Twilight’s rump burned as she threaded herself through the trees. Her rear hooves, unshoed and raw, slammed against the corpses of a thousand leaves on the forest floor. Her mane and tail glided behind her, specters holding on for dear death as Twilight pushed herself faster. Then she stopped and looked around, her ears following suit. They swiveled and rotated until a snap in the far off distance demanded that they both faced the same direction.

Once more, Twilight’s head bared toward her new destination. A loud thud echoed as her rear hooves slammed against dirt and root. The small slits of her nostrils flared, her ears folded back, and she once more thrust herself forward, rearing up. Then, the trees rattled around her, as a wall of wind slammed into her. Her mane nearly flew off, and the sheer force twisted her back. Her front hooves fell to the forest floor again, and Twilight shook her head. Taking her mark again, Twilight reared up, only for the unrelenting force to stop her again.

“What in Tartarus…” Twilight whispered.

Gulping, she turned to make a 180 and start running in that direction, only for yet another column of air to blast her back, her hooves dragging on the ground. She repeated, only to get the same result. Twilight looked left and right before simply walking, and this time she was still met with an elemental force, however, it was far gentler.

Twilight tilted her head as she curved her motion, walking in the shape of a giant crescent moon on the forest floor. This time, as she slowly changed direction, the wind itself also changed. Now it was pushing against her rump, ushering her forward. Twilight twisted her head to look behind her. She saw what looked like two rows of trees on either side, with more forest at the end.

Is it the forest? No, the caravan lead explicitly said this place wasn’t haunted, Twilight thought to herself. Twilight now turned to face the direction that the wind was blowing from. “What is going on,” spilled forth from the mare’s lips.

Then, Twilight’s mane once more flew back. Twilight could feel the front part of her body lifting as her rear half stayed on the floor. Her form rotated, and then the wind ceased. Twilight landed on her front hooves, and once again staring into the direction that she had just turned from.

A sour expression grew across her face, and Twilight’s eyes were as molten stone. She turned back towards the direction she was just pushed away from and then twisted forward, and let out the words “All right…” quietly.

This time, when Twilight reared up and pushed forward, her muscles found moving easier. Twilight felt the exuberance of deep youth flow through her form again as now, the wind was at her back. And as she ran through the forest, occasionally, she felt a nudge of wind on her left or right side. Twilight went with the flow and found that the pressure would soon dissipate as she ran toward her new bearing.

Grunting more audibly, Twilight ran deeper into the woods when she heard a low guttural sound. She slammed the ground hard with her front hooves. Her momentum carrying her forward for a few moments as the forest floor skidded alongside her, digging up dirt along the way. Then she became quiet. Her ears started rotating, listening for the sound she had just heard moments ago. It was so low and rumbled so hard that she could feel the vibrations in her legs. It was coming from ahead of her. Easing herself, she slowed down and crept deeper into the forest until before her, her eyes widened and her mouth fell slightly agape.

A majestic tree was now in view. Huge and thick, almost like her old home at Golden Oak Library. She approached it and tapped it twice with her hoof, and glanced down with a smile. Memories of her time living in Ponyville flashed in her mind. The hollowed out tree, her little brother Spike sleeping in the same room as her, the banquet where she tried to warn everyone about Nightmare Moon. But then the low rumbling returned, louder. Twilight snapped out of it as she looked around her, but there was nothing but trees and more forest.

Twilight swallowed as she walked around the base of the noble tree. Then something pulled at her in her mind. Something else, that had been there for quite a while but she had only noticed now. Her nose tingled. The scent of winter. Crisp. Smokey. A touch of citrus. She closed her eyes and let her nose lift into the air. Following the fresh fragrance, prominently parsing it against the ever present smell of the earthen odor of decaying leaves. She twisted and turned, taking a few steps when she opened her eyes. The great tree was still in view behind her, but it had shrunken considerably and was veiled in mist. However, presented before her was the image of a human lying on the ground meters ahead of her, its backpack thrusting out and covering its head. It was Xavier, lying face first in the leaves and mud with two lumps of red and orange far off of him, and a pile of ash three steps away from him. Twilight gasped, then immediately she galloped toward him. The great tree was now further behind her with each instance of all four of her hooves meeting the ground in unison.

“Xavier, are you–” Twilight gasped.

