Dale's eyes fluttered open tiredly; today was the day he'd be leaving Ponyville. He had a very restless night but wasn't sure if it was from jitters or the couch he slept on finally getting the better of him. One thing was for certain, he was awake before anyone else in the house. Fluttershy and Matt were sleeping peacefully upstairs and Dale didn't want to disturb them. He didn't want to wait around for the two to wake up and thank them for the housing and food, so he decided that leaving a note was in order.
Dale took a parchment and quill that was on the living room table and began to write down his thank you note to Fluttershy.
"Dear, Fluttershy. Thank you very much for letting me stay here for the past week. I am very grateful that you opened your home to me and I will never forget that no matter where I end up. When you read this, I'll most likely be out of town. Thank you again for all that you provided me with. Sincerely, Dale Stevens," Dale finished his letter with a signature of his initials. He didn't have much to give as a thank you gift, but he couldn't linger on it too long.
Dale took a step outside and gently closed the door to not wake the people upstairs. The sun was just coming over the horizons. If Dale had to guess, it would have to be just turning 6:00 am now. Dale rubbed his eyes to help clear his vision and let out a yawn. Back on Earth, he would only get up this early when he worked at a crappy job in between school semesters. Those are the days that Dale didn't miss.
"Yo, Alex," Dale said casually as he tapped the screen of his arm brace.
"Yes, Master Dale?" The voice responded immediately. Dale felt kind of bad for not talking to Alex for a few days, but here she is, as alert as ever.
"I need you to help guide me through town and keep track of all the items I'll need to purchase."
"Apologies, Master Dale. That is something that I cannot currently do for you," Alex replied. Dale raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"You are currently lacking that information in your "Glossary" function. Alex was very cold with her response. Dale sighed, he knew he forgot something. Dale decided to check his status screen to see if there was anything he needed to do before he left.
Name: Dale Stevens
Level: 10
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
Status
Strength: 6
Magic: 8
Vitality: 10
Agility: 6
Luck: 8
EXP: 43/700
App Points: 45
Skills
Zio (Light Electric damage to one foe, low chance of shock) -4MP
Bufu (Light Ice damage to one foe, low chance of freeze) -4MP
Dale took notice of how much the experience curve has gone up. even if for whatever reason he would stick around this area, he wouldn't be able to fight any tougher monsters to level up efficiently. Dale also noticed how many App Points he had to spend, so he decided to check how much any new functions would cost.
Functions
(More Functions will be available to purchase at a later date)
Advanced Translator (Translate monsters that don't speak your native language making it easier to negotiate with them) -30AP
Skills
(You may also spend App Points on skills that you can learn. You can know a maximum of 8 skills before you have to begin to discard them. You may repurchase a skill if you choose to do so. More skills will be available to purchase at a later date)
Zio (Light Electric damage to one foe, low chance of shock) -5AP (4MP cost) (Currently Installed)
Mazio (Light Electric damage to all foes, low chance of shock) -15AP (8MP cost)
Bufu (Light Ice damage to one foe, low chance of freeze) -5AP (4MP cost) (Currently Installed)
Mabufu (Light Ice damage to all foes, low chance of freeze) -15AP (8MP cost)
Agi (Light Fire damage to one foe) -5AP (4MP cost)
Garu (Light Wind damage to one foe) -5AP (4MP cost)
Rakukaja (Rah-Koo-Kah-Jah) (Increases defence on one party member for a short period) -20AP (12MP cost)
"What the fuck is a rakukaja?" Dale tried to sound out the spell name but stumbled over his own words; he did think it sounded powerful though. After much thought, Dale chose the skills and functions that he thought he may need for this journey. He purchased Rakukaja, and the Agi skill. Dale was thinking about picking up Garu as well, but decided against it to save up for the Advanced Translator function.
Thank you for your purchase! Installing new Skills and Functions now!
App Points: 20
With that, Dale began his journey into town one last time.
Dale wiped the sweat from his forehead while he walked through the town of Ponyville. The sun was beaming down on the town more than usual today, It was beginning to get hot. The climate in Equestria is pretty different here; Dale remembered one time when Matt said that the pegasi are responsible for controlling the weather around Equestria. Matt even said that Rainbow Dash is one of these workers; Dale wouldn't trust Rainbow Dash with any responsibility that high considering how reckless she can be.
Dale sat down on the park bench right outside of Twilight's library. Dale found it wild how far he's come since the last time he was on this bench. He went from being completely lost, to having at least some sort of plan in mind. Dale opened up the inventory screen of the arm brace. It didn't surprise him all too much when he found out that he could just store the items in his inventory whenever he purchased any; he kept his money in the same place.
