"Time to wake up," Sundance coaxed sweetly. I turned and moaned.

"Ugh, do I have to?" I responded, pulling the bed sheets over my head only to have them tugged away by Sundance's magic.

"Yes you do, you have work to do."

"Fine," I said groggily. I begrudgingly got up, brushing my royal blue and rust orange mix hair out of my eyes. I was still sleepy, so when I got out of the bed I slipped and fell flat on my face. Sundance was giggling at the sight of me, but I couldn't be mad at her. Once I regained my balance, I walked over to her and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"How's Ember doing?" I asked. Ember was our five-year-old filly with a deep-sea blue mane with a rusty orange coat. Her eyes were dark velvet, just like mine. She still doesn't have her cutie mark, but she doesn't seem to care. Probably because I still don't have mine, I prefer it that way. I don't like to be labeled at what I'm good at by a mark on my flanks.

"She's still asleep. Her fever is getting better, but she still needs her bed rest," she answered sadly.

"Well, that's good." I said, "Falling into a batch of poisonous flowers doesn't have the easiest to cure side effects." We walked into the kitchen and I levitated a couple of apples over to Sundance and me. I bit into one, and although it was probably one of the best apples I've eaten for weeks, my thoughts distracted me from the otherwise enjoyable experience. I knew that it was dangerous to come and live in the Everfree Forest, but because I have my... issues with some ponies, I had no choice. The Everfree Forest, believe it or not, was one of the safest choices I had, so Sundance and I came in and built a house. I never told Sundance the exact reason why we were moving to such a dangerous location, and her parents think I'm a nut for it, which explains why they left so quickly when they came to help us build. They thick I'm just Sundance's 'Psychotic Husband.' Nevertheless, we established a fine home in the middle of nowhere and we never had any sort of trouble. That all, however, was before Ember was born. Now we had her safety to factor in. We had to stay home a bit more to care for her, and now that she's gotten sick-

"Bowtie!" Sundance yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Not so loud you'll wake Ember," I responded. She sighed.

"You didn't hear a thing I told you, did you?"

"I heard you," I responded, even though I really hadn't. I must still be sleepy.

"Then what did I say?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow. I could tell by the look in her eye that she knew I was lying.

"Umm... Was it about how awesome I am or how sexy I look?" I asked, hoping that was right.

"No, I was saying that we're running low on supplies."

"Oh, so I'm not sexy?" I asked with a pout, lowering my head with a fake sniffle.

"That's not what I meant, you are sexy," she chuckled.

"Yay!" I clapped my hooves together. "Don't you worry about those supplies. I was planning on going out to do some gathering today anyways." This didn't seem to reassure her. The forest is a dangerous place, and she tends to worry too much. She looked like she was about to cry. I was not about to let that happen, so I trotted over to her side and held her tight.

"Don't be sad, I don't like to see you sad. Cause when you’re sad, I'm sad," I said sappily, trying my best to comfort her. She was now weeping a bit into my shoulder.

"But it's dangerous out there! What if something happens to you?" It was like a miniature waterfall was pouring onto my shoulder. I began to stroke her hair to try to calm her down.

"Nothing's going to happen to me, I've been doing this for, what, six years?" This seemed to help, but she was still weeping.

"I know. It's just that there's so many monsters and deadly plants out there."

"You now that I've been learning martial arts and that I know just about everything about most plants out there, right?" I responded coolly. I had read a book called Mystical Plants every night, memorizing each and every plant so I could adapt to our new life in the Everfree. I also learned about most creatures’ weak spots, such as how to stun a manticore or knock out a cockatrice, but Sundance was still worried

"I know that, but nopony is perfect," she sniffed. I let go of her, but still sat by her side, stroking her back.

"That's why I take precautions to ensure my safety and yours." She composed herself a little. I brushed away her ruby red hair so I could see her sapphire blue eyes.

"I love you," she said. Before I could say anything, she pressed her lips against mine passionately. I didn't notice until now that she smelled of sweet berries. The kiss lasted for what felt like an eternity, but ended sooner than I wanted, leaving me blushing a bright red.

"You should get going if you're going to make it before nightfall. Oh, and don't forget your sword! Promise me you won't kill anything out there." I lifted up my sword, which I had crafted out of a mysterious metal I found during a meteor shower one night.

"You know I don't like to kill any living creatures. I do only if I have to."

"Promise me," she growled.

"I promise." I gave her one last hug and a kiss on the forehead before I left.

"Be careful!" she called as I trotted away.

"I will! Tell Ember I love her when she's awake!" I walked through the barrier around the house, which was held together with four pillars of marble. Each one is about twice my size, and they are engraved with ancient zebra symbols to erect the barrier. No one gets in or out except my family and me.

