I ran.

I didn't know where I was by now, and I wasn't sure where I was running towards, but one inviolable fact sat in the center of my mind: Wherever it was I was going held the way home. I tore past night-darkened towns, forests, and even a river leading to a waterfall, the only sounds around me my own heavy breathing and the slaps of my shoes on the ground. I was alone, completely, but that didn't bring me the comfort I would've expected; though I didn't sense any sort of threat around me, I still felt exposed, not to mention lonely.

Still, I pressed on, feeling a sense of urgency push me forward. I had to hurry for some reason; my feet practically slammed into what was now a blacktop road, coming from nowhere and going the same place in the opposite direction, with me following it to who knew where, up a steep hill, around a number of turns, and even through a short tunnel. When I came through the far end, I stopped for just a moment to take in my surroundings.

The road led through a desolate, dark plain and into a small copse of trees. Somewhere inside there was a light of some kind, flickering gently, arrythmically, beckoning to me like a lighthouse on a storm-swept shore, and I heeded its call. Legs swung and arms pumped as I ran for all I was worth, eating up the distance between me and the trees faster than I ever thought I'd be able to manage... and yet the closer I approached, the dimmer the light seemed to become, until I almost couldn't see it at all by the time I made it to the trees.

And then I saw the source of the light. A strange, roughly oval shape suspended about a foot off the ground by means I couldn't see, rising and falling a couple of inches at a slow pace. It flickered irregularly, seeming to fade a little more each time. But I only noticed this in passing, as my eyes locked on what was visible through the strange opening.

I could see a city street, windows lit in the buildings on either side, streetlights shining their bright-yellow glow on the pavement. I could hear car horns, conversations, and the wind rustling along a sidewalk. The world on the other side of that portal called out to me, begged me to come home.

Home.

I ran again, faster than ever before, faster than I thought possible. But as I closed those final few feet, as I leapt and dove for the portal, one hand outstretched, it flickered one last time and then vanished, plunging the entire area into darkness. I slammed into the ground and rolled for a few feet, eventually coming to rest curled up in a ball.

And I wept.

I was alone, utterly alone, cut off from everything I knew, and had no idea how I could ever hope to get back. Why was I still going on? What could I hope to accomplish? I was going to die in this bizarre, colorful, incomprehensible world, and none of its residents would ever understand who I was or what I was trying to do.

I was so lost in my despair that I barely registered the approach of something else, only dimly aware of the quiet thumps against dirt that stopped at my side. After a moment, I felt something soft and feathery press against me like a blanket, gently enveloping me, and then a quiet, almost ethereal voice murmured something into my ear in words I couldn't comprehend- though I could make out some sort of meter and even rhyme, making it sound like an alien lullaby.

Those words broke through my malaise, and I focused on them as well as I could, wishing I could understand them. Eager to take any comfort it could, my exhausted mind seemed to wrap itself in the lullaby just like my body was covered in feathered warmth, and after a few moments, the dream faded into darkness, leaving me with only a feeling of being protected and cared for.

(-)

“Perhaps you had best explain this to me in the simplest terms you can manage.” Luna took a sip from her coffee mug, with its whimsical “I moon ponies every night” label proudly displayed, before setting it down on the table. “There are still a good number of technological advancements I have not yet had the time to fully grasp.”

“I'll do what I can, Princess.” Twilight trotted up to the chalkboard, on which she'd written a number of equations and diagrams earlier. “Firstly, I'll discuss the creature's weapon, or more accurately what it appears to use as ammunition. Shining's expertise was useful here, so I'll let him explain the basics.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” Shining cleared his throat. “Princesses, it's kind of a misconception in most ponies' minds that the purpose of an arrow-” he levitated one he'd borrowed from the armory to serve as an example- “is to put holes in things. While that's part of the damage an arrow does, the primary purpose... is to induce blunt-force trauma to the vital systems of its target through impact.” He lowered the arrow again. “Basically, it's a really weird-shaped club that's designed to hit the inside of something instead of the outside.”

Twilight nodded. “To get really technical, an arrow is a kinetic weapon. It uses speed and weight to deliver force on impact- the faster and heavier the arrow, the greater the force.”

“We ponies tend to use either regular longbows, best fired by either unicorns with their magic or stationary earth ponies with their strength, or short bows more commonly used by pegasi in flight.” Now Shining lifted up a small, black-wooden weapon. “The griffins, who have talons that can grip things and who can all fly, prefer small crossbows, and tend to use only a single shot to incapacitate a target before closing in with melee weapons. And the minotaurs, back when they had a standing army, were known to carry huge ballistae or even lug ship cannons into battle.”

“I remember that,” Luna said quietly. “I did once see a minotaur carry two cannons, one under each of her arms. She had devised some complex mechanism to light both fuses at once. Needless to say, few enemies foolish enough to draw her attention survived.”

