Chapter 8 - The Forest
Light Flow wasn't afraid. Not at all.
He wasn't even lying this time.
His careful hoofsteps left subtle marks in the forest floor as he trotted through the dank recesses of the Everfree Forest. The dark trees rose up around him, covering the sky with a living canopy; which left the underside of the forest in an unnatural shadow during the otherwise bright day. They pressed close to each other, completely blocking his way forward at times; forcing him to pick his paths at the total whim of the forest. He swore that the scarred and gnarled bark was forming laughing faces, mocking his inability to proceed.
He set his jaw, and resolved to ignore the stupid things.
Dead leaves and small greens crunched noisily underhoof, filling the air with unwelcome noise in the otherwise silent place. It rang loud in his ears, a sharp contrast to the normal encompassing silence of the forest.
Speaking of noise: it was far quieter than he had expected it to be. There wasn't any birdsong, or fluttering of wings. He couldn't hear the rustle of small feet as they trampled through the undergrowth or dug into the ground. There were no bugs crawling on the shaded floor, and no buzzing flies in the air. There was no animal life anywhere.
At least, not any normal animal life.
He stopped in his tracks, one hoof on the massive root of a particularly adventurous tree. He stood still, not daring to move, or even to breathe. A stalled gasp died on his lips, and his jaw hung open for a moment before he closed it softly. He sucked his lower lip into his mouth, and bit down.
He had heard something. Something unmistakable in the total silence of the otherwise dead woods. It cut through the air like a blade, reverberating easily in the cramped space; and ringing loudly in his ears.
It was a howl, deep and uniform. A low tone that hung for multiple seconds, before dying out slowly. He knew what that meant. He knew what kind of animal made that noise, anypony around these parts would. There wasn't a single pony in Ponyville that didn't know and fear that creature.
Timberwolf.
He suddenly felt far more unsure about his quest, like he had at the forest's edge. He wasn't quite afraid, that wasn't the feeling that was building in his gut. Fear was easy to disregard after his strange hallucination earlier. He didn't know the feeling brewing inside of him, but he wasn't as confident as he had been just a few minutes ago.
The howl hadn't sounded close, but his mother's old stories made Timberwolves out to be abnormally swift creatures above all. Strange, considering they were made of wood. If one caught his scent, he wasn't sure he would be able to escape.
As loathe as he sometimes was to admit his flaws, he knew he wasn't the most athletic pony. He spent nearly all of his time reading, and any physical exercise he may have had, he only got on the rare occasions his mother got fed up with his brooding and sent him outside to 'play'.
He raised his hoof from the dry forest floor and set it on the large root next to his other one, and took an unsteady breath. He pursed his lips, and felt around his teeth with his tongue. He flicked his eyes around at his surroundings, trying to decide whether he should just give up and go home. He had been walking for what he guessed was thirty minutes or so, and the sparse foliage around him was beginning to grow more dense. Other than that, he had no way of telling his progress into the woods. The trees blended together around him, forming an almost solid wall of blacks and greys. Everything looked the same in this stupid forest, and he couldn't remember which direction he had begun walking in.
He had vague recollections of seeing a cliff or two: harsh rocky inclines forming steep stony walls that thematically clashed with the regular wooden ones. He was also pretty sure he had heard a river a while back. The subtle bubbling and washing of the waves had been very soft on his ears, and he wasn't even sure he wasn't hallucinating again. He hadn't been able to see the watery pathway anyway, so he had dismissed the thought of it and continued on his way.
He wouldn't panic, he refused to, no matter how lost he may or may not have been. His eyes were dry. He was fine. He would keep going until he found something, and he wouldn't give up. Not until he had something to prove his strength. He just.... he just had to...
He had to keep going. He had to take another step.
His hoof set itself down on the other side of the root, and he set his jaw. He looked forward into the shade and the quiet, and continued his earlier pace.
The trees scrolled past his vision in a unfocused blur as he cantered along on his chosen path. It wasn't a traditional path like the roads he had seen in Ponyville, but more of a simple opening in an otherwise crowded area. Since it didn't follow any logic except the forest's, he often switched directions and elevations; twisting and turning around and around. It effectively destroyed any chance he had of mentally keeping track of where he was going. He just knew he had to keep going forward.
One hoof in front of the other. Forward.
He continued that way for what he guessed was at least fifteen minutes. It could have been more, and it could have been less, but it was incredibly hard to tell in this place. He spared a quick glance to the leafy coverings above him, only taking his eyes off the path for a second; but it was enough, and that's when it happened.
