Mud

by Flying Fantasy Horse

A Sinking Feeling

"Twi, are you sure you want to do this?" Applejack asked, with a little worry in her tone. Twilight was just about finishing packing her things into a small brown knapsack. She closed the zipper and rested it on to her back. Twilight acknowledged Applejack, and nodded.

"Of course I do, Applejack! This plant is one of the most rarest of plants in all of Equestria. And the best part is, nopony else ever recovered it. They only saw it. That means I'll be the first one to actually touch it! Ooh, I'm so excited!" Applejack looked at the grinning purple pony with confusion.

"Urm, may Ah ask what this plant is?" Applejack asked. Twilight looked away and trotted to one of the shelves from her library. The Golden Oaks library was more cleaner than usual, thanks to the added help of Spike. Twilight grabbed a ladder and climbed herself up. Applejack looked at Twilight, mystified of the lack of magic in use.

"Why can't you use your magic to pull one of them books down?" Twilight looked down at Applejack. In doing so, the ladder started to wobble, sending Twilight to the ground. She pounded on to the hard wooden floor, and groaned. Twilight started to get up, before a shower of hard-cover books smashed the unicorns body to the ground. Applejack couldn't help but chuckle at Twilight's luck. Twilight's head poked from the mountain of books and glared at Applejack. The unicorn jumped out from the pile, grabbing a book along with her in her hoofs.

"The reason why I didn't use my magic is because my magic has been acting up, and I couldn't use my powers. It appears I still can't use it now. Maybe a day or two, the bug will clear up." Applejack nodded.

"So, uh, about that flower..." Twilight gasped.

"Oh yes! The flower!" Twilight flipped through the pages of the book she was holding, scanning the number of plants. Applejack couldn't imagine the amount of work it would be to memorize the entire book. But of course, Twilight was a top academic student, so Applejack assumed it came naturally to the unicorn. Twilight stopped at a page, and pointed a hoof at the diagram of a flower. The stem had many thorns on it, and the tip of the flower was a swirl of red and yellow.

"The Decus Dormientes. That's Latin for Sleeping Beauty. Legend tells that the flower can make anypony asleep for a full day, no matter it's age or size. Of course, that may not be true, but that is why I want to find out what it really does, and show it off to the scientific community!" Twilight explained all of this to the mystified Applejack. Twilight explained more of the features of the flower, with Applejack trying to keep up with the several diagrams and words that Applejack could not begin to comprehend. Twilight closed the book and sighed.

"Ah, it'll be so much fun, roaming the Everfree forest, finding a beautiful flower..." Applejack's heart skipped a beat. As Twilight started out the door, Applejack tackled her to the ground, sending waves of pain from the hardwood floor to Twilight's body. Applejack got off of Twilight, much to Twilight's annoyance.

"What was that for?!" Twilight yelled, while trying to get up. Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"Twi, the Everfree forest is way too dangerous for you, especially with a broken horn. Somepony should come with you, like me." Twilight shrugged the concerned mare's hoof from her shoulder and made her way to the door.

"Applejack, I am Princess Celestia's top student. I am pretty sure I can hold my own. Oh, can you tell Spike that I'll be back by tonight? It's going to take me a while to find this flower, but I'm up to the task." With that, Twilight walked out the door, leaving Applejack worried for the unicorn's safety.

---

Twilight, like any other pony, was nervous. Just the thought of delving into the dark and unnatural forest was enough to send chills through her body. The only thing that stood in her way was the line between Ponyville and the forest. With a deep sigh, Twilight adjusted her knapsack and headed into the forest.

The forest was loud with life. Chirps of grasshoppers and birds filled the air, as Twilight trotted, following her map that was tied to a string above her head in replacement of her magic. It was silly at best, but it would have to do for the time being. The map told of a location that was not too far from where she currently was. With that information in mind, she walked on, anticipating the beauty of the flower.

Twilight stuffed the map into her knapsack and took out an apple. She took a bite out of it, the juices dripping from her chewing mouth. She wiped the juices with her hoof and put the core back into the knapsack as she finished it. Twilight wasn't the one to pollute; She joined a environmentalist group with Fluttershy, and one of the rules of joining was to never pollute, along with picking up any trash she might see. It was a good cause, and because of it, the pollution in the air dropped by twenty percent in Ponyville alone.

