By The Gloom Of The Everfree

by LucidTech

The Start of Things

The heavy fog of the Ponyville morning was beginning to split, parting for the determined figure of the law enforcement officer who strode easily along the road from the train station and into the town proper. Trailing behind her, Twilight and Spigor were doing their best to keep up as they were lead with single minded determination down a simple dirt path. Unfortunately for them, the length of Rainbow Dash’s stride forced them to nearly jog just to keep pace with her casual walking speed. It took them a while to fall into a rhythm, especially for Spigor who was still carrying the boxes from the train, but before too long they were at least managing to not fall any further behind.

Twilight had just managed to catch enough breath to ask where they were going when Rainbow preemptively cut her off by answering the question she had yet to vocalize, apparently through sheer coincidence. “So we’re gonna stop by the place you’ll be staying so you can drop off your stuff. It’s cozy, or, was when I was last in there a couple years ago anyway, don’t think there’s been any infestations but you never know with trees,” explained Rainbow Dash, apparently with experience in the matter. “Anyway, after that we’ll go meet with the mayor, then if we have time I’ll introduce you to the local health care professional. That sound good? Don’t answer, try and keep pace.” Rainbow Dash paused a moment to look at the sun as it slid subtly out from behind the heavy cloud cover that was beginning to look more and more like a permanent feature of the town. As Twilight worked to catch up during this moment of stillness she managed to gauge the time as just shy of noon.

Doing as they were told the duo kept their words to themselves as they worked to stay level with their guide, feeling like they were putting in twice the effort just to keep up with their guide who strode easily along, hands in her pockets, humming a strange rough song as she walked. They had just managed to halve the distance that Rainbow had on them when something caught Twilight’s attention and made her slow, then stop, to fully appreciate what had caught her eye, forcing Spigor to stop by her side, a worried expression growing on his face as he too spotted what had caught her attention.

It was a cemetery. It was a very large, clearly labelled, cemetery. On top of that, it had no apparent security, not so much as a gas lamp at the entrance to illuminate trespassers. Twilight did her best to hide the burning feeling of excitement that surged through her head, igniting the fuses of all her ideas. Parts! Pieces! A little hodunk town with such an incredible selection of corpses! If even half the graves had some half-decent limbs she could probably make a battalion! An army! It certainly held all that she could possibly need to finish the experimental work she had started back in Canterlot. Feeling for the first time that there was a silver lining to this whole situation, Twilight was unable to move her gaze away.

Twilight, with her eyes caught on the gravestones, was too preoccupied to pay any attention to her surroundings. She heard neither Spigor's hushed attempts to warn her nor the footsteps of the approaching figure behind her until it was too late. The voice was like lightning to Twilight's mind, intruding suddenly on her thoughts and almost scaring her out of her skin. “Whatcha looking at?” Rainbow Dash asked, voice heavy with the implication that she already knew the answer to the question and, worse still, knew the reason for the answer. Desperate for some escape from the situation she now found herself in, Twilight focused on the graveyard, looking for something to be looking at besides the obvious, as Spike’s own gaze shifted worriedly between Twilight and Rainbow.

At last, she found her distraction. Pointing to the only notable thing behind the wrought iron gate, Twilight turned her gaze aside to look at Rainbow Dash. “That girl, isn’t she a little young to be in a graveyard by herself?” She asked, genuinely curious. She’d of course been admiring the potential of the place but now she was truly wondering about the child. Even back in Canterlot it was rare to see a guest in the graveyard, let alone a someone as young as the individual she had pointed out.

The truth, though not the whole truth, in her question apparently set her free as Rainbow’s expression changed from accusatory to somber. Clearly, she had some emotions of her own tied up in the answer. “That’s Applebloom.” Rainbow answered, barely sparing a glance to the child before answering. “Her older sister was buried a couple days ago, she’s been visiting the place every day since the funeral.

“Oh.” Twilight said, feeling suddenly guilty about her plans in the light of such tragedy. She spared another glance for the girl, but was interrupted before she could put too much thought into it.

“Come on, we’ve got places to be, let’s get a move on.” Rainbow said suddenly, her tone unreadable as she set a quick pace once again.

“Yes. Right.” Twilight shook her head a few times to get her thoughts straight then followed quickly after.

