"...Twenty eight...Twenty nine...Thirty!!! Ready or not, here I come!" said Fluttershy, and opened her eyes. They swept the tower, but there was no trace of Fluttershy's little green friend, until Fluttershy saw a little green tail zip behind the flowerpot Fluttershy kept on the windowsill. There was silence except for the soft hum of Chrysalis's magic. Flying softly across the room, Fluttershy, she stood in front of the windowsill and pretended to survey the outside.
"Hmm....I thought for sure Pascal was hiding up here..." she said, and pretended to trot away, when she heard a little noise, like a little chuckle. Then, without hesitation, Fluttershy took a lock of her mane, threw it over the flowerpot with surprisingly good precision, and got hold of the chameleon's tail. She grabbed the lock that held Pascal and hoisted it up to her eyes and giggled softly.
"Gotcha!" she said, triumphantly, and Pascal squealed in shock.
"So......what is that? What's the score?" Fluttershy asked the cameleon, smiling.
Pascal smirked, and then pointed his tail at the wall, where there was a chart painted in purple paint. On one side, it had Fluttershy's name with a few tallies, and the other it had Pascal's. Fluttershy, with Pascal still in her hooves, flew over to the chart and examined it.
"That's another point for me....wanna do a tiebreaker?" she asked, softly, finding her paintbrush and painting another line on the wall on her side. Pascal gurgled a low sound, which Fluttershy took as a no.
"Well...what else would you rather do?" inquired the pegasus, blowing her mane out of her face. Pascal smiled(if chameleons could) and used his tail once more to point outward, beyond Fluttershy's prison and outside. Her eyes followed his tail, and her face fell.
"No...we can't do that today." she said, looking at the chameleon sadly. His face contorted into frustration, and he took one last glance outside.
"Well...it's not so bad in here. I guess it just takes a little getting used to." said Fluttershy, and landed on the stone floor. Before Pascal could answer, however, Fluttershy's butter yellow ears perked up. She heard movement outside...which meant Chrysalis must be there for mid-morning healing. Fluttershy didn't have much to hate in life, but she supposed she finally had something to. She hated how Chrysalis spoke to her, as if she were lower than the dirt. She hated how Chrysalis shamelessly used her for her own nefarious purposes...and then left Fluttershy in a dark place to do chores. Fluttershy's only hope was that her friends would somehow remember her...even after Chrysalis had told her that they wouldn't. Fluttershy clung to the hope that when she was released(or if she escaped), that she could go to her home and help her friends remember...even if that meant completely rebuilding their friendships. The movement outside got louder, and before Fluttershy knew it a familiar menacing voice was ringing through the near empty tower. She sprang into action, and took Pascal to a corner by the makeshift kitchen. They had done this before, so he went right into his hiding place, and Fluttershy resumed her place at the opening of the tower.
"Pony! Let us in." demanded the Queen.
"Couldn't you just...fly up?" called Fluttershy, softly.
"Are you mouthing off at me?" came the reply.
"No....it's just....I can't get out."
"Fine! I have to do everything around here." griped the Queen, and moments later she was looking Fluttershy straight in the eye from beyond the green barrier. The Queen ignited her horn and pointed it at the barrier, and her green magic shot out of the hole clad horn and hit the barrier, causing it to open. The Queen was not alone, as usual, and she carried yet another one of her subjects on her back. She entered the tower, and didn't say a word to Fluttershy as she set the wounded changeling down. Fluttershy gave the Queen a wide berth, refusing to go near and bother her. After the changeling was safely on the cool stone floors, the Queen looked at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy couldn't determine whether the Queen was glaring at her or looking at her with great urgency. Fluttershy wasn't going to wait around to figure it out, so she went over to the changeling and sat nearby it. She took some long locks of her pale pink mane and placed them around the wounded being. When the locks almost covered the changeling, Fluttershy opened her mouth and began to sing the healing incantation.
Flower, gleam and glow
Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine
Just as before Fluttershy's mane ignited, and every strand began to glow with a warm and powerful light. The magic slowly spread through every inch of her mane, and was around the changeling in seconds. Fluttershy looked away, refusing to look at the creature when it came to, and kept singing with all her might.
