//------------------------------// // Timber // Story: Equestria Girls: Love Is Magic // by onekface //------------------------------// Chapter 90: Timber (Park) It was hard to imagine how things went from strange, to dangerously bizarre so quickly. Sunset sprinted across the clearing, ignoring the loud slamming noise as a werewolf flew passed her as if struck by a truck at full speed. Applejack unleashed the full might of her powers, Ponying up and sending that creeper to the other side like a living wrecking ball. The dust settled quickly after that first blow, which showed the rage plastered on her face. The werewolf on the other hand didn’t seem all that bothered. Instead it looked even angrier than before. How a creature like that came to be in this world was a mystery that she would have to find out another day. Sunset only knew that the beast was a danger not just to her friend but to everyone. Rainbow Dash attacked it from behind – catching the monster off guard. She let out an array of lightning attacks electrocuting the furry creature. It covered its face with its arm, blocking the attack before swiping at the girl. And while Rainbow was able to dodge a few with her super speed, one managed to catch her in the stomach and propelled her back. She retaliated with a double flip kick on the snout but the beast caught her by the foot and tossed her down to the ground. Applejack roared angrily and charged in to save her friend. Sunset took the chance to run over to Flash, grabbing his body and quickly analyzing his injuries. Flash was a mess – a complete and utter wreck if she had to describe it. When he took that blow from the werewolf, he flew across the field like a driver crashing out of a car in slow motion. Without a protective shielding or gear, he took the full brunt of that blow and somehow managed to live to tell about it. He was bleeding around the nose, one of his eyes were swollen, there were small cuts and bruises across his arms, and a nasty gash right through his left brow. An ordinary human would’ve fallen unconscious from all those injuries, but Flash somehow managed to sustain himself, if just barely. “Oh dear. That looks like it hurts.” Rarity stated the bloody obvious. “Flash!” She cried out, holding onto his bruised up face. “Are you alright? How many fingers am I holding?” “Sunset?” Not the answer she was looking for, but at least he had the strength to respond. “Good enough!” “Hang on Flashie! I got just the thing for you.” Pinkie rushed to the boy’s side pulling out a huge box of band-aids. “Uh… I don’t know if I got enough band-aids for all your booboos. Oh! Wait, I got it.” She dug her hands in again pulling out what looked like a roll of duct tape. “Tada!” “Pinkie. I don’t think that’ll help.” “Don’t be ridiculous. If you can’t fix something using duct tape, then you’re simply using enough duct tape.” The boy let out a soft groan. “Pinkie? How…? How are you guys here?” “Don’t worry about that now.” Sunset eased him. “We’ll handle that monster. You just get to safety.” “No!” He grabbed her before she headed off to the fight. “You can’t… you can’t hurt him.” “Why not?” His swollen eye rose. “That werewolf. It’s…… it’s Timber.” “Timber?!” It was Rarity who responded, snapping towards the fight. “As in - Sweet, adorable, Timber? But how?” “Amulet.” He continued. “On… his neck. Evil… magic.” “He’s right.” Starlight nodded. “I’m sensing really powerful energy coming from that gemstone. I think that’s what’s spilling corrupted magic all over the place.” “Another strange magical artifact? That’s just great. As if this couldn’t get any more complicated than it is. What’s next? Trees turning sentient?” “Uh… is it just me, or are those trees coming at us?” Pinkie pointed to a bunch of trees that were running at them at full speed. Sunset felt like kicking herself in the back for jinxing it. “Ooooh~~~. Walking trees. How delicious.” Of course Discord would be amused, hovering just above ground like his usual self. “They’re just like the ones I have back home. Stand back and let Captain Wuz handle this.” With a wiggle of his newly formed fingers, the tree monsters froze as they grew literal cheese wheels on their branches. Then their horrible faces turned to smiles which was then followed by rather bizarre singing voices before falling to the ground, burdened by the added weight. “Huh… weird. I was going for a more banana festive look. But I suppose this works too.” It was a rather weird scene but that’s what you get when you’re dealing with the literal Lord of Chaos. “Wow… that was… kinda impressive.” Sunset admitted. “I know, right!? And you thought that I shouldn’t be doing magic.” And she still doesn’t. They already have phenomenal cosmic power running amok. They don’t need another. Though she can’t deny that he did save them just now. “Don’t suppose you can do the same with Timber there.” “The furry wannabe? Oh please.” He snapped his fingers again gesturing to the werewolf. And to their surprise, a pink ballerina dress appeared on the big guy and putting him on a unicycle with circus music playing in the background. “Oooh! How fun. Though I was actually trying to put him on a makeshift cannon and fire him across the park. But it isn’t chaos magic without some randomness put into the mix.” Sunset had to admit that it did look somewhat hilarious. But the situation didn’t suit the mood. “The amulet, Discord!” “What? Oh… right. One magical amulet, coming right up.” Another snap came, and the amulet around Timber slowly lifted upward. But the wolf seemed to have caught wind of the old man’s intentions and quickly brushed off that circus act, grabbing the amulet from his neck and swallowing it whole with a single gulp. “Hey! Now that’s not playing fair!” Starlight gawked. “Did he just…?” And then, as if reacting to that act, the boy’s body began to twist and turn, growing