Lunar Ambrosia

Chapters

The Academy Decides
The Island
The Encounter
The Betrayer
The Vines

The Academy Decides

“Up past Vanhoover off the coast of Luna Bay, sits a small island covered with berries. The berries themselves are known as beanberries. They are shaped like lima beans, but inside contain a sweet-smelling fluid.

“They are poisonous. Incredibly so. The first ponies to have found them probably died a terrible death, but after that first encounter the berries have been used to treat arrows to help defend the land against attackers.

“The natives of the island were thought to be mere savages, and the berries a nuisance. Once Vanhoover was founded, the island was largely ignored and it was recommended ponies avoid the island outright. The berries choke the land, growing thick and wild, and seem to actively prevent colonization. The island, being so overrun with the deadly fruit, wasn’t even given a name, so intent were ponies on ignoring it.

“When contact was finally made with the native earth ponies that have taken up residence on the island, much of that changed. The native ponies were large, strong, and insular. Many expeditions to the island that disappeared without a trace have been attributed to the natives since their discovery. They were reluctant to allow outsiders on, but the records show that it was because of their leader.

“He had gone mad, and in his rage, he had begun attacking his own tribe. Through careful attempts at communication, it turned out they wanted help bringing him down. To that end, the arrival of outsiders had been fortuitous for both sides, allowing the natives to get outside help from both unicorns and pegasi in stopping him, and it allowed outsiders to become access to a new culture.

“Unfortunately, no member of the expedition survived. The records we have were given by the natives to a passing fisherpony, who delivered them to this university. We have Baited Hook to thank for the small amount of information we have.

“Because we have so little information on the island and the natives, I should like to ask for the academy’s blessing to organize an expedition to the island and contact the natives with the goal of filling in the gaps in the single journal we have. It was so badly damaged, we had to search through our own records for the names of the ponies sent on the expedition in the first place. I believe that since the natives have been opened to how helpful our presence can be, we can find out more about them, how long they have been there, and learn more about the beanberries themselves. Thank you for your time, mares and gentlecolts.”

Thesis picked up her notes from the lectern and looked out at the audience. It was a select number of ponies from the university, all of whom she was hoping would help her in one way or another to complete her expedition. She had been planning this for years, but ponies before her had tried and failed to get the funding or the supplies needed to go to the island. Nopony wanted anything to do with it because of the constant disappearance of ponies in the teams that went out there. But that was years ago.

With the discovery of this journal that had been delivered to the academy, and Thesis’ work on decoding it, new information about the tribe and the island itself had come to light, and she was certain this was going to be her ticket to the forefront of famous researchers.

An unexplored island! An almost uncontacted tribe! And the beanberries! A tribe of earth ponies no less, living on an island covered in poisonous berries! How had they done it? How did they survive and seem to thrive? How did they hide so well and what did they eat?

“How will you handle the natives if they turn on you?” an older stallion asked.

“The natives, from sketches and the one photo we have, are all earth ponies.” Thesis pulled up picture of a page of the journal, and a photograph next to it. “We have yet to encounter a pegasus pony or a unicorn. For safety’s sake, everypony on the expedition will be a pegasus, including myself, in order to expedite retreat from the island if things turn south. A unicorn may be allowed to come, but they must be able to demonstrate an ability to teleport significant distances.”

“The natives themselves are immune to the poison of the beanberry, but the plant covers the island. Surely you won’t trust the natives to help feed you?” a mare asked.

“No. They appear to have significantly different digestion than we do, so for safety’s sake, all food will be supplied in watertight containers from the mainland,” Thesis said.

“And how long is this expedition intended to last?”

“The preliminary expedition will be only for one week. This trip is intended to assess the dangers of an extended stay on the island, gauge the reaction of the locals, and determine how safe it would be to stay for longer periods of time,” Thesis said. There was quiet murmuring from the audience, and she saw a lot of heads nodding. She leaned back and forth on her legs, waiting for more questions or for a positive response.

No further questions came, and the audience just chattered amongst themselves. The words Thesis was able to pick up sounded good, but just because a few liked the idea didn’t mean enough would agree to endorse the expedition. She needed more than half, and most of all, she needed Dean Bombastic to agree, or she would be dead in the water.

Thesis turned to look at the dean, sitting near the front and not moving save for a slow stroking of his beard. Ponies around him were leaning close, some shaking their heads and others nodding, hooves moving as they talked fervently over their opinion on the matter. The dean’s opinion would sway the majority of the group. Thesis could only hope her presentation had been impressive enough.

Finally, Dean Bombastic’s head slowly dipped down, then back up, and Thesis felt her heart flutter in her chest. “I think it is a worthy goal. We know too little about the island, despite having lived near it for so long, and you have taken safety precautions to ensure minimal risk to those going with you,” Dean Bombastic said. “Do you know where to meet the island’s residents?”

“No. With the little information we have, we can’t predict where they will be, but we expect them to come to us. Until our first contact occurs, only four ponies will stay on the island.”

“And if they don’t want to speak to you?”

Thesis shrugged. “We will research the beanberries. Somehow the natives are immune, and we may be able to find out how without their help.”

Dean Bombastic stamped a hoof. “I support this venture!”

The crowd erupted into a flurry of talk, but Thesis wasn’t listening anymore. Her wings were fluttering uncontrollably in excitement! With the dean’s approval, she had it. Funding and resources were now as good as secured, and the entire university was at her disposal. When the meeting ended, she gathered up her things and trotted back home with a smile on her face.

She entered her apartment and went over the list of items she wanted. She’d had everything planned out beforehoof, knowing what she wanted from each part of the university, and sealed the letters to everypony she would be working with. She’d send them off tomorrow and start looking for more ponies.

She had determined she needed a crew of at least 12 ponies. Everypony would need a partner, because it would be dangerous, that was for certain. The island was poisonous, the natives were dangerous, and the landscape was completely unknown. Pegasi had flown over to get the shape of the island, but the trees and beanberries kept the topography a mystery, which was why she wanted everypony coming with her to be capable of easy transportation.

With each pony given a partner, that would give her six teams of two, four teams of three, or three teams of four. Small groups intended to examine bushes, fly over plants, seek out natives, or gather intelligence. She didn’t expect the native tribe to be big, so the ability to cover more ground with more pairs of eyes would be beneficial.

Thesis squealed in joy and kicked her hooves in the air. She had done so much research preparing for this, and it was all paying off! She had the endorsement of the academy, and all the resources she wanted. All she needed now was assistants.

Which was easier said than done.

Weeks passed as Thesis attempted to gather enough research assistants to make the job possible. Unfortunately, she had only managed to gather together a team of eight, when she wanted twelve.

She needed one team to manage base camp, one to map the landscape, one to gather samples, one to search for the natives (That was ideally herself), one to maintain contact with the mainland, and one to keep the teams together. Any one of those teams missing was going to make her research progress much more slowly.

Unfortunately, there were few ponies who wanted to travel to one of the deadliest islands in the Lunar Bay. She couldn’t blame them for wanting to avoid it, but this was the chance of a lifetime!

Eventually, in an effort to avoid losing her funding as nothing came of her efforts, she decided to make the trip with just eight. It would make things more difficult, but she would at least be able to settle a base camp on the island and try to contact the natives. She would sacrifice examination of the beanberries, since that was what most ponies knew of the island. They might not be able to figure out how the natives were immune to their effects, but that would come with time. She just needed something to show for her efforts.

Thesis gathered together her team and the basic supplies for the base camp on the island, and set the date to meet in a few weeks so she had progress to show the university. She gathered her roster and filled out the paperwork for the supplies, and sent them in. She would have one more meeting, then she would be off to the island! Maybe if they liked what she did, she could even give it an official name. That would be exciting!

The Island

After weeks of waiting and preparation, Thesis met on the coastline of the Lunar Bay with her team. She looked them over and performed roll call.

“Banger?”

“Here.”

“Crash Test?”

“Yes’m.”

“Cumulus?”

“Here.”

“Dust Devil?”

“Sure.”

“Stormy Eye?”

“Yep.”

“Shilling?”

“I’m here.”

“Aaaand, Desperado?”

“Aye.”

Desperado was the one and only unicorn that had applied to be part of the expedition. She had hoped that if she got any unicorns, she would at least have more than one applicant, then she could pair the two of them together. As it was, having a single one meant that one pegasus was going to be mostly grounded, which would pose a problem. But Thesis couldn’t complain now, these were every applicant she had, and at least Desperado could teleport, no matter how gruff he looked and sounded.

Thesis put down the roll and walked in front of the team. She waved to them, and Dust Devil snickered. She blushed, but cleared her throat and spoke. “Good day to you ponies. You’ve all been given an extended briefing on where we’re going and what we intend to do over there.

“The island has no name, as you know. Some ponies call it Beanberry island due to the berries that grow there, but it’s not official. We’ll be the first ponies to spend any length of time there in decades. If all goes well and the research pans out, we’ll probably get to name the blasted thing.

“We’ll also be searching for the natives, and again, if all goes well we’ll be lauded for our work upon returning with information about this tribe. Buuuut the tribe isn’t known for being welcoming. We may get attacked. We may get poisoned, and yes, some of us may die if we’re not careful. That’s why the instructions I gave you cover every possible scenario we may encounter within the reach of my imagination. There are certainly more, but those are the ones I thought might likely happen.

“On that note, remember the golden rule: At the first sign of possible danger, fly or teleport back here. You’ve demonstrated your flying abilities, and unless a wing is injured, I expect you to make your way straight back here. Call for help using the radio you should have on you at all times on the specified medical channel. They’ll be here waiting within ten minutes of receiving the call, and hopefully arrive before you do. Don’t return to base camp. Don’t call me. Come here.” Thesis stamped a hoof for emphasis and looked at the group. “Are there any questions?”

Dust Devil raised his hoof.

“Yes, Dust Devil?”

“Yeah, you said we were getting’ paired up. Who’s getting’ paired with who? I don’t wanna end up with dead weight here.” He tilted his head toward Desperado.

Desperado didn’t acknowledge the comment, but Thesis stepped closer to Dust Devil and looked him in the eye. “Let’s get something straight, Dust Devil. Everypony here is more than capable of escaping, and, if necessary, capable of dragging their injured partner to safety. That includes Desperado. So, if you do get paired with him, which you won’t, he’ll be able to drag your sorry ass back here to get fixed.” Thesis pulled away from him and walked toward the supplies. “Now let’s all play nice, okay? I ended up four ponies short, so we have to pull our weight just that much harder.”

Desperado still got the brunt of the dirty looks as they made the preparations for the trip across the water. He was able to carry several heavy boxes in his magic to lighten the load, but he’d never been to the island, and they had to carry him in the supply net.

They set all the boxes, crates, and barrels in the net, and each pony put on a harness at different portions of the net so that everything fell neatly into the center, including Desperado. The initial liftoff was careful, letting the items fall slowly and settle. Once they were in place, Desperado teleported himself on top of the pile, and picked up the remainder to carry. then they lifted off and began the slow flight over to the island itself.

It was a rather short distance, comparatively, but it wasn’t very long as the average pegasus flies. The only thing that was going to take this trip so long was the supplies they were bringing.

“So how come *grunt* the unicorn gets to ride? Why doesn’t he just teleport there?” Dust Devil demanded.

Stormy eye groaned. “Because the island is too dangerous to just go dropping in without knowing where you’re going to end up, Dusty. He could teleport right into the middle of the native’s camp.”

“Isn’t that what we want to find?”

“Yes, but we don’t want to scare them. That’s a good way to get killed.”

Dust Devil grunted and flapped a little bit harder, flying up just a touch. Desperado was shifted slightly and had to right himself, but he didn’t drop anything, nor did he look at Dust Devil. Dust Devil just smirked.

“Quit bothering each other already and fly steady! If you willfully damage any of the equipment, Dust Devil, it will be coming out of your pay!” Thesis shouted back at them.

Dust Devil grunted, but evened out his flying, steadying the net of supplies. The rest of the flight was uneventful, until they arrived at the landing site Thesis had picked out.

She had performed several fly-by’s of the island, looking for a spot that was close to the coastline they had just left, but looked like it was safe from ill-weather effects, high-tide, and easy to escape from attacking ponies at. She had found a cliffside spot, so that one flank was protected by the drop, but it was surrounded on every other side by trees. Beanberry bushes covered the ground, and choked the bases of many of the trees, but that was to be expected. There was no escaping the beanberries anywhere on the island.

They approached the landing site, and slowly lowered the net to the ground. Desperado teleported down from the net and pulled the supplies to a safe position as the pegasi lowered it. He shifted things as they settled to avoid breakage, crushing beanberries as they landed.

Once the supplies had all settled safely, the rest of the team landed and rested their wings. Thesis didn’t waste any time in ordering them around in order to secure the site.

“Alright team! No rest for the wicked, and to the natives, we’re probably wicked outsiders, so let’s get base camp set up. Remember your partner, stick with them, and never let them out of your sight! This is for safety’s sake, so don’t go trying to sneak off and see the island yourself,” Thesis said.

The group had all been briefed on what was expected of them upon arrival to the island, and the ponies grouped up and got to work with thankfully little talk. Dust Devil and Cumulus cleared a spot for the tents, pushing back the beanberry bushes and cleaning up the berries they had squashed. Banger and Crash Test trotted out a perimeter for safety where they would set up the tripwire alarm (One could never be too careful!), and Shilling and Stormy Eye flew over the immediate area just outside the soon-to-be perimeter. That left Thesis herself and Desperado to unpack the crates and barrels.

