Chapter 1
Between the late hour of his last class and the isolation of the river trail, it was a rare night when Jacob met anyone else on his walk home. Despite his age, there was always something that made him nervous whenever he heard another set of footsteps.
When he heard footsteps running towards him down the path, he got a little tense. Old growth pine and fir grew here, obscuring the orange of streetlights and splitting moonlight into patchwork shadows. Jacob slowed a little in his walk, wishing he had a can of mace or something.
As the footsteps approached around the bend, he could make out a feminine figure, and not a threatening one either. He’d never heard of late night robberies conducted by young women with purple and pink hair. Whatever else there might’ve been to see of the stranger was lost in the gloom and the trees. Except for her determination.
“You idiot!” she screamed when she was perhaps fifty meters off. She waved her arms, gesturing energetically to the direction behind him. “You’re going the wrong way!” As she got closer, Jacob could make out her clothing. Skirt, stockings, comically cute blouse. There was something painfully familiar about this outfit, but why could he remember it?
“What are you talking about?” Jacob’s hand came down from his backpack without the mace. He turned around, facing in the direction she indicated. “Did the dam burst? I haven’t heard any sirens.”
“No!” She reached him. Jacob found she was about six inches shorter than he was, with a mature, fit build. There was no telling how long she had been running, but she showed no sign of fatigue. The girl shoved hard on his back, forcing him to stumble forward. She was stronger than she looked. “You people really are determined to get yourselves killed, aren’t you?”
Jacob started running, though of course, he was nowhere near as skinny as she was and wouldn’t be able to keep going for very long. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” He ran anyway, proud he could at least keep pace. “If it’s not a flood, what is it? There’s never anything… bad on the trail!”
She had something in her other hand, something Jacob hadn’t seen until then. A stick, twisting and curling up from the bottom to the top like a wooden animal horn. He leaned a little bit further away from her. “Honest question: how are you still alive?” She gestured violently at a nearby bridge, which spanned the fifty feet or so of the river and branched off into several student apartment buildings. He had already crossed it to get this far. There was nobody near it, not this late at night.
Jacob slowed down, clutching at his chest. He wasn’t running so much as jogging as he reached the junction of bridge and trail, taking a few steps before stopping to clutch at his side. “I still don’t… Is this a hidden camera show?” He looked around, searching the trees nearby for the hidden cameras that might be showcasing his foolishness to the internet. There were none, only the gentle rustling of the trees behind them in the wind. No lights or hidden figures with ghillie suits to keep them out of view.
The girl looked incredibly frustrated as she slowed to a stop. “I suppose some of this is more our fault for interfering. They might be here for me.” She slid past Jacob, blocking the edge of the bridge.
“That isn’t an answer.” He was still breathing heavily, though after a little time to collect himself the momentary flash of adrenaline that had brought him here was rapidly melting into annoyance. The bridge had a light on the other side, not quite so tall and bright as a streetlight but enough to light up his companion a little better.
In that light, the strange shade of her hair was as clear as the absurdly bright skirt and stockings she wore. Not to mention that familiar symbol on the dress. He gasped. “Hold on! Did you come from a convention I didn’t know about? That’s why you looked so familiar—Twilight Sparkle, right? That’s the most faithful cosplay I’ve ever seen!”
She turned, rolling her eyes. “Look, maybe if you want to look at something, you should look that way.” She pointed with the stick, down into the trees on the trail. “I’m not the one trying to kill you right now.”
He looked, growing more and more frustrated at her continued lack of answers. His frustration changed to fear as he saw the second familiar thing of the night.
What had looked like the rustling of the trees was, in fact, some sort of golem made from wood. Several actually, wolflike shapes made from branches and bark. They were as gigantic as actual wolves, not quite at a height with him but easily longer. Gaping jaws had teeth of broken sticks, and living vines seemed to grow all around them. Their eyes were the worst—not leaves catching moonlight, but glowing yellow pits. They were all fixed on him, as though the girl wasn’t even there.
