Evacuation Plan: A Safezone

Witching Hour distilled dew she collected from a bizarre flower she found in the Everfree Forest. The petals shone silver in the moonlight, making them easy to find when they flowered. Though it’s a fickle plant and conditions must be perfect for it to bloom. Thankfully, tonight was satisfactory for the flowers, and Witching Hour was successfully able to collect its dew on her return trips. 

Leaving the water aside, she poured the silvery remains into a tea for when Harvest Moon returned. The dew had properties that helped it fight magical fatigue. It was used occasionally on harvesting days, but now Witching Hour is learning the downfall of this miracle dew. The more its used, the less effective it is. Normally Harvest Moon could simulate a full rest by drinking a sip of the raw dew. Now she gets almost nothing from drinking the purified magic.

Three minutes passed. Even the time between teleports was taking longer. Two minutes pass. Witching Hour began to worry that the bakery was compromised. One minute passed. The crackle of a failed spell acted as fanfare alongside the light show of a successful teleport. The bright light stunned Witching Hour for a moment and when she shook it off, her thoughts went to the worst-case scenario. A teleportation spell succeeding and failing at once could have disastrous consequences for those involved. She saw Harvest Moon, two whole changelings, and no extra limbs laying on the floor.

The color drained from Harvest Moon’s face. Her legs shook uncontrollably and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her knees gave out from under her and only the reaction time of one of the changelings, a white mare, saved Harvest Moon from hitting her head on the floor.

“Harvest Moon!” Witching Hour cried, rushing to her partner as the mare laid her gently on the ground. Harvest Moon’s eyes were open, but her limbs and jaw were slack. Witching Hour spent most of her mental energy trying not to panic. It would do no creature any good right now. Harvest Moon was breathing and she wasn’t bleeding. That was enough for the moment.

“Thank you.” Witching Hour instead acknowledges the mare who stopped her partner from getting a concussion. 

“Of course.” the mare accepted, stepping aside to allow Witching Hour to stand beside the unicorn while she recovered. A moment passed and Harvest Moon blinked. Her eyes focused and her foreleg twitched. She groaned and closed her mouth. 

“Wha-?” she asked, slowly sitting up with the changeling mare’s help. She looked around the room, taking note of who was there. Suddenly her eyes grew wide. “Where’s the other one?”

“Your spell failed to grab her. She’s still back at the bakery.” the mare answered.

“No, no, no. Not her. If it was any of you I didn’t bring, I didn’t want it to be her.” Harvest Moon began to hyperventilate. “I was holding so hard, but I just slipped at the wrong moment. She- she-”

“It was a mistake. You’re exhausted.”

“You don’t understand, Witching! She looked like one of them!” the unicorn bawled as Witching Hour rested her head on her shoulder. “She probably thinks I did it on purpose. She probably feels awful right now.”

“The one that looked famished? Her name was Mimic, I think.” finally spoke the purple stallion that also came along. Witching Hour felt a flash of irritation with him that he made himself worthless that she forgot he was there. But she chased the thought away. There’s nothing more harmful than someone who insists on helping, but puts themselves in the way instead.

“Mim-Mimic?” Harvest Moon repeated. “I need to go back. I need to tell her it wasn’t-”

“What you need is rest.” Witching Hour interjected, shooing her partner into the nearby bed. Harvest Moon protested, but with continued gentle coaxing. Witching Hour managed to get her tucked comfortably under the covers. In minutes, Harvest Moon was close to falling asleep.

“Don’t forget to take them to the forest.” she yawned, sinking deeper into the comforter. The unicorn pulled Witching Hour close, giving her a kiss before the bat pony could fuss. “Wake me up when you get back.”

Witching Hour escorted the two changelings out of her home. It was a single-room hut, and having four creatures inside was quickly becoming claustrophobic. She also needed to tell them where they were going, and most creatures didn’t take the news well.

“I’m taking you into the Everfree Forest,” she told the changelings bluntly and readied herself for their objections. 

“So the Everfree isn’t dangerous?” the stallion asked, “The stories of monsters and deadly plants are all just to keep foals from getting lost.”

“Make no mistake, the Everfree Forest is unsafe. The deeper you travel, the more likely you are to become lost within. And the more likely you are to stumble across manticores and other vicious beasts.” Witching Hour warned. “It’s untamed and the forest does what it wants. But there are ways to navigate it. Safe zones that beasts avoid. I’ll be leading you through it and taking you to a friend who has been surviving in the forest his whole life. You will not be safe, not fully. But you will be protected.”

“This will be interesting,” the mare mused. “Lead on.”

“So, uh, you’re Polar Ice, right?” the stallion asked after several moments of the group quietly walking to the edge of the Everfree. 

