PSYCOPATH - Oh, this wasn't Twilight's fault... but you'll find out what really happened soon enough ;)

Lone the Dark Hearted Wolf - Sure seems that way, doesn't it?

Bosscakes - Can't say I'm familiar with Chatango, but I'll look into it. I'll try to mention something about Cupcakes so you know it's me ;) Is it really safe to say that? Or is somepony else going to be the last member...?

DragonLovingBrony - Oh, you'll find out soon enough...

centaurus2 - Lol I thought so too ;)

xel101 - Doesn't something else bad always happen?

MortBlackthorn - Yeah... I don't think pregnancy would cause delirium followed by a loss of consciousness... Besides, she and Blake haven't done the deed... yet

PBJFanFiction - Lol This isn't Mario... He has to take the flower to Zecora so she can make it into a potion for him, remember? Oh, that's his sword alright; and yes, it's made of Star Steel

Ponified Bacon Boss - Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff... let's just go with that.

Kyguy - Yeah... I'm pretty sure Blake won't be 'crossing swords' with Falathiel anytime soon... or ever...

darksoul78 - Well, here's the next chapter! (Sorry it's a little late though; more details in the A/N)

Jack Chronicle - Eeyup

KillerWoW - Lol because I'm evil! :D And don't worry about it Pinks, I'll tell you later *cough*never*cough*

Killerbeast - Lol I know, I'm just a HUGE tease ;)

PyraohXBlaze - Why thank you; I worked particularly hard on masking that little plot thread :D

Zero the Warrior of Chaos - Well... there's a lot of variables involved; first and foremost, its only 100 kilometers (roughly 60 miles) from Ponyville to the temple, so Mach 1 would be more than enough to get her there in a matter of seconds. That and it's possible that she headed for him as soon as she realized that he was confronting the amped-up shadow bones instead of right when he got caught up by the vines. Plus, if you remember, the chamber they were in had an open roof by design, so she could simply go through that instead of having to navigate the entire temple.

DragonLord RyuKizoku - Lol. I'll never tell! :P

Mikalzilla - Why is everyone so quick to blame Twilight?!

TurnupGrain43 - As awesome as that would be... sorry, no timelords in this fic...

landmoverman - Thanks! Can you guess who created her?

A/N - Howdy everypony! SOrry for the late update this week, it seems FanFiction was down for some time this week, so I had to wait for it to come back up before I could update. Beyond that though, not much news. I will likely be posting the first chapter of my little side project next week; for those unfamiliar with it, I'll be posting a series of short stories that include graphic depictions of rape, gore, death and other uncomfortable subjects as a way to force myself out of my own comfort zone. Don't worry though; these stories will have no ties to A Second Chance, so you won't need to read them if these subjects make you uncomfortable. As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

The shaman had walked into the tent moments later, and while he was able to treat my wounds, Quickhoof translated to us that he had no idea how to help Twilight as he'd never seen a sickness like this before. Applejack walked beside me as I carried the ailing bookworm back to our tent, wrapping her up in blankets and cuddling up against her to share my own body heat and hopefully bring hers up.

I felt AJ climb under the covers behind me and scooch up until she was laying herself across my back. "Ah'm glad ya came back ta us Hon… Ah don't know what Ah woulda done if'n ya never came outta that temple again, 'specially not with Twilight like she is." She shifted and rested her head on my shoulder. "Ah'm scared Blake… Ah don't know what's wrong with 'er… Y'all saw how she was; one minute she's right as rain, and tha next, she's like this. She seemed a bit under tha weather earlier, but nothin' like this here."

Twilight was shivering violently against me, and I rubbed her sides and shoulders with my hands, trying to get her body's temperature up again. "I know what you mean AJ. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was suffering from some sort of shock from severe blood-loss, but that can't be right…" I spread my aurasight around the tent, getting a bearing on everything we'd brought with us. "We need to get her to a proper doctor, and soon, but we can't leave now, it's too close to dark, we'll have to wait until the morning."

"D… do ya think she'll make it four whole days o' walkin through tha Everfree in her condition?"

I shook my head. "No… I don't… that's why we're not going to walk back."

"Then how're we… wait, y'all don't mean…"

"Yes AJ, we're going to have to fly out of here if we're going to have any hope of getting her to help on time."

