Zecora cocked her head to the side. “Lacerations to his torso was his suffrage. It took many of my salves and bandages.” She gestured to one of her shelves, many of the jars placed there near empty.
“But, then why are they fine now?” Fluttershy poked and rubbed Conner’s stomach and sides. “If it wasn’t for the dirty bandages and dried blood, I would have thought he hadn’t even been- Oh, I’m so sorry!” Conner had started to squirm under her hooves. “Oh, you must still be hurt after all.”
<<Only when I laugh,>> Conner managed to gasp out, <<And you’re tickling me!>>
“Tickling…?”
I think we surprised Zecora with the synchronized face-paw Villhiem, Yomega and I did. <<For the love of… At least giggle next time.>> Villhiem groaned out. <<Ya damn near scared the poor mare!>>
“Oh, no, it’s okay,” Fluttershy gently patted Conner’s head, “I was just so worried about you. Especially after what Zecora told me.”
<<Yeah, we were in a rough spot there.>> Yomega pawed at the ground with his ears laid back. <<Could you pass on our thanks?>>
“Of course.” Fluttershy turned to the zebra. “I think they want me to thank you for them. They have this weird way of speaking that sorta makes them hard to understand, as if they were speaking with a Neighponese accent.”
Zecora gave a small bow to us. “I did not mind. I’m glad they’re fine.”
We gathered around Conner, whispering in hushed tones. Zecora went around her hut, taking stock of her herbs. Fluttershy started to walk around us. Every now and then, she would give one of us a tentative poke.
“Um, Zecora.” Fluttershy let my tail drop. “I’ve never seen anything like them before. Do you know what they are?”
“I may know creatures near and far.” Zecora shook her head. “But I’ve never seen these before. Maybe, with that problem, Twilight could get to the core.” Both mares missed our eyes widen.
Yomega and I had informed the other two about Twilight and how she might… obsess over trying to figure us out. I saw the same thought flit through the others’ heads: I don’t want to be a science experiment!
“Oh, um…” Fluttershy seemed to shrink behind her mane, “I can still understand them, it’s just a little harder to understand them because I’ve never heard an animal speak like they do before. I’ll um, I’ll just ask them.” We let out a small sigh of relief as she turned to us. “Um, I’m sorry if this seems rude, but I was just wondering if you could tell me what you call yourselves?”
<<Do what I do.>> Yomega murmured to us before taking a small step forward. <<We are a kind of creature called an Eevee.>> Fluttershy tilted her head and opened her mouth, but Yomega cut her off. <<We would like to answer your questions, but I’m afraid we have greater worries.>> His ears drooped, Villhiem and I mimicking his movements. Villhiem had to nudge Conner before he caught on and lowered his ears as well. Thankfully, the mares didn’t notice. <<We were separated from the rest of our pack when the Timberwolves attacked. There are five more of us lost out in the forest.>> I’ll be damned, he even managed to get a slight warble in at the end there.
I don’t think even Conner missed the verbal cue. <<Could you help us find them?>> Neither mare could withstand the full force of four puppy-dog eyes.
Fluttershy quickly zipped forward and grabbed- Huh. I’d thought she’d’ve glomped Yomega.
She nuzzled Conner, holding him in a tight grip. “It’s okay, just come with me and I’ll get the rest of the girls, then we can try and find the rest of your friends.” She put Conner down and made her way to out of the hut, with us quickly following. As we passed Zecora, Villhiem paused to bow to her before running to catch up.
As we made our way down the path out of the Everfree, I dropped back and whispered to Conner. <<Why’d Fluttershy glomp ya?>>
<<I don’t know. I just know that I felt my eyes warm up a bit, then she made eye contact. Next thing I know, all I could see is fur…>> He shrugged.
