Insects and Trees and Dirt, Oh My!
Battington, Sunlestia's right-hoofed bat guard, ran through mostly empty halls, peering his head in every door that came her way. "Sunlestia? Ruler Sunlestia?" He called over and over again. He had to find her to give her urgent news about her sister, yet the Tyrant was nowhere to be found. "Sunlestia!!?!" He cried again for the umpteenth time.
"What is it?" Sunlestia snapped from out of the guard's view, "I try and ask for a little piece and quiet and what I get is some foal yelling my old name over and over again!" She came into view of him, her wings raised high and a scowl on her face as she looked down on the poor guard. He coward in her sight despite being near her every day. "Ugh! I have a headache already!" Sunlestia continued, folding her wings and using her magic to rub her temple. "This better be important, Glowlight."
"Battington" Battington whimpered, starting to stand at his full height once more.
"Whatever." When he didn't speak upright away, Sunlestia slammed her hoof into the ground, making the poor bat guard return to his cowering state. "I don't have all day, bat guard." Sunlestia sneered, "are you going to get on with it or not?"
"Y-yes, your majesty." He said meekly, not bothering to get up again. He cleared his throat so Sunlestia could hear him better, then said, in a quavery voice, "Your sister has been killed today by a traveler."
"WHAT?!" Sunlestia boomed, "What do you mean, 'killed', Batsworth?! How did this come to be!?"
"Battington." He squeaked once more, receiving a stony stare from the Tyrant herself. "I'm not sure, Sunlestia--"
"Blazing. Sun." She scowled, "don't test me, Batsworth." Battington nodded, deciding now was not the time to correct her once more. "I demand that you tell me how a simple traveler could kill my powerful sister!"
Battington shakily got to his full height, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure, Blazing Sun." He said, feeling a small sense of pride when she gave him the tiniest of smiles for using her actual name. "I heard it was no simple stranger. This one knew about friendship, and glowed, and was a witch as well. A good witch, like Cadence."
Blazing Sun scowled again, probably the only facial expression she could wear without hurting herself. "A good witch killed my sister?" She muttered, "how did she know how to kill her...how did she know about friendship? Where did she come from, Batsworth? What is her name?!"
"Her name?" Battington squeaked. "Sources tell me her name is Twilight Sparkle. I also heard she plans to go back and...make sure you and your sister never rule Ooze!
Blazing Sun raised an eyebrow. For some reason, that name and those actions seemed very familiar... She shook her head and lead Battington into her living room; the room that she had came out of before he was there. In the center of the room a was pink, glass sphere. "Show me Twilight Sparkle." She demanded of it. An image waved on screen, clearing out after a moment, showing a lavender witch with a walking scarecrow and a bouncing lumberpony. "There she is..." Blazing sneered, "it's time to have some fun..."
"Do you even know where your going?" Tin Pinkie asked as she bounced along side Twilight. "Because...I think we're nearing the Everwild woods..."
"The Everwild Woods?!" Applecrow asked, freezing up. "Not that place! Why, Mah grandfather got lost in them woods, and we haven't seen him since!"
Pinkie started bouncing in place, much to the annoyance of Twilight. "I think he's fine. It's not like there's anything deadly in there." Applecrow visibly relaxed, giving Twilight the illusion that they were both ready to move on. "Except...maybe for the ferocious lion that lives in there!"
"The what?!" Applecrow yelped. Twilight rolled her eyes and lied down on a patch of grass. Hopefully, this reason why ponies should avoid the Everwild would be better than the Everfree's.
"Legend has it, there is a ferocious, pony-eating lion living in the Everwild. It's relentless, merciless...a female!!" The sound of thunder boomed from the woods behind her. "She'll eat any living thing that comes in her path, no matter how big it is, and she won't stop until she's the last living animal in the woods!!"
Applecrow was visibly shaking from head to hoof, where as Twilight let out a silent yawn and helped herself up off the ground. "Don't worry, Applecrow," she said with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure Tin Pinkie's just making it up. There's nothing to be afraid of." A roar sounded from the forest, sounding close by. Applecrow jumped and tried to hide behind Twilight.
Twilight sighed, stepping away from the terrified scarecrow. "If it'll help you come along with us," Twilight said, "we can go around and get on the trail when the woods end."
"Oh, thank ya, thank ya, thank ya!" Applecrow cried, leaning down to kiss Twilight's hooves. She backed away from the scarecrow even more, running into Pinkie by accident.
"Aww..." Pinkie moaned, he metal ears drooping. "But I really wanted to see the pony-eating lion...."
"Applecrow doesn't." Twilight said, "now, can we please get going again? The sooner we start, the sooner we can get to Hay City and you two can get your wishes granted."
"Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie cheered as Applecrow gave her own sound of agreement. Twilight gave a self-satisfactory nod and lead the long journey around the woods.
"I don't get it!" Blazing shouted. "Why aren't they going in the woods?! Those stupid ponies don't know what's good for them!!"
"I---I think they just don't like the woods, your majesty..." Battington offered. "Maybe you could force them in there with...with eye-bats?"
Blazing Sun sighed, using her magic to rub her forehead again."Shut it, bat guard," she snapped, "I'm trying to think." This went on for a good minute before she sopped and gasped with delight. "I know!" She smiled, "I'll scare them into the forest with eye bats!"
"Great idea, your majesty." Battington sighed.
"I know!" She said, "That's why I thought of it!" Battington shook his head sadly as Blazing went to a stack of cages with a black drape over them. She took the drape off and opened all the cages, so eye bats filled the room. "Now, fly, my beauties!" She yelled to them, "fly and terrorize Twilight Sparkle! Bring her back to me! She has something I want."
The group was an eighth of the way around The Everwild Woods when a swarm of big, black bugs came swarming towards them. Tin Pinkie, who saw them first, screamed and darted into a nearby bush.
"Pinkie! What's wrong?" Twilight asked immediately. Pinkie pointed a shaky hoof skyward, not appearing from the bush. Twilight followed her hoof, seeing the swarm of bugs at the same time Applecrow did. "EYE BATS?!" Applecrow cried, "anything but those!" She turned to Twilight, fear clear on her face. "We need ta get inta the forest right. Now!" She yelled, "unless you want to be turned to stone that is." With that, she took Twilight and began to shove her towards the nearest trail entrance with Pinkie right behind them.
"Girls, have you gone crazy?!" Twilight asked, "I'm sure I can defeat those eye bats with a simple spell. They don't look that harmful, compared to the beast that I have to face back in my own dimension." Twilight got in front of her two new friends, standing guard. An eye bat saw them and drew near, the others following prompt, Applecrow began to visibly shake while Tin Pinkie looked at them curiously. Twilight fired up her horn, concentrating on the closest creature.
Suddenly, Pinkie grabbed Twilight's mane and pulled her into the woods, Applecrow happily following. Caught off guard, Twilight's spell fired at a nearby tree, making it explode. The eye bats, unable to see the ponies, stared at the tree with as much shock as it looked like an eye bat could muster and flew back to the castle.
"Phew, that was a close one." Pinkie giggled, "a second longer and we would've been statues. I mean, you guys would've been statues.I technically already am, but I want to be immobilized again. Do you know how hard it was to talk without moving my mouth? It was awful! If it wasn't for those apples I had, I probably would've fainted halfway here."
Applecrow, meanwhile, was staring at the smudge mark that had been the tree seconds earlier. She realized her mouth was hanging wide open, but she didn't care. She turned to look at Twilight, who was mirroring her shock. "That's the spell you were going to use on them critters?" She asked, astonished." You sure you ain't a Tyrant Sister in disguise?"
"No! No! That's not the spell I was going to use on them at all! I was just going to transport them back to the Apple Orchard, not kill them!" She stared sadly at the exploded tree, a bunch of jumbled thoughts running around in her head. "I'm not a monster, at least… I don't think I am…" She stared down at her hooves, unable to process what had just happened. The only thought that ran through her mind was I almost killed a creature. I almost killed a living, breathing, creature. I am a terrible pony. I'm a terrible pony.
"Oh...my..." somepony squeaked, "are you okay?" Twilight shook her head, not bothering to look at whomever was speaking. She knew that it was probably stupid to think this way, since those bats were probably planning to kill them, and, in a way, she saved her newfound friend's lives, yet she couldn't help it What if that spell had hit Pinkie, or Applecrow? "What happened?" The pony continued.
Twilight heard some shuffling, thanks to the leaves on the forest floor, and a twig snap in half under one's weight. A wing brushed against her own, making her look up to see who was there.
It was the strangest thing; it was a lion, but also a pegasus that looked exactly like Fluttershy--no doubt, her name would be Fluttershy, too. Twilight realized she was gaping at the hybrid and looked away. "Sorry," she said, "I've just never seen a creature like you."
"No need to apologize," the hybrid said. "I'm the last of my kind, I wouldn't expect you to know my species, even if I wasn't. We're all very shy."
"If your all so shy, like you say you are," Tin Pinkie interrupted, "then why did you come when you heard a big explosion?"
