A Dash of Excitement.by AdaptiveChaptersChapter 1: EntranceChapter 2: Truth or DareChapter 3: "Geta move on."Chapter 4: OnwardChapter 5: RecollectionChapter 1: EntranceMy second Fanfic. If you didn't read the description, it will be done in short chapters of about 1000-2000 words or so. I will try and publish new chapters as they go and hopefully spit one out every week or so. I will also be working on other projects so chapters may not always be written. Please try and leave a like/dislike based on what you read and also leave comments on changes, grammar errors, ect. As always you can ask me anything you want so don't be shy. I rated it teen for later chapters in the story. They will be a bit more violent. Also I hope you have a nice day. Peace. A Dash of Excitement "Do it, do it ya wimp." Taunted AppleJack. "If ya don't do it I'll tell the WonderBolts your scared of a forest." "Fine, I'll do it. Just give me a minute." Rainbow Dash looked around at her surroundings. The night sky beckoned at her to just fly away, but she couldn't back down to AppleJack let alone risk hurting her chances to join the WonderBolts. Cold, brisk air bit at Dash. Its cool touch reminding her that she would be alone when she entered the forest. "Well, get a move on. Ah ain't gettin' any younger." AppleJack had become a bit impatient of waiting for her cyan colored friend's stalling. Dash could see AppleJack was getting a little angry by this point and she figured it would probably be best if she just went. "One night, right?" Rainbow Dash asked her apple farming friend. She hoped AppleJack didn't hear the timidness in her voice. Even though Dash isn't scared of anything, the thought of a night in the EverFree Forest sent chills down her spine. What horrors could await her in there? "Yup. That's the deal. Ya spend one night in there and we'll be square." Her orange friend replied. The EverFree Forest. The words were stuck in Dash's mind like glue. She hadn't had much experience in there but she knew enough to know it isn't the safest place in Equestria. It was filled with different forms of creatures and beings of the night. But, hey Zecora lived there so how bad could it be, right? Dash headed for the forest. On the edge of the tree growth she stopped and turned to AppleJack. Her mind was running to all the possible options she had. She could bargain her way out or maybe just fly out once she got so far into the forest. It wouldn't be hard to cheat but after her and AppleJack's race, she knew it wouldn't end well if she did. "O.K. so you'll be back here tomorrow morning to see if I did or not, K?" Dash called out. "Ah sure will. Ah'll be watching through out the night to, just to be safe also." AppleJack yelled back. She was watching with careful eyes to see if Dash was showing any fear or if she was truly unafraid of anything. She had heard the anxiety in Dash's voice earlier but put it off as just being bothered. AppleJack had her own plan, unbeknownst to Dash. Dash knew she basically meant she'd be watching to make sure she stayed in the forest and didn't fly off. How did she plan to do that from way out here? Well, it didn't matter. Dash knew she had to get moving. Rainbow turned and headed into the forest all the while recollecting the events that had lead to this. How in Equestria did she end up in this situation? ============================================================================= A couple hours ago. "Hey, what's up Twi'?" Rainbow Dash asked after crashing through her balcony window yet again. The cold night air followed her through the tree house. "Oh, not much. Just reading and such." Twilight responded. "You should really start using the door. One of these days I'm gonna lock that thing." Twilight raised a hoof to the balcony window. "No you won't. You're always expecting a visit from your Friendly Neighborhood Rainbow Dash!" Finishing with her trademark catch phrase. Twilight knew she wouldn't, but she wanted to try and convince the cyan Pegasus to just use the door. The room was a bit untidy and with Dash's entrance became even more so. Her interjection on Twilight's reading time had caused multiple books to fall from the shelves which inevitably Spike would have to clean up even though Dash had made the mess. One book in particular fell out and landed in front of Rainbow Dash face up. The title read "Games for the Daring Pony". Dash looked at the book wondering what its contents were. "Hey Twilight, what's this?" The rainbow maned pony asked holding up the book. It was older and kind of tattered but still in fairly good condition. Twilight remembered it from when she lent it out to some young fillies awhile back. "Wow Dash, I'm kind of surprised your interested in anything not Daring Do. Well, that book is a collection of different games that ponies would play and most of them are a bit dangerous if I do say so myself. The only one in their I've ever played is the first one." Twilight finished, taking the book from Dash's hoof and placing it on the table. She opened the book up to the first page, and pointed to the title with a hoof indicating Dash to read it. Reluctantly she obliged. First of all the obvious. Truth or Dare This fun game has been played by most ponies at some point in their life. The rules allow for one pony to ask another pony to chose either truth or dare. The asked pony will choose and then be given a question based on their choice. If they don't want to comply to the the asked question, they have the option to change it to the opposite option. The pony must comply with one of the listed choices given to them by the other pony, as is standard practice. There are no enforceable punishments, thus using the honor system for this game. "Lets play this. I've never played and it sounds kinda fun, even though I'm pretty sure I'll choose dare almost every time." Dash stated after finishing the paragraph. "Wait... you're telling me that Rainbow Dash, a living stunt, hasn't been asked to play truth or dare before? That's seems extremely unlikely." Twilight was both confused and a bit curious as to how Dash had not played this before. "Well, I've been dared to do things before, a lot of things actually. But no ponies ever asked me to play this game before. I'm finding this as weird as you are." Dash clarified for her purple friend. "But I think we should play." Twilight knew Dash would never let it go until they did so she complied. "O.K. Rainbow Dash, but last time I played this I didn't even get a turn." "How did you play a game without at least going one time? That doesn't seem like you played it at all." "Remember the night we had that storm and I told you a tree ended up in my house?" "Yeah." "Well, as I told you Rarity and AppleJack had come over due to the storm and a peculiar set of circumstances. I decided to make it my first sleepover." "You had a sleep over and didn't invite me?" There was a bit of jealousy in Dash's voice. Being the element of Loyalty she figured they would have at least invited her. "Yes, but they were unexpected guest and it was raining. I originally planned on having all my friends over for my first sleepover, but the opportunity presented itself." Twilight answered her cyan friend, hoping to make her understand a bit better. "Oh, that makes sense." "During the course of the night we decided to do things listed in my sleepover guide book since I hadn't had one before. The night went on and we went down the list until we came across truth or dare. By this point AppleJack and Rarity were just feuding between themselves. I was just a bystander, so I didn't get a go at being asked." Twilight finished. "Well that clears that up." Dash was a bit anxious to play at this point. "Well I guess you'll get your first go at it tonight, won't you." Thus concluding chapter one. I hope anyone who read this has a nice day and check back next Wednesday for chapter two. Chapter 2: Truth or DareTruth or Dare "So who's going first?" "I'll start. Dare." The cyan Pegasus responded to her purple friend. As she finished the statement three loud knocks sung through the tree house. "Oh, who could that be. I was just about to play this for the first time." Annoyance was very apparent in Dash's voice while she headed to the door. Upon opening the door, Dash revealed an orange pony with a blonde mane. "Applejack! What's up! You're here so late. It's like midnight or somewhere close to that." Rainbow Dash asked her farmer friend. Applejack didn't look very happy. Her mane was even more unkept than usual. Her face showed signs of worry and distress. The orange ponies coat had bits of dirt and grass in it, but that wasn't out of the normal for her. "Ah could say the same thing to ya." Bit back the earth pony. Her tone sounded pretty aggressive and somewhat shocked Rainbow Dash. Twilight quickly recognized her bitterness and came over to talk to her, but was denied a chance by Rainbow Dash. "Well, me and Twilight were gonna play Truth or Dare for the first time. I'm super excited!" Dash responded seemingly ignoring the growing annoyance on Applejack's face. "Wait a minute, do you wanna play too? That would be awesome." Dash's eyes gleamed with excitement at the chance of playing any game with her competitive rival. "No thanks, I just really need to talk to Twi' over there." Twilight trotted over to her friend. "What can I help you with