Intermixture

The group was slowly following hoof tracks, presumably made by Grif, but they soon noticed that their was two pairs of tracks.

"Was he with somebody?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Eyha went back to my place after he came with me to Pinkie's. He could have followed him in." Fluttershy said.

"That's actually good." Enolc commented. "Your friend probably couldn't have gotten too hurt with Eyha with him."

"I hope not." Fluttershy said.

As they got deeper into the forest, more and more prints started to appear.

"Are those..." Rarity said quietly.

"I think so." Twilight confirmed. "Timberwolves."

"What the fuck is a timberwolf?" Tucker asked.

"Timberwolves are a subspecies of the canine family. They have the appearance of a wolf, but they are made out of wood. They are generally bigger than other wolves and their barkish hide makes them more impervious to damage."

"Suddenly I don't feel like being in here." Simmons said.

A low growl was heard coming from their left. Their eyes snapped to the darkness where there was a pair of yellow eyes watching them.

"Stay close to each other." Twilight gulped. "They won't attack us if our group is larger than theirs."

The animal then barked and jumped out of the bushes. It was not a timberwolf, but rather a friendlier canine.

"Haley." Fluttershy squeaked. "What happened?"

Haley barked and started to follow the hoof tracks and the group followed quickly. Haley slowed down and whined.

"What's wrong girl?" Fluttershy asked.

Haley looked at Fluttershy sadly, then back at the ground. There were tufts of orange-yellow fur, and specks of blood flecked across the ground. The girls gasped but the guys just stared at the scene indifferently.

"Looks like Eyha's honour guard skills didn't pay off too well." Tody added.

"Quit your worrying." Sarge said, laughing weakly. "Grif is a resilient bastard. There's no way he could die by a couple of wild dogs."

"I wouldn't worry about Eyha either. I don't see any of his fur on the ground which probably means that he escaped without harm." Tivos said.

The girls regained some of their confidence and nodded in unison. The group then followed the tracks until they suddenly disappeared. Sarge stared at the tracks for several seconds then looked up.

"Oh no." Rarity gasped.

Sarge said nothing but pointed up in the trees, where there was a gaping hole and tree branches splintered everywhere.

"Did either of them every try to fly before?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Eyha just got here like the rest of us, so unless one of you've given him flying lessons then no." Little Sin said.

"When Grif was with me he seemed content to be on the ground." Fluttershy noted.

"As much as it pains me to say, Grif is a fast learner when it suits him." Sarge grunted. "Come on, we're burning daylight."

"We don't know where they went though, or if they're even together." Twilight said. "How are we supposed to-"

A cough was heard from beside them, and they quickly turned to see a zebra in a robe staring at the group. Before any of the guys could react, Twilight spoke. "Zecora! We need your help, a couple of our friends came in to the-"

"You need not tell me of information I already know. I am keeping them safe. Let us go."

Twilight nodded and the group followed her lead and went with Zecora. It only took them a minute to get to Zecora’s hut, where she opened the door and motioned them inside.

"Where is Grif?" Simmons asked.

"He is asleep on my bed, though he is hard of breath." Zecora said somberly. "It is hard to tell now, but this may end in either life... or death."

The mares gasped, but once again the stallions stared indifferently. They found themselves uneasy about how well the guys were taking the news while Zecora left the room to check on Grif.

"Does she always speak in rhymes?" Tucker asked quietly.

"Yes." Twilight replied.

"That won't get annoying." Kerzon muttered sarcastically.

Zecora then came back out of the room with a smile on her face, Eyha follwing behind her. She looked at Kerzon's head.

"Fascinating." Zecora said to herself. Kerzon simply gave her a quizzical look.

"How is he doc?" Caboose asked.

"Your one friend is perfectly alright, though I advise you to stay out." Zecora said. "It will be a matter of time until the other can run and shout."

"Hey, Eyha." Little Sin started. "I understand you are in no condition to troll, so-"

"I'm fine you idiot. I was just cut up a bit from some trees. You'll be in for it soon."

"Let me go see him." Sarge laughed, walking towards the door. "I'll show you that Grif is perfectly okay, he is just being lazy as usual."

"No, the young stallion needs his rest." Zecora said. "All we can do now is hope for the best."

"Listen Zecoran." Sarge started.

"Zecora." Twilight corrected.

"Listen Zecora." Sarge grunted. "You don't know Grif. That bastard has survived far more than any man could hope to endure. I've shot him, he's exploded, he has fallen off of a damn cliff and he is still kicking. I'm sure he's fine."

"Even so, we must let his fresh wounds mend." Zecora said. "The pain of a timberwolf bite will be hard for your yellow friend."

As she said that the door to the room swung open slowly.

"How many times do I have to say it." Grif said weakly. "I'm fucking orange."

Sarge laughed cruelly at the sight of Grif.

"Good to see you too Sarge." Grif muttered, coughing up a little blood.

Eyha walked up and stood beside Grif. "We had a hell of a time with those... Whatever they were. Grif took in the action more than I did but we'll both be okay."

The others stared at his body, looking at all of the scars and pieces missing out of him.

"How are you standing?" Twilight gasped.

"Sarge has put me through far worse than this." Grif said with a weak laugh. "It will take a lot more than a few wild dogs to keep me down."

"Told you so." Sarge said smugly. "Grif is pretty tough."

Sarge punched Grif in the gut and he fell to the ground.

"Fuck, my kidney." Grif grunted.

"Man up." Sarge said, smiling wickedly.

Grif laughed and gritted his teeth through the pain.

"Go fuck yourself Sarge." Grif said with a grating laugh.

"You two are horrible." Rarity said. "How can you two even call yourself friends?"

Grif and Sarge stared at Rarity. Then they glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

"Good one Rarity." Grif said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Well, will you look at that." Enolc said.

"What?" Grif asked.

"You got your mark thing." Enolc said, trying to hide a laugh.

"Really? Cool, what is it?" Grif asked.

Sarge burst out with laughter.

"That just made my life." Sarge said, rolling helplessly on the ground. "I should have guessed it would be something like that."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this..." Grif muttered, turning his head to look at his cutie mark and groaned. "Really? That is my "special skill"? This fucking sucks."

"I say it fits you perfectly." Sarge said smugly.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"I guess you could say it shows how resilient he is." Simmons noted.

"Back where we're from, that symbol is something we put on crash test dummies." Sarge said with a large grin.