Their new home was hard to miss, the tree a landmark all its own among the depressed gray stone of the other buildings they’d seen on the way over. Twilight had heard of such trees before, it had started as a pet project of a particularly gifted botanist from a long time back and every now and then some other advanced student of the art would make a new one, it was almost an official milestone in their training. Silently, Twilight pondered over the age of this particular example, stoic as it seemed against the fog that was beginning to ebb as the day wore on, to say nothing of it's rigidness against the more permanent surroundings. It had a look of experience to it that Twilight didn't think she would ever assign to a tree.

The duo dropped off their belongings with little aplomb, Rainbow eager to keep a quick pace and go through the tour as quickly as possible. Twilight decided to keep her briefcase on hand, despite knowing deep down that it would likely be safe in the library while she was out, especially given the sizable collection of locking mechanisms that had been installed on the door by some previous tenant. Spigor, meanwhile, was more than happy to be rid of the boxes he’d been carrying yet, despite Rainbow’s insistence on urgency, he went a step further and took the time to set up his and Twilight’s beds in two of the separate rooms that were connected by the main hallway. When he informed Rainbow Dash that he was doing this she seemed unhappy about it but didn’t voice any outright objections to the act.

While Spigor did his work, Twilight took the opportunity to look around the sparse building, one might almost go as far as to call it ransacked were it not clear that there had been nothing of value within the wooden walls for a long long time. It had been a library, formerly, Twilight could tell. Despite being fully outfitted for the job, however, it hadn’t been used for that purpose in at least a generation if not two. She was grateful for the space for her own books but found herself wishing that there were more books there to begin with, if only to expand her own reading pool.

Belongings dropped off and bedding sorted they emerged back out into the, now fog-less, late afternoon town. “About time.” Rainbow Dash greeted them, standing from her casual lean she had taken while she waited. She gave Twilight’s briefcase a raised eyebrow when she returned with it still in hand, then shrugged. Once more, they set off.

It became obvious to Twilight scarce few moments later what their next destination would be and, realizing how quickly it was approaching and, having recovered slightly from the jog they had started at the train station, found herself able at last to voice questions of her own. “So, what’s the mayor like?”

“Didn’t I say I’d answer all questions at the end?” Rainbow asked in return, her pace quickening slightly so as to force Twilight to keep up to continue the conversation.

“Well yes.” Admitted Twilight, stepping faster so as not to fall out of hearing range. “But I feel like this is a rather time sensitive question. I’d like to know what to expect before we actually meet her.”

“Fair enough.” Acquiesced Rainbow Dash, though she kept up her quick pace. “Well she’s somewhat new to the job. Our old mayor was getting on in age and you don’t want to stick around here once you start getting too many decades on your shoulders. Unless you're Granny Smith anyway.” Before Twilight could ask who Granny Smith was, Rainbow had moved on. “She likes to make clothes and tailor and all that stuff. She’s also high class, or used to be, just like you. You two should get along swell.”

Twilight was running out of breath again from the speed that Rainbow had set and found herself unable to speak the cutting remark she’d thought up in response to the poorly veiled jab. Instead she set it aside for later and focused on the structure that now towered imposingly directly ahead, the distance having all but vanished during the supremely short conversation.

Without a pause or prelude Rainbow Dash knocked twice on the door and, after a moment’s breath, received a “Come in!” from a restrained, gracious voice on the other side of the threshold. Sparing no words, only a simple shrug to Twilight and Spigor, she pushed her way in.

As the doors swung open they revealed a stunning lady who was reclining slightly in a reading chair, a well-made silken set of pajamas resting loosely across her form. All were dumbstruck by the sight, even Rainbow Dash, and silence reigned until the figure realized her visitors had arrived. Or, rather more accurately, deigned to interact with the vistors that she’d known had been there for a minute at least. Looking back on it, Twilight was grateful for the time to get her breath back, despite the fact that she’d been kept waiting.

“Oh Rainbow Dash, you’re wearing your suit!” Said the beauty as she stood from her seat, resting her book, still open, upside down on the small table to the side of the chair. “Does it fit alright? You haven’t put it on since I fixed the shoulders.”

