Whether We Like It or Not

"We can afford five more minutes." I could hear Chrysalis grumble before she turned over so that she was facing away from Nightmare Moon.

"Thy senses have been dulled if thou believest that we would simply allow thee to return to resting at such a time!"

Beep. Beep. Beep. Oh, what's that you're hearing? Only the latest in alarm technology! The Two-Mares-Arguing-For-The-Umpteenth-Time Alarm! Its great! It has multiple sounds it makes at random, a built in sensor that decided what would be the optimal time to wake you up on its own, and it even got rid of that pesky snooze button so many inferior alarms held! Plus, it came at the modest price of free!

... Yes, I see the rolled up newspaper. Yes, I know you're willing to use it again...

Point being, after yet another lovely wake up call, it was just about time for us to get going.

I stood outside of the door to Zecora's house with said aforementioned zebra by my side. She and I watched on as the two continued to argue with one another. They had been at it since, I'd say, half an hour ago? And not much progress had been made while Nightmare Moon kept trying to get Chrysalis to get up.

Was it comical? Yes. Was it productive? Not really.

I let out a sigh as I turned to Zecora, deciding to switch from the topic of the two's incessant arguing to frankly anything else.

"... So, I take it that it's going to be a while before we see each other again?" I asked, raising a brow as I casually leaned against the doorframe. Zecora nodded. For a moment, she looked around our surroundings, seeming to take in the Everfree forest she had lived in for so long under a new perspective. As to what perspective it possibly could have been beyond 'land of murder hungry creatures from the depths of Hades', I had no idea.

"If fate so demands, then this we will have to stand." I let out a small chuckle. Not because what she had said was particularly funny, but... I was unsure of what else to do or say. I settled on just looking back to the still arguing Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, who had seemed to have gone full circle with their argument.

"Thou hast just rested for copious hours!"

"Yes, and luckily, I'm in a rather good mood, so I won't blame you for interrupting that sleep of mine if you leave me alone."

Its weird to think about, but its kinda concerning just how much I liked seeing the two of them argue. It was oddly comforting; familiar.

"You were right in your decision to give them both revision." I could just barely see Zecora in my peripherals as she turned her head to face the two as well. Not turning my attention away from them, I shook my head and smirked.

"They seemed like nice ponies, despite their pasts. After all, you were the one who told me 'not to judge a book by its cover'. Remember that incident with Ponyville you told me about? How they thought you were a witch, or something like that." Rolling her own eyes, Zecora chuckled and waved her forehoof at me dismissively. "Still, thanks for helping us out, despite the fact that we're in such a bad situation. You really came through."

"Though I am glad that you find my kindness undiminished, I cannot truly say that I am finished."

I felt my brow raise as I looked to her.

"What do you mean?" She merely rolled her eyes.

"As soon as your friends inside are through, the answer to your question I will give to you." I was about to ask what she had planned, but found my thoughts getting cut off by the familiar sound of glass and splashing water.

"Agh!!! Would you stop doing that!?!"

"We take it that thou hast fully awoken now?"

I took a very slow and thorough breath in through my nose, trying very hard not to show too much frustration as I realized how long of a night it was going to be. But, if there was one thing I had picked up from several instances of being caught in the crossfire of these two's arguments so far, it was that I should just let them tire themselves out.

Without any particular fanfare, I closed the door to the house to leave the two inside to their chaos.

"It may be a while. Oh, and you may want to keep a tab on what they end up breaking, because I'm pretty sure they're about to try to club each other with whatever they can find in there."

Luckily, they only ended up threatening one another until they eventually got bored and came outside.

As for what Zecora had to say? Well, once the two were out, she advised us to head out west. Something about there being another place we could hide out in, at least for a while. All things considered, I didn't have much to complain about... Well, aside from one little detail.

"God damn it, I told you both that I'm fine!" I all but yelled from atop of Nightmare Moon's back. The warmth in my cheeks from when I had seen Zecora's face after I was floated up there was very much present.

"Consider it a precaution, Sir Jeremy. Treated wounds or not, your condition is not yet completely restored." Nightmare Moon replied, turning her head to glance at me before then turning it back to the path ahead of her.

"You couldn't have at least waited until Zecora had gone back inside?!?"

That was one of the loudest laughs I had ever heard from Zecora, and she had seen me as a result of plenty of drunken escapades.

"We see not a reason for ye to feel such embarrassment in front of your companion. After all, your reasoning for seeming so dishonorable is just, if not fair." Yeah, well, I'd have liked to hear her say that while she's riding me.

