Twilight however felt less than happy with the whole going in alone plan once she actually was standing in front of the entrance to the Everfree Forest, armed only with two saddlebags of books and four heavy iron horseshoes nailed to her hooves. The horseshoes were tremendously heavy, compared to what the scholar was used to, but she didn't make any additional noise really. When SILENCE is the rule, you learn quickly to keep your steps quiet. On those rather grim thoughts, she stepped forward towards the forest, only to find a familiar red fox sitting in the middle of the path, looking irritated. “You're alive!” Twilight exclaimed, and she elatedly ran up to the little fox, who jumped back, ears flattened.

“Don't do this, you cannot save the child.” The fox's soft voice was thoroughly annoyed, as was his body posture, “You'll only make things worse, Twilight!”

Twilight glared, “That's a fine how-do-you-do. And I'm going in anyway, that's my friend's sister in there.” She went to walk past the little fox, only to find him some ways up the path somehow, blocking her way again.

“Do. Not. Do this. I am bound to protect you, but if you go in there I can't protect you against everything.” The little fox seemed a little more desperate now, almost pleading, “Please Twilight, don't throw your freedom away, it took a year and a day of planning just to get you out the first time!”

Twilight snorted and walked past the little fox, mentally noting 'bound to protect you' for future reference, “My mind is made up... You know, you never did tell me your name.”

The fox sighed and walked alongside Twilight, “Of course not, there's power in names. Since I can't dissuade you though, call me... Blackboard.”

“But... You're not bla-”

“Ugh, yes I know, Miss Literal, it was a reference to teaching, I'm a teacher I'll have you know. Speaking of which, if you're really going in there, I should really get into the spirit of things.” Then, in a flash of light, there was no little fox standing next to Twilight, only a tall red alicorn with black-tipped ears, golden eyes and a fox-colored mane and tail. He was quite handsome, in a way, if somewhat effeminate, and Twilight found herself staring until she caught him grinning.

Twilight turned her nose up disinterestedly, “Nice enough, I suppose, if a bit pretentious,” she teased Blackboard, walking on. The fox-turned-pony laughed before catching up.

“Oh ho, well I suppose it is. Still, it's a nice shape though, don't you think?” He posed on a rock someways ahead on the path, rather handsomely, until a bird landed on his head. He shooed it away while Twilight giggled, “Bah, never any respect for theatrics. Alright, well if we're going on this fools' errand, we should at least stop by your friend Zecora's house. If she lives out here, she should know her way around.”

The pair made their way through the forest in relative silence, only pausing occasionally to comment to one another, but anypony else in the forest would have marveled at how unseen this pair could be. Once, they walked right past a rabbit without its ears so much as twitching, and Twilight was beginning to wonder if her lessons in the Burning Library had changed her more than she knew. Still, if she was quiet, it was as though Blackboard wasn't even there until he said something or did something else to deliberately break stealth.

They came upon Zecora's hut after about an hour, the familiarly bizarre abode comforting to Twilight now, after wandering the forest for so long. From inside however, came a terrible shriek, as if somepony was in great pain. Twilight rushed to break down the door, only to be repelled painfully with a flash of light. She tried again, with the same result, and would have tried a third time had Blackboard not stepped in the way. “Easy now, you'll kill yourself before the Faeries get you,” he said with a certain degree of dark humor, “I'll handle this.” He lifted a powerful hoof, and knocked politely, calling out, “Miss Zecora, are you quite alright?”

From inside came a muffled curse, and, to Twilight's surprise, a blushing multicolored zebra answered the door, breathing hard. “What is it now, you silly foals, I'm quite alright now go back to your holes!” She was about to close the door when she noticed Twilight, and her eyes narrowed, “On second thought, you'd best come in, I'm sorry for the terrible din. I ran afoul of some poison joke, while looking for lost ponyfolk.” Zecora sighed and beckoned the two ponies in, looking embarrassed, “For that I think I need some aid, this is the worst prank yet the joke has played!"

The ingredients for the cure lay scattered about, and Zecora nodded to them, "The joke this time is not much fun, I cannot get my brewing done. It makes my hooves as slick as glass, and without them my work is not so fast."

Twilight helped finish the brew, working from her memories of her past experience with the joking flower and the text of Supernaturals, which she remembered with remarkable clarity. As she luxuriated in the hot remedy, her stripes returning rapidly to normal, Zecora looked Twilight over critically, “Thank you my friend for your help most speedy, I could not have finished the tricky remedy. Still, Miss Sparkle, you must make amends, for not introducing me to your brand new friend.” She smiled at Blackboard, who smiled back winningly.

“This, Zecora, is Blackboard, and he helped me out of the care of... One of the creatures that has taken Applebloom.” Twilight faltered a little, she had been so wrapped up in helping to cure Zecora that she had almost forgotten why she'd come. Blackboard had been no help at all, he merely wandered around the hut curiously, poking his nose into this and that while Twilight worked to finish the remedy.

