A Woodland Romance

by KidatHeart5

Peril in the Forest

When the sun was almost down, a group of humans and ponies – armed to the teeth - slowly walked into the forest. The others either volunteered to stay behind or were forced to. Discord, Daring Do, Soarin’, Flash, Spike, and four of the sisters – Twilight, Sunset, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack – carefully neared the spot where the cocoon was resting. Only…

Sunset gasped, “There’s another one!”

Soarin’ cringed, “I hope it’s not who I think it is.”

“It better not.”

Discord, who was wearing policeman attire, demanded to the cocoon with a megaphone, “All right, Gaea! We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands in the air!”

Just then, the sun set and the cocoon started glowing green.

Utterly surprised, Discord let the paw holding the megaphone drop to his side and remarked, “Wow. Fast response.”

Preparing themselves for the worst, the group pointed their weapons at the glowing cocoon.

Sunset warned the cocoon, “Gaea, if you can hear me, I want you to let Gloriosa and Timber go! We don’t have to fight! You’re outnumbered!”

Suddenly, the cocoon burst open and the force of it flung the group members to the ground. When they looked up, they saw Gloriosa as she was the night before, but this time, she had a few red jewels in her hair and brambles sprouting from her green locks. When she spoke, two synchronized voices came out of her mouth: one was her own and the other was a deep, hollow voice like Gaea was said to have.

Gloriosa said menacingly as she floated upwards, “I may be outnumbered, but you’re out of your depth!” She gestured to a human Timber, who was unconscious from being trapped in the second cocoon, and said, “He knew what he was getting into. You should do the same.”

Daring Do said as she readied her whip, “Not if I have anything to say about it!”

The Pegasus flayed her whip at Gloriosa, but the latter caught it as if it was just a stick. Brambles then sprouted from her clutched hand and spread down the whip. Daring Do let out a yelp as she let go of the whip before the magic could touch her.

Gloriosa chuckled at that before a row of flowers began rising from the ground. She told the armed group, “Do you really think you can stop me? All of you? Let this be the moment you learn that you cannot stop Gaea Everfree!”

When the flowers rose to her height, their petals burst open and spewed pollen at the group. They coughed and fanned the pollen away before they saw that Gloriosa had vanished.

Rainbow Dash said as she ran deeper into the woods, “C’mon! We can’t lose her!”

Twilight tried to stop her sister, “Rainbow, wait!”

Sunset put her hand on her twin’s shoulder and said, “She’s right. The farther Gloriosa gets away from us, the less chance we’ll have of catching her. You go on ahead. I’ll join you in a sec.”

Twilight nodded and went with the others to track down Gloriosa. Sunset stayed behind to kneel beside Timber and stroke his hair. She whispered, “Please be safe, Timber.” She then got up and ran off to join the group.

---

After an hour of searching, the group found that the forest got denser.

Daring Do said, “Thick shrubbery. Must be a sign. Gloriosa might be here.”

Spike corrected, “I don’t think she’s Gloriosa anymore.”

Discord asked, “Well, what do you suggest we call her?”

Soarin’ proposed, “Gaea-osa?”

Spike suggested, “Glori-free?”

Discord then gasped as he snapped his fingers, “I know! Glaea!”

His two bros-in-law looked at him uncertainly as Soarin’ asked, “Glaea?”

“Yes!” He used his hands to represent Gloriosa and Gaea, “‘Gloriosa’ and ‘Gaea’ make –“ He meshed his hands together as he said, “- ‘Glaea’! Get it?”

Spike and Soarin’ stood there in silence until the dragon said, “That sounds close to ‘glide’, if you ask me.”

Daring Do harshly whispered, “Shush! You don’t want Gloriosa to hear us, do you?”

Discord corrected, “Glaea. Her new name is Glaea.”

Before Daring Do could say anything, Twilight said to her, “Don’t ask.”

Suddenly, a bramble shot from between the trees. Rainbow rushed to Sunset, crying, “Look out!” Involuntarily, she used super speed to push Sunset out of the way.

When Sunset saw the bramble wrapping around the tree she was standing in front of, she said to Rainbow, “Thanks, Rainbow Dash.”

Applejack then pointed to something and cried, “Look! Green eyes!”

The green eyes had already disappeared, but the group carefully spread out to different parts of the area and prepared themselves for an attack.

