Beast Wars: Friendship is Magic

There were many places in Equestria that were wonderful enough to travel through; Canterlot, Ponyville, the Crystal Empire, and the like.

The Everfree Forest was not one of them.

Such a jungle was writhing with fierce predators, monstrous plants, and more.  Few dared to traverse its treacherous landscape.  Those who did were either brave, stupid, both, or by some slim chance, knew what they were doing.

In this case, it was the latter.

There was always one inhabitant who would not only travel through its dank maze of horrors, but she even lived in it.

That being was the zebra known as Zecora.

Now, that’s not to say she couldn’t live with society, far from it.  On occasion, Zecora would visit Ponyville for a few supplies, or if she was needed, though she would spend most of her days either brewing some new potion or trekking the jungle for some herbs.  She could live with the denizens of Ponyville if she so desired, but she’d already come to embrace the thralls of the Everfree.  She certainly enjoyed company of others, but found some form of inner peace in her solitude.

Her herb harvests would involve her going through the forest for hours on end, gathering plants of all kinds.  They may have been infested with the dangers of wild animals, but Zecora knew her routes like the back of her hoof.  Despite this, she would still carry a saddle with a few potions that would come in handy in warding off any potential predators, should something go awry.  Still, evading the occasional carnivore wasn’t very difficult and her knowledge of herbs shielded her from the ill-effects of wild plants--like Poison Joke.  Hiking through the forest had practically become second-nature to her.

Not today.

For all of her experience in the Everfree, Zecora couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.  The fact that the forest was quiet didn’t help either.  The chirps of birds were nonexistent, the bellows of beasts were absent, it was as if everything has just disappeared.  This was a bit out of the ordinary for a large jungle infested with so much life.

Zecora’s nose caught whiff of a scent.

It smelled like… burnt wood?  That and it was mixed with something else.  Something that smelled almost like copper.

Curiosity peaked, the zebra followed the trail and she came across something that she had never seen before.

A pod.  A large, oval-shaped pod surrounded by a crater of dirt.  There was also a breach located at the top of the capsule, almost in the shape of some sort of door.  The interior was empty.  Moving her eyes about the crash site, Zecora’s eyes widened.

She wasn’t the first to investigate this phenomenon.

Other wild creatures of the Everfree had apparently come across this craft, as well.  Manticores, birds, rabbits, a bear or two, and some others.

Their corpses decorated the floor outside the pod.

The birds were reduced to bloody pulps, the manticores were riddled with smoking holes, the bears had been decapitated, and the only thing left of the rabbits were their ears.  The grass around the bodies had been given a new paint job of coagulated blood.

Zecora had seen the brutality of the wild in the past, but never to an extent like this.  These animals weren’t killed by hungry predators.

They were ruthlessly slaughtered without cause.

Bowing her head, Zecora wished that their spirits had passed on peacefully.  After her silent mourning, Zecora perked her head, realizing that the murderer of these creatures was still loose in the Everfree.  She felt a cold chill go up her spine.

She had the tingling sensation that something was watching her.  Whatever this thing was, it didn’t stray too far from the crash site.  Her eyes darted back and forth frantically.

There is no threat that I see, but why do I feel that something is watching me?

She began to retreat backward from the pod, but her hooves glued themselves to the ground when she heard some sort of low hum.  Almost like buzzing.

It came from behind her.

Slowly, Zecora swiveled her head around to come face to face with a pair of glowing, red, spherical orbs.  With a yelp, the zebra jumped, gaining some distance.  The orbs belonged to a body no bigger than that of a regular sized pony.  However, the body resembled some sort of insect, a bee, to be precise.

There was a bright flash, blinding Zecora’s eyes for a brief moment.  She lurched backward once more, hoof nursing her eyes.

“Hello,” it spoke in a cool, but chilling voice that sent shivers down her spine, goosebumps popping up beneath her fur.  “Oh, I’m sorry, did I scare you?  What brings you to a dangerous forest such as this?”

Zecora’s shock was replaced with anger.

“So, you’re the caster of this horrifying disaster,” she spat.

“Guilty as charged,” the insect feigned remorse. “The name’s Cyberbee.”

“Why are you here?  Speak now and make your motives clear!”

“Why?  What an interesting question,” Cyberbee’s legs slowly crawled forward, revealing each end of the appendages to be equipped with scythe-like blades.  Each one was caked with blood.

On both sides of the insect’s body dangled two barrels.  For what purpose this served, Zecora knew not, nor did she wish to find out.

Zecora drew back with every step Cyberbee covered.

“I guess it’s because I enjoy it and because I was told to,” he continued.  “You see, I’m what you’d call a personal assistant.  Like any assistant, I have a master to answer to.  Whatever he tells me to do, I carry it out to the best of my abilities.  Sabotage, reconnaissance, distractions… assassination.  In this case, the last one was my master’s will.  When most of your orders involve inflicting bodily harm on someone, you need to have the lugnuts to carry them out.  Fortunately, I’m that type of bot.”

“You monster!  You will not get away with this, you insect impostor!” Zecora inserted her hoof into her saddlebag.

Cyberbee laughed.

“I believe I already have.  Not a single thing stopped me from carrying out my orders.  What can you possibly do?  I have the blades and blaster, while you have a simple bag on your back.  Given how primitive your world is, I doubt you have anything in there that could so much as dent my exhaust pipe.”

Zecora’s hoof withdrew from her saddlebag, a bottle containing a blue fluid within it.

“Oh no, a bottle!  Whatever will I do?” Cyberbee cracked up.

Wordlessly, Zecora hurled the flask at the insect, the glass shattering on contact and unleashing its contents all over him.  Cyberbee’s laughter was silenced when his body slowly became encased in a layer of stone.  The blue colored statue grew still, buying Zecora the time she needed.