Villhiem leaned forward. <<Must’ve been Baby-Doll Eyes.>>
I grinned. << Oh, I’ve got to tell Yomega about this! Ponies are suckers for cute things.>> I nudged Conner. <<We’re gonna weaponize ya! You’ll be our WMS!>>
<<Your what?!>>
I pranced ahead to share the news with Yomega, turning my head just enough to call back, <<Our Weapon of Mass Squee!>> I could hear Villhiem burst out laughing. I might have imagined feeling the warmth from Conner’s embarrassed blush.
Once we left the forest, we made a beeline to Fluttershy’s cottage. She had us wait outside while she fetched the first aid kit. We watched the animals around the cottage to pass the time.
Until Yomega turned to look at the bridge. His ears stiffening up was the only warning we got before he pulled us into a nearby bush.
“The fuck-” Yomega mashed Conner’s muzzle into the dirt, cutting him off.
“Quiet!” He hissed. “Twilight’s coming down the road, and she looks like shit!”
I peeked out from between the leaves. Sure enough, I could see Twilight just reaching the bridge. Her mane looked like she hadn’t brushed it that morning, strand sticking out at odd angles. She kept mumbling to herself, her eyes darting to and fro in time with her rambling. She was too far away for us to clearly hear her. “She kinda looks like she did during the Smartypants Incident.” I glanced at Yomega. “Ya think that’s where we are in the timeline?”
He nodded as Twilight approached the cottage door. She started rapping her hoof against it in a light but frantic manner. She barely stopped in time when Fluttershy cracked the door open.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy put the first aid kit down and opened the door fully. “What, um, what brings you out here?”
“I was just wondering,” Twilight began with a too-wide smile, “if there was anything that I, as a good friend, could help you with?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, actually-”
“FINALLY!” At Twilight's outburst, Fluttershy bolted behind her couch, and we cringed back and covered our ears.
“Does that answer your question?” Yomega shot at me.
I looked at him and answered with the most eloquence I could muster. “WHAT?”
It took a few minutes, but we managed to coax Fluttershy out from her hiding spot. Twilight wouldn’t stop apologizing the entire time. It took us persuading Conner to go back there and use his Baby-Doll Eyes, but we did it.
Now, we were back in the forest, Fluttershy just finishing catching Twilight up with our situation.
“So, there are more of them in the forest?” Twilight asked. We all nodded. “Okay. I think I have a spell that can help. Hold still.” She pointed her glowing horn at us. We felt fur being pulled off, and watched as they floated up in front of Twilight’s face. Soon, a lavender arrow pointed off into the trees, our fur floating within. “There! That should lead us back to where you last saw the other… whatever you little guys are!” She start to trot off with a bounce in her step, the rest of us not far behind. The path the arrow took lead us through several thorn bushes and over a small creek.
<<I don’t remember coming this way…>> Villhiem looked around in worry.
<<I think the spell is going by the most direct route,>> Yomega ducked his head under another branch, <<not the route we actually took.>>
Soon, we came upon a familiar looking rock. The clearing we had woken up in the day before now sported small gouges in the ground from where the Timberwolves’ claws had dug in. We could hear the tinkling of Twilight’s magic as we spread out into the clearing, Fluttershy staying near Twilight.
“Okay, w-we’re here. N-now what?” She stammered to her friend.
“Now, I’m going to try a...”
I tuned them out at that point. I started to sniff around the clearing. The stench of Timberwolf clung to the area, but I could smell something familiar coming from under it. I followed it around the clearing, nose to the ground and eyes closed. I could smell it getting stronger.
Then I ran head first into Villhiem. We both sat on our hunches, rubbing our now sore heads. Villhiem was the first to recover, getting a thoughtful look before sniffing the air again. I was about to move past him when he buried his nose into my fur.
<<Do you mind?!>> I backed away from him. Villhiem just waved me off, before moving over Yomega.
He then promptly buried his nose into the back of Yomega’s head and started sniffing. He then turned and marched on over to Conner, and doing the same.
<<The Hell are you doing?>> Yomega demanded while Conner hunched over wide-eyed.
