//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9. 
// Story: Dreadwing Bells A'ringing 
// by avatarded01 
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9.


The night air whipped at Rainbow Dash’s face but did not sting her eyes, thanks to her Wonderbolt goggles strapped to her face. She remembered the day she first got them. The year after she’d won the ‘Cloudsdale most promising young fliers’ competition she’d been bouncing off the walls out of excitement for the Wonderbolts recruiting drive. Her year had been made when the Wonderbolts came looking for her by name and offered her a spot on the team without an audition. Spitfire had told her that the Wonderbolts hadn’t done that since she joined the team the same way. Dash had spent almost the entire night saying, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh , oh my gosh, oh my gosh” to her friends while they were celebrating , she couldn’t believe it had finally happened. She’d dreamt of joining the Wonderbolts since the first day she had seen them as a Philly and had worked hard every day of her life to be the fastest and best flier in all of Equestria. For a time she thought she was, that was until the first time she’d flown competitively with Spitfire. Rainbow Dash was faster than her, that was obvious from the first drag race they’d had after she’d joined the team, but as soon as it came down to a competition of skill and agility, Spitfire flew rings around her. Literally, rings. Dash had been completely gobsmacked after watching her and had to admit to herself that she was more than a little in awe. She found herself wishing Spitfire were flying alongside her right now. She could really use her help. She scanned the darkening landscape below for signs of spiders or any other nasty surprises lurking in the shadows, but for now she couldn’t see any sign of danger. She thought back to the train crash. Her heart had caught in her throat when she’d realised she’d allowed herself to fall behind the train and that a tree had been toppled over the track. She’d dashed along the track in a desperate attempt to beat the train to the tree and move the deadly obstacle but Luna had appeared next to her in a flash and grabbed her, stopping her in her tracks. She’d struggled then but now she realised that the Princess had saved her life. If she’d been alongside that train when it had hit the tree, there was no doubt she would have been squashed, flattened and flipped over like a Rainbow pancake. Besides her friends had all appeared safely not far off, teleported to safety by Twilight’s awesome magic. Fluttershy had joined them down on the ground as they’d gone through the motions of checking if everyone was okay and sharing how relieved they were everyone was alright, but Fluttershy and Princess Luna started squawking about the elements as soon as she’d set down. Twilight almost passed out when she realised she’d left the Elements on the train, which was now a burning heap, piled on the tracks. Thankfully the safe had protected the Elements, as had the case they were secured in and Luna had put out the flames with a sweep of her horn, summoning up a focussed gale of wind, which blew the fires right out. The Elements were safe but they needed to recover the rest of their supplies, so they had set up camp amongst the wreckage, using it as cover while they pulled what remained of their belongings and supplies from the ruins of twisted metal. Rarity had started wailing and whining about her hats and outfits she’d brought along so of course Dash had thought up an excuse to get out of there quick! So here she was soaring above the ground, ‘scouting’ for potential dangers. She knew she really should be keeping an eye out for bad guys but she just wanted to get away and fly. That’s why she had been so happy to join the Wonderbolts. It was the first time she’d had other ponies who could just fly around with her and enjoy the sky. Fluttershy was a Pegasus, yes, but she was one of the only Pegasus Rainbow Dash knew who preferred to live on the ground. And of course none of the others could fly so Spitfire had been the sky-bound buddy Dash had been looking for. Dash sighed and dipped before surging into the air and looping the loop, making the clouds and stars blur together like one big fluffy, silvery streak on the velvety night sky. She levelled out and turned south taking a long arc to circle back towards the camp. She remembered another night just like this one.

She pulled out of the loop and whooped as she levelled off. Spitfire laughed as she pulled up next to Dash and smiled, “Not bad Dash, not bad… if you’ve just learned to fly.”
“You think you can do better?” She jibbed and Spitfire shrugged,
“Maybe.” Spitfire dove towards the ground, barrelling towards the surface of a lake. Her reflection in the dark surface grew larger and larger until she was about to splash right into the lake. At the last second she pulled up, cutting a razor straight line along the surface of the water, before pulling into a steep climb. The extra speed form her dive through her back, high into the air, while she spun, twisted and summersaulted until she reached the apex of her climb. There she folded her wings and dropped out of the sky like a stone. She missed Dash by inches but as she fell past she clipped Dash’s wing sending her into a whizzing barrel roll that left Dash dazed and spluttering. By the time Dash had recovered and levelled out Spitfire was already flying steadily backwards, out in front of her, with her arms behind her head, like she was reclining on a sun bed. Her grin said it all and Dash had to admit,
“Okay, maybe that was pretty cool.” Spitfire dropped in beside her again and shoved her playfully,
“’Maybe pretty cool’? Please.” They both laughed and flew high above the clouds. Dash looked at the moon, large and round lighting up the night sky almost as bright as day. “Don’t you just wish you could stay up here forever?” Spitfire sighed, turning and tilting in the night air. Dash smiled and nodded. Sometimes she really did wish she could stay in the sky forever.