Desperado had already begun lifting things out of the net and setting them down on crushed beanberries. The bottoms of every barrel and everyponies hooves were quickly becoming stained with the purple juice. It was poisonous, so everypony had been warned not to rub their eyes or lick their hooves. Everything had to be done with mouths, wings, or magic. And carefully!

Thesis helped roll barrels out of the net so they could pack it back up, and thought it a good time to ask Desperado some questions. “Why did you accept the invitation despite being the only unicorn, Desperado?”

“Pay’s good,” he answered.

“It’s dangerous work, though. The natives may not take kindly to us.”

“I been shot at before.”

“Ever explored an unexplored island before?”

“Nope.”

“Are you worried about anything?”

“Nope.”

Thesis heaved a little sigh and kept dragging crates, barrels, and bags away from the net. Desperado was clearly not the type to talk much, and wasn’t volunteering any information. Talking to him any further would be like pulling teeth. He was her partner, too, so she would have to get used to this.

At the very least, he was magically capable. His resumé had included such skills as teleportation – which was required – shields, beams, powerful telekinesis, and digging, to name a few. He had demonstrated all of them to her satisfaction, but the resumé had been written simply. If she hadn’t been without other volunteers, she wouldn’t have accepted him.

In his cover letter he had written only: “I got magic. Here’s a list –“ and had left it at that. He had all the useful unicorn skills she could imagine, but he was very taciturn. He was obedient and helpful thus far, but his silence was disconcerting. That very reason was why she had partnered herself with him instead of one of the others.

“Desperado, find me the crate with the quills and parchment. Until Dust Devil and Cumulus are done, we’ll map out base camp to start with. This will be the start of the map we make.”

Desperado grunted, but started prying open crates with his magic, searching through them for the supplies. He found them quickly, presenting her with an oiled sack containing parchment, quills, and ink. Thesis took the supplies and pulled it open. She set the inkpot on top of a barrel and flew up to sketch out the secion of the island, including topographical markers. This spot was open to the air, so it had probably been mapped, but she would need to connect it to the rest of the island.

As she was looking over the island from above, and now that she had actually landed on the island instead of just flown by, it was really clear just how much of the island was choked by the beanberries.

The bush they grew from was spider-like in its growth, and covered the sides of the cliff, clinging to the sheer rock face, leaving only sparse patches of stone free of the grasping vines. Every ground surface was covered in it, with the plants choking out every other fern, bush, or flower. The plants crawled around under the trees, over rivers and creeks, and even reached out over the small beaches toward the bay itself, though the vines down at the bottom of the cliff that touched the ocean looked sickly.

Thesis marked the height of the cliff and sketched out the image of the beanberry plant reaching the salt water. If the bay was the only thing keeping the beanberry plant from the rest of the land, that was good to know. After all, some seeds had surely fallen into the bay or some berries had been eaten by fish or birds. The question of how they hadn’t spread when they had taken over their island was one she had hoped to answer.

Then there was the question of how the trees on the island had managed to flourish. If the beanberries had choked the land so much, how did the trees still grow? They should have been killed by the foliage when they were saplings struggling for sunlight. Did the beanberries help provide them the nutrients they needed with their juice, or was there some other effect at work here? Yet another question she hoped to answer.

Thesis was interrupted when Stormy Eye came flying out to her. “Professor Thesis, you should come see this.”

“See what? What have you found?” Thesis asked, as she stowed her quill in her bag.

“We think it’s a native. Shilling is watching with Banger and Crash Test. We wanted you to come see for yourself before we did anything,” Stormy Eye said.

A thrill went through Thesis at the thought of meeting a native. And so soon! She hadn’t expected to meet one at all, much less on the first day! She flew along with Stormy Eye running through possible things she should do when meeting them: Hold her hooves out wide, keep her wings closed tight, and offer something.

“Stormy Eye, I want you to stop at the camp and ask Desperado to help you find the offering. Dried fruits and berries. It’s in a blue bag. Where are the rest waiting?”

Stormy Eye pointed to a small patch of forest. “Right over there.”

Banger and Crash Test were standing just outside the trees, waving up at the two. They were hidden behind a couple of trees with Shilling, looking downhill at something. Thesis landed next to them, for her own safety staying behind the trees with them.

“What do we have?” Thesis asked.

“Ma’am, we’re not exactly sure, but we think it’s a native,” Shilling said.

“Right there.” Banger pointed a wing down the hill at something far below. Past a tangle of beanberry bushes, rocks, tree trunks, and low-hanging branches, was a face.

At least, it looked like a face. At this distance the details were indistinct, but it appeared to be a pony’s face, possibly a stallion, staring up the hill at them. Thesis squinted to try to see better, but it didn’t help.

“Somepony bring me some binoculars.” Thesis immediately had three pairs of hooves pushing binoculars at her. She took a pair and looked down the hill again. With the extra magnification, she could now see that it has the snout, the mane, the eyes, and even the ears of a pony, but that was all. She couldn’t see a neck.

Thesis lowered the binoculars and turned to the assembled group. Stormy Eye and Desperado approached, carrying the dried fruit she had intended to offer.

“I don’t think this is actually a pony.”

Stormy Eye looked shocked. “What? But it looks like a face!”

“Have any of you seen it move?”

“No, ma’am. It just sits there,” Shilling said.

“Exactly. I think it’s a trick, so we ought to go down there and have a closer look.”

“If it’s a trick, uh… shouldn’t we be worried about a, uh… a trap?” Banger asked.

Thesis shook her head. “No, if they wanted to attack us, they would have. If their tribe is like most ponies, then they’re simply warning us away. It’s a common tactic. Desperado, with me, and bring the offering. Shilling and Stormy, stay here. Banger and Crash, follow after us but maintain a good distance.” Thesis started walking down the hill with Desperado at her side, then turned back to look at the rest. “And remember: No flying! The journal says they’re all earth ponies. The last thing we want to do is scare them!”

Thesis wandered down the hill with care. Beanberries squelched underneath her hooves, and made the trek more perilous than it would have been. The vines were everywhere and made good hoof-holds, but the slick juice from the berries made holding onto them difficult. They left a trail of purple on the rocks behind them, but they reached the bottom of the hill and could finally see the face properly.

Thesis stepped toward it, approaching it while looking around her for any possible traps. The natives were likely better at hiding among the beanberries, so she didn’t expect to find anything. She motioned to Desperado to keep close to her. “Be ready to teleport us, Desperado. We won’t get much warning.”

He said nothing, but his horn was lit. When Thesis got up next to the face, she found out she had been wrong. It was an actual pony’s face.

Contrary to what Thesis had expected, unfortunately, it was not attached to a body. The skin was dried and stretched over the skull. It had been painted and padded out with mud and leaves, and the eyes were decorated stones. It had been propped up on a branch coming out of the tree it was next to, and positioned to stare up the hill.

“Oh… well.”

“Bad?”

“It’s, uh… not pretty. Take a look.”

Desperado came up to look at the skull. His face betrayed no signs of disgust or alarm, but he looked it over in a very clinical manner, as though it were a work of art he was appraising.

“Not bad. Primitive. Too much purple, but that’s what they’re working with. They managed to capture a face from a distance, but it falls off the closer you get. Wouldn’t work without the trees and other foliage.”

“Background in forensics?” Thesis asked.

“Personal interest.”

“Ah.” Thesis didn’t pry any further. “Let’s leave the offering for them here. Not on the ground, though. The beanberries grow too fast. Open the bag and try to put it on the branch next to the skull. We’ll come back to check on it periodically.”

“Not taking it?”

“I want to, but I don’t know if that will be an insult. We leave it for now.”

Desperado pulled open the bag with his magic and arranged pieces of dried fruit on the branch. He didn’t put the whole thing there, but he put at least one of each piece of fruit. A slice of apple, pear, and a hoofful of dried cranberries. When they were sure the fruit was secured, they climbed back up the hill, picking their way through the purple mess they had left on their descent.

Banger and Crash Test reached out to help them up the hill, pulling them past particularly steep sections. Then the four of them climbed the rest of the way up to where the remaining members of the team waited. Dust Devil and Cumulus had joined the group, curious to find out what had been discovered.

“What was it?” Stormy Eye asked.

“Was it a, uh… trap?” Shilling asked. “I mean… you’re not injured or dead, so, uh… I guess not.” He scratched at the back of his neck and gave a small smile.

“What were you investigating?” Dust Devil walked forward, pushing past Shilling to march up to Thesis.

“It’s a skull,” Thesis said simply.

“A skull?” Dust Devil brushed past her and went to look down the hill where they’d left the offering. “That’s kind of awesome.”

Thesis ignored him and addressed the rest of the group. “So, it is, indeed, an actual pony’s skull.”

There was a murmur from the group at that.

“We did not touch it, did not move it, and we left an offering of dried fruit there. I don’t want anypony going down there without my express permission. We’ll continue setting up camp as planned. If they had wanted us dead, they could have killed us. This is either a warning, a greeting, or some ritual of theirs, so we wait, watch, and see how they appreciate our offering. Understood?”

The ponies all watching her, some with alarm painted clear on their faces, all nodded their understanding. Thesis turned to Dust Devil who was staring down the hill at the skull.

“Dust Devil, you are not to approach the skull without my express permission, understood?”

He waved a hoof at her and muttered, “Yeah, yeah.”

Thesis marched over and stood in front of him. “Not, ‘Yeah, yeah’. I need a; ‘Yes, I understand. These are dangerous natives who will and have killed for no discernable reason. Do you understand me?”

He looked at her, a frown on his face. “Yes, I understand, Professor Thesis.”

“Thank you.” She turned away and marched back to the camp. “Now let’s get back to work. We want to have camp prepared before nightfall. Today is preparations, tomorrow, we venture into the island.”

There was a little bit of grumbling from Dust Devil, but everypony went back to the camp to finish what they had started. A good portion of ground had been cleared of beanberries, and Thesis and Desperado began setting up tents and a campfire.

While setting up the tents, it became just how deadly the beanberries were going to be. They were toxic when ingested as a whole berry, and the juice was enough to cause digestive pain and mild fever. But that meant the juice was still dangerous. But the ground was stained with purple splotches everywhere, deadly freckles dotting the stone and soaking into the dirt, creating a blackish mud everywhere there wasn’t solid stone. The beanberries were thriving so much that they couldn’t avoid them, and setting up a tent meant placing it on top of beanberries or beanberry juice.

“Desperado, we’re going to need another coat of wax on some of the tents. I don’t think there’s enough exposed stone.”

“Aye,” was all he said in response.

“I was hoping it being one of the higher points on the cliff we would have more rock, but I couldn’t tell through the beanberries. We’ll have to make do. If we can’t get the tents safe, we might have to double up.”

Desperado just grunted, but he began pitching the tents. Thesis measured out as much rock as possible and Desperado set them up one at a time. Thesis made him take them down once or twice in an effort to get the best use out of the stone they had available, but despite their best efforts, at least one tent was going to be set up on top of some of the dirt and mud.

“Dammit.” Thesis looked at the three tents, then at the as-yet unassembled fourth. “Almost.”

She looked at Desperado. “How do you feel about sleeping on poisonous mud that may or may not seep through the canvas of the tent?”

“Probably slept on worse.”

“I doubt that, but let’s set it up. One night probably won’t kill us. Just get another coat of wax on the cloth and let it try before you put it up, okay?”

He nodded and began pulling out the stakes, poles, and rope. He got the tentcloth out and went hunting for the wax. They had brought plenty specifically to protect their clothes and tents from the beanberry juice in case prolonged contact to the juice made anypony ill. It was the only plan she had, but she hoped it would be enough.

“Banger! Crash Test!” Thesis shouted. “Are you done?”

Crash Test came flying up out of the trees not far away and waved as he swooped in. “Almost. What’s goin’ on, professor?”

Thesis frowned. “Where’s Banger?”

“He’s back-oh…” Crash Test could see the unapproving frown and flew back down. He came back, pulling Banger with him. “Sorry, professor. I forgot.”

Banger kept his head low. “S-sorry. Miss uh… professor Thesis.”

Her expression softened. “It’s alright, but remember why we have teams, okay? It’s dangerous territory, and leaving anypony alone is a recipe for death. This isn’t a field trip, this is serious business. Serious, and deadly, business.”

She smiled at them. “Now, tell me how the perimeter is coming.”

“We uh… we almost have the-the-the whole uh…”

“We almost have the whole perimeter marked out, professor,” Crash Test interrupted. “We took it a short distance down the side of the cliff, but figured since they’re earth ponies, they probably can’t approach from there.”

“Excellent. I’ll come take a look in a moment. As soon as you’re done, come back here, we need your help.”

When Banger and Crash Test finished setting up the perimeter fence they flew back in to find Thesis and Desperado tamping down the soil for the last tent. Desperado had set up the tent to dry nearby, having added a second coat of wax to the outside. It would ideally be done before nightfall, and Thesis was putting the bedrolls and blankets inside the tents that were already set up.

“Thank you for coming. Just help me get the emergency food inside the tents and away from the beanberry bushes. We need them isolated to avoid risking contamination,” Thesis said.