immensely like it was given some kind of super-soldier serum. And not the good kind either. He was becoming far more powerful. So much so that the land around him was dying with each step. The whole thing just got worse. “Alright buddy. You wanna get serious? Let’s get serious.” Discord gave out a challenging remark, pulling up his sleeves, wearing a dangerous expression. And if you listen closely, you can hear a cowboy dueling music playing in the background. “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.” What town? This is a city park. “Draw!” Discord announced pulling his fingers like pistols, snapping them away. Everyone expected something bizarre or weird to happen. But much to their surprise, a bushel of flowers puffed out of his hands. “Huh… I was going for flamethrowers.” “RARRRRRRR!” The werewolf roared, grabbing a chunk of earth and tossing it at them, which was thankfully deflected off Rarity’s shield. “Uh… bad news.” Discord muttered snapping his fingers repeatedly which produced various useless results. “My magic isn’t working properly. I think this place is messing with my mojo.” Dang it. She knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. “Then we’ll just have to deal with it the old fashion way.” Sunset finished. “Starlight, Discord, can you keep Flash safe for me?” “You got it.” “Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity. You guys in?” They nodded back with determination in their eyes. “Then let’s do this.” The three of them managed to meet up with their friends on the battlefield not a second later, when Applejack managed to wrestle the beast to one side while Rainbow Dash unleashed a flurry of lightning, scorching his hairy hide. Sunset wasn’t really sure why, but that cowgirl was really putting the effort in there, wiping the floor with that the werewolf’s face. There was a brief lull in their battle; one which was followed by a threatening growl from the monster, and a sneer from AJ. “What took you guys so long?” Rainbow Dash whined. “We were getting our butts handed here.” “How’s Flash?” Applejack inquired despite looking all like a raging bull seeing red. “Is he…?” “He’s fine. A little roughed up, but he’ll pull through.” “Good. Then how about we teach this beastly brute some manne…” “No. We can’t hurt him.” Sunset interrupted, making the two athlete raise a questioning look in her direction. “According to Flash: That monster is Timber. He’s being controlled by some corrupted magic.” “Timber?” Rainbow parroted suddenly losing form in her fight. “As in Twilight’s Timber? How?” “Don’t blame him. Blame the amulet.” Rarity added. “That thing turned that sweet boy into… this creature. We take that ungodly accessory out of him, and he’ll be right back to his old self. We’ll also be doing him a favor. Jewelries are so last week’s fashion choice.” “Well it won’t be easy.” Rainbow Dash groaned. “The big guy just ate it.” “We have to try.” Applejack mumbled. “Don’t suppose that thing will just come out of him the natural way, would it?” Firstly, unlikely. Secondly, eww… xxxxxxxxxx Everything hurt. Blood pounded through his skull and the world could only be seen through in a hue of green and red. Timber could hear a voice at the back of his head, screaming and bellowing orders. He tried to ignore it, but the words shouted through, compelling him to obey. It ordered him out of anger and spite, clouding his mind in a fog so thick he could barely even breathe. His fangs ached and his snout parted, expelling a roar full of heat humid air. He couldn’t feel his limbs anymore. His body was acting on its own, moving and acting as if someone else was on the wheel. Steering him around like he owned the whole thing. Did he… did he just swallow something earlier? It seemed to have caught up in his throat. There was an ache on his nose where that barbarian punched. He let out a snarl but then pulled up short when an electric current smashed against him making his side writhe in pain. For a brief moment his vision cleared up. He could see familiar figures and faces. He tried to recall their names but it was all just a haze. One of them with bright red hair shouted orders to her comrades but he couldn’t hear the words clearly. The voice in his head drowned it all out, roaring more orders. He had to silence that voice before it drives him mad. He had to silence all of them. Grab the gems… take their magic. Yes. Take it from them and return it. “Look out!” The redhead warned, suddenly grabbing the jewel around her neck. A bright shining light surrounded her, before she reemerged out of it donning in armor coherent with the others. One of his arm… claws, or something, swung down where she stood cracking the earth itself. Dirt and dust flew up in the air and he lunged through it, swiping and slashing both arms at the cowgirl who smelled of anger. Her arms crossed in front of her face, blocking his attack, and she flew back from the blow. Before he could follow it up, the girl with the lightning powers grabbed her and brought her away to safety in such a speed that she was nothing more than an after-shadow. She proceeded to deliver a flurry of kicks which hardly did anything to his thick skinned body. He pushed back with enough force to send her flying, earning a yelp as she smashed to the ground. Another swipe followed sending her rolling down the grass with a cry. They were not as weak or frail as they appear. Not like that other one… what was his name again? They were far stronger together, and their blows hurt. It was a five to one battle. And anyone with a brain can tell that he was at a disadvantage. If he had fought them one by one, they’d all be dead already. He needed more power. More strength. Enough to claw these weaklings to the ground and take their magic for himself. Yes… more power. “Timber, stop!” The redhead shouted again, clearly this