“Polaris.” the mare corrected, saying her name slowly and putting a lot of emphasis on the middle syllable. “Close for some creature I don’t remember giving my name to.”

“I’m Asmades,” he introduced, “The others were talking about you.”

“Gossip, lovely.” Polaris rolled her eye and Witching Hour could hear her pace quickening. 

“Can I ask you a question?”

Polaris’ sigh was thick with irritation.

“Where did you get those beads?”

“None of your-” Polaris began cooly, but interrupted herself “Wait, my beads?”

“Yeah! I’ve never seen beads that big and they look so good on you.” Asmades complimented. 

“Oh. Thanks. I got them from The Mane Event Salon. It’s in the shopping district near Castle Canterlot.”

“I’ll check them out. I keep imagining my own mane did up in green and ugh-” Asmades took a dramatic pause to clutch his heart “I’m in love.”

Witching Hour stopped them just on the edge of the Everfree Forest. They quickly stopped their conversation with no lingering whispers. The benefit of a pair, she supposed, they didn’t quietly gossip right in front of her.

“Past this point, stay on me. Do not run off the path I take you, no matter what.” Witching Hour instructed. “I don’t understand the nature of this forest. The path is safe, but it shifts even as you walk along it. If you break off from me, you may never find your way out alive.”

The forest was active as she brought Polaris and Asmades to Lachyx. It did her no good to use her echolocation to find hidden dangers off the path. They were no longer hiding. They were stalking and lurking on the edge. The force that drove them away from the safe zone was failing. Or the risk was becoming worth it to these beasts. 

Witching Hour still had to use her echolocation. It was how she found where Lachyx had hidden in the forest. She received something extra from her echolocation that sent a shiver down her spine. Lachyx’s body naturally muffled and trapped her sound frequencies. It was effective in hiding him from beasts, but it left an obvious hole in the data. 

But something sent scrambled data back to her, trying to deceive her. Not tricking her by telling her there was literally nothing there, but that there was nothing to worry about. She barely even noticed there was something wrong. The only reason she even noticed was that something told her she heard something when she heard nothing. No sound gets past Witching Hour, yet this beast was somehow completely silent to her.

“You okay, Witching? You’re looking a little pale.” Asmades asked, his eyebrows curled in concern. They stopped. When did she stop moving?

“It’s Witching Hour,” she chooses to not answer him and keeps moving. They would panic if they saw her losing her nerve. She wasn’t combat capable. If the beast decided to attack, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself or the changelings. She quickened her pace, forcing herself to not go past a trot. If this was a predator, the last thing she should do is run.

She couldn’t reach Lachyx soon enough. The relief Witching Hour felt when she started to pick up the signals of a group of nearly twenty changelings was immeasurable. For a moment she forgot why she was in the forest to begin with and almost galloped the last leg of the journey, leaving the changelings behind.

Lachyx and several more changelings that Witching Hour didn’t bother to remember the names of were resting inside of a clearing. Many of the changelings were bored, tired of having nothing to do but socialize and fear. Lachyx, who never had more than Witching Hour and Harvest Moon to talk to, was overwhelmed. He retreated from the swarm, standing on the branches of a nearby tree, and was put on high alert. Where normally he would have acknowledged Witching Hour by now, he tensely stares along the edges of his safe zone.

“Lachyx?” Witching Hour called to him when he didn’t respond to her approaching him. He looked down at her and there was an unease that she never saw him. Lachyx was confident with the lifetime of experience he had in the Everfree Forest that he could be safe within. But something had changed and his already large eyes were open even wider.

“Have you brought more?” he cooly asked.

“Just two, this is going to be the last of them for now,” she explained, gesturing to Polaris and Asmades.

“Big boy,” she heard Asmades say under his breath as he waved to Lachyx. Polaris gave the purple stallion an odd look but otherwise didn’t react.

“They have to be the last. There are already too many creatures collected together.” Lachyx insisted. “The denizens are the forest are becoming restless. They know we are around, they sense us. Any more and we will be compromised. You must stop the famished outbreak soon. Or find a new place for at least half the ones that are already here.”

“The only other places I can think of would already be overburdened as well. Professor Golden Sage had opened the school to the changelings, but they have several more unicorns running their operation.” Witching Hour explained. Lachyx didn’t respond.

Witching Hour laid down. Her hooves ached. She had to walk an everchanging distance to get these changelings here and back. Her wings were too small, so she couldn’t fly home. She wanted to go back home now and be with Harvest Moon, but she couldn’t make herself stand back up. She wanted to give up on this whole operation. It was futile and she was tired. So, so tired.