//------------------------------// // Nº 1: WANDER // Story: No Place Like Nowhere // by CoffeeBean //------------------------------// Takes place 16 years into the future An echoing, distant voice called out, the sound barely carrying into her senses. Moments later the call rang out again, yet it seemed louder and clearer. Through extremely blurry eyes Princess Cadance's sight began to return as her eyelids fluttered open, the black, silhouetted world beyond making little sense at first. Feeling too returned; an extreme throb rang through her temple and her left side burned from what felt to be blunt trauma. Cold, moist forest air paired with the light breeze that whispered through the trees chilled her fur and gave every exhalation a visible steam. The voice yelled out once more; it was young and feminine. Cadance's body stirred as her sight cleared, the place she lay was at the base of a terribly tall tree on a fairly steep, grassy incline. "Mom!" The voice sang clearly now, and it was one Cadance recognized well. A groan escaped the groggy Alicorn as she rolled upright, her hooves digging into the dirt and grass below as she tried standing; her head spinning. She slowed her movement as the dizzy spell brought a horrid feeling to her stomach and throat, it took every bit of willpower to keep what contents were in her stomach from coming up. "Mom!!" It was her daughter. It was Flurry Heart. Panic filled Cadance's being as her eyes widened, her senses finally coming to full function. "F-Flurry!? Flurry, sweetie, where are you!?" "Mom!?! I'm over here! Are you okay?" "I'm alive... but I'm hurt!" Around one of the many large trunks in the area appeared Flurry's highlighted figure, her horn lit to provide light through the almost completely dark forest. The teenage Alicorn gasping as her eyes finally fell upon her mother. "Mom! Mom, are you okay!? I've been looking for you forever!" With teary eyes, Flurry ran to her mother, her hooves taking Cadance in a tight hug. The still dazed Princess looked around the dark, heavily forested slope with fearful wide eyes. "Honey... where are we? I... I can't remember anything." Mumbled Cadance as Flurry's embrace was released. "I don't know...!" Flurry sniffled, "Mom... I-I've looked all over for Dad, but he's not here!" "You're sure he's not here? Y-You've looked everywhere? Did you fly above the trees and try to see him from the air?" "I tried, but the leaves and branches are too thick, and there aren't any gaps! It's just one big, solid canopy!" Flurry responded with a sniffle, her hoof raising to dry her eyes. Cadance's hooves once more pushed into the grassy, dew covered floor of the forest as she tried to right herself, but the action was quickly canceled as her head spun. "Are you okay? Why can't you stand?" "I'm... I'm really dizzy... my head is killing me. I can barely see straight." Answered the groggy Princess as she massaged her temple. "You said you're hurt... what's wrong other than being dizzy?" "My left side and wing... I think I rolled down the hill into this tree," As Cadance extended her wing, a wince of pain contorted her expression, "Sweetie... I don't think I could fly." With concern, Flurry moved herself to examine her mother's mentioned wing, "It's not broken, is it?" She gave a sigh, "This is really going to slow us down..." "Slow us down in doing what?" "Going home! We have to get back to the Crystal Kingdom somehow!! We need to try and find Dad!" A hoof fell upon Flurry Heart's shoulder, Cadance's ears falling flat with her head, "Sweetheart... I-I don't think we're supposed to go home." "What are you talking about!?" "I... I'm sure I teleported us here... and, if I did, it was for a good reason..." "B-but what could be so wrong!? Nothing bad has happened since-" "Flurry, we don't know what could have happened! Neither of us can remember anything! The last thing I remember was it being November... for all we know that could have been yesterday or a year ago!" Her mother's speech struck some sense into Flurry, her head hung low as she thought on a subject, "Do you... do you think Dad's okay?" "Honey... I-I really don't know... but, we need to be prepared for the worst." A short sigh came from Flurry, her breath expelling a little puff of steam from her nostrils. Cadance had noticed that her jaw had begun chattering, the chilled air of the forest had defeated any warmth held by her pink coat. "You don't have your crown." Stated Flurry after a moment, her words causing Cadance's hoof to pat around her temple. "You're right. I don't have any of my other royal attire, as well. Neither do you..." "Maybe it was vaporized when we teleported." Flurry jokingly suggested, her words bringing a smile to her mother's expression. "I doubt that. This is an odd thing, though. I only have my attire off at night." The subject was dropped as Flurry stood from the grass, her eyes wandering the nearly pitch black forest, "Do you think you could walk now? I-I don't like it here..." She inquired through chattering teeth. A groan escaped the Princess as she pressed her hooves into the moist grass, raising a short distance from the ground as her head bobbed side-to-side, "I-I don't know, sweetie... I'm still really woozy." With a helping hoof from her daughter, Cadance was able to fully right herself, her figure still swaying as her mind struggled to keep her balanced. "Honey, does your magic still work? I doubt I could do more than lift a rock..." "My head hurt when I woke up, but it's gotten better... so I think so." As Cadance finally stood absolute without any shaking, Flurry stood back carefully, her eye kept on an attent watch for any slippages, "I'm gonna need you to be the big girl here, Flurry. I'm sure by tomorrow I'll be able to use my abilities to their fullest... but my wing isn't going to be better for a while." Cadance finally engaged her legs, Flurry following at her side as the duo moved down the forested slope. "Is it morning or evening?" Inquired the mother as her eyes studied the surroundings, straining to see more than the simple silhouettes of the huge trees and their canopies. "Dawn. When