Golden Prose

by Field

6

I was a rag-doll in the air. Despite the burning sensation in my core my limbs were cold and numb. My legs hung limply, ignoring my every effort to move them. All I could think about was Golden Prose shining the flashlight in my face back at her bungalow, trying to burn out the shadow she suspected was hiding inside me. I just wanted to hold my hold my remaining flashlight against my chest to stop the burning.

As if on cue just to snuff out any illusion I’d had of that one last comfort, a chunk of debris slammed into my side, shattering the lens and bulb of the flashlight. It was like the storm had a mind of its own. There was thought behind this destruction.

Without the thin beam of light from the flashlight I was now alone in the black. I squeezed my eyes shut just to spare myself the sight of whatever piece of debris was going to spear me through the heart. If I was lucky maybe it would kill me before the shadows themselves did.

I was about to say a prayer when I felt something warm on my chest. It was different from the burning oil inside my chest, this was only superficial. I dared to open one eye just enough to peer down at myself. There was a dull purple glow around the collar of my vest. It drifted down my chest, circling around and weaving itself between the vest buttons, searching. And then it found what it was looking for.

The two flares I’d had poking from my vest pockets burst to life in a radiant explosion of red against black. A guttural roar erupted from the center of the funnel and the entire storm seemed to shudder in pain. Wind buffeted my face as the tornadoes rotation seemed to double, enraged by the thorn that had been stuck in its heart.

I wanted to cry out as the heat from the flares began to melt through the artificial fibers of my pockets, dripping hot nylon against my chest as my vest flapped in the wind. The storm couldn’t seem to dislodge the flares from my pockets so it then made the decision to remove me entirely.

Suddenly I was out. I could breathe again but my limbs were still not my own. I tumbled end over end through the warm night air, cycling between views of the stars above and the dense forest below. There would be no catching myself or even bracing for impact.

I crashed through the canopy in an explosion of jabbing branches that was almost more painful than the tornado itself. My chest thumped on a thick limb, knocking the wind out of me as I toppled over it. My legs and flanks slammed into several more limbs in a painful game of pinball, but then came the game-over of the hard ground.

My head rapped against the ground with a resounding THUNK. I felt nauseous and I saw stars. I was broken, I just knew it. Tunnel vision began to set in and I wondered if death was finally going to claim me. Then I was gone.

“Moss. Mossy! Wake up, buddy, you’re holding up the party.”

I started awake, slapping away the hoof that jabbed at my face. “Damn it, Expo I told you not to let me fall asleep.” With an inglorious slump I flopped out of my reclined position against the large oak tree and got to my hooves. “We don’t have time for naps.”

“Aww, but you looked so sleepy and you always get so cranky without your nap.” The gray unicorn stallion mocked as he levitated his saddlebags onto his back, hiding his film camera cutie mark. “We really are never going to find anything if you go stomping through the woods like a pouting colt.”

I slapped him hard in the chest with my hoof and then pulled my own saddlebags back on. This was the last day of the film shoot and I was really feeling the pressure. We had plenty of stock footage to pad that episode of Equestrian Wilderness, but no shots of the animal that was supposed to be the actual main focus.

Expo gathered up his assistant and the pony with the sound equipment while I went to find our host. As I expected I found the graying donkey fixated on a nearby shallow, swampy pool full of frogs. “Sorry about that, Atten. Are you ready to move on?” I whispered, trying not to disturb the subjects of his observation.

Atten Burro eased back away from the pool, not removing his eyes from it until the last moment when we were side by side. “Do not worry about it, my colt. I had a lovely break with these Hayseed leopard frogs. They are simply fascinating.”
I couldn’t help but smile. The donkey’s love for nature was infectious. The downside was that it only heightened the anxiety in my chest not to let him down. I wanted desperately to be able to show him the Ursa that we had come to find.

I had served as Atten Burro’s guide during the filming of his show for the past two years. My unique skill was my uncanny ability to track down wild animals without disturbing them. It was invaluable in the making of wildlife documentaries. And though my name was merely a blip in the show’s credits I wouldn’t change it for the world. I got to travel Equestria and learn so much from the donkey who would come to be my mentor.

Finding animals had always come naturally to me, but the Ursa Major was a challenge unlike anything I had ever faced.
Next to nothing was known about the elusive creature. The animals were immense though; they should have been easy to track in the dense swamp. Yet somehow the only thing we had found after five days of searching was one set of tracks. One set of four paw prints; as if the creature had suddenly appeared and disappeared.

