As she tripped over another log, and another branch nearly slapped her in the face, Twilight Sparkle began to wonder if this had been such a good idea after all. On top of that, she wondered if she was even on the right path.

The Princess Summit in the Crystal Empire had ended several days ago, and while she was always glad to see her brother and sister in law, Twilight's mind kept returning to her time at Canterlot High.

She had confidence in her new friends. For all of the differences between them, they were more like their pony counterparts than she had ever expected. The Elements of Harmony wouldn't have worked otherwise, she felt.

And as much of a pain in the backside as she had been, Twilight knew that Sunset had turned over a new leaf. She had seen it in her eyes, there at the bottom of the crater next to the Wondercolt statue.

She wished she could have helped them, she truly did. But with the World Mirror closed for another 30 moons, she could only hope and pray that everything would be alright.

But coming back to Ponyville with her friends, it had only then hit home to Twilight how close she had come to losing everything. Whether Sunset had meant it or not, she had come close to smashing the only way back to Equestria. And then in her corrupted form, Sunset had fully intended to kill her and the others.

Twilight had finally cried herself to sleep that night, the emotions and everything that had happened to her finally crashing down upon her shoulders. It had been too much.

She had tried to put a brave face on for the rest of the girls, but even Pinkie Pie could tell that her heart just wasn't in it. Spike had tried his best to help, but even he couldn't bring Twilight out of her funk.

Finally giving in, Twilight had decided that she needed some much deserved alone time. With nowhere in Ponyville or even Canterlot fitting the bill, she had decided to visit the Castle of the Two Sisters. Princess Luna had mentioned that there should still be an extensive library somewhere in the ruins.

That was all Twilight had needed to hear, and before anypony could stop her, she had her bags packed for a day-long reading trip to the old castle.

Safe to say, of course, none of her friends were happy about the idea of her going into the Everfree Forest alone, least of all Spike. They had made every attempt to stop her from going into the forest, or at least to let them go with her. "Strength in numbers," as Applejack had correctly pointed out.

But Twilight had been adamant. "I'm sorry girls. But I need to do this by myself. I just. I just need to be alone for a little while. I need time to think, and it's hard to do that with all of us together."

None of the girls had been happy about that, and their glares had spoken volumes about what they thought of the idea. Twilight, though, had only shaken her head. "Pinkie Promise, then. Pinkie Promise you won't follow me?"

That had done little to soften the mood. But the girls had seen that Twilight had meant every word of what she had said. So in the end, Pinkie had led them through the motions, though none of them had liked it.

Spike hadn't let go of his hug for some time after that. "You'll be home by tonight? Promise?"

Twilight had smiled and had returned the hug. "I promise Spike. You won't even know I'm gone."

***

And now, here she was. Twilight had no idea of how long she had been walking at this point. Had it been this long, or far, that first Summer Sun Celebration? She didn't think it had been. But she had been so occupied with trying to stop Nightmare Moon, that maybe she just hadn't noticed? She hoped so.

But her hooves were killing her, and as she came to a clearing with a stream to one side, Twilight decided that this was as good a spot as any to stop and take a break for a little bit.

Plopping down on an odd-shaped rock in the center of the clearing, Twilight unloaded her saddlebags and pulled out an apple fritter, packed by Applejack before she had left Ponyville behind. Munching on it, she looked around at the trees all around her.

The Everfree Forest had always been a place of terror and mystery to Equestria, and very few ponies ever went into it, unless forced too. Only Zecora actively lived in the forest, and even she knew little of all there was to know of it.

But this place. It felt. Wrong. Corrupted. Evil almost. In a way that the rest of the forest had never felt like. Like this area was the heart of darkness, in a land filled with it. It almost felt like King Sombra's magic.

But this feeling. This was far more ancient that the fallen king. It almost reminded her of Princess Celestia in its intensity. But where her mentor radiated benevolence and love, this was the complete opposite.

And what was up with this rock? It didn't feel like any kind of rock Twilight knew of. She was no geologist, but she knew enough. This almost felt. Crafted? But that didn't make any sense.

Curious now, Twilight hoped down off her perch, looking the rock over. Outwardly, it looked just like any other bolder. But there seemed to be something hidden underneath all of the growth covering it.

Igniting her horn, Twilight pulled the weeds and creepers away from the bolder. Underneath, not much stood out from the rest of the stone. But near the top, Twilight could just make out a very faded set of words chiseled into the stone. Not sure why, but not able to stop herself, Twilight read the words aloud.

"Castle Dracula? What the hay does that even mean? You mean there used to be a castle here? Why would it be out here? And what kind of name is Dracula anyway? That's not a pony name," she asked to no one in particular.

The sun dimmed, turning almost black as night, as Twilight said the name aloud. She shivered, a cold wind rustling her mane. Just the name alone scared her, though she couldn't say why. Something about it screamed wrong. In all the worst ways.