Villhiem placed his nose to the ground sniffing furiously. <<I was getting your scents. Now I just gotta pick the others out from under the damned- Got’cha!>> He moved towards the clearing’s edge, keeping his nose firmly pressed to the ground. Yomega and I let out a small cheer, and started following him. Soon, I could hear the two Mares following after us.
This time, our “arrow” meandered back and forth. Villhiem even had to double back a few times to regain the scent. Finally, he stopped with a massive grin on his face. That grin fell when he looked up. At the tree he led us to. The same tree we had taken shelter in from the ‘wolves yesterday.
We sat there, staring at the tree, while Fluttershy moved to the hole in the roots, cooing and making other such noises.
<<Oh c’mon!>> I blurted out. <<We were here yesterday!>>
<<You mean, if we stayed here, we would be all together?>> Conner asked
Yomega shook his head as Villhiem rushed to the hole. <<Not likely. The Timberwolves would still be trying to get in, which would have scared the others away, and you would have likely bled out.>>
Villhiem emerged from the hole. <<Good news, bad news, everyone. They were definitely here. But they’ve moved on.>>
Fluttershy nuzzled him. “Can you find a scent? Track them that way?”
<<I don’t think so.>> He shook his head. <<Even without the stench of Timberwolves, the scents of everyone is too muddled together. The scent of blood down there is too heavy anyways.>>
I draped a foreleg over Conner’s shoulders as his ears fell. <<Hey, it’s okay. You didn’t bleed out that much.>> I blinked. <<Shit! You didn’t bleed out that much!>>
“Twilight!” Fluttershy gasped. “I need you to do that tracking spell again!”
“What? Why?” Twilight looked at us all. “I can’t understand them like you can, what’s going on?”
Fluttershy pointed at the hole in the ground. “They’re saying that there is a lot of blood down there, and that most of it’s from the other group! Oh, where would they go if they’re that badly hurt?”
Zecora finished making a mental list of the herbs she needed. As she moved towards her door, she heard an odd barking. Cautiously, she peered through a nearby window. Outside her door was a group of those odd dog-like creatures, one of which was barking at her front door.
That wasn’t what made her rush out though. It was that the other three were holding up the fifth that was missing its leg.
With the oddly distinct twinkle of her magic, Twilight pulled a clump of dirt out from under the tree. As with the fur beforehand, it was soon encased by a large lavender arrow. There was a smaller arrow that pointed towards Conner, but the larger one led off into the distance.
Without much thought, the pair of mares raced off into the undergrowth. We followed after sharing a worried look. I’m not going to lie, those mares can really run. We could only follow them by the sound of them crashing through bushes. Of course, the broken bushes were also a good indicator on where to go.
We didn’t catch up for a long while, and even then, it was only because they had stopped.
We were right back at Zecora’s. The arrow moved slightly from side to side, but never past the tree she lived in.
We didn’t stop for long. The world blurred around me as I rammed Zecora’s front door. I bounced off of it. I barely had time to clear my head when Yomega smashed into the door as well. All we had to show for our efforts was a pair of imprints on Zecora’s door of our faces, and a pair of splitting headaches.
By the time the ponies caught up, Zecora had opened the door. With nary a word, she ushered us into her hut. While she went to talk to Twilight and Fluttershy, we found and launched ourselves at the other Eevees in the room.
There was many hugs shared and tears shed. <<What happened to you guys?>> Conner asked.
<<Shit happened.>> Vince stated. <<We all ended up under a large rock. There were two of those wooden wolf things outside our bolt hole.>>
<<They just suddenly took off.>> Cy continued. <<We don’t know why, just that they were there, then they weren’t.>>
Abes continued the story. <<We managed to find our way back to the clearing we woke up in and Lulu started sniffing around. Once she got your scent, she led us to this tree with a small hollow under it. We were about to leave when we were jumped by the wolves again.>>
<<Those damn bastards got Zann.>> Cy spat.
