Desolate, no?

by Koregazz

Chapter 3: Starswirl's Guide To Magic

For the longest time, Luna just traversed the length of greenery. Overgrown vines raked their long fingers across the mangled floor bed. Every so often she stopped, looking at the map for further guidance, and then continued along the invisible trail ahead. Thick trees – with moss slapped along their necks – towered, and with their fully-bloomed canopies, blocked most sunlight from her. Tiny shafts of the sought-after heat source gleamed down to hungry plants, letting them drink in the small amounts soon to leave.

Multi-legged creatures scuttled over the ivory shrubs and fallen oak; the small steps taking them to food and shelter. Some of them were able to take flight, floating through Luna’s peripheral vision. She swatted the few who came too close, but otherwise let them be. Not taking fancy to the insect world, she’d much rather keep her distance, even if it was close to impossible in the tight terrain.

Soon after passing another forest-covered log, Luna grew weary. Up ahead, faint traces of a stream sounded. Pushing herself, she came to a real clearing in hours – with a clear stream of crystal water. She sat down with a heavy sigh, stretching her tired legs. When was the last time I rested? She thought. One hour? Four? The long trek from Hoofdale was not fully there. Most of her time was spent walking, hurdling, and climbing through the vast trail.

Before now, traversing the wilds of Equestria wasn’t the highest item on her list of things to do. She would, more often than not, be found in her room, reading old scriptures or studying the stars. Yet here I am. Kicking a pebble shifting with the movement of the stream, Luna reached into her bag, pulling out Starswirl’s book. Not since she packed it, had an opportunity come up to read it. In her opinion, now would be the best time.

Torn pages – dry as the sands of Saddle Arabia – met her fingers, gently pulling back the thin paper. Each page had a series of symbols along the sides; with faded ink stroking old language. Since it was centuries old, most common languages hadn’t yet been born; leaving only the elder marks of Equestria’s old days.

Seeing the dead letterings after so long, made it slightly difficult to read for the first pages.

The old wizard’s pages were filled with much more than Luna remembered. Mechanical accomplishments, devices, notes on local wildlife in his travels, potions, magical discoveries, and an assortment of stickies for uncompleted research. He lived for long, allowing none of his time wasted while he searched the unknown. Detailed drawings and descriptions took up vast sections; each detailing samplings on the individual ingredients for cures. Back in those days, medicine was less advanced, which had accounted for too many outbreaks and deaths; yet here were the very answers these doctors were wanting.

Flipping sporadically, she came upon many logs on his daily activities. Quite a few were on his tests, which had both good and bad results. Flipping more, she noticed dozens of unfinished devices; some had small notes indicating how close he came to accomplishment, but they were failures. None of them worked or were constructed. There were models for magic batons, brain sensors, machines to make life easier, and science vastly improve; a sphere with many gears, appearing more like a ball than a device for use in...time travel?

And Twilight is shaping up to be just like him. She smiled at the thought of that young girl – who was just starting out – to become as great a legend as the one in the book. In time she thought.

“Ugh,” she moaned, covering her nose from the repugnant odor. It reeked of buried wood and dead meat left to rot. “What in thy sister’s name is causing that?” she asked. That is when Luna heard it.

Across the stream came the garbled mushing of steel and bone. Crashing splinters erupted with each munch of the beast’s jaws; snapping shut and shattering the bone more. A dead squirrel fell from its mouth, with limp remains hanging, sucking them in. Its teeth sharply crunched the final bit of log into dust. Standing across the stream, eyes with murderous resolve, and a shifting body of bark was a horrific beast, sights set on her:

The timberwolf.

Its mouth reared back, revealing sharp sticks slathered in a thick drool of sap. Each “tooth” moved alone of the others to situate for the new meal. Its chest expanded and retracted; the saber strong claws dug into the ground, with its legs arching back. Glowing green eyes stared at her, waiting for Luna to move.

