The sun had finally risen in earnest, and all around the landscape, the trees and the grass seemed all the greener with it's light. With the full-on arrival of the new day, Twilight had, once more, resumed her journey, except that now, the Elements were, for the time being at least, put on hold. For her new task was to discover exactly what it was that had come to find her, what force was behind the unexpected attack from the previous night. And so, on she walked, with Spike just ahead of her on the road, whistling a happy tune to himself. Twilight, a few steps behind, was deep in thought over many matters, from what Luna had said to her in her dreams, to the aforementioned attack on her person not long ago. Unfortunately for her, her train of thought was frequently interrupted by the sound of the upbeat voice to her right.

"So...?"

Turning, Twilight gazed upon her newest travelling companion; Pinkie Pie. While not ungrateful for the older woman's company, having an unexpected addition to her journey was, to say the least, a little off-putting for her. Still, she could not fault Pinkie's reasons for being here, given everything she had lost simply from being associated with Twilight. So, the young girl, after adjusting her glasses as per usual, looked to her fully before offering a small smile.

"Yes, Pinkie?"

Pinkie's smile widened further before she started speaking again.

"So, just so I have this straight in my head, we're on a quest from Queen Celestia?"

"Yes," Twilight replied.

"To find a bunch of old magical whatsits called the Elements of Harmony?"

"Yes."

"And they've been lost for hundreds and hundreds of years?"

"Yes."

"And the Queen decided to send...you?"

A sigh escaped Twilight at that one.

"...Yes."

But Pinkie, rather unusually, did not seem put off by this information in the slightest, as evidenced by the smile she continued to wear.

"Well...it'll certainly be an interesting trip, that's for sure!"

Twilight looked to her, raising an eyebrow and, in all fairness, seeming quite confused as to how anybody could be so chipper after everything they had seen and heard about this situation. But, for the time being anyway, she didn't say anything, and instead watched as Pinkie's attention then turned to the young man ahead of them.

"It's so weird, to think that I'm travelling with the heir to the throne."

Hearing that, Spike let out a hearty chuckle.

"Hate to break it too ya, Miss Pie, but that honour goes to my sister."

For a moment, a look of realisation crossed Pinkie's face, and she snapped her fingers before smiling once more.

"Ah! Right! Princess Mi-Amore!"

Turning, the older woman looked to Twilight yet again.

"How did you ever manage to get in close to royalty like this?"

Twilight shrugged her shoulders.

"It was years ago, back when I first entered Celestia's school. I was taking my first class, trying to perform a simple levitation spell and...well...there he was."

Hearing the two ladies speak of him, Spike looked over his shoulder, smiling to his friend.

"I've always like magic, even though I can't do it myself, so I wanted to see a few classes. I saw Twilight was the only one struggling with that spell, so I went over to see if she could pull it off. By the end of the day, she did."

Twilight offered the boy a small smile in return.

"We've been friends ever since," she answered.

Pinkie grinned to both of them, before then resuming her attention on Spike.

"Still...it is kinda strange that your Mother would let you roam about like that...and like this for that matter."

Again, Spike let out a laugh.

"Well...I'm not really royalty by blood, so I guess I don't have the same restrictions as my sister."

Pinkie took on a look of confusion at that, looking to Twilight for clarification. The younger girl gained a somewhat embarrassed look herself, as if unsure on whether she should speak on the matter, but, one look at Spike, and the nod of permission he gave, and she soon gave Pinkie the answer she sought.

"...He's adopted."

Now, Pinkie, understandably, seemed rather surprised at such information, as anybody would be of course. But, after a while of just thinking about it, she started to nod slowly while stroking her chin.

"Hmmm...that would explain why you don't look that much like the Queen."

Hearing that, Spike looked over his shoulder again, raising an eyebrow.

"How do you know what my Mother looks like?"

Pinkie's smile returned, and she let out a brief giggle.