I first got up it was completely pitch black." "How long have you been up?" "Probably 15 minutes now. I spent a really long time looking for you and Dad." Cadance's ears fell flat, "Honey, I'm sorry... I wish I knew where your father is." There was a moment's pause, "What do we do now, Mom? How do we... how are we supposed to make things normal again?" "For now, we just try to survive." At best estimate the sun was peaked at its noon position, but that made barely any difference at the floor of the forest. Still, only an abysmal volume of light was allowed through the canopy above, and what came through was more of a glow than anything. Such contrast made seeing a non-chore, but that was where it stopped; the cold air of the forest had only gone up in temperature by a few degrees, and there still gusted a shifty breeze, which only worked to remove what help the slight addition in day-time temperature was given. The realm was an eerie one, as not only was it dark during the day but barely any noise moved through the trees. The leaves above were too far off and too large to be disturbed by the calmly breezing air below, and the complete lack of bird-song or any sort of calls made things seem completely dead. One thing taken to notice by the two had been the presence of the lively and eclectic ground-level vegetation; one would think such a poorly lit area would have difficulty producing any sort of greenery, but it was apparent what tall grasses, shrubs, and mosses flourished cared not for the sun's rays. There was certainly enough moisture to support such life; the humid air was enough proof that the forest either had frequent rainfall or was host to some sort of network of rivers and streams. Such things were hard to discern, as the sky above had not been visible a single moment through the canopy, and the density of the trees was great enough to where much visual distance could not be attained. At least such an area gave fair concealment against any potential threats. "What's the plan when we find a way out of this forest?" Flurry inquired as she lightly splashed her hoof in the brook she and her mother had come across. With a sigh, Cadance lowered herself to a patch of fairly short grass, "Find some sort of civilization. For all we know there could be a town in this forest, but we can't fly up to get a pegasi's eye view." "So... we're just going to live where ever we discover? How do we even know if... whatever lives where we are will be friendly?" "We don't, but we can at least hope. We need to find a way home... I need to know Shining and Twilight are okay." "Dad's as tough as a doornail, and Twilight may be even tougher than that. I'm sure they're fine! I bet they're looking for us right now." Cadance could only smile at her daughter's optimism. With a stretching yawn, the mother Alicorn relaxed onto her uninjured side, the soft grass proving to be an exceptionally comfortable bed. The light splashes of the nearby brook and the lack of the sun's rays brought a second yawn as Cadance further relaxed, an oddly sweet scent coming from the short grass her head lay upon. "This is... really comfortable." She stated lamely, taking a second sniff of the vegetation. "Getting tired already?" Flurry joked as she took notice of her mother's research. The younger Alicorn observed with curiosity as Cadance continued researching the grass, and after a moment, took a fair bite from the patch, her eyes widening as she chewed. "This stuff is really good! Well... for grass. It's sweet!" She exclaimed, a small blade dropping from her maw as she spoke. A little bit of searching showed Flurry that a patch of this sweet grass had grown on her side of the brook, it seemed the grass only had the strength to sprout up in smaller patches, as a taller, thicker grass was certainly the more dominant species. Her head craned as she took an investigative bite, her mother's assessment of the plant being spot-on; it was wonderfully sweet, yet it was an odd sweet. A raw, natural sweet, one similar to chewing on sugar cane as opposed to eating something like a sugar cube. "Looks like we won't have to worry about food, this stuff grows everywhere!" Commented Cadance, her words causing Flurry to look up. "It's good and all..." Spoke Flurry though a mouthful of the sweet plant, "But I don't wanna eat grass for the rest of my life." "I'm sure there are other things growing in this forest, Sweetheart." After grabbing another large patch with her teeth, Flurry had a thought, "How are we supposed to know if this stuff isn't poisonous?" Flurry watched as her mother stopped chewing for a moment, her eyes looking down to the plant, "We aren't... but I doubt it is. Who's ever heard of poison grass?" "We aren't in Equestria, all sorts of stuff could be poisonous." "That's true, but I think we're safe seeing as how tame the plant-life in this forest seems to be. I haven't seen a single flower... it's just grass and bushes." Cadance explained as she laid her head back to her grassy pillow. Flurry offered no response as she walked back to the fringe of the brook, her head dipping down as she took a few short drinks of the ice-cold mountain run-off. "Maybe we should sleep during the day and move at night." Commented her mother. "What makes you think that?" "Well, it's so dark during the day that it might as well be night, and as we know from earlier; it gets very cold at night. If we sleep around during the day, that means we won't need a fire to keep warm. Moving at night might be safer anyway; we'd be a lot harder to spot." Flurry shrugged in agreeance, "You've got a point. I assume you want to sleep now?" Observed the Alicorn as she watched her mother stretch. "I'm exhausted, yes. My mind needs sleep. Not tired enough yet?" "Tired from walking, yeah. If I found a nice place to lay down I'm sure I'd be off in a second." Cadance simply hummed in response. Silence came to the conversation as Flurry let her mother go undisturbed; she needed the rest. Upon standing from the brook, she peered around as she walked back over to the patch of oddly sweet grass found earlier and brought her figure