Goku’s hooves thundered across the ground and crushed the thick grass beneath her, her extended mane and tail flowing behind her as if it was a flag blowing in the wind as galloped through the bushes and trees of the Everfree. Her friends were right on their heels as they did their best to keep up with her and protect her from all sides from the Timberwolves that were in hot pursuit of them. Rainbow and Fluttershy were soaring through the air above her, looking down below for any of the wooden canines that tried to take a hit at the tan Pegasus or any of their earthbound friends. Rarity and Twilight were in the middle, both of their horns ignited and ready to fire at the wooden canines if they got too close, and Pinkie Pie and Applejack were at the far back, ready to give the Timberwolves a sock to the face if they tried to take a bite at their legs. Zephyr was at the very end, making himself as a shield for the girls should the Timberwolves try to get them from behind or bolt passed him. The wooden canines flanked them at all times, working as a cohesive unit and acting as barriers to prevent the mares from making any side escape into the woods, leaving them only one route to run, leading the deeper into the woods.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! I can't believe that this is happening to right now! Twilight exclaimed as she took quick frantic breaths, her violet eyes darting on either side of her, taking in the petrifying sight of the wooden canines chasing them. “We haven’t even been in the Everfree Forest for that long, and we are already being attacked! Oh, why does everything that I plan go downhill in situations like this?!”

“Calm down Twilight, we’re not dead yet! I know that we can make it out of here if we just keep calm and don’t lose our heads!” Goku shouted behind her, not bothering to look over at her friends as she kept her gaze ahead. “Everything’s gonna be alright! Just keep close to me, and don’t run off the trail!”

“Alright?! Alright?! How can being chased by giant beasts in the middle of the most dangerous forest in Equestria possibly be alright?!” Rarity shouted angrily as she glared ahead at the tan Thestral. “We have been running for who knows how long, and not once we have lost these beastly dogs for a single minute! I don’t think that most of us will be able to keep this up for much longer, as it is plainly being seen! Not all of us are Earth Ponies like Applejack and Pinkie Pie you know!” The alabaster Unicorn looked down at her hooves, grimacing at how filthy they looked. “Not only that, all of this running is just ruining my hooficure! I don’t know if I can take any more if this wretched dirt sticking onto me, or any of this foliage getting into my mane!”

“Uh, Rarity, you do realize that you can use that Adrenaline stuff that you, me and the others have to keep going, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, taking a glance back at Rarity as she kept ahead of the group with Fluttershy and Goku. “That’s the whole reason why none of us are getting tired, because we can rely on our adrenaline magic for a huge second wind!”

“And you’re telling me that you’re not even the slightest bit worried about getting torn apart and eaten alive?!” Rarity retorted hotly, snorting hard through her nostrils. “What am I saying, of course you wouldn’t! After all, you’re the dare devil of this little group of ours!”

“Maybe not me, but I’m definitely worried about it happening to one of my friends, especially you!” Rainbow Dash shot back; her magenta eyes gleaming. “Any maybe if you started worrying more about your friends, instead of how you look all the time, then maybe you wouldn’t be so bothered by getting so filthy!”

“Start worrying more?!” Rarity repeated, giving the cyan Pegasus a flabbergasted look before it morphed into one of utter scorn. “Why I’d never-”

“Girls! Now ain’t th’ time t’ be bickerin’ over who should do what!” Applejack shouted, cutting Rarity off as she zipped to the side to avoid the jaws of a Timberwolf. With a heave, she shot her hindlegs shot out, bucking them straight into the chin of the wooden canine and sending him flying. “Have y’all forgotten th’ situation that we’re in right now?! We need t’ find some way t’ get away from these varmints b’fore we become their dinner!”

“Uh, wasn’t that what I was saying to Rarity just a moment ago?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking over at the tangerine Earth Pony.

“Incoming!” Pinkie Pie shouted, leaping into the air at a Timberwolf that had flung itself at Rarity. The pink pony delivered a hard sock to the canine’s face before the fashionista could even fire her magic at it, and she watched as it tumbled across the ground. “Whew, that was a close one! You okay Rarity?”

“I am now darling, thank you for that.” Rarity said thankfully. “Though I admit, that was quite the scare I was given there.”

