//------------------------------// // The Curious One // Story: Cold Scales // by Konatra //------------------------------// Once again Spines found herself miles into the Everfree. With no real destination, she kept onward as the taint on her body continued to spread inch by inch. At this point, she was almost fully black by the taint but even still her determination forced her to move further in the cursed forest as it got darker and less navigational every mile. Spines cupped her claws together in a mock bullhorn. "Hello! Whiteface guy! ...are you there!?" She had been doing this for some time, at first she was worried something like the nightmare would attack her but now since her body was growing more corrupt she decided finding the white face man was far more important. The wood of the trees became grayer and grayer the further she went and the leaves were a dark red she thought almost looked like blood. Grass became scarce if at all and all the usual wildlife was reduced to scavenging birds. She was glad she could grab her weapons and strip down to nothing again at Butterscotch's cottage without him seeing her condition. While she wished she could explain this to anyone of her closest friends she knew that would cause problems she felt would waste her time before she was fully tainted. So far nothing of interest or even any hostile creatures came to her. It was almost as if the terrors were avoiding her, that and she really was not certain why going deeper into uncharted territory seemed like the best plan, the white face man was not this far in yet something inside her pulled her to the heart of the forest for some reason. A bit further in and Spines noticed how the color all around her began to return, yet it was not the natural greens and yellows but a sharp purple and blue. The grass purple and the trees a pulsing blue. The bark of the trees grew tumor-like boils that had a cyan-like gel slowly dripping out from them. The grass seemed to feed on this gel when it hit the ground. Just looking at it made her headache and eyes feel red. She couldn't stand to look at it for long without feeling sick. "What the hell is this place?" Nothing in anything she or Dusk had read ever mentioned something like this. The feeling in her chest grew again, some kind of balance between pain and illness. It drove her forward somehow. "I need to find it...whatever it is..." A screeching noise pierced her ears which frightened her. Looking further she saw a sight that made her heart quiver. At least nine nightmares were rushing to her with killer intent. Before she could run she felt another sensation overpower the illness. This one felt more primal and more in her blood than centered in her chest. For a second she felt as if the two sensations were battling each other for dominance over her body. One thing told her to fight and the other to embrace her fate. Yet before she could choose which feeling to act on a black tendril wrapped around her waist and another around her face and legs. "HM!?" Her vision and voice muffled all she could do was scream and hear the noise of slicing and demonic screaming. In a moment the noises her silenced and more of the binding tendrils encompassed her. She was lifted with no effort and rushed off in an unknown direction. Whatever held her moved fast and agile and she could swear feeling arms around her. Somehow the speed increased the longer she was held and her entire sense of direction proved useless. ___ A hazy amount of time passed and Spines continued to fear for her life. The tendrils tightened around more every few moments so Spines was left unable to bring out any of her tremendous strength. She wondered if she would die by being slowly crushed, the thought caused her to trash around much more. She felt a smaller tendril snake up her body and stop when it reached her neck it suddenly and without resistance, pierced through her scales and into her neck. With no pain, she blacked out once more. ___ Slowly reality came back together. She was no longer bound, instead she was lying down in what she could assume was a patch of soft leaves inside a cave that would be pitch black if not for the few holes that let beams of light in. She studied her surroundings and saw how the cave felt warm and somewhat cozy. She smelled wet dirt and old dust. It took her a second to notice the white face creature sitting several feet across from her. "Ah!" Spines yelped and dragged herself back into a log, she tried to think of a way to escape but stopped when she noticed the creature wasn't moving to her. She held her breath and felt her heartbeat in her ears. She was terrified but at the same time, she felt calm. Just like last time this creature had no face except for vague outlines that made out imprints of where eyes could be. Its entire body was the color of white ash and no features she could relate to a normal being. Slowly, Spines began to breathe again. It seemed to be looking at her with interest as it tilted its head to meet her gaze. She thought about her options but remembered that this is exactly what she was searching for. With a gulp, Spines spoke. "H-hello..." It made no motions. "...I came out here to see you again..." Nothing. They stared at each other to the point where Spines's fear was replaced with curiosity. "I think you can help me." She pointed to her chest. "I think I'm sick from that monster you killed..." This time the creature seemed interested in her words. From behind its back, a tendril pulled out one of the books she took with her. It was a simple dictionary but Spines thought she could maybe teach the creature some words if able. It moved the book close to her and opened the first few pages that showed the alphabet. Confused, Spines tilted her head. "I'm sorry, but what do you want from me?" The holding tendril pointed at the first letter. "A?" She asked even more confused. When she spoke the letter the tendril moved to the next. "...B?" Then the next. She understood what it wanted and spoke out every letter clearly. After that it made a nod and moved the book near its face. In a sudden flurry several tendrils popped out and flipped each page rapidly, it scanned each page in only a moment, and in less than a minute the whole book was read. Slowly it placed the book down and moved toward her. Spines' blood ran cold as it stopped only inches away from her face, she could feel it scanning her intently with a lot of interest. A very tense silence lasted for some time while Spines dared not move a muscle in fear of a violent reaction, the only noise was the ringing in her ears. Then for no particular reason, it tilted its head and spoke. "Mmost curious...." Spines gasped in reflex and shuddered. The voice was cold, almost as if the words themselves were made of ice. While the voice had no obvious gender in it she opted to think of it as male since there was a sharp tone to him. He crouched down and stared at her belly where the corruption spread. "...Bllight..." He sounded angry. Once again the tormented dragon forced out her mind. "Please, I don't know what this is and I think you might be able to help me..." She said firmly but inside she was falling apart. It stared at her some more. "...yesss...help." Without any buildup, he plunged a few tendrils into the center of the infection. While Spines was shocked she didn't feel pain. In a few moments, the black taint on her scales receded back to the center of her stomach, only leaving a thin black sliver. The man took out the tendrils and sat back on the log and resumed looking at her. "Cuured." was all he muttered. Even with a voice she saw no movement in his mouth area. She couldn't guess where the noise was coming from. Slowly Spines got up, she felt weak but mostly normal. "...Thank you...umm....what is your name?" She wanted to know at least that much about the mysterious man. It stared for far longer this time. Spines almost grew used to it at this rate. "Losst." It seemed to whisper. "What is lost?" "Lossst name...fforgotten." He pointed to his head. "Broken...fragmented...misssing." Spines scooted closer as she began to feel like she wasn't in any danger from this man. "Taken." He concluded with an agitated huff. Spines was very interested now in this creature. "Can I maybe help you find what you lost?" She asked before even thinking about the possible consequences. He tilted his head once more for a second and stood up to his full height. "Yess. Home...follow you home." He pointed over her head. "Neeed more woords." He pushed the dictionary into her claws while pointing at it rapidly. "You want more books?" He nodded and pointed over her head again. She assumed that was the direction back home. While she felt fear of the unknown and how Ponyville might react to the strange man, Spines knew that she had to at least do something for him as he already saved her life twice. She felt confident he would not hurt anybody innocent. "Okay. Follow me I guess." With a semi-confident step, Spines and the mysterious man headed for Ponyville.