//------------------------------// // Everfree // Story: Infamous: Equestria // by Mr.MorningWood //------------------------------// "Twilight how much longer?" Rarity whined to Twilight "Rarity be patient. We're almost there." Twilight huffed back to Rarity. Twilight had become slightly ticked off by Rarity's current attitude. Rarity had practically been whining the entire time. The group of friends had been running since their little picnic back at the park. They had made it out of the Everfree forest, and now were in Froggy bottom bogg. Now all they had to do was locate the pin point area of their destination. Twilight's heart suddenly pulsed, she could feel it. The electricity that coursed here. It was practically overpowering her senses. She wondered if her friends could feel the sensation. Whatever had crashed, and exploded here must have been immensely powerful. "Everyone stop!" Twilight yelled out. All of her five friends behind her stopped on a dime. "Do you feel it?" Twilight asked. "Feel what Twilight?" Pinkie questioned. "The electricity. It's overpowering here. It's like if I were struck by a lighting bolt, and lived." Twilight stated Rainbow dash eyes widen, and flied up above the group of friends "So that's what you were talking about 'feeling it'. I felt it just as we entered the swamp. I didn't talk about because I thought I was the only one feeling it." "Ah can vouch for that as well. It's real strong. Like Twilight said girls. What ever caused that explosion right here must have been real strong to do that." Applejack adds. Rarity, pinkie pie and Fluttershy nod their heads affirming Applejack's statement. "Well then, let's keep on going girl's!" Twilight holler's out as she pushed onward further in the swamp. The group continued to walk into Froggy Bottom Bogg. The last time they came a hydra had assaulted them, but they had got out safely and all of them don't want a repeat of that happening again. As they advanced into the swamp, the electrical sensation got worse. It felt much more powerful, and it felt as if the energy itself was trying to push them to the ground and suffocate them. She also felt light head and her vision doubled. Making it hard to look straight. Regardless they continued onward. Twilight had been thinking of turning back. She didn't want to risk one of her friends getting hurt because of the sensation they were feeling at the moment. But, just as the feeling had gotten to it's worse. It was gone. She looked back to her friends. They too had felt the debilitating sensation leave them. Twilight and her friends looked forward. A large object was embedded into the swampy land scape in the distance. They all began to gallop towards the large ambiguous object. As they neared the object what they found was... a boat? "What's a boat doing out here?" Rainbow Dash asked her friends. "I don't know Rainbow but, this doesn't look like any boat I've seen." Twilight responds to Rainbow Dash. "Aren't boats supposed ta' be made of wood?" Applejack inquires as she moves closer to the boat to inspect it. "Yes Applejack, they are made of wood but, this one is made of metal and it's huge compared to any of the regular boat's here in Equestria." Fluttershy flew up to the deck of the boat "What do you think happened here Twilight?" "I don't know Fluttershy. But, this is very strange. What's a boat doing out here, why is it made of metal and why is it so big? Could it be the source of all this electricity?" Twilight mumbles out her last words. She was now in a state of deep thinking. What could have done this. Coming to the area had only served bring her more questions then the answer's she was looking for. There wasn't much to investigate. The boat had been practically destroyed, and the boat looked to be quite barren, no items or furnishing was left on the ship to be examined. "Twilight." a voice calls. "Twilight!" The voice begins to rumble with power "TWILIGHT!" Twilight breaks away from her current thoughts as she tips over and falls to the ground. "Geez, Twilight we thought you'd never listen to us." Pinkie pie exasperates as she walks towards her fallen friend to help her get back on her hooves. "Twilight dear, you look like you've seen a ghost is everything alright?" Rarity asked concern for her well being. "I'm alright Rarity. I think we should call it a day and go home. I think we saw enough for today." Applejack's expression turned to confusion "Really Twilight ah you were gonna keep us here all day while you looked at this thing for hours just thinking." "No, not today. I'll research this at home. I'll write a letter to Celestia about this too. Let's go home girls." Twilight began to walk away from the boat into the direction from where they came.They all followed suit and left without a word being uttered. ****** "Hey Cole, remember the time we ran from the cops?" "Yeah Zeke I remember. I mean who would forget the time you pissed all over a cops leg." Cole chuckled silently to himself as he remembered the memory. It was before he became a conduit and started shooting electricity from his hands. "Well that bar had no bathroom's, and I had to answer