“Yes ma’am,” Crash Test answered.

After the food was taken care of, they unloaded testing devices, set up the radio, and organized who would be working on what, and where. As soon as she had a table set up, Thesis pulled out her journal and began writing things down in it, her curved hoofwriting swiftly covering the page.

While she was writing, Dust Devil and Cumulus trotted back in, carrying their machetes and covered in purple flecks from head to tail. “Got the bushes chopped back all the way to perimeter. There’s still branches layin’ about, so watchyer step, but we, are gonna go wash up. Cause let me tell you, this shit feels nasty,” Dust Devil said.

“That’s fine. Don’t swallow any of the juices, and don’t get separated from each other,” Thesis told him.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘mom’.”

Thesis watched him go for a moment, then frowned and continued writing notes down in her journal. Banger approached from the side, scuffing his hooves along the stone.

“P-professor? Uh… could you come check the, uh… the perimeter fence? Crash Test and-and-and I would also like to go bathe soon,” he asked.

“Oh, of course.” She closed her journal, stoppered the ink, and set down her quill. “I forgot about that in my haste to note everything we’d seen so far.”

“It, uh… shouldn’t take long. We’re con-confident we g-g-got it.”

He led her to the edge of the beanberry bushes. Dust Devil was right in that he and Cumulus had chopped the bushes up to the perimeter, but they had only cut the bushes and not cleared any of them. Vines littered the area near the fence, almost as thickly as the bushes themselves grew. She had instructed him to toss the vines over the edge of the cliff, but it would seem he had gotten lazy near the end. She’d have to talk to him about it when he was done, but he had earned this rest at least.

She turned her attention to the perimeter fence that had been set up instead, admiring the work done by Banger and Crash Test. The two of them stood nearby, waiting to hear approval from her for their work.

For their part, though, they had done an excellent job. The perimeter was made of thin wire strung along near the ground. It was intended to be nearly invisible, especially in the dark, and was magically-charged to emit a high-pitched keening attuned specifically to awaken somepony from sleep if it was cut or yanked. The natives likely had no magic, and so they wouldn’t know what to make of something like it. They would be scared off, but not harmed, and the ponies in the camp would be alerted and free to fly or teleport to safety.

Thesis was worried it might make the natives hate them if they tripped it, but the safety of the team was paramount, and she wasn’t willing to risk their lives just for her next paper. She wandered along next to the perimeter, which had been strung between every tree nearby, from one cliff to another in a semi-circle around the camp. It was modest protection, but it was protection.

“Excellent work, you two! This will hopefully keep the natives away until we establish some sort of relationship with them. You can go bathe. Just remember-“

“Don’t swallow the juices, and don’t separate,” Crash Test said.

“Exactly.”

“Thanks, professor! Be back soon!” And they were off.

Thesis followed them back to camp, and they dove off the side of the cliff to the water, leaving Thesis with Desperado, who was idly sitting nearby whittling. She returned to her journal and opened it back to the page she had been working on. She tapped her quill against the margin for a moment, then turned to Desperado.

“Desperado, I would like your opinion.”

“Shoot,” he grunted.

“Do you think the skull warning counts as first contact?”

“Aye.”

“Because I had only intended four ponies to remain on the island until we finally made contact, but in my mind contact was them noting we were here somehow. We haven’t seen them, but surely they’ve seen us. I don’t think that skull would have been put there otherwise. I just want safety in numbers, but I don’t want to expose anypony to this island without good reason. Should everypony stay on the island this first night? We have the perimeter set up, it’s getting close to sundown, and most of the tents are set up. Should we all stay?”

Desperado grunted, and a large chip of wood fell to the ground.

“Yeah, I think everypony staying would be best. We can get started first thing in the morning with an expedition further into the island. We have everything as safe as can be, with the perimeter, the beanberries removed, and carefully packaged dried fruit, with the morning’s rations prepared from the mainland. We’re fine. Thank you, Desperado.”

He grunted again, and continued carving, staring out into the woods nearby.

Stormy Eye and Shilling eventually returned from their scouting trip, and had stopped by the mainland for the first of the rations that were prepared for their use. Now that the beanberries had been removed from the campground, it felt safer to have the food on location. This first shipment would be for tonight’s supper and their first day of exploration tomorrow. Carefully sealed inside liquid-proof packaging, they would be their only protection against the beanberry poison.

“Nothing strange to report from above, professor. Besides the head we found, of course. We’ve got a possible path we think is worth investigating tomorrow whenever you’re ready. And, uh… where are we keeping the food?” Stormy Eye asked as she landed.

“Pick a tent for yourselves and keep it inside that. We want everything kept away from the beanberries as much as possible, and the food moreso, so be careful. You’re in charge of it, so don’t let me down.”

“Of course, professor,” Shilling said with a bow.

Shilling and Stormy Eye began arguing over the tent they might want since they were the first ones to choose. They hadn’t needed to deal with any beanberries in their flyover, so they weren’t stained all over. Thesis looked at her own hooves and sighed.

“Hey Desperado!” He looked up from his whittling at her. “Let’s get washed up. Try to get some of this juice off our hooves.”

He nodded and put down his knife and wood. His horn flashed and he disappeared. Thesis sighed and fluttered her wings, flying up and over the tents, then dropping down the side of the cliff’s face. She found Desperado already there with his hooves immersed in the water. He had picked up a rag somewhere and was scrubbing furiously at the stains covering the fur of his legs.

Thesis dipped her hooves in the water and tried to rinse the juice off. The seeds and pulp from the beanberries came off, but her hooves and fur remained a gross purple. She looked over at Desperado, who, despite all the scrubbing, didn’t appear to be faring much better.

“It doesn’t come off easily?”

Desperado shook his head and grunted. He floated the rag out toward Thesis, who took it and tried to scrub her own hooves. It was no use, and the purple stains would not come out of her fur. She looked at the rest of the group some ways down, to see if they had the same trouble. Their hooves were still stained, but they had apparently given up on cleaning and were just splashing in the water.

“Damn. Well, I guess we’ll have purple hooves for a while. It’s not the end of the world. We can see about getting some stronger cleaning supplies later. Because this stuff is definitely a dye.” Thesis turned her hoof over, looking at the colors dyed into her fur. “It will be interesting to see what the natives have done with it.”

“Mmhmm,” Desperado grunted in agreement.

“I’ll meet you back at the top, Desperado. Thank you for the rag.”

Thesis jumped off the rocks at the bottom and flew back up to camp. Desperado was already there, drying off his hooves. Stormy Eye and Shilling had settled on a tent and had the food piled up to one side inside it. The rest of the group flew up one at a time as the sun began setting, and Thesis called to have supper divvied out.

“Remember to eat with your wings, magic, or mouth directly. I don’t want anypony getting sick because they accidentally ate any beanberry juice. Take care, go slow, and be cautious,” Thesis said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dust Devil said, tearing his package open with his purple hooves. He shoved his face in and chewed, smacking his lips together. His partner, Cumulus, was much more careful, and tore the package open with her teeth on top of a barrel, then picked out one piece of fruit after another with a wingtip.

Thesis herself did the same, and was done her food before everyone but Dust Devil. He was fidgeting over a small firepit, trying to get it going. Desperado, carrying his food in his magic, glanced at the stack of wood and vines and the whole thing burst into flame. Dust Devil scrambled backward from the abrupt flame and glared over at Desperado, who had already turned back to his food. Dust Devil stood up and stomped toward the silent stallion, a scowl on his face.

“I know that was you, old stallion! You gotta show off with your fancy magic just because you can?”

Thesis stood up and interposed herself between Desperado and Dust Devil. “Dust, drop it. He was just trying to help.”

“Bastard almost set my mane on fire!”

“You weren’t anywhere close enough, Dust Devil,” Shilling said.

“Who asked you?”

“Dust, stop. Nopony wants to hurt anypony else,” Stormy Eye pleaded.

Dust Devil gritted his teeth and turned away with a snort. “Fine, but don’t try to ‘help’ me again, old stallion. I don’t need your help, and I sure don’t appreciate it!”

Thesis sighed. Dust Devil was shaping up to be a real problem. He was probably going to get worse before he got better. She’d have to come up with something for him to do before he hurt himself or anypony else. Something that would keep him busy and feeling important for most of the day while they tried to locate the natives. Cumulus might be sad to miss out, but that was just the way things had to be.

“Alright everypony. It’s about time to get to sleep, so let’s go over what will happen tomorrow.” Thesis stood up and walked over to the now-crackling fire to seat herself next to it.

There was a scattering of excited sounds coming from the group, one nervous cough from banger, and a scoff of derision from Dust Devil, but everypony gathered around the fire to hear the plan.

“First off, in the morning, if you are feeling in any way under the weather, let me know. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, but the beanberries are deadly. The juice won’t immediately kill you, but it can and will make you nauseous, light-headed, or dizzy, so please tell me if you are experiencing any of those effects.”

“So, whadda we do if we have those?” Crash Test asked with a yawn.

“If you are experiencing any of those symptoms, please let your me know. If you can’t find me, talk to your partner, and return to the mainland as swiftly as possible. Understood?”

Nods came from all around.

“Good. Second thing: Tomorrow we will be investigating the path Stormy and Shilling have mapped out for us. We expect danger, and we will need you to stick with your partner at all times. Keep track of them, get along with them, and listen to their concerns. Six of us will go as a group, but you are responsible for your partner more than the rest of the group, understood?”

Another set of nods.

“Good. Dust Devil and Cumulus, I want you two to stay at the camp and ensure it remains safe. If the natives wanted to destroy or loot the camp, they would choose then to do it, so you are responsible for alerting us with the flare gun if anything strange or dangerous happens here while we’re gone.”

“What? Why do I have to babysit the camp?” Dust Devil demanded.

“It’s precisely because of that attitude you get to ‘babysit’ the camp. I don’t need somepony belligerent angering the natives should we chance to bump into them while out scouting.”

“Celestia’s ass, you just have it out for me.” Dust Devil stomped off to a tent and crawled inside, grumbling to himself.

Thesis ignored him and addressed the rest of the group. “As for the rest of you, prepare whatever you might want to take with you tomorrow. We’re intending to be gone all day, so dress and plan accordingly. And sleep well!”

The group broke slowly after finishing their meals. Desperado and Thesis set the final tent up in the mud, testing the floor to be sure it wasn’t going to leak. The extra coating of wax seemed to be doing its job and nothing looked like it was going to seep through immediately. It remained to be seen whether or not anything was going to get through over time, but it was a good start. They unrolled their bedding, crawled inside, and prepared to sleep.

The Encounter

Morning came without fanfare. Thesis awoke to find that the wax had protected the fabric from the poisonous mud of the island, and there wasn’t any soggy bedding. She awoke at the crack of dawn and pulled herself out of bed to go shake the other tents of anypony still sleeping.

Desperado had either been awakened by her movement or had already been awake, lying still and waiting, as he sat up with her and followed. He was already dressed, with a brown jacket and a hat with his horn poking through the top. He had rope, a flask on his flank, and saddlebags filled with bottles and other containers for collecting. He had his head on right and ready.

The only ponies she had to wake up were Banger and Crash Test. Dust Devil and Stormy Eye were out flying above the island, racing each other through the sky and kicking at the odd cloud here and there. Cumulus and Shilling were on the ground stretching, but Banger and Crash Test looked to still be holed up in their tent.

Thesis shook the flap and called out. “Banger, Crash Test? You okay in there?”

The flap was unzipped and Banger stuck his head out. “O-oh, miss, uh… professor Thesis. We’re fine. Not sick, just not used to getting up so early. We’ll be out, uh… soon.”

“Glad to hear it. Have a drink and get up. We have a lot of things to do today.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Crash Test nodded, grunting his way out of bed.

“Perfect. Desperado, you got breakfast?”

A package of limp vegetables was floated over to her, and Thesis gave Desperado a grateful smile. She chewed on a few as she dressed herself and slid on her saddlebags. She double-checked her own supplies and water, and yelled at the others.

“Alright you lot! Banger, Crash Test, Stormy Eye, and Shilling, get over here and let’s check your supplies!”

The ponies all assembled at a crawling pace. Banger and Crash Test shuffled over, manes messy and saddlebags unfastened. Stormy Eye and Shilling were peppy and prepped. Thesis checked their saddlebags and their water, making sure everypony was ready to carry their own weight, and helped Banger and Crash Test prepare their own.

“Alright, Dust Devil and Cumulus will remain and wait for us. We will be marching out some distance, mapping as we go, and will return when the sun is halfway across the sky. Depending on our fitness and the location, we may just fly back, but at midday, that’s when our expedition ends. No questions. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Came the chorus of responses.

Thesis smiled and nodded. “Stormy and Shilling, if you would lead the way, please.”

Stormy Eye and Shilling took the lead for the group, and everypony began walking away from the campsite, leaving Dust Devil with Cumulus to glare after them.

Shilling and Stormy Eye had picked out a path down the side of the cliff they had settled on. It was winding and difficult to see among the beanberry bushes, but Shilling had it mapped out and led them well. Desperado took the second position and helped push the beanberries aside to ease passage, but the thick growth still hindered their progress. The vines scratched and groped at them as they passed, and touching the berries was unavoidable. When they finally reached the base of the cliff, and found themselves at water’s edge, they were speckled with beanberry juice.

