Stand For Everfree (3)
“The Forrest has actually been pretty quiet today,” the security captain said. His name was Codes and he looked like the quintessential soldier, orange/blonde mane cut short, wings preened, and a suspicious glare permanently cast out over the wall. “Usually a couple a’ the smaller buggers come ‘round, tryin’ to give us trouble. The quiet is makin’ me antsy.”
Sunset nodded. Officially, SHIELD didn’t believe in superstition or curses, but there’d always been an unspoken exception to the Everfree. “Are you worried that something’s going to happen or that it’s already happened?”
“I’m worried,” he replied. “Don’t like to discriminate.”
Sunset followed his gaze out into the forest. She could hear a stiff breeze but it didn’t quite reach the wall. Down in the underbrush, she spotted a little white rabbit racing away from the wall at full speed. “Do you have any idea what could happen?”
“No,” he said. “Could be anything. If I didn’t know better I’d call this place creative.”
Sunset looked at him. He started to speak something but thought better of it. “Though,” he said instead, “that’s just what I think. The eggheads in charge have all sorts of theories.”
“I’d rather hear what a soldier thinks than some egghead,” said Sunset, before wincing. “Twilight doesn’t need to know I said that.”
“Understood.’ He shifted his wingblades as a shadow passed overhead, but Sunset had already clocked it as a normal falcon. “It’s the way this place changes,” he said. “It doesn’t feel random. We always have time to get used to whatever sort of monsters it has before different ones start raiding us. Plenty of times the new lot is perfect for dealing with whatever defenses we’d set up for the last pack. It’s good at separating scientists from their guards, and it always seems to go quiet just when we’re thinking of packing in.” He folded one of his forelegs across his chest uncomfortably. “Most fella’s think I’m paranoid, or making excuses, but I swear it’s like this place is toying with us.”
“Or experimenting,” Sunset said idly. Captian Codes went silent at that, and she frowned. Wait a second…
“Can you usually hear birds from here?” She asked.
Codes blinked, his mental train of thought derailed. “Yeah,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
“Because I can’t hear them now,” Sunset said as she lifted her bow. “I can’t hear anything but the wind.”
“What wind?”
The two of them stared at each other, then peered over the ledge.
A tangled mess of vines slowly slithered across the surface of the wall, thicker than she was. A mesh of smaller vines trailed down as they circled the walls, flowers blooming from certain points. Mounted on these flowers were bizarre-looking plants that Sunset had never seen before and didn’t want to learn about.
“BATTLE STATIONS!” Captain Codes roared.
Sunset drew and fired a series of concussive arrows, aimed at the point where the vines touched the wall. They weren’t powerful enough to damage the stone or tear the vine apart, but the explosion forced the vine away from the wall and it began to sag under its own weight. Two pointy arrows severed one side of the vine and it began to crash to the ground.
More vines began to grow from the sides as she drew another arrow. She ducked as the weird plants turned towards her and began to shoot at her. Ice coated the wall where she’d been, only to be shattered by a long red thorn shot out of a cactus. “Is this new?”
“Very!” Codes shouted back. All around the wall, guards cried out in alarm as the plants fired on them, driving them to take cover. Sunset grabbed one of her more complex arrows and floated it down, feeling along the wall until it bumped into a vine. The magitech inside whirred to life and it began to drive heat away from the vines, killing the plants with a thick layer of ice. Sunset grabbed her pointy arrows and began shooting off the weaponized plants.
An urgent beeping caught her attention. She pulled the box Twilight had given her out of her jacket. The dials were spinning and every light was turning red.
AIM.
“Hey, cut it out!”
Sunset glanced back at the lab and saw somebody in wooden armor ascending towards them on a gigantic vine. As it stretched out to its full length a second vine pushed up from the ground and caught her, supporting her weight as she approached the wall. Sunset took careful note of the unbloomed flower-pods. “What do you want? Are you with AIM?”
“Why would I be with AIM?” she asked. “I’m here to protect you!”
“Protect how?” Codes growled. “Who are you?”
