//------------------------------// // Chapter 05: I'm On Fire, Baby. // Story: My Little Fantasy // by GuyWhoWritesThings //------------------------------// Chapter 05: I'm On Fire, Baby. “W-w-what was that?!” Fluttershy quickly dashes under her chair, peeking out from under it. “Sounds like somepony's in trouble!” You think, Applejack? I'm already standing and cracking my knuckles. After the... stress... of today, I'm a bit itching for a fight. “We gonna go investigate, or what?” “Yeah, let's go find whose causing trouble and kick their flank!” At least the rainbow-headed one is on the same page as me. “And whose to say its even a somepony whose causing trouble, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity replies, flicking her hair back. “...Though, we probably should investigate.” “Yeah.” Twilight Sparkle nods. “Alright girls! Err... girls and Cloud, let's go find out which pony's in trouble!” “Hey, you're not leaving me behind, Twilight!” Spike starts up, jumping onto Twilight's back, causing her to sigh. “Fine, Spike... we don't have time to argue if somepony really is in trouble. Let's get going!” With that, the eight of us are out the door and hitting the streets of Ponyville. The same voice from before lets out another shrill cry of terror not long after we're out the door, so we're able to quickly begin traveling the streets towards her. What we find, however, isn't what any of us were expecting... A pale-cyan unicorn's running right for us, scared out of her mind as she's chased by... dear god, there has to be twenty or thirty of those goddamn wooden dogs. Fluttershy lets out an 'Eep!' and cowers behind the rest of us, though this time I can't blame her. That's a lot of dogs. “What in tarnation are those stupid timberwolves doing in Ponyville?” Applejack decides to voice the question I'm sure is on all their minds. “Those varmints never leave the Everfree, and they sure as heck never come right into the center of stinkin' Ponyville!” “No time to wonder about that, AJ!” Twilight takes charge. She quickly turns to Spike, “Spike, you and Fluttershy try to find anyone still on the streets and get them somewhere safe. The six of us will handle this and try to drive off the timberwolves.” “But... Twilight, there's so many, I should stay an-” “Spike, do as I say and get going!” She stomps her hoof as she speaks. The dragon looks unnerved at how demanding she's being and nods with a gulp, jumping from her back to Fluttershy's before the latter takes to the sky. “So, Twilight, darling...” Rarity says with a gulp. “How exactly do you propose we 'handle this', anyway?” “I... uhh...” I look around, seeing a small stand of some kind with a wooden sign held up by two planks. Not bothering to read the sign, I quickly yank one of the planks free, causing the top of the stand to sag to one side as I grasp it in my hands for a weapon. “We hit them till they either run away or stop moving, that's how we 'handle this'.” “Good as plan as any!” Applejack replies, digging in her hooves. “As long as we all spread out and keep our backs to things, these pesky critters won't be able to surround us well!” As we fan out, there's a night-piercing howl that catches the attention of the invading wolves. They turn away from whatever prey they were previously chasing, all turning to us and snarling with their wooden maws. Lovely, they have a leader with a sense of priorities. As we fan out, trying to catch the timberwolves in open parts of the town, I peek around and it seems we've made a faux-buddy system out of it, and my buddy was... Applejack. The only one that seems to have no magic or special ability whatsoever. I don't have much time to contemplate over how this probably means I'm about to turn into a wooden-wolf gourmet dinner though as one lunges directly at us. I strike it with a hard horizontal swing, knocking it out of the air and sending it tumbling against the side of a house, breaking my weapon in the process. Right, wood on wood, my weapons won't be good for too many hits unless I find a pipe or something. I turn to Applejack to make sure she's not losing any limbs just in time to see her buck one of the wolves square in the face, causing its head to tilt at a very unnatural-looking angle as it slumps onto the ground. Okay, maybe her special pony-power is 'hitting things really hard' or something. I can't contemplate it long, though, as I'm stuck diving and rolling forward to dodge more hungry wolves. Quite a few of them have their sights set on me, so I break into a run and begin scanning my surroundings. Seeing a particularly low-roofed house, I decide it's time to get some high ground as I run at it. I jump, my instincts telling me it should be an easy leap, and... smack face-first into the wall of the house, bouncing off it and tumbling to the ground. I quickly roll, getting to my feet and spotting four hungry wolves charging directly for my face. Shit, think, those wolves are gonna be on you any second, Cloud. I look to the gem-laden bangle on my arm. Eight gems total – green, blue, green, blue, green, yellow, yellow, red. The first green and blue pair were the ones that had glown and done... whatever they did... last time, but I can't remember how to make them work. Or any of the others, for that reason. Then it hits me. I focus my thoughts to the second green-blue pairing. That pairing