Settling In

by A Wild Magikarp

Chapter 19

The trip to the forest was a quiet one, dominated by an understandably serious atmosphere. Only the sound of hurried hooves was heard as the team of ponies raced to the outskirts of town, towards Sky's observatory. Every pony there knew what was at risk if they wasted time, and even Pinkies usual antics where abandoned as her carefree attitude was replaced with a straight face and a determined look in her eye.

Similar expressions where shared among all the ponies, except for Sky, who looked between them with curiosity and a mild sense of wonder. He was here helping because it was the right thing to do. After all, who could simply leave a bunch of ponies at the mercy of a hungry predator of the Everfree? But each of these mares had some personal investment in this, friends and family that were in mortal danger. Putting himself in their horseshoes, he wasn't certain he could be so calm at a time like this. Heck, it wasn't even Quick or Sunny currently in danger of being eaten, and HE was on the verge of panicking!

His musing was cut short as they reached the top of the hill, giving them a clear view of the observatory, and the forest beyond. They all slowed their pace to catch their breath, and Sky took a moment to assess the damage. What he saw made his stomach drop.

From a distance it did not look so bad, as the front having not taken any serious damage. But as he approached, a look through the broken windows revealed the truth. The back wall had been obliterated, whether from the size of the beast or its rage was unknowable, but it did not change the fact that what could be seen of the back half of the building was practically gone. The walls of the living space had deep gouges in them from the flailing of a creature to large for them to hold, and splintered furniture was strewn about the area. A beam from the ceiling was hanging down into the middle of the room. In all, it looked as if a tornado had torn through.

"Land sake's..."

Sky tuned to Applejack, who was gazing at the wreckage with the same look of wide eyed horror that was likely on his face.

"One critter did all of that? How big is this thing we're chasin' anyways?"

Twilight quickly pulled the book she had brought along out of her saddlebag, flipping a few pages to the section she was looking for.

"It says here that a full grown drakon is normally almost twice the size of a manticore. Much like dragons, they continue to grow throughout their life, but it slows dramatically, to the point that it is barely recognizable."

She put the book back, scanning the destroyed building curiously. Her eyes lit up and she looked to Sky with excitement.

"So YOU'RE the pony moving into this place! I figured you where new in town, but I didn't know they had finished construction! Your a doctor then?"

"Er, yes, I suppose I am. I got my doctorates in astronomy at Canterlot University, so I guess that makes me a doctor. But that was only last year, I JUST finished my internship. And please, don't start calling me Doctor Sky, that would just be weird. Makes me feel old."

The others chuckled at that, and Twilight nodded.

"That makes sense I guess. Do you have a specialization?"

"Astrophysics is my preferred area, but the doctorate means that I had to have knowledge in a bit of everything. Still, I'm new, and there's still a lot to learn."

Twilight looked as if she was about to ask another question, when Rarity jumped in.

"Yes, well that all sounds marvelous dear, but could we perhaps focus on the task at hoof please? I would be more than happy to join in on this conversation, say, once the others are safely away from that MONSTER that has them?"

Twilight and Sky shared an abashed look as they heard the seamstress' words, and Twilight moved to the front, leading the group closer to the edge of the forest as Sky stayed to the rear, looking back at his ruined home in dismay. His thoughts wandered too his feline companion. He had not seen Selene since that morning. His hope was that she had gotten out of the building during the attack, and had found someplace safe. But if she hadn't, if she had gotten caught in there when the beast was tearing everything apart, then...

Sky shook his head clear of those thoughts. Dark musings would only distract him, and right now there were the only hope for five ponies in the claws of a deadly predator. There was nothing he could do right now, best to focus on the rescue.

The party arrived at the edge of the woods behind the observatory. For a creature of such immense size, the drakon had done very little to disturb the brush. Still, its weight was considerable, and large claw marks could be seen leaving and entering the Everfree. Those who had not yet seen the creature looked down at the prints with worry. Sky could only speculate on what they were thinking at that moment, but if he had to guess, it was very similar to what he was feeling at that moment; fear.

Applejack was the first to recover, straightening her back and tugging her hat, at hard look entering her eyes as she steeled herself for the task ahead.

"Well, looks like it won't be to hard t'find. Makes this easier I guess. Come on y'all, we better get a move on."

Plunging into the forest, the farmer was quickly making her way out of sight in the shadow of the trees. The other ponies looked at one another briefly, before turning and likewise making their way into the untamed woods.

---

Applejack continued to take the front, tracking the drakon's path with the others following in a row. The forest had gotten thicker the farther they went, forcing them to walk single file, eyes outward towards the menacing trees surrounding them. Eyes darted and ears twitched as they all kept vigilant for the creature, or any of the numerous monsters no doubt inhabiting the darkness. Caution was the word of the hour, and they all knew it.

