Chapter 1
“This is gettin’ really old…” I murmur the complaint to myself, taking yet another step forward. I can hear something other than the crunch of my hooves on the dried leaves, sounding almost like a growl. After I took a few more steps I hear it again, a growl emerging from the darkness of the trees. It’s as though it was trying to mask itself within the sound of my own hoofalls. I proceed to stand still for just a moment as everything goes silent. All that can be heard are the natural sounds of the forest around me. Nothing really out of the ordinary, however, I’m not stupid. Amongst the trees, I could sense magic at work. Wooden mechanisms move, timber gears spin, all within an intricate life form, made entirely of wood. Remaining here, I could sense that they are making a steady approach.
“Sigh… well shit, I guess it’s about time ta start runnin’.” I quickly make a calculation in my mind, trying to guesstimate where these timberwolves are and how much time I actually have to think of a plan. However, the numbers that come to mind don’t look very promising. Soooo… I book it. Weaving in, around, and between each tree, trying to throw off my pursuers, but it’s of no use. Just as I can sense the magic resonating off the timberwolves, they do the very same, sensing the magic from me. Worst of all, I could sense that the damned things are gaining on me.
“Fuckin’ Timbers,” I spit out to myself, complaining yet again as I flee from my pursuers. “I don’t need another problem right now.” I take only a few moments to look around, trees flying by as I run. I can see that I’m nowhere near my designated checkpoint. “I’m still in the middle of the Everfree forest...” jumping over a few tree stumps, trying to think of anything to do. “This would be so much easier if it was just one. If it attacked me by itself, I’d be able to take it out, but NOOOOO… judgin’ by how much magical power is behind me, it’s most likely a pack… Wellll shit.” I weave through even more trees and jump over low lying bushes, “that’s just great… whatever, I just need to think of what to do before they get ta me. How ‘bout… shit…” Turning my, head I see one of the timbers have already caught up to me. It lunges off a tree and it makes contact, driving its teeth straight into my right thigh.
Not ready for the impact, I plummet to the ground with the timber still holding tightly to my thigh, crying out from the sudden pain. Quickly I try to recover, but the best I could do is get onto my back. I look down and see that the timber has my thigh in a death grip in between its teeth. So I do what any sensible pony would do in this scenario. I try to break its face… the jaw to be more specific. Unleashing three powerful jabs, I break off a few parts of its face with every hit, but I can’t snap the jaw. I try a few more times until I realize my stupidity. I forgot about the pack that was chasing me from earlier. Thinking about it, I could sense that they’re uncomfortably close now, make that lethally close. Looking around myself frantically, I try to get an idea of where I am.
“I’m at the top of Nosebleed, the steepest hill in the Everfree.” I finally realize. Its nickname was established a long time ago by some adventurous fillies that broke their noses when they tried to get up it and I know exactly where it leads.
“With a bit of luck... I think I could make this work,” I reason. However, the time I took to think allowed the timber to get back on all fours and drag me closer to the pack. With a bit of quick thinking, I use my free hoof to buck one of its front legs inward. This action snaps its fore leg in two and allows me to get to the edge of the hill, dragging the timber's dead weight all on my thigh. Out of breath, I have my shoulders over the decline of the hill. I don’t hesitate to continue on with my plan and throw both our flanks down Nosebleed…
As we roll down the hill, I have no control over what is happening. All I can see is an array of greens and browns spiraling around me along with the pain of the timber wolf’s teeth in my leg. But as moments pass I could feel that I’ve regained some of my bearings and continue further with my plan of attack.
“I have to adjust our rotation speed to make it work,” I think to myself. “But that isn’t a problem. I just got to prepare for the pain.” Falling even faster I could feel the skin on my thigh tear as the timber’s hold gets tighter, trying not be forcibly ripped apart by the centrifugal force generated from the rolling. After about half a minute of thrashing about, trying to inflict as much damage possible to the timber, I can see that I’m leaving this trail of crimson down the side of the hill. Glimpsing at it, all I could think is how much blood I am possibly losing; however, I can’t worry about that because a sudden angle change in the hill’s decline causes the timber and I to shoot forward, off the ground and into a free fall. While in the air I could feel the weight of the timber pull at my thigh even more, ripping the skin entirely, revealing the musclular tissue that lies right beneath the surface. Trying to ignore the pain, I quickly place the timber in between the ground and myself annnnd… SNAP!!! Its jaw shatters as it hits the harder gravel surface that lies below us.
Now separated, I roll over to get some ground in between us and after a few moments of trying to collect ourselves we both manage to get onto our feet, looking at one another, face to face.
“This is what I’m talking about, a good old One V. One.” Sizing up my opponent, I see its face is badly distorted from its natural design and is stained red with my blood. Its body looks feeble, with a wide variety of chippings and cracks. Its foreleg, the most plainly damaged, is missing a part right down the middle. However, the way I feel is like the cool breeze that is whispering past us over this gravel river bed, nice and calm.
