The first thing that Zephyr felt as he began to regain his consciousness was a comforting feeling of warmth and softness. It enveloped his entire being and put him in a state of relaxation that made him want to want to stay asleep, even though it was much more. He shifted in whatever position that he was in to get more of the warmth embracing him, and it seemed to return it, much to his silent delight. Reaching out with his forehooves, he wrapped them around the warm and soft object, and nuzzled deep into it, inhaling its sweet scent, which seemed to be that of flowers. He suddenly found himself enveloped by even more of the comforting feeling, and a purr seemed to make its way out his lips, signaling his love for whatever he was feeling.

“Oh my, it looks like he’s finally starting to come to girls.” A soft gentle, yet familiar voice suddenly said. “Zephyr sweetie, are you okay?”

Zephyr’s ears flicked, somehow recognizing the gentle voice despite still somewhat being in his unconscious state. He shifted again in the warmth he was in and hugged it even tighter, even going so far as to try to wrap his wings around it. When that didn’t work, he just settled into cuddling into it, letting out another purr in the process.

“Hmhm, it looks like he is darling, but he doesn’t really want to let you go.” Another more melodic voice. “The poor dear is just far too comfortable with you holding him like that.”

“Well can you really blame him?” A third more raspy voice asked. “He just got blasted by that giant raptor after he took the hit for Fluttershy. I know for a fact that could not have felt good in anyway.”

“Well, we did see him get electrocuted while we were chased by that varmi-er…large raptor.” A fourth voice with a southern drawl murmured, seeming to carry an undertone of slight fear for some reason. “Ah’m amazed that he even managed to survive that t’ be honest…it looks like them guards are a lot tougher than Ah thought.”

“Well, like Goku, Zephyr is a Kirin, and they are known for being able to take beatings.” A fifth more intelligent voice said softly, carrying undertone of worry. “Still, even I’m amazed that he was able to take such a devastating attack. For a second I really thought that he was…”

“Yeah, we know Twilight…I had thought that too when the Shinomōkin struck Zephyr. At the very least, I thought that he was going to be out of commission for a while.” A fifth voice, this one sounding smooth and silky. “Thankfully it looks like that’s not the case. The fact that he’s moving at all is a good sign, for both him and us, and as much as I want to let him rest for a bit longer, we’re going to need him up again.”

“Awww, do we have to Goku?” A sixth and final voice whined childishly. “He looks so cute all snuggled up to Fluttershy like that! Can’t we just let him stay like that for just a little longer!”

“I’m sorry Pinkie Pie, but Goku’s right.” The soft gentle voice said sadly. “We’ve been here for over two hours now, and we’ve managed to recover from being shocked by the Shinomōkin. So, I think we should be getting a move on in a little while, though, I think we should have him eat something before we go.”

“Awww, phooey.”

“Don’t worry Pinkie Pie, it’s not the end of the world. I’m pretty sure that we’ll be able to have more moments like this.” The silky voice said comfortingly. “If it’s any consolation, if Zephyr gets knocked out by any of the animals again, I’ll let you be the one to cuddle him this time.”

The childish voice let out a squeal of delight. “Oh wow, really?! You’d let me do that?!”

“Sure sweetie…I could see how jealous you were that Fluttershy got to be the one to do it. So, I figured that you should get a turn if the opportunity presents itself.” The silky voice said, a low giggle coming afterward. “Just as long as you give Twilight a turn afterwards when your done with him.”

“Yes sir, ma’am sir!” The childish voice replied, a giggle of its own leaving shortly after.

“Really Goku?” The intelligent voice moaned, sounding embarrassed.

“Yes really.” The silky voice chuckled slyly. A second later, the sound of hoofsteps made its way over to Zephyr, before the royal blue stallion felt a warm breath right next to his ear. “Zephyr, it’s time to get up sleepy boy. Come on, I know you can hear me.”

Despite the gentleness in the silky voice, the undertone of firmness and authority behind it was enough to get Zephyr out of his state of semi-consciousness. The training he that he received form the military academy to pay attention when somepony’s talking to him added to that, and before Zephyr knew it, he was waking up. He stretched his legs out, while still being enveloped in warmth, before reaching up to his face and rubbing at his eyes. After blinking them a few times, he opened them, and found his vision enveloped in nothing but a sea of soft pink and yellow, making him jump somewhat. Giving another rub at his eyes, he looked around, and found himself staring into the gentle, yet amused teal eyes of Fluttershy, with a smile to match.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” She cooed, a soft giggle leaving her lips.

“Fluttershy?” Zephyr murmured, looking at the buttermilk Pegasus in confusion. He looked around, and saw the other six mares, all of which who were sitting around a large clearing with a fireplace in the center. “W…what’s going on? Why am I, um…snuggled up with you?”

“You mean you don’t remember what happened?” Goku asked, making the royal blue stallion turn to her. “You got zapped by a giant Shinomōkin after you pushed Fluttershy away from its line of fire. After that you just went completely unconscious.”

“No, I remember that, I totally remember that.” Zephyr said, shaking his head. “What I’m asking is, what exactly is going on here? And why am I all wrapped up in Fluttershy’s wings like this?”

“Weeeeeeeell…” Pinkie Pie began. “After you had gotten zapped unconscious by that giant scary bird, it chased us across some of the forest trying to zap us to smithereens as well! We had managed to make it to clearing where were we tried to think up of a plan, buuuuut that giant bird kind of ruined it for us, and caught us all in its big cloudy body! It started zapping all of us, and we wouldn’t ended up as its food if it weren’t for Goku zapping that scary bird back!”

