> Strange Flora
>  by Shockhoof
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Story Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Briar Thorn lay in a field of green lush grass just outside of Ponyville. His unkempt forest green mane sat in its usual tangles atop his head, weaving around his horn. On his rump was the cutiemark of a truly odd talent. The curled thorny vine represented his ability to naturally communicate with plants. Sometimes he resented that his cutiemark didn't represent a more useful and more practical talent. A dandelion growing by his ear whispered to him, but he'd stopped paying attention long ago. The talent felt like one a girl pony should have.

“Talking to flowers.” He sighed to himself and rolled over, standing up onto his hooves. He nodded to a weed and took his leave. Flowers didn't speak loudly. They didn't even really speak audibly. But the nuances in their movement in the wind, their smell, and the direction they grew told him more than he really needed to know, and in their own language, plants didn't have a lot to say.

As he walked back to ponyville to resume his daily duties of tending gardens, and giving other ponies plant advice he began to wish it would just go away. He thought back to his time as a young colt. Everypony had always told him that when he found his special talent it would reveal something about himself, and that he would know what his life's purpose was. They were wrong of course. His special talent had only revealed that he could grow a good garden. When he had finally found it he had instantly become jealous of other ponies. Why did their talents have to outshine his? Why couldn't he had been good at carpentry, or selling things, or making pies or just about anything besides such a girly and useless talent. So what, what did the grass have to say? What could a Rose tell him besides perhaps the time. Flowers never had anything useful in their vast annals of knowledge for him. Even the oldest of trees only spoke riddles at him. Plant humor was hardly something he got, and the stranger the plant, the stranger the joke.

Have stared at his hooves the whole way it was odd to see another pair in front of him. He followed the
near neon pink legs up to meet a familiar face. “Daisy!” He jumped back, slightly startled. “I'm sorry I didn't see you there."

“Well of course not. You spend your whole day looking at the ground like you're afraid you're gonna step on a root.” She rolled her eyes, but followed the expression with a smile. “So what's got you down brown?” she asked in reference to his coat's color. 

“Nothing much,” he shook his head to get a lock of hair out of his eyes. “Just talking a stroll, you know?” he said, trying to sound like he hadn't just been some place completely different.

“Still haven't figured out what you're going to do with your talent?” Daisy's voice was filled with both concern and disappointment. 

“Nope, honestly though, there isn't much I can do. Roseluck, you, and Lilly have the majority of the flower market covered. The apple family owns most of the land around here so I can't grow enough food to sell anyway,” he said it without hesitation, and more of a matter of fact situation.

“You don't sound like you're upset,” her voice was taken aback. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I'm not.” He shrugged. He hadn't told her how he felt about his cutiemark and probably never would.

“Right, well, would you come look at my garden? It's looking a bit dull lately and I'm worried about the upcoming flower festival.” She nodded in the direction of her house.

“Yeah, No problem. I guess.” He mumbled under his breath.
“Great!” she gave in a short reply. As she took the lead towards her house Briar Thorn went back to looking at the ground, taking up the rear.

Out of the corners of his eyes he could tell that it was a relatively normal day. Ponies negotiated prices in the market, completing their daily tasks. He could smell delicious pastries from within the Cakes' bakery. Despite his downward gaze he was starting to feel better. The noon sun was shining on his back, bringing a pleasant warmth, and sending it throughout his body. He looked up from the ground to find out that Daisy had started getting a fair distance ahead of him. He squinted through the glare of the sun. She was talking to somepony, and they both seemed excited about the conversation topic. He approached, trying to see who it was. The glare of the sun was lost as he passed into the shadow of a building, relieving his eyes from their strain. Before him stood a female, white unicorn with a well groomed purple mane.

“Oh hey Rarity.” He forced a smile. Rarity had never been Briar's cup of tea. She worried about physical appearance too much, and had a tendency to exaggerate and over dramatize every moment, this bothered him. Most days he didn't feel that there was anything special going on, just the absolutely mundane, and definitely nothing to cause such over the top reactions.

“Oh Briar darling, how are you?” she said, exaggerating her syllables as if to mean that she was truly interested.

“I'm fi-” he was cut off.

“Oh well never mind that. Tell me what do you know about this?” She levitated a strange plant near his face. It wasn't one he had seen before. The leaves hanging off of the small stalk were huge for such a small plant. The veins in the leaves seemed to pulsate with the plant's energy, and in the sunlight the leaves smelled strongly like an entire bouquet. She shook it for emphasis as he was attempting to examine. He grew annoyed and rushed to an answer.

“Nothing I'm afraid,” he forced out the partial lie. The brown horn on the top of his head started to glow as the plant whispered cries for help to him. Briar's stomach churned. Ever since he discovered just what his talent was there had been consequences. He had to listen to his own chewing while he ate with his eyes closed so that he could manage to swallow. Plants had feelings too, something he wish he wasn't so painfully aware of.

“Shame. Nopony seems to have seen it before. I thought that since you're especially good at that kind of thing, if anypony would know it would be you. Oh well. I do know one thing about it. It has had just marvelous beauty benefits. Just this morning I tried a little nip and I can already see the effects.” She spun for them, showing off.

“Oh wow!” Daisy commented. “That's incredible. Your coat is so shiny, and looks so soft!” She leaned in to get a closer look. “I can definitely tell. Say, do you think that I could get some? I'd love to look even half that good.” Daisy's voice held no lack of sincerity. 

Briar frowned. He didn't see a huge difference in the mare's fur. He didn't normally pay attention, but it didn't seem too different than any other day. He thought about Daisy's comment for a moment, growing sad to know that Daisy didn't feel she looked anywhere near as good as the other mare. “Don't be silly Daisy, you look great,” but his words fell on deaf ears as the plant was already being exchanged. Neither of the two seemed too interested in listening to him anyhow, so he walked on. He'd wait for Daisy at her house. She'd undoubtedly go there once she finished chatting, and this would give him more time to do a good inspection of her carefully tended and cared for garden.
> A Rude Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The golden glow of the sun was starting to fade as it set behind the trees of the Everfree Forest. Briar smiled at Rose Luck as he departed from Daisy's house. The three of them had enjoyed dinner together, discussing the flower festival, and the nature of various kinds of plants. The knowledge that Briar had begrudgingly acquired dominated the majority of the conversation. Daisy and Rose had only ever had the ability to discuss what they had tried and whether or not it was a success or failure. Briar on the other hand was able to constantly provide suggestions simply based upon what he had learned from gardens directly.

Briar Thorn headed directly to his residence. Twelve blocks and only a few minutes later, he arrived at his hovel. The place was stale. Plant life appeared to avoid the place like the plague. Around the building was a clear line where plants had just stopped growing, daring to progress no further towards the stone construction. Briar smiled at his work, and walked to his dark wooden door, nudging it open. Inside was quiet.

This was the one place he couldn't hear the whispers of plants. Here he couldn't smell the pollen, couldn't hear the wind rush through their petals, couldn't see them swaying in the breeze. Here was silent. The one place he felt normal was in this building. Here he wasn't reminded of his talent, wasn't valued for his gardening advice, and didn't feel like he had to avoid eye contact, lest he need to fulfill some social obligation. For this was home, a place to rest his head in complete comfort.

Briar shut the door and walked to his kitchen. Unlike the outside, everything inside was covered in beautiful woods. Once it was separate from the tree, wood didn't talk, and looked wonderful when woven together properly. Woods actually made the majority of the colors in his home. The natural light of the sun which was still just peaking in from the glass installed in his ceiling illuminated most of the room with a gentle yellow glow. He focused a bit of magic through his horn and opened a small drawr, from it he withdrew a pine-cone. 

The pine-cone was rough in his mouth, and ultimately not very good. It was one of the few foods Briar could store without having to try to silence it first. Most of the time he ate out, or did his food shopping a meal at a time. With his evening snack out of the way, he headed for his bed. As he let the bed envelop him in its warm embrace. He sunk into it and nearly instantly drifted off to sleep.




Briar's eyes wrenched themselves open as the inside of his eyelids illuminated to wake him. He reluctantly rolled himself out of his perfect position of comfort in his bed, and out onto the floor. As his hearing came into focus so did the harsh sound of a rapid and panicked knock on his front door. With immediate displeasure at whoever it was, he dragged himself to his front door and opened it.

“Hey Briar.” An almost neon pink pony pushed past him and into his house.

“By all means, don't mind me, its not like this is a private residence or anything, please come in,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh sorry about that, I just needed to see you, immediately.” Her voice was more panicked than her knocking. Briar looked her up and down. Daisy had some sort of shawl covering her face, a scarf around her neck, a decorative saddle on her back and even hoof warmers. He raised an eyebrow, suspicious of the outfit.

