private Shifted: The Remake

[Flow 1,619]

"Oh you're very welcome!" Magenta beamed. "But I didn't know all this when I first got here. I was actually able to regain most of my memories from this wonderful zebra lady who lives in there," she pointed towards the Everfree Forest. "I didn't actually have to go in there, though. She just kinda found me out here. She told me not to go there, that it was too dangerous..." After thinking for a moment, her eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey, maybe she can help everyone here! All we have to do is go in--" Magenta's cheerfulness quickly faded as she realized the Everfree Forest was mostly impassible...

 

"So your talking about that...forest? Hmm," Starry stopped to think , then she spoke again, "I guess I'd rather go seek help from this...zebra-person I mean pony no....um....never mind, but yes I'd like to go see her rather than go to that city of Canterlot to see this...Princess Celestia, to tell you the truth, I actually doubt that she knows about this, that we were humans." She turned and approached the red pony next.

 

@@Legendary Emerald,

 

"Uh... Just call me Starry Sky, and.....Um, If you would, I'd like to...uh....join you, I want to see this zebra too, I believe she can help us so um....may I come along?" She asked, hoping that she says yes, however her hopes seem dim because of their first encounter, an awkward one when she asked her a question but left after getting frightened by her looks.

 

@,

 

Next she turned to the tan pony when a green tint on the her eyes caught Starry's attention, it creeped her out as she watched her grunt in pain for a bit before it subsided, "Wh... what's... what was that?" She asked, then Starry reluctantly told her "..Um..Y-your eyes...they turned...g-green for a while," She pondered on that mysterious occurrence, "This world of ponies is creeping me out..." she thought.

 

@,

 

Next, she saw the magenta colored pony hugging on the back of the Fedora wearing pony, screaming for help, her thoughts at that were "Huh? Could this be? Could this be.... the first step of l- No Starry! Cut that out! You can't be serious, they're p-ponies, b-but, animals still can ma- Forget it, we need to find this zebra and fast!"

Edited August 17, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

[Dave247 568]

Day heard the intentions of going to Canterlot Castle which he assumed must be the capitol because the Princess was there. He agreed that this would be a good course of action but he felt uncomfortable to announce this to the group and as they don't know him he thought they wouldn't really care anyway.

 

He also heard a few ponies wanting to go into the forest. He looked into the dark, eery depts of the forest and shivered. He hated the dark and started to feel nervous of just the thought of going in there. In the back of his mind though, something was nagging him that if anyponies decided to go in he should go with them. This only made him feel more uncomfortable and he decided he should do something to try and change his thoughts.

 

He noticed that the icy blue female pony that he heard had suffered the gender swap was looking somewhat disgruntled that she had continuously been ignored and felt really bad for not talking to her when she first arrived.

"Well, now's a better time then never. It will also help take my mind off the idea of going deeper into the forest" he thought, as he walked up behind her and tried to get her attention away from the group by tapping her on her back with his hoof.

 

@@Ice Storm

"Err... Hi, Ice Storm was it? I overheard you say it earlier. I think it really suits you by the way." Day said with a nervous smile.

"I'm really sorry for not going over and talking to you when you arrived, I wanted to but... you'll probably think this sounds silly but... I don't like talking in groups much, it makes me nervous. Especially when I don't know anyone. I much prefer one on one conversations like were having now, their much more personal in my opinion and are less stressful for me. Please forgive me." Day said and looked down at the ground feeling ashamed with himself. He should have ignored his stress earlier and made an effort to talk to her anyway.

 

 

Day then heard another shriek of noise but this time from a pony. He quickly looked up to see Artsy's horn glowing a bright crimson colour and then see a burst of energy also crimson coloured erupt from her horn into the direction of the forest.

 

He then noticed that the sky had darkened, and looked up to see the treetops were covered by a dark cloud. He cringed, and his heart began to pound as he thought it was the black cloud from his nightmares. Focusing on the cloud though he noticed that it was moving, almost as if it was alive.

 

There was also a loud buzzing and clicking noise coming from it and as he looked closely at the cloud, he could make out what looked like the body of oddly shaped gigantic insects, hundreds of them swarming over the forest. Listening more closely to the noise it started to sound like voices, as if they were conversing with each other.

 

Adding to all that, Day then heard familiar voices screaming out for help and realized that he was living out a part of his own nightmare. He now felt terrified and began to shake in fear.

 

He dropped to the ground, still shaking, and closed his eyes while covering his ears with his hooves to try block everything out. It didn't work though, as he could still see and hear insects swarming as well as the screaming inside his head.

He knew and dreaded what was coming next. The outline of the face appeared and he could hear the evil laugh over all the other noise. This time time it was slightly different though, the face looked more insect like and the laugh sounded more like a buzz too. Day was furiously shaking by this point and wished it would all just end. The was a sudden flash of bright light and then... nothingness.

 

Day removed his hooves from his ears, opened his eyes and looked up. The sky was clear again and everything was silent.

He stood up and looked around at the other ponies in the group. He saw by there shocked and horrified faces that he wasn't the only one to see all that.

[Electrobolt 2,068]

@

 

Although Electrobolt was letting his thoughts distract him from what was going on with the ponies around him, one sound quickly snapped him back into reality - the sound of a painful shout. Quickly lifting his head and looking around, he had then noticed the first pony that he had seen - the tan-colored pony with the horn - had a crimson light glowing around her horn. "Wha... What is going on...?" he nervously asked, not really expecting anyone to respond to him. Before he realized it, though, the unicorn let out a shriek as the light grew more intense, causing him to jump a little. He didn't know what to do, nor did he even know what was going on. He just stood there, scared of what was happening right now. It was then that he began to hear a buzzing sound, as he started looking around worriedly, not knowing what it was until he saw these strange creatures popping out of the forest that seemed to be close-by.

 

@, @

 

It was at this moment when he looked around at the group, seeing that a large number of them had seen all of this happen, if not all of them. He then looked back to the sky, seeing that all those bug-like creatures had seemingly disappeared into thin air. Shaking his head, Electrobolt thought, *Did... Did I just imagine that...? No... No, if I did... Why would they all have been looking up to the sky at the same time...? But still... What WERE those things...?* Shaking his head as he looked around some more, he looked around at the group again, before seeing the pink-and-purple pony hiding behind the pony with the cool-looking fedora on his head. *Hahah... I don't know why, but... He looks pretty cool... Probably the fedora...* he thought to himself, smiling a little at the sight of the fedora-wearing pony. He then recalled the pony that he was talking to at first was still hiding behind him, so he slowly approached the two, his legs not wobbling as he moved, feeling successful inside as he was slowly getting used to his new body, before he stopped close to them. "Um... Are... Are you alright...?" he asked the pink-and-purple pony, still not knowing what her name was.

[Aureity 3,055]

Aurora watched casually as the other ponies milled around, volunteering eagerly for the expedition to Canterlot. She still had a few misgivings about the reliability of the group (they were just so strange!), but she hid them in her heart. It wasn't their fault that they forgot how to walk. Her brain was already planning out the items that she'd have to buy when they arrived in Ponyville - surely they'd need a tent...a lantern...a map....there goes a month's worth of savings, she thought nonchalantly. But if it helps them get their memories back, a few bits is a small price to pay.

 

She turned an ear back to the group just in time to hear somepony suggest a new route, a route through the Everfree Forest. Her stomach turned over - surely they weren't serious? Th-there's no way I'm guiding them through the Everfree! Not for all the bits in the world... She opened her mouth hesitantly to tell the group just how bad of an idea that was, but was distracted by a flash of scarlet light that made her wince. Wh-what was that? Rubbing her eyes, Aurora took the time to look over the tan mare that had created it, somepony that Aurora didn't think she had introduced herself to before.

 

Aurora was about to focus her attention back to the group, but realized that the ponies in front of her were no longer chatting animatedly but looking confusedly at each other, trying to find the source of the flash. Suddenly, there was a squeak of horror, and one of the ponies pointed a quivering hoof at the forest ahead. A slow black cloud had begun ascending from the treetops of the Everfree forest, blotting out the very sun and silencing the wildlife within. The birds stopped chirping, and Aurora stared, openmouthed with horror, as the cloud began to drift apart, revealing a composition of midnight-black insects, beating their translucent blue wings and glaring at her with horribly demonic eyes. For a wild second, she could smell smoke, and see tinders crashing to the ground around her, before the illusion faded from her sight. But the insects, if they could be called that, remained hovering over the treetops, a thousand leering eyes piercing into her soul. Her hooves quivered, and her brain turned icy cold.

