An hour passed by as Twilight waited as still as the evergreen trees that surrounded her trembling self. No winds, no animals, no activity whatsoever made a sound in the heart of the forest; the mare dared not break the code of silence herself. With no sign of a trail Twilight felt trapped as a bird in a cage that had been stowed away and utterly forgotten.

The unicorn waited fretfully for something to jump out, though she hoped the opposite every anxious second. Perspiration carpeted Twilight's coat as the sheer cold froze it into an uncomfortable shell around her. The strap and sides of her saddlebag soaked as the pouches slipped centimeters up and down her back. The sensation caused her spine to shivered with bone-chilling fear time and time again. Twilight dared not shed either the frost or the bags; one movement would stir trouble beyond her sights.

She could only see within the confines of the cleared patch she had found. Its radius was hardly a hoof's reach in radius. In time the space grew unsettling itself as the clouds above thickened over the hours. Daylight slowly lets its might slip away as snow drifted to the ground in celebration. The frosty festivities grew until flakes flew about like little white parasprites. Fresh new layers of snow spread atop each other until they rendered Twilight's hoofwear inadequate.

All of a sudden a rustling in the distance began, sweeping the mare clean out of her boots in one flinch.

Twilight’s head started spinning worse than ever that day. Her eyes moved more frantically than ever before. Not an inch of scene went uncovered by her eyes, but she feared something sneaking up on her nonetheless. Twilight could feel her breaths leaving before even entering her lungs; the heat of her exhalations turned instantly into steam.

Sections of trees nearer and nearer began shifting and shaking about. Clumps of snow shook off from their branches, plodding onto the thick layers through which the oncoming creature rushed. Against the stillness of the air the noise was an overwhelming cacophony, its sound a disturbing warning. Twilight felt the instinct to run beating her so-called logic to a pulp until she panicked and judged which way held her best chance of escape.

No, if I stand still it might not hear me... but what if it already knows I'm here!?

The brushing against the pines drew closer and closer, its direction straight where Twilight stood frozen. The mare's ears retreated as she shrunk in her spot, hunkering down as though hoping to blend into the onsetting darkness. But against the piling snow on the earth Twilight stuck out like a vivid painting against a brick wall.

A body shot out from the swarm of branches, tackling Twilight to the ground. The unicorn stumbled in her attempt to retreat and fell into a cluster of spiky boughs. As quickly as she blundered into the mess Twilight immediately sprang out from it; the pokes of the pine stung like pins and needles. Blinded by the pain, Twilight fought the twinge to try and spot a way out of the clamor.

Suddenly a groan met the mare’s ears.

“Ugh, stupid pine! What traps could possibly stand in the way of the Great and Powerful-”

“Trixie!?” Twilight yelped.

Twilight managed to force open one of her eyes. Surely enough with her head stuck in a cluster of branches nearby was the struggling, violet-caped figure. The combined dark of the forest and moisture from melted snow had made Trixie's coat turn navy blue. When the mare pulled her head out from the snow-covered limbs of the evergreen a messy, light azure mane completed the pony's physique.

Twilight continued to stare in a state of shock until Trixie managed to open a single eye herself. The two stared at each in their strange half-blinded states, both at a loss for words.

Twilight finally summoned the only thought on her mind. “W-What happened to the monster?”

Trixie gasped for air and brushed off her coat. “I, I don’t-” She then cleared her throat and harrumphed. “As if the Great and Powerful Trixie would care! It was hardly a task getting away from that beast-”

“Trixie!” Twilight shushed as she stared at her staggered companion, “would you drop the act and talk like any other decent pony?”

“Ugh, why should the Great and Powerful Trixie be limited by your pathetic phraseology?” Trixie asked, offended.

How does she even know these words...

An echo sounded in the distance. Both of the unicorn's ears shot up, but the noise was too far off to identify. The two waited for something else to follow, their hoofs ready to leap and gallop away, but the forest fell dead silent as the two unicorns that sat listening.

“Look, Trixie, I don't really care about what you say,” Twilight said in an irritated whisper. “Just try not to yell, okay?”

“How dare you-!” Trixie gasped, but then covered her mouth the instant she realized her own volume. She continued in a whisper, “How dare you speak to the Great and Powerful Trixie in such an undignified manner!”

Twilight brushed off the scold with a roll of her eyes. “Look, Trixie, instead of arguing we need to try and find a way out of here. I remember reading a book on survival skills; I think it said to try and find a landmark which could potentially help your location stand out. The alternative is a clearing, but I’m not so sure I’d wanna hang around one of those at this time of night.” She shivered at the thought of the frightening number of red eyes, real or fake, that she had witnessed that day. “Are there any landmarks you can think of around here?”

