Return of the Ancient Mage

by Zoshe

Chapter 15: The Everfree Shade

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Twilight?" Asked Fluttershy as all their friends gathered outside her cottage.

"Pretty sure," she said as she looked out to the forest and then back to her friends. "It's not too dark yet and we're only going to stick to the safer paths unless we see something."

"Ah understand why you'd wanna meet this Shade Ah been tellin ya about," said Applejack. "But did ya ever stop ta think this might be a bit dangerous?"

"Darling, I quite agree with Applejack," Rarity said as she fixed a shawl over her mane. "The Everfree forest is no place for civilized ponies like us."

"I know Rarity, but I'm just concerned about this turning out the same as the time we all hid from Zecora." Twilight responded.

"How ya figure," Rainbow Dash said with a yawn.

"Well duh," said Pinkie Pie with an eye roll. "Mysterious figure with their face hidden behind a cloak. Their eyes shining out from the darkness as they roam around while being suspicious and mysterious. Any of this ringing any bells?"

"Huh," Rainbow thought it over. "Now that you mention it, yeah. That sounds just like what happened before."

"Exactly," concluded Twilight. "We all remember how that went. How it was all just one big misunderstanding. I think we'd all prefer not to have a repeat of that little episode. I think we should give this pony a chance before we all just make up our minds about him."

"Yeah," said a smug Rainbow. "Besides, when we're all together, what's the worse that could happen?"

Pinkie Pie bolted up to Rainbow dash, a panicked look on her face. "Dashie! You've doomed us all! Do you know the flag you just triggered?!"

---

"Who's idea was this again?!" Screeched Rarity as they all scrambled over another fallen tree. A pack of timberwolves close on their heels.

They had made it about halfway into the woods when Pinkie felt the need to burst out into song. The song was something about branches and paths and taking the road on the right, or something of that nature. She didn't even make it to the second verse when a deepthroated growl broke through from the underbrush. Needless to say, they probably should've taken the road on the left.

"Less yappin more runnin!" Applejack shouted as she doubled back and kicked one of the wolves that were getting a bit too close. The magical wood that made up its body resounded with a dull thud as it tumbled backwards into the rest of its pack, its body exploding into pieces.

The timberwolves leapt over the body of their fallen companion as they continued their pursuit of the creatures that had wandered into their territory.

"How long are these things going to keep chasing us?!" Shouted Rainbow Dash as she dodged the snapping jaws of a wolf that had just leapt out of the side brush.

"They should give up after we get out of the forest," Twilight breathed hard as her hooves continued to pound on the dirt. "We should get out of here soon as long as we don't run into any more of them."

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie screamed. "Didn't you learn already not to say things like that?! You'll trigger another flag!"

"Pinkie! What are you...?!" Twilight skid to a halt as several more sets of eyes poked up out of the brushes in front of them.

"More of them?!" Shouted an exasperated Rarity as she nearly tumbled straight into Twilight.

Twilight quickly fired magic from her horn as one of the new wolves ran straight at them. Its body burst into kindling as it was struck by the magical bolt. They took advantage of the momentary distraction as all six ponies made their way through the opening she just made. They would have stayed and fought, but past experience with these creatures taught them that even if they broke them into pieces, it wouldn't take long before they put themselves back together. Even as they cleared the second pack, Twilight looked behind her to see that the pieces of the timberwolf she had just blasted apart was already floating up from the ground and coming back together.

"I don't know what's got them so agitated!" Fluttershy struggled to keep up. "I've never seen so many of them at once before!"

Another wolf jumped at the group of ponies from seemingly out of nowhere. Most of the party was able to dodge it. However, poor Fluttershy collided with the creature and went tumbling through the underbrush.

"Fluttershy!" The rest of them shouted in unison as they all turned around to find their fallen friend.

The rest of the timberwolves had already encircled the downed pegasus by the time they had turned around. Twilight could barely make out her yellow coat through the maze of branches and legs. She began to desperately fire her magic at the monsters surrounding her friend, but for every wolf she took down, two more took its place.

"I'm coming Fluttershy!" Shouted Rainbow as she took to the air. She tried to dive in close to where she had landed but another wolf blocked her off at every attempt to get close.

They all caught a small glimpse of the scared pegasus. One of her legs had ended up wedged under a tree in the fall and her wings and hair had ended up ensnared by the twisting thorns in the underbrush.

Try as they might, they couldn't get any closer to their friend. Fluttershy huddled down on the ground, attempting to make herself seem small in front of the magical creatures. Green fog rolled from the open mouths of the timberwolves as they closed in on her. One of them, eager to make the kill, coiled up on its hind legs and leapt forward, ready to sink its splintery teeth into the exposed flesh.

The forest went deathly silent.

Not the kind of silence that one would expect from predators finishing a hunt, but an eerie sort of silence.

