Everfree Demon
“Wow, that was scary…” Candy was the first to speak.
“I’ll say.” Annie agreed with a giggle. “Everypony all right?”
“I am!” The blue mare answered in her normally enthusiastic way. “Thanks to T.” The half-dragon, having scales, was impervious to the hornets’ stings and used his fire to burn the ones that got close to the others. He had protected the other two mares.
“Yes” Annie smiled towards the green blob. “Thank you T.” The pony/dragon blushed at the gratitude.
“It wasn’t anything.”
“… Where’s Lyla?” Candy looked around for the lavender pony, seeing her nowhere.
“She was pretty far off when the hornets came out. I didn’t see where she went.”
“I heard her scream.” Annie cut in before he could feel bad about not protecting somepony. “Can you really not find her?”
“No..” T was the first to answer.
“I don’t see her any-” Candy cut herself off with a gasp. “You don’t think…” She looked into the ominous dark of the Everfree forest. T looked over, following her line of vision.
“She wouldn’t go in there… would she?”
“In where?” Annie moved to his side, unable to see what they were looking at.
“The Everfree forest.” T answered. He turned to her. “Maybe… maybe you should use your traking spell… to be sure.” The more they sat there, the more it looked like that was, in fact where she had gone.
Annie closed her eyes, her horn glowing yellow. She sat there for a second, holding the others’ attention, all in silence.
“She’s in there. Pretty far, and moving farther.” Candy turned to T.
“Go get Star!” He and Annie both gave her an odd look, he voicing what the were both thinking.
“Why?”
“Well… I can’t tell you! This is just really, really, really bad and you need to go get Star! Really quick! Like you just ate one of Claire’s masterpiece gems and she’s chasing you and blowing fire at your tail!”
It must be bad for her to be that adamant. He didn’t question her again, taking off instead. Leaving Candy and Annie at the edge of the forest alone.
“Candy…. What’s going on?” Annie had concern heavy in her voice.
“I can’t say! Lyla might be mad…”
“Candy, if this is as big of an emergency as you make it sound to be, I don’t think it really matters.” Candy sat there, quietly mulling over what the unicorn had said before bursting.
“Lyla can‘t fly!!!!” Annie was in shock at the revelation.
“What…? ….. What!?” She turned back to where she though the entrance to the forest was. “We have to go help her!” Candy grabbed her tail in her mouth.
“Hold it! We gotta wait up! You said she was deep in there right? We can’t go there by ourselves.” Candy did have a point, there wasn’t much they could do alone.
“I hope she’ll be ok…” A second after she said that, she felt a rather unnatural breeze heading into the forest, and the shade of what she thought to be… a rainbow?
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Starburst was trotting behind Applejack contently, a double sided basket full of apples on her back. The elder mare was quite a bit more talkative than her son, not that she minded in the least She enjoyed listening and learning from her.
“Hey, ma.” They both turned, hearing a familiar voice. “Ah’m done harvestin the corn fields. Can Ah help- Star?” He cut himself off, now noticing her. She nodded in greeting, giving him a small smile.
“Now, Ah know Ah gave ya more chores ta do than that.” She saw Applejack arch a suspicious eyebrow at her son. “Ya’ll wouldn’t be tryin ta get me outta here early would ya?”
Starburst knew that Del was a bit of a momma’s boy. Not that it was a bad thing. She thought the bond he had with his mother was sweet. Something she’d written off ever having with hers. And from the look on the stallion’s face, his mother had hit the nail on the head.
“Wh- what? What’d give ya that idea?” They both laughed at the blatant lie, Applejack being the first to comment on it.
“Well, ya don have ta worry. Thanks ta Star, Ah’m gonna be finishin' early.” She turned back to Starburst. “So, Star, whatdya say? Ah’m sure this boy a mine got himself behind again. Will ya give 'im a hoof?”
Starburst nodded in response, not minding at all as long as he didn’t make her pull anything today. She walked over to him, quietly. Not even having to say to lead the way, she followed him off.
As they were walking he muttered something about a stubborn old mare under his breath. She had to strain to hear it, but she did, in fact hear it.
“Why do you try to help her so much anyway? She’s been doing this a lot longer than you, right?” She wasn’t trying to sound degrading or anything, but she didn’t get it.
“That’s the thing. Dare ya ta try telling her she ain’t no spring chicken no more.” Yeah, she didn’t see that going too well. “So where’s Lyla?” He apparently decided to change the subject.
“Flower picking with Candy, Annie and T.” He chuckled with a small “fun.” knowing very well that was not her style. She opted to change the subject this time.
“Working hard?” He nodded, then turned to her a bit bashfully.
“Though Ah hate ta say Ah kinda fell behind this morning again. Api sent the fruit bats in the west orchard inta a frenzy. It was all hooves on deck, and we managed ta wrangle em all back in but we all got off schedule.”
She let a small snort as a response, going over to empty her double basket into Del’s wagon.
