Chapter 13: Found
I’m normally not one to complain about things, but the latest shipment I brought back from what I saw as the Diamond Dogs perplexed me. I no longer really needed rocks to build my home, but that didn’t throw me off. There weren’t nearly as many usable metals, but I didn’t particularly care. But when I spotted some of those rocks in the pile, I unhitched myself and scuttled away as fast as I could. I now knew what I would do with my extra rocks and lead. Are they trying to kill me?! Maybe. I’ll talk to them, I have to remember either these guys are really stupid and were unaware of what they gave me, or drugged up thugs. I knelt to the ground and held my head in my hooves. Some of this makes sense, but a lot of it doesn’t. Is this some sort of advanced psychological warfare? Do they know how it relates to me? I slowly got back up and shook my head. I’m taking precautions. More than necessary, but I don’t care. I will not die the same way my mother did. But to be completely safe, I need more funds. Therefore…
“Steel Fang!” I called. “I’m going to visit Ze’s to do some work. Would you like to come with me?” The direwolf’s head popped up, his ears perked at the prospect of going somewhere. He strode over to me, but recoiled when he got close to the rock pile. “So you can sense it huh? I honestly don’t know how they got a hold of this stuff. Did the thugs steal it from a facility or military, or was it really mined? I don’t know, Steel, and it scares me.” Steel approached me and licked the side of my face with his huge tongue.
“Alright, alright.” I chuckled, scratching the top of his head to the best of my abilities. “Let’s go see Ze. I haven’t introduced you two yet. Maybe I can get something for my…wing.” I stretched out my injured wing and winced, revealing a hole of scar tissue that had hidden itself when folded. A few feathers were growing back here and there, but magic redirection seemed to do little for them. The muscles were a bit stiff, but a few days of exercise would fix that. I just hoped I wouldn’t fly lopsided.
Steel and I trotted through the Everfree’s edge without a problem. I suspected that Steel’s presence was still known by the inhabitants, and he had long since proven to be a dangerous adversary to them. It wasn’t long before we reached Zecora’s hut.
“Hey, Ze?” I yelled. “Can you come out for a moment?” Zecora poked her eyes out of her tree home with a smile, only for it to fall when she saw Steel.
“Begone foul giant wolf! Else you will taste my hoof!” she squawked from inside her hut.
“Relax, Ze. He’s with me.” The zebra poked her head once more, a wary expression on her face. “I’m actually here for two reasons. I would like some more jobs so I can pay for a storage hut and a few other things, and I was wondering if you could do something about my injury.” I extended my wing, showing her the damage. Her eyes widened and there was a sharp intake of breath. Steel Fang even whined a bit when he saw the scar tissue. “It used to be a lot worse, and I had planned on going to the doctor…eventually. But I’m here now, and I would like some help with it.”
“It seems to be severe.” Zecora approached slowly and examined the wing. “Is it from a hot sear?”
“You could say that.”
“What manner of creature did this to you? The monsters that could here are very few.”
“They won’t be a problem anymore.” I said with a tone of finality. Zecora stepped back, but nodded. “Obviously, I can’t get the usual herbs from the forest. So do you have anything you need? Don’t worry about my well-being, Steel Fang’s really good at keeping me safe.” We turned to look at Steel, who cocked his head before baring his teeth and upturning the sides of his mouth as he wagged his tail. “Not quite a Winn-Dixie smile, but I like it.” His tail wagged a bit harder. Zecora sighed.
“You seem to be acting aplomb. So be it, I will get my balm. The concoction, I will apply. But you must wait for it to dry. After I am done acting as your physician, you may begin your Everfree expedition.”
After a lot of squirming and prodding, I could finally head into the Everfree to get several herbs for Zecora. The timberwolves we ran into were easily dissuaded when Steel and I ripped half of their pack to little more than useless twigs. It was quite interesting to see them try to put themselves back together, but I made sure to destroy all the twigs into smaller pieces, which apparently made it harder to gather together. I mentally stored that information away. It’s either a matter of surface area or number of pieces. In other words, beat them until they can’t get up. Either way, the small pack of timberwolves were no match for us. It was a bit tricky when we stumbled onto a manticore.
Steel Fang just stared at it. And it stared back. It looked to me and licked its chops, to which Steel growled. The two continued their staring match for a while, before the manticore decided it would be too much trouble and it walked away. I mentally reminded myself to get Steel some extra fish.
