after the blow. Once he opened them, the first thing he saw was what was in front of him, the tombstone he'd stumbled across, where he could read a name: 'Twilight Twinkle'.
"It's impossible..." Dusk said frightened after reading the name, while his breathing began to stir. He knew that name.
"Dusk..." A lugubrious and tired voice said in the mist, a voice that the lavender unicorn could immediately recognize. He remembered that voice belonging to the pony bearing the name that was written on that tombstone. A voice he hadn't heard in many years, ever since he had been a foal.
Dusk began to tremble, but with great effort turned his head to look where he had heard the voice. There, in the haze that faded slightly, Dusk could see an old pale-pink unicorn mare, with a white mane and a purple stripe on one side of it, same as her tail, and on her flanks her cutie mark were several purple stars.
"Grandma..." Dusk called nervously, unable to believe it. He had not seen his grandmother since he was a foal, even before he got his cutie mark. "It's... It's impossible! It's an illusion! You... You're dead!" Dusk shouted frightened, retreating a couple of steps, trying in vain to maintain his composure, because seeing his grandmother again had stunned him, almost making him panic.
"That's right... I'm dead..." Dusk's grandmother said in a frigid, emotionless voice, while her figure stood motionless like a statue, staring at Dusk with cold, dull eyes. "In this place, the souls of those who were not loved in life are sent here… trapped, never able to rest, for all eternity..."
Those phrases made Dusk wear a face of despair and pain. He then sat down, closed his eyes tightly and covered his ears with his hooves.
"This isn’t real, it's an illusion... It must be an illusion!" Dusk began to repeat himself aloud, trying to block out one of his many painful memories from his childhood; the memory of his deceased grandmother. It was all a futile attempt, because without knowing it the mist that had surrounded him had slowly entered into his mind, clouding his judgment and causing his emotions to overflow and making him descend quickly into despair. This was not an ordinary fog, in truth, it was just a disguise for a powerful illusory spell, one that made the stallion only think of fear and guilt.
"Dusk... Why did you abandon me?" His grandmother's cold voice asked, looking at him with an expressionless gaze.
"I... I didn't abandon you." Dusk said with great sadness, unable to avoid hearing his grandmother's voice even though he covered his ears.
It was after these words that, despite the attempts to repress it, the illusory magic that flooded Dusk forced him to remember the guilt he felt. He remembered when he had been told of the death of his grandmother, a few days after having entered the prestigious Canterlot magic school, it was there that Dusk realized that despite how close he had been to his grandmother, he hadn't spent her last days with her, because those first few days of school had been so agitating that Dusk didn't have time to visit her before losing her. That was the reason that Dusk felt so guilty, he was never forgiven himself for not having shared with her those last moments.
"I've always been there for you, supported you, loved you..." The grandmother's cold voice said. "But despite that, you forgot about me... You never loved me..."
"That's not true!" Dusk shouted in despair with his eyes still closed, tightening his ears even harder to block his ‘grandmother's’ voice.
A laugh rang out in the distance, a laugh that with the prevailing atmosphere made the situation all the more sinister.
"You failed me!" Grandma's voice said even louder.
"I... I..." Dusk began to stammer as small tears began to stream from his eyes.
"I finally found you!" A new voice said unexpectedly, a voice that made Dusk open his eyes in surprise.
Opening his eyes and lifting his head, Dusk saw that in front of him was a pink mare he knew well, it was Pinkie Pie, who came even closer and touched his nose with her hoof.
"Boop!" Pinkie Pie said with a smile, pressing Dusk's nose like a button.
"Pinkie..." Dusk asked, surprised to see the pink mare but unable to react properly due to the spell he was submerged in. It was that same spell that made Dusk look away from Pinkie Pie and look again at the ghostly figure of his grandmother, who was still there and looked at him with the same cold look.
"Grandma... forgive me... I didn't want to leave you alone!" Dusk retorted feeling the sadness, pain, and guilt returning to him, completely forgetting Pinkie Pie's presence even though she was speaking to him. "I didn't want to forget you... I... AH! HAHAHAHA!! HAHAHA!!"
Suddenly Dusk burst out laughing, as Pinkie Pie started tickling him without warning.
"ST-HAHAHA! STOP IT! HAHAHAHA!!" Dusk laughed, struggling to breathe while trying to get Pinkie Pie off him.
It was so surprisingly Pinkie Pie started with the tickling, she stopped, looking with a smile at Dusk.
"W-Why did you do that?" Dusk said, composing himself a bit after the situation.
"You looked really sad, and it seemed like you didn't hear anything I told you." Pinkie Pie said smiling. "So I had to use my last resort for such situations." Pinkie Pie finished, showing her front hooves with which she had tickled Dusk.
"I... I was with my grandma..." Dusk said holding his head. "She told me... that I was a bad grandson because I wasn't with her when she died..."
It made Dusk's sadness come back, making the fog around them, which for a moment had begun to dissipate, began to become denser again. As the mist returned, the names on the tombstones reappeared, like the ghost of Dusk's grandmother, who, like a statue, kept staring coldly at her grandson.
Dusk again fixed his sight slowly on the ghost of his dead grandmother as his breath began to stir again.
"Please forgive me..." Dusk said looking sadly at his grandmother.
"So that's what you're seeing..." Pinkie Pie said following Dusk's eyes, though she saw nothing. "I also started seeing my grandma, but I was just so glad to see her again, I started laughing remembering all the fun times we spent together!" The pink mare stated in joy.
