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Twilight Manages to Screw Up More Than Usual

by Fire Gazer the Alchemist

Chapter 2: Acquaintanceship is Magic [Part Two]

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Twilight forced herself to walk at a steady pace behind Derpy, but she was finding it difficult. Their traveling speed as a whole was irritating her; they were moving at barely a brisk walk when in all actuality cantering was their best option. She’d already spoken up about this once to Derpy, but the pegasus had given her a resounding shush before whimsically saying something about needing to concentrate on the path.

Aside from wanting to get to their destination quicker, Twilight also wanted to move faster in order to distance herself from the other mares. She’d accepted their presence by now, knowing that some would likely be needed, but accepting and enjoying were two different things.

“So…” Vinyl slowly articulated the word. “Are we there yet?”

Octavia sighed. “Do you see castle ruins anywhere?”

“Nope, but somepony had to ask.”

“Why Vinyl? Why in Equestria did anypony need to ask?”

“Cause roadtrips are only fun when that question is asked at inappropriate times.” Vinyl grinned, despite a hard look from Octavia.

“Well here’s an idea, don’t try to have fun when the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance,” Twilight snapped.

Mercifully, there was silence. Then…

“Well geeze, somepony’s got a pole up her plot.”

Twilight whipped her head around, only to be met with an assortment of laughter from a few of the ponies behind her. She even heard Derpy giving a few giggles up ahead. “Real mature girls. Real mature.” In an instant, the light from her horn went out. The laughter turned to light screams of panic.

“What the heck?” Vinyl cried. “You didn’t need to blind us! Can’t you take a joke?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Twilight fired back. “I’ve just been keeping the spell going for too long. Besides, I should probably save what’s left of my magic for when we face Nightmare Moon.”

“I’ll take over for a little while,” Lyra offered, her horn sparking to life with a golden glow. She trotted ahead of Twilight and shined the light forward for Derpy to see.

They began walking again, nopony dared talk lest they wished to incur the wrath of Twilight, which made her at least a little happy. Their silence left the only sounds to be the continual crunching of the crisp grass beneath their hooves, and the occasional forest commentary of animals far away. Then without so much as a warning, Derpy stopped. “Hmm,” she uttered as five ponies bumped into each other behind her.

“What’s going on? Why did we stop?” Twilight asked.

“Does this mean we’re there?” Vinyl’s question was answered with a cold glare.

“We got ourselves a cliff,” Derpy informed them.

Bon Bon trotted over to check, poking her head over the edge. “Oh yeah, that’s steep.” To be sure, she kicked a small pebble over the edge and listened. Nine seconds later, a faint thud was heard.

“Oh boy,” Lyra backed up with a gulp. “I’m not real good with heights.”

“Great,” Twilight mumbled under her breath. She trotted over to the edged and checked for herself. Even with low light, she could tell the cliff was steep just by the jelly feeling it instilled in her legs.. “Okay yeah… that’s a little daunting.”

“So what’s the plan, smart mare?” Vinyl asked expectantly.

Twilight glanced at everypony. Lyra still appeared very weak in the knees just from hearing about the cliff, while everypony else remained apathetic. “Well, I haven’t really mastered teleportation or anything of the sort, so it looks like our best bet is to have Derpy fly us down one by one.”

“No!” Lyra screamed, backpedalling. The light sourced flickered due to her fear. “No, no, no, no, no, no!”

“I won’t drop you,” an offended Derpy pouted.

“No!”

“Lyra, relax,” Bon Bon insisted. “Nopony’s going to force you down that cliff.”

Twilight decided it was best not to voice the fact that she was very willing to coerce Lyra down.

Despite a few more attempts to console her, Lyra didn’t budge. She shook with mild fright while everypony else decided what to do. After a few suggested alternatives that led to nowhere - including Vinyl’s plan to “chuck her over the edge” - Derpy had an idea that the majority agreed on.

“Muffin break!”

Twilight groaned as the corrupt democracy of the group overruled the logic that demanded they press forward, and reluctantly sat down with everypony else to be handed a muffin. Even Lyra took a few deep breaths in order to calm down enough to eat.

Derpy landed, tucking in her wings, and proudly reached in the mail bag producing six muffins. Twilight was impressed to find they were still warm, before remembering that they had been in Derpy’s sweaty bag and that was probably why. Nevertheless, she took a bite if to do nothing more than avoid angering the gray pegasus. She was surprised to find the explosion of fluffly, blueberry flavor to be good, and she stuffed the whole treat in her mouth.

