There was no inn, pub, or restaurant in Alfalfa Dale. No one had the money or time for that. There were only two stores that sold food. One was the mill combined with the bakery which made the daily bread, and the other was a store which sold bulk crop produce, like potatoes and cabbage. Although Prey was willing to bet some farmers had their own stills set up around. They always did. Here on the border, you almost exclusively ate what your own fields grew.
As such, the ISND ended up buying bland loaves of bread, and finding a spot on the fence of an empty field just outside of the small town.
The baker had ludicrously overcharged them when she'd seen who was buying, but Gloom hadn't even tried to haggle. Her steep price was still not even half of what would've been charged in Canterlot.
So they ate their meal of bread and water, using the short break to remove their packs and rest their hooves. Lilly and Scenic privately complained and pulled faces at the simple fare, but Gloom, Prey, and Crimson were so used to eating Cookie's cooking they didn't even notice.
Gloom washed down his mouthful of thick bread with gulp of water from his canteen, before speaking, "So. The incident from three months ago has repeated itself. Ponies have been taken, or have left. By magic, willingly, or some other means, we don't know. As I said, we need a plan, so I want everypony's input."
Scenic looked unsure of what he could possibly offer as a greenie, but Lilly Blossom was more than eager to offer her opinion without needing further prompting.
"Sir, I think it's obvious. Somepony foalnapped them all and dragged them into the forest. If we get one of the locals who knows the area, I bet we could track them down."
Prey stared at the mare, 'Go into the forest? Did she hear a word of what Bale said?' But even as he thought that, Prey could feel the sway of the forest pulling at them. It was an uncaring force, but it still wanted them to venture inside.
Lilly Blossom was right about one thing though, the villagers of Mayflower had definitely gone into those trees. There was nowhere else they could've gone. The forest felt like an inevitability, like all roads would eventually lead back to it.
"The forest does seem like the only logical conclusion sir." Crimson agreed.
"Then we should definitely go in and rescue them, sir." Lilly said, immediately jumping on Crimson's agreement.
Gloom looked towards where the far off trees darkening the land. They'd been right on the border of the forest only a few hours ago, and Gloom had not forgotten the look of the place. "I have a feeling in my flank that our path lies somewhere in the forest regardless of where we choose to begin investigating." He admitted.
Prey grimaced. If even Gloom's special talent was directing them that way, it boded ill.
'But that forest isn't the Deeper Green,' Prey reminded himself, 'I'm sure it's dangerous, but not quite as dangerous.'
Scenic raised his hoof, wincing, "Er, sir, I know they're really expensive and rare and all, but would now be a situation where using a message-bottle-fire is permitted, sir?"
"Of course we will be doing that." Gloom agreed. He'd thought it would've already been taken for granted they would be sending a message back to Captain Nighthawk.
"Ah...?"
"But first, we need to decide upon our course of action. We can only send and receive once per message bottle, so we can't afford to waste one of the two we've got on an incomplete report." Gloom explained.
"Sir, forgive me but, er, shouldn't we wait for Captain Nighthawk to tell us how to proceed before making the plan?" Scenic asked.
The ISND, the true ISND, all gave the Earth pony a look at his complete lack of understanding of how the Night Guard operated. Nighthawk would not tell them what to do. The ISND were the ones on the scene. Even if Nighthawk got the train to make another run to Alfalfa Dale a week early, it would still take over twenty-four hours before backup arrived. Therefore as the ones on the scene, it was the ISND's responsibility to decide what they thought was best and to follow through.
Scenic needed to change that attitude. He was a Night Guard now, and needed to start thinking like one.
"No. It's up to us." Gloom said.
The Sargent then glanced out of the corner of his eye at Prey. The lamb was the only one who hadn't contributed anything yet, and he was the one whose advice Gloom was most interested in hearing.
'-Prey always spots something I've missed. And I'm not going to dismiss him again. I'm just as guilty as him for having to carry the burden of Seashores and Garrow's deaths-', Gloom thought, a wash of tiredness suddenly passing through him.
'A bit arrogant, aren't we?' Prey thought, managing to keep his face from twitching, 'Assuming you somehow own my actions.'
Nevertheless, Gloom wanted him to contribute. But there wasn't much of anything Prey could contribute.
Prey let his eyes meet Gloom's, and then he shrugged and shook his head, "I've got nothing. Because that's precisely what we found at Mayflower. Nothing. We know nothing. We've nothing to go on. We have a report of nothing. If we want something, then we have to do something first. It doesn't matter if it works or not, but we'll learn nothing here in Alfalfa Dale."
The rest of them went quiet. Prey's words had basically summed up the lack of everything. And Prey knew what was going to happen next, because it was the only course of action left open to Gloom. And Prey did not want to go along with it. Did he? Prey paused. No, no he didn't. At least, he was almost certain he didn't. Yet the caterpillars in his stomach were still squirming, wanting to hatch into butterflies.
There was a Hunt coming, Prey could feel it in his gut, and he wanted no part of it. Or at least, he shouldn't.
'Get your talonz' dirty, yez'?'
Prey blinked. Crimson had leaned over on the fence and muttered something to Gloom. Gloom didn't verbally respond, and only the slightest nod showed he'd heard. Lilly and Scenic were none the wiser.
Gloom pushed himself off the fence, "Well, there's not much more that can be said. Prey? Would you come with me for five minutes? The rest of you, finish up your lunch and get ready to go. Or what passes for lunch."
Prey's eyes flickered to Crimson, then back to Gloom, who was waiting for him, "You coming?" Gloom asked, raising a brow.
Prey stopped fiddling with the end of his ribbon and got up, "Coming."
They didn't go far, perhaps ten paces along the fence, but far enough away to ensure Gloom's words wouldn't carry back to Lilly and Scenic. Crimson's tufted ears though? Maybe.
Gloom propped his chin on a hoof as he leaned on the fence, looking over the empty field. "You're nervous." He said pleasantly, "Something about all this is scaring you. You're on edge. Well, more on edge than usual. What is it? What do you know?"
"Know? I don't know anything about what might've happened." Prey said.
'Since when did Gloom start noticing these things?' He thought worriedly.
"Suspect then." Gloom corrected himself, "You have an idea, and whatever that idea is, you don't like."
"What did Crimson say just now?" Prey asked instead of answering.
Gloom looked down at Prey, "He said he was concerned about you being scared of something. And you're not the type to be scared over nothing."
The corner of Prey's mouth twisted self deprecatingly, "You're wrong. I'm scared of lots of things."
He wasn't comfortable admitting it, but he'd already told this to Crimson once, so Crimson had probably told Gloom.
"Being brave isn't the absence of fear. It's being scared and doing it anyway." Gloom said, repeating the oft used empty platitude.
Prey rolled his eyes, "Bravery is interchangeable with suicidal, and scared is a pseudonym for survival."
Gloom put in the effort to smirk, "Which pony said that?"
"I said that."
"Oh. Well there's nothing wrong with being afraid. I was afraid too when we were stuck in that storeroom with the salt dealers bearing down on us." Gloom told him.
"You would've been a fool not to have been."
Gloom's half grin widened, unconsciously showing his fangs, "Yeah." He agreed.
