Doctor Hooves: An Unusual Filly

by Anime PJ

Chapter 9: Journey Into Everfree

Cheerilee woke with a start "Just another nightmare." she told herself. She got up and went outside to find all of the guards running around camp gathering spears, hitting dummies and dodging each others bow fire. She could see that they were training, that made her nervous, she knew that the Everfree Forest was dangerous and that it would now be especially dangerous due to Discord's corruption but the fact that they were taking the royal guard as protection still put her off. The others arose from their tent and Princess Celestia walked over to speak with them.

"Just a spot of training before your journey through the forest." she confirmed.

"Good, I'd imagine they'll need it," Doctor Hooves responded "but what do you mean our journey, you will be accompanying us won't you?"

"I'm afraid not, Luna and I shall make full use of our teleporting abilities to reach the tree but due to Discord's corruption of the forest we cannot take any of you, you'll act as our protection while we concentrate on removing the elements from the tree."

That troubled even Doctor Hooves, he'd expected that they'd just have to act as informants and that the princesses would deal with the danger. Still though he thought we had a deal. "Very well, I'm glad we have all the details." he said.

"Excellent, we shall leave you in an hour at which point you and the guards will begin the journey into the forest."
***

The princesses vanished in a ball of blinding light, leaving the four travellers with a small group of eight guards in order for them to be adequately protected from any of the creatures that might be lurking in the forest. They set off into the dark place full of dying trees, living plants and Celestia knows what else, this Tree of Harmony was supposed to spread its good magic to the rest of the forest but because of Discord's corruption of the delicately magical area the Everfree Forest was now an evil place.

"Come on, the quicker we move through here the quicker we get Discord off of the throne." Doctor Hooves encouraged them.

"Yeah, I can't wait to give that bastard a nice big surprise overthrowing." one of the guards said.

They didn't bother asking the names of any of the guards, they would leave here as soon as they were able so it didn't seem worth getting overly friendly with anyone. It was a nice walk to begin with, peaceful even but they all knew that the further in they went the more danger they were in.

Sugar was sat on Doctor Hooves' back as they walked, her mood uneasy. Growls came from behind the trees to their left and then more to their right. Whatever they were hearing it had them surrounded.

Two lights, extremely close together could be seen in the bushes, it didn't take long for them to realise that they were the eyes of some sort of creature. Big Mac thought he knew "Timber Wolves." he said

Almost immediately five absolutely huge wooden wolves burst from both sides of their surroundings and began circling them, sniffing and growling the entire time. The guards began scraping the floor with their hooves warningly, trying to scare off the savage beasts that had found them and seemed intent on having them for dinner. It was no good however and one of the Timber Wolves let out a roar that turned blood to ice as they charged in intent on having full stomachs by the days end.

An Earth Pony guard with a grey coat was the first to react as he attempted to kick one of the lunging beasts, he released a scream of pain as a fountain of blood erupted from his leg and he was being chewed on by two of the Timber Wolves. The seven remaining guards took similar actions except they had their aim right and kicked the two Timber Wolves that charged at Cheerilee who was cowering behind Big Mac, who himself was considering joining the fighting. After some consideration he charged at the last remaining Timber Wolf, whom he assumed was the leader of the pack.

He charged in with a head-butt which hurt like all hell but it caught the Pack Leader off guard and it was dazed long enough for Big Mac to spin around and follow up with a buck kick directly to the monsters head. Being as strong as he was the kick that Big Mac delivered was so devastating to the Pack Leader that half of his head split in half and the fragments shattered everywhere. The Pack Leader tried to let out a cry of pain but having lost half of its head all it could manage was a small whimper.

