Pony Age: Friendship is Magic

by PonyTom

The Roar of Nature

Applejack awoke to a familiar noise. The sound of birds chirping, of leaves rustling in the wind. For a few moments, she wondered if she had fallen asleep in the fields again, slowly opening her eyes. When she realized she was in a tent, the events of the past few days returned to her. While she would have liked to rest longer, her up bringing got the best of her, and within moments, she was out of her sleeping sack and her tent, taking in the fresh air. It was then she noticed loud snoring coming from two of the tents - Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie's. She shook her head, rolling her eyes a bit, before sitting on her haunches, staring at the sunrise.

"Oh, you're awake. Good morning!"

Applejack turned to see that Fluttershy was not only already awake, but was carrying a basket in her mouth filled with assorted berries. "I was wondering when somepony would wake up."

"Up awful early, ain't ya Fluttershy?" Applejack was honestly surprised - she thought only her family woke up at this hour.

"Oh, I always wake up this early..." she stated, setting the basket down. "I like to feed the little critters around the Pegasus alienage when I can, and doing so this early allows me to think and consider the day ahead without interruptions." Applejack could understand that sentiment - it was always easier to do things when nopony else was awake to bother you with them. "What about you?"

The orange mare smirked. "Yer talkin' to th' head farmhoof at Sweet Apple Acres. Ah wake up bright n' early every day to do mah job. After all, Apple Bloom is too lil' to buck apples, Granny Smith is too old though she'd smack me in the back of mah head fer sayin' so, an' Big Mac's busy with 'is fancy schmancy Templar career."

Fluttershy nodded a bit, staring at her berries in contemplation - did she get too much? Too few? Should she have asked what the other ponies liked?

"So, why did y'all come with us?" said Applejack. "No offense, sugar cube, but you don't strike me as a fighter, or an adventurer. Ah figure this'd be one of the last sorta things you'd be wantin' to do."

The pegasus looked up to Applejack and smiled. "Oh, yes. I'm not much of a fighter at all..." She frowned a bit. "Uhm... in fact... fighting terrifies me..." She cleared her throat. "But... I am really good with making medicine, and I knew that that would come in handy."

"Wait..." the farm mare held a hoof up. "Y'all said... that yer good with medicine... an' yet when we started this, y'all didn't seem aware there'd be danger. That bein' said..." Applejack looked to the bow and arrow setup her friend had near her tent, as well as the berries. "Why did ya think to bring weapons, an' why would we need medicine if'n there was no danger present?"

Fluttershy blinked and looked down at her hooves, fidgeting a little. Much as Applejack wanted an asnwer, there was something particularly unpleasant about making the timid pegasus uncomfortable. She simply shook her head. "Nevermind, Ah didn't mean to impose, Flutters. Ah was jus' curious."

"It's because of me, alright?"

The two ponies turned to face Rainbow Dash, who was rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Fluttershy wouldn't ever say anything thinking I'd be embarrassed, but I think she deserves the praise when she can get it."

"What do ya mean, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash sighed and sat on her haunches. "Before we left our caravan, I was a hunter. I think I said this already... but uh... one day, I was given the task of hunting down a monster that had been scaring other hunters..." She smirked and shook her head. "Naturally, I was psyched."

"Naturally" said Applejack with a smirk of her own.

"Anyway... I went out to find it. I was pretty confident I could beat it, easy street, and make all those other hunters look like real chickens." She sighed and shook her head. "It found me first." She looked at Applejack. "Have you ever heard of a Wyvern?"

The orange farm mare tapped her chin. "Sounds familiar... why?"

"They are a relatively rare creature..." added Fluttershy. "They say the only creature that is more elusive are dragons... and they are extremely... EXTREMELY... territorial..."

Rainbow Dash nodded with a sigh. "... I... it got me. Bit onto me. Poisoned me. I tried to fight it, but their poison is rather... unpleasant. It was only a few minutes before I couldn't even focus on the damn thing, and minutes more before I could barely stand. Eventually, I couldn't take anymore and I dropped like a log..." She looked to Fluttershy with a smile. "That's when Flutters saved me."

"Came out of no where, and stared the thing down. It roared at her... 'barked' a few times I think. But her stare... I think it scared the thing to death. Much as it threatened, it never dared get close to her. Eventually, it backed down, and ran away."

Applejack's eyes were wide by this point. She turned to look to Fluttershy, who blushed and looked at her hooves as if they were the most interesting things in the world right now.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time she saved me. Wyvern poison is almost always fatal, and I'd had it in me long enough that I was told I was barely kicking." She shook her head. "Honestly, scared me to death when they told me. With that Wyvern still on the loose, nopony was willing to risk themselves to go get what was needed for the cure. Flutters here volunteered to find the stuff though, and when she came back, she made the cure herself, and fixed me right up!"