When she looked back to ask what he wanted her to do next, she was surprised to see him talking to a rather winded T. She heard him ask of her whereabouts through his panting.
“I’m here..” She answered, approaching the two, curious as to what had the green half-dragon in such a hurry.
“Starburst! Um… Candy sent me to get you. Lyla ran into the Everfree forest.”
“What!?” Both T and Del gave her an odd look, Del being the first to speak.
“It ain’t that bad is it? She can jus fly back to Ponyville.”
“And if she runs into timber wolves or a manticore, she can just fly away, right?” T added, both blissfully unaware of the gravity of the situation.
“Timber wolves!? Manticore!!??” Starburst was about to go into full panic mode. If something happened to her runaway cousin under her watch, she’d never be able to look her Aunt and Uncle in the eye again!
“T! Show me where she went in! We'll fly!” She took to a hover, turning back to see both boys even more confused.
“Am Ah missin something here?” She moved, deeming the situation worthy enough to break a promise.
“Lyla can’t fly!!!”
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‘Have I seen that tree before…?’ Lyla was wondering around the dark forest, hearing the cries of animals that were completely foreign to her… the trees all looked the same. ‘Am I going in circles…?’
She was completely lost, but was way too scared to stay in one spot for more than a few minutes. Anytime she did, she heard growling and howling, very unpleasant sounds.
‘Well… I went that way last time, so… lets go this way.’ She went the opposite direction this time. Nothing at all looked familiar there. She was pretty sure she’d taken another wrong turn.
She looked back at her wings, stretching them out. They didn’t hurt as bad anymore. They were still sore, but… ‘Maybe I could at least fly up to see which direction Ponyville is.’ She flapped into a hover, She flapped harder, flying a bit higher and accidentally hitting a branch.
“Ow!” She leaned forward to try to go around it, instead going into a nose-dive. She hit the ground with a ‘thud’.
“Ok, that was a bad idea.” She got up, shaking herself off. ‘They say when you’re lost to stay put.’ She looked around, remembering what her mother had told her once. It was true. Surely Candy and the others were looking for her. Or had gotten help.
… Right? She nodded, moving to sit. She was interrupted by the now familiar horrid-sounding howl that seemed to be following her.
She was still unaware of what it was, but she had no intention of sticking around to find out. She got up, continuing her trek into the dark woods.
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“Why did you let her go!?” Starburst felt bad at the accusation, letting her nerves get the better of her. “I mean, What happened?” She took a deep breath to re-word her sentence. She was very worried, flying as fast as she could, without losing anypony.
“She ran off. There were a bunch of hornets… When they left we couldn’t find her.” T, following behind her, answered, worry now heavy in his voice.
“What about Candy and Annie? Candy knew she couldn’t fly.” She tried to keep an accusing tone out of her voice, she knew it couldn’t have been their fault by any means, If anypony’s fault, it was hers for not watching out for her better.
“Candy’s the one that told me to get you. When we found out she went in the forest, she freaked.” He answered as the edge of the forest came into view.
She fell back, following him to where Lyla went in. She saw what looked to be Candy and Annie standing at a spot near the forest, waiting for them.
T landed first, Starburst following suit, landing next to him. Del, who had decided to follow them, ran up shortly after.
“I’m so sorry Starburst!” Annie was the first to speak. She and Candy both looked beside themselves with worry. At least she wasn’t the only one. She dismissed the apology with a wave of her hoof.
“Nevermind that, can we find her?”
“Yes.” Annie confirmed with a nod. “I’ve been tracking her since T left. She’s still on the move.” Well that was good. At least she knew she wasn’t hurt.
“Come on, lets go!” Candy, apparently antsy from standing around, started walking into the forest. They all followed in silence until T stopped suddenly.
“T? What’s wrong?” She heard Annie stop as well, and looked back to see what was going on.
“Um, nothing I guess…. Maybe.” Starburst sighed.
“If you have something to say, go ahead.” She hoped he wasn’t backing out. It didn’t seem like something he’d do, but she couldn’t help but worry.
“Well, I’m not sure.” He continued walking, everypony else doing the same, seeing he was ok. “I might be wrong, but I think Bolt might be in here.”
“Prism?” She turned back to him. Why would Prism be here?
“Well maybe. He asked me where I was going in such a hurry, and I told him Lyla ran into the Everfree forest and he flew off.”
“Great.” Starburst sighed. “Now we have to save two ponies… Okay.” She turned to the group. “I’ll go in front. Del, you bring up the rear.” The two strongest needed to protect the group. And they needed a scout… “ T, fly on ahead a little. See if you can spot any danger, but don’t lose sight of us.” She was satisfied that, should he run into anything, he’d be able to take care of himself.
“Annie, try to track Prism to see if he’s in here You’re gonna be our eyes in this this place.” Candy, though worried, couldn’t help but giggle. “What?” She turned wondering what in Equestria that pony could be laughing at now, of all times.
