An Aluring Twilight

With a tired sigh, Willow all but collapsed on the rock she had found. Her hooves were killing her. Why had she thought going into the Everfree Forest had been a good idea? Did she even know where she was?

Able to rest for a moment, Willow looked around at the clearing she had found herself in. On three sides, the forest faded into the distance, while behind her, a stream flowed calmly by.

She admitted that it was beautiful out here. For all of its danger and mystery, there was a beauty to the Everfree Forest. It was sad, in a way, that more ponies didn't see that. Nopony in Ponyville that she knew of had ever come out here.

Oh sure, the Apple Family practically lived on its borders and even somewhat inside the forest. But it felt like no one had come to this spot in a very long time.

But then, who made the trail that Willow had followed? Looking back the way she had come, she could see a very real trail through the trees. Somepony had made it. Several in fact if she had to guess. But who, and why?

And what was up with this rock? It didn't feel right at all. Earth pony she may have been, and knowing a thing or two about geology, Willow could feel that, on some level, this rock was wrong. In a way that made her shiver to even think about.

For the moment though, she pushed the thought from her mind and just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest around her. It was a sharp cry from the noise and hubbub of Ponyville. A nice respite, if she was being honest.

"I just hope I can find my way back home," Willow grumbled. "I really don't want to be out here after dark. I'm not that crazy."

It was true. While her friends would say that Willow was a bit on the odd side, nopony would ever call her crazy or somepony to run off on her own for no real reason.

So why was she out here, again? That was a question that wouldn't leave her alone, and it was one she didn't have much of an answer for either. It just felt, right, that she had come out here.

And it wasn't like she had left without telling anypony where she was going. Her friends knew where she had planned to go. There was supposed to be an old abandoned castle out here. Supposedly, it was from a time before Canterlot existed, and was tied to Princess Celestia in some way.

Willow really didn't believe some of that. But the idea that there might be an old castle somewhere in the Everfree Forest was more than enough to get her excited, and off she had gone.

Her friends had tried to stop her, but when Willow had her mind set on something, there was little that could make her change it. In the end, they had made her promise to be back in Ponyville before the sunset. Willow was more than happy to do that.

But it was still early afternoon, and she had only been gone a few hours at most. That was plenty of time to try and find this place if it existed at all. If not? No fur off her back for this little adventure.

Assuming she even knew where she was going of course. But if she hadn't found the castle in the next few hours, Willow was ready to admit that she would probably never find it, if it even existed.

With a sigh, she hopped down from her perch and stretched. Willow was happy to be off that thing. Just, something about it felt wrong, and if she never had to sit on it again, she would be more than happy.

Before she could get back on the trail, however, an almighty crash sounded through the trees, stopping her dead in her tracks. More crashing soon followed, and Willow could just make out the sounds of something coming through the trees in her direction.

Frozen in shock and surprise, Willow watched as something finally came through the trees right in front of her. What it was, she didn't know. It looked like nothing she had ever seen or heard about. Green scales with patches of fur-covered a muscular body with a long serpentine tail. The creature's mouth opened wide in a hiss, as it looked at her hungrily.

Willow tried to smile. "Um. I don't look very tasty and you'll let me go, and we never have to see each other again?" She chuckled, trying to sound brave. The creature only hissed once more as it took another step toward her. She gulped. "Guess not."

She didn't know what to do. She had no idea of how fast this thing was, or how strong it was, so Willow didn't fancy her chances if she fought this thing. Its mouth was large enough to easily swallow her whole. Was this how she died? Eaten by some Everfree beast? Not the way she thought she'd go.

Before she could do more, however, several trees, apparently old and weakened by all the shaking, were struck by the creature's tail, sending them both crashing down on top of it, pinning it to the ground with its back being crushed under the weight of the trees.

The creature roared in shock and pain, thrashing madly to try and free itself, to no avail as the trees did not move an inch. It was all Willow needed as she made a run for it back to the path. Screw whatever else might be in this Celestia damned forest. This was more than enough for her for one day.

At the edge of the clearing though, she stopped, as the creature roared again. But now it was a cry of desperation and sadness. She could hear it. It was afraid. It almost sounded like it was pleading with her to save it.

Willow bit her lip as she looked back. The creature was still trying to free itself, to no avail. It had managed to roll one tree off of it, but the weight of the remaining one was still crushing it. It looked at her. Willow had never seen anything so sad or desperate before in her life.

But what could she do? She could run back to Ponyville and try and get some help. But there was no guaranty that even if she did manage to find ponies willing to help her, that they would get back here in time, or at all.

But let it never be said that Willow was willing to abandon anything or anypony that needed help.

The creature eyed her wearily as she ran over to its side. She smiled. "Don't worry. I'm going to try and get you out. No one deserves to die like this. Even if you did try and eat me."

It seemed to understand her in some way, for it seemed to relax. Willow's smile grew as she ran over and under the tree. Luckily, it had landed on a small bolder that would give her some leverage in trying to remove it.

Willow gritted her teeth. There was one way to do this, but it was dangerous and she risked a lot in doing so. But then again, she was risking a lot being this close to that thing, so she pushed her worries aside.

Looking inwards, she found her Mana pathways, namely those that gave her her earth pony strength. With a nudge, she opened the floodgates and poured more magic into her body, a red glow encompassing her whole form.

