Umbreka

by Armanico Vita

The Crumbling of Catarina

*Clank* *Clank*

Stray Banter patrolled around the camp being the self appointed alarm as he does every morning. In one hoof, he dawned his bulbous metal helmet, and in the other, he wielded a solid metal spoon. Combined, the two objects created a sound loud enough to wake a hibernating ear from its slumber.

"Rise and shine sweet cheeks, we've got a lot of traveling ahead of us if we ever plan on reaching Catarina anytime soon!"

The sound of metal pounding against each other ebbed its way into her thoughts, ricocheting around inside her head. Sonnet rolled over onto her stomach and blanketed herself from the world. Trying to repell any outside annoyances was going to be futile, the sound of banging metal began slowly drilling holes in her sanity. The only thing she could think of that was more irritating than Banter's alarm was the cacophony of nails grinding screeching against a chalkboard. This had been the third night in a row she only was allowed three hours of sleep to grace her complexion; the other times were due to Glasseye's stertorous snoring and having to clean up the mess she made of their pots and pans while trying to brew up a potato stew.

The countless days they've been traveling since their last stop at Izalith, the underground unicorn metropolis, haven't been too kind to her looks. She was disheveled; her long, silvery hair, all matted, draping over her snout. She blew the hair out of her face and let out a disaproving sigh. She wasn't one to worry about her looks but the amount of matting and knots she had in her hair was begining to irk her.

Sonnet peeled herself up off the bedding, sat up straight, and let out a loud yawn. Evident dark circles under her eyes revealed how exhausted she truly was. Her vision blurred in and out of consciousness as she stared off into limbo. Her mind wandered on and off, she couldn't think straight at the moment either. She lifted her hooves up to her temples and rubbed them profusely. After mentally preparing herself for the day, Sonnet collected herself mentally and began lifting up onto all fours. Her knees began to wobble around as a small wave of dizziness washed over her. She had stood up too quickly and was paying the price for it. After judging it was safe to move, Sonnet dragged herself across the camp ground towards the makeshift fire. She found herself a nice spot between Glasseye and Pastel and plopped her hind onto the fallen, waterlogged tree trunk.

"Nice of you to join us, Sonnet. Love what you did with your mane, you're looking as spiffy as ever!" A few stifled laughs arose from this comment. None of this was meant to be taken in a demeaning mannner, Banter had only been trying to lighten the mood and it was for this reason why Sonnet decided to play along with his little game. She stood up and sauntered over to him, a smug grin plastered on her face. When she reached him, she lifted a hoof up to his mane and held it out in front of him.

"Oh Banter, how fitting of you to be talking about hair. I mean look at yours, it's practically falling out as we speak." Sonnet gave a light tug and watched as a few strands of his thin hair plucked freely from his mane; a deep blush forming on the confines of his cheeks. Glasseye let out a chortle while Pastel was having trouble keeping his composure. Banter just sank down in his seat, hiding beneathe the protection of his rounded armor.

"Alright you two, knock it off." Ironhoof, the caravan leader stepped in to intervene with their little show. "We need everyone at the top of their game for when we begin to traverse the white light." He was talking about the thick haze surrounding the outskirts of their city.

For thirty-six years, the ponies of Catarina have been living under the constant fear of death. The Earth Pony town had been struck with famine, every single harvest has turned up unsuccessful. Carrots pulled up turned grey and shriveled; tomatoes never matured, they stayed green and solid like rocks. Not everything they grew shriveled and died off though, in fact, the exact opposite happened. The berry bushes slowly became detrimental to their way of life. The strawberry and blueberry shrubs began to uproot and crawl out of the soil, their long, wiry frame easily towering over all ponies.

The first encounter with these 'Ents' left a few citizens severely injured. The fog had caused a flash sweat reaction to occur in their bark, making them highly resistant to any means of burning. The torches used by farmers held no effect on the brambly shrub. The only way to take one down is to keep on hacking at its roots and branches until you have a clean shot at its central vein.

The Ents were the least of their worries, because residing in the various nooks and crannies of the fog reside basilisks. The poisonous mist exhaled by these cursed frogs, in large enough doses, can paralyze a pony, encasing them in a crystal tomb. Their bite is even more potent than its bark and can ensue a fate worse than death. If it sinks its fangs into your skin, you slowly begin to decay as the venom eats away at your flesh and brain. Once your mind starts to deteriorate, you lose control of your body and go on rage-induced rampage against anything nearby. They call this disease, "hollowing".

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ironhoof opened his mouth up as if to talk. He was just about to brief everyone for the day when a large, lavender ember shot up into the air, illuminating the morning sky. The purple flare hovered in place above a small grove to the west of where they were resting. Everyone exchanged a quick glance before hopping out of their seats and running up towards the wall of trees, ready to discover the cause of this commotion.

Comments

[Listie The Scribe Maid]

(Joke) Alt. Title: Unbrekable

[Armanico Vita]

1944271
Haha Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis in the same movie? Reminds me of the good Ol' days of Pulp Fiction.

[Regidar]

They call this disease, hollowing.

Should be

They call the disease "hollowing".

Also, love the new developments.

[Armanico Vita]

1953507
Fixed it
Anything in particular stand out to you?

[Regidar]

1954117 I like the take you've done on the caravan. How they're being attacked by ents and such.

[Armanico Vita]

1954125
Phew, atleast I know I did a good job on characterization and backstory. I was afraid that people weren't going to like the addition of any original characters.