//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Undead Equestria 
// by MaskedxMaestro 
//------------------------------//

	The sun shone bright upon the backs of the five ponies heading north east. The red-orange glow of the afternoon was warm against their fur, and the sun’s rays danced with their long shadows. The playful sunlight, however, was not met with a joyous reception. Instead, the seemingly regular and normal weather bathed the ponies with nothing more than light to guide them. They ignored the warmth, staying silent with bowed heads and walking single-file without so much as glancing at each other.
Whether the silence was due to the shared uncertainty of the quest, or the fear for all of Equestria, nopony would say. But it didn’t take an admittance to agree that everypony was thinking the same thoughts as they walked. It was easier to understand each other without saying a word.
One could, however, beg to differ that the reason the ponies stayed silent was that they were all faking a message of hope instead of sharing a bad thought. After all, if no one brought the realization to life with their mouths, then the outbreak of the zomponies might not be real. Unless the words were spoken, the  countless deaths, injuries, and trauma could still be a horrible nightmare and they could wake at any moment. Sweetie Belle would still be alive, and all of their friends would be back in Ponyville as it should be. A quick pinch and it would all be over.
But of course this wasn’t a dream. And the reality of the situation need only be realized by feeling the hot sun against their backs. For only in real life could a pony actually feel a physical feeling of warmth, and as such the round fiery object in the sky was not a symbol of happiness, but that of mockery and pain. Its flames licked at their hooves in a manner of which caused their legs to drag and sweat drip from their brow. Suddenly the darkness of the barn that they had left behind didn’t seem so bad after all. A dark, cool place hidden from the hot sun, and of course, a shelter from the predators outside. Hungry predators that didn’t bother to wait for prey to come out of concealment. No, instead they walked with sluggish movements constantly searching for food. The kind of predator that everypony feared, no matter how brave they appeared to be.
It was with this fear, that the five ponies heading for the shade of the trees ahead, couldn’t be kept from nervously glancing around. Even with the sweltering sun baking their poor hides, each one checked every cranny, nook, and corner for any sign of movement. The slightest shift in vision caused the entire party to pause like deer and hold still, panic sweeping over them like a blanket of frost. Wide eyed and ears perked up, no one moved until it was equally decided that a monster was not lurking in the shadows. Like a slow moving train, the trip to the Everfree Forest took the group an hour and a half to get there rather than forty-five minutes as it normally would with normal walking speed.
Despite the terrifying circumstances, no zompony had approached the party during that time, much to their relief. Soon the tall trees of the forest were coming into view, and before they knew it, the ponies had officially entered the Everfree Forest.
The temperature dropped almost immediately, a few ponies shivering from the sudden shift. The shade was much nicer on their bodies, and their hooves loosened the soft dirt beneath them with each step that they took.
With pros, however, there always comes cons. And although the cool temperatures were calming, the darkness had the opposite effect. The sharp branches above clustered together in tight packs, blocking the sun’s bright light and forcing the ponies’ eyes to adjust before continuing. Fifteen minutes later, the group had to stop and take a break. The shaded forest wasn’t enough to refresh them from the hot sun, and it was clear by the heavy breathing coming from each of their muzzles that everypony would benefit from rest. 
Sitting in a circle, the group took a moment to ease their cramping legs, too tired to consider the idea that they might be safer continuing their journey rather than staying in the same spot. They traded cold water around, Twilight Sparkle taking the most advantage from the drink. She was panting from the hot weather they had just come from, clearly having the most trouble. While Applejack, Big Mac, and Rainbow Dash were use to working hard in such heat, Twilight was use to staying inside and reading, hardly ever working her muscles to exercise. She was exhausted, glad to remove the pack she had had strapped upon her back.
Rainbow Dash laid upon the ground, letting her wings touch the cool dirt. Zecora tucked her legs up under her stomach while Applejack removed her hat to wipe her brow. Big Mac returned the water to his bag as soon as Twilight was finished and then sat back with his head raised to look at the sky. A few moments passed in silence before Zecora spoke up.
“Only ten minutes further before we’re there, for the worst I’m afraid we must prepare.”
Another silence. This time full of despair and shifting glancing looking for doubt against the zebra’s words. None came. At least not at first.
