//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Protecting the CMC // Story: The Keepers of The Balance // by Steven1992 //------------------------------// Battle in the Forest When I followed these three I stayed out of sight, just so I can keep an eye on them and protect them if needed but ultimately let them do what they want. I practically heard every conversation they had and I was about to lose my chill with Scootaloo. She sure takes after Rainbow alright. Sweetie Belle I could tell was the smart level-headed one of the three, not that the other two were dumb except maybe Scootaloo. Applebloom looked like she was trying to be the leader of the group and she was doing fine until Scootaloo stepped in with her stupid idea. I was disliking Scootaloo at this point, but I refused to let myself dislike her. Maybe she was just confident in herself and the others and willing to take risks and chances for the better. I couldn’t give Scootaloo grief, after all, I had a best friend that was exactly like her. He turned out for the best so maybe she could too. Though, I facepalmed myself way too hard when she said the forbidden sentence that should NEVER be used in these situations. Once I saw the figures of the wolves coming out of the trees, I knew I had to step in. There was barely any chance these three young ponies could survive against even just one. I stepped out of the trees I was hiding in, ran behind the CMC as three of the wolves leaped into the air to pounce on them, I spread my wings and with as much force I could muster without creating a gust that could rip the trees from their roots, I slammed my wings together. The gust was powerful enough to send the three wolves back to the other side of the clearing and made the rest flinch from the strong breeze. Now I’m staring these wolves down with every intent to kill them to protect these three and the first thing I noticed was the putrid smell of their breath. My eyes were glued to the wolves so I didn’t notice the CMC had their eyes closed and just now opened them. “S-S-Sarius?” Sweetie Belle asked still shaking. My protective instincts were set to the highest setting right now, so I could barely utter a word that wasn’t a threat. But luckily through training, I learned how to control and manage my instincts. “Do you know of any other dragon that could save you three?” I asked in a playful mocking tone, trying to help them calm down. “Be careful Sarius. Those are Timberwolves. They are quite dangerous.” Applebloom warned. I snarled at the wolves. “I know. I can sense something is different about them. I don’t know what, but it’s got my danger sensors on high.” I spoke the truth. These wooden wolves were different from other living wooden beings like ents, creatable wooden puppets and minions and wooden elementals. These wolves were giving off an aura of magic of some kind. Certainly magic I’m not familiar with, but it was magic regardless. Whatever the case I did not want to find out if they can hurt me. More wolves were coming out into the clearing in front of us. There was no way I could protect these three and fight off an essential army of Timberwolves at the same time. I realized that I only had to achieve one goal right now: Getting the CMC safely out of the forest and back to their sisters. “Alright listen closely you three. I want you to do only one thing and that’s to just run, you hear me?” I asked trying to make myself as clear as possible. “W-What?!” Scootaloo shouted seemingly scared out of her mind. “We can’t run from them, we won’t get far.” “Right now, Scootaloo, I need to get you three out of here and now! I will protect you.” I declared. “Even if it costs me my life,” I added. I felt the three stare at me, hoping I wasn’t really planning on sacrificing myself for them. But they knew better than to think that. My body language was speaking volumes. The CMC prepared themselves as the wolves moved closer. “Now-” I started to say as I let loose a large cone of fire at the center of the clearing causing the wolves to fall back and steer clear of the flame. “RUN!!” As I shouted that, Me and CMC took off in the opposite direction. The CMC were running much slower than me so I was trying to stay in pace with them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even a minute before the wolves were on us again. Howling, grunts, growls, panting and yelps of pain were the only sounds being heard right now. A couple of wolves took leaps at either me or the CMC, to which I attacked them and keeping myself close to the CMC. I was moving so fast, it was all a blur for me, but I do know I performed suplexes, grapple maneuvers and straight-up physical combat on at least 4 to 6 wolves. It eventually got to the point where some of the wolves were running ahead of us, trying to get a better angle on us. I gritted my teeth. If this keeps up any longer, one of the filles is going to die for sure. “I need you three to climb on me now!!” I shouted over the rush of