Fluttershy timidly removed one of her shaking hooves from her face, still terrified but was now wondering how she was still alive. As she opened her eyes, the forest suddenly seemed a bit darker. Almost instantly she locked eyes on the timberwolf that had just leapt at her. Its jaw was wedged around something that hadn't been standing there moments ago.

A trickle of blood could be seen leaking out from around the wolf's teeth. It was not, however, trying to maul whatever it had its jaws locked around. If anything, the expression on its face told a story more of shock and dread, than of delight.

She followed the wolf's gaze upward and immediately felt a fresh shiver of fear run down her spine. The pony she had seen the last time she wandered into these woods stood over her. His luminescent green eyes piercing the darkness from within his hood as he looked down with contempt at the thing that had just bitten him.

The sound of rattling sticks could be heard all around them as the rest of the wolves dropped low to the ground and began to slowly back away. Not once did any of them take their eyes off the group standing in the middle of their pack as they watched for any sign of weakness in the true monster that had been invading their territory.

"Don't move," the Shade said calmly to Fluttershy as the wolf fastened around his leg began to smolder. Smoke beginning to rapidly pour out from in between its joints as the light faded from its eyes.

With a pop, the timberwolf shattered into splinters. Every stray piece of wood that made up its body igniting into a green magical fire before it even reached the ground. The pieces quickly burning to ash as they settled onto the damp forest floor.

Twilight and the rest of her party watched in awe as the downed wolf actually stayed down. Was that how it worked? If you burned them they didn't come back? The shade slowly lifted his gaze to the rest of the ponies, Twilight suddenly understanding what Fluttershy had meant about his eyes. The way he looked at you felt like he was staring deep into your soul, everything that made you what you are was on full display to his piercing gaze.

The shade turned his gaze back on the wolves that had surrounded him. The wolves, suddenly deciding that their hunt was over, began to scramble over each other in an attempt to get away from the much more dangerous predator as fast as possible. He turned his gaze back down to the trembling Fluttershy one last time before sighing and slowly stepping away from her.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright?!" Cried Twilight as she and the other four ponies galloped up to Fluttershy and with their combined efforts, freed her from the underbrush.

Fluttershy threw herself at her friends the moment she was freed. A moment was spent with her practically being crushed under their loving embrace. "I'll be ok," she finally answered.

Twilight turned to look at the Shade. He currently had one of his golden legs raise to his mouth. A ring of blood could be seen dripping from an open wound as Twilight saw him use his teeth to pull a long thick sliver of wood from his leg, most likely from the timberwolf that bit him.

"Thank you for saving Fluttershy," Twilight gave him a small bow. She looked at his leg as she lifted her gaze, "are you going to be alright?"

"I've had worse," the Shade's voice sounded deep and rich, like a pony that could easily command respect from his peers.

Fluttershy had broken out of the group hug and was pushing past Twilight. She had a look of concern on her face as she approached the cloaked pony. It was clearly taking no small amount of courage to do so, if the way she was shaking was anything to go by.

"Thank you for saving me." She looked down at his bloodied leg, "oh but you got hurt because of me."

"It's fine," he shifted his cloak to hide the leg.

"Nonsense darling," said Rarity as she trotted up alongside Fluttershy. "A nasty wound like that needs to be bound up right away." She reached down with her magic and pulled the injured leg in front of her. She pulled off her shawl, ready to use it to bind the leg, but as she inspected the leg, her jaw dropped. "That's just not possible!" She exclaimed.

The bite into the leg had already sealed up and the blood that had been soaked into the surrounding coat was already dry and flaking off. "I told you it was fine." He pulled his leg away from her and out of sight, "what I want to know is what you lot think you're doing out here if you can't defend yourselves?"

"We were actually looking for you," said Twilight as she looked suspiciously at the now healed leg. When did he cast a spell? Come to think of it, she hadn't seen how he set that timberwolf on fire either.

He looked up at her and tilted his head, "and why exactly were you looking for me?"

"Curiosity mostly," Applejack interjected. "Mah family's got stories bout a pony wanderin these woods that fits yer description."

"And to invite you to a super duper awesome party where you can make a whole bunch of new friends," Pinkie cheered.

"Sounds to me like you all took a stupid risk that almost got one of you killed," his eyes swept over them. Each of them felt themselves flinch as they made eye contact with him.

"Hey!" Protested Rainbow Dash. "I could've taken them if there weren't so many."

The shade took a few steps forward until he was looming over the rainbow pegasus. Rainbow shirked away from him a bit but was seeming to do her best to remain firm. "Excuses don't bring back the dead," the stallion finally said.

"Um..." Fluttershy timidly said. "It's true though. I've been into the forest many times and I've never seen so many timberwolves at once."

"That's most likely my fault," the shade said apologetically as he stepped away from Rainbow. "My presence in the forest seems to have agitated them."