“You look ridiculous,” he commented in a rather harsh tone. Daisy rolled her eyes and started pulling the garments off one by one. First went the hoof warmers, then the saddle. Briar Thorn stood there impatient. When had opened the door he didn't remember it being particularly cold out, so the outfit made little sense. “You realize I could barely tell who you were when you came in right? Why are you dressed like that anyway?” He gave her an inquisitive look. As a few more garments came off his understanding grew. He winced as he noticed several very large discolored spots on her coat. The spots were darker, and a sickening twist of green woven into her natural color. He moved closer to examine them more thoroughly. The spots weren't just discolored, they were bruised as well. Underneath the shawl and scarf Daisy broke into a coughing fit.

“I think it was the plant from yesterday. Rarity is broken out into these... blotches as well.” She coughed again. Daisy had become extremely weak. Her voice was breaking in the middle of her sentences, and her knees had started shaking the moment she had stopped removing her strange clothes. If the shawl hadn't been blocking the way, Briar knew he would be watching tears run down her cheeks.

“Daisy, I'm not a doctor, and I told you and Rarity that I had never seen the plant before.” He looked at her, hoping to see the understanding that would absolve him of responsibility. Instead he saw the shawl start to dampen on her face. She was crying harder now.

Inside Briar could feel his stomach churn. He had no clue what to do, nor how to comfort Daisy. He moved in close and pressed the side of his head against hers, giving her a hug. He raised a hoof gently to touch her shoulder, wrapping his foreleg around her. “It'll.. It'll be alright.” He hesitated. He had no clue how things would work out, and the idea of lying to a friend created a twisted knot in his throat. “Come on, get dressed and we'll go see Nurse Redheart.” He let go, and motioned to her clothes. He felt uneasy. 

Daisy slowly started putting the strange garments back on, when a thought occurred to her. “I, I gave some of the plant to Aloe and Lotus.”




Nurse Redheart, a white mare with a light pink mane and tail, whose occupation was to help sick ponies found herself absolutely overwhelmed. All day, ponies had been coming in with the same mysterious disease. The rest of the hospital staff had been called in to deal with the sudden surge of patients and it still wasn't enough.

She glanced over her latest responsibility's hospital chart. Strange bruises, pelt discoloration, coughing, chipping hooves, and minor muscular dystrophy. This patient was in what appeared to be a slightly later state than all of the others. Redheart ordered the mare to into a bed, and told her that lunch would be served around noon. The nurse pony exited the room and sighed to herself.

“Doctor, do we have anything to help yet?” she asked, approaching a nearby superior. The stallion turned around, looked at her and shook his head silently. “I see.” She walked away dejected. She returned to the lobby, grabbed a clipboard with the next patient's name on it, and read the name aloud. “Heartstrings, Lyra.” A sea-foam green unicorn limped up to the door out of the lobby. As the door shut behind the two Redheart spoke, “What seems to be the problem today?” she asked as the two entered a small room filled with an uncomfortable sitting table covered in paper. Heartstrings jumped up onto the table and took a seat.

“I stepped on my cousin's miniature building blocks, and as you can see, one of the blocks got stuck.” The pony lifted her hoof towards the nurse, showing that one of the colorful filly toys had gotten wedged into her hoof.

“Ouch, that looks like it hurts. That's alright though, its not the worst thing you could have come in with today. We'll have that removed, and get you cleaned up in no time.” Redheart picked up a pair of tweezers with her mouth, and leaned in close. She closed the tool around the colored brick and pulled gingerly. With only minor resistance the block came loose, and a small trickle of blood started to ooze from the hoof. She returned the block and tool to the counter and picked up some gauze, quickly wrapping the wound in a bandage. “There you go. Just stay off it for a day and you'll be right as rain.” Redheart was happy to know that she could do something for at least one of her patients today.

Heartstrings bent her knee a few times, testing how her hoof felt without the interlocking block stuck in it. She smiled now that the pain was nearly gone. She clambered off of the table slowly, happy to have her hooves back on the ground. “Thanks Nurse Redheart.” She smiled. “By the way, what did you mean by 'not the worst thing you could have come in with today?'”

Redheart became visibly uncomfortable. “Nearly everypony here has something I've never seen before. Same symptoms. There's nothing we can do though. It's odd, almost like some sort of pandemic. Just be glad you haven't caught it yet dear. Try to stay away from anypony with strange discolored spots on them alright?” She nudged Lyra out into the lobby. As she looked out ready to call her next patient, she became very worried. The number of people in the waiting room had trippled since she'd taken the unicorn back. She looked back at the list to confirm she had the right name in mind, looked again to the crowd. Her eyes locked onto a purple mare as she called the name: “Twilight Sparkle.”
> Train Wreck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle swallowed hard. Fear was building up in her throat. She looked around to all the other sick ponies in the room. Could they tell she was sick too? Could they see through her spell? She could feel her strength and resolve to find out what she had contracted quickly draining, but it was too late. She stood up and walked across the room to the nurse pony who had called her name.

“Here.” She coughed lightly. Together the two of them walked back into a small cramped office. Twilight glanced around at all of the medical equipment. While she had never been involved in the medical field she knew what each tool was used for, her books had taught her that much.

“So what seems to be the problem dear?” the pink maned mare asked. Twilight just shook her head. Her horn became sheathed in a glowing purple light. Her illusion was cast aside. Without her spell to hide it, it was very clear just how sick Twilight was. Her coat appeared to be rotting from underneath, instead of a light purple, she was spotted. Each spot went from a dying green on the inside, to her natural purple, hitting a number of uncomfortable colors between. Twilight's hooves had become brittle and were chipping easily. Her eyes bloodshot and losing color.

Redheart's face dropped into a very serious and worried expression. “When did it start?” she asked hesitantly. She turned to the counters behind her and started pulling certain tools out.

“Some time last night. I woke this morning to find them. They've gotten worse throughout the day. At first I thought it was just bruises, but now.” Twilight became quiet.

“Did you do anything different, or have you had any contact with anyone else who is also suffering like this?” Redheart turned back to her patient. She held an otoscope in her mouth, and placed it up to Twilight's ear peering in. 

Twilight's ear twitched uncomfortably. She resisted the urge to pull her head away from the tool touching the inside of her ear. “Yes. Yesterday Rarity and I shared some plant she had recently picked.” She looked down at the floor. “Do you think it could just be an allergic reaction?” She looked up in hope. Redheart just shook her head slowly.

“You... you should lay down.” She waited a moment for Twilight to jump onto the sitting table. “Twilight, I'm only telling you this because you and your friends might be able to help. Ponyville is dying. What ever caused this is, plant, plague, or curse, is killing everypony. From what I know, the splotches on your back are places where your body is dying faster than the rest of you. Technically none of your body is dead yet, but we don't know how long it will take for that to no longer be the case.” Redheart looked to Twilight in hopes that she might jump at the opportunity to once again save Ponyville. She knew that the hope was not only selfish, but also pointless. Twilight was in no condition to go anywhere, let alone search for a cure.

“I'll do it.” Twilight stated with confidence. “I mean, Ponyville needs me right?” she explained weakly, trying to convince herself.





Briar Thorn and Daisy limped in to the hospital. By the time they arrived Daisy was feeling worse than she had that morning. She kept having to shake her head just to stay aware of her surroundings. Briar had supported her weight most of the way and she was beginning to feel guilty. In an attempt to redeem herself she had forced herself to stand on her own for the last few steps, but even that proved too much. 

The room was stuffy, and dead. Despite the rainbow assortment of ponies inside, the room seemed to hold a sickly and pale green tone. A few coughs could be heard on occasion. A filly was crying from the back corner of the room, though most of the room's noise was made of moans sounding like noises that fillies were known to make on Nightmare Night, imitating some forgotten creature of horror.

Daisy took a spot on the floor, and laid down while Briar went to the counter to check them in. He was gone much shorter than she had expected. When he returned his face showed great worry, his ears were flat back against his head. He looked at her briefly, then plopped himself down next to her. His silence worried her. The two sat there awkwardly. Minutes passed, and as the time went the waiting room appeared to fill to capacity.

A purple mare exited the doors leading towards the rest of the hospital. Her horn was glowing brilliantly, showing clear signs that she was using a large amount of magic. She didn't appear to be sick though. Briar nearly jumped from his spot on the ground and walked over to her. Daisy lay her head across her hooves. She watched them talk for a few moments, then Briar returned even more dejected than before.

“She's sick too. The magic is only masking it. I thought for a moment she had learned something,” Briar's voice echoed with the sound of defeat. Silence reigned for several minutes again.

