You Can't Change Nature

Arriving at one place is the starting point to another.

My howling scream slowly died in my throat as I collapsed to the ground, my body aching in every place imaginable. My legs were burning from walking through the flames Reyna had conjured, while my arms were slowly dripping blood from the numerous cuts and bruises of the fight. Rolling onto my back, I let out another low howl, my voice coming out as more of a moan than I would have liked, before falling silent once more, my chest slowly rising and falling.

I don’t know how long I lay on the cold earthen floor, my blurred vision fixed on the sky above me. I couldn’t see any signs of battle, nor could I hear anything moving around me. The only sound was that of my own ragged breathing, and the leaves that I was crushing beneath me.

Eventually I had to move though, and forced my arms to work again, working through the pain as I stood up. As much as I hated to admit it, Gadburg did know how to fight, and well, which would explain why he was he Alpha.

Looking around I saw my sword embedded in the dirt a small distance away from me, before pulling it out and wiping the blade down a little. As much as I liked to keep the blood of my enemies of it, I knew that leaving it on the weapon could cause it to rust and become dull. Satisfied that it was clean enough, I sheathed it behind my shield, before setting off into the forest.

My eyes were heavy as I trudged forward, only taking in the absolutely necessary aspects of my surroundings. I needed somewhere to sleep for the night, and right now that was all I cared about, even more than finding Gadburg, Reyna and the rest of the Dawn Tooth pack.

For once in my life, I had a plan that didn’t start with violence. It still ended with violence, but it was still a shock to me, and I was the one who made it.

One, find somewhere to sleep.

Two, sleep.

Three, revenge.

Point three may have been a bit broad, but the first two points were sounding better with every step I took. Eventually my eyes managed to pick a rock wall looming up in front of me and made my way towards it, leaning against it and looking along it both ways. It extended as far as my tired eyes could see in both directions, but only one had the tell-tale signs of a possible cave etched into the rock.

After a few minutes of walking I finally found the mouth of the cave and peered inside. It was predictably dark in there, the light of the full moon not reaching more than a few meters into the cave. Lacking sight, I instead opted to sniff the air, searching for anything that could possibly cause me harm, before growling. My nose was being assaulted by new smells, all of which seemed to be overpowering the next, and I couldn’t discern one from another. In other words, I would be walking into the cave blind.

Shrugging, and letting out a soft chuckle I drew my sword, dragging the tip along the floor as I walked into the cave, eventually finding a pile of leaves, grass and twigs near the back. Still holding my sword, I lay my head down and was out almost immediately.

Twilight hummed softly to herself as she walked through Ponyville, her wings folded by her side as she trotted along. Even though she was much better at flying now, she still preferred to walk to where she needed to go, much to the annoyance of Rainbow Dash. Spike hurried along beside her, a small gem with a bite taken out of it clutched in one hand as he happily crunched the crimson ruby.

“So why are we going to see Fluttershy again?” he asked in between mouthfuls, before yawning. “And why couldn’t it wait for another few hours?”

“It’s already nine in the morning Spike,” Twilight rolled her eyes as she spoke. “Another few of hours and you wouldn’t have been getting up in the morning any more, it would be the afternoon, and that’s just a waste.”

“That’s the point,” Spike replied with a snort, before finishing the gem in a single bite and sighing happily. “So why are we going to see Fluttershy? Or is this just a friendly visit?”

“You really are a heavily sleeper aren’t you? I heard something last night from the Everfree forest. For something to be that loud it must have been huge, but I can’t think of anything that large other than an Ursa Major, and that wasn’t an Ursa’s road. If anypony has any clue what it was, it will be Fluttershy.”

“Animals fight in the Everfree all the time, why do you want to know about this exact time?” Spike asked as he licked each one of his fingers in turn, before running his tongue around his entire hand and sighing happily.

“Still a little gross,” Twilight pointed out. “Because I’ve know what almost every animal sounds like in the Everfree Forest, and I couldn’t place this one.”

“And the only pony who knows more than you is Fluttershy,” Spike finished for her.

“Bingo,” Twilight nodded, rubbing Spikes head playfully.

Spike pushed her hoof away, carefully making sure the spines on the top of his head were still straight, before shooting Twilight an over the top angry glare and putting on a face of mock indignation. “Don’t mess up my do.”

“Right sorry,” Twilight laughed. “Have you got a date with Rarity later or something?”

“Sweetie Belle actually,” Spike replied, drawing yet another laugh from Twilight. When Spikes face took on a more sincere serious look, the laugh died in her throat as she stopped in her tracks.