Even if they weren’t made of flesh, Jacob knew enough of canines to recognize their posture. These creatures were hunting, and he had no doubt about the target. “W-what?” He staggered back from her, shaking his head. They couldn’t be real. He had seen those creatures before, though not in any place that he had ever believed was real. He had seen them on a children’s show.
They were Timberwolves, and they were coming to kill him. “It’s not real.” He shook his head, and as he did the shapes seemed to blur away, fading slowly back into the trees. The longer he fought, the more he could believe that something horrific wasn’t coming to eat him.
“No!” The girl kicked him in the shins, hard enough that he stumbled.
The pain brought Jacob’s vision back into sharp focus. Not only that, but it helped him see something else he had been ignoring. The girl’s stick was glowing, with a faint purple light that seemed to start a little past the tip. The girl caught him before he could fall on his face, shoving him sideways so he could catch the bridge to steady himself.
Now that he knew they were there, Jacob recognized the Timberwolves’ cries for what they were, no longer mistaking them for the wind. “I’m sorry it has to hurt and confuse you so much, but there isn’t time to bury your head in fantasy right now.”
“That’s fantasy!” he screamed, suddenly finding his voice. Wolves pounded down the path, perhaps a hundred meters away now. They didn’t bother to hide—either they realized he had noticed them, or they didn’t care.
“I wish.” She reached out, settling her stick into his hand with one of hers. The instant she let go the purple glow faded, becoming a faint yellow spark barely visible against the light behind them. “You don’t know how to use this, do you? No, of course you don’t. You couldn’t see Timberwolves about to rip out your throat without somepony pointing them out.”
He might’ve laughed at the absurdity if it didn’t look like he might be about to die. “We should keep running! Get into the apartments—” He started across the bridge, only slowing to a stop when he realized she wasn’t following.
“They’re coming for you, Jacob Blackwell. Do you want others to die as they fight to reach us?”
He whimpered, hands starting to shake as the wolves got closer. He might’ve pissed himself if there hadn’t been a girl his own age around to motivate him to senseless bravery. “What was the point of coming here?”
She ignored the question. “I won’t let anything happen to you, okay? My friends and I fight monsters all the time. Just stay behind me and blast anything that comes at us from the back.”
“With what?” He already knew the answer as he stood there, though. It was in his hand.
The Timberwolves charged as they broke into the light, narrowing their shoulders as they bore down on his companion. There were three of them, each one big enough to take his head in one bite. They accelerated rapidly, and he wanted to run, or maybe jump off the bridge into the river.
But the girl didn’t budge, only muttering quietly to herself. “3… 380…1” Her hands moved through the air too fast for him to see, trailing light like a long-exposure photograph. The lead Timberwolf was close enough for him to see sappy saliva dripping from its jaws.
Violet light flashed into existence all around them, so bright and brief that he barely had time to take in the perfect sphere, only just surrounding him and the entrance to the bridge. The lead wolf was already charging at them as fast as a car, and it was far too late for it to slow down or stop. The beast struck with a sound like a rotten log rolling down a hill.
Wood and gooey sap exploded out in all directions, throwing the other two monstrosities off the edge of the bridge and into the lake at either side, whining with strangely canine calls of pain.
The girl dropped to one knee, clutching at the edge of the bridge for support. For a second it seemed almost like she started to blur at the edges, more light fuzzing up from some inner surface he couldn’t see—but then she gritted her teeth, apparently concentrating, and the effect faded.
“You didn’t just…”
“I know!” Below them, one of the wolves was scrambling up onto the shore. It was too much to hope for the foot-deep water to wash a person away, much less something as sturdy and dangerous-looking as a mythical beast. “The timing has to be absolutely perfect! A variation of even half a second might be enough to avoid it, or dissipate the force more evenly so the monster survives.” She giggled, half-hysterically. “It’s kind of amazing it keeps working.”