As fast as her hooves would carry her, Zecora made a break for Ponyville.  Whatever this thing was, it was not natural, it didn’t even seem to belong on this world!  She hoped that this threat could be quelled by authorities, lest this creature wreak great havoc upon Equestria.

Veins of cracks appeared around the statue of Cyberbee.  With a shrill yell of anger, the stone layer was blown from the robotic insect’s body.  He shook his head, stretching his limbs, and giving his wings a quick flutter.  For a few moments, he considered pursuing the striped meatbag.

The zebra was long gone at this point, though.  No matter, he got what his master needed and that was what mattered.  He leapt off the ground, wings taking flight, and returned into the darkness of the forest.

“Okay, let’s see: pens, check; saddlebag, check; paper, check; Spike failing to put everything in the saddlebag right the first time, but succeeding on the second attempt, check; organized my other checklists to go through later, double check.  Alright, we’re all set to go!”

Twilight’s horn lit up as she used her magic to put her current checklist into her saddlebag, strapping it to her back.

“Spike, are you ready yet?  We need to go soon!” she called out.

The baby dragon came out with a piece of toast in one claw and glass of juice in the other.  He scarfed down the toast in one bite and gulped down his drink in quick succession before setting the empty glass on a nearby table.

“Twilight, it’s about 7:30 in the morning and we’re not scheduled to meet the Princesses until around 10:00 AM.  The train for Canterlot doesn’t leave for another hour and a half, and the train station is thirty minutes away.  What’s the rush?”

Twilight levitated Spike onto her back.  “Spike, this meeting is of the highest importance and I will not be late for it.  Not for any reason.”

“Is this about those weird container things they mentioned in the last letter?” Spike quirked an eyebrow.

“Yes and, from what I’m told, they didn’t sound good.  That’s why we need to hurry.  That and because it’s Saturday.” Twilight stated, matter of factly.

“What’s wrong with Saturday?” Spike crossed his arms.

“Spike, are you aware that a lot of the problems we deal with happen to occur on a Saturday?”

Spike rolled his eyes.  “Oh, come on, Twilight, not every problem we deal with happens on Saturday.  I mean, sure, there was Discord--”

“And Nightmare Moon.”

“Well, that was more of a Sunday morn--”

“And the ursa minor.”

“Okay, there’s that--”

“And the parasprites.”

“That too--”

“And the hydra.”

“Wow, you have a really good memo--”

“And cerberus.”

“Okay, I get it!” Spike threw his arms up in defeat.  “You have a point, but it’s not like someone’s going to come barging in with a big problem or anything!”

Spike probably should have chosen a better choice of words as Zecora came barging through the door, panting and out of breath.  She looked like she had a big problem on her mind.

Exclamation point to my argument, thy name is Zecora.

Twilight grew concerned to see her friend in such a state of panic.  “Zecora, what’s wrong?”

“Twilight Sparkle, forgive my intrusion!  But I have a problem that needs an immediate solution!” Zecora gasped, urgency evident in her tone.

“Zecora, please calm down!  Maybe you should start from the beginning.” Twilight placed a hoof on the Zebra’s shoulder.

Zecora nodded and recalled everything she’d encountered.  The pod, the animal carcasses, and the infernal insect.  The pod stuck out in Twilight’s mind the most.

The description matched that of the craft written in the letter by the Princesses.

Her brow furrowed as she turned to Spike. “Write a letter to the Princesses and tell them to meet us near the Everfree Forest!   And Zecora, when they arrive,” Twilight’s focus shifted to her zebra friend again.  “Take us to the craft.”

Cyberbee landed on a tree branch as his keeper looked up at him.  Master and pet were reunited once again.

“Did you get the scan?” he inquired.

“Yeah, I got it.” Cyberbee nodded.  “I can’t see why you dislike your current form, though.”

His master downloaded the replacement form into his processor and began to change shape.  Being with the Predacon Secret Police granted him all sorts of fancy gadgets.  A portable scanner to take on the likeness of another entity was standard issue for its agents.

“I never saw myself as a rabbit anyway.”

“But that’s what made it so funny!  They thought you were defenseless, then you just butchered the first bear to approach you!  Just like in the movies!” Cyberbee bounced once.

Cyberbee’s master now resembled a male Zebra, the fur now a shade of purple and the stripes a bright yellow.  The Mohawk was given yellow stripes.  His eyes were colored golden.

“This form will do.  You’ve done well, Cyberbee.”

“Always a pleasure!” Cyberbee enthusiastically buzzed.  The Energon build up suddenly surged Cyberbee’s circuitry.

“You’ve remained exposed for too long.  Time to return.” his master said.

“Aww, I was liking the exploration!” Cyberbee whined.

“Let’s try out this new form.” the zebra said, ignoring his Mini-Con.  “Dementia, Terrorize!”

The zebra changed within seconds, taking the shape of a tall, thin robot.  The hind hooves acted as legs with the forehooves bending into arms.  Four-fingered hands shot from the bottom of the hooves, clenching into fists.  A head with a faceplate and bright green visor took its place on the top of the torso, horns protruding from the sides of the head.

“Looking good, boss.” Cyberbee remarked as he latched onto Dementia’s back, burrowing into his rear before shutting off.

Dementia chuckled as he looked over his robot mode.

“Such an interesting development.  But I do wonder where the others could have gone.”  Hatches located at the waist of Dementia opened, allowing tentacles to extend outward.  Snapping at the air, Dementia’s laugh darkened.  “I suppose I’ll just have to search for them.  But first… let’s solve some problems, starting with the wildlife.”