*Chapter 10*

The Lost Woods

"C'mon, just a little more..." Blaze's entire body was taut with both mental and physical exertion. Sparks burst from his horn as he focused his magic as mightily as he could into his target.

It was the door to the cabin swinging open that broke his concentration. "Oh, pardon me," Ivy Leagues said in apology. "Am I disturbin' sumthn'?"

"No, you're good," Summer Blaze said back, relaxing his hardened muscles.

Ivy took a look at Blaze's exhausted stance and said, "So, whatcha got goin' on in here anyhow?"

"I borrowed one of Mirrorrim's books; one with a come to life spell in it. And I've spent the last forty-five minutes trying to get this clock to move," Blaze answered, pointing a hoof to an inanimate clock on the wall. "You see, the thing is, it's not as simple as levitation; motivating an object from one place to another. A come-to-life spell involves motivating many much smaller objects in such a way that they from a complete working circuit; everything has to work together."

Being an earth pony, Ivy Leagues didn't know the first thing about magic or it's theory, so he responded with a half-committed, "Uh-huh..."

"So I thought I'd start small, with this clock here, ya know? I've been trying to get it moving forever now and I can't get it to so much as even tick! And yet Mirrorrim is power this entire ocean liner! How does she do it!?"

"Mirror is fantastic pony," Ivy said. "And seein' how she's tha element of magic and all, maybe she was jus' born wit that kinda power. Besides, she is tha biggest bookworm in Equestria, she's had plenty a time to study about these kinda things."

"I guess," Blaze sighed halfheartedly. "I just want to help her, ya know? Being the only other unicorn on this ship, I have to be able to offer some kind of magical assistance."

"It's not really as simple as that, is it?" Ivy said. "From what I heard, unicorn magic differs from pony ta pony; Mirror has that smarty pants kinda book-ish magic; and yer magic is kinda like an extension of yer physical strength; she may be more knowledgeable than you, but she could never levitate the kind of weight that you can."

"That does make sense..." Blaze said, slightly irritated about receiving a lecture about his own species from an earth pony. "But even then-"

Blaze was cut off by the crackle of the intercom. "We're going to be making landfall very shortly; I need everypony up on deck right now," Fairweather said through the speaker.

This announcement caused Summer Dusk to spring from her position under the blankets. "Oh, it's that time already?" she asked.

"Dusk, have you been awake this whole time?" Blaze asked her in surprise.

"Well, yes," she said. "What with you huffing and puffing and all, how could I get any sleep?"
"You could have told me I was disturbing you!" Blaze said.

"And interrupt the show? Not a chance!" Dusk giggled.

"You thought it was funny!?"

"Yeah! Your face was all like..." and Dusk proceeded to contort her face into a series of humorously grotesque facades, most of which would give one the impression that she was struggling with a bout of severe constipation.

"Oh, shut up you," Blaze said to Ivy, who was laughing uncontrollably. "Let's get out on deck; don't wanna keep Fairweather waiting.

The three ponies trotted out onto the deck. Blaze shivered as he was met with the cold night air. "Brrr, it's like it keeps getting colder out here..."

"Of course that would happen," Ivy said. "Remember, there's no sun ta warm up tha earth." He paused here for a moment of thought. "That said, I'm not really sure jus' what Nightmare Moon is really after. If she keeps tha sun gone forever, tha plant life will die; when tha plants die, nopony will have anythin' ta eat; the temperature will keep goin' down 'till everything freezes over, and ain't nopony gonna survive tha process, not even Nightmare. So what doe she really want?"

"I think you're forgetting who we're dealing with here," Fairweather said as they joined up on deck. "This is Nightmare Moon we're talking about. She lived on the moon for one thousand years; something tells me no food and a little cold weather won't bother her." It was here that she paused her thoughts, much like Ivy did. "Which does beg the question; exactly what does she plan to accomplish with this?"

A silence came over the group, perforated by the sound of the ocean waves. After a moment, Blaze spoke up; "Maybe she's trying to make earth like the moon is." The group stared at him. "Think about it; There's no food; no light; and no warmth up there. Since her dominion is that of the moon, why not turn earth into a copy of it's own moon?"

"Could that be it?" Fairweather said. "It does make sense when you think about it..."

