Chapter 1: Stone Lungs
It had been a late night for Thomas. He had been up late watching MLP videos on the web and he was thoroughly beat. When he woke up that morning he had expected to feel like fish bate. So he was surprised when he felt himself wake up to a quiet rushing sound like someone had left a fan on and not the grating sound of his alarm.
He lay there a minute feeling refreshingly cool despite his thick blankets, and then yawned.
Or rather tried to yawn. It was like when you are about to sneeze but don’t, or take a drink expecting soda and get water instead.
Thomas lay there confused, he couldn’t feel his mouth, or his eyelids. Usually on Monday mornings they were heavy as lead, crusted over, and as bloodshot as possible. Today it was as if he didn’t have a face at all. He tried to open his eyes but it was like they didn’t exist.
Alright, don’t panic thought Thomas, trying to gulp unsuccessfully. Every book I’ve ever read says not to panic. Think calmly and rationally.
But strangely enough Thomas was already as calm as possible. He expected to feel his pulse pumping in his ears and breath pumping in and out-
Thomas’s train of thought froze dead on the tracks. He wasn’t breathing. Not one breath of air had passed through his lips (not that he could feel those either).
Am I dead? Have I been Zombiefied? Wouldn’t I be hungry for brains if I was? Maybe I’m still asleep?
Thomas shifted his attention to his right hand. He wiggled his fingers a bit and scratched at the pebbles on the ground.
Since when did I sleep outside?
He let go of some of the pebbles and felt them slowly drift to the ground.
This is getting weird.
Thomas rolled over and froze as the world came into focus around him… In a way.
He could see all around him. It was a little like radar.
Daredevil-vision? No. Toph from the last airbender.
All the earth around him and some of the nearby trees were dark gray, the bushes were a little harder to see. But everything above the ground was completely black. He was laying in some sort of ditch filled with smooth pebbles and grass that was bent as if in a strong wind.
Thomas stayed still for a second and he could feel his vision fading. He shifted slightly and the world came into focus again. Now that he thought about it, it really was like echo-location.
I’m ‘pinging’ the earth.
Thomas thought about that for a second and then stood up.
As his head breached the surface of the stream he could feel the water dripping down his face, off his chest and down his back.
Before he could consider what he had been doing underwater he felt something push off the ground behind him and, spinning around, he grabbed what felt like a handful of dull toothpicks in his right hand.
He tightened his grip a little and could feel the wood snapping in his hands.
There was a rustle of brush and Thomas could feel and hear something dash away on the other side of the stream. Whatever it was it moved on four legs.
Thomas shifted his weight on his two legs and looked around, he still couldn’t see anything with his eyes.
He made his way to the bank of the river and deposited the handful of wet sticks on the ground.
It jumped at me, so it has to be alive. Or... had to be.
As Thomas stood there in the stream, he felt whatever it was all over with his surprisingly sensitive fingers. It felt like a pile of dead branches stuffed with leaves and grass.
Maybe it’s a timberwolf, said Thomas jokingly to himself, then stopped cold as his right hand accidentally touched his left thumb.
Removing his hands from the creature on the bank Thomas slowly clasped them together with a dull 'crunch' and felt his heart drop into his stomach.
Zecorra ran as fast as she could towards Ponyville, her lungs ached but she couldn’t stop. That image was embedded in her head.
The giant dark shape, bigger than an alicorn, looming up out of the water with the timberwolf hanging lifeless in its grasp.
Lately the timberwolves in the Everfree had become restless, now it seemed that she knew why.
As she came barreling out of the forest she found Fluttershy’s cottage, a warm light showing through the windowpanes. Panting, exhausted, she trotted along the path, the fireflies illuminating her way. When she came to the door she adjusted her saddlebags and knocked politely.
A soft ‘eep’ came from inside followed by, “Who’s there?”
“Tis I Fluttershy,” said Zecorra, her breath still coming in bursts.
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy, opening the door for her, “What happened to you?”
As Zecorra trotted carefully into the cottage she noticed that Fluttershy had apparently been eating a late salad after feeding the animals. Angel Bunny looked up at the intruder with a glare that spoke deeply of his dislike of interruptions while eating. Zecorra nodded at Fluttershy's small protector and, though he squinted his eyes in suspicion, he went back to munching his salad. Meanwhile, Zecorra turned to face the worried, yellow pegasus.
“Through the woods did I wander, until before me there stood a monster,” said Zecorra, accepting the cup of tea she was offered, “Larger than a tree, from it did I flee.”
“Are you sure?” asked Fluttershy, unwilling to think of anything truly as a monster.
