Twilight and her friends hadn't made it too far into the forest yet, but their progress had already come to a literal standstill. With the news Fluttershy had brought them, the group had a decision to make.

"On one hoof, we need to get back to Equestria as soon as possible to find out what's been going on since the war started... and ended," Twilight reasoned, pacing back and forth before the others, her head lowered and a troubled frown on her face, "we need to let everypony back home know we're alive... in a sense."

She paused and grimaced a moment before shaking her head and resuming her pacing.

"On the other hoof this new development presents us with a few opportunities," she stopped and looked back at her friends, "we can save the rest of the town from this griffon and actually do some good rather than what we've been doing."

"That does sound nice," Fluttershy muttered, idly scratching behind the ears of a resting Bright Fang, "it probably won't do anything to endear us to the town after what we did, but it'll at least feel good to know we helped stop anymore innocents from dying."

"I'm with Fluttershy on this one, girls," Pinkie agreed, from atop the large wolf's back, "I could reeaaalllly use a good moral boost right about now."

"Wait, you mean morale boost, right?" Twilight asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Nope."

"Alright then," Twilight continued, "well anyway, the other benefit of going back is that if we can reason with this griffon he might be able to tell us more about what's going on. If he really is like us, then it's a high possibility he was involved with what happened to us back at the facility."

"What? So we beat the answers outta him?" Rainbow surmised, grinning at the thought, "sounds good to me. I don't really wanna go all the way back up the mountain, but I guess we could just fly back there."

"And let's not forget Fluttershy's apparently unique... capabilities," Rarity added, looking towards the yellow pegasus with a smile, "with that, and the fact that we can all fly, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to find that griffon."

"So we're all in agreement then?" Twilight asked, turning to each of her friends in turn. Her gaze settled on Applejack, who hadn't spoken yet, "Applejack? What do you think?"

Applejack started and looked around, only now noticing that each of the girls were looking at her expectantly. She grimace and rubbed the back of her neck before letting out a sigh.

"Ah'd rather just keep on goin' like we have been if ah'm bein' completely honest," she finally replied, "ah miss mah folks and ah'm worried about Apple Bloom an' Big Mac somethin' fierce... but ah suppose we can't just leave those poor griffons high an' dry, not after what we did."

She lowered her head, a sad frown crossing her muzzle for a brief moment, before raising it again with a firm nod.

"Apple Bloom an' Big Mac are some of the toughest darn earth ponies ah know," she said with a confident smile, "if they've survived this long without me around, ah guess they can survive just a bit longer, but let's not dawdle, alright?"

"Alright, I guess that settles it then," Twilight said with a nod, "we'll make our way back up the mountain, hopefully intercept Jeger before it's too late, and return back here once we're done."

"Wait!" Pinkie cried suddenly, "what about Shiny Fangs? He can't fly like the rest of us," she then gave the large wolf a narrow eyed gaze, "...or can you?"

"Oh you don't need to worry about Bright Fang," Fluttershy said, smiling at the wolf, "he won't have a problem keeping up with us from the ground."

Pinkie eyed the wolf for another moment before shrugging and hopping off Bright Fang's back.

"Eh, if you say so."

"Are you all ready, then?" Twilight asked, receiving various responses of affirmation, "okay, then let's not waste anymore time."

In a flash of tendrils, she stood tall as the dark griffon she had become so used to using by this point, spreading his wings and giving her friends one last look.

"You heard Applejack, let's try to make this quick, girls."

---

Much further up the mountain, a lone griffon traveled the snow strewn path that led to the quiet town of Squawken. His face was set in a grim frown as he thought about the ponies he had seen on the way up.

Ponies he would've recognized from anywhere.

The encounter had left Jeger completely baffled to say the least. He had been hiding out in that forest for who knows how long now, and had yet to be discovered by anybody save for the rare lost traveler that stumbled upon his den.

Even then, he made sure they didn't live to tell of his whereabouts. He couldn't let anyone find out, at least, not until he was done unlocking the mysteries of his... gift.

Thus was his purpose for his own isolation. The griffon was nothing if not cautious—overly so if his past colleagues were to be believed.

Still, his cautious nature hadn't been enough to save him from the fate that had befallen him only a few years ago. Not wanting to draw any attention to himself after the incident, he fled to the farthest reaches of Griffonia, and found himself in that massive forest.