"I knew Nightmare was crazy," Nova Burst said. "But I didn't know she was completely bucked up in the head."

"We're very close now!" Mirrorrim said from the bow.

The others joined her at the front of the ship to see the island they were fast approaching. Mirrorrim cut off her spell and let the Ponyvillian coastinto the soft sand. "Do you think we'll find anything here?" Summer Dusk spoke out.

"I doubt it," Fairweather said. "Besides, we're not really here to explore the island, but to rest. Although it can't hurt to have a look around...just in case."

Fairweather lowered the gangway and the group took their first steps onto the deserted island. It was overgrown with plant life of all kinds, most of which none of the ponies recognized. The strange trees rustled slightly in the soft breeze. "Hey, wait a second, are we all going?" Summer Blaze said.

The group looked around at one another for a moment before Fairweather said, "I think he's right; at least a few of us should stay aboard the ship, just in case."

Blaze nodded agreement. "Dusk, you stay here," he said.

"But, Blaze!" Dusk whined.

"No buts!" Blaze said firmly. "You're staying here."

"Alrighty then. I'll stay behind and look after the young'n," Ivy said, patting Dusk on the back.

Fairweather looked to Mirrorrim, "Are you going to be alright; you're not too tired from powering the ship?"

"I am fine," Mirror said. "I'd like to take this opportunity to maybe make contact with a newly discovered intelligent species, or maybe find a new manner of plant life-"

"Ugh, leave it to Mirror to make this all educational." Nova Burst deformed the word into an impromptu insult.

"Well I for one believe that missing a chance to learn something new is as bad as not knowing it in the first place. I doubt anything with substantial educational value could even penetrate that thick skull of yours, Nova." And she walked off with her nose in the air, leaving Nova Burst thoroughly nonplussed.

"Dude, you just got burned," Blaze said slyly.

Nova mumbled to himself as Fairweather said, "Alright, I'll stay here as well." she looked to Blaze, "How far do you plan on going anyway?"

"Not very," was his response. "Just check some things out and see if we can find anything useful. Maybe someone lives here who knows in which direction the white mountains are. Anyway, back in a bit."

"Hurry back!" Summer Dusk called after him.

So Summer Blaze, Nova Burst, and Mirrorrim made their way through the increasingly thick foliage and shrubs. After what Mirror judged to be about thirty minutes of walking, they came to a stop. "I don't think we're really on to anything here," Nova said. "I'll fly above the tree line and see if I can find anything." Nova took off and forced his way through the overgrown canopy. Blaze and Mirrorrim watched him through the pegasus-sized hole he made in the leaves. After just a few moments, he came back down. "Nothin' but nothin'," he said, shaking a few leaves from his spiky mohawk. "I'm all for turning back at this point."

Summer Blaze was just about to agree when suddenly, and very faintly, he began to hear...was that...music? "Do you guys hear that?" he said as he strained to pick up pick up the sound properly.

Mirror flapped her ears as they perked up to the sound, "I think it might be..."

"Music," Nova said, as he took a good listen.

"I think it's coming from this direction," Mirror said. And so they walked deeper into the dense forest, following the mysterious music. Blaze's hopes and apprehension were running high. If there was music, then that meant there was someone making the music. Maybe a group of island ponies perhaps? Or some other life form? Blaze was so intent on following the sound that he didn't realize that Mirrorrim had stopped walking and collided with her backside. He shook it off and looked up to see just why she had stopped so suddenly.

They had found themselves at what looked like some natural threshold. It was a large opening in the face of a granite formation. The music the ponies had been following was definitely coming from this place. Now that Blaze could hear it properly, the tune was quite catchy. It was something that Blaze could akin to a wildly magical place such as this. It really seeped into his blood and took away any cares he could possibly have. Blaze soon found himself, absently as it may be, bobbing his head this way and that with the lively tune. He couldn't seem to help it.

Next to him, Mirror was doing the same. Her eyes were closed as she tapped her hoof in rhythm with the music; she was even humming along.

Nova Burst, on the other hand, didn't see what the big deal was. It was just a regular old song to him. "Hey you guys!" he said loudly. This seemed to snap them out of it. "If you're done spacing out, maybe we can have a look inside to see where this music is coming from."

