Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, or any of the characters. This is a non-profit, fan work... You all know the deal, right?
A/N: Okay, I know it has been a very long time. And I apologize. This story is not dead, I just needed some time to get my head back into a writing space. I wish I could promise consistent updates like other authors, however I am not exactly skilled in the craft. But, I do want to thank everyone who has stuck with it so far, and welcome any new readers should there be any. As always, feel free to read and review. Or don't. Up to you really. Without further ado, let's get this train of perpetual delay rolling again. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 7:
Blindspot found himself sitting rather uncomfortably at the breakfast table in the Golden Oaks library. For a few reasons, because it was a tad crowded. Twilight had answered the door to reveal Rarity and Fluttershy on the other side. And shortly after that, Rainbow Dash had made a spectacular entrance by crashing through an upstairs window, and had decided that since she was here, she may as well stay for breakfast.
But more so because he could feel the eyes on him. As they ate, and he tried to without embarrassing himself too badly, he was constantly aware of the gazes on him, and it made his skin feel like it was crawling.
Too add to his discomfort was the fact that Applejack had made it clear she wished to speak him. He would have imagined being sat on a stool with a lamp glaring in his eyes as he was grilled with questions, but for some reason that sounded more like a Pinkie Pie thing to him. Still, he had a feeling their 'talk' would be uncomfortable at best, and downright unpleasant at worst.
Thankfully, Twilight had dominated the breakfast conversation thus far, and he was trying to keep up. Not succeeding, mind you, but trying. He caught something about a meteor, and the Everfree Forest, and even a mention of Luna. But aside from that, nothing about the conversation made any sense to him. And apparently he wasn't alone in that.
"...Oh! And the other news! Our friend here has finally remembered his name!" And there it was. As soon as those words left Twilight's mouth, he had seven pairs of eyes trained on him. He knew it was coming, but he still didn't like being the center of attention. He took a breath to steady himself and then started speaking.
"I uh... Yeah, last night it came back to me. My name is-" And there was a loud knock at the door. He wasn't sure if he should be grateful for the interruption or not.
"I'll get it!" Spike said, hopping off the chair and scurrying towards the door. And this left Blindspot deciding to just bite the bullet.
"Like I said, my name is-"
"Twilight Sparkle, please you must come with me! Something's not right in the Everfree!" Another voice burst into the room, followed shortly after by the presence of a zebra that Blindspot didn't recognize.
Twilight however got up quickly and trotted to her friend. "Zecora? What's this about?" She asked, as she looked at the zebra in obvious concern. Zecora was fidgeting in place, and looked decidedly unsettled, even as Twilight placed a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder.
"Please Twilight, we must make haste! Back to the Everfree forest, there's no time to waste!" Zecora said, and Twilight looked from the zebra to her other friends.
"Okay, sorry girls. I have to go see what this is all about. You're free to stay and finish breakfast an-"
"Are you kidding?! If whatever's going on has Zecora this spooked, it must be bad news. We can't let you go alone into that! Right girls?!" Rainbow Dash had spoken up, rising up to hover above the table, looking like she was preparing to lead a charge against some unseen enemy. The other mares all voiced their agreement, and Twilight smiled. "Okay. Spike, you and... Uhh..."
"Blindspot. My name's Blindspot." Well, the one good thing about the interruptions is that it had the attention thoroughly pulled away from him, which made announcing his pseudonym much less of a big deal.
Twilight broke into a huge grin, one that reminded Blindspot of Pinkie Pie, which was more than a little unnerving. But, rather than launch into questions, or congratulations, or whatever he subconciously feared she would do, she nodded. "Right! Spike, you and Blindspot stay here. We'll be back later."
And with that, Blindspot found himself alone in the dining area of the Golden Oaks library with Spike. "So, ummm..." He started, before Spike just shrugged and sighed.
"I guess I'll get started cleaning this up." The purple dragon said. Not having anything else to do, Blindspot got up and decided to help. He figured it would give him a chance to get used to using hooves.
The stone walls rumbled dangerously around the intrepid heroes, and it became apparent far too late that the pedestal that held the ancient relic, the Horn of Varsuvia, was quite obviously booby trapped. The door to the chamber started to slide closed, only to be caught in the magical grip of Sir McBiggun, who strained mightily to keep their way out open.
Garbunkle turned to look at their newest member, an earth pony clad in dark robes that had only introduced himself in the tavern as Specter, and shouted in a panic. "You said you could handle the traps in this dungeon." Meanwhile, he was trying to remember his spell of swift retreat, as he wasn't sure he could make it to the door under his own power before Sir McBiggun could no longer hold it.
Specter, who had stowed the artifact in his saddle bags, turned a cold stare to the enchanter. "We got the artifact, and if you spend more time running then bickering, the trap will also be dealt with!" He then turned his gaze to the door, mentally measuring the distance and the obstacles between him and it. "Now, time to show you both what I'm made of..."
