Haywire

[Skai]

We enter the Everfree as I grumble, still being literally dragged in with Rosegarden’s magic. After quite a ways in, her magic dissipates, and I land hard against the forest floor. I groan, rubbing my head and brushing the dirt off of me, “Ow… Did you have to drop me so hard?” I cry out with a pout.

Rosegarden trots past me while rolling her eyes with a smirk, “Quit huffing, you’re fine. Besides, did you really think I was gonna carry you the entire time? Besides…” She slows down as I catch up and she bumps my side, “You’re my brother, you can handle it.”

I groan, rolling my eyes as we continue walking. The deeper in we go, we have to light up our horns as the leaves overhead start blocking more and more of the sunlight. In the corner of my eye I see glowing yellow eyes stare at us as I start to grow nervous.

I clear my throat, “Uhrm, are you sure it’s safe to go through this forest? I think it’s only gotten more dangerous since last time…” I say shakily, sticking close to her as we continue heading in deeper.

Rosegarden chuckles, bumping me again, “Don’t worry, Skai. I can protect you just find. Like back in school, remember?” She says with a smirk, as I frown, stopping and looking down at my hooves. She notices I stopped, turning around with a sigh, “Skai, please don’t say you’re still upset about what the other fillies and colts said back then, can you?”

I huff, shoving past her, “It’s fine. Just because I can’t do magic and my twin sister is a magical prodigy is fiiiiine.” I angrily snarl out as I stomp ahead.

We continue trotting silently, as I see more and more eyes surround us, as the treetops cover the forest roof more and more, causing deeper and deeper darkness. I was about to consider turning back until I see a light in the distance. I narrow my eyes, holding my hoof over my head to block my horn light from my eyes. “Hey… What’s that?” I ask, as Rosegarden catches up to me.

She strains her eyes, “Huh… It looks like some kind of forest hut.”

I gulp, “Who would be crazy enough to live out here in the middle of the most dangerous part of central Equestria?” We continue trotting towards it, preparing to knock until we hear a twig snap behind us. We turn in surprise as the yellow eyes begin circling us and closing in.

Rosegarden pushes my back, her horn glowing bright, “Stand back, I-” Behind us the door to the tree cottage opens, as a mare steps out. A zebra mare, with a mohawk as well as a tower of gold bands around her neck and a matching setting around her front left hoof. The creatures make whimpers, running away.

We turn, as the mare raises an eyebrow, “What is this, out here, I see? A couple of ponies out here in the Everfree?”

[Rosegarden]

[A Few Minutes Later]

I sip a bit more of the tea, “Mmm… So, Zecora, you said you saw the Shadow heading away from the Castle of the Two Sisters?” I ask, sipping a little more tea.

Skai rubs his chin, “I thought that thing was going after power, but it just ignored the most powerful part of the Everfree forest… Both the Castle of the Two Sisters and that Treehouse of Harmony are both filled to the brim with ancient magic.

Zecora nods, grabbing a piece of paper and flattening it onto the table. She dips the tip of her hoof into ink, drawing a map. “Indeed this creature strayed from your guess, leaving behind it a very large mess. Even the most dangerous denizens of the forest stay away, likely due to the power it has on display.”

She then draws a mountain, “Not much lies around where it heads… Merely just a mountain, with caverns with no ends.”

As she finishes, I lift the map with magic, studying it, “Hm… Caverns… Strange, I doubt there’s anything in there more than a couple gemstones…”

Skai finishes his tea with a sigh, “Zecora, you seem to be a clever mare. Do you have any ideas?”

Zecora thinks to herself for a moment, “I did see a pony recently come out this way, but I have not seen them since that day.”

I gasp, “Wait… Maybe it was Onyx…? Before the Festival of the Two Sisters… Which means-”

Skai gasps too, “Maybe it’s the Alicorn Amulet! Or maybe even the Pendant of the Sun and Moon!” I nod, downing my tea as I hop out of my chair.

Zecora puts her hoof on my chest, shaking her head. She trot over to her cauldron, stirring the green fluid as she mixes in a bunch of ingredients I can’t even begin to recognize, “I may or may not have an idea or two, to cure this darkness, it is true.” With a sprinkle of one last ingredient, the cauldron begins to glow white as the liquid turns a matching ivory. She scoops up some more into a bottle, sealing it up and holding it up to me.

