Following the river all the way back, I found a waterfall with a small open space behind it. It was the perfect shelter, and after getting past the cascading falls, I found the driest spot and put Fluttershy down. By now, her forehead was more red than yellow, with blood still oozing down from somewhere under her hairline. Taking her saddlebags off and sitting beside her, I opened up the medical bag and rummaged around until I found one of the wooden pots that contained the Oozima. I then combed back her mane to find that the underneath was totally matted with blood.
“This needs rinsing…” I murmured.
Rummaging through the medical bag once again, I found one of the empty Oozima bottles that had long since been spent. I went back to the river and held the bottle tightly as I dipped it into the rampantly churning water. Once it was full, I returned to the pegasus and sat back down, lifting her head to rest it on my thigh. I rinsed away most of the blood and was able to locate the wound; it was a nasty cut, accompanied by a swollen bump that was nearly the size of a golf ball. With a heartfelt tut, I carefully poured a dollop of Oozima onto it and used a finger to evenly space it out, ensuring the bump was completely covered. After putting the bottle away, I placed the saddlebag under her head as a makeshift pillow and then rested beside her, unsure of what else to do. Still partially in shock, I wasn’t able to think clearly, and just sat there in something of a trance, staring at Fluttershy and continually looking to see if she was still breathing.
With the collar still around my neck, I gave Twilight an update, letting her know that I was somewhere safe, and that I had treated Flutters’ head wound. She praised my actions, and informed me that she and Rarity had gone off in the same direction that Applejack and Pinkie had run in, hoping to find them. They had no luck so far, but I did my best to assure her that they would be fine.
{You know AJ.} I told her, {That mare’s unbreakable. She killed an astute with one strike from her bare hooves for crying out loud! If anything, it’s her the dinosaurs need to be afraid of…}
{I know, but it’s Pinkie I’m more worried about.} she replied.
Inhaling deeply, I told her that Pinkie would be fine too. In fact, Applejack had probably run away from us for the very purpose of keeping her safe. With Rommel also running their way, I could imagine the three of them were together now, doing exactly what we were doing; searching for somewhere safe to hunker down, until we could all find each other again. Smirking, I told Twilight that with Pinkie being Pinkie, she would probably end up having a ‘hunch’ of some sort, and lead them back to us.
{You’re probably not wrong…} she grumbled, before chuckling in thought, {At least Applejack has the main food supply, so Pinkie won’t die from not having her dinner tonight.}
That brought a smile to my face, only for it to immediately vanish, as the comment brought a much more serious implication. Applejack could feed her group with the main provisions, Rarity could feed Twilight from the refrigerated stock, but what the hell were me and Flutters going to eat?
{Ooh, idea!} said Twilight, and I could picture her springing up with excitement.
{Do tell?} I inquired, humming aloud.
{I’ve got Sir Edmund’s journal.} she elaborated, {He said it himself on the first page, he documented every aspect of this place! You think a guy like him didn’t research what’s edible or not here?}
{Yes!} I cried out, {Oh Twilight, you bloody genius!}
Pleased with herself, Twilight excitedly confirmed that as soon as she made camp with Rarity, she would peruse the journal for any sections that alluded to consumable flora and fauna. For now though, I simply had to sit tight and watch over Fluttershy. She eventually woke up, and immediately began to wince in response to her injuries.
“Hey you.” I said lovingly, quickly approaching her.
She opened her mouth to greet me, only to whimper loudly upon realising just how much pain she was in. With tears quickly welling up in her eyes, she looked at me and began to cry.
“It hurts…”
“I know, I’m sorry.” I sighed, “I’ve put some Oozima on it for you. It was a really nasty knock.”
“My… My chest hurts too… It hurts to breathe!”
That was my doing…
Clenching my jaw, I confessed that I had broken one of her ribs while I was resuscitating her, possibly even two, judging from how loud the snap had been.
“It definitely feels like two!” she mewled, clamping her eyes shut.
It took a few moments for her to compose herself. Clenching her jaw and sniffing, she steeled her mind and forced herself to become acclimated to the pain. Now thinking a littler clearer, her medical mindset kicked in and she gestured to her saddlebags, where she asked me to retrieve a silver box for her. Doing as she asked, I practically had to climb inside to find it, buried amongst the many rolls of bandages. Opening it up, I was met by numerous vials that contained an iridescent milky fluid, along with a very long syringe. Grimacing, I knew exactly what this was; it was the same stuff she had injected me and Twilight with after our brutal fight near the mansion. The unicorn had messed me up terribly during that battle, and I in turn had literally almost killed her, giving her internal bleeding and breaking about as many of her bones as I could count on both hands. If not for this substance, there was a very real possibility that she wouldn’t have pulled through. Recalling even further back, I had been given a shot of this stuff before, back in Brazil when I had burned my hand on Twilight’s horn during yet another one of our confrontations.
“Bloom, right?” I queried, just to be sure.
“That’s right.” she confirmed, “I didn’t know you’d remember that.”
“There’s not a lot I’ve forgotten over the past year.” I replied pensively.
“Has it really been a year?”
“Almost.” I muttered, “You lot showed up in early June. It’s now the tail-end of May, so yeah, in just a few weeks, you’ll have been here for a whole year.”
“Gosh…”
Loading up the syringe with a vial, I took the mare’s foreleg and searched for a vein. She helped me locate the best one and then clamped her eyes shut, unable to watch as I slid the needle into her. With a squeak, she tried to remain still, while I injected her with the Bloom.
“Now you know how it feels.” I teased, winking at her.
