Two spears. Two lethal flint weapons.
Lilly Bloom stared, too shocked at suddenly having her life threatened to move. Her glowing horn spluttered out.
At the other end of the spears, the two deer dressed in bark and leaves stared unblinking at the unicorn mare, expressions closed.
Gloom cleared his throat, "Why don't we all pause before anypony does something they'll regret?" He asked calmly.
Prey however could see the muscles in the thestral's wing bunched around the spear shaft pressed to his side.
Crimson stood stock still, but Prey knew how fast the pegasus could go from standing to explosive motion in the blink of an eye. Ancient and silent, the stone circle stood at their backs. The two deer were outside of Prey's perception range, he couldn't hear what they were thinking. He braced for everything to go to hell in a blood soaked mess.
It came as an immense surprise when the two deer, both stags, did as Gloom had suggested and lowered their flint spears. Prey felt rather than heard the breath of relief leave Gloom. Scenic and Lilly were both still frozen, wide eyed.
Prey had not seen a single deer since the Deeper Green and the Resistance, and now he openly stared. Both stags were tall, sleekly muscled, fur dappled a rich dark brown, and looked to be related. Their antlers were sharp and strung with knotted strips of birch bark.
The two deer put up their spears, exchanged glances, and nodded. Then, without any sort of explanation, an apology, a warning, or even a parting threat, they turned to leave just like that.
What?
'That's all? If they were just planning to leave, why'd they revel themselves at all? Why here? Why so hostile to Lilly Blossom?' Prey thought in surprise.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Lilly exclaimed, "You just tried to kill me! You're not going anywhere! You're both under arrest!"
Crimson and Gloom, who had slowly been untensing, braced themselves again.
The deer turned in sync, their smooth, tawny coloured faces calm and expressionless. Their eyes were very dark, and deep.
"Private Lilly Bloom, I told you to calm down. That's an order." Gloom said through clenched fangs. Then to the deer before anything else could be said; "Please excuse her. You just startled us, is all."
"No, it is we who need to apologise, travellers," The older deer said in a velvety smooth voice, "It was us who engaged in hostilities first. Please know however, we had no intention to slay anyone." He dipped his antlers to the ISND, the strips of birch bark swaying.
"I'm sure it was a misunderstanding. No harm was done in the end. It was a misunderstanding, right?" Gloom asked, smiling. It was a friendly smile, but clearly showed his sharp fangs.
"As you say." The stags nodded their assent, keeping one eye on the fuming unicorn who'd gone red and looked fit to explode. Prey's stomach clenched when he spotted the stray blue sparks leaking from the end of Lilly's horn.
The two sides faced each other. Prey's hoof inched towards the strap across his shoulder where one of his three daggers were hidden. Silence descended again on the small clearing, the standing stones bearing witness to whatever was going to happen next.
It was the younger looking deer who broke the silence:
"Excuse us. There is little need to linger. We will bid you farewell travellers, and take our leave. Our apologies again. This misunderstanding has soured what might have otherwise been a chance meeting. Farewell."
The two stags bowed politely and once again turned to leave, their spears slotted away into loops of woven vine rope across their backs. The assortment of bark and leaves they wore acted as a very effective camouflage.
Lilly's mouth opened to shout, Gloom stepping forwards at the same moment, but it was unexpectedly Prey who beat them all to it.
"<All Mother smile on our meeting. I entreat you, please stay a little.>" Prey called in Fourlon, stepping forward and bowing his head just like the two stags had done. His accent was broken, and his pronunciation of the deer language imperfect, but his words were clearly understandable.
Gloom's eyebrows shot up, and both the deer spun round in surprise at hearing the lamb speaking the foreign language. The older looking deer, the one with ten tines on his antlers to his companion's eight, answered back in the same flowing language, although far more gracefully than Prey:
"<All Mother smiles upon our meeting,>" He said, returning the traditional greeting, "<It is a strange and rare pleasure to find a traveller who knows the language of the trees. How came you by it?>"
"<A thousand apologies. My understanding of your language is but basic. I must confess to only knowing a little.>" Prey said, still holding the bow, ignoring Gloom's hissed demands to know what was going on.
"<It is more than basic, traveller. You speak it exceptionally well for one not born in the trees. Might we know why you have stayed our hooves ere we depart?>" The stag asked, curious.
Prey straightened up, "<My name is->" He paused, having to switch back to plain Equestrian; "-Prey. <Forgive me, I do not know my own name in your beautiful language.>" He flattered them.
"<Your name? It would be, 'The Hunted One'. Or perhaps merely 'Hunted'? Or, 'One Who Is Not Hunter'?>" The second stag mused on the translation for Prey's name, "<How came you by such an unfortunate name?>"
"Prey, what are you telling them?" Gloom hissed. Prey ignored him, trying to wave the Sargent to be quiet.
"<It is simply my name,>" Prey shrugged, "<Might I ask you and your fellow traveller's for yours?>"
The older deer with ten tines bowed again, "<Of course. I am Runner On Swift Leaves. Or in the common tongue, simply> Fallen Leaf."
"<I am named Morning Dew Burning In The Sun. But you may call me> Happy." The eight tine stag joined in. His off theme name was a bit jarring, but Prey knew deer simply picked names they liked the meaning or sound of for speaking in Equestrian.
"I greet you, Fallen Leaf, Happy." Prey said in Equestrian for the others benefit, bowing again. The deer culture required alot of bowing, "<Thank you for not slaying my, ah, fellow traveller earlier. That would have been most unfortunate. And messy.>"
"<That it would've been,>" Fallen Leaf smiled back at the joke, "<Our most sincere apologies once again. We mistook your fanged one's mage for something else.>" He said, smile fading as an uneasy look stole over both him and Happy.
"<Fanged one?>" Prey asked, tilting his head as if he did not understand.
"<I meant your leader. The one with wings of skin. Forgive us, we have not seen a traveller such as him before.>" Fallen Leaf said with another small bow.
And there was the opening Prey had been angling for.
"You mean Gloom?" He asked, in Equestrian again. He half turned, waving between Gloom and the two stags, "Here, let me introduce you. Gloom, this is Fallen Leaf and Happy. Happy and Fallen Leaf, this is Gloom. He is the leader of our little group. He's here to search for the missing villagers."
Gloom caught on quickly, copying what he'd seen Prey do and bowing, "It is nice to meet you Fallen Leaf, Happy."
Politeness dictated that the two deer returned the greeting, "Greetings to you too, fellow traveller Gloom."
"I have not met any deer before, so I'm sorry if we were trespassing on your territory. It was not intentional, I assure you. We're only searching for clues." Gloom said.
"Our territory?" Fallen Leaf sounded mildly insulted. He waved to the stone circle which Lilly Bloom had now vacated. Unexpectedly wise of her.
"Land does not belong to those who merely travel it. And this place is sacred and free to all."
Gloom didn't let himself get side tracked by wondering what that meant and gestured Scenic, who was trying to ask a question, to be quiet.
"Good, I am glad to hear we are not trespassing. We're searching for the villagers of Mayflower. Fifteen of them went missing some three months ago, vanishing without a trace. Then the rest disappeared last week. We're Guards from Canterlot, sent out here to rescue them. Perhaps you could help."
"A worthy quest, travellers. I and my brother wish you success in your journey, truly we do. But..." Fallen Leaf hesitated, "There is nothing we can do to help you. I am sorry."
"Surely you'd be willing to at least try to help save them?" Gloom said.
"No, my brother said we cannot. Not that we will not." Happy interjected, "We know of the disappearances from three months ago, but that is all we know. We were not long migrated here ourselves. And now you tell us the rest of their village has also been taken? That is dark news indeed, but there is nothing we can do. Please believe us, we would tell you anything if we but knew."
Prey quickly rejoined the conversation, sensing Gloom was losing the deer. The two stags seemed more amiable towards him, since he was the one who spoke their language.
"You're good people, so of course we understand that you'd help if you could. But please, there must be something further? Something you at least suspect? Why else did you mistakenly level your spears at Lilly Bloom if you didn't think she was someone or something else?"
Again the two stags exchanged an unreadable look, but what they didn't say with their faces they said in their heads, and Prey heard:
'-<this little one speaks the truth>-'
'-<we may not know, but we have received enough dark hints>-'
They thought in Fourlon, their native tongue. It was common and how most people did, at least with their surface thoughts. Not all, but most. If Prey hadn't known Fourlon, he would've only been able to pick up the odd impression from listening in.
The two brothers shared a silent nod. The ISND all stood tensed, waiting for what would be said next. What did the deer know that they didn't?
Fallen Leaf spoke for the both of them, "We know not what happened to the villagers three months ago. But shortly after, an intruder entered this grove. The garlands of mourning were left by them." He pointed a hoof at the wreathes.
"Who? Did you see them?" Gloom immediately asked.
"No, we saw them not."
Prey however had noticed something else from the stags words.
"An intruder, not a traveller?" Prey asked slowly, "The grove belongs to no one. But you still said they were still an intruder. Meaning, they're not welcome because they did something to offend the forest, didn't they?"
'-trees? You can't offend trees-', Scenic thought in bewilderment at the back of the group.
