Pony Gear Solid: Daisy Eater

by AstroTrain

Chapter 3: Coming to Terms

Twilight awoke next morning to being jolted by Octavia out of her slumber. She groggily opened her eyes to see Octavia’s normally controlled face very worried. Octavia pressed her ear against the door, and then started to grab all her things.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight curiously asked. Octavia shot a disapproving look at her.

“It’s the Ocelot Unit. There’s about 4 of them outside the room. We’ve got to go. Got your gear?” Twilight nodded. “Good. Here, give me a hoof.” she said while pointing to the bed. Twilight got off and helped Octavia move the bed off of the trap door into the dusty ventilation shaft. “I’ve got to get back before they spot me. See you.” she said before crawling deeper into the shaft. Twilight desperately searched around for another exit, but only the door was an option. She could hear foot-steps outside the door. “Okay. I guess I’ll have to keep them busy.”

The Ocelot Unit members, several ponies dressed in black fatigues with crimson berets, advanced onto the factory. They closed in on the one intact room, and set up a position around it. They all looked at each other and nodded. The one in front bucked open the door with his hind legs as the rest of the scrambled inside. Nopony was there. They checked all around the room, under the bed, inside the cabinets and up in the ceiling.

“Where are they? Come on, we’ve got to find them before they escape!” one of them ordered.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we already have.” Twilight said. The Ocelots looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Twilight Sparkle standing in the open doorway. They charged at her, but her horn glowed before she teleported above the group. She landed on one of them, knocking the wind out of their lungs, before blasting another pony against the brick wall. One of the Ocelots tried to strike her from behind, but Twilight kicked her in the face, sending him to the floor. The two other remaining Ocelots flanked her, but she was able to muster up a large magical blast that hit them both, knocking them out.

“Sorry guys, but I have a mission to accomplish.” she said before she trotted out the door. Twilight ran out of the factory before she heard a shout behind her.

“I’ve been waiting for you!” Trixie yelled at her. Twilight turned and saw Trixie charging toward her, horn crackling with magic. Trixie rammed into Twilight, forcing them both onto the ground. Trixie tried to punch her, but Twilight knocked her off before she could.

“You’ve had nothing else better to do that wait for me? You wouldn’t have lost if you hadn’t been showing off.” Twilight said. Trixie got up and smiled.

“Exactly. There’ll be no accidents this time.”

“You’re forgetting one very basic thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t have what it takes to beat me.”

Trixie was enraged. She jumped at Twilight but crashed into her magic shield. Twilight grabbed her mane and threw her about. Trixie shot a magical bolt at her, but Twilight deflected it. She then dropped her against the ground with a crack. Trixie slowly rose, holding up her head, and blasted her again. Twilight barely dodged it, but some of the blast streaked past her cheek, drawing a thin cut.

“Ugh! This isn’t over yet!” Trixie said before she ran off, holding her bruised head in her hoof. Twilight touched her cheek and shuddered at the blood dripping from it. Twilight got up onto her hooves and galloped off into the deeper recesses of the jungle.

---

Twilight Sparkle continued on into the forest, but suddenly the trees opened up into a wide clearing. A large swamp lay before her, with many insects and fish swarming about and within it. Twilight let out a groan of disappointment.

“I have to swim across this? Great.” she said. She started to step into the murky waters, but soon she screamed out in terror. A crocodile, it’s scaly grey hide melding into the dirt below the water, lifted its head and turned towards the unicorn. Twilight muffled her voice quickly, but it was too late. Several other of its brothers and sisters focused on her, and some began to slowly move towards her. Twilight started to sweat profusely. She could not muster up the will to move. One of the lizards crawled up behind her and opened it’s mouth. Twilight saw it just in time to avoid a strong bite, jumping out of her petrified state and running towards the nearest skinny tree. The group advanced on her position, but in a instant, she teleported herself up onto the top of the tree. The crocodiles stared at her, unflinching and unwavering. Twilight’s teeth stopped chattering only to accommodate another feeling, one caused by cold hard logic. The tree began to buckle under her weight, falling in the direction of the swamp.

“Oh no. No nonono! What do I do?” she asked herself. Twilight saw that a group of intertwined vines were connected to two other trees on opposite sides of the swamp. The top part of the descending tree suddenly snapped, and before she could fall off, Twilight leaped in the direction of the vines. She could almost grasp them, but instead she fell below the vines. There was no splash. Twilight did not feel like the surface she fell on top of was water, and she reached out to touch it. A hard, scaly texture greeted her, and Twilight gasped. One of the crocodiles was carrying her above the murky swamp, its back barely skimming the surface. Twilight stood up on it, and looked back. The other crocodiles saw her and dived into the water instantly. Strangely, the reptile she was on top of did not seem to notice her at all.