“We still have those ten minutes.” Applejack said, trying hard to be hopeful. Rainbow Dash nodded. 
“We’ll find her.” The blue pegasus added, sounding more confident than the earth pony. “And if we don’t find her by the time we get to your hut, then we’ll find her on our journey back.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled at her friend’s confidence. She wanted to jump up and agree with them, but she found herself unable to do so. She instead appreciated the warm feelings surrounding her and stared at the ground.
A twig snapped behind her. 
Twilight gasped, jumping up frantically toward Rainbow Dash and turning around to face the direction of the sound. Everypony stood and stared beside her, all of them wide eyed with fear. It was the same reaction they had had when they were still walking single file back in Ponyville. This time, however, the feeling appeared to increase in strength for the new setting of a dark forest heightened their shared fear. It took a long time for the ponies to calm, longer than usual, but eventually the feeling subsided and everypony was able to relax their muscles. As Applejack turned to look at Twilight with a half-smile of a joking attitude at their silly reaction to a twig snapping, her attitude changed completely when the sound was heard again. 
This time from the opposite direction.
Eyes widening and pupils dilating, each pony turned on their hooves to the direction of the sound. Everypony held their breath as they stared into the inky darkness beyond the trees. Nothing was in sight, but it was clear that the sound was no accident.
Another snap to the right. 
Hearts racing, the ponies became a tight circle, each pony facing a different direction. Their tails nearly touching, it was enough to feel the back legs of each other to refrain from falling over in fright. The ground felt as though it were trembling from the shaking of their hooves, and Twilight couldn’t help from sucking in a gasp as another sound, this time of a bush shaking as though something had brushed past it, came from in front of her. While the thought of a zompony rushed through everypony’s minds, that wasn’t the only monster that could be lurking in the Everfree Forest. It could be anything. The images of various creatures flashed through their minds, everypony trying to decide what the least frightening one could be and trying to imagine that that was what was coming at them.
Was it possible for the light to get darker? Or was it just a trick of their minds, the response of fear clouding their judgement? The ponies tried desperately to back closer together, even though no space was available for them to do.
Suddenly the sound was only coming from one direction, the direction in which Twilight was facing. The ponies all turned to look at it head-on, backing away slowly and unable to tear their eyes away from whatever was coming at them. No one had the mindset to turn to the other and decide what to do should a worst-case-scenario happen. What if they were attacked? What if they were outnumbered? What if they died right here and the ponies back at the barn were to forever wonder what had happened to them? Is this what happened to Fluttershy? Was there no hope? Thousands of questions flooded their minds before suddenly Twilight screamed as something burst forth from the trees.
It was a small white rabbit.
Hearts still racing, no pony moved as they stared.
The rabbit blinked.
The ponies did too.
“Angel?” Rainbow Dash asked aloud.
The rabbit jumped up and down, waving at them. 
“Angel?!” Twilight exclaimed, her whole body relaxing. The entire group collapsed in frustration and shock. “What are you doing here?!”
Then something seemed to click within the purple unicorn’s brain. 
“Did you come here with Fluttershy? Is she here?! Is she safe?!”
The rabbit disappeared, running off. 
“Follow him!!” Twilight screamed, pointing in the direction Angel had gone. Everypony moved in a blur of color, grabbing their packs as fast as they could and running frantically towards the rabbit. Each of them was tired and nopony felt like running but none of them wanted to admit the possibility of their friend being dead and Angel was a ray of hope in the darkness they had gathered along the trip.
Their hooves smacked the ground in a pitter-patter of sound, dust clouding in their wake. Rainbow Dash, who was flying rather than running, beat the air with her wings hard. Angel was just ahead of them, his small footsteps giving him a surprising amount of speed. The trees whipped past as the ponies galloped. The anticipation of finding Fluttershy gave each of them a large gust of last-minute adrenaline which allowed them to forget that they were ever tired.
Angel twisted suddenly to the right, causing the entire party to shift without warning. Zecora changed direction with ease, as did Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, but Big Mac nearly slipped over himself, causing the need to catch up slightly. 
Then, without warning, Angel disappeared.
Twilight skidded to a halt, everypony behind her nearly running into her. 
“He’s...” Twilight said, gasping for breath. “...gone!”
