Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

The six continued to make their way along the path and toward the castle. As expected, the rain became heavier. Massive, ice cold droplets fell in almost solid sheets. It became severe enough that the group decided to create a dome above them to use like a giant umbrella. Bright Idea was capable of creating one that worked well enough, although she claimed it probably would be ineffective for anything more aggressive. Not only were they able to stay dry, but there was the additional benefit of allowing Dinky to save her own magical energy in case of an emergency.

It actually was kind of interesting to watch. The sights of the droplets stroking the topside of the dome and splattering before running down along the curve and falling away in a steady stream. Featherweight even took a couple pictures of it.

Not too much attention could be paid to it, however. As Professor Dusty Tomes pointed out (annoyingly often), they were on a schedule. Plus, there were still dangers that had to be watched out for. The idea of accidentally passing through a puddled patch of poison joke was not one that appealed to any of them (that knew what the flower was capable of).

Dinky started humming a tune that seemed to fit the rhythm of the rain. The sound of it was barely audible, but the mood behind it was infectious. The others found themselves relaxing a little more. The patter of the rain and the rustling of the leaves was actually relaxing, even if they were traveling to a predator heavy murder forest.

The momentary relaxation ended as they were reminded of how dangerous the forest actually was. Three figures stepped out of the woods and onto the path, blocking it. They stood nearly twice as tall as the ponies, and three times as wide. The creatures were not made of flesh, but of wood. Their limbs and bodies were a collections of twigs and branches. They stared at the ponies with glowing green eyes.

"Wh-wh-wha-what are those?" Professor Tomes asked, eyes going wide.

"Timberwolves," Rumble answered. He moved to make sure he was standing between the professor and the predators, wings flaring open.

"Timberwolves?" Professor Tomes cried out. "Those are timberwolves?"

"Maybe you should have done more research before coming out here," Featherweight said, snapping some photographs of the creatures in their way.

"We need to get out of here." The professor started to step back, looking around. "We should run."

"No," Diamond Tiara said. "We're too far to reach town before they wear us out and catch us."

"They're actually more likely to attack if we run," Dinky Hooves added. "Our best tactic would be to outwit them and scare them off."

"Or just make it so they can't attack us," Diamond Tiara said, a smirk forming on her mouth.

Dinky turned her head to look at Tiara from the corner of her eye, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you have a plan?"

"An idea," Diamond Tiara answered. "Do you know any good freezing spells?"

"One or two. Not exactly my forte. Why?"

"Rumble," Diamond Tiara called out, turning around to face him, "do you think you can force the rain above them to come down harder?"

"I don't have a lot of experience with clouds," Rumble answered, "and it's harder to guess how they will act here. I can still give it a try though."

With a flap of his wings, the took off to fly out from under the dome and up toward the clouds above the timberwolves.

One of the creatures lunged forward, swiping its paws through the air. The massive limb struck Rumble hard, sending him tumbling into the forest and out of sight.

"Rumble!" Dinky shrieked as she watched disappear into the forest. Her ears drooped and eyes were wide as she stared, jaw hanging open.

The shock vanished from her features as her jaw clenched and eyes narrowed. Growling, she turned to face the timberwolves, ears pinned back against her head. She walked forward, moving past the edge of the shield and toward the creatures. An aura of dark blue magic glowed around her horn. The air around Dinky grew colder, a faint fog of frost forming around her. Rearing up on her hind legs, she gave her head a hard forward thrust.

A beam of magic shot forward from Dinky toward the timberwolves. The air it past to turned white with frost, the water droplets turning into ice.

One of the timberwolves -- the one that had struck Rumble -- had enough time to realize what was happening before it was struck. Ice formed on the creature, coating it. It started with the water in the porous wood that made up its body, swelling up as it froze, making it hard to move. Rapidly, the ice grew thicker and heavier, forming around its joints and making it difficult to move. It continued to grow, and spread, until the entire body of the timberwolf was engulfed, frozen solid.

Dinky's horn stopped glowing for a second before lighting up again. Another magical blast shot from her, aiming for the same timberwolf. There was an audible boom as the magic struck, the frozen form shattering. Chunks of ice and shards of wood went everywhere, leaving nothing behind but for frozen, wooden feet.

The remaining two timberwolves decided it was best not to stick around. Turning tail, they ran back into the forest as quickly as they could. Dinky glared as she watched them go, huffing. The other remaining ponies all stared at her, eyes wide and jaws open.

"What the hay?!" Diamond Tiara blurted out. The normally calm, friendly, and happy unicorn had just frozen a timberwolf and blown it into kindling in an act of fury.

"Rumble!" Dinky called out again. Turning, she started to run toward the forest where she had last seen the pegasus. Before she could get very far, something slammed into her, pinning her to the ground. Dinky looked up, finding that it was Diamond Tiara now on top of her.

"Get off me," Dinky snapped, kicking and squirming, but unable to get up.

"You need to calm down," Diamond Tiara stated, staring Dinky in the eye.

"I need to find Rumble."

"No you don't."

The statement was like a bucket of ice water being dumped on her. Dinky tensed, eyes wide as she turned to get a better look at Diamond Tiara.

"Are you insane?" Dinky shouted. "He's out there somewhere. Hurt! We can't just leave him out there with who knows what! No-"

"We aren't leaving him out there," Diamond Tiara cut off, putting a hoof over Dinky's mouth. "I'm going after him. You are going to stay with the professor and his assistant, escorting them to the castle. We're closer to it than town and should be safe there, and you're the best chance of keeping them safe if anything else attacks."

She slowly pulled her hoof away, getting a sigh and slow nod from Dinky. Tiara then climbed off, letting her up.

"Featherweight," she called out as she turned to face him, "I need you to fly back to town as quick as you can and get us help. Tell them we also need medical assistance."

"I'm on it," Featherweight called out as he moved to get out from under the dome. He then took off, flying back toward town.

Diamond Tiara then turned to face Professor Tomes and Bright Idea.

"Stay close to Dinky and do exactly as she tells you. None of the creatures attack the castle, so you should be safe there."

Getting nods from the pair, Diamond Tiara started to head off the trail and toward the forest.

"I'll go get Rumble. If everything goes right, we'll meet you at the castle and will just have to wait for help."

"Diamond Tiara," Dinky called out, making Tiara stop. "Be careful."

Diamond Tiara smirked as she looked back at Dinky.

"Don't worry," she said. "Diamonds are unbreakable."

With a chuckle, she ran into the forest, heading the direction they had seen Rumble going.