“That was a complete waste of time!” I shouted angrily as we continued our trek through the woods. “Not only did we almost get stuck in that secret room back there, but we have next to no idea where Allen is headed!”
“Drayke, you really should calm down,” Twilight said gently. “After all, we have some idea as to which direction he went in.”

I rolled my eyes. “A direction isn’t good enough for me,” I pouted. “I would much rather have a destination. Why did he have to leave like that in the first place?” I wondered aloud. “At least he was getting help for whatever he was going through back at Canterlot. Why’d he run off?”

A Few Weeks Earlier…

Allen stumbled through the dense forest, every shadow the moon cast looking like some sort of enemy. Since meeting Black Heart at the stronghold, his entire right foreleg had returned to its human state, and his back-left hoof had begun its transformation into a foot. He looked around suspiciously, afraid he was being followed, when he heard a low chuckle. He had heard this voice before; it had been haunting him ever since his outbursts began.

“Why are you doing this?” Allen demanded. “Haven’t you done enough to Equestria?”
The voice laughed again, a low, cruel tone. “I’ve only gotten started, boy,” it growled, the mocking tone suddenly turning angry. “This world will be mine, as it should have been so long ago, and you will help me take it.”

Allen kept his pace as he began to feel that dark, twisted feeling suddenly growing in his chest. “The hell I will,” he muttered. “I would never help the likes of you, and once I get to the Fissure, I will no longer be of any use to you.”

The laughter continued. “We shall see,” it replied darkly. “Oh, how I shall enjoy hearing your screams as you destroy those ponies you claim to love so much.”

Suddenly, Allen fell to his knees and screamed, his irises glowing a bright blue and a white aura surrounding him. When he stood, all of the surrounding trees and ground had turned into masses of glimmering crystals.

“I won’t… give in,” he panted, glaring ahead at nothing. “I will never… harm my friends… ever.”

“Once you’ve outgrown that disgusting form,” the voice whispered, sounding as if its owner was right next to Allen’s ear, “you won’t have any choice.”

“Um, Mister Drayke?” a small voice asked beside me. I glanced down to see the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, staring up at me with nervous eyes.
“Yes?” I asked slowly, and she squirmed a little under my gaze.
“I, um, wanted to ask, what you will be doing after we find Allen,” she whispered.

I narrowed my eyes for a moment, and returned my gaze to the trees ahead. “I’ll pack up my shit and leave,” I said flatly. “I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to.”
“But why?” she asked, suddenly losing her shy tone and sounding genuinely concerned. “Why do you want to leave Equestria so badly?”

I rolled my eyes and looked back to the buttery pony. “I just don’t want to be here,” I sighed angrily. “For one, this place has a track record of getting me killed, which is a big no-no when it comes to finding a place to live. For another thing, everyone is too…” I struggled to find the right words, “friendly.”

Fluttershy kept up with her questions. “What’s wrong with a little kindness?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I’m not a very touchy-feely guy, in case you haven’t noticed,” I replied plainly. “Not anymore, at least,” I added under my breath.

Unfortunately for me, I had momentarily forgotten that Fluttershy wasn’t the only pony within earshot. “What do you mean, ‘not anymore’?” Applejack asked on my left. I winced, feeling stupid for not just keeping that last bit to myself.
“Nothing,” I said dismissively, and suddenly stopped walking. “Twilight, could you help me take a look at this sword?” I said, desperately changing the subject. During my stay at Canterlot, I quickly learned the purple alicorn was a sucker for history lessons, and knew she wouldn’t be one to resist a look at an ancient artifact.

Unfortunately for me, even she was willing to pass up that chance in favor of a look into my feelings.

“Maybe later,” she said dismissively. “I’m curious, too; why aren’t you so ‘touchy-feely’, Drayke?”
I suddenly continued walking. “On second thought, maybe we should keep going,” I said loudly, ignoring the ponies’ requests. “It would be a good idea to cover as much ground as we can while it’s still light out,” I added, glancing towards the now-setting sun.

Fluttershy was about to continue arguing, when she suddenly yelped and hid behind me. “What was that?” she asked, her voice trembling.
I looked around, confused. “What do you mean?” I asked in annoyance.
Fluttershy was shaking like a leaf. “Something growled,” she whispered in terror. The other ponies suddenly looked concerned, and began to nervously glance around.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on,” I moaned, “there’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re just overreacting.”

As soon as the words had left my mouth, a pair of strange creatures leapt out in front of us. They looked a lot like wolves, but they appeared to be made of sticks and branches, and were covered in leaves. One of them looked me in the eye and barked angrily.

“Timberwolves!” Rainbow Dash cried, and turned to run in the opposite direction, but two more of the beasts were waiting right behind us. Another pair of creatures emerged from the trees on either side of our group, completely surrounding us.
I pulled out the ancient sword and held it at the ready, menacingly thrusting it at the wolves. “Back!” I shouted, and the creatures took a hesitant step back with each jab as they circled us.

“Fluttershy, can you use your Stare on them?” Twilight asked calmly.
Fluttershy stepped forward. “I’ll try,” she said uncertainly, and suddenly widened her eyes at the beasts, staring them down intensely as they continued to stalk us like sharks.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do,” I growled, “but it isn’t doing shit to these things. Anyone got a plan B?”