 

And that ear-splitting, mind-numbing buzzing noise, deafening to the point where only one other sound seemed to be able to drown it out...

 

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Her brain locked down in instant panic. Her heart thumped violently against her chest, almost forcing her to choke, and her hooves flailed against the grassy ground, kicking up sod meters into the air for a heart-stopping split-second before she remembered how to run. Squeezing her eyes tightly in a futile attempt to drown out the haunting image branded into her memory, Aurora Flare instinctively bolted for her life, trampling her picnic basket flat as she sprinted across the clearing that had, a minute ago, seemed so inviting. She ran through the group of ponies, not caring what they thought of her, indeed, not caring about anything at all but escape.

 

Soon, soft, lush grass gave way to dried leaves and small stones. Branches whipped past Aurora's face, leaving short, stinging scratches. The accumulation of years of rotting leaves on the ground crunched underneath her pounding hooves, but she had no time to stop to think about where she was. Only instinct guided her through the maze of trees that made straight running almost impossible. The buzzing noise had stopped, and the only sound Aurora could hear anymore was that of her heavy breathing, and her frantically beating pulse. H-hang on. Where am I?

 

WHAM! A second later, she was lying, dazed, on the forest floor, her head throbbing so painfully that it felt like she was being branded with a hot iron. Make it stop, make it stop...but there was nothing she could do other than sob and curl up tightly as she waited for the pain to seep away, degree by degree. After a few excruciating minutes on the ground, dry leaves sticking to her white fur, she managed to lift her head and open her eyes, and could just make out the dim shape of a dark gray tree through the film of tears on her eyes. "Ugh..." With a slight groan, Aurora rolled to her hooves, and shakily rose, squinting her eyes to make out her surroundings. Light was virtually nonexistant, but through the dim haze Aurora could make out the shape of many other trees nearby, their dark trunks blending in with the gloomy mist that seeped through the forest.

 

D-don't tell me...

 

She was lost in the Everfree forest.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Aureity
Derpy Error

[Ice Storm 1,020]

With a small tap on the shoulder, Ice turned to golden colored colt that had approached her and began talking to her. She was a bit surprised, at first as it was beginning to be apparent that no pony here wanted to talk to her, but here he was actively engaging in conversation with her. perhaps some of these ponies aren't bad after all, she thought to herself as she listened to him. He told her that he thought the name that she had come up with was very fitting for her, which made her both smile and blush for some reason she really wasn't sure why. He also told her that he had meant to talk to her earlier but that he didn't do all that well in large groups, and especially in groups that he didn't know.

 

@@Dave247,

 

"Thanks, and it's okay. Surprisingly enough I was the same way back at home. But I use to watch the show that was based off of this setting religiously and I knew that most of the ponies here were a lot more decent and approachable than most of humanity was. When I first approached everyone here, I hadn't known that they were transformed humans as well until I heard of the cracks. If I had, I might have been more hesitant to approach them," she told him. "Now that I have though I plan on helping where ever I can, especially to the ponies that have shown me friendship and kindness. Just like..." she started to say before she started to hear screams. She turned to look and saw the tan pony that seemed to be going through some sort of weird effect.

 

As soon as she heard that though she heard the buzzing and clicking coming from the forest and then saw a massive cloud of insect like things in the sky. Wait, I've seen these before... I can't remember what they are... but I've seen them in the show... When she saw that they were starting to come towards the group it was time to move. That was a big no no. Ice bolted over towards the front of the group putting herself in between these insectoids and the group preparing her ice magic. If there was one thing she knew about Ice from all the video games she played as a human, was that it was just as deadly of a weapon as it was useful as a tool. Sure she wouldn't be able to take out an entire swarm of these things, but she might be able to by the group some time to get away.

 

Just as quickly as they appeared though, they were gone. This caught Ice completely off guard and she started to look around in every direction. This couldn't be good, that many things don't just disappear. She tried to make sense of everything that she had pieced together. She knew that she had seen whatever those were in the show, but she can't place them and it was starting to both anger her and make her slightly afraid. She began to thing about what would happen if Ice didn't work on these things.

 

Her thoughts were interrupted though as Aurora bolted past her. "Aurora!!!" she yelled but she was lost in her own thought and bolted straight into the forest where those things had come from and most likely where they were to be hiding. "This isn't good," she said as she started in that direction. "Come on! We have to help her. With those things possibly being in that forest it's a death trap for a single pony to be in there alone. We have to get her out of there," she said as she turned and bolted towards the forest not even waiting for a reply knowing that she probably wasn't even going to get one anyway. So rather tha wasting time, she moved.

 

@@Aureity,

 

She tried to keep her eyes on the hoof trails that Aurora had left, but while running it wasn't that easy. It was however fairly easy to follow the trail of broke tree limbs from where she had run through some of the smaller branches. After a few about a minute of running she found the white mare in a small clearing. It was misty, dark, and dreary. This location Ice knew with a passion. There were in the Everfree Forest. "Well that only made my assumptions earlier correct, this definitely isn't a place for a pony to be in alone," she said aloud as she approaching the other mare in the dimly lit area. Ice thought of how she could help at the moment.

 

She then remembered that she was a unicorn! She remembered most unicorns in the show having a minor lighting spell! She didn't know how to work it, but she knew that when she thought ice, and funneled energy into her horn, she could control the ice. Perhaps she could light things up like that. It was worth the shot. She tried to think of light to try and make her horn light up and it started to light with magic, she managed to get it to work for a few seconds, but she had to release it almost immediately. For some reason casting the simple light spell felt like it required a lot more energy than it should have. She used the ice magic by the pond and she wasn't even affected, and she had ice charged for what she thought was an on coming attack. Yet this light spell that she only had on for a couple seconds left her winded.

 

Catching her breath she walked over to Aurora. "Aurora, are you okay? It's me, Ice Storm. I saw you running into the forest,, and I followed behind you. No way was I going to let a friend go into a place like this alone, especially if those whatever the hell they were things are still in the forest. Can you move? anything broken?" she asked genuinely concerned.

[Dave247 568]

Day then noticed the smaller white unicorn bolt off into the forest, probably out of fear he guessed. He then hear Ice Storm call out "Aurora!", which he guessed must be her name before bolting in after her.

 

He then froze, that thought of going into the forest came back into his mind and screamed at him to follow, but he knew that it would be terribly dark in there. Adrenaline then kicked in, and he made the split decision to chase after Ice Storm.

 

Day ran as fast as he could, making sure not to lose sight of Ice storm in the distance. The further he went into the forest, the darker it became but he ignored that for the moment, only focusing on catching up to the other two ponies.

 

He then saw Ice slow down at come to a stop. He could barely see her because of all the darkness though but her ice blue coat stood out against all the black which gave him something to focus on.

He then saw the area light up around her for a few seconds and managed to catch a glimpse of Aurora curled up on the ground. He continued on until he was close to the group and slowed down to a walk.

 

Adrenaline starting to fade, he then realized how dark it was around him and froze in fear. Day remembered seeing Ice storm managing to use a light spell briefly and thought this was his only hope. He concentrated on only picture of light he had, the one had the end of his nightmare.

He could feel energy pulsating though his horn and sparks begin to come from it. It lit up a bright White colour before a flash of light erupted from it and blinded him for a few seconds.

 

When his eyes recovered, he could feel a gentle hum coming from his horn and could see the area around him was lit up from his horn shining brightly. He discovered that he could control the brightness by thinking of a dimmer and turning it up and down just like a on a light switch. The brighter he made it though, the more drained he felt so he set it to fairly dim as so it wouldn't tire him out to quickly because he didn't know how long he would have to keep this up for. It was still enough to comfortably light up the surrounding area though as it was quite dark.

