//------------------------------// // Lesson 8: Wonderland // Story: Bright Green Monster Realm, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Undeath // by ArtieStroke //------------------------------// Won-der-land ˈ\ˈwən-dər-land\ n. A monster realm subtype, governed by the lilim known as the Queen of Hearts. It is home to many unique mutations of mamono, including rare forms of draconic, mycellic, and feline monsterisations. Twilight and Spike both shuddered as the darkness of the Everfree enveloped their group. Logically, Twilight knew that, while magically active, there wasn't anything in particular to be afraid of about the forest itself. It was just a geological anomaly of magic, nothing more. The thought did nothing to stop her heart from almost beating again in fear. There was something about the atmosphere that just felt wrong. "So, any of you hear the stories about the Everfree?" Dash said, stepping lightly between them. Spike shook his head, while Twilight frowned. "Only a little bit of hear-say, honestly." Dash grinned, sharp teeth glinting in what little of the setting sun passed through the treetops, "Yeah, I'm not surprised. Not a lot of stories about the Everfree..." She walked backwards in front of them, wiggling the single digits on her wings to maximize the spook factor of her story. "Because you can't get any stories... if there's no one alive to tell them!" A whimper came from the back of the party, as Dash suddenly straightened up and peered over Twilight's shoulders; worry covered her face as she flitted off the ground and flew to the back of the group. "Aww, no- Fluttershy not like that! I was just- it's made up! I was just doing a bit, please don't cry!" Rarity and Applejack sighed in unison- Rarity blinked, frowning at the fact that she and Applejack agreed on something for once. "Maybe we should, uh, save the scary stories for when we're NOT in the middle of Evil McMurder Forest, huh?" Spike said, tugging at the hood of his jacket. There was a general murmur of agreement. "Yeah, scary stories can be fun, but boy this place gives ya the heebie-jeebies even without 'em!" Pinkie said, popping up next to Twilight, who nodded in agreement. One second passed, and then Twilight screamed. "WHO- WHAT- WHERE!?!" "When AND why!" Pinkie responded, pink and magenta striped tail swishing behind her as she winked and did a cute pose. Spike grabbed at his chest, willing his heart to calm down, and Applejack reared back and whinnied. "Pinkie, what are you doing here." Rainbow Dash asked flatly, earning snort from the bouncy girl. "Uhhhhhhhhhh, my job? You're in a weird forest! You don't know where you're going! That's like, Cheshire Cat responsibilities 101!" "You know what, fair. Asked and answered." Twilight turned to Dash, clearly exasperated with one finger pointing at the offending newcomer, "WHO?" Dash rolled her eyes, "It's just Pinkie Pie- she lives in town, works at the bakery. Party stuff? I think?" Pinkie nodded as she slung an arm around Dash's shoulders, clearly ignoring the laws of object permanence by being not where she was one second earlier. "Yup, that's me! Nailed it in one!" She nodded, grinning from ear to ear before slowly vanishing from sight. Up ahead, she popped out from behind a tree. "You guys coming or what?" The rest of the group continued onward, except for Twilight, who stood in one place, face contorted in a mix of anger and confusion. "What!?" "Come on, Twilight, we've got important things to take care of," Spike said, tugging at the sleeve of her robes. Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Twilight straightened up, turned on her heel, and continued marching forward. Spike looked after her for a moment, worried about her mental well-being, before turning to Sunset. "So... nothing?" Sunset shrugged, "If she gets on that zombie's nerves, she's fine by me." "Of course." "River's up ahead!" Rainbow called, landing back on the ground from scouting ahead. Twilight nodded. "And if we follow it, we might find this witch?" Dash nodded, "My money's on it, anyways. It can't be a coincidence- weird magic shit in the town? Kids disappearing?" She punched her 'fist' into the other 'palm', "There's some shady fuckery going on, and I'll bet she's at the heart of it." "Sooooooooo are we thinking evil enchantress with trances and dances type witch orrrrrrrrr?" Pinkie asked, hopping onto a fallen log and immediately going criss-cross-applesauce. "It's... a possibility," Twilight said, choosing her words carefully as she gave Pinkie a wary look, "But I still don't think jumping to conclusions is the wisest choice here. No one's got an actual look at her, right?" Rainbow frowned, looking away and scuffing the forest floor. Applejack