//------------------------------// // For chaos' sake! *Rewritten* // Story: Falling Apart // by The Infinity Doctor //------------------------------// I groaned as I came to, and cracked open an eye- finding a clear blue sky above. My throat felt dry as I tried sitting up, and fell back onto the ground. "Ouch...ow...owowow...that stings..." "Are you okay?" "Sc-Screwball? What happened?" "Daddy wanted to meet you-" She hesitated at the end, that can't be good. "But?" "-but...those nasty ponies turned him back to stone..." "WHAT?! Ponies?! Where are we?!" "Calm down-" "Calm down? CALM DOWN?! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO-" Screwball flew into my field of vision, and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "It's going to be okay- you just need to calm down" I don't know what it was, but I almost instantly stopped thrashing and took a few deep breaths. "Okay...okay...so...care to explain...why ponies...turned your father into stone?" This sounds like something out of a children's show- "He made everything better! Then those ponies went and made everything boring again..." 'I'm not going to get anything from her...' "Well...here, help me up" I said. "Uh, you might want to stay still..." "Why?" "Well- um, when we landed, you kind of...um...changed..." "Changed...how?" "Hold on, just don't scream" The floating pink pony summoned a hand mirror "Why would I-" My brain lost all function as I stared at the behemoth in the mirror. I blinked, those grey eyes blinked with me. I finally registered what I was looking at, and let out a thundering roar. X X X X X X X Fluttershy jumped as a loud roar filled the air, effectively rattling the windows of her cottage. "O-Oh dear, what do you suppose that was Angel?" the yellow pegasus asked Angel Bunny shrugged and went back to munching on his carrot. "It could be an injured animal..." she reasoned "but what if it isn't? What if it is?" Fluttershy continued to argue with herself, finally settling on going out to find the source of the noise. She gathered her medical kit and left her cottage, and took off at a trot towards the library. X X X X X X X By the time Fluttershy had arrived at the library, Twilight and her other friends were already there, arguing about the roar coming from the forest. "That sounded an awful lot like a Manticore" Applejack said. "No way- I bet it was a werepony!" Rainbow Dash added. "Wereponies don't exist, Rainbow Dash" Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "What do you think, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy squeaked as everypony took notice of her. "Oh, hello Fluttershy" Twilight said "you're the animal expert, I was wondering if you had any idea what this creature might be" "Oh...um...no- at least, not unless I could get a better look...I'm sorry..." "Ugh- well let's go check it out, we can at least venture a little ways into the forest" X X X X X X X "What have you done to me?!" I shouted at Screwball "Why did you have to turn me into- into this?!" "I'm sorry! Okay? I didn't know what would happen!" "Then why did you bring me here in the FIRST PLACE?!?" "I- I- I- just-" "WHAT?" "...all I wanted was a friend..." she replied quietly, a square tear slipping from her eye and onto the ground. 'Wha?' My rage dropped to a simmer, I was in no position to forgive her- but this was heartbreaking to watch. "Ponies don't like us...say we're bad luck...call us monsters..." "Screwball-" I said, pinching the bridge of my nose "-okay, you needed a friend, but why bring me here? Why turn me into- into this?" "They would've thought you looked too weird..." she said, as if it were obvious. "Look weird? I look weird now!" I said, gesturing to myself. My entire upper body was packed with muscle, covered in dark grey fur (maybe it was wolf? I don't know...), my previously human head was replaced with that of an Anubis, y'know, from Egyptian Mythology? A short black coat covered my head and long, pointed ears, a glistening black nose attatched to the end of my new face (muzzle?). Two long antlers smoothly transitioned from between my ears near the back of my head. A large dragon claw had replaced my right arm, covered in dark orange scales, my left was replaced with a griffin claw. (I'm into mythology, okay? Don't judge) A dark brown, feathered wing hung from my back, along with a white, leathery one, equally as large. My mid-section, or...haunches...now, were feline in shape, white with grey tiger stripes, more confusing still was that those haunches blended into cloven-hooves that served as my legs and feet. I looked over my shoulders and found a thick blue tail with a rounded spade on the end idly swishing back and forth. 