//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - Preparing for Revulsion // Story: The Mare that eats The Monsters // by Skijarama //------------------------------// After a long, tense silence and an amazing bowl of soup, Twilight was soon following Drifter out of the inn and towards the old well that had been previously mentioned. Drifter had a frown on her face that made Twilight very uneasy. When they reached the well, Drifter descended it without even bothering with the rope. Twilight heard the impact with the stone ground echoing back up, wincing as she realized she would probably break her legs from a fall like that if she went that fast. Making use of her wings and some help from the rope, Twilight made her way down and was soon in the cavern itself. A frozen, chemically colored water pool dominated half of the cavern’s large floor area. What sunlight there was seeping through the well touched the ice and was split into a rainbow-like kaleidoscope of colors, filling the pool and also illuminating the entire cavern in a gentle, hue-shifting glow. Drifter had made use of wood and stone to throw together a sturdy set of walls, though a roof was nowhere to be seen. Following Drifter once more, Twilight entered into the space surrounded by the walls and couldn’t help but gasp softly in awe at just how much stuff was in here. There were weapons of all kinds, armor of all weights and potions of all types and strength. Numerous wooden supply boxes and barrels rested against the back wall and a makeshift oven stood over a central fireplace. “There are a few sheets of parchment and a quill over there. Go ahead and write to your friends then find a weapon and some armor.” Drifter instructed simply as she herself went to the armor stands, looking through them for a specific suit it would seem. “Oh, okay…” Twilight said uneasily at the dark and serious tone Drifter had so abruptly assumed. Without another word, she pulled a sheet of parchment and a quill from their place on a work desk and began to write down a quick message. I’m fine, just rattled. I was lucky and got rescued by the very mare I came here to meet. We’re based in Little Lapis right now, so head there. Twilight paused before glancing back to Drifter. “Hey, Drifter?” “What?” “Do we have enough time to wait for my friends to get here?” Twilight asked, immediately flinching away at the look Drifter shot back at her. “I’m sorry, but no. The garden will only grow, and the rate at which it grows increases the longer we take. We do this now or not at all.” Twilight nodded and sighed heavily. “Okay… I’m deferring to your judgement on this.” “Good.” After a moment of silence, Twilight returned to her letter. With any luck, Drifter and I should be done with the garden by the time you get here. Try to stay out of trouble and be careful. If you see a pony you don’t know, make sure to keep an eye out for sharp teeth. If you find one, evade it if possible. If it finds you- Twilight cringed and visibly grimaced at what she had to write down next. If it finds you first, kill it before it kills you. With a dejected huff, she cast the spell that sent the letter to Spike before looking back to Drifter. She was now wearing a suit of darkened armor, made of Naga scales it looked like. Thick, strong but very flexible. It was the sort of material used to coat the inside of the armor of royal guards back in Canterlot. “A weapon and armor, Twilight.” Drifter reminded firmly. Twilight winced as she was reminded of Drifter’s fiend origins as she extended her claws on one hoof, using the other to run a whetstone over each of the long blades. “What are we expecting to see there…? In the garden, I mean.” Twilight asked hesitantly as she began to look for something warm and lightweight that would still offer decent protection. Drifter paused before letting out a long sigh. “It’s… we’re going to see everything I despise in the fiends. It’s abhorrent, revolting and disgusting on every possible level. Even after helping me with them dozens of times, I still remember the disturbed and disgusted expression Princess Celestia wore the last time we dealt with one together.” she looked at Twilight as though she pitied her. “It’s not a sight that gets any better, no matter how often you deal with it. You simply… learn to ignore it.” Twilight gulped audibly at the description. “Ah… so, I should probably consider bringing a barf bag, I guess?” she tried to joke, but the sour narrowing of Drifter’s eyes immediately silenced her. “Twilight, I take this very seriously. I suggest you do, too. There’s going to be a lot of newly born Fiends waiting for us and until you dispel the enchantment, more will keep coming. It’s going to be an absolute nightmare. Just be ready…” “Uh… right.” The next several minutes were spent in relative silence as Drifter continued sharpening the claws on each of her hooves. Twilight continued looking for armor that would keep her protected but also able to move freely. Eventually, she settled on armor made from thickly woven cloth and studded with metal points in a pattern across the surface, growing thicker in more exposed areas. Now, she just needed a weapon. She eventually settled on a saber. The curved blade was well maintained and finely crafted. It felt good in her magic and had just enough weight in the blade to make slicing movements far easier while leaving it light enough to easily and quickly maneuver. It’s shape gave it a natural grace in the air. Drifter retracted the claws on her left hind leg as she finished with her whetstone and nodded to Twilight. “Are you ready?” “As I’m going to be…” Twilight replied, although she felt anything but ready for what was coming. “I hope so. Let’s go; follow my lead and be as careful as you can.” Drifter said before taking to the air with a flap of her wings and making for the well. Twilight steeled herself and followed swiftly. “How much further?” Spike asked tiredly from the corner of the balloon, curling up and shivering slightly from the cold air of the snow and high altitude. “Ah dunno, Spike. We’re not gettin’ there today though, Ah reckon.” Applejack replied with a grimace of frustration on her face. “Rainbow!” Rarity called out to the prismatic pegasus pulling them along. “How are you holding up, darling? Do you need a rest?” “Urgh, I’m fine!” Rainbow called back with strain in her