“You guys are going to that cave, right?” Rainbow Dash asks the swan as the duo walks ahead and side-by-side.
Seri blinks at her. “Cave?”
“You know,” Dash replies, waving a hoof in the air. She winces mid-wave, and returns her hoof on the ground. “The cave where it's filled with gems.” She smiles an excited smile. “You guys must have heard the rumors, too.”
Seri blinks at her once again.
Dash arches an eyebrow, her smile fading. “I ... get the feeling that you have no idea what I'm talking about.”
The swan returns her attention ahead. The gem she is holding dims somewhat, so she stops and slowly turns until the gem is shining bright again, and she resumes walking towards a new direction.
Seri then gives the mare a sideway glance. “We're looking for something, and this gem is guiding us towards it.”
It's kinda nice to see Seri talking again, but it's still a bit depressing that she's not as cheery and happy as she used to be.
Dash frowns. “I know I asked before, but I wanna ask again. What are you guys looking for?”
“A book.”
Dash shakes her head. “You mean a brook, right?”
Seri shakes her head.
“The heck is a book?”
Seri shakes her head once again. “You're probably not looking for it, but we are.”
“The keyword there is ‘probably’, birdie,” Dash says. “Whatever this ‘book’ may be must be something trade-worthy, so I'm tagging along.”
Seri opens her beak to say something—
“Yes!” Moon Gaze suddenly squeaks in triumph, probably doing a happy rat dance on my head.
She glares at him. “...Does your pet cub eat pet rats?”
Walking beside me, Reykan sighs, his ears drooping. “Jay says I shouldn't.”
Oh yeah... Reykan and Moon Gaze woken up about half an hour after they fell asleep from those flowers.
Dash blinks at the cub. “...the buck are you letting him tell you what to do?”
“Meh.”
“The buck kind of answer is that?!”
Reykan is still angry that he didn't get to win that battle from earlier. He said he could have won it easily, since the Manticore was ‘slow’ and he was able to dodge its every attack.
Kid's got good reflexes.
Moon Gaze relaxes on my head. “You can buck me if you want—”
A blurring blue hoof slaps him off of my head, sending him flying ... somewhere.
I sigh, stop and turn to Reykan. “...Fetch.”
He stops and blinks at me. “...What?”
“Let me go!” Moon Gaze squeaks angrily, trying but failing to free his tail from Reykan's closed jaws.
“Heh,” Dash chuckles. “I'm starting to get why you're keeping these two weirdos along.”
“Oh, sure,” Moon Gaze says upside-down. “We're the weird ones.”
Dash looks at me with her signature confident grin. “So how'd you do it?”
“Dirt pony secret,” I reply.
She snorts, shakes her head, and then turns to Seri.
As the duo continues their little girly conversation, us guys at the back are warily following them, our twitching and turning ears trying but failing to hear anything unusual.
Well, it's mostly me who is failing. I've no clue if either Reykan or Moon Gaze are still hearing the noise they heard a few minutes ago.
I blink—
I quickly reopen my eyes and turn to where I saw ... something. It's not there anymore, but I did saw something just before my eyelids closed during that blink.
“What is it?” Moon Gaze quietly squeaks.
I squint my eyes, hoping to see whatever it was.
“Jay?”
...It doesn't look like I'll be seeing it again. I turn to him and notice Reykan's glancing at me as well.
I shake my head. “It was probably nothing, but...” I turn my gaze back to where I saw it. “I thought I saw a small green orb.”
And suddenly, a bright flash of white light blinds me. I close my eyes and rub them with a hoof as a mighty roar of thunder booms from the heavens, shaking the earth slightly.
The was the most powerful lightning plus thunder combo I've ever experienced since we entered the Everfree Forest.
I shake my head and rub one of my ringing ear. Everyone else has stopped as well, catching their bearings.
“—must be close to the eye of the storm,” I hear Dash say, looking up at the dark, leafy ceiling of the forest. She then brings her gaze back to Seri. “Well, I dunno what the hay a book is or why you guys are looking for it but,” she looks at the rest of us and shrugs. “I can't really fly at the moment, and it would be stupid if I go and look for the cave on my lonesome, so ehhh,” she shrugs once more before turning to Seri. “I'm gonna tag along.”
“Sweet,” Moon Gaze quickly says, who is now sitting on the cuphead, er, I mean cub's head. “Can I sit all over you?”
She glares at him. “I'll squash you,” she says as Seri wobbles forward.
I squint my eyes.
Hm...
I quickly look back and—
Four small green orbs quickly vanishes.
I blink. No, those weren't orbs. Those were eyes—
“They've been following us for a while now,” Reykan suddenly says, startling me a bit. “I think those are timberwolves.”
Ah, but of course.
“I'm glad they're not running after us like hungry meat-eaters,” Moon Gaze squeaks.
Huh... I wonder how they're able to digest what they eat. They are mostly made out of wood and green magic stuff, right?
Moon Gaze continues: “But ... why aren't they running after us like hungry meat-eaters?”
“A big preydeytor is probably scaring them,” Reykan says.
Huh...
“Hey, slowpokes!” Dash calls out.
We turn back and see them quite a distance ahead now.
She sits down and puts both front hooves around her mouth. “What's the hold up? Get your asses over here already!” she hollers, her voice almost drowning to the rumbling thunder noise and the noisy and constant rustling leaves up above.
We hurry after them, and as we got closer, we realize that the two of them are now outside the thick line of trees, standing and sitting on the edge of a cliff.
“Yo!” Dash greets us as we exit the dark forest. She points a hoof behind her. “Check it!”
She turns and gazes at—
Reykan skips and stops beside the swan.
“Whoa,” Moon Gaze squeaks in amazement.
“Heh,” Dash chuckles. “I gotta admit, even though you got no wings, you dirt ponies sure find cool ways to get to places you can't reach.”
Wooden planks for footing, and rope for railings and as well as for support. The bridge is connecting this cliff we're on to that other cliff up ahead.
“Although you gotta be stupid enough to cross this thing with this wind,” Dash comments.
The wind is whistling violently here, swinging the bridge left and right, and up and down.
Seri looks at the gem she's holding, and then looks ahead. “...The gem's pointing us there.” She extends a wing up. “Hm... Too strong to fly across.”
“Yeah,” Dash nods in agreement. “I don't think I can even fly across with winds this strong.” She flutters her wings. “Though I'd love to try if I could.”
“What's that over there?” Reykan asks, pointing at the thing I've been staring at ever since we got out of the trees.
“Huh,” Moon Gaze squeaks. “I didn't even notice that.”
On the other end of this bridge, probably right in the middle of the trees, is a castle.
A freaking ... castle.
But not just any castle.
It's the castle of the freaking two sisters, or whatever it was called in the show.
As the others are talking amongst each other, I blink and look back.
There are probably more than a dozen sets of timberwolf eyes glowing in the darkness of the forest, all staring at us, but one by one, a pair backs away and fades into the darkness, until no pair is left.
“Well,” Seri says, “the gem is pointing us there, so...”
A flash of white light.
A roar of thunder.