Twilight looked out of the window at the swiftly rising sun. Her gaze traveled to the treeline of the Everfree forest, knowing that she and the rest of the mane 6 would be making a trip there later that day. She let out a sigh. Inside she hated going there. But she knew she had to.
Spike was sick, and only Zecora knew the remedy. Twilight spread her wings and crawled out of bed. She walked down the hall to Spike's room and opened the door to check on him.
Used tissues were strewn about the floor. The sleeping dragon would sniffle every so often. he sneezed, and a shot of flame flew from his nose. Twilight knew that this wasn't just a normal cold. It was something that killed far more dragons than anything else. While the dragon sneezed, it used up more and more of the dragon's inner fire, meaning it couldn't breath fire anymore and without fire, the dragon would wither away, turning into ashes and being carried with the wind.
Twilight turned around and closed the door. Even as an alicorn, she could not visit the Forest alone. The mare walked out of the house, wanting her friends to go with her. She started a weak fly, when Fluttershy ran into her.
"I'm so sorry Twilight! I just wanted know how Spike was doing," Fluttershy said as she helped Twilight up.
"He's doing fine. But we must see Zecora for a remedy. Spike will pass away if we don't," Twilight said.
"We've got to help him! I'll go get Dash and Apple Jack! You go get Pinkie and Rarity! Meet us back at Sugar-Cube corner!" Fluttershy yelled as she flew off to find the two ponies.
Twilight started off at a trot to get to Rarity's house. She wanted to use magic, but could not, as she was in a grieving mood. She ended up at the boutique in a few minutes.
She explained to Rarity that spike was sick and needed to go to Zecora for a remedy.
Rarity almost screamed.
"The Everfree?" Rarity asked in a choked whisper. She looked downright terrified.
"Why do you ask? It's just an old forest. Why are you so scared of it now?" Twilight asked, puzzled.
"Sweetie Belle, Sootaloo and Apple Bloom went missing in there! You didn't know that?" Rarity looked as if she was choking back tears. Why hadn't they told her?
"Rarity, we will find them when we go to get the remedy. I'll tear apart all of Equestria if i have to!" Could Twilight really keep that promise to Rarity? Or would she fail?
"You really mean it?" Rarity asked.
"I mean it. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Twilight said, the weight of a promise she could not keep felt as if her wings were made of iron.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rarity squealed.
"Let's get to Sugar-cube Corner and meet the others, they should be waiting for us by now," Twilight said as she teleported herself and Rarity to meet her friends.
The mood was tense, as if the air had stood still to see what would happen. Even Pinkie wasn't saying anything, out of fear that Apple Jack would snap the second she heard something. Rarity was the first to break the silence.
"Apple Jack?" Rarity asked. Apple Jack gave her a glare.
"What in the hay do you want?"Apple Jack asked, anger in her voice.
"Dearest Twilight Pinkie-promised that she would find them, and she will. Right Twilight?" Rarity looked at Twilight with pleading eyes.
Twilight nodded. "It's true, Apple Jack. I did make a promise. A promise that I intend to keep," Twilight was ready to get the remedy and now, find the three missing fillies.
"We should get going, the sooner we get there the sooner we can get back," Twilight said, wanting help the best she could.
"All right, but if you don't find my little Apple Bloom, I'll mount your head on a wall and feed the rest of you to my dog!" Apple Jack spat out.
Apple Bloom's loss must really getting to her, Twilight thought, looking at her hooves. Apple Jack is surely able to do that, but would she really do that to her friend?
The answer was certain. Yes. Apple Jack would do anything to protect her family, and would surely harm anyone who failed to save one of them.
They had all seen it. It took all of them to stop her from breaking every bone in Flam's body. It was brutal.
"Let's just get to Zecora's. I don't want anypony getting killed, or hurt before we get there," Twilight said, worried that the other's wouldn't listen to her. But to her surprise, they all nodded in agreement.
"Twilight's right. we should get going," Rainbow Dash said, surprising Twilight. She had forgotten that she was there. They all walked to the entrance of the forest in silence. Nopony dared say a word. They entered soundlessly, knowing there was no need to talk. But then a twig broke the silence.
Twilight looked around, finding that her friends couldn't have made the noise. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were flying, Rarity was levitating herself on a pillow, and there were no sticks on the path that they were walking on.
"W-what was th-that?" Fluttershy stammered.
"I don't know, but I don't like it. We are not going to see what it is though. It could be to dangerous," Twilight said.
But then, a scream was heard.
"Sweetie Belle!"
"Apple Bloom!"
"Scootaloo!" Called Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Apple Jack in unison. Before Twilight could stop them, the three mares bolted off the path, wanting to save the three ponies.
"Should we go get them?" Fluttershy asked, her voice barely a whisper. Twilight nodded, and the three remaining mares bolted after them. They came to a dead stop when they saw that their friends were fighting three odd-looking stallions.
Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy rushed out to help their friends, but did little damage to the attackers. Within fifteen minutes, the three stallions had tied up the six ponies and were about to knock each one unconscious.
Twilight's last thought before they passed out was, Will Spike be okay?
And with that, darkness engulfed her mind, and then, nothing.
As the six captured ponies woke up, they remembered what had happened the day before. Fluttershy burst into tears, Pinkie's hair deflated, Rainbow Dash let her wings droop. Rarity and Twilight tried to us their magic but could not. Their minds clouded over each time they tried. Apple Jack struggled against her bonds, but to no avail. There was no chance of escape.
Then a laugh was heard from the dark. Twilight could just make out a stallion sitting a few feet away, watching over them. She jumped up and glared at him.
"Who are you? And why are we here?" Twilight asked him. Everyone but Apple Jack went still. The figure laughed again, and Apple Jack lunged at him. But he quickly side-stepped and Apple Jack hit nothing but the hard floor.
"Where the buck is Apple Bloom?" she snarled through clenched teeth.
"Right here," said the stallion, handing Apple Jack a bloody body. Apple Jack teared up. With tears in her eyes, she stood up. She lunged again, but the stallion slammed into her, knocking her over. He placed a hoof on her side and pressed down. A loud crack was heard.
Apple Jack screamed, realizing one of her ribs was broken. The stallion leaned down to say something in her ear.
"If you want to live, you will respect us, and obey our commands. Understood?" the stallion said. Twilight as the first to say something.
"We agree with the terms. But what is your name?" Twilight asked. He stood up from Apple Jack and walked over to Twilight.
"My name's Toby. And i am your master," he said to Twilight.
"Okay then, Toby. Why can'y i use magic?" this was something that Twilight wanted to know. Toby shook his head.
"I can't say. Slendermane's orders," Toby told her. The door opened and a different stallion entered. He turned on the light.
"Your shift's up. Plus, Slendermane wants to see you," the new stallion said.
"Fine Hoodie. Just keep an eye on that one," Toby pointed at Apple Jack, who was now trying to stand up. Pinkie was trying to comfort Fluttershy, who still had tears streaming down her face.
"I wanna go home," she sobbed.
"We all do, but we can't," Pinkie said, hugging her.
Toby walked out of the room, leaving the 6 mares in the room with Hoodie. Apple Jack gave up on standing and was now dragging herself to Rainbow Dash
