Light of the moon

Fluttershy was scared. The Everfree Forest was never anything but scary monsters and a nice zebra. Since Zecora was already out looking for Moon, that left only the scary monsters to come out, and she was not looking forward to that at all. While she knew the others would stop anything from hurting her, she was more concerned about them. What would she do if one of them got hurt?  They would have to leave Moon here overnight, and maybe he is lost, or scared, or lost and scared!

The rustling in the bushes made Fluttershy jump and squeal. The others turned around as the yellow eyes of a timberwolf came out of the wood line. The timberwolf was very small, only about the size of one of the ponies.

“Ready, RD?” Applejack winked to her rainbow-maned friend. At an unspoken cue, they both charged the timberwolf, flanking him in an instant.

Rainbow Dash laughed as she grabbed the wolf and held it up by its legs and tail. “And here comes the kick…”, she said as Applejack reared back.

“And it’s out of the park!” Twilight squealed as the kick shattered the small timberwolf into its component branches.  She jumped and clapped her hooves together, believing she had finally used the correct sports expression. Her joy faded as she looked around and saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack facehoofing.

“Now, Twilight, that was a mighty fine try, but… Ah think it’s best if ya just leave the catchphrases to me and Dash.”

Suddenly the branches rustled again, as a timberwolf’s eyes appeared behind them. Stepping out of the bushes, it appeared to be a much larger timberwolf, easily double the size of Princess Celestia. Pinkie Pie looked up in surprise as the foul breath washed over her.

“I don’t think my party cannon is big enough for this one!”

Moon awoke. There was nothing around him but mist as far as the eye could see. There was no floor, and yet he could not descend though the mist. There were no trees, no storm clouds, and no sound.

“Hello?” he called out, hoping to dispel the mist and return to where he had just been. The mist around him began to swirl. Unsure of what was going on, he attempted to put a hoof through the mist. Sharp, burning pain made him pull his hoof back, and he looked in horror after seeing his hoof impaled with ice shards. As he stared at his wounded hoof, the ice melted and flowed back into the mist surrounding him.  The pain did not fade, but no blood came from the wound.

The icy mist suddenly froze in midair, and a shape walked out of the mist. The mist seemed to completely fill its form. It appeared to be a single ball on three legs, and as Moon watched, the ball rolled around until an iris stared directly at Moon

.

“This… not your home. Why… come… not time…” Its voice, whispering from all around, sent shivers down Moon’s spine. That would have been creepy enough, but the source of the whisper was unknown, as the eye had no visible mouth. Frozen in terror at what appeared to be something Discord would have cooked up, he had no response.

“I… see your… Problem. That is… Past. Past… but wrong. This… must be… Fixed. Petitions have been… Sent.”

“Wh-wh-where am I? What is this place?” Moon stuttered to the eye, barely getting over his terror. “Is this a dream, or is this the real world?”

“Reality is… but the… manifestation… of the dreams of a select… few. This is the… reality of some… The dream of some… The abyss to some… Elysium to others. Petitions... return. You… have come, before fate… wants you. It is time. Leave… Leave now, mortal… Live… And run…”

The girls panted as the huge timberwolf finally collapsed. That had been a lot of running. Rarity looked over at the only party member not exhausted from the battle, and panted at her. “Pinkie… Pie… where… did… you… find… that… grenade?”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “Oh, that was just a mistake. I meant to throw him a cupcake! I don’t know how the grenade got in there!” Everyone else started looking in their own packs, in case some high-explosive grenades managed to fit into their packs. No more were found.

The branches rustled a third time. Yellow eyes started glowing from beside a nearby tree.

“No. That’s it. I’m done. I’M DONE!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “There comes a time, in everypony’s life, when you just need to fold. When you need to look inside yourself and simply ask, ‘What am I willing to put up with today?’ Well, I’m done. I am going to break this timberwolf in half, and then I’m going home, and when I wake up, I’m burning the entire forest to the ground!”

The yellow eyes quickly faded.

The fourth time the branches rustled, the girls didn’t even stop their impromptu tea party. If a timberwolf was really so desperate for a bite to eat, then it was going to find itself in a world of hurt.

Luckily for Angel, the three flying saucers, levitated by a purple glow, sailed over his head, shattering against a nearby tree.

“ANGEL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE!?!” Fluttershy jumped to her hooves and yelled at the small, white bunny. Angel twitched his nose twice, pointed back the way he had come, and tossed a pine cone at Twilight, all at the same time. That bunny was amazing.

“What? Oh no! Twilight, we need to go. Rainbow Dash, go back to Ponyville and get Nurse Redheart. Rarity, go with her. Pinkie Pie, you too. Applejack, come on. You are with me and Twilight!”

The girls froze, not used to the passion coming from their normally docile friend. Fluttershy turned, and whispered back to Angel. He raised a paw to her, and then went bounding off to the west, towards Ponyville. Fluttershy turned around. “What are you all standing there for? I said, MOVE! We don’t have much time! Moon Light is badly hurt, and we need to get him out of the Everfree Forest, so for Celestia’s sake, GO!”