“Wait, really?”

“We have a lot in common,” Spike shrugged. “She’s smart, she’s funny, and she doesn’t talk down to me like I’m a child all the time.”

“You are a child,” Twilight pointed out.

“Yes, but she doesn’t constantly remind me about it or leave me behind when they go out somewhere.”

“When do we…” Twilight began, before trailing off as she thought about the validity of Spike’s comments.

“See,” Spike folded his arms. “I’m not annoyed, I can see why you do leave me behind sometimes, but I don’t just stay in the library or caste when you’re gone you know.”

“Looks like someone’s growing up,” Twilight smiled, pulling Spike into a hug, before releasing him and looking towards Fluttershy’s cottage. “You don’t have to come with me. If you’d rather go and spend time with Sweetie Belle…”

Spike pulled her into another hug, before turning and jogging back towards Ponyville, leaving Twilight to stare after him, before shaking her head and turning back towards Fluttershys house. It didn’t take her long to trot there, and she soon found herself knocking on her friend front door.

It didn’t take long for the door to swing open, and Twilight expected to see Fluttershy behind the door, instead looking at the empty space in confusion, before looking down and seeing Angel Bunny, the white rabbit staring up at her with his arms folded.

“Oh, hi Angel,” Twilight was slightly taken aback by seeing the rabbit, expecting to see Fluttershy instead. “Is Fluttershy in?”

Angel rolled his eyes before stepping back and pointing across the room where Fluttershy was busy flitting between bookshelves, flicking through the books with a devotion Twilight had only ever seen in herself.

“No. No. Mayb…no,” she muttered to herself as she scanned the books. “Ah, perhaps this? No. Who was it at the door Angel?”

“It’s just me Fluttershy,” Twilight answered with a smile, watching her friend with a smile as she took in the books that Fluttershy owned. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, hello Twilight,” Fluttershy smiled, landing and folding her wings behind her as she continued to flick through a book. “Sorry if I’m a bit pre-occupied, I’ve been trying to find something all night, but I can’t find anything about it. Maybe if I just look a bit more…”

She trailed off as she rushed back to the bookshelves, pulling out a large book and blowing the dust off it’s cover.

“Is that a genuine Emma Mane?” Twilight asked eagerly, rushing up beside Fluttershy. “And first edition?!” Twilight’s voice became shrill as she grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders. “Tell me where you got this. I’ve always wanted one, but even the Canterlot library only had a single copy, and I was never allowed to borrow it.”

“Please stop shaking me,” Fluttershy whispered softly, waiting for Twilight to sheepishly release her. “Well, umm, I met her once, and she liked my work, so she gave me this copy and signed it.”

“She signed it too?! I have to borrow this at some point.” Twilight exclaimed again, before shaking her head and calming herself and chuckling awkwardly. “Umm, sorry.”

“It’s ok Twilight,” Fluttershy smiled, opening the book and looking through the pages. “And you can come by and borrow it whenever you want.”

To say Twilight’s smile was massive was an understatement, but she kept her ‘squees’ internal as she looked at the book alongside Fluttershy. “What are you doing anyway?”

“Did you hear the animal cry last night?” Fluttershy replied, not looking up from the book.

“Yes actually, it’s why I’m here,” Twilight nodded. “How many creatures can be loud enough to be heard in the middle of Ponyville?”

“Not many,” Fluttershy said, still not looking up. “Cerberus can do it, but he’s still guarding Tartarus. Certain breeds of Hydra have loud roars, but they only live in the Crystal Empire, not down here.”

“Could it have been a Timberwolf?” Twilight asked.

“No, not even when they form together into a Lumberwolf,” Fluttershy shook her head, before closing the book and sighing. “Nothing again. No creatures that should be living in the Everfree should have that loud a roar.”

Fluttershy returned the book to the bookshelf and walked past Twilight, whose eyes were still fixed on the rare tome. Looking around, Fluttershy quickly began to pack her saddlebags, loading them with bandages, potions and poultices, mentally ticking off the items as she packed them.

“Wait, you’re not planning on going out there are you?” Twilight asked, trotting over to Fluttershy, watching Fluttershy nod. “But, you are terrified of the Everfree Forest. Not to mention it’s really dangerous.”

“I know,” Fluttershy nodded again, taking a deep breath. “But if there’s an injured animal out there then it may need help, and I can’t let it suffer alone. Even if that means that I have to go into the gulp the Everfree Forest.”