the wind as I tried maneuvering and moving my body down so the CMC could get onto my back safely. Sweetie Belle was the first to try to jump on and missed but fortunately for her, I used my tail to ensure she got on. Scootaloo was too scared to try and one wolf was about to grab her. I grunted and slammed my tail onto the ground hard, causing a spot of earth in front of where Scootaloo was to push upward and onto my back which also resulted in the wolf slamming headfirst into the earth pillar. Lastly was Applebloom, but by now the wolves picked up on what I was doing and were trying to prevent Applebloom from reaching me. A wolf got between me and Applebloom and another was behind her about to grab her. “Oh no, you don’t!!” I shouted as I extended my right-wing to the ground, shoved into the wolf next to me sending him hurtling into the trees and slipped my wing underneath Applebloom, causing her to yelp and make a small squeal. I raised my right-wing till she slid right down onto my back. As a sense of precaution, I used my energy to tether the CMC to my back. “NOW HOLD ON!!” I shouted again as I picked up speed, reaching my top speed on foot and nearly leaving the wolves in front and behind us in the dust. My sudden boost of speed caught the wolves by surprise, but they were quick to catch up. As I ran as fast as I could through the forest and making sudden turns when needed, I used a combination of Energy and Life sense with my natural sense of direction to make my way to the Mane Six, who were now in the forest making their way towards us. Luna was also with them it seemed. I shook my head. “No. We don’t have time to think about that right now.” I thought to myself. I had no clue how far I ran or how many wolves I fought off, but I did lose count after 12 or so. The wolves were still trying to pounce and attack me despite seeing it wasn’t working very well the last half a dozen times. One wolf did come close to biting one of the fillies which caused me to stomp on its head in anger, essentially crushing its bark-like skull. Then I felt the Mane Six and Luna were close but weren’t heading in our direction. I took upon myself to signal our location to them. I gathered up a small orb of fire in my maw and shot it into the air. It flew into the air several yards up before exploding with a loud bang. I could only hope they heard and saw it and were now heading our way. I saw a clearing up ahead of us and decided I needed to fight the wolves off. The last thing I wanted was to bring these numbers straight to the Mane Six. I couldn’t take the chance of any of us getting overwhelmed. It was mostly because I knew I could handle myself against these numbers and not knowing if they could. “Alright, you three. The Mane Six and Luna are close. Just keep heading in this direction and you’ll reach them.” I said trying to sound calm. “But what about you?” Sweetie asked concerned and worried for me. “You’re worried about me? That’s cute, but I’ll be fine for the most part. I just don’t want to lead these wolves to the others. So I’m going to let you three go and stay behind and fight them off.” “No, Sarius!” Applebloom shouted scared for me. “We’re better off having them help you. Especially if Luna is with them.” I shook my head. “I can’t take that chance, Applebloom. Despite what you may think, anything can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. No matter how powerful they are. I will not risk anyone’s life but my own if I can help it.” “But why?” Scootaloo finally spoke up. “Why sacrifice yourself for us?” I smiled. “Because I see it as my responsibility to use my power to protect and save those who can’t do it themselves. Now-” I paused as we reached the end of the clearing. “-FLY YOU FILLES!!” I shouted as I slide to a stop, extending my left wing and letting the CMC slide down my wing as well as giving them a head start by launching them forward with a flap of my wing. Thankfully despite their proclaims, they ran as fast as they could like I asked. I quickly used a combination of powers to create a blockade of nature and energy to prevent the wolves from pursuing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough to stop two from getting through. Though several wolves collided with the wall and shattered to pieces. “Damnit.” I cursed under my breath but still took note of how the wolves fell apart instead of getting knocked out. “I can only hope the Mane Six are close enough and I gave those three a big enough head start. Regardless-” I turned to the wolves who stopped and were taking defensive postures at the opposite end of the clearing. “-I still have all of you to take care of. So which one of you is first?” I asked itching for a fight. The wolves were starting to spread out around me in a pack like manner. I could tell they gave up on trying to pursue the fillies. There wasn’t a point after all, by the time any of these wolves got to them it would be too late. I decided to dispense with the waiting. I