Dash heard a loud crack from far below and someone cried out. She stopped and floated in the air looking down at the ground far below. It was bright enough up here in the sky but she couldn’t see a thing in the deep dark shadows far below. She stared down at the darkness waiting for her eyes to adjust and reveal something hidden below. It was still and quiet. Maybe too quiet. Dash jumped as an eerie howl filled the night air, sending a shiver down her spine. At almost the same moment a bunch of lights appeared in the woods below. Dash watched as the lights moved through the trees, she could hear shouting and yelling as well as snarling and barking. What’s going on down there? She thought to herself. She descended towards the commotion. She floated just above the trees where she could see things a bit clearer. The lights were ponies, stallions to be exact, carrying lamps. She could see them moving around in groups, with the lamps around their necks and an assortment of sharp and dangerous objects in their mouths. It looked like they were looking for something, maybe whatever made that eerie noise. Suddenly somepony cried out in the dark and the lights started rushing in the direction of the sound. A terrible din went up as ponies shouted and yelled and whatever they were chasing snapped and snarled. The sounds were awful. Whatever was going on ponies were in danger, maybe even being killed. She was about to dash off to help when she remembered what Princess Luna had said,
“It was foolish of us to travel using a well-known route and on a train which is easy to find as well. We must be more careful if we are to have a chance of getting the Elements to Pyre Mountain in one piece.” She had gathered all the ponies around her once they’d dug the Elements out of the wreck, to discuss their next move.
“Maybe we should head for the nearest town, figure out another way ta get to Pyre Mountain.” Applejack offered but the Princess had shaken her head,
“I’m afraid we can’t. One of the worst things about Dreadwings’ power is its corrupting influence. In creatures of lower intelligence, like those spiders for instance, it is easier to see.” That had been an understatement Dash thought, “But in others it can be almost indiscernible. I’m afraid if we want to avoid another incident like this,” She’d gestured at the train wreck, “We must travel off road and avoid other Ponies as much as we can.” Rarity had had something to say about that but Twilight had concurred and they’d agreed. So Dash held herself back and stuck to hovering above the tree tops. She herself thought it was ridiculous to be afraid of other ponies, but the Princess had explained one of the worst threats during the war with the dragons was other ponies turning against their own kind. Corrupted, by Dreadwing. The noise seemed to be getting worse, when suddenly it stopped. She eased onward following the glow of the lamps until she could see the stallions standing around something beneath the tree branches. She slid, silently through the canopy and planted herself on a sturdy tree branch and leaned out to see what it was. She caught a gasp in her throat and mumbled,
“no way.” The stallions had all stopped in a clearing, which was splattered with broken branches, leaves and blood. There were two stallions lying motionless just to the side, half hidden in the shadows, pools of dark blood spreading out from beneath them. It was what was in the centre of the clearing that seized all of her attention though. It was huge, almost twice as big as any of the stallions and covered in coarse black fur, stained with dark red blotches. As far as Dash could see it was a wolf, but it was way too big and its teeth were huge, also stained with blood. Dash gulped hard as she stared and almost jumped when she heard one of the stallions speak.
“It’s a Warg.” He sounded old, like he’d seen a lot. Dash leaned in to listen closer.
“What’s a Warg?” A younger stallion asked, moving around the body of the hulking beast. The older one cleared his throat and said,
“A vicious beast from before Equestria even existed. A foul hunting dog of the dark powers.” A sudden cry drew all of their attention to the edge of the clearing they turned their lamps to the shadows. Dash couldn’t see very well from where she was, so she eased along the branch and stepped across to the next one, for a better view.
“It’s Zephyr! He’s still alive!” The stallions rushed forward and gathered around one who was sprawled in the dirt, Dash couldn’t see much but she could see the blood. Her breath caught in her throat.
“Hold on pal, hold on! We’ll get you back to town, you’re gonna be okay.” She heard the stallion try to choke a reply but it sounded like gurgling instead, “Hold on!” The same stallion cried but Zephyr’s head fell back and he stopped moving. Dash didn’t stick around to see what happened next. She shot up out of the trees and back into the air. She went up and up and up. Higher still until the clouds were rolling past beneath her and the moon filled the sky ahead of her. She floated in the sky, beating her wings frantically, she couldn’t catch her breath. Her heart was beating like she’d never felt before. It was racing. She tried to tell herself to calm down, but her body wouldn’t listen. She couldn’t get the image out of her head. She saw that pony die! Right there, on the ground… killed by a Warg. A Warg. The Princesses had spoken about them, servants of Dreadwing, creatures of darkness. The same monsters that were looking for them. A terrible thought hit her. What if this one had been hunting them? What if it had just stumbled across these stallions or vice versa, and they had been killed because it was looking for them. What if it had actually found them? Her eyes were stinging. She realised that she was crying. It all hit her like a ton of bricks. This was the kind of evil they were up against, and it was not going to hesitate to kill them. Any of them… What if it had been one of her friends lying in a pool of their own blood as they slowly died in her arms?  Dash floated down until she found a cloud beneath her and curled up on herself, trying to get that terrible image out of her head but the blood oozed out in a dark puddle in her mind filling her thoughts.  She listened to her heart beating loudly in her chest and wished now more than ever that she could just stay in the sky for ever.