to rest, the only sound filling her ears being the light babble of the brook. It may not be her bed, but her mother was right; it was comfortable... for grass. Now lying on her side, Flurry Heart's mind turned from the world and wandered through the realm of random thought, her and her mother's current situation being the focus of most things brought up. What unfortunate event brought upon the need to teleport into a random forest? Had Tirek made some sort of return? Maybe King Sombra had come back for revenge, or the Changelings decided to launch a second invasion? What if it was an accident? Maybe Twilight Sparkle had been on a visit and tried showing off some new spell and it went wrong. No; that idea wouldn't work, it was clear Cadance had been the one to cast the teleportation spell... but why? There were so many possibilities of things that could have caused their departure, and there were so many unknowns. A yawn escaped Flurry as she pulled her limbs out in a stretch, the wing she did not rest upon unfurling to be draped across her legs as she curled up. Mom had been right; sleeping during the day would be much nicer; sure, it was still cold, but it was a nice cold, one that made rest bearable as contradicted with the horrible, teeth-chattering chill that hung during the suns down time. With her eyes shut, the world felt peaceful; despite being however many thousands of miles from the Crystal Kingdom, she found the current situation to be quite comfortable. All of those camping trips Dad had taken her on were certainly helping make things feel more enjoyable. The sound of water splashing broke through the walls of Flurry Heart's slumber, her ear flickering as the outside world replaced the world of sleep. Normally upon waking one was greeted by the bright warmth of the morning sun, but her eyes were greeted by the soft silhouettes of the trees and grass around her. With a groan Flurry rolled to her belly, stretching her back and neck while her wings gave short flutter. A second splashing sound brought her attention to her mother, who sat knelt at the edge of the brook, splashing the icy water onto her face. "Morning, or, uh... afternoon," Flurry commented as she stood from her grassy bed, looking to the canopy above as she realized things were a lot darker than when she had fallen asleep. "Sleep well, Sweetheart?" "Yeah... really well," Flurry's back arched as her front legs extended into a long stretch, "I'm surprised by how comfortable this sweet grass stuff is." On mention of the plant, her attention was taken down, her sight falling upon the spot where she had previously had a small meal from the patch. There was some sort of saying about eating and sleeping in the same place, or had that been about eating and using the restroom? "Ready to get moving again?" Inquired Cadance after having taken a drink of water. Flurry gave a hum in response, "What direction should we head?" "I think we should follow this little stream. We'll always be close to fresh water that way." Offering no rebuttal, Flurry began in the same direction her mother had, the two staying at opposing sides of the brook as they walked. Looking over, Cadance took notice of her daughter's observance of the leafen canopy above. "You're still sure there's no way to get through that?" "No way no how. It looks too thick to even climb through." "Eventually we'll find a clearing, then we can at least get an idea of where we are." "I could blow up one of these trees, then we'd have a clearing!" Flurry chimed with a grin. The mother gave a scoff, "You aren't blowing up a tree. Do you want everything in this forest to know right where we are?" "I never get to blow things up." She pouted, her head sulking as she walked. "I'm sure you had plenty of chances to blow things up when your father would take you camping." Flurry gave a short chuckle, "Yeah, there were a few rocks and bushes that didn't have a good day." "You still know how to use all of those powerful spells, right?" Flurry gave a humming nod. "Good. If we run into any problems, don't at all hesitate to use them. If you gotta blow up a tree or two, you do it." "Don't worry, Mom! If anything tries messing with us I'll teach it a lesson." Flurry beamed with conviction, her chest puffed as she walked. "That's my girl." Flurry Heart's horn radiated a light-blue glow as a purposefully weak beam of light showed that the way ahead was clear of anything that would cause either her or her mother to trip. The beam then followed her eyes upwards, the huge trunks and large branches and leaves of the canopy above holding nothing out of the ordinary. Satisfied, Flurry's horn ceased its glow, and the complete pitch black of the forest returning as the duo continued on their way to nowhere. The spell would have been held constantly, but such a task was not only taxing over time but also increased the likelihood of being spotted by something that didn't want to be friends. True, the forest was dense enough to where if anything could see the light it was almost already on top of the duo, but as Cadance has stated earlier; better safe than sorry. For a good 4 hours now the two had followed the stream, which by this point was now two-fold wider and ran a tiny bit deeper. The nightly air of the forest combined with the cooling effect of being near the little body of water chilled each Alicorn to their core. The two found it impressive that a place with no snow could be so horribly cold. "Alright, Mom. T-Theory time. Where do you think we are?" Inquired Flurry as the duo moved, her jaw shivering. Cadance gave a hum of thought, "I-I dunno... pretty far from home. I don't know of any f-forests like this in Equestria. Maybe we're in Griffonstone?" "I bet we're on a t-totally different planet!" Chirped Flurry, more than less joking. "Honey, m-my magic isn't that powerful," Cadance chuckled, "We're on the same planet... just in a new place." "That you know of. Maybe we're the first astronauts! T-That'd be cool." "No it wouldn't! How in Celestia's name would we get home if we were on a new planet?" "Same way we got here." "By accident?" Flurry thought