Morning Dew Burning in the Sun, or Happy, nodded in answer to Prey's question, "You are right, young traveller. You know of the cycle of nature."
His brother sniffed and nodded at the circle, "An unwelcome influence came here. We felt their lingering foul magic after they left. Whether they are still a person or something lesser now, we can but guess. However, we fear it is the second."
Lilly Bloom couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. She was taking the spears pointed at her thing very personally, "Feel magic? Now we know you're lying, deer can't feel magic."
"Quiet Lilly. Keep a civil tongue in your head." Gloom snapped.
"We apologised for mistaking you, and we apologise again. However your words are incorrect, traveller Lilly Bloom," Fallen Leaf said, lifting his horns higher, "I do not have to be able to weave magic like you to still be able to feel magic. And I know foul magic when I feel it in my antlers."
"If it's bad magic..." Gloom started, "Then it's probably related to the villagers disappearing three months ago. And now it might have repeated itself. That's what your afraid of, isn't it?"
"It was unnatural. Something not meant to be in the forest." Fallen Leaf stated, not confirming or denying the bit about being afraid.
"We can help. We need to find the missing villagers, and you say there was some dark magic or something that made them disappear. Where can we find the source of this magic?" Gloom asked. This mysterious magic the deer were talking about may not have been what they were after, but it was the only lead they had.
'-if we can just get them to show us where, we can start searching-'
"Were we not clear earlier?" Happy blinked, "We did not know who the intruder was back then, and we do not know now either, nor do we have any idea about where."
Prey quickly interceded again. He could feel the others growing tense and frustrated, but that was how the deer were. Unless they trusted you, they were vague and often only answered the letter of the question you specifically asked, not the spirit.
Prey humbly bowed again, "<Morning Dew Burning in the Sun, Runner On Swift Leaves, please, can you not help us? Please. We are fellow travellers, trying to do good. I understand you do not know what happened three months ago, nor what happened last week, nor would we dream of accusing you.>"
Prey half turned to indicate the stone circle, "<You said you haven't sensed this foul magic tainting the forest again, but there is something else foul about, isn't there? You came here to check if this intruder had returned to the grove, because there is also something else amiss in the forest, isn't there? Can you not tell us? Please?>"
Prey knew he was right, he didn't have to see the stags exchanging loaded looks to know that. They had come here cautious and armed. And deep down, afraid too. Prey saw it in their dark eyes. Something stranger than normal was going on in the forest, and it had them worried.
"<Little Hunted One, you do not need to beg us to help for a worthy cause.>" Fallen Leaf said, seeming both slightly embarrassed and uncertain in turns, "<It is not about that. But it is... Unknown, dangerous, unsafe. You should leave while you still can.>"
Well, that certainly didn't help Prey's constant paranoia in the slightest.
Gloom was trying to pick up some clue about what was being said, his eyes and ears shifting back and forth between Prey and the deer. Prey made a motion to 'Wait' with his hoof, hiding the gesture as merely shifting the strap of his back pack, and spoke to the deer again;
"<I wish we could heed your kind warning, but we cannot. We are bound in service to the alicorn Lady Night Walker. We are not allowed to travel home until we are successful.>"
"<So it is true then. The Sun Queen's sister has returned. When the Mare in the Moon vanished, we wondered.>" Happy said. There was no indication if this was good or bad news to them. If they were smart, they would know it was bad.
"<Yes, she has returned.>" Prey confirmed.
"<And you say she has bound you and your fellow travellers to this task?>" Fallen Leaf asked, making a sympathetic face.
"<Please, if you can't tell us what you know, might you show us instead?"
"<It is not quite as simple as that. We are...>" Fallen Leaf looked to his brother, who gave an uneasy shrug. "<Please, excuse us for a moment's time.>"
"What's happening Prey? What did you say to them?" Gloom whispered as Happy and Fallen Leaf moved to the edge of the clearing and began to converse in hushed tones, gesturing with their antlers at the forest.
"What does it look like? I'm trying to convince them to show us what they know." Prey whispered back.
"How do we know we can trust them?"
"We don't. But as I said before, we needed a guide, and here two guides are."
"Have they agreed to guide us?" Gloom asked, looking about him at their little group.
"They're discussing it. They're not sure yet." Prey answered.
"Okay, so what do they want as payment?" Gloom asked.
"Keep it down, and it's nothing like that. I just explained the situation, that's all."
Lilly snorted, "You could've been saying anything in their funny language." She mumbled.
Gloom overheard her comment and sent her a look, but he too was wondering about that. "How do you know their language Prey?"
"I can't speak it the best, but the how and why isn't important right now. The deer know something important, but deep down they're afraid to tell us." Prey answered.
'-ha! I knew they were just cowards-', Lilly thought.
Crimson's head half turned to Prey, his eyes still watching the talking stags, "What is it they are afraid of?" He asked quietly.
"I don't know. That's what I'm hoping they'll tell us. Just don't mention Luna when they come back." Prey instructed.
"What?" Both Gloom and Crimson asked.
"Just trust me, don't talk about Princess Luna." Prey pleaded.
"Fine." Gloom conceded, "You hear that Lilly, Scenic? Don't mention the princess."
"What is their problem with Her Majesty?" Crimson asked.
"I don't know," Prey lied, "But if they bring her up, try and change the topic." Gloom would not be happy that he'd told the truth about them essentially being slaves, since that's not how the others saw it.
"Sir, quick, they're coming back sir." Lilly hissed and quickly stood at attention, glaring in what she probably believed was an intimidating manner as the two deer returned. They were far more blasé about a unicorn being angry at them than Prey could've been. They just seemed to accept the mare's hostility as their due for pulling spears on her.
"<Little Hunted one, we have agreed. We will offer you shelter and rest. And we will help you before we leave this forest. Come, we will take you back to our holt.>" Fallen Leaf told Prey.
"<On behalf of all of us, we accept your hospitality.>" Prey said, bowing again.
Gloom however, had had enough of being left in the dark. "I don't mean to be rude, but might I ask if you're going to help us?" He asked, trying to smile politely.
Happy inclined his antlers, "You are correct. We have offered you our hospitality and Prey here has accepted on your behalf."
"That's very... kind of you." Gloom said.
"<We will show you to the place on the morrow.> Come, tonight you will stay at our holt." Fallen Leaf said, beckoning and switching back to Equestrian.
"Wait wait, time out a minute. What do you mean, stay the night at your holt?"
The deer paused, head tilted, "The holt is where our family lives. It is one of the few places that are safe at night. You will be safe there."
Stay the night? They hadn't said anything about that.
'Spend the night with strangers?' Prey thought. There were five of them, one of them a unicorn and the other Crimson, and deer were supposed to never betray a guest they'd offered shelter to, but still...
Gloom obviously felt the same caution, "That's really not necessary. Just showing us to whatever it is you've found will be more than enough, I assure you."
Fallen Leaf shook his head, "We will not reach the place before night fall. Usually the night is no opposition, but now... We will not risk it."
Gloom looked around at his squad. They all had their packs with them, but the plan had never been to spend the night in the forest. The very idea made an unpleasant thrill go through the Sargent's stomach and he was not the only one.
"Is it really that far?" Gloom asked. '-one would think it would be closer to Mayflower. Are they leading us on?-'
"No, it is not far." Happy answered. There was a pause, but no further reason was offered.
"Not that I'm ungrateful for your help, but then why wait until tomorrow?" Gloom asked, confused.
"We cannot go directly there. We must go around. Our holt is on the way. We will spend the night and you will be safe there." Fallen Leaf repeated.
Gloom flexed his wings, gesturing between himself and Crimson, "Is there no way we could fly over?"
"I suppose you could, traveller. But the rest of us cannot." Fallen Leaf replied.
Gloom sighed, starting to become familiar with the deer's way of only answering the exact question asked, "Okay, is there no way that we can all get to wherever it is today?" He tried instead.
Happy and Fallen Leaf both shrugged, "Not unless you are willing to brave crossing a baloth's territory."
---
"Sir, I don't like this sir. I don't trust them." Lilly muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
"Then don't, but you will still be polite. They're our guides." Gloom replied curtly, before increasing his stride and pulling ahead.
Fallen Leaf and Happy were leading the way through the trees. They moved quickly and quietly, eyes never ceasing to roam the shadows, often stopping to sniff and listen. In short, they reminded Prey almost exactly of the deer from the Resistance. The deer had always made the Resistance's best scouts. Griffins came in a very close second, but were also far better fighters over all on account of them being able to fly, and naturally being armed with talons, claws, and a sharp beak.
Prey knew Gloom had decided to follow these two stags first, because the ISND was out of leads, and second, because his cutie mark hadn't said not too. Or hadn't yet anyways. That they outnumbered the deer two-to-one, (not counting Prey), probably didn't hurt the Sargent's confidence either.
Prey himself stuck close behind the two stags, knowing they could lead him on safe paths, while also being close enough to listen in on their thoughts and learn a bit more about this forest.
