"Alright, that's it!" A small Drake exclaimed in a relieved tone. Making a 'X' shape on a piece of parchment.

"Not quite, Spike," Twilight responded.

"Aw, what do you mean? What are we missing?" He asked, unsure about what they were needing. After looking back at his checklist viewing it over one more time he noticed that all the crudely made black boxes he had drawn earlier, did indeed did have red X's with each one of them.

"Oh, nothing just some last minute things I wanted to grab, I need to head over to Zecora's real quick." The mare responded.

"Oh, umm alright, I imagine we're going to drop off this stuff off at the house before we go?" He said pointing an index claw at several brown paper bags. Paper bags that contained a large sum of food due to their lack of it back at the library.

Twilight had a certain look form on her face, an expression that Spike knew all too well... Her 'thinking face' but strangely this time it didn't last nearly as long as usual. That being several hours. She turned her head to Spike once more.

"Actually, you can stay at home if you want to Spike. You don't need to come with me." She said a simple smile appearing on her muzzle.

"Really?" The Drake said in an uplifting tone. His excitement however wavered seconds later. "Are you sure, the Everfree Forest is dangerous you know?" Concern became evident on his face.

"Yes, I'm sure, Spike. Besides, I can take care of myself I've been in their plenty of times." She said, patting his scaled head with a hoof while lifting multiple bags that surrounded them in a purple glow. "Now come on I don't want any of these fridge or freezer foods spoiling, it is kind of hot out today after all."

"Right." Said the Drake, making a subtle shake his head and scampering off to follow his mother figure in hoof.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Ahhh, finally.' Thought Twilight once sitting down at the round table she had gotten acquainted with last night upstairs. She placed a ceramic bowl of caesar salad along with a silver spoon, bottle of fine dressing, and even finer red wine. It was a bit extravagant for a late lunch but Twilight was tired of the plain taste of basic foods that she ate too often when she worked. Taking a large bite of her wonderful salad Twilight's mind began to wonder back to what she had seen a just a few short days ago. 'Annnnnd, now I'm angry.' Twilight thought clearly upset by the fact she had no way of returning to the Crystal Empire anytime soon, here duties as the Ponyville local librarian and world saver had to come first. She wrinkled her brow. 'Maybe I won't have to go all the way over there to get data. The Royal library might have something... No, that's open up to a lot of ponies. Doubt they would have that. Celestia and Luna wouldn't leave that kind of information just lying around... The Royal Archives perhaps? I... wouldn't be allowed entry to all the sections there but surely more than any other ponies. Maybe even Zecora has something, she's a shaman and zebra shaman often study dark arts and other mystical powers.' The lavender mare placed another fork full of dressing laced salad into her mouth washing it down with a sip of wine. 'Although I doubt the latter, it wouldn't hurt to try. Not that it would bother me that much if she didn't, I till have to get some new potions from her anyway.'

Twilight brought a napkin to her lips after finishing her meal moving downstairs to place her dishes in the sink for later. Moving to the fridge once more for a little glass of fresh, ice cold water. Looking at the time she brought over her saddle bags that held nothing more than a brown rag-bag of bits, a small pack of parchment, three ink pots, and seven new quills. Placing the bag over and on her barrel, she shouted out to Spike before leaving.

"Spike I'm trotting over to Zecora's now, watch the place while I'm gone." 'Alright, bye' was the muffled response. Walking down the dirt pathway that lead to the Everfree and eventually Zecora's hut. Twilight heard sompony call her name.

"Hiya Twilight, whatcha doing?" A pretty pink party pony asked.

Startled, Twilight shifted a few hooves to her right to avoid being trampled by the new bystander. "Ahh, Pinkie, don't walk up to me like that, you frightened me."

"How? I'm not walking, I'm bouncing," Pinkie responded, a strange *Boink* noise somehow being generated when she jumped.

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed at the pink ponies antics. "I'm heading over to Zecora's to pick up some stuff is all. Not much... You?" She asked, hoping to create a conversation before walking alone into the Everfree. Although it was unnecessary to try to start up a discussion with the rosy colored peppy pony because chances are you were always pulled into one regardless if you wanted to be a part of it in the first place.