time. “You’re not yourself right now. If you can hear me, just stop. We can help you.” What is that annoying thing saying? Help him? He doesn’t need help. She’s the one who needs help since she’ll be down on the ground in just a few moments. And he delivered on that promise, swiping his claw in her direction. Though the effect didn’t seem to match his prediction. As instead of being flung away like a wrecking ball, the redhead managed to block it. How is that possible? No… there’s something there. A shield? A barrier? He darted in the direction of the energy source, noting a lavender haired girl conjuring the crystalline wall. She looked rather lovely. Too lovely. Perhaps a vengeful scar on that face will spruce it up. The thought of torturing these idiots made him curl a smile. (Celestia’s/Luna’s apartment) Luna watched as her sister paced back and forth across the room, one arm crossed over her chest while another held onto her phone. It’s been over an hour since they noticed the green glow in the distance and since then, they’ve been trying to reach Sunset and her friends hoping to get some kind of explanation to what was going on. But as expected, there was no answer from any of them. If she were to guess, she’d say that they were probably out there fighting another monster sent from another world. “Damn it! None of them are answering!” Celestia tossed her phone to the sofa in clear frustration. “This is a disaster!” “Now now. Let’s not be too hasty, Lesty. Let’s be calm about this.” “Calm!?” Her sister balked, grabbing the curtains to reveal the green glow coming from the city. “There’s a glowing light happening right outside, which is clearly magical, and you’re telling me to be calm!?” Calmer at least. Granted, she too felt the need to panic. But having two of them having a breakdown would be unproductive at this point. Damn Celestia for making her the sane one here. “Yes.” “This is not good, Luna. Try to take this seriously.” I take a lot of things seriously. But watching you panicking like a headless chicken does calm my nerve. “Let’s take it one step at a time. I’m sure whatever is happening isn’t as bad as it looks.” The blaring sirens of police and firefighters came and went. “… or as bad as it sounds.” But Celestia wasn’t taking it. The woman was already cradling her hair, barely keeping it together. “That’s easy for you to say. I knew I was a little too lenient on those girls. They’ve always managed to keep their magic under wraps and never draw attention to themselves. But this… is different. People will begin to notice. They’ll start asking questions. If those girls get found out the police might even come to our school! It’ll be a PR nightmare!” “Sister…” “The Board of Education are already breathing down my neck.” She went on, with both hands pulling down her cheeks. “They might close the school. And we’ll be out of a job. I might have to go back to teaching, and you’ll be reverted back to tutoring!! It’ll be the ultimate humiliation!” The sound of Luna’s hands slamming at the table cut through her mad ravings, bringing the woman back to some semblance of calm. “Celestia!” She barked. “You are the Principal of Canterlot High. Please try to show some discipline.” Celestia stared. And Luna wanted nothing more but to curse herself. To think that she would be the voice of reason in this situation, was perhaps unprecedented. She’s supposed to be the reckless one in the family, the crazy one, the lady that goes crazy in parties. Not the hall monitor. Regardless, the shock was what her sister needed, allowing her to look at herself from an outside perspective. She let out a cough, smoothed down her hair and stood. “Thank you Luna. I… needed that.” “Good. Now firstly… why the heck am I the tutor? And secondly, what are we going to do about this?” Her sister opened her mouth to spout an idea before it closed again. “I… don’t know.” Luna smacked herself. That was not the answer she was looking for. “Ok. We both know that whatever is happening over at the park is definitely magic related. Right? And knowing our luck, those girls are probably involved. Don’t you have some kind of plan for this kind of situation? You kept saying that you’ve develop a procedure in case we ever have another magical mayhem on our hands.” “Yes but those scenarios mostly work at school. Not… anywhere else.” She let out an annoyed groan. “Gosh I feel so useless.” “Well there has to be something we can do.” Luna grabbed her keys. “We can drive over there.” “And do what? The police are probably all over the place. If they see us, they’ll turn us around immediately. And even if we could somehow get around them, we have no way of helping. You’ve seen what kind of horrors that Sunset and her friends face, and neither of us have any prior knowledge or practice in magic. Not her at least. But Luna has been practicing. And the black gemstone she got from Sunset was still in her pocket. Still… her sister had a point. They’d be fools to run headlong into danger and with the authorities all over the place, they’ll just be putting themselves in grave danger, adding up to the trouble Sunset and her friends might be going through. Luna didn’t like it, but patience seemed to be the calling virtue here. (Park) Ok Starlight. Not exactly a great start on saving your best friend Sunburst. But you knew what you were getting into when you signed up for traveling to another world. And you know what that means: Other-worldly shenanigan. You shouldn’t be so surprised. After all, you’ve gone through one Tartarus situation after another. A mission from the Crystal Map should be easier than this. Though granted, none of those missions ever involved life-threatening situations like killer trees or giant man-wolf things the size of a house. “Alright. This should be far enough.” She said through panted breath. Running with just two