Tale of the Everfree Curse

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

Chapter 1

The mare’s hooves pounded hard into the ground and her sides burned as her lungs gasped desperately trying to gain more oxygen, while she ran from the monstrous beast that chased her through the moonlit night. Trunks and branches blurred past her as she weaved in and out of the randomly placed trees, hoping she could throw it off her trail, but it only seemed to gain more ground. The frightened mare glanced all around, hoping to find something. Anything that could aid in her struggle to run or die, but all she found was nothing but trees, leaves and dirt.

She glanced over her shoulder to stare at what was chasing her, only to see it bare its ragged razor teeth at her. Her head snapped back forward while she reached deep within her to pull out the last bit of strength she had to kick her running into another gear. Every breathe shot cold air into her overworked lungs. She almost wanted to fall over and let it end. She could imagine all her suffering being cured by simply collapsing and accept her fate. She could stop, but fear pushed her onwards. It drove her, possessed her, reminded her that the cost of death was not worth leaving her life. A faint light appeared through the web of trees in front of her as she neared the town of Ponyville. The creature roared behind her as her vision began to blur with tears filling her eyes.

Her heart was pounding in her chest she thought to herself, “I can make it, just keep RUNNING!” The sight of safety revived a spark of energy with her. She used that spark to ignite a reservoir of energy deep in her aching body, adrenaline pumping through out, fueling the need to live. The opening in the forest grew closer and she could make out a few buildings in the town. A lone stallion was walking in the streets under a street lamp, unaware of what was going on in the forest.

She looked back again, managing to see the creature reach out with a long crooked arm, jagged branch-like fingers reaching out to grab her hind legs. With one swipe the creature missed, but the foolish pony forgot to pay attention to where she was going and tripped just on the inside edge of the forest. It reached down and picked her up in its wooden like hand. Gripping the frantic pony with in its cold grip, forcing open her jaw as it slid one of its fingers inside.She tried to scream, only to have it cut short while she choked and gagged as saliva trickled from her throat, and ran down her matted sweaty fur. Her eyes slightly bulged while tears ran down her stained cheeks before rolling in the back of her head as she blacked out from the lack of oxygen. Her body went limp as the finger crawled down her throat and into her stomach. The tip pulsed and wiggled before it excreted a small fleshy sac in her belly.

The creature quickly retracted its finger and dropped the mare to the dirt. It let out a jagged hollow roar into the forest. It glanced down at its newest victim and turned around. Walking into the darkness of the forest. Disappearing into Princess Luna’s now peaceful night.

The sun peered in through the window as Applejack’s eyes slowly opened to the invading light. She let out a grunt before she rolled over away from the unwelcome light. Her head was pounding at the back of her eyes, like a bass drum on repeat. Muffled through the wall Applebloom was complaining about something to Big Mac. Applejack squinted her eyes shut and brought both hoofs to her head to try and relieve the pressure building inside her skull. With a sigh she rolled out of bed onto her hooves and made her way to Applebloom’s room.

“But ah don’t wanna muck the pig pen. Ah wanna go out with Sweetiebelle.” Applebloom was stomping her hooves and pacing in place as she whined to her Big Brother. Applejack had only been awake for a few minutes, but she was already tired of hearing her sister’s high pitched voice.

“Now Applebloom, it’s too early in the mornin’ for me to be a hearing you whinin’ about yer chores. Now go muck the pens, then ya can go run amok with yer friends.” Applebloom started to pout while she opened her mouth, but Applejack cut her off before a word could come out of her mouth. “Ah don’t wanna hear it, now get. Before I get Granny Smith after you.” Applebloom retreated after hearing the threat of her grandma coming after her.

Big Mac made his way to Applejacks side shaking his head as he watched his little sister run off. He turned his attention to Applejack who is holding her head and tightening her face.
“I’m not feelin’ to well off this mornin’ big guy. Ah think Im goin’ to visit Fluttershy, maybe she’ll have somethin’ to help out with this awful headache. Can you cover for me?”

Big Mac gave a nod along with an, “Eeeyup.” Applejack shot her brother a smile, and made her way to the front door.

Normally Applejack enjoyed the walk over to Fluttershy’s cottage, but this morning was a different story. The pounding in her head was only getting worse and tried as she might, she couldn’t ignore it. Every time she made a step she could feel her body vibrate through her eyes, which pulsated but felt like they were bulging out of their sockets. She tilted her hat down to try and block out the morning sun, but it hardly helped.

As she neared her marefriend’s house she could hear the singing of multiple birds, and the various noises of other animals. But even through all the noise, Applejack could still hear to soft subtle voice of her beloved arguing with her pet bunny.

“Angel that is not very nice. Give the nice birdie her seeds back.” The rebellious bunny shook his head from side to side in protest. “I’ll give you a nice crunchy carrot if you do.” The Bunny looked up at Fluttershy and crossed his tiny little arms while stomping his foot. He shook his head a second time.

Applejack had made her way closer to the Yellow Pegasus and the stubborn bunny. She made her approach from behind the timid mare and placed a kiss right between her wings; which in turn caused her to jump in fright at the sudden presence of lips on her back. As Fluttershy turned around to met her attacker she could tell by the look on AJ’s face that she had one of those nasty headaches again.

“How bad is it today?” Fluttershy gave AJ a concerned look as she waited for her friend to answer.

“Ahh shucks sugarcube, it’s not all that bad.” Applejack gave Fluttershy a cheeky smile. But Fluttershy wasn’t having any of it.

“AJ? Don’t lie to me, miss element of Honesty.”

“Alright, ya got me. It hurts like an apple tree fallin’ on yer head, while being rammed into a stone wall.” Applejack winced as a rooster crowed to single the start of the day. Fluttershy frowned has she watched her friend wince in pain.

“Well, we’re going to have to go into town. I don't have enough supplies to make another herbal tea for you, besides, I need to do some shopping anyway.” Fluttershy looked at AJ waiting for a response, but all she got was a head nod and a groan.

“It’ll be quicker than Rainbow Dash drinking her apple cider.”

Applejack looked up at Fluttershy with a slight smile, “Naw, don’t worry ‘bout me. I’ll managed. Somehow.” Fluttershy walked up to AJ and nuzzled the underside of her jaw, before turning to her cottage.

“I have to go get my saddle bags and then we will get going. Ok.” With a soft smile and turn Fluttershy walked through the door. Applejack looked down to the annoyed looking bunny who was give her an evil glare.

“Seriously? Yer gunna do that again? Ya know that ya can’t have her all to yer-self, right?” Angel turned up his pink little nose at her. Applejack just chuckled to herself wondering why she was even having a mild disagreement with a bunny. But then again this was Angel she was talking to. Fluttershy emerge from the Cottage with her saddle bags on her back. She walked back over to AJ and Angel with a few carrots in her mouth. She bent her head down and dropped them next to Angel.

“Now, I want you to look over the house while I’m gone ok? And please do try to get along with the other animals. Applejack and I should only be gone for a shot while, ok.” Angel sighed and picked up his carrots, hopping off to the back of the cottage. Fluttershy looked back over to Applejack and the two started walking down the dirt path into town.

“Why does that bunny always have somethin’ to be annoyed over?” Applejack glanced to her side looking at Fluttershy. For a brief moment she hid behind her long pink mane as her cheeks turned into a nice crimson color.

“Well, when he was just a baby he was the runt of his litter so I tried to compensate. I might have overdone it.” Applejack chuckled at Fluttershy’s remark.

“Just a little?” Applejack reached over and nudged the yellow pegasus’ shoulder. Which in turn caused her blush to deepen in color even further.

“Well, I-I guess maybe just a little more than a little. He’s not taking it to well now that I’m trying to put my hoof down. It doesn’t help that between you and Discord my attention is divided.” Fluttershy glanced down and stared at her front hooves moving as they walked. Her brow furrowed as guilt started to set in. Applejack noticed it, and got Fluttershy’s attention again.

“Hey Flutters, you don’t need to feel bad for wanting to branch out more. If Angel can’t deal with it, then he’ll figure it out. And I know that you look forward to you and Discord’s weekly tea visits.” Fluttershy glanced over to Applejack and thought about what she said for a moment. A slight smile came across her muzzle.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right Applejack.”

Off in the distance both Fluttershy and Applejack could hear Pinkie Pie being, well, Pinkie Pie. Up ahead Sugarcube Corner was coming into view, along with an Orange colored mane mare clinging to Pinkie Pie, gagging on something that the two couldn’t see from this far away.

The sun beat down on a sleeping mare on the edge of the forest. She opened her eyes to have the sun start melting her sockets. She brought up her hoof to block out the light and tried standing up. The jarred mare staggered like a newborn deer and felt sick to her stomach. She coughed up a little bit of blood and started to panic. She started off with a heavy limp but eventually was able to keep a steady trot and hobbled her way into town.

The distressed mare was able to make her way into town screaming and occasionally coming to a halt from the cramps in her stomach and writhing in pain. Eventually she came across a bubbly pink pony bouncing along in front of a bakery. She looked up to read the sign that said “Sugarcube Corner”. The pink blur bounced past the frantic mare, pausing mid air. Before the pink pony could do anything else the mare grabbed her and shook her.

“You gotta help me! Please! I don’t know where I am or what is going on! It hurts. Oh Celestia, it hurts so bad..” The pink pony looked down at the frantic mare.

“What do you mean silly?” Pinkie Pie paused so she could giggle before she continued, “How do you not know where you are or whats going on? You're in front of Sugarcube Corner, duh. We make delicious goodies and treats. Ohhhhh I know! Here take this.” Pinkie Pie pulled a cupcake from her frazzled mess of a mane and shoved it into the mare's mouth. The yellow mare stood with a mouthful of cupcake. Frosting slapped across her face and fell to the floor.

“See cupcakes makes everything all better. Wait a minute.” The Pinkest of pies stared at the now frightened mare. Her eyes popping out of her head as she examined the mare in front of her. “I don’t think we have met before, no we haven’t. I know ALL the Ponies in Ponyville. I’m Pinkie Pie, what's your name?”

The yellow mare coughed out the cupcake and swallowed what little remained. “Golden...Harvest…”

Pinkie Pie grabbed Golden Harvest’s hooves and began to shake them rapidly, shaking Golden Harvest's whole body in the process.

“Well nice to meet you Golden Harvest! Here have another cupcake!!!” Before Golden Harvest could do anything Pinkie Pies arm turned into a pink blur as it reached once more for her frazzled mane and produced yet another cupcake, shoving it into the poor mare's mouth.

Golden Harvest held onto Pinkie and began to gag on the new cupcake shoved into her gob. Suddenly the cupcake exploded in a mess of frosting and various chunks. All over Pinkie’s face. More of the previous cupcake found its way out of her mouth, followed by yellow bile and unknown red liquid. Her entire body spasmed as she grasped onto Pinkie. Golden Harvest started to grunt and groan clenching her chest. Blood splattered from her mouth landing on Pinkie Pie’s muzzle. Golden Harvest’s eye rolled into the back of her head as her legs buckled from underneath her, causing her to collapse onto the ground.

“OH MY CELESTIA I KILLED HER!”

Fluttershy and Applejack rushed over to where Pinkie Pie was standing to see what all the commotion was about. Pinkie began to have a full blown panic attack, while violently bouncing in place. Fluttershy looked both at Pinkie and Golden Harvest trying to figure out what Pinkie was screaming about this time.

“Um, Pinkie, why do you, uh think you...k-killed her?” Fluttershy looked back and forth between the spasming pink pony and the yellow mare grasping onto Pinkie for dear life.

“Because here we were talking and having a good time getting to know each other and I shoved a cupcake in her mouth right after I did that she puked all over me before spitting up blood and her eyes went white and then she fell on the ground.” Pinkie paused and sucked in a hugh breath of air and resumed her run on of a sentence. “And, ewww, it got in my mouth.” With a pout she looked back to her friends.

