//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: The Fortress Behind the Mountain 
// Story: You Can't Take The Sky From Me 
// by FailcopterWes 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 8

“I think she broke it”
“Broke what?”
“The bamboo...eek! It hurts”
“Sit still”
“It hurts...”
“Flutty, stop it, please”
“But...”
“Just hold still and let me look”
“...”
“I have no idea what I’m doing”
“Ditzy!”
“Sorry, I thought I might be able to help”
“Well... thank you for... trying”
“It’s okay! Shame that this thing is still sticking-“
“Eek! Don’t touch it! Hurts...”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry”
“Just...leave it...please”
“Okay, sorry, sorry. Are you alright?”
“I’ll be... uh... fine”
“Flutty?”
“...”
“Hey, don’t go to sleep Flutty. Wake up. You’re bleeding again. Flutty? Flutty? Flutty, wake up!”
“...”
“Hello?”
“...”
“Well, I suppose there’s no harm in-”
“ARGH!”
“Stop screaming!”
“What are you doing?!”
“I was just having a look inside...”
“Well...don’t!”
“Sorry Flutty I just thought-“
“Just...oh dear...blood.”
“Flutty? Are you asleep again?”
“...”
“Hmmm”

Four pairs of eyes gazed on from the trees.
“Why does she torture her companion, so?” the first voice mused.
“Perhaps she is stupid, or too dull to know” a second replied.
“Look into her eyes, they would frighten me some” a third voice said “If not for the distance over which we have come”
The first voice turned to the squirrel that stood with them.
“Tell me, my friend, are these the ones?” the first voice asked. The squirrel nodded enthusiastically and chirped in the affirmative. “Then I do believe that our work is done”
Ditzy glanced up from her intrigued prodding of Fluttershy’s wounds. Across the trees before her, three shapes carefully pushed their way through the leaves and branches. Each was hooded, wearing a plain brown garment that cast the face in shadow and concealed the body. The one on the left also had a pair of saddlebags. They spread around her in a wide arc, maintaining their distance. In the faint light of sunrise to Ditzy’s right, the figures were visible only as imposing shapes. Ditzy’s eyes swivelled around to try and watch them all, but quickly locked on a familiar character emerging from the bushes behind them.
“Mister Squirrel!” Ditzy cheered. The squirrel cocked its head and scampered forwards, running around Ditzy’s legs for a moment before darting to Fluttershy’s side.
“I must ask you as to her condition” said the central figure, stepping closer to Ditzy “Her survival is our current mission”
“What?” Ditzy said. “Who are you ponies?”
“You must trust us, we are here to assist” claimed the figure to the right.
“So tell us what happened to those in our midst” the central figure finished.
“Well, okay...” Ditzy said apprehensively. “Flutty there landed on a really hard plant and its kinda been stuck in her for a while. And Dashie over there just got kicked in the head”
The three cloaked figures cocked their heads in confusion.
“Don’t ask” Ditzy told them. “Wait... why are you here?”
Suddenly, the squirrel began squeaking rapidly. The lead figure sped over to Fluttershy and began inspecting her wounds.
“We must get her to safety fast. With blood lost like this, she is unlikely to last!” the figure declared, motioning to the one with the saddlebags, who hurried over, pulling a collapsible stretcher from her  saddlebags and assembling it beside Fluttershy.
“Hey, what’re you doing to her!” Ditzy objected, stepping towards them, but was pushed gently back by the third figure, who intercepted and turned her away.
“Please, I urge you, do not interfere. Instead please assist with the poor mare here” the voice beneath the hood, seemingly male, said. As he said it, he gestured towards Rainbow’s limp body.
“Um...okay” Ditzy said, still wary of the cloaked figures. She trotted over the Rainbow, keeping an eye on the cloaked figure beside her.
“A knock to the head, was that the affliction?”  The figure asked. Ditzy nodded. “Then first to establish the patient’s condition.” The figure pushed Rainbow onto her back, quickly scanning for injuries, before lowering his head to the mare’s chest and listening. “A heartbeat, excellent, and her breathing is good. But the marks on her face may warrant a hood”
“She’s not that ugly”. Dizty grinned at her own joke, but received what she assumed to be a stern glare from under the hood of the cloak.
“The situation is grave, do not be in jest. Now help me to move her and we’ll do the rest” the figure commanded, and hoisted the limp blue body onto his back. Ditzy helped lift the mare, and made sure Rainbow was in a comfortable position. The figure called out to his associates “Are we ready to depart?”
The two other hooded figures finished hoisting a newly bandaged Fluttershy onto the stretcher and then onto their backs, before turning back and answering in unison.
“Indeed we are, let us do our part”

A few moments after they had departed, Ditzy ran back into the grass, picked up the food bag in her mouth, and galloped back to join her new companions.