Applejack looked to a furiously blushing Fluttershy, a grin on the farm mare's face. "Well Ah'll be!"

"O-Oh, it was nothing, really, the animals tend to leave me alone so I knew I wouldn't have a problem..."

"Nothing? NOTHING? Tell that to this pegasus!" Shouted Rainbow Dash, grinning broadly as she put a hoof to her chest. "Flutters, it may not be much to you, but if you hadn't done it, I'd be six feet under right now!" Fluttershy seemed to reel back into herself, obviously not really wanting the praise that much.

"Right, well Ah think what ya did was swell, Flutters." The pegasus smiled some - it seemed she was alright with praise as long as it was more... reserved than what Dash was used to giving. "Y'all saved yer friend, an' did a good job of it. If'n yer THAT good at makin' medicine, then Ah think we're more n' lucky to have ya roamin' around with us!"

"Oh, thank you very much" said Fluttershy with a nod. "I do hope my skills aren't needed of course, but if they are, I'll do my best. I promise."

***

Their journey resumed, the six mares traveled down the dirt path. Occasionally, Pinkie Pie made a point of asking 'are we there yet' - much to the chagrin of everypony else - whenever she got bored (not that she was trying to annoy anypony of course), until eventually deciding to entertain herself with a game of 'I Spy' - which quickly became irritating because most of what she saw was either trees, one of her friends, or a rock. Eventually, she settled on humming to herself and creating songs in her head.

A slight change of pace arrived in the form of Rarity questioning Twilight.

"So, dear..." said said as she trotted forward to catch up with the unicorn at the front. "I was wondering... and please, do not take this the wrong way... but... what exactly is it you like about the Circle of Unicorns?"

"Uhh.... well..." Twilight hummed and looked up. "I don't know. I guess there's always that feeling of security. Of knowing where everything stands, and then there's the fact I have every book I could ever want to read only a short trot away..."

"You do know most towns have their own libraries, right?"

Twilight shrugged. "Maybe. But I don't think it's that I have access to books. There's just some sort of sense of safety I got in the circle. I'm going to be honest, I've been nervous ever since I left."

"Of being labeled a maleficar, an apostate, of being hunted and killed when all you were doing was trying to help?"

Applejack shot Rarity a glare. "Rarity, ya better not be tryin' ta start nothin' sugar cube."

"Sorry, I'm just curious" said the mare. "My whole life, the Circle was sort of the horror story I heard. The thing I fear every day of my life. I don't believe I ever recall my mother having anything to say about Circles that was positive."

Twilight shook her head. "Maybe it's different Circles? From what I hear, they occasionally vary between countries and regions."

"I heard" spoke Rainbow Dash, "That the Circle in the Unicorn Emperium is basically just for show, and that the Unicorns there are the real power behind the country itself, and practice Blood Magic freely."

"Ah heard that the Unicorn Emporium is the total opposite of us..." said Applejack, staring ahead. "Ah heard that they treat their Unicorns as kings, that those unicorns can do anythin' they want and ain't nothin' anypony can do if they ain't a Unicorn themselves. If the Circle here oppresses Unicorns, then the Circle there oppresses everypony else."

Twilight shrugged. "From what I read, the Unicorn Emporium one day decided that the commandment 'Magic should serve ponies, not rule over them' meant that Unicorns' magic should serve the greater good. They believed that, as such, Unicorns should be allowed to take seats of power in government."

Rarity smiled. "I like the sound of this 'Emporium' already."

"Thing is..." said Twilight, "While the Chantry would not argue that magic should serve the greater good, they feared that giving Unicorns governmental power held the potential for abuse, with laws being shifted radically in the favor of unicorns and in the disfavor of everypony else."

Rainbow smirked. "As if that's workin' out so great with our totally not Earth-Pony dominant system..."

"Hey now" responded Applejack, looking at Rainbow. "Don't go sayin' things you might regret in the presence of Earth ponies."

This, however, did not scare the rainbow maned mare. "Look, I have no problem with Earth Ponies Applejack, but you can't deny that you guys have all the cards. Pegasai are vagabonds and barely tolerated, and Unicorns are locked in stuffy old towers or hunted like dogs. Did you know they say part of the reason Pegasai didn't just migrate to the clouds when they fled was because some of them shared kin with Unicorns?"

"It's true" said Fluttershy as she trotted to catch up. "Every clan tends to have at least one unicorn, who serves as the keeper - they record tales, legends, and old ways so that they can be passed on to future generations!"

