Deep within the Everfree Forest, the zebra Zecora resided in her hut full of magical brews and potions, for any who dared trek through the hazardous and cursed forest. Twilight Sparkle, The Element of Magic had, and for good reason. Applejack, Element of Honesty, had been put out of her job at the beginning of its most demanding task, and needed to return to her duty.

“Thanks Zecora, I’ll make sure this gets to Applejack,” Twilight said, putting away a small flask full of blue liquid in her saddlebags as she walked out the door of the zebra’s forest hut.

“That it will, for no farmer should be out of her job for just a small spill,” the mysterious zebra replied, “And you should be home before night, for very soon the forest will be filled with fright.”

“You’re right,” Twilight agreed, as she picked up a trot away from the house. “Thank you, and I’ll be careful!” The zebra smiled and closed the door. Twilight turned her head forward as she trotted through the cursed forest. Celestia’s sun was lazily dropping below the horizon, and the shadows of the thick forest became darker.

Twilight walked down the small path, watching her step and keeping an eye and ear out for whatever would spell trouble for her. After the terrifying experience she had with a cockatrice, and another with timberwolves, the young unicorn was exceptionally cautious when traveling through the Everfree at almost any given time of day, let alone at night. The purple unicorn looked behind her to see the sun had dropped below the horizon, and the final rays of the sun were receding into the horizon.

She quickened her pace, eager to leave the forest before night fell, and before the true terrors of the Everfree began their hunt. However, she still felt as though the forest’s edge was not near. Something didn’t seem right. Her trot came to an abrupt halt.

Twilight weighed her options. “What could I do?” she pondered aloud. “Turn back and stay at Zecora’s? Or am I closer to Ponyville and just simply risk it and keep going?”

She then remembered Applejack, who had sprained her ankle on the second day of harvest, far from finishing the grueling task of the apple harvest. How could her friend let her down? The Element of Magic lit her horn, and carried on through the forest.

Not long after, the moon rose, and the nightlife performed a fear-inducing symphony of noise. Off to her left, the howl of timberwolves threw Twilight into a panic. She began to run almost blindly through the thick forest. At this point, she could’ve been dinner for anything, be it a manticore, timberwolf, hydra, or any other predatory being that resided in the Everfree.
The path was rough, muddy, and laced with tree roots. It took a great amount of concentration and sheer luck to not lose her footing on the difficult path. It twisted through the trees, and gave Twilight the sense of being hopelessly lost. Mud splashed across her face and sides as she frantically darted in and out of various trees growing in the difficult road.

After several long minutes of running, the road widened. Suddenly, the woods stopped, and she was out in the open air, leaving the dreaded forest behind her. The road was now hard packed and pleasant, and gave a sweeping view of the valley and town below. Her run quickly came to a slow walk, for she had run well over a mile in record time, through harsh terrain and little training. As luck would have it, she made it out alive and unhurt.

A small, grassy knoll in front of a picturesque picket fence caught her eye as her gaze wandered from the soft lights in Ponyville. Needing rest, she dragged herself the last few hooflengths off the path and onto the cool, damp grass.

A smile crossed her face as Celestia’s personal student laid down, panting for breath. She was drenched in sweat, water, and mud from her journeys. Despite her lack of athleticism from sitting in the library most of the time, she had been able to outrun whatever may have gotten her in the dark recesses of the Everfree forest. She fell onto the grass, looking up to the stars, still gasping for breath. Luna’s night was achingly beautiful, especially in the rural outskirts of Ponyville, where no lights could hide its beauty. The moon was a small sliver of silver, barely providing luminescence to the truly magical land of Equestria.

However, unbeknownst to her, she did not go unnoticed in the Everfree. A dark shadow in the shape of a pony had followed her out of the woods and into the open, in complete and utter silence. But she was out of the woods now. After all, nothing bad happens outside of the forest, right? Right?

The shadow’s face jutted into her vision, eyes glowing red, pupils narrowed into menacing slits. Twilight froze in fright. The shadow, apparently a mare, then smiled, revealing two long and wickedly sharp canines. Twilight opened her mouth to scream, but the evil mare quickly clamped her jaws around Twilight’s neck before any sound could escape. The unicorn could not think to do anything as the mare began to suck the blood out of her. She lay there helpless, and tears began to form around her eyes. She attempted to break free, but the unicorn feeding on her was simply to powerful, and Twilight struggled to no avail. Even her powerful magic did nothing to expel the attacker.

Her vision began to fade, and her heart struggled to pump the remaining blood through her veins. In attempt to last longer, she lay perfectly still. The bloodsucking pony began to massage her neck to encourage more blood to come. But there was no doubt Twilight’s end was near. A short sentence came out of her lips as her end was coming, and could only be heard by her, “Is this how I die?”

Some say that in one’s dying moments, they can perform extraordinary feats of strength and power. The will to live to see another day is a powerful force, greater than the magic the Princesses wield to move the sun and moon through the heavens. Pushed to their limits, ponies can do amazing things. The will to survive on the verge of death can bring out the unbelievable. Moments from certain death, Twilight exhibited such feats of strength in spite of her disposition.

