TEK: The Beginning

by Jet Fly

Chapter 14: Improvising

Author's Note:

Dear God... the trouble this chapter caused us... Okay, so FIRST of all, the original plan was that one of our friends was supposed to write this chapter, as it is about her OC. NOT ONLY did it take her over a MONTH to make it, but what she gave us was, well absolute garbage. Therefore, there was MAJOR delay in getting this chapter done, and lemme tell ya, it wasn't easy. We spent days on this because we kept having to deal with plot hole issues, stress to finally get this done, and numerous writer's blocks and brain shutdowns. So excuse us if this isn't our best work. Believe me, it's an INFINITE number of times better than what was given us.

And so without any further delay, the long awaited Chapter 14...

TEK was organized to protect Equestria from the most dangerous of threats, and each member had spent months training themselves to be able to face the most difficult trials. So when Jet told them that Celestia had assigned them to take care of an insect infestation in the Everfree Forest, it was understandable if the others were a bit underwhelmed by their current mission. That was until they actually got to see what kind of infestation it was.

"What ARE these things?

"These, Shade, are called Parasprites. They're a kind of insect that lives only to eat and multiply. And the more they eat, the more they multiply. "

Ditzy seemed infatuated with the small round creatures.

"They're so adorable!"

Jet shook his head.

"They may look cute, but they're a dangerous species. They've been known to devour entire crops in a matter of hours. If they were to spread across Equestria in a swarm, we'd all be screwed."

"Dang, I guess that's why Celestia told us to take care of these things."

Jet nodded to Vinyl.

"Yes. We need to get rid of these vermin before they destroy anything else."

Shade laughed as he finished gathering them all in a large telekinetic bubble.

"I can't believe that the Elements thought that simply leading them into the Everfree would solve the problem."

"Yeah, definitely not one of their smarter moves. Apparently, Twilight even tried a spell on them that would make them stop eating all the food, but it only led them to start eating everything else. Hopefully it's worn off by now."

Jet stated with a sigh.

"Jet, what's our next move? Or shall we try and rid these things with our own two hooves?"

Jet thought about Zecora's question for a minute, but eventually shook his head.

"I'm not too sure. I don't really know too much else about these things. For now, Shade will just have to keep them all in his magical grip."

Shade began to wince a bit.

"Better think of something fast. It's a lot of strain trying to contain them all like this..."

Jet, Shade, Ditzy, Vinyl, and Zecora continued through the forest only to stop by a large rock they saw nearby. TEK was only a little ways away from Ponyville, having just spotted the swarm. Jet pulled out the records on the Parasprites, which was given to him by Celestia.

"Let's see here... Parasprites will eat any type of food, and they have weak flying capabilities. They reproduce by continuously eating, and then spitting a special kind of saliva. The more they eat, the more they reproduce... There isn't really much else. The only thing I can really think of is…"

The others all looked to Jet as he trailed off.

"Yeah...?"

Jet looked away, covering his face with his mane.

"The only thing I can think of is to…"

TEK leaned in even closer.

"...Is to dispose of them..."

All the mares gasped, while Shade took a step back.

"...Are you sure?"

Shade asked, a hint of fear and disbelief in his voice. Jet kept his head turned as he began to explain.

"There are already too many to simply contain. And they multiply too fast. Given another day they could infest half of Equestria. They'll cause massive starvation throughout the country. Thousands will die if we don't get rid of them now..."

Zecora stepped forward.

"To actually take away their life will simply not suffice. We need to come up with another plan to save our land. It will be hard, but I know we can."

Vinyl nodded in agreement.

"Zecora's right. It's not cool to just kill them off. There has to be another way…"

"Yeah, that's pretty harsh bro. Can't I just teleport them deeper into the forest?"

Jet finally looked at Shade and eventually the others with clear turmoil in his eyes.

"And then what? They'd just spread further within a few days, in larger numbers, no matter how far away you teleport them. I know its cruel, and its definitely not my first option, but it all comes down to this: Equestria, or them."

