In the deep darkness of the Everfree Forest, Ford Mustang is lightly treading across the jungle grounds as he cautiously searches for any source of food around here. Unfortunately for him, he can barely see an inch in right of his muzzle as it was too dark for him to see anything in this dense, darkly woods he is venturing into. And to make matters worse for himself, the creeping sounds from all of the anonymous animals are making it all the more terrifying due to the floral darkness they are hiding in. The echoing, unidentifiable noises cause Ford to shutter in fear once again despite his willingness to venture further so that he might find something to eat soon.
Calm yourself down, Ford. he tries to mentally ease his own nerves. It's just your mind playing tricks due to all of the noises you're hearing. Ugh... What I would give to be able to see in the dark right now.
Suddenly, he smiles to himself as brightly as the mental light bulb that just popped into his head. Wait... maybe I can! If I can amplify the extensions of my body with my own energy, then maybe I can do the same thing regarding my eyes too!
Following Hindel's teachings recently, Ford closes his eyes and began his usual breathing. Eventually, through his mind's eye, he can see and feel the warm glow of his pulsating, golden aura.
Now, to calmly direct the aura's magic into my eyes.
With the power of his concentrated mind, he mentally commands the aura to steadily divert its energy into his eyes' photoreceptive cells. Along the way, Ford is able to evenly split that energy into two glowing orbs, one for each of his eyeballs. Upon their destinations, energy orbs amplify the visual cells greatly as the eyes radiate immensely.
Okay, everything is in place! Now, as the good book would say, "Let there be light!"
After opening his eyes, he sees a flash of light before his amplified eyes automatically adjust themselves for a better picture. Through enhanced clarity, Ford can finally see the distinctive colors and shapes of the Everfree Forest. Once he notices on how the dense jungle isn't so scary now that some of its darkness has been lifted, Ford glees ecstatically over the success of his experimental energy augmentation.
"HA-HA! It worked!" he announces in joy. "Now let's see if we can find some... GASP! FOOD!"
In front of him, Ford nearly lets his jaw dropped to the ground as he stares with wide, hungry eyes at the vibrant colors of the first sign of food he sees. To his immense astonishment, Ford eyes at a familiar, yet extraordinary tree that only he and his pony friends would recognize: a Zap Apple Tree! And surprisingly enough, the tree is also ripe for the picking too!
"I don't believe!" Ford exclaims excitedly as some saliva drips from his mouth. "Zap Apples... in the Everfree Forest!"
Not wanting to waste any more time due to the rare tree's short duration of harvesting time, Ford rushes over to the fruit tree and quickly grasps one of the rainbow-colored apples from one of the tree's lower branches. With hunger mercilessly knocking at his door, the blue Pegasus promptly takes his first bite out of the tempting, rainbow-striped fruit.
Like its namesake, the Zap Apple gives Ford Mustang a welcoming kick to his taste buds. It has that perfect blend of sweetness and sourness found in most of the best apples in Equestria, but what make this colorful apple so extraordinary is that its taste can be best described as electrifying. The flavor of this bizarre yet tasty fruit gives its taster a uniquely enjoyable, tingling sensation with each bite a pony takes.
After finishing his first bite, Ford couldn't control himself any further before gorges on the rest of this delectable fruit, right down to the very apple core. But then, as he is about to eat the next apple, he blankly stares at the apple's vivid colors and begins to recall on all those warm memories back in Ponyville. Not only does this appetizing fruit remind him of Applejack and the rest of her Apple Family as they were the ones to treat him like one of their own as well as their time on the farm together, but it also makes him think greatly about his marefriend, Rainbow Dash.
Ford misses Rainbow so much. He misses the all the times he spent with her along with their wonderful friends. He misses how they used to fly together. He misses the touch of her beautiful coat brushing against his own as well as how wildly passionate her kisses were whenever her soft lips came in contact with his.
From recalling his favorite mare, tears are the verge of breaking from his emotional eyes. Almost distracted by his own emotions, he quickly wipes away any tears that might have leaked out from his eyes. He believes to himself that it's his own hunger that's causing him to be so worked up all of a sudden. Immediately, he gets back on track and plucks out as many ripe Zap Apples as possible before the tree can magically disappear back into the ground.
In the midst of his apple picking, Ford picks up a very unusual and disgusting smell. This foul stench smells just as rotten as a musky swamp. It was a good thing Ford didn't amplifying his own nose in order to increase his chances from finding food; otherwise he would have fainted right away from trying to bear that overwhelming odor. But then, he dismisses that smelly odor as he detects some menacing growls right behind him. Reluctantly, the startled stallion turns around, and he nearly lets out a yelp once he spots the source of the growling creatures: Timberwolves!