His upper clothes were shredded. His back pack still held together, but now it showed slash marks as it rested atop his head. Twilight gasped as she saw the back of the human. Blood flowing profusely out of several lacerations, two circular puncture holes that where beneath ribbons of cloth that were torn, dangling and soaked in black crimson.

“Twilight… run…” Xavier’s voice moaned.

Twilight let out another gasp as Xavier once again muttered her name. Without thinking, she quickly dug into Xavier’s bag and pulled out the first roll of wrappings she could find. Biting carefully, she did her best to wipe away the blood on his back and place the roll like gauze on his wounds.

“You’re fine, you’re fine, you’re going to be–” Twilight kept repeating in a muffle over and over again. Her eyes caught that Xavier’s right hand held a small knife, but she ignored it until Xavier muttered:

“…away.”

“Listen, I’m not sure if I can pull you all the way back to the wagon but-” Xavier cut off Twilight.

“Look!” Xavier gasped weakly, he pointed to his left with his other hand.

Twilight looked to her left and froze. Just past the large tree were the two sorry lumps of orange and red. Their plumage ruffled and one of them seemed to move, while the other lay still. And to the corner of her eye, she could see movement.

“Hide!” Xavier hissed. Twilight’s body was already moving as she gingerly dashed into the hollow of a nearby withered tree. Like the games of hide and seek in her youth, her knees fell, as the darkness of a dead arboreal corpse hid her. Quietly, she turned, using her front knees to slink about.

And far beyond Xavier, standing over the mounds of bright feathers, was a dark beast of two legs. Its large, thick plumage was stained black as ink on parchment. Its head adorned with a crown of two deep blue combs converging at the forehead. Its beak had protruding curved edges on the bottom of it’s top half. It was adorned with ridges, a mockery of sharp teeth that extended across, almost smiling. Its legs had no feathers and were covered in dark, thick scales. And at the end, a long, hook like protrusion tapped twice, then a third. It lifted its head up and looked straight at Twilight.

Instinctually, Twilight eased further back into the trunk, her rump finally hitting deadwood as shadow enveloped her. The creature tilted its head when one of the piles of red and orange moved again.

The creatures snapped its head towards the pile of feathers. It approached the mound when it suddenly let out a roaring crack and it burst into flame. The tall, dark creature gave out a guttural bellow that shook the forest floor. Then, with its right leg, smashed into the fire three times. The bright orange glow quickly died into embers and a grey pile. The beast lowered its head into the remains, a pile of ash. It rolled its head around in the mound, then froze. Snapping its beak, it picked out a single, white bright thread. As its head rose, the thread was blazing. It smoldered as the creature continued to unwind the super hot string from the ash. Finally, flicking it up in the air, the creature opened its great maul and caught it, and consumed it in one gulp. Out of the two nostrils on it’s beak, smoke blew out. It lifted its great right leg three times and slammed into the ground, then let out a guttural roar that was pure bass. The forest floor shook, jostling Xavier and Twilight.

Then, the creature turned towards the human lying on the forest floor. Taking six steps, it reached Xavier who remained motionless. It lowered its head and sniffed the alien. Then gave it a quizzical look for a moment before reaching out with its gnarly beak and pinching the sides of Xavier’s head. Twilight watched as the tip of the creature’s maw drew blood on the right side of Xavier’s face. Then, it lifted the human up as Twilight’s Ritter barely moved. Xavier’s head hung in the air, held by the creature’s bill, while the rest of his body below his chest lay useless in the mud.

Suddenly, the creature slammed Xavier’s head into the liquid earth, letting go and standing on high before stamping his face down into the mud. His bandaged arms waved weakly in the air, making a few attempts to slash at the creature with the knife. But each one missed as the beast deftly wobbled, evading the haphazard attempts and continued to drown the human.

At that moment, Twilight knew, without a doubt, what she was looking at: An Unneb.

Author's Note

Right so, some things to close out the chapter:

• Chapter 32 should be released on time as normal, 3 to 4 weeks.
• Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will be completely subsumed in my work from early September to early October. While I want to say I can make time every day to write, I can not make that promise under this circumstance. So for that period of time, expect no further chapter releases.
• Chapter releases should resume as normal in October unless something bad happens

[8/9/23 update]: Due to family emergency, I'm putting the story on hiatus until it clears up
[11/14/23 update]: Back, read blog for further details. Hope to get an interim chapter out this or next week, followed by the next full chapter. Releases will be much slower now. Thank you for your patience with me.