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she admitted that it was far easier being the one to deliver the shot, as opposed to the one receiving it. I pulled the needle out and grabbed a cotton pad from the silver box, sticking it onto the spot where I had prodded her. Thanking me, she slumped back down and let the Bloom do its work, sniffling loudly and feeling incredibly sorry for herself. Telling me that she was feeling cold, I started thinking long-term and realised that I needed to get a fire going at some point, both to warm us up and to cook something later down the line.
“Will you be alright if I go and get some wood?” I asked.
Fluttershy nodded, and I made my way out from behind the waterfall to harvest from the trees further downstream. I also took the empty saddlebag that we used for hiding in, as it would make carrying all the wood far easier, and much more efficient. Felling one of the smaller trees, I found that Vitra ‘Aku made for an unmatched gatherer, as I was able to cut down and divide all the wood required for the night without breaking a sweat. I was about to head back when Twilight started frantically shouting to me over the collars.
{Callum, those damn astutes are back!}
My eyes widened, and I looked up to the top of the cliff, wishing like never before that I could fly like the pegasi. Without the ability to reach her, I had no choice but to stand there panicking as she relayed information back to me. Apparently there were about seven of them, darting from bush to bush as they encircled her and Rarity.
{Rare’s got the rifle ready but we’re scared to shoot, in case it lures that big thing back!}
{Where are you exactly? Woodland or open field?}
{Open field.} she answered, {There are bushes and ferns here and there, but no real hiding spots.}
{Don’t shoot unless you absolutely have to.} I advised, {Tell Rarity to use more illusory magic, try to scare them off with some tricks or something.}
Forwarding the instruction, Rarity emitted some smoke above them that flashed brightly like a strobe light. It made the astutes back off, but they still continued to stalk them from a distance.
{If I had my magic, they’d all be dead already!} Twilight spat angrily, and I could tell from her tone that she was struggling to keep it together.
I too, was beginning to lose my cool; if those raptors chose to attack, I would have to stand here uselessly and listen to my best friend be torn apart. Pacing anxiously, I listened as she told me they were moving uphill and out of the ferns to have a better view of the damn things. And then, just as things seemed bleak, Twilight had me falling to my knees with relief.
{Callum! It’s Rainbow Dash! She’s found us! She saw the smoke!}
{Oh thank goodness…} I sighed to her, releasing a shaky breath.
{She’s fighting them off, and Rarity’s doing what she can with her magic…}
Closing my eyes, I begged for the collars to allow me to see through her eyes, but alas, all I could perceive were her thoughts as she described the fight to me.
{Rainbow’s just killed one… Now she’s chasing another… Oh, Rarity just got one! sh*t, they’re coming around from the other side now… I’m so f*cking useless, I need my magic!}
{Hey, focus!} I commanded, {Work with what you’ve got. Magic or not, you can help!}
There was a moment of silence as she presumably focused more on the encounter. With my eyes still closed, I continued trying to attune to her senses more, which came to no avail. Pummelling the ground with a fist, I cursed Hawnu Rey’eng for making these collars without the ability to swap bodies in the waking world, or at the very least, to become fully enveloped in Twilight’s perspective. Hearing snippets of the raptor attack was nothing short of torture, and I couldn’t help but emit a bellow of panicked anger.
{Talk to me Twi, what’s happening!?}
{You know how you said ‘not now’ when you were in the river?} she snapped back, {NOT f*ckING NOW, CAL!}
Swallowing, I started anxiously picking at my fingernails, clicking them against each other while I waited for more information. At last, the fight came to a close, as the Astutosaurs finally made their retreat, having lost another cluster of their pack. But much to my despair, the girls hadn’t come out unscathed.
{Rarity’s been scratched up pretty bad, but nothing too deep.} Twilight informed me, {She’s in the middle of dressing the worst of it with some fabric from her bag.}
{And you?} I asked, {Are you alright?}
{Not really…} she professed, {One of them came from behind and bit my leg. I was able to buck it in the face though, which knocked it out. Then I… finished it off.}
{Well done.} I praised, smiling weakly, {Don’t think too much on it, leaving it to wake up would have been too much of a risk. How bad are you bleeding?}
{I’ll live, if that’s what you’re asking.} she told me, {It’s Rainbow that I’m worried about.}
Gulping, I asked how bad it was, to which I learned that the pegasus had been grabbed by about three of them at the same time. One had torn a chunk out of her shoulder, with another making off with a huge wad of her tail. The worst injury however, was to one of her wings. Supposedly one of the astutes had tugged at her right one so violently that it had temporarily come out of place, tearing the muscle and damaging the ligaments. It went without saying that she was now rendered flightless again for a while, and after only regaining her ability to fly back in February, the pegasus was currently howling inconsolably, traumatised once again as memories of the abhorrent plucking in Brazil flooded her mind. Worse still, this injury meant that she would be incapable of flying down here to find us by the river. She wouldn’t be able to bring any supplies from Rarity’s stock, nor could we provide any aid from the medical bag. By the time either pegasus was fit to fly again, we would all be totally lost, and goodness knows how many miles apart. In other words, we were now truly alone and would have to fend for ourselves, with nothing but the collars to keep our two groups in contact.
{Rainbow’s completely fallen apart, Cal… I’m talking a complete breakdown.}
{Just get her somewhere safe.} I ordered, {Set up camp and dress your wounds as well as you can, but don’t overdress them or they won’t dry. The last thing we need right now are any infections.}
Taking heed, Twilight told me that she probably wouldn’t be very talkative from here on out while she searched for somewhere to make camp with Rarity. I assured her that that was fine, and although we kept the collars on, we essentially went off-comms mentally. Realising that Fluttershy would be getting anxious about where I was by now, I made my way back to her on the double.