“W-why didn’t we, uh… just fly down?” Banger asked as he splashed water on the stains.

“I told you before, we don’t want to frighten the natives any more than necessary.” Thesis explained as she perused the vines near the beach. They didn’t come down any further than the tide-line, which was important to note. She scribbled that little tidbit in her journal, then turned to the rest of the group.

“Okay, well that’s a good walking path down, in case we need to transport anything to the beach. Let’s follow this for a ways and see what we fine.”

The group mumbled a thankful agreement, and they marched down the beach in pairs. The beach was short, and ended in a large outcropping of dirt, but they did manage to find something interesting: Tracks.

A set of hoofprints came up out of the woods, passed through the sand briefly, and went back into the grass and possibly up the hill. Thesis looked up and out toward the top of the hill facing the ocean. There were no trees, but beanberry bushes covered it like everything else. A pony could easily be hiding in them somewhere.

“Care, all. I think a native is nearby,” she said.

Banger looked terrified. Stormy Eye rubbed his withers with a hoof. Crash Test wasn’t even looking at the tracks, and Shilling had a stick he was holding in a wing. Desperado didn’t look like he much cared, but his horn was lit. He was ready, which made Thesis feel a little bit safer.

“Stay here for the moment. Desperado and I will go investigate. If it’s dangerous, he can at least shield us from it. Watch yourselves, and stay at the beach,” Thesis ordered.

The four other ponies retreated onto the dunes and clustered together while Thesis and Desperado skirted around the base of the small cliff. They picked their way through the beanberry bushes and walked up the small incline leading toward the top. When they got halfway up, Thesis slowed down, eyes flicking back and forth, searching for any rustling.

She was rewarded when the beanberry bushes just ahead shivered. She and Desperado flinched and went low, but the rustling stopped without moving. Thesis reached into her saddlebags and pulled out some of her lunch. Using her wings, she removed a small piece of dried fruit from her bag and tossed it in the direction of the rustling. It landed among the beanberry bushes, in between Thesis and it. She took a couple steps back, pushing next to Desperado, then waited to see what would happen. It would have to pass by them or jump off the far edge. Either way, they would likely be able to see it wherever it decided to go.

They waited for a few minutes, the thing hiding in the bushes ahead. It finally moved, digging through the vines toward the place the food was dropped. Thesis could see the small chunk of dried apple sitting nestled on two criss-crossing vines. She watched as the rustling came closer, and she unconsciously bent down to try to get a better look, wings twitching in anticipation.

The faint rustling came up to where the apple slice waited, and Thesis could see something inside the beanberry bushes. An eye came into view through the thick vines, and it looked at her. It was large, yellow, and inquisitive. It blinked, and tilted side to side as it appraised her, then she could see a purplish muzzle come out of the bushes. The pony’s face came up out of the bushes and sniffed the apple slice, then snapped it up and disappeared, rustling down the hill through the bushes.

Thesis made to follow it, but Desperado held her back. She looked at him, annoyed, but he just shook his head and pointed at the moving bushes. The pony inside them somehow managed to wade through the tangled vines toward the treeline, where it popped up out of the bushes and clung to a tree. Thesis felt her breath catch as she finally got her first glimpse of one of the island’s natives.

It was shorter than most earth ponies, but stockier too. It’s fur and mane were both shades of purple, which wasn’t surprising, considering the beanberries everywhere. Its eyes were wide and round, but the strangest part of it was the strange claws it had at the end of its hooves. It almost looked like they were trying to be both paws and hooves at the same time. It appeared able to move them somewhat, as it was clinging to the bark of the tree, staring back at them.

“…what?” Thesis said.

The pony chewed on the apple slice, staring at them. Out of the vines and in direct sunlight, the pony’s eyes were a bright gold, reflecting the sunlight and shimmering as it moved its head back and forth. It stared at them, looking at them with as much inquisitiveness as they were staring back at it.

Thesis and Desperado stood as still as possible, not wanting to startle it. It looked at her, tilting its head, then dropped down into the vines.

“Wait!” Thesis called out, and made to chase after it, only to be stopped by Desperado again.

The bushes shook as the pony disappeared into the trees, then it jumped back out and began leaping from tree to tree, using its strange claws to cling to the bark as it climbed about for purchase. Thesis could only watch as it moved deeper into the trees, leaving the group at the beach alone with more questions than answers.

When it was gone, Desperado let go of Thesis, and muttered a quiet curse.

“That, was incredible!” Thesis danced in a small circle, spinning around as she cheered. “We met a native! It wasn’t a bad meeting either! It took the food, didn’t attack, and we got to see its entire body!” She stops spinning and pulls out her notebook and quill. “I should draw it while I still remember what it looks like!”

Thesis began scribbling in her notebook while Desperado went to the edge of the cliff and waved the rest of the crowd up. They flew up the side and joined the two ponies on the small ridge.

“Y’see it?” Desperado asked.

Only Stormy Eye raised her hand. “I saw it moving. Didn’t get a good look. It looked like it could hold on to trees?”

Desperado nodded and motioned to Thesis. “Picture soon.”

Upon seeing Thesis frantically scribbling down an image, the other four crowded around her and watched as the drawing came to life. She wasn’t an amazing artist, by no means, but she was able to capture the character of the creature, and its inquisitive eyes. The drawing stared out at them, asking them questions without a word: “Where are you from? What are you?” And most important: “Why are you here?”

“It’s amazing,”

“What, uh… what’s that on its hooves?”

“What an interesting creature.”

“Neat.”

Thesis tapped at the illustrated hooves with her quill. “It holds onto the tree with these strange claws. Finding out how and why they evolved them will be interesting. I imagine it has to do with the pony traversing the trees, like we saw. We need to investigate the trees more.”

“What for?” Shilling asked.

“Claw marks!” Stormy Eye gushed. “If the ponies here use the trees for travel, we can find claw marks!”

“Precisely!” Thesis beamed with happiness. “We’ve learned here our first big breakthrough in understanding the natives! The fact that we can track them with this knowledge is huge! We can find out where the tracks are most concentrated, and might be able to locate their village with this!”

“Assuming they, uh… they even have one? This picture makes the, uh… the thing… the native, look pretty feral,” Banger said.

“That’s a good point, Banger. I assumed they would have reached a point where they would live in a village. They communicated with the previous settlers, but maybe they are nomadic? For what reason I couldn’t fathom.” Thesis tapped one end of the quill against her cheek. “Something to ponder. But hopefully we’ll find something soon. Are you all ready?”

They looked confused. Thesis pointed at the forest where the native had scampered off to.

“We’ll follow it!”

“Should have known.” Crash Test said.

“Are we, uh… walking?”

“No. We’ll hover. We want to make good time before we have to return to camp, and with a lead this fresh, we don’t want to waste any time. Just stay close to the ground, and land at the first sign of natives.”

The five of them took off and flapped in place. Desperado cleared his throat and looked up at them.

Thesis gave a sheepish grin. “We’ll hover slowly. Everypony stay with your partners and check the trees, find out what the scratches look like, and search them out. Sketch them or commit them to memory, whatever you see fit, but stay close to everypony else, and especially your partner!”

The group moved into the woods. Those that could fly hovered over the beanberry thicket, and Desperado pushed aside the vines with his magic, staying below Thesis. They all went to the tree the pony had been clinging to while it ate the apple slice. The claw marks were shallow, but their shape was easy to discern. Thesis sketched them out, the claws appearing to be thick and hook-like, made specifically for climbing.

The group moved over the vines closer to the next tree the pony had leapt off of. The claw marks in this tree were much more pronounced, fitting the motion of pushing off the tree it had used. Thesis drew those out as well, and the group hopscotched through the woods, following the track the pony had left behind for them. They got deep into the woods, and Desperado had to climb up, down, and even teleport a few times to keep up, but they were determined to keep up with the tracks and find what lay at the end.

Thesis tried to keep a record of where they were while they moved. She added to the map the further they went while she sketched quick pictures of claw marks, plants, and even a small pile of what they assumed was droppings.

Despite their best efforts, they eventually lost the pony in the thick woods when the claw marks on the trees combined with those of other ponies, some with larger claws and others with smaller. It was clear that wherever they were, it was a place frequented by the natives on the island, and Thesis was excited beyond belief.

“I can’t believe there’s so many! This is incredible! We must be at some tree roadway or something!” Thesis gushed as she flitted from tree to tree. “Look at these claw marks! There’s one that looks like one of them must be huge!”

“If one of them is so large, might we assume that pony is possibly the leader? And in addition, for our own safety, might we also assume if this is a ‘road’ for them, we are trespassers?” Shilling said.

“No, these marks aren’t fresh, except for our little friend. We should be sa-”

A bush next to Desperado rustled, and something scuttled through the underbrush. Desperado reflexively shielded himself, but whatever it was moved away from him deeper into the woods. As whatever it was moved deeper, several more instances of movement scurried after it, shaking the beanberry bushes. The sound of motion came from above as well, a frenzied yipping as ponies leapt from tree to tree overhead. The ponies all huddled together, staying near the rest of their group, hovering just over Desperado, watching as a crowd of natives who had them surrounded all moved into the woods.

“What, uh… what was that?” Banger asked.

“I don’t know. They didn’t attack us, so we either aren’t threatening, or they’re gathering even more ponies to attack us with,” Thesis said.

“If they had wanted us dead, we would be dead. We didn’t even know they were there,” Crash Test said.

“But maybe they’re just scared. I mean, we’re flying, and Desperado is glowing,” Stormy Eye said.

Thesis looked down at Desperado, who still had his shield up. He was staring at the direction the entire crowd of ponies had gone, scratching under his hat.

“We still have some time before noon. I want to follow them,” Thesis said.

Stormy Eye shook her head. “I think we’ve scared them enough for one day.”

Shilling nodded in agreement.

“I think I’ve been, uh… been, uh… been-“

“Banger has been scared enough for one day,” Crash Test finished for him.

“Alright. I understand if this is making you all nervous.” Thesis looked down at Desperado, who was staring up at the group. “Desperado, are you willing to follow them with me?”

Desperado shrugged. “Aye.”

“Excellent. We will meet you back at camp.”

“And if you don’t?” Shilling asked with a straight face.

Thesis looked back at the mare, who stared back with a straight face.

“If neither Desperado or myself return by the time morning comes tomorrow, you are to follow emergency evacuation procedures. Which were outlined in the guide I sent out.”

Shilling nodded and grabbed Stormy Eye by the hoof, then the two of them flew up and out of the trees, followed soon after by Banger and Crash Test. Thesis and Desperado were alone, with only each other for protection and company in the alien forest, populated by strange natives.

Thesis had never been more excited.

She landed next to Desperado and pointed in the direction the group of natives had gone. “Let’s follow them!”

Desperado led the way, pushing aside the vines of the beanberry bushes. Having been forced to walk, he was covered in purple stains. His jacket, saddlebags, and hat were all covered in juice, and his legs were entirely soaked in it. He looked miserable, though his face betrayed none of it.

“Are you sure you’re okay to keep going?”

“Aye.”

“Okay. I’ll keep an eye on the direction we need to go, and you just plow along.”

He nodded, and the two of them followed the ponies that had run away from them, leading them deeper into the island to some unknown destination. It was slow going, but Thesis kept everything apace, flying up to check the trees where the ponies had gone. She checked the trees for claw marks, even going up into the treetops where they had heard the natives before. Up there she saw perch marks, and took the time to sketch them out. She was happier than ever, with so many new things to find and catalogue. Desperado was a mystery, just following along and keeping an eye on her.

Eventually, Thesis could see movement in the distance. The sun was at about midday, and they had almost been prepared to head back when Thesis could see something up ahead. It looked like a crowd of ponies, leaping up and down and shouting in their own strange language.

“Be ready, Desperado, I think we’ve found the natives.”

Desperado’s horn hadn’t stopped glowing the entire time they were out, but he nodded and plowed on through the beanberries. Thesis landed behind him and followed, clambering over rocks as they approached the gathered crowd. The natives were clinging to the trees, hooting and hollering, waving hooves at the two of them, and it seemed like they were encouraging them to come closer.

Thesis looked at Desperado and nodded. He nodded back and the two walked closer, side-by-side. The natives didn’t seem scared of them. In fact, the natives had gathered on both sides of them, and as they approached, they swarmed behind them and pushed closer, urging them onward.

Thesis was ecstatic at the proximity of the natives. This close, she could see that many of them were drastically different from each other. Some were slim, others stocky. Some had longer legs, while others had shorter stumps. Some had longer fur while others had short. The one thing they all shared, however, was the purple beanberry stain covering their bodies, and the claws.

Thesis tried to stop and sketch some of them, but they weren’t sitting still, and although they hadn’t come close enough to touch them, they were outnumbered, and those claws looked wickedly sharp. She didn’t want to test them.

“Be prepared to teleport at a moment’s notice, Desperado,” Thesis whispered to her companion. He nodded in response, his own eyes wide and wary.

They allowed themselves to get pushed along, watching the ponies run about them through the beanberry bushes. Thesis was impressed at their ability to navigate the vines, and made a mental note to ask them about how they did it when she had learned the language.