Wait, scratch that, that sounded horrible, I never said that! Jesus Christ, talk about poor phrasing.

I looked around Nightmare Moon's head so I could try to get a view of whatever was in front of us. And, surprise, surprise, there were trees. Lots and lots of trees. I really don't know what I was expecting. Maybe I was just trying to distract myself from my more recent bit of shame.

I did my best to entertain myself as we went onwards, more than a few bouts of mental rambling coming about as I did so. Though, it was hard to really focus on said trains of thought when Nightmare Moon's mane seemed to constantly, and I swear that I'm not making this up, wrap around me.

Zecora had once told me in her earlier descriptions of the tale of 'The Mare On The Moon' that 'Nightmare Moon's mane was just as alive and filled with spite as the rest of her'. Along with some unspecified rhyme that I didn't pay much attention to at the time. I had thought that it was just another exaggeration that ponies would put into stories to make them more interesting. Now I can see that it wasn't entirely far off.

That mane might as well be alive. It constantly moved, seeming to take and lose shape at a near constant rate as it would occasionally wrap around me only to let go again just as quickly. Still, I resisted the urge to say anything about this to Nightmare Moon. I don't know, something in the back of my mind told me that it wouldn't be too great of an idea. For all I knew she didn't even know about her mane's behavior. I have to say though, at least she doesn't have to worry about having bad hair days. If it ever happened, it would probably just correct itself. That's just a somewhat educated guess though.

"Well Jeremy?" Chrysalis' voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? What?" I elegantly responded. She very swiftly let me know of her discontent by letting out a sigh of frustration as she put her attention back to the path in front of her.

"I said, are they any other old friends of yours that we should know about?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a simple enough question really, so of course I got rather annoyed when he didn't answer me. Turning back to him and Nightmare Moon, I noticed that Jeremy, irritating as it seemed, was looking ahead of him blankly. That same strange look he got when his mind was wandering.

"Well Jeremy?" I asked, putting the sound of my voice up a decibel or two in an effort to snap him to attention. It seemed to have the desired effect as Jeremy's eyes seem to regain some of their usual focus.

"Huh? What?" I felt my irritation spark a bit, causing me to let out a sigh as I turned away from him with slightly narrowed eyes. Honestly, what did I expect?

"I said, are there any other old friends of yours that we should know about?" There was a moment or two of silence after I repeated myself.

Another hint of frustration built up as I thought he was getting distracted yet again, but one short check of his emotions afterwards calmed me a bit as I realized that he was looking through his memories for an answer. He hummed in thought.

"Well, you both already know about Hardhat and my old bosses, EvenOut and TopSuit... as for the only other old friend of mine, I don't think she's going to be much help any time soon." I felt a brow arch.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the last time I saw her, she said that she was just planning on 'going where the wind takes her'. Not much forward thinking, but she never was the kind." A sense of nostalgia positively shined from him as he thought back to his times with this friend of his, much like when we had first found Zecora's home. "If anything, she's probably still flying around Equestria as we speak, looking for somewhere to finally settle down and the like."

"Oh, this friend that ye speaketh of is a pegasi?" Nightmare Moon asked, an annoying sense of curiosity in her voice. Which reminded me, I still had to get back at her for the earlier soaks that she had given me.

"Nope, not at all."

I would have asked for more specifics, but a rather loud rustle from a nearby bush caused the subject to die, as well as our pace to hasten just a little bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since that conversation of ours, it had been another two hours. Two hours that, by all means, should have been as boring and unimpressive as usual. Unfortunately, there were a couple of issues. For one, despite Zecora's advice and assurance, this path that we were taking at the moment was kind of sketchy.

There were thorn bushes everywhere. In the previous path we had taken, there were thorns, yes. The scratches along the side of my feet and heels were enough proof of that. But usually they were low to the ground and we'd come by some sort of berry or flower bush every once in a while. In this path though, I probably would have ended up covered in scratches and pricks if I had deigned to walk it on my own. The occasional flinch or cringe from Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis as they accidentally came in contact with an unseen cluster of these thorns despite their superior sight in the dark solidified my thoughts on this.

Second, there was a concerning amount of noise around us. More specifically, footsteps.

Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis had probably started hearing this stuff sooner than I did, considering the fact that they seemed to visibly tense up far before I was even aware of the noises, but by now even I could notice. That feeling of being watched. We all seemed to reach a silent agreement to not make any loud or sudden sounds as the footsteps continued to get louder. On a side note, Nightmare Moon's mane was starting to grip onto me just a little too tightly.

