Into the Woods
The mayor stepped forward. "Guards, seize her!" She shouted while pointing at Nightmare Moon.
A trio of royal guard pegasi flew forth, while two royal guard unicorns shot beams up at the balcony.
Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes as she shielded against the beams, then blasted the guards away. and finally casted a spell that instantly put them all to sleep.
Gloomy Dash leapt into action with a roar, only for Nightmare Moon to transform into nothing but ethereal mane and float away out the doors.
"Get back here you coward!" Dash shouted as she flew out of town hall, followed by Twilight and Gilda, only to find Nightmare Moon long gone.
Gilda just shook her head and shared a momentary awkward glare with Twilight before flying off.
Twilight sighed. "It's no use, even if she wasn't so fast, she can just teleport, Dash."
Dash panted a bit before sighing. "Great, so now what, smartyflanks?"
"Well...we could read a book," Twilight said with a nervous smile.
Dash groaned. "How about you do that, while I watch and make sure you aren't behind all this, huh?" Dash flew up to Twilight, putting her beak to her nose.
"Y-yes of course, of course, now calm down," Twilight said, sweating as she gulped and began to trot towards the library.
"That's her solution to everything, by the way," Spike remarked as he held on to Twilight's mane.
Dash stood there awkwardly as Twilight and Spike hurriedly looked over books. "So um...are you in charge now that Celestia's gone?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, I think technically, my older sister Cadance is, but she's not really ready for something like this."
Fluttershy slipped in quietly behind Dash.
"Oh, but like, don't you have some authority, as a princess?" Dash asked.
Twilight sighed. "Celestia took away my title two years ago. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it. After what Gilda did, I started lashing out in public at griffon diplomats and one day I...kind of stormed your people's embassy and left the ambassador cowering behind a broken desk. Can't say I wouldn't have revoked my title in her place, given their response was to seize the Griffish Isles..."
Dash and Fluttershy both cringed a bit.
"Um, right, sorry to bring it up, I just wasn't on the best terms with Griffonstone either at the time," replied Dash.
Rarity cleared her throat as she trotted in. "Um, would there happen to be any books about good fashions for extended periods of darkness outside?"
Twilight glared briefly before resuming the search.
"Just...asking, you know, in case that somewhat fashionable alicorn is our ruler...permanently," Rarity added with a nervous smile.
Dash rolled her eyes, while Spike simply grabbed another book. "Aha! The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."
"Gimme!" Twilight snapped as she turned around.
Spike recoiled a bit before holding it out.
Twilight gave a nervous chuckle before gently grabbing it and flipping through it with her magic. "Hmm, it seems there's six elements that all work together, but...only five are known, and the sixth will be revealed by them to a wielder that's worthy. The five are Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Honesty. Their last known location was in the ruins of the ancient castle of the two sisters, in the Everfree Forest."
"Ugh, really?" cried Dash as she crossed her arms, while Fluttershy cowered behind one of her legs.
"W-what's so bad about the Everfree?" asked Spike.
"Oh, not much darling..." Rarity started with a chuckle. "Just that it's...you know, known as the place where a pony needs to go with two friends: One to watch your backside for a monster gobbling it, and the other to generously feed to the monster so it'll agree to let the remaining two of you live."
Spike started shaking atop Twilight's back, and was gripping her hips so hard his claws were leaving marks.
"You're...not speaking from experience, right?" asked Twilight as she gave him some soothing back rubs with her magic.
"W-well, it's just a saying, darling," Rarity replied with a shocked look. "Under normal circumstances, three ponies, a griffon, and a baby dragon would be quite safe traveling together. Unfortunately, we've been up all night and there's a particularly nasty pony out there who I imagine wouldn't feel too upset if the ones trying to stop her ended up as nothing but...uh...what would we be, Fluttershy? You're the nature expert."
"Oh, um, well, in the forest, nothing goes to waste, not even bones really, and it all gets processed into fertilizer for the trees. We'd be...trees, I guess? It's kind of comforting to think we'd be trees," Fluttershy replied with a warm smile.
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Yes I suppose that's true dear, but before that, we'd be 'fertilizer'. The less said of why I would rather not be that, the better!" she finished with a shudder.
"Hey!" Dash shouted as she flew to between Twilight and Rarity. "I'm not running away from a fight just because of some trees and wild animals!"