Then Gloom's thoughts turned to what had happened next after that, and the grin faded, "Yeah..."
Prey spoke before Gloom could decide that now was once again the time to try and confront him about having killed Garrow and Sea Shores, because the Sargent was still certain Prey was suppressing the event. Prey knew how the thestral thought.
Prey leaned on the lower fence cross bar, "We're going to go into the forest." He said, making it a statement. There was no use beating about the bush any longer.
Gloom cocked an ear, apparently not knowing the significance of that, "Okay. Because...?"
"Lilly Blossom was right. There is nowhere else the villagers could've gone or been taken. All paths point to the forest."
"Yes I understand that point. Wait, is that what you're afraid of?" Gloom asked, looking at the dark ridge line of far off trees, "The pine forest?"
"The forest is hardly made up of pines exclusively."
"But is it the reason?" Gloom pressed.
"The forest is dangerous, you should know that already. Thestrals should know how dangerous the wilds are." Prey narrowed his eyes, "Unless your clan didn't live beyond the border, but were actually hiding close by in Equestria the whole time. Where did you say your caves were?"
Prey wasn't really trying to fish for information about the thestral's secret ancestral home, but Gloom had no right to pry, and turning this around and putting it back on Gloom was a good way to get him to stop.
"I know how dangerous the forest is Prey. We're no strangers to the wilds." Gloom said, refusing to be drawn into providing any details about his clan.
"Do you?" Prey challenged, meeting Gloom's eye.
Gloom frowned at him, thinking, '-if it was any child but you asking something so absurd I'd be laughing right now-'
However it wasn't. It was Prey asking. And Gloom didn't find it absurd.
"Do you?" Gloom asked back, just as seriously.
Prey's eyes were inexorably drawn once again towards the dark border of trees, looking little bigger than grass stems at this distance. How much should he say?
"We're going to have to go in there. I've...been in a forest before. Not this forest, obviously, but somewhere similar. It was dangerous. Very dangerous. I know some of those dangers." Prey looked back to Gloom. A shiver passed down Gloom's tail. Prey almost never looked him in the eye.
"I'm only telling you this because in this forest, if I say something, I need you to listen to me. So I'll answer your question. Yes, I know how dangerous it is. And I'll ask you the same again. Do you?"
Thestral looked down at little lamb, and little lamb looked back up at thestral. Both had an understanding of each other. There was as much left unsaid as said. They were heading into danger, not just in the forest but with whatever had snatched the villagers. The forest was bad news, they both knew it. However Prey was telling Gloom he knew something the thestral didn't, although Prey didn't have the words for it. He just needed Gloom to trust his word in those split second moments, and as the ISND's Sargent, get everyone else to do the same.
'-do I trust Prey?-, Gloom wondered for a moment, '-yes. After all we've been through, how could I not?-'
"I do." He answered Prey, "If you can trust me to do the same."
"Well obviously. In there, we're all going to have to be watching each other's back. It's us against the forest. I'm just a runt, I can hardly watch everything going on above my head, now can I?" Prey said, rolling his eyes and letting the tension dissipate.
Gloom was happy to let it fade, "We will all watch out for each other." He agreed.
------
Sending the emergency message back to Nighthawk was more effort than it should've been.
After a deep search of the town for paper and quill, they finally tracked some back to the tiny hardware store the small town had. The shop was run by an old ram, the only sheep they'd interacted with so far in Alfalfa Dale.
The ram hadn't been in his shop at the time, (too busy out working the bean field), and Crimson'd had to track him down. Prey had flinched and stared when they'd met. This was the first sheep he'd seen in... 'Over fifty seven years.'
The ram had not been happy to help, even if they were paying customers. Old people seemed to think they had a right to be crotchety and complain about anything and everything, one which the old ram had taken full advantage of.
---
"Half a mind to tell you to go buck yourselves. Some people have to work for a living, ya'know."
"Git out of my way, you dundering jumped up bat, this here is my shop."
"Touch that an' I'll stripe your hide. I ain't going to start tolerating disrespect at my age."
---
Prey refused to go into the ram's store, and stayed outside and out of sight, the old sheep left none the wiser. Prey didn't want to be seen by the ram and asked who he was, why he didn't have any horns, and where his parents were.
Prey's step was a little faster as they walked away from the tiny store.
It was obvious that Lilly Blossom was having to bite her lip to keep her self from bad mouthing the grumpy ram the moment they were out of earshot, but somehow she managed it. Barely.
'-keep it professional Lilly. Keep it professional, keep it professional-'
"Hey, at what age do sheep start growing horns?" Scenic asked Prey as they left.
Prey completely ignored him.
Gloom had Lilly write out their report to Nighthawk. With her naturally granted telekinesis, she made the most efficient scribe out of the five of them. The report went thus:
"Arrived in Alfalfa Dale at 7:00 via morning train. Disembarked. Made straight for Mayflower. Sent Crimson flying ahead. Returned post haste with an alarming update on Mayflower. Arrived 11:00. Found Mayflower abandoned. All villagers missing. No destroyed property. No blood. No bodies. No tracks. All doors open or at least unlocked. Uncertain if travel supplies were removed and taken. Possible destination: unknown. Hostiles: unknown."
The report continued on in a similar vein, going into detail about everything they'd found, no matter how insignificant. Everyone dictated any theories and ideas they could think of, having Lilly make a long list. Included was the general state of Alfalfa Dale and what Bale had told them, his position as the mayor's brother, etcetera. This message was a one time only thing, so it was better to cram in as much detail as possible, no matter how trivial it might seem.
Prey drew up a map of Mayflower, showing the forest's border, while Gloom dictated their current plan of action:
"We will begin scouting inside of the borders of the forest to search for any signs of the villagers. Will recruit a guide or any help from Alfalfa Dale, if available. No current leads. We will begin at Mayflower and start a sweeping arc search from there."
Gloom did not add anything flowery and unnecessary like, 'We shall not fail', or 'Luna guide our search' at the end, only the bare facts. He took the quill from Lilly and signed it himself, 'First Sargent Dusky Gloom'.
Then came the 'postage' bit.
"Can anypony think of anything we might've forgotten to add?" Gloom asked as he rolled up the sheaf of papers.
Everyone shook their heads. "Well here goes." Gloom said.
He'd wrapped both message-in-a-bottles in padding and stored them securely in his saddle bags. Now, he drew out one of the blueish green glass bottles, and unwrapped it.
Soft green light from slowly flickering flames was revealed. It was odd, seeing a fire hanging in the bottle with no fuel source. The flames always burnt straight up, no matter how you turned or shook the bottle.
Prey sidled back as Gloom broke the seal. Just because it was supposed to be controlled spell fire didn't change the fact that it was spell fire. Prey didn't want to be in the blast range if, for some reason, it suddenly became unstable. Unlikely, but unlikely was not the same as impossible.
Gloom gripped the bottle between his forehooves, and used his wing claws to force feed the roll of pages through the bottle's neck. For a second the flames did nothing, and then in a silent 'Woosh' they consumed the whole roll in a second and vanished. There wasn't even a trace of ash left in the bottom. Lilly and Scenic couldn't help but wince as they watched a thousand bits literally go up in smoke.
"So...That's all there is to it?" Gloom asked, looking at the empty bottle.
