Traveling with Scratch and Octavia was a decidedly different affair than anything Twilight was used to. Scratch danced almost constantly when they were traveling, keeping a steady beat with her hooves that was rather infectious. She darted around Twilight and Octavia like an erratic comet, always looking back down the path, up the path and around the sides, checking for all kinds of things. She also chattered constantly, to Twilight's interest, “So yeah, the things that live in the Hedge are hobgoblins, well, or changelings like us. Tavi and I escaped together, y'see, otherwise we'd have never met up or anything, and we wandered through here on the run from the Beast and his pack for ages, learning everything we could about the Hedge. Found a few other changelings when we hit Manehattan, but none of them really wanted anything to do with us, they were scared, see?”

“Scared?” Twilight asked, frowning, “Of what?”

“Of us.” Octavia said simply. The grey marble mare didn't say much, just kept walking with a serene sort of smile. Whenever she did say something though, her voice was like crystal being struck, with soft resonances that captured the attention.

“Why?”

“Because, Miss Sparkle, we look like the things that took them!” Scratch shivered a little, her hooves tapping out a staccato rhythm of nervousness, “Kind of anyway, I mean, nopony could look like THEM really.” She gave Twilight a look and added softly, “Except you, maybe.” Before Twilight could respond the white unicorn continued, “But yeah, think of it: If you had just escaped, and you saw something that looked like we do, what would you think?”

Twilight thought about it and nodded. She was about to respond when the group came out into a wide open space. A vast field of grass stretched out before the pony changelings, ominous and mysterious in the pre-dawn darkness with a tall mountain reaching ominously towards the star-studded sky in the distance. The quality of the darkness reminded Twilight that she had only a few hours left to find Applebloom, but something about the size and quality of the field gave her pause. Scratch and Octavia seemed similarly affected, unwilling to pass into the dark field and unable to retreat. Twilight shook her head and conjured light, a globe of pure radiance that hovered above her and illuminated the field around the changeling trio with a brilliant luminescence. Twilight leapt into the field, unable to delay any longer, and started trotting towards the mountain, with Scratch and Octavia quickly catching up.

The field was made of tall black grass that came up to Twilight's neck, which meant it was up to Scratch and Octavia's chins. They slowed somewhat when Octavia tripped and fell on a hidden obstruction, but were making good time for a while until Scratch stopped and tugged lightly on Octavia and Twilight's tails with her magic. “Shh! I hear something... I don't think we're alone out here... There! Did you hear that?!”

“Hear what?” Twilight hadn't heard anything, but she listened nonetheless. Minutes passed, and the only sound was the three ponies breathing. Not even insects broke the silence, and that alone convinced Twilight that Scratch was right. “We have to keep moving,” Twilight whispered softly to Scratch, making the white unicorn look up, “I have to get to the Beast before dawn, otherwise... They'll take Applebloom.” Scratch looked to Octavia, who nodded quietly, then both sets of glowing eyes turned to Twilight and the lovers nodded for her to continue.

Twilight swallowed, turning to the mountain ahead and walked on determinedly. The grass seemed to part as her resolve solidified, inviting her forward toward the monolithic bulk of the distant mountain. As the group crossed the grassland, the sense of being watched intensified, and they found themselves crowding together. Their progress was slow, but steady, and the group soon found themselves stepping in front of a vast cave, so deep that not even Twilight's magical light could penetrate and so wide that ten ponies could walk in abreast comfortably. Twilight stepped up to the threshold and called out, with only a little bit of tremor to her voice, “Hello?”

The echoes faded into silence, then a surprisingly refined voice returned, “Come in, come in my little ponies, let us finish this business.” Twilight looked to the others, who shrugged, then the three walked in, Twilight's iron horseshoes clacking on the stone floor of the cavern as they walked into the darkness. Deeper in, the cave opened even further into a vast, hulking cavern, in the middle of which lay a gigantic furred shape, easily as large as a full-grown dragon. Beside it, curled up in a silver cage, lay a familiar red and yellow filly, whose breathing was very slow.

Twilight all but ran over to the cage and found, to her horror, that the silver plate that made up the floor of Applebloom's prison was slick with blood. “Applebloom!” Twilight called, trying to get some response out of the filly, already starting to levitate out one of the golden apples from her baskets. Applebloom stirred slowly, looking around with pain-clouded eyes until she spotted Twilight, when she screamed, trying to stand up, revealing a sucking wound in her side that wept scarlet tears.

“No! Yer not takin' me! Ah'm gonna... Gonna tell... Mah sis-...” The filly passed out, and Twilight was about to crush the apple and force feed the filly when she noticed the bulk of fur next to her stirring. In her haste to check on Applebloom, Twilight had almost forgotten the presence of the Beast, but backed up now, gathering her magic around her, her mane starting to burn brighter while the shadows around her deepened and whispered more loudly, echoing her.

