Harmony Undone: Consequence of Choice

by Zodiacspear

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

If there were ever a previous time where Trixie felt that her legs were simply going to fall off from all the walking she had done, she couldn’t remember it. Ever since their encounter with the tree guardian, Wanderer had been dead set on covering as much ground as possible. The ache in Trixie’s hooves was worse than anything she’d known—and she had walked for miles in a single day on the road! The ground was becoming increasingly hilly, and she was getting sick and tired of every tree root conspiring to trip her up.

Fortunately for her, Tormod was often on her side whenever she called for a break. While Wanderer grumbled at the delay, he did stop to allow her to rest her hooves. He was obviously eager to keep going—Trixie honestly couldn’t blame him—but she was not one to run herself into the ground.

Tourmaline kept away from Trixie—something she was more than happy about. After their little chat, she had done her best to not speak with the pegasus. The last thing Trixie wanted was to be yelled at again; she wasn’t sure she would have kept her tongue in check if she had.

At least Tormod was pleasant to her. She smiled faintly as she remembered him helping her out any chance he got. While he claimed he was just trying to be helpful, she suspected otherwise. He wasn’t the first stallion who had tried to charm her, and he likely wouldn’t be the last.

If Trixie’s hooves don’t kill her before she gets out of this forest! she thought to herself as she followed the others through the trees.

Her focus was brought back to reality as she bumped into Tormod as he stopped dead in his tracks.

She grunted and caught her hat as it was about to fall. “Why have we stopped? Are there more timberwolves?” she asked with a nervous look around. There wasn’t any fog and she hadn’t heard anything that might have set him off, so why did he stop like that?

Tormod didn’t answer her, instead she saw his gaze was turned skyward as he held his breath.

“Tormod?” She looked up to see what he was staring at and her own breath caught. The four of them of them had stumbled upon a small clearing, and through the break in the forest canopy, they could clearly see the massive Mother Oak.

“Whoa…” Wanderer said, and she could only agree. The great tree loomed over them, its shadow covering the clearing and miles around it. As Trixie reminded herself to breathe, she could only think that only Canterlot Mountain exceeded the tree’s majesty. Its branches spread far and wide, and that the clouds and fog drifted lazily around its trunk.

“I… never thought we’d see it this close,” Tourmaline said as she hovered above them.

Tormod nodded. “And to think we are still miles away from it.” He shook his head. “This is amazing.”

“Even Trixie is amazed.” She turned to look at the others. “Maybe we can stop here for some lunch? Trixie is famished.”

While Wanderer frowned at the suggestion, Tourmaline spoke up. “That might be a good idea, Wanderer,” Tourmaline said, landing lightly next to him. “We should get some food in us before we go much further. You never know where our next campsite will be.”

A sigh escaped him and he nodded. “Good point. I’m actually getting hungry myself.” He led them towards a small stream that ran through the clearing. “After we eat, we can move on.”

“Actually—” Tormod said as he slid his saddlebags off his back. “This might be a good place to set up a base of operations.”

Wanderer furrowed his brow as he lifted his hat to rub at his forehead. “Why would we need that?” he asked.

“First, we have no idea where these chosen children are. Secondly, if we are going to find them, we need to look everywhere. A base will give us a place to start from. Thirdly, there is running water here. I can’t think of a better place we will find this deep into the forest.”

“And this clearing is wide enough that nothing will sneak up on us without us seeing it first,” Tourmaline added after she shook her coat out.

Wanderer nodded before looking at Trixie. “What do you think?”

Trixie glanced to the others before speaking. “Trixie thinks it is a good idea,” she said, pointedly ignoring Tourmaline’s glare.

He sighed in mock defeat. “Seems I’m outvoted.” His trademark grin crossed his face. “All right, we’ll set up here.”

The four went about setting aside their things and unpacking their tents. As Wanderer sorted through his own bag, a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. “How are we doing on food?”

“I have a few days worth left,” Tormod said after a quick check of his pack.

“I’m the same,” Tourmaline said.

When Trixie reported the same, Wanderer grunted in acknowledgement. “Think we should do some foraging. We don’t know how long we’ll be out here.”