“We’re following the blind pony.” She giggled again. “Its just kinda ironic, huh?” She sighed, shaking her head. She did have a point, though.
“Candy, keep an eye on Annie.” She continued with what she was saying. She didn’t know too much about magic, but she knew it was tiring on the unicorn using it, and though Annie was a magic prodigy, it could take hours to find Lyla.
“Prism’s here. I can tell he’s here, but he’s moving too fast for me to track.” She sighed. Great.
“Ok, lets go.” She turned, leading the way, T flying ahead, everypony doing as she told them. She hoped to Celestia that Lyla didn’t run into anything…
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Lyla had concluded she had to be in the Everfree forest. It was the only place in Equestria that made sense for all the trees and odd sounds she was hearing.
She’d read that it was not a good place to be. Star had told her that if you knew where to go and where not to go it wasn’t too bad.
Unfortunately she had no idea where to go. She had no idea where she was going. She heard a branch snap behind her, and a very low growling. She didn’t even turn to look, she ran.
She ran as fast as she could. She’d never truly been chased by anything that had a full intent to kill her, as thing did. It terrified her. A type of terror she’d never known, and she didn’t even know what it was that was chasing her.
She was a bit faster than it, whatever it was, and was putting good distance between them, until she hit a group of trees. She had to bob and weave, the thing taking the opportunity to catch up. She heard the growling get louder.
She was fast, a good runner, but she was very much lacking in stamina. She could not run forever. She was already starting to slow down.
Surely she knew a spell to help? None where coming to mind. She didn’t know too many combative spells. She turned, finally gathering the courage to see what was chasing her. She looked back to see… nothing. She slowed a bit. There was truly nothing there. ‘What just happened…?’She came to a full stop. She knew she couldn’t have imagined it, something had chased her. She couldn’t have felt a fear like that out of nothing.
She turned back, letting a scream when she saw something charging at her.
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“She‘s moving fast… over that way.” Annie held out her right hoof in the direction the missing pony ran. She walked next to T, who had landed, spotting no danger for now. She was starting to look a bit winded, but nothing too bad. Starburst didn’t think to much on it.
“I think she‘s running." Annie continued. Starburst sighed, trying not to let her worry show. If Lyla was running, there was a reason.
She was so distracted, it took her a second to realize Del had left his place to come up to her. She scowled a bit out of the corner of her eye.
“You’re breaking formation.” It was a simple statement. Nothing really behind it.
“Ah know yer scared. Don worry, we'll find er.” He gave a reassuring smile. It did help a little, but not near enough. She didn’t answer for a second or two.
“I know we’ll find her.” She paused. “I’m just afraid of how we’ll find her…” That came out in more of a whisper than she’d intended.
The Everfree forest wasn’t too scary of a place, but it could be. Especially for a sheltered princess who didn’t know what was dangerous. She was afraid of pigs, for Celestia’s sake!
“It ain’t your fault, Star.” She knew he was right, but she couldn’t help but feel responsible.
“It should be mine.” Annie spoke up. “I knew there was a hornets nest there, I should’ve told her where they all were.”
“No,” Candy started. “It was my fault. I should’ve gone to that side of the field with her.”
“I guess we’re all kinda to blame.” T stated, looking away. “I could’ve tried to harder protect all of you.”
She looked back at all of them. She could tell they were all really trying to make her feel better. Had she always had such amazing friends..? She turned, continuing on.
“Del, get back at the rear, T, were going north, so scout ahead.” She paused a second. “…. Thanks guys.” She wasn’t sure if they’d all heard her, since they went about doing what she’d told them to.
They’d find her. Of course they would. There was no way she’d cause the death of her cousin.
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The impact of being hit sent Lyla and her assailant rolling down a small ledge She hit with a thunk and an ow. What had hit her? It couldn’t’ve been the thing that was chasing her, right?
“Ow, What the hay…” She perked at the familiarity of the voice. She looked over to where the voice was coming from.
“Prism!?” It came out a bit louder than she’d meant it to be, but it was hard to hold back the shock of seeing him here.
“Lyla?” He turned to her. “Finally.” She watched him get up, doing so herself. It took him a second longer, being that he landed on his back.
“Why the hay would you come here of all places? You have no way at all to protect yourself.” She knew he meant she couldn’t fly away from danger.
He wasn’t angry. Or at least he didn’t seem that way to her. She was a bit too distracted by his presence to fully pay attention to his questioning.
“What….. Are you doing here…?” She was very relieved, of course, but she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d found her. He shook himself off before he answered.
“T told me you ran in here. I couldn’t just leave you here to die.” Everypony had so little faith in her. Though on her own, she probably would’ve died before she found her way out of here. Not that she’d admit it.
“How… did you find me?”
“Flew through the trees.” He started looking around. She did the same, seeing all the trees. How could anypony fly trough them? And he was going so fast too.
