The Royal Apples: Into the Land of Neverwere

by Radical Gopher

Chapter 08

Of all the fights Big Mac had been in, this was the most chilling one to date. The nature of the beast attacking him, combined with its enormous size, made him feel more than a little overwhelmed. Certainly, he’d fought off Queen Chrysalis’ minions, dropped a tree on the changeling witch, beaten King Sombra to a pulp, and killed three large timber wolves single hoofed. But this felt different. He knew what he was fighting. He’d seen scorpions before when he visited his cousin Braeburn in Appaloosa, but nothing this monstrous. He hadn’t liked them then, and definitely didn’t like them now. To top it all off, the beast seemed to single him out for attack, ignoring the other ponies as they scattered in fear.

It charged, closing the distance between itself and the alicorn at an unbelievable speed. For a split second, Big Mac hesitated. Then just before the creature was on him he instinctively jumped straight up.

Imagine if you will combining the strength of an earth pony with the agility of a pegasus. The resulting leap put him some thirty feet above the ground in less than a second. The scorpion’s pincers closed on empty air.

Now under normal circumstances, most pegasi would immediately began flapping their wings so they could go into a hover. Unfortunately, the alicorn hadn’t mastered that particular skill yet. He did know how to glide short distances, but his jump and been straight up. With no forward momentum, gravity applied itself in its own unique, masterful and inevitable way.

Big Mac found himself plummeting straight down.

He twisted around and flapped his wings furiously, trying to get his hooves under him without much success. Gracefulness was another pegasi trait he had yet to develop. He landed tail first on the back of the scorpion, missing the poisonous stinger by several very uncomfortable inches. Fortunately, having “evolved” as an earth pony, mass was his friend. The scorpion couldn’t support both itself and the impact of the sudden weight that landed on its back. The monster went down, its legs splayed out in six different directions and its tail pointed straight up. Its angry hissing turned into a single, short whimpering screech.

The stallion did remember Soarin’s “tuck and roll lessons. In an instant he found himself standing firmly on the ground in front of the monster as it tried to shake off the blow and push itself back to its feet. Big Mac didn’t give it a chance. Spinning on his front legs, he bucked upward, catching the scorpion under the chin and between the mandibles. The monster’s head snapped upward several feet and the front half of its body was lifted off the ground. When it crashed back down, it was unconscious.

The other ponies, seeing the danger was neutralized, slowly gathered around the alicorn.

“Holy Canarsie! Do Youse see the size of this monster?”

“That... Was... AWESOME!!”

“Oh... the poor thing. I hope it isn’t too badly hurt.”

“Wow! You totally owned that thing!”

“I certainly hope it doesn’t start leaking blood all over the place.”

“What do you think? Some white wine and melted butter?”

The other ponies turned and looked at Trixie. She just shrugged. “Hey... What can I say? It looks like a lobster and I’m hungry.”

“This thing shouldn’t be here,” muttered Spike.

“Nnnope?”

“Everfree scorpions live about forty miles from here, off towards the mountains. They don’t wander this far from their caves unless driven by hunger.”

“Could it be a rogue, darling?”

The dragon shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of rogue scorpions before. They always hunt in pairs.”

“Then Ay’d suggest we beat hooves, unless youse all want to meet up with its pal.”

The suggestion was met with unanimous agreement and the group of seven ponies and one dragon were soon back on the trail towards the palace of the pony sisters.

As they traveled the forest around them began to grow thicker and more menacing. The air itself became heavy and stagnant with the stench of rot. There was no breeze to freshen the air, no scent of growing things. It was as if the forest was consuming itself. Big Mac wondered how anything could live in such an environment.

“What is this place?” Rainbow Dash asked looking around at the trees. The canopy above them had completely closed off the sky and there were so many vines hanging from the trees that a pegasus couldn’t possibly fly even a few feet off the ground without becoming ensnared. She shuddered nervously, feeling as if she were in a box with the lid closed.

Fluttershy wasn’t as bothered by the trees as Rainbow. She much preferred walking to flying. The surrounding dimness would have been a problem for her if Big Mac, Trixie and Rarity hadn’t lit up their horns, casting a welcome light about the travelers.

“I don’t remember seeing this on the map at all,” muttered the fashionista.

“It isn’t,” Spike replied. “Zecora calls it the Blight and it’s a fairly recent development. Nothing but plants, mosses and fungi live here.”