Twilight sighed. "I like your courage, and someone has to stop eternal night, but let's not rush into this. Let's all grab whatever we think might be useful surviving in there for a day or so and meet back at the edge of town nearest the forest in fifteen minutes, okay?"
As they entered the forest, Twilight, with only her fanny pack and a very tired-looking Spike on her, looked to Rarity, who was sporting two full saddlebags. "So...you sure you need all that? It's not that long of a walk to the castle."
"Trust me dear, everything in here is important, and not just for fashion reasons. You'll thank me later," Rarity replied as she flipped her hair.
Dash, who was carrying nothing, put a claw on Twilight's mane. "Don't worry, this is packing light by her standards. She probably didn't even bring the emergency inflatable stallions this time!" she chuckled as she jabbed Twilight's side a bit with her elbow.
Rarity simply groaned as she trotted ahead, stopping at a nearby bush and leaning to look over it. "Hmm, Fluttershy, what kind of plant is this?"
Fluttershy, who had only a light sack at her side, trotted up to meet her. "Um, well that's odd, I think it's a...wait..."
Suddenly, a large lion-like creature with sharp teeth, bat-like wings, and a large scorpion tail stood up where the two were looking.
Everyone froze, except for Rarity. "MANTICORE!" she shouted as she shrugged off her saddlebags and assumed a bipedal fighting stance, throwing a few feigned punches.
"Wait..." said Fluttershy meekly while Twilight and Dash started to move towards the manticore.
However, it let out a loud roar that left both of them standing in place to Rarity's left side.
Rarity jumped at the manticore with her horn and hooves ready...only for it to lean forward, mouth open, and close its lips around her waist in an instant. Her rear legs rapidly kicked, and let out a squeal, while her rear made a squeaky sputtering noise and her tail wiggled.
Twilight froze completely and started hyperventilating while Spike jumped off her and cried out. "Rarity!"
Dash meanwhile started giggling uncontrollably and fell backwards, while Fluttershy stifled a chuckle.
With one fluid motion of raising its front and using its tongue to push Rarity in, the beast swallowed the rest of her, then put a paw to its chest and belched.
Fluttershy gasped. "Um, I thin-"
Dash suddenly put on a more serious look, glaring at the manticore with a growl. "You let her out or I'll force her out!"
Fluttershy raised a hoof. "Wait! I-if he wanted to hurt us, we'd all be stung by now. Something's got him upset, and he only ate Rarity because she attacked him, and you should know as a griffon what that's like," Fluttershy said as she turned to the manticore and gently put a hoof on its shoulder. "Now what's wrong, big guy?"
The manticore turned a paw over, revealing a thorn stuck in, and Fluttershy promptly pulled it out.
It roared in pain for a moment, before licking Fluttershy's mane.
Fluttershy giggled. "Oh, you're just a big softy, hehe. See, this was all just a big misunderstanding."
Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, the misunderstanding here is that the pony who once lost to a pickle jar thought she could take on something my size, and the only thing she broke was wind!"
Rarity groaned, albeit muffled, from inside. "Dash! Can you please save embarrassing me for after you've saved me?"
"Yeah yeah, I'll get right on it. It wouldn't be any fun anyways to tell everyone you tried to fight, but could only fart, if I couldn't see your reaction!" Dash replied with a giggle. "Hey Spike, wanna take bets on how many hits it takes to save miss gas bag?" she asked with a smug smirk as she assumed a boxing stance.
"Uh...t-two?" he replied meekly.
"Absolutely not!" Fluttershy shouted, getting between Dash and the Manticore. "Can you please let our friend out, big guy?" Fluttershy asked the manticore, who promptly stepped back and, with some effort, coughed her up.
Twilight slowly trotted up to Rarity, still breathing heavily.
Rarity was covered in slobber and in the fetal position with some scrapes from the beast's teeth, with her mane flattened entirely and with some stray frayed hairs, but her tail mostly normal. After coughing a bit and taking in a few breaths, she got up and checked herself in a hoof mirror. "He...ruined...my...my MANE!" she cried, tears forming a waterfall, as the manticore ran off deeper into the forest.
Dash rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, that's your concern, even after nearly becoming nothing more than somecreature's tasty walking marshmallow dinner? Kinda making me tempted to give in to my instincts and finish what the manticore started!" Dash said with a lick of her beak. "...besides, don't you have everything to fix a mane in your bags?"
"Only a BRUU-UUUSH!" cried Rarity.
