Intro 1: Quiet Storm
Quiet Storm walked through the village of Hollow Shades. He passed a few ponies on his way through the town, all familiar with him by now. He stood above most of them, his height above average. Normally whenever Quiet walked out in public he got many looks for his appearance. Most of his coat was an earthy red, and his mane and tail were black, both long and unkempt. His hooves were dark grey, as well as his eyes, and his cutie mark was a yin and yang surrounding a storm cloud. What was different about him was his thicker, grey, buffalo hide on his upper back and two buffalo horns on his head.
His unique appearance was the result of his unique heritage. You see, his father was a buffalo, and his mother, an earth pony. When he was born, he was the same race as his mother, but still took some traits from his father. Besides his Parents. he grew up with an older and little brother, though they were both plain earth ponies, they didn't share Quiet’s unique appearance, singling him out from the rest of his family.
Quiet Storm grew up in Dodge City for most of his life, attending the schoolhouse there until he graduated at age 14. He was shunned by other kids for his appearance, so the only playmates he had were his brothers. Another unique trait he inherited was his size, he grew much larger than most ponies, while this warded off bullies it also meant that he constantly had to be cautious indoors, so as not to break anything. When Quiet graduated from the schoolhouse, he still hadn't earned his cutie mark and his older brother had left home to travel, leaving large gaps of free time while his younger brother went to school. This led to long periods of reading, so many hours with texts with so much information, Quiet Storm committed all of it to memory leading to his cutie mark for comprehension.
Normally Quiet might of been happy, but it was such a broad talent. Comprehension meant he could learn anything but it also meant somepony else would have had to master it first, so what could Quiet master? After pondering for some time, he decided he could devote himself to learning about one of the most difficult subjects in Equestria to grasp; Magic. At first all he could do was hoard books on any kind of magical subject from the local library, until he met a traveling unicorn there who excelled on the subject of inherent magic, or the magic inside of all creatures. Seeing Quiet’s studious nature, the unicorn named Spell Buff invited Quiet as an apprentice to learn more. With a goodbye to his little brother and parents Quiet traveled with the unicorn to the village of Hollow Shades.
Without any social skills and his excessively large vocabulary from reading so many books, Quiet made two friends, friends with whom he shared a bond lasting two years in that village.Now, he was 16, and these very friends he was on his way to meet in the woods surrounding the village.
Quiet stepped into the clearing where he and his friends met frequently, once again he was first to arrive. Quiet let out an audible sigh. “I wonder how long I’ll have to wait this ti-”
“Hey, Quiet!”
Quiet chuckled, his out loud thought interrupted by his friend. “Not long, apparently.” Quiet turned to face his normally tardy friend.
A pegasus named Dead Bass.
Intro 2: Dead Bass
Right off the bat, what first stands out about Dead Bass? His name, who gives their kid the name ‘Dead’? I’ll tell you, Dead Bass’ parents. A unicorn stallion named Envious Poetry (Or Envy for short) and a pegasus mare named Thorn Brush. Envy was a writer mostly, specializing in short stories and poetry, and Thorn was a painter. Both Thorn and Envy shared something unique about their arts, their dark tone nature. Envy wrote chilling stories and haunting poetry, often leaving a reader with nightmares, or with no sleep at all. Thorn painted pictures that evoked emotions like sadness, despair, and fear. Naturally the two ponies were a perfect match for each other.
They moved into a house in Hollow Shades, a village often under the shadows of the forest surrounding it, and had one child, Dead Bass. Dead Bass was a pegasus with a brown coat, green eyes, and a green and black mane and tail, though as a child his parents fashioned his hair so as to hide as much green as possible. Attending the school house in Hollow Shades, due to his mysterious nature(set by his parents.) other kids thought he was cool, and he developed pretty good social skills, though Dead Bass found the other kids to be boring. Sometimes other foals found him scary, and Dead Bass would often find their reactions of fright amusing, but he didn't revel in it.
Dead Bass, due to his upbringing, became totally immune to anything scary or creepy himself, and easily became tired of anything of the such from his parents. As a result he sought to separate himself from them as much as possible. Once he earned his cutie mark, a bass guitar with bat wings, his parents would supply him with music that had a chilling tone. When he was 13 he went to the local library to find new music, a change from the kind his parents gave him, where he met another pony around his age who’d just moved to Hollow Shades. This pony, already well acquainted with the library showed Dead Bass to the music books, and even helped him learn from the books he picked out, though this pony claimed he wasn't a musician himself. This was the same pony Dead Bass was going to meet in the woods today.
Now, Dead Bass’ mane was shaped like a buzz saw with green and black spikes, his tail was trimmed short and mostly unkempt, the same colors as his mane. His wings flapped keeping him slightly above ground. He was going to take a nap in the library until he caught a glimpse of the clock, seeing it was time for his rendezvous with his friends. Spotting Quiet, who seemed to be thinking aloud he shouted for him. “Hey, Quiet!”
Quiet chuckled and turned toward Dead Bass, “Not long, apparently.”