The walk through the forest was largely silent. The hooded figures led the way, following a beaten and well worn track in the trees. The two carrying Fluttershy strode ahead, carefully limiting their speed as not to bounce her unnecessarily. Behind them came the one carrying Rainbow Dash, and behind him Ditzy, upon whom sat the squirrel. The food bag swung from Ditzy’s mouth, occasionally brushing against her chest. The forest was nearly devoid of sound. Unlike the Everfree forest, the only other wooded area Ditzy had spent a large amount of time in, which had always seemed to be teeming with life. The near silence, interrupted only by the steady beat of hoof on dirt, scraped away at Ditzy’s thoughts. The quiet bored her, and the walk was long. Casting an eye upwards revealed the tip of the Squirrel’s tail hanging over the edge of her mane, unmoving. The Squirrel had fallen fast asleep.
“Hurw lung are weh walkern fur?” Ditzy asked the figure ahead of her, forgetting to remove the bag from her mouth before speaking. The figure, turned its head back slightly to look at her.
“Not long now, my grey coated friend” the figure began, apparently understanding the meaning of Ditzy’s words “Our walk is nearly at an end”
“Uh, ukkay!” Ditzy grunted cheerily.
The walk continued for a short while, before the path opened out to a lake. Ahead, a mountain loomed, its snow capped peak piercing the slowly lightening sky. The sun was barely visible over the trees, but it had still risen a good distance beyond the twilight state Ditzy’s first meeting with the figures had been in. The water stretched ahead, its glistening surface reaching to the mountain’s base and slipping gently around it. The figures stopped at its edge, pawing gently at the ground with their forehooves.
“I think this place is good for rest” one of the figures carrying Fluttershy declared.
“To stop for a moment would be best” the leader figure agreed, and began to lower Fluttershy’s stretcher from her back. The figure holding Rainbow also relieved himself of his burden, gently laying her by the water’s edge. The figures busied themselves making sure Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were in stable conditions, and refilled their canteen of water, after using it to wash Fluttershy’s wound. The bandage was replaced in short order and both unconscious ponies were watered lightly from the canteen. Ditzy gazed on with a small amount of awe. She had little experience in field medicine, and was impressed by the clinical manner in which the figures all went about their business, as opposed to the soothing manner in which Fluttershy dealt with all her animal patients. Ditzy sat breathlessly as the figures completed their checks in near silence.
‘Maybe they can’t do the rhyming thing with short sentences’ Ditzy thought. Soon, she had drifted off into her own thoughts, with one hoof half into the food bag at her side, paused halfway through reaching for a snack.
“Madam, I must ask, are you alright?” the leader figure asked, drawing closer to Ditzy. Dizty snapped out of her thoughts and focused on the figure, nodding quickly. “Good, I’m afraid that you gave us a fright”
“Nah, I just drift every now and then” Ditzy told them, plucking a berry from the bag and shoving it in her mouth, before giving the figure a grin stained with berry juice. The figure nodded curtly and turned toward Rainbow Dash.
“I will carry the blue one from here” The figure commanded, and then turned back to Ditzy “To our destination, we draw quite near”
“Then why did we stop?” Ditzy asked, getting to her hooves.
“The village of which we currently seek, is located beyond that mountain’s peak” the figure said.
“We’ve got to climb the mountain?”
“No, that is wrong. We must simply go beyond”
“What, fly? I don’t think I can fly right now. My wing’s all twingy”
“No  I mean we must go around, if our village is to be found” the figure claimed, hefting Rainbow onto her back. Ditzy looked over the lake at the mountain, noting that the lake was probably going to take at least another hour to cross go around. For a moment she thought about suggesting swimming over to save time, but silenced herself when she remembered she did not like swimming.
“Makes you wonder why I jumped in the water a few days back...” Ditzy said, voicing her thoughts aloud.
The three figures stared at her, unsure quite how to respond.
“What?” Ditzy said “What happened to going, are we going to try swimming it? Because that would be a really bad idea, I don’t think you guys can swim, at least...I don’t think they can. Zebras can’t usually swim...”
“Wait, have you met us before?” the leader figure said suddenly, flicking back the hood to reveal the black and white striped head of a female zebra, her mane held in bands. “Have you had contact with the village, or more?”
“More?” Ditzy said, wondering if that word had been added simply for rhyming purposes. “I only know one zebra...well apart from you guys”
“Where are you from, little mare? A brethren of ours may have strayed somewhere” the male zebra said, flicking back his hood to reveal a hardened head, scarred in several places, and his mane hanging loosely around his head.
“Ponyville, it’s down south somewhere”
“Equestria? But that is to the north” the leader zebra claimed “Have you been travelling away from your source?”
“Source? No I wasn’t born there” Ditzy said, receiving a trio of glares “Well, we were trying to get back there though, I could have sworn we were up north though?” 
“Apparently you were mistaken” the only still hooded zebra commented.
“The wrong path, you must have taken” the leader finished. “We will show you the correct way, and help you go, but not today.” At this, the leader turned to the others and nodded. They hoisted Fluttershy onto the stretcher and quietly set off. Ditzy was at first confused, but soon followed, picking up the food bag and glancing at the edge of her mane to confirm that the squirrel was still sleeping there. They walked along the lakeside, keeping a steady pace. Ditzy often looked into the water, picking out fish and insects in it, and giggling when a large trout plucked a fly out of the air with an impressive little leap.

