Without a guide, and only her determination to find Applebloom to give her direction, Twilight wandered through the thorny aisles of books and shelving, trying to ignore the whispering of the shadows as she continued on. The whispering had gotten louder, since the Bastion, and the brambles seemed darker, more sorrowful, as if they too mourned the loss of Scum. Lamenting winds blew through the aisles of brambles and books, and Twilight felt water splash beneath her hooves as she continued deeper into the Hedge. She was alone out here, in this strange, psychoactive landscape without anypony to talk to, she was starting to feel strangely disconnected. Sometimes she could even smell burning books, or feel the Librarian's presence just behind her as she splashed along. It was almost a relief then when she heard the strains of music coming from a path off to the side, and she was perhaps less cautious than she ought to have been.

Twilight ran towards the music, which was coming from a small opening in the brambles, and burst through it, desperate for some change in scenery. What she found was a beautiful meadow, dry and clean, surrounded by the ever-present brambles and lit by the moon, with a small copse of trees in the center, from which warmth and light radiated like a beacon. Any thoughts of moths and flames were snuffed out when she realized she recognized the music: It was Pinkie's weird one-mare polka! What Pinkie Pie was doing here was irrelevant, it was something she recognized, and there was something... Enchanting about the lights in the trees.

Twilight ran through the trees, which were decorated with merry colors of ribbons and balloons, and came out into a wondrous scene: All her friends, laughing and dancing amongst the trees, while a record player belted out Pinkie's Polka and strange flickering lights bobbed between the trees. She almost ran into Rarity, who was in the middle of chasing Applejack, giggling like a filly and galloping full-tilt until she spotted Twilight and gasped, stopping, “Twilight, whatever are you doing out here? We all thought you'd gone! Girls!” Rarity called to the forest, “Twilight's back! Come on!”

“Rarity,” Twilight started, “I have to-” she was cut off by Rarity's hoof against her lips.

“Not now, Twilight, you've only just come back, come on, stay for a while and whatever it is can wait, isn't that right Applejack?” Rarity said, addressing the orange pony to step into the scene. Applejack cheered and hugged Twilight, nuzzling her cheek fondly. Twilight tried to talk to Applejack about it, but was interrupted by Rarity's lips against hers, the unexpectedness of the kiss only matched by the way it fuddled her thinking.

Twilight broke the kiss, frowning as she pulled away from Rarity as much as Applejack's hug would allow, “But, Applebloom is...”

“She's fine, Sugarcube,” Applejack said reassuringly, then turned to call over her shoulder, “Hey Rainbow! Twi's back!” And Twilight found herself tackled to the ground with Applejack by a blue blur that proved to be an ecstatic Rainbow Dash, scattering some of the golden apples from her basket.

“Ohmigosh! You're back! This is like, so awesome! Come on girls, let's help Twilight celebrate!” And with that, glasses of something were being foisted off on Twilight, and her friends were cuddling close to the purple unicorn.

“But... I have to...” Twilight tried weakly, but was interrupted by Rarity once more, and this time the kiss went deeper, more sensual, with just the lightest touch of the white unicorn's tongue, and Twilight found she couldn't remember why it was so important that she leave. Her friends were here after all, why should she leave?

Twilight didn't know how long she luxuriated in her friends' presence, she just basked in the sensations of being loved. Rarity knew exactly where to touch to make the purple unicorn melt, without taking the situation too far, and the others all just encouraged them or indulged in their own pairings. It was dizzying, especially with whatever had been in the cups that had been practically poured down her throat. Twilight felt something was wrong, somewhere, but here in the copse of trees it was a very distant feeling, drowned out by the company of her friends.

She looked fondly over Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy indulging each other in very intimate ways, unable to be embarrassed by what was clearly just very close friendship. Very, very close friendship. A thought, however, caused her brow to crease with concern: Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be found. She nudged Rarity, who was snuggled up against her neck, and said thickly, “Pinkie... Pie?” She couldn't quite form the words, she was so tired and comfortable, and Rarity just snuggled closer into her neck. Still, Pinkie Pie should be here, this was a party, and there was no Pinkie Pie, but... Why?

