The Thirteenth Alicorn

by Monty Python

Chapter Two

Erebus was not happy. When he had asked when he could start, Lux had thought that right this very second was soon enough. And to make matters worse, he had been dropped off in the epicenter of the Everfree Forest. Right on top of a hungry pack of Timberwolves.

But all was not lost, he managed to swing by Tia and LuLu's old castle; only to find it abandoned and ready to fall down at any moment. Did he say all was not lost? He meant the complete opposite. And the Timberwolves had managed to pick his scent up and were chasing him deeper and deeper into the forest.

So now he was currently running for his- not exactly life if you're immortal, perhaps his dignity. He nodded to himself as he ran, just managing not to trip over his hooves and tumble over. If any of his siblings heard that he had gotten gnawed on by a pack of Timberwolves, it would take eons for them to get over it.

There was a sharp bark as one of Timberwolves-the beta judging from its size- lunged towards him, it's wooden teeth ready to rip his throat out- if he had a throat. There wasn't enough room for him to do much damage, and his magic wasn't useful in close range combat. But he could do something else.

Kicking his back legs out, he shattered the Timberwolf's skull and sent it flying back into the ravenous pack behind it. He knew it wasn't dead, and that even being bucked by an alicorn wasn't going to be enough. But that wasn't what he was aiming for. He released the magic that kept his body- his bones- up and collapsed to the ground as a pile of bones.

Which then promptly rearranged themselves in a snake-like fashion and shot off deeper into the forest.

Needless to say, the Timberwolves were very confused but determined they chased after their quarry. And what Flora had forgotten to mention was that the creatures of the Everfree Forest had thousands of years to cope with the harsh environment, so the alicorn? He was going to lose. Badly.

---

Fluttershy hummed quietly to herself as she hovered next to the birdhouse gently carrying a baby bluebird in her hooves.

"Here you go Azuly," she said as the bird's parents popped their heads outside, and chirped happily in recognition and reached out to take the little one, and then pulled him in for a group hug. The father looked up at Fluttershy and gave a chirp of thanks.

Fluttershy blushed and waved a hoof nonchalantly.

"It was nothing, but tell Azuly that he needs to stay off of flying for a couple of days while his bones mend."

He nodded and motioned for his wife and son to return inside.

Fluttershy smiled and flew higher, above her house and breathed in the fresh fall air. Turning, she saw Ponyville come into view, with all its residents preparing for the Running of the Leaves. Did she want to participate this year? Fluttershy mused as she beat the air gently. Registration was still going for another week, perhaps she could wait for an little longer. But now she had much to do: she needed to prep the hibernators for winter, help gather the migrating birds, and teach the new generation of animals how to migrate and hibernate, the rookie vet's job was never done.

But she sensed something wrong, there was a scent in the breeze that she couldn't recognize. But whatever it was, it carried the telltale smell of death.

Shuddering, she made a mental note to talk to Twilight about it, before she realized she had promised to help Harry and his friends gather food for winter. She looked worriedly at Ponyville, its members happy and carefree, she wanted to warn them, but the scent had already left, sighing she flew back down.

---

Erebus was exhausted. Even after serpenting the pack for twenty minutes, they still hadn't given up. And Erebus was on the verge of collapsing on his hooves. If he had them in this form.

Leaning against a tree to catch his breath, Erebus let his gaze wander. Being chased by ravenous predators tends to cut down on one's observing skills. The forest was beautiful, he had to admit, the leaves alternating between red, yellow, brown, and bright blue.

He snapped back to attention at that least one; careful not to touch the Poison Joke. Seriously did Χαώδης need to create a plant that gave you a random curse? But as he thought about it, an idea sprouted to life- which was a bad analogy coming from him. A smile crossed his face as he heard the tell-tale howls come from behind him.

He slithered forward careful to avoid any sign of the Poison Joke, which was easy to do when your serpenting. The Timberwolves weren't as smart or coordinated enough to do the same. Instead, they all ran straight through the flowers, each getting inflicted by more and more hilarious curses.

One got his teeth switched out with daffodils, the other turned bright pink, and the third started playing polka music whenever it barked. But they still kept coming. Almost like the Tao-Tei of old, which reminded Erebus to have Apophis give Flora a strict talking to about creating nearly unkillable monsters.

Then so suddenly he almost missed it, a path leading out of the forest and the sudden brightness of the shine blinding him. He slowed down substantially, his snake form not able to grasp as much on the dirt path then it could in the forest. It was either slow down and be attacked or return to his normal form and keep running. He chose the latter.

His head shot up into the air as the rest of the bones followed suit. Leg bones were attached to the shoulders, the vertebrae's making up his spine popping into place. It was all over in a span of seconds. Right in time for the Timberwolves to break from the forest and follow towards him.

It made Erebus happy to see that many of them had been cursed so many times that they looked almost unrecognizable. The alpha, for example, had gotten its feet grown to a comedically big size, it's tail was replaced with paddle-ball. It had also grown twice as large and grown an extra head from a bulb-like sprout. Erebus wasn't as happy when he saw that.

And the fact that it was glaring at him with so much hatred didn't put his mind at ease in any way. So Erebus did what anypony would do in a situation like this: he straight up bucking panicked.

Author's Note:

Wow, 69 people are reading my first story! Thanks, Y'all. Also, headcanon that Fluttershy is training to become a vet, we have seen her take care of animals, so it makes the most sense