Rarity scowled a bit. "So they're given a job cause they have horns? Doesn't sound too different from the Circle..."

"Oh no!" shouted Fluttershy. "Being a Keeper is considered a great honor! They basically serve as the leaders of the clan, and everypony looks up to them with great respect!"

Ever curious, Twilight looked back at Fluttershy. "But what if there are no unicorns? I mean, has that ever happened?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Sometimes. If there are no unicorns present, they select a pony based on merit and skills. They still serve the role of 'Keeper', they just do so with less use of magic."

"Not to mention those born of unicorns are often considered first" added Rainbow Dash. "Of course, that's kinda related to the skills thing. Pegasai born from unicorns tend to be particularly magical - better at manipulating clouds and water and stuff like that." Twilight was fairly impressed - while she considered herself fairly well versed in history, she had to confess that she knew little to nothing about Pegasus society and clans. She supposed that as soon as she had the chance, she might have to research into it a bit more.

"Help! Help!"

The mares stopped to see a pony run into the road. Her clothes were filthy and torn, and she had various scrapes and bruises on her body. The girls turned to look where she was running from to see something break the treeline.

Massive creatures, vaguely canine in appearance. Their bodies constructed from wood, with leaves and grass acting as hair might. Their eyes simply hollows in piles of lumber, filled with glowing red orbs. They stopped chasing the mare and turned to face the other six. The ponies all stared in terror at the sight as they counted five of the beasts.

"Timberwolves..." said Applejack quietly.

The creatures turned their attentions to the mares, who all quickly drew any weapon they had. Within an instant, the monsters rushed towards them. "Get ready everypony!" shouted Applejack as she brought her sword to bare, and, within a second, charged forward.

Steel collided with wood, the Timberwolf she struck giving out a yip of surprise. As another rounded on her, it snapped it's jaws at one of her legs in an attempt to throw her balance, the orange mare stumbling a bit but catching herself, just in time to see another run to bite at her. In that instant, Rainbow Dash sprang up from behind and jammed the blades on her wings into the beast's back, causing it to yell and jump away. Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed as one slammed it's paws into her barrier, which she dissolved long enough to blast her attacker, sending it flying backwards. Pinkie Pie lept over her unicorn friend, grinning widely and aiming her crossbow into the air - it fired a bow that whistled as it spiralled towards it's mark, lodging itself in a Timberwolf's forehead. The beast looked up between it's eyes and whimpered when the bolt suddenly exploded, launching burnt, wooden debris in every which way.

A single one of them seemed to have singled Fluttershy out, and approached her with hunger in it's eyes. It drew closer, staring into hers, intent to kill burning all over it... until she stared back. The beast began to growl, whimper, and bark, it's mind assaulted by strange sensations and fears it could not make sense of. An abstract terror hid behind those orbs, and it continued to bark and paw at the ground, trying to prove it's dominance... but she simply stared harder. It took a few steps back, now switching between growling and whimpering. Suddenly, a blue aura surrounded the beast, and it's eyes glowed the same color. What was once a protest suddenly shifted, the beast staring and whimpering and cowering down. Fluttershy turned to see Rarity's horn glowing, a smile on her face. "I can only imagine what a 'Horror' spell is conjuring in the mind of an already terrified beast."

Before more could be said, though, Applejack rammed into the massive creature, shattering it's body. She grinned to the other ponies, not seeing that one of the massive monsters was right behind her.

"Applejack!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

It's claw swiped at her, tearing through her armor, eliciting a pained cry from the farm pony who was thrown a few feet by the damage. Instantly, Rainbow Dash came to attention, flying towards the attacker, slashing at it with her wings, causing pained howls to echo forth from it. Twilight aimed carefully and blasted with her magic, shattering the beast, before seeing another round on her. Quickly, she rose her barrier again and winced as the beast slammed headfirst into it, stumbling backwards trying to regain it's composure. It wouldn't be, however, as Pinkie fired a bolt that whistled as it flew, striking the creature, and in the same instant, exploded, shattering the beast.

As the least beast sped forward to take advantage of it's brother's downfall, it jumped through the broken wood straight towards Pinkie Pie, but before it could grab her, she lept out of the way, exposing Twilight to the beast. The unicorn simply grinned and fired her horn, sending a bolt of energy straight into it's mouth - as the energy traveled, bits of the beast's body exploded outward, until the bolt exited the way most things it ate did, though perhaps not in the way it had intended. As it hit the ground, it's body shattered into pieces, marking the destruction of the last of the pack.

"Twilight! A little assistance?"

