//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Equestrian Chronicle // by Souldrainr //------------------------------// The Everfree was far less impressive now that Andrew had a good look of it from the inside. It had a dark, almost menacing air about it before. Though now that he found himself far enough inside that he could no longer see the forest's edge if he peered behind himself, it could honestly be mistaken for any average woodland on Earth. The canopy, while thick enough to provide a constant shade, still allowed plenty of sunlight with which to clearly make out his surroundings. Being constrained to only two limbs for traversal, he had fallen considerably behind the much faster Twilight, having to resort to following the shallow hoof-prints she had left in the dirt he was currently running through. While he wouldn't consider himself an athletic individual by any means, he silently thanked his past self for postponing physical education to his senior year, otherwise he would probably be heaving for breath right about now. As he jogged after the mare, he was lucky enough to see a wide variety of wildlife, most he was familiar with, a few exotic in nature. In the case of the squirrels and hares, the only reason he had even noticed them in the first place was because they wasted no time in fleeing the area as quickly as their tiny limbs could take them the second that he was seen. He saw a few sleeping owls, some lizards scurrying up and around trees, even a brown sloth, hanging limply from a tall branch overhead. If it did notice him, it gave no reaction to indicate such. Right after jumping over an unusually large ant hill, something large and hard crashed into him from his right, whatever it was made him lose his balance, and they both tumbled to the ground, Andrew belly down with the creature on his back. It was roughly equivalent to a medium sized dog in weight. "The hell!?" Andrew yelled as he instinctively pushed the creature off of him with a telekinetic shove. He got to his feet immediately and turned around in time to see the creature get back up as well. It was a chicken, or.. an overweight lizard? It had the head and feet of a chicken anyways, but the rest of it's body was covered in green scales, instead of feathered wings, it had those of leather. He had no knowledge of any sort of chicken/lizard hybrid creature in any mythology stories he had read. Then again, it's not as if this world would only limit itself to animals he knew of, it could very well borrow from every kind of mythology and beyond. It was pissed. It stood up using the end of its long, thick tail, bringing it about chest level with Andrew. It screeched loudly at him, anger etched in its feathery features. Then it did a complete one-eighty and went wide eyed in fear, it flapped and clucked about erratically before it decided to stand still and stare directly into his eyes. He immediately had to shut them as his vision was filled with sizzling smoke. It didn't hurt per-say, but it certainly wasn't enjoyable to have your eyes suddenly covered in a layer of smoke. He rubbed his eyes and looked back at the lizard chicken, which now seemed more surprised than fearful. He was about to snap its neck when it shrieked and slithered its way into a bush. He briefly considered crushing the bush along with the creature within, but chose instead to turn and continue after Twilight. The chicken-lizard probably just crashed into him by accident on its way to wherever it happened to be going. He made yet another mental note to ask her about the creature when he had a chance. He seriously needed to get himself a notebook. About a minute later he finally heard Twilight's voice ahead of him. "Stay away!" He heard her shout. Quickening his pace, he neared and then stepped through an opening in the trees, he exited into a large clearing. Before him were about a dozen wolves, though once again, they must have been some sort of mythological creature he was unfamiliar with, as although they were undoubtedly wolves, their bodies consisted purely of wood with leafy brows. Stranger still, their bodies were not simply a single whole piece, but instead appeared to be a vast collection of lumber, be they the small sharp twigs acting as their claws and teeth, or the thick logs that made up their thighs. The only thing that could possibly be holding their bodies together was 'magic'. The beasts were gathered in a broad semi circle at the other end of the clearing, cornering twilight against the bark of an old, wide tree. From his position, he could see the sides of the wolves furthest from him, which were to Twilight's sides. Their drool was thick and viscous, likely made of sap. They eyed their prey through yellow, glowing eyes, whether they were glowing eye sockets or actually iridescent pupils he couldn't tell, as they were far too bright to make out any details. The second Twilight saw him she let out a shrill "Andrew!" Her horn shone momentarily as she teleported to his left side. For some reason, Twilight's baser instincts were screaming at her to cower behind the human for safety, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and instead opted to stand straight, mimicking his confident demeanor as she glared at the timberwolves who had already turned around to face the duo. "Timberwolves." She muttered coarsely, just loud enough for Andrew to hear. "We both know I can't teleport you out of here, and no way can I just leave you here alone. The best I can do is slow them down to give you a head start, then I can