“Uh, Pinkie, ah don’t think you killed her with um. What?” Applejack scratched her head as she looked at the yellow pony still grasping onto Pinkie Pie’s leg. She watched closely for a few moments and noticed that her chest was still moving. “Pinkie, ya do know her chest is still moving. Right?”

Pinkie shook off Golden Harvest as she bounced in place. Her stomach still moving and gurgling. Applejack looked closer at the odd movement of the passed out mare’s stomach. It wasn’t the normal breathing, it looked like something was squirming inside. Before anypony could react, Pinkie became showered in a spray of broken ribs, blood and small bits of flesh. Golden Harvest let out a gut wrenching scream as chunks of flesh hung from the gaping hole in her chest and blood splattered across Pinkie’s face. Pinkie’s brain finally registered what was going on and she started to scream, which allowed some blood and flesh to go into her mouth. Everypony stared at Golden Harvest to see a creature protruding from her rib cage, or what was left of it.

The creature was the most foul being the ponies have ever seen. It was a mix of what looked like wood and globs of glowing orange slime. The slime seemed to have a pulse and red veins ran over the wood and connected globs. The abomination had a single tiny red eye that scanned the ponies. Its mouth opened to reveal tiny serrated crooked fangs that went in every direction like wild sharp roots. It hissed at the ponies and wriggled around to look at its host.

Golden Harvest looked down at her hell spawn as it stared back at her. It crawled up her chest and was inches from her muzzle. She gave a delirious smile at her newborn as blood trickled down from between her teeth. The monster tilted its head for a moment before opening its mouth and releasing a horrendous ear piercing screech and lunging into her eye.

A thick stream shot from her socket and coated the newborn in a shower of its mother’s blood. It thrashed in her eye socket and crunched her eye like a gum ball. It chewed on the deflated ball and ripped it to shreds. It slurped up the juices and nibbled at her eye. It turned back to see three horrified ponies staring at the horror scene that laid out before them.

Fluttershy and Applejack screamed, forgetting for the time being of the pounding in her head, and held onto one another while Pinkie stood staring at herself covered in blood, guts, flesh and vomit. A faint smile was still on Golden Harvest’s face with her eye as wide as a saucer, while her other eye socket remained a mess of blood and tendons.

Golden Harvest’s body finally gave way and fell backwards. Her limp body sprawled across the ground, blood pooled beneath the now lifeless body as her heart did one final beat. The newborn fell out of her eye and slithered away into a nearby storm drain. Leaving the three ponies, as well as any bystanders who witnessed the whole scene, to sit in their pools of fear and despair over the death of an innocent pony.

Pinkie will still unresponsive staring at her blood and bile covered hooves. Applejacks eyes were pin pricks as she scanned the scene and the bloody mess that was an earth pony before her, only muttering one thing.

“We’re gonna need Twilight.”

Author's Note

This is the nonedited version of Chapter one. Once my editor gets to them I'll repost the edited version

Chapter 2

Pinkie Pie was still covered in bits of bone and blood when Twilight arrived. Her face was as pale as a full moon on an autumn night, but she was no longer shaking. In fact she was as still as the corpse that laid in front of her. Which was unsettling for the Pink pony who normally was so full of life and never seemed to stop moving. Her eyes were bloodshot and pinpricks. She just sat there, her eyes never leaving the body that laid before her. Meanwhile Fluttershy was inside Sugarcube Corner shaking like a leaf hiding behind her mane cringing from anyone who dared to go near her. Applejack was doing her best to comfort her, but she seemed to have her hooves full. During all the commotion that happened after the monstrous creature made its escape, Applejack didn’t really have time to process what had just happened. After Pinkie Pie basically shut down, Fluttershy lost her mind and started screaming uncontrollably. It took Applejack fifthteen minutes to calm Fluttershy down enough to get her to stop.

Twilight slowly walked up to Pinkie Pie trying not to startle her. Her eyes drifted away from her friend to the bloody mess that was on the ground before her. The mare had a sickening smile spewed across her face, with an eyeball missing. Her fur matted with drying blood, cupcake frosting and stomach bile. Plus a gaping hole where her chest should be. All in all, it was a sight Twilight had never seen in Ponyville. She heard Spike running up behind her, but before she could turn around to stop him he had already saw.

“Twilight I got the books you as-. W-wheres her eye, and, and her chest?” Spike's eyes went wide as he doubled back, shaking his head to unsee what he had just seen. His stomach convulsed and started to reject anything that he had in it, violently puking up his breakfast. Twilight rushed over to Spike's side trying to block his view of the corpse.

“Spike, I don’t think I’ll be needing your help with this one.” Twilight sheepishly looked over her assistant, who was still projecting bile out of his mouth. Derpy Hooves was walking nearby when Twilight glanced up. “Um Derpy, could you please make sure Spike gets back to the castle? I don’t want him exposed to this anymore than he already is.”

A smile exploded across the wall eyed mare's muzzle as she almost jump for joy. “Sure thing Twi, anything for a friend.” Derpy walked over and picked up Spike, throwing him on her back and trotting her way off to the castle. Twilight resumed her attention the corpse that laid on the ground.

Her horn started to glow as she began to examine the corpse. A piece of parchment and a quill levitated next to her as she jotted down notes of the exposed cavity in Golden Harvest’s chest. For the most part her organs were still intact, except for some of her intestines that took a beating when her rib caged busted open. Twilight glanced up at the still immobile Pinkie.

“Pinkie, I know it’s a lot to take in, but I need you to tell me what happened.” Twilight sat on her hunches as she waited for her friend to speak. Pinkie Pie slowly dragged her hollow eyes over to where Twilight was and stared at her for a few moment before she turned her gaze to mouth of the Everfree Forest a few hundred yards away from where they sat. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours before Pinkie opened her mouth. The sentence she uttered had no warmth or life in it. Just an eerie monotone, with the hint of fear beneath it.

“Mother Tree does not take kindly to those who harm her children.” Twilight gave her friend a confused look before opening her mouth.

“I don’t understand what you are talking about Pinkie.” Pinkie slowly turned her head to meet her friends gaze.

“Deep within the Forest, lives the Mother Tree. No harm will come to thee, as long as you treat nature in kind. But harm her children, and you’ll wake to find. Your Nightmare’s waiting to invade your mind. During the Waning Moon at the strike of three, a beastly tree will come for thee. Run you can try, fight as you might.The Everfree Curse will consume your life.” Pinkie paused for a moment before she continued speaking. “My mother use to tell me this poem when I was just a filly. I always thought it was just a tall tale. Until now.”

Twilight stared at her friend in awe. Pinkie Pie was known to babble nonsense, but what she said simply could not be true.

“How could a poem cause this? I doubt a creepy set of sentences can cause someone to die. There is a more solid explanation for this. There has to be. How did something burst from her chest? Why did something burst through her chest”

Applejack was able to take a moment from Fluttershy and finally pitched in to answer Twilight's question,”A worm, at least that what Ah think it is. And why, well yer guess is as good as mine.” Twilight gave Applejack a dumbfounded look.

“A worm did this? A worm busted through a pony's rib cage, from the inside? And made a hole the size of a hoofball. You guys do know that it roughly takes over 899.236 pounds of force to crack a rib.” Applejack walked up to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Twi, Ah never said it was a typical earthworm either. This, this was sumthin’ else.” Applejack looked at Twilight with confusion and concern in her eyes.

“Something else? What else could possibly cause such harm? I’ve never read about anything like this before.”
Twilight paced around the scene taking it all in. Her eyes dancing around in her head as she juggled around the different possibilities in her mind. At this point her mind was like a circus of tiny fillies trying to juggle all these different ideas in her head. Eventually they crashed and she couldn’t think of anything.

“I have to find a book on this. I must commence some research and dig deeper into this.” Twilight turned and faced Applejack “Try to get Fluttershy to rest first. Will you two be ok?”

Applejack shook herself out of her daze to answer Twilight’s question. “Ah don’t know about Flutters. She’s shook up mighty bad. Uhhmm, what do you s’ppose we do now?”

Twilight quickly glanced around the scene,”Get together a group and find the creature. Bring it to me alive...if you can. I understand if it’s too dangerous and you have to kill it.”

“How in tarnation am ah s’ppsed to catch that lil critter? When Ah don’t even know what it is.”

Twilight shrugged, “You know how to wrangle most animals, right? I’m sure you can handle one a tiny worm. Just be careful ok?”

Applejack stared at Twilight for a few moments, taken aback by the outrageous request of her dear friend. She looked down and thought for a few moments.

“Applejack?” Twilight took a few steps towards her friend before getting a response.

“Ah.” Applejack swallowed before she continued. “A-ah can do it.” Applejacks ears pinned to the back of her head as she hid her unsure look from Twilight.

“Are you sure?” Twilight gave her friend a reassuring smile.

“Ah’m sure. Ah can catch it.” Applejack gave Twilight a half hearted smile as she turned and headed back to the Castle

“Twilight,” Pinkie had returned her hollowed gaze back to Twilight after spacing out for so long. “Twilight, take note and heed my warning. For Mother Tree is not to be trifled with.”

Twilight gave Pinkie a worried look, then quickly changed to a quizzical one. “Ummm, ok. Pinkie, go get some rest. Take it easy.”

Pinkie Pie turned away, her body swaying loosely back and forth as her mane and tail fell flat as it drooped behind her. She wandered off by herself without saying so much as “goodbye”. Twilight stood and watched her wander off before turning and heading off herself back to the Castle.

Her mind wandered slightly as she tried to think of an explanation to Applejack's description of the so called ‘worm’ that had killed Golden Harvest. It defied all logic that Twilight could pull from the vast amount of information she had stored in her mental Library. Never before had she heard of such a creature. Not even in the darkest and most taboo of books that she had come across. All with the most vile creatures known to ponykind had such a monster. It seemed like something out of a nightmare.

As Twilight left, two other ponies found their way into the bloody scene. One walked in with all the grace and class of a sophisticated pony. Her pristine pure white coat glistened despite the sun being blocked out by a blanket of clouds above. Her purple mane and tail had the shape of infinite waves as they curled in on themselves. One might mistake her for royalty if it were not for the fact that she had no crown of her own.

The other did not have as much class. If somepony could see this blue blur they would find a wild, energetic, and very sporadic pegasus. In fact her favorite pastime was napping on clouds when she should be working the weather. Her flying was unlike any other. She was incredibly skillful. Able to make risky maneuvers coupled with precise movements she would impress even the most experienced of flyers. Despite this, she actually crashed into a nearby set of tables and chairs as the other came to a screeching halt in her trot. Both saw what lay before them, and both could not believe their eyes.

“Oh my, what a horrific scene have you dragged us out to see Applejack? What is the meaning of this?”
The alabaster mare quickly turned her head as she tried and failed to keep her cucumber sandwiches down as they flowed out of her mouth is a sickly yellow bile.

The Cyan blue pegasus held a hoof up to her stomach as she snorted and began to laugh at the sight of her friend losing her lunch. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as her body shook from her booming laughter.

“Looks like Rarity prefers to spit than swallow. That’s not what a proper lady such as yourself should do. Bahahaha!” Rainbow Dash started to roll on the ground as her laughter took control of her body.

Rarity stared at her blue friend for a few moments. Her rasping breath occasionally forcing out a string of saliva mixed with small chunks of undigested food. Before she could say anything another stream of brownish yellow liquid shot from her mouth. With pain and fury she directed the stream all over her friend who was pointing and laughing. She laughed no more.

“YUCK! Really? You just had to do that? I think some of it got in my mouth.” Rainbow Dashes voice cracked as she complained, and becoming coated in the gnarly mixture. The cocky pegasus tried shaking as much off as possible.

“T-that’s what you get for l-laughing Rainbow D-dash,” Rarity could hardly speak as she coughed and continued spitting out contaminated saliva.

Rainbow Dash flicked some of the vomit back at Rarity. She didn’t even try to move because she was so exhausted and already filthy from her own disgust. Rarity looked over her coat with a sigh.

