//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: A New Beginning in a New Land 
// by REDACTED99999 
//------------------------------//

A month after Jax’ arrival

Fluttershy had a bad feeling. She was looking at the Everfree from her cottage, where birds where flying away in a panic from the same area. Her own small friends who were coming out of the fringes of the Everfree were acting nervous as well, and she couldn’t get them to tell her precisely what was going on. Something about a fight. She sure hoped no one got hurt... but she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was getting hurt right now, and she couldn't just sit here and do nothing while creatures were getting hurt. Maybe they could settle things in a more peaceful way? Maybe they just didn’t know how. Then again, she had a feeling that this wasn't just two Everfree creatures arguing over territory.  She looked at Angel Bunny who stood besides her, looking at the forest as well.
“Angel, um, if you don’t mind, could you watch things while I go and have a look? I won’t be gone for long, I promise.”
Angel just nodded his head seemingly absent-minded, before he looked at her with surprise. She started walking at his acceptance. Slowly, but steadily.


***


Fluttershy didn’t like the forest very much. It was dark, scary, and full of danger. Things were quiet. The birds no longer fled from… whatever it was that startled them, but she already had a good idea where she was headed.
She entered a small clearing, and sure enough, this must have been what all those poor birds were scared off. A manticore lay motionless on the ground before a tree. Moving a bit closer, carefully as to not wake it, she realized that something was wrong. Manticores don’t rest in clearings. They prefer more confined spaces.
She moved a little to the right, noticing for the first time that a being sat in front of the manticore, resting with its back to the tree. It didn’t seem to notice her but it was nothing like anything she had seen before. It looked pale… and there was a lot of blood coming out of a wound on its shoulder. She gasped as she noticed the reason the manticore just lay there. There was a spear in its eye. It was dead. 
A tear formed in her eyes. She hated when animals and ponies died, even when it was a manticore in the Everfree.
The being had finally noticed her, and was looking at her with tired eyes. Like it couldn’t fight much longer. But what surprised Fluttershy the most was when it opened its mouth and spoke:
“You here to finish me off, pegasus?” It looked kind of amused. She couldn’t see why, it was clearly in grave danger
“Well you’re too late. Judging by the stinger on that beast, it’s probably venomous. Even if I patch up this wound, and I’m out off bandage, I will probably die anyway.” It looked sad now, she could understand why it would be. "And I had such a good run... damn... I can't believe I'll die again...."
Judging by the voice it was male. His lower body was covered with some kind of tattered clothing, while his upper body was bandages so many places it looked like he had clothes on there as well. The bandages seemed to be made of different kinds of clothing though, so she was surprised his wounds hadn’t festered. Maybe they had and she just couldn’t see it. His face was the only wound-free place it would seem. He had a dark brown mane, or patch of fur, on the top of his head and the area around his chin and mouth. His eyes were so small she couldn’t even see what eye-color he had.
He held an apple in his hand. When he noticed where she looked he spoke again, making her “eep” and hide behind the manticore in delayed momentary shock.
“This? I was gonna eat it as a victory snack, but seeing how I’m not gonna live long anyway… you can have it. What I really need is a smoke and some booze, but what are the odds of getting that? And… I had finally gotten over my need for it as well… but ain’t nothing like the stress of dying to remind you how good bad stuff really is.” She didn’t get much of what he was saying, but if he was willing to give her his last meal, then he must be at least a little kind. Kindness she could work with.
“Thank you but I’m not that hungry, you can eat it, I mean, unless you really insist” She spoke softly, she knew that, but she was afraid he didn’t hear her, because he just looked at her. She was just about to repeat herself when he started to laugh. Until he started grunting in pain at least.
“Of course it’s a talking pegasus.” He said with a smile, even tough she could see the pain in his eyes. “ Well I’m afraid I can no longer raise my hand… little talking pegasus. So go ahead… and take it. You can save it… for later… if you can’t eat it now. Just… don’t let it g…” She could see he had trouble talking, and he seemed to faint before he could finish his sentence. The venom from a manticore paralyzed its victim for a couple of hours, it wasn’t the problem here. The problem was the wound, and the blood he was losing. She needed to take him back home if she wanted to save him. And she did want to save him, without a doubt.
The only problem was that she was nowhere near strong enough to carry him, and they needed to move right now if she was going to save him, but how?
She heard some rustling behind her, and quickly hid behind the tree. Looking out slowly she realized it was just Mr. Bear.
“Oh good thing you came Mr. Bear... I need a favor. Could you carry this being back to my cottage for me, I am simply not strong enough to do it myself…  please? it's pretty urgent.” Mr. Bear nodded his approval, went over to the manticore and seemed to consider how to carry something bigger than him.
“Oh, um, no Mr. Bear, I’m afraid Miss Manticore is already… well… uhm… I was talking about the one by the tree… If you don’t mind”
Mr. Bear looked at the being by the tree and said something about him looking familiar, only this time it looked more dead than last time. She was unsure what he meant by that, so she gently motioned to continue. He nodded again, and threw it onto his back, to Fluttershy’s grief not very carefully. 
“Thank you Mr. Bear, that’s very kind of you. Just come to me the next time you need a massage.”
She took the apple that had rolled away into her mouth and ran ahead. She wasn't sure where it had come from, but she wasn't going to let it go to waste.
Mr. Bear nodded again as they hurried back to Fluttershy’s house.