“Oh thank Celestia, I was starting to worry about you!”
“It’s not me you needed to worry about.” I grumbled, stepping in behind the waterfall.
Dumping the wood out onto the stone floor, I filled her in on what had happened, leading her to cover her mouth in shock. Understandably she became very upset, but she thanked me all the same for the update. She continued to rest, fretting over her friends’ wellbeing, while I used Vitra ‘Aku to cut the wood even finer, along with shredding the bark into paper-thin strips that would serve as a useful fire-starter. Finding a nice dry patch near the mouth of our little cove, I carved a divot into the rock to make a little firepit, and then created a nest of tinder from all the shredded bark.
Despite having essentially no experience in firemaking in the wild, I had watched enough videos of other people doing it to know what I needed to do. Finding the most appropriate stick, I got to work at spinning it between my hands, slowly but surely generating heat via friction. Fascinated by the process, Fluttershy came over to watch. I spent about twenty minutes going at it, and although my hands were sore by the end of it, I was at last able to create a little puff of smoke, and with a few more determined lengths of the stick, I had enough embers for the first flame to appear.
“Ha!” I shouted, dropping the stick, “Fire!”
Thumping my chest like a gorilla, I had Flutters giggling away as I danced around the flame. Grunting and gruffing, I fully embraced the primitive masculinity, and the euphoria that came with it.
“Hooh! Me make fire! Hooh hooh! Caveman make fire! Oogah boogah! Me have the big strengths and the big smarts! I unga, therefore I bunga!”
Wheezing, Fluttershy begged me to stop as it hurt her chest to laugh. Conceding, I apologised and came to a chuckling standstill, and then loaded more kindling on top of the fire to add to its size. Despite being in a shallow cave, the smoke was thankfully carried out by a draft, courtesy of the waterfall outside.
As we warmed ourselves by the crackling flames, Twilight got back into contact with me and confirmed that her group had put a camp together and settled down. I thanked her for letting me know, and while Rarity cooked some food for them, Twilight took out Sir Rockwell’s journal.
{Right, let’s see here…} she hummed, perusing the pages, {Ooh, he’s created individual dossier pages for everything, both for flora and fauna! Oh, I like that very much! He’s done sketches too!}
{Very nice.} I said bluntly, {Now less swooning, more reading.}
{Yes, of course, sorry!}
Flipping through until she reached the flora section, Twilight found roughly a hundred pages that covered all the plants, mushrooms, and fruits that grew in this place. Noting that I was near a river, she suggested that I searched for a cluster of small white flowers, which supposedly grew near fresh water. The flowers themselves sprouted from an edible tuber that Edmund had come to call a ‘savoroot’, of which was described to be highly nutritious, and best likened to a potato. Leaving Flutters by the fire, I set myself on a mission to find some before it got dark.
The Moon Tree was just beginning to dim when I found a patch, and after some digging, I returned with enough savoroot to feed the both of us for the night. Without a proper cooking pot, I dug around in the medical bag to find a suitable alternative, and found a surgical tray that would do nicely. Despite being rather shallow, it was deep enough to be filled with some water, and I took to slicing the savoroot up into thin little discs, similar to dauphinoise potatoes.
“Ooh, that’s inventive…” Fluttershy hummed, observing me with great interest.
Creating a stand for the tray, I put the savoroot on to boil. There wasn’t enough room in the tray to feed the both of us, and so I had to make two batches. Tucking in, we found the tubers to be very tasty, despite their earthy aftertaste. After eating, Fluttershy retrieved a shock blanket from the med bag, which would be our only escape from the hard stone floor. Placing it by the fire and lying down, the two of us tried our best to get comfortable.
I informed Twilight that we were off to sleep, and with how exhausting today had been, it didn’t surprise me in the slightest that she was doing the same. She was already in her tent with the others, lying beside Rarity. Poor Rainbow Dash was still in a lot of pain, and was miserably keeping to herself in one corner, quietly crying. With a heartfelt sigh, I suggested that Twilight ought to peruse Rockwell’s journal for any medicinal herbs that might provide some relief.
{That’s a great idea.} she chirped, {I’ll do that first thing tomorrow morning.}
{Good stuff, fingers crossed you can find something.} I replied, {Goodnight Twi, hope you sleep okay.}
{With how bad this bite hurts, I doubt it.} she bitterly confessed, {Still, I’ll do my best. Goodnight Cal…}
Putting an arm around Fluttershy’s midsection, I closed my eyes. Soothed by the crackling of the warm fire, it didn’t take long for the two of us to succumb to exhaustion, and within the space of a few minutes, we had both drifted off…
Two days passed, and there was still no word from Applejack, Pinkie, or Rommel. Twilight’s group were healing slowly, with Rainbow Dash still unable to fly. Fluttershy and I had moved on from the waterfall, as sticking around wasn’t going to get us any closer to the others, let alone the Orb shard. Both our groups agreed that the most logical thing to do was to keep making our way to the Moon Tree, and hope that we found one another along the way. There had been a suggestion for Rarity to loose a few gunshots and find each other that way, but with how allured to sound that giant dinosaur seemed to be, the idea was very quickly shot down, as it were.
{Speaking of that damn thing.} I grumbled to Twilight in thought, {Any chance you can look up its dossier in Rockwell’s journal? It would be good to know more about it, just in case.}
{Sure thing, one sec.} she replied.
I explained to Fluttershy what was going on, and we stopped to catch our breath. We sat down beneath a tree while Twilight found the dossier and read through it word for word. I then relayed it to the pegasus, captivating her attention and evoking a laugh from her as I put on the silly Victorian voice.