“I’ll come with you then.”

“I thought you had another meeting with Mayor Mare,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“I…Ummm…yes, but I could postpone it.”

“No, you don’t need to do that,” Fluttershy shook her head with a smile. “You have enough to worry about with preparing for Cadence’s visit and overseeing your new guards. You don’t need to add accompanying me into your schedule.”

“But you can’t go in there alone,” Twiligh protested.

“Oh, I won’t be alone,” Fluttershy looked at her back as Angel jumped up, standing proud on her back. “Plus Mr Bear agreed to come with me if I did have to go into the forest.”

“And you can’t forget me,” came a familiar voice as Discord materialised on top of fireplace and leaned back on it, his head and legs stretching out over the side as he sighed contentedly. “You should try resting here Princess. You can l most feel myself melting away.” As he spoke, Discord began to stretch out until he finally touched the floor and ended up as a puddle of multi-coloured goo which began to travel across the floor towards Fluttershy and Twilight. “See?”

“Hello Discord,” Fluttershy smiled, shifting her saddlebags onto her back.

“Why hello Fluttershy,” Discord popped back to his usual self and planted a soft kiss on her forehoof, and hello to you Twilight.”

“Good morning Discord,” Twilight nodded.

“What do you mean by that?” Discord asked, scrutinising Twilight closely.

“I’m sorry?”

“Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?

“Ummm, what?” Twilight asked in confusion, looking at Fluttershy who simply shrugged.

“None of you ponies appreciate Tolkien,” Discord huffed, folding his arms and pouting slightly, before looking at Fluttershy. “So did I hear right about you wanting to head into the Everfree, or did I still have some chocolate milk in my ears?” To emphasise his point Discord picked up a tea cup from the table and tilted his head, pouring out some chocolate milk before taking a sip.

“Yes I am,” Fluttershy nodded, tightening her saddlebags and trotting towards the door.

“Oh horary,” Discord smiled, clicking his fingers and conjuring a sun hat and picnic hamper. “What a lovely day for a stroll, wouldn’t you agree Twilight.”

“Yes Discord, it’s a lovely day,” Twilight rolled her eyes slightly. “If you’re sure about going Fluttershy then I should get going. If you need any help please come and find me. I can move my plans around, and you know all of the other girls will help if we can.”

“I know, thank you,” Fluttershy smiled, before trotting out of the door with Angel on her back and Discord floating above her, idly picking his teeth with one of his talons.

Watching them go, Twilight turned back towards the town, heading in the direction of the town hall. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to overseeing the recruitment and training of the ponies who wanted to be in the new guard detachment. Watching ponies run around in circles for hours on end was more Rainbows idea of fun, or even her brothers. Maybe she could get him to come down when Cadence was visiting to lend a hoof. It may have been only a few days’ notice, but she could at least try asking him.

With a spring in her step at the thought of possibly seeing her brother as well, Twilight skipped back towards Ponyville.

I let out another groan as I rolled over, my eyes opening and straining slightly as sunlight streamed into the mouth of the cave. I scowled slightly at the light, but began to look around the cave nonetheless. My eyes were still adjusting to the light and my head was spinning slightly, but I could see enough to not fall over any rocks around the cave floor.

For five minutes I stumbled around the cave, supporting myself on the wall as I walked to the back of the place I had spent the night. It wasn’t massive, but it had clearly been suitable for my purposes as I’d slept here all night and I was still alive.

Stomping back to the mouth of the cave, I didn’t really pay much attention to what my feet were stepping on, and was suddenly pitched to the floor as my foot hit something soft and squidgy. Rolling onto my back I turned just in time to see a small manticore screeching as it grasped its rear leg which looked crushed.

For a long time I stared at the manticore, taken aback by the bright colours on its body. Normally every manticore I’d seen had dull, muted colours to help it blend in more, but not this one. Finally making sense of the new creature, I pushed myself to my feet and grabbed hold of the creature’s tail, hauling it up and looking closely at it, making sure to keep the poisonous barb on the tail away from my face. The manticore was still screeching, swiping it’s paws at me in an attempt at defence. With a smirk, I realised that the baby wasn’t even old enough to have claws yet, and monetarily debated letting it go. Then my stomach rumbled.

I loved to fight, and killing was second nature to me, but even I wasn’t a fan of killing children. However, when the crunch came, my stomach was empty, and I was holding easy food in my paw already. It was almost too easy.