“This is my fault. you know?” the green maned pony spoke for the first time since their arrival. Briar looked at her confused. “It's true. After Rarity gave me the plant, I took it to Aloe and Lotus. I figured that they could make it into a face mask or shampoo or something. I thought that if Rarity had gotten such great results from simply eating it, that if I could apply it to my hair directly, it'd outshine her.” Daisy looked from the ground up to Briar's eyes. Tears had built to the breaking point, and streamed down her face. “It worked great. So Aloe and Lotus made as much as they could, and gave out free samples.” Briar looked around at everypony in the room. The look on his face made it clear he had noticed that nearly everypony there was a mare.

A nurse peaked out of the doorway and shouted, “Is there anypony who isn't sick?” her voice made it clear she didn't expect much of a response. The room went silent, and it was clear that the nurse had everypony's attention. Briar stood and raised a hoof hesitantly, afraid he might be volunteering for something. In the entire room he was the only one to stand. The nurse cleared her throat and spoke again. “Very good, right. Follow me then.”

Still hesitant Briar looked back to Daisy, his concern written all over his face. Daisy shooed him to go, trying to relieve some of his stress. In truth she wanted nothing more than for him to stay, even if it was as silent as the grave between them.





Briar followed the white mare through the double doors, and around several corners. They came to an abrupt stop, nearly causing Briar's downed heard to collide with the pink tale of the pony in front of him. The nurse turned around to him, looked him up and down briefly. She pushed on his head with her hoof, forcing him into a proper posture. She looked into his eyes, her own eyes squinting in suspicion, then turned away again and continued with her hurried walk.

The brown pony followed Nurse Redheart. She seemed to be on a mission. Finally they seemed to have reached their destination. Redheart held a large wooden door open for him, and motioned him into the room. Inside was a large ovular table, around which stood several other ponies. Among them were the easy to spot faces of Apple Jack, Rarity, and Big Mac. There were other faces too, but their names escaped Briar for the moment.

“We'll begin shortly, we're just waiting for a few more arrivals.,” Redheart explained. She poked her head through the doorway, and looked down the hall they had taken to get there.  “Here they are.” She announced as two more ponies entered the room. “One Twilight Sparkle, and one Lyra Heartstrings.”

“And one Spike!” A small purple and green dragon announced from his position on the purple pony's back. 

“Hush Spike, now's not the time.” Twilight scolded the dragon lightly.
It was only then that Briar realized just how uncomfortable he felt around all of these ponies. Three of them had major hands in saving all of Equestria not just once, but twice, not to mention Ponyville countless other times. He tried to shrink back into a corner, away from the table to avoid being noticed.

“Well everypony I bet you're wondering why I've gathered you here.” Twilight looked out towards the eight other ponies in the room.

“Aw well shucks Twilight I was,” Apple jack was cut off.

“Not now Apple Jack.” Twilight hushed her similarly to how she had the dragon. The orange pony seemed more stunned than upset. “I've gathered you because Ponyville needs you. As I'm sure you noticed everypony is sick.” The timing of another coughing fit couldn't have been better, or for that matter worse placed. “We,” she broke again into coughs.

“What Twilight is trying to say is that we need a cure. We know what caused the sickness, but,”

“Thank you Rarity, I can finish though.” Twilight said stubbornly. “We don't know a cure, or anything about the original plant that caused all of this trouble. There is nothing in my books. We need somepony to go see if Zecora knows anything.” 

“Well Big Macintosh here can't on account a' he pulled his hoof again trying to plow. Turns out our east field is where Tom ended up.” Apple Jack shot a glare across the table towards Rarity. “An' I'd go but a stray lightning bolt hit the barn last night. We only just put out the fires, an' somepony has to clean it up.”

“Alright so Apple Jack is out. Anypony else? You're the only ponies in all of Ponyville well enough to go.” Twilight added as additional encouragement.

One of the other ponies in the room decided to speak up. This one was brown, with a bright blonde and spiky mane, an earth pony. “Why don't you go? I don't want to go into the Everfree forest.” Immediately he regretted his words as everypony in the room stared at him in disbelief.

“Alright, I was hoping it wouldn't have to do this.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Her horn finally stopped glowing. The discolored spots she had been hiding with magic faded back into existence. This time though they were accompanied by jagged lines connecting them, like cancerous veins lacing all of the blotches together.  

“Oh dear, you look dreadful darling!” Rarity gasped in shock at Twilight's advanced condition. “I, I mean are you ok?” She tried recover from her outburst. Twilight ignored the remarks and continued.

“As you can see, much like Rarity, I am much to ill to go. And since Coconut over here is out, and Redheart has to stay here at the hospital, we're down to just you three.” Twilight looked at each of the three remaining ponies, Lyra, Briar, and a third Pony. The third pony quickly shook his head as an enthusiastic “no.”

“Out then.” Twilight was running out of patience fast. Coconut and the other pony seemed confused, so Twilight reiterated herself. “OUT!” her shout rang through the room. Briar was taken aback by how much strength she'd been able to muster despite her condition. The two cowards rushed out of the room like a monster was likely to bite into their flanks should they stay any longer.

Briar had realized he couldn't try to pretend he wasn't there any more, and he stood appropriately. With all eyes on him and the sea-foam green pony that had walked to stand next to him, his mind started to race. His hearing cut out. The purple pony was speaking to him. He tried concentrating on her mouth to make out the words, but it was no use. He couldn't hear anything beyond the sirens going off in his head. The sounds of exploding trains seemed to echo in his head as he tried to make out the words. Finally he quieted his mind.

“You got all that?” Twilight asked, her voice getting weaker.

“Easy stuff,” Heartstrings sounded with confidence.

“S...sure.” Briar managed to choke out. During his small panic attack, somepony had strapped him with a heavy saddlebag  

> A Leg to Break the Fall.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Briar slowly shuffled out of the hospital with Lyra by his side. Lyra seemed to be excited about a trip to the Zebra's house. She was humming to herself. Briar on the other hand continued to stare at his feet like he usually did.

Sweat poured down Briar's face as he thought about actually having to do something. His own thoughts seemed to be blocking out any external sounds. His horn had stopped its usual glowing as well, something that usually took conscious effort to do.

Lyra noticed she was pulling ahead of her new traveling companion and turned around. He was so slow that if things kept going at his pace everypony was likely to be dead upon their return. She walked up to him, staring him straight in the face. He wasn't looking back. His eyes were so well averted to the ground that it was likely he didn't even realize she was with him.

“Um, hello?” No response. He was still just slowly moving forward like the weight of his saddle bags was crushing him. “Hello? Hello!” she started shouting to get his attention. She stopping backwards to accommodate his slow pace. Instead she crossed her horn with his and used them to fling his head to the side violently.

Briar became aware of contact with his horn almost immediately, but it was too late to avoid whatever was coming. His head jerked to the left unexpectedly. He looked up for a change, staring directly into the golden eyes of the minty green unicorn that was with him. He flinched slightly, the proximity to the other unicorn triggering the reaction.

“Look buddy, you need to snap out of it. What ever world of self pity you're living in, in there,” she motioned to his skull, “you need to abandon because the real world is out here. There are ponies dying, and you're all scared because you might have to enter the big bad Everfree Forest. Just come on ok? We have to hurry, Twilight and who knows else could collapse at any moment.” Her words had started rough, but worked their way into a plea for help. 

Lyra turned back around and looked towards the edge of town. She hated the idea of venturing into the forest, but she couldn't turn around now even if she wanted to, she had given the speech, locking herself into the decision.

Briar stared at the unicorn. The words flowing from her mouth were supposed to be some sort of pep-talk. He glanced down at his hooves again, then back to the unicorn. She seemed to have turned around and started walking again. He followed a bit faster than before. He kept his eyes mostly forward now, half of the attempt to please her, the other half to keep himself from falling behind.

He tried to rationalize the trip into the forest to himself. He argued that Twilight and the others had been into the forest tons of times, and that even little AppleBloom could make it to Zecora's. As they approached the edge of the forest he stared up at it. Already the whispers of the wild plants were playing at the edge of his hearing. His horn started glowing extremely bright. The faces of the trees before them became awash with pine green lighting. 

“What are you doing?” Lyra turned around, the light making her curious.

“I'm not doing anything.” The brown unicorn shook his head like he was trying to fling the light off.

“Don't lie to me, what are you doing?” she asked again, getting a little impatient.

“My horn glows more when plants have more to say. My special talent is listening to plants. I can't really control it most of the time.” He stopped walking forward. He realized he had just been shouting in what would otherwise be a quiet area. The many voices of the plants were so loud in his ears that he was having trouble thinking of anything else.

“You don't have to yell. Here.” She walked up to him, stood on her hind legs, and put her front hooves over his ears.

“I don't think it... works... like... that.” he paused in between each word, getting quieter until his voice was normal. The noise of the plants had subsided considerably, and his horn wasn't glowing nearly so bright. 