“If you helped Twilight, you have my thanks, and not just for relief from pranks.” Zecora closed her eyes and said, smiling a little as she sank deeper into the fragrant herbal remedy, before her expression sobered, “Applebloom was taken yes, deeper in the woods no less. To find her trail, go to the castle of the pony sisters before their great battle. Once there you'll find an ill-omened arch, beneath the needles of an ancient larch. Ask it to be let inside, for a passageway that archway hides.” She turned and looked at Twilight, who was frowning and thinking. She grabbed Twilight's face and pulled it close to her own, forcing the unicorn to look her in the eyes, “Go now Twilight, do not delay, lest Applebloom become no more this day. Before the sun rises, look for the wolf, the great hunter of all that runs on the hoof.” Twilight nodded and dashed out, while Blackboard sauntered after. Zecora called out to the red alicorn, “And you, little nogitsune, with your cunning smile and dashing way," Blackboard stopped abruptly at those words and turned, fixing Zecora with a calculating look that was quickly concealed beneath a confident veneer. The zebra continued lightly, "If so much as a hair is harmed on Applebloom, you'll find her sister to be your doom.” Something about the way she said those words made it sound ominously like a prediction, but the cocky alicorn bowed, unfazed, “Of course, Oracle, I wouldn't dream of letting anything happen to a foal, you know that.” Zecora nodded, smiling a little, and gestured for him to leave, which the fox-turned-alicorn did, respectfully.

The road to the Castle of the Pony Sisters went quickly, and it was just barely past ten o'clock when they arrived at the eerie ruin. The place was sad, as always, but it seemed a little sinister in light of recent events, Twilight thought. Even Blackboard seemed a little subdued, merely poking around the ruins quietly and leading Twilight in a rather circuitous route. Twilight noticed he seemed to know exactly where he was going, but was trying to look like he didn't. She pondered how she knew this exactly, but it just seemed obvious, and without any real avenues to explore, she shelved the question for the moment. At about the point when she was starting to get annoyed with Blackboard, they arrived at a great iron arch, its surface pitted with corrosion, ominous in the moonlight which, if Twilight was any judge, showed they were rapidly approaching midnight.

“So, I just ask it to let me in?” Twilight asked rhetorically, but Blackboard answered anyway.

“Yep, knock three times and ask to be let in. From there you'll be entering the Hedge.” Something about the way he said Hedge made it sound like more than simple topiary.

“The Hedge?” Twilight asked, approaching the arch a little nervously. For an inanimate object it held a considerable amount of weight to it, and a certain menace. It had been almost hidden in an alcove, and through the arch a sturdy corridor had been built that was untouched by the deterioration of the rest of the castle. Still, the corridor ended a little ways in, so Twilight didn't much see the point, “Looks more like a closet from here. You're sure this is the place?”

“Yep. Go ahead and knock then Twilight, let's not keep Applebloom waiting.”

“Right!” And with that, Twilight knocked on the iron surface of the arch, her metal horseshoes clanging discordantly on the old iron, “Let me in, in the name of Celestia!” Twilight felt a strange shiver run through her as she said the words, and she looked over her shoulder at Blackboard, “Was that right?”

“See for yourself, go through,” Blackboard waved a hoof towards the gate which, while not having changed in any way, seemed more like a deep hole than the short corridor from a moment before. Twilight walked forward, through the archway and into the short, dark corridor...

… That kept going. And going. And going until a soft golden light began to filter through the area, just when Twilight was starting to get fed up with the whole nonsense. She found herself in a strange place: a single, winding path surrounded by twisting, thorny vines that encircled books and shelves in a most distressingly familiar way. It was all illuminated by candlelight, “Candlelight?" Twilight said curiously, "But... There're no candles.”

“Of course not,” said Blackboard from immediately beside Twilight, making the unicorn jump, “That'd be a terrible fire hazard.” He smiles, but the thought of fire triggers even more unpleasant memories in Twilight, who shivers and moves to look at the vines and books. On closer inspection, the vines seemed to be made of folded paper, pages torn from nearby books most like. The books themselves were in strange, alien languages or just blank. There was something hungry about this place, something grasping and... Not evil, but terribly, terribly callous, as if it had never known kindness and wouldn't even understand it if it had.

“This is fascinating... Terrifying, but fascinating, if I could just...”

“Twilight. Your friend is counting on you, her sister is lost and alone and most likely in a cage if she isn't eaten already and...” He tilted his head, listening to a distant howl while a thoroughly rebuked Twilight hung her head in shame, “The hunters will be here soon. Keep focused, don't forget, and don't think of anything but rescuing Applebloom. I'll try to lead the pack away, but you must STAY FOCUSED! Good luck Twilight, I'll explain this place to you later, if we both walk out of this.” With that he dashed off through the thorns, brushing them aside carelessly as he pressed through them, shouldering the razor-sharp thorns aside with no apparent discomfort.

“Wait!” But her guide was already gone. Bereft of his fragile assistance, Twilight felt very lost indeed. She also felt extremely guilty for forgetting about Applebloom once already. So, gathering her courage, Twilight walked down the broad path, thinking only of rescuing Applejack's sister, and trying to ignore the oh too familiar whispering of the nearby shadows that offered explanations or sputtered nonsense. The Hedge here was firm and rocky, and her path wound around boulders and rogue shelving, yet she felt somehow that she was slowly climbing. She heard a pained yelp from far off, and turned, remembering Blackboard. Her path behind was blocked with thorny growth, but she could clearly see her hoofsteps behind her: little pools of whispering shadow from which words curled up like smoke. She frowned, that made it easier to be followed, even if the brambles were effectively closing the path behind her. She turned around again to keep moving forward, and found the path had narrowed somewhat. She was worried about Blackboard, but he could probably take care of himself Twilight reasoned, so she shook her head and focused on finding Applebloom again, pressing through the razor-sharp thorns and wincing as a few of them scratched her hide, leaving a little blood on the paper spines to drip onto the pages of a blank, discarded book.