Lost Shadows

by Number Line

Chapter 1

The full moon shone bright as it was rising above the Everfree Forest. But the thick canopy of the trees blocked most of moonlight and the sun had already set, unfortunately for a terrified unicorn mare running through, dodging what trees she passed. Not far behind, a large body of timber trampled the ground it stomped on as it pursued its prey.

With what energy she had left, she thrust forward, trying to ignore the fatigue from the chase. As she was running, the cover of the treetops was so thick that she couldn’t see a root sticking out and tripped into a roll and finally landing on her belly. The chase had worn the light-green pony down to the point of exhaustion. Soon after, her pursuer stood over her frail, tired body looking down at its catch. With no exit, she uses her magic to hurl a nearby pebble, but it only makes the timberwolf angry.

It snarls and grabs the pony by her tail and throws her a good distance. Scared, tired, and bruised, she does what anypony would do,

“HELP!!!”

The timberwolf pounces, looks down and prepares for the kill. The mare, knowing what will come next, shuts her eyes and covers her head with her fore hooves and awaits her demise. The only sound she hears is the snarls growing louder. Every second feels like an hour and she can’t take it and begins sobbing.

The timberwolf was too focused on the pony that it didn’t see or hear a large figure burst from behind a bush to its right and was sent flying into a tree. With a daze, it shook its head and scanned. It stopped and growled when it came upon a tall figure, now standing between it and the pony. Back on all fours, it began to circle, all the while the figure guarding the now petrified pony who was watching on the ground.

The stare down was intense. The timberwolf continued to circle and the tall protector kept its guard. Then, like lighting, the beast lunged and with its jaws, clamped down on one of the tall figure’s upper …whatever it was. The pony now noticed her guardian. It was tall, taller than most ponies, about the same height as Princess Luna and it was a biped. But what intrigued her most were this thing’s upper legs, if you could call them legs. They were long too, and had claws at the end of them. But not normal claws, they were more…fleshy. She was brought from her gaze as she saw this being grab the snout of the timberwolf with its good…claw and pull apart the muzzle. Its other claw now free, the figure used both to get a good hold on the head of the beast and with much force, twisted the head so that the timberwolf was now on its side whimpering and with another powerful twist the head was detached.

The mare stared in awe and fear at her savior. The limp body of the timberwolf crumbled into a pile of twigs and tree ruble soon followed by the head. The figure turned to the paralyzed pony on the ground. With a clear view of it face, she saw it was hairless except for on top of its head. The look it gave her was emotionless, a blank stare that lasted for a while. As they stared, she saw it was clothed, somewhat, in rags. The leggings it had on covered the lower half and was full of rips and tears. Its upper cloth was in no better condition. As her gaze went over it, she saw a gash in the upper right leg where the timberwolf clamped down. But something was off; it was bleeding little to no blood. She stood up, only to fall back down and let out a cry of pain.

The toss from the timberwolf had injured her left shoulder pretty bad but she didn’t realize it until she put her weight on it. Hissing through the pain, she didn’t notice the tall being approach. It knelt down to inspect the injury, making sure not to be too rough. After a couple of minutes, it rose up and ran in the direction it came.

“WAIT! Don’t leave me here.” She tried to stand again but regretted it quickly. A quick look around and the mysterious figure was gone. The terrified mare didn’t hold it back anymore and began crying. But a snap of a twig made her freeze and slowly turned to see that the tall creature had returned, this time with a knapsack. A wave of relief overcame her as she couldn’t help but smile knowing it didn’t completely abandon her.

The biped went back to her side and searched through its bag. A few moments later, it brought out some cloth and began ripping strips out of it. The mare kept a watchful eye out, for both their sakes. After the ripping, her savior tied a couple together and made a makeshift sling. Being very careful not to cause any more damage, it wrapped the sling around her neck and gently brought her left fore leg into it. Satisfied, it picked her up and carried her away from the dreaded timberwolf pile. With the moon still rising, it traversed the forest with ease.

“T-thank you…” the mare said softly. It just kept looking forward. Being careful not to say the wrong thing, she left it at that. But she realized they were going the wrong way. “I-I was heading to Ponyville. That way.” She used her good leg and pointed in the direction. It gave a nod and adjusted their course. ‘At least it can understand me.’ She thought.

They walked for quite some time but neither said anything. They soon found themselves on the edge of the forest and could see the faint lights of nighttime Ponyville. The moon was now high in the sky and gave a decent glow upon the land, enough for a certain mare to make it back safely. The biped knelt down and placed her on the ground, turning after it did so as to make its way back to where ever it came from.

“Wait,” she began. The tall biped turned to her. “Thank you, again.” She said, this time with more sincerity than fear. It gave a small smile and what appeared to be a casual salute. Then it was off, swallowed by the dark trees. The mare stood there recalling the events that led her to this point in time.

“Next time, leave before it gets dark.” She scolded herself and turned to her destination. “I never even got its name.”

She froze.

“I never gave it my name.”

How rude. With that she limped her way to Ponyville Hospital, grateful that whatever it was, it was a friend.

Author's Note:

First story on here. So like it. Hate it. Let me know. Thanks.