It had been a week already since the human had left Ponyville. It had been mostly uneventful, just a birthday party for one of the town's folk thrown by Pinkie Pie, and a quick thundershower organized by Rainbow Dash and her team to get caught up on the rain schedule. The mayor had requested they hold off on any showers for a few days in the summer for the oncoming festivals, and they needed to correct the dry conditions.

The two of them, along with Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, were now sitting around a table in the main room of Twilight's library, each drinking a tall bottle of apple juice from Sweet Apple Acres. They had just finished reorganizing the books after another three day study session by Twilight. The normally neat and organized pony had dug into her reading with reckless abandon, doing her best to figure out just what had shown up in the village last week.

"So you're not still mad with us then Pinkie?" Twilight said, and scrunched up her nose at the thought. Who in the world would WANT to meet a predator? Then again this WAS Pinkie Pie- she worked and thought on a different level then any of her friends.

"Nopers! I was disappointed at first, 'cause I really wanted to throw a party, but then I realized you guys were probably right. So we had that birthday party anyways and I was all okie-dokie!" As she said this she physically bounced around the room, rolling into a cartwheel on the word "probably" bringing her right up into Twilight's face. As much as she was a good friend, Twilight had never gotten fully accustomed to Pinkie's "antics".

Rarity wore a look of mild confusion on her face. After that episode last week with the human, she was still a bit shaky. Her dress orders had started to slow down however, due to it being early fall, and colder weather was on its way, so she had been able to take it easy, get her work done early, and come out to help.

"Sweetie, you mean to tell me that you only really cared because you wanted a party? You didn't actually care about HIM?" she asked incredulously.

"Well of course I wanted a party silly! I'm sure he would have enjoyed it as well, but you girls said he was probably dangerous, so I understand why I couldn’t throw one for him. Well back to Sugar Cube Corner for me! I have a large order of cupcakes to decorate!" She squealed the last few words.

"Don't you mean you have a large order of cupcakes to bake?" Rarity inquired with an arched eyebrow.

"No silly! Baking them would take sooo long! They're going to be picked up in a couple of hours!" She gave a huge smile and bounced out the door in the direction of the bakery.

"Ok how..." Rainbow Dash started to ask, when Twilight shot a hoof in the air in front of her face and interrupted.

"It's better not to ask. I don't think the answer would be any less confusing, do you?"

"Darn, probably not." Dash sighed. After the impromptu thundershower, her work days had been mostly free to go out and work on her flying or help her friends. She still didn't like the idea of something they knew nothing about wandering the forest, and had offered to go out and find this Nathan. She wanted to follow him and make sure he wasn't going to cause them anymore trouble. The others had quickly shot that down. As if suddenly remembering this (she had really been dwelling on it all morning) she launched in again.

"I still don't understand why I couldn't go out and find Nathan. He could come back, or he could be just inside the tree-line, watching and waiting for someone like Scootaloo walk by! Then he could jump out and grab her and eat her!”

"We've already talked about this Dash," Twilight replied, "with him being in the Everfree forest the only way you were going is if AJ came along too. The canopy is thick enough for anything to hide in easily; you wouldn’t be able to react fast enough if something tried to grab you. As it is, she's working on the last applebuck season and doesn't have time to chase down a monster that most likely won't come back." Dash looked begrudging, but accepted the answer. Turning to Rarity, Twilight inquired about their other friend, who was absent at today's little get together.

"I haven't seen Fluttershy in almost a week Rarity, I'm a little concerned for her. The two of you talk regularly enough; do you know what’s going on?" Twilight asked, concern plain on her face and in her voice.

"I'm confounded by it, really." Rarity replied, shaking her head. "She's been so happy lately, and then that human came to town, and she's been upset ever since. You don't think she could possibly be upset with US do you? We were just doing what was best for Ponyville. She must see that right?"

"I'm not sure Rarity. She was awfully upset with the way we handled the situation. I know animals are her thing but... this one was different. It was better that we dealt with him, rather than let her possibly be hurt in her misguided attempt to care for him. He's dangerous. I don't know why, or how, but I just know he is." The three of them shuffled uncomfortably at the thought. Rainbow Dash was the first to break the awkward prolonged silence.

"Well, I'm going to go see her. See what I can do to get her back in the mood. I mean it's been a week. She needs to stop moping. See you later girls!" With that she shot out the door and headed for Fluttershy's cottage.

