//------------------------------// // Field Trip // Story: The Veins Run Deep // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// The sun rose over the valley, nice and steadily, gradually filling the three mile-wide bowl in the earth with bright, golden rays of warm sunlight as it rose past the peaks just east of Vanhoover. Clouds rarely dotted the sky as they slowly slid through the air, following the breeze as it went east. In the cave colony built into one of the smaller peaks, Bloodvein stepped outside into the world as it woke up at a pace most would find annoyingly slow, yet the young colt didn't mind. Instead of typically waiting for his parents, he knew his father had an early shift that morning, while his mother needed her rest if she were to deliver a healthy foal soon. The young colt packed his saddle bags, then trotted off to his school. Outside the school, the teacher counted heads and wrote on a checklist to see who was attending, and who would not be. "Alright, children. Is Bloodvein here?" The teacher looked around, not spotting the charcoal-grey colt. The fillies and colts looked between each other, some snickering at the thought of his name, until the little colt rushed up to them. "I'm here!" Blood panted slightly, after having to run almost the entire way. The teacher smiled warmly and checked Bloodvein off her list of foals who attended. "Perfect! Are we ready to go?" The foals cheered, a confirmation that they were ready. The light grey-coated thestral mare's smile grew with each passing moment of the excitement visible on her students' faces, beginning to lead the pack of colts and fillies through the carved-out town, towards the exit leading to the outside world. As the teacher stepped outside into the sunlight, each of the thirteen fillies and colts initially squinted to the sudden brightness, but as their eyes gradually adjusted to the day, each stared in awe at the expansive valley, completely shrouded by tall, dark green northern pine trees, with trees of other types mixed in between. Above, birds flocked in groups high through the sky, while squirrels scampered across the gravel path in search for food. "Whoa!" Bloodvein thought to himself, his hooves gently brushed through the soft, lush grass as he followed his classmates down the slope and straight through the forests. Small pine needles floated down to the ground as the gentle breeze freed them from their branches on the hundred foot-tall trees surrounding the group of students and one teacher. The mare glanced down at her map, remembering there was a small outpost somewhere nearby that belonged to the Bat Pony Legion, which was off limits to all but those who were serving in the Legion. She halted, still looking down at her map, before being knocked out of her investigative trance when students walked into her hind legs by accident, one by one in a silly incident. They were simply too enthralled by nature to realize where they were going! The teacher looked back at her students as they backed away from her hind legs slightly, and giggled. "I can tell each of you are enjoying the scenery, aren't you?" The fillies and colts nodded, Bloodvein not paying attention and continuing to look around him in utter shock at the beauty of nature, completely oblivious to his classmates continuing on their journey down the path. By the time he came to his senses, he realized his fellow classmates, and the teacher, had left him behind unknowingly. "Heeeello?" Blood looked around, following in the direction he knew they were going, before coming up to a split in the path. Of course, the teacher had the map and he did not, leaving him on his own to navigate and hopefully catch up with the rest of the class. The colt stared down each of the paths, which of course, at some point curved away where all he could see was rocks and trees. He inhaled a deep breath, before trotting down the right-hoof path at a faster pace than usual if he wanted to eventually catch up with his class, unaware that they had taken the left-hoof path. After only a few minutes, his little stomach growled, a sign he needed to eat after eating a small, quick breakfast that morning. Blood dug into his saddle bag, snatching out an apple and taking a rather large bite in to it, savoring the sweet juices the fruit possessed. He finished it quickly and stood back up, back to full energy, putting his saddle bags over his lower back and continuing in the direction he believed his class went. "Bloodvein?" Midnight trotted carefully down the stone stairs in their home, forgetting the colt had left for his field trip out into the wilderness. The mare looked around the small home, before finding a note in the kitchen. "Hi, Mom, Left for the field trip. I didn't want to wake you because you need your rest. I love you lots, will be back later!!" Midnight giggled softly, reading the note crammed on to an extremely small piece of yellow note paper, thanking the stars he had remembered to leave a note and remind her of where her son had gone without initially remembering. Bloodvein continued trotting through the forest, now in a bit of a panic as he searched frantically for his fellow classmates and the teacher. His heart raced as he soon realized he took a turn down the wrong path, and is now possibly lost. "Hello?!" he called, looked around, taking a moment to catch his breath from running around. He soon began gallop through the woodland, running completely past a sign which read 'Off Limits'. Soon, the pegasus colt came up to what appeared to be a gate, which led into another winding path. He strolled past the gate, and into more woodlands. After a few minutes, he heard heavier hoofsteps behind him. Blood tried his best not to think about what it might be, before a large figure swooped over him, landing just a few feet in front of him. He jumped back, his heart racing a hundred miles an hour with surprise, looking up at the thing that just landed before him. Surprisingly, it wasn't a tiger with the head of a snake and the wings of a dragon. Rather, it was another bat pony stallion, one that looked very similar to his father, but not quite. He wore dark blue and purple armor, with a steel purple-colored collar around his neck, allowing the stallion's dark red mane to be shown, which hung over his eyes slightly. "Well, hello there," the stallion smirked slightly. "Far away from home, aren't you, little guy?" he began to circle around the colt. "Uh... n-no... just lost... I-I got split up from my field trip group," Blood trembled. He knew the pony was in the Legion because of his armor, but was still quite nervous as to what he was doing, and how his voice sounded as he talked. "I take it you didn't read the signs at all, did you?" the stallion lowered his head to the colt's eye level, giving him a slightly deadly stare. "W-what signs? I-I didn't see any s-signs!" Blood trembled even more. He really was in trouble now. "The 'Off Limits' and 'Do Not Enter Unless Authorized' signs?!" The stallion stepped closer, forcing the colt to back away. "I-I swear, I didn't see anything!" Blood backed away slowly, until he pressed against a tree trunk and unable to move any further. "I'm not sure if I believe you," the stallion stood up to the colt, showing his fangs with evident anger. He then slammed his hoof above the colt's head on the tree trunk, Bloodvein now beginning to whimper in fear. Before the soldier could do anything else, he received a slap to the face from another pony who landed directly next to him. "Oi! Leave the colt alone," the other stallion ordered, wearing a patch over his right eye. "Get a grip on yourself and quit attacking ponies." "He was trespassing!" the menacing stallion hissed back, glaring at Bloodvein. "He's a colt! How is he supposed to know our outpost is back here? He's just lost!" The eyepatch-wearing stallion slapped the other once more, forcing him to back away. "How'd you end up back here, little one?" he knelt down in front of Blood calmly. "G-got separated from my classmates," Blood trembled lightly still. "Hmm, I see. Are you from the northern caves?" Blood nodded slowly. "My dad is First Lieutenant Skywatcher, if any of you know him." The stallions gasped. "Head of the valley's security?" "I don't know... i-is he?" The two stallions exchanged looks with each other in utter shock, before turning back to the small colt. "We need you to come with us." "What? W-why?" "No particular reason, but, we need to make sure your father brings you home." Blood nodded again. "Okay..." he stood up, following the duo through the forest. Soon, the three arrived at the outpost, which was consist of some wooden houses, likely barracks, as well as towers built atop tall trees, a training field, and a large two-story building with smoke rising from the chimneys. The outpost was sprawling with activity, anywhere from stallions marching, to others running the mud track, to a couple of ponies wrestling in a small crowd. Blood glanced around in awe, never once seeing an actual Legion base in person before. Now he knew what it looked like, how it smelled, how it felt. Before he could fully realize, he was being pushed by the stallions into the large wooden building in dead center of the outpost.