The doll only known as「Dancing Queen」tilted her head, her soulless gaze somehow projecting an aura of amusement at the mare's outcry, and if one truly looked for it they would possibly see the sides of her lips curling, so slight that it could have just been a trick of the light. "Something the matter, mistress Pie?"
"Don't be silly, Queenie! Call me Pinkie, or Pinkie Pie, or I suppose you could say Pie Pinkie if you really wanted to, or maybe Pienkie if you wanna make it easy. Ooh! That's a great idea! I'm gonna change my name to Pienkie. What do you think, Queenie?" The mare rambled, never once pausing for breath. With each word spoken, the hovering doll before her seemed to grow the literal ghost of a smile once more, until eventually she outstretched one of her long, branch-like arms to cover her mistress' mouth.
"Your words are best spent elsewhere, Mistress...Pinkie Pie. I do not believe that you should stay here much longer." the ghost said, slowly removing her palm until she was sure that her mistress would not start rambling again. As the mare gave her a nod of agreement,「Dancing Queen」also tilted her head downwards in response, before seeming to fade away into the darkness, completely invisible.
"W-wait, where'd you go, Queenie? I wanted to talk some more!" Pinkie pouted, her expression becoming ever more concerned as she looked around the clearing, taking note of just how dark it had grown. Everypony knew that the Everfree was not a safe place to be at any time of day, but it only grew exponentially more dangerous as daylight waned. The mare started to pace backwards, retracing her steps to the path to no avail. Thanks to her lapse of attention while being dragged along earlier, she'd not the slightest idea which direction she came from. "Q-Q-Queenie? Dancing Queen? H-hello?" she stuttered, eyes nervously flittering around for any sign of hostile wildlife.
"Worry not, mistress Pinkie. I will never leave your side, under any circumstance." the calm voice echoed throughout Pinkie's mind, placating her worries as best she could. It worked, too; the knowledge that the towering doll was still around was a highly comforting thought. It begged the question, however, as to just what the ghost was. It had come to her when she was injured by the arrow, and that can't have been a coincidence.
Still looking around, though less worried now, she considered how to broach the subject to her invisible companion. "Sssooo, Queenie...What...What are you? I don't mean like what are you made of because I mean you're a ghost and ohmygosh what if you aren't a ghost and I just really offended you I'm so sorry!"
The musical trill of laughter that flowed through her mind was quick to assuage her fears. "Do not apologise for questioning what you do not understand. In truth, I do not know. I came into existence when you met me. I know not what I am, nor the significance of the arrow, only that it created me. I am part of you now, however, and we will never be apart. Everything you ask of me, if within my capabilities, I will perform to the best of my abilities. Always I shall stand by your side."
The pink mare tapped her forehoof against her chin in thought as she walked, somehow balancing on three legs as she casually stepped around a tree. "Stand by my side, huh? Well, there can't be any more of you in Ponyville, because I know everyone and no offense but I think i'd know if i'd met something like you before."
Seemingly growing bored of hiding away, the porcelain ghost materialised once more by Pinkie, hovering alongside as she walked, purple skirt waving in a breeze that wasn't there. "I believe I am the only one of me." she spoke lowly, more dejected than usual. Pinkie understood why. However childish she might have acted usually, she was a social creature by nature. Social cues, therefore, were easy. Slightly harder with no facial expression to read, but the meaning was understood all the same. Being the only one of your kind, locked away in an arrow for who knows how long...That sounded like the worst kind of punishment. Even Luna had her sister to think of all the way up on the moon. "Be wary, mistress. The wooden wolves approach." Pinkie was brought back to reality by the stern words of her companion.
All of a sudden, pairs of yellow lights made themselves known in the foliage, dead leaves crunching beneath their prowling paws. Or was that perhaps their teeth snapping together? Pinkie was certainly not keen to find out, and her fight or flight instinct took over, a burst of adrenaline running through her sugar-ridden veins as she leapt into a sprint, hooves scrambling for purchase on the damp moss that clung to the many tree roots jutting out sideways. The Timberwolves were not far behind, their snarls driving Pinkie to push herself even harder, muscles burning as dark, towering trees whizzed past her vision. No matter how quickly she ran, the wooden canines never got quieter; they were keeping perfect pace, toying with their prey.
A sudden shriek of pain pierced the otherwise quiet forest, a set of splintered teeth digging into Pinkie's hind leg, sending the pink mare spiralling to the ground with an 'oomph', the wind driven out of her lungs by the impact. Pinkie attempted to struggle to her feet, the Timberwolf holding fast, opening its jaw in preparation for another hard bite until a single spindly arm draped in purple cloth slammed forward, cracking the log that made up the wolf's cheek and forcing it to release the mare's leg with a pained whimper, launched into a tree where it collapsed into a heap of twigs and sticks. Knowing Timberwolves, however, it wouldn't be long before it reformed, angrier than before.