Dale looked through his inventory, counting everything that he has purchased thus far. There was plenty of food, mostly fruits of different varieties, but also things like energy bars. He made sure to pack plenty of water too, the last thing he'd want is to die of thirst before he could make it to Canterlot. The only thing Dale was missing was a tent, which he may have to cheap out on since he didn't have a lot of bits left.
What Dale did notice was just like the apple cider he had at Applejack's house that one time, the food he purchased can also restore his HP. Something like a single apple could restore 20HP if he ate it when injured, which is very useful information. Dale did wonder if he could even find the time in a fight to pull out an apple and gobble it down before someone could kick his ass. He thought that he should practice speed eating, that could be helpful.
"Hey!" A voice called out, catching Dale off guard. He closed his inventory to see what the noise was about. Matt was running towards Dale with a look of dread and panic on his face. "Thank god you're still here!" Matt shouted as he stopped in front of Dale. The worried tone in his voice was very offputting to Dale.
"What's up? You didn't seem like the type to have abandonment issues," Dale said jokingly as an attempt to deflate the tension.
"Shut up you idiot! There's an actual crisis going on here," Matt responded harshly. Dale has never seen this side of Matt before, so it must be important, "Look, I was out early this morning because I've had a bad feeling about the number of timberwolves close to town. Ever since you and I showed up, the situation has been getting worse. Remember Harry the bear? How we found him dead in the forest?"
"Yeah?" Dale stood up from the bench and folded his arms.
"I've been doing some digging ever since that day. Whenever you and I went out in the morning to train, I'd be on the lookout for any more of Fluttershy's animals that haven't turned up yet. Today, I went out while you were still asleep to see if I could find the animals at all," Matt leaned closer to Dale and lowered his voice so that no one passing by could hear, "I found more blood trails, kind of like the one that we found a few days ago. I followed it into this strange cave that I've never seen before; not even in the show," Matt looked around to make sure no one heard his comments, "I think I found the source of the timberwolf problem, I think I found their den."
"They've got a den set up around here huh?"
"Yeah, and like I said, something like this never happened in the show," Matt was obviously referring to the My Little Pony show, "Good thing I found the letter you left to Fluttershy before it was too late, I was afraid that you were gone already. If we hurry, we can get the girls together and storm the place before anything bad can happen," Matt grabbed Dales's arm and attempted to drag him to Twilight's library. Dale quickly yanked his arm away from Matt. Matt looked at Dale with confusion, "Hey, is something up?"
"Look, this has nothing to do with me," Dale said as he turned around; he couldn't look Matt in the eyes, "I should've been on my way by now."
Matt stood in silence, processing the words that came out of Dale's mouth. It was awkward for the both of them; Matt began to speak, "So, the week you spent here with us meant nothing then, huh? You're just going to abandon your friends because you can't just for once think of someone other than yourself? Isn't that right?" Matt raised his voice, causing a crowd of ponies to surround the two men. Even though these ponies had nothing to do with this conversation, the still would drop whatever they're doing just to observe the drama; much like humans would.
"They aren't my friends!" Dale spun around with force, glaring at Matt, "I never wanted anything to do with this. I just want to find a way back home, back to my old life! But for some reason I just can't ever have what I want, can I?"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about, Dale!" Matt began to take steps towards Dale, "When will you realize that life isn't always about you! Everypony here has been nothing but kind to you. Fluttershy let you stay in her house and gave you food out of the kindness of her heart, and when you get the opportunity to help pay her back, you just turn up your nose because you think that it isn't worth your time!" With every word Matt emphasized, he poked Dale's chest, causing him to take a step back to the crowd. Dale could feel his heart beat faster and faster as the argument between the two men became more heated.
"W-Who cares if her animals are missing anyways?" Dale was trying to rationalize his selfishness, though deep down he knew that he was in the wrong.
"It's animals today, but tomorrow it could be children and innocent lives." Matt boldly stated. No one, not even the ponies who didn't have the full context of the situation said anything in protest. After what felt like hours of silence, Matt spoke again, "Look, Dale. Someone or something has given you a second chance at life, and instead of showing appreciation for it, you just want to go back to the way things were before. In the end, it's up to you with what you do with your life, but at least consider how your actions can affect others," With that, Matt began to walk away from Dale.
The crowd stayed silent and stared at both of them. At some point during the scuffle, Twilight Sparkle had exited her library to see what the commotion was about; she began to talk to Matt with a worried look on her face as the two walked away. The crowd looked at Dale one last time before awkwardly dispersing, going back to their own lives. Dale was left alone in silence, losing himself in his thoughts.
Dale knew Matt was right, he had only been thinking about himself ever since he arrived in Equestria. But could you blame Dale for thinking for himself in a situation like this? Dale was just trying to find a way back to the life he worked so hard to get. Was it truly out of line to just leave town right now and try to forget that any of this happened? It would only really get in the way of the mission Dale was trying to accomplish.