Applejack?" "First, Dash can you leave so me and Twi' can talk in private for a bit?" "No way, we've been over this. If any of us have a problem we let the rest of us know. I figured you learned that already." Dash was annoyed that her friend didn't trust her with her problems, but did Twilight. She could see why though. Rainbow Dash hadn't always been the nicest of ponies and sometimes ridiculed people for doing things she deemed as stupid. Nonetheless she was still hurt Applejack didn't want her help. "Look, ah appreciate the concern and all, but this is somethin' personal that only Twi' can help." Applejack was trying to be as concerning as she could, but it wasn't easy dealing with Rainbow Dash. "Fine, I'll leave once you play Truth or Dare with us. As I recall Twilight said it was your feud with Rarity that caused her to not get a chance to play last time she had a sleepover." Dash was a little angered that she couldn't help, but planned on at least having some fun while she was here. "Rainbow Dash I think that the game can wait. For now I need to help Applejack I guess." Twilight was still a bit puzzled as to what Applejack needed help with, but didn't plan to disappoint her. Dash slumped her head, disappointed she wouldn't get to have fun with her friends tonight. "Nah, it's fine. Rainbow Dash is right. Ah did ruin the first time ya played truth or dare by having my little dispute with Rarity." "Yea! Let's play!" Dash sang out with a cheerful tune. Her mood drastically increased from the thought of actually playing. Her mind started to think of different dares and truths she should ask. Her mind went over the thought of asking Applejack why she need to be alone with Twilight, but didn't dwell on it to much. The trio headed over to the center off the room and took a seat in the formation of a triangle. They looked at each other for a bit before one of them started things off. Twilight was once again the one to break the silence. "O.K. I'll ask first. Rainbow Dash, truth or dare?" "Dare." RD replied enthusiastically. "How'd I know ya was gonna say that?" Applejack noted in. The two ponies gave a bit of a chuckle at her comment. "I dare you to go and drink a full cup of lemon juice." "K, I'll be right back with a cup of lemon juice. I want you two to see this." Her proud boasting demeanor still apparent even though she knew she would probably have the biggest scrunch face of all time. But it was worth it to show up Twilight. Rainbow Dash headed for the kitchen. Twilight's fridge was just across room. The contents of the fridge included everything from freeze dried hay to chocolate milk, but no lemon juice. "If your looking for the lemon juice it's not in the fridge. Check the cupboards. Also, no ice." Twilight called out from the main lobby of the library. "But, lemon juice is so horrible warm!" Rainbow cried out hoping for a bit of mercy from her lavender friend. "Ah, a dares a dare their sweetie. If Twi' says no ice, then no ice." Applejack followed. "Aaaauuuugggg!" Dash whined out in defeat. The glasses were placed above the sink and Dash proceeded to pour a warm glass of lemon juice. She smelled it a little before putting the lemon juice back in the cupboard. The other two ponies were patiently waiting the return of their cyan friend from the kitchen. She returned and took a seat where she had been before. The glass of lemon juice was placed on the floor by Dash's hooves. "Come on, we ain't got all night here sugarcube." Applejack was waiting impatiently for the rainbow maned pony to chug the glass. "Okay, okay, I'm goin'. Hold your pants on." Dash hesitated to begin drinking. The glass raised to lip level, Dash began. The sourness from the lemon juice slid onto her tongue with bitter bite. She got the first half down before gagging a bit and stopping for a second. The second half was not so friendly. Her face went into ultra scrunch mode upon drinking the second half. The other two ponies in the room began laughing as if they'd seen the funniest thing ever. Twilight calmed herself fairly quickly. Applejack, on the other hoof, fell over she was laughing so hard. Dash was a bit annoyed her friends were laughing at her expanse, but she knew it was all in good fun. "Calm yourself their champ. It's my turn now." "Hehe...ha... pardon me, but that was pretty funny. O.K. I'm ready whenever ya are sugarcube." "K, Applejack. Truth or dare?" Dash asked her orange friend. "Truth." "How'd I know you were gonna say that." Dash teased back at the element of honesty. "Ya know me." Applejack had a weak smile, a little afraid of what she was gonna ask. She feared Dash would question why she wanted to be alone with Twi'. "Well, why do you want to be alone with Twilight so badly." "On second thought ah think ah'll go dare." Applejack's face showed she really didn't want to tell Dash, even if she didn't state it. "O.K. I dare you tell us why." Dash was being extremely persistent. "Hold it there Dash. If Applejack doesn't want to inform us why she needs to talk to me alone she doesn't have to. It's not very nice to force somepony into a harsh situation, especially if that pony is your friend. Now redo that question and don't bring up the subject." Twilight butted in. "Fine, I guess Twilight's right. K, then Applejack. Have you ever..." The rest of the night went down without a hitch. At least not until the ending part of the night. After about an hour or so of random, and somewhat funny truths and dares, Applejack decided it was about time Rainbow be on her way. "Well, Rainbow what'll it be? Truth or dare." "You know I think I'll change it up for once and go truth." After a night of constant dares, this came as a bit of surprise to her fellow ponies. "Wow Dash. I figured you were gonna go dare again." Twilight teased a bit. "Yeah, I guess I figured their are two options, mine as well use both." Chuckling a bit. "Um... okay. Well, ah guess um... ooh ah got one. Dash, have ya ever spent the night in the Everfree Forest?" "No, why?" "Well would ya like to 'cause ah dare ya to spend the rest of the night there." ============================================================================= AdaptiveGaming here. O.K. any of you clopfic fans out there understand that even though it may have been a bit misleading, this will not turn into a Applejack-Twilight shipping novel. Sorry for the spoiler, but I don't want any readers getting the wrong idea. Also I posted this earlier than expected due to alot of free time as of late. Please don't get impatient if the next one isn't done till next Wednesday. Sorry. Chapter 3: "Geta move on.""Geta move on." "Wait, hold it AJ. First of all you can't go twice in a row. Secondly, it's dangerous in there at night. I went in there once and got turned to stone by a chicken." Twilight knew her friend was being a bit brash. "Bwuahaha!" Rainbow Dash had burst out laughing at Twilight. "O.K. nevermind what I just said, you're going to the forest." "Ha... haha...ha. Ooh that was funny Twi'." Rainbow stated wiping away tears. "You got turned to stone by a chicken, that's just hilarious!" Dash began her laughing fit again after saying it herself. "Actually it was a cockatrice and get going, a dare's a dare." Twilight bit at her friend. "Calm down suga'cube, no need to get upset." Applejack stated trying to coax her friend as best she could. Twilight cooled down a bit. Dash was still laughing, but slowly collecting herself. "Yeah, I do need to calm down. Either way though you still have to go into the Everfree forest Dash." Dash's face went back to being serious very quickly. "You guys aren't seriously going to make me go in there by myself, are you?" A slight tinge of fear was in Dash's voice. Though not enough to draw attention to the fear in the cyan ponies eyes. The other two looked at her with unsympathetic stares. "Don't worry Dash, ah'll come to edge of the forest in the mornin' to make sure you're o.k." Applejack gave Dash a reassuring pat on the head. Twilight had walked over to the bookshelves and was searching for something. "Umm... Twi' what are ya doin'?" "I'm searching for a book on the Everfree forest. You know, learn anything I can about it to help Dash for when she goes in there." "Oh... I see." Applejack was a bit disappointed. She had planned for Dash to leave soon after the dare was issued. How was she gonna get to ask Twilight anything if by the time Dash left it would already be sunrise. Dash had gotten up to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Now was her chance. As soon as the door closed behind Dash, Applejack got up and trotted over to Twi'. The unicorn hadn't even noticed her. Apparently, Applejack could be quite light hooved when she needed to. "Hey, um... do ya think we could hurry this up." The orange pony was less than a foot away from Twilight and was whispering. She didn't want Dash to know she was trying to get rid of her. "I'm sure whatever you need help with will be fine for a little while longer. I'm a bit more worried about Rainbow, she's going in there alone." Twilight took a book from shelves and levitated it over to the table. "Here we go, a book on the history of the Everfree forest. Let's see what we have here." "Hey, Dash! Twi' found a book fer ya!" The duo waited a minute or two for a response. "Um... hey Dash, ya there?" Applejack headed out to the kitchen, expecting to find Dash asleep or