“Wait, you did?” Zephyr asked, his eyes widening at the tan Thestral. “You actually…fought that thing?”

Goku blushed sheepishly. “I wouldn’t say fight per say…” she said hesitantly. “…more like I blasted a hole through that bad boy’s body and created a hole big enough to make us fall out his body and into the river.”

“You…made a hole in the Shinomōkin’s body?” Zephyr asked, staring aghast at Goku. “Did…did you-”

“No, oh Faust no I didn’t!” Goku interrupted quickly. “You can trust me when I say that I did not kill the big boy! The Shinomōkin’s body was made entirely out of lightning and storm clouds and nothing else. So, while my attacks may have been painful, there was no way they could’ve killed while he wasn’t in his normal form.” She bit her lip as she looked away. “Although, I may have given the poor thing a stomach pain that’ll take a few days to go away.”

“For some strange reason, I totally believe that.” Rainbow Dash snorted, grinning dryly as she laughed. “Overdoing things as usual G, haha!”

Rarity struck the back of Rainbow’s head with her tail. “Like you have any room to talk dear.”

“Oh, I see. Well, that’s good at least.” Zephyr said softly, looking relieved. With a sigh, he slowly pulled himself from Fluttershy, cringing as the pain receptors in his body flared up. “Ugh, sweet Faust that aches.”

“Well you did just get zapped by a giant ass bird that could’ve eaten us all whole if it wanted to.” Applejack pointed out. “Ah’d be surprised if that didn’t hurt, or at least didn’t feel really sore…in a painful way.”

“Well, my pain isn’t the only one that I should be worried about.” Zephyr said, eyeing the rest of the mares. “Are any of you girls okay? I know that Shinomōkin got all of you too, so I know that all of you have your own fair share of injuries.”

“Well, we did, but not anymore.” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head. “When we had all came to, Fluttershy used her healing powers to assist in the acceleration of our healing rate.”

The royal blue stallion snapped his gaze over to the buttermilk Pegasus. “You healed all of their wounds?”

“It’s a special type of healing magic that only members of my clan can use; I call it my Butterfly Cocoon.” Fluttershy replied, getting to her hooves. “Besides the Rosario clan, I come from another called the Tenshi clan, which like my other clan, has the ability to heal wounds by using spiritual energy in a solid form. When I came to, I had encased you, and almost everypony else in an oval case of healing magic and healed your wounds while you were unconscious.”

“You can do that? Zephyr asked in amazement, earning a soft nod from Fluttershy. “Wow, I gotta admit…that is a really cool ability.”

Fluttershy blushed and looked away, her mane partially hiding her face. “Oh, it’s not really anything special to be honest; just something that I can used in dire situations like this.” A look of slight disappointment came to her face as she sighed, before adding, “Though, it is what you may call a double-edged sword.”

“What…do you mean by that?” Zephyr asked, his voice tinged with worry. “It doesn’t have any serious side effects does it?”

“Thankfully no.” Goku replied, easing Zephyr’s concerns. “It just drains an insane amount of Fluttershy’s magical power and leaves her in a bit of a weak state for some time. Plenty of rest and filling your stomach until it bursts will get that energy right back up though, and luckily for us, we’re surrounded by plenty of vegetation.” Her tufted perked as a smile came to her face, her fangs gleaming. “There is one other cool thing about Fluttershy’s healing powers though. It runs off of her emotional energy and what positive or negative emotion she’s feeling. The more positive her feelings are and the more conviction she has, the stronger her healing magic is and the less her magic is drained. However, the more negative they are and the more doubt and worry Fluttershy has…”

“…The more magic is drained out of her and the weaker her healing magic is.” Zephyr finished as he figured the rest out. He looked back over at the veterinarian, who was still looking down at the ground bashfully. “How long were we all out?”

“Well, I was the first one to wake up, and Goku told me that it was a good hour since we had all escaped the Shinomōkin. After she had explained to be the situation, I had used my healing magic to help you and the rest of the girls recover from being electrocuted, which took about fifteen minutes. After that, me and her waited for the others to wake up; first Applejack, then it was Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and finally you.”

“Okay, so let me get this straight. We spend a whole hour unconscious after being zapped into unconsciousness while you healed…most of us.” Zephyr said, glancing over at Fluttershy for a moment before looking back at Fluttershy. “Then after fifteen minutes, you waited one by one for us to wake up with me…being cuddled up with you?”

“On a pile o’ big smooth leaves yes.” Applejack nodded, pointing at a large leaf bed behind Fluttershy. “Fluttershy insisted that if she was gonna be keepin’ ya warm, that you’d at least be as comfortable as possible. She wanted to do it fer all o’ us but, well…she only had enough fer one pony.”

“Oh, I see…” Zephyr nodded looking back over at Fluttershy. “Thank you for doing that for me Fluttershy. That was, um…a really kind thing for you to do. Even though I don’t really know why in the hay you’d do that.”

“Why wouldn’t I? You saved me from being shocked to death by the largest bird of prey in all of existence, second only to the Haast’s Eagle.” Fluttershy said, tilting her head. “After such a life-threatening move like that, the least I could do was make you as comfortable as possible. Even if it meant sleeping with you.”

Zephyr’s cheeks flared up into a deep red blush as Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. “Oh, buck Fluttershy! Did you really have to put it like that?!”

“Put it like what?” Fluttershy asked, looking over at the cyan mare. “All I was saying that even if it meant sleeping with him, I would make him as comfy as can be after he saved me.”