"Yes, that's it. It'll pop out of Captain Nighthawk's message bottle on the other end." Prey confirmed, having approached again.
"Huh." Gloom said, eyeing the inert bottle.
"That was simpler than I imagined." Crimson said.
Gloom shrugged and tucked the green glass container back into his saddle bags. Now they were waiting on a reply.
------
By this time, it was late. The ISND did not travel back to Mayflower that day, instead choosing to spend the night outside of Alfalfa Dale. Gloom, partly because of Prey's advice and partly just because he had common sense, did not want to spend the night sleeping on the forest's door step. And in the time it would've taken them to walk back to Mayflower, night would've certainly fallen.
So instead of engaging in such unnecessary stupidity, they camped outside of Alfalfa Dale instead. Prey knew they would be spending more than enough time in the forest soon anyway. Enough to kill a person.
Scenic and Lilly were each trying to set up their oversized one pony tents in preparation for the coming night, and mostly failing. Prey was gazing towards the darkening horizon instead of watching the show, not bothering to erect a shelter himself. He knew it wasn't going to rain tonight. Just a blanket would be fine.
But Prey wasn't thinking about that. He wasn't thinking about much of anything.
Prey felt the tough grass under his hooves, the light chill of the wind in the darkening sky, the scent of earth, and remembered the feelings of fifty-seven years ago.
Surviving in the Deeper Green. What Snake had taught him, both willingly and unwillingly.
The fear, the danger, the rawness, the pulse of the forest's heart beating all around you.
Prey had feared the Deeper Green, (still did), but he had also respected it.
This forest was not the Deeper Green, it wasn't even halfway there in terms of dangerousness. But the differences were slim enough to stir up his memories.
Lilly Blossom was cursing non-stop under her breath as she tried to figure out how the tent pole was supposed to fit through a loop too small for it, while Scenic wasn't doing much better with his own tent.
Gloom sighed and got up to help them, "Here, let me. Look. It goes through there."
Crimson meditated for a time, before rising and launching into his kata training. Scenic was immediately captivated, and stopped to stare, '-wow. I wish I could do that-'
Prey only had half his attention on the rest of the ISND, as some of them got cross at having to be helped, some of them tried to learn what they were doing wrong, another tried to do the teaching, and someone else trained.
Background. Peoples lives.
Prey sat and unwillingly thought of darker memories of being alone and uncertain, until it was time to turn in for the night. He waited until he observed that Lilly Blossom's mind showed her to be asleep, before allowing his own eyes to close.
---
Prey sank into the deep blue of his ocean mindscape, and dreamt of an unadorned, cracked wooden mask, bone rot, and a swimming sea of rustling green.
---
Prey woke up sometime during the night. He immediately checked to see Lilly was still asleep, then that there was no other danger close by. In that order.
Prey reached a hoof under his makeshift pack pillow, checking his ribbon was still there, the tangible reminder that he belonged to no one but himself. It was. He spared a glare for the gold tracer bands in the dark, then pulled the thick blanket tighter and rolled over.
---
Lilly Blossom had not slept well during the night, nor the night before, and it showed. Prey, Crimson, and Gloom on the other hoof had all slept fine. Or at least, they were used to the disturbed sleep schedule which came with the job.
Actually, what was reaaaaally putting Lilly's tail out of joint as they wordlessly reloaded their packs and began the trek back towards Mayflower, was that she was only now realising what two weeks out here entailed.
'-no showers. No bucking showers. And. No. Bucking. Toilet. Paper.-'
How she was only realising this just now was a bit of a mystery, but it served as one more reason for Prey to avoid the foul tempered mare who had no one to blame but herself. A fact which just aggravated Lilly all the more as she stomped along. Scenic took it upon himself to try and be a cheerful voice, chatting quite amiably to her in an attempt to improve the mare's dour mood. There was precious little else to be cheerful about.
Prey moved forwards to stay close to Crimson as they walked in the grey morning, keeping his eyes roaming and his ears alert.
Over the hours of the trip, Scenic's chatter did go some way to drawing Lilly from her mood, but he went quiet as they crested the rise over Mayflower. The forest's shadow loomed up afresh and the cold quiet of the empty village reasserted itself. Although the feeling had never really left. It was only them who had.
Now they were back, and looking at the almost aggressive advances of nature overtaking the village.
"It's only been one week, and already there's vines climbing up the doors." Prey overheard Scenic muttering.
Prey took another long look around at Mayflower, with its empty houses already falling to the ravages of time. Something unnatural had taken place here. It takes one to know one, so Prey knew what unnatural felt like, and this area definitely had that feeling. He looked at the start of the forest. The closest trees were pines, rough bark encrusted with dark lichen.
He breathed deeply. He scented mouldy pine, old sap, leaf litter, heavy air, and dirt. And there was the feeling again. In the darkness behind his shut eyelids, Prey imagined he could feel something ahead. A heartbeat out there amid the twisting paths of the trees. Slow, deep, silent. The arteries of the forest.
Prey felt the mental walls of Crimson coming up beside him and re-opened his eyes. Crimson shifted his wings as he stood next to Prey, the wing blade joint slightly folding and unfolding as he did so.
"Do you think we will find the villagers in there?" Crimson asked Prey bluntly, not mincing words.
Prey dithered on his answer. Crimson wanted to hear an affirmative, but he was also asking Prey what he really thought.
Prey hesitated, "You sure you want to know?"
Crimson nodded.
Prey drew a hoof through the dirt, "I think it's about a one-in-twenty chance we find all of them, but one-in-six we find at least one of them. And one-in six-again that the person we find is still alive."
Crimson grunted. "You were right. I didn't want to know." He turned and walked away, although he never fully turned his back on the forest.
---
At what point does something become dangerous?
On one side of the line, safety. On the other, danger. But how do you know which side it is?
At what point does walking up a path transition to walking up a treacherous path? What measures the crossing point into dangerous? Was it when you actually slipped and fell, or was it when you first noticed the rocks were slippery?
What if you didn't notice any difference right up until you fell? Did the path only count as treacherous after the fall, or beforehoof too? If so, that would imply it was only dangerous after someone had a tragic accident.
Further more, was it the path's fault, or the person walking it? Surely an object couldn't be blamed as dangerous.
So as the ISND picked their way along just inside the forest's border, never losing sight of the way out on their right, but the depths of the forest lying to their left, were they in danger?
Only just being inside the treeline, there was little risk as they scanned the ground for tracks indicating where the villagers might've entered the forest. But was it really only a little risk?
Lilly and Scenic, poking about gnarled roots, seemed to think it was fine as long as they could still see the way out.
Gloom and Crimson thought the danger lay further in, although that didn't mean they let their guard down as they picked over the thickly pine needled dirt.
Prey felt the trees all around him, the canopy overhead, the cold staleness in the air, and decided the danger had begun the moment they'd first set hoof under the shadow of the trees. The Deeper Green had always been dangerous no matter where you stood in it, so it must be the same here. The only factor was how dangerous.
"I think I found something." Scenic called.
Prey flinched instinctively and cast about, "Keep your voice down!" He hissed, angry at the sudden fright.
"Why?" Lilly asked, just as loudly, "Aren't we trying to let anypony who might be out here know where we are, so we can rescue them?"
