Vinyl's idea of a picnic under the moonlight had been greatly appreciated by Octavia. After having eaten, they just laid down next to each other and stared at the night sky and the stars in silence.
"This place is just amazing." Octavia slowly said.
"How so?" Vinyl asked, genuinely curious about the cellist's affirmation.
"Don't you see? All the fresh air, the quiet, the clear sky." Octavia explained dreamily. "None of that exists in Canterlot."
"I get what you mean."
"The people that live here too." Octavia giggled. "You can't find people like them in Canterlot."
"Now, what in the hay does that supposed to mean?" Vinyl asked, pretendedly offended.
"Just that if its inhabitants were more like you and your sister, Canterlot might deserve its title of Greatest City of Equestria." Octavia said with conviction.
"Be careful of what you ask, Octavia." Vinyl playfully warned. "You never know what could happen with a city full of AJs and Mes."
"I guess, you're right. There isn't probably enough apples or bacon in the world to feed too many Applejacks or Vinyls." Octavia chuckled. "What's your deal with bacon anyway?"
"I don't know, can you explain why you play the cello and nothing else?" Vinyl retorted giggling.
"Touché, Miss Apple."
"Awesome. What do I get?"
"Why don't you come closer? Maybe you'll find out." Octavia said seductively.
Vinyl moved a bit in order to lay on one side, towering Octavia who was lying on her back. She drew her head closer. "It's close enough?"
Octavia shook her head. "You might want to bring the distance between us to zero." Octavia said as she fluttered her eyes.
"HOOOO. That kind of close." Vinyl chuckled before closing the gap between them by kissing Octavia who happily returned it.
What had started as a soft kiss quickly became a passionate make out session. Octavia's left hand having found a way under Vinyl's shirt, while her right one was starting to unbutton it. That had surprised Vinyl, but not enough for her to break the kiss. She was about to let her lover have her way, and she knew she would enjoy it.
Destiny had decided otherwise, for Vinyl had been tackled by a small white and brown furred, four-legged, barking creature that forced her to break the embrace she had with Octavia.
"Winonaaaa." Vinyl whined, as her sister's dog jumped away from her and kept barking furiously.
"Oh Come on, Vinyl. She's just a little jealous." Octavia giggled, even if her face showed anger directed at the dog.
Vinyl decided to try and ignore the collie by resuming her latest activity with Octavia. But as she went closer to her cellist, she felt a tug at the right end of her trousers' leg. She turned around to see Winona biting and trying to pull her away.
"Winona, what in Equestria is wrong...." Vinyl started
Then came the roar.
Vinyl snapped her head in the direction the roar came from. She could see small flashes of pink light coming closer to them. She also took a glimpse of a far away black cloud above the wild forest. She could see it coming this way too. She knew what that would mean.
"Damn it, they're here early this year. And those beasts've become quite sneaky." She groaned to herself as she stood up.
"What beasts are you talking about Vinyl?" Octavia asked, her voice shaking in fear. "What was that sound?"
Vinyl rose up before turning to Octavia. "Octavia, run back to the farm house. Lock the door behind you, and don't open until I get back."
"What? What do you mean until you get back? Where are you going?" Octavia asked in mix of confusion and fear. "Tell me what's going on?"
Vinyl sighed. "Octavia, trust me. Just do as I say. It'll be fine."
"Answer my question." Octavia shouted.
Vinyl knew it would probably be better if she didn't say anything, but she couldn't leave Octavia not knowing. "There's a bunch of animals from the Everfree forest that entered the Orchard." Vinyl slowly explained.
They heard a high pitched whistle followed by a loud thud. They turned their face to see that Rainbow Dash had landed a few feet from them.
"Vinyl! There's a bunch of wooden wolves in the Orchard." Rainbow said in slightly panicked tone. "Pinkie has been shooting at them with her 2.0., but so far it just kinda stuns them for a few minutes."
"Wooden wolves?" Octavia asked in disbelief and confusion. "How is that ..."
"How many were they, Rainbow?" Vinyl asked in a snap.
"Huuuh. I don't really know." Rainbow Dash pondered. "I'll say about half a dozen."
"Dang it. Not only they managed to come this close, but on top of that the pack is at full force." Vinyl complained to no one in particular. "Where are they now?"
Rainbow faced toward the part of the Orchard where the pink flashes had occurred. "They should be around there...Hold on, there aren't anymore flashes from Pinkie's cannon." She said in worry.
"Oh no, do you think she was hurt?" Octavia asked.
"I'm right there silly." Pinkie smiled as she had appeared from nowhere a few feet behind Octavia. Her hair and cloths were a mess and she was holding a smoking Party Cannon, other than that she seemed fine.
"How did you get here?" Vinyl asked in a hurry before remembering who she was talking to.
"Don't ask me things that are better left unquestioned." Pinkie giggled. "Anyway, those mean doggies are cheating. Each time I shoot them with the 2.0., they fall in pieces to reassemble themselves after a while. It's not fair."