“I don’t remember this part of the forest.” Great. Now they were both lost. Well, she’d rather have him there than be alone.
Before she could respond, a menacing growl from the top of the cliff caught their attention. She turned to see a stallion sized, charcoal black dog. It was bearing its fangs, and its glowing red eyes were sizing them up. It let out an angry snort, a puff of smoke flowing from its nostrils.
This had to have been what was chasing her. She felt the same feeling as she had earlier. A terrifying feeling of murder.
“What in Equestria is that?” Prism muttered the question aloud. She had no idea. If he didn’t know, was it even from the Everfree forest?
Her instincts took over when it took a step closer to them. She turned, running off. It didn’t take Prism long to follow, after she turned, whatever it was took chase of them.
“Now what!?” She heard him speak, but didn’t reply. She had no clue what to do, aside from run as fast as they could in the opposite direction.
She looked back to see the creature hot on their tails. Literally, its breath was fire hot.
This wasn’t working, it was too close and gaining. She’d tuckered herself out form the last run. She didn’t know how much more she could stand.
“Why aren’t you flying?” She was able to get the question out though pants. He could get them both to safety, easy.
“I can’t! I landed on my wing!” Of course he did. She looked back at the dog- like think that was still pursuing them. It took a snap at her tail, but missed. Ok, desperate times.
She looked around for any possible way out, anything to do. She did have her aunt’s teleportation spell…. But could she carry them far away enough? And which way should they go?
There was no time to think, this was going to get them, and it was going to kill them. She closed her eyes, invisible horn glowing and teleported as far as her magic would carry two ponies.
Luckily, it was pretty far. The dog was no longer in sight, and at such relief, she hit the ground in exhaustion. It took Prism a second to stop running and see that they weren’t being chased anymore.
“What… was that…?” She was still able to speak at least, she was so tired. He came back, standing above her.
“I have no idea. Never seen something like that before.” She saw him look around. “But I don’t think I’ve ever been this deep in before either.”
Well, they were still lost. But at least nothing was hunting them now. He turned back to her. “What was that?”
“I thought we decided we had no idea.” She was able to speak without strain now, having caught her breath. He frowned a bit.
“Not that thing. How’d we get here? What’d you do?” Oh, right. Pegasi can’t use magic. She looked away nervously, trying to think of an excuse. Not her strong suit.
“Um….. Well, I…. That is…. I’d rather not say?” She was hoping he’d take that and not pry further. He watched her intensely for a second, then looked away.
“Whatever. At least we’re safe. But it looks like I’m grounded for a while.” She sighed, getting up. Her legs were finally able to support her weight once more.
“Okay, Situation assessment…” She started thinking out loud. “Where completely lost in the Everfree forest, both of us are unable to fly, there are a lot of creatures in here that could kill us, and we’re being hunted by…. Some sort of demon dog?” She looked to him to see if she missed anything.
“Sounds bout right.” She looked around. There didn’t seem to be any other creatures.
“So now what? Do we keep walking? Or should we stay and wait?” She had no clue what to do.
“We do not want to be here after dark.”
“Ok, unfortunately, that seems to be what will happen…” She couldn’t run again.
She could try, but she was sure if that wolf thing came back, she wouldn’t make it and Prism wouldn’t be able to carry her fast enough.
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“She stopped…?” Starburst turned to Annie, who finally spoke once more. The spell was draining her, and it was starting to show.
“She did… but it was… odd. She moved a mile in less than a second…. And then stopped…” Starburst continued walking. They had gotten closer, for sure, but this was the first time she dead stopped. She couldn’t help but worry.
“If she did, then nows our chance to gain some ground, come on!” She moved to start running, then stopped. “T, carry Annie.” The half-dragon, who had landed once more a few minutes earlier, leaned down to allow the tuckered unicorn on his back.
After she was up there, everypony ran the direction she’d said Lyla had apparently stopped in as fast as they could.
They hadn’t run into any trouble yet, thankfully, but such was the usual when T accompanied them.
She momentarily wondered if Prism had found her yet. Being such an agile flier, he could comb the forest quickly. She wasn’t sure how much help he’d be, but she hoped he found her if only so she wasn’t alone.
When she looked up, she saw a few timber wolves flanking them. Dumb things. They didn’t stand a chance against her on a bad day.
“Timber wolves on the left!” She yelled back to the group. None of them slowed. Timber wolves weren’t that much of a threat.
She honestly didn’t even want to bother with them if they didn’t attack.
“Annie? Can you check where Prism is again?” Maybe that could tell them if he found her yet. The wolves seemed to grow a brain and decide to leave them alone, to her relief.
She heard Candy starting to pant a little, which didn’t surprise her. Running full speed for a pony who wasn’t used to it was tiring.
‘… How deep did she go?’ They had to have passed Zecora’s house an hour ago, she’d never seen this part of the forest before.
“He’s still too… they look to be in the same vicinity… I think they are, at least…” That was a plus to a very bad situation. “We’re getting close.”