the call of nature." Cole turns his head to Zeke "Yeah all over a cops leg." Zeke chuckled "Well it's not my fault. The cop looked a lot like a brick wall." "Like the same wall of cops we slammed into after you dragged me into the mess." "Good times, good times Cole." "Good times." Cole repeats after Zeke. In silence they continue to march through swamp. After a while of trudging themselves through the swampy ground they make it to a small area where the swamp had cut off and started to become a forest. They both entered the forest as there was nothing else the swamp had to offer to them. As they walked into the forest they came upon a grove. Here grass grew to a lush green color, and small colorful flowers blooming with life grew as well. It seemed like a little slice of heaven, but was ruined by a ugly looking tree with a sign planted in front of it. Both friends moved up to the tree. Zeke looks at the sign, and Cole begins to examine the tree. This tree look's like it died years ago. Cole thought to himself. The branches are all gnarled with no leaves. Cole placed his hand on the tree. The bark feels rough enough to scrap someone's skin off. Why would a tree this ugly grow in such a beautiful grove? Cole took his hand off the tree and began to scratch his chin. He looked back down to Zeke, who looked rather perplexed at the moment. "Zeke anything wrong?" Zeke pointed his finger at the sign "You might wanna take a look at the sign." Cole took a brief look at the sign. " Looks like a regular sign to me. Nothing out of the ordinary Zeke." Zeke frowned slightly "Might wanna come closer, and take a real good look it." Cole steped forward to the sign and gazes upon the sign intently. Now Cole knew why Zeke was Confused. The sign had no actually writing on it, it instead had symbols. Some of the symbols seemed to have a tie with farm tools, and some related to a horse like a horse shoe, and saddle. Cole looks toward Zeke and opens his mouth to speak "What do you think it means?" Zeke shakes his head "I really can't say anything about it Cole. Maybe some guy who digs farms, and horses put it up here." "That seems a bit far fetched. Who'd come out to a random forest in the middle of nowhere just to put up a random sign, in front of a dead tree? It just doesn't add up for anyone to do that." Zeke shrugged "Well Cole there some things to be questioned and some things that you leave alone and this is one of em'." Cole exhales through his nose loudly. Zeke was partly right. Mulling over why the sign didn't have any real writing was something that was better left alone. Thinking it about would only serve to waste time. But still who would put up a sign like that in front of a tree like that? "Cole" Cole swerved his head towards Zeke. "We gonna keep going or are we stay here all day?" In response Cole grunted and nodded. They continued to walk through the forest at a brisk pace. As they progressed further in, the foliage became much thicker and was starting to blot out the sun in the forest making it much harder for both friends to see where they were both heading. As they continued onward their current pathway was being obstructed by a five fallen over trees. Cole took the initiative to step forward before the trees to make use of his powers. Cole ready himself to use a shock wave blast to clear the way. He brought both hands inward towards his body. He pushed out both arms and... nothing happened. Cole in his confusion tried again. Nothing. He attempted once more. As before nothing happened. Cole began to growl in frustration as he continued his movement to preform a proper shock wave blast. Each attempt only resulted in failure and only served to agitate Cole. He clenched his fist "What happened to my powers!" Cole angrily shouted. "Remember how the RFI works Cole?" Zeke informs him "I do Zeke. It's supposed to take power's away yet I can still feel my power's coursing throughout my body." Zeke scratch's his chin "So what your saying is that your power's are just locked up and your not able to use em'?" "Something like that" "Well how's that supposed to work then. You used the RFI." Cole shrugged "Explain how I'm still alive then. That should deify all law's of nature and physics." Zeke looked down "Well weird things happen. First you get your powers, then you lose em' and die. Now your alive but you ain't got your powers? I can't answer that. No one can." Cole sighed and his shoulder's shagged downward "You got me there. But I'll keep my mind on this for now." My power's... gone. Cole thought to himself. I'm just like Zeke and the rest of the people on Earth. What I was before in the past. Before the blast. Before my life took an abrupt turn and I descended into a life of conduit and before I ascended into life as a hero to many. Zeke puts on a smile " Hey Cole, look on the bright side. Your normal again. You can take shower's now, just like the rest of us. Since you won't shock yourself when you touch water now." He chuckles a bit trying to cut the tension rising from Cole's loss of power's. Cole brings his hands to his face inspecting them. "Normal." Cole mumbles out. 