Celestia nodded. “And this ties in with the weapon the creature is known to use?” she asked.

“That's right. Like I said, kinetic weapons use speed and weight.” Twilight levitated the lead slug and cylinder off the table. “The various species of Equus have always had to make a tradeoff between the two when it came to non-magical ranged weapons, and the trouble was always speed. It was difficult to propel anything lightweight fast enough to do considerable damage, and added weight made ammunition unwieldy and inaccurate.” She raised the lead slug up so that everypony could have a close look at it. “It seems that the civilization this creature came from thought up a solution.”

“A simple piece of metal?” Luna asked. “It is barely the size of a crossbow bolt's head, and lacks the shaft. How could such a thing be harmful?”

“Like I said, Luna... it's all speed and weight.” Now Twilight raised the cylinder, and tucked the slug into it. “This piece of lead is barely eleven grams in weight- only slightly heavier than a common arrowhead. But... what if you could propel this little chunk of metal extremely fast?”

An uncomfortable expression crossed Celestia's face. “Exactly how fast do you mean?”

“I had to do a number of guesstimates, using the damage shown on Cobalt's skull and the naga's internal organs as baselines. But I think I've narrowed it down.” Twilight frowned slightly. “The creature's weapon seems to fire these slugs... at speeds of between three and four hundred meters per second.”

thunk

Luna's coffee mug hit the table, spilling the small amount of liquid left inside. Nopony at the table really noticed. “That... that cannot be possible,” she said. “Such a weapon... it would kill so easily, so horribly. What sort of magicks are harnessed to do such harm?”

Twilight shook her head. “No magic. Absolutely nothing we've recovered from the creature has the slightest bit of magic aside from what it might have absorbed from Equus's latent magical field.” She spun the cylinder around so that the open end faced the Princesses. “I smelled something strange when I first found these. I think now that whatever it was... was some kind of explosive substance.”

Shining levitated the booklet they'd found over to the diarchs so that they could have a good look at the cover. “Twilight believes that this weapon uses these self-contained shells by making whatever's inside them detonate, like a cannon shot. The lead slug is literally blown out through the front of the weapon, while the other part- the cylinder- is thrown out somehow, probably to get it out of the way since it wouldn't be of any use any longer.”

Celestia gave the booklet a long look. “So then we have good news and bad news,” she said quietly. “The good news is that the creature can only possibly have a limited store of ammunition for this weapon. The bad news... is that no armor we have ever devised could hope to stop those slugs at their full speed. Luna, we may need to start up an enchantment protocol again.”

“We could not, sister! We are forbidden from doing such by treaties older than any living mortal pony- treaties you yourself crafted and signed.”

“Those treaties might need to be renegotiated if we cannot secure that weapon, or if others like it exist within our borders. I will not have our Guard left defenseless.” Celestia paused for a moment. “Twilight, Captain Armor- exactly who knows of how this weapon and its ammunition function?”

“Only the four of us now, Your Highness,” Shining replied. “Twilight and I both knew that this kind of information isn't something that should be spread- especially to those who might want to initiate hostilities with Equestria.”

“Very wise, Captain Armor.” Luna lifted the booklet and leafed through a few pages. “I trust that the ponies performing translations were not given this?”

“No, Luna,” Twilight answered. “I created a copy of the text for them, but left out anything that seemed to depict how the weapon operates.”

“Good.” The lunar princess slowly lowered the booklet back onto the table. “Ensure that this secrecy holds, both of you. Equestria is not ready for weapons of such effortless power. Should anypony inquire about this weapon, simply state that we are unsure of its specifics.”

“I understand, Your Highness,” replied Shining, as Twilight nodded. She couldn't agree more- the thought of that kind of weapon becoming widespread was sure to be fodder for nightmares for a long time to come.

The rest of the meeting unfortunately wasn't quite so informative- the carriage was so complex and potentially dangerous that they still weren't sure where to start with dismantling it to see how it worked, and the strange, foul-smelling liquid they'd found in the metal tank bolted to its underside defied classification aside from “highly flammable”- but the Princesses seemed grateful for the updates. Once the meeting was done, Twilight was careful to wipe the blackboard completely clean; she'd already committed the information on it to memory, and she wouldn't chance somepony else gleaning information from it.

She'd turned to head towards the door when she saw Shining still seated alone at the table, looking thoughtful. “What's wrong, Shiny?” she asked quietly.

“I'm trying to figure this all out.” He stared down at the table. “Princess Luna says that the creature is lost and desperate. You say he saved a foal from drowning. The ponies from the sideshow say he only acted in self-defense. I'm okay with believing all this- hay, I want to- but then explain to me why he even has a weapon like this?” He pointed to the booklet on the table.

