> Forget > by rainwater12 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1: The Everfree Forest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do not own MLP;FIM or Doctor Who, each are owned by their respective owners. Bonk! "Ouch! Stupid apple," Applebloom rubbed her head as a small apple rolled across the grass. "Why is it that every time ah go applebuckin', I get hit on th' head?" The small yellow filly looked up at the sky, it was turning a deep orange. Applejack told her to be home by sunset, "Shoot Ah'm late." Applebloom hoisted her bucket of apples onto her shoulders and began the long walk home. She had been so absorbed in her applebucking, that she had failed to notice how far she had strayed into the East Orchard. Applejack was going to be mad, it would be far past twilight before she made it back to the farmhouse. _______ Applebloom had been walking for nearly an hour when she stopped for a break. "How far into the orchard did ah go?" she looked around, the trees seemed endless. When she looked upward, her view of the sky was blocked by a canopy of leaves and apples. Far too many apples. "What the-" Applebloom didn't go into the East Orchard very often, but she knew that the trees were never this thick. It looked more like a forest than an orchard... The trees leaves and trunks darkened. The apples in the trees were no longer apples either, they were bats. Hundreds of glistening red eyes stared down at the small filly. All at once, they spread their dark wings and swarmed her. Applebloom screamed in fright and ducked underneath a thick bush for cover, dropping her bucket of apples. She crouched there under the cover of the bush for several seconds until she realized that the flurry of wings had calmed and the sound of loud sucking filled the air. Risking a look from underneath her cover, she saw all of the bats were gathered around her bucket of spilled apples. Realizing that the bats (Vampire fruit bats) were sucking the juice out of the apples, now completely ignoring the filly. Applebloom saw her opening and crawled across the ground, careful not to disturb the bats, and safely behind a tree's thick trunk. Surveying her surroundings, Applebloom realized that she was in the Everfree Forest. "How the hay did I end up here?" The filly then realized something that paralyzed her with fear. Where was the path? Applebloom had gone into the Everfree alone many times before, but she had always followed the worn path that lead only two ways. To Zecora's shack, or to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. She had never left the path before. Her breath began to quicken and she tried to reassure herself, "It's okay, I can just look for the path and then follow it back to Ponyville." But where was the path, she definitely couldn't find it on her own. Maybe she'd run into Zecora while walking through the forest. Applebloom hit herself in the head with a shaking hoof, "Stupid! It's the middle of the night! Everypony is asleep. How am ah gonna get out of this stupid forest if I can't find the path?" She then risked stepping away from the tree to be sure that the Vampire fruit bats were gone. Now completely sure that no predators were nearby, Applebloom looked to see if she could salvage anything from her bucket. It was completely empty, not even a drop of juice was left for the filly to salvage. "Shoot. Those Gall Dang vampire bats took all ma apples." Applebloom picked up the bucket between her teeth. Tossing it in the air, she leaned forward and allowed the bucket to land squarely on her shoulders. She chose a direction, most likely west, the direction of Ponyville and began to trek through the murky forest. Applebloom hoped to find a glade or a gap between the thicket of trees so she could look at the sky. If she could find one, then she would wait there 'till dawn and see which direction to go by looking at which direction the sun rises. Hopeful that she will be able to find her way back to Ponyville before something in this horrid forest found her. After Applebloom had been walking for over an hour, she stopped once again to rest her sore hooves for a few minutes. Placing the empty bucket down beside her, she sat on a log and massaged her aching hooves. The forest was so much bigger than Applebloom had ever imagined; what if she never made it out of the forest? What if a Cockatrice or a Manticore got to her and she was never seen from again? She didn't want to die in this forest, all alone without a single pony there to hear her last words. This motivated the filly to jump to her hooves, retrieve her bucket, and go galloping back into the forest. The sound of creaking branches and the whistle of the wind seemed to fill the frightened pony's ears, they seemed to whisper ancient curses and warnings. Applebloom looked on into the distance, a small glint of light caught her and she increased her speed. She pushed through a large clump of bushes and into a large glade. It was brightly alight with the moon and stars, nothing would be able to sneak up on the filly when she was in the middle of the glowing field. She could wait here till morning and then be on her way in the safety of daytime. Relieved to have found a temporary sanctuary, the small pony trotted into the middle of the beautiful scenery. A large hollow tree stood there to the filly's convenience. She knelt