“Um, North, while I’m happy you learned how to fly,” Golden clung to the straps, wishing that the seatbelts were more secure, “Don’t you think we’re going a little fast?!” her concern was ignored as North’s wings gave another beat, increasing their beat and sending waves of wind that shattered the clouds to either side of them.
“I agree with Golden,” Crescent gave up flying once she realized how fast the filly was going and was cowering in the cart, “I-i know you worried for your f-friend, but it won’t d-do any g-good if you tire yourself out,” that got a pause, before North veered down, sending them screaming as she flew towards the ground, blue wings wide as she glided down.
Though Golden was more interested in the translucent wings shaped like a dragon, white trails on either side surrounded the wings.
She had a feeling North didn’t want to tell them why she flew like this, or what this ‘Spyro’ thing the filly muttered was when they first started.
Then she glanced further down and spotted clouds forming underneath them into a large pillow, North landing right in the middle and detaching herself, dragon wings disappearing as she went to the cart and pressed a few buttons.
A splutter, then a roar as the hidden rockets on the cart started, sending them forward. Golden grabbed her as soon as she got close enough to the cart, feeling the filly stiffen before relaxing against her hold.
“If your cousin hadn’t sent a letter about what went on,” North directed this to Crescent who looked grim, pulling out the letter from her cousin Ghost Pepper in the Badlands, writing to her about strange events going on in the settlement near their underground Nocturne city and rumors of a yellow filly helping a unicorn with the Vampire Fruit Bats.
Golden and North had not even known that Fluttershy was even missing, and Golden’s Earth Blessing didn’t work in the swamps all that much because of the saturated soil there. So when Crescent got that letter in the middle of her Cutiecenera, it did not take long to realize the filly mentioned in the letter was their friend.
Golden no Pinkie felt that caramel hot anger rising in her, finding it hard to be bubbly and even harder maintaining her cover.
North had no such issues and recalling her reaction sent a chill down the Earth filly’s back, especially when they tracked down one trainee and interrogated him about Fluttershy. It did not take much to get the truth out of him, once he stopped screaming from the ghost pepper cupcake Golden shoved into his mouth.
Amethyst Storm had been sent ahead to prep for the trainees since her group was reduced to one, and Fluttershy’s new group had more issues than her last one. Then there was the stallion in charge who berated the pegasus for ‘relying on animals’ and threatened expulsion.
Unfortunately, he did not know anything beyond that, and the last time he had seen Fluttershy was two weeks ago
Two Weeks
North did not take hesitate and asked for a map to the Badlands, getting Crescent instead who volunteered to show them the way and be their guide in the other Nocturne city.
Though not before North urged them to send a letter to Canterlot Hospital and practically screamed at them when they seemed reluctant to do so.
Judge Oak intervened and agreed, freeing them to go.
“North, why did you want them to contact Canterlot? Is Fluttershy going to be severely injured? Shouldn’t we have gotten a Nocturne doctor then? What if Win-” she saw how North gritted her teeth and fell silent, not wanting to irritate her.
Blue eyes saw her reaction and there was a sigh.
“I would have asked the Nocturnes for their medical experts, but they wouldn’t have the necessary medicine we’ll need,” Crescent’s brow furrowed, looking a bit offended.
“What do you mean? Our medicine is just as good-” Golden placed a hoof on her shoulders and she trailed off.
North didn’t seem to notice, staring straight ahead of them, wings bristling at her sides and hoof scratching at the cloud below.
“What do you know about Vampire Fruit Bats?” her question caught them off guard, Crescent thinking about it.
“Um, they are bigger versions of fruit bats that are meaner and more aggressive?” the answer got them a head shake.
“Didn’t you ever wonder why there are Vampire Fruit Bats, or why the species themselves have teeth sharp enough to pierce flesh?” “Because there are strange animal species affected by magic?” Golden hesitantly put forward, “No, because Vampire Fruit Bats didn’t always have Fruit as part of their name,” North narrowed her eyes, a grim look on her face as the two behind her exchanged startled looks.
