Tyoeman

At first there is silence when you call out to the light. Everything is quiet and a sense of peace and goodness starts to filter it's way through your mind. The anxiousness and fear and feelings of defilement start to disappear and as all that goes on the light starts to clear away. After what feels like ages and ages the light disappears entirely. As you look around you cannot even begin to describe the beauty and vividness of the landscape around you. You are on top of some kind of mountain but the landscape is foreign to you, it's like no place you've ever seen and everything gives off a celestial aura. The trees are greener than green, the rocks a color you can't even describe, the sky a shade of blue you've never perceived before. There are clouds of the whitest white around you and below you and as you look upon the celestial landscape you see something in the distance. A black speck appears in the distance. It starts to get closer and closer. As it becomes more visible you can see the flapping of wings from a pegasus, but more graceful than any pegasus you have ever seen. As the pegasus gets closer and closer you can see that he is big, very big. He looks you in the eye and you can tell that he can peer into you soul. With the grace of five Celestias the pegasus lands in front of you. He is no ordinary pegasus, he stands taller than any pony you have ever known. He looks more powerful than the strongest Earth pony you have ever met, which is odd for a pegasus. He has a long flowing black as night mane and his equally black coat is shiny and healthy looking. You feel a great peace and goodness come from this Pegasus, he looks down to you and smiles, and he says: "Hello Shadow Chaser, I am Pegasus, the god of Pegasi and the father of Princesses Celestia and Luna. I have called you here for something very important." ____________________________________________________________________________ Carrick, after some time, what seems like centuries, you hear a loud bang on the barn door. You hear a few more bangs and then a loud KA-THUNK and the door slowly opens to the early dawn of the farm. The two guards that brought you here yesterday walk in with jeers on their faces. "Hey buddy time to get up, Applejack is here to give you some apple pie." the two guards laugh and roughly bring you to your hooves and start dragging you away like tey did the day before. They bring you out to a deserted part of the farm that is close to the Everfree forest. Around you you see baskets set up under the apple trees. "You buck all these apples in a few hours and we will make sure that we won't beat you too much." one of the guards said. And with that they galloped away leaving you to your task.

One of the guards goes behind you and starts to nudge you and he says: "Everything is fine there. You don't have to worry, the Apple Family will welcome you, maybe make you a pie." The guard in front of you looks at you with a weird look in his eyes.. "Don't worry I think they'll be happy to see you, maybe you could buck some apples for them." the guard in the front says. Both of the guards get beside you and squeeze you between them. You can't move and you are lifted off the ground as they walk with you in between them. They walk to the gate of Sweet Apple Acres and it immediately looks much different than it used to. The Apple Family house looks to be abandoned, you see ponies that are moving differently from the ponies in town. They seem to have a naturalness to them and none of them seem like they are being controlled like the others do. But you see them working the fields and bucking apples from apple trees. All of them are exhausted and emaciated. "Sweet Apple Acres hasn't changed has it?" he says this sarcastically and mockingly. "We'll get you some apple pie." they laugh at you and carry you over to the barn. They open the door and throw you in, shutting the door behind them and laughing as you are cast into utter darkness.

The guards looked at each other, for a moment. Then they looked back at Carrick with a wicked smile on their faces. "You say that you used to live here huh? Sweet Apple Acres is...fine. Yeah, yeah we'll take you to Sweet Apple Acres just follow us, we'll escort you." The guards stand on either side of you and start leading you down to the farm.

As you walk down the street towards Sweet Apple Acres, a few guards notice you. They walk up to you and ask: "You are a newcomer? Why are you heading this way? The hotel is that way." The guard looks very angry.

