The human, known as Marcus, opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The bright white light nearly blinded him as he covered his face which was now covered in bandages. He tried to take notice of his surroundings and noticed that he was in a hospital room. The sound of a constant beep rang in his ears, which he assumed was the heart monitor. He grunted as he tried to move in his bed, only to feel a heavy weight on his right side. Looking over, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of Flurry sitting next to him with her head resting on his side. Judging from the light snores she was giving off, she must've stayed by his side until she fell asleep.
His thoughts drifted back to Silver Beak and his gang. What exactly happened when he was passed out? Obviously, Flurry and Ollie must've gotten in touch with the guard judging how he was still alive, but where was Ollie? What happened to Silver Beak and his gang? Did they get locked up? Or did they pay off the guard to look the other way for now?
So many questions he would have to worry about later. Right now, he needed to check on something.
'Minnie? Are you okay?'
'Well, well. Look who just woke up. You really tuckered yourself out this time.'
'You got that right. Damn, I feel like shit.'
'Well, you did use way much power than what you are used to. You just need rest to recover your strength.'
'I guess so. How are you doing? Are you okay? Where are you?'
'I'm still in the gardens at the griffon manor. Since nobody but you can wield me, I was left behind while the royal guard took you to the hospital.'
'Mind filling me in on what I missed?'
'Well for starters the royal guard raided the griffon estate once they caught word that they had a princess hostage. They pretty much rounded every griffon them including Silver Beak and sent them all to prison. Ollie went back to her shop while they took you here to be healed. I guess Flurry decided to stay with you.'
'So everything turned out alright. I didn't expect Flurry to stay with me the whole time.'
'You should've seen her while the guard was there. They were first going to arrest you if it wasn't for her. I swear she was ready to kill.'
'Really? Huh."
Marcus felt something shift and, speak of the devil, Flurry was slowly waking up. Her eyelids fluttered open showing her turquoise irises; the human couldn't help but let out a small chuckle gaining her attention. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she wrapped her forehooves around Marcus' neck. Good thing he was kind of expecting it unless he would've been knocked off the bed.
"You big, stupid idiot!" she cried out, "Do you know how long I waited! Why didn't you wake up!"
Marcus said nothing as started to stroke her back. He wasn't really good with words when it came to other people's venting. He was good at being a shoulder to lean on when times are tough though. Marcus then realized that even though he and the young princess do argue quite often, he hated seeing her like this. It made him contemplate whether she should go back to the Empire or not because he had a strong feeling that this wouldn't be the last time a situation like this would happen during their journey.
He felt Flurry shift a bit as he released her from their embrace, with her now sitting at the foot of the hospital bed with still a guilty expression. "Flurry," started Marcus, "You know none of this is your fault right?"
Flurry rubbed her stained cheeks, "How would you know that?"
Marcus shrugged, "I don't, to be honest. Just trying bullshit my way to make you feel better."
"You're unbelievable," she giggled as she rolled her eyes, "How are you feeling?"
"Little sore, but I'll live."
Flurry could barely look at the human in the eye. She was mostly worried about the humans well being, keyword being "mostly". When the royal guard came, it took her almost everything to convince them to not take her back to the Crystal Empire right away. The best they could do however was allow her to wait until the human was back on his feet, but after that, she would have to be on the first train back to the Empire.
She didn't want to leave so soon and Marcus was surely going to find out that she lied about her parents letting her go with him. The young alicorn was trapped in a corner, the best thing she could do at this point was to tell him the truth before anypony else could. Taking a deep breath she was about to vent out everything to Marcus-
"Knock, knock," until Ollie decided to walk in the room, "I see our savior is up and about."
"It's gonna take more than Big Bird to take me down." referenced Marcus.
Flurry shrunk back a bit, cursing Ollie for the sudden interruption. She watched as Ollie informed what she had been doing after the Steel Beak incident. The way Marcus would smile and laugh with the yellow really got under her skin a bit. If she didn't tell Marcus the truth then she'll be pushed deeper in the corner she was already in. There was something else though, seeing the human with Ollie and how happy he looked made her feel off. She couldn't explain it...but-
"Princess Flurryheart? Did you hear what I said?" asked Ollie snapping thee young alicorn from her thoughts. She must've zoned off in her thoughts she didn't realize that she was being called.