Mirror gave her head a slight shake, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me there," she said. "It's this music. Isn't it just lovely?"

"I'll say," Blaze agreed.

Nova rolled his eyes. "Hey, maybe this sign can tell us something." There was a small hand-painted sign post just at the entrance to the natural formation. Nova Burst trotted up to it and read aloud. "The lost woods?" he said. "Just what the heck does that mean?"

"Perhaps the answer lies inside," Mirrorrim offered.

"Are you sure it's safe to go waltzing in here?" Nova asked the other two ponies. They seemed awfully eager to enter this strange place.

"I'm sure it's fine," Blaze said. "We'll hop in, take a peek, and be out in a jiffy. Piece a cake."

"Fine, but let's be quick. Something just doesn't seem right about this place..." Nova said cautiously.

So the three ponies stepped into the the lost woods, and what they would find there, was something they far from expected.

...

As Mirrorrim stepped over the natural threshold, there was an instant and unrecognizable phenomenon that she had no hope of explaining. It felt as though her consciousness was being pulled in many directions at once; like her brain trying to process too many complex happenings in a single pass.

And just as quickly as this happened, Mirrorrim found herself alone. She was surrounded on all four sides by large wooden tunnels much like the one she had originally come through.

"Blaze? Nova?" Her own voice echoed tauntingly back at her, receiving no answer. "Oh no..." She obviously had no idea where she was or where to go at the moment all she knew was that she had four choices; but which to take? Mirror took a breath and made her best guess; strait forward. As she crossed the threshold, she found herself in an area...that looked suspiciously like...the exact place she just came from. 'Okay' she thought. 'I'll just retrace my steps, surely there is a way out of here.' So Mirror turned herself around and attempted to make her way back from which she came, but the world felt like it was spinning. Everything looked the same. How would she know where to go? How could she get out of here? Mirrorrim tried to calm herself, she took slow steady breaths as she relaxed her mind. As she regained her composure, she began to hear something, could it be? Yes, it was the same tune she heard upon her entrance to this place. But where was it coming from?

Mirrorrim took a few steps towards the entrance on her left, listening hard. No, it wasn't coming from this direction. Maybe the right...yes it was getting louder now; this was definitely the right way. She trotted through the barrier and found herself between yet four more of the identical pathways. But Mirrorrim was not panicked, she just listened for the music. And so she galloped left; right; left again; strait, following the increasing volume of the tantalizing tune. Surely someone was playing it, and if she found them, she would find a way out of this place.

Finally she galloped into a new area. In the center of this space there was what looked like the stumps of two trees, one being taller than the other. They were illuminated by something like a natural spotlight shining through the canopy of dense foliage. The song Mirrorrim had followed here was louder than ever; this was definitely it's source. Almost as though she knew what to do, Mirrorrim hopped onto the shorter of the two tree stumps. She was looking into the natural skylight now, and suddenly, something appeared there.

It was a tiny winged creature. It bobbed about carelessly through the air playing a tiny flute. So it was this creature here that was playing the melody. Mirrorrim had never seen anything like it. It sort of looked like...a pony. A tiny pony, but a pony none the less. It was barely the size of Mirrorrim's head and bright lavender in color. It flew on four tiny fairy-like wings and long curly antennae sprouted from it's pink-maned head. The small creature stopped it's mid air dance as it took notice of Mirrorrim for the first time. "Hi, do you think my face is kind of plain?" It squeaked.

Mirror recognized the creature to be female from the pitch of it's voice as she slowly answered her question. "Your face looks fine to me..."

"Oh, goodie!" The creature squeaked back.

"I most certainly hate to be so blunt, but I fear I may be-"

"Lost?" The tiny pony said.

"Well, as sagacious as I am, even I have to admit that I may have indeed lost my sense of direction in here," Mirrorrim said. "Do you happen to know your way around here?"

"Know my way around? I live here!" The small pony incited with highly pitched enthusiasm.

"Oh, that's great," Mirrorrim said. "May I ask what your name is?"

"My name is Tra La La!" Was the small pony's response.

Mirrorrim was desperate to leave this place, however, her curiosity was starting to overcome her. Her mentally ingrained habit of garnering new information from observational study suddenly took precedence over her flight instinct. "I've never seen a creature like you before," she said. "Are you a pony?"

