With Fluttershy and Butterscotch...
"S-so Fluttershy..." Fluttershy slightly turned her head towards the male pegasus "D-do you think that Dusk Shine m-meant what he said about me? I mean, if you don't mind me asking..." Butterscotch stuttered as he peered down a hole. When he removed his head from it, he shook his head signifying that nothing was currently down there.
"Hm? About what?" Fluttershy was currently asking a little red bird if it saw an alicorn but to her dismay it shook it's head and flew away.
"Uhmm... you know. About my idea being great... I mean, maybe he was just being nice to me..." He started dragging his hoof to the ground as he got sadder. "I know that Dusk is a nice guy and maybe he was just looking out for me b-but I can't help but f-feel he was just being n-nice to me to reserve my f-feelings..." He was in fact on the verge of tears.
Fluttershy knew all this too well. This was his insecurities acting up. She smiled softly and slowly trotted towards the him. He was still looking down so he didn't noticed the yellow mare standing next to him. Without thinking, Fluttershy wrapped her wing around Butterscotch who raised his head in alarm at the sudden feeling of warmth around him but to her relief, he didn't shy away.
"There, there" Fluttershy soothingly said "I know how you feel..."
Butterscotch sniffed as he leaned on the smaller mare beside him. It was still strange how such a big stallion was leaning on such a small mare being as he was a foot taller than her "Y-you do?"
Fluttershy nodded as she rubbed her head on his neck since she was too short to nuzzle his cheek "Of course I do. I also know that you are a brave big pony."
"No I'm not..."
"Yes you are and don't your forget it. Oh, and about what you asked earlier, of course it was a great idea even I didn't thought about it and according to Twilight we are all the same. Well except we are mares and you and your friends are stallions."
"Thanks... You really are something... and I'm not just saying that because we are the same." They both laughed at the little joke he made.
Both of them jumped when a third more menacing laugh joined them.
Part of the bushes in front of them rustled before a towering four-legged figure stalked outside of it. It had brown fur all over it's body with razor sharp claws on all of it's giant paws. It had pointy ears and a large black nose. It's eyes were bloodshot with hint of madness in them. It was lean and if one looked closely, they could see it's muscles tighten as it breathed in and out. At the moment, it was staring at the ponies with a dangerous grin on it's face.
Butterscotch's eyes widened "O-oh my... It's a w-wolf!"
Fluttershy looked closely at it before she gasped "N-not just any w-w-wolf... it's an alpha!"
The wolf laughed again while it circled around the two scared ponies "Right you are little pony. It's quite rare to see somebody able to distinguish us from each other." The wolf said in raspy male voice. His smile widened when he added "and fewer left alive."
What he said was in fact true. There were actually three types of wolves in a pack: alpha, beta and grunt. The alphas were obviously the so called leaders while the betas were the ones who would be in charge if the current alpha of the group was missing or unavailable albeit they were less intelligent and smaller than the alphas. That left the grunts which were the most savage of the pack. They mostly listen to their instincts and didn't think rationally. They relied on the alphas to give them orders or risked being killed for insubordination.
"U-uhmm... we don't mean any t-t-trouble or anything... W-we are just l-looking f-for somepony..."
Upon hearing the last word, the wolf's ears perked up "Oh? Somepony?" He narrowed his eyes for a second before his grin returned "Say... Maybe I know of this 'pony' you speak of. I could escort you two towards that certain pony if you'd like" he snickered slowly with his raspy voice.
"If it's not too much to ask, can you please sit down for a little while? Watching you walking around is making me dizzy..." Fluttershy asked politely.
Without thinking, the wolf sat down. It was only a second later when he realized what he did. What am I doing?! Why am I following orders from kids?! He berated himself but he didn't stood back up and just continued staring at the two in front of him, malicious grin still in place.
"So about my proposition, as a wolf I do have a very sensitive nose and I could find that lost pony of yours in no time at all" he bragged with a toothy grin.
To his surprise and confusion both ponies agreed to him without a second thought.
"Really? That is just wonderful! We would be oh so grateful if you help us!" Fluttershy said as she clasped both of her hooves together.
