Overgrow

by SugarPesticide

She Tried

Twilight suppressed the urge to panic, but just barely. The last time she and her friends had faced an army, they had been overwhelmed by its sheer numbers. As her eyes flitted over the approaching bipeds, she noted that this didn’t seem to be strictly the case, as the phalanx of knights didn’t blot out the sunlight. But if they could all summon monsters the way their leader had, the ponies might be in serious trouble.

She didn’t waste any time. A broad beam of magic erupted from her horn, knocking aside an entire swath of knights before making a muffled impact against the cliffside. The rest of the knights paused, showing wariness at the unexpected display of power. A few turned toward the stairs, as if to bolt to safety, but a moment’s thought seemed to convince them to stay.

Those knights closest to the ponies plucked red-and-white spheres from their belts, unleashing unfamiliar shapes in uneven bursts of light. The small animals that emerged seemed to be of two varieties: purple cats wearing smirks and heavy-lidded expressions, and striped crocodilian monsters that snapped their jaws in anticipation.

Rainbow rose a little higher in the air at the sight of the latter species. “Hey, they’re wearing sunglasses! About time we got to fight something that actually knows how to be cool!”

The animals advanced. They were taking their time, perhaps to avoid trampling each other, but their approach was sure and steady. Out of the corners of her eyes, Twilight saw her friends tense, preparing themselves for what was to come.

There was a gust of wind as Rainbow rushed forward. “Cool or not, I’m only gonna give you one warning! Leave my friends alone!”

One of the cats leapt to meet her, claws extended. Rainbow’s outstretched hoof slammed into the furry beast, and it flailed and yowled as it arced away. A paw had made contact, however, leaving a few light scratches for her to remember it by. The cat was in no position to gloat, since when it bowled into one of the knights they both groaned pitifully.

Rainbow scowled as a drop of red swelled on her hoof. “Yeah. We’re not playing nice today.”

She dove at a cluster of crocodiles, darting in and out among their open jaws as she landed punches and kicks in a blur of blue limbs. One of the monsters leaned in hungrily, but her wing flicked upward at its approach, catching it beneath the throat hard enough to send it toppling along with a number of its peers.

More creatures surged forward, cornering the ponies even further. Their assault was met head-on by Applejack, who quickly closed the gap yet showed no signs of slowing. A smack rang out as she headbutted the nearest cat, which reeled backward in a daze. Two more closed in from the side, but she swiveled on her forelegs to buck them clear into the cavern wall. “I don’ know who you varmints are,” she grunted, “but we’re not about to go down like a bunch of pansies!”

“Applejack, please.” Pinkie bounced atop the creatures’ heads, moving from one to the next with ease. “Fluttershy likes pansies! If she were here, she’d get along with them easy peasy!”

“But she’s not here.” Rarity punched a crocodile in the face. “We shall have to make the best of the situation.”

Twilight paused, half prepared to join her friends in the fray. “Wait,” she realized. “If Fluttershy were here, we’d have everything taken care of already! Maybe she came back! She has to have realized that there’s a problem by now!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she casually backhoofed the crocodile behind her. “Of course she came back! Fluttershy doesn’t leave ponies hangin’!”

“Well, what’re ya waitin’ for, Twi?” Applejack lassoed a trio of critters and flung them into the ceiling, using a rope she had pulled from who knew where. “Check and see!”

A crocodile lunged at the earth pony’s exposed back. Twilight’s magic seized it in mid-jump and slammed it into the ground. “B-but … I can’t leave you girls here, though! What if—?”

“I believe we can take care of ourselves for the moment,” Rarity assured her, picking up a cat by the tail and swinging it in a circle over her head to take out the approaching creatures. “But we do need Fluttershy. You remember the last time we tried to solve a problem when we were one pony short, don’t you?”

Twilight bit her lip.

“Go on, Twilight!” Pinkie called, jumping high into the air just in time for the creatures jumping at her to crash into each other. “We got this! You can get Fluttershy! Then we’ll all be gotten and getting and getters!”

“Well …” Twilight exhaled. “Okay. I’ll blink over and bring her here. If you’re all sure you can handle this.”

“Yes!” they chorused.

She nodded. With a flash of her horn, some sticky substance had covered a hundred short legs, gluing the animals to the floor. Though they pulled and snarled, they weren’t about to break free anytime soon.

Then, in a burst of purple light, she teleported.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.”

Twilight pulled in a deep, gasping breath for the first time in what seemed like years. Her glossy eyes stared, reflecting the colorful apocalypse of Ponyville without actually seeing it. A bolt of bright blue surged out of the sky, glassing the ground just feet away, but she didn’t so much as flinch. Something reddish leaked from her eyes and mouth.

An eagle’s talon poked her forehead. In a flash, the world righted itself, and Twilight blinked. She lay still for a while, staring with clear eyes at the sky as she pondered on what she was doing on the ground. Hadn’t she been going to find Fluttershy? She wiggled her hooves uncertainly, and though her limbs felt strangely weak, they responded.

“What happened?” she rasped. The taste of vomit burned her tongue. “I can’t remember …”

“That’s because of me, naturally.” Discord’s voice floated down from above, sounding almost sympathetic. “I figured you wouldn’t want to be a gibbering vegetable for the rest of time, so I just took out the memory.”

“You … can do that?”

“Apparently. Strange how such a smart pony would go ahead and do the exact thing I warned her not to do, don’t you think?”

“You should’ve told me something bad would happen.” Twilight swallowed. “Whatever it was …”

“Just try not to do it again. It’s your good luck that you’re immortal … or, from another point of view, it would have been very bad luck indeed.” His face loomed into view, and Twilight tried to be surprised that he was snacking on sushi. “What did you do that for, anyway?”

“Fluttershy.” A choking cough. “She should be back by now from the Breezies.”

“She isn’t.”

“This is no time for games, Discord. Where is she?”

“You really think I’d kid about …? Don’t answer that.”

“Teleporting isn’t hurting you that much, apparently. Couldn’t you go over to where she is and tell her to come?”

“I already did.”

“Then where is she?”

“With the Breezies.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t make any sense. Even if you can’t teleport with her, wouldn’t she be heading back right away?”

“She said there was something more important to be taken care of.”

“More important than this?” Twilight’s eyes bulged, and she scrambled onto noodly hooves. The world swayed as she stood, but a few deep breaths cleared her head. “I’m going to talk to her.”

“Can I come?”

“... Sure, why not.” Her wings flared, and with a few shaky strokes she pushed herself into the air. “You can’t make things any worse.”

His serpentine form swam after her. “Is that an insult, or a challenge?”

“Forget I said anything.”

“You know, I have the strangest urge to provide our flight with mood music.”

“Don’t joke around.”

“Then I suppose I’ll settle for these angsty eighth notes. Play your sappy song, you little devils!”

Twilight groaned.

Comments

[MythAndShadow]

Glad to see this is back! :D

[The Philosopher King]

I shall remind you once more. Finish your works. Each unfinished work is a pestilence. Surely you have read one of these goo unfinished stories? I was once The Man Who Came from the Land of Yes. There will be peace when you are done.

My Regards,

Professor Obedire R. Birch.

[SugarPesticide]

6257632
I had actually forgotten about this Thanks for reminding me. I'll see if I can make some time to whip up a new chapter this month.