for a moment, "I t-thought we were sure we're here for a reason..." "We're in this forest by accident, but it wasn't a mistake that I sent us here, I'm sure of it." The conversation paused for a moment as Flurry continued thinking, her mind trying not to focus on the biting cold, "Maybe you were goofing around with some spells?" "Sweetheart, you know I'm not a scholar like Auntie or Twilight. I haven't created a single spell in my entire life!" Flurry held her silence for a moment as her horn flickered to life, her produced light doing a quick sweep of the area, "Anything's possible at this point. I think it has something to do with the Changelings." Commented Flurry as the glow from her horn was cut. "We haven't heard anything from the Changelings since that one rogue Soldier showed up in the Crystal kingdom all those years back." "Maybe he was a scout, and was simply pretending to be rouge!" "T-That wasn't the case, Honey. You were too young to remember that whole thing." "Got any better ideas? I mean... whatever happened must have been really bad for you to teleport us away." "Yeah; a-and that worries me. I would stand by your father and fight whatever came our way... so why did we run, and why didn't he run with us? I... I just hope he's okay." Explained the worried mother, her words dropping off towards the end of her speech. "D-Dad's fine, and in a f-few weeks we'll be back with him and everything will be normal again." Her daughter's optimistic view on the situation really did help bring light to their dark situation, something Cadance had been very grateful of; if not for Flurry's calmness she would be a nervous wreck. A short yelp of surprise burst from Cadance as her right hoof missed the ground and splashed into the stream, yet not a moment later Flurry's figure whipped around as her horn instantly came to life, a force stopping the mother from falling into the water. With a sigh, Flurry manipulated her mother's figure to put the Alicorn upright and a fair distance from the creek's edge. "Good catch, Sweetheart." Commented Cadance as she shook the icy water from her hoof, which now ached even worse from the cold. "No doubt..." Flurry's illumination spell came active as she searched her mother's figure as well as the area in which she stood, "if you thought you were cold now, you'da been in for quite the surprise." "W-Why don't we walk a little further from the creek, hm?" As Flurry's produced contrast lit up the area before her, Cadance trotted to her side to follow closer, "T-That's not too bad of an idea, Mom." A yawn from her mother drew Flurry's attention to the older Alicorn, "Getting tired?" "Of course I'm tired. We've been walking for hours." With what light the dawn's sun provided Flurry could see dark circles under Cadance's eyes. She looked like she had just been brought back from the dead, her slouched walk and low-hung head giving her a zombie-like stature, "You wanna stop for a while?" She inquired with a raised brow. No verbal response was offered as Cadance instantly slouched against a nearby tree, her figure turning to allow her to use the wide, mossy trunk as a back rest. Flurry, giving a light chuckle at her mother's slight over-exaggerance, sat with her front hooves between her haunches, the tall grass of the forest floor flattening in a perfect circle around her figure. "You don't look t-tired at all." Commented Cadance with a shiver. "I'm not. I guess when you're old things get a little harder?" Flurry jabbed. "I am not old! I'm only 38... and in a few years I'll stop aging all together!" A quick laugh came from Flurry as she wrapped her wings around herself to hold in what heat she could. "I know, it's freezing out here." Chattered Cadance, taking note of her daughter's action. "I could find some wood and build a fire, you know. I'll stay up and keep watch and you can sleep." There was an almost visual apprehension in her mother's expression as she thought upon the idea, "You're s-sure you want to stay up for so long?" "I'll be fine. You need the rest more than I do." "Well... alright." With that, Flurry got to her hooves, "I'll go find some firewood. I assume you're gonna stay here?" "I'd be of no use, so yeah. Just... be back soon." "No need to worry," Commented Flurry as she departed in a stray direction. Cadance's eyes wandered the nearly black forest of silhouettes before her as she stood, looking to find a more comfortable, preferably grassy place to lie down. After a mere 4 steps, she found a large patch of the short sweet grass mere feet from their stream. With her figure resting comfortably on the soft bedding, Cadance's head turned as she took a generous bite of the grass. Such an oddity, it was, to be sitting on one's food. ~§~ With a load of 5 fairly substantial logs taken from what looked to have been a fallen branch, Flurry turned to head back in the direction she had originated from. Hopefully the chunks were dry enough to burn nicely; they had been fairly tough in being broken down by her magic. Even if there was an excess of moisture Flurry's father had done a fine job of showing her the proper ways of building a fire, and with some help from a few spells, she was confident making a strong flame wouldn't be a challenge. If not for her father's absence (and for that matter, her mother's presence, as Cadance had only once gone with,) the situation would have felt like any other time she had spent in the woods. The first few trips were events she had found to be fairly boring, but soon they became something she quite enjoyed. More than anything she was extremely grateful of those times; she had learned many useful navigation and survival skills from her father. If his intent had been to train her for the very unlikely situation she and her mother currently stood in, then he had done a wonderful job. Flurry's body froze as a blood-chilling screech echoed through the forest, the sound similar to the cry of a falcon, yet it was more constant and held a slight chitter. Her heart pounded; the only sound now filling her ears being the silence of the forest. She jumped as a louder, closer screech responded; the