Dark Skies on Cutie'd Thighs

by reflexrex

Broken Innocence

The pathway through the forest is narrow, barely wide enough for four ponies to comfortably walk along. Luna, Pinkie Pie and Rarity are cutting forward, making the path clear, whilst Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy bring up the rear, constantly darting gazes scrutinizing the untrustworthy treeline. Compared to the other times the ponies have dared venture into the forest, it is disturbingly quiet. An entire day has crawled by, a days worth of being whipped by willowy branches guarding the pathway, of keeping on tiptoe-teeth-edge-tenterhooks alert for the slightest sign of shadows with a life of their own. Here and there, Fluttershy might recognise a badger's footprints while gazing morosely at the ground in front of her, but they have encountered nothing that breathes except each other.

''Hey, Fluttershy, don't ya think it's weird that none of us has seen an animal all day? Usually you can't stretch a wing in here without something trying to bite it off. C'mon, this is your department: what gives?'' Rainbow swoops down to the ground and it's a moment or two before Fluttershy looks up, but she doesn't meet Rainbow's gaze.

''I don't know.''

''Well, what do you think? I know you're torn up about all of this, but you heard what Luna said. We gotta be strong until this is over! Now come on, lets have some ideas, I'm starting to get creeped out with all this quiet.'' Rainbows attempt to kickstart Fluttershy out of her introspection just makes her gingerly paw the ground, and look away.

''I told you Rainbow, I don't know.''

''Look, you can't fool me, okay? I've known you longer than anypony, and I know when you're hiding something. This isn't just about Twilight and Celestia, is it?''

''...I don't wanna talk about it...''

''Why not? I mean, if you can't tell me, who can you tell? I've never judged you before, and I'm not gonna start now!''

''Please, Rainbow. I'm not telling anyone right now. Can we please just not talk about it?''

''Alright, fine. If you want to be that way, I can't stop you.'' Rainbow zooms back up into patrolling the area, leaving Fluttershy even more torn and guilty than she was before. She feels like crying, but it seems she is too forlorn even for that. All that's left is a numbing pit of depression, sucking any optimism she had straight out through her stomach. But no matter how bad she feels, she won't let her gaze be drawn to the perfect, alabaster-coated vision in front of her. She knows that gate has swung shut, no matter how much she hopes. She has handed her heart to her friend on a platter, only to have it gently tipped onto the ground, and now it feels like it is rotting. A single soft moan of self-pity passes her lips, barely audible, before she trudges on, matching the hoofsteps of her hopeless infatuation.

Later...

After what seems like an age, the pathway is getting incrementally easier to traverse, the foliage fanning out and dispersing a begrudging leaf at a time. The sense of tunnelled claustrophobia lifts a little, but the aura of tense, waiting silence remains. The only one who remains unaffected is, of course, Pinkie Pie, who is her usual bouncy self (which serves to disperse some of the tension; it's hard to feel scared when a neon jester is investigating the scenery with eager enthusiasm). Luna is constantly on the alert, her horn barely ever losing the aura of intense magical power associated with high spellcasting.

Rarity is diligently lighting the way, carefully moving branches aside before they have a chance to besmirch her ivory coat. She has been breathing somewhat more heavily than she normally would since the liger attack, but she's careful not to let it show from under her carefully composed expression. Yet beneath it all, there is a great emotional turmoil taking place, conflicting emotions and repressed feelings slowly eroding the cast-iron social laws she imposes upon herself. And insinuating itself through all of these is a terrible sense of guilt for having snubbed Fluttershy so carelessy. Would it really be so bad to give in for a moment, to test these rediscovered feelings?

When the path finally widens into a copse, it is Rainbow Dash, scouting ahead, who first notices that something is amiss. ''Uh, you guys? Princess Luna? I think I just found out what happened to the animals...''