They arrived at a copse of trees. The natives all scrambled away from the two ponies and gathered in, on, and around the treeline. They pulled back a screen of beanberries to reveal the dark interior of the circle. Inside, there looked to be a thick beanberry vine, cut off at the top, unusually large and colored purple like the berries themselves. None of the natives entered the circle, but they were motioning for Thesis and Desperado to do so. Their intent was clear, and it made Thesis wary.

“They want us in there. It looks like the stump is important, but I can’t imagine why. Not to mention, none of them are going inside. Does this seem like a trap to you?”

Desperado nodded. “Aye.”

“But how do we get out of this without offending them?”

“Don’t think they want us dead.”

“You don’t?”

“Coulda killed us anytime. Tried to, anyway.”

“Maybe they know what unicorns can do.”

“Doubt it.”

“Then should we go inside, you could teleport us out, right?”

“Aye.”

“Okay. We go inside, prepared for an attack or something else, and teleport back to base camp if necessary.”

Desperado nodded, and the two of them inched forward toward the open portion of the copse of trees. The two natives standing on either side of the entrance were holding back the vines of the beanberry bushes with their claws. The opening was big enough for a single pony to enter at a time, and when Thesis could see inside the little clearing, she could tell that the beanberry bushes did not cover the ground inside.

The beanberry vines stopped at the tree line, climbing up these trees toward the sky. The ground just inside was covered in snaking lumps, indicating the presence of vines underground leading toward the strange stump.

The stump itself wasn’t made of wood. It was a vine, about as thick as a dozen or so of the typical beanberry vines found around the island all grouped together. But unlike the green vines elsewhere, this was purple, and lead up to a flat surface, topped off by a nest of sorts, made of regular beanberry vines.

Thesis and Desperado entered the copse. Thesis went first, and Desperado followed immediately at her flank. Contrary to what Thesis had expected, the entrance vines continued to be held open, and the crowd of natives gathered around the entrance to watch.

“Not what I expected, but not terrible. They’re still not threatening us, but what do they want us to do in here?”

Desperado walked closer to the vine and look in the strange nest on top. He stepped back almost immediately and motioned for Thesis to come closer.

“What is it?”

He motioned harder, his eyes filled with concern and amazement in equal measure. Thesis quickened her pace, walking up to the nest and peering inside. When she got to it she gasped and looked back at the natives crowding the entrance. They just stared inside, their curiosity plain. She turned back to the thing inside the nest.

It was a large berry. Thesis called it a berry because it was growing from the beanberry plant, but it wasn’t just a larger version of the typical beanberry, this was shaped like three carrots connected to each other at the vine, with golden skin. It seemed to glow with its own inner light, but it didn’t cast any light by itself. In fact, the enclosed area seemed darker for its being there.

“What is this?”

Desperado just shrugged, his eyes wide as he stared at the thing.

“And what do they want us to do with it? I mean, they brought us here for a reason, and that reason, according to their body language and their directing us here, doesn’t seem obvious.”

Thesis turned to the crowd at the entrance and pointed at the nest with a hoof, then opened her mouth and pointed at it, clacking her teeth up and down. “Eat?”

The natives didn’t respond. They just blinked at her and waited, crowding around the door like they were foals looking to see if two lovebirds were going to kiss behind the schoolhouse.

“I don’t understand. I don’t want to eat it because it might be poisonous. I mean, it’s growing off the beanberries. What do we do?”

“I think we’re gonna have t’ touch it. See how they react.”

“They didn’t react when I mimed eating it. Either they didn’t understand or don’t care.”

Desperado looked at the group staring their direction. He reached out a hoof and nudged the fruit. Nothing happened when his hoof touched it, but the natives tensed up. One of them hissed, but they still didn’t enter.

“Afraid,” Desperado said.

“It seems they are. Maybe we would be doing them a favor by taking it off their hooves.”

Desperado shook his head. “Nay. Don’t know why.”

“Good point. We don’t know what it does. Do you think they do?” Thesis jerked her head at the natives.

“Aye. Else they wouldn’t be afeared.”

Thesis turned to the group at the door and approached them. They pulled back a bit, but didn’t break apart, seeming intent on keeping her inside. She pointed at the fruit, then at herself, then shook her head.

The natives looked at each other and started muttering. Their voices were calm for the most part, but eventually the timbre rose and quarreling started. One of them hit another and an all-out brawl began. Thesis stepped back, closer to Desperado, in case they turned the anger on her.

There was a shout, and the fighting stopped. All the natives loosed their holds on each other and stepped back, opening the entry for a medium-sized pony to approach. This pony, unlike the rest who were mostly naked, had a coat made of beanberry vines, topped off with a circlet of woven vines, leaves, and decorated on the front with the first instance of metalwork she had seen among them!

“Desperado, they have metal! This is incredible! They–!”

She was interrupted when the native shouted again. A different word, but all the natives disappeared into the bushes, leaving just him, Desperado, and herself.

“The leader?”

“Leader.” Desperado nodded.

“I’m not sure if we should be worried. Do you think they were doing this without his knowledge?”

“Doubtful. Too important somehow.”

The well-dressed native flexed his strange claws somehow, and they dug deep furrows into the ground. Thesis noticed that his claws were much bigger than the others, like those of a timberwolf. The shape was reminiscent of an ursa, but they were thankfully not that large.

The native pointed with a claw at the fruit behind Thesis, then at Thesis herself, then at the sky, then at the ground. He said something she didn’t understand, and gave her a small bow.

Thesis leaned toward Desperado and whispered to him. “Did that make sense to you?”

Desperado shrugged. “He wants us t’ do somethin’ with it. We could prob’ly take it, if you’re so inclined.”

“But that’s what he wants. They all want us to take it. That leads me to feel like we shouldn’t. Not until we know what it does.”

Thesis turned and walked up to the big pony. She pointed at herself, then at the fruit, then shook her head.

“We don’t want it.” She pointed to herself and Desperado, then at the pony and swept a hoof around in a big circle. “Not until we understand you and your island. We don’t want to take it and cause offense.”

“He don’t understand.”

“I know that, but I’m trying to convey emotion through words, even if their meaning goes over his head.”

She pointed to herself, then the fruit, and shook her head. She pointed to herself, then to the pony and the beanberries, and nodded with a big smile.

“That could be taken wrong.”Thesis blushed but stood firm, waiting.

The native nodded and left the copse of trees. He pointed at Thesis, then at the sky, then back down at the ground. He said something in his own language and nodded, inflecting the last words with a query sound that Thesis did recognize.

“I think he’s trying to tell us something is going to happen here.”

“If’n they go by sun-time, then I think he’s tryin’ ta tell us ta come back tomorrow.”

“Do you think so?”

Desperado nodded.

Thesis turned to the pony and nodded at him. He nodded back. At least they could communicate that much, and then he leaped away, the sound of his claws digging into the tree disappearing into the distance. They didn’t close the entrance to the copse, and the natives didn’t appear anywhere else. They seemed to be alone again.

Thesis stepped out of the copse of trees, looked up at the trees, then turned back to Desperado. Her eyes were wide with excitement, and her mouth turned up slowly in a huge smile. She started laughing and dancing and turning in a circle. She tried to grab Desperado and make him dance, but he backed away.

“We met the natives, nopony got attacked, and nopony was scared or frightened! We even have a chance to come back and meet with them again! This is the best opportunity I could have asked for!”

Desperado just smiled and chuckled.

“We need to get back to camp, now! Teleport us, Desperado! We have to tell the others and plan what we’re going to do! Hurry, Desperado!”

“Okay! Okay! Come ‘old m’hoof.”

Thesis took his hoof and with a flash of light, the two of them were gone.

The fruit in the nest pulsed and flashed, it’s three “fingers” curling up, then relaxing.

Back at the camp, Dust Devil was speeding through the sky, trying out acrobatic maneuvers. Shilling was looking at some of the beanberries up close under a microscope with Stormy Eye, and the rest were all playing a game of dice. There was a flash near Thesis’ tent and the two ponies appeared, covered in beanberry juice.

“Gather around, ponies, have I got news!”

The others all gathered together to listen as Thesis related to them the story of what they had seen, done, and discovered. When they reached the point where they got to the copse of trees, Dust Devil interrupted.

“Wait, these savages have a treasure hidden on the island?” Dust Devil said.

Thesis frowned at him. “They’re not savages, and it isn’t treasure. It’s a piece of fruit.”

“Fruit? That’s a curious thing to value,” Crash Test said.

“Well, you see, that’s what we need to figure out. They value it, clearly, but they wanted us to have it!”

“They were giving you their treasure? Do you have it?” Dust Devil asked, his eyes wide.

Thesis shook her head. “Something seemed off about it. A golden fruit nestled in a shrine that they were eager to either share, or be rid of? I can’t trust it.”

“Whyever not? They wanted you to have it,” Stormy Eye asked.

“Beanberries are poisonous. Incredibly so. This is growing out of the island-wide beanberry plant. That fruit is likely as deadly as everything else.”

“That’s a huge assumption,” Dust Devil said.

“This entire island could just be a single, interconnected beanberry bush. The berries kill everything that eats them except the natives and the juice can kill in large enough doses. The vines choke the life out of every other plant except the trees, which we still need to understand how, and I think the only reason they haven’t grown to the mainland is that they kill birds that eat them, and shrivel in saltwater. Something is strange about that fruit, and I won’t take it until I know what!”

“You don’t trust the savages.” Dust Devil gave her a nasty grin.

Thesis was silent a moment, glowering at him. “No, not yet. Not until we can properly communicate with them.”

Dust Devil pranced in a small circle, laughing. “Ohhh, you talk a good game, professor, but you think them as nasty as the rest of us do. Way to be an example.”

“Dust Devil, shut up. She’s taking safety first, as you should,” Stormy Eye said.

“I dunno, Stormy. Golden fruit, heretofore unseen by Equestria, hidden away on an island, freely given by the savages? That’s the find of the century!” Dust Devil stamped a hoof. “It should be taken to the academy and studied immediately. Find out what makes this island tick. Find out what makes the savages so strange. You said they had claws? How’d they get those! And they can eat poison!” Dust Devil picked up a beanberry from the table near the microscope and shook it in their faces. “You came here seeking information, Thesis? That’s your best ticket to it besides killing and dissecting a savage.”

“We’re not killing, dissecting, or stealing anything or anypony. We’re here for research, and we will be patient.” Thesis jabbed a hoof at Dust Devil. “We find out what we can about the fruit and what significance it has to the natives before we do anything with it. We don’t need to be part of some ritual we don’t know about. Understood?”

“Too scared to take chances, Thesis?”

“That’s Professor Thesis to you, Dust Devil. Now am I understood? Do not go near them, or their fruit.” She whipped around and stalked off to her tent. “Desperado, I’m not really concerned, but keep everything to yourself. I have things I must write down. Everypony go back to work. We’ll discuss progress at dinner.”

Dust Devil glared at her as she left. Cumulus stood just behind him, silent as usual. The others all went back to work except for Desperado. Dust Devil caught his eye and they stared at one another a moment, before Desperado broke off and followed Thesis toward the tent.

Dinner was fetched from the mainland by Banger and Crash Test. Fresh food and clean water to ensure they weren’t going to end up with anypony poisoned. None of the crates or barrels seemed to have lost integrity, which was promising. It meant they might be able to continue using what they had, and Thesis’ plans were done correctly.

The only thing not working out were the ponies she had been forced to bring. Dust Devil was swiftly becoming a problem. He was confident, opinionated, and not the nicest pony. She wouldn’t have brought if it she could have avoided it, but she had no other options. If he got worse, she would have to send him away, and that might incentivize the academy into pulling their funding. Dust Devil was right in that regard. She needed results. She needed something she could show the ponies at the academy they were learning something new.

She needed that fruit.

Thesis stepped out of her tent after writing down the day’s events in her journal. She’d drawn a sketch of the path they’d taken to the fruit. A rough one, along with a description. It wasn’t accurate, she knew that much, but it should help them get back. She hadn’t marked it on the map Stormy Eye and Shilling had created. She didn’t want Dust Devil getting any ideas. She wanted to be there for the meetings with the natives, and didn’t need his bravado getting in the way.

“Alright everypony, let’s eat and discuss what we’ll be doing tomorrow.”

Everypony gathered around their little fire and sat down. Dust Devil smirked at her.

“Should I just assume I’ll be guarding the campsite again? From the ‘untrustworthy savages’?” he said.

“No, you and Cumulus will be scouting. I want you to see if you can find anything that looks like a village where the natives live.”

“Well, at least it’s something better than sitting on my flank all day, waiting while the rest of you get to experience the new and undiscovered island.”

“I don’t want you to approach it, just see if you can find it, and mark it on the map, understood?”

“Aye-aye, captain. I getcha real good.” He gave her a mock-salute, grinning.

Thesis glowered at him a moment but turned to the rest of the group. “Everypony else will come with me. I suspect the natives could have attacked the camp if they wanted to. They gave us a customary warning, and then showed us something they think highly of.”

“W-wait. We’re all going to, uh… to where?’ Banger asked.

“To see the natives and their special fruit. They brought their crowd, I wish to bring mine.”

“You don’t think they’ll be scared?” Stormy Eye asked.

“They have claws, and the pony that looked like their leader had claws the size of my ears. They’re tough enough to be confident.”

“Do they know magic?”

