I'm Not Overly Fond Of What Follows
Void
By Mushious
Sweetie Belle groaned as Twilight drew a large diagram on a chalkboard in the middle of the library. The violet mare had been subjecting her to various methods of torture for the past two weeks in hopes that some of the knowledge would sink in.
“So,” she said, gesturing to the board, “if you want to levitate say... that book over there, you would need to know it’s weight, how far it is from you and most important of all, you need to factor in your environment. Once you know these three things, it’s easy! Any questions before we give it a go?”
Sweetie Belle’s head hit the desk as Twilight finished talking, causing the young filly to jolt awake in alarm, “my horn makes perfect donuts every time!” She cried out in surprise.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “have you been listening to anything I’ve been saying? This is important.”
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Sweetie nodded, “I swear I wasn’t asleep Twilight. Please don’t tell Rarity!”
“Alright then, how about a little practice.” She set a heavy tome down in front of Sweetie Belle, “I want you to use everything you’ve just learned to lift this off the table. If you were listening, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Sweetie’s eyes bulged, “o-okay Twilight...” she looked at the book and gulped, clenching her eyes shut as she lit her horn up. The book wobbled slightly as she encased it in a magical glow.
“Yes!” Twilight cried, “you’re doing it Sweetie Belle!”
Sweetie Belle looked up at the book and beamed, “I am!? I’m actually doing it!” Floating a few inches off the table, the book wobbled for a moment before exploding violently in the air between them.
Twilight coughed, clearing the smoke from the room with a flick of her horn. Sweetie Belle was as still as a statue, her jaw hung wide and her face was black with soot.
“That...” Twilight began, one eye twitching violently, “that’s okay... I’ll... order another copy from Canterlot... yeah... it’s not like it was a thousand year old manuscript or anything... let me go get something to clean your face...” she bolted off up the stairs towards the bathroom, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Oops...” Sweetie mumbled, looking around at the now empty room.
Most of the room remained unscathed from the sudden disturbance, one or two books had fallen from their shelves which Sweetie managed to put back in place without too much trouble. Checking to make sure she hadn’t missed anything she spotted a large, book shaped object sitting astray at the foot of a shelf.
Picking it up, Sweetie blew a layer of dust from the cover. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, the cover was a strange pale leathery substance and the title seemed to be written in blood.
“Ne... necro... nomi... con...” she said, rolling the word across her tongue. “Necronomicon!” She cried, attempting to savour the word, as she did, the book shifted in her hooves and a bright red symbol flared up on the cover. Sweetie dropped it in surprise, it landed with a thud on the polished floor, opening to the first page.
Sweetie Belle peered as the book as the pages settled, the title at the top of the page read The Shadow out of Time. Sweetie skimmed the page, her eyes lighting up as she came across what appeared to be instructions to make a firecracker.
“The girls are going to love this!” She exclaimed, hurriedly closing the heavy book, placing it in her saddlebags, before turning to look at the upper levels of the library, “bye Twilight, thanks for the lesson!” She called out, barreling out the door in a hurry.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER EXPLOSIVE TECHNICIANS... YAY!” Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom cried as they raced down the main street of Ponyville with a cart overflowing with mysterious objects
“This is your best idea yet Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo called from the front of their convoy, propelling her scooter which pulled the heavy cart. She spluttered as a bug flew down her throat, “A firework cutie mark... would be... awesome!” She yelled between coughs.
Sweetie beamed at the compliment, her excitement building as they neared the the tree hut that served as their clubhouse. Without warning, the cart came to a screeching halt, sending Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and it’s contents hurtling through the air.
“Geeze Scootaloo,” Applebloom grumbled, as she picked herself up from out of the dust, “we’re trying to build this thing, not destroy it.”
Scootaloo chuckled, “hehe yeah... lets do this before we get caught. Knowing Twilight, she’ll notice her supplies missing before too long.” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom nodded in agreement, picking up the various objects that had scattered across the ground.
After a few minutes, they stood back from their work, each wearing a large grin on their face. In front of them sat a large skyrocket, complete with stand and oversized wick. Scootaloo whistled, impressed.