means something, the engravings on the bangle even have them connected. The green one. I need to tap into the green one. I close my eyes – a terrible idea by all counts in this situation – and begin concentrating, trying to 'feel' what the gem does. The last one I had used by instinct, a reflex brought on by combat. This time, though, I need to remember how to access them consciously. Remember... and the soothing sensation overtakes me, and as I open my eye I can see the green wisps and glows from before I came to this Equestria place, the ones that triggered last time I tapped into these gems. Then instinct takes over again, and I hold my right arm out, palm open facing the wolves who're now mere feet from me. And what I see elates me almost as much as seeing the delicious cake still waiting for me back inside Golden Oak Library elated me – fire. Beautiful fireballs, arcing through the air, each with a different of the four wolves intent as their targets. They seem to know how terrible a wooden wolf being struck by fire would likely end for them, and quickly begin trying to juke the flames. Two succeed, ducking down a nearby alley between houses. The other two, though, go up like living effigies, squirming and burning and rolling around on the ground until they finally stop moving. I smirk to myself. Excellent. Looking, I see the farm-pony still fighting, wolves beginning to congregate around her more than the others as she's now missing her tag-partner. I concentrate again as I begin running back to her. It seems to be coming easier with each use, as I don't even need to close my eyes this time to call up the green light and trigger the fire spell... that's the best thing to call it, a fire spell, and attack the timberwolves that're considering apple-pony stew a delicious midnight meal. Many of the attacks miss due to distance and my lack of experience controlling it, but enough hit to lead to a few more writhing wolves, causing the rest of their group to disperse. “Well ah'll be!” Applejack exclaims. “Ya can do some magic! Mighty fine at it, too!” I suppose I'll take the compliment while it's being offered. “But how're the other's doin'?” She asks, surveying the landscape now that we have a bit of a reprieve. I look around with her, seeing Her and the cyan one fighting on one side. Rainbow Dash seems to be quite enjoying herself, swooping and diving and planting plenty of hit-and-run kicks from the air on the wooden wolves who're suffering a severe case of lacking-wings-itis, and the pink one is fighting... with a giant cannon... that shoots party supplies. Okay, I'm just going to ignore that and look to see how Twilight's side is doing. The first thing I see is her and... was it Rarity? Yes, the white unicorn is named Rarity. And she's maintaining a shield around herself and Twilight while the latter blasts away timberwolves with her magic. Rarity must not be very good at it, though, as the shield is slowly cracking like glass, so that's the direction I head. The patter of hooves behind me tells me that Applejack is thinking the same thing. As I get close to them, I'm hit with it – an overwhelming feeling of wrongness. I know I should have a word for it, but I don't. It's long forgotten, with most of everything else useful. But why? Everything seems normal. Well, normal for a land full of magical pastel equines in mortal combat with wolves made of wood. And then, that normalcy goes right out the window, as a tentacle smashes against the bubble shield, sending Twilight and Rarity skidding rather painfully looking against the ground towards myself and Applejack. “Are you gals okay?” Applejack asks them, looking them over and helping them to their feet. “Ugh, those stupid wolves ruined my mane.” Rarity complains as she gets off and shakes off some of the dirt. “Looks like yer fine." Applejack rolls her eyes and turns to Twilight. "You, Twi?” “Yeah, but, where did that come from?” She ponders, looking toward the wolves they were fighting, who're now grouping up with the remnants of the ones Applejack and I were fighting. “Ah'd guess from that one, there!” Applejack says, pointing? A hoof toward the cluster of timberwolves, and now I see it as well. Inside the group of wolves is a single timberwolf, horribly broken looking and staring directly at me. It's... the badly injured one from earlier today. However, the broken areas have been filled in. Not fixed, repaired, or otherwise healed, but filled in – with decrepit, pulsing flesh, that clearly does not belong there. On its back are four foul-looking, tentacle-like appendages that were made purely from said decrepit flesh. It... also seems to be the source of that feeling of wrongness I was hit with not long ago. Well, it's definitely wrong-looking, so I can say that feeling was dead-on, but I can't shake the other feeling, the one that says I should know why it looks wrong. Maybe I should reconsider Twilight Sparkle's offer to use her magic to jog my memory... “What's wrong with that timberwolf...?” Rarity asks, backing closer to the rest of us. “My guess would be some kind of parasite.” Twilight surmised. “And if that timberwolf is their pack leader, it would explain the uncharacteristic behaviour in their entire pack... but I've never seen anything like it.” Great, so today we're two-for-two on 'things the know-it-all's never seen before' if