“Why aren't you back with Zecora?”
>You've been very dumb this afternoon.
>So incredibly angry that you've been running around picking fights with everything that even looked slightly dangerous.
>There are now a lot of dead monsters littering the grounds of the Everfree Forest.
>You're dehydrated, your body is sore and your armor needs repairs now.
>You're still angry, but your body is going to quit on you long before you're calm.
>In fact, it might quit on you in a few minutes if you're not very careful.
>Spike swallows visibly, eyes glancing towards your sword.
>Shit, does he think you're going to take a swing at him next?
>Sure, you're covered in blood but you're not quite at 'kill everything'.
>Well, not anymore.
>Maybe if he'd been dumb enough to follow you to the river.
“Well?”
>Spike jumps when you ask the question in a less than nice manner.
> “Oh, well I was just going to see...uh, Rarity.”
“Uhuh.”
> “Yeah, I just uh. Well Zecora seemed to have a handle on things. I just figured I needed to take a walk, too.”
>That's a decent enough reason, but you'd have preferred the shack had a guard.
“Fine, let's go back.”
 
>The hut looks the same as it did before, with Zecora out of sight.
>Of course, she'd be inside looking after...her.
>You take your seat back at the rock pile before you'd went on your murderampage.
>Back to thinking and steadily getting more angry.
>It just doesn't seem likely to ever stop.
>You're angry at yourself, more than anything.
>Last night you were so busy getting laid and thinking this quest was fun that you forgot what you were trying to accomplish.
>To help Equestria, Celestia and all the cute little ponies.
>Shit like what happened to...her. That could happen to anyone, especially without their Sun Princess to protect them.
>Hell, it could even happen to C-no, don't even think that way.
>But you should have been trying more.
>Trying at all.
>You can't just dick around anymore, this quest needs to get finished. Soon.
 
>Spike appears next to you holding a jug of water and a glass.
>He must have went inside the hut, you didn't even notice.
>You're on autopilot as you grab the glass and down it in seconds.
>Which was sort of a mistake, you're instantly nauseous from being so dehydrated.
>But you hold onto the water, and the next four cups you guzzle down.
>Now back from the edge of collapse you can feel a whole lot of other sensations.
>From how tired you are to how sore you are.
>All the other sensations take the edge off of your focus.
>But you've still sworn to take your quest more seriously.
>Though at the moment you're stuck in a forest just a few miles from where you'd started.
>You're hardly any closer to the Princess at all.
>What have you been doing out here?
>You need to leave tomorrow. You'd leave immediately if you weren't so tired.
 
>Zecora comes back out of her hut a few moments after you've had just about all you could drink.
>She's not meeting your gaze, and you absently remember that you'd snapped at her.
>You should feel sorry, some of you even does, but it's for the best that you keep yourself at arms distance.
>There are a lot more important things to accomplish.
>You need to get your armor off and repair it, sharpen your sword.
>Zecora had looked like she was about to speak when you stood up suddenly, both her and Spike flinch.
>Yeah, you've spooked them something fierce.
>Whatever, you're baking in this armor.
>Off comes your helmet. Then your chest piece, followed closely by working on your arms and legs.
> “I...Anonymous, you should be checked for wounds. An infection even from a minor scratch would spell your doom.”
>Zecora being concerned for you despite how crazy you'd been, and how you'd hurt her feelings was touching.
>But you're far from being in the mood.
“I'm fine, I've got work to do.”
>You stalk off to the makeshift forge to touch up your armor.
>And just generally avoid your friends, both of whom are looking more concerned by the second.
 
>It wasn't easy to buff scratches out of bloody armor but you'd done your best.
>Occasionally Zecora or Spike had deposited a refilled jug of water for you.
>A plate of food was added at what you'd guessed was dinner time.
>The sun went down as you were resharpening your sword.
>The armor had come first.
>Then you'd attended to your under clothes, your shirt needed to be thrown out for the sheer amount of blood that had stained it.
>Then you'd collected up a sizable amount of scrap iron that had found its way near the forge.
>At the time you'd had an extensive debate with Twilight about reforging your shield entirely after the dragon you'd fought tore a huge gash in it.
>A debate you'd won, it felt wrong to melt down your sun emblem shield.
>Now you'd started to forge a new weapon entirely.
>The death match on the floor of the Diamond Dog's cave had shown you that you needed something shorter, quicker and more maneuverable.
>A little short sword, or maybe you'd call it a dagger, was taking shape in your hands as you hammered  the heated lumps of metal into shape.
 
>Of course you were still exhausted, completely at your limits as sweat dripped into and stung your eyes.
>But you were absolutely not going to sleep tonight, which sort of put a dent on your plan to leave tomorrow.
>Spike needed to heal anyway, and you couldn't just leave Cel...Trixie without figuring out that entire mess.
>You're not really that pissed off anymore, you'd worked a lot of it out of you at the forge.
>It was going to take another trip to the Diamond Dog cave to look for clues.
>The hope was that you'd find some information for where the dragons were, or at least where other of their tribe were located.
>As far as you knew the dragon nests were located somewhere vaguely to the south, but something a little more exact would be helpful. The whole area past Appleloosa was supposed to be inhospitable.
>Well no matter what that's where you'd be heading.
>You pause and lower the hammer in your hands to a resting spot. You needed to swipe your forehead.
>There's a sound of hoofsteps and you turn instantly to look.
“Zecora, I'll be going to bed soon. Don't worry, I'm not even that mad any-”
>You only see Trixie, nervously looking anywhere but at you.
 