'-<dip coming up. Stream water still hasn't returned. Going to be a dry winter>-'
Happy checked the base of a tree, '-<kapadapa beetle colony on that side, so still going west then. Good.>-'
Fallen Leaf paused to sniff the air, '-<flower scent, pollen is sweet. Might mean Snooze Blossom close by>-'
"Step this way travellers. Careful. Ground soft." Happy instructed, bounding over an old fallen trunk with ease.
Being a runt, Prey had to climb over the mossy obstruction instead of jumping it like everyone else. He brushed his wool off on the other side and they got moving again.
"<Why do you stare so, Little Hunted One?>"
Prey glanced up to find Happy there. Prey politely dipped his head, as per deer culture protocol, "<I beg your pardon. I merely was thinking of the other deer I have met before.>"
"<I must confess, me and my brother are both most curious about where you learnt to speak our language so well. Which traveller did you learn fourlon from?>" Happy asked. Like he'd said, he looked most curious. In fact, he looked eager behind his calm mask. It was a good mask, but nothing compared to Prey's.
'So this holt is a small group without much outside contact then.' Prey thought.
"<Is it safe to be speaking and making noise?>" Prey inquired, glancing about them.
"<Here it is fine, there is nothing near by. But please, tell me, where did you learn to speak so well?>"
"<You flatter me. I am not as fluent as I would like.>"
"<For one so young and not born to our language, it is most impressive.>" Happy assured him.
Prey faked a pleased smile, "<Why thank you. There were a number of deer travellers who frequented my home village. They brought two fawns who I became fast friends with, and I succeeded in picking your language up.>" He lied.
Happy made a sound of surprise, "<I did not think it common for deer to travel across the mountains into pony lands.>"
Prey shook his head. He could feel the others eyes on his back burning a hole in his wool, wondering what was being said. "<My village is not in pony lands. It is here, on this side of the... Teeth of the Mountain, I believe you call it?>"
"<Ah, your reasoning makes much more sense now. Pray tell, whence lies your village that you were frequented by travelling deer?>" Happy asked. "Oh, and it's this way. Please follow." He said back to the other four.
"<My village is not close. It is further on, beyond the...forgive me, I do not know the name. Beyond the big forest.>" Prey said. He'd almost said 'Deeper Green', but he was not supposed to know that name.
"<A big forest,>" Happy frowned, "<I heard that deer did not go near there anymore. That all the holts from there died or fled half a century ago.>"
"<Oh really?>" Prey said carefully, "<I don't suppose you happen to know why?>"
His guts squirmed uncomfortably. Guilt.
"<Not really,>" Happy said with a shrug, a surprisingly flippant answer for a deer, "<Just that it is ill fortune to go there, and unsafe.>"
'Do the deer not remember the war? Surely they cannot have forgotten so soon, yet why does Happy not know of it?' Prey thought. He knew Happy wasn't hiding anything either, the stag's thoughts ran true to everything he'd told Prey. True the deer were a nomadic people, but how could they have forgotten the war and all those who had died?
"<I had thought you came from pony lands. Tell me, Little Hunted One, your travelling companions, they come from the pony lands do they not?>" Happy asked.
It took Prey a moment to answer, "<Ah, my apologies, no. Only two of them do, Lilly Bloom and Scenic Paint grew up there in Canterlot. The rest of us are from beyond the borders.>"
"<The holt you travel in is a varied and mixed group certainly,>" Happy said, sounding approving, "<Forgive me, but do you suppose the two of them would be amendable to speaking about their pony lands later? I am most curious to hear.>"
'To hear what? Of privilege, wealth and racial ignorance?' Prey thought.
"<I do not know. Why don't you ask them yourself and find out?>"
Happy tilted his head, the birch strips swaying, "<Why of course. That is a very sensible idea. Forgive me, you are so well spoken and eloquent that I forgot for a moment that I was speaking with a child.>"
"<Don't fret over it,>" Prey said, smiling brightly back, "<Sometimes I forget it myself.>"
Happy dipped his antlers to Prey again and then turned and trotted straight over to Scenic and Lilly, who watched him coming with apprehension.
"Greetings." Happy announced.
"Hi." Scenic returned warily.
"You were talking a long time with Prey. What were you saying? And what about the noise you made attracting monsters?" Lilly immediately demanded.
"There are no dangerous creatures near here. We may talk quietly for now if you wish." Happy answered.
"What were you saying to Prey? And what if I don't 'wish'?" Lilly pressed.
"Then I will not disturb you and take my leave. My apologies, I can understand why you would not wish to speak with me." Happy said, antlers bobbing as he dipped his head.
"Stop ignoring my question. What were you talking to Prey about?" Lilly snapped, tail swishing.
"My apologies, you kept asking two questions so I of course answered the latter inquiry. Equestrian is not my first language." Happy explained politely.
"Well obviously. I knew that from the way you kept jabbering away at Prey," Lilly snorted, "Now for the last time, what were you saying to Prey?"
"We were discussing his skilful grasp of our language, and I was asking about pony lands. He graciously suggested that I speak with you two instead, seeing as it is your home land."
"Pony lands?" Scenic asked.
"Yes, the lands where you travelled from. Beyond the Teeth of the Mountain." Happy explained.
"Oh you mean Canterlot," Lilly said. Then suspiciously; "Why're you asking?"
"I wish to learn more." Happy said simply.
Lilly narrowed her eyes at the stag, "So now you want to ask questions after almost spearing me?"
Happy had the decency to look contrite, "I can only apologies for the misunderstanding once again. Forgive me, I will not bother you further." He said with another bow and backing off.
"Hey wait, I'm, uh, up to answering a few questions," Scenic said, raising a hoof, "You want to know about our capital Canterlot, right?"
"I...Forgive me, what is word, 'capital'?"
"It means the most important city in the country. Paint Spot means Canterlot of course." Lilly said, rolling her eyes and mentally adding; '-what a doofus-'
"Canterlot is where your Sun Queen reigns from, if am I not mistaken?" Happy asked, all politeness.
"Yeah, you mean Princess Celestia." Scenic nodded.
"She's actually a Princess, not the Queen, and there's also Princess Luna now too." Lilly added.
"My apologies, I misspoke. 'Princess' Celestia and 'Princess' Luna. Please, tell me more."
Prey watched out of the corner of his eye as Happy succeeded in drawing Scenic and Lilly into conversation, despite the mare's previous decision not to trust the stag Happy in anything. Happy. Now there was a stupid, contrite name. Almost as stupid as the name Prey.
Prey saw how Fallen Leaf was keeping half an eye on his younger brother, while still leading them confidently through the forest. Evidently, he knew this particular path well.
Crimson silently came up to walk along side Prey, "Is what Happy said he was talking to you about the truth?" He asked in an undertone.
Prey jumped over a thorny vine straggling across their path, "Yes, more or less. He was asking about where I learnt to speak Fourlon."
"And did you?"
"Did I what?"
"Did you tell him the truth?" Crimson asked, looking sideways at Prey.
Prey hesitated. Was that reproach in Crimson's yellow eyes? Why? Because he hadn't told Crimson about being able to speak Fourlon either?
Did Crimson want to hear the answer yes or no? The pegasus hated lies, but would he prefer to hear that?
"I...Not really. But I didn't lie," Prey said, hastening to add, "I just told Happy the basics of what happened."
Prey was certain Crimson was about to ask what those 'basics' where.
But he didn't.
"Hmm." Was all Crimson said.
He didn't push or ask. He simply accepted it was a secret and let Prey keep it. Prey didn't know how to respond to that. He would've wanted to know if he were Crimson.
More evidence that he really didn't know Crimson as well as he wanted to.
Their procession shuffled under some low hanging branches, having to walk with their heads ducked for a stretch, scratchy pine needles dragging over their helmets and back packs. Prey himself walked straight under unaffected, and somehow the stags avoided getting their antlers tangled.
Emerging, Fallen Leaf gestured them to the side, "The forest has grown a patch of Hozias Merriment ahead. It is best we do not disturb it. This way."
"What's Hozias Merriment supposed to be when it's at home?" Lilly asked Happy.
"They are a tall pale blue flower, and it is at home wherever the All Mother see's fit to plant it." Happy replied.
"What? That's not-What does it do?"
"Do?" Happy echoed, puzzled, "It is a flower."
"She means, why must we avoid Hozias Merriment?" Scenic said, already starting to get used to; '-these guys weird way of answering questions-'
This nuance wasn't restricted to only these two deer, Prey knew, but Scenic wasn't to know that.
"The flowers are most beautiful, but their colouring is fair warning to avoid lest you, forgive me, excrete blood and expire from severe dehydration." Happy answered with a distasteful grimace.
"Ah." Lilly said.
"Oh." Scenic echoed.
Reminded of where they were once again, Lilly and Scenic looked around at the shadowy trees again. For a minute there, Happy had succeeded in distracting them. Following a guide had unwisely led them to stop paying attention for themselves, and put their faith in the two deer instead. Fools.
Prey had been paying attention for himself, thank-you-very-much. Sure, Happy and Fallen Leaf had no plans to betray them, but that didn't mean the two deer, (no matter how experienced), couldn't make mistakes.
"Apologies travellers, we will be entering a path amid the All Mothers trees where we must remain silent. Please, if you have anything to say, make it known now." Fallen Leaf said, briefly halting.