 

@@Ice Storm, @@Aureity

He then walked up to Ice Storm and Aurora curled up and the ground and said "I'm here. Everything's going to be OK. My name's Daylight by the way. Sorry for not mentioning it before but it slipped my mind".

Edited August 19, 2012 by Dave247

[Grace Braid 240]

@,

 

Jack groaned in response to Artsy's reply. "I know, I know, but that place is so far away! Why can't we just stay in this area for a while, get used to our bodies, and all that jazz?" He had a hint of dread in his voice, since he knew he was losing this "argument"(he had no clue what to call it), and that meant LONG WALK. "I mean, come on, we're more likely to fall over tha-".

 

Jack was cut off rather suddenly by a bright, crimson light coming out of his girlfriend's horn. Blinking his eyes rapidly at the light, he was about to ask her what in the hell was happening when she turned her head to face him. "Artsy...? What's wrong?!", he asked, as he saw her eyes were no longer the brown that he knew, but instead were a bright green that seemed...glazed over. As if she was seeing, yet not seeing at the same time.

 

Either she didn't respond, or Jack somehow didn't hear a response, but either way just a couple of moments later Artsy shrieked loudly and turned her head away, unleashing a positively enormous crimson bolt into the forest. Like Klopp, Jack too was affected by being so close to the bolt: he felt as if his skin was boiling from the inside out; his ears ringing from both a loud buzzing and what seemed to be the screech of fingernails on a chalkboard; his eyes blotching out and seeing dark figures dance in front of him; his nose smelling sulfur so strong that his eyes began to water uncontrollably; and the horrible, horrible taste of pure acid on his tongue. Jack was so overwhelmed by this sheer assault on all of his senses at once that he could not move, could not think, could not do anything at all until the blast fully dissipated. Even then, the buzzing remained in his ears, his tongue had an acid-like aftertaste, and he felt much hotter than normal.

 

After a moment, though, he saw that at least 1 part of what he was feeling wasn't just in his head. The buzzing got louder and louder, then stopped for just a moment before reaching a crescendo and deafening Jack to every other noise. A large, black mass popped out of the treetops, and Jack noticed that it seemed to be made of...insects. Giant, ebony insects, their carapaces glistening and misshapen as they seemingly looked upon the group in the meadow in detest, almost blotting out the sun. Fear clutched Jack's throat, and he could say nothing as it appeared they were about to bear down upon all of them. He reached out a hoof and wrapped it as best he could around Artsy, awaiting the insects to descend...

 

...And then blinked in shock as the insects went away, disappearing into the sky along with their buzzing. He sighed a deep breath in relief, and almost collapsed in relief before hearing Artsy say something, as if she was coming out of a trance, which made him snap out of it. Ignoring the others, who were doing things like latching onto Klopp for protection, or trying to find somebody who just ran into the forest in fear, he got in front of Artsy and looked into her eyes(which were thankfully back to normal) and said in a desperate tone "ARTSY! Are you okay?! How many fingers am I holding up?! ...Wait, don't answer that, just remembered I don't have fingers anymore. How about...what's my name? Please answer!" He was trying to hug her as he did this, but he found this surprisingly difficult to figure out, so he just settled for looking into her eyes with a pleading and very concerned look.

[Legendary Emerald 622]

Despite the risks that he knew existed, the curiosity created by his earlier visions compelled Numbers. He made up his mind. Taking a few steps toward the other two ponies, he said “I agree. The forest is right here. Canterlot, from what I can gather, is quite a distance away. I think we should investigate the forest. Why should we go through the trouble of a long journey when the answers we seek may be right there?”

 

 

Serah nodded her agreement.

 

 

“Same pony who reacted calmly to waking up in new form while others panicked. Makes sense.” she thought to herself. “Laughs at absurdity of situation rather than letting it drag him down. Good quality to have.”

 

 

"Uh... Just call me Starry Sky, and.....Um, If you would, I'd like to...uh....join you, I want to see this zebra too, I believe she can help us so um....may I come along?" She asked, hoping that she says yes, however her hopes seem dim because of their first encounter, an awkward one when she asked her a question but left after getting frightened by her looks.

 

 

Serah snorted, ignoring the awkward pony.

 

 

“Don't ask for permission when you can just act.” she mentally criticized. “Probable liability. Not responsible for keeping her safe, though. She can do as she wants.”

 

 

“Augh!"

 

 

Something felt strange. An onset of heat was pulsating through her forehead all of a sudden, as she saw a bright crimson light flickering above her. Why was she so... so incensed all of a sudden?! Was this... what she had seen the flamboyant other unicorn perform? It was very conceivable that at this moment, her horn was glowing.

 

 

 

 

A cry of pain drew Serah's attention, and she turned to who'd uttered it to see the tan unicorn's horn blazing with light.

 

“Magic” she wondered. “She is a unicorn... looks painful, though.”

 

 

 

She turned to Jack and stared at him with her eyes glazed over, before she let out a shriek and instinctively turned away from him and any others in the group. Her horn unleashed a burst of crimson energy in the direction of the forest.

 

[...]

 

The buzzing and clicking sounds had ceased for a moment... then... they began in full intensity. They enraptured the entire area, loud, endless, sending a shiver down her spine and making her momentarily forget her outburst. Suddenly, a huge mass of black burst out of the treetops of the forests, clicking and buzzing even more nosily. Gigantic and terrible glistening insects, misshapen with ebony carapaces as far as she could see...

 

And as soon as they had appeared, they were all gone. Disappearing into the bright cerulean skies. It was almost as if, in the midst of their buzzing, they had had voices...

 

 

When the insect-like creatures appeared, some of the ponies had panicked. One coward behind the hooves of a Indiana Jones wannabe, and another had dived into the forest in search of cover.

 

 

For her part, all Serah did was open her eyes a bit wider.

 

 

“Winged demons? First interesting part of this world.” Serah almost smirked. She saw two other ponies run off after the pony who'd fled for the treeline during the scare. “Running towards where the demons had come from? Not too smart of them. But for me...”

 

 

Serah dropped to four hooves once again, and aimed her body at the Everfree Forest.

 

 

“This is what I live for.”

 

 

She took off like a shot, singing the ground behind her and disappearing into the thick of the forest.

[Flow 1,619]

@@Legendary Emerald,

 

After hearing no response from the red pony, Starry felt a bit uneasy, but said afterwards "...Err..I guess I'll take that as a yes then," She followed her into the the Everfree forest, and while trotting, she thought "This forest.....it doesn't look very nice," considering the fact that it was her first time here, unaware of the dangers that lie throughout the area, "The atmosphere feels......tense, probably because of her," Referring to the red pony "I just don't understand her, does she hate me? Is she an anti-social individual? Must be, considering the fact that she never said anything, I just don't get her."

 

Then, a horde of insects came flying towards her "Eeek! Bugs!" She got caught in their path, and she desperately tried to get them of her body "Augh! G-get....off! Aaah!" She continued to struggle from them till she flapped her wings, generating a flurry of wind that blew the bugs away, however she did it too hard and that sent her flying into the air "Hiiiiiiiyaaaaah!" She screamed "I knew I shouldn't have used my wings for that! More like flap them too hard! I don't even know how to fly!" She's now freaking out about the fact that she's 20 feet away from the ground, "Oh no! If I fall straight down, I could be dead already!" She screamed "AAAAHHHHH!! IT'S ALL OVER FOR MEEE!!!" She closed her eyes and braced herself for fatal impact.

 

That is...

 

Till she heard voices in her head

 

"Here we go! Fly ######! Fly! Weeeeee!"

 

"Ahahahaha! Higher! Higher!"

 

She gasped and opened her eyes, then she started flapping her wings again and barely made a recovery "Oh my...That was close! What was that?" she thought, but then she realized that she was going to crash into a big tree branch "AAAAHHHHHH!"