Trixie took her turn in rolling her violet eyes full circle. “The Great and Powerful Trixie sees no point in answering such a stupid question.”

Twilight groaned, “Unless you want to walk in some random direction in hopes of finding an exit without encountering that... thing, I suggest you share whatever things comes to mind.”

With a frustrated exhalation, Trixie declared, “Well then, if you insist. I just hope you actually know what you're talking about, though I'm not sure I can trust your-”

“Just tell me!” Twilight growled, her crossness nearly bring her whisper straight up to a shout.

Trixie's eyebrows furrowed, but she answered regardless of her exasperation.

“Straight back from where I just came were some random piles of rocks,” she explained. “Is that of any importance to you?”

Twilight lifted her eyes to the sky and let a deep, cold breath flow through her lungs.

“I don't think you understand, Trixie, I'm talking about real landmarks. Things that stand out more than others? Specifically from a distance? There are rocks all over the woods-”

“I know what a landmark is you foal! Maybe they weren’t random piles of stones,” Trixie retorted. “Maybe they were organized piles, or markers. Whatever it is lame and helpless explorers make.”

Twilight rubbed her forehead. “Uh huh. So... how many of these mysterious stacks of stones were there?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has no time to count rocks. An educated guess, I suppose, would be roughly enough to build a replica of your pathetic little Ponyville,” Trixie jeered.

Twilight felt her face beginning to burn even in the eerie cold of the evening. Though her face was freezing every muscle within moved to form an irked scowl across the mare's face. From dealing with the barrage of insults and intolerable word choice Twilight felt herself ignoring more of what came out of Trixie's mouth. While she wanted to believe that something noteworthy was indeed nearby, she kept close her doubts concerning who she knew to be an habitual liar.

“What are you carrying in a saddlebag out here in the middle of the woods? Don’t you have anything useful inside?” Trixie pried as she examined the violet packs Twilight carried.

“Nothing that would concern you,” Twilight murmured, until suddenly the bag's contents crossed her mind. “Wait a minute, that's it!”

Twilight lit her horn and summoned forth the compass that she had taken along for the trip. She couldn't feel the rustling in her bags as she had continued to shake in fear – finding Trixie had not been particularly relieving nor helpful in the slightest. When the mare looked back at her packs, though, not a thing budged inside either of them.

“I know I packed a compass in here somewhere,” Twilight uttered as a cold chill only brought on more sweating.

She slid the bag from off her back and dug through the few contents inside with her hoofs. There was no sign of the compass inside. She suddenly realized she had mostly likely dropped it back in the large clearing where the entire pack of ponies had split.

What was inside, however, was another item which had nearly slipped Twilight’s mind: the spell book 'History of the Speak-No-Evil Spell'. The mare picked up the tome and held it with her magic with a smile, but the grin quickly turned upside down.

Water dripped from the thick book’s edges. A look of horror slowly emerged. Twilight brisked through the ruined pages and then examined the cover; surely enough, moisture had reached at least half of the volume.

“Just what are you up to you now?” Trixie asked as she observed a book lifting from her acquaintances bags. “This is no time to be reading books.”

“I... I damaged it,” Twilight said breathlessly. “I've never damaged somepony's else book before...”

Twilight flipped through the pages of the spell book from which she had hardly read a word. It was a recommendation from her professor, Yorsets, as a 'casual read' over the break. But with the bottoms of the pages soaked and ink smeared on a number of pages, the book was no longer in a pristine state. Fixing it would take hours upon hours, but only after a scolding from a professor, or worse: Princess Luna.

Twilight felt her heart shatter into pieces.

“It's just a book you absentminded dolt,” Trixie said. “Who ever had much use for books anyway? Not the Great and Powerful Trixie, that's for sure. Why don't you think of a way to get us out of this mess rather than sob like a pathetic filly?”

Twilight glanced over the title page again when a thought suddenly began stirring in her mind. The twirling soon turned into a strong tornado until it twisted a devilish grin across Twilight's face.

“Say, Trixie, I think I have a spell that could help get us out of here,” Twilight said.

“Well then use it,” Trixie replied. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has better things to do than be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Especially with the likes of you.”

“Oh I'll use it, all right,” Twilight said as she flipped to the end of the hardback she held.

The spell should be at the end here somewhere...

Though she had never used the ‘Speak-No-Evil’ spell, Twilight felt confident enough to follow simple instructions. On the last page was a description of manipulation spells and warnings of their side effects. She skipped over the list of related spells and mix-ups and instead focused on the magic casting instructions.

The instructions read:

“For absolute truth, cast to hold one's tongue

For forcing lies, tongue and heart;

Observe that the two can be held apart

To risk lies, hold neither one.”

The wording was more vague than any spell description Twilight had encountered, but with a special gift in magic the mare knew she could do it.