“Today, I pen these words with trembling hand and a heart that oscillates between reverence and terror. Our expedition now confronts a force beyond our ken. I speak of a leviathan creature that defies all classification. May I suggest you grasp something as you read onward…
We had ventured forth into the verdant wilderness, our rifles at the ready, seeking nourishment in this alien realm. The air hung thick with humidity, and our boots sank into the loamy soil, with the cries of unseen creatures echoing all around. Our quarry was humble, a plump scaly creature of lesser stature, its flesh destined for our evening repast. We felled it with precision, staining the ferns with its lifeblood, but as the smoke from our rifles dissipated, a new symphony emerged, the rapid approach of colossal footsteps.
And then it appeared.
The earth trembled, and the very trees bowed in submission as a gargantuan reptile emerged from the dense leafy veil. Its eyes, pools of abyssal hunger, fixed upon us, deeming us a worthy meal despite our meagre size. My company scattered like leaves in a tempest. Some sought refuge behind boulders, others in the ferns, and others more, betwixt the gnarled roots of ancient trees. I, too, sought concealment, my heart pounding in rhythm with the creature's approach.
Half a dozen men, brave imbeciles the lot of them, stood their ground and took fire upon the beast. As one might expect, it was not entirely fond of this. Lunging forward with jaws agape, my companions vanished as the behemoth devoured them. Not with the delicacy of a conventional predator, mind you, but with the haste of one consumed by an insatiable greed. Not even bothering to chew, it gulped them down, bones and equipment all, their screams silenced in an instant. A torn arm was all that remained of them.
Clinging to my rocky perch, eyes wide as saucers, I would have found myself terrified, had I not been more astounded by the very existence of such an impossible organism. For what manner of creature is this? What evolutionary caprice birthed such a monstrosity? Nay, such a remarkable animal wasn’t something to cower in fear of, it was worthy of admiration, equal to that of its truly indomitable size.
But the tale does not end there.
Driven by equal parts madness and scientific fervour, I followed the beast, often using its own tracks as craters to hide in. It rampaged across the land, its footfalls shaking my very bones. It crossed rivers, heedless to current or depth, and scaled hills as though they had been made by moles. Its muscles swelled with each stride, its eyes, forever aflame with hunger. Each day, it devoured scores of smaller creatures, and made short work of larger ones too, swallowing any living thing it could find.
And in my observations, a revelation.
This creature is nomadic, a roaming monarch that traverses its kingdom in ceaseless pilgrimage, eternally pursuing sustenance. Hyperactive metabolism, I deduce. It exists forever on the precipice of starvation, a ravenous king, locked in a perpetual dance with his own oblivion. A step above any apex, I declare this to be a super predator, a deity of its own volition, a living, breathing, all-consuming apocalypse… yes, that’s it, Edmund, you’ve done it again! And so, with a wry twist of my quill, I christen the ruler of this place.
Henceforth, this almighty creature shall be known as Apollyonosaurus deus-rex, the Apocalypse Lizard, god-king of this underworld. May you never cross its path, lest you find yourself in its belly.
Yours in awe and trepidation, Sir Edmund Rockwell.”
Clearing my throat, I looked at Fluttershy to find her ears flattened back, and her eyes wide with fear. Had this been a mere story, she might have found the journal entry to be a riveting tale; however, considering that this ‘Apollyonosaurus’ was down here with us somewhere, the pegasus had every right to be afraid. With a smile, I assured her that we wouldn’t be running into it anytime soon, seeing as we had fallen from a cliff and were now in the lowlands of this underground world. Nodding, she trusted that I would keep her safe, and we continued our march towards the Moon Tree.
The journey was slow-going, with Flutters occasionally needing to rest due to chest pains; the Bloom I had given her certainly helped in speeding up the recovery, but even so, she needed time to properly heal.
Ahead of us lay a marsh, heavily sodden with gunge and decaying vegetation. The scent of stagnant water was strong enough to make us both wrinkle our noses in disgust. Gently taking to the air, Fluttershy confirmed that it went on for about a mile, and the only alternative route would have us backtracking for hours, only to curve around its outskirts for hours more.
“I’m not the best at estimating, but I’m pretty sure it would mean another whole day of walking.” she told me with an anxious frown.
“What, just to reach the same spot on the other side of the marsh?” I inquired.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Then we cross the marsh.”
We both let out disgruntled sighs, and then once Fluttershy was ready, we sank into the bog. The water went up to my thighs, and I let out a loud moan of absolute disgust as it seeped into my shoes and absorbed into my socks.
“Eep!” Fluttershy yelped, shutting her eyes as the sludge lapped at her belly.
“Yeah, that.” I huffed in agreement, smirking.
Wading along, we stuck close and continually groaned and grumbled over how disgusting we felt. Wherever these fenlands decided to end, we yearned for a body of clean water beyond it. A few minutes went by, and we forced ourselves to get used to it, wading through the watery grime like a pair of sewer rats. Choosing to accept our fate, we laughed over how terrible we would both smell by the time we reached the other side. We were almost jolly by the end of it, joking about how not even Rainbow Dash would want to touch me at this point. Sadly, the merriment came to an end as Fluttershy emitted a sudden shriek, jumping out of the bog and flapping her wings in a panic.
“Something touched me!”
“Oh, so you thought you’d fly away and abandon me?” I teased, pointing at her wings, “That’s not fair, I can’t do that!”
“Well that’s not my fault!”
Suddenly clutching at her chest, I could only guess that her rib was hurting again, and so I pointed to the bank and ordered her to quickly land there and wait for me to catch up. Not having to tell her twice, she drifted over and set herself down, while I continued to trudge forward.