Thesis shook her head. “I don’t think they’ll know what to do about a unicorn. Desperado and flight is our best bet at protection. Not to put too much pressure on you, Desperado.”

He nodded, but said nothing.

“That’s all we’ll be doing tomorrow for most of the day. I appreciate you spending time studying the beanberries, but we’ll talk more tomorrow. Everypony get some sleep, and once again–”

“Stick with your partners?” Dust Devil said.

“Yes.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“I’ll keep reminding you every day if it sees us all home safely. Now sleep.” She marched off to her tent, not looking back. She heard Dust Devil muttering something, but paid him no mind. He was going to cause trouble, she was sure. She’d just have to be prepared for the worst when it came.

The Betrayer

The next morning saw the group complete their preparations long before first light. Thesis was up before the dawn from excitement, and Desperado had prepared the night before. Stormy Eye, Shilling, Banger, and Crash Test were sluggish, but Thesis’ infectious excitement got to them after a while and they were ready to go by the time the sun was fully in the sky.

“Alright ponies, we’re going to meet the natives! Are you all ready?” There was mostly excited murmuring, with a stuttered “Y-yes?” from Banger.

“Good. Keep up, and do not panic when the natives appear. They look strange, but they have been mostly harmless. If you feel your life is threatened, feel free to fly away, but do not leave your partner behind.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then let’s go! Stormy, help me with Desperado.”

Stormy Eye and Thesis lifted Desperado by each of his forehooves and the group lifted into the air. Dust Devil and Cumulus watched them go. Cumulus looked a little upset, but when Dust Devil turned to go, Cumulus quickly followed. They took off in a separate direction at Thesis’ instruction.

Thesis put him out of her mind and continued flying, carrying Desperado off to the destination. She had Shilling looking at the map in her notebook and guiding them by the landmarks she had listed.

They made good enough time, dropping down through the treetops at around ten o’clock. Nopony was there, or at least, nopony was visible. The natives were probably watching them from hiding places. The fruit itself was still visible, without the branches blocking access to it.

“That—” said Thesis, pointing into the copse of trees, “—is the fruit I mentioned that you can see in my sketchbook. I don’t want to get close at the moment, but look at the three prongs coming off it? Do any of you recognize anything about it?”

Thesis pointed to the page in her journal, turning to the assembled group. They looked at it and one by one shook their heads. None of them had seen anything akin to the fruit sketched out.

“You said it’s colored gold?” Shilling asked.

“Aye. Gold as a pile o’ bits,” Desperado said.

“That’s very strange, considering the purple on the beanberries elsewhere, and is that vine purple?” Shilling pointed inside the copse of trees.

“It is. I think the vine is doing some sort of conversion of energy, nutrients, or what-have-you to create the single golden fruit that sits in the nest,” Thesis said. “There’s no real way for us to know until we can communicate with the natives or examine it somehow, but I’m wary of taking it.”

“I think we should,” Stormy Eye said.

“Yes. We should. It’s a new plant. That’s far more important than any group of natives,” Shilling said.

“We want the entire prize, not just one!” Thesis said.

“T-think about the applications of, uh… of a new fruit! It may h-have healing p-p-p-properties!” Banger stuttered.

“I know that, but it’s just not the priority. If we can’t grow more, it’s moot!”

Their argument was interrupted by the rustling of bushes all around them, and a group of at least twelve natives crashing out of the brush. All of them had been hiding, or had recently arrived through the tangle of beanberry bushes. How they had been so silent, Thesis didn’t know, but that stealth told her they were allowing them to be on the island, and not the other way around.

The one that was dressed in rudimentary clothes approached and pointed at Thesis, then pointed slowly to the four new ponies. His mouth moved silently as his hoof lingered, pointing at each one. She suspected he was chanting some spell or incantation for some purpose. Something superstitious, surely.

When he was done, he waved his hoof and motioned again to the copse of trees with the fruit inside. He said something again as he looked at Thesis and the others, seeming to be interested in the number of them. His eyes flicked over each pony in turn, then came back to Thesis. He seemed to understand she was the leader of the group, which was good. She didn’t know if they were more matriarchal or patriarchal, but him being a stallion and recognizing a mare as a leader was a good and interesting step. In fact, it was entirely possible he was only the hunting leader or something, and the true leader stayed at whatever village they might have.

“Professor, he keeps pointing at the fruit. I really think we ought to take it,” Stormy Eye said.

“We don’t want to take it yet.”

“B-but he’s telling us to. He wants us to, uh… have it,” Banger said.

“I said, no.” Thesis tried to keep a smile on her face, but her students’ continual insistence was causing it to falter.

Once again, the dressed native spoke to them and pointed at the copse of trees and the fruit. He mimed pulling it off the vine and then pointed at the sky again.

Thesis shook her head, and Stormy Eye sighed behind her. Thesis pointed at herself, then at the leader, then at the fruit. “We want to talk, first.”

“Waaaaait!” a voice above them yelled.

There was the sound of something crashing through trees, then the fluttering of wings and a soft *thump* right in front of the small copse of trees.

“No, we don’t. We just want the most valuable thing on the island,” Dust Devil said with a grin.

“I tried to stop him! I’m sorry!” Cumulus whined.

“Dust Devil, no!”

Dust Devil just cackled, stepped inside the copse of trees, and grabbed the fruit, snapping the vine connecting it to the rest of the beanberry plants.

“Desperado, why didn’t you stop him?” Thesis demanded.

Desperado shrugged. “If anypony was gonna find out if it were dangerous, I’m okay with it bein’ him.”

Thesis rolled her eyes and marched toward Dust Devil. The leader of the natives didn’t move to stop her as she stormed into the copse of trees and waved a wing in Dust Devil’s face.

“How dare you undermine my authority, deface a native shrine without full knowledge of what it could cause, and embarrass me in front of an indigenous group! Give me the fruit, and you will be returning to the mainland immediately!”

“Nah, Doc, y’see–”

A sound like an ursa roaring echoed across the island, interrupting their argument. The leader of the natives outside stood staring at the copse of trees with a small smile on his face. The rest of the natives were all exhibiting a similar smile.

Thesis jumped out of the copse of trees, grouping up next to Desperado. “What was that?” She turned to the leader of the natives. “What was that!”

The leader stayed still, staring at the copse of trees where Dust Devil was holding the fruit.

Thesis yelled at him. “What was that?” She pointed at Dust Devil and raised a hoof in confusion.

The pony still didn’t move. He didn’t even acknowledge that she had spoken until his head tilted toward her. The rest of his body stayed still as his neck twisted, crackling, and his eyes rolled back in his head. His mouth opened up, and vines poured out, twisting and writhing on the ground.

Thesis jumped back, and Desperado raised a shield around the group. They watched the vines as they trashed, but they seemed to be dying, not able to handle the open air. They twitched and squirmed on the ground aimlessly, flailing at nothing.

There were more noises around them, and they turned to look as the other natives all vomited up clusters of vines. The pegasi all flew upward a few feet off the ground, not wanting to get bile or vines on them. Desperado just watched his hooves and kept the shield up.

All around them, the piles of vomited vines thrashed, then slowed, until they finally stopped moving. Their green color faded to a dull brown, they hardened, and finally halted completely, shriveling up.

Thesis looked at the leader, and gasped when she saw that he, himself, had shriveled up. His skin was taut against his bones, and each rib was clearly outlined. His legs were dry sticks on the end of hooves, and as she watched, his head, which had turned toward her tilted, ripped the skin, and fell off, the rest of him crumbling to the ground as well.

Each of the natives around them crumbled to the ground, the vines that were likely holding them together having given up the ghost at the removal of what Thesis surmised was the heart that kept them going. The angry roar from somewhere else on the island sounded again, and everypony in the group flinched.

“Don’t leave me out here! Let me in the shield!”

Desperado shook his head. “Ye started this, lad. Ye can finish it on yer own.”

“You assholes don’t even know what it is! I got the fruit, we need to keep it safe! This is valuable!”

“We needed to find out more about it first, Dust Devil! Now we don’t know what you’ve done, and our lives are in danger!” Thesis yelled.

“Then get us home! Fucking teleport!” Dust Devil yelled.

Thesis looked at Dust Devil and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when the shield went down, and a terrifying and powerful wind blew over them, knocking them to the ground.

“What? Desperado, what happened?” Thesis shouted.

For the first time since they had arrived on the island, Desperado looked worried. He turned to look at Thesis and his mouth dropped open in confusion. “I… I dunno.” He tried to cast again, but the moment his horn lit, it fizzled out again.

Dust Devil shook his head. “Fucking useless old goat. I’m out of here!” Dust Devil leaped into the air and was off, leaving everypony else behind. He disappeared through the treetops and was gone.

“Dust Devil, you coward!” Thesis yelled after him. “Come on, everypony, help me pick up Desperado, we don’t know what’s interfering with his magic, but we need to leave, now!”

Banger and Crash Test helped lift Desperado up and they were airborne in seconds. As they lifted off, Thesis could see the beanberry bushes around them begin to writhe and shrivel. A wave of decomposition passing through the foliage around them off to the side of the island the roaring sound had emanated from. They struggled up through the treetops, buffeted by the wind crossing the island, and when they cleared it, Thesis could see where all the life of the vines had gone.

There was a sphere of vines, whipping and snapping itself together at one side of the island. Trees in the distance were uprooted and tossed aside by the angry foliage as it tore up the ground. It was pulsing and undulating in the distance, and a wave of death for the beanberry plants was spreading across the island as whatever was happening over there became the focus for every single vine.

Dimly, Thesis was proud that she had been right about the beanberry plant being one interconnected plant covering the entire island, but whatever it was now doing was causing dangerous winds, and she struggled with the others to carry Desperado to the safety of the camp.

As they approached the campsite, Banger piped up. “Sh-shouldn’t we be, uh… heading back to the mainland?”

“I agree with Banger. I want off this place as soon as possible! I didn’t think I’d have to deal with weird magic!” Stormy Eye pleaded.

“Alright! Anypony that wants to leave, leave now, and take Desperado with you!”

Desperado tapped her on the hoof. “Nay, alright now. Gonna stay as long as ye will.”

“You sure? It’ll be tough to carry you myself.”

Desperado smiled, and in answer lit his horn and created the shield around them again. The buffeting winds were halted as they landed, and the group stayed close. Three of the tents had been crushed by a large branch that had been blown through the campsite. It was now clinging to the edge of the cliff, trapped on several rocks. Amusingly, the one that had been placed lower on the mud was the only one left standing.

Thesis didn’t have time to appreciate the irony, as she shouted commands to the rest of the group. “Grab what you absolutely must take with you of your personal items, and grab the samples you took! Leave the equipment! It’s the notes and information we want!”

The ponies scrambled about the camp for a few things, except for Banger, who hovered above the camp, wringing his hooves together. He was frightened, and refused to land. He shook his head, and flew in small circles, torn between staying to help, and fleeing for his life.

His decision was made for him when the rocks beneath their hooves began shaking. The stone cliff-face shook and rattled. Everyone except Desperado picked up what they had and started hovering, watching the leftover equipment as some of it fell over and shattered on the stone, unable to protect it.

The rock split, and Banger and Crash Test were gone at the first horrific crack. Stormy Eye was following behind them, but Shilling stayed to try to help Thesis and Desperado. He was passing items to Desperado, hovering just about the shaking ground when the split appeared beneath him and a vine speared up through the crack. It pierced right through Shilling’s wing in an instant, followed by several others piercing his legs and chest. More vines began stabbing up from underground all around the place, splitting the rock into neat chunks.

Thesis flew up higher and yelled at Desperado. “Desperado, get out of there now! Grab him and go!”

Desperado nodded, and his magic sheared through the vines. He grabbed Shilling in his magical grip and there was a flash of light, then they were gone. Thesis flew, as high and as far as she could get. She looked back once she was high enough away, and saw what was going on.

The sphere of lashing vines on one corner of the island was undulating. It appeared to have sent out the large and terrible vines that were tearing the island apart. Thick and thorny, with piercing tips and strong stalks that split even the stony parts of the island to pieces. The beanberry bushes that had once covered the island’s surface were all dead, and the trees that remained were beginning to fall under the onslaught. The only comfort that Thesis had was the sight of any vine that touched the salt water around it shriveling and drying up almost instantly. The ocean was going to be the only barrier between the reaching vines and the rest of Equestria.

As it continued to rage, the smashing vines began to lose their fury, and even the ones that weren’t touching Luna Bay began to slow and shrivel up. Their vibrant and furious green giving way to dead brown and stagnant grey.

The Vines

“What did we do?” Thesis wondered aloud.

The island had been destroyed. What was once covered in green trees and lush but poisonous vines was now a scattered wreck. The hills and mountains that covered it were rubble, rocks spilling into the sea around it, and most of the trees had been uprooted and thrown to the ground. The ball of vines, having spent the last of its energy, was collapsing in on itself, limbs spilling into the ocean to shrivel and fade.

Thesis flapped her way back across the bay to where the rest of the group was waiting. Stormy Eye had bandaged up Shilling with a few bits of cloth, but the wounds he had taken were large holes struck right through his body, and without medical attention, he wasn’t going to last long. Desperado and Stormy Eye were holding their hooves against his injuries, but it wasn’t going well, and bloody was still spilling out.

