The Witch of Darkness (#10)

Chapter 2: Through the Trees.

~Lightning put the stress to the back of her mind, and attempted to smile along with her friends. She leads them off the pathway into the forest behind CHS. Fluttershy skipped ahead to greet her animal friends first. When the others reached the forest area, Lightning playfully gives a sad Rainbow Dash a nudge and tried her latest pun on her.~

"Hey, Rainbow, I wrote a story once about a broken window. And guess what?"

"What?" She sighed.

Lightning snickered. "It's saved in my drafts!"

"Lightning!" Applejack, Sunset and Twilight exclaimed in exasperation.

"What? Just trying to cheer her up!" Lightning said, defensively.

"Hehe, that was good…It's ok, I'll get over it soon…" Rainbow said, now in a bit of a chirpier mood.

"I hope we all do…" Sunset replies with somewhat wistfulness in her voice.

Pinkie suddenly pokes her head out of the trees and exclaimed excitedly. "Hey, Girls! Check out what I just found! Wait until you see whose name's on it!"

Everyone glanced at each other rather confused. "Hm…?"

~Pinkie bounced ahead again and constantly motioned her friends to follow her quickly. She wanders them into another part of the forest in which they have never seen before. Lightning moves some leaves out of the way until they all reach a large, ancient oak tree.~

"What the...?" Lightning couldn't believe her eyes.

"Lookie here!" exclaimed Pinkie, showing a black plaque bolted on the tree with its gold lettering. "It reads 'The tree of Pinkie Pie'. That's me!" She pointed at herself jovially.

Sunset raised a brow. "Looks like it says more than that."

~Sunset examines the surface more closely and begins to dust off the wood shavings off the plaque, revealing more names which made everyone's eyes widen.~

"'The tree of Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Lightning Star...and Sunset Shimmer.'" Sunset perused.

Everyone was strangely silent. "What the heck?" Lightning suddenly said. "That's so spooky!"

"What does it mean?" Fluttershy softly whispered.

"I don't know. But It looks like it was crafted here years ago…" Twilight observed.

"Do you think it's some sort of gravestone? Surely it can't be ours though. We're all still alive and well." Lightning said nervously.

"Look! It has today's date on it!" Twilight exclaimed, pointing at the date on the plaque below their names.

Lightning becomes even more nervous. "Wow. Umm...Okay. Coincidence?"

Rarity's eyes shrunk down. "Wait, does that mean that- " She gasped dramatically. "We are going to die today?!"

"Don't be silly, Rarity…" Applejack replied. "Of course not." She suddenly looked about, perplexed. "I mean, I hope not."

Lightning was just about to remonstrate with them when Fluttershy gripped her arm. She looked as white as a sheet and she could feel her trembling. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Girls! Let's not jump to conclusions…I'm pretty sure there's a logical explanation for all this."

~Suddenly, she felt something glowing on her neck. It was the geodes. All eight stared in amazement as near the roots of the tree misted and opened out a hole into a short passage and a grey forest beyond down below. Lightning shows a confounded face and kneels down to touch the hole, her hand passes into thin air at once, she immediately withdraws it in surprise.~

"Ooooooh…I get it! I think I know what this is!" Pinkie exclaimed, waving her hand in the air like she was at school.

"You do?" Twilight asked.

"It's a hologram!" She answered.

"Why would anyone want to set up a hologram in a derelict forest in the first place?" Twilight inquired.

"And the matter of our names on the tree?" Sunset added.

"...Okay. It's an illusion!"

"I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I don't think it's that either."

"Do you think this might be the work of Equestrian magic?" Sunset asked, thinking about it. "This could be another portal to Equestria!"

"You mean like that quicksand portal thing you said you found while on your Spring break holiday? Hmm, could be." Lightning said.

"If that's the case, we must be able to walk right into it, right?" Rainbow said.

"It must be some kind of gateway in time, and because we can read our names I...I think we're meant to go through." Rarity explained.

Lightning stepped up. "Only one way to find out…"

~Everyone's geodes glow brighter and the roots lights up, everyone's magic blasts in at once, making the hole more visible.~

"Ooooookay. Not sure I'm comfortable with this now..." Lightning said. "Okay, no. Come on, be brave."

"Wait! If we're going to go through, C-Can we go through it at the same time? I do feel a bit frightened…" Fluttershy whispered.

"Okay. We'll do it together, then. Let's hold hands and jump forwards."

~With one simple stride, the eight girls crossed the threshold from their world and jumped into the unknown. Pinkie let out a whoop as they flew down. They felt slightly dizzy and tingling all over. They stopped falling after a minute. Ahead of them stretched the mysterious dead forest and whatever mysteries it held in store for them. They emerged from a bank in the side of a hill and found themselves at the head of a short flight of moss-covered stone steps. The steps looked ancient, as did the rickety handrail that ran down the left side.~

"This definitely isn't Equestria…" Sunset sighed.