“I don't know, Shiny.” She shook her head slowly. “Maybe things are different where he's from. There's still so much of Equus we've never really explored, only heard snippets about from the Griffin Empire or Zebrica, or what few ponies sail or fly far from the western coasts.” She shrugged. “Maybe where he's from, taking a weapon like that along on a trip is common.”

“Well then I sure hope I never visit where he's from. It doesn't seem like a nice neighborhood.” With a soft sigh, he stood and gathered all the materials into a small pile, locking them in a briefcase. “Back to work, I guess- gotta earn those bits.”

She managed a chuckle. “I'm going to head back to Ponyville for a couple of days. I just... well, I need to stop thinking about this creature and everything that's happened with it. I just want to go hang out with my friends and have fun and be Twilight Sparkle again, you know?”

Her brother smiled. “I wish I could go with you!” he told her. “Between dealing with everything here and trying to square things away with the new parliament in the Crystal Empire, Cadance and I have just been swamped.”

“Aww. Well, once all this is over, I'm sure Celestia would approve some time off for you! I'll set up appointments for you and Cadie at the Ponyville spa- the twins could turn a stone into pudding with their massage and relaxation techniques.”

“Now that's something I can look forward to.” He leaned forward and gave her a quick hug, which she returned eagerly. “Hey, are you sure I can't get you to accept a guard retinue? Every time you go back to Ponyville, my lieutenants have fits about protecting you.”

“Shiny, I understand that, but I just... I don't know how Celestia puts up with it! I'm perfectly capable of defending myself or escaping if, against all odds, I was attacked by something. Nopony guards Cadance!”

“Well, that's because I'm usually with her.” He winked, and she let out a snorting giggle. “Okay, Twily, I'll smooth things over with my officers. Just don't forget that we have patrols if anything goes wrong, alright?”

“I won't. I always appreciate the work the Guard does, even if sometimes they feel a little overbearing.”

He smiled, levitating the briefcase out with him as Twilight concentrated, formed her teleport sphere and vanished from the castle.

(-)

One of the downsides of living within the Everfree Forest was being at the mercy of its unpredictable and sometimes violent weather. While Zecora was hardly a stranger to storms- Zebrica had no pegasus teams to regulate its weather, after all- she had to admit that there were times she rather liked the calmer, organized weather that Equestria had... times like this, for example. She instinctively winced as a particularly loud crash of thunder echoed through the forest, rattling the thick wooden walls of her tree-hut and setting the multitudes of bottles clanking on their shelves. Well, I certainly won't be out today finding flowers, she thought, peering out through a window to watch the rain pour down. But I did promise MacIntosh Apple a salve to relieve those wounds he got from that bramble patch. You would think such a sensible stallion would know better than to go to Raspy Hill in search of a rare flower in bloom... I suppose love makes foals of us all from time to time. She reared up on her hind legs to retrieve a bottle, peering through the dusky green glass. Ah, good, I still have some of this tincture. The salve should be ready within the hour-

CRASH

The bottle dropped to the dirt floor. That was no thunder, Zecora realized, leaping back towards the window to look out of it. Her nose pressed against the glass as she tried to peer past the rain pattering down on it, searching through the trunks of the trees around her home for any sign of what might have made that racket.

Then a flash of lightning caught a shape lurking between two of the trees in the distance- but not so far that the zebra couldn't identify it and determine where it was headed.

Chimera.

As quickly as she could, Zecora pulled on her cloak and slung her best staff over her shoulder, then bolted out the door and into the downpour. She had to get to Ponyville as quickly as possible.

(-)

Applejack watched the rain patter against the living-room window. The Everfree's sure making a mess of things today, she thought, looking up into the skies to see winged shapes soaring amongst the clouds; the weather team had declared this a “storm emergency” and had asked the population of Ponyville to stay inside until they could dissipate the storm's energy into less harmful rainshowers. Them pegasi are earning their pay today, she thought, watching them wrangle the clouds as they left the border of the “Everfree Zone”, as she'd heard Dash refer to it. Much as I like to tease Dashie about being lazy, it's times like this she shows why she got that Element of Loyalty.

Her idle musings were interrupted by a flash of black-and-white in the corner of her eye. She angled her neck to look out to the east and saw something that made her breath catch in her throat- it was Zecora, running at full-tilt out from the edge of the Everfree, her distinctive stripes and dark cloak both splattered with mud and her eyes wide in fear. Anything that's got Zecora spooked is bad news, she thought, immediately jumping off the couch and galloping for the back door. “Big Mac!” she hollered. “Meet me out back!”

She met up with the zebra at the edge of the orchard near the house. “Zecora!” she called out. “What's wrong?!”

