//------------------------------// // Survivors // Story: A Small Drop // by Glitch Hooves //------------------------------// It was a beautiful day out... it really was. Sun was shining, birds were chirping, it was a day you wanted to just be out and celebrate the life you were gifted. But among this glorious day, Twilight was standing atop the barrier dividing the New Everfree, clad in armor provided by the royal guard with a small kinetic barrier just inches above her entire body. Attached to her back were two weapons she knew could provide real results. The foreign bow with segmented limbs and apparent blades on the sizer, alongside an otherworldly pike. A nice ray of sunlight was warming up the fur on her hide, fighting off the cold sense of dread. The soothing sound of birds chirping, just barely louder than the sifting dirt or the growls of the unknown darkness. She looked down below her. Nothing but darkness and uncertainty lay in wait. She was standing in the exact center of the magic barrier she created. Give or take fifty feet, Looking on, it seemed to span for miles indefinitely, and looking below her, nothing but vines and thorns encased the barrier as a new set of cracks began to form. Sitting beside her, the barrel facing upwards, was the unknown weapon of disastrous proportions. She was taking several deep breaths. One... Two... Three... She couldn't bring the others with her in good conscience. Too many unknown variables and the little she's seen already is nothing to sneeze at. After discussing its properties with Discord, and with a surprising amount of effort on his part, he managed to turn it into a sort of shield bomb. Twilight's job was to set it up in the Everfree and protect it while it gathered energy and fired off. There was a small black screen implemented on the side to show how long it'll take until it reaches full energy. The end result, hopefully being, that it will replace the barrier she created, taking its place being the magic this thing produces, trapping the plants without worry of them ever escaping. Upon asking why she couldn't just walk to the center of the Everfree with the shield already on, Discord said that, not only is it more fun this way, but that the new arrivals would have even more incentive to escape once they sense it's arrival. He also made one specific statement. "I take heart you care about the fabric of this reality, so for the sake of both you and I, I and you, and... whomever else this conversation may concern. I recommend you don't try and tamper with the changes already made. That could end... badly. Simply put, very, very simply put." She asked him why. "Oh, there's lots of math, science, and magic involved in it. more so than you could ever hope to understand." She flashed a dirty glare "But let's cut to the chase. Whatever this marvelously strange device uses... it's my magic. Except with someone else's spices added to the mix. They got the ingredients, they simply didn't follow the instructions on the recipe. If I tamper with it too much, or I cut the wrong wire our magic combined might be a bit... much, wouldn't you say?" He was wearing a chefs apron and was cutting some fajitas into the base ingredients. "Simply press the trigger and bing, bang, boom, wallop, bang!" he momentarily exploded into several bits of confetti with his colorization and a banner behind him that read 'Congratulations! You're not dead!' before reassembling himself. "The Everfree will be safe again... or safe-ER." He quickly offered her a fajita. Twilight shook her head as she recalled the conversation. She took another few breaths. One.. Two... Three... She couldn't bring any of the other weapons, She didn't doubt their effectiveness, or destructive power, but she could only take with her items she knew by heart, and a rifle certainly isn't one of them. Even if she did know how to use them, they had no ammunition regardless. "It's no problem," she muttered to herself. "I'm just about to do battle against an entire ecosystem of highly lethal and intelligent plant life and other atrocities that I haven't seen who are also highly resistant to equestrian magic... all by myself... perfectly fine!" She began to pace around in a circle. "It's not THAT bad! If I fail... well, I'll probably be dead... or the alicorn equivalent of death, so why would I care then? And Ponyville and all its surrounding will be consumed... perfectly fine risks at stake!" One... Two... Three... "No big deal... no big deal at all..." She looked back down into the depths. She heard the saying, 'when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back,' but what kind of abyss stares back with murderous intent? She could hear so many different sounds coming from below her. Yet none of them she could recognize. No screeching of a cockatrice, no bellows of a manticore, no roars of a hydra... nothing. Just a constant ominous growl. What would she see inside? Bones of all these familiar creatures encased in vines? Or the color of dirt as her vision is obscured when she's dragged into the earth? One... Two... Three... There really was no way to put it off any longer. She knew all she could about these creatures. Which was almost nothing. She knows all she can about the power the device she's meant to protect can create. Which was almost nothing. She knows everything she can know about how and why all this started. Which is almost nothing. No amount of stalling is going to give