That’s when something touched me too…
Wrapping around my ankle, something bit into me, and I shouted out loudly as a sharp pain went deep into my shin. I kicked around viciously in an attempt to shake it loose, only for the pain to grow more intense. Now in a panic of my own, I sprinted to the bank and hauled myself out of the water. Looking down at my grime-covered leg, I screamed as I laid eyes upon a thin black worm-like creature, halfway burrowed into my skin. Fluttershy let off a scream of her own, rushing over in an attempt to get the thing off me. Batting at it with her hooves, the worm’s tail lashed around frantically, causing the pegasus to squeal loudly and recoil in terror. The pain was now agonising, and worse than that, it was spreading. Disappearing through the hole in my trouser leg, I had no choice but to kick my shoe off and pull my bare leg out, where I was met with one of the most horrifying experiences to date.
“It’s… It’s going inside you!” Fluttershy wailed.
“Oh f*ck! Oh f*ck! Oh f*ck!” I panted, my wide eyes now watering from the pain.
Whatever this thing was, it had wriggled into the bite hole, and could be seen as a dark squiggle beneath the slightly raised skin, snaking its way up towards my knee. I tried to seize its little tail, only for it to slip through my fingers and disappear inside me. Crying out loudly, I clawed at my leg and tried to force it back down, which only made the pain tenfold worse.
“Cut it out!”
Fluttershy was right, that was my only option. I pulled out Vitra ‘Aku and held it above my shin. Gritting my teeth, I let out a most visceral bellow as I lightly pressed down with the tip of the sword, dragging it upwards and unzipping the lower half of my leg. I then dug my fingers in and grabbed the vile little thing, ripping the worm out of me and tossing it to the ground. It wriggled around frantically, and I quickly sliced it in two. Tightly squeezing the sword and compelling it to heal me, a small portion of mana was spent joining the skin back together. Never before had I been so grateful for the weapon, and despite it lacking all sentience, I willed it to appreciate my thanks regardless. Getting to my feet, I pulled my soggy trousers back up and slipped my shoe on. I then looked down at the two halves of the worm, which were both still wriggling, and proceeded to stamp on them angrily.
“I… didn’t… give… you… consent!” I growled between each stomp.
Eventually it stopped moving, and was squished so much that it had practically become one with the dirt. Panting, I looked over at Fluttershy, who stared at me with an utterly terrified expression.
“Th-That almost… w-went into… m-my leg!” she stuttered, starting to cry.
“Oh gee, where’s my sympathy?” I scoffed, “I just had to perform emergency surgery on myself!”
Apologising, she continued to cry regardless, and I took to calming her down by holding her tenderly and promising that we wouldn’t be visiting any more marshes, even if it meant taking the long way around next time.
“Come on, stinky, let’s find somewhere to wash ourselves.” I teased, before letting off an involuntary shudder, “Hoo-uhgh…”
With a bloodstained trouser leg and a newfound phobia of worms, we took off once more, now beyond the marsh, and very much in need of some fresh water.
Our prayers were answered, as we found a serene little glade by a lake, complete with another, much smaller waterfall than the last one. There was a little cave close by too, and permitting there was nothing inside, it would be the perfect place to sleep tonight. Stepping inside, we found the cave to be empty, and so we settled on sleeping here, and then went back outside to wash. Fluttershy went first while I kept guard. Moving to the edge of the lake and scanning it for life, I couldn’t help but be distrustful of the body of water. After the crocodiles in Brazil, I couldn’t help but dread the thought of something like a Deinosuchus dwelling beneath the surface, patiently waiting to strike. Thankfully, no such creature greeted me today, and I made my way back to the waterfall to clean myself once Fluttershy was finished.
“I’m going to rest up for a little bit, is that okay?” she asked.
“No problem at all, I’ll try to find us some food.” I replied, smiling warmly.
Dipping her head, she went off into the cave, and I stripped down naked to give myself a thorough cleanse, taking off my collar without even thinking to inform Twilight. I also washed my clothes; at least, as well as I could. After soaking and wringing out my underwear several times, I put them back on, while I hung the rest up to dry on the low-hanging branch of a nearby tree.
Upon clipping my collar back on, I was verbally assailed by Twilight, who had feared that I had been attacked by something. I apologised, and explained that I was just getting myself clean after the utterly repugnant marsh. She forgave me, and asked how we were getting on. I told her of the lake, hoping she might be able to find it too, but she was sadly a far cry from any water. Apparently her group had gone uphill, using a rocky overpass to deter the smattering of astutes that still hunted them.
{We decided to go somewhere the Apollyonosaurus won’t be able to reach, so if Rarity needs to shoot anything, it won’t come for us.} she explained.
{Good thinking, well done.} I praised, {It’ll be getting dark soon, do you have somewhere to make camp?}
{Yeah, it’s probably the safest place we’ll find for a while. We were thinking of staying here for more than one night so I can rest my leg. The bite keeps reopening from all the walking.}
{Oh geez…} I murmured, {Is it bleeding much?}
{Yeah, I can’t walk for more than a few hours without it looking like I’ve pissed blood all down my leg.}
{Could you have worded that any more disgustingly?} I remarked with a grimace.
Ignoring my response, she went on to speculate that the Astutosaurs probably had some sort of anticoagulant in their saliva. This way, if their prey escaped and ran away, they would continually bleed, allowing the astutes to track them via scent, no matter where they went. Being highly intelligent predators with a fondness for clever tactics, it certainly made sense. I wholly backed up the notion to stay put for a couple of days and let it heal. I was actually considering doing the same here, as Fluttershy’s ribs were still healing, and being constantly on the move wasn’t helping it.