Taking a deep breath, Pinkie clambered upwards, knowing that her new friend had protected her. She wilfully did not look back at her injury, knowing that seeing the punctured holes would only make her feel the effects of pain that much more. Whilst earlier she could shrug off the small cut made by the arrow, her comedic abilities would no longer work now that the situation was serious. She'd come to realise that at an early age, she could do almost anything so long as it was in a funny situation, or would create a funny situation for ponies other than herself. Because she was alone, however, she was powerless. Well, aside from her companion, who even with a featureless expression managed to give off an aura of extreme menace towards the gathering Timberwolves, suddenly wary that the pink horse had managed to break one of their pack. Their eyes seemed to completely ignore the doll that had committed the act though, to Pinkie's confusion. Surely they'd be more worried about the giant unknown creature? Unless... She willed「Dancing Queen」to swing her arm forward but not to hit any of them as an experiment. No response from the Timberwolves. Not even a wary glance. They couldn't see the doll! They must have thought that Pinkie had used some kind of magic, and were now being much more careful than before.
As she had been experimenting, the broken wolf had reformed, a crack still running through the side of his gnashing muzzle as he circled the pony along with the rest of his back, closing the circle a miniscule amount with each pass. Its primitive mind had no idea what the small horse had done, but it wouldn't let her do it again. With his whole pack by his side, nothing would...Why was his muzzle detaching itself?
Indeed, as they watched, the cracked log rolled free of the Timberwolf by itself, glowing with a faint lilac aura as it floated upwards until it was head height with the confused, mouthless wolf. Without warning, the log swung sideways, bowling the Timberwolf over as the rest of the pack, plus Pinkie, gazed on in confusion.
The pink mare glanced at her friend, who seemed to be staring at its own arm for a solid five seconds before turning back to Pinkie. "I get it now. I understand what I can do. The things I touch...I can control inanimate objects if I touch them. I do not believe it works on anything too big, however." the doll spoke telepathically, transmitting her findings to her mistress.
Pinkie, on the other hoof, processed this information with some level of glee, ideas for new party favours already coursing through her mind. But before that, she had to get away from these wolves first. The one that was broken yet again had yet to reform and she knew that now was her time to strike back. Commanding Politely asking her companion to act, the doll struck the shattered pieces of the Timberwolf, until every piece of the creature was floating separately, the magic making up the wolf apparently dissipated as they made no attempt to reform. The rest of the creatures in question snarled angrily, charging at the pony to avenge their fallen packmate. Thinking fast, Pinkie had the chunks of wood spin rapidly around her, a vortex of splinters and logs to act as a deterrent as「Dancing Queen」set to work on dismantling the rest of the creatures. Though one or two slipped past her guardian, they were stopped in their tracks by a flying log, usually shattering their wooden bodies as they flew, which the doll was quick to deal with, taking control and adding them to the protective hurricane of wood surrounding her master.
Eventually, the only remaining threats decided to cut their losses, unable to comprehend the invisible force that was batting them aside with ease, as their pack was slowly taken apart and used as a shield. With a parting angry snarl or two, they turned tail and fled, scurrying off into the forest. The pony and her doll stood there for a few minutes, ensuring that the Timberwolves had fully retreated as the vortex came to a slow halt, dropping lifelessly to the ground as「Dancing Queen」let her control drop. Pinkie was much the same; falling to the floor feeling suddenly very drained. "That should be enough, mistress Pinkie. We must vacate the woods at once." the doll's somehow concerned voice said.
Pinkie stirred on the ground, reaching a hoof up that her companion gladly took, helping the mare to stand. "W-what about the arrow? I think we left it be...hind." she trailed off, seeing that her friend had it grasped in one hand. Looking up at the doll with a quirked brow, Pinkie decided to disregard it. She did weirder stuff all the time, far be it from her to question the ghost doll that could punch things and control wood. "Y-yeah, I need to get outta here, but I don't think I can walk right now." she said, taking the risk of looking back at her haunch, the bleeding wound closed now, but trails of blood caked her fur, and dried flaky mud clung to her skin thanks to her brief fall earlier.
Silent, thinking for a moment,「Dancing Queen」scooped Pinkie Pie up in her spindly arms without much warning, able to easily hold the small mare as she started to float away, quickly finding the footpath that most ponies stuck to whenever they entered the Everfree Forest. It had definitely not been there a few moments ago. Perhaps the Forest had gotten tired of having its wildlife punched in the face. Deciding not to look the gift horse in the mouth, Pinkie and her newfound guardian began trailing along the path, unknowing of the new reality they were bringing home with them.