“Have I ever told you how much I appreciate having you with me?” Steel stared at me silently. “I know you can’t talk, but I am pretty sure you understand me.” Steel nodded and a smile flowed across my face. “I know that sometimes I may seem like a madman. Well, I am, but I truly care. I haven’t had anyone to talk to about what I see, and how I feel about all of this…” I looked down dejectedly. “Truth is, I’m scared. Whichever one is true; the delusion or the reality, it scares me either way for so many different reasons. So the best I can do is exist in this limbo and simply do, rather than think about it. I would find things to occupy my body, my mind, to pass time, hoping the truth would come for me, and yet hoping it won’t.” I hopped over a tree branch as Steel Fang simply stepped over it, continuing to listen to me. “I’m scared, Steel.” I muttered. “Terrified by death, petrified by life, frightened of the truth, afraid of the lies. Scared of both the worlds outside and inside my mind. All of those fears are pushing on the boundaries of my mind, whispering doubts and paranoid thoughts. And yet here I am, in a forest either deemed terrifying by the locals, or one built by my psyche. Thankfully, I’m not alone.” Steel Fang wagged his tail and moved a bit closer before putting a paw on top of my head. I gave a small giggle before we stumbled upon a clearing.
In the center was the Redstar flower, a very rare ingredient that bloomed once a year said to give incredible powers to all those that ate it. Zecora had explained to me that it was bull, a joke perpetuated by those who knew of its foul taste. It actually acted as a magnificent cure-all poultice when crushed. But that wasn’t the interesting thing about the clearing. Right next to the flower was the body of a slightly burned woman. Her clothes were singed, and a few patches of her skin were either red or burned. Her long auburn hair was blackened at the edges and obscured her face from me.
When Steel saw her, he crouched and growled.
“No, Steel.” I managed to croak out as I approached her.
Is she dead? What the hell happened? Where the hell did she come from? I felt my spine start to itch as I got closer. Is she dangerous? Should I make sure that she won’t hurt us? I shook my head, but kept getting closer to the mysterious woman. My eyes were glued to the back of her head. She’s breathing. The itch in my spine elevated to uncomfortable levels. I should stop her from that. I shook my head again and took a few deep breaths. What is it with these thoughts? They were with me at the skeleton, they were with me with the aliens, and now they’re with me here. But she’s alive, she’s hurt, and she has done no wrong. A burning sensation steadily increased along my back. But she will. She’s human after all. And to be human is to err. She will hurt me. A few more calming breaths. I’ve been hurt before, true. But those were outliers, rare people that I was unlucky enough to encounter. The pain in my vertebrae was hardly bearable. I have shit luck. History will repeat itself. I will prevent that. No. No, no, no. We all deserve a chance. As long as there is life, there is a chance. She groaned and the pain increased as I stood over her, poising my hoof over her head. I have a choice. The screaming, the burning, the hell in my spine commanded me. And I brought the hoof down, like a guillotine.
CRUNCH.
I choose life. I managed to clench my eyes shut as I brought my hoof down next to her head, crushing a stone and reducing the sensation in my spine to an annoying itch. Annoying, but bearable. As I thought, not seeing her made it easier. Turning my head to where the flower was, I trotted to it and gently picked it from the root, before dropping it into my saddlebag
“Wha…? Where am I? Ho-how did I get from New York to a forest?” I heard a slight rustling as she turned to me. “Is that a…horse? The proportions are all off! The hell is going on here?” Closing my eyes to face her, I turned around and blew her mind.
“Come with me if you want to live.”
I wish I could have seen her face.
<><><>
“Rarity!”
“What, Sweetie Belle?” the white unicorn grinded her teeth. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of another order? Honestly, why Carrot Top needs such drab colors is beyond me.”
“But Raaaaaarity!” the filly whined. “Applebloom, Scootaloo, and I can’t find out what this word means, and we’re trying to get our cutie marks in it.” Sighing, the older unicorn put down the various needles and strips of cloth she had been levitating and turned towards her younger sibling.
“What is it, then?”
“Communism!” she chirped.
Rarity froze. She was dreading this day. She had promised, no, sworn, that she wouldn’t let it happen again. But it was too early. Far too early. Neither of them were ready. Sweetie was too young, too innocent, to be subjected to it. The Talk. Rarity felt an involuntary shiver pass through her. Their parents, Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles, were absolutely dreadful at the talk. So dreadful, they used what they had on hoof for visual representation. To this day, Rarity could never look at zucchinis or jelly doughnuts the same way. Tears in her eyes, Rarity made her decision. She couldn’t bear it. But she had no choice.