There is a bear lying on the ground, motionless except for the too-subtle rise and fall of its chest. It's covered in mildew, moss growing over it's back. Staring blankly ahead with familiar, lifeless eyes, it doesn't notice any of them. Is beyond noticing anything. They all crowd round, knowing what has happened and still utterly repulsed by it. The harsh reality of the unworldly presence they are dealing with is indelibly etched even further into their brains as they look up and realise they are surrounded by living corpses, the area littered with foxes and wolves and a menagerie of animals discarded like empty bottles. And still the deathly quiet, the forest itself awed into silence by the scale of perverted atrocity.

Fluttershy feels another shard of her being slip away, feels herself drop another few feet into the chasm of callous indifference. She turns away, unable to deal with what has transpired, her worst fears abruptly realised in the cold light provided by Luna and Rarity's magic. She feels a hoof on her shoulder, and flinches away from it.

''Fluttershy? Those meanie dream-eating bugs have been here. These poor little cutie's never had a chance, and now we can't do anything for them. Can I have a hug?'' Pinkie's mane lost it's characteristic bounce the moment she saw the sad, staring shapes prostrate on the ground, and she puts her arms around Fluttershy and bawls into her shoulder. Fluttershy rests her head against Pinkie, but she doesn't cry. There's nothing marring her face except a dull, nauseated expression, too tired of this constant mental torment to do anything but dumbly and numbly pray for it to stop.

Whilst Pinkie and Fluttershy are locked together, the others have discovered the very worst of the news. They stand over Zecora's unmoving body, shocked into silence. Zecora had always had a strange aura about her, of mysterious wisdom and ancient earthly magics unknown even to the princesses, but despite all this she has fallen prey to the unholy attentions of the dream-lice. They shed no tears, for they know this is not the time, but the sense of awed terror building inside them all grows a few more fangs, bites deeper into their collective subconscious. No words need to be said, as they all try to steel their resolve against the grief welling up inside them.

They band together once more. Pinkie Pie's mane is still flat and her lip is still trembling, dwelling upon the horrors she has witnessed as she walks. Zecora's house appears disturbingly normal, giving no clues or signs of the horrific events which transpired scant days ago. The herbs and flowers are blooming in her garden, and the iridescent colours tranquilly swaying with the soft and warm breeze wafting through the copse are only slightly faded from lack of light. The leaves bedecking the branches of her erstwhile home are tinged with the rich browns and golds that indicate a fine autumn, and her front door is firmly closed. It looks for all the world as though the zebra could be inside, attending to a fresh pot of tea with which to welcome them.

''I don't have to tell you how wary we must be. One louse alone could not have...eaten this many animals, and they may be inside. But it is only right that we take Zecora back into her abode, where we will do what we can for her. She deserves as much.'' Luna speaks quietly, so as not to alert any unseen beasts lurking in wait.

''It just doesn't seem right, entering her house without permission, and especially when she is in such condition. But I suppose you are right, your majesty. We shall have to simply swallow our unease.'' Rarity whispers, barely loud enough to be heard.

They cautiously walk up to the front door, having laid Zecora's un-corpse tenderly among the flowers she used to care for so assiduously. Rainbow Dash is the one ready to open the door at Luna's cue, the alicorn's horn sparking with the now-familiar blue light, ready to cast at the slightest hint of movement from inside. They all wait with bated breath, poised on the knife-edge of their nerves.

Luna finally gives the nod to Rainbow, who grabs the handle and wrenches the door wide open, letting the light from Rarity's illumination spell penetrate the gloomy interior, eyes wide open for a skittering shape to come flying towards them at head-height...

''BOO!'' Pinkie makes them all jump out of their skins, and falls over backwards giggling and snorting. Luna rears up, and a bolt of incandescent magic flies from her horn and starts ricocheting around the inside of the room.

''PINKIE PIE! What in the name of Celestia made you do that?''

''I just couldn't resist! The looks on your faces! You really thought I was a gribbly-wibbly insect!'' Pinkie manages to choke out between guffaws of mirth.

''Pinkie, you idiot, Luna had a spell ready to fire right off! What if it'd hit one of us? What if there actually was a louse in there? Wouldn't you care if one of us got our brains sucked out?'' Rainbow Dash can hardly believe that Pinkie is still rolling around on the ground.