Rarity took this as a cue the get-together was over. "I must also be getting back to work Twilight. I have one more order to finish tonight." She raised up on her legs and elegantly started to trot away.

"Thanks again for the help Rarity. I appreciate it." Twilight's words tweaked something in Rarity's head and she turned back.

"I almost forgot- your research! What did you discover?"

"Not much I'm afraid. There are a few references to bipedal sentients in my books, but nothing that indicates what they did or where they came from."

"Centipede basements who now?" Rarity asked, clearly confused. Twilight chuckled at the thought of centipedes living in houses and having basements, but shook the idea out of her head and explained to her friend.

"'Bipedal sentient'. A couple fancy words that mean they walk on two legs, and have enough intelligence for true self-determination." She could see though that even this was too complicated for the dress designer. She sighed. "Ok, look, we walk on four legs. That makes us quadrupeds. Also, we can decide things like ‘this dress look better than that one.’ The animals here have a bit of sentience, they can make some ‘decisions’, but mostly because of how close they live to us and the magic that binds us. A non-magical animal goes only off instinct. It’s hungry, so it eats what it can find. It’s cold , so it finds whatever shelter it can. That’s the way things are in the Everfree forest. This is what’s concerning me the most about this human though.” Rarity was starting to grasp what her friend was telling her.

“Ok, I understand roughly what you’re saying- he walks on two legs instead of four, and can make educated decisions like we can, but what’s concerning you so much?”

“Well, he’s not magical. At all. Not only does he not have the ability to use it, he’s also not passively tuned in to magical currents. He’s a very dark spot in a bright sea of light. Despite this however, he has shown self-determination- “sentience”. He can think and act at our level without the magic that permeates us. I shudder to think what would happen if he suddenly became in tuned to our magic. He’s already probably as smart as any of us….” she trailed off letting the thought linger. With a light shudder, having grasped the gravity of Twilight’s words, Rarity turned back to the door.

“Well he’s deep in the forest by now dear, so there’s nothing to worry about I’m sure. Now, if you’ll excuse m-” her last word cut off by Rainbow Dash crashing through the door into her. “Rainbow Dash!! Just what do you think you’re doing!” Rarity cried, nursing a bruised forelimb. Out of breath, Rainbow dash spit out a torrent of exasperated words.

“Not… at cottage… orchard… bakery… sh… wha…. why…. How…”

“Slow down Dash, what’s going on? Who‘s not there? What are you talking about?” Twilight placed her front hooves on Dash’s back, helping her to calm her breathing. Taking a deep breath Dash started over.

“I searched the whole town. Everywhere I could think. The fields, the lake, anywhere our friends were. She’s just not there. By the looks of things at her place she hasn’t been there in a few days… “ Twilight feared where this was going but she had to ask

“Who Rainbow Dash? WHO is not there?”

Finally, the frustration pouring out of her mouth, Dash spit it out. “Who else would it be?! Fluttershy! She’s gone!”

It had been another beautiful morning. After the rainfall the night before, the plants and flowers had perked up, and as all of her animal friends slowly came awake she could see that they were all chipper and ready to start the day. Fluttershy thought to herself it would have been the perfect morning except for what had happened a few days ago. She couldn't shake off her feeling that they had committed a wrong. Being the custodian of the element of kindness, she sought to be kind to anypony she could. Nopony had been very kind to Nathan at all. Yes Applejack had given him an apple, and Pinkie had had a conversation with him, but that was it. Worst of all she couldn't even manage to say anything to him. Another perfect day...

Fluttershy went about her morning chores, cleaning up debris from the storm the night before, feeding and tending to all of the animals in her care, and started to clean her house. She had been a little lax on the cleaning lately; spending too much time dwelling on the encounter a couple days back. She couldn't help it though. If only she could have said something. He didn't seem so bad. Weird maybe... and yes possibly even a predator, but it's not like he had attacked. She had a bear for a friend, and he was a predator. Nathan had barely said anything. And his coat- clothing she corrected herself mentally- was in tatters. She was lost in thought and barely heard Angel come up behind her.

The small white rabbit impatiently tapped his foot waiting for Fluttershy to notice him, she continued her work. Finally, he leaped up, grabbing her pink mane in both paws and hanging right in front of her face. She startled, letting out a little shriek.

"Angel! What are you doing? You st-st-startled me. What is it?" she asked, confused and not just a little nervous. Dropping to the ground he started making little noises, and pantomimed a scene. She repeated back what she was seeing so he knew she was understanding him.