 

@@Dave247, @@Ice Storm, @@Aureity,

 

She collided with the branch and broke it, sending her falling through more branches and leaves "Aaack! Oww! Aaah!" She grunted with each branch hitting her, then she had a not so pleasant landing on the ground and knocked herself out "Owwww! That....really hurts, owwwww..." Before she closed her eyes again, she saw what appears to be three unicorns within the distance, a gold one, another one with a cyan coat, and one with a white coat, "Who....are...those..three?.....uhhhhh..." She faints afterwards.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

[Aureity 3,055]

A leaden feeling as slowly sinking into Aurora's stomach as she strained in the dim light to make out her suroundings - and a possible path to freedom. I-I can't remember which way is out. She swallowed, trying to force down a hard lump of fear, the unnatural silence of the forest unnerving her. No birds, no crickets...just a stillness that made her feel as if she was being hunted by some unseen predator. Instinctively she whirled around, half-expecting to see some sort of horrible creature with monstrous fangs and blood-soaked claws, and finding only a shriveled dark-green shrub instead.

 

"D-don't panic," she whispered encouragingly to herself, the deafening silence ampliflying her words until she might as well have screamed them into the forest. And to think, she sighed glumly, all this happens when all I wanted to do was lie on my back and gaze at the night sky. She glanced skywards hopefully as the thought passed through her mind, but the trees that loomed around her like silent sentinels had blocked out any source of comforting light the sky might have held. I can't even tell if it's night or day anymore. She dropped her gaze, defeated.

 

C-come on, you're smarter than this. You trampled the vegitation half to death, just use that to find your way out. WIth the faintest glimmer of hope, Aurora closed her eyes and concentrated briefly, trying her best to light up her horn. But even as her hooves quaked with the effort, not a single spark of luminosity permated the dark, dank mist around her. It's the sky. I-I'm more useless than an Earth Pony here, when the forest blocks out the stars above. The panic in her chest began building up. Everypony knew tales of horrible creaturs that roamed around at night, waiting to devour helpless fillies. Uncertainly, she did a full 360 around her, just to reassure herself that Slendermane was not standing behind her.

 

A twig snapped some ways away, and Aurora froze, halted in the process of a second revolution around her. "Wh-who's there?" she asked, the quiver in her voice betraying her facade of bravado. She tried to back away slowly, but soon found herself up against a tree.

 

@@Ice Storm

 

A pony emerged from the thickets, and Aurora breathed a sigh of relief - even in the dim lighting, she could make out the blue coat of Ice Storm. "H-hello!" she called, immensely grateful for some company.

 

Catching her breath she walked over to Aurora. "Aurora, are you okay? It's me, Ice Storm. I saw you running into the forest,, and I followed behind you. No way was I going to let a friend go into a place like this alone, especially if those whatever the hell they were things are still in the forest. Can you move? anything broken?" she asked genuinely concerned.

"I-I'm fine," Aurora replied shakily, declining to mention the paranoia and fear she had felt just a minute ago. "J-just a little shook up is all." She hung her head in embarrasment as she realized that Ice Storm had probably seen her flee from the clearing. "I-I'm sorry for being such a coward," Aurora added, a note of regretful apology in her voice. "But...thank you for coming to me. I-I'll make it up to you one day." She gave a nervous laugh. "I just wish it wasn't so dark in here!"

 

@@Dave247

 

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she was dazzled by a blinding flash of white light. Rubbing her eyes and trying to readjust to this sudden turn of events, Aurora saw another unicorn - an unfamiliar one - lighting up the area with a dim but steady pulse from his horn. Aurora was finally able to see properly...although there wasn't actually much to see. The trees were as uninteresting as they had ever been.

 

He then walked up to Ice Storm and Aurora curled up and the ground and said "I'm here. Everything's going to be OK. My name's Daylight by the way. Sorry for not mentioning it before but it slipped my mind"

"Nice to meet you, Daylight," Aurora said, feeling cheerful for the first time since she had blunderd into the Everfree. "And it's an appropriate name, too!" She nodded towards Daylight's horn, which was still humming with a dim light. Hope surged in her chest as she realized that now, they might be able to find their way out. She was just about to say something as a branch broke overhead witha deafening crack. "Look out!" Aurora yelped, instinctively leaping sideways as a heavy treee limb jammed itself into the ground, pulverizing the vegetation that she had been standing on a second earlier. Her heart hammering away in her chest, Aurora looked around for the source of the commotion.

[Dave247 568]

"Nice to meet you, Daylight," Aurora said, feeling cheerful for the first time since she had blunderd into the Everfree. "And it's an appropriate name, too!" She nodded towards Daylight's horn, which was still humming with a dim light.

@@Aureity

"Thanks." Day said with a grin. "I came up with them name earlier but only discovered I could do this just now. It is rather fitting now that it holds some meaning."

 

He didn't want to show it but he was still feeling a little afraid being in the dark forest, even with the light that was coming from his horn. Now that he was around others though they helped to take his mind off his fear.

 

@@Ice Storm

"So, what do we do now?" Day asked, looking at Ice storm and Aurora while trying and failing slightly not to look worried himself.

 

Day then heard several branches crack and Aurora yelp "Look out!", before jumping aside. He was not prepared when a big tree limb impaled itself into the ground, making a loud thump noise when it stuck where Aurora was previously standing just seconds before, and made him jump.

 

"What the buck was that!?" Day exclaimed, before thinking that what he had just said was probably a swear word and he should try to refrain from using it in the future. He wasn't sure how he knew that but he just got the feeling it was a bad word.

"Err... sorry about my language..." He said slowly, as he was unsure if the others would pick up on it as well.

 

Day then noticed that Aurora looked a little shaken from what had just happened. "It's OK Aurora. Everything's going to be alright" he said, trying to sound as reassuring as he could whilst trying not to let his own fear show in his voice.

 

Thinking about what just happened Day said "That noise we heard was too loud to just be from the branch. Something else must of fallen from the trees. Something big. We should look around to try and find it." Remembering that he was the only source of light in the area Day went on to say "Splitting up won't do us much good because then only I could properly see what's on the ground. We'll all have to walk in a group around the area combing the ground for any clues."

 

He then increased the brightness on his horn a little to see more of the surrounding area, and felt a little weaker in doing so but shrugged it off for time time being as there were more important matters to attend to.

Edited August 19, 2012 by Dave247

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

She was only merely recovering from her dazed state, as several events passed by her in a blur. The fedora pony Klopp was apparently protecting that flamboyant one, and several of their group had run off into the forest. There were fewer in number now, but her head was a bit too dizzy to really care at the moment. Nothing had really captured her attention or had been considered noteworthy...

 

@,

 

...Until her boyfriend had suddenly said something rather silly, and a small smile cracked upon her face.

 

"F... fingers? You're silly. How could you forget you don't have any?!"

 

She giggled a little, but her face fell as she saw the deep concern with which he had been gazing into her eyes with, and his arm or hoof or whatever making contact with her. Artsy shook her head of the dizzy spell, and managed to fully snap out of it as everything swam back into her mind. The red light, the insects, the tingly feeling, the green... but it made no sense to her still. It was as if she had lost complete control. She could've hurt herself.

 

Could it have been that in this new body, she somehow lost her senses on occasion? The thought of that worried her...

 

"I think I'll... be all right, Jack. I just need some rest... really tired. But... you're okay, right? I didn't hurt anyone?" Her dark eyes surveyed his body for any sign of injury, but found none. She expanded her survey to the others, but as far as she could tell, they only looked a little shaken and not at all hurt. "I'm sorry I did that. I'm... not sure what happened. I started to feel angrier and angrier... and then I made that blast, I think. I think it's magic of some sorts... although that sounds crazy, but then again, this entire thing is crazy. Somehow... I thought being able to use magic would be more fun. But that was scary... like th-those... giant bugs... I hope they don't return."

 

The tan unicorn shivered a little as she felt the intense desire all of a sudden to go home. If they were home, this would've never happened. None of those creepy ass bugs. She loathed insects.

 

Yet at the same time, it awed and inspired her to have such power. If she could harness it somehow...

 

Oh, who was she kidding? She would never gain that skill.

 

Artsy's head sagged as she averted her gaze from the others, including her own boyfriend. She merely stared at the green grass, down at her hooves... realizing that there would be nothing to face but fears in such a seemingly peaceful world. Behind every smile, there was a more devious intention. This world was smiling, but on the inside, it was full of... beasts like those. Her breath rattled as exhaling and inhaling became more difficult... and the areas around her eyes were becoming rather wet. It was weakness, she couldn't. Not like Klopp! She wouldn't be...

