//------------------------------// // Everfree Forest: The Swarm // Story: Saddlemon // by unknownmercury //------------------------------// Shade Heart was very happy with her choice. Squirtle suited her just fine as a companion. Its jumpiness meant that it tended to react quickly in combat, as she had found out battling the hordes of Rattata outside of Canterlot. She had managed to capture one of the purple Saddlemon, and now had it scurrying ahead of her, sniffing out any danger. Squirtle was beside her, in case something came from the side. She was heading towards a much-hated part of the world known as the Everfree Forest. The Forest was a natural maze, home to many wild Saddlemon as well as an old, supposedly haunted, castle that had once belonged to the royal Alicorn Sisters. Supposedly, anypony who stumbled on the castle was never seen again, though she couldn't help wondering how they knew that if nopony came back. Presently, she stepped into the shadows of the forest. Her red eyes stared at the intimidating mass of trees and she swallowed a bit nervously. "Rattata, come here." The rat hopped over and she sighed. "Stay close, both of you. The last thing we need is to get seperated from each other in there. Squirtle, you're to keep an eye on the right. You're to alert me to anything that might be a threat on that side. Rattata, same way for you on the left. I really wish we had someone to watch our flanks, but we don't and there's no point in getting upset about it. We'll just keep an ear out. Understood?" The two Saddlemon nodded, both slightly impressed by the black Unicorn's command over the situation, though they noticed her nervousness. With a brief glance backwards, she led them into the darkness that even her eyes had trouble seeing in. "C'mon, Charmander! It's just a Pidgey! Tackle it!" Feather Rush was getting irritated. They had been assaulted by weak Saddlemon after weak Saddlemon, and she'd captured literally nothing. Anything that got injured enough for her to throw one of the saddle balls ran away before she got the chance. She watched as Charmander rushed the Pidgey, who neatly flew into the air, countering with a gust of wind that sent Charmander rolling along the ground. With a cry of frustration, she lobbed one of the balls, watching it hit the Pidgey. A red light encapsulated the flying type, and the ball fell to the ground. It gave two shakes, and then opened, releasing the disoriented saddlemon. Charmander tackled it, swiping with its claws. "All right, Charmander, let me capture it." Charmander hopped back and she tossed another ball, this one successfully capturing. "Well, that wasn't too bad, was it?" Charmander gave her a bit of a grin. "All right, let's head on forward. I wanna get out of Everfree before night falls. Bad enough camping out last night..." The lizard nodded a bit, and the two hurried towards the dark forest. Snow Hoof smiled a bit, throwing her fourth saddleball, capturing the Spearow that she and Bulbasaur had been battling. four balls, four captures. Her party was coming along nicely. Bulbasaur was her main fighter, and if a saddlemon attacked them that she'd already captured, she would let it and her others fight. She now had a Rattata, Spearow, and one male and one female Nidoran. She had wasted the morning doing this, and now that she had a fifth teammate, she headed north through Canterlot, stopping to heal her Saddlemon before going towards Everfree. She could see a figure ahead of her, a brown pegasus, and as she watched, the filly took off low to the ground, heading for the forest. There would be a bit of competition inside, which wasn't a bad thing. She was sure that she would likely lose, but it would still be good for her and her saddlemon. As she trotted along, she thought of names for her new friends since it could get confusing if you had a Rattata fighting a Rattata, especially one owned by another trainer. Her Rattata was Fang, she thought, because of the large buck teeth it had. Spearow could be... Dusty, because its wings were the color of fresh dust. She smiled; this wasn't so hard. The male Nidoran was... John. It was a silly name for a Nidoran, but it worked. And the female would be Jane. She giggled a bit, calling them out to tell them their new nicknames. They seemed to take to them. With a small smile, she called all but her Bulbasaur back. He didn't seem to like his ball, and she enjoyed his company, even though