Everfree Island

by scrungusbungus

Sea and Sand

---

^{Ponyville Coast}

Their little detour proved Anon's theory correct, with the overgrown jungle-addled Ponyville retaining it's quiet, quaint, and now eerie status as bugs buzz and the distinctive, distant smell of the ocean lingers through the fronds. The local trouble was tucked in for an afternoon nap, hopefully for a while.

Cutting through town and skirting heavily around the Schoolhouse, which now looked closer to a barricaded raider encampment nestled among the dense foliage, Anon and ShoulderFaust managed their way back out of the town's breadth and down towards the awaiting beach.

It was a weird thing. Where the Everfree was supposed to start, instead, soft white sand took over the grass, offering the smell of the sea and the lapping of waves. Like someone had just up and plucked the entire forest out of the ground, and dropped an entire ocean in it's place. Didn't make any sense, scale wise, but Anon would rather a calm beach then that fuckity forest to forage in.

Wonder what happened to Zecora, though. Well, obviously Anon was wondering what the hell happened to almost every-pony he knew, but Zecora kind of had an ocean dropped on her. He hoped she could swim.

Tossing aside his shoes, Anon wriggles his toes once he's gotten across the sand, the surprisingly warm water lapping at his legs as he stands ankle-deep, taking it in again. Still just as beautiful as the first time he'd seen it.

Distant, craggy overhangs sprout from hills and mountains, forming a miniature, distant cove. Ocean stretched far into the distance, like Anon had just walked the breadth of Equestria, despite his camp being just past the other side of Ponyville's hills.

ShoulderFaust is processing their recent discovery while aptly sat on Anon's shoulder, brow furrowed in deep thought. Anon, in contrast, starts stepping through the crystal-clear waters of the coast, spear levied and on the lookout for fishy movement, looking relatively worry-free as he scans the sand, rocks and tidepools. He's left most of his stuff on the beach further up, tucked on top of a rock to stay dry. The water is a very comfortable temperature, the surface and his skin tickled by a gentle breeze.

Well, one pang of thought does bother Anon. Did any ponies turn into fish? Was he eating them? He'd checked them for cutie marks last time he caught them, and so far, the answer was no. He hoped it stayed that way.

"Why are you so unbothered?" Faust suddenly speaks up, poking at his cheek from her shoulder-bound perch.

"Huh? Oh. Dunno. Already got culture-shocked once, and I'm pretty used to weird shit thanks to the internet." Anon off-handedly retorts, spear flicking as he sees... no, nothing.

Faust blinks blankly at him at mention of the worldwide web, continuing.
"Your friend was deformed and corrupted, Anon. Evil has taken deep root. Her body malformed, her very soul twisted. I still haven't figured out why she didn't simply devour you." Faust states, still incredulous at his reaction and continued... lack of worry.

"I've hung out with Luna; not as Spidery, sure, but cute things around here having a dark and twisted side to them isn't anything new. Humans eat that stuff up, too -- you should see all our movies and fan bases. If it's a cute show, the fandom around it is unhinged. Plus, weird shit happens constantly around here. A bit... more gore than usual for Ponyland, I'll admit, but it was still clearly Celestia's favorite little bookworm." Anon retorts, pausing for a moment as a shadow darts past in the shallows -- but he doesn't stab quick enough. It's not as easy as it is in the videos, and that whole water refraction thing is trippy to work around. He was used to fishing with a rod. Shifting his grip, he goes back to watching.

Man, Celestia. Wonder how she's faring through all this. Faust seems to perk up at the name, too.

He huffs, renewing his slow walk and search as he continues.
"Plus, Twi's a nerd. She only really cares about the books. She'd always be trying to bring me a new one to read, but I couldn't keep up with her pace. I'm more of a casual reader. Honestly, I just feel kind of... bad? For her? With the state of her collection. Wonder if she can even read like that. Or if she's trying to. That's why I offered my camp, you know. If she's a Remnant, we should keep her close. Or at least, keep tabs on where she is. I'm willing to be Rarity is still in her boutique, the way it's all boarded up, and that she's one of them too."

