Silver laid there in his uncomfortable position hours after the original incident. His legs twitched in their awkward angling. He sniffled on the cold ground. The sun was still below its horizon, and light was gliding across the sky. A thunderous roar echoed through the forest. Slowly he opened his eyes. Usually, he would have shot up from the commotion, but for some reason the rest of his body didn't respond to his commands. Everything in his brain seemed to be moving slower as well.
Silver motioned his back a little to the right, and his entire body fell over. Last he checked it was completely dark out. Maybe that's why everything was all loopy. All the free blood was drained out of his extremities making them all tingly. Whereas the blood had pooled into his brain, and made him feel like it was floating in the life fluids. It also made him sleepy. So very ... very ... sleepy....
Silver awoke again a half an hour later. This time around he felt very groggy, but he at least could feel his entire body. Although he was starting to wish he couldn't with the high amount of humidity in the air. Light was now pouring in through the alcove created from the hill. The glaring sun helped Silver reach consciousness. Apparently his migraine woke him from the light. There was a large red dot sitting on his nose. Upon further inspection, he realized this dot had four legs, four wings, and a face. Something about this dot triggered an annoying realization in the back of Silver's mind. "Ah crap!" he said while grimacing.
Silver swatted a hoof sluggishly at the dot until it flew away like an annoying fly. He did not know what that thing was, but something told him that it was bad news. Silver slowly pulled himself up, trying to approach the new day. Suddenly, memories of last night came rushing in. He remembered Schwarz, and the forest, and the creatures inside the forest, and the fact that he just collapsed onto the ground and passed out here. Silver would have screamed in fear at the idea of him lying in the open for anything to find, but common sense told him that was the last thing he wanted to do.
Silver stretched in place. If nothing had found him up until this point in time, it was safe to assume nothing would notice him leaving. Suddenly a growl came from the bushes not too far from his position. Silver held his pose in the middle of a stretch. Apparently something was watching him, and had been waiting for him to wake to make a sport out of chasing him. Either that, or something just stumbled upon his spot and he was lucky enough to wake up right before it started attacking him.
He stood straight up and groaned. Even though moving was not his best option at the moment, he was too tired of everything to care anymore. After all, he just escaped a colossus of a dragon only to get into the wild and die of some unknown creature? The idea annoyed him to apathy, but he also acknowledged that it would probably make more sense than him sleeping all night and being able to make it to a civilized town in one piece. The creature slowly pulled itself from the bushes, presenting its full girth.
Silver stood before a manticore. Neither opponent moved, waiting for the other to make the first move. The manticore was excited for the challenge of a pony set before it. While Silver tried to figure out how to survive. He took note that the manticore's eyes were very saggy. 'Stayed up all night hunting, huh,' he thought. Silver must have been this creature's last attempt before passing out. Suddenly Silver's eyelids widened and instantaneously his eyes went right. His head stayed stationary, as though he could not move it, and he returned his view to the manticore. Silver moved his eyes in a blitz. Everything flashed before him in a blur. His vision set upon its original target, and his eyelids returned to their original size. He didn't know what that was, but it seemed natural and over practiced.
Suddenly, Silver knew what to do. He was going to rush towards his right. There was a lack of entangling vegetation to his right, and he could use that to his advantage in the beginning of the run. The manticore may be able to keep up with him. It might even be able to fit through the simple bushes as well. But it was the best shot he had. Silver had no idea how he obtained all this information; nonetheless, he took note that he'd figure out what that little power he just used was later, and dashed towards the bushes.
What happened next seemed unreal. Silver got to the bushes first, but the manticore wasn't far behind. Once it caught his movements, it rushed out to catch him. Silver realized that the beast took a moment to register he had moved at all. He was able to make it to the bushes long before the manticore, but that didn't stop the fact that the beast was more agile and used to situations like this.
Silver ran with all his might. His eyes were wide open and darting around the place, capturing little segments of information that he couldn't possibly obtain in their quick sweep. He didn't understand this power. Then again, it wasn't something he was going to question while running from a manticore. He soon found himself jumping between branches of a fallen tree. These branches were big enough to slow the manticore down. This power was a bit more than he could handle!