He felt his hoof strike something hard, and the sharp pain came a moment before he began to tip forward. He sucked in through his teeth, and let out a tiny gasp as his view took a turn downwards. His back hooves slid on some stray leaves behind him, and he was left wobbling on one hoof. Of course, he couldn't keep balance that way, and he came crashing down onto his face.
He felt a stinging pain in his hoof from where it had struck the offending object, and a deeper pain in his jaw where it had taken the brunt of the fall. He groaned out between his smooshed lips from his humiliating spot on the forest floor, and silently thanked his luck that no one had seen that. He imagined he was a pitiful sight, lying there with his butt in the air and hooves splayed all around him. He gave some honest consideration to just closing his eyes and taking a nap, but he knew that was just inviting a quick death in his sleep.
He wiggled his butt in the air as his back hooves scrabbled for purchase on the ground behind him. He heard the swishing of his tail in the air and muttered out a muffled curse. Maybe a quick death wouldn't be so bad right now.
Eventually, he found purchase, and managed to heave himself up onto unsteady balance. He glanced down at what had tripped him, and he groaned at the sight of an outstretched tree root. He glared at the tree it extended from, and he could have sworn the stupid thing was grinning at him. He scoffed audibly, and turned his head, raising it haughtily. He wouldn't allow the tree the satisfaction of seeing him get mad. Regardless, he proceeded forward in a careful, measured pace, making sure to watch for protrusions on the path ahead.
He continued on that way for another thirty minutes before he caught a flash of something ahead. He blinked a few times, almost sure that he was seeing things; and he sped up in an attempt to reach his new goal faster.
He slowed to a halt, and stared upwards. It was a break in the canopy, and he could see the sky again. But that wasn't what had shocked him, after all: he had seen the sky only an hour or so ago. At least, he thought it had been an hour.
He stared at the fading orange sky as it quickly darkened before his eyes. He couldn't believe it, and he felt his jaw open slightly in horror. He had gone into the forest at noon. How was it already sunset!?
The fire blazing in the sky was slowly extinguished by the growing inky blackness. It dragged its way across the sky, as the burning colors flew away in terror. Flying and screaming across the sky, desperately running from the encroaching abyss.
Sitting there in the middle of the most feared woods in Equestria, Light Flow bore solitary witness to the extinguishing of the light, and the death of the flame that had been a constant fixture for most of time.
It was replaced instead by an endless void, peppered with small dots of light, each burning in their own subtle way; though none brightly enough to risk the shadow reaching out to extinguish them. The new ruler of the sky would never permit such a transgression.
It was night.
And he needed to move on.
He tore his eyes way from the great sea of shadow, and focused them on the ground, on something real. If he stared too long at the sky, here in this cursed place where time didn't make sense; he feared that he too would be consumed. He shook his head. It was just the night sky, he had seen it a million times; and it never captured his attention like it did now. He could take up a new hobby in astronomy after he finished his task.
He took a heavy breath, and wet his lips. He was sitting on the ground in the middle of a ray of moonlight shining down through the trees. He hadn't even realized he'd been sitting, and he couldn't remember ever doing so.
He raised himself up from where he had unconsciously taken a seat, and stretched one of his hooves out behind him. It was surprisingly stiff, and he found himself wondering if he had been sitting for longer than he realized. The forest must've been playing tricks on him, it was the only explanation.
He ran his tongue along the backs of his teeth, and took a moment to collect himself and his thoughts. His horrible hallucination from earlier flashed in his head, and he sucked in a gasp. He had been trying to forget it happened, but it kept bothering him. He had no idea what had happened. He had just been standing there, at the edge of the forest; and suddenly it was like he was in a nightmare. A horrible nightmare that he hadn't been able to wake from.
He hadn't been able to move, and he hadn't felt any of the things the tentacles had done to him. He couldn't breathe, and he could barely think besides. He hadn't even been able to move his eyes from where they had frozen on the sight of the forest; but he had still been able to see what the shadows had done to him. It was like he had simultaneously seen from his eyes, and from the eyes of someone watching it happen. Forced to watch his skin melt away and his insides consumed.
His breath shuddered as he felt the phantom feelings of his organs bursting and his ribs cracking. It hadn't even been painful. That was the thing that unnerved him the most. All he had felt was the uncomfortable pressure in his chest, nothing else. Even as his heart ruptured, and his lungs were crushed; he hadn't felt any pain at all. The thought of it made him sick.