I felt her shift again, and could feel her breath on my face as she looked down at me. "Is that even safe? Ah mean, it's bad enough ya'd be carryin' tha two of us, plus all our stuff, but… y'all can't see yet Hon…"

I turned so I could 'look' her in the eye. "It'll be ok AJ. We'll leave the stuff here for now, and come back for it later, and Falathiel can extend the range of my aurasight somehow, so I'll be able to see far enough around me to fly… I'll still need your help though; there may be things that I might miss while I'm worrying about keeping Twilight safe, so I'll need you to be on the lookout for me too."

Applejack nodded slowly, but I could tell she wasn't really comfortable with the idea. "A-alright Sugarcube, if y'all really think this is tha best thing ta do, Ah trust ya… So, when do we leave then?"

I rubbed Twilight's shoulders some more, and felt her shivering starting to quiet down some. "First thing in the morning; the sooner we can get her someplace that can help, the better. I don't need the light to see by, but it's going to be a lot colder at night, which won't do her any good. Now, why don't you scoot over to the other side of her?" AJ started to protest, but I cut her off by putting my hand gently on her cheek. "I know, I missed you too AJ, but right now Twilight needs the both of us…" She nodded and slid over top of me, careful not to step on either me or Twilight, and slid into place, cuddled against the purple mare.

It wasn't long before Twilight stopped shivering altogether, and her breathing evened out as she slipped off to sleep. As much as my body cried out for me to join her in slumber, I forced myself to stay awake as best I could so I could keep an eye on her in case she worsened. I felt a hoof placed against my elbow as I fought to keep my eyes open. "It's alright Sugarcube, Ah'll stay up 'n watch her. Y'all been through too much already today, so just go ahead an' get some rest fer now. Ah promise Ah'll wake ya up if Ah start ta get too tired ta stay awake, ok?" I nodded tiredly to her and felt myself slipping off to sleep almost immediately.

I must have been more tired than I thought, since I woke up sometime later without a single dream to speak of. I spread my aurasight around and noticed that there was virtually no activity in the Kokello camp, leading me to believe it was still early in the morning. "Well g' mornin' handsome…" I focused in on AJ's face and noticed that her eyelids were drooping erratically, and I could tell she was fighting just as hard as I had been to stay awake. "Ah wuz just about ta wake y'all up…" Before I could even tell her 'good morning', my loving country mare had flopped over and started snoring quietly, still cuddled up against the bookish mare.

I looked down to Twilight, who was still sleeping peacefully, and seemed to be warmer than she had been before, which I was grateful for; that was a sign that her body temperature was up, and that hopefully she could start to recover from whatever it was that had struck her. I felt the telltale twinge of a quickly filling bladder, urging me to empty it, but I dared not leave Twilight's side just yet, lest I deprive her of the vital warmth I was providing her.

"She won't suffer from your absence for such a short amount of time, Bearer…" I looked over to Falathiel, who was rested against one of our packs in a corner of the tent near the flap. "Go; if something happens, I'll contact you post-haste. You won't do her any good by forcing yourself to lie there with a full bladder."

I let out a small sigh and nodded to the sentient weapon. "Thanks. I'll be back as soon as I can."

I left the tent and shivered as the brisk night air brushed past my bare chest. I hurried to the edge of camp and took care of my business before heading back to the tent. I stepped back inside and rubbed my chest and arms to warm them back up again before I slipped back under the covers with Twilight and Applejack. The latter of the two was busily sawing logs in her sleep while Twilight breathed peacefully, almost as though she wasn't sick at all.

"Go back to sleep Bearer, I will watch over your marefriend, and if her condition should worsen, I'll wake you immediately." I wanted to protest, but my body was quick to remind me of the aches, pains and utter exhaustion of the previous two day.

I settled back into the covers and allowed myself to drift off to sleep once again, knowing I would need the rest if I was going to make the roughly one hundred kilometer flight carrying both Applejack and Twilight in the morning.

I woke up again to the sounds of busy ponies going about their day and the warmth of the sun streaming into our tent. I shook Twilight first, who shifted and poked her head out from under the covers. "Wha… what happened?"

"You passed out last night Twi, your body was ice cold, so we brought you back here and used our body heat to warm you back up again."

