My Little Overlord: Harmony Desync

POV

Captain Smolder

The loud buzzing and chirping of the Everfree, an ominous cacophony of sound that bleated out into the early morning. Despite the charming and beautiful appearances on the outside, this grand forest was anything but those things at its core. Dangerous monsters, abnormal weather patterns, strange magic, and animals that tend to their own devices rather than embracing the domestic lifestyle that civilization brought. That's why it came as a rather annoying pain in Captain Smolder Spear’s flank when he heard the dramatic winning of the element bearer, generosity whining in the back.

“Egads! These wretched insects are getting in my beautiful mane! Ugh! Spiiiike, be a dear and fetch me my net hat?” The unicorn called to the dragon who seemed to follow the equine’s every beck and call, to the point that the captain was wondering if the little drake was a slave. When Spike retrieved the wide brimmed purple hat, Rarity used her magic to gently float it onto her head. She neatly began tucking her violet curls into a bun beneath the secure confines of her stylish travel accessory.

It only took one nudge of her manicured hoof for the white bug veil to come flopping down. It was all of course to keep any of the local pests from buzzing in her face. If it weren't for the fact this mission was so serious, the captain might have snorted at the rather annoying display. The mare rewarded the dragon with a soft and affectionate pat on his head, the act alone causing the drake to quake as he walked alongside her.

Flapping above them Fluttershy looked around, occasionally stopping on one of the trees, her hooves lightly running along the smooth bark. Her usual timid expression was melted away in order to give birth to one of mixed confusion and concern. It was only one that the captain had only seen when his scouts were actively observing anomalies in the environment. Floating down beside twilight with a leaf between her teeth she seemed to speak low, but with a little bit of base to her voice.

“T-Twilight, something isn’t right…my animal friends that live this far in aren’t responding to my calls, the habitat is acting strange too. L-Look…” Fluttershy stopped with Twilight who had been at the time scribbling notes down in a brown book, presumably an expedition log stopped to look at the simple leaf. The sudden halt to their steady tempo irked the Captain, but he said nothing other than giving his forward advancing troops a sharp whistle.

Holding one hoof up in the ‘hold’ gesture, caused the front end of the forward marching party to stop, along with the rest in the long line back. The positioning of his guards encased the caravan’s straight shaped line, with an arrow formation of Earth Pony spearmen leading and protecting the rear. They would be supported by the unicorn battle mages behind them, formed in a neat firing line. Traversing by air flanking either side of the caravan were the Pegasus units, watching perched from the branches of trees when they stopped on command.

Three air scouts were sent ahead of the expedition to both validate Miss Daring Do’s route, and to ensure that no threats may be lying in wait. With every moment they remained stationary it made Captain Smolder more antsy. His hardened gaze peering into every dark corner of the Everfree within his sight, sizing every bush like a Manticore was gonna leap out. His golden unicorn magic tightly grasped the handles to his massive glaive, “The Sun Sliver”.

While most Unicorns focused on long range engagements, the Captain preferred to tangle with the threat head on like an Earth Pony. This role and combat style he used for battle went down in history as the first ever Magus warrior pony. His unique skill was to direct his magic flow from his horn to his hooves, then to his weapon to magically amplify his spells. It made him quite the foe to reckon with through his career. Even during training both Celestia and Prince Shining Armor were present for both his knighting and promotion to Captain of The Royal Guard.

“These Everfree leaves are growing all wrong, they have more veins then they should…and l-look!” Using her wings Fluttershy lightly split the leaf in half, slowly pulling them apart to reveal a sappy, glowing, shimmering blue substance that roped the two ends together. Whatever it was, the substance smelled oddly sweet, uncomfortably so to the point that both Twilight and the captain scrunched up their snouts ever so slightly.

“Hmm…these plants, I’m no expert at botany, but even so…I’m positive that Everfree leaves never had that kind of scent or consistency to them when split…wait, hold up a moment Flutters, don’t move.” Twilight mumbled, her magic holding up her booklet and quill.

“E-eep! O-okay…” Fluttershy squeaked, holding the leaf in either of her trembling wingtips while her friend examined the leaf. Both her and Captain Smolder would watch as Twilight tapped the gem on her bracelet before closing her eyes. It only took a brief moment of uncomfortable silence before the Alicorn mare would open her eyes again.

“Fluttershy…? Where did you find this particular leaf?” Twilight asked with a skeptical look, her eyes focused on the seemingly insignificant leaf. Fluttershy motioned with a hoof to the tree she flew down from with Twilight’s gaze following her friend’s hoof all the way. Twilight would close her eyes again, staring at the tree in question only to let out a small gasp that caused Fluttershy to jump.

