Field of Venom
The third day of the adventure had begun and Ivory and Spike were already up and moving. Much to Spike’s surprise, he awoke to see his partner stretching out his leg muscles and doing pushups. He had obviously been anticipating the morning that he could get moving again, and was even more obviously recovered and ready to go. They had climbed out of the cave without much effort but kept their eyes open for any unwanted guests. When the coast was clear, they continued forward.
Along the journey, Spike had taken a liking to riding Ivory’s back, to which the earth pony didn’t mind, but didn’t care much for either. But Ivory was strong and could handle carrying the weight of his bag and a small dragon.
They reached the end of the slope and the start of a desert. To make matters worse, it was still summer and the sun had no mercy for them. To keep their minds off the intense heat, they made small talk. While not the best solution, they covered much more ground that way, not paying heed to their thirst or hunger.
The heat of the sun continued to beat down upon the weary travellers, scorching the sand they walked on until it felt like needles. The distant kingdom was still just a spec on the horizon, disoriented from the heat. But the sooner they reached the destination, the sooner they could put this piece of the task behind them.
Somehow, the conversation took a turn toward Ivory’s cutie mark story. To which Ivory replied:
“Trust me Spike, this moon doesn’t mean anything.”
“Ah, fine. Keep to your cryptic past.”
“Thank you, I will.”
“But answer me this: what do you do for a living?”
Ivory looked hesitant to answer. He kept his steady pace, but a particular patch of sand distracted his gaze. He was mesmerized by something, but he didn’t even know what.
A purple hand waved in front of his face and he snapped out of his trance.
“Hellooooooo…”
“Wha-? Sorry Spike. What did you say again?”
“What do you do for a living?”
“Oh. I’m, uh… Well, it’s not much of a living, but I’m an artist.”
“Really? I never woulda guessed.”
“Well, it’s not like I get paid for it. It’s… more of a hobby.”
The conversation stopped as the two continued through the desert. Ivory forced his eyes to look forward though the ground was still drawing his attention away from the far-off Kingdom. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on it, but there was something wrong about this land. It didn’t feel right. And after the not-so-pleasant encounter with a dragon, Ivory Moon was already on edge. He wasn’t willing to put his, or Spike’s life on the line again.
Ivory hadn’t realized until now just how thirsty he was. He hadn’t had anything to drink since he left his home to clean up for Celestia’s arrival, about two days ago. The pie last night helped a little, but it wasn’t enough to keep him at full strength
Just then, he could have sworn he saw his sister in the distance, sitting under a lone palm tree. “Golden?” He whispered under his breath. He strayed off of the path he was taking and walked toward the palm tree that shaded his sister.
Though the years had passed, she had not aged a day. She was still the same shade of light brown and her fledgling wings had not changed a bit. In her hoof she held a white, stuffed alicorn with a red yarn mane and tail. The blue eyes on the doll matched her own as she watched her big brother approach her. A look of shock and disbelief resided on Ivory’s face, but a look of innocence and joy rested on the little filly. She looked as though she had been waiting for her brother to meet her here, like a casual visit from beyond the grave. Only, there was nothing casual about a visit from beyond the grave.
Ivory’s head was full of questions; was this real? Was he going insane? Why was his sister in the middle of this dangerous desert? Had this all been nothing but a dream? To be completely honest, Ivory almost wished it was just a dream. But the time for conversation with himself had ended, as his sister was now within talking distance. She smiled at Ivory and he tried to smile back. The most he could muster was a worried grin.
“Sis?” He whispered, leaning down on one hoof to look her face to face. She giggled a bit. How Ivory missed that giggle. If this was just a dream, then he never wanted to wake up. “Is this really happening?”
The little pegasus stood slowly, keeping her wings glued to her sides. She then wrapped her arms around her brother. It seemed like eons since he had felt her loving embrace. At first, he didn’t know how to respond. But finally, he closed his eyes and returned her hug with one of his own.