shrugged, and Rarity shook her head, "No, can't say anyone has." Twilight nodded, "Alright, so let's show a little restraint." Pushing onward, Twilight led the group through a dense copse of trees, narrowing the path to nearly single file. The group huddled together closely, and Spike slipped an arm around Twilight's. "Anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?" A shudder of fear passed over the group, before Pinkie leap-frogged over Spike. "All the time! But look at this guy- he's got a moustache!" she said, hanging off of one tree and grabbing the leaves from one branch and shaking them. Her voice dropped a couple octaves. "Don't be scared of me, I'm just off to the tree barber!" "I think we prefer the term 'pruning'," Fluttershy giggled, putting a hand to her mouth as Pinkie's grin widened. "See? I knew branching out into plant based humor would pay off!" Everyone groaned, Sunset in particular yelling "That was bad and you should feel bad!", as the group finally emerged from the tighter woods into a small clearing- a babbling brook, just a few yards ahead, lined on both sides with bright blue flowers. Twilight let out a breath- out of habit more than anything else- before stepping up and placing her pack near a rock. "Alright, it's nearly dark- we should probably take a short break before continuing on." "Finally!" Spike said, flopping onto the ground. Twilight rolled her eyes. "What happened to the strapping young adventurer, ready to go face evil back in Canterlot?" "He died and became a tired, grumpy kid who's been walking all day," Spike retorted. Twilight laughed. "Alright, rest up hero- we're back on the road in thirty minutes." 'Just five more minutes. Just five more minutes and we're back on the road, and you can focus on the mission, just stop thinking about it, focus on the mission.' Twilight was starting to think she was getting better at hiding the white-knuckled grip on her book, when Pinkie's face popped up from above. "So, how long have you been dead?" Twilight yelped, flailing as she fell off the small rock she was sitting on. Pinkie hopped up. "Because ya don't seem all too bothered about it and mopey, so I was thinking 'Oh, she's probably been dead for a while and dealt with the existential horror of undead immortality by now'- buuuuuut you're also SUPER jumpy and you do the breathing stuff still, so maybe you're just getting used to it? But also-" "It's just been a few days!" Twilight called out, shakily rising to her feet. She felt hot- that was weird, she really shouldn't be feeling any which way. A ragged breath escaped her, and she shut her book before jamming it into her pack. "Alright, I'm ready to get going, let's move!" She said, straining to keep a straight face. It was getting worse, and at an alarming rate- immediately, Twilight regretted acknowledging that, shutting her eyes and taking every ounce of willpower to force her focus. "Twilight, are you sure? You're... really not looking so great right now," Spike said, putting a hand on her arm. The touch was like electricity to her, and she jumped back- everyone stared. "It's- I just- I... the woods! It's just these creepy woods getting to me a little, okay? I'm just a little scared!" "God, you're such a wuss," Sunset said, crossing her arms, "Talking such a big game with that big stick of academia up your ass, but the moment a real challenge shows up, you just roll over and..." Sunset's eyes widened, gears clicking into place as her jaw went slack. "No- you wouldn't- oh my god, you fucking IDIOT!" she shouted, marching over to her as one fist ignited. Dash shouted, taking a move to step between the two but Sunset barreled past, pointing a flaming finger at Twilight. "You absolute fucking moron, you've been trying to SUPPRESS that this whole time!? You monsterized less than a week ago and haven't taken in any Spirit Energy at all, are you trying to get yourself killed?!" A collective gasp emanated from the girls, and Twilight shrank back. "I just- there's been no t-time, I can't-" "Can't what, find someone to let off steam with so you don't turn into a mindless, dick-hungry shambler!?" "Oh, like you're one to talk about irresponsibility, you're a LITERAL demon!" "THIS ISN'T ABOUT-" Their shouting match was cut short by the sounds of crunching twigs, heavy panting, and a low growl. Immediately, all eyes were on the forest line, as a large shadowy figure crept forward. Yellow eyes glowed in the darkness, and a rattling noise accompanied the dripping, barbed tail as it snaked forward ahead of the rest of the figure. Soon enough, the musclebound manticore stepped out of the woods, licking her chops as she stared, almost blankly, at the group. And with a single roar, she pounced.