her any more knowledge or make this scenario any easier. She does know one thing; if she succeeds, then Ponyville will be safe. She'll be able to find a way to send this ecosystem back to where it came from, or at the very least find a safer way of getting rid of them. And then she can finally work on bringing the sirens back home. One... Two... Three... She left a small note in her journal for Shimmer. She couldn't say the whole plan as she knew Shimmer would try and convince her to let her join in. Funniest thing is, she knew she would succeed there, so instead of explaining the whole thing, all she said was 'If I don't write back to you in less than five hours, promise me you won't come back to Equestria until somepony does,' and that was all she wrote before putting the pen down. She could've definitely wrote a little more... One... Two... Three... "Well... I guess it's now or never..." she muttered, taking a few steps towards the cannon. She focused her magic on the entirety of the barrier, feeling the push of the vines as they tried to break themselves out of their confinement. She found the spot she was standing on top of, which wasn't exactly difficult as it was the only part of the barrier that was cleared thanks to the cannon. With the utmost precision, she created an opening around the barrier that would just barely fit herself and the cannon, enough for her to slide on through. She slid into the hole. After passing through and quickly closing the barrier... nothing happened. She was expecting to be blasted by a barrage of needles, or acid, or sharpened bones, or whatever else these things can utilize at their disposal. But the only thing that happened was that the constant growl that resonated deep into the brush got louder. She flapped her wings gently, hoping that maybe her presence alone wasn't enough to set the entire wilderness off. The real shame being; with nothing else to do, and nothing but the silence to keep them company, she roused up almost everything in this place. They just knew how to keep quiet about it. Looking down at the mess of leaves and thorns, the most abundant color was that of green with shades of brown dirt that used to be the grayed out grass of the Everfree, and the colorful petals of stationary predator plants that gave off the smell of rotting meat. The Everfree may have been hostile as they come, but at least it kept its privacy. This right here, whatever this worlds equivalent of the Everfree is had too much privacy, and the aggression of a maniac. There were bones of other creatures strewn about the earth, a lions skull with the hollowed out exoskeleton of a scorpions tail was half submerged into the ground. Roots and vines wrapped around the eye sockets and ribs. She ignored the sights to the best of her ability, but that feeling of upturning her lunch would stay for the entire visit. Or permanent stay... Heading for a small plot of land that could barely be passed off as a clearing, she descended as slowly as she possible could, which to her was seemingly faster than normal. The cannon was resting at the bottom of a seven foot diameter magical bubble as she was too afraid to encase it in a five foot diameter bubble. As she neared the ground, the plants on the earth immediately turned away, and dug themselves as deep into the soil as they could to escape the presence of the weapon. Letting the bubble dissipate, the cannon dropped only a few inches to the ground with a soft thud that Twilight winced at. It was just as dark in there as the Everfree normally was, the plants just gave the darkness a mask of vibrancy. She surveyed her surroundings with a light spell. All she could see was green bushes and dying branches of long since dead trees surrounding her, almost like an army waiting for the signal of execution. But still nothing stirred. No bushes shook, and no twigs snapped. Seemed even the growling stopped. Keeping the safety of the light on her, she focused on the cannon, using her head, she propped it upright and stood on her hind legs to balance it on the mound of dirt it stood upon. The barrel was facing upwards, and everything seemed to be waiting with anticipation. She stared at the trigger of the device for a good few seconds, hoping that maybe another solution will just drop from the sky in front of her and give her an answer telling her not to do this, to simply get out. ... No such luck. Still fearful of the idea of using her magic on it, she positioned the edge of her hoof so it was above the trigger, ready to press down. She pulled the bow from her body with her magic, and notched an arrow in place. She didn't pull on the string just yet, and she was aiming it into the woods. Without anymore time to spare. She pressed the trigger. Pulling her hoof back right away, the machine immediately began to start up with a fit, and the insides began to glow warmly through the cracks. It started to gather energy from it's surrounding, turning it into something else, something wrong. The screen flashed to life as a small green line began to glow at the bottom of the gauge. The second it started up, a loud screeching noise echoed across the what used to be silent wilds. Followed quickly by the sounds of other atrocities joining it. She kept the arrow in place, she had a total of thirty in her quiver before she would rely on the spear exclusively. Magic arrows wouldn't do much accept make these things mad, and if they did do something, she