“They’re climbing out of the water.” It felt strange to be the one pointing her back to the dangerous reality of the situation around them. “One on either side…”
“Oh.” She pulled herself up, though she had to lean on the side of the bridge for support, and looked more than a little pale.
“Are you okay?” He didn’t watch her, instead backing up so that he had his back near her, crouching lower than the edge of the bridge.
“Will be…” He wasn’t imagining it, she did sound winded. “This can be your first lesson; magic always has a price. Don’t think that just because you can use big numbers for the variables means you’re actually ready to cast the spell.”
“Uh…” Under any other circumstances, Jacob would’ve thought very poorly of the sanity of anyone who spoke like this outside of any of the LARPs he attended. His last few minutes made him very reluctant to call her out on any strange claim. Survive first. Answers second. Jacob hadn’t ever fought a bully on the schoolyard, let alone a monster on a bridge. If they had come from the same side again, he might’ve taken the path behind the bridge and run for his life, leaving the girl to her fate. The wolves wouldn’t give him the chance to be a coward tonight. “It’s circling around on my side! What am I supposed to do?”
“I gave you a wand!” She sounded exasperated. “Honestly, you’re a confusing choice for first victim. There wasn’t anyone more dangerous in this whole city?”
“Apparently not.” Jacob found his grip on the little stick was getting tight as the monster scrambled up the steep slope to the path. It tore great divots into the ground with each step, ripping up bushes and cutting into the bark of trees.
Was he imagining it, or was the stick glowing brighter the tighter he held it? “Look, there aren’t wands on the show, ‘Twilight.' Maybe I’d know what I was supposed to do if there were!” Of course, there weren’t humans on that show either. While he had more important things to notice than the girl’s race, he was pretty sure she had ordinary skin and proportions. Despite the hair and the outfit, and apparently the magic.
“Just throw something!” He couldn’t see what his companion was doing with the monster on her side, though he was no longer worried. After seeing what she had done to the last one…
Throw something? The wolf stalked down the bridge, inch-long claws scraping into the planks. The whole thing gave a little under the weight, metal groaning. What did he have to throw? Jacob slipped off his backpack and threw the whole thing at the wolf with all his might. Hundreds of dollars of laptop and textbooks flew straight at the Timberwolf’s head.
It caught the backpack, shaking and tearing it apart at the seams. Pencils and torn pages and coins tumbled out onto the bridge, some of them bouncing and rolling into the river. “Dammit!” Jacob was vaguely conscious of the girl leaping forward into combat with the second creature, but was too concerned with his own danger to pay much attention to her.
A little fabric remained in the monster’s jaws as it advanced, along with a little silver rectangle he knew all too well. “You put that down!” He didn’t even know why he screamed, but scream he did, his whole body tightening with anger.
Glass and circuits crunched in its jaws, and it roared again. Never mind that the next bite might very well be around his throat, he was suddenly seeing red. Well, red and yellow. The light coming from the wand was unmistakable now, brighter than the streetlight. Jacob didn’t think so much as act, aiming the wand like a rifle with both arms. “Go AWAY!”
It was suddenly the Fourth of July. The poor wolf caught like dry kindling, screeching and yowling in agony. Flaming bits rained down from it as it turned to run for the river. It didn’t make it, collapsing to a charring pile in the undergrowth, like a forgotten campfire left to burn out overnight. The blaze didn’t spread, though the surrounding bushes started to steam.
The fatigue hit him like a wave, and Jacob found himself slumped over the railing. Sensation fogged around him, and he was only dimly conscious as his companion finished fighting her second wolf. He heard the voices of fellow students as well, probably roused from their apartments by the sound or the flames. At least a few of them would have windows with a view of this bridge, though he was fairly confident none would be able to make him out at this distance. Just now he was too tired to care.
“Hey.” Someone shook him by the shoulder. It was the girl again—she smelled like lavender. The world came back into focus, her voice turned back up from the background roar. Well, almost everything was in focus. The girl herself really did seem blurred. Inky light bled away from her forehead, trailing purple in the air behind her. Her hand felt only half-solid, like a bubble he might crush with too much pressure. “Good work.”