What if it really didn't hurt? It could happen to him at any time and he wouldn't even notice.
He felt pressure rising in his chest, and he quickly forced the subject from his mind. He didn't think this was an incredibly good place to vomit, and the feeling reminded him of something else besides.
Free from his delusions, he noticed he was shivering slightly. The air had chilled around him and he could see the small puffs of his breath. He frowned and blew out, the air cooling and materializing as subtle mist. He didn't think it should've been that cold, but he supposed the forest didn't really follow conventional rules anyway.
He glanced around him. The dark woods remained unchanged from his last check, and he couldn't hear anything either. He was still standing there in the moonlight, and everything was seemingly fine. But he wasn't going to make any progress just standing there in the light.
He looked down at the spot where the glowing moonlight created a bordered edge with the shadow. A clearly defined line, where light and dark clashed against each other.
He shuffled his hoof out towards the line, and took a deep. steady breath. He was ready, he could keep going.
His hoof slid out from the light, into the dark.
I know I'm close.
He continued on, quickly leaving the light behind. It was a strange feeling. The actual light in the forest hadn't changed from before, but it almost felt darker in the night. The shadows seemed to stretch out longer, and he thought he could see inexplicable things dancing in the darkness. The grey brush under him seemed to make less noise than before, and he wondered if it was less dry than the near-dead growths he had seen earlier.
He was lucky. If he hadn't been looking down at the ground he wouldn't have seen it. He would have walked straight into it.
The blue flowers.
He stopped completely still, one hoof still hovering over a small, blue flower. He shakily returned his hoof to his side, and shuddered slightly; eyes still trained on the small patch of blue in the otherwise grey surroundings.
It was Poison Joke. There was no other flower it could be, it literally could not be any other blue flower. Poison Joke was the only blue flower that could possibly survive in these woods. He had only been a moment away from stepping on one, and then...
He felt his mouth dry, and he let his tongue drift out between his lips slightly. He let it sit there as he bit down, the pain helping him stay grounded.
He had heard stories of the ponies who had touched the flower. He didn't really know how it worked, but the effects were usually relatively harmless. Something like a bad mane day, or itchy hooves, or some other ridiculous ailment. But sometimes, he knew, the little blue flowers could be so cruel.
There was one pony who had returned from the woods colored completely blue. He had been a different color before, of course, otherwise there would have been no tell whatsoever. Everypony had thought that the effect was skin-deep: 'Oh he's blue now, that's okay!'. Multiple doctors had ruled that there was no change in his physiology, and while they couldn't fix his new coloring, he was completely safe. But they were wrong.
His neighbors had woken to screaming one night. Loud and horrible and lilting, as if the screamer's voice was fading in and out with the pain. It had stopped midway through the authorities' attempts to break down his door, and everypony gathered there quickly began to fear the worst. When they were finally able to get into the poor fool's house, they couldn't find him. There was absolutely no trace of him anywhere in the house.
The only thing anypony could find was a single blue flower, laying in the pony's bed.
He knew that was just a story, and it was unlikely the plants would turn him into a flower; but he didn't want to take any sort of chance. He turned his back on the patch of azure flowers, and tried to ignore the feeling that he was being laughed at.
He didn't even really know why those things could survive here anyway. He could vaguely remember some sort of lesson in school about magical plants, but the memory slipped away as he tried to bring it forward.
He doubled back, heading to a fork in the trees he had encountered five or so minutes ago. Whether he understood them or not, he didn't want anything to do with them. The differing path came into view, and he turned down it; heading in the same basic direction he was before.
He had been trotting down that path for a matter of minutes before something else came into view. It looked like the trees were opening up ahead, and he momentarily feared he had gone in a massive circle.
His nose twitched as he caught the scent of something. He stopped for a moment as he tried to work out what it was. It wasn't a very familiar scent, but not completely unfamiliar. It drifted across his senses, hot and burning in his nostrils. He knew that scent, he knew it.
It was on the tip of his tongue.. He could almost picture it in his mind. He took another analyzing sniff. He recognized it as being vaguely... metallic?
His pupils dilated as he took in a deep, heady breath. It was blood. He was smelling blood.