"Quiet," Gloom snapped, voice low, angered by their carelessness. "Did you already forget, these villagers disappeared for a reason? That reason might be close enough to hear you. Do you want it to find us before we find it?"
Scenic and Lilly's jaws snapped shut.
Gloom grunted, mollified, "Better," He returned his short spear to its holster across his back with a wing, "Now, what is it you've found, Scenic?"
"This sir," Scenic whispered, now much quieter, "I think it's tracks. It looks like little hoof prints."
Prey peered at what Scenic was showing them. Gloom sighed.
"That's a badger trail." Crimson bluntly informed Scenic.
"What? But that doesn't look like badger paw marks at all." Scenic protested.
"Did you expect perfectly formed prints, with the claws and treads clearly laid out for you?" Prey couldn't refrain from sweetly mocking he Earth pony, "This isn't fresh fallen snow. You won't see prints, the pine needles disrupt that and the earth isn't soft enough to hold tracks. All you'll see are scuffs. Like these 'little hoof prints'."
"How am I supposed to know what a badger trail looks like? It could've been a chocolate jackolope for all I know." Scenic weakly protested.
"For all you knew?" Crimson echoed, the pegasus somehow making his flat pronouncement sound incredulous.
"Hmmm." Gloom also studied Scenic critically. The Earth pony fidgeted under his yellow slit gaze. Lilly held out better when it was her turn, but her ears gave away her discomfort and frustration.
"You're right," Gloom announced, but still keeping his voice down, "For all you knew. Because you don't know anything. You're like foals, making noise, blundering about and not knowing what to do."
Prey saw how Lilly Blossom bristled, but Gloom kept talking, "However this isn't a good learning environment. It's dangerous, and we've got ponies to save. But you're going to get yourselves killed if you aren't taught something. Or get somepony else killed."
The seriousness of Gloom's pronouncement seemed to shock Lilly and Scenic.
Gloom pointed a hoof at the badger scuff marks in the fallen pine needles, "You need to learn things like this. A badger is harmless, but a manticore isn't. Unfortunately, we don't have time to teach you properly. So you're just going to have to try and learn the best you can."
"Sir, what do you mean sir?" Lilly asked tightly.
'-I mean you both haven't got a clue what you're doing-', Gloom thought, '-so we're gonna' have to foalsit you. Luna I'm stupid for not realising this earlier. I'm too used to working with ponies like Prey and Crimson who grew up outside of Canterlot-'
"Lilly Blossom, you stick behind me. I'll lead the way, and you follow my lead. You can ask any questions, and I'll try to point out stuff to look out for." Gloom said, then nodded at Scenic.
"Scenic Paint, you'll be doing the same with..." Gloom hesitated as his hoof hovered between Crimson and Prey, "...With Prey. He know's what he's doing."
'-Prey's actually the most approachable out of them both. He doesn't seem to hate Scenic nearly as much as he does Lilly, so hopefully he'll keep his temper in check-'
"Yes sir." Scenic agreed, eager for the chance of guidance.
Prey scowled. He didn't want to teach Scenic, nor had he agreed to anything. But if he didn't at least keep Scenic from bumbling about, he might get them all killed. Although it was a massive relief Gloom had taken on Lilly. That was an arrow narrowly dodged.
Scenic shuffled, "So, yeah, I'll be in your capable hooves." He said, trying to smile down at Prey but his attention kept getting grabbed by the dark tree trunks all around them.
'At least he's the less arrogant of the two and will actually learn from correction.' Prey thought. This was hardly the ideal time or the place to be trying to teach anyone anything, but there was nothing for it.
"Come on," Prey said, "Follow behind me. Walk where I walk. Keep your armour from clanking. Don't touch anything. Look up at the trees, and never keep your eyes stationary. If you think you hear or see something, don't approach it until you're sure it's safe. Don't shout or call out, or otherwise make noise. Tread lightly. Don't speak unless it's serious. Try to communicate with gestures where possible. You do what I say, when I say. Clear?"
Scenic Paint blinked down at the lamb, who wore a large backpack, had a silk ribbon tied behind one ear, and who was giving him orders with dead seriousness. Those big soft blue eyes bore into him. Scenic thought of the quadruple murder scene he hadn't even seen but Prey had. Scenic nodded vigorously and made a zipping motion across his lips.
---
Scenic and Lilly did as they were ordered for the next four hours as the ISND slowly swept down the outer reaches of the forest. They followed behind their assigned instructor, kept quiet, and tried to learn from observing how Prey, Crimson, and Gloom acted.
Four long hours under the shadow of the trees, the dim quiet only broken by rustling branches, and the occasional sharp craw of ravens or crows sounding right when you least expected them.
It was cold and dry inside the forest's border, but also weirdly damp in many places as they searched. Sometimes the ground squished under the pine needle carpet as your hoof came down, other times it was rock solid. Prey skirted both patches where he could.
There was little that grew in the perpetual shadow of the evergreen canopy. Little wholesome anyway.
Mushrooms and assorted parasitic fungi, moss, lichen, floor creepers, and leafless thorn tangles which sought to bite at your fetlocks.
Prey spied a black beetle the size of a potato dragging an enormous squirming earth worm from its hole. The straining beetle managed to rip the worm in two and fell on its back, hairy legs waving while the rest of the earthworm escaped. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Scenic covering his mouth and looking slightly queasy.
In terms of staying focused and alert, patrolling was only slightly better than standing Guard. Four long hours of fruitless tracking in this atmosphere was more than enough dishearten and distract anyone, and that was dangerous.
Gloom made an effort to keep Lilly Blossom focused by keeping her engaged. He pointed things out, like animal signs, or changes in the landscape which indicated dried up stream beds or dips hidden under piles of leaves. He also frequently questioned her in a low voice to make sure she was retaining what he told her.
Prey made for a very poor teacher in comparison. He hardly told Scenic anything, merely pointing at stuff and expecting the Earth pony to work it out for himself. He was impatient with the stallion. In fact the only reason Scenic was here, as far as Prey cared, was to act as a meat shield if anything attacked them.
As the four hour mark slowly rolled around, and still nothing had been found, Gloom decided that if there were any signs at all of where the villagers entered the forest, it was not on this side of Mayflower. They needed to double back to the village and search along the West border of the forest next. Maybe they'd find something there instead.
"If there is anything on this side, it's obvious we've missed or aren't going to find it," Gloom said, holding up a hoof to halt them, "Time to turn back."
They left the forest and emerged back onto the scrub of the open land. It would be faster travelling out here than walking back through the forest's border, and Gloom thought it, '-a good idea to not be in there any longer than necessary-'
As they stepped out of the canopy's shadow and left the mouldy smell of pine behind, Scenic seemed to straighten, the hunch coming out of his shoulders. He tipped his head back and breathed deeply under the open sky.
"Mmmm Ahhh." Scenic breathed, letting out a sigh he hadn't been aware he was holding. '-funny, I don't remember it being so nice and bright out here-'
"Don't do that. Never turn your back on the forest." Prey snapped.
"Why not?" Scenic asked cocking an ear, his sudden mood improvement making him restive.
"Don't question me. We've only left the tree line. This close to the forest, what makes you think something else can't do the same?"