“This is the essence of light, true and pure. Throw this on that shadow, and it’ll be destroyed I’m sure.”

“Wow! That’s a big help, actually.” I say, levitating the bottle and teleporting it away for safekeeping. “Thanks so much, again, Zecora!” I say as we trot out the cottage, Zecora laughing lightly and giving us a wave as I wave back.

I study the map for a moment, before I roll it up and teleport it away with the bottle of Light Essence. I use my magic, straining for a moment as I levitate myself up, looking around for Mount Everfree, seeing it in the distance, falling down quick and rough as I crash to the forest floor. Skai helps me up as I brush myself off, pointing towards the mountain.

Skai takes a deep breath as he trots ahead, “I really hope this works out.”

I sigh, looking behind us at the yellow eyes as they return. “Yeah… Me too.”

[Ash]

The Shadow thing keeps on blasting us from within the storage room, causing the barrier Crimson and Sunburst holding up to crack a little. I look over to see Onyx walking in circles, tapping her chin with her hoof, “Oh we could- No that wouldn’t work… Maybe if- No, not that either…” She says, arguing with herself.

I groan, walking up to her and holding her in place, “Hey! Listen to me! You gotta calm down and think of a way to fix this!” I say, as Onyx sighs and pushes me off.

“Look, I-” She sighs, “I’ll try. But I don’t exactly think it’s gonna work.” She says as she trots over to Sunburst and Crimson and I trot behind her. She stands close behind Sunburst and Crimson, seemingly studying the Shadow and what it’s doing.

I trot up to them as Sunburst groans, “Any progress…?! Please?!” He cries out as I clear my throat, and tap Onyx’s side.

“So uh yeah, Onyx, have any progress yet…? I think Crimson and Sunburst are struggling a bit.” I say as the barrier cracks slightly more.

I look up at the artifact Onyx looks like she’s studying, a bronze medallion with a purple gemstone in the center, with sharp golden blades on the sides, coming together to look like the sun.

Onyx gasps, “Wait, I think I recognize that amulet! And if I’m right, then I think I have a pretty good idea…” She says as she summons a book, flipping through it and beginning to read something.

I wait a moment as the Shadow blasts a few more times. The barrier begins to crack a bit more, and I clear my throat, “Mind telling us what it is…?”

[Crimson]

[A Few Minutes Later]

I groan as I struggle, feeling my magic beginning to fade as the barrier starts to crack more and more. I hear Ash call to us from behind, “Are y’all ready over there?”

Sunburst just groans in reply as I struggle to answer, “H-hurry up! Or the barrier is gonna be broken any second!”

I hear Onyx levitate something behind us as she yells out, “Now!”

Sunburst and I leap out of the way, right as a blast from the amulet shoots outward, and I turn in time to watch it bounce off of a mirror. It bounces back, hitting the shadow as it hisses in pain, dropping the artifacts and the sun-shaped one it was blasting us with. Sunburst squeals in high-pitched terror, grabbing most of them with his magic as he struggles with his already weakened power.

Onyx grabs the sun-shaped amulet with her magic, levitating over to her and twisting the gemstone in it with her hoof, as it glows bright red and begins to shake. Onyx yelps, “Everypony get down!” She cries out as we all duck and cover. I peek out and watch as an incredibly strong white blast shoots into the storage room.

Although I can’t see what’s happening, I hear a loud screeching hiss. And then, very suddenly, a plume of smoke pours out of the storage room. I wave my hoof as I cough, looking inside and seeing nothing but the clutter of boxes and variously scattered artifacts.

I cough more as I walk up to Onyx, watching as she drops the steaming artifact and pulling her hoof away from it. “Wow, Onyx! That was incredible! How did you know what to do?”

Onyx gives a shy blush, clearing her throat, “Well, I wouldn’t have gotten myself out of my own head if it weren’t for Ash. But when I finally did, I saw that amulet and recognized it from my studies of magic from- Er, well you know… Before.” She says as her blush grows stronger and she rubs her neck.

Onyx sighs as she lifts the amulet with magic, “It’s one of the first artifacts Celestia made for Starswirl the Bearded during her magical education. It blasts a beam of pure, unfiltered light, and I figured it would’ve worked against a shadow made of pure darkness and evil.”