“Sweetie…ask our parents. I hope you could find it in your heart to forgive me.” Rarity sniffled and ran into her room, slamming the door, before a orchestra of wails and whimpers emanated from the distressed dressmaker's den.
The befuddled filly cocked her head and made her way out of the boutique and towards her parents’ house. She found her father eating his favorite jelly doughnuts as Cookie was preparing something in the kitchen. Poking Hondo in the back, she steeled herself for the answer she and her friends had been searching for.
“Dad, what’s communism?” Hondo turned to look at her.
“Eh, you’re only a little bit younger than Rarity when we told her.” He shrugged. “Honey, do we have any zucchinis left?”
“No, sorry!” she called back. “But we do have a slightly overripe banana and an old jar of mayo!”
“Those two are perfect!”
Later, Sweetie Belle was found walking aimlessly through the streets of Ponyville, covered in flecks of jelly, mayo, and banana mush. Her thousand yard stare met the eyes of her worried friends as they tried to ask her what happened.
“Girls,” she rasped, “I don’t think we want communism cutie marks.”
“What?” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Why no ̶ ”
“JUST TRUST ME, OKAY?” Sweetie took a few deep breaths as her friends nervously backed away. “Let’s just…see if we can get cutie marks in erasing memories. Twilight would help.”
“Cutie mark memory erasers, yay?” the other two chorused half-heartedly.
<><><>
Hawk Eye flew above the forest canopy, keeping his eyes straight towards the swamps. Since the Hayseed swamps were notorious for quicksand, firepits, and dangerous monsters, the Equestrian Railroad Service refused to extend into it to reach the far off towns inside the swamp. So Hawk Eye and the rest of the ‘Bar Crawl Team’, as Hawk had jokingly (and officially) named them, had to trek from Dodge Junction and through the forest. At first it had been more similar to White Tail Woods, but the air grew steadily more humid, and became imbued with the smell of earthy compost and sulfur. The chattering of birds steadily disappeared until there was nothing more than an eerie silence. Strong Recovery and Thunder Strike became more and more wary, whereas Red simply tried to avoid getting his hooves too deep in mud.
“We’re just on the border of Hayseed Swamp.” Hawk mentioned neutrally. “Keep your eyes peeled for anything different. We’ll be heading to one of the towns to ask if they’ve noticed anything interesting.”
The others nodded, and they continued on their way through the swamp. Gradually, the earthy smell was choked out by the sulfurous stench that permeated the swamp. The ground got wetter, the little light that managed to penetrate the dense foliage provided just enough to see a few meters in front of them. Glowing eyes began to appear nearby, watching the group.
“Tron, it would be best if you cast an illumination spell.” The gryphon said casually. “We would like to find Lucid in one piece.”
“P-p-please do what the Lieutenant says, Tron.” Strong stumbled over a root submerged in the muck. “Before something worse than me tripping happens.”
“Alright, alright. Don’t get your horseshoes in a bunch.” A flash, some growling, and the darkness had been illuminated. Midnight blinked a few times to get her vision working again, and the others sighed in contentment.
“That’s good, Tron, thank you.” Hawk stated. “The light should scare away most creatures.”
“Most?” asked Thunder Strike from above them.
A squawk boomed through the swamp, echoing through the trees. A loud thumping could be heard, getting closer.
“You just had to ask, did you?” Lake Lily hissed.
Branches rustled. Closer. Closer. Closer. A huge shrub started shaking. Violently, consistently shaking. Until something jumped out.
An iguana.
The team relaxed ever so slightly as the small reptile approached them. The gryphon’s eyes flashed in realization.
“Behind us!” he shouted, leaping out of the way as something landed where he was but a moment before.
The dark bird stood tall, well over thrice the height of a normal pony, looming over Titanium as if he were a mere runt. Its wings were small, too small to carry it, but it wasn’t its wings that made it what it was. Its muscular saurian legs were devoid of the midnight plumage, revealing to all its sharp claws capable of grasping two pony heads at the same time. The creature’s long neck rippled with unseen power, and its sturdy beak, similar to a parrot’s but longer, clicked ecstatically.
“A corvus.” Hawk Eye muttered. “Rare, intelligent, and deadly.” The seven ponies and the gryphon stood still as the corvus looked over them.
And it screeched.