“Trixie will go look,” she said quickly, smiling at the thought of having a chance to be by herself for a bit.

“Do you even know what to look for?” Tourmaline asked, acid practically dripping from her tone.

Trixie scowled at her. “Trixie has foraged before. She knows what is edible and what isn’t. Don’t treat her like a foal.”

Tormod interrupted before the argument could start. “I’ll go with her. Between the two of us, we can find enough to last us a while.”

Wanderer gave him a knowing smirk. “Riiight.”

Tormod’s ears leveled, and he jabbed a hoof at his friend. “Don’t even say it, Wanderer.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said with aplomb, still smirking.

Tormod stamped a hoof, privately glad his coat hid his blush. “Just make sure to have the tents set up when we get back. We won’t be gone long.”

Tourmaline whapped Wanderer upside the head before he could start another joke. “We’ll get it done. Just be careful out there, okay?”

“When am I not?” Tormod said with a faint grin. He nodded to Trixie and the two of them headed for the edge of the clearing.

Tourmaline watched them until they disappeared into the trees, before huffing. “I really don’t trust her,” she said as she turned to help Wanderer set up one of the tents.

“Don’t trust who? Trixie?” he asked as he set one of the poles into the ground and held onto it tightly.

“Do you see any other ‘her’ out here besides me? Of course I’m talking about Trixie.” She held the other end of the pole as he slide the canvas over it.

“Hey now,” he said, his brow furrowing. “What’s this all about? You’ve been a grump ever since we started this adventure. I thought we were having fun?”

She pounded the stakes into the ground with a stamp of her hoof. “I just don’t like her.”

He leaned around the tent to peer at her. “Why?”

A soft frown tugged at the corner of her lips. “I just… don’t. Not after she almost got you killed by the timberwolves.”

An exasperated groan escaped him. “Tourmaline, that was an accident. Any of us could’ve made a mistake like that.”

She dashed away a lock of her mane as it fell in front of her face. “Yes, but we know what we’re doing, she doesn’t. She’s going to get one of us hurt or worse if she does something like that again.”

He looked at her for a moment before speaking. “I won’t let that happen, Tourmaline. Not while I’m still standing.”

“But—”

“I won’t,” he said firmly. “I’ll die before I ever let you get hurt. Same goes for Tormod and Trixie, I won’t let it happen.”

She stood there for a long moment, her mouth agape. Finally, a slow smile crossed her face and the two went about setting up the remaining tents.

Once the tents were pitched and Wanderer had the beginnings of a campfire going, she rested against a log before speaking. “Why do you want to help her so badly?”

He looked at her for a long moment, digesting her question. “Do I really need a reason to help somepony?”

While she smiled at the typical Wanderer response, she couldn’t help but frown at his tone. “There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

He averted his gaze and her frown deepened as she saw the guilt in his eyes. “Wanderer?”

His shoulders slumped in a deep sigh. “She—”

A sudden, piercing scream rent the air, and both of them scrambled to their hooves.

“Trixie!”

-0-

Conversation was lacking as Trixie walked beside Tormod while they searched the forest for edible plants and mushrooms. Trixie was grinding her teeth, quietly seething in an indignant rage. The way Tourmaline had spoken to her stung her pride more than she cared to admit. Spoken to as if she were some dumb filly, it took all of her control not to have snapped back at her.

Tormod kept quiet as he turned over some leaves. Finding a decent-sized mushroom, his magic surrounded it and tucked it neatly into his saddlebag. She caught him stealing a glance at her but remained quiet to be respectful of her privacy.

They had stumbled upon a small patch of clover growing under a small break in the canopy when Tormod finally spoke.

“I’m sorry about my sister.”

Trixie placed some of the green leaves in her bag and looked at him curiously.

“For what she said. It was unnecessary,” he continued.

She levitated more of the plants to her bag. “Trixie has heard worse.”

“It doesn’t excuse her manners though.” He gathered the last of the clover and the two started away, fallen leaves crunching under their hooves. “I would have yelled at her if she had spoken to me like that.”

She snorted. “Trixie wanted to, badly.”

