As I ran along side the cowpony my mind raced.
Why was I doing this?
Did I expect just rush into the fray, save a pony, and be claimed Hero?
What did I get from this?
While parts of me argued with my actions, I ignored them. Alex is trusting me, I can't fail now.
I was slightly out of breath when we reached Sweet Apple Acres, ponies ran quite a bit faster than humans. As I followed Applejack I smelled three faint scents. One was fairly recognizable and smelled of apples, the others were new to me. I guessed that they were the missing children.
I stopped and tried to figure the direction they had gone. Applejack had noticed and stopped beside me, "What's wrong?"
I didn't reply and instead focused on the scents, blocking everything else out. They had been here for awhile before heading into a thick of trees not far from were I was. I looked over at Applejack and pointed at the tree line.
"Consarnit' I told them to stay here, do you know how long they left?"
Again I refocused my attempts, the scents weren't in the air, instead they were focused mainly on the apple trees around us.
"An hour and a half, give or take. Follow me." At this I started dashing towards the woods. I continued following the scent as best as I could, there were many strange and unfamiliar smells in the forest.
But one stood out the most, hunger.
The girls were being hunted.
I started to lose the scent in areas only to find it again further away. This was as far as I would be able to go. With smell no longer to aid me, I closed my eyes and listened.My heart pounded in my ears, small hooves running, slow deliberate movement of hunters, tired breathing. I turned towards the noise and started running again, Applejack right behind me.
I heard rustling in the brush to my left, I dropped and rolled to face the threat. I waited as the rustling grew louder and nearer. From the brush popped out two tired looking fillys. One had a bright red bow in her head while the other was stark white and had a horn.
Applejack was the first to move, she scooped the small one with the bow in her forelegs and squeezed, "Oh Applebloom your all right!" She promptly dropped the filly and adopted a scolding tone, "I told you to not leave the orchard!"
Applebloom dropped her gaze, sniffling quietly, "I'm sorry sis, you were right. We just got chased by a bunch of timber wolves."
The other filly suddenly shot up,"Where's Scootaloo?"
Applebloom looked around, "I thought she was behind you!"
I didn't bother to listen to the rest. I ran in the direction that the girls came from yelling over my shoulder, "Applejack get the girls back home, I'll find Scootaloo!"
She nodded and flipped the fillys onto her back. Their protest was cut short as she galloped back the way we came.
It wasn't hard to find where she had fallen. I entered a small clearing, in the middle there were six dark brown forms surrounding something. I was able to make out bright orange and purple colors in between the shifting forms.
Without thinking twice I sprinted and vaulted the closest form, I was now in the middle of the circle with what appeared to be an unconscious pegasus filly.
My relief at seeing her alive was cut short when the forms growled at me. I looked up and saw a pack of wolves, but of course no creature could be so simple. These wolves stood as high as my shoulders, and their skin seemed leathery and thicker than a regular wolf. Alex had described the beasts before me.
Timber wolves.
They were infused with tree DNA as far as I could tell.
And wood is a lot easier to break than bones.
I took a defensive position above the tiny pegasus, and waited for the pack to make their move. To them I was something new, neither prey nor predator until my motives for protecting their meal was clear, either I was here to fight them for the right to eat her or I was protecting her from harm.
I was in between them and food.
I didn't have to wait long as I herd the sound of rustling grass behind me, I pivoted on my heels and brutally smashed my fist into the offending wolves head. It gave out a yelp of pain, rolling back onto its feet and retreating back to his pack.
I pulled out my dagger in hopes of intimidating them into leaving. There was no such luck, these beasts had gotten used to being dominant than most creatures and they were more than willing to fight me.
I kept the knife small, I would need it to be fast, the numbers were stacked against me. But now it had a serrated edge, great for cutting wood.
For now me and the wolves were at a stand still, their pack mate had served as an example, to get to her you are going to have to go through me.
One wolf growled and went straight for me, of course I wouldn't fall for it. I turned just in time to see another wolf lunge at me. I ducked to the side in time for him to sail past. It didn't turn and attack again, instead choosing to run back to the safety of his pack.
I would need to keep on my toes to stay alive, but I can't leave my position or they would grab the filly and run.
This time two wolves came at me, thinking that the two would keep my attention. Again I turned but only to see the one wolf double back as soon as I had finished my turn.
I screamed in pain as I felt two pairs of wooden teeth bite into my flesh. One had me just below the knee on my left leg, the other was on my back and had it's teeth sunk deep into the base of my neck and shoulder.
My first instinct was to kick out with my leg, as soon as I had, the wolf growled and shook his head. There was a resounding snap as I let out another scream.
I tried to throw off the one on my back but I was blinded in a haze of pain. I couldn't keep my balance very well and any attempts to move brought more pain from my leg.
Finally I had a grip on the wolves neck, it let out a yelp of surprise and I used the moment to fling it over my shoulder and into the ground in front of me. Before it could get up I pinned it to the ground using my knife, he howled and tried to bite the metal piercing it's paw and keeping it immobile.
I relinquished my balance and let gravity take hold as I fell forward onto the wolf. I wrapped my arm around its neck and lashed out with my good leg at his partner still holding onto my broken leg.
With a satisfying crunch, the offending creature released my leg and backed away.
I still had the other one in my arm, and it was trying desperately to escape. I twisted my shoulder and it promptly stopped struggling
By now I was bloody, broken, and battered. I sat on the ground staring at the pack, too tired to move.
Scootaloo was still unconscious not to far away from.
The only sound was my heavy panting.
Slowly I struggled onto my one good leg and watched for the packs next move.
A low whine emanated from the closest wolf. The tone was soon adopted by the rest of them.
I was bleeding profusely from my shoulder and I was starting to get light headed.
The pack continued to whine, and then retreated back into the forest.
Confused I turned to look at the only timber wolf I had managed to kill. When I noticed that he had scars over most of his body, I fell backwards and studied the sky.
I had managed to kill the Alpha.
I watched the lone cloud continue his journey.
Everything was getting darker around the edges.
I could here a voice, it felt like it was near but it sounded so far away.
Finally satisfied I had done something right, I closed my eyes.