“Better?” she asked, beaming at him.

“Uh, yeah actually.” he said in disbelief. She removed her hooves from his ears, but the noise didn't return.

“Good, then let's get going.” She turned around and walked past the first few trees in the forest. 

If it wasn't for Briar following her so closely, and the light from his horn, they would have been lost already. The arrangement of the trees seemed chaotic and wild. The lack of patterns or discernible land marks made it almost impossible to tell which way they had entered from. What small path there was quickly disappeared under roots and fallen leaves.

“H-how far in do you think it is?” Briar asked in reference to Zecora's hut. She just shrugged in response. There was a long silence as they walked deeper into the forest. The trees were becoming more dense, and the light they had was traveling less distance. It couldn't be too late in the evening, but in the forest it was already pitch black, and the dead of night.

The noise of strange and untamed animals permeated the forest around them, causing them to drift together for safety. Pairs of eyes occasionally stared at them from nearby pushes, locking gazes with the two ponies as they passed. A howl in the distance served to remind them of the many dangers in the forest, such as timber wolves, the cockatrice, ursa, manticore, and even dragons.

“Briar, we've never really talked before, yet you only live a few houses away from mine. Why is that?” Lyra asked, trying to take their mind off of the unpleasant scenery in the forest.

“I tend to keep to myself I guess. I'm not the most socially adept Pony. It's hard for me to meet ponies unless somepony else introduces me to them. Plus, because of my special talent I tend to be a lot different than other ponies. Makes me uncomfortable with most daily activities.” He looked around the forest as he spoke, trying to spot some clue as to where they were. 

“Ah,” Lyra replied. The conversation died for a few minutes as Lyra's face took on a pensive look. She broke the silence again. “So it's not me? You don't dislike me?”

“Er, no. Not really. It's sorta you, but it's mostly me. There's nothing you can do about it though, you know?”  He stopped. Lyra turned around looking at him curiously.

“No, I have no idea,” she said flatly.

“Well, you're pretty, and I have even bigger problems talking to attractive ponies. It's not my fault you're attractive, so it must be yours. However it is my fault that I'm intimidated by attractive ponies, and you cant change that you're attractive, or that I'm intimidated by attractiveness so there's nothing you can do about it.” His words made Lyra blush, though the color change in her cheeks was nearly undetectable due to the green lighting, and general darkness. “Can we uh, talk about this another time though. Everfree is a terrible location for this, and I feel like him hitting on you, which in and of itself is uncomfortable.”

Lyra nodded and turned back around, a giant grin spread across her face.  A few more moments of silence and Lyra turned around again. Shock spread across her face as she quickly came to the realization that Briar was gone.





Briar shook his head a bit and stared at the complete darkness around him. The side of his face hurt, and so did his legs. He couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not. He coughed at the solid ground beneath him. The soreness in his throat and pain in his hooves let him know that he was alive. He ran his mind's eye over his body, feeling out to his muscles in his body, trying determine if everything was in tact.

As he ran himself up to his horn, it started to glow and illuminated his environment. He appeared to be in some form of cave. The rock walls around him ran slimy with liquid. The plants in the area seemed silent. The cave floor he was splayed out on was solid rock, covered a thin layer of dust. He looked to the ceiling trying to see how he'd gotten here. Sure enough, what looked to be two hundred feet above him was the tiniest hole in the ceiling, offering a speck of light barely brighter than a star in the night sky. 

A warm fluid ran under his belly and briar looked down. The reflection off of the green light, and the pool of liquid let him know that it was blood. His blood. It ran from his front right hoof, which was horribly torn and cut. He winced in pain. He looked at the reflection of his face in the pool, realizing that his forehead around his horn was torn open badly. He blinked, surprised that the blood wasn't flowing into his eyes.

He paused to consider the miracle of his survival from such a fall. He glanced around the room hoping to see Lyra's familiar face. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad that he didn't. It was now that he was glad to have the saddle bag.

He pried it open with telekinesis and rummaged through it hastily. A few sandwiches, some rope, and luckily enough: bandages. Relief washed over him as he began unrolling the gauze. He took several minutes to bandage up his hoof, and stop the bleeding. He had significantly more trouble with his face, and barely manged to secure the bandage around his horn. The unfortunate side effect was that the light of his horn wasn't half as bright as it had been before, but at least he wouldn't bleed to death now.

He looked back up to the almost invisible speck of light again. He raised his head, and shouted upwards. “Help! Lyra!” He tried again. “Lyra! I'm down here! Help!” No response. He sighed, tears starting to run down his face, sliding into the bandages, and leaking the salt into his wound. 

He lay his head on his good hoof, not wanting to stand yet. He coughed again, causing his sides to ache more. His eyes slowly closed.

“I told you ponies don't go into the forest alone,” a snide voice in the corner of the room snickered.

“I guess you're right. Though it looks like they got separated. Too bad too. Looks like this one plans to die in here,” Another similar voice to the first.

Briar's head perked up to alertness. He peered around the cave again. His horn's light being muted by the bandage didn't help. He couldn't see anypony.

“Shh, he's doing something,” the first voice again.

Briar worked through his headache to realize it was the few plants in the small cave. He rolled his eyes and rested his head on his hoof again. “Useless plants,” he thought to himself.

“Aw too bad. If he could walk he might have been able to survive. Looks like that fall was rather nasty though.”

“Silly quadruped. Too bad he cant pull nutrients from the ground. Otherwise he could root right where he lays and do something useful.” The plants continued to heckle him, unaware that he was listening.

“I spit at you quadruped. Your kind disgusts me. You pick off our leaves for fun, and eat us in your sandwiches.  And If I could speak to you, I still wouldn't tell you the way out of this cave! In fact, I hope that the great snake comes hunting today and eats you, and turns your pathetic corpse into a pile of dung so that my children may grow in it, and feed off of you instead!” The plant was getting angry and shouting now.

“Don't you think that was a bit far?” The second plant seemed concerned.

“Nah, not like it can hear me anyway.”

Briar started panicking at the idea of being eaten by a giant snake, enough so that he tried to stand. His hoof shot a spike of pain up his leg, numbing his brain for a moment, and robbing it of all other feelings. He stopped for a moment, dizzy, and tried to gain his balance. With the small light of his horn, he made a hurried limp towards the only ground exit from the room he could see.





Lyra jumped around in panic, looking in each direction for her missing companion. Briar didn't seem the type to run off in the forest and abandon her, which either meant that he got lost while looking at his hooves again, or that something horrible had happened to him.

She swallowed hard, trying to peer back the way she came. “Oh darn it. He couldn't be that far. I had his light just a minute ago.” She checked behind a couple of trees. “Briar, if this is some kind of joke it isn't funny. You can come out from behind the trees any time.” Panic was quickly gaining control over her legs. More eyes peered out at her from a bush. She hesitantly stepped towards them. “Briar, is that you?” She reached her magic to the ground, fumbling around until it grasped a stick.

She slowly pushed the stick into the bush, towards the eyes. A regrettable mistake as a huge snake snapped the stick in half in its massive jaws. The snake must have been thirty feet long, and huge around its center. It slithered past Lyra peacefully, and midway as it passed Lyra realized why. A huge bulge in the snake's mid-section made it clear it had already eaten today, and wasn't looking for another meal. The bulge looked smaller than Briar though, so a moments relief washed over her.

“Oh gosh. I hope there aren't any more around.” She swallowed hard again.

Lyra jerked around as a twig snapped behind her. A mysterious glow from behind a nearby tree once again allowed her a moment of respite. “Oh Briar, thank goodness. You had me worried sick. My stomach was in knots and everything.” A brown stallion with freshly combed forest green hair, and a lustrous brown coat stepped from behind the tree. He smiled at her and then winked.

“You jerk! You had me worried. Now come on. This is no time to be grooming yourself. Besides, where did you even get a brush?” She bumped him with the side of her body, giving him a friendly shove.
“Err, It was in the pack!” the brown stallion said.

“Must have been Rarity's idea. Come on, Zecora's can't be too far.”

“While I was brushing I think I spotted someone over there,” he jerked his head in the direction of the tree he had been hiding behind. “It was probably her. I can't imagine it being anyone else.”

“Erm, alright.” Lyra eyed him for a moment, looking him over again. Deciding nothing was wrong she started heading in the direction he had motioned. 

“Oh, I'll lead Lyra. Wouldn't want you to lose me again.” He stepped in front of her and brought up the glow of his horn to brighten the path.