"Walking... talking... looking... Oh you were walking around and talking to other animals and you were looking for something?" Angel nodded. "Ok where did you go? What were you looking for?" Angel continued to play out the scene. “Ok looking… tall… dark… scary. Oh Angel! You didn’t go into the Everfree forest last night during the storm did you? You know you shouldn’t do that. Who knows what could be lurking just inside the tree-line?” Or who… she mentally thought to herself. Angel gave a mocked look of fear, and shook his head and finished up his little act.

“Ok… talking some more… manticore… wait manticores?!” Angel nodded and indicated that he hadn’t actually seen one; he just needed to get a point across. He re-mimed manticore, and gave a nod and thumbs up. “manticores good… no, manticores proper? No that’s not it… wait, manticores belong? Is that it, you’re trying to tell me that manticores belong in the Everfree forest?” Angel nodded. “Well we all knew that silly, of course they do. I hardly see what you’re trying to…” Angel tapped his foot impatiently again, obviously irritated at his pegasus caretaker. “Ok, sorry Angel, finish your story.”

He continued to act out several different creatures that lived in the forest, each time giving the thumbs up. Zecora, a cockatrice and a few others cropped up. “Ok I get it Angel, those are mostly monsters, except for Zecora, and belong in the Everfree forest. What’s your point?” At this, Angel got up on two hind legs, and started miming somepony walking around on them. “Two legs… like… like a human? Like Nathan? Is it Nathan?!” Angel nodded, then his expression turned serious and gave a big thumbs down shaking his head. “So you asked all the animals in the forest about the human and they said he didn’t belong there and should have never been there in the first place?! Angel tell me that’s not what you’re saying!”

The little rabbit looked up at Fluttershy sheepishly and gave a half shrug. That’s exactly what he was saying, and she knew it. Oh stars had they made a mistake! A huge mistake. Who knows what could happened to him. Was he ok in there? Did he know how to survive, did he have any food, or protection? Last she saw him he had tattered clothes and an apple. Not much else. Could he have even survived in there? She had to know.

“Angel, I need to go in there and find him!” Angel tried to act out the other ponies but Fluttershy shook her head. “No Angel, nopony else is going to come. They would just try to talk me out of it, or worse, stop me. This is something I need to do. I need to be brave.” Hearing the word brave come out of Fluttershy’s mouth made Angel break into hysterics. He started rolling around on the floor, fists pounding on the floor, and tears leaking out of his eyes. “I am too going to be brave!” she said interpreting what he was laughing about accurately. “Angel, I’m gathering up some supplies. I need you to be in charge of feeding the other animals for a bit, in case this takes me longer than I expect it to. You are not to mention a WORD of this to the others. Promise me! Or I‘ll give you ‘the stare‘!” Angel looked distressed, but ultimately nodded his head. She would be back before long, too scared to go further than a few steps into the forest anyways. Nothing to be concerned about. Fluttershy finished packing supplies, slipped on her saddlebags, and flew out over the forest looking for… looking for anything.

“She’s totally gone guys! I just went there to find her and she wasn’t at her place! It looks like Angel was in charge of feeding the animals and tending to the cleanliness. ANGEL of all creatures. She’s gone!” Rainbow Dash was still heaving for breath and the drool of her panting and her sweat was starting to pool on the floor of the library. She could barely look up as Spike wandered down the stairs. The baby dragon looked down at the scene of Rarity and Rainbow Dash piled up in the corner, and Twilight with her hooves on Dash’s back, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“What’s going on down here guys? I could sleep through all the organizing and cleaning earlier, but I heard a crash and woke up. What’s the problem with you Dash?”

“Fluttershy is gone! She’s been gone for days by the looks of things. No notes, no sign of where she went, just gone!” Dash sputtered. Spike’s eyes went wide at the revelation, quickly jumping down to the pile of ponies.

“What? Really?! We should tell somepony, we need to get help! We need to find her!” He ran over to where Rarity was lying “Can I help you up Rarity? Do you need a claw?” Spike was obviously still head over heels for the majestic unicorn, and sprung to her side.