Dead Bass raised an eyebrow. “Say what now?”
“Nothing, just thinking out loud.”
Dead Bass looks around the clearing “So, where’s Shard?”
“Presumably she’ll be here any se-” Quiet Storm was interrupted a loud whistle.
Intro 3: Shard
The tritagonist of this story and final friend in this trio is Shard. Shard is a Pegasus and out of the three the only female. Her coat was white and the tips of the feathers on her wings were black, her eyes were an amber color, her mane and tail were black with white trims, and her mane was tied in a ponytail. Shard had a more athletic build than Quiet or Dead Bass as she was a dancer, though she rarely talked about it.
Shard grew up in Manehattan, with just her parents. She never liked attending school there as all the kids seemed to enjoy bullying her, she just didn't seem have the kind of personality for making friends. She was also late in receiving her cutie mark, as she never wanted to do anything with other ponies, since they were so mean to her. Eventually, her parents signed her up for ballet classes, it was there she earned her cutie mark for dancing (Or the term she preferred; Coordination.) The bullying went on like normal for her, but she grew tired of it, and eventually she proved to be meaner than any bully in her town. She developed an aggressive disposition, and generally became unpleasant to be around. This led to all of her peers being wary of her, and so they often would just dodge if they saw her in public.
When she was 16 she’d finally had made enough money to travel on her own, so she did. Using money acquired from her allowance, and odd-jobs she performed around town, she took train out of town. With no particular direction, she ended up in Hollow Shades, choosing a place that differed from Manehattan as much as possible. She was easily able to find jobs around the village as ponies had a number of tasks that needed doing, and not too many ponies to do them. The village also lacked many other ponies her age which Shard decided was a good thing, as she never had a good experience with a peer of hers. She was, however, able to find to colts around her age, though they didn't exactly look like common bullies, she still had a few choice word stored in her mind. So if these ponies proved unpleasant, she'd make sure that she seemed even nastier. It turns out the two were simply preparing for a walk into the forest, and even invited Shard to cone with them. She already made some money in Hollow Shades, and she had free time so, Shard decided to go with them. She ended up actually having fun and getting along with the two, and was even invited to join them the next day. Shard decided she wasn't in a rush, so she stayed in the village with her two new friends, for two years.
Chapter 1: What Happens in Hollow Shades...
Chapter 1
“I’m over here!” Shard waved to her friends, calling them over. With all three of them here Quiet Storm lifted himself from his lazy position, and Dead Bass flew over to Shard. “So, which one of you set up this meeting?” She asked.
Dead Bass raised his hoof with a grin. “That would be me, I wanna try to hike further this time.” Dead Bass always liked taking long trots into the nearby forest, often resulting in Quiet Storm and Shard returning home after sundown, which wouldn’t be too much of a problem if Hollow Shades wasn’t shadowy enough by being surrounded by a forest.
Quiet Storm sighed. “Really? I barely made it home in time for supper last time.” Missing a meal isn’t precisely a good idea for a pony of his size.
“It’s only noon now, so nopony will miss dinner.” Dead Bass Assured Quiet. “I know you’re a big pony.” Dead Bass patted Quiet's head teasingly. Quiet only responded with an irritated grumble.
“It may only be noon know, but that won’t matter if we get lost like last time.” Shard pointed out.
“I thought about that, so this time we’ll take a straight path out, then back home. No circles- or any other shape this time.”
Quiet Storm and Shard looked at eachother, then both nodded in agreement with Dead Bass. Quiet started out ahead of the other two. “Just to be sure, I’m leading. You can get easily distracted, Dead Bass.”
Dead Bass was looking at a fly, but his attention snapped back to Quiet upon mention of his name. “What now?” Quiet Storm just sighed and trotted into the forest.
It was late noon in the middle of Spring, the forest canopy casted many shadows upon the three ponies, but it was bright enough for them to see clearly. Quiet Storm led the group, often stepping on branches and leaves with nary a thought, his physique making it hard to move with discretion. Shard followed on hoof behind Quiet, though she moved much more gracefully without having to think, often stepping over branches and leaves, occasionally hopping over a log with a wing. Dead Bass lagged behind his two friends, floating above them, becoming distracted by every colorful flower, loud insect, or curiously shaped tree. Thankfully, he was never distracted enough to get left behind, he’d never allow that, considering he’s the one who led his friends out here.
The three kept up idle conversation, they’d always talk while they were out with one another, all with topics of varying import. At the time, they were simply discussing what might come of venturing as far as they could into the forest.
“Do you think there might be any monsters out here?” Prompted Dead Bass. He was flying about above Shard and Quiet, looking around as he saw fit.
“ Aren't you the only one who’s lived in Hollow Shades there entire life?” Asked Shard, still following Quiet.
“Yeah, but it’s not like I had a reason to go out here much.”
“You don’t really have a reason now.”
“Yeah I do, I've got you two here to hang out with!”
“Even so, wouldn't somepony else in the village know? Couldn't you have asked them.”
