Oh, Buck....

Her horn dribbling golden blood into her eyes and her body covered with huge scratches, Calla retreated to the little shelter, rummaging trough her saddlebags for healing ointment. That particular manticore was extremely vicious, but Calla had extracted enough of the venom from it's stinger to start her latest potion.

Before that, however, the manticore had gotten in a good swipe at her head, severing something important. It wasn't painful, the wound, but something had happened to her magic, and there was a huge problem in that already. She had used her horn to find her way into the dark forest, but now it was damaged, possibly beyond repair, and the unicorn was despairing...

But now was not the time to panic. She found a bandage and wrapped it around her head, thanking Luna for the bright moonlight streaming in through the abandoned shack.

As Iris wandered the forest, she heard rustling to her left. it's probably nothing she told herself.

While she walked, she hung her head. There's no point, I'll never find her. Her best friend had been missing for days, and last she heard, she was in the Everfree forest.

Suddenly, a large creature appeared before her. It growled and swatted a paw at the purple pegasus. She backed away and pulled out her bow and readied an arrow, aiming for the beasts head. She let the arrow go and it pierced the animal's head, killing it dead. Iris sighed in relief and sheathed her bow.

She continued on her quest.

Calla stomped her hoof on the old wooden floor in frustration. It had been a couple days since she had left Ponyville to find the Manticore venom, and she had made the mistake of not telling anypony where she had gone.

Trying to attempt a magical spell, she went easy and tried to create a cup of water. Her horn shot black sparks and sent a spiking headache through her brain, and she cried out, clutching her head in her hoofs.

"Faust Dammit," she cursed, wiping the remnants of the black magic off her horn. Where the sparks had hit the ground, blood pooled in tiny puddles, taunting the mare.

"Faust Dammit." shouted a voice Iris would know anywhere. She changed direction in one swift, fluid motion and galloped to where the voice had come from.

"Calla?" she called softly, looking for anywhere she could have been. Iris slowed down as she came to an old run down cabin, strolling up to it.

"Calla?" she asked again.

Calla sighed in relief at the sound of Iris's voice.

"I'm here," she yelled back. "I, uh, may need some help..."

She tried to hide the blood stains on the floor--after all, they weren't a result of a flesh wound--but her attempts were unfruitful due to the unfortunate problem that was her horn. Without magic, the liquid wasn't going anywhere.

Iris's eyes widened with glee as Calla responded, she's okay. Well, she's alive.

She trotted into the cabin to see an insane scene in front of her, Calla's head was sliced open and dripping blood. Iris ran to her and examined the wound.

"Faust, I wish Belle were here. She knows about medicine." Iris cursed quietly. She looked at the poorly wrapped bandage around Calla's head, and rummaged around in her bag.

"Here, I have some clean ones." she said, pulling out the fresh bandages, taking off Calla's and wrapping it around her head.

"Okay, tell me exactly what happened." Iris said, sitting down to listen to the story, "and what are you doing out here all alone? Why didn't you ask me to come!"

Calla frowned at her friend.

"I didn't ask you to come because it's too dangerous, as you just saw," she said, gesturing to her forehead. "I came out here to find a Manticore and get some venom for a medical potion for the hospital, but I didn't find the creature until today. It got a good swipe at my head before I had gotten away, and now my magic is failing. Iris, I'm... I'm worried it's permanent. I need to get back home, but home is a few days away, and I don't have my navigating spell to help us. How did you find me? How long have you been looking?"

Iris rolled her eyes, "danger shmanger. You know I live for danger! And as for how to get out, I can help with that." she said, stretching her wings and grinning. "Plus, if it too dangerous for me it's too dangerous for you as well. You should have asked me to come, you know I would have said yes."

She looked around the cabin and picked up things she assumed were Calla's "how'd you find this cabin anyways? And why do you need manticore venom anyways?" she asked, taking bottle if water out of her bag and handing it to Calla.

"Um, well, I found it a few days ago," Calla admitted. "It was raining, and I had my magic, and I've been sleeping in here for the past few days. As for the manticore venom, I just told you. It's for a healing potion requested by the hospital."

She picked up her saddlebag and started stuffing it with the bottles strewn about the floor.

"As to flying us out of here, that isn't such a good idea. I weigh more than you'd think, Iris, and each of these bottles weigh five pounds. So that's.... An extra fifty pounds, plus me, plus the two day journey to get out of here in a straight line."

Iris facehoofed, "wow, there go my listening skills. Anyways, I didn't mean fly you out. I meant that I could fly up, scout a trail, then come back down and lead you through. It's not that hard, and I've been looking for a challenge."

She looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry about your horn, by the way. I hope your magic comes back. I'm sure it will."

"Let's hope," she answered softly, following Iris out the door. "I'm just afraid that my unicorn blood will attract unwanted visitors. The gold and the magical scent is attractive to wild creatures, I've learned."

