//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 Thank You // Story: True Black // by Leonofsweden //------------------------------// True Black Chapter 15 Thank You 13 of April. Raven was moving carefully through the damp and cold forest. She had been thrown out of their newest hideout that morning because there had not been anything for the three Warriors to eat. Raven thought this was completely unfair, but what else was new in the world? The four of them had been living off of scraps for over a month now; the three Warriors were useless when it came to hunting, and she was still too young to be a good provider for any wing, especially as its sole female. Now though, things were getting desperate, and they no longer cared at all that their punches and constant yelling didn't solve anything. They just wanted someone to take their frustration out on, and little Raven was the only safe target for their pent-up anger and frustration. All morning Raven had been looking for anything they could eat, but there just wasn't any prey around the caves, so she had moved further away into the lowlands, eventually ending up alongside the river. The Warriors had warned her repeatedly since arriving here that under no circumstances was she to cross it. But right then she hadn't cared for the warnings one bit. She had leapt into the air, and flapped her wings angrily until she disappeared amongst the trees on the other side of the river. Here there were clear signs of animal life, and in merely an hour she had almost chased down two good-sized rabbits. Why the Warriors had told her not to cross a river when there was so much prey here, she could not understand. Most likely they were just making life difficult for her… But then again, all of them were more or less starving now. So that didn't make any sense either. All of a sudden she heard something approaching, and it was approaching fast. She quickly hid up in a tree, where she would be able to observe whatever came her way, and she also had a good vantage point up-and-down the river. Raven made herself ready to jump down on whatever potential prey that might now be approaching. To her surprise, it flashed by in an instant. Only too came to a screeching halt, tittering on the edge of the cliff, almost falling over into the raging rapids below. Finally Raven could see that it was a small pony. She had never seen one before, but she had heard about them. All gryphons felt that the ponies were small and pitiful beings that should rightfully be trembling beneath their claws. And they would be… If it wasn't for their two empresses that is. It was well known by every gryphon that the only thing keeping any of the five Gryphon kingdoms from conquering all of the Celestial Empire were the two accursed alicorns and their freakish magic which the gryphons could not compete with. Raven had to agree. If this was a typical pony, not even she would have any trouble taking them out. She was just about to sneak down and confront the pony, when a shadow came down from above and landed right behind the pony she had seen. Raven froze where she was. This one was much bigger and had wings and proper, black leather armor. The small pony spun around and looked fearfully at the new arrival. That's right… There are different species of pony… Raven remembered. The ones with wings were pega… pega… something, the little one must be a regular one, and then there were the accursed unicorns, Raven thought. Unicorns were the pony species that every gryphon loathed. A shrill whistle was heard from the winged one, and almost immediately two answered in the forest behind Raven. She hadn't moved a muscle since the little pony rushed past her, and she wasn't about to make herself known now, especially when more ponies were apparently coming this way. “Hey kid! Why don't you just make it easy on yourself? That was a good run, especially for an earth pony. You're quite fast, and that's high praise coming for pegasus. So just take it easy and relaxed, no one is going to hurt you kid,” the grey pegasus said. That's right! pegasus and earth ponies, I knew it was something with a P… Raven thought, proud of her rather limited knowledge. The little earth pony, that she now realized was a youngster, took a fierce fighting stance and glared back at the pegasus. “Like I haven't heard that lie before!” the little, blue earth pony growled back. Raven felt herself starting to root for the little fellow. He had a very colorful blue coat and a darker blue mane. The pony youngster was also missing half of his right ear, and the cloak and whatever it was covering his hooves made him look like they had been patched together by some hatchling without working claws, pretty shoddy quality. “Look kid! I don't want to hurt you! But… I've got my orders, and I'll break your damn legs one by one if that's what it takes to drag you back,” the pegasus pony said while taking a step towards the little one. Raven was quite shaken by the threat; it didn't go together at all with what she had heard about the ponies. They were all supposed to be scared and panicky things, but Raven actually felt a little intimidated by the pegasus below her. Just then, two new arrivals came crashing through the forest, startling the grey pegasus mare who took a quick look behind her. That was all the little, blue pony needed to make his escape. Raven perked up at seeing his escape. “Dammit, you two! I had him cornered!!!” the pegasus screamed at the two new arrivals before taking off after the little pony. Raven froze as she saw the pegasus surging after the blue pony. She was fast, Raven had never seen anything take off so fast before. Raven immediately understood that the little pony didn't stand a chance. And just as she had feared, in only two tries the pegasus was hovering a bit off the ground with the little pony in her hooves. Raven thought it was over now, but apparently the little pony had other plans. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! HE'S BITING ME!!!!!” Raven suddenly heard the pegasus scream. Then the pegasus shouted something else and took off straight up into the air. The aerial maneuvers the pegasus now performed were breathtaking; she was so agile and could turn so sharply that Raven understood she wouldn’t stand any chance at all against her in aerial combat. She even doubted that any of the Warriors back at the cave would stand a chance against this opponent in a one-on-one aerial fight. The Warriors were definitely stronger than this pegasus, but that didn't matter at all if they could never land a hit. Suddenly the aerial flight display ended almost back where it all began—with the pegasus mare lazily flapping her wings, above the river, in front of her two earthbound companions. “My my… You are a tough one aren't you, kid! I've had earth ponies who passed out for half what I just did to you. But no worries, I can still kick it up a notch or two for your next ride,” Raven faintly heard the grey pegasus say. But she could clearly see on the little pony’s facial expression that he wasn't doing too well at all. He looked like he would be passing out any second. “Lay off the kid, Thunderhead! Or I'll buck your teeth in when you get back down here! You hear me!!!” one of the two heavily armored earth ponies shouted up at the pegasus. “But I want to play with him… He's my new favorite toy! And I am going to see how much he can take before he passes out,” the grey pegasus answered with a giggle. This made Raven furious; she had suffered something similar herself, and it was not a pleasant experience. Then she heard a loud crack, and to her surprise saw how the pegasus mare’s head snapped up violently. Immediately both the grey mare and the blue little pony started falling towards the rapids below. Not good! Was all Raven thought as she launched out from her hiding spot and sped towards the rapidly descending ponies. As Raven neared the two of them, she realized something important. She would only be able to catch one of them, so she focused her sharp, golden eyes on the little blue pony, and sped past the two panicked earth ponies below. **** Zig Zag finally realized the situation he was in, he had literally kicked himself out of the sky. And he felt surprisingly calm about it. I'm coming, mom… He thought a bit solemnly. But then it was almost as if he could hear something screaming from the depths of his inner self. NO! You have to live! You have so much left to do! So much left to experience! And you have to find Silver Pot and Iron Rod!!! The voice inside of him screamed. Sheer panic coursed through his veins as Zig Zag´s survival instincts kicked in. He let out a gut-wrenching scream as the water came rushing up towards him. A movement registered in the corner of his eye. Zig Zag turned his head and saw a gryphon coming towards him with outstretched black claws, flying as hard as it could. He could easily recognize one because they were often visiting North Bay´s Harbor from time to time, working on the trading ships. This one had a dark, golden brown coat, while its head was covered in grey, black-tipped feathers. The gryphon sported a black beak, and the feathers around its eyes were also black, contrasting its golden eyes stunningly. Zig Zag somehow knew it was trying to rescue him, and stretched out his right hoof towards it. Their eyes met, and in the gryphon’s he could see growing panic that was now mirroring his own. Just when the gryphon was about to catch him, Zig Zag splashed down into utter darkness. The first thing that hit him was the shocking cold, almost instantly sapping the air out of his lungs, but his survival instincts would not let him waste any of the precious air he had left. Water like this might be called white rapids, but there was nothing white about them. Suddenly he slammed into something hard, most likely a boulder on the bottom. Zig Zag grit his teeth at the pain, while he was being dragged across its rough surface by the pressure of the water. He was swept further downstream, his lungs now screaming for air. He had no idea what was up or down anymore, never being still and constantly tumbling about, and smashing into obstacle after obstacle. He was just about to pass out when the water pressure around him decreased, and before he knew it, Zig Zag burst through the surface. Finally above water, he continued to gasp for each breath, until he was once again pulled beneath the surface. In an effort to curb his struggle, he let himself be carried along with the flow of the rapids and try to protect himself by curling into a ball. Then he was hit ruthlessly in the side, yelping in pain, only to realize he was now able