The Legends of Lore

by ChaosDragon

Ch 5: The Forest

The unearthly sound ended as abruptly as it had begun. With it's absence came silence, and the sky suddenly brightened once more. By the time Lucky had finished turning to flee, it was over, but that wasn't about to stop the delirious stallion. Fueled by fear and the overwhelming need to flee, he took off like a shot.

Lucky's mad flight was quickly cut short however. The length of rope tying him and Lore together suddenly snapped taut as he reached the end. The rope gave a loud creak of protest, several strands tearing and fraying; then it savagely yanked the pair toward each other. Lucky flew back a good two feet before landing on his back, and Lore was dragged several feet backwards across the ground as well by the force, shocking him out of his stupor. In the end they both were on the ground, clutching their bellies and dry heaving as their abused stomachs protested the rough treatment.

Lore managed to recover first and quickly rounded on Lucky, all thoughts of the strange phenomenon quickly set aside. He had to hurry. The time for persuasion was over and he knew it. There was no way he would be able to calm the frantic stallion. His only option now was to use force. Lore grit his teeth and flung himself at Lucky with what little strength he could muster, colliding with the other stallion just as he was getting back to his hooves. The pair went sprawling back to the ground in a flailing mass of limbs.

They rolled across the ground as they grappled, Lucky still shrieking his protests as he flailed. Lore grunted, panting as he tried to pin down Lucky's front hooves, his body already trembling with the effort. Normally the two would have been evenly matched, but Lucky was quickly gaining the advantage. Nearly two weeks of privation had left both Lore and Lucky weak as new-born foals, but Lucky had the advantage of adrenaline on his side. The delirious stallion thrashed with the strength born from blind terror, striking out indiscriminately. It was all Lore could do just to hold on to him.

Not sure what else he could do, Lore called out desperately to his friend "Lucky! You have to calm down! It'll be alri-" He was cut off abruptly as a hoof slammed into the side of his head and sent him sprawling. Lucky quickly seized the opportunity and scrambled to his hooves. Lucky was only half up, but he was already stumbling forward again when Lore groaned and rolled over, trying desperately to get back on his own hooves. If Lucky were to slip away now, Lore might never find him again, and he couldn't let that happen.

The rope lurched as Lucky finally got his hooves under him and sprang forward, charging away from the forest once more. Lore had just enough time to plant his hooves and grip the rope in his teeth before it went taught again. He pulled back with everything he had as Lucky reached the end of the line, but so did Lucky. The rope practically hummed with the tension for just a moment, until suddenly there was a great creaking followed by a loud snap as the rope broke under the strain.

Lore stumbled back a few steps and cursed, but Lucky had the worse of it by far. The teal stallion was sent sprawling forward, his face smacking the ground hard. A deep green glow sprang up around the frayed end of Lucky's rope as Lore dashed towards him, casting a spell. Taking advantage of the moment, Lore quickly wrapped the length of rope around Lucky's forelegs. He managed to tie it off just as a great wave of nausea and fatigue washed over him. Spots danced before Lore's eyes and he staggered to a halt a few feet away from Lucky; swaying uncertainly as he did his best to remain standing. In Lore's poor condition, masked by determination and adrenaline though it was, the effort of using even such minor telekinesis had nearly been too much for him to take.

Even with his arms bound, Lucky continued to flee as best he could, dragging and kicking himself away in spurts as he raved. Fortunately he hadn't managed to get very far by the time Lore had sufficiently recovered. When Lore stooped to load Lucky onto his back however, one of the flailing stallions hooves connected solidly with his shoulder. There was a grunt of pain, and then Lore rounded on his friend, having had quite enough. "Dang it Lucky! Can't you hold still for two minutes?! I promised myself that we would make it to Taurelond even if I had to drag you there; and Celestia damn me if I'm gonna fail when we may very well be within sight of the bloody place!" With a little effort, Lore was able to work the rope around his middle free and use it to tie up Lucky's back legs. Before he even thought about trying to move Lucky again however, he double checked both ropes, and even tightened them a little. He had been struck hard twice already and had no desire to repeat the experience yet again. Once he was satisfied, he pulled Lucky up to lay across his back and started for the forest again.

