5 am. It was too early in the morning for the sun to be rising, but nonetheless a dull orange glow invaded the window. Fluttershy yawned widely and sat up in bed, smiling serenely at what appeared to be a beautiful rising sun. Tired eyes blinked a few times. Somewhere off in the distance, she could hear something. “F-----y! ----t--y w------p!!”
The sounds didn’t make any sense. Just a jumble of letters early in the morning. The pegasus yawned and knocked the side of her head a little to clear her ears. The sound came again. “Flu--r--y! W-k- -p!!” Hm...it was getting closer now. But whatever could it be? While she pondered the question, her front door slammed open and a blurry blue blob stood in her doorway. Some kind of sound was coming from it. “Fluttershy! Wake up! Pinkie Pie’s uncle is a liar!”
“Don’t be silly, Pinkie Pie’s uncle is a perfectly upstanding citizen.” She chuckled at the blob’s words. Eventually, the blob began to settle it’s edges to form a recognizable shape. It seemed to be Rainbow Dash. The mild early morning ringing in Fluttershy’s ears started to ease as well. So this time, when she heard what was really being said, it sunk in a little bit more.
“What? No! The Everfree forest is on fire!!” Dash’s words finally hit the mark and the pink haired wallflower was on her feed almost instantly.
“What!? How? Why?”
“I dunno, I dunno. But we gotta go, now! Get anything that can hold water and get to the fringe, everyone else is already there.” These being her final words, she dashed off into town, ducking in and out of houses and emerging from each one with another bucket or pail of some sort.
The scene was chaotic. Ponies were everywhere, running about with some loose sort of order. As Fluttershy hurried from the town to the forest’s edge, she saw Applejack and Big Macintosh rush by her with some sort of hose end. They were headed towards the fountain in the center of the town. Neither of them took even the time to nod a hello, but it was completely understandable under the current circumstances. Somewhere off in the distance, a familiar voice was shouting directions. “Everyone, get the buckets lined up! You three, keep a hold on the end of that hose, make sure the water stays in the basin! Doctor...Yes, keep doing that.”
Twilight stood atop a pile of boxes near a large wooden container that the other end of the hose from earlier was leading to. Three ponies held it in place. Fluttershy lined her bucket up with the rest and galloped over to the place where her friend stood giving out orders. “Um...” She wasn’t entirely awake yet, but she was still determined to help in any way she could. “Twilight, is there anything that I could-”
“Oh! Perfect!” The purple unicorn gave a strained smile down at her. It was clear that she was under a lot of stress. “Listen, Fluttershy, there’s a clear path far from the fire that leads a little deeper into the forest. There are some ponies posted along the way, to keep you on the path. I need you to go down there and find Rarity. She’s trying to gather up the animals and lead them to safety, but she’s going to need your help. Can you do that?” Her smile was kind but her eyes were pleading. She was genuinely worried about this fire, and she needed reassurance that someone would do all they could to help.
“Yes, I’ll do my best to get all of them out safely.” She nodded and hurried off into the forest, setting aside her fears for the sake of those who needed her. Lately, she was getting better and better at that.
As she went, she found that there were indeed sentries along the path, and they silently pointed her in the right direction, keeping their eyes open and aware. She ended up quite a ways in before she came across Rarity, who was giving a small group some instructions. When she saw the pegasus approach, she nearly cried out in joy. “Oh thank GOODNESS! I’ve been doing my best but this is your field my dear! Now, what can I do to help you?”
From here, things became a bit of a blur. The only thing that echoed in her mind was the safety of the poor, defenseless animals who needed help. At some point, she must have given Rarity something to do, because during a brief shot of memory, she couldn’t see her around.
Outside the forest limits, everyone was ignoring Pinkie Pie, who had been offhandedly told to sing to bring up morale. She was bopping around, not particularly getting in the way, but not really helping either. That was how Twilight had wanted it. Rainbow had returned carrying a metric ton of buckets, at least 2 for each pony attending. Where they came from, no one cared. The Apple siblings had returned and several unicorns stood along the hose from the fountain to the basin, keeping it steady and flowing with water. The basin was filling quickly. Dash was a little out of breath, but she stood wordless and determined in front of Twilight, ready for her next task.
Twilight gave a nod of approval and took a deep breath. It felt like the first breath she’d taken since she’d been awoken several hours earlier by a small cacophony of hysteria.
