A Dash of Excitement.

Onward

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.

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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.