“The ponies who settled this village only went as far as where Hollow Shades is, and since nopony has a reason to go this far in- no, nopony else really knows.”
“And we’re just going to waltz in ahead with no real inkling as to what may be ahead.”
Quiet Storm who was still leading the group cut in. “I doubt there’s going to be anything too dangerous, considering that a good number of ponies live near this forest.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes- huh? What the- OW!” Dead Bass had gotten distracted while flying, causing him to smack into a branch.
Quiet Storm chastises him. “Dead Bass, watch where you’re flying.”
Dead Bass turns his head back and forth looking for the source of something. “Yeah, I know. It’s just... do you guys smell that?”
The group stopped to see, or rather smell, what Dead Bass was talking about. There was a stench in the air that proceeded to get heavier, like rotting wood.
“Ugh, Celestia, what is that!?” Shard commented, covering her nose with a hoof.
Quiet’s own nose scrunched. “I don’t know, it’s like something died in a tree, what do you think Dead Bass?... Dead Bass?”
Dead Bass didn't answer as he was too busy staring at the source of the smell, which Shard and Quiet Storm had their backs turned to until they they turned to see why he wasn't answering. Having almost sneaked up on them was three timber wolves, each as large as a bear. Dead Bass slowly floated backwards toward his friends and shouted what was no doubt a unanimous plan among the three. “CHEESE IT!” Albeit Shard and Quiet Storm might have used different words for it, but they obliged and ran opposite the direction of the wolves.
Shard took off with her wings flying beside Dead Bass, just underneath the forest canopy, dodging tree trunks and branches. This left Quiet Storm to charge forward as fast as he could, barreling through lesser obstructions, and avoiding greater ones. Of course, any dying log, or pile of branches he rushed through slowed him down, allowing the wolves to gain on him. Dead Bass and Shard flew above him, and while they could easily fly away, they weren't going to leave Quiet to fend for himself.
Dead Bass, hastily patched together a plan in his head, he swooped low to the ground, picking up a stick in his mouth, and threw at one of the timber wolves, gaining it’s attention. “Hey wood-rot! This way!” He flies in a direction away from Quiet Storm and Shard, the wolf bounding after him.
Though this plan was probably a terrible idea, Dead Bass had already acted, and so Shard followed his lead, she flew near a wolf, and kicked it in the head. Before she led it away she shouted out to Quiet Storm. “Quiet! Only one of them is after you now.” She then darted of before the timber wolf pounced where she was, and followed her.
Quiet didn't really see how that helped, the thing was still huge! Though Quiet himself was sizable, especially compared to an average pony, that thing was as big as a fully grown bear! Lost in his thoughts, Quiet lost his footing and tripped over a log he would have normally jumped over, tumbling into the dirt. Just perfect, Quiet rushed to his hooves, only for the timber wolf to stop in front of him, and glare right into his face. Deciding that backing down would be a bad idea, Quiet instead strafed sideways, and the wolf mirrored him.
Dead Bass had not planned this far ahead. His plan had worked swimmingly, and now the wolf was chasing him and not ganging on Quiet, though Dead Bass didn't think out how he was going to deal with even one wolf. He could fly through the canopy and lose the wolf, but then it may straight back for one of his other friends. No, he had to think of how to deal with now, and fast.
Shard had led the wolf following her to a clearing, and was dancing circles around it. Anytime it pounced for her, Shard just wouldn't be there. Shard found it easy to just roll out of the way of the wolf, but that wouldn't solve her problem. She needed to find someway to get rid of the wolf before she tired out, which the timber wolf wouldn't be doing anytime soon, as it was made of wood.
Quiet and the wolf had circled each other for what seemed like ages, waiting for the other to make the first move. Quiet knew there would be no avoiding a conflict, there was nowhere to run, and he may not be able to afford letting the wolf have the first move, Quiet ran forward, but the wolf simply bounded backwards, evading Quiet entirely. Which was good, since Quiet wasn't sure what he would have done had he reached the wolf. The timber wolf shot forward, and swiped at Quiet with a claw, causing him to lose balance, and topple over, also leaving a few scratches. Quiet gets up again, and decides he has to act. Quiet couldn't afford to think on how to strike, he let his instinct take over. He lowers his head, pointing his horns at the wolf, and charges.
Dead Bass was at a loss for ideas on how to fight this thing. He didn't know anything about Timber wolves, except that they didn't have the weaknesses of actual wolves, such as fatigue. Of course, he only learned this as it chased him, as it never slowed down. He was flying just under the top of the trees, ad this monster bounded in the air after him, it even managed to take a few hairs off of Dead Bass’ tail. How could a wooden wolf puppet be this tough!? Well, the word Quiet would use now is ‘tenacious’. It’s just a moving pile of sticks! What could it even gain from eating me... At that moment in time, Dead Bass was struck with an idea, albeit a simple one. As the wolf bounded for him again, it caught his tail in it’s mouth, and dragged him down, slamming him into the ground. Oh, sweet Tartarus, no.
