//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Chaos Falls // by Black Hailstorm //------------------------------// Trouble in Everfree A zebra looked out from the safety of her treehouse at the mist that now consumed the entire forest. It had started no less than a few minutes, possibly five or so before the mist had quite quickly begun to spread throughout the forest. The sounds of the creatures of the Everfree Forest and their wails and whimpers resounding back to the zebra every now and again as the mist only thickened with time. Zecora’s eyes narrowed as she stared out at the mist, that she knew quite well held some sort of dark magic in it. No doubt it’s effects was what was causing the creatures of the Everfree to feel so distraught. Trotting over to her cauldron and stirring it a bit, to add in some warmth to the room, Zecora glanced outside once more. Unable to shake this dark presence she could sense. “I truly hope they will not go through this haze. From what I can tell, it’s designed to be just like a maze.” Zecora shivered a bit when the cold air blew through her home, from the window. Trotting once more out to it she stared out into the blurriness that was the fog. Her eery feeling of that dark presence only growing as the fog grew thicker. “I hope Twilight and the others don’t get attacked. For whatever this fog brings with it, there’s no doubt it will fight back.” Heavy breathing. That was the only thing I could hear as I galloped down the dirt road towards the strange forest that I had been described, acted just like the weather and forests back on my world. “Whoa!” I felt a tug on my tail. Pinkie pulled me back, Screwball and Rainbow Dash waiting by her side, as Twilight and the others came behind us. “What Pinkie?” I asked with annoyance. This wasn’t the time to be stopping if my hunch was correct I needed to get to Zecora immediately. She could be in danger. “Ah know yer worried there Hailstorm, but rushing in blindly like that won’t help anypony” Applejack said trotting towards us. “Applejack’s right, Hailstorm look at the forest” Rarity instructed. I did as such, and now I could see why they had stopped me. Emanating from the forest’s entrance and only the entrance, was a thick white fog. If I had charged in as blindly as I had I’d probably not have realized it till I was probably too far gone. “Oh” I said, blandly. “Your welcome, darling” Rarity said with a smile. “Any idea what’s causing it?” Spike asked from his seat on Twilight’s back. The young alicorn merely shook her head in confusion. "None whatsoever. The Everfree Forest has always been an anomaly to ponykind, there’s no way for me to understand why there’s a fog of this quantity so thick out here. Especially when there’s been no clouds or rain out to create evaporation.” That sentence right there just proved my suspicions. “Bill” I whispered, Pinkie however heard me. “Who’s this Bill guy you keep talking about?” she asked with concern at my hardened expression. I did my best to restrain the signs of guilt on my face, but it didn’t seem to work that well. “And why do you always look like you’re in pain when he’s mentioned?” Twilight asked. “That’s right!” Rainbow said recalling something. “That guy on the thing said his name also! Remember right before we passed out!” her stern glare returned with vengeance as she stared at me. “Who is Bill?” Screwball stepped in, before I could speak. “Look girl’s, now’s not the time to do 42 questions-” “42?” Applejack asked, but was ignored as Screwball continued. “Now’s the time for us to take action. Zecora’s in there right?” the group of mares and dragon nodded. “Then we need to get in there and save her before those scary monsters get to her. Now who’s with me!” She threw her hoof in the center, waiting for the rest to join in. Daring Doo, flapped down with Princess Celestia accompanying her, Swift Strike deciding to stay in the castle just in case the zebra managed to turn up. “I’m in” Daring Doo said placing her hoof over Screwball’s. She looked at the others. “Well?” It took a few seconds but eventually the rest of the mares and Spike threw a hoof and claw in, before breaking. Princess Celestia smiled, before we all turned our attention to her. “Alright my little ponies. I will be keeping track of you all with this spell” she said as her horn glowed and touched each equine, myself included with a light gold badge that faded away into our coats, and Spike’s scales. “If anything happens I will sense it and be able to contact you on how to leave. Understood?” We all nodded. “Good. Then