{So, what’s on the menu tonight?} I asked Twilight, changing the subject.
{Celery and hummus, with some yogurt on the side. Not the most filling, but it’s all we’ve got. But hey, at least we’ve got some hot tea afterwards to keep us warm.}
{That’s nice.} I said bluntly, rife with envy, {Meanwhile, me and Fluttershy have been starving half to death because I can’t find any of the damn things you keep suggesting.}
{Hey, it’s not my fault you ate all the savoroot on the first night!}
{I thought there would be more of it!} I protested.
Scoffing, Twilight ordered me to find as much flora as possible and describe it to her, and she would tell me if any of it was edible. I did just that, and after a good hour of perusing the glade, I had listed off six different plants, three types of berry, the moss on the nearby trees, and even the damn reeds that dwelled by the lake. From all that, only one of the berries were safe to eat, which Rockwell had named ‘azulberries’ for their blue colour, and I picked as many as I could.
{I hate to say it, but I might actually have to hunt something soon.} I thought, {If the days go on like this, we’re just going to get more and more fatigued.}
{Come on Cal, you know Fluttershy would never forgive herself if you made her eat meat.}
{Well, if the alternative is starving, she might have to suck it up.}
{No. The alternative is that you look harder.}
Huffing with annoyance, I knew she was right, and after returning the berries to the cave, I widened my search. Going all the way to the other side of the lake, I was able to find a tiny cluster of savoroot, barely enough to be considered a snack, let alone a meal. A little way beyond it, was a large rotten log. Moving around to the other side of it, I was greeted by a patch of shiny black mushrooms.
{Hey Twilight, what does Rockwell’s journal say about mushrooms?}
{Let me check.}
While I waited for her to dig up the book, I picked the mushroom and inspected it. The underside was bright red, and it secreted a clear liquid. Sniffing it, I found it to be oddly pleasant, not unlike the smell of watermelon.
{Uh, there are like thirty different types of mushrooms in here.} Twilight told me, {Can you be more specific?}
{They’re black and red, with a fruity smell to them.}
Heeding the description, Twilight flipped from page to page, until she came across the entry.
{Oh, here they are! Edmund called these things ‘ripecaps’, and they’re supposedly fine to eat, but only if you cook them, otherwise they’ll make you sick.}
{Fantastic!} I declared, clapping my hands together, {I’ve just found a whole bunch of them.}
With a merry hurrah, Twilight commended my find, and I made my way back to the cave with as much ripecap as I could carry. Paired with a handful of azulberries and two small savoroots, we finally had a substantial meal for the evening. The flavours weren’t exactly pleasant, but it certainly put an end to the pangs of hunger in our growling stomachs.
The crux of nightfall arrived, and with our bellies full, we lay on the grass by the lake and stared up at the glittering underworld ceiling as the Moon Tree dimmed. We took a moment to appreciate the beauty of this place, despite the horrors that came with it.
“How’s your head feeling?” I asked, still gazing upward.
“It’s fine now, thank you.” she replied, “The Bloom and the Oozima together healed that up nice and quick.”
“Well, let’s hope those ribs follows suit.”
“Yeah…”
Tutting, I apologised once again for breaking them, and she insisted that I didn’t need to feel sorry in the slightest. Reminding me that I had saved her life, she told me that even if I had permanently crippled her or something, she would still remain thankful.
“I’m not ready to go yet.” she told me, “And I almost did, and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s made me think of all the things I still want to do in my life.”
Rolling over to face her, I asked what she wanted to do. Staring off into space, she told me of her lifelong goals, from setting up an animal sanctuary, to travelling the world of Equus and seeing all the rare creatures that dwelled beyond Equestria. Starting to blush, she confessed that she also wanted to meet a guy, someone who would love her properly, and treat her right.
“What about that pegasus you used to tell me about?” I hummed, “That Midnight fellow?”
“Oh, Middy…” she murmured, shaking her head, “To be honest, I’ve not really thought about him for quite some time. It’s funny, he used to be all I ever wanted, but I don’t think that’s true any more.”
Exhaling heavily through her nose, she sourly expressed how her relationship with Midnight Plume was one that had sapped at her confidence for years. Thinking about that night in Brazil, I recalled her honest confession about it. Fluttershy had been deeply in love with the colt, while he had never truly reciprocated, being far too obsessed with the idea of marrying a griffon. However, until he actually found the feathered bride of his dreams, he treated Fluttershy as his second-best option. He would visit Ponyville from time to time to see his childhood friend, where they would engage in a night or two of passion, before he would depart home to Cloudsdale. Poor Flutters would be left alone with her animals, pining for him, forever stuck in a one-sided relationship that was destined to end in heartbreak.
Bringing me back to the present, Fluttershy smiled and said that she was finally ready to move on from him, and that she no longer felt like he was the only one she could give herself to.
“That’s fantastic to hear.” I said, reaching forward to touch her foreleg, “You should be really proud of yourself. It’s not easy, moving on.”
Knowing that I was referring to Bunnie, she tightened her lips, clearly feeling a stab of empathy. Studying the rest of her face, I noticed a large bead of sweat rolling down from the base of her ear and down to her cheek.
“You a bit warm?” I asked, tilting my head.
“Um, now you mention it, yeah…” she replied, sitting up.
Frowning, she told me that something didn’t feel quite right. More worrying than that, I was feeling it too. Slowly but surely, it began to feel like I had eaten something spicy, with my whole face heavily flushing. My forehead, much like Fluttershy’s, began to sweat profusely, and I felt a tightness in my chest.