catch up." She suggested silently. She was expecting some sort of reply, but when none came she peered at the human, whose gaze was focused straight ahead at what can only be the alpha of the pack. Each wolf was about twice the height of a regular pony, and a head above Andrew. The alpha however was easily about a third larger than the rest of its peers, several shades darker. They both stood their ground, the alpha staring into Andrew's azure irises, and he the yellow glow that made up the alpha's. She understood exactly what was happening. By the looks of it, so did Andrew. "Why is it staring at me?" He mumbled through gritted teeth. Or perhaps not. "Just... don't move." She suggested. If she was right, and what happened back at the hospital wasn't just a coincidence, there was a chance the alpha might -for some unknown reason- recognize Andrew as a superior predator, the same as Season Claw. It was made apparent that Andrew was stronger than a griffon. Granted, Season Claw was a chef and not a fighter, but still. The problem was whether or not the timberwolf would take the bait. As far as she understood the matter, the predator's gaze only took into account a creature's raw strength and cunning. Andrew didn't seem to have the ability, but from Season's reaction it was clear that the predator's gaze still applied to the human regardless of his own capability to harness it. She wasn't one to judge, but as far as she could see, Andrew's physiology had nothing that would indicate he was particularly dangerous. For Celestia's sake he had trimmed nails in place of claws to defend himself! Yet he was a predator, that much was a fact going by his canines and unquestionable dietary likes. Humans had apparently became the apex species of their world through the use of tools, but whatever those tools were, Andrew didn't have access to them in Equestria. She was snapped out of her train of thought when Andrew let out a dry sneeze. The tense mood faltering for only a moment. The alpha had yet to move, and they resumed their staring contest. But there was something missing in the scene. She counted eleven timberwolves when she first encountered the pack, yet only ten stood before them. A twig snapped behind them. "Andrew!" She called just as the growling wolf pounced on him from behind. *** As 'cool' as these timberwolves looked, it was getting increasingly creepy how the pack leader wouldn't quit staring at him through those shining, eerily unblinking eyes. He returned the gaze, of course, motivated by equal parts curiosity and excitement. Speaking of excitement, This was what he was here for, the nice, peaceful scenery of Tibet still held a special appeal in Andrew's heart. This was something else however. The sheer overpowering excitement was enough to nearly make him forget the events that had led up to him standing there. This was real. Looking into those glowing eyes, it truly dawned on Andrew just where he was. He was on an alien world. There was a unicorn just to his left. There was a pack of wooden wolves glaring at him. Earth, Matt, Steve... his mother. He had lost them all. There was nothing left for him there. Here, his powers weren't something that had to be hidden. Here, they were to be taken for what they were, what they had become. His powers were a part of him, they have been for a long time now. Here, there was no power hungry government to hide from. Here, he could be himself. He felt a shiver of excitement run down his spine. He felt himself grin involuntarily just as the snap of a twig resonated behind him, immediately followed by Twilight calling his name from the side and the alpha giving a quick guttural bark. Reacting as quickly as the adrenaline in his system would allow, Andrew turned to see a timberwolf pounce from behind a bush at him, forelegs outstretched to welcome him into its lethal embrace. It growled menacingly as it neared the end of its arc towards him. Just before its sharpened claws were about to reach him, he outstretched his right hand palm up and flung it back toward the rest of the pack who were now all running towards the pair minus the alpha, who seemed content with staying back and observing the proceedings silently. The wolf followed the arc his hand had made, Flailing about through the air and above its kin until it reached the tree Twilight had previously been trapped against. The thudding impact caused it to explode into a dense pile of lumber. A thin trail of white smoke outlined the path it had followed through the air. Ignoring their fallen comrade, all wolves but the alpha continued their mad dash towards the pair. No, wait, they were all rushing him instead. Thinking quickly, he pushed Twilight away with an TK enhanced shove of his left hand. He wasted no time to see if she landed ok before dealing with the onslaught half a dozen yards away. The timberwolves were arranged in a wide V formation. The air was filled with beastly barks and the grinding of wood against wood as they approached him. Andrew was no kung-fu master, the most he would be able to do in close combat would likely be shielding himself as best as possible until he TK pushed whatever was encroaching on his personal space. That was a situation he would much prefer to not find himself in. Back on Earth, he and Matt survived crashing into and through buildings without so much as a scratch, but his unpreparedness got him literally and fatally back-stabbed. Even if his shield appeared to be working on its own now, and he was immune to magic, he was still in the dark as to what he could