go, and please be safe.” With that we turned our attention towards the foggy forest, taking one hoof towards it at a time. “Alright then.” I said. “Daring Doo, I need you to go with Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike to find Zecora.” They all nodded forming a small group as we began our descent into the haze. “And what about me?” AJ asked. “You’re coming with me, Dash, Pinkie and Screwy also.” “Aw you gave me a pet name” Screwball said. With the fog still being pretty light, I felt her rub against me with a small purr. I’d be lying if I said this equine form didn’t find it somewhat arousing, but it was immediately pushed aside and out of my thoughts. “Anyway, AJ, Dash, Pinkie, Screwy let’s go.” “What are we doing?” Dash asked. “I told you. We’re going to solve this problem. Now Twilight-” I turned to Twilight’s group who should have been behind us, only to find them gone. This isn’t good. “Where’d they go?!” AJ asked with concern. I placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, hey. Look at me” I said gently. “They’re fine alright. Twilight and Daring Doo are with them. And from what I’ve learned Fluttershy’s extremely good with animals. Plus they’ve got Spike’s fire. They’ll be fine, and Rarity’s good with identifying stuff right?” AJ nodded, a small smile creasing her lips before she patted my shoulder. “Thanks Hailstorm.” “No problem, now let’s get moving.” With that said and done we turned our attention to what may or may not lay straight ahead. Pushing into the thicket of the forest as we moved along, staying as remotely close as possible. Minutes had passed and I had told Rainbow Dash to stop flying, being the fact that I didn’t want to lose her. Especially not in this fog. She agreed, but said nothing else to me afterwards. I suppose she was still debating on whether she could trust me again, Applejack however seemed fine with me as she was keeping close to my side like I’d instructed, Pinkie and Screwball as well. We continued to trot through the forest in silence, only seeing the basic outline and shapes of trees, bushes, some branches that would get in our way along with a vine or two and shrubs. I was beginning to wonder if this fog was just it. Fog. And nothing else, we had been walking for what I guesstimated to be maybe six to seven minutes now and nothing Screwball had said at the castle seemed to trigger any alarms. That is till Pinkie started to shake. “Pinkie!” I whispered to her in a hushed shout. “We are trying to be stealthy, quit shaking!” “I-I-I’m soooo-rr-r-rrrr-yy-yyy. But I-I-I ca-ca-can-can’t! P-P-Pin-Kie- S-Sens-e!” “What?!” Dash said. “In this weather?! How are we supposed to see if something comes at us?” “Ah’m starting to think we should use the Princess’ spell to get us back out of here Hailstorm” Applejack said with concern. “If Pinkie’s shakin, then that obviously means there’s gonna be trouble.” I remained silent while I weighed in my options. They were right. If Pinkie was shaking, then that means something unexpected was going to happen. And if something unexpected did happen, then we couldn’t defend ourselves if it turned out to be dangerous. I turned my attention to Screwball, or rather I called for her to come towards my voice. It wasn’t long before I felt a hoof gently touch my chest. “Screwball?” The hoof rubbed my chest so I took that as a yes. “Alright, I want you to tell me what exactly you said was causing this trouble. If it’s urgent then we’ll have to leave and let the princess handle it or wait till this fog dies. We still need to get Zecora though just in case. But I need you to tell me what you heard or saw, out here that you feel could cause trouble.” The hoof that had been fondling the muscle on my chest moved away, much to my joy as I felt extremely awkward by the whole thing. Screwball spoke in my direction, her voice almost sounding secretive or quiet, much unlike her as she spoke. “It wasn’t what I saw. It was what I-” A shake in the bushes ahead of us, cut her off mid-sentence. We all went dead silent, waiting to see what would happen. I heard AJ snort at the opponent, then heard the flap of Dash’s wings. It looks like we were going to have ourselves a fight. All of us immediately took up defensive positions waiting in front of the rustling bushes, for our opponent to come out of it’s hiding spot. Seconds passed, these seconds became tension filled moments where I could clearly hear the heartbeats of my team. A sense of nervousness flowing through all of us equally as we waited, practically blind to our enemy, save for the sound that it may give. Finally the beast leaped out. My ears twitching and honing in on the creatures direction I charged as the figure slowly came into view. Raising a hoof I prepared to strike AJ, Dash, the vibrating Pinkie and Screwball right behind. Only for all of us to freeze in place instantly as we gazed upon the creature before us. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a frog. A frog had been the very thing that scared us so badly, the amphibian croaking before it hopped away into the sheets of white condensation. I should probably have been glad I didn’t ask Fluttershy to be on my team because who knows what she would have done to me if I had actually landed a hit on the thing. “Wow” was the only thing I said after the creature had hopped away. “I can’t believe we got frightened by a frog” I said with a small chuckle. But my merriment died as quickly as it had came. I could no longer sense the presence of the four mares by me, or anywhere near me any longer. “Guys?” I said, feeding the concern that threatened to destroy the calmness I now held. No response. “Guys?” I said again. No response. “...” Oh this is really bad. If I were to say I was angry, that wouldn’t be correct. I wasn’t mad, furious or even upset. I was downright disturbed. I continued to walk through the forest wondering just where on earth or rather where on this forest these four mares could have gone. Now that I thought about it, if this fog was actually magical and had the potential to do something like this then perhaps this was what Screwball was trying to tell me. But why hadn’t she said so sooner? Was she distracted or was it because she was simply just as sporadic and random as Pinkie? That mare really was a mystery. Pinkie I was starting to get. She was just Pinkie, but Screwball? She wasn’t just Screwball she was...strange. At times I’d get this sense or feeling that the reason she stays so attentive to me is because I either have her interest or...there’s something else compelling her to stay by me. Then again I could be wrong, she had done nothing but aid me since getting here. Doing a bit more than I can say the mares excluding Dash have done, granted I am grateful for what they have done in helping me so far. But, right now I should focus on finding those mares. Especially Pinkie Pie. She was vibrating like, well. A vibrator. I’ve got to find her fast before something bad happens to them. *** **** *** No longer shaking as much as she had before the pink mare, Pinkie Pie makes her way through the thick fog, squinting to see anything that may be ahead of her. But Pinkie wasn’t that worried. Why should she? She has her Pinkie Sense, but there was the fact that she’d been shaking rather violently just a few seconds ago. That still weighed heavily on her as she trotted through the forest. “Guys! Hailstorm! Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack? Anypony!!” she yelled only for her voice to echo back to her. “This forest is stranger than usual” she says with furrowed brows. Moving in silence now the pink mare continues to push on through the fog of Everfree, keeping a suspicious eye out for anything that may move or come near her. Seconds passed before Pinkie stopped seeing a figure up in the distance through the fog. She moved closer, though hesitant at first before she picked up the pace a bit recognizing the form. “Applejack?” she asked with a hint of hope. The pony turned towards her, nodding it’s head despite it still being tough for Pinkie to clearly see her friends face. “Applejack have you seen any of the others?” Pinkie asked now looking around as she stood beside her friend. However when she glanced back to her farmer friends the mare wasn’t responding but moving towards her. Pinkie moved to meet her halfway to see if she was alright till she stopped dead in her tracks. A horrid stench had hit her nose. Scrunching up her muzzle in disgust and shaking a hoof in the air to wave away the awful smell Pinkie looked around for the source. Are we near a swamp or something? Pee-Yuu! Her eyes began to water as AJ was now only a couple of inches away from her,becoming a bit more clear as the fog around the pony seemed to lighten up. “Applejack can you smell that? Ugh, it’s awful” Pinkie stated, she felt the annoyed snort of AJ hit her mane, pushing it back a bit. Pinkie turned to her friend with an apologetic smile. “Oh no no. I’m not talking about you Applejack, I was just saying that whatever that smell is it smells a lot like...a...” she backed up a bit as the image of AJ before began to fade along with the thickness of the fog that surrounded the mare, revealing what stood before her as it’s true form. Eyes glowing in a sickly green light as they glowered down at the mare. There stood an adult timberwolf, growling as it stared at Pinkie, fully understanding how it had been insulted by her. Pinkie let out a small nervous and frightened chuckle as she looked behind her for an escape, the rancid smell of the nature wolf assaulting her sense of smell in the process as the timberwolf stalked her as she went back. “Um, hey” she said waving a hoof with a very weak smile. “I didn’t mean what I said just a few seconds ago, you know” she laughed nervously. “I was just saying that this swamp. This uh swamp here it stinks and it’s making you stink.” The timberwolf growled in response to that, Pinkie gulped in return. “Hehe, not that you stink or anything it’s just that it smells really bad right now and um...uuh” her eyes darted around before she quickly spun on a hoof and bucked the beast in it’s jaw, sending the creature flying backwards before it landed on the ground with a thud. Pinkie wasted no time in taking off in a random direction, any direction that would get her away from that horrible smelling creature. No sooner had she taken off, the timberwolf shook it’s head standing back on it’s paws and took chase after the mare it’s fangs bared and ready for a meal. Pinkie moved quickly, her senses tingling as she dodged branch after branch, tree after tree and occasional rocks here and there as she gallopped through the forest her heavy breathing mocking her as she ran away from the gaining pursuer. The chase continued for a couple more seconds. Pinkie losing stamina with every sharp turn she made but the timberwolf persistent on getting it’s rude target. And just as Pinkie planned to climb a tree, she ended up slipping on a banana peel, falling on her back before looking up with a groan, only to faintly see the teeth of the timberwolf above her. The timberwolf looked at her, savoring her form with hungry eyes as it leaned forward and sniffed Pinkie. She didn’t move, fearing if she did so the beast would finish her instantly. A wise decision. Drool had now begun to drip on Pinkie’s forehead as the beast watched her, waiting to see if she would make another move, but as she was Pinkie was too tired to make another hasty retreat blindly through the forest. Only to possibly escape and maybe come across something much much worse. So she did the next best thing. When the wolf howled into the sky, she brought back her forehooves and drove them straight into the creature’s throat. It instantly turned into a pile of sticks. Getting up Pinkie slowly rose to her hooves, stretching a bit as the trip had made her feel somewhat sore now. Slowly the mare walked past the pile of twigs, logs and leaves calling out to her friends as she did so. Only to freeze when she heard clunking. CLANK! A low growl sounded behind her. Pinkie slowly turned her head in the direction of the sound, only to stop and get breathed on by the awful breath of the timberwolf. She looked up, her eyes meeting the sickeningly glowing eyes of the beast that stared at her. She smiled sheepishly before attempting to escape, only to be tackled to the ground by the predator it’s fangs bared. “Please don’t eat me” she begged, but the wolf merely roared in her face. She whimpered, fear now completely taking over as she realized that this could be the end for her. “Somepony, anypony. Please!” she wailed as the wolf opened its jaw ready to sink into her. Pinkie shut her eyes, knowing the beast was there. Knowing her day had met it’s end. Knowing that she was going to die here and that none of her friends would ever find her, and even if they did she wouldn’t want them to see her mangled remains afterwards. Another whimper escaped from her as the beast howled one last time before leaping on her for the finishing blow. Pinkie waited. And waited. And waited. But that death blow never came. She opened an eye, only to faintly see two figures wrestling on the ground. One obviously belonged to the timberwolf. The other, to a minotaur like creature. “Pinkie!” it yelled. The slightly injured mare, rose to her slightly cut leg, ears twitching as she recognized the voice. “Hailstorm?!” she yelled with concern. The human didn’t respond as he lifted something up from the ground and slammed it into the nature based creature’s form. The pink mare was able to catch one more word before watching her friend get tackled to the ground. “Run Pinkie! Run!”