Zecora staggered to a stop- and almost collapsed on the spot; Applejack rushed to give her a shoulder to lean on. “A chimera from the Everfree heads this way,” the other mare panted. “The ponies of Ponyville must-” The rest of her words were lost in a bout of harsh coughing.

“A chimera?! Oh ponyfeathers.” Applejack had never seen one, thank Celestia, but she'd heard of them- they were trouble with a capital T, and only the fact that they preferred to lurk deep in the Everfree had kept them from being a serious danger to the various cities that lined the forest. She looked up to see her brother cantering towards them with a concerned look on his face. “Mac, get Zecora inside and get her warmed up,” she told him. “And get th' doors and windows locked up. We got a chimera headin' towards town- I'll tell Twilight an' th' mayor.”

Big Mac nodded, then knelt down to allow an exhausted Zecora to climb onto his back. As soon as he'd started making his way to the house, Applejack turned and galloped towards town as fast as her legs could carry her. Thank goodness Twi's back in town, she thought, lowering her head so that her hat could block the rain from her face. She'll be able to handle a chimera, no sweat.

Pity this has gotta ruin her little vacation, though.

(-)

So I was getting rained on. No big deal; I could take it, and my lean-to was blocking the majority of it anyway. At least it was a damn sight better than what was going on in that forest off to the east- an absolute squall, torrential rain with frequent lightning and heavy winds. It certainly looked like the ponies were taking it seriously... the roads were empty, everyone having apparently gone indoors, while there were enough pegasi in the skies to resemble a re-enactment of a World War II aerial engagement.

It wasn't each other that they were dogfighting, though- it was the clouds. Clouds that poured in from the storm in the forest, and that the pegasi were frantically shoving in different directions, apparently literally beating the rain out of them along the way. Yet even from my vantage point it seemed there was a line they weren't crossing to attack the clouds, a line that seemed to hug the edge of the forest itself. Could they not affect the clouds when they were still over the forest? I had absolutely no idea.

Then a flash of color caught my eye. One of the normal ponies- orange, with a cowboy hat- was galloping pell-mell for the town hall, looking like she was being chased by a ghost; she barged into the building, the door shutting behind her. I was too far away to hear if anything was being said, but a few moments later that same pony came barging out, followed by several others who immediately spread out to start knocking on doors. Something's got them spooked, I realized, leaning forward as much as I dared to better see what was going on.

The orange pony was back a few minutes later, with the purple pegacorn hot on her hooves. Okay, if they're bringing her out, this has got to be something serious, I thought, reflexively putting a hand on my weapon to reassure myself that it was still there. A short while later, they were joined by a number of ponies in golden or dark-grey armor, the latter having darker coats and the bat-like wings I'd seen on that one who'd flown over me not long after I'd escaped. I wasn't sure whether to consider them a subspecies of pegasus, or if I should call them bat-ponies, or-

roaaaarrrrrr

My blood turned to ice, and in the space of two seconds my weapon was in my hand, round chambered and safety off. Nothing that made a noise like that was likely to be friendly in any way, shape or form. I saw the ponies react as well, the armored ones with wings taking to the air while the rest formed up in front of the pegacorn, facing towards the forest.

And then I saw what had roared earlier, and I froze in place from pure fear.

It looked like some distant, even larger cousin of the creature that had inadvertently given me my opportunity for escape from the sideshow. But while that beast had simply looked feral, this one looked downright wicked; its form was some bizarre combination of lion, goat and snake, the goat-head's neck jutting out from the lion-head's shoulders, and the snake making up the entirety of it's “tail”. It loped along the plains towards town, all three of its heads glancing around as if searching for its first unlucky victim.

And I realized that I was standing essentially in the open, my only defense a structure made of grass and twigs that wouldn't stand against a playful foal, let alone a monster twice my size.

My knees ached as I charged towards town, doing my best to stay out of sight of the contingent of guards, and as soon as I reached the closest building I plastered myself against its wall, panting heavily for breath. I spent a moment wondering why I was so tired already; I'd pretty much lost all the body fat I'd had when I first appeared here, and my body had never been so toned. No time to think about that now, I scolded myself, peering around the edge of the small cottage home. Just keep an eye on where the beastie is... and pray the ponies can handle it.

What followed was probably the closest approximation I would ever see to Military Operations on Urban Terrain training carried out by ponies who were trying their damnedest to not actually hurt the enemy. The beast was swift and determined, and I lost count of how many times I thought one of the ponies was going to end up a nasty splotch on the ground, but somehow- with the help of a spectacular show of magic by the pegacorn, using forcefields, non-lethal blasts and what seemed to be the magical version of flashbangs- they drove the beast through and then out of the town, wearing it down, until finally it collapsed not very far away from my shelter. The pegacorn cautiously approached the downed monster; her horn flared with magic, and some sort of pink-purple bubble surrounded the creature-

-and then it vanished.