Luna stayed in place, her breathing slowed to barely visible. She had to do something soon or a hungry timber wolf would get fed. It wouldn’t take much to destroy the beast; even a simple fire could kill it. A finger pointed at the timber wolf, she snapped her middle and thumb, causing a spark of blue to briefly appear. Not long after, the spark materialized onto the hunk of wood, igniting into a fire. If it didn’t run too far, then the forest wouldn’t catch either.

Her satisfied grin lasted for only a second, as the growing flame burnt away. There wasn’t even a burn mark on its body. It looked from where the spark was to Luna, snarling as it began to rear in a charge. “That’s not good,” she said running opposite the swift beast.

The clearing quickly became thick forest. She peddled through any gap that would allow so, escaping the growls. How far back was it? Is it gaining? Luna didn’t have time to look, but the snarls of approaching jaws told her. The trees carved into a bottleneck, splitting high and low ground. With her best chances upwards, she ran right, heading for a rising pass. It seemed to work, as the timberwolf took low-ground, keeping up with her pace.

Ahead, both paths curved towards each other. There was no way back, and she was losing ground fast. “Have to think! Have to think!” Below, the low path wasn’t a closed off pass; it ran along a hill that sank deep into a thicket of trees. The hill rose up ten feet high, and dove near the end. She lost sight of the timberwolf, but caught a glance of it swerving around the bend, racing towards her.

“No choice!” Luna jumped off, bent her legs for impact, and landed. Unfortunately, her velocity brought her too close, as she tumbled off the edge. Gravity kicked in, making her rollover rocks, bushes, and uprooted ground. Her back was repeatedly stabbed, but she needed to endure it. She spun to the side, rolling down like a log. SNAP. THUNK. Both her head and knees slammed hard against two trees. For a second she couldn’t breathe as the pain washed over her. Hitting a small lift of plum earth, she was thrown into the air, landing hard on a rock. The forest shifted to rock bed on level ground.

Her lip tore in the fall; she could feel the soft pellets of blood draining down her chin. She stumbled to her feet, grasping a tree trunk for support. Looking to her leg it was battered, swelling to a pulp in her jeans. Limping to a second tree, a loud howl made her stall. Suddenly she felt the cold, hard ground, with the timber wolf furiously raking into her back. Its claws became wet with her blood, several claw marks grazing on her as she helplessly pushed in the rock – smothered by the heavy creature.

Clenching a tight fist, Luna smacked the timberwolf away. It flew back a few yards, losing a hind leg in the process. The detached ligament made baby kicks, trying to reach its target. After failing, it crumbled into small bits of wood, no longer filled with the magic that brought them together.

Luna hobbled away from the timberwolf. Heaving with a limp, she searched for some way out. The rocks dissolved into dirt as she escaped. A periodic trail of red followed – leaving a breadcrumb trail. She became light more than once, rubbing against stock-still logs. The howls didn’t persist, letting her limp to safety for a while. She hauled herself along the cluster of green bushels, leading to a dark rot; long twigs masquerading as the trees they believed themselves to be. Climbing one of them for safety wasn’t feasible for now. Still, she needed a someplace or else; so Luna climbed – steadily, as wrapping her injured leg brought waves of pain. It was a miracle the branch could even hold her, but with only a few cracks of instability, she relaxed for the moment.

Time passed slowly, with Luna occupying her time thinking a way out. The timberwolf was still out there, and could easily backtrack from the blood trail she left. She winced leaning against the trunk on her back. Her wounds were deep; still fresh and open. All over she was in pain, growing weaker the more she moved. Trying to use minor healing – at least to close the wounds on her, but the faint trickle of magic failed to close one claw mark. Her magic failed. When she first came into contact with the timberwolf, a spell to burn it was also useless. “What has happened?”

Howling came from the distance, the beast chortling from its find; the timberwolf stalked passed the tree she was silently on; it did not notice her presence, bouncing into a pile of shrubs, looking elsewhere.