Shard had continued the same dance with this thing, it pouncing, and her not being there. She was beginning to tire out, but she did have a plane now. Essentially this thing was a construct, and as such it should have a structural weakness. The wolf get pouncing, and it kept cutting closer and closer. It seemed like it was going to catch her, it just had to keep at it a little longer. The timber wolf arched it’s wooden body, prepared to pounce again, but as it shifted weight to it’s back legs, it fell down. It didn't lose it’s balance, it’s back legs came out from under it. Looking at it’s prey again, it saw Shard with three sticks in her grasp, three vital sticks. Two in each wing, and one in her mouth. All the wolf could do was try to drag itself towards her with it’s front legs, but as it extended each, they fell off too. It then lifted it’s head to howl, only for that to fall off as well. Her bout with the wolf over, Shard took a moment to get her breath back. Remembering her friends, she shot off with her wings to look for them, she could still hear the sounds of struggle.
Quiet sat on his haunches, rubbing his head in pain, a pile of sticks that was previously a timber wolf in front of him. He hadn't expected his headbutt to actually take out the wolf in one blow. He didn't think it would hurt this much. Anyhow, once his head stopped hurting, he’d go out and look for his friends.
“OWWWW!!” Maybe he should head out now, that sounded like Dead Bass.
Once the wolf had dragged Dead Bass to the ground, he found it difficult to get back in the air, as anytime he tried the wolf lunged at him, forcing him back to the ground. All he had to do was keep in the air for a moment for his plan, but it seemed that he’d have to be bold. The wolf lunged again, and rather than dodge, Dead Bass turned around and bucked as hard as he could, slamming his back hooves into the wolf’s face. While the wolf recoiled, Dead Bass shot into the air, only to dive down back towards the wolf. Leading with the knee of his foreleg, he dive into the wolfs wooden spin, snapping it in half. Once the wolf was down, Dead Bass took the time to gloat.
“Yeah! That’ll teach you to- OWWWW!” The pain from the impact suddenly reached his leg, alerting everything within a five mile radius, which thankfully included his friends.
Dead Bass’ rather loud announcement of pain allowed his friends to find him quickly. “Is everypony alright?” Shard asked.
“Yeah, I just have to let my leg rest.” Dead Bass remained suspended in the air, not wanting to have to use his leg.
“My head still hurts, but other than that I’m fine.” Quiet still had a hoof devoted to rubbing his head. “Let’s just hurry home, I’m hungry...”
The three trotted together out of the forest, eager to leave.
Chapter 2: Getting Out of Dodge
Chapter 2
Quiet Storm, Dead Bass, and Shard all returned safely to their respective lodgings. Quiet Storm returned to his teacher, Spell Buff’s house, and Dead Bass returned to his parent’s house. Shard found a comfortable branch on a tree on the outskirts of the village, and went to sleep.
Once Quiet entered his house, he was greeted by his teacher, Spell Buff. Spell Buff was a unicorn stallion with a tan coat, and a brown mane and tail. His mane was long,and split at his average sized horn, falling down either side of his head. His tail was also long and hovered just above the ground. He had a slim frame, the result of spending his youth on his studies, as opposed to physical activity. His cutie Mark appeared to be a constellation of a pony. Spell Buff’s talent was casting spells that had some form of effect on another pony’s body, and understanding how such spells worked.
Quiet opened the front door into the living room. The room wasn't too large, around average sized. In the center was a couch, and in front of the couch was a very large bookshelf. On the couch then was Spell Buff, who lifted his nose from a book to look at Quiet with sage green eyes. He had a few wrinkles on his forehead, just coming out of the prime of his youth. “You're here rather late.” Spell observed, before returning his gaze to his book.
Quiet sighed. “Yes, I know. I had a bit of a misadventure in the forest.” Spell Buff didn’t appear to notice the large bruise on Quiet’s head, that or he just didn’t care. Before Quiet headed upstairs to his room, he walked over to the bookshelf and removed a single book.
Spell Buff gave a quick glance to see what book Quiet picked out. “What do you need that book for?” He asked.
“I’m just curious about something.” Quiet responded simply.
Spell Buff was still idly reading his book. “Bump into something nasty out there?” Quiet didn’t respond, instead he just headed upstairs. Spell Buff chuckled. “That would be a yes.”
Quiet hated it whenever Spell Buff knew something before Quiet cared to tell him, though, it was probably obvious by the book he took out. Quiet had selected an Equestrian bestiary from the shelf. He didn’t know anything about Timber wolves, so now seemed like a good time to study up on them. Though he’d have to head to bed right after, he was dead tired. With no dinner either...
***
Dead Bass stepped up to his house. The two story house was constructed mostly of a dark grey wood. The garden had several particularly thorny rose bushes, and the windows were blocked in the inside by black curtains. Home sweet home. Dead Bass opened the door and stepped in to be greeted by... nopony. His parents were often in their own room, his mom working on a painting, or his dad writing poetry, they’d often receive inspiration directly from each other. Dead Bass just sighed and trotted to his room. In his own room, his bass was in the corner, he thought about practicing, but decided he was exhausted from today and fell face first into his bed.