Twilight pressed on, passing many exotic flora and animals, many of which Twilight has never seen or heard of before. She took a trip once, and she thought it would be her last. But here Twilight was, looking for one specific flower for her studies. Twilight stopped for a quick moment, then started off again. She froze once more. She studied her surroundings for a few seconds, then back at the map. Twilight was completely mystified at the map. Even though she has read numerous texts about maps, she has yet to completely understand the complexities of the map, and the map of the mysterious forest wasn't helping.

Twilight sighed and sat herself down on a tree stump. As of now, her hopes of actually finding the flower was plummeting. Her dreams of just catching the sight of the mysterious plant seemed far-off, and she thought that she might as well move back to Ponyville and forget about it all-together. Then she heard something that perked her ears up. It was the sound of rushing water. Twilight rose up from her sitting position and rushed to the sound of the water, hoping what she was hoping for.

Twilight stopped in her tracks to see a river flowing along. Twilight was triumphant; This was the river on the map that would lead her to the general area of the flower. Finally, Twilight was making some progress. But all wasn't swell; Twilight still had to travel an half an hour's worth of walking, and even by arriving, she still had to find the flower, which was carefully hidden with all the other flora that was there. Twilight noticed it was also getting dark as well. Twilight trotted down the river, following it's stream of beautiful clear water.

At last, Twilight forged through a bush to find an opening in the forest. The trees above towered overhead her, which made her feel small. Twilight put the map back into the knapsack; It was no longer needed, considering that the map didn't specifically mark the flower's exact location. Twilight studied the area. There was tons of different types of flowers and plants, some even growing off of each other, which was regular for the Everfree forest. But of course, the Sleeping Beauty was no where to be seen.

Twilight romped through the bushes and climbed up small trees for the flower. Head to toe, she checks, then double checks the trees, hoping that the flower was at least somewhere. Twilight looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly setting, and Twilight was running out of time. Soon, Twilight begun looking frantically for the flower, hoping to bring it back by the end of the day. Twilight's hope was slowly diminishing until something caught her eye.

A blue butterfly was resting on a low branch from a tree. Twilight walked closer to it, studying it more closely. The butterfly had glowing dots on it's wings, with lines flowing beautifully on it with a blue glow as well. Only jellyfishes could have glowing membranes, which made this butterfly all the more interesting. Twilight looked at the marvelous butterfly, fully captivated at it's beauty. She has never seen anything like it, let alone never heard of it in her textbooks. Fluttershy would have been absolutely thrilled to see it her own eyes.

The blutterfly spread out it's wings, and flew away from Twilight. Somehow, someway, Twilight decided to follow it. It didn't even matter that she still had to find the flower; This specimen appeared more important to some silly flower. The butterfly flew away fast, with Twilight in pursuit. The butterfly was travelling somewhere; Twilight just didn't know where. She followed the butterfly in hopes that the small creature would lead her to what she desired.

The butterfly flapped it's wings, almost as if a blue sparkly dust was trailing behind it. The dust travelled to Twilight's nose, causing her to stop and sneeze. Twilight opened her eyes to find that the butterfly was no where to be seen. Twilight looked around frantically for the butterfly, but to no avail. Twilight sighed. The day was getting more and more darker as time wore on, and now she was completely off-track. Twilight decided that she had enough, and she decided to head home. She started to trot back to Ponyville, before something stopped her from her tracks.

To her right, an opening was clearly visible, revealing the swirling colours of red and yellow that was the Sleeping Beauty. I've done it. Twilight jumped up and down, squealing with glee. Twilight stopped after she realized that she was acting a lot like Pinkie Pie. Twilight was at a happy stage at that moment; she would be the first mare to ever find one of the most rarest of flowers in all of Equestria. Just the sight of the flower was absolutely fantastic; It was much like a tulip, but more wide and swirling colours. Twilight couldn't wait any longer. She ran to the flower, before she stepped into something.