"Nope, I'm a Breezy!" Tra La La said. "I used to be a pony though."

"Used to be a pony?" Mirror said with careful emphasis. "What do you mean by that?"

"I used to be a unicorn," Tra La La said. "I was with two of my friends in the big hot air balloon. We were on our way back to Unicornia from Ponyville so we could see Princess Rarity make the first rainbow of the season! But our balloon got knocked off course by a big storm and we crashed on this island. We wanted to shelter ourselves from the storm, so we came inside of this big cave.

We found an amazing forest inside! Everything was so colorful and pretty, we almost didn't want to leave, but we knew we had to. We had to get outside so we could fix our balloon and get back to Unicornia. But we couldn't find the way the out; we just kept going around and around and around. And without without even really knowing it, we transformed into Breezies!"

Mirrorrim tried to digest what Tra La La had just told her. Apparently there was some wild inexplicable magic that permeated this place and transformed anyone lost inside it into one of these creatures here. And if what she says was true, with her originally being from Unicornia, which was founded well over three millenniums ago, that meant...

Tra La La had been lost in this forest for more than three thousand years.

Mirrorrim suddenly knew that escape was imperative. "So...you do not know how to get out here?" she asked.

"Not myself, no," Tra La La said. "But I think you have to pass some kind of test."

"A test?" Mirrorrim said.

"If you can see through the magic of the forest, then you leave," the Breezy explained. Suddenly her face fell slightly. "But you don't want to leave,do you? We just met. You can stay here with me and we can be friends forever!"

"I do not have forever," Mirrorrim said firmly. "I must get back to my world and my friends. I am part of a very important undertaking that has no chance of success if I become separated from them. And there's also someone..." Mirrorrim trailed off as a sudden image of a certain unicorn pony came to her mind.

"Someone what?" Tra La La said. She seemed more interested than necessary in Mirrorrim's trailing thought.

"Someone...I want to see again." Mirrorrim could feel her face burning just saying those words.

"I see," said Tra La La. Her antennae had come to life with a strange manor of magic that Mirrorrim had never seen before. She twirled in place and suddenly, she was gone.

Mirrorrim didn't know what to make of her sudden disappearance and was quite frustrated at Tra La La for doing so. She was her only lead to escaping this place and now she was left alone. But just then, there was a small flash and on the tall tree stump before her appeared...but no...it couldn't be... "Winterbrave?"

The gorgeous white unicorn stared down at her from his perch. "Hello, Mirrorrim," he said quietly.

All of his features stood out in dazzling detail in the flood of the natural skylight; his reflective pure-white coat; intense blue eyes, and icicle mane. Mirrorrim could hardly find the breath to speak; her heart had seemingly jumped into and blocked her windpipe. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," was his response. He sprung from the tall tree stump and landed gracefully on his hooves without so much as a shock. Although thoroughly nonplussed at his appearance, Mirrorrim couldn't help but feel a slight air of almost sexual hypnotism stealing over her. One of the things that attracted her to Winterbrave in the first place were his easy, languid movements; every step of his seemed to have purpose; a hoof was never put out of place. His slender body, more akin to a mare than a stallion, rippling with lithe, strong muscle... "Just what in the world were you thinking?" Mirror was snapped from her rhapsodical spell of admiration by Winterbrave's harsh reprimand. "You should have known better than this."

He had taken on the scolding tone of a parent who scarcely dared to believe their offspring could misbehave in such a manner to incite such disgust. And for some reason, Mirror felt ashamed. She hung her head and muttered weakly, "I'm, I'm sorry..."

Winterbrave shook his head disbelievingly and walked across the natural space. "I honestly expected better from you," he said without even looking at her. "I honestly can't believe that this pony who claims to even care a single thing about me would put herself in danger like this."

"I'm sorry..." Mirrorrim's voice threatened to crack from the burden of oncoming tears.

Suddenly, Mirrorrim found herself on the threshold of two doors that she could not remember having been there previously. Winterbrave stood in front of the door on the right. "This is the exit," he said impatiently. "You can come with me if you so feel the need to. But you honestly have to ask yourself, what would the point be?"

"What?" Mirrorrim's voice felt as though it would barely carry the short space separating her from Winterbrave.

"We live so far away from each other, when would I even see you again?