“Don’t give up big brother. You’ll find her in a gorge past the Gryphon Kingdom”
“… What?” Ivory pushed his sister back a bit and looked at her in befuddlement. She just smiled back, still holding onto her toy. Her voice was timid and soft, but confident and uplifting at the same time. Something he had missed about her.
“Um… Ivory… why are you hugging a rock?”
“Wha-?”
All too soon the earth pony was pulled back into reality. His sister faded out of his hooves to reveal a big black rock. To which he rose back to his hooves and sighed, “dumb rock…”
“What was that about Ivory?” Spike asked, still sitting on his friend’s back.
The pony blushed in embarrassment and continued on the journey, giving an unsure glance to the rock and palm tree.
“I’m sorry about that bud. I guess the heat is getting to me.”
“You wanna stop for a bit and rest under that tree back there?”
Ivory considered this for some time, barely moving at all. He could use the rest, but then he would be even more in need of water when he started moving again. But the big deciding point for him was what his sister had supposedly said to him:
“Don’t give up big brother. You’ll find her in a gorge past the Gryphon Kingdom”
“No Spike. We have a lot of ground to make up.”
“What do you mean?”
“My sist…” He stopped himself before he could finish. He didn’t want to come across as insane by saying a dead pony told him. “Well… something tells me that Rarity passed through the Kingdom about two days ago.” That didn’t seem much better.
“That’s pretty specific Ivory… how do you know such a thing?”
That was a good question. How did he know such a specific bit of information? And to make things worse, he had no way to prove it either. It didn’t matter how Ivory said it, it was going to sound crazy.
“I can’t explain it Spike. I just know.”
*****
Back at Ponyville, the word of Ivory’s bravery had reached the news media, and soon everypony in Ponyville knew his name. The town buzzed with the knowledge that he had willingly put himself in dangerous waters and risked his life to save the mare he loved. It was truly a tale of love and loss. What made the ponies even more supportive of his journey was the news that Spike had gone with him. His not-so-well-kept secret crush on Rarity was well known, and yet he went with Ivory.
Soon after Ivory’s departure from Ponyville, his epic tale had reached the front page of the Equestria Daily paper as well as Ponyville Times. Though Ivory didn’t know it, he had the entire town behind him.
Meanwhile, in a familiar library, a familiar purple unicorn frantically searched for a means to help the two. Her search so far was unsuccessful, finding only a few tomes on how to transport letters without a dragon, and none of them were possible without other unicorns. And Twilight Sparkle was the only unicorn in the entire town with the magical ability to pull off such a spell.
The day pressed on and still no hope. She was running out of books to search and still had not found anything that could help. She was beginning to lose hope, when suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It startled her at first, being the nervous wreck she was. She peered through the window to see a familiar striped friend.
“Zecora, thank you so much for coming on such short notice.” Twilight Sparkle said opening the door and gesturing inside.
“It’s not a problem at all my friend, a helping hoof to you I’ll lend.” The Zebra spoke in her usual rhyme scheme. She stepped inside the library and gazed at the huge pile of books scattered across the floor. She had never seen Twilight so flustered. She lifted a hoof to her chin eyeing the building as if she was looking for something.
“Thank you so much Zecora.” Twilight said, breathing heavily. She didn’t let the company distract from her search though. She levitated three more books down from a high shelf, flipping madly through the pages for anything remotely related to her search. “Have you heard the news of Ivory and Spike?”
“Indeed I’ve heard of their crusade, please tell me now how I can aid.” She said looking at the sleeping owl by the window.
“I have to find out where they are, if they’ve had any luck, if Spike is alright, and there’s nothing in these books that help me with that. I swear, if I so much as have to look at another useless page, I’m gonna tear my mane out!”
Twilight looked ready to explode. Zecora had no idea how long Twilight had been at it, and she had clearly lost it. The zebra motioned a calming gesture at the unicorn and sat on her haunches. “Do not ruin your lovely hair, we’ll find a way. Do not despair. Your time of thinking alone is done. After all, two heads are better than one.”