In a renewed effort, Twilight summoned what remained of her magic and created a burst and flash of light similar to a firecracker in the attacker’s face. She was stunned, but her jaws remained around Twilight’s neck. Twilight seized the chance and punched the foe with all her might (and rather awkwardly due to their position) right underneath her rear leg, which popped out of its joint in a sickening crack. The mare screamed, and Twilight rose up and threw her attacker clear off of her, and watched her sail through the night air. The bloodsucking monster landed near the fence, but before she could regain her footing to finish her meal, Twilight bolted towards her.

The monster rose up and half limped half charged, fangs bared, and the two met in a fury of hooves, fur, and teeth. They fell to the ground in their struggle, rolling through the damp, green grass, Twilight’s blood staining it maroon. She punched her attacker in the gut, and in return, landed a hoof straight in Twilight’s left eye. Twilight yelped and backed off, holding it as blood and tears oozed out of it. The other party used this opportunity to pin the purple unicorn to the ground once more.

The dark mare then opened her bloodstained muzzle once more to finish her. Twilight glared into the other mare’s burning eyes with her remaining eye ablaze, and screamed, “NOT TONIGHT!”

Summoning the last amount of adrenaline filled strength, she pushed her body upwards, and then kicked with all her might. The mare flew threw the air and landed near the fence.

Fighting to live, and filled with fury over her impending death, the purple mare had no hesitation in sprinting to the battered assassin. She knew it was kill or be killed, she had read up on these situations in countless adventure stories before. Twilight picked the would-be killer up by the undersides of her front legs and with a yell slammed her back onto the top of the wooden fence.

The point of the fence broke the mare’s back with a vomit-inducing crunch, and continued on until it had impaled her through, but no blood came forth. She let loose a scream that pierced the night, her back curled sharply and extremely, and she twisted and writhed. The fence broke off under her weight, and she fell to the ground, squirming under the immense pain. Her scream then faded and she went still. Then, dark arcane flames formed, and the body disappeared into a small blaze of light, leaving a small circle of singed grass and nothing more.

Twilight stood there for a few moments, thunderstruck. She stared at the scene she had helped unfold. That scream still rang in the confines of her mind. The image of the burning, impaled mare burned into her memory like a horrible nightmare. Except this nightmare was real.

Twilight then collapsed to the ground with a dull thud. The combined adrenaline rush, exhaustion, injuries and blood loss was all too much for the crippled unicorn to handle. The wound on her neck continued to bleed, her liquid of life slowly coursing out of her. Her lungs began to fill with it, and her heart did not stop pushing it out. Her left eye throbbed and her head felt as though it had been slammed in a heavy door with deliberate force.

She began to roll onto her back, but flopped back on her face. She simply could not move anymore. Her breaths became more and more ragged and the pain she was suffering finally hit her, but she hung onto life.

Twilight Sparkle continued to suffer the agonizing pain in her neck, the wound had opened the artery in her neck, and the cool night air blew her sweat into it, giving a horrid singing feeling. It was as though her neck was on fire. Her muscles began to seize up as more blood flowed out and away from her.

“Help!” she coughed out, but in the night on the edge of the Everfree, there was no pony but her. Her voice was too weak, but she tried again, only to choke on the blood pooling in her throat.

She fell into a horrible fit of coughing, blood spraying out of her mouth. She lay there, heaving, trying to hold on. The contents of her stomach emptied out great retches and spilled out along with the red liquid of life. She was still holding on, despite all the odds.

But the long, agonizing minutes she spent barely living under the clear night left her begging for death. Twilight had been bleeding out and suffering for almost half an hour. Tears stained her face as she lay facedown in the grass, a slight breeze brushing the blades around her limp form. She was alone, with no friends to help her this time. No Spike to save her, no friends to help her to the hospital.

Twilight was so close, yet so far. Fluttershy’s cottage was nearby, but out of earshot of the battle that had unfolded and the butter yellow Pegasus slept peacefully, unaware of one of her closest friends suffering an agonizingly slow death less than a half a mile away. Twilight was on Applejack’s land, but through the hundreds of the trees in the orchard no one at the house would’ve seen or heard her. Ponyville proper was no more than a mile from where she laid dying.

The unicorn had no choice but to wait even longer for the end, and seconds drew to lengthy minutes. Finally, almost an hour after her first wound on her neck, she could not hold out any longer. The unicorn took a few weak last breaths, and closed her eyes, stopping the flow of tears. After a few moments, her heart went still. Twilight Sparkle, the Student of Celestia, Element of Magic, was living no more.

Author's Note

I tried to do all the editing myself, but I'm not perfect so if anypony would be gracious enough to point out my errors that would be splendiddly and greatly appreciated. I'm not perfect, but I do take care in attempting well written pieces of work. Which this will be, if I give myself enough time. Cheers.