“I can’t let this thing get the better of me,” she said, her voice rising. “If you want to hunt, we’ll hunt”. She stumbled off the branch, landing with a crunch of broken leaves. The timberwolf didn’t return when she scoured the area. She found a nice, long branch; brittle shavings jostling off as she shook it free. Arriving near the rock bed, Luna began to carve the branch with rocks, sharpening the tip to a fine point. Swinging it around, stabbing the air for non-existent enemies. Her weapon made, it was time to hunt.

Luna kept low – hiding behind the forest around her; a huntress in search of the chosen prey. Every crackle of splintered floor left a small footstep that she shuffled to keep her tracks hidden. The smell of burnt wood smoking was her tracker on the timberwolf. Wafting away, she was quick to sniff out the malefic scent.

Being overly cautious, she hit a roof that would have given her position away. Luna was only frightened for a second, no longer. Fear was gone from her; she had commanded it, forcing the petty emotion into a cage, letting it remain locked. For her to fear the very thing she was chasing, would be weakness; and she wasn’t weak anymore. Now is the time for me to stand my ground.

Snap

The ominous crack of a twig displaced the quiet setting, sending a flock of birds flying into the gray sky. Luna crouched low into a ring of bushes, keeping her eyes trained in the direction of the snap. Only her padded footprints shown, with the rest of the forest remaining still; not even a light breeze touched fallen leaves. Where are you? Her patience losing momentum, the stillness became irritating.

She was about to give away her location, when a dark form approached the embedded dirt. It was large, husky, its breath seeped a putrid smell – enough to make her hurl from contact. Gripping her spear, she lunged out at the creature. Her effort was met, as it ran away. GRRR, came the rolling throttle of something’s snarl; Luna barely turned before the timberwolf knocked into her, sending them both to the ground.

Lashing bark snapped onto her improvised shield, ripping into the wood like butter. She thrust he arms forward, struggling to get up before another series of strikes happened. The ravenous blades of the timberwolf gleamed at her, gleaming with fresh blood. A rattle of throaty growls continued, its snout flaring at the ready to take Luna out. With tremendous speed, the creature dove for Luna’s leg; her hand shifted grip on the spear, blocking the oncoming attack. She knocked its head down out an angle – with its neck exposed, curved.

The hit didn’t stop it long enough, with a razor-sharp slash cutting into her calf. She flexed her leg, for the pain, bringing the spear to her right, and swung it hard against the timberwolf – splintering both. Hitting it sent it on its back, rolling as a turtle would on its shell. Luna twirled the now-blunt stick, aiming for its stomach. Missed; dirt splattered, as the spear struck and lodged itself into the ground.

Luna pulled hard on it, her concern being weaponless,. Whilst she struggled, the timberwolf was able to get backup, fangs at the ready. Thinking quick, Luna brought her elbow down onto its head; her arm locked up, rendering it useless for the moment. She was able to dislodge the stick, dragging it along in a mad dash. Surroundings become a blur, directions flipping every which way. Her lungs ached, stunting weak body movements, she whipped to the side, her body easily fitting behind cover of a tree.

Spear close to her chest, Luna stood idly behind the thick trunk. “Where are you, where are you?” she rambled, waiting for the onslaught of the hungry monster. The lingering scent faded, the howls of the rushing beast gone. He was right behind me, where is it? She clutched her throbbing leg, the bleeding wounds soaking her pant leg. Luna ripped the cuff of her pants off, wrapping it around the wound tight. She winced at the pressure, blood seeped through the wrap – stopping short.

A succession of stomps brought Luna’s focus back from the injury. Thunderous paws thrashed towards her; fifteen feet...ten...five...three...

Luna stabbed where she though it would appear. She guessed correctly, the end cutting just above the timberwolf’s foot, where a tendon would be. It yelped in surprise at the sudden loss of trajectory, trampling to a patch of dirt along rock. They had come to the forest’s end; rock bed and cliff being their only ground left. Luna chuckled the stick at it, but it spun too fast, throwing itself on her.

