//------------------------------// // Interlude: Ambush // Story: The Human Event // by Shocks //------------------------------// She looked up through the bright green foliage, passed the maze of canopy to gaze up at the sky before her. It was a rich blue that seemed to spread outward for eternity. The clouds were there, not as many as before, but nonetheless there. Her eyes slowly moved between the cumulus forms, their shapes reminding her faintly of other items. One looked like a arrow. Another appeared like a dragon's head. Her look soon transferred to a large group of birds that suddenly made their way into her field of vision, passing overhead without a care to her being there. She watched them go by, till their forms become indistinguishable as the tree's thick canopies blocked her view. It looked so much like home. She rubbed her hand along the bark of the tree adjacent to her form, feeling the ruff texture against the palm of her hand, occasionally getting the sensation of dried, sticky sap. Around her, the forest was alive with activity. The birds chirped, squirrels chittered, and even in the distance she could make out the sound of running water. Maybe a creek or small river. She glanced all around her for a moment, taking in the lush green environment that was the woodland. Everything was...vibrant, in a word. The leaves, the plants, were alive and healthy with little blemishes to report. Small flowers that poked out here and there were stunning in the small colors they offered to the world. She spotted a small nest of blue jays nearby, the birds feathers beautifully expressive against the greens and browns of the forest. A sudden blinding light came out from above her and she reflexively moved her arm to block the brightness. Her arm, covered in the fabric of home which was a deep brown, blended well with the wooden trunks of the trees. Her gloved hand was just in the right position to dampen the offending light source to manageable levels. Around her, other areas of the forest brightened as the amount of light that was able to pass through the thick canopy increased. It took her less then a second to understand what she was looking at. The sun. Even now, as it passed overhead in the sky, it was still so much familiar. It still looked so much the same. Still that same ball of hydrogen gas that she had seen all her life. That she had gazed up at when she was younger, sometimes challenging her friends to see who could stare at it the longest. The ball of energy that she knew was the life source and the death to the planets that orbited it. The same light source that she had awoken to every morning and occasionally watched as it slowly fell over the horizon. It looked so beautiful. Everything was beautiful. The sky. The trees. The sun. It was all beautiful. She felt she could stay in this place for eternity. It was a paradise. Or so it seemed. But she knew better, or rather, had learned that there was no such thing as paradise. And this land was not home. It would never be home. As if the universe had to prove this to her once again, she noticed two colorful forms making their way through the sky, their small wings carrying them effortlessly through the air. Her breath caught in her throat, and her entire body tensed as her eyes locked on the two. She watched the forms, which even from her distance on the ground, could easily tell resembled the forms of small equines. Ponies, to be specific. And if one were to add the wings that the ponies sported, one might come to the inevitable conclusion that these were pegasi. But pegasi didn't exist. They were myths, legends, written in fantasy novels or re-imagined in movies thanks to CGI. At least back home, they were. Here though, in this new land, they were real. They were very, very real. She continued to watch the two pegasi fly through the sky, her eyes never once leaving them even as they began to disappear into the distance. Only after they had left her field of vision did the girl snap out of her trance, realizing how quickly her heart was beating. She clutched a hand against her chest, passing the thick cloak that adorned her form, resting against the still rapidly beating appendage. It took her another moment to realize her hand was still digging into the bark of the tree she had rested against, her fingers easily destroying the shell of wood to break into the sensitive trunk of the tree. Her right had was illuminated in an icy aura, as her fingers twitched slightly, still embedding themselves into the wood. She pulled her hand away immediately, the aura disappearing shortly afterward. In a haste, she used her teeth to remove her glove that still remained on her left hand, exsposing her pink flesh to the world. With the taste of fabric in her mouth and the glove still clenched tightly between her teeth, she ran her free hand over the hand the aura once claimed, feeling along her palm and digits, attempting to find something wrong. Again however, she was only rewarded with the feeling of her smooth skin as her fingers ran along the flesh. Sighing, she placed her gloves once more on her hands and returned her arms inside the cloak, masking nearly all of her form in the long plain robes. A quick and audible snap suddenly sounded behind her and she reflexively ducked down,turning toward the sound in an abrupt twist. Unbeknownst to her, inside her cloak her hand once again glowed its icy aura. Standing in the forest nay ten feet behind her, stood a hooded creature in a similar robe to her own. It's only distinguishable trait was the small amount of skin exposed underneath the hood, lips and a slightly bearded chin peeking out. She was also quick to notice the three other forms behind this one as well, all hidden in thick brown-green cloaks almost like camouflage. While the closest one stood, the others leaned up against trees or were crouching down, one was even clutching an easily