//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: Equestria Special Forces // by Miniscule Literary //------------------------------// "Rainbow Dash, please! Watch where you're going!" The sound of the unicorn's cries shattered the fragile peace that had befallen the group as they made their way through the dense foliage of the Whitetail Woods. "This wouldn't be a problem if you didn't move so slow!" Twilight let out a quiet sigh. Had she not been walking, she would have buried her face into her own hoof. The six of them had been traveling for days, and they were starting to get on each other's nerves. The remoteness of their destination did little to help the situation either. Rarity had done nothing but complain about the setting of their adventure since it had begun, and now Rainbow Dash had become almost as irritating since they forbade her to fly. "We just don't know what's hidin' in these here woods, Rainbow," Applejack had said, trying to calm the pegasus. "It wouldn't be safe, lettin' you fly off like that." Of course, Rainbow Dash had taken this quite hard. Suddenly their progress was far too slow for her liking, their decisions lacking in common sense, and so forth. It was definitely testament to their patience and commitment as friends just to put up with the unruly pegasus. And then there was Rarity... "How far is it?" Rarity whined, lagging a good ten feet behind the rest. "For the last time: I don't know!" Twilight snapped. This was easily the tenth time Rarity had asked, and Twilight was beyond losing patience at this point. Applejack had already agreed to carry Rarity's supply saddles in addition to her own, just to help keep the unicorn quiet. "The Princess never told you anythin' more than 'Whitetail Woods'?" Applejack asked, pleading. She wanted them to reach their destination just as much as Rarity. "Southern Whitetail Woods," Twilight corrected with a nod. "The travelers were attacked going to and coming from Las Pegasus. They couldn't remember where exactly, and I don't blame them." The Whitetail Woods were, after all, quite large. It was difficult to tell just how far they had traveled, and they even had a map. "And they didn't catch a glimpse or a whiff of what attacked 'em?" "That's what Princess Celestia said." "Twilight, if this is another Grue..." Oh dear Celestia, the Grue. "I don't think so," Twilight said hastily, understanding her friend's concern. "Not all of the attacks occurred after nightfall." "Good," was all the earth pony said, returning her focus to the road ahead. The six of them were traveling on one of the many crude paths cutting through the Whitetail Woods, hoping to retrace the victims' steps. Although the Equestrian Railway had a track that ran in and out of Las Pegasus, many ponies found it a better use of their time and bits to take the trails. Normally, this would be a harmless if not time consuming venture, but as of late many travelers have reported being attacked by an unknown assailant, or group of assailants. Strangely, despite a number of the attacks occurring in broad daylight, the victims never saw their attackers. "We would already be there if I was in the air!" Rainbow Dash protested noisily, throwing her head back with a groan of frustration. "Twilight," Fluttershy murmured, struggling to catch up with the others. "I think we have a problem." "What's the matter, Fluttershy?" Applejack inquired, slowing to a stop along with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Pinkie bounced into position not far away, and a few minutes later, Rarity joined them as well. "There aren't any animals around here." The assembled ponies hadn't noticed this. Sure enough, after a few silent moments to confirm, they found the air to be completely still. Birds no longer sung in the trees, woodland creatures no longer scurried around in the undergrowth at the peripherals of their vision. The forest was dead silent. "I don't like this," Applejack murmured to Twilight. The ponies - sans Pinkie Pie - all watched the treeline nervously. Every creak of pine, every snap of a twig, could mean the end of them all. A strange sound quickly caught their interest. Faint at first, it sounded as though a tree was falling not far off the path. The sound of its creaking body and snapping splinters rumbled toward them, but did not stop. It was as a line of trees were felled at once, slowly growing closer and closer with each passing second. Despite the deafening noise, the assembled ponies couldn't see a thing in the dense foliage that surrounded them. "What is that dreadful sound?" Rarity shouted over the roar of twisted wood, huddling with the rest of her friends at the center of the path. The foliage exploded. The ponies were quickly entangled in a windstorm of greenery, berated by fallen leaves, twigs, and even massive branches. The sound was perhaps more terrifying than the sight; it was as if they were caught within a hurricane made of wood and leaves. The ponies could barely hear themselves think, let alone talk. "Woah!" Rainbow Dash cried as she ducked under a twisted branch aimed at her head. The limb looked as though it belonged to the most vile and twisted tree she had ever seen. Made of intertwining wood, it was a dark gray in color - a stark contrast to the healthy brown of the forest around them - and had patchy bits of bark missing all along its length. Just as quickly as it had appeared, however, the branch disappeared back into the flurry of debris. "Wee!" Pinkie shouted with glee as she was hoisted into the air by what appeared to be branch with claws. Her terrified friends, oblivious to the pink pony's peril, disappeared from sight as she rose through the layers of the storm. Leaves and twigs caught in her mane, she only continued to rise, and soon she was staring face to face with a twisted husk of a tree, devoid of leaves and with limbs made of interweaving branches. Its face, unnatural enough for a tree, was twisted into a hateful scowl. Its eyes and mouth appeared like black voids along its surface, allowing no light to enter. "I didn't know trees had faces!" the pink pony exclaimed. She seemed mostly unaffected by her predicament, even after she noticed two more tree-beings around her. "Oh, are you having a party?" Her captors only continued to scowl at her, as if they were gigantic wooden statues. "This doesn't seem like a very fun party. You guys should branch out more!" The hurricane of foliage below exploded, tossing debris in all directions. The remaining five ponies stood amidst a sea of discarded leaves, branches, and twigs, battered and confused, but intact. Now, the true form of their attackers