we include myself. Today's shaping out to be great. That only makes the entire situation nag at me even more. And then, all at once, they charge. Without thinking, I raise my arm toward the incoming pack of double-digit wolves and concentrate on the first green gem. The green-and-blue pair glow and the clocks from before appear on each of the wolves in turn. This time, however, they don't stop in the air – they merely begin moving at half their speed instead. Do these gems have multiple spells or something? They completely froze last time. Dammit... it also seems one of them is completely immune to whatever this gem does – the only one I actually wanted to seal in place, the one with the crazy flesh and lashing tentacles. Twilight and Rarity don't waste time taking advantage of the opening I've made, blasting down each of the inhibited wolves one by one with their magic, Applejack staying close to us and bucking down the wolves closest to us, while trying to stay out of range of the uninhibited wolf. As they fight, a trail of rainbow color sails into view, kicking out another of the half-speed wolves. I can only assume that means Rainbow Dash and Her sent the wolves they were dealing with packing. I raise my arm again, though my head feels heavy and it seems a bit wobbly. I grab my left wrist with my right arm to steady it, focusing in on that second green gem again. One more cast of that fire and hopefully it'll be over with... I feel the light coming up, and focus on the wolves toward the back, wanting to fry them first and cut off their retreat. It takes a much larger exertion to use it this time, but the fire, well, fires, and sends a trail of flames through the sky, hitting three of the wolves and sending them toppling at half speed onto their sides. I resist the urge to laugh a tiny bit, the slow-motion collapses almost comical-looking, but – that was only three flames, and I had focused on far more than three wolves. But my body feels spent, wobbling now. Did this magic drain from me directly or something, even though it came from these gems? It doesn't matter, though, as a bit of teamwork has most of the other wolves taken care of. Rainbow Dash grabs Applejack and quickly pulls her out of the way of a rather unwelcoming looking lash of tentacle from the lead timberwolf and back to the rest of us. “It's not running like a normal timberwolf would when the pack's beat.” Twilight observes the obvious as the tentacled-timberwolf slowly makes its way to us, step by step. “Which means, it's safe to assume that parasite thing is what's in control...” “Any more of that fancy magic of yours, darling?” Rarity asks me, but the thought of casting any more makes me sick. I'm completely spent. “I'm spent...” I pant out, “If I had a weapon, I could...” “Like this?” She cuts in, popping between myself and Rarity, fishing a large, metal pipe out of her mane and holding it out to me. “That'd do.” I say, grabbing the pipe and turning it over in my hands. Heavy and sturdy. Perfect for splintering some wood and bruising some sick-looking flesh. “See, Cloud, Pinkie's always ready for a party!” “Pinkie...” Twilight starts. “What kind of party involves a giant metal pipe?” “The kind where you need to use a timberwolf being infested by a parasitic eldritch abomination as a pinata, silly!” “That's... a very specific... and uncommon party.” I can't help but think out loud as I grip the pipe between my hands in a fairly natural position. “Like I said! Always ready for a party! Any party, no matter how rare, Pinkie is there!” “I guess it's time to see what kinda candy's in yer pinata there, Cloud.” Applejack says, and I smirk, catching my breath. Finally, the kind of fight that I was looking forward to from the start. I charge forward, rolling under the lash of a tentacle as I smash the timberwolf across the face with the pipe, and I can see the beams of light from Twilight and Rarity hitting it to keep it stunned as I follow up with a second strike. One of the tentacles arcs horizontally and smashes me across the chest, though, sending me barreling to one side. Seems like stunning the main body doesn't stun the parasitic limbs... Thankfully, it seems Twilight has caught on, and her and Rarity split their attacks, the former using her magic to blast the appendages protruding from the wolf's back while Rarity hits the main body. I get to my feet and grip the pipe, charging it as I kick off the ground and jump. Yet again, it's not the large jumping attack my mind and body were both expecting it to be, but I still bring the pipe up and crash it down hard squarely on the timberwolf's head, splintering it rather morbidly, considering it's a living being made out of wood. The body stumbles, still under the control of the parasite as I strike at the part where one of the tentacles is protruding from. Both mares behind me begin firing their magic at the tentacles as I continue beating the protrusion's base, again and again, wood splintering and breaking away with each strike. With enough strike, it falls off – the fleshy tentacle literally flops to the ground and begins squirming, no longer rooted to the main timberwolf body by anything. The disgusting display causes us all to stop our attacks for a bit, giving the abomination the time it needs to recover, turn tail, and begin running back to the forest, literally