//------------------------------// // Chapter VIII: Titans Together (Part II) // Story: The Legend of the Titans // by Silent Bob //------------------------------// The Everfree Forest Two Minutes Later It was nearly noon when the Titans' exited the artifact's caverns. Its mouth was located upon a vast, crystal-sporting cliff-side, towering into the skies. While they had seen many amazing things before, the Everfree Forest was definitely a nature show for them. Surrounding them were ancient, towering trees that could give Red Woods a run for their money, as well as a thin layer of mist that barely allowed one to see thirty meters away. It was... spooky, to say the least. "Woah!" Beast Boy cried, gazing around him at the sometimes three-yards thick trees. "Definitely not in Kansas anymore." He then grinned. "Cus there's no trees in Kanses! Get it?!" Raven gave him a blank look. "Let's not become social outcasts to the locals already, please." "Oh, it's alright," Fluttershy smiled. "I think he's kind of funny..." "You do?!" Beast Boy grinned, suddenly running to her side. "Cus I'll be here all week! Observational humor, baby - it's mah new shctick." The yellow pony slowly nodded. She let loose a sigh Fluttershy's way. "You are way too nice for your own good: you know that? Now he'll never let up..." Fluttershy gave a slight gulp, grinning sheepishly before removing herself from Beast Boy's side. "Man..." Cyborg grunted, glancing around the place. "I'm glad we got you here, Fluttershy - something tells me this ain't a thicket." Fluttershy nodded. "The Everfree Forest is one of the thickest... and most feared forests in all of Equestria." "Awwww man," Beast Boy grumbled. "For once when I wake up somewhere where I don't belong, can't it just be a nice, tropical beach? With babes. And drinks! And more babes..." "I think they're kind of cool, actually," Raven said with a hint of a smile. "I could see myself meditating here... maybe with a bit of Poe-" "You would," Beast Boy pouted. "-But don't we have something we should be doing besides talking about the sights?" "She's right," Cyborg nodded, a serious tone overtaking him. "We need to find Robin so we can sort out this mess: figure out what we're going to do next. Fluttershy... you said you can somehow sense him, right?" She nodded, and Cyborg gave her a smile. "Whelp, how bout' a tour?" ... "Hmmmm...." One Kilometer Away Zecora's Hut Zecora tapped her chin, sorting through a shelf of various potion ingredients. Behind her, a large cauldron bubbled and brewed. "Shall I add some forest moss, or would that leave me at a loss?" she said. She thought for a moment, before smiling. "Mph - what is life without risk? Perhaps it shall do just the trick. So long as I do not do this... too quick." With that, she opened a small, ancient jar and procured a small bit of moss. She then walked over to her pot, gazing at its contents curiously. "Bubble... bubble toil and trouble," she whispered, before dropping a hint of moss inward. A puff of green smoke let loose from it. "Fire burn... and cauldron-" A loud bang came on her door. "YO, ZECORA!" She gasped in shock, dropping the entire bunch of moss into the cauldron. Needless to say, it didn't end well. FWOOOOOOOM!.!.! "AAAACK!" A giant plume of flames roared out from it, singing and charring Zecora's fur. "Raughhh!.!.! Telia zooka tiene muack!" she hissed. She then twirled about towards the door. "Can one so obnoxious such as Wrath, stay far away from where I live at?!" "Ugh - god damnit, Zecora. Quit practicing for your coffee house gig and open the god damned door!" Zecora glared his way, blowing steam out of her snout. "Perhaps ask again at the end of eternity, but for now I suggest you flee!" He gave an audible moan. "It's an an emergency, though! I've uh - got a half-dead guy with me!" "Lies will get you nowhere, Wrath," she grunted. "Since when did you care of those who you attack?" He gave a snarl. "Oh that's it. I hate to do this but you leave me no choice! Little zebra little zebra let me come in!" She rolled her eyes. "No, not by the fur on my chinny-chin chin!" "Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your door in!" he shouted. Suddenly, the door slammed open, revealing a grinning Wrath. "Surprise, mother bucker! Haha - I like that we just did that." Zecora gave a hiss, glaring daggers as she reached for a nearby blow-dart. She quickly took aim. "Get out, you brute! Or I swear I'll send you to the roots!" "Woah! Woah!" Wrath cried. "No need to get testy. I wasn't lying about the whole 'I've got a dead guy with me'." Zecora raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious, or have you become delirious?" Wrath snorted. "Oh son of a- here, let me just show you." With that, he slowly made his way into the hut, as Zecora continued to aim at his skull. "You know I'm made of wood, right?" he grunted. "That's not going to do anything to me..." "Try me, if you dare," she snapped. "I