something. Upon entering, Applejack noted the window was open and no Dash. "Oh, that little-" "Booo!" Applejack jumped as her friend scared the apples off her flank. Dash began another laughing fit and started rolling around on the floor. Applejack was a little angry, but at the same time it was all in good fun. "Why, ya..." The earth pony pounced on Dash, getting her in a friendly headlock and giving her a noogie. The duo headed back to the living room, chuckling as they went. Twilight was reading different passages from the book aloud to herself. They really couldn't hear her though, Twilight was mumbling pretty bad. They sat down a few feet away from her and waited for her to stop reading. After about five minutes or so, Rainbow Dash got a little impatient. She began messing with AJ. Stealing her stetson, poking her in the side, and other equally annoying things. "Knock it off, ya rascal." Applejack then turned her attention over to Twi'. "How much longer suga'cube? We've been waiten' for some time now." "Oh, sorry. I kinda forgot you two were still here." Twilight flipped the book back to the first few pages. Specifically, the table of contents. "Okay Dash and AJ, come here for a minute." After getting up and walking around next to Twilight, they both began reading the item listed. Some to note were the Ursa Major and Minor, Cockatrice, Manticore, and the Hydra. Others like Sirens, Gorgons, and the Fury Sisters, were less common. "What's this?" Dash was indicating to the Gorgons. "I don't know. Let's see." Twilight flipped to the page in the book depicting the three Gorgon sisters. The first, Stheno, was depicted as a grey unicorn with brass hooves. Long, sharp fangs were apparent and the most notable feature was her mane and tail were made of red snakes. According to the description below the drawing, Stheno was the most violent of the three and was the eldest. She had been the cause of the most chaos out of the group. Doing more damage in her days than any of the other three. The second, Euryale, was almost identical to her sister except she was a pegasus and her coat was light green and her snake mane and tail was also light green. It was theorized that she bellowed fierce screams throughout her years. They could be heard all throughout Equestria. The final, Medusa, was again just like the other two with the exception of her colors. She was depicted as a light blue earth pony with golden snakes. Her gaze could literally turn a pony to stone. Similar to that of a cockatrice. "According to this, the trio were encased in stone some 600 years ago and are currently in the Royal Palace garden maze along with other villains such as Discord was." Twilight wasn't very sure with that part. You could hear it in her voice. "The only problem with that is I read in Equestria Daily, this group and a large amount of others broke out in response to Discord breaking out. Many had been caught soon after, but it was rumored small groups had made it to the Everfree forest." "What all made it Twi'? Do ya know?" Applejack was a bit concerned. Not to much though. There had to be worse things than a small group of snake maned sisters, right? "I don't and I won't be able to until tomorrow at the earliest. For now Dash has a bet to win." Twilight had turned her gaze to the cyan pony. "Fine, I'll get going. Stop being so pushy about it." Dash was hiding her fear in her stinginess. She didn't want to lead on to the other two that she was scared. She turned and headed for the door, before Applejack stopped her. "Hold on partner. Ah'm going with ya to the edge of the forest, for insurance purposes." The duo headed out the door. At least Dash wasn't going to have to head over there by herself, but she still had to stay the rest of the night in there. ============================================================================= Adaptive here. I don't really like this chapter, but I got distracted all week with school and other stories. I'm sorry for the lack of overall excitement and I will try better next week. At least I can say I got the chapter out in time, right? Regardless I hope anypony who reads this has a nice day. Chapter 4: OnwardOnward Dash headed into the Everfree forest with one goal. Make it through the night without backing out. After having Twilight tell her that there is missing prisoners in the forest now, Rainbow is a bit more cautious then last time they were here. The forest was a bit more... dead then last time. There wasn't even a rustling of branches. Just quiet. It was eery to say the least. The trees were still. No animals were present. There was only pure and utter silence. Dash wasn't even that far from Ponyville. She had only walked about 100-200 feet. Not far enough to get away from the sounds of the town. What was different? Walking along, Dash began to hear extremely faint whispering. It wasn't for five or so minutes 'till Dash started understanding what was being whispered. "This... way..." It just kept repeating that. It was starting to creep Dash out actually. The voice had a hissing tone to it, like that of a snake. Nonetheless she pressed on, heading deeper into the abyss known as the Everfree forest. Distant first. It grew louder and louder till that it thundered in Dash's ears. The voice was coming from all directions, the cyan pony had no way of telling where it was originating from. There wasn't anypony in sight either. Just rows of trees. Row upon row of dark, silent trees. "THISSSSS... WAYYYYY..." Rainbow had to cover her ears with her hooves just to keep going. Hovering down the rows of trees, Dash began to notice it getting darker also. Like the moon was disappearing. The temperature of the forest seemed to drop as well. It had become icy cold. Sending chills to the bone. The voice had become so loud and menacing Rainbow Dash had to stop. She went down into the fettle position, pressing her ears down as tightly as she could to stop the sounds. Then, at random, the sounds stopped. It surprised her. Why? What was going on now? She stood up and looked around. Still no pony in sight. What caused it to stop? Had she gone deaf and simply couldn't hear it now or had it actually stopped? Dash instantly regretted her next move. Rainbow Dash turned around to come face to face with Euryale, the screaming sister gorgon. Now Dash new what had been going on. She may not be the best at reading but what she remembered from the book was accurate. Euryale's outfit was exactly the same with the exception of a cloak she dawned to help conceal her identity. Her snakes were down too, covering one half of her face. Euryale took long elegant strides to close the already short distance between her and the fear stricken pegasus. Dash was shaking as the gorgon headed for her. It was imminent, she was doomed. Opening her wings, the gorgon's words stopped her. "Wait, I just want to talk. I mean no harm." Her voice was soothing, like that of Fluttershy's. Dash, regrettably, closed her wings and calmed down a bit. "Well, why couldn't you have just asked me instead of destroying my ear drums." The gorgon pegasus shied back a bit, looking away from Dash. Wow, she really was a lot like Fluttershy. Her look, her sound, the way she moved. Those two would get along great, heck Fluttershy would probably get over the snakes fairly quickly. She'd probably grow to love them like she loves all her animals. "Um... well... I was... scared." She finally finished stammering and spit that last part out. "Scared... what!? You were scared of me? Why?" Rainbow was confused. Why would a gorgon be scared of a single, lowly pegasus? It should be the other way around. "Well, um, you look strong and tough." Dash thought back to the way she had cowered like a filly when it had gotten to loud. Tough, yeah right. Nevertheless, that comment cleared Dash's mind of any fear she once had about Euryale. "Yeah, the way I stood in fear as you approached was really strong." "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I.. it's just..." The pegasus looked away, a little embarrassed. "I've been out here for some time now and I'm alone. My sisters abandoned me here awhile ago and haven't came back." She looked like she was going to start gushing tears any second. Dash couldn't sit back and watch any pony swallow their sadness. "Well don't worry, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!" Dash gave an exciting hoof pump and flew over to the side of the gorgon pony. Euryale's eyes lit up with excitement. "Catch me if you can!" The gorgon flew off with a rush of energy. Her voice indited a playful mood and envied Dash to follow. Dash took off, catching the gorgon in a hurry. They weaved and dodged through the trees, brushing against one another. The cool night air rushing through their manes. The duo resembled well choreographed Wonderbolts doing a show. Eventually coming to a rest in a clear spot in the forest, they playfully laughed off the fun they just had. "You know, you're pretty good. I'm the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria and you kept up with ease." Rainbow Dash's normally sporty attitude kicked in. "Yeah, I had been doing tricks like that far longer than I care to remember, course when we were turned to stone I didn't get anymore practice." The gorgon had that same sad face she had earlier. Apparently, talking about her past only depressed her. "Tell