The group released a resounding ‘aww’ sound, which Rainbow Dash refuted having ever made afterward, naturally. Applejack walked around Fluttershy, both observing the resting Graywing, as well as reinforcing their purpose on the trip. Speaking up, the farm pony began to express her thoughts, “Well, I reckon we should be on our way. Ain’t no reason the little fella can’t join us, right? If he wanted to go, he could just fly on home, right?”
Twilight glanced around the immediate location in thought, and gave a short nod in response. “Well, I suppose so! After all, he does seem pretty friendly.” The six started their trek through the most clear route they could discern, heading down the slope of the mountain, and into a nearby valley. Rarity smiled at the little critter on Fluttershy’s back. “And quite cozy, as well!” She spoke, while little Graywing offered a gentle, cricket-like chirp.
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy spoke in a hushed voice. “This little one must’ve had a long day!” Graywing nestled himself into a deeper curl upon the shoulders of Fluttershy’s wings, which the mild Pegasus thoughtfully curled into a resting position which would be suitable to the little one upon her back. Without noticing much, the light from above grew dim in such a minute amount as to be hardly noticeable without a frame of reference.
“Ooh, spooky!” Pinkie let out in her typical carefree musings. While Dash hovered around, eyes vigilant for adventure and new sights, Twilight, Applejack, and the others passed through a particularly thick tunnel of trees. “It does seem to be getting darker, doesn’t it? As long as we remember our way, we should be fine. It’s getting on, but if I’m correct, we should still have a while before it gets dark.”
Agreeing, the six plus friend trotted and flapped casually down the mountainside. Even Rarity had to admit, the air in this place was much more fresh and pure than most other places she’d visited. The abundance of flora and fauna seemed to produce an incredibly serene and rather primeval feeling atmosphere. Whether or not this was the intended destination, the rich and foreign foliage, coupled with the outstanding earthy formations and waterways created stunning, picturesque scenery.
As the elevation dropped, even by modest amounts, the ever studious Twilight took careful note of the appearance and locations of a wonderful array of lovely, vibrant flowers. Amongst the flowers rested a number of other similarly unknown vegetation. Mosses and lichens wrapped around boulders, stumps, and fallen trees. Old yet thriving green vines grasped at cliff edges and damp reaches of stone outcroppings. Beautiful, wide leaved ferns formed little, natural umbrellas for the smallest of life in the land.
“I must say,” Rarity expressed in wonder. “I would never have imagined that someplace as vivid and utterly stunning as this would be stumbled upon by mere chance! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I truly wish I had brought plenty of paper. I could sketch designs inspired by this place for years!” The ponies, to a less eloquent degree of phrasing, all expressed their agreement. Twilight, once again, answered first. “I have to agree, Rarity. I’m sure this area was just overlooked on the map somehow, but even I can’t imagine how. Surely this location has already been discovered.”
“If Daring Do’s taught me anything,” Rainbow spoke with confidence. “It’s that there’s all kinds of crazy places and ponies all over! And this kind of thing has epic adventure written all over it!” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow gently, while looking up to the excited sky-blue Pegasus. Speaking as mildly as she ever had, the gentle pony answered cautiously, “That’s what I’m worried about.” The girls had a brief laugh, with the shy pony herself of course, who offered a delicate smile. “I mean, it’s not that it wouldn’t necessarily be fun. I was just hoping for something a little more… tame.”
It did not take the ponies long to continue most of the way down the path towards the base of the only moderately steep cliff. As the elevation dropped, the trees spread a little more thinly, revealing much more of the realm they entered. The tree line expanded greatly, creating a sparsely spread entryway to a forest of strikingly tall wood. The ponies gathered and investigated the sound they heard earlier. The sound of running water, which remained present, had now become more apparent.
The rushing they heard was emanating from a gap in the mountainside. This would have been invisible to the ponies as they approached, as a buried crevice, and presumably at least a moderately sized cavern system, produced an underground river-way for the running water to pass through. The crystal clear water spouted out, forming what appeared to be a waterfall from nowhere. The earth below it had been carved out over many long years, with a small body of water below the fall. This, in turn, led to an outlet river running into the trees.