Heal what has been hurt
Change the fate's design
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine
What once was mine
Fluttershy finished the incantation, and her mane stopped glowing, the light extinguishing as fast as it had come. The changeling was fully healed for now, and it opened its hideous pale blue eyes and stared right at Fluttershy with a certain interest. The Queen went up to the changeling and waved Fluttershy away, who was happy to get out of the surrounding area. She opened her wings, grabbed as much of her mane and tail as she could in her hooves, and retreated to the upstairs, where she hid in the bedroom. She peeked through the curtains, and gathered up her mane by dragging it slowly, like she were pulling a rope, up the stairs and into where she was. The Queen took no mind of Fluttershy, and Fluttershy's fear reawakened as the Queen spoke to the healed changeling.
"So good to have you back, my loyal subject." said the Queen, triumphantly, like she herself had healed the changeling.
"Yes, your majesty." said the changeling, in a high pitched voice that sounded like claws going down a chalkboard.
"Now, you will accompany me out. We'll leave my prisoner alone for now." said the Queen, and cast a sneer at Fluttershy's trembling figure. The changeling followed the Queen in sneering, and both opened their wings and flew out the opening. Once she was out, Fluttershy could barely see it, but she saw the Queen ignite her horn and once again trap her inside. Then, silence resumed, just as it had done before.
The three thieves ran out of the train station as fast as their hooves could carry them, the pegasus still holding the satchel triumphantly. They knew for sure that the guards would be coming after them, and possibly not even on the next train. Perhaps they were flying after them right now, bringing reinforcements along with them. The three had to hurry. They found a back road behind the station running around a small town called Ponyville, and decided to take it to avoid unwanted attention. The back road was a simple dirt road that ran into a huge thicket of trees. It clearly hadn't been used in a while, because there was severe undergrowth crowding the path. Even though it was daylight, the pegasus holding the satchel couldn't see much light in the dark thicket ahead. The three stood in front of the thicket, panting for a few minutes, as if debating whether to go inside or to go through the town. The pegasus spotted two scraps of something on a nearby tree, and galloped over to it. Recognizing what it was, he ripped one of the scraps off the tree's stump and examined it while going back to his comrades.
"No, no, no, no!" he said softly, examining the parchment.
"It's terrible, you guys. It's really bad...you won't believe it." he said, looking up at them. They looked at him, expectantly, still panting. He turned the parchment around and they saw it. It was a WANTED poster, one they had seen before, with the black letters across the top and the reward at the bottom and a crude depiction of the criminal in the middle. The drawing showed a picture of what appeared to be the pegasus standing before them, except the drawing pegasus's mane stuck out at odd and bizarre angles as opposed to the real pegasus's mohawk type style. Sighing heavily, the pegasus spoke.
"They just can't get my mane right!" he said, almost whining.
"Who cares?" asked the older twin, darkly.
"That's easy for you to say." said the pegasus, going over to the tree where he had found the poster and found the other one depicting his comrades.
"HALT!" came a strong, billowing, and slightly faint voice from behind them. They all whipped around, knocked out of their trance, and saw flashes of light from high and far away in the sky. It was fuzzy, and the pegasus holding the satchel and parchment squinted to make out what had told them to stop. The three thieves were slowly backed into the underbrush to get a better look at what was after them when pegasus holding the satchel got an idea. He stuffed the parchment into the satchel and turned to one of his comrades.
"Gimme a boost real quick," he said, and one of them came over. He bowed beside the pegasus, and the pegasus took this opportunity to get onto his comrade's back. The comrade grunted to support the pegasus's weight, but the pegasus ignored this. Once on, he peered as best he could past the dark forest's canopy. Sure enough, flying quickly, were at least ten golden armor clad guards, and though they seemed far away, the pegasus knew they could be on them in a second if they didn't hurry. The pegasus jumped off his comrade's back, and landed with a soft thump on his hooves in the dirt. He looked at both of them, wiped sweat off his brow, and turned in the direction of the forest opening. He could see beams of the sun shining through the heavy canopy here and there, and enough light.
"Let's go!" he said, and galloped off, deeper and deeper into the underbrush, his comrades following close behind.