Red prepared a spell, but the bird saw and charged him and head-butted him, sending him flying into a tree, before he slumped down, unconscious. Thunder Strike swooped in, but the predator jumped into the air, grabbed him by the head in one claw, and slammed him into the ground. Tron broke out of his stupor and charged a spell, only for Thunder Strike’s unconscious body to be thrown at him with enough force to send him into a pit of quicksand. Hawk Eye, after waiting for the right moment, lunged and managed to scratch out its left eye. Squawking in pain and anger, it grabbed Hawk by the chest and pinned him to the ground, only for Lake Lily to leap onto its back from its left. Straddling it from the neck she steered it away from Hawk Eye before she was knocked off. The corvus had only a moment’s respite before Titanium bowled it over. Shaking its head, it got back up and charged the earth pony, who got on his two back hooves to brace it. When they collided, Titanium managed to keep its beak from closing around his head by grabbing it and pushing against the ground. Two long grooves in the wet dirt were made as Titanium succeeded in stopping the bird, which allowed Midnight to jump in and inject it with one of her paralysis poisons. After a few seconds, the monster bird slumped over, unable to do anything.
Hawk Eye coughed a couple times and managed to get up.
“Status report?” he called.
“Here. Uninjured.” Titanium rumbled.
“I’m fine.” Midnight muttered.
“Nothing but a bump on the head, sir.” Lake said, rubbing the back of her head, below her bun.
“I’m stuck!” Tron exclaimed.
“I’m fine as well.” Strong Recovery’s head popped out of a pile of wet leaves. “Thunder Strike and Red seem to be unconscious.”
“Help them up.” Hawk Eye sighed. “But Strong, you know you will have to fight someday.”
“Noted, Hawk Eye. But I’ll try to keep my vow of pacifism as long as I can. After all, you have me to take care of you all.”
“Midnight, could you fly above the trees and see if we’re near a village?” she saluted and flew up high. “Lake Lily, help Tron get out of the quicksand.” Hawk Eye let out a breath and laid down. He could tell he cracked his ribs, but he would rest when the team was safe. He watched as Lake Lily tried to get Tron out of the quick sand. But no matter how hard she pulled, Tron remained unmoving.
“I can’t do this, Tron.” Lake stated.
“I can’t either!” Tron wailed. With a mighty heave, Lake landed back on her rump.
“I can’t pull you out!” Lake huffed.
“Well I tell you what, Lake!” Tron hollered. “You can give up now, or you could figure it out, because I certainly can’t do it without you, and I know you can’t do it without me!” Hawk rolled his eyes.
“Titanium.” The titanic pony turned to the lieutenant. “Help the melodramatic unicorn out of the quicksand.” Titanium nodded and simply reached over to Tron and pulled him out by his outstretched hoof.
“I’m out!” Tron cheered and stuck a pose. “I’m supermare!” The other three just stared at his legs until Strong Recovery came over.
“So they’re both going to be fine, but we need to get to shelter so I can clean their wounds and properly ̶ Wow that’s a lot of leeches.” Tron opened one eye and looked down to his legs.
“Ech! Ack!” He yelped. “Get them off!”
He pulled a few off with his magic, and Strong rolled his eyes before helping him.
“Normally, I’d admonish you for pulling them off, but by the time I would have gotten a fire started in this wet place, they would have dropped off on their own.”
After a minute of removing leeches and tossing them back in the quicksand, Tron was finally clean, and Midnight was struggling to keep a grin off her face.
“So, should I start therapy now, or should I wait for the nightmares to set in?” Tron asked.
“Sir, there’s a clearing a ten minute’s trot east from here. I suspect it was a small town.” Midnight stated with a barely constrained chuckle.
“Good job, Midnight.” Hawk Eye nodded. “Titanium, can you carry Thunder and Red?”
The earth pony nodded and picked the two, tossing them on his back. With that, team Bar Crawl practically crawled to where the village was. It wasn’t long before they stumbled onto an odd fog. Buildings emerged as shadows, and almost all sound was muted by the deep white canvas. A moan.
The team stopped.
A shadow of a pony appeared in the distance, the first they’d seen since entering the unnerving village. And he had something on his head. Slowly, he stumbled towards them. Moaning. Groaning.
“Oh no.” Tron whispered.
The moaning grew louder. The shadow darker. The steps, hushed before, sounded erratic, almost tripping.
“Oh, here he comes.” Tron panicked as the rest of the team looked on, frozen in confusion and horror.
His features became visible. His lifeless, yellowed eyes. His emancipated body. His drooling, slack jaw. His green coat and mane. The…sunflower with a happy face sprouting out of his head?