Each pony turned around, looking frantically for where the rabbit might have vanished.
“Wait! Look!” shouted Rainbow Dash from above, pointing at the ground. 
Everypony looked at the direction to which she was pointing but there was only a tree. 
“Rainbow, what do you-” Twilight started to say before she was cut off. They all ran to the tree and looked down. There, in the ground just under the roots, was a large deep hole. It was big enough for even Big Mac to fit through. The ponies stared at the dark hole hesitantly, unsure if they should take the plunge when no pony had technically seen Angel go through. But soon a white shape with long ears popped up from the ground and beckoned them inside. Without pausing for confirmation from the others, each pony flew forward and dove into the hole, too exhausted and desperate to wonder if this was a good idea.
Into the hole they went, all of them hitting each other as soon as they were inside, sliding down a tunnel of dirt. It was short and quick, but still they all yelled out in panic as if realizing what they had just done.
Five bumps and a thud later, the ponies landed in a pile. Groaning and holding their heads  from the pain, they blinked and looked around. They were inside a large circular room, or rather, a large hole or tunnel, in the ground. Tree roots were hanging down from the ceiling and the ground was covered in dirt and rocks. In the back of the room, next to a small pile of food, was a separate tunnel doorway that must have led to a further complication of tunnels or perhaps even more rooms. There were animals everywhere, every kind that you could imagine living in a forest. Birds, rabbits, foxes, squirrels, and even one bear. But that wasn’t what the ponies were looking at. For there, in the middle of all the animals, was a yellow and pink pony cowering in fear. It covered its head and whimpered until the white rabbit, Angel, poked it on the shoulder. Bright turquoise eyes fresh from crying looked up, and gasped in shock when it laid eyes upon the pile of ponies near the tunnel that they had just fallen out of. 
“Fluttershy!” the five ponies yelled. Scrambling out of the pile, they all ran forward to the yellow pegasus.
“O-oh my goodness!”  Fluttershy exclaimed, both scared and relieved at the sudden arrival of hugs from all around her.
“We found you!” Twilight said happily, tears in her eyes. 
“You’re alive!” Applejack said, crying. The earth pony allowed the tears to fall, trembling with her arms around her friend’s neck. She was the happiest to find the yellow pegasus, for another death so soon from what had happened back at the barn would have been too much for her to bear. “You’re alive...” she repeated, this time quieter.
“You are too...” Fluttershy replied, barely a whisper, into the orange mare’s ear. They shared the moment gratefully, each of them shedding tears upon the other, both of them feeling as though they were no longer alone in the world.
The ponies around them smiled, not wanting to break the elation they all felt. They were safe, their quest was a success, and for the first time in weeks, they were happy.
Eventually the two ponies released their embrace.
“Where was everypony and how did you find me?” Fluttershy asked. “I thought everypony was gone.”
“We were at Applejack’s barn.” Rainbow Dash explained. “Hiding from the zomponies. Zecora thought you were in the Everfree Forest.”
The zebra nodded to confirm Rainbow’s story.
“Ohhh...” Fluttershy’s lip trembled at the mentioning of “zompony”. She closed her eyes and whimpered slightly. Twilight was quick to intervene.
“We thought you were lost, but we found you and you’re safe.” she said. “We’ll explain more about what happened to us but why don’t you tell us how you got here first.”
“Oh... well...” Fluttershy began very quietly. It was obvious that she didn’t want to talk about it, wishing that the conversation would turn to a lighter topic. “I... I was at home gardening and making new nests for some new birds that decided to live in my tree when.... when something.... abnormal... came up to me... it was like a pony but... but it was...” Fluttershy whimpered but with one understanding nod and a frown from her friends, she was able to continue. “...It was covered in wounds and I was so scared so I ran into town. But when I got there, everypony was either gone or running away! They were so far away that I couldn’t chase after them and so all I could do was just... sit there and... cry... and... then the monsters came... and... before I knew what was happening, my animal friends found me just in time and I followed them here. We’ve been safe hiding in this fox hole. We even made the hole bigger so that Mr. Honeycomb could come in.” She looked up at the bear who grinned cheesily back at her.