>She doesn't look quite as awful as she did earlier this afternoon, but she still looks half like a holocaust victim.
>You turn fully to look at her, your breath coming in faster and faster.
> “I-I'm s-sorry for disturbing you, alpha. This bitch wanted to thank you...”
>She's ten times more quiet than Fluttershy, and shivering visibly with her eyes still averted.
>The words themselves cut into you, leave your blood boiling.
>How many times did they make her say twisted shit like that before it stuck?
>The Everfree forest is going to have a lot less monsters again if you let yourself get really angry again.
“You don't...”
>Fuck, what the hell do you even say?
“You don't have to call me alpha or anything like that. I'm just Anonymous.”
>Trixie glances just slightly towards you, you catch just the barest sign of confusion in the dark forest.
>She swallows, and nods slightly.
> “Okay...Anonymous, Sir. You're very kind to this bitch.”
>At least she hadn't called you master...but that last part.
“Don't call yourself bitch, either. That's an order.”
>It somewhat goes against the idea of you not being her 'owner', but anything was better than hearing her referring to herself like that.
>”Okay...”
>Trixie didn't seem so convinced.
 
>Well now things were just awkward.
>You're out here, exhausted, with a broken shell of a pony who probably would do anything you told her.
>Anything but what she probably needed most anyway.
>Trying to order her to go into Ponyville and seek immediate medical and psychological attention would probably not be something that would actually work out so well.
>You knew exactly how ponies were.
>Sure, they'd be nothing but gentle and kind and absolutely do anything to help Trixie.
>But what she'd been through was probably so outside of the scope of their understanding and experience that there wasn't much they'd probably be able to do.
>The dragon attack alone had seriously shattered a lot of the peaceful utopia that they'd all apparently been living under.
>You'd just been terrified when they'd attacked, Twilight and her friends all had thought the world was ending. The idea of a war was about as theoretical as the physics that Twilight liked to babble about.
>Trixie would never have a normal life again, and the stigma would undoubtedly hang over her forever.
>Were you prepared to just foist her off to be the problem of others?
>Did you really have the time to take care of her?
 
> “Tr-Trixie heard that you were trying to save Princess Celestia...w-what happened?”
> Trixie was the first one to break the silence, which was surprising enough.
“There was an attack by dragons, they ended up kidnapping her as part of their terms of surrender. I think they're trying to make ponies into their servants.”
>Wait, that was a bit too close to matching the 'plight' of the Diamond Dogs. Possibly not the best tact, but the circumstances were different enough.
>She just pauses, still mostly looking at the ground instead of you, and then nods.
> “This...Trixie heard from her previous alpha about the attack. Tr-Trixie did not want to believe it.”
>She probably heard about your quest from Spike and Zecora while inside the hut.
>You needed to have a long talk with them, a few apologies were in order.
>Talking with Trixie was draining all your rage out of you for the moment, and the full weight of how tired you were was leaving your arms feeling like bricks.
> “Trixie wants to g-go with you. Is that okay, Sir Anon?”
>You double take staring at the little light blue wreck of a pony.
“You want to go with me?”
>She timidly nods, and then reaches up to tug at the extended curl of her silvery mane that hadn't weathered her captivity particularly well.
> “Y-you rescued Trixie. Please don't leave me! I won't get in the way, I can help! Trixie knows magic! A-and will carry your things! Just don't go, don't leave me alone!”
>It all came out as a burst, and halfway through she'd come crawling over to start tugging at your pant legs.
>It also looked like she was going to start crying.
 
>There was a definite raw edge to her tone, you could only guess what made her want to be with you so bad.
>Beyond just saving her, of course.
>Maybe she understood her own situation as well as you thought you did.
“Okay-okay! You can come with me.”
>Probably not the most responsible thing to cave in on but fuck it, you weren’t a therapist.
>You'd let Spike come with you on these dangerous adventures too, so you didn't have much of a leg to stand on.
>Of course Trixie was a pony. The whole 'ponies that try and fight back get the rest wiped out' treaty was still on the books.
>Whatever, the treaty itself was just a thin pretext for a ceasefire. The dragons were going to break it whenever they felt the need or occasion, they didn't need an excuse.
>You'd just used it for Twilight, her friends and other ponies so that they wouldn't head out with you and get killed.
>Trixie was probably about as desperate as you at this point, probably more.
>All you can see is sheer relief on her face, and she nuzzles her cheek against your shin.
> “Thank you, I promise I'll be useful.”
>In any other circumstance having a pony nuzzle your legs would be cute, but you just feel awful.
>With a great sigh you reach down and scratch Trixie behind the ear which she actually doesn't flinch away from.
>It's time to get some sleep and worry about everything later.
>...after you washed yourself. First things first.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
>Sleeping arrangements had been awkward
>Trixie had immediately taken up a spot next to your feet and didn't so much as budge from the spot the whole night.
>She hadn't called you 'alpha' since you'd told her not to but the attitude itself was apparently not so easily commanded away.
>You'd fallen asleep immediately, but the entire night was full of uneasy dreams.
>Ones you could only just barely recall while sitting at the breakfast table.
>Celestia had been there, and she'd been crying.
>It was like you were stuck in a thick fog, just barely able to see her through the murkiness. Every step forward you took just had her further away.
>Your dreams were being blatantly symbolic at this point, you didn't need to find a pony with a couch cutiemark to puzzle them out.
>What was troubling you more was the question of whether these weren't so much dreams but more attempts from the Princess to contact you. If that was the case then the crying was worse.
 