The terrible trio surrounds the scared pony as they continue with their intimidating growling at the invader of their territory. The wooden, wolf-like creatures stare down at Ford with menacing, glowing, green eyes as they gradually approach him. The shivering Mustang makes a heavy gulp as he tries to work this out in a calm, friendly manner.
"Umm... n-n-nice doggies. G-good doggies." Ford stammers with a nervous smile.
The threatening Timberwolves didn't pay heed to quivering pony's pleas as one of the animated creatures lunges forward and tries to bite him. Luckily, Ford Mustang immediately jumps over the snapping jaws of the territorial Timberwolf. After making his leap of faith, he quickly makes his getaway before the three Timberwolves follow in hot pursuit.
In the midst of this terrifying chase, Ford quickly looks behind him and is shocked to see that the three wolves are catching up to him. As the Timberwolves begin to bark at him, Ford turns back and tries to pick up the pace of his frantic galloping. Then, he realizes something on forgetting the obvious.
"What am I doing?!" Ford says to him as he desperately wants to facehoof himself if he wasn't in mortal danger right now. "I'm a Pegasus! I can fly right on out of here!"
Immediately, he jumps into the air to prepare his flight towards freedom. But something is wrong as he suddenly plummets back to the ground and his face slams into the floral floor. Once he recovers from his unexpected downfall, Ford inspects his wings to find the cause of his descent. Then, he notices something really strange around his unresponsive wings. To his horror, his wings are clamped together by a magical band made of faintly glowing, golden energy! He just can't figure out on how his wings were bind together in the first place!
His magical mystery over his constrained wings is put on hold as Ford Mustang is once again surrounded by the trio of Timberwolves. The barking wolves close in slowly as Ford has nowhere else to go thanks to his temporarily disabled wings. The high-pitched barking from the wolves is aggravating to Ford's equine ears. The frightening snarls continue to scare Ford out of his wits. He is uncontrollably trembling in his hooves from having to endure all of the wolves' intimidation. He isn't sure on what to do now!
Then he asks himself, What would Rainbow Dash do in a situation like this? No doubt she would charge head first into any form of danger whenever one of her friends is in trouble. With her incredible speed and her never-ending bravado, she would have whipped these wolves right on their wooden hinnies and sent them running away with their tails between their legs! Ever so loyal until the bitter end, she would never give up, and she would never give into such petty fears no matter what! If these wolves bark at her, she would just bark right back! In fact, her impression as one of the them is more terrifying than the actual Timberwolves themselves!
Maybe that's what I need to do for myself! Ford begins to encouragingly smile to himself. If these dogs are just going to bark all they want, then I'm just gonna have to bark right back at them! Thank you, my blue, beautiful angel! I don't know what I would do without you!
With renewed confidence in himself, Ford Mustang pushes his fears aside and stares back at the Timberwolves encircling him. After firmly pressing his fore hooves right into the ground, the determined stallion inhales a mighty breath as he prepares his own war cry. After drawing a very deep breath as well as gathering all that energy into his throat, he is ready to pull off the biggest roar of his life!
RAAAAAAARRR!!
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Meanwhile, at the valley, Hindel is sitting down and munching on his current meal of freshly dug-up gems. As he picks up another handful of delectable jewels, his large, fanned ears pick up a thunderous outcry from the far depths of the Everfree Forest. Not only that, but he also feels the earth shaking slightly as well as hear the screeching caws and screeches of the numerous birds fleeing from the scene. To his surprising delight, it sounds just like a roaring dragon. Of course, Hindel knows exactly who can make such an unusual, earthshaking roar like that.
"Hmm... now that's more like it!" he mutters to himself with his usual, all-knowing grin.
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Back inside the Everfree Forest, Ford Mustang magnificently finished up his first dragon's roar. Once he calms down a bit, he looks at the Timberwolves' reactions. To his immense surprise, the three wolves are all whimpering like little puppies. Also, their wooden limbs are shaking like dead trees as they begin to back away instinctively due to the menacing call that sounded like an angry dragon earlier.
A bit satisfied by the draconian technique he just pulled off recently, Ford sets aside his pride as he knows that he's not out of the woods just yet. With the Timberwolves caught off-guard momentarily, Ford charges forward and knocks down the first wolf with a strong hoof-punch. Thanks to his training, the punch was powerful enough to break apart the wolf's composition of sticks and leaves. Without taking a break, Ford goes on the offensive against the other two Timberwolves. Just like the first one, the last two wolves are broken apart with one amplified punch after another.
