//------------------------------// // The Woods (Part II) // Story: Gallop to the West // by Sage Runner //------------------------------// "Oh man!" Spike paced back and forth across the living room of Monkey Do's empty house. "Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Monkey Do had run off to pursue the midnight thieves and reclaim his grandfather's Dragon Ball. Twilight had gone after him. Neither had returned in over an hour. "I gotta go find them!" Spike muttered. "But Twilight said to stay here and guard our Dragon Ball. But what if she's in danger?!" His gaze drifted toward the front door. Expressing his snap-decision with a quick shrug, he dashed into the bedroom, grabbed the bag containing their Dragon Ball, and ran out the door. An extended hoof snagged his legs and sent him tumbling face-first into the dirt. "And just what is a Dragon Ball?" a familiar voice asked. Spike looked up to see the two thieves standing over him, on either side of the door. "What are you doing here?!" Spike scrambled away from them. "We teleported behind the house so that your friends would think we ran off. Now let's see if my hunch was right." A magical aura enveloped the bag, levitating its content, the five-starred Dragon Ball. "Well how about that," the second thief hissed. As the ball was raised to their eye-level, Spike noted that the glow from their magic illuminated their faces from underneath the hoods. Sporting what appeared to be some sort of blue tribal face-paint outlining their eyes and mouth, as well as leaving a whisker-like pattern on either side of their noses, they grinned at their prize. "Guess these things are called Dragon Balls," the thief who tripped Spike said. "The boss is gonna be thrilled that we brought back two." "You can't have that!" Spike jumped to his feet, having found his nerve. "And you're gonna give me back the other one, too!" "Can't let the reptile follow us out of Equestria," the second thief said. His horn ignited, and from underneath his cloak slithered a long rope. Before Spike could so much as gulp, it shot toward him, already coiling itself in an attempt to restrain him. Thinking quickly, the dragon blew a small channel of green fire toward the rope, igniting it and causing it to vanish. The thieves eyes widened. Spike looked as shocked as they did. "Uh... yeah!" He jutted his chest out. "How'd ya like that?! Now hand over the Dragon Balls, or you're next!" "We don't have time for this," the second thief said. "Hit him with your special spell, Freezer!" "Can't be helped," the stallion called Freezer replied. "Gonna have to make it extra-strong so his magic fire can't melt it!" His horn flared up, and a beam of magical energy shot out from it directly at Spike. "Wait!" Spike grunted before the blast hit him with full force. In moments, he was encased up to his neck in enchanted ice. Freezer began to pant, and stumbled in place. "I need water," he gasped, as his cohort levitated a canteen his way. "Rehydrate while you run!" the other thief said. Freezer nodded, and they took off away from the house. "Oh no you don't!" Spike shouted. With a sharp intake of breath, he blew another stream of fire down onto the ice around him— and nothing happened. "Huh," he grunted. "Stolen Dragon Balls aside, Twilight is not gonna be happy to see the laws of physics being broken like this." The realization dawned on him. "Wait, if the thieves were hiding out here the whole time, then why haven't Twilight and Monkey come back?!" He began to struggle within his frozen bonds as his worrying resumed. *** "I've got to find him!" Twilight thought as she ran through the dark forest, Monkey Do's staff floating alongside her. "The thieves couldn't have gotten far, and Monkey was clearly faster than them, so why haven't I caught up yet?" Her train of thought was cut short when a large claw snatched her up by her back. Before she could respond, a bulky finger flicked her horn with such force that she felt a sharp pain shoot through her head. The staff fell to the ground. "Lookee what we got here, boys!" a voice growled. Twilight looked up and saw her captor. "You're a dire bear!" she gasped. "We all are!" Another said, as he and a third bear stepped out from behind a pair of trees. "Not much muscle on her, but horsemeat is horsemeat!" said the third dire bear. All three of them were roughly thrice Twilight's size, and looked very hungry. Twilight scrunched her eyes shut and grunted, beads of sweat forming on her brow. Her horn threw a few tiny sparks, then died down. "Nothin' doin', missy," the bear holding her said. "That horn of yours ain't gonna work for a good half-hour after the bruisin' I just gave it. No teleportin' away for you!" He flashed a smile filled with dark, yellow teeth, and his two companions reciprocated. "Put me down!" Twilight shouted, bucking with all her might at the bear's shoulder. Fortunately, she managed to injure his rotator cuff enough for him to release her. The bears prepared to give chase, but Twilight only snatched Monkey's staff up in her mouth and turned to face them. "What, you gonna fight us, little lady?" "You had better believe it!" Twilight said, the staff distorting her speech. "This