Faust sighs, unsure if this development is a good or bad thing. Foreboding, in now that she found villainous influence and corruptive, ill intent creeping upon the world. An insect alteration like that likely meant the Changelings beheld some new, dark powers... but if Equestria's roster of ner-do-wells were freely roaming, that too meant the worst of them was free.

Both of the remaining Draconequus must be eating this up... unless the rest have returned. If they have, their squabble should buy them some time. Faust wonders how many other of Equestria's villains are thriving in this complete upheaval, and just how far they've gone.

"... Just be careful." Faust warns in long, quiet thought as Anon splashes around. Even with the Remnants, resetting this mess just got much more complex, knowing she now had to weave around other invasive factors.

"So why do you think Twi was like that? I've never known her to be the insect type. I swear she had a thing with ladybugs." Anon asks aloud, slowly climbing over a sizable, soaked rock to peer on it's other side. Nothing. He tsks, sliding down its trying not to make too large of a disturbance.

"In this world, it looks like Equestria's villains run free. And that particular twist was likely either the Changelings, or from a creature you're likely not familiar with. I pray you never meet her here, Anon." Faust explains.

"Huh. Chrysalis, you reckon? I dunno... seems counter-intuitive. Didn't look like she was capable of throwing around much love, and the rest of Ponyville didn't seem very orientated to their needs." Anon comments, humming. "You think the Crystal Empire is a jungle, too? Or maybe it's a new biome. Hard to imagine it as anything but cold." Anon mumbles, stabbing at another shadow that darts past. They were small fish, but if he could catch a couple, he'd be set for a bit. "Actually, harder to imagine the Changelings being worse off than they already were."

"What do you mean, Anon?" Faust questions, tilting her head. She lifts a wing to shade herself from the sun, squinting at it. The Sun and Moon still made their rotations, which hopefully meant the Princesses were of sound enough mind to help. At least, Faust hoped. Given the depth of what could change, here, there was a lot of potential for both of them to be at their worst... and then some.

"Well, I heard from Twilight -- the before Twilight, not the spidery one -- who read it from Starswirl's journals, about how the Changelings were made. Born of an evil tree in a swamp, or something. Forced to hunt creatures for their Love, never knowing it yourself. Tragic, huh?" He explains.

"Anon, they've caused innumerable problems for Equestria over the centuries. You would show them empathy?" Faust questions, giving him an incredulous look.

"I mean, I'm not ignoring what they've done, but... it's still kind of sad, isn't it?" Anon offers, shrugging. "I feel bad for them, you know. Just trying to survive with the hand... or hoof they got dealt, you know. Not their fault they need love to survive."

"I'm continuously impressed by just how dense and oddly caring you are." Faust tsks, dangling her hooves over his shoulder. "And what of Nightmare Moon, then?"

"...Her armor is cool." Anon mumbles.

Faust rolls her eyes.
"You're a naive, gullible fool. But, at least you care. I'm surprised you didn't shit yourself when you saw Twilight, honestly. I still remember when you found that centipede on your pillow, yesterday." She chides him, nudging his neck with both hooves, mimicking their scuttle.

Anon's face and neck scrunches as he remembers, shying away and swatting at Faust, who effortlessly flaps out of the way as usual.
"There's not much point getting freaked out about it, right? You're going to reset things and fix everything, and we can't find the Remnants if I'm busy panicking. I wanna help my friends, you know. They helped me out when I got dumped here." Anon responds, surprisingly steeled in his resolve. "Least I can do is try to help them when they're going through something."

That, and his incessant crush on the Princess' student, Faust huffs to herself.
"...Hm. What drives you, Anon?" Poking him again, Faust suddenly prompts him.

"Huh?" Anon asks, attention torn from the water, glancing at the little Faust that nudges his cheek. "I'm not a car."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, you know what I mean. For someone whose lost everything again, you're weirdly motivated." She elaborates.

"Ha. Uh... I'm just confident we'll get it back again, I guess? Ponyland goes haywire every few weeks so nothing new there. Sure, I'm not usually this involved unless I'm a victim of whatever crops up, but if tiny, colorful horses who spout about friendship and harmony before blasting a watermelon-sized hole in something with magic can stop numerous evil takeover..." Anon trails off, squinting towards the water at his feet. Standing still, the shadow of a fish slowly drifts between his legs.
"I can probably handle a scavenger hunt and a bit of babysitting. Emphasis on probably."