he didn't say much. Before she knew it, she was entering the shadowed woods. Shade Heart smirked a bit. "All right, Squirtle, go ahead and finish this with a bubble attack." Squirtle blew out, a stream of bubbles flying into the Weedle's face. As it fell unconcious, Shade threw a saddleball, capturing it easily. This made a nice counter-point, she thought, to the Caterpie she'd already caught. Four teammates now. Rattata was on her back, keeping ears out for any danger. Squirtle had walked beside her, his thick shell proving effective at stopping poison barbs. Though, she knew, that it wouldn't be able to stop a Beedrill's stingers. They would have no problem defeating her team. Luckily, Beedrill were rare, especially in the daytime. As she came around a bend in the path, she saw a green Earth Pony wearing a wide-brimmed hat. He grinned at her, stepping forward. "You're a Saddlemon trainer, right?" Shade Heart looked at Squirtle, then turned to glance at Rattata. "No, I'm not. I'm just very good with wild saddlemon not ripping my face off in vicious anger." She rolled her eyes. "Oh... Um... Okay then..." He seemed dejected. "Yes. Celestia yes, I'm a trainer. Sarcasm!" She glared, her red eyes flashing a bit. The trainer gulped, taking a step back. "W-well you know the rule. If you catch another trainer's eye, you have to battle!" "Fine. Send out your mon. I choose Squirtle." "G-go, Weedle!" The trainer threw out a ball, letting the worm-like saddlemon free. This was going to be a long day... Feather Rush stared at the clearing in front of her. This was pay dirt. "Charmander, go." The fire lizard stepped forward, staring at the yellow mouse in front of it. The Pikachu tilted its head, watching the pair quietly. "Charmander, Ember attack." She was quite pleased as Charmander spit forth the flame. It had been periodically belching fire, but when she told it to, it usually failed. The fire hit the off-guard Pikachu. With a squeak of anger, the mouse rushed forward, faster than anything she'd seen. Before she or Charmander could react, Pikachu had tackled it, releasing a burst of lightning as it did. "You all right, Charmander?" The fire type nodded, standing quickly, watching the Pikachu. The two stared each other down for a moment, before Feather Rush spoke again. "Give it another Ember!" As Charmander released the burst of flames, the Pikachu moved, zipping around behind Charmander and grabbing its tail. In retaliation, Charmander whipped its tail from side to side, slinging the electric type behind it violently. "Charmander, slam it down!" Feather called. With a nod, Charmander lifted its tail - and the dizzied Pikachu. With a small, squeaky roar, it slammed its tail down, knocking Pikachu loose and knocking it unconcious. A well place Saddle Ball netted Feather a new Saddlemon, bringing her up to a total of three. And as she continued through the woods, she thought, This is going to be an amazing day. Snow Hoof hummed a bit as she walked through the high grass. Ever since entering the forest, a sense of serenity had pervaded her body. The woods were quiet, and she hadn't seen a single creature aside from her Bulbasaur. This normally would have seemed odd to her, but in the state of peace she was in, she didn't question it. Bulbasaur was a little more guarded, though not by much. His normally calm nature was amplified by whatever was filling their bodies with this peacefulness, though Snow Hoof seemed to have it worse than he did. His instincts were sending red flags, telling him something was wrong... Just as he snaked a vine out to tap Snow Hoof, they stumbled into a small clearing. The first thing either of them noticed was the trees, covered in thick sap, some with odd shells hanging on them. The shells, cocoon-like in nature, had black eyes that stared down at the intruders. Snow Hoof tilted her head, looking around. Her sense of serenity had disappeared, and been replaced with horror. She knew what these were. Kakuna, the immobile evolution of Weedle. And that meant that she had stumbled into the lair of one of the deadliest saddlemon to new trainers. As she turned to leave, the buzzing started. A black and yellow striped form moved in front of her, its drill-like stingers glinting in the dim light. Snow Hoof and Bulbasaur both backed up, attempting to get away from it. More Beedrill entered he clearing from various places, and pretty soon, the two were surrounded. Snow Hoof acted