Twilight looked over her shoulder to the sleeping form of Applejack, and I could see the rosy blush forming on her cheeks with my mind's eye. "I… we didn't…"

"Of course not Twi, you passed out in Wanate's tent, neither of us would even dream of doing something like that while you were in that condition."

Twilight let out a huge yawn and rubbed her eyes. "I… I think I remember everything up until being in Wanate's tent, but it all gets fuzzy and I can't think. Wait… didn't you say he was really 'Quickhoof'?" I nodded. "Then why are you still calling him 'Wanate'?

"Because that's what the tribe knows him as, if they find out he's really somepony else, things might not go so well for him." She looked like she was about to say something, but I had a guess what it was. "I know no one but him speaks our language, but if they realize we're addressing him as something other than 'Wanate', even if they don't realize what that something is, they could get suspicious, so we have to make sure his people continue to think that that's his real name."

I heard a groan coming from behind Twilight, and saw Applejack stretch out her entire body underneath the thick blankets. "Mornin' y'all. Ah'm glad ta see Twilight's doin ok… ya had us worried about ya Sugarcube."

"I'm sorry Applejack, I'm really not sure what happened last night; one minute we were talking to Wanate, and the next, I woke up here, sandwiched between you two."

I chuckled and pecked her on the nose, which was thankfully warm. "Heh heh… I bet you didn't mind either…"

She giggled and punched me in the shoulder. You're terrible Blake Marshall." I gave her a wolfish grin and she giggled harder. "And don't think I didn't hear about your little 'talk' with Vinyl Scratch mister!"

I cocked my head to the side. "Talk? What talk? I don't… Oh… that talk…" My grin widened even further. "Heh heh… I can't say I'd mind that…" I didn't even have time to dodge the pillow that Applejack flung at me.

After spitting out the feathers that had somehow gotten into my mouth from the pillow, I shifted and stretched. "Well, Applajack and I should go talk to Wanate; we're going to need to make sure he'll watch our stuff after all."

"Why would you need Wanate to watch our things, are you going somewhere else already?"

I shook my head. "No, AJ and I decided last night that we need to get you back to Ponyville for medical treatment ASAP, so I'm going to fly the both of you home… thing is, I can't carry all our gear too, so I'll have to come back for it."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "I… but you… What?!"

"It's easy Sugarcube; in yer condition, ya'd never make it four days 'r more in tha Everfree, so Blake's gonna give us a lift home so's we c'n be back in just a few hours instead."

Twilight was quiet for awhile while she thought about it. "OK… I mean, I feel better, but who knows if or when I'll have another episode like I did last night, and I don't want to be a burden like that…"

I leaned in and gave the purple mare a long kiss on the lips. "You'll never be a burden to us Twilight Sparkle, and don't you forget that…" She panted slightly as she nodded. "Now, we're going to talk to Wanate, I'm going to leave Falathiel here in the tent so she can monitor you and let me know if something happened."

Twilight looked over at the sentient sword. "I don't really know if I'm comfortable with that…"

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Twi, she's not here to hurt us, and she can only communicate with me, so you literally won't even know she's here."

Twilight sighed and nodded. "Ok, I trust you Blake. Just… hurry back… I missed you, and I don't want to be away from you for long."

I kissed her on the forehead and got out from under the covers. "We'll be back as soon as we can Hon. I love you, don't forget that."

She smiled, and I could see the happiness on her face. "I love you too Blake." I dressed quickly left the tent, ready to head off into the camp in search of its Chief.

As I set foot out of the tent's flap though, I could have sworn I heard Applejack and Twilight whispering to each other, though I had no idea what they were saying. My sweet country mare joined me a moment later though. "So, what was all that about?"

AJ stiffened at the question. "Ah err… weren't nothin' really, we're just excited ta see ya again is all…" She may have been my sweet and loving country mare, but she had the poker face of a five-year-old that was trying to pretend she wasn't excited to go to Disney World.

I decided not to press the issue though, since I knew those two would never hide anything important from me; besides, no relationship could work properly without some wiggle room for secrets here and there.

Being ever the gentleman, I gestured her forward, and we began making our way through the camp together. Since Falathiel wasn't with me, my aurasight was down to its normal fifteen meter or so radius, but I didn't mind; I didn't really need more than that here anyway. Thinking of the sentient blade brought another thought to mind, and I decided to try something. "Hey Falathiel, you there?"