“Larger than ten ponies it stood, if it could have killed me I think that it would.” Zecorra looked Fluttershy in the eye, “Truly this beast was of phenomenal size, I watched it crush a timberwolf before my very eyes.”
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy, who had never felt sympathy for a timberwolf before. Even Angel looked up in surprise, a carrot hanging out of his mouth.
“Fluttershy do you mind if I ask you a favor?” asked Zecorra.
“Of course not,” said Fluttershy, comforting a small chipmunk who had taken refuge in her long pink mane.
“Do you suppose that, just tonight, I could... stay here?”
“Of course Zecorra, but would you mind waiting just one minute? If this creature is as terrifying as you say I need to warn my friends. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and the CMCs are having a small camping trip. I do hope that they aren’t sleeping too close to the Everfree.”
Rock scratched against more rock as he clenched and unclenched his hands. His fingers felt like they were made of rough stones held together by steel tendons or something. He still had a reasonable amount of dexterity, however the individual joints of his fingers were different sizes and shapes.
As Thomas sat on the side of the river, he contemplated what to do now. He had already tried yelling for help, but without lungs he couldn’t make a sound. He didn't know where he was, but from what he could feel around him, he wasn't home... or even near home. He had no idea how he'd gotten where he was now, or if his parents knew he was missing.
His head and chest had dried out from the cold breeze that blew through the branches above him, but his feet still hung over the embankment and trailed in the rushing water. He couldn't even tell if it was day or night. He wasn't cold, but the fact that he was lost, all alone, slightly blind in a strange forest still sent a brief shiver up his spine.
A drop of water slid down what Thomas still thought of as his face and he felt it with his finger.
Why am I crying? I'm not sad. Scared and confused, yes, but not sad... Besides, how am I crying?
More drops followed, landing in his open hands and on his rough shoulders as he realized that it was merely rain. Standing up, he considered finding a cave, then realized that the downfall didn’t bother him anymore than sleeping at the bottom of a river.
Applejack, Rainbow and the rest were actually camped in a clearing a little ways into the Everfree.
“Are you sure that it’s safe here?” asked Scootaloo, looking around cautiously, “Not that I’m worried or anything. Because I’m tough.”
Dash just grinned at Scootaloo as the fire popped and sent sparks into the night sky and said, “You’re friends have nothing to worry about squirt, I camp here all the time, it may technically be in the Everfree but it’s perfectly safe.”
“I sure hope so,” said Applejack, through a mouthful of stick, as she poked the embers, “Granny Smith wasn’t too keen on Apple Bloom sleepin' clear out here.”
“It’ll be fine,” said Pinkie, through a mouthful of s'mores, “We’ve got Rainbow Dash. Any monsters will tremble in fear before her awesomeness!”
Rainbow grinned then gave Pinkie a strange look, “Yeah. Hey, why did you come along again?”
Pinkie turned to Rainbow and licked some chocolate off her nose.
“Egh, Never mind.”
“Aw shucks, looks like we need some more wood fer the fire,” said Applejack, tossing the last log into the dying blaze.
“I’ll get some more,” said Apple Bloom, standing up.
“Oh no you don’t,” said Applejack, “I’m gonna’ watch over you, like I told Granny. Yer stayin’ right here.”
“But Applejack…”
“No buts about it Apple Bloom!”
“Come on AJ,” said Rainbow, sticking some more marshmallows on her stick, “Give the kid a shot. Trust me, if she needs any help (not that she will) she can just yell.”
“I don’t know.”
“Please big sis. I promise I’ll be real careful.”
“And I’ll go too, just to make sure,” piped up Sweetie Belle.
“Well…”
“Quick kids before she reconsiders,” said Rainbow through a mouthful of stick as she toasted her marshmallow.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran off into the woods as Applejack sat down, somewhat uncomfortably, “I’ve got a bad feelin' about this.”
“We’re all out of marshmallows,” said Pinkie, her voice muffled with her head stuck in the bag.
Thomas had been wandering for several minutes now and he was beginning to realize that this was no dream. He was still having a little trouble taking it all in.
I’m a creature composed completely of stone, unable to see except through ground-sonar, with no need to eat, drink or breathe I guess. Wonder if this is what the Thing feels like? Well at least he had eyes and lungs.
Leaning against a tree he got an idea and, feeling around the trunk, managed to find a strong branch. With one quick tug, it snapped off in his hand like a dry twig.
Ok, super strength. I guess things aren’t so bad. Although, being a stone monolith, that wasn’t exactly unexpected. I just wish that I could see what’s going on around me above ground-level.