"Um... Nightmare Moon?" I whispered, carefully moving some of her ethereal mane of off me and relieving the pressure from my ribs. Turning her head to me, Nightmare Moon gestured for me to continue with an acknowledging nod of her head. "This is getting to be a bit... problematic," I started, gesturing to the brush around us with a wave of my arm, "do either of you two have any ideas?"

"If we had any ideas, don't you think we would have tried them already?" I nearly fell off of Nightmare Moon's back at the sudden intrusion of Chrysalis' voice into my mind.

"Is this thing just always open?!" I retuned, obviously with a less than pleased tone.

"Forgive us for not alerting you, Sir Jeremy. We believed that ye had known." I shook my head as I took in a slow breath.

"It's fine. Now, as for what you had said Chrysalis, you've both got nothing?" I took a glance around us as one particular cluster of footsteps seemed to get just a bit louder before then returning to the same level as the rest.

"Unfortunately, that is true, Sir Jeremy. We have attempted to settle on a possible plan of action regarding that which surrounds us, but each one seemed to prove worthless under further thought." In other words, we were more than a tad screwed.

"That cursed zebra did this! She probably knew about how dangerous this path was, and sent us here to perish!"

"Miss Zecora treated us hospitably! 'Tis with great doubt that we look upon such a thought!"

Ignoring the two's mental arguments with one another, I listened closely to the sounds, trying to dig deeper into the knowledge that Zecora had taught me in my time living in the Everfree with her. From the sound of it, there were more than one of whatever was nearby us, so manticores and cockatrices are out, considering they much rather preferred to hunt alone.

"Oh sure, take a side against me like you always do!"

"Our debate derives from thy constant debauchery of the incorrect!"

As Nightmare Moon passed underneath a tree with an outstretched and rotting branch, I used the opportunity to grab and break it off. It wasn't particularly heavy, fortunately, and I moved it around in my arms as I kept focusing on the sounds around us.

The steps sounded pretty low to the ground and light so that obviously crossed off hydras. Random thought, by the by, I never thought that I would ever have to be worried about animals like these.

"Apparently, to you, everything I say is wrong!"

"Thou hast yet to prove us otherwise!"

I grabbed a couple of vines as the two kept walking during their argument, snapping them off and wrapping them around my arms. They were relatively sturdy, by vine standards. I'd probably have to tie them together If I wanted them to do anything particularly useful, but still.

I remember mumbling some kind of thanks to Zecora for the lessons she gave me about making use of everything in the Everfree to keep yourself safe as my thoughts wandered back to the footsteps yet again.

Honestly, there weren't many things left out of what else could be nearby. Most of my options pointed to animals that had more bark than bite, using these growls to scare away possible predators while not actually being that tough individually. In fact, the only animal that I could think of to be a problem which was literally just as much bark as its bite, was... Well, I figured it out, is the point. The problem was though, I didn't really get the chance to tell the others.

"Do you ALWAYS have to be so irritating!? Maybe the reason your 'dear sister' banished you to the moon was because you just wouldn't shut up!"

"DON'T THOU DAREST TALK ABOUT THAT DAY!!!" Nightmare Moon suddenly yelled. Not mentally, but physically, causing Chrysalis and I to recoil at her sudden outburst which echoed throughout the forest for what felt like miles. That was the first time I had ever experienced the 'Canterlot Voice', as alicorns apparently call it.

Her eyes widened as she quickly covered her mouth with a hoof, as if it would return what she had said back into her mind.
The sound that had once surrounded us started to come together behind us, shifting into a collective upbringing of growls and rustles that brought about a dry gulp from me as I turned to look. The brush crackled and shook, letting out its many ruffled sounds of warning as two, then four, and eventually ten pairs of eyes came through it. A single forward step through the bush revealed one of the creature's wooden foreleg, and a near deafening bark helped to confirm my fears.

Timber wolves.

Of course it had to be timber wolves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The forest shifted and shook in hurried anticipation and paralyzed anxiety, watching as a number of its many inhabitants ran after its visitors.

These three visitors responded as many else would. They sprinted away from the pack and further into the west, hoping that they would soon find some form of shelter, both from the day, and now the timber wolves that hunted them.

The alicorn, Nightmare Moon, was at the lead of the party, her hooves stamping firmly against the ground as she galloped forward. Her smaller yet fleshier companion could be seen fiddling with a small collection of items he had gathered from the woods, a stream of not-so-silent profanities leaving his maw as he struggled to do so without falling off. Truthfully though, he would have likely fallen off long ago were it not for the ethereal mane that held him in place.