He had finally escaped.

He had survived.

Now, it was time to learn and adapt.

And that's how he had lived his new life up to this point. It was only recently that he had decided to put what he had learned, along with a few untested theories to practical application.

This is what had led him to seek the small hamlet in the mountains.

But now those mares were here.

Those six mares, the ones he thought he'd never see again, were here of all places, and he didn't understand why or how... but he wouldn't let that stop him, not now.

How they got here was irrelevant, as long as they didn't discover who he really was, and what he was really doing here, it wouldn't affect him.

Even if they did decide to come back up the mountain after him for some reason, they'd have to make it past that wolf, something he was certain they'd have trouble accomplishing.

Still, they did have the feel of the virus about them. It wouldn't do to underestimate the six mares lest his plans come undone.

Jeger stopped suddenly, a troubling thought making its way into his head.

What if they did make it past the wolf and followed after him? It was only now that he realized he didn't have a plan for that.

He needed a plan, and he needed one now. If those mares were more capable than he thought, then he wouldn't stand a chance if they decided to attack him all at once.

He hadn't been part of the project long enough to know what their actual capabilities were, and that was dangerous.

He grit his teeth in frustration, angry at himself for the massive oversight. This wasn't like him, he rarely if ever made mistakes like this.

Maybe he had become complacent in his isolation.

He stood there, rifling through several half formed plans, when he heard a loud, drawn out, blood curdling screech. He head snapped towards the sound.

The screech stopped abruptly and he stepped forward, listening intently. His patience was rewarded with another loud screech that seemed to come from somewhere further up ahead.

His curiosity piqued, he quickly made his way towards the sound. As he got closer to the source, he began to hear other sounds intermingled with the horrible screeches of agony.

The sounds of tearing flesh, snapping bones, loud squelching, sucking, and gurgling filled his ears. The disgusting sounds would've made him sick right then and there once upon a time, but now it just increased his curiosity.

Going slightly off the path, he made his way through a small thicket of trees and into a large clearing. The first thing that hit him was the smell.

It reeked of copper.

That wasn't the only thing he smelled, but as foul as the other odors were, he couldn't exactly place them. As he made his way into the clearing he could see why the smell had been so strong.

Much of the snow covering the ground was soaked dark red with blood. Several griffon corpses littered the area and though the sight was shocking, it ultimately wasn't what held his attention.

What captured Jeger's attention, was the giant mass of black tentacles writhing and flailing about in the middle of the bloody mess.

Amidst the mass of tentacles, he could see glimpses of raw flesh, and viscera being torn apart and mashed back together, only to be ripped asunder once again.

He took a few steps closer, utterly intrigued by the spectacle. He knew what this was, what was happening here in this moment, but he could scarcely believe it.

He had seen this event only one other time, and that had been long ago back when he was still a scientist working on a particular project. Though he didn't remember it, he was certain he himself had also gone through the same thing.

Someone else was being blessed with the gift right before his very eyes.

A smile slowly began to creep across Jeger's beak and he chuckled. He didn't know how long it would take for the process to finish, but if the transformation went anything like his did, it wouldn't be too long.

This was perfect.

He needed a plan to deal with the mares if they showed up to get in his way. He had tried to tame the wolf, but that hadn't worked out and in the end, it fled from him before he could kill it and rid himself of the evidence of his 'tampering'.

He could tell by the earlier screeches that this particular case involved a griffon, and he could work with that. A sapient creature was so much easier to deal with, and taking advantage of the initial confusion that would no doubt arise once the griffon awoke would be a simple enough task.

This new development would set his original plan for the town back, but the results would be worth it. From his own studies, he had deduced that the recovery time for those infected with the virus varied greatly by race.

The griffons that survived to make it to this stage seemed to recover rather quickly. At this point in the restructuring process, it shouldn't have taken more than another hour or so before it was complete.

Jeger made himself comfortable, ruffling his feathers in excitement before sitting down in front of the shifting mass before him.

He smiled, as new ideas and plans whirled about in his mind. The situation with the wolf may not have worked out in his favor, but he had found something far better.

Though he was a cautious individual, he was also stubborn, and wouldn't let a failure stop him in his tracks. He'd turn a failure into another opportunity if given the chance, and here he had found a great opportunity.

All he needed to do now was wait.

Next Chapter: Revival Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 49 Minutes