The carpet that Hazey kicked off of the loft lands on Coal, and covers him up. As Spirit looks out the window and tries to make heads or tails of what is going on, Hazey glides down from the loft. "Shadow," Hazey said shakily to him, "They forced you to become that...that...." Hazey couldn't find the words. "It wasn't your fault, they dragged you kicking and screaming into the town hall and cast their spells on you. It feels terrible I know. Like your brain being flattened by a rolling pin. You have to believe me. I saw all of it from the beginning. We must stop this evil and make Ponyville a good place again." Shadow looked at Hazey breathing hard, fear and confusion in his eyes. "How do I know that we still aren't under the spell. How do I know that you are Hazey." Shadow turned and put his hooves on Hazey's shoulders. Hazey shrank back a bit. "Tell me Hazey, please." He stared deep into her eyes. "Shadow you have to believe me. You know what I'm saying is true." Hazey said quietly and nervously. "I saw you brainwash dozens of ponies, but I knew it wasn't you I met you before you were turned. You weren't like what they made you." Shadow backed away from Hazey, shaking his head. It was all true, but he couldn't be sure that he was out of the effects of the spell. He couldn't be sure of anything. Spirit looked at Hazey and Shadow. He suddenly remembered that he had actually been in Ponyville for a few days. And that Shadow had cast the spell on him. So he looked over to Hazey and asked: "What happened, why are there trees out of the windows that weren't there before?" he asked. Coal answered, throwing the carpet to the floor a little anxiously. "We are in the Everfree forest, whatever that was must have transported us here along with the house." Spirit and Hazey were a little shocked. "The Everfree Forest." Spirit said dryly. "But where in the Everfree Forest?" Spirit walked over to the door and opened it. He saw the utter gloominess and darkness of the forest. He remembered passing through the forest on the train and noting how dark it was then, it was much much darker here. "We must be in the middle of this place." Spirit said uneasily. He noticed the mound of skulls outside the door and the howls and grunts coming from the gloominess. Spirit noticed all the rusted armor around the skulls. "The guards, these must be their bodies." Spirit cautiously walked out of the house to take a closer look. "No don't go out!" Hazey called after Spirit. She hesitated a moment and flew out after him without really thinking. She stood on the porch and called to Spirit: "Please spirit come back in, we don't know what monsters there are this deep in the forest." Spirit stopped at the mound the skulls seemed as if they were looking at him, sending chills up and down his spine. Hazey looked around frantically and cautiously glided over to Spirit. As Hazey was gliding a peculiar thing started to happen to the house. It was glowing. The house glowed brighter and brighter lighting up the area and making many different eyes and shapes appear in the trees and then scurry away. Then as it reached a level of brightness to the Sun the house vanished (don't worry Shadow and Coal I have an idea). Spirit stared in disbelief, Hazey in shock. Hazey started to panic. She started to fly erratically and Spirit would have almost lost her if he hadn't snapped out of his shock in time. He grabbed Hazey by the tail with his magic. Hazey tried in vain to fly away. "Let me go, let me go!" Hazy said frantically. Spirit was on the verge of panicking himself and grabbed her as more of a reaction than trying to keep here there. "Calm down Hazey. Calm down Hazey! CALM DOWN HAZEY!" Spirit yelled almost losing it himself. After a few minutes of Hazey fluttering around trying to escape Spirit's magic she calmed down. "My house! Coal! Shadow!" Hazey exclaimed. "I know Hazey. We need to stay calm." Spirit let the magic off of Hazey's tail and she almost dropped to the ground, catching herself before hitting the ground. She walked sullenly over to Spirit "What do we do now Spirit?" "I don't know," he didn't "let's just be on the lookout for any monsters while I try to think of something." Spirit nervously sat down and tried to think. Hazey's eyes flitted around to try to see if anything was sneaking up on them or ready to pounce. The howls and grunts started again. Suddenly a thought came to Hazey, she could fly up above the canopy and see if she could find out where they were. Without telling Spirit Hazey took off and flew above the tall trees. The sun was bright and she was blinded for a few seconds before she could make anything out. As her eyes cleared she looked around. All she could see was miles and miles of forest. This filled her with fear and she was about to bolt until she thought about Spirit being left alone in the forest. She flew down through the trees and walked over to Spirit who hadn't even noticed she was gone. "I flew above the trees, and it looks like we are in the middle of the forest." Hazey said shakily. Spirit looked at her a worried and fearful look on his face. "How are we going to get