“Well, from the looks of it, we’re going to get a lot more of those the longer we’re in this forest.” Zephyr said, galloping behind the seven mares. “Then again, we’ve gotten a couple since we had gotten here, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

Goku nodded, looking back over at her foalhood friend. “Yeah, good poi-” She stopped abruptly as she noticed a Timberwolf dangerously close to Zephyr. “LOOK OUT!”

The royal blue stallion spun around just in time to see a Timberwolf diving down towards him before landing on his back. Zephyr gritted his teeth as he fought the pain in his back and neck from the wooden canine’s teeth and claws, bucking wildly to throw the canine off. He spread his wings in preparation for another attack only for a blast of magic to strike the Timberwolf in its side and send it off the stallion. “Thanks Twilight!” He said, giving a sigh of relief.

“No problem Zephyr! Just try to keep your eyes peeled more, okay?” The lavender Unicorn advised, looking back ahead of her. “I get that you wanna watch out for danger for us, but it’s not just us you need to look out for! These Timberwolves are also after you as well, and if you get killed, there won’t be anypony to keep all of us safe!”

“Yeah, good point.” Zephyr murmured, before his ears perked up. “Hey look, I can see an opening up ahead!”

Surprised by this revelation, the mares all looked in front of them to see where Zephyr was looking, and sure enough he was right. Just yards away from them, they could see light to an opening that was growing bigger the closer they got to it.

“Hey, he’s right, I can see it too! There’s a way to get away from this Timberwolves!” Goku said, a relieved smile coming to her fanged muzzle. “Come on girls, let’s make a break for it!”

“Aww come on really?” Rainbow Dash whined. “I wanted kick some wooden mutt ass! Are we seriously just going to keep running away!”

“Silly Dashie, these are just little doggies we’re dealing with!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Besides, didn’t you say back at the library that the only thing you care about is beating that big Moon meanie for what happened to the Queen?”

The cyan mare blushed in embarrassment. “Yeah…good point there, Pinks.”

“Um girls…” Fluttershy said, almost too quietly for most of them to hear as she flew on the right side of Goku. “You might want to take a look around you…”

“What do you mean, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, looking up at the buttermilk Pegasus in confusion. “Are the Timberwolves closing in on us?!”

“Um, not really.” Fluttershy replied, her voice etched with confusion as her teal eyes darted to either side of her. “In fact, they seem to be slowing down.”

At these words, the rest of the mares looked around them at the Timberwolves that were chasing them, and they immediately saw that Fluttershy was right. From either side and behind them, they could see that the wooden canines were slowly, but surely slowing down, their beeline sprinting turning into steady jogging, letting the mares get farther and farther away from them.

“What in tarnation...?” Applejack muttered; her golden eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What in the hay is happenin’ with these wolves? Are they really gettin’ tired?”

“Fluttershy, I thought you said that Timberwolves were known for running their prey down until they tired out?! Twilight said, looking over at her fellow Pegasus. “They haven’t even been chasing us for that long! So why are they slowing down?!”

“I-I don’t know...I’ve never seen this kind of behavior before. Timberwolves don’t tire this quickly…” The buttermilk Pegasus replied, a look of confusion etched on her face as she stared at the ground “It takes them a much longer time to even start to get winded...and they rarely give up in a hunt, even when they’re not actually chasing their prey.” She looked over at Goku, who was glancing right back at her, and judging from the look on her face, the tan Pegasus was thinking the same thing she was. ‘Something’s not right here…’

“Well, whatever the reason, I’m not gonna let them get the jump on us just ‘cause they're getting slow or because there’s a way out! I’m goin’ on ahead!” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug, before zooming off ahead of the rest of the group.

“Hey! Wait for us Dashie!” Pinkie Pie squealed, but the cyan Pegasus was already way out of hearing range.

“Ugh, I cannot believe her!” Rarity scoffed as she watched Rainbow Dash fly off. “First, she criticizes me about caring more about my looks, and then she goes off ahead of the group and leaves us here?! There is something seriously wrong with that mare!”

“You and me both…” Zephyr murmured, shaking his head.

With those words, the seven mares and one stallion made one last break through the forest towards the clearing, the Timberwolves getting farther and farther away. Zephyr, in an effort to ensure that they all had some buyed time, shot a few blasts of lightning bolts at the canines, electrocuting some of them on the spot. With that done, he rejoined the girls in the run to the clearing, only to find himself already in the clearing with them. The moment they did, Applejack turned tail and ran back to the entrance, her body glowing with an emerald green aura.

