Turmoil Rising

by JFT

Chapter 75: Two of a Kind

“Hey wait!” Stygian called out to the young stag.

The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, and yet despite that, the child of the Heart of the Forest made his way towards the Everfree Forest, the one place ponies considered to be too dangerous to enter, especially in the nighttime of all things, let alone with what was going on in it now.

He stopped in response to the call. “Do I know you?” the forest dweller inquired.

“Well… not technically, I just saw coming out of Princess Twilight’s old castle,” Stygian answered. “The sun’s going down, so shouldn’t you be going back?”

But soon after that, he once again resumed his stride. “No. I’m going home.”

The unicorn perused him. “Hold on, that’s the Everfree Forest!”

“Exactly. That’s where I live.”

“But-but-but… you can’t go there in the middle of the night! Not with what’s lurking in there!”

“I don’t care. I’d rather go and face the consequences of my actions right now than wait in for the inevitable end in dread.”

He wasn’t stopping. He clearly had no intention to do so and yet Stygian knew he had to do something that would stop him and prevent a potential interspecies incident, but by now they’d already passed the threshold of the forest. And then the thought formed in his mind. Not a kind one, but he needed to do something regardless. He focused his magic at a nearby tree, at its ground level, at a root that was slightly exposed. He needed to put a lot of force into working since his magic was nowhere near the Element of Magic or the Pillar of Sorcery, yet he still managed to raise the root off the ground just as the deer passed over it, getting in the way of his hooves, causing him to fall on his face.

“Oh my gosh!” he faked his reaction. “Your Majesty, are you okay?”

He approached, but just as he got to him, the young stag released a scream, not one that seemed to be of pain, but rather of built-up frustration, after which he started banging his head against the ground.

“I! JUST! CAN’T! EVEN! ANY! MORE!”

The unicorn only stood by and watched the meltdown. Eventually, the prince finally managed to calm himself down, panting heavily, before the sound of heavy breathing was replaced by a suppressed sob. Suddenly, the pony felt guilty, he needed to act fast.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” was the only thing he could come up with saying.

The young stag raised his head and sniffed. “It’s not like it can get any worse…”

He was surprised that the young royal was willing to cooperate considering the state he was in a moment ago. And as the deer walked away to sit under the nearby tree, he followed.

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”

He gave him a perplexed look. “How do you know I’m royalty?”

“I was… close to the castle when I overheard it being said. You’re an envoy for another kingdom, I take it?”

“I’m Bramble from Thicket – a majestic realm where the deer live. It resides within the Everfree Forest.”

“Ah… That explains it. But really, it wouldn’t be wise for you to go there during the night considering what lurks in there at the moment, so why were you so determined to leave?”

Bramble made a frown. “Trust me, we’re more than aware of troubles in our neck of the woods. My father, King Aspen, the Heart of the Forest, sent me to Princess Twilight to get more details about what’s been happening and to act as a liaison. I arrived at Ponyville but there was a magical barrier covering it, so I had to wait for it to disappear, all while being chased by timberwolves, and after I finally lost them it finally dropped, and that’s when I was met by three mares, who just so happened to be the younger sisters of the Council of Friendship, and they escorted me to the castle. It’s where I’ve been staying while observing the goings on. And maybe I should’ve stayed elsewhere…”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“There’s this one mare, one of the three that I met, ones that I mentioned earlier, named Sweetie Belle. Since I met her she’s been acting really friendly and indulging, and I thought at first that it was just decorum. But then…” the young stag halted for a moment. “Her older sister caught on what was really happening with her…”

“And what was happening with her?” Stygian curiously tilted his head.

“She told me she… She said that her little sister had a crush on me.”

“Oh… Em, that’s… Good, I guess,” the pony responded unsure of what else to say.

“Not for me!” the deer yelled at him. “I don’t know what I was supposed to do. I’ve never considered a relationship outside my own kind, nor have I even been thinking about a relationship to begin with. And that wasn’t the worst of it. Miss Rarity seems to be particularly protective about her younger sister, and she told me that if I’ve done anything to upset her, she would know, and would then tell my father about my “poor etiquette”.”

“Oh… I see how this could get awkward then.”

“You’ve no idea. For the past few days, I’ve felt like I was walking on eggshells so I wouldn’t do something wrong.” He winced suddenly. “And then today… it finally happened.”

“What’s happened?” the pony wondered.