The Everfree's previous changeling queen, Chrysalis, trailed slightly behind the two, having gotten a later start in her run from the pure shock of the sudden hunting party that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She, much like Nightmare Moon at the moment, desperately wished that she could simply fly off at the moment and leave their hunters to search in vain, but she was already focusing most of her limited energy as is with her running and found herself unable to do so. Nightmare Moon held her flight due to the injured companion that she accompanied, unable, and unwilling, to leave him behind to save herself.

The chase went on for what felt like hours, though it was nothing more than a few adrenaline filled minutes, as the three clashed with the forest, survival over cycle, and ran. The many resistances of foliage and shrubbery only served to chastise their progress as, eventually, even the night sky seemed to block its own view of the event, leaving the three in complete darkness.

"I'm really starting to regret not paying more attention in my knot tying classes back in camp." The human, Jeremy, yelled as he struggled to tie the vines to the other side of the broken off branch, the rapid galloping of the alicorn he sat atop of providing a less than ideal working environment. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon did not respond as they continued to run, ever aware of the fate that awaited them should they stop.

Though it had seemed to be impossible at the point, the forestry thickened even more, branches now causing the three to occasionally have to duck or jump in their efforts to stay in motion. The Timber wolves also seemed to be given trouble by this factor, lacking the mindset as similar to that of its prey, occasionally tripping over and crashing into these branches as they ran.

It was at this moment that the human finally finished tying off the knot he had been working so painstakingly to create, giving the vines a tug or two before giving a nod of satisfaction.

"Nightmare Moon, slow down so Chrysalis isn't directly behind us! I only have one shot at this and I don't want her to be caught up!" Jeremy directed. Nightmare Moon continued to withhold a response, but acquiesced nonetheless, slowing herself for just a moment so that she and Chrysalis were practically running side to side.

The human then took the moment to grab the branch that he held and, with a reach behind him, throw it to the rapidly moving forest behind the three. He made sure to hang on to one end of the vines, however, waiting until the branch dug itself into the ground before throwing and wrapping what remained of the vines to a nearby tree just as he was running out of slack.

It was ugly. It was poorly made. The vines were horribly tied to one another and by all means, it would only be useful perhaps once. But in the thicker parts of the forest they were in now, where you could barely fit more than two beings in one place, it would be enough.

The district sound of the vine going taut and snapping rang through the air as Jeremy's haphazard and poorly executed trip wire managed to catch a single creature. However, if only in this one instance, it triggered a domino effect. Jeremy could just barely see a group of Timber Wolves trip over one another as the one that had previously been in the lead stumbled over the vines. Within an instant, the constant sound of movement and howls died down by quite a bit. Yet, neither of the mares dared to pause, nor did the human dare to look away from where the timber wolves had been.

Fortunately for the three, the predators seemed to have either lost their motivation or were currently licking their wounds. It was not until another ten minutes of tiresome running and maneuvering before, eventually, the three had allowed themselves the thought that they had escaped and outlasted the pack. However, it was not without their own fair share of exhaustion, as both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis tiredly slowed themselves to a halt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I figured I should be a cat person after this. Or a chainsaw person...

Whatever the case, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis seemed, for a lack of better terms, completely out of gas. Can't say I felt great about that, considering I was just riding on top of one of them throughout that whole thing. Still, I was more worried about the fact that they were struggling to gulp in enough air just to keep from passing out.

Nightmare Moon, who was still struggling to get her original power and energy back after having regained a physical form, had just carried me through a sprint for god knows how long, and Chrysalis, who was basically starving from the lack of love that changelings usually consumed was probably no better!

"Crap. Are you two okay?" I asked. I could still hear my heart in my ears from the chase, and found myself constantly glancing in the direction we had run from.

"We... are fine... Sir Jeremy..." Nightmare Moon told me, her head down as she attempted to regain her lost breath. Chrysalis answered soon after, though in a much more bitter tone.

"Speak... for yourself..." Nightmare Moon was panting and, as I could easily provide testimony to at the moment, covered in sweat. Chrysalis' pants, in the mean time, seemed much more labored as her legs trembled slightly beneath her. Evidently, changeling's don't sweat, which I could probably guess was not ideal for keeping her from overheating.

"Okay, yup, thats it." I clapped my hands together as I finally got off from atop Nightmare Moon's back. I did my best to ignore the chafing I felt, though the awkward walk I did at first probably didn't help.