“W-w-w-what is it T-Twilight?” The element of Kindness barely managed to stammer out just as her friend’s softly glowing eyes opened. Twilight turned to Smolder Spear with a grim expression.

“Captain, send a scroll ahead to tell the scouting party to hold position, we are gonna halt and set camp for the night here. I need to take further samples of these trees…something is wrong here, very, very wrong.” The sudden seriousness within the princess’s voice made the Captain stand rigid in his gold plated armor, his glaive pointing up as he gave the mare his salute.

“As you wish princess, lieutenant Twinkles! Send the forward marching party the message to hold and secure their position until further notice, and to send us that status report.” He barked at his guards, rallying them into swift action. One of the supporting Unicorn mages swiftly wrote off on a parchment before promptly rolling it up and burning it in the transport lantern connected to the broken off scouting party. Another similarly wrote more detailed notes but these went back to the guards in the rear of the caravan

.Twilight approached the tree with saddlebags in hoof, removing a small sample kit from her bag. "Applejack! I need your assistance please!” Twilight called back a couple hundred hooves from their position. Applejack, the element mare of honesty, broke off from Pinkie Pie’s side, running full gallop to Twilight who was positioning a metal tap up against the tree. With the telekinetic swing of a hammer, the metal spike of the tree sap tap was buried into the smooth bark of the tree.

“What is it Twi? What's with the whole tap thang…ah doubt y’all be collectin sap to make some Everfree syrup up here.” The country mare smirked, raising a brow as she blew up causing some loose blond mane to blow softly from her eyes. The Captain knew a strong mare when he saw one, and the rumors he heard were certainly not that far off describing her. Applejack wasn’t the tallest of the Apples, average height at best for a mare her age. She made up for that with heavy amounts of muscle that surpassed the typical Earth Pony.

“I want your opinion on this tree…do you see or feel anything off about it?” Twilight asked calmly while the rest of the group broke off behind them. The straight line caravan had broken off into three camps, each setting up as planned while the two examined the tree.

Applejack rested her hoof on the rough bark of the tree, closing her emerald green eyes slowly, feeling along the rough surface. The gem on her bracelet glowed, causing her hooves to stiffen briefly. After a moment of adjusting to this new sight she ran her forehoof along the surface in a circular motion, her ear pressing against the tree as if holding it in a loving embrace.

“Ah…Ah ain’t seen anythang like this Twi...When Granny picked our soil and had us examine our trees, they had this certain…feelin to um if ya catch mah drift. It was a family secret, one that helped us know if them trees were gonna give us good fruit that harvest..” Applejack continued to drag her hooves along the bark, focusing them at a specific part just above the sap tap.

“Really…? Well, what do you feel right now about this particular tree?” Twilight asked while leaning in closer to the orange mare who had furrowed her brow into a confused glare while her eyes shut, her ear square against the tree now.

“I…Ah know it sounds weird Sugarcube, but ah think this tree is angry…that's the best ah could describe it right now. It feels like it's eyein me up somethin fierce, but really it feels like it's eyein you...like it’s barely being restrained…beggin to be let off the leash.” Applejack opened her eyes, the green irises glowing a soft shade of lime green.

“Hmm...very strange…thanks Applejack…” Twilight said quietly, swallowing the golf ball sized knot in her throat from her friend’s creepy input. The tap slowly oozed a thick glob of purplish sludge into a glass vial which she promptly corked off when it filled a quarter of the way up. She removed the tap from the bark before watching with in slight apprehension as the hole it left behind slowly closed.

Applejack nodded while adjusting her Stetson with a disgruntled, and rather perturbed feeling streaking across her seemingly unshakable resolve. To Captain Smolder the mare looked like a soldier who had looked into the field of battle, saw something that they wish they could take back, but this wasn’t a battlefield, this wasn’t a war, it was a leap into the unknown.

This was a Celestia. God. Damn. Tree. Nothing more, nothing less, just another creepy thing in a long list of disturbing things in this humid jungle of chaos. Nothing about this place made sense, so trying to put logic or reason to it in Smolder’s opinion was nothing more than a waste of time. Swinging his halberd within his magical grip he sliced a Parasprite flying by in half without even looking, the creature disappearing in a puff of white smoke.