hooves er… feet… wasn’t as easy as these ponies… umm… people… make it look. “Set him down here Discord.” “Ow!” “Gently!” Starlight scolded the older man. “My bad. I didn’t realize humans could be so fragile.” “Well take better care next time. He’s badly hurt as he is.” And Flash was technically just a kid. Being whacked by that werewolf must’ve knocked a few screws loose. And he was bleeding badly. “We need to help him with these wounds. Give me a minute.” Gently she placed her hand over his chest hoping to put a healing spell into play. Treating cuts and bruises were easy. Twilight taught her a variety of healing spells to mend all manner of injuries. Even mild burns and broken bones. Having Yaks and dragons attending the School of Friendship can lead to a number of folks visiting the nurse’s office. It should work – or at least she hoped it would. But alas, all she got was a deadpanned silence from her touch. “Ugh… come on! I can’t even do simple healing around here? The magic in this world is totally whack.” The boy simply laughed it off painfully. “Heh. It’s not so bad. You should see what I did to the other guy.” “Not exactly the best time for humor, Flash.” “Yeah. I know.” He chuckled. “I kinda tend to joke around when things get tense. Call it a habit.” A good habit to have, but still not the best time. “We need to get you somewhere safe. Your world wouldn’t happen to have a hospital here, would it?” His grunt was his reply. “Right. Then we’ll just have to get creative. Discord. Can you use your magic to heal him?” “Me!?” The Lord of Chaos pointed dumbly to himself as he twiddled his thumbs. “Uh… that might not be such a good idea. Chaos magic is more inclined for make things wacky. Not exactly suitable for helping others. I can give him an extra head if you want.” I don’t see how having a human get an extra head would help anyone. More like it’ll give all of us here more a headache than anything. “Fine. Can you at least make us a portal to get us out of here?” “Oh! I can do that.” He smiled, pulling up his sleeves. “One portal to safety, coming right up.” And with a flick of his fingers, a magic portal emerged. Good. At least they can get the heck out of here and hide until the whole thing blows over. At least that was the plan until a wild viney creature came out of the portal roaring angrily. It was closed immediately, leaving the Con-man to laugh awkwardly. “Oh uh ahehehe… my bad. I swear that never happens.” Sure it doesn’t. “Let me try again.” And again he tried. A couple of times actually. And with each flick, another stranger looking portal would emerge with another nasty looking monster trying to come out of it. The whole thing would’ve been quite comical, if they weren’t in such a serious situation. “Discord!” “I’m trying! I don’t write the rules here. The magic of this place is throwing my mojo off track.” “Well try harder!” “Oh sure. That sounds logical.” “You’re the Lord of Chaos. Since when did logic ever stopped you?” He blinked, and then nodded. “That’s true. But I swear, I’m not doing any hijinks. My magic just isn’t working properly around here.” He made another two snaps which summoned a fluffy sheep out of nowhere. “See?” “Ugh… great. Can this get any worse?” And as luck would have it, the universe decided to answer that challenge, conjuring a miniature comical storm cloud right above their heads that immediately began to pour. “Discord!” “Oops. My bad. I was going for a flashlight.” xxxxxxxxxx This was getting worse by the minute Sunset lowered her head dodging another swing. Her friends swarmed in afterward, overwhelming Timber with a barrage of attacks. Rainbow and Applejack have been on the offense since the fight started, while Rarity stood behind forming shields wherever needed. Behind her, Fluttershy did her best to keep up, shapeshifting from one animal to the next. She even turned into a pink gorilla for a brief moment, wrestling the werewolf in the weird animal battle this world has seen in ages. So much so that Rainbow Dash cheered them on. But to little avail. That idiot, Timber, was getting stronger. Far stronger than any of them could imagine. Even in their ponied up forms they could barely make a dent on his hide. The corrupted magic was turning him into something monstrous. She could even feel the magic radiating from here. At this rate, there’ll be enough magic in him to level a whole city block. They needed to get that gemstone out of him. If only they could hold him steady for a few minutes. “Uh… is it just me or is Timber getting bigger?” Rainbow noted. And no, it wasn’t just her. Timber was growing with each passing second. Just a moment ago he was just about twice their size. Now he looked like he could stand right above the Sweet Shoppe corner. At the rate he’s growing, he might become a giant by midnight. “He’s draining the life from the land and turning it into energy.” Sunset explained pointing to the grass which was withering faster than naturally allowed. “How’s that even possible?” Applejack wondered. “I thought magic was like… a kind of energy. Don’t you need some kind of converting thingamabob?” “I bet that gemstone is responsible. Somehow it’s converting life force into magic. This park is the perfect spot for it.” Rainbow Dash grunted. “I’m guessing our usual routine of beating it out of him isn’t going to work here.” “Not unless we really want to hurt him.” “Hurt him? Have you seen the whooping we’ve been getting in the last few minutes!? I’m more afraid he might hurt us!” The sports gal let out another grunt before yelling. “Duck!” A swipe came at them, missing the girls by a hair. “We can’t keep this fight on forever. We need to get that gemstone out of him right now or the whole city could be affected.” “I’m open to suggestions.” Applejack panted. “We just need a few minutes. Fluttershy, can you turn into something bigger