"There was nothing dangerous in there." Scenic protested.
"Oh, you think so?" Prey asked easily, "Then why don't you step back inside? You can walk back to Mayflower through the trees. Me and Crimson will be walking along side you the whole way. Out here."
"What good would that do?" Scenic argued back, but weakly.
"You said yourself there was nothing dangerous. So go on, it doesn't have to be far in. Just a few paces under the trees. But walk back to Mayflower inside the forest the whole way." Prey said.
Scenic looked back at the trees, seeing the dim shade underneath their spiky branches and hesitated, "...No." He said.
"Why not? You said there was nothing dangerous."
"Because."
"Because what?"
"Because..."
Prey narrowed his eyes up at Scenic, and then nodded, "Because you've realised there is something to fear. Good. You're not totally stupid."
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Scenic demanded, slightly offended.
Prey ignored him and moved up next to Crimson as they began their walk back, leaving Scenic to fume for a second before he realised he was getting left behind. "Hey, wait up."
Prey kept one eye on the forest at all times, and snorted as he thought back over Scenic's words. They'd all felt it back in there, whether they acknowledged it or not. It was the low thrum of unspecified danger, faint, but always there. Prey remembered the Deeper Green and how it had felt.
'A part of you never leaves the jungle. They'll learn that soon enough.'
---
"Celestia's ever flowing rainbow mane, it's unpleasant in there." Lilly Blossom muttered to Scenic through a mouthful of bread, the two of them at the back of the group.
"Uh, yeah, I think I know what you mean." Scenic answered vaguely, distracted as he tried to get his canteen back into his pack while still watching the forest at all times like Prey had instructed.
There were no breaks. They were eating as they trotted back to Mayflower. The day old bread was a bit stale, and had been tough to begin with, but it's what was for lunch and was easy to eat while on the move. Well, easy for those who had a way of carrying their food outside of walking on three hooves.
'-this stuff is awful, not fit for the Guard at all-', Lilly internally grumbled as she took another bite of her levitating loaf.
Prey kept the dried fruit he was sharing with Crimson out of Scenic and Lilly's line of sight as he passed it over. They were almost back at Mayflower. As usual, Gloom and Crimson could've been going a lot faster if they weren't ground bound by the rest of them, but that was only as far as getting back to their starting point in Mayflower was concerned.
For once, the two fliers were in a situation where they were being forced by more than just other peoples lack of extra appendages to stay grounded. Any tracks or clues would be inside the forest, not above it, even if the dense canopy had been thin enough to see through from the air.
Gloom himself was nibbling on a wedge of hard cheese he'd cleverly packed, perfect for travelling, as he continued to scan the area all the time, much like Crimson and Prey. He was letting Lilly and Scenic take a break from the constant vigilance. They were still new, and after four hours, those two really needed the break if they were going to be able to properly focus again later.
"Crimson?" Gloom raised his voice.
"Yes sir?"
Gloom waved a wing and Crimson trotted up ahead. Only once Crimson was next to Gloom did the thestral continue speaking, but Prey could still overhear them.
"You didn't smell any traces of blood in Mayflower, right?"
"That is mostly correct sir." Crimson confirmed.
"Mostly?"
"I mean, no blood that I thought was recent enough to have been from the villagers disappearing a week ago. I think. It was hard to tell. Although I did smell something strange." Crimson said.
"Strange? Any idea what it might've been?"
"I can't say for certain, only that it was not blood sir. Sorry. That's all my talent is good at recognising."
"It's fine. We'll make do. Something strange though, you say?" Gloom mused.
"Yes sir."
"That whole village was strange. This whole place is strange. Hmm..." Gloom trailed off, unable to think of anything more to add.
'Did you really need Crimson's talent to figure out something strange is going on?' Prey thought.
He shifted his pack, glad once again it had proper straps, and conversely wished once again he'd gotten a chance to speak with Lemon Pink before they'd left. Overhead, clouds drifted past the early afternoon sun, casting roving shadows over the scrub grass as it hissed in the wind.
---
It went without saying they avoided entering Mayflower on their return. Rather than walking through the silent village, they trotted up the slope and looped around instead. This was the group's fourth time laying eyes on the place, and it felt like they were looking at a ruin more and more each time.
Reentering the forest once safely past Mayflower and beginning their search West was not as easy as simply stepping back inside. At the treeline, each of them in their own way paused and privately prepared themselves for a moment.
'Here we go again.' Prey thought, flicking the free end of his ribbon before taking the first step back onto the carpet of dead pine needles. His eyes instinctively flickered to Crimson, just to double check, a habit he'd developed since the Lumber Yard. In much the same way, the pegasus was giving his wing blades one last flex, just to double check for hundredth time they were still unencumbered. How very like Crimson.
'-Tartarus it's icky in here-', Prey overheard Scenic thinking with a shudder as the Earth pony stepped back into the shadow. The air inside the forest did indeed have that feel to it, like you were walking in something. Like dust, or faint spiderwebs.
"Right, back in we go," Gloom said quietly, and completely unnecessarily, "We proceed same as before."
------
As they travelled West from Mayflower, the forest didn't differ much from what they'd already seen when tracking East.
Or it didn't right up until Prey spotted something amid the leaf litter.
Prey immediately stopped, something which triggered Crimson and Gloom to freeze as well.
Lilly stopped before she ran into the back of Gloom, but Scenic failed to do the same with Prey, almost knocking the much smaller lamb onto his face.
Prey spun around, spitting fury as he shook his hoof at Scenic, only just managing to stop himself from shouting; "Don't touch me".
Instead, he just gesticulated wildly at the stallion.
"What? What? What is it?" Lilly demanded in a whisper, far too loudly. There was also the blue sparkle of magic blooming around her horn in preparation. Stupid. She was lighting up a torch to draw everythings attention to them.
With an effort, Prey managed to swallow down his anger at Scenic's clumsiness. He forced himself to ignore both of the idiots inappropriate reactions in favour of reassuring Gloom. Gloom was staring at him, yellow eyes conveying the all important question.
Prey shook his head in answer, 'Not in danger'. Gloom relaxed, taking his wing claw from off his spear. Crimson let the tension fall from his wings, the wing blades fully retracting again.
"What? What?!" Lilly was still demanding, casting about.
"Shut up." Gloom ordered her.
"Sir, what's-"
"Shut up." Gloom growled through his fangs. He pointed an accusing hoof at her:
"Haven't you been paying any attention at all? No, I can see you're not taking this seriously. What part of this forest has deluded you into thinking there's no danger?"
Lilly opened her mouth but Gloom kept going in a rasping growl, voice suppressed but his anger still abundantly clear, "Your reaction was completely incorrect. First, you didn't react in time. Second, you reacted wrong. You moved, you made noise, you asked stupid questions, you cast a spell."
"Sir, I didn't cast sir-"
"You were gathering magic! You made light. Didn't it occur to you that you were painting a big fat target on your forehead? Luckily this time there wasn't a monster, but if there was, you'd have given away our position."
Lilly Blossom's affronted look clearly showed she clearly thought that's exactly why a Guard lit up their horn in the first place, to fight monsters. How were you supposed to fight monsters if you weren't ready?
