Author's Note

Disclaimer: I've made some changes to the first chapter that (in a way) affect this chapter. I recommend going back to the previous chapter and reading from when the brothers begin to explain alchemy before reading this chapter.

The Fullmetal Alchemist

After exiting the castle, the group of eight quickly made their way through the town, following the screams of terrified ponies to help them find the timberwolves.

It didn't take long as the group see a total of fifteen timberwolves chasing a group of townsponies.

"Those things are timberwolves?" Edward asked at the sight, "They're just a pile of sticks in the shape of normal wolves."

"They might not seem like it, but timberwolves are one of the most dangerous creatures in equestria." Twilight warned, "Just one timberwolf alone could kill a pony if given the chance."

"Compared to chimeras, those things don't sound too bad." Edward said casually, "Which means it wouldn't be a bad idea to do this!"

Upon saying that, Edward clapped his front hooves together before planting them to the ground, causing a pillar of earth erupt upwards before making it's way in the direction the timberwolves went in. The pillar continued it's course until it was in front of the pack of timberwolves, blocking the predictors path and keeping the townsponies safe.

Confused about the wall's sudden appearance, the timberwolves turned around, only to see the group. Seeing the group as new potential prey, the timberwolves let out a growl before charging towards them.

"Why in the world would you make them all come towards us?!?" Twilight exclaimed, her tone being a mixture of confusion, anger, and fear.

"Why else?" Edward asked rhetorically, "So that we could stop them! Come on Al, let's teach those twigs a lesson for attacking this town while we're around!"

"Right!" Alphonse responded before he and Edward charged towards the timberwolves.

"Those two are crazy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "They don't stand a chance against a whole pack of timberwolves!"

"I can only assume that they have a plan." Twilight said.

Acting quickly, Edward jumped into the air and clapped his hooves together before planting them to the ground as he landed. Upon doing so, several pillars of earth shot upwards towards the timberwolves.

Surprised by this, the timberwolves halted their charge and attempted to dodge the incoming pillars. While most of the pack were able to evade, three of them were hit, scattering them into a large pile of sticks.

"Alright!" Edward exclaimed happily, "That's three less wolves to worry about."

Just then, the sticks began to shift around before suddenly coming together into one huge pile. The pile then began to morph it's shape until it formed a large timberwolf the size of a lion."

"What the hell!" Edward exclaimed, taken completely off guard by this."

"Timberwolves are made of enchanted wood." Twilight called out, "When scattered, they can simply pull themselves back together. And when multiple timberwolves reassemble themselves, they become one large timberwolf."

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?!" Edward exclaimed before jumping backwards in order to avoid the enlarged timberwolf, who lunged at him.

Clapping his hooves and planting them to the ground as he landed again, Edward created a large spear before grabbing it with his magic. When the large timberwolf jumped in an attempt to pin the alchemist down, Edward swung the tip of the spear upwards, making the beast land on it and keeping it's upper body suspected in the air. He then turned around before bucking the wolf's midsection, knocking it back.

"Wow, despite his small size, he certainly is strong." Rainbow Dash said.

Unfortunately, Edward heard this, turning his calm, focused expression into one full of anger as he turned towards the mare.

"WHO YOU CALLING SMALL!?!" Edward exclaimed angrily.

Seeing that Edward was distracted, the large timberwolf tried pouncing towards him again, but Alphonse intercepted by tackling it, knocking it back towards it's pack.

"Come on brother, teacher taught us to never turn our focus away from our opponent." Alphonse said, "Had I not not done anything, you would of found out why the hard way."

Upon hearing that, Edward shuttered.

"Don't remind me." Edward said in an uneven tone.

Putting their attention back towards the pack, the brothers were about to charge when a beam of magic struck the large timberwolf, knocking into one of the pillars Edward made.

Turning towards the source, everyone saw all three princesses and Shining Armor.

"What the?" Edward said, taken completely off guard by the sight.

"Princess, you need to get out of here!" Twilight exclaimed, "We can't risk you, or the others being attacked!"

"There's no need to worry Twilight." Princess Celestia assured, "The four of us can take care of ourselves.

"Besides, we can let you guys keep all of the fun to yourselves." Shining Armor added.

"If that's the case, you better act fast it's too late." Edward said before charging towards the timberwolves with his spear in tow, prompting Alphonse to do the same.

Once they were close enough, Edward began hitting the smaller timberwolves with his spear while Alphonse began punching the larger timberwolf, all while the two brothers made sure none of the wolves managed to sneak up behind the other.

The mane six and equestrian royals watched this in amazement. It normally took four royal guards just to take on one timberwolf, yet the two brothers were able to take on an entire pack with little issue.