Shaking out her hooves, she checked the bandages. Satisfied to see that it had scabbed over, she pulled the gauze off and shook her long mane over it.

"I think I came from the West, so if we head in that general direction..." she suggested.

Iris nodded, "one sec," she called down to Calla, already up high in the sky. She observed the area, she could see the faint outline of a town amongst the clouds and marked the direction. She floated lightly down to Calla and headed off. "Alright, everything's going to be fine." she stated warmly, walking along with Calla.

"When did you notice I was missing?" Calla asked the Pegasus. "I went a week without seeing you, and you came looking for me anyways."

She stepped on a briar bush and winced, stopping and starting to shove her magic up into her horn before she could remember her predicament. She fumbled at the thorns with her teeth, but with some effort, got them out.

Calla couldn't remember the last time she had to use her mouth to grab anything. She suddenly felt the weight of the loss of her magic, and realized she had been taking it for granted all of her life. Earth Ponies and Pegasi got by just fine without it, but living without the convenience of the magic was hard for the magical prodigy.

"It's not that hard to notice when your best friend is missing." Iris stated sharply, "It was just yesterday, but I decided to wait a day before going to look. Today was the day. Calla, of course I'm going to go looking for you when you go missing. You're my best mare friend, practically my sister. What would you do if I went missing?" she asked the last question in a rhetorical manner.

Iris flew up to the sky briefly, scanning for the town, before zipping back down.

"We're still heading in the same direction."

"Thanks," Calla said again, grateful that her bond with the Pegasus was that firm. "I'm very grateful for your companionship."

As they kept walking, Calla stopped being able to recognize the path they were taking.

"Are you sure this is right?" Calla asked. "Lift me up; I want to see."

Iris nodded, taking Calla's hooves and lifting her into the air, bursting through the thick canopy.

"I'm positive we are heading the correct direction." she stated calmly, pointing to the silhouette of the town. "See?"

Her hoof slipped and she almost dropped Calla, but regained her grip on the unicorn. "Oops.."

Calla suppressed a scream as she slipped, but Iris caught her in time.

"What town?" Calla asked, staring out at where Iris had them pointed. "I can't see anything but mist, Iris. Are you sure it isn't a miraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!"

With a cry, Calla slipped from Iris's grasp, falling back towards the ground at speeds too fast to be beneficial.

Iris screeched and flew straight down, stretching her hooves out, reaching for Calla.

"Calla! Try to grab my hooves!" she shouted, squinting to see through the wind in her eyes. "Lil, I'm going to go beneath you! Be ready!" she shrieked through the shrill wind.

Flattening her wings against her back and her hooves against her side, she zipped under Calla, hovering in mid-air, waiting for her to fall into her arms.

Calla squeezed her eyes shut and let her body fall limp as she crashed into Iris, sending the both of them sprawling on the forest floor, bruised but otherwise unharmed.

"Thank you, Iris," Calla thanked. "you save my life yet again."

She brushed off her hooves had returned to an upright position.

"As for the town, I think you're a victim of a mirage. That's mirage mist--it's got the telltale pick tint to it and the smell of freesia. We're probably walking into it's predator cave. Let's turn around."

"Awe buck it!!!" Iris screamed, standing up. "That is complete bucking bull! I swear I saw a town, buck buck bucking buck." she gripped a tree and slammed her head into it multiple times.

"ow.." she said quietly, stepping away from the trunk. "I'll be right back." she stated sternly, zooming into the sky again. She zipped back and forth, finally, she landed back down after a few minutes.

Calla calmly watched her friend blow up in denial, slamming her head into the tree's trunk multiple times before zipping into the air.

"Done yet?" Calla asked as Iris landed. "The mist usually leads you in the exact wrong direction, so we should go..."

She looked up, then back at the forest.

"...that way," she finished, pointing in another direction. "Who knew a monster designed to get you lost could serve as a compass?"

Iris sighed with discontent, mumbling to herself, "can't believe...Stupid thing...."

She muttered to herself as she walked along, the way Calla said, still grumbling.

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all. It's messing with my head. I can't stand it."

"Nopony does, Iris," Calla responded, shuddering. "Why do you think nopony, save the zebra, lives here in this frightening place? It imairs your thoughts, twisting your soul and isolating you before it maes you disappear. The only place in Equestria we have not tamed."

Iris screamed as violent images filled her mind.

"NO NO NO NO! STOP IT!" she screeched, falling to the ground and rocking back and forth, her hooves over her ears and tears filling her eyes. "MAKE IT STOP!!!!!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and liquid streamed down her face, staining her cheeks.

"H-help me." she said in a barely audible, crackly voice.

Calla sighed and kicked Iris in the back of the head, knocking out the pegasus and stopping her visions.

"Stupid mist," she muttered, pulling a bottle of water from her bag and dousing Iris in it to revive her.

"You okay, Iris?" she asked, capping the bottle and stuffing it back in her bag. "It's over. It's done."