“What about birds and animals?” asked Fluttershy.

The dragon shook his head. “They abandoned this part of the forest when the Blight appeared, at least any small creatures did. The trees tend to eat them.”

“WHAT?” the pegasus exploded, coming to a dead stop in the middle of the trail. The others all came to a standstill and looked at her in surprise.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry. Anything larger than a raccoon gets ignored. The trees use their vines to snag prey, but they’re too weak to grab and hold big animals. The only thing we have to avoid is eating any of the mushrooms that grow here.”

“The mushrooms?” asked Trixie.

“They have a toxin in them that’s hallucinogenic. Eat one and you’ll wander aimlessly for days before the effects wear off, if something else doesn’t eat you in the meantime.” Spike turned and waived everypony forward. “Come on. The trail leads this way.”

Trixie paused for a moment, wondering if perhaps Zecora might not want a sample of the mushrooms for her potions. Reaching into the satchel she looked for an empty jar, then found one already filled with a brownish white paste and labeled ‘Blight Mushrooms.’ She smiled to herself. The shaman was obviously well ahead of her. She would make a good stage magician.

They continued to make their way through the Blight. As promised, the trees and vines ignored them save for when one of them accidently brushed an overhanging branch or leaf. Then the plants appeared to pull back some, clearing more of the pathway for them to use. Several hours of travel eventually brought them to a somewhat more hospitable section of the Everfree. They could feel the wind blowing gently through the trees and the scent of decay and rot no longer hung about them. When Big Mac noticed that both Fluttershy and Trixie seemed to be lagging, he called a halt so they could all rest get some food.

They gathered dead, dry wood from nearby and with Spike’s help, quickly had a small camp fire going. Fluttershy again took out her ornate metal teapot and set it upon the flames to boil while Pinkie and Rainbow passed out travel rations to everypony.

The dragon looked at his food bar with a bit of disappointment. It consisted mainly of compressed dried oats, fruit, dandelion seeds, and several different kinds of nuts, all wrapped in a layer of hay seed and alfalfa. “What... no gem pieces?”

Rarity raised one bemused eyebrow, then levitated a yellow gem from her saddlebags and dropped it in Spike’s lap.

Picking it up, the dragon grinned from ear to ear. “Wow... amethyst. I haven’t had that for a long time.” He took an enthusiastic bite out of the gem and turned to face the white-furred unicorn. “Thank you, my lady.”

For some strange reason, the compliment made Rarity feel a bit giggly inside, though she tried not showing it on her face.

As they rested, the sun once more vanished from the sky, this time like a house light being shut off. The air began to get cold and a snowflake slowly drifted down into the camp.

“Uh oh...” muttered Babs, “looks like we’re gettin’ a slight change in the weather. Anypony think to pack a tent big enough for eight?” She paused to look at her otherworldly cousin. “...or ten?”

“No need,” Big Mac reassured them. Closing his eyes he concentrated. Within moments a large, green dome formed over them, blocking out both the snow and cold. A small hole in the top allowed the smoke from their camp fire to escape.

“Not bad,” admired Rarity. “But I thought you said you weren’t good at magic. How’d you manage a shield spell?”

“Ma sister’s friend’s BBBFF taught me this trick, though it ain’t so much a shield as a kind o’ tarp. If ya pushed, y’all could probably put yer hoof through it.”

“It works well enough for me,” Trixie said. “Better a weak shield than getting any of that snow on us?”

“Is something wrong with the snow, darling?”

The blue unicorn nodded. “It’s yellow.”

**********

Applejack had paced back and forth across the interrogation room for more than an hour before the door opened and another pony entered. He was wearing the uniform of a Manehatten Police Officer and carried a tray in his mouth. On the tray were two cups of coffee and a plate with three sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. This he carefully placed on the table. He gestured for the palomino pony to take a seat, then pushed the tray across to her after taking one of the cups for himself.

“Sorry for the delay. We’ve been busy processing the ponies arrested when we raided the Carrousel Boutique.”

The mare frowned at him. “Ah don’t see why you had to raid the place. Rarity and I have always been on good terms with the law.”

The police pony shrugged. “Hey, we don’t make those decisions. We just carry out the orders we’re given.”