to breathe, the current having tossed him partly up onto a rock in the middle of the roaring rapids. Although the water was already trying to tear Zig Zag off his little perch again, something soft then hit him from the rear, pushing him up a little bit more on the rock, but also towards the side. He was quickly losing his grip and began to slide off the rock in that direction instead. He was immediately pinned against the freezing cold stone. It was uncomfortable, but he was no longer in immediate danger of falling off the rock. Zig Zag looked behind himself to see what was holding him in place. To his surprise, it was the grey pegasus mare. “Hold onto me…” she croaked out between coughs. Zig Zag tried to hold on as best he could, but the freezing cold water was sucking the life right out of the two of them. He was losing all strength, and even with added support of the grey mare, he knew he would not be able to stay on the rock for long. He looked over at her. She was in agonizing pain, and when Zig Zag saw her back, he understood why. Her left wing was mangled almost beyond recognition. The grey mare followed Zig Zag´s eyes then gritted her teeth when she understood what this most likely meant. With her strength giving out, she ever so slowly started to slip off the rock on the other side. When she looked back at Zig Zag, she had a sad smile on her face, but in her eyes he could see fierce determination, as if she had come to some final decision. She knew they both would die if things continued like this. “You better make it, kid…” the grey mare said calmly and clearly, and then pushed off from the rock, while she simultaneously pulled Zig Zag up on top of it. Before he realized what had happened, the mare was gone, once again pulled down into the rapids. Zig Zag now lay on top of the rock, shivering violently. He could see that he was bleeding with scrapes and cuts all over his body, but he couldn't feel anything anymore. He fought to remain conscious, but was rapidly losing that battle as well. Without noticing, Zig Zag started slipping off his perch. He was abruptly brought back to consciousness when sharp claws dug into his shoulder and dragged him up onto the boulder again. He hissed through clenched teeth, and glanced up to see that the gryphon from earlier was now dragging him up towards herself. **** Raven was overjoyed that she had found the little pony again; how he had been able to get up so high on the rock she had no idea, but it had made him easier to spot. Taking a firm grip on him, she took off and started making her way back towards the shore. As she flew, Raven could hear the pony’s teeth clattering, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably. “Hang on!” Raven called down to him. She could now feel just how cold he was, even through her talons; it was almost like gripping a piece of ice. The little pony managed to glance up at her. “Th thh thh th ththank y y yyoyou…” Zig Zag managed to stutter out just before he finally lost consciousness. Raven looked down at him with wide eyes. No one had ever thanked her before, least of all any male. They landed on the far shore; even though he had lost consciousness, he was still shivering violently. He needs shelter and warmth! Raven realized and remembered passing a small cave further up in the Highlands when she came down. The pony would most likely die from exposure if she tried to make it all the way home. With the extra cargo, she would most likely not make it before nightfall anyway, and a night outside this far north could be deadly, even if he wasn’t soaked through. Shifting the pony up on her back, Raven took off again towards what she hoped would be a suitable place to shelter for the night. As she worked her powerful wings, she took note of the fact that the pony weighed more that she had expected. He might be smaller than her, but he was quite the solid build. The river disappeared behind them, and she flew up towards the more rocky terrain and landscape of her home. Feliniss and all of the five Gryphon kingdoms were ruled by a harsh mountain climate. Snow covered them more or less year-round, and the many high peaks disappeared up amongst the clouds. Even the coastline was often sheer cliffs that disappeared down into the black depths of the ocean. It didn't take Raven long to arrive at the little burrow she had spotted before. She quickly checked that nothing was already in there, and then brought the little pony into their temporary shelter. He had stopped shivering now, which was a troubling sign; it meant his body was shutting down and giving up the fight to keep warm. In other words he was dying in front of her eyes. Raven immediately removed the wet pieces of leather covering his back. She looked at it and snorted; she had never seen such crummy workmanship in her life. And the three remaining leather bags covering his hooves were even worse. She tossed them with disdain into a heap on the other side of the small cave. Raven looked around herself, and then realized she had nothing to light a fire with. She spun around in place looking for anything that might burn. Raven had to make a fire or he would die! But there was nothing here that could keep him warm! Or is there? Raven thought and looked at the little pony. She quickly moved over, and lay down next to him. Carefully she