“This is going to take hours to clean out of my coat. And I had just went to the spa yesterday.” Rarity's lower lip quivered as she began to pout. Applejack was walking up with a shaking Fluttershy as the two ponies were still locked in the battle to belittle each other playfully.

“Now look here you two. Ah got to get Flutters back home ‘fore we do anythin’. Ah need ya two to behave while Ah’m gone, and Rarity, your coat is only goin’ to get worse. So put a hoof in it.”

Rarity gave Applejack a evil glare as she was still mourning of her once beautiful shine. With a huff and a quick upturn of her nose she sat on her hunches to display her displeasure of Applejack’s statemate.

Author's Note

As with Chapter one this is the nonedited version. Will repost the edited version once my editor gets to them, just couldnt wait anymore. Lol

Chapter 3

Alright here’s the best hands ah could hire for the job,” Applejack presented her group of helping hands that she was able to scrounge up under such short notice. Who would have thought it’d be so difficult to find ponies willing to search for a bloodthirsty worm that burst from the chest cavity of a live pony. She couldn’t get many volunteers. Only three ponies came to help. One of them was pretty small. She was brown with light green mane and tail. Her mane was tied into a single ponytail and her tail left straight. She had a determined look in her eyes. She rarely blinked and would look straight into the eyes of whichever pony spoke to her. Her cutie mark was a rock skipping off a puddle of mud. Applejack gestured towards her.

“This here is Mudskipper. She’s helped me out a few times ‘round the farm and is a good friend of the family. She don’t talk much, so don’t be offended if she doesn’t make much fer conversation.”

Mudskipper responded, “When there’s work to do there’s no time for chit chat.”

“Ain't that the truth.” Applejack bumped hooves with her friend.

She moved onto the next pony, a rugged looking pegasus. He bore many scars on his face and legs. His wings were ruffled with some feathers missing. He was of average height but heavily built. His muscles rippled underneath his canvas of scars. Despite being a pegasus he seemed like he could take on the strongest of Earth ponies and stand hoof to hoof with them.

“Here is Feather Run. Rainbow Dash found ‘em cruisin around earlier and thought he’d make fer some good muscle. Ah didn’t think we’d really need ‘em but Rainbow Dash insisted. Ah s’ppose we could use ‘em.”

Feather Run waved at everypony, “Hi nice to meet you. Sorry if I’m not much use today. When I heard about the job I had to give it a try. It’s been forever since anypony needed me for something like this.”

Rarity interjected, “So, you have actually done this kind of thing before? Pardon my rudeness, but why on earth would you want to deal with such horrid things?”

The pegasus cracked a smile as he started to respond.

“It’s what I enjoy. That’s my calling. I earned my cutie mark doing this.” He pointed to his cutie mark, a dragon skull with an arrow going through its jaw.

“It is very.... unique indeed.” Rarity seemed very concerned about the mark. She looked over to Rainbow Dash with uneasiness as Applejack introduced the last pony.

“Anyways. Our last partner fer this here show is Desert Rose. Ah heard she is mighty good at odd jobs, particularly in carpentry. She also didn’t run away when ah told her what we planned on, so that’s a plus.”

The unicorn had a desert red mane that sprawled across her back and neck, with a few dreads the framed her face. Her dark green coat was ragged and needed a good brushing, but it was tont over the tone muscles of a hard worker. Her tail dragged behind her and was unkept. Her face showed the friendliness of a bull shark, while her ice blue eyes priced through to your very soul. Her cutie mark was a framing speed square. She looked at both Rarity and Rainbow Dash in turn and shot them a crooked grin.

“Tis a pleasure to meet you all.” Even though she had a rugged look, her voice was smooth as velvet and sweet to the ears. One that would even give Rarity a run for her bits. Desert Rose trotted over to Rainbow Dash and Rarity, which cause Rarity to scrunch her snout; trying her best not to make a foul comment on the state of her coat. But Desert Rose seemed to read her mind.

Desert Rose gave Rarity a playful sultry look as she opened her mouth. “I see somepony has the taste for the more elegant things in life.”

Rarity shot and evil glare back towards her. “Well I do try, along with personal hygiene.”

The dark green Unicorn started to chuckle. “Sweetie, I am clean if that's what you're asking. Although my coat may look like a mess I do keep up on myself. But unlike certain ponies I love to get my hooves dirty; and I’m not afraid of hard labor.”

Applejack cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. “Now, if everyone is done throwin dirt, can we get back to the task at hoof?” Applejack looked at both Rarity and Desert Rose. Rarity was still somewhat befuddled, while Desert Rose seemed not care at all about what just happened. “Right, now Ah think I saw the, ‘worm’ crawl into a grate. So Ah think it's best to start in the sewers.”

Rarity’s head turned so quickly it looked like it was going to snap off. Her eyes turned as big as saucers while her jaw dropped.

“THE SEWERS! Darling you can’t be serious! With my mane and coat. I wouldn’t be caught dead in the dirty sewers.” Desert Rose threw head back and started to howl with laughter. As she straighten her body back out she brought a hoof up to her cheek to wipe away the tears rolling down her face.

“Oh this is Priceless. A poor pony was just brutally murdered, and you can’t be bothered to help look for the thing that did it, just because we’re going into the sewers. Some element of generosity you are.”

Rainbow Dash started to chuckle to herself as Rarity's pristine white face began to darken to a deep shade of crimson as rage boiled inside her. The alabaster mare shot daggers to the cyan pegasus before coming muzzle to muzzle with Desert Rose.

“You look here, you degenerate ruffian! I’ll not stand here and take an insult by somepony as the likes of you! Now You wil-”

“RARITY! Will ya shut yer damn trap, please. You are gunna come with us. And Desert Rose, please stop antagonizing her. We have work to do.” Applejack sighed and rubbed the side of her head, in all of the commotion she had forgotten about her headache. But it reared its nasty head yet again amongst the arguing.

The rest of the group felt very awkward caught in the heated argument between Desert Rose and Rarity, but they pressed on. During the walk, Rarity and Desert Rose slowly gravitated to the outermost edges of the group. Rainbow Dash was quite enthralled by Feather Run’s tales of travel and past hunts. She had all the attention of a starry-eyed filly. He was happy to boast his feats, but Desert Rose was not so impressed. She wanted so badly for him to shut his mouth and jump into the nearest swamp so a crocodile can take him away.

After many minutes of walking they finally reached a deep trench that led to a worn out set of broken iron bars underneath the edge of Ponyville. Underneath a small stream of water leaked from the tunnel behind the bars. A misused lantern hung next to the entrance. It looked as if nopony had used it for years. Rarity used her magic to ignite a small flame in the lantern. The fire barely lit the entrance as it had to fight through the grime of the dirty glass.

“There. Much better. Now we can at least find the exit. Are you sure that we can’t just...wait out here for it to come to us?” Rarity gave Applejack and hopeful glance as she waited for somepony to respond.

“Gotta work for it princess,” Desert Rose walked between split set of bars and turned around. Her hooves splashing in the shallow water. Feather Runr followed her.

“This reminds me of the time me and my buddies went into the Lost Caves of Alkesh. We were chasing down a feral dragon. It was old, probably hadn’t cleaned itself in months. I still remember the stench of the corpses. Skeletons with meat still rotting on the broken bones. Horrible smell. Ah brings back good memories.”

As Feather Run took a trip down memory lane, Rarity was having trouble keeping her stomach settled.

“Feather Run. Please! Can you not talk about such vile and disgusting things in front of a lady? I can hardly stand this wretched place as it is. A lady shouldn’t be in a sewer for Celestia’s sake!” Desert Rose rolled her eyes whilst Rarity still whined about her current plight.

“Oh sorry ma'am. Guess I’m used to a rougher crowd.”

Desert Rose added, “No need to be sorry, she just needs to stop whining and get her hooves dirty for once.”
Rarity responded through her teeth, “Thank you darling. At least you are understanding and considerate. Unlike some ponies I know of.”

She flicked her hair and proceeded to stomp her way through the sewer runoff. The rest of the group followed inside and waded through the water. The path was exceptionally wide. Big enough to allow five ponies to walk side-by-side. Rarity and Desert Rose used their horns to illuminate the area with a warm glow. Their shadows cast onto the walls and stretched across the withered and broken stone walls. Slime and moss coated various spots on the cold stone. Rarity very much regretted being able to see and dared not go near the walls in fear of getting her pristine white coat muddled.

They walked for quite some time before reaching a circular hub area that branched off into different paths. In the middle of the room on the ceiling was a single grate that opened into the surface and let some moonlight illuminate the center of the room. Various small waterways led into the room from the ceiling and let water run down the walls and into the large pool in the middle. Some poured much like a waterfall, others trickled in, and others let in nothing at all. The group wandered about the hub and peeked into each path to see where it led.

Applejack looked up at the grate, “If Ah’m not mistaken, we should be underneath Sugarcube Corner, or at least near it. Also Ah believe this is where that, thing, crawled too.”

Feather Run turned back to the path they came from.
“Maybe we should mark this one so we know where to get out. Hey Desert Rose? Think you can pop some magic above this one so we can tell what’s what?”

She looked at the exit and stood thinking for a few seconds.

“That’s not a bad idea. I got just the thing.”

She focused her magic and shot a thin beam of green energy at the arch above the entrance. Tiny bits of stone fell and left behind was the outline of a glowing green rose.

“Very smart. Pretty too,” Mudskipper admired Desert Rose’s work and gave her a nod of approval. Desert Rose thanked her and turned back towards the rest of the group in the center of the room.

AJ laid out a plan, “Right. Looks like there’s a lot of ground to cover. So let’s split into two groups. Desert Rose, Mudskipper, and Ah will take one way. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Feather Run will take another way. If ya find the lil critter, be careful. Corner it and try to tie up its mouth if ya can. Then throw it in the bag and go ahead and bring it to Twilight. If one of us gets out first be sure to leave a sign so when we come back we know you made it out. Everypony got it?”

Everypony nodded.

Mudskipper asked, “Can we kill it? I mean if it tries to kill us I can break its neck right?”

Rainbow Dash joined, “Yea! That sounds awesome. Then we can stomp it into the ground and rub its filthy little face in the water and…,” She proceeded to imitate shoving an invisible worm’s face into the water and thrashing about in the water. Rarity jumped away from Rainbow Dash and shook herself from any water that splashed on her.

“Rainbow Dash please! Must you spread this vile filth on everypony? Not all of us enjoy splashing about in such horrid water. I don’t even know how such a creature can survive down here. Just thinking about all the disgusting germs swimming around my hooves is enough to make me want to shower for the rest of my life.” Rarity's body visibly shuddered as disgust fell upon her face as the thought ran threw her head.

“Um. Ma’am? You might wanna move over just a tad,” Feather Run motioned for her to step aside.

“Why? What is it?” Rarity looked down to see a dead rat floating by and bumped into her hoof. She screamed and started having a panic attack. She ran around the room crying while shouting various unladylike phrases. Everypony couldn’t help but snicker. Rainbow Dash started dying of laughter, Desert Rose however was not entertained. Displeasure raged in her eyes as she watched the pompis acts of the unicorn in front of her.

“For the love of Luna’s glorious butt Rarity, please. Shut the fuck up! For once in your glorious lie of a life can you act like a normal pony, and stop being the center of attention for fuck sakes! Applejack, Mudskipper! Are you coming or what!?” Desert Rose stormed off down a dimly lit and particularly run-down tunnel. Much of the ceiling and walls had crumbled away. Dirt poured from some sides and roots of trees burrowed their way through the ceiling. Mudskipper followed suit shaking her head. Applejack turned towards her friend. Her eyes were lowered and seemed like they were trying to hint an apology for Desert Rose’s behavior.

Rarity got the message and walked ahead in the other direction. She kept her head held high despite wanting to just fall and lay down on a nice silky bed and be rid of this mess. Feather Run ran to catch up and walked slightly behind her. Rainbow Dash caught up as well and kept pace with her friend. Both groups left the light behind with only a single glowing green rose as a reminder of their presence. Their clumsy walking reverberated through the hub and became quieter the further they were, until only the echoing showers of water filled the room. Occasionally a faint howl found its way through the ceiling grate. A ripple slowly made its way down the peaceful flow of the sewer as a dark figure slipped down one of the corridors, letting out a low hiss that was drowned out in the subtle noise of running water.

