Chapter III. - A First Glance
Ento rested in a clearing, watching the dragonflies dance in the reflection of the twilight sky. The perfect reflection of the pond almost looked as though they were great dragons battling within the infinite space of a darkening arena.
He sighed, feeling a creeping ache settle into his legs. It had been about a week since his incident with the cryptic witch. After regaining consciousness, he had found himself lying among briar bushes in the middle of the Northern forest, and judging by the position of the moon, he figured that he had been out for a good hour. Since then, he had been traveling northward, starting from the beginnings of dusk and setting down at sunrise to rest in rough beds of branches, wrapped in a wool blanket that he had brought with him.
Ento blinked to clear his sleep-filled eyes, and letting out a deep yawn, his mouth seemed to open into a vicious maw of razor teeth: an evolutionary offshoot that remained in the Ekina’s modern world. Stopping to admire his incisors, he clicked his jaw open and closed. Most Ekina prided themselves on the length and sharpness of their teeth, and spent elaborate time ensuring they were well taken care of.
Ento smiled coyly into the pond at the reflection of the darkening sky. Twilight had always been his absolute favorite time of the night. The ambiguous and magical presence he felt as the blue sky was replaced by the grand assortment of stars left an extraordinary feeling deep in his gut. He knew it was something greater than himself. It had never ceased to amaze him, and he doubted that it ever would.
After a time, he stood up gingerly, stretching his fore and aft legs, and finally his neck and head. With sensitive eyes, Ento scanned the dark clearing to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. Finally satisfied at the site, he loaded up and took off. Being an Ekina, he was most active during the early evening to late morning and had been traveling as such. Ekinas had no problem spending waking hours in the sun, but the intricacy of their eyes was developed generally for the darkness that their ancestors had hunted in. Daytime travel resulted in no more than a slight headache for the nocturnal beings.
After leaving the clearing, he let out another sigh, and made a glance along the dirt path he had been on for over seven hundred miles. Trotting along, he looked at hoofprints that had been etched into the hard packed dirt. As he wondered what Ekina there were so far out from the kingdom, he realized that he had barely seen another living thing on his journey. Indeed, past the North gate, he had found no other sentient creatures. His last contact was his run in with the witch, and save for a hoof full of opossums, bats and owls, the trip had been considerably lonely. Ento began to have doubts that the journey was even worth the effort.
To top off everything, the thick, swampy grey clouds that had chased him in from the south looked dangerously like:
Rain.
Ento trudged forward, shivering in his overcoat in the dead of night. The sheets of rain blasted him sideways, sending miniature tidal waves off of his waterproof overcoat. At least, it was supposed to be waterproof. He cringed, feeling bitterly cold water drops collecting along his back and running down his legs.
Alik’Kr curse my damn bad luck, he thought, stumbling over a root exposed by the rushing water. He had no idea where he was going. The rain obscured his sensitive vision, and rendered his nighttime sight useless. He stumbled around a half mile more, almost blind and soaking wet in the unrelenting rain that pelted his face in every direction. Unable to see where he was going, he eventually tripped once more and dropped straight to the ground.
I give up. I just give up. He sobbed, exasperated. Cold, tired, and hungry, he laid splayed out on the ground where he had fallen, covered in thick, disgusting mud. The rain pelted him mercilessly, stinging any exposed skin with frigid, blistering drops.
Ento couldn’t tell if he were crying: the water ran down the edge of his hood onto his face, rushing away any tears that sprang up. Or perhaps my tears simply are the rain, he mused morbidly. He shut his stinging eyes tight.
When he finally opened them- it seemed like eternities had passed- he saw, in the distance, a light. Captured by the brilliance of this solitary signal in the dark, he numbly stood up and began walking towards it. Ento didn’t know where he was going or what he would find, but he could feel the threads of eternity guiding him. He knew something good would come of it. It had to.
. . . .
Twilight Sparkle sat in bed, finishing up Spirits of the Mountain Spring- a recent personal favorite about a troupe of ponies and a hidden crypt. As she finished the last sentence, she smiled weakly and blinked her tired eyes.
“Such a great story… but I need some sleep,” she mumbled wearily, and got up to turn off the reading lamp. I can’t believe I stayed up so late finishing that book! she thought, glancing at the clock. The time read nearly half past three. Oh well, it was worth it, she decided with a slight chuckle.
