The first place Spark looked for Sohl was in the trees, his dark form hopping from tree to tree until he found her at the edge of a gorge at a break in the forest. She stood on a thick branch overlooking the depths of the darkness before her. The sun had set at this point, replaced by a shining full moon, granting plenty of silver light to the forest, but not enough for Sohl to find her lost friend at the bottom of the gorge.
Sohl didn't turn to face Spark Storm as he approached her. She'd already said goodbye to one friend. "You're going to miss your ride home, kiddo. Get lost." So she's not going to make this easy. Figures...he thought.
"Sohl...I'm so terribly sorry for your loss."
The harpy turned to face him, her face burning with rage as she advanced on him. "What do you know about loss?!" she shrieked. The force of her scream caused Spark to lower his ears and back away from her at first, but then he stepped forward, his eyes shining with determination in the moonlight. The moon's reflection in his eyes startled Sohl. The shining eyes of a night predator was something she'd never seen in a pony before.
"I think you'd be surprised at the things I've seen, Sohl. I won't bore you with the details, but I'm no stranger to death. I admit I've never lost the way you have, but that doesn't mean my experiences have any less meaning."
Sohl looked him up and down, then finally seemed to relax. She eased herself into a sitting position before putting her forehead into the palms of her claws. After a moment of silence between the two, she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Since you're not saying goodbye to me, I take it you're here to say something else. Spit it out, already." She paused a beat, then whipped out a wing to point an accusing claw at him. "And if you're planning on asking me to come with you, you can forget about it."
Spark arched a brow as he crossed his eyes to focus on the claw nearly touching his nose. He flapped his wings once and turned right around to make his way down the tree. "Oh, ok. See you around, then."
Sohl bristled. She growled, then launched herself into the air and met Spark at the base of the tree. She grabbed him with one of her enormous taloned feet and rammed him against the tree, and held him tight against it as she leaned in close with murderous rage in her eyes. "Don't you do that! You're new to this area, so let me tell you this once. Don't you ever try to use that reverse-psychology crap on a harpy! A harpy will never lie to you, so don't you do that!"
Spark coughed as Sohl dropped him to the ground, the back of his head throbbing. "Gotcha. Sorry. So..." he got back to his hooves and received a much less violent, slightly playful slap to the face.
"I told you I'm not going with you, so you can stop asking me to." She glared down at Spark. Her words told him no, but her body language and something in her eyes told him to keep pressing her. So much for harpies always telling the truth.
Spark frowned in thought for a moment. Maybe she wanted him to ask her a certain way? Or maybe..."...Maybe I don't care that you don't want to come with us. Maybe I won't bother asking...Maybe I'll just knock your ass out and drag you there myself!" He finished his brave speech by raising his wings threateningly, electricity coursing through his feathers. The delighted look in Sohl's eyes told him he was moving in the right direction.
"And maybe you'll have to." The two stared at each other for a tense moment before they started fighting. The sounds from the darkness were frightening as harpy screams and thunder broke the silence surrounding the area. Twenty minutes later, the two walked/limped back to the group, laughing and leaning on each other. Both had fresh wounds. Spark had thin, long lines of blood running down both sides of his body, and Sohl had burn marks all over her. And yet the two of them looked thick as thieves, the long, drawn out battle having solidified trust between them, even if the fight hadn't been terribly serious.
Spark noted that the group was much smaller. The only ones that remained were Celestia, Sapphire and Rarity. Spark's surprise presented a question that Sapphire answered for him. "We decided we'd make it a more private occasion, Spark. Rarity wanted to say goodbye, and then hopefully," she paused, glancing at Sohl briefly, "you and I could, well..." she trailed off, a light blush cresting her cheeks.
Spark nearly stumbled as Sohl nudged him with a cheeky grin on her face. He shot her a look that shut her up. "Y-yeah, I get it. But how-"
"Oh honestly, Spark, how do you think we all got here so fast? The Princess teleports, dear." Rarity said with a slight degree of exasperation. She was more than ready to go home and bathe and never adventure again.