"And what if you can't? What if you're stuck here, like this? What if everyone is stuck like this?" Faust continues, driving her point.

"...I can probably figure out!" He grunts as he stabs downwards, spearing the shadow before wrenching it from the water.

Wriggling and impaled, a decent-sized fish of near a half-foot long is hoisted from the waters, flapping about uselessly. Kind of looked like a salmon, if with a splash more color.

Thankfully, the fish looked othwrwise normal, and without cutie mark. Not the biggest, but if he could get a few -- he'd be set. Hopefully they tasted the same, too, Anon muses, dangling it in front of him.

"Stressing won't do me much good at this point. I mean, worst case, I die. Then I don't have anything to worry about anymore." He grimly jokes, huffing proudly at his catch.

"Did you ever find out why you got stuck in Equestria?" Faust asks, watching the fish wriggle in his grasp. It doesn't really sound like a question.

"Nope." Anon shrugs, trudging through the water back to his things.

"Want me to tell you?" Faust leers, raising a brow.

"Mm... Nah." Anon shakes his head, dropping the fish off on his unwrapped jacket, to spare it from the sand. At this point, he was just accepting he'd smell like fish forever. Hopefully those bears stayed fucked off. He didn't like those Ursa things.

Hope they didn't turn into anything weird, either.

"Really? Not even a hint curious? Or perhaps, it would drive you to spiral into a rage, knowing what tore you from your previous life? Fall into a depression?" Faust prods, surprised, trying to goad him.

"I've come to terms with it. Left things behind, found new things. Life is all about change, you know? Just... one big, sudden change for me, so... it is what it is." Anon chuckles, wading back out into the water. Shading his eyes with a hand, he looks out into the distance, watching birds perch on the distant, cliffside rocks. "...Never saw the ocean before I wound up here, you know? Lived in a landlocked town, never went that far out."

"What do you make of it?" Faust asks, leaning her head on her hoof.

"Been to lakes, rivers... the way it just keeps going, making the horizon one, flat line. The smell... there's a taste to the air. It's pretty cool." Anon explains, before shrugging.

"Cool?" Faust parrots, snorting. "What an empty description. Cool. Try again."

"I thought that 'cool' covered it. Uh..."
Anon trails off, staring into the distance. His eyes roam, slowly flicking from various minor, environmental points of interest as Faust quietly watches him observe.

"The... way the waves gently roll towards the beach, yet they don't even break the horizon line is neat." He tries, looking at Faust expectantly. She only squints at him.

"Neat. Hmph. And what else?" Faust scoffs, shaking her head.

"The... way the ocean almost matches the sky, how the sea foam is like... wet clouds, for us down here. Makes me think about how pegasi fly up there, just like how we swim down here. Wait, aren't there those... water ponies?" He asks suddenly.

"Alright, getting more insightful. Keep going." Faust nods, ignoring his question to keep him on track.

"Uh..." Anon mumbles, glancing around, before turning away from the ocean, back towards the beach.
"Sand, I guess. I'm used to gritty, rocky lake beaches and riverbeds. Here, it's soft under the feet."

"And hot, if the way you were yelping earlier is anything to go by." Faust teases.

"Yep." Anon groans, being reminded of his first trip to this beach. "And the... well, the jungle is pretty. Too many bugs for my liking, but I'm used to more temperate forests. Here, everything is so wildly overgrown, you can't help but be pulled into nature, especially with how it's overgrown everything. I'd say it's beautiful, but until I make some mosquito repellant, I'm calling it okay."

"I'll give you that one. See, Anon? A little more to it than just 'cool'." Faust notes, crossing her front hooves and resting her head atop them.

"Sure, sure. Why'd we, uh... play the descriptor game, again?" Amon asks, glancing at his shoulder.

"Wanted to see if you'd step on the urchin by your foot." She points down into the water.

"Wh--wEUGH--" Anon quickly flails, eyes darting through the shallows as he balances on one foot.

His brow furrows as Faust's snort-laughing meets his ears.

"You fucking suck." He grumbles, levying his spear and lowering his foot.