"By the way…" Pinkie Pie added, who was still in the visual and auditory field of Dusk at the time. "Why is your grandma coming back just to blame you? I mean, if I were to speak to my grandson again after a long time, even though I don't have one, right now anyway, the only thing I would say would be how much I loved him and remember the good times we spent together. Yes! It would be totally fun!"
Pinkie Pie's giggling rung in Dusk's ears, making him realize that the same laughter he had been hearing for a while now was Pinkie's, but now that he had the smiling mare at his side, it no longer seemed so sinister, but as it usually was, a funny and contagious laugh, which was unconsciously making Dusk slowly get a grip from that powerful illusion.
"That... that's true..." Dusk said while still looking at the ghost of his grandmother, but now he was able to repress his emotions a little and saw her more clearly. "My grandma would never look at me like this... She always looked at me with affection, as if I was the most important pony to her..."
"And you had lots of fun together, right?" Pinkie Pie asked curiously.
"Yeah..." Dusk said while rising, still unable to look away from the ghost, but overcoming more and more to the spell, managing to small smile. " I remember she always baked me cookies... We baked together and always left a mess in the kitchen, so when mom was annoyed by this... we hid so she couldn't find us, we... always had fun... we were so close..."
Remembering all those good moments, Dusk began to smile and laugh softly, glad to be able to remember those good moments, finally managing to forget the sadness he felt.
"And do you think your grandmother would come back just to blame you and make you feel bad?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"No, she would never do that... She was the one who first tried to teach me how to use magic." Dusk finally said with a joyous smile as the illusion of his grandmother began to disappear, as did the fog that surrounded him. "She would say she's proud of me."
At that moment, Dusk shook his head and began to laugh as he realized what he had just said, something he had never thought seriously since he had never had anyone by his side like Pinkie Pie to help him see the truth.
"Hahaha, that's right! She would be proud to see how good I am at magic, and it was all thanks to her and her first lessons." Dusk said laughing, watching as the ghost of his grandmother disappeared completely, as well as the fog and tombstones, which ceased to be seen as such, showing their true shape, simple rocks and logs scattered throughout the place.
Once the fog dissipated, Dusk looked smiling at Pinkie Pie, who also smiled at him.
"You really didn't know that?" Pinkie Pie finally asked.
"No." Dusk said, still smiling, but saddened a bit when realizing something. "I never bothered my family or the princess with things so insignificant, like how I felt, or why I was sad... or when I felt bad about myself... and at the time Spike was too young... In those days I only trusted a mare, my best friend... but she would never have solved a problem by laughing or making me remember the happy moments instead of the sad ones, she said that all the problems had a logical solution, that feelings only numbed ponies, mainly silly emotions like laughter."
"Your friend sounds like a stick in the mud." Pinkie Pie said, sticking out her tongue and smiling. "There's nothing better than laughter, that solves all problems, or at least it'll help you solve them."
"Haha, maybe you're right." Dusk admitted, surprised to accept what Pinkie Pie said. "Maybe I'll start solving problems your way." He finished, remembering that he still had to do something.
"Pinkie Pie..." Dusk added approaching the mare.
"Yes?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Dusk then rushed over the mare and started tickling her just as she had done, which made Pinkie Pie start laughing nonstop.
"Please forgive me for putting you all to sleep, I just wanted to keep you safe." Dusk said as he continued to tickle Pinkie Pie. "Also, please forgive me for all that has happened tonight and all bad things I've done."
"HAHAHA! HAHAHA! Alright, alright! Hahaha! I forgive you, haha..." Pinkie Pie said as she laughed.
Once Dusk stopped tickling Pinkie Pie, she caught her breath and got up.
"That’s not fair." Pinkie Pie said staring with a fake look of anger at Dusk. "It's true that laughter solves all problems, but forcing me to laugh so that I forgive you is just mean."
Dusk didn’t respond, he just gave a huge smile to Pinkie Pie, which made her smile tenderly as her cheeks flushed. This colt always surprised Pinkie Pie, and that was what she liked most about him, not many ponies could do that. Besides, he had a sincere and warm laugh, something that apparently appeared on very few occasions due to all the feelings that the stallion hid, but when it managed to break through and out of Dusk's mouth, it was a delight to Pinkie Pie's ears to hear his laughter, even more so to see him smile like this. So her heart couldn't stop racing at the sight of him and remembering that she liked him. The two ponies continued to smile at each other for a while, until Dusk's expression began to radically change. He became frightened when he remembered something very important, something he was doing before all that transpired.
"Applejack!!" Dusk shouted, realizing that with all that commotion going on he had completely forgotten about the country mare. Both him and Pinkie Pie began moving and searching in all directions trying to find Applejack. The search mission became easier with the dense fog now completely gone, as well as Dusk using his magic to illuminate all around him, since he now no longer cared if Nightmare Moon located him or not. The fact that the illusion spell had affected him was proof enough that Nightmare Moon already knew perfectly where they were, so it wasn't necessary to continue hiding, and right now his priority was to find Applejack, so he had decided that he could risk his own safety in exchange of protect her and the other mares.
It was after a brief search, thanks to the light provided by Dusk, both ponies could see an orange figure not far from there, which they could verify that it was Applejack, sitting and staring at two rocks.
As the earth pony heard a few steps approaching, she turned her head and saw that Dusk and Pinkie Pie were coming. When they arrived, Applejack turned her head again so that Dusk couldn't see her face as she wiped her tears with her hoof, something that, unfortunately for her, didn't go unnoticed by the lavender unicorn.
"Are you okay?" Dusk asked in worry, once he stopped in front of the orange pony.