"Oof!" I rubbed my nose and looked at the tree I had just ran into. I really needed to work on paying more attention to- "Oof!" Just my luck, I just had to bump into another tree. Not wanting to remain upset with my misfortune, I took out my sword to inspect it closely. The metal seemed to pulse with pure magic. I had no clue what the metal actually was, but it's sharp, so it serves its purpose. I had carved the hilt and sheath out of a zap-apple tree I found, which was probably not the best idea since we could have used the food source. I then had the hilt and sheath enchanted with a spell so they would never break. The whole sword was one magic surging beast of a weapon. I never used the actual blade, though. I mainly just use the sheath to immobilize dangerous animals.
Suddenly I was snapped out of my thoughts when a rustling came from some nearby bushes. Upon instinct, I crouched low in the tall grass. It didn't conceal me very well since the grass is green and my coat is orange, but I had to make do with what I had.

"Now let's see what creature is out here today," I whispered, readying my sword. I parted the grass just enough to see. What I saw baffled me, as it was no ordinary monster. It looked like a pony, but it had black and white stripes. From the looks of it I assumed it was a male. I took note of his features, first of all his, um, cutie-mark? It was more of a sort of foreign symbol. It closely resembled one of the ancient zebra symbols, but does that mean he could be a zebra? I had never seen a zebra before, so I couldn’t be sure. From what I remembered, the symbol on his flanks meant warrior, however I didn't research the ancient zebra symbols that much. For all I knew it could mean pie lover.
Next, I noticed the ghastly scar that went across his face. It started at the bottom of his right ear and moved to the left side of his face, stopping at his jaw line. He was a little bulky, but still smaller than me. He suddenly stopped walking, and then looked in my direction. I felt as if he was looking right through me. A chill went down my spine, and it was all I could do to not start shaking. He looked away after a few moments. I gasped, not realizing I was holding my breath, but luckily he didn't hear me. He continued walking over to a tree that held a bushel of Blue Delights, a berry that, if consumed, makes you hallucinate about your most wanted desire, but it slowly eats away at your insides. The zebra reached to pluck one off of the vine.

"STOP!" I yelled, ignoring the possible danger of being seen, "Don't eat those! They're deadly!" I leaped out of the grass. He stopped, taking a defensive stance when I took a step towards him.

"I mean you no harm," I said, "May I ask what you're doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied. His voice was deep and very masculine.

"I live out here with my family," I explained in a kinder tone.

"In this forest?" he asked, not dropping his guard, "Are you insane?"

"Probably, but you're in this forest too, and you almost ate a poisonous berry." The zebra paused, unable to respond.

"What's your name?" he asked. It became eminent that he was starting to relax.

"I’m Handsome Bowtie, and you are?"

"I am Keita Iijima," he stated. He was standing upright now, but still watching me intently.

"That's a strange name," I nickered. I attached my sword to the belt of my saddlebag.

"And yours isn't?" he scoffed.

"Touché," I replied, "If you're going to be out in this forest, you should at least know what is safe and what isn't."

"Thanks, but I don't need your help. Before I go, take this for saving me." He pulled out the most beautiful flower I had ever seen. It had five large petals and three smaller petals near the center with a stunningly beautiful shade of pink. Each of the large petals had different colors, but they kept changing from color to color. It had a faint aura of light blue around it. I noticed Keita looked like he was in pain when he was holding the flower. He tossed it towards me.

"It's called the Wandering Angel. It's supposed to heal anything from any illness to injury, even a severed limb. You just need to be touching it for it to heal you." I picked it up with my magic and placed it in my saddlebag.

"Thank yo-" When I looked up from my saddlebag I noticed he was gone. "How did he do that?" I mumbled. After a few moments I shrugged. "Well, I better get back to work."

~~*~~

I'd been out scavenging for about eight hours. I collected enough food, herbs, and other supplies to survive us for about three to four weeks. I did have the occasional encounter with a cockatrice or just a harmless bunny, nothing I couldn't handle, except a damn manticore snuck up behind me and slashed my hind leg. I looked up at the sky to see its beautiful orange-red hue. I had never really took in the beauty of this forest. The plant life was majestic, even the dangerous ones, the air was crisp and there was a slight breeze that rustled through my mane and tail. It was so peaceful, and I would have stayed longer if it weren’t for the dangers out here and my beautiful wife and my sweet little filly waiting for me to come home. Also, my torn up leg wasn’t doing too well. The cut must have been around three inches deep and half way up my leg. I was losing a lot of blood, and I needed rest and medical attention not only for the injury, but also for what Sundance was going to do to me when she sees my leg. I shuddered at the thought.
I started hobbling my way back. It was almost sun down, but thankfully it was less than a mile walk. I could see the faint glow of the barrier, so I went into a gallop. I don't really know what to call it, considering my injured leg made me look like I was spastically hopping and running at the same time. I finally made it to the door.

"Sundance! I'm back!" I called cheerfully. I wasn't even fully in the door before I was tackled by somepony.

