//------------------------------// // Chapter 07: Night of Destiny // Story: Flight of Destiny // by Pink_Flash //------------------------------// I stare at the ceiling in the dakrness. Lying in the bed Elaina had set up for me. Button Mash sleeps quietly in his bed to my left. 'How is it possible...? I have a mother here? I'm not from here...' Sighing, I slide out of bed. I kick the pajamas that Elaina gave me off and head to the window. 'I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not sticking around to find out. Who ever this pony claiming to be my mother is could be anypony. Some depraved and twisted pony looking to molest me or something. NO! I'm not ordering that from the menu thank you very much.' I prop myself up on the window sill. Looking down at the lock, I notice it's locked and childproofed. 'Any chance she heard I ran away from the hospital?' My ears droop as I sigh. 'Doing this the hard way. Hard object through the window? Not yet... let's see if I can pop the childproofing or not.' I peer around the room. Deciding quickly that I won't find anything that'll help me in here, I move to the hallway and begin making my way to the stairs. My ears droop as I look down them. 'Certainly, I can glide down them... Hmmm... maybe I don't need to break out from the second floor window.' I touch down at the base of the stairs after gliding down. Noting the rug under my hooves, I smile. 'Being too motherly. Putting rugs to protect her foal. It'll work against her this time. As it will keep my hooves quiet while I leap up to unlock the front door.' Smirking to myself, the door opens up easily enough. Takes only a couple of leaps to unlock it and open it. I'm about to exit when... "Pink?" The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I quickly whirl around to come face to face with Button Mash. "B-Button?!" I blink a few times. 'How did I NOT notice he wasn't in his bed?!' I grin sheepishly. "H-hi! What're you doing up?" Button cocks an eyebrow. "Getting water." He then squints. "What're YOU doing up?" "Ok... I'll be straight with you." My expression gets serious. "Who ever the pony they found to be my mother... isn't my mother. I don't know who that pony is. So I'm getting out of here before I'm handed over to the drooling psycho that's attempting to claim some foal she doesn't know." Button listens to my explanation intently. "Rainbow Dash is the pony who found your mom. She's an element of harmony... so I believe her." I'm about to protest when I spot him taking a deep breath. "No! No no no no!" I exclaim But alas, my protests fall upon deaf ears. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" I cringe at the colt calling to his mother. A few seconds later, there's a thump sound. "BUTTON?! What's wrong?!" I hear Elaina call. "PINK'S RUNNING AWAAAAAAAAY!" 'Eeyup. Time to go!' The last thing I notice, are lights turning on from down the hall on the first floor. Probably where Elaina sleeps. I turn and rush out the door. Galloping down the street. Only to hear Elaina call after me. "Pink! Sweetie come back!" Of course, I don't go back. The whole idea is to get away so I can figure this all out. I think the best place for me to go now is my plane. Granted, I think that is the first place somepony like guards would look. Possibly even Rainbow Dash or Dark Wind might look there. If Rainbow Dash decides to join the search...I'm pretty much screwed. Then again, she'd probably join the search after she's awoken. She might not wake up for quite some time. All I'd need is roughly 2 hours to get there and back. The mountain isn't THAT far away.' Shortly after, I reach the edge of the forest I saw from the sky. 'Wish I had made a mental note of that from the sky. I'd be able to determine how much forest I'd have to sift through to get to the other side.' Sighing. I step into the forest. Hearing Elaina call my name again. 'What's the point of calling out the name of the pony you're trying to call... if they are actively ignoring you? It's not gonna make a difference.' I stop in place. 'I take that back. It actually does make a difference. The pony you're calling to, upon hearing you, would know that you care enough to search for them. They may actually change their mind and come back.' Nodding to myself for no reason I begin trotting along. 'Did I just have a debate with myself? What psychosis was that called again?' Shaking my head, I continue into the forest. Roughly 20 minutes later, I stop upon noticing a light.I crouch down behind some plants, then peer over them. Seeing a hut, I sigh. It's not a guard or something. Curious, I do squint while looking into the window of the hut. Finding a black and white pony hard at work doing... what looks like witchcraft. 