//------------------------------// // Skytown // Story: Night Wing // by Gravity012 //------------------------------// Following three ponies through the woods for hours wasn’t as boring as you’d think. I got to learn how good my new bird eyes were. I could see for MILES! And I got to watch Luna do adorable things to her sister. Like jump on her back and act out plays. Or pounce on frogs and crickets. I realized that Tia was probably older than Luna by a good bit. Judging by how she calmly walked alongside Swirl and discussed things I couldn’t hear with him, she was a teenager already. Luna acted like she was still five or six. I also realized that Swirl was the same size as Celestia. She must still be growing. I wasn’t sure where we were headed, but they had been walking for hours. Every once in awhile I swore Luna looked right at me. But I knew that wasn’t possible. Swirl seemed to know where they where going, and occasionally his horn would light and he would adjust his direction slightly. It was after hours of this that I finally saw something. A white blob on the horizon slowly appeared. As we traveled in that direction it slowly got bigger. What is that? After a few hours it was close enough to make out. Oh. My. Gosh. It was a huge city in the clouds. Huge. Bigger than Cloudsdale in the show. It was probably 5 miles across. It was a giant circle of clouds that took up a good portion of the horizon as we got closer. I was so distracted by the beautiful sight that I almost missed the trio I was following stop. I ground to a halt and hovered as they did...something. Swirl lit up his horn and shot a beam at the sisters one at a time. They were enveloped in magic for a moment before it faded. When it disappeared they were hornless. They looked like ordinary Pegasi. Strangely, Starswirl didn’t change himself. His horn lit up, along with his body, before fading to normal. Then Tia picked him up and started flying up to the city. Luna looked right at me before following her sister. I followed as closely as I could but it was hard once they got in the city. Luckily, Tia’s pink mane made it slightly easier. Where are they going? I asked myself. Weaving between buildings was getting harder and harder the further we went. They were about a mile from the edge now, and it was already getting crowded. Swirl must have cast a cloud walking spell on himself. He seemed almost used to the crowds. And he wasn’t the only unicorn up here. Though few and far between there were other unicorns on the clouds. He barely even got glances from the pegasi around us. I didn’t get any luckily. I doubt I would be very welcome. It seemed I was about the same size as the adults around us. I noticed when one flew uncomfortably close to me. I don’t think the other ponies would like me as much as Swirly. Look at all the stuff up here! Vendors lined the street selling all kinds of Knick knacks. I was tempted to stop a few times and look but I had more important things to take care of. Following the trio around a corner, I saw Starswirl duck into a building with the sisters behind him. I hovered in place while I figured out what to do. Looking around, I dove down to a window sill. I changed my feathers to look like a dark window and landed on the ledge. I listened carefully for where the ponies went and heard voices from the second floor. I flew up to that window sill and once again landed. I heard Swirl discussing something with some pony I didn’t know. “Are you sure you can’t help us? Your special talent is tracking!” Swirl said. “Sorry, but I can’t help you this time Star. I have plans with family and no time for some crazy adventure.” “Are you sure?” “Yes. I’m sure” “Alright.” Starswirl sighed. “We’ll just find our own way then.” With that I heard hoof steps going towards down stairs and towards the door. I took off and made my body look like the sky once more. Luna, Tia, and Swirl walked out and started towards the edge of the city. I followed closely, though I stayed far above this time. It was too stressful navigating the city from street level. Once they reached the edge, Tia once again carried Swirl. Luna followed them to the ground. Once there they walked away from the city in the opposite direction than they arrived in. Based on the position of the sun we were headed west. After a few hours they stopped and laid down. Despite gliding most of the way, I to was tired. I dove quickly into the branches above them and changed to look like I was made of leaves. Only my beak and talons were undisguised. I rested on a branch not far above them. “I can’t believe it” Swirl said, frustrated. “He would have helped tremendously.” “It’s ok Starswirl. We’ll find it. Then we can be rid of it and move on with our lives.” “Yeah! Besides, I’m sure mister hawk can help us! Right!?” She asked as she looked up at me. What!? “Caaaw!” I choked as I fell out of the tree and hit the ground. Ow. Tia and Swirl looked very surprised when I hit the ground. Momentarily dazed, my feathers returned to the spacey background they seemed to love. “Ooh, pretty!” Luna cooed as she ran up and tackled me. My eyes refocused as she snuggled into my chest. “Where you following us the whole time?” Tia asked. I nodded slowly, having a slightly harder time breathing with a filly on my chest. “Amazing” Starswirl whispered. “How smart are you?” I shrugged, not really knowing how to answer that. I rolled Luna off me and stood up. Luna stuck to my side as she watch a small asteroid go across my body. “Why have you followed us?” “Chirp” I replied. Have fun translating that. Starswirl looked disappointed for a second before perking up. “Well, whatever the reason, Luna is right. We are tracking down a beast of shadow. We would greatly appreciate if you would help us.” Swirl started. I nodded. “Chirp.” “Are you sure? It will be dangerous. I’d rather more lives not be lost in vain.” Tia said sadly. I was confused. I never heard of a ‘beast of shadow’ in the show. And lives lost in vain? What happened? “What is your name creature? You appear intelligent enough to have one.” Swirl said. I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not. “Chirp” I shrugged sadly. My name is Josh. But I can’t exactly tell you that. “Oh.” Starswirl said. He slumped slightly. “Night Wing.” Tia said. What? “What?” Swirl voiced my thoughts. “Let’s call him Night Wing.” Tia suggested. “How does that sound?” She asked me. “Chirp!” It wasn’t a half bad name. “I like it!” Luna said. “Caaaw!!” I yelled as I felt a sharp pain on my new tail. I looked back and saw Luna smiling and holding a long feather in her mouth. Surprisingly, it still showed space. She walked over to Tia and proudly held it out to her. “Look sis! I brought you a pretty feather!!” Luna exclaimed, extremely proud of herself. “Thank you lulu.” Tia giggled. “But let’s not take all of Night’s feathers. I don’t think he would like that.” She smiled at me. I made grumbling sound, but I was smiling internally. Luna was adorable. “Well, it’s time for bed Luna, Tia.” Swirl announced. I then noticed how dark it had gotten. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” He lit his horn and several logs levitated out of the woods. He piled the logs in the middle of the clearing and a spark jumped from his horn into the pile. The logs lit up with orange flames. He pulled some sleeping bags out of some saddle bags I didn’t notice before. They were the same color as his fur. He passed two bags to the sisters and laid his own out on the ground. “Goodnight.” He said as he lay down. The sisters did the same, and a silence fell over our makeshift camp. I flew up to a low branch and perched there. The fire reflected in my eyes as I watched over the sleeping ponies. I didn’t feel tired, so I instead let my mind wander. How is my family taking this? Do they think I’m dead? Will I ever get back? These thoughts and more went through my mind late into the night.