“Sweetie Belle, Scotaloo, and I went out to the lake today. As it was coming to an end though, she invited me to participate in something called “a screaming eye”.”

The unicorn tilted his head in confusion. “A… screaming eye?”

“There was this stand, where the guy served some strange cold thing, some in cardboard-like cones, others on a stick, and then there were ones that were simply put in a small tub, but all of those things were like cold snow, yet sweet.”

“Hold on,” he halted him as a realization came over him. “Did you mean ICECREAM?”

“I... suppose that was the right name. Anyway, it was so tasty I gobbled up mine almost immediately. I was going to ask for another, but then… Out of nowhere, my head started to hurt, it felt like it was in the middle of a blizzard, that’s how awful it was.”

“Ah. That would be a brain freeze. It’s a common occurrence when you consume something really cold really fast,” the pony elaborated.

“I wish I knew in advance, because in a state of panic, I flailed about with my hooves and accidentally knocked one of the cones, and it landed right on top of Sweetie Belle’s head. I tried to apologize and begged her not to tell Miss Rarity about it, but all she did was walk away with an angry expression.”

And that’s when it clicked for Stygian – what was witnessed earlier, the white curly-manned young mare walking away with ice cream dripping off her head, was the aftermath of the event that the deer prince was describing.

“So why did you not return to the castle? Why did you go to the Everfree Forest instead?”

“Because I wanted to go home,” Bramble explained himself. “I was going to return to Thicket and confess my father and face his wrath, rather than stay here and wait in dread for the inevitable doom that would follow once Twilight and her friends returned.”

“Oh, come now, surely it wouldn’t be that bad.”

“You have no idea. My people have had bad experiences with your kind when we made a direct first contact some time ago, and it wasn’t pretty; we were trying to mend the fence, so to speak. This was my first official visit, and my father hoped that I’d keep up a good image. The last thing I wanted was for something bad to happen that would reflect badly on us… And as you can see, I failed…”

“Come on, it really can’t be that bad-”

“You don’t know anything!” the young stag yelled at him. “I was trusted with a special charge and I failed at it. How am I supposed to face my dad and tell him I couldn’t even do the bare minimum for my people? You have no idea what it feels like to be useless…”

The young prince sulked as he went silent. And yet as the unicorn tried to cheer him up and tell him otherwise… he couldn’t. Useless. That word that he uttered, struck a nerve with Stygian, a too familiar one, one that he didn’t want to think about, but that whisper in the back of his head, the one that was trying to hold him back from a certain action… it was the cause of it all.

“No… You’re wrong. I do know what it feels like…”

The words that the grey pony spoke after some time garnered the deer’s attention. “You? How?”

He inhaled. “A long time ago, I lived in a small village on the eastern coast of Equestria. I never dreamt of being anything more than a scholar who was fascinated with new discoveries, that’s all I wanted in my life. And then one day… the sirens came.”

“Sirens?”

“Creatures of the deep seas that only roughly resemble equines, with the power to spread discord among people and feed on the strife it produces. And that’s exactly what happened to my village. I wasn’t born with any particular strength or skill, so I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to beat them, I needed help. And so, I traveled to many parts of Equestria, looking for powerful ponies, renowned for their power. We’ve traveled together for so long that we sort of started to bond, something I would’ve never expected. But after we collected the last member of the team and we returned to my village, I suddenly began feeling… distant.”

“Why?” the prince wondered.

“In the group of such powerful and gifted individuals… I was the odd one out. I realized that all too early as we traveled back. And when we finally reached our destination and were preparing to defeat the sirens… I got asked: What I can contribute to the plan? And I could only give one answer – nothing… Even so, in the end, the sirens were defeated and banished from our world. My village was saved, but… I couldn’t get over it. I was in the presence of mighty heroes, fought beside them so many times, even if my contribution was minimal, and yet when things truly counted… I couldn’t offer anything to them. I wasn’t a hero… how could they have possibly seen me as somepony worthy of being anywhere near equal to them? And I wanted to change things… I wanted to do something that would put me on an equal level with them but… The only thing I did… was hurt them… and they scorned me for it. And I didn’t know it back then, but in a moment of despair that I felt… I heard a whisper, one that-”

The tables seemed to have turned. In an attempt to sympathize with the young prince, he was now unknowingly pouring out his thoughts. He was so focused on it that he got caught completely off guard when the deer shoved his leg into his mouth, silencing him.

