"Jungle? Jungle!" I woke up, nearly taking a tumble off the seat of the train. "We're back in Ponyville, it's time to go."
I wiped my eyes with a hoof blearily before focusing on who was talking. When my vision cleared, I saw Spike tugging at my other hoof, trying to pull me off the seat I was sleeping on. Brushing him off, I got myself back onto all fours on the floor before following him through the open train doors into the familiar Ponyville train station.
"How long was I out?" I asked him, curious.
Spike shrugged. "You slept through the entire train ride, dude. Probably a few hours at least."
Wow. No wonder I felt refreshed. And the sun wasn't even close to setting yet, so I still had a few hours left to kill. "Alright, where's Twilight?"
"Over there."
I looked where Spike was pointing to see the Princess talking with, to my disappointment, the one and only Rainbow Dash. Deciding to just get it over with, I trotted over to the two of them, who were standing only around 15 hoofsteps away. Dash noticed me first, giving me a downright nasty look of suspicion.
"Hey, Twilight. Hey, Dash. What are you two talking about? Did something important happen while we were gone?"
The purple alicorn opened her mouth to respond before Rainbow Dash cut her off. "Nope, nothing at all! Twilight and I were just talking about stuff. Private stuff. So, uh, if you wouldn't mind..." She gave me a pointed look that in no uncertain terms was telling me to go away.
Sheesh. So this was the reception I was getting for my glorious return? "Alright, alright," I said, waving her off. "If you need me again, Twilight, you know where to find me. See ya." And with that, I walked off, taking the thankfully short trip from the station to my own home.
Well, moderately short, anyway. It was still enough time to ruminate on my most recent act of thievery (something that I had plenty of experience in before) currently sitting in my saddlebag. Everything about that still confused me. Why had every page been written in letter format? And why was such a book kept in the restricted section? Obviously somepony important had written in it, though from how it looked the last time they had was some time ago. Maybe it was a magical book that sent messages to a magical being from another dimension!
...Or maybe they were just lonely and pretended they were. Who knows? Because I certainly didn't. Still, this was now my number one priority to keep a secret from Twilight, and everypony really. If she had gotten that mad at us being late to the library, well, I did not want to see how she'd react to not-so-petty book theft.
As soon as I got to my home and opened the door, I immediately pulled out the book and set it down on the table before heading to the fridge and pulling out a can of apple juice. It cracked open with a quick tug of my hoof, and I took a sip before sitting down and laying on my new couch.
Wait, a couch? When did I get a couch? Narrowing my eyes at the unfamiliar piece of furniture, I eventually shrugged and laid back in it again. My current state of mind meant I could not care less where it came from.
And yet, something else felt off. There was something different about my home, and it wasn't just the couch. As my eyes scanned the walls of the room something felt missing, the barren walls feeling plainer than usual. Especially the one spot with the nail where I used to hang my-
Hold on.
Where in Tartarus was my ring?!
The audacity! This was an outrage! How dare somepony steal what I rightfully stole already?! Furious, I stormed back out the front door, anger inhibiting any sort of common sense. I didn't even know what I was going to do, but I knew that it would be better than just sitting down on the mysterious new couch doing nothing.
"There he is!"
I whipped my head around, the beginning of a snarl dying immediately in my throat alongside my rage. Rainbow Dash was flying just a few inches off the ground while slowly making her way towards me, my Ring of Scorchero hanging from her neck. She wasn't alone either, as all her friends were with her. Princess Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, the whole gang. All of them were looking fairly peeved at me, save for Fluttershy.
Given the situation I was in, I did what any sane pony would do. I gave a little wave to all of them, tipped my hat to Rainbow Dash, then started running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. "He's getting away! After him!" I heard Dash's voice yell behind me.
Fortunately for me, the replacement of anger with fear also returned my process of semi-logical thinking. I knew I could never outpace Rainbow Dash; she was too fast, especially when she was flying. Tight spaces and corners would be my friend. The first chance I got, I ducked into the nearest alleyway, and just in time too. I could feel the wind caused by Dash soaring right past me, flying too fast to make the sharp turn.
Putting it straight, I had no idea where I was going, or where I was. But I must have done something right, as there were plenty of turns and crossroads for me to try and lose my pursuers on. Every time I looked behind me, Twilight and her friends were a little further behind, until finally they were out of sight. As soon as that happened, I found the nearest barrel (honestly, there were way too many of these things around Ponyville) and hid myself inside it. It was a bit snugger than I had hoped, but I was still able to fit.