"Yeah... Ah'm fine." Applejack replied, wiping away her tears and wrinkling her nose. "Ah... Ah remember walkin' behind ya and then Ah only blinked fer a second and Ah lost sight of ya cuz' of the fog, then Ah screamed and Ah called but there was no answer. Then... Ah saw two graves... the graves of..." Then Applejack was silent, seeming pained to remember what she had just seen.
"Ah saw an' heard things that made me feel really sad and hurt..." Applejack finally said, getting up, not wanting to be more specific. "But the fog suddenly disappeared, like ghosts, an' everything went back ta normal."
"Yeah... It was another powerful illusion made by Nightmare Moon, but thanks to Pinkie Pie I got rid of it." Dusk said looking sideways at Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie Pie... How did you find us?" Applejack asked looking confused at the pink mare, something that surprised Dusk since that had been something that he had been wondering too but had forgotten to ask. "We're in the middle o' the forest, Ah' don't even know how we got here."
"Well, it's all thanks to my GPS." Pinkie Pie said smiling.
"GPS?" Dusk asked confused.
"My 'Great Pinkie-Sense', of course." Pinkie Pie said as she bent down and lifted her butt as her tail began to spin like a radar, spinning around until it stopped, pointing at Dusk.
Dusk opened his mouth to protest at the absurdity of the mare, but he remembered that it was Pinkie Pie after all, the Queen of absurdity. He did However leave a mental note, deciding that before the irrefutable evidence that supports it, someday he would have to study this so-called 'Pinkie-sense'.
"So you know how to get back on the road?" Applejack asked, already aware of Pinkie Pie's effective Pinkie-sense.
"Yep, sure do." Pinkie Pie said with a smile. "Just follow me."
Then Pinkie Pie began to walk, rather than jump with her accustomed step, entering among the trees of the forest, followed by Applejack and Dusk, who didn't stop illuminating his horn, deciding that he would not be bewitched again with his guard down, so he kept his magic alight, ready to attack or defend himself at any time if necessary.
"THOSE ACCURSED PONIES!" Nightmare Moon shouted angrily after watching Dusk and company continue to evade her best traps. She had been watching through her magical screen, the dark cloud that reflected the images of Dusk and his companions. She had enjoyed watching Dusk and the orange mare run frightened, pursued on by her monstrous shadows, but great was her disappointment to see that, in the last second, they realized that the monster was nothing but shadows and smoke. Her biggest disappointment, however, was to see how her most ingenious plan, her powerful illusion spell that slowly filled the mind with pain and sorrow, was so easily overcome by a silly pink pony that did nothing but laugh and smile, that was a strong hit to the powerful dark mare's ego.
"Those foolish ponies are not easily frightened!" Nightmare Moon said in annoyance, looking at her magical screen. "But unfortunately for them, I have more spells even stronger than those, and this time I will to stop them for sure."
"No, you won't." Pinkie Pie's voice said suddenly, making her voice heard through Nightmare Moon's magical screen. This totally surprised the dark mare, that without giving importance to the fact if the pink mare had heard her somehow or it had just been a coincidence, she took it as a personal challenge.
"Yes, I will." Nightmare Moon answered defiantly, looking at the magical screen.
"...Won't!" Pinkie Pie replied.
"RRRAAAAAHHHH!!!" The black alicorn screamed again, full of fury, destroying with her magic the magic screen in her outburst. Then she turned around and looked back at her prisoner, who still sat motionless, staring at her with a characteristic serene expression, an expression that she had not shown to Nightmare Moon all that night.
Celestia had been able to see and hear through Nightmare Moon's magical screen, so she could see how her pupil had been overcoming the obstacles that the dark alicorn had put him through, and thank heavens he hadn't done it alone. There were some mares there to help him overcome those obstacles, something that greatly relieved the princess, since she now knew that Dusk was at least not going in alone in this dangerous mission. The best thing about it though was that those mares also seemed to be giving him their friendship, causing a hint of hope to be born in Celestia realizing that those words Dusk had shouted at her about not making friends in Ponyville had apparently been false.
"You don’t appear to be suffering anymore." Nightmare Moon stated staring with hatred at Celestia. "Did the hope of being saved renew your spirits?"
"That's right." The princess proclaimed staring at Nightmare Moon. "It’s with this reinvigorated hope, that I know, YOU can be saved."
"Hahaha, you are a fool Celestia, I don't need to be saved." Nightmare Moon laughed.
"Let me help you, I know somehow-" Celestia began saying, looking supportively at Nightmare Moon, before being abruptly interrupted by the dark mare.
"SILENCE!!!" Nightmare Moon screamed furiously, blasting rays with her horn, some of which struck Celestia. "I don't need help from anypony, for I'm not the one suffering. I am the queen that this world needs! Powerful! Perfect! Beloved and feared by all!"
While Celestia remained motionless after the blow from Nightmare Moon's beam, the dark mare had turned away from the detestable face of the white alicorn and concentrate on her own thoughts.
"My magic is the strongest in all of equestria, it can't be defeated by an ordinary pony! He... He must have been able to vanquish my illusion because I'm too far away! It's the only explanation!" Nightmare Moon thought furiously, trying to justify the facts, since her great ego prevented her from accepting that her magic was defeated by someone else. "Maybe I should get closer to these ponies, face them and use my powerful magic face to face before them." Then she glanced again at Celestia. "The preparations are not yet complete, I'll have to wait longer before I can be rid of her."
Nightmare Moon suddenly spread her wings and part of her body turned in a dark cloud.
"It looks like I'll have to go confront your pupil and his friends in person." Nightmare Moon proclaimed as she rose, looking with a wicked smile at Celestia.