'Just like the rest of us'. His words play out again and again in Cole's mind. ****** The door to the library creaked opened. Twilight Sparkle slid in without much noise. She walked up to the second floor of the library and was greeted by her number one assistant Spike. "Hey Twilight! Back from your picnic, how was it?" She turns to spike "It was fine spike." She continues to walk forward to her room. Spike runs up in front of her and blocks her way into her room "You don't sound fine at all Twilight. Did something go wrong?" He asked with the utmost concern for her. Twilight smiles at spike and places a hoof on his right shoulder. "Thanks for worrying about me Spike but I'm alright." "Are you sure?" Spike asked still concerned for her. "Definitely. Spike can you move out of the way please." She asked him politely. He moved out of the way and Twilight moved into her room closing the door behind her. She then used her magic to levitate a quill and parchment of paper out of a drawer onto her desk. She began to compose her letter to Princess Celestia. Dear Princess Celestia, Today Rarity told me of some event's that happened last night. That an explosion took place and that anyone who came near experienced a electric-shock of sorts. Well today we went to investigate it. All we saw was a mysterious boat. A boat made entirely of metal. I think that the source of the electricity is coming from the boat it self or from another unknown force that hasn't been detected as of yet. But one thing comes to my mind Princess. A piece of information Rarity told. That you kept this a secret from the public. Why Princess. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle when Twilight finished her letter to the Princess she rolled it up and tied a ribbon on. "Spike!" Twilight called out. The soft pitter patter of Spike running up to Twilight's room could be heard as he drew near the door. "Hey Twilight did you call for me?" He asked. "Yes spike I did. Can you send this letter to Princess Celestia for me?" She asked as she levitates the scroll to Spike for him to grab. Spike grabs the scroll, he breathes in and then out. A burst of flame erupted from his mouth and the scroll went up in smoke. "Need anything else Twilight?" Spike asked. She smiled "No Spike. But thanks for asking." Spike left the room without word. Twilight turned to her bed and went to lie on it. "I've never felt anything like that." She quietly muttered to herself. What really happened in that swamp last night she thought. An explosion was one of the things that Rarity told the other was the sensation of electricity going through one's body. What caused the explosion? What could be that powerful that it left an effect on landscape without leaving much of a trace (minus the huge boat) the possibility's are endless. This was one of the few times Twilight was stumped and she wasn't going to get any answer's.She rolled on her bed and sighed. She brought her gaze to the clock on the wall. It read five-thirty. "Maybe if I go to sleep it'll clear my mind and I'll be able to think more clearly." She whispers to herself. Without much else to do. She closed her eyes and relaxed her body. Soon she was drifting off to sleep. Even in her sleep a nagging feeling kept tugging at her. A feeling of something bad going to happen. ****** Cole groaned as he pulled Zeke up. "Dude you weigh like a ton what have you been eating?" Zeke blew raspberry to Cole's remark. "Don't act like you can't like you can't help pull a grown man over a bunch of rocks." Cole furrowed his eyebrow's "I'm not saying I can't pull you up. I'm just saying your as heavy as an elephant." Zeke frowned "Low blow Cole." Cole chuckled "Don't sweat it Zeke. It was a harmless joke." Both turned their attention to why they climbed the rock. They looked out to the vista of rows upon rows of trees. Both looked for an exit to get out of the forest. The sun was beginning to set and the forest without a doubt would practically be impossible to traverse in the pitch black of night. As Zeke looked for an exit, Cole looked out to the scenery. Since the sun was setting the light from the sun made the top of the trees look like they had a golden glow to them. "Looks nice." Cole murmured. His attention soon drifted to what his original purpose was, looking for a way out. "Cole."Zeke called. Cole turned to Zeke. "Yes?" He answered. He brought up his hand and pointed down to what looked like a small opening out of the forest that lead to a green field. "Looks like a ticket right out of here! Nice job Zeke." Both begin to scale down the rock. Once they hit the forest floor they begin to to run in the direction of where Zeke saw the exit. As they kept going the visibility in the forest was dimming at an alarming rate. Unbeknownst to the duo they were being followed. "Hey Zeke can you see anything is god forsaken forest." Cole asked. "Nothing man! It's pitch black in here." Zeke huffed back. A rustling noise sounded out. Both immediately stop dead in their tracks. "Did you hear that." Zeke asked quietly. "Yep, heard it loud and clear" Cole whispered back. A low growl resonated in the air. Both friends