"I am here Bearer. What is it you need?"

"Sorry, I'm just new to this whole 'telepathic bond' thing, and I wanted to see how well it worked from a distance."

There was a slight pause from her. "I understand. You needn't worry though; at this level, our bond wouldn't be strained unless we were significantly far apart. Were you in Ponyville, you would still be able to communicate with me, though that would be testing the limits at this time. In fact, it is the strength of our bond that allowed me to sense that you were in danger from such a distance in the first place."

It was my turn to pause now. "So wait… you mean it's going to get even stronger than that?"

"Yes. I would estimate that by your fiftieth birthday that you would be able to speak to me from any point on this planet."

"Y'all alright Sugarcube?"

I shook my head as Applejack's voice reminded me of my surroundings. "Oh… yeah; I just wanted to see if I could still talk to Falathiel from a distance, or if I had to be closer to her."

AJ cocked an eyebrow at me. "How'd that work out for ya?"

I chuckled. "Well, apparently I could be clear back in Ponyville and still be able to talk to her, though things might be a little fuzzy at that point."

Applejack let out a low whistle. "Hoo wee! Ah sure wish Ah could talk ta AB like that sometimes, it'd sure making findin' 'er flank when it comes time fer chores easier. Gotta admit though, this whole 'talkin' sword' thing's gonna take some getting' used to…"

I felt a warm smile cross my face as I thought about Applejack's little sister. "Nah, she's a good filly, you wouldn't need something like that. Besides, she really likes doing the chores with her family, especially you. And as far as Falathiel is concerned… at least I'll have something fun to tell the fillies when we get back."

"Heh heh… Yeah, Ah bet they'll get a kick outta that. Ah miss 'er though… and Big Mac 'n Granny Smith too. Ah ain't never been away from kin fer so long b'fore. Heck, even when Ah ran away from tha farm as a filly Ah was still with mah family."

I patted her on the shoulder as I watched the Kokello tribesponies going about their business. "Don't worry AJ, with any luck, we'll all be back in Ponyville with our loved ones by the time Celestia lowers the sun this evening. And besides, we're family now, so you've got me and Twilight…" Before she could say anything else, I spotted Wanate on the other side of a tent, out of Applejack's line-of-sight. "He's over there. Come on, let's go talk to him so we can all go home."

We headed of towards the tent, and as we rounded it, Wanate turned to greet us. "Good fire-rise to you. I hope your companion is feeling better."

I nodded. "She is, thanks for asking. But, we need another favor from you, if you're willing." He nodded for me to proceed. "I don't think she can handle the four days or more it's going to take us to get home by walking, so I want to fly the three of us there. The problem is, I can't carry them and all our gear at the same time, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to watch our supplies until I can come back for them."

Wanate nodded again. "Of course, we would be honored to guard your belongings, Negara! But, before you leave, allow us to feed you one last time; you will need your strength for such a long trip after all. One of our Marae… young mares, will bring you something to eat."

"Thanks Wanate, you're the best. Come on AJ, let's go back to the tent with Twi and wait."

We turned to leave, but Wanate's voice called out from behind us. "Oh, and before you go," I turned back around to address the Kokello Chief. "I may be too old to face you in combat now, but I would like you to attempt the rite of passage that all our Agra warriors must face."

A part of me was skeptical, but I was also tickled that he remembered my promise to fight him after all this time, even if he wasn't physically up to the challenge anymore. "Sure thing, just tell me what I have to do."

Wanate smirked and reached into a small pouch hanging around his neck, pulling forth what looked to be a pepper of some sort. "All you must do is brave the fires of the Agrana fruit."

I took the proffered fruit and turned the long, slender pepper over in my hand. "Ah ain't never seen nothin like that b'fore… is it s'posed ta be red like that?"

I ran my fingers over the bumps and creases along the skin of the curved pepper and looked back up to Wanate. "If I can brave this test, would you be willing to give me some seeds to grow my own plants?"

The aging warrior raised an eyebrow. "I do not think you understand the nature of this fruit. However, if you still wish it after you have eaten the fruit, I will grant you some of the seedlings we are raising during the winter." I nodded, already pretty sure of what the pepper was. "Very well. Now, in order to perform the test properly, you must chew the fruit for a count of ten before you swallow it."