"A-are you sure? I-I mean, we just met and you already trust me?" The wolf stuttered. He mentally cursed himself. He was an alpha! He wasn't supposed to be caught surprised by anything especially from two ponies who looked like they were afraid of their own shadows.
"Absolutely" Butterscotch said with a nod "If there is one animal in this forest that we could trust, it's you guys! We know how loyal you are to anypony you deem worthy!"
The wolf winced at that. These two just kept surprising him. How did they know about that? The only ones who knew about that secret were-
"Uhmm... Mr. wolf?" the wolf's train of thought was interrupted as Fluttershy called for him "A-are you ok? You l-look troubled..." she gasped as she realized something "Oh my, are we actually bothering you? I'm so sorry..."
The wolf blinked. He turned towards the male pegasus and noticed that he also had the same apologetic look on the mare's face. These two... His eyes suddenly widened when something in his mind clicked. No wonder this mare looked familiar!
"You two..." the wolf said slowly as he furrowed his eyebrows "Do you happen to know some princess name Celestia?"
"Gaasp! Oh my, yes! She's the pony we've been looking for!" Fluttershy said excitedly
The fox just continued to look at the yellow pegasus critically "Tell me... what is your name?"
"M-my name?" the fox nodded "I'm Fluttershy..." she said bashfully while her mane hid her face.
The wolf stared at her for a few seconds before nodding again and started walking away before stopping and looking back at the two pegasi. "Follow me. There is someone else I need to introduce you two to."
"Uhmm..." Butterscotch spoke up and got the wolf's attention "C-can we go tell our friends... I-I think it would be better if w-we stick together..."
The wolf stared blankly at them for a minute before a grinned a grin appeared on his face while he said "Why not? The more the merrier"
With Dusk Shine and Twilight Sparkle
"I'm telling you, sir Shine, our Applejack would clearly win the race since she is lighter and more maneuverable when turning in tight corners!" Twilight Sparkle stated matter-of-factly with a challenging look in her eyes towards her counterpart.
"And I'm telling you, miss Sparkle, that our Applejack would win the race since he has more endurance and strength to gain the upper-hoof during a race in a straight line!" Dusk Shine countered.
Ever since separating from the group, the two of them have been bickering on who's friends were better. So far, it was a tie with 0-0 since nopony wanted to admit the other was better.
"Ugh!" Twilight smacked her hooves on her face as she sat on her haunches with a thump "You are completely unreasonable!"
Dusk did the same thing as he glared at his counterpart "Well, so are you! And by the way, you are just insulting yourself!"
"Nuh-uh! You are a stallion and everypony knows that stallions have meat for brains! Hah take that!"
Dusk rolled his eyes "Oh real mature... Well if you wanna play it that way then all you mares care about are your looks! Just one tiny pimple on your face and all of you go crazy! And don't get me started on clothes shopping!"
"Hey! I have you know that I care nothing with how I look and I don't even wear clothes!" Twilight gestured to herself. "Oh, another thing, you stallions always stink! What, you guys too lazy to take a bath?"
"At least we don't waste our time taking a shower for an hour!"
"At least we do smell good after taking a bath!"
"At least we don't need make up to make ourselves look better!"
"Neat freak!"
"Bookworm!"
Twilight smirked "Egghead!"
Dusk Shine gasped dramatically as his eyes narrowed into slits "You. take. that. back."
Twilight huffed as she turned her head away from Dusk "No."
"Take it back!"
"No!"
Dusk Shine gritted his teeth and was about to retort when a third voice announced it's presence.
"Geez. Just wake up the whole forest why don't you? You two are louder than two ursa majors mating!"
Twilight was about to give the intruder a piece of her mind but stopped when she saw who it was. Her mouth fell open and she pointed a shaking hoof at her.
The mare grinned while she tossed her light blue mane behind her "Hello Twilight. I didn't expect to see you after all these years."
Dusk Shine just looked back and forth between the two mares, clearly not recognizing the new comer.
Twilight knew that voice quite well. She may be older but Twilight could recognize that voice accompanied with that grin anywhere.
"T-trixie?!"
Trixie's grin widened "The one and only!"