Breathtaking

Painful hobbling was a good way to describe the next hour and a half. Eventually, Zecora guided me to a hut deep in the forest. Her home. The door closed behind us just in time to hear a wolf howl in the distance. She must have sensed my twitch because she tried to put my mind at ease.

"Get us here, the Timberwolves will not. They have learned to go away or try it and rot."

Awesome. I coughed a little and winced. The small place was... well, it was small. A single room with a few alcoves was all it consisted of and a large cauldron sitting on a fire in the center of the structure seemed to take up a lot more room than it actually did.

"We must stitch up your wounds with needle and thread. I'm sure your friends would mind if you wound up dead!" I nodded and moved to the place she indicated to sit.

"Nice place ya got here." I said quietly.

"Yes, my home out here in the trees. It is perfectly suited to create these!" She said that last bit and lifted up a handful... well, I guess a hoof-ful of bottles, all filled with a strange liquid. Offering me one, she explained.

"Drink this one first, it really is sweet. It will help heal where I stitch up your meat!" I nodded and took the bottle she offered.

Drinking shit out of bottles that looked like beakers in a high school chemistry lab wasn't usually a smart idea, but she DID save my life and she DID say she knew my friends... right? I shrugged and lifted the bottle to my lips.

Down the hatch.

Surprisingly, the liquid was incredibly sweet. Not Dr. Pepper sweet... More like the Kool Aid guy puked a five-pound bag of sugar into a 20 ounce bottle of tea. I still drank it down to the very last drop. Zecora nodded and handed me another bottle.

"Spread this on your cuts to help numb them out. When I start to stitch, I don't want you to shout." I smiled and dribbled a little into a big gash.

I felt a sharp pain like pouring salt onto a scrape, but almost as quickly as I felt it, the pain was replaced with an intense numbing sensation all the way up my arm. Shit, I never would have thought the stuff worked, but look at that. Should've given the witch doctors back on Earth a little more credit, maybe. Zecora set to stitching up the large cut on my arm, slowly running the needle through each side and tying the flesh closed. At this point, I didn't care that she was using her mouth to do this. Seemed like every other pony without magic would have done the same thing. While she worked, I tried to make small-talk.

"I'm John. Uhh... Ms. Zecora, how long have you lived out here in the Everfree like this?" She stopped and gave me a blank stare, the needle still in her mouth. Oh. Right. Can't talk. Gotcha. She eventually finished that one and set the first suture down.

"For many years I have lived here. Though I've never seen one of you, far or near." I smiled at her.

"I've been gettin' that a lot for a while, but I've been in Ponyville for a couple months now. I thought I was old news." Zecora moved to the back of her hut and brought back another pre-threaded suture kit.

"You were lucky I was out in the woods today. I don't often get out and head on that way." I nodded.

"It does get a little difficult to be around folks when you're so different, but I can't imagine anyone in town bein' rude to you." She sighed.

"I was not always liked by the ponies around. There once was a time when rumors abound!" She started to stitch again as I poured more of the liquid into the deep lacerations in my arm.

"What kind of rumors?" She stood up again to get another suture.

"They could not tell what I was or did. Many thought I would gobble up kids!" I laughed out loud.

"A zebra? Hah... Don't feel bad, a few ponies in town found out that I DO eat meat and for a while they thought the same about me." She smiled and started to sew again.

It was the middle of the night when we were finished taking care of my new war wounds.

"Remove the stitches in a few days. The cuts move quickly through the healing phase." At that point, my stomach grumbled and she regarded it with surprise. "How long has it been since you have last eaten? No wonder how by those wolves you were beaten!"

She began gathering ingredients from around the hut and throwing them into a small pot hanging next to the fire in the middle of the room. It wasn't long before a hot, bubbling stew was filling the room with delicious smells. I eyed it hungrily as Zecora moved to get some bowls and fill them. I took one from her and nodded my thanks.

"This smells amazing." She only smiled and tipped the bowl to her lips. We ate in silence until the mixture (which not only smelled, but tasted amazing, too) was gone. I took the opportunity to look around the small dwelling. Adorning the walls were all kinds of tribal decorations. Masks, staffs, feathers and bowls of all varieties lined the walls and shelves. Eventually, she stood up and gestured towards a cushion on the floor.

"You've eaten as much as you could; I'm sure sleep will do you a little good. And now that you no longer bleed, you may sleep here as long as you need."

