8:00 AM

You bite your lip and give Rainbow one last frightful glance before obeying her instructions and sprint down the paths. You can hear the Pegasus’s battle cry and the wolf’s howl as you run away. You thank the stars as the forest rapidly thins around you and only after a few seconds you can see the very edge of Sweet Apple Acres.

A panicked thought enters your mind as you hit the grass that Applejack might be all the way at the barn but you don’t let it slow you down. Once you reach the first tree you pause, suck in great gulps of air, and strain your ears.

You hear the familiar thunk of a pony bucking trees coming from your left and head out once again. Weaving through the trees you follow the sound and soon come across a familiar red shape. “Big Mac!” you yell.

The stallion lifts his head and waves a large hoof at you. A calm, friendly smile on his lips.

You wave your arms and yell again, “Big Mac! Rainbow Dash, trouble, Everfree, HELP!”

His smile drops and he gallops toward you. “What happened?” He rumbles, “is Miss Dash alright?”

“She’s fighting a timberwolf! We have you help her!”

Without anymore prompting Mac sticks his head under you and you slide onto his back. “Where?” He asked once you grab onto his mane.

“Straight ahead and to the left after a hundred feet. We were on the path, really close to the edge.”

He gives one nod and starts into a full gallop across the field. You hang on for dear life as in seconds you burst through the trees of the Everfree. You can hear sounds of fighting over Mac’s thundering hoofsteps and point the stallion in the right direction.

“There! Over there!” You shout as Mac crashes faster through the woods. The two of you break through one last clump of foliage before arriving in a small clearing.

You don’t know if you should be relieved or scared at the sight before you. On one claw, Rainbow is perched in a tree, safely out of the wolf’s reach. On the other, she is obviously exhausted, there is a cut on her shoulder and her bad wing looks even more bent out of shape. You can’t fathom how she managed to climb into that tree.

Big Mac lowers his head and you recognize the unspoken cue to dismount and immediately comply. The instant you clamber off of his back Big Mac charges at the timberwolf.

The wolf, and Rainbow Dash from her startled yelp, doesn’t see the attack coming and the timberwolf gets hit with the whole force of Mac’s charge. The thing doesn’t stand a chance as it slams into the ground and shatters completely from the impact. Sticks even hit you at the other side of the clearing as they fly through the air.

“Spike!” Big Mac bellows, “Burn a couple sticks so it can’t reform.”

You nod and scramble to pick up a few sticks you know came from the Timberwolf. You set the bundle on fire and watch as they smolder in your arms until you’re sure the fire won’t burn the forest down. By the time you turn back around Big Mac has already gotten Rainbow out of the tree and onto his back. You immediately rush over, concerned for the Pegasus.

“Is she alright? She’s not hurt bad is she?”

Big Mac shakes his head. “Nope.”

“I’m certainly okay enough to walk,” Dash grumbles, wiggling on Mac’s back in obvious discomfort, “It’s just a scratch and a sprain, you don’t even have to take me to the hospital.”

“Nope,” Big Mac says again, slowly walking out of the clearing and back on the road. You follow and Dash starts muttering again.

“I would have been fine. I didn’t need you to risk your life to save me like some dumb hero.”

You blink up at her. “But Rainbow, you told me to go get Applejack for help.”

Rainbow’s annoyed scowl flickers for a moment as she turns her head away from you and lays it on Mac’s neck. “It was just so she could block it from going into the farm. I didn’t need rescuing.”

She shifts her weight but hits her wing wrong and lets out a small, uncontrollable whimper. Mac slows down a bit more and shoots a worried look over his shoulder. That look he gives her makes you realize something you hadn’t even thought about.

They like each other

Dash could have died