"Sorry" Flurry apologized, "I was..thinking about something else. Also, just call me Flurry. No need to be formal after what we went through together."
Ollie smiled and nodded, "Thank you Princ- Flurry. Actually, I wanted to talk to you. In private, if you don't mind?"
"Yeah, sure. Guess we'll be back soon Marcus. Don't go anywhere."
"Oh, haha" sarcastically laughed the human. Flurry followed Ollie out of the room and into the hallway, she saw as the yellow mare looked around as if they wouldn't be heard and gave Flurry a knowing look. Flurry had an idea what she was getting at but she didn't want to believe it.
"S-So," started Flurry with a nervous smile, "what did you want to talk about-"
"Flurry, with all due respect, cut the horseapples." sternly said Ollie making Flurry flinch a bit.
"R-right, sorry. So how did you find out?"
"About you running away from home and Marcus not knowing anything about it?"
"Yeah..."
"I overheard some talk from the guards here. Not only did you run away, but Marcus is suspected of kidnapping you."
"Wh-What? But he didn't! It was me who ran away!"
"Calm down girl," reassured Ollie, "they aren't going to take your coltfriend to the dungeons if that's what you're worried about. However, after he is healed, they are going to question him and take you back."
"But...I can't leave yet," argued Flurry, "I can't explain it, but I feel like I need to be with him when for this journey. If I go back now...I feel something bad is going to happen?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Back in the Crystal Empire, I was almost foalnapped by a group of mercenaries. Marcus managed to save me but know for a fact that it isn't over. Those mercenaries also wanted the Crystal Heart so their agenda wasn't just to male a few extra bits. So the real question is-"
"Who hired them?"
"Exactly."
"You know," continued Ollie, "That's a pretty smart observation for a princess."
Flurry lightly blushed, "My dad was captain of the Royal Guard. So I guess some of that rubbed off on me."
"Alright, I'll help you."
"Wh-what?" the young princess was taken back by what Ollie declared. After everything she had told her about lying and some shady ponies coming after them, she still agreed to help her? Flurry knew that Ollie could take care of herself judging form the Silver Beak situation. However, she wouldn't forgive herself if somepony else got hurt because of the mistake that she made.
"Why?" softly asked Flurry, "What about your shop?"
"Well, that's what friends are for right?" Ollie shrugged, "Plus, my shop is going to need some repairs after Marcus' little tussle with the griffons. I've been needing to take off work anyways."
"Thank you. I don't know what to say."
"It's alright. However, you eventually have to tell Marcus the truth."
Flurry nodded, "Y-Yeah...I understand, but just not right now."
"Alright, let's go get that big lug out of his bed and get out of this hospital. The only problem is the guards."
"Leave them to me. My dad used to fill me in on different kinds of patrols. If we play our cards right, we should be fine."
Ollie nodded, "Let's get a move on then."
Devon, along with Sam, Dean, and Serena has finally arrived in the city known as Los Angeles. The four of them went over the plan when dealing with the case of the mysterious "animal attack". The four would go undercover as FBI agents, Sam and Dean would question the witness while Devon and Serena checked out the body at the morgue. The Chevy Impala pulled over to the curb as Devon and Serena departed wearing clean black suites. The passenger window rolled down revealing Sam.
"Remember you are Agent John and Agent Kim and try to see the body as soon as possible." the younger brother informed "Once you do that Serena would use a spell to figure out what exactly we're dealing with."
"In the meantime, we'll be dealing with the witness. See what they saw and maybe find out who or what did this," added Dean.
"Right," confirmed Devon, "we'll give you guys a call once we're done."
The two brothers nodded and drove off, leaving Devon and Serena to themselves. The witch glanced at Devon with a curious expression.
"You know," she started, "For a person who just figured out that demons, witches, and angels are real you are taking things rather well."
"I'm doing this for Marcus," answered Devon, "To be fair, I'm terrified right now. Just recently Marcus and I were enjoying our time in a museum. Next thing I know, he goes missing and I take the job of Van Helsing. However, that's not going to stop me from finding him. He's my best friend and the brother I never had. No demons or whatever is going to stop me."