“I’m guessing you like them,” Bon Bon giggled.

Twilight blushed, swallowed her cheekful of muffin, and admitted, “Yes, they’re amazing.”

Bon Bon smiled.

“Eh, I’d say they're a six out of ten,” Vinyl interjected.

Bon Bon scowled.

“Fine, seven. Gheesh.”

“Well, I like them.” Octavia daintily bit into her muffin again. “Remind me to visit your shop some more once this whole mess blows over. I might just have to become a regular.”

“I’d like that.”

“So how are we going to get down the c-cliff?” Lyra asked through her food.

“Well, we could try to find a way to climb down.” Twilight could tell based on a pair of widening golden irises that that plan was out.

“Hey, is that smoke?” Derpy inquired, her eyes pointed away from the group.

“Or see if there is a passage we could use, but that may take too long,” Twilight continued.

“It’s getting closer.”

“There’s always my idea.” Vinyl smirked at Lyra, who venomously slapped her fellow unicorn on the back of the head.

“What if we-AHH!”

The ground beneath them suddenly crumbled away in a manner ironically similar to the muffins. Five shouts and one unbearably loud shriek echoed through the forest as they plummeted. Twilight saw Derpy attempt to snap open her wings and fly, but a jagged rock hit her on the side.

Seeing the ground fast approaching, Twilight knew she had to do something quick. Summoning as much energy into her horn as she possibly could, Twilight used her levitation to cushion their impact.

Hitting the ground was almost like hitting a pillow. She landed, the telekinesis taking the brunt of the blow, and rolled over unharmed. For half a second, Twilight was able to smile at a job well done. Then all the rubble slammed down on top of her.

An outstretched hoof felt the weight of the first rock, and there was a sickening crunch sound that followed. Pain shot through her foreleg and she cried out. Sheer luck saved her from being crushed, as that rock was prevented from moving any farther thanks to the rubble around her catching it. Several other rocks slammed around her, and miraculously, the rest of Twilight’s body survived unscathed. She managed to breath a sigh of relief, until realizing her new problem.

She was completely entombed.

Squirming, her body pressed against debris on all sides of her. There was almost no wiggle room. Her breathing became quick and panicky, and she used her good hoof to press against the rubble on top of her. Even using all of her strength, the rocks barely gave an inch.

Okay… no problem. I’ll just use my magic and… Her horn flickered to life, made a sputtering noise, and dimmed. Twilight’s pupil dilated. Oh no! I must have overexerted myself with that landing.

“Help!” she called out. Her good hoof struck the rocks, trying in desperation to make noise and attract potential rescuers. “Anypony, help!” It was no use, there wasn’t a single response offered.

Twilight should have expected as much; she had no idea if the others had been affected by her landing spell, and even if they had there was always the possibility that they’d ended up in the same spot as her… or worse.

Oh Celestia, they’re all dead aren’t they?

“HELP!”

The rock above her head shifted and eventually tumbled off to the side. A figure appeared in her vision, and Twilight waited for her eyes to adjust to the moonlight before making them out.

“Octavia?”

“Twilight, there you are.” Octavia grabbed Twilight from underneath her shoulders and lifted. Her injured hoof hit a rock on the way out and she cringed, but otherwise she was grateful.

“How did you move the rubble?” Twilight looked at the boulder, easily weighing a hundred pounds or more.

“A combination of Earth pony strength, and the fact that I play one of the heaviest instruments ever conceived.” She laid Twilight on the ground softly. “Are you okay?”

“My hoof…” Twilight lifted her limp wound, the bones undoubtedly shattered.

Octavia bit her lip. “Okay, you wait here, I’m going to get everypony else.”

“By yourself?” Twilight asked incredulously.

“Nopony’s getting left behind on my watch.” Octavia trotted back over the rubble.

Twilight could only nurse her wound. The hoof was bent in an awkward angle, but nothing was cut or bleeding. She looked around for something to make a makeshift splint, but rocks and grass were the only thing in her line of sight. For a moment, she considered trying to make a light, but that would sap away whatever strength her magic had left. It would be a while before she’d be able to use it again, and silently she cursed herself for not finding a more efficient solution when they’d all been falling.

