//------------------------------// // Wait and Bleed // Story: The Kindom Beneath the Mountain // by Sawtoothetherium //------------------------------// Luna staggered along the now shallow slope of the mountaintop her blood staining the snow. The griffin scout had found her fleeing and had attempted to capture her and bring her back to canterlot to be placed in a cell like her sister and the six mares. Spikes fate was unknown as he had disappeared when the griffins finally took the city. Luna hoped he made it out, he could appeal to his dragoness friend and ask for the dragons aid. Luna had fought the scout and won but ended up with an arrow in the shoulder and several injuries from the griffins claws. The one good thing was that griffins couldn’t stand cold weather, so up here she was safe from them, the cold could not harm her. She had impaled the griffin on her horn when he leapt at her, and now his blood stained her horn and face. Luna had forsaken her royal attire and stood bare to the wind. She felt the wind blow in her now natural mane, she had let her mane and tail retain a natural state to blend in with the night better as a flowing mane made of night sky. Her light blue mane was slightly messy and went down past her chest, her tail was a bit long and dragged slightly on the ground. Her blood and that of the griffin was dry in her mane and tail making her look like a deranged psycokiller. Luna collapsed on the ground and bagan hyperventilating, her blood continued to pool around her. Lunas vision grew blurry and she briefly spied a dark pony a few feet away, she couldn’t register it all before she passed out. Luna woke up with a blanket covering her and on a comfy mattress. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times to get the blurr out of her vision and looked around. She was in a stone room, the bed she was on had a stone frame and the bookshelves lining the wall her back legs were nearest to lined were stone too. On the wall opposite the bookshelf was a window about four six feet up and two feet tall, there were tattered drapes on them. The drapes were of a grey cloth and only a bit thicker than paper, the bottom of the drapes were torn and had holes in them. Luna looked down at herself to see a thin grey blanket covering her. She lifted the blankets to find that she was bandaged in all places she was injured. She also noticed that she was clothed. There was a grey shirt the cloth thick and comfy with a v-neck collar, the pants were similar except the shirt came down to about the middle of her back legs. The pants came down to her ankles so that her hooves were still on the ground and her tail came out the back of the pants and shirt. Luna pulled the blankets back up and decided it was best to rest, if she moved too much to soon it would only cause more damage than had already been done. Only a few minutes later a stallion came in through the door by the window. He was a bit bigger than she was and a black coated batpony. He was clothed too but not near as simply, he wore a grey tunic over a leather breastplate and a short fur cape that came only about halfway down his back. He had a fur kilt secured by a belt that had a sword in a sheath on his left hip. He had on iron boots and gauntlets too protect his hooves. He came in and approached her. “I was wondering when you’d wake up,” He said in a deep voice with a heavy Trottish accent. “Ya took quite the beatin out there.” “Thank you for tending my injuries sir,” Luna said to him. “What do I call ye lass?” “Luna. What is your name?” “I am Shade.” “Nice to meet you Shade, and thanks again.” “How did you end up the way ya did?” Shade asked her, “It looked like ya got into a fight with a wolf or somethin.” “Griffin, actually.” She said to him, “I am from the nation Equestria, which has recently been taken by the griffins. I managed to get out of the war zone when a griffin scout found me heading north and tried to apprehend me. I killed him while he got me in several places, it was more luck than anything.” “Well it certainly seemed to be,” He said, “Ya nearly bled out.” “Where am I?” Luna asked him. “Ye are in Donladur, a city under the mountain.” “We’re underground?” Luna asked surprised. “Yes,” He awnsered. “What did you plan on doing up north when you escaped the griffins.” “Recover, devise a plan to get my sister out of their prison and get her and myself to a friendly nation in hopes that they might help.” “Well the only thing ye can do now is stay here and recover. Ye may as well stay here, it seems that the griffins will be lookin for ya and it seems that stayin with us is yer best option.” “For now at least,” Luna said, “and thank you again.” “Your welcome. Ye should be up and walkin around if a few days.” He heard a deep horn sound and said, “I need to get back to work, I will speak with you when I come home. Until then get some rest, ya need it.” So Shade turned and left the house again and left Luna to her thoughts. She noticed that these ponies seemed to value clothing, she should leave the clothes that had been put on her on. She also thought she should hide her wings, she would prefer her horn be hidden but the wings were easier. Luna closed her eyes and decided to try for sleep, she had just charged the moon with enough magic to raise and lower itself for a few weeks so she didn’t need to worry much. She drifted into sleep, curious about Shades culture.