"I'm doing great actually, The Cakes and I have another competition over at Canterlot. Hey, remember that Griffin, Gustave? Well, I heard this year he made something so amazing that was going to leave the rest of the competitors in the dust, so the Cakes and I started to redo our cake and it's going great so far. I think it's actually better than our first one. I'm having so much fun," She said cheerfully.

The unicorn frowned then opened her mouth. "Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be busy making the cake?"

"We are busy making the cake, but it's so big only half of it could fit in the oven," Pinkie replied.

"You don't have several ovens?" Twilight asked raising an eyebrow.

"We do, but the rest are too small, it would take too much time and would make things way more complicated than they need to be if we divide the cake into a bunch of sections. Better to just make two large pieces and bake them separately in the big oven."

Twilight didn't say anything, simply nodding her head. After a long silent pause between the two, they neared the edge of the Everfree. Pinkie then spoke up

"Are you alright Twilight?" She asked.

"I'm fine why do you ask?"

"Nothing just, I don't know you've been distant lately. You've also been pretty quiet even for you. Are you mad at somepony?"

"What, no. I've just been thinking about a whole lot lately. I might have to go to Canterlot soon... later today or tomorrow maybe." Twilight said calmly.

"Is there a big test coming up? Maybe you have a super secret mission that only you and you alone can know about and it's so important that- hhm hmmm mmmm hhhmm."

Twilight put a magical zipper over Pinkie Pies pie hole before she had the chance to ramble about something ridiculous again. "No Pinke, it's nothing from Celestia. It's actually something I'm going to be working on myself for the next... pony knows how long." She undid the zipper.

"Oh cool what is it?" The Part Pony asked happily.

"It's ummm, about." The Purple unicorn looked around hoping to find something that would sound realistic. "Abouuut." She eyed Rarity out in the distance hauling a small wagon full of gems. "About some gems that we saw in the Crystal Empire. You know, some more history on how the Crystal Empire came to be." She smiled awkwardly, hoping Pinkie would buy it. Twilight didn't like lying to her friends but she also didn't like the thought of telling them that she was going to look into dark magic even more. Her friends are not exactly wizards, so they wouldn't understand why she would want to inquire about something like that. No doubt they would believe the myth about how using or studying the effects of dark magic turns the pony into a vampony or some insane monstrosity. They didn't have the best common sense and often over exaggerated dangers sometimes. A good example being when they meet Zecora for the first time. That was an ordeal she wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

"Okay!" Pinkie said oblivious to Twilight's discomfort.

"Right well, I'll see you later Pinks." Twilight said once reaching the main entrance to the forest.

"Bye!" The Party Pony waved sporadically as Twilight moved under the shade of the large un-natural trees.

'I picked the worst day to got through the forest, it's a lot hotter in here than outside the forest.' Wiping some sweat off her forehead Twilight trotted deeper in the woods. Careful to avoid getting a cut by the sharp thorns of the green bushes that she squeezed by. Once freeing her saddle bag from a rather rude shrub that knew nothing about personal space. She finally reached her destination, that being a hollowed out tree surrounded by many herbs, flowers, and occasional colored wooden mask. Smiling she walked over beating a hoof on the door various times in a sudden hurry due to the water droplets that had started to fall from the sky

"Ah, Twilight you gave me a quite a fright," Zecora said upon opening the door, she sidestepped, allowing Twilight to enter.

"Sorry about that Zecora," Twilight responded sheepishly.

"Fear not Twilight, I bear no strife this night, for forgiveness is the elixir to happiness in life."

Twilight chuckled and gave small smile. "Right, Anyway, I was hoping if you had any luck on the philter I ordered for awhile back."

Zecora sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I've made little way, for it requires Nightshade. A flower that wields much power, but sadly does not bloom in this hour."

"There really is nothing to substitute it with?" Twilight asked hoping there would be a solution. Zecora shook her head once more.

She sighed. "Well, thanks for trying regardless. Anyway, I just came by to pick up my usual. Oh, and also I wanted to know. do you have any books or scrolls of any kind that pertain to what you do? Like spells or history on it?"

The zebra raised an eyebrow. "Twilight this is truly a surprise, I did not realize you sought out this knowledge otherwise I would have modernized many of the texts, for this, I must apologize.