The flying guards following behind them had seen the thieves go into the forest, and flew one by one into it, their eyes adjusting to the limited light. Once inside they pursued the thieves, who they could barely see but could hear very well from the pounding of hooves on the dirt. The three thieves galloped deeper and deeper into the forest, kicking up dirt and leaves as they went, and dodging fallen trees and overgrown weeds that blocked their path. They were panting so hard that spittle was also flying everywhere, mixing with the debris, and the pegasus carrying the satchel felt exhausted. His chest was screaming and there was a strange sensation in his upper body, like he had just eaten a brick. He was breathing so fast that if somepony nearby were to hear, they would think he was hyperventilating, and he was sure that if he stopped now, he would keel over. In fact, he was so fatigued that when he ran by a tree branch, it swung out and scraped something on his back. He knew it to be the satchel, and he turned around to inspect the damage. There was a tear in the satchel's strap, so the pegasus tried to wrap it more tightly around himself, and galloped on.
He and his two comrades continued to gallop with all their might, and as they rounded a corner, light flooded their eyes and their senses. Surprised, the pegasus stopped abruptly and closed his eyes from the brightness. Dust went everywhere as the two comrades stopped abruptly as well, almost bumping into the pegasus. The three found themselves looking at an enormous stone niche, that almost looked like a wall. It was in a clearing all its own, with the trees stopping behind the three, and it was higher than the three of them standing on top of each other at least. The pegasus looked up as best he could beyond the stone wall, and he could see more forest continuing from there. He looked around, then turned around and addressed his two panting comrades.
"Okay, you guys. If you two will give me a boost, I can pull you both up from up there." he said, and pointed. After hearing this, the pegasus expected the two of them to spring into action, but instead he watched them share a look. The one who did all the talking and the older of the two faced the pegasus before speaking.
"Fine, but give us the satchel first." he said, and held out a carrot orange hoof. Seeing this, the pegasus's hooves flew to the satchel's strap, almost protectively.
"What? But...I..." the pegasus stammered, still clutching the strap.
"Do you two not trust me, after all we have done so far?" he asked, and felt a surge of betrayal. The twins didn't say anything, and they both wore a flat look to show they were serious. Seeing a flash of light in the forest behind them, he slowly took the satchel over his head and off himself and placed it in his comrade's hoof.
"We don't have time to stand around. Let's go!" he said, watching his comrade put the satchel around himself, not notcing the tear. His partners sprang into action, the youngest twin taking a place against the stone. The stone seemed to be facing north, the guards were coming from the south, and the twin was facing west. The second twin, the one holding the satchel, got atop the younger, the younger grunting in pain from the weight of his brother. The pegasus was the last to go, and he tried to hurry without being caught. He knew the guards could reach them at any moment. He climbed up the twin's makeshift ladder, all the while hearing the twins grunt in pain from his weight. On the way, he pretended to accidentally fall ever so slightly on the younger twin's good eye, causing a yelp of pain from the younger and a reprimand from the older. The pegasus played dumb and yelled apologies down after him and continued going up.
When he reached the older twin ever so quietly and without the older twin noticing, the pegasus outstretched his good wing, reached it out as far as it could go, near to where the older twin had it fastened, and the pegasus went slightly slower to get it off the older twin. The pegasus found the tear with his eyes, and eased his wing around it. In one swift movement he shot his good wing up, and the satchel's strap tore, allowing him to take the satchel quickly and hide it with his wings. He climbed up over the older twin and climbed a little more, all the while sweat and fear pulsing all around his body, and fumbled along the stone until finally reaching the top. He felt the soft grass around his tired hooves, and wanted to collapse then and there. He set the satchel beside him where he knew the twins could not see it, and sat there panting for a second or two. A voice came over the side of the stone, and the pegasus remembered what he was supposed to do.
"Hey! Thundersqueak!" said the older twin, and the pegasus grimaced at the demeaning nickname the older had given him a while back. He poked his head out of his hiding spot and almost came face to face with the two brothers, who hadn't moved from their positions. The older was craning to see the pegasus where he stood, and the younger's good eye was puffed up and red, tears streaming out of it from where the pegasus had stepped on it.
"Help us up there!" the older demanded, rotating himself on his brother ever so slightly so that he could face the pegasus and throwing up a carrot orange hoof. The pegasus panted slightly, saw a faint flash of gold and heard wings flap softly, and reached for the satchel and got it in his hooves. He smirked slyly and looked down at the older, who seemed to be getting angry through his fear.