“Come on. let’s make this my eight hundredth timber kill.” I taunt. Ignoring its own injuries, the timber wolf quickly lunges at me, like any wild animal would, it’s under belly completely open for a well-timed attack. “Got ya…” I whisper taking only a split second to plunge my horn into its abdomen. It hopelessly struggles, trying to bite me, but I can feel my victory is within reach. I pick out a nearby tree and charge towards it with the timber stuck to my horn, its body in between me and my target. I run, getting closer and closer to the tree. Then I witness the remarkable, the timber starts to crumble from the sheer pressure of the magical energy surrounding me.
“Huh… after a hundred and thirty-two years I really have become quite powerful.” I smirk. Peering past the wolf I see I’m right in front of my target and prepare my body for the impact. I reach the tree and smash the timber straight into it causing this explosion of wood and magic. A sickening crack resonates through the air as I snap the timber’s back open on the tree, its wounds now spilling out its green life magic that lies within it. Nevertheless, amongst all the chaos, I smile. I know the end is near and I could start worrying about the bigger picture again.
I whisper my favorite two words, “I win…” I then concentrate for my grand finale, the most devastating spell I know, a spell that can even destroy magic itself. I’m the only pony who knows of this spell; because, I’m the only pony who hasn’t only studied the application of magic, like Star Swirl the Bearded, but its anatomy and physiology. I know its workings, the ins and outs. How it’s both a wavelength and a particle, like light, and then my greatest achievement, figuring out that everything is held together by it. The Arcane Life theory, I call it. And as a result of this knowledge, I’m the only pony that knows how to extinguish this magic, permanently. With my magic I create an energetic pulse with the opposite properties of my intended target’s life magic. To be more specific, an opposite wavelength to this life magic. This then causes destructive interference, which is the interference of two waves of equal frequency and opposite phase resulting in their cancellation. This causes the magic to lose all energy and form, “killing” the magic and the object and/or creature being held together by it. It’s a dark but very effective procedure.
I slowly apply pressure unto the timber’s chest, forcing my horn ever deeper until I hear the sound of more snapping wood. Then I see it, the core of the timber’s life energy, a dark green sphere of the purest magic known to ponies.
“It’s your time…” I take a moment to focus then… BOOOM!!! A crash of thunder could be heard throughout the forest as I send a pulse throughout the entirety of the timber wolf. The pulse shatters the being into an unrecognizable form. The magic, still resonating in the air, then turns those pieces into dust in this wild spectacle of blood red auras sweeping over the timber wolf’s former green life energy. Looking at it, it reminds me of a ship being overtaken by an enormous wave. The ship, powerless as it sits there watching, succumbing to its grim fate. But as I think over it again, outside the thrill of the moment, it’s actually quite sad. All that power, all that potential for life is now extinguished forever. Never to be truly restored.
"I really got to stop using this spell…”
Quickly, I snap out of this internal affair as I feel several magical energies approaching my location. Coming from behind me, I realize that the residue from the magical blast is attracting the rest of the pack back towards me.
“Shit… I’m actually in a terrible position,” I think to myself. “My flank is pointed towards the timbers.”
As fast as I can, I turn around, but am met with the jaws of a timber wolf. Immediately it overpowers me taking hold of one of my hooves, but I manage to use that to my advantage. Using the timber wolf’s own momentum against it, I throw it off of me and into a tree. It doesn’t take very long to recover and again it lunges at me again. As it’s in the air, I could sense another approaching from behind. Waiting for the right moment, I hear it, the opportunity to strike. The sound is of that of dried leaves crunching as they are forced between the ground and the timber wolf hind legs.
“Too easy...” I think. The timber is only inches away from me when I grab hold of the timber in front of me and smash it into the one right behind me. When they collide, you could hear the sound of wood snapping and see chunks of their wooden faces fly off. As they both hit the floor, their faces are completely unrecognizable. All that’s left is a mass of wooden bits surrounded by the dirt and remnants of dead plants. Breathing heavily, I see the last remaining members of the pact surround me. They then slowly circle around me, waiting for something.
“I know exactly what they’re doin’. they’re looking for an openin’” I think as I calmly move into a more defensible position. Hours pass and the timbers wolves still don’t make a move. They only stare at me with their bright green eyes. Sitting down I wait for any change in their life magic to indicate an attack, but they are content on what they are doing, just circling around me. “Seriously what are they waitin’ for…?” I take a glance towards what little of the sky I can see and I notice that the day is aging. The bright light from the sun is a dim orange. “They’re waiting for the night.” Looking back down, I notice that I can see less and less that is in front of me. “I’ve got to make a move, I know I’m comfortable in the night but a timber is deadly in one…”
Concentrating, I try to get another pulse started, one that would just temporarily break apart the timbers, but I just don’t feel it. I honestly don’t have the magical reserves to cast another spell.