 

...Pa... path... pathetic...

 

"I'm... I'm sorry... I got you into this... this... is all my fault."

[Legendary Emerald 622]

Serah trampled the undergrowth as she cut a swath through the Everfree Forest, unknowingly leaving a trail of smoke and ash behind her.

 

"Fast. Shouldn't be this fast." Serah thought, panting. "No experience running on four legs. Muscles on fire. Whole body feels hot. Even my horn..."

 

Serah rolled her eyes upward, and was just barely able to see the fringe of a red glow coming from near her forehead.

 

"Magic? Like the tan pony?" she wondered. "Explains cries of pain. Why would a horn have nerve endi-?"

 

Serah looked forward just in time to see an ancient looking tree blocking her path only a few feet ahead of her. It was too late for her to swerve around, and she wasn't even sure she could; her hooves seemed to be automatically closing the gap between her and the trunk. There was no way for her to stop.

 

"If something tries to block..." Serah closed her eyes and lowered her head, cringing at what was to come next. Her horn began to grow ever brighter. "Show them you don't give a f*ck!"

 

Serah's entire being burst into flames as she collided against the tree with the force of a cannonball. The ages old wood barely slowed her down as she uprooted it with the force of her body. The tree toppled over, and so did she; fire disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

 

A loud, deafening "thud" echoed throughout the entire forest. Several birds cried out in panic and as their beating wings carried them away from the commotion. Serah could barely hear either over the ringing in her head.

 

"Not the confrontation I was looking forward to..." she massaged her head as she stared at the defeated lumber. "Could be a useful skill in the future, though..."

 

As sound began to register in her mind once again, Serah began to hear the voices of nearby ponies. She tried to stand up, but her precarious balance was even worse when the whole world seemed to be spinning around her.

 

"Maybe call out to them... no, not necessary." Serah shook her head. "Be fine soon enough. No actual danger has presented itself yet."

 

As soon the sentence passed through her head, she heard an unnatural rustling in the bushes. When no voice introduced the interloper's presence, Serah went on guard.

 

"Speak of the devil..." she muttered, a slight smile playing across her lips.

Edited August 19, 2012 by Legendary Emerald

[Ice Storm 1,020]

@@Aureity,

 

Another glimmer of light started to show itself from behind her as she was checking on Aurora. Ice turned around quickly to make sure that it wasn't a threat before they continued figuring out what to do. Thankfully it was the goldenrod colored pony that had approached her right before all this started. She gave a soft smile and turned back to Aurora to respond to her first reacting purely out of instinct at this point she pulled Aurora into a brief hug before letting her hoof rest on her shoulder. "There is nothing wrong with showing fear. It's a natural reaction, and without fear there can not be courage," she told her with a soft caring smile to try to keep her calm. "And as far as making it up, that won't be necessary. Helping others for the sake of making sure that everypony is okay is more than enough satisfaction for me. As long as my friends are okay, I'm okay, and I'll stop at nothing to protect them," She finished.

 

She then turned to Daylight and thought or a moment. Now that he had the area somewhat lit up to where they could see farther than the hoof in front of their face getting out of The Everfree Forest should be at the very least less difficult than it would have been. The only downside to the light is that it could very easily attract enemies to their location. Whatever those things were in the trees could still be in the forest. that made her even more wary and alert to what was going on around her. Since vision was impaired at a distance, the only thing that she had to go off of was sound, and with the winds in the forest on top with the other natural sounds of any forest, it made listening to things extremely difficult.

 

She then heard Daylight ask what they should do now, but before she had a chance to reply, she heard him yell get down as she heard something crash into a tree above them. She quickly did so. She heard a loud crunch, he sound that you would hear if a tree splintered and fell as the force of the impact sounded strong enough to break it. This meant one of two things. Something had either attacked them, or something had crashed into the tree, and based on the sounds of the crash, seriously injured. She would rather it not be either one, but if it had to be something, she would rather it be an injured ally than an enemy. She would rather try to protect an ally than to fight something that she couldn't see, and/or didn't know how to fight.

 

@@Dave247,

 

Then Daylight also brought it to their attention stating that he had heard something else fall with the branch. She hadn't caught this. the only thing she had heard landing was the branch itself. Which made her lean towards the thought that this was more likely the second scenario than it was the first one. He also mentioned splitting up would be a bad idea to which Ice immediately responded, "Nor would it be acceptable to split up. We don't know what exactly is in here, what those things were that came out of here were, or even if any of them are still in the forest. Splitting up would be suicide, we're all three unicorns. With all three of us staying together and fighting together should we have to, we stand a lot more of a chance getting out of here than if we're all on our own. We have to protect each other," she said taking a quick break to breath.

 

"Now, I didn't hear whatever else fell, but I did hear the branch snap. If something hit a tree hard enough to break a limb off, they are probably injured so we shouldn't waste too much time. With any luck if it's another pony, the injuries won't be too severe. I fear however, if they fall was from any great height, the impact from both the branch itself and the ground afterwards are likely to at the very least break bone. I remember a friend who had fallen out of a tree when I was still a human, he spent about fourteen hours in the emergency room with they were resetting both one of his legs and his arm after breaking it in three places. I don't know how durable these bodies are, but still we should expect the worst," she added as she scanned the immediate area for debris. If they heard the it fall in all of this, then whatever fell had to be close.

 

@, @@Aureity, @@Dave247,

 

With as dark as it was, it was difficult at first, but then Daylight increased the brightness of the light he was producing, and herself knowing from experience that the lighting spell was a serious drain on energy, he would not be able to keep it like that for long. She looked around quickly trying to find anything to hit at where the disturbance happened and spotted a downed tree limb. She took off towards the pile. "Over hear!!" she yelled before skidding to a stop. There, amongst the leaves was in fact another pony. It looked as if it was breathing but it wasn't moving and drool was starting to pool on the ground next to her mouth. "There's somepony over here," she yelled again trying to get the branches away from the pegasus. They were indeed not moving. Pony Feathers.... this isn't good, she thought to herself before yelling out. "I think she's unconscious..." She greatly hoped that wasn't the case, or getting her to a place to treat her was going to be difficult. It would happen though, she would make sure of it. As long as air still filled her lungs, no pony got left behind.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Ice Storm

[Dave247 568]

Day looked around in the newly lit up area of the forest but didn't see anything suspicious. He then heard that Ice Storm had saw something and took off in that direction. Day followed and saw several branches of different sizes lying around on the forest floor as well as leaves everywhere. "It must be around here somewhere..." Day thought.

 

He then heard Ice Storm yell that she had found something and walked over to have a look, it was another pony. Day looked closely and noticed that this was the same female Pegasus that he saw earlier trying and failing to fly. "She must of got scared from the insects and try to fly off but end up crashing because she doesn't know how to fly" Day said, and looked up at the tree above. It was missing several branches which he guessed must have helped break her fall.

 

"I think she's unconscious..."

He looked back to the Pegasus and noticed that her chest was slowly rising and falling. "It appears she's still breathing at least" Day said. "I think she looks OK though, the branches seems to have helped break her fall". There were several cuts and bruises from the branches but other then that she looked fine to him.

 

Looking at her injuries, Day felt his horn tingle again. He wasn't sure why but the more he focused on them the more it tingled. "I wonder..." he said and bent down to lower his horn to touch the Pegasus.

He felt a surge of energy go through him and out his horn. It shone brightly, lighting up a lot of the area around them before receding and glowing a little dimmer then originally when he first used the spell.

 

Day lifted his head up and staggered back a bit. "Don't worry, I'm fine" he said, which was a lie. He felt significantly weaker now then when he entered the forest. " I think I might just sit down a bit though..." he said and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

Looking back at the Pegasus, he saw that her injuries had mostly healed. "Well, it seems that I can heal as well as provide light, I wonder if there's anything else..." he thought.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Dave247

[Aureity 3,055]

Encouraged by Daylight's words, Aurora finally managed a shaky smile as she slowly picked herself up off the ground. Her fur was matted with twigs, she having dove straight towards the forest floor to avoid being flattened unceremoniously by a tree branch. As she gathered her bearings, Daylight and Ice Storm both began poking around the forest vegetation,in search of the source of commotion. Aurora watched them, a few doubtful thoughts surfaced in her mind - what if it was a large, clumsy, predator of some sort? But before Aurora had any chance to voice any misgivings that she had, Ice Storm let out a yell of triumph, and Daylight immediately hastened over. Pausing only a split second, Aurora soon followed, her curiosity outweighing her sense of foreboding.