Twilight turned to see ponies gathering around Applejack, who stood up and winced, staring at her massive wound. "Applejack!" shouted Twilight, "Are you alright?"

"Ah'm fine..." said the mare, grinning, though it was clearly pained. "Jus' a bit of a flesh wound..."

Twilight pulled close to inspect it. Despite the act Applejack was putting on, Twilight could tell the poor mare had to be in pain - the claws had dug deep, and she was bleeding quite badly. "Applejack, this is pretty deep... we might have to turn back to get you fixed up..."

"Oh wait!" shouted Fluttershy. Everypony turned to her as she reached into her saddlebag, rooting around, before producing a poultice. "I made these this morning before I gathered our breakfast! I figured with those bandits we never knew if we'd need them..."

The pegasus trotted towards Applejack and put the poultice in her hoof, the mare taking it and placing the draught into her muzzle, and tilting her head back. As she drank it, her wound seemed to slowly disappear, until eventually leaving nothing more than a missing patch of fur. Rarity stared at the damage and grimaced. "Dear me, I hope that doesn't leave a scar... "

Applejack grinned. "Ah reckon it won't... " she turned to Fluttershy, her grin widening. "Thanks, Fluttershy! Ah feel fit as a fiddle!"

Fluttershy blushed, but offered a sweet smile in return. "Oh, it was no problem at all, really."

"Uh.. girls...?"

"What is it Rainbow Dash?" said Twilight, turning her head. Her jaw dropped, however, once she saw what her friend was looking at.

Slowly, the pieces of the felled Timberwolves began to draw towards a focal point. Each twig, each leaf, each stick drawn to a single point. Slowly, they built onto each other and added together.

Until a single, large Timberwolf stood over the mares, and let out a piercing roar.

"Well..." said Rainbow Dash, "This sucks."

The ponies ran to scatter as it lunged forward and slammed it's massive paw into the ground where they had been standing. Fluttershy turned to try to stare at the creature, but it kept it's gaze from her and swiped at her with it's paw. The mare squealed when she realized she was going to be hit, but before it could happen, a barrier surrounded her and stopped the damage - Twilight staring in horror at the butter yellow Pegasus with a look that said 'that was far too close.'

Turning it's attention to Twilight, the massive Timberwolf lunged once more, jaws wide open, intent on chewing the unicorn alive. Twilight stared down the beast's throat in horror, before she was knocked out of the way by Rainbow Dash, both ponies tumbling a few feet. Twilight slowly pulled herself up and shook her head to see Rainbow Dash staring at her as if she were crazy. "What are you doing just staring! Fight it!"

As the unicorn turned around, she could see that her friends had, indeed, engaged the vicious monster in combat. Fluttershy was holding a small bowl and mashing some ingredients together, and then pouring the resulting liquids and pastes into vials. She handed one such vial to Applejack, who proceeded to pour some of it on her blade. As she did, the sword seemed to ignite, which made the mare grin ear to ear as she readied herself.

"How did you do that?" asked Twilight, approaching Fluttershy, who never took her attention off her work as she grabbed more ingredients and mixed.

"I just made some fire coating potion. It ignites surfaces. Timberwolves can't take fire well... if we burn it, it won't rebuild..."

Twilight turned to look around. Sure enough, there were a few pieces of wood that still littered the ground, and all of them were at least partially burnt - no doubt from Pinkie Pie's explosive bolts.

"I see..." Twilight grinned a bit, feeling somewhat silly that she hadn't thought of it herself before. She trotted forward, watching as Applejack struck the beast with the blade, which instantly set some of the branches on it's hide ablaze, causing the creature to fall back, growling and snarling. With a shake, it managed to dislodged the damaged wood. As Applejack lunged into it for a second strike, it swatted her away with it's paw, sending her tumbling again. Rainbow Dash rounded on it and jabbed into it's back multiple times, causing it to thrash and spin around. Pinkie aimed her crossbow and unleashed yet another bolt that lodged into the creature's left leg and exploded, sending debris everywhere and effectively emputating the beast, though the undamaged twigs began to draw back to repair what they could.

"How much can you spare to make another of those flame coats, Fluttershy?"

"I'm all out of the necessary ingredients..." she said, a bit fearful.

Twilight stared at the beast intently. She closed her eyes and focused on her magic. 'Come on, Twilight... you've lit candles before... that's the most basic form of magic training they give in the Circle... how much more difficult can it be to light this thing up?' She focused as hard as she could on the monster, channeling her magic into it, filling her magic with her will.

"Come on..."

She didn't notice as it's paw came from the side and knocked her away, sending her bouncing and skipping like a stone, further than even Applejack, until she collided with a tree. She lay there breathless for a few minutes before letting out a paind shout and coughing a few times. 'So much pain...' was all she could think. '... It hurts... so much...'