"What... are ye-"

"You both need to take a quick break." I interrupted firmly, making my way over to the shaky Chrysalis while I looked back to talk to Nightmare Moon. "I've gotten more than enough rest by now, hurt or not, to walk on my own. You two though just basically lost all of the fumes you had been running on, and then some. So here's how its going to go." Finally reaching Chrysalis side, I ignored her tired and obviously annoyed gaze as I put a hand on her back and made her lay down on the ground. Despite herself, her hooves folded under her rather easily.

"We're going to wait here for a bit until you both at least catch your breaths, and I don't want to hear another word of it." Chrysalis, despite her earlier resistance, all but embraced the idea of more rest, quickly flopping her head to the ground and slowly closing her eyes. Nightmare Moon moved to speak against me, raising her head and opening her mouth to speak, but one look from me quickly stopped her. She settled for a sigh.

"Very well... Sir Jeremy..."

And so, wait we did. For about twenty minutes-ish, I'd say. And evidently, the adrenaline from earlier wasn't particularly long lasting. Chrysalis, in her efforts to relax, had fallen asleep, and Nightmare Moon had followed suit soon after. I didn't bother to wake them up. After all, we still had over six hours of night left, so we could afford some time.

As for me? I was just leaning against a nearby tree, another stray, firm branch in my arms as I watched over the two while they rested. In hindsight, that probably would have seemed kinda creepy. Nonetheless, the timber wolves from earlier had seemingly gone away, if the growingly distant sound of howling told me anything.

I closed my eyes for just a second, taking in a deep calming breath as I silently enjoyed the relative bliss of the moment after pure panic. Those kinds of moments were actually concerningly common in the Everfree. Some folks even ventured out into the forest explicitly to experience it, like some kind of adrenaline high. I, on the other hand, had enough of my adrenaline quota filled for several lifetimes, so I wasn't particularly inclined to keep it going. Not like I likely had a choice.

As I pondered on this, I heard a sudden snap break through the bliss, along with a rustle. Moving off from the tree, I felt my eyes widen as I looked around for the source of the sound, making sure to check on Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon. They were still asleep.

At first, I couldn't see anything, and I was pretty close to just pushing it off as nothing more than my fear-addled mind playing tricks on me. However, just out of the furthest corner of my eye, I saw a small hint of color drop behind the brush. I figured maybe, just maybe, it was something small and harmless, like a squirrel. Those hopes were very thoroughly dashed, however, as I realized what I had seen in that brief moment. Gray fur with yellow streaks.

There was no doubt in my mind. That was a mane, and by extension, a pony. But, why would some random pony be in the Everfree? Save for the aforementioned adrenaline junkies and folks that would get lost, it wasn't exactly commonplace for anyone to wander this far into the forest. They'd probably have to get orders straight from the princess just to be willing to try it.

And it was at that moment, as that same thought slid through my head, that a very real possibility came to mind.

That might have been a member of the Equestrian Guard.

I didn't want to believe it. That the princess would seriously be so determined to put us behind bars again that she'd actually willing to send her guards into the Everfree? Luckily for us at that moment though, she seemingly wasn't determined enough to come for us herself.

I breathed in slowly through my teeth as I inched to the bush that I had last seen them hide behind. Thoughts of all sorts were going through my head. 'What if there's more of them?', 'What if it's a unicorn? I can't fight magic!', 'How am supposed to take them down? Am I gonna have to knock someone else out?'. I pushed off these thoughts as best as I could, getting low to the ground as I closed the distance even further and tightened the grip I had on the branch in my hands. Then, when I finally thought that I was close enough, I leapt straight in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were jolted awake by the sounds of struggle, their eyes popping open and heads skyrocketing upwards. They easily determined the source of the noise to be the now rustling and jerking bush.

"Gotcha!" They heard Jeremy shout, causing the two to spring up as they realized that he was among those causing the noise. They closed the distance between themselves and the brush quickly as Nightmare Moon's horn glowed its ethereal midnight color. The plant was engulfed in the same magical aura as it was all but ripped apart, fragments of ripped roots, soil, and loose leaves momentarily filling the air.

There, holding a branch up behind his head, ready to strike, was Jeremy.

"Now, who the fu-" Jeremy paused midway through his question, his face shifting from one of anger to one of confusion as he gained a clear view of his 'captured' target. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon weren't far off in their own reactions.

Trapped under Jeremy's grip, silently and fearfully looking at its new and unintended captors, was neither a timber wolf nor a royal guard. Instead, it was an earth pony, wielding no weaponry and clad in no armor. A simple mare.