I nodded my thanks and finished up. Easing myself down onto the soft cushion was a chore, but once I got down there, ohhhh man. I didn't want to get up. Zecora moved off towards the other side of her home and returned with a blanket. After she left, it wasn't long before I heard her soft snores over the crackle of the fire. Sleep wasn't such a bad idea, you know? I let my body relax completely as I thought about the long ass day. As long as I need, huh? I hope you won't miss this section of floor in the morning.

I woke up some time later. I thought it might be daytime; I sure felt rested enough to have slept longer than just the night. Getting up and moving around wasn't as much of a pain in the ass as I anticipated it to be. This woman needed to open up a pharmacy. I stood up and looked around. Light streamed in through a window next to the door, but Zecora herself was nowhere to be found. I stretched languidly. Lighting a cigarette and stepping outside, I was surprised at how much light was actually coming in.

Still being in the Everfree Forest, it was dark as hell except for a few shafts of light streaming in through the canopy. One beam in particular came through the leaves and fell perfectly through the open window of the hut. At least I was right about it being daytime. Probably around noon or a little after. Hard tellin, but oh well. I took another drag and exhaled slowly, relaxing against a wall. My ease was short-lived, however. A rustle in the brush nearby put me on edge again and I practically jumped a foot in the air. Aw, what the hell was it this time? Thankfully, it was Zecora that stepped out of the bushes. She saw me and smiled.

"It is just me, do not fear. Relax, nothing will bother you here." I chuckled.

"I'll be alright. Last night is still fresh in my head though. Don't think I'll be back to visit for a little while." She nodded knowingly and moved for the door.

"You may stay here as long as you want, but I must tell your friends or their memories you will haunt." I sighed and snubbed out the cigarette.

"That's alright. I think I'll head over that way soon enough. You don't need to make a trip on my account." She nodded and pointed out towards the dark trees.

"That is the way you wish to go. At least, by way of the crow." What? I don't even... Oh. The way the crow flies. Right. Straight that way.

"Thank you for everything. I really do owe you my life, Zecora." She smiled and wordlessly pushed open the door to her shack. Nodding her goodbye, she closed the door as I turned away from her and started walking.

I moved through the trees in the direction she indicated. Nobody just walks in a straight line, John... You could still get lost. Regardless, the town is in that general area. If I find a road, I'll be good. I used to do that all the time back home. My grandmother had about 600 acres out in the sticks that my brother and I used to walk around all of the time. Sometimes it got crazy and we would get lost, but if you walk for an hour or so in the same general direction, you could find a fence-line or a road.

The whole place was overgrown with mesquite and big clumps of live oak which housed all sorts of animals. Deer, coyotes, bobcats... Shit, one time we found a couple of emus that some asshole abandoned out there. As far as I knew, the legs were still hanging up in the saddle barn. The only difference here was the animals were a little more on the dangerous side and I didn't have the old lever action .44, so I stayed relaxed by thinking of those walks.

Shit, the look on that guy's face back in North Carolina when we showed him the first set of emu legs... When we told him 'that's how big turkeys get in Texas' we didn't expect him to really buy that shit. I chuckled to myself as I pushed through the growth. I remember one night we took my brother "snipe hunting." Oh, that was classic. I laughed more.

Snipe hunting was just an excuse to get kids out in the middle of nowhere at night and scare the shit out of them. We got old Jerry Greyson to come out with us that time. We left my little brother in the pitch black with nothing but a pillow case and a little stick while Jerry made cougar noises in the brush. Man, its no wonder my brother was always pissed at me. I still laughed at the memory, but maybe I should have been nicer to him.

I continued to push my way out of the forest. A half-hour went by and there was still no end in sight. Did Zecora point me in the right direc- Wait a minute... I could start to see light up ahead. Another minute and I pushed my way out into the bright sunlight. About time.

A dirt road was laid out in front of me clear as day and I was happy as hell to be out of the forest. Standing in the middle of the road, I looked around. Yep. That is the road to Fluttershy's cottage. Many a trip have I made back and forth over that stretch of dirt in the last couple months. Turning towards home, I stretched briefly and started walking.

I wonder how the deer is doing? Shit, I wonder if they even made it out okay... It wasn't like they were exactly home free when I saw them last. Suddenly a pang of regret shot through my gut. I should have just started for the house as soon as the wolves left. Don't do that to yourself, John. They're fine. You did good. Everything's okay. Think positive. A couple of minutes later and I could finally see the cottage.

