Tale of the Everfree Curse

“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.