At the words of Nightmare Moon, Celestia looked worried but with a determined look at her captor.
"Oh worry not, I won't destroy them." Nightmare Moon said, reading her prisoner's thoughts, annoyed for having to play along with the former-ruler of equestria, although that would not continue in that way for much longer. "But I when I demonstrate to them what more my power can do, they will learn what true terror is... They will know what Nightmare Moon is capable of!"
The dark alicorn then flew through the destroyed ceiling of the room, flying quickly away as half of her body was hidden under a dark cloud of shadows.
When Celestia was alone, she looked at her chest, where she had been struck by the beam of Nightmare Moon, a blow that had seemed strong but had not really caused her any harm. Immediately the princess connected that with what she had just seen, Nightmare Moon flying, that unlike before, where she had completely transformed into a great cloud of shadows, now those dark clouds had only reached half of her body.
"She's weak." Celestia concluded to herself.
The princess looked out into the forest through the shattered walls, where the black alicorn had gone. She knew that Nightmare Moon kept her word just because she was docile in her captivity, but knew that it would end sooner or later, especially if Dusk attacked the unstable Nightmare Moon. If so, Nightmare Moon would most likely retaliate against Dusk, if that happened the best course of action would be to try and break free now to go meet Dusk. But that was a double-edged sword, the princess wasn’t sure what magic Nightmare Moon had used on her, those shackles of shadows that covered her neck, hooves and horn limited her movement; she didn't know if trying to break free herself would alert Nightmare Moon, and give her the freedom to attack Dusk at will since she had not fulfilled her part of the bargain. With that in mind, Celestia thought it wisest to keep waiting there, and if Nightmare Moon was weakened like she believed, Dusk might have a chance at stopping her.
"But if he had the opportunity... what would Dusk do?" Celestia thought impatiently again, because she didn't want Nightmare Moon to be destroyed either.
"No, Dusk would never destroy anyone." Celestia finally said to herself, thinking aloud, knowing that Dusk was a good pony and would never reach such extremes.
After giving a great sigh trying to relax, hoping that everything went well, the princess turned her gaze, looking back at the pedestal containing the elements of harmony and remembered what she had seen in Nightmare Moon's magical screen, specifically the attitudes she had seen in the orange mare and the pink mare that accompanied Dusk.
"Maybe they can..." The princess finally said, without finishing her sentence, looking on with hopeful eyes at the five rocks and the great central rock that formed the altar of harmony.
"Who were ya talking to?" Applejack asked after hearing Pinkie Pie say loudly 'Won’t!' for no apparent reason.
"Dunno, I just felt like I had to shout it out." Pinkie Pie replied, not caring. "I imagined that we're in a story and that I was responding to the evil wicked witch." Finished saying Pinkie Pie, who was imagining her own fantasy through her head while her two companions looked at her as if she were crazy.
The three ponies continued to advance through the dark forest after leaving that illusion of the cemetery, having Pinkie Pie for a guide, and it wasn't long before the three ponies finally arrived to the road through the Everfree forest.
"Here it is! This is where I turned off from the road to go find you!" Pinkie Pie said smiling, looking down at the ground and picking up a candy she had dropped there. Both ponies looked at each other in confusion, with Dusk lowering his head in resignation since he knew that questioning Pinkie Pie was useless and would only generate more questions. Applejack, however, decided to ask anyway.
"Why is there a candy on the ground?" Applejack asked.
"Oh! It's just I hurried a little, so I left a trail" Pinkie Pie replied smiling.
"A trail for whom?" Dusk asked. A question that wasn't answered since a voice was heard along the road, not far from them.
"Finally! There they are!" An unmistakably elegant voice said, it was Rarity, who appeared on the road walking towards them with Fluttershy.
"Pinkie Pie... you went too far ahead." Fluttershy said once both ponies reached Dusk and company.
"I'm sorry, it's just that my Pinkie-sense told me to hurry." Pinkie Pie smiled and winked. "By the way..." Pinkie Pie added with a pleading look, without finishing her sentence, expecting Fluttershy and Rarity to understand what she wanted.
"I suppose you want this?" Rarity with a sigh, levitating a lot of candies from behind her. "If it had not been for this candies trail, we wouldn't have known which way to go."
Pinkie Pie quickly took the pile of candy that was levitating in front of her, she hugged them and ate them all in one bite, making her cheeks swell as she ate with a big smile. As Pinkie Pie ate, Fluttershy and Rarity looked back at Dusk, with looks of sadness and annoyance respectively, something Dusk noticed on the spot, which made him fold his ears embarrassed.
"It wasn’t necessary for you to resort to something like that with us." Rarity said looking upset at Dusk, obviously referring to the sleeping spell.
"I... I'm really sorry, but I thought it was for the best." Dusk said, lowering his head in embarrassment.
"We just wanted to help you." Fluttershy said timidly.
"Yes, besides, thanks to you my mane is now dirty after I fell asleep on the dirty ground!" Rarity added annoyed. “I don't know if I can forgive you so easily, darling!"
"Well, I already forgave him." Pinkie Pie suddenly said after eating her candies. "I mean he did use a dirty trick to make me do it, but it was fun, so I forgave him."
"Ah' was angry with Dusk, too." Applejack added, scratching her head. "But then he was honest with me, and Ah' understood his reasons better, so Ah' forgave him too."
Rarity looked at the two mares with a questioning look, realizing that something significant had happened. This couldn’t have just been a mere apology, he had probably done something for the both of them that they have forgiven Dusk, something that immediately caused some jealousy in the white unicorn although she was still annoyed with that colt.