A loud snap symbolized that the manticore got through the tree and continued to chase him. A few moments passed from that tree. Silver could hear its thunderous rampage closing in on him. The beast swiped at him. Silver's ear twitched as he heard the paw swinging through the air. He mistrotted for a moment. Although this maneuver looked unprofessional, it actually slowed him down enough to meet the manticore's paw instead of its claws. Silver let out a pained squeak as he was hit, but was grateful it was merely a blunt strike.
Silver flew through the air, flipping around until he met the ground. He bounced once and slid to a halt. Silver lay on his side facing the creature. The manticore slowly closed in on him. He pushed himself to his hooves, but felt heavier than ever. The wild animal was stalking him now and kept approaching him ever so slowly. Silver continued backing up as fast as his sluggish body could drag him. The manticore stop and look up in fear, but Silver paid it no head until he ran into something. Looking up, Silver found the head of a teal dragon start its growl at the manticore.
Silver was trapped in fear, and these next few moments just flew by in a blur in his state of mind. The manticore took a step forward towards him once it got over the fact that a dragon was there, but the dragon just lowered its head and growled louder. This made the manticore stop in its tracks. The manticore questioned what was going on here. It knew the dragon didn't care about the pony! Dragons wouldn't pay a pony any mind unless starving. By now, the dragon should have already swallowed the pony and moved on to hunting the manticore.
Obviously there was something wrong with this picture, and the manticore took one more step forward. The dragon spewed flames at the manticore. The forest floor burst into a crimson flame all around the manticore. The hunter was able to jump out of the way with vegetation to block the flames, but his environment towards the pony was now insurmountable. He had no reason to stick around, and darted off back into the forest.
Silver stood under the dragon, still staring up, completely confused. Something about all of this didn't seem right to him. Why would the manticore keep stalking him while he sat under a dragon? Why would the dragon attack the manticore, but pay him no mind? It had to have seen him! After all, he was right in front of the manticore the entire time. He even ran into the dragon and was still pushed up against one of its paws! The dragon looked down towards Silver and the pony's heart sank. Something told him that he was about to die here.
The teal dragon spoke to Silver in a voice filled with deep girth like any beast of that magnitude. Yet still ginger enough to signify it was a female. She told him, "You should be more careful out here. The Howling Forest isn't a place for a pony. Without Minty, you're an easy target for the wildlife, Silver. That manticore won't bother you anymore, but if I were you I'd get out of here before these flames spread. The forest may be damp, but my fires are hot enough to burn down a little more than where I spew them. Go about a mile out, and you'll be safe."
The dragon turned around and started walking away. Silver was left staring at where her head was in shock. Once she moved he fell over. Silver was pushing himself pretty strong against the dragon; especially right before it started talking. Silver had confusion written all over his face, and took another moment to think things through. So the dragon wasn't planning to kill him, and actually told him to be safe. Wait, it also used his name!
Silver scrambled to his feet and ran after the dragon. She didn't get too far, but her wings were starting to unfold. The dragon bent down, ready to leap, and Silver screamed out to her. The dragon moved to jump, but stopped pushing just before leaving the ground. Her momentum kept her going, and the dragon fell onto her chest. She laid there, annoyed, and raised her head to look at Silver. "Can I help you?"
Silver stopped, and stared at the dragon. He gave a very sheepish smile and rubbed his hoof. Nothing he had seemed important now that he brought a dragon to fumble on to herself. "Well, you see, I'm going through a bout of memory loss. And I was wondering: how exactly do you know me?"
The dragon got up, dusting herself off. She deadpanned the little pony and stated, "Every dragon that knows better knows the friend of Minty. You're rather famous when it comes to my kind." She approached Silver, and lowered her head to his level. Silver backed up a bit, not sure how frightened he should be of the carnivore. The dragon used her elongated neck to swivel her head around the little pony. Once she got a good look at him she smiled. "Though now that I've seen you face to face, I have to say you're a lot cuter than I imagined."
All emotion drained from Silver's face. He had no idea where this was going, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. A smile came to the little pony's face as he tried to come up with a comment. Suddenly a tree fell right behind him. He yelped in surprise and flipped around. The tree was completely ablaze, and he backed up as quickly as he could. Silver ran right into the dragon's snout.
Silver squeaked in shock and turned to look the dragon he ran into in the eyes. It was all he could do to just stare at her. Her smile widened as she replied, "Woah now tiger. How about you learn my name first?"
Silver flipped back around and blushed. "Right and you are?"
"Em'reald," the dragon said proudly as she lifted her head back up.