And just in time too, because the sound of hoofsteps rapidly approached until they stopped only a few hooves away, from what I could guess. "Where did he go?" I heard Rainbow Dash ask.
"I don't know," Twilight's voice responded. "We'll have to split up and look for him. Applejack and Pinkie, you go left. Rarity and I will go right. Rainbow and Fluttershy, you two fly up and see if you can spot him from above."
A chorus of affirmatives rang through the air before the sound of both hoofsteps and wingbeats filled the air again. Slowly, they faded away, until finally, there was silence. I relaxed in my hiding space, taking as deep a breath I could in my confined space.
Normally, them splitting up would be a good thing. It meant that I would have to fight less of them should it come down to it. However, the pegasi complicated things, as it meant that even trying to leave the barrel would get me spotted immediately. I'd have to be sneaky about this.
"Whatcha doing in there, Jungle?"
I jolted forward, the side of the barrel slamming into something next to me. I heard the distinct sound of a body falling to the ground, which I assumed was Pinkie Pie from the voice I had heard. "Sorry about that, Pinkie!" I shouted as I ripped off the barrel, making sure to put it somewhere where it wouldn't hit her again. "Gotta run!"
"Wait!" Pinkie yelled behind me. "You'll still come to my parties, right?!"
"Sure!" I responded.
"Great! See ya!"
Rounding another corner, I barely took another step before I slammed right into the front of an orange Earth Pony. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me-"
"I found 'em!" Applejack called out, already getting her lasso out. "Just hold still," she told me, "and I promise we can talk things out."
"Like that's ever going to happen!" I retorted, pulling a one-eighty and galloping off the other way. Making sure to go a different direction from where I left Pinkie Pie, I could see light from the end of the alleyway back into the streets of Ponyville. Putting on a burst of speed, I almost made it before Rainbow Dash slammed down onto the ground in front of me, blocking my path.
"Gotcha!" she said, lunging forward to grab me, but this time I was just a bit faster. Sidestepping out of the way, I dodged her entirely and continued my escape out of the maze of buildings. The last thing I saw looking behind me was Rainbow stuck in Applejack's rope, meaning I could only assume she had tried lassoing me at the exact time Rainbow had jumped forward.
Emboldened by my stroke of luck, I pushed onward, now having a set destination in mind. If I could just make it to the edge of the Everfree Forest, I could lose Rainbow Dash for good. Seeing that I was already close to the river crossing that led to the Everfree, I tunnel-visioned so hard that I didn't even notice the white unicorn running beside me until she was practically on top of me.
"You've led us on quite the chase, but it's time to give up, you ruffian! Don't make this difficult on yourself." I responded in kind by taking off my hat, hooking it onto her horn, and pulling it down. It had the intended effect, as the sudden movement caused Rarity to stumble, then tumble. Judging by her cries of anguish, it sounded like she wasn't too happy about that.
I, on the other hoof, could not care less.
Leaving Rarity in the dust, I finally made it to the bridge leading out of Ponyville. There, who else was waiting for me but Princess Twilight Sparkle herself, wings spread and horn lit. Fluttershy stood behind her, staring at me with a look I couldn't quite describe.
"Jungle, this has gone on long enough! You have some explaining to do!" I couldn't tell if Twilight was trying to pull off the royal voice, but if she was, it was failing miserably. The pose was fairly intimidating though, I had to give her that.
Well, even if I knew it wouldn't work, I might as well try the peaceful option. "Look, Twilight, I'm sure this has all been one big misunderstanding. Can you please just let me leave for once?"
She shook her head, exactly like I expected her to. I shrugged. "Well, it was worth a shot." Pulling off my hat once again, I threw it straight towards her face. Twilight however remained unfazed, simply catching it in her magic a few inches away from her muzzle.
What she didn't see coming was me running straight towards her right after, taking a hold of both my hat and one of her front hooves. Then, finally getting the chance to use my Earth Pony strength, I swung her up and around in a circle, before letting her fly off over the bridge's guardrail. With her bad angle and her inexperience in flying, Twilight was unable to stop herself from splashing into the water, temporarily dealt with.
I didn't bother with Fluttershy as I ran past her to the other side. All she did was give a slight "Eep!" while I passed her. While a nice friend she was, a fighter she was not. The yellow mare didn't even try to follow me as I approached the forest edge.
But, on the very edge of escape, on the cusp of my victory, something gave me pause. I turned and looked back on the small village of Ponyville, the sun finally beginning to set over the horizon. The place that I had, or maybe still called home. Did I really want to give that all up already?
