Luna darted along the path. Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flash followed behind her, trying to catch up. The queen looked over her shoulder to check if they were keeping pace. By what she'd seen, it was clear that she was going to fast. The blue mare came to a halt and waited patiently for them to reach her. She felt a sting of hate for herself, she had forgotten that Cadence was pregnant. Running must have been hard on her.
Ceasing the running, Flash heaved a question to the queen, “Excuse me, but where exactly are we heading?” That's right. Luna had forgotten to tell them their destination. Stuck in her thoughts, the three waited patiently for her to say something.
“We've got two more troops to meet at Neighagra Falls. From there, we'll continue to the Foal Mountains. Once we're there, I'll explain the rest of the way,” she informed them. She quickly drew a map in the soil just in case none of them understood her rambling.
“Wait, two other troops? May I ask who?” Shining Armor asked. His brow was raised. Princess Cadence looked worried as well. The queen blamed herself for them not understanding what she was planning. The mare looked down to her legs, the black infection was spreading towards her chest.
“A troop of Griffons and another of Timber wolves,” she muttered before continuing, “Now come on, we're almost there!” The alicorn could hear a shout of protest from either Flash or Shining, but she didn't play much mind to it. Luna required all the help she could get.
The sound a rushing water entered their ears. They were nearing the falls and with that they could also hear voices. That must be them, Luna thought. The group of four raced around the corner to see the two troops at the top of the falls conversing with each other.
“Luna!” a male griffon called. He gestured his talons towards his two companions to fly down to meet her. Three timber wolves stood beside him before they followed his party members down the side of the falls.
Putting on a deadpanned expression, the two griffons stopped in front of the queen and her troop. They stood side by side and kept silent until there leader stood between them. Luna dipped her head to them. She was confused on how the griffon who called to her had such a confident expression on his face despite the matter that they were combining their powers on.
“This is Anubis. He's the leader of his kind. The one on his right is Aellai and the one on his left is Ariston,” the queen introduced. Princess Cadence bowed her head down to Anubis and he kindly returned it.
Anubis was a sturdy built griffon. His fur and feathers were dark brown. His guards were in sharply made armor. It was a silver metallic and reflected off the light of the sun. Ariston seemed like a shadow with floating eyes in his armor. The griffon was completely black. If it were night and he was stripped of his armor, nopony would be able to find him. Aellai was a female griffon. Her face and beak were roughly shaped. She had a light blue body with white spots. Luna could clearly see places on her wings where she was missing feathers.
A snort came from Flash when the timber wolves approached them. The three creatures were basically mirrors of each other, but there was a certain color around each of their wooden necks. “I am Stor, their leader. These are my guards Tommer and Ulver. I want to make it clear that they will protect me at all costs,” the leader said. He eyed each and every pony and griffon. The Timber wolves weren't on good terms with most species of Equestria, especially equines.
“I give you my gratitude for helping me on this journey. I know our kinds are not exactly on great terms,” Luna spoke, she bowed down onto the floor. This surprised Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flash. Seeing the great queen bow down to a timber wolf was shocking, but it just made a bigger reason to help her. Bringing herself back to a full stand, the combined troop looked at each other awkwardly.
“Mighty Queen, are we going to stand here and waste time like fools or are we going to get a move on?” Stor growled. The queen nodded before opening her wings, “Everypony ready?” They each blasted their wings open with great force.
“Shining Armor, will you be fine walking with the Timber wolves while we fly ahead?” Luna asked. The stallion wobbled uncomfortably, non-responding.
“Queen Luna, I will stay on the ground with him if you wish me too. Well, if that is fine with you, Sir Anubis,” Aellai offered. Her leader nodded his head, allowing her to stay. Stor cursed under his breath and started walking before it turned into a sprint. Shining Armor and Aellai glanced at each other before following the wooden wolves. They made sure to run at full speed to be able to catch up with them.
“Alright, let's fly!” Anubis shouted. He gave a powerful flap to launch himself into the air. As did the rest of them. Flying alongside each other they made their way to their first stop.
Princess Cadence could spot the tips of the mountains from a far. “Do you think the air is thick enough to breathe?” she called out the question and let the wind carry it to Luna and Anubis who were far ahead of the group.
“I'm not sure! I don't want to take any chances. We might need to fly ahead and wait for them at the base,” Luna answered. She was slowing down her flight speed so they could group together and converse.
“We might have to do that anyways. That guard pony and those timber wolves would take forever to us at the peak,” Ariston spoke out. Princess Cadence looked down at her hooves, her husband and father to her unborn foal was a part of the reason why they could not take the easy way. Flash patted her back with his hoof to reassure her. Luna took agreement to the guard's idea and flew towards the earthed ground.
Gliding to the floor, they each patiently took a seat on their haunches. Luna shook the loose bandage from her foreleg. Revealing the black fur, Anubis couldn't stop staring. The Crystal Princess and Flash did their best to look away rather than stare along with the griffon leader. “Could you not stare please?” Luna tried to ask in a polite manner.
“Oh, yes. I apologize,” the brown hued griffon blinked before looking away. He glanced over to several different directions until directing his gaze to the sky. The griffon couldn't help but to glance back over to her. “I'm sorry, but may I ask how this happened?”
The images flashed into her mind. It was overwhelming, it was like she was reliving the events. Most of all she saw the face of Midnight laughing at her. Her body started shaking with fear until she let out loud screams. She attacked Anubis and started pounding her hooves onto his face. She felt his sharp beak clamp down onto her foreleg multiple times, but was too angry and scared enough to care. She couldn't keep the rage in.
A powerful force threw her away from the griffon. Her body slammed against the jagged surface of the mountain. She felt blood pour from her head as she slide down, it left a messy stripe of blood on the mountain's side. Collapsed on the floor, she saw blurs of their bodies moving around in a panic until the world faded away.