"Then Wh-Where are we? It's like some kind of petrifying forest. I don't think I like it after all. Maybe we should go back?" Fluttershy stuttered.

"Just a minute." Lightning said. "Let me think. You know what I think happened? It's like what you said, Rarity. We've found a gateway in time. You know, like in science fiction when you go into a para…what-do-you-call-it?"

"Parallel universe." Twilight prompted.

"That's it. One of those." Lightning said while clicking his fingers and pointing at Twilight.

"If that's what's happened to us then we had best try and find out what it's all about." Sunset said.

Rainbow was all for it. "Yeah, let's take a look around. But watch out for aliens or robots with death rays…"

"Well, I don't really know...We're either dreaming, or we're actually here, wherever 'here' is." Twilight answered, looking skeptical.

"We'd better have a look around and see if there's anyone else. But let's be careful, just in case." Sunset added.

"Our magic came through here, so this place must be important…" Applejack pointed out.

~Before venturing further, Lightning and the Rainbooms scanned the scene before them. What Twilight could clarify is that they had entered a vast forest of ancient, grey trees. Many of the branches from them lay broken on the ground. The sour smell of decay hung in the dank air and all was silent. Lifeless-as still as death.~

"There's hardly a sign of life anywhere. The forest is almost…dead." Lightning noted.

"Just a bit of moss and a few bushes growing here and there!" Rainbow said in an unimpressed tone.

"And here and there! And there and here!" Pinkie said, pointing in every direction.

"I wonder what happened to it?" Rarity asked sadly.

"Mmmm, maybe it's not dead but...well...it looks as though someone has taken all the life out of it!" Lightning said.

"Well, it must be dead then." Rainbow replied.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Not really, what she is trying to say is..." She was interrupted by the snap of a single tree branch. "...What was that?"

~Everyone began looking around for the source of the noise. But before they know it, in the twinkling of an eye, the eight girls found themselves surrounded, not by aliens or robots as Rainbow suggested, but by a gang of fierce-looking creatures armed with spears and clubs.~

"One move, and you die! Stay right where you are." The speaker was an important-looking elf.

~All the girls were speechless and all could have not moved even if they had tried. Fluttershy screamed and clutched onto Applejack. The ring of trolls, gnomes, elves, fauns and cyclops closed in. Their fierce eyes and bared teeth made it quite clear that they were far from friendly. And the prods and pricks that the girls received were real enough to prove that this was no dream.~

"What the…?" Lightning spluttered. "Fantasy creatures! What is this? Narnia or something?" She then gasped.

"N-no. You said th...that's just a st...story." Fluttershy stuttered. "Also there's no sn...snow."

"I hope there isn't a witch, though." said Rarity.

"Silence!" The elf ordered. He flashed a look at the other creatures. "You know what to do. Tie them up and take them away." He commanded.

~At once, the creatures swarmed over the girls, pushing them to the ground. Fluttershy and Rarity started to scream but gags were thrust into their mouths. Rough ropes bound their hands behind their backs and, in spite of their frantic struggles, it seemed only a matter of time before they were all quite helpless. Quickly, they were dragged to their feet and, encouraged by spears, were shoved along a narrow twisting pathway that led off into the barren undergrowth. As they stumbled along, Lightning began to think.~

"Ugh, well this is pleasant." She groaned at first. "I should never have let down my guard just then! Alright, alright, pull yourself together, Lightning. Wherever we are, and whether we were brought here by our magic, one thing that's clear is that we have fallen into the hands- or claws, hooves- whatever they have- of these hostile creatures and we need to escape as soon as we can."

~She began to keep track of the twists and turns and ups and downs, hoping that when they do escape they might find their way back to the passageway.~

"Ok, so we took a left, then another left. Oh, I sure hope I can memorise the way back here. Hmm?"

~She noticed the pace was hotting up and many of the creatures were casting nervous glances over their shoulders as though expecting to be chased.~

"Why are they all nervously looking around?" Lightning thought. "Is someone coming? Maybe they can help us!"

~With that, Lightning starts yelling for help, though it is muffled by the gag. She and the Rainbooms fought to get their breath through them.~

"If only one of us could explain everything!"

~The large elf, obviously in command, nodded to the girls' closet captors and they stopped and pushed them forward in the direction of a tall imposing elm tree. At first, they couldn't see why. Then they noticed a dark hole near the roots. Twilight wondered if it somehow led back to their own world. Rainbow thought it might be a prison. Prods from behind soon had all eight crowded reluctantly in the entrance and staring into the gloom. It was Lightning who saw them first. Three pairs of eyes then glowed out of the darkness and moved towards them! Two blue and one brown. Fluttershy screamed into her gag and Rainbow struggled for all she was worth. Wildly, they turned to run but they were met squarely by a mass of sharp pointed spears that would allow them no escape. Slowly but surely the helpless girls were driven backwards into the black hole, there to meet whatever unknown horror awaited them in its depths.~