Their progress was markedly slower now that Lucky had to be carried, and the stallions constant wiggling and ranting certainly wasn't making it any easier on Lore. His weary body ached from head to hoof, shouting it's protest at the burden it was forced to bare. The effort of every slow step made his limbs quiver, and he soon developed a slight limp in the arm Lucky had struck. He wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep for days, but thinking about it was only making him feel worse; so he did the only thing he could do and turned his thoughts instead to the great and terrible event they had been witness to.

As a necessity of his occupation, Lore was well versed in not only the legends of most lands, but their rich histories as well. But never, in all of Lore's studies, had he heard of or seen something like this before. Perhaps such a spectacle should have worried him more, or made him more hesitant to continue toward the forest, but the simple truth was that he really didn't have much choice. Besides, the possibilities of this new discovery were of far more interest to him than any imagined dangers. Though Lore did find himself both thrilled and terrified by the questions it raised. What exactly had he seen? Why had it filled him with such fear? What, or possibly even who, could have caused such a thing? Did it have anything to do with the map or Taurelond? His mind raced with theories he could never test and questions he could not hope to answer, but the futile exercise served its purpose as a welcome distraction.

* * *

Nearly two hours later, the pair finally reached the edge of the forest. As they passed between the first trees, Lore was pulled away from his musings by a most curious sensation. For a brief moment, the air had felt different, thicker somehow. A slight tingling had swept over his body, followed by a moment of coolness that sent a small shiver through him. It felt as if he had walked through a thin sheet of water. The feeling had not been unpleasant by any means, merely odd.

Lore looked around for the source of the odd sensation, but could find nothing out of the ordinary. Considering the previous event they had so recently encountered, this mysterious sensation should probably have concerned Lore, but all he felt was a spreading sense of peace and calm. He suddenly knew everything was going to be okay. He had no idea how or why; he simply, just knew. So engrossed was he by this new-found sense of well-being, that it took several long moments before Lore finally realized that Lucky had stopped screaming.

Lucky indeed seemed much calmer now. His eyes were glazed and unfocused again, his breathing steady and even once more as he lay limp across Lore's back. It was as if all the energy he had shown moments before, had simply just drained away. This probably should have worried Lore, but still he felt that somehow, everything was going to be okay.

As if to confirm his feelings, a bird call drifted to Lore's ears on the breeze, bringing a joyful tear to his eye. It seemed he had never known just how wondrous such simple sounds could be until this moment. Though the sea of grass had been far from uninhabitable, neither Lore nor Lucky had seen any signs of life in that endless expanse. No rabbits or mice had stirred the grasses, no birds had flown the clear skies, and the sounds of insects had abandoned the nights. For two solid weeks the sights and sounds of life had simply disappeared from their world, leaving behind only a lingering sense of wrongness; but now, now everything had been put right. The world had suddenly been made whole again and everything would be okay.

Wandering deeper into the ancient forest, Lore marveled at the natural beauty around him. From the outside the forest had seemed like nothing more than a stand of ancient pines, but it was so much more than that. Defying all geographic boundaries and natural laws, trees of every shape and size grew together within this odd place. Some were familiar to him, while others he had only seen pictures of, but many more he could not identify at all. Such an assortment of trees might have been seen as discordant anywhere else, but there was a natural harmony about the forest that made it feel... right. Every tree seemed to simply 'fit' into the forest, as if it couldn't possibly have grown anywhere else, each melding seamlessly into the 'whole' that was the forest. And it wasn't only the trees, but the undergrowth as well held a harmonious union with the forest. It was as if nature had perfected itself in this place, transcending beyond the daily competition for survival to a point where everything flourished in a natural state of peaceful coexistence.

It wasn't long before another sound reached Lore's ears that made him want to cry all over again. He staggered toward the splash as fast as his weary body could carry him , and as the tree line broke a glorious site befell him. A large pond filled with crystal clear water sat in a small clearing. An ancient, spreading willow grew on the bank and leaned out over the pond, providing shelter from the noonday sun to any who might wish to partake of the waters. Lore gave a silent prayer to any gods who might have been watching; thanking them for their mercy.

