Of course, I was disappointed in myself. What was I thinking, lashing out on Apple Jack like that? I needed to think and to do that, I needed to be alone. So I left the city limits, making my way to the EverFree Forest.

When I got there, the forest was silent. Not only was it silent, however, I also got the sense that it was inviting me in. calling me. Confident that I could take care of myself, I took the bait. Of course, I was careful of any Poison Joke, remembering what happened last time I carelessly stepped in some.

As I continued into the forest, it felt as though it was trying to say “welcome back” to me as one would say to an old friend. It was curious because, as I’ve heard, this forest was rather hostile and didn’t appreciate outsiders. It was curious because, remembering that the forest held such hostility, I felt like something was drawing me in. With such an event contradicting such a face, I couldn’t resist.

As I ventured on, I found myself taking a trip down memory lane as I came across a familiar path. I recognized it as the path I took to get to the castle ruins. I could teleport their but decided not to, seeing how that would defeat the purpose of the walk. So I followed the path as I have done before.

After a while, I found a river beside the path, so I took a break to have a drink and rest a bit. As I was resting, I decided to dispel my illusion and stretch my wings. It made me wish I knew how to fly.

“One day, I might get the chance to go to a secluded place where I can teach myself how,” I thought, getting off the ground after my rest. I let out a yawn and stretch, hearing a few joints from various places pop. feeling rejuvenated, I was ready.

I continued on, following the trail. It didn’t take long for the ruins to come into view. I came to a stop to teleport across the cliff, where the bridge broke. After which, I walked up to the doorway of the ruins. Looking in, It reminded me of the night I spent there. How I slaughtered the pack of Timber Wolves into mulch. Now that I think about it, it was also the first night I gave into the darkness. “Not a great experience.” I thought, making my way into the room.

Then, I stopped. Looking at the set of thrones, the throne to the right had a Timber Wolf cub on it. It had just woken up and let out a high pitched yawn. When it noticed me, it hopped off the throne and pranced it’s way to me. It looked so happy. Like it was reuniting with a loved one. Then it hit me. I kneeled down.

“Heya, so this is where you’ve been?” I asked it. It responded with a yip. “Well, at least you’ve managed to survive on your own. How’s the paw holding up?” I asked. It lifted the paw for me to see, then put it back down. Something seemed off though. “Don’t mind if I lift you up for a bit?” I requested. It hesitated but replied with a yip. Assuming that it was in approval, I stood up and levitated him up to eye level. Inspecting it, I learned that it was a boy. I also saw that he was also skinnier and dryer than when we last met. I’m no expert, but I’m guessing that meant dehydration and starvation.

“Damn boy, why haven’t you been eating?” I asked, putting him back down. “Never mind. The important thing is that we get you fed and hydrated. What do you think?” I asked him. He yipped repeatedly in excitement. Thinking for a moment, I added “You can go ahead and rest on my back. You don’t look like you’re in the condition for much traveling,” and he did so. Hopping onto my back, he curled up between my wings. It tickled a little when his park brushed against my wings, but I put up with it for his sake. I carried him out of the ruins.

I managed to hunt him a couple of wild rabbits to feed him. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to partake in having one myself, I soon learned the hard way that ponies just aren’t suited for digesting meat that well. Only small bits at a time at most. However, we were both able to have a drink together from the stream. Not only was it quite refreshing from how surprisingly clean it was, but also washed the blood off the cub’s face. By then, he was looking much better.

“Well little guy,” I said, getting his attention. He was sitting by side me at the river bank. It made me feel proud that I helped him out. “It’s good to see you’re better, but I have to go now,” I told him, getting up. However, he refused to be left behind, jumping onto my back again. “Okay, okay. Fine. I guess I can take you in.”

Checking the position of the sun, I saw that it was sunset already. Meaning I was running low on time. In fact, I was so low on time that there wasn’t enough time to walk. I renewed the illusion to hide my wings. “I’ve teleported you before, so I hope you won’t get too disorientated this time around,” I told him. He replied with a yip. Lighting up my horn, we dematerialized out of the forest.

When we rematerialized, we were next to the train station. Turning my head over my shoulder to check on the cub on my back. “Now it’s time to find Keria. Hopefully, she isn’t still mad at me.” I thought. Luckily, it should be easy finding her. All I have to do is ask around, seeing how it is that Keria is the only Griffin in Ponyville.