me. Tell me what happened. Why were you and your sisters turned to stone? Why'd they leave you here by your self? Were you and your sisters always gorgons or is this some sort of curse? Tell me everything." Dash showed signs of compassion she herself didn't think she had in her. Nonetheless she felt... guilt no, pity for this poor pony. She had to help her in anyway she could. "I'de rather not. I... I just don't like to talk about my past. I would rather just walk away from it." "Please. I want to know." The look in Rainbow's eyes, those magenta eyes, showed true compassion. Her voice was so soft and sweet. It drove Euryale crazy. There was no way she couldn't tell Rainbow Dash now. "O.K.... I'll tell you. We might be here for a while. This is quite a long tale. Better get comfortable." Euryale began recounting the tale of her past. A tale not of happiness, but of depression, despair, tragedy, and finally, death. ============================================================================== Adaptive here. I don't know how everypony will like this chapter, but I'm hoping the next one where I recollect Euryale's past will be good. I have a plan. It may take upwards of three chapters though. Maybe. Nevertheless, I hope everypony who reads this has a nice day. Chapter 5: RecollectionRecollection They sat in the clearing, one waiting for the other to collect her thoughts. She had told Dash she was going to tell her tale of how she became the way she was, but Euryale had no idea how she was going to portray it or where to start. She decided to start where it all began, the day Medusa started it all. The day began as any other. The sun shone brightly, the birds sung their heavenly songs, the breeze blew. Everything was as it should be. Nothing was out of place, except... "Wait, you're going to tell this like a story, aren't you?" Dash had a bit of a questioning look on her face. She didn't know if she really wanted to sit through a story of that length. It would take too long. "Yes, why? Is that not o.k.?" Euryale was a little scared she would bore her new friend to sleep by the way Rainbow had said that. "No, no. It's fine, it's just... I kinda was hoping more for a recap than a story. Stories can sometimes send me to sleep and I don't want to be rude to a pony I just met." "No worries. If you do fall asleep we can just pick up where we left off tomorrow, deal?" Euryale really wanted to tell the story. There weren't many chances she got to do this. "Kay. Deal." "Hey, Stheno. Where is Medusa?" Euryale hadn't seen her today and they usually spent the afternoon together. "I don't know. Where is our dearest sister?" The two began checking different places Medusa liked to be. The house... no. The lake near their home... no. In the Canterlot garden... again no. Medusa was nowhere to be found. The pair headed for the palace to see if maybe Celestia had wanted to talk to her. A crying pony came trotting out of the royal gates. It was Medusa. Her wonderful golden mane flowing in the wind behind her. "So you and your sisters weren't Gorgons from birth?" Rainbow was a little skeptical, but didn't want to say anything too severe before hearing the rest of her story. "No and if you'll let me continue I'll tell you." Euryale picked back up where she left off. "Halt sister. What hath happened." Stheno still used the Royal Canterlot way of talking even though it had started to dissipate to modern youth slang. The earth pony came rushing into the two of them, knocking them over. She hadn't even realized they were there. The three sisters got up and Medusa ceased her crying so she could talk somewhat normally. The still sniffling pony walked over to a nearby bench, her head down in defeat. Her two sisters followed and took a seat on the either side of her. "What happened 'Usa?" Euryale always had been the most compassionate of the sisters. She turned Medusa's head so she could stare her in the eyes. Her beautiful gaze, which could leave a pony frozen from its beauty, was something Euryale had always admired. "I thought that her gaze would turn a pony to stone, which means you should have been turned to stone, right?" "Medusa didn't develop the ability to do that till much later, during the transformation." "Wow, hold on. Transformation? What do you mean transformation?" Dash was truly skeptical at this point. It all seemed fishy to her. "I could ruin the story by telling you or you could wait and find out in a much more dramatic way?" "Fine I'll wait. This better be good." Rainbow was actually anxiously awaiting the continuing of the story, but her bravado nature and lack of learning literally anything made her hide it. "Oh, don't worry it is. Now where was I?" Euryale thought back and picked back up where she had left off. "I messed up. I messed up horribly." Medusa was still teary and there was a bit of a choke in her voice. She looked back down, choosing to avoid looking at her two sisters. Stheno was never one to deal with trying to coax ponies out of a bad mood. She preferred force, it was quicker and most of the time more effective. "Well, tell thou thy tale!" Yup, she definitely preferred force. "Isn't Stheno the one who caused the most problems for you three when you were all out roaming Equestria?" "Yeah, even before we turned into, well, this" Euryale pointed to her snake mane. "Stheno was always quite strait forward and aggressive. When we did have this little change she completely lost it and couldn't handle it. My beloved sister went on a rampage, destroying and contorting everything in the lives of the ponies around her. She intentionally targeted the royal family, probably the biggest reason for the three of us ending up imprisoned in stone for all those long years. Nevertheless, back to where we were." "Hey! She'll tell us when she's ready to," Euryale looked down at her sister. "won't you 'Usa?" The eldest sister, Stheno, simply looked away in disgust from her two compassionate sisters. "I simply do not get why thee just doesn't state thy topic instead of delaying the inevitable." Stheno stated plainly to her younger sisters who still embraced each other. "I got invited." Medusa had broken the embrace with Euryale and wiped away her former tears. Now she had turned to her eldest sister. "What do you mean you got invited? By who and also, to *where*?" Both Euryale and Stheno sat there with confused looks. Neither of them had any clue what Medusa meant. "Well, you see I got a letter the other day sent from the royal palace. It was signed by none other than Celestia herself. So, like any normal pony, I went. When I arrived, I was escorted inside by the royal guard. They lead me to the most distant and disclosed portion of the palace." Her two sisters listened attentively, wanting to know more about what she had experienced. "O.K. so she went in and found what? Ooh, was it a stockpile of WMDs? That would be totally AWESOME!" Dash's face lit up like a decorative tree. Apparently, Rainbow Dash had a bit of a fetish for destruction on a massive scale. Not totally surprising since she herself could almost replicate the shockwave of one with her infamous "Sonic Rainboom" Euryale had heard so much about when she had snuck into town when she first broke free. Even though that was a while before they escaped it was still big news around Equestria. "WHAT?! NO! That most definitely didn't happen! Now let me tell you what did." The snake maned pony shook her head in disbelief. "Huh, WMDs. How absurd." She stated under breath, before continuing the tale. "I traversed a series of staircases that lead into a secret area that only the guards of the palace and the royal family know of, all the while being escorted by the guards." Medusa quickly continued though, cutting off anypony from interrupting her. "We came to a chamber, it looked like an experimentation facility. In the room was one of Celestia's most trusted adviser and right hoof pony, Poseidon." The two sisters began imaging the sky blue unicorn known as Poseidon. His cutie mark was that of a deep blue tidal wave. The mane he dawned was an even lighter shade of blue than his coat. The glasses that usually rested upon his head whenever he attended an announcement or formal event had become a bit of a trademark of his own. His mane resembled that of a magnificent wave his flank so proudly resembled. The same could be said of his tail. Overall he wasn't a very big pony, but had an aura about him that demanded both fear and respect from his sun goddesses's subjects. "So this, Poseidon, fellow. He's was a bit of a big name during those times, huh?" Just the way Euryale described Poseidon made Dash guess the guy had a big part in the history of Equestria. "Oh my, yes. He was the leader of Celestia's science division and made many great advances in the name of Equestria. Though later in his life, around the time all of my story went down, he had begun to go to far with his experimentations. You will know quite shortly what I'm referring to." Euryale looked at her rainbow friend with a look that indicated a hint of both fear and depression. What was coming next both shocked and bothered Dash... Adaptive here again. I know it's again an awkward cliffhanger, but I felt it was necessary to find a stopping point before I got into any more plot line. This chapter would probably have run close to 3-4 thousand words if I didn't. Sorry. Nevertheless, I hope everybody who reads this has a nice day/night.