“Codes, it’s me!” The wooden helmet split apart, revealing a pony face. Codes took a step back. “See,” she continued, “there’s nothing to worry about! I’ll take care of everything from now on, you just go inside.”
“That’s not good enough,” Sunset called out. “Protect us how? For how long?”
“Forever of course!” she said happily. “I’ve already rounded up almost everyone inside, aside from,” and her face darkened, “the oh-so-special Twilight Sparkle. I’ve almost caught her friends too.”
“Rounded up? Sunset asked. As she talked she eyed up the vine, trying to decide how many arrows it’d take to burn down. The vines might be immune to fire but that’s normal grass… of course, burning the lab down might not count as saving it…
“In the cafeteria,” she said happily. “We’ll all be able to live here forever! Isn’t that grand?”
Across the wall, the vines pulled themselves up over the ledge and sat flowers down near the guards. Weird purple things with mouths grew and leaned over the wall, flanked by large watermelon catapults. The guards were outnumbered. “What if we don’t want to live here?” Sunset asked. “We could have families, or other jobs or… spa appointments?”
“A spa?” she repeated. “You’d choose a spa over the wonders of nature? The glory of science? The majesty of… a third thing?”
“I mean, I like third thing,” Sunset drily said, “but I’m not giving up my whole life because somebody said to.”
“Gloriosa, listen to me!” Codes shouted. “Something’s messing with your head! You gotta calm down.”
“...No,” she whispered, then louder “No! I’m not the crazy one, you are! And you! And all of you, and everyone inside! But I’ll show you. The Plantmare will show you all—”
A blue light smacked her off the vine. The second one immediately moved to catch her, but two more bolts sliced through it. Plantmare crashed to the ground, and Sunset looked up to see Iron Mage flying towards her.
Iron Mage overshot Plantmare as she tried to brake; she hadn’t gotten replacement parts for the wing yet and had been forced to cannibalize the remaining one to build small stabilizers. The wings were supposed to have three repulsors on either side and she was trying to make it work with just two total. She drifted around Plantmare, pointing a hoof at her while managing her direction with the wings. “Let them go,” she said curtly.
“You’re…” Plantmare staggered to her hooves, stumbling a little. “You’re Iron Mage.”
“Most days. Let them go.”
“And then what?” she demanded. “What are you planning on doing to these people?”
The vines were rustling behind her, forcing Iron Mage to shift position to keep an eye on both them and Plantmare. She needed to replace her wings soon, this lack of coverage could get her killed. “Nothing,” Iron Mage said, “I was following an AIM signal. I’m here to help.”
“Well so am I!” Plantmare shouted. “I’m going to save these people whether they like it or not!”
The huge gun on Plantmare’s back spun towards her and fired. The impacts rattled Twilight under the suit and forced her further into the air. She returned fire, a casual blast smacking Plantmare across the yard.
Something hit her from behind, coating the suit in ice. Her wards began compensating but as it was melted more weapons fire began beating the suit down. She spun around and began firing on the plants along the wall, but another bolt of ice came from the ground. The suit chimed a warning as it failed to compensate for the weapons fire.
Iron Mage gritted her teeth and dove through the pain, snapping the ice apart, and tackling Plantmare. Up close, she could see the cracks in Plantmare’s armor healing themselves. One of her hooves reached out a vine that anchored itself to the ground, and the weapons turned to face Iron Mage.
Boom!
An explosion ripped the larger weaponized vine apart at its base, toppling it. A pointy arrow severed the vine holding them and they blasted up into the sky. Plantmare was screaming and fighting with everything she had, and Iron Mage couldn’t stabilize herself without dropping her. They began dropping erratically back towards the walls.
As they strafed the wall, one of the purple Chompers reached up and caught them in its mouth. It bit down hard on the suit, the sound of its teeth grinding against the steel grating on her ears. Panicked, she let go of Plantmare and fired all of her weapons, tearing it apart.
Plantmare leaped onto her back, wrapping a vine around Iron Mages neck. The wards recalibrated again, and the other plants had stopped firing on her. “Electrify suit!” she snapped.