sound feeling much closer than the last. The glow from her horn was cut, the logs held in her aurora falling to the forest floor as Flurry ran to the nearest tree and knelt at its base, the nearly foot-tall grass of the area providing her with some concealment. The Alicorn's ears remained perked as a deep, somewhat distant snap came from the canopy above, the rustle of the large leaves drawing her eyes upwards; whatever creature moving above was only a short distance from her. In the distance, another screech pierced her ears, the rustling pausing as the nearby creature stopped to listen. The responding cry from whatever fairly large creature lurked in the canopy caused Flurry's heart to skip a beat, her blood running completely cold. The rustling resumed and became more distant as the creature moved away from her general area; which might be in its favor, as Flurry's horn aimed right where the thrashing of leaves and branches had come from. As the seconds slowly ticked by, no more calls rang through the forest and the canopy remained quiet. The thump of Flurry's heart filled her own ears while she cowered, her head now on a swivel as she searched the surrounding area for anything else. A realization clicked into her mind; the nearby creature had been moving in the same direction she had originated from, and the first call came from that same direction. "Mom..." Flurry whispered as she darted to her hooves, breaking into a full sprint. Just enough light for her to avoid colliding with a tree radiated from her horn as she ran, heart still pounding from adrenaline. Flurry's hooves ripped through the grass and dirt as her body banked side to side to snake through the trunks, a wing occasionally swiftly unfolding to act as an air brake for incredibly hard maneuvers. Finally, the trees broke and before her lay the creek, which she almost bolted into if not for a quick snap of her wings. Her head darted side to side, the figure of her mother nowhere to be seen. "Mom? Where are you?" She called in a soft voice as to not alert what creature may be near. The already loud thump of her heart increased as she paced in either direction at the creek's edge trying to decide which way to follow the little body of water. She was sure she had come back perfectly in the direction she had gone; so where was Mom? Flurry's body spun to the right as another screeching call ripped through the trees, one that had come from a direction the other two had not. The faint contrast from her horn was ceased as Flurry trotted with haste in the opposite direction of the creek's flow, her head on a swivel as she scanned the silhouettes for any sign of her mother. "Where in the name of Equestria are you?" She called, her voice a little louder than in previous times, "Mom!" Through the tall grass Flurry's eyes caught an irregular shape, her horn instantly coming to life as her light revealed a prone, pink figure. Flurry darted to her mother, her body sliding to a halt as she knelt with haste, taking her mother's unconscious figure in her hooves. "Aaugh! W-wh... Flurry?! What are you doing?" Blurted Cadance as she was rudely awoken. "Mom! Mom, you're okay! Quick, get over here! Hide!" The still drowsy mother was dragged by Flurry's magic to the trunk of a nearby tree, the young Alicorn hunkering down with her mother held close to her side by a hoof. "What in the world is going on?" Inquired the dazed Alicorn, her volume causing Flurry's other hoof to come up and cover her mouth. "Shh! Have you not heard all of these screeches and the trees moving?!" The terrified Flurry whispered, her head craning upwards as she looked around. "N-no... I was asleep." "There's something in the trees, and it sounds big, and it makes an absolutely terrible sound." Returned Flurry, her quiet tone still shaky with fear. Flurry felt her mother jump as the mentioned screech broke the air, the call being fairly close. The duo held totally still as their ears focused on the somewhat distant rustle of leaves and snap of twigs. Flurry's eyes locked to a black shape as it clawed its way down the trunk of a tree across the creek, upon reaching the grassy forest floor it stood for a moment; completely still. Flurry's head was suddenly forced down by her mother's hoof, the Alicorn holding her own head low as they hoped the grass would conceal their position. Over her own breaths and her thumping heart Flurry could hear the creature stepping through the grass despite being some distance away. From the left came another call from the creatures, the sound causing the nearby steps to pause. Cadance brought her head up just in time to see the black creature turn its head up, its maw gaping wide as a responding screech was let loose, the sound running her blood cold. After a moment the creature's figure leaped back to the trunk, the sound of its claws ripping through the bark as it climbed filling the air. "Stay completely still," Cadance whispered as quietly as she could, her head coming back down to further hide her figure. "We need to run the other direction." Came Flurry's shaking words. "No; hold still. Be quiet, it doesn't know we're here." Flurry remained quiet, doing her best to calm her breathing to minimize any and all sound. The shifting of leaves in the canopy had almost faded into the distance as the creature moved further from the two, Flurry's head raising as she looked around. "It moved on," Commented Flurry, "Let's go; now. We need to get away from that thing." "You're right. Move quietly, don't worry about going fast." In perfect sync the two got to their hooves and began in the exact opposite direction of the creature's last position, their hooves impacting with as little heft as possible to keep the grass's rustle to an absolute minimum. After a full minute's moving, Cadance stopped, holding out a hoof to signal her daughter to pause as well. The two shared a look of complete terror and bewilderment, their breaths heavy. "By Celestia's name, what are those things!?" Exclaimed Flurry, her voice still held low. "I have no clue... but I can't believe I slept through that sound..." Cadance returned