“It fits fine.” Rainbow said with a huff, shaken from the spell, and nodded back towards Twilight and Spigor a couple steps behind her. “Just wanted to introduce you to Twilight, she’s the one I said was showing up. She’s got her assistant with her, think the notes said Speegor or something I dunno, part dragon.” Rainbow shook her head dismissively as if ‘part dragon’ were simply a common quirk and then turned back to introduce those she’d had on her heels all day. “Twilight Sparkle, this is-”

“Rarity Belle!” Spigor interrupted as he quickly closed the distance, Twilight following with a long-suffering sigh as Rainbow looked on in surprise. Rarity, for her part, looked to have frozen at the very prospect of being recognized. Her self-assured confidence having faded into growing worry, a look on her face like she’d seen a ghost. Luckily for Rarity, however, Spigor was too wrapped up in his star stricken enthusiasm to notice it. “I’m a huge fan of your work! I own all your guides on stitching, they’ve been crazy helpful with my work!”

Rarity, to her credit, managed to shake the dread from her face before answering. “Well it is always nice to meet a fan! I’m happy to hear that even now, long past my heyday, I’m helping all sorts to do what they love.”

Spigor, who seemed to only be engaging with the conversation enough so as to know when he could talk again, looked to Rarity with eyes that almost sparkled. “Do you think you could take a look at my work sometime? Not a lot of people know enough about stitching to give me feedback.”

“Of course darling! I would be pleased as punch to see whatever you’re working on, anytime you- Agh!” Rarity recoiled as Spigor pulled one of the Twilight’s loose sleeves up to her shoulder, revealing the vaguely organized mess of thread that was holding the different stretches of her skin together to heal.

“Twilight recently did some augmentation work on this arm, so it’s still pretty patchwork but it should heal up nice.” Spike said, brimming with a rare confidence. “I had to sort of create my own technique since I couldn’t find anything for surgical stitches on a scale like this, and that’s when I found your books! They were the perfect jumping off point!”

“Ah, I see.” Rarity said, her voice heavy with hesitation. Looking around for some help with this situation, she caught sight of Rainbow Dash, her gruff facade beginning to crack as she stifled a smile at the humor of Rarity's unfortunate situation. Rarity in turn leveled a glare in her direction before Spigor got her attention again.

“So what do you think?”

“Ah well it’s, uhm,” Rarity got a glimpse of Twilight’s judging glare from the corner of her eye and decided to actually look at the stitches. She examined them as best she could but ultimately came away without very much insight. “Well, I’ll admit that this a bit beyond my field of expertise, but the principles seem sound.” Rarity said, suppressing her desire to be doing literally anything else. “I never did much work with skin, well any work with skin really. I can’t really give you any kind of in-depth advice on this I’m afraid.”

“Oh.” Spigor said with a disappointed tone. He looked at the stitches himself before pulling Twilight’s sleeve back into place.

“I would be happy to talk about hair though! Or style it!” Rarity said, somewhat desperate to salvage the moment and her first interaction with the new members of the town, though knowing deep down that it was a hopeless endeavor. “How about you Miss Twilight? It looks the train ride didn’t help you a great deal in that department.”

“I’m fine thanks.” Twilight answered, taking a few steps away as she straightened out her sleeve. “Oh, and-” Twilight turned to look at Rarity with the coldest gaze that Rarity had received in a long while. “Don’t put your books down like that. It ruins the spine.”

Rarity looked back to the book that rested on the table, still open, and then back to Twilight, struck silent by the seriousness of what seemed to be such a petty thing. This silence reigned for a handful of tense moments before Rainbow Dash saw fit to break it. “Well we’ve got other places to go check out, see you later Rarity,” she said, beginning to lead Spigor and Twilight out of the building.

“Yes, of course, of course. Farewell darlings!” Rarity waved goodbye, but among the departing group only Rainbow saw fit to return it and even then it was only in her usual half-hearted dismissive way.

Rarity lingered there in the opening silence, staring at the door that was shut closed once again. After a moment she took a few hesitant steps back to her reading chair and, after a moment of thought, picked up the book she had been reading and shut it properly.

---

After the group fully exited the building Twilight and Spigor waited for Rainbow Dash to lead the way again, or to talk about what had just happened, or to say anything at all. Instead, she looked to both of them, her gaze lingering on Spigor’s hurt expression that he was trying to hide, and then stared off towards the horizon where a waxing gibbous moon was beginning to rise slightly earlier than it probably ought to have. It seemed they were not the only ones watching it as, off in the Everfree, a set of wolves' howls echoed through the trees.