The "something" that she has stepped on was a big patch of mud. Twilight studied the area; The area was a small bog, with the flower on the other side. The possibility of going around was out; The bog was surrounded with thorns, trapping the bog like a cage. Twilight raised her hoof to look at the mud on her hoof. The brown substance dripped off of her hoof and slopped back to the brown muck. Twilight grimaced; Rarity would have a fit if she stepped even into a small puddle of water. Twilight knew there was no other choice; she was going to have to step through the bog.

Twilight breathed out, then took another step in. It was slightly more deeper than the last step, but Twilight shrugged that thought off. Twilight took another step, hoping that this step wouldn't be as deep. Her hoof sank a little into the mud, then reached a bottom. Twilight sighed with relief; It was a shallow bog. Twilight took a few more quicker steps, before her front right hoof collapsed into the mud. Twilight gasped, then tried to pull out the hoof. It moved by a tiny bit, then sank deeper into the muck. Twilight groaned; This was going to more harder than she thought.

Twilight adjusted her position, trying desperately to advance through the bog, but all she did was get all her legs stuck in the mud. Twilight's heart started to race, as Twilight was breathing a little heavier. Twilight shifted her body forward. Her body moved back into her last position, sinking a little deeper into the muck. Twilight looked around. Twilight pulled out her front hoof and tried to reach on to any loose branch. No branch was generous to lend her a hoof, however. Twilight's heart continued to race, her chances getting out of this bog becoming slimmer.

Then Twilight had an idea. Twilight started to focus her energy through her horn, which started to light up her horn. The magical energy within her started to flare through her. Her horn sparked for a moment, then stopped glowing all together. Twilight tensed up; She suddenly realized that her horn wasn't working at all today. Panic rising into her system, Twilight tried more and more, the mud slowly consuming her little by little.

Soon, the mud was up to her neck, as the attempts to getting out her legs became more helpless. Twilight moved furiously, moaning as she did so. Twilight called out for anything, anypony that could possibly help her. No sound returned to her cries for help. A tear dripped down her cheek; she was going to die.

Twilight started sobbing, as her neck was no longer and only her head was visible. Twilight decided to give the magic spell one more try. With all her might, the magic energy flowed within her, flaring to her horn, which was glowing more brightly than usual. The spark came, then no light was visible. Twilight cried out one last time. As if on cue, the glowing butterfly landed down on the flower Twilight tried so hard to obtain and folded it's wings. Twilight held her breath, as the mud submerged her down into the ground.

The butterfly spread out it's wings, and flew to the direction of Ponyville.

Author's Note:

This is my first one-shot. I had this idea in my head for a few weeks, then after a series of writers block, I finally finished it. Any suggestions or errors that need fixing? Comment below and I'll fix it.

"Give me a stick; Don't be a dick"- Riffmaster

Comments

[Richardson]

It would be a lot better if you gave more description in the last part.

[Flying Fantasy Horse]

3493406

Yeah, I sort of suck at details, but this was the only story where I actually try to go in-depth. But yeah, I can see where your coming from.

[JumpingShinyFrogs]

There's a fair amount of tense confusion as well as a few other errors like awkward sentences, but other than that you're good in the grammar department. The pacing in this is good up until the end, where it feels rushed. Overall, it could definitely use some improvement, but I will give it a favourite. Though I don't see how this is 'Adventure'. The fate of the world does not depend on Twilight getting this plant. I think this would be better off with a 'Slice of Life' tag.

[Richardson]

3493476

In order to make it work, you have to give time for the hopelessness of sinking away to dawn on her, and give her time to fight it back and try to escape. The feeling of how she is being eaten by the earth itself and how she struggles for her life against it.

And you missed a chance to save her by Applejack following her out of worry and jumping in with a tied off rope to save her after she goes under.

[Flying Fantasy Horse]

3495474

Yeah, I kind of rushed through that part. I honestly didn't really take much time into doing it. I really just grinded through the part and never looked back. But the ending I didn't want Twilight to be saved, because I thought it would be a little more tragic that way.

Yeah, I know. I'm a heartless soul.

[AverageJoe]

How is an apple core considered litter? isn't it biodegradable, or even food for another animal?