“You cooked those mushrooms properly, right?” she asked.
“I most certainly did.” I confirmed.
As my hands and lips began to feel tingly, I decided to contact Twilight and make her aware. Being the worrier that she was, she began preemptively flipping through Rockwell’s journal to double-check the mushroom section.
{You did cook them properly, right?}
{Ugh, Fluttershy literally just asked me that. Yes, I cooked them properly!}
{Hey, I’m just checking!}
Gulping, I told her that my lips were feeling more and more sensitive, along with the skin around my neck. I then started to feel a tingling in other places too.
{Okay, I’ve found another type of black mushroom here, can you list your symptoms?}
{Um… I don’t know if I want to.} I spoke honestly.
{Cal, please! If you’ve been poisoned, I need to know!}
Grinding my jaw, I told her as much as I was willing to share.
{Okay, fine… I’m feeling hot and dizzy, and I’m sweating quite a lot. My lips, neck, and fingertips feel extra sensitive. Fluttershy’s the same, bar the fingers of course.}
After a moment of silence, Twilight asked me to describe the mushrooms I had picked, in exact detail. From the moment I mentioned the red underside, Twilight began to shout at me, telling me that ripecaps were black mushrooms with a white underside.
{I said they were black and red!} I yelled at her.
{I thought you meant spots, Callum! Ripecaps have red spots on them!}
{What the f*ck have we eaten, Twilight?}
She went back to the journal, and I promised a hyperventilating Fluttershy that she was going to be okay. Twilight then got back to me, and asked if I had any other symptoms.
{Well, I uh…} I trailed off, not really knowing how to say.
Knowing exactly why I was reluctant to say, Twilight very bluntly asked if I was erect, to which I answered with great embarrassment that I was.
{Okay… well, uh… I know what you’ve eaten.}
{And?} I blurted out angrily, {Are we going to die?}
{Um, no…} she told me with a hint of sheepishness, {But there are going to be some uh, side effects.}
{Go on?}
Deciding that it would be best to read directly from Rockwell’s perspective, she recited the dossier page, and as she went on, my eyes grew wider and wider with concern. Apparently, we had consumed a ‘narcoshroom’, of which was a very peculiar mushroom due to its properties. When eaten raw, it acted as an incredibly powerful sedative, with a single mushroom being capable of knocking out a full-grown man for hours. Cooking it however, altered the soporific toxin, turning it into a drug that manipulated both mind and body.
Side effects included but weren’t limited to… an increased heart rate, overheating, engorged tissues in erogenous zones, and accentuated primal instincts. In much simpler terms, it was an extremely potent aphrodisiac. It was so potent in fact, that Rockwell’s test subjects had barely been able to contain themselves, with the sole woman of the expedition, Tania Medvedeva, being relocated for her own safety. Two of the affected men even broke into a fight, lost in a fit of rage that stemmed from their inability to, in Rockwell’s own words, ‘dip their wicks’.
{So, what you’re saying is…} I uttered slowly, {Fluttershy and I have eaten a bunch of toxic shrooms that’ll make us… what, super aroused? Super horny?}
{That is… exactly what I’m saying.} Twilight confirmed, {You’re basically going to be in heat for a while, but like, ten times worse, if not more.}
{Humans don’t go into heat, Twilight.}
{Well, they do now.}
Unable to look Fluttershy in the eye, I thanked Twilight for letting us know that we weren’t going to die at least. She suggested trying to reduce the narcoshroom’s effects by making ourselves sick, but at this rate, we had been digesting them for quite some time, and I doubted that it would make much of a difference by now. Plus, if it wasn’t going to kill us, then I would rather keep it in my stomach and just put up with the symptoms. Having spent two days with barely anything to eat, it seemed a worthy tradeoff. Besides, Rockwell was probably exaggerating about the severity of the mushroom’s effects; how bad could it really be?
{How long is this going to last exactly?} I inquired, swallowing anxiously.
{Well that depends, how many did you eat?}
{I would rather not answer that.}
{Oh gosh, Callum… how many?}
Inhaling deeply and letting out a slow, shaky breath, I gulped, and proceeded to ignore her inquiry.
{Look, Twi. I need to go and explain to Fluttershy what’s happening to us, and then we need to figure out how to keep ourselves under control. And if this is going to get worse, then I’m not sure if I want you in my head to hear whatever thoughts come out of me.}
{Wait, are you suggesting taking the collars off? They’re our only method of communication!}
{It would just be for tonight.}
{I don’t want to do that, Callum.}
Insisting that I was being earnest about this, I genuinely didn’t want to disturb or trouble Twilight with any thoughts that might spring from my intoxicated mind. She argued that she could remain in my head to try and keep me grounded, but I just didn’t feel right about it. There was a feeling inside me, a gut instinct, compelling me to sever my connection to Twilight, and I wanted to heed it before these effects took hold any further. Putting my foot down, I told her that I was going to take the collar off, and to my utter shock, the mare suddenly snapped. Like the Twilight of old, she spoke to me with vehement anger, her words venomous, and brimming with a most unexpected bitter hatred.
{So that’s it, huh? Rainbow Dash wasn’t enough for you? Do you really think I’m this naïve? Do you think I’m f*cking stupid? I know what’s going on, here. You want to take the collar off so I can’t hear your thoughts while you’re screwing another one of my friends.}
{Twilight, that’s not-}
{Shut up! Shut… up!} she spat, cutting me off, {I know that’s what you’re going to do, so don’t try to deny it like the f*cking charlatan you are. If you take your collar off, I’ll know exactly why. I can’t believe this… After all we’ve been through together, how did I not see this coming? It’s been staring me in the face all along, you’re a dirty, backstabbing, good-for-nothing deviant!}
Her seething words were enough to cut deep, and with tears in my eyes, I begged her to stop.