reached around and hugged him in a cautious embrace. She gave a squawk when she felt how cold he was, and then quickly wrapped her wings around them both. After a couple of minutes, the little pony didn't seem to be so horribly cold against her torso anymore. And as warmth started to seep back into him, Zig Zag subconsciously snuggled into her chest and cupped his hooves around her as much as he could. If Raven had been able to blush, she would most likely have lit up the entire cave right then, but she soon snuggled into the embrace quite happily herself. Since both Raven and Zig Zag were exhausted from the day’s events, it didn't take Raven long to join Zig Zag in a deep and comfortable sleep. **** Lobo was breathing hard; he finally managed to lose all of the ponies, but he still knew where they were, since he made sure to keep them all up wind. Keeping track of them would not be a problem even though darkness had now settled over the forest, where Lobo so far had led the ponies in a fruitless chase throughout the day. Always being careful not to lose the ponies completely, until now that is. By constantly making sure they could keep up, and even engaged him in combat a couple of times, he ensured his pursuers would keep chasing him. At least until the time came when he could finally turn the tables on them. And that time was now; finally he could see the glorious moon slowly rising above the horizon. Eagerly Lobo moved to a gap amongst the trees, where the moon light could reach him unhindered. As soon as the rays hit Lobo´s tired and wary body, it was almost as if all the fatigue simply seeped out of Lobo´s aching muscles. Energy poured in to him, and the scrapes, cuts and scratches started to itch quite a bit when the healing was accelerated by the blessing of the moon. It was not a complete full moon, but close enough to give him more energy than usual. He watched in fascination as black fur slowly but surely started to cover his tail again. Smiling viciously, Lobo sniffed the air for his first prey. This is going to be a good hunt… Lobo thought while he filled his lungs with the rapidly cooling night air. He turned around, and began heading back towards his pursuers, who unfortunately for them, thought they are still the hunters. Not realizing they no longer had the upper hoof on Lobo, they had spread out far too widely to cover ground in their search after him, a mistake that would cost them dearly. It is time to thin the heard! Lobo concluded with a cold grin across his face. **** Lightning and Black Star both stood uneasily while they listened to their surroundings, it had grown far too quiet as time passed by. It had been three hours since the moon ascended, and ever since then, things had started to take a turn for the worse. Reports from the pursuing units had become increasingly grim and further in between. Ponies had started to disappear without a trace if they were separated from their groups, even for just a split second. Now it had been a full half an hour since they last saw any pony. Lightning shifted nervously looking around herself. “I don't like this… We need to retreat, or at least regroup,” she stated. Black Star snorted, clearly annoyed and unwilling to consider the prospect of them being on the losing side. “Maybe they finally have him cornered? They might be bringing him down right now,” Black Star said in an attempt to sound hopeful. “Then they would have sent somepony to inform us and bring more backup to the confrontation!” Lightning Strike said angrily, ignoring Black Star’s attempt at subtle hope. Black Star looked away without answering. “Send the signal to regroup,” Lightning ordered. Black Star, having had quite a bad day in her opinion, had all that anger she needed to fuel such a spell, and then some. Consequently when the spell was released, and enormous, yellow fireball shot up into the sky directly above them, working as a beacon for all their troops to rally towards. Lightning watched in awe as the giant fireball continued to rise up into the clear night sky, almost like it was a miniature sun trying to show just how bright it could burn against the darkness. **** Light Blast was the last of the unicorn's left. He was breathing heavily while constantly checking his surroundings. Above him, the cowardly pegasus just circled around, calling out useless warnings about the fact that he wasn't alone. There were only five of them left now, down from fifteen soldiers. But before they realized what was happening, more than half had disappeared when the bastard wolf started picking them off one by one. Every time they thought they knew where the Wolf was, he would ambush them from another direction. A bright light lit up the sky in the distance, and all of a sudden, the stallion felt a small sliver of hope. I have to make it! Light Blast thought and set off towards what would most likely be a last stand. He was running through the cold forest without any thought of being stealthy. Nimble Breeze’s fate had already shown that was not an option against this particular enemy. Movement caught in the corner of Light Blast´s eyes, making him look towards his left side. Two glowing eyes met him; the dire wolf was running parallel with him a few trees away. Panic immediately seized Light Blast, and he galloped off through the forest faster than he