Evading the Inevitable

Lyra was on her way home. The moonlight lit the path ahead leading to her destination. As she walked, she passed by the restaurant where she and Bon Bon had eaten dinner. Light pink exterior walls showed a large amount of wear due to weather and the disasters that occurred in Ponyville far too often, and a simple thatched roof covered the building. Had it not been for the large neon green sign and the outside seating areas, it may have been mistaken as just another cozy abode in the quaint town. Lyra glanced over towards the table she had shared with her best friend. A hot pink object could be seen lying in the grass just underneath it. Curious, Lyra stepped over the wooden fence separating her and the object.

As she approached, Lyra noticed it looked like one of the keys used to open the doors to Sugarcube Corner. She picked it up and momentarily stared at the key with a cupcake symbol on the broad side, confirming that it was for the bakery. Bon Bon had recently taken a job there, so Lyra figured this key belonged to her. She figured it would be best to return to Bon Bon tomorrow, seeing as she had a spare in case this sort of thing happened. As she slipped the key into her saddlebags, she suddenly heard a piercing scream. Her head jerked up as she turned in the direction of the raucous noise. The direction of Bon Bon’s house.

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Seeing a figure appear directly before her, Bon Bon’s natural instinct was to release a high pitched scream and panic slightly. Her alarm quickly dissipated, though, as she saw the figure in front of her was laughing. Quickly reaching into her saddlebags with her muzzle, she pulled out a flashlight that closely resembled her coat’s color. Flipping it on, she saw a light blue pegasus with an unkempt, rainbow-colored mane and tail giggling at the sight of Bon Bon’s fright. “Rainbow Dash!” Bon Bon nearly yelled, “Why are you scaring me half to death!” “Aw, lighten up,” Rainbow Dash said through giggles, “you can’t take a good prank?” “Prank? Really?” Bon Bon questioned angrily. “Landing on somepony’s doormat in the middle of the night when a murderer is running loose is a prank to you?”

“Well, when you put it like that...” Rainbow flew up above the cream pony as she thought. “I guess I can apologize for that.” Rainbow stated. “Sorry.” Bon Bon didn’t seem very pleased to hear that, though. She jumped up, trying to ground the pegasus. Rainbow flew up higher as she let out a surprised shout. As the earth pony frantically jumped in anger to reach her, Rainbow decided it would probably be best to let her think it over and to apologize to her later. Rainbow never was very good at planning ahead, and it showed. As she flew to her cloud home that had drifted above the Everfree Forest, she failed to notice Bon Bon was still chasing her. As she flew, above the treetops, Bon Bon quickly submerged into thick, green foliage.

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It wasn’t long after the scream that Lyra bolted towards the source. Her aquamarine hooves traversed the green grass and rocky paths between her original point and the abode of her best friend. As she approached, she noticed Rainbow Dash flying over the Everfree Forest. What interested her more was that an infuriated Bon Bon was entering the forest that everypony was warned to avoid. Lyra dashed towards the entrance of the forest, hoping she could stop Bon Bon before it was too late. As she approached, all she heard was the soft rustling of bushes and other plant life being moved by the body of her friend. She was too late to catch her at the entrance. Thankfully, the shade from the trees had kept the ground moist enough to produce a thin layer of mud from the last rainstorm. Bon Bon’s hooves left small indentations in the forest floor, and Lyra had to get Bon Bon back. She carefully followed the hoofprints through the forest.

The lush green canopy overhead was a constant reminder of just how dangerous a place she was in. The Everfree Forest was avoided for a reason. Numerous deadly creatures roamed here. Manticores, Ursas, Cockatrice, and plenty of other foes she could not hope to fight one-on-one. She wanted to get out as soon as possible, but if she quickened her pace, she might lose track of the hoofprints. She continued to slowly trod through the forest. One thought had entered her mind, though. “If Bon Bon was chasing after Rainbow Dash, then wouldn’t she have left after realizing the trees would completely block her view of Rainbow Dash?”

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“Good. I needed an excuse.” Bon Bon thought as she careened through the maze of vegetation. She was running through here almost daily now, and she had to come up with an excuse every time she came in to avoid getting caught doing what she really was doing in a dark, dreary forest. She had taken this path enough times to memorize it. She hardly needed to think. She was on pure autopilot, dodging each tree that suddenly appeared out of the darkness, leaping over each bush that crossed her path. Her direction was not straight, but rather a seemingly random pattern of curved turns.

It was not random, though. During the Winter, Bon Bon had entered the forest knowing most of the creatures would either be hibernating or be hindered by the snow blanketing the ground. She had carefully and slowly traveled around the area, searching for dens of the beasts and the marks of their territory. After creating a rather intricate map of the surrounding area, she marked the territory zones on the map. The map looked rather like a very complicated maze somepony would make for purposes of entertainment. A few hours later, she had solved the forest’s riddle, carving a relatively safe path from the entrance of her house to the heart of the feared woodland.

To hide her true work, Bon Bon had purposefully rammed herself against a prickly tree that day months ago, giving herself bruises and scratches. She used these injuries to play her trip to the forest off as being attacked by timberwolves when searching for some rare berries for some candy she wanted to make. Bon Bon snapped out of her reminiscing state as she approached her destination.

A large clearing with overgrown grass and weeds littered the area for the most part. However, near the very center, a trapdoor was hiding from the view of any unaided eye. Made to have the functionality of both an entrance and a flowerpot, the door was heavy and made of a brownish-black clay, soil packed tightly into an indentation on the top. The trapdoor blended in perfectly with the surrounding foliage, looking like just another patch of grass in the expansive forest. Looking behind her back and checking that nopony was closely following her, she lifted the edge of the door open with her hooves. Checking once more that she was alone in the clearing, the entered the door and lowered herself into the passage before her.

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Lyra had no idea why she was going through the forest anymore. Her instinct seemed to simply push her forward. Ever since stepping foot inside, each sound of a twig snapping or an owl hooting made Lyra freeze in her tracks for a few moments. Everything she had heard about this place had convinced her that this was one of the most feared places in Equestria, and that nothing was safe. Bon Bon’s tracks were getting more and more scarce the further in she traveled, making it difficult to determine which way Bon Bon had been running. Somehow, through both a mix of careful surveying and pure luck, Lyra managed to stumble into the clearing. “Great. Just great.” Lyra muttered under her breath. The tall grass had all but eliminated any chance of following Bon Bon further into the woods.

Lyra was about to turn back, but her mind urged her to continue forward. Lyra chose a random direction from her point in the clearing, and continued trotting forward. Her hooves rustled against the grass, growing nearly as high as her body. Suddenly, her hoof hit something firm. It hurt slightly, and Lyra thanked Celestia her hooves were as sturdy as they were. She bent her neck down to investigate what her hoof hit. It seemed like a rock, but rocks usually don’t form in a long, hollow, square shape. She suspected something was hidden underneath. Sure enough, after a few tries of scrabbling with her hooves, she lifted the rock, along with a small portion of grass. A hidden passage revealed itself to Lyra.

Lyra just stood there looking befuddled for a few seconds. “Was this Bon Bon’s work? What has she been hiding all this time?” Lyra thought aloud as she held up the slab of clay. She thought about turning around. She could forget that she ever came here, that whatever was down there didn’t have to be discovered. Eventually, though, she shook the thought away and slowly entered the passage. She slid the top over the opening, and the passage turned pitch black.