Seeing that it wouldn't be easy to kill the brothers despite their superior numbers, seven timberwolves decided to back off for a moment before spotting the mane six. Figuring that they would be much easier to kill, the seven wolves began to charge towards the six, much to their horror.

Seeing this, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna teleported in front of the six, making the timberwolves halt their charge. Hearing hoof-steps behind themselves, the wolves turned around and saw Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, who glared at them.

"You made a big mistake trying to attack my sister and her friends." Shining Armor said with a hint of anger in his voice.

The timberwolves growled in response before charging towards Cadence and Shining Armor, only to be met with a barrier to their muzzles.

Recoiling from the sudden wall, the seven timberwolves noticed that they were trapped in a large magic bubble that was cyan, dark blue, and yellow in color.

"I think it's best if you took the express way out of town." Cadence said before nodding towards her aunts.

Understanding what that meant, the three alicorns' horns lit up, making the magic bubble raise into the air before flinging it away, dispersing the bubble once it reached the edge of everfree forest.

With the timberwolves gone, Shining Armor sighed in relief and said, "That was a close one."

Just then, the group heard a grunt before seeing Edward crash into a building (leaving some cracks on it's wall) before landing on the ground.

"Lucky shot." Edward muttered as he stood back up.

"Watch out!" Twilight called out.

Looking up, Edward saw that the large timberwolf had leaped into the air with it's mouth wide open, hoping to bite the alchemist as he pinned him down.

Smirking at the sight, Edward remained still, much to everyone else's concern. Once the large timberwolf was upon him, Edward raised his right forehoof upwards, making the beast bite down on it.

However, instead of screaming in pain, Edward continued to smirk while looking the timberwolf in it's eyes, confusing everyone who saw the sight.

"What the?" Shining Armor said with confusion in his voice.

"H-How is he able to remain calm when he has a literal timberwolf chewing on his forehoof!?!" Twilight asked in shock.

"He must have one heck of a pain tolerance to be able to withstand that." Cadence said.

"I don't believe that's what we are seeing." Princess Celestia spoke up.

"What are you talking about, sister?" Princess Luna asked.

"No matter how much tolerance to pain a pony has, they're bound to show some signs of pain." Princess Celestia explained, "However, Edward hasn't done so at all, so unless he used a spell to increase his body's durability, which I doubt I don't sense the spell on him, he appears to have some other method to not feel pain."

Back with Edward and the large timberwolf, the young alchemist continued to keep the beast at bay while he continued to state at it in it's eyes.

"Do you like that doggy?" Edward smugly asked the timberwolf, "Go on, get a good taste!"

As Edward said "taste," he bucked the timberwolf in the neck, making the beast let go while knocking it back. However, some of the cloth on Edward's pants got caught in the wood, making it rip and revealing that his entire left hind leg was completely made of metal.

Shocked by this, the equestrians looked towards the forehoof the timberwolf bit, and saw metal through the holes in the jacket's sleeves instead of a flesh wound.

"Metal appendages?" Twilight asked at the sight.

Realizing what happened, Edward let out a sigh before saying, "I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore."

Using his magic, Edward ripped off his jacket, revealing his entire forehoof was also completely made of metal, shocking the equstrians even more.

Turning towards the equstrians, Edward simply said, "I'll explain later."

Just then, everyone heard Alphonse yelp. Turning towards him, everyone saw the armor clad pony had all of his legs held down by one timberwolf while another was in front of him, ready to strike.

"Al!" Edward called out as he attempted to help his brother, only for the large timberwolf to jump in front of him and block the way.

Wasting no time, the timberwolf in front of Alphonse bit the armor clad pony's helmet before pulling it off (making the glowing red eyes disappear). With the helmet off, the beast dropped it before turning to bite Alphonse's head. However much to the beast's and the equestrian's (who were able to see from where they stood) were shocked to see that the armor was empty.

"Wait, where is he?!" Shining Armor asked in shock.

"Is it possible that he teleported out of his armor?" Twilight asked.

"Hey, it's rude to take someone's head off without their permission!" Alphonse scolded (his voice coming from his armor) as the "horn" on his helmet lit up, making a piece chalk levitate out of his armor.

The chalk then danced around the four timberwolves that held Alphonse's hooves until there was a transmutation circle underneath each of them.

Using all of his strength, Alphonse jumped up before planting each of his hooves on all of the transmutation circles, making them glow blue for a moment before pillars of earth erupted from the ground, knocking the timberwolves away and freeing his hooves.

