Birth of a Guardian

I had been in this world for two weeks. Two long weeks. Some nights falling asleep, questioning if I would ever get home. A thought that seemed more fleeting every day that passed. As nice and peaceful as this place was I still wanted to go home, I felt too out of place here. I had continued to work in the Apple family’s orchard, helping to collect apples with Applejack or helping Big Mac with the ploughing of fields and pulling carts. This progressed for the first week with some of the others occasionally visiting, mainly it was Twilight and Spike coming to check up on me and make a report to the princess but it helped break up the days of work and helped me at least get familiar with my handlers that were the other ponies.

Twilight would often keep me updated on how things were going on the princess’ end. She told me that Celestia had uncovered a few potential leads from the Canterlot archives and was pursuing them to see if any of them would work, saying to just be patient for a little while longer.

Sometimes she brought the others along, even the timid Fluttershy who I had only seen once the day I arrived. She was still her timid and frightened self but at least she was steadily beginning to come out of her shell as time progressed and she got used to me, that and the repeated reassurance that I was not going to be of any danger. She was actually a very sweet and kind one once she stopped cowering and opened up. I started to really enjoy Fluttershy’s company, mainly because she was the only one beside the Apple family that did not bombard me with questions, try to study me or be openly hostile.

The ivory coloured pony, Rarity, accompanied Twilight or one of the others on their visits sometimes. I learned that Rarity was more your girly fashion obsessed type pony. She would often complain and avoid parts of Applejack’s farm for fear of getting dirty. Most of her visits would usually delve into fashion and comments about my clothes. She said that she was some kind of fashion designer and would occasionally offer to make something for me, saying she would enjoy the chance of making clothes for something other than a pony. As much as I would love to have some other clothes to wear, since my current ones were quickly getting ragged and torn from working, I would refuse her offers since I knew it would be highly likely that she would make something overly girly and flashy if the clothes she sometimes wore were anything to go off.

Pinkie Pie also frequently visited, well I say visited but it was more like she would burst out of a nearby barrel or pile of apples in a shower of confetti or randomly appear inches from your face when you turned around, always appearing from nowhere when you least expect it. One time even pouncing on me from the ceiling of the barn when I entered to go to sleep…

I greatly enjoyed her visits as she would often be bouncing around telling jokes or amusing us with her cheerful antics. I would often find myself laughing happily at Pinkie Pie’s eccentric behaviour or infectious good mood. She constantly threw parties over the slightest of events or most obscure reasons such as finishing a work day or it being a certain day of the week. Once again I counted myself lucky to have her there to break up endless days of waiting for a response from the princess and essentially being trapped here.

After the first week the group of ponies all returned to visit me in the barn. They told me that they had decided to try and get me more associated with the local area and their town of Ponyville since they were unsure of how long I was going to be here and it wasn’t good to be confined to Sweet Apple Acres, which I found was the name of the Apple family’s home. Although I didn’t much like the idea of going into the town because I knew that it would worry the townsfolk I, funnily enough, was eager for a change of scenery from the orchard.

Little did I know that they had planned a large event in the town centre for the mayor to formally ‘introduce’ me to the community so that there would not be so much panic and confusion.

And I thought I felt like being treated as some kind of spectacle earlier…

Oh I could see the reason behind it but damn was it mortifying. I had to stand on a stage in the town square with the mayor of Ponyville and the others as the introduced me and explained what I was to a crowd of confused, sceptical, worried and fearful faces…

“Citizens of Ponyville! We have an important announcement to make.” The mayor announced from behind a podium on the stage. “We will be having a special visitor in our fair town for a while. Our guest may be a bit startling and unknown to us I know but rest assured he will cause us no harm.” She explained to the local populace in her authoritative voice, like a professor giving a lecture. “It is a new species called human and will be staying in Ponyville until plans can be made to send him home.” I desperately tried to tune out their stares and pretend it wasn’t happening. Hopefully it would mean that whenever I went into town after that then there wouldn’t be so much of a panic and confusion.

Of course the group of ponies I had gotten to know since my stay here were completely oblivious to my clear discomfort and embarrassment. All except Rainbow of course who snickered at it all as the others joined in with the mayor, explaining what I was and to not be afraid. I shot an annoyed glare at the amused pegasus who simply stuck her tongue out at me. Thankfully it all ended quickly with the large crowd dispersing and the others wandering off stage as they saw Twilight approach the podium and open her now very large stack of notes. It was the first time me and Rainbow both shared a laugh together at something as a flustered Twilight shot us both a forceful glare.

