I sat near the fire, letting the warmth melt away the frigid night air. For the first time in a long time, I felt...almost happy. I was still ungodly depressed, but it seemed far away. I was warm, I wasn't in too much pain, and I wasn't completely alone. One of the scarred ponies—I'd learned her name was Rose Stone—had translated the Zebra's speech for me. It turns out she had made an antibiotic along with the anti-inflammatory. At first I had tried to apply it to my neck like an ointment, but the zebra hit me with her stick and Rose explained it was to be eaten. God, it was the most bitter thing I'd ever tasted. I must've made quite a face, because the zebra, the humorless, strict zebra, giggled. The petulant scowl I gave her only made her laugh harder.
Back on earth, I had noted how quickly most ailments were healed in Equestria. A broken wing was mended from an overnight stay at a hospital, and a chipped tooth was healed with the splash of a potion. So it wasn't entirely surprising to find that my neck felt infinitely better only an hour after ingesting the paste. My throat was still raw and I sounded like I'd deep-throated a cheese-grater, but speech was no longer out of the question as long as I didn't strain my throat. So I sat, content, staring into the fire.
I don't know how long I stared, but I must've drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, the sun was rising over the horizon and my throat was swelling shut. Standing, I made my way to the shaman's tent for another dose of the herbal medicine.
Keeping my eyes directly in front of me turned out to be a mistake, as I bumped into a solid-built quadruped. Not bothering to stop, I muttered a quick "sorry" and made to continue on my way, only to be stopped by a sharp talon digging into my forearm.
"Don't you walk away from me." The griffon from before hissed. The voice was effeminate but scratchy, and seemed somewhat familiar. The talon squeezed harder, causing me to grit my teeth. "Who in Tartarus do you think you are?"
Who did I think I was? I thought I was tired, hungry, sick, and in a very bad mood. I was betrayed, disgraced, spat-upon, and not taking any of this bullshit. Clenching my hands into tight fists, I tore my arm free, whirled around, and backhanded the griffon. "I am the LAST person on earth you want to fuck with."
She grunted and wheeled back, a small rivulet of blood seeping from her raptor-like beak. Staring at me with a shock that quickly eroded into a dark, excited grin, she lowered herself into a crouch and flared her wings out. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."
...Shit.
-----
The Element Bearers were standing in Applejack's barn, sans Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Clearing her throat, Twilight took a deep breath. "So, just to be sure, none of you remember seeing them leave?" Everypony nodded. They each seemed to be some level of afraid for the missing pair, from Pinkie's stillness to Rarity and Fluttershy's worried (or outright terrified in the latter's case) expressions. "Just the thought that they could've spent all night in the Everfree Forest..." Fluttershy trembled, unable to continue.
Rarity silently put a foreleg around the pegasus' withers, the unicorn giving her friend a sympathetic look. The Pink Party Pony sighed in the background, her poofy mane sagging the slightest bit.
Raising an eyebrow, Twilight walked towards Pinkie and extended a wing over her back. "Pinkie...you've been awful quiet. You're worried about them too, aren't you?"
The pink pony shook her head, sagging slightly. "Do you really think he did it because of us?"
Twilight winced, having not thought of that particular problem since the day prior. She'd been having the same trouble...Ponies just don't DO that to themselves! "We...we can't focus on that right now. We need to find Rainbow and Applejack before something else does!" Pinkie sulked back down, her uncharacteristic sadness creating a deep tension among the group. Pinkie's exuberance had been the glue that held them together, and without her cheer, everything felt...hollow.
Twilight tried to regain control, but she couldn't force herself into the right mindset. Something was just...off about the whole situation. Why was Applejack so invested in this creature? Why was Pinkie so sullen over it's near-demise? Twilight's frown deepened. Why hadn't Applejack just let it die?
The door creaked open, and the girls turned towards the noise. In walked two twig-covered, unkempt mares, Applejack's hat covered in mud and leaves instead of the more common dust and sweat. Rainbow trailed behind, feathers askew and mane not looking much worse than usual, aside from the twigs tangled within. Both were walking with limps from sleeping on hard, uneven ground, with dark rings around their eyes and slumped postures. The cyan pegasus groaned as she dropped to her rump, forelegs hardly keeping her upright. "I am never...EVER...sleeping out there again." Applejack grumbled in agreement, taking an identically ungraceful seat.