whipped their heads to the source of the sound. The growl reverberate, and a loud huffing began. The mixture of growls and huffing made an ominous sound. Just as the sounds came they vanished. Both friends eased their tension, and let their guard down. Bursting out from the bushes a pack of wolves sprinted outward, and pounced on them. Cole rolled out of the way, and Zeke sidestepped from the pouching wolves. Shit. Taking these wolves out wouldn't be a problem if I had my powers. The wolves began circling them as they ferociously growled. Zeke grabbed his weapon of choice from his holster and cocked his weapon. Three wolves went for straight for Cole. He dodged the first, and the second attacks that the three wolves attempted on him. Zeke pointed his gun at one of them and a shot fired off lighting up the dark the forest. The wolf cried in pain as it fell dead to the floor. The four other wolves backed off immediately after their comrade had died. They continued circling trying to look for a new opening of attack. Two of them came right at them. Zeke took one more shot but only grazed the wolf as it dodged out of the way and went straight for Cole. It pounced right on him and both went to the ground. The wolf clawed and attempted to bite Cole, but most of the attempts were futile as Cole wrestled the wolf. What the hell? These things are made of wood!? Cole mentally yelled. " I died came back to life, lost my powers and now wolves are made of wood? What the hell is going on?" He hissed as he brought his hands to the wolf's neck, and promptly snapped it's neck killing it. He let go of the dead limp body as he quickly stood back up, and blindly charged one of the wolves grabbing it by the tail, and then proceeded to throw it at it's pack members. Zeke to an initiative and fired off more shots at the wolves. The remaining Wolves left yelping as they fled from the battle. "Cole you alright?" He asked. Cole grunted as he grabbed his wounded left fore arm. It had been clawed at by the wolf that pounced on him. "I think I'm fine." He tightened his grip on his wounded trying to stop the bleeding. "Cole don't try to fool me. You're bleeding." He stated. "Don't worry about me let's get out of the forest first, I can see the exit." Zeke didn't respond as Cole began to walk forward to the exit. As they neared the exit the darkness from the forest loss it's foothold as the light from the moonlight had begun to shine down on them lighting up the magnificent dark night sky. "Well it took a day but we're finally out of that hell hole Zeke." Cole grunted out as his grip on his arm become stronger to stop the wound from bleeding even more. "Hey Cole you mind if I take a look at your cut." Zeke inquired. "Take a quick look." Cole grunted out. He removed his hand away for Zeke to inspect. He grabbed his wounded arm. Cole winced as Zeke inspected it. "Aside from it looking kinda deep. It's not too bad." He stated "You got anything on you that I can bandage you up with?" "I got nothing on me. You?" Zeke shook his head at Cole's question. Maybe I could use part of my shirt as a makeshift bandage. With his good arm he grabbed the left sleeve of his shirt and ripped it off. Zeke raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" He asked curiously "Making a bandage." He answered. He ripped the sleeve again and passed it to Zeke. "You mind if you play doctor and patch me up?" He asked. "Alright. Lift out you arm for me." Cole complied and raised his arm. Zeke then began to wrap his arm tightly with the sleeve and tied it with a knot. "Looks good, for now at least." The bleed seeped into the sleeve but stopped and made a darkish red color appear on the sleeve. "Thanks for helping out Zeke." He said as he patted Zeke on the back. "Don't mention it, it was nothing." "So what now? We keep going or do we rough it out here for the night." Cole brought his hand and rubbed his chin thinking on what to do. "We had a long day Zeke. I think it's better if we just took a chance and just slept the night out here" He answered. "You're the boss Cole. But one quick question though." "What?" "Where are we gonna sleep? I don't see no beds comfy beds out here." Cole Scratched the back of his head he didn't think to far ahead with this one "Don't worry how hard is it gonna be just sleeping on the grass?" "Well remember the animals we were attacked by earlier. Ring a bell?" "Yeah but, I doubt that they would come out of the forest just to attack us again. I mean we did kick their asses." "Hmm, I guess your right about that one. Whatever let's take a chance." Cole nodded and walked over to a nearby lone tree in the middle of a grassy field. He lied down in the dark shade of the tree. He didn't realize how tired he was until he laid down. As he was about to close his eyes a loud snoring sound kept him from doing so. He sat up and saw that Zeke was already knocked out, sleeping and snoring loudly. Cole smiled and shook his head slowly "That's Zeke for ya." He mumbled softly as he went back to lie down. One thing nagged at him before he took the dive into dream land. One single solitary thought. Why is this happening to me?