It took Lore a few moments to work Lucky's dead weight off his back, but he eventually managed to get his friend propped up against the willow. Once freed, Lore stumbled to the edge of the pond and unceremoniously plunged his head in. The cool water soothed his raw throat, and as Lore drank deeply he thought he had never tasted anything so wonderful in his life. Unfortunately, drinking so much after going without for so long, was a very bad idea. Something Lore had to learn the hard way when his shrunken stomach began rejecting his large intake of water.

Once he had emptied his stomach on the other side of the tree, Lore stumbled back to the pond with a little more caution. Making sure to pace himself this time, he slowly sipped at the waters of the pond, taking only half a dozen mouthfuls before forcing himself to stop. The water was still wonderful, and he wanted more, but he knew he would only get sick again. With Lore's immediate thirst quenched, he pulled one of the large canteens out of his pack and filled it to the brim. Now all he had to do was somehow convince Lucky to drink.

As it turned out, that task proved far easier in theory than practice. No matter what Lore did he couldn't get Lucky to take an interest in the water, but then again, neither did the unresponsive stallion give any signs of refusing it. Eventually Lore settled on slowly dripping water into Lucky's mouth through his slightly parted lips. It was a long and tedious process, taking over an hour to empty just that one canteen, but at least Lucky wasn't spitting out the water or coughing it up, and that gave Lore hope.

Once Lore had thoroughly quenched his thirst and drip-fed Lucky several canteens of water, he carried their packs down to the waters edge to fill their remaining canteens. As the bubbles rose from the canteens, Lore's gaze drifted appreciatively out over the pond. A smile crossed his face as he watched two fish chase each other around the bottom of the pond, and it was only then that he realized just how fortunate they had been to find this sanctuary. Actually making it to the forest was unbelievable enough, but to then find water so easily and have it be so pure, surely constituted a miracle.

As he watched, one of the fish stopped to nibble at something sitting on the bottom of the pond. With a sudden start, Lore realized it was eating a piece of fruit! Hardly daring to question this impossible stroke of luck, Lore discarded the canteens and scrambled to his hooves, eager to find the source of the fruit. It only took a few minutes of searching before Lore found a peach tree, heavy with fruit, growing a few yards back on the opposite side of the clearing. The best part was that he didn't even need to use his magic to get at them. Many of the ripe fruits had already dropped to the ground and appeared to be in excellent condition. Lore couldn't resist and fell upon the first one that came into his reach. He quickly decided it was the most wonderful thing he had ever tasted, and he savored every bite of the peach. Lore would have eaten ten more on the spot if he hadn't reminded himself that doing so in his current condition would have just caused him to immediately throw them back up. So instead, Lore gathered as many peaches into his bag as he could and made his way back to Lucky, hoping the fresh food would trigger some response in him.

Lucky's ears twitched as he came closer, which Lore decided to take as a good sign, but that was the extent of his response. Lucky remained as lifeless as before no matter what Lore did, showing no interest at all in the fruit. So Lore carefully crushed up one of the peaches instead, collecting the juice in a cup and slowly dripping it into Lucky's mouth as he had done with the water. It wasn't much to be sure, but at least it was something. He repeated the process with two more peaches, setting aside the mash for later in case Lucky became more lucid.

With all their immediate concerns taken care of, Lore washed his hooves off in the pond and pulled out their bed rolls. It would only be a few more hours till nightfall, and a bit of extra sleep would do them both some good anyway. Once he got Lucky settled, Lore curled up on his bed and immediately began drifting off, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When Lore awoke the next morning, he felt better than he had in days. The intense headache he had been living with for close on a week now had significantly lessened. His fatigue and dizziness as well seemed to have diminished. It would probably be a few more days until he was fully recovered, but he felt like he might be able to use his magic to pluck some more fruit without to much trouble if he had to. After packing away his bedroll, Lore drank deeply from the pond again and lay back to savor another of the delicious peaches he had found yesterday. The ripe fruit tasted even better than it had before and Lore couldn't help but allow himself a second one.

Once he was finished, he rolled the pits into the pond for the curious fish to nibble at and went to rouse Lucky. To Lore's great relief, his friend seemed much improved from yesterday. His eyes seemed less clouded and he was much more responsive than he had been previously, though he still wasn't talking. With a little coaxing though, Lore actually managed to convince Lucky to eat the crushed peaches he had set aside, followed by two canteens of water. Despite his apparent willingness to eat, Lucky's movements were more instinct than conscious decision and he promptly went back to sleep when nothing else was set before him.