AJ eyed the water with caution. The caution was not for any living creature, however, but rather of the purity of the source. Rarity offered her own two cents about it, having an eye for purity. Once Twilight had agreed that the speed of the water and natural ground filtration was sufficient, they took a brief rest at the bank, wading and drinking the fresh, cool water. While the temperature of the land was not particularly hot, the cool water felt nice.
On Fluttershy’s back, little Graywing’s eyes opened, and his head perked up. Glancing around, the small creature stretched his wing-arms, yawned a toothy yawn at which Applejack and Rainbow Dash were taken aback by, and jumped to the water’s edge. Twilight shrugged, explaining that while the creature was bird-like, that it was not in fact a true bird. The little Archaeopteryx took in plenty of water, and darted around, following little bugs to and fro. While Fluttershy felt like protesting in some small way, she also knew that this was a different land, and that nature’s way had to be respected. Much in the same way that she had brought fish to a ferret family she was friends with.
Pinkie splashed around in the deeper part of the little pool by the waterfall, sending small shots of water towards Rainbow and the other ponies that stood in the water. The river portion which fed out was significantly deeper in the middle, as would be expected, but the banks sloped gently, allowing a viable wading area. “I like this place!” Pinkie shouted. “It’s so pretty! And fun!” The bubbly pony performed a casual backstroke towards her friends, who were now beginning to get back on land.
“I have to say, I’m lovin’ it here, too! Everythin’s so rich, and alive!” Applejack stated with curious amazement. “Kinda like the Everfree, but-“
“Less creepy?” Rainbow Dash bluntly finished for AJ.
“Er. Well… yeah.” The farm pony answered with equal immediacy.
Rarity and Twilight stood speaking with one another about the sun beginning to lower, while Fluttershy accompanied them nearby. Little Graywing glided over to his yellow Pegasus friend and clambered onto her back. This time, he wiggled his way onto her neck, and hung on in the way a baby monkey hangs on to it’s mother’s back.
Something was a little strange, however. Graywing’s eyes were moving frequently, and his small neck began to crane in various directions more often than he previous had done. With Pinkie being the last pony out of the river, Twilight took charge once again. “Alright, everypony! The sun’s starting to go down, so I think we’d better find somewhere safe to set up camp. What do you think?” As always, Applejack agreed with the simple, tried and true approach. Even for her love of adventure, Dash knew that it was the right course of action.
As they began to trek along the valley’s edge and into the sparse trees that formed the wide entrance to the forest, Fluttershy felt little Graywing’s finger claws tighten on her hide. It did not hurt her, for his reaction was not from terror, but rather seemingly of trepidation. “Oh, what is it little friend?” Fluttershy inquired to the small creature.
Graywing released a sound that by your average individual would be interpreted as a small sound of nervousness. His small, beak-like nose sniffed the air, before he tightened his head and neck along Fluttershy’s body. At this point, Graywing was mostly tucked into her flowing mane, with only notable portions of his wing-arms, tail, and head peeking out.
“That’s funny. I wonder what could be making him react this way.” Fluttershy mused to herself aloud. Rarity considered that perhaps the particular area they were entering was somewhere he hadn’t been yet. After all, first time visits can be intimidating for some ponies. Fluttershy wasn’t sure. She thought that the behavior was strangely familiar. Rainbow Dash dropped to her hooves on the earth. She had just made a pass above the canopy to check the sun’s motion. “We’ve got maybe two hours, give or take. With all these mountains, who knows when we’ll lose light.” She explained.
“We should see if there are any outcroppings we can set up under. It’s safer than a cave, since we don’t know the land.” Applejack suggested. The others agreed. No sooner had the words been spoken, than a sound erupted from somewhere in the audible vicinity. All the pony’s eyes widened. “What in the WORLD was THAT?” Rarity exclaimed dramatically. Fluttershy replied, feeling her friends instinct to check with her thoughts. “I… I don’t know. At least, I’ve never heard anything like it before!”
