Sam and Twilight were rapidly making headway into the center of the forest. Using her magic, Twilight did her best to push branches and vines out of their way. They followed a set of tracks, running as fast as they could. They must have covered at least a mile, coming up on the top of an incline, when, suddenly, the ground fell out from under them, hooves and feet flailing in air as Twilight and Sam tumbled over the edge. They screamed in terror, before crashing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the ravine.

When Sam finally regained consciousness, it was nearly sundown. He laid in the dirt for what seemed like ages before he could manage to sit upright. He dragged himself over to Twilight's sprawled form, and was relieved to see she was still breathing. How they managed to survive the fall, he estimated at least 4 stories, was beyond his understanding. He gently tried nudging her, trying to wake her up. After a few moments, his efforts were rewarded as she tried to lift her head. "...Sam? What happened?"

"Don't move! Not yet anyway. We fell; I'm going to touch each of your legs, tell me if you feel it." He touched each hoof, in turn, Twilight answering him affirmatively for each, until he got to her left foreleg; as soon as he touched it she winced in pain. Sam's expression was a mixture of relief and concern, "Well, you haven't had a spine injury as far as I can tell. I'm worried about that leg though. It's gonna hurt but can you try to put some weight on it?" She nodded.

Twilight slowly struggled to stand up. Sam placed his arms underneath her, and she gingerly placed her hoof down. As soon as it touched the earh, the injured unicorn collapsed into her friend's arms. A few tears streaking her face, she looked up at Sam, forcing a laugh, "Good thinking..."

"You're welcome. I'm willing to bet bits that leg is broken. Looks like we'll need a little shelter for the night, there's no way we're getting out of here on our own. I'm sure Fluttershy will get help to find us, we've been gone at least a few hours by now. So much for finding her rabbits now..." Sam sat down to look at Twilight's leg more closely. "Can you walk on three legs? I can carry you if you need that."

She stood up again, holding up her injured leg. "I'll try on three for now." She took two steps and fell straight over, yelling out. Sam shook his head, walked over and scooped her up in his arms. "Hook your rear legs over my right arm and lay back against my left." He grimaced a bit as he lifted her up; between the stiffness in his limbs remaining from Applejack's chores the day before and the brutal fall he just took, every muscle in his body groaned as he took on her weight.

"Dear sweet Celestia this is embarrassing..." Twilight muttered under her breath, but not quietly enough, apparently, as Sam responded with a quiet laugh, "Don't worry, I see a shallow cave in the ravine wall ahead that we can stop in for the night, I won't be hurting your pride for too much longer." Looking down at his patient, their eyes met briefly before they both averted their gazes. The pair stayed quiet for several more minutes, Twilight being the first to break the silence, a nervous smile on her face, "Thank you, Sam. I know none of this has been easy for you, but the way you've taken it all in stride... You're a pretty amazing pon-I mean person."

Sam looked back down, his face scuffed and scratched, but obviously beaming after his friend's speech. "Well, I had some help from one great unicorn, didn't I? You didn't have to take me in, you know."

"I'm sure you've picked up on the fact that I'm an incorrigible egghead, as Rainbow Dash would call me. And the opportunity to study someone from before my kind even existed... How could I resist? And boy, did you turn out to be interesting," She was relieved that her face was coated in dust, he couldn't see her blushing. "In fact, Sam, I'm not sure if I should say this, but... Sam, I think I lo-"

They were just a few yards from the cave when something crashed through the woods, nearly knocking Sam over. He quickly set Twilight down on the ground, when whatever rushed at them came through again, this time stopping halfway between them and the cave entrance. Twilight lit up the area with her horn, gasping as the light revealed what appeared to be a winged lion. "Manticore!" She yelled, instinctively levitating any large objects nearby to hit it with. Sam followed suit, grabbing a large branch. Twilight's first boulder volley connected with the monster's head, knocking it back a bit but mostly enraging the beast. It jumped forward, dodging Sam's swings, and swiped directly at Twilight's head, crumpling her, unconscious, to the ground instantly. The impact interrupted Twilight's spells, causing a few sparks of energy to set fire to the sparse plants on the ground.

Sam quickly threw his improvised club into the flame, turning it into a torch. He swung it in the beast's face, making contact a few times. The manticore jumped into the air, and landed directly on Sam's chest, knocking him down and hitting the back of his head into a rock. He felt a slight wetness on the back of his neck, and narrowly rolled out of the way as the monster's jaws snapped on the air previously occupied by Sam's skull. The monster swiped again, making a direct hit on Sam's head. The world spinning, Sam continued swinging his flaming club, finally hitting the soft flesh of the manticore's eye. It stumbled back, receiving another blow to its underbelly as Sam frantically swung back and forth. Realizing this meal wasn't worth the damage it was taking, the beast flew off. Sam tossed the torch towards the cave.

His vision fading in and out, he ambled over to where Twilight still lay, and hauled her up over his shoulder. Stumbling into the cave, now dimly lit by the torch, and slumped against the cave wall, gently sliding the unconscious pony down beside him. As he approached unconsciousness himself, he put his arms around Twilight. As his eyes slammed shut, he murmured, "I think I love you too, Twilight."