out of here?" he asked, Hazey gave a nervous shrug. Spirit paced around for a bit then a sudden realization came to him. "Where was the Sun in the sky?" he asked Hazey. She thought for a moment. "It was straight up." Hazey said with a frown. This seemed to deflate Spirit. and he bucked the air behind him. Out of the corner of her eye Hazey saw something. She looked over in the direction and saw something white walking their way. Hazey stood there not really knowing what to do. "Spirit." She walked over to him and pointed with her hoof. Spirit looked and saw it too and he picked up an old helmet that was lying on the ground. "I'll help you fight it to the best of my ability." Hazey nervously got ready to charge it and sprawled out her wings for the attack. As the white thing got closer it looked less and less hostile, in fact it wasn't a monster it was a mare! A young looking white mare earth pony with a golden blond mane and a Daisy cutiemark walked up to Spirit and Hazey. A feeling of goodness and generosity seemed to flow from the mare. She looked at Hazey and then Spirit with a small smile on her face. "Hello everypony." the mare said cheerfully. "I just noticed that you seemed lost and since I live around here I could show you how to get to where you want to go." "How could you live in a place like this? In the middle of the Everfree Forest?" Spirit asked. The mare looked at Sprit an thought a moment. "Well let's just say that I have a way with the animals around here." The smile became warmer and more cheerful. "Now where did you want to go Mr....?" She asked Spirit "Uh, Dr. Spritus, er uh just Spirit." "And you young lady?" She asked Hazey. "Blue Haze, but everyone calls me Hazey." Hazey thought that the mare calling her young was a bit odd as she looked almost the same age as her. "My name is Daisy Oaktree and I'm glad to meet all of your acquaintance. I suppose you would like a way out of here?" She looked between Spirit and Hazey with a look of true concern on her face. "Well yes Daisy. we would and since you seem to live around here could you tell us why there is a mound of skulls?" Spirit getting a little up in arms and distrustful. Daisy looked over to Spirit, a look of sadness on her face. "They are remnants of great fighting stallions and royal guards cut down by a great evil." She paused for a moment and the warm smile that was on her face reappeared and she said: "Well if you want to find the way out just follow me to my house and I'll show you how to navigate through this part of the forest." She looked at both of them again and turned and started trotting off. Hazey looked to Spirit and said: "This could be a trap Spirit." Spirit sighed "I know but she seems genuine to me and I get a strange feeling of goodness from her, I don't think that she has any ill will towards us." "I feel the same, but nopony has ever been this deep in the forest before. Maybe she is some kind of new monster that lures unsuspecting ponies into her den and eats them?" Hazey was right, they didn't know. Spirit replied: "I know but what do you want us to do, wander around aimlessly until a Cockatrice or some other hideous monster devours us? My gut tells me that this mare is good." Daisy walked up to both of them and said: "Come along you two, I don't bite." Daisy chuckled Spirit looked to Hazey and shrugged. Hazey got an angry look on her face and said: "Fine let's go, and when we are being boiled in a pot and being mixed with leeks I won't say I told you so." Hazey trotted behind Daisy a little huffily. Spirit quickly followed hoping to Celestia that Hazey was wrong. After about ten or fifteen minutes walking through the almost utter darkness and twilight filled with fear at every grunt and scurrying sound just beyond their line of sight, a small cottage came into view. It wasn't very big and a sweet aroma of pies and cakes was wafting its way out of the house. Daisy walked up to the door and opened it. She turned back to Spirit and hazey and beckoned with her hoof. "Come in, I'll make some tea and lemonade for you." Spirit gulped and walked into the cottage. Hazey covered her eyes with her hooves so she didn't have to see her new friend die. After a few moments she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Hazey took her hooves off her eyes and saw that it was Spirit. he was holding two glasses of lemonade with his magic sipping one with a straw. "Hazey it's okay, here have some lemonade." he held out the glass for her to take. Hazey sniffed the drink, it smelled like very fragrant lemonade, the kind her grandmother used to make. It put a smile on her face and she grabbed the glass with her hoof. As she took her first sip, happy memories from her childhood came back to her and replaced all the bad ones for a moment. She smiled at Spirit and said "My grandma used to make lemonade like this. It was her specialty." Hazey walked into the cottage with Spirit following behind her. She looked to Daisy, feeling a little ashamed and apologized. "I'm sorry Daisy for doubting you, it's just that we are in the middle of the Everfree Forest and who knows what kind of monsters