'I'm not judging. You do your thing pony weirdo.' Sensing something wrong, Zecora peers into the darkness as Pink Flash trots away. "It would appear something is amiss... why is a child walking in this abyss?" I look back. Noticing the pony following. "Damn it. I should've known better!" I begin to move faster. "Child wait!" I don't look back. "This is not great..." She speaks louder. "Where is your destination?! Within this forest lies dangerous vegetation!" She calls after me as she steps out from her hut. By this point, I get a clear sight of her. She's wearing a black saddlebag. She has dark cyan eyes and is wearing some weird golden jewelry. Tribal-esque in appearance. I roll my eyes as I look to the zebra following me from over my withers. 'Oh great. The weirdo is coming.' I scoff. "Hey! Pretend you never saw me." I yell back at her. "Also, ignore anypony else looking for me." Of course, I know she won't listen to me. What else am I to say at this interval? 'Hey. I'm a human, help me get home'? Like that'll work. "Please do not go little foal. The only things you will find out here are not your goal!" The zebra responds. She picks up the pace to try and catch up to me. I also pick up the pace. 'Why is she rhyming? I thought it was a coincidence at first, but she seems to doing it every time. Let's see how she likes human military tactics.' I veer off the path and into the dense brush. "Little one! Don't stray from the path! You will surely face this forest's wrath!" Her voice seems more alarmed than before. 'Forest's wrath? What, does it have dangerous animals like poison dart frogs? Pfff. I'm trained for this sort of thing. Even if I find new creatures, I can handle it.' As I gallop through the brush, I grab a large leaf. I believe it's called Large Monstera Philodendron Bohemian. 'Though, in this case, I'd have to say it isn't Bohemian.' I chuckle lightly to myself as I slide to a stop next to a plant and cover myself with the large leaf. Taking a camouflaged hiding spot. I sit next to the plant. Patting myself on the back. 'Heh. Perhaps I should just wait here for a couple of hours. Wait for the heat to die down. This was genius.' I look up to see an unamused zebra staring down on me. "...Parlay?" She grabs me. "Noooooo!" Flailing my tiny hooves about as she begins to trot back towards the entrance of the forest. 'How?! How did she find me?!' "Little foals like you should not be in this place. You could vanish without a trace!" The zebra rhymes yet again. 'I would find that annoying, but I'm just morbidly fascinated with how she does it.' My ears perk up. As sounds that shouldn't be come to my attention. "HEY! Weirdo lady! Listen!" The zebra sighs. "I see not why you've come here-" She ducks just in time as a massive paw cleaves it's way through several trees and even a small segment of her mohawk. The zebra leaps to the side, still holding me as two trees topple over next to us. "Something is near! What it is is unclear!" Peering up, all I see are two large glowing eyes in the darkness. I did see a paw though. It seems large wild cats inhabit this forest. The zebra puts me down behind her. Her facial expression changing to a very serious one. "Flee from this place, child. I will stop this beast of the wild." I cock an eyebrow as I look her up and down. "Right. You and your army." I move to her side. As I move forward, the beast almost seems to mimic my movements. Stepping forward in sync with me. It's paw moves into the light followed by his thick as a tree trunk leg. It's chest is next, it's like a wall of muscle and fur. It's razor sharp teeth... it's claws that could tear a rhinoceros apart in a single swipe of it's paw. 'Ok. This should be fine... I'm tiny in comparison to it. I just need to move into thicker wooded areas.' The creature continues to move into the light. Revealing it's horns. 'Ok. That's weird. Shouldn't pose any more trouble though.' Then it's wings. 'Uhhhh...' Finally, it's scorpion tail. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" My eyes widen, my ears drooping as I step back. "That little one, is a manticore." She sighs. "Dealing with it will be quite a chore." Without looking at me she continues. "Run home now little colt. Off with you now, quick as a bolt!" Taking note that she didn't seem to mind me cussing. Then again, there's something a little more serious than naughty words to worry about. I close my eyes. For a few seconds, I listen to my heart racing. I take a deep breath. 