The monstrous master of this realm sat up slowly, revealing his form in the spell-light of Twilight's magic. His body was like a cross between a wolf and a bear, with powerful wolfish legs, a body built like a furry barrel and massive, powerful arms that ended in clawed hands, complete with opposable thumbs. His head was like a wolf's, but the eyes glittered with a cruel intelligence and cunning. Currently, the Beast's face was set in an amiable grin, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, like a shark's, and his voice was like a honeyed growl: sweet and terrifying all at once. “Twilight Sparkle, I am very much impressed.” The Beast chuckled, the sound halfway between a bark and a growl, “You've managed to kill one of my customers, destroy my defenses and fight your way here through my area of the Hedge, leaving a swath of books and blood behind you, all for the sake of this little filly. You even got here before dawn, preventing me from selling her off in the process, brava.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the Beast, slowly levitating the cage holding Applebloom behind her, “Yes, I did,” she said warily, then, remembering Scratch and Octavia, amended, “We did. And we're not about to give up now, give us Applebloom!”

The Beast waved a clawed hand idly, then started rummaging around the darkness above him, “Alright, take her.”

Twilight stared, “What?”

“Take her, I said. You win. I shan't stop you from taking her if you're so determined, besides, someone has to be the gatekeeper to this realm. I've no wish to be on the wrong end of your hooves, Miss Sparkle. So take her. Incidentally, would you like some tea?”

"Um... No, thank you." The Beast shrugged and pulled down a massive mug, from which dangled a proportionately huge tag from a teabag. Twilight found herself staring at the mug: it was jolly, with a picture of a bear eating a donut on it. Whatever the Beast's idea of tea was stank like a septic wound.

"Suit yourself, but honestly Miss Sparkle, I couldn't have fought you in any case. You're technically the property of the Librarian, a customer of mine, and it would be terribly bad form to damage you." After a few minutes he took out the foul teabag which was, to Twilight's disgust, full of wriggling worms. He took a sip and smiled, "Chamoworm tea, beautiful for falling asleep. But in all seriousness, go ahead and take the filly, I hereby sell her to you for the service of providing such a wonderful bit of entertainment, she is in your care." Before Twilight could ask, the Beast drained his mug, yawned, flopped over sideways with a tremendous crash and was dozing again. Incredulous, Twilight looked back at her companions, who shrugged, looking equally confused. Twilight very carefully broke the top off the cage with her magic, scooped Applebloom out gently and carried her back to the others, never taking her eyes off the Beast, who was snoring softly now. Carefully, the whole group walked over to the entrance of the cave, through which the soft light of morning was beginning to penetrate, the morning breeze making the black grass in the field wave strangely.

The group stopped at the threshold of the cave, and Twilight emptied one of the apple baskets to put the unconscious Applebloom in. Scratch was muttering nonstop while she and Octavia looked Applebloom over, “I don't get it, why would he let her go? They never let anypony go, this can't end well, but then it was never going to end well. Oh Celestia, look at that wound, it's a miracle she's still breathing, pass one of those apples, Tavi,” Scratch absently took the apple offered by her mate in a telekinetic grasp, then crushed it, “I hope these apples do the trick, we don't have the supplies to patch a wound that big, looks like it was made by the Hedge, giant thorn I'll bet. Reminds me of the time...” Twilight tuned out Scratch's muttering and just looked at Applebloom. The little filly was sleeping fitfully, and Twilight was struck by how very out of place she seemed here, in this mad world of thorns and monsters.

Scratch was able to get the crushed golden apple down Applebloom's throat after a few tries, and the three changelings sighed in relief when they saw the yellow filly's wound close, knitting together into nothing, not even a scar. Her breathing softened, and Applebloom sank into a deeper sleep now. Twilight carefully strapped her into the empty apple basket, and looked around at Scratch and Octavia, “Thank you both, for coming back, I couldn't have done this alone, I would have been lost forever.”

Octavia nodded, smiling, but Scratch snorted, “Nah, I woulda done the same for anypony out here, besides, you're the first changeling we've met that hasn't run or tried to kill us. Seriously though, look us up once this is over, out in Manehattan.” Twilight nodded, the whole group walked over to the threshold of the cave and started out for home.

As soon as they passed into the black grass field though, a howl burst from the cave, followed by answering howls from around the clearing and the Hedge beyond. The Beast's voice called out tauntingly in a tone full of fury and triumph, at a volume that almost knocked the changelings off their hooves, “Foolish ponies, I said you could take the little one, but I never said you could leave! Now give my pack some sport, they haven't eaten in a while!”