“I’m fine, thank-you Spike. I can handle myself.” Rarity said, rising up again. “But yes, we should get to the bottom of this post-haste, I am concerned for Fluttershy. Where could she have gone? Why…” and then as if a light bulb had gone off, she let out a gasp. “You don’t think she could have gone to the forest? To look for that human do you? Oh no! We need to find Angel right away and get to the bottom of this.” With that, three ponies and a dragon all barreled out the door, running as fast as their legs could carry them, Spike leaping on to Twilight’s back.

Nathan had been walking for a couple days now. After the rude reception in Ponyville he wasn’t about to head back there any time soon. He understood their trepidation of course. It’s not like he was from there, or anywhere else around here it seemed, and they did seem legitimately scared of him. It hurt him to see that, being the object of terror for such small creatures, but he couldn’t help who he was, and to them he posed a very plausible threat. He had taken a tumble down a long hill, his jacket taking most of the abuse on the way down. What was left of it was torn apart by the rocks and branches as he tumbled past. Without it he just has a ripped t-shirt to cover his upper body. At the end of the fall, he had knocked his head on a stump, passing out for a bit. Not long, he estimated based on what little of the sun he could see through the tree-tops. When he awoke, he didn’t see any talking ponies, or any other animals for that matter. He hoped to himself that it had just been a dream, and this time waking up he was back where ponies didn’t talk, or fly, or have glowing horns. However, he still couldn’t remember many details of how he got there. He from his surroundings, there was little ascertaining where he might be, so he kept walking. Now, two days later, nightfall was setting in.

He had found an uprooted tree that made a decent tent the first night, its long full branches drooping down at angles to simulate the sides of said tent, and when a storm set in on the second night, he had the good luck to find a cave to hole up in. There was a family of raccoons in there too, but their fear subsided after a bit and they didn’t seem to mind him being there sleeping in the entrance for them. When he had awoken that morning he notices a couple had even curled up next to him. That is… bizarre he thought to himself. While he did enjoy the company of animals, wild animals shouldn’t want to be anywhere near a person. Especially one they had never seen before. What is up with this forest, and why are the animals here so weird?

That was hours ago though. His stiff boots had finally given out after two days of hiking and he had stopped to scavenge what he could from them. He walked a bit in only his socks, but within another hour they also had worn away to a point they weren’t doing anything for him. Now walking barefoot, his progress was significantly slowed. He had been lucky enough to find some wild raspberries growing near the cave, and had greedily stuffed his mouth to fullness. The sugar and fiber gave him a much needed energy boost, and the storm had given him the opportunity to stand out with his mouth open and drink up. Normally he would have built a fire, but so far he couldn’t find any flint.

With twilight hours approaching he started in earnest to find a new shelter. He had done well in using the position of the sun to track the direction of his movement, trying to keep his heading to the east. The thick canopy made it difficult to always follow the sun though, so the true direction of his progress wasn’t clear. He saw a clearing ahead, and hoped that another cave or knocked over tree was nearby. Just as he turned towards the patch of open forest, he heard a growl and a shriek.

Setting off from her cottage, Fluttershy had flown low over the forest for the better part of the day. She wasn’t nearly as fast or agile as Rainbow Dash, but her little wings could carry her for long distances as long as she didn’t push herself too hard. As it was she was getting worried she wasn’t going fast enough. There was a lot of forest to cover, and could only roughly estimate how fast a human would walk through it based on what she saw when Nathan left. She didn’t have any major fears flying over the forest, but actually going down into it would be another matter. This was already the furthest from her cottage she had been without the others. That alone was putting the edge of fear into her. Looking down through the canopy she saw some animals gathered around a small pond. Gulping hard, she consciously reminded herself she was doing the right thing, that she was brave, and had to face her fears. Slowly descending through the canopy, she lightly set herself down a few paces from the gathered animals. Clearing her throat, she pitched her inquiry at a volume just above a whisper.

“Excuse m-me. S-sorry to interrupt. I was w-wondering if one of you might be able to help me. You see…” As she spoke, the assembled creatures instantly darted for the woods. These animals didn’t live amongst ponies, and thus were shocked when somepony started to speak to them. “No wait! I need your help! Please.” Defeated, she padded over to the pond for a drink and started to cry a bit, a long slow tear rolling down her cheek. Seeing the distraught pony, a few of the less timid animals came back out. One of them, a squirrel, looked up into her eyes.