 

There, lying nestled amongst a pile of broken tree limbs lay a familiar-looking pegasus pony, unconscious from the fall. She introduced herself to me before, Aurora remembered. Starry Sky was her name. Frowning, she bent down to take a closer look, concern flooding her emotions. The injuries weren't too severe, and Aurora had never received any real medical training. Not that there was even a single bandage to be found here in the miserable Everfree. Shrugging, she turned to the others for suggestions, but Daylight was already bent over the pony, his horn sparkling with determination. A single flash of light that forced Aurora to squint - and then it was gone. Astonished, Aurora turned her attention back towards the pegasus. The few cuts and bruises adorning her frame had mostly disappeared, and she looked...fine.

 

 

The same, however, could not be said for Daylight, who was staggering on his hooves as he finally managed to find a place on the ground to rest. He looked exhausted, and Aurora wasn't sure what she could do to alleviate the stress. Not to mention - if he grew too tired to maintain the beacon of light dimly pulsating from his horn, they'd be back in darkness with no clue where to go. I-it's all my fault - I shouldn't have run away, and then none of this would have happened. And I can't even use my magic to help out the others in this dark forest. I'm beyond useless.

 

Too ashamed to look any of them in the face, Aurora determinedly stared at one of the fallen tree branches instead, pretending to be more interested in it than she actually was. The dull, rough gray bark was only slightly visible underneath the single beam of sunlight that streamed through the canopy – everywhere else it appeared pitch-black.

 

Sunlight? Aurora craned her head towards the treetops, where a single hole in the canopy of trees allowed sunlight to stream through, illuminating a small patch of the forest. The pegasus must have made this hole when she crashed through, Aurora thought, her breath quickening as she let the sunbeams shine on her face. Her horn began to glow gently, flickering briefly a few times before it attained a steady bright-yellow aura. Even though it wasn't much energy, the brief contact of light gave her hope.

[Flow 1,619]

As Starry got knocked out from the fall, a flashback played through her head.

 

---

 

"Mommy! Mommy! Where are we going?" Asked a young girl, "What's daddy doing?" "Sweetie, daddy's fixing a telescope!" Her mother replied, "What's a telescope?" the little girl asked, "A telescope is something that let's you look at the stars!" "Stars! Yay! I love stars!" "Alright then, do you want to ride the plane up the hill?" "Ride the plane? What's that?" "I'll show you!"

 

The little girl's mother then lifted her daughter up into the air while walking up the hill, where her father is fixing the telescope "Woah!" ""Here we go! Fly St####! Fly! Weeeeee!" "Ahahahaha! Higher! Higher!" "Higher? Okay!" "Yeeeaaah!! Ahahahaha!"

 

Once they were there, the little girl ran straight to her dad and asked him, "Daddy, what's that?" He answered "Dear, it's a telescope!" "The one that mommy said that let's you look at the stars?" "That's right girl!"

 

While the father was still fixing the telescope, he asked his wife to look at the sky with their daughter

 

"Oh! look over there!" she pointed at a group of stars "A group of stars is called a constellation." "Woooooow." "This group is known as The Big Dipper," "Big Dipper? Ehehehe, I like that name, Big Dipper! Big Dipper!"

 

"Big Dipper!"

 

"Big Dipper!"

 

"Big Dipper!"

 

---

 

"Mmmm" Starry felt a warm feeling of energy before opening her eyes, "Mmm....mm..." once she did, she saw three unicorns in front of her, the gold one, the cyan one, and the white one "...T-that hurt....Oh!...Um....H-hello there..." she greeted, then she took a closer look at the white one and immediately recognized her "Oh, it's you...your name's Aurora, right?" then she turned to the other two, "Um.. I think I've seen you guys before...err..what are your names? Um..I'm Starry Sky by the way,"

 

After introducing herself, she recalled the flashback she just had "Huh? c-constellation? Big......Dipper? Those things sound familiar!"

Edited September 12, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

[Ice Storm 1,020]

It was a relief to hear Day confirm that the pegasus was indeed still breathing. She had feared that she was completely unconscious, in which would require a lot more effort to not only get out of the forest but to keep stable as well. She looked around to everypony else trying to get their conditions. Day light was started to get tired really quickly, she wasn't sure how much longer his spell would last. Aurora looked scared and this pony was injured.

 

Before she could even get a thought off before she say Daylight kneel over the pony and expend even more energy. She watched as the cuts and bruises healed over. Ice was amazed. If anything happened he could heal if things went south. It looked, however, like such magic drained a lot of energy. It wasn't something that should be relied on. At this rate it would be darkened for sure. IT was already extremely dim again, and difficult to see any distance. They were vulnerable. Ie once again rose her guard. She stayed alert for any unusual sounds. Now that she had been in the forest for a bit she was able to at least mostly identify the normal sounds of the forest. She would be able to make out anything that was different.

 

@Narutardedscum!!, @Aureity, @Dave247,

 

She heard the other pony next to them start to stir, and make movement. It appeared that she remained on the ground but began speaking. starting off by saying that it had hurt, which made Ice smile a bit. Lighthearted even in danger this one seems to be, she thought to herself listening as the mare continued. She seemed to recognize Aurora, and asked for her and Day's name and introduced herself as Starry Sky. "My name is Ice Storm," she replied politely moving over to where Daylight collapsed. "You should rest. You've used a lot of magic, and it's starting to take a toll on your body," she told him politely.

 

A gentle glow then caught her attention. It appeared that Aurora's magic had been activated. She was glowing faintly. It wasn't very much, but it provided at least a small magnitude of extra light. "Aurora, you're glowing!" Ice pointed out to her. "Perhaps there's a way with my ice magic, I might be able to do something similar. If I can, it could amplify the amount of light that's in the area. After all, ice can reflect light like mirrors," she spoke aloud. Ice relaxed for a moment and though about the magic she possessed. The controllers own ice rarity hurts the one that's controlling it. Or at least, that's how it worked in mos of the video games she had played as a human. Maybe I can coat myself in a thin layer of ice... then all light in the area will be reflected and cause the area to light up!

 

Without any hesitation the air around Ice began to grow cold, some of the mist that was lingering around her started to freeze. The ground had already achieved the thing layer of frost as the layer of ice started from her hooves and then started to expand over her entire body leaving spaces around her nose and mouth to communicate. It was a bit cold, but it didn't seem to have any effects on her other than that. "It worked!" she proclaimed. "I don't know how well this will reflect, as if I try anything thicker it will restrict movement. But it should at least be a bit more light," she stated. "As soon as Daylight has recovered enough to move again though we she begin finding our way out. The longer we stay in the forest, more importantly, the longer we stay in one spot, the more likely those things are to find us if they are still here themselves. Starry Sky, you can move right? Nothing was broken in the fall?" she asked concerned.

[Dave247 568]

@

Feeling slightly dazed, Day's vision blurred briefly before returning to normal. He looked at the Pegasus who had now awoken an introduced herself as Starry Sky. "My name's Daylight" He said slowly from where he was sitting. "I see that my magic seems to have healed you nicely"

 

politely moving over to where Daylight collapsed. "You should rest. You've used a lot of magic, and it's starting to take a toll on your body," she told him politely.

@@Ice Storm

"Yes, thank you." Day said smiling back at Ice Storm. "I think I'll just sit here for a while and try and recover some of my energy" He was taking a liking to her for being so nice and caring to him.

 

He then looked around the group and it then struck him that he was now the only male in a group of three females. He had never been this close to this many females before and especially one that was so kind to him. Panicking a bit, he tried to not not think about it and let it worry him as there was nothing he could do about it, but once a thought got in his head it wasn't easy to get out.

 

Day then also noticed a small glow that wasn't coming from him. Looking around he saw that Aurora had found the small hole that Starry had fallen though and seemed to be absorbing the sunlight from it as her horn was glowing a bright yellow.