Spike went up to Rarity, quickly getting her brush out of her bags and trying to use it on her mane, along with bandages for her scrapes.
Twilight finally returned to breathing normally, then trotted up to Dash slowly, put her magic around the griffon's neck, and slammed her against a tree. "Are ponies nothing but prey to you, you sick griffon!?"
"...n-no, as tasty as ponies are, I don't..." Dash said, having trouble breathing out the words. "P-please, about Minuette...l-look, I wasn't lying when I told her I'd spit her out, b-but then Gilda pressured me!" Dash replied, looking nervous.
Twilight dropped the magic chokehold on her...and promptly grabbed a nearby tree in her magic, ripping it up out of the ground in a second and levitating it over to above Dash. Twilight's eyes started to glow. "THAT...WAS YOU?" she shouted in a booming voice that shook the ribcages of everyone nearby, and the trees around them.
"N-no no no, please, please, I'll do anything, d-don't..." Dash pleaded, closing her eyes and starting to cry as she cowered.
Spike stepped between the two suddenly. "Twilight, please...you're scaring us..."
Twilight turned to look to her right, and noticed Rarity sat shivering, with Fluttershy completely flat on the ground, hooves over her head, behind her.
Rarity in particular seemed like she was about to cry again, her eyes watering.
Twilight took a deep breath and put the tree down back near where it was uprooted, letting her magic dissipate. "I'm so sorry...I just lost control for a moment because they way that manticore got Rarity...it just brought me back to the last time I saw Minuette and Lemon Hearts and...I'm a bad friend, aren't I?" She hung her head low.
Rarity came forward and put both her front hooves to Twilight's side. "Darling, I read about the whole thing. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose two friends in one night and then to have to confront one of the perpetrators. Trust me, as one of Dash's friends, that she knows better now. She may not be the most respectful of individuals, but she genuinely does mean well, deep down, under the thick crust of muck, if you really loo-"
"OKAY SHE GETS THE IDEA!" shouted Dash.
"I see..." said Twilight as she took another deep breath. "So...why are you and Fluttershy friends with Dash, anyways?"
"Well for me, it's simple, darling: I let Dash make fun of me all she wants, and she has to model for my larger outfits and give me an honest opinion on my designs. You see, in the fashion industry, it's hard to find anyone who won't blow smoke up your backside as they kiss it; at times I feel like I'm simply a fabulous ivory smoking pipe accessory being passed from one rich client to another," Rarity replied.
"Eugh, that's one mental image I could live without," remarked Twilight as she pushed Rarity away and beckoned Fluttershy.
Fluttershy stepped forward slowly, with her mane hiding half her face. "I know a lot of ponies don't trust griffons because of their um, tendencies, but deep-down Dash is really a sweetheart just like a lot of pony-eating predators I've met. Even Gilda means well, she just has trouble overcoming her nature. And well, both of them aren't afraid to tell me the truth even when everypony else will lie to protect my feelings. Plus Dash is always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on," Fluttershy finished by leaning against Dash for a hug and nuzzling her, earning a weak pat back.
Dash stuck out her tongue and made a disgusted face. "Okay, let's cut the sap before the trees get jealous. So are there any wipes in those saddlebags? I hate to admit it, Raritoots...but I guess I'm in a similar boat to you, that alicorn murder magic uh, kinda scared the pee outta me."
Rarity gave a polite chuckle and came over. "Of course, darling, I'll get you cleaned up, and won't tell anypony if you try to keep my own little slip-up from ending up frontpage news," she said as she reached into her bags.
"Deal," replied Dash as she hugged Rarity. "And don't tell them I got huggy, either!"
Twilight awkwardly shuffled away, while Spike patted her side before hopping up on Rarity's back and putting the last few bandaids in place.
As the group moved, they soon found themselves in an especially dark area, with trees closer together than usual.
"Hmm, know anything about why the canopy just got so thick, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
"Uh, well, I'm not really an expert on how trees grow...but I really don't like this darkness. I can barely see my own hooves," she said as she stepped on Rarity's hoof. "Sorry."
"It's okay darling, but do be careful, my hooves were just done yesterday," Rarity replied.
Suddenly a branch swung down and scraped against Rarity's back all the way to the base of her tail. "Um...Dash, now is not the time to be acting creepy with your claws," she said.
"Uh...Rarity, I'm in front of yo-," Dash started, before falling on her face. "Alright, who tripped me? Wait...AH! The trees are attacking!" She shouted as she pointed out incoming branches from the left.