“I’m afraid that’s exactly what Rainbow Dash meant darling.” Rarity said gently, a pink tint on her own snow-white cheeks. “Not the fact that you would make Zephyr as comfortable as possible while he recovered, but how you said the way you would do it. You said you’d do whatever it took, even if it meant sleeping with him.” She gave the buttermilk Pegasus a tentative smile. “Don’t you think that sounded just the least bit, um…”

“Sexually graphic?” Twilight finished for her, looking like she was hesitating to say the word. “What Rarity’s trying to say is that when you said, even if it meant sleeping with Zephyr, you made it seem like you would…you would-”

“Wait what?!” Pinkie Pie suddenly cried, her high-pitched voice echoing about the clearing. “That’s what you meant when you said that you’d make Zephie comfy while he was recovering?! That you would butter the biscuit with him?!”

Goku’s eyes bulged as Fluttershy’s pupils contracted, a sharp gasp leaving Zephyr’s mouth a second later. Quickly regaining her composure, the fanged Thestral mare rounded on the pink Earth Pony. “That is not what Fluttershy meant and you know it Pinkie Pie!” She hissed sharply, keeping her voice low as to not attract any unwanted attention in the forest. Ignoring Rainbow Dash’s loud guffaws, she continued. “And keep your voice down! We are in the middle of a clearing, and the last thing any of us needs is for that Shinomōkin to come back! Or any other animal to suddenly come into this clearing and ambush us!”

“What do you mean that’s not what she meant?!” Pinkie Pie asked, frowning confusedly at the blushing tan Thestral. “Rarity and Twilight said it themselves! When Fluttershy said that she’d go as far as to sleep with Zephie to make him comfier, she meant that she’d let him turn her into a creampie! While he was asleep!”

“N-now Pinkie Pie, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.” Fluttershy said shakily, her own face as red as a tomato. “When I said I’d sleep with him, I didn’t mean that I’d r-r-ride him while he was asleep! I meant that I would-!”

“WHAT?!” Pinkie Pie shrieked, the volume of her voice making everypony cringe. “You mean you wanted to do the dirty with him with all of us watching?! Whoa Fluttershy, I had no idea you were that dirty!”

“PINKIE!” Now it was Rarity’s turn to scold Pinkie. “How dare you say such a think about poor Fluttershy?! That is not was she was saying or thinking at all!”

“Uh, yeah it was!” Pinkie nodded adamantly. “Flutters clearly said that she’d do the stinky if it meant Zephie would feel better from being electrocuted! How could she not mean something like that if that’s what she said right in front of us?!”

Goku snarled warningly. “Pinkie…”

“No, that’s what you said Pinkie Pie.” Applejack said bluntly, snorting in disgust. “And th’ reason that ain’t what Fluttershy had said was because she didn’t mean it like that! Did ya sugarcube?”

“No, that’s not I meant I swear to Faust!” Fluttershy cried, falling to her haunches and covering her face with her forehooves. “I-I mean that I would let Zephyr snuggle up with me if it meant easing the pain he was feeling while he was recovering! I didn’t mean that I was going to touch him without his consent!” She snapped her head over to the royal blue stallion, who was still sporting his deep red blush. “I mean it! I wasn’t going to touch you like that in any way without getting the green light form you!”

“N-no, it’s okay, I believe you.” Zephyr said, fighting to keep his face from heating up any more. “I know you didn’t try to touch me like that. If you did, I would’ve known even if I was-”

“AHA! I knew it!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jabbing a hoof at Fluttershy. “You were planning to pass the gravy with Zephie! You were actually going to do it!”

“NO!” Fluttershy shouted, stomping both forehooves on the ground. “No, I was not!”

“Oh yes you were!” Pinkie Pie retorted, shooting to her hooves. “You just said right out of your mouth, that unless you had Zephie’s green light that you weren’t going to make him stuff you full of his frosting! You said it right to his and our faces, so now we all know without a doubt that you would’ve taken Zephyr while he was sleeping, and rode him until he-”

Anything else that Pinkie was going to say was interrupted when her face suddenly met the dirt ground below, a large lump appearing on the back of her head. Everypony looked on in shock as Goku stood over Pinkie Pie from behind, her left tri-colored hoof raised in the air. Her head was lowered, and her ears were pinned against her head, her eyes shadowed by her mane and a golden aura surrounding her body.

“I think that’s enough crazy accusations out of you for a while.” The tan Thestral said sternly, watching as Pinkie Pie’s eyes swirled around and steam rose form her lump. Letting out a long breath through her nostrils, she turned to the two Pegasi with a softer expression. “I am so sorry you had to hear all of that Zephyr…Pinkie Pie can be a bit of a motormouth at times. I hope that you weren’t too embarrassed by what she was saying…especially you Fluttershy.”

“N-no, it’s alright, I wasn’t really that bothered by it.” Zephyr stuttered, wincing at Pinkie Pie’s cup sized lump. “Though I was just the slightest bit taken aback.”

“Yeah…” Twilight murmured dryly. “Just a little…”

“S-same here Goku.” Fluttershy nodded, taking a calming breath. “I’m not really mad at Pinkie about what she said. In fact, I can see why she thought that in the first place…given the rather, um, compromising position that I had put ourselves in. It did like we were, um…”

“Just finished bucking each other’s brains out?” Rainbow Dash chuckled, earning her a sharp glare from Rarity. Before the latter could defend herself, she got a swift bonk on the head from Goku. “Ow!”

