//------------------------------//
// 4*6+2-2+2: Tiger Fight 
// Story: Three and a Half Mares 
// by SurprisePinkiePinkiePie 
//------------------------------//

"Anypony mind if I call dibs on this diary?"
Starlight rolled her eyes. "Why do you think I stole it, Bonbon?"
Bonbon rolled her eyes and grabbed one of the chocolate bars. The others, sensing that this could easily end with Bonbon having everything, raced forward to grab a few each. "Was there anypony at the shop?" asked Bright Eyes.
Starlight shook her head. "I just grabbed what they had and galloped before anypony could see me. They blew up all the houses in sight, half of them are still burning. Nopony 'round for miles."
Bright Eyes shuddered. "I'm sure somepony will comne and rescue us soon.....The army, fireponies, rescue teams, somepony!"
"What if there's nopony left to rescue us?" asked Bonbon, biting her lip. "What if they killed everypony that could rescue us?"
"Impossible, there are hundreds of different teams that could help us and each of them have hundreds or thousands of ponies, and this obviously started only a few hours before they came to us or it would be all over the news."
"But...." mumbled Clover. "What if there's not enough of them to get to us? I mean.....This isn't a big important city or anything, if they attacked us then there's no way it's just us. They'll be focusing on big cities with loads of ponies. And since they're not answering, there's no way for them to even know we're here....."
Bright Eyes shook her head. "Somepony's coming to save us. They have to."
Sweetheart, meanwhile, had taken to pointlessly pacing around. She sniffed at the ground, nibbling at the grass absentmindedly, then spat it out. That wasn't grass. She looked down. Stuffing, and a piece of brown fabric. There was a little more stuffing up ahead. She instinctively galloped forward until she found a very familiar teddy bear. 
Teddy Bear.
Teddy. 
She picked it up in her mouth and galloped back to the others, dumping it on the floor. Clover stared. "Is that-"
"Teddy's bear, I'm sure it is. He's around here somewhere."
They all looked at each other (except Bonbon, who scribbled it down for Melody on one of the sheets of paper). "Well?" asked Sweetheart expectantly after a few seconds. "Aren't we going to search?"
"We can't all go," decided Patch. "Big groups make noise, and Clover still can't walk." She grinned knowingly, moving over to Sweetheart's side. "So.....who's with us?"
"I'll come," decided Starlight. "Anypony else?"
Nopony else stood up.
"Alright!" muttered Patch. "Time for an adventure!"
She grinned wildly, galloping off. Starlight shrugged. "I guess we're going that way."
She galloped off and Sweetheart followed. A few minutes later they were in the forest. Starlight nervously trotted forward. "Is it just me, or can I hear something?"
Sweetheart stood in silence, and soon she heard it too. A low growling in the distance. A wild animal, maybe? Or had Patch just blown up multiple houses, including the one she was in, just for the sake of this prank? Probably the former. 
"You'd better go," mumbled Starlight, turning to the white mare. "Patch and I will keep looking!"
"Why would I ever leave you! You're really truly my best friends!"
"Well, you know......We wouldn't want anything to happen to you...." 
Sweetheart rolled her eyes. "I'm staying." 
"Alright, if you insist....." 
Patch looked around. "What do you think it is? A wolf or something?" 
"Why would there be wolves out here?" protested Starlight. "It sounds more like a tiger, anyway-"
"Why would there be tigers out here?" asked Sweetheart.
"The zoo, duh!" answered Patch. 
"Zoo animals tend to stay in the zoo-" began Starlight, but Patch was quick to counter.
"Don't they always have guards at the zoo, to check for lock problems and call for help if something gets out? They'd be either dead, out cold, or a mile away and still galloping?"
"What, and they galloped for their life, casually releasing dangerous animals after them to make it more fun?"
"Remember, Starlight? Half of your walls fell apart. Even if the locks survived, they wouldn't be much use when you could just walk around them through the wall, or when they were a few metres away, still on the broken door?"
Sweetheart bit her lip. "They wouldn't bother with more than one bomb, and the zoo's huge. There's no way they blew apart all the cages."
"Exactly. But it would have weakened the bars, and probably broke the lock. Tigers are strong."
Sweetheart instinctively looked around. "Do you really think there could be a tiger?"
Patch nodded grimly. At that moment they heard a roar in the distance. Starlight bit her lip, swiftling turning her head. "Over there," she whispered, pointing. "Quiet." 
They all turned to see, in the low light, what looked like a massive stripy cat. It growled at them for a second, then pounced.
Sweetheart screamed and galloped. The others followed, and the chase was on. The whole time it felt like they were half a second from certain doom, like the way they had just jumped forward was the only reason they were alive. They were so busy galloping they didn't notice that there were too many pounding hooves for only three ponies.
