Chapter Six:
Predators and prey

"Hurry up Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo called back to the young filly from beside Apple Bloom. The crusaders were once again on their way to help out Zecora with gathering ingredients for her potions.

"I'm coming Scoots, Rarity just made this dress for me yesterday and if I get it dirty she's going to get mad." Sweetie Belle replied to her friend.

"Well why did ya'll wear it if you knew we were goin' into the forest today?" Asked Apple Bloom as she looked back.

"... Shut up." Sweetie Belle replied as she hurried to catch up as Zecora's hut came into view.

Having seen the crusaders approaching, Zecora met them at her front door. "Greetings young Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Thank you all for coming, there is much work to do." Zecora greeted them in her usual rhyme.

"Hi Zecora, We're always happy to lend a hand." Apple Bloom answered her, followed by the agreement of both of the others.
"So where are we headin this time?" She asked.

"There is an old cave to the south, where wild herbs grow near it's mouth." Zecora told her as she grabbed the collection bags and closed the hut door, leading the crusaders to their destination.

Meanwhile at Fluttershy's cottage.
"Thank you very much for the meal Miss Fluttershy." Issac told her, as he collected their plates to put in the sink.

"You're welcome Issac, but you don't need to do that." Fluttershy protested as he took hers.

"It's quite fine really, I would do the dishes all the time when I was living with the Orrisons." Issac told her as he finished collecting them and began cleaning.

"The Orrisons?" Twilight asked him.

"Yeah, they're a nice married couple. They took me in a little while after my mother passed away, Mr Orrison was even nice enough to give me an apprenticeship in their bakery." Issac told them.

"They kind of sound like the Cakes, they own the town bakery as well." Fluttershy informed Issac.

"Really? Maybe I should ask if they're hiring later." Issac pondered.

"Possibly, I'm sure they could use all the help they can get now that they've got the twins, not to mention how hectic it can get with Pinkie around." Twilight told him with a giggle.

"Pinkie huh? Sounds like she's more of a hand full than the twins." Issac joked as he finished with the dishes.

"Oh don't worry about her, she can seem a bit odd at times, but she always means well. Oh, speaking of which, if you do go into town, expect a welcome party to be waiting for you at some point." Twilight warned Issac.

"I'll keep my eyes open." Issac told them.

It was at this point that they began to hear shouting, followed by loud banging on the cottage door.

Spike happened to be closest, and as he opened the door, was bowled over by three panicked fillies.

"Girls? What in Celestia's name is going on?" Twilight asked as she helped them all up.

"MANTICORE!" They all shouted in unison.

"We were with Zecora." Said Sweetie Belle.

"Collecting herbs by a cave." Scootaloo continued.

"When it came out and attacked us!" Finished Apple Bloom.

"What? Where's Zecora?" Asked Twilight, fearing for her friend's safety.

"She told us to run, then she lead it away." Scootaloo answered her.

Twilight began to panic, unless they could get there fast and find Zecora, they had no chance of saving her. Suddenly, her thoughts were brought to a halt, as a hand rested on her shoulder and squeezed it.

"Which way is the cave?" Issac asked them, ignoring the surprise on their faces from seeing him for the first time.

"Umm, it was that way." Apple Bloom answered as she pointed in the direction they came from.

Issac nodded and turned to Twilight and Fluttershy. "I'll go on ahead and find her, I could do it faster than either of you." Issac told them.

"Alright, just be careful, you've only just healed." Twilight told him.

"And please don't kill the manticore, we'll take care of it when we get there." Fluttershy added.

Issac nodded to them both, then took off out the door in a sprint.

'Alright boy, just like old times.' Issac thought, his wolf spirit responding with a bark as Issac was engulfed in a silvery flame. The others watched, worried that something had happened, until the flames vanished, and a large beast with silvery white fur emerged before disappearing into the forest.

"... That was cool." Scootaloo said absentmindedly.

'Perhaps running towards the cliff face was a bad idea.' Zecora thought to herself as she looked up at the wall of stone and dirt before her that blocked her escape. 'Darn beast ripped my potion satchel.' The Zebra thought as she removed the tattered bag and threw it away as the manticore drew closer.