"Daddy!" Ember squealed, "I'm so glad you're home, I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Emby." She stood on my back with her forehooves on top of my head. She started giggling. She always laughs at my nicknames for her. I hadn't noticed Sundance was staring at me, or rather my hind leg. She looked pale and worried.

"What happened?" she inquired.

"A manticore snuck up behind me and slashed my leg. Nothing to serious," I lied. The cut was deep and needed to be cleaned, and the added pressure from Ember was not helping. "How something that big can be so quiet, I'll never know." Ember hopped off my back and gagged at the sight of my injured leg, running in terror back to her room.

"Poor girl, still can't stand the sight of blood." I looked into Sundance's sapphire eyes. They were welling up with tears. "Please don't cry. Remember how I don't like to see you sad," I comforted as charmingly as possible, "If you start crying, I'm going to start crying." I went to hug her but fell onto one knee from the pain of my leg. Sundance rushed over to my side, "There are some medical herbs in my saddlebag. Grind them up and rub it on the wound," I instructed.

"Al-alright." Now she was crying, but did exactly as I said. The herb mixture helped melt away the pain and would speed up the healing process if Sundance had mixed it properly.

"Thanks. No need to cry over me." Suddenly, she smacked me with her hoof, catching me off guard. "Ok, I guess I deserved that," I said, rubbing my cheek.

"You're damn right you deserved it! You promised that you'd be careful, and then you went and got hurt!" She was sobbing angrily now.

"Actually, I promised not to kill anything, which I didn't." She smacked me again, but lighter than before. “I don’t think that one was necessary.”

"Still, I told you to be careful! Look what you did to your leg!"

"This injury was worth the supplies." I levitated the Wandering Angel flower out of my saddlebag. “I even got this.” She gasped at its beauty.

"What is it? Where did you find this?" She seemed to get over my injury pretty quickly. Pffft, mares, I thought.

"It's called the Wandering Angel. It's supposed to heal any wound just by touching it. I met a zebra, named Keita Iijima, out in the forest. I saved him from eating Blue Delights, so he gave me this and vanished."

"If it's supposed to heal any injury why don't you just use it?" she asked, not bothering to worry about the slim chances of meeting a zebra in the Everfree Forest. I smacked my forehead. Why didn't I think of that? Sundance placed the flower on my right ear. "You look so cute."

"I'm... cute?" I'd never been called that before, but I kind of liked it. I started blushing.

"Yeah, is the flower working?" She noticed me blushing and giggled seductively.

"I think so..." I suddenly felt a magical pulse smash through my skull, nearly making me faint. I felt like Celestia herself stabbed my chest with her horn was draining me of all my bodily fluids and replacing it with pure magic. "AAGGH!" I screamed out in pain. I fell on the floor, holding my head between my hooves. My brain felt like it was turning into mush. The magical pulse was constant and painful. I felt like my head was about to explode. The pulse abruptly stopped, and I looked up, too dazed to see that Sundance had taken the flower off.

"Th-thanks," I said in a raspy voice. My throat felt raw.

"What happened?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know. It felt like a pulse of pure magic was coursing through my head." I didn't realize I was standing. Wait... I’m standing! I quickly looked back to my injured leg. It was completely healed. Even my hair felt silky smooth, “I feel wonderful!" I looked back to Sundance, only to see her with an eyebrow raised. I turned so she could see my leg.

"I-it looks like new!" she gasped, her eyes wide in astonishment. I walked around, testing out my leg. It worked perfectly. I stopped after a while of walking in circles like an idiot, yawning a few moments later. "Tired? Maybe we should go to bed."

"Yeah let me say goodnight to Ember first." I walked over to Ember's bedroom and slowly opened the door. She was already asleep and snoring softly. It was dark in her room, but I could still make out what was in it. There was a vintage made shelf full of books ranging from educational subjects to her favorite bedtime stories. The walls were painted amber and the floor had a glossy coat on it. Her bed was kind of big for her, but she liked it that way. Her blanket was pink with different types of butterflies stitched onto it. She looked so peaceful sleeping in her bed. I walked over and kissed her forehead, then left quietly to my room. Sundance was waiting for me, already snug beneath the blanket. I got into the bed and scooted over to her, holding her lightly.

"You're staying home tomorrow, okay?" she said.

"I assume I have no choice in the matter?"

"Exactly." She giggled sweetly. We laid there for a while, neither one of us able to sleep.

"Do you ever regret coming with me here?" I asked.

"What?" she laughed.

"I'm serious." I glared at her.

"Not really. I would prefer somewhere else, but I always want to be with you." With that, I kissed her. I wished it could last forever, but we both had a long day and we needed sleep. She broke the kiss after a few moments and turned away from me. Afterwards we just laid there in the bed, cuddling until we both fell asleep.

Author's Note

Edited by FlanChan.