Twilight walked up the the heavy oak doors that stood as the entrance to her castle. Her horn lit up and her magic wrapped around the handle as she opened the door. Off in the distance she could hear the faint sound of Spike still upheaving what ever was left in his stomach. She closed the door behind her as she followed the sound to Spike.

She walked through the entryway and started down the hallway, with crystals that sparkled with the intensity of the richest diamond mines. As she trotted through the halls, reaching deeping with in the crystal structure, Spikes vile sound grew louder. Twilight approached the bathroom door that was a jar, knocking before sticking her head in.

“Hey, Spike? How are you holding up?” Twilight poked her head inside to look at the baby dragon who had his head buried in the toilet.

“Well, considering what I just saw, I think I’m doing alright.” Spike looked up to Twilight with a pale face, and sandbags under his eyes. Twilight frowned back at him, feeling truly sorry he had seen the body this morning.

“Take how ever long you need. But if you need me, I’ll be in the library. I have questions that need answers.” With that said Twilight retracted her head and made her way down another hall to a series of chambers before finally coming in front a of set of blackened doubled doors with ruby handles. She opened the doors to a room that was covered from wall to wall and floor to ceiling in books and various scrolls.

To her left was a small wooden desk that had books stacked high on either side of it. On the desk laid a stack of blanks pages with an inkwell and quill beside it. Twilight walked over to the desk and sat down on the padded pillow that laid behind it. As her romp touch the floor a harsh sigh escaped her mouth.

“Hmmmm, where to start.” Twilight’s eyes slowly wandered around the room as she was searching for a section she could start pulling books from. Her hoof tapping her chin rhythmically as she pondered what to pull first. She decided to stop trying to overthink it and just let something jump out at her. She found herself staring at her section of Invertebrate Books when a book title caught her attention. Invertebrates and What You Need to Know.

Twilight pulled the book off the shelf and placed it on her desk. She also spied a book called Dragons, Serpents, and Worms. She pulled it down and set it next to the other book on her desk. Twilight materialized a teacup to her as she opened up Invertebrates and What You Need to Know, and started to read the first chapter.

For the rest of the day Twilight was buried in her books, by mid-day her desk had a new stack of books surrounding it. She hadn't even noticed Spike wondering in at one point to curl up under the desk and take a nap next her.

The more she flipped through the books, the more she was losing her temper. She had spent the better part of her day going through her entire catalog and hadn’t been able to come up with any solid leads. Just more questions regarding her mysterious creature.

Twilight screamed out in frustration and anger as she started at the page. Her horn ignited and the book was engulfed in her magic as she hauled in through the window in her library, along with several other books that had not given her the answers that she needed.

Meanwhile Lyra and Bon Bon where having a beautiful day as they walked past Twilight's castle. Bon Bon was looking in her saddle bag as a book landed on Lyra's head.

“OW! What the hey Bon Bon!” Lyra looked back to confront her friend for smacking her, when she noticed the book laying on the ground. Bon Bon looked up from her saddle bags to witness Lyra looking up and having five books keep bouncing off her face.

Twilight stared at the now broken window, while she listened to the two ponies outside fuss and whine about the raining books. She looked back at her desk that had a blank parchment on it. Her ears drooped in disappointment at the lack of notes written on it. Never before had Twilight felt so defeated and disappointed in herself. How can she not find something, anything about this creature. As Celestia’s star pupil she owed it to herself to learn about it. She would have to conduct her own expedition. She must find out where it came from. Golden Harvest will show her the way.

Twilight trotted out of the Library and down the hall to her room, where she scooped up her saddle bags. She ran back into the Library and dropped her saddle bags on Spike; startling and awakening him in the process.

“Start packing what I give you. I have questions that need answers!” Spike gave Twilight a puzzled look, but didn’t think twice. For Spike it wasn’t unusual to see Twilight in this state of mind. She always took studying too seriously. Twilight frantically grabbed book, quills, and blank parchments and hurled them at Spike. As he was struggling to keep up with everything thrown at him Twilight bolted out of the room.

Spike neatly arranged her supplies in her saddled backs when more things hoovered through the door and started piling up on top of him. He had just managed to get everything packed away when a purple glow wrapped around Twilight’s saddle bags. He held on as they dragged him down the hall to Twilight. Without a word she shook him off them and walked to the front door as she put them on. Leaving Spike to stare at her flank as she walked out the door.

From what Twilight had gathered from the whispers and hushed conversations of her fellow ponies earlier in the day, Golden Harvest was seen running around town seeking help and screaming madness before her final moments. Many believe she had ran from the Everfree Forest. A place filled with magical power and strange creatures many ponies had never seen before in their lives. The ground itself seemed alive with something that followed you everywhere you went. You could feel as if your very presence was a trespass. Something wanted you to leave. To turn back and never return.

Twilight dared to trespass. Laiden with saddlebags filled with books and any necessities to navigate the forest and survive its hostile environment, Twilight stepped through the veil of leaves and vines that hung like a curtain around the forest. As she walked through she felt like she was walking into a new world entirely. Through the alien world she felt a call. Pulling her, pushing her, forcing her in a role only she could fill. Though she did not like the stage, she knew she fit the role; after all it was made for her. Nopony else performed like she did.
With a smirk across her face, she pressed on into the heart of Everfree. Searching for the clues that laid before her.

Chapter 4 Author's Note

As with the others this chapter is also unedited, for now.

Chapter 4

Rainbow Dash led Rarity and Feather Run in their dark hole of a sewer. The water was rising the further they got. The path seemed to delve down in the deep underbelly of Ponyville. They passed a few diverting paths but did not take them because they dare not get lost in this labyrinth. Rarity was not pleased by the rising water. She almost turned around and headed back out but she did not want to quit, and she certainly did not want to deal with Desert Rose calling her more unspeakable names.

The three ponies had walked for what felt like half an hour, their way only lit by the glow of Rarity’s horn. They had gone deep enough into the sewer network that the water had reached up to their thighs, and was only getting deeper the further they went in. Rarity held her eyes shut as much as she could and had to bite her tongue. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagined that she’d be trodding through sewage to look for some ungodly creature. She shivered at the thought of how long it was going to take to get the stench out of her coat.

Sometimes they heard the squeaking of a rat as it fell into the water and quickly scurried back onto the cracks in the walls. Other time’s the squeaking came from Rarity as a rat would bump against her leg. Their path came to an abrupt end when it dipped down to a submerged path that nopony could pass without going for a dip. Rainbow Dash was not so easily deterred by this obstacle.

“Alright looks like we’re going under!” She was just about to dive in when Rarity stopped her.

“Absolutely not! I have endured enough already. I’m not going any further in this maze of waste!” Rarity stomped her hoof in anger.

“W-with respect ma’am. We haven't even found the creature yet. Not even so much as a trail or hair.” Feather Run stood behind the two mare, unsure of what to do. Rarity stomped in the water, splashing it all over the two ponies including herself.

“I don’t care! We have spent Celestia-knows how long trying to find this stupid little bug and all we have managed to do is walk in somepony’s waste. I have some dignity left. I will not let that muck get in my eyes and mouth, or worse...my hair.” Rarity’s voice went an octave higher as she whined and pouted as she tried to fix her frazzled mane.

“C’mon Rarity we can’t just give up now. That bug needs to get squashed.” Rainbow Dash tried to talk Rarity out of it but she was too persistent.

“No no no! No more! I’ve walked down in the sewers, trotted about like a pig in a bath, searched for a pony killing bug, put up with Desert Rose’s insults! and now I’m covered in...SHIT!”

As Rarity stomped around and vented her frustration she did not notice the sunken path behind her bubble and a black mass slowly emerge from the depths. Rainbow Dash and Feather Run could only watch in horror as it climbed from below and hunched over the dirty white pony. It towered over her, almost hitting the ceiling with its head. Water was dripping off it’s face, along with an unknown yellow slime that lightly illuminated the water. It seemed to fizzle as it hit the water, giving off a burning stench of some kind of gas. None of the ponies noticed the ember pouring from its mouth. They were too fixated on its single giant eye. That eye which did not look away from Rarity. No sound, no movement, nor any kind of distraction would sway its gaze away from her. It’s heavy breathing sounded as if it was suffering through every breathe taken, as if the mere act of being alive was torture for the creature.

When Rarity had spun around in her frustration she finally saw it and screamed. Panicked, the white pony popped her light from her horn and condensed it into a beam of magic towards the monster. It ducked under the beam and tried lunging at her. In Rarity’s sudden outburst she tried pulling the beam towards the creature but did not take into account the damage she caused to the already crumbling walls around her. Debris fell from the ceiling and smacked into the creature. It gave a high pitched screech and retreated back under the water as chunks of stone smashed into its head. As it swam away Rarity stopped her beam but the damage had already been done. The unstable cobblestone began collapsing all around. Rarity froze in place unable to move. Unable to process the events taking place before her.

Before Rainbow Dash or Feather Run could help her, Rarity was struck by falling debris. A particularly large chunk fell on her back, forcing her entire body down, and then another cut across her eye and muzzle. She let out a brief scream before falling limp as more small chunks of stone covered her body. Feather Run bolted forward and used his wings to cover her from further harm. Rainbow Dash helped as well, using the opportunity to lift up her fallen friend and drag her away from the collapsing tunnel. The underwater path had already caved in and more of it was giving away. The two ponies hoisted rarity by her two front hooves, her arms wrapped around their necks. They held onto her and started running forward as fast as possible.

“Pick it up Feather! I can’t carry her on my own!” Rainbow Dash yelled at Feather Run. Trying to push him to move faster. He may be strong, but he was not as fast as her. She felt a slight lag as he fought to keep pace with the lightning fast mare. At the same time they had to deal with their path being blocked by falling stone and water splashing all around them. Not to mention the constant shaking from the cave-in. It felt as if someone was constantly pulling a rug from underneath them. A very rough, wet, and uncomfortable rug.

“I’m doing my best! There’s just...too...much...Ahh!” A significant portion of the wall had crumbled in front of Feather Run. He got caught in it and lost his grip on Rarity. Rainbow Dash kept on going without knowing and pulled her away from from him. She stopped and tried to help him, but so much was falling around him that she didn’t have enough time to get him and Rarity too. In a split second she made the decision to leave him. Rarity had been a long time friend, and as much as she hated it, her loyalty to her friends was stronger than to a stranger she didn’t know too well.

Rainbow Dash watched for a brief moment as he struggled to get past the falling blanket of rocks, earth, and stone, only to crawl backwards and save himself from being buried. He could do nothing as he heard Rainbow Dash’s screams as she ran further away, presumably leaving him behind. He scrambled up and felt his front right hoof shoot a sharp pain straight through his entire body. He had to limp away and backtrack as fast as he could. The walls still shook and rumbled around him. Wounded and blind, he stumbled his way through the darkness.

He fumbled along the walls, hoping for to find one of the paths they didn’t take. If he was lucky, he could use it to go back to the hub. He hobbled along until he found a corner. He ducked into it, the path was much more narrow. Here the walls rubbed along his sides as he squeezed his way through. It opened up a little but still didn’t give him much breathing room. Suddenly he bumped into a dead end. He fell back and rubbed his head. What luck. To hit a dead end in a crumbling sewer with no light.

“Fuck this place. Just can’t catch a break nowadays.” As he got back up he heard an all too familiar heavy breathing right in front of him. The sound of water splashing beneath heavy footsteps echoed through the tiny passage. A low growl came from where Feather Run hit a dead end. Some more of the ember liquid poured from the creature’s mouth and gave enough glow from him to make out its sharp teeth ready to bite into his supple flesh. Feather Run did not know what to do. It was so different, so unique, and so horrifying.