“Oh… hi.” She sniffed. “I’m sorry I’m crying. I was looking for somepony and I have no idea where they could be. Have you seen anypony strange today?” The squirrel sadly shook its head. “It’s ok, I’ll just keep looking. Thank you for coming back to talk to me.” She managed a weak smile. However, just as she was about to give up and take off again, a raccoon wandered up, it’s fat rump swaying back and forth with its waddle. He tapped her shin and looked at her. He looked very thoughtful for a moment, and then started miming a two-legged animal not unlike Angel did.

“Yes! Yes that’s exactly who I was looking for! Have you seen him?” Excitement had taken over her complexion now, the last tear wiped away. The raccoon motioned towards the direction of the cave he had shared with the strange creature the night before, then pointed in a direction roughly indicating the direction Nathan had walked. Fluttershy lifted the raccoon up and gave him a hug. “Oh, thank you so much Mr. Raccoon! You’ve been the best of help.” With that she took off again. She was getting somewhere!

Nathan came closer to the edge of the clearing. Carefully treading closer he could hear the growling and the shrieking getting louder. Stooping low, using the foliage to cover his movement as best he could, he took size of what he was seeing. “Dammit, and here I thought everything was going back to normal.” he muttered to himself under his breath. “If I don’t do anything and this isn’t just a bad dream… dammit dammit dammit.” He contemplated his options for a moment, then made his decision, and kept talking to himself to reinforce it.

“Well, I need to get my good deed badge for the day right?” He pulled something out of his belt. “What the hell am I doing?! FUUUUUUU-----”

Fluttershy had continued flying in the direction the raccoon had offered her. Even if he was lying, but she was sure he wasn’t! It was as good a direction as any, but so far she hadn’t had any additional luck. The light’s rays were starting to disappear over the mountains to the west. Luna had begun to bring out the night, and it was going to be dark soon. Too far in to fly back now, Fluttershy made the decision to set down and camp the night. She had brought a modest little tent and enough supplies to make a fire and eat, but she had honestly not expected to need to spend the night out here. More so, she was surprised at herself for not just turning back as soon as Ponyville was out of sight. Even the parapets of Canterlot were obscured by the mountain mists at this point. Seeing a clearing a little ways ahead, she came down and surveyed her surroundings. It wasn’t a large clearing, some fifty feet across, with a babbling brook running along one side. Enough moonlight was scattered across the grounds that she could easily make the dimensions and features. Besides the brook, there was a large log having begun to decay into the ground already, and a couple small hills. The ground was covered in grass, foliage and a few wildflowers. They weren’t of the kinds she kept in her garden, but they were still very pretty.

She had just started to set up her tent when she heard a low growl nearby. With a small scream she dropped the poles she had been holding in her mouth and leapt into the rotting log. The feel of desiccated wood mush on her hooves and coat was almost unbearable, but the low growl began getting louder. Shrinking into a ball as small as she could she waited to see what would happen. Outside the log she could hear the growling growing in intensity, followed by something sniffing the air. As the sniffing continued she slowly crept backwards through the log. Whatever it was, it could have her tent and supplies, she just wanted it to leave. The sounds all stopped, and she relaxed a bit. Whatever it was it had probably left. She slowly made her way down to the opposite end of the log, watching the end she had come it for any sign. Seeing none, she carefully turned herself around, and prepared to fly out the end.

Not seeing anything, she took a couple timid steps out the end of the log, spread her wings and...

“AHHHHHHH!!!!” She shrieked. A hot pain surged through her back. She leapt to the side, still flittering in pain. The growls had returned, and not just growls but roars. She turned to face the most aggressive bear she’d ever seen. Its mouth frothed, blood dripped from it claws, muscles and sinews rippled with raw strength, teeth glistened in the freshly growing moonlight. Sparing a glance at her back she looked with horror as one of her wings lay limp at a wrong angle, broken and unusable. She was grounded. She backed up slowly away from the bear.

“N-n-n-nice b-b-bear. G-g-g-good b-bear. You don’t w-w-want to e-e-eat me. I know you don’t. I have a friend who’s a bear. You guys aren’t so b-b-bad.” She squeaked out, barely audible over the growling. The pain in her wing was excruciating. The bear glanced at her for a moment, slight confusion in his eyes, and then the look of malice returned. He was hungry, and he had found his next meal. The enormous bear reared back on its hind paws, standing fully over five times the height of the terrified pegasus. With a terrible roar he came back down, causing the ground around him to shake. Fluttershy fell over, caught by surprise at the sheer ferocity of the beast. She did her best to scramble to her hooves, and to start running. Her broken wing bobbing at her side slowed her considerably, every stride sending waves of pain shooting through her. She ran towards the edge of the clearing, but the bear and his powerful legs were just too fast for her. He closed the distance between them quickly, and with a growl swiped at her rear leg. Hearing the satisfying sound of the pony squealing in pain and the snap of another broken bone the bear stood back to admire his work.