Dale's arm brace beeped twice before opening up a holographic menu; he has received a new quest.
Quest Log
New Quest
"Timber Takedown"
The timberwolf den has been discovered and it's up to you and your party to slay the alpha once and for all!
Current Objective
Meet Matthew and his friends in the Everfree forest
Rewards:
"Law" Alignment Increases Drastically
If Quest is Declined:
"Chaos" Alignment Increases Drastically
Accept?
"Yes"
or
"No"
Dale was presented with a choice, either leave town and go off on his own or swallow his pride and go help out everyone with the task. It was easier for Dale to make up his mind now that he had options to chose from. All of his training with Matthew and Rainbow Dash would go to waste if he didn't leave. All of the money he earned on the Apple farm, working with Applejack and her family would be for nothing if he had no reason to use his supplies. The hours spent looking for Pinkie Pie so he could know where Matt was, the wasted time at Rarity's boutique, the shitty mornings in the Everfree forest looking for Fluttershy's damn animals, and the major ass blasting he took while fighting Twilight would be wasted. Dale needed to go to Canterlot, he needed to find a way home. It took no time at all for him to come to his decision.
Matt stood with his six pony friends outside of the dark cave. There was something offputting about it; was it the fear of the unknown? A shadowy entrance where anything could happen, including the demise of the unfortunate soul who dares to enter it at the wrong time. Matt knew one thing was for certain, he had to suck it up and do what he believed was right. Not just for himself, but for the safety of his new home.
"Matthew, are you sure this is the place?" Twilight Sparkle asked. She glared into the cave as well, squinting to try to get any sort of hint of the dangers inside.
"Positive," Matt replied, "It's too dark to see anything in there, sorry I couldn't get a look inside earlier."
"Aw, Sugar. No need for apologies. You did the right thing comin' back to us before doing anything reckless," Applejack reassured, "Dashy here would just rush in faster than a pig could run away from its bath," Applejack bumped Rainbow Dash with her flank.
"Yeah! A wonderbolt's gotta be fearless!" Rainbow Dash shouted at her friend. The group laughed in response.
"Oh boy, I love surprises! I can't wait to see what's inside! Do you think it's chocolate? No! Cake? I love cake! Can we throw a party when we're done?" Pinkie Pie jumped in place excitedly, already planning the aftermath of the quest.
"For sure!" Matt said, giving Pinkie Pie a wink. Matt turned to the crowd of ponies, "If anypony wants out now, say the word and you can leave. It may be dangerous in there; I'll try my best to keep everypony safe."
"I can't just leave now. My animal friends are still inside," Fluttershy said. She sounded more assure and more confident than usual.
"Well I for one expect Matthew to be my knight in shining armour in case there is any trouble," Rarity played with her hair and fluttered her eyes at Matt.
"You sure seven of use will be enough?" Twilight asked Matt.
"Let's hope so. It would've been easier if Dale was here, that's for sure," Matt crossed his arms
"I'll kick his teeth in the next time we see him. That'll show him to not abandon his friends," Rainbow Dash threw some air punches in the middle of her words.
"I wouldn't waste the effort, Dash. He's long gone at this point," Matt said.
"I always knew he was a brute from the second I laid eyes on him! He would stare longingly at me when I was fixing up his clothes, a forbidden lust filled his heart because he knew that someone like him would never be able to win over a pony as beautiful and magnificent as I!" Rarity overacted her performance as much as a high school student would in a drama class. Everyone else just looked at her awkwardly.
"A brute, huh?" The voice said through the forest. The group quickly turned their heads towards the source of the sound, eyes widened. Dale walked from the fog covered bushes with a small smile on his face.
"What?!" The entire group yelled in unison.
"You came back?!" Matt shouted at Dale in shock.
"Hey, Guys-AH!" Dale's greeting was interrupted by Rainbow Dash giving Dale a swift slap across the face. Before she could continue her attacks on Dale, Applejack grabbed Rainbow's tale with her teeth and dragged her back.
"Sorry bout that, partner. RD gets like that," Applejack said through her teeth.
"I'm not gonna lie, I kind of deserved that," Dale rubbed his cheek as an attempt to soothe the pain.
-5HP
"I heard that you were running away with your tail between your legs! What're you doing here?" Rainbow said with a lot of sass in her voice.
"I'm here because I wanted to right my wrongs," Dale began. The group quieted down and looked at Dale, "I was acting like a real ass ever since I got here. To put it bluntly, I was being selfish and I said things that I shouldn't have. Even though I'm a total stranger to all of you, you guys still offered me kindness and respect. I took you all for granted and only focused on myself. Matt helped me realized this, I'm not the most important person in the world and my actions have consequences. I guess in a way I was just scared and was desperately trying to cling onto my old life and wanted to get back to that. I still plan on going to Canterlot when this is over, I just couldn't get over it if I gave up here. But I wanted to apologize to you all for how I've acted. Especially to you, Matt."