Satisfied that Lucky wasn't going to wander off or drop dead on him in the next few minutes, Lore pulled on their packs and went out to search the surrounding forest for more food. The forest was a lush and bountiful place, and Lore's search quickly paid off. In only a few short hours Lore returned to the pond, mouth covered in juice and packs filled to bursting with an assortment of cherries, blueberries, apricots, and peaches. It was safe to say that neither he nor Lucky would be going hungry anytime soon.

After cleaning up and packing their belongings away, Lore pulled the sleeping Lucky onto his back and headed deeper into the forest. With food and water taken care of and their magical map out of juice, today marked their first real day of searching for the ruins of Taurelond. Of course, that was assuming they were close by, which Lore doubted. No, he suspected the ancient city was at the heart of this unusual forest. He guessed they had another day of travel ahead of them at least before they were close enough to begin their search in earnest. It was always a good idea to keep an eye open just in case though; you never knew where an artifact might pop up after all.

The trees extended as far as he could see in all directions, which made traversing the forest a little difficult. While the lush vegetation had provided them with a welcome shelter, it now obscured the sun from Lore's view, and hid any landmarks he might have used to navigate. Without the glowing map to guide him, it would be easy to get lost in this expansive forest. Fortunately for them both, he had already found a solution to this problem. While packing their bags, he had discovered quite by accident, that their compass was functioning normally once again. It wasn't as good as the magical compass on the map, but at least he was able to keep his bearings.

* * *

It was just past noon when Lucky suddenly began to stir on Lore's back. He yawned and stretched as usual, but when he went to scrub the sleep from his eyes, he discovered his hooves were bound. Confused and curious, Lucky rapidly blinked away the fog as he looked around him. It was only then that he realized he was moving, and not of his own will. When he looked down however, he was surprised to find that he was laying across Lore's back. So with his usual level of tact, Lucky cleared his throat and started right in "Uh... Lore. Not that I don't like bondage and all, but... you really aren't my type."

Lucky squirming around on his back was nothing new for Lore, but when his friend finally spoke coherently for the first time in days, Lore froze in his tracks. The unusual response wasn't from shock that Lucky had finally overcome whatever had been clouding his mind, but by the conflicting emotions that suddenly filled Lore. On one hoof, he was greatly relieved that Lucky was okay, and wanted to hug the joking stallion; on the other hoof, Lore wanted to smack him for acting so nonchalant about the whole thing when he had been so worried. Before his mind could sort it all out however, Lucky decided for him.

"So do you think you could let me down?... Or at least find me a cute mare with a whip and a thing for leather?" Lucky quipped, wearing his usual grin.

Lore rolled his eyes and had to try very hard not to groan. Oh yes, Lucky was definitely back to his old self. And since his old friend was feeling well enough to crack jokes, Lore didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt as he reared and tossed Lucky off his back.

Lucky let out a groan as he landed on a root, but when he rolled off his back and looked up at Lore, he was right back to that cheeky grin "Sooo... no mares then?"

"I can't believe you're cracking jokes now after all the trouble you've put me through! It wasn't exactly easy getting you here you know!" Lore grumbled, his horn glowing as he removed the ropes from Lucky's hooves and slipped them back into their bags.

"I meant to ask you about that." Lucky said as he rubbed his ankles "How exactly did we get here? I don't remember seeing a forest."

Lore gave the question some thought before answering. "It would probably be easier if you just told me what you do remember. Then I'll just fill in the blanks."

Lucky just shrugged at him "Not much really. The last thing I remember clearly was you tying us together with that rope. I gave you the map, you tied us together, promised me ice cream, then we walked for a while. After that things started to get all... blurry, and then nothing... Until I woke up on your back of course."