“Five hundred years ago they were just Vampire Bats, and as you can guess, blood was the staple of their diet, and they had no qualms attacking anything with a beating heart. But an issue arose when creatures they bit started having strange reactions and ended up attacking others before collapsing. It got to the point that a team of unicorn mages concocted a spell together, to change the diet of the Vampire Bats and turned them into Vampire Fruit Bats. It took two decades after that to wrestle together a cure and wipe out the disease altogether. But if what Crescent’s letter relayed about the incident is true, the unicorn that dealt with the Vampire Fruit Bats didn’t use the usual noise spell meant to scare them off, and there is a spell meant to change an animal’s diet. Crescent, you said there have been other strange things happening that were listed in the letter,” the Nocturne nodded, looking pale.
“The Zebra/ Earth Pony settlement have their orchard and the Vampire Fruit Bats appeared a month ago, destroying their crops, so they sent out the request for aid. But after the unicorn did cast the spell, the fruit was still disappearing, the crop was destroyed, and after a week ponies started getting attacked. There is no description of what was attacking them, only that it happens at night and there’s a small sting and they have a cut somewhere on their body. But while the settlers were injured, Even the Nocturne settlement in the caves is being attacked. There hasn’t been any sign of the illness you mentioned, but if it is the bats,” “There’s a possibility that at the moment the bats are trying to figure out what they are hungry for and only scratched ponies. But there is also a possibility of the attacks escalating,” they appeared over the Bad Lands, North hooking herself up and the two gulped as she flew down with them.
She glided towards the ground, the translucent wings making a brief appearance, creating grooves into the ground when she landed.
The day settlement was a mile ahead of them, with a cornfield on one side being maintained by Earth Ponies watching them, well Crescent wearily, while the other side had fruit trees, some with plums others with apples.
North eyed the corn wearily, sticking closer to the side near the fruit trees, her wings tense.
“North?” the filly twitched an ear,
“Just know, if I see any young creature walking out of those corn stalks with creepy smiles, I don’t care if it gets me in trouble, but I’m torching that corn,” a Zebra passing by coughed at her words, looking amused instead of alarmed.
Though upon spotting Crescent, the amusement disappeared and he retreated past the trees. Crescent wilted, not looking surprised but her ears were flat as she hopped out of the cart.
Golden patted her on the shoulder, earning a thankful smile before she spotted a familiar zebra colt entering the settlement with baskets on either side of him filled with different herbs.
Recognizing him, not just from Fluttershy’s letters but from her family’s run-in with them, she called out,
“Bao! Over here,” the colt jumped and turned to them, spotting Crescent and blanching before trying to run away.
North appeared in front of him and raised a hoof, stopping him in his tracks, her friends glancing at the spot she’d been in with bewildered stares.
“Hello, Bao,” she smiled, making him swallow, “We have some questions you see, about Fluttershy,” the name made him flinch and he glanced around, looking a bit panicked as the other two closed in.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t say anything, and you need to leave, especially your friend, the town isn’t happy about a Thestral being here,” Crescent flinched and the two fillies glared at him.
“Nocturne,” North hissed at him, looking displeased, “You’ve been living near a tribe of them for how long and never caught on to their actual name?” he bowed his head.
“It’s not that, look, even if they do call themselves Nocturne, some of them don’t. We’ve been having a group swooping in calling themselves Thestrals and harassing our farmers. We’ve sent messenger after messenger to the caverns to get them to stop, but anyone we sent returns shaken and bruised.” they exchanged looks, surprised.
Then North frowned,
“What does that have to do with you not telling me about Fluttershy? She’s missing Bao!” the zebra sighed.
“I know, but no one in the village has seen her since she helped that unicorn keep the bats in one place so he could place a spell on them to stop them from eating our crops,” North closed her eyes while Golden and Crescent looked horror-struck, he gave them a confused expression, “Uh-” North cut him off.