He worked his jaw, his eyes wide and his nostrils flaring. If something was bleeding that meant that something was hurt. There was a high chance that something else had done that hurting. There was a similarly high chance that the aforementioned something else was still nearby. It would likely be a very bad idea to investigate.
But what if something is dead?
After a moment of deliberation, he threw his concerns out of a metaphorical window. The scent seemed to be coming from up ahead anyway, so it's not like he was going out of his way. Everything would be fine, he just wanted to see where the blood was coming from.
He cantered forward unsteadily, as if his hooves were moving through jelly. He fought to keep his head clear, as the hot scent of blood filled his senses. He didn't know what was coming over him, it wasn't like he hadn't smelled blood before. He couldn't figure out why he was so intent on finding it.
But it smells like there's so much.
He emerged from the break in the trees, and gazed out on the view before him. A great chasm stretched out as far as he could see, deep and vast. The jagged edges continued down past the edge of his vision, and he idly wondered how far it went. The entire thing was filled with great amounts of fog, leaking out from some unseen source below; hiding even the other side from view. Even if he was looking straight down from the edge, he doubted he would be able to see the bottom; and he couldn't see the opposite edge either.
Straight in front of him there stood two large wooden poles. They were brown, oddly enough: completely at odds with the black and grey trees behind him. They stood sentinel over the chasm, old and weathered, but still holding strong.
But Light Flow only barely registered those unimportant details, and he only gave them a moment of thought. His entire mind was focused on the other thing in front of him.
It was a corpse. The corpse of a dark-green pegasus pony.
He stood there, staring at the pegasus as he wondered how it had even got here. The skies above the Everfree were known to all pegasi as a strict no fly zone. Apparently, the winds were unpredictable or something; but he had never stayed around a relevant pegasus long enough to understand any more than that. He didn't even really care how it got here though, he only cared that it was here.
He swallowed heavily, his throat suddenly dry. Normally, he would feel some amount of sadness at seeing a dead body; especially a pony. But after his trials in the hills and the forest, he couldn't feel anything except but a dull sense of triumph. It made him sort of queasy, having that sort of reaction; but it didn't stop the feeling.
He had persevered, and this was his prize. This was his reward.
He slowly moved toward the corpse from where it sat a few hoof-lengths away from the poles. He could see the puddle of blood spreading from the body, and he sniffed deeply again. It was deep and rich, hot and metallic. It burned his nostrils, and it made his eyes water from the power of it.
He liked it. He liked it in a way he hadn't liked the bunny.
He finally arrived at the side of the corpse, and watched the way the puddle slowly crept over the ground. The pegasus must have died recently, otherwise it wouldn't have even been here. He was surprised it was here regardless, as he assumed the creatures of the forest usually did away with corpses very quickly.
He stood there silently as the puddle crept up to the edge of his hoof and slowly encircled it. He expected it to be warm, but it wasn't. He pressed his now wet hoof down into the pool of cold liquid, and listened to the subtle squishing noise it made. It was similar to the sound of a foal playing in a puddle after rain, but so sinfully different at the same time.
He lifted his hoof, and felt some of the liquid drip off into the puddle below. He brought it up to where he could see it, and watched, enthralled, as the red ran down the hard part of his hoof and into his soft frog. He shivered slightly as the cold liquid made contact with his bare skin, and continued to watch as it ran down into his trimmed fetlocks. The brown fur was stained red before his eyes, and he let out an excited breath.
This was the best day of his life.
He..
He slowly poked his tongue out from his lips. He stared at the runny red liquid on his hoof, a beautiful contrast with the pale flesh of his frog. He slowly lifted his hoof closer to his face, and his outstretched tongue.
He knew it was a bad idea. He knew it was gross, and dangerous, and weird, but he couldn't deny the feelings stirring in his heart.
What does blood taste like?
His hoof stopped an inch away from his face. The scent was overpowering at this distance, and he breathed heavily as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes; bunching up messily before running down his cheeks. He cautiously stretched his quivering tongue out.
His organ made contact with the liquid, and his eyes somehow widened further.
It was.... awful.
His face scrunched up, and he made a gagging noise as his hoof lowered to the ground. Sweet Celestia did he hate that! It was overpoweringly metallic, even worse than how it smelled. It also tasted faintly of meat and dirt and something else he didn't even know. He felt his stomach rebel at the foul taste, but he sucked his lips in and forced it to calm.
"I'm not doing that again." he muttered out loud, before giving a start at the sound of his ragged voice. It sounded like he hadn't had a drink in days, though he supposed it had been at least half of one. He should get going home soon.