Crossing the little foot bridge in front of Fluttershy's place, I couldn't help but feel happy as hell to be back... and eager to find out about her, but my happiness was short lived. I heard a familiar wail coming through an open window on the house. Oh no. I hurried up to the house and looked inside. Fluttershy was there, thank God. She was calmly sniffing back tears as she cradled a limp and heavily sobbing Rarity on the floor of the living room.

"WHYYYYYYYY?!?" Rarity cried over and over, her sobs stringing out her mournful wails. Not to sound cocky as hell, John, but she's probably goin' on about you. I stepped around to the front door and pushed it open. They didn't seem to notice me so I stepped inside, my boots clunking on the hardwood floor.

"So, is someone gonna tell me who died, or am I gonna have to figure that out for myself?" Still crying, the two ponies looked up at me. Fluttershy gasped audibly, but Rarity on the other hand didn't register it at first.

"YOU DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID!!!" A few sobs later and she jolted upright. "YOU! You're ALIVE?!?"

They both ran forwards and tackled me through the door and out into the yard, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Fluttershy smiled and buried her face into my chest. Rarity wailed harder, struggling to produce comprehensive speech.

"Whoaaa darlin'. Easy does it. It's alright." I said softly into her ear.

Wail.

"I'm right here. You're okay."

Wail.

I just laid there with my arms around the two of them. It felt like forever, but in a weird way it was nice. Nice to know they cared that much about the random guy that fell into their world. When Rarity finally calmed down, I looked down at her and grinned, getting a teary smile in return.

"Hey darlin, check it out. Met the timberwolves of Everfree and I'm still in one piece." She shook her head and buried her face in my shoulder amid more tears. After a moment, she looked back up.

"Well, what did you expect? They aren't the type to bite off heads." she said with a sniffle.

Hah. Bullshit.

Fluttershy and Rarity walked with me into town. Apparently, they told the others about the night before and they figured I was dead, too. Pinkie was ecstatic to see me alive and kickin'. Almost immediately after tackling me in a similar manner as Fluttershy and Rarity did, she was planning a 'Happy Resurrection Party,' I laughed and told her it wasn't necessary, but dinner tonight with Rarity and I would be just fine. Rarity wanted to go over some last minute details before the ball, so I figured bringing Pinkie would keep the mood light and the conversation off of anything serious.

Ponies whispered as they saw all of the new stitches gracing my arms and the blood still on my jeans. Rarity was good enough to fix up my clothes, but she couldn't take care of the blood stains just yet and the black zigzags across my arms were fairly noticeable.

"Darling, I do hope you don't have those long. They look simply dreadful." she said, referring to the stitches.

"Well, Zecora said to give it another day. I'll be good in time for the ball, don't you worry."

We made it into Twilight's home just as Spike was blowing a letter into Oblivion. He was the first to notice me.

"JOHN!" The little dragon ran up and wrapped his arms around my leg. "YOU ALMOST LEFT ME ALONE WITH A BUNCH OF DISTRAUGHT MARES! WHAT THE HAY!?"

"Sorry about that, boss." I said with a smile. Over in the corner, Twilight stomped her hoof.

"Shoot! Quick Spike! Send the princess a letter disregarding the last one! Hurry!" I laughed.

"Now Twilight, don't you know not to count your chickens before they're hatched?" She smiled and came down to see me.

"John, I'm so glad you're alive!" She looked me up and down. "But you look terrible." I laughed aloud.

"Well stitches are one thing, but at least I didn't have mascara running down my face." Rarity was quiet. Odd. Normally, she would have some kind of snappy retort for me. I turned around to see her just smiling away.

Spike sent out another letter and we all sat around the library to talk. Rainbow Dash showed up about a half hour later, gave me a quick hug and took off to Sweet Apple Acres to go tell the Apples some good news. I looked around the room at my friends.

"So, did y'all even think to come look for me, or did you just figure I was dead and that was that?" They looked to the floor and Twilight regarded me with a grim expression.

"We did. Late that night, We all went out with Fluttershy to where you found the deer."

"And?" I asked expectantly.

"Lots of broken branches and quite a bit of blood were all we found. We knew the blood was yours and... well..." Her voice trailed off and she shuddered. I stood up and stretched, smiling at the ponies.

"Well," I continued for her, "I'm still alive. Guess that's a good thing, right?" A chorus of 'mhm's and a bunch of smiling, nodding heads answered me. That was when the little voice in the back of my head started to pipe up again. You know John, you already saved Scootaloo, you volunteered to kill a changeling, and now you've damn near gotten yourself killed over a fawn. There is such a thing as a death wish.