“Hey! Wah ah yu-!”

“Shush!” he whispered, before dragging the unicorn behind the tree.

And there they sat quietly, waiting for something to happen. Stygian wasn’t sure what this was about, but then he heard it, rustling in the bushes. Soon enough, a form emerged from the growth, it walked on four legs, and even though it resembled a wolf, its body was built from pieces of wood, some greenery sprouting from its head and forming facial features, its eyes glowing green. It passed the tree behind which they were hiding, disappearing into the woods again.

“Phew,” the grey pony sighed in relief, “thanks, Prince Bramble. If you hadn’t warned me it would’ve-”

“Shush!” he quieted him, shoving his hoof in his mouth again.

Bushes once again rustled, and another beast emerged, disappearing where the previous one did. Just as he believed that it had passed already, the deer refused to let him go. And for a good reason: Soon, even more timberwolves emerged from the bushes, one after another, with a noticeable spaced passage of time. Finally, as the last one disappeared, the young stag let go of the pony.

“Wow… that was a close call. I never would’ve thought that a pack of timberwolves was going to come this close to us,” Stygian once again sighed in relief.

“That wasn’t a pack…”

“What do you mean it wasn’t a pack? They came together one after another, going in the same direction.”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” he began elaborating. “If it were a pack they’d be sticking close to one another when moving to a different location. But these… That space of time between their emergence makes it clear that they didn’t come together. It’s almost as if they came from various locations. That’s not normal.”

“But why would they emerge like that then?”

“That’s exactly what we’ve been wondering for a while now. Back at Thicket, we’ve noticed the timberwolf's unusual behavior and we weren’t able to discern why because of the sinister force that now lurks in the forest. It seemed almost as if they were being drawn to a specific location as if they were being summoned.”

The deer was making sense, he seemed to be more knowledgeable about the behavior of nature’s creatures than he. But it seemed that even he wasn’t able to understand why that was happening.

The unicorn gazed at the location where the creatures had disappeared. “Maybe we can unravel the mystery together, Prince Bramble.”

“Please, just Bramble is fine. Speaking of… I don’t think you’ve told me your name.”

“Stygian,” he answered. “Anyway, if we follow the path where the timberwolves went, maybe we can get some answers. Although… I’m not sure it’d be wise to venture into the forest now that night is coming, now that I think about it…”

“Don’t worry. If push comes to shove, I can use my magic to get us out of the pinch,” the young stag reassured him.

“Your people can use magic?”

“And potent one at that. So, it’s best I don’t use it unless things get really serious. Can I count on you to use your magic if in the meantime?”

“I mean, I’m no Twilight or Star Swirl, but I’ll try.”

“Alright.” The young deer took the lead and trotted in the direction where the wooden creatures had disappeared. “Come! Follow my lead!”

Stygian followed the young prince, who ran through the overgrowth, a task that wasn’t very easy for him. There were so many obstacles in his way, from overgrowth to branches, the exposed roots, constantly inconveniencing him with a slap or a stumble. None of that was the case for the deer, however, who skipped through everything in his path without being deterred. Finally, he stopped on the spot, allowing the pony to get to him and catch his breath. The stag waved at him as he peeked through the bushes, motioning him to join. The pony came to his side, looked through the opening in the bushes, and beheld the scene. In a small clearing, a gathering was held – timberwolves were all around, clustered together. Then one of them began to howl, and soon, others joined in, creating a chorus so loud that the two quadrupeds hiding in the bushes were forced to cover their ears. And out of the overgrowth, changelings emerged. They stood there for a brief moment, staring at the wooden beasts, and once things quieted down, they all shapeshifted into maulwurfs and began digging the ground, disappearing under the surface. The ground suddenly quaked, and the duo saw the earth at the scene beginning to sink. It didn’t end there though, as the vibration began to move in their direction. They realized too late that their surroundings, not just what they were looking at, split. The earth heaved, including the part where they stood. It collapsed and disappeared into the dark abyss along with the timberwolves and the changelings.