“Good.” She slowed a little to accommodate Candy. She was glad Annie would be able to rest soon. They all needed a breather.
She was taken by surprise when the timber wolves she thought had gone suddenly jumped them. There were more than she first thought, five or six.
One of them jumped at Annie, only to miss and get crushed to pieces by one stomp from T. The other went for Candy. She ran to her, Del, being in the rear, got to her first, bucking the wolf against a tree, smashing it.
She glared at the wolves. She didn’t have time for this… Small though she was, she was the farthest thing from a pushover. Those wolves messed with the wrong ponies.
She reared up on her hind legs, spreading her large wings.
She might’ve been smaller than the wolves, but her display made them think twice and gave T time to stomp another, and Annie to blow one with a beam of light from her horn.
Their allies in pieces, the remaining wolves retreated into the depths of the forest. She sighed.
“Annie?” She turned back to the pink unicorn, whose horn lit up once more. “She’s moving again… Slowly… this way…”
Good. Maybe they could meet in the middle. She hoped so. She was so ready for this adventure to be over.
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“Are you sure we should go this way?” Lyla’s eyes were wondering in uncertainty. “What if we run into that monster again..?”
“We’ll cross that when we come to it. I got a feeling this is the right way.” She turned her attention to him. His wing, more specifically. She felt bad… Really bad. He’d saved her twice today. She sighed.
“Let me see your wing.”
“Huh?” He gave her an odd look.
“Come here.” She walked closer, indicating him to turn a certain way. He did so. It wasn’t anything major. A small sprain, it seemed. Her mother’s spell could fix this easily.
“I’m going to do something that I think will help. Close your eyes.” He looked at her like she was crazy. She rolled her eyes with a smile.
“Just do it. Trust me.” He looked at her a second before hesitantly closing his eyes.
She smiled, moving her unseen horn to his wing, closing her eyes. The invisible appendage glowed with magic as she used her mother’s healing spell.
“Try moving it now.” She moved away, the glow dying. He opened his eyes, examining his wing. He flapped it, going into a hover. He immediately bore an expression of happiness and .. Confusion?
“Its like it wasn’t even hurt… What did you do?” She thought for a second. She did want to tell him, but a part of her was too worried she’d get the same treatment she did at the palace… he treated her like a normal pony. She didn’t want to lose that yet.
“How about I tell you when I can fly?” It seemed reasonable enough for her. Maybe he’d be ok with the fact that he would learn, rather than not knowing at all.
“Deal. Now, lets see where the hoof we are.” He moved to take to the sky, when something interrupted him.
“Lyla---” It was far off, but the both heard it. If she wasn’t mistaken, it sounded like Candy.
“Lyla--!” That was Star.. Where they there? She turned to Prism.
“Did you hear that…?” He nodded. The trees made it hard for her to tell where the voices were coming from, but the thought that the other’s had come for them brought her near tears.
Tears of happiness, and guilt. She would’ve ran if at all possible, but her body wouldn’t allow her, so she trotted in the direction she thought the voices were coming from. Prism led the way, apparently agreeing with her ears.
Her heart dropped when she heard the all too familiar growl from the left of them. Not again. Not now… How did this thing keep finding her?
She turned her head to where she’d heard the sound and saw two glowing red eyes. She couldn’t run… Not for long.. But she could sure try.
“Prism…” She got his attention. He apparently hadn’t heard the low growl the demon made. She spoke softly, her eyes never leaving the monsters’. “Demon dog. Run.”
After she properly warned him, she took off, running in the direction of her friends’ voices. Prism was flying beside her, looking back every now and then. He could fly faster than that, he must be keeping pace with her.
She was a very good runner, she ran much better than she could fly, but she was so tired… She felt as if she’d been running all day. Against her mind’s wishes, she started to slow down.
“Come on, Lyla! Keep goin!” Prism apparently noticed She was starting to slow as well. She heard T call for Prism, they were getting closer.
They had to be. Her legs wouldn’t carry her much farther and that demon was not letting up. It felt as if it could tell she was on her last leg and about to feint from exhaustion. The relief that overcame her when she saw her cousin and friends couldn’t be expressed in words. She tried to stay on her hooves, but it was no use, she’d pushed them to their limit and back. They gave out on her, dropping her to the ground, At the mercy of her friends and that demon.
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Starburst was overjoyed to see her cousin alive and in one piece. She came up on her just in time to see her collapse. Why was she running if she was that tired?
No sooner had that thought crossed her mind when she saw… something. She didn’t know what it was, but it was after Lyla and Prism.
She ran over, along with everypony else when the wolf-thing looked like it was about to deal the finishing blow on her. Prism was close and quick enough to give it a quick buck to the jaw to distract it.
Starburst reared once more, spreading her wings to take flight and join Prism. He was flying fast circles around the wolf, causing it to let an angry howl, the mini tornado he was whipping up being the perfect median for the wolf’s fire breath to catch.
