Fluttershy stood delicately balanced on her hind legs with her fore hooves pressed together above her head. The others were circled around her in the clearing of grass, their minds engaged in the challenge before them.

"Flagpole?" guessed Twilight.

"A fence?" tried Applejack.

"A tree!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie guessed it," Fluttershy said with a smile. "Your turn Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy swapped places in the grass clearing.

"You guys will never guess this one," Pinkie Pie boasted as she starting vibrating up and down really fast.

"Jackhammer?" inquired Night Mist.

"Uh oh," said Pinkie Pie as her vibrating increased in intensity.

"You're not supposed to talk when it’s your turn," Spike reminded her.

"This wasn't what I was planning on doing! It's my Pinkie Sense! And it’s a doozy!"

Sharp Wing instantly sprang to her hooves and drew out her swords.

"Where's the doozy?" she asked frantically.

"Wait, what?" asked Night Mist in confusion.

"It's coming from over there!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she pointed a hoof westward.

"That's the direction Rainbow Dash went in!" Rarity said in alarm.

"Everypony get in the saddlebags!" ordered Twilight.

Everyone hopped into their respective bags as Frazzle Spark vaulted into the air with a lurch.

"I don't understand, we're going somewhere because Pinkie Pie was having a seizure?" asked a befuddled Night Mist.

"You'll understand it when you get your memories back. Actually, understand might be too strong of a word. More like you'll know why we're rushing." explained Twilight.

"Can anypony see Rainbow Dash?" questioned Frazzle Spark as he flew westward.

Spike hopped out of his personal saddlebag, retrieved a pair of binoculars from another, and ran up Frazzle Spark's back to the top of his head.

"Oh, be careful Spike! Don't fall off!" cautioned Fluttershy.

Spike didn't seem to hear her as he began scanning back and forth with the binoculars.

"I see her!" Spike cried out abruptly. "She seems to be okay. She's just flying and- oh fang."

"What is it?" demanded Applejack.

"Something just wrapped around her and brought her down!"

Sharp Wing clenched her teeth. Something bad had just happened to Rainbow Dash and they were all too far away from her to do anything about it.

"Fraz!" she hollered as she flew out in front of the dragon. "Hoof-ball!"

"Is this really the time for-" Frazzle Spark started to say.

"I'm the hoof-ball! Go long! Like the Mighty Mustangs!" Sharp Wing cut him off.

"Oh!" said Frazzle Spark as he realized what Sharp Wing was trying to convey.

Frazzle Spark snatched up Sharp Wing in his right claw, cocked his arm back, and launched Sharp Wing with a snap. Sharp Wing had to squint her eyes against the wind as she rocketed through the air towards where Rainbow Dash had fallen. As she got closer, Sharp Wing made micro-adjustments with her wings to fly lower. Through her blurry vision she could make out a lump of something with cyan blue inside of it. A yellow shape was right beside. A shape she was about to crash into.

Sharp Wing tried to veer off course, but discovered she couldn't turn fast enough at the speed she was moving at. So instead she threw her shoulder forward and hoped for the best.

Sharp Wing felt an impact. Next thing she knew she was bouncing along the ground before she skidded to a stop. Unable to get up, Sharp Wing glanced around to see what she had hit. A cheetah lay on the ground close to her head. Two more cheetahs wielding spears with their tails were standing further back, with stupefied expressions on their faces. One of them had a golden earring. Rainbow Dash was under a net near them, and she wore a similar expression.

Both Sharp Wing and the cheetah she had hit stayed on the ground for several awkward minutes. Finally, with effort, Sharp Wing warily got up as the cheetah did the same.

"Okay, ow, what the- ow, hay is- ow, going on?" groaned Sharp Wing as she drew out her swords.

"It- it mistake. Accident," stammered the cheetah.

"You accidently threw a net around Rainbow Dash?" Sharp Wing asked dubiously.

"Duma not try catch pony. Duma set trap for cheetah criminal, Duma caught pony instead," the cheetah explained.

"What?! That's not what you said! You said you were going to eat me!" screeched Rainbow Dash.

Sharp Wing glanced back and forth between Rainbow Dash and the cheetah, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Duma sorry for scaring pony. Duma use claws to free pony but Duma got hit," Duma said hastily.

"That's a lie! Don't listen to him he's a liar!" insisted Rainbow Dash.

It became obvious to Sharp Wing what had happened. Rainbow Dash had fallen into a trap set for someone else, and in her frantic state of mind, had decided it was a trap meant for her. After all, if the cheetah was hostile he wouldn't be trying to defend himself with words.