The group sat in silence at Dale's words, not knowing how to react. After a couple of minutes, Matt smiled and looked at Dale.
"Are you sure it's me that you should be saying that to?" Matt teased before eyeing Fluttershy.
Dale chuckled; he got on one knee so he could look Fluttershy in the eyes when he spoke, "Fluttershy, I'm sorry for taking you for granted. I should have said 'Thank you' a lot more than I did. I should have been there when Matt told you about what happened with your friend Harry. I wasn't being a good friend to you then. Hopefully, I can make it up to you by being here now. I promise that I'll make sure your other animal friends are okay."
Fluttershy couldn't respond with her words, instead, she latched onto Dale with a tight hug. Dale could feel her tears dampen his jacket. He cautiously hugged her back for a moment before letting her go. Dale stood up and gave Fluttershy a reassuring nod.
"Ahem, I believe you're forgetting about somepony in particular," Rarity tilted her head up with pride.
"Sorry for being a "brute," Dale laughed.
"Apology accepted," Rarity said.
"Hurray! Dale's back! That means we can have two parties when we're finished! A welcome back and a victory party!" Pinkie Pie sounded like she was about to overload.
"Save the party planning for later," Twilight said. She covered her horn in the dark purple glow of her magic and began to light the way into the dark cavern, "Alright, girls. Also Matt and Dale. It's time we get a move on," Twilight began to walk into the cave full of confidence.
"Right!" Everyone shouted as the followed swiftly.
For what seemed like a small cavern on the outside, turned out to be a sprawling labyrinth of different pathways, most lead to dead ends. The darkness could almost reignite the childhood fear of a monster hiding in the dark, but rather than your parents showing you that everything is okay, there may be something hiding in there. Dale placed a hand on the cavern wall as they walked in fear that the group may get turned around somehow. Even though Ponyville and the surrounding area has been free of clouds, the walls were very damp. Since this was a timberwolf den, it could be tree sap rather than moisture. Matt pulled Dale to the side and began to talk to him.
"Hey, can you give us a second?" Matt said to the group of ponies, "I just need to talk to Dale about something important. Feel free to take a break, girls," The ponies nodded their heads in agreement and attempted to relax their tense muscles
"What's up?" Dale whispered to Matt.
"Is this place creeping you out too?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, a bit," Dale was honest with his companion.
"It's totally weird, I imagined that a den wouldn't be this confusing to navigate. I was thinking that this is like a dungeon in an RPG," Matt lowered his voice in fear that someone may overhear the two and ask what an "RPG" was.
"You're the expert here, man. What do you do in those games whenever you get to a dungeon," Dale had to rely on Matt once again.
"We've got to get to the end of the place and beat the boss, but I have no idea where we're going. We haven't seen a single timber wolf yet either."
"Maybe they're about to feast, so we just need to find out where they keep the food."
"If that's the case, then we need to hurry. Fluttershy's animals could be in danger. I just wish we knew where to go..." Matt placed a hand on his chin trying to think of a solution. Matt let out a sigh, not knowing how to handle the situation, "We're gonna need a group opinion on this one," Matt walked towards the group of girls to ask questions. Dale followed closely, making sure to not be left in the dark. The only source of light was coming from Rarity and Twilight's horns after all, "Alright, we're going to need everypony to say what they know about timberwolves. Dale and I believe that they are currently preparing to feast on any prey that they have, we just need to know where they are keeping the pray. Does anypony know about how timberwolves work as a pack?"
Fluttershy began to look even more worried about her animal friends, Dale had to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.
"Well, timberwolves stay in packs so they can hunt, It's instinct for them to use their sense of smell to locate their prey. The same could be applied to where they keep their prey before they feast on them as a group.
"Oh! It's like when you throw a big party and nopony knows where the food and drinks are, usually, they just ask me where we keep them," Pinkie Pie said, "But if I'm not around, they can just smell the delicious cupcakes and find their way like that!" The way Pinkie Pie described it was crude, but she was correct.
"So we just need to smell?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not just smell, but we have to be able to tell the smells apart and I don't think any of us can do that with enough accuracy. Unless humans can," Twilight said.
"Sorry, we can't do that," Matt responded with gloom in his voice, "But maybe..." Matt looked at his arm brace, his eyes widening, "Dale!"
"Uh... Yeah?" Dale raised an eyebrow.
"You still have that timberwolf you can summon right?" Matt looked at Dale, hope filling his eyes.
Dale caught on to what Matt was implying, "Yeah!"
"Hold on just a minute, did you just say "summon?" Applejack was very confused and felt lost.