'This thing may have a scorpion's tail and horns... but it is essentially a really big cat. It won't attack right away... it will assess us first to see if we're a threat. During this stage, I should remain standing. Take only slow deliberate movements. I can't turn away from it or crouch. It'll see me as prey if I do so.' I open my eyes. Seeing the towering creature. The zebra looks apprehensive. Glancing around, I make note of several large trees and some rocks. I look back to the large beast. Making my way slowly towards the trees. "Child! Why are you still here?! Why are you not free and clear?!" The zebra gets a frantic expression. Figuring I'm in a state of shock or something, she begins to dig something from her saddle bag. As Zecora removes a vial from her saddle bag, I lower myself closer to the ground while remaining on my hooves. This seems to provoke the creature into attacking me. The towering creature swings it's mighty paw. Just as it does, Zecora tosses the contents of the vial out. A fine dark red powder that sparkles in the moonlight. The powder gets in the behemoth's eyes causing it to roar in pain and snap it's eyes closed allowing me to leap to the left of the tree. The creature's paw cleaves the tree in two causing it's upper half to fall onto the creature's head. Zecora watches in mixed horror and hope as the creature falls to the ground. Meanwhile, I scavenge for a sharp rock and turn to the beast. 'Judging from the size of the creature and the tree... creature being 10 feet long... it stood roughly 7 feet. I'd estimate right around the1,000 pound mark. That tree was about 10 feet tall. It'd be about 200 pounds. However, not all of that weight is going to coming down on it's head as the monster was well over half the tree's length in height. I'd guess about 40 pounds of force just clunked it on the head.' I scratch my chin with my hoof. "Should've gotten a bigger tree." Zecora looks at me. "Child... you did that with intention?" She shakes her head. "This whole plight leaves me with apprehension..." "I'm going to leave now. I suggest you do the same." I say as I begin walking past the creature. "That hit won't keep it down very long." The tree rolls off the manticore. I sigh while my ears droop. "The proverbial mic drop." I turn to the manticore as it climbs to it's paws.The creature's ears swivel as it listens. I squint in confusion. 'It's eyes... they're bloody. What was in that powder?! Glass?!' Zecora is very calm at this point. Motionless. No doubt not making sound as to not draw the monster's attention. 'This will not do. It can smell us. I can handle this thing... I've already displayed that I can. I doubt very much she can. She already used her powder... stuff... on it. What else could she possibly do?' I look down at the rock I grabbed earlier. I had intended to use it to try and break a bone in it's leg... but it was unconscious. I had hoped to be out of here by the time it woke up. I sigh. 'Ok. I'll draw it's attention to me so the weirdo can get out of here.' I look to said weirdo. 'Hopefully she won't be the heroic type and try to rescue me. She'll only get herself killed.' Looking back to the monster. 'It's now or never.' I hurl the rock at the monster's head. A satisfying 'thonk' is heard as the rock makes a connection with the beast. Zecora face hoofs. "CHILD! I had this under control! I had blocked it's senses you silly foal!" "Wait... you can do that?" I ask as the manticore turns to me. "Shit..." The beast takes a deep breath and roars in my face. Sheer terror rushes through me. "Nope." I turn and run. 'I'm doing EXACTLY what not to do in this situation! DAMN IT!' I frantically look around. 'Got it!' There's an overhead log. This one looks to be roughly 30" in diameter. That should stop it in it's tracks! Especially since it can't see! I grin to myself and head for the log. It's suspended in the air via a boulder on one side and another tree. So I just run under it. I slide to a on the other side of the log and look back. Grinning mischievously as I watch the manticore head straight into the log... and through it... "WHAT?!" My eyes bug out wide as the manticore is barely phased by the log. Splinters and moss flying in every direction as the manticore bares down on me. "With my last breath, I CURSE TERMITES!" I close my eyes and wait for piercing painful death. However, I'm suddenly grabbed a pulled aside. Then I'm set down. I open my eyes and look up. Standing in front of me is a unicorn. A dark gray stallion. He has spiky dark brown mane and tail with a violet jagged streak down the center. Light blue eyes. He has golden symbols just above his left foreleg's knee. His cutie mark Light blue crescent moon, gray circle in the crook with a dark purple four-point star, white triangles surrounding the mark like sun rays. He looks down at me. "Hide or run away. I don't care which." He then turns to the manticore. "You! Attack a defenseless child?! Flee or die! Please pick the latter." The manticore roars at the unicorn and begins charging at him. The unicorn scoffs and begins charging at the manticore. "RAAAAAAAH!" As the two draw closer, the unicorn's horn glows. A spot of energy appears in front of him. It moves with him as the unicorn charges. The spot elongates into a thin rectangle... almost like a sword. The two meet... the unicorns eyes widen in surprise as the manticore runs past him. The unicorn slides to a stop. With a bewildered expression that says 'Did he just ignore me?!' The manticore is going for me! 