She glanced toward Octavia, who was helping Derpy stand up. The pegasus’ wing looked about as healthy as Twilight’s hoof. She tried stretching it, only cringe and yelp loudly. Octavia sifted through the rubble and picked up a tattered mail bag. The face Derpy made told Twilight that her precious muffins had been flattened.

Sniffling, Derpy walked over to Twilight. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” Derpy overturned her bag, letting the ruined muffins fall to the ground. “I’ve hurt my wing before… this just means a few more months of physical therapy.”

“Do you get hurt a lot?”

Derpy stared at her, out-of-sync eyes letting Twilight know that was a dumb question. “I’m an uncoordinated klutz who likes to fly everywhere I go. What do you think?”

“...Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m more upset about the muffins anyways.” Derpy looked down at the flattened treats. The mare genuinely looked crushed about the fact that her muffins were… well… crushed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Bon Bon would be more than happy to make you some more when we get back."

Derpy perked up slightly. “Where is Bon Bon anyways?”

“Over here.” Twilight and Derpy turned to see Octavia pushing over several tall rocks that surrounded two mares.

Bon Bon managed to survive unscathed, and clinging to her neck, eyes shut in terror, was Lyra. She trotted over, bringing the shaking mare with her.

“You guys alright?” Bon Bon asked. Twilight held up her broken hoof, Derpy indicated her ruined muffins. “Yeesh, that doesn’t look good.”

“I know,” Derpy said. “And there were so many of them too. Now what are we going to eat?”

“I’m going to go look for Vinyl,” Octavia called, walking back through the wreckage.

A scared noise came from the mare clinging to Bon Bon. “Lyra, get off me please."

“Are we on the ground yet?” Lyra whimpered.

“Yes,” Bon Bon replied with annoyance.

“Then why can’t I feel it?”

“Because all four of your hooves are currently wrapped around me!

Lyra’s eyes shot open. “Oh.” She saw Twilight and Derpy looking at her. “Oh.” Lyra disentangled herself from Bon Bon, looking a little sheepish. “Sorry. I just really, really hate heights.”

“I had no idea,” Twilight sardonically stated.

“How are we even alive right now?” Bon Bon inquired before Lyra could pick up on the sarcasm.

“I cast a spell to cushion our fall, but it took a lot more out of me than I expected.” Twilight rubbed her horn. “My magic’s depleted.”

“So what does that mean?” Derpy asked.

“Our chances of stopping Nightmare Moon just decreased. Dramatically.” Twilight reached for her saddlebags. One side had been crushed and torn by debris, but luckily the side she needed was miraculously unharmed. She picked up and set down the Elements of Harmony Reference Guide on the ground. Lyra lit up her horn to allow everypony to see it.

“It says that once five of the elements are brought together, a spark is needed in order to reveal the sixth, but without my magic I don’t even know where to begin with something like that.”

“Well, you’ll recover soon,” Lyra hopefully suggested. “I once wore out my magic playing my lyre for four hours straight, but it came back quickly.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “I’ve worn out my magic before. Usually I need a good night’s sleep to get it back.”

“Perhaps this will help.” Bon Bon reached into her own saddlebags, which had fared better than Twilight’s. She deposited four individually wrapped candies in Twilight’s hoof.

Twilight skeptically raised an eyebrow. “Uh… how exactly are these supposed do anything?”

Bon Bon shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe the sugar will give you energy?”

“You know nothing about magic, do you?” Bon Bon responded by patting her bare forehead. “Bottom line, candy’s no help.”

“Vinyl!” They heard Octavia shout. “There you are.” Twilight looked over and saw Vinyl was buried under assorted rubble up to her head. She looked bruised, but otherwise undamaged. Concerned, the whole group trotted over.

“S’up, Tavi?” Vinyl sounded completely nonchalant, as if falling off a cliff was a typical Tuesday night for her.

“Oh my Celestia! Vinyl, are you okay?”

“Doing great. Hey guess what, this whole journey… really rocks.” Vinyl laughed, her horrifying pun fueling her. Octavia groaned. “Yep, despite the fact that it’s been a rocky road so far, I’m feeling confident that we won’t fall into any more trouble.”

“...I should leave you here.”

“Please don’t.”

Octavia sighed, and looked back, silently asking for help with her eyes. Twilight and the other mares begrudgingly helped dig Vinyl out, though Twilight had to be extra careful with her hoof injury.

Finally, Vinyl was excavated. She shook off the dust, proudly surveying her cut and bruised body. “This is pretty cool. I look all kinds of scrappy.”

