Day 2: Tropical Treats

A dangerous forest with unknown things. In this forest, only survival sings. Dire trees with abnormal beings, many of them are not worth seeing. Creatures of many sizes roam the trees, stumble to the wrong one, your life will pay the fee. Run, hide, or fight, that's the way to live here. The only thing to fuel on here is fear.

The muffled sounds of the forest muscled into Spike's ears, as the branches blowing in the wind and the chittering of animals made him open his eyes. His eyes slowly opened, surprised of how he got a good sleep despite where he was sleeping. Spike rubbed his head and heard calls of animals in the long distance. After waiting for a few seconds, they were gone from his vicinity, as the sounds slowly died down. He sighed in relief. There were so many things this forest could hold. He looked down to see Twilight still sleeping and smiled. She looked really cute with her bottom lip a little out. With her head against his chest, she slept soundly as a gust gently shook the tree trunk. Little natural light came into the dark moist trunk, making it very dim. Spike blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision and softly laid Twilight down by turning his body. He was careful not to touch her injury and slid his way out. His scales scrapped the bottom and used his claws to quicken his movement.

Sliding out from the camouflaged trunk, Spike looked out to see the most beautiful forest he ever laid his eyes on. Tall and gigantic peaceful trees rooted themselves onto the forest ground. Their bright green leaves touched the heavens, hanging thick vines down for the passerby below. Spike never saw a tree so monstrous, yet so majestic before. All the trees he thought back in Equestria were tiny by comparison. The wooden plant before him would take a dozen or more of the library. It would take more than a few seconds to even circle around the tree. Lush plants full of color were blooming, catching the early morning dew in their luscious pedals. Full of other emerald green plants, other bright colors captured his eyes and looked around him. What seemed to be the waterfall was making the wonderful noise. Spike could hear each drop plop onto the rocks below with each mighty crash. His eyes straight up, the sky above was almost blocked out by the sheer mass of the trees' major colonies. He sighed before a ghastly voice whispered.

"You, strange creature, come before me. I have something you may want to see."

"Huh?" Spike asked himself, hearing the voice, "Who's there?"

"Nothing much, little dear lizard, as the last living thing I saw was a gizzard."

"A gizzard?" Spike asked, scratching his head, "Isn't that a-"

"Creature of scales, vibrant being?" the voice interrupted, "I am really worth seeing."

"No, I'm good," Spike whispered, scanning his vicinity for any animals."I'm fine myself."

"Foolish serpent, listen to these words!" the voice said, sense of heightened pride merged with his words, "I am the Alpha and the Omega you turd!!"

“Yeah, real mature, oh Great One,” Spike said sarcastically, eyeing a weird colorful bug crawling on a blue flower’s petals.

The bug was red of color and looked like a retarded beet hyped up on steroids. Wider than it was long, the antennas on its head moved frequently. A series of green stripes on its abdomen connected to the thorax. The head of the exotic mysterious thing was packed with a dozen eyes.

The voice seemed to not acknowledge Spike’s sarcasm and thought of it as a compliment.

“Ah, lizard, you shall be rewarded,” the voice piped up, “You shall eat until you’re bloated!!”

“Dragon,” Spike said, walking close to the red bug, “I’m a dragon.”

His feet shuffled on the moist forest ground and headed towards the gigantic blue flower. The red bug was the size of Spike’s forearm and didn’t react to his approach. Spike kept his distance away and squatted.

“Eat! Come over here, come!!” the voice said proudly, “Mine will be done!”

The red bug buzzed, letting skeletal wings from its juicy body stretch out. Spike looked at it with wonder and leaned a little closer.

“That’s cool…” he whispered to himself, watching the bug’s eyes blink.

It chittered before it leap from the blue flower onto the bark of a tree. Spike gasped in amazement to see the odd bug scramble up the mile high tree.

“My powers are amazing you fool,” the voice interjected, annoying Spike a little bit more, “Now prepare thyself, fool!”

“I’m scared…” Spike said, putting his claws up and widening his eyes in ‘fear’, “I’ll do anything you say, beautiful one!!”

“Y-You think I’m beautiful?” the voice gasped, seeming to take the ‘compliment’ at heart.

“Yeah, mmhmm,” Spike said, wiping his claws clear of dirt, “I actually talked to a few trees before.”

“I am a rare living entity! I am also your remedy!” the voice went on.

“Zecora pulled my leg with her magic…” Spike muttered to himself, ”Made trees talk…”

“That’s what I am, Spike the dragon... What else can I say?” the voice said darkly, the cheer from previous now gone “Now, I hope you enjoy your stay...”

A gigantic tree the size of twelve stories shifted, showing eyes embedded in the mossy trunk. Brown eyes held mystery and power, zeroing in on the drake. Vines erupted from the ground, trapping Spike from escape. The earth rumbled, raising the thick vines into a dome shape. The movement of a giant arm from the gargantuan thing controlled the plants. The vines held a very thorny texture, making Spike aware of its danger.

“What are you?” Spike asked, feeling his body heightened with adrenaline. He was ready to run or fight the living tree. His heart thumped more, making him shake a little. His breath became shallow as the tree spoke.

“Your nightmare,” the tree croaked, it’s voice ancient as the stars, “And my next meal,” he said, his other arm slowly raising up next to him.