and hold him down?” There was a pause in the answer, raising a few brows. “Fluttershy?” “Over here… quack.” Came the girl’s sobbing whimper. The gang turned over, finding a pink duckling poking just above the grass. “Sorry. When Rainbow said duck, I kinda turned on instinct…… quack.” “Aww… she’s even cuter than when she was a bunny.” Pinkie cooed childishly, playing with the girl’s new found tail which she responded with a snap. “Yeow… and grouchier too.” Really?! That would’ve made such a comical punchline if they weren’t in danger right now. “Look out!” Applejack shouted just in time as Timber charged at them. He swung his arm at the cowgirl catching it with her bare hands. “Alright ya big varmint. I’ve wrestled tougher, bigger bulls than you. If you wanna rodeo, then let’s dance.” But Timber-wolf proved too mighty even for their resident powerhouse as the monster simply grabbed her in his oversized hands holding her up like a colorful sunday ice-cream cone. “Hey! Get your hands off me!” “Yeah!” Pinkie added tossing a pack of jellybeans that exploded upon impact. “Why don’t pick on somebody your own size! Or someone bigger… preferably much bigger! Like a vegetable!” “SHE… IS… MINE!” He sneered, his snout curling a grin before opening his jaws. “Applejack!” His jaw went for the bite. But instead of chomping through flesh and bone, the beast fangs cracked on crystalline shields. “Oh no you don’t!” Rarity growled, waving her hand to conjure even more of those barriers. “No one’s making a snack over my friend. Not if I have anything to say about it.” Rainbow Dash struck once more, zapping Timber from behind. But the effects of that attack seemed to have dampened as he hardly even flinched anymore. The tail of that werewolf swiped, sending the girl flying toward the trees with a loud thwack. Applejack followed afterward, being tossed over like a baseball. Rarity didn’t seem to give up though as she quickly barred the beast, sending out another set of her shields to smash its head like a club, which then let out a loud bonking noise. It seemed to work because that little concussion made the werewolf reeling back, giving them some respite. “That’s it!” Sunset shouted. “Rarity! Keep him occupied. Pinkie, with me! You still have that batch of old cookies you never got rid of?” “Uhhh… duh! I would never throw away my one-of-a-kind collector’s edition of Clown Town Crazy Cookie! They’ve been discontinued since the kindergarten sugar years ago. I’ve been saving these babies for a very occasion.” The pink gal giggled gleefully, pulling the said treat out of her hair, which stank like a thousand year old apple. Rarity plugged her nose in disgust. “You… kept that with you? This whole time?” “Yup. Been keeping them since I was a freshman.” The fashionista hurled at the thought. “Oh don’t worry. I got way older treats in my closet. I’ll share them with ya.” “Together now!” And on Sunset’s signal, they attacked. With some impressive acrobatics, the two girls rushed over to Timber bombarding him with a flurry of explosive confection and a barrage of magic missiles. Each blow making the monster reel back, making it go on the defense. He retaliated with a couple of swipes but he couldn’t much see them with all that sugar in the air. And when he was finally blinded, Sunset then followed the attack up with a blast to its knees, bringing the monster low. “He’s down! Now Pinkie!” “Say ahhh~~!” The pink gal charged in, pulling a whole box and shoving the rest of it down the monster’s throat. Timber went limp and the whole fight became quiet. His face would turn green a moment later, stomach growling and aching before puking its guts out in a hurl of vomit and… other stuff. But no amulet. “RARRRRR!” Oh crud. “Sunset! Look out quack! He’s onto you quack!” Fluttershy’s warning came a little too late though as Timber was able to land one good hit sending the redhead flying. Ow… that hurt. This guy really hits like a brick. A ton of bricks for that matter. Thankfully her magical shielding took the better part of the hit, softening the blow. If she didn’t had that she’d be in worse shape than Flash. “Sunset!” Pinkie squeaked. “You ok?” “Yeah… my magic took most of the blow.” She managed to squeeze a reply, rubbing her aching head. “Alright! Now you’ve done it, Mister!” Rarity roared, bringing the full might of her magic to bear, locking the boy in a cage made of her crystal shields. “That’s quite enough out of you, young man. I don’t know what brought all this on or why you turned into a furry werewolf. But I’ve had it up to here with your antics! I was going to give you leeway because of your little breakup! But now you’ve crossed the line! No one, and I mean no one, hurts my friends and gets away with it!” “RAAAARRR!” “Roar all you want. You’re not getting out of there until you’ve apologized and think of what you’ve done!” But much to their surprise, Timber ignored that threat and simply ripped through the shield with its claws, shredding them like cardboard. “Oh dear.” Oh dear indeed. There were hardly much that could break Rarity’s shields like that. Timber was getting stronger by the minute. And that corrupted magic seemed to be the cause. And without warning, Timber pounced. “Rarity!” The fashionista barely had the chance to dodge when the werewolf came at her. One claw swiping at her. They all screamed in panic and fear. It should’ve sent her flying across the sky like it did the others. Keyword: Should. … But it didn’t. Rarity blinked. Sunset blinked. Pinkie blinked. Timber blinked. And Fluttershy quacked. “Uh… what now?” The lavender haired gal said, confused. She looked down at herself noticing all of her limbs still attached. “Was that supposed to do something?” Timber growled and swiped again which prompted Rarity to squeal and cover her eyes. But again he missed. A second swipe, a third, and a fourth