Might as well give it a shot.

Twilight closed her eyes and lit her horn as Trixie stood by, clueless. A golden light began glowing from the tip of her horn until they formed the shape of a clamp. It snapped away at the chilly air until Twilight opened her eyes and directed its movement. Trixie watched with a skeptical stare until her eyes shot wide open at the sight of the device headed straight for her.

In a flash the clamp dissolved right into thin air, but Trixie continued to back away with her eyes closed. She coughed and sputtered as she spun in circles avoiding what Twilight assumed to be the hold of her spell.

Twilight smiled and asked smartly, “Now let's test this enchantment before continuing on. Trixie, why don't you tell me whether or not there were actually timber wolves attacking us earlier?”

“I accept to play this game!” Trixie said, upon which her eyes opened wide and stared down at her muzzle. “What, what's not the matter!?”

“Answer the question, Trixie,” Twilight ordered.

“T-There were... many... timber wolves,” Trixie said as she continued to look about nervously. “T-There, are you dissatisfied?”

Twilight smiled and nodded, “That's what I tho- wait, did you say many?”

“I most certainly did not, and that's exactly what I intended!” Trixie replied as a scowl began to show.

Twilight looked no different with her eyes wide open and mouth hanging. “Did my spell not work..?”

“Judging by my normal speech, it seems it apparently did not!” Trixie barked. “Unless you intended for me to sound just fine!”

“Stop yelling!” Twilight pleaded in an exemplifying, but strong, whisper.

“I can help it!” Trixie snapped. “Obviously you've done nothing to make me this way!”

“Trixie! It's going to hear you-”

Suddenly the ground shook. Then the trees shook. Soon enough even the still air shook. Twilight and Trixie exchanged horrified glances. Trixie bolted off in the direction from which she came.

Twilight shouted in protest, “Trixie, I think it'd be better if we stick together!”

“Sticking around with a sane intellectual like you is on the top of my list of priorities!” Trixie shouted back, then grunted in frustration. “I'd rather survive running with you than get attacked by that mysterious thing!”

“Then why are you heading that way?” Twilight yelled, but her call fell beneath the storming beats of the beast’s steps. “TRIXIE!”

A shrill neigh blared, breaking the silence of the wood altogether. Noises big and small suddenly swarmed Twilight as she started in a gallop from what had been her hidden post. Her instinct screamed to turn completely around and run, but something else held the reins in her mind. Something inexplicable steered the mare off through the forest. As far as she could tell it was away from the monster.

Twilight dared to turn her head as she caught a glimpse just over her shoulder. A terrible pair of crimson eyes followed behind hovering above the snow-capped treetops. Against the charcoal sky the silvery head would have been rather easy to make out; however, with the heavy snowfall ensuing, it blended with the flurry of snowflakes that stirred in a wind above the woods. Twilight was not sure which would struck more fear, the heads or the head completely; she surely didn’t care to check.

While looking back Twilight tripped over a root and tumbled head over hoof. She crashed into a strong, uneven surface, and a lump of snow spilled down over her body. The freezing sensation was a jolt, to say the least; but in the heat of the chase it felt like mere lukewarm water flowing like crystallized honey.

Unable to move Twilight could only listen as the stomping beast drew near. Its steps approached until Twilight could sense the mysterious monster passing directly above. She held her breath despite her pleading lungs until the violent trampling passed by.

Ever so slowly the treading faded away, until Twilight could no longer hear nor feel the earth trembling.

Though Twilight wished she could stay within the safety of her cocoon of clumpy snow, she knew she would have to move sooner or later. Reluctantly she wiggled her way out and shook to try and release some of the built-up tension. But with racked nerves and a frame of frazzled muscles the mare could hardly extend a limb. The tightness of her body matched the stress in her brain, which by then was so behind on contemplation that images of the monster's eyes were still stuck in her mind.

The image gradually faded away as Twilight examined just what it was she had run into. Standing not much taller than the mare herself was a rough, broken section of dark stone wall. Mortar sat along the edges of the round, rocky bricks while former pieces hid scattered in the snow. Twilight carefully looked over the single formation until a familiar figure paced along into sight.

“See for yourself, halfwit,” Trixie said as Twilight held back a shriek. A sparkle suddenly lit up in the blue mare’s eyes as she approached the startled unicorn. “Wait, did that come out as I meant? Aha, your pathetic spell has already worn-”

“Trixie,” Twilight interrupted, looking around, “is this the area you found earlier? Don't you realize that these could be more than just random piles of rock!?”

Trixie stammered, recovering from her sudden excitement. “W-Well of course, obviously this shows certain signs of-”

“The town,” Twilight said as the shock made her cold all over again. She shivered at the thought of the carvings on the walls that she had witnessed days before classes began.