"I have a question," Gloom said, "How large is this baloth's territory. We've been going around it for a while now. Shouldn't we have come to the end of it by now?"
Gloom's question could've been taken as; 'Are you trying to lead us on a merry chase?' The deer either didn't get the implication, or chose to be polite.
"Its territory is large. It is two full days trot from East to West, or North to South, for a baloth must hold large swathes of trees if it wishes to feed its hunger."
"Sounds quite formidable. What type of monster actually is a baloth?" Gloom asked.
Prey went to answer, but Fallen Leaf beat him to it, "It is very large, savage and swift. It can hunt both day and night without any opposition to fear. It is king of the forest."
But in his thoughts the stag worried, '-<but perhaps now there is a contender>-'
"What does it look like?" Crimson asked.
"You will know it if you see it, and I pray to the All Mother that it is not hunting if such an unfortunate circumstance ever falls upon you." Fallen Leaf said.
"But fear not, a baloth rarely will leave its established territory. And you will hear it before you ever see it." Happy added on. That was probably supposed to be reassuring. It wasn't.
"So we'll hear it before we see it?" Gloom asked slowly.
"Oh yes," Happy nodded, "In fact it must be on the Northern end of it's territory, or we would all be feeling its hunting call by now."
Gloom raised an eyebrow in question. Lilly and Scenic were waiting with baited breath. "Feeling its call?"
"They meant what they said," Prey spoke up, "You'd feel it. It's a deep rumble which makes the very air in the bottom of your lungs vibrate. It echoes for miles, and there's no way to tell which direction it's coming from."
Prey got a hoofful of surprised looks, "You know of this monster?" Gloom asked.
"<You have encountered the forest king before?>" Happy said in surprise.
Prey hesitated, "I've heard one's hunting call before. Or felt rather, once. But that was all. When I asked, they told me it was a baloth."
Fallen Leaf nodded, "The description offered by your travelling companion is most apt. It's call is more felt than heard."
Happy nodded too, "But the whole forest hears its battle howl when it attacks."
"Come," Fallen Leaf beckoned, "Let us lead the way. Once we have passed, we will almost be back to our holt where we may make good on our offer of shelter and rest."
---
The already low light of the forest further faded as evening approached, and seeing distance between the dark trunks fell. Visibility felt like it was slowly starting to blur, and then Prey realised it really was starting to blur.
Around them, grey fog was slowly rising. It was very gradual and unhurried, but it was definitely thickening. Their guides however weren't reacting, so Prey took it to be normal.
Knowing that did not help make the silence any less oppressive. Crimson's wings shifted on his back as he eyed the edges of the fog.
"We are almost back to our holt." Fallen Leaf whispered as they came to a section of broken ground which signalled the start of a slow rise in elevation.
Prey had been very carefully memorising their route, and now he added this change in terrain to his mental map as the two stags lead the way up. He also noted how the deer had placed their own markers and signs, even if the others missed them.
The leaves on an old sycamore woven together and facing back in on themselves, pointing the way. A sliver of birch bark tied around a low pine branch. The empty pockmarked hollow between tree roots where mushrooms had been plucked. It was all evidence pointing to where the deer were camped. They weren't trying to hide. Prey did not understand that mentality.
"We have arrived." Fallen Leaf said, a tension which they hadn't realised the stag was carrying dissolving off his withers.
"We welcome you to our holt." Happy said, turning and bowing to them all.
At the back of their little possession, Scenic made a sound which was half way between awed and impressed.
'-this is not what I expected-', was the general mental consensus heard going around the group, excluding Crimson of course.
When the two deer had spoken of their holt and offered shelter for the night, they'd automatically associated the word 'holt' with the word 'camp'. And in some ways, it was a camp, although only in the same way an artistic marble sculpture is a lump of rock.
First of all, the holt wasn't just an open camp. No, it had walls. Walls made from living wood and plant life.
Thorn vines, tree branches, creepers, and saplings had all been woven and crafted around thick posts, running between tree trunks. The top of the wall rose high above Fallen Leaf's head, antlers included. Nor was it flimsy. For all it being made from plants and branches, it was thick, dense, and vibrantly alive. It looked like it could take a hit from a chimera and spring back unscathed.
'-it's like a living canvas-', Prey heard Scenic thinking.
There was an arched gateway, of a sort, formed by woven branches meeting above them, all flowing lines and interwoven branches. Some kind of pink and yellow flowering vine was draped across the arch.
Under this arch was the gate. What the gate actually consisted of was an enormous roll of thorns, that could be dragged back from the entrance on braided vine ropes. Even this viciously spiked thorn bundle somehow managed to look natural and artistic.
The second thing you'd noticed after the living wall were the structures inside the holt compound. Tall huts made of supple woven branches, with comfy moss lining the walls to keep heat in. Comically, these huts looked like they had antlers of their own to match their occupants, because at the crest of each of the six huts, budding branches sprouted, and small flowering plants had somehow been supplanted onto the roofs.
The third thing you'd notice was that there were more huts than Fallen Leaf and Happy could need. There was a very simple reason for that. There were more deer than just the two of them. Five pairs of the soft dark eyes known to the deer curiously emerged to greet their visitors.
Fallen Leaf raised his voice in the deer tongue as he entered, "<Me and my brother return with weary travellers. I have offered them the shelter of our holt for the passing of the night. Come, welcome them.>"
"What did he say?" Gloom murmured to Prey. The ISND had stopped just outside of the archway, not knowing if they should enter yet or not.
Happy answered before Prey could, "My brother bids you welcome. Please, do come in and feel welcome." He said, standing aside and bowing.
The ISND exchanged glances, then Gloom squared his shoulder and with a smile on his face, stepped in. The rest of them followed, Prey the most hesitantly.
The deer crowded round them, but politely refrained from encroaching into their personal space. Prey counted one fawn, three does, and one other young stag in addition to Fallen Leaf and Happy, bringing it up to an even number with the does.
"<Who are these travellers? And whence do they come?>" A doe asked.
"<A pony with wings of a bat, see Malatrida Questing Branches? How interesting.>" Another said, tilting her head curiously at Gloom.
"<Come Morning Dew Burning Off, introduce us to these good travellers.>"
"<Yes, introduce us.>"
Happy smiled and bowed first to the deer, then to the ISND, "Travellers, might I please introduce you to my holt?" he asked.
Gloom blinked, "Well of course you can."
"Thank you. <These travellers are known, in Equestrian, as follows.>"
Happy went around their group, naming them first in the deer tongue, and then doing it all again in Equestrian for the ISND's benefit. Following that, he did the reverse and introduced all the deer in both languages. Each of the deer bowed as they were named and smiled. They took meeting a thestral far better than the average pony would've.
The ISND all tried to be polite and memorise the deer's names, although it was probably only Prey who managed it. The deer were delighted when Fallen Leaf explained how Prey spoke Fourlon, and immediately congregated on the lamb.
Prey backed up, almost to the wall as all of the deer began introducing themselves all over again in their own language and asking him questions, complimenting his grasp of their native tongue.
Prey tried to offer answers, (or rather lies), to their questions, but back in the safety of their holt, even the more reserved Fallen Leaf became obsessively curious over their visitors and peppered Prey with questions.
Prey managed to hold out for only two minutes before he had to get away, "<Please excuse me, my group leader needs me.>" He said rather rudely, and made a break for Gloom and took refuge behind the thestral.
Gloom was standing with Crimson, carefully keeping an eye on everything about them. Not suspiciously, just... '-being cautious never hurt nopony-'
Like watching the third stag, who was laying the fire in a star formation in the middle of the fire pit. Or the doe, who was sorting mushrooms from a woven grass pan, casually flicking them into a 'good' or 'bad' pile with barely a glance, even while she asked Lilly in halting Equestrian, "Tell me, please, traveller, you are unicorn pony. I graciously ask, how is magic like?"
Over by Scenic, the Earth pony did not appear to be showing any restraint or caution at all, instead matching the deer's inquisitive eagerness with his own, questioning how they'd made their holt, survived in this forest, if they painted at all, and most importantly, if they knew where the villagers had gone?
'-there's something dangerous out there that they're not telling us about. Maybe I can pull my weight and find out if I ask enough questions-'
Seems Scenic wasn't as distracted as he acted. Clever. More clever than Prey had honestly expected from the stallion. Prey hid a frown. Something to keep an eye on.
The lone fawn was jabbering away at Lilly Bloom in Fourlon, and she couldn't understand a word of it, which she was futilely trying to convey to the fawn via the age old practice when trying to communicate with foreigners by speaking extra loud.
The sun light was still fading from between the leaves. The lower the light got, the more a soft source of illumination within the huts became visible. Peering through the hanging screen of dried vines, Prey saw small orange pod like flowers planted in bowls of clay.
'Discord Lanterns.' Prey thought. The orange of the paper like pod glowed softly with an internal light, about the brightness of a fire fly.
It wasn't enough to read by, but at least you could go to the toilet in the middle of the night without tripping.