But first... He stared back down at the body. He couldn't see any visible wounds, so he figured the body must've been laying on top of them. He wanted to see what had killed the poor pony, so he lit his horn in preparation of turning the body over.
He directed a small magical tendril towards the head, and made contact with the side of the face.
The head jerked.
He gasped loudly, and took several steps back. As he felt panic begin to shade his mind, he tried to call his magic back to him; but his channeled power wouldn't listen. It was as if his magic was doing things on its own, as he felt his magical pathways open in ways he had never felt before. His inner arcane power flowed through his body, connecting in ways that made his skin itch. He flicked his eyes upwards at his still-lit horn as it steadily grew in light, then back down at the magically connected corpse. The head continued to twitch and shake unnaturally, before jerking backwards in a motion that would've snapped its neck had it not already been dead. Bones jutted out freakishly underneath the skin of its taut throat, and the head quickly jerked back forward, as if on a spring.
Suddenly, the head swiveled all the way around to stare at him, making popping noises as the joints dislocated. He screamed loudly when the bloodshot eyes flicked open and focused on him. They were green, though the iris had seemingly popped and begun to bleed out into the sclera. Blood was also seeping in from somewhere, slowly staining the white orbs beginning from the corner. The emerald green was clashing with the blood red on the backdrop of pure white rather beautifully. He felt bile rise in his throat.
Of course it'd be green..
He gasped in quick breaths, trying to calm himself as the corpse stared unblinkingly at him with its bleeding green eyes. His skin was beginning to burn, and he begun feeling particularly hot lines over his body where he assumed the associated magical pathways were. He admitted, he hadn't given as much focus to the arcane sciences as he had wanted to, but even with his limited knowledge, he knew that activity such as this should've been impossible unless a particularly complex spell was being formed.
The jaw of the corpse flapped uselessly at him, and he noticed that some of the pegasus' teeth were missing. It was a strange thing to notice at a time like this, but he couldn't help it. He flashed back to when his teeth were plucked from his mouth, and he shut his eyes against the intruding memories. It was the worst possible time to develop PTSD, and he really wished that it would save itself for later.
The burning heat began to travel from his chest to his haunches, and he screamed again in pain. It was burning him, deep down inside. He imagined his organs bursting from the heat, and saw them again being crushed by inky tentacles made from void. The fluids wouldn't leak out anywhere though, they would just pool in an puddle inside a meaty flesh sack.
The fire in his body reached the very back of him, and he began to cry from the sensation. If somepony had taken a brand to his backside, he imagined it would feel less painful. He focused on the image of a brand, the outdated tool that was banned in most parts of Equestria. He thought about what it did to a flank. Searing and scarring the flesh with a permanent mark.
"Make it stop... Please somepony make it stop... Make it STOP!"
......
......
......
.....?
It was sudden, so sudden that he wasn't even sure that anything had changed.
As if Celestia Herself had descended from the Heavens to grant his fevered wish, all the pain just stopped.
The pain had vanished as quickly as it had come. His magic faded away, and the corpse lay still once more. Its head was still turned backwards, and the eyes were still open, but at least it wasn't twitching anymore.
The burning had faded, but his head still felt hot. Somehow, he stayed standing throughout that whole ordeal, even though he swore that his legs had given out at some point. He panted heavily, his mouth agape and his eyes hooded. His tongue hung out slightly, but he sucked it back in. He closed his mouth, and swallowed once. He was okay. Everything was fine.
He was done here. He didn't even want to play with the body anymore. He could barely look at it. He wanted to leave.
He turned his head from the ravine and the corpse, intent on leaving them behind, when he spotted it.
Well, he actually spotted two things, though he felt very different ways about them.
One of them was the picture of an open book that had made its home on his flank. It was a brown-bound hard cover book, with squiggles in place of words stretching out across lines, but that wasn't the main attraction there. The main focus was the open-mouthed pony skull laying in the middle of the visible pages.
Before his emotions could make their way towards elation, his mind drifted to the other thing he had seen, standing just a few hoof-lengths away from him.
It was a creature. A creature made of a hard, brown material. It stood several hoof-lengths above his relatively short stature, measuring about a hoof taller than a full grown pony. It was lean, and stretched nearly 5 hoof-lengths across; at least from where he stood. It had no discernable joints, and the wood seamlessly meshed into similar looking lengths along its body.