The other 4 stopped and got into a circle as branches came from all directions.
"We're surrounded!" Spike yelled as he tried to breathe fire to protect Rarity's back, but could barely put out a little puff that only took off a tiny twig from a branch.
Twilight put up a few mobile magical shield pieces, moving them about to deal with the branches.
Suddenly, Pinkie's distinctive giggling, albeit muffled, could be heard from Dash's direction.
"OH HEAVENS NO, Pinkie's already back!" cried Rarity as she started ruffling through her saddlebags.
"Wha-?" questioned Twilight as the giggling got more intense.
Dash clutched her stomach in apparent pain and suddenly hurled, but instead of vomit, out came Pinkie curled into a ball, alongside some confetti and streamers.
"Are you silly fillies and dragon just gonna let a bunch of trees boss you around?" Pinkie asked as she began dancing.
"B-but wait, so Dash ate you...but you're still...how?" Twilight asked as she deflected an incoming branch effortlessly.
Rarity levitated up five sets of earplugs, putting one into her own ears then offering the others. "Hurry, use them, she's about t-"
Pinkie suddenly started singing, crouching, and wiggling her rear as she pronked about. "When I was a little filly, and the sun was going dooo-ooown..."
Fluttershy put in her plugs, then Spike and Dash followed suit. Twilight meanwhile stared slack-jawed. "Is she really gonna...?"
Pinkie continued, popping out from random trees and dodging their attacks from branches as well as sharp-teethed mouths. "The darkness and the shadows they would always make me frooo-ooown!"
"Always does...gist of it seems to be that the trees' bark is worse than their bite," Rarity replied with an eyeroll before she nudging Twilight.
Twilight promptly put in her set of earplugs.
After brutally smashing every tree branch in sight while giggling at the idea a few scrapes and splinters could stop them, Twilight finally pulled out her earplugs. "Well, that went pretty well, but uh...you were inside Dash since the party?"
"Yep! I napped for most of it, but I think I got the important bits. We're trying to stop Black Snooty, a manticore knocked the wind out of Rarity's rear end," Pinkie replied, stopping a moment to giggle. "...Dashie's afraid of trees, and for some reason, ponies still don't want to bring up the one big question that Gilda won't answer about what happened: Did Lemon Hearts taste like lemons, or was her name a lie!?" Pinkie glared off to the side and put a hoof to her chin.
Twilight stood looking stunned. "I don't even know where to begin with that."
"Darling, it's best if you don't question it, trust me," Rarity said with a hoof on Twi's shoulder as the group stopped at a river they could barely see the other shore of. "Now what do you all say to setting up camp for a bit and trying to sleep before we cross this?"
"Right, and we definitely need our rest. Hey, Dash, you knew she'd be okay when she went in, right?" Twilight asked.
"Well, she Pinkie promised. Last time a pony didn't trust a Pinkie promise, they got party blacklisted for a whole month!" Dash said with a slight shudder.
"A terrible fate I'm sure," Twilight remarked in a sarcastic tone as she helped Rarity roll out three double-wide sleeping bags, one styled sky blue and grey like Dash, another various shades of purple including Rarity's mane and Spike's scales, and a third pink with yellow and blue highlights. "Did you...make the purple sleeping bag today?"
"Of course, darling! When I saw little Spikey Wikey, I just knew that I'd need to make something perfect in case me and him ended up in the woods together," Rarity replied with a smile as she got into it with Spike and held him close.
Twilight shrugged and got into the sleeping bag next to Spike, hugging him from the other side. "Right, a very normal thing to plan for immediately after meeting someone...anyways, let's all get some shut-eye, except...Pinkie, since she got sleep earlier, she can stand watch."
Pinkie simply nodded as she bounced around.
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I wanna read this story.
you got anger problems
And in fact that she took away your title instead of sternly talking or punishment, I guess you did many bad things multiple times?
wait
Where's Applejack and Pinkie?
WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING,!? SHE JUST GOT EATEN!!!!
😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨
Right so this is just vore with plot, got it, I'm out.
Edit: also eating ponies is just kind of accepted? Rainbow eats three of Twilight's friends and isn't even put in jail? The hell is this?
11429723
Same
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Me tree
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The prequel is most of the way done, actually, it's just hard to get good prereader feedback, especially on the matter of tone.