The afternoon sun lit up the vale with bright streaks of golden warmth as a light spring breeze blew and swerved around and through the grasses and flowers that dotted the landscape. Birds sang sweet songs to each other from one tree to another. Squirrels and rabbits darted around the trunks chasing after one another.
Fluttershy took in a deep breath as she inhaled the sweet smells of flowers and the last remnants of dewdrops that clung to blades of grass in the shade of a birch tree. Shrubs and bushes swayed as critters ran back and forth, enjoying every moment of the perfect day.
A slight rustling of a nearby bush startled her and brought her out of her daze. She paused for a short moment and breathed a sigh of relief as a snake slithered out of the foliage. “Hello there,” she smiled warmly as it slithered its way across the path. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”
Lavender and crimson markings swirled and spiraled around its gray body. It looked up at her with unblinking red eyes and “tasted” the air with a flick of its forked tongue before continuing on its way toward some unknown destination.
Just as she was about to take a step forward, she froze. She tilted her head and squinted. The snake was converging on several more, almost like a herd. Perplexed, she watched as more joined the slithering procession. After several quiet seconds of watching the strange scene, she lifted herself off the ground and flew after them, making sure to keep a far enough distance to not startle them.
She could not tell what it was, but something just did not feel right. She strained to swallow a thick lump in her throat. As she hovered closer to the first buildings of the town proper, she took notice of more serpents moving toward the center of town from nearly all sides. Most of them appeared to be of average varieties, but she was beginning to see more of the odd species that had first appeared before her. She bit her lip as she looked at their path.
While the gardener snakes appeared to be coming from the valleys and neighboring farmlands, the strange gray and silver serpents with the odd markings appeared to be coming from…
“... The Everfree Forrest?” she murmured to herself in apprehension.
As the odd procession continued on, Fluttershy saw ponies looking out their windows and from storefronts in confusion. A mare stopped in front of a produce cart rolled her eyes as a grown stallion perched atop her, squealing like a tiny foal.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” the pegasus waved with a smile.
“Umm... good afternoon, Blossomforth.” She gently settled down, giving the serpentine procession one last glance before returning her attention to the two ponies before her.
“I really wish you would have given us some notice before parading all your snake friends through Ponyville.” She tittered as she glanced up at the dark pegasus quivering atop her shoulders. “You know how much Thunderlane here loves the slithering things.”
Thunderlane shifted uneasily, doing his best to keep as far from the ground, and the snakes as possible. “Hey,” she stammered. He quivered once more before retorting defensively, “I can’t help it if I’m the only sane pony you can see that those things have sharp pointy things in their slimy mouths. I mean look at those eyes—” he squinted “— all… beady looking.” One snake paused in its trek to glare at him, stuck out its tongue, and appeared to “raspberry” up at him.
Both mares did their best to stifle their laughter as the snake continued on its way.
Fluttershy returned her attention back to Blossomforth. “Actually, I have no idea where they all came from or why they are all migrating through Ponyville. I’ve never heard of anything happening like this before.”
“Maybe they’re invading and are here to claim Ponyville as their own.” Thunderlane shook even more as he covered his head with his forelimbs in a vain attempt to hide from the “evil serpents” and their pointy teeth.
Blossomforth rolled her eyes. “You do remember that you have wings, don’t you?”
He blushed as he hovered off his “perch”, pulling his body inward in and attempt to avoid the ground as much as possible.
“Right… Well, Flutters, if you figure out what’s going on, be sure to let us know.”
“I’m sure you’ll have nothing to worry about.” With a nod and wave goodbye, Fluttershy continued to follow the procession. Everywhere she looked, she saw snakes of all kinds and sizes winding and slithering their way through the quiet town. Ponies gawked at the spectacle from restaurants and stores, second story apartments, and small homes. It seemed like they were all congregating in the center of town; however, they diverted at the last minute. Fluttershy stared in disbelief as the veritable serpentine army slithered their way forward and came to a halt before the purple tree-like structure before them.
