E S C A P E

by OfTheIronwilled

Part Three

>go to the farm, if only for the sole reason that it also leads to everfree and the tree of harmony, where she can figure out what to do next

Go right, there bunch of tree to take cover or see any coming to her incase

With a breath, Twilight takes a hobbling step onto the path towards Sweet Apple Acres. All around her, outside the tiny cocoon of light that hums around her skin, the pitch black wavers. Somewhere out there, far in the distance, there's the muted growls of what Twilight knows must be another grotesque monster. Creatures like that have to be tainted by some sort of dark or wild magic, she assumes, and with everything else going, she'd really like to see the Tree of Harmony. The elements are still there and should be usable once she tracks down her friends - and that's if there's not something wrong with the tree itself that's causing all of this, which she hopefully could be able to solve with some friendship magic.

The only thing is...

-Twilight takes another step on shaking hooves like a fawn learning to walk for the first time. Her whole body screams in protest, and she's suddenly keenly aware that the twinge in her chest has turned to a roaring inferno after her fall, a stinging pinch that tears through her breast muscles and deeper still. Plus her mouth still tastes awful! Her alicorn magic pulses faintly through her veins and magical core, keeping her on her hooves despite it all, but even with that she knows she's on borrowed time. Honestly, she's not sure if she could walk all the way to the Tree in this condition, even if she isn't stopped by something, but one thought -- okay, two counting possibly finding Applejack and Fluttershy -- keeps her limping vainly down the stone path in front of her.

Apples!

Twilight is pretty sure that she's never been this hungry, dehydrated, or low on blood sugar in her life, and she could really go for a nice juicy apple right now; it's so hard for her to think straight through all this hunger. Surely the darkness overhanging Ponyville couldn't have affected the apple trees too badly in such a short amount of time, and as long as no dark magic has seeped down to the soil or roots, there should be a whole field of food for her to restore herself with. In fact, while she's not sure if they're fit for picking and eating yet, the Apples also grow carrots, celery, and some other vegetables she can get more nutrition from. Failing that, there's also Roseluck's flower garden, Golden Harvest's carrot fields...

Twilight's stomach growls. Her mouth feels wet, and she realizes that she'd drooled down into the fur of her chin. When she reaches her hoof up and swipes some of it away, it comes back twinkling in her magic light, smeared with orange bile and a thick, dark dribble of blood.

Twilight would feel concerned by that, but honestly she doesn't have the luxury to sit here and think about it. Instead, she turns ahead and continues her hobbling gait.

It's a good thing she knows the streets of Ponyville like the back of her hoof already, otherwise she'd be lost on top of everything else. The blackness, the utter void around her, is absolute. No sun, no moon, no stars, none of the magical or electrical streetlamps, or even the flutter of summertime lightning bugs; they've all been blown out, leaving a darkness so dense and cold that Twilight can see absolutely nothing outside of her light. The stagnant, dead silence, only broken by the faraway gargle of some unseen creatures, only adds to the creepiness. More than anything, Twilight suddenly wishes that Pinkie Pie was here to giggle the ghosties away with her.

Twilight shakes her head and tries to focus on her task. Which is hard, given her head is swimming and her stomach is fluttering, but she does her best. In tiny increments, careful to mind the pressure building behind the crack in her horn, she extends the reach of her illumination spell as far as she dares.

Then, for quite some time, she just walks. Alone, lost in that echoing nothingness. Light bounces from the stones clacking beneath her hooves, off the crinkled grass poking out of the edges of the road, the only indication that she's heading anywhere at all. There aren't even many buildings this way until she gets closer to the intersection of Sweet Street, so until then it's nothing but that suffocating black.

She only wishes she knew how long she'd been walking, but gauging based on the ache in her forelegs wouldn't really work here, and she can't risk trying another spell on top of her illumination orb at the moment.

Then, in an instant, there's somepony in front of her.

As quickly and quietly as a whisper, Twilight's orb of light catches on something standing in front of the road. Before her brain even properly registers that she's seen something, her sight and instinct startle Twilight into a cold shock. She grinds to a halt, her breath catching tight in her throat. Her heart slams down into her stomach. That magenta light, soft and wane, falls simply over the shape of a pony's muzzle, a few hoofsteps in front of her.