Twilight gathered her friends near the closest tree, keeping the group tight. “I don’t know ‘bout y’all, but it sounded big.” Applejack spoke first. Pinkie made herself busy with leaves and twigs, creating makeshift camouflage pieces cheerfully, as always. The sound they heard was certainly biological. The next sounds were not. It was very feint, but distinctly patterned. Footsteps from something large enough to be heard walking. Twilight took initiative, and spoke. “Rainbow, can you fly up above the trees and see if you can spot anything? I’ll stay here with the others.”
Dash gave a salute, as she was sometimes want to do, and darted up through a gap in the branches. She suddenly came back down with great speed, landing as gently as possible to avoid noise. “It’s… It’s…” The chromatic Pegasus stammered.
“It’s WHAT, darling?” Rarity questioned, tinted with just a sprinkle or urgency.
“It’s… it’s closer than we thought!” Dash finally managed to explain.
“What?” Fluttershy doubted. “Certainly something as big as that roar would make a much louder footstep, right?” The question sat in the minds of the ponies, but Rainbow knew what she saw. Or rather, she knew WHERE she saw, as the only thing visible was the motion of a number of branches being slowly rustled out of the way. Twilight answered Fluttershy’s thoughts, “Well, if it was large, but had footpads, then the cushioning of its feet would make it’s steps more quiet than a pony would think. When we look at the factors of the weight, plus impact dispersion, not to mention the physics applied to the terrain being stepped on…”
“Um. Twilight? No offense, but think we can save the physics for later, and worry about what we’re gonna do with that… thing?” Applejack implored. The others nodded silently in increasingly expedient agreement. Twilight sheepishly nodded. “You’re right. Sorry, girls. Now… where CAN we go? We don’t know the terrain, and we’re losing light!” No longer a roar, but a meager and throaty growl wound its way through the trees.
Suddenly, and impact upon leaves landed behind their tree. The sounds were not unfamiliar, however. A clatter of what sounded like hooves peppered the ground stealthily, and with tremendous speed, circled around behind them. The team turned to face it, and was astonished by what they saw. A pony. A male pony with a muscled, but lean frame stood before them. A brown vest made of a heavy fabric sat upon his shoulders, and a neckpiece that looked like it was fashioned from bone hung down like a chest plate over his sternum. Long, black hair with twin braids resting on each shoulder fell into place as the motion stopped. From atop a matte blue hide, and under the shadow of the lowered head, a pair of sienna brown eyes slowly looked up.
The voice that emerged was stoic, sturdy, and abrupt. “We must go. Quietly. Mother Ice Claw is hunting. I can take you to my home in the Canyon of the Gliders.” Rainbow stood in front of Twilight and the others, taking a protective stance as she was prone to doing. Even Applejack stepped behind Dash to form a semi-defensive wall, despite knowing that this was likely not a threat.
“And what is that supposed to mean, huh? We’re just supposed to trust some random guy who falls out of a tree in this weird place!” Dash exclaimed, looking to Twilight for her agreement or disapproval. Unfortunately, Twilight could only offer a confused expression. Even the Princess did not know what to make of the situation.
“You. Rainbow one. I can tell you’re a fighter and a protector. You want to keep your friends safe. That is good, but staying here would be a very foolish decision. I suggest you come with me.” The strange pony spoke. The confused ponies sat in silence for only mere seconds, when another gentle drum of large feet sounded in the nearby trees. Rainbow took the words to heart, accepting the superficial praise, but taking it with a grain of salt.
“Rainbow, I think given the circumstances, followin’ a local might be the best best.” Applejack whispered to her friends. Rainbow felt the same, of course. It simply wouldn’t be Rainbow Dash if she didn’t put up the best defense she could. After a glance between the quick-spirited Pegasus and herself, Twilight looked the new stranger in the eyes and offered a serious and short nod.
Just as curtly as Twilight’s motion of approval came, the new pony turned on a dime, and crouched low, following a specific path that created minimal footfall sound upon the ground. “Follow my lead, and Ice Claw should not be able to hear us. Please do not speak until we get past the thick trees with hanging vines.” He spoke, leading the ponies through a path of damp earth, moving towards the thicker portion of forest. “One thing,” Twilight whispered to their new acquaintance. “Who are you?”
The pony glanced over his shoulder, offering a brief reply. “I am Stone Heart.”