“And I wouldn’t have blamed you in the least.” They walked on for a bit, Tormod waiting for her to continue, but she looked away with a scowl on her face.

Finally he gave a deep sigh. “Trixie, I really don’t want to see any of us fighting with each other so deep in the forest. I know it’s mostly Tourmaline who is causing it, but it’s not doing any of us good to have this tension around.”

A twig snapped as she stepped on it unmercifully. “Then perhaps you should speak to your sister about that. Trixie doesn’t want to fight either.”

“I intend to,” he said firmly. “But I wanted to get your side of the story before I do.”

She stopped and glared at him. “Why do you care? Trixie is just a nameless stranger to you who is only here to spread the word of your adventure as she travels Equestria. Why should you care about Trixie’s well being?”

“Because you are with us on this adventure,” he said without missing a beat. “Whether you are some nameless stranger—as you put it— or not, you’re with us, and I look out for all of my companions.”

Looking at his earnest and straightforward expression, she felt her bitterness start to wane.

“As far as I’m concerned, I consider you a friend. Even if you don’t see me as one, I do you.” He ducked under a low-hanging branch. “And that is why I’m wanting to end whatever is causing Tourmaline to target you.”

Trixie’s pace slowed as he spoke. He had just professed to being her friend, and that touched her on a deeper level—a level she couldn’t explain. She had never made friends in all her years of traveling—seeming more apt to make enemies than friends. She had always been a loner, a pony who only had to worry about herself. Making friends was never something she ever thought of doing. Yet here Tormod was, professing to be that exact thing.

He continued on, oblivious to her slowed pace. “I’m assuming it has something to do with Wanderer. She always did act irrationally around him.” He stopped as he finally noticed she was not walking beside him. “Trixie?”

She spoke so softly that it could barely be called more than a whisper. “You consider Trixie a friend?”

A slow smile crossed his face. “I do. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”

His admission sent an odd feeling through her stomach. It wasn’t unpleasant, just… different. “With all you know of Trixie—all the things she has done—you would befriend her?”

His smile faded some. “We’ve all made mistakes in the past. We just have to take responsibility for them and continue on. You might have done some bad things, but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve from them.” He looked in the direction of their camp and his frown deepened. “That’s something we are all learning to do.”

She tilted her head, an eyebrow raising. “What do you mean?”

A cloud passed over his face and he sighed. “I’ll tell you tonight. To show that I trust you.”

She felt the beginnings of a genuine smile growing across her muzzle. She looked away with flushed cheeks. “Can Trixie be alone for a bit?”

“You don’t need my permission. Take the time you need.” He looked around for a moment before looking back at her. “You remember the way back?”

She nodded pointing behind him. “It was that way, Trixie remembers.”

He nodded as well. “Good. Use one of your lights if you need help. We’ll come running.”

“She will.” As she turned to walk off, she paused in her stride. “Tormod.”

“Hmm?”

“...Thank you.”

He smiled at her. “My pleasure. I’ll see you when you return.”

She walked away, not really looking for forageable food anymore. Her mind still reeled with the thought that somepony actually considered her as a friend. She was still not sure what to make of the warm feeling it gave her. All others who had professed to being a friend, did so because they wanted something out of her. With Tormod though, he hadn’t given her the same feelings as they had. He was only looking out for her well being and his companions’. He wasn’t seeking special favors, just…

A groan of frustration escaped her. “Why are things so difficult? Why can’t things be—”

Her voice dropped away as she felt something different in the air. The birds had quieted, and the squirrels and other woodland creatures were no where to be seen or heard. The unusual stillness made her fur stand on end. Not even the often prevalent fog was to be seen. She didn’t feel like she was in immediate danger, but there was something… wrong.

Dry leaves rustled as she walked, and her ears swiveled for any sound. “Why is it so quiet?” She winced as her voice seemed unnaturally loud. A shiver drifted down her spine, and it had nothing to do with the weather.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she found the source of the stillness. The devastation was unlike anything she had ever seen before. A huge swath had been cut through the forest. Large oak trees lay on their sides, their roots exposed to the sky. The underbrush was torn and shredded—even the ground itself had been torn in some sort of upheaval.

