//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Forest // Story: The Hidden Tribes // by Silver Dragon Blade Wing //------------------------------// Sunny Starscout couldn't help but feel uneasy, looking into the forest before her. Her and her companions: Hitch Trailblazer, Izzy Moonbow, Zipp Storm, and Pipp Petals, had been on their way to Bridlewood to retrieve the Unicorn Crystal but had found their path blocked by a rock slide and were forced to find another way. The good news was they had found another way, the bad news... It was through a place know as the Dark Forest. Sunny had never seen the place in-pony before now but had heard the stories, and none of them were pleasant. Stories of dangerous creatures, of some kind of "Living Shadow", and of very few Ponies entering... and never coming out again. She wasn't the only one uneasy, around her the others were showing their own signs; Zipp and Pipp here huddled against each other with the latter under the former's wing while Hitch was next to Sunny and even the normally cheerful Izzy looked weary. "I was always told as a Filly to never come to this place, that if I went in I would never come out again. Izzy was saying, her voice devoid of her upbeat tone. "Is there another way we could take?" Hitch asked, "I do not like the look of this place." "I agree with Hitch here," Pipp said, shivering slightly under her sister's wing, "I'm so not getting good vibes from this forest." It was easy to see why Hitch and Pipp would say that; The trees looked all twisted and were blacker than pitch, to the point where it was almost like the tress were absorbing any light around them and the ground was covered in thick fog, while they could see the ground it didn't take away from the spookiness of the place. Sunny sighed, she fully agreed but... "I'm sorry everypony, but this is the only other way to Bridlewood. Without magic we're not getting past that rock slide and who knows how long it will take before anypony notices it. We don't have any other choice." Zipp spoke up then, "Than we should stay as close as possible to each other, I too have heard about this place and would rather not lose any of you." The group agreed and slowly moved into the forest, noticing right away that the air was freezing cold yet it was the middle of Summer, causing the group to cluster closer together to try and stay warm, the trees almost looked like otherworldly beings reaching fro them with long bony arms and fingers, and they swore at several points they saw colored dots looking at them from the surrounding area that could only be eyes of creatures. But the worse was the smell: It could only be described as a faint mix rotting plants and meat with the scent of death added on. It wasn't long before something happened; Sunny was just ahead of the group and next to a tall tree when there was a loud SNAP followed by her letting out a scream of surprise, Sunny had just stepped into a net trap-like contraption that had been hidden under a pile of leaves. The net rose up so fast that neither Sunny or any of her friends had any time to react before it was completely enclosed around the Earth Pony and had lifted her several feet off the ground. "Sunny!" Was the group's yell as they rushed forward. "Sunny! Are you okay?" Hitch asked. "Oh yeah I just hanging up here because I like it." Sunny deadpanned. "Ohh... The sarcasm is strong with this one." Izzy said, causing Zipp and Pipp to chuckle while Sunny deadpanned even more and Hitch smiled. "Just get me down! I don't want rope burns up my flanks." Sunny shouted. "I got it." Izzy said as she ran over to the tree. "I'll cut you down." "What am I a sack of potatoes?" Sunny groaned, she then blinked as her mind processed what Izzy just said. "What Izzy. No nononono Izzy. Do not cut-" She was too late as Izzy's horn cut through the rope holding the net up and Sunny went to the ground with a crash and a loud "OW!". But then it got worst, for the second Sunny hit the ground there was another snap and next thing the group knew they were all in a larger net. Sunny couldn't have been deadpanning harder. "-The rope. Great, just great." The group struggled against the net but it was tight and had them pinned to each other, unable to move even their heads to look around and poor Sunny in the middle. Hitch was the first to speak. "Well I have to give credit, whoever set this trap up was thinking ahead." "Well Sheriff," Zipp said, "That's all fine and dainty but now we're stuck up here until somepony finds us. And since we're in the Dark Forest that might be never." "Sorry." Izzy said sheepishly. "Ow." Pipp said as she tried to shift her body. "I get what Sunny meant by rope burns, I think I'm getting some around my tail dock." Fortunately for the group, it wasn't long before they heard someone or something approaching. "Well," The five heard a male voice say as it came closer, "It's been quite awhile since that trap when off. So what did we catch today." Form behind some bushes a Pony emerged, but he wasn't like the