Octavia ran through the thick undergrowth of the Everfree forest.

As a little filly, she had heard of the dangers of the terrible creatures that prowled its darkness.

Never once, in her entire life, had she imagined she would be running into it, seeking shelter from an even greater monster.

Sharp branches and spiked vines seemed to tug at her, trying to slow Octavia down. Was her pursuer using some unknown magic to twist the terrible flora of the forest to slow her victim… or was the forest doing it itself, hoping to feast on whatever remained?

The beast above Octavia roared, firing magical bolts towards the panicked mare. It kept above the canopy, firing off blast after blast of magical bolts towards her. One had hit her on the flank, and already she could feel a terrible, seeping cold spreading slowly across her hind quarters.

Octavia refused to give up.

She prayed that she could remember what her uncle had taught her: how to draw her strength from the earth. It was a strange talent, as most earth ponies put their magic into the ground, or at least, the seeds beneath it.

Rock farming had always been a strange job to Octavia; it required the farmer to draw magic from the rocks, to both weaken them and strengthen himself. It was a vital part of the job, and the amazing feats her eldest cousin could perform attested to that fact.

Octavia shook her head. Now was not the time for reminiscing. If she made it through this alive, she vowed she would spend more time with her estranged family.

She felt the magic of the forest floor with each hooffall. The magic in the forest seemed foreign, but she drew the magic through her hooves. It was a slow process; in an ideal world, Octavia would have been able to slow down and draw the earth’s strength at her own leisure.

Slowly, the magic started building up inside her. Already she could feel the numbness on her flank receding, the borrowed power invigorating her tired muscles.

Drawing on that strength, she dodged and weaved through the dangerous underbrush with greater ease.

Surely she would escape her pursuer now!

Another errant bolt of magic caused a boulder in front of her to explode in a shower of debris, leaving a large hole in the ground. Octavia leapt across the hole, landing poorly on the other side. Her fetlock screamed in agony, though she knew a twisted leg would be the least of her problems if she didn’t get away.

She was a cellist, damn it! Hers was a lifestyle of sedentary work. To others, Octavia might have argued the difficulty of playing a unicorn instrument as an earth pony… but such finesse did not lend itself to this kind of life-or-death situation.

Octavia cursed her pursuer. She cursed her day. She cursed her manager and cursed her damned job.

She could barely remember how this had even happened!

She was supposed to be having a nice meal with her roommate. Their schedules finally coincided, and Octavia had planned to make the most of it by taking her friend out for a meal in downtown Canterlot. As disdainful as the idea was, her roommate had assured her that they served the best falafel kebabs this side of Saddle Arabia.

At the last minute, though, Octavia had been called to a gig. She played at a party, though it had not gone very well. The audience was displeased with their performance, though this wasn’t entirely a new experience for Octavia.

Amazingly enough, each and every time had involved her cousin in some form or another.

A poorly received performance was hardly a new concept to Octavia. Clients were fickle, and their desires could change on a whim. As always, Octavia would weather a poor performance and move on. There would always be a demand for her quartet, no matter what this or that noble might complain about.

There would be other gigs— that is… if she could escape this horrible beast that was chasing her!

Another bolt of magic flew by, this one narrowly grazing her cheek.

The beast was going for the kill!

Octavia galloped as fast as she could, terrified of what would happen should she get caught.

Doubt crept into her mind as fatigue began catching up. Octavia wondered if she would ever make it out of this forest alive. The creatures of the forest were certainly keeping clear of her. The few beasts that she had seen fled in terror when they had noticed what had been chasing her.

Octavia chanced a look behind her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realised that the beast had closed the gap between them.

She could feel the lactic acid building up in her muscles.

Every fiber of her being screamed in protest, though her mind screamed the loudest.

I don’t want to die!

Turning back towards the path before her, Octavia noticed the tree in front of her far too late. She jumped to the side, but at the speed she had been galloping, she still clipped the tree, which sent her tumbling through the underbrush.

Octavia collapsed on the ground; every inch of her ached.

It stood above her.

There was no more fight.

There was no escape.

The monster had won.

“This is for your own good,” it said as it pinned her to the ground with its strong hooves. “It’ll be quick, I promise!”

Tears streaked down Octavia’s cheeks. She looked up into the malevolent lavender eyes of her ‘Princess’. Beautiful eyes like that should not belong to a killer.

Its horn glowed, and Octavia closed her eyes. She was going to die out here, and nopony would ever know.

She thought of her roommate… her messy, loveable friend.

She thought of the one thing she could never bring herself to say.

“I’m sorry, Vinyl,” she whispered. “I lo—”

Silence filled the small clearing.

Twilight opened the door to Golden Oaks library.

She was exhausted.

All day!

“Spike!” she growled. “Never, ever, ever, ever take another book out of the library at the castle without asking!” She glared down at the dragon. “Princess Cadance and Princess Luna have much better things to do than help me clean up Ponyville! Do you have any idea how hard it was to reverse that much dark magic‽”

Author's Notes:

I had to ask myself—after watching Inspiration Manifestation—what exactly did 'cleaning up all that dark magic' entail.

I mean, come on, it's not like she hasn't cleaned up sapient magical mishaps before…