“Uhh... one problem girls, where are we going to set it off?” Sweetie asked, “there’s too many trees around here to see it explode.”
Applebloom stroked her chin thoughtfully, “there’s a clearing in the middle of the orchard that might work...”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement and carefully loaded the rocket into their cart before the trio boarded it and set off through a maze of apple trees. As they approached the clearing, Applebloom called out, “careful this time Scootaloo!”
Heeding her warning, Scootaloo bought the cart to a gentle stop in the middle of a wide clearing, she looked around instantly recognising it, “oh yeah, this is where Rainbow Dash comes to have a nap...” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at her, eyebrows raised, “what?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders.
They lifted the heavy rocket from the cart and stuck it firmly in the ground, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle ran to a nearby tree for cover as Scootaloo dug around in the cart for a tinderbox. She looked at the other Crusaders who waved to her, giving the signal to light the fuse. Fumbling with the tinderbox, she managed to strike up a blaze which she then touched to the fuse before jumping on the scooter, racing over to her friends to watch the spectacle.
The fuse burned for what seemed like an age, a trail of arcid wafting from it in the breeze. Slowly it ate it’s way through the fuse sending the rocket skywards moments later emitting a terrifying howl as it streaked through the sky at breakneck speeds.
Nose first into Rainbow Dash who was flying lazily overhead.
FWOOSH....... KERBOOM!!!
Rainbow Dash sighed as she glided through the air, heading to her usual napping spot, hidden well out of sight of prying eyes. She had just finished a busy day of clearing clouds in preparation of a well overdue dry spell and felt completely exhausted. She looked around as she flew, the sun shone high overhead and not a cloud was to be seen, hoof-made perfection.
Gliding low just above the treetops of Sweet Apple Acres as to not be spotted by Applejack, Rainbow Dash made a sharp turn, heading for a nearby clearing, hovering in mid-air as she arrived to pick out a tree to sleep in. Just as she picked out her tree of choice, her ears began to twitch. Below her, she could hear a sharp hissing noise getting closer. She looked down sighing as she spotted the rocket.
“Oh buck,” she groaned as the rocket impacted with her body, exploding on contact. A black nova erupted in the air as Rainbow Dash fell, hurtling towards the ground, the explosive shockwave propelling her.
On the ground, the Crusaders’ jaws dropped, “cooooooool!” They sang in unison, before Scootaloo noticed a blue speck falling from the spectacle overhead.
Her eyes widened in shock, “n... no way...” she pointed to it as it fell.
Applebloom followed her friend’s gaze, flattening her ears in horror, “Scoots, go get somepony... quick!” She ran towards where Rainbow Dash crashed into the ground, Sweetie Belle in hot pursuit.
Scootaloo jumped on her scooter and raced off in the other direction struggling to hold back her tears.
Twilight’s ears perked up as wind howled around the library, curious, she looked out the window to see the weather was perfectly clear. She shrugged, ‘I guess Rainbow Dash had another close call’ she thought, dismissing the noise.
Until it sounded again. Sticking her head out the window she cried out in frustration, “what the...” she shied away from the window and bolted down the stairs as a blast of air rocked the tree once more, “...hay?”
Teleporting outside, she looked up. High over Sweet Apple Acres sat a gigantic swirling void, large enough to fit a sizable barn. Ponies all over town were running around in a panic as the void grew, sending out one last blast of air as it did. The air became extremely still after the gust of wind cleared giving Twilight the chance to run towards the apple orchard.
As she ran, a loud whistle caught her attention. Turning around, she saw Applejack racing up behind her.
“What the hay is that thing!” She called out.
Twilight shook her head, “I’ve never seen anything like it Applejack, I was on my way to get a closer look.”
Applejack’s frowned, “that’s right over where the Crusaders’ clubhouse is! C’mon!” She took off at a gallop, jumping a fence and heading off into dense bush. Twilight tried to follow, staggering as she lifted herself over the wooden structure.
As they raced towards the source of the void, Applejack gave a cry of shock, ahead of them were two fillies perched atop a familiar figure who was sprawled across the ground, unmoving.