“OH, NO!”
BZOOM!
The moaning pony was blown back by a magic blast, vaporizing the flower on his head. The team turned to look at Tron and his smoking horn, who smiled sheepishly.
“What? It was a zompony, right?” the unicorn managed to say through his toothy grin.
“You may want to see this, Hawk Eye.” Strong called out.
The team walked over to the body of the supposed zompony, a few noticing that he was still breathing. Slowly, the green in his coat and mane disappeared, leaving a beige pony with a wild neon green mane.
“The princesses were right. There is something strange going on here.” Lake Lily said under her breath.
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MOOOAARR!
Don't worry. Sweetie Belle managed to get her memory erased by Twilight.
Let me tell you guys, moving was true labor. Felt like I was Sisyphus (the guy has really mellowed out over the millennia by the way). But here it is, the next chapter of the story some of you seem to really love. Honestly, I'm trying to keep up with Changing Views 'cause it'd be awesome to always have that story nearby, but people (myself included) really love the story and it practically exploded on its last update. I'm considering doing a small experiment tomorrow. I'm going to add a bunch of tags (relevant but temporary) and see the growth ratio of the like/dislike bar and view count. REMEMBER THIS DAY SO YOU CAN PROPERLY ANALYZE THE GRAPH UP /\ THERE /\.
Also nifty thing: try messing with the formatting of a story. Just click on the 'A' up there and pick something like 'Celestia' on the color wheel.
Anyways, I decided to mainly explore Windell's conflict further, as well as follow the Bar Crawl team on their adventure, along with a little gag explaining how communism caught on, and how far it spread. As for the Corvus, imagine a raven chocobo with a penchant for pony flesh. Like so: img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081115114915/finalfantasy/images/e/e1/Choc-black.JPG
But taller, with three toes, and 150% more murder.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please remember to rate appropriately, comment, tell me what I did wrong, and if you want, start your letters to characters.
Cheers,
Charon
WOODEN TOASTER!!!
I saw what you did there
I'm really enjoying the triple story going on here. 1 part Windall, one part bar hoppers party, and one part shenanigans.
5932168
Glad I'm not the only one who noticed.
Have a 'stache.
where's trons bird?
5931804
If that bird thing was supposed to look like a black chocobo, then you might need to work on descriptions a little bit, because this is what I thought it looked like:
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a9/e4/ee/a9e4ee617bb023d97e242f482cfcf16b.jpg
Er, actually, that was just the first image I could find. This describes what I thought was being described better:
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/gantz/images/d/dc/TanakaBossFull.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130930165230
Also, letters to characters? Does that mean I can mail a doggie biscuit to Steel Fang or something?
5947345
5934795 Those pictures. On the bright side, I found Tron's bird. As for the description, I'll change it.
As for letters to characters, yes you can send stuff. Just remember to format the comment as:
It's supposed to be in that format so I can use my spell to summon the letters (Ctrl+f).
And remember to supersize it. Steel is six feet tall on all fours.
5931797 Damn didn't realize how fast you were.
5932168 This is merely the start of the beautiful disaster that is Tron.
5947829
Ah, sweetness!
Then, for the letter:
5947829 Is Tron just going to be a ponified version of Jontron?
I'm down for that.
P.S. Please make him say holy salamander cuttlefish at some point.
GOD DAMMIT.
I mean that in the best possible way, by the way.
Also, we need Jacques.
JonTron just isn't complete without Jacques.6285232 yes, the jon is strong in this chronicler
Somehow i read this and either didn't want to comment on it or what but,
Burning leeches off is the WORST way to get them out; they'll vomit their stomach contents full of infectant microbes and toxic substances into your bloodstream. To actually remove a leech, you do the same thing you do with a rubber sucker cup: insert something thin between it and the surface it's attached to, so the vaccuum breaks. No vomit, no contaminants, quick and easy.
Well-trained military personnel are supposed to know that by principle.
i46.tinypic.com/10eqzw8.png
6714844
That's right, though not because the infection. Leech secretion is quite anyseptic, but contains irritants and hystamines. If they get infection, they die quickly, so that's a survival trait. Sertain species which got low level of that are used for medical purposes because of anticoagulant and blood pressure regulating effect. Squeezing or harming leech causes too much of that stuff being injected, risking adverse effects.
Infection happens AFTER, because the bite would have hard time to close, so it is essential to treat and dress them, especially in dirty environmen5.