“…Yes, that.” Fluttershy said meekly, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt the urge to crawl under a rock. It was soon washed away when she felt a warm wing drape over her, and Fluttershy looked over to see Zephyr smiling warmly at her. “Thank you…”

“Hey, you helped me have what had to be the most comfortable sleep of my life, so the least I could do I ease your embarrassment.” The royal blue stallion replied with a shrug. He suddenly leaned in and whispered into her ear. “If it’s any consolation, I do think that you are attractive as all living shit. I mean seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any mare as sexy as you.”

Fluttershy’s cheeks sported the deepest blush that night. “Oh, um…t-thank you for that. Y-you don’t look, um…so bad yourself.” She replied, rubbing her left foreleg with her right.

“Alright, break it up you two.” Goku said, making the two Pegasi look over at her. “You can act all lovey dovey towards each other later. We’re a in a bit of a fix her right now…and we need to band together right now and figure out what we’re going to do. First things first though…we all need to stock up and recharge.”

“Um…recharge?” Zephyr asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She means eating.” Twilight emphasized with a slight giggle. “It had been a while since we had last eaten, which was when we were back in my library, and honestly…it wasn’t very much. So, while we were all out, Goku had decided to do some foraging around the forest.”

“Foragin’?” Applejack asked, turning to Fluttershy and Goku. “Ya mean ya actually went int’ th’ trees to find some food?”

“Uh-huh!” The tan Thestral chirped, lashing her extended tail into the shadows of the clearing. With a yank, she pulled out a huge wooden plate that was piled with thick grass, and a multitude of berries. “I had grabbed enough of this to make sure we’re all full until our bellies explode, and we’re not that far from the stream we fell into! So, if we get thirsty, we can just go to that river and drink from there.”

“Whoa Goku, this is a lot!” Pinkie Pie said, amazed at how much Goku had gotten. “This is an even bigger pile than the one of the sweets that I made for your brother! And coming from me, that’s really saying something!”

Rainbow Dash looked over at the pink pony in confusion. “Uh, what?”

“Meet Goku’s brother, gave him some sweets, put a big smile on his face.” Pinkie Pie said, keeping the explanation short and sweet. “Anyway, give me my sweets!”

Rolling her eyes, Goku obliged in taking a wooden plate and given one to each of her friends, Zephyr included, before they all say around the fireplace. They all began to eat the foraged vegetation and fruit, none of them exchanging a word as they took the opportunity to fill their stomachs. About half an hour into the feast, Twilight began to explain the predicament they were now in.

“Alright now, before we do anything else, I think I should point out the main problem we have right now.” Twilight began calmly. “That problem being that we’re no longer on the path we were treading, and we’re officially lost.”

“As if that wasn’t made painfully obvious.” Zephyr murmured, rubbing at his shoulder. “So, how’re we going to be able to find Queen Celestia’s old castle now? Anypony have any ideas?”

“Well, we could fly up into the air scout it out from here.” Rainbow Dash suggested, before looking up into the trees. “Then again, with all of these big ass trees blocking the sky, that’s going to be a pain in the ass to do. Not that I don’t mind getting a few leaves and twigs here and there, but I’d rather not take my chances of painting the ground red.”

“Well, luckily for you guys, I’m a flyer that doesn’t really need to worry about my wings getting messed up.” Goku said, winking at the cyan mare. “Though, you do make a good point…those trees are larger than any other that I’ve ever seen before. So, I guess I shouldn’t try my luck in flying up there, least I either break a wing, or send a rain of branches down here.”

“Good thing we’re not in Marelaska or the Forbidden Jungle if that were to happen.” Fluttershy murmured quietly. “Then we’d really be in trouble…”

“What was that darling?” Rarity asked, batting her eyelashes at the other mare.

“Nothing.” The buttermilk Pegasus said, brushing her mane away. “Anyway, does anypony else have any suggestions?”

“We could try backtrackin’.” Applejack said her voice slightly muffled by the grass that she was currently chewing on. “Goku just pointed out that we’re not too far from the river that we fell in after getting’ away from that giant bird thing. So we could go back to where we had landed and see if we can git back on th’ trail from there.”

“I believe that the bird that attacked us is called a Shinomōkin Applejack; it was said more than several times now.” Rarity said daintily chewing on a few berries and grapes. “And please, don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s unbecoming of a lady.”

“That’s another good idea, except there’s one little problem.” Twilight said, grimacing slightly as she levitated her now burnt saddlebag in front of her. opening a remained of one of the flaps, she pulled out the remnants of their map. “While we were trapped inside of the Shinomōkin, my saddlebag got burnt pretty bad, along with the map Spike gave me. While it’s not totally incinerated, it’s not going to be of much help for us anymore.”

“Well that’s one other plan that’s party pooped.” Pinkie Pie frowned. “And here I thought that it’d be a bit easier for us to keep going on this exciting adventure. Now we’ll never get to keep going on this super-duper fun adventure!”

“…Not exactly Pinkie.” Zephyr suddenly said, making all the mares turn to him. “There is a bit of a silver lining to Applejack’s suggestion to how to get back on the train. That being the stream that Goku had rescued us from.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What’s so good about that?”

“Thing about it; when we had first appeared in that clearing, there was not a single tree in the river that we had flown to.” Zephyr explained. “Not only that, but since there was no trees, we were allowed to give a full view of the sky above since it wasn’t blocked by the trees. So, I think either me, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, or Goku should go over to that same river and fly over all the trees until they can see the remnants of the abandoned castle.”

“Hmmm…I think that’s a good idea Zephyr.” Fluttershy said, a small smile coming to her face. It was replaced with a perplexed frown as she added, “But…how will be able to spot the castle? It could be anywhere in the grove of trees no matter how hard we look.”