A sickening feeling gripped her stomach at the sheer destruction. “What happened here?”

She walked out into the torn forest, her eyes looking over the fallen trees. She paused at one tree to examine a number of deep furrows in its side. The cuts had bored deeply into the bark, and a shiver went down her spine again as they reminded her of claw marks.

What could have done this? These cuts don’t look old, but there is so much rot around them. What is going on?

As she walked around the tree, she suddenly found herself face to face with a large grotesque beetle.

A shrill scream erupted and she fell back on her haunches. When the beetle didn’t react to her scream, she peered at it closer. The fact that it was laying on its back and the lack of life in its eyes told her the thing was dead. She sat staring at it for a long moment, trying to calm her beating heart. Once she was sure she wasn’t in danger of a heart attack, she prodded the beetle with a hoof. Its head turned a bit at her touch but resettled once more as she pulled her hoof away.

What is the Sisters’ name is this thing?

The monstrous beetle had a dark carapace, and a large protruding horn jutted from its head. Just from looking at that horn, she could see that this beetle could easily had been the cause of the destruction.

Her eyes trailed down to its thorax to see a number of large tears in its shell, the wounds still dripping a foul ichor, which she quickly pulled her hoof away from.

She stuck her tongue out. “Ugh… so disgusting.” She frowned as a thought hit her. “What gave it those wounds?”

The answer came in the form of a low, throaty growl that made her pupils shrink to pinpoints. She turned her head slowly to see the manticore standing atop the felled tree. The lion face stared at her with pupilless eyes and foam dripping from its mouth. Its lips spread in a snarl to show nasty canines stained yellow from the beetle’s ichor.

A soft whimper escaped as she tried to back away from the creature, the lump in her throat not allowing for anything more to pass.

The manticore lowered itself to pounce, its stinger raised in anticipation.

Trixie didn’t even think. She let fly a burst of light from her horn. The sudden flash had the manticore looking away with a surprised roar. Trixie followed it up with a bolt of magic that sent the beast stumbling away. Rather than stay and see if her attack did anything, she turned and fled back the way she came as fast as her hooves would let her.

She saw the manticore through her peripheral before it landed in front of her. Her rump scraped the ground as she tried to stop herself. The manticore’s stinger buried itself into the ground as she managed to dodge it with only inches to spare.

“Tormod! Somepony! Help me!” she screamed and fired an instinctive beam at the creature. When it dodged her attack, she fled for the edge of the clearing. If only she could get to the standing trees, she could get away. She knew the predator had the advantage in the field of fallen trees.

As she fled for her very life, she could only hear the ragged breathing of the creature behind her, which only spurred her on. With the timberwolves, she had been frightened, but she had had the other three with her. Now that she was alone, she was utterly terrified. There was no one there to save her. That thought ran through her head alongside the desire to survive, to live so that she could see her beloved wagon again.

A startled gasp escaped as her legs went out from under her in the soft earth of an overturned tree. The fall saved her life, as the manticore flew overhead and narrowly missed her. It landed and whirled to leap right back at the prone Trixie.

Time slowed to a crawl as death loomed over her. She looked up to the face of the beast—the soulless white eyes, the foaming muzzle, those sharp teeth. She was dead.

This was it. All of her hopes and dreams would be torn away in a violent moment of snapping jaws and raking claws. She would be lost to the fangs of a predator, and lost to the world in a forest she should never have entered.

Is this it? Is this the end of the Great and Powerful Trixie?

The beast still moved.

No… I don’t want to die.

It drew closer, the breath of the beast overwhelming her sense of smell.

“No!” she screamed and threw up her forelegs over her face in a vain attempt to save her life.

“Trixie!” There was the sound of something heavy slamming into another, and she looked past her forelegs to see Tormod standing over her. His horn glowed brightly as a magical shield held the scrambling manticore at bay as it scratched the red globe.

“Run!” He looked back at her. “I don’t know how long—”

Her eyes widened as the manticore’s tail snapped forward and pierced the barrier, scattering magical shards everywhere.

Tormod barely had time to look back before the stinger buried itself into his shoulder.