are around here." Daisy nodded and said: "Apology accepted young lady, if I were in your position I would probably do the same." She smiled her warm smile "Now I have some Zap Apple Pie if you were so inclined to partake of some, or maybe some Peach Cobbler?" without waiting for an answer she went over to the small kitchen and started to grab some of each for both Hazey and Spirit. As both of them look around the cottage they can't help but notice how peaceful and serene the place is, not to mention cozy and inviting. There were plush stools for sitting on along with an overstuffed couch by the fire. The fragrant smell of different pastries and delicious drinks hot and cold curled through the air. On a small table by the couch Daisy set the pieces of pie and cobbler and two more glasses of lemonade. "Come sit, I will tell you what you need to know but you both look quite hungry." her warm smile seemed warmer by the cozyness of the cottage. Spirit and Hazey sat on the couch and dug in. Spirit had never had Zap Apple Pie before and when he took his first bite he was in heaven. Of all the fancy desserts and pastries and gourmet coffees that he had ever had this was hundreds of times better than he could have ever imagined a dessert to be. Hazey had had Zap Apple Pie before, even from Granny Smith herself, which was the best Zap Apple Pie she had ever had ever. But this, she was a little ashamed to admit, was better than even Granny Smith could manage. Spirit looked at his empty plate and up to Daisy. "Could I maybe have another piece of pie ma'am?" he wasn't sure why he was being so formal but he wasn't really thinking about it at the moment. "I'm sorry but that was all the pie I had left."Daisy said, again smiling her smile. Both Hazey and Spirit frowned after she had said that. "Now on to how to get out of here." Daisy looked at Spirit as she said that. "It just so happens that I have a map, it's a little old but I think it should hold up, as not much has changed around this area of the forest in quite some time." She walked over to the mantle and opened a small chest that contained some rolled up parchment that she held in her mouth and brought over to Spirit to look at. Spirit unrolled the map and looked at its contents. It was indeed a map that led them straight out of the forest from the cottage and to Canterlot or Ponyville or any number of small towns and hamlets. "This map should help you to find where you need to go. Now I'm sure that you both need to be getting along." Spirit looked to Hazey and said: "You know She's right." Hazey nodded in agreement. They got up and headed for the door. Hazey turned and said to Daisy: "Thank you so much for your hospitality Daisy. Is there any way we can repay you?" Daisy thought for a moment. "Well if you visit the Princess i would like you to ask her how my Husband is doing. He's a royal guard you see and doesn't have too much time to come home. His name is Chester." "We will make sure to ask and we will send a bird or letter to let you know." Hazey said smiling. "Thank you very much young lady. Goodbye and may your travels be safe. If you stick to the path you won't get attacked, remember that." With one last smile from Daisy she slowly shut the door to the cottage. As Spirit and Hazey stand outside they can hear her humming a cheerful tune as she gets to work on something delicious. Spirit looked to Hazey. "She was very kind. Not as many ponies in Manehattan like her unfortunately. Too bad really." Spirit looked up at the thick canopy and as they were both walking away all the bad memories and recent events came back to the both of them, putting grim looks on both their faces. "I really wish Shadow and Coal were here right now." Hazey said sadly. "Me too," Spirit hung his head at the mention of their names. "All we can do is try to find out what happened to them, what happened to us. That is why we need to go to Canterlot and speak with the Princess. I know that she will be able to help us and find out how we can get this great evil out of Ponyville and Equestira." Hazy looked at Spirit with doubt and anger. "The last time I saw the Princess was at the start of this whole mess. She came to Ponyville when the first tendrils of the spell were controlling the minds of some of the Ponyvillians. She said she would study it and almost ten years later, she has never showed up to stop it. When I was trapped in my mind by whatever evil was controlling the town and feeding the new mayor power,I prayed and hoped she would come but she never showed her face." Hazey said embittered. Spirit looked back at her. "I'm sure there is a reason, maybe she's also under the spell. Ever think of that?" Spirit said getting annoyed with all the Celestia bashing that had been going on recently. Hazey looked away and said shortly: "No, I hadn't." Spirit sighed and looked ahead. For quite a while they walked in silence Spirit checking the map and Hazey going over all the memories that had recently come back to her. After a few hours they reached a thinner and more manageable part of the forest that seemed to be somewhat safer (at least for the Everfree