“I don’t think that should be much of a problem.” Goku said reassuringly. “If any of you want, I can go and look for the castle. From that Twilight told me, the old Royal Castle should be big enough for me to spot, even if there are giant trees blocking it. I have pretty sharp eyes, given the fact that I’m a Thestral, so…”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Twilight said flashing Goku a smile that held a bit of worry in it. “In that case, I’ll leave it to you Goku. Just be careful out there okay? From all that Fluttershy told us about this place, there are a lot of dangerous beasts out there, and we really don’t need you getting into a scuffle with them.”

Goku nodded, winking at Twilight as she got up from her position in the fireplace. “Don’t worry Twi, I’ll be alright. If any animal tries to get me, I’ll just show them a good dose of my good old Thestral strength; that way, they’ll know not to mess with me. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and if something happens, just scream and I’ll come right back.”

“You got it Goku!” Pinkie chirped, winking at the attractive mare. “We’ll make sure to scream nice and loud if we feel like we’re in any type of danger.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear that Pinkie.” Goku nodded approvingly, turning tail and trotting away from the fireplace. Just before she vanished into the darkness, she turned to Fluttershy and Zephyr and said, “Oh and Fluttershy, Zephyr, try not to buck each other’s brains out while I’m gone.”

With a sly giggle, Goku spread her wings and took off into the shadows of the forest, leaving two blushing Pegasi and the rest of her friends behind at the campfire. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all laughed their asses off while Fluttershy and Zephyr stayed silent, both of their faces burning by the cheeks. The only ones who weren’t laughing were Twilight and Rarity, both of which who were sporting her own blushes, the latter sporting a disapproving frown.

“Well, I would never!” Rarity said hotly. “Of things she could’ve said before parting ways, that was what she came up with? Is she trying to make those two even more embarrassed than they already are?”

“I don’t think so, but if she was trying to make them shyer around each other, then it worked.” Twilight replied, watching as Zephyr and Fluttershy avoided eye contact. “Of course, I kind of suspected she wanted to have some fun with them before she took off…typical.”

“Yeah, well, that is Goku fer ya.” Applejack said, chuckling. “Always wantin' t' make ya red t' the point where yer head looks like it's gonna turn into an apple. Certainly not the first time she's done it, an' it certainly won't be the last either.”

“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash snorted, rolling her eyes. “Probably not.”

Fluttershy giggled at at her friends various reactions and debates over Goku's antics, and was about to say something, only to stop abruptly as if she had been cut off from speaking. The amused expression she had on her face vanished and was replaced with one of complete alert as her ears perked and her eyes narrowed. Her head slowly turned to the left as her eyes flowed and her wings ruffled, her muscles tensing.

“Fluttershy?” Zephyr asked softly, noticing the change in the mare’s body language. “Is there something the matter?”

Fluttershy gently, yet firmly put a hoof to Zephyr’s mouth, silencing anything else he was going to ask as she flicked her ears about. Noticing the unusual actions in their friend, Twilight, and the others all went silent, watching as Fluttershy continued to look around the campsite. She got to her hooves, removing her right one from Zephyr’s muzzle as she turned to her friends.

“Girls, I don’t want to terrify you…” She began softly and slowly. “…but I don’t think we’re alone right now.”

“Not alone?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Is Goku back already?”

“No, she’s not.” Fluttershy shook her head. “If she was, I would’ve been able to pick up her scent. Even more so if there was wind blowing in this direction, and pick up her magical presence, especially since her reserves are so large.” She looked back into the dark shadows of the trees around them. “I’m picking up a powerful source of magic somewhere in these woods, and whatever it is, it is not Goku.”

This made everypony else go on high alert and stand to attention, each of them gaining looks that varied between fear and worry.

“Oh dear…” Rarity said gravely. “…you don’t mean to say that dreaded bird is back do you?”

“…No, I’m not sensing the Shinomōkin anywhere around her. If it was hear, we’d be hearing the flapping of its wings, which is a dead giveaway whenever its hunting.” Fluttershy replied. “I can sense another animal’s magical presence around here, and it is huge.”

“I can sense it too.” Zephyr said, his own ears pinning back. “Everypony be on your guard, if this animal is a powerful as Fluttershy says it is, the we need to be prepared for everything.”

“Don’t need t’ tell us twice hun.” Applejack said, pulling on her fire boots. “After all o’ that shit we got but through with that varmint bird, Ah ain’t lettin’ any other critter here git th’ jump on me again.”

“Shinomōkin.” Rarity hissed sharply, glaring over at the tangerine farmer.

The echoing snap of a tree branch stopped all conversing between the ponies as they looked around the campsite for the new creature. Rainbow Dash was hovering above the group, legs tensed, and fangs bared as her magenta eyes gleamed in the campfire. Pinkie Pie stood in the very middle, her fur, mane and tails shifting between pink and purple as she tried to keep her fear under control. Rarity and Twilight stood off to the left, their horns aglow with magic in preparation of firing, while Applejack and Fluttershy stood to the right, their forelegs planted wide and heads lowered. Zephyr stood at the front, his body alight with an orange aura which glowed as brightly as his eyes, his wings halfway spread, and teeth bared.

“Did anypony else hear that?” Applejack asked, breaking the silence. “Ah couldn’t have been the only one who heard that.”

“No, you definitely didn’t.” Rainbow replied, growling a little. “And I’d really wish that whatever this thing is would just hurry up and come out so I can whip its ass! If it doesn’t, then I’m going to make it come out and make it fight me!”

“Rainbow Dash, calm down!” Twilight hissed sharply. “We’re not supposed to be making any noise right now! We don’t know where this animal is coming from, and your shouting may lead it to where we are! So please, keep your voice down!”