down and crawled into the empty trunk, the small space kept her warm from the nighttime chill and Applebloom found herself very comfortable. In less than a minute, the exhausted filly was asleep. __________ REEEEEEEERRRRR!!! CRASH! SNAP! An earsplitting shriek filled the air and the sound of splintering trees instantly awoke Applebloom from her deep sleep. She jumped and violently bumped her head on the roof of the tree. "Ouch!" Stars danced across the filly's eyes as a sharp pain burst through her mind. Stumbling out of the tree, she looked around to see what was going on. The young mare's vision had been blurred from when she bumped her head, but she could tell that several patches of the once beautiful glade had caught fire. A large crater was nearby and in the center of it; from what the filly's blurred eyes could see, was a strange blue figure. Applebloom came as close to the crater as she dared, avoiding the several smoldering patches of grass that were all around her, and looked at the blue smudge in wonder. And as her vision cleared, she could see that it was a large, blue box. "What in tarnation..." She squinted her eyes in concentration. Was there anything inside of it? Where did it come from? The pony's thoughts were interrupted by a loud squeaking sound, Applebloom jumped back in surprise as a strange creature came out of the box. It was tall, taller than anything Applebloom had seen. It was even taller than Big Macintosh, her older brother. The creature wore strange clothes, underneath the apparel was fleshy, pink skin. The only fur it had was a strange, short mane on top of it's head. What surprised the filly even more was that the creature spoke. "No no no no no!" He pointed a strange hoof that split off into five other short, thin limbs at the blue box, "You were supposed to take me to London! Not this forest! What am I going to do with you?" The last question seemed more joking as he crossed his forearms and shook his head. He then turned around around and began walking up the hill on his hind legs, right towards Applebloom. The pony gasped in fright and began to back away from the crater's lip, she couldn't let the strange creature get her. Crawling back into her tree, she made sure that she was completely enveloped in the shadows as to not be seen. The creatures head appeared over the edge of the crater and he surveyed his surroundings. A look of confusion crossed his face as he stared at the scorched field, 'Where did you take me this time? This place doesn't even look real in this light..." A low, eerie growl sounded behind Applebloom's tree. The filly's blood turned ice cold. Timberwolf. The strange creature looked in Applebloom's direction, his pupils turned small and his mouth went agape, "Oh. Well... your something new.... I'm guessing that your not friendly-" The Timberwolf's low growl became louder and turned into a furious roar. Applebloom knew why it was enraged, this must've been it's glade, and the creature's crash landing destroyed it. A creaking, splintering noise filled the filly's ears, it was tearing through the tree. Screaming in panic, Applebloom ran out from her cover. In her sudden flash of terror, the pony forgot about the possibly dangerous creature waiting just outside for her. She dashed underneath his legs shouting all the time, "Run! Timberwolf!" "Woah! What th-" The creature lost his balance and fell on top of the filly before she could run any farther. They both stared into each other's eyes, one filled with panic, the other confusion. Applebloom was screaming so loud that her voice was becoming hoarse. The creature lifted himself up and then picked up the pony in his long forearms. "Well, this is something I don't see everyday. A cartoon pony." Applebloom screamed even more and kicked the creature in the chest with her hooves. He instantly dropped her; the breath knocked out of him, while the small pony scrambled away, "Stay away from me! D-don't hurt me!" The creature coughed, "I seems that you are capable of speech too. That's fascinating." He raised up his forearms to show that he wouldn't hurt her, "Okay," he said, "I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I'd like to help. So could you tell me your nam-" The sound of splitting wood filled the air as a piercing howl came from behind the pony and the creature. The Timberwolf was still there. It leaped through the air and landed on the ground in front of the now shredded tree. The wolf then charged for Applebloom. > 2: Target > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applebloom screamed in terror as the Timberwolf's jaws lashed for her. Just before the ferocious wooden teeth tore through the filly, the creature grabbed the back of her bow with one of his strange hooves and pulled her back. Applebloom's body fell backwards into the creature and sent them both tumbling into the crater. "Oow! That hurt!" Applebloom rubbed the back of her head while the creature pulled himself up off the ground, "Sorry but I didn't have enough time to make sure that saving your life was comfortable." "Wait a second, who and what in the heck are you?" Applebloom's fear of the creature had become a wary curiosity. The creature then looked at her and said, "Do you really think this is the best time to be asking questions? In about thirty seconds that wolf creature is going to realize that those