"What exactly are you doing in the forest?" Asked Twilight.

"Searching for something," he answered.

Twilight swallowed hard, "what are you searching for that would be in the Everfree forest?" She asked nervously. "Maybe we could help you find it."

The Shade turned his eyes on her, once again sending an unsettling feeling racing through her that seemed to happened whenever those glowing eyes looked at her. "No, what I'm searching for is very dangerous and I'd rather not have other ponies affected by it," he answered. "It's my own problem to deal with and it's clearly too dangerous out here for all of you. Come with me, I'll see you out of these woods."

The group slowly made its way out of the forest, the mares in the group warily looking at the trees surrounded them for signs of danger. Once or twice, Twilight could've sworn she had seen something move in the underbrush, but so far nothing seemed to want to bother them.

Twilight looked ahead to their guide, he hadn't once looked back at them since they started following him. It seemed he wished to be left alone for the most part, but Twilight's curiosity got the better of her.

"Um..." Twilight hesitantly broached the silence. "Mister Shade, sir?" She asked.

The stallion stopped and turned his head to her. The unsettling feeling was still there, but this time it seemed a bit more curious. "Mister Shade?" He asked with a questioning tone. "There's a name I haven't been called before. Is something bothering you?"

"I was just wondering," Twilight took a few steps closer, her curiosity overtaking her fear. "Do your eyes always glow like that?"

"Oh this?" He said without slowing his pace. "It's just a little trick I've picked up over the years. It lets me see the magic in the world around me in greater detail. You can't be too careful in the wilder areas of the world and it helps me with my search."

"Wait," Twilight was astonished. "You can see more than just unicorn magic?"

"Yes," the shade said as he walked away from her, seemingly annoyed with the questions.

"Can you teach me?" Twilight asked enthusiastically. "I'd love to learn how to do that."

"No," he said flatly as he continued down the path.

Twilight puffed out her cheeks in annoyance before chasing after him.

---

It was evening by the time they reached the edge of the woods near Fluttershy's cottage. They all heard the Shade give a sigh of relief as the light in his eyes dimmed down to nothing.

"I trust you all can avoid getting lost from here," he said.

Twilight nodded as she saw his eyes for the first time without the light obscuring them. They were a deep green, and the parts of his face that she could make out looked quite young. She didn't think this could possibly be the same Shade that Granny Smith saw all those years ago.

"We'll be fine from here," Twilight said. "Are you sure you don't want our help? How do you even know what you're looking for is in the forest?"

The Shade looked at her, his eyes no longer having the unsettling feeling they had before when they were glowing. He seemed to be considering her for a moment, "I'm sure." He finally said. "You all seem like a nice bunch of girls and I wouldn't want to see you get hurt. As for how I know it's here, I've been tracking the amulet for a while. I came out this way cause I heard stories of a traveling magician who stirred up all sorts of trouble here in Ponyville with some sort of amulet she found. Figured I'd come out this way and see if its the same as the one I'm looking for."

"Hey Twilight," Pinkie jumped in. "That sounds like..." Was all she got out before she found a cyan hoof slapped over her mouth.

The Shade turned to Rainbow Dash, "is she ok?"

"Yeah," said Rainbow while doing her best to keep Pinkie from talking. "She just gets a bit jumpy if she's missed lunch."

"I see," a slight rumble could be heard coming from underneath his cloak. "I could probably go for a good meal myself. I'll see you around Twilight Sparkle." With a snap of green magic, he vanished right in front of them.

Pinkie a loud, possibly exaggerated gasp, "he's gone!"

"Pinkie..." Twilight face hoofed. "That was just a teleportation spell. You see me do that all the time."

"Oh yeah..." Pinkie quickly shifted into a cheery smile as she bounced away.

"Enough of that," Applejack jumped in. "Twi, Ah know if'n Ah caught what it sounds like he's lookin fer, then Ah'm sure ya'll did as well."

Twilight's face narrowed in consternation, "I did, Applejack. That worries me. He seems powerful enough already with the way he easily dealt with the wolves. I'd hate to think what would happen if he actually found the Alicorn Amulet."

"We all remember how bad Trixie went when she was wearing it," said Rainbow. "We're just lucky that she only used it to show off."

"What are you thinking, Darling?" Asked Rarity as she caught Twilight contemplating something.

Twilight looked up at the setting sun, "nothing tonight. It's getting awfully late and I don't wanna run into more timberwolves so soon. I don't think there's any real danger of the Shade finding the amulet, we did hide it pretty well. But I think I'll go see Zecora in the morning just to make sure."

Comments

[UnamusedWaffle]

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[Luckyfanisaac]

out her yellow coat through through the maze of branches

Not once did any of them take their eyes off the group standing in the middle of their pack

I've been into the forest many times and I've never

what would happen if he actually found the Alicorn Amulet."

[mysticbynd]

All of the flag triggering 😂😂