"Sorry....my hooves are full." the pegasus said slyly, held up the satchel triumphantly, and turned and galloped away, securing it under his bad wing, where he knew it wouldn't be harmed. Getting an eyeful of this, the older twin looked down and around himself, as if to see the satchel once strapped firmly there.
"What?!" he asked, aloud, exasperated. He couldn't begin to believe what had just happened. Seeing that the double crossing thief was gone, he angrily shouted after the pegasus in hopes that the pegasus would come back and help like he agreed.
"THUNDERLANE!!"
The sound of the older twin's yelling reached Thunderlane very quickly, but he didn't think of stopping. He knew the guards were almost right behind him, and he had to find a place to hide before nightfall if he had any chance of getting to White-Tail Wood in a few days. If he found a place, he would go to the wood as fast as he could, sell the tiara, make a bundle, and settle somewhere remote, rich and happy. They would catch the twin comrades any minute now, and be on Thunderlane like caramel on a candy apple. Through his thoughts, Thunderlane didn't concentrate on where he was going and almost collided with a fallen tree. Thunderlane slowed, jumped over the tree, barely missing it, and got a back hoof-ful of something sticky and warm.
He turned and looked and saw a glob of amber colored tree sap stuck to the back of his hoof. Getting an idea, he quickly peeled a bit off his hoof and took the satchel out from under his bad wing. He got both ends of the broken strap in one hoof, and carefully eased the hoof covered in sap near both ends. He slathered the sap on both ends, then rubbed the sap off of him on his cloak, then stuck the two ends together. They stuck together, and held fast. It wasn't perfect, but it would work until he could get somepony to sew it, or until he stole a new one. He secured the satchel on himself tightly, looked behind him, and saw a quick flash of gold. The guards weren't far behind now, and Thunderlane took this time to gallop away.
Meanwhile, not to far away from where Thunderlane was trying to gallop away to safety, Queen Chrysalis looked out among many healed subjects, fealing more triumphant than ever. She had asked all of her subjects that had been healed so far to meet her in the once grand ballroom of the crumbling castle. Excited chatters filled the room as Chrysalis entered, but as she passed, slowly but surely, a quiet issued around the room. When she reached the head of the room, the room was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop, if possible. She reached the head of the room, outstretched her wings grandly, and faced her audience.
"My loyal subjects!" she said, soon to be victory surging through her chest. The changelings around her acknowledged her, but they knew better to not speak unless directly and individually spoken to.
"It has been a long time since I have seen this many of you this healthy, and it pleases me! Even now, almost every one of us has healed! It will be a short time now before I can truly address you all. That aside, I have called you all here today to discuss tactics about our attack on Canterlot and about your daily healings. As you all know, our prisoner will continue to stay with us and heal us when we need it, but once we take Canterlot, you all will never have to suffer again!" she said, her voice ringing out against the crumbling ballroom.
A low cheer started in the back, but soon all of the changelings took up this cheer, and once again the dissapating ballroom was filled with sound. The changelings were pleased, and the Queen took this pleasure as a sign to continue. She smiled out across her almost completed army, and held up her hole-filled hoof to silence the cheers. Once they had died down, she spoke again.
"We attack Canterlot in almost a week." she said.
"A week, your majesty?" A single voice rang out against the crowd, and many changelings sitting around the speaker turned to see who had spoken. Chrysalis honed her vision on who had spoken, and ever so slightly, her smile faded. It was the old changeling from before, the one who had told her that they move somewhere else for food. Chrysalis hadn't been bothered by him before, but now it seemed he wanted to argue rather than avoid suffering forever.
"Yes, a week." she said to the changeling, and turned back to face the crowd. Now that that was out of the way she would continue with her speech. She opened her mouth to speak, but the old changeling spoke instead.
"Your majesty, with all due respect, I humbly ask why a week would be suitable to wait to attack. Might I suggest more time, perhaps? Two weeks, at least, or a month, if you find that to be okay...."
The Queen turned her gaze to the old changeling, who had risen to his hooves now. Leave it to him to spoil her good mood. He was almost as bad as her prisoner. She put on a look of sheer annoyance and anger, and felt the words pulse out of her before she had a chance to react.