Thousands upon thousands of dancing lights were everywhere, occupying the astral plane that was known as the Realm of Dreams. This place was beyond the reach of anyone, except for the one who had the power to enter it – one whose purpose was to watch over it. Former princess, Luna, walked through the realm that was hers to watch over, observing the dreams of numerous ponies that were in their moment of slumber. She was diligent in her work, but not just because it was her purpose. She has been absent from her duty for a long time, not even thinking about ever going back to it, until she saw the damage that was done in her absence… no, BECAUSE of her absence. She had to fix what was done because of her negligence. The shadow that had infected several people, she had seen it firsthand now, and yet when it slipped away, it left behind a residue of its essence, one that would eventually turn into Nightmare Moon. It was clear that the shade was only able to manifest nightmares of the victim it was currently inhabiting, and yet when she reached for the source, it turned to her dark side. How did it know? She herself was never afflicted by it, and if she was, she would’ve been the first to counter it. That was the question that she had been pondering for several long restless nights as she wondered the Realm of Dreams, keeping a close eye on the ponies. That fatigue was now beginning to crop up again, and at the same time, she began noticing that some of the light began to disappear, which meant that the dreamers were beginning to awake, which was signaling that it was soon going to be time for her to rest again. She sighed and was prepared to exit her current state, but then her eyes caught an unusual sight in one of the floating dreams. She saw a grey, blue-manned unicorn with a brown cloak, looking at a strange well-like structure. He simply wandered over to the opening and just fell in!

Scorned, cast out. He earnestly believed that the Pillars would’ve understood why he had taken their artifacts, but his pleading had fallen on deaf ears. He wandered the land, aimless and listless until…

Come…

He heard a voice... no, a whisper. He couldn’t see it, yet he felt it coming from the front of him. And he followed it, Stygain traveled to an abandoned village that stood under one of the many large spires that were strewn over the area, known as the Hollow Shades. He didn’t like this place; there was a strange ominous aura about it, and yet, he heeded the call. He came to the middle of the abandoned village and saw a well that had been unused for a long time. Once again, the whisper beckoned him.

Come…

Even though he was scared of simply dropping into the darkness below, he made a single step and fell down the hole, thinking she was going to land on solid rock, only for a splash into a body of water to soften his fall. It took him a moment for his hooves to find perches and climb atop the rock that was sticking out of it. As he finally collected himself, he came to realize that the whole place was covered in glowing green liquid.

And then, a sinister voice spoke. “You have done well, Stygian. You’ve reached the end of your journey.”

“W-who are you?” the pony asked.

“Me? Call me your desire.”

“My… desire?”

“Yes. Your desire for power. The power that you RIGHTFULLY deserve. Power… that was denied to you.” The unicorn sulked, yet the voice resumed. “You were with them, nay, you were the one who brought the Pillars together. You knew each and every one of them, by both reputation and as people. You DESERVED to be EQUAL to them. And when you tried to take what was rightfully yours they showed nothing but spite towards you. They have wronged you, Stygian. They deserve to be repaid in kind. That is why you were brought here. This place is a remnant of what had once passed. A being of great power once threaded upon this place and left behind a residue of its power. It has remained untouched for a long time, and now, you have the chance to take it as your own.”

The pony then noticed that the green fluid was beginning to turn dark, turning into a dark vaporous form that floated in front of him now, and as he reached out to it, he suddenly halted. There was a thought in his mind, a memory really – he was here before. This situation, he faced it before, and he remembered where it led to.

“No…” He backed away, trying to resist. “This isn’t right. This… this dark power isn’t the answer.”

But tendrils suddenly emerged from the vaporous form, tangling around the unicorn’s limbs. He tried to fight them, but more just kept sprouting.

“Don’t deny it. Embrace it… You know what your heart truly desires.”

A strange aura began to pulse from it and a sense of illness overcame him, his sight dimmed and was completely taken over by blackness - something was being drawn out of him. When the feeling finally passed, he saw a shadow standing in front of him - a shadow whose outline resembled him! The dark vapor released him from its grip and began to infuse the shadow, and in turn, it grew in proportion. By the end, the vapor disappeared, and it was now radiating from the colossal dark creature that towered over Stygian, forming its mane and wings. It cackled, and tendrils erupted from its chest, coiling around him, and dragging him into itself. It was happening again! Stygian panicked and tried to fight it but the Pony of Shadows was too strong! And just when it seemed to be too late…

FLASH!

A powerful light erupted, and the towering form almost instantly disappeared. The unicorn needed a moment to gather his thoughts to comprehend what had just happened, as he stood in an empty void. But in the end, his gaze turned to the origin of the strong light, one that soon revealed the guardian of the Realm of Dreams.