noticeable wooden bow as well as sporting a small quiver on its back, the tips of arrows jutting from its top. The new biped looked at her for a moment, then approached much more calmly as she relaxed. She stood to meet the newcomer, the adrenaline that had just entered her system already leaving. When they stood only a few feet apart the other biped spoke, a masculine voice quietly coming from its lips. "We need to go. They're getting close." he stated. She nodded immediately, well aware of what he spoke of. The nod was repeated by him, and together, the two began to run in a predesignated direction as the others quickly fell in behind them. Their cloaks moved in the breeze they created, exposing some of their legs as they ran through the forest. All the while they made little to no sound, even as leaves crunched under their glowing boots, each one giving off a faint aura. Soon, the bipeds disappeared into the maze of the forest, the only trace of their presence was the small cuts into a lone tree, some of its bark silently falling onto the forest floor. Along the well traveled dirt trail that functioned as a road for travelers and merchants, two earth ponies were calmly heading in the direction of the quiet small town of Hollow Shades, where their family thrived on the business of selling produce. To confirm this, one of the ponies-who was significantly larger than his counterpart-was pulling a somewhat oldish wooden cart, its wheels creaking ever so slightly along the rough ground. The wagon was loaded with various food stuffs, though many if not all were of the vegetable variety. Though this did bother them, considering their customers never minded. The two continued along the path, the larger of the two calmly pulling the cart while the smaller pony attempted to keep pace. The duo were none other then the brothers of a branch of the carrot family, who had a small farm on the far outskirts of Hollow Shades. The larger pony, an adolescent stallion that had a coat of a rather strange shade of white, which seemed to almost have a faint orange tint to it. His mane was a ruffled oak color that barely reached his shoulders, giving him a rather smooth look. Another notable feature about said pony was that he sported a checkered red and white handkerchief around his neck, tied in a loose fashion. This was the earth pony known as Red Core, a bit ironic given his coloration. The colt, by contrast, was a bright purple with a short stark green mane, something he had inherited from his father. This was the brother of Red Core, Indigo. The two were heading toward the local market to once again conduct business for their family while their parents managed the farm. Red Core was trusted enough by his mother and father to handle the selling the produce as well as keeping track of his brother. The latter was the harder job in Red Core's opinion. And like what any siblings would do when parental supervision was absent, the duo was bickering. "But I'm tellin ya big bro! It was diamond dogs!" Indigo explained, having a rather loud voice for a colt. Red Core rolled his eyes at his brother, finding the colt's theory rather...well, childish. "Right...just like the time it was diamond dogs that broke the wagon wheel. Or the time diamond dog's ate mum's pie or when diamond dogs clogged the toilet. Oh wait! Cant forget the time diamond dogs ate your homework?" "That time was true!" Indigo shouted, before quickly backpedaling at the knowing look from his brother. " I mean, just like all those other times..." "Whatever ya say little brother" Core laughed, causing the cart to shift ever so slightly. The colt looked away as small grumbles were heard. A short silence was created from the duo's conversation ending abruptly, the sounds of the bustling forest around them clearly audible without their conversation. Red Core however, felt that he ended the talk wrong and spoke up again. "I'm just sayin In. It can't be diamond dogs. Diamond dogs ain't known for stealing ponies stuff, 'cept for jewels and such. Na, more then likely just some thief pony" he nodded. Indigo didn't look up from the dirt path but his brow furrowed somewhat cutely. "But big bro, old stallion Horse Shoes said he saw em!" he stated to his brother. Again, Red Cores eyes made a full rotation. "Right. You listnen to the stallion who licks to much salt and says the princess is a banana" The colt blushed in slight embarrassment as the main point of his argument was torn apart like paper. Indigo, frustrated at his brother's indifference to the matter, decided to ask the older sibling his thoughts on the recent thefts of Hollow Shades. "So, then who did it?!" Core shrugged lazily. "Mhm, thief like ah said. Maybe changeling. I don't rightly know" Indigo blanched at one part of his brother's explanation, ears splaying back as the color of his coat paled several shades. His brother seemed to take little notice of this, though he was in fact smiling on the inside. The colt in his shock, had stopped suddenly and had to put on a quick burst of speed to catch up to his sibling who continued on unperturbed. "Ya..ya jokin right big bro? Aint no changelings around here right?" Indigo asked in a rather hushed whisper, his eyes darting about the forest wildly. Red grinned like a cheshire cat. "Ohhhhh I don't know, maybe..." he held back a laugh, "In fact, I wouldn be surp-" A sudden impact in front of the duo startled the brothers and Indigo, in a blind panic, dived under the safety of the cart. Red Core was too surprised, his ears standing at attention as his mandarin eyes locked on the object that had embedded itself into the path before him. He had to blink multiple times to confirm what was he was in fact seeing. Directly embedded into the dirt road in front of the duo was the object that had startled them so much. It was..an arrow. The remaining metal tip that wasn't buried into the ground made it clearly obvious