 

He then heard Ice Storm say,

erhaps there's a way with my ice magic, I might be able to do something similar. If I can, it could amplify the amount of light that's in the area. After all, ice can reflect light like mirrors,"

"That's a good idea" Day said. "I could then direct my light to reflect off you to light up more of the area"

She then went ahead and coated herself in a thin layer of ice. "I could try making a beam of light directed at you" he said to Ice Storm, "but that would probably take up more energy then this to do it efficiently". Instead, Day got up and slowly and shakily walked over to Ice Storm and sat down next to her. He pointed his horn at her body trying to direct the light to only shine out in front of him instead of all around without using up too much energy.

 

In doing so, the whole area around them lit up in a wide radius, much bigger then when it was from just him. There were also crystallized pattern on the ground though from the reflection of the Ice which Day thought looked pretty.

 

Sitting next to Ice Storm, Day felt strangely at ease. He remind himself that she was actuality a guy who got turned into a female but that didn't seem to bother him. He continued to sit there, and even though it was dark, it didn't scare him. With a big smile on his face and realized that he was feeling happier then he had ever felt before. He was glad he fell into the chasm because he now got to experience what life was really like for the first time.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Dave247

[Somebody 570]

[Klopp] stared at [Magenta's] frightened face for a second. He despised having to see such fear contained in one creature. He turned away from her, back towards the creatures coming towards him, and scowled at them, growling in their direction, preparing to take on any one of these horrid, disgusting, vile insects, ready for any one who might have the misfortune of coming within ten feet of this poor, defenseless, pony, who came to him for protection.

 

Magenta held her head at Klopp's side during the insects' garish entrance. As tears streamed down her face, they were quickly absorbed by his silver fur, turning it to a slight gray. She strangely felt safe with him, even though she knew it was likely a false sense of security--the guy could hardly even walk on his own. Still, Magenta was hardly one to dismiss a pleasant feeling when one came to her. After all, she did live for the moment, especially now, when she was about to be devoured by an immeasurable number of insects...

 

Speaking of which, what happened to them all? The buzzing noise had stopped. Magenta was afraid to open her eyes, though. Perhaps she and her protector had been instantly destroyed by the swarm, and their souls had both been absorbed into the collective consciousness of the universe. Yet somehow, she could still feel herself braced against Klopp. Oh well, I had a good life, she thought, figuring she would relish her last moments like this... with her hooves still standing in the morning dew of the grass... the wind blowing through her mane... sounds of other ponies talking.....

 

Oh come on, really? Magenta suddenly realized she was very much alive and well... and most likely making a complete fool of herself in public. For a split second, she felt it might have been better if she had been taken to the pony afterlife, whatever that was. Her eyes blinked open, catching a blurry glimpse of Klopp's fur. Hmm, this is nice, she thought. Slowly, she turned to look up into Klopp's eyes. However, upon realizing that what she had been doing was quite possibly highly inappropriate, she nervously stepped away to give her protector a little space.

 

"Umm..." Magenta spoke softly in an unsure voice, "...thank you..." She looked away, her face deeply blushing into a dark plum color...

Edited August 21, 2012 by Questio

[Flow 1,619]

@@Ice Storm,

"Ice Storm huh, I see. Huh? What was that? Can I move? Well, I guess considering the misfortune I went through, I think it'll be painful" Starry said to the new face, then the golden unicorn introduced himself,

 

He looked at the Pegasus who had now awoken an introduced herself as Starry Sky. "My name's Daylight" He said slowly from where he was sitting. "I see that my magic seems to have healed you nicely"

 

"Daylight's your name? Okay! What was that? You healed me? Ah! No wonder why I don't have scratches or bruises. Eh?? I didn't know unicorns have the power to use magic like that, that's so nice, I'm just a pegasus that can't get the hang of flying, sigh." She replied

 

Then Starry slowly got up, expecting pain in her body, but didn't feel any, "Oh!...I'm alright!...Your healing worked! Thanks again!" Next, she looked around, then told the unicorns, "Um..I'll be following you guys...I don't want to get lost."

 

Her thoughts about the flashback came back to her mind, "So this was also in a point of view, and that voice, there's no doubt that's me, and those two adults?...they must be my parents since I heard the words mommy and daddy, and those stars....mom said they're called constellations....Ah! so that's what this...cutie mark's called! And big dipper? That's what the pattern of stars are called.... Ah!!....that certainly is the constellation on my cutie mark! This is intriguing! I have this as a cutie mark because....I love stars? No wait..." then she thought about what Aurora once said:

 

"And judging by your your cutie mark, you must really be into astronomy..."

 

"So my cutie mark means that I must be interested in astronomy? I thought I only like looking at stars, hmm....Darn it, I need more proof, I'll have to think about this later,"

 

It wasn't long till she saw Ice Storm create a thin layer of ice around her body,

 

Without any hesitation the air around Ice began to grow cold, some of the mist that was lingering around her started to freeze. The ground had already achieved the thing layer of frost as the layer of ice started from her hooves and then started to expand over her entire body leaving spaces around her nose and mouth to communicate. It was a bit cold, but it didn't seem to have any effects on her other than that. "It worked!" she proclaimed. "I don't know how well this will reflect, as if I try anything thicker it will restrict movement. But it should at least be a bit more light,"

 

"Incredible, unicorns are amazing," She envied.

Edited August 21, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

[Klopp 2,050]

Klopp stood there ready for any of those grotesque, ebony, bugs who emerged from the forest, ready for any one that may come his way. Though he could not move effectively at all in this pony for, for some reason he was determined to keep this pink pony from being harmed. He watched intently as the creatures continued to emerge from the forest, keeping his eye on all the ponies nearby as well. A few seemed to be panicking, but the one who first caught his eye was the white Unicorn with the bright red mane. She darted had darted into the forest, and after her a few others followed her inside. He would have gladly ran down to assist them, but he had already had his mind set on keeping the one pony, that was latched to his back, safe. What are they doing? They are going to get themselves hurt going in there!

 

@,

 

After a short while, the massive black see of those flapping monstrosities was heading off into the distance, and the deathly loud buzzing of their large, translucent, wings could now barely be heard. He relaxed, and noticed a small wetness on his backside as he turned to see what was happening. The pink pony was still latched onto his backside, tears flowing outward and onto his ivory coat. She look up and Klopp stared right into her sobbing wet eyes for a long moment until she finally let go of him, and slowly took a few steps back, her face changing immediately from it's typical glorious bright pink into a darker plum color, as she said to him, "Umm....thank you..."

 

He then brought his attention back to the pink pony. The fedora wearing stallion stumbled a bit as he turned to face the her, but managed to retain his balance and stayed up on all four hooves. He could feel his temperature rising in his body as he spoke awkwardly to his damsel in distress, "Er... well... You are welcome, of course."

 

@@Electrobolt,

 

The bright green pony nearby seemed to be concerned with the pink pony, and had asked if she were alright. Klopp turned his head towards him and said "Yes, we both seem to be okay." He then turned his head back to face the pink pony once again.

 

Finally having a moment where there was no excitement, apart from the drama going on between Artsy and Jack, Klopp was able to take a good look at the mare who instinctively went into a death grip on his back for her own protection. She was a brilliant shade of pink, with a tremendous, flowing, lovely, magenta mane. A cute yellow flower with a rainbow ribbon waving gently in the breeze. He could not deny what was going on in his mind; he found this pink pony to be oddly attractive.

 

It did not turn long for his face to turn bright red, as he turned his head away in hopes that no one would see, yet he kept his pupils focused on the pink pony as he said to her, "Um... sorry, I wasn't paying attention before, but, um... what's your name?"

[Key Gear 6,662]

@,

 

Numbers listened to Tich quietly. For just a moment, he hesitated in his resolve to enter the forest. “You're right, a long journey would be a good way to know more about where we are and what we are capable of.” He inclined his head for a moment as he weighed the options again. “I still think it would be better to just go into the forest. The sooner we get answers, the sooner we will be able to return home.”