“Perhaps I can use this to my advantage...” she said, and began to formulate a plan. The crocodile she rode upon was slowly travelling to the opposite side of the swamp, the way she needed to go. “By the time this slowpoke gets over there, the others will have gotten to me. Come on Sparkle. Think of something!” Twilight’s face lit up, and so did her horn. A magical beam extended from it to the head of the crocodile, and the lizard’s eyes changed from a milky white to a bright violet. It started to paddle much faster than it was previously, but it was too late. One of the other crocodiles jumped out of the water, its mouth open wide, trying to grasp her. Twilight ducked under it before it splashed back into the waters. Another one swung at her with its heavy tail, but it only whisked through her tail. Twilight saw the shoreline rapidly approaching, and leaped off of her ride before any of the rest could attack. She stumbled into a patch of mud, but freed herself and galloped far away from the crocodiles. She hid behind a small bush, her heart beating furiously and her bandaged side aching. She saw that the reptiles had lost sight of her as they all descended back into the water. Her receiver rang, and she heard Octavia’s controlled voice through it.

“Snake? Are you there?” she asked before being quickly validated by Twilight’s heavy breathing. “Ugh. What happened? Did you get yourself hurt?”

“No--I just--ran into--some complications.” she sputtered out. “So--did you make it back?”

“Yes. They never noticed a thing.”

“EVA, is the Princess there?”

“Celestia? Of course.”

“...”

“That wound on your side. You got it from her, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Figures. Maybe next time you’ll have better luck.”

“Next time? Who says that there will be a next time?” Twilight asked.

“Well, a part of your mission is to eliminate her, yes?”

“...yeah.”

“Then it’s certain. Either you will beat her, or she will beat you.”

“How do you know I’ll make it that far?”

“Trust me. There will be a next time.”

“...”

“Anyway, continue on the path I told you. That supply depot should be up ahead. Sneak through there and make it to the crevice. If you need to contact me, I’ll be here.”

Twilight got up and trotted along the dirtied path that led out of the swamp. She entered a huge clearing, which housed two enclosed buildings surrounded by several crates, and a large landing space for any aircraft. A familiar blimp was perched upon it, deflated and empty. About 12 griffon guards were vigorously patrolling the grounds. Twilight could see that the entire facility was separated from her position by a extended chain-link fence. She also observed that the only exit was past the depot’s perimeters.

“Let’s see. Going in directly isn’t an option. It’s too far to teleport, and I can’t let those sentries spot me.” she whispered to herself. Twilight pressed the button on her receiver, and Princess Luna came through. She explained the situation to her and asked what was the best possible course of action.

“Well, since it appears that you cannot get inside, is there a path that leads around the fence and to the crevice?” she said regally. Twilight Sparkle pulled out her bionoculars and gazed around. She saw that all around the sides of the depot were lengths of tall grass that could feasibly conceal her from view.

“Thanks Major. I believe I found a way.” she confidently said.

“Good. Like EVA said, make your way to the crevice and you’ll be halfway there.” Luna assured.

“Major, I need to ask you something.” she asked.

“What is it?”

“Can you tell me more about EVA?”

“Um, of course. She was one of Canterlot’s finest practitioners of the cello, despite being a earth pony. She went on many tours all over Equestria, especially to Ponyville in recent years. On one of her musical tours to the Griffon Kingdom, apparently she fell in love with Sokolov. She contacted us prior to the Virtuous Mission, and she offered her services as a spy to us. She had some very impressive credentials, which surprised me. We turned her down, seeing as that mission was just a simple search-and-rescue, but we quickly accepted her for this one. As you’ve probably seen, she’s quite good.”

“That’s.... odd.” Twilight frankly said.

“What?”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that a musician would offer to keep tabs on her own boyfriend for us, let alone be a spy in the first place?”

“Yes, I did. However, she was the only pony we could possibly turn to, so we couldn’t refuse her help a second time.”

“I saw her multiple times in Ponyville when I used to live there. I always thought there was something... odd about her.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was extremely observant of Ponyville. She held concerts there monthly after I moved.”

“So?”

“Do you trust her?”

“Yes. It’s not often I say this, but you should lighten up. She’s there to help you, not to sabotage or kill you. Out in a area like that, you should feel lucky to have somepony looking out for you.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m making my way to the crevice now.” she finished.

