Twilight could feel a sense of reluctance rising inside as she and her two companions neared the emerald forest's edge. From a distance the Western Woods had been a rather pleasant sight, from the strong, towering pines to the shimmering snow that wrapped around them. The great span of trees flowed like a wave over the hillsides as it reached northward, bordering the western mountain range and the long, eastern coastline.

A single trail supposedly looped through a better part of the expansive woods, but from where Twilight stood atop the hill - just a few steps away from the southern gate of the school grounds - she couldn't find a single divide in the stretch of the forest. All she could make out of the trail was its beginning, a hole in the bulwark of trees at the base of the hill.

Although Twilight always saw the Western Woods as a beautiful landscape, certain elements began standing out as she drew closer and closer to it. With dark clouds brewing over the Equestrian Sea and winds growing stronger and colder with every passing minute, Twilight thought twice about her little excursion.

Her wondering gradually turned into a mental list, its contents an inventory of ‘reasons’ as to why the three should turn back. Twilight’s eyes were weary after a long night of restlessness. Lunch had hardly filled her stomach. Her saddlebags, though hardly filled, felt heavier with every step she took. Her boots and scarf were beginning to feel insufficient as the cold grew only worse.

But the moment Twilight removed her sights from the beginning of the trail and back to Quirky and Windchaser, she couldn't even begin piecing together a sentence regarding one of her excuses.

“Do you by chance remember what area of the woods you saw that mysterious thing moving about?” Quirky Q inquired.

Twilight, shook from her panic, stopped and looked over the stretch of pointed treetops. With a blurred vision the mare could hardly distinguish one section of the forest from another. Guessing which direction her bedroom window faced, Twilight could picture the nocturnal activity in various parts of the green and white jumble.

“I think it was... over there?” Twilight said as she looked and pointed to the east.

Windchaser and Quirky surveyed the vague area at which she motioned. Their eyes lacked what little detail Twilight's memory held; that little detail, however, was the difference between a thoughtless gaze and shivering stare. To them, they were in for a lighthearted trip; to Twilight, they were out on a mission.

“We need to make sure we're heading northeast as much as possible,” Twilight said. “It' a good thing I brought a compass.”

The mare drew out the round instrument with her magic and held it before her eyes. She tapped the bronze case and watched as the white and red arrows spun inside. When the red needle pointed north, Twilight lifted her head and took in a deep breath in preparation.

“This way!” she announced, then marched on forward.

Not after taking two steps, however, she was shortly stopped.

“Hold the phone!” interrupted Quirky with a dash of excitement as the pink in her eyes grew bright. “What if we skirted the woods and followed the coast a ways? It could save us some trouble in case we get lost.”

“That would take too long,” Windchaser stated in his usual reserved voice. “And we risk getting distracted, which would only make the trip last longer.”

“Distracted?” Twilight asked slowly.

Windchaser glanced at the sea where a frozen sheet of ice covering the shallow waters glistened like the sandy beach it bordered.

“Colgate and a few others headed that way, or at least they said that was their plan yesterday,” he said.

“How do you know all these kinds of things?” Quirky asked, amazed. “I rarely see you around, and when you are hanging out you're always so quiet.” The lavender unicorn gasped. “You're a sneaky little eavesdropper, aren't you?”

Windchaser smirked, “You can call it what you like. I call it ‘being informed’.”

“Oh, how did we forget about Colgate?” Twilight mumbled to herself. As the other two fell completely silent, though, the mumble turned into a disappointed notice that all three heard clearly. “I mean, i-it would've been nice to have somepony along who knows what she's doing.”

“Come now, we won't be getting lost in some vast wilderness,” Quirky laughed. “Like you said, we're just following a trail. Nothing dangerous about that, right? And as long as you have the compass we should manage just fine. Now, onward!”

But as the group made their way down the hill Twilight's heart was far from beating with enthusiasm. The unicorn felt her steps moving in accordance to a reluctance that clenched tightly to her heart and brain as every step was a dragged hoof across the snow-covered earth. The feeling was tiring itself.