Star had ended up behind Twilight, and was beginning to regret coming along. It was a noble cause no doubt, and he was trying his best to overcome the terror threatening to overtake him. But he couldn't help but realize they were missing something crucial.

"T-Twilight," He asked in a low whisper, looking to his left and right. "I understand the rush to get out here, but... what's the plan?"

The mare in front of him turned and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, the returned her attention to the front.

"I... don't really know. I mean, I have an idea, sort of, I just... I need to see what we are dealing with before I have anything really solid." There was silence for a moment before she spoke again. "I skimmed a little bit on the way here, but nothing really substantial. What can you tell me about what we might find?"

Sky took a second to think. He had spent the time in the books they found learning as much as he could about the behaviors and habits of drakons, but it still didn't feel like enough. Still, anything could prove important enough to share.

"We probably won't see it before it sees us."

"Well that's hardly reassuring," Rarity mumbled from behind.

"W-Well, its breath is not only useful for hunting, but it also acts to help it camouflage. It will find a hiding place, likely a cave, cliff face, or something like that, make its nest there. It induces sleep in animals in moderate dosages, but to plant life it is highly poisonous, kills its and withers it away almost instantly. Some wonder whether it is natural or has some magic involved in speeding the process. It kills the surrounding area to make it easier to hide, what with its craggy hide."

The trees thinned out just a bit, allowing Pinkie Pie to make her way past Rarity and next to Sky, still bouncing all the while.

"You said moderate? Well what if it ISN'T moderate?"

"Well, in small amounts, it will make you lightheaded, maybe cause some loss of finer muscle control. And in heavy or prolonged exposure, well... incapacitating agents are still lethal if you're exposed for too long."

Noticing the disturbed looks, Sky quickly added to this.

"But that's only in extreme cases! Like, you would have to be BATHED in the stuff for hours before it got to that point. Or spend months in a place with only vapors."

Twilight nodded. "Alright. So here is what we do. We find its territory. We may not be able to see it, but we should be able to get an idea of where the others are if we scout it out first. The book I have has notes on a spell that can filter the air a pony breaths against the gas, but..."

The mare grimaced lightly and shook her head. "This magic is horribly inefficient. the design is excellent at what it DOES, but the spell matrix bleeds a ton of the mana powering it in the process. Give me a couple days, a chalkboard, and an abacus, and I could optimize it for hours of use, but right now... It will last for five minutes. Seven if were lucky."

Twilight was quiet for a moment, considering her words. "Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie I need you three to try and keep it distracted. don't try anything fancy, just keep it occupied. I don't like our chances of outrunning it or beating it, so after I cast the filters, I'll start work on a mass teleport. Once we have the others, I can get us back to Ponyville... or at least, out of the forest... probably."

Applejack looked back at her friend, raising an eyebrow at the mage. Twilight blushed.

"I've never done a teleport this big before, let alone under stress! Its complicated, I can only do so much!"

The apple farmer snorted and returned her eyes to the front, scanning the trees ahead. Sky thought about the plan so far, and while nothing about this situation felt safe, it was at least... reasonable. But he still didn't know what his part was.

"And what about me? What do I do?"

"I need you to find the others. I don't want to expose myself while preparing the spell, it will require all of my concentration, and I wont be able to defend myself. I can cast a teleportation spell from a distance with some extra effort, so I'll stay in the treeline, but I need line of sight. Get them out of wherever the thing is keeping them, and once I have enough energy, I'll get us out of there. Sound good?"

"Going fisticuffs with a monster the size of my boutique is hardly what I would call a pleasant idea, but as far as plans go, I can't say I have any better. I will follow your lead, Twilight."

"Ya, leave it to us Twi! We'll show that big meany monster what-for!"

"Well I never liked the idea of teleportin', but it sounds like a solid plan. Just, you know, don't go puttin' us in the middle of a tree or somethin', Twi?"

Sky recoiled at that thought, images entering his mind that did nothing to help calm his nerves. Twilight looked back to him, and he quickly nodded his head, not trusting himself to say a word at the moment.

"Well, I ain't any expert, but I'd say we found it. Get ready girls... er, ponies."

Applejack had stopped at an opening in the trees, forcing the others to stop behind her. Moving around, the others joined her at the edge, looking out at the blasted land in before them. Dry, cracked earth, withered plants, and a disturbing silence set a atmosphere of unnatural calm and unease. At the center of this field of death and decay, a large cave, going down into the earth, guarded by an outcropping of rocks.

They had arrived.

Author's Note:

Did you forget about me?!
Hope not. Took me a while to do anything with this, which I will explain when in my blog post coming alongside this update. Hopefully I will get back to updating regularly, like I did back when I first started this project. I have big plans for this series, but it can't exactly go anywhere if I don't put some work in, eh?
Anyways, a big thanks to The Great Derpsby for edits, as usual, and I hope you enjoy! Leave a comment, I love hearing feedback!

Comments

[Edguy0009]

The type of predator that drakon happens to be an ambush type predator.