The rest of that second week was spent with them taking me into the town to show me around or some other excuse. I didn’t much mind as I enjoyed seeing their town since it was so different to any other city I had ever been to. Seeing all the bright and vibrant colours on the cartoony houses was kind of fun, I guess it was mainly my inner child speaking out. It was so completely foreign and unknown to me that it was exciting to see this place. The ponies there looked upon me with wonder and shock as they saw me, despite that whole embarrassment with the public introduction. This lessened as the days went on and they began to see me more often but it was still a rather frequent occurrence.

During these outings they would often try to give me a tour around the local area, showing me where they all lived and worked, like Fluttershy’s quaint little cottage or Rarity’s fashion boutique. One of the places they took me to was the border of a dense and foggy forest. They said they called it the Everfree Forest and held many deadly creatures in its depths that apparently continued for miles. It looked like something right out of a fairy tale, like the ones where some kid would go into it exploring and end up in some witches cottage or something.

Sometimes they would take me to some large grassy fields where they would tell me about Equestria and what it was like here and what their world is. It was nice to be able to find out about this place and not be the one being hailed on with questions. They would show me maps of Equestria and tell me of all the history and important events that happened. It mostly sounded like it was right out of a fairy tale in some magical storybook. I guess that was all pretty normal here. One thing that grabbed my attention was the subtle difference in our languages. They used words like ‘every pony’ and ‘somepony’ which threw me off occasionally when they are talking.

We spent hours in those grassy green fields talking about each other’s lives, comparing Equestrian and Human history and worlds. It was much nicer like that instead of me getting continuously bothered and annoyed by their probing.

They seemed amazed at the inventions and advances humans made, specifically the part when I told them that humans had even made it into space. They were especially awestruck when I showed them my mobile phone. Although it was pretty much useless to me now and a plain and common device, they were dumbfounded and taken aback by seeing something that was so advanced to them.

As was I when they demonstrated to me the extent of their magic abilities and nature of their species, how each type of pony did certain jobs and all had their own specific talent sealed with the marks on their flanks called ‘cutie marks’.

Rainbow Dash, of course, had to show me her skills in flying doing various acrobatic tricks in the sky and flying around at high speeds. I guessed this was mainly so she could show off since she looked pretty envious when I was telling them of human technology.

“Heheh bet you humans can’t do anything like that!” she bragged as she fluttered down to us, proud of her skills as she polished a hoof against her chest. “Then again not much could meet my level of awesomeness.” She continued grinning broadly.

“Well you got me there Rainbow, no human could do something like that.” I could see her grinning even wider at my admission of her talent. “That is not until they invented machine that let them fly just like that…” I continued with a smirk as I saw her face return to her previous scowl.

I could tell from the look written across her face that this was going to become an on-going thing between us…

And there I was, lying atop the bale of hay that formed my bed, thinking back on the past week’s events as I began my third week in Equestria. I never thought that I would have gotten used to sleeping on hay, even if I did add a blanket to soften it. Fourteen days since my arrival here had passed with only the faint glimmer from Princess Celestia that I would have a way back. At least it had gotten easier, just like the hay, I never thought that I could say I was getting used to this place. But this day was going to be like no other…

I stepped out of the creaking barn door into the fresh light on the morning sun. I filled my lungs with the morning air as I walked down the dirt path bordering the orchard and leading to the farmhouse. I looked down at the rough and torn clothes I wore, a testament to the time I had spent here.

“Mornin’ David!” the three little fillies called as they skipped past me merrily laughing to each other.  Each wore a large pair of overstuffed saddle bags and a large safari style hat. I stopped and turned my head to look at them again as they ran down the path. I wondered what they were up to and why they were dressed like that. But I decided to pass it off as just their normal unusual behaviour and continued walking down the path.

“Goodmornin’ Mr. Mason, did ya sleep well?” Applejack greeted me from the tree line as I approached the house. It looked like she had already started working in the orchard judging from the cart full of apples she was dragging behind her.

“Yeah I did thanks, and I said you didn’t need to call me ‘Mr. Mason’ it sounds weird. Did you already start work?” she chuckled lightly as she walked over to me.