Twilight slept soundly in the tree until a loud crack nearby jolted her awake. She screamed in surprise, feeling the entire trunk split open. Light peeked in on her face, showing that fear claimed her face. A giant tree exploded in growth next to her, frightening her what was happening.

“Hey, you don’t want to eat me!!” Spike’s voice said faraway, “I’m not tasty at all!”

“We do not have taste buds for things like you,” an ancient voice rasped, making Twilight get on her hooves. Her bad ankle was still messed up, but that didn’t stop her from finding out what was happening.

“But even though without that,” Spike’s voice said again, making Twilight climb the newly sprouted tree, “you might choke on the scales!!”

“Energy right there,” the voice spoke, “In here, anything will do.”

Spike bit his lip, looking over to the location where Twilight was sleeping. He needed her out of there as quick as possible. He looked nervously at the tree’s eyes, looking into the age and dangerous wonder of it.

“Uh, what’s your name?” Spike asked, hearing the sharp vines around him twist and turn closer.

“Name? It is forgotten, long and gone…”

“Barkswood! How about that?” Spike said, wanting to carry on the conversation further on.

“Barkswood?” the tree repeated, creaking his giant head in curiousity, “I like that.”

Spike chuckled, “Yeah, the name’s Scales!!” he lied, putting on a grin.

“Scales?” Barkswood asked, raising his gigantic wooden eyebrow.

He smiled on, “Well, kind of.”

“I know your name is Spike, Spike the dragon,” Barkswood croaked, “I know many things. Many things beyond your wildest imagination.”

Twilight slowly scaled the tree, convenient branches helping her to get to the top. Ginormous vines nearby canceled out much of Spike’s voice. Her heart pounded, feeling creaking and groans of wood move around. The moist air made the air heavy and almost unbearable, but nonetheless, the safety of Spike was much more important than comfort.

“And with that knowledge, aren’t you going to have fun with me?” Spike asked, putting his arms out as if he was challenging the tree, “C’mon, give me your best shot!!”

“Ah, it has been a while indeed…” Barkswood said, rubbing his giant chin with his giant finger.

Twilight finally reached a part of the tree where she could be hidden from sight. Hugging it, her eyes stared at the old tree, alive and moving like a creature. The unicorn was a bit taken aback, looking at the monstrous moving tree with awe. But with the things she witnessed, Twilight looked cautiously at the vines. All she could do was wait and hope for a miracle to happen.

“C’mon, make my death long and painful!!” Spike said, thumping his chest to Barkswood, “Bring it!”

The tree’s and Twilight’s eyes widened, one with surprise and the other with complete fear. A smile formed on Barkswood’s face, while Twilight was just terrified.

“I do admire your courage and bravery to fight something like me, dragon,” Barkswood said, raising both arms at the top of the dome, “And I promise you, it shall be long and painful..”

Spike gulped, feeling as if his heart was going to give out. But even with Death staring at his face, he kept his composure and crept low. He was ready to fight for his life..

“Bring it!” he said, putting on a sly grin.

“Full of life as you can see…” Barkswood chanted, moving his hands in a waved motion, “I shall give more life to thee!”

Green energy balls formed at Barkswood’s palms, tiny compared to him. About the size of Spike’s fist, a huge number of them slowly fell to the ground around the dragon. They were like tiny sprites, almost transparent. From the center of each light held a network, going in a full 360-degrees. Like a leaf, it gently glided to the earth. The light began to go underneath the dirt and plants, almost as if it was digging.

“What are these?” Spike asked, watching countless other sprite lights fall down like rain. The green energy bubbles illuminated great amount of light.

“The breath of life, dragon,” Barkswood whispered, “It’s a beautiful thing.”

All the light submerged into the ground, making Spike wonder what had happened. He looked around in confusion and finally asked a question to Barkswood.

“Aren’t you going to kill me?” Spike asked as Barkswood crept a smile.

“I won’t, but they will,” he whispered as a wooden hand was given birth to from the earth.

A hand much bigger than Spike’s erupted from the ground, followed by another one. Claws were the brown fingers, showing the grain of wood. A hollow face emerged afterwards the hands, pushing itself out of the ground. Green eyes from the face stared at Spike. The eyes were full of energy and slowly moved towards the dragon, who was getting outnumbered by more of the living trees. More than ten of the things creaked and groaned, no words coming out of their mouths.

“These are my children,” Barkswood said, more of the trees given life from the earth, “They are my precious Treants, and they will kill you, dragon.”

Barkswood’s children moaned, getting closer to Spike with each step. Taller than him and built thickly in wood, the children’s goal was only one thing: Kill the dragon. Their hollow faces were of a small block, filled with newly green eyes of life. Thick shoulders and sharp fingers were shown they were born just to kill.

“Have fun, my new children!!” Barkswood exclaimed, watching intently as they began to fully circle Spike, “Make his death long and painful!!”

All the Treants groaned in response and looked down at Spike. A sudden wooden clawed hand scratched towards him, making Spike jump away from the attack. The drake crept low as the Treants swung it for an attack.

“You guys asked for it!” Spike roared in a battle cry, his fist made contact with a Treant, who was in a follow-through stance. The dragon’s fist crushed the Treant’s face into pulp, making the heavy body fly across the dome. Knocking down its brothers and sisters, the other Treants rushed him.