The hybrid turned to Pinkie, a gentle smile on her face. "I really didn't want too at first," she explained, "all I wanted to do was stay in my little nook and wait until tomorrow. But then I thought: what if my little forest friends got hurt? So I rushed out here to make sure they were okay, and that's when I saw you three." She paused, scuffed her hoof on a small pile of leaves, as if debating something in her head. "I'm Flutterlion, by the way."
Pinkie beamed broadly, where as Applecrow and Twilight, who had joined her friends while Flutterlion was talking, gave her a friendly smile. "I'm Tin Pinkie, and this is Applecrow and Twilight." Pinkie said, "Twilight isn't from around here. She's from a different dimension, Isn't that crazy? I thought she was insane at first---"
"PINKIE!" Twilight yelled, causing the timid hybrid to yelp and attempt to hide behind a thin tree. Twilight instantly saw her mistake and went to where Flutterlion laid, cowering. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to scare you." Twilight said, "or yell at Pinkie, for that matter. You shouldn't be scared around us, and we shouldn't make you feel that way." She helped Flutterlion to her paws before continuing. "We're going to see The Wizard of Centuries in Hay City. Want to come with us?"
Flutterlion shook her head, visibly trembling with terror. "Not as long as those nasty Tyrant Sisters are out there. The ;last time I stepped out of these woods, Nightmare Luna tried to kill me with her moonbeams."
"Those moonbeams were terrible!" Pinkie cried.
"Ah still have nightmares bout them." Applecrow added.
Twilight stared at her friends with a confused look, unable to comprehend how moonbeams could kill somepony. "I'm sorry..." she said uncertainly, "how, exactly, are moonbeams dangerous?"
Tin Pinkie shook her head, making clicking noises with her tongue, as she approached the confused alicorn. "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight...don't you know? Moonbeams are like deadly lasers that come from a mix of the moon's light and Nightmare Luna's magic. I honestly thought you would have known that by now. I am severely disappointed in you."
Twilight started into space with a bemused stare, trying not to get mad at Pinkie again. She side-stepped away from the metal pony and tried to regain her composture. "I don't think I should have known, Pinkie," Twilight said, "if I've only been here a day and am still learning about this dimension."
"Four stories, yet it's still the same day? Huh. Who knew?"
"Anyway...." Applecrow muttered, "while them moonbeams can be terrifyin', this here witch killed Luna when she came here." Twilight blushed, still not used to getting praise for killing somepony. "The only Tyrant left is Sunlestia, but she never comes out of The Castle. I'm positive we'll be fine, long as we stick together. So, whaddya say, pardner? Ya wanna come with us?"
Flutterlion, who had gone back to her cowering state, stopped trembling and hesitantly stood up. "I suppose..." she mumbled, "besides, I would never forgive myself if you got lost in these woods...or if Sunlestia killed you all with her Sunbeams."
"I'm guessing those are the same as Moonbeams?" Twilight asked.
"No...Sunbeams are her eye bats, covered in flames." Pinkie informed, "most of them are heat-resistant, which isn't a great thing for us." She looked over to see Flutterlion starting to shake again, and quickly added "but she rarely uses them, so we have nothing to worry about."
Flutterlion smiled at Pinkie's reasurrence. "I'm coming with you." She said, her mind made up."Even though I haven't known you three for very long, I'm certain you'll do your best to protect me and each other." Simultaneous nods came from everypony surronding her. "I can show you the way out of here without Sunlestia noticing us, if you'd like." With that, she turned tail and headed west, the others following suit.
"Pnkie, you sure know a lot of things about the Tyrants, considering you've been imobile for a while." Twilight said.
"I know," Pinkie replied, looking straight at the viewer. "Strange, isn't it?"
Nine eye bats came flying back in a frighted flurry fifteen minutes after Sunlestia sent them out. They crowded back in their cage and stayed there, shaking with fright.
"What's the matter with them?" Sunlestia--er--Blazing Sun demanded, looking at them scronfully. "Why don't they have that Twilight Sparkle charicter? Why have they betrayed me?!"
Battington, who had been looking out the window to keep an eye on them ever since they left, pulled his head back in so his ruler could hear hm clearly. "It appears there was an explosion ten minutes ago, your highness. They got scared and fleed, but some had trouble returning."
Blazing Sun stompped her hoof in anger. "TEN MINUTES AGO?!" She yelled, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER, YOU NITWIT?!"
"You---you said you didn't wish to be bothered....I was only following co--co--comands..."
Blazing huffed angrily, closing the cage and covering them up again with the cloth using her magic. "This Twilight Sparkle is a mighty strong menace..." she mumbled, "thats another reason to add to my list of why I should destroy her. BATTINGTON!"
"Yes, your majesty?"
"Get the Sunbeams ready." She ordered, "they might be able to stop this little pest once and for all."