***
Shard woke up early the next day, gliding to the ground from off of her tree branch and stretching. The sun poked out so that a good section of the sky was still red, it was a good time to work with the other pegasi and set up today’s weather for some bits. She wouldn’t get done until about noon, so she would have to get a late breakfast.
***
After waking up and eating breakfast, Dead Bass walked out of his house, and began a brief fly over to Quiet Storm’s house. He hadn’t seen his parents so they were either still asleep or just busy. Maybe they got up and went somewhere before Dead Bass woke up. Once he reached Spell Buff’s house, he began to knock on the door with his hoof, he got three knocks in before Spell Buff answered, and quickly stopped the fourth knock from reaching Spell Buff’s head. That was a mistake he didn’t want to make twice.
Spell Buff greeted Dead Bass grumpily. “I assume you’re looking for Quiet Storm?”
Dead Bass nodded in reply “Is he here?” It was still early, and Dead Bass didn’t know any other reason for Quiet to leave the house, other than to go to the library.
Spell Buff nodded. “Mhmm, he’s either reading a book, or he slept in. Either way in his room.”
“Thank You kindly.” Spell Buff merely grunted and returned to his sofa to read his book. Dead Bass always found it difficult if not impossible to determine what Spell Buff was thinking, and normally Dead Bass was good at that. Much like Quiet Storm, Buff always has that bored expression on his face, but at least he’s seen Quiet smile and laugh. Dead Bass trotted up stairs and opened the door to Quiet’s room, inside he saw Quiet with his head on his reading desk, snoring quite loudly.
Walking over to Quiet, Dead Bass tried to nudge him awake. When that didn’t work he tried something else.
“HEY QUIET WAKE UP!”
Quiet’s head shot up and he looked around the room frantically, “WHO- WHAT- Oh...” This was by far the most frantic Dead Bass has ever seen Quiet. When Quiet’s eyes landed on Dead Bass, his eyes narrowed at him. “Dead Bass, what are you doing in my room?”
Dead Bass had a dumb smile on his face. “Waking you up, apparently.” Dead Bass then broke out into laughter.
Quiet just smiled. “What time is it now?”
Dead Bass stopped laughing to answer. “Well, it’s still pretty early, so Shard’s probably busy. What do you wanna do?”
“Well we are NOT going into the forest again.”
“Agreed, how about we just take a trot first?”
Quiet looked blankly at Dead Bass but just sighed. “Alright, let’s go.”
With that, the two friends left Spell Buff’s house and trotted into town. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to do, Quiet suggested going to the library, but Dead Bass protested, arguing that Quiet always went there. Dead Bass suggested a game of ponyhunt, but Quiet said he was too large to hide, and didn't feel like galloping. The two just ended up having a conversation on a bench in the picnic area. Somehow, the conversation came to be about geese.
“I don’t understand how you can be raised off of horror stories and be afraid of Geese!” Quiet exclaimed.
“I told you, I’m not really afraid, just reasonably apprehensive. You know that they attack ponies sometimes.” Dead Bass argued back.
Quiet face-hoofed “Geese only ever attack other creatures to protect their nest or something. They don’t even so much as honk at ponies unless they get too close.”
“It’s their eyes man, THEIR EYES!” Dead Bass gestured to his own eyes, trying to emphasize his point. “Their eyes bore through your body, and glare at your soul!”
A third voice interrupted their conversation. “And I thought you said you weren’t poetic like your father.” Quiet Storm and Dead Bass were so into their argument, they hadn’t noticed Shard standing there and watching.
“Wha- how long have you been there!?” Dead Bass asked, surprised at himself that he hadn’t noticed her sooner.
“Long enough, is this really all you two do when I’m not with you?”
“No, we tried to pass the time with a number of other things...” Quiet clarified. “But, none of them worked for too long.”
Shard smiled slightly, it was nice to know that she was missed. In truth, it wasn't just Shard that made everything interesting. If the three weren't all together at once, it's likely that she herself may enter the same situation of boredom, if it was just her and Dead Bass or Quiet Storm. They say three is a crowd, but when they were separated, they weren't the same. “So, what were you doing all day?”
Quiet Storm and Dead Bass both shared their experiences up to that point in time. Shard herself had helped to clear the skies earlier that day with the weather team.
“So, all together... none of us did much.” Quiet declared.
“Oh, I forgot to ask.” Dead Bass chimed. “But, why’d you fall asleep on your desk last night?” he asked Quiet.
Shard cut in before Quiet could answer. “You fell asleep on your desk?”
Dead Bass snickered. “Yeah! He was drooling into his book.”
Shard held back a chuckle. “Wow, does Spell Buff know, Quiet?”
Now with a slight grimace brought on by annoyance, Quiet answered. “Yes, I did fall asleep on my desk, but I wasn’t drooling! After our little misadventure that day, I decided to look up a bit more about Timber wolves... but fell asleep while reading.”