Over by the fire pit, the third stag unwrapped a broken off chunk of fungi, and inside a smouldering ember could be found. Using a flint knife, he shaved off pieces of smoking fungi and kindled the fire.
Prey silently looked around at it all and saw the deer's lives. The feeling of not belonging from the stone circle came back even stronger. The holt was its own little self contained world. Everything they needed was right here. Why then, Prey wondered, had any deer left their own holts and joined the Resistance?
Fallen Leaf trotted up to the three of them, who were standing apart.
"Please, come travellers. Set down your packs and lay aside your weapons. Come, join us. You are guests." He encouraged them, trying to draw them towards the center.
'-Crimson set aside his father's wing blades? Good luck with that-', Gloom thought, stifling a snort.
"Thank you very much for the offer. And as much as I appreciate your help so far, we came for answers. We have ponies who are counting on us."
Prey was watching the deer, so he saw the unease that went through them despite their graciousness. The way their ears flicked, how they glanced at their walls, how one doe checked that the strips of bark were still tied to her slim antlers.
Fallen Leaf bowed, "My apologies. Please do not assume we care not for their fates. But please, eat with us first. Let us talk afterwards."
Prey's ear gave a tiny flick, which Crimson caught. The armoured pegasus lowered himself slightly to catch what Prey muttered, "They're getting ready to leave the forest and go."
Crimson's eyes widened ever so slightly in concern. He looked, and saw the packed woven leaf panniers, the low wood pile, and the cooling berry cakes set aside to eat on the move.
Crimson stared at Fallen Leaf, "You are planning on leaving, aren't you?" He blurted. Prey sighed.
Gloom's tufted ears swivelled towards Crimson in surprise, "What, leaving?" He looked to Fallen Leaf, "Is that true? You're leaving?"
A look of tiredness passed across Fallen Leaf's soft features, "Come, let us eat first. Then we will talk." He repeated.
'-we're already committed to stay the night, so we might as well show some patience-', Gloom decided after considering. It was obvious that pushing wouldn't net them any answers, and it would be rude to their hosts to try.
"Alright. I guess it can wait until afterwards." Gloom said, letting his saddle bags slide off and removing his helmet. The rest of his armour stayed on for now though. The others followed suit, gratefully taking the opportunity to remove their packs and stretch after the day they'd had.
The deer moved to sit around the fire, and the door of thorns was dragged back into place, sealing the entrance. Prey stiffened up at their exit being cut off, before forcing himself to relax. He'd read these deer's thoughts. None of them currently meant the ISND any harm. Although he was much more concerned with himself in particular. And Crimson.
'Besides,' Prey reminded himself, 'It's safer to spend the night in here than out there.'
Dangers still lurked outside the holt walls, but inside, here and now, they were safe.
Prey sat himself down far away from everyone else, yet with Crimson still being the closet. The deer had already realised the pegasus made a poor conversationalist, so instead were all still pestering Scenic and Lilly. Politely of course, because everything the deer did was polite.
One of the does started hoofing out woven grass plates, on which were generous servings of wild salad. Various berries and seeds, leaf buds, flowers, and a healthy mix of mushrooms, one of the staples of this forest it seemed.
"<Here you are Little Hunted One. The forest provides.>" The almost velvet black doe said with a smile as she gave Prey his portion. Prey accepted, bowed, and smiled sweetly back.
Gloom and Crimson accepted their plates as well. "Here you are travellers. The forest provides."
Crimson blinked at his food, then shrugged, "I can see that. Thank you ma'am."
"Yes, thank you." Gloom echoed.
"Oh, uh, yeah, thanks?" Scenic joined in, eyeing his woven plate.
Lilly looked like she was smiling through a grimace, "Yum. This looks wonderful."
All of the deer sat with their grass plates set in front of them, patiently looking to the ISND in the fire light, waiting.
Gloom realised the holt was waiting for them, as the guests, to take the first bite. For a moment, a horrible suspicion sounded in the back of Gloom's head, '-lots of mushrooms. What if it's poisoned? No, that's silly-'
Prey raised one of the mushrooms from his plate, "<I thank the all mother for providing.>" He said, and bit it in half. He tasted the loamy smokey texture of the Gillfish cap.
Prey swallowed and gave Gloom and Crimson a smile, "It's good. You should eat."
They got the message: 'It's not poisonous.'
The rest of the ISND all followed suit with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
"<We thank the All Mother for providing.>" The deer chorused, then all got on with eating. In dead silence. There was only the crackle of the fire and the sound chewing.
Gloom glanced about the silent holt uneasily, but the deer seemed unaffected by their strange silence. Prey spotted Scenic looking around in bemusement, and open his mouth to ask what was going on. Prey made a sharp jerk with his head and angrily pressed his hoof to his lips.
The other four got this message too, and held their silence. Uneasily, they slowly resumed eating.
The others didn't know, but it was customary in the deer culture to never speak during formal meals, unless it was a celebration or a funeral feast. Breaking bread with travellers to which shelter had been offered counted as a formal meal. No discussions were to be held until the last guest had finished eating.
However only Prey was aware of this strange deer custom, the others were ignorant.
Prey tried to convey through various looks and head motions to the other four to keep silent until the meal was over. Crimson and Gloom understood it first time, but Lilly and Scenic took increasingly obvious signals before they finally got the message.
The deer were somewhat amused by this, but also pleased to see that he was setting the precedence for his travelling companions.
'Hopefully, this will endear us all the more to them.' Prey thought.
The food wasn't particularly tasty, but it was sharp and fresh. Gloom made sure to scrape up his last leaf and chew, before putting his grass plate on the ground, not too close to the fire. He glanced at Prey to double check it was alright before speaking. Once Prey nodded, Gloom looked to Fallen Leaf, who seemed to be as in charge as it got around here, and cleared his throat.
"Thank you. Can I-"
Immediately, all the deer turned to one another, or to Lilly and Scenic, and began talking, resuming their conversations and picking up where they left off. Gloom was left hanging.
Lilly's ears flicked, '-rude much-'.
Gloom shrugged and addressed Fallen Leaf anyway, "You said we should speak after we ate. We have eaten, and thank you for the meal by the way, but now we really need to talk."
Fallen Leaf neatly placed his own plate on the ground and scooted closer to the fire before replying, "Yes traveller Gloom. That I did."
"You said you don't know what caused the villagers to vanish, and that you don't have anything to tell us, but have something to show us instead." Gloom prompted. The low conversation around the holt faded as many pairs of soft tawny ears swivelled in their direction.
Gloom looked towards the entrance with its gate of thorns, and beyond that the dark of the night, "Can you then at least tell us what it is you want to show us out there?"
"Apologies traveller, but it is not something seen. It is only felt. Its presence leaves a foul taste lingering in the air."
The fire cracked.
"What presence? A monsters?" Gloom asked.
Fallen Leaf shook his head, bark strips swaying in the flickering light, "We do not think so. All beasts are part of the All Mothers great design. Birds, beasts, trees, and flowers. All have a place in the cycle. Hunters must eat, but this... My apologies, we do not call it beast or monster. We don't know what to call it."
"You're saying you've never seen it, but you're also saying it's not a monster of the forest," Gloom questioned, "But you're also saying its worse than a monster."
Fallen Leaf used a stick to poke the fire, "A monster kills to eat, as is natural. Whatever this thing is, it does not eat its kills. It hunts even other monsters. Perhaps on the morrow we will come across one of its hunts, and then you will know what we speak of."
All the focus was solidly on Gloom and Fallen Leaf now. Prey sat, for the moment forgotten. His face was expressionless as he listened to the stag's words. His attention was elsewhere, listening in on the surrounding minds for any further hints. He got none. Everything that Fallen Leaf was saying was the extent of what the deer knew. And feared.
Prey heard Fallen Leaf's description of a monster, and why the holt was so unnerved. Deer were big on the cycle of nature. Anything unnatural which didn't fit was to be feared. The deer were intelligent like that.
Prey thought on Fallen Leaf's description. He remembered the Deeper Green. Here in this pine forest, this monster stood out. In the Deeper Green, such a thing would've fitted right in.
'Is that what it is?' Prey worried, 'Has something from those evil depths migrated here?'
Someone snorted, "Is that why you're running away?"
Only Lilly Bloom would demand something so offensive, and all eyes turned to the unicorn.
"What? Just because it's a monster you've never met before, you're going to give up your home and run away? Sorry, but that's stupid. Where are you going to go? You've never even seen this monster thing, in fact it might not even exist. You should at least try to fight before giving up." Lilly slapped a hoof to her chest plate, "We're not going to give up or run away. We're going to fight. The villagers need our help."
Lilly's words were brash. There were only two reactions such an opinion could elicit. Anger, or shame.
This time, it was the latter. Around the holt, the deer would not meet any of the ISND's eyes, ears falling, looking instead their home which they would be leaving. Meanwhile Gloom was furious, but he dared not show it. His wing claws were twitching though, and Prey's excellent hearing picked out his fangs faintly grinding together.
Fallen Leaf regarded Lilly Bloom, mild distaste showing through his polite mask, "My apologies traveller, but I do not think you understand what a holt is. We are not defined by where we live, but by each other. We do not own the land we live on, for we are all but travellers on the All Mothers soil. We do not live in any one place, and migrate often. This time is will be no different."