"Really? Well, Fluttershy and I will also wait for our apology, privately with each one." Rarity said staring at Dusk as she grabbed Fluttershy close to her.
Dusk looked surprised at Rarity and Fluttershy, where the former looked at him with an intense and serious look, while Fluttershy stared at him too, and though the yellow pegasus had said nothing, it seemed that her silence was because she too agreed with Rarity. Then he smiled a little and gave them a small bow.
"I promise." Dusk said before lifting his head and looking back at Rarity and Fluttershy. "By the way, where's Rainbow Dash?"
At that question both Fluttershy and Rarity blushed a little, getting a little nervous.
"Well... Rainbow Dash is a separate matter..." Rarity explained in an uncomfortable manner. "She... was furious you, VERY in fact. When we woke up and realized that you had put us to sleep to go alone, she... didn't take it very well."
"Yeah, I'd never heard so many bad words at once." Pinkie Pie said, remembering Rainbow Dash's reaction when they had awakened. "She was cursing and hitting the ground for a while before she calmed down a bit."
"Then she said that she wouldn't go after somepony who didn't want her help and… flew back to Ponyville very upset." Fluttershy finished, looking with a little pity at Dusk.
"Yes, you should definitely take care of yourself when she decides to show up." Rarity stated as she walked ahead to keep moving along the road. "Well, this is the road to go, isn't it? We should continue."
The four mares began to walk while Dusk remained motionless, without understanding Rarity's last comment about Rainbow Dash.
"Wait, what do you mean I should take care of myself when Rainbow Dash shows up? Didn't you say that she flew back to town?" Dusk said, starting to walk, reaching for the mares.
"It's Rainbow Dash, do ya really think she went away?" Applejack said. The unicorn noticed that, like her friends, she didn’t seem to be worried about abandoning Rainbow Dash. Hearing that, Dusk paused for a moment and turned to see the way back, wherein the corner of his eye he could see a movement behind a bush as if something had hidden behind that thicket. It was then Dusk smiled as he began to understand what the mares were referring to, due to the darkness he couldn't see very well, but Dusk was sure that what had been hidden behind the bush had been a multicolored mane.
While Dusk began to remember the first encounter he had with Rainbow Dash and how she didn't leave him alone in prison, even though she barely knew him, he turned and began to walk to reach the mares again, which wasn't very far from him, in fact it seemed like they did not move, they even seemed to shrink?
"Dusk, stay back!" Applejack cried out too late, seeing that Dusk had already approached where she and the others were.
As soon as Dusk heard Applejack's warning, he stopped at once and tried to back away, but it was useless, his hooves were stuck in the earth, sinking slowly, just as it was happening to the mares, which had already sunk to their bellies.
"Quicksand!" Dusk shouted as he realized where they had fallen. Immediately Dusk activated his horn and first of all he used a refracting spell, which had no effect.
"It's not an illusion..." Dusk thought aloud, after realizing that they were indeed trapped in real quicksand. However, although it was not an illusion, it must still be the work of Nightmare Moon, since it was impossible for there to be quicksands in the middle of the road. Then did that mean that they were now being attacked by transformation spells? If so, it would be much more complicated and dangerous.
As the five ponies continued to sink, the four mares tried to struggle to free themselves, something useless, since moving would only make them sink faster. For his part Dusk was in the same situation, he tried to leave using his magic by teleporting, however, the earth compacted his legs and made it impossible for his magic to surround his body completely. Finally Dusk began to look everywhere, looking for something to help them out, it was then he noticed some red lianas hanging over them among the treetops, and began to think about how he could use those lianas to escape, a rather fleeting thought, since without warning a rainbow ray flew out of the shrub Dusk had been looking at before, and hurried up to the lianas.
"Here, grab on!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed worriedly, watching as her friends were sinking, throwing the lianas she'd taken to the ponies while she kept flying over them without touching the ground, holding the lianas at the other end. The first pony following the instructions of Rainbow Dash was Applejack, who took the lianas with her teeth as Rainbow Dash began to fly upwards as hard as she could while holding the lianas, to pull her friend from the ground. Rainbow Dash flew with all her might as she pleaded for the lianas to withstand the force of the pull. Finally, after struggling for a while, Applejack finally leapt out of the quicksand, falling to the side of the road, where it was solid ground.
Once Applejack was free, she also took some lianas and helped pull her friends out one at a time from the side of the road while Rainbow Dash also continued the rescue. Once they rescued all the mares, Rainbow Dash repeated the process with the only one left, Dusk Shine, who was the last to be rescued and was up to his neck in mud.
Rainbow Dash had to fly a lot harder since Dusk was submerged deeper and weighed more than a mare, but Rainbow's willpower was stronger than her fatigue as she slowly pulled Dusk from the sand trap, until finally, with one last pull, the rainbow-maned mare managed to get Dusk completely out of the ground, making him fall to the edge of the road, while she fell from fatigue.
"That... was close…" Rainbow Dash said, breathing heavily, utterly exhausted as she lay on the ground, finally breaking the silence, since neither she nor the others had said a word during the rescue.
"Thank you..." Dusk said, also breathed shakily, lying on the ground next to her and looking at her with a smile.
"You'd really be lost without me." Rainbow Dash said with a smile, catching her breath and standing with Dusk.
"But if you had shown up before all this would have been solved in a better way." Rarity said abruptly, interrupting Dusk and Rainbow Dash, staring at the blue pegasus seriously. She was grateful that her friend had saved them, but she couldn't help thinking that if Rainbow Dash had not been so stubborn and had been with them at the moment they began sinking, then her tail and mane wouldn't have been so dirty.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash said in surprise, she expected her friends to praise her for saving them and instead apparently they were judging her.