“How very much like a gentlecolt of you Briar. Did Rarity stuff a book about manners in there too?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that.” He brushed it off casually, and a grin crept across his face. 
> Will of the Flame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Briar coughed as he rounded the first left corner of the cave. The cave's hallways were smooth. Most of the rough edges appeared to have been eroded away over time. The lime glow of his horn reflected off of pools of bile that had gathered at the bottom of the walls. His hobbled movement was painful, and with each step he winced, keeping on his damaged hoof as little as possible, as if an iron thorn was wedged deep into it.

Briar's panic worsened when he noticed a distinct lack of bats despite the dark cave. Something was likely keeping them away, or scaring them off. Briar's breathing was shallow and hastened. He felt like had run for miles already. He forced himself to stop long enough to quiet the fire that was building up in his lungs, and swallow the mucus that had built up in his throat. He looked back to the tunnels behind him. Blackness. The tunnels in front of him seemed no better though, only more abyss.

The green maned stallion rounded another corner, trying to maintain whatever direction he had started from. He froze in his tracks paralyzed with fear. Hissing echoed down the tunnel in front of him. Ahead he could see nothing except more tunnel. Ducking into a nook in the cave wall, Briar hid, and quieted his light, bringing total blackness around him.

The hissing gradually grew louder, driving a near maddening fear straight into Briar's brain. His body begged him to run, to move, to scream. The grinding of scales against the stone walls wasn't far off now. The pools of bile washed away from the large creature coming down the hall towards his crack in the wall.







Lyra chuckled aloud. The trip had become pleasant, Briar's attitude had completely changed for the better. The trip had almost become pleasant now, and however far Zecora's house was it didn't matter. Briar had just finished an odd little joke, but it was to Lyra's liking.

The forest around them had started to thin out, and the trees were becoming taller. Fog gathered around them, and the temperature had risen. Lyra was starting to sweat. The humidity was rough. The ground beneath her hooves was starting to get soft and squishy.

“Say, Briar. How much further?” Lyra asked when a moment of silence held for too long.

“To where?” Briar turned to her and grinned. She shot a look of disapproval back.

“Briar, that's not funny. How much further to Zecora's?” She shook her head. She said it wasn't funny, but the small amount of humor was enough to bring an internal smile. She'd almost forgotten why they were going to Zecora's in the first place.

Briar walked up to what appeared to be a water's edge. He looked out into what was clearly a swampy bog. The fog seemed to settle here, to just above the water's surface. Lyra stared at the brown liquid, but couldn't make out her reflection. She watched as briar made a leap between the edge of the bog, and a small grassy nub that stuck out of the water a few feet inward.

“It's just on the other side of this bog. See that light over there?” he asked, motioning to a speck of light just visible through the trees on the other side of the marsh. “That's Zecora's.” He smiled.

Lyra furrowed her brow in doubt. She wasn't aware that Briar had ever been to Zecora's before. She wondered at how he knew the way so well without ever checking a map. She bent her knees near the bank, and jumped out to the grassy knoll that Briar stood on. There was barely enough room for the two of them on it, forcing them close. Briar rolled his eyes and jumped to the next knoll. This one was a bit further away.

Briar seemed to glide through the air as gracefully as a pegasus, his leap through the air bringing to a soft and well placed landing. The knoll was larger, and looked sturdier. Lyra was eager to get there. Her hooves shook slightly, and her body shuddered with a mixture of fear and excitement. She wound herself up and released. Lyra wasn't nearly so graceful in the air, and her front hooves barely touched the edge of the knoll, her back end slipping quickly into the swampy water. Her hooves quickly touched the bottom of the swamp, the mud gripping at them. She could feel herself sinking quickly. Panic set in as her front hooves desperately tried to grip at the promise of solid ground that the small island offered.

Briar quickly looked at her, his eyes filled with something strange. He blinked and it was gone. Lyra wanted to cry out to him for help, but by the time her mouth opened, he was already there, offering a hoof to her. She locked her joint around his, and their combined effort freed her from the gripping mud at the bottom of the swamp.

They sat together on the knoll for a moment, breathing hard. Still in them middle of catching her breath, Lyra started to laugh. “Haha, oh man I thought I was done for. And the look on your face,” she sighed happily, “glad to know that you care Briar. For a little while there, I was really worried. I thought for sure that I'd have been better off on my own.” Another moment of silence. Briar sat still on the marsh island. Lyra walked over to him, planted a light kiss on his cheek. “Thanks for that,” she said with a smile. A big grin worked its way across Briar's face. The pair stood up, and prepared to make the next jump.

“Say Lyra, have you ever heard of a Will-o-wisp?” Briar asked just after making the next jump. The jump was short, and much easier than the last.

“Yeah, I used to have nightmares about them as a filly. They live in swamps and near cliffs, and trick unsuspecting ponies into traps that bring them through slow agonizing deaths, feeding off of their fear and pain.” Lyra grunted as she made the jump just after Briar. “Think we'll see any?”

“Doubtful. Most ponies think they're nothing but a myth anyway. Used to keep fillies out of the forests. If they did exist though, this would be the place to find one right?” He turned to her and flashed another smile. The gloomy discussion was starting to bring a bad mood. The two made a few more jumps, almost to the center of the bog.

“So why'd you mention it?” Lyra asked, slightly out of breath from the repeated long distance leaps.

“Just something to fill the time I suppose,” he dismissed the question nonchalantly. 







Briar took a deep breath and sealed his cold lips. He squeezed himself back into the crack as far as he could sucking in to get past an outcropping of jagged stone. The rock tore across his belly as he pulled himself upright to move further in. The scratches left across his stomach burned and stung. As the beast slithered past Briar's alcove he cried silently. The thought of being consumed terrified him.

He waited there for what could have easily been several minutes, or an hour. He kept his breathing shallow, but each passing moment drove him further into paranoia. Finally mustering the courage to move again, briar sucked in his gut back in, scraping past the outcropping again. Finally able to bring himself onto all fours again he sighed. His quivering was making it hard to take a solid breath. 

Briar limped forward for several minutes. His eyes opened wide in excitement. Limping as fast as he could, Briar made his way towards a small light further down the cave's hall. He rounded a corner briskly turning to the mouth of the cave. The light felt like a blessing, a saving grace from the cave. Briar stepped out onto a grassy slope leading down into brown murky water.

He took a moment to survey his surroundings and rest, happy to be free of the darkness of the cave. Tall trees sprouted from small islands in the marshland he had exited the cave into. The swamp smelled foul. He crept up to the waters edge and gasped. Several skeletal forms lay rotting just inside the water. The skulls of other ponies gave him blank stares. Briar swallowed hard. He backed away from the shore shaking his head. The edge of the water here was a graveyard of forgotten and missing ponies.

He sat down on the soggy grass and looked out into the massive bog. He had no idea where he was, but he knew the smell now. Death.







“Just one more jump and we're at the center, come on,” Briar announced. He wound up his legs and crouched low to the ground before breaking into a full sprint for just a moment before making the long leap to the larger island near the center of the swamp. As he came down his hooves barely touching the ground as he galloped to a stop. “You can do it, come on.” Another flashed grin.

Lyra shook her head slowly. She backed away from the edge of her own knoll of grass. “I, I don't think I can Briar. I don't even know how you did that. That's a long ways to jump.”
From across the way Briar looked toward her directly. “Relax. I'll be here, if you miss I'll help you get to shore. Besides I'm sure you can do it.”

Lyra looked at him warily. She reexamined the distance. He heart pounded in her throat as she backed to the other edge of her soggy island. She bent her legs down and took off, trying to imitate Briar's jump. Her hind hooves left the edge of the grass, and the last feeling of security until she would land. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. She could tell she was going to make it. She stretched out her front hooves to reach the island. Shock and horror filled her as her face twisted into unpleasantness as she realized that she was going to fall just short. 

Her front hooves broke the murky water's surface and plunged two feet into the mud below. Her hind hooves followed soon after. Using her back legs as leverage she tried to pull her front hooves free. Her hind legs sunk deeper in the sticky mud. The mud crawled up above her hooves starting on her legs. She looked up from the water towards Briar just feet away on the safety of the island.

“Alright Briar. I'm sinking. Help me out here,” she chuckled a bit. Briar's eyes light up, and his grin across his face widened. Lyra's stomach started to drop. “B..Briar that's not funny. Help me.” Her voice quivered as the fear started to grow. Briar stood there as if in some form of triumph. Meanwhile Lyra was sinking further and further. Tears started to form in Lyra's eyes. “Briar please!” she pleaded with him desperately. “I don't want to die,” she stuttered. She knew she didn't have much time left, she could no longer move her back hooves at all.

“You stupid pony,” Briar finally spoke. “You clearly don't know your friend at all. You followed me blindly all the way here. I even gave you a clue as to what I am. Your friend went missing hours ago. Right into my swamp,” a cackle escaped him. “Do you know how many of your kind I've lead here before? Oh trust me, you're not the first.” The form of the green haired pony started to shift and warp. Eventually it came to its true form. A floating ball of silver flame hovered before Lyra.