"Oh, there's no need, I sort of just recently became interested in it." Twilight said as she smiled awkwardly while waving a hoof around. "But if you have time I did bring a few papers with me, so maybe we can do some quick translating? I'm sure I can easily summarize it."

"While I would be quite alright with that in hindsight, I don't believe such a thing is legalized where you reside." The zebra noted with a small frown.

Twilight frowned in kind, thoughts turning in her head. 'Right Celestia banned those kinds of things. How did that never occur to me till now? How am I ever going to be able to learn anything then?' The unicorn stood there a few moments in silence. The zebra choosing not to interrupt her thoughts. 'Okay, well, I know Celestia is nowhere near as organized as me, so there is a possibility that there is a loophole in it somewhere. That or I could just hide everything, Celestia trusts me I don't think she would one day random search my house on a whim for a few scrolls. Though I don't want to resort to that just yet. I want to leave lying to Celestia or anypony really, as a last resort.' Twilight nodded her head once coming to a solution.

"I've got an idea, so Celestia may make a lot of rules and restrictions, but she doesn't do a whole lot in the way of enforcing or organizing any of it. She tends to have a little too much faith in ponies or any species really in my opinion. So first I'm going to do some research and see if I can't find some sort of loophole in her laws. If not... Well, I sort of hope you can do me a favor and keep this a secret until the end of my new studies." Twilight had a hunch that Zecora wouldn't tell anypony about Twilight's little pet project. Mostly because Zecora had been training as a shaman for most of life, and witchcraft is a big part of their culture and traditions almost as much as rhyming. So no doubt they found it strange that such a thing was banned, even if there wasn't a lot of zebras who could master such an art.

Zecora once more hadn't said anything, instead, choosing to give a smile and nod of her head. Twilight showed some teeth as well. A hunt for knowledge had begun.

"Thanks again Zecora," Twilight called out, closing the hut door in tow and placing one last ingredient in her saddlebags for her other studies. A little while later as she was making her way down the muddy pathway that had formed when she was speaking to Zecora, she noticed some odd prints indented into the ground that was not there previously. Being the naturally curious pony that she was, she arched her neck to get a closer inspection ignoring the large drops of water that matted her purplish coat. The shape had a resemblance of a 'W' it looked like a... paw. The mare's eyes shot wide open and she stuck her neck out scanning the area with deathly glare, making sure to remain completely silent. Not that it would that big of a difference Timberwolves often used smell and sight rather than sound. That wasn't to say their sense of smell was outright terrible. The K-9's still put many creatures to shame when it came to that, but it was unsurprisingly easier to use the formers. It also didn't mean that didn't use it, Twilight knew that sudden noises indicated that the prey was alerted to the wolves presence, meaning they would pounce on her the second she moved.

Crunch

The best thing to do when you found yourself in a Timberwolf pack was to act natural and look around in hopes to find the location of as many wolves as you could. Most Timberwolf packs were short one wolf, therefore not creating a full circle often giving their pray a small area to flee that was unprotected when they surrounded their hunt. Though many ponies were unsuccessful when it came to looking for these openings. Usually for the same reasons. One being that they took to long to find the said opening, naturally because they couldn't find all the hungry wolves. The other was that they were unlucky and guessed wrong, causing their fate to be brought down upon them in a swift move, that being the equine ran head first into a hidden Timberwolf's jaw. Nopony knew why the wolves never learned to rectify the flaw but nopony was also ever going to complain about it.

Crack

The mare's ears swiveled sharply, eyes darting to and fro.

Before.

She lunged.

Twilight dashed past several thick bushes hearing a multitude of steps right behind her. As she was running, she saw a branch stick out from the side of an oddly thin tree, taking inspiration from one of Applejack's tricks, she grabbed the limb in her magic pulling it back before letting go and ducking underneath it. The sound of wood cracking on wood was followed by an explosion that sounded like it was buried halfway in the dirt.

1

Moving into a small clearing, the mare ran straight first towards a large boulder before promptly changing direction in one swift move. Twilight was awarded the satisfying sound of cracking and snapping wood.