Before long, the group had reached the other side of the lake. The mountain was now behind them, and Ditzy could see a narrow passage of rocks and dirt crossing from the mainland to the island mountain. Beside the crossing was a small wooden sign, but Ditzy was not close enough to read it and did not want to risk straying too far from Fluttershy’s body for long enough to go and read it. Thinking this, Ditzy sped up a little and stayed closer to the stretcher upon which Fluttershy lay.
She knew there was no helping her, not at the moment, but Ditzy felt that if she stayed close, maybe Fluttershy would sense her presence, and maybe she would begin to feel better. Ditzy closed her eyes for a moment and stopped, transferring the food bag to her wing, before catching up and drawing close to Fluttershy.
For the rest of the journey she whispered gently in Fluttershy’s ear.

The village gates loomed. They were a pair of impractically large wooden blocks, joined to the towering log wall by equally impressive hinges. At the base of the gate, the grass had been stamped away by repeated use, leaving only bare dirt. Trees reached up at the tips of the walls, stretching over, but never quite passing the sharp top of the walls and gate. The wood was scratched and worn, the weather seeming to have taken its toll on it, and yet the mighty wall stayed up.
“You know” Ditzy began “with wooden hinges like that, something big enough can probably just break through, snap the hinges. Even if there’s a bar on the other side... still wouldn’t hold up”
“Yes, well...it’s mainly to scare.” The male zebra said, coughing quietly as if embarrassed “To attack something that large, most creatures won’t dare”
“Oh...that makes sense. Nice touch with those two spikes on the gate” Ditzy said.
“To make a spike that size would be too hard, no my dear, each one is a guard” the male zebra corrected her. As if to punctuate this statement, the two guards standing atop the gate called out in unison.
“State who you are, and why you are here, or else our might will be something to fear!” the guards bellowed.
“It is we, who were sent to help the wounded. You should let us back or else you’re deluded” the leader of the three zebras on the ground shouted back. She gave a little smile as the two guards darted from their posts. She turned to Ditzy “And by the way, our names if you wish. I’m Narta, he’s Tickanth and she is Cortrich” she pointed to each zebra as she formally introduced them. Tickanth nodded curtly at Ditzy, Cortich only snorted, her face still obscured by the hood. Narta finished her words just as the heavy gate began to grind open. Its lower edge dragged heavily against the ground as it slowly moved inwards, revealing beyond it a series of huts and tents, nearly a hundred of them, gathered around a single area of open space, in which several Zebras stood talking. Out of the gates rushed three zebras of smaller size than the three with Ditzy. They wore white and black robes, and attached to their ears were totems and feathers, which were also tied into their mane at seemingly random intervals. They quickly relieved the cloaked zebras of their burdens and hurried the limp bodies through the gate.
“Hey! What’re they doing?” Ditzy objected.
“At medicine, our witchdoctors are quite good. Without them your friends will be dead as chopped wood” Narta said quickly, putting out a hoof to prevent Ditzy from charging ahead. “Now please, let us enter, but please remain slow. The zebra is wary of one it doesn’t know”