Chapter 11 – Fearless?

After quite a bit of last-minute packing, and some advice from Rarity on griffin fashion (after all, Twilight recommended the best first impression possible), the group of

three were ready to go. Spike had wanted to come, but had to keep the library running. As they walked down the path, Shane noted the disturbing lack of technology.

Josh noticed Shane looking at him. "What?" he questioned. "Nothing, it's just… no gear? Tools, weapons, something to show off?" Josh shrugged. "Nah, not yet. If they

ask, I've got small stuff." Shane grinned, trying not to laugh. The small stuff was almost definitely some sort of microtech or something. This was going to be good. As

they proceeded through the Everfree Forest for a direct shortcut to the griffin kingdom, it grew increasingly darker. "Wasn't it around 6 AM when we left?" Josh

wondered. Twilight shuddered. "The Everfree Forest operates on its own time. We'd better hurry, I don't want to meet some of the things in here…"

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Two hours later, they were deep in the forest when they heard a roar to their left. "Manticore?" Shane wondered aloud. "No, not deep enough. Twilight, any guesses?"

Twilight started a faster walk, almost galloping, and the two humans broke into a jog. "None of them herbivorous, and none of them friendly." Twilight answered after a

few seconds. "I see a light up ahead." Shane puffed. He was more fit than half the scientists at Black Mesa, but that wasn't saying much. They came to the light and

were surprised to discover it was a house. "Who would live out here? Not even Zecora lives this deep," Twilight wondered. Josh peeked inside, and found a small pony

sleeping on a rug in front of him, twitching slightly. It rolled over, and Josh could see it had bite marks all over it. Josh quickly shut the door. "I've seen enough horror

movies on PsychoNite to know where this is going," Josh said, leading the others quickly away from the house. "PsychoNite?" Shane asked. "It was every Sunday, the

psychology department watched our reactions to the scariest movies they could find." Shane nodded and kept running. Meanwhile, the forest was seemingly melting

around them into a blur of colors. "Keep running straight!" Josh yelled as he dodged a lump of seemingly liquid tree.

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Finally, they burst out into a bright clearing. Josh looked around suspiciously. "That went… surprisingly well," he remarked. "No it didn't, we're still in the middle of the

forest," Shane said, showing them a GPS he had found (and had calibrated to Equestria). "Well, shoot." Josh said. "What now?" Twilight said, looking around. The

clearing wasn't much to look at, perhaps a thirty-foot circle of bright, sunlit grass. "Welp, we better start running," Josh remarked casually. "Why?" Twilight said.

"Twilight, where is this sunlight coming from?" Josh answered. With a sinking feeling, Twilight looked up to discover that there was no sun in the sky. All three started

running just as a lightning bolt pierced the ground under them. "I've heard of scary, but this is outright murderous!" Shane yelled as he was nearly hit by another bolt

from nowhere. He ducked, rolled and screamed as another bolt hit the ground next to him. "The creatures in the forest respond to your innermost fears and

personality. Are you afraid of lightning?" Twilight shouted back as she dodged a bolt herself. "Yeah, how 'bout you guys?" Shane replied, wondering if their fears were

quite as mundane as his. "All the usuals for a person like me; failure, threats to Equestria, Nightmare Moon, all that," Twilight answered. "Josh? You got any fears we

should know about?" Shane shouted. There was no reply. There was also no sign of Josh.

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Josh opened his eyes, confusedly. A bolt of lightning had hit him, and then… what? He was in a blank nothingness, white everywhere. "This is my worst fear? Isolation?

You've got a lot to learn, forest, I was doing this dance for years before Aperture." He took a step forward, or what he defined as forward. The 'ground' was like

walking on air with those boots he made a while ago, no feeling whatsoever. In fact, he had no way to tell whether he had even stepped forward. He closed his eyes,

the white was starting to hurt. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over the patterns of his seared retinas. Josh opened his eyes to see two people, a man and a woman,

looking down at him. The woman seemed to resemble him, and so did the man to a lesser extent. "It's okay, son," the woman said. "You're safe now."

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"You're my parents." Josh stated, expressionless. "Why, yes, sweetie! We're so glad you came!" the woman said. "My own boy, so grown-up…" the man mused, tears

in his eyes. "I have a few questions," Josh said, looking at them. "Sure, fire away." The man grinned. "How stupid do you think I am? If you were really my parents, you

would be embarrassed. You abandoned me on a doorstep. If you were even real people, you would wonder what I've been doing. Also, you're the 'perfect parents' I

used to use as a psychological comfort back when I was a kid, and I've never actually met either of you, which makes me either a psychic or you fake. I'm willing to bet

all my money on the latter." The two people were stunned for a second. Then the girl began to scream. The man began to howl too. Louder and louder, their faces

stretching to seemingly impossible angles, until Josh couldn't stand it. He slapped the two in the face, and they immediately stopped, shocked. "I never liked you. I like

my new friends better!" The woman seemed to want to say something, but didn't. The man's jaw was set, eyes hard. Suddenly, they dissolved into dust, and Josh

could hear "Goodbye, son…" as though carried on an intangible breeze. "Goodbye, mom. Goodbye, dad. I miss you." Josh said, a tear running down his face. He walked

onward through the white haze, never looking back.