Just then, two voices echoed in synchronization, “You should have listened to my twin brother from the beginning, princess.” Cackling resonated from all directions before the voices continued, “He was right…to stay here with me.”

When the cackling resumed, Applejack, Flash, and Soarin’ huddled together with their backs towards each other. Then, the cackling got louder like it was descending upon them. The three of them looked up to see a silhouette jumping down from the trees! They leaped out of the way before Glaea could land on them. She now had a white face, a slightly longer skirt that had become as dark as wood, brown shoulders to match her tree-colored arms, more red jewels decorating her hair, and a six-pointed leaf resting above her chest.

She said as she floated up again, “He’s mine forever.”

Rainbow Dash shouted, “Get her!”

But no matter how hard the group fought her, Glaea only laughed at their futile efforts. She used a wall of brambles, attack flowers, and even made it shower pinecones to deflect and strike.

Daring Do panted, “We’re not getting anywhere with her!”

Discord told her, “I got an idea, but I’ll need you to create a diversion.”

Daring nodded her head, not questioning what Discord was getting at. She flew up and started circling around Glaea. She taunted, “Hey, plants-for-brains! Over here!”

Glaea shot brambles at Daring Do, but she missed every time. When Discord saw the perfect opportunity to grab the geodes, he lunged at Glaea.

He said, “Hasta la vista, Gaea!”

As soon as he touched the crystals, however, an electric shock ran through him. He then crumpled to the ground with a burnt paw.

Sunset gasped when she saw this, “No!”

Glaea chuckled maliciously, “Poor fool. He never knows when to give up.”

Sunset gritted her teeth in rising anger, “And neither do I!” She jumped up, landed on Glaea’s back, and wrapped her arms around her.

Glaea grunted, “Think you can grab the geodes this way? You saw what happened to your friend.”

Sunset retorted, “I’m not trying to grab the geodes! I’m trying to make you release Gloriosa!”

“Glad it wasn’t Timber, huh? I bet you’d fight harder for him.”

This gave Sunset pause for a moment, but it was a moment Glaea used to her advantage. She summoned brambles to wrap around Sunset’s ankles and pull her from Glaea.

Sunset yelped, “Whoa!”

As the princess was hanging upside down, Glaea told her, “Let’s see if my lovesick brother can save you now.” She motioned for the brambles to throw Sunset at the bramble wall.

Twilight cried, “Sun-Sun!”

After crashing through the plant wall, Sunset tumbled onto the ground on the other side. When she looked up, the hole in the wall patched itself with new brambles. Now she was completely alone without her family by her side. Just then, she heard a low growling and turned to see green eyes peering from between the trees.

She whispered, “Oh, no…”

She slowly got on her feet and then dashed off before the Timberwolves could get her. The ravenous pack gave chase and snarled at their running prey. Sunset ran as fast as she could in the woods, but since she was new to being on two legs, it was difficult for her.

When she nearly tripped, she muttered to herself, “I bet this is a piece of cake for Timber.” Then, she saw a bramble hanging over a ravine. She said, “Okay, if I can grab that bramble, I can swing to safety on the other side.” Although she was a little hesitant about this plan, she had to muster the strength to make it work. When she neared the ravine, she told herself, “You can do this, Sunset. One, two, three!”

She jumped off the edge and reached for the bramble. Suddenly, something swung in and grabbed her by the wrist. She looked up to see…

She gasped in delight, “Timber! You’re okay!”

He smirked at her, “Yep. Saving my fair lady again.”

He then swung up above the trees and tossed Sunset into the air as he leaped for the ledge where Quibble’s tent was. After he had landed safely, he caught Sunset in his arms.

When he set her down, she remarked, “Wow. Those were some pretty cool moves back there.”

Timber said proudly, “I’ve had a lifetime of practice, so yeah. I’m really good at that stuff.”

She smirked, “You’re telling me.” She then said to him, “Now we need to save your sister.”

He said worriedly, “I hope she’s not too far gone by the time we reach her.”

At that moment, they heard rustling in the woods behind the tent. Suddenly, fanged rabbits with antlers burst forth from the trees.

Sunset cried, “Vampiric jackalopes!”

Timber lifted her up quickly and said, “Time to go!”