"We knew you've been following us all the whole way and hiding behind the bushes, why didn't you show up before?" Rarity added.
Hearing that, Rainbow Dash blushed with embarrassment and looked down, she realized that she had been caught; it was true, she had only pretended to leave when they awoke, the next thing she had done was go sneaking past her friends, because even though she was very upset, she knew that she couldn't abandon her friends like that, so she had been planning to appear at any time pretending she was flying there just by chance, but seeing that her friends were in danger she forgot all about her facade and came to their aid.
Suddenly Rainbow Dash lifted her head to see Dusk, who was standing next to her and she looked at him angrily.
"It's your fault!" Rainbow Dash said almost in a scream, lifting her hoof and slamming it into Dusk's side, causing him to fall to the ground in pain from the surprise hit. "I never abandon my friends, but that doesn't change the fact that this idiot made me furious!" She then crossed her hooves as she floated in midair, looking angrily away from Dusk, who remained on the ground, and there the unicorn remained motionless for some time.
"Dusk?" Asked Fluttershy worried, seeing that Dusk didn't rise or move from the ground.
At Fluttershy's voice of concern, Rainbow Dash couldn't help glancing worriedly at Dusk, had she hit him too hard?
"Hey, are you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked concerned, stooping a little to see Dusk.
Meanwhile, Dusk was still on the ground, but not because of the Rainbow Dash's blow, but he had fallen with his head close to the quicksand pits, after taking another look at the sands, he remembered his thoughts while he was trapped in it, and his horn illuminated as he searched for any magic trail left behind.
"It's definitely a transformation spell..." Dusk whispered feeling the magical aura in his horn, oblivious to the concern of the others. "And... it seems very recent."
As soon as Dusk uttered those words, thanks to his awareness being on high alert this time, he felt a great change in the magical aura that surrounded him. This implied only one thing, a magical attack.
"LOOK OUT!!" Dusk screamed as the lianas around them began to grow and shake fiercely.
The lianas that had been used to save themselves from the quicksand, now seemed to take on a life of their own, growing at an alarming rate as they wound around the mares.
Dusk's announcement was only a fraction of a second before that magical attack, so only Dusk, who uses his teleportation instinctively, and Rainbow Dash, who was extremely quick to react; had managed to get out of the trap, standing aside the road watching as the lianas grew and spread like huge vines, tying and covering the other mares.
"Girls!" Rainbow Dash called out worriedly as her friends were wrapped in the lianas.
"We're fine... but we can't move..." Applejack said with effort as the creeper vines began to grow between the tied mares and the other two free ponies, slowly forming a wall of lianas that began to separate Dusk Shine and Rainbow Dash from the others.
"We'll get you out!" Rainbow Dash said as she began trying to pull the lianas away from her friends. "Dusk, help me out-" Rainbow Dash said looking to her side, only to be interrupted by a bright light from Dusk's horn.
As soon as Dusk escaped the trap, he saw the lianas begin to form the wall of vines, however, he didn't act quickly as Rainbow Dash did, instead he stood still while his mind worked at a high speed to understand everything that happened before acting; Dusk realized that this magic trap, like the quicksand, was caused by a transmutation spell, and if he had to guess, an invigorating spell as well to make the lianas grow rapidly. Both spells could only be cast near the caster, meaning that the spell caster must also be nearby watching them. Arriving at that conclusion, without hearing what Rainbow Dash had shouted at him, Dusk created a powerful light that illuminated everything around him, and not only that, the ray of light also served to illuminate, as well as detect, indicating if there was somepony nearby, which happened immediately since Dusk's detection magic indicated that there was someone behind them.
Dusk spun around immediately as he felt that presence, and his eyes were astonished to see that not far from him was the very Nightmare Moon, who also showed a surprised expression since she never imagined that would be detected, especially by the one who just looked at her with a penetrating gaze.
At that moment, it was as if time had just stopped, Dusk seemed to act on instinct, but nothing could be further from the truth, in fact his brain worked to its full capacity of reasoning while his adrenaline filled body knew that he was facing a powerful evil being that could destroy him and the girls easily, so there was no time to hesitate.
Dusk attacked first, loading much of his magic on his horn to cast a powerful stun spell, one of the strongest attack spells he knew since he didn't really know of any lethal attacks, although if he wished he knew that a concentrated ray of pure magic could be fatal. Before Dusk's surprise attack could reach Nightmare moon, she reacted by launching a powerful ray from her horn.
Both beams of magic met and collided with a great roar, holding together as the unicorn and the dark alicorn stood firm, maintaining those powerful magic rays, each trying to overpower the other. They held for a few seconds as the balance of the magic rays remained unperturbed, but, although the balance was maintained, Dusk grit his teeth as Nightmare Moon smirked, because both knew that it was only a matter of time until Dusk gave out, after all, he was only a unicorn and couldn't compare to that powerful evil alicorn, something that was true and would have been fulfilled had it not been for one small detail, a detail that even Nightmare Moon failed to notice, she was weak. Nightmare Moon has used most of her magic to escape from the moon, make her terrifying and ostentatious entrance in Ponyville, capture Celestia and keep her prisoner, and finally casting those spells to hamper these ponies; an enormous amount of magic, even though Nightmare Moon was an alicorn and had these dark powers, they had drained her reserves of magic, so when confronting Dusk, she was unknowingly attacking with her last of her magic.