"SILENCE! You old fool! You are not even fit to scrub my back hooves, much less fight in my army, but I healed you because you will somehow be of use to me. A week we will prepare, and in a week will we go. During that week we will heal and train up. We will perfect our magic skills, and stockpile supplies for when we take Canterlot. In fact, if possible, we may even try to get our hooves on some weapons, to best Celestia's guards." she spat in the old changeling's direction, and she watched as he slowly sat back down. She turned away from him and addressed the crowd again, her good mood crushed.
"We will go in a week, my subjects, as I said before. We need supplies, as you all know, and among these will be places of dwelling. Of course you will all have your own homes to infiltrate, and your own ponies to feed off of, but most of you won't be able to enjoy these pleasures for long. Once we have captured Celestia, Luna, and that awful Twilight and her friends, we will dispose of them by either placing them in dungeons or sucking the life out of them. There will be plenty of ponies and guards to go around, so you will not go hungry. Most of you will be around the borders of Canterlot, for security purposes. But, I figure that once Equestria finally realizes that something is up they will come. I'm sure my dear friend Princess Cadence will come, along with Shining Armor.
"They will surely bring guards and such, and when they do most of you will be fighting them. I will take the Princess and Shining Armor. From there we will fight as Equestria comes to us, and soon we will have Equestria, this I am sure of. What you must do is train up, and train hard, and if you do, I assure you we will have Equestria. But until you do, there will be no love to have. Can I trust that each and every one of you, including myself, will work as hard as you can? Together, we will take Equestria?" she asked, her voice ringing out.
Before any changeling could answer, however, the crumbling ballroom's door burst open, and in ran one of Queen Chrysalis's more loyal subjects, Rust. She panted heavily, and from where the Queen stood she could see that Rust was sweating profusely and appeared to be coming back from a run of some sort. The changeling's attention shifted from Chrysalis to the oncoming distraction. Rust came in the door, panted, and the door closed behind her before she could speak.
"Your majesty!" she said, her small voice projecting across the ballroom.
"What is it?" demanded the Queen, fuming because Rust had interrupted her speech.
"Your majesty, we have reports that several ponies are coming extremely close to our base, and fast!"
"What?" The Queen asked.
"Yes, unidentified ponies were seen by one of ours moments ago!"
The Queen's mind sparked in an instant. The changelings began to hastily stir around her. She knew they were itching for a fight and a snack.
"Attention, my subjects!!" shouted the Queen over the stirring. The crowd quieted once more, and she had their attention again.
"I will go and see about these mysterious beings. Perhaps they will run right by, and miss our base. But I will go and see this. If I get caught, they will see only me and not all of you. I leave at once. Dismissed!" she said, hastily, and opened her wings. She lifted herself off the dirty ballroom floor and flew over her subjects, over Rust, past the withering columns, and out the dissapating door.
It was now that the guards could see their culprit in full sight. He was a cloaked pegasus, but his hood was down, and even though they could only see the back of his head, they knew that he was their stallion, from his white-blue mohawk mane style. The head guard turned to those flying around him, all the while dodging trees and other debris the stallion was kicking up.
"Retrieve the satchel at any cost! Capture the thief and we'll put him with the others!" shouted the head guard, dodging a tree.
"Yes, sir!" chorused the guards following behind him.
Thunderlane heard the orders loud and clear, but he was more worried on where he was going. He had been in the Everfree Forest before while trying to get away from his many heists, but he had never been in this particular part before. He swallowed those thoughts, however, and concentrated on the getaway, the satchel firmly by his side. Thunderlane darted this way and that, dodging fallen trees, overgrown weeds, and vegetation that had grown over the narrow path.
The head guard squinted to make out where the path ahead lay, but he couldn't see much of anything. He pulled his crossbow from its place around his neck, and, steadying himself, aimed right at Thunderlane's leg. The other guards around him followed suit, and took their crossbows from themselves as well. The head guard shot first, and when he did, there was a small noise of something kicking off another, and a slim arror shot through the air faster than a bullet. One by one, the other guards fired too, and their arrows shot through the air as well. Meanwhile, Thunderlane, with no idea that the guards were armed, bounded over a fallen tree. He didn't hear the arrows behind him, but he leaped just in time. The arrows, scattered from all different places, landed not on the target, but on the fallen tree. Hearing the noise, Thunderlane galloped away, but turned around ever so slightly to see that the guards were armed and that the arrows they had shot at him landed on a tree.
