With a loud crackle and a wave of energy, three figures appeared at once and collapsed almost in unison. Bits of smoke rose from the edges of their bodies and they looked just a little crispy for their journey.

Spike was the first to stagger to his feet. "Everypony alright? That was a rough trip, sheesh I haven't had a teleport that rough since Twilight got used to casting it."

Starlight looked up from where she landed and started to sit up. "Everything was happening so fast, so I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Nnnn," was Cherry's addition to the conversation. She rolled over, heaving for breath as her tail gave a weak slap. "What was that?"

They all rose upright, Cherry getting her mechanical legs working after a few twists of her wrench. "Where are we? What are these?" She walked over towards one of the many towering trees and ran a hoof along it before a splinter carried the tree's objection directly into the frog of her hoof and she keenly cried, wrenching the hoof away. "It bit me!"

Spike hurried to Cherry's side and took a look at her hoof, held in one claw as he leaned in. He could see the pesky splinter. "Hold still..."

"It has barbs?!" Cherry recoiled a little at the idea. "I didn't see any at allLLll, thank you." She pulled back her hoof, sore but no longer intruded upon.

Starlight gave a slow look around. "I wasn't really planning where we were going besides 'away'. Spike, do you recognize where we are? I can't see Ponyville from here."

Spike flicked the splinter away before shrugging. "Looks like the Everfree to me, but since we teleported in, I couldn't say which way is out. Starlight, you can fly, right? Go up and you should be able to see where we are."

Cherry frowned a little. "She doesn't have sky flippers, Spike. Why should she be able to fly?"

Starlight began to glow, her magic wrapping around the entirety of her form. "I'm a unicorn. We're notorious cheaters." She lifted off the ground several inches despite her lack of wings. "Spike, stay close to Cherry, I'll be right back, alright?" Spike gave an emphatic salute before she darted up through the foliage to survey their situation.

Twilight scowled from the chair she was tied to securely. "For the last time, I'm not being mind controlled. I'm not brain washed. Let me go this very instant!"

Mayor Mare shook her head. "I'm afraid that's precisely what a mind-controlled pony would say. This is for your own good, your highness."

Twilight's horn glowed angrily, but the haze of energy cut off about three quarters of the way up her horn where a heavy ring had been placed on it. Her magic would not come.

Emerging from the crowd, shoving ponies aside, came Applejack. "Now what in tarnation are y'all thinkin'? Trussing Twilight up like that, it ain't right." She clopped the ground with an angry hoof before advancing forward. "Ah'll have ya outta there in--"

Bulk Biceps grabbed her suddenly, hefting her off the ground so her hooves dangled and her powerful buckers couldn't get the leverage they needed.

The Mayor nodded at Bulk. "Thank you. Miss Applejack, your friend is under the control of a malevolent siren. Until we can be sure it's gone, we must remain on high alert and Princess Twilight Sparkle remains here, in our care."

With a streak of rainbows, a new pony arrived. "Alright, who's joke is this?" Rainbow frowned, surveying the scene.

"They've gone crazy!" blurted Twilight before a pony beside her stuffed a sock in her mouth.

"Nuh-uh, not on my watch." Rainbow darted forward, only to come to a screeching halt as a filly moved to be in the way. A filly she knew too well. "Scootaloo?! Get out of the way, squirt. I have business to tend to."

Scootaloo shook her head. "Can you prove she isn't being controlled by the siren? If we let her go, she might do something awful."

Mayor Mare nodded in agreement. "We'll gladly release her as soon as the siren is dealt with. We have nothing against Princess Twilight Sparkle. Why, I'd say we love her a great deal, and that's exactly why we'll keep her here, safe, until this emergency is over."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes dramatically. "Fine! I'll bring you the stupid siren you're all so scared of, then you let Twilight go." Without listening for responses, she was gone in the same streak of colors that had marked her arrival.

Applejack looked over her shoulder at Bulk Biceps. "Don't suppose ya could let me go to go looking fer the siren?"

He snorted, but kept a secure hold of her. She sighed and sagged. It promised to be a long day.

Starlight poked her head out of the canopy of the forest, only to duck it immediately back down, narrowly avoiding the slavering teeth of some unidentified flying beast. She hesitated before timidly peeking out without revealing her unfortunately delicious presence. Her view was limited, but it looked like the forest extended a long distance in every direction. Was this the fabled Everfree?