I almost dropped my gun in shock. Had she just vaporized the thing?!

Then a moment later, a similar bubble surrounded her- and she was gone. I heard a soft pop near the center of town, and risked a look- and there the pegacorn was, whole and safe, surrounded by cheering ponies. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. Teleportation, I realized. She must have sent it somewhere where it wasn't a threat. She didn't just kill it when it was vulnerable.

I felt like the world had been lifted off my shoulders. Faced with an obvious, legitimate deadly threat, the ponies had not reacted with lethal force, but instead used an almost ridiculous amount of tricks and techniques to be rid of it without actually causing it lasting physical harm. Turning myself in to them suddenly didn't seem quite like the enormous risk it had been- in fact, if there were more creatures like that one out in the world, trying to survive on my own suddenly seemed like a sure route towards getting myself killed. I guess Tent was an anomaly, I thought. If somebody as powerful as her acts like that, then I have to believe that's the norm.

I had almost stepped out from my hiding place before I realized that I was still holding my gun. Yeah, let's not fuck this up by looking like I mean to murder them, I scolded myself, raising a thumb to engage the safety so that I could unload the weapon safely.

(-)

Swift Wind blinked rain from his eyes as he soared over the southern edge of the town. The weather had been bad enough; the only reason he, the other pegasi and the batponies of Luna's guard hadn't been out helping to deal with it was because of standing order to remain at post unless a serious threat to life and limb was present. And then he'd gotten word that the town's resident shaman- a zebra, if he remembered right, though he couldn't recall her name- had brought warning of a chimera emerging from the Everfree, apparently driven out of its lair by the storm that still pounded the forest.

And then things had gone absolutely crazy. The beast was indeed headed for Ponyville, and the Guard stationed there had just barely been able to get into formation before it struck. And then there had been ploys and half-thought plans and desperate gambits to keep the beast off-balance and lead it out of town. If Princess Twilight hadn't been here, he thought, I... I don't even want to think of what might've happened. But it wouldn't have been anywhere near a happy ending as what we got, that much I know for sure.

He was just finishing his patrol to ensure no other threats were present, and was just beginning to angle himself back into the town proper to report to the Princess, when a strange shape caught his eye. He came to a halt in midair as he took a moment to rub at his eyes with his fetlocks, wanting to make absolutely sure he was actually seeing what he thought was below him. The Everfree Yeti! he realized with a jolt; the creature was hiding against the side of a building, looking out past the edge of its wall- towards where Princess Twilight stood.

Then Swift spotted that weapon he'd been told about, the one that had caused the carnage he'd seen in that sideshow.

In an instant, he dove, aiming himself square at the creature's chest. He had no time to call out for backup or to give warning- any sort of alert could drive the creature to act, and that might mean dead ponies... and Wind was not going to let that happen.

Then, at the last second, the creature shifted his stance, raising his weapon- and unable to maneuver in time, Wind slammed directly into his chest, driving the creature into the ground.

And then something exploded, and Swift Wind's world turned into agony.

(-)

Twilight was still panting for breath as she gathered the Guard around her, checking for any injuries- and thankfully finding none. “Excellent work, everypony,” she exclaimed, giving them all a grateful smile. “Do we have any casualties in the town?”

“No, Princess, none that have been found,” came a reply. “We still have a few pegasi and bat-ponies scouting to make sure, and to see if there's any other threats.”

“Excellent. If we do find any injured, normal triage rules apply. But if nothing else crops up, stand down and return to station. And know that the Crown thanks you all for-”

BANG

Twilight's eyes went wide at the all-too-familiar sound. “...no....”

(-)

I'd never seen him coming, had no warning that he was about to hit me. All I knew was the impact as the armored pegasus slammed into me head-on, practically skimming along the wall of the building and lifting me off of my feet for a moment; I hit the dirt with him on top of me, my gun trapped between the two of us, and my elbow hit a small rock, causing my fingers- including the one that had slipped into the trigger well- to twitch.

BANG

I knew instantly what had happened, even as the pegasus on top of me gave a stifled grunt and then went limp. “Shit....” I murmured as I struggled to get out from under him. “No, no, please no....” As carefully as I could, I moved the guard to have a look at his chest.

Blood slowly dripped out of the blackened hole in the front of his golden armor.

Fuck, fuck, FUCK. This can't be happening. It can't. Not now. Mindlessly I put one hand to the bullet hole as if I could somehow stop the bleeding that way, only to have my fingertips come away bright red. Then I heard a sharp gasp behind me- and turned to see another guard standing there, his gaze shifting between me and his fallen colleague.

I should've stayed. I should've dropped my weapon that moment and surrendered, and hoped that I could explain what happened in some way. It was the only way I could possibly salvage the situation. But the thud of my terrified pulse in my ears seemed to drive away rational thought, filling my brain with white noise, and instinct told me that there was only one thing to do: Run.

