//------------------------------//
// Defence 
// Story: Friendly enemy 
// by Cone of Wonders 
//------------------------------//

The uberling kept swinging its blade left and right at 011 trying to hit him. Luckily its attacks were sloppy and easy to avoid as 011 managed to either jump back or duck under its swinging arm. However he had to do something other than just avoid its blade as he wouldn't be able to dodge it for much longer what with his energy lowering with each jump and ducking attempt. The uberling may have seemed like a mindless monster but in truth, it was quite smart as it swung its arm once more, this time aiming at 011 hooves to catch him off guard. 011 did not expect the creature to swing its blade so low. 011 quickly jumped and barely managed to keep his hooves attached to his legs, however the tip of his hindhoof came into contact with the blade and left a small cut which was considered lucky seeing how it could have been much worse. This was enough to throw 011 off balance and land him onto his back. The uberling gave a low pitched laugh and prepared the final blow as it took no hesitation in bringing its hoof up into the air and was about to bring it down. 011 thought fast and was able to quickly use his magic to levitate the log he had been sitting on from earlier and swung it round clockwise towards the uberlings right side at an incredible speed. The log collided with the bladed hoof and smashed upon impact. The log forced the uberlings bladed arm to swing to the right and become stuck in a thick tree, burying itself half a meter into its bark. The uberling tried to pull the blade out of the tree, ignoring the changeling for a few seconds as it tried wrapping its other forehoof round the stuck one and pulling with all its might, but was unable to do so. 011 took this advantage by getting to his hoofs then quickly managed to fly quickly up to the uberlings face and before reaching it, he swung his hind hooves towards the  front of his body and delivered a strong buck to the middle of the monsters ugly head, powerful enough to dent its helmet. The collision with the helmet allowed 011 to bounce back up into the air, doing a backflip as he went, and land on all four hoofs and looked up to see the uberling screech in pain, trying to use its shielded hoof in a vain attempt to soothe the injury. With rage, the uberling pulled its hoof free at last from the tree with incredible strength, although it managed to injure its own hoof because the blade had been slightly pulled out of its skin causing a small amount of bleeding. The uberling didn't care or even notice the damage it had done to itself as the elimination of its target was its main concern as it growled ferociously.

Back at the apple stand, Applejack had been doing some serious thinking about what her lil sister had told her a few minutes ago, only moments after she ran off to find the changeling. There was no doubt she was a little upset with herself. Maybe the changeling didn't mean any harm. However, for Applejack, there was one simple way to find out. Ask the changeling a simple question and determined whether he was lying or not. She wasn't the element of honesty for nothing after all. It was a foolproof plan. If the changeling was planning on returning which put some guilt on her mind. Before she had another second to think about what she should do, she saw her little sister running up to her as fast as she could. She looked scared as though she had seen a ghost, or something worse. Applejack met her halfway, running up to her and embracing her little sister, glad that she was safe and sound. Nopony else seemed to pay attention to them as they themselves were too busy. They hugged for at least twenty seconds before Applebloom broke the silence with. "Applejack! Ya have ta do sumthing! Theres a...a... monster in the Everfree forest that could destroy 011 and the town if we don't do sumthing"! She managed to say as quickly as she possibly could before pulling on Applejacks hoof trying to get her to move but with no success. Applejack kept looking at her sister, confused. "Applebloom, ah'm pretty sure that whatever y'all saw was nothing more than jest a simple-". Applejack was suddenly cut off as a huge roar came from the forest which was loud enough to nearly burst her eardrums, whatever it was sounded like it was in pain. Everyponys attention was now directed to the direction that the sound came from.

011 looked up to the uberlings horn, it began to glow green and became brighter and brighter with each passing second. Assuming that the worst would happen, 011 turned tail and ran away from the uberling knowing that whatever it was about to do would likely kill him. He quickly turned his head upon hearing a small thundering sound and saw a big green ball of electricity racing towards him at tremendous speed. The ball flew past him, smashed into the ground and exploded with a deafening boom. The ball had missed 011 from more than ten meters away but the force of the explosion was powerful enough to knock the changeling off of his hoofs and land into the ground. 011 tried his best to get up despite that he was now suffering a lot of pain in one of his back legs. He looked over his shoulder to see the uberling right in front of him, raising its arm like blade for the final swing. 011 readied a magic bolt in his horn, powerful enough to blow through the uberlings helmet. If he was going to die, he would die fighting. But that moment did not come as something large rustled though the trees, distracting both 011 and the uberling for a few moments. Soon enough, a large gren snake rose from the bushes. But not just any snake, this one had been tied in a knot and seemed angry the moment its eerie eyes noticed 011. "Oh no. Not this thing again". Groaned 011 with a hint of worry.