“I have to agree with Twilight, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity nodded. “Your shouting and threatening of this beast are the last thing that we need! And we certainly don’t need you trying to provoke it into coming out, least it eats you first!”

Before Rainbow Dash could go in on Rarity, a snarl broke through the shadows that made both her and everypony else’s blood curdle. They once again froze in place and looked the area, all of them feeling more afraid than ever of the unknown creature. Just as quickly as the sound came, it had immediately gone away, leaving the effect of it savagery on the seven ponies.

“It’s here everypony.” Fluttershy hissed quietly, looking at each of her friends. “Don’t let down your guard for even a moment. If you do, one of you might get-”

The buttermilk Pegasus didn’t get to finish, because before she could, she and everypony else were deafened by an explosive roar that shook the clearing like an earthquake. Two golden and garnet eyes suddenly sliced through the darkness before a large brown blur burst out from the trees and shot itself right at the group. They all screamed and scattered in multiple directions, but one of them wasn’t quick enough, this unlucky victim being Rarity. Fortunately for her, she was saved by Zephyr, who shoved her out of the way just in the nick of time. Just a split second later, he immediately found himself screaming as he felt something sharp clamp down on him between his neck and left shoulder. Before he could even try to get free, he felt himself being dragged back into the forest by the creature, a loud roar leaving it as they bounded off.

“Zephyr!” Twilight yelled as she watched her friend get taken into the trees and bushes.

“Hold on, I’ll go get him!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew off into the forest.

“Rainbow Dash wait!” Rarity shouted, just before the cyan mare vanished. Once she was out of sight, Rarity let out a frustrated sigh. “Ugh, I swear, that mare-!”

“D-d-d-did you guys just see that?!” Pinkie Pie cried, her entire body a bright purple. “You guys just saw that too, right?!”

“Yes, and I know exactly what that was.” Fluttershy replied, her eyes narrowed. “What had just popped out was a Doragontora.”

Applejack turned to Fluttershy with a perplexed look. “A what now?”

“GIRLS!”

All six mares’ heads turned to see Goku flying into the scene, a worried and slightly panicked look on her face. As she landed, the tan Thestral looked around the campsite, not seeing Zephyr and Rainbow Dash with Twilight and the rest, which increased her concern.

“Girls, what’s going on?” Goku asked, locking eyes with them. “Where’s Zephyr? Why is he not with you?”

“H-he was attacked darling!” Rarity replied, looking ready to have a meltdown. “W-we were just sitting here at the campfire when something just popped out of nowhere and attacked us! We don’t know what it was, but it got Zephyr and dragged him into the forest!”

“WHAT?!” Goku screamed her eyes widening in terror. “Did it get Rainbow Dash too?!”

“N-no it didn’t.” Pinkie replied, tears welling up in her eyes. “A-after Zephyr saved me and got taken, Rainbow Dash went after the thing that took Zephyr. She was going to try and go save him and bring him back!”

“Wait, so you mean to tell me that you let Rainbow go in there alone?!” Goku asked, a snarl coming to her face as she bared her fangs. “And you didn’t even try to stop her either?! What the buck is wrong with you?!”

“W-we’re sorry, we were just so taken aback that we couldn’t do anythin’!” Applejack said, shrinking away from the tan Thestral's glare. “We didn’t have enough time t’ keep her from goin’ after that varmint that got Zephyr! It all jus’ happened so fast!”

Goku looked like she was ready to berate her friends again, but was stopped when she heard a scream and noticed something burst out from the trees. Her eyes widened when she saw it was Rainbow Dash, and she watched as she sailed over them and slammed into a nearby tree, falling to the ground with sickening thud.

“Rainbow Dash!” The jet-black maned mare shouted as she and the others ran to the fallen mare. “Are you alright, what happened?!”

Rainbow Dash groaned, pushing herself off the ground with her front hooves as she leaned against Fluttershy for support. Inhaling a deep shaky breath, she coughed out a glob of blood that splattered onto the ground and made Rarity reel back in disgust. Holding a hoof to her chest and stomach, she choked out, “T…t-that goddamn cat…got the drop on m-me. I-I almost had him until he h-hit me with his d-damn t-tail club!”

“Rainbow Dash what were you thinking?!” Fluttershy scolded. “I know you wanted to try and save Zephyr but rushing in like that wasn’t the way to go! Do you even know what the animal that you tried to fight was?!”

“N-no, I don’t.” Rainbow Dash snarked, glaring up at Fluttershy. “And I’m assuming that you know what it was?”

“Dashie, Fluttershy had told us of all kind of Everfree animals that she knew of back in Twilight’s library before we came here!” Pinkie Pie said before Fluttershy could reply. “Of course, she knows what it is! Why would she be asking you what you tried to fight if she didn’t?”

The sound of hard galloping caused all of the girls to turn around to the spot where most of them had seen Zephyr get taken. Shock and relief washed over their faces when they saw that it was Zephyr, who was sporting a look of panic. All the mares flinched when they saw a large bite mark on between his left shoulder and side of his neck, along with claw marks on the left right side of his face, left leg, back, and chest.

“Zephyr!” Twilight cried, running towards the injured stallion. “You managed to escape?!”

“Yes, I did, but we’re in real deep shit right now.” Zephyr replied, unable to hide the undertone of panic in his otherwise levelled voice. “We need to get away from this campsite! It’s not safe here anymore!”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked. “What was it that just attacked you?”