So I ran.

(-)

“MEDIC!”

Twilight didn't waste time galloping; she teleported to where she'd heard the shout from. And what she found there made her heart leap into her throat- one of the Guard was down, bleeding through a hole in the chestplate of his armor, while another was trying to remove the plate. “Private, no!” she half-shouted. “Not until we know the extent of the wound. Give me room.” When the Guard backed away, she immediately performed a second-level medical scan on the wounded pony, thankful that she'd spent so much time practicing spells in the diagnosis and healing disciplines, just in case.

“Three shattered ribs, broken sternum, punctured lung, copious internal bleeding... oh, thank Celestia it missed the heart....” As quickly as she could, she healed the worst of it to try to stabilize the poor stallion- there was only so much she could do; her talent may have been magic, but that didn't make her a natural healer- then looked up. “This pony needs medical attention now. I'm not certain he'd survive the rigors of teleportation... we need to fly him to Ponyville Hospital.”

She watched impatiently as a makeshift litter was put together and the injured Guard carefully levitated onto it; two pegasi Guards took hold of it and lifted off in tandem. As soon as they were airborne and on their way to the hospital, Twilight turned. “The creature known as the Everfree Yeti is in the area,” she said in a loud and clear voice, before looking to the pony who'd found the injured Guard. “Private, which way did he run?”

The stallion pointed towards the west. “That way, Your Highness. Likely towards Whitetail Woods.”

“Alright, ponies. Form up into standard search parties and do a full search of the area in that direction. Should you find the target, you are not to approach or apprehend- signal me, and I'll handle things from there.”

She watched as the winged Guards took to the air and the others galloped away, then shook some water out of her mane and took flight herself. So many questions tumbled around in her mind, but she held them at bay, focusing herself on the task at hoof: To find the creature, secure him, and then find answers.

(-)

The situation was insane, and I was starting to wonder if I was as well. I knew in the back of my mind that running was only going to make things worse on me, that pretty much the only chance I had at getting out of the situation hale and whole was to just stop and surrender myself to the ponies. But for some reason I had a great deal of trouble convincing the rest of my mind of that fact, and I could only be thankful that my fight-or-flight response had tilted towards the latter.

However, it seemed like my body was reaching its limit. My chest was heaving as I gulped down air, and my limbs burned with exertion; my sprint had turned into an irregular run, and the rainwater on my skin was quickly being turned to steam by the heat I was giving off. I had to stop for a moment to catch my breath and recover, leaning against a tall spruce tree as ragged gasps tore through my throat.

I was getting a very discomforting feeling that something was wrong with me, but I couldn't stop to worry about it, let alone do something- I could see pegasi in the cloudy skies, sweeping back and forth in a definite search pattern, and I just knew that there'd be unicorns and regular ponies not far behind them. And if that pegacorn was taking part in the search... well, I was proper fucked if that was the case.

I'd already stayed still longer than I wanted, and although the pause gave me little respite, I forced myself to move again. But I'd only gotten a couple hundred feet when I heard the distinctive sound of wind moving across feathers- and before I could react, a pair of pony forelegs slid under my arms, and I found myself being lifted off the ground... about two feet, before the pegasus behind me let out a strange, panicked-sounding shout and let go, sending me tumbling to the ground and crashing behind me.

I spared the pony a glance as I got to my feet. He looked confused and frightened, glancing with wide eyes between me and his own wings; whatever his problem was, I chose to use it as an opportunity, and started putting distance between him and myself as he recovered. A surge of energy flowed through my body- apparently the close encounter had given me an adrenaline rush of some sort, and I was going to take full advantage of it.

I was approaching a large, heavily-wooded forest, though it didn't seem nearly as foreboding as the last one I'd been in, and I made a beeline for it- concealment meant becoming a more difficult target, which meant time to rest and think. But I hadn't gotten a third of the way there before I heard another pair of wings above and behind, and when I looked up, I saw the absolute last thing I wanted to see... the pegacorn, swooping towards me from a fairly high altitude. A fleeting thought of drawing my weapon crossed my mind before I discarded it; killing her- if it was even possible- wasn't going to win me any friends, and if I forced her to react in kind, she could probably turn me into a greasy smudge on the landscape in very short order.

I heard her shout something as I put on as much speed as possible. There was a strange tinkling sound behind me, then a soft pop as if a half-inflated balloon had burst- and then a wall of bright pink light formed in front of me, far too close to avoid, and I instinctively put my arms out to stop myself from crashing into it-

-and it shattered the moment my hands hit it, breaking into shards that quickly dissipated in showers of sparks.