The wooden armor barely smoldered at the sparks. It did grow long thorns that tried to stab their way through her suit. Iron Mage shot into the air again, but this time Plantmare just let go. It took her a few seconds to flip around and dive again, and as she did she was running into a lot of guns that hadn’t been there a second ago.
She was driven off course and overshot Plantmare, landing some distance away next to Sunset. Iron Mage switched to Unicorn magic and put force field around them, securing it to the wall and wincing at the pressure placed on it. “This isn’t working,” she said. “She’s too well-armed.”
“She won’t be less well-armed if we run now,” Sunset snapped.
“Most of my men are armed with close-range weapons,” Captian Codes reported. “They’re sitting ducks. We have to pull back.”
Iron Mage opened a small hole at the top of the force field and shot out several Let’s-Be-Friends fireworks spells. They dove, screaming bloody murder and letting a breathtaking light loose when they reached their targets. They couldn’t hurt anything but they’d blind the plant turrets. “What about the guardhouse?” She asked. “I can teleport us from there to anywhere once we’re grouped together.”
“Nah,” Captian Codes said. “This place has protection against stuff like that. Unless you had access to—”
“Yes!” Iron Mage said quickly, “but I’m more advanced than Spark Tech so I can do that anyway.” She tried to mess with her mane but it was hidden underneath the helmet. I’m glad no one can see my face.
“It’ll have to do,” Sunset said sourly. “Captain, make sure the guardhouse is secure. Iron Mage, collect all the guards. I’ll go and distract Plantmare."
Plantmare trotted slowly towards the guards, thinking very quickly. She wasn’t having trouble securing ponies, but none of her weapons had stopped Iron Mage. She winced as she moved, feeling more bruised and battered from the two-minute fight than she had in her whole life.
With nary a warning, an arrow struck her chest plate and transformed into golden ropes that bound her limbs together. Some distance down the wall, a SHIELD archer was slowly advancing and picking off her plants. “You’re under arrest!” She shouted. “Let those people go!”
Anger flared bright enough to erase her pain. “How dare you!”
A panel on her side opened and dropped a red Jalapeno Pepper. It swelled as it came into contact with the air and exploded, sending a stream of fire up and down the wall. She barely felt the heat from inside her treated suit, but the ropes snapped apart immediately.
The archer drew and fired an arrow that transformed the air into a slanted glass wall. It was scorched and half-melted by the wave but it did its job; the flames licked over the sides of the walls and caught her other plants and vines on fire.
Plantmare brought her Gattling Peashooter to bear but a pointy arrow shattered the wall and sliced the gun from its stalk. The arched strode through the shattered wall with flames burning on either side and a strut that fundamentally understood how cool she looked. “Last chance pal. I doubt you’ve got an anti-arrow plant in your garden.”
Her eyes widened as she realized she did. Plantmare mentally ordered the vines to sever themselves and fall to the ground and began summoning a new plant. To buy time, she said “Please! I’m helping these people! I can do so much for them, grow anything they need—”
“Could you grow a replacement for their families?”
Plantmare felt her whole body, her whole being freeze in place. The archer heedlessly continued. “Look, I get it. Change can be scary. But if you—”
Bzz-Fwoosh!
A powerful burst of wind interrupted her speech. She fired an arrow but it was driven off-course and exploded in the forest. From beneath the wall, a Four-Leaf Blower slowly raised itself into view, spinning its’ propellers fast enough to generate great gusts of wind. She drew another arrow and tried to compensate but more Blowers lifted themselves into view.
Plantmare had actually been looking anticipating the look of fear on the mare’s face; she’d even had the fortune of thinking of something witty to say in time to say it. But this wasn’t fun anymore, so she slashed her hoof forward, turning her vines into a jagged whip.
Crack!
The archer shouted in pain as it struck her side. Plantmare slashed her again and again, shouting "Don't talk about him like that!" The mare dropped her bow and tried to grab the vine with her field, barely holding on as it writhed like a snake. Plantmare slowly advanced, a new weapon growing on her back.
“Sunset!”
Plantmare glanced to the side and saw a wave of energy bigger than she was flowing towards her. She dove off the wall just before it smashed through the place she’d been standing and kept going towards the distance. She was caught by the vines and lifted to the glowing hole where the rampart should have been and saw Iron Mage helping the agent up.
