• Published 21st Jul 2013
  • 4,775 Views, 134 Comments

Nature Of The Everfree - Lord Despair



The terrifying Everfree forest is finally about to be rid of once and for all, for the safety of ponies everywhere. The Everfree forest itself, however, strongly objects to that notion

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Expedition of the Everfree

A few weeks has passed since the injured foreman was found crawling his way into the town square of Ponyville, barely clinging to life as he told his terrible story of his near fatal incident in the Everfree forest to the rest of the townsfolk. Since then, he has been recovering in the Ponyville hospital. While he was still very sick from whatever that was splattered over him, he was far from dying anytime soon.

Apparently, the disgusting slimy substance that was all over the side of his body was nothing more than common slime mold. A slime mold that is often referred to as dog vomit. Normally such a simple organism would not be harmful to the average pony. But in this case, the foreman had explained to the doctors about how much pain that the mold was causing him, to the point where it felt like he was slowly being consumed.

Even with the thought of several dozen workers and guards being viciously torn apart and consumed by timberwolves were still fresh in the minds of the townsfolk, it did not deter them from their goal. If anything, this was all the more reason to remove the Everfree.

Twilight returned to the capital of Canterlot within those few weeks on a mission of utmost importance. She had to appeal to the court and renew all effort for the environmental movement. She had time to prepare now that she knew how unfit they were for the project. From there on out, she wasn’t going to underestimate the evils of the forest anymore. She and her friends were ready for whatever that the forest would throw at them.

* * *

The entryway near the Everfree forest looked entirely different in comparison to what it was before. Instead of the imagery of Fluttershy’s little cottage and a calm field of grass, what there was instead was a large militaristic base camp of sorts that spanned for a good few acres of land.

There were tents of varying sizes set up all over the place, construction of a large wooden wall was in progress as logs from the Everfree was being used to fence off the area in case anything goes horribly wrong. There were a staggering number of guards around the area, there was perhaps four to five battalions present at the base camp, all eager to embark into the dark woods.

They were there to help defend the next group of loggers from meeting the same fate as those before them. Each guard was armed to the teeth, and had heavier armor than normal. Not only that, the various lumberjacks and loggers that were with them all had gone through a quick course of self defense so that they can repel attack against the hostile wildlife that they might encounter.

Twilight had used all of her resources that she had on hoof to transform a simple group of lumberjacks and guards into a full fledged expedition crew that was capable of taking on anything.

Scientists from the university of Canterlot and Fillydelphia had also gathered there to record and research any findings that they may have found while they proceed to cut the Everfree down. Albeit they’ll probably be in the safety of the camp instead of actually being out in the field.

Everyone was fiercely determined to remove the Everfree forest. Come hell or high water, nothing was going to stop them.

* * *

Twilight and the rest of her friends entered the camp, each admiring the amount of progress that has gone into such a big project. Oohs and ahhs could be heard from them as they continued to walk towards the biggest tent in the camp, a tent that belonged to the captain of the royal guards himself, Shining Armor.

As the little group walked into the tent, they could see that Shining was also handling his fair share of paperwork. Though it isn’t as much as Twilight's, it was enough to make the captain breath a sigh of relief as he noticed his sister and her friends walking in.

“Twiley, how are you?” Shining asked as he walked on over to give his little sister a hug.

“I’m doing fine, just showing my friends around here, that’s all” said Twilight as she returned her brother’s hug.

“There are an awful lot of guards around here” said Rarity “Do we really need all of them if we’re just going to cut this dreadful place down?” she asked.

“After what happened to the previous crew, we can’t take any chances” said Shining “This forest is unpredictable, and we already suffered a great loss because of that mistake. From here on out, this will be an around the clock operation”

“We expect to clear at least half of the forest in a few months” said Twilight “Although it might take a bit longer to do everything else, domesticating the animals, collecting plant samples, and fixing the strange weather”

“Pfft, the animals won’t be a problem with Fluttershy on our side” said Rainbow Dash “You’ll see, they’ll be just like Winona the moment they meet her and her stare

“Oh, my. I can’t imagine the horrible ordeal that these creatures have to go through each day without our help” said Fluttershy “I’ll do my best to help them as best as possible”

“Thatagirl!” said Applejack who gave Fluttershy a strong pat on the back, strong enough to nearly knock the poor yellow pegasus over “Eh, oops. Heh heh”

“You’re enthusiasm is clearly noted, Applejack. Although when we enter the forest it must be left back” a familiar female voice rhymed from behind the group. Everyone turned their attention to the hooded individual that was behind them to see that it was there good friend, Zecora “Hello everypony, I have arrived. To talk about removing this blight”

“Zecora!” everyone exclaimed as they came up to hug her.