Reaching forward with my free paw, I grabbed hold of the baby manticores head, roughly twisting it. The manticore went silent almost immediately, and a small part of me hoped that it hadn’t felt much pain when its neck was snapped. The rest of me however was more interested in feeding, and in the absence of fire, it would have to do as it was.

Bringing the manticore to my mouth, I began to tear chunks of the meat off, savouring the flavour as blood flowed down my chin and into my fur. I knew I had to find out where I was today, but right now, I was content with simply pulling whatever meat I could off this things bones.

Eventually I discarded the picked bones onto the cave floor and sighed, keeping a small rib in my paw to pick my teeth with as I looked out into the forest. I cast my mind back to the last minutes of the battle against the humans and my pack…ex-pack mates. My aching body made sure I couldn’t forget the battle with Gadburg, but it was Reyna who was drawing most of my attention.

“Freak,” I whispered softly. The word itself was next to meaningless to me nowadays, but she’d never called me that. In all the years we’d known each other, fought beside each other, she had never once looked down on me.

As I stared blankly into the distance, I felt an odd warmth flow through my right cheek, and slowly raised a finger, pulling it away and expecting to simply see a drop of blood from somewhere. Instead I saw a single tear resting on the hard flesh. For a long time I simply looked at it, my face slowly contorting into different moods, from confusion to acceptance, and finally, rage. Clenching my fist, I let out a snarl as I destroyed the tear forever, before drawing my sword.

I was going to find out where I was, no matter how many creatures I had to cut my way through, and how many long, cold nights I had to sit through. And when I found out, I was going to return home and personally tear Gadburg, Reyna and every other coward of the Dawn Tooth limb from limb. Maybe then the rest of the pack would fall in line, and if not, then there were always the other packs. Maybe if I slaughtered enough Wolfen, the remainder would fall in line. Ogma the Wolf King. It had a nice ring to it.

That thought on my mind I broke into a run, hacking through anything that would hinder my movements. Leaving a trail of half-cut trees and crushed foliage in my wake I made my way towards the only thing I could think of, the highest ground. It took me what I could only assume was hours to finally find the tallest hill, and even when I had got there, there were still trees in the way which had to be scaled. More than once I tried to scale the thick trunks, only to grab hold of a weak branch and crash to the forest floor again, but eventually I managed to reach the top, breaking through the forest canopy and seeing the unimpeded sky for the first time since I had woken up.

Holding the top of the massive tree with one paw, I eased my way out onto one of the thicker branches and stared out at the horizon, taking in the vast expanse of trees all around me that made up the forest. I had seen many forests in my time, and even heard of something called a jungle far to the south of the Wolfen lands, but this forest confused me. I’d only ever seen this number of trees in the Ironwood’s, the forest grove that stood tall and proud beside the Dawn Tooth Pack village, and my first thought was I was there, but I knew I couldn’t be there.

I had lived beside the Ironwood’s for my entire life, hunted in it for almost the same length of time, and in all that time I had never known the landscape to be any colour apart from white. The lack of snow told me I couldn’t be in the Ironwood, or anywhere in the north for that matter, which meant I had to be in the south. Looking out at the expanse of trees again, I shook my head. The trees were wrong, the type and the number only being found in the north, and yet the lack of snow only being found in the south. It was almost as if someone had taken the best aspects of both half’s of Aedrides and pushed them together into what now lay before me. Even Rayna wasn’t that powerful.

Was she?

I could already see the sun starting to set, and knew what the encroaching night would bring. I longed for the feeling of the moon on my fur once more, to feel its power flow into my muscles, making me run faster, jump higher and fight harder, but I also knew of the creatures that came out at night. I needed sleep, and I needed shelter, and I wasn’t going to get that at the top of the tree.

Releasing my grip of the trunk, I dropped to the floor, crouching low to try and avoid any damage to my legs. Even as I landed I knew I had miscalculated, a jolt of pain shooting up my right leg, starting from my ankle. Grunting, I gingerly put weight on it, wincing in pain, before snarling and forcing myself to walk as if there was nothing wrong with me. The pain was just a barrier, and I would get through it without showing weakness to anyone.

Following the path I had cut into the forest on my way up the hill, I began to make my way back towards the cave I had spent last night in. Tomorrow would bring more exploring and hunting. If I didn’t know where I was, I would have to assume I’d be here for a while. If that was going to be the case, I’d have to lay down a few laws to the creatures of this forest. Laws written in blood.