Feeling that he had done enough, Big Mac ran over to help the guards with the two Timber Wolves they were fighting off, he found that a Unicorn guard had lifted up one of the Timber Wolves and was smashing it against the trees. The other guards were bucking the last of the beasts and all Big Mac could see was dust and splinters, when the dust cloud cleared the Timber Wolf was nothing more than a few pieces of wood and some splinters on the floor. Big Mac heard a cry from behind "Look out" cried the voice of Cheerilee as Big Mac felt a slashing pain on his back, he fell to the ground, looked up and saw the half-face of the Pack Leader about to finish him off.

Just as Big Mac was preparing for the end the Unicorn guard charged into the Pack Leader, impaling the Timber Wolf through its artificial heart with his horn and killing the beast instantly. The two remaining Timber Wolves growled, waking their unconscious friend whom the Unicorn had left alone and ran into the forest, followed suite by their now limping friend.

Big Mac could feel the thin streaks of blood trickling down his side as he panted, he had been so afraid during those few seconds, he thought that after all of this his family would never see him again. He brushed those thoughts aside, "Thank you" he breathed heavily.

"No problem, just following orders." the Unicorn replied.

Big Mac smiled at him but the silence was broken when they heard a cough to the side of them. Doctor Hooves was waiting patiently, obviously trying to hide the fear that had previously inhabited his face "That's all very well but we do need to keep moving." he said.

The guards looked over at their fallen comrade, sadness washing over their faces. Doctor Hooves was not unsympathetic but they had a job to do "We can mourn him when Equestria is safe, for now we move on." he said softly.

The guards all nodded, they wanted to bury their friend but they did not want to put a mission given to them by Princess Celestia herself in jeporady because they let their emotions get the better of them.
***

They had been walking through the forest for a while now, no one had spoken since the incident with the Timber Wolves. It had hit them all incredibly hard, Cheerilee was clinging to Big Mac the whole way. she was the first to speak, whispering to Big Mac. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Eeyup," he replied "it was just a scratch, no need t' worry y'rself Cheerilee."

"But you know I worry Macintosh, worrying when bad things happen kind of comes with the relationship."

That earned a chuckle out of him "I know," he said "but believe me when I say that I'm fine."

She nuzzled him lovingly and they continued on their journey.

It wasn't long before they heard Doctor Hooves' voice "Stop," he ordered "it's a Ponyeater Plant." He was facing a huge plant, closely resembling a red Venus Fly Trap that was moving around, seeking the source of the voice it had just picked up.

"I think I know how we can slip past without wasting any time with finding an alternative route but first I'm going to need insects, a lot of insects."

He began using his magic to fiddle around with the leaves from the trees "What are you doin'?" Big Mac asked.

"Shh" Doctor Hooves hushed him, he continued messing with the leaves and tying them together until he lifted up what he had made. The others smiled as they realised what it was. Doctor Hooves had made a net.

"Now," he said "there is a large concentration of insect activity over there," he gestured to their right with his hoof "so if you would kindly go and catch some of them in this and close the lid I crafted onto it, this net should be thick enough for number one: the insects to stay inside and number two: for that plant to mistake it for food." he gave the net to the Unicorn guard.

Following the orders of Doctor Hooves the Unicorn went over to the area specified and caught as many insects as he could "Why will it eat this again?" he asked.

"Because with the insects inside buzzing around it'll eat the source of the noise." Doctor Hooves replied. "Now throw it to the plant and when it picks it up run like hell."

The Unicorn once again obeyed and threw the insect-filled net to the plant which then scooped it up in its mouth and began chewing, with this distraction they all ran safely past it. "See," Doctor Hooves said "those degrees I got for science in the University of Gallimane weren't given for nothing."

"Grandfather," Sugar said "if we extract the Elements of Harmony from the tree won't that mean the forest will stay like this even when Discord is gone?"

Doctor Hooves sighed and nodded "When the Tree of Harmony loses its power source it will be virtually impossible to come into the Everfree Forest without encountering some sort of danger." he said.

"Enough chit-chat, we've got a job to do." an Earth Pony guard told them.

"Right, best carry on then." Doctor Hooves said, wanting to change the subject. "Discord's defeat waits for no pony."