With a lurch, the tree began to move as she pushed upon it. Slowly at first, but soon moving faster and faster. The creature seemed to smile as it felt the pressure lift from its back. When it was able to, it too added its own lift to try and get the try off of it.

Willow smiled, fighting back how much this was draining her. After a few moments, she could see that they had lifted the tree enough that the creature had enough room to move again. "Go on! I can't hold this much longer."

That seemed to do the trick, as the creature moved as fast as it could to get out from underneath the tree. Willow made sure that all of it was out from underneath it before she felt her power cut off, and she dropped the tree with a resounding boom, collapsing in an exhausted heap herself next to it.

She lay there for several minutes, panting and trying not to think of how literally every part of her hurt like nopony's business. No wonder this was so uncommon in usage.

She felt the creature nudge her, a worried whine coming from it. Willow smiled as she turned to look at. "I'm fine. But that's the last time I ever use that. Go on. You don't need me now. You're free."

It shook its head, apparently not convinced. Willow giggled as it nudged her again. "You don't want to leave, do you? I'm too sore to move right now. Heck, by the time I'm fine again, I'll go home. This is enough adventure for one day."

The creature seemed to smile, as it pointed its head off in another direction, seeming to know where she had been going this whole time. It lowered itself so that it's back was within reach.

Willow blinked. "You mean you'll take me there? Do you know where it is?"

It nodded, its tail lowering so that Willow could grab onto it and use it as a lift.

Willow giggled. This was not what she had been expecting to have to happen to her today. But as she grabbed onto the stinger like the tip of the tail and was deposited gently onto the creature's back, she didn't really mind.

***

Willow wasn't sure how long she had been like this, but she didn't really mind. In fact, she was rather liking it.

Her companion tried its best not to make too much movement as it wound its way through the Everfree Forest. It didn't even seem to mind that it was carrying a pony on its back.

The sun couldn't be seen through the thick tree cover, so Willow couldn't know what time it was. But as the minutes wore on, she found herself caring less and less. It felt right as well.

The creature's tail stayed by her side the whole time, almost as if it was keeping her company. Odd. But what did Willow know of whatever this creature was? She was no animal expert.

Willow sighed, as they finally came to another large break in the trees, Across a wide gorge, there indeed was a large castle ruin. Unfortunately, the only way across was a bridge that had rotted away long ago. So that was out of the question. Off to the side on a nearby hill was another ruin, one that looked like an observatory.

Willow rubbed her forehead in annoyance. Go figure. The one time she goes looking for something, she can't even get across to it. At least the sun was still out, so she didn't have to worry about that.

Her companion looked up at her, worried. She giggled, patting its head. "I'm fine. I just can't get over there to see what might be inside. Go figure and just my luck." She looked back the way they had come. "I don't suppose you could take me home, could you?"

It nodded, though it whined in sadness. Willow's smile softened. "You don't want me to leave, do you?" It shook its head. She chuckled as she tried to hug it. "You know what? I really don't want to go home either. It's too nice out here, and you've been so nice to me. But I can't exactly take you back to Ponyville now can I?"

Its tail slid over her shoulder, seemingly trying to tell her something. Willow looked at it, finally noticing that it wasn't a stinger at all, but something else. It slid back to her hind legs. To her shock and surprise, the entire tip of the tail opened up, revealing a cavity that was just wide enough for a pony's body to fit in.

Willow looked down at her companion. It looked at her hopefully, almost pleading and begging with her. "You want me to get in?" She asked. It nodded, the tail aligning with her body perfectly.

For a moment, she hesitated. What would this even do to her? And why her? Had anypony else been in this same spot as her? But something was telling her that it would okay, that it wouldn't hurt her. Not after all they'd been through.

Willow smiled. The creature's own smile grew as she wiggled her way into the tail's opening, her hind legs coming to a rest at the very back of the top. "Okay. Now, what do we do?" She asked.

With a soft plop, the opening closed around Willow's rear end, only her waste and above still sticking out now. Even as she registered that, she felt all feeling in her hind legs vanish as if they had never been there, to begin with. The skin around her waste transformed into scales, the scales blending into her fur where the two met. Willow also felt the feeling in rear return. Now though, she could feel and control her serpentine tail as if she had been born with it. Below that, she could also feel the rest of their body.

And it was truly their body now. She could feel her companion's mind brush her own. It was overjoyed that she had decided to stay with him, and Willow found herself sharing the feeling.

She tried moving her new legs. With some effort, she was soon able to walk around the edge of the gorge as if nothing had happened to her, her companion smiling the whole time, not minding being a passenger in his own body.

No. It was their body now. Everything they did was a team effort.

After a while, Willow stopped, and let herself be the passenger in her new body, resting her hooves on her new companion's back. She felt the touch as well. Odd. What else could she do now?

Before she could think of something though, she felt something building in her throat, an itch she just couldn't scratch at the moment. But it something she needed to get rid of and fast. With a lurch, she turned her head and belched out a fireball, one that hit the other side of the gorge with a puff of smoke.

Willow threw a hoof over her mouth. "Excuse me," she said sheepishly.

Her companion made a noise that could have been a laugh. One that Willow joined in a moment later. "I guess neither of us has to worry about being alone anymore, do we?"

Her mate shook his head, and Willow sighed, as she again rested on his back. This was not how she ever thought that this day would go. But she didn't mind, in the end.