expect from the creatures of Equestria. He wasn't going to take any chances, not anymore. "Andrew wai-" Twilight started but was immediately interrupted when almost all at once, the timberwolves crashed into an invisible wall just three yards from the pair. They collectively yelped in pain from the unexpected impact but quickly recovered. The pack split up and tried to sprint alongside the barrier to find an opening only to once again crash into the corners of what they now realized was their cubed prison. One of the wolves tried to run back towards the alpha and hit yet another wall just before reaching its destination, it let out a loud yelp as it brought its paws to its aching snout. Small puffs of smoke emanated from the wolves with each impact they made against the barriers, whether by ramming into it with their broad shoulders, or making a futile effort to scratch at it with their claws. From behind the Alpha, they could see the remains of the fallen timberwolf give off a yellow glow as it began to stir. The pile of lumber shivered once more before rising and flowing into the air directly above, each piece finding its predetermined spot in the air and hovering in place as its brethren found theirs as well. The last twigs and sticks came together to form the head of the wolf just as two symmetrical leaves got into position above the shallow, empty eye sockets. When every piece was in place, its eyes glowed, life once again finding it's way back to the felled beast. Twilight could only look on in horror at what Andrew did next. Just as the newly risen timberwolf howled with renew vigor, it was lifted into the air and immediately exuded sizzling smoke from any and every gap across it's body. Her ears splayed as they were assaulted by the deafening cry of pain. Similarly, all the other wolves stopped what they were doing as their comrades pain-filled shrieks attracted their undivided attention as well. They barked and yelped in unison, as if trying to communicate. She brought a hoof to her mouth in shock. Like any other creature, timberwolves were creatures of magic, but due to their composite nature, magic played a very vital and very active role in keeping them whole. And by way of their wooden nature, they were more likely to simply break apart than they were to actually break themselves. A simple matter, seeing as the magic that previously held them together can simply go to work to restore them to their good as new condition. But Andrew's abilities and magic don't play well together, and she knew what was happening even before the amber light in the creature's eyes dimmed to nothingness and every twig, stick and log floated aimlessly in the air before succumbing to gravity, landing in a series of thuds. Noticing that the wolves were now running away from him and back to their side of the clearing, Andrew lifted the barrier. They all surrounded the jumbled heap and gave a long, drawn out howl into the sky. All save for the alpha, which continued to stare at the human, except now a toothy snarl had found its way across its face. Andrew simply grinned back tauntingly. When the howling came to an end, the alpha gave a curt bark and turned, the pack running into the forest. The alpha got one last look at the lifeless cluster before following after the rest of its kin. Looking at Twilight, Andrew frowned upon seeing the aghast expression on her face. "What have you done!?" She screamed accusingly through her covered mouth. Andrew knit his brows and pouted confusedly. He followed her gaze to see she was staring at what used to be a timberwolf. "OH." He replied. "Well," he started, "they've obviously never really seen a human before, probably why they were staring at me for so long. And since the Everfree is so much like Earth minus the lizard chickens and wooden wolves, I'm probably gonna want to come back and see what other cool stuff I can find. Figured showing them what I'm capable of would be a good way to avoid this kind of thing in the future." He waited for her to reply, but she simply shifted her horrified gaze to him instead, she looked like just walked into her room to discover the walls had been repainted with fresh manure. "What?" He asked defensively, spreading his hands out in a gesture that was probably lost on the mare. She didn't react, nor did her expression change. He was going to repeat the question when Discord stumbled in from the left side of the clearing, behind Twilight. "Good news everyone!" He announced, getting their attention. "Zecora's hut is perfectly intact." He was dribbling a rock as if it was a basketball. "As for Zecora herself," he continued, "she left a note on her door saying something about visiting family so I'm certain she is just-" He paused as his eye caught sight of the heap of wood. "Oh, firewood! Are we going camping!? I knew it was a good idea to bring this!" He chucked the large rock behind himself, and despite its terribly uneven and... rocky contours, it bounced several times before rolling out of sight. Discord fumbled around his left hip with his left claw and, grasping on of the corners, pulled out a full-sized tent. "Unfortunately, I only brought the one, so we're going to have to share!" Twilight looked at Discord, then at the 'firewood', then back at Discord. Her face went green and she practically galloped to the nearest bush and retched. Discord brought his right lion paw to his chest, looking more offended than a donkey named Ass. "Hmph," Discord huffed, "Very mature, Twilight, you could just as easily have said no thank you."