''Oh, Dashie, don't you see? It doesn't matter if there was a louse in there!''

''And why, pray tell, is that?'' Luna's voice is harsh, cold and stern as she remonstrates.

''You mean you don't know? None of what we do matters! You saw what they did to Celestia! The big bad insect shoved a straw riiight through her head! Slurped out her soul and sucked it down like a milkshake! We can't stop these things, and you can't cage them all! No matter what we do, these dreamy-weamy milkshake-makers are gonna find everypony we know, and KILL THEM! And what makes it super-doubly hilarious is that you guys don't even know it yet!! It's like the whole world is pulling a prank on EVERYPONY!!!!''

Pinkie Pie's mane is still flat and lifeless. Everypony takes a step back, shaken to the core by what Pinkie is saying. Every single one of them has a twisted, shocked expression on their face, never thinking that Pinkie would be the one to give up. But it seems like she has finally snapped under the weight of the world-changing situation they were thrust into so quickly, and now lies giggling on the floor.

They are all still gobsmacked by Pinkie's outburst when she is hit by a bolt of grey magic, and goes limp. They all spin around as fast as they can towards the newcomer. Dr Brainymane is standing about thirty feet behind them, and is covered in twigs and mud and bark and...is that blood?

''Who the hay are you? And what've ya done to Pinkie! Undo it right now, or else you're gonna get a pounding!'' Rainbow flies right up to the doctor, glaring directly into his eyes.

''I'm Dr Brainymane, and if you'll back the buck off for a minute, I'll tell you why I just did you a favour.''

''Woah! Nopony swears at me and gets away with it! I'm gonna wash-''

''Rainbow? Please let him speak. Pinkie needs help.'' It's the first word Fluttershy has said since they left the path, and Rainbow notices. She backs down a little, but still looks pretty mad at Mane.

''Good, I'm glad you can see sense. Now, I got here a few minutes ago, and it's pretty clear to me that your friend has suffered a psychotic episode. All I've done is put her to sleep, before she got any worse. And considering that before that happened, you were carrying what looks like a dead zebra, I'm guessing that you are here because of the insects.''

''How does thy know of the dream-lice? Most pony's who have encountered them are in no state to regale the story to others.'' Luna fixes him with the full weight of her royal stare. Brainymane just stares back, cool and collected and disdainful.

''You must be Luna. You're not quite as, well, as imposing as the other one. And if I had to hazard a guess as to why I'm straining to see at four in the afternoon, it would be that the, dream-lice did you call them? Have somehow gotten to miss love-and-tolerate. Which also means that she never did trust you with the power to raise the sun by yourself. There a reason for that, or are you just not able to perform up to scratch?'' Mane says, with an ugly sneer across his lips.

''YOU-!!'' Princess Luna momentarily loses control before she remembers her responsibilities. ''Those are quite the questions. But usually a stallion has to buy me dinner before he gets to know me that well. And you never answered my question: how do you know about the dream-lice?''

Mane caught the slip, knows he got to her for a moment. Satisfied, he has decided to be civil for the time being. ''A mare crashed in my garden about a week ago. I took her in, treated her. When she woke up, she caught me in the middle of my work. I checked up on her, and when I came back there was a louse in my workshop. It attacked the mare I was trying to heal. I managed to drag it off her and chase it off, but not before it sucked most of her mind out.''

''Thou managed to fend off a louse? Impressive. Go on. Who was the mare?''

''That means a lot coming from the lesser princess. I spent the next few days trying to make sure she could fend for herself before I started travelling to Ponyville to warn you people. Not soon enough, obviously...And her name is Derpy, by the way.''

''Wait, not Derpy Hooves? Blond mane, mismatched eyes, a little clumsy?'' Rainbow blurts out.

''That's her, except for the 'little' part.''

''Damn it all, not Derpy too. She was a friend of mine. I always felt kinda sorry for her. Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!''