"Twilight!"

Applejack stood, renewed vigor in her body and rage etched into her features. "Pinkie Pie! You got any exploding bolts left?"

"Only one!"

"Shoot 'em in the head!"

Pinkie Pie nodded, and took aim, releasing her final explosive bolt. It sailed true and struck the massive creature in it's forehead, before exploding, sending much of it's body into various directions. As Fluttershy rushed to tend to Twilight, the creature began to pull itself back together.

"Not so tough when yer busy healin' are ya?"

Applejack ran forward and, her blade still burning with Fluttershy's mixture, began to slash at the twigs as they built up. With each strike, a formless screaming came from the wood, the damaged twigs dropping uselessly as it tried to adjust to the damage. She kept swinging and striking, slashing furiously, denying the creature another reformation. So desperately was she hacking she didn't notice the fire on her blade dissipate as the mixture had worked it's course, until the wood began to build despite her actions. She backed off and watched as it built back together, reforming the creature once more, although at only two thirds of the size it had been.

Twilight groaned as Fluttershy approached her, tipping a healing poultice and putting it into her mouth. She drank eagerly of the strange liquid, finding it's contents predictably bitter, although with a hint of sweet in them. She felt much of the damage fade away, but she was still in pain. "Hurts.."

Fluttershy frowned. "You may have broken a few ribs... we might have to give you first aid to fix that..."

Slowly, Twilight brought herself back to her hooves, shaking a little, but feeling much of her strength return. As she saw the creature reforming again, she realized that this was going to be a long fight unless she put a stop to it, and once more, set on the task of focusing. "Fluttershy, tell Rainbow Dash to distract him. Just for a bit." With a nod, Fluttershy rushed from Twilight, who tried to keep from catching the creature's attention for a moment.

"Rainbow Dash?" 'shouted' Fluttershy. Dash turned to fly to her friend, having been paying attention since Twilight was attacked. "Twilight wants you to distract the Timberwolf."

"No problem!" she shouted. With that, she moved fast as a bullet to fly in front of the creature's face, and delivered a shameless jab of her wing blades into it's eyes. It let out a feral scream and shook it's head, launching her away, the small glowing orbs in it's eyes burning brighter than before as it turned it's attention to her.

Twilight focused again, pouring her magic, her will into the creature. Willing it to burn. Willing it to ignite. Willing it to explode. Her thoughts were focused on fire.

And she was a unicorn - her thoughts were power.

The creature swatted and snapped at the pegasus who was always just out of it's reach (which was too close for her own comfort). Eventually, however, it came to stop, and began to shake itself as if trying to shake something loose. Eventually, it began to whimper and rear up, shaking frantically and jumping around. Turning, it began to gnaw at it's own body, picking smoking branches out, trying to get at the source, and as more branches were removed, more smoke poured from it.

Then, fire began to pour from it's body.

It screamed and yelped and whimpered, shaking desperately and chewing itself apart trying to get at the fire. Branches tumbled uselessly from it's body in a desperate attempt to save it's own life, but the fire was spreading quickly. Within moments, it's entire back was lit, and chunks of burning wood were falling from it, leaving holes in it's body. The fire spread to the rest of it, and eventually, in a way that almost made Twilight feel somewhat sorry for the creature, it stopped struggling. It simply whimpered and lay in the dirt as the rest of it was consumed by flame, eventually crumbling once it had lost too much to sustain itself.

Everypony looked on with mixed expressions. Applejack seemed rather cold to the situation, likely glad to have the creature vanquished. Pinkie seemed somewhat mortified, if not disturbed. Rainbow Dash simply grinned and crossed her forelegs in triumph. Fluttershy's lip was trembling, and she bowed her head in respect. Rarity was simply glad to keep her distance to keep her own dress from igniting.

Twilight watched the pile of wood burn away.

She truly didn't want to kill it... but it hadn't given her a choice.

Still... there was a sadness to it. To see the creature give up it's fight in a desperate struggle to save itself. Sure, it had attacked them... but could they have just run away? Was it the only way?

She shed a single tear.

'I never want to have to kill again...'

Author's Note:

CHARACTER FACTS:

TWILIGHT SPARKLE
Race - Unicorn
Class - Mage

Twilight is a brilliant and practical mare - as such, she likes to focus on variety, rather than learning a bunch of spells that do the same thing. In combat, she favors the use of her telekinesis, barriers, and magic bolts, and often enjoys becoming creative in their use. She also serves to boost the effectiveness at which her friends fight - after all, friendship is magic!