beaten, broken, headless, and one tentacle short. What. The. Hell. Rainbow Dash and Applejack immediately begin giving chase, but a call of “Rainbow Dash! Applejack! Don't!” from Twilight stops them. I, meanwhile, get the excellent idea of reaching down and grabbing the still-flailing tentacle in my left hand. This is one of my less fine moments, admittedly, much like closing my eyes while four angry timberwolves charged my face was also one of my less fine moments, but also much like that moment, something unexpected happens. The tentacle begins... dissolving... into some kind of goopey, flesh-y liquid, wrapping itself around my arm and allowing itself to be absorbed into my skin. I try to drop the thing, but my hand won't release it! Shit! But it doesn't feel like I'm being possessed by the left forearm of Cthulu or anything - instead, images begin flashing in front of my eyes. A large building. Fire. Machinery. Bits and pieces of an event I'm sure is important to remember but not enough to piece it together. When I finally look back to my hand, the entire tentacle is gone, and I'm sweating, panting for air as if I've just made the greatest exertion of my entire life. The hell was that? However, I do notice, I feel... stronger, somehow. I don't have time to contemplate it, though, as voices begin coming into focus. "Cloud?!" It's Twilight Sparkle. Something starts shaking me. "Hey, dude, you okay?" Rainbow Dash. "Now, don't start sproutin' no tentacles like that varmint was!" Applejack. "I dunno, Applejack, he might look cool with some tentacles coming out of his back, like, grawr!" The hellspawn. "Not funny, Pinkie!" Rarity. "I... I'm fine." I say after a little bit, shaking my head. "Everything's fine." I tell them, flexing my arm and spinning the pipe with a flourish before resting it on my shoulder. "Ah... good." Twilight wipes her shoulder with a hoof. Okay, that's still really sickening to see, no matter which pony is doing it. Hooves should not bend like that. "Let's get back to the library, I'm sure Spike and Fluttershy are worried about us." "And I'm sure party boy here wants his cake!" The pink monster blows into a noisemaker, putting a party hat back onto her head. For once, I'll agree with her. The trip back to the library-tree is otherwise not particularly noteworthy besides Applejack and Rarity talking to me some about my magic... though, I can't answer too many of their questions since I still don't know much about how it works. Twilight mentioned wanting to do tests on it tomorrow, and that's something I'd be more willing to submit myself to at this point, since it seems like I'm going to need to remember those skills sooner rather than later. We reach the library and head inside, me deliberating waiting to be last in to both do a final check for crazy tentacle-wolf monsters and avoid what I had suspected might happen - and is totally happening to somebody - that being an overly concerned Fluttershy fretting over someone having some scrape or another. I sit back at my place at the table and set the pipe beside me, picking up my fork. The others are talking about how Fluttershy and Spike helped usher a few late-trotting ponies back to their homes once the wolves diverted their attention to us, then how Fluttershy diverted themselves back to the library once everything seemed safe so Spike didn't inadvertently get himself hurt. Meanwhile, I'm engrossing myself in a far more interesting venture - my cake. Stupid wolves keeping me from it. As I take the final bite of the cake, Spike burps and a letter comes out of his stomach. Not even gonna think about how that works. Nope. As Twilight begins to read, her eyes go wide. Well, wider than they already were. These ponies all seem to have huge eyes regardless. She reads the letter to herself first before beginning to read it out loud. Dear Twilight Sparkle, Our Sister has deigned us to reply to your letter. As you may well be aware, she lowered the sun before its scheduled time on this day. This was after receiving your correspondence. What you have told us is not worrisome, but quite remarkable. Our Sister, your mentor, Princess Celestia, shall meet with you tomorrow after raising the sun to discuss both your finding and other important matters we have noticed taking shape in Equestria over these last two days. She has spent the day doing much research in the Canterlot Library before considering to reply, though she exhausted herself beyond the point she could muster the strength to sit and explain to me the fruits of her labors. This is why the sun lowered early, and why We write to you now instead of Our Sister. We must also give you a warning, Twilight Sparkle. Something unknown and unseen to Equestria has begun stalking Our beautiful night. Please, yourself and the other Bearers, take great care after Our Sister's sun has set, far beyond the usual measures, and remain safe. Our Sister will discuss both these matters with you and the other Elements tomorrow in greater detail during her visit. Your Friend, Crowned Princess of Equestria and Mistress of the Night, Luna "Sheesh, talk about long-winded." Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes once Twilight finishes reading. "And based on what just happened, that warning of hers is a little too late, anyway." I smirk in agreement, then - wait, did she say raise and lower the sun?