He took a long, slow sip on his coffee, keeping one eye open and on Applejack. Normally, she preferred to dine in private, but after nearly a day and a half without anything to eat the mare was famished. As the cop watched, she elegantly unwrapped one of the sandwiches and took a small, delicate bite. It was dry and lacked flavor, but she ate it as if it were the finest pâté.

“So... if you’re an employee of the boutique...”

“Co-owner,” Applejack corrected him.

“Fair enough... a co-owner, what were you doing tied up in a trunk at the Crazy Horse Theatre, at least a dozen blocks away?”

“I was making a house call for a kinky client?”

The officer chuckled. “Well... that might explain why we didn’t find any of your clientele at the boutique.” The pony’s face became a bit grimmer. “Still, someone there invoked “HIS” name, and that means being a co-owner, you’re going to have to talk to one of HIS lieutenant at the very least.”

“Indeed.”

“You don’t seem overly concerned about it.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Is there a reason I should be?”

The police pony shook his head. He had a distinct feeling she knew something that they wanted to know. That wasn’t good. It was also sadly obvious she didn’t understand the ramifications of what it meant to meet with one of the three. He knew from past experience that such interviews never went well for the individual being questioned. Even the most hard-core suspects had their bowels turn to jelly when confronted by one of HIS lieutenants. The thought of what might happen to such a beautiful mare was uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Look,” he said. “I’m going to give you a quick piece of advice. When they come to question you, answer them as quickly and honestly as you can. Don’t hesitate, don’t act flustered, don’t lie, and above all, don’t try to cut any deals with them.”

“Why?”

He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “Because that would be a mistake you would regret for the rest of your life.”

Applejack frowned. “If y’all think for one moment you can scare...”

She was interrupted by firm and powerful knocking. The police pony rose from his chair and went over to the door. When he opened it, he was confronted by his desk sergeant.

“Our visitor has arrived and wants to talk with the suspect now. You’re relieved.”

His boss pushed the door open wide enough to allow the police pony to leave. As he did a shadowy figure seemed to flow by him and sweep into the room. The air suddenly became chilled. He looked back in time to see the confident expression on their suspect’s face change to one of uncertainty before the door closed behind him

Shaking, Officer Quarryhoof made his way over to a small coffee pot that sat at one end of the squad room. He refilled his cup and steeled himself for the inevitable. It was a full two minutes before the muffled screams began.

**********

The sun stayed down the rest of the night, then surprisingly rose normally at about the right time. As it rose the snow melted, though it left behind a somewhat pungent, ammonia smell that was not helped by the warmth of the day. Gathering their supplies, the party once more set out with Spike in the lead.

As he broke the trail ahead, the dragon would glance back at his flock from time to time. Twilight, even after all these years, had been a pony whom he understood. Despite her seeming reclusiveness she’d had a heart that desperately wanted to nurture anypony who needed help. It was what led her into the first quest for the Elements and what eventually killed her. She could have jumped clear and survived when the cliff face crumbled beneath Octavia, but she’d grabbed the other pony’s hoof and wouldn’t let go, not even to save herself. She cared. Deep within himself, he knew that.

Now, looking at the current group of ponies, four of whom had been on that last expedition, he found himself wondering why they would risk so much for a world that had given up on itself. A world that would not fight back against either the Nightmare Queen or its current ruler, the master of chaos himself. How could these ponies care if no pony else did? He wondered how intensely they cared. Certainly it was enough to follow Twilight. Now, they were following this strange out-worlder, a pony who by rights should have absolutely no reason to care for a world that was not his own.

His sister had always insisted that deep down, every pony had a spark within them that could, if fanned, make the world a better place. Some pony though had to do the fanning. Spike stole another glance at Big Mac. He was impressive, but unlike Celestia whom he had known personally he seemed more... common, more ordinary than a Prince should be. Maybe that was why they followed him.

The trail broke out of the forest and angled upward along the ridge of a steep set of hills. On one side, the hills sloped sharply down into a thickly forested marsh. On the other, it dropped off abruptly into a river gorge. Keeping as far to the center as possible, they wound their way across the hilltops, then gradually descended toward the gorge. As they walked they could hear a roaring somewhere up ahead.

Reaching the base of the hills, they discovered where the gorge started. To Big Mac, it looked like somepony had simply carved a gash in the earth. There, they discovered a wide stream that flowed through the forest, then upon reaching the nearest end of the crevice dropped away in a series of waterfalls until it began flowing again along the bottom of the canyon. This was the source of the noise.