His scream of pure agony was unlike anything Trixie had ever heard in her life, and it only picked up in its shrillness as he was lifted up and dangled in the air.

“Tormod!” yelled Tourmaline. She flew in at breakneck speed and slammed into the beast. The sudden, fierce blow knocked the manticore away, and Tormod was ripped free.

Through it all, Trixie was unable to move as she watched with horrified eyes. As Tormod landed near her with a pained cry, she still couldn’t bring herself to move.

“No!” Wanderer ran past her for his friend. With one look at the bleeding, wound he whirled to face Trixie.

“Trixie! Your cape! We need to stop the bleeding!”

Her lip quivered, her eyes still on the wounded Tormod. “B-But—”

“Now!”

Moved by his shout, she ripped the pin from her cape and ran to him. He took the cape and pressed it firmly on the gaping wound. The sight of Tormod bleeding profusely and his pained whimpers caused her stomach to flip.

The enraged roars of the manticore had both of them looking back at the battle. The beast swiped with its claws and tail, but didn’t come close to striking the berserk Tourmaline. She delivered kick after vicious kick at the beast, her eyes showing that she meant to tear the monster apart with her bare hooves.

Trixie heard Wanderer growl and she turned to see pure rage in his eyes.

“Keep the pressure on the wound, Trixie. Don’t let up,” he said as he stood back up.

Her skin crawled as her hooves held the now bloody cape in place. “What are you going to do?”

He took one dark look at the manticore and another shiver went up her spine. “I’m going to finish this.”

He dug his hooves into the ground and took off at a sprint, his hooves digging even further into the ground as he picked up speed. With the manticore distracted, he put all of his weight and strength into his charge and slammed his shoulder into the soft spot just in front of the monster’s waist. It gave a soft yelp before an audible snap was heard.

The yelp turned into a howl of agony as its back legs and tail dropped to the ground lifelessly. It flailed as both the pegasus and the earth pony hopped away.

Tourmaline screamed again and was about to charge the monster, but Wanderer caught hold of her tail with his teeth.

“Let me go! I’ll kill it!” She pulled at her tail, trying to break free of his grip.

“We have to help Tormod!” he screamed at her, refusing to let go.

That seemed to take all the rage out of her. “Tormod!” She flew over and pushed Trixie away as the unicorn tried to keep the pressure on Tormod’s wound. “Get away from him!”

She landed with a grunt, and Wanderer swore as he quickly put the pressure back on his friend’s injury.

Trixie was back on her hooves in an instant. “We have to help him!”

“It’s your fault he’s hurt!” Tourmaline screamed right back at her, her hackles standing on end.

“We don’t have time for this!” Wanderer lifted the makeshift staunch to look at the wound and swore. “We’ve got to get him back to the camp. We have to get this treated now!” He looked at Trixie. “Make him lighter so I can carry him without bouncing him around. Tourmaline, hold him steady and keep pressure on the wound.”

With a scathing glare at Trixie, Tourmaline quickly did as told.

The run back for the camp was painfully slow to Trixie. Despite them running as fast as their hooves could carry them without jostling Tormod, Trixie felt it wasn’t enough. She couldn’t tear her gaze from his face as they ran. His visage was a mask of pain, and his whimpers rent her very heart with guilt.

When they got back to the camp, they rushed Tormod into a tent, and the two adventurers quickly gathered their first-aid gear.

Trixie watched as the two moved in a blur as they set aside wrappings, cleaning alcohol, and other supplies.

“Is there anything Trixie can do to help?” She cringed as she saw Tourmaline set aside a needle and thread.

Tourmaline shot her another glare. “You’ve done enough already.”

Wanderer glared at her for a second before he looked at Trixie. “Put a pot of water on to boil, just incase we need it.”

She looked at Tormod for a second, biting at her lip. “You want Trixie to boil water?”

“We need the room to work,” he admitted. “We’ve got the bleeding stopped. We just need to get the wound cleaned.

Trixie stepped out of the tent and quickly filled a pot with water from the nearby stream and hung it over the campfire. As she waited for the water to boil, she turned to watch the tent, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Surprisingly, there was little conversation coming from the tent—only one of them asking the other for an item or to hold Tormod steady. Tears ran down her cheeks as Tormod screamed again. As much as she wanted to help, she knew she would only be in the way.