'The manticore doesn't see the unicorn as prey so he ignored the unicorn!' The energy blade the unicorn made reshapes into a thin rope-esque shape. He then turns and whips the energy rope at the manticore. A loud "CRACK" sound emits as it wraps around the manticore's leg. The energy rope pulls tight and the manticore actually face-plants. 'Holy shit! Who is that unicorn? Why is he here? More importantly, why am I still here?!' "KID! Why the hell are you still here?!" He yells at me from the other side of the manticore. Causing me to blink a few times, I turn and begin to gallop away. 'Ok. He seems um... capable... I'll let him handle that. I'll just get to my plane. Hopefully Elaina doesn't come into the forest... A few moments later, I begin to pant. Having run the whole way. I slow to a brisk walk. To catch my breath. "Heh. One good thing, I have a lot more stamina than I used to." I smile to myself. I suddenly stop. My ears perking up and swiveling. Hearing a sound that brings dread. It gets louder and louder. Thump-thump thump-thump. Trees getting knocked aside. I turn to see the manticore barreling down the path towards me. Bleeding profusely. I stare in horror. 'If... it's coming after me now... he must've... killed the other two...' Realization dawns on me. Tears well up in my eyes. 'And I just... left them...' The manticore is getting closer. 'I left two innocents behind... what kind of soldier am I...?' My wings unfurl slowly. A burning rage building within. The tears slide down my cheeks. I look up at the charging manticore. Ferocity in my eyes. The monster slams it's paws down on me. However, without intentionally doing so, I use my wings to blast out from under it's paw. There's an intense clap of sound that sends a pressure wave outward from me that is forceful enough to actually cause the manticore to stumble back. I take off down the path. My wings fluttering rapidly keeping me moving at an intense speed. I move so fast there's only the wind that I can hear. I come to a stop a moment later. Looking around, I grab a stick from the ground. It's roughly 2 inches in diameter and 2 and a half feet long. I then look back to the manticore who I can barely see. I hold the stick in my mouth, then begin running at the manticore again. Fluttering my wings again... I pick up speed rapidly. I don't hear the loud clap this time... but it takes me a second to reach the manticore again. I then leap and make my wings go rigid. Causing me to begin to glide. Then, while gliding at the intense speed, I take the stick and throw it like a spear. The momentum I'm traveling at carries the stick like a bullet. The stick turned projectile strikes the manticore in the abdomen. It doesn't just strike him... it pierces him. It penetrates all the way to impale and keeps going. A look of shock spreads upon the manticore's face as I glide to a landing and slide to a stop roughly 50 feet past the manticore. There's a dramatic pause. For a whole minute I can't focus. I finally take a deep breath. Then turn to the manticore. The manticore is staring at me in disbelief. Bleeding much worse than it was before. "Uh oh..." I blink. "No no no no! Stay snapped!" My eyes widen suddenly as the manticore runs off into the darkness yelping in pain. I just stare into the darkness. "That... was unexpected..." Staring into the darkness. I ponder to myself. 'I saw it bleeding profusely... but I didn't notice blood on it's paws.' Realization dawns on me. 'Did I just attack a manticore running away from something or somepony? Did they survive?!" I smile big at the prospect that the two I left behind may be alive. 'I want to check on them... but if I meet with them, they'll make me go back to Elaina's." I take a moment to think. 'Maybe... if I wait in the bushes and spy on them as t hey follow the path...? No. That won't work. The weird zebra lady tracked me easily. It's best to push on.' I frown. Looking back towards where I last saw them sadly. Then begin following the path again. An idea comes to mind. "I should take some feathers... and place them on an alternate trail. Get them to think I went in a different direction." I smile to myself. "Clever..." I look to my wing and pluck a feather. "OUCH! SHIT! That hurts!" I look at my wing. "Am... I bleeding?!" I wince. "FUCK! It's throbbing! Who'd have thought feathers were THIS sensitive?!" I frown and let the feather drop. "Ok. New plan. I'm NOT plucking anymore feathers. That shit hurts." Forgetting about that idea, I continue along the path. It's not even 5 more minutes before I exit the forest. Peering up the mountain, I think to myself. 'I'll have to take a different path down when I finish with my plane.' I sigh while looking up at the mountain. "I have a ways to go..." I begin climbing. The climb is spooky. Random animal noises. Insects. Not to mention it's difficult to keep going. So tired... fighting to keep my eyes open... 