Taking a closer look, the alicorn could see this wasn’t a good place to cross. The water was too deep and ran too quickly for a pony to ford without risking an unplanned trip down the falls.

The trail followed the stream for about a mile before they came across a fairly wide and shallow spot that would be easy to cross. Checking their map, it became clear they had to cross the stream in order to reach the castle. The water still flowed at a good rate of speed thus they had to tread carefully so as not to have their hooves swept out from under them. Pinkie, Rarity, Spike and Babs roped themselves together and with Big Mac acting as the anchor pony were able to cross with little problem, aside from getting wet which slightly upset the fashionista. Rainbow and Fluttershy easily hopped the stream with a couple of easy wing beats, and Macintosh simply strolled across carrying Trixie on his back.

Rarity shook the water out of her fur and went over to Spike. “Where to next?”

“The trail goes about three miles straight through the woods, then we have a choice to make,” he replied. “We can either head west for a day, then cut north and back east to get to the castle, or we can go through the Frost Swamp which will put us at the castle by tomorrow morning.”

“Frost Swamp?” asked Babs. “I don’t remember seeing that on the map.”

“It’s not. It popped up a few years ago after that really cold winter HE caused. Zecora thinks it’s the Everfree’s attempt to compensate for and isolate the chaos magic that HE uses.”

“Is it dangerous?” asked Fluttershy.

The dragon shook his head. “Not particularly, unless you spend more than a day within its borders. Then, you freeze solid.”

“Well, that can’t be pleasant,” said Trixie.

“How big is this swamp?” asked Rainbow.

“At this point, it’s only about fifteen miles wide. We can cross it in about four hours, but we want to do it while the sun’s up. At night, it gets really, really, really cold.”

Babs looked at her watch. “We’ve got more than enough time to cross if we start now. Ay say let’s go for it.”

“Eeeyup.” Affirmed Big Mac. The other ponies nodded in agreement and they set off.

It only took them about an hour to reach the edge of the Frost Swamp, but when they did it wasn’t what they expected.

Instead of ice dangling from the trees or snow covering the ground, everything looked perfectly normal... or at least as normal as the Everfree Forest could look.

“I don’t understand,” said Rarity looking around as she followed Spike. “Where’s all the winter weather? I’d expect a place called the Frost Swamp to be a lot more...white. How can you even tell when you’re in it?”

The dragon turned his head and regarded the unicorn. “Look at your hooves.”

Rarity did and saw to her surprise that the ground was frosted in a delicate pattern of ice. This was true of every other pony. Wherever their hooves touched the earth, ice-chrystals formed. Looking back, she saw a trail of white along the ground, marking their passage. She paused for a moment and watched as the patterns slowly expanded outward from her hoof.

“This is amazing,” exclaimed. “I would have thought everything would be a lot colder around here, but I’m standing in ice and I don’t even feel the slightest chill.”

“You won’t” said Spike. “The swamp doesn’t make you feel cold... It slowly pulls the heat out of you until you turn into a permanent block of ice.”

“How do youse know?”

“If you don’t believe me, just ask him,” the dragon said point off to their right. Everypony looked. To one side of the trail was a large clear block of ice in the shape of a sleeping grizzly bear. He had been difficult to see because the ice was transparent. The creature had apparently lain down to take a nap and never woke up.

Fluttershy gasped and flitted over to the bear. “Oh... the poor little thing.”

“LITTLE?” replied Rainbow Dash

The yellow pegasus reached out a hoof to touch the ice sculpture.

“NO! DON’T!” yelled Spike.

Fluttershy’s hoof stopped barely an inch from the ice sculpture and she turned her head to look at the dragon. The end of her mane brushed against the ice and stuck there. A trail of white climbed up along her hair even as she tried to pull away. “I’m stuck,” she squeaked in panic.

“HELP HER... SOMEPONY!” called Spike. “SHE’S TURNING TO ICE!”

Comments

[SFaccountant]

The other ponies turned and looked at Trixie. She just shrugged. “Hey... What can I say? It looks like a lobster and I’m hungry.”

In world ruled by Chaos... Trixie goes carnivore.
Eh, I can dig it.
And damn it, Shy, your dumb empathy is going to get your entire adventuring party killed!