"It's okay Rainbow Dash," Sharp Wing said soothingly as she turned her attention back to the blue pegasus. "It's just a misunder-"

"Move!" Rainbow Dash screamed.

Without thinking Sharp Wing threw herself sideways as she felt something graze both sides of her neck. Sharp Wing rolled away and held up her swords again before she gave herself a chance to look back at Duma.

"Ooh, so close!" laughed Duma. "I almost had you there!"

All Sharp Wing could was stare. It was as if the cheetah had become a whole different being. What had been a simple seeming native had transformed into something evil.

"Told you!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. He's a liar!"

"No need to be so harsh. I spoke truth when I said I was going to free you with my claws. As in, I was going to free your soul from your body," grinned Duma maliciously.

Sharp Wing was about to make a snappy comeback regarding how a Rainbow Dash's dead body would still have more of a soul than a certain cheetah when there was a flash of pink light. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Night Mist, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity had arrived.

"Mtakatifu jibini! Ambapo kuzimu gani wao kuja kutoka?!" shouted the cheetah with a pierced ear in surprise.

"Alright, what in tar-nation is going on here?" demanded Applejack.

Sharp Wing pointed an accusatory hoof at Duma.

Fluttershy glanced at Rainbow Dash under the net, and then at Sharp Wing, who was still on the ground and had blood trickling down both sides of her neck. Then, before anyone could stop her, she marched right up Duma and glared at him.

"How dare you! You should be ashamed of yourself for being so mean! Do you think its fun to scares ponies? Didn't your parents raise you better than that? Does it make you proud to hurt girls? You should apologize right this instant!"

"I wasn't scared!" protested Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not a girl!" objected Sharp Wing.

"Sasa kwa kuwa ni mwanamke hutaki kwa fujo na," commented the earring-less cheetah as he nudged his companion while tilting his head towards Fluttershy.

"Well, this is a first. In answer to your questions, yes, no, yes. And as for the rest, I don't really care," said Duma smugly.

Fluttershy didn't respond, for she was far to shocked at Duma's immunity to her telling him off. What kind of sociopath could withstand Fluttershy's glare without feeling ashamed? Duma grinned wickedly as he proceeded to knock Fluttershy aside with a powerful swat. The reaction was instantaneous. Twilight Sparkle fired off a pink beam of energy while Applejack threw a lasso. Pinkie Pie chucked a rubber chicken. A split second later, a sliced rubber chicken lay on the ground, along with a halved rope and scorched patch of grass where Duma had been standing. Sharp Wing blinked. She hadn't even seen Duma move.

"I would suggest running, but that would only result in you all dying tired," remarked a completely unscathed Duma.

The arrogant grin was wiped off of his face when Frazzle Spark dropped down from the sky and landed behind him.

"I would suggest begging for forgiveness, but you would still get burnt to a crisp anyway," Frazzle Spark snarled.

For a moment, all Duma could do was gawk at the large red dragon.

"Okay, I give up. Why is a dragon helping a bunch of ponies?" he said finally.

"It's a long story," Frazzle Spark replied honestly.

"Might I convince you to change sides by offering you some treasure? My tribe is very wealthy."

"I'll pass."

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Very well then. So what happens now?"

Rarity glanced at Night Mist.

"How about you question them?" she suggested.

"What? Why me?" stammered Night Mist.

"Because you're the detective."

"I am? cool," said Night Mist, clearly pleased with the idea.

"Do you know where the Zebras live?" tried Sharp Wing.

"Of course I do. In fact, if you look over there you can see their village from here," said Duma as he pointed a claw.

Like complete amateurs, all of the ponies and dragons glanced in the direction Duma had pointed in. Nothing but miles of tall grass. When they looked back again all three of the cheetahs had vanished.

"Darn it! Oldest trick in the book," groaned Twilight Sparkle as she face-hoofed.

"It's all this tall grass, makes it easy to hide. Frazzle Spark, why don't you get everyone into the air before we have a replay of that movie you were talking about?" suggested Night Mist.

"Could somepony get me out of this net?" asked a still entangled Rainbow Dash.

Sharp Wing got up and cut the net away with her swords.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Oh, Sharp Wing, your neck is bleeding," observed Fluttershy.

"So is yours," Sharp Wing pointed out.

"You did your duty well, rubber chicken," said Pinkie Pie solemnly as she saluted the halved rubber chicken.

"Alright everypony, let’s get up into the air and keep looking for Zecora," decided Twilight Sparkle. "I sure hope I remembered to pack a first aid kit."