It was some time later that she woke up due to the heavy feeling of coldness in the air. Twilight opened her eyes slowly and turned her head slightly to look around. In a way she was surprised to find the place still dark, though she had a hunch that dawn would come soon.
She stretched slightly and yawned to push away the sleep that still remained. The next thing she noticed was how the chill in the air had increased, apparently the small fire they made ended up going out during the night.
She rose from her seat as she hung up her backpack, though she left the cloak in Spike's sleeping form beside her. She left the clearing without much haste and walked without going too far. Because it wouldn't take long for the sun to rise, it no longer made sense for her to stand there waiting. In addition, she needed to find to certain stallion to warn him of her departure.
That wouldn't take too long, though.
From his place in the darkness, Sombra watched as the alicorn's form drifted away from the clearing. He thought he had really been very lucky when he realized that it had been none other than one of the equestrian princesses who had crossed his path. The same princess who had unconsciously influenced the restoration of his power.
His scarlet eyes followed her on her way, meanwhile he wondered if she or the dragon would be lucky enough to follow him across the island and survive the attempt. After all, he didn't think they would be particularly useful when he went out if they didn't, though maybe the princess had enough guts. If she succeeded, maybe her situation wouldn't be so bad when he came back and claimed what belonged to him.
Sombra gave a low snort as he got up from his place and walked in the direction of her. It was about time they started moving, before it appeared.
Nearby, Twilight scanned her surroundings with her gaze after forcing the light magic of her horn due to the darkness that still reigned in the woods. In the silence that followed, she finally gave a start when she heard the sound of hooves behind her. She turned with a quick turn, only slightly surprised as Sombra's dark form emerged from the trees.
"Are you afraid of the dark, princess?" He raised an eyebrow mockingly.
Twilight frowned.
"You just surprised me, that's all," She replied after taking a few steps back.
"You'd better not be left behind," He announced in a deep tone that sent a slight shudder down her spine. "I'll be gone before the sun rises." He turned in a certain direction as the princess's voice suddenly questioned.
"Why so early?" She asked suspiciously. "Why can't we wait for dawn?"
"It's none of your business to know." He kept pulling away from her, not caring as she snorted angrily behind him.
After Sombra left and seemed to live up to his name by disappearing into the darkness, Twilight rubbed a hoof on her forehead to ward off a nascent headache, while taking deep, slow breaths in an attempt to calm herself. It was too early for her to feel upset.
Then a sudden squeal roused her from her exercise and Twilight startled again. She looked up and moved her ears to the spot where she had caught it. She narrowed her eyes slightly, only to notice the glow of a pair of yellow eyes that stared back at her from a nearby tree branch.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as she took a closer look at the owl that had scared her, except... Suddenly she realized that the owls didn't emit squeals.
The truth was that the bird in front of her wasn't even an owl, worse, she had no idea what it was. From a distance it looked like a strange cross between an eagle and an owl, and only so far did the resemblance to those feathered animals go, unless her eyesight failed her and what she had just seen moving behind it was a long reptilian tail. Twilight could only take a step back when she noticed that this creature bore some resemblance to a cockatrice.
Several squeals from the trees made her turn her head, and Twilight saw more in the branches... more than she first thought. She retreated very slowly as the others came in a silent flight and she tried to hold back a shudder when all those yellow eyes pointed in her direction, but to no avail.
The shiver that ran down her spine was not pleasant at all. Her instinct told her that these beings were not there just by chance. Nor what she suddenly felt.
Twilight gasped as one of the creatures lunged at her in a loud shriek. Her instinct immediately kicked in as she tried to dodge sharp claws from its strong, scaly legs. Without wasting a second, she flapped her wings and flew frantically out of the place, so lost in her fear by the shrieks behind her that she did not notice the dark figure that stood in her way until she crashed into him.
She crashed so hard that she knocked them both to the ground. But it was only when she heard the loud angry growl coming from beneath her that her mind cleared a bit to notice that she had flown back towards Sombra.
"What the hell are you doing!?" He roared furiously, trying to shake her off.
Twilight didn't answer. The words in her mouth didn't come out when she heard the squeals getting closer and closer. She got up quickly and crossed the small clearing without looking back, where Spike was still asleep and oblivious to everything.
"Spike! Wake up! Now!" She hurried him as she shook him hard, there was no time to be subtle.
"What...?" He blinked with obvious reverie, however, Twilight's frantic expression and the strange sound he could suddenly hear, put him on alert.
She barely heeded his confused question as she grabbed her cloak and fastened it tightly. Then she lifted him up and put him in her back. Spike gripped as tightly as he could, even if he didn't understand what was happening. It was only when she heard the galloping sound of hooves and the eerie shrieks of the unpleasantly nearby creatures that she allowed herself to look back.