“There’s no time to explain! We have to leave now before it-” Zephyr was cut off when Goku suddenly lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. The movement came just before a large bolt of fire shot out from above the trees and struck the one behind the other girls. The girls cried as it the bark exploded in multiple directions, not enough to make the tree fall but certainly enough to leave a noticeable mark on it. They were all brought out of their stunned states by another snarl, and they turned to the source, only for all of them to flinch at what they saw next.

Slowly hovering down from the trees and bushes, smoke floating from out of its gaping jaws, was what had to be the biggest tiger that any of them had ever seen. Upon closer inspection, the eight ponies realized that the rhino sized beast wasn’t actually a tiger; at least not entirely. It certainly had the legs, tail, torso, and head of the striped feline, but it had the legs of the reptile, with the feet being a mix of both beasts. Its fur was a deep brown, almost to the point where it was chocolate color, sporting jet black strips that seemed to melt into the shadows around it. The cat had a set of deep green spines that went from the top of its head, all the way down to where its hind legs were, and blazing yellow eyes with slitted golden orange pupils. The feline had a vast wingspan that span over twenty-five feet, both the ends and thumbs, along with its paws, lined with long curved white claws, and five-inch-long sabers protruded from its mouth.

“Sweet Faust above!” Rarity cried. “What unnatural abomination is that?!”

Fluttershy, who was also staring in shock at the creature, whispered, “Doragontora…”

Twilight looked over at Fluttershy, having not entirely heard what she had said. “What did you say Fluttershy?”

“She said its a Doragontora.” Zephyr replied, standing in front of the girls. “From what I had read about on creatures of the Everfree, the Doragontora is the famed dragon tiger of it.”

“A what?!” Rainbow Dash yelled in shock. “You mean to tell me that things a cross between a tiger and a dragon?!”

“Yes Rainbow Dash, it is.” Goku replied. “The Doragontora is considered to be the largest living tiger ever to exist in the Everfree Forest, with the Manticore being a close second. It has the strength and power of a dragon combined with that of a tiger’s speed and agility, despite the cat’s own power as well, making it a deadly adversary. It has claws that are strong and sharp enough to cut through the toughest bark on trees, with jaw power that can crush a pony’s skull and even shatter it in one bite. It also has a large spiked tail club that’s made entirely out of bone, which it uses in fights with other Doragontoras, strong enough to permeantly cripple, or even kill another animal. Its most dangerous weapon is the fire power that it has, and its able to fire it off like a missile, quicker than most other dragons, aside from the Night Fury.”

“Night Fury?” Pinkie Pie repeated quizzically. “What the heck is a Night Fury?”

“Ah’m sure Fluttershy will have plenty o’ time t’ explain it t’ ya later sugarcube.” Applejack said, before Fluttershy could reply. “Right now, we gotta skedaddle!”

Right as she said that, the Doragontora roared again and leaped at the ponies with speed that took them by surprise, Zephyr being its main target. He was ready for it though, and delivered a swift back hoof to the draconic feline’s face, sending it flying off to the other side. He ducked when its tail club came zooming towards him, and he ducked just as it smashed into the burnt tree behind him.

‘Damn that’s a powerful club it has there!’ He thought, watching in silent shock as the tail club smashed through even more of the tree. ‘Normally I wouldn’t worry about any creatures tail in a fight, but it looks like I’ll have to make an exception with this one.’

Zephyr turned back to the Doragontora just in time to see it flip around in the air before landing back on its feet, its eyes piercing right into his. It gave another roar before it flapped its wings and leapt at him again, its large clawed paws out ready to slice. When it was within reached, it swiped at Zephyr with those same paws at a speed that Zephyr couldn’t help but be impressed by, though it was enough to catch him off guard. When he saw an opening, he rushed under the cat and delivered a punch right to its stomach, before whirling around and kicking it away from him. It was able to quickly recover and flew at the stallion, lashing its tail out and striking him it his side, the spikes drive into his skin and fur. Zephyr grunted as the attack hit him, before he collided with a tree, the force of the impact nearly making him throw up as bark rained down on him.

“Damn, this is kicking my ass like it’s nothing…!” Zephyr said to himself, looking up at the beast through his mess of a blue and yellow mane. “It looks like I’m going to have to up the ante if I wanna beat this thing.”

Pushing himself to his hooves, he concentrated on conjuring up more of his magical energy, the aura around his body glowing and swirling as he did so. With a whinny, he flew at the giant Doragontora and stuck it right in its face, before delivering a reign of punches on the feline, sending it farther away from the girls. With one final kick, Zephyr sent the cat spiraling into the air, before a coated himself in blazing golden flames.

“Fire Pegasus: Flaming Vortex!” He shouted, blasting a large flickering stream of flames up at the Doragontora. It enveloped the cat in a sea of yellow, emitting a painfilled roar from it as it flew out of the flames and fired off its own attack. It fired off large, yet fast bolts of fire down at Zephyr, who flew about the campsite and managed dodge them even in his injured state. The last one hit just inches away from his face, before he once again leapt into the air and ascended towards the Doragontora.

“Fire Pegasus: Fire Bullet!” He shouted, shooting both of his forehooves out and shooting multiple bolts of fire at the draconic feline. It soared around the campsite, either evading or deflecting the fire bullets, before descending towards Zephyr, claws once at the ready. It once again delivered agile swipes at Zephyr, and he was able to avoid most of them, but one of them manage go get him in his barrel, causing him to falter. The Doragontora, seeing its chance, spun around and slammed its tail club into Zephyr again, sending him flying away and crashing into another tree. Wasting no time, the cat moved in for the kill, but Zephyr wasn’t about to make it that easy for him, which was proven by his next move.