"H-hello?" The pony croaks.

Twilight sucks in a ragged gasp against the rasp in her chest, and then sighs just as soon. She nearly collapses from relief. Oh thank Celestia; she could really use a friend right now!

The pony takes a step forward, her hoof clapping against the stone so loud in that icy silence. Her round face unfolds in the light, gains definition as the long shadows pour down the front of her chest. A unicorn. At first, with the pink light polluting everything, it's hard to tell what color her coat and eyes are. Twilight squints for a moment, and after a second she realizes that it's Lyra Heartstrings, her old friend from Celestia's school!

"Oh, Lyra, thank goodness! Are you okay?! What's--"

"Have you seen Bonnie?!" Lyra coughs, desperate and ragged. Her face is taut with worry, and her eyes are baggy; the harsh illumination catches the shadows of her face and turn her into a pale purple ghost.

Twilight sighs. Her hooves are shaking from exertion, so she flops down to her haunches and sadly shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, but you're the first pony I've--"

"Have you seen Bonnie?" Lyra barks again. She shouts it, takes another step forward, her horn swinging close to Twilight's muzzle. "She said she'd come back! She said she wouldn't keep any more secrets from me!"

Um. That was a bit strange. Still, Twilight reasons that this has been a stressful time for everypony. She flicks at the skin at her withers to shake of the chill that's still trying to claw down her back, and tries again:

"No, Lyra. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen her. But I'm sure if we stay calm and look together, we can--"

"Have you seen Bonnie?!" Lyra screeches it. The scream is so loud it echoes out into the void, pierces hot into Twilight's ears. Lyra's face scrunches in a panicked fury; her nostrils blow out as she heaves and hyperventilates. She stomps a hoof, flicks her ears. She barrels forward in an instant. She throws herself in front of Twilight, practically smashing her frothing muzzle into Twilight's own-- and the light catches on something. Something hot-white, bright, smeared with red-- "Where is she?!"

Teeth. Razor teeth, in Lyra's jaws, the fangs of a carnivore.

And as the illumination spell uncovers that, it also uncovers the rest of Lyra's body. Or.. well...

Twilight scrambles onto her hooves as fast as she can, her horseshoes scrabbling against the stone. Her heartbeat spikes up into her throat. Her tail tucks down hard, and she kicks her front hooves up into the air on pure instinct. A cold chill flies down to the dock of her tail.

... what... used to be Lyra's body. Now it's-- Twilight whinnies against her will-- A giant, lumpy protrusion juts out of Lyra's middle. It shines gold in the light, glitters almost beautifully as magic bounces off of yellow chitin; what looks like the abdomen of a bee or wasp sloughs out of Lyra's midsection, twitches and writhes with the pumping of her blood. Tiny, itchy, crawling legs poke out from its sides, skittering in place and desperately trying to find purchase on the stone below. Wings, tattered and filmy, hang limply over Lyra's withers, flop around and slap her in the face as she desperately thrashes herself around. Out of her back, over the apex of that bulging insectoid orb, are even more legs-- not pony, not insect, but a smattering of human arms, like those Sunset Shimmer and her friends have- only these are coated with a heavy blanket of fur on the tops, shaggy and clumped into mats by something old and brown and stinking.

The remains of her pony body, her hindquarters and rump, hang limply off of the mess of exoskeleton and flesh, pale and wrinkled.

Lyra takes another step forward. There's a horrible crunching noise as the mass that is her body struggles to move correctly. Her fangs flash, and Twilight can see they're coated with ichor and blood.

Twilight backs up, as far as she can without Lyra completely being lost to the dark.

"Have you seen Bonnie?"

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Comments

[stag the story teller]

Well since lyra turned into a bugbear you can try and trick her into helping you solve this mistery she even gave you the means to do it.

[LadyDiscord]

I think her mind has been broken so she won't listen to reason, I think your best bet is to distract her
with a spell that can mimic Bonbons voice calling for her in a different direction far off.
While shes distracted slowly back away.

Running with your back to her will trigger Lyra's hunting reflex to chase you down and eat you.

I don't know how fast she can move with her body in the shape its in but do you really want to take a chance?