thought his exhausted body would still be capable off. He was so close now, only a couple of hundred meters left, when a searing pain announced the fact that the wolf was finally upon him. Light Blast cried out as the wolf’s teeth sank into his left rear leg, just above the knee. His chain mail armor stopped the powerful teeth from sinking in too deep, but the power of the bite still threatened to snap his bone in half. He was yanked up into the air, the dire wolf simply flipping him over and allowing him to tumble forward into a tree. Quite disoriented, Light Blast tried to get up, only to feel a heavy weight settle on top of him, and then teeth digging into his throat. To Light Blast´s surprise, the wolf didn't simply rip his throat out, but instead began to asphyxiate him. He instinctively tried to force the Wolf's jaws open with telekinesis, but he was far too disoriented and unfocused to do much about his situation. His already oxygen-starved body quickly gave out, and he sank into unconsciousness. **** Lightning Strike and Black Star could now see four pagasus ponies heading towards them; they landed behind their commanders at the same time as a shrill cry sounded from the forest. Both Lightning and Black Star started too gallop towards the outcry, only to be stopped by calls from behind them. “No! It's no use, he’s already had it!” one of the pegasus ponies yelled after them. Lightning only stared back at them. “You mean to tell me you're all that's left?!” Lightning wondered in disbelief. The pegasi looked uncertainly at each other, and then stared into the ground. “Yes…” the same pegasus answered. Just then a rustle could be heard from the edge of the dark woods. And from the shadows emerged Lobo, dragging an unconscious unicorn stallion. The dire wolf stopped and tossed the unicorn towards Lightning Strike and Black Star. As he came to a halt, the little group of ponies drew a relieved sigh, as they could still see his chest moving up and down. Lightning took a careful step towards Lobo. “You didn't kill him… why? What did you do with the rest of my soldiers?” she asked carefully. Lobo looked her straight in the eyes. “I didn't kill him because it would be a waste of energy when I can't eat him, and unless they pissed me off, I left the rest of your soldiers breathing as well,” Lobo answered. Once again Lightning was surprised at how lenient Lobo could be under these circumstances, and gave a slight nod in contemplation, but before she could continue questioning him, Lobo answered the question she was about to ask. “Don't get your hopes up though… most of them pissed me off. Not so many of your winged friends, but almost every one of your spike heads,” he said with a grin, looking at Black Star when he said spike heads. She glared back at him. “You monster!” Black Star stated angrily. Lobo raised an eyebrow at her statement. “You… are not allowed to use that word on any creature but yourself. And every kill I'll ever make in this realm will be laid squarely at your hooves… Monster!” Lobo growled back at Black Star, who was now literally shaking with rage. “This has gone on long enough! You should have allowed me to do this from the beginning, Lightning! Now all of you stay out of this; I can't protect anyone who interferes!” Black Star yelled, and then she was engulfed in a fierce glow. Five more glowing balls sprang into being around Lobo. When they fizzled out, Lobo was facing six identical Black Stars, standing in a ring around him. The shock was plain to see on Lobo´s face, but then he bolted into the forest before Black Star could gather herself enough to cast another spell. She gave a cry of frustration and chased after. “No! Stay here!” Lightning Strike screamed after her, but it was too late, Black Star had already bolted into the woods. “Damn it! Everypony after them! Don't you dare lose her!” Lightning ordered in an uncharacteristically shrill voice, and sprang into the air. The four remaining pegasus soldiers followed her immediately. As it turned out, following Lobo and Black Star couldn't have been easier. Bolts of lightning and magic were lighting up the forest beneath, whereever the two combatants currently were located. But the pegasus squad couldn't see any sort of opening that would allow them to help Black Star. All they could do it seemed was observe and hope for a favorable outcome for them. **** Lobo ducked under another blast, and then ran through one of the fake Black Stars, making the image flicker until he was completely through. They had been at this for a while now. He could hear a hoarse laugh behind him, when three more Black Stars gave chase. “Hahaha!!! You'll never find the real me, you dumb dog! Now just give up and come along quietly!” Black Star called from behind him. Lobo calmly smiled inwardly as he heard the strain in her voice, then jumped out of the way of another lightning bolt that sped past him. It was time to go on the offensive. Lobo disappeared around a tree, and when Black Star arrived moments later, he was gone. She just stood there, confounded with her mirror duplications around her, looking in every which way. Five Black Stars started to move ahead and fan out. In the meantime, two yellow eyes following the procession from afar finally focused on the Black Star second-most to the right. Lobo launched himself out