//------------------------------// // Ch. 4: "Green Light." // Story: Forest of Lost Foals // by Dusk-Spark //------------------------------// A couple of the paths converged on the cabin, but it wasn’t the destination they were looking for. For starters, there was no statue behind the building, Secondly, the cabin had clearly been abandoned for ages, thankfully the locks on the doors and windows still worked. No worry about a smart monster figuring out how to open the door...of course they would probably just break open the door- 'No! Don't think about it!' “Okay, I’m gonna check around for a bit. Make sure the doors are locked, don‘t want anything sneaking up on us after all. Hey Pip, can I borrow your sword?” Scootaloo held out her good wing, expectantly. “O’ course.” He said, pulling the sword’s hilt with his tail and passing it to Scootaloo as she took it in her wing. “Thanks.” She trotted over to the hallway. Truthfully, that sword probably wouldn't help anyone at all. Mainly because it was made of wood and a toy (like anyone would let him carry a real sword), “I’ll be back in a Dash.” Ha, a Rainbow Dash pun (which fit because she WAS wearing a Wonderbolt uniform). She took her lantern in her teeth and disappeared down the hallway. “…” There was an awkward silence between Saphira and Pipsqueak. The warmth of the lanterns did nothing to fix the icy air between them. Pipsqueak shivered, it was actually strangely cold in the cabin. Maybe colder inside than outside. Pipsqueak couldn’t help but notice Saphira’s darting eye, like…she was concerned about something that only she knew about. That was just like her, never talking to anyone. Always keeping things inside, well not this time. They're stuck together, so Pipsqueak may as well try talking, “Ummm…” Pipsqueak started to speak, trying to break the icy silence between them, “So, I’m from Trottin’am.” He accidentally allowed the accent to seep through. Living in Ponyville has more or less weakened his original accent, but every once in a while he’d slip into it when he wasn't paying attention. “Wha’ ‘bout you?” “…” Saphira just completely ignored Pipsqueak. He refused to be ignored, “I really like Ponyville, I mean…I liked Trottin’am too, I was born there, but somethin’ about Ponyville makes it feel like a second ’ome for me, ya know? Trottin‘am is mostly bricks and mortar while Ponyville is-” “Can you be quiet, please.” Saphira cut him off sharply, the please at the end did nothing to make that sentence friendlier. “R-Right…sorry.” Pipsqueak mumbled in a defeated tone. He really didn’t like Saphira too much. Nopony did. Why did he even form a group with her? Why did Scootaloo even invite her to the club house? “…” Saphira stood up and started pacing around the room. She guided her Rune Stone around the cabin’s walls. The glow of the Rune becoming brighter in certain directions. Suddenly there was a sharp crackle, and words sprung up from one of the walls. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were here. So were the Daze triplets.” She explained calmly, her gaze shifting to the ground. “See, look. You can make out the indents of their hoof prints in the dust but-” Suddenly she stopped, something was wrong. Pipsqueak saw it on her face. “What?” Pipsqueak inquired. “Nothing." Obviously a lie, her ears had perked up as if she was hearing something that Pipsqueak couldn't, "Just, I’m a little tired is all.” She said while staring out the glass pane window. He strained his ears to try and hear while forcing small talk, “You don’t get out much?” Whatever, it was probably nothing. “…No.” A quick answer. “Why don’t you talk more often?” “…” Guess that was all the conversation she was going to allow. Pipsqueak yawned, he was getting bored of sitting here, “Scootaloo’s takin’ ‘er time, ain’t she?” He dug into his saddlebag, then pulled out an apple-flavored candy bar. He took a bite of it, catching the falling piece just before it hit the ground. Heh, he wasn’t thinking clearly. He continued chewing on the sweet candy, his sight drifted to Saphira (who had busied herself inspecting every corner of the cabin). He held out the rest of the candy bar with his hooves, “Do you want the rest?” “…” She looked over to him out of the corner of her eyes with that same, deadpan expression she always wore, “No. Thank you.” Pipsqueak sighed, shrugged and continued eating. It was then that he noticed a strange faint green glow coming from outside. “Hey, I think someone’s comin’.” He trotted towards the window to see who was outside. Were the lanterns supposed to turn green though? The lanterns of Pipsqueak's group didn't- CRASH A sudden crash from where they had set their lanterns. He had only trotted for two seconds before he was violently tackled to the ground, Saphira wrapped her hooves around him as she scooted against the wall while still holding Pipsqueak. He really hated being this small, he struggled (and even tried to bite her), but all that earned him was a telekinetic thwack to the head (cheating unicorns). “Shh!” She implored while pressing her body as close to the wall as possible. All Pipsqueak could do was watch the cabin‘s interior with an annoyed glare. The light became brighter, at one point even enveloping the whole cabin except for the one spot where Pipsqueak and Saphira hid; the one spot in the shadows where the sickly green light couldn‘t reach them. He soon came to realize, that was NOT the light of a lantern. They didn't glow that bright. He heard the door handle rattle, something was trying to get in. Suddenly he saw nothing but brown fabric. Saphira had thrown her cloak over the two of them, the soft blue glow of her horn doing some kind of magic spell. Pipsqueak could just barely see out of the cloak; and he really wished he hadn't seen it. What he saw next, chilled him to the bone. There was a shadow, along the ground. A boney, wretched claw covered in…something, touched the window pane. He heard the horrid sound of the claws cutting into the glass, it physically hurt his ears. And then… THE SCREECH!!! The ear splitting screech whatever that thing produced, like 100,000 needles to the ears! He felt it right down to his core. He felt cold and helpless, his shivering wouldn’t stop, and he just wanted to go home, hide under his sheets, and never ever talk about this again. Then suddenly he felt Saphira’s hoof gently stroking his mane. “…” After several seconds, the lights died down. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. The sounds got further away along with the light. Even after Saphira breathed a sigh of relief and went to go check on the lanterns to see if they were still usable, Pipsqueak remained sitting where Saphira had previously held him. Just silently wondering; ‘WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT?!’ Yes it was the Everfree Forest, and it had its share of monsters, but seriously, WHAT WAS THAT?! One of the lanterns turned on, it flickered for a few seconds but was still usable. “Sorry. One of them won’t turn on anymore.” She slid it over to the corner while putting the working one right-side up. She gazed over at Pipsqueak and sighed, “Are you scared?” “Was he scared?” YES! YES HE WAS SCARED! OBVIOUSLY HE WAS SCARED! He was a pony, just a colt! Not a REAL monster slayer, despite what his costume was supposed to be. No, he just wanted to go home, forget this ever happened, and maybe read a nice safe, filly book or something! To heck with all this stuff! “…” He wanted to say a lot of things, but right now he was way too paralyzed with fear to even move from that spot. Saphira slowly trotted towards him and gently touched her muzzle to his forehead, a gentle warmth flowed through Pipsqueak’s body, “You’re alright…Pipsqueak. Everything‘s going to be fine.” There was really no reason he should believe her, but part of him wanted to believe her. Had to believe her, otherwise he’d go crazy in this cabin, he took a deep breath and smacked his hind legs, “I‘m okay.” He just needed to think of it like one of his dad’s stories and he’ll be fine. “Forget the challenge, we need to get everyone an’ then go back ‘ome!” Something about her gaze made it seem like she was…disappointed? Maybe Pipsqueak just imagined it? For nearly a minute she'd paced around, looking around the cabin before stopping in the center. “Very well.” She muttered in a somber tone, looking to the hallway Scootaloo had disappeared down. “She hasn‘t returned yet.” Pipsqueak knew what she wanted to say, but there was no way he was gonna let her say it. “She’s fine. Scootaloo was trained by Rainbow Dash, she’s definitely fine. An’ besides, anythin’ happens an’ she’ll just fly right out.” Who was he trying to convince exactly? Saphira? Or himself, truth be told…he knew Scootaloo had trouble with flight. "...." Oh wait...Scootaloo's injured wing... Before they could discuss it further, there was a sudden knock at the door. The two immediately hid, but relaxed a bit when they heard the slow drawling voice of Snails; “Hello? Anyone there?” Pipsqueak opened the door to Snails, whose costume seemed to have SOMEHOW gotten dirtier? Maybe he was just imagining it. Did it always look like it got into a fight with a lawnmower and lost? “ ’Ello Snails.” Pipsqueak looked past him but no sign of Snips or Rumble. Odd, yes Rumble was a bit of a cool loner type always trying to prove himself (a bit like the pegasus version of Pipsqueak) but, when was the last time Snips and Snails had EVER been separated? Pipsqueak had thought they were brothers at one point. That’s how often they were together, so it was really unnatural to see one without the other. “Where’re the guys?” Snails looked at him, a dazed expression plastered onto his face. He turned his head and sure enough noticed that his team was no longer with him, “They must’ve gotten lost.” He said with little to no hint of concern (or at least Pipsqueak couldn’t pick up on it). “Snails! A hero doesn‘t leave his team behind, where did you last see them?” He was halfway out the door when Saphira appeared from around the corner of the cabin? Pipsqueak turned around, sure enough she wasn’t there. When did she- “Scootaloo’s gone too.” She motioned to the door to the side of the cabin, “All I found was her lantern.” She showed the lantern hanging on her tail that was unmistakably Scootaloos. She tried activating her Rune stone, but they all knew how that song and dance went, “She must be out of range.” Of course she was. “Okay.” Pipsqueak felt his resolve sinking faster and faster, ‘Stay calm.’ Pipsqueak knew what he had to do. Because it was what a hero would do. Before he could speak, Saphira spoke first: “We should follow the path that Snails took. We might find a trace of Snips and Rumble, maybe they got separated in the fog and got lost somewhere. If they still have their lanterns, they shouldn‘t be too hard to find. Snails, Pipsqueak. Keep trying your Runes to-” “I lost mine.” Snails interrupted. “….” Stunned silence filled the air. Snails just stood there with a dazed expression, Saphira's good eye twitched. Pipsqueak could guess what she wanted to do to Snails who didn't seem at all to care that his team had gone missing, how was he even still alive?! How did he even find them?! “Pipsqueak, keep trying to get in contact with them using your Rune. Snails, hold the lantern.” Saphira telekinetically passed the lantern over to Snails. “Pipsqueak, leave your lantern by the door so Scootaloo can find it again, then use the Rune Stone to leave a message on the door telling everyone to go back home or to wait here and don‘t open the door for anyone other than us.” “On it.” Pipsqueak saluted and diligently did as he was instructed. He was actually a little impressed seeing Saphira take charge like that, plus she helped him get over his fears and remember that he was supposed to be a hero. It was almost like she trained for this, but that would be impossible. Must be all those books she reads, made her smart. She’s probably a great strategist because of that. By contrast, Pipsqueak was tiny, he had a good heart and was brave (but not all THAT brave it seemed). “All done.” Pipsqueak placed the lantern on the steps to the cabin and trotted back to Snails and Saphira. Saphira nodded and her horn glowed a soft blue light, “Let’s go then.”