Everyone present looked at the magically imprisoned Parasprites, and then to Shade, who was now visibly straining to hold the struggling swarm.

"Look, Shade can't hold them much longer. We have to make a decision now."

Silence fell heavy over the land surrounding the large stone.

"...How do we do it, then?"

Vinyl's head snapped at Shade's words.

"Shade! You can't be serious!"

Shade rubbed the back of his head both out of nervousness and from the mental strain.

"It's not like I WANT to do this, but Jet has a point. I remember when these things took over Ponyville months back. It was nuts. If all of Equestria were to fall victim to these things..."

"I know, but… there has to be another way!"

Ditzy pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Ditz... We're only trying to do what's necessary..."

Jet tried to explain.

"Is taking the lives of these creatures really necessary? Its not like they purposely harm others!"

"I know but-"

"We can't just go around killing innocent creatures just because there a bit of an inconvenience!"

"I know that. Just let me explain-"

"Its wrong! Taking lives isn't right! I can't acce-"

"DITZY STOP IT!"

Everyone jumped back, noticeably startled by Jet's sudden outburst.

"I don't want to kill them either! But if we don't do something now, Equestria will starve and thousands will be gone forever!"

Ditzy dropped down sadly and fearfully. Jet had never, ever raised his voice at her, so his outburst frightened her considerably.

"I… I-I'm sorry… Its just that…"

Jet sighed and raised his hoof.

"No, no its my fault... I'm sorry for yelling. I can't say killing them would be right, or wrong. But what I do know is that protecting Equestria is our number one priority."

Ditzy seemed to understand, although she was still hesitant. Shade also understood what was at stake, so he was prepared to do what was necessary to protect his home.

"Let's make this as merciful as possible. I'll slowly close off the air in the bubble I'm holding them in. It'll be like their falling asleep. Painless and gentle."

Jet nodded and he drew Ditzy in close to himself. She buried her face in his fur. Zecora and Vinyl also turned their heads.

"Shade... do it."

Jet ordered with painful regret. Shade nodded as his horn began to glow brighter.

"Sorry little guys…"

Just before Shade could begin the process, however, bushes near the clearing began to rustle, and all of TEK present jumped on guard, preparing to battle anything that jumped out.

"Hey, what're you guys doing out here?"

A light brown unicorn mare with a scarlet mane asked as she stepped out from the bushes. Shade was caught a bit off guard, but maintained himself with a calm response.

"I could ask you the same question. Who are you, and why are you here?"

"The name's Judy Swirls! I sensed a lot of magical flow in this area, and I heard talking when I walked by. I decided to check it out. I didn't think I'd walk in on such a weird scenario."

"Well listen, there's nothing to see here. There's nothing concerning you here so go on with your business."

Jet ordered, only for Judy put her hooves up in a defensive gesture.

"Hey hey, I only came by because I overheard what you were talking about. And I think I may have a solution to your problem."

"What?"

"Yeah, I heard you say that these guys have weak flying capabilities and how they eat pretty much anything."

"What th- How long were you listening?"

"That's... not important... Anyway, what if you moved them to an island?"

As confused as he was, Jet was intrigued by the idea.

"Why an island?"

"Well, because of their weak flying, they wouldn't be able to fly too far from the island or handle any intense current winds. If this island were to be full of crops and plants, their would be enough food for them all."

Jet rubbed his chin in thought.

"That could work. But they multiply too fast. Wouldn't they eventually overrun the island?"

Judy thought for a second.

"I'm not sure. But don't most animals and insects only grow as large as their environment?"

Jet nodded.

"Yeah, that's true. Tortoises are a prime example. Even though most grow to be large, if kept in a small cage, they'll stop growing."

Judy smiled brightly.

"See? Wouldn't that work?"

"It might... but it might not. All we can do is guess."

"Well, wouldn't it be better to work on a hunch than to kill them?"