teeth didn't hit target, and he is going to be very angry. Wait. Now that I think about it, what was that creature? You called it a Timberwolf. And what are you? I've never seen a talking pony before, and I have seen a lot of things. You asked for my name which must mean you have one as well. And you wear a bow, which technically is clothes which must mean that you can sew! This is fascinat-" A loud, menacing roar filled the air, cutting off the creature's rambling. Applebloom looked up in fright, "Ah think you just wasted our thirty seconds of our escape." "Oh, that's right...Quick follow me!" The creature jumped up and began to push the pony towards the strange blue box. "What! No! Ah'm not goin' in that weird thing, you just crashed it and look's like it's 'bout to explode!" "The TARDIS is not going to explode. Look, it's either the TARDIS or the Timberwolf, which do you want?" Another terrifying growl filled the air. Applebloom's pupils became small in panic, "Weird thing it is, let's go!" She began to dash for the blue box when a shadow loomed over her. Another piercing howl filled her ears as another Timberwolf leaped throught the air and blocked her way to the blue box. The creature cringed, "That is not good. Come on we can find another way around it-" Another Timberwolf landed behind him, blocking both ways of their escape. Growls filled the air as three more Timberwolves stalked over the crater's top and surrounded both pony and creature. Applebloom backed herself up against the creature's legs, her breath was quick and panicked, "Oh no. Not now. I can't die, I haven't even got mah Cutie-mark yet! I didn't even get to say goodbye to Applejack, or Big Mac, or Granny Smith. And what are the Crusaders gonna do without me?" Tears began to pour from her eyes as she began to wail, "Ah don't wanna die!" The creature looked down at the filly pressed against him, "Okay, I have no idea what you're talking about, but you are not gonna die." Applebloom sniffled, "An' how do you know that?" "Because I'm here." "And who are you?" "I'm the Doctor. And I am not going to allow you or me to die here!" The Doctor reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, strange, metal, machine. "What's that thing?" "A Sonic-screwdriver, and according to what I've seen and heard, these Timberwolves are made of wood." The wolves in question began to creep towards Applebloom and the Doctor. The Doctor bent down and began to grab small clumps of dirt from the ground. He then began to fiddle with his Sonic-screwdriver until a small compartment opened on it's side. He then put the dirt inside of the compartment, "If these creatures are made of wood, then if I use this dirt from your planet's ecosystem I can relate our woody friends' natural origins with this dirt to this planet. And if I tweak my Sonic-screwdriver just so..." He slightly twisted the top of the screwdriver and aimed for the descending Timberwolf in front of him. Pushing a button, it's tip began to glow a light blue. A faint, whistle-like whirring sounded from the screwdriver and the Timberwolf began to shudder. Soon all the wolves began to shake. After the shaking, a low, strangled cough came from each wolf one-by-one as they collapsed. "What? H-how did you do that?" Applebloom stuttered. "I already explained it." the Doctor said with sly smile on his face. He knelt down beside one of the piles of wood, logs, and sticks. "Now, let's have a look at you," He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the disassembled Timberwolf. After scanning the creature, he looked at the screwdriver as if examining evidence. "Now that's interesting," "What's interesting?" He looked back at the confused filly, "This Timberwolf seemed to be attacking us because we had trespassed onto it's territory, but if it was angry at us it would have to feel emotion. If it was feeling emotion, how was it already dead? The last time I checked, you can't feel emotions if your dead." "Wait, you mean that those wolves were dead before they attacked us? But how is that possible? How can they attack us if their d-dead?!" "If something was controlling them, like they're puppets, being controlled by some sort of string." Standing up, the Doctor looked at Applebloom, dark look on his face. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a key, "Listen, I need you to take this key and run to my TARDIS. Get inside of it and don't come out until I tell you. There is something dangerous out here, and it's coming after me. I don't want a child involved with all of this." "Involved in all of what? All I see are a bunch of disassembled Timberwolves." Suddenly, a dull green glow immersed the Timberwolves'. One-by-one, each wooden piece began to fall back into place until all six Timberwolves were formed into one, massive Timberwolf. The giant monster sounded an earsplitting roar. Applebloom began screaming once again and the Doctor began to back away quickly. "Quick! Get to the TARDIS!" Applebloom turned around and ran up the crater, away from the TARDIS. "No! I said the TARDIS, it's safer inside the TARDIS!" Applebloom faltered slightly as she ran farther away from the crash site. The large Timberwolf growled and bounded after the filly, passing the Doctor without even acknowledging his presence. It wasn't after the Doctor, it's target was Applebloom. "Oh no, this isn't good."