roared and charged the wolves as they charged at me. Meanwhile, the fillies had a big enough headstart but it only lasted for a good 30 seconds as the two wolves chasing them caught up to them. The CMC tried running back and forth between the trees and rocks to try and trip up the wolves. It was helping at least, but it only resulted in the wolves getting angry and annoyed. Sweetie Belle then tripped on a small vine and fell onto her face after sliding a couple feet. Applebloom and Scootaloo stopped and were about to run to her when one of the wolves ran at them. Applebloom and Scootaloo had to roll out of the way as the wolf ran past failing to get Applebloom’s tail. Sweetie was trying to get back on her hooves before turning her head around to find the other wolf had stopped and was slowly walking towards her. “We’ll save you Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo shouted trying to run towards her. She was forced to turn around and run to the trees as the one wolf chased her. Sweetie started backing away from the wolf but it quickly stopped her by clamping it’s claw on her, trapping her. “SWEETIE!!” Applebloom shouted running towards Sweetie but was caught off by the other wolf. Forcing her to stop and roll out of the way of the wolf’s claws. Sweetie tried to struggle but was fruitless in her efforts. The wolf growled at her and bared its teeth, ready to clamp down on her head. She closed her eyes bracing for the end. A shot of blue magic hit the wolf on top of Sweetie Belle right in the eyes, as it reeled back in pain and off of Sweetie. Sweetie opened her eyes and turned around to see a furious Rarity. “Don’t. Touch. My Sister. You Rotten Mold-Infested, Wooden Mutt!!” Rarity shouted in an unladylike and uncouth manner. “Big Sister!” Sweetie squealed in excitement and happiness. The other wolf snarled and charged at Rarity only to get intercepted by Applejack hitting it square in the jaw with an uppercut, sending it skyward. Where Rainbow flew in double kicking the wolf into the ground at fast speeds, shattering it to pieces. The other wolf got its senses back only to realize it was outnumbered as the rest of the Mane Six along with Spike and Luna showed up. It tried to run only to be caught by Rarity’s magic. “Oh no, you don’t.” She said menacingly. She pulled the wolf back and used her horn to create a sharp spire of ice to pierce the wolf through the stomach. She then created a strong wind gust around the hole and forced it to shoot outwards, causing the wolf to shatter. Every piece of it ended up everywhere. “Jeez Louise, Rarity! Don’t you think that’s excessive?” Rainbow asked having newfound respect and fear of her. Rarity simply flipped her mane and huffed. “Absolutely not! That ruffian almost hurt my little sister. And I simply will not tolerate that!” Rarity said still somewhat furious. “Applebloom!” Applejack called out. “Ah’m right here,” Applebloom called back showing herself from behind a tree stump. “What were ya’ll thinking running into the forest?!” Applejack scolded as she walked towards her. “Ya’ll would have been killed if we didn’t show up.” “Ah’m sorry, sis. We just wanted to go see Zecora. It’s mah fault. Ah thought Ah knew the way.” Applebloom said ashamed. Applejack sighed losing any anger she had. She pulled Applebloom into a hug. “Ah’m just glad ya’ll are safe.” “Who saved you, girls, though?” Rainbow asked. “Sarius..” Scootaloo answered appearing from behind the tree she hiding at. “See, I was right. He did protect them.” Fluttershy said sounding proud of herself. “He did, but he’s still in trouble.” Sweetie Belle said concerned. “What do you mean, young filly?” Luna asked. Sweetie was suddenly nervous having to answer Princess Luna’s question. “He- He stayed behind t-to fight off the Timberwolf horde, j-just to make sure we got away safely.” She answered a bit worried. “What!?” Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow asked in unison. Luna was a bit wide-eyed. “That fool. He has no idea what he’s up against.” Luna said with fear in her voice for possibly the first time in her life. “They’ll tear him apart. Twilight Sparkle!” Luna said loudly. Twilight almost flinched. “Y-yes your Highness?” “We must help him. Any ideas?” Luna asked. “W-well, we can certainly help him but the problem is the CMC. Who’s gonna protect and get them out while we help Sarius?” Twilight said looking to everypony present. “I could!” Pinkie said bouncing in place. “They’ll be safe in my hooves.” “I can go too. I might just get in the way anyway.” Spike added. “I’ll go too, darling. I doubt I could help much against a group of Timberwolves.” Rarity said. Twilight shook her head. “No, I’m sure you can. But regardless thank you. Now you three get the CMC out while the rest of us go and help Sarius. Sound like a plan?” Twilight asked. Everypony nodded but the CMC. “But we want to help him,” Sweetie interjected. “Yeah. He saved our lives, we want to help him.” Applebloom added. Twilight simply shook her head. “I’m sorry girls. Sarius saved you three, so I’m sure the last thing he wants for you to go help him. You’ll be putting everypony at risk since we’ll be trying to protect you. I promise you three we’ll bring him back in one piece.” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other. They both sighed in defeat. “Alright. We’ll leave.” Applebloom said. “I mean, we did cause enough trouble already,” Sweetie added. “Good. Now let’s get going.” Twilight said as she ran in the direction of the battle along with Luna, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The remaining six, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and the CMC started walking their way out of the Everfree Forest. The CMC were concerned and worried about Sarius the entire way. I slid backward slightly panting. Pieces of the timberwolves scattered the entire clearing. I figured I’ve taken out a good five to seven of them since stopping, but somehow their numbers didn’t dwindle one bit. In fact, it almost seemed like I took none out. I gritted my teeth in agitation and annoyance. “I need to figure out how they keep coming. Surely there’s a limit to their numbers. I refuse to believe me and the CMC got the attention of every timberwolf in the forest.” I said to myself. Maybe the answer is in front of me and I’m just not paying close enough attention to it. Before I could do anything I sensed movement behind me. I turned my head in time to see a single wolf lunging at me. I dodged the wolf by turning my front half towards the right and retaliated with a claw jab straight through the wolf’s torso and tossing it into the group. I heard the wolf shatter on impact. I then turned around to see where the wolf came from only to be wide-eyed at the sight of what’s happening behind me. The pieces of the wolves that smashed against the barrier were rattling, levitating and being controlled by some magic. I watched as the pieces came together and slowly reassembled a timberwolf. “So that’s how. The magic that envelops them must be reanimating them somehow. But what kind of magic allows the control and revival of organic beings?” I shook my head. “Questions for later. Right now I need to figure out a way to either disrupt the magic or make it so these puppies don’t get back up.” The wolf that reformed tried attacking me but I just jumped over it. “Maybe I could try burning them since their made of wood. It’s worth a shot at least.” I inhaled and quickly exhaled a funnel of flame right into the middle of the pack, causing several wolves to be ignited and catch fire. Yelps and whimpering of pain were heard from the wolves on fire, while the rest growled and snarled in uneasiness trying to keep their brethren from setting them on fire. In no time at all the wolves that were on fire split apart and the pieces turned to ashes. “I hope that sticks,” I say to myself as I charged in while the wolves were distracted with the ashy remains. I took the chance to jump on one wolf, rip off its head, used my tail claw to slash another in half and then jumped to one more and ran it through with my claw and proceeded to rend it apart. The wolves quickly got over their interest in the ashes and started growling and snarling at me again. I ran up to one, ducked under its bite, uppercut it following it into the air and span myself forward and smacking it hard with my tail, sending it falling back to the ground and shattering on impact. One wolf jumped at me trying to bite me, which was obviously a big mistake. I unfolded and flapped my wings once causing the wolf to miss me but before it could fall, I caught it by the back of the neck in my tail’s claw. It yelped and whined as its limbs swung around in the air helplessly. I flew up a bit higher, grabbed it’s back with my back claws and dropped to the ground. We were several yards off the ground so I landed on the wolf making a loud crash sound. Though before I could get my bearings, yet another wolf jumped me and managed to slash me. It didn’t pierce the scales but it left a scratch mark. I quickly grabbed the wolf by the tail, spun around and slammed it hard into the ground. Another wolf jumped me and tried slashing my back but only got the same result as the other one. I span around, slammed my tail against its side and sent it careening towards the tree line. Almost on a rhythm another wolf ran at me and tried biting me which I dodged and retaliated by punching its back into the ground. One more wolf came at me but this time it managed to bite my left arm, causing me to wince and grit my teeth. I jumped up a couple yards and let myself fall to the ground with my left arm still in the wolf’s maw and crushed it under my weight. As I got up, more wolves started charging me simultaneously. Some managed to leave more scratch marks, a couple got a bite in but the rest didn’t get me. I quickly pushed them aside and got myself a safe distance from them. My left arm started feeling wet from something and