“Second lieutenant… have all fliers position in the treetops, I want 24/7 eyes on those woods, make sure that each camp keeps their fire lit, if anything changes, toss the pink signal crystal powder into the flames. The barriers around the camp sites can only be maintained for so long, we can't have any gaps in maintaining the spells.” Smolder ordered, his cold look unchanging, a continuous stare that kept his guards in a constant state of unrest, something that needed to be done less they be struck while their tails were up.

POV

Twilight Sparkle

The Mobile Lab, one of Twilight's more brilliant inventions, for when somepony wanted to do science on the go. The steam powered trailer was drawn by two powerful Earth Pony guards, both equipped with purple armor as the princess’s personal guard. Ever since her coronation to becoming an Alicorn it had the added benefits of hoof picking her own guardsponies. Each one chosen was picked for their individuality and free spirit, allowing her to mesh well with them both on and off duty.

With the guards unhitched and pleasantries exchanged, Twilight pulled the lever resting on the back of the trailer. The result was a slow, fluid, and graceful process which drew the curious eyes of many ponies as it fully unfolded. Upon finishing the process a series of tables, wall mounted gear, and the coal powered generator were elegantly fixed in place. WIth test tubes, magnifying gem scopes, and machines at her disposal, the scientist Alicorn was ready to work on the samples she had collected.

The night was filled with soft and quiet banter with the Pegasus keeping diligent watch over the camp and beyond while Twilight worked. Her friends were the ones doing the most chatting, with two of them broken off into each camp. Rainbow Dash and Applejack in camp three, Pinkie Pie and Rarity at camp two, lastly Fluttershy and Twilight herself at one. Spike as usual kept stuck to Rarity while she pampered the drake with treats a plenty. Thankfully Applejack was able to keep RD in check so she wouldn’t crush poor Daring Do with all her fanfilly inquiries and autograph requests.

Beneath the Microscope Twilight gazed upon the mysterious blue sap that had been drawn from the tree. With the slightest twist of the crystal she could peer into the petri dish in different visual spectrums. She watched as xylem cells were consumed by a seemingly alien blue mass.

“Hmmm…” Twilight hummed, squinting her eyes as she peered in closer at the cellular predators feasting on the sap’s plant cells.

It churned them up then began spitting them out as more purple tinted cells, similar to the flood of green that they once were. Something was changing every cell, splitting them into these strange purple replicants. Taking out a long, thin, microscopic probe with her magic, she gently began moving it into the frame of her microscope lenses. She sank it into the cluster of purple cells, and with the slightest flash of her horn sent a thin stream of her magic into the cluster of the purple cell clones. The result was an instant reaction, the purple cells thrashing wildly, almost as if they were being energized by her magic. “Amazing…” Twilight muttered under her breath.

The cells when given the slightest drip of magic would pulse, actively throbbing a bright violet color, to the tandem of a resting heartbeat. It was an incredible yet unnerving sight to behold. However just as quick as it began it stopped, the cells gradually seeming to burst like balloons, dying out. ‘Now way…it's only been this long and the cells are already dying…? Maybe they can’t survive long outside the tree?’ She thought.

These notes along with many others were written down in her notes, as well as an accurate drawing of the cells she witnessed, naming these purple replicant cells “Imposter Cells” seeing as no noted micro bacteria or viral contaminants documented could be paired to this anomalous virus. It acted like a virus, the blue blob consuming and replacing normal cells with these Imposter Cells. Whatever they were, it would seem that whatever landed in the Everfree was not only mutating things at a magical level, but a cellular one too.

“What is it that they are mutating into…?” Twilight mumbled under her breath just as she was snapped from her stupor by something out of the corner of her eye. It was a flicker of white light just as she was blinking. She had inadvertently seen something move while her eyes were shut, an unfamiliar aura. When she closed her eyes again she could see the forest more clearly than before, observing the familiar auras that the Solar guards were attached to, as well as the kindness aura that tethered itself to Fluttershy. It accumulated as a pink and butter yellow fog that surrounded her in a wispy outline.

The trees were different, up close they had a green aura, however further away it seemed to have encroaching veins of purple and blue consuming it. What really caught her attention out of all the auras was the moving white blob, and rather than a misty cloud it seemed to take on a more solid shape. It weaved in and out of trees, slowly moving, but when she opened her eyes the blob had nothing attached to it…?

Twilight squinted her eyes, moving from her position at the desk and towards where the white blob had been moving. Fluttershy, who had been silently munching her daisy sandwich, saw this and slowly went after her friend. She was concerned as to why she was leaving the safety of the camp, and what for. “I-Is everything ok Twilight…?”