The crew was exhausted and ready to trek back out of the swamp. They had been with Atten much longer than me and had experienced the disappointment of an unsuccessful hunt before. I had not, and was unwilling to let this be my first.

We hiked onward for the rest of the day, following every little hunch I had about a sound or smell. None of them panned out. The sun was finally starting to set when Expo trotted up beside me to talk.

“We’re exhausted, Mossy, and I know you are too.” His voice was quiet, though not quite a whisper. “Even though Atten won’t admit it he knows this trip was a bust. The Ursa that was here probably left the area ages ago.”

I snorted, refusing to slow my pace or face the unicorn.

“There’s no shame in this, buddy. We gave it a great effort; things just didn’t pan out this time.” The unicorn was becoming more insistent, his camera floating magically at his right shoulder. “If we turn back now we can be out of the swamp before it gets too late and then go sleep in actual beds tonight.”

I was tempted to buck the camera-pony in the ribs for being such a quitter. “We have enough food and water to last till tomorrow, so we’re going to stay till tomorrow.” I snapped back at him. “I’ll find us a place to bed down before dark.”

Expo reluctantly agreed and went back to the rest of the group to relay my decision. We usually operated as a democracy, but being the only pony who knew the way back gave me the power of veto here.

As we moved slightly higher upland and out of the wetter areas of the swamp I finally spied what I thought would make a suitable camp. There was a large rocky outcropping with a cave that seemed to dip down below the earth just below the entrance. The mouth of the cave was sheltered enough that it would make a fine place to stay the night.

Leaving the others behind I crept into the cave to make sure it was safe. Regular bears were just as much of a threat here as anything else. Even timber wolves might have been inclined to take refuge there. After a thorough investigation though I found no trace that any animal called this cave home. Not even a hair soiled the stone floor inside for as far down as I dared to go.

Within an hour we had made camp and were enjoying some drinks around the campfire. The bottles of hard cider that would have been our reward for a successful trip were now being sipped on morosely like a consolation prize.

I took a quick swig of my drink and frowned as Atten trotted over and took a seat next to me. “I know you’re disappointed, Mossy, but it’s something we all have to learn to deal with now and then. No pony has ever filmed an Ursa Major before. We didn’t fail… we just didn’t beat everyone else.” He tried to pat me on the back but I leaned away.

“Not only did we not film one, we didn’t even see one!” I set my drink down just so I could shake my hooves for emphasis. “I’ve heard stories about colts just wandering into the woods and stumbling across an Ursa. How do you think that makes me feel when knowing what animals think and where to find them is supposedly the one thing I’m really good at? It’s my Luna-damned cutie mark after all!”

Atten Burro nodded thoughtfully and turned to face the fire. The flickering flames cast dancing shadows across his wrinkled face. “The Ursa Major is a magical creature, my colt. And magic is something you and I both lack. I’ve spent my life learning anything I could about the nature world and I still barely scratched the surface. Magic is an entirely different world that lurks just beneath that surface.”

I wanted to just tell him that he was drunk, but I knew that he never touched alcohol. He was speaking with the clearest head of the group right now, and as much as I respected him for it I just wanted him to stop trying to sound sagely and just go to bed. We weren’t beaten until we stepped out of the woods tomorrow.

In frustration I lashed out, bucking my bottle of cider backwards into the cave. There was a moment of silence as it arced gracefully through the air, then it shattered loudly on the stone floor deep within the cave. Glass tinkled as the pieces settled, and then something else in the cave stirred.

I froze up as the group’s eyes fell on me. I didn’t know whether the accusing looks were more for kicking the bottle or the fact that I’d been the one to vouch for the caves emptiness. Whatever was moving around sounded pretty hard to miss.

Expo slowly got to his hooves and levitated his camera in front of his face. He crept past the campfire and to my side, and then we both carefully stepped through the mouth of the cave. Whatever was inside was coming out to meet us; the sound of scraping paws on stone was unmistakable. In the darkness I could see a large lumbering form… and it seemed to be twinkling?

“Ursa!” I hissed just loud enough for Expo to hear. “Turn the bucking camera on and back off!” My heart was racing. I was justified! My sixth sense had brought me to an Ursa without even realizing it.

