When Perry awoke, it was two hours after midnight. No longer in the boat that had rocked him to sleep, he looked around. He was still muzzled, but he wasn't bound. He was in a small wooden building with open windows and a simple door. He and Venny were in small cots, wrapped in blankets. On the far side of the room was a series of containers, a small fridge, and two tables. The first table had a map opened on it, as well as a short stack of papers held down by a paperweight. Next to the stack was a book labeled 'Fauna R. S. 37A.'
At the other table, there was a radio set, and directly adjacent to that was a green stallion. However, this wasn't Slim. Slim was an earth pony stallion. This one was a pegasus. He was sleeping quietly next to the radio, presumably waiting for a message to come back to him. His blonde mane draped over the base of the receiver, occasionally moving as the breeze pushed it. Most notable was his left wing. It was lopsided and jutted outwards a bit. Many of the feathers were either bent or missing. It was unclear whether this was an injury or perhaps it just didn't grow correctly, but it was fairly obvious that it had been this way for awhile. The damage wasn't recent.
Perry climbed out of bed and looked himself over. The only binding he had left was his muzzle. He strode over to the door and pushed against it. It opened with a soft creak. Outside, he could see the forest bathed in moonlight before him. There was nothing stopping him from waking Venny and leaving. They could be back on their path before the stallion woke up. However, as he turned to walk back inside, he noticed the sign over the door. This was a ranger station. Dark Flash had mentioned that this was a national park, meaning that there were park rangers that used these stations frequently. He looked back at the stallion at the radio. Could he be a ranger?
Perry went to Venny's side. He had planned on waking him up and leaving, but he decided it better to wait and see right now. If the stallion really was a ranger, it would be foolish to run from him. Instead, he crawled into Venny's cot, situated himself between his brother's arms, and waited. Sooner or later, the stallion would wake up, and they would have their answers.
Several hours passed. Venny woke up with Perry in his arms. He signaled to his brother that he was awake with a gentle squeeze. Perry responded by placing his hoof on Venny's.
"Do you know where we are, Per?" whispered Venny, looking around.
Perry nodded slowly.
"Do you think we can make it back to the river from here?"
Perry shrugged and sat up. He pointed to the stallion sitting at the table. Venny looked over and froze. He hadn't had a good look at Slim, so his first assumption was that he was one of the stallions that had foal-napped them. He shrunk back a bit, until Perry put a hoof on his shoulder. He gave Venny a calm, gentle look, or rather, the best he could with half of his face covered.
Venny took a deep breath. "Okay. We're not in danger right now. What do we do?"
Perry answered by turning to face the stallion, keeping his eyes locked on him and waiting for him to wake up. Venny did likewise, but soon grew bored and lay back down. His eyes were glued to the ceiling as the last two weeks ran through his head repeatedly.
It was about an hour after dawn that the stallion awoke with a soft groan. He wasn't used to sleeping at a table, and doing so wasn't good for anypony. With a yawn, he stretched his legs and right wing. When he was done with that, a pained rotation of his left wing was followed by folding it back in place. Just as he was questioning why he fell asleep at the table, he turned around, and was faced with an angry toddler and a frightened colt. All at once, yesterday's events came flooding back.
"You're awake," he said, his thick accent surprising the boys. "How are you feeling?"
Venny didn't answer, following Perry's lead. Perry could only nod in response.
The stallion stood up and took a few steps closer, but not too close. "My name is Hanzal. I'm a royal guard here in Equestria. I've been temporarily assigned as a park ranger because the regular rangers are out dealing with an emergency. I found you in the lake yesterday, and I thought you might need help."
Perry took Venny's hoof and pulled him forward. He would have to do the talking for now.
"M-my name's Venator. This is my b-brother, Perditor. We were foal-n-n-napped."
Hanzal brought a hoof up to his mouth. "Oh, my. I thought you might just be lost, but foal-napped? That's terrible." Venny nodded in response. "It's good news, then, that I've already called my captain for aid. When my replacement arrives, I can take you home. He should be here this afternoon."
Venny looked to Perry. He couldn't tell through the muzzle, but Perry was smiling. All he could see was his calm eyes.
"While we wait for him, I'd like to hear more, but first, are you hungry?"
Venny nodded enthusiastically and Hanzal turned to the fridge. The night prior, he had prepared dinner for them, in case they woke up. Since they hadn't, he still had it waiting for them. He brought the plates to the map table and scooted Perry's empty cot over to act as a bench for them. Venny rushed over and looked at the plate. Never had he been so happy to see sliced cucumbers in the half-decade that he'd been eating them. He dove right into the meal; it was creamy and a little bit tart.
"What is this stuff?" he asked through a mouthful of food. "It's really good."
"Gurkensalat mit Dill," answered Hanzal. "It's a recipe I brought from my homeland of Farmany. I'm glad you like it." He turned to Perry, who had come to sit down. "You can't eat with that mask on, can you?"
Perry shook his head and pointed at the back of his head. There was a very complicated knot on the back. He was unable to untie it, as was Venny. Hanzal was certainly capable, but it would take too long.
Hanzal moved to a locker against the wall and opened it. Reaching in, he pulled out a knife and returned to Perry. "I'm going to cut it off of you, okay? I need you to hold still."
Perry leaned back and held his head high. He felt the cold steel of the knife press against his ear. The muzzle grew tighter, then suddenly much looser, slipping off his nose and freeing his mouth and nose. Perry took a deep breath and moved to the center of the room. Once there, he was met with a coughing fit, belching out puffs of black smoke. This was followed by a few flaming sneezes, but the damage was minimal.
As Perry returned to the table and began eating, Hanzal was still shocked from the smoke and fire. He began to wonder if perhaps he'd bitten off more than he could chew.