Twilight groaned as she trotted down the staircase in front of the Ponyville town centre for what seemed like the millionth time that week. She had thought being Celestia’s star student at the Royal Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns had been a difficult job, and she had known being a princess would be even more of a challenge, but nothing had prepared her for the veritable minefield that she found herself stuck in at the moment. Not only was she having to juggle both the new schooling system and the new guard detachment, but she was also having to content with the political fallout of having a castle literally spring from the ground in the wake of Tirek’s defeat. Politicians who felt cheated for one reason or another, ponies who had owned the land the castle now occupied and builders unions who felt cheated out of a job were all piling up around her, burying her under even more paperwork. Add to the equation trying to still fit in the occasional meeting with her friends and getting updates from Fluttershy about the search she’d been focusing on for the past two days, and it all rounded up to one Alicorn getting next to no hours of sleep a week. Oh, and Cadence was due to be arriving the next day. Oh joy.

Twilight began to slowly trot towards the Hayburger shack, intending to attempt to eat away her frustration, before she remembered that Spike would be there on another one of his dates with Sweetie Belle. While he hadn’t said explicitly that he minded Twilight seeing them, Twilight was good at reading in between the lines, plus the fact that she would have felt incredibly awkward seeing him on a date anyway.

Sighing, Twilight turned and began to walk back towards her castle, her head hanging low to the ground as she plodded along the cobbled roads of Ponyville, before something caught her eye that made her stand bolt upright. The door to her castle was wide open, exposing the inside of the castle to the world. She knew from experience just how heavy the doors were, which ruled out wind, and Spike was with Sweetie Belle, which meant it wasn’t him being careless again either.

She slowly trotted forward, poking her head into her castle and peering inside, trying to see who or what had opened the door, before cautiously advancing towards the kitchen where she could see a light, one she clearly remembered turning off.

Looking inside, she was initially greeted by an empty room. Trotting inside, she carefully looked around the room, before raising her voice.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m warning…”

She stopped as a shadow fell across her and she whirled around, her horn already glowing as she charged a spell. Even as she did though she could already feel another spell charging, and braced herself before firing off her own spell.

The spell impacted harmlessly with a shield spell glowing with a soft purple light. Twilight instantly recognised the colour of the spell and dived forward just as the shield dropped, tackling her brother into a tight hug.

“Not the warmest of welcomes Twily,” Shining Armour chuckled, returning the hug.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have broken into my house,” Twilight shot back, releasing her grip and helping Shining back to his hooves.

Shining nodded slowly as he looked around the room, letting out a soft whistle. “Not bad sis, not bad at all.”

“Not quite as good as the Crystal Palace though,” Twilight pointed out.

“True, but for a first castle it’s impressive.”

Twilight rolled her eyes slightly, before turning the light off in the kitchen and trotting past Shining. “Come on, we can talk in the throne room. You are addressing a princess after all.”

“Yes your majesty,” Shining Armour mock saluted, before following on after his sister as they headed to the throne room, Twilight taking a seat on the throne emblazoned with her Cutie Mark while Shining took a seat in Applejack throne. “Cosy.”

“Glad one of thinks so then,” Twilight looked around the room. “I’m glad you could make it Shiny, although I didn’t think you’d be down here for another couple of days when Cadence comes down.”

“I was close by anyway when I got your letter,” Shining explained. “Celestia had asked me to sit in on a council meeting in Manehatten. Apparently they needed a representative from all of Equestria’s allied nations and I offered to come. As I was only there I thought I’d come down earlier than Cadence and help you with your problem.”

“Thanks for coming down,” Twilight smiled. “Trying to pick out guards isn’t as easy as I first thought.”

“That it isn’t,” Shining nodded knowingly. “Being a guard isn’t easy, most ponies don’t appreciate how hard training has to be, and when they do, well they usually drop out.”

“I know,” Twilight groaned. “I had so many ponies sign up to go to Canterlot for pre-training, and almost all of them have dropped out now. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Like I said Twily, this is a hard process, but I’ll do what I can to help,” Shining smiled, getting to his hooves. “When was training supposed to start?”

“Tomorrow,” Twilight got up and walked up beside her brother. “All the documents I’ve prepared for training are in the back rooms. I’ll show you.”

“I think that will be good,” Shining nodded, following after Twilight once more. “I’ll look over what you’ve got, make suggestions and help with the beginning of training. With your permission of course.”

“You have it.”

“Thanks little sis. So who are your training staff anyway?”