All four of Mirrorrim's knees threatened to buckle underneath her. What was Winterbrave saying? "But...but..."

"It hardly matters," he said with a cruel offhandedness. "Just come with me, and maybe I can find a way to put up with you."

Mirrorrim's heart stopped in her chest. This couldn't be...why would Winterbrave say these things to her? This wasn't the Winterbrave she had fallen in love with; this was not her Winterbrave.

And that's when it hit her.

Of course! This was just the magic of the forest, it had somehow seen into her mind and was tormenting her with her greatest desire. But she would not succumb, she wouldn't! "I see now," she said.

"What's that?" Winterbrave said impatiently.

"You're not really Winterbrave at all, you're just an illusion; a vision. I think that Breezy is playing a trick on me. She anticipated that I would go with you, solely driven by heartbreak and anguish. She somehow saw my desire and tried to lead me astray with it; thinking I would follow you simply because I wanted to be with you. Well I see through her game, and I see that you are not the unicorn that I desire. I will be taking my leave of you now." And Mirrorrim promptly and resolutely walked through the opposite door. And she instantly found herself back at the entrance to the lost woods, out in the starry forever night. She turned back to glare into the gaping hole. "Please Nova and Blaze; please come back safely." And she sat on her haunches and waited.

...

Summer Blaze ran breathlessly this way and that, left and right, and right again. Wait...didn't he already come from this way? Why did everything look the exactly the same!? "Son of a bit!" Blaze shouted in frustration. Part of him was slightly glad that Dusk was not around to hear him using such language. But that was just it, if he didn't get out of here, he was never going to see Dusk again...or any of his friends! It was here, as Blaze tried to regain his breath, did he begin to hear something. Blaze lifted his ears as to better hone in on it's source.

While it's source was not immediately identifiable, Blaze was sure he was not mistaken about one thing. It was definitely the same song he heard before they had entered this place. But where was it coming from? He kept his ears to the air as he followed the sound of the alluring music. It was as though his hooves were moving of their own accord; the music seemed to simply coax him forward somehow. And at last, before he knew it, he had found it's source.

A tiny winged creature was bobbing through the air in the middle of this natural intersection. Blaze's heart leapt, finally, someone he could ask for directions! "Hey, excuse me!" he said, as he trotted up to the creature. "I kind of got turned around and...uh..." Blaze's sentence hung in the air. Now that he got a good look at it, this creature here seemed to resemble a pony. It was easily the smallest (and strangest) pony Blaze had ever seen; it had four transparent wings and long antennae sprouting from it's head. "Are you...are you a pony?" Blaze hoped he wasn't being rude, but the question seemed to just tumble out of his mouth.

"A pony?" the small thing giggled. "I'm not a pony, silly, I'm a Breezy!"

"A what?"

"A B-r-e-e-z-y!" the creature squeaked, spelling out the word as though she thought Blaze were dumb. "But what are you?"

"What am I?" Blaze said.

"I'm a Breezy, but what are you?" The creature asked again.

"We'll, I'm a unicorn, if you must know," Blaze answered. He had the distinct feeling that this creature was taunting him, but he just decided to play along for the moment.

"Not what what, what where?" The Breezy giggled.

"What?" Now Blaze was confused.

The small Breezy giggled again. "Do you know where you are?" She asked.

Blaze took a look at his unchanging surroundings. "No, not really..."

"Then do you know what you are?"

"No. What am I?" Blaze said, finally giving up the charade of cooperation.

"You are..." the Breezy let her sentence hang for a childishly dramatic effect. "...Lost! That's what you are!"

Blaze planted his face in his hoof. "And you figured that out all on your own, did you?" he muttered. "Look, how about we start from the beginning. I'm Summer Blaze, what's your name?"

"I'm Zipzee!" She squeaked back.

"Okay, 'Zipzee'," Blaze put enough of his stress into the pronunciation as he could. "You mind telling me how to get out of here?"

Zipzee giggled again. Seriously, did she have to do that every time he asked her a question? "There's no way out of here, silly."

"What?!" Blaze seemed to be in danger of falling through the very ground he was standing on. "What the hay do you mean?"

"There's no way out of here!" Zipzee repeated. "Except..."

"Except what?!"

"...Except if you can make a choice!"