“RAINBOW DASH!” Applejack bellowed, picking up speed as they got close.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were crying, shaking Rainbow Dash to no avail. The blue mare lay on the ground in a disheveled heap, a large charred tear in her side still smoked slightly as Twilight and Applejack approached.
“What happened?” Applejack asked the Crusaders as Twilight checked on their friend.
Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she checked for a pulse. Rainbow Dash’s heart was still beating strong despite the injury, “she’s alive Applejack but, we need to get to Nurse Redheart quickly.”
Applejack nodded, “Ah’ll take her, you deal with these two... wait a second,” she looked around, “where’s Scootaloo?”
“She... she didn’t come to get you?” Applebloom whimpered.
Applejack shook her head, “Ah’ came because of that,” she pointed to the anomaly above them. Twilight levitated Rainbow Dash onto Applejack’s back, being extra careful as to not reopen her wounds. “Ah’ took a shortcut getting here, she’s probably still on her way to town. You girls be sure to tell Twilight everything you did.”
Applejack raced off through the trees back the way she came without another word, Rainbow draped across her back.
“Alright girls, spill it,” Twilight demanded, massaging her temple in preparation for the Crusader’s verbal onslaught.
Which to her surprise, never came.
“I’m really sorry Twilight!” Sweetie Belle cried, “I found a book with a recipe for a firecracker and thought that we might be able to get our cutie marks by making it and, and...” she sniffed, ready to burst into tears.
Twilight’s eyes widened, “what book Sweetie Belle?”
The filly rummaged through her saddlebag and pulled out the leather bound book, “it’s called the Necronomicon.”
Twilight almost fainted, leaning against a nearby tree for support, “sweet Celestia...” she groaned, “and what page did you find this... firecracker on?”
Sweetie Belle fumbled with the book for a second before prying it open, “it’s called Th--”
“DON’T OPEN THE BOOK!” Twilight yelled, Sweetie Belle dropped the book in alarm, it fell to the dirt with a thud that made Twilight wince, before fluttering open to the page Sweetie Belle had discovered earlier.
Twilight froze, as if expecting something to happen. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other and shrugged, “uh... Twilight?” they asked.
“Nothing happened...” Twilight sighed, peering at the title of the page, “huh,” she closed the book and gingerly tucked it into her saddle bags.
“What Twilight?” Applebloom asked, trying to get a look at the book as Twilight put it away.
Twilight shrugged, gesturing for the fillies to follow her, heading back the way she came, “nothing really, just an interdimensional rift between our world and another where near-indestructible flying beasts that can turn invisible live...”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes bulged, “THAT’S NOTHING?!” she exclaimed.
“Well,” Twilight grinned, her left eye twitching slightly, “they is blind.” She began laughing hysterically.
Applebloom raised an eyebrow, “I think Twilight’s finally lost it...”
--
The trees above Scootaloo began to thicken as she raced along on, blotting the sky from view. as they towered overhead. She didn’t notice, the only thing on her mind was getting to Ponyville as quick as possible to get help for Rainbow Dash.
It wasn’t until a loud rustling from behind caught her attention. She bought the scooter to a halt and spun around, “hello? Is anypony out there?” She called out, only to be met with silence.
She shrugged and clambered back onto her scooter, continuing along the dusty path deeper into the trees. The rustling sounded again, this time from a bush ahead of her, Scootaloo put her head down and accelerated past it calling out as she rushed by, “you can come out now, this isn’t funny!”
On request, the bushes exploded and a dark figure leapt at her, crashing into the cart attached to her scooter, severing the joint that connected the two. Scootaloo screamed as it vanished into the darkness, knowing immediately what had attacked her as a foul stench flooded her senses.
“Timber... wolves...” she whimpered, speeding along even faster, unburdened by the cart.
The path suddenly disappeared beneath her, sending Scootaloo hurtling over the edge into the darkness below. Without hesitation, the Timberwolves jumped after her, howling wildly as they went.
Scootaloo screamed as she fell, fluttering her wings to slow her descent. Her scooter hit the ground first, it’s rigid frame shattering on impact, rendering it entirely useless. She was quick to follow, landing muzzle first in a thick patch of glowing moss. She groaned but wasted no time picking herself up, out of the luminescent foliage. Blood streamed freely from her nose, splashing unceremoniously on the ground.