“Earth Make: Giant Wall!” She shouted, slamming her forehooves down on the ground as the green energy spread across the ground. In an instant, a large tall wall of earth and rock burst out from the ground and covered the entrance to the clearing, thus blocking the entrance inside it. Satisfied that the Timberwolves would be kept at bay for a while, the farmer rushed back to where the rest of her friends were in the middle of the clearing.

“Whew, that was a close one! Almost didn’t make it there!” Applejack asked, listening to the snarls and growls of the Timberwolves behind them. “Are all o’ y’all alright?”

“More or less darling…other than the fact that my hooves are covered in all of this horrid dirt!” Rarity replied, wincing as she looked down at her blue stocked hooves. “I’ve never done so much running in all my life! I thought I was going to pass out; I’m so glad that we’ve stopped now!”

“Well of course we’ve stopped Rarity. We got away from the Timberwolves and Applejack made a temporary shield for us.” Fluttershy said, looking over at Rarity with a slightly raised eyebrow. “If they had stopped while they were still chasing us, they would’ve caught up and tried to drag us into the ground and overwhelm us with their pack.”

“Not only that, but due to the commotion that our new guests are making, there’s no doubt that there’s going to be more coming for us shortly.” Goku added, her furry bat ears picking up the sound of the howling of the Timberwolves. “So, I think now would be a good time to figure out how we’re going to get away from them before we become Timberwolf chow.”

“Already on it.” Twilight nodded, trotting back and forth. “Pinkie Pie, do you have that extra map you got from my library?”

“Sure do!” The pink pony chirped, reaching into her mane and pulling out a large map. “Here you go Twily!”

“T-thank you.” Twilight nodded, blushing a bit at the nickname before looking down at the map in her magical aura. “Alright now, from what I can see on this map…we’re in one of the many known clearings of the Everfree Forest, more than several in total. We’re in one of the largest ones, and by the looks of it, it’s the farthest one to the castle of the two sisters.” Her ears went flat at this revelation, but she shook it off as she continued to scan the map. “If we go onto the path that’s on the opposite side of this clearing, and keep straight, we’ll get to a cave that’s nestled in between here and the castle, and after that are some pillars of rocks that we're may have to climb or trek through. We can take some time to rest up there once we’ve finished here, assuming that the Timberwolves don’t make us drain all our resources.”

Fluttershy froze at the last few words. ‘A…cave? Right in between the abandoned castle and where we are belong the rock pillars?’ She leaned in a bit closer to the cave, and broke out into a nervous sweat when she saw it on the map. The Pegasus then gulped when she saw what was up after that, and the next one afterward. ‘Oh…oh dear...’

“After that, we’ll make a bit of a left before coming upon a large raging river that goes on the east and western side of the Everfree Forest.” Twilight continued, pointing to a large river that was shown on the map. “I don’t know how big it is, but form what I’m seeing, we may have to build a ship that’ll let us sail across it. After that…” she raised her hoof up a little further, up to an even larger group of caves. “…is another group of caves that we may have to go through and emerge from the other side.”

“Wait a minute, what you mean we may have to go through those caves?” Rainbow Dash asked in perplexation. “Couldn’t we just fly over instead? That way we’d be able to get to Nightmare Moon a whole lot faster?”

“We can, but then we’ll lose track of the path that we’re set on.” Zephyr replied firmly. “Plus, there’s no telling what kind of other wild beasts might be lurking atop those caves. So, all we’ll be doing is potentially getting ourselves lost and broken off from said path…” He glanced over at Pinkie Pie. “And potentially losing the map that Pinkie Pie had gotten for us.”

“Yep!” Pinkie said cutely. “May wanna stick to the original plan Dashie.”

“Fine, whatever…” Rainbow Dash murmured, crossing her forehooves. “…I still think that it’d be a lot faster to get there if we do that.”

“Maybe, but we still have to deal with the animals here, so even if we do take that route, it’d still take us some time to get passed any animal we may come across.” Goku said, glancing up at the athlete. “And I get the feeling the animals that live in these parts are going to rip us all a new asshole by the end of the night.”

Rarity shot a disgusted look at the tan Thestral. “Goku, language!” She scolded hotly, but soon cowered at the sharp glare the tan Thestral gave her.