One of them groaned, grabbing Spike’s leg. It’s hard fingers gripped hard, making a mark on his scales. Spike grimaced in pain and used his strength to lift the Treant up. Charging up his hit, Spike used the Treant grabbing onto his leg as a weapon. A large row of the tree people smashed in many pieces. Orbs of light escaped the battlefield into the air, entering Barkswood. He took a deep breath, making the orbs enter his nostrils.

More Treants were spawning in faster than Spike could destroy them. A vast number of them charged on all sides, forcing Spike to handle all of them. The dragon was breathing heavily, feeling scratches against his scaled armor from the Treants. Beginning to rotate, his spines sharpened, offering as protection. Some Treants were partially impaled, but they felt no pain. Their hands groped towards Spike, wanting to break anything on him. Spike was lucky his scales were tough, now a whole bunch of black scratches were edging away at the armor. Using his forearm, Spike grunted, sending a huge section of the Treants into the air. Some of them smashed high in the trees while others plummeted towards Barkswood. He quickly raised his hand up as pieces of his children landed on his giant palm. Green orbs from the pieces lifted up into his face. He took a deep breath as the orbs from above slowly came down.

“At this rate…” Twilight thought, looking at Barkswood and at the Treants, “Spike will never win…” Twilight bit her lip as she saw Spike put a fist into a Treant’s face. With the momentum, he put a kick, knocking an arm off of a Treant behind him.

Twilight touched her horn, hopefully it was fine. There wasn’t a mirror she could see into to check on the status of her horn. She could feel herself shake as she slowly climbed the tree. Beads of sweat was pouring out of her forehead, ready to take on the ancient tree and his Treants. Twilight positioned herself and sat at the top of the tree, but crept low. Below, Spike was running out of breath as waves upon waves of the tree people came upon him. The unicorn closed her eyes, hopefully that pain won’t take over her body. A small bead of violet magic at the tip of her horn grew, alerting Barkswood. His giant head shifted towards the bright light on his right. His eyes widened as the Treants stopped what they were doing. Spike was confused himself until he turned towards the bright purple light.

Barkswood’s eyes were in complete fear, watching the light grew brighter by each passing second. He cowered, the Treants below doing the same.

“Twilight!!” Spike yelled, carving a path towards her, “Keep doing that, I’m coming for you!!”

He smashed his way towards her, decapitating Treants and kicking them to the side.

Twilight concentrated all her strength and power on her horn. Spike’s and her life depended on it. But a sudden crack of her horn sent her leaning forwards. All her weight went to her head, where she started to fall. The small orb on her horn went down to the ground, where Barkswood and the Treants stopped themselves.

“Ahhh!!” Twilight screamed, the few hundred feet fall awaiting her death. The cracked horn made a feeling of her body splitting in half. The magical orb slowly floated towards the Treants, where they were curious of it. Barkswood himself was intrigued of the light and stared at it.

Spike was breathing heavily, sprinting towards Twilight’s land zone. She continued to scream, with the orb diverting the attention of the hostiles. The dragon could see that Twilight would land pretty nasty. Wth his lungs and legs pushed to their limit, he dove in the hopes of catching her. Twilight could see her lift pass before her eyes.

The moment when she was born, it changed to a few years later. She could see Shining Armor nooging her little head. It jumped forwards to where Twilight had passed the entrance exam and hatched Spike. Fast forwarding to where she had to leave for Ponyville, it all then ended with a grunt and “I got ya’.”

“I got ya’!!” Spike’s voice exclaimed, breaking Twilight’s train of thought. She felt herself thrust back into the world, leaving only Spike’s tired, yet smiling face in her vision. “I got you, Twilight!!” Spike said, hugging Twilight.

The unicorn was confused, her arms starting to slowly creep on his back. She could feel tears start to form at her eyes until she realized that Spike had come for her. Her fingertips felt the scratches on his back, his shoulder a very comfortable resting spot for her head. Salty wet tears streaming down her face, Spike couldn’t help but tear up as well.

“I’ll always be there for you, Twilight,” Spike said, a single tear from his eye getting on her mane.
The orb that Twilight conjured still taking the attention away from them. Barkswood softly whispered under his breath as his children looked up to it as well. The light slowly fell down at the edge of the vined battlefield, where Treants backed away from it.

“What… is that?” Barkswood whispered, the ancient tree now lost for words, “I have never seen anything like it…”

The violet ball now floated from the ground for just a few feet, where the towering Treants looked at it curiously. Their green eyes were filled with wonder and beauty. Dangerous beauty.

Twilight saw what her magic had done and quickly whispered it to Spike, her lips mere inches from his ears.

“We need to go,” she whispered, her hands on his shoulders, “Also, keep your voice low,” she said, watching the Treants in front of her slowly make their way to the magical orb.

Spike nodded and looked at the few hundred feet tall vined wall. It was sharp, but not enough to cause a serious deep wound. He looked towards a tree collapsed from the vines and pointed towards it.

“I think we can climb that to get away from this place,” Spike said, Twilight’s eyes now looking into that direction, “Can you walk?” he asked, looking down at her ankle.

“I think I ca-”

“Better safe than sorry,” Spike softly grunted, sweeping Twilight up into a bridal style. Twilight gasped, a bit unexpecting from the move. Spike trecked quickly towards the broken tree, where Twilight could see the mass gathering around her orb. Hundreds upon hundreds of Treants huddled around the violet light, staring at it with wonder. The drake reached the tree, watching the sharp splinters and immediately made his way up it.