“Only you can find excitement in falling eight stories,” Lyra remarked. Twilight could tell the mare was shook up… almost enough to want to turn around.

“We should keep moving,” she said. “Derpy, how much farther until the castle?”

“Hmm… judging by the fact that the moon is at its peak, the wind is moderately fair, and the nearest oak tree is to the left, I would have to say… I have no idea.”

“And now we’re lost.” Twilight groaned, shoving her book back in its place. “Fantastic.”

“If it helps, I got a decent view of the castle as we were plummeting to our almost-deaths,” Bon Bon spoke up. She pointed to a clearing. “I think that’s the best way to get there.”

Thank Celestia these mares continue to be useful. “Okay, let’s go.” Forgetting her injury, Twilight put nearly all of her weight on her bad hoof as she prepared to march forward. “Ah!” she bit her lip before words of a more profane nature could escape.

“Here, you can put your hoof around me,” Lyra offered. Before Twilight could offer any sort of protest, she found her foreleg wrapped in a golden aura and slung haphazardly around Lyra’s neck.

“I call point!” Vinyl yelled, dashing forward and lighting her horn.

“Is this some kind of game to you?” Octavia called after her.

“Well it’s fun.”

They bickered onwards, Twilight and Lyra took up the rear of the group.

“So why are you so afraid of heights?” Twilight asked.

“Taking an interest in my personal life, acquaintance?”

“I’m curious by nature.”

Lyra sighed. “When I was just a filly, my sister dared me to jump off the roof of our house with an umbrella as a parachute.”

“And you actually did it?”

“She triple diamond dog dared me too!” Lyra exclaimed, as if that justified anything. “Long story short I broke all four of my legs.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.”

“No, I mean ‘ouch’ as in my hoof keeps bumping off your collar bone and it hurts.”

“Oh my gosh. Sorry about that.” Lyra moved Twilight’s foreleg down lower. “Better?”

“Yeah, tha-”

ROAR!” A jolt shot through Lyra and Twilight simultaneously, and both mares leapt into the air. The rest of the group backpedaled frightfully. Towering in front of them, was one of the most ferocious beasts Twilight had ever seen.

It had the head and body of a lion, frothing mouth and all, but sported leathery bat-like wings and scorpion tail. Her brain immediately kicked into gear as she mentally flipped through every book rare monsters she had ever read. Finally, she recalled its name.

“Manticore!” she screamed. “That thing’s a manticore!”

The monster howled again, this time raising both paws in the air aggressively. Vinyl puffed out her chest, horn brightening as if she was attempting to challenge the beast. Everypony else had the opposite reaction.

“Run for your life!” Derpy wailed. She whirled around and bumped into Octavia. Both mares landed on their plots.

The manticore stalked towards them, its eyes displayed a primal hunger. Twilight felt concern grip her -- which she would later attribute only to the heat of the moment and most certainly not because she had a sudden, blooming compassion for the ponies helping her.

“Can’t you do something?” She asked Lyra. Gritting her teeth, Lyra shook her head.

“I… I can’t hold back a manticore with my magic.”

Vinyl stepped in between the manticore and the scrambling mares. “Hey ugly,” she promptly yelled at it. “Bring it on!” She stamped her hoof firmly in the dirt, and dragged it back, kicking up a cloud of dust in order to issue the beast a challenge.

Octavia and Derpy clamored to their hooves and took refuge behind a nearby tree. Lyra began backing up, taking Twilight along with her.

Vinyl’s horn was brimming with magic, ready to strike the manticore with one defiant blast. Distantly Twilight heard Octavia call her friend insane. Twilight had to agree; there was no way Vinyl could produce enough magic to take out a manticore, at best she would just make the monster angrier.

Bon Bon walked in between Vinyl and the manticore suddenly, causing Lyra to squeak in panic.

“That’s enough out of you,” Bon Bon stated, flicking Vinyl’s horn with her hoof. The magic sputtered and fizzed, dissipating within seconds.

“What the heck?” Vinyl asked, recoiling. Twilight knew from experience that horns were especially sensitive, and cringed internally.

“Hi there,” Bon Bon sweetly said to the manticore. It roared angrily as a response and raised it’s paw to strike her.

“Bon Bon, run!” Lyra screamed.