“Why sure I’ve started work already, its noon”

“Noon? Why didn’t anyone wake me I could have been helping out”

“Nah don’t ya fret over that. It didn’t feel right waking ya, everypony needs their rest after all” She answered with a kind smile. I appreciated the sentiment. During my two weeks stay here I had gotten especially close to the Apple family and Applejack. They were very kind and considerate for a family of ponies. I greatly appreciated everything they had done for me and they showed that they were thankful for my help with the farm work.

Of course it wasn’t just the Apple family that were treating me well. All of the ponies I had met in this world were so friendly and nice to me, well with the exception of Rainbow anyway but all the others were surprisingly sociable towards me.

I pondered these thoughts awhile longer as I settled into another day of working the orchard with Applejack.

It was later that night that everything would change…

I lay on top of the blanket covered hay, looking up at the ceiling with my hands folded behind my head. Naturally I was doing what I always did and crammed my head with endless thoughts about this world, Princess Celestia’s progress with my problem, the ponies living here, what’s happening back on earth and if I would ever see it again.

At least I didn’t collapse from exhaustion after every day anymore. The orange glow of the setting sun streamed through the gaps in the barn roof painting the barn in a relaxing dark orange tint. I exhaled deeply as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I don’t know how long I slept for or what time it was, all I did know was that it was some time during the night and I was being violently shaken awake. My eyes fluttered weakly open as the shouting of my name got clearer. I mumbled groggily as I tried to ask what was happening, trying to catch up with my new state of consciousness.

“David? David?! Have you seen Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo anywhere?!” Rarity bellowed at me as she shook my still limp body in a flurry of panic. I tried to pry her grip off my hoodie as I looked around the barn, ignoring how exactly she had managed to grab onto me with hooves in the first place. I saw Applejack standing beside her with a similar mix of panic and worry written across her face. She held an old style glass lantern in her mouth that was lighting up the dark barn with a bright orange glow.

“N-no I-I… Would you let go of me?! I haven’t seen them!” I answered firmly as I finally managed to push her grip off my clothes. “I’ve been asleep so of course I won’t have seen them” I was displeased at being so rudely awoken but began to soften as I saw the intense worry and anxiety that looked back at me. “Why? What’s going on?”

“They aint come back home yet. They’ve been gone fer hours! We don’t know what’s happened to ‘em” Applejack explained as she put the lantern on the ground.

“Oh I couldn’t bear it if anything were to happen to my darling little sister and her friends!” Rarity yelled as she put a hoof against her forehead like some stereotypical damsel in distress.

“Rarity would ya calm ya'self we’re gonna find ‘em! We need your help David” Applejack said as she handed me the glowing lantern. I nodded to her as I quickly grabbed the lantern as hurried outside after them. What the hell have those kids gotten themselves into now?

As we rushed outside into the night we were greeted by the shimmer of several other lanterns held by the rest of the six ponies and Spike. Twilight nodded acknowledgment at my presence before turning to the others.

“Ok as you know the cutie mark crusaders have gone missing” she began as she levitated a rolled up map out of her saddlebag. “Does anypony have any idea where they were going before they left?”

The group mostly shook their head at this as I thought back to when they scampered past me this morning.

“I believe Sweetie Belle mentioned something about going to find their cutie marks this morning” Rarity broke the silence, “What was it she said they were doing…” she continued as she rubbed her chin “Oh yes I recall hearing her say something about cutie marks in exploration.”

Oh damn, I remembered back to when I saw them that morning, they were dressed in safari hats and overstuffed saddlebags… Goddammit I knew something was off there.

“Exploration cutie marks? Nah where did they get an idea like that from?” Applejack chimed in voicing her concerns and frustrations.

“Err I think that might be me” Rainbow sheepishly put her hoof up with an incredibly nervous grin as we all turned to her “see I was, heheh, I was kinda talking ‘bout how awesome Daring Do was to them yesterday and err I guess they must have gotten the idea from that.”

The group’s expression dropped as they all glared at the rainbow maned pony who was awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

“Y-you don’t, erm, think that they went into the E-Everfree F-Forest do you?” Fluttershy asked shaking as she shrunk down to the ground. At the mere suggestion of this Applejack huge eyes shrunk to pinpricks while Rarity dramatically collapsed backwards onto Spike causing the baby dragon to, rather comically I thought, struggle desperately to hold the heavy pony up.