when I looked, my eyes widen when I saw blood. The first bite mark pierced the scales, punctured the skin and was now bleeding but what shocked me was it wasn’t healing. I then got charged from all sides, not getting a moment to breathe. I could feel more bites getting in as I was being piled on. Angered, my eyes glowed blue and I created a large energy pulse that threw all the wolves on me in different directions. My anger and annoyance were high as my body started glowing blue and was surrounded by a blue aura. This display forced the wolves to stay back for a while, obviously unsure of what was going on. I could feel my energy flowing through me rather quickly, but I noticed there were parts of my body I couldn’t feel. It was the parts of me that got bit. I also took a look around and noticed the ashes of the wolves I burned were gone completely. “So they can reanimate from even ashes. That’s rather troublesome.” I said agitated. One of the wolves decided to be either brave, stupid or a pointless sacrifice as it charged me. Instinctively I surrounded my right claw with enough energy to make my claw look like a small energy knife. I stabbed the wolf through the heart on instinct and slashed its head off with the same claw. The pieces of the wolf fell to the ground and smoke like substance fumed from them. I suddenly felt the magic presence that is in the wolves leave the pieces on the ground. The other wolves got nervous and scared. Somehow my energy counteracts the magic they had or were given. I chuckle. “Ironic. That magic can nullify my hybrid power and energy. And my energy can dispel the magic. That’s irony at its finest.” I took a quick glance around me to get a headcount so far. “Still a dozen here huh. As much I want to believe it’s the magic that’s neutralizing my power, I can’t help but feel like there’s another factor to add here. Something that’s preventing my regeneration entirely.” The wolves were getting impatient and more riled up than usual. So much so their mouths started secreting a clear yellow tinted liquid substance that when falling to the ground boiled the dirt and steamed from the spot. Their saliva was acidic it seemed. Then it clicked, the two arrows that were used to nearly kill the sisters, the arrowheads were dipped in some acidic substance. “Does that mean the saliva of these wolves was used to help kill the sisters? And could their saliva be the thing that’s preventing my body from regenerating?” I asked myself, finally getting some pieces to a puzzle that I was given since arriving here. I didn’t have time to think about it though, as all the wolves charged me at the same time from all sides. Before they got to me I leaped back into the air and decided enough was enough. A flame started forming in my maw that quickly turned from bright red to sky blue. I let loose a large funnel of my Energy Flame into the group of wolves. Some managed to get out of the way but the rest weren’t so lucky. More than half of the dozen wolves were set ablaze in blue flames, as yelps and howls of pain and anguish were heard. I stayed in the air and watched my flame consume the wolves entirely, eventually turning them into ashes that wouldn’t be reviving. This time I was sure of it. I lowered myself to the ground and dumbfoundedly let my guard down as one wolf managed to jump me and bite my neck. I growled in anger as I twisted and turned my body till I could grab its throat with my mouth. I clamped hard and spun in a circle twice before slamming the wolf’s body into the ground hard. I spat out the pieces that were still in my mouth. I didn’t wait for the last few wolves to attack so I charged them and quickly dispatched them with ease. When the last wolf fell to pieces I looked around to see if anymore showed up, thankfully none did. Smoke was rising from the ashes and grass that caught fire from the two times I used my flame breath. I walked over to the fire and harnessed the water element and shot a torrent of water to douse the flames. Once I was sure the forest wouldn’t catch fire I calmed myself and lost the blue glow and aura around me and in my eyes. Before I could start to leave, the pieces that littered the clearing were surrounded by green magic and begun reforming themselves along with parts of the forest including trees, branches, and rocks. In a matter of minutes, a giant version of the timberwolves was built and towered over me by a dozen feet. It roared at me, it’s putrid breath covered me forcing me to gag from an overload to my sense of smell. It took a swipe at me which I barely dodged since I was still trying to clear my senses. I reminded on the defensive for a couple of minutes while my nostrils and lungs cleared of the wolf’s breath. When I got my bearings again, I charged and began clawing at the beast slowly chipping off the wood but when I managed to take another chunk off, the previous parts I took off repaired itself. I then flew into the air to dodge another swipe, inhaled and let