“Shit…” The problem is, that I am an extremely powerful unicorn but for a price. I’m fond of enchanted items. That’s how I was able to research about magical phenomenon and such. I use these items as a base for my magic studies since they are magic, but in the shape of an object or being, in the case of Alpha, also known as Artificial Life items. But, the problem is that they all come with a price. Like the Alicorn Amulet and how it causes mental filters to dissolve, so the user will eventually become insane in a sense. The ones I use; my piercings, necklace, and goggles, come with the price of equivalent exchange. Say I cast a spell, its power is enhanced thirty times, but its magical energy cost is enhanced fifty times. This is equivalent in the sense that with these items, you’ll never have the reserves to cast more than a few overly powered spells a day. So now I’m stuck, without any magic, against a pack of timber wolves. “Welll…shit.”
I get back on all fours when I feel it. The timberwolves are prepared to strike. The sun sets, and the darkness of the woods approach me. So do those retched green eyes.
“Oh man, this is gonna be one hell of a fight…” I think to myself with a sigh. Now with the darkness right before me, they look for an opening, but there is none to be had. So, they all lunge at me, the timberwolves intent on getting this kill. Quickly, I swing my two forehooves left and right. I Land four solid hits against a few timber wolves, but that’s not enough. You can’t simply break a timber and expect it to stay down. So, they all recover and come after me again and again. Within the hour, after my hooves are bloodied from smashing the timbers, body worn from the struggle to stay alive, one of them finally manages to get a hold of me. Its jaws around my left hoof, the timber starts to flail around savagely, tearing apart my jacket sleeve and the flesh beneath it.
“SHIT!!!” I yell in my head as the pain shoots through the left side of my body. Frantically, I land three blows onto its face, snapping parts of it off and forcing them deep into my right hoof. Completely stricken with pain, I do everything in my power to get free, but it’s no use. All hope dissipates as more and more timbers get a hold of me. Finally, all of them grab hold and smash me into the ground.
“No shit, Shit, SHIT! I can’t die now!” Struggling one last time I feel more of my skin tear open allowing more blood to rush out of my body. “No, COME ON!!!” With every ounce of strength I struggle, but it’s all in vain. As soon as I feel a timber get hold of my throat; I know it’s all over. Within moments I could feel its rigid wooden teeth start to rip open my neck. “Shit…”
BOOOM! Another crack of thunder resonates through the forest, but from a different area of origin. In less than a second, a beam of silver energy makes its way through all of us, blasting the timberwolves off of me and into the air. Relieved, I start to develop a sense of security but as quickly as the timbers are thrown, so am I.
In midair, I see the timberwolves physical form evaporate. Only leaving their basic life magic behind, but that too is quickly extinguished. Completely in a panic, I recognize what kind of magic this is. I only thought of it as theory, impossible to actually cast, but here it is about to rip me to pieces. This magic is very similar to my pulse spell but a lot more potent in the sense that it’s an actual tangible form, more like a particle than a wavelength. However, as I wait for my death yet again, nothing happens. No pain is rushing down my body, and I don’t seem to be tearing apart at a magical level either.
So, as I am blasted away within this silver beam, I am at a complete loss. No other pony could possibly know of this magic, maybe Celestia, but it wouldn’t be to this extent. This spell was purposely targeted towards the timber wolves, leaving my physical and life magic form intact. But then I feel it, a surge of power like no other. No enchanted item, spell boost, or glyph has ever made me feel this kind of rush. The power is completely indescribable. But, this euphoria is quickly ended as this surge becomes painful. It is as though my body wants to rip itself apart to release all this new power. It worsens to an almost unbearable level. The right lens of my goggles starts to chip and then the rest of my enhancements crack open revealing more silver like energy emanating from within.
“SHIT!!! IF IT’S NOT ONE PROBLEM, IT’S ANOTHER!!! FUCK IT! I’M NOT DYING TODAY!!!” With the new found power reserve, I start up another pulse, but the damage it may cause is incalculable. I’ve never created a surge this potent, this refined before and with how much raw magic is behind, it I probably won’t even live to see the damage.
“Ehhh… it’s a calculated risk. I just need to try something.” Ready to release the spell, I could feel excess magic start to spew out of my eyes, shattering the already chipped crystal lenses of my goggles. “Wonder if Twilight feels like this when she uses the Elements…”
BOOM! Everything around me vanishes in an instant, leaving nothing but scorched shadows on the ground. The beam however, when it came in contact with the pulse, released enough magic to create a nocturnal rainbow within the darkening sky.
I crash upon the scorched earth but shortly after recover. I then get up on all fours and look at the sky. A nocturnal rainbow… its one surprise after another, but hopefully they are all done for today.
I smirk as I open my mouth, “Another thing I’ve never seen before, the legendary Nocturnal Rainbow. The greatest symbol of luck to the weary trav…” Suddenly I stop, my body completely frozen in time.
“I think, I think I’m dying…” My heart grows heavy as its pulse lessens, anxiety builds for I could no longer breathe, then my sight blurs into nothingness. “Damn, couldn’t cheat death this time.” Losing all strength I descend unto the earth. The ashes propelled away from me as I fall. “I’m sorry everypony, I couldn’t tell ya I’m not comin’ back this time…”