''Nevermind. Now that I'm here, and I've found the remaining alicorn, we should get started. First things first, we need to check that house out properly. Those things can hide like nothing else I've heard of.''

Even though they're all a bit peeved with the attitude of this new arrival, begrudgingly they concede that he's right. The air is still placid as ever, as they walk once more up to the doorway. It's Mane who walks through first, brazenly brushing straight past Luna and into the house, magic lighting his way. Cobwebs adorn the corners of the huge room, and a layer of choking dust is kicked up by their arrival. Mane is immediately checking the nooks and cranny's of the room, calmly gazing into each corner, missing nothing. When he is certain it is safe, he beckons the others inside.

''Looks like the shadows are staying where they are. Bring them inside, and put the zebra on the bed.''

''Pardon me, sir, but by what right are you taking charge? I for one would much rather put my trust in the princess of the night, as opposed to an extremely uncouth colt, covered in mud and with a bad attitude. And her name is Zecora.''

Mane's eyes narrow at the subtle condescension. ''Well, if you want to leave your friends out there to die, be my guest. After all, I'm just a 'colt' who fought off a creature that took down your ruler without batting a purple eye.'' Mane walks off, arrogance and wounded pride in his every step, and sets to boiling the kettle.

''HOW DARE YOU! We were perfectly fine with taking care of Zecora ourselves without an arrogant and frankly rude colt purporting to give us orders not five minutes after we met him!''

''I'm curt because time is a factor here, and we have a lot to talk about. So get your head out of your plot, please, and answer me this: Have any of you come across these things before? Maybe know one of their weaknesses? Anything that'll help us send them packing, doesn't matter how small.''

Rarity is absolutely seething, but before she can think of a reply Luna butts in. ''I can clearly see that thou art angry, perhaps through guilt of some kind. But the why is irrelevant. You have no reason to vent your frustrations on us: we have a common goal.'' Luna attempts to assuage the situation because the rest of the ponies, Rainbow and Rarity in particular, look like they are gearing up for a full-on shouting match. But the doctor is as cold, as clinically unemotional as ever.

''I'm not angry. This is me being patient. If you want to try for angry, that's fine with me. Now, I'll ask again: what do you know about the dream-lice?''

Luna gives him a cool look that goes on a bit longer than it should. Eventually, she says ''They are creatures composed of pure, unadulterated magic in it's most unrefined and chaotic form. They cannot be physically harmed, and are impervious to most magic. Only through mine long banishment and meditation on the moon was I able to devise a spell to imprison them when they invaded. But they cannot be destroyed in this world. We seek to reopen the portal which spawned them, and so suck them back to the dimension from whence they came. And allow me to offer some friendly advice: if you seek to aid us, then you would do well to improve your attitude, whether thou art angry or not.''

''Hmm. That's pretty much as I'd figured. I'm gonna need to you to show me how you did that spell. And I'm guessing that the portal needs to be reopened where it originally was, yes? Which means my house. Perfect.''

''Now, hang on just one moment!'' Rarity interjects with a suspicious tone in her voice. ''These frightful creatures arrived through your doing?! What manner of 'work' were you doing? How do we know you didn't want to bring them here? Princess Luna, with respect, we cannot trust him.''

''I must say, the situation does seem peculiar, to say the least. But perhaps we should give him a chance to explain himself? What say you, Dr Mane?'' Luna is still fixing him with her poker-faced gaze, scrutinizing him for the slightest hint of emotion. And finally, she is rewarded with a crack in his demeanour.''

''You think I wanted these things here? I'm the one who had to deal with them, firsthand, when one of them was sucking the life out of a defenceless, simple pony who I was trying to save! I watched as it broke through her skull, watched as she cried and bucked around the room begging me to help her! I had to nurse her for four days, feed her and clean her up and take all her pain and confusion and damn nearly got eaten myself as I dragged it off her! That poor mare relied on me for everything, and no matter how guilty I felt for letting it happen I stayed by her side! And you're accusing me of wanting this to happen to every other pony in Equestria? Buck you, buck you all five ways from Sunday! And by the way, your highness, you can drop the royal canterlot speech. You might fool these hicks, but I've got more than two brain cells to rub together and that accent annoys me.''