“Princess Luna?” he regarded her. “Thank you so much! I didn’t think I was going to make it.” Then he noticed the worn-down look on her face. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine, Stygian,” she deflected the notion. “It’s a good thing I came at the right moment. Yet even if I’m dispelled the dream, I feel that something’s still not right.”

“Why is that?”

“A nightmare this powerful wouldn’t manifest itself unless you feel troubled. Is something the matter?”

“Is it that noticeable?” he sighed as the watcher of the dream smiled. “Do you ever feel like you’re… backtracking?”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“I don’t think you can understand. It’s like… You’ve done something bad in the past but just when you think you’ve gone over it, you suddenly feel guilt, like you’ve done something wrong again, even though you didn’t?”

The Mare of the Night stood there puzzled, yet it sort of felt like she knew what he was talking about. “I think I know what you’re talking about, Stygian. Truth is… I’m in it as well.”

“You?” the unicorn was flabbergasted. “But you’ve overcome being Nightmare Moon! Everypony loves you!”

“Exactly… And how did I repay that gratitude? Apathy.” She hung her head. “If I had not relinquished by duty when my sister and I abdicated our positions for Twilight Sparkle…” She sighed. “Let’s just say that things wouldn’t have progressed as they did, not that you’d know what’s happening.”

“You mean regarding a creature known as Turmoil within the Everfree Forest?”

She raised her head in surprise. “You know about that?”

“It’s why I’ve come to Ponyville in the first place after I met Miss Rarity. She said Princess Twilight and the rest are going to a foreign land. I wanted to know more what it was about.”

“Does Star Swirl know already you’re here?”

For a moment, Stygian froze. “No… I couldn’t yet.”

“Couldn’t? Or won’t?” The mare received a shocked look from the pony. “Is that what you were talking about earlier? You feel guilty about something?”

“I… I don’t know why, but ever since I’ve been told about something happening, I’ve been having this thought, almost a whisper, in my mind, and I can’t resist it.”

“A whisper?” Luna’s horn began to glow, and the background suddenly shifted, as if the time around them reversed, freezing at the moment after the green liquid turned dark, and into a large dark vapor. “This? Is this the whisper you were talking about?”

“It’s the whisper that I heard as I surrendered myself to darkness… and became the Pony of Shadow”, he elaborated. “It called to me way before that.”

A grim look began to manifest on the alicorn’s face. “Stygian… I think I’ve heard it as well. Twilight, Discord, and Zecora were afflicted by some sinister force to pray on their worst nightmares. Some outside force caused it, and it seems to be connected to Turmoil. I finally caught it in the act and…”

She stopped mid-sentence, her horn glowed again, and time around them progressed for but a moment, only for the voice to speak.

Don’t deny it. Embrace it… You know what your heart truly desires.

When it froze again, she resumed. “It’s the exact same voice… And after it ran away, it left behind a residue of its essence, one that turned into Nightmare Moon when I approached it, taunting me about the time… that is now only a distant past.”

The unicorn kept staring at the vapor. “Princess, you mean to tell me that what we’ve experienced, the voice that we’ve heard… it’s connected in some way?”

“I dread to admit it, but yes. And for that reason, I need you to go to Star Swirl and tell him the truth when you wake up.”

He was about to say something, but now, his expression turned grim as well, as he faced the Mare of the Night. “Oh no… Now I remembered! Myself and Prince Bramble were on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest when we saw a group of timberwolves gathering, changelings came, and all of a sudden, the ground under us broke and… After that it all went back.”

“You mean to tell me, you’ve lost consciousness in the enemy territory?!”

“Yes! Please, Princess Luna, I need you to wake me up! I have to make sure Bramble’s okay!”

The alicorn’s horn began to glow and the light enveloped the scholar. “I will alert Celestia! Try to survive to the best of your abilities until then, Stygian!” she ordered him.

And with a flash, the little pony disappeared.

He gasped for air as he suddenly awoke, quickly shifting about to try and determine his location, but it was too dark to see – he needed light. Yet as he tried to use magic to light up his surroundings, nothing happened. He tried again, and the result was the same. Something was negating his ability to use magic! Panic gripped him. He still couldn’t see and he had no idea where he was, and on top of that, he still didn’t know where his companion was. He began feeling about with his hooves, trying to determine if there was a pathway because wherever he was, it was full of leaves and brambles. He waded through the growth for a bit, until he hit something with his head. Based on the feeling it was clearly wooden, but by the shape and weight, he couldn’t tell. Something odd happened then: He didn’t know if his eyes adjusted to the darkness or if a light source illuminated his surroundings from somewhere far away, but he could see well enough now to make out the outline of what he had come across. The moment he did that though, he screamed in fear, as he stood face to face with a timberwolf.