of his ambush and past the image Black Star had left behind as a decoy. But the second he passed it, all five Black Stars in front of him started to turn. But it was too late to escape completely. She did manage to avoid getting her throat ripped out, and merely ended up getting tackled to the ground. Lobo growled in frustration. He had thought the images of Black Star were only images, but she was apparently able to see what they saw. Black Star on the other hand, couldn't understand how Lobo had been able to pick her out amongst the copies. The truth was Lobo had known who she was all along. Her images may look identical and sound perfectly like her, but only the real Black Star gave off that stench he hated. They now lay in a tangled mess of hooves and limbs. Just when Black Star´s horn lit up, Lobo stomped his claws down upon it, pressing it hard into the dirt of the ground beneath them. Black Star cried out in pain as the pressure on her horn put a lot of strain on her skull. Her throat was once again exposed, and Lobo went for it, but was abruptly stopped when something smashed into him from the side. He growled fiercely, while he struggled with his new adversary. It was a much heavier pony covered in black plate armor. The stallion snorted angrily at Lobo as they came to a halt with the dire wolf on top. Now Lobo was furious and leaned down to finish this quickly so he could focus on Black Star. But once again he was interrupted, this time by a hard buck to his side, sending him tumbling off his intended victim. He quickly came up on all fours again. Looking back, Lobo could see two heavily armored earth pony stallions that were now blocking his way to Black Star, who was slowly rising back to all four hooves. A rustle was heard from above, and then Lightning landed beside Black Star. “Are you okay?” Lightning asked worriedly. “Yes…” Black Star answered shakily, while carefully checking to see that her horn was still were it was supposed to be. Then she glared over at Lobo. “I… underestimated him…” she said a bit self-critical. He had just taken out more or less their whole company, yet still she thought she would dominate him with a few parlor tricks. Like most unicorns, Black Star had put too much faith in the superiority of magic. “Where is the colt?” Lightning asked the two stallions. The two of them had slowly backed away from Lobo, and were now standing just in front of their superiors. “We… we lost him, sir… and Thunderhead is most likely dead as well,” one of the stallions replied. Lightning Strike uttered a string of curses while Lobo grinned in satisfaction that Zig Zag had managed to get away. But the grin instantly disappeared when he heard the next bit of news. “They both fell into Ice Flow River. We never saw Thunderhead again, but a young gryphon managed to fish out the colt. We just caught sight of them as they disappeared into Feliniss, but I don't think he will be alive for long. The colt was in the river for quite a while, judging by how far we had to run down stream in order to catch sight of them,” the second stallions said solemnly. Lobo´s heart was thundering in his chest now. “No!!! Zig Zag´s okay! He has to be!” Lobo roared in defiance and set off towards the river, all thoughts of vengeance against Black Star having disappeared instantly. He had a much more important task now, finding Zig Zag and making sure he was all right. All the ponies were just staring after him, completely shocked by his outburst. Lightning was the first to gather herself and quickly sent the remaining pegasus soldiers in pursuit, even if they wouldn't be able to do much more than follow him to the border. Black Star, Lightning Strike and the two earth pony stallions remained where they were. “He really cares for the colt, doesn't he?” Black Star said carefully. “I'd say that's a given,” Lightning answered. “Damn it! We should have focused on the colt instead… Lobo is far too dangerous now without a magic leash. I hope the colt survives somehow. He’s most likely our best chance of getting any kind of leverage over Lobo again,” Black Star said with a disappointed huff. The other ponies just watched her silently. “You could have said that you hoped the colt survived because he's a little colt… and doesn't deserve to die like that,” Lightning pointed out in a scolding voice. Black Star looked up at Lightning and then the two stallions who were both staring at her. “Well obviously that too of course!” Black Star burst out, and then smiled sheepishly. Both the stallions huffed and walked away, while Lightning just shook her head. “I hate it when Bender is right…” Lightning said with a sigh. “Huue?” Black Star uttered, not hearing what Lightning mumbled. “But I'll make a decent pony out of you even if it kills me,” Lightning stated and gave a surprised Black Star a quick kiss on the nose before following the two stallions. The second Lightning turned away from Black Star, the happiness from the kiss left her when she remembered they most likely had a lot of injured and most likely dead ponies laying around the forest, in need of being found as quickly as possible. This is going to be a long night… Lightning thought, and then started giving orders to Black Star and the two earth stallions in preparations for the upcoming search. **** Thanks to Meeester for the Pre-read/Edit