Death wish my ass. Of course, I'm sure that's what everyone else probably thinks at this point. There's no tellin' what these folks think of me. One is like a big sister, one has a crush on me, the rest are friends... Shit, I need a beer. Scratch that... I've got a better reason to drink: Its victory beer time.

"Pinkie, you still up for dinner tonight with Rarity and I?"

"Of course! I would never pass up a chance to go out with two of my bestest friends ever!" The rest of us waved goodbye to Twilight and Spike and made our way outside. Just a little after noon.

"So what did you guys have in mind for dinner?" Rarity fielded that one.

"We'll meet you at that little place just past the market over by Lyra's." Pinkie smiled and waved her goodbye, leaving Fluttershy and Rarity with me. I looked at Fluttershy and smiled.

"Are you coming too?" She shook her head.

"Umm... No. I have to get back. Are you coming home tonight, John?" she asked.

"Don't you worry. I'll be back before midnight." She smiled and trotted off, leaving Rarity and I alone. "Well, chica? What shall we do until dinner?" Wordlessly, she took my hand and led me towards Carousel Boutique. What's going on, John? This is the little voice in your head telling you that you need to look out cause something really fuckin' important is fixin' to happen. Well, no shit.

We walked past groups of friendly ponies hoof-in-hand until we came to her home. I reached forward and opened the door for her as she silently stepped inside, pulling me in after her. Holy shit, John! Where's the resistance? Why aren't you running? I closed the door behind me as she damn near swooned and fainted. I caught her before she fell and (with considerable effort) carried her to a nearby couch. I sat down next to her and held her as she broke down again and started to cry softly. Don't you feel like a dick now, voice?

Her tears wet the front of my shirt and her quiet sobs shook her frame. Minutes went by and she finally stopped. Looking up at me with her big blue eyes, she could only bring herself to say a single word.

"Why?"

Why. Isn't that what everyone wants to know? Why? Why do people like us do the things we do? There are so many answers to that question. Most of us will give you the same answers, but its not really the reason. Why did you do that? Because its fun. Why did you make that choice? Because the chicks dig it. Why do you do the things you do? For the sheer damn thrill of it. But there's always a better answer. One that folks tend to understand better than the others. I looked her in the eyes and told her very plainly.

"Darlin', I told you once that that there would be things folks would find hard to understand and I meant it. But, this... It was just something that had to be done. And I was the only one for the job." She rested her head on my shoulder and sat still for a few minutes. Eventually, she nodded.

"Okay." Her calm acceptance was almost heartbreaking in itself.

"I promise to be better about this stuff, Rarity. I know y'all worry about me."

She nodded. "Okay."

"I haven't been that scared in a long time. It made me realize that I really do enjoy life."

She smiled faintly. "Okay."

"Is that it? Is that gonna be all you say to this?" She looked up at me again.

"Yes." Well okay, then. She got up and moved to another room where I heard her blow her nose a few times. She came back a few minutes later, surprisingly, looking decidedly happy with herself and everything in general. She trotted right up to me and smiled.

"The ball is here in a few days and I think I finally have an ensemble ready... Would you like to see it?" I smiled.

"Sure, Rarity. Anything." She beckoned me towards the next room and disappeared around the corner.

I stood up and started over to the doorway, following her towards her working area. She disappeared behind a screen, I assume to change.

"Hey Rarity, you don't normally wear clothes anyways, what do you need the screen for?" I heard an exasperated sigh.

"You and Spike, both! What ever shall I do with you." I chuckled.

"Well you could always- wow."

The privacy screen levitated and soared away across the room, but that wasn't what I was looking at. Rarity was dressed in a beautiful black evening gown that flowed all the way down past her tail to the floor. Simple but elegant. Classy. Somehow, I expected something a little more... loud, but she continued to surprise.

"I was looking through my closet for ideas and help, when I decided I really just needed to match with you. I know I mentioned personal expression beforehand, but anything else wouldn't have fit. What... do you think?" I was at a loss for words. Slowly, I let it sink in that this was the mare I was taking to the Midsummer Night's Ball in Canterlot. This gorgeous, classy, talented, caring, generous mare.

"Darlin', someone back on Earth once said that if a woman wore black or white out she would be the center of attention. I can't think of a better way to describe it... Other than you look damn gorgeous standing there."

She smiled and blushed. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that Saturday night needed to hurry up and get here.