The bark stretched out beyond its body in several places where the withers and knees would be on a pony, rendering the creature looking rather asymmetrical. Adding to that, there were several odd tree branches sticking out from various points across its body; looking as if the leafy sticks had simply been picked up and rammed haphazardly into any free gap.
It lumbered forward on jagged wooden legs, ending in sharp claws made from elongated thorns.
The entire thing oozed a sickly green mist, pouring out though gaps in the wood and fading a few inches from their points of exit. He could see a similarly colored light shining brightly throughout its body, hurting his eyes with its intensity when he tried to look directly at it. It ran all throughout the creature, creating a convincing facsimile of veins and blood.
He heard a faint growl, deep and broken; like the sound of wood grinding together, and he drew his eyes up to the source. The head of the creature boasted shining green eyes, which were fixed intently on him. The eyes were completely uniform, lacking any sort of normal optical features that most creatures had. Its jaw hung open, and he could see the green light shining up from its throat; out through sharpened wooden teeth. It growled again, and he watched as a green substance, looking almost like sap, dribbled out from the mouth and onto the ground; where it sizzled slightly upon making contact.
"A Timberwolf."
"A Timberwolf is standing right in front of me."
"So why am I not scared?"
He stood there, just hoof-lengths away from one of the most feared creatures his mother had ever described to him, as it strode slowly towards him on those dangerous-looking wooden appendages. Its mouth hung agape, all the while dripping that acidic fluid, looking for all intents and purposes like it was going to open wider and devour him any second. A deep rumbling noise made its way out from the creature's chest, and rang loudly in his otherwise sound-deprived ears.
He stood there, subject to all those different terrifying things that would have normally brought him near to a heart attack.
He stood there, and he was completely calm.
Actually, scratch that, he was fascinated.
He had always wanted to see a Timberwolf, though he had obviously been too scared to seek one out before. His mother had given him a large book for his eighth birthday titled 'An Equestrian Compendium of Creatures', and one of his favorite entries had been on Timberwolves.
Apparently, no one in Equestria had the foggiest idea how they worked, or even lived. Studies on captured specimens showed that the creatures didn't need to eat; despite their obvious penchant for meat. They had no digestive capabilities, and any consumed material just.. disappeared.
They had no observed method of reproduction either, lacking any kind of necessary organs. They didn't use plant-like methods either. New Timberwolves just appeared randomly in the forest from time to time.
Of course, as he remembered from his favorite part: none of that mattered. As far as anypony could tell, Timberwolves were effectively unkillable. They didn't expire from hunger, or thirst, or temperature; and nothing kept them down for long. When injured, they would just reconstitute themselves from random bits of nearby wood. If their surroundings didn't have wood, they would simply appear in a different place that did.
Though, Timberwolf corpses were periodically discovered by intrepid adventurers. While it had never been observed, Timberwolves were at least assumed to have a limited lifespan. No one knew how long that was though.
What that all boiled down to was: effectively, there was no way of stopping a Timberwolf. Especially not in their domain.
Running through that kind of information in his head should have driven him to absolute terror. Facing a Timberwolf unprepared like this was extremely risky, especially given where he was right now.
But none of it registered correctly in his head. He was calm.
"I don't feel like I'm in danger right now."
Maybe it was adrenaline? Or Ignorance?
Maybe it was the comforting green sphere he could see faintly glowing at the center of the Timberwolf's body.
He squinted slightly. It was like he could see it over the other layers of the creature, sort of like one of those fancy paintings he hated to look at. Though instead of the confusing dimensions enraging him like they normally would, he felt only peace.
He wondered if other ponies saw Timberwolves like he did. Why would anypony be afraid of these creatures?
He smiled, and stepped forward, towards the creature. The wild dog snarled gutturally at him as he approached, sending corrosive sap-like spittle flying in his direction. His eyes widened noticeably, and he ducked to the left. The sap-like acid flew past him, though some landed on his somewhat outstretched hoof. He sucked a breath in through his teeth at the burning sensation, and he looked down at a small patch of his flesh showing out through his fur. He made a silent note to himself to look out for that on his next encounters with these creatures. Just because he didn't feel any imminent danger, didn't mean he was in no danger.
He looked back at the wooden beast, and stood straight up from where he had been crouched on the ground. He faced the creature directly, and it bent low to the ground in preparation for a killing pounce.
He took in a deep breath. It was cold in his mouth, and it tasted like ice on his tongue.