loose a large funnel of flame at the oversized wooden wolf. It seemed effective at first causing pain but that quickly changed when the wolf reached out and grabbed me in its maw, tossing me into the ground hard. I grunted on impact and started to get back up but was then met with a crushing force from above resulting in pain. I was practically pinned to the ground by the wolf’s giant wooden paw. It slowly applied pressure threatening to break my backbone and rib cage. Apart from my legs, wings, and head, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t use my legs to push myself up as my legs were pressed against the dirt, preventing any vertical movement. The wolf roared in suppose triumph. It's maw now barely a few feet away from my head, it exhaled on me causing me to gag again. My mind was clouded by anger, annoyance, pain and a slight amount of fear. I couldn’t think straight but I knew all too well what it was about to do next. It was about ready to clamp its jaws on my neck and head and try to snap my neck or rip my head off. Either way, I couldn’t allow it. My energy surged through me again as my body and eyes began to glow blue, with the added status of my eyes slitting. I flapped my wings, tried my best to position my legs to push me up, anything to get the wolf’s grip off of me. But it failed. As I felt its jaws closing in on me, in desperation I flapped my wings once more, with a roar of anger, as my wings reached the peak of their rise. I shoot lasers out of the spikes in my wings that pierced right through the wolf’s body. This somehow locked the wolf in place as it tried it’s best to close the distance, biting and trying to lean closer. My body started reacting on instinct from this point onward, as I slowly began to rise moving the timberwolf with me. I pushed off the ground with incredible strength, causing the ground to crack, and into the air. With one hard, fast flap of my wings, the lasers cut through the sides of the wolf taking off several chunks of wood and various things that made up the wolf’s body. The wolf yelped and roared with pain as it fell, barely landing on its back legs. The lasers I shot out dissipated as I landed on the ground and turning to the wolf with anger in my eyes. The wolf wasted no time lunging at me. The tip of my tail turned into a claw and feeling a rush of energy going through my body into my tail, I shot another set of lasers that pierced the wolf’s skull and neck. The wolf’s advance was stopped as it tried helplessly to move. I lifted my tail, lifting the wolf with it and with one quick motion, swung my tail down causing the wolf to smash into the ground hard, making a small crack in the ground and pieces of the wolf fly off. I did this two more times, creating a small crater and littering the clearing again with pieces of the wolf. I lifted my right claw and focused my energy into a small orb. I pulled my tail back, cut off the flow of energy causing the lasers to fade away, forcing the wolf to fly towards me and quickly struck the wolf’s stomach with the orb in my right claw. The orb entered the body as I commanded the energy to spread out fast, causing the wolf to explode to pieces in an energy explosion. The explosion was massive and loud, the draft of wind from the explosion rattled the trees in the vicinity. I started panting from mild exhaustion and energy loss. I had increased my energy output two times to what now seemed like unnecessary levels. I could assume I wasted a bit of energy by not using it. My mind was still clouded, but I was clear enough for me to regain control of myself. Now having full control of my body, I looked around at the clearing, it was quite literally filled to the brim with sticks, pieces of bark, stones, ashes, and other wood pieces from all the timberwolves I slew. My arms then felt wet, I looked up expecting a mild shower but didn’t. I looked at my arms and realized it wasn’t wet from water or rain but blood. Only a small amount of blood seeped from the wounds, wounds from bites that just managed to pierce the hard scales and tough skin. In fact, I feel a lot of bite marks throughout my body, all with small amounts of blood dripping from them. I was certain the wounds weren’t life-threatening, but the fact that I wasn’t healing was a problem. I had to leave before either more timberwolves or something else shows up. And once again as I turned to the exit about to leave, I heard howling. I turned back around to see a dozen glowing eyes in the trees as more wolves came into the clearing. “Great…. Just what I needed.” I groaned feeling a mild sense of deja vu. This time however I didn’t cut off my increased energy flow which was probably a bad idea on my part. I could feel myself being drained of wasted energy since it couldn’t be used to heal me. Regardless I stood ready to face the new horde. I waited for them to make the first move. As expected they came charging at me with reckless abandon. I shot a blast of energy fire in