“Ok it’s as good a place to start as any. To cover more ground we will split into two groups. Pinkie and I will go with Applejack while Fluttershy and David will go with Rarity. Spike we need somepony to stay back and look around Ponyville in case they come back.” Twilight announced as she rolled out the map on the ground. “Rainbow, get up in the skies and see if you can’t see them anywhere” The cyan pegasus saluted before rocketing of into the skies. Damn who knew Twilight could be so leader like? Frankly at the time it was quite surprising but then again it might by mostly down to it was strange to see a pony giving out orders to a search party.

Even with the amount of time I had spent in this world it was still surprising to be snapped back and realise you’re with a bunch of talking ponies. One thing I can say is that it’s going to take a lot longer to get used to is their huge bubble eyes the size of my head. Still freaked me out sometimes…

“The rest of each will each take a different area of the forest to search” she continued as she tapped two parts of the forest while everyone crowded around to look. “If either group finds them then Rarity or I will shoot up a spark of magic to tell the others” Rarity nodded firmly at this, it was probably the most serious I had ever seen her, then again it was probably the most serious I had ever seen a pony…

“Alright let’s go” twilight ended firmly, snapping I out of my thoughts, as she rolled up the map and the two groups split in different directions.

Damn this forest was a lot worse than the last time I saw it…

During the day it just looked like an overgrown swamp but during the night… it was like the beginning of a lot of horror films I’ve seen.

I stared into its inky black depths as an eerie fog rolled out of it’s almost maw like opening. Naturally the yellow pegasus next to me was not faring much better, lying flat on the ground with her hooves over her head and giving a small squeak whenever an owl called out in an almost taunting fashion.

“Now come along darling there’s nothing to be worried about. You’ve been in here lots of times, what’s once more?” Rarity broke the cold the cold silence, judging from the quiver in her voice I didn’t know if she was talking to Fluttershy or trying to reassure herself. Rarity took a few uneasy steps forward into the border of the forest while Fluttershy whimpered a soft ’mhmm’ before standing up and following her, albeit a lot more shakily. Leaving me standing there watching them as they walked in.

Every fibre of my being yelled that no one should by any rights go near this place. You would have to be a complete idiot to willingly step into a place that had ‘bad vibes’ written all over it. Then again how could I call myself a man if I didn’t go in there after those kids when the two mares had managed to walk right in?

“Oh man this is such a bad idea…” I sighed before finally maning up and jogging in after them.

The forest, as you can very well imagine, was very poorly lit despite the bright night sky overhead. We had to rely on the warming glow of the lanterns and we tread through the shadowed overgrown woodland. I swear to god that this place had to be the worst place I had ever been to in my life! Of course it didn’t help that I swear I could feel something watching us or faint noises occasionally rustle in the trees or bushes.

I could only all too well remember Twilight’s in depth lectures of the animals and dangers that dwelt in the depths of this place. Rarity called out the fillies names as we walked along while myself and Fluttershy tried to inspect the inky black surrounding for any sign of the little fillies. Coming to a stop on the dirt path we shouted out for the fillies, hoping they would simply emerge from a bush and we could leg it out of here.

“Shouting in the night will only call a creature to bite” a deep voice suddenly called behind us. Goddamnit! I almost spun round and smashed my lantern into it before the others called back to it.

“Zecora! Oh are we glad to see you! Have you seen my sister and her friends anywhere? They’ve gone missing and we simply cannot find them anywhere!” Rarity exclaimed before galloping over to the… is that a freaking zebra? There’s talking zebras living in evil forests now?

“For a while the fillies I have not seen, but I assure you, through here they have been.” and it talks in cryptic rhymes… “A creature like this I do not know, but I assume he is friend not foe?” she rhymed as she looked upon me.

“Yes he’s with us but please Zecora there is no time for that now. We must find the fillies before something awful happens to them.” Rarity quickly responded in an anxious tone.

“Do you maybe know which way they went Zecora?” Fluttershy approached and asked in a more level headed tone than her friend.

“I believe this is the route they take, but haste you must make” the weird zebra responded and pointed a hoof down a barely noticeable path through the trees.