Jacob made his way forward and picked up the apartment keys from where they had fallen, slipping them into a pocket along with his phone and wallet. Other than that… it didn’t look like any of his other possessions had survived. “You look like crap.”
“Y-yeah.” She gestured vaguely at the wand. “I really should’ve… brought two of those.” The blurring was spreading from her head, very slowly. Beneath it was only light. Of her own wolf, there was no sign, save for more splintered ruins on the bridge. Whatever she had done had been as final as his own defense. “I’m quite alright, don’t worry. I’ll just need to make a detour to get this illusion fixed, that’s all. No matter how it looks…”
“So, is this the part where you explain why TV show monsters tried to kill me?” He was catching his breath now, though his whole body still felt weak. Whatever he had done felt far worse than running all the way to the bridge had felt. It was more like walking several miles in winter, a numb fatigue in every part of his body. The worst of the pain was in his head, though. Too bad his aspirin went into the river.
There was a little light from the buildings now, moving slowly closer. Flashlights? He could still hear voices, but in the near distance was something more distinct: police sirens.
The girl noticed too, because she watched the far end of the bridge with obvious fear. Again she gripped at his shoulder, shoving him back onto the path on the other side of the bridge. This time, it was towards his home instead of away from it. “Listen carefully. Do not contact the human authorities. Do not let them find you, especially with that!” She snatched the wand from his hand only to shove it into his pocket.
“But aren’t the police the ones who can help? Or at least animal contr—”
“Quiet!” She shoved him further down the path. “You are aware of the disappearances of prominent…” She lowered her voice a little, almost with disgust. “Bronies?”
They stumbled together from the bridge, back onto the path. With the fire behind them and no light sources to track, it seemed the apartment residents weren’t following further. There were red and blue lights blinking through the trees now though, and more authoritative voices ordering students back to their homes.
“Yeah.” Jacob’s heart went icy cold. “I’ve read the headlines. It’s coincidences, that’s all. Crime happens, so of course sometimes that means Bronies get unlucky too.”
He couldn’t even look at the girl without his eyes getting sore from how strange she looked. He could still hear her, though. “I will be back with reinforcements and we will get you all to safety.”
“But…”
“You need to run again!” She pointed, her whole arm starting to fuzz. “I’ll hold them here, but if they see you they will go looking! Your internet friendship book make you all very easy to find!”
Hold them here? Was this girl seriously talking about fighting the police? Of course, they were coming for the bridge, bright flashlight beams cutting through the gloom. “Okay!” He started backing up, still watching her. She wasn’t much more than an indistinct smudge of purple light at that point. “At least tell me who you are!”
“You already know!”
Jacob wasn’t sure he did, but he ran anyway. He wasn’t close enough to see what had happened when the police arrived. He did see a spectacular flash of light from where he had come, so bright that it cut through the trees and set the animals to screeching in protest.
He made it back to his apartment without encountering either the authorities or monsters.
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A new series from Starscribe? Don't mind if I do.
Well, this is deeply intriguing. I look forward to seeing where you go with it.
Oh, great. I'm not already so dreadfully behind in reading your stories, you have to go and write ANOTHER one.
...
... not that I'm complaining or anything
Ooookay then... this promises to be a trip.
This first chapter explains nothing!
I like it.
From what I could gather, this is what I believe is happening.
Mlp characters are leaking in to the real world. The bad ones, such as the Timberwolves, sense that there is some kind of threat from Bronies. My guess is that it's because they know about them and therefore are knowledgeable enough to kill them. Due to this, they attack any and all Bronies, causing the "disappearances".
But that's just a theory. A BOOK THEORY.
Aw yiss. Moar Starscribe. Bring it on!
Uh oh. Star, are you creating another universe that people are all going to jump on board with again? Stop it. STOP IT. I've got things to do and can't get super engrossed again.