No longer being restrained, Alphonse punched the timberwolf that was in front of him on the muzzle, knocking it away.

"I'm not the only one who saw that, right?" Applejack asked in shock.

"Do you mean the armor moving by itself, or the fact that the helmet's "horn" lit up like a normal unicorn's horn?" Rainbow Dash asked rhetorically, equally shocked at the sight.

"What makes it all creepy was the fact that Alphonse's voice still came from his armor, despite the fact that it's empty." Shining Armor said.

"Hey, do guys think it might be because of that marking that's where his neck would be?" Pinkie asked.

Confused, the equstrians took a closer look at Alphonse's neck area and saw what appeared to be a miniature transmutation circle there that was red instead of the usual white.

"...It looks like a transmutation circle." Cadence said, "And it's like it was draw in a hurry seeing how sloppy it is. Wouldn't you say, Twilight?"

However, Twilight didn't respond. Looking towards the mare, everyone saw that she appeared to be deep in thought.

"What's wrong Twily?" Shining Armor asked.

"I'm just thinking about what Alphonse said after the timberwolf took his helmet off." Twilight replied before explaining, "Instead of saying helmet, he said head. Either he somehow got the two words mixed up, or there's something else in play."

Back it Alphonse, the stallion approached his helmet before grabbing it with his forehooves and placed it back in place (making his glowing red eyes appear again).

"That's better." Alphonse said to himself.

Just then, the four timberwolves that where holding his hooves down approached him, ready to pounce.

"I probably should of guessed that it would of take more than that to finish you all." Alphonse said as he prepared himself for another confrontation.

Growling, the timberwolves were able to charge when the large timberwolf suddenly fell on top of them, holding them down with it's weight."

"You alright, Al?" Edward asked as he stepped besides his brother.

"Aside from having my head taken off, I'm fine." Alphonse responded.

Just then, the timberwolves managed to right themselves and faced the two brothers.

"At this rate, we'll be at it all day." Edward said before turning to Alphonse and asked, "What do say we put this to an end?"

"What do have in mind, brother?" Alphonse asked.

Edward then leaned towards Alphonse's "ear" before whispering something.

"Do you really think that'll work?" Alphonse asked.

"If I wasn't so sure about it, I wouldn't of suggested it." Edward replied.

Alphonse thought about it for a moment before replying, "Okay, let's do it!"

Nodding, Edward turned towards the timberwolves and said, "Already you stupid wolves, come right at us!"

Growling at the challenge, the five timberwolves charged towards the two brothers. Before they could reach them, Edward clapped his forehooves together before planting them to the ground, making a wall the spearated them from the wolves.

Stopping so they didn't hit the wall, the timberwolves growled at the sudden obstacle before they suddenly heard something scrapping across the ground. Looking towards the source, they saw a piece of chalk dance across the ground, confusing them.

Just then, the wall the previously separated the brothers from the timberwolves lowered, gaining the wolves attention.

Once the wall was gone, Edward exclaimed, "Now!" Making Alphonse jump towards the timberwolves before planting his hooves to the ground.

Suddenly, the ground around the timberwolves began to glow blue, revealing that the chalk drew a transmutation circle.

Before the timberwolves could react, a large bowl of earth formed around them before it began to close around them, pushing the beast's together while holding them in place.

With the timberwolves trapped, Edward ran towards them before jumping into the air. He then clapped his hooves together before planting them on top of the large timberwolf's head making several sparks of blue energy appear before a large flash of blue light blinded everyone.

When the flash died down, everyone saw Edward standing next to a large wooden statue of him and his brother while having a satisfied look on his face.

"Wha-what did you do to the timberwolves?" Twilight asked as she and the others (sans Fluttershy, who was completely frozen in shock), unable to process what she just witnessed.

"What else?" Edward asked rhetorically before replying, "I turned them into the statue I'm currently standing next to."

"Wait, does that mean they're...?" Shining Armor asked before trailing off.

"From what I could understand, they would always come back if we scattered them, and there's no way they could be hurt like a normal creature." Edward said, "And since they were made of wood, I figured the best way to beat them was turn them into something inanimate."

"Wait, seeing how alchemy can change something into something else, does that mean alchemy can affect living things as well?" Twilight asked.

Upon hearing that, Edward's cocky expression changed into an upset one.

After hesitating for a moment, Edward replied, "Not exactly. You see-"

Before Edward could explain, the group heard a loud scream.

Turning towards the source, everyone saw Fluttershy backed into a wall as a timberwolf growled at her, ready to pounce at any second.

"Fluttershy!" the rest of the mane six exclaimed before rushing to their friend's aid.