Chapter 1: EntranceMy second Fanfic. If you didn't read the description, it will be done in short chapters of about 1000-2000 words or so. I will try and publish new chapters as they go and hopefully spit one out every week or so. I will also be working on other projects so chapters may not always be written. Please try and leave a like/dislike based on what you read and also leave comments on changes, grammar errors, ect. As always you can ask me anything you want so don't be shy. I rated it teen for later chapters in the story. They will be a bit more violent. Also I hope you have a nice day. Peace. A Dash of Excitement "Do it, do it ya wimp." Taunted AppleJack. "If ya don't do it I'll tell the WonderBolts your scared of a forest." "Fine, I'll do it. Just give me a minute." Rainbow Dash looked around at her surroundings. The night sky beckoned at her to just fly away, but she couldn't back down to AppleJack let alone risk hurting her chances to join the WonderBolts. Cold, brisk air bit at Dash. Its cool touch reminding her that she would be alone when she entered the forest. "Well, get a move on. Ah ain't gettin' any younger." AppleJack had become a bit impatient of waiting for her cyan colored friend's stalling. Dash could see AppleJack was getting a little angry by this point and she figured it would probably be best if she just went. "One night, right?" Rainbow Dash asked her apple farming friend. She hoped AppleJack didn't hear the timidness in her voice. Even though Dash isn't scared of anything, the thought of a night in the EverFree Forest sent chills down her spine. What horrors could await her in there? "Yup. That's the deal. Ya spend one night in there and we'll be square." Her orange friend replied. The EverFree Forest. The words were stuck in Dash's mind like glue. She hadn't had much experience in there but she knew enough to know it isn't the safest place in Equestria. It was filled with different forms of creatures and beings of the night. But, hey Zecora lived there so how bad could it be, right? Dash headed for the forest. On the edge of the tree growth she stopped and turned to AppleJack. Her mind was running to all the possible options she had. She could bargain her way out or maybe just fly out once she got so far into the forest. It wouldn't be hard to cheat but after her and AppleJack's race, she knew it wouldn't end well if she did. "O.K. so you'll be back here tomorrow morning to see if I did or not, K?" Dash called out. "Ah sure will. Ah'll be watching through out the night to, just to be safe also." AppleJack yelled back. She was watching with careful eyes to see if Dash was showing any fear or if she was truly unafraid of anything. She had heard the anxiety in Dash's voice earlier but put it off as just being bothered. AppleJack had her own plan, unbeknownst to Dash. Dash knew she basically meant she'd be watching to make sure she stayed in the forest and didn't fly off. How did she plan to do that from way out here? Well, it didn't matter. Dash knew she had to get moving. Rainbow turned and headed into the forest all the while recollecting the events that had lead to this. How in Equestria did she end up in this situation? ============================================================================= A couple hours ago. "Hey, what's up Twi'?" Rainbow Dash asked after crashing through her balcony window yet again. The cold night air followed her through the tree house. "Oh, not much. Just reading and such." Twilight responded. "You should really start using the door. One of these days I'm gonna lock that thing." Twilight raised a hoof to the balcony window. "No you won't. You're always expecting a visit from your Friendly Neighborhood Rainbow Dash!" Finishing with her trademark catch phrase. Twilight knew she wouldn't, but she wanted to try and convince the cyan Pegasus to just use the door. The room was a bit untidy and with Dash's entrance became even more so. Her interjection on Twilight's reading time had caused multiple books to fall from the shelves which inevitably Spike would have to clean up even though Dash had made the mess. One book in particular fell out and landed in front of Rainbow Dash face up. The title read "Games for the Daring Pony". Dash looked at the book wondering what its contents were. "Hey Twilight, what's this?" The rainbow maned pony asked holding up the book. It was older and kind of tattered but still in fairly good condition. Twilight remembered it from when she lent it out to some young fillies awhile back. "Wow Dash, I'm kind of surprised your interested in anything not Daring Do. Well, that book is a collection of different games that ponies would play and most of them are a bit dangerous if I do say so myself. The only one in their I've ever played is the first one." Twilight finished, taking the book from Dash's hoof and placing it on the table. She opened the book up to the first page, and pointed to the title with a hoof indicating Dash to read it. Reluctantly she obliged. First of all the obvious. Truth or Dare This fun game has been played by most ponies at some point in their life. The rules allow for one pony to ask another pony to chose either truth or dare. The asked pony will choose and then be given a question based on their choice. If they don't want to comply to the the asked question, they have the option to change it to the opposite option. The pony must comply with one of the listed choices given to them by the other pony, as is standard practice. There are no enforceable punishments, thus using the honor system for this game. "Lets play this. I've never played and it sounds kinda fun, even though I'm pretty sure I'll choose dare almost every time." Dash stated after finishing the paragraph. "Wait... you're telling me that Rainbow Dash, a living stunt, hasn't been asked to play truth or dare before? That's seems extremely unlikely." Twilight was both confused and a bit curious as to how Dash had not played this before. "Well, I've been dared to do things before, a lot of things actually. But no ponies ever asked me to play this game before. I'm finding this as weird as you are." Dash clarified for her purple friend. "But I think we should play." Twilight knew Dash would never let it go until they did so she complied. "O.K. Rainbow Dash, but last time I played this I didn't even get a turn." "How did you play a game without at least going one time? That doesn't seem like you played it at all." "Remember the night we had that storm and I told you a tree ended up in my house?" "Yeah." "Well, as I told you Rarity and AppleJack had come over due to the storm and a peculiar set of circumstances. I decided to make it my first sleepover." "You had a sleep over and didn't invite me?" There was a bit of jealousy in Dash's voice. Being the element of Loyalty she figured they would have at least invited her. "Yes, but they were unexpected guest and it was raining. I originally planned on having all my friends over for my first sleepover, but the opportunity presented itself." Twilight answered her cyan friend, hoping to make her understand a bit better. "Oh, that makes sense." "During the course of the night we decided to do things listed in my sleepover guide book since I hadn't had one before. The night went on and we went down the list until we came across truth or dare. By this point AppleJack and Rarity were just feuding between themselves. I was just a bystander, so I didn't get a go at being asked." Twilight finished. "Well that clears that up." Dash was a bit anxious to play at this point. "Well I guess you'll get your first go at it tonight, won't you." Thus concluding chapter one. I hope anyone who read this has a nice day and check back next Wednesday for chapter two.
Chapter 2: Truth or DareTruth or Dare "So who's going first?" "I'll start. Dare." The cyan Pegasus responded to her purple friend. As she finished the statement three loud knocks sung through the tree house. "Oh, who could that be. I was just about to play this for the first time." Annoyance was very apparent in Dash's voice while she headed to the door. Upon opening the door, Dash revealed an orange pony with a blonde mane. "Applejack! What's up! You're here so late. It's like midnight or somewhere close to that." Rainbow Dash asked her farmer friend. Applejack didn't look very happy. Her mane was even more unkept than usual. Her face showed signs of worry and distress. The orange ponies coat had bits of dirt and grass in it, but that wasn't out of the normal for her. "Ah could say the same thing to ya." Bit back the earth pony. Her tone sounded pretty aggressive and somewhat shocked Rainbow Dash. Twilight quickly recognized her bitterness and came over to talk to her, but was denied a chance by Rainbow Dash. "Well, me and Twilight were gonna play Truth or Dare for the first time. I'm super excited!" Dash responded seemingly ignoring the growing annoyance on Applejack's face. "Wait a minute, do you wanna play too? That would be awesome." Dash's eyes gleamed with excitement at the chance of playing any game with her competitive rival. "No thanks, I just really need to talk to Twi' over there." Twilight trotted over to her friend. "What can I help you with Applejack?" "First, Dash can you leave so me and Twi' can talk in private for a