Luna narrows her eyes, but she seems to know that this is a situation where diplomacy might be a good idea. ''As you wish. This situation has us all on edge, so maybe the formalities can be loosened for a while. But speak to me like that again, and I'll see to it that you regret it.'' Brainymane nods his thanks, and acknowledgement of the veiled threat.

''Doctor Mane, that is all we wanted to hear. That you care about somepony else besides yourself. And I am sorry for accusing you.'' Mane is stunned by Rarity's apology, but in the end takes it with good grace.

''Thanks. And you asked what I was doing when it happened. I have two great loves in my life: the first, you might have guessed from my cutie mark, is psychology. The intricacies of how the mind works have ever held a fascination for me, far more so than the ponies themselves. The second is alchemy. When it happened, I was conducting an extremely complex experiment. I won't confuse you with the details, but I was attempting to construct an elixir with the same effects as meditation, but with no need for hours of preparation. It was going to clear the mind of all concerns, leaving you free to contemplate whatever mysteries you saw fit without the perpetual distraction of day-to-day worries. It was beautiful. I almost had the mixture working when Derpy arrived. You know the rest.''

''Ah. I see. Fortunately, that fits with the last pieces of the puzzle vexing us. Your experiment was the conduit for a surge of magic that had been building up. They aren't uncommon in the Everfree forest, but every so often there's a massive one, which grounds itself to whatever is nearby, and appropriating it's properties. That's how I returned from the moon, by manipulating the energy to cause a rift in the spatial lateracy of the world. I never thought we would see another one so soon, but it is the only logical explanation.'' Luna says.

''So if I hadn't been performing my experiment when I was, none of this would have happened. Typical. I try to live a quiet life, but no. Somehow, the world sees fit to intervene. CELESTIA BUCKING DAMMIT!!''

The kettle is boiling, and Mane attends to the teapot, rifling through Zecora's possessions with no restraint. The largest teapot lies in shards next to the kettle, a poignant relic of the terrible struggle unseen. Mane ignores the reminder, taking the next pot down from the mahogany shelf as though he was in his own house. His teeth are gritted, and the tension in his face is palpable, but his movements are calm and collected.

The unseen louse strikes from the shadows, drawn by some unknown force to the well of emotion that resides in the yellow pony. It launches itself with such speed that no one notices until Fluttershy empties her lungs, screaming with the knowledge of what has befallen her. Her already trembling knee's buckle with the terror of sudden realisation. But all the fight has been sapped out of her. She has no will left to resist, can only collapse in subjugation. Her friends aren't willing to give up so easily, as Luna and Rarity instinctively light up their horns with telekinesis.

The louse's claws clamp down across her neck, digging in deeply into her subconscious as all the memories and emotions are brought to the surface by the obscene predator. A moment later, Mane light up his horn as well, trying to drag the unfeeling shadow from her. The three spells contrast, dragging the demon in different directions. In the end, it is Luna's magic who proves the strongest, throwing the abomination towards Dr Mane.

Rarity is acting on instinct, all the constraints of sociality thrown aside as she fights for her friend. She sees the abominable thing thrown towards the newcomer, but doesn't relinquish her hold. The louse stops half a moment before digging it's unnatural proboscis into the doctor, held fast as the conflicting forces act on it. But it's legs are still scuttling, still pulling the very air aside as it tries to feed. It hasn't quite gotten a hold yet, the momentum sending it's needle-like mouth scraping down the side of Mane's neck, leaving a deep trail of crimson in its wake.

