The door closed, and Hurricane turned, clad in armour. There was an angry screech, and before she could even react, she was bowled over to the ground, knocking the spear from her grip. The screeches escalated as something just barely brushed her throat. Her teeth gritted. Okay, way too close for comfort.
Flipping over, she pinned whatever it was to the ground beneath her. It seemed to be rather equine, with a pony’s shape and proportioning. In fact, it seemed to be just like any other pony, but with thick, leathery wings. She frowned. Leathery wings? That sounded…familiar…
She had no time to dwell on the familiarity, however, because with another screech, the mysterious equine returned the flip, ending up on top again. Hurricane jolted in surprise at the apparent ease with which the creature had flipped her around again. She could barely see anything past the flailing limbs and the darkness, and for a moment, a brilliant yellow eye flared down at her, nearly freezing her in place. More shrieks sounded in the distance, rapidly growing closer.
Breaking from the strange eye and managing to wrangle one of her hooves free from the pin, she grasped her spear from the ground, thrusting it brutally into the creature’s haunch, barely missing the organs. It stumbled backwards, blood pouring from the wound, and she flicked her spear around, slamming the butt hard into the figure’s temple a few times, almost certainly concussing it. It fell to the dirt, unconscious in an instant. She paced agitatedly for a moment.
Okay, Hurricane, think think think. Thunder and Arc clearly said they could speak, meaning that they’re civilized, at least on some level. Even so, they’ve been attacking innocent ponies, stopping them from leaving at night, and they’re looking for me, apparently. That’s somewhat disconcerting. That was the last thing on her mind, however, as three more of the pony-like creatures dropped to the ground in front of her, screeching loudly as they dashed forward.
Hurricane braced herself, but unnecessarily, for other than hate-filled glares, nothing was directed towards her. Instead, they swooped up their fallen comrade in their hooves and darted off. Hurricane caught a quick glimpse of bat-like wings as they passed in front of the moon, and then they were gone. Her breathing was ragged as she gradually came down from her adrenaline high, sitting heavily upon the hard-packed earth.
The door creaked open and Thunder cautiously stepped out, motioning to Arc and Fire to stay in the house. “Wha’ happened out here, lass? All we could see t’rough the windows was a blur a’ fur ‘n feathers.”
Hurricane turned to him, her eyes burning fiercely. “Whatever those things are, they aren’t monsters. I’ve seen monsters in the old Homeland. Trust me, these aren’t them. If they were, I doubt you’d still be here.” Her gaze flicked back to the path the creatures had taken, tracing a straight line through the sky. “No, these are ponies, or something like it, and I mean to find out what they are and what they’re doing here.”
Thunder winced. “Are ya shur ya want ta do that, lass? If ya had that much trouble with jus’ one of ‘em, then think how hard-pressed ye’ll be against five or ten. I could go with ya, teach ‘em a few things about northern ponies with me old family sword.” Smiling, Hurricane shook her head.
“Sorry, Thunder. Hate to say it, but you’ll only slow me down. If you can’t fly, and since you don’t have wings, I have no reason to believe that you can, then it’ll take far longer to even reach wherever they’re living nearby, to say nothing of accessing it. They can fly, after all; who’s to say that you’ll even be able to get to it?”
He winced, and she knew that she had struck a nerve. “Aye, I guess yer right…With yer wings, ye’d leave me in the dust before I could move a hoof.” Hurricane shook her head.
“It’s not only that. If these things are what I think they are, then I just might be able to speak with them.” She blasted up into the air, streaking after the mysterious ponies at incredible speed.
Hurricane squinted her eyes against the wind as it beat against her, chasing in the direction of the creatures. With her speed, she should’ve been able to catch up before too long, but they were simply…gone. The dawn blazed on the horizon, nearly blinding her as she flew due east. Scanning the horizon for the umpteenth time, she sighed. The unbroken green was beginning to bore her.
In the corner of her eyes, there was a flicker of motion, and instantly her head jerked to the side as an indigo-purple tail slipped down into a small outcrop of rocks. Turning sharply, she rocketing down to the outcropping. In the center of a sheer, smooth face was bored a small, smooth hole. She gulped and slid through the small hole, emerging into a cave that was certainly small, but at least large enough to stand in.
It was lit by a torch that burned with the same flickering, preternatural flame as her enchanted candle, casting the interior in a pale, cold light. Pressed against wall opposite her was the same creature she’d fought. In the torch’s light, she could see it clearly, and her eyebrow shot up. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
It, or, judging by the shape and voice, she, hissed angrily at Hurricane. “Of course we aren’t. If you’d had your way, we’d have been left back in the old Homeland while you made the journey here. I have news for you, pegasus. Just because I’m an ialtag doesn’t mean I’m a beast.”
Hurricane leaned on her spear shaft, recognizing that the pony in front of her was in no shape to fight. She sized her up. There were the typical slitted yellow pupils of the ialtag, often known as bat ponies to those less familiar with them, and the leathery, batlike wings that led to the name. Her coat was charcoal grey, and her tail was…blue. Dark blue. Something about that seemed…off…
There was a sound of steel scraping on stone, and before Hurricane could even begin to turn, a metallic clang filled her ears and the world around her blinked out into darkness.