"Yeah, it's something Dale and I can do. Come on! Bust it out!" Matt shouted excitedly; his voice echoed through the cavern.
"Right!" Dale replied. He opened up his holographic menu and selected the "Summoning" option
Summoning
Timberwolf: HP 80/80, MP 20
N/A
N/A
N/A
Do you wish to summon "Timberwolf"
"Yes"
or
"No"
Dale pressed "Yes" on the summon screen. He pulled his arm back and thrust it forward the same way Matt did it. In a white flash of light, the timberwolf Dale has been training with appeared in front of the young man.
Timberwolf
HP: 80/80
MP: 20/20
Status
Strength: 6
Magic: 2
Vitality: 8
Agility: 9
Luck: 2
Skills
Feral Bite (Moderate physical damage to one foe, medium crit) 12% Max HP
Stun Claw (light physical damage to one foe, medium stun chance) 17% Max HP
Taunt (Causes every enemy to focus on the caster, gives defence boost) 20 MP
Learnable Skills
N/A
Something Dale had noticed after training with the timberwolf summoned was that it gained EXP a lot slower than Dale himself did. This could prove to be a problem later on if the timberwolf falls far behind later on.
"Woah," Twilight was put in a trance by the summon ability that Dale just showed, she's never seen anything like it before.
"That's pretty tight," Rainbow Dash said with a whistle.
"Uhh, it's friendly right?" Rarity took a step back from the timberwolf.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt you. Unless you ever call me a 'brute' again," Dale teased. Rarity only stamped her hoof and let out a "hmph" in response, "Alrighty, boy. Go give us a house tour," Dale encouraged his timberwolf companion like it was his own dog. The timberwolf sniffed the air a few times and began to trot down the cavern system.
"Twilight, if you can give us light?" Matt asked.
The group followed the timberwolf through the dark. Dale made sure to have it slow down if it was getting too far ahead. The further they went into the darkness, the more anxious everyone became. It felt like they were travelling for days, but in reality, it could've only been an hour inside the cave. There was a light at the end of one of the tunnels, the timberwolf companion ran towards it and was engulfed by the light.
"We're almost there!" Matt shouted as he ran ahead of the group.
"Wait! Be careful!" Twilight tried to slow down Matt but to no avail. Rainbow Dash was also caught up in the excitement and flew forward as fast as she could; the sound of her wings echoed through the cavern with every flap.
After a few seconds of silence, Matt began to yell from the other side of the light, "Maragi!" followed by an intense heat blasting through the cavern. The group ran forward to catch up with Matt and see what was going on.
"What the hell!?" Dale shouted when he made it to the end of the tunnel. He looked around at what appeared to be the timberwolf feeding grounds. Multiple bones were completely picked of their meat laying around the ground. Live animals were running around the area, scared out of their minds. Not just because of the predators surrounding them in the room, but also because of Matt throwing around fireballs at groups of timberwolves. The feeding grounds had multiple cracks in the cavern ceiling to let light in which reflected off of the bloodstained ground. Dale couldn't even tell if the blood was fresh or not, it didn't matter to him at this moment.
There were multiple entrances to this feeding ground, all of which had multiple timberwolves pouring in. This room alone was as big as a high school football field was back home, and this space was required for all of the chaos that was ensuing.
"Maragi!" Matt called out again. He fired off multiple fireballs at once, each of them slamming into their targets. A total of four timberwolves exploded into multiple shards of burning wood and sap.
-72HP Weak! Enemies Defeated!
Matt was too busy to notice that his friends had come in to help him out. Rainbow Dash was already getting to work by slamming her hooves into timberwolves with the speed that was nearly impossible to keep up with. Every single blow produced a red number.
-30HP
-23HP
-26HP Enemy Defeated!
Rainbow Dash wasn't nearly as efficient as Matt was at dispatching of foes, but unlike Matt, she didn't need MP to defeat them.
"We've got to help them!" Twilight shouted as she charged into battle. Dale could hardly keep track of what was going on anymore as the three fearlessly battled away to protect the animals.
Applejack quickly took charge of the five that were standing there, "Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie! Make sure the critters get out safely. Dale and I will help out Twi and the others," The three that were commanded immediately took off to do their job. Applejack looked at Dale and said, "Make sure you and the good timberwolf stay out of our way so we don't get confused and beat it up," Applejack ran out of sight. Dale and his timberwolf took place at one of the feeding ground entrances and prepared to battle.
Everything else surrounding Dale didn't matter to him anymore. It was just him and the oncoming threat that he needed to focus one. One by one, timberwolves poured out of the cavern entrance until they were in a group of three. Even though Dale was short by one party member for it to be an equal match, he still has the elemental advantage in the form of the Agi skill he purchased earlier.