I’ve dealt with worse. He tried to encourage himself. I’ve hunted dragons, timber wolves, and taken down unicorn cults. This is nothing. He stood tall and prepared to challenge the creature as it slowly made its way to him. He charged at the creature, aiming to tackle the creature and go for its neck. It kept its pace while still drooling excessive amounts of the slop from its mouth. Feather Run was about to reach the glow when he felt something stop him. A sharp pain blazed through his shoulder, burning his muscles in ways even never knew where possible.

Before he knew it he was being lifted by something in his shoulder and being pulled towards the small glow coming from its mouth. He lifted a hoof to feel a long serrated tail impaled in his body. It was hard to move. He felt so tired. The creature brought him close to its face and opened its mouth. The last thing Feather Run did was let out a bloodcurdling scream that only a little fillie could match, that and piss himself while he screamed for his mommy to come save him.. He couldn’t even see everything fade to black as he lost his vision. His whole world was already black.

The back of his head blew out as it’s sub-mouth shot out and busted through Feather Runs skull. Throwing bits of skull, brain matter, and blood all over the shit-filth soaked walls.The creature slammed the now lifeless pony’s body to the ground, flinging him of it’s tail. It’s stood over it’s kill proudly for a moment before it scurried off into the dark depths of the chaos of a collapsing sewer tunnel. Feather Runs hoof involuntarily twitched before a section of the roof caved in and crushed the rest of his body.

Off in the distance the low rumbling of rock was mixed in with frantic cries of ponies trying to save their own lives.

Twilight stared out into the darkness of the forest as she made her way even deeper. A lantern floated next to her in her magic. She came across some markings on a tree, that indicated something large had either ran into it, or scratched it. But she figured it was the later based off the pattern of the markings. Down by the base of the tree the leaves had been disturbed by what seemed to be a pony. Twilight hoovered the lantern closer to confirm her suspicions. Upon closer examination she could see hoof prints that were gouged into the earth.

She set down her saddle bags and brought out a quill and parchment, along with a ruler so she could start taking notes. She was unsure that this had anything to do with what she was after, but it didn’t hurt to document the unknown, just in case. The longer she investigated the area around the tree, the more she started to notice more signs that pointed to a larger creature that was following a pony.

She took out a map of the Forest and marked her location, trying to judge which direction the tacks were going. After a few moments she realized that the track where coming out of the deeper parts of the forest and leading back into town. Twilight stood there for a moment, trying to decide on which way she wanted to go. She looked to her left, which was the path the lead out of the forest, but to her right was a path that twisted and turned. The branches seemed to form a giant open mouth that banked her deeper. She stared into the dark wooden ally, before she decided to turn the other way and head out towards the town.

As she trotted down the path she noticed a trail of a yellow substance that had dripped along side the hoof tracks in the leaves. She knelt down to get a closer look. It was in a somewhat solidified state, but seem to could still be molded into a different shape. She hesitantly reached out of hoof to touch it before stopping herself and mentally chastising herself for being so careless. She looked around for a twig which didn’t take her too long to find.

She picked up the twig within her magic and slowly poked the unknown substance. It’s outer shell seemed to be harden, but with a little more force applied she was able to push the stick within it. She tried to pull the stick back out and was met with strong resistance. With a little more effort she was able to release the stick from it’s new yellow prison. Twilight noticed that some of it had stuck to the stick and was dripping off painstakingly slow.

Twilight thought to herself. “Hmm, seems to resemble sap from a tree.” The purple Alicorn glanced up to see if any of the trees showed any signs of dripping sap. But none of them did. She pulled a jar from her saddle bags and picked up a sample for further study back in her lab. She sealed the jar and put it back within her bags and marched onward. As she walked the path started to dart to left, the back to the right, the back to the left, then back to right. It did this several more times before straightening back out.

“So our pony in question was no doubt being chased by, something, and tried to throw it off her trail. But what was it? And why her?” As Twilight was last in though she came to spot that the leaves had been very badly disturbed. Hoof marks in every which direction that had been trampled but something far bigger. There was also more piles of the sap like substance centered around one area in the opening. Twilight looked around to try and make out just where the pony was trying to get to and noticed a gap in the foliage that showed part of a street in Ponyville.

“So she was trying to get to town, but why stop here where you were so close?” Twilight muttered to herself while shaking her head as she tried to piece together the scene that laid out before her. A struggle clearly had happened,but why? Did she stop running, did whatever was chasing her finally catch up or. Twilight spotted a tree root that was sticking out of the ground. “Or did you trip?” Twilight had an idea come to her as she walked out of the forest and onto one of the many side streets that littered Ponyville.

Chapter 5

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6

“Start talking Rarity!” Desert Rose stood over the wounded mare as she waited for her to start explaining what the hell had just happened. Rainbow Dash shot a disapproving look towards Desert, but she ignored it. Her focus was on Rarity.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Don’t give that bullshit, I can see it in your eyes that you damn well know what happened down there. Now I’m not going to ask again. What, did, you, do!”

Rarity turned her gaze down to the ground, her mind racing as she tried to think of what to say. She glanced back up to take in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that both Muddskipper and Desert Rose was covered in freshly made cuts, and dried blood. Desert Rose’s hind quarters where all but hanging down on her legs, blood still slowly trickled out, and it amazed Rarity that the mare was even still standing, let alone not even a hint of pain on her face. Rarity moved her gaze past Desert Rose to look around some more, only to notice that they were missing two ponies. Applejack, and Feather Run.

“Where’s Applejack? Where’s Feather Run? What happened to you guys?”

Rainbow Dash spoke up before Desert Rose could. “Well I’m assuming that Feather Run is dead, seeing how the tunnels were collapsing all around us, and he had gotten stuck. As for Applejack, I don’t know.” Rainbow Dash turned to Desert Rose looking for an answer as well.

“We were cut off from Applejack as a section of the roof caved in and fell between us. I don’t know weather she is alive or not. But my question has still not been answered.”

Rarity sat there dumbfounded for a moment. “Tunnel collapsing? What do you mean the tunnels collapsed!? They were perfectly fine before I-.” Rarity trailed off as she started to put two and two together. She made the mistake to look up into Desert Rose’s eyes. All she could see was her imminent death. “It was an accident I swear, we saw a monster and I panicked. I shot a beam of magic out of my horn to kill it. What was I supposed to do?”

“How about aim and not just shoot wildly? Do you have any idea how old this network is? Because of your stupidity one pony has died and another has gone missing, and three others have been wounded. You better pray I get an infection and can’t function, because as soon as I get stitched up, I’m shoving my horn up your fucking ass.” Desert Rose clenched her jaw as she turned around to walk out of the sewers. “Get your asses up and into gear. We all need to hoof it to the hospital.”

Rarity sat there for a moment, letting it all sink in. Tears began to form, but she refused to let it be known that Desert Rose had gotten to her. She took a deep breath and tried to stand up. Her front legs moved, be her back ones didn’t. She tried again, wondering why she couldn’t feel her legs. The shock had finally worn off, the pain came rushing forward like Canterlot Express barrelling down the train tracks. She reached a hoof up to her face to feel what was causing her so much pain, only to find a massive cut running across it. She had to turned into a blubbering mess without realizing it. She turned to her friend with tears streaming down her face.

“Rainbow Dash, I can’t feel my hind legs. I CAN’T FEEL MY LEGS!”

Rainbow Dash fell next to Rarity’s hind legs and poked them, “Can you feel that?”

Rarity turned her head and watched her friend play with her hind legs, she started to shake her head with each poke that she could no longer feel. “NO!” Rarity continued her ugly sobbing as Rainbow Dash started to outright punch her legs in hopes of getting a reaction.

“It just doesn’t end with you does it?” Desert Rose walked over and picked up Rarity by her front left leg and beckoned to Rainbow Dash to do the same. The blue mare quickly followed her lead and they made their way towards the exit with the sobbing alabaster pony being dragged along.

“How did this happen anyways? Did you find the worm?” Desert Rose asked Rainbow Dash as they hauled Rarity through the tunnel with Mudskipper in tow.

“Well...it sorta found us.” Rainbow Dash reluctantly responded.

“Lemme guess. It crawled on her hoof, she freaked out, and started blasting everything while screaming her head off. Is that about right?”

Rainbow Dash fell to a blank annoyed expression, “Yea pretty much. You know her pretty well already huh?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she shifted the weight of Rarity on her shoulder.

Desert Rose rolled her eyes, “I’ve seen her type many times before. She’s no different despite what she says. I know she’s your friend and all but damn. Can’t even keep her head on her shoulders with a tiny worm.”

Rainbow Dash looked to her with bloodshot eyes popping from her head. “It wasn’t a tiny worm. This thing was HUGE. It kinda looked like it but it was so big there was no way it could have grown that fast.”

Desert Rose glanced over to Rainbow Dash. “What do you mean? Did you even get a good look at it?”

Rainbow Dash looked ahead lost in thought for a moment before she answered Desert Rose. “Well, if you're asking for a full on description, then the answer would be no. But I got a good enough look at it that I can tell you it's way taller than us, and it has the same features as the worm, I think.”

“What do you mean you think!?” Desert Rose shot Rainbow Dash an angered look before being cut off by a clattering sound coming from down one of the tunnels. All the ponies stopped and stared down the the tunnel that the sound was coming from.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me.” She dropped Rarity, who had an vocal displeasure from the act, and turned to face what ever threat was coming towards them. All three able mares stood in anticipation. Time seem to slow to crawl as they tried to outwait the enemy that was stalking them. “Come on ye bastard!” Desert Rose was growing tired of waiting but she didn’t dare give in to the temptation of making the first move.

The splashing continued to get closer, and closer. Until a fat rat shot out from the darkness and skittered across the opening and darted down another tunnel. Desert Rose let out a small sigh of relief, and turned around to pick up Rarity again.

“Alright, let's get out of here.”

Desert Rose and Rainbow Dash slowly dragged out the immobile Rarity as Muddskipper followed behind them. She paused for a moment when she thought she heard water being disturbed. She stared down the tunnel she thought she heard the sound come from. The depths of darkness seemed alive with something she couldn’t quite make out. She tried to focus, but was interrupted when Desert Rose called out her name. She stared for a few more seconds before taking a hesitant step towards the leaving mares. She shook her head and resumed following the party.

The sound of the ponies leaving got faint as a set of sickly green eyes shone dimly in the depths of the tunnel. A low rumbling came from its chest as it growled. It sounded hollow and as if it was drowning in its own bile that bubbled deep from within its bowels. It backed away and sunk into the endless darkness of the tunnels.

The four ponies emerged from the entrance of the sewers only to meet a crowd that had gathered around wondering what was the source of the ground shaking throughout Ponyville. The moon shined high in the sky as they all rushed the four ponies. Questions coming from every direction. Nurse Redheart rushed forward when she saw the state that the ponies were in.

“What happened in there!? My Celestia, what happened to your flank? What happened to your... your…. Everything!?” The nurse waved her hoof in a circler motion in Desert Rose’s direction. She started to look at the open wound on Desert Rose only to be waved off by her.

“She needs to be looked at more than me, I think her spine is busted or something. I’ll meet you at the hospital. I don’t need to be carried there.” Desert Rose looked back at Rarity one more time before limping off away from all the ruckus of the crowd, leaving Nurse Redheart to do her thing, whatever that was. The farther away from the crowd she had gotten the more her injuries became noticeable. Desert Rose began to grunt as she walked, her steel resolve mask slowly dissolved away as pain and agony took over her face.

Her limp started to get worse the more she pushed through the screaming fire that was her rear leg. With each step she reopened the clots that had started to form causing more fresh blood to run down her leg. Her leg finally gave out and sent her stumbling before she finally could no longer support the weight of her body and collapsed onto the ground. Her vision slowly turned white with a dark figure running up to her shouting something as Desert Rose slowly slipped out of conscience.

The world went black. No sound, no pain. Nothing. Her mind struggled to grasp nothing as all senses seemed to go mute to everything.