“Have there been any escalations in the attacks not by the ‘Thestrals’,” her face grimaced as she said the name, looking like she swallowed something bitter, Bao looked taken aback.
“Actually yes, we’ve found animals half-dead, and-” he paused, North finished it for him.
“Blood drained and wounds not scabbing over?” Bao nodded, shock on his face.
“H-how did,” “Isolate those animals and make sure they haven’t bitten anyone, if anyone reports being bitten by the bats isolate them as well, I’ve already sent for an antigen from Canterlot. Now,” she stepped towards him, lips pulled back, “Where’s the unicorn responsible?” he swallowed.
“He’s with the chief,” Golden joined North in staring the colt down,
“Take us to him,” they both said, Crescent shivered behind the poor zebra who trembled as he led her to a big tent in the middle of the settlement where a zebra with face paint was conversing with a unicorn.
He had a pale grey coat and ash-blonde hair, a smug expression on his face as he spoke to them about dealing with the ‘Thestrals’.
“Um, chief, this filly wants to speak to Duke Venture,” the chief blinked at the nervousness on the colt’s face, and of the three fillies behind him, all looking unhappy.
“Ah, are you all fans,” he smiled at them, though gave Crescent a searching look that made her bristle.
Golden saw North step forward and felt uneasy, her Blessing making a shiver go down her spine as the atmosphere grew cold.
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“Who sent you to kidnap Fluttershy?” North questioned, tone cold and eyes narrowed, the unicorn flinched back at the name, before shaking it off and clearing his throat.
“I’m sorry, who do you mean?” the chief gave him a surprised look.
“The yellow pegasus filly right? The one that was with you,” Duke gave him a searing look that made him take a step back, before giving a strained smile to North.
“Ah, yes, I sent her back, took her to the station and everything,” did he seriously think she was dumb enough to think that?
“Because no one has a heard a word from her in two weeks, and there was no notice given to the program about Fluttershy going with a strange shady unicorn,” his eye twitched at the shady part, and she plowed forward, “Now tell me what you did with her, and why you did such a moronic thing with the Vampire Fruit Bats,” his nervousness disappeared and his horn glowed.
“I don’t appreciate your tone filly, I saved the crops of this colony,” “By changing the Bat’s diet to not eat the crops?!” “Yes, a quite difficult spell not many unicorns can pull off,” he stated this quite proudly and she could feel the anger in her growing colder and colder.
“As I told my friends, that spell was originally used to turn Vampire Bats into Vampire FRUIT Bats, you taking away their preference for fruit made it so that they would turn to what they used to feed on. And if you needed Fluttershy to use her Stare, that meant whatever spell you used affected her as well. Who sent you to sabotage Fluttershy’s chances of being a Ranger, and do not give me the bucking excuse of hearing about her abilities. Bao could attest that the program was filled with trainees willing to do anything to sabotage the others,” in the corner of her eye the colt was staring at the ground, an ashamed expression on her face.
The unicorn puffed himself up,
“I will no longer tolerate an-” “I don’t care you incompetent dropout,” she snarled, her wings bristling, “You might have saved the food, but if nothing is done the only living thing here will be the crops, because what you just did,” she sneered, “Is going to unleash a disease from the bats that will wipe out this entire settlement,” those in hearing distance blanched, and a zebra ran to a cauldron, throwing several ingredients into it and stirring it a few times.
Then they took a sip and stood still for a moment, eyes glowing yellow before shaking their head.
“She speaks the truth,” their statement sent gasps throughout the crowd, everyone looking towards the stallion who realized his popularity was rapidly diminishing.
“C-come on, she’s just a filly. A pegasus at that! Who could know whether this disease still exists! And who's to say she is not working with this Thestral to stir up trouble,” that did it.
