Life-Led

by Trevor Rain

Chapter 8

"When you told me the name of your friend, I didn't think your were describing her." Said a voice behind the two reunited friends.

Dash gave a start and shoved off Applejack to the side, jumping to her hooves and facing the unfamiliar stallion. Despite the situation, Skye looked amused by Dash's actions as he grinned from where he was standing.

"Rainbow, meet Skye. He helped me get to ya." Stated Applejack as she brushed the dirt off herself and her stetson before replacing it.

Skye nodded and raised a hoof. "Don't worry now, I won't tell anypony either."

Dash looked at Skye, unsure on what to think of him. Applejack seemed to trust him and if she were telling the truth, which of course she was, then he helped Applejack get here. She relaxed a little. "How did you two get here? and," She turned back to Applejack. "...how did you know where to find me?"

Applejack walked over to her friend. "Ya'll left a few things at your house, Rainbow, and I had a little help from Twilight.

"Twilight's here? Wait, how did you get into my house?" Dash looked confused, how did the earth pony get in the clouds? She better not have found...

Applejack interrupted her thoughts. "Nah, Twilight's not here, but ah found a magical doohickey that helped me get to ya. Ah found a file on your ma and pa after it fell when your house melted."

"It what!" Dash exclaimed, eyes and wings going wide in shock bringing a sharp pain from the bruising. Then remembering where she was, Dash put a hoof over her mouth.

The songs of the birds and the percussion of leaves ceased, and all was still but the wind. Skye and Applejack could sense the silence, and said nothing as they looked around, then looked up as they followed Dash's eyes to the canopy.

She lowered the hoof and said in a soft voice. "We need to get out of here. Gryphons are in the forest. How did you guys get here?"

"Came by boat, mam. The Jacklyn Rose. What was that about Gryphons?"

Rainbow didn't take her eyes away from the sky. "You didn't see them? They surrounded the forest before, I couldn't get out."

Applejack stepped next to Dash. "Why didn't you just fly-" Dash turned to her side to show the discolored flesh around her wing. Applejack's reflected worry. Dash shook her head, she didn't want to hear any sympathy at this time. Time was short.

"Look, I didn't cut myself. I was attacked here. If the Gryphons aren't outside anymore, then there's in the forest which means we need to get out of here, now." She looked both to Skye and Applejack, nearly lifting off the ground with anxiousness. Applejack exchanged a glance with Skye and gave a nod. Without another word, he ran back through the copse of trees with Applejack and Rainbow Dash following close behind.

Dash wasn't sure where they were going, but by the way Skye moved around the trees she could see he understood their destination. It wasn't the same way they had entered, but that hardly mattered now. She was about to be taken away from this forsaken land that had claimed her parents of old and had almost claimed her own life. The tokens of the adventure were present on her flesh, and she knew there would be a scar where Gilda had cut her deeply when they had met.

Birds of every color flitted across the branches as they moved, making a medley of sound that was a stark contrast to the silence that pervaded everything before. It seemed almost chaotic, breaking the fabric of normalcy. This place was dead, it felt dead, how could it be alive again?

Her mind couldn't stop going over everything that was happening around her. Before it was like tunnel vision, flying after what her emotions had her fly on a whim. It was then a battle within herself not to think or try and understand what was going on around her, thinking it easier to bury it away with the rest of her apprehensions, and they nestled comfortably against her fear of being alone which she tried so hard to suppress.

But she didn't feel alone anymore, and it wasn't because she was reunited with one of her closest friends, it was something more. She felt that a hole had been filled, something missing that was then found. She couldn't understand it, but she did see it's effects.

She looked everywhere, not just in front of her. She noticed the shapes of the trees and every bird that flew by. Details that had remained unimportant to her had suddenly become vividly interesting as if she were operating on a different set of eyes.

The trio parted from the treeline and found themselves at the edge of one of the tall cliffs that Rainbow had seen when she first looked around the land. She could see the expansive grass sea from here, along with the tower that her parents had once called home. The sea of water at the edge blended into the sky, making it seem like it reflected into eternity. Dash tested her wing. It hurt, but she was sure a glide down would be within her ability. It would be faster.

But that would mean leaving her two savoirs behind.