Serena rose an eyebrow, "You sound confident that he's still alive. How do you know that all of this isn't' just a wild goose chase?"
Devon paused for a moment. He had thought of this scenario plenty of times. What if Marcus was just kidnapped and he was never going to see him again. What if this supposed gateway to another world can never be opened again? Then all of his efforts would have been for nothing. However, it was because of the effort he is putting in that he still has faith that his friend is still out there. If there is even a slight chance that he could see him again then he'll definitely take it.
"It's because what would be the point of him being dead? If you want someone dead, you would just kill them not waste the effort to kidnap them." Devon responded, "The only thing that scares me is what his kidnappers want him for."
"You know, I can see why those Winchester boys want you as a hunter. You're pretty smart. You can't survive everything with bug muscles and a gun."
"Well, too bad when this is over I'm going back to my normal life."
"You do know that nothing will be normal here on and out, right?"
Devon gave a knowing smile and shrugged, "Depends on how you view 'normal'."
Devon made his way to the morgue leaving the witch in stunned silence. Shaking herself from the surprise she quickly walked to join her partner. As the two entered the building the smell of something lavender and fresh hit their noses. Probably the air fresheners, meant to keep the smell of death from radiating through the place. As the two approached the counter the receptionist gave a sad but knowing smile. She was an elderly lady, no older than sixty, with bright red glasses and yellow earrings.
"You two must be the FBI agents that are going to check the body?" The receptionist asked as she adjusted her glasses.
"That's right ma'am," stated Devon, "I'm Agent John and this is my partner Agent Kim. Sorry, for the rush but we rather inspect the corpse as soon as possible."
The receptionist nodded, "Of course, sir. Such a shame about what happened to that poor man. We barely get any wild animals roaming the city. Let alone any attacks."
"It's an unfortunate accident I wish no one has to go through," added Serena.
The old lady nodded and handed the two of them a key, "He'll be in Corridor B, Room 313, Tray 6. Just follow the signs"
Devon and Serena thanked her one more time before following her directions. They eventually made it to the room they were looking for and found 'Tray 6'. Devon stopped for a few moments. Serena did the same and gave him a worried look, probably knowing that he was preparing himself for what he was about to see. He took a deep breath and nodded as Serena pulled out the tray.
The two looked at the body and saw the corpse in front of them. The man looked to be in his forties, with dark brown hair, and pale facial features. What really caught them off guard was the giant claw scars that were seen on the man's torso area and the faint smell of wood. Devon had seen a few dead bodies during his twenty-four years of living on this planet, however, this was different.
"Alright, Serena. Perform your magic, no pun intended."
Serena nodded and held up her hand. Her eyes were now glowing a bright pink as did her hand. The stitches from the scars on the corpse's chest began to unravel as it burst open revealing the innards of the man.
"Shit!" gagged Devon as he turned his head, "I was not expecting that. A little warning next time?"
"Stop being a baby and let me concentrate," replied Serena as thin pink-like tendrils formed around the body. They explored both inside and outside of the corpse thoroughly. Trying to find anything out of place, other than it being dead. It was then that the tendrils stopped and dissipated, with Serena's eyes returning to normal.
'What happened?" asked Devon, "Did you find something?"
"I sure did," she replied, "Look at his heart."
"I would rather not-"
"Stop being a pussy and look! This is important!"
Devon gulped and took a glance and then....was confused. The corpse's heart was green and not only that but was beating ever so slightly.
"What the...fuck? Have you seen something like this before?"
Serena shook her head, "Surprisingly no. It seems this is where that wood smell is coming from though."
"Weird, a green heart that still seems to be beating but not enough to support the body. It could just be a reaction to some bacteria, but that's a pretty far stretch. Let me try something."
Devon grabbed a scalpel from a nearby counter and brought it towards the green organ. That was a bad idea, however. Before he could make contact the body began to shake violently as the veins began to turn a bright green. Serena and Devon quickly stepped back from the course. Their eyes widened as the gaping who in its torso sealed on its own, with its eyes opening revealing bright gree irises. The supposed corpse sat up on the tray and looked at the two. Small twigs and leaves were growing from its skin, and wood-like canines filled its mouth. Yellow and green sores dropped from its mouth and nose filling the air.