Jet considered the given options. While Judy's suggestion was a long shot, it was certainly a better alternative to the Parasprites' extermination.

"I think… it's worth a try."

Judy jumped up in victory.

"Yes!"

Jet waved his hoof dismissively though, catching her attention.

"We may have an idea, but we don't have a plan. Don't get excited just yet."

Judy looked down to think.

"Well, are there any empty islands near Equestria?"

Ditzy stepped forward to answer this question.

"Actually yes. There's a small one south of Equestria. Its about 250 acres of land, although a good three quarters of it is hills and prairies."

Everyone looked at Ditzy in amazement at her response. No-pony had expected her to know something like that. Ditzy blushed from the sudden attention given to her and decided to explain.

"I, uh... kinda memorized a map of Equestria and everything around it. I thought it might be helpful."

Jet smiled with an impressed look.

"Excellent work, Ditz."

She began to blush even more, but thankfully for her Jet had already turned his attention back to Judy.

"Okay, so we have the island. All we need now is the permission, which I'm sure won't be a problem. But even if we do get them there, what will they eat? Ditz just said that it's mostly prairies."

Judy thought for a moment, trying to come up with a plan. In reality, Jet had already thought of a few things they could do now that the topic of an island was in the air. But he wanted to see what this pony could do. Judy suddenly smiled brightly once she had her next idea.

"What if we planted a bunch of seeds? If we make the entire island a giant garden, they'd have plenty of food. And with a little magic, the process could be sped up a bit."

Jet thought about the idea for a moment.

*That might work, but that'll take a lot of work and time, even with magic. We'd need some helping hooves to pull that off.*

He looked to the Parasprites and decided that they just might be of use. Walking to the large bubble prison, Jet gathered their attention.

"Hey, listen up. If you can understand what I'm saying, clap your wings together."

Simultaneously a few hundred little claps sounded off in one mass hum of tiny buzzing wings. Jet was quite surprised.

*They responded without even hesitating. These things really are smart. I owe Judy for saving these guys. I would have been responsible for the death of intelligent beings.*

"Good, then you can help us. Do you like the idea of living on your own private island? Where you don't have to worry about anypony harming you and you can eat as much as you like?"

Instantly the buzzing got louder and more excited. Jet smiled and continued.

"Excellent. We'll give you your own island, but in return, you have to help us cultivate it. We need you guys to help us plant all the seeds and to make whatever else we'll need. Deal?"

He got excited buzzing and claps as his response.

"I'm also gonna need you to remain in this forest until it's done."

They seemed to agree, although hesitant. Jet nodded to Shade and he let them go, much to Shade's relief. Everyone watched as the Parasprites flew off in every direction.

"We'll meet back here in a few hours. We'll take you to the island then."

Jet said to the excitedly buzzing insects just before they spread out into the forest. Judy seemed excited too.

"Alright! Lets get started! We can do it!"

Shade raised an eyebrow brow at her statement.

"'We'? There is no 'We'. There is only us. We'll handle it from here. We appreciate your help Judy but you're no longer needed."

Judy stopped mid-cartwheel and just stood on her front hooves looking sad. She plopped down in a saddened state. Jet took note of this and decided she may still be of use.

"Actually, this was her idea. Because of that, I think she should come. She can help in the planting."

Judy immediately jumped back up into the air in triumph.

"HURRAY!!!!!"

While everyone watched Judy both in awe and confusion, Jet moved over to Shade, who was still taking time to recover from the mental strain.

"Shade, let me talk to you for a second."

Once alone, Jet told Shade the plan.

"I need you to go to Celestia and ask about the island. This whole plan is garbage if we don't have the permission."

Shade turned his head curiously.

"That's all? Why did you need to tell me that in secret?"

Jet motioned towards Judy.

"She still doesn't know about us. All she knows is that we found a horde of Parasprites. We still need to keep our cover, at least for now."

"Oh yeah, I see. I almost forgot. I'll be on my way then."