He closed his eyes, and felt some unidentified feeling well up from deep in his chest.
He let the breath out. A cold mist expanded from his mouth, and he felt the air around him noticeably drop in temperature.
He opened his eyes halfway, as the Timberwolf stood frozen in place before him.
Unseen to him however, very small, very faint traces of purple smoke had begun to trail out from the corners of his eyes.
He took another deep breath, before letting it out in the form of a single shouted word.
"SIT!"
The clearing reverberated with the power of his command, and the following silence was deafening.
The Timberwolf seemed to shudder in place. Its jaw clacked feebly against its wooden snout, and small whining noises escaped from the terrifying maw. It seemed an eternity before anything happened, when the feared beast suddenly lowered its backside slowly to the ground. The wood made a creaking noise as the Timberwolf's shoulders sagged in apparent defeat.
He smiled at the beast, feeling joy well up inside of him that it was obeying. It wasn't even occurring to him that this was unnatural, he was just reveling in the moment. He stepped forward, right in front of it now, and the beast seemed to flinch in an odd fashion. The wooden pieces of its body clacked together as the Timberwolf's head lowered in submission. Its ears lowered, and a low piteous whine echoed out from within its throat.
He took the moment to study the orb in its chest in more detail. It was small, only about an inch or two in diameter. It burned with an unnatural green light, almost identically to the light that shone visibly though its bark. He felt an odd attraction to it, and a strange desire to hold it in his hooves almost consumed him. He had even reached a hoof out to almost touch the wooden skin of the creature before he thought better of it.
He exhaled loudly, and leaned back from his examinations. He turned away and walked confidently past the usually hostile monster. He knew that it would stay until he was gone.
It knew its place.
"I'll be back to see you later!" He called out over his withers, only sparing a glance at the hunched shoulders of the beast.
He settled into a comfortable trot out through the woods. He didn't know why, but none of the things that halted him before mattered to him now. He didn't come across any Poison Joke. He didn't trip on any rocks. He didn't stop to stare at the rising sun through the break in the canopy. He barely even thought as he navigated his way through the cursed woods.
He had only one thing on his mind. Showing Applejack his brand-new Cutie Mark.
Though, he did make a stop at a small stream to wash the dried blood off his hooves. His mother was going to freak out as is, and he didn't want her to think he was hurt. The thought of his mother brought him back to reality somewhat, and he wondered what she was thinking right now. He had stayed out all night after all, so she was probably going to punish him in some way.
He shuddered as he let his hooves soak in the cold water.
Now THAT was going to be scary.
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Nice chapter looks like light actually got his wish come true, he is now a necromance, and got his cutie mark to boot. I hope he come up as a good explanation of what his open book with skull illustration to his parents, and school mates, I am betting he will try to pass it off as a specialty biology, or a affinity for horror writing. I hope hope his cuteisinara will be fun for him. I wonder if the illumination before entering the forest was a vision or some outside force planning to use him or guide him to the pegasus corps, and seeing that he was eaten by some plant there I wonder if there is some link also the controlling a timberwolf? I wonder if this will improve his disposition now that he is exactly what he wanted now and don't need to put up an act to become it and will start to mature a lit: not bloody likely I know. Now I wonder what will be his next goal and what will be his punishment for what he did last night. I also wonder who was that pegasus that he found and if we will see him again as one of his minion, I wonder what he would call him if he followed him home.
Also I am a little busy for a coming while, but if you are looking to commission a cover art for your story hit me up. Here is a speedpainting video of one of my works.
I really like where you are going with this!
i like the problmes that cutiemarks can bring in equestria. like in this story and others some necromancers dont go from noraml magic talent to necromancy but have a pure necromancy talent. how will the world deal with that? i mean celestia and lunas talents are raising and lowering the moon and sun so do they outlaw anyone else who has that talent? do they force those with illegal talents to work for them or else? how does a system where you are ment to be proud and use your talent work when you have someone who has a talent and purpose that isnt allowed.
I mean it could also be that such talents only arise when needed like if celestia dies then another with the sun rising talent will apper eventualy?
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Thanks for saying so, Friend!
10760471
The idea that some cutie marks are especially unique, and will only appear on one pony at one time is very interesting!
It's sort of like the idea of reincarnation, ensuring that certain cutie marks will always have places in the world.
It also introduces a sort of Cutie Mark Hierarchy, since naturally, some Cutie Marks are more important than others; and will therefore always eventually reappear in the world.