The stag nodded his antlers at the other deer, his family, one by one, "Perhaps we will return in a few winters time, perhaps not. Where the All Mother guides us we will go, but we will go and survive. Together."
"You travel around all the time? I thought you lived here." Lilly pointed out, accusation in her tone.
"That is not so." Fallen Leaf threw his stick into the fire and stood, rolling his neck, "Please, make use of our holt and rest well this night. Come the morning, I will guide you to the place. All Mother watch over your dreams."
He bowed, then abruptly left them in silence and walked into one of the huts.
Conversation was slow to restart with his departure, and when it did, it was a low murmur in Fourlon as deer started to get ready for sleep. The parents of the lone fawn began telling the child a bed time story, their voices smooth and lulling.
This wasn't Canterlot with candles, lamps, or enchanted light crystals. You rose and slept with the sun, making the most of the daylight hours. There was little point in staying awake otherwise.
The ISND sat and looked on, as around them the holt was broken for the night.
The grass plates were packed away, bowls turned over, flaxen blankets unrolled, and the fire banked with more logs for the coming night, the holt walls keeping the heat trapped inside.
A couple of deer however stayed, wishing to take this rare chance to talk with their unexpected guests further. Or rather, to continue asking Scenic all the questions they could think of. They avoided Lilly after the unicorn mare's offence.
Gloom picked up his helmet and put it back on, "I need to go speak with Lilly Bloom. I'll be back." He said darkly to Prey and Crimson and stalked off.
Prey leaned over to his pack, which had never gone further than his hoof, and pulled out his blanket. He draped it around him, but stopped when he realised Crimson hadn't moved from his spot by the fire, "Aren't you turning in? All the deer are."
"Not quite yet. I am waiting."
"Oh, well I'll wait with you." Prey said, shrugging off his blanket for the moment. The fire was warm enough for now.
Gloom had taken Lilly to stand by the gate entrance and was now giving her a stern talking to. The two deer whom were staying up to talk to Scenic seemed fascinated hearing about the other world the Earth pony came from.
"-Er, 'what's a job'? It's like, your profession. What you do for a living. Uh, do you know what I'm talking about?"
"You mean the gathering of food? You only do that all the day long?" The velvet black doe ask curiously.
"Uh, no. A profession is something important that you get paid for. Like, bits and money and stuff."
"Ah, you mean gold."
"Yes that's right, bits." Scenic agreed.
"And you are paid for performing your profession?"
"Yeah."
"Thus, your job as a painter must be of great importance in the land of ponies, right traveller Paint Spot?"
"Uh..."
"You are doing well." Crimson said. Prey looked sideways up at the stallion.
Crimson had not replaced his helmet yet, and his lanky black mane was a ruffled mess, looking alot like wet ink in the fire light. "Doing well with what, exactly?" Prey asked.
"The forest. I mean, you have skills. Tracking, stealth. You were far more reliable than the other two." Crimson said, sparing a look towards Scenic and the still being chastised Lilly.
"Well, so do you and Gloom." Prey shrugged.
Crimson didn't say anything for a minute, considering something as the fire sparked infront of them. Then he asked, "Is there alot of cause for po-people in your village to know those skills?"
"To some extent, yes. You've got to know the dangers of the land you farm."
"No, I understand that. What I mean is, you obviously have the skills Prey, but those take years to develop. And you are still young. Do they make all the foals in your village start so early?" Crimson asked.
"Nnnno," Prey reluctantly admitted, "It was...more of a necessity, let's put it that way. I'm a quick learner though, so it didn't take me nearly as long as you probably think."
Crimson blinked slowly, "I see."
"How about you, how did you learn? Your father taught you, right?" Prey asked in return, then immediately thought, 'What a stupid question Prey. Like any other thestral in his clan would've given him the time of day.'
"Yes, woodcraft was taught to me by my father." Crimson nodded seriously.
Prey bit the inside of his cheek. He glanced at the fire, then at Crimson, then back to the fire and Crimson again. Why did every time he wanted to seriously speak with Crimson he'd clam up? Prey had a question he wanted answered, but he didn't want to offend Crimson. He could've asked Gloom no problem if he'd thought the Sargent would answer, but now he was nervous.
Prey hesitated, "What does..." He trailed off.
Crimson cocked an ear, then half turned to blink at Prey when the lamb didn't finish. "What does what?"
"What does..."
'What does Luna have over the clans? Why did you rejoin her? Why has such an ideal of loyalty been passed down the generations when she abandoned your clans a thousand years ago? How many of you did she wipe out back then, and yet you still returned to her?'
And why did Prey want to know this? Why had it suddenly become important?
Because these suspicions had been in the back of Prey's head since he first saw Celestia's sister's and learnt of the thestrals return. More bits and pieces kept getting added and slotting into place, but before the lumber yard and Garrow, it hadn't been important enough for Prey to press.
'Why are you loyal to Luna when she's enslaved you Crimson?' Is the question Prey really wanted to ask, but he couldn't.
So he sat their stupidly, mouth open, for once his mind blank as it searched for a convenient distraction.
And then, much to Prey's relief, Happy reappeared and Prey's question was forgotten. The stag carried a stack of those same woven flaxen blankets balanced on his antlers. "Forgive me travellers, but will you not be turning in for the night now?"
"Not yet. We will wait for Sargent Gloom to decide." Crimson answered with a shake of his head.
"Of course. These blankets are for you and your travelling companions for when you do. A hut will of course be made available for you. The five of you should fit. Which hut would you like?" Happy graciously offered.
"That will not be necessary, out here by the fire is just fine, but thank you very much for the offer." Gloom answered. The Sargent had finished giving Lilly her dressing down and was returning to the fire. Lilly seemed to be trying not to sulk as she followed behind, neck stiff and head held high as she refused to meet anyone's eyes.
'-a Guard does not sulk-', She told herself, '-a Guard gets going when the going gets tough-'
"Please, you are our guests. It is only right." Happy insisted, bowing.
"That's very kind, but you've done enough for us already. Fallen Leaf will be undertaking the dangerous task of acting as our guide tomorrow, what more can we ask? We're already indebted enough to you and your holt as it is." Gloom said.
"But you are guests-"
"Really, it's fine. These extra blankets will be more than enough." Gloom assured him.
Happy thought for a minute, "As the guest, I suppose the decision is yours. But please, at least allow me to keep you company around the fire until then."
It was obvious that the stag just wanted to take this opportunity to ask more questions, and he wasn't doing a good job of being subtle about it.
'-I would prefer it if you didn't-', Came Gloom's thoughts, but; "By all means. Some extra company never hurt anypony."
Happy smiled, and bowed, and took a seat. He made himself comfortable while the other two deer, who were also remaining awake, continued to interrogate Scenic. Something it looked like Happy was angling to copy.
"Might I please ask traveller Gloom, about the why for you terming everyone as such?"
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Apologies for not making myself clear. We say 'anybody', you would say 'anypony'. Why is this?"
Prey joined in giving Gloom an innocent look, "Yes, why is that?" He asked.
"It's, well, it's just how we ponies talk I guess. I've never really thought about it," Gloom said, trying not to wince at how weak of a defence that was, "That's just how everypony spoke as I grew up."
"And there, you speak another term again. 'Everypony'." Happy remarked, sounding quite delighted with the pony's verbal nuance, like spying a rare butterfly.
"I did?" Gloom blinked, "Oh, I guess I did."
"If you're hoping to get him to change and speak properly, you're wasting your time," Prey said dismissively, "It's an inbred patriotic mentality of making ponies believe they're center of everything and the master race."
"That's rubbish Prey." Gloom said, offended.
"Oh? Then why do you always insist on correcting me to say 'pony' all the time."
"Because you're speaking improperly. In Equestria, the grammar is different and you should use it correctly." Gloom said.
"So Equestria is the center of the world then? And we should all start acknowledging it now rather than later, is that right?" Prey returned, tossing his ear back dramatically, "Because basically what I'm hearing is; 'Everyone should just start emulating us ponies. Look at how much better we are at everything with our magic. Let's start speaking like this so they all get the message'. Such arrogance."
"Stop insinuating rubbish Prey," Gloom said, annoyed, "It's just the proper way ponies speak. You can speak a foreign language already, so why is speaking Equestrian properly so difficult? If it's really such a problem for you, just treat it as learning a different dialect."
"So said the pony to the non-pony." Prey rolled his eyes
Crimson was looking slightly confused about where this was all coming from, obviously having never second guessed about something which was, to him, so basic, while Happy was looking lost and not sure if he'd asked a bad question.
Gloom calmed himself and let the annoyance go, deciding; '-this isn't worth getting into an argument with Prey over-'
"Whatever, you speak as you want to speak. And everypony else back in Canterlot will do the same. I would say you'll be the odd one out, but you've never really cared about that, have you?"
Prey decided it wasn't worth pushing either. Ponies were arrogant, even when they didn't realise they were being arrogant, and he wasn't going to be able to change their minds.
Happy looked between each of them in the fire light. "My apologies, but is something-?"