The group carefully made their way through the snow to the trailhead at the foot of the hill. The organic doorway was an unnerving sight altogether with its bare branches twisted into an arch. With a gulp Twilight stared at the lifeless trees which sat on both sides of the portal. When she looked down the trail the mare could spot a number of similar dead-looking flora spread throughout the otherwise vivid pine and other lively conifers.

“What are you waiting for, an invitation?” Quirky inquired with a giggle. “Let's get moving before it starts getting dark!”

Twilight hadn't even realized that she came to a complete stop with all her staring. With a long inhalation – as though she were diving deep into the sea – Twilight trudged through the natural gate and onto the trail.

Once a few steps in the earlier bone-chilling atmosphere had almost completely disappeared; in its stead, however, an eerie ambiance gradually took its place. The forest seemed much more silent as the howling of the wind died at the wood’s edge. A darkness from the shade of the giant trees multiplied the further in the three dared to venture.

“My, it's so peaceful!” Quirky remarked with wonder, her echoing voice an active example of the tranquility. “It's such a beautiful place. No wonder ponies have been trying to set hoof on this trail!”

Twilight wished her nerves would calm down. The strained feeling made her outlook on things turn from enjoyment to skepticism. The narrow trail was not a unique sight to enjoy, from its beautiful trees to the ice crystals and snow that occupied them; rather, it was a winding trap with a monster inside, like a maze with a wrong turn somewhere down the line.

Twilight's head drooped with the weight of the frightening thought. Her eyes darted back and forth in a frenzy. “It’d be more enjoyable if I could get that thing off my mind. What if we run whatever it is? Is it friendly? Does it even come out during the day?”

“Nonsense, Twilight,” Quirky said with a carefree gesture. “I doubt Princess Luna would let anything dangerous exist even remotely close to the academy. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Well,” Twilight uttered, “we're not exactly close to the school grounds-” Suddenly a thought struck her mind, jolting her into leaping back and stare into space with widened eyes. “Luna! I forgot to tell the princess about all this! Lemon Hearts told me last night that she would say something, but she didn't mention anything about it in her letter-!”

“Princess Luna left,” Windchaser stated.

Twilight paused and looked at the grey stallion. His expressionless face had a hint of confidence within it, though it looked no different than usual.

“Do you know why she left, or where she's headed?” Twilight questioned. “Was it about the forest?”

“She's headed to Canterlot, probably to see Celestia,” Windchaser said. His eyes suddenly motioned a few times toward Quirky, who was paying attention to a pair of blue butterflies that were flying around. “It's not about the forest though. I think it's about our encounter...”

His voice drifted off as Quirky jumped back into the talk. “What was that? What were you two talking about?”

“Nothing!” Twilight replied with an uneasy laugh. “Nothing at all. W-We were just talking about the, uh-”

“Trees,” Windchaser cut in. He nervously grinned.

Quirky looked at the two and blinked. “I didn't know you two were into... trees.”

All of a sudden a scream pierced through the still air. The voice was like that of a mare, its volume signaling that she was not far off.

“W-What was that?” Twilight asked as she stopped and glanced at the others.

Windchaser faced the right portion of the woods. “It came from over there!”

“But there's no trail,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “Maybe the path curves up ahead-”

“There's no time to lose, Twilight!” Quirky declared, suddenly playing the part of the heroine as she puffed out her chest and squinted in focus. “We'll break through the trees, whatever it takes!”

Normally the comment wouldn't have seemed so bad. But, with the evergreens stretching wide with pointed needles on their branches, the rows of trees were like a palisade of prickly spikes. Twilight backed away, stammering.

“I-I don't know, you guys,” Twilight said. “We don't even know who's out there-!”

“That's why we need to hurry and see!” Quirky said, grabbing Twilight and throwing her into the thick barrier of trees.

Twilight stumbled into the mess of snow-covered brush as blinded as a filly playing pin-the-tail-on-the-pony. Her hoofs tripped over one another. A number of branches slapped across her face. Every other step fell into a dip in the ground, tripping Twilight until she lost complete control of herself. She tried to stop and open her eyes multiple times, but either she staggered into another pile of snow or Quirky – right behind her – pushed her onward against her will.

