The girls returned from the Thorned Vale bruised, bloodied, and breathless. The courtyard was quiet, but the air still trembled with the echo of the realm's scream.
Keisha clutched the Heartroot Locket, its pulse now steady against her chest. Three artifacts. Seven left.
But something had shifted.
The bracelet was no longer just humming. It was pulling.
They were in pain and bloody meaning going to the boarding house was a wrong move...
They didn't make it to the infirmary. As they stumbled toward the greenhouse annex, the door creaked open before they could knock to see if anyone was inside.
She stood there barefoot, her hands stained with crushed herbs, her eyes the color of storm-soaked moss.
Equestria.
"You're late," she said, voice calm but edged. "The Vale's poison is still in your blood."
Zenid blinked. "How did you—?"
"I felt it. The realm screamed when it died. And you're all carrying pieces of it. I know stuff... About you four"
Without waiting, she ushered them inside. The greenhouse had changed. It was warmer, darker, filled with the scent of mugwort, bloodroot, and something older - something that didn't grow in this world.
...
Equestria moved like someone who didn't need permission. She pressed a poultice to Matilda's side, whispered a word in a language none of them recognized, and the wound hissed - then closed.
She handed Keisha a vial of thick, silver liquid. "Drink. It'll burn. That means it's working."
Keisha hesitated. "Who are you?"
Equestria met her gaze. "The one who's been watching the threads you're all tangled in. And the one who's going to help you survive the next realm."
"seems you've been here long enough...I noticed how you know herbs in the alchemy cluss" Tori said.
...
Later, when the girls had cleaned up and the adrenaline had faded, they sat in a circle beneath the greenhouse's glowing canopy. Equestria joined them, her satchel of herbs at her side, her presence grounding.
"I've studied the realms since I was old enough to read," she said. "My mother was a Keeper. She died in the Realm of Mawwod "
Tori's eyes narrowed. "You've been there?"
Equestria nodded. "Not fully. But I've seen its edge. It's not like the others. It doesn't test your strength or your truth. It feeds on what you want. And it doesn't let go."
"my mother... Had the same duty you guys are trying to fulfill.. But her weakness was me.. Guess she sacrificed herself for me to survive through the portal.. Guess this is personal for me and Mawwod.. It owes me a lot" she said her eyes darkening with something they couldn't comprehend.
"so sorry to hear that. No child deserves it". Keisha said squeezing Equestria's shoulder a little "
" it's alright "
Zenid sensing the tension she leaned forward. "What's the next artifact?"
Equestria reached into her satchel and pulled out a brittle page, inked in rust-red script. "It's called the Cradle of Want. A vessel that can store desire - and release it as raw power. But if you take too much, it consumes you."
Keisha felt the bracelet pulse again. The fourth slot was glowing now, faint but insistent.
Equestria looked at her. "You've carried fire and memory. You've anchored truth. But the Realm of Mawwod doesn't care about who you are. It only cares about what you crave."
Matilda muttered, "So we're walking into a trap."
"No," Equestria said. "You're walking into yourselves. And if you don't know what you're hungry for, it'll decide for you but years have passed things might have changed. Guess we will find out ."
Keisha looked around the circle - Zenid, Tori, Matilda and Equestria. Five girls now. Five threads woven tighter than ever.
She whispered, "Then we go together."
Equestria smiled, slow and knowing. "Good. Because the Realm of Mawwood doesn't just feed on individuals. It devours groups. And if you fracture in there…"
"i don't need to say more, you already know"
"yahh well Mawwood is a cursed forest realm where the trees are hollow and alive, their trunks shaped like screaming mouths. The deeper you go, the more the forest feeds on your presence - not your emotions, but your existence.
Time warps. Light bends. And the creatures that live here don't just kill - they wear you.... Read about it " Zenid said lookin unfazed...
" do you always have to know too much " Tori retorted fighting the urge to snort..
They sat peacefully until they dozed off waiting for morning time...