bit?" "No way, we've been over this. If any of us have a problem we let the rest of us know. I figured you learned that already." Dash was annoyed that her friend didn't trust her with her problems, but did Twilight. She could see why though. Rainbow Dash hadn't always been the nicest of ponies and sometimes ridiculed people for doing things she deemed as stupid. Nonetheless she was still hurt Applejack didn't want her help. "Look, ah appreciate the concern and all, but this is somethin' personal that only Twi' can help." Applejack was trying to be as concerning as she could, but it wasn't easy dealing with Rainbow Dash. "Fine, I'll leave once you play Truth or Dare with us. As I recall Twilight said it was your feud with Rarity that caused her to not get a chance to play last time she had a sleepover." Dash was a little angered that she couldn't help, but planned on at least having some fun while she was here. "Rainbow Dash I think that the game can wait. For now I need to help Applejack I guess." Twilight was still a bit puzzled as to what Applejack needed help with, but didn't plan to disappoint her. Dash slumped her head, disappointed she wouldn't get to have fun with her friends tonight. "Nah, it's fine. Rainbow Dash is right. Ah did ruin the first time ya played truth or dare by having my little dispute with Rarity." "Yea! Let's play!" Dash sang out with a cheerful tune. Her mood drastically increased from the thought of actually playing. Her mind started to think of different dares and truths she should ask. Her mind went over the thought of asking Applejack why she need to be alone with Twilight, but didn't dwell on it to much. The trio headed over to the center off the room and took a seat in the formation of a triangle. They looked at each other for a bit before one of them started things off. Twilight was once again the one to break the silence. "O.K. I'll ask first. Rainbow Dash, truth or dare?" "Dare." RD replied enthusiastically. "How'd I know ya was gonna say that?" Applejack noted in. The two ponies gave a bit of a chuckle at her comment. "I dare you to go and drink a full cup of lemon juice." "K, I'll be right back with a cup of lemon juice. I want you two to see this." Her proud boasting demeanor still apparent even though she knew she would probably have the biggest scrunch face of all time. But it was worth it to show up Twilight. Rainbow Dash headed for the kitchen. Twilight's fridge was just across room. The contents of the fridge included everything from freeze dried hay to chocolate milk, but no lemon juice. "If your looking for the lemon juice it's not in the fridge. Check the cupboards. Also, no ice." Twilight called out from the main lobby of the library. "But, lemon juice is so horrible warm!" Rainbow cried out hoping for a bit of mercy from her lavender friend. "Ah, a dares a dare their sweetie. If Twi' says no ice, then no ice." Applejack followed. "Aaaauuuugggg!" Dash whined out in defeat. The glasses were placed above the sink and Dash proceeded to pour a warm glass of lemon juice. She smelled it a little before putting the lemon juice back in the cupboard. The other two ponies were patiently waiting the return of their cyan friend from the kitchen. She returned and took a seat where she had been before. The glass of lemon juice was placed on the floor by Dash's hooves. "Come on, we ain't got all night here sugarcube." Applejack was waiting impatiently for the rainbow maned pony to chug the glass. "Okay, okay, I'm goin'. Hold your pants on." Dash hesitated to begin drinking. The glass raised to lip level, Dash began. The sourness from the lemon juice slid onto her tongue with bitter bite. She got the first half down before gagging a bit and stopping for a second. The second half was not so friendly. Her face went into ultra scrunch mode upon drinking the second half. The other two ponies in the room began laughing as if they'd seen the funniest thing ever. Twilight calmed herself fairly quickly. Applejack, on the other hoof, fell over she was laughing so hard. Dash was a bit annoyed her friends were laughing at her expanse, but she knew it was all in good fun. "Calm yourself their champ. It's my turn now." "Hehe...ha... pardon me, but that was pretty funny. O.K. I'm ready whenever ya are sugarcube." "K, Applejack. Truth or dare?" Dash asked her orange friend. "Truth." "How'd I know you were gonna say that." Dash teased back at the element of honesty. "Ya know me." Applejack had a weak smile, a little afraid of what she was gonna ask. She feared Dash would question why she wanted to be alone with Twi'. "Well, why do you want to be alone with Twilight so badly." "On second thought ah think ah'll go dare." Applejack's face showed she really didn't want to tell Dash, even if she didn't state it. "O.K. I dare you tell us why." Dash was being extremely persistent. "Hold it there Dash. If Applejack doesn't want to inform us why she needs to talk to me alone she doesn't have to. It's not very nice to force somepony into a harsh situation, especially if that pony is your friend. Now redo that question and don't bring up the subject." Twilight butted in. "Fine, I guess Twilight's right. K, then Applejack. Have you ever..." The rest of the night went down without a hitch. At least not until the ending part of the night. After about an hour or so of random, and somewhat funny truths and dares, Applejack decided it was about time Rainbow be on her way. "Well, Rainbow what'll it be? Truth or dare." "You know I think I'll change it up for once and go truth." After a night of constant dares, this came as a bit of surprise to her fellow ponies. "Wow Dash. I figured you were gonna go dare again." Twilight teased a bit. "Yeah, I guess I figured their are two options, mine as well use both." Chuckling a bit. "Um... okay. Well, ah guess um... ooh ah got one. Dash, have ya ever spent the night in the Everfree Forest?" "No, why?" "Well would ya like to 'cause ah dare ya to spend the rest of the night there." ============================================================================= AdaptiveGaming here. O.K. any of you clopfic fans out there understand that even though it may have been a bit misleading, this will not turn into a Applejack-Twilight shipping novel. Sorry for the spoiler, but I don't want any readers getting the wrong idea. Also I posted this earlier than expected due to alot of free time as of late. Please don't get impatient if the next one isn't done till next Wednesday. Sorry.
Chapter 3: "Geta move on.""Geta move on." "Wait, hold it AJ. First of all you can't go twice in a row. Secondly, it's dangerous in there at night. I went in there once and got turned to stone by a chicken." Twilight knew her friend was being a bit brash. "Bwuahaha!" Rainbow Dash had burst out laughing at Twilight. "O.K. nevermind what I just said, you're going to the forest." "Ha... haha...ha. Ooh that was funny Twi'." Rainbow stated wiping away tears. "You got turned to stone by a chicken, that's just hilarious!" Dash began her laughing fit again after saying it herself. "Actually it was a cockatrice and get going, a dare's a dare." Twilight bit at her friend. "Calm down suga'cube, no need to get upset." Applejack stated trying to coax her friend as best she could. Twilight cooled down a bit. Dash was still laughing, but slowly collecting herself. "Yeah, I do need to calm down. Either way though you still have to go into the Everfree forest Dash." Dash's face went back to being serious very quickly. "You guys aren't seriously going to make me go in there by myself, are you?" A slight tinge of fear was in Dash's voice. Though not enough to draw attention to the fear in the cyan ponies eyes. The other two looked at her with unsympathetic stares. "Don't worry Dash, ah'll come to edge of the forest in the mornin' to make sure you're o.k." Applejack gave Dash a reassuring pat on the head. Twilight had walked over to the bookshelves and was searching for something. "Umm... Twi' what are ya doin'?" "I'm searching for a book on the Everfree forest. You know, learn anything I can about it to help Dash for when she goes in there." "Oh... I see." Applejack was a bit disappointed. She had planned for Dash to leave soon after the dare was issued. How was she gonna get to ask Twilight anything if by the time Dash left it would already be sunrise. Dash had gotten up to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Now was her chance. As soon as the door closed behind Dash, Applejack got up and trotted over to Twi'. The unicorn hadn't even noticed her. Apparently, Applejack could be quite light hooved when she needed to. "Hey, um... do ya think we could hurry this up." The orange pony was less than a foot away from Twilight and was whispering. She didn't want Dash to know she was trying to get rid of her. "I'm sure whatever you need help with will be fine for a little while longer. I'm a bit more worried about Rainbow, she's going in there alone." Twilight took a book from shelves and levitated it over to the table. "Here we go, a book on the history of the Everfree forest. Let's see what we have here." "Hey, Dash! Twi' found a book fer ya!" The duo waited a minute or two for a response. "Um... hey Dash, ya there?" Applejack headed out to the kitchen, expecting to find Dash asleep or something. Upon entering, Applejack noted the window was open and no