The Castle of Friendship gleamed in the noonday sun. It stood tall and resolute; giving off an aura that everypony within the hamlet basked in ever since it sprung forth from the earth. She flew over the crowd and gracefully landed in a space that had been left open in front of the castle’s entrance. Fitfully, she looked around at the spectacle before catching the eye of five other ponies sharing the clearing with her.
Pinkie raised a hoof and began to open her mouth.
Before she could say anything, Fluttershy answered the question she knew they were all thinking. “No, I do not know where they all came from,” she shook her head, “and I’m not certain what they’re all doing here either.”
Pinkie Pie closed her mouth and lowered her hoof.
“Have you tried asking them,” Applejack responded, briefly glaring at the serpents. “I don’t mind having these things around to scare pests and such away, but this seems a might excessive.”
“Well—”
“Yea! Spill it why don’t ya.” Rainbow was nose to nose with one of snakes, locked in an unending staring contest of death glares.
“Do you even know what kinds they are?” Twilight shivered, “I don’t think I’ve even seen these silver ones with spiral markings before. I sent Spike back inside to get me a book I think mentioned something like them before, but I don’t know why I wouldn’t remember.” She tapped her chin with a hoof and absentmindedly stared off into the sky in thought.
“Those came from the Everfree forest,” Fluttershy whispered from beneath her mane.
“I’m sorry, what was that, darling? If I’m not mistaken, you said the ‘Everfree forest’?” Rarity questioned with a bat of her eyes.
“Umm… yes.”
Her friends all looked at her, perplexed and confused. Everypony, with the exception of one.
“Twilight,” Spike called out with excitement as he emerged from the castle. He hobbled down the front steps and rushed over to where she and the others were gathered. “I found the book you wanted.”
“Oh! I know that one! It’s the one that taught her about the Mirror Pool.” Pinkie beamed with pride at having figured out the contents of the tome the young drake was handing over to her purple friend (who was also totally an alicorn princess).
Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth across page after page as she skimmed through the tome that had once been hidden within the walls of Ponyville’s former library. How it had survived the destruction, she did not know, but that was of no importance at this time. She tongued the inside of her cheek in pensive concentration as she delved deeper into vast well of information resting in the glow of her telekinetic grasp. A grunt from behind nearly broke her free from her stupor, but she continued onward even as the grunt turned into a growl.
Twilight strained to keep her focus through the growling and grinding of teeth behind her. “Rainbow, I’m trying to figure out why these snakes, that Fluttershy says came from the Everfree forest, are gathering here along with every other serpent.”
“Well, you’re not in a staring contest to end all staring contests with that book,” Rainbow growled through gritted teeth.
“Rainbow,” Rarity gasped, “Your colors!”
“What about them?” Rainbow refused to look away from the serpent. Several more had joined it. Their piercing gazes locked on to Rainbow’s eyes.
“I hate to break it to ya, sugarcube,” Applejack’s mouth hung agape as she stammered, “but, you’re looking a mighty bit… grayer than usual. Almost like your colors became muted from one to many washes.”
“Gray?” She tried to tilt her head to look at her mane. She tried to give her friends a bewildered look. She failed. “Umm… Twilight, can you hurry up with the egg-heading already?” Her voice sounded more stained; as if she had to force herself to do so much as move her lips. She grimaced as more of the serpents gathered before her, their red eyes locked, unblinking, onto her.
Twilight nodded in oblivious silence, not looking away as she continued her perusal.
“You think it’s the snakes?” Pinkie asked, despite knowing the answer. To her it obviously had something to do with them. She had watched as Rainbow become even less “rainbow” as more snakes had joined the first. The question was who would do something about it first.
“Well, I for one won’t let a bunch of slimy disgusting snakes harm another colorful hair on our Rainbow Dash.” Rarity’s horn began to glow as she readied a spell. With an exhaled snarl, she unleaded a burst of magic between the pegasus and the crowd of serpents scorching the earth. The ground exploded as dirt and ash burst forth from the impact point. As the dust settled, Rainbow and the snake army were still holding each other’s gaze.
“Aha, I know what they are!” Twilight beamed brightly, nearly hovering in her excitement.
HishRawh!
Twilight nearly dropped her book. Her head darted around, looking around for the source of the monstrous roar.
“Let me answer for you, little pony.” The hissing voice drew the attention of everypony in attendance. By this time, a small crowd had gathered around the castle, filled with curiosity and fear regarding the town’s newest occupants. However, their attention was now drawn toward their resident princess’s castle, or more specifically, the massive serpent that was winding its way around it.
Every serpent flicked their tongues and hissed in unison as the massive snake silently looked over everypony and snake in attendance. Its crimson and lavender etchings appeared to pulse with an internal glow as they swirled around its undulating sliver body.
“If I could move, I’d kick you right in your ugly face!” Rainbow growled through gritted teeth. “Rarity! Do your flying kick attack!”
“What!? Why me?”
“Why, you? Just half a minute ago you were all ‘hey, I’m totally going to defend Rainbow’s honor, cause she’s so awesome and stuff’.”
“But, that was before a giant snake thing wound its way around Princess Twilight’s tree castle, darling.” Rarity’s voice quivered along with the rest of her.
“Twi, now would be a great time to start spouting some of that exposition.” Applejack and Pinkie were crouched in ready stances, prepared to lunge at a moment’s notice.
Pinkie looked at Applejack with a large bright smile, “What are we getting ready for?”
“I don’t know.”
“Basilisk,” Twilight murmured. Her voice was shaking almost as much as her legs. “They’re all basilisks.”
The basilisk shook its head, a look of disappointment hung on its face and it chuckled, “My children are basilisks. I am Ladon: their ruler. Their patriarch.”
By this point, Fluttershy had backed away into the growing crowd of awestruck and terrified ponies. She tried to breathe, but it felt as though she were drowning. Her heart pulsed and throbbed to the point she thought it would burst forth from her chest. “I... I should have known. Why didn’t I recognize them at first?” She whimpered as a tear or two slowly formed in the corner of her eye. She let one fall to the ground. She shuttered. She grimaced. She growled. Her eyes pulsed with unseen energy as she locked her stare onto the beast.
“Girls!” She shouted, taking one quivering step forward, “Whatever you do, don’t look into their eyes.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Rainbow was nearly completely in grayscale and her coat had taken on a coarser texture.
HishHa! Ladon’s laugh shook through Fluttershy and her friends as row after row of snakes and basilisk joined him in his revelry. Fluttershy lost focus and was not able to push her stare into his own. “Do not fret little ponies. I only seek she who has wronged my Queen.”
“Your Queen? Do you mean Chrysalis?” Rarity looked up at him in confusion.
Ladon let out another laugh, before his massive head was nose to nose with the shaking unicorn. “No.” Rarity was suddenly encased in stone.
“Rarity!” everypony gasped as the crowd scattered in a panicked frenzy.
HishRawh!
Every basilisk and serpent exploded from where they had waited, chasing after Ponyville’s citizens. Screams and crying were met with hisses and snarls.
HishHaha ha-ha ha! Ladon’s laughter added to the chorus of chaos that had befallen the town.
Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack rushed behind a shrubbery, joining Fluttershy as Ladon finished the job his children had started, petrifying Rainbow Dash into a stone statue of a pegasus glaring with unending defiant anger.
“Whatdowedo!? Whatdowedo!? Whatdowedo!?” Pinkie hyperventilated, shaking Fluttershy.
“We have to stop them.”
Pinkie stopped shaking a thoroughly dizzy Fluttershy and rolled her eyes. “Well duh, Twilight; but, how?”