2

Hearing steps coming closer by the second. Twilight stopped abruptly before lying on her belly. The snap of jaws being heard overhead and the feeling of wind caressing her back. As quickly as it came, it stopped, and Twilight found herself: raising her head, lighting her horn, and launching several spells. One spell hit her target head-on, obliterating it within seconds. Another spell landed on the ground in front of another wolf sending it back to hit a tree.

4

The last wolf, the Alpha, dodged the attack with ease. Heeding danger, Twilight scampered, wanting the wolf to work for his meal. As she ran she, looked everywhere hoping to find another form of dispatching her fast foe. She noticed several large rocks and branches but nothing would fool a Timberwolf twice, let alone against one that was clearly smarter than the rest. Twilight soon neared what appeared to be an edge. Putting faith into her leap, she jumped.

Her faith, however, was misplaced.

Instead of a small slope like she had hoped, it was in fact, a small cliff that lead into a dried up river bed. A loud crack was heard as she slammed into the ground. The quiet forest was filled with a horrid scream of a mare. She looked down at her hooves all were burning with extreme pain one leg in particular was bent at an odd angle. Looking over at the cliff-side she saw the Timberwolf slowly and carefully make it's way down. She panicked, throwing a purple shield around herself. Sadly this would not hold forever, and she knew that. The Everfree seemed to passively drain magic and also made it much more difficult to cast. And the Timberwolf slamming and clawing at the side didn't make it any easier. This would be an easy problem to fix were she not in the Everfree Forest. She could either waste time looking for a more magic efficient way out the sticky situation. Or use it all up and hope to leave the forest completely defenseless, that was a big risk however, for the forests evil knew no rest.

Luckily for her, she didn't have to make such a decision. The sound of a cannon firing rang in her ears; the dirt, stone, and wood surrounding her flew in random directions. Opening her eyes she saw a pony atop the hill with a smoking party cannon sitting next to her.

"Twilight!" The pink mare yelled. "Are you alright?"

Twilight's eyes widened even further. "Pinkie, Oh thank Celestia you're here."

After scanning for a good path down Pinkie Pie rolled her way down to her friend.

"How did you find me?" Twilight asked.

"Well, remember how we sort of knew that Fluttershy would be in danger a while back, well I kind of had the same feeling again just a few minutes ago. I would have gotten AppleJack or her brother Big Mac but I had a hunch that I didn't have a lot of time." The blush colored mare explained shrugging her shoulders.

Twilight nodded her head these things were best left unexplained.

"We should get you out of her asap, your hoof doesn't look that good." Pinkie stated.

Twilight winced as she got back on to her hooves with the help of her friend. "No arguments here." She breathed before heading down a sandy trail.

Ponyville Hospital

"Alright Twilight, remember to wrap a plastic bag of some sort before you shower, we don't want that thing to get smelly in the first few days of putting it on." Doctor Stable reminded.

"I will, thank you doctor," Twilight said while looking down at her new purple cast, a giant name written on the side in pink bold letters. 'Pinke Pie', it read, with a 'get well soon' message written right underneath.

"So how you feeling?" Pinkie Pie asked breaking the silence.

"Physically? Fine. Mentally? Drained." Twilight responded.

"Thanks for helping me by the way Pinkie, I owe you. Big time."

"No need for thanks, silly. You're my friend, one who needed help. Nothing more nothing less." Pinke Beamed.

Twilight smiled. "Well thanks anyway." She sighed. "I think I'm gunna head home pinks, I'm pretty tired."

"Wow, you must be if you didn't even use proper Equestrian. Want me to walk ya?"

"Uuuh, no thanks, I can make it on my own."

"Okie dokie lokie."

With a final hug, Twilight headed home thoughts forming in her mind. Tomorrow, like all days, was going to long and hard.

Author's Note

This was written on a phone so it probably did some auto correcting, let me know if you see any of it because I lost some of them and can't seem to find them.

Also, I'm so so sorry for the horrid rhyming in this chapter. Like... it's really bad. I cringed several times. In fact, just... Just. You know what? Do yourself a favor and bleach your eyes. I've got chlorine in powder and liquid form so take your pick.

Never think about this chapter ever again.

Love it, like it, hate it, despise it. Anything helps.