Forest) and they decided to rest at a small pond. It was mid afternoon as they were resting, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings. Spirit went to drink some water from the pond after casting a bacteria and microbe finding spell that he had learned in med school. and as he looked at his reflection he noticed the blood dried on his face. Daisy hadn't mentioned it to them and he had almost gotten used to seeing the blood on Hazey's face to make a fuss about it. He took some of the water up with his magic and proceeded to wipe it off his face. Hazey saw what he was doing and that reminded her too, she also washed the blood off her face. After about a half hour they decided to keep on going. When it was late afternoon, almost evening, the path took them very close to Ponyville. They could see from the edge of the forest that there were many many guards on duty looking to see that no other ponies had been freed from the spell. The ponies that were left in the town were moving along unnaturally, almost like zombies. Spirit looked to Hazy, she had tears in her eyes, and she said: "Let's keep going." "I agree Hazey but we don't have much sunlight left we need to set up a sort of shelter and I don't know how far from town we're going to get." "Let's just go." Hazey was trying to hold back all the anger and resentment and tears at seeing Ponyville while she was free. Suddenly they heard hoofsteps and the clink of armor. Swiftly they hid in the bushes and a few seconds later a guard came around a tree, obviously on patrol. He looked in their direction but fortunately took no notice of them and walked in the opposite direction. "I know where we can hide." said Hazey "There is an old treehouse on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. It's overgrown and I've hidden in there before the last time I was lucid. The guards found me when I was trying to sneak into the barn to steal some apples." Spirit nodded in approval and they stealthily made their way to the treehouse. It was dusk once they reached it. It was a stones throw from the edge of the Everfree Forest but they were certain that they would not get attacked. They walked up the rotting ramp into the small treehouse. Once inside they saw in the dim and fading light washed out pictures and childish drawings of a bule colored pony with a rainbow mane. Spirit wondered who could have taken these pictures and made the drawings but he was so tired from the long and frightful day that the second he layed down he passed out. Hazey saw that Spirit passed out and she realized how tired she was. She layed her head down to rest, still contemplating the great evil that was heaped on her life and everypony in town and how Coal and Shadow were teleported somewhere where she hoped wasn't hell on earth. A few seconds after that she was fast asleep.

As you huddle in the corner of your loft Hazey, through the shock you realize that your mind seems freer. Memories that you didn't know that you had start filtering through your mind. You seem to remember it all now, you remember half of the townsfolk leaving because the other half were slowly coming under some sort of spell that nobody knew what the source was. You remember some of the "guards" grabbing you and holding you down while they implanted false memories with what looked like a kind of wand into your head along with dozens of other ponies. You happened to have memories of dissent planted into you as to make it seem more real, more plausible. You remember the rise of the mayor, the fight that broke out between the townspeople and the "guards". You also remember when you became lucid once and tried to run, which ended with you being accosted by a "guard" and made to work the land at Sweet Apple Acres until you passed out from exhaustion. You also remember seeing when Shadow came into town, and how on the first day he was not under the affect of the mind control and you saw him get carried bucking and biting into Town Hall and afterwards you saw him used to make others fall under the spell more easily (Shadow you start to remember that your fist day you remember coming into town was fabricated and you start to remember all the ponies you set under the spell). This flood of memories coming back to you, Hazey, puts tears in your eyes that cut through the blood running down your face.

As you open the door Coal, you look out and to your utter shock and surprise you see that you are in a particularly dark and thick part of the Everfree forest. Just beyond the line of trees surrounding the house you hear rustling and various chilling howls and grunts. The trees have a different quality than in the sparser parts of the forest, there are older and more gnarled trees, along with very large trees that seem to reach for the heavens. The tree canopy is so thick that very little light is coming through to the ground, and even when it does, it is only pinpoints of light. Immediately in front of the house you see something quite gruesome; a pile of skulls and strewn about it are pieces of rusted armor and helmets. You hear ghostly whispers as you stare at the skulls.