Soaring through the air, I looked down on the ponies. After we all got introduced....the ponies were still nervous around me. Being a giant predator does that. Especially when their town just got massacred. A pang of regret went through me. I wish we could have saved more. As far as we knew these were the only survivors. It was likely others survived, but we had yet to see anyone. And with two pairs of eyes in the sky we would have seen anyone nearby. Speaking of which, my current flight partner soared her way over to me. After she got within a few feet of my wing tips, which was still pretty far, she stopped and just watched the forest with me. She hadn’t done much walking since the fight. Mostly sticking to the air. Her leg was doing good for what had happened to it. That said, it still looked pretty bad. Lavender had made some kind of healing goop to put on it and Healing Touch has put a pain numbing spell on it. The bit marks were wide and slightly long from where the teeth dragged through her flesh as the wolf pulled her. “We’re looking for ponies you know, not legs.” I snapped my head up as she spoke. Her eyes were locked ahead of her, not even glancing at me. “So, how does a giant bird end up with a mage and two....whatever they are?”
That almost sounded like the start of a bad joke. I chuckled wryly in my head. “Chirp!” I announced.
“Right, can’t talk. How about one Chirp for yes and two for no? Got it? Good.” She turned her head as something caught her eye before she refocused ahead of her. “So...” She seemed to struggle for a way to word what she wanted to ask. After a moment of thinking she spoke again. “You all were hunting that creature weren’t you? None of you seemed as surprised as the others.”
“Chirp.”
She seemed to think a moment more before asking another question. “How did you get in town unseen? The mage doesn’t seem the type to leave someone outside in the cold.” I didn’t say anything as I flapped my wings a couple times to maintain our height. “Right, sorry. Yes or no, you were stuffed into the big box the mage brought into town weren’t you?” She smirked a little at that.
“Chirp.” I said, irritated.
She seemed to pick up on my irritation easily. “Oh yeah. I was on gate duty when he came into town. That crate looked a little small.” She snickered a little as my eyes narrowed. Never again. “Alright I leave that alone. It seems like a sore spot.” She laughed a little more. “So, I’m guessing you got roped into their little quest huh? I can’t imagine you just sticking with a unicorn and some half breeds for no reason.” She confidently stated. Half breeds? My eyes narrowed at that. A little rude don’t you think?
“Caaaaw!” I stated my irritation with that statement quite clearly.
“What? You didn’t like me calling them half breeds? That’s what they are isn’t it? I know we’re all supposed to get along now but that’s a little far.” She looked down at the sisters. “Maybe it’s just my pegasi pride, but I don’t like the idea of unicorns with wings.” Racist. “That’s not bad is it? Everyone says it is. What do you think?” She looked over at me. When I didn’t respond she corrected herself. “Right. Is it bad that I think of pegasi as better than other ponies?
“Chirp!” I loudly stated. With that I glided away from her and left her to her thoughts. I checked on the group below and something caught my interest. Silver Anvil seemed to be having a conversation with Celestia. It was strange because he had said almost nothing the entire time we had been traveling. It was stranger because Celestia seemed to be blushing and acting more shy than usual. Oh you sly dog. Hitting on Celestia? I chuckled and raised my eyes up to scan the horizon again.
An hour later we spotted the first town in the distance. “Keeeeear!” I shrieked.
“What is it!?” Misty asked. She flew over to me and started scanning the ground for trouble. I rose an eyebrow and pointed my head at the small city in the distance. She squinted for a minute before she saw the town. “You can see that? That’s far off. We pegasi have far eyesight.” She bragged. “But we can’t see as far as you can as clearly. At least I can’t. I can barely see that.” She looked around the horizon and furrowed her eyebrows. “If I’m right, then Thoughts Mountain in the distance means we’re coming up to Brightshine. It’s a little mining town. Or it was, until they discovered massive silver deposits in the area. Along with a lot of gems.”
“Aaaahaaa!!” Someone yelled below. It sounded like Bullseye. I looked down to see Starswirl looking panicked and the sisters looking shifty. I swooped down to see what was happening. “I knew I recognized you lot! Your them ponies that defeated Discord!”
“What are you talking about?” Starswirl asked. “Even if we did, how would you know?”
“Because you defeated him in the middle of Brightshine!! I was hoping to visit some family before we all died to that monster, when you all popped up in the city square! Discord a statue and you three running off before anybody could react! But I’ll never f’rget those horns and wings. Never seen a pony with both since then.” Bullseye explained.
“Now that you mention it, I do remember some ponies talking about winged unicorns defeating discord. Everyone dismissed them as crazy.” Healing Touch said. “Myself included.” Misty flew down and hovered by me.
“Well, I’m sure Star here would tell us if that was the case right Star?” Stone asked him.
“Of course I would. What your saying is preposterous.” Starswirl defended.
“Well, there’s your answer brother! Let’s just continue on our way.” She started walking again, dragging her brother behind her.
“Um, we located a town. Brightshine by the looks of it.” Misty said catching everyone’s attention.
“Really? Well then, let’s not waste anymore time!” Swirl started walking rapidly in the direction Misty pointed.
“What was that about?” Misty asked me. I didn’t answer as I watched Stone and Bullseye wink at each other before following. With that I flew back up to watch over everything. “Hey!” Misty yelled as I hit her with a wing. “What was that for!?”
A few hours later we arrived at the outskirts of town. We stopped just inside the woods so we were out of sight. “Ok. Here is where we part ways. You all can go to the town over there and we will go on about our business.” Starswirl said to everyone. I stood atop a tree branch and rested for a minute. The ponies all looked at each other with raised brows for a minute.
“Pardon me if I sound rude but, it seems you needed us as much as we needed you. We helped fight off those wolves before your bird friend showed up. Safety in numbers and all that.” Bullseye stated. Bird friend? I’ll have you know I am a purebred hawk of the highest caliber. I smiled at my internal joke.
“While I hate to admit it, Bullseye is right. You guys are going after that thing right? Well I’m not going anywhere. We deserve revenge just as much as you!” Misty loudly declared.
“Besides, you might need a poultice or two if you get hurt.” Lavender gently said.
“Or a spell! I’m a trained nurse you know!” Healing happily declared. Stone Slab looked around before speaking.
“Well, I suppose I could carry stuff. I’m not a fighter like my brother, but I’m a good bit stronger.” She hit her brother in the shoulder good naturedly.
“I would like to come as well.” Silver shyly looked over at Celestia, making her blush. Starswirl looked around the group.
“Nothing I say will change your minds?” Swirl asked. Everyone shook their heads. Starswirl sighed at this. “Very well. But you all do as I say. Ok?” Everyone one agreed except Misty. She gave a pained look before finally nodding. “Good. Now, if I am correct, you and Bullseye were guards correct?” He asked Misty.
“Served for ten years.” Misty boasted. “But uh, my blades are broke. And I need a doctor for this leg before we go anywhere.”
“Yes, I noticed. We will head into town and visit the local smithy. And get you to a doctor. You don’t want that left untreated.” Swirl said. “So me and the sisters will stay here while you all go into town and get things sorted out.”
“Nice try, but no.” Stone made Swirl deflate.
“You can't blame a stallion for trying right?” Swirl asked. “Very well, let’s go.” He looked at me for a second. “Could you keep an eye on things from above? We can’t exactly have you seen.” I nodded at him and took off.
As they all walked into town, with the exception of Misty as she hovered, I couldn’t help but feel we had forgotten something. What is it? I swear I’m forgetting something major. “THE SAVIORS!!! THEY'RE BACK!!!” A random pony shouted from below. Oh....that’s what we forgot.