Something about this situation had turned Fluttershy into a commanding leader. She paced in front of several small but quick animals, barking out orders in a voice that was less of a bark and more of a sharp, loud whisper. Nonetheless, rabbits and squirrels make surprisingly good soldiers, given the right conditions. “Go!” At her word, they leaped off, scattering to different areas of the woods. The blaze wasn’t all that far off, and time was of the essence.
Deep within the forest, far beyond the point where Fluttershy stood, Rarity daintily stepped over some thick undergrowth. Thinking back, it must have been the excitement of the moment that caused her to agree to do this. And alone, nonetheless. “Sorry, Rarity. Can’t spare any hooves, Rarity,” She grumbled to herself, picking her hooves up high to avoid a thorny patch. “How am I even supposed to- Oh!” She gasped as the forest opened up before her. She dove out onto grass that was only mildly overgrown and had a distinct lack of prickly things. After taking a moment to recover, she stood proudly and beamed at the sight she had just found.
Rainbow Dash had called together as many pegasi as she could. They were all flying in formation off into the distance. Soon, they would return with the rainclouds. That would lighten the load considerably, but only if they manipulated the wind just right. The fire would dissipate the clouds otherwise. The plan was to surround the burning area and ensure that the fire couldn’t spread any further in any direction. Meanwhile, the earth ponies, the unicorns, and the remaining pegasi carried buckets of water to teams within the woods who received, threw, and returned them just as fast as they came.
Twilight was still getting worried. The fire was enormous, and it wasn’t slowing down yet. If this kept up...
“Miss Twilight!” A small voice shouted from the edge of town. Looking up, she saw the source: The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Just as importantly, she saw their cargo. The three of them carried a huge hose between them. They had found one somewhere, and at the moment it was one of the most beautiful sights ever.
“Girls! Where did you- Never mind! I don’t know how you did it, but this might be just what we need!” She lifted the hose off of their backs and let them collapse into one overworked, panting heap. The hose was actually quite heavy. “You should take a break now. We’ll handle it from here.” No objections arose, only snores. They’d already passed out. Twilight ventured a warm smile at them before turning and dragging the hose over to the still filling water basin. “Ok, everypony, you know what to do!”
Fluttershy noticed that on the edge of her crunch-time brevity she could sense the fear that she was so used to creeping back in. The more she looked around, the more the reality of the situation settled in. Small bits of time disappeared from her mind, resulting in the last hour or so becoming nothing but a series of flashes. And what was worse, right now she was alone. Alone in the Everfree Forest. Alone in the Everfree Forest while it was on fire. Her shoulders sagged and her head sunk as the realization invaded her mind. She bit her lip and stopped in her tracks, looking around. “H-hello? Is anyone there?”
The only response was a low growling from the bushes just behind her.
Twilight led the charge of unicorns carrying the hose. It floated along between them like a long serpent weaving through the forest. Every several yards, one of the unicorns stopped and took a post. Soon enough, the expanding blaze was clearly in sight. The head of the group stopped and brought the hose to bear, pointing towards the base of the flame ahead. “Go!” She shouted over her shoulder. The cry was echoed by each pony along the train, and when it got back to the basin, the water started flowing. Fifteen nerve wracking seconds later, the water exploded from the nozzle of the hose and met the blaze, causing an uproarious hiss of steam.
But it wouldn’t do enough. The fire was nearly out of control, and they would need more than a single hose to stop it completely.
High in the air, Rainbow Dash grinned to herself. She couldn’t believe her luck. Behind her flew a veritable army of pegasi, each one pushing a raincloud fitting their speed and skill. Halfway to the weather factory, she discovered that someone had sent word. Not only had a large number of stormclouds been gathered, but there were nearly as many pushers there as she had brought herself. At the head of the lot, 11 floating bodies stood out. They looked familiar, but it took a second for the recognition to click in Dash’s head. It was the The Wonderbolts, out of costume. The fangirl suppressed a squeal of delight and reminded herself that business came first. That was difficult, though, when she saw the light of recognition come to Spitfire’s face as they flew closer.
Greetings were brief, and pretty soon the entire contingent was headed back to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire at the head, the rest following behind them.
