IT WAS DARK.
Twisted trees grew all around a small clearing, their crooked, leafless branches looming overhead, caging anything underneath them from the sky. Not that there was much of a sky to see. Just the darkness of black clouds, occasionally made visible by flashes of lightning within, hovering overhead. Anywhere else in Equestria they would unleash torrents of rainfall, but not here. The Everfree Forest had its own rules.
Vigil Weatherwatch rose, glancing towards his two companions as they were still staring into the darkness expectantly. Shadows danced around on the trees and played tricks on their minds, making them believe that their last companion was about to appear in front of them.
“We’ve waited long enough. We have to leave.”
“And since when are you deciding?” White Gale growled in response. “We’re going back in.”
She eyed Blazing Speed, waiting for him to join her, but he didn’t move. Blazing Speed stood next to her and averted his gaze when their eyes met. He wouldn’t admit that he didn’t want to go back, but his lowered head told White Gale all the same. Vigil merely sighed in response.
“This isn’t a rescue mission anymore, Gale,” Vigil said. “Whatever that was, it’s beyond us. Going back is too dangerous. We have to leave.”
“You don’t get to decide that!” Gale retorted. “We’re Wonderbolts and we have a duty to help anypony in need.”
“Gale, Swifts got caught by that thing,” Blazing Speed interjected. “He… what if it catches one of us next?”
White Gale’s gaze locked on to Vigil. “This is all your fault," she snapped. “You were supposed keep us safe. What good did you do? We’ve failed our mission, somepony off our team is still back there with some crazy… thing on his tail, now you’re asking us to leave our fellow Wonderbolts behind? We can’t even fly out of here anymore.”
She flared her wings to emphasize her last point. To the side, Blazing Speed was flapping his own in attempt to lift himself of the ground, but with no success.
“And you still want to jump right on back in?” Vigil said. “Think this through Gale. It isn’t just that monster we have to be worried about, there’s something else going on.”
White Gale was upset, understandably so—Vigil knew that much. He had the tools to prevent all of this from happening, but he was unable to use them. He had failed. Princess Celestia had entrusted him with this mission and the protection of these ponies and... he failed.
Where did it go wrong? Vigil couldn’t help but ask the question—like he did whenever one of his experiments failed—despite not having the time to answer it. The only thing that he could conclude for now was that it had gone wrong.
A sudden, terrible crack shattered the growing silence between them.
The three pegasi eyed the direction it came from and saw mists creeping forth from behind the trees.
“Gale?” Blazing Speed backed away from the mist, eyes twitching from left to right. “Gale, what do we do?”
Gale remained frozen in place. The mists edging closer, carrying the dreadful feeling that the ponies have run out of time.
“Gale!” Vigil said. “Make the call.”
“You’re asking me to leave him behind! To leave all of them behind!”
“Gale, we need your call, now!”
“Damnit!” White Gale finally surrendered. “Fine, Vigil, lead us out of here.”
Left.
Vigil felt his muscles burning as he ran, twisting his body with every step to avoid the next oncoming obstacle.
Up.
Several branches made for a natural staircase. The entangling vines on the ground below wouldn’t stop him from getting out of this nightmarish place.
Down then right.
Vigil paid no mind to anything that wasn’t in front of him. One mistake would mean he’d run into a tree, trip over roots or vines, be injured by crooked low-hanging branches, or be lacerated by thorns from the bushes on the ground. Well, the last wasn’t one of Vigil’s worries; a set of gauntlets and greaves would protect his hooves from something like that. The two Wonderbolts behind him did not have that luxury.
Slide underneath these.
But he had to keep up the pace. Behind him, he could hear the rampaging creature that didn’t take kindly to being disturbed—no creature ever did—and that had been chasing the group for the past fifteen minutes.
Jump to the right, kick off this tree.
The forest grew more spacious. Gaps in the canopy allowed shafts of the sun’s light to shine through and lighten the path ahead—a welcome respite that signaled an upcoming exit. At least Vigil hoped that to be case. He continued an almost leaping stride, jumping over the stumps that littered the trail as he swept up the ash that covered the ground. Trees bearing black marks were thrown to either side of what Vigil suspected to be a path that was forcibly carved through the forest.
Odd, Vigil thought. He looked behind him to see his two companions following him closely. Despite being trained as flyers it seemed they hadn’t forgotten how to run. He slowed down his pace slightly to run beside them. “What do you still have left?” he asked.
“One Windblast and a Lightningflash,” White Gale replied.
“Just a Cloud,” Blazing Speed answered.