were revealed: towering over the ponies were three gargantuan sentient trees, all comprised of sickly gray wood. With arms made of twisted branches, and with hundreds of roots hanging from each massive stump of a foot, they were truly a terrifying sight to behold. "Treants!" Twilight gasped, taking a step back. "Hiya!" Pinkie cried from the treant's grasp, waving a hoof excitedly. "Be careful, these guys are knot kidding around!" "Oh no," Applejack muttered as the assembled ponies finally realized their friend's dangerous situation. "Let her go!" Twilight demanded, stamping a hoof. The treants only continued to glare ominously. "You heard her!" Rainbow Dash shouted, shooting into the air to stare at Pinkie's captor eye to eye. "Drop the pony you toothpick!" "Maybe if you axed them nicely, we could get to the root of the problem!" Pinkie suggested with a grin. "You're not helping!" The treant holding Pinkie swatted at Rainbow with a gnarled hand. The pegasus narrowly evaded the limb with a surprised "hey!" before darting around to the aberration's side. Turning, she bucked the twisted wood with her back legs, causing a chunk of its body to cave in on itself. The pegasus faltered in the air, not expecting the surface to give way. Tumbling through the air to right herself, Rainbow barely avoided another swat from the treant. Twilight, her horn glowing brightly, shot a short burst of magical energy at the nearest enemy. Much to her dismay, the attack rebounded off the wooden behemoth's hide as if it were made of rubber. "They're immune to magic!" she cried. She was disappointed in herself for not realizing this sooner! "Go for the arms and legs!" Rainbow Dash shouted, looping out of her own treant's grasping reach. "They're brittle! We can smash them!" "That's my kinda plan!" Applejack said, rearing excitedly. The earth pony charged into battle, weaving through one of the treant's legs. The gargantuan construct was slow to realize it was under attack. The sound of splintering wood tore through the forest as one of the treant's legs was caved inward, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the floor with an earth shaking crash. Twilight, adjusting her tactics, dislodged a large boulder from the side of the road with her magic and sent it smashing into another treant's leg, near the center. The boulder lodged itself in the cavity that was created, preventing the wooden monstrosity from falling, but also preventing it from moving. The treant looked a bit confused, staring angrily down at its crippled limb. Rainbow Dash, darting underneath another swing from the treant holding Pinkie, flew up to the crippled behemoth's face and bucked. Despite her small size, the pegasus packed quite the punch. With a series of sickening cracks, the treant's leg completely split at the site of its wound. Without its other limb to support it, the wooden aberration tipped backward like a felled tree, landing next to its fallen brethren with a crash monstrous enough to rival its nature. Only one treant was left standing, and in its grasp lay Pinkie Pie, as bubbly and happy-go-lucky as ever. The construct groaned loudly, like a tree about to fall, and caused the ground to shake with every step. This would not be as easy as the others; with Pinkie as its captive, they could not be as violent with this one, if they wanted to avoid hurting their friend. "We need to immobilize that arm!" Twilight shouted above the terrible racket, looking to Rarity expectantly as they retreated. "Oh alright!" the other unicorn conceded, her horn glowing. Her saddles, currently in the possession of Applejack, flew open as she drew a large pointed blue gem from within. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to the jewel, shortly before poising it above her head. "Rainbow!" "On it!" the pegasus responded, looping around the treant's arm. Positioning herself near the bulk of a nearby tree, Rainbow blew raspberries at the behemoth, daring it to strike. Sure enough, the treant lashed out with the arm holding the pink pony, who screamed out in delight as she rocketed toward her airborne ally. Moments before the limb connected, Rainbow Dash ducked underneath it, causing it to crash noisily with the tree, almost uprooting it in the process. Darting upward once more, the pegasus slammed into the treant's wrist, pushing its forearm against the tree. Rarity launched the jewel with her magic, causing the priceless hunk to embed itself in the treant's twisted hide, impaling the limb and pinning it to the tree. Rainbow Dash increased the force pushing against the gargantuan construct's wrist, causing the branches that made up the limb to crack and splinter against the assault. Sure enough, the limb snapped in two at the wrist, causing Pinkie, still in the unflinching grip of the severed hand, to fall toward the forest floor. Instinctively, Twilight extended a field of magic to catch her falling companion, but even after being separated from the treant itself, the wood retained its bizarre immunity to magic and continued its descent unabated. Before the unicorn could cry out for help, however, Fluttershy had already come to her friend's aid. Struggling to stay aloft with the added weight, the pegasus was not alone for long. It took but a moment for Rainbow Dash to realize what was happening, and soon Pinkie was gently lowered to the ground by the two winged ponies. "How are you ganna get me out of this thing?" Pinkie asked as Twilight and Fluttershy attempted to force the treant's hand open. "I'm stumped!" Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash converged on their foe to finish it off once and for all. While Rarity used her magic to keep the jewel in place, preventing the aberration from moving freely, Applejack weaved through the treant's legs as she had done before, while Rainbow Dash took up a position near its face. With one swift buck, the back of the treant's leg shattered, causing its leg to buckle under the strain. Only its remaining leg and its pinned limb kept it from joining its fallen brethren now, but with one final kick, Rainbow Dash knocked the treant backward, causing its remaining leg to splinter and crack while it pulled the tree from its roots with its crippled limb, collapsing with the mighty plant laying on top of it. Just as the earth shook one last time with the giant's downfall, Twilight and Fluttershy managed to force the severed hand open, freeing Pinkie Pie at last. "That was amazingly amazing!" the pink pony exclaimed, bouncing around the exhausted ponies excitedly. "But we better leaf here soon, I think I saw some movement out there!" The ponies groaned.