as the wooden shaft rose up at an angle. Red quickly realized the direction it had come in had been from the forest to his right, yet he could see no pony. Additionally, the forest had grown eerily silent, the animals seeming to hold their breath. A small bead of sweat suddenly made its way down his forehead. Maybe the stories about diamond dogs weren't far off. "B-big Bro?" Indigo's shaky voice asked from under the cart as his head poked out from its undercarriage. Another arrow suddenly flashed out from the forest, impacting the ground fairly close to the colts position, who instinctively dived back underneath the safety of the wood. Red Core quickly realized what was occurring. Thoughts of protecting his brother flooded his mind. "Stay under the cart In!" the older brother shouted as he scrambled to unlatch himself from the cart, his panic and fear playing in as his hooves fumbled with the restraints. He received only a whimper in response but cared little at the moment. "We don't have any bits or gems ya hear?! All we got is food, an unless ya plan on sellin that, we don't have anythin!" Red shouted out to the forest around him as he continued to fight against his harness. His only reply was another arrow zipping toward him, hitting a hoof's length away from his right foreleg. Fighting the instincts of flight or fight-the former of which he was leaning to- he nearly let out a triumphant yell when he unharnessed himself, just in time to avoid another arrow, this one actually hitting the cart with a thick thunk. Scrambling on his hooves, Red Core dived under the cart next to his terrified brother, the dirt scraping against his fur at the forcefulness of his dive. Indigo was shaking in his hooves as his brother scanned the treeline in an attempt to find their would be aggressors. "B-B-B-Big B-r-ro?" Indigo whispered, but Red payed him no attention. His eyes were rapidly trying to find where their attackers were coming from, hopefully being able see them would mean they could avoid them. His breathing was heavy and his heartbeat pounded in his ears as he looked about. He scanned the horde of tree trunks, eyed the bushes and foliage, even looking toward the sky as best he could. Though it was all a blur, everything looked the same. He could see nothing, and that worried him to no avail. "B-big Br-ro?" the younger brother whispered, this time carrying a hint of trepidation. This was however lost to the other panicked sibling, his attention solely on attempting to spot the attackers of the duo. What the older one failed to notice that Indigo had in fact heard, was the muffled noises that was emanating from the ground below the two. Scrtich Sritch Scrtach Scritch Despite his younger mind, the colt was quick to understand that these sounds weren't coming from the ground, but rather beneath it. This revelation had only done to shatter his remaining courage, leaving him a bundle of unstable nerves. The sound continued beneath the two with gusto, increasing in both volume and to Indigo's horror, proximity. The colt reflexively inched away from the epicenter of the terrifying noise, though quickly found himself caught between leaving the safety of the cart or staying near the noise. Another arrow impacted the cart just as the noise was begging to reach a crescendo, both ponies flinching and bracing against the impact. Suddenly, Indigo felt the horrible feeling of weightlessness that no earth pony should experience, and felt two strong forces pull him downwards. His scream died in his throat as he was pulled into the confines of the earth itself, as both ponies failed to notice the hole that appeared underneath their positions. "BRO!!" His brother's severely muffled cry immediately brought Red Core's attention away from the treeline, just to watch in sheer terror as his brother was pulled into a mouth of the ground by a pair of thick, grey paws. Before Core could even dive to save his brother, he too found himself being pulled against his will into the ground below. In a feverish attempt to escape, he bucked wildly, earning a pained yipe from his attacker. This was followed by a slight release of the pressure pulling him down and he took the moment of freedom to rush forward, hoping to escape from the confines of the small space. But it was all for not. The feeling returned in earnest, and he was pulled back under with much greater force. He couldn't even scream as a paw wrapped painfully tight around his muzzle, yanking him back into the hole. For a moment, silence rained over the dirt path to Hollow Shades, the sounds of struggle completely absent to the world. Then ever so quietly, five bipedal shapes emerged from the forest. Garbed in thick brown cloaks that made their forms impossible to define, they looked down both sides of the road quickly and finding no one in sight, sprinted toward the now unattended cart. Two of the bipeds quickly detached themselves from the others and went over to the cart, pushing it slightly forward to reveal a large hole in the earth. The other three, with practiced skill, immediately jumped into the hole without a care, their cloaks parting for moments to reveal their slim legs. The remaining two once again checked the road and finding nothing approaching, jumped into the unknown that was the hole. Silence once again descended upon the the area, the animals still unsure as to whether the threat had passed. This would not be the end however, as the cart loaded with produce slowly teetered back as the hole expanded, before being engulfed entirely into the earth itself. Then, just as it formed, the cut in the dirt path began to close as if the ground was repairing itself. In minutes, the hole, the cart, and its earth pony operators were gone. The only signs of their presence was a small piece of disturbed dirt, which in a few days, would blend back perfectly into the path, all traces of the struggle before gone forever.