"So gullible!" She chortles out between breaths. When she does eventually slow her laughter, she sighs, relaxing on his shoulder. Perhaps the human was a little more... profound than she expected.

"Shitfuck." Anon hisses, water splashing as his spear misses another wily fish. "Fuck your mother."

Maybe not.

Both pause as a distant sound draws their attention, hundreds of meters away towards the horizon.

Far off the coast, something... massive breaches the water, twisting through the air like a breaching, leaping whale with some impressive hang time. Except it just... keeps going. More and more body emerges as the head dives back under the water, like an unnaturally long... sea serpent? It has stripes running down its side, numerous fins linings its sides, twisting around before it splashes back down and disappears, quiet promptly returning to the little beachside cove.

"Was that...?" Faust mumbles.

Anon decides not to mention that he saw stripes. No way he's going out there.
"One big-ass fish, that's for sure."

"...How long can you hold your breath for?" Faust asks, grinning.

"Absolutely fucking not. There's enough Remnants on land." Anon refutes, as he stabs at another fish.

Faust laughs to herself, settling in as Anon keeps at it.

...

Unbeknownst to either of them, a pair of of near-turquoise eyes rise partially out of the water a small distance away, observing quietly, tinged with curiosity. It keeps it's distance, content with watching the coast's noisiest repeat visitor.

---

"...And how might I help my strangest visitor? It's unusual to find you at my door." Zecora notes dryly, as Anon leaps into her hut the moment she opens the door -- and slams it shut behind himself, pressed up against it, panting.

"Just, uh... need a spot to hide. For a little bit, if that's cool." Anon says between gasps, quickly scuttling to her window to close the blinds.

"What kind of vindictive behavior have you brought to my doorstep?" She questions, trying to look out the other window -- nope, Anon shuts the wooden blinds before she can stick her nose out. She frowns, watching him as he huddles below the windowsill.
"...To panic this much speaks of ill of --"

Before Zecora can finish rhyming, Anon's hand latches around her snout, shushing her.

A distant, muffled voice screaming Anon's name can be heard. And it sounds angry.

Once it quiets, Anon slowly releases Zecora, suffering her patient, yet furrowed glare.

Anon huffs, running a hand through his hair.
"I... may have been dared by Rainbow Dash to mess with Applejack. Into taking her hat, and trying to beat the record of who can hold onto it the longest."

"An incredibly foolish venture, to tempt the wrath of the Apple. Begone with you, before my abode suffers the effects of your inevitable battle." Zecora scolds, waving a hoof at him.

"I already dropped the hat! She just wants to kick my ass for taking it. Didn't even get close to the record. Not asking you to hide me out to break it or anything, just... until she doesn't want to kick my legs off?" Anon laughs weakly, holding his hands up in surrender.

Zecora stares at him for a long moment, listening as the yelling gets further away.

"...Very well, you can remain. But efforts you must take, if safety you're to gain." Zecora tsks, trotting over to her cauldron.

"Uh... yeah, sure. What did you have in mind?" Anon questions, pulling himself from the floor and following her, walking with a hunch to avoid hitting his head on the numerous jars and ingredients hanging from the ceiling.

---

It watches silently for some time, chuckling to itself while bobbing softly with the waves, before dipping below the surface, gone, leaving only ripples.

Author's Note:

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

That's a gorgeous "Seacora", looks like she's having a better time of it than Twilight at least.

[ThunderBasilisk]

God the oceans must be even scarier in this twisted world.

[Verdauga]

Coolio.

[Canned Pone]

Im looving the renders!!!

[artofwar77]

I recognize that the Spider-Twi revelation upends Mini-Faust's expectations and plans in potentially catastrophic ways, but I'm with Anon as far as mood.

Twi's here!
Yeah, her form has been horribly warped, but she's clearly still in there somewhere.
She can hold conversations (mostly), she still likes books, she recognizes Anon, and she confirmed that some (of not all) of her other friends are also here.

He didn't say as much, but if I were in his shoes, this would be the first time I'd have felt real, tangible hope in this bleak circumstance.

[BadTouch]

I am disappoint you used none of the Zecorpent with a giant donk renders I shared.
So thanks for that.

[scrungusbungus]

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