The Mare in the Woods

A hoof the size of a mouse slammed on the glass wall. Trebass jumped back onto his flank. The vat walls lowered, and a young foal was laying there. The foal had a white coat with brown patches that are mixed in with it. The brown mane of the foal was covered in sweat and blood. The brown patch on the foal's eye was covered in tears.

"Mommy? Daddy?" The foal looked at Notelie and Trebass, who were standing rather close to each other.

Notelie blushed, but then looked back at the door where they had entered from.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" Trebass asked.

The foal replied, "Name's Pip sir. I don't know how I got here, I was looking at the toys in the toy store... Then I saw a shadow coming up behind me, and then... I couldn't remember anything after that."

Trebass thought to himself, "This must be the foal that mare was looking for..."

Notelie tapped Trebass on the shoulder, "We gotta go. Now. My brother is not far behind us."

Trebass nodded, "C'mon Pip, we're getting you home to your mom."

Pip followed the two ponies out of the shack and into the woods. The three galloped and galloped as hard as they could.

Trebass read his M.A.S.T, it was counting down from fifteen (15) minutes. They followed the arrow on Trebass' M.A.S.T.

"I hope you have a plan." Notelie panted as she galloped with her two companions.

"Yeah, well... It's hard to explain. You see... I've got this machi--" Trebass ran straight into something, and fell on his back.

He thought he had run into a tree, but when he shined his M.A.S.T. Light on it, it revealed a wooden cross about twice the size of Trebass.

"What's something like this doing in the middle of the forest?" Trebass asked.

"That's daddy's. He planted them around the forest when we first moved here." Notelie replied.

Pip had a confused look on his face as the two ponies stood in front of the crucifix.

"Strange... This wood seems... Familiar." Trebass scratched his mane.

"There's no time to waste, he might be catching u--" Notelie was stopped by the sound of a snapping twig behind her.

A dark figure stood behind the three of them, and it stood tall. Trebass jumped to his hooves and readied himself for a fight.

Notelie rushed towards the dark figure, "Daddy!"

"Daddy?" Trebass and Pip both spoke at the same time.

"Trebass?" A black pegasus trotted out from behind the figure, and a tired tan coloured mare came out from behind the black pegasus.

"Alex? Royal!" Trebass stepped forward.

"My prince?!" The tall dark figure stepped forward as well. Everything above the stranger's neck was white.

"Prince?!" Trebass, Pip, Alexander, and Notelie shouted in synchronization. Royal Flush was too tired to realize what was happening.

The faceless pony knelt down on one knee and bowed, "After all these years, I have finally found you... My Prince!"

"I-I think you have me confused with somepony else..." Trebass stepped back slowly.

Suddenly, the bushes behind them began to rustle. A blue pegasus came tumbling out of the plants and onto the dirt.

"Shock?!" Trebass and Alexander were startled to see their friend. Again, Royal seemed too tired to care.

"Trebass! Alex! Royal too! Erm..." Shock stopped speaking when he saw the three other strangers with his friends.

"Just ignore them, why are you in such a hurry?" Alex asked.

"No time for questions! Just ru--" Shock was cut off by the sound of a tree falling over behind him.

The faceless pony, Sin Maneder's head perked up at the approaching giant.

"Run! This way!" Trebass galloped off in the direction that his M.A.S.T. was pointing to.

Everypony followed him as the monstrosity gave chase not too far behind. Alex plopped Royal Flush on his back and galloped after his friends. The ponies looked behind them and saw a dark spider-like creature chasing after them. The moon reflecting off of the creature's shiny dark body was the only thing that gave them an idea of what their pursuer was. They all galloped as hard as they could, and it wasn't long until they saw an orange light at the end of the long dark wood.

"Look! That might be our way out!" Trebass shouted.

Trees fell one after another behind them. Alex could feel the sharp claws of the creature breezing behind his legs. The rest of his friends had already reached the light, and Alex was galloping slower due to the extra 'weight' on his back.

"Hurry Alex!" Trebass shouted from the light.

The spider-like monster dug it's claws deeply into the soil inches away from Alex's back legs. He galloped, the light was getting closer and closer until he dove out of the dark woods. As he landed, Royal flew off his back and onto Trebass, who fell over backwards. Almost immediately after Alex had gone over the border between the light and the dark wood, the creature jumped out from behind the trees. But, the darkness peeled away slowly, until the only thing left was a old posh black stallion.

Sin Maneder trotted over to the fallen old colt, "My old friend, you have always been there for me. But I cannot even protect you."

Mérstur replied, "My friend, I see you have found our prince. I have given his friend the royal treasure."

"Then our duty is done." Maneder let out a sigh.

The black colt closed his eyes slowly, as a tear dripped onto the luscious green grass.

Trebass looked at his M.A.S.T. and his eyes widened, "We have four (4) minutes left Alex..."

Alex looked at the wooden shack behind him, "Well, it's right over there. But there's another problem. We only have four (4) seats in the Eyeglass. I didn't take Shock Bolt into account."

"So, who are we gonna leave behind?" Trebass asked.

Alex replied, "We may not have to leave anypony behind."

Trebass raised his brow in confusion.

Alex turned to Sin Maneder, "Maneder, I think you should take him now."

Maneder finished his time with Mérstur, and turned to Trebass, "My prince, please come with me."

Trebass turned to Alex; and to his surprise, everypony was already inside the shack, and most likely in the Eyeglass. The white unicorn was now alone with Maneder, Notelie, and the deceased Mérstur.

Trebass approached the faceless pony, "Now that nopony is around... It's been a while... Cousin, and Uncle."