“Well, I’m sure whatever you learned there would’ve been useful.” Shard commented. “What’d you get out of it?”
Quiet put his hoof to his chin as he often did, and tried to recall. “Well... I read that they live in forests all over Equestria... there often hostile... and... there was something else, but I can’t seem to remember-” Just then Quiet was cut off by a loud noise.
*HOOOOOOOOOOOWWLLLLL*
Several ponies could be seen running past the three in a panic. Before another one passed them, Dead Bass flew in front of him. “Dude, why is everyone freaking out!?”
“There’s a timber wolf in the town square- RUN!!” The pony shoved past Dead Bass and kept galloping.
For a moment, the three ponies stood in an awkward silence until Quiet broke it. “Hey guys, I remember that last detail now,” With wide eyes and shrunk pupils Quiet recited what he had read last night. “Timber wolves can reconstruct their bodies into larger single structure, and when they come into contact with any kind of threat...”
“...Go on.” Shard prodded.
Quiet swallowed and finished the excerpt. “...They’ve been known to hunt it down until either the wolf, or it’s prey, goes down.”
***
Dead Bass started panicking “Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo!!??” *Slap*
“OW!” Shard slapped him, so he’d calm down.
“Maybe we can get it to leave, we handled three last time.” Quiet offered.
That was true, maybe if they hurried, they could minimize any damage it could do. Quiet galloped to the village square, while Shard and Dead Bass flew above him.
“Alright, where is it? I’m sure the three of us can handle it quickly.” Said Quiet.
“Uhh, you sure about that bro?” Dead Bass pointed to the timberwolf everypony was running from, now they could see why.
While the timberwolves Shard, Dead Bass, and Quiet Storm encountered were roughly the size of fully grown bears, the wolf they were looking at was the size of a fully grown house.
“Where did this thing come from!?” Shard shouted, clearly irate.
“Like I said, they can reconstruct themselves into larger structures, that wolf is most likely the three we saw in the forest.”
As the three spoke, the wolf heard them, and turned it’s head toward the three. It's eyes narrowed as it recognized them, then It let out a piercing howl, and bounded for them.
“Scatter!” Following Dead Bass’ plan, Shard and Dead Bass flew in opposite directions, leaving Quiet as a sitting duck.
“OH, COME ON!” Quiet galloped as fast as he could away from the wolf, unfortunately while Quiet had to gallop around obstructions like fruit stands, or benches, the timberwolf just stepped over, or barreled through them. The wolf didn’t chase Quiet too long, as an apple made it’s way to the wolf’s face. It turned to see the cause of the intrusion, and saw Dead Bass with another apple in his hoof.
“Alright doggy, heel!” Dead Bass lobs another apple at the wolf’s head, which simply bounced off, only managing to pester it. “Uhmm, stay?” Dead Bass’ only real plan was to get it’s attention away from Quiet Storm. With that done, he tried to fly higher, away from the giant wolf. When he tried however, the wolf jumped up and caught Dead Bass’ tail, as it returned to earth, so did Dead Bass, who was slammed into the ground. “Oh sweet Luna, NOT AGAIN!”
Now Shard’s turn to distract the wooden beast, she flew over to the wolf and bucked it right in the snout. The wolf merely regarded her for but a moment, before opening it’s maw, and snapping it down on Shard, catching her in it’s mouth. At first, Dead Bass and Quiet Storm could only stare with expressions of sheer horror, before they heard a knocking sound from inside the wolf’s mouth. One of the wooden teeth was knocked out of the wolf’s mouth, and Shard escaped through the gap.
Nopony had time to celebrate, however, as the wolf swiped at her with it’s paw, and knocked her out of the air. As Shard was knocked straight into a fruit stand, (this one filled with pears) Quiet and Dead Bass rushed over to her.
“We should leave,now!” Quiet urged them.
Shard got up, and tried to fly. “Alright, just let me- GAH!” When she unfurled her wings to take off, her left one wouldn’t extend all the way. “My wing, I think it’s-”
*ROOOOAAAARRRRR*
Right now, the condition of Shard’s wing seemed rather unimportant while the three were cornered by the giant, wooden, pony-eating wolf. The wolf had the three cornered, it’s head neared them, and it opened it’s jaws with the intent of eating them in one bite. As the foul stench of the wolf’s breath practically smothered the three, it seemed as though it was over.
That was until a rock flew over Quiet Storm, Dead Bass, and Shard, and into the beast’s mouth. When it did, the wolf sat on it’s haunches, and started coughing, unable to breathe. The coughs got more violent, until one cough caused the whole wolf to break apart, all of it’s wooden limbs and bones hitting the ground.
The three gawked at the fallen beast in amazement and sat there without saying a word, until Dead Bass broke the silence. "Was that in you're book!?" He shouted out Quiet Storm.
Quiet shook his head, now recovered from that ordeal. "If it was, I don't recall"
"It was!" Another voice shouted. Approaching the three was Spell Buff, his horn glowing from having just casted a spell.