>More things for you to worry about, but it was better than focusing on the current climate of Zecora's hut.
>Trixie was right next to your side, and practically underneath your right arm while you were trying to eat.
>Spike was on your left, and frowning at his bowl of gems while saying nothing.
>Zecora had left awhile ago to 'collect herbs'. She hadn't looked at you once the whole morning, even when she'd set your breakfast out.
>So far there hadn't been much of anything said, and the tone set yesterday had carried over and continued to hang over you today.
“We're going to be leaving soon, Spike.”
>That gets him to look up at you, a mixture of surprise and confusion at war on his face.
> “Leaving? Like the forest? But where?”
“We've been here too long, we'll check out the cave and then regardless of what we find we'll head to the southern badlands.”
>Spike sighs heavily for a moment, placing his claws on the table and then nods.
> “Alright, Anonymous. But what about...”
>His eyes fall immediately on Trixie who you feel shrink and press herself right up against your side at the attention.
>Apparently her comfort of speaking only extends to who she considers strictly in charge of her.
“She's coming with us.”
>You'd kind of hoped that Spike would drop it but he stands up immediately, frowning.
> “Coming with us?! But Anonymous!”
“She wants to come with us, let's not get into it.”
 
> “I must protest this rash decision, for traveling she is in no condition.”
>Zecora had just entered the hut, and on turning you could see how much she disagreed.
>Mostly based on the heavy frown, stern eyes all directed right on you.
“We won't leave right away, she can have a chance to get some rest. But I'm not going to just leave her, and she doesn't want that either.”
>Advancing, your 'almost was your girlfriend but you probably fucked that up' Zebra friend digs her heels in with an unhappy glare.
> “This is not a matter of opinion or drama, for what Trixie has suffered is far too much trauma.”
>Before you could get a word in edgewise, Zecora looks towards the unicorn who has completely planted herself into your side.
>Her front hooves are wrapped up against your arms like it was an anchor, her face buried with the horn prodding along your bicep.
> “Trixie you must understand, you cannot involve yourself in Anon's plan. You are safer here in ponyville, out there is the risk of being killed.”
> Trixie doesn’t' respond so much as whimper.
>You completely understood where Zecora was coming from, what would happen if you ran into Diamond Dogs again? Trixie would freak.
>If you were lucky.
 
>But you know the alternative, and double down.
“This isn't a debate. If Trixie wants to come on this mission to save the Princess I'm not going to stop her.”
>Zecora is glaring at you, and you don't hesitate to match it.
>The temperature in the hut drops about twenty degrees.
>Spike audibly gulps, and just out of the corner of your eye you see he's glancing back and forth between the two of you.
>Finally Zecora huffs and glances away, clearly angry.
> “If help you will not refuse, then this is an argument I can't help but lose. I...”
>She trailed off suddenly and merely frowns in silence at you.
>It occurs to you that there's an unsaid opportunity for her to join you as well.
>Which is almost certainly motivated by whatever attraction she has for you.
>Even after all the fighting that's been going on and ugly emotions, you can remember the night before.
>But beyond that there's no other reason for her to come along with you.
>Which means Zecora isn't going to ask if it's okay to go with you.
>You need to ask.
>Did you want her to come with you?
 
>You glance for a moment down to Trixie, still cowering up against your side, and grit your teeth.
“We're going back to the cave to explore and look for information. Do you mind watching after Trixie while she rests?”
>That was the end of the moment, you look back up at Zecora and only see hurt on her face.
> “...I will take care of her as you ask, and I will also make sure your things are packed.”
>The way she'd said that all but confirms that your time here was rapidly coming to an end. At least she hadn't told you to get out now. There was still that much.
>Still, you had to focus.
“Good. Trixie?”
>Dutifully, the previous topic of conversation snaps her head up to stare at you with her full attention.
“Stay with Zecora and rest, I'm going to come back so don't worry. It's important that you're well for when we leave.”
> “Yes Al-Sir.”
>You stand up immediately, rather than deal with the consequences of your choices.
>Spike sighs, pushing away his half eaten breakfast and follows after you.
>It's a long walk to the caves and neither of you speak the entire way.
>You've made the right decision, you assure yourself and rest your right hand on the hilt of your sword.
>No more distractions.