AUTHOR NOTE: Over 400 views! Thank you all so much! There is going to be a bit of a shift in tone/genre with more action/adventure elements. I figured readers could use a breather after those last couple of chapters. The Everfree Forest is described as a forest, despite being a "forest", because I imagine the hot air balloon traveled quite a bit, to a more tropical part of the forest. I know this probably is not cannon, but the tropical environment fits in better with the "abandoned ruin of doom" setting of this part of the story.
Chapter 11
As they trudged through the dense vegetation, various sounds surrounded the three ponies. Some, like croaks and tweets, did not bother any of the ponies very much. Others, such the rustling of leaves and bushes, made the ponies apprehensive, as the origin of sounds took on the most fantastic and creepy forms in their imaginations. Lorena lead the group, clearing the path with her machete. Behind her was Twilight, and protecting the rear flank was Hooves. Despite the dawn, the jungle was still mostly concealed in shadows, so Twilight's horn glowed a light spell to help light the way. Eventually, a figure that wasn't a bush or tree came into the radius of Twilight's light spell.
The figure was about the size of a filly, but with a tribal appearance with a bone through the nose, tattoos all over the body, and a spear in hand. Twilight and Hooves were puzzled at the figure. Lorena's reaction was more proactive.
"Pygmy! Defend yourselves!" cried Lorena as she upholstered her pair of pistols and fired several shots into the figure, making it fall over in a mist of blood.
"Excitable, aren't we?" commented Hooves.
"That was a pygmy," countered Lorena.
"A pygmy?" asked Twilight. "I've read about them, but thought there were just myths."
"No...they are real, just so isolated most ponies will never see one," answered Lorena.
"Are...they dangerous?" asked Hooves.
"Very. They are all chaotic evil. Where there's one, there are more," said Lorena. As she finished, another pygmy appeared from the undergrowth, which Lorena promptly mowed down in a hail of bullets. While she inserted new magazines into her pistols, Hooves drew his revolver from his coat, and Twilight's horn lit up in preparation for defensive spells. The bushes became alive with movement.
"Kill 'em all!" cried Lorena, firing into the bushes. Twilight and Hooves followed her example. Cries and moans of pain confirmed the bullets made their mark. Twilight saw a pygmy coming behind Hooves, and fired a fire ball at it. The top half of the pygmy exploded, leaving the legs to bend and fall. After two minutes of solid firing, the three ponies ceased fire. Investigating the surrounding bushes, the bullet ridden and burnt bodies of twenty pygmies covered the ground.
"Think that is all of them?" asked Twilight.
"For now. Though their villages can number in the hundreds," answered Lorena.
They continued until they were in front of a river.
"The base is across that river," said Lorena. The rapids of the river made crossing it not at all straightforward.
"Perhaps there's a bridge or something further down," said Hooves.
"Indeed there is."
The three ponies turned around to see a grey earth pony wearing a black hat with a book cutie mark.
"I'm Daniel. You three must be the ones Princess Celestia are sending to that old military base," the new pony introduced.
"What is it to you?" asked Lorena.
"I'm a missionary to the natives here. A message from Princess Celestia told me you three would be coming, and asked me to assist you all. I sent a group of the natives to meet you to guide you to the village, have you met them," explained Daniel.
"What sort of natives are they?" asked Hooves.
"Pygmies. When I first got here, they sure were a wild bunch, but now there are the most civilised and kindest tribe you'll see in the Everfree Forest," answered Daniel. Twilight's heart sunk some.
"Um...Daniel," Twilight began, before being interrupted by Hooves.
"We did, in fact, meet a group of pygmies. Unfortunately..." Lorena looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"...a rather large panther came by can killed them all."
Hooves was not sure if Daniel had brought the lie, until
"Gosh darn panthers...that's twenty-eight this month. Really should get some hunters in here to thin their ranks...but usually twenty warriors are enough to drive a panther off."
"Well, this panther was rather large...huge, in fact...largest panther I've ever seen," replied Lorena, who nudged Twilight with an elbow.