Don't you hate it when people tell you that you already know when you ask something?
I give this story a good "fascinating."
seems good cant wait to see more :D
Hm. It seems interesting, but I'm not entirely sold. Maybe I should check the author, see if he's got a track record.
Oh.
Why haven't I started reading yet, again?
I wonder if we will get some appearances from prominent bronies such as Dr. Wolf or Silver Quill. I'd love lend a hoof on some characters if possible!
Oh, shit!
They're coming for me!
Dammit Starscribe, I already follow enough stories, why did you have to go and release anther one?
Gotta say I'm curious about how this is going to develop. Moar when?
7404679
Tomorrow.
hmmm color me intrugued madam
i shall read on my break!
HAHA!!! Bronies till the end brothers!!! We will not let mere authorities break us and turn us away from each other!! No! We stand united as one pony!! One for all and all for one!! All hail the bronies!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!
7404453 If you are not a well known person in the community then your safe. If not then their out to get you. Hehehahahoho!
You forgot to write about the smell that the Timberwolves have. If it's there in the real world that is.
7404836
I'm not aware of that detail. What smell are you talking about?
7405114
Timberwolves have a foul Oder allowing ponies to identify they are in the area. They also reform if they fall apart
I'm not entirely sure what I just read, but I like it!
Interesting! Deeply interesting. I can't wait to read more!
Sigh. Another HiE that fails to mention pegasisters.
7414574 technically, Bronies are a gender neutral noun meant for the entire Fandom, despite the "bro" in it.
7414574
I understand how you could feel that way, but I think generally people think of bronies and pegasisters as the same.
A part of me doesn't want to read this. For multiple reasons but mainly I feel offended by "Twilights" disgusted use of the term bronies. I'll give this a look later. I'll follow it and I'll see I guess..
If there's not a very good reason for Twilight to expect him to know what's going on, even after, y'know, all the repeated requests for an explanation, I'm going to be very annoyed with her.
At first glance, for the same reason desert-rat kangaroos were still alive in Australia in the 1800s-- because they hadn't been wiped out by invasive species that they had no defenses against yet. You bring magic to Earth, you're responsible for the ecological devastation that follows, and you don't get to blame the locals for having no defense.
Yes, I realize my guess is probably entirely off base, but it'd better be a really damn good explanation.
7403942 no, because im the one who would be doing that to someone.
I hope the US government wins
8881879
Pfft. How sad that you think in that manner.
Lovely first impression there twi.
This is promising to be interesting though having seen the description of the prequel i probably already know more of whats going on then i should.
So... no more josh scorcher?
They GOT LIGHTNING BLISS? *sad face*
Oh, this would have been fun if I'd been swapped in here
'Crap! Twilight *$&#ing Sparkle just gave me a magic wand to fight off a timber wolf before it eats my face! What could I use? Flame thrower? M79 grenade launcher? What are the rules here?! I need to-'
The maniacal laughter from the human behind her nearly made her drop her spell. 'What could possibly be funny about-'
"CHLORINE TRIFLURIDE BLAST!"
A bright flash and a wave of heat washed over her back actually makeing the wolf before he pause in shock. With a twist of her magic she used it's destraction to banish it back to her world, taking a moment to recover before turning around.
Fire.
Everything was on fire.
The remains of the timber wolf were simply gone, indistinguishable from the burning shoreline. Where there should have been a clear line between lake water and the packed earth path was only more fire.
The woods were on fire.
The dirt was on fire.
Even the water was on fire!
The unsettling laughter began again as she registered the fire was giving off billowing clouds of smoke that stung her eyes even standing well upwind of it. As she watched, several birds passed through the rising plume, spasmed uncontrollably and plummeted like stones.
"What did you DO?!"
The laughter slowed to a suppressed giggle as the human seamed to get control of their mirth.
"Oh Twilight, don't you know? You just gave magic to an engineer."
9919032
Nope, that was definitely pyro.
Harley quinn lol.