“Celestia sent down Lieutenant Sentinel Shield,” Twilight answered after a moment’s recollection. “She said he was very good at helping with new recruits.”

“Sentinel? That guy?” Shining laughed. “Oh those recruits aren’t going to know what hit them.”

I groaned as I trudged back into the cave, my blood-flecked sword dragging along behind me, loosely held in my right hand, while my left hand held the fruits of my hunt, a strange crocodile with the skin on its back made of rock and stone. I hadn’t been able to get through its armour initially, but luckily its stomach had been much more susceptible to my sword, and it was now dinner.

I threw the dropped the creature down by the bones of the manticore child, before dropping to the floor myself and groaning. The hunt certainly hadn’t been the easiest I had ever been on, and I had a few more cuts to add to my collection from where I’d got careless. My wounds I’d gained in the battle against the humans and Gadburg were still raw and painful to the touch, and I was struggling to put weight on my ankle, but I wouldn’t get anywhere by lying down and crying about it, nor was the world going to give me anything on a silver platter. I’d learned long ago that survival only owed itself to the fittest and the strongest creatures, and if I had to kill every creature in this forest to prove I was strongest before I could find out where I was, then so be it.

Looking across at the corpse, I began to cut away what meat I could from the rocky outer skin, before removing what I could of the bones. It was long and difficult work, made all the harder because of my lack of knowledge of this creature, but eventually I had two piles beside me, one of edible meat and organs, while the bones were added to the small pile from before to gnaw on later. I found myself once again wishing for fire, and part of me regretted never learning how to make one, but just like whining over my injuries wouldn’t help anyone, whining about my inability to make fire wouldn’t help me in the slightest.

Leaning back on the small pile of leaves I had collected to soften the floor I was sleeping on I grabbed one of the bits of meat and bit into it, a bit more blood rolling down my chin and adding to the crimson mass of matted fur. I let out a soft chuckle as I thought that if Rayna could see me now she’d probably have a fit, before forcing me to wash. Now there was something I really wasn’t going to miss.

Letting out a louder laugh, I began to gorge myself on yet more meat, before suddenly finding myself flying across the cave, slamming into the rock wall before I knew what was happening. Looking round, I saw something dart in front of me, before letting out a scream of pain as something stabbed into my stomach, hauling me off my feet and tossing me across the cave once more, sending me bouncing across the rock before I finally came to a halt just outside my temporary home.

I was panting hard now, my breathes coming in short sharp bursts as I tried to steady myself, getting to my knees and spitting out broken teeth, before clutching my stomach with my hand. I felt a warmth on my arm instantly as blood soaked the fur again, except this time the blood was mine. I looked up just in time to see the creature that had attacked me before barrelling towards me, and I instantly recognised it as a Bull Manticore, before its head slammed into my stomach and threw me back again.

Landing in a heap I forced myself to stand up swaying from side for side as I reached for my sword, only to catch a glimpse of it still in the cave, sitting beside another Manticore. Cursing myself for letting it leave my side I weakly raised my arms as the first Manticore charged again. When it hit me, the spikes on my gauntlets dug deep into its flesh drawing a roar from its own lips, before I was once again tossed aside.

Scrambling back to my feet I began to stumble through the forest, crashing to the floor a few times before forcing myself back up again. I could hear the Manticore behind me, and I did not want to be caught again. I was embarrassed by the events, running from my prey, but my mind was already clouding from the blows to my head and I had to act now.

Leaping at a tree, I dug my claws into the bark, howling in pain as my chest tightened as I climbed, finally reaching a thick branch and sitting down on it, resting against the trunk as I peered down at the Manticore. The creature was glaring up at me, its tail swinging from side to side, the tip covered in blood, and for the first time I looked down at my stomach wound.

It was deep, a massive circular puncture wound with blood oozing out. Luckily for me it looked like it was the dark kind of blood, not the light stuff, which I remembered was a good sign, but right now I really didn’t find much comfort in that. I also saw a green liquid smeared inside the wound and in the blood. I could feel the venom already setting to work, my vision going dark around the edges, and I almost fell out of the tree, only staying put as I dug my claws in once more.

Looking down again I saw the other Manticore walking towards the Bull, and silently cursed as I drew connections between those from my world and this world. It was a female, and considering the Bull was a male and they were together, it was probably safe to assume that they had bonded. Considering the fact that they were both here, it didn’t take me long to draw connections between the dead baby, and what had to be its parents.