Twilight nodded and slowed her breathing. She shuffled through the swamp of books, trying to find her bearings in this jungle of knowledge. She knew that one of these books had to have the answer, but which one, she didn’t know. But she was determined to find it. While looking over Teleportation and Transmutation, Twilight explained to her guest what it was she was trying to do.
“From what Fluttershy told me, they didn’t gather many items for the journey. For all I know, Ivory Moon left the gifts the girls gave him behind.”
“Gifts you say? What were they?” Zecora replied inquisitively.
Twilight thought back. “Oh, well, they were a saddlepack, a pie, a picture of Rainbow Dash, and a book on basic unicorn spells.” Her eyes widened at what she just said. “Oh no! That must have been the book that has the spell I need!”
“A mistake it seems. How very tragic. But why would you give him a book on magic? When last I saw, I could have sworn, he was not a unicorn.”
“I gave him the book to brush up on what he could expect when he lived with Rarity. But now I don’t have the book I need.” Twilight stomped around the room, frustrated with her decision to give the tome away. But as quickly as she had become furious, she became enlightened. “Zecora, you wouldn’t happen to have the book, would you?”
She looked down and shook her head. “No, I do not carry that tome.” Twilight sighed in defeat and hung her head. She felt like a complete failure. “But…” The zebra started up again, trying to instill hope in the crushed pony. “there may be something back at my home.”
Twilight Sparkle lifted her head at the mention of something else. A small glint of hope shined in her eyes and she leapt to the door, opening it without hesitation. “Then what are we waiting for?! Let’s go!”
Quick as a whip, she was out the door and on the road, not even waiting for her black and white friend. Zecora just stood there, looking quite shocked at Twilight’s sudden mood swings. She leaned over to Owlowiscious who had woken up when the door had slammed open. “Your owner is visibly in distress, but I cannot deny, she is quite a mess.”
The owl shook his head vigorously and blinked his eyes trying to wake up. Then replied, “Who?”
“I hope you kid my friend of the night, I speak of the unicorn named Twilight.”
“Who?”
She looked ready to spout another rhyme, but caught on to Owlowiscious’ game and smiled slyly. She winked at the bird and then walked to the still opened door of the library, shutting it behind her.
*****
“And that’s how I got into the saxophone.”
“Really? So how’d ya get out?” Ivory turned back to Spike with a grin. Spike shook his head and continued.
“You know what I mean.”
“I know, I know. It’s just so much fun messing with you.”
“No it’s not!”
“Yeah it is. You just make it so easy for me.”
“Whatever.”
“Hey, calm down bud. You know I’m just kidding.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
They continued down the straight path to the Gryphon Kingdom, traversing the scorching desert heat and the blazing sand. But their journey had not been a fruitless one. Their destination was clearing up. The high towers of the castle rose above the other tall buildings and the gates became visible over the horizon.
It was a grand sight to behold. Having never been to Canterlot himself, Ivory was in awe of just how magnificent the city looked from afar, even if he couldn’t see much detail. But from what he could see, it was a marvelous view for this weary traveler. He would have to make a stop there on his way back to Ponyville to see just how grand it was. But that could wait until he had rescued Rarity and made the captors pay.
In the meantime, Ivory kept his mind on what he had to do upon entering the city. He would certainly need water that much was obvious. And extra sustenance would be a necessity as well. As delicious as Applejack’s pie was, it would not last long enough to make the rest of the journey, or even half of it for that matter. A compass might also be helpful just incase they found themselves lost.
While Ivory calmly gathered supplies in his mind, an unfamiliar hissing noise drew his attention away from the city and down at the sand. He spotted a patch of sand that bore a surprising resemblance to another patch of sand he had seen earlier. It didn’t seem much out of the ordinary, until the patch of sand decided to move. It uncurled its tan body, slithering past Ivory Moon, uncomfortably closely I might add.
Just as Ivory turned his attention away from the unwelcomed guest, an unsettling sight filled his heart with fear. The sand was dotted with the same patches of sand, curled up to blend in with the surrounding sand all too well. As far as he could see, the ground was littered with the creatures. They had stumbled into a snake field.