Vigil checked his belt and saw that, strapped onto his side, he only had two bottles left. A swirling mist trapped in one, a churning thunderstorm in the other. With the way ahead clear, his attention shifted towards planning an escape.
After several minutes of galloping, the group arrived at a large clearing. Vigil slowed down and stopped, catching some much needed breath and inspected his surroundings. The clearing bore the same marks—leftover stumps, charred trees and a blanket of ash—as the trail they had been running over before. At the other side was a towering rock formation that housed a large cavern. Above him the sky was finally within reach. He tried flapping his wings to escape, but, to his disappointment, remained grounded.
The two Wonderbolts came to a halt behind him, both trying—and failing—to take to the skies as well.
Smashed and scorched trees and a clearing leading into... a cave. The cave in particular occupied Vigil’s mind as he was drawn towards it. It would provide him refuge, a place to hide and for the incoming danger to just… disappear. After all, that’s what he usually did. It’s what everypony did. Whenever there was any sign of danger they’d hide and wait for somepony else to take care of it.
“Vigil!” A voice called to him.
Vigil’s heart slammed in his chest and ignited his blood.
“Why’d we stop? What’s the plan?” The voice asked.
He turned and gawked at the pair of pegasi. He fell into the same trap again. The trap that has been lying under everypony’s hooves for centuries. One he never wanted to fall into again.
“Vigil?” White Gale repeated.
Vigil sighed heavily, relieving himself from the heat that welled up inside him before recalling his earlier plan. “Take out your weather bottles. We can ride the Cloud to carry us out of here if we use the Windblast to to launch us into the air.”
“Wait, seriously? Is that the best plan you have?” Blazing Speed hurriedly asked. “Can’t we keep running until we get to safety?”
In truth, Vigil wasn’t sure. Considering how the group—as pegasi—weren’t able to fly, could they even stay on top of clouds? Added to that was the question if the stored wind in a Windblast bottle would have enough power to push a cloud with three ponies on top high enough into the sky.
“We’d risk that thing following us out of this forest and endangering other ponies. Not a risk we can take,” Vigil replied. He didn’t want to be argued with right now.
“And even if your plan does work, then what?” White Gale questioned. “We’d be stranded on a cloud over the Everfree forest. What good will that do?”
“We have a pegasus team keeping an eye on the sky. They’ll see us if we float up.”
“You do know tha—”
“Yes, I know how a group of Wonderbolts suddenly fell from the sky into the forest, Gale.” Vigil interrupted, his face forming a harsh frown. “That’s why this team is staying clear of the reported area.”
White Gale groaned and rubbed her forehead. “Fine. If this doesn’t work, you’re leaving your theories in your lab. Blaze, pop your Cloud.”
Blazing Speed took out one of the bottles secured on his belt and pulled off the cork. A thick, white cloud popped out of it. It floated in the air a short distance above the ground, wiggling slightly before settling into its eventual form.
White Gale and Blazing Speed jumped on top of the cloud, sinking slightly into its soft fluffy top. The cloud remained floating in the air as it had before, but now it held two pegasi on top of it.
“Excellent.” Vigil cracked a small smile, satisfied that his theory—or at least the first part of it—was correct. “Okay, Gale, take out your Windblast bottle. Throw it directly under you, through the cloud and—”
A roar—originating from the sky—interrupted him. Vigil turned and looked up to see their pursuer crash down in the middle of the clearing where he had been just moments ago. Its landing swept up the accumulated ash and dust on the ground into the air. Using one of the nearby stumps to hide behind, Vigil lowered onto his stomach. He covered his eyes and mouth with his hooves to shield himself from the oncoming wall of blinding suffocation as it assaulted him with wood splinters and sediment. When the gust passed, he stood up to face his foe.
It was a brute creature, formed entirely out of vines. It stood tall on four limbs, its longer and broad forearms putting it in a near upright stance, giving it a dominating presence. Two bright yellow beads glowed in misshapen cavities in its head, a paralyzing gaze that chilled Vigil’s body, causing the hairs of his coat to rise.
Vineape.
It immediately charged towards him, raising a fist to strike down. Vigil jumped and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow that pulverized the tree stump into kindling. He jumped again, creating distance and staying away as far as possible.
“Vigil! Over here!” He heard a shout from afar, but it was muffled among the sounds of grunts and blows from the raging beast. The Vineape’s assault advanced faster than Vigil anticipated and before he could see where his escape route was blown towards. His best guess was that the Vineape’s landing blew the cloud, with the two pegasi on top of it, across the clearing. But with the blurry tempest of fists homing in on him, Vigil was being driven into a corner. He jumped high, avoiding a low sweep from his right. The next moment he felt a giant boulder colliding with his body.