Spark made a motion with his hoof to his forehead. Duh. "Right, then..." He glanced up at Sohl, who returned the look. She reached up with a foot and rested it on Spark's back. She pushed with that foot and stood on Spark's back before hunching down, her body shrinking at a shocking speed until she was a little ball of feathers. The little ball spread it's wings, and from it emerged the form of a large eagle. Spark, Rarity, and Sapphire stared at the much smaller form in shock. It's colors remained the same, a pink and yellow color scheme accented with black stripes.
"Hm. I had forgotten that Harpies could hide themselves in that form." Celestia mused. There was a slight ring of approval in her tone. This would drastically reduce the shock that her ponies might experience than if she strode into town looking like she had. Celestia cleared her throat gently and raised a foreleg into the air elegantly, her eyes on Sohl's new form. The harpy eagle lightly pecked Spark on the head twice before taking off into the air and perched on Celestia's foreleg. "Now, my little ponies, let us take Rarity home."
Spark nodded and sidled up beside his two friends and closed his eyes. He'd never been teleported before, but he guessed it'd be better if he wasn't watching anything when it happened. He suddenly felt his stomach lurch, and for a brief moment, he felt weightless. He felt the earth's pull once more as he landed on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him on a hard wood floor. He sat up slowly and opened his eyes to darkness, his senses briefly swimming and fluctuating like water washing over his tongue, his skin, through his nose and out his ears.
"Oh, lords...sensory overload..." he complained. He thought he heard a similar complaint from Rarity. After a moment, a bright light was lit from Celestia's horn. Spark's senses slowly returned to normal, the magical effects of teleportation leaving him. He looked around, and surmised they were in Rarity's shop. He had been here once before, just a week ago. Rarity smiled gratefully up at the Princess, then approached Spark and easily drew him into a hug.
"Oh, Spark Storm..." she said, and daintily kissed his cheek before drawing away. "...I shall never, ever, do something like this again. Now if you all shall excuse me, I...I desperately need a bath." Rarity made herself scarce and disappeared up the stairs.
Sapphire smiled as they were now ready to return to Canterlot. She had to restrain herself from bouncing at the prospect of being along with Spark. Celestia had to control the smile threatening to pull at her lips as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Before Spark could realize what was happening, Spark's eyes were open as he was teleported once more. His sight turned over and over in his head as images assaulted his vision. Before he could close his eyes to block them out, it was over. He fell over onto his side and groaned as familiar teleporting sensations, along with the images, plagued him for a brief moment.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Spark Storm..." Celestia's voice pounded in his head for just a second before her voice returned to normal in his ears. "I should have warned you. Most unicorns capable of teleporting close their eyes to concentrate and keep out the sensations normally associated with teleport magic."
Spark sighed as he got to his hooves slowly and looked up, expecting to be able to say goodbye to Sohl before he disappeared with Sapphire, but the eagle was gone, no sign of the Harpy anywhere. Noting the expression on his face, Celestia gave him a look that she wasn't going to justify herself with an explanation. "You'll see Sohl later, Spark. She and I have things to discuss. For now," she said, reaching down to nuzzle him affectionately, "go and rest. You and Sapphire have a lot of catching up to do." A beat. "...responsibly."
Sapphire Snow rolled her eyes heavenward as Celestia took to the air. Looking around for the first time, Spark noticed that they had teleported into the Fighter's training grounds, partially hidden by the Everfree forest behind the castle. Sapphire nudged him gently, prodding him towards the stairs that lead up to the castle. "C'mon, handsome. It's time to rest. Well, bath for you first."
It turned into a bath for the both of them. After Sapphire had washed all the blood out of Spark's coat, fresh, clean water was drawn and the two of them got in together. It was playful at first, splashing and laughing like they had done when they were younger. But as they got out of the tub, Sapphire noticed the lightning marks on Spark's back. Curiously, she traced a hoof down his back like Rarity had she discovered them.