Lore nodded and pulled out a canteen, taking a long drink as he considered what to say. When he was done he tossed the half full canteen to Lucky "Drink while you listen, you're still dehydrated. And drink slowly, or else you will just end up making yourself sick." Lucky nodded and settled back with the water, gesturing for him to continue. Lore took a breath to steady himself, then started in. "After that, you became more disoriented the farther we walked. You stopped talking to me after a while, and when we stopped to rest near dawn, you just sort of started to... draw in on yourself. You lost your energy, became more passive, and it only got worse from there. By the time the trees came into sight, you had just sort of... shut down. It was like your mind was drifting far away into a fog. I tried to talk to you, but you could barely complete a sentence. You'd become so confused, distant. You couldn't..." Lore paused for a moment to regain his composure. It was difficult for him, having to remember Lucky in that awful state "You couldn't see the trees, Lucky."

Lucky stopped drinking and looked at him incredulously "Seriously? I mean, they're kinda hard to miss." He said with a gesture around at the immense trees.

"You said you couldn't see them, but..." Lore paused again as he tried to put his feeling into words "It was like some part of you still knew they were there. Even though you couldn't see them, you didn't want to get any closer and kept saying we shouldn't go that way. I had to trick you into going on. I convinced you to focus on following me rather than where we were going. It worked for a while, but when we got close, something... something happened..." his explanation trailed off, and he shivered as the memory of that event sent a chill up his spine.

Lucky continued to sip his water in silence, but when Lore didn't continue, he spoke up "So, what happened?"

"I wish I knew." Lore sighed as he shook his head. He didn't want to tell Lucky about that. Didn't want him to worry, or ask questions he didn't have answers to. After all, how could you describe something like that, let alone explain it? Mere words just didn't seem capable of capturing what he had seen and felt. He was still trying to find the words to explain it to himself let alone Lucky, but he had to try. He had never lied to his friend, and he wasn't going to start now. "It happened deep in the forest, far away from us, but it felt like it was right there next to me. The sky suddenly dimmed, and there was a thunderous tearing sound, followed by this... this noise... I don't know how to describe it... It was like some empty, hollow, sucking noise, only magnified a thousand times. The sound was disturbing. It felt so... wrong." He shook away the memory and looked straight into Lucky's eyes "I've never been more terrified in my life, and I doubt I ever will be."

Lucky returned the canteen and was about to ask a question, but Lore held up a hoof to stop him "I don't know what it was, or what caused it. And honestly, the more I think about it, the less sure I am that I ever want to know." That statement, more than anything else, silenced Lucky. Lore not wanting to know something was like a fish not wanting to swim; it just didn't happen! He was suddenly very glad he had been 'out of commission' during that particular event, even though it did sound rather interesting.

"It only lasted a few seconds, but it was long enough to get your attention." Lore said as he put away the canteen "You looked up, saw where we were, and completely lost it. You started screaming, called it 'the bad place', then tried to run away. I tried to reason with you, but you were raving like a madpony and wouldn't listen. The line broke and I had to subdue you before you could run off. So I tied you up, threw you on my back, and carried you the rest of the way. It was strange though. When we entered the forest, we passed through some kind of... barrier I guess. I felt this peace come over me, and you immediately stopped struggling. I'm not sure why, but you did." He said with a shrug.

"A few hours after that, I found a pond with some fruit trees growing nearby, so we stopped there for the night. I gathered supplies, and we left in the morning. You know the rest." Having finished his explanation, Lore stood up and tossed Lucky a peach "Eat that. Slowly. But do it while we walk. We've wasted enough time as it is. And keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. Worked materials, ruined walls, foundation stones, anything that could indicate somepony once lived here." Lucky's mouth was already stuffed full of peach, so he could only mumble incoherently to Lore, but it was enough to convey his agreement.

As the pair carried their search deeper into the forest, they realized that they no longer had to worry about their supplies. The forest's bounty was so great that they had no trouble finding food or water; though it soon began to feel like that was the only thing they would ever find. Search as they might, the forest gave up nothing. No signs, no clues, nothing that might have even remotely indicated the existence of the fabled city. They searched for as long as the light permitted, but in the end they went to bed with nothing to show for their efforts.

The next day was beginning to look just as fruitless when they hadn't found anything by lunch, but a short time later something caught Lore's eye. Quite literally in fact. To their left, the sun was reflecting off something in the distance, hitting Lore right in the eye. He couldn't see what was causing it through all the trees, but when he squinted, he could make out the small gap in the branches were the light was coming through. "Hey Lucky, can you see that flash of light coming through the small gap over there? That thin spot, about halfway up between the oak and poplar."