“Spike, stop!!” Twilight said keeping her voice low. She looked up at the angle and saw how Spike was carrying her.

“What?”

“If you carry me like this, you’ll slip and fall!” Twilight whispered, “You’ll need to carry me on your back!”
Spike settled Twilight gently on the ground and got on his knees obediently.

“Quick!” he replied, Twilight jumping on his back. She straddled on his back and held onto his spines. “Wrap your legs around mine, Twilight,” Spike said, “Just in case you lose your grip with your hands. She did so as Spike set on forth up the broken tree and plant walls.

Across the field, a single Treant got closer to the orb and tilted its head side to side. With a finger out, it got closer and closer. The tip of its finger touched the orb, where nothing happened. The Treant’s finger began to go in and out of the orb where Barkswood’s eyes went in disappointment.

“How strange, I felt that-”

A huge explosion from the orb made an enormous shockwave, obliterating the unlucky Treants that were too close to it. The violet light grinded the wood of the Treants into fine pieces and slowly wisped away the life force it had. Barkwood’s eyes went into sheer terror, seeing that the orbs were being consumed and were turning into nothing.

“NO!!!” Barkswood bellowed, seeing the orbs disappear, “MY CHILDREN!!”

His gigantic hand went into the shockwave, where his hand began to slowly deteriorate. His arm began to decay into nothing, his eyes wide in shock in what was happening. All the Treants were caught in the blast, where they met the same fate as the others. Barkswood’s other hand went into to try save them, but his hand and arm immediately melted away.

“NO!!!” Barkswood yelled, his trunk slowly beginning to slowly strip away, “NOOO!!!!”

It travelled up his trunk as his ancient branches and mighty wood were running down.

“THIS CANNOT HAPPEN!! I CANNOT DIE!! I AM TOO YOUNG!!” Barkswood bellowed, looking around him. The vine dome he made was now nothing, as if it didn’t even exist.

“I PUT A DANGEROUS CURSE ON THEE!” the ancient tree yelled, the energy consuming all except his face, “YOU SHALL MEET SOMETHING MORE DANGEROUS THAN ME! YOU FILTHY LITTLE DRAGON, YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS!!! THE DEATH OF HER WILL END LIKE A KISS! A CURSE UPON YOUR LIFE, A CURSE UPON ME! DIE, THAT IS YOUR FEE!...”

Barkswood’s voice slowly faded out of existence, where Spike was sprinting away from the tree. Twilight looked back to see a violet explosion now dominating the green color. Her eyes were filled with anxiety, wondering what sort of spell she had casted.

The dragon ran on, not giving any heed to see what was happening behind him. The bright sun above leaked through the high trees onto the couple, where the majestic rays soon told him to slow down. The heat was increasing in temperature, the aftermath behind them now all and nothing. Sounds of wildlife and the bugs was now the main noise of the air.

Spike slowly went into a walk, where his struggling lungs gasped for oxygen. Twilight got off of his back and limped in front of him. With his claws on his thighs, he was leaning over and gasped for air. A large blue centipede-like bug with orange hexagonal eyes looked at them with curiosity, its pincers and antennas going wild. Many of its legs swarmed across the tree, retreating up high.

“Spike?” Twilight asked, watching Spike heavily breathe, “Are you alright?”

“Never been… better…” Spike wheezed, collapsing onto the ground onto his back.
The soft ground below him caught his fall as Twilight got onto her knees, looking into his eyes. The warm sunlight from above pecked onto her back and on Spike’s dirty face. Scratches all over his body was clear as day. The unicorn fell on top and hugged him deeply, which made him grunt.

He laughed.

“And a good morning to you, Twilight!” Spike said as the centipede above looked down on them. It chittered before moving up again away from sight.

“You almost got killed out there Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, “Why did you push him to kill you?”

“I didn’t want him to kill you, Twilight,” Spike chuckled, resting his head on a bunch of moss. “Besides, what am I to you?”

“Don’t talk like that, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, Spike’s face having a mischievous smile.

“I guess I’m a lot to you then,” Spike said, breathing in and out heavily. Twilight’s entire weight was on his diaphragm, in which she was oblivious about. “You almost got killed yourself.”

“Yeah, for you, Spike,” Twilight said, pushing a finger gently on his nose, “You were being stupid.”

The centipede was staring at them, wondering what the dragon and unicorn was. It chittered and was anxious to walk up to them. It looked back and to them nervously, it’s many legs moving back and forth.

“I’m stupid, Twilight,” Spike said, “You’ll have to deal with it.”

Twilight puffed her cheeks up and slid down next to Spike.

“What made that thing attack you, anyway?” Twilight asked, looking over to the drake.

“Barkswood?” Spike asked, looking over to her, “Well, we are in the wilderness, Twi,” he said, “You gotta do what you gotta do.”

“That’s true,” Twilight said, remembering the spell she had somehow casted, “Wh-”

“OOOH, AHH!!” Spike yelped, a huge slurping heard behind them.

Twilight looked over to Spike, where an emerald tongue was bathing him. The blue centipede-like bug with orange eyes was chirping, the pincers leading out a long green tongue. Spike was giggling feeling the slimy thing lather him up. The centipede had a smile on its face, enjoying what it was doing.