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Twilight was dodging a bolt when another struck her right in the face. She closed her eyes and awaited the pain, but none came. She opened her eyes to stare directly

into the face of Discord. "Why, hello, sweetheart!" he crowed. "I'm here to reveal to you… your worst nightmare." He swept aside a curtain behind Twilight to reveal

Queen Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon, grinning evilly. Princess Celestia was in a cage behind them. "We're going to enslave you, and if you resist, your princess dies,"

Chrysalis said with relish. Nightmare Moon laughed evilly. All three advanced on Twilight, who cowered in fear… to watch as Nightmare Moon turned and kicked

Chrysalis in the chest. Chrysalis stared in shock as she sailed across the stage, before hitting the wall and slumping to the floor. "Run, Sparkle! Run straight at the

curtain and don't look back!" Nightmare Moon bellowed as she fought Discord, protecting both herself and Twilight with a green wall of magic. Twilight did as she

asked, and burst right through the wall, running into Josh.

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"You!" they both said, and assumed fighting stances, Twilight with a ready spell, Josh with his knife. "How do we know we're real to each other?" Josh said, still looking

at Twilight with suspicion. "What's the answer to the Schrodinger's cat paradox?" Twilight questioned, parroting a conundrum Josh had taught her earlier. "Well, it

really depends on either of the two scenarios, either the cat could be dead or alive…" Josh's mouth was zipped up by magic. "Alright, you're real." Twilight laughed. The

world shook, causing both of them to stumble and trip in alarm. "…Try laughing again." Josh said. "Well, it's not that easy, you know!" Twilight retorted. "Imagine a

gigantic cannon for the sole purpose of targeting and hitting Rainbow Dash with a pie," Josh replied. Twilight stifled a giggle, and the 'world' shook again. "A Test

Subject who gets a cheesecake instead of a portal gun," Twilight responded, sending Josh into peals of laughter. The world shattered into shards of white against a

dark canvas, and the two fell into another pit of pure black.

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Shane was the last one on the field. Josh had simply disappeared, Twilight doing the same thing moments later. He had nearly reached the end of the field. He could do

it! The ground apparently chose that time to simply sink into a crater shape, ever deeper. Shane desperately grabbed at handfuls of grass, now brown and brittle.

Finally, the crater opened up, and Shane fell into a room. There was only one light, and a man in a blue suit and red tie sat in a chair. It was the same person from

Black Mesa, the g-man! Seeing that Shane had arrived, the man straightened his tie and smiled slightly. "You're looking well, Shane," the man commented in his

strange, unearthly voice. "But also quite, confused. You are, wondering why I'm here, right?" Shane could do nothing but nod. "Well, I did want to check in on my little

experiment," the man said. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" Shane hesitatingly asked. "You are one of, the last, of Black Mesa," the man answered. "You

have to survive, even if you do so in an, unusual, location. I could take you back, if you wish?" The man questioned. Shane was torn. He could go back to Black Mesa,

possibly back to the time when everyone was alive (he assumed they had all somehow died). But, he had friends here. And ponies! "…No." Shane said, decided. "I

can't leave my friends now. We have too much to do." The g-man frowned, apparently displeased with his answer. "Now, I believe your, friends (Distastefully spoken,

Shane noted), are wondering where you are…" the man got up and simply walked out of the room.

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Twilight and Josh burst in a moment later, startling Shane. "Shane! There you are!" Twilight said. Shane stood up awkwardly, feeling the blood rush back into his legs.

The floor opened out from under them, and they fell into the same clearing they left, only free of lightning bolts. "Looks like we're out, there's the sun," Josh noted. The

three looked at each other for a minute, wondering what stories each had to tell and what fears each had faced. "Let's get going," Josh said after a while of this. "I

was about to say the same thing," Shane said, Twilight nodding her assent. There was a new path at the end of the clearing, and it was invitingly sunny. The trio

walked onward, chatting a bit to relieve the tension of the events just a few minutes ago.

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Meanwhile, miles away, thirteen shadowy figures perched on thirteen dark, stony rises in the middle of a partially lit room. "Soon, my friends. Soon, we will have

everything," one said, and the others nodded. "Isn't that right, King?" The king of griffins was bound to the table, whimpering in fear. The thirteen shadowy figures

laughed and congratulated each other.

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HOLY CELESTIA, THIS TOOK FOREVER! Have an extra long chapter to compensate! I have turned into the one thing I really hate; a hiatus!

Review, and tell me to work harder.