At first, Ivory didn’t know what to make of the situation. If he could get a closer look at one of the reptiles, he could find out weather they were poisonous or not. But one wrong move and he would find out the hard way.
For a while, he thought that turning back was their best chance, but that would gain them no ground. It didn’t seem like going around was an option either. The snakes just didn’t seem to end. As far as the eye could see, the reptiles had made this their home.
Ivory’s heart beat, faster and faster until it felt ready to explode. How could he walk himself and Spike into such a predicament? “Any bright ideas Spike?” Ivory whispered to his comrade. The dragon had been quiet for a long time. He wondered if Spike even knew what was going on.
“I… I don’t know… I was… kinda hoping that you’d h-have an… idea…” He stuttered fearfully. And rightfully so. Their pleasant little trek through the desert had taken a turn for the worse.
But this ‘minor delay’ could not stop Ivory. His courage returned to him as he took a step forward. Eyeing the ground carefully for any discoloration, he stepped around the reptiles curled along the ground. He could feel Spike tense up on his back. “Don’t worry Spike.” He whispered, keeping his eyes glued to the sand.
His words only made Spike worry more. The maze of serpents continued for the longest time, occasionally forcing Ivory off of the path to the kingdom to avoid angering the potentially poisonous problem.
He stopped only once and back off at the sight of on of the snakes lifting its head and unsheathing its hood and fangs as a warning. Since the pony had not had any prior experience with snakes, he had no idea what to do and just froze in place. Soon enough, the serpent lowered its head and the hissing died down. A sigh of relief escaped Ivory’s mouth as he saw the snake slither away, clearing a path for him.
The encounter, while frightening, did give Ivory confidence. He could safely tell from the hood of the snake that these were cobras. And thankfully they were not king cobras. Had they been anything more deadly, he would not be as confident. As it was, his fearlessness was hanging on by a thread.
He wondered how long the path of cobras went on. The Gryphon Kingdom was closer than it had ever been. It was so close, but so far. Just then, the unnerving sound of hissing resurfaced from behind him. But what unnerved Ivory even more was the sound that followed.
“Um… Ivory…?” Spike whimpered faintly. The earth pony’s expression changed from one of focus, to one of defeat. He turned his head sluggishly to see his partner looking directly into the eyes of a cobra. Neither of them budged an inch, but the snake slithered a bit closer to the pair.
Ivory had thought the snakes would be too afraid of them to see about sizing them up for a snack. But this particular serpent was more courageous than his comrades.
“Spike.” Ivory whispered, looking back to the kingdom. He faced the sand trying to find a clear path.
“Ye-yeah… Ivory?” He replied, shaking on the pony’s back.
“Has Twilight ever had any stupid ideas?” He began memorizing the path that would give him the highest chance of success. He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes, saying a small prayer in his head.
Spike backed away from the cobra, still staring at him intently. “Wh-why?”
“Because this is probably the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.”
Ivory once again summoned all his reserved strength, pulled his hind legs forward, and snapped them back in a rush of raw power. The feel of snake scales on his hooves told him that he hit it, and the thundering outburst of hissing told him that it was time to get moving.
Following the mental path he had laid out previously, Ivory Moon galloped through as many open spots as he could find, swerving relentlessly to avoid being bitten. It was like a game of hopscotch; only the penalty for failure was death. A few times, he saw a nearby cobra lash out in his direction. But he was able to act quickly enough to prevent being bitten.
Spike had been awfully quiet this whole time. But that was to be expected, the two were cheating death. He didn’t expect his partner to act as if he was riding a roller coaster.
Suddenly, Ivory felt something other than the scorching sand on his hoof. It felt slimy and rough, and all too soon did he find out what it was. Two razor sharp needles pierced his skin, forcing the pony to cry out and stumble a bit. As quickly as the stinging sensation started, it ceased. But the fear did not.
Already, he could feel his blood start to heat up. The exterior condition of his body didn’t help much either. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, and hot. And if he didn’t get to the Gryphon Kingdom in time, he would have to add 'dead' to that list.