“Good luck.”

Twilight Sparkle made herself prone on the ground and began to cautiously crawl in the tall grass. She periodically paused to see if any of the guards saw her, but none of them were that particularly observant. She was able to crawl all the way over to the back exit without being spotted. Twilight stood up and looked at the plain-blue sky. A couple of clouds were floating in the air. She smiled at their playful looking shapes, and continued onwards.

---

The crevice was a medium sized gap in the ground, but it was the least noticeable part of the area. Large gusts of winds burst through the trees and was constantly blowing the grass in one direction. Twilight had to tighten her bandanna the avoid it flying off her head in a particularly strong gust. On the other side of the crevice was a oddly large tree that stood against the raging winds with it’s resilient bark. Twilight ears perked up as she noticed a particular clicking noise coming out from behind the tree. Trixie walked out in front of Twilight, the back of her head covered in bandages. Twilight looked at her and felt the cut on her cheek, which was encased in a small scab. The two eyed each other obsessively, and Trixie’s left eye twitched.
“Ah. You are here at least. You’re boss tipped me off that you would be coming here.” Trixie said. Her horn started to glow a pale blue once more. “Twice you’ve denied me my vengeance. Once you took advantage of my overconfidence. The second, you used my unit to distract me. This time, you’re mine.”
“Trixie, what vengeance could you possibly exact from me?” Twilight demanded.

“What vengeance? You ruined me! I was doing fine until you destroyed my home, and more importantly, my reputation. I had nowhere to go! All I could do was bide my time until you came back, until I was stronger. Now, there’s no escape!” she said, and shot a magic blast before ducking behind the large tree. Twilight tumbled behind the shot as it dissipated harmlessly over the ground, and hid by a nearby rock. Trixie popped her head from behind the tree. “I really must thank you though.” she said while deflecting a shot from Twilight. “I would have never improved if it wasn’t for you.” Trixie retaliated with another blast, but this time, she shot the rock itself, breaking apart the stone and flinging pieces of it at Twilight. Twilight’s shield withstood all of them except for a small one that hit her in the bandaged side. She winced in pain, but ducked out of the way to avoid further assault. “I mean, parlor tricks are nice for the general moronic masses, but it is truly something impressive you pulled off that night. Too bad you are about to be--” she managed to speak before she was hit with a small piece of the rock she blasted. “Oh, come on! Now you are copying me? Um, not that what I did--” Trixie dipped behind the tree as a large fragment crashed into it. “--wasn’t impressive!” Twilight had enough of the prolonged battle. She emerged from cover and prepared herself to jump. She exhaled through her snout, and ran full speed to leap over the crevice and onto the other side. However, before she could make it, she stumbled over the side of the ravine, falling straight into the darkness inside.

“NO!” Trixie shouted, but it was too late. Twilight fell deeper and deeper, until the darkness enveloped her completely.

---

Twilight Sparkle could not see anything inside the excessively damp cave. She rose from the squishy ground to find that she was not very hurt at all from the fall. A patch of moss had slowed her fall. She gazed upward to see a small white hole above, where she fell from. Twilight pressed her transceiver, and Princess Luna answered.

“What’s the situation Snake?”

“I’m inside the crevice.”

“Great! How did you gain access to it?”

“Um, I took a drop. I’m fine though. It’s extremely dark and damp in here.”

“Ah, well you can take care of that darkness with a simple light spell. As for the dampness, well, you’ll just have to live with it. The cave is fairly linear, so the way out shouldn’t be too far.”

“Good. Is Para-Medic there?” she asked.

“Yes. Here she--”

“Hi Snake!” Lyra answered.

“Para-Medic, I’m feeling kind of--” Twilight’s stomach rumbled “--hungry. Do you know about what kinds of edible plant life I could find in this cave?”

“Well, there are these glowy things that--”

“That’s not poisonous?” Twilight added. Luna quietly laughed.

“Ohhhhhh, no poison, got ya. It says here in the book that the brown mushrooms in there should be okay to consume. Eat those.” Lyra said.

“Okay. Thanks.”

Twilight Sparkle lit up her horn, and the ensuing light blinded her momentarily. As her eyes came to focus, a shiver ran down her spine. Many crabs were creeping around the passage she was inside, their pincers clamping in unison.