Spike was laughing, flailing his arms as the bug increased its movement of the tongue. Twilight was horrified, yet amazed of what was happening. The bug was very long and slender, longer than Spike and herself combined. Two large orange eyes glittered in the sun, the large clawed pincers and antennas were moving around. It’s eyes were happy, seeing that Spike had smile on his face. But it soon ended as it started, where Spike was giggling on the ground. Twilight could see the saliva of the bug soak into his scales, where the many marks began to heal. They slowly sizzled up as the bug slithered around to Twilight’s side. Its antennae went up and down Twilight, but then it started to frazz towards her busted ankle. The centipede slid its tongue out and started to lather her hoof. It chittered as Twilight suddenly couldn’t help stop laughing. Unbelievable happiness made her giggle as the long slimy tongue wrapped around her ankle. She gave no heed what the weird thing was due to what was happening.

The centipede chittered and purred, nudging it’s ginormous head next to Twilight. Its pincer movement died down as Spike wheezed. His claw felt the hard plating of the centipede and looked to Twilight, who was giggling with the friendly centipede.

Spike looked very surprised and looked at his body, clean and no wounds on him whatsoever.The green tongue retracted back into its mouth before it chittered again and began to walk away. The dragon helped Twilight up to her hooves before she got in control of herself.

“W-What was that?” Twilight asked between giggles.

“That I don’t know either,” Spike said, “Hey, is your ankle good?” he asked as the long body of the centipede was going into the direction of front of them.

“Hmm?” Twilight said, putting pressure on her hoof. No pain shot up, making Twilight have a smile on her face. But that quickly changed to nervousness and touched her horn. “But my horn…” she said, “Is it cracked?”

“Yeah, it is…” Spike said, looking at the cracked thing, “I wonder why it didn’t heal it.”

The long blue armored body was moving along, in where Twilight gave a Spike a look.

“Ready for a ride?” she asked.

“What?” Spike replied, with a puzzled look.

Many legs below them thundered on the earthy ground, the long blue spiny ligaments crawling and smashing through anything in its way.

“So, what’s the plan?” Spike asked towards Twilight, “What’s next?”

“Our goal is to get back to Equestria,” Twilight said, looking up at the forest to see a bright red multi-limbed primate swinging across with vines, “But a plan? That’s something we can come up with.”

Spike scratched his head and looked towards the centipede's head, which was about a hundred feet ahead.

“We’ll need to get food and water,” Twilight said as the centipede mantled over a tree trunk, “Then we can make our way to the beach to find anything left.”

“That sounds good, but how do we know where the beach is?” Spike asked, shrugging his shoulder.

A large sudden hiss from above caught both the dragon and unicorn, where a colony of black arachnids brought their front legs up. Their eight beady eyes showed that they saw them as a threat. Hairs from their legs and fangs dripping with venom, dozens upon dozens of them were huddled.

“Spiders…” Twilight said with a disgusted face.

“They’re, well, actually pretty small compared to this guy at least!!” Spike said, lightly patting the centipede’s armor.

The hissing spiders then suddenly moved, as if they were on a platform. The thing they were on was the abdomen of an even bigger spider. A single leg of the mother spider was even thicker than the trees around it. Large, furry, and camouflaged, Spike and Twilight’s mouth gaped to see the extreme size of these creatures. The two watched the mother spider use the giant trees around it as steps to help it navigate the forest.

“Well, on second thought…” Spike mumbled as the spiders were getting out of sight.

“Yeah.”

The blue centipede then slithered underneath a large boulder, where the two went down on their chest to evade the stone.

“Wait, Twilight…” Spike said.

“What is it?”

“The spell on Barkswood… What was that spell? I never saw anything like it.”

Twilight remembered the spell stripping away at the existence of the ancient tree and bit her lip. Just what was that? The unicorn pondered about it and answered Spike.

“Well, that I’m not entirely sure,” she said, “With my horn cracked, there’s no way to tell what it can and can’t do. I wanted to blind the tree, hoping it would stop the little ones.”

“And you did something better than that!” Spike exclaimed, clapping his claws.

“I don’t know about that…” she said, remembering what the ancient tree had said, “I don’t know… I mean, curses don’t exist...”

“What?”

The blue centipede suddenly halted, the head of it raised high. A hiss from the mouth could be heard, making Spike and Twilight run towards it.

Reaching where the blue centipede was standing tall, a deafening hiss making the unicorn and dragon aware of a threat. A centipede red of color was almost identical with the blue one that Twilight and Spike was riding on. Yellow eyes and purple tongue, the centipede shrieked.

“They look almost identical,” Twilight whispered, looking at the similarities of the two bugs.

“Yeah, but they don’t seem happy to find each other!!” Spike said, looking at the red centipede spewed forth purple liquid.

The vegetation it touched sizzled, making the blue centipede back off. Twilight and Spike’s centipede roared, spewing green liquid from it’s mouth. Some of it landed near red creature, where the plants near it grew.

The red centipede growled, lifting itself high and bared its pincers viciously.

“We need to go, Twilight,” Spike said, feeling the tension in the air, “We can’t let ourselves be between this,” he said, the blue centipede baring its pincers in retaliation.

Twilight rubbed her hand on the centipede’s armor before following Spike.

“Nature is cruel, it’s either fight or die.” he said.

“And we have to do that…” Twilight whispered, hearing the growls behind them intensify.

“But we want to see our friends again, right?” Spike asked, leading Twilight up an inclined hill.

Twilight nodded in response.