"Don't worry about it," Gloom waved a wing, "Here, perhaps you can answer a cultural question of my own."
"It would be my pleasure, traveller Gloom."
Gloom pointed at the strips of birch bark tied to the stag's antlers, "Why do you wear those? The leaves and camouflage I get, but what purpose do those serve?"
"Ahh," Happy sighed, "It is to ward off ill fortune in times of hardship, or a sign of mourning."
"Mourning?" Crimson sat up straighter, "I mean, have you lost one of your own?"
"No no, thank the All Mother for her grace that is not so. No, our holt has lost no one recently." Happy shook his head, making the items in question sway; "We mourn because we are having to leave. And to help protect us against the reason we're leaving."
As if on cue, something out in the forest let out a warbling cry that carried through the misty night. Once it'd trailed off, all of them turned back to the fire, having instinctively turned their heads to the living holt walls. They were safe here tonight, but tomorrow...
"My brother Fallen Leaf will lead you true tomorrow, you need not fear." Happy said, a tad more subdued, "You were most fortunate that we met at the stone circle when we did. A day or two longer and our holt would've been gone."
"Where will you go?" Crimson asked.
"Not East. No holt goes near that forest nowadays. So we will go West once we have circled around the baloth's territory. I will not mind seeing the sun more often." Happy said with a shrug and a smile.
"Thank you again for delaying enough for Fallen Leaf to try and help us rescue the villagers." Gloom said.
Another smile and a bow, but Happy did not speak. He did not voice what he felt inside; '-<I fear those travellers have returned to the mud and you will find nothing but death>-'
Unfortunately, Prey thought the stag's realistic assessment was likely to be the correct one. Everything he'd seen at Mayflower, at the stone circle, plus his own experience pointed to that outcome. But there was always the tiny possibility those villagers were somehow still alive, and that the ISND wasn't too late.
However even if that was there case, there were still only the five of them, and over three dozen missing villagers, not even counting the original fifteen.
Which reminded Prey. He jerked a head at Gloom's saddle bags, "Sir, did Captain Nighthawk send a reply? It's nighttime, so he should've gotten around to reading it by now."
Gloom slapped his forehead with a wing, "Moon blight, I forgot to check, what with tracking through the forest." He said, reaching for his saddle bags.
Happy was visibly puzzled, and was obviously having to contain his curiosity as Gloom unwrapped the message-in-a-bottle from its padding and moved it into the light
The inner fire that had floated in the bottle this morning was gone, but replacing it could been seen a tightly rolled page. Nighthawk's reply.
Gloom wasted no more time in shaking it out, being careful it didn't roll into the fire. With the use of his wings claws, he spread the page open and proceeded to read. Prey and Crimson did not crowd around like Lilly was obviously itching to do. If it was meant for them, Gloom would tell them. Plus, it was dark and hard to read. That, and Gloom was reading the message out in his head so Prey heard it all anyway.
'-your report is most concerning. No such letter requesting aid has arrived from Alfalfa Dale. This failure has been reported. No known possible causes for Mayflower phenomenon are reported within a two hundred mile radius. Reported your findings to Princess Luna. Her majesty has informed us other dreams do exist within the area. Many nightmares, and the dreams are clouded. It is not clear if these signatures belong to the missing ponies. Proceed as if they are-'
'Yes,' Prey thought bitterly, 'Luna can just search for dreams can't she? Divining and scrying may not work, but who needs that when you're an alicorn?'
Why hadn't Luna just directly invaded those dreamers minds through the dream and learnt what she wanted?
Could she somehow not manage it? If so, Prey dearly wanted to learn why and how to replicate that feat. Or perhaps the villagers weren't actually asleep but unconscious, like if they were drugged. Either way, it seemed like there might yet be survivors somewhere out there despite the odds.
Prey refocused on Gloom, who was still reading; '-Your request for backup is approved. Two squads will be dispatched to Alfalfa Dale as soon as possible. You are hereby appointed to assume command on their arrival. You are permitted to proceed however you judge best. To be frank Sargent Gloom, we are flying sun blind. There is nothing we know that might help. A magus will be travelling with the group with scanning spells. Always watching. Signed Nighthawk-'
Gloom finished reading and looked up at the ISND around him, (sans Scenic Paint still talking to the two does), with an uncertain grin, "Well, it's good news and bad news. The good is that it looks like the villagers might still be alive. The bad news, that's all we know."
"Will there be more ponies coming to assist us sir?" Crimson asked.
"Yes. Here, pass it around and read for yourself." Gloom said, hoofing the page to Crimson.
"Sir, surely we shouldn't be reading an officers papers sir." Lilly protested, but weakly. She really wanted to know what was going on.
"It's fine Lilly. It's not restricted." Gloom assured her.
Happy was looking curiously on, "Forgive me, but did you carry a message from your captain all the way from Canterlot capital before only reading it now?"
'-he's not a Night Guard. Should I tell him anything?-', Gloom wondered for a second, before shrugging.
"No, this is a message that came through by magic earlier today. Not sure when. Sometime while we were in the forest I expect. It just appeared in the bottle." Gloom said, holding the aforementioned bottle up.
"Really?" Happy asked, leaning in close in his interest, nose almost pressing up against the green glass, "Forgive me, but how does it work? The magic, please tell me."
"I'm not a unicorn, so I'm not the best pony to be explaining how it works... But luckily, we have one right here, Lilly Bloom. She'll be more than happy to explain."
Lilly, who had been reading Nighthawk's reply by horn light, looked up to find Gloom pointing straight at her. "Sir, I-"
Gloom narrowed his eyes.
"-I suppose I can, yes sir." She finished, grumbling. Gloom was obviously forcing her to make up for her previous blunder insulting the deer earlier.
Reluctantly, Lilly passed the letter to Crimson and began trying to explain the concepts of spell matrixs and formula to the stag, something she only had a basic understanding of herself.
Crimson didn't need the now absent light spell Lilly had been casting to read, and so he soon finished and hoofed it to Prey. "That is...Indeed both good and bad news sir." He said.
"Quite. And this forest isn't making anything any easier." Gloom agreed dourly, staring into the fire.
'-will we be able to rescue them in time? And why does everything we do have to be a race against the clock with next to no helpful information?-'
Prey held the page up into the fire light and pretended to give it a cursory scan. It was more or less exactly what he'd heard Gloom reading aloud in his head, but appearances had to be kept up.
"Thoughts, Prey?" Gloom asked.
"It sounds like these villagers might be drugged. I'm not sure how Luna-"
"-Princess Luna."
"-How Princess Luna views dreams, so maybe it's because the villagers are drugged? I don't know. However if they are drugged, well, then they must be being held somewhere, and that somewhere has to be large enough to keep all of them confined in and alive too. Which indicates shelter of some kind. Buildings? A cave possibly? Plus, if that's the case, someone has to be keeping a watch on them. Someone, not something."
"Hmm." Gloom nodded slowly, brow furrowed in thought.
"If these dreams are from the same people, that is." Prey repeated.
'-ponies-', Gloom mentally corrected, but did not verbalise it this time. Some of Prey's words earlier must've finally gotten through to the Sargent. Neither Gloom nor Crimson chastised Prey for his cynical prediction either.
A minute of silence around the fire passed, before the two deer which had been interviewing Scenic finally stood up, stretched, and wished them all a good night. Evidently, they'd finally run dry of questions. Or perhaps they just knew they'd need their strength tomorrow. The Earth pony surreptitiously wiped his brow as they left, and took a long drink from his canteen. He then trotted back over to join them around the fire.
"Hi sir. Boy, those deer can talk." He said as he sat down in a sprawl.
"You were still polite at least, I take it?" Gloom checked.
"Of course sir. They kinda' remind me of my marefriend back home, Carton Juice, with how they question everything." Scenic said, grinning at the fire.
'-hope she doesn't chew my ear off too badly when I get back too-'
"Good. Read this. It's the Captain's reply through the message bottle." Gloom ordered, not interested in hearing about Scenic Paint's girlfriend in the slightest.
Prey secretly checked the small bag which he'd collected over the course of today at his side. Inside were were four small, waxy orange fungi caps, nestled in a layer of spiky leaves. If Prey got a chance, he would render these down later.
"-It's spell fire, which is like, I don't know, unstable thamuic energy, but not this kind because, because...Look, I can't be expected to remember this! It was a long time since school. I didn't go to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns!" Lilly threw up her hooves in frustration, unable to explain how message-in-a-bottle magic worked.
She cast around for help, or possibly just a distraction for the curious Happy. She spotted the rest of the ISND sitting undisturbed around the fire, and seized upon the first idea that came to mind.
"Sir, I've always wanted to ask, how did you get that scar sir? It must've been an epic fight with a monster. Please tell us." She said, abandoning Happy and plonking herself down across the fire.
Prey and Crimson looked at the mare with blank disgust. You didn't ask about someones scars. But Gloom didn't seem offended, instead he cocked an ear, glancing at Prey and Crimson thoughtfully.
"Haven't I told you that story?" He asked.
They both shook their heads.
"Huh, well I did say it was a story for another time. I guess I could tell it now." Gloom mused.