"Silly! Lots of people know what your Mom looks like! There's all sorts of paintings of her and stuff, remember! In fact, I have one."

At this point, after speaking those words, Pinkie's smile faltered a little.

"Well...I guess...I should say that I had one."

Immediately, both Twilight and Spike were struck with pangs of guilt, knowing full well what Pinkie meant by those words. As one would expect, the mood between the three had become rather uncomfortable all of a sudden, and as such, there was nothing but silence from them for quite a long time afterwards. Instead, they simply focused on their journey, walking ahead at a fair pace for almost a full hour, before any words were exchanged again. And when the silence was once more broken, it was Spike who did the honours.

"So...we're sure this is the right way to go?"

Twilight nodded.

"This is where we were told they came from...so yeah."

To that, Spike gained a look of incredulity.

"Pardon me for saying so, Twilight...but do you think it was really the best idea to follow directions from a drunk?"

Twilight let out a sigh, her shoulder slumping slightly, before giving an answer to that.

"I know it's doubtful, but, at the moment, it's also the only lead we have."

She looked up, ready to hear perhaps some other valid point of criticism Spike might have to use against this particular course. But, before the boy had the chance to do so, Twilight looked ahead, catching sight of something, which caused her eyes to widen with surprise.

"In fact..."

Slowly, the girl started to form a smile.

"...this may not have been such a bad idea after all."

Needless to say, both Spike and Pinkie were somewhat curious as to what could have caused this change in her, but, it didn't take them long to figure out what she was looking at. For as they turned, they saw that there, just ahead of them on the dirt path they'd been walking on, was a very noticeable footprint. Immediately, the three of them rushed towards it, with Twilight kneeling down to get a better look.

"Hmmm...it's deep. It would have definitely been caused by somebody big."

Her eyes narrowed, remembering full-well the large man that had held her last night. But, shaking herself from that thought, she resumed looking at the footprint, and, before long, she spotted another, and then another, joined together by the footprints of other, smaller individuals.

"And they're pointed in the right direction too. So...where did they come from?"

The three of them looked at footprint after footprint, looking ahead to see that the three men must have arrived on this path from off it somewhere, and so, they turned their heads to the left, in the hopes of seeing where that might have been. Instantly, they saw it. A forest, not too far from here. To say that it was big would have been an understatement, as it stretched all the way to the furthest horizon. But, it's size was not the only thing that unnerved Twilight when she looked at it. For when she gazed upon the spaces in-between the ancient-looking trees, all she saw was mist and darkness, as if no sunlight could penetrate it. It took a while, but eventually, the silence was broken between them, this time though, by Pinkie.

"The Everfree Forest."

Twilight and Spike turned to her, bearing expectant looks, prompting her to continue.

"A lot of my customers talked about it. A dangerous place. Not many like going in there, or even near there."

Given that Pinkie had gained an uncharacteristically serious look while speaking about it, Twilight and Spike had little doubt that it was as dire a matter as she was making it out to be. As she turned to look upon it once more, Twilight gained an inquisitive expression, as she started speaking in a low tone.

"I've heard about it. A forest as old as our nation...and maybe even older than that. An expanse of trees so vast and far-reaching...that you couldn't reach the end of it, even if you walked through it for a year."

As one would expect, a description like that caused no end of nervousness for the three, and for a time, Spike and Pinkie looked to Twilight, waiting to see what she would do next. The young lady took a calming breath, and then another, before once more looking down at the footprints. Wherever those men had come from, it was in those woods, that much was certain, even though she was loathe to admit to it. After taking a while to calm herself as best she could, Twilight took a single step forwards.

"Let's go."

The others watched her go and, for a moment, were hesitant to follow. But, in the end, they knew they had to, and so started to join her. As they walked together, Spike, in a rather sarcastic tone, spoke up.

"Maybe a song will help lift the mood?"

And Pinkie, not having actually realised that it was sarcasm, decided to do just that.

"If you go down in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise..."