Twilight took in this new information with a hoof to her chin. She pictured her poor friend sitting in the middle of the street surrounded by zomponies. Fluttershy was always shy and frightened by the smallest of things, but picturing her friend in such a horrifying situation, it was almost too much to bear. She wished she had been there to comfort the pegasus, even though she knew that that might not have been enough. Why did the purple unicorn  have to have been knocked unconscious for so long? How many ponies could she have helped save had she not been asleep?
Filled with frustration, Twilight glanced up at the animals surrounding her friend. A shot of guilt flew through her heart and instantly her frustration disappeared to make way for newfound sadness. She realized how much in debt they were to these animals. How lucky were they that their pegasus friend had been saved by them? Sure, the animals didn’t have to worry about being targeted by the zomponies (at least, Twilight assumed) so whisking Fluttershy away to safety was surely a breeze for them, but that didn’t mean they were any less frightened by the situation.  How could Twilight, or the rest of them for that matter, ever repay them?
Frowning, she put her hoof to the floor and looked up at the yellow pegasus.  Twilight was startled to see that Fluttershy was in the middle of talking. Clearly the purple unicorn had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t heard anyone ask Fluttershy a question.
“...can’t and so the animals go into the forest to bring the berries and leaves. They know right where to go and can avoid being on the ground.”
Avoid being on the ground? Twilight thought. Oh, the animals who can climb trees can keep away from the zomponies... The idea seemed quite brilliant to her and so she decided to keep a mental note of using that tactic later should the time come. Though of course, she hoped she wouldn’t have to use that tactic at anytime. When would she even use it? The buildings in Ponyville might be a good example. If they stood on the rooftops and locked the doors to the first few floors, that would be a good way of survival. Though of course that wouldn’t work because there would be no way of keeping food up there forever. Or at least, not without sending a group of ponies off to go fetch for more. How lucky pegasus's were during this outbreak! One hint of danger and all they had to do was fly into the clouds. She wondered briefly if Cloudsdale had had trouble with the zomponies in their city. Certainly it would be problematic with zomponies flying around... then again, pegasus zomponies she had seen so far weren’t able to fly... Except for that one... Ugh, where was Spike when she needed him? He was always good to bounce ideas off of.
Shoot. She had become lost in thought again. She had missed more conversation from her friends. This time it was Applejack explaining what had happened to them and the rest of Ponyville, including the flash of light they had all seen.
“Oh, I saw that too!” Fluttershy interrupted. “I was at home with Angel baking some nice nut cookies for our bird friends when a bright light flashed outside the window. It was so bright I had to close my eyes.”
“Right.” Applejack said. “Everypony seems to have seen it. I bet that figuring out what that light was and what caused it might explain how this zompony business got started.”
That’s right. Twilight thought. Why hadn’t she spent more time thinking about that? The light, which had flashed mere hours before the outbreak occurred, had come from Canterlot. Why Canterlot? What had happened to cause a flash of light that bright and that far-reaching? Did it reach all of Equestria or just spread far enough to Ponyville? Did Princess Celestia know the source? Surely the Princess would have known about it. Then again, if the princess did know about it, it was strange that she didn’t try and help Ponyville. Was she too busy trying to save Canterlot? Was Canterlot overrun? What if the Princess needed help? Shouldn’t they go there to at least investigate? Then again, Twilight knew that investigating Canterlot with others might be a problem. The ponies back at the barn wanted to stay here because Ponyville was their home, they wouldn’t just stand up and go to Canterlot just to see what was happening there. Or would they? This was a dangerous situation, after all, and most ponies would want to help each other. Perhaps some could stay at the barn while others made the journey? That would work. The more she thought about it, the more Twilight couldn’t shake her idea that Canterlot would be a good place to go. Even if it wasn’t safe, neither was the barn forever, and at least they’d understand a little more about what had happened.
A sharp cry caused Twilight to return from her thoughts. Looking around, she noticed everypony was staring at Fluttershy with mournful looks. The yellow pegasus had her head buried in her hooves. Zecora had a hoof on Fluttershy’s arm, Rainbow Dash was petting her back and even Big Mac had a hoof on her other arm for support. Applejack was sitting in front of the crying pegasus staring at the floor in shame. 
Twilight blinked in confusion and concern, stepping forward to join in on the support, even if she didn’t quite understand what was going on. Her thoughts definitely needed to be set aside now. It was important to figure out what was happening in Equestria, but at the moment it was far more important to console her friend.
