True Chaos

by Woolytop

Chapter 6: The Forest

Moonstruck fluttered up and nestled on Rumble's head as he stomped through the woods. From her vantage point, she could see all manner of fantastic things, like chickens with lizard tails that scattered from their nests as the dragon stepped on them, and dogs made from wood that barked and nipped uselessly at his heels.

Rumble grabbed a rather large, lion-like creature with bat wings and a scorpion tail by the scruff of its neck and gently placed it in a tree as it intercepted their path, and eventually they came to a stream. A huge, purple sea serpent basked on its banks, and only heeded them with an amiable wave.

“Friend of yours?” Moonstruck asked as Rumble flew over the stream.

“Not really. Nice enough guy for a serpent, I suppose,” Rumble replied as he returned the mustachioed water-dweller's wave. They came to a clearing near a gorge, the other side of which bore a ruin. Rumble took off, over this ruin, and to the trees beyond.

“Oh. That's cool,” Moonstruck said as she saw the scene before her. The entire grove of trees bent over from Rumble's wing force, then sprang back up. She hopped down to one of them and pushed it flat, then jumped up the trunk and swung back and forth as it sprung back to an upright position. “Wheeee!”

“These trees weren't always like this,” Rumble said as he watched her bounce around in the rubber forest. “They were once solid and proud.”

“But they're so much more fun this way!” Moonstruck laughed. She held the tip of a particularly tall evergreen tree, then let it fling her into the air back onto Rumble's snout. She sighed. “There's something strange around here, though.”

“You don't say,” Rumble replied.

“No, I mean something else. I haven't heard a single animal since we landed,” Moonstruck said. “Even the palace never got this quiet.”

“Perhaps they've hidden from me? I am a dragon,” Rumble suggested.

“Maybe,” Moonstruck replied as she began to tap the base of her fang. She fluttered over to one of the rubber-maple trees and touched a leaf; It had the same kind of texture as a stiff cloth. “Or they've just abandoned this area. These trees are all made from rubber and vinyl. They can't possibly live around here anymore.”

“Would this be the kind of chaos you're looking for?” Rumble asked.

Moonstruck looked up at the trees. They had been a lot of fun, but they were completely worthless for their place in a harmonious ecosystem. They couldn't bear edible fruit or provide a safe home for the less fearsome denizens of the forest, and from what little Moonstruck had learned about draconequines up to this point...

“Yes. I think this is exactly what I was looking for,” she replied, a twinge of sadness in her voice.

“Is there something wrong?” Rumble asked.

“Do you know what a draconequus is?” she asked as she returned to his nose.

“You mean that Discord fellow that caused a stir a while ago?” Rumble asked.

“He ISN'T the only one!” Moonstruck practically screamed with a stomp. Her paw clicked loudly against Rumble's scales.

“Oh... Sorry,” He said. Moonstruck sighed and sat down on the bridge of his nose again. “Do... you want to talk about it?”

“I'm not like Discord.” Moonstruck grumbled as she crossed her arms. She looked over the forest. This was something Discord would have done. And she had, however momentarily, enjoyed it.

“Of course not. You know what Discord did to me, seven years ago?” Rumble asked.

“I'm afraid to ask,” Moonstruck sighed.

“He made me lose control of my fire breath. Every time I breathed out, I would set fire to whatever I happened to breath on. For a scaleless and very not-fireproof dragon, it was horrifying.” Rumble shuddered, which nearly dislodged Moonstruck from her perch.

“Yeah, and I turned your scales into a confection after you spent so long growing them out.” Moonstruck sighed.

“But you did it for a good reason. What did you say? I was being a jerk,” Rumble said with a shrug. “Not only that, but you went out of your way, and sacrificed a part of your own body to make it right. I don't think the monster I met seven years ago would have done that.”

Moonstruck looked up at the sky. It had gotten late. The sun was low in the sky. Her stomach let out a growl.

“I didn't pick up any food from Ponyville,” she said, as she rubbed the offending area.

“Come, now. We're in a forest. There's plenty around to eat,” Rumble said.

“Like what?” Moonstruck asked.

“Well, what kind of food do you like?” Rumble asked.

“Strictly herbivore,” Moonstruck replied.

“Herbivores are delicious,” Rumble laughed.

“What do dragons eat?” Moonstruck asked.

“Well, we're famous for our ability to consume gems and minerals, but other than that pretty much anything we can get our claws on,” he explained, “but if the plants around here are dead, then we're going to have to move on.”

The rubber forest was huge. Even with Rumble's enormous strides, it took them a half an hour to find trees that didn't bend in half and snap back into position when Rumble's tail struck them.

“Look. There are some wild strawberries down there,” Rumble said as he indicated to some bushes. He put his claw to his nose.

“Strawberries are good,” Moonstruck said as she stepped on and allowed him lower her to the ground. There was a line of bushes with succulent-looking strawberries. They danced and waved this way and that in the wind. “I don't think there's enough for both of us, though.”

“That's alright. You stay here. I'm going to go find myself a dragon-sized meal,” Rumble said. He pushed a few trees over and disappeared into the woods.