“You finally made it” said Twilight “It good to have someone so knowledgeable about the forest itself on our side”

“Yeah, this freaky forest doesn’t stand a chance with you here!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Aye, but there is a problem that I must address. Though I live in the forest, my knowledge is not the best” Zecora rhymed. All the ponies in the room blinked at what Zecora had said.

“Whuah? But you live in the forest, don’t you know everything about it?” Pinkie asked with a tilt of her head “It’s like saying if I throw parties for a living but I don’t know what streamers are!”

“The Everfree is a place of great mystery. There is unknown knowledge that still escapes me” said Zecora “I will do my best to lead you through, but the rest is up to you”

“We’ll manage” Shining cut in with a stern expression “There won’t be a single beast in there that has even the slightest chance at stopping my men and I from doing Equestria a favor. They’re just mindless animals that rely on brute force. They’re nothing against us”

“I assume you know of the wolves? The ones who ate those who thought they were so bold?” Zecora retorted “The creatures in there are smarter than you think, keep alert and never blink. They’re watching you when you wait, seizing the perfect moment when you take the bait”

“Look, Zecora. If you’re trying to scare us, it won’t work” said Twilight “We’ll be able to get these timberwolves domesticated like regular animals. We have the brightest minds in all of Equestria working to devise a way to help them, myself included of course” she stated as a matter o’ factly “Think about the possibilities, Zecora! Docile timberwolves that won’t hurt anypony! Imagine how they can help us in our everyday lives!”

“I fear that we are meddling in things we do not know. Domesticating these timberwolves” said Zecora “I am merely acting as your guide, but if thing go bad, we should run, I advised”

“We’ll keep that in mind” said Shining “Come on, it’s almost time to enter the forest. You seven probably know your way around the Everfree better than I do. This is uncharted territory, if you can lead us to the former logging camp, we can handle the rest with relative ease”

The rest nodded in approval of his choice and everyone proceeded to get ready for the journey ahead. By the time the sun has reached its highest peak in the sky, everyone who was about to embark had gathered near the entryway of of the forest. Some were stoic, others had a sliver of fear. Few couldn’t contain their excitement for whatever reason.

But regardless, they all entered, not knowing of the horrors that they will soon experience

* * *

The expedition team of around several hundred ponies began to descend into the dark depths of the forest. Each were split into smaller groups of forty to fifty, but they were still within close proximity of each other should any problem arise. After traveling for at least half a kilometer, the expedition crew finally made it to the former logging site. With the sun high in the sky, the carnage that had ensued there was shown in perfect clarity.

It was a horrible sight. Compared to everything that the foreman had spoken about, it was nothing when they were actually at the scene of the atrocity.

There were corpses strewn everywhere. The bodies of fifty to seventy individuals were scattered around the clearing like dust in the wind. Several were killed where they were standing, simply doing their jobs before the timberwolves attacked. Many still had their tools in their hoofs, trying to defend themselves in a futile attempt at survival as they were ripped to pieces by the bloodthirsty predators.

Their bodies were mangled beyond belief. Legs had been ripped off, necks have been torn, and midsections that looked as if they ran into a walking meat grinder. The guards still had their armor on, but that was all that remained of them. It had been weeks this camp was attacked, and the pungent stench from the rotting corpses was too overpowering to ignore.

When the timberwolves were done slaughtering everyone, it was now time for the carrions to do their job. The clearing had a murder of black crows on each body. Slowly but surely, they were diligently picking away at the rotting flesh, occasionally darting their heads back and forth in livid curiosity at the ponies that were watching them with their intimidating crimson eyes. But they paid no mind, they only continued to eat until there was nothing but bones in place of the corpses.