One of the fiend timberwolves lunged at Dale, sap dripping from its sharp wooden teeth. Dale managed to jump out of the way of the creature and retaliated by having his own timberwolf engage in battle with it, "Feral Bite," Dale shouted. Dale's timberwolf tackled the enemy to the rocky ground, biting down on the neck of it. Dale's timberwolf tore the head of the enemy's clean off
-60HP Critical! Enemy Defeated!
Dale's arm brace alerted him that the skill the timberwolf just used subtracted some of the 12% of its max HP
Timberwolf
HP: 70/80
(HP skills will take the percentage and round it up to the nearest single digit. In this case, 12% of 80 is 9.6, but it will be rounded up to 10 because the HP is also a flat number with no half points of HP)
Dale was too distracted with looking at the arm brace that he didn't notice one of the other timberwolves attack him. Dale was knocked to the ground, pinned down by a timberwolf that clawed at his face.
-13HP
Dale managed to roll the heavy creature off of him before it could continue its assault. Dale quickly scrambled to his feet and kicked the creature while it was down.
-32HP
This attack didn't kill the timberwolf right away, so Dale commanded his own timberwolf to attack the down one. Dale's timberwolf charged into battle, clawing and biting at the downed enemy until it exploded into a flash of red.
-35HP Enemy Defeated.
Dale smirked at how easily these creatures were being defeated by him and his timberwolf; all the level grinding really paid off in the end. The last timberwolf took a couple of steps back in fear that it has reached the end of its life. Dale pulled back his arm and shouted, "Agi!" Dale's palm grew hot, almost as hot as when you place your hand inside the oven when it's been preheated. A bright orange ball of fire flew out of his hand, the heat of it warming his face. The ball travelled forward and collided with the enemy, causing it to instantly explode into shards that all disappeared in the bright red flash every enemy did.
-67HP Weak! Enemy Defeated!
Before Dale could even take a breather, more timberwolves appeared from the cave. This time, it was a set of four that he had to battle.
"How many of these fucking things are there?" Dale thought to himself; it didn't matter right now, the only thing that did was the battle for survival.
Dale was hunched over, catching his breath. The group finally did it, they eliminated the timberwolves that were constantly pouring in, or they at the very least caused them to retreat for the time being. Despite the number of enemy's Dale dispatched, he didn't level up at all from it. His experience curve was growing too high for these creatures to keep up with. Dale checked his status screen to see his HP and MP
Name: Dale Stevens
Level: 10
HP: 46/100
MP: 22/50
Dale had almost exhausted most of his MP during the battle against the horde of enemies and didn't have any items that could restore any, but he did have a way to restore HP. Dale took multiple apples out of his inventory; one by one he began to eat them. He even tossed a few apples on the ground for his timberwolf to eat. Twilight saw this and looked at him with confusion.
"Uh... What are you doing?" She asked.
"Trust me, it helps," Dale's words were muffled by the amount of fruit he was stuffing into his face. He peered around to see if everyone was alright. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were collapsed on top of each other in exhaustion and Twilight was sweating up a storm. Her horn was still lit as well, almost like she didn't notice it. The only person who wasn't accounted for was Matt, he was missing, "H-Hey? Do you know where Matt went?" Dale was a bit concerned.
"He said *Huff* He said something about the Alpha Dog I think," Rainbow Dash tried to say in between breaths.
"He went off to do the boss battle alone!?" Dale shouted. Twilight raised her eyebrow at Dale.
"Boss battle? What do you mean?" Twilight leaned in like a sceptic.
"That doesn't matter right now we've gotta help him! AJ, RD, can you two walk?" Dale ran over to the two exhausted mares.
"Y-Yeah, just uh... just give us a minute, sugar cube," Applejack said.
"Damnit," Dale thought. He realized that these two already spent all of their energy on the horde that they fought, "Twilight? Can you get these two back to town? or at the very least, out of here?"
Twilight had to think for a second before answering, "I'm pretty sure I've got it in me to do one teleport to the library, but then I'll have to take it easy for a bit."
"Can you use it now?"
"Now? But what about Matthew?"
"I'll take care of him, you just need to get these two out of here before any more timberwolves come back. Matt might be in trouble right now and we can't risk leaving Rainbow Dash and Applejack alone or waiting for him to come back," Dale stated. He knew that the only thing Twilight could do is use her magic for the teleport, if she wasted even a single drop of it on anything else, there's a chance that she may not have enough to teleport.
Twilight didn't answer right away. Worry began to take over her face, but she knew she had to trust Dale, "Just please be careful. The moment I have enough magic, I'll come back for you two."
"It's okay, we'll be alright," Dale reassured Twilight. He gave her a thumbs up and winked, "Just make sure to take it easy."
Twilight smiled briefly; her horn began to glow bright, purple aura surrounding her and her friends. A white flash and a poof later, they were gone, leaving Dale to find Matt.