And with that, Shade teleported away and Jet walked back to the now chattering group. As he neared them, Judy noticed Shade was no longer with him.

"Hey, where'd your other friend go?"

"Oh, Shade headed back to town. He needs to take care of some business."

Judy nodded.

"I see."

"Oh, he probably went to go see Cel-*mmph!*"

*Just in time*

Jet thought to himself as he held his hoof in place over Ditzy's mouth.

*One second later, and things could have gotten out of hoof.*

"...Cel? Who's that?"

Judy curiously asked. Jet decided to come up with a story after he let go of Ditzy.

"....Celia. That's Shade's marefriend. Very serious."

Judy still seemed suspicious.

"...So why did you stop her mid-sentence?"

Jet chuckled nervously as a small bead of sweat ran down his face.

"Oh, uhh... Well he's very shy about it. Top secret. He doesn't want too many ponies to know about it. Isn't that right, Ditz?"

Jet asked as he looked directly into the grey pegasus' walleyes.

She took the hint and nodded slowly. The rest of TEK also took the hint and nodded and backed Jet up.

"Oh yeah, very shy"

Vinyl said.

"Embarrassed he is not, but tell everypony he cannot."

Zecora added.

Judy nodded slowly, her eyes still squinted.

*Crisis averted*

Jet thought to himself.

"Let's go, then."
________________

After TEK got permission from Celestia to use the small island called Abiju, Jet flew at mach speeds while Shade teleported back and forth to gathered the seeds necessary from the store houses on the docks near the west ocean. It took a bit of explaining and a few cover stories to convince Judy that they had all put together the money to buy all the resources, but eventually she bought it.

The island itself was magnificent, composed of white, sandy beaches and tropical trees and plant-life right outside the reach of the sand. But true to Ditzy's word, nearly the entire center of it was hill's and prairies. It was only about two miles in diameter, but to the Parasprites, it was heaven. They were more than happy to help, flying around, planting seeds, and providing water to the workers.

After multiple weeks of work and cooperation through magic, hard work, and air support, the island preparation was complete. The royal guard decided to build an observatory on a gull to observe the Parasprites and use it as a way to monitor the surrounding area.

Nearly half of the island was converted into crops and other fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, Twilight's spell had indeed worn off, so the crops had not been planted for nothing. With their job done, everyone got one final look at the garden island before heading home on a boat.

"Gah... that was NOT as easy as I thought it would be..."

Vinyl huffed as she wiped her brow of sweat.

"Yeah, but it was worth it, wasn't it? I mean c'mon, look at all those happy faces."

Ditzy pointed back to the receding island. There, gathered on the white beach were hundreds of happy Parasprites. Even at this distance, TEK could still clearly hear the hum and buzzing of the joyous creatures. Vinyl couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah... Guess it was..."

Jet turned to Judy, who too was smiling brightly at the shrinking island in the distance.

"I want to thank you for saving us from making a grievous mistake. And to thank you, I'd like to make you a proposition."

"Sure! What kind of proposition?"

"Judy Swirls, how would you like to join TEK?"

Comments

[Shade Vortex]

This chapter was the bane of my existence...

[BronyBlazeFire]

lol
good chapter. took too long. >:P
just so you know. suffocation is not a painless way to die.
try holding your breath for longer then you are comfortable and you will feel pressure in the head. not good. lol
any who!!!
when's the next chapter? :P

[Shade Vortex]

6279548 FREAKIN PLOT HOLE

Anyway, the last few chapters are already done (we got it all done ahead of time), so chapter 15 will be here next Monday.

[Jet Fly]

6279548

Whoa whoa, wait up. I didnt say suffocation in the story. If I meant suffocation I would have said suffocation. What I meant was exactly what Shade said: Slowly cut off the air. You still allow air in but you slowly cut it off. Once their bodies realize that its not getting enough air, the body will try to save energy by making it fall asleep. They die in their sleep.
Pfft, do you even Medical?