Even if it had been day time, even with the sun shining with all its strength, Octavia doubted that the forest would have more light. The branches intertwined as if they had a life of their own, and their leaves were as large as a full musical sheet of paper. The light of the moon was barely enough to see the path before them. Flitter and Cloudchaser even had to stop flying since they would keep hitting the branches above them.

"They should call this the Everdark forest." Cloudchaser tripped on a rock."I can't see anything."

Octavia leaded the group, or at least she tried. The ponies behind her weren't exactly going at her pace, forcing her to slow down to wait for them.

"I would suggest we move faster. The elements cannot be that far." Octavia said. "Has any of you been in this forest before?" Nopony said yes, much to her surprise. "You live right besides it and you have never been inside?" Octavia asked incredulous. The group gave awkward glances between themselves for a minute.

"Octavia, what do you know of the forest?" Minuette asked back.

"That it is one of the biggest green areas of Equestria, and that it is a rather dangerous place." The earth pony answered. "Other than that, not much. Why?"

"No wonder you were so eager." Berry laughed. "You don't know about the monsters, or the giant pony eating plants, or the large fenrir wolf that roams the place."

"But the fenrir wolf is not real. That’s just a rumor that somepony made up to scare newcomers. Why would you believe that anyway?" Minuette said.

"Minuette, I'm a bartender. I have seen and heard some things that you wouldn't even believe in your wildest dreams."

The path eventually took a downhill way between two large walls of rock. The path had thinned so much that the group was forced to walk in a line, with Octavia at the lead and Flitter at the end.

"Wow — I knew the forest was uneven, but this is amazing." Fleur said.

"These two rocks are known as the Forest's Gate. It gets dangerous past this point." Minuette explained. "We should be careful."

Unbeknownst to them, a reddish mist floated at the very top of the cliffs, watching as the six ponies walked along the path. With almost wicked glee, the mist entered through the cracks on the walls, vibrating inside the rock, slowly loosening the rocks and boulders in the walls.

Meanwhile, down below, the six ponies walked along, oblivious to the impending danger, at least until a loud rumble caught their attention.

"What is that?" Octavia asked. The rumbling increased.

"I don't know. Its sounds like a … ." Berry looked up "ROCKSLIDE!"

The six of them ran for their lives as boulders and rocks began falling around them. The thin road gave them little space to dodge to the side. Octavia ran as fast as she could, but the path and the rocks were unforgiving, and soon, a large boulder crashed on top of her, or would have, had Flitter not zoomed above her, pulling her of danger. With surprising skill, Flitter dodged all of the falling rocks, careful to not hit them with the pony in her hooves.

"Flitter, look out!" Octavia shouted. Flitter barely managed to react to the long boulder that was about to fall on top of them. She flapped her wings harder, pulling up between the rocks. After a few close calls, she managed to fly out of the gorge and danger.

"Sis! Over here!"

Flitter gently flew down, landing both herself and Octavia besides the rest of the group, who had managed to run past the rocks once Octavia and Flitter had cleared out of the way.

"Flitter, that was amazing!" Berry greeted. Octavia gathered her bearings for a few minutes, trying to understand what had just happened.

"You … ." She stood up, staring at Flitter. "You saved my life. Just like that."

"Well, you were in danger." Flitter panted. "And for a friend in need, I'm willing to give my all."

Octavia tried to come up with something else to say, but the group was already starting to move on, as if what Flitter had done was something natural. She sighed once more before joining them, once more taking the lead. None of them noticed the mist that oozed out of the rocks.

The path took them out of the gorge and back into trees. Once again, any light from the moon was heavily covered and diminished by the branches of the trees.

"I can see why nopony has any love for this forest. It is dreadful to just be here." Fleur noted. "Even the trees look menacing."

"You said it sister — I wouldn't be caught dead in here unless it was an emergency like this one." Berry said. The trees began growing larger and larger, soon growing to be nearly the size of a house. The increased room was a welcomed change from the narrow path between the cliffs.

"I bet the elements will be hidden or under some sort of secret test. It’s always like that." Cloudchaser complained.

"What makes you say that?" Minuette asked.

"Well, it’s just thats how it always happens in the novels you know? The treasure is always hidden away. Its one of the most common cliches in history."

"Cloudchaser, how dare you say that?" Fleur replied. "As a professional writer, I cannot let such a statement go by. A novel is just that, a novel, not reality, and even then, it’s not always like that. You shouldn't read cheap paperback stories."

"You are a writer?" Octavia asked.

"Indeed I am. I write a lot of things, and not just books!"

Meanwhile, above their heads, the mist placed itself between the large trees that surrounded them. Two large tendrils extended from it, both sharp as blades. In a swift motion, the tendrils slashed the top of the trees that surrounded them. The tree tops began falling one by one, all of them above the heads of our little ponies.

"I write reviews, letters, do proofreading … ."

The two mares didn't even see the falling wood until it was too late. The tops fell around them, smashing together in one big mess, missing the rest by a hairs breath. Octavia and Fleur huddled together as much as possible, doing their best to stay clear from the wood. The disaster soon ended, but the damage was done.

Octavia was trapped, while Fleur had her tail completely tangled with a branch

"How did this even happened!?" Barry asked as she tried in vain to pull a few logs away.

"There's no way to get her out from above." Cloudchaser landed on top of the mess. It was covered in branches.

"But, that means she is trapped!" Fleur said, trying to pull the branch from her tail. "What do we do?!"

Octavia moved around the small cage. There was no way she would be able to push the logs, and the branches above her were just out of reach. No matter which way she looked at it, she was indeed trapped. A sense of defeat started crawling inside of her. A small thought popped in her head as she heard the other ponies outside. She didn't want to do this. She really didn't want to do this. But she had no choice.

The Warlock Stallion had to be stopped.

"Girls!" She shouted from inside the wooden cage. "You have to go on without me!"

"What!?" The twins asked.

"What are you talking about!?" Berry shouted. Fleur and Minuette were no different.

"Listen. The Warlock Stallion has to be stopped no matter what. Go and find the elements! It is the only way!"

"But, what about you?" Fleur asked.

"I'll be fine. Doing this is more important. You can get me out on the way back. Now hurry."

"But-" Flitter started. But Octavia interrupted her.

"Go!"

Reluctantly and one by one, four ponies started walking away, their walk slow and unsure. But one of them didn't move. One of them refused to accept this. And she was going to change it no matter what.

"No." Minuette said firmly. The other four stopped on their tracks.

"What do you mean no!?" Octavia shouted. "You have to go now! Time is wasting!"

"We are not leaving you behind Octavia. Either we all do this or we don't do this at all." Minuette answered. "Cloudchaser, get me on top of the trap."

Cloudchaser did as told, grabbing Minuette and hovering above the wooden mess. Minuette stared intently at the branches. She was a clockmaker, which meant one thing: A nearly flawless ability to spot weak spots in constructs. With her magic, Minuette focused on four key spots, breaking them with a powerful spell.

"Now, Flitter, Fleur, lift the branches up."

The two mares did as asked, throwing the wood away. Berry climbed to the edge and helped Octavia out of the trap. Cloudchaser dropped Minuette with the rest before landing herself.

"Thank — Thank you Minuette." Octavia said. Minuette smiled.

"It was nothing. How could I ever leave a friend behind?" Minuette then turned to the road. "We should get moving. Something tells me staying still is a bad idea."

And she couldn't have been more right, for as they resumed their quest, the dark red mist cursed its luck before moving on to follow the ponies.

It had to stop them no matter what.

Author's Note

Mist with wood cutting tentacles.

Rule of cool anyone?