The die clattered noisily to the table, dropped from the teeth of Blindspot. It bounced around a bit, bounced off one of the books and rolled to a stop, proudly displaying a single '1' on the top side. Spike could only look at it in silent bafflement, and even Big Mac lifted a hoof to his eyes, rubbing them as if maybe doing so would somehow change the number before him. "Y'know, I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one ha- uh, hoof, yeah my character is about to have a very, very bad time. On the other hoof, you guys owe me ten bits each." Blindspot proclaimed.
Spike shook his head slowly, still in disbelief. "I'm seeing it Big Mac, but I still don't believe. It's only been an hour and he's already rolled six fumbles. I need to ask Twilight if that's even possible... Speaking of Twilight, I would have thought she'd be back by now. I hope she's okay."
Blindspot was suddenly very curious. He hadn't even thought to ask after he found the rule book for Ogres and Oubliettes on one of the library shelves, guided by his innate geek-sense. When Spike found him reading it, only having marginally more success than when he had tried to read earlier, he had asked if he was interested. Blindspot had almost gone off on a tirade about his barbarian character in Pathfinder back home, and the shenanigans he had been involved in with the bard and the sorceress in his own party, and had only just managed to catch himself. But, when he expressed interest, Spike had contacted Big Mac and had attempted to contact another member of the party, Discord. Big Mac had some time off so they agreed to run a short intro campaign for his new character. And now it was early afternoon, and Twilight and her friends still weren't back.
"Hey, Spike? How long does something like this usually take them?" He asked, as Spiked looked at the various charts and tables to figure out exactly how screwed the unlucky rogue was about to be.
The purple dragon looked up and shrugged. "Eh, it depends. Usually a few hours. It's a little weird she's not back yet, but then she has been obsessing over the Everfree Forest lately, so she may have gotten sidetracked..." He said, but he looked a little worried. Even Big mac, now that Blindspot looked at him, seemed a bit worried. It made sense. They both had family, in a sense, in a potentially dangerous situation. "But Twilight is a magical prodigy. I'm sure she and the girls are okay." Spike finished.
"Eeyup!" Chimed in Big Mac. Blindspot nodded, but he had a feeling his gut, like when he went to pick up the dice and instinctively knew he was about to roll badly, only somehow much worse. It was like his guts had been dunked in ice, and then sent into freefall.
"Okay, so..." Spike's voice cut him off as he rolled some dice, and consulted the charts. "It looks like Specter, tripped on a collapsed pillar, got tangled in his cloak, and face-planted into the ground, getting dirt in his eyes, rendering him temporarily blind. He also dropped the artifact and..." Spike rolled again, and sighed. "Managed to trip Garbunkle as well as he ran for the door..."
Twilight and the girls had been walking through the Everfree for a few hours now, and Twilight had a very clear understanding of why Zecora was worked up. The forest felt wrong. It had always been kind of a creepy place to be; a wild, untamed place that seemed to neither need, nor particularly want, ponies involved in it. But now? Twilight could feel her mane stand on end, Applejack was all but carrying Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash's bravado had fallen into a tense silence several minutes ago. Even Pinkie was having a hard time giggling at the ghosties. It was quiet. Unnaturally so, even. No bird chirps, no scurrying of small animals, not even insect chirps. The only sound they had heard since entering the forest was the clop of their own hoofsteps, and the quiet whimpers of Fluttershy.
"Okay Zecora, I will admit this is... unnatural. Even for the Everfree Forest. Especially for the Everfree Forest." Twilight said, and her voice sounded terribly loud in the dead silent forest.
"Indeed Twilight, for the last few days the forest seems to be wrapped in a sinister haze." Zecora spoke, staying close to her friends as they walked deeper into the forest. At least until she stopped, and looked around suddenly. "Wait, stop, something is wrong. We've been walking down this path for too long."
Twilight looked from her zebra friend, to the other elements of harmony, and then back to Zecora. "I'm sorry Zecora, I don't understand. What do you mean we've been walking on this path too long?"
Zecora gestured behind them a little ways. "I know this path, for I have often walked it. It should have made a turn back there, I-"
"Wait jes' a minute there, sugarcube. Ya mean t' tell us tha' path is changin'?" Applejack burst in, causing Zecora to look less than pleased that her rhyme was interrupted. But she nodded anyway.
"I am indeed, or so it would seem. This path should have turned back there, to head towards the stream." Zecora said, gesturing with her hoof, only to gasp and take a few steps back. While they had been talking, the path behind them had just disappeared, swallowed it seemed, by the forest.
The reaction drew the attention of the others to the now vanished path, drawing reactions ranging from confused to upset. Finally, Twilight spoke, and demonstrated that even a genius intellect can sometimes resort to stating the blatantly obvious. "Girls, I think we might have a problem..."