'Despite how spooky it is... it is rather peaceful too. You wouldn't guess all that crazy shit back there actually happened.' It isn't too much longer before I reach my destination. Immediately recognizing the area as I step onto the plane crash site. I stare at my poor sweet Baron... my once beautiful aircraft... reduced to scrap. I sadly step into the fuselage. My ears drooping. I rummage around in the various items tossed about from the crash. Looking for the med-kit. Instead, however, I find a letter. "Hm? It's from Jeff... my team manager." I open the letter and begin to read it. "No fucking way... I was accepted for review by the Blue Angels?!" I begin to hyper ventilate. "NO WAY! oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" I suddenly stop. "Wait a minute... There's an age cap on the Blue Angels. That's why I never..." I furrow my brow. Then rub my fore head. "This doesn't make sense... I'm too old to get into the Blue Angels... why would they...?" I put the letter away and begin looking for the med-kit again. The letter in the back of my mind. Something isn't right about it... Soon after, I find my med-kit. I grab an emergency blanket, and my old pilot's coat. My coat is roughed up pretty bad... but it still is in one piece. As I begin to leave the fuselage, I notice the puddle of blood. I scowl at it, then leave. Having decided I should head down the mountain a different path... I decide I should head into the patch of woods on the mountain Guardian and I ran into before. The woods here aren't any less spooky than Everfree. Knowing that creature live up here as much as they do in Everfree. 'OH! I have a great idea! I should glide off the cliff! That'll be so much fun!' I grin excitedly as I trot through the patch of woods. That's when I notice the tree. The tree I had knocked down to save Guardian. That large timber wolf is still there... it doesn't look like it's alive anymore. Giving the wolf a wide berth, I make my way towards the cliff... the one I originally fell from. The cliff seems to go into abyss, like it goes on forever. Second thoughts about gliding down begin to creep into my head. 'I know it doesn't go forever. It's even pretty clear down there. Not many trees to hit... and it's not like it'll be that dark when I get down there...' Peering over the edge, the darkness, as if threatening me, is very unwelcoming. My heart hammering in my chest. 'This isn't me... this is the foal part being scared. Not me...' Steeling my resolve for a moment with my eyes closed. My wings unfurl as I step off the cliff. I kind of feel like a dog who's stuck his head out the window of a moving car. My cheeks flapping in the wind. I almost immediately panic. Opening my eyes makes me feel better. Not that it allows me much more control than before. I have to steel my resolve again. To try and calm myself down mid-glide to focus on how I should alter my trajectory in order to land safely. Taking a deep breath I notice I'm on the ground. Blinking, I look around. "H-how...?" I see trees around me. Looming high above me. Kind of spooky... "How the hell did I get down here?!" I gasp and cover my mouth with my hooves. 'I can't be too loud... or I'll be discovered!' Shaking my head. I decide to ignore what just happened. 'I can just... go ahead and file that right under the same psychosis of talking to myself.' I nod. 'Good plan.' Moving through the forest. Walking in from a different direction I believe I can avoid any pony tailing me. Then I'll find a cave and lay low. 'Maybe after a day or two... I'll find Twilight and ask if she's found anything...' I suddenly stop. Eyes going wide. "SHIT! What do I eat?! Do I eat berries and nuts... or do I eat what horses eat?!" I whip my hooves to my mouth. 'Damn it! Quiet you idiot!' There's a loud screeching. Whipping around, I look for it. To no avail. All I see is darkness. The silhouettes of trees, rocks and shadows. The loud screech again... it's closer. More defined. Something is off about it though. It has a slight reverberation in it's call. Like it's mechanical. From a speaker even. 'Some other creature that this forest has to offer. I'll crush it like I did the others.' I begin scanning the area. Looking for the source of the sounds. It sounds like a screech from a bird... so I begin with the sky. A different sound is heard this time. Like metal striking against something very hard followed by a "Twang". Filling to finish this triplex of sounds is a familiar voice calling out to me. "Kid! Run!" I look up in time to hear and see a tree falling over... towards me. My eyes widen. The tree is roughly 10 feet tall and 18 inches in diameter. Numbers immediately fill my head. 