Twilight squinted as the fire flared and got closer. She backed up, and called the retreat. they hadn’t had enough water. The only hope now was for the pegasi to return in time. Even as she thought that, she heard thunder. Never was she so happy to hear a rainstorm approach. The downpour began, and she smiled over her shoulder. Backup had arrived.
Fluttershy was nearly to tears when the thunder sounded. Her first reaction had her leap in the air and dash under the nearest tree. Then, when the rain began and her breathing normalized, she started laughing lightly to herself. The rain. The rain would save them, of course! She ventured to laugh a little louder. This whole nightmare would be over soon. The rain would stop the fire’s spread, and it would die out when it ran out of fuel. She sat and shivered, letting out a few shuddering breaths and focusing on keeping her forelegs from collapsing. “Thank goodness, I was getting so worried.” She hadn’t had time to remember how far into the forest yet. Before she could quite recall that inconvenient fact, a sound much louder than thunder rumbled from the direction of the previously abating fire.
As she looked up, the rain had stopped. The clouds in the sky seemed to have been completely dispersed. Directly ahead of her, the fire expanded unnaturally quickly, and it seemed to be heading straight for the petrified yellow pony. Her mouth opened in fear, and the sound of the explosion grew and grew, eventually forcing her back against the tree. The flames grew closer and closer, the roar and crackle of the burning forest pounding her ears. The trees directly in front of her went up in flames. Then, everything went dark.
The forest had been mostly evacuated of creatures. A coral of sorts had been set up some distance from the forest so that as many animals as possible could be kept close to eachother. Several ponies of all three types stood vigil over them, making sure that no fighting broke out amongst any of them. From some distance away a couple of them spotted the recognizable form of Applejack approaching them at a gallop. She slowed as she reached one of the sentries, stopping in front of him. “Wow! Looks like you lot did great getting them critters out of the forest!” She commented and grinned, scanning the coral. The Sentry commented something, but she couldn’t quite hear him. Something was wrong. When she looked back, the one who’d been talking to her was framed with small animals, who all stood posing and mildly out of breath. It looked like they had just finished a musical number that she had missed entirely.
“Hey....Where’s Fluttershy?” The earth pony in front of her and all of the animals slowed their breathing and eventually froze. The sentry frowned, looking around himself.
“Um...I-I dunno. She sent everyone out to round up the animals, but by the time we got back out here, I thought she’d have arrived...I suppose she could still be in the forest.”
Applejack frowned as well, turning and heading towards the forest’s edge, intent on going in to find her friend. Just as she was about to pass the threshold of the first trees, she felt an enormous force push her backwards. She skidded back and stopped just as the sound exploded over her, causing her hearing to drop off temporarily. She shouted something obscene and looked up to see a huge fireball occupying the space where the rainclouds had previously been. There was no sign of the clouds anymore, and only a few pegasi could be seen floating far from it. When her gaze dropped to the forest, her heart dropped through her chest. The blaze had widened, and the fire could be seen in the distance cutting off the path that led to where Fluttershy had sent the critter gathering crews from. She took a few steps backwards and sat, her eyes wide, her mind not quite comprehending what had just happened.
Twilight sat quietly out of breath outside the forest among the small pack of unicorns that had attempted to use the hose to put the fire out. When the explosion pitched them all away from the forest, she scrambled to her hooves, gaping at the enormous fireball that crawled towards the sky. She sat entranced, and only a few moments later she realized exactly where it was and what that entailed. “Rainbow Dash!” The shock hit her harder than the shockwave earlier had, and she staggered backwards once more. Her mouth hung open, but from some distance away she could hear someone shouting. Looking over, she saw Applejack drawing close. She was closer than she sounded. Twilight assumed her hearing must have been damaged, so she couldn’t quite understand what she had said.
When she did comprehend what was said, her knees felt weak. Applejack was screaming hoarsely. Her eardrums must have been hurt worse than Twilight’s own. “Fluttershy’s in there!” Even as the orange pony ran, she seemed to realize something and she tripped over her own feet. She tumbled and slid to a stop near by. When she stood, before she could be interrupted, she blurted something else out, but she spoke too quietly to be understood just yet. Both of the ringing slowly drained from their ears.
“W-what? What did you say?”
“...A-Ah...Ah don’t know where Rarity is.”