Lyra's tears were now soaked with tears. The water was now covering the lower half of her flank. Her front was sinking as well, and was up to her chest. “Why, why would you do this?” she sobbed the words out.

“Why? Why, why indeed. Because your fear, your misery, it's such a delicacy. Your utter hopelessness at this very moment is so delicious how could I not do this to you. This whole time you've been teasing me with glints of fear, letting me know that you would taste absolutely divine if I could give you a slow and agonizing death. I will be here to listen to you scream for help even as you drown. Until your heart stops beating and your brain stops working I shall feast on your terror.” The featureless form of the silver flame split partially through the middle, giving a truly evil smile despite its physical limitations. “The best part of it all though, is that I get to use your friend's voice to do it all. To have your one source of comfort and hope in such a strange place, become your nightmare and death.”

Lyra shook her head in defiance, trying to gather her courage. As her tail was completely submersed in water and the water rose to the base of her neck, she shouted. “Briar! Help!” the cry was long. The echo bounced off of the trees, coming back to her. She gave several more shouts as the water rose up to her throat. The Will-o-wisp offered nothing but a cruel cackle at her misfortune and futile attempts to call for help.

“The best part about this whole thing is, right after you die. I'll go and find your friend, looking just like you. I'll lead him back to this very spot, and let him die as well. I wont even reveal myself to him. I'll let him die, thinking that you hate him. I may even lead him on a little. And thanks to you, I even know his name. I've spent enough time with you that I'll know exactly what to do and say so he wont have a single clue,” another cackle escaped the being.
> Day's End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Briar's ears perked as he sat on soggy grass covered bank. A sound beyond the idle chirp of crickets and croak of frogs was just barely audible. Curious, Briar listened intently. The sound came again but no less faint than the last time. He looked around at his surroundings. The nearest muddy island into the bog was less than six feet away. Even with his injuries, Briar felt confident he could make it. He scooted forward to the waters edge, looking at the pony skeletons and swallowing his fear.

He backed up to the mouth of the cave to get a running start and leaped to the island, he kept his injured hoof close to his chest. He landed sloppily, his legs starting to crumble underneath him and throw him into a roll forward. The roll ended with Briar on his back non to pleased at now being covered in mud.

The mud seeped into the shallow gashes and scratches that squeezing into the cave's cranny had created. The pain was a fresh reminder that he was hardly in the shape to be adventuring out into an unknown bog. Briar shook his head and sat upright on his haunches. He waited for the sound again. A few seconds passed and the sound reached his ears again. It was easier to recognize now. He wasn't sure what was being said, but he now realized it was Heartstrings.

In a fit of panic and worry Briar took to his hooves and made another jump to a nearby knoll. The concerned stallion continued jumping, each time failing to stick the landing properly. As he leaped through the bog he only stopped to listen and try to determine the direction of his companion.

In a brief moment of triumph Briar's hooves finally managed to land without slipping in the mud or getting stuck in the grass and falling forward onto his face. He was now on an island with a tree on it. The roots crawled over the edges of the grass and mud, sinking themselves into the bog. He took a few deep breaths. Lyra's voice was clear now, not only could he make out what she was saying, but she sounded very close.

“If I ever get out of this I'm going to see you banished!” she screamed, though at what Briar couldn't tell.

“That's the best part though isn't it? You wont get out of this. Even now you're still sinking. You're barely keeping your head above the rotten waters that flow through this place,” a mysterious voice Briar had never heard before spoke with malice and satisfaction.

Briar peaked his head around the trunk of the tree, spying a glowing ball of silver fire floating above a particularly large patch of grass sitting just above the water level. The ball of flame seemed to have a mouth permanently affixed in a smug and cruel smile. Briar ducked back behind his tree. He hadn't seen Lyra. He placed his good front hoof over his heart in his chest. It was thumping like a drum, but out of rhythm. He shook his head and peaked back around the corner.

Lyra's face was tilted skyward, barely above water. Her ears seemed to be the only thing not close to disappearing under the water completely. Her eyes were filled with anger and fear. It was clear by the discoloration still visible just under them that she had been crying. Her breathing was getting out of control as she started to gasp for oxygen trying to stave off the water that seemed to be rising around her.

Briar looked at himself one last time, then examined the gap between his current position and the island the silver flame was floating over. It was only twelve feet away. With enough of a running start he could have made it if he had all his legs, now though there was no chance.

“Please Celestia, let me make this jump.” He prayed quietly against the tree.

“Let me be of assistance dear.” A soft feminine voice came from overhead. Briar looked up, his horn glowing brightly. The tall tree that stretched upward to the canopy was offering its assistance. She sounded old and wise, but kind.

Thick muddy and gnarled roots rose from the bog creating a bridge between the two small landmasses. Briar cried a small tear of joy and walked out onto the bridge whispering a word of thanks to the tree as he crossed briskly.

“Briar!” a yelp of excitement and happiness escaped Lyra's mouth as the last of the sea-foam green pony disappeared under the water.





“Twilight, don't you think you should be resting?” Nurse Redheart fretted. Twilight stood next to the window in her hospital room. Her entire flank was drenched in sweat and colored sickly green. Her legs shook not wanting to hold her weight. Twilight's eyes were filled to the brim with the sadness of the setting sun.

“I'm worried, you know? Neither of those ponies have ever been to Zecora's. Plus, Briar seemed particularly scared when he left. I hope they're alright.” Twilight managed to walk back to her bed with Redheart's help.

“I don't really think it'll be a problem. Heartstrings is pretty smart, and Zecora's isn't that far in. They're probably already on their way back with the good news right now.” Redheart made an attempt to comfort her, but they both knew it was unlikely that a cure was that simple.

Twilight gave a loud wheezing cough that nearly knocked her out of her bed. Redheart quickly rushed to put Twilight's head gently against the pillow and stick a thermometer in her mouth. A cold towel was placed on her head a few moments later to cool her down. Twilight slowly closed her eyes for some much needed rest.

It was Redheart's turn to look out the window with a worried look. She feared the worst even if she outwardly was hoping for the best. Her patients were getting sicker, and the hospital was full, yet there were still ponies who needed to be seen. For now her colleagues were attending to them. Redheart heaved a heavy sigh as she passed through the door to Twilight's room, closing it behind her as she left. 

She walked down the white halls of the hospital to the filly's section. Seeing children usually made her happier, and right now she could use the mood booster. As she entered the wing, her mood became even more bitter and down, realizing that many of the fillies had been affected as well.

Pip, one of the younger colts got her attention by tugging gently on one of her front hooves. “Nurse Redheart, are you ok?” His question was innocent and filled with genuine concern. Redheart knew that if she was going to help people get better, she would have to have outward positivity, otherwise everypony would give up hope. She put on a smile and looked down at the white and brown spotted colt.

“Of course Pip. Everything is going to be fine.” She spent the next hour playing with the various younger ponies, helping them forget that some of them were dying. The time couldn't pass fast enough though, as everyone waited desperately for whatever miracle Heartstrings and Briar would bring back.





Briar panicked as Lyra vanished under the water. He charged the flame still limping. The flame danced out of the way and laughed at him. “Do you know how much of a bother you are. All my fun is ruined. You've given her hope. And now, I'm going to burn you to a crisp,” the flame's words were a hate filled spew of anger. They were quickly followed with a blast of silver flame.

Briar quickly ducked to avoid the jet of fire, only barely moving out of the way in time. His mane nearly caught fire as the jet flew off into the water not too far from where Lyra was holding her breath. The water boiled instantly and started to steam. Quickly mixing with the rest of the bog, the spot cooled down.

Another jet of flame came at him, and Briar rolled to the side as best he could. Without his fourth hoof, he couldn't readily jump to dodge. He scrambled to his hooves and made his way back to the bridge of roots. He backed out to the middle of it slowly. He misplaced a hoof and looked behind himself quickly, placing his hoof back on the bridge. The flame closed in on him out near the center of the bridge itself. Briar smiled, letting his back end slip off of the roots and into the swamp. The water splashed up into the air, quickly extinguishing the Will-o-wisp.

Briar used his forelegs to pull himself back onto the bridge of roots and quickly rush over to where bubbles were popping on the surface of the water. He tried reaching a hoof out into the water, but Lyra wasn't reaching back, and he couldn't reach her on his own. He scooted his front half out into the water, diving it below the surface, his hind legs and pelvic region flat against the ground. He wrapped his front hooves around Lyra's neck tugging as hard as he could. His hind legs sunk into the mud of the knoll and his back half shifted an inch closer to the water as he tried to pull both Lyra and his upper body to the surface.

