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// Unknown destination 
// Story: Brothers to the end 
// by SwarmLordAbdonis 
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The outside perimeter of the Everfree forest seemed calm and collected. Nothing more than the occasional tweet from nearby birds could be heard from the trees which took on a rather bright and positive attitude thanks to the suns light shining down upon them. They fared much better than their siblings from within the forest which had not felt the warmth of natural light in countless years. These ones however still looked as alive as the day they first grew out of the earth as nothing more than little saplings. It was hard to imagine to any newcomers that it was part of the dark and gloomy forest that was fatal to most foolish to explore its boarders. Though for now, to the family of rabbits that had chosen to reside here for the time being, it was a suitable place to call home. Calm, quiet, no natural predators as far as the eye could see. It was a piece of paradise.

Unfortunately it did not stay that way for long.

Feet away, inbetween the rabbits and the forest, a strange blue circular phenomenon formed from the air breaking the silence in less than a second. It hummed and buzzed without end and swirled clockwise. The rabbits upon noticing the rapid appearance of such a strange entity immediately became alert and stared at the vortex, ready to run if they needed to. None of them even remotely aware that they were staring right at the gateway to another world. Eventually, one of the rabbit, more curious than the others dared to step forth ever so slowly and carefully over to the portal until it was but a foot away and sniffed at it. The portal distorted slightly but otherwise offered no response, prompting the other rabbits to believe that the strange entity was safe.

Or so they thought until an enormous nine foot beast rampaged out from it, nearly crushing the curious rabbit as it did so.
"Perish parasite!" It roared with a savage grin stretched on its face.

Not so surprisingly, the rabbits fled. Except for the one that had nearly gotten crushed. That one had gone and fainted at the monsters feet.

A few seconds passed and the beast relaxed its posture. Its grin turned into a disappointed frown, realising that there were no hostiles for it to tear apart and feast on. At least none that didn't fall under the category of tiny, cute or furry. Moments passed and a second creature, slightly taller than the first appeared from the vortex in a much calmer manner, merely walking out as the first explored the surrounding area. It then looked down and spotted the tiny rabbit that had passed out from its brothers actions. It then spoke.

"Good work Voridus." It congratulated in a mocking yet unamused tone. "At least now we won't have to worry about encountering any resistance from the local wildlife."

"Hah! Like these tiny furballs would have a chance against me." Voridus sneered with overconfidence, not bothering to even look back. When he finally did, he huffed in annoyance, unable to spot his target. "So. Care to share which part of the ark we've ended up on brother?"

Pavium checked the device on his arm. Signs of confusion grew on his face the more he interacted with it.

"That might be a bit of a problem. I can't pick up our signal on the orbital designator."

"I thought that piece of junk could pinpoint our location anywhere on the Ark!"

"And it can. But I'm getting nothing here. Wherever here is..."

"Bah! Useless machine! Can you at least continue to track the infection form?"

"Yes, I can still isolate and track its signal. It's more than a kilometre from our location and gaining more distance as we speak."

"Then let us quit wasting time then!" The younger brute snapped impatiently, walking past his brother. Before he could, Pavium grabbed hold of his arm, stopping Voridus in his tracks.

"Do not be so eager to go on the hunt Voridus! We know nothing of this strange land. There may be dangers in there more threatening than even the flood as far as we know."

"Then they will fall too! Brains and brawn can often be a winning combination, can they not?"

Pavium scanned his brother up and down before releasing a short snort and releasing his brother. The younger brute immediately started the hunt and barged through the first layer of trees, undeterred by the noises made by whatever lay from within. Pavium quickly followed with the hopes that they would end the infection form before it could find a lifeform suitable enough for it to corrupt.


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The flood form quickly yet carefully skulked through the deep and gloomy part of the woods, hungrily seeking out a new host. Its tiny legs carried it as fast as it could without taking a moments pause other than stopping, thinking that a suitable host was nearby. Yet anytime it went to check the creature had already run off, perhaps sensing the threat it caused.

Still, this minor setback did not cause the small green mass to threat, mostly due to it not being smart enough to know worry or fear. It was only going to be a matter of time before it would get what it wanted, and from there if left unchecked could quickly begin the cycle of flood devestation all over again.

An hour later was all it took before it found what it wanted.

Within a large open area of the forest housed a rather large creature. From first glance it looked stronger than perhaps even a hunter. Was almost just as big too. It looked to be a mix between a lion, a bat and a scorpion. The infection did not care what it was, only able to register and comprehend the living mass as food, and luckily for the flood form, it was asleep.

The little gruesome parasite wasted no time in attacking its prey.

Even from the farthest depths of the forest, it was plain as day to hear the pained roars of the once sleeping beast. Including not only the two other worldly beings, but a little purple pony too.