“Fire Pegasus: Scorching Neigh!” He shouted, drawing in a breath and sending a large wave of flames at the Doragontora, who didn’t have enough time to evade the attack. It didn’t need to though, for it used its draconic wings as a shield against the flames, before dispersing them. A look of shock came to Zephyr’s face, leaving him open for the Doragontora to make the final strike to end his life. Unfortunately for the hungry feline, it wouldn’t get that chance.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash shouted, flying in and slamming both of her hind hooves into the cat’s face, sending it flying in the other direction of the clearing. “I’m not going to let you lay one more paw on Twi’s coltfriend, you hear me?!”

The Doragontora snarled at the cyan mare, and flew at her to attack, but was stopped when a giant drill of flames came at it from its right side. It roared in pain as it was engulfed in them, feeling the even hotter flames burn at its fur and heat up its scales. With a growl, it flared its wings and made the flames disappear, before turning to where they had come from. Its eyes glowed as they laid on Applejack, who’s own eyes were glowing as she stood in front of Zephyr along with Rainbow Dash.

“Y’all must be really stupid if ya think we’re jus’ gonna sit by an’ let ya eat our bodyguard.” She said, letting out a snort as her fire boots became alight with flames. “Did ya forget that we were here too, ya bit scaly fur-ball?”

“He obviously did darling.” Rarity said as she and Pinkie Pie came trotting up to them, the latter’s sword horn glowing. “He didn’t even bother paying attention to us while he was roughing up poor Zephyr. He should really learn not to ignore others that’re around him.”

“You got that right Rares!” The latter huffed, her fur turning slightly red. “It was even more mean of him to try to surprise us! And not in the good kind of scary way!”

“Indeed, and in doing so, he made Zephyr jump into the line of fire to save you Pinkie, getting him hurt just when he had recovered.” Fluttershy concluded, her eyes glowing a faint orange as she and Goku came hovering down. “The poor baby really can’t seem to catch a break, can he?”

“You have no idea Fluttershy.” Goku said calmly, yet firmly, her fangs gleaming as she snarled at the Doragontora. “And now that he’s here in the Everfree with us, he’s bound to get even more unlucky breaks. We’ll have to make sure that doesn’t keep happening, won’t we?”

“Yeah…” Twilight nodded; her eyes narrowed as her horn gleamed. “…we will.”

“G-girls…” Zephyr stuttered, fighting back the urge to cough up blood. “W-what’re you doing?”

“What does it look like we’re doing sugarcube?” Rainbow Dash asked simply. “We’re helping you; it’s as simple as that.”

“I know that you’re a guard and all dear, we were by no means ordered to not help the ones to protect us.” Rarity added, turning around and winking at the royal blue stallion. “And you have done a fine job of that so far.”

“Rarity’s right.” Twilight said, smiling at Zephyr. “You’ve done enough protecting and saving for us for right now. So let us do the protecting and the fighting this time while Fluttershy helps you get patched up again. And when you’re ready, you can come and join in, but only after you’ve gotten all better.”

“N-no, you can’t…!” Zephyr protested, wheezing as he coughed up a bit of blood. He started to fall towards the ground, only for Fluttershy to capture him in her forehooves, caring not for the blood that got on her fur. “Y-you can’t fight right now! W-we’re not even halfway to the abandoned castle!”

“And that’s a reason not to defend ourselves against any creature that’s trying to make a meal out of us?” Goku asked, the tone in her voice making it seem like she knew the answer. “Sorry Zephie, but that ain’t gonna fly. We’re not just going to sit by and let ourselves get killed, and any animal here that does will have to take us down first. Plus, our Adrenaline and Ascension Modes aren’t the only things that we have stored up. Did you forget that, besides you, we’re all from the Secret Clans of Equestria?”

Zephyr paused at this, allowing the words to sink in as he took in all of the determined looks in each of the mares faces. He could tell just by looking into their eyes that they weren’t going to budge from this no matter what he said. As he laid back against the tree, he couldn’t help but ask, “How…do you know that you’re going to be okay? How do you all know that you all won’t end up like I did just now?”

“Well, fer one, we all outnumber this varmint, seven to one.” Applejack replied calmly. “Two, we’re all pretty powerful in our own right, so it’s gonna be a pretty tough for this lizard cat to fight us all alone. Three…” She looked back at Zephyr, giving him one of the most reassuring smiles he had seen on anypony. “…it’s the honest truth.”

No other words were said between the other mares and the fallen guard after that, and the former turned to face the Doragontora, who was looking to be waiting for them to make a move. A long stretched of silence washed over the clearing for what seemed like hours, before Goku suddenly let out a leonine roar, signaling the others to attack. Somehow, they were able to get the message, and in almost complete unison, they charged the Doragontora, each of their bodies surrounded by auras of Adrenaline. The giant draconic cat roared and flew at them, its own body glowing with power as they clashed in the next round.

Author's Notes:

Well, here you are everypony the newly revived and completely revised 20th chapter of the Guardians of Harmony! Out of all of them, this is one of the chapters that I believe that I the most fun writing and the easiest time with, probably because the words poured out of me and the picture that I had put up of said cat when I was writing this on my Word Doc. Now, I don't know exactly how I'm going to end the fight in the next chapter, or if I'm going to be going back to the residents of Ponyville and see how they're handling the Tantabus invasion, but I'm going to be try to get to that part after some brainstorming for what I'm going to do for the next chapter, along with what and who I;m going to be putting into it. For now, I hope you guys enjoy(ed) this chapter, cause this one be the only Everfree fighter the girls encounter as Fluttershy so kindly stated in chapter 12...things are just getting started!!!