Hauling Across Equestria and Beyond: Overconfidence is a Slow and Insidious Killer

“You can treat these as good s’ya want, but they still won’t last forever if they’re bein’ used,” Sugar, an Appleloosan cow told Brave Storm as she attempted to fix her favorite cart. “I’m surprised you managed to make it last as long as ya did, but it’s been under alotta stress lately. It wasn’t made to climb mountains, an’ such.”

“So this is my fault.” Brave Storm felt her ears droop. This cart had been with her since she started hauling for her old employer. 

“Well, yeah as far as your hooves needin’ a trim would be your fault, too.” Sugar shook her head, making her cowbell clatter slightly. “T’ain’t nothin’ you coulda done shorta doin’ nothin’, hon. Stop thinkin’ such.”

“I’m just gonna miss it.” Brave Storm ran a hoof over its bed.

“Tell ya what, hon. Cart makin’s our family’s specialty. You get me the wood fer it, and I’ll build ya a new one.”

“What about payment?”

“Well, that’s what your Guild dues are for, honey!”

 

Brave Storm rested on a stump of a recently felled tree. She kept her ears perked as she tried to remain aware of any creatures she might have attracted while lumbering. It didn’t matter how strong and capable she was, it was a death sentence to be overconfident in the Everfree Forest. She wanted her next cart to last her as long as possible and the strongest wood came from Everfree trees.

With Sugar’s advice, Brave Storm managed to identify a sturdy tree with good wood for what she wanted. She spent an hour felling it with a borrowed axe from another Guildmate and she knew that the sound echoed throughout the forest. Critters were aware of her and she needed to be ready for them.

She allowed herself enough time to drink water and catch her breath. The longer she stayed here, the more she was in trouble. Brave Storm got to work chopping the tree into more manageable planks, trying to keep them as large as possible. If she had the help of a few other earth ponies, yaks, or bison- she might have been able to haul the whole tree out of the forest. But this was a personal job and she didn’t want to endanger the lives of other creatures for only her own gain. Besides, it was her own stubbornness that lead her into this forest.

She roped the planks of wood to her body as she went, preparing to leave everything else behind if necessary. With the competition she had with Dolma, she knew she could carry far more weight than she realized when adrenaline was involved. 

Snap.

Brave Storm threw her head up, ears erect. She felt calm but knew something was watching her. She squinted against the treeline, trying to find the threat lurking in the woods. There was a certain spot where she felt like she could almost see something and her body tingled with fear responses. She took a step back and then a timberwolf launched from between the trees.

Brave Storm whinnied, still in shock despite anticipating its assault. She twisted her body, sending a plank to intercept the airborne timberwolf before it could land on her. It was small and weak, falling apart easily as wolf-shaped wood fell to the forest floor. Slowly, Brave Storm backed out, her ears flickering between sounds real and imagined. There was never only one timberwolf.

She watched on as the forest bleed, ever-shifting between wooden rubble and wooden wolf. She couldn’t keep track of any one wolf to know how outnumbered she was. Brave Storm swallowed down her fear as she realized these weren’t mundane timberwolves. 

A timberwolf launched an attack on her and she barely had time to duck out the way. It soared overhead and landed on her other side. She kept an ear on it as another wolf came at her from behind. She released a sharp and quick kick, sending it into wooden pieces as the sound of the impact echoed throughout the forest. Brave Storm noticed the wolves she could see give pause, but only for a moment. 

There were an unknowable number of them that could reform with enough time and only one of her- who won’t get back up. She felt her confidence leave her as her objective went from dispatching the pack to simply surviving. She tried to turn on a dime, forgetting about the planks of wood on her back. They caught on the ground and pulled her into the air for a moment. A moment the timberwolves took advantage of immediately, four launching at her at once.

She bucked away one and another missed her entirely. But the other two landed on her back, dragging her down by her rump and her shoulders. Instinctively, she released a loud and desperate whiny to any creature nearby. Fear gripped her as she watched the other timberwolves move in to attack. But in that fear, she felt something in her hooves. Some deep connection to the ground. Something she vaguely felt several months ago.

She tried to channel it into something useful. A rumble in the ground to disorientate the wolves. A sudden eruption that would throw up a rocky barrier between her and the rest of the pack. A split in the crust that would put a chasm between her and the attackers. Anything. But nothing answered her call.

Brave Storm flinched as the jaws of a timberwolf opened inches from her face. But she didn’t feel anything clamp on her head. Instead, she heard a loud crack as the timberwolf shattered, spraying wooden chunks across her body. The wolf holding her neck released her, snarling at whatever attacked its comrade only for a spear of light to whizz by and take its head off.

“Gold Light!” Brave Storm cried in relief, immediately recognizing the spell. A shadow passed over her as Black Rose swooped and pulled the timberwolf on her rump off. He brought it high into the sky with only a few flaps of his wings and dropped it. He didn’t care to watch it fall apart on impact before swooping to the next wolf. He called frequently to Gold Light and Brave Storm, alerting them of the positions of timberwolves unseeable to the mares.

“They’re running off!” Black Rose declared after the trio dispatched of several in a matter of moments. Black Rose landed next to Gold Light and Brave Storm began to trot to her fellow Knights.

“Thanks for that! I don’t know i-”

“What was that!?” demanded Black Rose, his large wings spread and his face glaring.

“I-what?”

“What. Was. That?”

“I was just getting some timber. I ne-”

“By yourself?” Black Rose stomped a hoof to the ground. Brave Storm flicked her eyes to Gold Light, but she held her own anger in her eyes. She wouldn’t be getting back up from the unicorn.

“I thought I would be okay.”

“In the Everfree?”

“I-”

“You’re not a newbie anymore, Brave Storm. Act like it! Your overconfidence is going to get you ki-” Black Rose swore, and the anger in his face melted into something like despair. “I was so scared! We almost didn’t make it on time!”

Brave Storm felt herself go cold. Only now did she see that neither of them were wearing their armor. The only thing Black Rose had on him was the blood beads he always wore. The zebra felt her eyes go to her hooves, ashamed and at a loss for words. 

“Let’s get back to the barracks.” Gold Light finally spoke. “It’s not safe to stay here.”