Once the Timberwolves have been reduced to individual piles of crumpled leaves and broken sticks, Ford smiles slightly in triumph over the defeat of the once-menacing pack of wolves. Then, he turns around so he that he can head back to the Zap Apple Tree and gather some more of those delicious apples before time runs out
Suddenly, Ford hears something rustling behind him. Once he faces the leftover remains of Timberwolves again, he nearly gasps in a shock as he sees all the three discarded Timberwolves magically floating in the air before they start to reconfigure into something massive. Once a fan of the animated show that's based off the Mane Six's adventures back on Earth when he was a human, Ford then realizes that the Timberwolves are magically combining their parts together in order to create a larger version of their respective species. After their fusion is complete, a new set of very large, glowing, green eyes looks down at the slightly startled stallion before it prepares itself for a roar that can rival that with Mustang's.
GRAAAAAWWL!!
The colossal Timberwolf's roar was impressive enough, but to its surprise, it wasn't enough to break Ford's spirit as he continues to stare up at the ferocious giant.
"Nice try!" Ford mocks the perplexed wolf while maintaining a fearsome gaze. "But I've already seen that trick before! You're nothing but all bark and no bite!"
In response, the gigantic Timberwolf quickly tries to take an enormous bite out of Mustang! Thankfully, when he got past his initial fears beforehand, Ford makes a narrow escape by leaping away from the jaws of his feral challenger.
"Okay... maybe you do have some bite to back up that roar of yours." Ford admits with a sheepish smile. But eventually, he ready himself in a fighting stance as he fiercely stares back at the growling Timberwolf. "But then again... so do I!" he finishes with a confident smirk.
Once again, Ford draws in a quick, deep breath. Only this time, it wasn't to perform another dragon's roar; it was to unleash a breath of dazzling, golden fire. The burst of fire greatly terrifies the monstrous Timberwolf as it immediately steps away from the roaring fire. Noticing how scared the Timberwolf was, Ford makes a very devious smile as he realizes the monster's obvious weakness.
Then, he comes up with an idea on how to reduce this Timberwolf down to size. With another quick breath, Ford spews out another burst of fire. This time, he precisely aims at the giant wolf's left forepaw. Impulsively, the giant Timberwolf whimpers in pain as it tries to blow air so that he can fan away the flames away from his paw. Next, Ford targets his next fire breath on the wolf's right forepaw. With its forepaws high in the air, the greatly upset Timberwolf stands on his two hind legs. Halfway through his plan, Ford breathes one last burst of fire on the giant's left hind leg. Unable to bear this humiliating pain, the giant, crying wolf holds his burnt hind leg with both of his forepaws as it hops around in a very comedic manner; even Ford couldn't help but giggle at the ridiculous posture the Timberwolf has put itself in.
With the gigantic Timberwolf now standing on one hind leg, Ford grins at the near completion of his assured victory as he charges head-on towards the wolf's wobbling hind leg. During his charge, Ford quickly channels his Draconian Magic into his hind hooves and swiftly delivers an almighty, bone-shattering buck, causing the Timberwolf's standing leg to break in two! With the once-mighty Timberwolf leaning back to its imminent destruction, there is only thing Ford always wants to say for this particular moment:
"TIMBERRR!"
After Ford finishes his corny one-liner, the giant Timberwolf goes tumbling down and shatters in an explosion of discarded timber. After the great fall, the splintered remains of the combined Timberwolves slowly try to piece their individual selves together. It was a struggling process for each of them as the Timberwolves grudgingly regain their individual consciousness.
STOMP!
But then, a stomp from a heavy hoof wakes them up startlingly out of their grogginess. The once-terrible trio looks in fear at the face of a very assertive Pegasus in front of them. Ford Mustang has proven himself and to the Timberwolves that he is in charge here, and he is going take full advantage of this newfound dominance by issuing his first command:
"SIT!"
In an instant, the three silent Timberwolves sat up straight while also slightly lowering their heads as they express pitiful looks before their new master. A bit surprise by the Timberwolves' sudden obedience, Ford makes a small smile of satisfaction before he continues his role as the alpha male of the group.
"Now listen up and listen good..." Ford Mustang orders to the pitiful wolves in a low, growling voice while walking up towards them. "I'll be coming back into these woods every now and then, and I better not expect any trouble from you or the rest of your pals! So you better tell them what I just told you." the aggressive pony leans his head right in front of the Timberwolves's fear-stricken faces. "Because if I ever hear you bark, growl, or so much as see you bear your teeth at me..." But then, Ford softens his expression as a very evil smile emerges on his face before he continues, "...well... let's just say... I can always use some more firewood."