had no idea how long she'd be here for, so she'd have to save her magic regardless. She turned around and stared into the abyss of vines. Nothing but the lurid screeching sounds continued. She could hear shuffling dirt from behind her and immediately pivoted. She pulled back the bow-string, her eyes quickly darting upon a flower at the edge of the clearing that rose from the ground. It stood as tall as a human, with holes inside the large yellow fruit that sat up and large spiked petals outstretched. She let the arrow go flying across the air. Even if it was just a regular flower, it was better to be safe than sorry with how fast it moved. The Equestrian made arrow was sent flying faster than any crossbow could ever hope to match, but before it could meet its target, the flower seemed to encase itself in those same petals and the arrow bounced off with a clunk. It snapped in two from the impact alone. 29 Armored petals? High density or foreign material. Can't risk losing more, need to get in close. She thought. Looking back, she could see more of these plants spring up from the ground in a different array of colors, and the air filled with a sickly gurgling noise. The same yellow flower seemed to spit something at her from one of those self inflicted holes that accelerated towards her. Not wanting to find out whether it would actually damage her armor or not, she teleported out of the way and behind her initial target. Wrapping her magic around the spear, she unsheathed it, and sent it forward in a quick jab as it pierced through the flowers armor and into the squishy center. It punched through so effortlessly that it managed to appear through the other side, dripping with an orange liquid. It seemed to be sizzling the slightest bit when it touched the ground. The plant seemed to blacken from necrosis and die almost immediately. It sank back into the ground after collapsing on it's own weight. Heh... I did it! She was immediately torn from her momentary victory as something slammed against her side, knocking the wind right out of her. Even with the magic barrier and the armor she was wearing, she still staggered sideways for a brief moment. Turning back around, she could just barely see a second orange projectile speeding at her. Without even thinking, she focused the majority of her barrier to the front of her body, effectively stopping it as it splattered against the shield. positioning the barrier around herself once more, she could see three more of those plants spring up from the ground close to each other, each one with a different colored fruit in the center. Each one producing that same gurgling sound, they each released a projectile heading straight towards her. Performing another teleportation spell, she managed to get herself in a more favorable position behind a dead tree as she heard more shots being fired at her. How were they able to find her so easily? Once in contact with the tree, the material seemed to react chemically and the tree was slowly consumed by this acidic material. The thick enzyme began to corrode the tree and ate a way a quarter of the trunk in only a matter of seconds. Using this as an opportunity, she focused with her magic and began to push on her side the large tree. She could hear the insides crack and splinter in agonizing protest as it started to tip over away from her. pushing it forward, she managed to get the tree to snap out of place with splinters flying off in all directions as it fell forwards to the earth. Right on top of the colony firing at her. The tree landed fully on the ground, crushing the plants. Surveying her surrounding once more, she couldn't see anything else spring from the ground. Taking the time, she tried to regain her bearings. New species altogether... tropism of launching acidic enzymes at potential prey or predators, armored petals either made of highly condensed plant walls, or something else altogether. Arrows prove to be ineffective. Her ears were beginning to twitch and swivel, picking up sounds from seemingly everywhere as a high pitched screech filled the air. The sound only grew louder and she almost fell to the ground as the deafening screech filled her ears. The awful screeching stopped, but her ears were now ringing and she was forced to look around in all directions to catch and see what could produce such a sound. Her ears were ringing so fiercely she couldn't even hear the sound of shifting dirt underneath her hooves. Large thorns emerged from the ground at breakneck speeds around Twilight, immediately ensnaring her entire body before pulling her to the ground. Her body was pressed against the cold dirt and the thorns were pushing down on her like a collapsing roof. She was struggling as hard as she could, but the snares were too tight for her to get anywhere. Focusing her magic on a teleportation spell, she tried to imagine herself beside the cannon again, but instead of finding herself somewhat safely next to it. Pain rattled across her body like burning nails being forced inside her flesh. She let out a scream of torment as she went limp momentarily, but nopony would come to her rescue. Not here. Something did answer her cries however, but not something she'd like to see. Emerging from the tree line, a tall creature pulled itself out of the darkness. Not a creature... it seemed to be multiple cactus like bodies stacked atop each-other to the point it rivaled a house. It had a very colorful and