“What about that stare of yours, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked. Despite maintaining a neutral expression, her voice still wavered.
“I tried it, but I think it will only work if I can look him eye to eye.” Fluttershy hesitated, and avoided her friends’ gazes. “Even if I could give Ladon the stare, I don’t think I would be able to convince him to get his snakes to leave…” Her voice tapered off as she tried her hardest to avoid their eyes even more. She did not want to admit that the real problem would be convincing Ladon to release Rainbow and Rarity.
She had once convinced a cockatrice to release Twilight and one of her chickens, but in doing so she almost became petrified herself. Not to mention that one had been young. There was not telling if she would be able to succeed against something as strong as the “ruler and patriarch” of the basilisks. She had heard stories of basilisks. She knew of their powers: their fangs excreted one of the most dangerous poisons in all of Equestria, and the stare of an adult could be more effective than that of a cockatrice.
“Ahhhh! Help!”
The four ponies peered over the hedge. A large basilisk as large as a tree trunk had coiled around Spike and was slowly constricting itself. While it was dwarfed by the might of Ladon, it was still much larger than any snake any of the four remaining ponies could have imagined. As it tightened its grip, Spike yelped out again.
“Come out and surrender, imprisoner of the Serpent Queen!” Ladon was staring at their hiding spot from where he was coiled around the castle. “I promise that I will not hurt your friends.” The corners of his mouth curved upward in a devilish grin. He flicked his tongue out once, savoring the sweet taste of fear that hung in the atmosphere.
All around, ponies were fleeing. Several had failed and had become petrified statues in various states of despair. Some were frozen mid gallop, while a group appeared to have tripped and were in the process of holding each other when they had been met with the piercing gaze. It was evident that there was more than one fully-grown based on how many ponies had been turned to statues of their former selves and how quickly it happened.
Twilight worriedly ducked back behind the bush. She shakily exhaled a breath before looking at her friends and prepared to speak.
CRASH!
A massive gray tail slammed into the bush covering their hiding spot. Twilight jumped back with aid from a hard flap of her wings. Her horn glowed as she released a pulsing wave of manna that shoved Applejack and Pinkie Pie and pulled Fluttershy alongside her and out of the way of the basilisk’s tail. They pulled themselves back to their hooves as the dust began to settle.
“Is everyone alright?” Twilight called out.
“I think so,” responded Fluttershy. “Eeep.”
The basilisk holding Spike was in between the two groups of ponies, with several smaller ones slithering toward them from all sides.
Twilight gritted her teeth and shot several discharges of magic at the oncoming snakes. She launched blast after blast into the snakes, alternating from the ones approaching her and Fluttershy to the ones drawing closer to Applejack and Pinkie. Still, they approached. She looked around, trying to get an idea of their current situation. Maybe, there was an opening somewhere? She and Fluttershy could probably fly away, but that would leave Applejack and Pinkie. Even if they could pick them up, they would have to get around the basilisk separating them, first.
Defeated, she said the only thing she could think of, “When you get the chance, run.” She began charging up her most powerful blast, yet. She strained as the magic built up in her horn. Her weight was pressed into the ground and her hooves began to sink into miniature craters. Just as several small basilisks were about to pounce onto her friends, she released.
The beam of purple light shot from her horn, burning its way toward the approaching snakes. The air sizzled and crackled around the beam, as the smell of burning ozone filled the scene. It pierced deep into the earth, right between Applejack and Pinkie. Dirt and debris burst forth from the impact site, as the energy beam exploded in full release of magic and energy.
Twilight grabbed Fluttershy and pulled her up into the air. They pushed their wings hard, gaining as much altitude and speed as they could find as they flew north. Briefly, they glanced back. The basilisk had ignored them, and had lunged after the two earth ponies. Pinkie dodged, her eyes closed to its cursed stare and ran west and into an alley. Neither could see what became of Applejack amongst the bedlam.