Dash. "Oh, that little-" "Booo!" Applejack jumped as her friend scared the apples off her flank. Dash began another laughing fit and started rolling around on the floor. Applejack was a little angry, but at the same time it was all in good fun. "Why, ya..." The earth pony pounced on Dash, getting her in a friendly headlock and giving her a noogie. The duo headed back to the living room, chuckling as they went. Twilight was reading different passages from the book aloud to herself. They really couldn't hear her though, Twilight was mumbling pretty bad. They sat down a few feet away from her and waited for her to stop reading. After about five minutes or so, Rainbow Dash got a little impatient. She began messing with AJ. Stealing her stetson, poking her in the side, and other equally annoying things. "Knock it off, ya rascal." Applejack then turned her attention over to Twi'. "How much longer suga'cube? We've been waiten' for some time now." "Oh, sorry. I kinda forgot you two were still here." Twilight flipped the book back to the first few pages. Specifically, the table of contents. "Okay Dash and AJ, come here for a minute." After getting up and walking around next to Twilight, they both began reading the item listed. Some to note were the Ursa Major and Minor, Cockatrice, Manticore, and the Hydra. Others like Sirens, Gorgons, and the Fury Sisters, were less common. "What's this?" Dash was indicating to the Gorgons. "I don't know. Let's see." Twilight flipped to the page in the book depicting the three Gorgon sisters. The first, Stheno, was depicted as a grey unicorn with brass hooves. Long, sharp fangs were apparent and the most notable feature was her mane and tail were made of red snakes. According to the description below the drawing, Stheno was the most violent of the three and was the eldest. She had been the cause of the most chaos out of the group. Doing more damage in her days than any of the other three. The second, Euryale, was almost identical to her sister except she was a pegasus and her coat was light green and her snake mane and tail was also light green. It was theorized that she bellowed fierce screams throughout her years. They could be heard all throughout Equestria. The final, Medusa, was again just like the other two with the exception of her colors. She was depicted as a light blue earth pony with golden snakes. Her gaze could literally turn a pony to stone. Similar to that of a cockatrice. "According to this, the trio were encased in stone some 600 years ago and are currently in the Royal Palace garden maze along with other villains such as Discord was." Twilight wasn't very sure with that part. You could hear it in her voice. "The only problem with that is I read in Equestria Daily, this group and a large amount of others broke out in response to Discord breaking out. Many had been caught soon after, but it was rumored small groups had made it to the Everfree forest." "What all made it Twi'? Do ya know?" Applejack was a bit concerned. Not to much though. There had to be worse things than a small group of snake maned sisters, right? "I don't and I won't be able to until tomorrow at the earliest. For now Dash has a bet to win." Twilight had turned her gaze to the cyan pony. "Fine, I'll get going. Stop being so pushy about it." Dash was hiding her fear in her stinginess. She didn't want to lead on to the other two that she was scared. She turned and headed for the door, before Applejack stopped her. "Hold on partner. Ah'm going with ya to the edge of the forest, for insurance purposes." The duo headed out the door. At least Dash wasn't going to have to head over there by herself, but she still had to stay the rest of the night in there. ============================================================================= Adaptive here. I don't really like this chapter, but I got distracted all week with school and other stories. I'm sorry for the lack of overall excitement and I will try better next week. At least I can say I got the chapter out in time, right? Regardless I hope anypony who reads this has a nice day.
Chapter 4: OnwardOnward Dash headed into the Everfree forest with one goal. Make it through the night without backing out. After having Twilight tell her that there is missing prisoners in the forest now, Rainbow is a bit more cautious then last time they were here. The forest was a bit more... dead then last time. There wasn't even a rustling of branches. Just quiet. It was eery to say the least. The trees were still. No animals were present. There was only pure and utter silence. Dash wasn't even that far from Ponyville. She had only walked about 100-200 feet. Not far enough to get away from the sounds of the town. What was different? Walking along, Dash began to hear extremely faint whispering. It wasn't for five or so minutes 'till Dash started understanding what was being whispered. "This... way..." It just kept repeating that. It was starting to creep Dash out actually. The voice had a hissing tone to it, like that of a snake. Nonetheless she pressed on, heading deeper into the abyss known as the Everfree forest. Distant first. It grew louder and louder till that it thundered in Dash's ears. The voice was coming from all directions, the cyan pony had no way of telling where it was originating from. There wasn't anypony in sight either. Just rows of trees. Row upon row of dark, silent trees. "THISSSSS... WAYYYYY..." Rainbow had to cover her ears with her hooves just to keep going. Hovering down the rows of trees, Dash began to notice it getting darker also. Like the moon was disappearing. The temperature of the forest seemed to drop as well. It had become icy cold. Sending chills to the bone. The voice had become so loud and menacing Rainbow Dash had to stop. She went down into the fettle position, pressing her ears down as tightly as she could to stop the sounds. Then, at random, the sounds stopped. It surprised her. Why? What was going on now? She stood up and looked around. Still no pony in sight. What caused it to stop? Had she gone deaf and simply couldn't hear it now or had it actually stopped? Dash instantly regretted her next move. Rainbow Dash turned around to come face to face with Euryale, the screaming sister gorgon. Now Dash new what had been going on. She may not be the best at reading but what she remembered from the book was accurate. Euryale's outfit was exactly the same with the exception of a cloak she dawned to help conceal her identity. Her snakes were down too, covering one half of her face. Euryale took long elegant strides to close the already short distance between her and the fear stricken pegasus. Dash was shaking as the gorgon headed for her. It was imminent, she was doomed. Opening her wings, the gorgon's words stopped her. "Wait, I just want to talk. I mean no harm." Her voice was soothing, like that of Fluttershy's. Dash, regrettably, closed her wings and calmed down a bit. "Well, why couldn't you have just asked me instead of destroying my ear drums." The gorgon pegasus shied back a bit, looking away from Dash. Wow, she really was a lot like Fluttershy. Her look, her sound, the way she moved. Those two would get along great, heck Fluttershy would probably get over the snakes fairly quickly. She'd probably grow to love them like she loves all her animals. "Um... well... I was... scared." She finally finished stammering and spit that last part out. "Scared... what!? You were scared of me? Why?" Rainbow was confused. Why would a gorgon be scared of a single, lowly pegasus? It should be the other way around. "Well, um, you look strong and tough." Dash thought back to the way she had cowered like a filly when it had gotten to loud. Tough, yeah right. Nevertheless, that comment cleared Dash's mind of any fear she once had about Euryale. "Yeah, the way I stood in fear as you approached was really strong." "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I.. it's just..." The pegasus looked away, a little embarrassed. "I've been out here for some time now and I'm alone. My sisters abandoned me here awhile ago and haven't came back." She looked like she was going to start gushing tears any second. Dash couldn't sit back and watch any pony swallow their sadness. "Well don't worry, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!" Dash gave an exciting hoof pump and flew over to the side of the gorgon pony. Euryale's eyes lit up with excitement. "Catch me if you can!" The gorgon flew off with a rush of energy. Her voice indited a playful mood and envied Dash to follow. Dash took off, catching the gorgon in a hurry. They weaved and dodged through the trees, brushing against one another. The cool night air rushing through their manes. The duo resembled well choreographed Wonderbolts doing a show. Eventually coming to a rest in a clear spot in the forest, they playfully laughed off the fun they just had. "You know, you're pretty good. I'm the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria and you kept up with ease." Rainbow Dash's normally sporty attitude kicked in. "Yeah, I had been doing tricks like that far longer than I care to remember, course when we were turned to stone I didn't get anymore practice." The gorgon had that same sad face she had earlier. Apparently, talking about her past only depressed her. "Tell me. Tell me what happened. Why were you and your sisters turned to stone? Why'd they leave you here by your self? Were you and your sisters always gorgons or is this some sort of curse? Tell me everything." Dash showed signs of compassion she herself didn't think she had in her. Nonetheless she felt... guilt no, pity for this poor pony. She had to help her in anyway she could. "I'de rather not. I... I just don't like to talk about my past. I would rather just walk away from it." "Please. I want to know." The look in Rainbow's eyes, those magenta eyes, showed true compassion. Her voice was so soft and sweet. It drove Euryale crazy. There was no way she couldn't tell Rainbow Dash now. "O.K.... I'll tell you. We might be here for a while. This is quite a long tale. Better get comfortable." Euryale began recounting the tale of her past. A tale not of happiness, but of depression, despair, tragedy, and finally, death. ============================================================================== Adaptive here. I don't know how everypony will like this chapter, but I'm hoping the next one where I recollect Euryale's past will be good. I have a plan. It may take upwards of three chapters though. Maybe. Nevertheless, I hope everypony who reads this has a nice day.