"A choice? What choice?" Blaze fretted. But the Breezy was already gone; vanished from the spot leaving nothing behind but a giggle. "Hey, where did you go?" he shouted. "Thanks for nothing!"

"Blaze, is that you?"

Summer Blaze spun on the spot at the sound of the voice; a voice that he knew he would recognize anywhere, as he heard it every day. And sure enough, standing there in one of the four natural doorways, was Summer Dusk. "Dusk! How did you...?" Blaze was relieved and also promptly terrified at his sister's appearance. It was now within all possibility that they were both trapped inside this place.

"Blaze, I found a way out, but we have to hurry!" Dusk seemed to be on the verge of simply turning and running through the door; she hopped back and forth on her hooves as though it was taking a tremendous effort just to remain still.

"Alright, lead the way," Blaze was finally going to leave these lost woods. He only hoped that Mirror and Nova had found their ways out as well.

Just as he was about to walk over the threshold, another voice rang out behind him. "Summer Blaze! I need your help...please!"

Blaze was stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice as well. But it couldn't be...not here. But as he turned around, he indeed came face to face with the one Princess Luna. Blaze knew as soon as he looked at her, that something was severely wrong. Luna looked to have taken grave injury. Ruby-red blood had soaked her flank and her mane, which was no longer magically flowing around her body, but was hanging limp and heavy with the weight of fresh blood. Blaze could feel his heart drop to his stomach. She needed help, fast. "Dusk, we have to help Luna! I don't know how she got here-"

"No!" Dusk shouted. "We don't have the time, we have to go now!" The young filly seemed more panicked than ever in her bid to escape the forest.

"Blaze...help...me..." Luna tottered back and forth on the spot, her eyes barely focused.

Blaze could feel the tug on his heart. He had to help her; he would never forgive himself if he didn't. "Dusk, c'mon. All we have to do is take her with us! We can bring her back to the ship."

"We can't!" Dusk cried "We need to get out of here!"

"Blaze...hurry...I need you..." Luna was barely conscious.

"You can only go with one of us," Dusk said. "You have to decide now!"

Choose? Blaze couldn't choose between the two of them! He loved them both, though of course the love he felt for Luna was much...different that what he felt for Dusk. But he couldn't decide, he just couldn't! His head began to ache as he walked backwards through an empty door.

"Blaze, where are you going?!" Dusk shouted.

"Come back," Luna moaned. "I need your help..."

He couldn't do it. He couldn't choose between the two of them. He turned and ran headlong through the door and nearly collided with Mirrorrim. "Blaze! You made it!" She nuzzled him with an emotional outpouring of relief. "I was worried; beyond worried! Are you alright?"

"I'm...okay..." Blaze was still trying to figure out what had just happened. "Was any of that..."

"Real?" Mirrorrim answered. "No, it was all just a trick by those Breezies. They tried to tempt us with what...or who we wanted most, but their illusions were not well constructed. If they truly wanted to lure us in, they would have made what we wanted seem appealing; as in bringing out their best and most attractive qualities. But he wasn't himself. The Breezies made him into someone that I didn't want, no matter how attractive he..." Mirrorrim trailed off as though she finally realized what she was saying.

Despite his ordeal, Blaze was still well enough to playfully taunt Mirrorrim. "You saw Winterbrave, didn't you?" He said with a sly smile.

Mirrorrim blushed scarlet against her fair coat. "The point is that we saw through their illusions, an escaped the forest unharmed," she said, completely avoiding the question.

Just then, Nova Burst emerged from the forest, looking thoroughly irritated. "That was so stupid," He said. His eyes fell on his two friends. "Took you two long enough!" He said. "Where have you been?"

"Nova, what did you see in there?" Blaze asked him.

"What?"

"I mean, did a Breezy try to play a trick on you?"

"She tried," Nova nodded. "But, I don't know, I just didn't buy into what she was trying to do. So I don't think that her magic affected me."

Was that true? How is it that Nova Burst could be immune to what just happened in there? Those images Blaze saw seemed hauntingly real. "Well, that goes to prove one thing," Mirror said with superiority. "Nova's skull really is too thick for anything to get through to him."

Blaze laughed aloud as Nova Burst scowled. "Ha-ha," he said. "Why don't we just get back to the ship, I've had enough of this place for forever."