Thesis looked around, and saw there were only six of them there. “Where’s Dust Devil? Where’s Crash Test? Are they okay?”

Banger shook his head. “I-I-I d-don’t know where Dust, uh… Dust Devil is! We didn’t see him! Crash Test went to g-g-g-get help!”

“Help is on the way? Good.” Thesis went to look at Shilling. “How’s he doing?”

Desperado shook his head and frowned.

The pool of blood underneath Shilling was growing by the second. Slowly, but without better assistance than they could provide, he wasn’t going to make it. But he was bandaged with everything they had, and moving him any more was going to hurt him rather than help. She could see the medical pegasi flying in on swift wings, and the howl of a siren wasn’t far behind. There was nothing more she could do here, so she stepped back.

“Banger.”

He jumped at his name being said. “Y-yes?”

“Did you see where Dust Devil was going?”

He shrugged. “I think he was headed for the aca-aca-uh… academy. He had the fruit, and y-you know he was all about getting r…r-recognition.”

“You’re probably right. I’m going to have to head him off and try to recover this whole mess. Get my say in before he turns them against me. And we still don’t know why they wanted us to take that fruit.” Thesis stamped a hoof. “Damn it!”

She turned to Desperado, who was now using his magic to try to keep Shilling from bleeding out, constricting his wings and limbs for the medical pegasi while they waited for the carriage and the unicorns. “Desperado.” He turned to her. “Come to the academy as soon as you know Shilling is taken care of and safe. Banger, thank you. You’re a good pony.”

Banger waved and Desperado nodded. Stormy Eye and Cumulus didn’t turn to look, so Thesis just took off, buzzing off toward the academy.

The academy wasn’t far off, and Thesis made good time. The sirens behind her were comforting, at least letting her know that Shilling was going to get the help he needed. That meant Desperado would be along soon after. She needed a second voice to add credence to her own, or else it would be Dust Devil’s word against hers, and he had the benefit of actually carrying the fruit. Whatever it was. The academy was already struggling with the island and its usefulness to the scientific scene. Now that it was gone, the only thing of note was that fruit, and the pony who had it was likely to be the one that would get all the accolades, funding, and attention. Not to mention, the fruit might still be dangerous.

She landed on one of the upper floors, closest to the dean’s office. There were crowds gathered on the landing, staring out across the bay at the destroyed island and the great ball of dead vines that Thesis and her group had left behind them.

“Professor Thesis!” a voice yelled. “What happened on the island? Is everypony safe?”

“Everypony is fine. There were injuries, and a lot of equipment was lost, but everypony is still alive,” she said as she pushed through the crowd toward the dean’s office.

“The island is entirely destroyed! What happened to it?”

“Not answering that yet. Not until I find the pony responsible for it.”

“Somepony is responsible? Can you elaborate?”

Thesis looked at the pony spouting the questions and recognized her as a member of the academy news. She continued pushing past and ignored any further questions, even as they came a mile a minute. That would be making the headlines, that’s for sure.

She made it to the Dean’s office and didn’t bother to knock, but pushed inside. There were several ponies inside already, all members of the faculty, and all staring at the fruit, sitting on the desk, with Dust Devil smirking nearby.

The dean looked up at her as she entered. “Ah, welcome, Thesis. So good of you to actually come join us. Dust Devil here has been informing us of what happened on the island.”

Thesis scowled. “Oh, did he? What has he said? Did he tell you he foolishly stole a possibly magical artifact from the natives, angering them and the entire island?”

“He told us about this.” He motioned to the fruit laying on the desk. “And he told us how it’s a non-poisonous version of the beanberry. Why wouldn’t you bring something like this back immediately? This could revolutionize farming!”

Thesis opened her mouth, then noticed a tiny portion of one of the arms of the fruit was missing. She looked at Dust Devil, alarmed. “You bit it?”

Dust Devil shrugged. “I had nothing to lose if it was poisonous. I’m already out of bits and work. Needed somethin’ big, and you were content to just leave it there.”

“I was waiting until I understood it!”

“Not going to understand it by leaving it in the middle of the poisonous woods.”

“He’s right, Thesis. We have the equipment here to properly study this,” somepony said.

“Removing it from the island destroyed the natives, the beanberries, and the island!”

“And that’s a shame, but we knew about the beanberries, and nopony was using the island. According to Dust Devil, the natives turned out to be animate corpses, is that right?” the dean asked.

“I… yes. According to what we all saw, that is correct.”

“Then I would say Dust Devil has managed to contribute a wealth of information in a very short time,” the dean said. “It’s unfortunate, but we now know the natives weren’t actual ponies, we know this fruit was providing some sort of energy to the beanberries, and we also know it isn’t poisonous.” The dean stood up and put a hoof around Dust Devil’s withers. “At great risk to himself, we now know more about the island than we ever have, and we have a great source of possible energy or food. He deserves commendation.”

“For killing an entire race of ponies?”

“They were vines animating corpses. Nothing more.”

“They had a language! They had a leader!”

The dean waved a hoof dismissively. “Yet nopony could communicate with them and they were still animated corpses. I’d say we’re better off without them. I mean, who knows how they made more.”

“Maybe they did that with the fruit. Did you ever think of that?”

Dust Devil’s smug grin fell from his face and his eyes opened wide. He glanced at the fruit in worry, and had to stop a hoof as it rose up to his stomach.

“I mean, how long has it been since you ate some of it? Maybe half an hour, at most? There could be so many more effects that you aren’t aware of!”

“Well, then I guess we’ll see what they are eventually,” Dust Devil said haughtily.

“And what’ll you do if you get vines inside you?”

He didn’t have an answer, but he looked all around the room at anything but Thesis, lips pursed tight.

It was at that point, in the silence, that Dust Devil’s stomach growled. Everypony, following mention of vines in stomachs, backed away from Dust Devil. Even Dean Bombastic, who had been so supportive of Dust Devil’s antics before, pulled away from him.

Dust Devil bent over, hooves clutching his stomach, then he vomited a golden liquid. It was small at first, but the sound in his stomach got worse, and he cried out in pain, and vomited again. This time, blood came with it. Everypony backed away from him, some running for the doors.

Thesis shook her head. “Now all of you know why I sued for peace and further research first! Celestia’s ass, you stupid, stupid stallion!”

Dust Devil retched several times, drooling blood and gold.

“For Celestia’s sake, Thesis, stop gloating and call for the hospital!” Dean Bombastic yelled.

“He’s just puked up a gallon of blood and an unknown substance. What could they even do? There’s no record of such a poison in any database, I guarantee you that!”

Dust Devil retched again, and something bulged in his throat. Thesis backed toward the doors with the others as Dust Devil puked up some gold, glittering and solid, then he fell to the floor. As the bile, blood, and other fluids spread away from it, everypony could see that the golden object was his heart, still thumping, with vines growing from it.

Thesis recognized them at once, to her horror. “Beanberry vines.”

“What? Those poisonous berries from the island?” Dean Bombastic asked in panic.

“Just like you wanted, Dean. Dust Devil has given us more information about the island, its inhabitants, and the beanberries than we’d ever had before,” Thesis said.

The vines spilled out of the heart, feeding on the bile, blood, and golden liquid that Dust Devil had coughed up. The group of ponies at the door tried their best to pile out, but the crowd waiting on the other side started trying to push their way the moment the doors swung open.

Questions bombarded Thesis and the other academy officials from all sides, and in the ensuring confusion, the vines finished supping on the wasted flesh they had sprouted from. They began seeking out other sources of sustenance, and lashed out at the warm bodies of the crowd nearby.

Thesis felt something touch her feet, and yelped. She instinctively jumped into the air, and looked down to see a vine creeping under the hooves of the crowd. It twisted around somepony’s hooves and pierced into their skin. There was a yelp of pain, then another cry from elsewhere in the crowd.

There was a flash of light, and one of the ponies who had cried out used their horn to destroy the offending vine, the earth pony who was grabbed near Thesis slumped over, having no such protection. There was a moment where everypony didn’t quite know what was going, but once somepony near the fallen fellow saw what had happened, and everypony started listening to Thesis yell, panic broke out.

“Everypony get out of the room! It’s dangerous to be in here!” Thesis yelled. Ponies finally listened, and the crowd that had pushed so hard to get in, were now pushing equally as hard to get out.

The vines tore into the ponies around the room, grasping, grabbing, clawing and striking. Ponies pushed, screamed, and yelled as they tried to escape the room. The pegasi flew toward the upper section of the door and one of them was knocked to the ground as the stallions hit her out of their way. She fell into the crowd below and was lost in the small sea of bodies.

Thesis looked down at the crowd below her and at the vines coming out of Dust Devil’s heart. The more ponies they managed to grab, the more they began branching out, birthing more vines to reach even further. They began reaching into splits in the wooden walls and flooring, forcing them apart as they dug through the building looking for more lives to feed on.

Thesis followed the other pegasi out of the room, squeezing out of the doorway and out, down the hall and off the balcony she had landed on. She heard a fire alarm go off and thanked her lucky stars that somepony had the presence of mind to panic about the attacking plant and start an alarm.

But getting fireponies or police here wasn’t going to solve the problem if they didn’t know what was going on. They could chop and cut the vines as much as they liked, but if they didn’t clean out the source of it, then it wasn’t going to be solved. She hadn’t had time to research any further than the golden fruit and the poison of the beanberries, but if there was a source, then the roaring from the island was going to be it, and that had likely come from the heart if that was how the beanberry plant propagated. It had grown isolated on that island for too long, and likely had the corpses of explorers as the natives, which is why it never got anywhere else.

Thesis idly wondered how long it had spent trying to create a friendly façade for exploring ponies, but reasoned that it was moot, because those ponies were dead, and so was the original island plant. If the entire thing was one huge organism, then it stood to reason this one was going to grow and continue growing. Whether or not it kept any of the mannerisms, habits, poison, or growth the original one had remained to be seen, but she wasn’t looking forward to letting it get big enough to do that.

Thesis flew down to meet the approaching fire carts, with the crew of ponies clambering on and off them as they prepared for the fire.

“Thank you for coming! We have an emergency!” Thesis said.

“Where’s the fire, ma’am?” A firemare asked.

“There isn’t a fire, it’s something else! A monster!”

“A what?” The firepony immediately relaxed, lowering the end of the hose she was carrying in her magic. “Ma’am, if this is some sort of joke…”

“It’s not a joke! There’s a plant monster in the Dean’s office!” Thesis’ words were punctuated by a window on the upper floors smashing outward, followed by a pegasus and a long, grasping vine. It missed the pony it was reaching for, but began climbing down the outside of the building.

“Sweet Celestia! Axes ready, ponies! Backdraft, go get the police! We might need help on this one!” The firemare shouted, and pulled her axe off her uniform, dropping the hose to the ground.

“Wait, how will you-”

“We can handle this. Dean’s office. Plant monster. Get to safety, ma’am.”

The fireponies were off, heading into the building. Two pegasi flew up to the window they’d seen the vine coming from and began chopping at the vine hanging out of the window. It broke off easily, sap spilling out of the wound to the ground below.

“Dammit! You need to listen to me! Seawater! All we need is seawater!”

They weren’t useless, Thesis had to admit. The fireponies entered the building and immediately, ponies frantically left the building. Windows shattered all over the place allowing ponies who were trapped to exit. Thesis could see fireponies of all shapes and sizes carrying others out of the building. Some were injured, some looked gaunt, some had vines attached to them that the fireponies had severed and rescued them from. But still, until they got to the heart and stopped this unchecked primal growth, there wasn’t going to be a resolution to this. She needed help.

Thesis looked at the fire cart, with its long hose and pump. If she could get it closer to the coastline, it might just reach. But she wasn’t going to be able to do that alone. She was going to need help.

She left the fireponies to their rescue, hoping they would be able to save lives while she attempted to solve the bigger problem of the living heart. She flew back to the coast where she had left Shilling and the others. The only one left was Banger, who was rummaging through the bags and other supplies, stuffing items into his saddlebags. He jumped when she arrived, eyes flicking back and forth.

“Uh… uh… h-hello miss, professor Th-th-thesis,” he said with an awkward smile.

“Banger, I need your help and everypony else’s. Where’s Desperado and Stormy Eye?”

“They went to the academy, like you asked. Desperado teleported them all inside.”

Thesis stamped a hoof and cursed. Banger jumped at her sudden outburst. “Did he say where he was teleporting them to? The Dean’s office?”

“N-no. Somewhere on the first f-f-f-floor.”

That would put them in the fireponies path. They might still be okay, but she had to hurry. “Banger, come with me, I need your help. Things have gotten bad.”

“W-what? N-n-n-no! I, uh… d-d-d–”

“Shut up and come help! I’m going to need everypony I can get if we’re going to stop this thing! They don’t know what they’re dealing with in there and we’re the best they’ve got!”

Banger shut up and followed, mouth drawn in a tight line as he flew behind her back toward the academy. They could see the vines growing out of the upper floors, crawling down the sides of the building toward the ground and the crowd of ponies that were all circled around the place, waiting for the police and fireponies to deal with whatever was inside.

They appeared to be losing, unfortunately. Thesis could see at least one firepony trapped in the vine’s grip, sucked dry of life. There was a vine stuck inside the pony’s mouth, and the body appeared to be twitching. Given time, Thesis expected to see native-like ponies, complete with claws, spilling out of the building if they didn’t get this under control. She hadn’t seen them fight, but they looked strong, and could probably bring more bodies to the vines to help it grow and convert them into new servants it could use.