Plantmare froze as Iron Mage stated at her, then she finished charging up her horn and teleported away.
Fluttershy finished thawing and stood, immediately moving her wings and pulling heat into herself. Drops of water shook themselves free as her wings moved and the chill began to fade from her bones.
She was in a cafeteria with a herd of other ponies milling around something she couldn’t see properly. None of them had apparently noticed Fluttershy’s existence, which she was fine with, and they were all milling around in a manner that suggested that they’d rather be cowering but didn’t want to look like it. Fluttershy didn’t want to take to the air and draw attention to herself, so she trotted around to try and get a better look.
There were two thrones growing out of the floor, and draped across the leftmost one was the slowly-stirring form of Blockhead. “What happened?” He said. “I was being chased by a plant-monster and—” He slowly sat up, realizing what he was sitting in. “Oh man, why does this always happen to me?”
A vine slowly broke through the floor with an ear-splitting crack, driving everybody back. A vine broke through the ground, carrying a flower the size of a pony. It bent down and the flower opened, letting Gloriossa stride out. The vine lifted itself back up to the ceiling and began to encircle the room. “Fools!” she shouted. “I can’t believe how ungrateful they are, I just want to help! You get it, right Blockhead?”
“...Yes,” Blockhead said slowly, “but if you’d explain it, then I could agree even more. So you should do that.” He nodded slowly.
Fluttershy facehoofed quietly so that no one would notice.
Gloriossa’s helmet retracted. Her face was just as eerie as it had been; it wasn’t just the color, it was like there was some vital piece of herself missing. “I’m making everything better,” she said. “I just want to help people, that’s all.”
Blockhead looked around at the weapons and scared faces and nodded. “Cool.” Fluttershy saw his eyes meet hers and light up. “Hey, I know you! You were with that famous pony, the purple one! What happened to her…”
His voice trailed off as Gloriosa’s head whipped around. The crowd split apart just as fast, leaving Fluttershy with nothing to hide behind. She slowly looked behind her in the desperate hopes that something behind her had somehow attracted Gloriosa’s attention, before turning back and awkwardly waving.
“You were with her,” Gloriosa hissed. “When she destroyed my dreams.” In her peripheral vision, she could see Blockhead following with his horn softly lit. It made her feel a little better. “She didn’t, doesn’t care about anything other than her agenda. She’s a horrible pony, isn’t she?’’
Fluttershy trembled in a way that could be construed as either a nod or a frown, depending on what the other person wanted.
Gloriosa put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “And she did the same thing to you, didn’t she?”
Fluttershy blinked.
“Sh, shhh,” Gloriosa hushed as she pulled Fluttershy into a hug. Fluttershy flinched as the wooden thorns shifted away from her body. “She can’t hurt us here.”
Fluttershy stared at Blockhead, who had a very eloquent shrug. She didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to do anything but the way Gloriosa held her… it felt desperate. Like she was scared.
Fluttershy licked her lips. “It, uh… It sounds like you’re mad about more than just your project,” she managed. “Do you want to talk about it?”
The words were said so quietly that they were almost lost before they left her throat, but Gloriosa heard them. “Talk?” She said as she pulled away. “I’ve been talking all day and nobody has understood me!”
“Why don’t you try with us?” Blockhead asked. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Gloriosa looked down and started to laugh, but froze. “Say that again,” she said.
“...We’re not going anywhere?”
“They left.” Gloriosa’s helmet grew back over her face and she grabbed Blockhead by the shoulders. “Don’t you see? I was hurting them! Iron Mage’s suit—”
“Iron Mage is here?” Fluttershy asked. She resumed quailing as Plantmare spun around to look at her.
“Yes! And that suit, it must have a limit! Maybe it’s battery isn’t as robust as we thought or… Oh! No, I know what it is! It’s a system!”
“Hey,” Blockhead interrupted, “I don’t think hurting anyone is gonna help…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Plantmare interrupted. “Just leave it to me. I’ve got a plan.”