'How did I not notice that before? What the hell did she do to me? I look like something out of a sci-fi movie' "I said I was sorry..." "Screwball...sometimes sorry doesn't cut it...what did you turn me into?" "I-I- tried to turn you into a draconequus, but...something just didn't work right..." "You don't say?" I said sarcastically. Her ears slapped against her head again. "Sorry...sorry...all of this is just a lot to take in...okay?" "Okay...what should we do now?" "I guess the first thing we should do is to find civilization- are there any cities or towns near here?" "Ponyville's a few miles that way" she said nonchalantly, pointing with her hoof. 'Of course the name of the town is a horse pun...' "Welp, let's get going then, there's bound to be someone that can help me" I sighed, bulldozing loose plants and foliage in my way as I lumbered off towards 'Ponyville'. "Um, actually...I have a few things to do..." 'Oh perfect...she's leaving me here in the middle of who-knows-where...' "Fine- I'll catch up with you later, I guess" Screwball gave a faint goodbye and popped out of existence, leaving nothing but empty air. 'So that's how she did it; one mystery solved, about a dozen more left' I tromped through the dense forest floor as I headed in the direction of Ponyville, wondering if there was even anyone that could (or would want) to help me, but hey- it's worth a shot, right? I liked Screwball, I'd even go so far as to say she's like a sister to me, but I had the sinking feeling that she couldn't help me; so here I am, pushing my way through a dark forest with very little hope on the other side...so...yeah...I bet you're jealous, aren't you? Yeah, I thought not. I began singing a tune in my head to pass the time, whistling as I continued walking through the labyrinth of jungle. Okay, that got old fast...almost no time passed either...oh well... 'I'm thoroughly convinced I'll drive myself insane by the time all of this is over...' X X X X X X X "I still think it's gonna be a werepony" Rainbow Dash said, hovering above Twilight. "How many times do I have to tell you Rainbow? Wereponies don't exist" Twilight sighed for the umpteenth time. Rainbow huffed and did a lazy loop as the followed the trail leading through the Everfree. "How do you think Applejack and Fluttershy are doing?" she asked boredly. "I don't know, I just hope they know what to do if they run into this thing" "There's nothing to worry about, Fluttershy's great with animals, and if it decides to get tough, Applejack can just hog-tie it until we get there" "I really hope it doesn't come to that" "Why not? If it's dangerous, it needs to be restrained" Rainbow reasoned. "Yes, but still..." "Hey, what would you do if we ran into this thing? Try to talk with it, or tie it down so it can't hurt anypony?" "Well...I don't know..." "I know which option I'd go with" X X X X X X X "So, whaddaya suppose this thing is, 'shy?" Applejack asked, trotting alongside Fluttershy "I mean, it sounded pretty durned loud from town, what coulda made that kind a racket?" "I'm not sure...I hope it's okay..." "Okay? Sugarcube, this thing out here's got a pretty loud roar, I think it can take care of itself" "I suppose you could be right..." 'I just hope we don't run into this thing...'Applejack thought, glancing around the dark terrain. X X X X X X X "How long does this forest go on?" I muttered, shaking my leg in order to free it of the vines that had snared it. I finally pulled it free and continued walking, leaving hoof prints in the dirt as I went on my way. My little hike was cut short as I found a trail that led either went deeper into the forest in one direction, or led out of the forest in the other; doing a proverbial coin-toss, I decided on heading right. X X X X X X X "Shh, you hear that?" Rainbow asked, landing next to Twilight. "Hear what?" *Snap* *Rustle Rustle* "It sounds like something's coming, let's hide in the bushes, then we can ambush it" "But what if it's a Timberwolf? Or a Manticore?" "Then we'll need to hide anyway! Come on" Rainbow ushered Twilight into the bushes on the side of the trail and waited as the creature drew closer, heavy hoofsteps thudding against the dirt. 'That sounds too big to be a Timberwolf...' Twilight thought. She was about to say something to Rainbow, but stopped upon seeing an enormous creature walking down the trail, its mix-and-match body parts ugly and beautiful at the same time, the creature's long arms hung off of its large frame, swinging idly as the creature walked past them. Twilight stood there, staring at where the creature had left. Rainbow shook her to get her attention. "Huh? Sorry...what was that?" Twilight asked. "I said- that thing is headed toward Ponyville! We need to stop it before it does! Who knows what it could do?!" "Uh, yeah, yes- let's go find Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie, then we can work on capturing it, or at least divert it back into the forest" Rainbow nodded and the two took off to find the rest of their friends.