Prism, getting hit by it, lost control of the mini-tornado, being thrown from it. It didn’t seem like it got him bad, but that was a huge surprise. She hadn’t seen an animal that could breathe fire other than a dragon.
What in Equesria was this thing..? She went up next, gathering momentum to use herself as a battering ram. She succeeded in knocking the creature off its feet. She turned to the other two mares.
“Get outta here!” Once they moved Lyla, they’d retreat. She didn’t know what this thing was, but it was strong, and she had definitely pissed it off. It let out an even angrier howl, charging at Starburst, smoke pouring from its muzzle as it ran.
She waited a second before flying over it. The wolf turned to the side as she presumed it would, and being ready for it, she bucked it off its feet.
“T! Burn it!” She knew T wasn’t much of a fighter, but she needed all the help she could get. And being not much of a fighter, in his slight hesitation, the wolf swiftly recovered, getting to its feet.
It jumped a bit, trying to grab Starburst right out of the air. It came close but just missed her. She and Prism, now recovered, flew around the wolfs head to keep it distracted.
She took a second to look over at Candy and Annie. They had Lyla up and were trying to get her out of there, but weren’t moving very fast. When she turned back to the wolf-thing, she was shocked at seeing it jumping at her. She turned to fly off, but was too slow. It grabbed her wing between it’s teeth, pulling her to the ground. It was a searing pain. A type of burning feeling. It growled angrily putting a massive paw on her chest. She could hardly breathe. The pressure was suddenly gone as quickly as it appeared.
She got up, seeing the wolf in a heated fight with Del. Both were on their hind legs, and both being roughly the same size, neither were budging. Del got in a hit, getting the wolf in the head with his hoof, Which the wolf bit shortly after.
Prism, doing as she did earlier, flew into the wolf, knocking it harder and farther than she did. T took this opportunity to set the wolf on fire. Del got up, staying off his injured hoof, and Prism landed, All turning their attention to the other three.
Lyla was still passed out, and Annie seemed close behind, tired from using her magic for so long. They all turned when they heard another growl, seeing the wolf, still on fire, standing up. It didn’t look like it was burning at all. What was this thing!?
It ran a paw along the ground, the patches it touched turning to ash, but not catching fire. It then charged at them, full force. They couldn’t run. Annie was wiped out, Lyla was passed out, Del’s leg was injured and her wing was injured. There was nothing she could do.
To everypony’s surprise, T reared, letting out a roar and spreading his wings. It was quite a shock, but at the same time, not surprising at all. He’d do anything to protect his friends. Especially Annie.
His display caused the wolf to pause, then growl back, fangs bared. He did the same, showing teeth that could cut through diamonds. The wolf wasn’t full on attacking anymore. It took a step to the left, then right. She knew it was sizing T up.
In a flash, the wolf was on him, coming at him with fangs and claws, Trying to bite at the underside of his neck.
T reared once more to get out of the wolf’s reach, using a clawed hoof and his neck to knock the dog to the side. Being fireproof, the flames didn’t hurt him as they did the grass, leaving an ash mark where the wolf landed.
This was an amazing sight… She was in awe at the brutality of the creatures, They were so strong.
The wolf made one more attack, coming from the side this time. T, being so large, wasn’t fast enough to avoid the attack. The wolf kept pushing into him, trying to get him off his hooves.
It failed, when T shoved him with a clawed hoof, stomping at him, all missing. The animal took this chance to move around and bite his tail, but that was the last hit it got in. The wolf, now behind him was finished. He bucked the creature into a tree, the impact breaking the tree in half. The animal went rolling before landing at the base of another tree. It lay there unmoving. The flames around it dying down.
There was complete silence for minutes, everyponys eyes fixed on the creature. It stayed, lying at the base of the tree. Prism was the first to come up to T.
“Bro, you totally saved us…” His way of saying thank you, she knew. T nodded silently, looking at the creature. He was so gentle and calm, killing something surely wouldn’t sit well with him… no matter how evil it was.
She wasn’t good at comforting, She wished she was, but that quality just didn’t come naturally to her. She leaned over to Annie.
“Annie. T needs you.” That was the best she could do. It seemed to be good enough. Annie got the hint and went over to where she last heard him. Candy as well. Del, however, followed her.
She went to where the wolf thing had fell, seeing it in the same place, unmoving.
“What is it..?” She heard Del’s voice behind her.
“I don’t know. It looks… like a wolf? A dog?” It was definitely canine, whatever it was.
“It was on fire…” There was that too. As far as she knew the only animals that were fire-proof and could breathe fire were dragons… but this didn’t resemble a dragon at all. She reached a hoof out to touch it, and no sooner did her hoof hit its ear, it completely turned to ash.
She pulled her hoof back with a gasp, looking at the spot for a second.
“Where’d it go?” It was Candy’s voice. T must be feeling better for her to come see what they were doing.