The cobras became bolder as he continued running. More and more of them lashed out like whips at the passing earth pony, trying to pump more venom into his bloodstream. Ivory’s vision began to blur, as he could no longer tell the difference between the snakes and the sand. He just kept running, trying to keep his balance.
He could feel his heartbeat rapidly increase and his breathing became more flustered and frantic. He could feel his body failing him. Just how much venom did that single cobra pump into him? However much it was, it was sure taking its toll. And a few feet later, his legs finally gave out from under him. He collapsed to the soft sand, sending his friend flying forward.
He kept his eyes open as much as he could, but it did him little use. All he could make out were colors and shapes. Still, he was thankful to see a big, purple blob approach him.
“Ivory! Ivory, wake up!” Spike slapped his companion’s face several times, trying to keep him awake.
“Spi… di’h we make it…?” His words were weak and faint, but he managed to make out a slight nod from his friend. He felt liquid seeping out of his mouth and nostrils, to which he could only assume was blood.
“Come on Ivory… don’t give up!” Spike called out to him. He looked around for something, anything that could help his friend. But there was nothing. He felt helpless, watching his friend die right in front of him.
“Spike… we… gave it… our bess…” Ivory coughed out, trying to form his words properly. “Thanks… for… believin’… in me…” All colors turned to red in his eyes, and then to black. The last thing he felt were the scales of his friend leave his face before completely passing out.
“No…” Tears filled his eyes. He closed his hands into fists and shook vigorously. “I… I won’t let you die!” Spike yelled, looking back to the Gryphon Kingdom. It was so close he could see the gate on the horizon, not but a few miles away.
With all the strength he had left, he grabbed the unconscious Ivory Moon by the tail and started pulling him toward the kingdom. The pony was heavier than he had thought. He lugged the white pony behind him, leaving a thin trail of blood.
Tears dripped from Spike’s eyes. He knew what would happen if he didn’t succeed. It suddenly dawned on him. Ivory had saved Spike from the dragon and the snakes… now it was Spike’s turn. Ivory had to live. And no matter what, they would finish their quest.
“Ivory…” A sad Spike called out, struggling to continue pulling. “I know you can’t hear me… but you can’t die.” He looked back at the long red trail left from the mouth of his friend. It made him a bit queasy, but he turned back forward and stomached the disgust. “I know it would be so easy to let go. There’s not much on this earth worth fighting for. And then you’d be with your family again.”
Spike finally felt his adrenaline run out, barely able to pull Ivory Moon another inch. He struggled and strained to pull Ivory’s body along the hot sand. But he inevitably fell to his knees. His strength had reached its limits, and he found himself succumb to the heat of the unforgiving desert. “But… you can’t… give… up…”
Soon enough, Spike fell prey to his own words. He lay on the sand, breathing slowly, dying of thirst and exhaustion. But the little trooper wasn’t finished yet. He reached into the saddlepack on his lifeless friend’s back to see what they had: the rest of the pie, a picture of Rainbow Dash, a book, a map, and a few sticks Spike had packed from the cave. Nothing helpful at all.
It truly seemed a futile mission. A quest doomed from the start. He and his partner never should have climbed that mountain…
But… if they had never climbed that mountain, they never would have found the courage and strength to take on a dragon. And if they had not taken on a dragon, they would not have found the valor and bravery to traverse a field of snakes. And even on death’s doorstep, Spike found himself unable to accept this fate.
Just then, an idea popped into his head. He reached into the pack and pulled out all of the sticks he had packed. He had been saving them for another cold night, but this was an emergency. He counted seven sticks in his hand but found five more in the pack. He laid them out as far away as he could to avoid burning Ivory. Then, with one huge breath of air, he spat green fire onto the sticks, igniting them instantly.
The green fire was weak and barely noticeable in the desert heat, but as the smoke trail rose up into the blue sky, a smile crept its way onto Spike’s face. He set his head down next to Ivory’s and closed his eyes ready to be found or to welcome death. Whichever came first…