“Stygian?”

He recognized that voice – it was his deer companion. He looked around and finally realized that there was indeed dim light coming from a small hole above him, and there he saw the outline of the young stag, who quickly jumped down to him.

“Bramble, look out! There’s a-!” the pony tried to warn him, but the prince quickly covered his mouth.

“Shhhhhhhh! Be quiet. Look carefully,” he whispered to him.

It took him a moment to calm down, and when he finally did, he took a better look at what it was in front of him. It was a timberwolf, but only the upper part of its head, stuck in the overgrowth, the green light that displayed its eyes had gone out.

“What’s happened to it?” he asked.

“It has become one with nature again. That’s what IT has done to it – it will do it to all of them,” the deer answered.

“It?”

Bramble motioned him to follow. “Come and see for yourself.”

They began climbing the growth to reach the exit above them, but the pony still had questions. “Bramble, what’s happened? How long was I out?”

“I’m not sure myself, but it was a very long time,” he began explaining. “After the ground gave out under us, I was in a daze for a bit, but you were completely out cold. We ended up in an underground tunnel that was swarming with changelings. I managed to drag you away just in time, as they were scouring the surrounding areas.”

“What were they looking for?”

“Timberwolves. They survived the fall and then made their way down the tunnel where there was a sickly green light at the far end of it. We couldn’t stay because the changelings were literally carving up the ground that fell from above. I managed to uproot one of the bushes and I dragged you towards the light source. But let me tell you - when I finally got to it… I was beginning to wish we had gone the opposite direction and risk facing the changelings instead.”

“Why?”

They finally reached the top of the hole and crawled out of it, and Stygian soon understood why he would think that - he had been here before, earlier today! The giant overgrowth that they were on stood by the wall of an underground cave. The light source came from the very familiar green lake, in the middle of which sat a giant jagged black rock, on top of which was a giant, twisted, foreboding tree. And then… he saw them: A pair of giant dark monstrosities, one had a thick build with multiple yellow eyes, and the other was slender with blue eyes, noticeable icy spray emanating from its open maw. The latter was leaning on the bank of the lake with its gaunt arms, where timberwolves sat in massive numbers, reaching out to each of them, touching their head with its pointy fingers, pausing at each for a bit, before moving on to the next one.

Almost instantly, Stygian took cover in the hole. “It’s them! It’s them it’s them it’s them it’s them it’s them!” the frantically whispered.

“You know what these… things, are?” Bramble inquired.

“Take cover quick!” he urged the deed, who quickly did so. “I’ve seen them just before we met. Changelings have dug a tunnel under a restaurant in Ponyville and it led to this place. This is the source of all the problems. Those two creatures can sense strong emotions, and if we stay here they’re going to find us even if we keep hiding.” He then turned his attention to him. “So what’s that one doing to the timberwolves?”

“This growth here, it used to be one.”

“Come again?” the pony raised an eyebrow.

“I managed to drag the bush to this point without us being noticed and saw it. They all gathered before this creature and then it began poking each of them. One of them noticed our hiding place and got suspicious. It got to us and then, just before it poked its head into the bush, I panicked and threw a rock at it. And then… well, it exploded and turned into this giant mess of leaves and branches. I thought we would get discovered at this point, but apparently, they weren’t interested in the sudden demise of one of their own. And so here I’ve been, watching this process while I waited for you to wake up.”

“Well, we need to get out of here before any of those two sense us.”

“If that’s the case we’ll have to fight our way out.”

“No good. For some reason, I can’t use my magic.”

“Really?”

The deer grabbed a nearby leaf and opened the small barrel that he wore on the golden collar around his neck. He dipped the small leaf into the body of water that was inside it, and in a matter of moments, the leaf grew, turning into a shrubbery, before the stag had to drop it down the passage so that they wouldn’t get stuck by it.

“Odd. My magic’s working just fine,” he reaffirmed.

The unicorn found it odd as well and decided to try again, but much like before, the spell he cast simply evaporated. “It seems only my magic is being negated. It’s up to you to do the hard labor.”