“It… What is it…?” She looked at her hoof, seeing a small smudge of ash. She heard another cry of a beast and looked around to see the sun was actually beginning to go down.
Thanks to T knocking the tree over, she could see the rays of sunset in the sky. They were gone for a while… She sat her hoof down, turning back to them to access their injuries.
She had an injured wing, so she was grounded for a bit and a bruise where the wolf nearly crushed her. Del’s leg was hurt, but it didn’t look too bad, it was bleeding though.
She looked to T. The bite on his tail seemed to be the same. Not too bad, but bleeding. Prism didn’t seem to be injured, but when she looked a bit closer, she saw patches of his coat were burnt off.
Not bad considering what they’d fought. But they were all tired and injured. They needed to get out of there before dark. Del couldn’t carry anypony with his leg hurt like that…
“T, carry Lyla. Prism, go see which way the exit is, don’t lose sight of us, and when you get back, carry Annie as long as you can. We'll start going this way until you get back. And tell us if you see any danger.”
He did so, muttering about not telling him what to do. She shook her head. How can that matter to him at a time like this?
“Star?” She turned when Annie addressed her. The pink unicorn continued, having her attention. “I don’t need to be carried. I’m ok.” She said that, but Starburst knew better. She was very tired.
“We need to get out of here as fast as possible. And you need to rest.” There wasn’t any room for argument. She knew she was right and so did Annie. “How is he?” She asked the question quietly, worried about T. Annie smiled softly.
“I think he’ll be ok. I told him he saved us, which is the ultimate form of protection.” Its true. If he hadn’t stepped in, they very well could’ve lost somepony to that thing. Prism came back, landing in front of Starburst.
“That way.” He pointed with a hoof. “A long way that way. And I don’t see anything dangerous.” She nodded.
“Ok.” He leaned down to let Annie up on his back, letting out an ow when she stepped on one of his burns.
“What was that?” He looked back to see what the unicorn had done to him. Surely he knew…… right?
“You’re burned.” She stated the fact just to make sure he was in fact aware. It was apparent he wasn’t from the face he made at the revelation.
“I am?” She gave him an odd look.
“How could you not know..?”
“I bet it’s cause Claire singes him so often.” Candy was the one to answer with a giggle. She smiled, remembering the time she witnessed such a thing happen. That made sense.
They were hurt, tired and broken, but she knew if they could all laugh, things would somehow be alright.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It felt like forever since they had seen open plain. It was a huge relief to Lyla, who had regain consciousness minutes before. She still wasn’t sure what had happened, but she was glad to see them all.
She drooped off of T’s back, her legs still sore, but able to carry her. She saw that Del was limping, and gave an odd and worried look at his leg.
She also observed that Starburst’s right wing wasn’t settled at her side like she usually had them when she was walking, and that Annie was dead asleep… and Prism was missing patches of fur.
“What…. Happened…?” She was finally able to ask, though was scared of the answer.
“You remember that demon dog thing?” Prism was the first to answer. How could she forget that horrid thing? It would be in her nightmares for months. He continued. “It kinda attacked us.”
It attacked them?! Come to think of it, the last thing she remembered was seeing them and running from that demon.
“You collapsed.” Starburst finally spoke. She observed them once more.
“So you got all those injuries because of… me?” It was a statement. She was naive, not stupid. She knew they all protected her.
“Stuff it.” Prism spoke again. “We would’ve done it for any friend.”
“Yeah!” Candy nodded in agreement. “Besides, it was kinda our fault you got lost in the first place.”
She started tearing up. The guilt was heavy in her heart. They were trying to make her feel better, she could tell, but they’d gotten so hurt because of her…. Because of hornets! Of all things hornets!
She’d rather die by stinging than have them suffer for her like that… She moved around, lagging behind, her eyes closing. Nopony saw her invisible horn glowing, four different layers of pink around it.
She amplified her mother’s healing spell as best she could, using it to heal up her friends. Now wasn’t the time for secrets. They had risked their lives, if they saw, so be it.
When she opened her eyes, they were all messing with their injuries. Del was stepping on his, newly uninjured leg, putting weight on it, then looking around confused. T turned to examine his tail, wearing the same expression ad Del when he found nothing wrong with it.
It seemed as though nopony saw her. She was pretty far back by the time the spell took affect. She continued walking, a bit slower than before, walking up to them.
“What… jus happened..? Ah can use mah leg…?” Del was very confused.
“My tails better too…?” T added, equally confused. This caused Prism to inspect his injuries. He found none.
“My burns are gone!” She saw Starburst fold her wing down, then flap into a hover. When she landed her eyes turned to Lyla.
It would be obvious to Starburst it was her doing. Rather than say anything about it, the little orange mare continued walking.
“Don’t think too much on it. Be thankful it happened.” She was talking to the boys Lyla figured.
That was the last said on it, everypony being too tired to think on it any more. Annie’s house was the first they came to. They woke her before they knocked. Her mother, Fluttershy was frantic. She couldn’t blame her. I was very late.