She glanced at Spike’s bed, empty now, since he had gone with Rarity to a fashion debut in Manehatten to help her keep track of things. Which meant schlepping everything around… she added. Not that Spike would mind anyways. I’m sure he’ll be way too distracted by Rarity’s showers of appreciation. She chuckled tiredly again.
Twilight passed by the window and gazed down onto Ponyville. Not a single light was on around, and water smashed up against the gilded window. Just as she was about to turn around to switch off the light, her eye caught a shape moving slowly outside in the dark.
A figure in a black coat and hood trudged through the torrents of rain. Nothing but the tip of a grey-green snout and a short, jet black tail stuck out from the cloak, water dripping off from both exposed ends. Twilight gasped. That poor pony! Caught outside in this storm... I’ll get them in here and dried off. Maybe a hot meal will be in order…
Her mind raced as fast as her hooves as she ran downstairs and threw open the door.
. . . .
Ento came to the source of the light and looked up: a giant tree. A single window lay lit, the light a blur in the drenched sky. He squinted up, and thought he saw something at the window… but by the time he had wiped the rain out of his face, whatever it was had gone. Ento stood still for a heartbeat, and then began trudging towards the bi-sectioned door.
As he took his first step, the door flung open and he saw a… Something. Ento stopped as he saw a purple animal. It looked similar to an Ekina, but slightly smaller, far more colorful, and most significantly, lacking the long, swept back horns that were a prominent feature of the Ekina. There was, instead, a single horn that protruded from the creature’s bobbed mane. Ento cocked his head as he heard a voice faintly between the roars of thunder.
“…On in…Hurry! The storm… Dry inside!”
That was all Ento needed to hear to be convinced the creature was safe. Four hours of wandering in drenching rain and crackling lightning could drive even the most obstinate Ekina inside. Ento picked up a brisk trot towards the door, and clambered inside. The creature turned behind him and shut the door tightly, insulating the two against nature’s fury. The moan of the storm died away to a murmur.
Ento walked further into the room, awed at the multitude of books that lined the walls. He knew he’d be happy being stuck inside here. He lowered his hood and turned to the creature, smiling grandly. He winced as he was met with a piercing scream.
. . . .
As Twilight shut the door and locked it, she drew up questions in her mind about her new guest: What’s your name? Where are you from? How’d you get caught up in that awful storm? What can I do to help? She smiled and looked over at her guest for the first time in any detail.
Her smile lessened as it dropped its hood to reveal long, sweeping horns, and her expression turned to a frightened contortion as it turned to face her, displaying a mouthful of long, razor sharp teeth, and deep crimson eyes, the pupils unnaturally twisted and strange. Its cropped mane and disturbingly thin build only added to the horrifying image. Twilight shrieked out a bloodcurdling scream and backed up until she hit the door, and kept backing up, her numb mind fruitlessly trying to escape the sadistic visage she saw in front of her.
. . . .
Ento stood dumbfounded, smile dropping as he witnessed the purple creature’s horrifying shock. He dropped his pack, and the cord that held it shut snapped, spilling its contents on the floor with a loud crash and his belongings flew every which-way in the room. Ento glanced down as his book The Exploits and Voyages of Entar’Ma the Brave skidded across the floor. It stopped halfway between him and the purple creature.
It had stopped screaming when the sack burst open, and sat whimpering at the foot of the door. Ento saw it glance down at the book, and he followed its gaze down to the black leather cover.
. . . .
Twilight’s heart was racing. She had watched the creature’s pack fall to the floor and burst open, alien things scattering in all directions across the room. Her keen librarian’s eyes had locked onto the black leather-bound book as it launched out and slid across the floor. It stopped in between them, and she made out the title, written in gilded gold letters.
She looked up at the creature once more. Its gruesome grin had disappeared, and was replaced with a look of startled confusion. The voracious look that had filled its eyes had disappeared. He (she assumed it was a male) pawed at the ground with a hoof, seemingly embarrassed, and looked as though he obviously had no clue what the cause of her reaction was.
My gosh, she thought, I don’t think he realizes what a fright he looks! In fact, I’m sure I look quite alien in his eyes as well! Twilight slowly stood up, trembling violently at the scare she had just had.
“H-Hi,” she managed to stammer to him. He looked down at her quizzically, eyebrow raised. With a deep, liquid voice he replied:
“Hello to you as well.”