"Ya'll could just glide down there, Dash. We'll be right behind ya."

Dash shook her head and said nothing. She couldn't do that. It was not an option.

Skye raised a hoof to the left. "There's a few switchbacks oe'r that way. We'll reach the base and have a near straight shot-" The air left Skye's lungs, cutting off his words as Applejack collided with his side, tackling him to the ground in time for a fearsome creature to skim the heads of the two prone ponies, missing them by inches. But they weren't it's prey.

A Gryphon touched down before Dash, bending low in a hunters crouch. It gave out a growl that came deep within, showing it's heritage of a powerful hunter of the ground. Dash froze on the spot, but did not turn. There was no running away when there were ponies here depending on her. They gave her courage, but why had it missed Skye and Applejack?

Then she recognized it. The scar and the missing eye. This had been the same one at the edge of the forest the few days before. It had chased her from the grass like the scared prey she was, making contact and sending her sprawling into the forest. She got away only because of the strange curse that kept the Gryphons from entering.

She thought Gilda's penchant for keeping a grudge was only a part of her personality. It seems that it's a common trait shared by them, and Dash could relate. She didn't like to lose either. Stamping her hooves into the ground and crouching herself, Dash managed to muster a smile. Neither of them liked to lose, but she had no thought in her mind of failure. She could understand her enemy, she had no reason to fear this one.

Dash could see that she was at a disadvantage with the cliff edge at her back and the Gryphon knew it also, smiling as he slowly stalked towards Dash. A fight in the air would lead to complete failure, so she would have to keep him grounded. Just have to dodge those really sharp claws, avoid the pointy beak meant for a last line of defense while keeping him preoccupied enough to forget about the other two wingless buffets behind him while they escaped.

It would be easier making a sonic rainboom burst out of Celestia's plot.

One-eye lowered his haunches and extended his wings, he was about to pounce. Rainbow did the same, ready to meet the challenge this time, but she was unable to follow through as the Gryphon was distracted by the sound of pounding hoofs. He looked towards his blind side just in time to see an orange blur come barreling into him, knocking the Gryphon flat.

Of course she wasn't going to run. Most dependable pony meant she never would leave another in danger. She had time and time again earned that title, though Dash would never admit it. A smile came to her face as she ran to her friend's side, facing the Gryphon. "The claws are sharp, and they're the biggest problem. Just don't forget about the beak."

"It's missin' an eye. Keep comin' at it from the left and he'll be too busy protectin' to react." Observed Applejack, taking off the stetson and throwing it behind her.

The Gryphon stood back up and turned to the two ponies, scowling menacingly and giving Applejack a look that could kill. Well, half of one.

"Well you take the left and hit him hard. I'll keep him busy on the right. There's no running away from this one, we have to hurt him till he can't follow us anymore."

"'Aight partner. Good luck." Applejack spit in an outstretched hoof and raised it for Dash.

"Since when have I needed luck?" Dash smirked, returning the gesture and pounding a hoof into Applejack's before splitting off at a run to the left. The orange mare ran followed suit in near perfect symmetry.

Dash's smile grew wider as she thought of what was to come. She pitied the Gryphon's situation. Head down, she charged directly at the creature, turning just before making contact, avoiding a outward swipe of those deadly talons. This earned him yet another path to the dirt as Applejack took advantage of the distraction to lay him low once again, following the tackle with a jump that would make a Pegasus believe an Earth pony could fly. The Gryphon rolled away just in time for Applejack's hooves to miss. They slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt in it's place. Applejack grimaced at the shock the impact caused to her legs, but jumped back again in time to avoid the Gryphon's advance.

It was a battle of attrition. Dash, the swiftest and the most mobile, would gain the Gryphon's ire long enough to have her strong friend lay in with heavy hits while getting in a few of her own. Applejack couldn't have all the fun. The few times that the One-eye took flight, he was quickly brought down by the wing with a prize-winning jump by Applejack, the last of which taking several of his primary feathers making takeoff too much of a burden to do so quickly. The tactic kept on, for they knew the foe would only have to hit once for a fatality.