They left each pony to explain what had happened to their parents. To tell them about the odd creature, or just say they lost track of time. As they were walking, a thought had been plaguing Lyla, one she finally said aloud.
“Maybe… I should go back…” Starburst’s ear turned at hearing her speak, Del and Prism, the only two left now, actually turned to her.
“What?” Prism was the only one with a vocal response. She sighed.
“I’ve caused so much trouble. I almost got everypony killed because of hornets! It would sure be a lot less of a hassle.”
“What’re you talkin about? I said I’m gonna teach you to fly and I will. You can’t leave.”
“ ‘Sides,” Del started, smiling. “We’re all jus glad you’re ok. Ain’t many ponies can go in there darn near totally defenseless and last as long as you without getting hurt somehow.”
She nodded. She was still thinking of leaving, but didn’t want to talk more on it. Prism was the next one to leave.
“Well, I’m out.” He flew into a hover. “You better be at your flying lessons tomorrow!” He yelled the last part over his shoulder, flying away. As bad as she felt, she couldn’t help but smile at that.
The library was the next building in line, meaning Del would be walking home alone.
“Ya’ll gonna be ok?” He was talking to Starburst, standing in the doorway. She gave him a nod and a half smile before answering.
“Well be fine. Get home before Applejack worries herself sick.” It didn’t take anymore convincing, he turned, heading to the farm. She followed Starburst up the stairs to the bedroom, both silent.
“So you want to go back?” Starburst was the first to speak. In all honesty, she didn’t want to, but she felt so guilty.
“ I don’t want to be a bother to anypony else. If it means going back to do so, then yes.” Starburst went over, laying down on her bed.
“That wouldn’t help.” She got down in the bed. “It sounds like you’re just running away from your guilt.” She hated it when Starburst made a better point than she did. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen.
“If I do stay… I have to do something to thank them. I’d feel even more horrible not being able to express my gratitude.” She went over to her little makeshift bed, taking the ties out of her hair.
“Then do.” Starburst answered, turning out the lights. “Honestly, we’re all just glad you’re ok.” She was silent for a minute. She said she wanted to something nice for them, but she had no idea what they liked.
Well, she knew Del liked apples, and Annie liked flowers. She could work with that. And from where Candy lived, She could very well like sweets but…
“Star, What does T like?” She could tell Starburst want fully asleep just yet and took the chance to ask her. She heard her little cousin move.
“Aside from Annie? Family friends and gems.” That sounded simple enough.
“….And Prism…..?”
“What does he like?” She nodded, though she didn’t know why, there was no way she could see it in the dark.
“Yes.” She replied vocally this time.
“Aside from himself? That’s tough.” She held back a giggle at that. She could tell, though he and Starburst were friends, they had their differences.
“Showing off…. Flying…. Talking…” She was drifting off as she spoke. Lyla couldn’t help but giggle at that.
“Thanks Star.” She had a lot of planning to do in the morning. Luckily, the exercise of the day had done well to fight away her insomnia. She fell asleep for the first time in years, not having to watch the moon.
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I think what you meant was
Luckily the exercise of the day had done well to fight away her insomnia. She soon fell asleep, and for the first time in years she wasn't watching the moon as she drifted off to sleep..
Or something like that.
Other than that, I think it's a good chapter.
Nice job with this chapter. Lyla should be glad Annie was asleep or she would have spotted the spell. Great chapter, I can't wait for the next one. If you want to expand the demon dog, go ahead, I thought it would have been a long drawn out villain for the story, I'm glad it wasn't for now.
4235796 yeah, now that you pointed that out it does look odd. I'll probably change it around tomorrow.
You should definitely at least explain the creature a bit. I'm not sure you need a whole to-do about it, but I'm quite curious what it was. I enjoyed the fight scene, and I loved that Lyla used her magic to heal her friends even with the risk of being found out as an alicorn.
4239211 I was kinda goin for that air of mystery around it so the readers know about as much about it as the ponies do. But if it helps here's a pic http://cemfin.deviantart.com/art/Everfree-Demon-446293525
It sounds like the demon dog was some sort of...Hell Hound? Or based off of Hell Hounds?
4240124
I'm reading Fallout: Equestria right now, too, and just read the part where Little Pip sees a Hell Hound for the first time, so that's exactly what popped into my head, too.
4239539
I just meant at some point in your story. We're all willing to be patient. The story's damn good in general, after all.
For Lyra to keep her secret from everyone else, especially Prism, is risky. She should end up betraying/destroying their trust as a friend if she is found out accidentally.
I think you meant "We'll be fine" the chapters have quite a few little hiccups like this, and if I spent time looking for them all I wouldn't be able to enjoy the story (I am enjoying the story by the way). So look through all of your posted chapter (for all your stories and not just this one) and see if you can spot any mistakes, also have someone look through your posted works doing the same (and look into getting a proofreader).