“Find Desperado! I need his magic! If you don’t want to get any closer, just find me volunteers! Any kind of volunteer, and tell them to meet me at the fire carts out front of the academy!”

“Uh… uh… okay?”

Banger and Thesis separated, flying through the crowd of hovering pegasi and sparse magical shields ponies had erected just in case. They were still gawking, creating a difficult mess for Thesis to search through for the ponies she needed.

“Desperado! Stormy Eye! Cumulus! Hello?” Thesis yelled as she went. She even stopped to ask a few ponies, but she got no affirmative responses.

Finally, when she was out behind the academy, searching through the crowd near the water, she found Desperado at the water’s edge. He was pulling water out of the bay with his magic and forcing it down a stallion’s throat. She landed next to them and watched, but made her presence known.

The stallion was choking on the water being shoved down his gullet, but there was a bulge in his throat that was working its way up the more water was being forced down. Eventually it reached his mouth, and the stallion vomited, a small ball of wilted vines plopping to the ground underneath him.

Desperado laid the stallion down with as much care as he could manage and double-checked to be sure the stallion was still breathing. He wiped his forehead and finally turned to Thesis, a grim look on his face.

“Where’d it come from?”

“Dust Devil ate some of the fruit.”

Desperado stamped his hooves and turned in a circle, cursing the whole while. Ponies near the two of them pulled away from the cursing, angry-looking stallion. When he was done and looked at her again, she smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

“It’s okay. It’s apparently how the plant propagates. It needs something to eat it, and then it uses the heart. But it’s still allergic to seawater, as I see you figured out. We need to get seawater onto the taproot in the Dean’s office. I need your help for that.”

Desperado nodded. “How?”

“The fire ponies are inside fighting a losing battle against constantly-growing vines. We need to take their cart and drop the hose into the bay. That’ll let us get more water flowing into the academy to kill it,” Thesis explained.

Desperado nodded. He checked the stallion gasping on the ground one more time to be sure he was alright, then galloped after Thesis as she led him back to the carts at the front of the academy.

They arrived at the carts to find Banger with Cumulus. There were no fireponies around, and few police. Most appeared to have gone inside to try to deal with the plants. It was going to be difficult, and if they got caught they would have to explain themselves along with possibly getting arrested. But in the interests of getting rid of the beanberry plant before it grew too large to stop, Thesis was willing to take that risk.

She outlined the plan as quickly as she could to those present. Banger looked scared, as usual, but everypony else was more than willing to help. Together, they hitched up Desperado and Cumulus to the cart. A couple of police officers staggered out of the building, sticky with sap. They saw the cart racing away and chased after them.

“Stop, in the name of the law!”

“I’m sorry! We need seawater to stop the plants!” Thesis yelled at them as they raced off. The police ponies had to stop and go back to help other ponies coming out of the hall, injured and looking gaunt like the pony Desperado had helped.

That reminded Thesis they would have to hunt through the populace for anypony affected by the plant. The natives had fallen apart, but they had been long dead. These ponies were still alive. There was so much she didn’t know about the beanberry plant, and there was no time to learn. All they could do was try to kill it, and make sure it was gone forever.

“Bring it around back! Near the landing pad by the Dean’s office! That’ll be the easiest access to it if we can bring the hose up through one of those windows!” Thesis shouted.

Desperado nodded. Thesis motioned to Banger and the two of them flew ahead, picking out a spot to park the cart, shooing ponies away from the area.

Once they had an area cleared, they tried their best to fix the distance so they could reach the sea and still get the hose up three stories to the Dean’s office. They also discovered that the internal tank on the cart was already filled with normal water.

“Does anypony know how this works? We need to empty it and get it pumping seawater!” Thesis shouted.

“I can do it. I volunteered for a short while,” Cumulus said, and began working with the devices on the cart. Shortly thereafter water began draining out of it in a deluge, spilling out onto the street.

“Desperado! Get the hose in the bay! Banger, I need you to help me carry it up to the third floor! We have to get it inside the Dean’s office somehow!”

“Uh…up th-there? That’s s-s-s-s-suicide!”

“We’re not going to fight the vines, but we need to see if it will reach! You won’t have to go in there. Just help me!”

Reluctantly, Banger picked up a portion of the wound-up hose while Thesis grabbed the end. He unspooled it as they lifted off and flew up toward the windows. When they approached, a couple of the vines lashed out at them, whipping at the air as they tried to nab the two ponies. Banger shrank back, tugging on the hose, and Thesis had to pull him closer. They couldn’t reach, yet. But if they got the hose working, those wouldn’t be a problem. They would wither away under the saltwater assault as surely as the heart, and it looked like they had enough hose from there to reach inside the window.

Thesis led the way back down to the ground, leaving the hose uncoiled and prepared to lift again. Desperado had dragged it over to the bay and had one end of the intake dunked into the way, and Cumulus was closing the tank back up.

Thesis trotted over to Cumulus, urgency in her voice as she spoke. “How do we make the pump work? I’ve seen them in action, but never tried to make one work.”

Cumulus pointed to a mechanism on the cart. It had a glowing node shaped like a unicorn horn, and nearby a bicycle set-up. “We can either get a unicorn to start it running with magic, or we can get a pony to run it by bicycle. It’s harder to start up in both cases, but once it’s going it’s easy. It will take one pony concentrating on it to make it continue, though.”

“Got it.” Without another word, Desperado’s magic gripped the false horn attached to the fire cart and it whirred to life. The machine buzzed, whistled, and gasped out air, then the telltale sound of water filling the tank could be heard. The hose connected to the bay straightened and filled out, and Thesis dove for the far end before the water began making its way through there.

“Banger, Cumulus! Help me!” Thesis yelled.

The two stallions grabbed portions of the hose, holding it as steady as they could as the water traveled through it. It jerked, twitched, and struggled to get out of their hooves, but only Banger lost his grip. Cumulus held it still as water began to trickle from the end, and Thesis carried the dribbling nozzle higher toward the third floor.

When she reached the third floor, the water was coming out at a steady pace. She took a look back below to see ponies gathered around the fire cart, curious as to what they were doing with it. Desperado, for his part, didn’t even glance at them, nor did he look at what was going on above, but he waited, patiently, keeping his focus on the magic to make sure the cart worked.

Finally, the water reached torrential levels, and Thesis struggled with it as she made to aim it higher. Her wings strained as she kept herself steady in the air, flapping as hard as she could to keep it level, and the water gushed out splashing against the bricks of the academy.

Any vines splashes by the water immediately shriveled. Any nearby that felt the death of their close friends twisted and writhed, pulling away from where their comrades perished, seeking shelter back inside from the salty water that sapped the life from them. Thesis laughed a giddy laugh as her plan worked, and chased after them, inch by inch as they gave way.

They eventually uncovered the window to the Dean’s office she had been looking form. The holes the vines had burst out of looked to be clogged with dead vines, so she aimed the water directly at the glass. It rattled, but didn’t give way. She thought maybe it would break if she were closer, so the advanced, wings moving her closer toward the offending barrier.

“Look out!”

Thesis saw a brick fall past the window and had time to flinch as a green blur came at her from above, and she was knocked spinning. The hose dropped from her grip and went spiraling down toward the ground, shooting water everywhere.

“What…?” Thesis looked above and saw Cumulus struggling with a vine. The brick had been blocking a small hole which the new vine must have been hiding behind, waiting for her to drop her guard.

“Get the hose, professor!” Banger yelled, and threw himself headlong at the vine.

Thesis spared only a moment, flabbergasted at the clear voice ordering her around before she dove after the falling spout. She wanted to look back, or try to help, but with all three of them fighting vines, nopony would be ready to poison them permanently.

Thesis struggled to grab the flailing hose as it spun about on the ground. When she finally had it, she zipped back up toward Cumulus and Banger. They appeared to be doing alright, but more vines were pushing their way out of the bricks, and it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. Cumulus was looking a little ragged, and Thesis had to assume the vine had bitten him. She needed to be quick.

“Incoming!” she yelled as she pointed the deluge of water at the two of them.

No sooner did the water hit them than the other vines nearby pulled back. They held the bricks in their sinuous grip and retreated behind the masonry, hiding from the salty spray.

The vines clutching Cumulus and Banger were dead, and Thesis could see them, soaked and dripping, spiraling slowly down to the ground. Banger held Cumulus tight, helping the weakened stallion flutter safely to the ground.

Thesis’ distraction almost let another one of the vines grab her, but she slipped out of the way and swung the hose to bear on it. She kept the spray going, making sure to watch around the window as well as at it, killing any vine that exposed itself and keeping the others tightly locked down.

She pushed forward again until she was close to the window and focused the hose on the glass. It rattled again, but didn’t break. She had to keep pointing it away from her target every so often to kill any wayward vines, until she heard a voice behind her.

“Incoming!”

There was a crack, then something flew by her head. It flew a rather lazy arc, but it hit the glass, cracked it, then fell lamely down to the ground.

“Oh… I t-t-t-t-tried.”

The glass creaked, buckled, and under the constant pressure, finally gave way. The cracked pane broke, letting the water in, and the other small panes in the divided glass slowly cracked and burst inward under the pressure.

“Yes! You got it, Banger! Good job!” Thesis yelled as she slowly fluttered forward.

“O-oh. Well th-then.”

The vines inside the building were flailing wildly. If Thesis were to put a name to the way they were acting, it would be frightened. At least, she hoped that’s what they were doing. The living vines had gathered up a bundle of the dead ones and were shielding the rest of them with the tied-up corpses of their dead!

“They’re getting smarter!” Thesis didn’t know if they were already this smart or if they were learning, but no matter which result it was, this plant was far too smart for its own good. It needed to be stopped.

Thesis avoided the shield of dead plants and aimed at the ceiling. The splashing water covered the roof, blew down the light fixture, and sprayed all over the bookshelves. It bounced off the ceiling, spread out, and covered the room in salty brine. There was a low rumbling and almost squawking noise coming from behind the shield as the vines holding it began dying from the salt.

The lumped vines began lifting into the air. Slimmer vines shot up to shield a thick knot that bunched up and ran along the floor. They started to shiver and Thesis could see a glint of gold through cracks in the shielding plants.

“Oh no you don’t!” Thesis yelled. “You can’t escape me, you beastly little thing!”

Thesis pulled the hose along the walls, throwing old bones and irreplaceable books around from the force of the deluge. She headed off the disgusting golden heart, wilting the vines waiting for it in the doorway, then slowly dragging the hose along the tunnel that had been created for its escape. The vines shuddered, that low thrumming sound beginning again as the golden heart was trapped in a pocket of green between two mounds of dead vines.

It was with great satisfaction Thesis turned the hose on the pocket of green. There was intense shivering, and the low thrumming began to hurt her ears. Her head felt like it was vibrating from the inside out as the vines covering it died. The hose finally hit the heart dead-on, unhampered by shields or other vines. It lashed out, vines spreading about the room, tearing holes in the walls, roof, and floor. Then just as suddenly as it began, it died.

The heart wilted. It lost its sheen, the gold giving way to flesh and blood. The vines coming out of the holes in it went limp, and congealed blood began to leak out around them. The vines leading out of the room that she hadn’t sprayed slowly went brown. She slowly pulled back out of the room, pointing the hose down toward the ground, and surveyed the scene.

The ponies around the area seemed to be calmer. The vines spilling out of the school were no longer moving, though they weren’t going brown as quickly as she had hoped. She flew to the landing where she had landed before and sprayed those down, giving the hallway inside a once-over before she turned away and floated down to Desperado.

He nodded as she approached and his horn turned off. “Y’got it?”

“I certainly hope so.”

“Let’s help clean up, then.”

Banger stayed with Cumulus while Desperado and Thesis entered the building on the ground floor to help the fire ponies and police ponies clean up. There were a lot of casualties, and many more injured. Fire ponies and police ponies alike didn’t know what they were dealing with, but they were good with their axes if nothing else.

Some of the ponies who had plants inside them could be saved without seawater, but there was little they could do for the animated ponies that just fell over when the signal from the heart was lost.

Thesis felt badly about that. It was such an amazing plant, and they had to kill it, all because somepony wanted money and fame. She couldn’t blame him. She’d asked to come to the island for just that same thing, but she had patience. He didn’t, and he had paid the price.

To be fair, she hadn’t expected this. Maybe a little poison, and he’d need a stomach pump or an antidote, but nothing like this. The plant was dangerous, and it was probably for the best it had been killed. As the vines grew more brown as time passed and they pulled more bodies from the mess of vines, Thesis was saddened by its loss, but glad it had been the last of its kind.

Far below the academy, behind an old boiler, a small glow would have been seen had anypony been down there to look. The vine it was connected to was purple, and it was holding the glowing thing off the ground. It was surrounded by cobwebs and dust, and although the vine that had brought it down here had shriveled up and fallen off, the golden glow was undiminished.

A rat passed by and touched the small, purple tower. A thin green vine lashed out and pierced its skull. The golden glow improved the slightest bit, and after a moment, the rat meandered off, returning some time later with a mouse in its jaws. The golden glow grew, bit by bit. It was small, but it was growing.

The End.