After a tiring blunder through the thick of the woods Twilight felt a gap in the bunches of branches. She opened an eye and found herself in a clearing. Its circular shape was large enough to fit a house in its circumference. Across the way sat a mare with eyes wide and mouth trembling as she stared at the three that approached. Her coat was white as the snow and her curling mane and tail a purplish pink. Her dainty figure and cutie mark of a statue and chisel mark were strikingly familiar.

“H-Help!” the stranger cried. “I-I think I’m being chased!”

A series of slow stomps suddenly began shaking the ground. Sections of snow on the trees fell off piece by piece until the pines were stripped clean of their white apparel. Storm clouds began swarming the sky, casting darkness upon on the opening.

The stranger cleared through the open space and stopped before the three with eyes dashing frantically here and there.

“I was just wandering through the woods, when suddenly these things came after me!” she cried, panting. “Get me out of here, please!”

Twilight looked at the coral-colored eyes that stared at her. She knew she recognized her face from the academy.

“Diamond Chisel?” Twilight asked, unsure of the exact words to her name.

“Y-You recognize me!” she smiled, but the twinkle in her eyes disappeared as soon as they emerged. “I thought you three looked familiar! Please, just get me back to the grounds! It's not safe out here anymore!”

But the loud stomps grew even closer, until they were sounding at the very edge of the glade. Diamond Chisel fell at Twilight's hoofs and pleaded, “Please, we have to get out of here!”

Twilight looked to the others, but their eyes were just as wide and expressions just as clueless as hers. The goal had been to find whatever it was that wandered the Western Woods; the newcomer begged for the opposite. Twilight had no idea what to do, nor any time to think.

“W-What is it!?” Twilight asked the first thing on her mind. She looked down at Diamond Chisel and then back up at the trees and growing darkness around them.

“It? No, the question is what are they!” Diamond Chisel said hurriedly, urging the three to turn tail and run. “I think t-they're... they're... timber wolves!”

Seeing the desperation in the mare's eye, Twilight turned to make a dash for the trail. But the moment she caught a glimpse of the forest behind her, she stopped dead in her tracks.

A pair of red eyes glowed amongst the trees.

Twilight shrieked and jumped away from the sight as her heart started throbbing like mad. Before she knew it, another pair began glowing close by. Then another, and another, until the entire clearing was surrounded by pairs of evil eyes staring inward.

“We need to get back to the trail!” Twilight exclaimed as she glanced in every direction.

“But which way do we go?” Quirky asked.

Twilight wheeled around until she found herself standing flank-to-flank with the others. She bit her lip and cried, “I don't know!”

“Fear not my petrified peers!” came a voice of yet another stranger.

It sounded like another mare, but this voice seemed nothing but confident with a shout that filled the clearing. Before Twilight could look around a figure leaped clear over her head. The newcomer stopped and stood directly in front of her, showing off a dark, flowing mantle that reached from her neck down over her tail.

The stranger's horn lit a light violet as the mare declared, “Watch in awe as I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, send these hideous beasts back to their dens!”

Twilight felt her heart stop.

… TRIXIE!?

The newcomer's horn glowed brighter and brighter until it shot forth pale purple beams and golden sparks. She dug her hoofs into the snow and lifted her head. A thundering roar rumbled overhead in response. Bolts of lightning flashed within the banks, until suddenly striking down at the red eyes that encircled the group. The blinding bolts blasted one by one as their booms struck in rapid succession.

Twilight covered her ears but the sound was hardly blocked out. Her eyes closed tighter and tighter until she was on the ground groaning in pain. She waited breathlessly as shocking resonances exploded in a circle around her. In time the bolts of lightning ceased, but Twilight felt safe only sneaking a peek of the scene.

All of the stalking red eyes had vanished. Their vanquisher, a familiar blue pony, stood before the huddled four rubbing the light blue jewel of her cape-piece with pride. Her eyes were closed and nose held high in an aggrandized, victorious pose.