After Ford finishes on that threatening promise, the three Timberwolves shake tremendously like an autumn leaf dealing with the heavy blow of a freezing wind. Seeing the wolves in such a terrifying state puts a smile on Ford's face, but quickly, he dismisses his grin before he assertively glares at the trembling wolves on last time.
"Is that clear?" Ford asks growlingly after reassuming his role of authority. Quickly, the wolves frantically nod their heads to serve as their answers.
"Good. Now get out of here." he firmly issues his final command to the wolves.
All at once, the three Timberwolves run away from the unbelievably terrifying pony as they constantly whimper away before they disappear into the welcoming darkness of the forest. Ford couldn't believe it! He managed to fight and scare off some of Everfree Forest's most fearsome creatures! Finally, he trots back to the Zap Apple Tree as he continues to smile and laugh over his latest triumphant.
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Back at the tree, Ford Mustang reassumes picking as many Zap Apples as possible. From grabbing the next apple, Ford pauses as he is reminiscently stares at the colorful stripes of this mesmerizing fruit he's holding. Once again, he couldn't help but think about Rainbow Dash. It was because of her that Ford has managed to build up his own courage for himself. Whether it was for his fear of heights or when confronting with snarling Timberwolves, one way or another, she was always there for him. He is truly fortunate to have met somepony as wonderful as Rainbow Dash. He can only hope that she will be okay for the time being before he can make his grand return and to stop Arrogon's plans from coming into fruition.
"Just hold on for a little while longer, Rainbow Dash." he whispers to his imaginative marefriend as he hugs the apple closely. "I'll come back and save you and everypony else. I promise."
After grabbing over a dozen of Zap Apples, the magical tree's time is up and swiftly sinks back into the ground. With some sticks, vines, and huge leaves, Ford is able to create a makeshift bag to help store the luscious fruit and place them on his back before making his way out of the forest finally.
In the midst of his steady walk, Ford couldn't help but puzzle on how his wings weren't able to operate properly like he wanted them to be. He continues to think back on that strange band of transparent, golden light that was wrapped tightly around his wings. And he couldn't figure out as to how he was magically bounded in the first place.
Thinking back to all of this, he starts to remember on how Hindel blew something on his back before the dragon made some ridiculous claim about giant mosquitos. Then, a terrifying realization hits him! Piecing it all together, Ford believes to himself that there is only one logical explanation for his unexpected predicament, and who ever was responsible for that is going to have to deal with a very angry pony!
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A little while ago, Hindel is just finishing up his lunch break after consuming his last portion of jewels. Suddenly, the blind dragon lifts his head up as he senses the return of his apprentice. Even with his unique ability to see the life-force energy in his surroundings, Hindel is still unable to see the sour mood Ford Mustang is putting himself in as he disgruntledly steps outside the boundaries of the Everfree Forest
"So, did you run into any trouble lately?" Hindel asks in a casual manner.
"I did actually." Ford responds calmly despite displaying an unpleasantly grim face. "While I was being chased by some menacing Timberwolves, my wings weren't working properly. In fact, they were constricted by strange band of golden, light energy. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" he interrogates the dragon with a raised eyebrow.
The golden dragon takes a moment to think silently on his answer, but then, he responses with a clever smirk. "I say you've already figure it out yourself."
"SO IT WAS YOU!" Fords erupts abruptly as he points an accusing fore hoof at his nonchalant dragon friend. "How could you, Hindel?! You didn't even consult with me before binding my wings with your magic! And you know what? I might have been okay with that if you would just talked to me about that in the first place! How could you have purposefully endangered me like that?!"
"And even if I didn't do that, you think Arrogon would fight fair as well?!" Hindel snaps right back.
Ford wants to retort at that counterargument, but then he freezes with his gaping mouth still hanging out in the open. Dumbstruck, he closes his jaw and ponders on Hindel's reasoning. Of course, that didn't stop the stern dragon from continuing with his rebuke.
"You need to understand that there will be many scenarios where you will be pushed to your limits as well as being placed in a severe disadvantage! So whenever you are out there in a situation as dangerous and unpredictable as the Everfree Forest, you'll need to learn on how to think on your feet constantly!" Hindel then takes a moment to breathe in and out before he calmly finishes his lecture, "Do you understand now, Mustang?"