Gloom read her expression. "This isn't a game. Don't you get that? If there's a monster, our priority is to avoid it. Not fight it. This isn't a subjugation mission to defeat some beast. Do you want to get yourself killed in a pointless fight you could've avoided if you'd just backed off?" Gloom demanded.
"And you, Scenic Paint." Gloom pointed at the Earth pony, using his full name instead of the nick name Scenic had asked them to call him by.
"Why weren't you paying attention? If that was a monster, you could've gotten Prey killed. He's a lamb. Just because he's seen- That doesn't matter. You need to pay attention. And I mean really pay attention. Not just think you are. Just thinking is no good if you can't do it, is it?" Gloom demanded.
Scenic looked at the forest floor between his hooves, "No sir."
Gloom's small rant seemed to have let some of his anger drain away, and now he was regretting his harsh rebuking of Lilly and Scenic.
'-ponies learn better from guidance, not anger. Even if they needed it. Or if one in particular sorely needed it-', Gloom thought, his gaze resting heavily upon Lilly.
More calmly this time, Gloom spoke, "This is deadly serious. It's not a story, it's not a game. We, I, have enough ponies on my conscience already. I don't want to add anypony else on to it. I'm just trying to keep us all alive. Does everypony understand?"
Prey heard what was running through Lilly Blossom's head;
'-enough ponies on his conscience? That means he's done this before. And won. Which mean's we'll be victorious this time too. Tragedy makes heroes stronger-', Lilly thought, fire sparking in her eyes.
"Sir, I understand completely sir." Lilly said, her head held high.
Prey was speechless. Was having the arrogance to only hear what she wanted to hear secretly Lilly's special talent? It took a special kind of person to view someone telling them they were wrong as actually proof they were doing something right. It was the exact opposite of what Gloom's reprimand had been intended for.
Gloom frowned at her sceptically, "Do you really understand?"
"Sir, yes sir. You don't have to worry about me sir."
'-then why do I have a feeling it's the exact opposite?-', Gloom thought, studying Lilly's face as he attempted to discern her thoughts. He decided that right here and now probably wasn't the time for it though.
"Alright then. I'll hold you to that." Gloom said quietly.
Gloom didn't see the mare puff out her chest behind him in self-deluded congratulations at just how much she was going to improve. Instead, Gloom looked to Prey, who had been the start of this little debacle. "Alright Prey, what was it you spotted?"
Prey shifted to be a bit further away from Lilly and closer to Crimson, who'd not once let his watch on their surroundings falter. Prey pointed a cloven hoof up ahead of them, "Over there, on the forest floor."
They all squinted, trying to make out what it was in the shadows. Gloom and Crimson managed it first.
"Stone?" Crimson asked.
"Yes." Prey said. He cautiously moved forwards and knelt down by what he'd spotted. Underneath a mat of brown pine needles and some ranging thorn vines, lay the flat grey of stone, too flat to be natural. Prey brushed aside the detritus to further reveal the slab, and what had appeared to only be a hoof's worth of stone grew to nearly a yard across.
"A paving slab? How under the moon did this get all the way out here?" Gloom wondered, helping Prey in clear off the stone. It was covered in fine grooves, ingrained with dark earth.
The slab was smooth cut, but not formed into any standard rectangle shape. It was more like a shard, broken off an enormous sheet of stone if such a thing were possible.
"Old." Crimson commented, "I mean, it's very old."
"Hmmm." Gloom mused as they studied their find.
"Is the, er, stone going to help us, sir?" Scenic asked, looking lost.
Gloom shrugged and looked to Prey for the answer to that question, "Is it?" He asked.
"Back in the middle of Mayflower, do you remember those half buried stone slabs? They looked-"
"-Exactly the same as this one." Gloom realised, "They must've come from the same place." He finished, running his hoof across the cold surface of the stone.
"This stone is much older than the village though. It's obviously been cut smooth, but it's also so old it's got all these tiny grooves worn into it, and has almost been buried under soil. So the question is, did the villagers take the stone to use, or did they build Mayflower on top of what was already there?" Prey mused.
"I don't know. But what does this tell us all the way out here?" Gloom asked, warily eyeing the endless sea of tree trunks stretching off around them.
Prey looked at the slab, noting how it was set into the ground. "Maybe..." He muttered.
He stood up and moved further along to where the stone seemed to point, stamping his hoof down as he went.
"What are you-?"
"Aha." Prey started kicking aside the dirt and needles. Within a few moments, another patch of smooth grey was revealed.
"It's a road." Lilly exclaimed in sudden realisation, but remembering Gloom's dressing down, she at least did so quietly.
"Yes, a road." Gloom echoed, "Are there more paving stones?"
"Let's find out." Prey said, starting to stamp the ground again as he moved forwards.
There were indeed more of the mismatched stone slabs, set at irregular intervals. Sometimes one slab on its own, sometimes clustered together, but the direction the impromptu road pointed was clear. Deeper into the trees.
Lilly started forwards to immediately begin following, before a look from Gloom reminded her that she was not in charge and had to stick with the group.
"Anypony got any idea's where this path might lead?" Gloom asked.
Unsurprisingly, no one did. If you tilted your head and looked out of the corner of your eye, there just might be a clearer route through the trees which indicated where the grey stone path lay, winding away into the dark between the trees until it was lost.
Who had lain it? Why? Where did it go? Was it supposed to be a path out of the forest, or a path in?
"Alright then. That just leaves one question. Do we follow it or not? What does everypony think?" Gloom looked round at them.
"Sir, I think we should follow it sir. It's the only lead we've got, so we should go for it." Lilly advocated, to no ones surprise.
"Uh, me too sir." Scenic said, shifting from hoof to hoof on the pine needles.
'-I don't like the idea of wandering around in here without a direction-', He was thinking.
Prey was quiet for a moment, looking down at the cold, featureless stone slab at his hooves. Someone at some point in history had gone to great lengths to lay this stone. And through this forest too.
"I don't think this road has anything to do with our missing villagers. It isn't a clue. It just is what it is." Prey said quietly.
"So is that a yes or a no?" Gloom pressed.
Prey closed his eyes in thought for a second. He didn't feel anything from the stone, but the winding route represented something. "I don't know." He answered honestly.
"Hmm, alright. You, Crimson?"
"I don't like it." Crimson stated without any hesitation. He flicked his wing, "This whole place, I mean. I feel like I'm being watched. It's...not like the other forests. It feels different."
"It feels old." Prey said.
"Yes, that. Old. Watchful. Unfriendly."
Lilly wanted to say that was ridiculous, Prey heard her thinking so; '-it's just some trees. Trees can't be unfriendly-'
But even she couldn't completely deny the stealthy feeling.
Gloom considered all of their words, weighing the dangers up against the possibly of them finding something.
"We'll follow it," Gloom decided, "For a while at least. See how deep this rabbit hole goes. We're turning around and getting out here before it gets dark though."
---
Cautiously, they followed the ancient buried road. Gloom took the lead, using the butt of his short spear to tap and find the next stone slab beneath the leaf litter. Slowly, the twisting path lead them deeper into the trees.
Occasionally, they had to stop and back track to find the next submerged stone when they took a wrong turn. The stale scent of pine hung in the still air, and the deeper they went, the more it pervaded every breath. Patches of sky in the canopy provided their only source of sun light.