She then levitates over to Sunburst as he carefully places it into a box and begins restacking the boxes.

Ash bumps her side, “You can say it was ‘cus I helped you get over your issues, but I just knew you’d have an idea what to do. You just gotta trust yourself, sometimes.” He says, causing Onyx to blush in embarrassment as she clears her throat.

“Now, with all that taken care of, I still feel like we’re forgetting something…” She says, tapping her chin with her hoof as my eyes widen with a gasp.

“Skai and Rosegarden! They were headed towards the Everfree!” I cry out.

Onyx gasps, “That place is filled with unheard of dangers! Rosegarden could probably handle it herself, but we should still try and help them!”

Ash nods as he narrows his eyes, “You two follow me, I can track ‘em down.” He says as he zooms past us as we run behind him.

I take a deep breath, “Hopefully they’re okay…”

[Skai]

We continue our trot through the woods. After making our way past a couple of rivers and close calls with Everfree monsters. Everytime they get close, Rosegarden has to charge up her horn and they eventually scamper off. After Celestia knows how long, I groan and snatch the map from her with my magic, lighting up my horn and looking down at it, “I feel like we’re supposed to be there by now… “

Rosegarden snatches the map back, teleporting it away as she teleports up on a tree branch, climbing up to the top and groan as she suddenly teleports next to me, causing me to yelp and stumble back. I groan, “Can you not do that?” After a second to catch my breath, “What did you see up there?”

She sighs, looking up, “I’m pretty sure we’re there. There’s some kind of protecting illusion spell keeping us going in circles.” She says brushing her curls out of her eyes with her hoof.

“Spell? What do you mean?” I ask as I trot up to her, looking around and not seeing anything strange around us, although it is strange how it wasn’t supposed to be far but it’s taking this long.

Rosegarden huffs, “Don’t worry, with nopony protecting the spell it should be pretty easy to break. I just have to…” She takes a deep breath, lighting up her horn and blasting a shield around us, which then surges outward. Out of nowhere, we’re suddenly standing in front of a cave entrance, the forest several yards behind us.

We start to step close, and then very suddenly torches begin to glow a bright purple flame, lighting up in a path down into the cave, which curves on a staircase to the right and downwards. We both unlight our horns and begin trotting in. We look around, seeing various murals of Princess Twilight and her friends as well as Starlight, all of them blasted or burned or scratched. I clear my throat, “Yeah let’s um… Maybe not tell Onyx every little detail about our journey, yeah?” Rosegarden nods nervously as we keep making our way to the end, and then heading down the staircase.

We continue making our way down the staircase, and it finally ends as it seems pretty far down into the ground. We find ourselves in a larger opening, in front of a massive iron door. Together, Rosegarden and I use our magic to force it open. It takes so much effort my magic starts to crackle and pop slightly, but luckily it gives way before any adverse effects of my abnormal horn kick in. The door slowly opens, revealing a stone room, with a small cot in the corner, some mannequin that must’ve held what was Queen Onyx’s armor, and lastly many different pictures and portraits hung up on the walls, ranging from the return of Princess Luna, to the birth of Princess Flurryheart, even what looks like the defeat of Tirek, Cozy Glow and Queen Chrysalis. Although that last portrait looks… Damaged? Like it’s been crumbled before. So many events of the past, all surrounding a small picture of Starlight and Twilight, all connected with strings and pins.

Rosegarden sighs, “Yeah lets… Really not bring this up to Onyx. I don’t think she’d take it well… Although I am confused… None of this seems especially magical or powerful. What would the Shadow want from here?” She asks and I shrug, looking around. We both yelp as a sudden crash from behind us rings out. We turn and beside the iron door stands a smaller wooden door, hanging slightly cracked open. We rush inside, gasping as we watch the Shadow float in the air, coiled around an orange metal and gem device that looks… Strangely familiar.

I gasp, “Uh… Rose. Isn’t that the Pendant? Like.. The one Princess Twilight was looking for?”

She nods nervously with a gulp, “Uh, the one she uses to move the Sun and Moon? Uh… Yeah. That’s the one.”

The Shadow hisses repeatedly, sounding strangely like a laugh. It coils more tightly around the Pendant, as it crackles and chips with a surge of gold and blue energy.