Winona's barking became louder and fiercer than before, Vinyl took her attention back where Pinkie should have come from. She saw the pack of wolves slowly advancing toward them. Seven wolves, the size of a small horse, completely made of sculpted woods and simple logs. How they were holding together was a complete mystery to anyone who wouldn't know what they were.
"What are they?" Octavia slowly asked.
"They are timberwolves." Vinyl started to explain. "Some call them the keepers of the Everfree forest. They are nothing but a bunch of logs that moves thanks to the magic that flows inside the forest."
"How do you know that?" Rainbow asked.
"Because this pack comes around every year." Vinyl shrugged as she took a step forward. "I'll go into details later. RD, Pinkie, protect Octavia and Winona." Vinyl started to focus her magic, her hands were shining in a light blue aura.
"Hold on, Vinyl. What are you going to do?" Octavia asked, fearing the answer. "Don't tell me you're going to fight those things."
"In normal circumstances, I wouldn't." Vinyl confessed. "Usually we have a system that sends them away."
"Then why don't you use it?" Rainbow asked, cocking her eyebrow.
"Because, look where they are." Vinyl said patiently, as the wolves started to circle around her. "They are far too much inside the Orchard. They need to remember something very important that they seem to have forgotten."
"What's that?" Pinkie asked in a very curious tone.
"That critters like them that trespass us are not tolerated in Sweet Apple Acres." Vinyl said fiercely.
As soon as she said those words, a timberwolf lunged at Vinyl, all claws and fangs out, ready to tear her in pieces. Octavia shouted Vinyl's name, fearing for her lover's life. The timberwolf didn't reach its target. He was intercepted by long flickering strings of blue magic. As soon as the flickering strings came into contact with the wolf's body, a loud buzzing sound could be heard. In an instant, the wolf was completely diced into a pile of wooden chips and sawdust by the magic strings.
Octavia's, Rainbow's and Pinkie's jaw dropped with wide shocked eyes, while Winona was happily barking to congratulate her mistress. A small green aura slowly flew from the pile of wood before darting back toward the forest.
"All right doggies." Vinyl shouted with a cocky grin. Her strings of magic floating around her. "Who's next?"
Two wolves in front of Vinyl roared and lunged at the Titanian, while a third managed to lunge at her from her blind spot.
"VINYL! Behind you!" Octavia shouted in panic.
Vinyl heard Octavia and took a few side steps, letting the sneaky wolf stumble when he met nothing but the ground. Before the grounded wolf could stand up, Vinyl's magic strings grabbed it before launching it at its pack members. You could easily see the deep cracks that had appeared where the strings touched it. The girls couldn't hear it over the ambient sounds, but a small chirping noise came from the strings. The thrown wolf landed right on one of the two that were facing Vinyl causing them to shatter in pieces before glowing in a green aura and reforming their bodies.
"See? They are cheating again!" Pinkie Pie yelled angrily as she pointed the re-built wolves.
"I don't care about that." Octavia snapped. She was pretty mad that Pinkie and Rainbow were pulling her away from where Vinyl was fighting. "The woman I love is defending us, and we're just running away from it!" She shouted, struggling against her friends' grip.
"Octavia, calm down." Rainbow said. "Vinyl knows what she's doing. She'll be fine."
They heard a feminine groan of pain. All three quickly turned their heads to see a timberwolf biting Vinyl's right forearm. They all gasped in horror. "No..No..Please no.." Octavia prayed with tears in her eyes.
Vinyl enrolled her free fist with her magical strings, creating a sort of flickering drill/gauntlet of blue light around her left forearm. "Let. Me. GO!" She bellowed, as she punched the side of the wolf's head.
Her magically reinforced fist completely shattered the wolf's wooden skull to nothing more than splinters the size of toothpicks. A green firefly escaped the lifeless body, before flying away. Vinyl took a look at her injured arm. The cuts were large but not too deep. 'Thankfully, wooden fangs aren't as sharp as normal ones'. And she could still move her hand without too much pain.
Vinyl stood up and faced the remaining five timberwolves. Four were marching toward her groaning, while a larger, darker one stayed behind. 'So that one is the alpha.' Vinyl conjured her strings to form a large net as the four wolves jumped at her simultaneously. Vinyl snickered when she saw the net capturing all four of them. She closed her glowing left hand, causing the net to compress its victims. With loud buzzing sounds, the captured timberwolves were reduced to a large pile of chips, splinters and sawdust. Four green fireflies flew off to the forest
"Hum. Am I the only one who's more scared of Vinyl rather than the timberwolves right now?" Rainbow Dash asked with an awkward chuckle.
"Yeff you're." Pinkie answered as she was busy munching popcorn. "I just ffink she rockff."
Octavia didn't even hear Rainbow's question, her mind completely focused on the fact Vinyl seemed to be ok. Injured yes, but still ok.
The alpha timberwolf was eying Vinyl who was still surrounded by her magic strings. His wooden body started to shake, as he took a small step backward. It knew it couldn't surpass the blue haired woman so the only logical choice was to run. But it wasn't sure to be able to escape her. When Vinyl noticed the wolf stepping back, she broke her stance and her magic started to dissipate itself.