They stepped over the low thorn bushes that blocked their paths, or went around them in Prey's case. Apart from the odd far off bird call, or a sigh of wind in the tree tops, it was very quiet.
No calling insects. That was a difference between here and the Deeper Green. Obviously there were still insects here, there are insects everywhere, but here, they were the silent type. Black ants, moths, spiders, worms, woodlice, grubs, tree borers.
Prey spied patches of other mushrooms and plants he knew uses for, but he didn't make any move to collect any because he still didn't know this forest. He didn't know what it would allow, and what it wouldn't.
While the forest was almost exclusively dark pine, here and there were still a few other kinds which were ether big or gnarled enough to fight for dominance with the pines.
Occasionally, they came across chunks of craggy stone which'd forced it's way through the earth, but you often missed them, so overgrown with moss and leaf mould turned soil were they.
Gloom probed with his spear butt, "This way next." He indicated in a hushed voice.
Prey stepped over the slight rise of what would one day become an overhang, and slowed as an unpleasant tingle in his gut started up. He scanned their surroundings.
Pines, fallen branches, brown needles, a half buried boulder, sun patch, shadows.
No danger.
Crimson raised his head, turning his muzzle this way and that. He stopped and held up a hoof. This time, Scenic and Lilly were paying enough attention to halt immediately. Everything was silent as everyone held their breath.
Prey desperately wished he could hear Crimson's thoughts right then. What had Crimson spotted?
Crimson silently sniffed the air again. Then with a flick of his wings, the wings blades were unsheathed. Gloom's spear was immediately out and at the ready. Prey still couldn't see where the threat was.
Five seconds. Ten seconds. Eventually, Gloom had to whisper; "What is it?"
"I smell b-something." Crimson whispered back, recalling at the last second Scenic and Lilly, "It's close."
"A predator then." Gloom said. The word made Prey's stomach give an unpleasant lurch.
"Sir, can I light my horn now sir?" Lilly hissed, eyes darting about as she practically hummed with adrenaline.
"An ambush predator," Prey whispered, "Wherever it is, it's still an ambush predator. We stopped in time, so it likely won't attack."
'-oh thank sweet Celestia-', Scenic thought behind him, all the talk of danger suddenly very real to the Earth pony.
Gloom's eyes scanned the shadows, "I can't see anything." He admitted.
They all strained to spot anything out of place. Eventually Lilly Blossom started to doubt there really was anything. Prey didn't. He frowned at the oblong boulder ahead, craggy and overgrown. Was there something hiding behind it? Or...
"I see it." Prey whispered.
"Where?" Gloom asked, never looking away from the forest.
"The boulder. It's actually a camouflaged ambush predator. It doesn't chase. It waits. Our best option is just to take a large detour around it."
Gloom considered, staring at the boulder, "We'll likely loose the path if we do."
"We mustn't go near it." Prey insisted quietly.
"What is it?" Crimson asked.
"A mama'duke, a false skin, or a stone chameleon. Take your pick of names. They travel slow but attack fast." Prey whispered, already starting to back away.
"Could we beat it if it came down to a fight?" Gloom asked.
"Depends how big it's grown, but probably. No point though, we should just avoid it."
"Hold on," Gloom said, staring hard at the innocent looking chunk of rock, "I have an idea."
Without turning, Gloom gestured Lilly up with his wing, "Lilly Blossom, come up here."
"Sir, yes sir." Lilly whispered.
"Can you hit that rock from here?"
"Sir, do you really think there's-"
"Can you hit it? Yes or no."
"Of course I can sir. I was the best in the class at-"
"Good. Hit it."
---
There was a budding glow of blue light in the shadows of the trees. It sparked, and then there was a flash and a *swish* of displaced air as a blast of blue magic flew through the air.
It was a concussive blast spell. Simple, straightforward, easy to learn, point and fire line of sight, and one of the four spells required of all unicorn recruits in the Royal Guard.
Those four being; a kinetic blast spell, a minor shield spell, an emergency flare spell, and the recruits choice of either a stunning or binding spell.
And this blast spell flew true to splash against the boulder with enough force to send small chips flying.
The reaction was immediate. The boulder jumped off the ground as if on a hinge, and a blur of brightly coloured tentacles lashed out in a distorted windmill of violence.
Pine needles filled the air as the creature sought its attackers. Lilly and Scenic cursed in sync, as the Mama'duke emerged from under its stone shell. Already at the rear, Prey was busy retreating even further to waste breath doing the same. A boneless balloon of flesh with two horizontal bars for eyes swelled out from underneath the rock as its futile attack came to an end.
The suckered tentacles were jagged, with little backwards facing spines, and the wrinkled flesh slowly pulsed and changed colour to mimic the forest's floor.
"That's an octopus." Lilly said, sounding shocked. She had gone wide eyed at the violence of the monsters reprisal.
"What's an octopus?" Prey asked.
"That. Well no, not that right there, but that." Lilly jabbed at the Mama'duke, as Prey knew it.
The newly identified octopus looked at their little group reproachfully with its horizontal eyes, like they'd somehow cheated. Then it manoeuvred itself around and started shuffling off into the forest, using its tentacles to drag its heavy main body, boulder house and all, behind it.
Scenic suppressed a slightly manic whinny-laugh.
The ISND watched the monster until it was little more than a distant boulder outline bobbing between the trees.
Prey noted down all his observations about the Mama'duke to add to Snake's knowledge on the camouflaging ambush predator. This wasn't the first of the boneless mollusc Prey'd seen, but if he was lucky, it would be the last. As far as monsters went, the Mama'duke was one of the less dangerous ones. As long as you saw it coming.
"Well, it's safe to move again on the path now at least." Prey said.
"What if there're more of those mimic things? Or if that one comes back?" Lilly demanded, still thrumming with suppressed energy. "We could've taken it down easy, no problem."
'-teach that no good cheating octopus to leave the sea-'
"No point. It's too slow to chase us. As for the possibility of any more of them, we'll just have to be on the look out." Gloom shrugged. What else could they do?
Prey made another mental note to try and look up 'octopus' at some point. That Mama'duke had been unnerving, but not outright terrifying. He glanced at Scenic Paint and found the stallion still wide eyed, his breathing shallow.
Prey had a quick listen in on his thoughts; '-I would've walked right into that and never known. I could be dead right now-'
"Come on Paint Spot, time to get moving." Gloom quietly said, giving Scenic's shoulder a shake.
"Wha-Oh, oh yes. yes. Right. Need to keep moving. Of course sir."
"Everypony good to go?" Gloom asked, checking around.
They all nodded, back to remaining silence except when necessary.
"Crimson, you take point," Gloom ordered, "You're the one who sensed that misplaced shellfish last time, you're our best early warning."
Crimson nodded and did as Gloom ordered, and they started to slowly proceed into the forest again, uncovering the path stones as they went.
But everyone was much more on edge. It was only to be expected. That monster had not been what any of them had expected. Prey himself had thought it too cold for the Mama'duke to be here in this forest. Obviously, he'd been wrong.
