//------------------------------//
// The Warning 
// Story: Wind, Fangs, and Bones 
// by Clyph Kahl 
//------------------------------//

“Falcon Wind,” the low voice cut through the darkness.

“What is it, Serpent Fang?” A pair of golden eyes glinted from the shadows. 

“Come with me, we can’t talk here.” 

Falcon Wind rose, he flexed his black wings, testing them. “Shall we fly?”

“Not now,” Serpent Fang hissed. 

With an irritable sigh, Falcon Wind followed Serpent Fang through the heavy hanging branches of the gnarled tree beneath which he lived. He ached to spread his wings, but resisted the urge to take off. 

The two ponies paced through the thick growth of trees until they came to a clearing. Serpent Fang led the way to the edge of a pool, the rippling surface reflected the stars overhead and distorted the disc of the full moon. 

“Have you seen something, Serpent?” Falcon Wind asked, his voice low and rough.

“I have.” Serpent Fang looked down at the pool before he turned to fix Falcon Wind with his gray eyes. “Something is coming.”

“A lot has been coming,” Falcon Wind said, shaking his head. This wasn’t news.

“No, something else. I’ve felt it, in the shifting of the earth, in the breath of the wind. And now I’ve seen it.” He raised his head, gesturing to the sky. “What do you see?” 

Falcon Wind frowned, up followed his friend’s gaze. “I see the moon and stars. I cannot read the signs as you can.” 

Serpent Fang bowed his head in acknowledgement. “I've read the stars and I see that something is about to happen. The moon, look at the mare.”

Falcon Wind shook his head and turned to glare at Serpent Fang, “I see nothing out of the ordinary.” 

“But I do,” Serpent Fang said, his voice irkingly calm. He paced around the edge of the pool. “Falcon Wind, it’s been nearly one thousand years since Nightmare Moon was banished. The curse will break and she will be freed.”

Falcon Wind looked not at the moon nor at the pool that held Serpent Fang’s gaze, instead he watched the dappled moonlight playing off Serpent Fang’s flank as he passed in and out of the shadows. Serpent Fang’s dark green flank slid in and out of shadow, his dark mane and tail swished as he walked, his grey eyes glinted. 

“Falcon Wind, you don’t realize the gravity of the situation. If she is released, it be only the first of many catastrophic events that will plague the land. We will no longer be safe. Everything that we have work for will be gone.” He stopped pacing, his piercing gaze found Falcon Wind again. “Everything we’ve worked for: gone.”

Falcon Wind flicked his wings sharply, unfurling them as though to fly and then snapped them shut sharply. “That won’t happen.”

“You can’t be sure of that. This is what I’ve been trained for, to read the signs and they don’t bode well.” 

Silence reigned for a long moment before Falcon Wind finally asked, “What can be done?”

“Go to the Princess, alert her.” 

“She will already know. She hardly needs us warning her of something she is fully aware of.” Falcon Wind turned away, swishing his tail as he did so. “Besides, I cannot go. I have to stay here and guard our own. The kingdom is her concern.”

“And we are part of the kingdom!” Serpent Fang said sharply. He spread his wings and launched himself into the air. He landed in front of Serpent Fang, his wings spread wide, his head lowered in challenge, his ears flattened antagonistically. “It is our sworn duty to warn her. Would you go against your sworn duty?”

“How dare you!” Falcon Wind spat, unfurling his own wings. 

“Would you?” Serpent Fang pressed.

“Of course not, but I cannot go.” Falcon Wind repeated defensively. 

“Then I’ll go,” Serpent Fang said decisively.

For a moment it looked as though Falcon Wind would refuse him, but nodded in assent after appraising him with golden eyes. 

“Be careful, my friend,” Falcon Wind finally said. He paced closer to Serpent Fang, studying his face. “Go swiftly and return at once. I cannot protect them alone.”

“I know,” Serpent Fang said, his expression softening. His expression became serious once more and he returned to the pools edge. He turned to face Falcon Wind, nodding for his friend to join him. “You cannot read the signs as I can, but I can give you the gift of the Mirror Pool.”

Falcon Wind looked down at the rippling surface and at his own reflection. His golden eyes seemed, even to himself, over bright in the darkness. His inky black coat seemed to melt into the shadows, his black mane and tail rippled in the slight breeze. 

“You know I cannot use the Mirror Pool,” he said, looking away from his reflection. 

“No, but as I said, I can give you that gift.” Serpent Fang said. 

He closed his eyes, screwing up his face in concentration and his horn glowed, the magic shining around it, white and bright. 

Falcon Wind braced himself, watching Serpent Fang as he worked the spell in silence. It was like when they were colts and Falcon Wind knew instinctively what to do. When his black horn came in contact with Serpent Fang’s horn the sound of bone striking bone echoed through the clearing. 

Pain, sudden blinding pain washed over Falcon Wind. Followed by the sensation of burning. If felt as though his insides had been set on fire, the pain seared through his very muscles. And then extreme cold gripped his insides, closing around his heart and lungs, cutting off his air supply. Then nothing. 

Falcon Wind collapsed gasping. He was shaking uncontrollably, as though fevered. He looked up at Serpent Fang, but saw only darkness. Panic washed over him, threatening to drown him. 

“Serpent Fang!” He cried out, turning his head this way and that, trying to see, to discern anything. 

“Be calm, Falcon, I am here,” Serpent Fang’s soothing voice was like a light in the darkness. Falcon Wind focused on it, latching onto it for dear life. 

“Look into the Pool, Falcon Wind, and you will see as I have seen,” Serpent Fang instructed. “Touch it with your horn and you will know.”

Serpent Fang watched as Falcon Wind turned blindly and bowed his head over the water. He touched the cold surface with the tip of his horn and stood frozen as though carved from stone. Serpent Fang knew all too well the feeling of icy tendrils that would leach through Falcon Wind from when his horn had touched the water. Terrible and beautiful all at once. 

Finally, Falcon Wind drew a shuddering breath and raised his head. He turned to face Serpent Fang, his golden eyes wide, but focused.

“You have now seen what I’ve sensed and dreamed of for many moons,” Serpent Fang said. He didn’t have to ask Falcon Wind what he’d seen.

“Is there any way to stop it?” Falcon Wind asked, his usually crisp voice was brittle with fear. 

“Perhaps, but only the Princess will know. Now, I must go. Return to the Tribe and protect them. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Serpent Fang’s voice was brisk once more. He unfurled his wings and was about to take off when Falcon Wind spoke.

“Be safe,” Falcon Wind murmured. He touched Serpent Fang’s cutie mark with his hoof, but kept his gaze trained on Serpent Fang’s face.

“I will,” Serpent Fang assured him, turning to embrace his friend fleetingly before he took off and soared through the night, vanishing into the darkness above the trees. 

Falcon Wind watched the sky for a long while even after Serpent Fang was gone. Fear still gripped his heart, but he pushed the thoughts away as he spread his own wings and flew through the close growing trees to return to the village. It was in Serpent Fang and Princess Celestia’s hooves now.