The two took the hint and ran out of the room as quickly as possible, not missing the sound of a howl of a wolf behind them.
"Tell me again, why we had to leave the hospital without the guards knowing?" asked a confused Marcus resting on one of the seats of the now moving train, with Minnie by his side once again and a blanket on top of him.
Flurry and Ollie had suddenly busted into his room stating that they had to go. He didn't know why they were so alert all of a sudden but he knew them enough to trust them. As a result, he pulled himself out of the hospital bed and summoned Minnie to his side once more. The strangest part was how the three of them snuck out of the hospital and onto the next train. When he tried to ask what was going on before, Flurry just told him to shut it and that she'll explain later. Now that they were stationary for a while it was time to get some answers.
"Just because Silver Beak is taken down, doesn't mean he still doesn't have many followers, " Ollie half-truthfully said, "he has loyalists everywhere including the guard."
"Which was why we needed to lead Manehattan as soon as possible." added Flurry.
"I...guess that makes sense," Marcus replied, "but where are we going now?"
"Fillydelphia, Ollie said she had some business there. Once she's done there, we'll make a stop in Las Pegasus and then a straight shot to Ponyville."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why such seriousness? You two are acting like we are being chased by something?"
The two mares looked at each other with worried expressions. Marcus knew that look and he didn't like it. He had just gotten done with one of the hardest fights of his life and now something else was after them not even a day later!
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me...really!? Who!?"
"That's the thing," responded Flurry, "We don't know, but I suspect that itis the same pony that hired those mercenaries back in the Crystal Empire."
"That Misty Knight bitch? Great....some one is trying to kill us and we don't even know who they are."
Ollie stepped in, "That's why we are going to Fillydelphia. There is a bounty hunter guild there and they might have info on this Misty Knight and who hired her."
"So we're doing some detective work? Sign me the hell up! I always wanted to be like a Batman or Sherlock Holmes."
The two mares smiled at his enthusiasm and at the point that he had completely forgotten that someone was out there trying to kill or capture them. The yellow mare yawned and made her way to the exit of the cabin." I'm gonna get some shut eye.I recommend that your two do the same." she says.
"Alright then. Goodnight" replied Marcus.
It was then Flurry and Marcus were left alone in the cabin. An awkward silence hanging over the two. It was until then that the pink alicorn spoke up.
"M-Marcus..." she meekly said, "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot." The human replied nonchalantly.
"Is it alright if I sleep with you tonight?"
Marcus did a double-take and started coughing on his own saliva. He was not expecting that to come out of her mouth. "Uh...look Flurry, you're a good friend and all but..."
"It's not like that at all!" she protested with her cheeks becoming a bright red, "i-it's just that I'm cold....and I the seat I have-"
"Flurry, I'm just messing with ya'. Get over here."
Now it was FLurry's turn to do a double-take, "R-really...I mean if you really don't want to share-"
"Flurry, it's just two friends doing a little cuddle. Plus I'm tired and still a bit sore and would like to get some beauty sleep."
Flurry wasted no time making her way over to the human and sliding under the blankets with him. Even though her face wore an embarrassed expression her tail was wagging back and forth like an excited puppy. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach and her heart beating rapidly.
"Just to warn you I move around when I'm asleep. So don't blame me if you get suffocated-"
Marcus was cut off from the slight shores from beside him. Flurry had curled up like a kitten by his side with her head resting on the side of his torso. He hadn't realized that Flurry might've been just as exhausted as he was and kind of regretted picking with her. Kind of. To be fair she was actually adorable in this state. It is literally taking all of this will power to not give her head pats, but he would rather not wake up a sleeping bear.
'You know, she's hiding something else's right?'
'I know.'
'And you're not going to confront her about it?'
'I will, just....not now.'
'Marcus.....just make sure you make the right decision. I don't want you getting hurt in the end.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'....'
Marcus scoffed in annoyance. He loved Minnie but she was starting to get on his nerves with all these riddles. He took one last glance at Flurry who was till resting peacefully and smiled. Out of instinct he pulled her closer to himself and let the world of dreams take him.