Lipo

by SanityCheck8080

O

"Have you heard the story of the Geldan? An awful monster that one. Thousands of eyes, sharp claws, row upon row of fangs. Fangs that could drop your blood supply to zero, before you even have a chance to scream. You're dead before you even know what got you."

Dash observed the shocked faces before her. The corners of her mouth went up. She had gotten the wanted effect. "Thankfully for all of us, he only attacks those who have not heard the legend. We're all safe." Everypony seemed to relax. Nervous glances towards the woods around them ceased. A good ghost story was fun, but all of them planned to sleep later as far as she knew, so she would let them off easy.

"That has to be the worst ghost story that has ever reached my ears." Came from one part of the oval.

"Booooo. Lame." Came from another.

They were all seated around a blaze, and several of them, by use of a branch grasped by both hooves, roasted marshmallows. The tents were set down around them. There were many around the blaze: Dash and her numerous usual followers, plus three younger faces. Several of the group had camped before, so everypony expected all to go well, or at least better than last attempt. Not that the last attempt wasn't an absolute adventure, but everypony had hopes for a calmer event. Also, there were more of them now, so hopefully nopony would be left out.

When you exclude new found fear of feral Geldans probable feast upon loved ones, all was well. Almost. There were protests of many an upset belly stuffed full of marshmallows, and a wounded hoof or two from the nature walk before. Other than that, and a nasty rash, perfect.

The fun overtook the protests though, and several more got a chance to tell her ghost tale. There was one about a pony who had a hook where her horn should have been. Another about a pegasus who offers to fly a wanderer, only to get- Hold on...

Murdered!

After some screams and some laughs, and even a handful of songs (one about what mark one could get to adorn her flank, another about royalty, and yet another about a spell that could turn a pony to a skunk), there was a general consensus the moment had come to "rap upon the hay". All headed towards her relevant tent (that, all together, by the way, made another oval around the blaze), the prospect of shut-eye a powerful spell.

Dash had the good fortune to not share the company of tent mates that would snore. On account of the long day before her, she fell asleep the fastest of all those around her, her bag for sleep more comfortable than she would have thought.

---

She needed to run. She had no clue what from, but she had to stay on the move, or she would be gotten. Gobbled. Eaten. Her dazed state could lose her seconds, so she attempted to concentrate. She tested her power to fly, but no luck there. Her feathers seemed almost glued together. She could not get off the ground. Her worst fears had come to pass.

She was okay on her hooves (as she had come to know through several ordeals she would rather not have gone through), but would have preferred the route of the sky any day. She was headed forward only at a moderate speed, barely a canter. She would be more comfortable at a trot, but the area around her prevented such a speed.

She was currently on the run at the most dangerous part of a desert-forest. That made no sense, she knew, but the ground was covered by sand, and trees sprang up around her. Blunders nearly threw her down. She had to weave through to have any chance to save herself.

Darkness was everywhere too. Her eyes would not work properly, nearly the cause of many a mess up. The sky was pure black, not a star to see. Lunas' moon had the power to reveal her way, but sadly, that too was nowhere to be seen. Dash had a low supply of hope left. What was she even on the run from? She demanded not to uncover the mystery, too full of fear, but had accepted that fact that to know her enemy would hand her an advantage.

She turned around to face her attacker, when a new threat reared an ugly face: the lack of ground to hold her up. She had taken a great tumble. She should have taken heed the words of the eye doctor! She once more analyzed her feathered appendages, once more unsuccessful. After a scan to her what surrounded her, she found no platform of any sort, just empty space all around her, and, she assumed, the ground below. She curled up and prepared for the worse. She had no reason to let out a last breath just yet, and covered her more necessary body parts (heart, lungs, etc.) by use of her hooves. Ten feet. Seven feet. Four feet. Two feet. One-

---

Dash shot up, covered by sweat, choked by pants and wheezes. A dream. A scary dream at that! She took a second to calm down, then glanced about her tent. None had woken. She heard not a peep, except for several snores from next door. She tested the before useless organs, to see that, to her glee, they worked! She started a small happy dance, then stopped, to ensure the restful slumber of those around her. Just a dream.

Haunted no longer by see-through hunter, nor Geldan, she mentally elected to go back to sleep. After she found room to jot down a mental note to go back to the eye doctor, she placed her head along the hard rocks below, made softer by the presence of her bag for sleep, and fell atop an unhalted sleep.