Thomas’s brain had adapted quickly enough to seeing 360 degrees around him and only at ground level. However, the whole experience still made him dizzy and he had to make his way slowly, with both hands out in front of him. Since there was no forward or face-ward direction he was finding it hard to walk a straight line. It was like he was playing a top-down shooter game but he couldn't see his character or the cursor. His mind kept getting confused. Was he walking towards the tree or backing up to it? Not to mention the fact that it felt like he was walking in a bounce-house; his feet sunk into the ground with every step and it was beginning to get on his nerves.
I've got to get out of this marshy area.
Stopping to sit down, he nearly flinched as he laid his face, or was that the back of his head, against a knotted tree trunk.
He had lost track of how many times he had tried to take a deep breath and failed. Every time he would nearly panic and then realize that he couldn’t breath and didn’t need to. Plus the fact that he was made of stone seemed to keep him perpetually calm despite the eerie atmosphere that surrounded him. He couldn't hear a single bird or animal anywhere in the forest.
I never realized how fulfilling it is to just take a breath before. He thought as he sat waiting for a sound. Anything... an owl hooting, a horn honking, anything to break this silence. Between his inability to breath and his partial blindness he almost felt like he was locked in a small dark room.
Since he couldn't speak out loud the only thing Thomas had to break the spell was his sense of touch, so he ran his hand across his face for the fourth time, feeling the smooth surface beneath his skin. Yes, it was pitted and scratchy like a rock, but there were no facial features; his mouth, eyes, nose and even his cheeks were gone. It was like he was running his hand over a giant boulder except that he could feel his hand on his face.
As his fingers trailed down his chin he tried to think of something happy to get himself up and moving again and a cute little unicorn filly popped into his head, singing out into the darkness in a cheerfully oblivious voice.
Ninety-nine buckets of oats on the wall, ninety-nine buckets of oats…
Thomas silenced the mental singing as he heard someone else singing the very same song plus the sound of leaves underfoot and branches snapping from a little ways off.
Thomas rolled over and placed his hands on the ground trying to see who it was. As his fingers kneaded the soft earth he strained to feel farther. At last he felt whoever it was step into his field of vision. At first he was confused since he could feel eight sets of heavy feet hitting the earth in almost perfect rhythm. Then he realized that the feet were actually hooves which meant there were only two beings coming. He could feel the size of the two creatures and based on how much their hooves were sinking into the soft earth there was no one riding on them.
So then who’s sing- Wait a second!
Thomas’s brain had been through a lot so far today but now it just gave up and said “No! Uh-ah. I don’t think so. There has to be some amount of reason and logic here. It’s called a cartoon for a reason; they’re not real!”
Still he couldn’t resist taking a look, or at least getting close enough to hear his favorite Cutie Mark Crusader singing.
He crept as quietly as he could towards some thick bushes and waited as the two creatures came nearer and nearer.
“-Take one down pass it around you got ninety-six buckets of oats on the wall. Ninety-six buckets of oats on the wall, ninety-six buckets of oats-”
“Uh, Sweetie thanks fer the song but... I’m good.”
“Oh, OK.”
The two of them stopped in a small clearing that was just beyond the bush that Thomas was lying behind and Apple Bloom said, “We’d better get some wood before it gets too wet. You grab that pile and I’ll take this one over here.”
Thomas could hear them grabbing what sounded like piles of sticks and felt some light brush leave the ground behind the bush. He leaned forwards to listen and see better and his left hand disturbed the bush slightly.
Apple Bloom froze and turned around saying, “Did you hear that?”
Sweetie Belle was equally spooked as she said, “Maybe it was the wind?”
If Thomas could have winced he would have. He stayed as still as a stone and hoped that they might dismiss his accident as the wind. However, things weren’t going his way.
The bush continued to rustle and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were now officially scared.
“Do ya think it’s a timberwolf?”
Thomas was sitting there, both his hands planted firmly on the ground, trying to figure out what was making the bush make so much noise.
Suddenly every being in the area froze. There was a quiet, sinister squawking coming from inside the bush.
Oh no! thought Thomas to himself, Please tell me that I didn’t just wake up what I think I just woke up.
Thomas felt the creature inside the bush set its foot on the ground. It was a very thin foot, almost like a bird’s foot.
The leaves rustled as it stuck its head out of the bush and squawked loudly. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom screamed and Thomas reacted without thinking.