Twilight flew swiftly as the stallion passed by her without looking away, now her new goal was to follow him no matter where he went... A much better plan than going back.
"What did you do!?" Sombra shouted angrily enough to make Twilight shake off the state that had possessed her.
"I don't know! You tell me!" She yelled at him as she looked back several times, worried they wouldn't seem to lose them.
He only let out a deep growl as he looked straight ahead, with a renewed gallop. Soon she had to flap her wings much more quickly to keep them from being left behind.
"Twilight, what's going on?" Spike tugged a bit harder on her mane as he tried to make sense of the situation he had suddenly gotten himself into. "Why do those things haunt us?!"
"I don't know!"
She glanced over her shoulder briefly to confirm Spike's words, so she finally opened her eyes wide when she realized that the threat was much closer than she would have liked. But she was really the one who lagged behind.
Twilight tried to flap her wings faster in an attempt to level off at the same speed that the stallion in front of her was running. Although at that point that was already getting pretty difficult.
"Any suggestions for losing them?" Twilight asked nopony in particular.
"Do you want a suggestion? Well, I suggest you run!" Sombra rumbled angrily in front of her, still unable to understand how that stupid princess had managed to attract those creatures so easily.
Twilight grunted, tempted to gallop on the ground and give her already aching wings a moment's rest.
But before she could make that intention a reality, a sudden shriek sounded to her right. Twilight saw movement out of the corner of her eye and managed to react quickly enough not to be grazed by those sharp appendages... once again. However, Spike wasn't so lucky when he almost fell off the mare's back due to the surprise, causing Twilight to slow down for a moment.
"Spike, hold on!" She shouted as she grabbed him with a single hoof, then forced her magic and placed him once more on her back.
"Those things are everywhere!" He shrieked as he turned his head.
Twilight gritted her teeth and began to run swiftly on the ground, refusing to constantly look around. In the end, she soon surpassed the unicorn with her speed, in part due to the earth pony magic that ran through her veins.
As she followed, the screams came back louder and magic beams suddenly began to fly everywhere. She had to do the same with her magic when the creatures began to become even bolder in its attack. A couple of it fell to the ground, stunned by her magic and Spike's fire, but most simply dodged it with astonishing ease.
Twilight was shocked after turning her head for a moment and seeing a few of those birds on the ground, all stunned. She could already imagine who had caused that.
But when she decided to take a quick look at the unicorn behind her, she ended up widening her eyes in surprise as she noticed the large winged figure rising above him, claws open and ready for its attack. The warning came out without a second thought.
"Sombra!"
He frowned quickly, and Twilight saw the exact moment when he turned his head, ready to face the new threat. But she had the impression that he wouldn't have enough time. However, before she could gather the magic of her horn into a new beam, a bright reddish light blinded her for a moment.
Twilight looked away as she slowed down her running a bit, blinking to remove the white spots that stuck to her vision. When she turned again, the large bird was on the ground, knocked out by the spell the unicorn had cast.
She resumed her race while, in the past instant of her brief disorientation, the stallion had taken the opportunity to overtake them again. Now he was a few steps ahead of them.
"Why didn't we just lose them?!" Twilight shouted as the few remaining birds continued its attack.
Unfortunately, she couldn't force her magic anymore. She only had enough left to solve future problems, so she certainly needed to secure it. Although it seemed that she was not the only one suffering from this situation because she did not see Sombra resume his own offensive.
He shook his head in annoyance, glancing briefly at his curved horn. He was starting to get tired of the situation of not being able to use his true magic, of not being able to feel the wisps of dark power around him. But he would be patient, after all, when it returned, it would do so stronger than ever.
He then frowned after hearing the princess's silly question, though he knew very well that she obviously couldn't know what had triggered the chase. He forced himself to turn his gaze in her direction just so she wouldn't insist any longer.
"Because it won't leave us alone until we get out of its territory," He replied in a deep tone before turning again.
Twilight blinked several times after he said that. So surprised had she been with the stallion willingly answering her question, that she almost stumbled in her way, something she was able to avoid by spreading her wings quickly to keep her balance.
"And how will we know?" She asked, dodging a fallen log she wouldn't have seen had it not been for her light.
"Just keep running!" The unicorn shouted.
After those words he said nothing more and stepped forward. Twilight still couldn't comprehend how he didn't seem to be too exhausted despite how long they'd been at it, though she could catch the slight, labored breathing that was beginning to appear in him. She guessed that his stamina was also due to all the momentary adrenaline.
Fortunately for Twilight and Spike, it didn't take long for the squeals to start getting lower. Or perhaps farther and farther away?
The knowledge that those things were being left behind made Twilight emboldened and flapped her wings even faster, despite the faint darkness that still lingered in the forest. She had a hunch that the sun was beyond.