Dale turned to his timberwolf summon, "You think you can find Matt?" The timberwolf nodded before running off into one of the caverns with Dale following swiftly.
Dale wasn't sure what to expect when he'd reach the end of the tunnel that he was being guided through. He wanted to reach the end and find out that Matt took care of everything by himself just so he can finally have a chance to rest and go to sleep, but life isn't always that easy. The last thing Dale was expecting was what turned out to be true. The "Alpha Dog" was no ordinary timberwolf. This timberwolf was massive in scale, it was around 30 feet tall. The hulking Timberwolf had full trees attached to it rather than the logs and branches that made up the smaller ones. it was constantly oozing with sap and had sharp teeth made out of stone.
Simply put, it was a monster.
The creature towered above the injured Matthew who was attempting to crawl away from the thing. Matt was seriously injured and was almost knocking on death's door. Time seemed to freeze when Matt looked up and saw Dale standing in the entrance with a shocked expression. Dale saw that the timberwolf was preparing its jaws to eat Matt in a single bit. Dale didn't even think, he just reacted on instinct. He thrust his hand forward and shouted as loud as he could, "Taunt!" Dale's friendly timberwolf let out a mighty howl, catching the attention of the Alpha Dog. Dale's timberwolf lit up blue for a moment before returning to normal.
With each step the Alpha Dog took, the entire cavern the men were in started to shake. Loose rocks came falling from the ceiling, almost crushing Dale as he ran towards Matt.
"D-Dale," Matt said weakly. He began to cough violently, blood spraying onto the floor, "I couldn't do it! I thought I could beat it on my own, but I just couldn't!" tears began to fall from Matt as he slammed his fist onto the stone ground.
"It's okay, it's okay!" Dale said. He opened up his inventory and quickly pulled out a bunch of food from it, "Just eat this, please! It'll heal you. Do it fast though, the Alpha Dog is focusing on my timberwolf right now." Matt ate as fast as he could, his wounds slowly healing.
"The bastard killed my parasprite; I've got no way of healing myself. Even though it's supposed to be weak to fire, it keeps putting up this red barrier before I can hit it with Agi. This barrier blocks the spell; it wiped the floor with me.
"Come on, Matt. We can find a way to beat this thing..." Dale helped Matt off the ground and onto his feet. Matt's HP recovered.
+70HP
"He's got a lot of HP, even with the Parasprite using Garu spells, I don't think I made much progress against it," Matt glared at the beast with anger. The Alpha Dog managed to smack Dale's timberwolf across the room with one powerful swipe. The timberwolf tumbled across the stone and right into the rock wall.
-35HP
Dale took notice that even with the defence boost the Taunt skill gave the timberwolf, it still received a crazy amount of damage. It was very clear to both of them that even with their spells and elemental advantage that they were simply too weak to take this monster on even as a team. Dale had to think of a plan quickly to defeat this monster before it eats them.
"My timberwolf has the Stun Claw skill, if we get lucky enough, we may be able to keep the giant timberwolf in place," Dale suggested.
"If it's stunned, then maybe it won't be able to use the red wall ability and we can just slam it with as mani Agi spells as we can," Matt quickly checked his status menu, "I've only got enough MP to cast three more."
"I can cast at most five Agi spells, but I can also give one of us a defence boost in case we go in for a physical hit. It takes 12MP so that'll leave me with at least two Agi spells," Dale said. Their conversation was interrupted by the booming steps of the giant timberwolf charging towards the two, gradually picking up speed. This was the best shot they had at beating the creature, it was all up to a coin flip whether or not they can stun the creature. The two men looked at each other and nodded, this was their final gamble, "Stun Claw!" Dale shouted.
Dale's timberwolf charged towards the Alpha Dog in a final showdown. Dale's creature leapt up towards the monster, slashing it deep across the face; mountains of sap pouring out of the wound.
-23HP
The monster stumbled back slightly after the attack. The two men crossed their fingers and hoped to god that they managed to inflict the stun status effect.
But nothing happened.
The creature moved just fine on its own as if nothing happened. The giant timberwolf picked up Dale's summon in its mouth and threw it up towards the ceiling. Dale's timberwolf exploded into multiple shards and disappeared in a flash of red. Dale and Matt stood there in shock as the room shook violently, more boulders crashing down from the decaying roof of rocks. This time, Dale took notice of what just happened; he quickly shot his hand forward, "Bufu!" he shouted with adrenaline.
The ice crystal fired out of Dale's hand at the speed of a rocket, colliding with the foe.
-30HP
"What are you doing?" Matt asked snapping out of his daze of fear. Dale didn't answer right away, he just stood there glaring at the Alpha Dog, hoping his plan would work. Dale's eyes widened as he saw the ice slowly begin to cover the timberwolf, trapping it in a frozen prison.