The slow rhythmical sound of a beep came into Desert Rose’s mind. Her body was sore and her throat was dry. She felt drained, her whole body felt like a manticore was sitting on her. She tried to move her arm but felt the pressure of a hoof kept it in place. Her eyelids felt like lead, but she forced them open. The sun burned her retinas, but she was ok with it. Pain meant she was still alive. The beeping continued as she looked around.

“You’re in a hospital, and you are hooked to various medical equipment. Try not to get up ok?” Desert Rose looked at the white fur covered hoof that was resting on her arm, she then glanced up to see the blue eyes of Nurse Redheart. She had a calming warm smile upon her face and she went back to writing something down on her clipboard she had with her. The sun reflected off her as a soft glow highlighted her light pink hair that she had pulled back into a bun. Desert Rose turned her head to look on the other side of her room. Somehow she felt disappointed when she saw nopony else in her room. Her eyebrows dropped and and small frown came over her face.

She knew deep down that they would never show up again, but her mind refused to admit to it. It was days like this that she missed her family, but there was nothing she could do. They were gone, and they wouldn’t be coming back. Desert Rose could feel tears starting to swell up, and she forced them back down with an Iron Hoof. She had been staring blankly at the curtain and had been startled when she felt the presence of a hoof again.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, but I couldn’t help but ask. Why are you crying?” Nurse Redhearts voice was soft and smooth as she spoke to Desert Rose.

“I just miss my family, that’s all.” Desert Rose wasn’t aware that she had been cry. And if she was how long had she been. “I’ll be fine, just tough in times like.” Desert Rose paused for a moment, staring into nothing. “This.”

A cheerful smile came across Redheart's face. “Well I’m sure they’ll show up soon. To see how you are doing.” Nurse Redheart went back to filling out Desert Rose’s chart before being stopped by Deserts next words.

“No they won't. I’ll never see them again, that's what kills me, and what drives me.” Desert Rose sighed and closed her eyes again. “By the way, how did I get here? I don’t remember walking all the way here.”

“Your friend Muddskipper followed you and carried you here after you passed out from massive blood loss. Actually I’m quite surprised you are awake so quickly, or the fact you could walk let alone carry another injured pony. After she brought you in, we tended to her cuts and scrapes then sent her on her way. But you missy. We had to stitch everything back together down there.”

Nurse Redheart paused for a second to point down by Desert Rose’s thigh. “The skin will heal and the fur will grow back. But you will have a nasty scar for the rest of your life. Also, you just had a blood transfusion so don’t expect to get up anytime soon. Mkay. Well I am need else where at the moment, just press that button right there if you need me.” With that Nurse Redheart got up and walked out of her room, leaving Desert Rose alone. She turned and watched Nurse Redheart walk out of the room. She seemed to put a little more sway to her hips than needed. Desert Rose couldn’t help but notice her exquisite thighs with curves that drove her eyes in rolling motions up to her soft round flanks. After Redheart’s rear was no longer in view she turned back to stare at the ceiling with a new found smirk on her face. She might push her button just for the fun of it.

Chapter 7

Desert Rose laid in her hospital bed staring out the window. Her view overlooked the outskirts of Ponyville which wasn’t much to look at when it's the only thing you can look at for four days. Off in the distance she could see the top of town hall and if she really tired she could see a portion of Sugar Cube Corners roof. At this point she had all but drowned out the beeping of the machines around to where she no longer paid any attention to them. She kept her self busy by counting the clouds, and how many pegasi she saw flying by. This wasn’t her first time cooped up in a hospital and it probably wouldn’t be the last. She had learned how to pass time with nothing to do but lay in bed. Normally she had a book with her, but she had been unprepared this time.

Desert Rose scoffed at that thought, how sad it must be that she has a hospital ready bag. How many times as she ended up in one of these places that she had put together as ‘bug out’ bag for when the trip would come up. Yes, she deals in a line of work where one would get hurt eventually, no matter how much you tried to be safe. But hey shit just happens while in construction. Desert Rose rolled over onto her side slowly, and slightly painfully. Was she truly happy with her life? This was a thought that came up a lot when she had nothing to do but think.

Every now and then she would listen in on a nearby conversation. Not that she was trying to be nosy, but it was entertainment and another thing that passed the time which didn’t require much effort on her end. It also distracted her mind from her own thoughts she didn’t wish to think about. The light coming in through the window started to shine right in her eyes, it was that time of day that you couldn’t escape the onslaught of light of the sun no matter how hard one tried to do so. The sun was starting to go down on the horizon and Luna’s moon was creeping up on the opposite side of the town to signal the start of night. She reached out and pulled the curtain down before she rolled back over on her back, it was the only position her thigh didn’t throb and shoot sharp pink pricks up her side.

Normally night was Desert Rose’s favorite time of the day. She would find a field out of town and just stare up at the sky Princess Luna herself had painted with the stars. A sigh escaped her lips as she turned her gaze back to the bare ceiling above before she closed her eyes and let her mind wonder. She wasn’t trying to think of anything in particular, but it fascinated her just where her train of thought would wonder to if she let it be, most of the time. The thought came back to her mind, and she frowned. She didn’t want to face reality at the moment. She didn’t want to think about how lonely she really was. The yearning to have a pony in her life she could come home to at the end of the day was always on her mind whether she wanted to admit it or not. It was there, and it taunted her. But she didn’t have time for that commitment, especially now. Right? Although she didn’t get very far down that rabbit hole as the sound of hoof steps coming into her room pull her focus from within her thoughts.

She didn’t bother with opening her eye’s as it was just probably one of the nurse’s checking in on her. She didn’t want to be bothered with small talk either. It was pointless, boring and in fact annoying to her. If one was going to talk to her, at least could it be a meaningful conversation that stimulated the mind. Desert Rose pushed this prudish thought to the back of her mind as she felt the sheets being lifted up and exposing her thigh that had been slashed open. Her thoughts shifted to her injury. She had gotten lucky, somehow, and it had not gotten infected. Nor did any major damage happen to the muscles. Her skin didn’t fair too well, but that didn’t really bother her, as long as she could still have full mobility of her leg she’d be happy. Something still bothered her about it though. Was she being reckless? She dealt with it before though. Desert Rose shook her head, no, she was sure of it. All the signs pointed to it. But did she have to be so careless. It wouldn’t help anypony if she got herself killed in the process.

What was she even doing here? The rumors maybe true, but she could very well be wasting her time as well. There is nothing for her here, but yet here she is. It even put her in the hospital. No matter what town, or city she goes to investigate a lead, she always ends up hurt. Maybe she was wasting her time. Maybe once she gets better she should just head home. It was always changing.

“You know, I’m more surprised by you everyday Miss Rose.” Desert Rose knew that lovely voice, it belonged to Nurse Redheart. But joy was soon pushed aside by annoyance. More for the title then anything else.

“Why is that Miss Redheart? And I thought I told you to stop calling me that. I am no foal’s mother. ” Desert Rose kept her eyes closed as she talked with the nurse.

“Well it’s only been four days and your wound is looking lovely, at this rate we might able to take the stitches out in a few more days. Which normally take at least a few weeks, at least for this size of a wound.” Nurse Redheart ran a hoof over the stitches lightly to feel for any signs of inflammation. Desert Rose let out a soft coo. Partly because the area was still sore, but at the same time a shiver went up her spin as a tingling sensation took over her nerves. “Besides, with how thick your fur grows, I doubt this scar will be very noticeable to those who don’t know about it. But knowing how you are, you don’t really give a damn do you, Miss Rose.”

Desert Rose shot open her eyes and glared down the nurse. Nurse Redheart was the one pony she didn’t mind having meaningless small talk with, and this annoyed Desert Rose more than actual small talk, well bugged her is more like it. The nurse had a smirk on her face and seemed to not care about the look she was getting. She went about her examination without giving the look Desert had been giving her any other thought.

“That’s not very professional of you. I mean you are not wrong, I wouldn’t give a timberwolf’s ass what ponies would think. I’m not trying impress anyone with my looks. Not that ponies give me a second look anyway. I have more important things to worry about.” Desert Rose gave out a sigh as she tried to get comfortable. Her brow furrowed as she chastised herself mentally. She wasn’t lying, completely, she really did feel that way. But a part of her deep down also wanted to be looked upon with wondering eyes. But she settled at a young age that she had more import things to worry about. More important than what others thought of her appearance.

Right?

“Pssh, stop it. I’m sure you turn the stallons heads when you are out and about. You are not a bad looking mare. I mean seriously I wish I had your muscle tone, so firm, yet soft on the eyes.” Nurse Redheart pulled out her clipboard while turning to face the medical equipment that was standing next to Desert Roses bed and started to record down what the medical equipment was reading at the moment.

“Well the stallions can look all they want, they aren’t going to get anywhere with me.” Desert Rose turned her head and tried to sneak a peek at Nurse Redheart’s flank, which was very well toned for a nurse.

“You know what the best part of having ponies hooked up to heart monitors is Desert Rose?” Nurse Redheart paused for a moment. A devilish smile came across her face, unbeknownst to Desert Rose.

“What’s that?” Desert Rose flicked her eyes up for a moment to see if she had be caught gawking at the nurse.

“I can always tell when they try to sneak a peak.” Nurse Redheart chuckled to herself before turning around. “It's even funnier when I have the occasional colt in this wing. Poor things, I feel bad at times. Really, I do.” She sat down in the chair next to Desert Rose’s bed and set her clipboard down. She glanced up at the clock that was hanging up on the wall before returning her focus back towards Desert Rose. “I had this one colt, who had broken one of his rear legs trying to climb a tree to impress his friends. Well anyways, every time I walked into his room his heart rate would jump up by ten beats per minute. About three days after her was emitted, the alarm went off for an irregular high heart rate one night. So all the nurses on staff, including me, all rushed to his room. The look on that poor colts face when five females bursted into his room while he was, uh, taking care of business, was funny and heart breaking at the same time.”

Desert Rose caught herself chuckling at the story, she felt bad to laugh at an embarrassing moment in that colt's life, but it was a funny story. “The dumbass didn’t notice the beeping?”

“Haha, no. He wasn’t too bright. He did break his leg climbing a tree after all.” Nurse Redheart paused a moment letting her chuckling die down as Desert Rose opened her mouth. But Nurse Redheart figured what she was about to say and decided to cut her off before she could form any words. “I figured you could use the laugh. And a pony to talk too. You are either staring out that window, or laying there with your eyes closed. And besides, having a friend with you helps ease the pain more than any painkiller.” Nurse Redheart gave a warm smile to Desert Rose before leaning back into the chair removing her nurse's cap and letting out a sigh.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the thought, but you don’t need to waste your break on me.” Desert Rose could feel her cheeks start to burn as she thought about Nurse Redheart deciding on spending time with her on her break.

“Who says I’m wasting my time? I can’t get to know my patients? Besides, a girl’s gotta have fun sometimes, right?” Nurse Redheart had a twinkle in her eye as she raised an eyebrow at Desert Rose before getting up and walking towards the door. “I’ll be right back, do you want anything to snack on while I’m at the cafeteria?”

Desert Rose looked at Nurse Redheart dumbfounded. “Uhhh.” She felt flustered and couldn’t get a coherent thought out.

Nurse Redheart chuckled before answering. “I don’t know if they carry that, but I’ll check.” She retired from the room before Desert Rose could reply. Desert Rose looked over to the chair where Nurse Redheart had just been sitting, her chart and nurses cap still resting on the side table.

Desert Rose laid there in confusion. Did she really hear Redheart correctly? No she couldn’t have, Nurse Redheart is just being friendly and trying to make her comfortable, nothing more. It is her job after all. Still Desert Rose couldn’t help but feel her cheeks were on fire after that comment. She let her mind start to wonder once more now that she was alone again. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. A memory from her foal hood came to mind, one she hadn’t thought about in a long time. She thought it was normal to like another filly. Nopony else seemed to have a problem with it. Come to think of it, she never noticed two fillys being together. She told her mom about it and noticed the how odd she reacted. She was very supportive, but she didn’t even seem surprised. She just chuckled and pulled her in for a tighter hug. Then everything shifted and Nurse Redheart came to the focal point of her thoughts. The annoying beeping from the Heart monitor came back to her ears. Her eyes shot open in annoyance once more as she turned her head and scowled at the machine.