Lucky squinted at the trees for a time before slowly nodding his head "Yeah, I see it now. Looks like a branch or two recently came down. I wonder what the light is reflecting off of though. If Taurelond is as old as you say it is, shouldn't any reflective surfaces have tarnished by now or something?"

Lore looked over to Lucky and gave him a wide grin, his eyes sparkling with excitement "Not if they were preserved by magic! Come on, this could be it!"

Hopeful of their first solid lead, the pair took off running, weaving their way through the forest with wild abandon. When they broke through the obscuring foliage however, they drew up short, too stunned to do anything but stare at what they had found. Just a few yards away, the varied trees of the forest simply stopped, as if they had hit some unseen boundary. But beyond that border lay a new and wildly different sort of forest; a crystalline forest of minerals and gemstones.

Trunks of darker minerals rose up to stand side by side with the towering trees of the ancient forest. While leaves of lighter minerals swayed in the gentle breeze, glittering as they caught the light. Peridots sat atop citrine, diopsides crowned smokey quartz, jades shimmered above jasper. There were dozens of different crystals, in hundreds of combinations, made even more beautiful by the sound echoing around them. With the slightest breeze, the crystalline trees played a soothing song, their leaves like a million crystal wind chimes playing at once. The entire scene was like something out of a dream, too fantastical to be real. Yet there it was, right in front of them.

"Am I losing it again?" Whispered Lucky in awe.

Lore moved as if in a trance, slowly walking to the closest tree and placing a hoof against its tigers eye trunk. "If you are, then so am I." He said in an awestruck tone. He moved his hoof across the surface and gave it an experimental push. It certainly didn't feel like stone. There was a hint of give under his hoof, and the texture reminded him of oak tree bark more than rock. Curiously, Lore picked at a piece protruding from the trunk. To his surprise, it broke off in his hoof. To his even greater surprise, it was as light as a piece of tree bark would otherwise be. He was about to comment on this to Lucky, when he realized the tiger's eye in his hoof was slowly getting heavier and heavier, until it weighed as much as a normal stone that size should have.

As Lore stared down at the gemstone, an idea began to form in his mind. He quickly looked up to the crystal tree's branches and watched as one of its malachite leaves broke free in the breeze and lazily drifted down to the ground next to him. Dropping the piece of tigers eye, he reached out and picked up the leaf. It was soft and flexible in his hoof, easily bending to his touch. "They're... alive." He whispered in wonder, barely able to believe his own words.

"They're what?" Asked Lucky as he turned to him.

"These crystal... 'trees'. They're alive." Lore said, gesturing around them.

"Oh come on." Scoffed Lucky "No way these things are real trees."

Lore shrugged and handed over the leaf "See for yourself."

Lucky's eyes widened as he felt the leaf "No way." He poked it a few times before rolling it into a little tube, then unrolling it to look for damage "This is so weird." He bent the leaf again, but this time the thin gemstone cracked in two as it went too far "Awwww" Lucky whined with a little pout.

"The organic properties of the tree seem to be retained in its individual pieces for a short time after detaching from the main body. As whatever energies or organic components existing inside the disconnected piece decay, it apparently reassumes the inorganic nature of the material it mimics." Lore observed with academic interest. Lucky on the other hoof just stared at him until Lore finally rolled his eyes and sighed. "When the trees and the leaves die, they go back to being rocks." he said flatly.

Lucky grinned as he reached over and gave Lore's shoulder a pat "See, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

Lore shrugged his hoof away and headed off into the crystalline trees "Come on, we should keep searching while it's still light out. Who knows, if I'm fortunate, maybe I'll find some enlightened conversation." He said sarcastically.

"Maybe, but then you wouldn't get to feel all smart and superior." Lucky quipped as he caught up.

Lore couldn't help but grin as he fell back into their familiar banter. Despite what he might say, he had missed these easygoing conversations "I knew there was a reason I kept you around." He chuckled.