Neither Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy could speak for several moments. The lavender alicorn cleared her throat, ruffling her wings unconsciously. "Girls...what happened?" The others gathered around Rainbow and Applejack, their combined voices drowning out any intelligible words in a stream of relief, elation, and worry. Getting no response, Twilight attempted to reassert some sort of order. "Girls?" Again, nothing. Furrowing her eyebrows, Twilight took a deep breath and reared back. Slamming her forehooves onto the floor, she shouted, "GIRLS! Please, I know we're all glad they're okay, but we need to focus! Turning to Rainbow and Applejack, she continued in a much calmer tone, "Why were you two out there all night? I want to find it too, but this isn't something you need to risk your lives over. What in Equestria were you thinking?"
Silence. The five were staring at Twilight with unreadable expressions, until Applejack stepped forward. The farm-pony glared, but her voice was soft. "Twilight, Ah appreciate ya tryin' ta help, but ya ain't done nothin but make the situation worse." She was practically muzzle-to-muzzle, looking up slightly at the growing alicorn. "Ya don't know the first thing about Jason. He's MAH responsibility, and Ah'll take it from here. So Ah'm askin ya as a friend, please...Back. The buck. Off."
The tension was beyond uncomfortable among the six, until Twilight silently turned away. Walking out the door, she looked over her shoulder to speak. Hesitating before making a sound, she closed her mouth with an audible click of her teeth. The mare shook her head and took off into the air.
-----
I was too weak to run, and too exhausted to react quickly. The griffon bowled me over, settling on my chest. I raised my arms just in time to avoid catching swiping talons to the face, but the searing hot pain of claws tearing flesh caused me to yelp nonetheless. I struggled for what felt like minutes, but in reality couldn't have been more than a few seconds, trying to fend off talons and a beak from my face and neck. I blindly lashed out with a jab, feeling my fist connect with something hard and smooth. The weight on my chest shifted with a pained warble, and I lurched to throw the griffon off of me, The creature tumbled to the ground on her belly, a faint crack in her beak oozing with a thin red rivulet. I threw myself on top of her, pinning her down and wrapping one arm around her throat in a textbook choke-hold. The griffon thrashed, wings beating ineffectually. I pulled back roughly, teeth bared and breathing heavily, spittle flying as I tightened my grip as much as I could. I growled and roughly jerked my arms to the side, trying to—
I was looking up at the sky, my arms burning and chest heaving. I didn't know why or how I'd been thrown back, but I stood up with a furious howl and ran back to the downed, coughing griffon, stopped roughly by a paw shoving me back. Whipping my head to the dog that was keeping me from her, I reared back my arm to throw a wild haymaker. The wolfish beast caught it effortlessly in a large, meaty paw, trying to stare me down. "Creature! Calm yourself." I didn't verbally respond, trying to pull my arm free. I failed miserably. I turned my eyes to the griffon, standing shakily and being held back by one of the two ponies. I pointed my free hand at her, pure loathing drilling into her from my eyes.
"You're dead you stupid bitch! You are fucking DEAD!" A massive paw slammed into my face, and I knew no more.
-----
Twilight walked into her library, a conflicted, hurt expression on her face. She sat in the doorway, casting her eyes to the floor.
Ah'm askin ya as a friend....
That wasn't Applejack back there. The orange mare was stubborn, yes, but even at her worst she'd never actively sent her away. The lavender mare sighed and closed the door, walking up the stairs. Applejack's fixation on the human was destructive, and Twilight couldn't sit back and let her friend alienate herself from the others. She gulped.
Or worse..
The orange mare hadn't been sleeping well if at all, and it was showing on her face. Twilight worried over the earth-pony's health, and by extension, the livelihood of the farm. All because of that...thing.
Twilight glowered at nothing. Even in her own world, all a human was good for was destruction and trouble. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to block out the memory of the cruel laughter. Sunset Shimmer...You deserve everything you got. The alicorn stood, taking a deep breath and opening her eyes, she called out with a determined look, "SPIKE! Take a letter!"
Applejack can say what she wants, she thought. This is bigger than all of us.