Away from the danger zone, Spike and Twilight saw a mouth form underneath the dirt and went under there.

“Wait, why are we under this?” Twilight asked in a whisper.

The slimy dirt dropped to the ground time to time making the ground very squishy.

“For you to stay while I recon,” Spike whispered back, “Stay here, I’ll be back soon, Twilight,” he said.
“But-”

In a flash, he was gone. Twilight looked above her to see the dirt hold extremely well and jumped up and down. The dirt on her hooves were almost soothing and relaxed her. Squatting down, Twilight looked very impatient and finally got onto her
hooves.

She sighed.

“I’m thirsty. I’m going to get a drink.”

Spike walked not that far from the dirt cave and looked up the monstrous trees. He squinted his eyes, hoping he could see the top. But the intense canopy refrained himself from finding the top. Spitting on his claws, he rubbed them and began to climb the tree. The moist bark was surprisingly dry, helping him get a better grip. Climbing it easily, Spike smiled to himself.

“Ha! This is easy!” he said, his feet digging in at the trunk to assist in to maintain his weight. With each dig into the trunk, Spike knew that he could reach the top very soon.

“I remember water could be found…” Twilight wondered, looking at massive plants embedded at the side of a tree, “In leaves?” she asked herself, tilting her head to the side.

A tree held a leaf pointed up at a 45-degree angle, making so much like a vase. Twilight saw the tree divided up by one-fourths, with one gigantic leaf at each directional coordinate. Getting on the tip of her hooves, a gigantic leaf the size of her looked like to be holding something. Her fingers almost groped it, but after a few attempts, she jumped. Touching the leaf, a huge volume of water suddenly cascaded down on her, her cracked lips and tongue cleansed.

She gasped, feeling the water pour onto her. Covered in the liquid, Twilight was amazed to see the leaves acting like a pitcher for the water.

“This is amazing!!” Twilight exclaimed, looking to see many of the leaves now dripping drops of water from time to time. Clear liquid gold entered her mouth, as she gulped down mouthfuls of the water. Her tongue desired it, her throat filling up with the miraculous liquid. With her belly full and cooled down, Twilight gasped in relief. The heaven she had found was a fountain of life. In a U-shaped valley, rows upon rows of trees looked identical with each other. They were all filled with water.
The unicorn walked a little bit deeper into the divine forest, looking back to know her way back to the dirt cave. Below the trees sat many shrubs, which was getting a drop of water time to time. Twilight bent down and touched a plump cyan berry, about the size of her head. The gigantic foreign fruit left Twilight wondering if it was poisonous or not. Her belly growled, despite it being full with water. Having not eaten more than twenty-four hours, her mind told her to eat it. More than four large juicy berries sat in the shrubs, tempting her to take the chance.

Twilight looked very unsure and grabbed the fruit, taking it off its stem. Soft and squishy, Twilight looked unsay to have something so different in her hands. She looked nervous, but her belly growled again. Closing her eyes, she look a bite of the fruit.

Spike huffed and huffed, covered in leaves and sticky tree sap he accidentally stepped in earlier. He could see the bright blue sky above him, making his quicken his pace.

“Almost there,” he told himself, his wearied claws digging into the thick bark, “Then we can go home!! I can finally sleep in my bed! Then I can-”

Sadly, Spike was not paying attention when he had reached the top. Almost falling over and back to the ground, Spike grabbed onto a durable thick branch. Swinging himself to the main trunk, only the top of the trees could be seen. Just like the ocean, all Spike could see was just the green lush color. Narrowing his sight, Spike squinted and stared off into the distance, almost seeing a dark cerulean blue a little off to his right.

His mind put two and two together, a smile upon his face to know where the ocean was. Spike shifted himself so that he would face the ocean and started to make his way down. With the trunk so big, it was as if it was climbing down a way. With his spines helping in his descent, he slid down, with friction helping him not to go down too fast. But that was all halted when something rock solid met his butt.

“Huh?” Spike asked himself, feeling himself sit on top of something.

He looked down and saw a whitish grayish color. Puzzled, Spike tightly tapped it with his foot, making a hollow sound. The dragon then was met by a frenzied buzzing noise, in where he looked back to see a gigantic hornet with a spear in its legs.

“Bzzz, bzzz!! Bzzzz!!!” the angry hornet buzzed angrily, its wings moving up and down at an ultimate pace. It made the large hornet hover and move closer to Spike, who made a jabbing motion to Spike with the spear.

“Hey, hey!!” Spike exclaimed, looking at the hornet’s angry eyes, “I just need to get off! Just give me a few more seconds!!”

The hornet buzzed again, seeming to understand Spike. The dragon gasped in relief, in which the hornet moved even closer. It buzzed questionably as Spike tried to pinpoint his descent.

“Okay…” Spike muttered to himself, scaling down at the edge of the rock solid material, “Just this… and...”

“Bzzzzzzz!!!!!” the hornet threatened, in which summoned more of its comrades. The insects with spears in their legs began to circle around and got closer with their spears.

“Give me more time!!” Spike yelled back, trying to locate around the material. His clawed foot could only feel an odd texture. Digging his foot in, the section collapsed, bringing Spike down through the milky white substance.

Spike felt himself land in a golden sticky liquid and landed with a splunk. Gasping for air, Spike looked around him to see that he was in a nest……... a hornet’s nest to be precise.