{Where’s this coming from, Twi? I don’t… I don’t understand why you’re getting like this.}
{My name’s not ‘Twi’, you lying, perverted, scum.} she hissed, {It’s Twilight, and you know what? Go ahead, do what you want with her, go and violate my friend, you f*cking monster. But mark my words, I’m never spending another night with you ever again!}
Before I could say anything, the unicorn yanked her own collar off, abruptly severing our minds. Now wholly shaken up and on the verge of tears, I was questioned by a very frightened Fluttershy, begging to know what in the world was going on.
“I… I don’t… I-I… I don’t… I don’t understand…” I stammered pathetically, “She just… She just blew up at me! It was like how she used to be, before I cured her. Sh-She spoke as if she hated me!”
Fluttershy demanded that I started from the beginning, and I took a massive inward breath. After taking a moment to find my words, I gave her the full breakdown of what was happening. Telling her about the mushrooms, the pegasus went beetroot red as she understood why she was suddenly feeling so hot and bothered. Upon my explanation of Twilight’s unprecedented ire, she made a suggestion that I would never have considered.
“She doesn’t know about the things I did with Middy.” she told me, “As far as she’s concerned, I’ve not… been, with anyone. Maybe she thinks you’re going to hurt me?”
It was certainly a valid point; Rockwell’s journal entry made it seem like the men had become brutish savages, who if given the chance, would force themselves upon any woman they could get their hands on. Was that what Twilight had reduced me to? Had she seriously implied that I would do such a thing, to one of my own friends no less!? As much as it hurt, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. After what Nah’Lek had done to her, the thought of me hurting Fluttershy in such a way would certainly warrant the reaction she had. Was I truly a monster to her now?
“But… I’m not going to hurt you.” I promised, just as the tears began to flow.
“I know that, and I trust you.” she sighed, “And when we get back to Twilight and the others, I’ll tell her you never harmed me.”
“You should have heard her…” I sniffed, “She was so, hateful!”
“Hey.” she spoke boldly, garnering eye contact with me, “We’ll fix this, okay?”
Nodding, I wiped the tears away and she gave me a hug. Almost immediately, her tender embrace sent a rush of adrenaline through me, followed by swathes of salacious impulses, and knew that I had to fight it. Never before had I seen Fluttershy in this way, nor did I want to, but I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that my body was starting to crave more than just a hug. As the temptations grew stronger, I broke away, and it became clear from her expression that she was experiencing the same thing. Gulping, I suggested that we remained perfectly logical about this.
“Look, let’s just accept that we’re under the influence of something, and be totally honest with how we’re feeling. That way, there’s no underlying tension.”
“Okay, good idea, because um… I’m currently feeling a lot of underlying tension…”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Nope!” she squeaked, shaking her head.
This was already unbearable. Even after Twilight’s wounding remarks, my attention was already drifting to something far more present, and far more enticing. Shaking my head, I realised that the collar was stimulating my neck. I took it off and tossed it to one side; seeing as Twilight had already taken off her one, I hardly saw the point in keeping mine on any more.
“Please tell me it’s this bad for you as well?” I asked with a tremble, itching the back of my head.
“Um… I’m actually willing to bet it’s worse.” she confessed, staring at the ground.
“I beg to differ.”
“Yeah? Well my body’s begging for something else.”
“I stand corrected.”
Trying to come up with ideas, I proposed that Fluttershy ought to cool off under the waterfall for a moment. After that, I sent her to sit by the fire while I sat by the lake. Perhaps if we kept our distance, the feeling would be less intense? Forty minutes passed, and this turned out not to be the case. Just as Rockwell had described, I could feel my composure crumbling away. For every second I denied it, something inside of me clawed at the walls, desperately trying to break free. Nothing could quell it, not even when I forced myself to think of unpleasant things. I thought about Nah’Lek, and how I saw him in Alex’s old house. I thought about Paulo’s compound going up in flames as Bunnie’s skin melted from her bones, followed by a Fel-corrupted Twilight trying to kill me, taunting me all the while as I sought to avenge the murder of my first love.
None of it worked, all it did was make the feeling stronger as anger and pain mixed with the unparalleled desire for pleasure. This wasn’t who I was, and it was scary. How could I resist the Fel, the most nefarious substance in the universe, and yet be bested by a f*cking mushroom? I didn’t want this, and as I grew more afraid of myself, I felt the temptation to jump into the lake, to swim away and not come back until this damn stuff was out of my system. But then, just as I thought that I was the one losing control, I heard Fluttershy’s approach and turned to face her. Her bloodshot eyes were as wild as the Apollyonosaurus’ and her body visibly trembled. Panting, she shook her head from side to side and gave me a look of complete and utter desperation.
“I can’t… I can’t do this… Please, I need it…”
She took a step towards me, and I in turn took a step back, stumbling down onto my knees.
“Fluttershy… don’t.” I ordered.
One touch. One touch was all it would take, and I would crack. Staggering closer, the pegasus begged for it, and I didn’t even have the strength to tell her no, I just knelt there and stared at her, knowing that if she made the first move, I would make the second. Shutting my eyes, I shook my head in one final act of denial, sending droplets of sweat all over the grassy floor. I then felt her hot breath against my face, and as I opened my eyes she lunged forward, planting her soft lips against mine in a wet, feral, needy kiss.
It would be the first of thousands…