“Oh fuck off asshole. Damn traitor.”

Desert Rose winced as Nurse Redheart slowly pulled out one of the many stitches that littered her body. Some sets stopped after two or three sets but others kept going in haphazard lines. She felt like a living pincushion as the stitches pulled on her delicate flesh. Nurse Redheart looked up at Desert Rose.

"Oh stop it. I know for a fact that this is mildly uncomfortable at worse, let alone pain inducing as you are trying to convince me of." Nurse Redheart tried her best to be a gentle as she could, but there was only so much she could do. Besides, she felt mischievous. She came to Desert Rose’s flank and paused for a moment, she looked up and made eye contact with her.

“This is my favorite part of the job.” Nurse Redheart kept focus as she pulled more stitches out.

Desert Rose gave Nurse Redheart a blank look. “Why? Is it because they finally leave?”

“No, well in some cases yes, but because I get to fix up cute lil bottoms like yours.” Nurse Redheart chuckled to herself as she pulled out the stitches with speed and precision matched only by a royal seamstress on the eve of a crystalline. Sometimes Desert Rose would feel the tugging and pulling of her skin. She felt uneasy about her skin moving in places it didn’t before. It didn’t hurt but sure felt unnatural. Like a sleeve moving against your skin, except this sleeve is your skin and under that is your muscle. Desert Rose was amazed how Nurse Redheart could work so flawlessly without disturbing the sensitive tissues underneath.

Nurse Redheart pulled the last of the stitches out and discarded them. She looked over her work once more to make sure nothing seemed out of place. She turned to face Desert Rose before reciting a phrase she must of said at least a thousand times before. “Now, it is quite common for there to be some strange sensations in the scar, including itching or twinges of pain. Generally speaking, these are not symptoms that you need to worry about too much, and you should expect them to go away gradually. We are going to keep you for just a few more days to make sure no complications arise. But you are pretty much in the clear.”

“Oooo, big fancy doctor words.” Desert Rose made a mocking face as she said that. Nurse Redheart leaned over and booped Desert Rose on the nose which froze her place.

“Those big fancy doctor words shouldn’t be taken lightly. Anyway get out of this room and go for a walk. I think it’ll do you good. Besides you need to work the muscles.” Nurse Redheart gave Desert Rose a warm smile that even appeared in her eyes. Those captivating ice blue eyes that demanded your attention and burn through your heart and soul without trying.

Desert Rose found herself floating in a long sea as she made eye contact with the nurse. Everything else seemed to faze out of existence. She was no longer in a Hospital, nor was she laying in a very uncomfortable hospital bed. She found herself swimming in the ever expanding sea of those Icy Blues. It took her a few moment before she had even realized that Nurse Redheart was talking to her.

“Desert! Hello? Can you hear me?” Nurse Redheart was waving a hoof in front of her face as she came back to reality.

“Huh, um yeah I can hear you.” Desert Rose turned her head trying to hid her embarrassment.

“Are you ok? You started to space out and then got this goofy grin on your face.”

“Um, yeah I’m fine. I was just-.” Desert Rose turned back to face Nurse Redheart. “You know, you have breathtaking beautiful eyes. Did you know that?” Desert Rose started to lean in closer to the nurse as she watched her fur turn bright red on her cheeks.

“Yes, I’ve been told on a few occasions.” Nurse Redheart turned her head to the side and brought her hoof up to brush a part of her mane aside that was not hanging down to hide her blushing. “I don’t see what’s so special about them though. I mean, they’re just eyes. You got the corneas, suspensory ligaments, iris, and...”

Desert Rose leaned in even more closer and took her hoof and turned Nurse Redheart’s face back to hers and stared into her eyes. “Do you ever shut up?.” She closed the gap and went for the kill as she locked lips with the nurse. She waited. Waited to see what the mare would do. Would she get slapped? Shoved back, or embraced? Her dad once told her, that sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. After the shock and surprise settled in on Nurse Redheart’s face she relaxed and joined Desert Rose. Returning the kiss in kind, even if hers was just a tad bit more hungry then Deserts.

Desert Rose pulled back and chuckled before looking over the flustered Nurse. “That was very unprofessional, Miss Redheart. Do you do this to all your patients?”

Nurse Redheart raised one of her brows as a smug look come over her face. “No, you are the first pony with the balls to pull that stunt.”

A confused and concerned look appeared on Deserts face. “Wait, WHAT! BALLS?” She frantically ripped off the covers, exposing herself and all of her glory to the nurse as she looked. “I was just supposed to have stitches, and a blood transplant. Not a sex change!”

“I can assure you sweetie, your pony bits are still there.” Nurse Redheart shook her head as she watched the silly mare snicker and then break into laughter.

“Gottcha.” Desert Rose chuckled to herself.

Nurse Redheart sighed and got up and started to make her way to the door. “The only thing I got was wet, a tease and Dinner Date now.” She walked out of the room without saying another word, leaving Desert Rose to stare at the empty door way dumbfounded. Desert Rose stumbled to get off the bed and made her way to the door shouting down the hall after the Nurse.

“Hey! W-wait. I think I got a fever or somethin. Can’t you take my temperature at least? How about a cervical exam? Can’t be too careful right?”

Nurse Redheart didn’t flinch nor stop walking. All she did was smirk and swish her tail before turning the corner.

Desert Rose stomped her hoof in agitation, wincing as she had forgotten about her freshly healed wound. “Fucking tease.” She muttered under breath as she turned and limped back into her room.

Chapter 8

Desert Rose laid in the hospital bed. Staring up at the ceiling, like she had been for the past week and a half. She was starting to get stir crazy, her hoof mindlessly tapping against one of the bed rails as she rolled thoughts in and out of her head. She laid there and mulled over the events that happened to land her here. Then she found herself thinking about Rarity. She was curious to what had actually happened to her. Yes she couldn’t stand the bitch, but she didn’t wish any physical harm to come to her. She looked over to the door. “Fuck it.” She slowly rolled out of bed and made her way out the room. She poked her head out of the door and looked around before deciding on which way.

To her right the hallway just kept going with more rooms on each side. To her right was pretty much the same except for a couple differences. There was a Nurse’s desk down that way and there was more T-offs in the hallway then the other direction. She started to head in the direction of the Nurses desk, hoping they could tell her what she wanted to know. As she approached the desk apart of her felt a little disappointed that Nurse Redheart wasn’t sitting behind it. This nurse had lime yellow fur, with light blue mane. Her name tag read Snowheart.

“Um excuse me Nurse Snowheart, I was wondering if you could help me out.”

Nurse Snowheart glanced up her paperwork to see who was talking to her. “Ah, Miss Rose. It’s nice to see you finally up and about. Now what is it you wanted to ask me?”

Desert Rose stood there for a moment, wondering if this was even the right thing to do. Her favorite words popped into her head again. Fuck it. “I was wondering if you could tell me which room Rarity was be kept at the moment.”

“Hmmm, I don’t know off the top of my head. But I can check for you.” Nurse Snowheart turned in her chair and pulled out a binder and started to flip through it. After a few moments of searching she finally came upon what she was looking for. “Ah here we go. Looks like she is on the floor above us in ICU. Wait hold on.” She paused for a moment and kept reading the page. “Ok says here that she is being moved out to a different wing. Hmm that's good to hear, the new wing she’s being moved to is, Orthopedics. You're going to go up to the fifth floor and take a right. She is in room 493. Anything else I can help you with?”

Desert Rose smiled and shook her head. “Nope that's all I needed. Thank you.” Desert Rose stepped away from the desk and made her way farther down the hall until she came across the stairs. “Bollocks. This is going to suck.” She started to make her way up the stairs, slowly. Cussing out every step along the way. After what felt like forever and now a very sore thigh she came to a landing. She stopped a moment to give her leg a rest before she started to walk again, only to be stopped when she looked up the directory next to the door.

“You gotta be FUCKING kidding me! This is only the fourth floor. Fuck me.”

“Well hopefully I can if we ever get that far.” Nurse Redheart came up behind Desert Rose, which to caused her to jump with an audible eep. “Good to see you walking around, but why are you on the stairs?”

Desert Rose gave Nurse Redheart a dirty look before answering her question. “Well I thought it might be a good idea to go see how Rarity's doing. So here my limpy ass is.”

Nurse Redheart started to chuckle. “And why did you decide to brave the stairs in your newly found freedom?”

“Decide? Well I have to get upstairs somehow.” Desert Rose didn’t like where this was going.

“And you didn’t take the Arcane lift because?”

“There's an Arcane lift in this place?! I walked up stairs for nothing!”

“Well of course there's an Arcane lift here silly. How do you think we get patients from floor to floor? Drag them up the stairs? Nopony uses these unless of emergencies, or they just want to be alone. Do you want to be alone?”

“NO. I want to not have to climb stairs damn it!” Desert Rose flopped her flank down on the ground and stared angrily at the wall while she contemplated what to do next. Nurse Redheart stood there patiently. “So are you going to show me where this lift is?”

“All you had to do was ask honey.” Nurse Redheart started to walk towards the doors the lead to the ICU wing. “Well are you coming or not?”

Desert Rose passively waved a hoof at the mare and got off of her haunches and followed her out into the ICU. They walked down a long hallway. Some ponies trotting about with worry, some with happiness, and others with blank expressions as they tended to their duties or wandered about the floor. They passed a lobby that had a family in it. Some sat on the chairs, others standing. Most had gaunt looks upon their faces, while others seemed lost within their minds as they stared off into nothing. Numb from all the pain they have gone through up to this point of their time at the hospital.

“Pretty busy today eh?” Desert Rose hobbled along with Nurse Redheart close to her side keeping an eye on her patient.

“It’s busy everyday. Such is the ICU.” Nurse Redheart kept her focus on where they were going, and her speed. As to not force Desert Rose to go too fast.

“Hey I forgot to ask, what were you doing in the stairway?” Desert Rose was trying not to stare to much at the ponies that were strewn about the hallway.

“Do you forget that I work here?” Nurse Redheart stopped in front a door the required a buzz to be let in or out of.

“I know that, but what were you doing going up, when you work on the third floor?” Desert Rose kept pushing to find her answer.

“Well I had to make sure that you didn’t hurt yourself on your walk about. And I thought it would be best to watch you at a distance without you knowing I was there.” Nurse Redheart pushed the button on the wall and waited for the door to open.

“Bullshit. What were you really doing.” Desert Rose lifted a brow.

“What do you mean bullshit?” Nurse Redheart nodded to the pony on the other side of the door as they walked through it and continued down the hallway.

“You have this cute little tell when you lie. Your voice goes into a slightly higher pitch, which is adorable by the way. And also how did you know I was on a walk when I had just got up and left. Tell me which nurse did I talk to at the Nurse’s station?”

“Nurse Tenderheart. And what do you mean my voice goes into a higher pitch?” Nurse Redheart sheepishly smiled as she waited for Deserts Rose response.

“Nah your voice doesn’t go a higher pitch. I’m just fuckin with you, but you just told on yourself. I talked to Nurse Snowheart. Now what were you doing in the stairway?”

Nurse Redheart took a deep breath then exhaled, “Sad to say, but this part of the Hospital is always suffocating with strong emotions. I can only stay so long before I have to take a breather. I try to avoid this wing as much as I can, but unfortunately my talents bring me here more often than I’d like. It breaks my heart. I was already on the landing by the time you hobbled that cute flank of yours up the stairs.” Nurse Red heart stopped in front of a double door before glancing up.

“Why are we stopping?” Desert Rose looked around.

“Because we are at the Arcane lifts silly.” Nurse Redheart slightly chuckled as a half hearted smile came across her face.

