After eventual evasion of his pursuers, Amissus hid under a bush somewhere outside the town. He neither understood nor liked what he found…or hadn't found rather…what happened. He only counted five voices, plus the dragon, so that would make six from the cottage that would be looking for him.

But what if there're more coming to search? There's no way to be sure of anything just yet…

He cautiously looked through the branches and jumped back when he saw a pink mane flash past his hiding place. He sank farther into the bush to make sure he was completely out of sight. He pushed back even farther when he spotted a purple and white pony run to the other mare.

"Fluttershy, has he been found?" She said with a posh, elegant tone.

"No. Everypony else can't find him either."

"Alright…go back to the others and I'll look around here for a while."

"Okay, Rarity. If you need us, we'll be right there. I'd hate for him to get even more hurt running around."

"Well, if we hadn't started arguing, he would still be in bed resting."

He saw the mare Fluttershy run past and he switched his attention to Rarity. She was poking about the bushes across from him and continued to eyeball her as she came for his hiding place.

She was mumbling to herself as she approached. "Now where could he have run off to? There was no need to 'flee the scene…' we were trying to help him. So many places he could be hiding, why would he ever choose here-"

She hushed when she lifted away the brush, revealing Amissus sitting still, trying to cease existing to get out of this situation. He was absolutely frozen in place, paralyzed from the dread of having been found. Rarity too had stopped herself altogether, staring at the target of her group's search.

She sighed as she tried to pull him from under the bush, but he defiantly stood his ground and didn't budge. She looked over the bush and called out "Applejack, I found him, but he's not getting out from under here. Can you help me?"

The accented voice grew closer as distance closed between them. "That's great Rarity. We jus' have to figure out how we're goin' to move him if he won't come with us."

The auburn figure of Applejack came to Rarity's side and reached in for him saying "C'mon, you gotta come with us. You're not helping by…oh, stop and get ou- Get out from under there!"

She was much stronger than the unicorn and Amissus was actually struggling to keep himself planted and away from them. He had an idea to escape again: With second thoughts coming to him too late, he launched forward the next time she pulled. Applejack fell backwards with nothing to hold onto and Amissus knocked Rarity down as he leaped over Applejack and sprinted away. He heard Applejack yell out to the others.

He was running without the intention of stopping, so he had to steer clear of all the obstacles in his way. He flew past Fluttershy, who appeared as nothing more than a yellow flash as he went by. A purple unicorn had warped in front of him to attempt to stop him, but her distance allowed Amissus just enough working-room to slide around her, nearly hurtling himself into a rock.

I might make it, I just might…

"Stop! Quit running!" He turned for a glimpse of who was following him. He could only make out a lot of color flying behind him out of what little his fraction-of-a-second look let him see. He felt a new, refreshing feeling wash over his burning muscles: the excitement of the chase, the thrill of the hunt…and he was the prey.

But the predators had their own strategy set up against his brash and unrefined escape plan. The others lined up, forming a wall with a gap, giving Amissus only the gap to go through. He rushed through and into a river, slowing him down so suddenly that it caused the pegasus to tackle him down on the far bank and end the pursuit. A tangle of hooves pushed and fixed Amissus to the ground.

Even with Applejack and the blue pegasus holding him down, he still struggled and wiggled in his bold attempts to slip away again, but they had him in a vice-grip when Applejack firmly put a hoof down on his broken wing, making him scream from the sudden impulse of pain and whimper as she held the pressure.

"You settle down now, you hear?!"Applejack yelled at him through her attempts to catch her breath.

With her squeezing his wing against the ground, feeling as if it were going to tear off, it seemed impossible not to comply.

"Applejack…is that really necessary?" The unicorn who had tried to stop him asked.

"D'you want to go on another goose-chase, Twilight?"

"Fair enough…" she leaned down to Amissus.
"Listen, we're trying to help you, you were incredibly sick when you came here and we had to take care of you. Now you're up and about causing us grief because you decided to run off."

For once he spoke, even through his suffering at Applejack's hoof. "Get your friends off of me…Twilight." He said, recalling her name.

"Let him up." She told them, with a tone of uncertainty at her decision.

He lifted himself up to stare at the mare who seemed to 'call the shots,' but his gaze was interrupted as Fluttershy gripped and gently held his broken wing.

"What do you want with me?" He asked them, but Twilight answered.

"Nothing…we just took you in when you needed help."

"Well…thank you." He said to her. "Now, I'll be going." He started to run again, but fell as his tail was held by one of the other ponies.

"We're not done helping you yet." Twilight said. "Look at you, where will you go? And how far will you get in your current condition?"

"Farther than having my tail held." His tail was released as he finished his quip. "Now what do you insist on helping me for? I don't want your help."

"Nonsense." Twilight said as she pushed him.

"Uh…Twilight…I think you're making a friendship problem." Rarity told her, elaborating 'friendship problem.'

"Oh, no I'm not, I'm solving one."

"It won't end well: We all remember how you ended up last time you tried to make a problem to fix."

Whatever she ended up as sounds worse than this…I think that's my cue to run.

He attempted for the ump-teenth to get away when he tripped over a pink hoof, falling face-first on the ground.

"Pinkie!" The others yelled.

"What? You all knew that he was going to do it, and frankly, chasing him isn't fun anymore."

With zero hope left of eluding this group of mares, he finally gave in to their demands that he stay.

"I'll come with you, but you're dragging me there!"

"Fine by me." They actually grabbed his tail and started to drag him across the dirt.

He sprang up, wiping the grime off his coat. "I was joking…and since we're 'oh-so-good friends,' might as well let me know your names."

Twilight went through the group, pointing as she listed them. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rai-"

"I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, you may have heard of me." She cut off Twilight as she stood proudly in front of Amissus as she introduced herself. "I wonder how fast you are…" She commented as she looked at him from hoof to head.

"What?"

"Nothing." She said quickly.

They started walking together with Amissus following. Rarity fell back to mingle with him.

"So…you surely have a name, don't you?" She started off.

"Amissus." was the best answer he had for them.

"And where are you from?"

"I don't know."

"Well…how did you end up like this?"

"I dont know."

"How old are you? You can't be older than any of us."

"I dontknow."

"Um…are you just passing through Ponyville or…?"

"I donkno."

"Where are you going to stay while you're here?"

"I dunno."

"Is there anything that you do know?!"She said in frustration.

He couldn't help but smile as he said "Dunno."

"You're an interesting character…blank-flank…" she said under her breath as she went back to her previous spot in the group.

…

It wasn't quiet in the least as they arrived into town; the stores were busy and the buyers were busy and the loiterers were busy. Everything ran like clockwork: so many parts of the community constantly moving together. Nothing strange had occurred to Amissus until now as most of the market had turned to he and the group's direction. Some stood in awe while others bowed; but nopony was continuing with their day once they had seen him. He couldn't think of a reason for all the sporadic behavior, but he knew that it had something to do with him. He had become a public spectacle. He sank his head a little to make an attempt to feel a little more concealed.

"Hey…" Fluttershy's soft voice coxed is attention. "It'll be alright, I had a fear of other ponies staring at me too. Still do…"

"How much farther until we reach…wherever we're going?"

"The hospital? Just a few more minutes."

Amissus had a pit in his stomach the entire way thereafter; he had attracted a crowd who was following the alicorn following six of the most known ponies in town…all the way to the hospital…all the way on the other side of town.