Surprisingly for Dusk, Nightmare Moon, and Rainbow Dash, who had stared with open mouth at the sight of such powerful magical confrontation; the balance of magic broke, causing Dusk's beam to advance as Nightmare Moon's receded, causing both beams of energy to hit Nightmare Moon, who just before being beaten couldn't believe that she was being defeated by a simple and ordinary unicorn pony.
After the blow, Nightmare Moon was launched back, banging against a tree and falling on her side with her eyes closed. Rainbow Dash was still amazed watching Dusk while he tried to catch his breath, as well as feel incredulous of what he had just accomplished. However, Dusk's disbelief lasted shortly, his mind warned him that he could not leave anything to chance and he had to make sure to finish everything in order to save the princess, so Dusk ran and pounced where Nightmare Moon had fallen faint, pinning her and holding her legs with his hooves.
"Where is the princess!?" Dusk shouted furiously, exhausted, as he held the dark mare beneath him.
Face-to-face against Nightmare Moon, Dusk realized that this dark mare looked different than he remembered her in the Town Hall of Ponyville, even more, he would swear she looked different from the huge dark mare he had attacked a few seconds ago. The mare he held under him was definitely Nightmare Moon, but she had certain different characteristics, first was her size, which seemed to have diminished slightly, second was her coat, which had ceased to be totally black, now shown in a slightly bluish color, and third was her mane, which had ceased to move with its usual uniform movement that resembled a cloud, besides now it looked more pale blue and the brightness of it seemed to fade. However what most astonished Dusk was her eyes, which were still closed, but were bursting with tears.
"Please..." Nightmare Moon suddenly said, still with her eyes closed weeping, not with her terrifying voice they all knew, but with a more docile and fragile voice. "Kill me..."
That voice and supplication from Nightmare Moon completely confused the stallion, who was prepared for anything, anything except that situation.
Suddenly the lights in Nightmare Moon's mane came back to shine as it returned to its ethereal character, it seemed that she recovered her great height, her coat returned to its characteristic absolute black, and her eyes opened rapidly, showing her sharp malevolent eyes.
With a scream and a small burst from her horn, Nightmare Moon used what little left of her power to launch Dusk, throwing him a few paces away. As Dusk stood up after the blow, he watched Nightmare Moon with amazement, who had an expression of complete terror on her face. Dusk didn't know, but she had almost lost control, which made her feel terror for the first time in a thousand years.
The dark mare lifted her gaze and saw the unicorn that had faced her, she couldn't accept being weaker than someone else, however after fainting she had almost released 'her other self'. Her fear and caution were more than just personal pride, so she spread her wings and quickly flew out of there, back to the castle.
"Wait!" Dusk shouted after seeing Nightmare Moon flee, preparing to run and go to hunt her.
"Dusk!" Rainbow Dash cried surprisingly, who still did not recover completely after having seen the fight between Dusk and Nightmare Moon, but when she saw that the unicorn was about to run, she came to her senses. "We've got to free the others!"
Dusk turned to see the Rainbow Dash, who was standing beside the wall of vines, staring at him. Then he looked back at Nightmare Moon, her silhouette was barely visible, but if he hurried he could still reach her.
"If I reach her now that she's weakened I can finally stop this!" Dusk shouted desperately, not moving, knowing he'd let the monster escape only by his foolish hesitation.
Dusk continued to look away towards the dark mare as his muscles tensed more and more, ready to rush out in pursuit.
"Dusk..." Rainbow Dash said, losing her conviction since she couldn't abandon her friends, but what Dusk said was true, if he reached Nightmare Moon and managed to stop her maybe it would all end. "It-It's okay... go."
Dusk turned back to Rainbow Dash, who looked down at the ground sadly, a look that for some reason hurt Dusk. At that moment Dusk remembered when all the mares had offered to help him and he put them to sleep to go alone.
"I..." Dusk said as he stared at the ground as his muscles slowly ceased to be tense. Finally, he gave a big sigh, relaxed and looked back at Rainbow Dash. "I'll stay... I won't abandon them again."
After saying those words, Dusk turned to face the wall of lianas and began to use his magic to cut through it, while Rainbow Dash looked up and saw the unicorn had stayed with her.
"B-But you're right, if you reach her you can end this." Rainbow Dash said, staring at Dusk.
"That may be, but there is no guarantee that that will happen." Dusk said without ceasing to look at the wall of vines and cutting through it. "Maybe... it's best to face it all together."
At those words, Rainbow Dash looked to Dusk with a twinkle in her eyes, but she didn't say anything, she simply began to take lianas in her hooves to help to Dusk.
"You know..." Dusk said abruptly, cutting off lianas. "A long time ago I had a friend, she... she was always with me, but once I did something that bothered her a lot, something that I thought would make her happy, but it was just the opposite... then she abandoned me, just when I needed her most. Since then I always believed that the word 'forgiveness' didn't exist in friendship, friendship is over when somepony does something wrong against you... That’s why I thought that when you learned the truth of my coming to Ponyville so suddenly, it would end all ties we had made. Nevertheless, you came back to help me; then I left you to go on my own alone in the forest, knowing that I was breaking your trust again, but you came back again. I... I think now I understand why, maybe I was wrong and true friends do forgive you, true friends never abandon you..." Then Dusk turned to see Rainbow Dash's eyes. "I believed that by preventing all of you from accompanying me I would be protecting you, but I didn’t take into account your feelings or what you wanted, now I know that I can protect you without having to be alone, I... I don't want to be alone, I want you to be by my side!"