'That thing weighs at least 1,000 pounds... it will definitely kill me.' "I'm out." I turn to begin running. However, there is... some large black mass in front of me. "What... the..." It gets taller and taller. Black wings unfurl from it's silhouette. It moves closer. It's some kind of bird creature. Like a really big raven... with metal feathers. It screeches that metallic bird call into my face. Making me scream in terror. I turn away from it. My eyes bulge out. Having forgotten about the tree in the advent of the weirdo bird thing. All I can see... is the tree. The tree encompassing the entirety of my vision. Within the blink of an eye... Rainbow Dash appears. The space under the tree was vacant and then Rainbow Dash was there. I didn't even have time to process her flying in. She was just suddenly there. "R... Rainbow?!" "Pink! RUN NOW!" I just not and without another word I turn away from her. Only to be met with the bird thing standing behind me still. It raises a clawed hand... clawed claw...? This weird appendage that birds have with claws on the end. I flap my wings has hard as I can. Creating lots of thrust as I gallop by it. That loud snap I heard earlier reoccurs. In the corner of my eye, I see the weirdo bird thing get tossed into the brush. Breaking the sound barrier creates a lot of air pressure. It doesn't surprise me it got flung like a rag doll. I lose my grip on my blanket, med-kit and coat. I don't even have time to look back at them, I'm moving too fast. I have to watch out for trees, rocks and other obstacles. Though, I do give an inward sigh. There goes the last bits of my identity. The trees whip by me. Rocks and other debris. I understand how fast I'm travelling... what I don't understand is how I'm capable of keeping up with it. I can see everything as it reaches me. I'm able to avoid it. Dodge it. Jump over it or weave in and around things. I was never capable of keeping up with things like this before. This is... intense... I should be dead... I can't be doing this... "THIS IS AWESOOOOOOOOME! WOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!" A giant grin on my face as I easily weave between trees as if I were moving at a casual rate. "YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!" Leaping over logs, rushing past animals, through bushes and gliding after jumps with a lot of air. Even that root that'd normally trip you in a terrible horror movie doesn't get me. I blast past two ponies. That unicorn and the zebra from before! 'Good to see they're ok. Where am I going?' I just giggle. 'I don't care! THIS IS AWESOME!' I blast by the manticore that tried to kill me earlier. I stick my tongue out at it as I blast past it. Giggling to myself. 'Imagine if he caught just that moment of me sticking my tongue out at him?' I begin to laugh as I leap over a log and keep right on going. There's a sudden flash of light. Pasting a silhouette of me on the trees. "Huh?!" I glance around rapidly. Not taking me eyes off the trees for long. 'I don't remember breaking the sound barrier creating light... stay sharp.' I keep moving for a while longer. Keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Nothing happens. I come up on a cliff wall. 'I've had my fun. Time to lay low.' I run along the wall, finding a cave a short time later. I slow down to a trot. Using my wings like a parachute on a dragster. Panting, I trot up to the cave. 'It's got potential. I'll find some debris to make myself comfortable and warm... wait out the night. If the first night is anything to go by... I'll fall asleep really quickly if I'm not careful.' I not to nopony in particular and begin collecting some of those large leaves I used earlier to hide from Zecora. 'I wish I could make a fire... stay warm easier,' I pick up some more leaves. 'but it'd draw too much attention to me.' I sigh and drag what I've found to the entrance of the cave. The entrance looks to be about 5 feet tall. 4 feet wide. It doesn't look big enough for anything too dangerous to be in here. I also highly doubt any of those wooden wolves would live in here. It'd be too damp. 'I hope that's how they work..." I put the leaves onto the ground. Then gaze into the darkness of the cave. 'I know I should look inside... make sure nothing is going to come out and rip me into tiny pink chunks...' I frown. My ears drooping. 'It's really spooky in there... I'll throw a rock. If nothing comes out... there's nothing in there... right...?' "NYUH!" I throw a rock into the cave. "Clack-clack clackity clack splosh". 'Oh good. There's water in there.' I listen carefully for movement. "Hmmm... nothing. Seems clear..." I lie down on the leaves. 'Tomorrow... I need to visit Twilight. See what she's found. I doubt she'll be happy about me running off again. Will she even help me now? Will she send me to this psycho claiming to be my mother? No... surely she'll have found information about where I came from. Then it'll be a simple explanation that the crazy mare isn't my mother. Hey! Maybe i won't have to sleep out here once I tell Twilight.' I smile as I lie back and stare into the night sky. Watching the stars. 'Yeah... I bet she'll let me stay with her until I can get home.' My eyes droop. 'Home...'