When Happy saw that Gloom wasn't taking offence, he couldn't help but lean forwards in interest, "Forgive me if this is inappropriate, but what scar?"
"Oh, she means this." Gloom said, reaching around and unbuckling his chest plate, not at all self conscious about revealing the swathe of jagged scar tissue. Perhaps he might've been once upon a time, but he'd likely been forced to move past that since the scarring was in such an obvious place. Prey had never seen Gloom treat his scar as anything to be ashamed of.
"All Mother, how did you survive that?" Happy couldn't help but exclaim on seeing the relatively large expanse of puckered furless hide.
Again, rather than be offended, Gloom just laughed, "With alot of hope, luck, and prayers. I was stuck on my back for three months waiting for it to heal. They had to put me in a hammock with holes cut in it for my wings. Once it became clear I was going to survive, it was the most boring three months of my whole life."
However Prey saw behind the Sargent's levity, and saw what Gloom didn't speak about. That period of time before, where he didn't know if he was going to survive.
"How did it happen? Uh, sir." Scenic asked.
Prey already knew, having benefited from his mind leach abilities. Gloom scratched at the scar, "Everypony know what a wyvern is?" He asked.
"Sir, yes sir, of course I do." Lilly eagerly jumped in, "It's a classified danger three monster. It's a type of flying reptile capable of short flights and-"
She glanced at Happy and Scenic, who were both looking slightly lost.
She sighed in exasperation, "Look, picture a dragon. But stupid, can't talk, or breathe fire, it doesn't have front legs and isn't magic resistant. And their scales are only ever brown and green. And a wyvern is also much much smaller."
"Smaller is a subjective term," Gloom said drily, "This one was plenty big enough for me. It was about..."
He thought for a second, "Over twice as long as me. Or three-and-a-half if you count the tail."
"Oh, and the tail has spikes!" Lilly added.
"Why yes, yes it does. I can attest to that. That's how I got this. It tail swiped me in mid flight and almost tore my chest out." Gloom said, tapping his chest. The gouges which had looked so much like enormous claw marks now revealed themselves to be the tears left behind by raking spines.
"We were trying to drive the wyvern off, away from the caves. It shouldn't have come to violence really, since it wasn't the wyvern's territory so it should've left with a few spear prods. But I guess the one we got was just a particularly moody bastard that decided it wanted a fight." Gloom shrugged.
"Sir, what happened?" Scenic asked, listening with rapt attention.
"Yes, please do tell us traveller Gloom, what happened?" Happy pressed.
Gloom shifted, a bit uncomfortable under their avid stares, "It wasn't anything dramatic or impressive. Well, unless you count getting my tail knocked out of the fight straight away as dramatic. One moment, the wyvern was sulkily leaving, and the next it changed its mind and I just so happened to be the unlucky pony it went after. I dodged its teeth, but not its tail. Thorn and Cloudy Weft caught me before I hit the ground, staunched as much of the bleeding as they could, and rushed me back to the clan. I was pretty out of it."
"And? And?" Lilly asked, forgetting herself for a moment as she listened to what she counted as tales of adventure, completely missing the part how Gloom had almost died.
"And that's pretty much it for the next three months. The healers managed to get me as stable as they could. There was nothing more to do than wait. By the Moon, was I glad to stretch my wings when I was finally discharged."
"What happened to rest of your flight group sir? Was anypony else injured, I mean." Crimson quietly asked, "And what was done with the wyvern?"
"The wyvern had attacked a pony. There was only ever one possible outcome." Gloom said with a small shrug, "Sure, if it'd been a hydra or the like, the clan wouldn't have risk anypony else. But a wyvern? No, it had to be put down. They crippled one of its wings, made it crash. Then just kept flying over and spearing it until it died."
"Uh, sir," Scenic raised a hoof, like he was a foal in class, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but why didn't you guys just do that from the start?"
Gloom frowned at him, "You should never take a fight you can possibly avoid. We don't kill monsters if we could drive them off instead, only if we're in danger and have no other choice."
"It is well said." Happy agreed.
"That's why we didn't go after that octopus monster earlier." Gloom said pointedly, looking at Lilly.
Privately, Lilly didn't agree with that, '-a hero would never run from a monster, and a Guard is a hero-'
"And which type of monster do you think it is that Fallen Leaf is taking us to see tomorrow?" Prey spoke up, looking away from the light and up at the shadows and night above them.
Crimson shifted his wing, examining the sheathed wing blade in the fire light, "The kind that makes a whole village disappear." He said flatly.
"This dark presence Fallen Leaf spoke of may have nothing to do with whomever took the villagers," Gloom warned them, or possibly himself, "It may just be a monster."
"Just a monster?" Prey echoed.
"Yes. Just a regular monster. The kind which kills you." Gloom said heavily. He was saying it for Lilly and Scenic's benefit, to remind them that despite the safety and warmth they enjoyed tonight, the forest was still out there.
The fire sparked. Gloom got up and lifted up his saddles bags, taking one of the blankets that Happy had delivered with him, "I think it's time we turned in. We'll all need our rest for tomorrow."
He nodded politely to Happy, "Thank you for your help Happy. Night watch over you."
Pulling out their sleeping rolls and blankets, the ISND silently did as they were told. Happy bid them good night and retired into one of the huts.
They were left to themselves, each to their own thoughts lying in the night around the fire.
Prey lay thinking late into the night about all the possible monsters from the Deeper Green that might've ended up here, trying to think up escape and contingency plans.
------
Snake pulled the blackened clay beaker out from the bed of red hot embers. Sweat stood out unnaturally on the voodoo witches coldly indifferent face. The fire combined with the sweltering humid heat was too much even for the plains dweller, yet Snake made no move to wipe it away. Like it didn't even affect him.
Prey was parched from the heat. He needed water, but he didn't dare leave until Snake dismissed him. His burnt hoof throbbed from where he'd carelessly touched an ember. It hurt. He wanted to go dip it in the stream. He didn't dare move without permission.
"The leaves." Snake ordered without even looking at the lamb. Prey jumped forward and emptied the bag of spiky leaves into the clay beaker.
"Mortar." Snake ordered, sticking out his hoof. Prey dashed to place the grinder in the zebra's hoof lest Snake decide he was being too slow.
Snake picked up the smoking beaker, and Prey winced. Snake didn't. Face unmoving, he methodically began grinding the contents into a fine orange powder.
*Scrape, Scrape, Scrape* went the mortar.
There were hard cots in the next tent. Every so often, a low sob or cry would filter through from the wounded stored in there. Waiting to die.
"Crumble caps," Snake spoke, emotionless, "Instead of the Waya'Bonga mushrooms I tasked you to find. It means lower potency."
Prey held his breath and tried not to whimper. There hadn't been any Waya'Bonga mushrooms to find, only the less lethal Crumble caps. It was all he could find.
"A non-lethal result, but it will still have its uses. The resulting powder will still incapacitate, causing possible respiratory problems in a victim." Snake observed indifferently. The voodoo witch put down the beaker on a darkly stained plank of wood. He removed a crudely carved measuring spoon and scooped put a tiny pit of the orange powder.
Snake examined it, careful not to bring it too close to his face. A tiny frown appeared on his striped brows, "The colouring is off. The Crumble Caps were not at full maturity."
Snake glanced at Prey, and then without any flicker in his expression or hesitation, tossed the pinch of powder in Prey's face.
Prey screamed and collapsed onto the floor, coughing and writhing. He couldn't see! He couldn't breathe! His face was on fire, no, it was on fire from the inside out! Tears streamed down his cheeks as he thrashed.
He could still hear though. Snake was calmly observing the result, his voice warping as Prey faded in and out of red tinged conscienceless. In his memory, the voice sounded like a mocking hiss of laughter, "Less deadly than the Waya'Bonga powder. But a much more instantaneous and debilitating result."
---
Prey blinked in the dark. In front of him, the embers of the fire occasionally cracked. The shapes of the ISND lay wrapped up in their sleeping blankets around the fire, asleep and unmoving. The holt was dark and silent, the deer all resting.
He looked down. Between his hooves, a dark orange powder sat in the small stone bowl he'd 'borrowed' from one of the huts. A faint wisp of vapour rose from the bowl in the cold night.
'A better colouring. The mushrooms were fully matured this time.' Snake whispered in the back of his head.
Prey rocked back on his hooves and shook his head, 'Sink back to the depths! You're already dead, I'm the one in control.'
Prey's will was iron, and the remnant of Snake vanished. Prey slowly looked around, checking he was still alone. Satisfied, he gingerly emptied the stone bowl's contents into a small pouch, making sure none of the powder drifted free.
He remembered all too well what the weaker version Snake had tested on him had done. His eyesight had never fully recovered. Even now, when he tried to focus on something too far away, it was always blurry around the edges.
'I could fix that with runes.' The thought came to him once again. However the very thought of the agony that would entail, carving runes into his very eyes, made Prey quiver and shy away. It wouldn't be worth it. Being hit with another face full of the same blinding powder would hurt less. Much less.
Prey carefully stored the pouch with its dangerous contents, and lay back down amid his blankets. He hated Snake.
'I know who I am. Mostly.'
---I---