“Oh thank you so much Zecora” Fluttershy thanked her with a warm smile. Rarity and Fluttershy took of down the overgrown path, hopeful that they finally have a clue to finding them. As I turned to run after them I heard the zebra continue in a noticeably more serious voice

“Creature…a purpose in you I sense, pray you see it soon and not be dense” …the hell is she on about? I thought as I stared at her in confusion.

“What was that?” I asked, really I was hoping she would explain it without the rhymes.

“I hope you find your fate before it is too late.” She answered and she turned around and walked back into the misty depths of the trees.

What the hell was that all about?! The minute I think that maybe I’m beginning to understand this place it throws something like that at me…

Then I remembered I had been left all alone here and shot down the route the others took. It was not that hard to find them again with Rarity shouting the filly’s names. Damn did they get a shock when I jumped through a bush behind them in my haste to not get lost in there. The two ponies screamed in fright and hugged each other when I burst out the bush. Obviously it was not my intention to scare them but I couldn’t hold the laughs back at their reaction to it. That is until I was silenced by Rarity preparing to hit me…

Luckily her savagery was cut short by the interrupting faint screams from deeper down the path. In perfect unison we all turned our heads to the direction of the faint yelling. Briefly looking back at each other we all shot off towards to shouts of distress.

Sprinting closer and closer to the noise as it got clearer and clearer, we tore through the leafy vines and branches obstructing our path. Grinding to a halt with the others at the opening to a small clearing, we saw the source of the screams. The three lost fillies had, somehow, managed to climb up a fairly tall tree and were looking down at three….things pawing at the trunk of the tree in some futile attempt to get up it.

They were similar to dogs but looked as if their entire body was made out of wood. Each of them barked or circled the tree holding the ponies. Their eyes were a sinister looking green that seemed to flow out in some kind of smoky vapour at the sides.

“T-t-timber wolves!” Fluttershy squeaked as her whole body rattled in fear.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity rather stupidly shouted out in a mix of fear and panic for her sister. Naturally this earned the attention of not only the fillies in the tree but also the pack of timber wolves.

As soon as the wolves turned their gaze onto us they began to snarl their wolf like growls and slowly paw their way closer to us.

Oh shit…

The two ponies gulped in fear as they stood rigidly at the approaching threat. We all unsurely took a slow step back as they inched closer to us, snarling their throaty growls and baring their wooden stake teeth.

Now I had no idea what I would do next. As you may well imagine I had never been placed in a situation like this before in my life. I barely even registered kneeling down and picking up the log next to me…

About a metre long, sturdy, right shape albeit a little crooked… perfect for what I guessed I was going to do.

Rarity, who noticed my movements and the addition of the club in my hand, shot me a sideways glance and whispered,

“W-what are you doing? I hope you’re no-”

“Rarity when I tell you to I want you and Fluttershy to get them out of the tree and run” I said firmly as neither of us took our eyes off the approaching threat. Now even I will admit that what I was about to do was stupid on many levels. I don’t know why I did it, I just knew that it needed to be done and I had to do it.

Now you may be thinking that this may have been a rather brave act on my part but let me tell you I was shaking like a leaf. I had to tighten my grip on the wooden club to steady my hand and stop it from shaking. Who wouldn’t be even a little scared when they were about to make themselves living bait for a pack of angry wolves. A pack of evil enchanted wolves from another world as well!

Regardless of this I took a steady breath in and out to calm myself and inhaled slowly till my lungs were full.

I quickly side stepped away from the two ponies and threw my arms up in the air, waving them up and down. Club in one hand and lantern in the other.

“Hey! Come on then! Over here!” I yelled at the wooden beasts as they turned their heads to me, staring at me intently with their glowing green eyes. I yelled challengingly at them again as the pack turned to face me and snarled. Before I turned to sprint for my life I looked once more at Rarity and Fluttershy. Their faces were twisted into one of what I thought looked like genuine worry and fear. My face blanked as we both stared at each other for a moment that was probably really only a split second.

“Go! Go! Go!” I bellowed to them before spinning around and sprinting off into the woods as quickly as I possibly could manage.

An odd sense of satisfaction filled me when I heard the wolves bark loudly and the patter of several feet was heard behind me. At least the plan worked. I risked looking behind me to see the three wooden creatures rapidly descending on me. But that’s not what I was looking for, I looked past them to see Rarity and Fluttershy getting the fillies from the tree.