“Looks another tremendous rescue by the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she stated coolly. “There's no need to thank me you helpless ponies, but if you feel compelled-”

“Trixie!?” Twilight gasped, finally grasping just who stood before her.

Taken aback, Trixie opened her eyes and examined the four in shock. “You again!?”

“You know her?” Windchaser whispered, to which Twilight frowned and nodded.

“Unfortunately.”

“I heard that you ungrateful simpleton!” Trixie snapped. “What business do you have being saved by the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “We were just exploring, until we heard a cry for help-”

“Exploring? How foalish,” Trixie retorted. “The headmare should have locked you all up in your rooms so you wouldn't cause any problems as you all obviously have. Do you know how troublesome it was for the Great and Powerful Trixie to come out here and save you all? Of course, it was hardly a challenge to defeat those fiends. Are you four really this helpless on your own?”

Twilight glanced over at Diamond Chisel, who was snickering. The moment their eyes locked, though, the sneer disappeared and Diamond Chisel looked away.

“What's going on here?” Twilight asked suspiciously.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has just saved you from a blood-thirsty pack of timber wolves, you mule!” Trixie declared.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn't have happened to have planned all this, would you Trixie?”

“What!? Apparently you're dumbstruck from watching a tremendous feat of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Your puny little head is fooling you into imagining things, I'm sure,” Trixie remarked with a harrumph. “Is this the thanks the Great and Powerful Trixie gets for saving your sorry-”

“How’d the glowing eyes thing work, Trix?” came a call of another familiar mare nearby. A light brown unicorn emerged from the woods with a giant grin across her face. “You see 'em scared out of their boots-?”

The straw hat and accent gave away Lasso Tussle in a stomp of the hoof. When Trixie threw the newcomer a threatening gaze, Twilight began connecting the dots in her head.

“So, Trixie,” Twilight began as she stood on all fours, “you said you saved us from a real pack of timber wolves?"

Trixie lifted her nose. "Was there ever any doubt? Did you not see their blood-colored eyes scattered among the trees? Or has my beautiful performance left you utterly blind as well?"

“Well, that was a lightning spell you used to scare the creatures away, right?”

“A very powerful lightning spell, you unobservant dolt. The Great and Powerful Trixie would never settle for less.”

“Then how come we didn't hear anything running away?” Twilight asked.

Trixie opened an eye and looked to Diamond Chisel, and then Lasso Tussle. “Well, that is to say... Y-You obviously have fallen deaf at the might of the awesome power of the Great-!"

Twilight quickly interrupted. “Not to mention, how is it that you three, assuming you each received permission to enter the woods from Princess Luna, came into the scene separately, when in fact the headmare ordered that ponies travel in groups?”

Trixie continued to stammer, “Well, see, that's easy to explain-”

“This was all a set-up, wasn't it?” Twilight finally stated, to which the three non-Ponyville individuals stared at one another.

A pause ensued in which every pony on the scene began exchanging confused expressions. After a minute of speechlessness Trixie stomped her hoof and grunted.

“Not an ounce of gratitude for the works of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Fine then!” Trixie barked. “Don't come running to me anytime soon when you're in desperate need of help.”

She flipped her cape and turned, heading straight into the forest with her head held high. Diamond Chisel and Lasso Tussle looked at one another in uncertainty, until they too disappeared into the depths of the woods, unable to utter a single word.

The clearing fell silent, and Twilight felt her head suddenly empty though it swarmed with a volume of thoughts.

“That was it?” Twilight asked herself. “The monster was just... them?”

“Ugh! What incentive would a performer like her have in pretending to save us from a pack of monsters?” Quirky remarked with a snort. “She sure has potential for a flashy show, but abusing the skill is frowned upon by all things theatre.”

“I don't understand her myself,” Twilight said, giving up. “She claimed to have vanquished an Ursa Major when she came to Ponyville a couple years ago, but I don't get why she tried bragging about it.”

“Boost her credibility?” Windchaser wondered aloud.