Frenzied buzzing sounds from the other hornets began to add in on the tension. Spike placed his claws out in a defensive manner and tried to maneuver through the liquid.

“Hello guys!” Spike cheekishly said, the number of hornets stacking up in high numbers.

The hornets that he bumped into from outside hovered at the entrance of the hive, right behind Spike. All the eyes of the nest was staring right at Spike, who was right at the edge. The dragon kept his mouth shut, trying to lower himself out of the hornet-wax. But with a simple slip, a huge swarm of buzzes let out a cloud of angry hornets.

Spike yelled, swinging off from the wax and onto the wood. Covered in thick honey, the drake used less friction to get down the tree. Safety didn’t matter when a swarm of furious hornets wanted to kill you. The lead hornet was charging right towards Spike, who was sliding down the tree at high speeds. Sweet, thick honey helped in keeping his claws cool, which solidified almost in contact. Fresh honey on his body continued to ooze down to help his descent.

Spike screamed at the top of his lungs, feeling himself being hurtled down by gravity’s work.

“I’m going to die!!” he yelled, tears from his eyes mixing in with the golden color of honey.

The angry swarm responded with a series of buzzes, making Spike yell out in terror.

Covered in sweet blue juices, Twilight licked her fingers, her face full of satisfaction. Her purple coat was stained a bit with a bright frost color. That one berry alone filled her up along with the fresh water she found. It was a messy treat, but it made her full. Harvesting about two large berries, Twilight made her way back to the dirt cave to bring it back to Spike.

“I wonder what Spike’s up to…” Twilight asked herself, each of her hands cradling the cyan berry.
She hummed a small tune before a yell from above caught her ears. They twitched and perked up, she recognized that voice. It was Spike.

“aaaaaaahh…..” the voice yelled in the distant.

“Spike?” Twilight called out, walking up to the cave, “Spike!!”

“aaaaaaAAAAAHHHH!” Spike’s yell grew even more.

“Spike!!” Twilight called out, glad that he was fine. However, that joy soon turned into horror, seeing that Spike was being swarmed by a gigantic hoard of hornets.

The dragon was covered in honey and was running as fast as he could. He blazed past the obstacles in the terrain and hurtled over many things. Twilight stood there with a moist mane, noticing how Spike was bringing a few angry guests with him.

“AHHHH!!!! Twilight!! Get in the cave!!!!” Spike yelled at the top of his lungs.

Twilight dove into the cave with the cyan treats close to her chest and landed with a soft grunt. With the frenzied sound of hornets buzzing their wings, Twilight went deeper into the cave. Her hooves helped her get a good grip, making her go deep in the dark soil cavern.

Spike’s panting and his feet was soon coming close, as well as the hornet’s wings coming in fast. The dragon was soon seen, making a sharp turn into the cave. Due to such speed, he landed on top of Twilight, smashing the fruit cuddled to her chest. The cyan fruits exploded everywhere, Spike’s honey covered body now a light cyan color. Twilight too was drenched, filling the entire chamber with the sweet juice. Spike was dizzy and stumbled around, out of breath and having his senses knocked out of him. With a confused face, Spike lifted his claws up to have a place to hold onto to. But instead of finding the wall, he stumbled out to the entrance of the cave, where more than a legion of hornets were hovering in wait.

The leader buzzed, flying in close with its spear, but its expression of aggression soon turned into horror, its antennas sensing dangerous about Spike.

The dragon groaned and fell down to his butt, rubbing his head. A few hornets buzzed and pointed towards the trees which held the water and cyan fruit.

“Ow, what hit me?” Spike groaned as the leader buzzed worryingly to its comrades. It was responded by a bunch of buzzes, making the entire swarm retreat. With their spears retracted, they flew away, leaving Spike loopy with Twilight, who was just exiting out of the cave.

“Spike?” Twilight whispered, walking up to the dragon.

“And a loop-dee-loop, here we go around, we’re goin’ downtown!!” Spike said with a slurred voice. His voice was dry and raspy, his cracked tongue begging for water.

Twilight looked at her hands, which had bits of the fruit. Using them to get bits of it off her breasts, she offered it to Spike’s thirsty mouth. The dragon’s serpentine tongue licked her fingers clean and swallowed the juices.

Spike groaned again, stretching himself and got up to the ground. His voice box was still dry, his body was weak from the action that happened earlier.

“Water,” he croaked, not saying anything else. Covered in blue fruit bits and the same as Twilight’s, the unicorn giggled with a smile.

“I know someplace where we can find some!!”

Twilight led Spike by the hand into the valley below where the trees holding the pitcher shaped leaves were in wait. Jogging under one, Twilight looked towards Spike.

“Touch it,” she said, pointing up at the leaf.

Spike did so, in which a waterfall of the holy liquid came tumbling down. He opened his mouth, taking enormous gulps while getting clean. His honeyed and blue colored scales were cleansed as Twilight’s coat received a nice deep wash.
Twilight smiled, happy and amused by Spike’s reaction with the water. He gasped, his thirst now quenched and satisfied. The drake looked over to Twilight and replied the gesture.

“I love you for this, Twilight,” Spike said with a smile, his voice now back to normal.

Twilight blushed, not knowing if he was being serious or just joking around. Spike drank a few more sips of water before his belly interrupted his drink. It gurgled, making Spike look down and pat it.

“I think I’m hungry,” Spike said.