the middle of the group. However, my eyes widen in shock, as the wolves leaped and moved out of the way causing my flame to past them without hitting a single one. I barely had time to stop the fire from reaching the trees before the wolves were on me. As they piled on me, I felt more bites and scratches. They started scratching up my wings which was tearing into the thin membrane, creating holes in my wings. The pain was excruciating, mostly from feeling my wings being torn apart. I roared in pain as I tried my best to push the wolves away to no avail. They had me pinned and unlike with the giant wolf, there were too many to fight off. I was only able to push one or two wolves away before they jumped right back on me. The ground was now being covered in a pool of blood from a combination of my bite wounds and torn wings. I decided if I couldn’t fight them off, I would tucker down. So I created a large Energtris Shield that surrounded my entire body. It managed to push the wolves back in surprise but they got over it quickly and resumed attacking. As I suspected they’re claws and jaws couldn’t put a dent in the shield. But some of their saliva dripped on the shield causing it to sizzle and burn through the shield very slowly. I realized it was only a matter of time before they either created holes in the shield or my energy ran out, since creating a shield of this size was taking a lot of it. Suddenly a shot of powerful magic hit several wolves and almost destroyed them on the spot. The rest stopped to see what happened then two sharp spires of earth shot out of the earth and stabbed two wolves. A rainbow streak went through two more wolves at incredibly high speeds. I tilted my head back to see, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Princess Luna standing there. Luna had a look of pure anger on her. The eight wolves that weren’t killed or destroyed, charged the ponies. Luna charged up her horn so intensely everyone present could feel the magic. The other three ponies backed up not wanting to be hit by this. Luna shouted in anger and shot a wave of pure darkness that consumed the wolves and shrunk away, leaving nothing behind. “Whoa, nelly. Twilight, remind me not to upset the princess.” Applejack said scared. Twilight nodded with a fearful stare. “I think we all will need to remind each other, AJ,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. “This isn’t over. Pay attention.” Luna ordered glaring daggers at something across the clearing. The other ponies and I looked over to see more wolves, just cautiously standing there. Luna walked past me to stand between me and the wolves. “Help him out of here. I’ll keep these pups away.” Luna commanded, her tone gave the feeling she didn’t want any backtalk or argument. I lowered my shield, either from an insufficient amount of energy or the feeling of being safe. I couldn’t tell. The three ponies, along with Rainbow Dash who was above the clearing came over to me. I turned and proceed to stand up, but before I could Applejack, Rainbow and Twilight helped me up. I felt a lot of pain and though I chose to ignore it, my legs refused to budge. Applejack and Rainbow sled under me to hoist me onto their backs with Twilight using her magic to help. While Fluttershy just hovered over me using her energy to try and heal me. I couldn’t see Luna, but I could hear her blasting wolves that decided to be courageous. Once I seemed secure on Applejack and Rainbow’s backs they began trotting out the way they came in. After seeing I wasn’t sliding off, they picked up the pace and went into a gallop. My lower body and tail were being dragged but I wasn’t complaining. “Let me carry him while you help keep his tail from skidding on the ground, Rainbow.” Twilight requested. “Are you sure? He’s quite heavy.” Rainbow then looked at me. “No offense.” I shook my head. “None taken.” “I am sure,” Twilight replied. “Alright,” Rainbow said as Twilight moved closer to her. When Twilight was in the right position, Rainbow moved and used her wings to hover, grab my tail and lifted it and herself off the ground a couple feet. Twilight groaned from my weight. “Careful Twi. Ah'm sure I could carry him myself if you can’t.” Applejack said concerned. “I’m alright AJ. I’m just not used to this, that’s all.” Twilight responded with a smile. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was still in the same spot, hovering just over me healing me. I then felt another pony slide underneath me and carrying me a bit higher off the ground. Luna’s head was right under mine as she was galloping at full speed. “Luna. You alright?” I asked concerned. She nodded. “You should be more concerned for yourself, Sir Sarius.” She retorted. I shook my head. “Nah, that’s not me. I only worry about others. Get used to it.” I joked. Luna shook her head but smiled. The ponies ran with me in tow for several minutes until the entrance of the forest was finally in sight with the sound of the wolves still behind us.