quickly, calling out all of her saddlemon. As they took in the situation, she gave orders. "Bulbasaur, Fang, you've got front and center, try to make a path." The two creatures stepped up, growling. "John, Jane, on either side of me, you keep anything from getting at me, Fang, or Bulbasaur." The rabbit-likes nodded, John taking her right side and Jane on her left. "Dusty, I know you're just one being, but you've got a good peck that can really affect them. If anything gets close enough, you peck it." The Spearow chirped, flapping up behind her. "All right then. Charge!" The group started moving, all letting out some battle cry as they approached the wall of Beedrill, Snow Hoof screaming as loud as she could. Shade had just wiped out another bug catcher's team when she heard a loud screaming sound from nearby. "Someone's in trouble. Squirtle, let's go!" The turtle nodded and they followed the source of the screams. Feather Rush pulled up short from her flight, looking around. She heard something, but it took her a minute to register the sound of a fight happening nearby. She turned. "C'mon, Charmander, maybe we can pick off the winner." The fire type nodded and they rushed into the woods. The Beedrill were durable and numerous. While her group was pushing through, it was very slow going, and they had all been stung repeatedly, even Snow Hoof herself. As she felt venom coursing through her veins, she kept issuing orders, keeping her team going. If they stopped, she knew they would die. Just as hope seemed lost, the black and yellow insects pressing in on them for one final assault, she heard a voice, shouting something from her right. Looking over, she saw a brown Pegasus, commanding the familiar shape of a Charmander, along with what looked like a Pikachu and a Pidgey. The Pegasus met her eye for the briefest of seconds before shouting something at her team. Feather Rush couldn't believe the mass of Beedrill she saw, all trying to get at a white Earth Pony and her impressive team. She caught the pony's eye and looked to Charmander and Pikachu. "You two, get us over there. Pidgey, keep those things away from our flanks. Her team moved quickly, Charmander and Pikachu releasing their elemental attacks to fry the bug types. Pidgey swooped behind her, kicking up large clouds of dust and flapping its wings to send blasts of air forward. They were approaching the white pony, and just as they got there, a dark purple light flooded the area, seeming to create a bubble around the two teams. Looking around quickly, Feather saw the source of the magic. A very dark Unicorn was trotting towards them, horn glowing, as her own team warded attacks away from her. Shade Heart had come into the clearing from the left of the white pony, and she had immediately noticed the danger they were all in. Everfree had one of the largest Beedrill swarms in the land, and the other trainer had stumbled right into their main nesting area. It was against the rules for a trainer to interfere in a battle. But that was only strictly enforced in official trainer battles, where official meant that another trainer challenged you to a fair fight. This was no an official battle, so she didn't feel bad erecting a barrier around the Earth Pony and the brown Pegasus that had shown up before her. While she focused on the shield spell, she had her team watching her flanks. Squirtle was letting off blasts of bubbles, Raticate was snapping at anything that got close, and both Caterpie and Weedle were shooting strings to slow down the menacing swarm. They stepped into her protective bubble and her group relaxed. She looked at the other two ponies. "So, I don't suppose there's a plan to get out of this?" Feather Rush stared. "Yeah, we have a plan! We stay inside your magic bubble and get the hay out of here!" Shade Heart shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't move the shield, and it only lasts about five minutes. It's very basic." Snow Hoof trembled a bit. "W-we should send our most effective saddlemon..." She looked at the other two, sweat starting to cover her body. "Uh... Send them to the front to make a hole. And everything else on the sides and rear..." Shade nodded. "Good idea. Squirtle, you're on front. Weedle, Caterpie, keep stringing behind us. Rattata, stay to my left." Feather Rush looked at her three, nodding. "Pikachu, Charmander, blast along the front. Pidgey, kick up some sand to our right." Snow Hoof smiled