Forced to come up for air Briar gasped loudly before diving his front half back in. The muddy water stung his eyes as he opened them to take a look around. The blurred environment barely let him see the mud built up around Lyra's body. Taking a moment to figure out what was going on, he realized he would have to dig her out.

His hooves desperately pushed the mud from around her chest and body. For every scoop he managed to push away another seemed to fill its place as mud shifted over and over again undoing the work he had done and stopping him from making progress.

Briar's horn began to glow brilliantly. “Hold still young one,” the soft and feminine voice of the tree echoed in his head. Roots wrapped around his stomach and chest, as well as digging into the mud around Lyra. In surprise Briar inhaled the pungent water.

Set upon the shore Briar coughed up the vile water and his mane sopped into his eyes..

“Hurry young one. I have no breath to give her,” the tree spoke again. 

Briar stumbled over to Lyra's limp body in the mud, still choking out his own water he was barely able to hold himself up next to her as he pried open her mouth, and placed his mouth over hers, giving her the air he had just barely collected for himself. He removed his mouth to take another breath, but before he went to give it to her again, Lyra began coughing up the water she had inhaled moments before.

Lyra was thrown into a coughing fit, as mud water, and bog weeds ejected from her throat and mouth, out onto the muddy slop she had been placed on. After a few moments of heaving, she looked herself over, still mid coughing fit. Everything seemed to be in tact. She flopped over onto her back, her eye lids heavy.

As soon as Lyra closed her eyelids, she felt a wet weight on her chest. She opened her eyes in surprise as Briar wrapped his hooves around her in embrace. She offered a smile to the canopy above them, and returned the hug. The hug felt minutes long but neither pony seemed to care. Once it was over and they separated Lyra was the first to speak. 

“Where were you?” she asked concerned as well as upset.

“I fell into a hole, I called for help but you didn't hear me I guess,” he gave his response regretfully.

“I'm sorry. I guess I didn't notice. The Will-o-wisp took your place, and pretended to be you. I should have noticed though. He never even used my name, or made any sort of mention of anything personal. He just agreed with whatever I said, or left me to make up the details.” Lyra let out a long sigh of disappointment.

“How'd you end up here?” Briar asked hesitantly.

“He lead me here to kill me. You?” She looked up at him inquisitively.

“The hole I fell into left me in some cave. The entrance happened to be on the other side of the bog.” He looked down at his hooves and started examining himself.

“Are you ok?” Lyra already seemed to be making a quick recovery despite her brush with death only moments before.

“I split my head, tore my hoof, gouged my belly, and was nearly set ablaze.” He rose to his hooves, pulling the injured one in close to his chest and shook himself off. “All of that considered, I think I'll be ok. Are you going to be alright?” For once Briar was going to try to play the tough stallion. He didn't want to mention that there was a giant snake that nearly ate him. “We'd be trashed and dead right now if not for this tree.” He said placing his hoof softly back on the wooden bridge.”

“Yeah I'll be alright. Neither of us are faring as bad as those back home. Let's just find Zecora's and get out of here.” Lyra turned towards where the light had been before and froze in terror. The light was gone.

Briar's voice finally brought her back from her daze. “Lyra, Lyra, Lyra you ok? You there?” She shook her head tears starting to form in her eyes.

“I just realized.,” she sniffled a few times. "We're completely lost," her voice cracked as tears started streaming from her eyes. She collapsed to the ground sobbing. Briar sat down on his hind quarters next to her and gently patted her mane. 

“It's ok, let's just rest here for a bit. We'll find our way in the morning ok?” Briar said as he looked around. Little more than the light of dusk was left. The two ponies scooted close to each other for warmth and lay down against the mushy grass.
> Final Push
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning wasn't exactly what Briar had expected when his eyes first shot open. His senses started connecting to his brain almost one by one. His vision began to come into focus, and the vile smell of the bog assaulted him. He went to move, assaulted with the pain of yesterday's wounds and the realization that something was holding him down. He shifted his neck and looked down the rest of his body, realizing that in the night he'd sunk slightly into the soft grass under him, and that Lyra had also suffered the same fate. He rolled over, prying his side from the muddy grass, and came to a full stand.

Sitting on his hind quarters Briar observed his surroundings. It was still fairly dark. He had no idea what time it was, the only indication that time existed was the small specks of light sneaking through the foliage of the canopy. He looked at Lyra who was still sleeping. A deep sigh escaped him as he peered around the rest of the mire. His stomach growled and his throat was try, begging him for water. Trying to ignore his body's requests for sustenance he lifted his forward right hoof to nudge Lyra awake. The moment he touched her, a sharp pain shot up his entire leg, causing him to wince and let out a light whimper. He pulled the hoof close to his face to inspect it. The bandages were soaked through with blood.

He unwrapped the gauze to look at his injuries. The wound that had been created by the fall yesterday was clearly infected. Gray puss oozed from the wound with each beat of the stallions heart. The puss was only the beginning though. Briar wiped off the puss to find that under it his tissue had started to blacken, and the flesh around the edges was a sickly green.

Worried he checked the rest of himself over. The scrape on his chest didn't appear to be severe. He couldn't tell if his horn was damaged, or if it was infected around the base, so he moved to try to wake Lyra again. This time he took his left hoof and nudged her gently. "Lyra, Lyra come on, we should go."

The mare rolled over still sleeping. Drool dribbled from her mouth and she muttered something incomprehensible. Still in a hushed tone he tried again. "Lyra, we have to get moving, we may have taken too long already."

"Mnn. I don't want to go back to school." Lyra continued to mutter small phrases in her sleep. Briar looked at her, saddened that he would have to be the one to wake her from her dreams into the horrible situation that reality seemed to be at the moment.

"Lyra It's really time for you to get up." He grew slightly impatient and raised his voice to normal levels. "Lyra get up."

The mare bolted up into a sitting position that didn't seem to fit a pony very well. "I'm awake!" she practically shouted. Her stomach immediately tried to set priorities by growling loud enough that they could both hear it. "What've we got for food?" She didn't seem the least bit phased to be in the bog. She scratched her stomach with a front hoof and took to standing.

"Not much I'm afraid. This was really only suppose to take a few hours. I think I still have two soggy sandwiches." He began to rifle through his pack until he pulled out what would have to be their breakfast. He passed one to her and they ate in silence, both peering around at the trees and bubbling bog.

Finished with his sandwich Briar was the first to speak. "If I had to venture a guess, I'd say we're likely not too far from where the forest makes the complete transition from trees to bog, and we just happen to be part that's still fairly wooded, early on in the transition."

Lyra nodded, taking a bite of her sopping daisy based breakfast. The flavor would have been pleasant if not for the waters of the mire and their contaminants. "So which way do we go."

"Well," Briar hesitated and took another glance around. "I'd like to say that way." He lifted a hoof to point. "The trees are thickest in that direction. We don't want to accidentally make it further into the bog, I've heard rumors of a hydra."

Lyra nodded. She seemed much quieter than yesterday, only offering a "Mnn," in response.

"Let's get moving." Briar stood up, lifting his right fore-foot to his chest and attempting to walk without it. Lyra stood as well, falling in close behind him. "Let's avoid yesterday's mistake. Get up next to me. I don't want either of us getting lost or separated." His voice seemed commanding, and as a result Lyra quickly came to his side, almost too close for comfort. 

As they made to limping through the bog, attempting to stay in as little water as possible, the tree behind them exhaled a deep and bellowing wish of fortune for them. Eventually coming to what was consistently dry ground Briar made another check around.

"What is it?" Lyra's interest had been piqued.

"It's nothing, could you um, wait here?" 

Lyra very quickly went from calm to fearful, to exploding with anger. "You want me to do what?! I'm not waiting anywhere! I don't care what the situation is, we're not separating even an inch while we're in this forest! I don't care what the circumstances!" To emphasize her point she practically slammed her side into his, taking a hoof and wrapping it over him, and pulling him tight to her. "I don't care." Her voice suddenly filled with sadness and dropped to nearly a whisper. "I don't want to get lost again. I don't anyone to die." Tears started to well up in her eyes and her voice started trembling. "This was supposed to be an easy trip, just to Zecora's house. And look at us. I was nearly killed by that... thing! You, you're hurt all over. Your hoof is injured and probably infected, your head too. Not to mention all the minor cuts and bruises that we both have. Plus you fell down that hole, who knows if you actually broke anything on the inside." By the end of her ramblings she had fully broken out into sobs and collapsed to her knees.