My gut instincts said yes. Every bone in my body was telling me to disappear into the Everfree Forest, to cut my ties and find someplace else to start fresh. The adventurer instincts that I had followed for so long were all pointing for the easy way out... but there was something else. My heart was telling me to stay, to stop being a coward and face my problems head on.
I had friends here. Real, honest friends, something I hadn't had in a long time. Sure, I had my fellow adventures in Doctor Caballeron's little group, but I always saw them more as associates than friends. Here, I had a home, I had a life. And I didn't want to give that up.
So, I just stood there. I stood, and waited. It wasn't long before the ponies I had shaken off not long ago were approaching me, even more peeved than they were before. Well, except Fluttershy, but you probably assumed that.
Twilight reached me first, still dripping water from her surprise bath. "What. Was. That?!" she asked, punctuating every word. "You just threw me off a bridge!"
The Princess had just finished talking when a lasso wrapped itself around my legs, making me fall to the ground. I didn't struggle, just laying there as the rest of her friends looked down at me.
Rainbow Dash remained unfazed. "Alright, now talk!" She shoved the golden ring that had been hanging from her neck for the entire chase in my face. "What is this, and where did you get it?"
"It's a Ring of Scorchero. Duh." I kept my voice level, almost taking on a bored tone. As you know I'm usually a pretty funny guy, but right now I wasn't in the mood for jokes. Or laughing.
Dash took that as an admission of guilt. "See?!" she told her friends. "I was right! He's probably spying on us for Caballeron, who's plotting to get his revenge right now!" She poked me with a hoof multiple times. "Isn't that right?"
"Nope."
"I told you! He's- wait, what?" She stared at me, confused, which I almost found amusing.
"I never lied to you girls, you know. I just never told you the full truth. In fact, I was surprised none of you recognized me from the Fortress of Talacon back in Tenochtitlan. I'm just here to start a new life and leave the past behind. Is that too much to ask?"
Rainbow was starting to sputter, losing ground to my argument. "But what about the ring?"
I shrugged. "What about it? I picked it up while the fortress was collapsing, and decided to keep it as a memento. It's not like it belonged to anypony anymore." Wiggling my hooves, I held them out towards Applejack. "Now can you please untie me? The rope is starting to chafe."
Luckily for me, she complied, either satisfied with my answers or just believing I wasn't going to go running anywhere again. I hoped it was both. "Sorry 'bout that, Jungle," she said, offering a hoof to help me up. "Seems this was just one big misunderstandin'."
Apologies of similar caliber spewed from the rest of the ponies nearby, save for Rainbow Dash who just crossed her hooves while hovering above the ground. I rubbed the back of my neck with a hoof, feeling a bit awkward now. "Look, this is on me. I should have been honest and told you about the ring and my past from the start, but I was too afraid of what you would think of me. I'm sorry."
A few seconds passed as we stared awkwardly at each other. "Oh, and Rainbow Dash?" I added on. "Please don't break into my house again."
"Yeah yeah," she answered, swinging me my ring back. "I get it, don't touch your stuff."
The snark in her voice caused me to smirk a little. "Just don't touch my stuff without asking first. So, if that's all, can we head back to Ponyville? It's getting a bit late now." I pointed towards the sun in the distance, which was very clearly setting now.
Twilight nodded. "Yeah, it's been a long day, hasn't it? C'mon girls, let's head back." And so, as a group, we began the short walk back to Ponyville. Or, in Pinkie's case, the bounces back to Ponyville.
My house was the closest to the bridge, so we stopped there first. "Well, I can't say today was fun, but it was certainly interesting. I'll see all of you tomorrow, alright?"
"Okie, bye!" Pinkie started waving rapidly at me as I opened the door and stepped back into the now-familiar comfort of home. "Oh, by the way, did you like the couch I gave you? Did you? Did you?!"
I froze. "Yes, Pinkie, I like it," I finally responded. "Thanks for the couch."
"Anything for a friend! Okay now bye for real this time!" And on that note, I shut the door, and slumped to the floor.
Today was too much. Everything today was too much. But I did it, I had confronted them about my past and gotten my ring back. Ignoring the rest of the day of me running away, of course. At this point, with how tired I suddenly was with the rush of today finally taking its toll, I was half-zombie as I got back up to hang the ring back where it belonged before taking a seat on the couch. Finally, with that out of the way, my adventure was over.
I mean sure, there might be other stuff going on, but there couldn't be anything the scale of that happening again. I was sure of that.
Or at least I hoped I was. But right before I passed out right then and there in my living room, the only illumination coming from a single lamp in the room, I noticed one last thing on the table a few feet away.
The book, the very one I had stolen from the Canterlot Library, was vibrating.