“Hush you.” She said softly, her undertone matching her look.

“Goku makes a good point. There’s no guarantee that we won’t face any beasts if we decide to travel atop the caves.” Fluttershy nodded. “So, I think I’d be best if we stuck to going through them instead, since there’s a way out on the other side. Besides…” she winced. “…even if we go atop the caves there’s a good change the animals will hear us, and met us on the other end with a not at all friendly welcome. Or worse, burst out from inside the caves and take us by surprise before dragging us down into the dark depths.”

“Well, when you out it that way…it does sound significantly petrifying.” Twilight a shiver going through her before looking back at the map. “Anyway, after we passed the larger section of caves, we’ll find ourselves in a wide clearing of open plains, and in the center of it, is where the Castle of the Two Sister’s is supposed to be.” Her hoof went even higher to a picture of open plains where a castle was nestled in the middle. “When we get there, all we have to do is travel through the plains and we’ll finally get to the castle. Though from the looks of it, the ground that’s connecting castle to it is split, so we’ll have to cross this bridge to get to the castle.”

“Alright, sounds simple enough.” Applejack said, straightening her bandana. “All we gotta do is just get these lil’ wooden doggies runnin’, an’ we can sail through this ‘ere creek, tunnel our way through these caves an’ just run our way through these ‘ere plains. Shouldn’t have any problem with that.”

“That’s much easier said than done Applejack.” Fluttershy said gravely. “Don’t forget, there’s still a relatively abundant number of animals that we still need to get past. We already had to fight a Shinomōkin and a Doragontora, and both were powerful in their own right. It may not seem like it now, but trust me, we haven’t even gotten halfway yet.”

“Pfft, so what if we didn’t fight all of these creeps yet?” Rainbow Dash snorted. “If we were able to survive against two of them, what’s to say we won’t be able to do the same with the rest of them?”

“Careful Rainbow Dash.” Zephyr advised. “We may have kept ourselves getting eaten a couple of times now, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to stay like that. If you let your overconfidence and arrogance get the better of you, you will be killed.”

“Don’t waste your breath on her darling.” Rarity sighed, tossing her mane. “This is Rainbow you’re talking to. Any helpful advice you try to give her in situations like these will go right out the other ear.”

Goku snorted. “Look who’s talking…” She said quietly.

Right as that was said, Fluttershy’s head, which was lowered as she took a few moments to recover from her frantic flying, suddenly snapped up, as if she had been jolted awake from a peaceful slumber. The buttermilk Pegasus’s ears flicked back and forth, her teal eyes scanning the area as the cool air blew around her ever so slightly. With her brows furrowed, she slowly began walking around the clearing, something that wasn’t noticed by her friends until Applejack spoke up.

“Uh, Fluttershy…?” The farmer asked, raising a golden eyebrow at the movements that the buttermilk Pegasus was making. “What’re you doin’ there sugarcube?”

Fluttershy didn’t reply to the farmers question, choosing instead to ignore her and continue her investigating around the clearing, her eyes and ears listening out for anything that looked or sounded out of place. Her nostrils were flared as she sniffed the air, taking in all the different smells around her as her friends watched from afar, looks of perplexity, curiosity, and seriousness on each of their faces.

“Fluttershy darling, pardon my interruption but...” Rarity asked, somewhat put off by the buttermilk Pegasus’s sudden change in behavior. “What in Equestria’s name are you doing?!”

“Yeah, your acting like those big wooden mutts that were chasing us just a minute ago. What the buck gives?” Rainbow Dash nodded; her face scrunched up into a frown. A second later, she found herself on the ground face first with a huge lump on her head. “OW!”

“Shut it.” Goku hissed, shaking her hoof down at the cyan mare. “Let her do her thing.”

Suddenly, Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks, her head raised up high and her ears perked up as straight as arrows. Her body went rigid as her angelic wings locked up, her pupils contracting as she paled under her fur, which caused feelings of concern to rise up within her friends. Very, very slowly, she turned her head to face them, a fearful look on her face that set off alarm bells in the other ponies’ minds.

“What’s the matter Fluttershy?” Zephyr asked softly, his voice filled with concern as he stared back at the buttermilk Pegasus. “Did you find something?”

“Everypony…” She said slowly, almost robotically, her voice etched with fear as she stared back at them. “…we need get out of the clearing, now.”