"Blast the ceiling with everything you've got!" Dale commanded Matt. It took Matt a second to understand the plan Dale just hatched. His eyes widened at the crazy idea, but it was their only chance at victory. Both men thrust their arms in rapid succession, each time shouting Agi! Every fire blast was aimed at the ceiling; exploding on impact. Even though Matt fired his two right away, he was still making the motion and saying the word in hope that something would happen.
Boulders began to fall from the roof, multiple landing right on the frozen timberwolf, with only a few missing.
-98HP Critical!
-102HP Critical!
-97HP Critical!
-100HP Critical!
-101HP Critical!
The numbers kept piling on as the timberwolf was crushed by more and more boulders. Dale and Matt began to make their leave as quickly as they could, just narrowly escaping their crushing by hiding in the entrance of the room. The two lay on the floor in the cavern exhausted, taking deep breaths and silently praying to god that they put the beast down.
"Did we win?" Dale asked. Matt sat up and checked his arm brace, experience points began to pile on. Not a small amount either, both of them received 3000 EXP each. Dale checked the notification on his arm brace.
Level Up!
Level: 13
You've earned 9 stat points! Please chose what stats you wish to improve!
App Points: 50
Dale couldn't care less about the stat points and app points he earned, all he wanted to do is soak in the free HP and MP restoration. Dale began to chuckle to himself a bit, causing Matt to look over at him.
"What's so funny?" He asked. Dale calmed himself down for one moment.
"You think we'll be able to take on the Alpha Dog now?" Dale said while elbowing Matt. Matt sat in silence for a moment before beginning to chuckle himself, which turned into full-on laughter. The men both fell on their backs from laughing, they stayed like this for a few minutes.
"Hey, Dale," Matt said.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for coming back. I'd be dead if you didn't show up."
"I was just returning the favour," Dale said, he was referring to the first time he and Matt met.
"Wait until the girls hear about this one," Matt said.
Quest Log
Quest Completed!
"Timber Takedown"
Rewards:
"Law" Alignment Increases Drastically
Alignment Shift
Current Alignment: Law
It was now night time. Dale and Matt made their way back to Ponyville with no trouble at all. When they defeated the Alpha Dog, it seemed that all the timberwolves disappeared. Dale hoped that they were gone for good, but knowing his luck, this was only a temporary victory. It didn't take long for everyone to find themselves at Sugarcube corner, celebrating a job well done. Even Dale was trying to enjoy himself after all of this, he thought that he damn well earned the right to anyway. The way Matt explained the story to the girls sort of favoured himself more than Dale, which he didn't mind too much. They seemed to be gripped by the last-minute save more than anything. If you were to ask Dale about how they made it out, he'd respond with one word. Luck.
"Dale, um, since you leaving was pushed back by one day because of my animals. You can stay at my home again if you'd like, I don't mind..." Fluttershy said sheepishly.
"Thanks for the offer. It isn't your fault at all, so don't worry about it. I'll be heading out tomorrow for sure though," Dale responded. Matt placed his drink down on the table and prepared himself for what he was about to say.
"Well guys, there's no better time to say this than now..." Matt began. Everyone, including Dale, looked at him with confusion.
"Is something wrong, Matthew?" Twilight asked with concern. Dale began to sip the drink he had to help calm his nerves.
"You see... I've been thinking about something... I realized today that I want to go to Canterlot too!" Matt said with determination. When Matt finished his sentence, Dale almost choked on his drink, "And I'll be damned if I have to wait for the train to be back in service. So as of tomorrow, I'll be leaving with Dale." Dale sat in silence when Matt finished talking, he can't be serious, can he?
"Well if Matty's going, then so am I!" Pinkie Pie announced, "I said I'd stay by Matty's side no matter what!"
"Oh God," Dale thought to himself.
"You know what, it has been a while since the last time we were in Canterlot, so maybe I should join too," Twilight said with a smile.
"Oh Fuck!" Dale thought when Twilight finished. One by one, everyone at the table came up with their own excuse for joining the journey to Canterlot. Ranging from checking out the fashion state to advertising fucking apples there. Even though it was supposedly a gruelling task to make it there on foot, no one seemed to care because they were going together. The ponies even started to make plans on what they'd do when they got there.
"Well, Dale. Looks like the whole gang will be joining you for the journey! Isn't that great!" Matt wrapped his arm around Dale's shoulder.
"Oh God, Oh Fuck, Oh God, Oh Fuck, Oh God, Oh Fuck," Those words went through Dale's mind on repeat. Dale wanted to go on this journey to get away from these people and try to find a way back home! But as of tomorrow he's no longer going alone, now he has a party of seven others going with him. Dale was now regretting winning against the giant timberwolf.