Thunderlane galloped farther and farther, his sight becoming more limited the farther he went in. However, through the dim light, he saw something coming up into his line of sight. It was a huge and oddly misshapen tree, one that had branches on all sides, but a large pony shaped hole in the middle. He galloped toward it, the tree giving him new hope. The guards behind him didn't see the tree at first, and some of them were aiming their crossbows at Thunderlane when the thief bounded through a hole that they did not get a chance to see. The sounds of their crashes echoed through the suspected empty forest, but one managed to get through. The head guard, though upset about the other guards, he knew his duty was to catch Thunderlane. He would attend to the others once this was accomplished. With this thought fresh in his mind, he pursued Thunderlane as fast as his wings could carry him, not noticing that something else was flying beside him, covered by the trees.
Queen Chrysalis flew dangerously close to the head guard, knowing he was too busy trying to catch somepony than to notice her. She had the lack of light to cloak her, and she flew ahead, towards the other pony. In his effort to get away, Thunderlane didn't notice the Queen either, and instead looked behind him to see how far away the head guard was. The Queen knew that these two were dangerously close to where her army and prisoner were, so she debated with herself as she flew along, dodging trees and other debris. Should she knock these two ponies unconscious, or wait until they slowed down, exhausted, to take them back to her camp? She got so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the oncoming events. Thunderlane found a vine ahead of him, grabbed it, and propelled himself into the air. Chrysalis didn't even get a chance to react, because before she knew it he had swung out out of nowhere and hit her straight in the head, causing her to recoil and stop flying, and come crashing towards the ground. The sound of her crash was swallowed by the empty forest air. Meanwhile, Thunderlane, while thrilled that he was able to fly a little bit again, felt something solid yet soft hit his back hoof as he whizzed by on the vine.
Did I hit a tree?, he thought to himself, but shrugged it off. He concentrated on where he was whizzing to. The vine he was clutching whipped around the tree it was attatched to, and Thunderlane could then see the guard in plain sight. He did some quick thinking as the vine drew him ever closer, and he reached the conclusion just as the vine swung him through the air and onto the head guard's back. The weight of Thunderlane crashing on his wing startled the guard, and so he spun out of control with Thunderlane still on his back, and finally hit the ground with surprising force. There was silence for a moment, and Thunderlane took this opportunity to get off the guard's back/wing, and gallop away.
Once he got off the guard's back, he looked back at the guard, who had his head down in the dirt, Thunderlane turned slowly away, panting slightly, and kicked up his forelegs to begin running again, when he felt a strange force around his neck. He stopped, turned around, and saw the head guard sitting up, his face smeared with dirt and sweat and anger, and in his mouth Thunderlane saw that he had the satchel. The two looked at each other awkwardly for a few moments, and Thunderlane carefully took the strap of the satchel that was around him, secured it in his mouth, and carefully began to pull against the guard's grip.
Seeing Thunderlane fight back, the guard tightened his grip and pulled the satchel his way. Thunderlane increased his grip, and pulled the satchel his way, anger sprouting in his chest. Soon the two were in a tug of war, right in the middle of the forest. The head guard stood up, planted all four hooves in the dirt, and pulled with all his might, and Thunderlane mirrored his actions and pulled just as hard. The satchel went back and forth for a few moments, and it was then that Thunderlane used his last burst of energy to pull with everything he had left. The guard did the same, and their energies were at a stalemate. The satchel, however, could not take the ponies' fighting, and snapped under the pressure, the force of both ponies' pulling propelling it through the air, through a thicket of trees, and into the light. Thunderlane and the head guard exchanged glances, then galloped after it.
They came out of the trees and were hit with a burst of light, and both shielded their eyes. They were on the edge of a cliff, with trees all around them and no land out from the cliff. The only thing on the cliff was an overgrown tree trunk, that had grown out horizontally, almost like a makeshift bridge. Thunderlane and the guard's eyes searched frantically for the satchel, but it was Thunderlane who found the satchel first, and the guard simply looked where Thunderlane was looking. The satchel was almost off the cliff, and it's strap hung haphazardly off the last branch of the overgrown tree trunk. The head guard and Thunderlane exchanged another glance, and both started after the satchel at the same time. In an attempt to retrieve the satchel first, Thunderlane shoved the head guard to the ground and tried his best to gallop away when he felt a force on his back hoof, and he was sent to the ground. He turned to see that the head guard was the first one on the overgrown tree trunk, walking slowly towards the satchel.