The fire wasn’t approaching. None of Ponyville could quite explain why, but even though only a few trees were between them and the inferno, it didn’t seem to come any closer. Applejack and Twilight Sparkle sat in one of the buildings on the fringes of town. Everyone had decided that the two of them needed a break, as they’d been working particularly hard. Spike was nearby, busying himself by bringing them blankets and anything else they needed. The two of them stared wearily out the window at the forest in the distance.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak a few times, but words escaped her. The front door to the house opened, and a familiar and very welcome face poked in. After a slight pause, Twilight assessed everything. “Zecora!” She stood, but found her back legs were weak and simply fell back to a seated position. “I’m...I’m glad you got out of the forest!”
“As am I, it was a fortunate turn. I was out in the wilds, gathering ferns.” The zebra walked to the table and sat down, looking the both of them over. “I see you are tired from your trying ordeal. Where are the others, are they out in the field?” She indicated the window, where several dark shapes could be seen milling about.
“Well, Pinkie’s out there somewhere just doing her thing...” Applejack spoke up. The pink pony had an unreal amount of stamina. She couldn’t bring herself to continue, though. Zecora looked oddly between the two, waiting patiently for the answer. Right when she was about to speak up and ask again for an answer, Pinkie bounced into the room.
“Hey guys!” She called cheerfully. She was met with two tired gazes and one confused one. “What’s with all the frowny faces? Come on, guys, cheer up! Let me sing you a song about keeping your energy up while you’re tired! Weeeeeeeeeeeell~”
“Shut up!” Twilight’s voice crackled out of her throat. Tears were spilling out of her eyes. “Th-they’re...in the forest. Somewhere. I don’t know, Rarity and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash...Nopony knows where they are!” She was louder than she expected. Her voice echoed in the room. Silence settled. Applejack was looking away from everyone. Twilight seemed frozen in place save for her tears, her eyes locked on to the table there. Zecora was caught speechless. Pinkie Pie blinked several times, then walked over to the window.
“Well, th-there’s no point in just mulling around, right? We gotta keep our spirits up and...” She paused as something seemed to catch in her throat. “And- and...You know what we need? We need food! I’m gonna go get us a big meal. Any requests? No? Alright!” Her voice was louder than it needed to be.
“Wait, Pinkie Pie, I-” Twilight started, but the party pony had rushed out the door and slammed it behind her. “...I’m sorry...”
For a long time, everyone was silent.
Some time later, Twilight and Applejack stood stood outside, fed and rested. The sun had risen, but any reduction in the fire was a trick of the light. It still burned just as furiously. The village was sleeping in shifts. More water had been gathered in more large basins all along the forest’s edge, but the majority of ponies were digging a wide trench between the forest and the village. By now, it was very likely that even if the fire spread beyond the forest, any danger to the down was very low.
Zecora had explained the oddity of the apparent barrier at the edge of the forest. Over several years, she had actually worked several methods for fireproofing that particular area. Fireproof plants, fireproofing salves and potions, and at some point she had worked together with a unicorn hermit to cast an enchantment on the whole area. Many such safeguards were actually in place, to protect the town from a variety of dangers. While she had explained, Applejack had flushed a deep red and begun staring at the ground.
“Ah think Ah remember the night you did that. We...we thought the town was gonna get attacked by ghosts, cause we saw the light from the spellcastin’. We...threw rocks and apples to scare ‘em off.”
Zecora had chuckled, laughed, and waved it off as no big deal. The welts had gone down.
Still, the enchantment wouldn’t hold forever, and this fire had some sort of magical origins. Twilight had dug through the library and found a few creatures that could have caused it. There were no signs of a dragon, thankfully. No loud roars or proclamations, no hulking, flying form approaching the town. That was a blessing. Eventually, she had grabbed a book and brought it with her. “Compendium of Flaming Furies: A Comprehensive Chart of Flamable Creatures.” She sat near the makeshift moat of earth, staring at the pages intently, looking for the most probably cause. If that was ascertained, they might be able to find a way to stop the blaze. At this point, however, it seemed to be a formality. The town was safe, and the forest was more or less lost. At the very least, studying was the best way to get her mind off of the situation.
