“So...” She had to blink. That’s what she had to do because what was in front of her was so out of her expectations for the world that she was not sure how to react. She blinked once again, trying to get her mind back on track, but right now she had a little bit of problem with that. First, not only what she was seeing made her logical mind just quit, the one that she had trained since she arrived at Earth, but also the magical part of her mind was completely dumbfounded by the walking piece of grass and bark that she could see in the distance.
The fact that something that was moving that shouldn’t be moving was not the most incredible thing in existence for someone that used to be a unicorn in a past life, but the whole thing was so ridiculous she didn’t know what to think at the moment. Magic allowed great things in Equestria, but to think there was a walking freaking tree guarding the entrance to some kind of forest was enough for Sunset to question the magic of Lordran.
Magic had rules, it always had, like fire. In both worlds with Pyromancy, the two were linked to emotions, which was probably a reason why she was so good at it no matter the place, but it was something else to think that a tree was able to walk around as if it owned the place. Although, now that she thought about it, maybe it was the owner considering how little people actually exist around Lordran anyway.
“So?”
“That’s a tree. What’s a fu-freaking tree doing in a place like this?”
“I was under the assumption that trees liked forests.” She expected a joke like that from the woman at her side, but the fact that it was uttered by the jovial knight behind them, it was the perfect mixture of strangeness alongside the tree that it made Madeleine outright laugh aloud so hard that she had to hold her stomach. “Sorry for the answer. I don’t have many opportunities for tomfoolery like this one, but to be sincerer this time, I admit that creatures like this are quite the mystery.”
“It’s just that, I’ve never seen or heard of magic enchantments or anything like that that could bring trees to life. Flowers yes, but not to the point where trees will simply stand up and walk away!”
“I swear, being with you guys is never dull.” Madeleine finally composed herself while with one armored hand she removed tears that had accumulated on her eyes. “But think about it Sunset. Magic is everywhere in this place, can you feel it?” she asked and Sunset had to nod at what the other woman had said. After all, just feeling the power that emanated from deep inside the supposed forest was enough to pull at her. “It’s not going too far to think that the same magic that is circulating everywhere could slip into the very same land and, I don’t know, change it? Wake it up? Mutate it into a being that can know defend itself? Like this thing is apparently going to do.” As the woman finished her speech she had time to roll away from the imminent danger thanks to an overgrown bush that sent a vine in Sunset’s direction as if it were a proper whip.
The redheaded warrior barely had time to raise her shield and was surprised by the way in which she barely moved. So far, she had been the target of many creatures and although she could withstand the damage induced to her thanks to her shield, she never escaped unscathed. Sometimes she got hit so hard that her arm would be bruised if she was still alive, other times she was sent flying. It was a new experience for her to not only block the attack, but not feel much in terms of pressure or even much pain. Sure, she felt the force behind such attack, but the armor was doing its job so she was thankful for that.
While she was busy being the proverbial rock, Solaire had no problem taking advantage of the way in which the Tree had been stunned after hitting something as hard Sunset’s shield, and with no real fanfare, he simply hacked the tree, sending leaves and some kind of green sap flying through the air, splashing against the ground. Then the tree, which seemed to go back to being an immobile object, simply fell backwards into a small puddle of water.
Checking the trees and observing that the tree was indeed dead, just not in the way Sunset expected of a tree, they decided not to look too much into the whole vegetation acting like an animal stuff. No matter how much Sunset’s mind wanted to crack open the whole mystery, she decided to leave as ‘it’s magic fault’ and keep on looking for… well, she wasn’t sure what, but she knew that whatever she was looking for will soon find her. That was the kind of luck that she had in this place really.
Still, as she walked across the dangerously small pathway, she was amazed at the vegetation that had been able to grow underneath such a place. She had been an avid visitor of the garden located at Canterlot Castle, but it was under great care and brilliant light that flowers and trees could grow like that. This, this was truly something else.
It was dark, no surprise considering this whole place was underground for what Sunset could see, but it was nice and cozy in a certain way, with fungus and some flowers being able of bioluminescence, creating an atmosphere of otherworldliness that Sunset wasn’t sure it could be replicated elsewhere. All of her thoughts about the beautiful forest were quickly stopped by one strange thing happening close to them, something that maybe she should have expected, the sound of a hollow. It was bizarre, mostly because she hasn’t found other undead since she fought the gargoyles, but that was probably because she was safe and sound these last couple of days, but there was something wrong. These were not the hollows she was used to.
They had nothing in common with other undead she had seen around Lordran. In fact, she couldn’t be sure they were human to begin with, that’s how bizarre they were. Their arms and legs were too long, too wiry, almost as if a giant had grabbed them and had begun to play with them as if they were taffy. That’s how bizarre they were, but it was so much worse. Their fingers were long and thin, almost like spiders, but it was their heads that made her doubt they were humans. After all, humans shouldn’t have that many eyes in their head, nor was it supposed to look like an egg due to how bloated those same heads were.
There were several, probably ten or more and she was completely taken back due to the sheer numbers and it was apparent that the trees weren’t expecting it either by the pieces of trees being thrown around. The appearance of these monsters was probably so hideous that even Madeleine and Solaire had stopped in their tracks, but it was Madeleine’s face that had the most bizarre expression, of sheer incredulity of what she was seeing, as if she couldn’t believe or… maybe wasn’t expecting this. But that was insane, right?
Sadly for the group of warriors, the undead were rather bored with what was left of their previous opponents and were ready to keep on fighting, so they turned around. Sunset knew that all of their eyes were on them, ready to jump and attack them, when suddenly a metallic object flew through the air and hit right in the middle of one of the monsters, sending it flying backwards as everyone in the battlefield stopped to watch the new opponent.
She wasn’t that tall, but Sunset knew it was a she due to the skin tight red armor that covered all the body from her feet to her neck, with pieces of red armor over a what seemed like very tight black clothing. Her face could be seen, with eyes like almonds, a face that looked oriental and hair as dark as midnight. Sunset was sure that if she were wearing all black the woman would be impossible to see in the darkness.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting to meet you in these conditions sister,” the red armored woman spoke and for a moment, Sunset thought she had heard Princess Twilight Sparkle speak. Their voices were so similar that if it weren’t because the woman looked nothing like the alicorn’s human form, she might’ve thought that Twilight got dragged to this cursed land with her.
“Wait, she’s your family?”
“Less talking, more fighting. Introductions after we survive.” Madeleine simply glared, first at her ‘sister’, then to the monsters that were on the move, ready to tear them apart one by one.