But she honestly didn't expect that as she stepped out of the tree line, the bright light of dawn blinded her in her face so suddenly, something that obviously caused the disorientation of her flight.
Twilight stopped suddenly, causing Spike to jump off her back as he flapped his own wings in an attempt not to encounter the hard dirt, which was made difficult by the cloak he was still wearing. At least both managed not to crash to the ground.
Twilight took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright light, after that she began to walk towards where Spike was. And in the end, they both turned their heads towards the place in the forest where the loud sound of hooves hitting the earth could be heard.
They turned in time to see Sombra come out in a calm step, completely unperturbed as he stepped out into the sunny morning.
Twilight frowned as she saw that he didn't seem to be too affected by what had just happened, not even his body betrayed the accelerated state they had started the morning with, except for the faint layer of sweat that made his dark gray fur stick slightly to him.
On the other hoof, she couldn't have been a more obvious disaster of a weary pony, luckily she wasn't too concerned about her appearance. Spike didn't seem to be doing so well either, even if he'd been on her back the whole time.
"How is it possible that we just escaped from those things and you're so fine with it?" Twilight whispered after letting out a soft sigh, still from her position on the floor. She looked up again, raising her voice. "What were those creatures?"
"Does it matter now if I tell you?" Sombra grumbled.
"Of course it matters!" She screamed in a burst that unconsciously opened her wings. "We almost could..." Twilight jumped to the conclusion of something when she closed her wings again. "The truth is that now I think we could have..."
Spike glanced at his friend, who had her front paws around her body in a hug as she trembled slightly. He knew what she had on her mind and what she couldn't pronounce. Then he walked over to her and began to caress her as a comfort.
On the other hoof, Sombra frowned upon seeing the alicorn's status and thought that maybe she didn't have what it takes to cross the island, even if she had managed to overcome the first challenge.
However, the mare's condition seemed to disappear as she separated her front hooves from her body and adopted an expression that he could see as determination.
"You'll tell us everything we need to know," Twilight demanded.
He didn't like the tone of her voice at all.
"What makes you think I'm obligated to do it?" He growled, baring his fangs slightly as he slowly approached her. "Nopony tells me what to do, least of all a mare without importance."
"You need me anyway!" Twilight began again in an angry scream. "We deserve to know if there are more things in this place that are a potential danger or wants to see us dead."
Despite the obvious and imminent potential danger in front of her, Twilight allowed herself to raise the corners of her mouth into something resembling a smile.
"I'm not entirely ignorant of what you're really looking for."
Sombra forced himself to adopt an expressionless look on his face, even though inwardly he was doing his best not to show that mare where she belonged for daring to speak to her king like that.
Ponies would always be just as impertinent.
He had really wished to abandon the alicorn and the dragon on that beach to their fate, so that now he wouldn't have to endure the annoyance of their presence. Although, perhaps, he shouldn't have to.
Sombra shook his head slightly with a sigh of disgust, pushing those thoughts out of his mind... for the time being. Obviously, it hadn't been necessary to tell the princess that she wasn't really that indispensable to get out of there, but along with the dragon she was more useful in another way.
They would be his bargaining chip when the time came. So for now, he had to force himself to put up with them for as long as he was patient.
He emitted a low grunt before speaking again.
"To answer your question, those creatures are relatives of what you ponies call cockatrices, without a rooster's head and without a petrifying gaze, but just as lethal, especially before dawn if you're in its territory. Are you happy now?"
Ignoring the sarcasm in his voice, Twilight looked down for a moment as she cocked her head.
"But why did it attack us?"
Sombra's snort was audible to both of them.
"Apparently those things are naturally drawn to magic," He gave a smile that made Twilight squint in suspicion. "Which is to say that you have shown me that new feature that it possess, unfortunately I don't think it's comforting for you know it."
"Are you saying that I caused it to persecute us?"
His insinuation ended up angering her, even if she somehow and unconsciously knew he was right.
"You were the only one who had activated her magic," He pointed simply. "My intention was to traverse its territory in complete silence to avoid its attack, something that was obviously did not end up being possible."
Twilight didn't continue to argue anything after that, just gritted her teeth and turned to Spike to check on his condition. She didn't like that he was right, but she didn't have to listen to him either.
"Twilight, I think you'd better relax for a while," Spike said as he took off his cloak. "Confronting him in this way will not bring anything good."
She sighed with infinite weariness as she tried to take his advice. Anyway, she couldn't help but look at the place where the unicorn was, who had already moved away and was clearly satisfied with forgetting about them for a while.
Twilight shook her head and looked back at Spike, determined not to worry about the stallion or what he was doing as long as he left them alone.
"You're right, Spike, I think it's time for me to rest again."