Chapter 43
I was sitting on top of the lead timberwolf as trees passed by us at a fast speed. Skies was sitting on the same wolf and was having the ride of her life. I turned my head around and looked back at the rest of the girls. They had some scared and nervous expressions. Strangely enough though Fluttershy looked quite happy and seemed to be enjoying the ride. I could see a bit of apprehension, but that vast vastly outweighed. Pinkie was… well Pinkie was just being Pinkie. I could hear her talking to herself about throwing a thank you party for the Timberwolves as well as a party for this being the first time she rode a timberwolf. The next pony closest to enjoying themselves was Rainbow. She was excited because riding a timberwolf was pretty cool. I could still feel the hint of fear. She was good at hiding it though, I could tell she wanted to look strong for the other girls. The final three, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack were all quite scared. The three of them seemed to be holding very tightly around the wolves’ necks, much to the displeasure of the wolves, for dear life.
Twilight eventually started to speak. “Hey Shadow, could you- I mean why exactly, um well. Why are these Timberwolves letting us ride them instead of, well instead of attacking us like we were always told they would do?!” She asked.
“Why? Do you want them to attack you? I mean that’s kind of strange but they could do that if you want.” I responded with a small smile.
“Please don’t joke about that and just answer the question.” Twilight told me very unamused by my little joke.
I sighed. “If you really want to know it had to do with that small pouch.”
“You mean the one that you let them sniff before you got on?” Twilight questioned.
“Yes, exactly. That was the thing that my friend gave me so that I could find him anywhere in the forest. It’s similar to a smelling salt, but instead of making something wake up. This was more of an identification scent.” I told her.
“Identification scent?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, it tells the wolves that we’re friends of their alpha and they will take us to him.” I answered her.
“Oh… but how did you know those would be the wolves that found us?” Twilight responded.
“I didn’t.” I told her to which I could tell she was about to complain about putting all of us in a dangerous situation without knowing if it was really them. “Before you complain to me, I made an educated guess. No normal timberwolf would come that close to the Everfree forest’s border, but because they caught a small whiff of the identification scent they came to investigate. That is the only reason I can think of for any timberwolf to come that close to the edge, so it makes perfect sense that they were the right wolves.”
Twilight closed her mouth and began to think it over. “Okay, I can’t really argue with that, but I really would rather prefer a warning next time.” She told me.
“No promise, all your faces were priceless when the wolves jumped out of the bushes.” I responded with a laugh.
“It wasn’t funny!” Twilight shouted up to me.
“I could debate that.” I called back with a smile.
“You’re hopeless.” Twilight said shaking her head.
“Are you just realizing this now?” I asked her.
“No, I’m just saying what was always obvious out loud.” She answered.
“Hey, that really hurts.” I said sarcastically placing one hoof against my chest.
“Are you saying it isn’t true?” Twilight responded.
“That isn’t the point.” I told her. “…And didn’t I have a conversation like this before with Pinkie just flipped?”
“That’s right.” I heard from in front of me. I turned my head and saw Pinkie riding on top of the wolf’s head that I was on. The wolf seem just as confused as me as to how and when she got there.
“I keep telling myself I’m not going to ask, but Pinkie how in all of Equestria do you do that?” I asked her.
“Do what?” Pinkie said back to me.
“…Never mind just- just forget about it.” I said rubing my face with one of my hooves.
“Forget about what?” I heard from behind me. I turned and saw Pinkie once again riding on the timberwolf she had been on before.
I turned back around and started muttering silently to myself low enough that only Skies was close enough to even hear a word I was saying. “Forget the fact that she’s doing the impossible, forget the fact that she’s doing the impossible, forget the fact that she’s doing the impossible.”
“So Shadow” I heard from behind me again. I turned and looked back at Twilight. “Exactly how long will it be until we get to wherever this friend of yours is?” She asked me.
“I don’t have a definite answerer, but if I had to take a guess, considering how long we’ve been traveling so far, I think it shouldn’t be too much longer now. As long as he’s in the same general area that he’s normally in.” I told her.
“That’s good to hear.” She responded.
“Maybe, for all I know he might not even be in the Everfree right now.” I told her.
“Who might not be in the Everfree?” I heard from beside me.
I sighed. “I thought I already explained this. He’s-” I started as I turned and looked at the speaker. I was met with the face of a sarcastically smiling brown stallion who was also on the back of a timberwolf. “-Playing a joke on me.” I finished with a small smile.
The timberwolves all came to a quick and immediate stop, earning a yelp of surprise from most of the girls. I dismounted my wolf and helped Skies get down as well. I turned to face the stallion who had rode up. His coat was a light brown and his mane was a shade darker. His eyes were a dark green, and he wore a small hat on his head that had teeth from different creatures in the brim. His cutie mark was a paw print with twigs and leaves surrounding it. He wasn't exactly clean, but he wasn't filthy either. “It’s good to see you again Prowler.”
“Likewise Shadow, so tell me. Who are the lovely ladies you’ve brought to my humble abode? You certainly seem to have gotten around since we last met.” Prowler said to me taking a peek back at the mares.
I sighed. “Really, we haven’t seen each other in who knows how long, and those are the words you choose to greet me with.” I responded to him.
He just started laughing. “Hey don’t blame me. It’s just in my nature.”
“No, no it’s not.” I told him smiling a little.
“Alright fine, but seriously who are they?” He asked me.
The mares had all gotten off of their wolves by now and were standing behind me. “Girls this is the friend I was talking about, Night Prowler. One of the best trackers in all of Equestria. Prowler these are some of the friends I’ve made since we last met. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.” I said indicating to each of the mares as I said their names, except for Rainbow who came up and stood next to me, and I put one of my legs around her “Rainbow is my marefriend, which means she’s off limits… In fact, to you they all are.”
“Oh come on Shadow, why don’t you let them decide. They haven’t even met me yet.” He told me.
“Yes but I have.” I responded.
“Yes you have, and you can tell I’m being on my best behavior. I haven’t even said a curse yet.” He told me.
“Yes I noticed. I’m actually counting how long it’s been. I’m waiting to see if you might break you own record, for time gone without spewing vulgarities.”
“Aw come on Shadow. Don’t be like that you damn bastard… Oh damn it!” He said stopping the clock I was keeping.
“Two minutes and thirty seven seconds. You were so close.” I told him smiling.
“Meh, I don’t really give a shit about it anymore.” He told me reverting to his normal manner of speaking vulgarities basically every chance he got. I could feel that the girls behind me weren’t too fond of the way he was speaking.
“You know you might want to tone down on the curses. Skies and I might be used to it, but the others aren’t. So you might want to watch your tongue a bit more carefully, for their sake as well as yours.” I told him.
“My sake? Why in the world of Equestria would I need to do it for my bucking sake?” He asked me.
“Well you see Rarity here kind of has a-” I started but Rarity interrupted me by putting a hoof on my shoulder and walking passed me. I could see Prowler was slightly confused by what was going on as Rarity walked up to him.
After a short moment of silence Prowler’s head was whipped sideways as Rarity’s hoof connected with his cheek. “OW!” he shouted rubbing his cheek.
“Yeah she has a pretty powerful slap.” I said with a small chuckle. That however was before my head was whipped sideways as well. “OW!” I shouted this time. “Why do you keep doing that?!”