Ignoring her friend, Bon Bon reached into her pouch and pulled out several candies. The manticore paused, sniffing softly. It looked down at the extended hoof and noticed the treats it held.

“You want some?” Bon Bon sweetly asked. She held her hoof further, enticing the beast.

The manticore leaned in some, inhaling the sugary aroma of the candy. He opened his maw, revealing several menacingly sharp teeth.

Twilight and the other mares held their breaths, each fearful that Bon Bon would lose her hoof. Instead, the manticore extended a forked tongue and whipped it outward, picking up each candy one by one. When Bon Bon’s hoof was empty, the manticore sat back on his haunches, purring as it chewed its new treats.

Bon Bon smiled, and everypony else exhaled with relief. “Yep, I thought you’d like those.” She looked down at the manticore’s paw. A dark thorn was jammed in it. “Oh my, no wonder you were so grumpy.” As the manticore continued to chew, Bon Bon bit down on the thorn and yanked it out in one swift jerk. She turned back to the rest of the mares “We’re good you guys.”

“Bonnie that was incredible!” Lyra rushed forward, dropping Twilight in her hurry. She wrapped her hooves around Bon Bon and grinned wildly.

“You know, I was just about to make my move,” Vinyl harumphed. “But… uh… that was pretty awesome.” She clapped Bon Bon on the back.

Octavia and Derpy both moved out from behind the boulder. They approached cautiously, still wary of the manticore’s presence.

“Way to go!” Derpy cheered when she was confident the manticore was no longer on the warpath. Octavia nodded.

“How did you know that would work?”

Bon Bon shrugged. “What cold, heartless creature would turn down free candy?” Twilight recalled their earlier exchange, and was mildly offended. She hobbled over to the group, careful not to put any weight on her bad hoof.

“Twilight, wasn’t Bon Bon amazing?” Derpy asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Twilight wasn’t one for fan-fare. She was more focused on getting to the castle ruins. “Is everypony ready to move on? We still have a lot of ground to cover.”

The five mare’s shot each other glances, all likely confused by Twilight’s lack of willingness to celebrate surviving a manticore.

Silently they all resigned to move along. Lyra trotted alongside Bon Bon, her horn sparking to life to light their way. Vinyl and Derpy weren’t far behind, each still in awe from the manticore attack. Twilight was about to protest them leaving her behind when Octavia walked over.

“Need a helping hoof?”

“Yes.” Twilight allowed her hoof to be flung over Octavia’s shoulders. They started walking in tandem, catching up to the group.

Suddenly Bon Bon turned around. “Hold on for a second guys,” she called as she cantered over to the manticore. The monster was more or less finished with the candy it had been given. When Bon Bon reached it, she slung off her saddlebags and dumped the contents on the ground. The manticore yipped in happiness and began to greedily eat the candy. Bon Bon trotted back with a smile on her face.

“Did you seriously give away the last of our food to a manticore?” Vinyl asked her.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Bon Bon scrunched up her face as the group began walking again. “Because I thought he would like it. If that’s a problem for you, then why don’t you go back and get them?”

Vinyl shot a glance to the ferocious manticore lapping up the sugary sweets. “Yeah… nope.”

“I thought so.” Bon Bon waltzed past Vinyl and took her spot near the front.

Lyra giggled. “That’s what you get for not liking her muffins.”

“I said they were a seven out of ten!” Vinyl protested.

“So no pony’s going to bring up the fact that the manticore’s thorn just turned into a bunch of smoke?” Derpy asked the group, her head still pointed backwards. Everypony shot her a what-the-heck-are-you-even-talking-about look. “Okay fine. I was just checking.”

They trudged onwards, not bringing up Derpy’s random comment. The woods became much darker as the thick foliage blocked out the moonlight. Lyra’s skinny beam of light was joined by a second one from Vinyl, and even that was hardly enough to see properly.

“Can anypony tell where the path is?” Twilight asked.

“No,” came five answers at once.

“I can hardly see my own hoof in front of my face,” Derpy informed everypony. She moved her hoof closer to her face until it was practically touching. “Still nothing.” Without any warning Vinyl shined her magic beam straight at Derpy. “Ah!” the mare cried at the sudden rush of light. Blinking, she replied. “Oh, now I see it. Thanks Vinyl”

“Anytime.”

“Can you focus your light to where it would be more useful?” Twilight stressed. Vinyl groaned.