Desert Rose looked at the door, surprised. She wouldn’t have thought to look for a lift past these doors. She glanced over to Nurse Redheart and noticed the expression on her face. The double doors opened and the two mares walked inside. “Hey, are you ok Redheart?”

Nurse Redheart sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just, just a rough day.” Desert Rose looked at the mare that stood in front of her. The stuff she must go through on a daily basis must be hard enough. Desert Rose leaned in a placed a soft kiss on her cheek and rested her head against her neck as they rode the lift in silence. Nurse Redheart’s heart jumped at the simple gesture Desert Rose had just shown. She looked at Desert Rose out of the corner of her before softly whispering, “Thank you.”

The two stayed silent the rest of the short ride up. The doors opened and they walked out. Nurse Redheart was the first one to break the silence.

“So you’re going to be discharged in a few days, what do you say about getting a cup of coffee?” Nurse Redheart was trying to keep her voice down. There weren’t many ponies up and about on this floor. But she still didn’t need for this to get out that she was fraternizing with a patient.

Desert Rose gasped mockingly and pretended to be butt hurt. “What happened to the dinner date, and the cervical exam?”

“Or we can do that instead, and I never agreed to that.” Although Nurse Redheart thought that would be a very fun procedure.

“We better, don’t be any more of a fucking tease then you already are Miss Redheart.”

The two mares made their way down the hallway. Desert Rose's mind started to drift off, and oddly enough began to think about her mother. She glanced down and tried to hide her sigh. Nurse Redheart noticed it, and the fact that something was bouncing around in Desert Rose's mind, but decided it was best not to comment on it. The two may be fancying each other, but even she knew it was not her place to pry. If things were to get serious, and it still was bothering her she would mention it. But until then. Readheart looked up and saw the door they where looking for.

Nurse Redheart let out a soft chuckle, “Well, here is Rarity’s room.”

Desert Rose tilted her head,”How did you know I was going to see her?”

“I was hoping you would visit, so I looked up her room number on my break this morning just on the off chance you would ask for it. I believe it would do you some good to sit down and have a chat with her.”

Desert Rose snorted. “I doubt that, I just want to make sure she not broken beyond repair. All I need are the fashion squads hunting me down for ruining the ‘next hip designer’.”

“You and I both know that's not what you really think.” Nurse Redheart gave Desert Rose a sly look.

“How would you know what I really think?”

“I know because you talk in your sleep. You’re a lot more honest that way.” Nurse Redheart glanced up to the clock up on the wall.

Desert Rose felt flush. She could hardly think of a response.

“Well I have to get back down to the third floor. Duty calls.” Nurse Redheart winked at Desert Rose before leaving her alone in front of Rarity’s door. She stood there for awhile, debating if it was really a good idea to go inside. She had come all this way. And then, her favorite words came to mind. Fuck it.

Chapter 9

Desert Rose pushed open the door and slowly walked into Rarity’s room. Rainbow Dash was practically falling out of a chair that was sitting next to the bed, while Twilight was in the corner staring out the window. Neither of them looked up as Desert Rose walked into the room. The only pony who seemed to noticed the door had even moved was Rarity herself. The jagged scar that ran from above her left brow, over her face, past her chin to the right and down her neck did not seem to be healing well. Desert Rose felt bad, as much as she hated to admit. Rarity was a pretty mare. She may have been a idiot while down in the tunnels, but nopony deserves to have their face mangled.

Desert Rose was all too familiar with scars. There was a reason she kept her coat shaggy, it hid a lot of things. Bad judgement calls, pure stupidity, and immature recklessness. Over time she had came to figure out how to grow it out to cover the more nasty ones, but sometimes they still showed through. If a pony would ever see her with short fur her body would be littered with scabrous lines. She had lived a rough life that she wanted to keep sheltered from others. Another wall to keep her sheltered from curious eyes she didn’t want prodding.

“Is there something I can help you with dear?” Rarity’s voice was the same as it ever was, smooth, elegant and in a slightly irritating pitch. Rainbow Dash finally looked over to see who had walked in.

“What are you doing here!” Rainbow did not hide the anger nor venom in her voice. She started to get up, but was stopped by Rarity.

“Dashy, please sit down. I don’t think She came to cause trouble. She would of done so by now.” She turned her head and glared down Desert Rose as to confirm her
Comment.

Desert Rose shuffled in place, trying to shake off the heavy air that was filling the room. She looked over to Twilight who was still looking out the window, and as far she could tell. Didn’t care about what was going on in the room at that moment. “Well, no. I’m not here for trouble. I actually came to see how you are doing. I may not like you, but that doesn't mean I wanted to see you get mauled like this.” She paused for a moment before speaking again. “So what did happen to you?”

“Well from what Rainbow Dash can tell me, a chunk of a wall or roof fell on me, snapping my back. But not severing my, my, my.” Rarity paused for a moment before turning to her friend. “Oh, Dash help me out what was it called?”

Twilight finally spoke up from the corner, but she still kept looking out the window. “It’s called a spinal cord.” Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity seemed surprised she had actually spoke.

“Yes, that. Miraculously it was only pinched, and you dropping me didn’t sever it. When I was finally brought here, they had to reset my back. I’m told that although my spinal thingy wasn’t severed it was damaged by the initial pinch. So while in time I’ll be able to walk again, I will have issues the rest of my life. Not to mention this horrid scar on my face.” Rarity looked over at Twilight with unease as she finished talking.

Desert Rose picked up on Rarity's uneasiness and decided to open her mouth. “So when did Twilight show up, and why is she sulking in the corner?” Desert Rose turned to Rarity who had opened her mouth to say something but again was cut off by the unicorn sitting in the corner.

“I’ve only been here for a few days. My own investigation is picking up on some rather interesting leads. And I only recently heard about what happened to you guys. Besides, Pinkie Pie has been here, and she’s been acting...weird.” Twilight’s gaze was still held at the window, and it was starting to become obvious that her thoughts were still somewhere else entirely.

“That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie darling. You can never make any sense to what that mare is up too. It’s just who she is.” Rarity seemed annoyed at having to remind Twilight of something that seemed they have been discussing a lot recently.

“OK. She’s been acting more unusual than what is normal for Pinkie Pie. She’s being more cryptic than usual and it’s driving me mad. She seems to be toying with me whenever I ask her questions. She just dances around the question. No.” Twilight paused for a brief moment and pulled he gaze down, only to return it to the window.

“This I’m sure of. She is answering me. Just speaking in tongues and riddles that I have no context to.” Twilight finally pulled her gaze from the outside and began pacing back and forth while talking. “She knows something, and she’s not giving in very easily. The only other time she acted like this was when those blasted parasprites showed up. But this is also different.”

Desert Rose finally interjected to break up Twilight's monolog with herself. “So, just what have you found out?”

Twilight seemed to be pulled back from something and finally snapped out of her trance. “Well I decided to start in the Everfree Forest, trying to retrace the steps of Golden Harvest. She had been deep within the forest when the monster had started to chase her. I still haven’t been able to find any tracks of it entering or leaving the forest. They always just stop, or start out of nowhere.” The purple mare paused for a moment, thinking about how to say what was on her mind first.

“I was able to find where she was finally overrun by our mystery beast. I found a glowing sap like substance, that I sense have found out holds an acidic property, but obviously our mare showed no signs of burn marks on her coat, or if she had, was destroyed when her ribcage exploded. She had managed to wander into town the next day. But we already knew this. I had decided to keep following her hoofsteps through town, trying to question the ponies near by if they had noticed anything. Only one of them was willing to talk to me. The rest panicked and shut me out whenever I bought her up.

“But even the single pony I got to say something to me still didn’t tell me much. Just repeated a old foals tale about a mother tree in Everfree. And warned me about sticking my snout in places it doesn’t belong.” Twilight paused before muttering to herself quitely, “I’ll stick my snout up her ass if she keeps it up.”

Desert Rose stood there for a moment. “Well, has anypony thought to ask Fluttershy?” She was met with dumbfounded looks. “Has anypony even talked to Fluttershy in the past few days?” Twilight opened her mouth, then immediately closed it.

“Wow. We aren’t very smart are we?” Desert Rose chuckled. Rainbow Dash smacked her hoof in her face as if to punish herself for her stupidity. Deep down inside, everypony else felt like doing the same.

“I’ve been stuck in a hospital bed for the last week, and she hasn’t been to visit. So no, I haven’t talked to her. Twilight? Have you tried talking to Fluttershy yet? She knows just about every creature in Equestria after all.” Rarity looked over to the unicorn now sitting again in the corner, head leaned back and let out a loud sigh.

“UGH! I can’t believe I forgot about Fluttershy!” Twilight groaned and screamed in frustration.

“You don’t have to throw a fit. Save that for after I tell AppleJack about how you wasted your time...Wait, where is she anyways?” Rainbow Dash pointed out the missing elephant in the room.

Desert Rose rolled her eyes in amusement. She let out a soft chuckle and a slight shake of her head. “I swear, ya’ll are a very forgetful bunch. Anything else you guys might have forgotten? Rainbow, how about your brain? Did you leave that somewhere?” Desert Rose ignored the evil glare she was getting. “Ok, Ya’ll sit tight. I’m going to hunt down this very cute nurse and see if she can’t get ahold of Derpy for us.”

“Derpy? Why Derpy? She's a klutz and you know it.” Rainbow Dash wasn’t fond of the idea of having the least reliable delivery pegasus help.

“This may be true, but that mare has a very keen set of eyes. She might not be able to fly well, but damn” Desert Rose let out a whistle. “That mare can scout the land like no other. And she can also stop by Fluttershy’s cottage.”

“Let me do it, I’m faster.” Rainbow Dash was eager to spread her wings again.

“And much less thorough. You leave out small details and can’t focus on a task for very long.” Desert Rose cocked a smile. “Besides, I have something else for you in mind.”

“Wait, why do you need Derpy to scout the land out?” Rainbow Dash cocked her head to the side lost in thought.

“Because Applejack is still missing is she not? I can have her keep an eye out for that mare as she does her routes. You know,” Desert Rose pulled Rainbow Dash in close and swept her left front hoof through the air while she finished her sentence. “the ones that take her all over Ponyville.” Desert Rose rolled her eyes. “Pony’s seem to just cast her aside, but that mare picks up on some small details. You just need to know how to speak to her to get it out of her.”

Desert Rose let go of the angry rainbow pegasus who fluffed her feathers in disapproval. “Besides, I need you to deliver a note for me to an old acquaintance of mine. I have questions that need answers. And the faster the better. Come by my room later and I’ll have directions and the letter ready for you. And Rainbow Dash. Please, for once in your life do as you’re told in said instructions. Or you’re likely to be shot by a high condensed stream of magic, that will kill you. She’s a pretentious old mare.”

With that Desert Rose turned for the door. Before she could get very far Rarity called out and stopped her in her tracks.

“Um Desert Rose. Do you, um, mind waiting for a bit. I want to talk with you.” Rarity paused while she looked over to Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Seeing how not a pony budged, she cleared her throat and said it again. “I wish to talk to Desert Rose.” Again not even a muscle flinched. “Alone!”

Rainbow Dash looked at Rarity with grumpy eyes, slowly and reluctantly got out of her slumber chair to go wait outside. Twilight on the other hand either chose to ignore the alabaster unicorn, or didn’t hear her. Desert Rose and Rarity stared at each other for a moment before Rarity spoke up again.

The mare cleared her throat quite loudly before speaking. “Twilight, be a dear and give us two mares some alone time please.” Still nothing. She didn’t budge nor acknowledge that she had been spoken too. Desert Rose walked up to the purple unicorn and tapped her on the shoulder. With a sudden jump and a startled look upon her face she seemed to be back in reality.

“Twilight would you please leave us alone for a moment.” It took a few seconds before the purple unicorn did anything. “Um, yes. Yes not a problem Rarity. Sorry.” With that Twilight left the room.

Desert Rose turned and looked at Rarity and waited for the audible click from the latch before she spoke. “Now why did you want to be alone with me?”

Rarity cut straight to the point, “You’ve dealt with this...thing before haven’t you?”