is a magic staff!" The bears laughed as they took a few more steps toward her. "Magic staff, eh?" the bear in the middle said. "Good, we can use it as a spit when we cook ya." He reached down to grab her. "You asked for it!" Twilight shouted. Clasping the staff between her hooves, she swung it like a baseball bat, smacking the back of his paw. And nothing happened. "You guys weren't kidding about the lack of muscle, sheesh!" The dire bears laughed. "I don't understand," Twilight whimpered, inspecting the staff again. "A child was able to obliterate my wagon with this thing, am I not doing it right?" "Hey!" a voice called out from the trees above. Twilight and the three bears craned their necks upward to see none other than Monkey Do standing on a branch above them. "You guys better back off!" Again, the bears laughed. "This your son, lady?" one asked. "Hah! Nothing like a nice family dinner!" another jeered. "Monkey, you've got to run!" Twilight shouted. "Your staff is broken, you can't fight these things!" "My staff?" Monkey Do tilted his head sideways. "What do you mean 'broken'? It looks fine to me." "Neither of you are runnin'" one of their captors shouted as he punched the tree Monkey was perched upon. The shock sent the colt tumbling off the branch and toward the ground. "Monkey, no!" Twilight shouted, running to catch him. She was swept up by the same dire bear that had first caught her. "Don't you worry, miss, we'll break his fall. We prefer to tenderize the meat ourselves." The bear to the left raised his hand, ready to catch the falling child. Granted, it was the middle of the night, and visibility was low, but Twilight was certain that she saw Monkey Do not only grab onto the bear's claw and maneuver around it, but also kick off of the behemoth's head, landing safely on the ground while the bear fell flat on his back. Three mouths were agape. Bear number two was the first to speak, "Did you jus—" before he could finish, Monkey Do leapt into a flying kick that hit the dire bear square in the stomach. The monster literally flew backwards, knocking down the tree that broke his fall. Only one remained. "Uh..." the dire bear groaned. Offering the most pleasant smile he could muster with a perpetually menacing face, he gently placed Twilight on the ground, patted her lightly on the head, and took two steps back. Twilight ran over to Monkey's side. "Are you okay, Miss Twilight?" Monkey Do asked. "I'm fine, thanks to you!" Twilight smiled. "You might wanna turn around," Monkey said. "I don't want you to see what happens next." "You're not going to..." Twilight placed a hoof over her mouth. "Nah!" Monkey Do laughed. "I just can't have them running around eating ponies, so I'm gonna knock their teeth out." A soft "eep!" escaped the dire bear's throat. Before Twilight could protest, Monkey leapt at the bear again. She turned away, and covered her ears to block out the cries for help. *** "Don't worry, guys," Monkey Do called out to the whimpering dire bear that was dragging his fallen comrades away, "oatmeal is really tasty!" "How were you able to... fight like that?" Twilight said, her eyes still wide. "My grampa taught me!" Monkey Do smiled widely. "I thought it was the staff that allowed you to destroy our wagon, but that was just your natural strength. I've never seen anything like it, your grandfather must have been quite an accomplished fighter!" "I think he was," Monkey replied. "He never talked about his past much, but he told me before he died that he had taught me everything he knew!" "Did you find his Dragon Ball?" Twilight asked. "No." Monkey Do frowned. "I don't think they went this way." "Then lets head back, and try to pick up the trail again. Spike must be worried sick!" *** "THEY TOOK WHAT?!" Twilight could barely contain her shock. "I know, I screwed up, I'm sorry!" Spike said as Monkey Do continued to punch away chunks of the enchanted ice. Twilight placed her hoof upon her chest, exhaled deeply, and extended her leg. "It wasn't your fault, Spike. We were all careless." "Besides, you said they went west, right?" Monkey Do asked. "Yeah, beyond Equestria's border," Spike replied. The final piece of ice broke away from Spike's arm on its own. The baby dragon surveyed the colt's handiwork. "By the way, dude, you are really strong." Monkey and Twilight shared a giggle. "So I guess tomorrow after you fix your wagon, we can go catch those guys and get our balls back, right Miss Twilight?" Monkey Do gestured toward her horn, a look of admiration on his face. "A journey to the west?" Twilight fixed her gaze in the direction of the moon, which was climbing down behind the western tree-line. She placed a hoof softly upon Monkey's head. "I guess that was the original mission." "Aw, man!" Spike huffed. "Sorry, Spike." Twilight offered a sympathetic smile. "I guess we aren't going home soon after all." "This is great!" Monkey Do shouted, leaping into the air. "I'm finally gonna see the world!" "Besides, look how happy he is," Twilight whispered in Spike's ear. The baby dragon simply nodded, resigning himself to their trip. "I'm gonna go pack!" Monkey shouted, running back inside the house. "This is gonna be so much fun! I can't wait!"