I did a quick head count. We were one short. <<Is he, is he dead?>>
Lulu shook her head. <<W-we managed to knock th-the wolves off of him and g-get him into the hollow, but h-he l-lost his l-leg.>>
Vince pointed up to the counter Conner had lain last night. <<He’s up there. We were able to slow the bleeding down, but even then, it was difficult to move him. Lulu managed to find your guy’s trail this morning, and led us here. This zebra has been looking after him since.>>
<<What about the ‘wolves?>> Villhiem asked.
<<They didn’t stick around long last night,>> Abes replied, <<It was almost like they couldn’t stand it there.>>
Yomega looked back at the mares. With a few final instructions, Twilight and Fluttershy left the hut, and Zecora returned to caring for Zann. <<Okay,>> He motioned us into a huddle, <<this is what you need to know…>>
It was late that night. Fluttershy and Twilight had left long before sundown. Zecora had left several time during the rest of the day, gathering more herbs and roots and whatever she needed. From what we could overhear, the odds were not in Zann’s favor. She almost had to force Fluttershy out, promising her that she could look us over the next day.
Her main argument was that there wasn’t enough room for us all to stay the night, and we Eevees weren’t leaving.
After another very berry dinner, and a few necessary baths, we bunked down for the night. I think only Zann actually got to sleep, Zecora would frequently check up on him, and rest of us were kept up with worry.
When morning dawned, it was to a beautiful and heartwarming sound.
<<Da fug am I?>>
Well, it was heartwarming at least.
Zecora kept us from jumping up and crowding around Zann, but she almost intentionally kept up a running rhyming commentary for us. Long poem short, although he will never get his leg back, and he lost a lot of blood, he will recover. It was almost a complete turnaround from the day before. Fluttershy stopped by to check up on Zann near mid-morning, but Zecora rhymed her the cliff notes, and promptly asked for her to take the rest of us with her.
It took some effort on her part, but Fluttershy managed to ignore our pleading and Conner’s Baby-Doll Eyes.
She led us to her cottage like a mama duck with her ducklings. The rest of the day was passed with her doing make work around her cottage, and us sulking, then fighting the stress out of our systems.
I think it started when Vince was running around and ran Villhiem over, leading him to tackle Vince. Then Cy tackled Villhiem to help Vince, and Yomega got involved to try and break it up. I joined into the ball of violence after Lulu but before Conner.
Fluttershy had to break us up when she found us scrapping near her chicken coop. She gave us all a very stern talking to, and made us all apologize to each other. The cease fire lasted about five seconds after she left.
She did that a fair few times over the course of the day. By night fall, more than one of us was sporting band aids and bruises. Angel bunny won.
She let us stay the night in her cottage. We ended up crashing on her couch in a large pile, though she tried to give us our own beds. Our sleep wasn’t easy, but we did sleep.
When morning came, our cuts and bruises were gone. Most of us got up right away when Fluttershy brought us a large bowl of berries. I only woke up when I rolled off the couch. Needless to say, I’m lucky Villhiem left me anything to eat.
Fluttershy did her morning chores in a rush, then made us promise to stay at her cottage. She left Angel in charge of us before she left.
Fluttershy was gone for most of the day. She was briefly stunned when she came home. Her cottage and most of her animals were fine, but we were laying in a bruised heap with Angel sitting on top. She marched us all inside, scolding us the whole way. She washed our cuts out, then placed us all on her couch. Only then did she open her saddle bags, pulling a sleeping Zann out and placing him on top of the pile.
“Zecora said that he’ll be fine now, and will wake up in the morning. She had to give him a sleeping drought to keep him from running off. He must have been really worried about you. And I come home to find you all had been fighting again.” She shook her head. “I hope you’ll be a better friend to him then you have been to each other.”
<<Miss Fluttershy,>> Yomega yawned, <<we were only fighting to work off our stress and worry. It doesn’t hurt that that’s how we can get stronger, too.>>
The last thing I saw before I fell asleep was a surprised Fluttershy, gaping like a landed Magikarp.