Mane is bug-eyed, fraught with panic, a grunt of terror slipping from his mouth as he tries to light his horn once again, but the magic flickers and fades as the sharp legs tear and scratch at him. Luna is trying to get a clear shot at it, but even in the open it is difficult to see. The louse lunges forward again, venomous eyes intent on the prey in front of it. Mane staggers to one side, falls against the table as his legs lose their strength to the sapping fear overwhelming him. The teapot full of scalding fluid rocks at the impact, falls and disgorges its contents over the louse and him. Mane shouts in pain as the liquid sears into him, raising blisters and leaving burns on his skin. The tea splashes across his face, and into one eye open wide and staring with terror. Blinded, he drops to the ground, passing out from the pain and shock. But the burning liquid also spilled over the louse, forcing it to pause for a moment as though collecting itself.

The moment is just long enough for Luna to finally draw a bead, and blast the wretched thing off the doctor. Even before it slams against the wall, Luna is casting the spell to imprison the accursed creature, and the tendrils of blue light reach out to encase another of the monstrosities.

The group let loose a collective breath none of them realised they had been holding. Rarity rushes over to Fluttershy's side, nuzzling and comforting her. The rest of them attend to Mane, Luna trying to stop the worst of the bleeding. But Mane is in a sorry state, left eye blistered and ugly, small pools of rich, red blood collecting under his wounds. Luna glances at the others, and each and every one of them has a worried expression across their features, and an unspoken question hangs over the group like a stormy sky...

Comments

[Chief Big Tree]

NO, NOT ZECORA TOO! Why must you pick all of my favorite ponies?

Awesome chapter, though. The scene with the water and Mane was a little... disturbing, but all together it makes up for another great chapter.

[kaminohi]

"and an unspoken question hangs over the group like a stormy sky... " what? what question? what is happening? Is the Dr ok? IS FLUTTERSHY OK??
I demand answers!! Don't you bucking dare to harm fluttershy!!

Phew!..ok calm down...
this...is epic. The emotional dilemma of Shy and Rarity are now playing out perfect and we can see the reactions of rarity on this and ...if there wasn't this bucking CLIFFHANGER!!! GODDAMMIT!!

sry, but this is so extreme thrilling i got a bit carried away...

[reflexrex]

I'm glad you're enjoying it, and the best compliment an author can recieve is that the reader is feeling the emotions the author is trying to convey, which you most certainly do: I'm all about the tensio0n and suspense in this. So thankyou, it genuinely makes me happy to hear you say that. And yes, it is supposed to be noonlight. I was saying that the forest is gloomy even in full sunlight, but now that there is no sun it's nearly pitch black. Moonlight/noonlight, if you see what I mean. And rest assured, things are only going to pick up from here

[Mr Ignorable]

SPEEDRUUN GOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Chapter 1: Everything's all perfect on the everything inside your face. Oh and of course! DERPY'S A FUCKING MORON! HOW NICE OF YOU TO REMEMBER!

Something's inside my head and I can't get it ou

MMM. SEEMS LIKE THE ROOFIES ARE TAKING EFFECT.

So all in all, Derpy dun fucked up and lost her sweet permanent tatto through an advanced method of Bug. The side effects were soul-sucking of which she was unaware of, and is now currently near catatonic.

OH GOOD. I LIKE COMEDIES.

Chapter 2:

Just far too exhausted I am, to continue with my gardening plan. A short recline I have to take, if magical brews I am to make

A little big of Iambic Pentameter never hurt anyone! Except Zecora. Because it'll kill her :3.

Welp, beside that little...thing. I couldn't find any problem, so points, but it seems to me that this chapter's about Twilight going all Paranormal Entomologist Activity and causing shenanigans! Horrible, horrible pain.

Chapter 3:

sadistic beads of water

Are we talking about H20 or Anal beads?

So, this chapter seems to be about Derpy rehabilitation and Fluttershy vocational training! Way to go! Helping the world, one story at a time!.

Chapter 4:

We are not alone

ALIENS! I FUCKING KNEW IT! ALIENS EXIIIIIIIIIIIST!

Chapter 5:

firsthand

So in conclusion

Alright. Sooo this is a good story. Little bit over descriptive seeing as how you're trying to do action and poeticism at the same time, but that's personal. Other than that, it's a good story, peace.