before Sunset finally noticed. His claw wasn’t reaching the girl. No… it was more like they were going… through her? Again the fashionista opened her eyes, glancing over to her nails and shoes. “Huh… that’s… curious.” “Oh no!” Pinkie yelped. “Rarity’s dead! She’s turned into a ghost!” “I did!?” “No, that’s not it.” Sunset analyzed. “I think she’s… phasing in and out.” “That’s totally what ghosts do!” Pinkie pulled out a string of garlic from her hair and shoved it forward like some kind of talisman. “Begone evil spirit! Go into the light!” “She’s not a ghost Pinkie!” “You’re telling me that’s like that and she’s not a ghost!?” Of course not. Ghosts aren’t real. Everyone knows that. Not even Equestria had any immaterial beings. At least… she thinks so. But she’s certain that Rarity wasn’t a ghost… or dead. She’s phasing in and out of the material world. It’s a technique few unicorns do to shift pass through walls and crowded streets. Kind of like what… an actual ghost would do. But how? Unless… she performed a magical handshake with Flash. That would be a logical explanation. Seems like the girls are developing new powers without either of them knowing about it. Either way, it was a problem that they’ll solve in another time. Now they just needed a way to put Timber down. Fighting the beast in a battle of attrition wasn’t gonna cut it. And beating him to a pulp was a sure fire way to lose. If they’re gonna beat him, he needs to stop sucking energy. … “We need to regroup. Rarity, can you get his attention?” The fashionista made a face while still technically ‘Dodging’ all of Timber’s attacks. “Uh… I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” “We need to lure him deeper into the park. Run him around and meet us by the lake in a few minutes.” “Sure I can do th -- Wait… are you making me the bait!?” “GO!” Rarity bolted off immediately with Timber chasing her tail like a juicy bone. “Pinkie. Grab Fluttershy and let’s go.” “Yes sir, Sunset Shimmer sir!” The party gal gave a serious-playful-salute. “Come on Fluttershy. Time to use that quacky power of yours.” xxxxxxxxxx Twilight panted heavily as she leaned her back against a rock. Her body felt heavy and sluggish, sweat pouring down her head. She had just remembered that, despite her vast intellect and knowledge in magic, she was still just an ordinary human. A being made of flesh, bone, and water. A being that was susceptible to illness, injury, and fatigue. And sadly that last one seems to be catching up. Curse these limitations. The human body was far too frail for her liking. But she can’t stop now. Too much was at stake here. Flash was counting on her. Timber was counting on her. If she stops now then the two of them will… No. Don’t think of that. Focus on the task at hand. Finish the trap and give the signal. After that, we’ll… … figure things along the way. “That’s it? That’s the best you’ve got?” Her counterpart mocked, floating beside her like an unwanted fly. “You’re really just gonna ‘Figure things along the way’ and hope everything comes together perfectly? That’s your plan?” “It’ll work.” “You do realize that this plan involves that your magical ‘Trap’ can hold your ex-boyfriend down long enough for you to get that amulet off of him. Humans aren’t capable of sustaining such magic.” “It’s the best I can make up on such short notice. And Timber might be strong, but he’s not that strong. Even in his werewolf form, it’ll take him at least half a minute to break through my containment. That should be more than enough time for me to remove that amulet. And without it, he’ll return to his ordinary self.” “That is IF blue boy doesn’t get eaten by him first.” “Flash won’t fail. He’s… he’s been through tougher situations than this. He’ll pull through.” “Uh huh. You said that last time too. You’re surprisingly optimistic. I’m still thinking he’s gonna lose an arm wrestling your ex. Though I still think you’re missing the obvious solution here.” “I am not giving you control.” She spat back immediately. “But I can help!” Midnight insisted once more. She’s been doing that a lot lately. “Just give me full rein for 10 minutes. No. Even 5 minutes will do. With me at the helm, I can bring Timber down with just a flick of my fingers and get you back home for dinner.” “And risk you running amok?” Twilight scoffed. “I’m not trading one dangerous monster for another monster bent on world destruction.” “World Domination.” She corrected. “There’s a difference. I’d prefer to rule over people rather than to destroy them. Far more evil to have the world under my thumb.” “Precisely my point.” “So that’s it? You’re just gonna ignore the obvious answer and hope for the best? And here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.” I am the smart one. I’m smart enough to know not to trust the voice inside my head. “Oh come on. Just a short while. Just give me a chance on the wheel to prove myself.” “No.” “I can be a power to serve for the side of good!” “You just said that you wanted to rule the world under your thumb. That doesn’t sound like someone who’d want to serve on the side of ‘Good’. I have to be the biggest idiot to let you take over.” “You’re already being the biggest idiot by not letting me help.” “You can be helpful if you just sit back and be quiet while I… ugh…” Twilight suddenly felt her head light prompting her to lean on the nearby tree. “You ok?” “I’m… fine.” She lied. “Just feeling a little lightheaded. That last one took a lot out of me. Just give me a minute.” “You’re using too much magic.” The angel deduced. “The upkeep on all these spells is taxing on both your mind and body. I told you that: Ordinary humans aren’t made to sustain such energy. If you keep this up, you’ll break.” “I can’t stop now. Flash… is counting on me.” “You’ll be of no help to anyone if you knock yourself out.” Midnight let out another tiresome