As Timber jumped back down into the forest below, Sunset let out a “Whoa!”

When they burst through the treetops, Timber landed on a long, gnarled bramble and started “surfing” on it with his bare feet. The jackalopes were not too far behind and they gave chase as Timber navigated his way on the bramble. He then leaped onto a set of twisty brambles and his feet were like one with the curvy boughs. After he made his way over the twisty brambles, he jumped onto another one that seemed to follow the design of a roller coaster.

Sunset asked Timber, “Have you ever done this before?!”

Timber answered with a smile, “No! First time, actually!”

“What?!”

Before she could say anything else, a pack of vampiric jackalopes headed straight for them. Sunset knew she had to do something, so she began trying to use magic with her hands.

When he saw magical auras flickering on her hands, he asked, “What are you doing?”

She grunted, “Trying to save our necks!”

Just before the jackalopes could touch them, Sunset managed to conjure up a magical domed force field. It shielded them from the savage creatures, and each jackalope flew off to the side when the force field impacted them.

When the jackalopes were gone, the force field vanished and Timber complimented, “Nice.”

Suddenly, a Timberwolf jumped in front of them!

A split-second before the beast could get to them, Timber apologized to Sunset, “Sorry, Sunny!” After he threw her into the air, Timber wrestled with the Timberwolf. He grunted, “You’re not having us for supper tonight, pal!”

Meanwhile, Sunset was flying in the air until she caught a bramble. Unfortunately, one side of it snapped in half, causing Sunset to dangle from the bramble. She yelled out, “Timber!”

That caught his attention and he wasted no more time with the Timberwolf. He smirked to the beast, “Looks like we need to play some other time, buddy.” He plucked the Timberwolf’s eyebrow, causing the animal to howl in pain and shake its head violently. The force of the motion enabled Timber to leap up and grab a bramble to swing on.

Sunset tried to use her magic to repair the bramble. She grunted, “Come on.” When the bramble she was holding onto threatened to break, she cried, “No!” When the limb did break, she fell and screamed, “AAAHH!”

Luckily, Timber grabbed her wrist and pulled her with him as he swung from bramble to bramble. The Timberwolf giving them chase had only a second to see the branch in front of it before the beast shattered upon impact. Sunset yelled as Timber flung her into the air again. His feet landed on opposite edges of the hollow tree that laid above a ravine. When Timber caught Sunset, his legs spread apart under the weight.

“Hngh!” he grunted in discomfort.

Sunset gasped as she pointed to something, “More jackalopes!”

When hordes of the creatures scampered towards the human couple, Timber leapt down the hollow tree with Sunset in his arms. It wasn’t long before the jackalopes followed suit. However, the increasing weight on the tree became too much and the hollow trunk abruptly splintered, letting the couple fall down the ravine. It wasn’t long before the tree broke in half, taking the jackalopes down with it.

Sunset shouted as she and her beloved fell, “Timber, do something!”

He reassured her, “Don’t worry! I got this!”

He grabbed a bramble that was dangling down the rock wall and clutched it with every bit of strength he had. The friction from the bramble burned his hand, but he wasn’t letting go. Thankfully, the bramble sprung the couple back upwards until they landed on a small ledge. When they heard a crashing sound above, they saw that the top half of the hollow tree was about to fall down on them!

Sunset shouted, “Look out!”

In a matter of seconds, Timber grabbed a bramble and swung the both of them to a tunnel opening. However, the falling tree caused the bramble he was holding to break. Luckily, the couple managed to fall into the opening, nearly avoiding being hit by the hollow trunk. They held onto each other as they lied on the tunnel floor until the danger had passed. When the noise died down, they lifted their heads to see if it was all right now. They looked over the edge to see how far down the ravine was.

Timber sighed, “Phew! Glad we didn’t go down there.”

Sunset nodded, “I know. This has been one crazy camping trip.”

He shrugged, “Hey, a camping trip gets a little crazy once in a while.”

She chuckled before she said, “Come on. Let’s find another way out of this tunnel.”

Author's Note:

Name the references!

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

I see Tarzan and the first set of the IDW comics.

[Marina Stars]

The hollow tree reminds me of the 2016 'Jungle Book' movie

[Godslittleprincess]

What made you decide that adding the Tarzan scene was a good idea? It totally was.