“You know what?" Rainbow said suddenly, "Let’s finish this tour tomorrow. It’s getting late and you two just got off a long train ride. I’m sure neither of you are really in the mood for this.” Catching both of her tourists off guard with the sudden shift away from some constant schedule that only she seemed to know about or even want to keep ahead of.

Twilight made to interrupt and say that she was more than ready to continue but was stopped as she paused to yawn, causing her to rethink her declaration. She certainly wanted to see the rest of the town, if only so she might know the layout of it a little better, but she had been up all the previous night working on her arm, after all. Perhaps a good night’s rest would be nice, it might even help her remember all the different landmarks when they continued the tour the next day.

With confused acceptance and cheap farewells both parties said goodbye to each other. Twilight and Spigor watched in silence as the mess of muted rainbow hair swished its way off into the town proper once again, The duo stayed there a moment longer before they too set off, heading now towards the wooden tree they called home. It had been a long day, hadn’t it? A nice night of sleep would do wonders for the both of them, Twilight was sure.

She lingered in the main room, setting up the selection of books she’d brought along from home, and then grabbed one and took it to her bed with her. A few lazy hours of reading later, the moon now hanging high in the sky, she slid a nondescript bookmark between the pages she'd been reading and rested it to the side of her small bed.

Hours passed. Hours slunk by with treacherous sloth. Each minute felt like a day. Twilight lay in bed, staring daggers at the ceiling above her, her thoughts turning over and over in her mind. She needed sleep, she knew, but she couldn’t seem to find it. She’d experienced something similar to this back when she was still a student. It usually occurred after a couple of her busier days where, instead of the fatigue taking her into the world of her dreams, she would be far too anxious about what had happened during the day to fall asleep. She usually coped with this by working on one of her projects, but they’d all been taken by the police and she hadn’t been allowed to bring any with her.

And besides, that was only part of what was keeping her awake. The other part was that whenever she closed her eyes she saw the cemetery. The field of tombstones almost burnt into her mind’s eye, the abandoned flowers waving in the wind like a field of wheat that was ready for the harvest, the wrought iron fencing almost welcoming with its familiarity. It was only a few blocks away and it was dark out, the waxing moon was obstructed by the impenetrable cloud cover, it would not be hard to do some late night collecting.

She felt that the universe was tempting her into a trap but, after another hour without sleep, she found herself getting out of bed more than ready to spring it. After she dressed she exited the room thinking about what supplies she would need. What she hadn’t expected was to see Spigor, apparently fully aware of what she intended, sitting on a box at the end of the hall, a shovel in each of his hands. He sighed as he saw her leave her room. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to rethink this.” Spigor said in a defeated tone.

Twilight smiled widely, perhaps a bit too wide, and grabbed one of the shovels. “Nope.”

Author's Note:

Hey, thanks for the overwhelming support of the first chapter. I think that's the highest ratio of comments to likes I've seen in a while. Not to mention, of course, that I actually received the first piece of fan art I've ever had for one of my stories.

This cool piece of work comes from AnarchyHamster on deviant art. Some of the art there is NSFW, btw, You've been warned.

A big thanks for that. It's a bit classy for the current duds they're wearing in the story at the moment but I like the general gothic themes not to mention I'm super happy to receive any fan art at all.

Thanks again!

Comments

[Bloody_Tofu]

Ah a tease of the town and what’s to come.

[DragonPony]

Well this was interesting for sure. I do wonder if Twilight's edge towards Rarity was because she was seeing what she would say about the state her arm was in or was it the fact that Spigor seem to be giving her so much attention for just meeting her. It would kinda explain the snappy response about the books right before they left. I am not saying Twilight has feelings for Spigor, I don't think she is capable of having normal feelings at all but I think she even knows that no one knows her or has been there for her like Spigor has and to see him show attention to others caused her to get a bit short. Hell the end of this chapter shows just how well he knows his mistress lol. I wonder tho how will the rest of the town people react when they see a half dragon walking around the town or the new creepy female that came along side him. It is looking like AJ might be one of her first subjects she is going to be creating. That would be a SUPER risky thing to do that is for sure. The Apples are the limestone the whole town is built, hell most of Equestria is built on. You cross that family you are asking for hell that is for sure.