//------------------------------//
// Bad Decisions 
// Story: Unlimited Power 
// by DarkZonker 
//------------------------------//

        Spike wandered, lost, down a deer trail in the Everfree Forest. After being chased and being subsequently saved by… something, he ran the events of the day through his mind.
 
Spike woke up from a good night’s sleep fully rested, even after Twilight woke him up in the middle of the night, and prepared for the mountain of chores Twilight had prepared for him. Crawling out of his basket, Spike stood up, stretched his arms and chest, and then ran a paw through his spines. He walked down the stairs ready to find a list of chores a mile long, but instead saw Twilight laid out on the couch in the foyer with at least a dozen books opened around her. Spike sighed and put back all of the books she had taken out.
 
He decided to let Twilight rest, mostly because she never got enough because she was constantly having late night study sessions. Spike walked past the library area and into the kitchen and pulled out his stash of gems. He quietly pulled out an amethyst and popped it in his mouth. It probably wasn’t the healthiest breakfast Spike could eat, but gems just tasted so sweet; probably better than Pinkie Pie’s sweets.
 
Spike decided that today would be a day off, figuring that Twilight would be asleep until the evening anyways. He looked at the grandfather clock that Owluicious was perched on; it was only 8:45. All of his friends just got to school and all of Twilights friends were probably working, except maybe Fluttershy. That’s what he would do! Spike could help her take care of some of her animals or something. I hope Fluttershy actually does need help, he thought.
 
Spike walked out into town and looked around as he took in the fresh air. There were very few ponies out and about; overall a very laidback weekday morning. He walked down the main road and through the farmers market. Waving at the ponies he knew, Spike leisurely walked to the dirt path that led to Fluttershy’s cottage. As he got closer to the cottage, Spike saw more and more animals.



Spike walked up to the door and swung the knocker that hung there, making three short claps. Immediately after Spike knocked on the door, a cacophony of animal sounds went off. The door opened a crack and a small, white rabbit hopped out. “Hey Angel, is Fluttershy home?” Spike asked hopefully.
 
Angel hopped out of the doorway and pointed his paw towards the Everfree Forest. Spike gulped, his Adams apple bobbing, he knew what monsters lived there. Spike looked back to Angel who had crossed his arms and was tapping his foot impatiently.
 
“Well, what is she doing? I was hoping that I could help her out today.”
 
The rabbit acted out a bear cub being sick; it had taken a moment for Spike to figure out what it was, but he got it eventually. Giving Angel his thanks, Spike walked towards the Everfree convinced that Fluttershy needed his help, which was the only way to gather enough courage to go near that awful place. After being attacked by Timberwolves in the Everfree, Spike almost never went near the sinister forest. As Spike neared the entrance of the forest, he felt fear grow in the back of his throat and stomach. Mustering his nerve, the purple and green dragon walked into the Everfree.
Spike had helped Fluttershy in the past and tried to remember where the bear cave was.
 
“Straight to the creek, then upriver, hang a left on the first trail, then right at the giant rock, then I’m there,” he said nervously, as he repeated the directions to block out the sounds of the forest.
 
Spike was walking up the creek and suddenly he felt like he was being watched. Spike picked up his pace and found the first trail. He heard a twig snap off to his left and his heart jumped into his throat. Spike stopped and swung his head over to where he heard the sound; he saw a bush rustle then everything in the forest went still. Spike started jogging down the trail, shaking with fear. He heard more movement in the trees and looked over the undergrowth. A deer stepped out from behind the bushes and ate some greenery. Spike stopped to catch his breath and laugh his fear out. The deer’s head snapped up from the forest floor and she bolted away from the vicinity. Spike felt the fear build again because he knew that wild animals only ran like that when predators were around.
 