"Get lost!" She shouted at the beast, who darted straight back to the forest whimpering in fear.
When it was out of sight, she sighed in relief. She heard quick footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around to face who was coming to her, only to be slapped vigorously by a hand she recognized immediately. 'Aaaaaah, her soft and delicate right hand.'
"You big idiot." Octavia shouted angrily at Vinyl. "How could you do this? You put yourself in danger for some stupid .. I don't even know why you did that." Vinyl grabbed her head with her unharmed hand and pulled her close. "Stupid farm musician....Stupid...idiot." Her angry shouts slowly became small sobs as she started to bury her head in Vinyl's chest.
"It's ok, Tavi." Vinyl cooed softly to reassure her. "Everything's fine."
"Don't you ever do that again." Octavia said with a crying voice.
"Promise." Vinyl softly said, patting Octavia's head.
"AWWWWW." Pinkie softly said.
"Bleeeeaahh." Rainbow gaged. "Enough with the romantic crap. Let's go home. Vinyl's arm needs to be checked."
"Oh yeah! I have forgotten about it." Vinyl blinked. "I guess Tavi's slap was so strong it killed the pain." She chuckled causing Rainbow and Pinkie to giggle.
"Shut up." Octavia groaned in a muffled voice as her head was still buried in Vinyl's chest.
"Anyway, Pinkie could you grab our picnic set?" Vinyl asked before Pinkie nodded and started packing everything. "To the house, then."
Their return to the house went rather well. It was a bit awkward for Vinyl to walk with Octavia hugging her tight, since she refused to let go of her, but she had managed. As soon as they entered, Fluttershy noticed Vinyl's injury and flew upstair to grab a first-aid kit at a speed that had caused Rainbow's jaw to drop. As Fluttershy treated her, Vinyl explained to her and Twilight what had happen.
Fluttershy had been shocked about the fact Vinyl had killed five 'innocent' animals. It took Vinyl almost an hour to explain to her that timberwolves' bodies are just puppets manipulated by some fairy like creatures. Explanation that could have been a lot shorter if Twilight hadn't kept interrupting her because she wanted to know what spell she had used to defeat the wolves, something Pinkie's 2.0. cannon couldn't do.
She explained that the key to repel the timberwolves was either completely shattering their puppets so that they can't reassemble them, or scaring them away with the sound of an iron bell. That's the method they normally use on the farm. Somehow those green 'fairies' couldn't stand iron or any sounds produced by it.
Twilight was a bit sad, at first, to find out that the spell Vinyl had used was only a variation of her music spell. But when Vinyl started to explain the principle, something she regretted immediately, Twilight went in what the girls called her 'Wannakno' mode. After answering Twilight's fiftieth question, Vinyl shouted angrily that she was tired and wanted to rest. She climbed upstairs, followed by a worried Octavia.
"Vinyl, are you alright?" Octavia slowly asked.
"I'm fine, Octavia." Vinyl sighed. "It's just that Twilight's questions were getting on my nerves..."
"I can understand that." Octavia nodded. "She can get quite tiring from time to time."
"Yeah that's true." Vinyl looked to Octavia with an apologetical expression. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Octavia blinked in confusion.
"For worrying you back then." Vinyl said looking at her feet. "I shouldn't have acted like that. I've put myself in danger for no reason and I hurt you by doing that."
"Yes that's true." Octavia slowly said. Vinyl's expression went downer than before. "But since you promised it won't happen again. I guess I can forgive you." She said, coming closer to her lover. She slightly kissed her on the cheek. At that, Vinyl's mood perked up. She tried to grab Octavia's hand, but winced when she tried to move her injured arm.
"Dang it. It's gonna be quite hard doing things without my right hand for a few days." Vinyl said slowly.
"Do you need help for something?" Octavia asked.
"No, It's gonna be ok. I'll manage." Vinyl shrugged, repressing a yawn.
"Come on, let's get you in bed." Octavia chuckled, accompanying Vinyl to her bedroom.
"I bet you'd want that." Vinyl joked, causing Octavia to blush madly at the suggestion.
They entered the room, Vinyl had started get change into her night garments, but kept groaning in pain as she moved her right arm.
"You need a 'hand' here?" Octavia asked with a chuckle.
"Very funny, Octavia." Vinyl said in a tone she wanted sarcastic, but the fact she was trying hard not to laugh didn't help her with that. " I won't say no to a hand, though. Especially if it's yours."
Octavia helped Vinyl taking off her clothes. After taking off her shirt, Octavia took a glimpse of Vinyl's back and couldn't help but wince at the sight of her lover's numerous scars.
"Sorry about that, Tavi." Vinyl said with a pinch of sadness.
"Don't you ever say sorry for that." Octavia said sharply. She helped Vinyl putting her night top up, as she did her hand to graze one of her scars, causing Vinyl to flinch a little as she held her breath in a pained grimace. "Does it.....still hurt?" Octavia asked softly.
"I don't think it has ever stopped." Vinyl slowly said.