as she sat on her haunches, a hoof being held to her chest. A grunt escaped the mother as Flurry suddenly took her in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're okay..." She choked, her voice cracking as her eyes became misty, "When I saw you lying there... I-I thought one of those things had gotten you!" Cadance freed her hoof from between their chests, raising both her limbs to return the embrace, "I'm fine, Sweetheart. I'm glad you found me when you did." The reality of just how close the two had come to meeting the end started to hit Cadance. "I'm proud of you, Honey." She spoke, her hoof running through Flurry's pink and blue mane. "W-Why?" "You stayed extremely calm, and you didn't over-react and use your magic. I think we were better off going completely unnoticed." Flurry sniffled as her hold was lightened, "T-Thanks... and I think you're right. There were at least 3 of those things around us, I heard 3 separate calls." As her daughter's embrace finally broke, Cadance gave a shutter, "That sound... what an absolutely terrible sound. The only thing I can think of close to that would be a falcon. What kind of giant tree-climbing monster cries like a falcon?" "No idea, but from now on we need to keep our eyes up. The only reason I knew that one was so close to me is because it responded to another one. That's why I ran back to you; the first one screeched, then the one near me responded and began moving towards where you were, and the first one's call came in that same direction. I thought something had happened to you, and when I finally found you, I-I didn't think you were asleep..." Choked Flurry, trying to not let the image of her mother lying in the grass burn into her mind. "You poor thing. I'm sorry... I should have gone with you." "From now on, no splitting up; we stay together." "Agreed." Luckily, the past hours had gone by without any incident. Once the two Alicorns had fled from the general area of that creature, they elected to find their stream once more and continue following the little body of water, just from a ways off. A little while's walking finally wore the two out; an uneventful trip was something Cadance desperately needed to get back to sleep, as did Flurry. It was impossible to even think of slumber with the knowledge something lurked within the canopy above. Upon finding a dense grouping of trees each member of the party found their own patch of foliage to rest in, with the hope that the extra cover created by the closely grown trunks would help conceal them from any threats the realm of sleep was finally traveled to. "I think I know another reason it'd be better for us to sleep during the day." Commented Flurry as she finished taking a drink from their brook. The duo had woken a mere ten minutes ago and traveled a short distance to the stream for a little grass-based picnic before setting out for the day. "Oh? And what's that?" Cadance inquired through a mouthful of the sweet grass. "I'm willing to bet those things last night are nocturnal. Makes a lot of sense, seeing as how dark it is, even during the day." "I'm willing to bet you're right. I saw a few bats sleeping in one of the trees this morning. Seems like anything that lives here is going to be nocturnal." Flurry raised a brow, "Bats... in the trees?" "Mhm. There was four of them, all hanging upside down in a little cluster on one of the lower branches. They were a lot bigger than any bat I've seen." Flurry hummed in thought, "You sure they were bats, then?" "What else sleeps upside down with its wings curled around its body?" "Maybe they're come kind of blood-sucking bat. That's why they're big, so they can hold more blood!" Cadance's head shook after she took a second bite of grass, "You're too creative, sweetie." "I hope my creativity isn't true. Dealing with big vampire bats is the last thing I want." "I'm pretty sure bats drinking blood is a myth, anyway." Flurry's head craned downwards as she dipped her face into the icy mountain run-off, Cadance seeing several bubbles escape her nostrils. Upon raising from the water a field of droplets becoming airborne as she rapidly shook her head. "Oh, that's refreshing." Flurry moaned as her hoof came to wipe excess water from her fur. "If we had some towels and that water was deeper we could take a bath... but without any sunlight, and with how cold that water is, it'd be miserable." "Then why'd you try diving in last night?" Cadance grinned at her daughter's quip, "Keep blabbing and I'll throw you in there!" "You can't get me; your magic is still shot!" A feeling of weightlessness covered Flurry's figure as a blue aurora lifted her into the air a short distance, the force holding her still for a split second before it ceased, dropping her with a light thud. "Oh..." Commented Flurry, her eyes looking to her mother's horn, "I guess it's feeling better?" "For the most part. I doubt I could blow over any trees, so you'll have to keep us covered in that department." Flurry's head leaned to the side as her attention moved to Cadance's left wing, which seemed to be held from her side by a few inches, "And how about your wing? You're sure it's not broken, right?" "I'm pretty sure. It only hurts if I stretch it out," She explained as the mentioned wing slowly extended, the ache created bringing a wince to Cadance's expression, "I'd say in a week or so I could fly." "Figures that you rolled down a hill and hit a tree. If your wing wasn't hurt we could have blown a hole through this canopy and flown out of this dark forest." "You don't feel safe after last night, do you?" Flurry sighed, "No, I don't... but I think that's a good thing. Feeling safe in this forest won't get us out of here in one piece." "Very right you are." Flurry brought herself upright, her face still a little wet from the stream's contents, "Should we get a move on?" "Might as well. Same plan as before? Walk until we need to fall asleep?" A simple hum of agreeance was given by Flurry as she began moving downstream, her mother trotting to her side. "As terrifying as this place is at night, it's really beautiful," Cadance commented, looking