Zecora couldn't believe she had been so careless, years of living in the Everfree, only to be cornered by not even a fully grown manticore.

The beast closed in to deliver it's killing strike against the trapped zebra, who could only close her eyes and await the end.

'At least the girls got away.' She thought to herself.

As the manticore begun the downward swing of it's mighty claws, there was a mighty roar off to it's side, followed by the flash of white fur in his peripheral vision as his attacker tackled him, sending them both tumbling away.

Growling, the young manticore shoved it's attacker away. As both of them regained their footing, both Zecora and the manticore were able to get a good look at the newcomer. Neither had seen anything like it in their lives, silvery white fur covered it's body, a head like that of a wolf, a broad torso with defined muscle and arms and feet. Both ending in fierce looking claws, though it's paws showed dexterity, more in line with that of Equine kind, or even apes.

Both contenders circled their opponent as they sized up the competition. Growls and short roars coming from both in an attempt to intimidate the other, though it was clear that neither would back down, and so the battle for dominance began.

Zecora looked on as the manticore and the unknown beast charged at each other, meeting in the middle ground in a flurry of powerful clawed strikes and the snapping of teeth. At first, both creatures appeared to be an even match, being around an even size, though the beast displayed his battle experience as it shifted it's weight and threw the manticore across the clearing.

Quickly regaining his footing, the manticore growled at it's opponent and charged again. Anticipating this, the white furred creature charged as well, and as the manticore lifted it's upper body for another melee, his opponent surprised both him and Zecora by shifting it's weight low and wrapping it's arms around the manticore's torso and lifting it off the ground, then body slamming the manticore back into the ground.

Never before had Zecora witnessed a battle between predators like this. The way this wolf creature fought, was beginning to make the zebra think it might have some form of higher intelligence in it's way of predicting the manticore's attacks, along with it's style of battle, it showed the discipline of a warrior.

As both of them grappled on the ground, the manticore's tail whipped around and took the wolf creature by surprise as it punctured the side of his stomach. Roaring in pain and rage, the beast gripped the manticore's tail in one of it's strong paws and the throat of it's opponent with the other, removing the barb from it's side as he slowly applied pressure to the manticore's airway.

Seeing the manticore slowly struggling less and less, it surprised them both once again as he released his grip on the manticore and moved away, keeping itself between Zecora and it's opponent. Regaining it's footing, the manticore knew it wouldn't be able to win this fight, thus abandoned it's meal to it's opponent and fled deeper into the forest.

Waiting until he was sure that the manticore was gone, Issac turned his attention towards the zebra, who he guessed had to be the one known as Zecora. Slowly he approached her, though quickly noticed how she pressed tighter to the cliff wall as he approached.

Knowing that if he changed back now, the venom in that sting would quickly take hold and leave both of them in need of saving, Issac simply laid down in front of the zebra in a display to show that he wasn't hostile, throwing in a little tail wagging just to be sure.

Seeing his strange behavior, Zecora very slowly and cautiously approached him, looking ready to bolt at his first movement.

"A creature like you I have never seen before, but behind your eyes I see much more." Zecora said as she sat in front of Issac and rested her hand on the top of his head.

Issac just looked back into her eyes as both of them stayed in that position until the others found them. After making sure that Zecora was alright, Fluttershy inspected Issac's wounds and wrapped the area where the manticore's tail had struck.

All of them made their way back to Zecora's hut to make an antidote for the manticore's venom, where once again Issac surprised her and the other girls as he changed back into his human form in front of them all. The fearsome predator disappearing in silver flames, only to be replaced by the young man that Twilight and Fluttershy had come to know.

"Well now, you're just full of surprises." Zecora said.

"Heh, that didn't rhyme." Issac replied, bringing about the laughter of the rest of the group.

Author's Note

Chapter six finished. Rhyming is hard, so unless someone wants to volunteer to help with Zecora's lines when I need it, probably not going to have her appearing much.
Until next time.