Thanks for the comment, and for the brain food!
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Hey thanks for the comment!
Most of the topics you brought up will be addressed in future chapters, but I had forgotten about the idea of a cute-ceañera. I don't think it's gonna happen though. Light has a grand total of one friend, and that's Applejack: a pony he would adamantly deny having any connection to. It's possible his mother could set one up for him, but even if she did: it's very likely Light would outright refuse to go. He isn't one for social interaction, and Applejack is his only friend chiefly because she basically forced her way into his life.
Also, thanks for the offer of a commission, but unfortunately, I'm flat broke.
Your art is very nice though. All the little details are especially really cool to look at, and I would definitely take you up on that offer if I had the money to do so.
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There are two ways to make Necromancy somewhat "good"
The first is to take the name literally. Necromancy means "Divination using the dead", namely calling up spirits to get information. There are many legitimate uses for calling up a spirit (settling inheritance issues, saying final goodbyes, passing on information the recipient may not have been ready to learn by the standards of the imparter and so on). Basically, if you've seen shows like "Ghost Whisperer" or some episodes of "Medium", that kind of thing.
The second is to be an anti-necromancer. You basically go out and stop other necromancers, as well as defuse any traps/rituals with the authority of your leader. "The Old Kingdom" cycle by Garth Nix shows this a lot better than I can explain.
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Two very good uses. I’ve actually thought of another use a while back where necromancers can actually cure diseases caused by living things. Any afflictions caused by parasites (be it bacteria, protozoa, worms, etc) can be stopped if the necromancer can isolate the organisms and kill them. Same thing could be said for cancer, which is basically mutated cells that are reproducing when they’re not supposed to. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy is meant to poison them, so why not necromancy?
Wow, amazing read! :D
Interesting that having the Necromancy cutiemark seems to also give him a kind of 'Soul Sight' or something similar. Maybe he'll also have a talent for dealing/making constructs/golems that use a soul to operate as well. (I read a story once where a Necromancer could take souls and place them in objects/bodies to act as constructs that did their bidding... i.e. Light Flow could make a dirt/wooden doll, grab a soul, and then throw it in to control the body.
Another thought was, I just looked up Timberwolves so as to get an idea on what was canonically known, and apparantly Celestia and Luna used them to watch over/guard the 'Helm of Shadows' so no-pony could accidentally get it. It's essentially the helmet of Nightmare Moon, and while it would normally corrupt the mind of those who touch it I think Light Flow would be immune to to its effects since he has access to Dark Magic ( at least going by the shadows that surrounded his eyes during the Timberwolf scene). At the very least, it'd be cool if he got his hooves on a Magneto-like helmet. XD
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It would also likely be one of the only ways to stop/prevent parasprites since I think they're indestructible or something...
So, there’s something up with Light. I don’t know what it is, nor is theorizing really what I do; I pull stories down to the tropes.
But damn this story went from NobodysLament to AuroraDawn real fast. Whether it will stay that way is anyone’s guess.
SPOILERS FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS - DO NOT MOUSEOVER UNLESS YOU WISH TO BE SPOILED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
After reading chapter 30, where Light meets Twilight, I wondered where Fluttershy had gotten to, as Light is clearly living where she lived in canon and there can't be that many "run-down woodcutters cottages on the edge of the Everfree". Then I remembered that Light had a fateful encounter with a corpse of a pegasus in the Everfree. I thought for a moment "Hang on. Maybe that pegasus was Flutters and THAT'S why she's not around!" Re-reading this chapter kinda put the kibosh on that theory, unless Light's hornglow + creamy yellow = green. Not sure if the picture on the cover is supposed to be Light, but if it is, then his hornglow would be brown, because it appears that "unicorn magic glow = unicorn eye color"
Ah, Elvis.
For those who don't get the joke, Elvis Presley's body was found in a similar pose after he had a heart attack while on the toilet, which may have something to do with why people think he's still alive.
Sudden change in personality did not go unnoticed.
… didn’t he resurrect the pony?
Very interesting
awesome chapter
Well then, triumphant success then? One wonders if he's dense enough to just go around boasting about his new evilly evil mark.
Yay for conquering anxiety? I mean, the touching dead ponies needs to be worked on a bit, but hey, baby steps! Also, timber wolf pet! Yay!
Ofh. He killed the mare. She was looking for him.
Timberwolf Doggy!