ones the group was use to: While he was a Stallion and had the same general shape, his body was covered with slightly long and ruffed very light grey fur that was almost silver in color giving him something of a slightly wild yet taken-care-of look, his eyes were an electric green with slitted pupils, his mane was a very dark red boarding on black and was almost as long as Izzy's with a "tousled" look to it. His Cutie Mark was a small black circle with three Dragonfly Wings on each side, a twisted horn sticking out of the top, and sparkling stars within. The most eye-catching features however were his wings, tail, and a long scarf around his neck: The wings were the same color as his mane and were not feathered like a Pegasus but were webbed like that of a bat and were quite large, large enough that he could easily fly with them. His tail was the same color as his mane but was webbed like his wings, was quite long and split into three "spikes" with the shortest one on top and the longest one on the bottom* with the membrane in between each spike, the bottom spike was angled to point towards the ground when he was standing. His face, back, wings, and tail had numerous small white star-like spots and two fangs stuck out from his upper lips. Loosely worn around his neck was a long, wool red and silver scarf with a metal badge the size of a soup can lid held onto the spot where the two "scarf tails" down, on the face of the badge was a symbol of a forward-facing four-winged, three-tailed dragon flying above a Maelstrom with a black treasure chest clutched in its front claws, various red lines on the dragon and chest bringing out the details of the two. On the end of one of the scarf tails, which hung to half-way down his foreleg shins, was a military medal in the shape of a gold Unicorn head, facing to the right with silver edging, two wings fully spread open, and a ribbon with a white center stripe and midnight blue side stripes. The eye was an emerald, the horn was decorated with tiny sapphires, the two spread wings with tiny rubies along the length of the feathers, and the ribbon clip was in the shape of a castle of some kind decorated with diamonds. "So, did we catch a pig, maybe some rabbits, or perhaps a bear? Could we have caught-" He stopped in mid-sentence and step upon finally seeing the five Ponies in the net. "... a bunch of Ponies??" A few minutes went by as the two sides stared at each other, one with surprise the other with some wonderment and a little nervousness. Finally Izzy spoke up. "Umm... we don't taste good... we're just skin and bones and-" "Miss," The unusual Pony interrupted, "Relax, I might eat meat but I don't eat other Ponies, That's called cannibalism and in fact the mere though of that make me want to haul. Just give me a second and I'll have you down." He walked over to the tree were the five in the net saw two ropes as he untied and lowered the net, soon freeing the five. Once they were free the unusual Pony got a good look at them, surprise clear on his face. "Well now; Two Earth Ponies, a Unicorn, and Two Pegasi, all together? That's not something you see every day." Sunny spoke next, "Yeah we can understand why, and if you don't mind... what are you? We've never seen a Pony like you." "Well miss, I'm a Thestral, and the reason you never saw one like me was because when Magic disappeared so long ago and the Pony races went their separate ways the others sort of vanished from the eyes of the original three." Sunny blinked, as did the others. "Wait," Zipp said, "There were more than just us three?" The Thestral nodded, "Yep, I don't know how many but there was a few; including the Thestrals, Kirin, Draconies, and Crystal Ponies to name some of them." The group were very surprised at this, just how much had been lost since magic vanished. Sunny then remembered something. "Oh excuse me but what's your name? I'm Sunny Starscout, this here is Hitch Trailblazer, Izzy Moonbow, Zipp Storm, and Pipp Petals." She said, pointing to each Pony respectively. The Thestral blinked at Sunny's name but answered. "Name's Star Flare*, and Sunny Starscout? Would the name Argyle mean anything to you?" Sunny's eyes went wide. "Yes, he was my father. How do you know him?" Flare reached under his wing and pulled out a picture of the Stallion. "Mr. Argyle was something of a father figure to me and my own friends. We never really had any adults in our lives and grew up relaying on each other here in the Dark Forest, until me met Mr. Argyle. It's a bit of a story and here might not be a good place to tell it as this is a dangerous place and it wouldn't be long before predators catch our scent, plus my friends are going to be wondering where I am." "Could we meet them?" Sunny asked, hopeful. "Sure," Flare said with a smile. "I'm not leaving you five here to the forest on your own. Follow me." Flare gathered up the nets and lead the group into a hidden tunnel that the bushes had covered up, Sunny asking questions along with way to which Flare answered the best he could.