I paused for just a moment to stare at my hands, then look up at the pegacorn, who was hovering in midair a few dozen feet up with a look of utter shock. Comprehension eluded me, but I decided at that moment that I didn't care or need to understand- I just had to get away. Another adrenaline surge shot through my body, but it seemed to fade faster, and my body was feeling as though it was ready to collapse... but I pushed myself as hard as I could.

Another wall formed in front of me, met by my shoulder and suffering the same fate as the first; a third came up to be broken through by my fist. Each time I felt the same strange burst of energy shoot through me, but by the third one it barely lasted an instant before being subsumed by my bone-deep fatigue- but now I was only a hundred feet from the woods, and I knew that if I could just make it inside and find a place to hide, I'd be okay.

Twenty feet from the treeline, a bright purple sphere zoomed just past my head, stopped in the center of my field of vision, and before I could even think to look away, it detonated in a blinding flash of light.

The world turned white, and I staggered, unable to keep myself oriented; before I could manage to come to a stop, I felt myself slam face-first into a tree, practically bouncing off of it, and hit the ground only to fall into a gully of some kind. Down and down I rolled, completely out of control.

I didn't know which rock it was that my head hit that sent me into unconsciousness, but I was certain it wasn't any of the first three.

(-)

“He's down! Everypony, converge on my position!”

Twilight landed near where she'd last seen the creature. She'd lost sight of him when he'd fallen, and figured that he'd still be in the general area, but to be on the safe side- and to save the Guards some stress- she waited until at least a few of the armored guardsponies had reached her, which only took about a minute. One in particular she laid a critical eye on. “I gave specific instructions not to approach the creature!” she told the young pegasus who'd attempted to seize the creature; his attempt at stoicism cracked after about three seconds under Twilight's glare.

“I- I'm sorry, Princess,” he said quietly, bowing his head. “I just- I didn't want him to get away. Not after he hurt Wind.”

“You could've gotten yourself hurt as well, Private.” She maintained her glare for another moment, then let her expression soften. “But I'll leave the upbraiding for another time, to the extent it proves necessary. Right now I want to know why you crashed after you tried to pick him up.”

“I... I don't know.” He shook his head. “He wasn't heavy, but... the moment I grabbed him, it felt like I just couldn't get any lift at all, no matter how hard I flapped my wings.”

Twilight frowned for a moment, but let the questions that welled up in her mind drop. “We'll have to worry about that later. The creature went down somewhere around here; he may be injured. We need to find him.”

The guardsponies spread out to search. Twilight was about to join in when she heard a familiar voice call out; she turned to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy heading towards her. “Girls!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“We heard tell of what happened in town an' came to help,” Applejack replied.

“Oh, and to let you know that the guard is in the hospital and they're working on him now,” added Fluttershy.

Twilight managed a brief smile. “Well, I'm glad to hear that... but how'd you even know where we were?”

“Well, you were up in the air doing all sorts of crazy magic!” Pinkie said. “Like, 'kapow' and 'fzzt' and 'woosh'! It was easy to find you.”

“...my magic goes 'woosh'? Wait, never mind that! Girls, the creature is around here somewhere and we're trying to find him. He might be injured.”

“Ooh ooh ooh! Hide and seek! I'm the best at hide and seek. I'll find him!”

“Pinkie, wait-” But it was too late; the pink pony was gone in a flash, to wherever she went when she did things like this. “...oh, I hope she doesn't get herself hurt,” Twilight murmured.

“She'll be awright.” Applejack took a look around. “So what exactly happened? Last I saw, we'd just chased that chimera outta town, then there was a bang an' ponies yellin' 'bout that Everfree Yeti, or whatever we're s'posed t' call it. Some ponies are sayin' he tried to kill that guard, Twi.”

“I... I don't know what happened yet, Applejack. My number-one priority is finding the creature.” She started forward towards a nearby gully, with her friends close behind. “Where are Rarity and Rainbow Dash?” she asked.

“Dashie's still helpin' with th' storm. Rarity's sittin' this whole thing out until everythin' gets settled; she says she don't wanna get underhoof. I know she ain't no coward, so that's prolly her aim.” A particularly large raindrop hit AJ's Stetson, and she glanced upwards. “...or at least most of her aim,” she amended.

The group went silent for a moment as they advanced down along the gully, careful not to slip on the mud and wet rocks. It was when they reached the bottom that Fluttershy let out a gasp and pointed. “Twilight, look at that!” she exclaimed.

There was a wide splotch of crimson on a rock at the bottom of the gully.

“Oh, golly,” Applejack breathed. “Twi, that's a lotta blood. This critter a' yers has gotta be hurt pretty bad.”