As the pair passed beneath the emerald laden branches of a brown zircon ash, there was a small 'snap' as Lucky stepped on a fallen twig. Suddenly, their world exploded into motion as a concealed net of bloodstone vines rose out of the forest floor. Before they even knew what was happening, the net engulfed the two stallions and hauled them into the air. They shouted and struggled in their prison, but with no way to cut the vines and Lore unable to see the anchor point, there was nothing they could do.

“Well, someone certainly failed their perception check.” Lucky scowled. “So much for your legendary trap sense.”

“Says the one who set it off.” Lore grunted as he tried to shift Lucky’s hoof off of his back.

After several hours of useless struggling, Lore finally gave up trying to force his way out. He made himself as comfortable as he could, then settled in to think of a way out of their current predicament. Lucky let out an annoyed growl and gave the net one final kick before he flopped down and gave up as well "You know, I'm starting to really hate this little field trip of yours." He said rather irritably.

At that moment, a mare that was a full head taller than either stallion, seemed to just materialize out of the forest. She couldn't be more than 15 feet away from them, but neither had seen her approach. One moment they had been alone, the next she was there, silently watching them. The pair were struck speechless and could only stare at her in open-mouthed awe. She was, hooves down, the most exotically beautiful mare either of them had ever seen.

"But for you, I suppose I could suffer through it a little longer." Lucky murmured, dumbfounded.

The mare's body was lithe and well muscled, though not so much that it was obvious or unsightly. Her ears were slightly larger and more pointed than those of a regular pony, but again, not so much that they looked odd, just more exotic. Her long, slender legs ended in unshorn fetlocks and cloven hooves that seemed a mix between a pony and a deer, giving her a more earthy, wild look. But as she stepped forward, she made no sound, and left no trace of her passage. In fact, she seemed to glide across the ground rather than walk, which lent her an otherworldly grace. Her flawless coat held a healthy sheen, and was an intense red color, which paired well with the brilliant seafoam green of her eyes.

Lore quickly found himself captivated by the sensual, yet piercing gaze of those long-lashed, almond-shaped eyes. He probably would have stared into those eyes all day if a soft glint hadn't pulled his attention away. At first he couldn't tell what had caught the dappled light, but when he looked closer, his eyes went wide with surprise and disbelief. He was so shocked that he had to look the mare over again just to confirm his mind wasn't playing tricks on him.

Extending gracefully from the mare's head was a long, gently curved horn covered in delicate gold filigree. It wasn't the filigree that had surprised him however, but the horn itself. It was no mere growth of bone, as was normal with unicorns, but instead was made of faceted crystal so clear it could easily be called glass.

Even more startling than the mare's curved crystal horn, was her mane. Her hair was a brilliant golden color... No, not just a color, it was gold! It had to be! Some blonde mares back home might have claimed to have golden hair, but this was completely different. You just couldn't fake the metallic sheen, or the rich color of true gold. Each strand of her hair was a fine thread of the purest gold, glistening and shimmering as it parted around her horn and ears before cascading down her neck. The hair on her long, whip-like tail was the same glistening gold as her mane, and started about two thirds of the way down in a style that could only be considered leonine.

This mysterious mare was already a breathtaking beauty, but as she passed through a sunbeam, her features revealed their true splendor. Her mane shone and glittered with every subtle movement before coming alive in a dancing blaze of glory as the light touched her. Her very body seemed to drink in the sun until she glowed with its light.

She was glorious to behold. So calm, so graceful, so radiant. In that moment, Lore truly believed that if the light of dawn could be given physical form, then this would be it. It was then that something suddenly clicked inside Lore's head and his dumbstruck mind finally sent a name to his trembling lips. Lore let out a nearly inaudible, breathless whisper "... the high born..."

Author's Note:

Well, it wasn't out as quickly as I would have liked, but at least I'm still making progress. I initially intended to end this chapter slightly farther on, with a more foreboding tone, but it was starting to get up there in length. So I bit the bullet and decided this was as good a cliffhanger as the next. I hope you enjoy it.

And yes, the 'high born' are the elves. I modeled them after the original unicorn myths to give them an ancient, yet familiar feel.

Comments

[balletdivagirl]

Wow! I'm glad Lucky is ok. Sorry It took me so long to get to this, there has been a lot going on. I know I said before, but your equine elves sound gorgeous, and very elf-y.