The two friends worked in tandem as a perfect team, but the Gryphon had seen many of his own battles and bided his time through the bruises and the pain. He let Dash get in close, predicting her path of flight, he instead feigned an attack and sent his mass towards where she would run. Caught by surprise, Dash could only turn enough to gain a glancing blow as the Gryphon brought a powerful arm across her face. Dash hit the ground hard and rolled to an unmoving stop.

She was only slightly aware of the world around her as the ringing in her ears blocked out everything and everything came back double in her vision. She made every effort she could to rise as every second down is a second of helplessness that a hunter can exploit, but all she could do was raise her head and focus her vision forward. At least she would be able to see her killer before he finished the job.

But the ending blow never came, instead what Dash saw caused anger and panic to boil up inside her, fueling her will to move. Applejack was facing off the One-eye, standing between him and Dash. She was sending constant bucks his way, but the Gryphon easily avoided the movements of a single enemy and sent counterattacks of his own. One swipe coming so close as to rake across Applejack's face, flinging blood. Dash could feel a few droplets hitting her face.

And Applejack stood her ground, never taking her eyes off the predator. Idiot! Run! Get away! Please don't die because of me! Rage screamed through off of Dash's being, but as much as she willed it, her body would not rise. She tried to scream out, but nothing came out. She had crashed countless times in her pursuit to become the best flyer in Equestria, but only once was she knocked this hard, and that followed hospitalization. All that training did little to help Applejack now.

And the Gryphon jumped. The impact was devastating, but Skye held on. Applejack sidestepped as the Gryphon fell hard, his course wronged by the sailor who clung through the charge after intercepting the flight. Skye took the worse of the fall, face being driven into the dirt.

But still he held on.

The Gryphon became aware of what had saved it's prey, and had begun to angrily bash Skye in the stomach to try and get the stubborn pony off of him. Through the growls and the pain,, Skye only let out grunts of pain with every pound.

He held on.

One last feral growl, one burst of strength sent Skye off. He rolled away lifelessly to the side. One-eye looked down at the fallen pony before spitting on the ground next to him. He looked up to locate his helpless prey, and found the orange one in the form of two planted hooves to his side as she bucked the Gryphon for all her strength and power.

A crack that Dash found all to familiar resounded from the impact as the Gryphon was sent into the other direction, lightly lifting off in the air before falling in a heap several hooves from the cliff's edge. His wing was bent in a grotesque fashion, and he let out a roar of pain as tried to stand.

Applejack lowered her hind legs and looked upon the pitiful creature before slowly advancing on him. Dash had recovered somewhat from her impact and had begun to stand, accepting a helping hoof from Applejack as she passed. She thanked her with a nod but received no reply. Dash had never seen that expression on a Pony before. Behind the blood and mane covering her face, was nothing. It was locked upon the Gryphon that was rolling in the dirt, defeated.

Applejack continued her advance upon the Gryphon who had finally stood, though holding his wing at his side. He could see the pony make her gradual way towards him, and found that the relationship between predator and prey to be reversed, and feared the tan among red that took step upon step towards him. One-eye looked to the side, but found himself cornered at the cliff. He had one chance and he took it.

The Gryphon turned and spread his wings. The cracking that took place after nearly made Dash vomit. Wings weren't meant to bend that way, they weren't meant to make such a disgusting sound.

He jumped. He jumped and glided for a moment before his wing once again bent backwards. Then he fell. Dash ran to the edge and looked down to see the form of the Gryphon tumbling down as his wings failed to sustain equilibrium. Bouncing on the rocks that adorned the side, he fell till the bottom came to meet him. She could still see a speck of what was the Gryphon, and it moved not.

"Applejack, I think he's dea-" Dash looked behind to see that Applejack wasn't at her side, but had ran next to Skye. She kneeled in close, head barely above Skye's muzzle. His lips were moving, he was talking to her. "Dead..." Dash finished.

Dash limped over to her tan friend to see what she could do, but couldn't think of anything that could help. He hit the ground hard and took a pounding from the Gryphon. The red around his mouth indicated a punctured lung, and that was probably the least of his injuries. Dash could overhear a few words as she moved closer.