She quickly glanced around for her scooter but couldn’t see it in the darkness. One by one, loud thudding noises sounded around her as the Timberwolves landed, Scootaloo jumped in alarm before galloping away, into the darkness.
Scootaloo’s heart felt as if it was going to explode from her chest as she ran, the thought of being caught driving her onwards. She could hear them all around her, snarling and snickering as if mocking her futile attempts at escape. The only thing guiding her way was the strange glowing moss that littered the ground, leading her deeper into the Everfree.
The terrain slowly became steeper as she ran, phosphorescent foliage becoming more scarce as the trees gave way to a starry sky. Scootaloo could tell the Timberwolves were beginning to grow bored of their hunt; their stench grew as they got closer. A young Timberwolf suddenly leapt from the shadows, diving straight at her. Scootaloo screamed as it closed in on her, only to be sent careening across the treetops by a gigantic wall of stars.
A deafening roar thundered through the forest, shaking the ground and startling the sleeping wildlife. The Timberwolves scarpered, whimpering as they slunk back into the shadows.
Scootaloo dared to open an eye. High above her a gigantic set of yellowed fangs appeared to hang in mid-air, “just my luck...” she groaned, “Timberwolves were bad enough... at least you don’t have bad breath...”
She looked the giant bear in the eye, “I guess you want to eat me too?” she asked, slumping down in the dirt, defeated.
The bear glared at her for a moment before leaning down, Scootaloo gulped. What followed, surprised her greatly. A cold, spongy nose pressed hard against her face, forcing her to fall over entirely in the dirt. The bear uttered a noise that reminded her of Rarity’s cat, after it knowingly tore Sweetie Belle’s mane asunder.
Scootaloo tried to mask her enthusiasm and rolled her eyes instead, muttering to herself, “typical, the scariest thing in the forest and it’s a big softy.” She struggled to climb to her hooves as the Ursa continued to nuzzle her affectionately.
“Yes!” She giggled, “I get it. You’re a nice bear now, can I get up or are you going to rub me into the dirt?”
The Ursa Major grunted and flopped down in the dirt, it’s giant ethereal muzzle landing inches from her. It let out what Scootaloo could only assume was a sigh; a wave of hot, moist air washed over her.
She wrinkled her nose, “uh... thank you? I’ll uh... be going now I guess, somepony is probably looking for me...” she began inching away from the oversized bear, when a fearsome howl filled the air. Scootaloo flinched, “maybe I’ll stay here for a while...” she tittered nervously.
The Ursa jumped to it’s feet and snarled fiercely as several more howls joined the first. Scootaloo cowered beneath it’s hulking mauve form as she spied several large creatures slinking around in the shadows.
Scootaloo was unable to contain herself, screaming as a pack of Timberwolves leapt, one by one at the Ursa, the wooden beasts were bigger than any she had ever seen, their size almost comparable to the the astral bear that towered above her.
The Ursa swang it’s paws without mercy. With claws extended, it shattered the wolves in mid-air, sending splinters scattering across the ground in every direction. One of the wolves dove at her, gigantic maw snapping as it tried to snag her, only to be ground into the dirt as a heavy paw came thundering down. Amber energy from within the wolf took form as the wisp tried to dart away into the forest, only to be devoured whole by the furious bear.
A pair of Timberwolves took this as an opportunity to jump at the Ursa from behind, jaws clamping down on it’s shoulders. The bear roared in pain as shimmering blood ran down it’s starry coat, it hooked one of the wolves with razor-sharp talons and threw it through the air, claws raking through the fiery glow within it’s head, snuffing the light out completely. The other wolf snarled and bit down harder. In response, the Ursa fell backwards, crushing the wolf under it’s weight. The remaining Timberwolves bolted into the forest at the sight of their larger brethren falling victim to the bear.
Suddenly feeling exposed with moon hanging high overhead, Scootaloo ran to the Ursa who lay in the dirt, panting heavily. It looked at her with sad eyes and bawled. Scootaloo shook her head as water began to flow from her eyes.
“No...” she whimpered, “you can’t die... they’re gone... you won!”