“Sweetie Belle...” Fluttershy moaned before sniffling back into crying. Twilight felt her heart turn to ice at the name and she nearly teared up. Placing her hooves onto Fluttershy’s, she touched her forehead against the crying pegasus before her.
The fox hole was filled with nothing but Fluttershy’s heartbreaking cries. The animals around them looked at the floor, feeling their pony friend’s sadness. For a long time nothing moved except for Fluttershy’s softly bobbing shoulders. Even Applejack, who knew more than any of them how hard the death was to take, felt that Fluttershy might be taking it the hardest. Her sensitive nature wouldn’t fare well in this new dark existence. Twilight wondered briefly how well Fluttershy would function once they got her back to the barn. Hiding in a shelter was one thing. Facing an onslaught of zomponies was another. Still, the moment was treated with respect. After all, it was not only a death of a loved one, but that of a young filly, one not even old enough to have witnessed the birth of her cutie mark. 
Yet while the cloud of mourning surrounded the ponies, it was not to last. For above them, on the surface world of the Everfree Forest, the trees were alive with movement. And it wasn’t long before the ponies were forced to slowly break away from their huddled state and stare at the tunnel from which they had entered. For dirt was trickling down the tunnel as though something were at the top and strange sounds could be heard from above. The sounds were quiet at first but grew in force like something very large and very fast was coming towards them. Fluttershy whimpered in fright while the other ponies were alert with ears up and eyes wide open. The moment was broken and all were suddenly alert with preparation.
The sounds of gnashing teeth and moaning could be heard. And then what sounded like claws scraping the dirt came next. Louder teeth-grinding and growls could be heard. Sounds so loud and heavy that they echoed throughout the hole and nearly hurt the ponies’ ears. The ground above them shook and dirt began to fall from the tree roots above them. The animals around the ponies began to chitter and yell, frightened by whatever was happening. 
“What’s going on?!” screamed Twilight, her voice straining to fight the loud clamor from above.
“I don’t know!” yelled Applejack.
Suddenly something began to slide down the tunnel of dirt and every pony and animal started to back away from it. A medium sized gray mass slipped down and hit the floor like a sack of sugar. As it raised its head with a moan, the six ponies raised their heads in terror.
A zompony.
There was only one but that didn’t change the atmosphere of the situation. While it could have been easy to take one out with a single kick, the loud roars from above hadn’t ceased. The sounds were not that of a zompony and the mystery of what the horrid noise belonged to was far more concerning. Could it be that even if the zompony were alone, it had brought something bigger and far more threatening with it?
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Is there another way out of here?!” But Fluttershy didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer. Paralyzed in fear, she wasn’t able to respond. Instead she stared at the zompony, growing paler with every second that passed. The ponies lifted the pegasus together off the ground where upon Rainbow Dash pulled her up onto Big Mac’s back.
“Near the back, behind the bear!” Twilight yelled, pointing in the direction where she had seen the second tunnel earlier.
The zompony lifted itself off the ground and began to move towards the group. Immediately the animals in the hole began a maneuver of every-creature-to-itself and shot out the second tunnel that Twilight had seen when they first came down. The ponies followed as fast as they could, the zompony being much slower than the average pony.
The tunnel they entered was dark, but by following the sounds of the running animals in front of them, the party was able to make their way. The danger wasn’t gone, however, for the dirt above them still shook, and the horrifying sounds they had heard back in the large hole behind them did not stop there. While the sounds did seem to be located behind them, it was still in distance above them and everypony wondered what was making them. A thought struck Twilight that perhaps they didn’t want to exit the tunnel for whatever was waiting above might be worse than what was behind them. What if the zompony was bait to get them to come out? She shook her head mentally, however, for whatever was up there was back near the fox hole entrance and they were running away from that. And besides, the idea of a zompony at their heels kept her from debating if they were about to run into a worse beast at the end of the tunnel.
Luckily for the ponies the path they took was relatively straight, and nopony had to worry about hitting a sudden turn. Whether or not there were any adjoining tunnels nopony paid attention to, not even Twilight who was usually a stickler for details. All that mattered was getting out, and getting out alive. And soon enough, that dream became a reality, for the tunnel swept upwards and the ponies (and animals) found themselves back in the forest.