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This was a real thrill-ride and I enjoyed it!
Poor Fluttershy though. I really cracked up at the way that poor Blockhead accidentally gave her away to Gloriosa. Wow... Just wow. XD
Also, top-notch with Sunset's fight with Gloriosa/Plantmare in this. I really got a kick out of the sentence describing her striding - nope, strutting through the flames. That was pitch-perfect and I could see it in my so clearly, it was like watching it as its own animation.
One thing though? Some typos here-
That should be "Captain" and you forgot the quotation mark at the end of the sentence there.
10263289
Thank you! I finished this right before the deadline so I'm happy its any good.
Assuming this means he's like this with mundane stuff like the coffee running low. Delightful.
...huh. Suddenly occurs. Does Fluttershy have Angel in this continuity?
The official term.
Maybe if it was insured but then apparently it's standard practice to investigate owners in arson cases because it might be an insurance thing.
"Let's just hope they don't find that stash of Hostess fruit pies with golden sponge and rich cream filling, or I'm done for!"
Got confused and read this as Twi dialogue at first but, well, Lesson Zero happened.
Finally figured out what this reminds of. Spidey Unlimited. "Sonics...on!"
Huh. Y'know, that's actually a neat flip. Hawkeye started out as an unfortunate would-be hero who wound up on the wrong side of the tracks until the Avengers, but here Shield archer is an official position and the one in armour is the definite vigilante.
Nice.
Only error I can see so far, but it's either looking forward to or anticipating, not both.
This episode's been very good for time inside Fluttershy's head.
"Oh yeah, being popular, THAT MUST BE SO HARD!"
"Cousin Dash?! What're you doing here?"
"FEELING WANTED!"
And then she sniffed Fluttershy's hair a little.
(The automatic assumption that someone has crushed Fluttershy's dreams like a paper cup is a little too funny.)
The steaks (right word?) have risen a bit... Also someone needs to fire Blockhead
Don't talk about who? Sunset may be missing dialog here.
Also the assorted curses ponies threw around when they dipped into dark magic. And that thing with Sombra and the Crystal Empire. And...
The point was that there were curses, and there were curses.
Yeah, the Everfree's definitely smarter than ponies give it credit for.
I too like third thing. It's the best thing since et al.
It's not very effective...
Folks came close, but Gloriosa's not in a diplomatic mood right now. This could end very poorly for several people...
10264410
Unless there's levitating meat, the stakes have risen.
10264514
Thx, I was too lazy to double check
Wow, amazing
10263958
No, she does not. If I'm doing Guardians of the Galaxy he'll be Rocket Racoon. I'm actually really annoyed with myself because Pinkie Pie would have been 100% perfect for Starlord and I can't do that now because she's on Earth.
It would have been amazing.
SHIELD has a department in charge of paying damages their agents do during a mission. They've had words with Sunset. Carefully italicized words.
I appreciate that, though Sunset does have a criminal record.
Fluttershy is one of my favorite ponies. I should think about finishing the Arcane Train sometime...
Yeah, I feel a little bad about how much I like it.
10264410
He's a guard, his job is punching things when he's told and de-escalating hostile situations, He's not overtly good at his job but he doesn't need to be fired. If he's straining credibility I'll buff his competence next chapter.
10264499
That is actually going to pay off next chapter.
10169871
For the record: Magic is treated as a science that isn't fully understood, but can be measured and defined. Each spell requires a finite amount of power to run and will run down eventually. Things like Sunset's arrows and the spellwork on the armor are recharged or supplied a constant stream of energy from either a machine source or their own mana.
Curses (and Doctor Strange will be appearing, I have a pony picked out already,) and other supernatural occurrences explicitly only follow their own rules. Preforming sorcery or curses requires a special connection to the
forceweird stuff and a lot of pageantry.10265107
Fixed. Glad you liked it.
10266937
Fair enough
10266937
Thanks, remember the wrong name, it sounds Ready Awesome
I wonder who are you going to make into Captain Equestria
10638330
I just wonder if they are ever going to finish the story. Still a good read though.
Although the logical choice is Shinning Armor.