“Fine, Miss Prick.” Vinyl focused her beam elsewhere, earning a sigh of disappointment from Derpy as her hoof sank back into darkness. “It’s not like it makes a difference. I can barely see anyways.”

“Maybe it would help to remove your sunglasses, Vinyl,” Octavia suggested.

“Yeah, but then I would look less cool,” Vinyl poignantly stated.

Twilight and Octavia uttered simultaneous groans. “For Celestia’s sake, Vinyl, we’re shrouded in darkness in one of the most isolated places in Equestia. Is ‘looking cool’ really relevant right now?”

“Guh! Alright, I’ll do it.” Vinyl levitated her glasses off and allowed them to rest on her horn. “Happy now, Tavi?”

“Immensely,” Octavia deadpanned.

“Great, now can I finally concentrate on the- OH HOLY CRAP!” Vinyl’s beam of light suddenly became irrelevant as the trees around them suddenly lit up, each sporting a grotesque face of horror. Five screams reverberated through the woods as the forest suddenly came to life. The mares huddled up closely, all fearing for their lives.

“What are we going to do?” Lyra cried.

“The trees are evil!” Derpy wailed. “We’re all going to die!”

“Somepony save us.”

The tree’s glowed brighter, each one of a daunting size and their faces growing in terror. Twilight facehoofed as the mares around her continued to scream

“Just be quiet!” she yelled. The shrieks silenced immediately. “Geeze girls, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“But… the trees are evil…”

“They have spooky faces on them,” Twilight returned. “They aren’t coming alive and attacking us. Just calm down.”

“Huh…” Octavia realized. “I guess you’re right.” The group slowly dispersed.

Bon Bon walked up to one tree and tapped on it. It did nothing but look at her with it’s haunting face. “Yeah this isn't so bad,” she said. “They can’t do anything to us.”

“I can’t believe I got so worked up for nothing.” Derpy bowed her head in shame. “Sorry for calling you evil, scary-looking trees.”

“And look at that,” Twilight pointed. The path before them was lit up clear as day. “Now we can see where we’re going.”

The other five murmured concurringly, and they trotted along once more. The path quickly led them out of the thicker part of the forest. Twilight noted that their timing was convenient as well, for when they made it to a lighter area, the glow from the trees vanished.

“Hey, there goes that smoke again,” Derpy noted. Twilight swiveled her head around. She only saw the night sky and the moon. “Uh… Derpy there’s nothing here.”

“I’m telling you I saw smoke.” Derpy stamped her hoof. “In fact, I’ve been seeing that same smoke during this whole journey. Why won’t you guys believe me?”

“Probably because of the fact that you couldn’t see your own hoof when it was right in front of your face,” Vinyl muttered.

“Hey, it was dark!”

“Leave her alone, Vinyl,” Bon Bon said. “She just has uh… vision difficulties.”

Derpy’s befuddled eyeballs honed in on the cream colored mare angrily. “What?”

“N-nothing. I said nothing!”

“I believe you, Derpy,” Lyra threw in to appease her.

“I don’t.”

“Nope.”

“Doubt it.”

“Sorry Derpy,” Twilight said. “But… I don’t believe you either.”

“I’m not seeing things,” Derpy protested.

“Be quiet.”

“I won’t, I’m telling you-”

“No Derpy, seriously, be quiet. I think I hear something.” All chatter stopped as Twilight flicked her ear closer to a faint sound in the distance. “You girls hear that?”

“It sounds like… running water,” Octavia guessed. “Maybe there’s a river nearby.”

“I hear something too,” Lyra said. “It sounds like something’s crying. Come on, let’s see if we can help.”

“What?” Twilight said as Lyra scurried ahead. “No! We can’t just abandon the castle ruins. We need to press forward, not randomly wander off to help something that could potentially eat us!”

It was too late. Bon Bon was following Lyra, and a curious Vinyl and concerned Derpy were in turn following them. Octavia began to go after them, taking Twilight with her.

“I’m starting to see why Celestia prefers ruling with absolute power,” Twilight grumbled.

“They just want to help."

“Then why aren't they helping me?"

Octavia shook her head, much to Twilight's irritation. "Maybe you should just try being a little friendlier."

"Maybe they should try having an attention span longer than five seconds."

They brushed aside a few branches that the other four disappeared behind. The sight Twilight came across was undoubtedly the strangest she’d seen all night.