After hearing what Hindel has to say, Ford can feel his anger immediately extinguished as shame starts to fill in its place. Feeling guilty for his earlier outburst, the humble pony admits softly. "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry, Hindel. I should have been more prepared to expect the unexpected if I'm going to face Arrogon again, and I shouldn't have doubted your training like that."
"It's quite alright, Mustang. And you might be right about one thing. I should have trusted you into accepting my restraining condition before you venture out into the forest. Nevertheless, I did trust you enough on handling whatever confrontation you may come across in there on your own. Also, I figured that your fight with the Timberwolves might have pushed you harder enough to unleash your dragon's roar, which was very impressive by the way."
"Well, do mind taking this binding spell off of me now that I'm out of the forest?" Ford asks nicely.
"I don't need to." Hindel smirks in response. "See for yourself."
Confused at Hindel's suggestion, Ford looks at his Pegasus wings as he expects some resistance once he tries to move them again. But shockingly enough, he can now move them freely as the mysterious, magical band is nowhere in sight. To make sure this isn't a fluke, Ford flaps his wings before he hovers casually in the air.
"Hey, I can fly again!" the Pegasus announces happily in surprise. "But how did that happen?"
"You did that, Mustang." Hindel explains with a casual smirk. "When you use your dragon's roar, it can be powerful enough to break just about any restrainting spells. You might want to keep that in mind when Arrogon tries to give you that stare of his again."
Once Ford lands back on the ground gently, both master and apprentice smile over the happy resolution from their brief quarrel. Then, Hindel says to his student with a proud grin, "You did well for yourself on your first day of training, Mustang. And as a reward for your accomplishments, I've brought a little treat."
Reaching with his claw, Hindel pulls out a nicely sized crystal that's glowing a bright, turquoise light. After handing his gift over to Ford, the bewildered pony couldn't help but make a baffling face after accepting the brightly colored gem.
"Uhh, Hindel... I thought we've already established that I can't eat rocks." Ford states with a scrunched brow and an awkward chuckle.
"Oh, these aren't ordinary rocks!" Hindel responds with an insisting smile. "Go ahead! Give it a taste!"
A bit reluctant at first, Mustang carefully examines the supposedly edible gift. Cautiously, he sticks out his tongue to give the gem a quick lick. Once his tongue retracts back in his mouth, the gem he was taste-testing is surprisingly sweet. Not only that, but it also had a welcoming, fizzling sensation from its taste sample. To further conduct his analysis, he then presses his teeth into the gem. To his surprise once again, he notices on how his equine teeth can leave bite marks on the much softer crystalized structure. Eagerly, he takes a huge bite on the uniquely delicious crystal. As he is experiencing the full taste of this mysterious treat, his mouth is pleasantly overwhelmed with explosive fizziness and mouthwatering sweetness.
"Hey! This is just like rock candy!" he confirms as he happily munches on his succulent treat.
"Exactly!" Hindel responds with a toothy smile. "This rare, tasty gem can grow overtime, and it's enriched with natural sugars and energizing minerals. Plus, it's not as rock-hard as its predecessors."
After taking a couple more bites over his glowing rock candy, Ford remembers the Zap Apples he has stored inside his improvised bag. Removing the bag from his back, he pulls out one of the rainbow-colored fruits and shows it to Hindel. "Well, since we're exchanging food here, care to try one of my Zap Apples?" Ford offers to his dragon friend.
After receiving the apple carefully, Hindel stares at the mesmerizing fruit with a perplexing expression, but then he eagerly smiles as he says to Ford, "Zap Apples, huh? Hmm... sounds intriguing. Sure, why not?"
Accepting Ford's gift, Hindel tosses the apple up in the air and quickly snaps his jaws shut before munching on his bizarre treat. In the midst of his chewing, Hindel begins to feel the tingling sensation of sweet and sourness.
"Mmm! This fruit has quite an electrifying taste!" Hindel glees over the surprisingly tasty snack.
After exchanging a few more candy crystals and Zap Apples, the two unlikely friends enjoy a brief moment of peace as they silently snack on their distinctively tasty treats. Once they are greatly satisfied after finishing their delicious snacks, Hindel asks his pupil with a cheerful grin, "So, now that our break is over, you ready for your next lesson?"
Ford grins just the same as his master before he answers obviously, "Always!"
YOU ARE READING
The Epic Quest of Ford Mustang
FanfictionIt's been over a year since the Arrival of Ford Mustang, a former human being from Earth, now a full-fledged Pegasus in Ponyville, and things have been going really well with him and Rainbow Dash ever since they became a couple nearly a year ago. W...