"Do you see anything?" came from below, where Cherry and Spike waited.

She licked her lips softly. "Not so much..." Taking a slow calming breath, she conjured a protective sphere around herself and dared it one more time, only to shriek and flee. The creature was far from alone. It looked like a migration of the many-toothed horrors, and some had seen her.

Starlight burst into the clearing from above with wide and terrified eyes. Behind her came the strange beasts. They had dull-purple scales, narrow bodies and huge leathery wings that propelled them forward. There were three of them and they gave a communal keening shriek as they spread out and moved for the fleeing unicorn.

Cherry gave a cry of her own, but it more of terror than hunting. Spike was far more determined. "Hey, let her go!" He took a sudden deep breath and gave a gust of green flame that tickled at the belly of one of the creatures flying overhead.

It bellowed in pain, causing the other two to wheel around in the air. All three fixed their tiny eyes on Spike as they hissed, showing off their many teeth.

"Oh, um... good... whatever you ares?" Spike gave a nervous little laugh as they suddenly dove at him and sent him fleeing towards the edge of the clearing.

Cherry got moving for the tree line as well, following the unspoken cue of the others. Fortunately, the beasts' huge wingspan did not serve them well in dense foliage, and they did not try to pursue any of the three once they were out of the clearing. They roared and snapped at the trees, leaving rough and terrible marks on them, but eventually turned as one and moved back up to join their peers above the canopy.

It was very dark there, in the embrace of the forest, at least until Starlight's horn began to glow as she made her way towards Cherry. "I'm glad you're alright. Did you see which way Spike went?"

Cherry walked her way over to Starlight just to throw her forehooves around Starlight in a fierce hug. "What were those things? That was like a whole frenzy of sharks, with air flippers!"

Starlight softly patted her on the back. "It's alright. They're gone now, but where's Spike?"

"Right here." Spike fell in from above but bounced to his feet. "Are you sure they're gone?"

Starlight raised a hoof to an ear, listening quietly a moment. "Sounds safe. So, let's try to take this logically. Going up? Not so good an idea. You think those three were bad? There were a lot more of them up there, I promise you."

Spike felt behind his head. "I don't suppose you got a peek of Ponyville while you were up there?"

Cherry softly bonked him on the head. "I'm just happy she didn't get gobbled up." She took a careful step back and looked around in the dark and gloomy forest. "So which way do we go?"

Starlight frowned a little. "I guess, at this point, any direction's good if we follow it long enough. Let's stick together, stay calm, and we'll be fine."

Spike wriggled his fingers. "Why not just teleport back out the way we came?"

Starlight frowned. "Teleporting blindly is how we got here." She rolled a hoof impatiently. "You really want to try that again? I don't, and it's my horn, so let's get walking."

With that matter settled, they began their way, hopefully towards safety. Of course, they had no way to know if they were heading in or out of the gloomy forest and its dangerous inhabitants.

"Rainbow, darling, over here!"

Rainbow looked down to see Rarity in a trenchcoat and glasses, waving her closer urgently. She flew down to her friend. "Hey Rarity. I'm looking for that siren that's got everyone all worked up."

Rarity lowered her glasses a little. "What do you plan to do if you find it? It could mind control you, just like that." She clopped her forehooves. "Then it'd have the fastest pony in Ponyville on its side."

Rainbow blinked. "What? No way! Have you even seen this siren thing?"

"I've heard stories." Rarity frowned a little. "You shouldn't be flying around right now, dear. Come along, let's go inside and wait for this to blow over."

Rainbow put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "Hold up there. Twilight's relying on us! I'm not going to hide while an angry mob has her tied up in her own home, no way!"

Rarity glanced up at the purple castle before shaking her head. "I'm certain they're just trying to fix things. Mayor Mare would never harm Twilight. Why, the scandal of the very idea."

She left, and Rainbow was left alone. RD snorted with increasing agitation before her hooves crashed together with a loud clop. "Of course!" She knew one pony that may know of scary creatures! She darted off with a new plan.

Author's Notes:

Things are happening!

Spike, magic is not the answer for everything, much as we may want it to be.

See what magical typos get you?