Two lost apples

by PaladinponyT

Chapter 5: Tooth and blade

The night was filled with the sounds of insects, wind, owls, and other noises. The fire was just a small glow now. I sat there trying to keep my eyes open. Hours had passed and no more eyes appeared; that only made me more anxious. I nearly jumped when I heard the tent open. Bright Mac looked out and whispered to me, "I'll take over if you need to sleep, Sun."

I was too weak to argue, and, if something did happen, I would be no good like this. I nodded and walked over to my cloak. I laid down after telling Bright Mac to wake me if he saw anything. I fell quickly into a dreamless sleep, and I was grateful for that. Nightmares were more likely to happen since Princess Luna was banished. Though Celestia could raise the moon, she couldn't enter the dream realm. I was suddenly awakened by the feeling of Bright Mac shaking me. My eyes popped open and I quickly sat up.

Bright Mac and Buttercup were startled by my sudden movement. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and saw that the sun was starting to rise. Bright Mac had a look of shame on his face,"Sorry about that, Sun," he said timidly. "Didn't mean to scare you." I moved my cloak from the ground and cleaned the dirt off of it.

"No, I am glad you woke me." I said reassuringly, "We need to get moving as soon as possible." I put my cloak on; however, I kept my sword drawn. Looking around, I saw no sign of the Timberwolves. "What are they waiting for?" I thought to myself. "We are still a few hours from Ponyville, so why wait so long?"

The questions gnawed at me as I helped Bright Mac and Buttercup load the camping gear into the wagon. We began to move forward. Bright Mac, with the wagon, was in front this time. Buttercup walked next to him, while I stayed in the back keeping watch behind us. A feeling of unease was on all of us; Bright Mac did not whistle, and Buttercup kept looking back and forth for trouble. I held my sword close with one of my forehooves. Three hours passed without a problem.

We stopped to rest at a huge rock; Buttercup pulled out one of the pies and we ate in silence. "We are not far from Sweet Apple Acres," said Buttercup happily. "I can't wait for you to meet our kids and Granny Smith." I was about to say something when we all heard a loud howl break through the trees. It was answered by more; suddenly we were surrounded by at least 15 Timberwolves. They circled and growled as their foul breath became unbearable; using my magic, I raised my sword and in old ponish I yelled the word for fire.

Flames appeared around my sword and I waved it at the wolves, they didn't pull back. I was immediately shocked; normally the Timberwolves would cower at the sight of fire. Then came a great howl, and a Timberwolf twice the normal size stepped out of the trees. It was made of black wood with red leaves. I had heard about this kind of wolf, but I never imagined I'd see one.
"An Alpha wolf," I said trembling. "The captains of the packs."

The Alpha stepped slowly forward; its red eyes pinned me in place as it crept closer. An aura of fear washed over me as I stood there shaking. Without warning, an apple pie flew past my head and hit the Alpha. I broke free of whatever hold the beast had on me and looked back. The pie had been thrown by Buttercup, who stood with a defiant look on her face. Bright Mac stood tall next to her. Courage welled up inside me, and with a cry I brought my sword down on the beast's face. It cut deep, but the wolf's tough wood was nearly immune to fire.

The other wolves attacked. I blinked over to Bright Mac and Buttercup and threw a shield of magic around us. Four wolves broke against it and I leapt through it. I cut two wolves, which burst into flame, they would not return from that; no Timberwolf has ever come back from ash. The Alpha tackled me and I fell to the ground hard, a lesser wolf jumped on top of me. The beast tried to bite my neck, but I used my magic to hold its mouth open. Bright Mac ran to me and kicked the wolf off of me; I pulled my sword to me and stabbed the creature's underbelly.

Fire consumed it, and I turned to the Alpha; its red eyes blazed with hatred. I formed a shield in front of me and I charged; the Alpha did the same and we collided. Bright Mac ran back to Buttercup as the four wolves near her began to reform, he stomped on one that tried to bite his love. He lifted Buttercup into the wagon and continued to hold the wolves off, Buttercup grabbed more of the pies in the wagon and threw them at the wolves. Blinded, the Timberwolves were unable to avoid Bright Mac's kicks and stomps.

The Alpha and I continued to fight; there was a twang as my sword met the beast's claws. The beast's wooden paws smoked, but did not burn. Its wooden body was like iron as I cut and shot it with magic; red smoke poured out of the creature's mouth. It smelled like rot and weakened my strength, with a great effort I blinked onto the Alpha's back and drove my sword deep into it. The beast gave no sign of pain, and it tried to shake me off. I held on to my sword with my hooves. The Alpha rolled and smashed me to the ground, I felt enormous pain as I laid there. My vision was blurry, when I tried to get up, nothing was broken, but I could feel blood running down my face.

Bright Mac looked very tired as he continued to battle the other Timberwolves. Buttercup was running low on pies as the Alpha drew closer to them. Drawing from my reserves, I pushed past all the pain and blinked in front of my two friends.

"You will not touch them!" I yelled.

Power born from a desire to protect them filled me, and with a great cry I yelled the word for fire in old ponish again. White flames blasted out of my horn, they hit the Alpha and the four wolves next to it. The four lesser wolves turned to dust, the others near the trees were filled with fear and ran. The Alpha continued to press forward for a moment before breaking into pieces.

Exhaustion quickly overtook me and I passed out.