Shard addressed Spell Buff first. "Spell Buff? What are you-"
"It's pretty difficult to miss a giant timber wolf rampaging in the town square, that and Quiet left his book on the page about them when he left. I read a little further, and saw that they could be asphyxiated."
Quiet cut in at this point "What!? But how can a wooden construct suffocate when they probably don't even need to breathe, that doesn't make any sense!"
Spell Buff answered before Quiet could continue. "Timberwolves are creatures of magic, it's best not to dwell on it. Anyway, Quiet, I need you to come back to the house, you received a letter."
Quiet looked slightly surprised. "A letter, from whom?"
"You'll have to come home to check, and I would hurry. I can't imagine any of you would want to be the only ones found in this mess."
Upon hearing his comment, the three looked at their surroundings. The town square had been totaled, stand we're completely crushed, benches sent flying, and the ground itself had the massive prints of the wolf everywhere, leading straight to where Quiet Storm, Dead Bass, and Shard were now. The three only had to look at each other for a moment, before reaching a silent agreement to follow Spell Buff to his house, before anypony else came across them.
When the everypony got to Spell Buff's house, they noticed that Spell Buff mailbox was leaning over, as if it had been crashed into. "How did that happen? I don't remember the wolf getting t his far." Shard commented.
"It didn't" Spell answered in an irritated voice. "The mailmare somehow managed to crash into my mailbox when she flew in."
Dead Bass chuckled, but other than that, nopony made any other comments about it. Once inside, the four of them all sat around the kitchen table. The kitchen was rather space even with the table, and there was a side door leading outside. Spell buff levitated a letter over to Quiet, the enveloped was incased in a dark green aura, which disappeared when it fell in front of Quiet. Quiet opened the letter, his grey eyes darted left and right as he read it. When he was finished, he put the letter down.
"It's... It's from my father!" Dead Bass and Shard looked surprised, while Spell Buff kept his calm expression. The only ponies in Equestria that weren't related to Quiet, who knew about his relationship with his father, were in that room. Quiet's father was the chief of a nomadic Buffalo tribe, that always swung by Dodge City. While Quiet's father, Chief Tempest of the Howling Gale tribe, hadn't abandoned Quiet and his brothers by any means, he had responsibilities as a chief, and since their tribe was nomadic, he was constantly away from home. The tribe always came by Dodge City every year for a week, sometimes longer, but they always moved on eventually. Quiet, because of his appearance, was always the closest to his father out of all his brothers. As such, he was the most knowledgeable about Buffalo culture. His brothers, on the other hoof, had their uncle Red Stone (Who acted as Sheriff and Mayor for Dodge City) to look up to as a father figure.
"We'll..." Shard began. "What does it say?"
Quiet responded with a smile. "It says that The Howling Gales are swinging by Dodge City again, and my father wants to have me go through a trial of manhood! Doing so would make me an official Howling Gale!"
Dead Bass scratched his head. "The Howling Gales? Is that a band?" Dead Bass knew it wasn't, but couldn't resist asking anyways.
"It's the name of my father's tribe," Quiet was to excited to berate Dead Bass for asking such an obvious question. "This is wonderful! I'm going to be a man in my father's eyes!"
Dead Bass and Shard gave each other a slightly worried look. They both had known Quiet to not really care what other ponies thought of him, even them to an extent. Though, it seemed like he really wanted his father's approval.
Spell Buff looked at the clock. It was about two thirty. "Well, if you're going, you better hurry, the next train is in thirty minutes." Everypony gave Spell Buff a confused look. "But, it's early in the afternoon." Quiet pointed out. "We won't reach Dodge City by train until late in the evenimust
"That's true..." Said Spell Buff. "But, you have precisely that long until I'm able to tell the mayor about the incident with the wolf, and you three's involvement in it." Quiet Storm, Shard and Dead Bass froze. Spell Buff continued. "I can't rightly leave this whole thing a mystery, now can I? Better get packed." As soon as he finished talking, the three teenagers all bolted, Quiet to his room, Dead Bass out of an open window to his house, and Shard to retrieve her belongings. The mayor of Hollow Shades did her job well, but she was not a mare you wanted angry at you.
Quiet galloped to his room, and retrieved his saddle bag, and started throwing things in it. "Let's see... Pencil, journal, bit bag, oh, and this!" Quiet stuffed his bestiary into the bag, it being one of the few books in the house he hadn't finished. "And, what else? Food!" He rushed back downstairs to pack a lunch.
From behind him, Spell Buff tossed a another bit bag. "Ticket money, you'll need it." Spell Buff returned to the living, presumably to read a book.
***
Dead Bass flew as fast as he could to his house, he practically slammed open the door, and looked for his parents. "Mom!" Spotting his mother, Thorn Brush, a tall mare with a mane and tail that were green like dark grass, her mane tied into a ponytail and her tail cropped to a short length. Her coat was a dark ebony grey, and a cutie mark of a paint brush adorned her flank. She looked at Dead Bass with light brown eyes, unsurprised by her son's frantic behavior.