“W-w-why?” Pinkie Pie stuttered, becoming slightly nervous at the buttermilk Pegasus’s tone. “I-Is there’s something the matter? Did you smell more Timberwolves here?”

As if to answer her question, all seven mares picked up the sound of snarling from all around them, sounding so terrifying that it made their blood curdle and chills go down each of their spines. Fluttershy immediately bounded back over to the girls, taking seclusion within the group as they all huddle up together, their backs facing the entrance that they came in from as they looked all around them, wondering how many Timberwolves were with them. They didn’t have to wait long as a multitude of eyes, all of them being various different colors, sliced through the shadows and stared right at the girls, contrasting brightly with the darkness. Not even a second after that, the eyes slowly emerged from the shadows, giving way to large dog-like bodies, ones that the girls immediately recognized. Their shock and fear grew even further when they saw just how many Timberwolves there actually were, and there were a lot.

“By Celestia…” Rarity whispered as her breathing quickened. “Look at how many of them there are!”

“Gosh...Ah knew that this ‘ere forest packed a lot o’ these doggies, but Ah didn’t think that it’d be this much.” Applejack muttered softly, sweat pouring off the side of her brow. “Now Ah’m wishin’ that Ah made a bigger wall.”

“Well…this is the Everfree Forest.” Fluttershy pointed out, her wings partially spreading. “They do hold a multitude of animals in very large numbers. So, it really shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.”

“This is bad! I thought if we got here that we’d be able to escape!” Twilight exclaimed fearfully as she pressed herself closer to her friends. “How can there be so many of them here?!”

“Y-yeah!” Rainbow Dash stuttered, looking around at all of the wooden canines. “I was sure that there weren’t any more Timberwolves up here either! What the hay gives?!”

A loud gasp caused the other mares and one stallion to turn to Goku, only to see her in a state of total shock. Her golden eyes widened to their biggest capacity as her feathered bat wings instinctively flared out and her mouth dropped in horror.

“Um, Goku?” Pinkie asked tentatively. “Are you okay?”

“They tricked us…” Goku whispered, slowly looking over at her friends. “They tricked us into coming into this clearing. This whole time they were playing us!”

“What do you mean it was a trap?” Rarity repeated, giving the tan Pegasus a look of confusion. “What did the Timberwolves do?”

“That’s what Ah wanna know too.” Applejack asked, raising a golden eyebrow at Goku. “Jus’ what in the hay are ya goin’ on ‘bout, G?”

“You guys figured it out too right?” Goku asked, ignoring Applejack’s question as she looked at each of her friends. “All this time, the Timberwolves weren’t trying to catch us or eat us, at least not immediately! They were chasing us through the forest towards a trap waiting for us!”

“They were WHAT?!” Pinkie Pie shrieked as Fluttershy let out a gasp.

“Let me explain,” Goku said quickly, the tone on her voice letting the others know to that she was only going to say it once. “Back at the cliff where the river was the Timberwolves weren’t trying to catch us or take us down! They attacked us and inflicted damage a couple of us sure, but they weren’t really trying to kills us! Didn’t you guys notice how they weren’t going for our vital spots like our necks and throats?”

“O’ course we did.” Applejack replied, glancing down at the claw marks on her shoulders and the ones on her barrel. “Why? What’re you gettin’ at with all o’ this?”

“Goku’s saying that the Timberwolves were trying to get us to run, instead of taking us where we were.” Fluttershy explained firmly. “In the wild, wolves are known for trying yo get their prey to run, which gives them the chance to try to run down their prey until it tires out, and when it does, the wolves will take the opportunity to use their bite to hold onto their quarry, while the others bring it down. Unless their prey is fitter however, it’ll take longer for them to be able to do that, so they’ll just keep up the chase until their quarry begins to tire.” Her face morphed into a grimace as she glanced over at the entrance of the clearing, which was now blocked by the Timberwolves that were chasing them. “Which is exactly what happened back there.”

“Okay, we get that,” Rainbow Dash asked, throwing her hooves out as her tail lashed out impatiently. “But if that’s what they were trying to do, why didn’t they take us out while they were chasing us?!”