Settling back on the ground, she lowered her head in shame—the tears falling to the soil in dark splotches. Because of her, because of her stubbornness, a pony who confessed to being her friend was now hanging by a thread. How could she have been so careless? She should’ve known not to have gone into the destroyed clearing alone, and now she might have gotten somepony killed.

This… This isn’t what I wanted. She laid on the ground and waited for one of them to leave the tent and tell her something.

It seemed an eternity had passed when the tent flap lifted and Wanderer stepped out. His face lacked his usual grin, and he wiped at his bloody hooves with a cloth.

Trixie quickly got to her hooves. “Is Tormod okay?”

His hazel eyes settled on her and he sighed. “I don’t know. The bleeding stopped and we got the wound cleaned and sutured the best we can, but…”

She felt her blood go cold. “But what? Wanderer, tell me.”

“There was something about that manticore I didn’t like. Other than the obvious.” He looked at her closely. “Trixie, you saw that monster better than any of us. What did you see about it? Anything out of the ordinary?”

A shudder ran down her spine as she recalled when she first saw the beast. “Trixie remembers seeing its eyes were all white, its fangs were a nasty yellow, and its muzzle was foamy.”

She wanted to cry again as she saw the panic rise in his eyes. “Foamy mouth? You’re sure?”

He looked away with her nod. “Sweet Celestia,” he swore.

The sickening feeling in her gut only grew. “What is it?”

He looked back at her, his face grim. “A foamy mouth could mean it was rabid.”

Trixie felt the color drain from her face, and she was unable to stifle her gasp.

“We’ve got to get him to a hospital as soon as we can. We don’t have—”

They were interrupted as an enraged scream came from the tent and Wanderer threw himself in the way of an angry Tourmaline. He wrapped his forelegs around her as she scrambled after Trixie.

“You nag! You did this to him! You hurt my brother! Let me go, Wanderer!”

He held on tighter. “No! Not until you’ve calmed down!”

She thrashed all the harder. “Let. Me. Go!”

Trixie fall back to her haunches as she saw the pure rage in Tourmaline’s violet eyes. “Please! Trixie didn’t know! She would never have let anypony get hurt!”

“I warned you that if anything happened, I would hold you responsible!” She turned to get at Wanderer. “Damn it, Wanderer. Let me go!”

He accepted the hits but never loosened his grip. “Tourmaline, it was an accident! She couldn’t have known about the manticore.”

“That doesn’t—”

“Tormod saved me!”

Both of them looked back at Trixie as her outburst, Tourmaline ceasing to struggle out of Wanderer’s forelegs. The tears ran down her face as Trixie stared at the ground.

“He kept the monster from killing me.” She looked Tourmaline directly in the eyes. “Trixie never wanted it to happen, and she means it.”

Tourmaline shoved Wanderer off of her. “That doesn’t change anything. My brother might die because of you!”

Wanderer was quickly back on his hooves. “Tourmaline, that’s not—”

She whirled on him, her anger lessening none. “It’s your fault just as much as it’s hers. You brought her here! It’s your fault too!”

A hurt expression crossed his face. “Tourmaline, that’s not fair.”

“I don’t care! I don’t—” she tried to catch the sob that escaped but ultimately failed. “Just leave me alone!” She galloped for the clearing’s edge, trying to keep the tears from falling.

“Tourmaline! Wait! Please!” Wanderer’s teary eyes darted between Tourmaline and the tents, and he sighed before turning a pleading look to Trixie. “I’m sorry, Trixie, but—”

She saw which he wanted the most. “Go after her. Trixie will watch Tormod.”

He nodded to her in thanks. “Try to get him to drink some water if he wakes up.”

She barely started her nod before he took off after the departing Tourmaline.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay, folks. After getting a new, full time job, what I used to call free time is now work time. Sadly, pony writing is suffering from it. Fret not though, this story will not go on a hiatus. I have more chapters waiting to be published (after they get an editing) and more to write still.

As a bonus for your patience, there will be another update in a matter of days! Look forward to it!