Rosegarden sighs and looks over to me, “Skai. I have an idea. And I know given what happened earlier you might not be in the best place for this but… I need you to trust me.”

I groan, “Look, Rose, you don’t have to worry about that. I know I get in ruts sometimes… And thinking about those times doesn’t help. But you have literally been around since I was born. You were the first twin, and I get we’re the same age but I’ve always looked up to you so… I trust you, sis.” She smiles and it causes me to smile back happily.

She sighs, stepping forward as the Shadow hisses and shifts back, coiling tighter around the Pendant as it cracks and chips more. She sighs, kneeling down and teleporting the Light potion Zecora made in. She holds it up with her hoof, “You seem a bit conscious. I’m guessing you can understand me which means you also can probably guess this is all we have to stop you. Sounds like a good deal for that Pendant we need yeah?” She sets it down on the floor and nervously steps back.

After a moment she looks back at me worried, “I’m not sure it can even really speak Ponish or not.” She says softly. The Shadow slowly floats to the floor, setting down the Pendant and scooping up the Bottle, floating up into the corner and hissing happily as it slams the bottle on the floor, breaking it and spilling the potion all over the floor as it glows white with a rainbow glint as it fades away. Rosegarden holds up the Pendant and yells out, “Skai get down!” As I drop to the floor covering my head with my hooves and watching in sudden fear.

She blasts the Pendant as the gem in the center glows white, as it shakes, crackles and hisses. The Shadow attempts to leave but is blocked by a bright red barrier, Rosegarden smirking at the Shadow as the Pendant glows brighter and brighter. Rosegarden tosses the Pendant as it glows brighter and brighter as she huddles close to me.

And then, in a flash of white, gold and blue, an explosion of magic surges outward.

[Ash]

As we finally get to the edge of the Everfree, a quake surges outward. I fly up into the air and see a big cloud of smoke flowing out from the bottom of a mountain deep in the Everfree Forest. “Uh Onyx do you mind getting us there a bit faster? Things look bad!” I yell out as I scoop her up and show her the smoke cloud. She nods as Crimson flies up and with a flash of light pink magic, we’re suddenly standing at the base of a mountain. A couple of purple flame torches begin to flicker, and scattered all around are orbs of white, gold and blue, all swirling around in the smoke. I gasp as I see Skai and Rosegarden slowly walk out of the smoke, and for a moment it looks like some of the light is swirling around their horns and eyes, but I think it’s just a trick of the light.

I blinked and suddenly the light I thought I saw around them was gone, so I just quickly fly up and tug them both into a hug. Everyone else runs up and joins too as the two of them groan in the squeezing hug.

Eventually we finally made our way back to the castle, as I had to carry Skai on my back and Rosegarden got help walking from Onyx and Crimson. As I lower Skai to his feet I fumble down onto the foyer floor with a groan, watching ahead of me as Twilight and Starlight do the same. I snort, “Do I even wanna ask?” I tiredly ask.

Starlight shakes her head and huffs, “Do I…?” I chuckle and shake my head.

[A LOT of Resting Later…]

I groan as I lay my head on the crystal table. “Where is Starlight and Twilight? Didn’t they say they’d be here by now?” I say as I lean back in the crystal chair with Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark on it.

Crimson flitters down from the tree in the ceiling and sighs as she lands in another chair, “Well they did seem pretty tired. Maybe-”

Suddenly Starlight bursts into the room, “Sorry! Sorry. I’m still a bit frazzled and Twilight is pretty tired. Where we went is, uh- A bit hard to explain but let me just say it was weird. And tiring, very tiring. Anywho, you were saying something about the Pendant of the Sun and Moon?”

Rosegarden blushes as she clears her throat, “Uh…. Yeah SKAI was gonna tell you about that one! Heh…” She waves her hoof over to Skai as he groans.

“Yeah, so Rosegarden kinda blew it up to stop the Shadow. So… Sorry…?” He says nervously, tapping his hooves together.

Starlight just sighs as she steps towards the table, “It’s fine, Twilight already has a plan in place for that. We’re going to visit the Princ- I mean, Celestia and Luna at Silver Shoals. Twilight and I are gonna be heading there in a few weeks so it’d be good for you all to rest up and get your things taken care of in the meantime.” She says with a tired wave as she trots off.

[End of Chapter 2]