Fluttershy was lying in a heap, crying. Her broken wing splaying out uselessly across the clearing’s floor, while her left rear leg was jarred out at an angle that suggested a complete break. She screamed in terror. This is how she was going to die. Maimed and eaten by one of the animals that she cared for. She laid her head down, sobbing. As terrified as she was, there was nopony coming for her. This was it. The Elements of Harmony would be reduced to five, and none of them would know where she ever went, or what became of her. The bear closed in. She weakly looked up at the bear and a whisper escaped her mouth.

“… P-please just make it fast.” The bear reared up again, its paw raised to make the final killing blow. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the last moment of life. Before the bear could come back down though, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, something bit into his shoulder. Hard.

“------ck me!!” Nathan leapt from the bushes, brandishing a knife. It sunk deep into the flesh of the bear. It roared in protest, feeling the blade cut through muscle and fat. Spinning around, the bear threw his assailant away, causing him to tumble over a few feet away. Falling down into a roll, Nathan came to his feet and pulled out a second crude knife. Though he was larger than the ponies, he noted the bears here still looked about the same size as those he had seen before. For a moment he deeply regretted his decision to jump in, but it was too late to change his mind. He noted with satisfaction his first knife blow had put a solid gash in the bear’s shoulder, and it was having issues keeping it operating. Probably severed a few tendons or nerves. Seeing the bear preparing to go on the offensive, he steeled himself.

“Now, listen here, bear,” he said as loudly and bravely as he could, “I’m giving you a choice. You can walk away and leave us both alone and I won’t attack you again. However, if you try to kill that pony again I will have to intervene.” Twirling one of the knives in his hand for emphasis, he rebalanced himself. The bear was confused. This creature was not only harming him, but threatening to do it again? It couldn’t comprehend what it was seeing. However, it wasn’t going to let this animal get the best of him. Gripping all four claws into the soft earth it charged. “Well, so much for intimidation.” Nathan said and braced himself for the attack. A wall of teeth and claws bore down on him, foam and froth flying to the sides. At the last moment Nathan stepped to the side, holding out both knives, cutting lines down the left side of the bear. The shock of the sudden pain caused the bear to crash out of control into one of the loamy hills. It was back on its feet before long though.

Taking a moment to plan its next action, the bear hunched down. Suddenly, using the extra momentum of its bent legs, it sprung forward into a dead rush. Nathan tried to sidestep again, but the bear was ready. He came to an unnaturally abrupt stop and brought down a heavy paw. The stunned human had little time to duck to the side, and paid for it with a gash on his arm. It was a light wound, but enough that he dropped one of his knives. The bear was learning too fast. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up. He could hear the light sobbing of the yellow pony though, and he couldn’t let the bear kill her. Not if he was still alive.

“Alright you damn brute, I’ll give you one last warning. Get out of here. If you don’t leave I will be forced to end you.” The bear just plodded forward. “Fine. You want me? Come and get me.”

The bear stalked forward, malice and hate in its eyes. It didn’t even want the meal anymore. It just wanted whatever this… this THING was to die. It was going to die by its paws. Nathan just stood there, hunched over, grasping the ground looking for his other knife when he found what he was looking for. The bear closed in, slowly at first, but finally started running again. It was so focused on its prey that it failed to notice the rock spiral out of the human’s hand and right into its eye. It roared in pain as it brought up claws to protect its face from further assault, but its momentum was already carrying it towards Nathan, who was waiting for an opening just like this. Raising his remaining knife in both hands, he held it firm as the bear slid into it. The hot pain of the blade ended as soon as it started though, as it sunk into its heart. It crashed forward on top of the human. It gave a couple more heaves and then laid still. Nathan couldn’t have been sure, but he swore the last thing he saw on the bear’s mouth was… a smile?

Shaking the thought out of his head he used what strength he had left to push the carcass of the bear off his body. He got up and surveyed what he saw. He had three evenly spaced cuts running the length of his forearm, and various cuts and bruises, but overall he was ok. The claw marks would likely scar though. He was broken out of his concentration when he heard sobbing coming from the yellow body at the side of the clearing. Running over he checked Fluttershy over. She had a couple vicious fractures that needed to be cared for, especially the angle of that leg, but he felt that she would likely live with the attendance of a doctor. However, he had no idea where the closest one was. As he bent down to try and help her she did her best to shrink away.