Through laboured breaths, the bear bawled at her again. It’s coarse tongue shot out and lapped up her tears as they ran down her face. She wrapped her hooves around it’s muzzle, crying into it’s fur.
“It’s not fair!” She wept, “YOU WON!”
--
“There is a search party out looking, they’ll find her Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, nudging a tray of food to the bedridden mare, “you really should eat something.”
Rainbow Dash knocked the tray away, scattering it’s contents over the floor, “the hay I’m eating while Scootaloo is out there in the middle of Celestia knows where, on her own and freezing cold!”
She sat up, wincing as her bandages shifted against her injuries, “I made that filly a promise, I’m gonna go find her, don’t try to stop me.”
Rainbow Dash pulled herself out of the bed, surprised when Twilight stepped out of her way. “You’re not going to stop me?” She asked, bewildered.
Twilight shook her head, “I trust you Rainbow Dash, If this is what you need to do, I won’t stand in your way.”
Rainbow Dash jumped out the hospital window before Twilight had finished speaking, hissing as her bandages continued to slip. Landing on the roof of a nearby building, she tore them off to reveal a starburst burn running along her barrel.
“Great... Rarity is going to have a fit...” she muttered, casting the bandages aside before leaping into the air, spotting a plume of dust rising in the distance as she gained altitude. She gulped, “of course... the Everfree Forest.”
She sped away, narrowly missing the void which was nearly invisible in the waning light as she headed for the disturbance in the forest.
Trees flashed by beneath her as she flew, whatever had been causing the uproar had finally calmed down, the dust cloud fading into the darkening sky. As she neared, Rainbow Dash’s eyes shot wide.
“SCOOTALOO!” She yelled, spotting the orange filly below her.
Scootaloo looked up, torrents of water washing down her face. She had draped herself over the snout of a gigantic astral bear which appeared to be fading away as stars took their place in the sky overhead.
Rainbow Dash landed next to the filly, her legs collapsing as she touched down. She could see the giant Ursa was well and truly dead, it’s lifeless eyes stared into the surrounding forest.
“Hey kiddo,” she panted, “heard you needed a helping hoof.”
Scootaloo hugged Rainbow Dash tightly who winced as her injuries reminded her they were there, “it saved my life Rainbow Dash!” She cried.
“You can tell me all about it when we get back to Ponyville. C’mon, lets get out of her...” Rainbow Dash swayed momentarily before collapsing into the dirt, unconscious.
--
Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing her forehead as she cracked her eyes open, “did I ever tell you how much I hate hospitals?”
“You overexerted yourself and collapsed in the middle of the Everfree Forest,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly. “Fluttershy spotted you and went for help.”
Fluttershy blew her mane out of her eye, nodding, “I was trying to help the search party when I saw you heading deeper into the forest.”
“Apparently an Ursa Major fended off a pack of Timberwolves and saved Scootaloo’s life,” Twilight continued, “but was fatally injured during the fight.”
Rainbow Dash was shocked, “it didn’t try to eat her?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Fluttershy shook her head, “Ursas don’t eat ponies, they’re generally quite motherly towards us.”
“Huh,” Rainbow Dash looked around, “where’s Scootaloo?”
Twilight pointed to the floor next to the bed where the orange filly lay, fast asleep curled up under a Wonderbolts hoodie.
Rainbow Dash chuckled, “poor kid, she’s gonna run me ragged, telling me about tod...” her ears twitched, “does anypony else hear that?”
A metallic scream filled the air from outside the building, Twilight teleported to the window and peered out the blinds before promptly snapping them shut and taking a deep breath.
The entire outer wall of the hospital suddenly vanished, screeching steel and an intense wall of fire taking it’s place. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy screamed as the hospital around them disintegrated, liquid fire consuming anything that didn’t collapse in the violence.
After nearly ten minutes, Twilight opened her eyes and a hastily erected magical barrier that surrounded them collapsed. She immediately regretted the decision, wheezing as the dry air hit her lungs. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo stared, eyes wide a jaws hanging slack at the carnage around them.
“Sweet mother of Celestia...” Twilight croaked, her mouth parched, “what the buck was that?”
To be continued
Author's Note
To be continued in Cope.