voice. Rarity glanced back at Applejack and sagged slightly. “She’s not fine, is she?” “Nah, she ain’t. She’s wearin’ herself ragged. She needs rest... Ah think we could all use a bit more rest, honestly…” Applejack answered, her own exhaustion showing through somewhat. None of them had slept well, if at all, the previous night, the disturbing images of the train appearing whenever they closed their eyes. “I can hear you, ya know!” Rainbow said irritably, glancing back at them with a frown. “Then set this puppy down and let’s ah’ll get a bit more rest.” Applejack shot back, earning a snort from Rainbow Dash. “No! I’m not stopping until we get there!” “We won’t get there at all if ya keel over from exhaustion!” Applejack said, trying to be the voice of reason. Fluttershy, from where she sat gazing aimlessly over the snowy landscape beneath them, suddenly perked up a bit. “Oh, a bird?” “I’m tougher than that, Applejack!” Rainbow retorted, much to everypony else's displeasure. “Rainbow, please…” Rarity tried carefully. “You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep this up. If nothing else, slow down and let your stamina recharge.” “I’ve never seen a bird like that…” “I’m. Fine.” Rainbow insisted through grit teeth. “Look out!” Pinkie shouted, prompting Rainbow to look and then duck as a truly bizarre creature shot past her on massive, bat-like wings. “What the hay?!” Rainbow barked in alarm, swerving to pull herself and the balloon away from it. The creature now regarded them curiously, hovering and following at a steady distance. It’s eyes were not clearly visible on its elongated, pony-like head. Instead of a muzzle, it had a long, proboscis like beak that expanded and contracted very slightly, but very rapidly as if breathing. Its body was short and thin with elongated and distorted pony legs curled up and tucked into its underside to increase its velocity and aerodynamics. “Shoo! Get gone, ya… crazy, hummingbird-pony lookin’ varmint, you!” Applejack snapped at it, waving her forelegs at it and trying to make herself look big. The creature tilted its head at Applejack, it’s proboscis quivering on it’s face for a moment before it began to drift closer, easily keeping pace with the tired and weighed down Rainbow Dash. “Stay away, Ah’m warnin’ you!” The creature stopped just out of Applejacks reach and regarded the entire group with a contemplative look. After a moment, it looked up at the balloon before flying up and stabbing its beak into the side of it. “Ponyfeathers!” Applejack shouted in alarm as the balloon began to deflate and be forced to the side as a result of the air leaving it so quickly. “Woah! Hold on to something!!” Rainbow called as she tried to course correct their descent. If possible, she would turn it from a catastrophic crash to an aggravating one. Everypony did as instructed, grabbing the nearest thing they could. Applejack and Pinkie wrapped their forelegs around the sides of the basket, Rarity held onto the pulled rope along with Fluttershy and Spike held onto Rarity’s hind leg. The resulting impact with the snow-smothered ground was enough to throw everypony from the basket, sprawling into the cold environment in a dizzied daze. The creature looked at them from its place overhead, its beak quivering again as if it were thinking about following them to finish them off. It suddenly turned its head to the side, gazing deeper into the mountains. Rainbow, as she began to stand up, could have sworn she heard it mutter “But I haven’t eaten yet! ...Fine, father.” in a whistling, hollow voice before darting off into the snowy haze. “Ugh, Everypony okay?” Rainbow groaned out as she shook off her dizziness and looked back to her friends. “I think so.” Fluttershy said meekly as she, too, began to rise to her hooves. Rarity was the next to rise, a still thoroughly dazed Spike sliding off of her leg and into the snow with a soft thump. “Goodness me, whatever was that thing?” Rarity asked as she looked up to where it had once been. “It’s nothing like what I’ve ever seen.” “Or me, and I know about all kinds of animals…” Fluttershy said uneasily, looking up as well. “Well, whatever that varmint was, it ruined our ride!” Applejack remarked as she pulled herself up, brushing some snow out of her hat with a hoof. “This is gonna slow us down…” “Can we fix the balloon?” Spike finally managed to ask in a jittering voice. Everypony looked at the hole to determine if it would be possible. “I’m afraid not, not without more of the same material it was made of and some tools.” Rarity commented as she looked over the damage. Rainbow grumbled, lazily kicking the side of the balloon itself. “Oh… well, now what?” Spike asked as he looked around. “I can try to make rudimentary scarfs, socks or other pieces of clothing to keep us warm out here.” Rarity suggested as she looked over the material thoughtfully. “It’s thin but strong. Should keep us warm at least if I can make it work.” “Alright, so let’s go find ourselves some shelter and get a start on that.” Applejack said with a tired sag, the adrenaline wearing off. “Come on, gals. Let’s get our stuff and go.” As soon as Applejack finished saying that, Spike clutched at his belly before belching, a green torrent of flame turning into a simply bound scroll. Ignoring his complaining stomach, Spike immediately pulled the note from the air and unrolled it, studying the contents as everypony gathered around. “Is it from Twi?” Applejack asked. “Is she alright?” Rainbow followed. “Do I need to bring my party canon?!” Pinkie asked loudly, drawing weird looks from everypony else. Her mane had poofed up again, even if only very slightly. “What?” “She’s fine, everypony. Seems she got rescued and is based out of Little Lapis with somepony named Moonrise Drifter.” Spike said with immense relief in his voice. “She says she’ll meet us there.” “Good! Let’s go!” Rainbow said enthusiastically before starting to fly away. “Hold up, RD!” Applejack called after her, making her stop. “Remember, we aren’t as fast as ya, and this here cold’s gonna start taking a serious toll if we don’t get to some shelter and keep warm.” Rainbow grumbled. “Fine…” “There’s still something in this that I don’t get…” Spike muttered as he looked over the letter again. Everypony looked up at him curiously. “What is it, Spike?” Fluttershy asked uneasily. “What does Twilight mean by ‘garden’?”