Starlight was first to notice. She pulled up, glancing behind her. A familiar blue stallion was jumping onto the tiger, pushing it away from the girls. A blue stallion none of them could possibly miss.
"Teddy!" screamed Sweetheart. 
He turned to her, grinning, and kicked out with his back legs, knocking the beast back further. Within the second it caught up, raising onto its hind legs and slashing at Teddy's neck. The blue stallion recoiled, striking again with his front hooves and galloping. Starlight, Sweetheart and Patch followed. 
"I- I think we lost it....." muttered Patch after a while. Teddy grinned, striking a pose and glancing at Sweetheart.
"You can thank me later!" he declared before he hit the ground.
"Teddy!" yelped Sweetheart, kneeling over him. His eyelids fluttered open. He caught sight of the scratches on his neck and jerked his head upwards, as if he was trying to get away from them. He awkwardly stumbled to his hooves, shaking. 
"Teddy?" said Sweetheart gently. "Are you okay?" 
"I....I think so...." he stammered. 
"Don't worry," she reassured. "Melody and the others are out near the town. They've got supplies. Come on. And yes, before you ask, I told them." 
He nodded weakly, stumbling forward. "So, what happened to you fillies?"
"We were at my house," explained Starlight. "Then we heard these voices telling us to get out. We assumed it was just one of Patch's jokes, so Sweetheart and Bonbon were the only ones that actually left. Then they dropped a bomb on the house, and I galloped to see if my parents were okay-"
"And then," interupted Patch. "I went to get Starlight, and lemme tell you, I was faster than Foxy- like, seriously, if this was the game then the player would look at the camera and see me and they'd put it down to close the door but I'd just pop out like BAM! And then-"
"Patch!" snapped Starlight. 
"Sorry. Anyway, I went into Starlight's parents' room, and then this weird thing came in on its hind legs, and then Starlight and I jumped out the window and we all galloped for it. Of course, I had to carry Clover for most of it, but that wasn't a problem, since I'm so amazingly strong- hey, are you listening?"
"What? Oh yeah, I'm paying attention."
He stumbled forward, almost collapsing to his knees. Starlight stared. "Teddy, are you okay?"
"Yeah.....I'm fine...." he muttered. 
Sweetheart sighed. "Teddy, you really don't look so good. Maybe we should stop and rest." 
"Trust me, baby- really, I'm fine-" 
He suddenly collapsed onto Sweetheart, who gently lowered him to the ground. "Don't tell him I told you," she whispered. "but he's really not good with blood. Patch, do you think you can carry him back?" 
"Why do I always have to carry ponies?" she muttered angrily, but that was her only complaint as she lifted the stallion onto her back. She trotted forward hurriedly, and the others followed. It was about a minute before she felt Teddy's hoof kicking her.
"Let me down!" he began, sitting up. Sweetheart glared. 
"No, Teddy," she said forcefully. "You're not walking back." 
"But I'm-"
"Teddy," snapped Starlight. "You fought a tiger. And then you passed out. And then you spent ten minutes stumbling around like you do when you're drunk, and then passed out again." 
"But- oh, forget it. How much futher do we have to go?"
"Not too far," muttered Sweetheart. "We're nearly out of the forest now."
A few minutes of walking later they found the others. It was already starting to get dark out, the moon hidden behind a cloud. Bright Eyes was the first to see them. "Sweetheart! Gosh, is Teddy okay?"
"I'm fine!" he insisted, standing up. "It's just a few scratches!"
Sweetheart rolled her eyes, grabbing one of the chocolate bars and handing it to him. She took one of the bandages and started unrolling it. "So," she asked, more to distact him then to actually know. "what happened to you before the tiger fight?"
"The what?" asked Bonbon.
"There was a fight with a tiger," Starlight explained. "Bonbon, you write this down for Mels. So, Teddy, what's your story?"
He grinned. "Promise you won't accuse me of lying?"

Dear Diary,
Well, the good news is, we found Teddy! Well, Sweetheart, Starlight and Patch did. I just sat here eating chocolate. Speaking of which, there's barely any left now. I suppose I should go get more tomorrow since I ate so much. It's Starlight's fault for not getting anything else though, I'll get.....err.....something else. And Teddy's about to tell us what happened to him before the 'tiger fight', whatever that is. I'd better finish this up now, I have to write it down for Melody. Pretty ironic, how the music lover ended up deaf. I just wonder what happened to Teddy, he looks real shaken up. Still, though, dude fought a tiger. And from the look on his face, that's not the weirdest part.