Deciding that meeting up with Fluttershy and the bears was safer than making his way back, Spike kept his course on the trail. Spike took a step but heard a sound behind him. He turned around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. A sense of uneasiness rolled over Spike; he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and turned back around when he ran into something large and hard. Spike opened his eyes and saw a pile of sticks and bark that had been pulled into the shape of a wolf. It breathed out a green cloud of haze that smelled like decomposition and made Spike’s mind grow fuzzy.
 
He snapped out it just in time to see a maw of razor sharp teeth rushing at his face. Spike jumped out to the side and dodged the mouth. He got back up and started to sprint down the trail. The timber wolf howled and pursued its prey. Spike heard two more sets of footfalls behind him, and guessed that he now had three Timberwolves chasing after him. He saw the giant rock up ahead. Left at the giant rock and then I’m there, Spike thought hopefully as he almost wet himself in panic.
 
Spike took a sharp right at the boulder and started running paralell to the rock face that should hold the bear cave. “Help, help!” Spike yelled, trying to grab someone’s attention, hopefully Fluttershy’s.
 
Spike looked farther down the rock wall, not seeing any cave entrances, fear and panic welled up inside the young dragon when he realized something was wrong, uh oh, I took a left instead of a right at the rock. This is how I’m going to die, he thought morbidly.
 
The wall led to a dead end, so Spike slowed down enough to turn. As Spike was about to run into the forest, which was the only place he could go, when a timber wolf jumped out and cut him off. Spike yelped in surprise and fell backwards onto his backside. He scrambled backwards then stood back up, turned around and ran to the wall in an attempt to climb it. He heard more shuffling behind him but instead of the padding of wolves, it sounded more like capes billowing then dulled hoof steps, like something was covering them. Spike looked back around and saw two fairly tall, although one was slightly shorter than the other, bipedal things, with hoods that covered their features. They had fingers like him, and were holding silver cylinders.
 
Suddenly bright tubes of light burst out from them with a loud snap-hiss, one tube was a lime green and the other was a light blue. The shorter guy, biped, thing, dodged a swipe from a timber wolf. It then swung his tube, which made a sound kind of like Vzzzzm, across the timber wolf’s muzzle, a leg, and along it’s back. The marks the tube left looked like a burn mark and left little fires all across the wolf’s body. The wolf yelped and moved backwards. The short one stepped forward and moved his tube through the timber wolf’s neck, causing it to catch on fire. The wolf’s head fell off, the end on fire, and its body fell apart into debris. Spike looked over to the taller thing and saw it cut a timber wolf, which had lunged at him, into three parts; then use magic to throw the last timber wolf into a fairly large tree, which made the timber wolf explode into bits of tree.
 
The taller thing called back to the smaller one in accented equestrian, and then they ran off into the forest and were swallowed up by the darkness. Spike sat down, feeling the adrenaline wear off. His lungs were burning from the running and his legs felt like jelly. He was going to have to tell Twilight about this for sure. Spike picked himself back up and looked around; he had no idea where he was or where he needed to go. Seeing a trail, Spike hoped it would take him out of this Celestia forsaken forest.



After wandering through the Everfree for what felt like hours, Spike sat down on a stump. I was wrong before, this is how I’m going to die, Spike thought dejectedly.
 
Spike picked himself up and kept on trudging, no amount of moping was going to help him now, only work. Spike saw a particularly thick hedge ahead and decided not to go around it, but through it. He stumbled out from the hedge and looked up. Spike had found the Broken Castle. A great feeling of dread welled up inside Spike. He knew that this is where Twilight and her friends beat Nightmare Moon. Spike didn’t want to take any chances on meeting any evil super villains; he’d already had enough excitement for today.
 
Off to the right, in the corner of his eye, Spike saw two brown splotches come running out of an underground tunnel and block off the entrance. He looked closer and saw that it was the two things that had saved him earlier. The taller one pulled out something from its cloak, talked to the smaller one, then put whatever it was back. They started to leave and Spike saw his chance to get out of this forest leave with them. If they were nice enough to save me from the Timberwolves, then maybe they can help me out of the Everfree, Spike reasoned, as he started jogging towards the brown coated things.