"Lyra, I... you're right." Briar straightened his posture, and stared at one of the trees. "Excuse me," his horn began to glow. His head was immediately assaulted with enough pain to force him to stop. He tried to shake the pain that seemed to be spreading from the base of his horn. He took a few deep and staggered breaths. Lyra's sobs had quieted and instead she was only sniffling. He focused again, trying to keep his mind through the pain. "Excuse me, could you direct me to the Zebra Zecora's house." As soon as he finished his sentence he let the hold on his magic go, 

To Lyra the whole situation sounded bizarre. Briar's lips moved, but no sound seemed to come out. Though as soon as he was done speaking, the trees seemed to shake in the wind around him. Odder still was that she felt no breeze.

"We should go this way," Briar said, motioning towards one of the larger trees. 

"How do you know?" She got to her hooves, her lips still trembling. She pulled herself close to him again, sticking by what she said before. 

"I err, I talk to plants, kinda." He started off in the direction he had pointed earlier, Lyra still determined to stay physically attached to him.

The two of them continued in the same direction for what felt like ages before coming into view of a little cottage in a tree, just off to the right. Briar motioned for Lyra to knock on the door. The resounding thump of her hoof quickly brought the denizen to open it.

The black and white mare opened the door to the two ponies and looked them up and down. 
"Oh dear, what a sight.
The two of you gave me a fright." A look of concern quickly washed over her.
"Unhealthy the two of you do look,
come on in, I have food to cook." She made a motion with her hoof, beckoning them into her hut.

The two ponies looked at each other, Lyra nodding to Briar before they entered. The decorations of the hut were frightening at first, but the numerous vials of liquid, brewing cauldron and odd smell seemed to give them hope. Shortly after sitting bowls with some manner of stew were placed in front of the pair.

"Tell me what brings you to my hut. 
What has made you bruised and cut?" The Zebra continued to speak in her carefully metered tone.

"We came to see if you had something that might help Ponyvile. It appears that," Briar paused to cough, "they've gotten into some trouble with this plant." He fetched the pulsating plant out of his bag, pushing it across the floor. 

"Ah, the Velnik plant of lore,
I have seen this plant before.
When ground to paste, and placed on head
it can turn your hair to red. 
When eaten or ingested see
you'll be glad you came to me." She gave a knowing smile.

"Eat up, eat up, my pony friends,
for this isn't where your journey ends."

The two ponies nodded and began to eat silently while the zebra looked around her hovel and shuffled through a few things.  After bringing a few things down onto the floor Zecora sat and waited patiently for the two to finish eating.

"The cure for that is one of smoke,
the plant you need is poison joke. 
I have some here, but just a bit.
some per pony you must get." The zebra pushed a few instruments into their bags.

The two nodded slowly, and gave thanks before leaving the shack, not having said much of anything the entire time. Once the door was shut behind them, they started off in the direction the zebra had pointed just before their leave. The poison joke wasn't hard to find, the distinctive coloring gave it away. Conveniently it was abundant on the path out of the forest. 





"Ms.Redheart, do you think they'll be back soon?" Pip asked the nurse. His voice was meek and pathetic, bringing a horrible feeling to Redheart's chest as she watched him in his hospital bed.

"Yes, I'm sure they will." She felt like she was lying through her teeth. Twilight had assured her that the two ponies sent to the forest would only be gone a few hours, but a whole day had passed and the patients were only getting worse. Even the most resilient, Big Macintosh had come down with bad symptoms, unable to work.

Redheart exited the room, once out of view of everypony else, she let her head and shoulders sink. The worry that seemed to fill her now was not only for her patients, but also for the two in the forest. It was unheard of for anyone other than the zebra who lived there to stay more than a few hours, let alone a night in the forest.

She wandered out into the waiting room, which had become another place for sick ponies to sleep in the over crowded hospital. Her mopey mood was shattered as the door flung open, a male nurse looking frantic. "Nurse Redheart, we need your help, they're back."

She rushed after the other pony, "What've we got?" she asked, her spirit restored as she quickly shifted mentally into 'nurse mode.'

"Two broken ribs, an infected and broken hoof, likely head trauma, and a few minor injuries." The two raced down the halls of the hospital to find a stretcher, the quickly outside to a desperate sea-foam green pony dragging a brown stallion on her back. They rushed to her aid, and quickly transferred the stallion onto the stretcher, carrying him into the building. Another nurse quickly went to the mare's side to ask her questions, but Redheart was determined in her job, to get the stallion to a doctor.

"What's your name?" She asked as she tried to keep the stallion awake. He continually shook his head, likely dizzy. His face looked like hell and he was covered in mud, twigs and leaves sticking from nearly everywhere. Once he was placed on an operating table a doctor came in.

"Great news, the mare says that she has the cure for everyone here." The doctor, a blue mare with a silver mane, quickly began to clean the stallion off. "You did a great job buddy. Just hang in there until we can get you fixed up.







Briar drifted into consciousness, but his eyes refused to open.

"It looks like he'll make it." The unfamiliar voice of a mare drifted into his ears. He tried to move but wasn't able to. His hooves felt has heavy as boulders, and he couldn't feel his chest. He concentrated on the beat of his heart to make sure he was still alive.

"Yes, and the others?" The voice of another mare he wasn't familiar with.

"They'll be fine, most are already showing signs of improvement." If Briar had been able to smile he would have, but his lips refused to move, like they were pinned in place.

"What about his leg?" It was the second voice again.

"Sadly we'll have to amputate it. The infection is spreading, and its already killed a lot more tissue that it looks like. A lot of the decay is under the skin." Briar started to fill with panic he wanted to open his eyes and thrash about but he was immobilized by something.

"And his horn?"

"It should be fine, there will be scaring, but we'll be able to patch it all up." Briar could feel himself breathing heavily, but drowsiness grasped him and he fell again into unconsciousness. 







"Briar? Briar come on, get up." Lyra's voice rang in Briar's ear. He slowly opened his eyes. The bright light of the room felt blinding, but he refused to shut his eyes again. Finally dilating properly, Lyra came into view. "I'm so glad you're awake. When you collapsed just outside the forest, I was so worried."

"Am I in the hospital." The question escaped his lips, but he didn't feel like he had really asked it.

"Yes." Lyra nodded, and a smile displayed across her face.

"How long?" Another question that made it feel like someone else was in control.

"Thirteen days. But it's no surprise, you were a lot more hurt than we realized."

"Celestia in Canterlot, that's a long time." He took a deep breath. "Lyra, is it gone?" He hadn't moved his head since opening his eyes. Lyra's head bobbed up and down. "How bad is it?"

Her face looked puzzled for a moment as she stopped to ponder. "It's not so bad. Doctor says you'll learn to walk without it." She seemed to be relaxed. The sun shining through the window played across the far wall keeping Briar's attention for a few minutes.

"I'll go tell the others you're awake. They'll want to know." Lyra hopped to the floor from her awkward looking sitting position in the chair. Briar tried to raise his hoof in protest, but was quickly reminded of his new situation.

Once she was out of the room, he wondered aloud. "Others?" He looked around the room to find the nightstand littered with dozens of well wishing cards, and a few deflated balloons. The next few moments seemed like a blur and before he knew it, there were nine other ponies crowded around his hospital bed.

"Now careful y'all, don't crowd in too tight." He smiled at the voice of Ponyville's apple farmer, scanning the faces to find hers. He easily located her with her hat among the crowd.

"Hey AppleJack."

"Well don't go forgetting everyone else now." The orange pony smiled and motioned to the rest of the ponies in the room. Each of them gave their greeting, before the room fell silent. Briar looked around at each of their faces. Apple Jack, Rarity, a light blue pegasus with rainbow mane, Pinkie, Twilight, Lyra, Fluttershy, Nurse Redheart,  and a pony he guessed was the doctor. He smiled warmly.

"Thanks for coming by guys."

"No, thank you darling. You saved us from my dreadful mistake." Rarity spoke up, she looked a bit embarrassed but still sincere.

"It could have been anypony."

"Perhaps, but it wasn't. It was you. And you gave a lot up to make it happen. I don't know many others that would have gone through all of that to help anypony." Twilight stepped forward this time. 

"Alright, that's enough everypony. Time to get out. You can come back to see him later." The doctor started pushing the others out of the room, leaving just Lyra and Briar again.

"Thanks Lyra. I wouldn't have survived out there if you hadn't been there." He smiled.

Lyra seemed less pleased though. "That's not true. I didn't do anything but carry you back to town, you would have made it here somehow." She stared at the ground.

"Not at all, if not for you, I would have fallen into the hole, probably curled up and died." She stayed quiet for a long moment. "So do you think they'll let me out of here?" Her ears twitched in response and she looked up at him as he rolled over and out of the bed, falling onto his face, being unable to catch himself without his missing hoof.

"Oh, no you should get back in bed."

"Nope, I've been there thirteen days too long, wait any longer and I'll get fat." He pushed himself up off the ground coming to a full stand. He made his way to the door, walking awkwardly out of it.