Then she remembered: Pinkie Pie was sick, very sick, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were looking after her, or should be. If they were looking after her though, Twilight thought to herself, then why were the two pegasi wrapped up in each other's bodies not too far away under the dancing lights of the trees? Something wasn't right, definitely not right, and Twilight couldn't think clearly enough to figure out why. She needed to think, to stop and think, so she closed her eyes and let the shadows' whispering rise through her muddled perceptions.

The touch of iron is death to that which is fae, one voice whispered, strangely dry and rasping, like the turning of pages, its touch will burn away all deception. Images shot through Twilight's mind of Applejack helping attach the iron horseshoes to her hooves, and the way the metal had felt so alien against her flesh. The events of the last few hours played through Twilight's head, and there in the darkness of her mind she realized: None of her friends would touch her hooves.

Twilight's eyes snapped open and she found herself alone, in a dark copse of trees, with nothing but silence and shadows for her companions. The moon, she noticed, had moved significantly in her time there, it looked like it would only be a few more hours until dawn. She had no idea where she was or how to get to Applebloom at all, and now she didn't even have the illusions of her friends to help her. To top it all off, a howl sounded from not too far away that was far too strange to be a wolf.

Twilight quashed the rush of hopelessness the sound of the wolves had sparked in her and forced herself to her hooves. She coaxed the darkness around her with soft words, wrapping it around her equine body like a cloak that smothered even the vibrant flames of her mane. So enshrouded, she crept from the copse of trees, towards the distant dark brambles while shadowy shapes raced into the clearing, snarling like wolves but walking like apes as they ran hungrily for the site of the illusionary party. Twilight swallowed uneasily and pushed into the nearest opening in the thorns, which closed behind her slowly, blocking the meadow from sight.

Once more amongst the brambles, Twilight took a moment to try to focus on her objective, finding Applebloom, and make sure the baskets of golden apples were secure. Thoughts of Rarity's lips against hers kept nudging Twilight's attempts to focus on Applebloom aside with a flood of warmth that had nothing to do with the actual temperature of the Hedge. She looked around, trying to find something to distract herself, but found images of diamonds adorning every book, and the titles she could read generally said Rarity or featured the white unicorn, or parts of her anyway. Blushing, Twilight focused on making sure her magical baskets and their cargo were secure.

Strange, she thought, that nothing had snagged the baskets except for the one hook in the Red Bastion, and even then the damage had been minor. Even the brambles of the Hedge had failed to snag the conjured baskets, she thought, frowning as she tightened the girth a little to make sure the baskets didn't slip down her side. Then she closed her eyes and listened to the shadows, letting their soft words guide her. She listened to the darkness long enough to know that there were creatures approaching, she could hear their steps and, in a little while, their voices.

“Look Tavi we know she came this way, but who knows what else might be tracking her? I mean come on, it's not like she's being hard to follow” a luminescent white unicorn with a mane made of blue glass and eyes of glowing light was saying as she pushed her way into Twilight's field of view. “We should be back home by now, and I mean come on, helping her could get us thrown in... Wait, where'd the trail go?” A marbled grey earth pony with glowing purple eyes stepped into the path as well, looking around at what her companion was staring at.

Twilight looked down, her hooves were smoking slightly with wisps of shadows that crept and crawled around her legs, and behind her a trail of pools of shadow marked where her hooves had stepped. It explained how they found her, but it begged the question, Twilight felt, of why nothing else had. Scratch, the unicorn, followed Twilight's steps back around the bend, then straight up to where she was standing and scowled, “I don't get it, it's like she's just gone, d'you think the Beast got her? I hope not, 'cause otherwise we'd better split... Tavi?”

Octavia seemed wildly unconcerned with Scratch's words, she just sat down, looked up at her mate and smiled, “She's here, Vinyl.”

Scratch snorted, “Here? Look for yourself Tavi, the trail ends, something got her and we'd better split before it gets us too! Look, I know you wanted to help her find her friend's little sister, but come on, marching straight into the Beast's Den? It's crazy!” Scratch started looking around the path though, prodding at books and levitating some out of the way as if Twilight might be hidden under them. “Still, I'd hate to leave anypony out here with only the Beast and his pack for company, but come on Tavi, it's not like she's just gonna appear out of thin air.”

And with that, because some things about the universe are constant, Twilight released the shadows concealing her from sight. Scratch screamed and jumped aside as the purple unicorn seemingly materialized beside her. Octavia giggled softly, unfazed, and nodded to Twilight, “Miss Sparkle, a pleasure to see you again.”