Jumping out from behind the bush he positioned himself between the girls and the cockatrice. Getting down on his knees he held his arms out like a goalie trying to protect the net. He could feel that the cockatrice was facing him and judging by the weight distribution, its head was stuck out towards him and it was obviously trying to turn him to stone.
Too late buster. Somebody already beat ya to it. Besides I don’t have any eyes anyway. But then why is it still trying to petrify me? Maybe it can’t tell that I’m already made of stone.
Thomas tried to come up with a way to get rid of the creature without killing it like the timberwolf as he leaned from side to side to keep its gaze away from the CMCs behind him.
It’s OK girls, he wanted to say to them, however he was as mute as a rock.
Why can’t it see me? Is it blind? That would be ironic. What if it is night time?
Thomas decided that he needed to show the cockatrice how powerful he was non-visually. Raising his two fists above his head he brought them down on the ground with an earth-shattering WHUMP!
The cockatrice jumped and then fled back into the trees as the CMCs went dead silent. Thomas could feel their hearts beating like little jackhammers in their chests and he could tell exactly where they were standing. He didn't need to see their faces to tell they were one hundred and ten percent terrified.
Why are they scared of me? I just saved their lives! Then again, how much can they see if it’s night time? Where’s Scootaloo? Where are their parents-I mean siblings?
Thomas straightened up and was about to turn to face them when he realized two things. First, he didn’t have a face and second, he could hear more ponies coming this way. Fast!
Cockatrice has fled. Two frightened children who won’t be able to explain the situation quickly enough. Strange, giant monster standing over two defenseless children. Added to that Rainbow Dash is probably with the group and I can’t see her if she’s flying… I’m getting out of here!
Thomas bolted into the trees back towards the stream. This was a mistake on his part. He had just paused for a second and turned his mental focus behind him, so to speak, to the CMCs. Now he had spun his mental focus 180 degrees and was running for dear life. If walking like this had made him dizzy, running completely ruined his ability to stay upright.
Stumbling into a tree, he toppled forward and landed on the soft earth, which felt like landing on top of a foam mattress. He felt the chunks of rock and stone that made up his body separate and tumble across the dirt. He had just fallen to pieces, literally, and the coolest, most awesome, most violent pegasus in all Equestria was after him.
Thomas lay there and watched his life flash before his eyes just before he felt the two, much larger, ponies rush by him and into the bushes.
He lay there, confused for a second before he figured it out.
I’m a pile of rocks sitting in the middle of a forest. Why would they pay any attention to me?
I’m invisible.
Thomas lay there and waited. At last he could feel the two ponies returning. They entered the clearing behind him and started talking amongst themselves.
“It was as big as a house!”
“And it left that crater in the ground right there!”
“Well we couldn’t find hide nor hair uh that thing…”
“How could something as big as that that just disappear? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Ooohh! Sounds like a mystery. The case of the disappearing giant, scary monster!”
“Well I say that we get the girls out of this dirty forest and back to the safe campground and maybe even back to our much safer houses.”
Okay, so we have: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Wait, if Pinkie Pie was there how come she didn’t just find me with her Pinkie Sense or ability to break the forth wall? Did her abilities have limits?
Thomas’s fear of being discovered was glossed over slightly as he felt his appreciation for Pinkie’s Pinkie-ness diminish.
“We can’t just leave, there’s a horrifying monster running lose and it’s our job to stop it.”
Great, I was now on the target list for the orbital friendship beam. It turned Discord to stone… I wonder what it would do to me.
“Well, we should still get my sister out of these dreadful woods and find our friends if we’re going to stop this monster.”
Yes! Thank you Rarity. Please get Rainbow Dash out of here so that I can run for my life. Maybe I should just go hide in the stream for a few years. How hard could that be?
“I sure don’t want my sister stayin’ in this forest any longer after all this. I say we take them home and go find Twilight.”
OK Rainbow Dash could fly so I couldn’t see her and I didn’t want to think what she could do to me even though I was made of stone. But Twilight… After the season 4 finale and what she did to Tyrek… I’m going to hide at the bottom of that stream for about fifty years or so.
“Aauurgghhh! Fine! You go get Twilight. I’m staying here to see if I can find the monster. Maybe I’ll defeat it before you guys even find Twilight. See ya later.”
No! Go with your friends Rainbow! PLEASE!!! I enjoy living.
“Oh, this is going to be sooo exciting me and my best pal fighting monsters.”
“You said that about yer best pal before Pinkie. Who’re ya talkin’ about?”
“... The train gets here tomorrow and then… See… can’t wait…”
Their voices died away and I was left alone in the dark forest with an invisible rainbow nuke.
Well at least she’s still awesome...