I took a deep breath, fully aware of all the ponies now watching me. I brought the pepper to my lips and popped it into my mouth, pulling the remainder of the stem off before starting to chew. I counted to ten in my head, using my fingers to mark each count so that everyone would know that I wasn't cheating. The pepper started burning almost immediately, and as I counted, I could feel the heat intensifying.

On the tenth count, I swallowed the pepper. The heat was beyond intense, and I could feel my entire body heating up as sweat started beading on my face. Applejack looked worried, but I winked at her to let her know I was ok. I looked over to Wanate. "So, how about those seedlings?"

The Kokello Chieftain blinked several times. He said something in the Kokello language, probably translating what I'd said to the onlookers, before addressing me. "I have never seen a stallion take the heat of the Agrana fruit so well. What kind of mental discipline do you have?"

I chuckled and elbowed him lightly. "Mental discipline nothing, I used to use these things to season my food back home. We call these 'Ghost Peppers' where I'm from, and I used to grow them myself." I could feel my tongue starting to go numb, but I managed to talk without slurring my words.

He blinked several more times, the first time I had seen real surprise on the stallion's face. "You mean you used to eat these fruits as part of your daily meal?!"

I nodded. "Just about every day. I actually used to dry them out and grind them up so I could use them like a seasoning." Wanate shook his head, turned, and announced something to the gathering in their language.

Applejack stepped forward. "Those don't seem so bad, y'all mind if'n Ah try one?"

"If you wish…" He reached into his pouch and produced another pepper, giving it to Applejack.

She popped it into her mouth and started chewing, tapping the ground with each count, and each tap became more frantic as the heat built up in her mouth. The poor mare only got to the count of seven before spitting the chewed remains of the pepper out, scrabbling at her tongue with her hooves in a vain attempt to stop the burning.

Wanate stepped over to the suffering Applejack, who had tears streaming down her face, and held out a small vial that looked much like the bone vial the healing paste had come in. "Drink this, it will help calm the fire." Applejack took the vial and poured its contents into her mouth as Wanate looked up to me. "How many seedlings do you wish to take with you?"

I shrugged. "However many you're willing to spare I suppose, I could get by with two or three, using the seeds from the mature peppers to plant more, but I'd get a bigger first harvest with more initial plants."

He nodded. "Very well. We can spare four seedlings without worry of shortage."

As I thanked the stallion, I suddenly became aware of several whispered conversations going on around us. "What's with all the whispers? Are they upset that you let us take the test or something?"

"No. Some of my kinsponies believe that your companion was brave for attempting the test; no mare in our village has ever done so. And due to how well you handled the test, better than any stallion I've seen in my entire time as Chief in fact, some of the mares… wish to lie with you." I felt my face instantly heat up, and I really hoped that AJ was too busy with her burning tongue to have heard that.

My poor marefriend tried to say something, but all that came out were a series of wheezes and hiccups, so whatever it was came out as little more than gibberish. After thanking Wanate again for everything he'd done for us, I picked her up and carried her off to our tent to wait for our breakfast so we could eat and leave… once the burning had calmed down for poor AJ at least.

I set AJ down on the blanket next to Twilight, who seemed to be dozing as we came in. "What's wrong with her?" Twilight stirred and sat up, looking over at the heavily panting Applejack, who still had her tongue lolled out.

"Long story short, she tried to take the Agra warriors' test, and things got a little… too hot for her to handle." Applejack groaned at the bad pun.

My country marefriend sat up, still hiccupping. "Ho- *hic* how can y'all j- *hic* just sit there li- *hic* like this ain't nothin?!" I was glad she wasn't wheezing anymore at least, which was a sign the burn was wearing off.

I kissed her on the forehead, which I realized was a bad idea when a random hiccup nearly caused her to accidentally head-butt me. "I told you AJ, I've been eating spicy food for a long time… there's more to it than that… but that can wait until we get back to Ponyville."

Twilight perked up at that. "Oh yeah! When are we leaving?! I can't wait to get back to the library and catch up on my reading, and I bet Spike and Owlowiscious are worried sick about me by now!"

"Don't worry Twilight, we'll be leaving soon, but Wanate wants to give us something to eat before-" I paused as the tent flap suddenly opened, and three platters of food were brought in, all carried by a stunningly beautiful young mare.