sigh. The expression she had on her was like that of a parent angry at her child but couldn’t do a thing about it. … There was a brief pause from their argument. Something that Twilight was grateful for. It was only after the silence set in did she realize that all the noise that was going on was going on inside her head. If anyone saw her, they’d might think she’d gone mental. The short peaceful lull was a welcome reprieve though after the chaos she had to suffer in the last hour. As if the breakup with Timber alone wasn’t as painful enough, the whole world had to be caught in the crossfire. Why couldn’t she just have a regular breakup with a guy? She’d seen plenty of breakup scenes in movies before and it’s often messy in a dramatic way. It would be both awkward and emotional and very… distressing. Honestly, she’d much prefer to deal with that than to have… whatever this was. “Hey, don’t go selling yourself short.” Midnight added, which sounded a lot like her trying to cheer her up. “As for first breakups goes, I wouldn’t say that yours was the worst I’ve seen.” “Really? Because I doubt other kids my age have to deal with their exes trying to eat them… or turning into a monster.” “That’s magic stuff. It doesn’t count. You followed what I said and didn’t lead him on. You were honest, direct, and straight to the point. It’s not your fault all of this mumbo jumbo happened. It’s more of a… condition of knowing magic. You can’t punish yourself over something you had no control over.” Twilight raised a brow at her, curious. “That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” “Yeah… well… don’t get used to it. I’m only doing this so you won’t damage your body too much. I want that form in peak condition when I finally take over.” And we’re back to being sassy. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “Come on. Let’s get this over with. Your plan might be flawed and full of holes, but it’s the best you can make out of a bad hand. And who knows? It might just work.” “As long as everything goes to plan.” “It will.” She replied with a surprising amount of confidence. “If you made it. I’m sure it’ll all work out. And if it doesn’t… well… you’ll ‘Figure things out’. Right?” “Now who’s being optimistic?” “Don’t you start with me. Now come on. The sooner we finish this trap of yours, the sooner we can get that ex-boyfriend of yours back to normal and we can all go home and get a good night’s… Pinkie Pie?” “I don’t think that’s how the saying gooooh!” The girl was tackled down before she could finish that sentence. “Ow…” “Oh lookie! I found Twilight!” Pinkie gleefully stated, tapping her head. “Hi Twilight! Whatcha doing down there?” Smelling the dirt apparently. “Pinkie? How are you… here?” A pink duck then poked out of the party gal’s hair. An easy guess who that was. “And is that… Fluttershy?” “Yes… quack.” “Twilight?” And Sunset Shimmer too? All these surprisingly friendly faces all appearing at once was kind of unexpected, but not unwelcome. “And… Sunset? Oh my goodness!” Twilight pulled her for a hug, relief swelling in her chest before it broke. “Wait a second. How are you here? I thought you were still in Equestria?” She brushed the question off and shook her briefly to explain. “Long story. Tell ya later. What’s important is that we’re here and we can help. We know that Timber turned into a werewolf and that magic amulet he has is to blame.” That was pretty direct… and correct, which saves her on time to explain. “Y… yeah. That’s right. How’d you know?” “Flash told us. We found him just a moment ago. He’s really banged up.” Twilight’s heart skipped a beat, her fingers going numb. “Flash? W… where is he?” “He’s safe. I got some friends from home looking after him. Right now we got a big hairy guy that’s trying to rip us to pieces.” “Have you tried getting the amulet off of him?” Sunset nodded. “Tried it. But… he kinda…” “He ate it!” Pinkie finished swallowing a cupcake which she pulled from her hair. “Swallowed it all down in one gulp. Kinda like me with my cupcakes. That’s the only way to eat it properly.” “He ate it!? As in ate-it ate-it? How’d that happen?” “It just happened, alright.” Sunset added, pausing to hear a howl in the distance. “Short version: It’s inside of him now. And it’s making him stronger the longer we wait. It’s draining the park out of its life and turning it into a corrupted horror garden. The good news is, I have a way to get that stone out of him.” “You do?” She then pulled out that familiar artifact she brought from Equestria not long ago. “Is that…?” “The Alicorn Amulet.” The redhead confirmed, holding the object up to herself. Twilight had seen it come along with the package of artifacts from Equestria. But had only seen it work once. “If I combine it with my geode with this amulet, it should give me more than enough power to extract the gem from Timber safely. The only problem is that Timber won’t make it easy. With the way he’s prancing around like an animal, there’s a good chance we might get some complications. If I try to remove the stone while he’s attacking me, I might end up hurting him… or him hurting me.” And that was a scenario that they all wanted to avoid. “I don’t suppose you have a way to hold him down for a few minutes.” In a string of coincidences, she did. xxxxxxxxxx Rage. That was the only thing Timber could think of. Nothing but pure unfiltered rage. Something was wrong. Very very wrong. Everything annoyed him, everything angered him. Even the simple gush of wind on his skin made him want to rip out his hair and howl into the moonlight. He wanted nothing more but to destroy everything and everyone in his path. He couldn’t think straight. There was a ringing in his ears that wouldn’t go away, and the sound of his own heart was beating so loudly that it deafened everything else. But those weren’t the things that kept him angry. It