As I made my way to the center of town, I noticed that the locals were shooting uncomfortable glances my way. I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I should have expected a worse reaction when being seed with a Timber Wolf cub on my back, let alone bring it into town.

Soon, after I reached the center of town, I bumped into Derpy. She’s the local mail mare. I first meter…..no, collided with her one morning sometime before my house was finished. She was in the middle of her mail routes when she crashed into me. Mail flew everywhere and it took almost ten minutes to make sure none of it was lost.

Anyway, I approached her. “Hey, Derpy, how’s it going?” I asked.

“Oh, hi Spirit,” she greeted enthusiastically. “How’s it going?”

“Mmm...decient,” I answered. “Say, may I ask you a favor? I just need to know if you’ve seen a Griffin around recently,” I told her. She tapped her chin a few times before her eyes widened.

“I remember seeing one enter the Golden Oaks Library about thirty minutes ago if that helps,” she answered.

“Yes, yes it does. Thank you Derpy, I told her as I dashed off for Twilight’s place. Thankfully, the Library wasn’t far from here. All I had to do was follow the road till I found Sugar Cube Corner then turn, where I’ll enter the market place and go straight.

When I arrived at the Library, I went to the front door and knocked, hoping that someone was still here. Fortunately, luck was on my side. I let out a sigh of relief when Twilight answered the door.

“Spirit? Where were you?” she asked. “ we looked everywhere for you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I responded, dropping my head. “But I needed some time alone. I told you that. So why were you looking for me?”

“Well, we both know you have a tendency to get into trouble,” she pointed out. “Keria was rather worried,” she explained. “Come in.”

I followed her inside, when I did I saw not only Keria but the rest of Twilight’s friends as well. I didn’t know what to expect really, all I knew was to expect that anything could happen next.

“O-oh, hi girls,” I greeted, stuttering. I heard Twilight close the door behind me before gasping.

“S-Spirit,” she said, her turn to stutter. “W-why’s that on your back?” she asked. It took me a moment to realize what she meant.

“You mean the Timber Wolf cub right?” I asked. “That’s a long st-,” I began saying, but was interrupted by some of the others screaming. I used my magic to shut their mouths. “Shh, it’s sleeping,” I said before releasing them. They managed to keep themselves quiet after that. I levitated the cub off my back and onto Twilight’s couch. After which I went to sit by him. “If you girls woke him it would have been quite rude,” I pointed out. “Besides, you shouldn’t be worrying anyway. It’s just a cub for god’s sakes,” I added. Twilight hesitantly joined me on the couch.

“So, as you were saying,” Twilight reminded me.

“Oh, right. So a while back, right before my fight with Discord, I found this little guy abandoned by his pack in the forest due to a missing paw. I decided to increase his chances of survival by healing him. Of course, unsure of the chances of my own survival, I couldn’t do anything more for him at the time. I found him again earlier today sitting on one of the thrones in the castle ruins,” I explained.

“That explains where you were,” I heard Twilight mutter.

“Darling,” Rarity spoke up. “That still doesn't explain why it’s with you.”

“Well, it’s unable to take care of itself so I took it in,” I answered, hearing several of them gasp. Only causing me to roll my eyes.

“You mean….as a pet?” asked Rainbow.

“Yes Rainbow, as a pet,” I answered. Then I saw Apple Jack approach.

“Spirit, ah-”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “Sorry about what I did earlier.”

“I-it’s alright, I forgave ya already,” she replied. “ I understand that you have your secrets for a reason, but I was actually hoping to have a closer look at the cub though.”

“Sure, just don’t wake him,” I answered. Apple Jack came a little closer to the couch and squatted down for a better look.

“Actually, it looks kinda cute,” Apple Jack commented.

“That ‘it’ is a boy,” I told her, not trying to seem rude.

Before I knew it, everyone other than myself came in for a closer look. It carried on for a while before I spoke up. “Alright, I believe it is time to part ways. The hour is late after all,” I reminded them. As much as I can tell that they wanted to complain, they couldn’t deny my point at almost midnight.

“He’s right girls, you should head home now,” Twilight agreed, getting the girls to leave.

“Goodnight, Twilight. You too Spike,” I told them before I left with Keria.

“Come on, I’ll show you our new home,” I told Keria after Twilight shut the door, taking the lead.

Author's Note

Sorry I missed the last upload date. Real life is a bitch.

Drop a like, leave a comment, and I hope you enjoyed.