“But I just don’t understand how something this horrible could happen to me!” A giant sea serpent was sprawled across the clearing between the woods and a nearby creek. It was reclined as if sitting in a therapists office, it’s tail dipped in the water, thrashing about in dismay. What made Twilight’s already slack jaw hit the ground was that Lyra was patting him gingerly, and taking a keen interest in his troubles.

“It’s okay,” she cooed. “Just calm down and tell me what happened.”

“And speak coherently this time,” Bon Bon pleaded.

“Well… here I was just minding my own business, when the most terrible thing ever happened! A giant cloud of smoke whipped by and chopped off half of my fabulous moustache!” The sea serpent pointed to the bare side of his face. “And now I’m hideous! Oh, this is just awful! I’ll never be accepted into the League of Serpent Elites looking this atrocious.”

“You poor thing,” Lyra consoled him.

“There’s a League of Serpent Elites?” Vinyl asked.

“You mean you saw the smoke too?”

“Since when can reptiles grow hair?”

“Hey!” Twilight yelled. All four mares and the serpent flinched. “What are you guys doing? We need to get to the castle ruins, not sit around and play twenty questions with a monster!”

“Oh,” the serpent scoffed. “Well that’s a fine how-do-you-do!”

“And the castle ruins are over there.” Bon Bon pointed with her hoof. In the distance, Twilight could see an outline of what could only be a castle.

“Not to mention we only asked three questions,” Derpy threw in.

Twilight’s eyelid twitched.

“Are you doing okay?” Octavia asked.

“No… as a matter of fact I think I’m about to snap.”

“Lovely.”

Lyra turned back to the serpent. “You don’t have to listen to her. I know you’re not a monster.”

“Thank you,” it sniffled. “But without my full moustache… I might as well be.”

“Don’t say that,” Lyra gently said. “You still look amazing.”

“I… I do?”

“Absolutely. In fact, without your full stache, I’d say you look even better.”

“Really?” Lyra turned to everypony else, begging with her eyes for them to play along.

“Uh… yeah!” Vinyl improvised. “You got this cool… um… flare now.”

“You could be a trendsetter!” Bon Bon suggested.

“And you’re really tall,” Derpy added. The serpent broke into a huge grin.

“Are you kidding?” Twilight asked. “He looks-” She was cut off as Octavia shoved a hoof in her mouth.

“Fantastic,” she filled in. “Gorgeous even. Why, I bet the L.O.S.E. will be knocking down your door just begging for you to join them.”

“Oh, thanks girls.” The serpent beamed. “I feel so much better.” He glanced over to the castle ruins. “Didn’t one you say something about needing to get over there?”

“Yes,” Twilight yelled, removing Octavia’s hoof.

“Well, in that case why don’t I help you out.” The serpent sank the majority of his lengthy body back into the river, and used it to make a bridge to the other side.

“Thank you,” Lyra graciously said. The group traversed the serpents body with ease, and the majority waved goodbye.

“Finally,” Twilight exclaimed. “We’re almost to the castle. Hopefully now we can focus on stopping Nightmare Moon.”

“Well yeah, that’s what we’ve been doing this whole time,” Vinyl snorted. “Where have you been?”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah!” Lyra screamed from the head of the group. “Not more heights!”

Curious to see what she meant, Twilight nudged Octavia forward. Her eyes immediately fell upon a chasm with a single, broken rope bridge. There was a thin layer of fog, but Twilight could still somewhat see to the other side.

“Great,” she muttered. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“I could fly over the… oh wait, no. Never mind.” Derpy sheepishly tucked her torn up wing away. “My bad.”

Octavia squinted. “If one of us can get to the other side, they might be able to tie the ropes needed to link the bridge.”

“They'd need to be a unicorn,” Twilight noted. “Magic would be the only way to get the ropes.” She tapped her horn lightly and tried to summon a spell. Nothing. “Well, mine’s still not working. Lyra?” Lyra whimpered. “Okay, Lyra’s out.”

“Guess that means I’m going in!” Vinyl chanted. “Awesome! Told you you’d need my help.”

“You never said-”

“So how am I going to get across?” Vinyl walked over to the edge of the bridge and looked down.

Twilight looked around, hoping for an idea. Eventually, she settled on one. “Lyra, do you think your magic can lift Vinyl across?”

Lyra begrudgingly looked at the distance. “Maybe, but it’ll take everything I’ve got.”

Twilight shifted her gaze to Vinyl. “Are you still okay with this?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Vinyl this is crazy,” Octavia stepped in. “I can’t let you do this.”