Not wasting any time, the timberwolf pounced with it's mouth wide open, doing so just fast enough that the group wouldn't be able to reach their friend in time.

However, before the timberwolf made contact, a pillar of earth smacked the beast away before pinning it down against the ground.

Seeing that the treat was neutralized, Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief before saying, "Thank you Edward."

"Uh, that wasn't me." Edward said before turning to Alphonse, only to no transmutation circle in front of the stallion, "And it Al either."

Confused, everyone looked towards the origin of the pillar before being shocked at what they saw.

Kneeling down with his claws planted to the ground, Spike could be seen with a opened book and a piece of chalk right next to him. He also wore an expression that was a combination of relief and disbelief.

"Woah, I actually did it." Spike said to himself as he stood up and looked at his claws in amazement.

"Spike!" called out a voice, getting the young dragon's attention.

Turning towards the source, Spike saw Twilight running towards him with the rest of the group following behind her.

Once everyone reached the young dragon, they all had the exact same question in mind.

"How the hay did you do that?!" Rainbow Dash asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Taking a closer look at the source of thr raised pillar, Edward and Alphonse saw traces of what looked like a transmutation circle.

"A transmutation circle?" Alphonse asked aloud.

"How the hell were you able to memorize what a transmutation circle looks like?" Edward asked, "There's no way you could of memorized what one looks like already, and even if you somehow did, you shouldn't of been able to use it without knowing the composition of earth."

"Actually, you're half right." Spike said, getting everyone's attention, "While I didn't have what a transmutation circle looks like memorized, I did know the composition of earth."

"Care to elaborate as to how you made a transmutation circle then?" Edward asked, his voice full of suspicion.

"It's because I had this." Spike said before picking up the book and and showing everyone the cover."

"'The wonders of alchemy: How to learn basic to advanced alchemy in just a few months.'" Shining Armor read the title aloud before looking at the wording underneath, "'By Jonathan Nachahmen.'"

Upon hearing that, Edward and Alphonse let out a surprised gasp.

"Jonathan Nachahmen?!?" the two brothers exclaimed in shock.

"Who's that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Only the most famous alchemist to ever live!" Edward exclaimed.

"He's knock as the Mimic Alchemist due to the fact that he could perform alchemy that only other alchemist's could do!" Alphonse added.

"Silver alchemy, ballistic alchemy, freezing alchemy, you name it, he could do it!" Edward said, "All that aside, how did you even stumble into that book in the first place?"

"We'll, you see, it was only a couple of months ago." Spike began to explain, "I was read the lastest issue of Power Ponies and-"

"What's Power Ponies?" Alphonse asked.

"It's a comic series Spike like to read." Twilight replied simply before turning towards Spike and said, "As you saying."

"Right." Spike said before continuing, "Anyway, I was reading the lastest issue of Power Ponies and the villain the team was fighting against was able to perform something called alchemy. Overall, I found the concept of turning something into something else interesting, but knew that it was impossible. That is, until I reached the last page of the comic."

"What did it say?" Cadence asked.

"Well, it said that alchemy actually was real and that one could actually learn how to use it." Spike responded, "It then said that if one wanted to learn it, they would need to go to a nearby library and find a book on it. Curious, I went to the castle's library began looking around until I found that book. And for the last couple of months, I began studying the art of alchemy. While everything I read was interesting, I simply thought the concept was made up and figured the comic wanted to make young ponies interested in studying. That was, until earlier."

"When me and Al explained alchemy to you guys." Edward said, realizing what Spike was implying.

"That's right." Spike said, "After learning what I studied was indeed real, I hurried to the library after you all left to get the book, in hopes that I could help out somehow. And, well, I'm certain you all know the rest."

"I, guess that makes sense." Edward said as he rubbed the back of his head with his metal hoof.

"Wait a minute, that reminds me." Twilight said before turning towards the brothers, "How is it that you have metal limbs while your brother was able to control his armor without actually being inside it?!"

Hearing that made an upset expression form on Edward's face as his ears drooped downwards.

"This armor, is my body." Alphonse spoke up, his voice sounding very upset.

"Come on, that's got to be a joke." Shining Armor said before chuckling, "There's absolutely no way armor could have the sentience of a normal pony."

Both brothers remained quiet, concerning the equstrians.

After hesitating for a moment, Edward let out a sigh before saying, "It would best if we explained somewhere more private. But I will say this; it won't be pretty, mainly because of we did the greatest taboo amoung all alchemists."

"What could possibly be so bad that all alchemists aren't allowed to do it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Edward and Alphonse simply turned towards the mare before replying in unison, "Sentient transmutation."