But this time, Spark didn't shy away from the pleasant feelings of being touched between his wings, which were starting to straighten out at his girlfriend's hoof. Sapphire smiled at his reaction and grabbed a dry towel in her mouth and wrapped it around the back of his neck and closed the loop in her teeth, then began guiding him towards the bed with a seductive look in her eyes. As he followed, he stared back with a deep, nervous blush. After pulling him onto Spark's bed, she turned him around and flipped the towel onto his head over his eyes, and then began to carefully preen Spark's feathers with her mouth.
Spark blushed brightly and with a gasp he instinctively stood. Sapphire just grinned and pulled him back down, her hooves wrapping around his waist to him him still. "Relax, baby, relax," she coo'd softly into his ear, resting her head against his back. "This is new to me, too, you know."
Spark Storm took a deep breath and did as Sapphire bid him. He relaxed, and even spread his wings a little for her. With a soft little grin, she continued to preen, which sent shivers down Spark's back. After a few moments, he had collapsed down against the bed on his stomach, a big, stupid, dreamy grin on his face.
Finally finished with Spark's wings, Sapphire crept to the end of the bed where Spark's head was lying. She poked at him lightly before lying down next to him and peered at his face. Of course, upon getting so comfortable, he had fallen asleep. Well, it had been a long week for him. Sapphire smiled and pulled Spark carefully until his back was pressed to her chest, and closed her eyes happily as they rested together.
Somewhere in Equestria, deep underground, laid the Changeling hive. The caverns that ran through the Equestrian underground ran for miles and miles, and the caves went quite deep down. The long, winding tunnels that had been carved by the Changelings several thousand years ago were smooth and cool, kept ventilated by hundreds of tiny tubes that connected to the world on the surface.
Deep down in one of the central chambers, Chrysalis cuddled with a large brown stallion pony. He didn't seem to mind, or notice really, what kind of creature she was. He was simply immersed in his affection for her as they lay together in the queen's bed. He didn't really notice the energy she pulled from him via her long, twisted horn. The stallion turned his head, lightly kissing Chrysalis' lips until he finally fell limp against her form, completely unconscious from a lack of energy. The Changeling queen continued to suck out everything she could of his love essence, even after he stopped breathing.
Suddenly a small Changeling warrior burst into her bed-chambers, causing the Queen to shoot to her hooves, her horn glowing a blazing green as she grabbed the intruder up by the neck with fresh magic and held him up over her head. "Don't you idiots ever knock?!"
"Fff-ffforgive me, my queen," he choked. The queen's hold on him lessened so he could explain himself. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but our mission has failed, my queen...the nymph and the dryads live. And she has managed to pollinate-they will spread, and our numbers have been drastically cut!"
"What?" The Queen unceremoniously dropped her warrior to the floor, where he scrambled out the door, only to be dragged back by a thin shell of green magic. He and the silent shell of the stallion that Chrysalis had been snuggling with were both held upside down in front of her, her eyes blazing angrily. "That's not possible! You and your scouts told me that there were three of them! Three! Two little ponies and a nymph! Did they magically turn into an army?" she spat, sarcasm dripping from her fangs quite literally.
"Y-yes, they did!"
Chrysalis stared at her minion dumbly for a moment. She drew him closer until their muzzles were touching, an honor and usually a sign that she was going to mate under normal circumstances. The Changeling warrior was actually pretty sure she was going to castrate him at this point. "Explain, and you better be clear." Her voice was low, calm, and very deadly.
The Changeling stared at his mistress' eyes. There was only one word, one name that could clear this up without his queen harming him. "...Celestia."
Chrysalis dropped her minion yet again, and this time he got out of her room alive. This time, at least. The dried up corpse of the stallion that the queen had sucked dry began to collapse in on itself as the bubble keeping it in the air began to squeeze. After a moment of tension, the bones snapped and the body crumbled to dust as Chrysalis released it.
Celestia. The one goddess in the whole land of Equestria that had kept her nose where it belonged, the one that had promised not to interfere with the laws of nature. Why was she breaking her word now? For over three thousand years she and her sister Luna had kept law separate from nature. Even when the younger sister had gone beserk and allowed herself to be swallowed by Nightmare Moon, Celestia had kept her promise to not stick her nose in nature's business.
If this was true, if the Princess of Equestria had broken her sacred vow not to interfere, then this was a call for war.