I continued sprinting a while longer riding on the shot of adrenaline that flooded through me. My lantern rattling on the handle in my grip as the flickering light flashed around the dark surroundings, only just managing to light my path. I knew that I had no chance of outrunning the wolves and they would eventually catch me, most likely in a few seconds. But that’s not what I planned on doing. That’s why I had the log with me.

Grinding the side of my foot into the leafy and overgrown forest floor I skidded to a halt before twisting my body around. Both hands on the end of the wooden club, I had managed to spin around just as the lead creature caught up with me and was leaping through the air for a takedown. Like a baseball player, I slammed the end of the club square into the face of the air born timberwolf with all the strength I had in my being. A stab of pain shot through my hands and up my arms from the heavy impact of the two objects colliding.

A huge wooden clunk rang through the scene, followed by a heart sinking wooden snap. I watched as the timberwolf’s glowing green eyes extinguished in a puff of green smoke. The various collections of mismatched wood that made up its body flew past me, no longer held together by whatever evil enchantment they had as they were joined by the splintered remains of my improvised weapon. I guess it wasn’t as sturdy as I thought…

My arms continued on their sweeping semi-circle arc through the air as I held onto the broken end of the shattered log. The lantern, still ensnared in my grip with the remnants of the club handle, rattled around from the motion on its thin wire handle.

The wildly flickering light illuminated the other two approaching beasts. In an awkward movement of my panicked and off balanced state, I managed to swing my arms back to half protect myself from the oncoming wolf’s pounce, half make some wild attempt at an attack.

It felt like someone struck me with a hammer. The second wolf collided into me, knocking the wind out of my chest and slamming me to the ground. But not before going through the lantern smashing into the side of its head. Glass shattered and shards spun through the dark as the embers and streaks of still lit oil splashed across the creatures head and upper body. The streaks of flaming oil pooled across the dark forest floor, illuminating small patches of the area. The wooden creature howled and darted around before shooting off into the trees, a faint glimmer of light identifying it as it went.

The surrounding area darkened as the only major source of light left with the second beast’s howls.

My head thumped in pain and chest ached as I lay on the damp ground. I quickly battered out the patches of flames spread across myself where the oil had splashed onto me as well. Pounding head, probably a cracked rib, winded and some small scratches, well at least I was still somehow alive after that.

In my haste to extinguish the flames and questioning of how lucky I had been, I almost failed to register the deep grumble coming from in front of me. I instantly froze in my sitting position. Slowly lifting my head up my fears were confirmed by another rattling snarl. Next to one of the dwindling patches of fire a wooden leg emerged and was highlighted by the orange flicker of dimming light.

How could I of been so stupid as to forget about the third one?!

All the dread and fear came flooding back to me as the enchanted wood wolf stepped closer. Bringing its face into the light I saw one half of its sinister face illuminated be the light.  My breathing became heavy and erratic as I stared into the creatures ethereal eyes. Unlike the other two this one had not lunged at me for a takedown, instead it pawed at the ground staring at me, almost as if it was challenging me in a way…

Shifting my eyes to the side, I noticed a sturdy looking stick similar to the one I had earlier but shorter. Probably the leg of the first one I fought. Cautiously I reached for it, never taking my eyes off the timberwolf’s eyes. Slowly I pulled it closer to me. Ripping the sleeve off my ruined hoodie at the elbow, where it had largely been torn off anyway, I tightly wrapped it around the end of the stick.

Any second now I expected the beast to lunge at me but it just stood there growling and slightly lowered at the front. Plunging the clothed end into the largest pool of flaming oil left the black fabric of the sleeve slowly began to alight.

The last timberwolf began to circle me as I stood, casting a sideways look to me. Holding the flaming stick in both hands in front of me I began sidestepping slowly. I had counted myself lucky for being able to survive the first two wolves, I prayed that it would stretch a little further.

At that moment in the rapidly darkening patch of forest I felt a strange calm in the night air. There was no noise, no wind, it all just seemed to fade out as the wolf and I stared to each other. Finally bringing our stand-off like moment to an end the timberwolf paused to face me head on. I knew that this was it. It was going to attack me and I very may well have met my end there.