“Real cleaver Ogma,” I grunted, before glancing at the cave again. I could see my sword in there, and knew that I would need it if I wanted to get out of this alive. With another grunt of pain I reached behind my back and pulled my shield out, slipping the unfamiliar object onto my left arm. Hopefully the metal would stop the Manticores, otherwise this would be a fairly short plan.

Groaning I released my claw-hold on the tree, before leaning to the side and plummeting downwards. The Manticores both looked surprised as I fell towards them, not moving until it was too late. With a roar I landed on the head of the Bull Manticore, knocking it to the floor as the female bore down on me.

Raising my shield I managed to catch her teeth, before she reared back and stabbed downwards with her tail, the tip denting my shield. With a roar she tried again and again as I felt the Bull Manticore move beneath me. Taking a deep breath, I rolled to the side just as her tail arced down again. Instead of slamming into the shield again, the poisonous barb slammed down into the neck of the Bull Manticore as I stumbled away, dropping my shield as I jumped onto all fours, concentrating solely on getting to the cave.

I could already hear the anguish filled roars of the female from behind me, before they were replaced my roars of anger and a heavy pounding of feet behind me. I didn’t dare look back as I approached my sword, and for all I knew, each second could be my last, even as I drew closer to my sword.

With a roar I dived forward, screaming out in pain as I rolled across the floor, grabbing my sword and turning to face the Manticore, holding my sword outwards in both hands. The Manticore had been right behind me, and hadn’t expected me to stop so suddenly. Even so it tried to stop, digging its paws into the floor. If it had been outside it might have been able to stop, but now it just slid on the lose stones on the floor before slamming into my sword.

It roared in pain as the pair of us slid backwards, my sword driving forward as I forced it to go deeper into the Manticore. Its movements were already getting weaker, but so were mine, the added weight driving me to my knees. With a last scream I pushed upwards, my sword piercing through the Manticores back even as its tail came down and slammed into my leg.

Panting, I felt my grip on my sword loosen as I fell back, the Manticore falling on top of me. It wasn’t moving, and I allowed myself a weak smirk, running my tongue over my broken teeth, before my head lolled back and my world went dark.

Fluttershy carefully trotted around the entrance to a rabbit warren, before continuing on deeper into the Everfree Forest. She had very rarely been this deep into the forest, having past the castle of the Two Sisters hours ago. Usually she would have had to be heading back to Ponyville already if she wanted to be back before nightfall, but this time she had Discord to help with protection on the way back. He had said that he couldn’t teleport properly in the Everfree Forest if he was carrying other ponies as well, but the added security of having him there meant Fluttershy could stay out in the forest longer to search for the wounded creature.

“So Fluttershy, how long are we planning on keeping this search up?” Discord asked, floating beside Fluttershy. “Not that I’m not immensely enjoying our daily walks, but I do believe we wanted to try and find some rare flowers which only bloom every five years.”

“Oh I do what to see them,” Fluttershy nodded. “But if there’s an injured animal I need to help it. If that means that I’ve got to wait another five years to see the Purple Spotted Orchid then that’s just what I’ll have to do.”

Angel looked up at Discord and stuck his tongue out, before unfolding his arms and hugging Fluttershy’s mane, shooting another smirk at Discord. Discord glared back at the rabbit, before nodding. “Of course Fluttershy. We can’t leave an injured animal out in the Everfree on its own. After all, helping animals is what you do.”

“I’m so glad you understand Discord,” Fluttershy smiled, before looking over at the bear who was accompanying them as he stood up on his back legs and sniffed the air, before covering his nose and whining softly. Fluttershy quickly trotted towards the bear, laying a hoof on his back. “What’s wrong?”

The bear moaned softly, before pointing into the tree’s, Angel quickly hopping off Fluttershy’s back and bounding into the forest, disappearing from view for a few seconds, before returning and beckoning for the others to follow.

“Looks like the bra…I mean ‘little darling’ has found something,” Discord glared at Angel before looking at Fluttershy. “I think we should look at this and then head home. I know you don’t like to be out here at night.”

“No, I don’t,” Fluttershy shook her head, before trotting forward, poking her head through the tree’s branches and instantly seeing a massive path gouged out of the forest floor, strewn with fallen leaves and branches. “There’s a path here Discord, looks like Angel could have found the creatures trail.”

“Finally did something right then,” Discord muttered, before looking at the bear. “Come on, or do you want to learn the unicycle instead?”