“I guess, but ever since she was caught lying then I thought she would change-”

Another scream shot through the air, this time accompanied by two others. They emerged from the direction in which Trixie and the others had stormed out. Twilight looked to Windchaser and Quirky, both of which stared back as cluelessly.

Windchaser cocked his head and smirked, “Should we go this time-?”

“I wouldn't bother,” Quirky stated firmly. “They're probably trying to pull the act twice in a row. I would expect no less from such an inexperienced actress like herself.”

“HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!” came the cry of Diamond Chisel again, not very far off this time.

The three didn't dare move a muscle. The scream sounded different than the first, though it came from the same mouth as before. Twilight looked over to Windchaser, and then to Quirky, the latter of which shook her head slowly.

“T-They probably worked out the kinks and want a second chance to 'impress' us,” Quirky stated. “Let's just head back to the trail and ignore them. Sooner or later they'll give up trying.”

Twilight looked around for a moment. Her heart started beating rapidly as her ears retreated. “Wait... which way did we come in from?”

“Check your compass,” Windchaser mentioned.

She pulled the instrument from her bags and laughed off the tenseness, “I guess today's been a bit more eventful than I anticipated. Adventures like these can really put my on edge-”

The ground began shaking once more, this time more violently than before. Twilight looked down at her utensil, its arrows spinning madly about without ever having settled. The mare's eyebrows dropped as a displeased frown combined form her typical unimpressed expression for the other two to see.

“Trixie, we know it's you guys-”

Suddenly the three that had screamed burst through the wall of trees and into the opening. Each one stumbled blindly, one over the other, until they either fell or ran into the three onlookers. Lasso Tussle got to her hoofs first and ran clear through the dell into the other side of the forest, while Diamond Chisel shook the pine needles off only to fall back into a different part of the woods.

Trixie, who had bowled over the Ponyville pack, hardly wasted a second as she got up and continued her gallop. She disappeared into the forest opposite of where she entered, leaving Twilight and the other two in a daze from their collision.

Twilight looked to the others, dizzy from the impact, until Quirky's and Windchaser's eyes drifted up and then shot open. Before she could look herself Twilight felt a shadow hide what little light came down from the clouded sky, shrouding herself and the others in a darkness they had not yet felt within the woods. But the darkness was something beyond a lack of light; she felt her blood go cold. When the unicorn dared to look upward at the obstruction, she wished she had simply turned and ran like the others.

A tall monster stood towering over them, its appearance like that of a large, skeletal stallion. Its eyes were a frightening crimson and its teeth were sharp like a great white shark's. Every step of its hoof emitted a thunderous boom as it slowly paced right toward them. Its tall, lanky legs were like flexible stilts on which the emaciated figure of the hunchbacked horse rested.

W-What is that thing!?

Twilight leaped to her hoofs and took off in the opposite direction of the beast. She did not need a second more to examine the terrifying image; she knew it was what she had seen moving through the woods that night. Upon breaking through the first barrier of trees and charging through the bundles of branches thereafter Twilight glanced left and right. Not one pony was in sight.

“Windchaser! Quirky!” Twilight screamed, hoping the others would come to her.

The branches continued to hit against her body as a breeze blew against her face from her speedy haste. The only sound that met her ears was the whistle of the wind and her own hoofs beating against the ground. Every time she had the chance Twilight glanced around again, near and far, never actually stopping.

After what felt like miles of frantic retreat, Twilight felt she couldn't run anymore. She rested for a few seconds and listened; the stomps of the monster had faded away. In addition she couldn't feel earth shaking beneath her quaking hoofs. Twilight turned in circles in hopes of detecting movement or sound, to hear something moving or somepony calling. She dared not speak a word herself in fear of the strange creature finding her out.

Anxiously Twilight waited; she could not and dared not move an inch. The eerie silence settled once again. Twilight bit her lip tightly and whimpered.

What am I supposed to do now..?

Next Chapter: Chapter 19 (Episode 5, Part 2): A Semblance, then Remnants Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 19 Minutes