“And I have just the thing!” Twilight replied with a wink.

Spike chomped off a huge piece of the cyan fruit, his sloppy and uncouth manner bringing a smile to Twilight’s face. She watched him eat, bits of the fruit flying everywhere as his teeth bored deep into it.

“Mmm!” Spike said, chewing the fruit contently before swallowing it. He nodded and swayed back and forth like a little foal would. On his third giant berry, he finished it up with a gigantic bite and a loud belch. It echoed throughout the forest, making him cup his mouth.

“‘Cuse me,” he said, looking over to Twilight.

She sat on her side, her majestic eyes looking into Spike’s.

“You were stupid back there,” Twilight said, giving a small sigh.

“I was,” Spike agreed, laying down on the grass. His belly sloshed, filled up with cyan berry and water, “luckily, you had those berries.”

“And if I hadn’t?”

“We… would've been dead…” Spike said, “but I found out something!”

“Found what?”

“I know the direction of beach!” he said triumphantly, “I think we can reach it, and from there, Equestria!” he said, looking up into the sky.

The early evening sky was setting in, leaving the sun out as the lunar moon took its place. The temperature was still moist and warm due to the terrain they were in.

“That sounds really nice,” Twilight said, sighing a bit, “I hope we can go home tomorrow.”.

“I wonder how the sky looks like right now, Twilight,” Spike said, “Remember how you would always make me adjust the telescope years ago?”

Twilight laughed at that, remembering the memory.

Spike was still puny at that time and struggled to even set the angle. Short and unable to do anything, Twilight began to laugh even harder when she remembered Spike trapping himself in the closet.

“Ha, ha, ha,” Spike said a bit sarcastically in a joking way, “What’s so funny?”

“I think you know,” Twilight replied, now lying full on her back. She stared up into the forests’ canopy and sighed in relief. She then remembered him saying that he loved her. With blush on her face, she didn’t know why, but she loved to hear him say those words. Twilight began to feel hot in the face and squirmed her legs, feeling uncomfortable heat coming out between them.

Spike sighed as well, but his heart began to race, hearing Twilight’s beautiful voice. They were perfect music to his ears. He couldn’t help it but just see the perfect smile she had. Sure, Rarity had her beauties, but he was more interested in Twilight. He couldn't simply say that to Twilight. Their relationship was unique.

The two were bonded specially, very special. They were not mother to son, no, not even close to that. Even if she had hatched him, their ages were surprisingly close. Brother and sister? Not that quite. They protected each other and loved each other, but their relationship was more than a sibling bond. Twilight was a close friend of Spike, and he with her. Closer than anyone, nothing could be entitled with their bond. Could they take it to the next step? Who knows?

"Spike, "Twilight said, breaking the silence that was between them.

"Yeah?"

"How much do you care about me?"

Spike was a bit baffled, trying to fight his concealed feelings for her. Did she feel the same way he did for her?

"You're just like a sister to me, Twilight!" Spike said, "A hot sister to be exact..." he muttered.

Twilight didn't hear Spike's second comment and had a race of her own thoughts. "I wonder if he has the same feeling as me..."

"I wonder if she has the same feeling as me..."

The two laid down on the ground, unsure whether or not to admit their feelings. Both red in the face, they were unaware that their hands were slowly edging together. Right before their finger tips touched, they both turned towards each other, making them face to face.

The shades of crimson on their faces grew brighter before they turned the opposite way. Both breathing heavily as their nervousness overtook them. They both shook their heads.

"I have to tell him..."

"She needs to know..."

"But..."

"But..."

"Not..."

"Right..."

"Now..."

Twilight and Spike sighed, feeling the moment of admitting passing by like water through soil. The pressure between them soon overtook Spike, an exhausted dragon that went through many things today. He soon brought himself to sleep, giving Twilight to listen to the night air. The sounds of animals chirping and the occasional stomping echoed throughout the forest. The unicorn looked over to Spike, who was snoring loudly. Twilight blushed and got onto her knees. She crawled over and pecked a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, Spike, "she whispered.

Twilight laid down on the ground and closed her eyes. She was tired as well. It was long day long... With her eyes shut,

she drifted into sleep, Spike's snoring telling her he was always going to be there.

"Vi... Vi voo vishen!" a voice whispered, fingers going through the wet soil beneath the pitcher plant.

"Le vivem kalbu voo vish!" a second voice replied, "Kal kal vi!"

The second pair of fingers pointed at the missing cyan berries, drawing a marking in the soil. A bow and a sack of arrows clattered on the first figure, who stood tall.

Two figures whispered with each other, the second one, which was squatting brushed the bark of the tree. The fingers felt the wood, as if it was talking.

"Se le, loo deeshi!" the second figure whispered.

The first figure nodded and drew out a bow. Taking an arrow, the figure placed it in the wooden weapon and aimed it at the angled hill.

"Doo le, vi vi kee saw!" the second figure whispered.

The first figure looked towards the left, spotting two figures on the side of the hill.

"Keeloo, vi ven la goosra!"

"Ni, Koova, fi den di loom!"

The first figure gave a nod and crept to see two weird creatures sleep and put down the bow. The figure gasped, as if in disbelief.

"Keeloo... De demi-de... loo seema..."

Author's Note

I have to remind myself that Fimfiction hates G-Docs with a passion.

Also, I had a good time making this.

Now I ask you a question.

Do you like it?