A Distant Light, A Close Calling

Luna’s moon shined bright over the land, the stars twinkled and lit up the midnight sky enthusiastically. Her moon was a full one, and the bright light reflected off the tree tops and onto the ground, creating a vibrant mixture of colors. It was cool outside, the crickets chirped amongst one another, and Owls hooted in the night. If you listened close enough, you can sometimes hear the howl of a timber wolf, a majestic, but foul creature.

               A timber wolf is a very interesting creature, its sharp fangs are no match to anypony, and its breath is unbearable to smell. A timber wolf has a body made out of wood, and breaks like a twig upon a rock in the night. It's howls can be heard from about a mile away, although, it seemed bitterly still this night, no other noises were heard. All of this created a very frightening atmosphere for Cherry Blossom. The filly was still on Fluttershy’s back, she tightened her grip on her mane.

“Oh! What’s wrong little one, you startled me!” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Fluttashy, its S-s..scary out here.” She said, her lips quivering.

“Shhh, it’s okay, I assure you that everything will be just fine. I’m not going anywhere okay?” Fluttershy responded with a soothing tone.

Cherry Blossom nodded, but still trembled in fear.

Twilight glanced around at the other twelve ponies. All of them were either talking quietly or resting in the main square of town. She took a moment to think about what their next course of action was. It’s nighttime, and we can either press on to the Pegasi Cities, or, we can stay here for a night. Neither of them sound great in the long run, but we can’t do nothing. I might as well have a long discussion with them on this. She thought.

“Okay everypony gather around, we can’t just sit here and do nothing, we have two options. We can either continue travelling to the Pegasi Cities, or we can camp here for the night and get some rest.” She said aloud, breaking the silence.

Everypony gathered around the main square they were currently in, all focusing on Twilight. They all stood there and contemplated on their next action. After some silence, AJ burst out:

“Well, ah think we should continue on ta’ the Pegasi Cities, but whatever ya’ll are okay with, ah am too.”

“Well I personally think we should keep moving on, it’s not safe out here at night. Especially in a burned down abandoned village.” Sunspeed intruded, walking over to the broken fountain.

“That sounds like a good idea Sunspeed but, I don’t think we should be so quick to decide don’t you think?” Rarity said.

“I say we stay here for the night, I’m all worn out and all I want to do is eat some Cake and Apple Fritters.” Pinkie whined, rubbing her stomach.

“We’re all tired Pinkie, and hungry, but we should press on. The sooner we get to those twin cities, the more we are all able to rest and enjoy ourselves.” Rainbow cut in.

“Ummm, I think we should leave here. I don’t want to go into that scary forest, but neither do I want to stay in this village.” Fluttershy said bravely, pointing in the direction they need to go.

“Just wait a minute all of you, we have to think about our little filly here. I certainly want to keep going, but I don’t if my sweet Cherry Blossom doesn’t.” Cherry Blossom the III said.

“She’s right girls, we have to think about her. What do you think little one?” Twilight asked solemnly.

“I, I want to stay with mommy. But, I think we should go to the Peggy cities, I want to go home!” Cherry Blossom responded, moving her hoofs around.

“Well we got that opinion out there. Okay, well, I also think we should move on.” Twilight stated.

“But it’s dangerous out here at night! We could be ambushed by bandits or Timberwolves even!” Fluttershy pointed out, raising her voice slightly.

AJ looked around the village. After a brief moment, she turned and replied:

“That is true, but Sugarcube, if y’all look around fer a second, you’ll see that, even the village doesn’t seem so safe. We’re right in ta’ open of a field with no buildings ta’ shelter us in.”

“Applejack is correct on that…so I’ve changed my mind, let us keep moving.” Rarity interrupted.

“Alright, all in agreement of moving forward raise their hoof.” Twilight said.

Rarity, AJ, Rainbow, Sunspeed, Cherry Blossom the III, and Fluttershy all raised their hooves. Twilight counted the hooves, lowered her head and then quickly thought to herself. Okay, they’re all in favor. I just hope nothing goes awry while we move on. Glancing at them, she blurted out:

“It’s settled then, we’re moving forward. Grab your things where you left them, we are moving out now. We may be there at dawn, but I’m not certain.”

The twelve ponies nodded and quickly grabbed their possessions. Cherry Blossom yawned sleepily; Fluttershy noticed this and placed her in the back of the caravan wagon and wrapped her up in a blanket.

“Sleep well you little angel.” She said.

Pinkie lagged behind a couple feet, took a piece of bread out she had in her bag, and quickly shoved it into her mouth. She then proceeded to run to catch up to the others.

“Waft fa me!” She cried out with a mouth full of bread.

                The party of ponies continued to carry on, they trotted into the dark forest that stood before them. Immediately upon entering, the light of the moon seemed to disappear without a trace. The forest was now dark and still. There was no noise heard from any corner of the forest, all they could listen to was the sound of the caravan wheels and the hooves of their feet against the cold, dense ground.

                As they got deeper into the forest, they started to hear the sound of running water.

“Must be a stream nearby.” Twilight murmured, breaking a profound silence.

                Sometimes, they would hear an occasional howl in the distance. Every time Fluttershy would jump at it, and cling to Rainbow for safety. Must be a timber wolf. They all contemplated. Rainbow then narrowed her eyes on Fluttershy. Acting in response, she made an “apologetic” face and hovered above her.

The air in the forest suddenly became denser; so much that it became harder to even breathe. The sound of running water faded away behind them and followed by silence. A few moments later, a terrifying scream echoed throughout the forest, making their ears ring.

“Mommy, what was that!” Cherry Blossom cried, having been awoken from her sleep.

“Shhh shh dear, it was nothing I am sure.” Her mother replied calmly.