was that voice in his head. The strange energy pulsing in his chest. It was the corrupting magic that he swallowed, the sudden surge of power. The malice, desperation, and all the negative emotions stirring around that slammed into him and driving him into this madness. He can barely make out the words but he understood enough. He needed their magic. That girl he was chasing was running away from him – or at the very least trying to. She was slow and sloppy, her steps practically all over the place. Those disgusting high heels weren’t exactly helping either. She tried to lose him in the woods but found herself stuck and blocked. She should’ve been torn to shreds by now. Her whole body ripped to pieces with a single swing of his claws. But for some strange reason he can’t seem to reach her. And her voice was so… high pitched… so whiny, like they were coming out an annoying whistle. She was just downright annoying. He would be doing the world a favor by ridding it of her presence. Some might even thank him for it. But strangely enough she remained elusive. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they came out into a clearing, like a cheetah chasing a prey in the safari. A place he was somewhat… familiar to. The whiny girl tried to make a break for it, zigzagging through the empty fields. But she tripped on her own ankles, falling head first onto the ground. A pathetic way to end a chase. She tried to drag herself back, conjuring another shield made of crystals, but he brushed it away like a cardboard box. She tried a second time and then a third. But the results were the same. It was clear now that she had no other tricks up her sleeve. All that was left was to take that gem from her and then…… And then? “Timber! Stop!” He froze. Every limb on his body went still on command. That voice slipped through all the noise and all the madness that it sent an electrifying chill down his limbs. “Twi…light…?” His mouth moved if only just barely. His head creaked to the side, eyeing the figure that stood before him. And in that brief moment the pain suddenly stopped. The voice in his head went silent, and his vision cleared up as if a ray of sunshine pierced through the darkened clouds. The memories in his mind finally clicked together. Memories of that girl. Her sweet silky voice, her warm and gentle smile, and her love of old cheesy romance novels. It was all coming back to him. Slowly but surely, he could recall her laughter, the sweet noise she makes when she’s excited, and all the lame jokes she made. He could feel a strange weight lifting from his shoulders. But it didn’t last long when the voice returned again, this time with a bloody vengeance. It screamed, his body compelled to follow its orders. And then immediately everything reverted back to its terrible self. All the anger, fear, and desperation rushing through his mind. Timber clasped both sides of his head, shaking it violently to get rid of that voice. But that only made it grow louder. He wanted to turn back, roar or howl, or do anything to stop the pain. But nothing was working. Left with no way to unleash this feeling, no way to vent his anger building inside of him, he could do nothing but to fall, until it all reached to a boiling point. And it didn’t take long for it to arrive. Eyes snapping open, his teeth bit down onto his lips so hard that he could taste his own blood on his tongue. He then threw his head back and let out his last defining roar. “Timber no!” Twilight shouted. But it was too late. The boy lunged at her. What little remained of his humanity being swallowed whole by the voice in his head. His claws extended from his hand to deliver a deadly blow. But instead of faltering, the girl simply waved her hands upward, conjuring a spell. “Pinkie! Now!” A pink haze suddenly appeared on the corner of his eye, smiling weirdly before she pulled a duck from her hair. “Flutterquack! I choose you!” “What!? Pinkie! No!” The pink duck screamed before its feathery body slammed against his face, the creature flapping its wings, blinding him. He tried to swipe it off, but found himself… restricted. xxxxxxxxxx Sunset couldn’t help but be amazed. She knew that Twilight was a genius. But that trait seems to be a recurring trait for both worlds. In just a few years, that girl went from fearing magic, to become its greatest handler. If given enough time, even Princess Celestia would be amazed of what she could do. The spell worked like a hitch. Twilight didn’t really have time to explain it in great detail, but she got the gist of the work. With a single wave of her hands, the branches in nearly every tree around the gazebo tore themselves from their stumps, assembling around the werewolf like a terrible twisted version of jenga. It latched themselves onto his limb before being attached together with twigs and leaves, resembling something akin to a medieval stocks. Timber howled in frustration, thrashing around like a child being restrained by his parents. His body wiggled and his tail wagged, trying and failing to break the bonds on him before finally falling on his knees in defeat. “Sunset!” Twilight called, signaling her cue. With a tap of the Alicorn Amulet, unimaginable power slipped into her body, granting her a new and magical form. She hovered in front of Timber, the beast still trying to resist. And with a motion of her hand, his mouth gapped open, and the corrupting gemstone was forcefully pulled out of him like a teeth. The werewolf would let out a final defying roar as his body slowly reverted back to his human self. He cursed and shouted, spouting things any of them could understand before finally he ran out of breath, and his body hit the ground a second later. It was done. As anti-climactic as it was, they were victorious. They won. Yet why does it feel like this was only the beginning of something darker?