The crows took their time, enjoying every bit of the food that was left for them. They were certainly in no rush. One crow even had the luxury of finding an intact eyeball, and was all too happy to devour it. Each crow had a fair chunk of flesh hanging from their beak, but table manners didn’t matter in the Everfree forest. The ponies in the background could only watch in disgust as the horrid display continued for what felt like an eternity.

Fluttershy was the one who was the most shocked at what she was seeing. She loved animals, it was her special talent to take care of adorable animals after all. But crows were different from blue jays, red robins, and pink flamingoes. They weren’t colorful, and they weren’t as tempered as most birds were. Crows also didn’t eat seeds as a main staple of their diet, they would eat just about anything, even each other if it came to it.

As she watched, she had to refrain herself from vomiting at the sight of it all. Her opinion on the animals of the Everfree were starting to waver as the sound of tearing flesh and caws from the crows racked on her already frazzled nerves like there was no tomorrow. With every ounce of her willpower, she steeled herself and walked forward to see if she could consult with the crows. Her plan went south for the winter the moment she unknowingly stepped on a twig.

*SNAP*

At the drop of a hat, nearly every crimson eye in the clearing turned to face the shy pony. Their heads tilted ever so slightly as they kept their gaze on her, they were watching her every move. Fluttershy mistook this as chance to speak with the crows, but each confident step that she took was met with a cacophony of terrifying caws and threatening flaps of their wings.

Fluttershy did her best to approach the crows, but the caws only grew louder and louder in return. When she finally reached them, the crows stopped what they were doing and grew as silent as an eerie grove. The ponies that were watching all had a slacked jaw expression on their faces. They wouldn’t have expected her to do such a thing, let alone succeed in meeting the crows.

“What’s going on?” Shining whispered to her sister as they both watched from behind the safety of the brush.

“I think Fluttershy might actually get these birds to follow her” said Twilight with an eager look on her face “This is the first step in ridding the Everfree, and I think that it’s going to be a rousing success. Fluttershy, I knew you could do it!” she quietly exclaimed before turning back to Fluttershy “Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s bring it on home. Gain the birds trust so that we can get them out of here”

“H-hello there little birdies...” Fluttershy quietly spoke as she inched her way towards the closest crow to her “Don’t worry, I’m here to get you out of this horrible place. So that you can eat some real food for once...” she steadily motion for her hoof right above the head of the crow that was intently staring at her. With a gentle pat on his head, Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief knowing that the crows had accepted her.... then all hell broke loose.

*CAW!* *CAW!* *CAW!* *CAW!* *CAW!*

The birds all squawked and cawed to the point where it was unbearable, everyone had to cover their ears as the murder of crows all took off and circled around the clearing in a violent whirlwind of terror. A literal hurricane of crows flew around the clearing, leaving traces of black feathers behind in their wake as they were blotting out the sun in their flight. And then they all dispersed outwards into the forest itself.

Fluttershy froze in place as she was bombarded with a wave of crows in her direction. There was so much that she was knocked onto her backside as she watched in horror of the amount of crows flying past her. Literally thousands had somehow gathered there and began to cause mass panic in the ranks of the of the individual groups. Crows flocked over each pony, pecking them everywhere they could before suddenly vanishing in thin air, never to be seen again.

Twilight had just regained all of her sense before she realized that they had just been attacked by a murder of crows. Fear was welling up within her, but she struggled to be brave in light of the current situation. She managed to grab ahold of herself, only to feel the aftereffects of experiencing such terror. There was something on her mind, something that caused her to involuntarily shuddered upon thinking, only for her to forget afterwards.

“What... was that!” Shining shouted at the top of his lungs as he stood back up “Those birds were crazy! Is everyone okay?” he asked, various nods and verbal confirmations assured him that everyone was still safe. Although that didn’t mean that they were mentally scarred from being pecked by crows.

“It.. it doesn’t matter!” said Twilight as she did her best to hide the trembling in her voice “This is just the forest's way of scaring us. But we won't let that happen again. Come on everypony, we have to get this logging site up and running again...” she said as she turned her eyes to one of the corpse, both eyes missing and with only shreds of flesh attached to his mauled face.

“And bury the deceased...”