The darkness lifted though, and the sun shone down on her once more. Twilight shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. This was one mystery she was more than happy to leave alone.

Twilight sighed, picking up her saddlebags once more. "This is getting me nowhere. Whatever this used to be, it can wait for somepony else to solve the mystery. I have other things to worry about."

A voice giggled. "Then you're smarter than I was."

Twilight nearly jumped out of her feathers at the sound of the voice. Turning around to face the forest, she saw a young mar's face smiling at her from behind a tree. If Twilight had to guess, she looked to be about the same age as her, maybe a little older. Her red eyes, black mane, and a tan coat made her stand out next to the wall of green.

And it might have been just needing more sleep, but Twilight found her rather cute. Slowly getting her heart rate back under control, Twilight smiled. "Um. Hello. I didn't know there was anypony else out here."

The mare giggled. "It's just me. Very few actually ever find this place. Not even that zebra has been here, and she's been just about everywhere in the forest. The name's Willow."

Twilight's smile grew, as she began to relax. "Twilight Sparkle. Where are we? What is this place?"

Willow shook her head sadly. "A place you're better off never knowing more of, Twilight. No good has ever come from it. I should know. I came here by myself once, and I was never the same after."

Something below Willow growled. Frowning, she turned around and said something Twilight couldn't hear. But the more she looked, Twilight could just make something else out hidden in the darkness. Something massive, and Willow seemed to be connected to it. But that couldn't be right.

Shaking her head, Twilight took a step closer to the other mare. "Well. Can you at least come out so we can talk normally? It's not nice to hide in the shadows like this. Or can I at least come over to you?"

Willow looked horrified at the very thought, as she retreated. "No. I'm fine where I am, thank you. And please, don't come any closer. I don't want to hurt you, Twilight."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Come on, Willow. This isn't fair to either of us, and you know that. What's the worst you could do?"

Willow's ears dropped, as her whole body slumped. "You don't know what I am, Twilight. What I can do. There's a reason why I don't leave the forest. Equestria would hunt me down as a monster if I ever did."

Twilight shook her head, her smile softening. "I'll be the judge of that, Willow. So, please. Let me see all of you. It can't be as bad as you say it is."

For a moment, it looked like Willow wouldn't do it, and Twilight began to feel that she was pushing her luck with the other mare. But finally, she sighed and stood up straight. "Fine, Twilight. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Twilight grinned, as Willow began to come out of hiding. That grin soon turned to shock, and then surprise (and a very small part of her found Willow even cuter than before if it was possible.)

Where Willow's hind legs should have been, her body tapered into a long snake-like tail. That alone would have been weird enough for Twilight, but that was only the beginning.

Willow's tail connected to a creature that, in all her years of study, Twilight had never seen before. Four legs, scales, and fur covered a body rippling with muscle. A large, fang lined, mouth, sat at the front, seemingly glaring at Twilight, as if daring her to say something rude.

Twilight said the only thing that made any sense at the moment. "... Derp???"

Willow giggled, as she patted her companion with a hoof. "Well, that's a better reaction than I thought you'd say, Twilight. You're not scared? Horrified? Any number of things?"

That finally broke Twilight out of her shock, as she shook her head. "Confused, for sure. Very confused. But, how are you like this? Why are you like this?"

Willow shook her head sadly, and even her monstrous companion looked up at her sadly. "I don't know. I came to this same spot, just like you have, a long time ago. Then I became this."

Twilight's ears dropped. That wasn't very fair at all. She tried to get closer to Willow, but the creature hissed at her, taking a step closer as well, forcing her to stop.

Willow rolled her eyes. "He won't hurt you. Not unless you're crazy enough to try and attack me. Or we're both really hungry."

Twilight took the hint and stayed right where was. "I have so many questions. Like, what are you? How could this have happened? Will it happen to me?" She shook her head, as she pulled out quill and parchment, ready to take as many notes as she could on all of this. "But I guess my first one is, which one of you is the brain?"

Willow chuckled as she stroked her companion, who almost purred at the feeling. "We're both the brains, I guess. I can take over if I really want to, and he can control me if he really wants to. But it's more of a team effort most of the time."

Twilight wrote that down, though she still had questions about how that could even work. But those could wait for the moment. "If you don't mind me asking, Willow. How did this happen to you? I've never heard of anything like this before."

Willow gained a distant look in her eyes, seemingly a million miles away. She was becoming more and more relaxed, the more time she spent with Twilight. "How I became like this? It's quite the story. So take a seat, Twilight. This could take a while."

Author's Note

So, here we are with the official prequel. That was a piece of Castle Dracula Twilight was sitting on. How does the Everfree Forest have it? Magic. As Ponyninja88 figured out. Willow is an Amphisbaena. How she got like this is the next chapter. Her powers and abilities come from Symphony of the Night for PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Cover art done by Badumsquish.