Thunderlane scrambled up onto his hooves, and without really thinking, leaped into the air. The head guard didn't notice Thunderlane come up behind him, so when he felt a strong weight on his back again, he winced from the pain in his wing and grunted. Once on the head guard, Thunderlane used the guard's back to propel himself up and over the guard and nearer to the satchel. While Thunderlane was looking back slyly at the guard in pain, he must have misstepped, because instead of landing on his feet, he landed on the trunk, slipped, fell, and grabbed the first thing he thought to grab. When he carefully opened his eyes, he found that he was facing the tree trunk. He carefully turned his head, fear pumping through his veins, and looked down. It was a sheer drop, and Thunderlane couldn't see the ground below. He gulped, and moved his head around the tree thrunk and came face to face with the head guard. It was then that he realized the situation he was in. The guard was above him standing on the tree trunk, and Thunderlane was along the underside of the tree, hanging on for dear life.
Once the head guard saw Thunderlane, Thunderlane saw a flash of anger paint his face. The head guard's hoof hit the tree trunk with such surprising force that even the vibrations of it made Thunder dizzy. The vibrations told Thunder that the guard may be trying to step on his hooves and cause him to fall, so he began crawling in the direction of the satchel, which was now ahead of him on the tree. Seeing Thunderlane move, the head guard continued to try and step on Thunderlane's hooves, and barely missing them as Thunderlane crawled farther down. The satchel was slipping ever so slightly, and just before it could slip off of the branch it was on, Thunderlane steadied himself, put his weight on three hooves, and stuck out one to grab the satchel. He did, and once he did he put two hooves up and over the tree trunk as quick as he could before the head guard could react. Holding the satchel up triumphantly while fear and anxiety pulsed through his veins, Thunderlane smiled at the head guard.
"Hah!" he said.
CRACK
Before the head guard could respond or tell Thunderlane that he wasn't going to get away with what he was doing, a sharp cracking sound filled the air around them. Thunderlane's heart jumped up into his throat, and the anger that painted the head guard's face morphed into fear. Both looked slowly over to the side of the cliff, where the beginning of the tree began, and the noise sounded again. This time, instead of a noise, the tree broke off the side of the cliff and began whizzing down at what felt like a hundred miles an hour. Thunderlane was pressed up against the tree at the force of the tree falling, and he settled in a sort of frog position. The head guard wasn't doing much better; he was pressed down on the tree as well, all four hooves wrapped around it tightly. Both yelled in fear as the tree plummeted downwards toward a rock, and Thunderlane squeezed his eyes as tightly as they would go and awaited death.
Instead of crashing, however, the tree hit the rock and split in two, sending Thunderlane one way and the head guard the next. Thunderlane was still squeezing his eyes closed, and didn't see where his half of the trunk finally landed. In a burst of pain, the tree trunk landed un-gracefully, in something very soft. After a few moments, Thunderlane carefully opened one eye and surveyed his surroundings. The tree trunk had rolled out from under him and now lay just a few feet away. He craned his neck and was able to see barely over the boulder, and when he did get an eyeful, he gasped. He was in soft, green grass, and in front of him was a waterfall of green vines. There were trees everywhere, but they weren't as thick as the ones from before. In fact, there was more light in this forest as opposed to the other one. The satchel was laying beside him as well, and using one of his hooves, he opened the flap and studied the crown, which appeared unharmed.
He sighed in relief, and closed the flap. He tried to sit up, and when he did a pain shot up his back where his injured wing was. He sighed, and thanked Celestia that he didn't injure his wing further. He suspected the injury was still in shock of the fall, as he was. He tried sitting up again, and succeeded, and lay his back up against the boulder, facing the waterfall of vines. Studying them carefully, he wondered what was on the other side of them. Probably rocks or another animal's home. It was not very important to Thunderlane, and he stopped studying them and laid his head up against the boulder, thankful for the chance to rest.