around the dim forest. "No doubt about that. It's so strange walking around during the day and sometimes not being able to see stuff." "Makes you wonder how anything can grow down here," "Let's be thankful it does. Without this sweet grass, we'd be pretty hungry right now." Cadance's eyes were directed upwards, "Are we sure there's not some kind of fruit growing in these trees?" "I don't actually know. I doubt there would be anything growing past what we can see, considering there's barely any sun down here." "Have you actually gone up and checked?" Flurry's movement paused, her head also turning canopywards, "No... I haven't. I guess we won't know unless we see for ourselves." With that, the Alicorn's pink wings spread from her sides and with a few hard beats took her into the verticle. The best way to gain altitude quickly and efficiently would have been to combine forward air speed with a verticle angle of flight, but when the furthest tree is only a mere ten or so feet off the simple option of pure verticle flight was the only exploit. Much climbing brought Flurry to the base of the canopy, and a thorough search showed no fruit were present. Curiously, Flurry turned her body upwards and latched onto one of the many huge bottom branches of the canopy, the thick, almost two-foot-long leaves hanging from their branches brushing against her figure as she gave a single powerful stroke to propel herself all the way up onto the thick branch, her figure staying in a crouched position, as the other huge limbs above her gave no room for standing. "See anything?!" Shouted her mother, Flurry's attention directing to the forest floor, the height she stood at being quite dizzying. "No, not a single fruit!" Flurry's sight went straight up as she peered through the canopy; even while within the organic structure the sun's light could not be seen. As one of the many large leaves brushed across her face as she turned, Flurry paused as she observed something odd about the leaf. The round, somewhat pale leaf had an oddly thick core being around 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Her horn came to life as the leaf was broken from its branch with a moist snap, her eyes lighting up as she looked at the raw core. "The leaves are the fruit..." Whispered the Alicorn, her magic moving the leaf close to her muzzle as she took an investigative sniff. The leaf held a starchy, potato-like scent, and upon making this discovery, Flurry's teeth were brought to bare as she took a small bite from the core. The crisp vegetation held a faint taste of potato, but other than that it was fairly tasteless aside from the taste of water. It wasn't good, but it certainly wasn't bad. "Mom! We can eat the leaves! The leaves are the tree's fruit!" "Really!? Bring some down here!" While taking a second bite from her current leaf the Alicorn's blue aurora took the base of 5 other leaves, and with a loud snap the group broke from their parent branch and were stacked neatly. With her cargo, Flurry slid herself from the limb, free-falling for a moment before deploying her wings and bringing herself to a controlled state of flight, her strokes giving just enough power for a slow, purely vertical descent. Her hooves pressed into the grass as she came to a rest, Cadance looking on with excited eyes as her horn's aurora came to life, the topmost leaf of the stack being taken from Flurry's control. A snap broke the air as the mother knawed a fair sized chunk from the core, her head bobbing in a nod as she chewed. "Mhm! We can eat this!" She blabbed through a full mouth. "It tastes faintly of a potato, doesn't it?" Flurry inquired as she took a bite from her original leaf. "Very faintly. Mostly tastes like water and... dirt?" "That's what raw potatoes taste like." Cadance, upon further inspecting the foliage held in her magic, gave a little laugh, "Good find, sweetie. Now we don't have to just eat grass!" "Funny, the grass tastes better." "But these are going to give a lot more nutrients a lot quicker." "You know... I wonder if we could cook these." Flurry added, her magic ripping the rounded leaf from its pale green core. "Did you try eating the leaf?" Inquired Cadance as she took note of her daughter's action. The removed portion was brought to Flurry's mouth, and after chewing a moment she simply shrugged, "It tastes like a leaf." "Well, we're set on food! And possibly water; these leaf cores are really moist, and if we somehow lose track of our little stream we can probably survive solely on these." "If we roast these over a fire, I bet they'd be pretty good. All we'd need is some butter, salt, and pepper and we'd have a replacement for a baked potato." Explained Flurry as she broke the foot-long, tapered leaf root in half with a spell. "Should we find some wood and test this theory?" A crackle of energy bust from Flurry's horn as 5 logs materialized a short distance from her, the randomly arranged group dropping a foot or so as her aurora released them. "They were from last night." Explained the younger Alicorn as she took note of her mother's confusion. "Oh... I see. Well, use all those mountaineering skills your father taught you and build us a nice fire!" The forest's silence was over-ridden by the periodic snap and pop of fire, the wonderful scent of burning wood filling the chilled air. After holding one of the gathered leaf cores over the fire via stick for a good minute, Flurry's spell brought the browned, steaming item away from the flame, the stick being waggled swiftly through the air to help cool the core. With enticed eyes, the food moved to her open maw, and with a bite, she exclaimed in joy at the taste. The core was floated across the fire to Cadance, who took the skewered core by her own spell, "It tastes like a baked potato!" Flurry spoke, her head tilting up to ensure no bits of her meal fell from her mouth. Upon chewing a sizable piece from the food, Cadance too gave a hum of pleasure from the taste, "Good call cooking these, Sweetie!" "Still's missing butter, salt, and pepper." A second generous bite was taken by Cadance, her cheeks puffed by the excessive amount