“Because that wasn’t there plan.” Goku replied, looking up at the cyan mare. “For the whole time that they were chasing us through the Everfree, not once did they actually try to inflict any serious or fatal bites on any of us, Applejack and Pinkie Pie especially, at the risk of being bucked by either of them! They only nipped and bit at us, which made us move away from them and let the Timberwolves on the other side of us try and do the same thing, especially when we saw certain parts of the path, we were on starting to break up! When we started to head towards the clearing, that’s when the Timberwolves started to slow down and let us go ahead of them, and when we came into the clearing, that’s when they stopped, and let these Timberwolves trap us!” The tan Thestral gestured to the wooden canines. “They wanted us to come into this clearing this whole time, so that we would run into their other packmates that were waiting for us! Not only that, but they also wanted us to come here so they could rely on their added help to take us down, because they could sense how powerful we were!”

By the time Goku was finally finished, nearly all of the mares with her, had locked of shock and disbelief on their faces. All except for Fluttershy, who kept glancing in between them and the Timberwolves, who had, surprisingly, stopped in their advance. It was as if they willing to wait and let the mares try to figure out the tactic that they had planned and used on them before finishing them off. Eventually, everything Goku and Fluttershy explained to them fully sunk in, before they came back to their senses and looked at the Timberwolves in a new light.

“Ah see...so that’s why they never really tried t’ take us down.” Applejack murmured, her emerald eyes narrowing. “They wanted us t’ think that we were gonna get away in this ‘ere clearin’, an’ by the time we realized it, we’d already be trapped with no way out.” The farmer couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. “Heh...clever lil’ doggies they are...clever lil’ doggies indeed.”

“I can’t believe this…” Twilight muttered, giving an angry shake of her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner! I should’ve known that this was going to happen! I should’ve known, and now look where we are!”

“Well, it happened, and there’s nothing that can be done to change that.” Zephyr sighed, giving a flick of his tail. “All we can do now is to keep ourselves from being eaten.”

After those words were said, an explosion resounded form somewhere outside of Applejack’s earth wall. They looked around and saw cracks starting to appear from within it, indicating the Timberwolves were trying to break in.

“Uh-oh, it looks like our party guests are getting impatient!” Pinkie Pie said, her eyes widening as she bit her lip. “Anypony have a plan?”

“We already made a plan Pinkie Pie.” Rarity replied, raising a brow at the pink pony. “Didn’t you hear our dear Twilight? We already have a plan as to how we’re going to make it the rest of the way to the abandoned castle. Weren’t you paying attention?”

“Yes, she was paying attention Rarity.” Fluttershy said firmly before Pinkie could reply. “What she was asking, is how we’re going to keep ourselves from getting eaten by the Timberwolves that’re trying to get through Applejack’s earth wall.”

“Oh, right…” Rarity blinked, a sheepish blush coming to her face. “…my mistake, I’m sorry sweetie.”

Fluttershy shook her head, before turning to Twilight and Goku. “Anyway, do either of you know what we should do?”

Goku rubbed her chin with her tri-colored leg, looking at each of her friends intently. As if she was determining their power and just how they could use them. Twilight and Zephyr, seeing the look in the sexy tan Thestral’s eyes, stayed silent as they waited for her to formulate a plan in her mind. Right when it looked like she was going to get interrupted, supposedly by Rainbow Dash, Goku finally spoke.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do guys.” She said clapping her hooves together as she took flight. “Applejack, Pinkie Pie, you two are the most physically strongest out of all us and the most connected to the earth, so you should have the best chance fighting them physically, especially since you have the most endurance. Applejack, you’ll take care of the Timberwolves that’re flanking us from behind, while Pinkie Pie keeps them at bay from the front.”

“You got it Goku!” Pinkie Pie nodded, giving a sharp salute as she bounced behind the group a cerulean aura covering her body as she did so.

“Well, Ah was hopin’ t’ fight th’ ones in th’ front instead o’ in the back.” Applejack mumbled as she trotted off, an emerald green aura covering her body. “Still, if ya want us t’ fight th’ ones from behind, then that’s what Ah’ll do.”

“Rarity Twilight, you two will handle the Timberwolves on the sides of us.” Goku continued, turning to the alabaster and lavender Unicorns. “You two are the ones who are able to do actual visible magic, and because of that, you two are the best for fighting at a distance rather than up close. Just don’t let them get too close to you though; I don’t want to have one of you get a broken leg that’ll take more of Fluttershy's magic to fix that she could use helping us fight.”