"I... told you about my talent. I could find things that were lost..." Skye coughed for a few moments before trying to speak, each word strained. "Mighty unlucky if I don't want somethin' to be found. You were lost, I didn't want to find you. Reminded me too much of her. Then here you come..." Another fit of coughing, and a deep breath. "Pullin' me out of the water and needing me. Fate wanted me to see you, things like this don't happen by accident."

Dash walked up to the old sailor while trying to judge Applejack's expression. It was of stone. Skye looked up at Dash, and she found the gaze painful, but didn't look away, couldn't look away from something that she had never been this close to before. He was dying.

"Take your friend here and get to The Rose. It belongs to you know. Remember which stars I said to follow?" She nodded. "Then don't stand there and wait for me to die, go before another one shows up."

Applejack didn't move. Skye grew angry, but the anger went away with another fit of wet coughing. "I... kept a journal. In a cabin in the bed." He raised himself, eyes burrowing deep into Applejack's. "I'm... I'm sorry, I have no excuses. Go."

He fell back breathing, each one taking effort. Dash reached up and pulled at her friend, trying to get her to move, to stop looking at the dying stallion like he asked. She didn't want to see it. Didn't want to see what she might find.

Applejack looked at Dash's pleading eyes and seemed to come back to herself a bit. "Ah'm coming back for you." She said to Skye. He said nothing in reply, and just laid there. He...

Dash pulled harder against her friend and Applejack took a step away, then another. She paid one last glance back towards the fallen stallion before running alongside her friend away from the scene, away from the death.

Author's Note:

Hey, a place for Author's notes. Neat.

Sorry for the delayed chapter. I've gotten a ton of things on my plate so close to the holidays, along with having a full time job.

This chapter came rather quickly, only about a weeks worth of on and off typing. I think I'm starting to improve overall, this includes the speed. I got to 2K words without once checking the word count button (I know I'm not supposed to worry about the words)

I planned to ham out this scene a bit more and take away the mystery of Skye, but I realized I would have broken the narrative connection with RD. She wasn't close enough to hear the whole conversation after the battle. I thought it might be better to hear what happened from AJ's words in the next chapter, to keep people guessing. That's where I planned most of the debrief anyway. Next chapter will be rather soon. We're almost done.

thanks for sticking with me.

Comments

[Arkenai]

I'm going to assume the dislikes are from ages ago, when apparently it wasn't so good.

[Kolwynia]

Sad, but good. This chapter felt very streamlined, like it was headed for something and wasn't going to be late getting there. Heavy on action and drama, which you do well. I'm glad you are going to give us more information about Skye in the next chapter. For a second, I was worried we were going to get a Pulp Fiction briefcase scenario. Are we going to see Gilda again before all's said and done?

[Trevor Rain]

The next chapter is going to come quickly, you'll know then if she shows up.

I seem to be getting better at simply getting to the point. I'm always afraid of not putting enough detail, but reading other established fictions and the like, I see that I don't need to outline every single thing. My next goal is a more personal narrative so that it becomes less like a sterile observer to the narration almost having a character in itself. I don't think I can accomplish such with this story, but I have plans with other stories to do the like.

[Trevor Rain]

1804023 Thank you for looking past the red bar and enjoying my story, I greatly appreciate this. Despite the dislikes and the empty readers (Not including you, Kolwynia ), I'm continuing this till it's end.

[Arkenai]

1808998
So you should! Don't let a few dislikes dissuade you. For what it's worth, I equalized the bar.

[Kolwynia]

1810801 I enjoy upvoting stories I like, but sometimes I wish I could cut out a chunk of the downvotes on them instead.

But yeah, glad you are finishing this. I just got rid of a couple stories in my favorites list that I realized I'd been holding on to in the vain hope that the author would eventually update them...knowing in my heart that they were abandoned but not wanting to believe it.

“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.” -David Mitchell (author of Cloud Atlas)

Case in point: a little story called Nocturne. (But don't read it. Knowing you will never get a second chapter will just leave you depressed.)

[Arkenai]

1819837
Sometimes I wish there wasn't a downvote bar. If you don't like a fic, fine, stop reading and refrain from pushing the like button. A dislike button only discourages people. Sure, I guess you could argue that it potentially warns people off of bad fics, but a cursory glance at the description would likely tell you if it's terrible.

*Doesn't click link*