of food, "I certainly agree." After having the skewer moved back to her side of the fire Flurry took the object from her mother's spell as she pushed herself back from the fire a bit, her haunches sliding fairly effortlessly across the grass. For the first time since the duo had woken up in the forest, they felt warmth. Such a welcome change, it was, from the standard chilled coats and chattering teeth that had become the norm. "My front is so warm... yet my back is cold." Commented Cadance as she pivoted on her haunches. "It's the worst feeling, isn't it? Somehow you can be roasting and freezing at the same time. That was the one thing I hated about nights camping with dad. He always loved it." Flurry reminisced, her eyes fixed on the dancing flames before her. "We'll find Dad soon, Sweetheart. He's okay, I know he is." Flurry's ears fell level with her head, "I hope so..." With the day drawing to its end the pair now realized just how nice their fire had been. Having finished chowing down on the strange potato-like leaf cores and sitting by the fire for a while, departure was made as the duo resumed their wander through the dark woods. The chill of the air had only been extenuated by the moderate wind that had picked up, the force being great enough to bring some movement to the normally dead silent canopy. A faint beam of contrast shined from Flurry's horn as she moved around a large stump, Cadance's eyes tracking the object for a moment as they passed by it. "Honey, wait... light up that stump again," Cadance commanded as the two paused their travel. The beam shined back to the fallen tree base, and after looking on at the object for a moment the pair realized something. "That tree was cut down..." Commented Flurry as she stepped closer to the stump. "And so were all of these." Flurry spun around to see her mother standing some distance away, her direction pointing to a grouping of 3 other stumps. Upon joining her mother, Flurry looked skywards to see that the removal of the trees had created a thinning in the canopy, the red evening sky peeking through in a few places. "Mom, look! I can get through right here!" Chimed Flurry, her pink wings spreading as she prepared to take off. "You be careful, Honey. If anything looks out of the ordinary you come right back down here, okay?" Called Cadance as she watched her daughter take to the skies. After seeing Flurry punch her way through the thinly veiled leaves of the canopy Cadance turned back to the forest, her horn casting a glow as she further investigated the area. A little ways from the original 3 stump Cadance found that a perfectly straight line of about 10 trees had been removed from their roots. Even more interesting than this was the presence of many saplings, the young trees being equipped with a simple twine and stick brace to help support them. They weren't the only ones in the forest, that was becoming increasingly evident. A rustle of leaves drew Cadance's eyes upwards as Flurry's silhouette broke through the sparse canopy. "There's a big row of trees missing here!" Called the young Alicorn as she descended. "I know, and all of these little saplings were planted by something! They're all supported by these sticks..." As Flurry's hooves made contact with the grass, her eyes investigated one of the mentioned saplings her mother stood near, the glow from the older Alicorn's horn highlighting the little tree's pale leaves. "So, where are we?" Cadance inquired, her words bringing Flurry's eyes up. "A valley. A big one, surrounded by huge, snowcapped mountains. The only way out of this forest that doesn't involve scaling a huge summit would be that way," Flurry's hoof pointed in the direction they had been following for the past two days, "There's a lake probably 200 miles in that direction, and then after that I can't tell without flying any further." "Did you see any roofs or structures through the trees anywhere?" "Not at all, but there is a strange little mountain that branches off from a larger one over in that direction," Once more Flurry pointed, her hoof aiming to the right of their previous direction of travel, "Are you tired enough to sleep right now?" Cadance's head recoiled at the question, "I guess... why? That's an odd thing to ask." "Because we should get some sleep while we can. There's a storm coming from behind us, and we should catch some Zs before it hits." "That explains this wind. You're right, let's find a place to hunker down for a while. Trying to sleep while getting rained on doesn't sound all that exciting." Departure from the artificially created clearing had been made, and what little light the evening sun gave had faded as night fell, the pitch black forest finally holding some life as the now strong winds rippled the grass and shook the canopy overhead. A densely grouped trio of trees had been discovered not far from the clearings, and with the logic that the forestation above might be thicker, the duo agreed such a place would be best for slumber, and; conveniently enough, there grew a patch of the short sweet grass within the relatively small area. As the pair began settling down into their bedding, it became apparent the only real comfort that night would be in the form of grass. Normally the temperature was bearable enough for sleep, but the windchill brought an almost arctic feel to the woods. As Cadance's ears tuned in on the loud chatter coming from her daughter's jaw she scooted herself close to Flurry, lying back down to where her front leg rested across the younger Alicorn's chest. A spike of pain came from her wounded wing as the limb was extended as far as she could manage, the feathery mat draping across Flurry's curled figure. "Doesn't t-that hurt your wing?" Chattered the younger Alicorn as she brought her own wing from under her mother's cover, re-furling the limb to where Cadance's wing firmly tucked beneath her daughter's. "Is it helping k-keep you warm?" "Yeah..." "Then it's worth it." Flurry's legs tucked further to her chest and stomach, the act bringing a smile to Cadance's expression. "I love you, Mom." "I love you, too, Sweetheart."