Before the unicorn could blink she was in front of his face, hoof smashing into his cheek and sending him past the tent, avoiding other buildings and crashing into a dead tree, sending it crashing to the ground.
North took several deep breaths before turning to Crescent who was gaping at her in shock, Golden silent.
“Can you go get your cousin, we need to clear up this understanding, find Fluttershy, round up the bats, and find Fluttershy,” a villager stepped forward, protesting her age and she glared at him, “If a single one of you hasn’t insulted, antagonized, or accused the Nocturne of ulterior motives. If there is a single one of you that did not agree with his plan of using a diet-changing spell using a filly who no doubt looked scared to death being with him, you can step up,” no one did.
Luckily, Chief Half Moon of the Nocturne Badland Tribe was willing to hear her out, and upon hearing about a group calling themselves ‘Thestrals’ groaned and rubbed his head.
“I have a feeling they might be responsible for your friend’s disappearance,” North hurried to the cart, letting out the runespoor from its cage. Hissing and sending a few residents back, the snake did not seem to need directions as it slithered across the hot ground in a random direction.
Chief Half Moon sent for a bat wrangler from his tribe who used their talents to imitate the bat’s vocals.
Soon all the bats were in one spot, some with blood on their mouths and others looking starved, eyeing the ponies with hungry expressions that made them nervous.
Golden and North ended up following the runespoor, Crescent, and her cousin Ghost Pepper right behind her. Bao elected to stay in the settlement to help with preparing medicine.
The two fillies came upon a small opening, crawling through and ending up in a larger cavern with different paths.
The runespoor headed down the passage on the far right and they went after the serpent, following them down a carved staircase down to prison cells.
Golden bit back a sob while North froze at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the muzzled Fluttershy who was hissing at them, her blue eyes now a pinkish red and looking very out of it.
“Golden,” the filly stiffened, staring at her friend, “Get Fluttershy out,” wisps of wind circulated around her, responding to her anger and wanting to lash out.
Her friend quickly unlocked the cage, breaking the chain and muzzle with ease and ignoring the growling in her ears.
“Hey! What are you doing,” North spun around feeling her tension rising further as several Nocturne entered the room, one of them glared at her, “Leave daywalker, that’s our pet, not yours,” at ‘pet’ North felt the last of her control slip.
And her vision went red.
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Golden, no Pinkie, desperately tried to rouse Fluttershy out of her dazed state, the feral pegasus either hissing at her or trying to get away from her.
“Our pet, not yours,” the sentence made her entire being turn to stone, her heart stilling as she fought against going into a rage.
Unfortunately whatever North had been feeling was set loose and the sound of screams echoed through her ears.
Almost afraid to look, she clutched Fluttershy to her, seeing North in the middle of a war zone, most of the ‘Thestrals’ collapsed around her with cuts on their bodies.
One of them was still on his hooves, staring at North with fear in his eyes,
“Y-you, your blessing,” she didn’t give him the chance to say anything more before he was crashing against the ceiling, his wing smacking against the wall in a sickening crack that made Pinkie want to puke.
Then North turned to her and before Pinkie could control herself, she flinched when the filly stepped towards her.
North froze, staring at her before taking in the scene and Pinkie saw the realization followed by horror on her face as she realized what’d she done.
“Nor-” wind swirled around the cave and suddenly her friend wasn’t there anymore, “North!” a yellow hoof patted her shoulder and she was staring into those slitted eyes that didn’t look so feral anymore, but exhaustion was obvious as the older filly drooped against her.
“G-golden? Where’s Nor-” the filly fell unconscious and Golden was the only one left awake in the cavern.
She didn’t want to be.
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Those outside spotted a glowing blur burst out of the cavern into the night sky, and someone shouted something about a dragon.
But Crescent Spiral knew it wasn’t a dragon.
Where was North Wind going?
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She couldn’t breathe, her wings boosted her forward, she couldn’t think, a wild storm appeared and she flew right through it.
She needed to get away.