The Vineape’s punch connected with Vigil. The blow sent the helpless pegasus flying into the mouth of the cave. He skidded across the ground before colliding with his back into the cave wall.
Vigil felt a constant aching throb pulsating throughout his body as if fire burnt through his veins. Every heartbeat became a loud boom that mercilessly hammered on his brain while he tried to recover from his daze. He gritted his teeth and ignored the overwhelming sensations, his view slowly coming into focus as the colourful stars that blinded him finally dissipated.
Before him the Vineape stood over him like a tower dwarfing everything around it, blocking his exit to the cave.
The beast raised its fist again, as if it were a judge bringing down his gavel to deliver a final sentence. Vigil managed to scuffle onto his hooves, reached for one of the bottles on his belt and smashed it.
The bottle erupted and a misty smoke spread through the air. Vigil jumped backwards immediately, the mist becoming a soothing shower on his back that eased his pains, if only slightly.
He ran deeper into the cave. He needed to lure the Vineape away from the exit. He knew how the trail and the clearing were formed. And he knew how to make this situation work to his advantage.
Time to disturb another deadly creature, I guess.
He found it—the creature that lived in this cave. The one that shaped the surrounding area to accommodate itself. In front of him lay a dragon. Its glistening scales, wet from the water dripping off stalactites, reflected a radiant golden hue from the light of the sun, shining through an opening in the ceiling above.
Sharp slitted eyes closed in on him, the dragon's neck stretching out to bring its head closer, like a snake silently slithering, closing in on its prey. The dragon's wings bore small markings near its joint but otherwise were pristine white, like some divine being protected them from any and all filth.
It rose up, four limbs supporting its huge body, lifting it off the ground and let out a hearty laugh.
"Today the forest brings a meal to me. Good. It should recognize me as its king and treat me as such. Though this is hardly a feast, it's a start. Tell me, pony, who offered you to me? Perhaps I won't burn them once they tread my path."
The dragon looked up to see the Vineape standing behind Vigil.
Now!
Vigil pulled out his Thunderclapper—An endlessly churning thundercloud sealed in a mere bottle—and threw it upward in an arc towards the dragon. The dragon swerved its neck and avoided the container. It fell on the rocky ground and cracked.
The fury of skies was released, a mighty crackling thunder reverberated throughout the cavern, shaking the walls and ceiling and collapsing columns that formed over many years.
The dragon flinched and cried out, deafened and dazed by the explosive orchestra that resounded through the core of any and all things near.
Vigil ears ringed intensely, despite having covered them to block out the sound. Regaining his senses, he broke out in a dash towards the exit. He shook off the disorienting sound as he rushed past the Vineape, which still stood there stumbling. The dragon stood up on its hind legs, curled up its neck and took a breath. Small puffs of smoke and flame escaped from its nostrils, as it readied to engulf the cave in its fiery breath. In a quick motion the dragon’s head rocketed forwards, spewing out a burst of flame, incinerating everything in its path.
Vigil’s legs were on fire. How long he had been running, he couldn’t tell. He just wished he had taken a Snowfall bottle along so he could lie in its contents.
No such luck, however. Snow wasn’t very useful in surviving in the Everfree Forest.
Heat washed over Vigil as the sensation he felt in his muscles now tormented his skin. The cavern coloured a brilliant orange for a few moments.
It was a risk to walk into a dragon’s cave but it had paid off. With any luck, the dragon would be too occupied with its ‘waiter’ to worry about him.
So much for not burning the one that delivered him a meal.
It didn’t take Vigil long to leave the cave and return to the clearing, thankfully. Being lost in a cave that housed a dragon was something he could do without.
The clearing was devoid of movement. The ash had settled back on the soil and the mist had dispersed in the air. The two pegasi that held Vigil’s escape were nowhere to be seen.
Vigil looked up towards the sky where the sun illuminated one lone entity in a vast sea of blue; The Cloud that had carried his companions out of the forest, shaped like an arrow.
Vigil’s next breath loosened the grip of worry that had wrapped itself around his throat. Small threads tugged at his cheeks, claiming victory as he eventually gave in to the smile that planted itself on his face.
They had left several ponies behind in the Everfree Forest; the Wonderbolts they were meant to rescue as well as Swift Wind—who didn’t make it back from doing his duty. They were ponies who would never see Celestia raising the sun again.
But despite everything, at least White Gale and Blazing Speed got out safely. It was time to follow suit.
Vigil, once more, dove into the thicket of the most dangerous forest in Equestria