noticeable head that seemed to act as a warning to predators. It appeared to be slightly mobile as it attempted to crawl it's way closer to the ensnared princess. She couldn't move from her prison, and struggling only made the thorns snare harder against her. She could feel the spear push back against the thorns, using her body as a support. She realized her only way out of here was the spear, but whatever this thing consists of reacts violently towards her magic. She tried to muster the smallest amount of magic she could, only to find herself once more shocked as the same feeling returned. She let out a scream, and her magic dissipated, she looked up only to see that the cactus like plant only moved closer to her. It didn't seem to have any visible methods of consumption, but she wasn't the most eager to stick around and find out. She focused her magic again, trying to envision it wrapping around the shaft as pain coursed through her body. Fire flowed through her veins and she screamed with anguish as the spear wiggled it's way through the tight snares inch by inch. Gritting her teeth, she pulled harder with her magic, the pain only managing to increase in intensity, fighting for every inch of the spear. At the moment, there were two options, pull out the spear and cut herself out, or go into shock. Half the spear was now free, pulling more and more, the snares became tighter around her body to the point they constricted breathing. She started to feel light headed when she managed to finally reach the head of the spear, but the snares were too tight for it to pass through. She rested for a moment, letting the spear go limp, she was heaving her breaths, and the creature only approached quicker once she stopped struggling. With no real choice anymore, she decided to go all out. She wrapped her magic around the spear once more, the pain immediately returning, and with as much focus as she could muster, she forced the spearhead out with everything she had. It broke through the thorns effortlessly, and was immediately rotating in her magic. Focusing on the creature, she pointed the spear at it, and tossed it with her remaining energy. The spear cut through the air in a perfectly straight line, aiming for one target, the head of the cactaceae. piercing through with an audible squelch as it passed through the other side, taking the head with it as it landed on the ground. the body seemed to shudder and shake, before inevitably toppling over beside Twilight, nearly crushing her against a plethora of thorny bodies. The remaining thorns wrapping around her blackened and died, as weak as a twig. She broke through her prison and got up, already exhausted of all her strength. Her legs wobbled, and she was getting tunnel vision as the corners of her vision got darker. She turned her head to face the cannon, only to see the machine had barely charged even a tenth. So much for so little... Reaching for the spear that landed a good bit of distance from her, she pulled it closer and wiped the head of the still decaying cactus off the shaft, letting it topple and roll on the ground. She turned to face the tree line closest to her. Only to see a giant floating eye staring directly at her, mere inches from her muzzle. She jumped backwards as the eye, encased in hardened green scales and spikes surrounding it, moved closer before seemingly exploding into some sort of green gas that plagued her vision and stung her lungs. Going into a coughing fit, she casted a wind spell to help disperse the gas away from her. Her vision began to clear again. Wiping her teary eyes with her forelimb, she looked back up. Easily ten pairs of single eyes closed as she looked up. Each one nearly identical to the last. The only difference being in size and shade of scaly skin. She backed away a few steps in surprise. Behind the pack of floating eyes, stood two other creatures. Each one standing at easily the size of an average human male, perhaps larger. They stood on four legs, two small front ones and two giant back legs which seemed ready to spring at a seconds notice. It seemed to wear some form of armor on its head that covered its entire face, save for two white and beady eyes. It had a large orange frill that went from the ends of one arm, passed across the body, and ended on the other arm. They growled at Twilight with a very distinct croaking noise. She readied the spear alongside herself and focused the barrier on her front half. Then she heard something stranger. Almost like the sound of hundreds of flapping wings as red feathers fell from the sky. Like petals in a windy season. The dead trees in front of her filled with life as what looked like large birds of prey settled on them. They scattered across almost every tree, anything else could mistake them for autumn leaves with their red and yellow feathers. But the eyes that stared down at her told a different tale. They chirped and squawked among each other. Grabbing the bow, she notched an arrow and pulled back on the string; making special care to pull it all the way back. She aimed the bow high into the trees as the sound of untangling vines collected behind her with a very heavy and prominent breathing sound. A foul stench began to fill the air like a hundred rotten eggs left in the sun for a hundred days. Holding her breath, she centered her sights on a particularly large bird. She took in several deep breaths. One... Two... Three... And she released the string.