'What else from the Deeper Green might've migrated its way here?' Prey worried. Now that was an unpleasant thought. Lilly thought they could've killed the Mama'duke, and they probably could've. But why would they? There was never any guarantee of victory in a fight. It was far easier, simpler, and safer to drive it off.
But in Lilly Blossom's view, they should've killed the monster, because one less monster in the world meant the world was a safer place. But safer for whom? Not for them, the ones who would have to fight it. But it was the pony way of thinking, to believe that doing their best would somehow improve the world as a whole.
Ponies had a ridiculously over inflated sense of self importance like that.
Gloom slowed down enough to be next to Prey, “So you’ve seen Matta’dukes before?” He asked quietly.
“Mama’duke. Yes.”
“Where?”
Prey swivelled an eye up to regard Gloom, “In the forest of course.”
“Mama’duke. Strange name. Is it signifficant?” Gloom asked.
“No. It’s just a name.”
“Is it zebracin?” Gloom asked.
Prey hesitated, but there was no harm in Gloom knowing, "Yes, it is.”
Thankfully, Gloom didn't draw the connection, instead focusing on the threat:
"How dangerous was it really? If somepony had gotten grabbed, could we have saved them?” Gloom asked serious. Prey knew he didn’t want the two new recruits to hear Prey’s answer in case it was ‘No’. They were jumpy enough already.
“Maybe. If you were fast enough to cut them free and before it injects its digestive poisons. It mainly relies on crushing and suffocating its prey until it can drag it into range of its mouth. It’s got like a beak thing that can crunch through metal.”
‘-Luna’s mane-‘, Gloom thought. “No pun intended, right Prey?” Gloom asked with a weak attempt at humour.
It took a second for Prey to replay his own words and see what Gloom was talking about. “That wasn’t funny.”
“No,” Gloom let the false grin fall, “No it wasn’t. But thankfully you and Crimson spotted it in time. Good job. You can do it again, right?”
Before Prey could answer, ahead of them Crimson slowed again. Instantly, everyone was on maximum alert.
“Sir,” Crimson said softly, “Do you also see that?”
"Another monster?"
"No-"
Everyone breathed again.
"-It's... come and see sir."
“Where?” Gloom murmured, stepping up alongside Crimson and following his pointing wing, peering into the shadows.
Prey couldn’t see what Crimson had spotted with his superior night vision. How he hated being a half blind sheep. And being a runt.
Prey squinted, willing his eyesight to somehow improve. He couldn’t hear anything as they creapt forwards.
“Oh,” Gloom murmured, “Well that’s… different.”
---
A circle of stones stood in the clearing. Tall pines bent over the worn stone pillars, leaving only a single hole right in the middle of the canopy. The single, weak shaft of sunlight splashed down into the centre of the stones, yet it made the grey stone appear glowing white against the shadows of the forest.
The standing stones reminded Prey of teeth, old and blunt with age. The shortest one was still at least twice Crimson’s height, and the tallest over five times that, ranging in thickness and size. Prey imagined the effort it would’ve taken to transport them here. Inside the circle, vividly green moss sprouted everywhere, but barely spilled past the invisible line where the circle ended.
Slowly, the five of them approached the tall formation, on guard for what precisely they didn’t know, but wary all the same. It was oppressively silent, like making any sound would've been sacrilege.
“This is… I feel heavy. Like the air is too thick.” Scenic whispered.
“I feel it too. I do not think we should go closer.” Crimson said, stopping where he was.
‘-this is exactly like those stories with crazy cultists-‘, Lilly thought, “I know what this is.”
“Oh?” Gloom asked voice hushed, tilting his head this way and that trying to get a sense of the air.
“That feeling in the air, it’s mana. This is a naturally occurring wellspring, I read all about them. Ponies of old used to build shrines and stuff atop of them before we ponies properly understood magic. Like ancient druids.”
Gloom slowly nodded his understanding, but did not speak as they all stared at the stone circle.
‘-I would’ve loved to paint this if I were back in Canterlot-‘, Scenic thought, ‘-but out here, it feels wrong to even think of telling anypony else about this-'
Prey did not like this place. It felt like nature was concentrated here. Primal. A part of the forest. Like a focal point of something special. It seemed…Calming. Serene. Prey did not like how it made him feel. It set him on edge in a way he couldn’t verbalise. Like it knew who he was beneath his constant mask.
He did not like feeling judged by a circle of stones.
There was no magic here forcing him to feel dirty, to feel unclean. Nature did not have feelings. Whatever he felt came from within. That made him angry.
Prey grimaced and took a step back from the stones, not wanting to get any closer.
"Hey, what's that?" Lilly whispered. Prey glanced up sharply. The mare had started moving around the edge of the ring, peering inside the circle of stones. Now, she'd seen something which had previously been blocked from view, resting against the inside of one of the stones.
They all circled around, looking between the gaps of the stones to see what Lilly had spotted, none of them willing to step on the carpeting of moss inside the circle.
There, resting against the base of the tallest standing stone, was a small pile of woven, dried out wreathes.
The wreathes were simple affairs, rough grass, some wild flowers, and held together with twisted ivy. Prey blinked at them. Those looked like they'd been sitting here a long time, the plants were completely brown and withered. He counted the wreathes, and knew why they were there.
"What pony would risk coming all the way out here in these Celestia forsaken trees just to stick some dumb wreathes here?" Lilly muttered.
"Fifteen." Prey mumbled, just loud enough for Crimson to hear.
"Pardon?" He asked, leaning down closer.
"Fifteen wreathes. The fifteen people who went missing three months ago. This is a memorial."
"A memorial?" Crimson echoed, looking at the stones. His eyes moved, as if following someone who was not there. A mourning villager risking their life to make it here through the trees. A hope, or a prayer that maybe, somehow, it would all be alright.
"They might yet still live." Crimson said quietly. Whether he was talking about the original fifteen, or the rest of the village, Prey didn't know.
"These look really old." Lilly said, forgetting her caution and striding into the stone circle, grabbing a wreathe in her magic. Prey flinched.
"Put that down," Gloom hissed, "Leave it alone."
Lilly's ears went up in surprise, but she dropped it, "But sir, it might be a clue sir." She protested.
"Show some respect. Can you not see what this is?" Gloom asked.
"Yes sir. But sir, this is just the kind of place where we'd find some kind of clue. There might be a hidden message of some kind in these sir." Lilly insisted, still standing in the middle of the stone circle as if there were nothing wrong with that.
"Those are months old. There will be nothing from the villagers who only disappeared last week. Come out from there."
"Sir, permission to speak freely? There's nothing supernatural in here. It's just magically saturated air sir."
Gloom bit down a response, he didn't want to get angry here. The air felt heavier. '-just because I don't have a horn doesn't mean I don't know when not to mess with strange magical places-'
"That as it may be, I'm still ordering you to come out from in there." Gloom said evenly.
"Sir, just let me show you what I mean, I can-"
"Private Lilly Blossom," Gloom began very calmly as he shifted his footing and next to him, Crimson's wings twitched, "Do as I say and come out of there right now. Move slowly."
Lilly did exactly what you're not supposed to do in these situations. She spun around, her horn lighting up.
Immediately levelled at her throat, a pair of deadly sharp flint tipped spears glinted in the shaft of sunlight.
---I---