“I know, but... where is he?!” Twilight glanced upwards to see if any of the pegasi had had any luck, but she saw no break in their pattern. They would've called out anyway, she thought. You're getting irrational, Twilight. Think. Focus. Don't-

“Twiliiiiight!” Pinkie's cry blasted her train of thought to pieces. “I can't find him!” the party pony wailed, galloping up to the others with tears in her eyes.

Applejack gave her fellow earth pony a peculiar look. “Uh... Pinkie? Y' mighta noticed we ain't found 'im either....”

“But I'm the bestest finder in all of Equestria! I can find just about anypony who's hiding, anywhere, anytime! But I can't find him!” Pinkie immediately broke down into hysterical sobbing, leaving Fluttershy to try to comfort her while Twilight and Applejack carried on.

“Y'know, come t' think of it, that is kinda weird,” AJ commented. “I dunno about 'best in Equestria', but Pinkie's got that weird way of sneakin' up on ya when y' don't expect it. If'n she can't find our critter....”

“Yeah... I think I'm starting to form a theory here.” She opened her wings, ready to take flight once more to scout around- when a brief glimpse of color caught her eye, “Wait, what is that?” she wondered, folding her wings once more and cantering forward.

She and Applejack came upon what she'd spotted at the same time, and what they found brought a startled “Whoa, nelly” from the cowpony. What Twilight had spotted was the blood-splattered hand of the creature stretched out on the ground from where he had apparently collapsed; much of its bare skin and strange clothing was covered in mud, and streaks of blood- whether his own or the Guardspony's, Twilight couldn't tell- stained a lot of what had escaped being muddied. His only movements were the slow rise and fall of his chest. “Twi, now I dunno much about strange two-legged monsters that ride around in weird wagons what pull themselves,” Applejack commented, “but I do know that bein' unconscious and bleedin' in the mud an' rain ain't healthy for nopony!”

“I'm not sure about teleporting him, either, but it'd take forever to get him airlifted... I'll have to try to risk it.” Gingerly, Twilight stepped next to the prone creature, focused her mind despite the still-present rain driving down on her, and drew upon the magic within herself, constructing the arcane sphere that would translocate herself and the creature back to Ponyville-

-only to have the spell collapse almost instantaneously, the magic being drawn away from her like water in a punctured bucket.

Nearby, Applejack was watching with a confused expression. “Twi... what jus' happened?”

“More evidence for my theory.” She sighed. “We'll have to move him the old-fashioned way.” She raised her head and attempted to fire a magical flare; the spell went off without a problem, and within moments a number of pegasi and a few unicorns and earth ponies were surrounding them. “Everypony,” she announced, “this creature is injured and needs attention. I can't teleport with him-” The looks of shock on the guards' faces didn't escape her notice- “so we'll need air transport to Canterlot as soon as possible; I don't think the Ponyville hospital will be able to treat him. And in the meantime we need blankets, towels, anything that can be used to clean and dry him off.”

By the time blankets and towels were brought in from the town, a small crowd had gathered nearby; Rainbow Dash and Rarity numbered amongst them. “Darlings, I came as soon as I heard there was another injured party and that fabrics were needed,” the fashionista said, unloading some small towels and a rug from her saddlebags even as she kept a wide, frilly umbrella emblazoned with her cutie mark floating over her head. “So what has... oh my.”

"We finally got the storm under control, so I came over to see what- whoa, is that the Everfree Yeti?” Dash landed next to the unconscious biped. “Thought it'd be bigger... what the hay happened to it?”

“It's a long story. All I care about right now is getting him to Canterlot and having him treated.”

Rarity laid out the rug- long enough for the creature to be laid out on, but just barely, and her horn lit up as she apparently tried to lift him up to slide it under him- only for her spell to almost immediately fizzle out. “My goodness!” she exclaimed. “Twilight, what is this?!”

“It's... a complication. I'll explain in Canterlot.”

The Bearers watched as a pallet was eventually brought in, and yet another surprise made itself known- the earth ponies found themselves losing their strength as soon as they tried to lift the creature. They recovered almost instantly once they let him go, and simply touching him didn't seem to have nearly the same effect. The pegasi had to use ropes to lift him up onto the pallet, then secure him with the very same ropes since none of the unicorns could get a spell to maintain cohesion when it touched him, and one earth pony mare who was particularly dexterous with her teeth managed to relieve him of the weapon that had still been secured in its holder on his leg; Twilight was quick to take it and teleport it off to her secure laboratory in Canterlot ahead of them.

Fortunately, the pegasi could pick up the litter without much loss of their flight ability, and once they'd gotten the well-secured and covered creature airborne and above the clouds, Twilight gathered her friends around her. “Everypony ready for a trip to Canterlot?” she asked; when the others agreed, she nodded. “Good. Hopefully we can finally get some answers.”

With that, her horn flared, her teleport sphere formed around them, and in a burst of colorful light they were gone.