“I would, but how? The easiest way for us to get away would be to make a tree grow and break through the ceiling of the cavern, but for that, I’d need a tree seed, which I don’t have on me.”

A predicament indeed. They had limited options, and Stygian knew there was no way for them to directly fight their way out, especially not with those two monstrous things present. He thought for a moment: If he needed a seed, maybe he could look for it in the dense growth where they were hiding at the moment, but trying to find something so small would be equivalent to trying to find a needle in a haystack. He tried to shift into a more comfortable position so he could think, and he suddenly felt as if there was a weight hanging in the hood of his cloak. He reached for it and felt something bumpy inside the cloth, before turning it to the front so he could get a better look inside. He almost let out a cheer, trying really hard to suppress it.

“We may be in luck,” he told the deer and showed him his hood, revealing to have a handful of acorns in it.

Bramble gasped. “Oak seeds! These will be perfect!”

He ripped the pony’s cloak right off of his and descended back into the bottom of the growth, forcing him to follow quickly. The young stag dropped the handful of acorns on the ground of the hideout, then once again opened the small container around his neck, but this time he poured quite a bit of water on them.

“Okay get ready, it’s gonna get bumpy really fast!” he warned the unicorn.

The nature magic of the deer reacted quickly. The seeds burst open, and the plants quickly reached for the ground so they could take root. The moment that happened, the stems began to expand and grow, and with multiple trees rapidly growing together, the two could feel the buoyancy beneath their feet, as the plants pushed the surrounding growth off the ground. This lasted for only several seconds before it came to an abrupt stop, as the tree tops hit the ceiling of the cavern. Then the crumbling sound followed, as the trees were determined to not let anything stand in their way. Everything around them shook before they were once against forced to the bottom of their protective growth. Then it all stopped again, but this time it was slowly. It was quiet for a while, the two being unsure of what had happened, and it was the pony who decided to climb up to the exit, through which a much brighter light than earlier was shining.

“Bramble, I can see Ponyville,” he told him.

“Really? Great! Seems that our plan worked perfectly!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Come and see.”

The young prince was curious about what he meant by that, so he joined his side and looked through the opening. He saw the early morning light coming over the horizon. It soon became clear to both of them that they had spent all night underground in the enemy territory. But the pony was right – Ponyville was visible right in front of them… some two hundred feet off the ground! The oaks have grown so tall that they were almost thrice the size of other trees of the Everfree Forest, so theirs stuck out like a sore thumb. They had managed to escape their predicament, but now they were faced with another one, unsure of how to deal with it. Suddenly, the tree shook for a moment, and then once more. It quickly dawned on them that the reason was likely that SOMETHING at the base of the oaks was trying to chop them down. And their reaction was too slow to make a response to counter it, as they felt that the trees were bending in a singular direction. The two couldn’t do anything but desperately hold on to the growth as they fell at an increased speed with which the oaks were beginning to fall, neither of them able to do anything that could soften their call. And just before the tree tops crashed to the ground, the ground to a complete stop. Stygian then noticed a teal glow enveloping them.

“DER YA ARE!!!”

The yell came from the nearby pine, under which a familiar large blue pony with a shovel was, along with a pink unicorn, whose horn was glowing, and she was displaying a noticeable lack of sleep. “Where the hay have you two been?! Do you know how worried you’ve made us?!”

She dispelled her magic, and the tree top finally hit the ground, breaking open large growth, and scattering it all over the place, with the remnant head of its maker landing at Rockhoof’s legs.

“Ooooh, a timberwolf trophy! Nice.” He picked it up and stashed it away.

Meanwhile, Starlight Glimmer approached the unicorn and the deer who were picking themselves up. “You two have some explaining to do, right now!”

“Yes, we do. You all need to hear what we’ve just seen,” Stygian insisted. “We need to… go and meet Star Swirl.”

Comments

[nightshroud96]

11665975
Because what happened to the egg afterwards?
For all we know, it could have been lost and then discovered by ponies who then gave it to Celestia's school.
Like we don't know where Spike's egg came from or how it came to the school.

[nightshroud96]

I see that Nightmare Moon and Pony of Shadows are infact connected to Turmoil it seems.
Liked Luna's and Stygian's interaction there(and also on how Luna realizes it was a bad idea to essentially abandon her destiny as dream guardian)

And I wonder if Spike would sympathize with Stygian there with how he felt about the others and feeling "useless" and such(or in Spike's case, left out so much back then)