Applejack heard it first. Deep within the forest, a rumbling roar began growing. She stood up and readied herself, giving a sharp jab to Twilight and motioning for her to be quiet and listen carefully. It wasn’t hard to catch it, something was approaching the village. The two let up a cry and rallied the town, but their fear turned to confusion as several pegasi confirmed the same thing. This wasn’t the sound of a roaring fire, it was the sound of rushing water. The entire forest was being engulfed by water, and it was coming closer.
The near tidal wave broke just at the edge of the forest and flowed evenly towards the town. Most of it was stopped by the trench, and the water that passed it was only about ankle deep, though it covered a good wide area. Those who were asleep awoke with the sound and gazed out the doors and windows of the buildings they occupied. The diggers scrambled out of the ditch and blinked in surprise, never quite having thought of this eventuality. Amidst the confusion a few people began a cheer. The fire was completely out.
The two present of the Mane 6 stood shocked and a little wet. The splash from when the water had struck the moat (now of water, rather than earth, as was proper) had soaked them both. The book Twilight held was soaked, but that could be fixed. Or it could have been, if she hadn’t simply dropped it. This was caused by the other sight directly in front of her. The moat was occupied now. She turned her head up, her vision temporarily impaired by the sun. Right here, now, in front of her, floated an enormous, purple, mustachioed, flamboyant water serpent.
And on it’s head, triumphantly, stood Rarity.
Rarity dismounted and smiled brightly at Twilight and Applejack. They only stood there, dumbfounded, only able to speak in short, wordless sounds. The white unicorn blinked and sighed. “Well, that’s not the reaction I expected. And I even brought guests.” She stepped to the side and peered around the Serpent. The other two did the same, and they felt tears rise up in their eyes. Through the forest floated and walked a small army of pegasi. And at the head of the lot were Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
The Mane 6, Zecora, Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, and Spike had gathered around a table in the Library. Near the forest, a party was being thrown. Even the Serpent was partaking, becoming a waterslide for children and allowing ponies to attempt to get apples in his mouth from the ground. In the library, however, it was storytime, and it was apparently going to be a doozy.
When Fluttershy had arrived on the scene, she had immediately took control of gathering animals. As it turned out, Rarity wasn’t all that good at it. From a flash of inspiration, Fluttershy had told Rarity to go to the river and enlist the help of the Serpent to extinguish the fire. She’d done so begrudgingly, and after some trekking she found the river, but no serpent. She called out to it several times, and finally he swam up, stretching and yawning openly. She explained the situation, but he was unable to control the water to any extent. All he’d be able to do is splash a few yards into the forest from the river, but even with his biggest push he couldn’t reach were the fire currently was.
“Well....” The Serpent began. “I can’t do it, but I might know of someone who can.” He postured and thought, staying silent for a few moments. Rarity cleared her throat impatiently. “Ah! Yes, well, see, she’s not exactly the welcoming type...but if you really want, I suppose I could take you to see here.”
Rarity accepted the offer and jumped on the Serpent’s back, and off they’d sailed up the river. “You know,” she laid down on top of his head, looking down at him. “I don’t believe I ever got your name last time, Sir...”
“You may call me Ruisseau, my dear.”
“Oh, that’s a lovely name!” She swooned. “One more question, dear...Who are we going to see?”
Ruisseau swiveled his eyes up towards her. “The Matron of Water, the magical source of the Everfree River, and the most powerful being in the forest. You are about to meet The Naiade.
The trip was overall uneventful, but Rarity gazed sadly to the side as they passed the area that was on fire. By the time they reached the source of the river, the rain over the inferno had begun. The river flowed out of a large, ornate cavern carved into a mountain. The stonework swirled and curved up and around the mouth of the cave. As they passed the portal, they wound up in complete darkness. The only light they could see was a pinprick of white at the end of the dark tunnel.
About halfway through, the cave walls began to shake, and the water grew choppy. A wild roar emanated from the direction they had come, and a bright flash illuminated the cave for a moment. Ruisseau stared grimly ahead and adjusted his swimming to keep his head level. Rarity shifted nervously, now unsure of what was happening.
They emerged into the light, the pony squinting and blinking to adjust her eyes. As the light dimmed, she looked around and took in her surroundings. They were in a large, open cavern, with a redundant number of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. At the far end of the waterlogged cave, a throne hewn from stone held a figure that looked slightly larger than a pony. It looked like a large snake, but it’s upper body looked vaguely pony-esque, with longer arms ending in a two fingered hoof. Her head was that of a pony. Her entire body was scaled, as a fish’s would be, and arcing from the top of her head to her lower back was a large dorsal fin.