have ways of making problems-" Her eyes widened as she finally saw what Wrath was talking about. Behind him he dragged a small gurney made of wood and vines. Upon it was a strange, dressed red pony he had never seen before. "- Beware?" "See - told you!" he grunted. "I don't lie: tricking isn't really my style, you know." "Who is this, though? Why has he come to such woes?" Zecora asked. Wrath smirked. "Bird Shit - Zecora. Zecora - Bird Shit." ... Robin lay motionless. Zecora put on a blank look. "Fine - fine, his real name's Robin," he moaned. "Long story short - he came from the artifact. Jackass decided to go back to it, though." "He probably wished to return home," Zecora sighed. "Would you not do the same if you wound up here alone?" Wrath thought for a second, before shrugging. "Nope. Wouldn't give a buck. Cus guess what?! You guys s-s-s-s-suck!.!.!" Zecora nearly face-hoofed. "What exactly is his condition, Wrath? I suppose you wish me to bring him back?" "Well uh - he's sort of dead," Wrath shrugged. "But I can sense a little life in him. He uh- sort of helped me beat down The Shapeless - a little - and Fluttershy likes him and well-" ... Zecora put on a smirk. "Yes?" Finally, he shouted: "Fine, alright! I just thought I'd do something else nice, god damnit! I don't know why I've been doing this so much lately... I think I need to go listen to Justin Beaver - that'll piss me off enough to get back into my old groove." Zecora actually glanced at him curiously. "Why people hate him I do not know. His decent rhymes make quite the show." She then glanced back at Robin. "But anyway - for the matter at hoof - I suppose The Shapeless had its way with him... ever aloof." "In a way..." Wrath sighed. "Look - I don't know what's wrong with him, I have no idea what kind of side-effects there are to The Shapeless feeding on somepony, but I am sooooo not about to drag him to the hospital. I'd get shot. Or burned. Or shot then burned. It would suck! Even if it were right next to a hospital..." Zecora gave a quick nod. "He will need to be taken there: that I can do. But first I must stabilize him with an old brew..." She then pointed to a particular jar on the top shelf - which Wrath quickly grabbed. "Bring me that, if you please. The Elixer of Life should put his soul at ease..." Wrath raised his eyebrows. "Cool! Let's get our voodoo on!" Zecora froze, annoyed. ... ... "It's alchemy," Zecora muttered. "You racist terackna." "So...." Beast Boy said. "We're in a place called... Equestria?" "Mhmmm," Fluttershy nodded, growing more and more comfortable around the Titans every moment. "Robin arrived just the other day. He was so confused - the poor thing. He didn't seem too happy, either..." "Robin?" Cyborg chuckled. "Happy? That'd be the day. Does this planet have blue moons?" Beast Boy chuckled slightly. "Equestria," Raven mused. "Seems to be a play on an old Latin word. Equus... interesting." Beast Boy cocked his head. "Wait - how do the ponies know Latin? Isn't that our world's thing?" Raven gave him an incredulous look. "Yes, Beast Boy - it is. That's what's so fascinating. As well as the fact that they seem to speak a language we can understand." "Huh - wonder if it's something that came with our new bodies," Cyborg suggested. "A package deal: you know? The ability to understand it... still sounds like English, though..." "From our perspective," Starfire noted. "Ugh- you guys are giving me a friggin' head-ache," Beast Boy muttered. "It's like were in some sort of strange, parallel universe..." Raven said. "There are some similarities, but some vast differences, obviously..." She glanced at Fluttershy. "Yet you said the artifact brought us here?" She nodded sheepishly. She raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain?" Fluttershy glanced away. "I'd- I'd um- rather not." "Come on," Cyborg smiled. "It can't be too bad. Lay it on us!" "Better now than later, I suppose," Starfire chirped. She gave a sigh. "Well um - if what the Doctor thought was true..." "Who?" Beast Boy said, raising an eyebrow. "Might be a professor," Raven motioned. "S-Something like that," Fluttershy squeaked. "He's um - a brilliant pony. Twilight knows him better than me, though." "So - what's his theory?" Cyborg said, raising an eyebrow. ... Fluttershy then paused, closed her eyes, and turned about. She shared a look of pure dread. "Well... alright - I can tell you," she whispered. "But you may not like what you hear..." "Might as well get it over with," Raven muttered. Beast Boy gulped. "I mean - I hope it's good news, but uh... yeah... what she said." ... "Alright, I suppose..." Fluttershy continued. She then took a deep breath, and began to tell the tale. Once again, she began to lead them to the outskirts of the woods. Ponyville One Half an Hour Later "Yo Zecora - everything alright?!" Rainbow Dash called, soaring out of the skies and hovering slightly above her. "Yes, Rainbow Dash, I am fine..." she