“Very well then...if I must.” Rarity said with a sigh, a sapphire blue aura surrounded her body as she trotted to the left of the earth wall. “Best of luck Twilight.”

“You too Rarity.” Twilight nodded as she galloped off, her body emitting a violet aura.

“Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Zephyr, you three, besides me, are the ones who’re able to fly and use magic that relates to the weather.” Goku said, looking in at the other three Pegasi. “So, I want the four of you to take to the skies with me so we can fight the Timberwolves from up above. We can also watch out for any of the girls down below should any Timberwolf try to sneak up on them and give them some help should they need it.”

“You got it G!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly as she took off to the left side of the clearing.

“Alright Goku...if that’s what you want me to do.” Fluttershy said as she hung her head. “Just um...don’t rough them up too bad, okay? I know that they wanna eat us but, I don’t any of to use that wanna use that as justification to-”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, we won’t kill them if that’s what you’re wondering.” Goku said reassuringly, as she gave the other mare a gentle smile. “They may be creatures of the Everfree, but they’re still like any other animal in Equestria. I won’t hold it against them for behaving how they were made to, even if they were created by Discord.” Her ears flattened against her head as she looked off to the side. “Besides, you’d burn my eyes to ash with your Solar Stare if I did so otherwise...”

“Your damn right she would!” Rainbow Dash guffawed, while Zephyr just stared at Goku perplexedly.

“Um, pardon me for asking but…” Zephyr said. “…but what’s the Solar Stare?”

“You don’t wanna know.” Fluttershy replied softly. “Seriously…”

The sounds of the giant earth behind them wall cracking and rumbling broke the three Pegasi and one Thestral out of their thoughts. They looked over to see it beginning starting to crumble, and there were even some wooden lips and heads of the Timberwolves bursting out of the holes. Around the same time the Timberwolves surrounding them began to creep even closer, looking just seconds away from attacking.

“Here they come!” Goku shouted, her voice resounding around the entire clearing. “On my signal everypony!”

Just seconds later, the giant earth wall blocking the clearing’s entrance finally gave way to the Timberwolves, crumbling beneath their wooden paws. Everything seemed to go on in slow motions as they and the rest of the pack went on the attack. Their eyes glowed like blazing lanterns as they wooden teeth and claws cut through the air, their clubbed whipped like tails lashing out behind them.

“NOW!” Goku yelled, throwing her hoof down as if commanding an in-training police dog.

All the other seven ponies automatically went on the offensive, either sending of wing attacks, blasts of magic, or bone shattering kicks. Each of the Timberwolves that were within range of the ponies were wither blasted away, sliced to ribbons, or had their jaws broken by each of their attacks. It was all the more devastating due to the auras of Adrenaline emitting from each of their bodies, amplifying their physical and magical strength. Even so, this did not stop any of the canines form their relentless assault on the eight ponies, and they responded in kind.

The battle between canine and equine had begun.

Author's Notes:

Alright, now before any of you go on and say anything about me deciding how long to make this fight between the Main Seven and the Timberwolves, just hear me out, okay? I have most certainly learned by lesson from extending fight scenes to that level concerning the animals of the Everfree, and have gotten plenty of helpful criticism from a couple of my followers about this. Looking back, I know that the idea of the Timberwolves invading Ponyville while the girls were fighting them was completely and utterly stupid at the time, and this new invasion with the Tantabus creation was much better planned...at least in my opinion. I don't know what the hell I was thinking at the time, but it's best not to dwell on that anymore...this invasion is being newly written, and I'm sure that it's going to go much better than it did the last one.

Now as for the chapter itself, in the last one I had formulated the girls being trapped by the timberwolves, which, now that I think about it, stretched on a little too long for my liking. So, I decided to had some different parts to it to keep it going at a steady pace, such as adding the plan that the girls and Zephyr would have as to how they were going to get to the castle of the two sisters from where they are now.. I had forgotten to add that in this chapter, which is why I unpublished it when I did before anypony could probably really read it...sorry about that. It's all good, now, and, if all goes well, I might get the next chapter up the same day today!

Well, that's all for this chapter; as said the next one will contain the battle of canine vs equine as it was made in the last version. Though its not going to be anywhere near at the scale that I made it then. Seriously I don't know what was going on with me when I did that while I was writing this . Oh well, it happened then, and it won happens again.