as the other two accepted her plan. "Bulbasaur, Dusty, you two are going to be most useful on point. John, Jane, on either side please. And Fang, you can handle anything behind us, right?" The Saddlemon all nodded, taking formation. "Wh-when do we go?" Snow asked, feeling her strength fading. "On my count," Shade said, watching her shield. "I'm going to try shattering it, that should buy us a couple seconds." "On your count then." "All right. Three. Two. One." Shade Heart let out a pulse of dark purple magic. The shield exploded outwards, pushing the Beedrill swarm back a bit. "Go!" The group started moving. Five pokemon had made a slow path through. Twelve worked a lot better. Pikachu and Squirtle had teamed up, water and electricity making a potent combination. Charmander's flames kept a lot at bay. Bulbasaur and Dusty could both take a Beedrill out in one hit, and it generally stayed out once they did. To the sides, John and Jane were wreaking havoc. John had a peck attack that was somewhat less effective than Dusty's, but he could still take out a Beedrill without too much trouble. Jane would let Pidegey kick up a cloud of sand, and she would dive through it, scratching at the blinded saddlemon before retreating. Shade's Rattata moved alongside John, its powerful bite taking attacker after attacker out of the fight. To the rear, Weedle and Caterpie left thick white webs to block any Beedrill trying to fly after them. Anything that got past the web got to meet Fang's fangs. The whole process took about two minutes, and then they were free of the nest, with just a few of the hornet-like creatures chasing them. Snow Hoof turned, glaring at the remainders. Both Shade Heart and Feather Rush stepped back a bit, nervous at the intensity of the white pony's gaze. Blue eyes locked into red ones, and she shouted. "Leave us alone, or we'll take you down!" The threat shouldn't have worked. The Beedrill shouldn't have understood. But they flew away nonetheless, leaving three ponies and twelve Saddlemon to relax for a moment. It was Shade Heart who spoke next. "Oh, do you have any antidotes?" She had just really noticed that Snow Hoof and her team were all covered in sting marks. Snow shook her head a bit. "No, I didn't think to grab any..." She looked at her team. "Only Dusty and Fang need it, though. The others are all poison-type, so they resist it." Shade nodded. "Good knowledge. What about you?" She asked, turning to Feather. "Do you need any antidotes? I've packed plenty, expecting to need them..." "Uh, yeah... Please." Feather smiled a bit. "I think it was just Pidgey, but we might all check our teams..." Shade handed Snow three antidote vials. "Drink one yourself and relax while we look at our injuries." Snow Hoof was quite happy to do so, giving Dusty and Fang theirs before drinking hers. She settled down to tell all of her saddlemon how well they'd done. In the end, Shade Heart distributed antidotes to all of her team except Weedle, as well as all of Feather Rush's team. This left her three of the vials for emergencies, which was actually two more than she'd prepared to have on leaving the forest, so she was ahead on planning. "So, i know we all just met, and this is crazy..." Shade started a bit nervously. "But we're a good team so we should travel together maybe?" Feather finished for her, smiling. Snow Hoof grinned. "That would be wonderful! We can all learn together!" "Then it's agreed. I'm Shade Heart, from Canterlot. And this is Squirtle, Rattata, Weedle and Caterpie." She smiled lightly, glad that the other two weren't shunning her now that the danger was gone. "I'm Feather Rush, soon to be the best Saddlemon Trainer in the world. This is Charmander, Pidgey, and Pikachu." "I'm Snow Hoof, and I come from Ponyville. This is my Bulbasaur, Fang is my Rattata, John and Jane are the two Nidoran, and Dusty is my Spearow." "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. Should we try to get out of the woods, or should we find a place to camp?" Neither of the other two had noticed the sun starting to set, but Shade knew because her eyes were no longer pounding in her skull every time she looked through the leaves. "Well, I really don't want to travel at night, and we all need some rest..." "Snow's right. Let's find a spot and camp for the night, and we can set out early tomorrow." With a nod of agreement, the three started through the woods, looking for a good place to bunker down.