said, huffing now. She was dragging Robin behind her on the same gurney Wrath brought him on. "But I'm afraid my new friend here may be running out of time." Rainbow's eyes widened. "Woah! What happened to him?!" Zecora sighed. "I suppose it's safe to say... this poor bird lost its way." "Bird?" Rainbow blinked, before furrowing her brow. "Wait - is that the new guy Twilight was talking about? Robin or something?" "Oooo, a new pony?!" Pinkie squealed, bouncing up to the scene. She then gasped in glee. "Named Robin?! I've never heard of a pony named Robin before! That's so cool! We should wake him up - I've got soooo many ponies to introduce to him!" "Er, Pinkie," Rainbow coughed. "He needs to get to the hospital." A second later, she swooped down, gripped the end-part of the gurney, and picked it up. "Huh - pretty light guy," Rainbow said, able to keep it up with ease. "Nice. Alright, you ready, Zecora?" "IIndeed," she nodded. "Thank you, Rainbow. This should make it an easy go..." The two then began to carry him again. "Why does he need to go to the hospital?" Pinkie blinked. "You can't throw a party at the hospital! I guess I could introduce him to Dr. Cox, though..." "No!" Rainbow said, shaking her head rapidly. "Nononono! Stop messing with him, Pinkie. He's a prick... possibly a psychopath. And seriously - bird boy here is not in the right condition for a party." "But he doesn't look hurt," Pinkie blinked. "What in tarnation is going on?" Applejack grunted, walking up to the scene with Rarity in tow. Rarity, after only a second of looking over Robin, let loose a horrified gasp. "Applejack - can't you see that this is an obvious emergency?!" She gave her an annoyed look. "I can see that, Rarity - I just want to know specifics." "Specifics?! It's apparent what's wrong!" she screeched, rushing to Robin's side. "Oh my - oh-my-oh-my - what kind of shop sells this kind of outfit?! It's atrocious. Green and red?! Conflicting colors?!" She actually began to shudder slightly, having a poor-fashion-induced seizure. "By Celestia - it's a fashion disaster that would make hipster beards look like someone wearing a Snuggie to work!!" Applejack facehoofed. "That's not what I meant - even if his outfit is a little wonky - I just wanna know what's wrong with him." "Ugh- can everpony stop crowding us?!" Rainbow Dash growled. "It's kind of rude to the guy, you know." "Since when do you care about what's rude or not?" Applejack said, lifting an eyebrow. ... Rainbow Dash thought for a second, before shrugging. "Alright, good point. But still- if a large crowd forms, it's going to make this-" "Hey! What's wrong with Robin?!" Twilight called, galloping to the scene. "And where's Fluttershy?! I saw him and her take off this morning: she isn't hurt, is she?!" "Celestia damnit," Rainbow groaned. Zecora smiled lightly. "She is not - don't worry." "Oh good - good, I was worried about her," Twilight sighed, before looking back at Robin with two, concerned eyes. "You're taking him to the hospital, right?" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Noooo... what other reason could we be heading to the hospital for? Obviously,we want to hit the cafeteria!" "Oh very funny," Twilight grumbled, before standing near the two. "Anyway - I can get us there quickly. I've um... been practicing teleporting multiple ponies. This should be a good test run!" "Wah?!" Rainbow gasped. "No! Nonono. I am not about to be playing magical guinea pig! When you do that it always gives me the heebee-jeebees... can we just um - do it the old fashioned way-" "Too late!" Applejack laughed, taking off her hat and waving it. "Bon voyage!" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened at the sight of Twilight's horn glowing brighter and brighter. "Buck." FLASH!.!.! And they were gone. "Well, that escalated quickly," Pinkie blinked. Rarity nodded, still looking hysterical. "That it did! I must be going now - I have much to do! If the newcomer must wear clothing, he should at least be sporting something with style! Hmph!" Her eyes began to twinkle. "And that means... SOMETHING BY MEEEEE!" "But what if he likes his um-," Applejack blinked. "Nightmare Night costume, I guess?" "Then I shall base it off of it!" Rarity huffed, already trotting away. "Let's see... I do like the cape, but it would look nicer being pure black... as for the rights - perhaps something a bit more comfortable..." 'Ugh..." Applejack grunted. "Can you believe this, Pinkie? Poor guy's going to have a heart attack with all the attention we're about to-" She was already galloping away. Applejack face-hoofed. "Oh, darnit, Pinkie! Let's not give him diabeetus, too!" "Can't - talk - must - bake - cake!" she cried, a maniacal grin on her face. "NO NEWCOMER ESCAPES THE WELCOME OF PINKIE PIE! BEEEYA!" Applejack squinted. "Beeya?" And she was left alone. ... ... ... She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Fine... guess I'll go bake him a pie or somethin'."