"Okay, we should split up." Twilight said. "It will make this easier if we all split up to look for it.”
"Makes sense." Church said.
"Who will do what though?" Tucker said. "I don't think I want to fight those fucking wolves."
"I'll deal with the wolves." Sarge grunted.
"I think we should look for the bark." Church said to Twilight.
"Why do you get to do that?" Tucker said. "I want to do the easy shit."
"Because Twilight will be able to recognize what it looks like." Church said. "Caboose, Pinkie, you're coming too."
"Yay!" Caboose said happily. "I like trees!"
"So that leaves Rarity, Simmons, Rainbow Dash and Tucker to get the cockatrice scale." Twilight said.
"There is only one kind of way I would ever think of getting stoned, and being turned into stone is not that way." Tucker said.
"What's the matter blue? Are you scared?" Sarge said, cooing softly.
Tucker glared at Sarge, but Sarge just laughed at him.
"You have nothing to complain about, I'm the one taking the bigger risk." Sarge said.
"Whatever." Tucker said.
"Stop complaining." Rainbow Dash said. "Let's make this quick, I don't want to be so tired I fall asleep during the Wonderbolts show."
"Where are we going to find this lizard-hen thing anyways?" Tucker asked. "I'll show you all that I can kick their scaled asses."
"Not too far south from here is a cockatrice cave." Zecora said. "But when you see them, you may not be so brave."
"As much as I like taking attendance, which is to say not very much, I would like it if you guys would go soon." Grif said. "I can feel this shit spreading, and it does not feel great."
"Spike, you stay with Fluttershy and Zecora." Twilight said.
"But Twilight-" Spike started to protest.
"No buts." Twilight said. "You still haven't even done what you came here to do yet."
"Oh, right." Spike said, turning to Tucker. "Hey Tucker. I'm really sorry for what I said."
"Don't worry about it." Tucker grunted, walking out the door.
"Is that good enough?" Spike asked.
Boys will be boys. Twilight thought to herself as she rolled her eyes at Spike.
"Come on, I know where the great oaks are and if we hurry now we should be able to make it there in a matter of minutes." Twilight said.
"Alright." Church said, turning himself to face Caboose and Pinkie. "Come on you two."
"Okay Mr. Church!" Pinkie said, hopping out the door.
Everypony was making their way out the door. Except Sarge, who stood in front of Applejack, blocking her from going out.
"What’re ya doin Sarge? Move outta the way." Applejack said.
"Can't let you go." Sarge said.
"What are ya talkin' about? You can't do this alone." Applejack said.
"You have family to look after." Sarge grunted. "It would be best if you stayed here."
"You need my help." Applejack protested.
Sarge stared at her for a few seconds then begrudgingly stepped back and grunted.
"Okay, just stay behind me." Sarge said. "I don't want to be the one to tell the little one what happened to her sister."
"If anyone gets hurt, it'll be you." Applejack snorted, making her way past Sarge.
"Hey, uh, Sarge?" Grif said.
"What?" Sarge asked.
"Thanks." Grif said.
"Don't think I'm doing this for you." Sarge said with a smile, walking out the door.
Soon all the ponies were standing outside of the hut, staring around the forest, trying to find any immediate dangers.
"Alright." Church said. "Which way is what?"
"Well to the south of here is the cave that Rainbow Dash and the others need to get to." Twilight said. "The trees where we are going are located north-east of here, and that should take us just a couple of minutes."
"And where should we look for the wolves?" Sarge asked.
"I don't know." Twilight said. "Timberwolves are always on the move, and only stop to rest briefly in the morning to sleep."
"I think you should start with the trail that we came in on." Church said. "It would probably be easier to look for signs of them there."
"Good thinking Church." Twilight said.
"Let's see which group can get their ingredients first." Rainbow Dash said, zooming in to the air.
"Rainbow Dash, this is not a game." Rarity said.
"Spoilsport." Rainbow Dash pouted, landing back on to the ground.
"Let's go, we're wasting time standing around." Sarge said, starting down the path.
"Okay. Be careful everypony." Twilight said.
Back inside Zecora’s hut, Fluttershy was looking out the window watching the others leave. Grif looked at Fluttershy and grunted.
"Do you think they'll be okay?" Fluttershy asked.
"I've known these guys for years, and if I had to place money on it... I'd say that I'm as good as dead. Good thing I’m not placing money on it." Grif said with a chuckle
"That's very pessimistic." Spike said.
"I'm just being a realist." Grif said, lying back down on the rug. "Might as well get comfortable, it'll take them a while to get back."
"Good thinking." Spike said, taking a seat on the ground.
Fluttershy went up to Grif and sat down beside him. "Hey." Grif muttered.
Fluttershy said nothing but continued to stare at Grif’s leg. Grif sighed deeply and put his hoof on her to comfort her. "Listen, I'm sure they will be perfectly fine with gathering the ingredients." Grif said. "You just have to stop blaming yourself and worrying about me. Everything will be fine."
"Okay." Fluttershy said quietly.
Zecora made her way back to the brewing stand and started crushing more ingredients, tossing them into the mixture when it was necessary. Fluttershy slowly walked up to Zecora and watched her stir it.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Fluttershy asked.
Zecora glanced at Fluttershy and nodded quickly.
"Yes you can. Keep mixing this, do not slow down." Zecora said. "You will know to stop when the mixture turns brown."
"Okay." Fluttershy said.
Fluttershy grabbed the wooden stick, mixing at the same pace as Zecora was. Zecora walked up to the potion book and opened it once again, flipping through the pages to make sure she had not missed anything.