Moonstruck turned her attention to the strawberry bush as her stomach rumbled. Gently, she grabbed a ripe-looking berry and popped it greedily in her mouth. If the strawberries back at the castle were like a loving nuzzle from a proud nanny, then the strawberries in the forest were like a heavy buck in the jaw. Moonstruck almost spat the berry out in surprise, but her growling stomach demanded sustenance.

“Bleh.” She allowed her tongue to hang loose after she swallowed the berry. “Maybe brother was right about commoner food.” She carefully plucked another berry. And another. And another. She choked down maybe thirty or thirty five berries before she gave up.

“I should have packed some food,” she thought miserably. “Living outside the castle's hard.”

A snapped twig shocked her out of her thoughts. The sun was almost completely down at this point, and the waning moon didn't provide enough light for Moonstruck to see very far into the woods. More snaps and growls echoed around her.

“Who's there?” Moonstruck called tentatively. Her tail lifted of its own accord, and her weight shifted with it into a better position to run. Her wings lifted themselves and began to flap ever so slightly, just enough that the transition from standing to flying would be less than a second.

Moonstruck took a breath as she listened to the woods. “This is stupid,” she told herself. “Forests are noisy. You know that. Just because there's something moving about out there doesn't mean it's coming to get you.” Moonstruck forced her limbs to relax. “Besides, I tanked a blast of dragon fire. I'm sure if something does try to eat me, something equally silly will happen, and I'll be fine.” She whipped around to face the source of another snapped twig. “...Right?” Truth be told, Moonstruck wasn't sure why Rumble hadn't flat-out killed her with his fire breath, but here in the dark woods filled with mysterious and presumably violent creatures, she didn't care to test its reliability.

*BANG!*

Moonstruck shrieked and launched herself into the air as a huge weight slammed into the ground behind her. She twisted around to see the shape of her companion on the ground.

“Did I scare you?” Rumble said as Moonstruck landed on his snout.

“No,” she said as she sat and leaned on the bridge of his nose. “You surprised me.” Rumble began to laugh heartily.

“You are an amusing creature, Moonstruck,” he said. “The forest is dangerous at night. Let us find shelter.”

“Alright,” Moonstruck yawned. “Finding someplace to sleep sounds good.”

Rumble lifted into the air and soared to a nearby cliff side. Moonstruck looked around as Rumble flew, her eyes peeled for further signs of her destination.

“This looks like a good place,” Rumble said as they landed near a cave. With a quick gout of fire, he evicted the cave's resident bat colony and stepped inside.

“It smells in here,” Moonstruck commented.

“That would be the guano,” Rumble said as he indicated to a burning pile of some kind of organic matter in the center of the cave.

“The what?” Moonstruck asked.

“It's bat poop,” Rumble simplified

“EW.” Moonstruck climbed up on top of his head. “You set that on fire? We're going to smell awful by morning!” she complained.

“The fire'll keep you warm, and keep the bats at bay,” Rumble said as he sat down.

“But it's a flaming pile of poop!” Moonstruck objected. Rumble sighed.

“So turn it into cotton or something,” He said as he laid his head down.

Moonstruck snapped her fingers and turned the guano into a wooden pyre. Satisfied that she wouldn't smell like burned bat feces in the morning, she walked down Rumble's back to the space between his wings and nestled herself there for the night.

"You never told me exactly what it was you were looking for." Rumble said as he lifted his head back up..

"I'm looking for the home of the draconequines. I bet that's what's causing these weird changes in the world. They'll probably be more densely packed the closer we get," Moonstruck said.

"Follow the chaos, indeed," Rumble said as he laid his head back down.

Moonstruck groaned as she woke up. Dragon scales weren't as comfortable as her bed, either. She hopped off Rumble and immediately slipped on the ground.

“What the?” she said, as she tapped on the ground. Her claw dug into what she was certain had been rock the previous night. She scooped a little of the new substance up and sniffed it. “Soap?”

There was a shifting, followed by a great crash as Rumble attempted to stand, but also slipped in the soap. “What in Tiamat's name?” he roared. The cave began to rumble as chunks of soap fell as stalactites from the ceiling. After a few moments, actual rocks began to crash through the soap as well.

“Cave in!” Moonstruck shouted. She lifted herself off the ground and flitted for the exit. There was another heavy thud as Rumble tried to stand, but failed again. The cave was too small for him to fly out of it like Moonstruck.

“Go, I'll be fine,” Rumble shouted at her.

“No! It's alright, I can fix this!” Moonstruck said. She snapped her fingers, and turned all the soap into sand. Rumble jumped to his feet and rocketed out of the cave as it fully collapsed, Moonstruck sucked out in his wake.

Rumble fell to the forest floor with a heavy thud. Moonstruck landed by his side.

“...Is this the sort of chaos you're looking for?” Rumble asked.

“For sure,” Moonstruck nodded.

Comments

[Woolytop]

I think one of my major weaknesses as a writer is world building. It's not so much an issue here in the Everfree where there's some established canon, but it's going to become more so once we move beyond in the next chapter.

[Meeester]

431520 Ive got no doubts that this story will be well written.

Moonstruck is such a fun character, borderline adorable.

[AliCentaur Br0ny]

431780 I agree.

Herbivores ARE delicious, but I strictly adhere to a diet of only herbivores that cannot talk back to me, even if it's to recommend themselves for a meal.