What is This Feeling?

Leaves crunched under light boots as Elphaba trudged forward, pushing aside a few stray branches every now and again as she ventured deeper into the woods she was currently leading the three Horses through.

“We’re almost through, there should be a clearing coming up in just a few minutes.” Elphaba called behind her, ducking underneath another low hanging vine. The sound of light trotting behind her was confirmation that the trio had not stopped following her yet.

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash’s called in a hushed tone as she lowered herself down to her companion’s level, placing her hooves firmly on the ground. “Are you really so sure we should be following her around? I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“Well, speaking honestly, I’m not so sure there’s much else for us to do.” Twilight admitted as she averted her gaze to the ground in front of her. “I just remember coming to in that cage, and there was all that insanity, those guys were chanting and jumping in every direction, like some creepy ritual!” She gestured to the girl a few feet ahead of them with her horn. “She seemed like our only hope at the time!”

“Besides, if not her sanity, then her sense of fashion certainly puts her above those other hooligans.” Rarity spoke warmly as she admired Elphaba’s light jacket. “She executes that blue and white color scheme a touch nicer than the rest of them!”

“Well that’s another thing; Her color!” Rainbow glared her eyes in suspicions. “Whatever those things were, they weren’t ponies! But almost all of them had that same general color! Didn’t either of you notice that in the entire room, she was the only green one?”

“Okay, it’s true that whoever she is, this girl isn’t exactly like the others in that room.” Twilight stepped over a small groove in the dirt. “But anything was better than just running off and hoping we chose a good direction when we chanced it!”

“Even if she does turn out to be some form of a threat, we can defend ourselves, Rainbow.” Rarity piped up, contributing her own two cents into the conversation. “We’re not totally helpless, now.”

“This is it!” Elphaba’s voice came clear to the three as she stepped through a break in the trees.

The small area was refreshingly clear of thick vegetation, a bare dirt ground with the graying sky clearly visible overhead. A damp log sat at the edge of the clearing, a few insects crawling under a few spaces in the aging wood.

“Is this place safe?” Twilight openly questioned, stepping in with Rarity and Rainbow Dash keeping close.

“Safer than you were back there.” Elphaba smiled. “This area is fairly secluded, I don’t think anyone’s instinct will be to come searching for any of us here.”

“Elphie!” The jade girl winced at the shrill call of her detested nickname.

“Except of course for her.” Elphaba grumbled as she turned her head, gazing into the entrance to the small space.

Galinda appeared moments later, tripping through the trees, nearly falling straight onto her face. Leaves clung to her hair and dirt caked her shoes, indicating to Elphaba that she had ran the entire distance between here and Shiz.

“Elphie!” The blonde gasped as she leaned against a tree, wheezing heavily as she struggled to catch her breath.

“Oh, Galinda.” Elphaba moved briskly to her friend, gripping the other’s gentle hands in her green ones. “What in Oz’ name are you doing here? Why did you come after me? Is the class alright? Did anyone come after you?”

“Oh goodness, Elphie.” Galinda waved the questions off, leaning further down on the tree. “I couldn’t let you run off and do this alone! I know you have this inability to keep calm!”

“Who’s this?” Twilight asked from behind the two, wary of the small young woman.

“She’s suspicious!” Rainbow’s wings fanned out as the pegasus assumed an offensive stance.

“She’s my friend!” Elphaba stood in front of her companion, attempting to stare the blue Horse down.

“She’s fabulous!” Rarity eyed Galinda’s white petticoat skirt with an intense interest in her eyes.

“She would very much like to know what’s going on her and just who you are!” Galinda’s shout surprised everyone present as she moved from behind Elphaba, walking straight up to Rainbow Dash with menace in her blue eyes.

Rainbow, Twilight, and Rarity exchanged glances among themselves, caught off-guard by Galinda’s outburst. Rainbow Dash was the first to step forward, flying up to eye level with the perky blonde.

“We could ask you the same thing!” Galinda did not back down from the glaring pegasi a few inches away from her face. “What happened back there, and what did you have to do with it?”

“We don’t know what happened back there!” Elphaba stepped between the two of them, spreading her arms and ushering them back. “Look, the point is, it isn’t safe for you at Shiz! We had to get you out!”

“Not safe?” Rarity questioned, tilting her head. “What ever do you mean?”

“It’s the Animal Adverse Laws!” Elphaba scoffed, spitting the name, as if it left a bitter taste on her tongue. “Those atrocities have been plaguing Oz for quite some time now!”

“What laws are these?” Twilight asked, eyebrows raised.

“The Animal Adverse Laws,” Galinda spoke before Elphaba had the chance to do. “Are preventative measures being taken by Ozian Officials, rumored to be openly discriminating against, and even silencing, sentient Animals!”

“What do you mean, sentient?” Twilight stepped closer, yearning to hear more about this. “Are there non-sentient ponies here?”

“Well, of course there are!” Galinda answered with a roll of her eyes. “There’s been both sentient Animals and mindless animals both living in Oz since the the Time Dragon Clock began ticking!”