Taking a breather was not an option, though. For as soon as they broke the surface, the loud yells they had heard below ground were much louder now, and sounded more like screaming and howling than yelling. The animals took off immediately, leaving the ponies behind. Twilight, who had been at the back of the group looked up at her friends, who were all turned around to face her. They weren’t looking at her, however. Instead they were looking behind her, and not just behind her, but upwards as well. Whatever they were looking at, it was huge, and Twilight was hesitant to turn around. Eventually she did turn, though, and tracing her eyes from the ground to the large thing, beast, monster before her, she realized what had made those terrifying noises.
A timberwolf. 
Make that three timberwolves.
Glowering down at the ponies with bright green eyes, the timberwolves snarled and hissed. And if it couldn’t get any worse, at their feet stood a dozen or so zomponies, all staring in their direction as well.
“Oh no.” Rainbow Dash muttered, voicing what all of them had just said in their minds.
“I-I think we should be going now...” Applejack stuttered.
“Eeeyup!” Big Mac stated.
They turned on their hooves and ran with all their might. The timberwolves took off after them, scratching the dirt with their claws. The zomponies followed as well, albeit slower. The sounds of the timberwolves’ claws against the ground were blood curdlingly close, and the huff and puff of their breath was even worse. 
“Everypony follow me!” Zecora yelled, trying to be heard above the loud noises the timberwolves were making. “To my hut, we must flee!” The zebra darted to the left and everypony repeated her action without question. Twilight felt that she hadn’t run this fast in all her life. There had been plenty of times in which she had to test her strength, but up until this moment she had always thought she wouldn’t have to test it again. Her leg muscles strained with the force she exerted upon them. She was sure the other ponies agreed for even Rainbow Dash was grunting from how fast she flew.
While the timberwolves were fast, the ponies were able to keep a safe distance from them. Outrunning them was out of the question, but at least they were beyond reach. Twilight began to doubt if she would be able to make it, but just as her mouth began to open and her tongue rolled to the side of her mouth in exhaustion, she spotted Zecora’s home in front of them. In a last minute burst of speed, everypony dashed for the door and before Twilight knew it, they were all inside, huddling as far away from the door as they could get. Nopony paid attention to a few bottles and decorations falling off the wall, and even Zecora bumped a shelf in an attempt to get away from the threat that was coming their way.
The timberwolves slowed and entered the clearing that the hut was in. They sniffed the air, as if not understanding where the ponies had gone, but soon one of them looked through a window and spotted them. Growling and howling, it called to the others to show them where their prey was hiding. All the ponies braced themselves for what they thought would be the end, but after a moment of nothing happening, Zecora pointed.
The timberwolves were circling the house rather than trying to attack it.
“Why aren’t they trying to get in?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight stepped forward in a daring attempt to get a closer look. She observed the timberwolves carefully, noticing the detailed way in which the wood they were made of lined their bodies. Then she turned her attention to the ceiling, as well as the entire house in general.
“Zecora lives inside a tree. I don’t think the timberwolves want to damage it. It’s part of the forest, and they’re technically part of it too.”
The other ponies stepped forward cautiously to survey the timberwolves safely from the windows and sure enough the wolves would not come closer. They waited impatiently and growled threateningly.
How were they to get out of this alive? Twilight thought about the options but unless it was fighting their way out, she couldn’t think of another possibility. Would the others be desperate enough to do that? Or would they rather wait it out and see if the timberwolves would go away on their own? One look at Fluttershy and Twilight understood her friend’s answer. The poor pegasus was buried in a ball, shivering.	Fluttershy was desperate for the horror to go away. Twilight didn’t want her or her friends to end up like that. And besides, they would run out of food eventually and they might as well take advantage of their strength now. Plus it would be easier to fight off the timberwolves now before the zomponies caught up. They would have to fight. To protect Fluttershy, and to protect themselves. 
	“We need to fight.” Twilight said after a moment. The ponies all stared at her in shock, but slowly their first reaction faded away from their face. The idea wasn’t completely crazy, and they knew that Twilight would only speak the most logical answer. Still, though, saying wasn’t the same as doing, and nopony moved first. That is, until-
“Let’s go and do it, then!” Rainbow Dash said, pumping her fist into the air. “We can take them on!” her confidence seemed strange compared to how Twilight had just seen her friend, running away just the same as anypony else had.