Meanwhile the head guard had crashed pretty lightly, rolling down a hill in the same soft green grass. Since he hadn't fallen very hard, he got to his hooves in almost an instant. He carefully ran one of his forehooves over his other hooves and back, just to make sure that he didn't break anything. Once his inspection was complete, he sighed heavily, and focused his mind on the mission. He didn't think of how tired he was, how worried he was that he might be lost, or how badly he wanted to drag his sorry self to Canterlot and go to bed. He began to walk forward, even though he didn't have the slightest idea where he was going.
Thunderlane heard hoofsteps nearby him and every one of his tired muscles tensed up. He carefully peeked one brown eye around the side of the boulder, and immediately went back behind the boulder once he saw who it was. It was the head guard, and he looked in almost the same shape as Thunderlane. Thunderlane pressed his body up against the boulder and prayed the guard would not see him.
The head guard's ears perked up, and he could have sworn he heard grass rustling, but when he listened harder, he heard nothing and walked on.
Once the guard was out of sight, Thunderlane double checked to see if he was really gone, and once the coast was clear, he stood up, carefully. He secured the satchel around himself, and faced the waterfall of vines once more.
"Hey!" called an all too familiar voice. Without thinking, Thunderlane turned to look at who was addressing him, and tripped and fell into the vines. Surprisingly though, instead of feeling a rock on the other side, he felt nothing, and almost fell into the space. He went inside the space, flipping his cloak's hood up over his head, found a rock in the space, and crouched low. The shadow of the head guard could be seen through the vines, and Thunderlane heard him pant, as if he had galloped there just now. Thunderlane tensed up, and he could hear his heartbeat roaring in his ears.
"Hmm....I guess it was nothing." said the head guard to his inferred self, and Thunderlane watched as the guard slowly trudged away. Thunderlane waited a few more precious moments in case the guard came back, but only heard silence. When he figured he was finally alone, he lifted the cloak's hood off of his head, and took in his surroundings. He was in a cave of some sort, but there was light ahead. Looking behind him once more, he followed the light out, came out of the cave and stopped right at the entrance.
He was standing in a beautiful yet very secluded clearing, with immensely high stone walls, probably taller than at least thirty or fifty ponies standing on top of each other. There were some trees around him, but not very many, and a majestic waterfall was spilling over the sides of one section of the stone wall, and this waterfall flowed all the way down into a cool, clear pool, that ran all the way to where Thunderlane was standing and beyond. There was clean, emerald green grass everywhere, with flowers growing here and there, and patches of where the grass had clumped and almost had become like a pillow. But the scenery around Thunderlane wasn't what confused and surprised him the most.
It was the long, painfully tall and painfully narrow tower that stood at the edge of the clearing. It was a little distance away from the stone walls, and the sun seemed to beam right on it. It was white, with vines and other plants growing around it, and if Thunderlane really squinted, he could see a small opening at the top, but he didn't think anypony lived in it. It was probably abandoned, and yet the perfect place to stay until he got to White-Tail Wood.
Though Thunderlane could stay around and admire the scenery forever, a noise from beyond the cave startled him into moving again. It was a yelp, a deep and male one, and Thunderlane recognized it from earlier. It was the head guard, and what was worse, he sounded dangerously close. Thunderlane trotted out away from his spot and began going up to the tower. He would hide there until it was safe to come out, and maybe stay awhile. As he trotted closer, it felt like the sunlight almost got stronger, and before he knew it he was smack dab in front of the tower. He looked up, and gulped. It was almost taller than he had seen it previously.
Don't worry, Thunderlane. You've climbed much bigger structures than this, said a little voice in Thunderlane's mind.
With this thought giving him courage, he placed one hoof on the structure, and found it not to be crumbling. With this in mind, he hoisted himself up on the tower, and put one hoof in front of the other, placing them on the bricks and sometimes on the vines. He climbed farther for the sake of some well deserved rest, and he panted as he hoisted himself higher and higher. When he reached the opening of the tower, he looked through the opening and found that the tower was almost completely empty, at least from the outside. Without looking down or hesitating, he steadied himself, and jumped into the opening. While jumping through, he could have sworn that he felt a strange energy pass by him as he went into the tower.
Once on all four hooves, he grabbed the satchel from around him, and opened the flap once more to check on the crown. It was there, undamaged, and smiled up at him. He panted, and then sighed in relief.
"Alone...at last." he said, and then the back of his head exploded in pain.