Project Starburst

"Are you going to stop staring at me?"

Spiral Dream sighed, shaking her head. Something was bothering her about the other unicorn. There was something hiding behind Golden Luck's eyes, and she had seen it ever since they had met for the first time.

She thought back to just before they had gone to rescue Angel Grace. Golden Luck had been staring out the window the whole time, and that was the first time she had seen something else. Somehow, Spiral knew that in that moment was the most honest Golden had been with her and her friends. Not on the surface-Spiral suspected Golden Luck had planned to return and save them all along-but something had changed in the other unicorn in that moment. Ever since then, Golden had been more withdrawn. Sure, she interacted with Spiral and the others, and always had a smile or a little quip for them. When she thought no one was looking, though, Golden Luck had a certain distant look in her eyes.

When the others left to check out why the train stopped, Golden had seemed all too eager to stay behind, and Spiral took the chance to do some observation. Though most of her work was done under trance, any therapist needed to be able to read between the lines, see what a patient was saying with their actions and not their words. Golden Luck was hard to crack, though. She put on a bit of a wild act, but underneath that, every word, every action seemed to be carefully planned. She didn't reveal much, and perhaps that's why Spiral had been staring more than she should.

"I'm sorry. This is really the first chance we've had to be alone since the team was put together." Spiral offered a small, reassuring smile as she looked back out the window. "I realized I didn't know much about you. You still didn't explain why you came back after running off." or why Dancing Strings magic hadn't affected her...

Golden huffed. "Like I said. I like a long shot. Once I had a chance to cool down, I realized that stallion probably wouldn't stop until every mare was his plaything. I figured that would be bad. Though I do still have his little puppet controller if you want to try it."

"No thanks." Spiral responded with a nervous little laugh; Golden Luck had said that so flatly she wasn't sure if she was kidding or not. Her expression remained unreadable as she turned to look out the window, leaving Spiral with precious little more than she knew when they started this conversation. "I wonder what's taking them so long..."

Not a full minute after Spiral had said that, cries erupted from the outside of the train. With only a single glance at each other, both mares bolted for the exit, Golden Luck quickly overcoming Spiral Dream and therefore being the first to see the sight unfolding before them. Writhing vines surrounded the train, and Spiral took a step back on instinct. When she saw what those vines were holding, though, she let out a cry and tried to rush forward:

A dozen different ponies, some of them motionless, being pulled into the forest. But why? This wasn't the Everfree Forest, possessed of wild and poorly understood magic. There had to be another force at work here, but the pressing concern was getting those ponies down. Before she could take more than a couple steps, she was stopped by Golden's outstretched hoof. A moment later, a wall of flames curved in front of them.

"What are you doing? We have to help them!" Spiral exclaimed, turning on Golden Luck.

Golden Luck merely stared at the mass of vines. "If you get close, you'll wind up caught, too. Plus..." the flame wall flared up a bit. "Can't you see it? There's some kind of spore in the air. That's probably why they're not fighting."

Indeed, during the few moments since the two had arrived, several of more the ponies had gone limp in the vines grasp. These ones were pulled into the shadow of the woods faster than the others who were still putting up a fight.

"Hmm. Come with me." Golden turned away from the vines, headed up the track a ways.

"Where are we going?" Spiral asked, rushing to catch up with Golden Luck, still casting a few glances back. By this point, only a couple of ponies were left, and it seemed like it wouldn't be long before they were out, too. Surely Golden Luck couldn't be running away; what about the others?

"If we're going to find out what's going on, I'd really rather not knock on the front door. Whatever is behind this saw us coming, so-ah, here we are." Golden said, as they came around a curve. She stopped, looking back. "I'm going to head in, try and find out what's going on. If you want to stay out here where it's safe, I understand perfectly."

Spiral Dream shook her head quickly, moving closer to Golden Luck. "Not a chance. We're on the same team, remember? We have to stick together. Besides, two unicorns are better than one." with a little nod, she followed behind Golden Luck. Golden seemed to know where she was going, keeping up a sure and steady pace. Though, would the two of them be ready for whatever had captured both the train crew and their friends?

Perhaps. That same gleam that had been in Golden's eyes during the rescue back in Carousal had returned to her eyes, and considering how swiftly Golden had sized up the situation...she was one of Princess Twilight's hoof-picked mares, after all. So was Spiral Dream, for that matter. What chance did a few overgrown weeds have?