The purple Alicorn nodded before softly shushing her friend. “I think I saw something…I wanna check it out…” She whispered, moving further and further from the glow of the campfire. When Twilight closed her eyes again she saw the white blob, this time with more detail the longer she closed her eyes. It was bipedal, walking on two muscular legs, broad torso, and arms that seemed to stretch slightly down to its waist.

The being was similar to that of a minotaur mixed with the traits of a primate chimp. Each digit was curled slightly, one holding onto what appeared to be a wooden club. Its head was on a swivel, wide, intelligent, milky eyes darting around while its mouth opened and closed in soundless words. Twilight could see its lips moving, but no sound escaped, however from its mannerisms it appeared to be calling out to somepony…?

“Fluttershy…look, do you see that? Close your eyes!” Twilight whisper yelled to her friend who quietly squeaked in response before screwing her large eyes shut. Her fear melted into confusion, concern, and awe at the creature. When she opened her eyes it was gone, when closed she could see it again. The creature in her zoologist mindset could tell it was in fact a he. She was unsure of the leafy articles he was wearing, presumably clothes, though one thing was for certain, this poor creature was scared.

“I-It looks like he's trying to avoid something…a-and he doesn't appear to see us…wait…why is it stopping?” Fluttershy stammered out as both friends watched the creature stop in his tracks. The creature turned its head, looking around like it heard something, then seemingly locked eyes with both ponies. His face contorted into one of alarm and terror, lips opening and closing in a pleading series of vocalizations that neither could hear, its weapon was raised in defense.

[WARNING BLOOD AND GORE: Start]

“Don’t worry we aren’t here to hurt you…we just need to ask you some ques-” Twilight started and stopped from the sudden jerk of the creature’s aura. He fell backwards as if something invisible had tackled him to the dirt. His terror stricken face morphed to one of pain as he soundlessly screamed. Claw marks slashed down his chest, slicing open the leafy shirt it had been wearing to reveal the gaping 4 cuts along his torso.

His neck jerked up as what looked to be teeth marks pocked the furless flesh along his neck. His upper half jerked left and right as something appeared to thrash him on the ground. In a grotesque and horrifying display his arms were jerked out. More teeth marks appeared on his forearms, forcing them out in a T shape, while his legs were also yanked out by the haws of somthing big.

These invisible creatures tugged, thrashed, and maimed the biped’s aura…or perhaps it's Phantom? More claw slashes dug into his stomach, cutting, ripping, tugging until his entrails spilled from his chest cavity like a fleshy balloon. Somehow he was still alive, eyes rolled up in their sockets while his neck gushed in the force’s maw.

With one last tug from all over his limbs were ripped from their sockets, flesh, muscle, and nerves snapping, tearing like wet noodles. His neck sharply snapped backwards, even without sound Twilight could surmise its misery only ended at the sudden neck break. Both ponies watched, pale faced, frozen with fear as the creature’s aura faded into nothing. With a violent gag Fluttershy puked her daisy sandwich up onto the floor, her eyes opening to reveal pools of tears trailing down her yellow cheeks.

[GORE END]

“W-w-w-what…c-could h-h-ave p-possibly d-d-done that…t-that poor critter…I-It was pulled apart!” Fluttershy cried out, while Twilight swayed, trying not to throw up herself. The scene was so gruesome, churning her stomach in many different ways. The mare had never seen death, nothing like this, and seeing it as it was…was traumatizing.

“F-fluttershy…we have to get back to ca-” Twilight started just as the loud growl escaped the foliage in front of the two. From it a pair of red eyes burned through the leafy green. What came leaping from the bushes was a giant wolf…a timberwolf, no… something else. It would seem that whatever mutagen was affecting the trees had also been affecting its local wildlife. The wooden wolf stood from its low 3’7 height to a staggering 5’10 on all fours alone. Each paw was lined with razor sharp stone claws which sank into the dirt.

Its birch wood chassis was layered like white armor, sticks sharpened to a point like quills diagonally running down its back. Its muzzle was opened to reveal serrated teeth and a sappy leaf tongue. Thick, long, Everfree palm leaves ran down its neck like a mane, further complimenting its horrific transformation. More of these wolves crawled from the shadows, licking their splintered fangs hungrily, some even with flecks of dark blood staining them. What little gaps in their armor showed were for the cleanly carved joints and various cracks that oozed with purple light. In the center of each Birch Hound was a beating green sphere.

The looks in their eyes…Twilight felt it, their desire, their desire not to consume…but to kill, the same feeling she had sensed within the tree, just like Applejack. It confirmed her suspicions, her deep rooted dread spreading throughout her trembling body.

The forest was coming to life…and they were not welcome here…