“Eh, crabs huh? That means there should be running water somewhere in here. And since this cave leads downward, that means the water will flow that way too.” she thought out loud. Twilight walked further along the cave walls, keeping careful watch of the crabs so that she did not come into contact with one. Her ears picked up the quiet sound of a flowing waterfall, and she ran in that direction. Soon, she came across the source. A loud steam of water was cascading down the rock floors in miniature waterfalls. Twilight hopped down each level with a splash that scattered the creatures inside the descending river. She then found that the stream led to a small pool. The light from her horn illuminated the pool below, and revealed a small part of it that led somewhere else. Twilight took a deep breath and dived into the pool. She swam inside the small hole and followed it as it twisted and turned, before it funneled out into another part of the cave. Twilight fell into the new pool and immediately felt warmth surge through her body. Light peeked inside through the ceiling and gave the room much needed warmth. Two rocks jutted out from above the water, and Twilight saw the most peculiar thing on the large one. A orange earth pony stood on top of it, with her cowgirl hat perched upon her bright blond mane. Except, it wasn’t so bright. Everything about Applejack was muted, from her colors to her cutie mark to her expression. As Twilight hoisted herself upon the smaller rock, Applejack stared her down.

“Applejack? What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Ahm here to judge your progress. The Princess wants to make sure you are ready.” AJ answered.

“Ready? Applejack, why would you defect with her? I thought that once I came back that we could do things like we used to!”

“Like we used to? Sugar, there ain’t no going back to the way things were. You’ve changed things forever.” she said, and unexpectedly tackled Twilight. The two wrestled positions until Twilight was able to force her off.

“What do you mean? I was only gone for...”

“Five years. You left behind me, the others, and everything you held dear. Ah must ask you, why? Was it because of Spike?” Twilight’s face burned red with anger.

“DON’T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HIM!” she yelled, and blasted Applejack with a powerful magic bolt.

“Hit a nerve, didn’t we?” AJ responded, and got up once more. She dodged the several blasts Twilight threw at her, and delievered a powerful kick to her face with her hind legs. Twilight was knocked into the water, but she quickly swam upwards to gasp for breath. “You don’t wanna face it, do ya? Ah can understand. But ya’ll should know that you can’t beat her until you let go.” Applejack told her.

“I’m fine with it! It wasn’t my fault!” Twilight shouted. She crawled on the edge of the rock, but Applejack stepped on her hooves. Twilight yelped in pain.

“But it was. You left to avoid taking the truth, and in doin’ so, rejected all the trust we had in you.” Applejack pressed harder on Twilight’s hooves, and she could barely stand the pain. “What really happened to Spike, Twi? What did you do?” she asked. Twilight blinked while trying to resist the pressure, but something happened. When she opened her eyes again, they were glowing white, as was her horn. Applejack was shocked as if by lightning off of her, and Twilight levitated up onto the surface of the rock. She gripped Applejack with a magical field and dragged her across the rocky ground towards her. Her words were quiet, but spoken with fury.

“He was taken from me by the Princess, after a letter I sent to her about his most recent growth spurt. She said that it was time for him to live amongst his own kind, but I disagreed. He... he was like a little brother... no... a son to me. And she TOOK HIM AWAY!” Twilight began to grip harder around Applejack’s neck. “I... I knew that he would eventually outlive me, but... I just wanted a little more time.” Tears ran down Twilight’s cheeks. “I... I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye...” Applejack smiled.

“Twi--I can’t blame you for bein’ sad---but--leavin’ couldn’t solve your problems.” she managed to say. Twilight’s glowing eyes faded, and her pupils returned. She let go of Applejack’s neck, and knelt on the floor. She sobbed frantically, but Applejack trotted over to her and placed a hoof over her neck.

“Ya got to be honest with yourself sugar. That’s the only way you can do this.” she reassured her. Twilight hesitantly stopped crying. “Don’t be afraid of the truth. Embrace it.” Applejack said. Twilight wiped her tears and hugged Applejack.

“Oh AJ, thank you. I... I’m so scared.”

“You’ll get through it sugarcube. Ah know it.” she said. Twilight felt relieved, and hugged Applejack for what seemed like an eternity. Twilight let go to pick herself up off the ground.

“AJ, are you---” she said while looking at the cave wall. “AJ?” she beckoned, but nopony answered. She searched around the cave for her friend, but she was nowhere to be found.

Comments

[JN]

OH GOD THIS

I give my life,
Not for friendship, but for youuuuuuuuu
In my time there'll be noooooo one elseeeeeeeee
Crimeeeeeeee, it's the way I fly to you
I'm still in a dream of the daisy eater

BUM BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM

[AstroTrain]

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Enjoy it? I'm glad at least somepony is reading it now. The next chapter should be in a couple of days, so keep an eye out!