Twilight whirled her head, firing a bolt of purple energy from her horn that struck one of the creatures in the side. The beast staggered a little, but shook its head and growled menacingly.
“It didn’t do anything!” she gasped, panicking.

I sighed sharply. “Well, I have an idea,” I whispered, glancing to a nearby tree.
“What is it?” Twilight whispered.

“FUCKING RUN!” I screamed, suddenly sprinting for the tree and climbing the trunk like a pro, and I stared down from the branches. The others quickly jumped and dodged the creatures’ advances as they followed suit, and we all sat up in the tree as the timberwolves looked up at us in confusion.

Then I noticed someone was missing.

“Fluttershy!” Pinkie cried worriedly, and I looked down to see the yellow pegasus frozen in fear in the center of the pack. Her eyes were huge, and even with the significant distance between us, I could tell she was trembling violently.

“Fluttershy, get moving!” I bellowed, noticing one of the creatures had crept up behind her. It breathed heavily down the back of the mare’s neck, and I heard her whimper quietly.

I looked at the beasts as they continued to toy with their prey; taunting her with sudden rushes, seeing how she would react, before rejoining the circle.

At first, I was almost willing to just leave her there; let the wolves get her, and then they’d eventually grow bored of waiting for us and leave. But, I heard something that convinced me a hundred times over to not do that.

A quiet, helpless whimper came from Fluttershy’s barely-moving lips.

“Please, help.”

I suddenly lost control. I grabbed one of my swords in each hand and jumped from the tree, screaming angrily as I tore through one of the wolves the moment I landed. I looked up to see one of the creatures leaping at me, which I countered by stabbing it with both blades, then quickly tearing them outward and slicing my attacker in half. I spun around and whipped the ancient sword in my right hand, cutting the head off of one of the wolves that thought it could sneak up on me.

I turned to the remaining five, a dangerous gleam in my eyes as I held the swords defensively.
“Come on,” I dared them in a low voice, “try me.”

They stared back at me, uncertain of what to do, until ten tense second had passed and they ran off into the darkness of the forest, howling loudly. I stared after them before collapsing to my knees tiredly, laughing.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, “I can’t believe I did that.”

My rest was interrupted when a yellow mass tackled me and squeezed me in a death hug. “YOU SAVED ME!” Fluttershy cried as she tightly wrapped her forelegs around me and buried her face in my shoulder, sobbing happily. “I thought they were going to get me…”

I stood up sharply, causing Fluttershy to fall on her back. “Hey, I told you I’m not a touchy-feely guy!” I snapped, “that means hugs are off-limits!”

She stared up at me with wide teary eyes, and my glare slowly softened. “Sorry,” I said apologetically as helped her to her hooves. “You’re welcome.” As the pegasus stood up, I saw Twilight grinning at me.

“What the hell are you so proud of?” I snapped at the alicorn.
Twilight shrugged, still smiling. “Oh, nothing,” she said innocently, “it’s just you keep saying you aren’t a hero and you don’t like ponies, yet you just saved Fluttershy!”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not such a monster that I’d watch her get devoured by wolves,” I said dismissively. “Now, why don’t we do what I said earlier and check out this sword? It was hidden in the stronghold; it could be connected to why Allen left.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s a good idea,” she said, and I held the sword for her to study. “This thing is covered in Equestrian runes,” she murmured. I gave it a close look, and saw she was right; the blade had some sort of inscription that looked like the same language as the rune we saw on the stronghold wall.
“What does it mean?” I asked curiously as Twilight levitated a ragged journal in front of her and looked between the tattered pages and the blade.
“It says ‘those who can master the Elements of Harmony shall be granted this blade’s true power’,” she read slowly.
I widened my eyes. “‘Elements of Harmony’? Aren’t those the gems that Allen used to kill me when we first met?” I asked.

Twilight nodded. “They are the most powerful known source of magic in all of Equestria,” she explained.
I laughed emptily. “They sure felt powerful getting stabbed through my chest,” I muttered. “What do those things have anything to do with a sword?”

Twilight shrugged. “In any case, we could go to the Tree of Harmony and see how the sword react to the Elements,” she suggested.
I shook my head and stood up. “No,” I said quickly, “we can’t be getting too far off the trail.”

Rarity cleared her throat. “In case you haven’t noticed,” she said with a yawn, “it’s nighttime! We need to stop and camp.”
I groaned. “You guys suck,” I complained, “don’t you have any sense of adventure? This shit gets even cooler at night!”

Rainbow Dash curled up at the foot of a tree and lied down. “Yeah, if by ‘cooler’ you mean ‘scarier’. We’ve already dealt with a pack of timberwolves tonight. What else could be waiting to take a shot at us?”

As she said this, I heard Fluttershy whimper quietly, and I sighed defeatedly. “Fine, we can stop for the night,” I agreed reluctantly, “but we get moving first thing in the morning!”

The others all sighed happily, and Twilight cast a spell that conjured up a tent in a nearby clearing. “Do you have a spell for pretty much anything?” I asked rhetorically.
Twilight shrugged. “Just about,” she said thoughtfully.
I looked at the tent, then back at her, and then sighed heavily. “Im not even going to argue,” I muttered as I headed for the clearing our shelter stood in. “What with all the tree-wolves and talking horses and who know how much bullshit I’ve gone through, I shouldn’t be questioning a magical tent.”

“Oh, and look at that; it’s bigger on the inside! How could I not have guessed?”