“Pardon me!” Twilight interrupted once more, stepping even closer. “What did you say this land was called?”

“It’s Oz, ma’am.” Elphaba finally pushed Galinda aside as she took the opportunity to answer. “Are you not from these parts? Where did you come from?”

“You don’t hail from Quox, do you?” Galinda asked with dismay. “It’s madness, the thought of even trying to cross Oz’ bordering desert.”

“What? No, no!” Twilight shook her head, hardly understanding. “We three, we’re all from Equestria!”

“Equestria?” Galinda raised an eyebrow. “Why, I’ve never heard of such a place.”

“I don’t know anything about it either.”  Elphaba admitted sheepishly. “If it does exist, it must not be very widely recognized by Ozian cartographers.”

“Oh heavens!” Rarity rushed to Twilight’s side. “If people here haven’t even heard of Equestria, then that spell you found must have been more powerful than we could have suspected.”

“A spell?!” Galinda was livid at the notion. “Preposterous! What domestic sorcery could transcend such a distance if we don’t even know of such a land! There’s no way!”

“There is a way.” Elphaba’s eyes shot open.

“What?!” Galinda’s shout echoed in the forest.

“There just might be a way...” Elphaba’s words trailed off as she addressed the three ponies. “I need to know something, but first off, I’d appreciate knowing your names.”

“Oh, of course darling!” Rarity smiled as she extended a hoof. “I go by Rarity!”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight smiled as she introduced herself.

“Rainbow Dash.” The pegasus slapped a fore-leg against he chest as she told the two women her name.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Elphaba made a feeble attempt to shake Rarity’s pampered hoof. “My name is Elphaba Thropp.”

“Galinda Arduenna Upland.” The petite blonde curtseyed with a sincere smile. “Of the Upper-Uplands!”

“Well then, if we’re all through with any disrespectation,” Elphaba shot an accusing glance at her friend. “I’d like to ask you just how it is you came here, from your Equestria.”

The three ponies shared uneasy glances.

“It was a pretty complicated process...” Twilight looked off too the side, a tad unwilling to recall the entire turn of events.

“Oh, please, you must tell me!” Elphaba lowered herself to her knees to look Twilight in the eyes, letting her blue skirt touch the grass. “If I’m correct about what I’m assuming, this is something that could be very crucial to Oz’ welfare as a whole!” Shocked by the desperation in Elphaba’s voice, Twilight sighed, ears falling down against her head as she closed her eyes, forcing herself to remember.

“It was back home, in Ponyville...” Twilight began, voice a tad hesitant and shaky. “I keep a hot air balloon, it’s something I’ve used occasionally for transport.”

“Ooh, a hot air balloon!” Galinda smiled at the thought. “That’s how Oz’ great and powerful Wizard came across this land! How grand it must be!”

“Yes yes, it’s very nice.” Twilight smiled despite herself. “I was going out to look for a certain someone, to see if maybe he had scampered off there as a last resort hiding place.” Twilight sighed once more at the memory, images of Spike filling her mind. “Oh Spike, I hope he’s doing alright...” Rarity placed a comforting hoof on her fellow unicorn’s back.

“Please, continue.” Elphaba didn’t mean to come off as rude, but her hunch was coming more and more into place.

“Yes, right, sorry.” Twilight shook her head for a moment. “Yes, the balloon. I had gone out there to search. I didn’t find who I was looking for, but I noticed something odd in the crafting of the balloon basket.” The purple unicorn lifted her head, eyes wide. “There was a small patch over one small section of the basket interior, so old it looked like it was ready to peel off any second. I removed it, overwhelmed with curiosity! Behind the patch, there was something there! Something solid in the lining of the basket! It wasn’t normal, it was this odd bizarre green color!” Twilight halted in her story, an expression of hesitance coming over her face. “No offense intended!”

“None taken.” Elphaba answered bluntly, not particularly happy with another thrilling reminder that she was as green as an over-steamed artichoke.

“But yes, in the lining of the basket!” Twilight squinted her eyes as she redirected her train of thought back to her retelling. “I didn’t know just what was in there, so I improvised a little magic,” Twilight complemented this explanation with a faint pink glow from her horn. “And just kind of popped it out! I saw that it was a book, and an old one at that! The binding was a fading leather, rich with creases and cracks, barely keeping the yellow pages from pouring out onto the ground! I took a look instantly, but inside the pages all had this silver writing on them in a language that I just couldn’t decipher.” Twilight then pressed a hoof against her head, as if getting a sudden headache. “When I tried to look closer, the words, just, started moving! It was horrible!”

With this explanation, it took all of ten seconds before Galinda gasped and jumped back, placing a hand in front of her gaping mouth.

“Elphie!” The young woman cried as she sprang forward, placing her hands on her green friend’s shoulders. “Do you think it really is?!”

“Yes Galinda!” Elphaba parctically shouted with excitement as she stood and turned to face her friend. “It is.” Green fingers snaked around Galinda’s thin arms as a radiant smile illuminated Elphaba’s face.

“It’s a Grimmerie!”