“What!? How did you know about all this?” Trixie asked suspiciously.

“There... There was a town on a map of the island,” Twilight recollected. “I remember seeing it in the cave-”

She suddenly stopped and looked over at Trixie, who listened intently – for once.

“Wait... how do you know about all this?” Twilight asked.

“Wouldn't you like to know,” Trixie said with a huff as she disappeared behind the standing section of mortar and stone. “You may be an open book, you mule, but the Great and Powerful Trixie is far more complicated.”

With that Trixie turned tail and walked off out of sight behind the stone structure. Twilight, driven by bland curiosity, followed the trail of hoofprints around the corner of the damaged partition. The moment her wandering gaze lifted from the tracks, however, Twilight could hardly believe her eyes. Scattered in the midst of the thick of the woods were spreads of rock structures, all mostly crumbled save for their foundations. Blankets of snow covered piles of stone that spilled from broken arches and walls.

The words escaped Twilight ever so slowly, “Is this what I think it is?”

“Didn't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie, did you, foal?” jeered her irritable companion who looked over the debris without a care in the world. “Let this be a lesson to you about doubting-!”

“Trixie, keep it down!” Twilight shushed pleadingly. “We don't know where that monster is.”

“What are you, scared?” Trixie mocked. “So much for the mare who vanquished the Ursa Minor.”

Twilight gave an unconvinced glare, to which Trixie simply looked away and raised her nose stubbornly.

“I didn't want to have to do this again,” Twilight said as she drew out her spell book. “On second thought, maybe I did...”

She scanned over the instructions once again but read over the notes on the preceding page. A few examples of failed casting filled up the entire page, but Twilight only searched for one specific situation.

She found the category and simply solution:

“What to do if the target continues lying:

Remember to focus your energy on the target’s tongue without looking an answer of your own.

Otherwise conflicting words may emerge that neither please the target nor the caster.”

Twilight lit up her horn again as a golden color began to emit.

“W-What do you think you're doing?” Trixie began, but was quickly cut off by a twist of her tongue.

Twilight's reattempt at the 'Speak-No-Evil' spell followed just as before as a golden clamp formed and floated in the air. Trixie threw a grimace as she tried to escape again, but the magic thrust at her and grabbed hold of her tongue again. The golden glow then dissipated, leaving Trixie violently to shaking her head in vain. After a minute she gave up the scuffle as Twilight watched the mare slump onto the snow.

Trixie, unimpressed with the spell herself, threw a furious glowering with her violet eyes.

“I need to know, Trixie,” Twilight stated seriously, “how did you know that this town existed?”

Trixie shut her mouth as tightly as possible, but her lips forced their way against her will. “When some of you Ponyvillians went to inspect the seaside cavern a while back, I had a few of my underlings scare them off. After they returned they told me about strange markings they had found, so I went to see for myself.”

“Did you see carvings in the walls?”

Trixie tried to resist again, but the attempt failed faster than the first as her mouth yanked open. “THERE was a map and some other things, I didn't care to look at everything. I saw a map first and looked at it, and right next to it was this etching of a town of ponies in a forest. There was something written warning of a Tigbalan.”

“Tigbalan? What's that?” Twilight asked with an eyebrow raised. Her clear speech turned briefly into a murmur, “I remember everything in the tunnel but that last thing.” She looked up at Trixie, who continued to glower. “Trixie, do you know what a Tigbalan is? That sure sounds made-up to me.”

“I had forgotten the word until you forced it out of me just now,” Trixie commented, to which Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t care at the time, and still don’t now.”

“How do I know that you aren’t lying-?”

“You have this spell cast on me, don't you!?” Trixie asked irritatedly.

“I'm not sure it was working correctly before, and it stopped worked after a while,” Twilight observed. “There's only one way to know: Trixie, how many Ursa Majors have you defeated?”

Trixie suddenly captured a second burst of resistance as she turned her head away and shut her mouth. Her faced turned a terrible blue as she held her breath and closed her eyes.

Her final fight, however, ended in vain as the answer flew out with a gasp for air.

“NONE!”

Twilight released the spell with a wave of her horn. Groaning, Trixie rolled her tired tongue back into her mouth and wheezed from exhaustion. She slowly rose to her hoofs with a terrible temper growing as steam floated up from her head.

“How dare you treat me so brutishly! I have a spell of my own I would cast if it weren't for-!”

The ground started shaking once again. Its might was more powerful than earlier. Twilight and Trixie looked at one another until a frightening whinny tore through the atmosphere. The two suddenly looked straight into the darkness ahead.

A horrid pair of large, crimson eyes blinked. Their sights were fixed on the shivering mares.

Next Chapter: Chapter 20 (Episode 5, Part 2): Crimson Eyes and Iffy Lies Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 4 Minutes