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// Chapter the Third: The Sickness 
// Story: Not Out Of The Woods Yet 
// by Kiernan 
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Venny awoke the next morning to a sore back. He and Perry had been leaning against each other when they'd exhausted themselves, rather than lying flat on the ground, so all night long, gravity had been compressing their spines. He tried to gently lay Perry down on the ground while he had a look around, but an unsteady hoof accidentally dropped the little colt, and he woke up, as well.

"Sorry about that, little bro," groaned Venny, shifting to his hooves. As he bent forward, several of his joints popped, and he felt a bit better. He poked his head out of the shelter and looked around. He saw no signs of being followed, which suited him just fine. He'd also lost his bearings on which direction they'd come from, and which direction they were going. He hoped Perry would remember. He didn't like the idea of walking in circles, and he really didn't like the idea of returning to the cell.

He heard some light coughing, and returned to Perry. On closer inspection, his eyes were a bit hazy and he was sweating. It was chilly in the forest right now, being early spring. The only reason Perry should be sweating is if he'd exerted himself, or if he was sick. Placing his hoof against Perry's forehead, he found it was hot. He had a fever.

Venny took his brother by the hoof and lead him out of the shelter. "We have to bring you home, Per. You're sick. Do you remember which direction we were going?"

Perry nodded and started walking. Judging by the morning sun peeking over the canopy, they'd been headed northeast. The only reason Perry was sure is that he'd specifically dug out their hole for the night facing the direction they were going. He took the lead, as he was the one with the knife and the sharp teeth. If they ran into anything, he would be the most useful defender. Venny was fine with following, anyway. If Perry collapsed, he wanted to be alerted right away. 

Their pace wasn't a brisk one, but they were making progress. By noon, though, they had to stop and rest. Rather, Perry had to stop and rest. He'd begun to feel even worse as time went on, and every joint in his body ached now. He panted as he sat down, unable to help himself, as they hadn't found any water, and they weren't familiar with the edible forage around here, wherever here may have been. Venny checked Perry's forehead again, and after wiping away the sweat, found that he was burning up. His fever was worse now than ever.

They hadn't been resting longer than five minutes when they heard the galloping of nearby hooves. Turning to face the direction the sound was coming from, they saw a black stallion with white hair running right at them, horn aglow and a fierce scowl on his face. It was Dark Flash, the self-purported brains behind the foal-napping. He'd found them.

Venny slung Perry's body over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could. He couldn't let the stallion catch them, or they'd be severely punished for breaking out of the cell. He didn't want to imagine what fate would befall them if they were caught; he knew it'd be bad. To that end, he ran as fast as his little legs could take him.

The next moment was fairly predictable. Flash, being a fully-grown unicorn stallion, was much faster than the six-year-old colt carrying another colt on his shoulders. In less than a minute, he'd grabbed Venny by the tail, and had secured Perry in his magic. 

Once lifted into the air, Venny was completely useless. He may have had advanced magic for his age, but even ponies twice his age usually didn't have access to combat-centric spells yet. Unless one was seeking them out, it wasn't generally taught. On top of that, Perry was the one holding the knife, and Venny couldn't reach it. He couldn't even use his magic to grab it because Flash's magic was interfering. 

Flash held Perry right in front of him, too far away to let him use his teeth. "You've caused me an inordinate amount of trouble," he growled. "I was going to give you back to that self-important prick who adopted you when he brought the money, but now I think I'll send him a piece, just to make him squirm a bit."

The sudden activity and subsequent sudden stop had not done well for Perry's well-being, and he was feeling very nauseated and lethargic. As his mouth began to water, he knew he was about to vomit, and his defiant feelings toward the stallion took hold of him. He kept his face trained on the stallion, took a deep breath, and relaxed. 

What happened next came as a surprise to everyone involved. What came from Perditor's mouth was not the half-digested bread from the night prior. It was more akin to phlegm. It all shot out in one powerful burst, drenching Flash's face and chest in the yellow fluid. If that were all it was, Flash might have dropped them, and had to catch them again after wiping his face off, but there was something unusual about this particular bile. It was on fire.

Venny and Perry fell to the ground, having been dropped by the now-burning stallion. They showed their wisdom by taking off immediately. Thankfully, expelling all of that napalm had released something in Perry, and he found the energy to carry himself. Having kept track of the direction they'd been going, they continued east, until they were sure they'd broken his line of sight, at which point they immediately turned north.

After an adrenaline-fueled half hour run, they found themselves at the bank of a river. It flowed from the northwest, turned, and began flowing northeast. This was a southern push before it headed out. Perry thought it would probably take them closer to home if they went upstream, as rivers flowing east meant they were very likely on the eastern side of Equestria, and Canterlot was probably west from here. That said, it was also closer to where the foal-nappers were looking for them, so he waded into the freezing water and let it carry him downstream. Venny followed suit.

After a few hours of gently floating down the river, the water began to quicken. There were likely rapids coming up shortly, and with a quick tug, Perry pulled Venny to the northern shore. Stepping out of the water, he realized that he'd made a serious mistake. Venny wasn't as warm-blooded as he was, and his hooves were shaking violently as they stepped onto the rocky northern shore. Shaking themselves dry, they moved into the forest, making sure they didn't stray too far from the river. That was their ticket home, and losing it would be bad news. They couldn't find another recently fallen tree, but they found a few bushes that were clustered together. Perry dug out a hole before the sun had even set, and they huddled together for the night, this time making sure to sleep on their sides. Perry made sure to hold Venny's hooves close to his body. He was freezing, and they were still soaking wet. He didn't want his older brother to end up sick.