The bear instantly hurried after Fluttershy, shaking his head as he ran past a chuckling Discord who floated after the group, disappearing from reality before popping up next to Fluttershy again, a large magnifying clutched in his right paw as a few bubbles floated out of his pipe. “Now, to accurately track this beastie we will need clues, evidence, more clues! Fluttershy, begin dusting for finger prints while I look for hair fibres.”

“Discord, I don’t think we need to,” Fluttershy pointed out. “We can just follow the path. And what’s a finger print?”

“Ask Grissom,” Discord shrugged, before his pipe and magnifying glass disappeared and he struck a pose, pointing down the path. “Onwards my fellow explorers. Let us find and treat this injured beastie.”

Rolling her eyes, Fluttershy followed on after Discord, making sure that they were still heading in the right direction. By the way the branches had fallen, she could see that it had been quite large and not really caring about making a mess. There were also drag marks on both sides of the main path, one thick and one extremely thin. She didn’t know what either one of them had been made by, but she wanted to find out.

Eventually the forest began to clear slightly, and an odd odour began to fill Fluttershy’s nose. As it got stronger, the bear began to whine again, shaking his head.

“What’s the matter Kodac?” Fluttershy asked softly, rushing to the bear’s side again, and receiving a few low growls and snorts in response. “A strange smell? Yes, I can smell it too, but we’ve got to keep going.” Kodac shook his head again, taking a step backwards as Fluttershy sighed. “If you don’t want to come any further then of course you can wait here. Just be careful, you don’t want to wander off and get lost now do you?”

The bear shook its head before turning and walking a little way down the trail again and sitting down. Walking further into the clearing, Fluttershy noticed that the smell was getting stronger as she walked towards the rock wall, before she suddenly froze, her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks as she focused on a sleeping Manticore.

“D-Discord?” she whispered, the Draconequus appearing beside her, covering her eyes with his tail.

“I don’t think you want to go over there Fluttershy,” he shook his head, his voice taking on an eerily serious tone.

“I know, it’s a Manticore,” Fluttershy replied.

“Was,” Discord corrected her.

“Was?” Fluttershy asked in confusion. “What do you mean wa…”

Her ears instantly flattened against her head as she backed away from the creature, expecting to stop when she reached the rock wall, only to find herself backing into a cave, her hoof stepping in something warm and sticky. She froze again, the fur on her back standing on end as she took a deep breath.

It was a mistake and she realised it the second after it was too late. The smell that had been strong outside was overwhelming in the cave, and she stumbled forward, tripping over a lose rock and slipping backwards, landing on something soft and wet. Whipping her head round, Fluttershy found herself lying on top of a dead Manticore, blood still leaking out of a wound on its back. There was something beneath the dead Manticore, but Fluttershy didn’t care what it was.

Letting out an ear pitching scream, Fluttershy bolted out of the cave, her mane and tail streaming behind her as she sped past Discord. The Draconequus looked after her in shock, staring at the blood that covered most of her back, before sprinting after her, scooping up Angel and the bear as he went, before grabbing hold of her as well and running through the forest, heading back to Ponyville. He hadn’t seen what was in the cave, but given Fluttershy’s condition, it hadn’t been anything good.

I groaned as something screamed beside me, before I heard footsteps running out of the cave. Forcing my eyes open, I was just in time to see a yellow and pink… thing, running away from the cave, before an odd mismatched creature grabbed hold of it and ran off into the forest.

Groaning, I forced my arms upwards, the Manticore rolling off my body and pulling its tail free from my leg. I roared in pain, before clenching my teeth and forcing myself to stand up. The pain in my stomach and leg was indescribable, and I almost passed out again as my vision swam in and out of focus, but I forced myself to stay awake, grabbing hold of the handle of my sword.

With a grunt I ripped my sword free before sheathing it on my back and kneeling down. My head was swimming, and reason told me I should wait until I knew whatever poison the Manticores had in their tails and what was now in me, but something about the screaming creature had captured my attention. Logic had never been my strongest point, and now wasn’t going to be any different.

Leaning, well, falling, down, I crawled towards the Manticores mouth, grabbing a tooth and ripping it free, before stumbling towards the Bull Manticore. Aside from the bloody dent in the side of its head, it had a large puncture wound like I had in my stomach in its neck. I let out a laugh, which quickly turning into a choking cough, before I managed to free a tooth from its mouth as well, slipping them both into the pouch on my armour.

Staggering to my shield, I picked it up and placed it back on my back, before slowly stumbling forward, my leg threatening to give out at any moment as I followed the trail the weird creatures had made.