I stayed between the Ursa and the group as Expo backed against the side wall. I only needed to make the creature hesitate for a few moments so the others could their equipment out of its path. It looked half asleep, so that didn’t seem like much of an issue.

From his position against the wall Expo steadied his camera, aimed, and began to roll. The camera’s indicator light blinked on, and then suddenly the cave was awash with light. The mounted light on the camera had come on automatically in the low light conditions. Expo must have screwed up the camera settings in his haste!

The Ursa roared angrily, just as blinded by the light as we all were. By the time we had blinked the stars out of our eyes had vanished. Our collective jaws dropped. There was no possible way a creature that large had galloped past us in the split second it had taken for our vision to return.

Something translucent shifted in my peripheral vision and suddenly Expo was raked up the cave wall, his back shredding on the rocks. I could see individual impressions in his chest and stomach almost like an oversized paw print. The Ursa was still here, we just couldn’t see it!

Expo screamed out in pain and the magic around his camera faltered, sending it crashing to the ground below. The light shattered and the cave was plunged into darkness once more. As quickly as it had vanished before the Ursa was now fully visible before us once more, its massive forepaw grinding Expo against the rocky cave wall.

Atten and I put the pieces together almost simultaneously; it all made sense. All recorded Ursa sightings had occurred at night, not only because the creature preferred the cover of darkness but because it was invisible in the presence of direct light. It was some kind of innate magical camouflage that allowed the massive creature the safety to sleep by day undisturbed, while its dark starry coat allowed it to be stealthy at night. The setting sun had shined into the cave at such a perfect angle when we first arrived that the creature had been hidden from me.

The realization did us little good now. The Ursa swiped its paw away from the wall, sending Expo’s lifeless body sailing through the air and into the darkness beyond the cave. My heart caught in my throat and I did the only thing I could think of.

“HEY! OVER HERE!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, stamping my hooves on the ground loudly in an attempt to get the Ursa’s attention. Forget moving the equipment, I now just needed to distract the animal long enough for the rest of the crew to get a head start.

The Ursa whirled around to face me and swung one of its massive paws at my head. I tried to duck out of the way but the creature’s murky form was hard to judge in the darkness. The very tip of the Ursa’s smallest claw snagged just inside my ear and tore a chunk out of the thin flesh there. I let out a loud yelp of pain which only seemed to anger the beast more, because it followed suit with an ear splitting roar of its own.

This time something answered. A roar that dwarfed the Ursa’s echoed in the distance and the ground erupted in tremors that threatened to shake all of us off of our hooves. With that came the second realization of the night, something far worse than the first. What stood before us in the cave was only an Ursa Minor. Momma had heard him… and she was angry.

The crew watched in terror as a danced with death, avoiding more swipes from the Ursa Minor’s massive claws. They knew that they were in literally the worst position possible; they stood between an Ursa Major and her cub. They needed to flee but were unwilling to make the decision to leave me behind.

The decision was quickly taken from them when the Ursa Major burst out from the forest behind them. In one swipe of its massive, wickedly clawed paws it obliterated the campfire and all the equipment around it. The impact knocked Atten Burro off his hooves and I screamed out for one of the crew to help him. It was only a momentary distraction but it was all the Ursa Minor needed. He struck out with the front of one paw and batted me like an insect into the cave wall.

My head slammed into the rock wall and my vision swam. I slumped to the floor, unable to move. The Ursa Minor took advantage of this and batted me across the cave floor again, like a cat with a toy. It seemed ready to continue the game when a scream from outside the cave caught its attention. With a snarl it lumbered past me, toward its mother.

They were being killed, I could hear it and there was nothing I could do to stop it. My body refused to listen to my demands of it. It was likely that my back was broken; I didn’t know how much longer I had left myself. I tried to scream but all that came out was a sickening gurgle.

The sounds of struggle carried on for only a few minutes but it felt like an eternity. I could feel my mind withdrawing, slowly detaching from my surroundings. It was peaceful.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. I felt a change in the air.

“It is you!”

Everything was silent except for the voice. I couldn’t turn to face it, but I heard the gently trotting of hooves against the stone. It was a mare’s voice.

No, that couldn’t have been right. There were no mares with us on that trip.

“You must listen to me, stallion. We do not have much time, you must return with me now.”

I wanted to ask where, but the strained croak that came from my throat bore no resemblance to the word.

The hoof steps stopped behind my head and I felt the gentle touch of a horn against the side of my face.

“Return.”