In Reflection, The Same

by Faedelaide

Frenzy

The crunch of snow and the whistling of the wind was all Twilight could hear for some time. She didn't know how far into the forest she had run. She was miles away from the cabin, from the ocean, and was now lost in the middle of the woods with a group of mind-wiped griffons and an ancient lord from eons past. At least she thought she was lost. She could always fly above the trees and check, but that ran the risk of being seen by Rainbow, or any of them for that matter. Either way, it was too risky now. She was all that stood in Sammakött's way, and if she failed now, Celestia knows what havoc would follow.

Twilight breathed in and felt a sharp pain in her side. She hadn't noticed how exhausted she was from running. Surprisingly, running away from an ancient nightmare was slightly higher on the priority list than stopping for a breather. Now, however, she couldn't bring herself to take another step. Resigning to take a short breath, she hid behind a large, dead tree. Her breathing was labored and raggedy. She didn't know if Sam was chasing her, or if he'd decided against it. He probably would have caught up with her by now, or at least sent Rainbow to do it for him, but Twilight hadn't heard anything from either of them since she was back at the clearing.

But she couldn't run forever. If Sam wasn't after her, there were two options left. He either decided to take the path to Griffonstone, or went back to the cabin to finish his job with Cadance. Oh, what was she going to do? Was there really no escaping this? There was always a solution that showed itself to her when she tried hard enough, but it seemed that there was no easy option now. Not with Sam.

As Twilight's breathing slowed, the noises of the forest began to surround her. The quiet creaking of old branches and the sway of foliage in the wind created a calming symphony that, under any other circumstances, would have Twilight lulling to sleep. As she rested though, another sound broke through the calming atmosphere. It was a sharp, sudden noise that startled her and forced her to attention.

It was the snapping of branches above her.

Instinctively, she began to bring forth another spell, ready to blast whatever was above her to ashes. Her horn hummed with power, glowing in various shades of violet. She was just about to loose her spell upon whatever was above her when she noticed two fuzz-covered claws held out defensively in front of her face.

"Waitwaitwait it's just me, It's Gaine!" the dark brown griffon blurted out in panic.

Twilight dispelled the energy that enveloped her horn, staring up at the griffon in confusion. "Gaine, what in Celestia's name are you doing up there?"

"It's a bit of a story," Gaine scratched the back of his neck abashedly. With a grace that only came with lengthy practice, Gaine silently leapt from the branches above and skillfully dove through the branches of the canopy and down onto the ground with nothing more than a barely audible crunch.

"Wow," Twilight gaped, "How are you so quiet?"

"Tawny Owl genes. It's a hereditary thing, comes in handy pretty often." Gaine admitted. The small, prideful smile that crossed his beak as he explained quickly faded when he remembered their current situation. "Are you alright? I stopped following Sam once the others got... caught."

"Wait, you've been following Sam this whole time?"

"ehhhh, partially," Gaine shrugged. "When Sam arrived, and everyone started panicking, I thought that maybe having all of us in one place where all he'd need to do to stop us was blink his eye was a bad idea. So, I decided it might have been a good idea to lay low in the forest."

"In other words, run away and hide?" Twilight gave him a judicious glare.

Gaine laughed nervously. "I thought it was a good idea at the time. And to be fair, if I'd followed Gilda and the others like I was supposed to, I wouldn't be here to help you right now."

"I guess that's true," Twilight admitted, "But what do we do now? Sam's got nearly everyone, and if we try and head back to the cabin, he'll hypnotize the rest of us and... and kill Cadance."

"Maybe not."

Twilight stared at Gaine with a suspicious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well I was out in the open when he arrived, yet he didn't notice me at all. It only made less sense when I remembered Gelgen telling me about his 'Aether sense'. Maybe Sam's not as perceptive as he'd like to believe."

"Or maybe he was too focused on something else... When he hypnotized Cadance, he didn't notice me until I cut his arm off."

"Quite the exploitable character flaw, eh?"

"We might be able to use that to our advantage. If you distract him long enough to make him forget about me, I can trap him a bubble and send him to Tartarus."

Gaine's face twisted in skepticism. "Tartarus? Really? Doesn't that seem like a bit too light of a punishment for the likes of him?"

"Oh go preach it to the griffons," Twilight growled.

Twilight began to sit back down, her legs aching from her earlier marathon, when Gaine's head suddenly snapped to attention. His eyes widened, and he turned towards where Twilight had just run from.

"Gaine... what's wrong?" Twilight stood up with a sigh. She gently peeked her head around the thick tree, but there was nothing there. The only thing she could make out was a distant howling, like rushing wind.

Twilight turned back around towards Gaine, only to find she was alone yet again. She nearly called out to him until she heard the rushing of the wind again. It grew louder and louder, as if the wind itself were being pushed forward by some unseen force. It approached with a rapidity the likes of which only one pony could contend with.

The realisation clicked with Twilight not a moment later. Immediately, she ducked behind the tree and covered her ears as a titanic sonic boom exploded through the woods. She could feel the dead tree creak dangerously as a whirlwind swept past her.

Once the wind quieted down, Twilight looked up to see a familiar cyan mare scanning the surrounding forest in an attempt to find her.

"Twiiiiilight," Rainbow cooed, "We... I... know you're here..."