“Y-y-y-y-y-you killed it, didn’t you?” she whispered at first.

“I’m sorry what…”

“YOU KILLED IT!! DIDN’T YOU?!” She shrieked. “They were right you ARE A MONSTER. YOU KILLED IT. YOU KILLED IT.” she shrieked over and over. Finally the stress and pain got the better of you and with a final “.. YOU Killed… it” she passed out.

“I thought for sure that that bear would handle it!” a frightened voice echoed in the dimly lit chamber. The castle they were in was many centuries old, forgotten by almost everybody, and time itself. Its foundations were laid long before Canterlot was a twinkle in the eye of an architect. Many years of disuse had led to many parts of it crumbling and decaying. Two bodies stood near a cauldron full of potions and magical reagents too numerous to count. Many more ingredients lined the shelves, a fraction of the resources that they had available to them. Damp ooze lined the cracks where the mortar had long ago crumbled away in the cracks. A few torches marked the few usable rooms left in the castle. The other being in the room sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Trixie, you promised me that you could kill one of the Elements! It was the perfect opportunity. Her friends were nowhere to be seen. What went wrong? I think I’m starting to get angry with you.” The blue mare shuddered in the corner. She had been wandering around trying to figure out what had gone wrong after the magic show in Ponyville when she was confronted by a powerful being. He never revealed who he was to her, always staying in the shadows… no, not just staying in the shadows, the shadows actually followed him, and conformed to his body. She had never seen more than a single clawed hand, only knowing the voice well. Now this voice was angry, and she balked at what he could do to her. “You had better give me something good, or…” he paused for emphasis and pointed one sickly claw towards the cauldron. “… or I’m going to be having unicorn soup for dinner. I’ve had it before and I will again. It’s delicious with a side of spider legs.” She suddenly shrieked.

“I-I-I didn’t say I COULD kill her, I said I might be able to. The great and po…. I mean, I, have been doing my best to assist you. I don’t have much of a choice do I? You’ve been keeping me here for two months.”

“Trixie, Trixie, Trixie, I am losing my patience here. I showed you the spells; I even made sure there would be a bear there at the right time. What went wrong? What could have possibly come between you and ending that miserable pony’s life?” His claw grasped around her throat lifting her as high as his face. She struggled to breathe.

“Hnnkkk… there was… another there. I’ve never seen something like them before. Hnnnk…”

“Oh, and WHAT was it pray tell?” he replied in a mocking voice. “A squirrel, a giraffe? Maybe her pet rabbit?!!!!” He shrieked the last part.

“No, I’ve never seen it before. It walked on two legs and no fur…” life was beginning to slip out of her, and her eyeballs rolled back in her head. His eyes shot wide at the mention of this. Dropping the pony to the ground, he began musing in his head. Trixie began to greedily suck up the air, feeling the colour return to her cheeks.

“Two legs you said? It had two legs? Tell me again that’s what you saw in the cauldron!”

“Yes master, that’s what I saw. Two legs, no fur, about two of me tall.” She looked up at into the shadows, confused at this turn of events. “Why, what does it mean?” Her confusion only grew when a chuckle escaped from the concealed figure. The chuckle grew into giggle and a full on belly laugh.

“Oh Trixie! This is perfect! Even better than the bear! I’ll be able to deal with all of them! All six! Them and that pair of princesses they hold so dear. Absolutely perfect!” Regaining her composure, Trixie let a small smile return to her face.

“So you’re not angry with me anymore? Everything’s ok? You‘re not going to eat me?”

“Oh Trixie! Everything is better than okay! This is fantastic news!” he then let the serious tone to his voice return “But I’m afraid your employment is at its end. I no longer am in need of your services. Oh don’t worry though, I’m not going to eat you.” He finally let the shadows fall away from his face. “But I’m afraid you won’t be leaving here. Ever.” The grotesque visage of his face fully revealed, Trixie shrank back in horror. The last thing she could say, before becoming fully encased in stone came out as a horrified whisper.

“No… Not you… It couldn’t be…” The figure returned to his shroud, a grin playing across his face.