They tussled, the beast’s jaws once more snapping-inches away. Luna was losing her grip on the only shield stopping it; with only a short break, she hadn’t had time to rest. This was it, this was all she had left.

Boom! A crack of lightening zipped by, with thunder following closely. She took the false call of an approaching storm as her chance; digging her fingers into the wood, and threw it towards the sunken teeth of the timberwolf. Luna began to spin, tossed aside with spear in hand. She groaned, her back smashing against the stone. With a great bark, the timberwolf dove off of high ground, its teeth out for the finishing blow. Last chance, Luna brought the spear out, connecting with it. Its glowing green eyes burned dark, the magical bindings keeping it together, loosening. Heaving the great weight of the timberwolf, Luna managed to toss it and the spear over her – the former tearing in half.

Luna remained still-fearing the massive beast would get back to finish her. But it didn’t, collapsed in a heap of upper and lower half. Reaching down, she flinched its head, hoping it wouldn’t wake. Still it did not, dead for the time being and as they all do, until that same magic that inhabits them like a soul, brings them back. They were as eternal as the forest. Leaving it, Luna wandered to the edge of the cliff. The drop was good thirty feet – more than enough to break a few bones and renders her immobilized. “Dammit...huh?”

Peering further, she saw rocks jutting out the fence, crawling down a good ways. “I can just climb down these, and jump the last ten or so. Better do it soon,” as she looked to the sky, “Before the rain makes them too slippery.” She pulled up her jacket’s sleeves, readying to start the climb. “Here goes nothing.” Right as she readied herself, Luna felt a fierce grip penetrate her hip. To her left – hanging by its teeth – was the front half of the timberwolf, still alive. Screaming, Luna tried to force it off, her hands simply slipping off it. Too exhausted. The beast dug further into her; she felt it raking into her, barely below her kidney. Blood spurted from her mouth, losing sense in her legs, reaching up.

“Get...off!” She yelled, ramming her elbow – already broken – into its face, causing it to fall off. The piles of wood flung near the other half, green energy knitting the two. She squeezed her side, but it was no use; turning away, her focus lost conscious demand to stay afloat, sending her over the edge.

She screamed, with inaudible shock at the impact. Electrical surges went through her, shutting down use in any limb. Unable to keep a grip on her wound, blood puddled from her. Gurgling for air, Luna’s sight took a shot. Above on the cliff, she saw the now-reformed timberwolf staring down. It wasn’t alone. Joining it were four more – equally alive – timberwolves. The pack of demonic animals just looked at her weak, immobile figure. How pathetic I must look, Luna thought.

Soon a flurry of damp trickles fell down, slapping Luna. The storm wasn’t here yet, but a small show of pellets was enough. From the sound of the previous thunderclap, it was sure to be real hairy. The soft raindrops stung her injuries, but only a little. The timberwolves vanished when she looked again. They’re either off to find another prey, or find an easier way down here, to pathetic me. With her accumulating blood loss and physical condition, she was sure to fall under before they arrived.

“Might as well get a head start,” she said closing her eyes.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Breathe Luna!

Celestia frustrated, told Luna to stop holding her breath. Luna found it a fun game to play, which her sister did not find amusing. “Please stop playing that game Luna, it’s unhealthy.”

“Awww, but why?” Luna whined. She puffed out her cheeks, resembling a blowfish more than a little princess. She swung her gown in the color of the night – thus playing another game.

“Mother wouldn’t enjoy hearing about his.”

“Mommy isn’t around, ever,” pouted the little girl. Luna started to form bright blue tears, her lip trembling at the thought. Celestia – noticing this distress – gave her petite sister a hug, curling around until she smothered Luna entirely.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia softly said, rocking them back and forth. “Listen, I’ve got something that is sure to brighten you up.” She brought a band out, curling her lush pink hair into a bundled ponytail.

“Oooh what! What?” Luna happily bounced, a big smile replacing the somber frown.

“Follow me and I’ll show you.” Celestia took Luna’s hand, walking to the behemoth boulder in the distance.