So the ponies trotted back the way they came. No word were exchanged on this return trip, which made it seem to pass that much faster. And in no time they had returned to where the Ponyvillian had been docked. "

They were greeted by Ivy Leagues, Fairweather, and Summer Dusk, all of whom had never left their watch. "Y'all alright?" Ivy asked them.

"We are fine," Mirrorrim said.

Blaze nuzzled Dusk with a fierce feeling of sudden protectiveness. So she hadn't really wandered into the woods after all.

"Let's get the hay out of here," Nova Burst said. "I never wanna come near this place again."

"Alright, let's get on board," Fairweather said. "Mirror, are you good to power the ship?"

"Absolutely," was her response.

So the ponies boarded the ship and made to cast off. Just as Mirrorrim took her position on the bow of the ship, there was a sudden cry of "Wait!" Everypony looked around to see the three Breezies flying in their direction.

"Oh, no, not them again," Blaze moaned.

"Ooh, Blaze, what are those?" Dusk asked in wonder. "They're so pretty!"

"Yeah, well, you would see how pretty they were if you were in that forest yourself, Dusk."

The three Breezies flew up the bow of the ship and came to a stop in front of the group of ponies. "Oh, that was so much fun!" Tra La La squeaked.

"Perhaps you should rethink your definition of 'fun'," Mirrorrim said crossly.

"I haven't got to play a game like that in ages!" said Zipzee.

"And I hope you never do again," Blaze said.

The third Breezy, Tiddly Wink, looked rather dejected. "I didn't get to play..." she sobbed.

"Yeah well, I didn't feel like playing much," Nova muttered.

"Uh, Blaze, just wut tha hay are these things?" Ivy Leagues said.

"They're nothing," Blaze said back. "Hey, what do you want? We really need to be off. And don't even think about asking to come with us."

"Oh, we don't want to go with you," Tra La La said.

"We just know where you're going!" Zipzee finished.

"Oh, really?" Mirrorrim said. "And where do you think-"

"To the white mountains!" The three Breezies chorused.

Blaze didn't think it a stretch of the imagination to believe thee creatures could indeed read their minds. "Okay, so you know where we're going," Blaze said. "You don't plan on following us do you?"

"Oh, no, no, no," Tra La La said. "We just know how to send you there!"

"Send us there..." Fairweather's interest was peaked. "Could you really do that?"

"Hold on," Blaze warned her. "These things like to play games. Their means of 'helping us' probably doesn't actually involve helping us."

"Do we really have another choice?" Fairweather said. She was whispering at this point, as to hide what she was saying from the Breezies.

"I'm fer it," Ivy chimed in. "We really don' know where we're goin' otherwise, right?"

Blaze thought hard for a moment; of course Ivy was right, they had no actual clue as to where the white mountains were. So maybe...

Blaze turned to the Breezies. "Okay, fine. Help us then; which way are we going?"

And in answer, the antennae of the three Breezies came to life with that strange magic Blaze could not recognize. And a mere instant later, the land and seascape around them became a blur. It looked as though the ship was traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles per hour, but there was absolutely no sensation of such speed.

"What's happening?!" Dusk said.

"I really can't say..." Mirrorrim told her. "Perhaps we are-"

And before she could even finish her sentence, the vessel came to an abrupt stop, without so much as a lurch or a shock.

"Where are we?" Nova burst asked aloud.

Summer Blaze noticed Ivy pointing breathlessly at something towards the horizon. "Is that...are those...?" He couldn't seem to form a complete sentence.

Blaze looked in the direction of Ivy's pointed hoof, and there, reflected in the ghostly pallor of the ever-present moon, was what the ponies had been searching the ends of the earth for. Much like Ivy, Blaze couldn't seem to string together a proper sentence. "It can't be..."

"Are they..." Fairweather ventured cautiously.

"They are," Mirror said firmly.

The ponies had found the White Mountains.

*End of Chapter 10*

A/N:

And I'm back. Finally finished this chapter up. I've been distracted by the lovely pokemon X version, and a variety of other things. No real need to go into detail about this or that, but suffice it to say, I've been busy.

I'd like to thank everyone who gave my story a read, and for the follows, favs, and reviews. I'll update again soon.