 

But do I really want to go back? The thought flickered in his mind. The visions that he had experienced were incomplete, but he had seen enough to know that his life before coming to this place wasn't exactly perfect. Here, in this place, maybe I could do whatever it was that I once failed to do. If only I knew what that was though, then I would know what to do. I just need more information, I just need…

 

@,

 

A sudden shriek tore him from his thoughts. The sound was electrifying. Not knowing what to expect, Numbers tried to spin around to see what the source of the sound had been, but this sudden attempt at rapid movement failed miserably because of his inexperience with his new form. He stumbled over his own hooves and landed in a jumbled heap. He awkwardly craned his neck to see what was happening.

 

Numbers looked just in time to see the small tan pony, eyes glowing green and wracked with distress, send a blast of some kind of energy from her horn into the forest. Suddenly, the buzzing sound that had previously blended with the background noise grew into an ominous roar. From the forest, countless large insectoid creatures poured into the air. Their appearance was gnarled and blackened. As they flew, the noise that they made was deafening - a cacophony of buzzing and clicking.

 

The other ponies reacted in a myriad of different ways. Most of them stood in various states of panic and fear, but a few ran into the forest. Numbers stayed where he was and coolly examined the noisy insects as they ascended into the sky. He became lost in his observations…

 

Such interesting creatures. Plainly, they are dangerous; they are large, seemingly well coordinated, and quite numerous. Yet, somehow that blast of energy scared them away. I wonder if all energy would have the same effect on them or was there something about that blast of energy in particular that they disliked. Well, at least that's one interesting thing that was lurking in the forest. I wonder what else is in there.

 

Whatever concerns he had about the dangers of the forest were overwhelmed by his curiosity. Numbers picked himself up from the ground and made his way to the forest's edge. This is a great opportunity to gather data. I could probably try to find the ponies that ran in earlier. The forest may not be safe, but if the bugs come back, then it's not likely that I'll be any safer out here in the open.

 

Numbers continued to rattle off reasons why going into the forest was a good idea. He needed the reassurance because, in the back of his mind, he still had significant doubts about the wisdom of his idea. Though he had dismissed them at the time, Tich's concerns had made an impression on him. He blocked those worries from his mind as he continued thinking of positive reasons to go into the forest.

 

Distracted by his own thoughts, Numbers absentmindedly entered the forest. The forest was dark and the plants within were packed fairly densely. The occasional sound was magnified in intensity by the eerie silence that weighed heavily in the forest's atmosphere. The silence of the forest impressed him, Numbers quickly adopted an attitude of near reverence for the place. Such wonderful silence… Such serene calmness…

 

He was oblivious to all danger. He neither noticed nor cared that his surroundings were growing darker and darker. Numbers found the atmosphere of the forced to be completely enthralling. The place was like catnip to him; it invigorated his thoughts. His mind went back to his visions; one by one he recalled them - the experience, the feelings that each one brought to him.

 

As his mind wandered, he subconsciously moved through the forest with efficiency. His steps didn't disturb the silence of his surroundings, and he neither knew nor cared where he was going. He reviewed the first vision. A feeling of determination, but determination to do what? He reviewed the second vision. Some great failure or another, with possibly profound consequences for others. Finally, he reviewed the last vision. Darkness, darkness and silence…

 

Numbers stopped in his tracks. He became suddenly aware of the starkness of his surroundings. This is just like the last vision. The thought echoed through his mind, followed by another, more worrying thought. I'm lost. I have absolutely no idea where I am and I was foolish enough to go in here alone. I should've at least brought Tich with me, but how could I have asked her to wander into a place as dangerous as this. I need to find the others or find my way out of here.

 

As soon the sentence passed through her head, she heard an unnatural rustling in the bushes. When no voice introduced the interloper's presence, Serah went on guard.

 

"Speak of the devil..." she muttered, a slight smile playing across her lips.

He thought he heard the voices of ponies nearby. Great! The other ponies aren't too far away, maybe one of them could point me in the right direction. He looked towards the direction of the sound and saw a fairly overgrown thicket. Deciding that expediency was more important than his own comfort at this point, he moved purposefully, straight into the thicket. His movements made an uncomfortably loud rustling sound, but he thought nothing of it.

 

Once I meet up with the rest, I may not need to leave. We could just continue exploring the forest. Who knows what we could find in here. Since we are ponies, we could eat the grass, so we don't need to worry about food. There's probably some moisture of some kind in here as well. This could be interesting. Oh dear…

 

As Numbers wandered out of the thicket, he was greeted by the sight of a certain red pony with a rather ominous looking smile on her face. Numbers blinked. If he had come up with a worst-case scenario for running into this pony, then this would probably have been it. Calculating quickly, he realized that he had no idea of how to approach the situation, so he shrugged, smiled cheerily, and spoke quickly. “So, how about this weather?”

[Electrobolt 2,068]

@, @

 

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Electrobolt smiled. "Well, as long as everyone's alright," he said, looking at the two. "Oh yeah... Um, you can call me Electrobolt, if you want." After saying that, he began looking around at the rest of the group. Upon noticing a few ponies seeming to be missing, he shook his head. *Wait... Did I miss a few...?* Looking around the group yet again, he still saw the same result: a few ponies having disappeared from the group. *Where did they go?* he pondered, looking at the surroundings. Sighing as he couldn't see any kind of trail as to where they could have gone, he just sat down and faced the forest.

 

Closing his eyes for a few minutes, Electrobolt thought back on everything that happened so far. First, he had woken up in a grassy field as opposed to sleeping in a bed, then he had seen that he turned into a pony, and that he was surrounded by numerous amounts of ponies, whom most likely had the same thing happen to them. One of the ponies, a tan-colored pony with a horn on her head, then somehow began to glow a crimson color as these strange creatures began to fly out of the forest, almost startled as it were. As he began to try and remember the sounds they were making, his mind slowly begin to blank out, blocking out the rest of the world while the memory of those strange devices returned, although everything was still muted and in black and white.

 

----------------

 

A young boy, looking almost as if he were 12 years old, sat on his bed as he held this controller in his hand. The controller had this strange shape, and attached to it was a cord that connected to this cube-like device, which in turn was connected to yet another device that displayed some things on it. As he looked on the screen, he could see these characters as they appeared to be fighting. He couldn't exactly tell what they looked like, but one of them seemed as if it was a small puffball, while one seemed similar to a dinosaur.

 

----------------

 

His viewing of the memory lasted for a few minutes, before they faded away and he slowly began to open his eyes, looking around a bit. *That was odd... What was that all about...?* he pondered to himself, looking down at the grass. *How long was I out? And... Who am I, really...?* Shaking his head, he glanced over to the forest, where the insect-like creatures popped out from and was curious. He wasn't sure what all was in there, or what may be lurking inside, but he was now intrigued.

[Legendary Emerald 622]

Serah heard approaching hoof-steps, but didn't dare turn her head to see who it was.

 

As Numbers wandered out of the thicket, he was greeted by the sight of a certain red pony with a rather ominous looking smile on her face. Numbers blinked. If he had come up with a worst-case scenario for running into this pony, then this would probably have been it. Calculating quickly, he realized that he had no idea of how to approach the situation, so he shrugged, smiled cheerily, and spoke quickly. “So, how about this weather?”

 

“Pleasant.” she answered, smile never wavering. “But about to heat up.”

 

The bush Serah had been intently staring at began to quiver. An gnarled black head crept out among the branches, peaking out at it's prey. Yellow eyes bore into Serah's own as the wolf-like creature opened it's maw to show off rows of jagged teeth. It howled, loudly and prolonged. Serah's eyes glistened.

 

“Nice try.” she muttered. Leading with her left hoof, Serah whirled around, facing the other direction just as a second wolf flew through the air at her, claws outstretched. Her hoof was suddenly encased in a coat of fire, and it smashed into the wolves' jaw right before it could connect with her. It fell to the ground beside her, writhing in pain, it's entire bottom jaw smashed and burnt to timber.

 

Ambush thwarted, the first wolf charged forward with. Acting on instinct, Serah punched the air in front of her while her attacker was still out of range. Her horn brightened momentarily, but only a small handful of ineffectual embers sputtered out from her outstretched hoof.

 

“Sh*t.” Serah cursed under her breath. She braced herself for collision.