"Please forgive me." Dusk pleaded, unconsciously approaching Rainbow Dash a little. "I promise that I'll never leave you or the others, ever again."
Rainbow Dash stared in amazement at Dusk, all this talk had taken the pegasus by surprise, so she did not know how to react immediately, even less to Dusk's tender and sincere look, so she said nothing and continued pulling the lianas down trying to break the wall. Dusk ducked his head a little and returned to the task at hoof, the other mares told him that Rainbow Dash wouldn't forgive him so easily, but at least he had been honest in what he had to say, so it took a load off; it still hurt knowing that the sky-blue pegasus hadn't forgiven him.
As they continued to cut the lianas, without Dusk realizing, Rainbow Dash was totally blushing as she furiously cut the lianas. She had been waiting for an apology, and he had finally said everything she wanted and needed to hear, but she didn't want to admit that she had already forgiven Dusk, she was much stronger in character; she couldn't just forgive him after all that, but she couldn't get Dusk's speech out of her head, nor the memory of Dusk's tender gaze, which made her blush.
Suddenly, as Dusk continued to cut lianas, he felt a heavy blow on his side that made him stop, he turned to see that it had been Rainbow Dash who had hit him.
"Okay, I forgive you, but only because you're too cheesy." Rainbow Dash said without looking at him.
The blow hurt a little, but when Dusk heard those words, his joy made him forget the pain and only felt the relief of knowing that Rainbow Dash had forgiven him, and with a smile, he continued to cut lianas with his magic.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was still not looking at Dusk as a way to hide her blush, all while remembering what Dusk had just said her: 'I promise I'll never leave you.'
# End of Chapter 17
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This was a good read, and I am glade to see that we have finally passed the first episode which took over 100k to reach that point. Nice to see the Luna is going to be also interested in Dush, heh, I mean Dusk Shine. Still can'T wait to see what will happen next.
8518432
I'm glad you liked the chapter :)
I continue to write and advance in the story while the translation process of the next chapter has already begun ;)
thanks for comment =D
Pinkie is best Beer Baron.
8519213
hahaha, yeah, you found the reference xD
maybe in the future I would draw Pinkie Pie as the beer baron haha
thanks for comment ;)
Ok. This is good. Can we have clop in this?
8522931
There will be several hot situations xD but nothing explicit :)
thanks for comment ;)
When is the next chapter coming out?
8634142
I have ready chapters 18, 19 and 20 ready, but the revision/correction is taking longer than expected :S
I'll write to who helps me to ask him if the revision can be rushed a bit, hopefully next week I'll be able to publish chapter 18 :)
Interesting chapter. Honestly I hoped Rainbow would blush at seeing how he beat Nightmare or find it really cool, or a mix of both. But never leaving her is a nice touch as well. I of course hope Rainbow will still milk the bet later with a kiss.
8973973
well, we'll see if RD finally gets a kiss xD
thanks for comment ;)
I'm not desperately hoping this goes for the harem route. Wow this has been a fantastic read so far and I've enjoyed every moment of this well written story. Not to mention the great pictures in the chapters! The reason I'm hoping for the harem route is that I feel like you would pull it off perfectly. I actually usually hate when stories use herding and that sort of nonsense, because it doesn't even slightly fit with canon, and to me the idea of making it something commonplace (Oh look at my herd of dozens of mares and stallions!
) just ruins the whole thing.
I like the idea of these ponies feeling so strongly for each other that they'd be willing to do what it takes to find happiness together despite the social norms of only having one partner, and then working through it so that they can all be together. I can really feel how strongly Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow feel not just for Dusk, but for each other as well. I can easily see them loving him and each other, which is why I'm seriously hoping this story does go for the harem route.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading on from here!
9593435
Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked the story = D
About what route Dusk will take on love, well, there is still a lot of story, so we'll have to wait to see what happens finally, and if Dusk'll stay with one of the five mares, with none or someone else xD
thanks for comment ;D
Did you used this part from the Simpson in the story with Pinkie and Nightmare?
10784573
haha yes, a small reference to that episode haha I'm glad you recognized it
Fun fact its often created that its Deadpool's own insanity that allows him to break the fourth wall.
10852482
That's right, seeing and imagining things that others don't see can be seen as insanity. We'll never know if Deadpool, Pinkie and Discord, who usually break the fourth wall, do it because they're eccentric or because they really know that they're only fictional characters
You're out there somewhere, Beer Baron. And I'll find you...
11333653
a little reference haha
Obviously a nice moment showcasing their loyalty, though if anyone could catch up to her, why not Rainbow Dash? She’s faster than Dusk, plus she could fly, so it wouldn’t take much to overtake a gravely weakened Nightmare Moon.
Plus Dusk would still be there to rescue his friends from the lianas.
Guess things will turn out different in the future from canon, namely the Season 2 Premiere where they get Discorded, Equestria Girls where he and Spike would need to go through the portal, and the Season 4 Premiere where his responsibilities as a Prince would get in the way (although in that case, it’s his friends that telling him to go back rather than him leaving on his own).
11530493
naaa Rainbow Dash is too loyal to abandon her friends in the Everfree forest, even if Dusk were there.
And about Dusk's future, well, you'll have to keep reading to find out
remembering that not everything that happens on the TV show will necessarily happen exactly the same in this universe
thanks for comment
That was a very touching chapter!
11622827
I'm glad you liked it
Hahahaha, when this Nightmare Moon arc will be over, the 5 mares will surely have a conversation about who get to get Dusk for herself!
I just hope they'll remember sharing is caring!
11635505
We'll see what the mane 5 think about 'sharing' love