"Oh..um...yeah! Huge panther! At least thrice as large as any I've seen in a zoo!" Twilight over acted. More cynical ponies would have seen through her charade, but Daniel, the naive idealist he was, said
"Oh dear! Let's get back to the safety of the village before it comes back. You can eat and rest before continuing your quest," said Daniel.
So the four walked by the river, Daniel leading. Hooves and Lorena stayed a few steps behind in the back.
"I thought you said pygmies are always chaotic evil," Hooves hissed into Lorena's ear.
"Well, they almost always are chaotic evil, and you know me, better safe than sorry," whispered Lorena.
"Yeah, that's why we only used two of your orifices," said Hooves.
"Well, it worked, didn't it? No belly-full of Sherpony for me," countered Lorena.
"Almost there," said Daniel. Within minutes, there were at a small village by the water. A few huts on poles circles the main space, there several pygmies were carrying on their daily business: preparing food, making arrow points, weaving loin clothes, and other activities you usually see on National Geographic. At the sight of Daniel, several pygmies ran to greet Daniel an his guests. An older pygmy, wearing a head dress of feathers that reminded Twilight of the buffalo of Appleoosa, came forward and made some clicking noises. Daniel made some clicking noises in response, and turned back to the three ponies.
"This is Chief Wajinga. He kindly welcomes you to his villages and pledges his people's support," translated Daniel.
"Say...you all wouldn't know anything about flak guns around there, would you?" asked Hooves.
"We did hear an awful noise coming from the direction of the base last night, but as far I know, no flak towers have operated here since the war," said Daniel. At this, Chief Wajinga clicked.
"Chief Wajinga reminds me of the myths of his people about ghosts haunting the old base...his people are still very primitive, and retain many of their superstitions...ah, looks like breakfast has arrived," replied Daniel. A pair of pygmies were carrying a dead wild boar hanging from a pole. Quickly the boar was being turned over a fire.
"Is...is the food here safe to eat?" asked Hooves. Twilight gave the same disgusted look at the dirty preparing the boar.
"Well...I've only been sick a few times," answered Daniel.
"I should be fine...had pig sauce before," said Lorena with a grin on her face.
"Pig sauce?" questioned Hooves, with an eyebrow raised.
"Your doctors and lawyers," chucked Lorena. Hooves just rolled his eyes. A minute later, a pygmy ran into the village, clicking wildly. This cause an stir amongst the rest of the pygmies, who quickly picked up their spears, bows, and blow guns.
"They're turning on us! Attack!" cried Lorena, drawing her pair of pistols.
"Wait!" Daniel tried to say, before Lorena began shooting up every pygmy in sight. Pygmy after pygmy fell in an explosion of blood, flesh, and bone. Soon the entire village was either dead or in the process of dying.
"What is wrong with you?" cried Daniel, making his voice as angry as he could. "He was warning us about an approaching panther!"
"Oh..." said Lorena. Just then, a panther, towering at least two ponies' heights, charged from the jungle. Lorena quickly mowed the beast down with her dual pistols.
"Talk about anticlimactic," said Twilight. Daniel just stood in shock, and then shouted
"What the diddy-do is wrong with you? You psycho! I am reporting you to the Pygmy Bureau."
"I don't think so," said Lorena. She shoved one of her pistols into Daniel's mouth, and pulled the trigger. Daniel's black hat flew upwards, along with blood and bone, as Daniel's body fell down.
"Um...none of this was necessary," commented Twilight, looking around at the carnage.
"Like I say, better safe than sorry," said Lorena, satisfied, blowing the smoke off her guns before twirling them and holstering them. She then started off in the direction of the base. Hooves and Twilight followed.
"This is why we broke up...she get's a bit crazy when she doesn't take her medicine," Hooves whispered to Twilight.
"Medicine for what?" asked Twilight.
"Paranoid schizophrenia and sociopath," answered Hooved. Twilight raised an eyebrow. Hooved then added, "Yes, the sex was crazy."
"I'm sure it was," replied Twilight deadpan, as they continued their way to the base. "How does she have so much ammo, anyway."