As it turned out, she didn’t feel all that helpful. Rarity explained the situation, but the water sprite remained resolute. The river wasn’t in danger, it was water. The fire would not touch it. The rest of the forest could burn for all she cared. Even as the desperate pony began to despair, the benevolent water serpent cleared his throat nervously. Speaking slowly and with a variety of ‘um’s and ‘er’s, he posed a hypothetical situation. At this rate, half of the everfree forest would burn down. Possibly all of it. If everything was reduced to ash, there would be no barrier of woods and creatures between the river and Ponyville. The river would be in the open. The ponies would likely expand their town, and they would then begin tapping the river for water. Eventually, the beautifully flowing watercourse would be divided into tributaries and small streams and irrigation. A shadow of it’s former self.
Rarity blinked at this bluff. Certainly Ponyville would never deface the river, especially if they knew of the existence of the Nayad. The hope she’d felt as Ruisseau began faded quickly. There was no way that such a farsical statement would-
“There is wisdom in this.”
It WORKED!? Flabbergasted, the unicorn held her tongue. Quickly, before the river matron changed her mind, Ruisseau turned and zipped out of the cave. “I’ll get you home, as well! Hold on tight, my fabulous fashionista.” He readied himself, but then floated there silently for a few moments.
“What are you...” Even as she began to speak, Rarity heard a rushing sound, and the level of the river rose greatly. All of a sudden, the water from the river rose in a tidal wave, sweeping forward across the charred forest, a hooting water serpent surfing along the top.
“And that’s what happened.” Rarity adjusted her mane slightly as she spoke, Shaking her head at last and showing the mane as she wanted it, flowing and beautiful once again. The rest of the group sat around the table, slightly shocked and a little confused.
Spike was the one to speak up first. “Wait a second, that explains you, but what about Fluttershy? And Dash and the Pegasi?” He queried. The room turned to Rarity and stared, waiting for the story to be told. She was far too busy primping her hair.
“U-um...I can explain that...” The collective gaze of the room shifted to Fluttershy. She winced a little bit away from the stare. “I-it was...well...it wasn’t anything as spectacular as Rarity’s story. We were all saved by the Manticores. The one I saved that day remembered me, and when he smelled me in the forest while it was on fire, he came and rescued me.” She gave a small smile. “He’s really very nice. When I started to worry about the others, he brought me to a clearing and showed me the Manticore tribe’s home. It’s very beautiful, really...” She lit up a little bit just thinking about it. “It was on the far side of the river, and there were tree houses and, and...” She paused and looked at the mildly exasperated looks. “Oh, sorry...And the tribe had grabbed all of the pegasi before they’d gotten thrown into the fire. They were all singed and scarred, I wanted to stay and treat them, but we saw the river rise up and we rushed over to see what was wrong, and now we’re here!”
Several hours later, Twilight sat on the balcony of the library, staring out at the forest. Beyond the first layer of trees that were saved by Zecora’s actions, the forest was charred, but standing. Some intensive therapy and a lot of magic could bring it back to life, and within a few months it would be back to normal. Something jumped into her mind, and she turned around towards the interior.
“Spike, take a letter.”
Dear Princess Celestia.
Today, the Everfree Forest caught on fire. However, the entire town banded together, and
together we fought back tragedy and worked our hardest. While we didn’t actually succeed, some friends of ours from
a long time ago came to the rescue. Some of them saved our lives, and one of them managed to save the entire
forest, and possibly the town. Today, I learned that no matter how long it’s been since you last saw each other, friends
will still be friends. One small kindness may be repaid a thousand times over. So always be kind, and always help
anyone who needs help.
“Hey, Twilight...” Spike stared as the letter flew off towards the castle. “What do you think caused that explosion? I mean, I get that the forest may have caught by itself, but exploding?”
“I don’t know, Spike.” She yawned and stared out at the forest. “I don’t know at all. But whatever it is is gone now, and that’s what’s important.” She turned and trotted inside, heading for the bed. It had been a long day, and it was only 6 pm. “Let’s get some rest today, and it’ll be business as normal tomorrow.”
“Yeah, sure...” Spike looked at the forest for a moment, but then turned and walked back inside, closing the door behind him.