“I’m kind of siding with Octavia on this one,” Bon Bon said. “We can find another way to cross.”

Lyra’s face hardened with determination. “No, I can do this. Get ready, Vinyl.” She stepped as close to the ledge as she dared and her horn sparked to life. Vinyl was enveloped in a golden aura.

Several ponies held their breaths as Vinyl floated up and across the chasm. Twilight found herself concerned around the halfway mark when Lyra began showing signs of fatigue. She refused to give out until the job was done. When Vinyl finally made it to the other side, Lyra gave out. Her horn dimmed, and she collapsed against Derpy in an exhausted heap.

Vinyl landed on the dirt with no trouble. "Thanks, Lyra!" she called. Her only response was a muffled sputter that could have meant anything from "you're welcome" to "there's a spider in my pants".

Choosing to focus on the task at hoof, Vinyl looked down to see where the ropes had broken off. When she spotted them, her own magic sparked to life and she began to lift the ropes up.

"Hello, Vinyl Scratch."

Her ears flicked in curiosity at the strange voice, and she turned around. Standing in front of her were three dark ponies. They were each dressed in dark glasses, baggy pants, and shirts that were sporting musical symbols.

"Uhh, S'up. Who are you guys?"

"We are the Shadow Jockeys,". The one in front said. "We're the most elite team of DJ's in all of Equestria, and we want you to join us."

"You want me... To join your DJ team?"

"Yes." The pony in front leaned in. "All you’ve got to do is-"

Stark laughter cut her off. "That has to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"W-what?"

Vinyl stamped her hoof in her stupor of laughter. "DJ's don't do gigs in teams you moron! Haha, you've got to be the dumbest..." Her sentence trailed off, swallowed by her own laughter.

“I think you're missing the point of my offer.” The pony scowled. “Join us and you could be famous, not like-”

“Sure, joining a bunch of wanna-be DJs will really take me to the next level.” Vinyl cracked up all over again.

"Vinyl, what's the hold up?" Octavia yelled.

"Sorry, Tavi," she called, coming down from her laughing high. "It's just these ponies said the stupidest thing!"

"What ponies?" Vinyl whipped her head back, and saw nothing where the three wanna-be DJs had been.

"Huh?"

"I only saw smoke," Derpy said.

Vinyl rolled her eyes, and returned to levitating the bridge ropes with her magic. When the bridge was finally mended, the rest of the mares crossed.

“Finally,” Twilight said. “What took you so long?”

“Oh chill out, I was just having a good laugh.”

“Well next time, wait until after the world is saved.” Twilight looked ahead at the castle in the distance. “Now come on, we’re almost there.”

“You know,” Vinyl said as they began walking. “Maybe if you laughed a little more, you wouldn’t be so uptight.”

“Excuse me?”

“You are a bit of a downer,” Derpy admitted.

“That’s because the world is in danger!” Twilight argued. “Do you honestly expect me to be a smiles and giggles when the threat of eternal night looms over our heads?”

“So any other day of the week you’re actually fun?”

“Of course I am,” Twilight affirmed. “I do a lot of reading.” Vinyl and Derpy shared a glance. “What?”

“That’s it?”

“Yes,” Twilight said.

There was silence.

“That’s really sad,” Derpy told her.

“What? No it isn’t. I get to be all alone with nothing but my books for hours at a time.” Twilight smiled. “There’s really nothing better.”

“Wow, your life is just terrible.” Twilight’s smile dropped. “Well don’t worry, ‘cause when we’re done I’ll show what having fun really is.” Vinyl clapped Twilight on the back. “You’ll see, it’ll be a riot.”

“I’ll come too.” Lyra trotted up next to her. “Nopony should be as miserable as you are.”

“Miserable? I’m not miserable!”

“I’ll bring the candy!” Bon Bon said.

“I suppose I could take time away from my practicing my cello to come along,” Octavia included.

“Between all of us, we’ll have you laughing and actually enjoying life in no time,” Vinyl exclaimed to a rousing consensus.

“You aren’t listening to me!” Twilight yelled. “I don’t-”

“Don’t worry,” Derpy consoled her. “We won’t call ourselves your friends until you’re ready. Until then, we’ll just be your acquaintances.”

Twilight groaned.

Next Chapter: Acquaintanceship is Magic [Part Three] Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 2 Minutes
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