“Yes Trixie. It could be, and it is.” He picked up his new pony statue and put it down in the main hall with the others he had collected so far. For once, things were going to start going his way, and he liked it.

The campfire crackled under the night sky. Nathan had since done what he could to conceal the body of the bear. It was still visible under the blanket of branches he had put over it, but it was better than nothing he reasoned. Fluttershy started to stir. She kept her eyes closed and pretended to still be asleep while she formulated a plan. Her wing and leg were still broken. What was she supposed to do just lay th....

"I know you're awake. You can cut the act." the human's voice startled her. She slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light of the campfire. She finally looked over at Nathan.

"H-how did you know?"

"You whimpered in your sleep. When you woke up, you shifted a bit, kept completely still and stopped making noise entirely."

She took in the clearing now, transformed from a couple hours ago. It was obvious that the human had gone through her saddlebags. The tent was fully set up around her, and her food and water supplies were lined up just outside of it, save for one half drunken bottle of water sitting next to Nathan. She glanced over towards the half-buried carcass of the bear and shuddered, remembering the violence. Her wing and leg had been snapped back into their correct alignments while she was sleeping and she could feel the poultice she brought to help injured animals working in the wounds. The pain threatened to make her faint again but she gritted her teeth and focused on staying conscious. They had been splinted and bandaged with some cloth she didn't recognize. That was most of her supplies consumed, she thought to herself. Nathan was eating something. Based on the faces that the human was making she reasoned that whatever it was wasn't very tasty, but he forced himself to keep eating it anyways. After a long silence she asked the question she was dreading.

"Why?"

"The bear?" he asked, to which she nodded. He sat in contemplation for a bit, then twisted his face and launched into a practiced defense he had been considering for the last hour. "I gave it the chance to walk away. I really did. It didn't listen. I didn't want to kill it, but it gave me no choice. It was him or you. I chose you. If that makes me a monster..." he dropped the defensive attitude and let his eyes fall to the ground. "... Then I'm sorry. I just couldn't let it kill you." She hadn't considered the fact yet that he had saved her life, and here she was calling him a monster. Quietly she replied

"I'm sorry. I was in shock and I've seen anypony kill something before. I do appreciate what you did for me. I don't really think you're a monster. Just give me time to think." Nathan nodded and resumed gnawing on whatever he was eating. Fluttershy finally gave herself some to look over her protector. He had lost much of his belongings since she had last seen him. He was now bare from the waist up, and bare-foot, the last vestige of clothing was some pants, and a pair of gloves lain by his side. The pants didn't have much life left in them by the look of things. His body was covered in cuts and bruises, her eyes widened and she gasped at the three streaks down his arm. Seeing her concern he spoke up.

"I had to use the entire poultice on your wounds, and you had in much more need of it than me. I set your limbs as best I could while you were asleep. Sorry for touching you without asking, but it would have been painful if I had waited until you were awake. The bandages are whats left if my shirt and my knives both broke trying to get everything set up." She blushed a little at the thought of somepony handling her in her sleep.

"But your arms- they could get infected!"

"And you might never be able to fly or walk properly again if I didn't treat those breaks! I assume you fly?" he yelled back. She nodded, cursing herself for again questioning someone who just wanted to help her. Motioning over to the small pile of broken metal she asked.

"Where did you get those knives though? Did you have them the whole time?"

"No, steel shanks out of my boots. That's why they wore down so fast- just roughly sharpened strips of metal. Garbage now. My arm will be fine. I just need to get some food in me and some rest and we'll head out tomorrow morning. I made a carrier of sorts to drag you back, but it's probably going to be slow going. Three days based on how long it took me to get here. I'll get you back though. I’m sorry again for what you saw."

“Just what are you eating anyways?" she inquired. "It doesn't seem like you enjoy it very much."

"No, it's very strong and gamey. Nothing to season or break it down with. I need the proteins though."

"I'm sorry, what is it?"

Nathan contemplated how to answer the question. If he was going to earn her trust he was going to have to be honest.

"I uh... cut a strip off the bear and cooked it." Fluttershy went white as a ghost, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out again.

"Is this going to be a habit?" Nathan asked to nobody in particular. He looked over the pegasus sleeping away. She was being a little ridiculous he reasoned, but then she was just holding to what she knew. She was quite graceful though, and had seemed grateful. With a sigh he took one last unsatisfied bite and threw the rest of it in the fire. "Bah... stupid bear meat tastes like ass anyways."