The sinister creature barked once before rushing at me. I swept the flaming club across it as it repeated the previous wolves’ attempts of tackling me, unlike the previous times however the swing missed it by inches as it pounced on me. Throwing my body against the ground again, my improvised weapon rolled from my grasp as I used both my arms and all my strength to keep the creatures barking maw from me.

Even though the beast scratched wildly with its wooden claws at the ground at either side of me, it failed to make any successful attempt at mauling me, only succeeding the odd scratch to my upper arms or shoulders. My right forearm was locked against its wood chest propping it up and away from me as my left was being used to hold its shoulders and face away from mine. I was surprised beyond belief that I was somehow managing to keep the creature away from me. I guess all that heavy work on Applejack’s farm had paid off.

To my side I noticed the still blazing club from earlier was beside me. However the drool like tree sap dropping on my cheek extinguished any hopes of making a grab for it. My arms strained under the weight and shook with the wild movements of my burden. I knew I had to think of something fast since I guessed I couldn’t hold out much longer against the beast’s full force.

The struggling continued for what felt like ages before I caught a glimpse of its hind legs past its snapping jaw. They were being used to push the timberwolf’s body forwards against me instead of scratching around like the front pair. Because of the length of the wolf’s body I knew I would have enough room to bring my leg up and to the side.

Doing so I pulled my leg up to the side as far as my joints would allow and slammed in down of the hind leg. Now I expected to just knock it off balance a little but I guess these timberwolves were a lot more flimsy than I thought. The leg snapped clean off and skidded along the grassy floor.

The creature’s face twisted to one of surprise as it tilted off balance. Seeing my chance I threw my arm out and grabbed the flaming ex-limb. I my desperation I grabbed it about mid-way down the shaft and felt the flames heat lick my hand. Noticing this, the timberwolf opened its maw and made another snap at me. This time however I was quicker and thrust the ball of fire straight into the mouth of the beast. Bright embers danced through the sky as the beast thrashed its head around. The fire flicking from its teeth as it did so.

As it hacked and choked on the stick and fire it awkwardly jumps off me, allowing me the scramble to me feet. I stood to the side and watch the creature writhe and thrash on its three limps in front of me. Seeing my chance to end it I quickly grabbed the biggest log I could find around me and slammed it down on the back of the timberwolf’s head.

Completely detaching the wood block from rest of the body it clunked across the ground before coming to a rest. The rest of the body crumbled into a heap of assorted wood as I simply stood there breathing heavily. I stared at the scene frozen in place as I caught up with myself.

“How the hell did that happen…” I breathed. How did it happen?

Surely I should have died from all of that. But no, I had somehow managed to survive three timberwolves and win. Panting rapid breaths, I collapsed to my knees in exhaustion as I felt dizzy and shaken. I sat on my heels and wiped both hands across my face. Wiping the dirt and sweat from my face I felt the cool breeze of night air kiss my skin.

Gently lying back on the ground I spread my arms and legs out. My joints and back ached as I lay back on the ground breathing deeply. I felt a wave of strange relaxation come over me as I lay there. I looked up at the night sky, at the stars and the colourful swirls of light that danced around across it. The twinkling of the ever bright specks of starlight. Amidst my panting for breath I began to chuckle and grow into laugh as I thought back on the past hour’s events. I couldn’t help but laugh at how I was there in the middle of no-man’s land that was this forest, amongst the dwindling spots of burnt out oil and the assortment of wood that was once trying to kill me, lying there staring up at the sky when I should by all logic be dead.

Buried under my chuckling I heard the faint calls of my name growing closer.

“David?! David?! Can you hear us?! Where are you?! Are you alright?!”I heard the varying voices of the ponies shout.

Regaining my breath I smiled before shouting back,

“I’m over here! I’m alright!” I shouted in a tired but still rather happy voice. I returned to staring back up at the sky, awaiting the arrival of the approaching hoof steps.

“I’m doing just fine…” I breathed out through a smile.

It was not long before the gang of ponies had found me and was guiding me and the fillies back out the forest. None of us could wait to get the hell out of this place. I was walking tiredly along beside them as we made our where back to Ponyville. Fluttershy was applying some bandages or plasters to my cuts and wounds as the others conversed among themselves, mainly their scolding of the little fillies for being so stupid or how they put all our lives, specifically mine, at risk. I didn’t pay much attention to them, partly due to exhaustion but also because I was too busy deep within my own thoughts, thinking about everything that happened today…