"Em'reald," Silver repeated. "Nice! That's...pretty! And it matches your scales."
Em'reald looked down upon her teal figure and looked back at Silver. She smiled teasingly at him as she asked, "Oh, so are you calling me pretty now?" Silver's smile faded, and his face turned a bright red. His vision lowered until he was looking straight ahead. Em'reald began laughing. She turned, and leaned down unto her haunches. "I'm just teasing you Silver. Although, you should really think about getting out before it gets too bad around here." With that, she pushed up and took off.
Silver watched her for a second. No cognitive function wanted to bring itself forth as he was lost in his little trance. Finally, something warming him from behind caught his attention. Silver turned to see the fire building pretty well, and decided now would be the best time to get out. He galloped as fast as his little hooves would carry him. He tried to avoid looking back on the last few minutes.
Silver kept pushing against the ground. Exhaustion was settling in. Embarrassment had made him numb. But the potential for death kept him moving through the forest. He was no longer careful as he tracked through the brush. Thorns and bushes scraped against his flesh and fur, tearing new wounds into his hide. This was no longer a concern for him though. Apparently he was an immeasurable figure in dragon society. Yet, then why did Schwarz want him dead? Better yet, why had Em'reald let him live if a being like Schwarz wanted him dead?
The questions would not stop flying through the pony's mind. Minutes fly by as mere seconds, and Silver lost the way he was going. He was so lost in thought; he didn't even see the small ravine he was steadfast approaching. The pony slid off the side of the hill, and fell right into the waters. Silver was now frustrated with how the day was going. He screamed in annoyance as he swam back to the surface.
Silver reached the tops of the water, and swam to a large rock in the middle of the stream. He pulled himself out of the water, and flopped his haunches onto the rock face. It took all his strength to drag himself to the water's edge, but the appeal of fresh flowing water brought his horrible headaches back to mind. Just as his snout touched the surface of the water, Silver found something that intrigued him. As he slurped the water into his mouth, an image greeted him on its surface. Light green eyes stared back into his as he tried getting his fill of the water. Finally, he stopped questioning his vision, and went about chugging as much of the fluid that he could take in.
Once he had exhausted himself with drinking, Silver lifted his head and took a good look at the figure in the water. There he sat, staring at the white coat of a soaked pony. A black mane sat heavily on the head of the equine, and red highlights could be traced within. The coat was very heavy, not suited at all for the climate this pony was in. And it was this very detail that made Silver realize he was staring at his own reflection. Silver then realized that he had gone this entire time without knowing what he even looked like. Spinning around, Silver took a good look at the remainder of his features. The rest of his body followed suit with his heavy white coat. His tail flowed with streaks of black and red. And his flank stood bare among his side.
Something about the blank flank stood out to the pony, and he continued staring at it for a good moment. It was an odd sensation, but nothing seemed to click with him. It was as though something was very off with this picture. But he would have to contemplate the implications of his hind quarters later, because something burst forth the brush on the other side. In a flash of color, the creature pelted down into the mud before the waters. Silver had been startled, and sat up fully to see what had been going on. He couldn't get a good sight of the creature, but he could hear it say, "Ow, stupid heights."
Silver pushed himself back. So far the only beasts that could speak were the dragons. And although he could not see the figure, he could tell it was not big enough to be a dragon. Whatever it was had decided to writhe around in the mud as it struggled to get up. Finally, it motioned itself up, and slid over to the bank screaming, "Finally, something to drink that’s not laced with poison!"
Silver could now see the thing. It stood a little taller than him, and was roughly his shape. Although, something sat by its side, making it quite wider. He couldn't tell what was by the thing's side because of the mud coating it, but he was too glad to see another pony to care. "Excuse me, but who are you?"
"Bubbles?" called the mud pony back. The figure started frantically looking about for the source of the noise. The voice sounded rather raspy, so Silver figured this pony thing was a male. This meant he could introduce himself without worry of being awkwardly flirted with again! He hoped...
"Over here," he called out, hoping the pony would quit jerking his head so violently around.
The pony pinpointed Silver's voice, and stared right into his eyes. This newcomer's eyes widened to up proportionate sizes, and he leapt in merriment. The bulges by his sides ripped forth and spread in an awkward mud blanket floating by him. Finally, he called back, "Bubbles! Thank the Creators I’ve found you! Aww, I was expecting squirrels...."