“Alright, but how?” Applejack asked.
“Simple.” Rainbow Dash replied. “I attack from above, you use your lasso skills with the rope we brought, Big Mac bucks them with his legs, Twilight uses her magic, and Zecora... Zecora uses a potion?” Rainbow Dash stared confused at the zebra, unsure of how she fared when it came to battles. Zecora nodded. 
“I should have something lying around.” she said. “It will be something to bring those timberwolves down.”
Everypony nodded at the other, and then they began to prepare. Applejack got out the rope from her pack, Big Mac and Twilight stood by the door, Rainbow Dash flew towards one of the windows, and Zecora began to search her shelves and cupboards for anything useful. 
Fluttershy still lay in the corner of the room, unable to speak or even turn her head towards the others. She would clearly be unable to aid in the fight. 
Twilight focused on the doorknob of the hut. Was she really going to run out there and fight three timberwolves head on? And what of the zomponies? They were slow and not at the hut yet, but they surely would be at some point. Would they be able to fight both enemies at once? She looked up at Big Mac, searching for an answer in his eyes, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was lost in thought as well. Twilight returned her gaze to the doorknob. But the inanimate object wasn’t a living being, and couldn’t feel her desperation, so Twilight looked back up at Big Mac with pleading eyes. She found him staring back and they looked into each other’s eyes, wondering if what they were about to do was the best idea.
He nodded. And so did Twilight. 
Then they opened the door.
“CHARGE!” Rainbow Dash yelled, flying out the window and into the sky. Big Mac and Twilight ran out the door with Applejack close behind.
Rainbow Dash hit first, diving out of the air to hit a timberwolf in the head, nearly missing its eye. The beast shrieked and tried to snap at the pegasus. Rainbow was too quick, however, and flew to the other side of it, punching and kicking its shoulder. The wood was strong and Rainbow Dash had to shake her hoof in an attempt to rid the pain from hitting such a hard object.
Big Mac headed for the second timberwolf, charging it in a a position as though he were about to head butt the animal, but just before he connected, he twisted his body around and bucked the timberwolf as hard as he could, sending the monster to its side. 
Twilight ran towards the third timberwolf, and when she was within fifteen feet, she stopped, braced herself, and lowered her head. Her unicorn horn began to glow, but Twilight suddenly felt sick. The glow sputtered and stopped. Gasping, Twilight watched as the timberwolf barreled towards her, ready to chomp as soon as he was close enough. Just as Twilight thought it was too late to run, Applejack appeared out of no where to kick the creature straight in the jaw, holding the lasso in her teeth.
Shaking her head, Twilight ran, knowing she couldn’t stop and gape at what had just happened. Why had her magic quit like that? Why did she feel sick? There was no time for questions. Bolting for the hut, she stood near the door before turning towards the fight. Rainbow Dash was still diving in and out of reach of the first timberwolf, coming too close to contact in Twilight’s opinion. Big Mac was charging the second timberwolf again, but the wolf seemed ready this time and batted Big Mac out of the way, sending him to the ground. Twilight gasped, poised to run after the stallion to help, but Big Mac stood as though nothing had happened and charged the beast again. Twilight turned to Applejack and watched as the farm pony used her lasso to tie around one of the loose sticks poking out of the timberwolf’s head. She was using it to pull it down to the ground where upon she was able to buck the wolf in the snout. It was a smart idea, but also dangerous as it was close to the snapping mouth.
Twilight lowered her head, ready to try her magic again. Her friends were doing so well and trying their best to fight, she had to join in the battle! Just as she was about to concentrate, however, Zecora burst through the door behind her.	
“Twilight, I have something that will do! But I’m going to need your help if this idea will be played through!”
Twilight nodded and was just about to run inside when suddenly Rainbow Dash yelped behind her. Turning, the purple unicorn was just in time to see the blue pegasus being flung through the air and crushing into a boulder not too far away. Rainbow slammed hard into the rock, and collapsed to the ground.
“RAINBOW DASH!” screamed Twilight.