"Yes, what is it Dead Bass." It may seem like she didn't care, but she made a point to remain calm, as doing so often calmed the heat of any situation
Dead Bass took a deep breath. "Alright, so Quiet Shard and I were out in the woods yesterday and we bumped into these timberwolves and we got into this whole fight scene and we each managed to beat them which is why I came home late yesterday but you weren't awake so I thought you wouldn't mind and now a huge timberwolf followed us and wrecked the town square and Spell Buff is sending Quiet to Dodge City to see his dad and Spell is about to tell the mayor so I was wondering if I could join Quiet to go to Dodge City, pretty please?" Dead bass finished his explanation, with a wide, innocent smile.
Thorn Brush, bewildered by her sons large explanation simply looked wide eyed for a few moments, before sighing. "Go pack a lunch, I'll go get some bits for the ticket." Dead Bass quickly hugged his mother, and thanked her before rushing to the kitchen to pack a lunch. Thorn Brush sighed again, this was going to be one hay of an explanation when she told Envy...
***
As Shard galloped out of Spell Buff's house, she extended her wings to fly, her left wing however wouldn't extend, and pain shot through her back when she tried to move it. "Great..." Now she had to rush everywhere on hoof! She galloped as fast as she could to the outskirts of Hollow Shades. She approached a bush, and shot her hoof in, retrieving a bag full of bits. First she'd have to go to a general store, then she'd have to buy lunch. Shard yelped at another jolt of pain came from her wing... She'd also need to see the clinic.
Shard rushed into the general store, it was far off from the town square, so it had bee left untouched by the timberwolf. Bit bag in her mouth, Shard rushed into the store, practically slamming the door open. The clerk greeted her."Shard! How can I help you tod-"
Shard slammed eight bits on the table. "One Saddlebag please."
"A saddle bag? Finally moving on, huh?" Shard always talked about moving on from Hollow Shades eventually, and since she did odd jobs for so many ponies, almost everyone knew.
She shook her head. "Not really, going to Dodge City."
The clerk mare chuckled. "What for? Wanna be a cowgirl?"
Shard shook her head. "No, just following Quiet. Can we hurry this along?"
"Ooh, I always knew that you had it out for one of those boys." The clerk said as she went to receive a saddlebag. Like many mares in the village, the clerk was an avid gossip, which is pretty common in small villages.
"What!?" Shard exclaimed, blushing. "No! He's like two years younger than me!"
The clerk placed the bag on the counter. "Those years will mean less as you get older." She looked away for a moment to think of something else to tell her. "If you want my advice-" Now the clerk was talking to an empty space, the front door left open. She chuckled. "Guess she's on her own."
Shard wasn't done yet, but she was out of time. She decided to just rush to the train station, she was sure her friends would be their on time as well.
Dead Bass made it to the platform first, it was a short trot down a trail just outside of Hollow Shades. He didn't have too wait long for Quiet to get there. "Dead Bass, you're coming too?"
Dead Bass looked almost offended, but grinned. "Are you kidding? I'm not gonna let my best bud become a man without my support!" Dead Bass wrapped a friendly wing around Quiet. "Besides, I don't want to be there when the mayor explodes." They both chuckled nervously, they knew she would.
As they talked, Shard finally arrived as well. "You too Shard?" Quiet remarked.
"Did you expect any less?" She said
"ALL ABOARD!" The train conductor shouted.
"Come on, we should hurry before-"
"GAAHAAAAAAHHH!!!" ... That sounded like the mayor...
"Let's move!" Quiet exclaimed as they all payed the conductor for the tickets, and rushed onto the train.
***
Spell Buff trotted into the mayor's office and sat in the chair in front of her desk. The mayor turned her chair around to face him. She was a middle-aged unicorn, with a navy blue coat, and bright white mane and tail. Her mane was fashioned into bouncy curls that fell down either side of her face, her tail was fashioned in a similar way. A scroll adorned her flank, and she looked at Spell Buff with bright yellow eyes. "Ah, Spell Buff, glad to see you. Now, I here that you can shed some light on the incident in the town square today?"
Spell Buff nods. "Yes, Mayor Constel, the timberwolf was following three children from thw forest. Quiet Storm-"
"Dead Bass, and Shard..." She finished. The three were well known for being an inseparable group of friends, so the minute Spell Buff mentioned his student's name, she knew the others were involved. "I see." They weren't known for getting in trouble, though idle time was time to get in trouble, and these kids had nothing but idle time...
"Yes, from what I can tell, they had a run in with some timberwolves, they must've been able to break the wolves apart, but they later reformed and followed them here."
The mayor sighed, and put her hooves to either side of her head, as if she had a headache. "And where are these kids now?"
"There on a train bound for Dodge City."
"What!?" At this point, the mayor's eyes were pinpricks, and shaking with anger.
Spell Buff remained calm, despite being face with a seething mare. "Yes, Quiet had family business, and Dead Bass, and Shard tagged along."
Mayor Constel's eye began to twitch, and her horn started smoking.
"TH- BU- GrrrGAAHAAAAAAHHH!!!"