Chapter 5: RecollectionRecollection They sat in the clearing, one waiting for the other to collect her thoughts. She had told Dash she was going to tell her tale of how she became the way she was, but Euryale had no idea how she was going to portray it or where to start. She decided to start where it all began, the day Medusa started it all. The day began as any other. The sun shone brightly, the birds sung their heavenly songs, the breeze blew. Everything was as it should be. Nothing was out of place, except... "Wait, you're going to tell this like a story, aren't you?" Dash had a bit of a questioning look on her face. She didn't know if she really wanted to sit through a story of that length. It would take too long. "Yes, why? Is that not o.k.?" Euryale was a little scared she would bore her new friend to sleep by the way Rainbow had said that. "No, no. It's fine, it's just... I kinda was hoping more for a recap than a story. Stories can sometimes send me to sleep and I don't want to be rude to a pony I just met." "No worries. If you do fall asleep we can just pick up where we left off tomorrow, deal?" Euryale really wanted to tell the story. There weren't many chances she got to do this. "Kay. Deal." "Hey, Stheno. Where is Medusa?" Euryale hadn't seen her today and they usually spent the afternoon together. "I don't know. Where is our dearest sister?" The two began checking different places Medusa liked to be. The house... no. The lake near their home... no. In the Canterlot garden... again no. Medusa was nowhere to be found. The pair headed for the palace to see if maybe Celestia had wanted to talk to her. A crying pony came trotting out of the royal gates. It was Medusa. Her wonderful golden mane flowing in the wind behind her. "So you and your sisters weren't Gorgons from birth?" Rainbow was a little skeptical, but didn't want to say anything too severe before hearing the rest of her story. "No and if you'll let me continue I'll tell you." Euryale picked back up where she left off. "Halt sister. What hath happened." Stheno still used the Royal Canterlot way of talking even though it had started to dissipate to modern youth slang. The earth pony came rushing into the two of them, knocking them over. She hadn't even realized they were there. The three sisters got up and Medusa ceased her crying so she could talk somewhat normally. The still sniffling pony walked over to a nearby bench, her head down in defeat. Her two sisters followed and took a seat on the either side of her. "What happened 'Usa?" Euryale always had been the most compassionate of the sisters. She turned Medusa's head so she could stare her in the eyes. Her beautiful gaze, which could leave a pony frozen from its beauty, was something Euryale had always admired. "I thought that her gaze would turn a pony to stone, which means you should have been turned to stone, right?" "Medusa didn't develop the ability to do that till much later, during the transformation." "Wow, hold on. Transformation? What do you mean transformation?" Dash was truly skeptical at this point. It all seemed fishy to her. "I could ruin the story by telling you or you could wait and find out in a much more dramatic way?" "Fine I'll wait. This better be good." Rainbow was actually anxiously awaiting the continuing of the story, but her bravado nature and lack of learning literally anything made her hide it. "Oh, don't worry it is. Now where was I?" Euryale thought back and picked back up where she had left off. "I messed up. I messed up horribly." Medusa was still teary and there was a bit of a choke in her voice. She looked back down, choosing to avoid looking at her two sisters. Stheno was never one to deal with trying to coax ponies out of a bad mood. She preferred force, it was quicker and most of the time more effective. "Well, tell thou thy tale!" Yup, she definitely preferred force. "Isn't Stheno the one who caused the most problems for you three when you were all out roaming Equestria?" "Yeah, even before we turned into, well, this" Euryale pointed to her snake mane. "Stheno was always quite strait forward and aggressive. When we did have this little change she completely lost it and couldn't handle it. My beloved sister went on a rampage, destroying and contorting everything in the lives of the ponies around her. She intentionally targeted the royal family, probably the biggest reason for the three of us ending up imprisoned in stone for all those long years. Nevertheless, back to where we were." "Hey! She'll tell us when she's ready to," Euryale looked down at her sister. "won't you 'Usa?" The eldest sister, Stheno, simply looked away in disgust from her two compassionate sisters. "I simply do not get why thee just doesn't state thy topic instead of delaying the inevitable." Stheno stated plainly to her younger sisters who still embraced each other. "I got invited." Medusa had broken the embrace with Euryale and wiped away her former tears. Now she had turned to her eldest sister. "What do you mean you got invited? By who and also, to *where*?" Both Euryale and Stheno sat there with confused looks. Neither of them had any clue what Medusa meant. "Well, you see I got a letter the other day sent from the royal palace. It was signed by none other than Celestia herself. So, like any normal pony, I went. When I arrived, I was escorted inside by the royal guard. They lead me to the most distant and disclosed portion of the palace." Her two sisters listened attentively, wanting to know more about what she had experienced. "O.K. so she went in and found what? Ooh, was it a stockpile of WMDs? That would be totally AWESOME!" Dash's face lit up like a decorative tree. Apparently, Rainbow Dash had a bit of a fetish for destruction on a massive scale. Not totally surprising since she herself could almost replicate the shockwave of one with her infamous "Sonic Rainboom" Euryale had heard so much about when she had snuck into town when she first broke free. Even though that was a while before they escaped it was still big news around Equestria. "WHAT?! NO! That most definitely didn't happen! Now let me tell you what did." The snake maned pony shook her head in disbelief. "Huh, WMDs. How absurd." She stated under breath, before continuing the tale. "I traversed a series of staircases that lead into a secret area that only the guards of the palace and the royal family know of, all the while being escorted by the guards." Medusa quickly continued though, cutting off anypony from interrupting her. "We came to a chamber, it looked like an experimentation facility. In the room was one of Celestia's most trusted adviser and right hoof pony, Poseidon." The two sisters began imaging the sky blue unicorn known as Poseidon. His cutie mark was that of a deep blue tidal wave. The mane he dawned was an even lighter shade of blue than his coat. The glasses that usually rested upon his head whenever he attended an announcement or formal event had become a bit of a trademark of his own. His mane resembled that of a magnificent wave his flank so proudly resembled. The same could be said of his tail. Overall he wasn't a very big pony, but had an aura about him that demanded both fear and respect from his sun goddesses's subjects. "So this, Poseidon, fellow. He's was a bit of a big name during those times, huh?" Just the way Euryale described Poseidon made Dash guess the guy had a big part in the history of Equestria. "Oh my, yes. He was the leader of Celestia's science division and made many great advances in the name of Equestria. Though later in his life, around the time all of my story went down, he had begun to go to far with his experimentations. You will know quite shortly what I'm referring to." Euryale looked at her rainbow friend with a look that indicated a hint of both fear and depression. What was coming next both shocked and bothered Dash... Adaptive here again. I know it's again an awkward cliffhanger, but I felt it was necessary to find a stopping point before I got into any more plot line. This chapter would probably have run close to 3-4 thousand words if I didn't. Sorry. Nevertheless, I hope everybody who reads this has a nice day/night.