“Whatever that was, it didn't scare me one bit!” Rainbow boasted.

“That was frightening!” Rarity exclaimed nervously.

‘Let’s hope it wasn’t something or someone that is lurking in the forest. I advise everyone to remain cautious.” Twilight instructed.

The others acknowledged it. They pressed on even further. Up ahead, was a lone tree in the middle of their path. Some distorted figure was strewn across the bottom of the tree.

“I see something by that tree, let’s check it out.” Rainbow told the others, and started trotting up ahead.

As she came closer to the figure, it turned out to be a Pegasus pony. The pony was covered in blood and sweat, and had large cuts and gashes across its whole body. The cutie mark portrayed on its flank was silver sparks, all shattered in fragments. The pegasi’s coat was bright white, and its mane and tail was a bright yellow and orange. Rainbow got right up next to it and checked his heartbeat.

“Hey, you guys, we got a live one over here!” She called back.

The others gathered around and gazed upon the severely injured pegasi.

“She’s unconscious.” Rainbow told them.

“Let me check her heartbeat.” Fluttershy butted in, getting up close and crouching down to the pegasi.

“Slow but steady heart rate, seems a bit faint though. She needs medical attention.” She told them after some time.

“Wow, how’d you know that ‘Shy? Are you a magical pony who is really a member of the SDEH?” Pinkie asked, waving her hooves around crazily.

“No, I learned all this from the animals back in Ponyville. Quite useful I must say.”

“Well you think we should leave her here?” Dash questioned.

“How preposterous Rainbow Dash! Of course we’re not going to leave her here! She’s badly wounded, we cannot just let her die!” Rarity scolded.

“Heheh,..right sorry.” Rainbow apologized, scratching the back of her mane with her hoof.

“Well girls, let’s get her into the wagon and let Fluttershy take care of the rest.” Twilight said.

                The six others nodded and began to haul the pony into the back of the wagon. After that was done, they began to travel again. Fluttershy scurried around the back of the wagon, looking for supplies to treat her wounds with. She suddenly remembered her first aid she had in her carrying bags. She took out some bandages and began to patch up the Pegasi’s injuries.

                As they moved forward about another hundred feet, they stopped to their surprise to hear howling, almost directly next to them. They all glanced around, frightened as they kept trotting along. Rainbow sighed and motioned to the others that she was going to go have a look at what the howling was. They acknowledged this and returned the favor with a: “We got your back.” motion.

                Rainbow flew up into the air just above the others and scouted ahead, eventually she disappeared from their sight. Only moments later did they hear a yelp resembling Rainbow.

“Rainbow’s being attacked by something, Sunspeed, Rarity, guard the caravan wagon while the rest of you come with me!” Twilight quickly said.

The others ran towards the sound of the yelp, and upon arriving, found a small pack of Timberwolves attacking Dash. She was pinned against a tree holding back a Timber wolf’s sharp jaw as it tried to bite her.

“Girls, you know what to do, let’s do this!” Twilight cried.

                Twilight poured all of her concentration into her horn, as a shimmering, bright purple light resonated from it. Ending with a sharp Zzing! sound, a blast of energy exploded from her horn and hit the Timber wolf that was upon Dash. The rest of the pack turned to Twilight and the others, growled fearlessly, and charged at them.

                AJ charged one of the wolves head on, and tackled into it, breaking off some of the pieces of it’s body. She pummeled it relentlessly, as Pinkie aimed her Party Cannon at one of the wolves coming straight at her. She fired the cannon, and hit the wolf straight on, making it burst into fragments. A wolf ran it’s claws upon the side of Rainbow’s cheek, leaving four nasty cuts that bled immediately after contact.

                Rainbow growled back, and in retaliation, kicked the wolf in the side of the face with as much force as she could muster, and crushed the wolf’s face into splinters. Twilight charged the last remaining wolf, as it galloped towards her. She pointed her horn towards the wolf, and skewered it as they collided in a mash of flesh and wood.

“Gah, that stings!” Rainbow yelped as she touched her cheek.

“Everypony alright?” AJ asked.

“Yeah, we all are except for Dashie here.” Pinkie replied.

“Well let’s tell the others that the path is clear and that we can continue again.” Twilight paused, then after a moment, continued:

“Oh and Rainbow, you might want to get that patched up by Fluttershy.”

She nodded at this as the four walked back to the wagon. As they reached the wagon, the others looked at them curiously.

“Timberwolves, had to deal with them. Rainbow over here almost got mauled to death; It was a small pack, four of them.” Pinkie explained.

“Oh my Dash, you got quite some cuts there.” Sunspeed pointed out to her.

“Oh I know. I’ll be fine though. I’ll get it patched up as soon as we reach the Pegasi Cities.” She replied bravely.

                Finishing with that, they all carried on, every one of them wanting to have this journey over with. All of them wanted to lie in a nice cozy bed with a fluffy pillow and mattress, but they tried hard to not think about it. As they kept walking, the ground started to get a bit steeper and harder to climb. They saw a clearing in the forest up ahead.

                As they approached it, one small source of Luna’s moon shined down from the sky. As they finally reached the top of the hill, they saw something so beautiful that their eyes could not contain it. In front of them, was the small piece of light from Luna’s moon shining down on a town. The town was a wondrous sight. It had large clouds and statues the size of the Ponyville major’s office. The houses lined up perfectly. Lights lit up the town in a pleasing manner, reminiscing with the midnight sky. The town stretched out far more than their eyes could carry.

                As they gazed up toward the sky, they saw another wondrous sight. It was another town. Large buildings and statues littered the clouds they stood on. Fountains, monuments, decorations seemed to make the city come alive. They finally arrived at the Twin Pegasi Cities.