//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven: Unexpected Visitors // Story: Gone Mustang // by BurningBright //------------------------------// Time passed by and Dawn started to grow up, not height wise unfortunately, her genetics combined with poor nutrition saw to that one, but her muscles developed into something quite formidable for a filly her size and age. She learned fast, mainly because she had to, only prey learned slowly, and that was why they remained prey. If you didn't want to end up lunch for something, probably the monsters, as predators went they were the ones to watch carefully. Her shiny coat was now permanently smeared with a thick protective layer of caked on swamp mud, a deliberate act to conceal her scent and make her harder to spot. She didn't move like prey anymore, she walked confidently, carefully watching the shadows for any disturbance, ears pricked listening for anything that startled the birds. After all if they flew off it usually meant a larger predator nearby. She took winding routes passing through as many bodies of water as she could , and trod on stones to avoid her hoofprints lingering in the mud to clue something in to her location. When she couldn't she walked with a gentle sweep of her hooves to move any twigs or branches that could snap underhoof. Dawn didn't know how long she had been away from the camp anymore, she didn't even really remember all that much of it, whether by deliberate suppression , or as a simple side effect of her ageing and the need to survive her current situation the vast majority of her foal hood was now a complete blur. Even the faces of her parents were gradually starting to fade in her recollection, that thought still hurt sometimes, but there was nothing she could do about it. One eye had rather surprised her a few months ago when she had discovered one eye was actually not a he at all after she birthed a litter of pups. Dawn kept clear for the most part although she occasionally still left a fish or some other prey outside the lair for the pups. A few months after starting to eat fish she had dared to try meat, the taste had given her quite a pleasant surprise her sense of revulsion had taken all of her willpower to overcome. The adjustment was unpleasant at first causing an intense stabbing pain in her stomach and a case of the squirts that she would always remember, but now she had adjusted fully and could now eat prey just as easily as the grass around her. She now had little dens set up all over the swamp lands, some thanks to determined digging were even linked together via a complex little set of tunnels, that had made her life much easier. With that added cover she could move more freely and explore the swamp much more safely. Poking her head from her current choice of den she looked about cautiously, followed her usual checks, then walked out in search of some fresh food. Today her luck held, she didn't find much on the grass front, but she managed to catch a rabbit that didn't run away quite fast enough. She dug into her captured prey back at the den with Gusto, then her appetite sated tiredness took over, she had been forced to run quite a lot the previous day after all so she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. There was only one monster tonight, she looked at it curiously as the creature tried to speak to her. It seemed to speak complete nonsense to her. This monster was a strange one. A long razor sharp spike with a vicious looking spiral pattern growing from it's head she could only assume was to attack whatever this massive creature would see as prey, and massive strong looking wings like a bird of prey, she thought about how to handle this for a moment, then dove for cover and hid. The strange monster though did not make any attempt to approach, instead it simply lay down and bared all it's teeth at her. Princess Luna was having a strange night indeed, she had found herself in a dream that could only belong to a wild beast, but she had never seen a beasts dream this vivid. Then she had sensed the dreamer approaching her she turned around to see a young filly hiding behind a rock snarling at her like a rabid Timber Wolf. Still at least whatever it was didn't seem to be on the attack Curious she decided to try to talk to the little creature, but the more she tried to talk the more confused and irate it seemed to become. Whatever it was it couldn't be equine, or if it was it certainly wasn't one of her subjects here . Then how and why had she turned up in this strange beasts dreams? This was a mystery and one Luna fully intended to get to the bottom of, though finding the same dreamer multiple times was always something of a challenging task. This little filly, or wolf, or whatever it may be was clearly scared and trying not to look it, so Luna did the only thing she could think of, she quietly lay down, folded her wings, tried to retain eye contact , and smiled. Dawn's heart was pounding in her chest, whatever this beast was it was huge. It had lowered it's body down to the ground, and it was staring at her. Eye contact, this was bad, eye contact was a challenge to a fight. To make matters even worse it was baring it's teeth. That tore it, she was getting out of here, she didn't care that it was a dream, she just turned tail and ran. Running was good, it showed she was not a threat. But it would chase her soon , she remembered the monsters chasing her. This was not good at all. No don't stop, do not even think just run, get away. Her legs felt like they were on fire, yet she could not hear a single step from behind her . Was it not chasing her? Not slackening her pace even now she kept moving as everything blurred. She woke up with a start the sun hot on her face shining right into her eyes, heaving for breath and covered in a cold sweat. Back in Canterlot Princess Luna stirred from her trance with a frustrated moan, why did things insist on running away from her? Stepping from her chambers she went in search of her sister, perhaps between them they could find an answer to this little mystery.