An Owl's Nightmare
The nymph that had been guarding the cave entrance ascended from the night sky. She needed to report to the group leader of the whereabouts of the Queen. That and ask him for more guards. Now she was at the base camp that had been set up a month and a half earlier. She shivered in the cold night air as she pulled her scarf tighter around her neck and wished that the fur she seemed to be covered in was real. She had donned her own disguise of a light blue coated pegasus with a pastel purple mane and a glass vial with green liquid for her cutie mark after seeing several other changelings all in disguise on her way here.
As she walked up to the group of ponies swarming the camp the nearest stallion caught her eye. He was cute, but there was plenty of room for improvement in the way he kept his mane. She subtly flashed her true eyes and the stallion coughed loudly three times. As she past him she gave him a wink, which he promptly ignored, already having quelled any emotion that she might be able to detect. She sighed at his adamant professionalism and continued on her way through the thickening crowd. Normal ponies are so much more fun to tease.
She walked through the crowd, checking cutie marks around her to make sure that the disguise theme hadn't changed from an ice field study group checking for the possibility of oil drilling. She may have let her eyes linger on a few choice stallions' cutie marks a bit longer than necessary, but she kept her mind on the task at hoof. Oh, but that mane. That gorgeous mane.
After the routine was over, she looked around for the group leaders. Once more slightly distracted by two or three exceptional examples of the opposite sex, she gazed through the crowd until her eyes passed by a large covered brazier that let out minimal light but managed to warm up the area all the way to where she was without melting the snow around it thanks to an enchantment. There. A light blue coated earth pony with a thick white sweater and a dark blue mane was holding a clipboard next to the brazier and talking to a few other ponies next to him. The nymph made her way through the crowd towards the disguised drone and waited for a chance to speak.
"-and I want the lamps put up as soon as possible. A group this large working in the dark would raise suspicion with the theme we're using." The stallion turned to face the waiting nymph, "Yes, can I help you?"
She opened her mouth for a moment but paused as she thought about how to say what she needed. She knew from everypony being in disguise that a normal pony had been spotted somewhere nearby. This should mean that everypony should be talking in character and using code words and phrases that had been pre-devised to ensure their ruse remained intact even if a normal pony were to overhear a conversation. The thing that confused her was why the Group Leader would be talking out of character.
"Well, spit it out!" the stallion snapped, making the disguised nymph jump. Thankfully, she remembered to splay her wings as well. "I've got things to do and ponies to organize. I can't sit here all night watching you draw circles in the snow."
The nymph folded her assumed wings and stopped her hoof which had been doodling without her knowledge. She hadn't noticed the sense of irritation coming from the drone until now, but judging from the spicy taste he either angered easily, or hadn't had a very good day. Finally deciding to just use the safe response, she thought up one of the code phrases for making sure the coast was clear. "Is the ice clear for testing?"
"Yes. There's only been one sighting tonight and the pony was immediately captured. Now, what do you need?" The sense of irritation was only growing stronger.
She was really confused now. He and everypony else were in disguise. One normal pony had already been spotted. He of all ponies should know that you were supposed to be talking in character whether or not there was only one pony seen. "Um, shouldn't you be talking in-"
"GET ON with it!" the Group Leader barked, almost making the nymph's face scrunch up at the burning taste of not only his irritation but the irritation of several ponies around him.
The nymph took a breath and just decided to give up on the precautions that nopony else seemed to care for at the moment. "A friend and I have found King Sombra, alive, in a nearby ice cave." Although she hadn't realized it, all nearby conversations had suddenly come to a stop. "I was able to escape but my friend wasn't so lucky." Shushing and quick whispers were now flowing through the growing crowd "I notified the Queen immediately and she left me the task to guard the entrance from anypony else entering while she went in to confront King Sombra. However, two ponies have already muscled their way past me to join her, so I will need some more guards to ensure no more get inside." At that last part, her hoof had started nervously tracing the snow again. So, I did kind of just let them walk past me, but what was I supposed to do, fight them two against one? I blame the good looking one for dist-tract...ing...me...
By now she was the center of attention of probably every changeling in the camp, which was around one fourth of the entire hive. She sucked in her breath and worked hard on keeping good posture and preventing her ears from folding flat against her head but she could still feel her legs turning to jelly. She had never been good with being the center of attention of more than ten to fifteen ponies. This was decidedly more than ten to fifteen ponies. She just hoped that the bitter taste of her fear would be drowned out by the sour taste of shock emanating from all around her.
The Group Leader looked at her, mouth agape. He was one of the first few to recover and thought for a second. "So the queen was right. He is alive. Ha! So much for my forty bits." Half of the faces in the surrounding crowd became crestfallen at this remark while several faces radiated sheer joy. "What’s your name, miss?" he asked with approval in his eyes.
"Oh, um, I'm Diamond Rose. Oh, and my friend’s name is Flitter, sir," she replied with a smile, realizing that she had just earned recognition for finding the elusive pony which had left them all clueless for over a month, and possibly ending the grueling stay in this unrelentingly cold wasteland.
"Good work, Diamond Rose." The pony turn towards the main part of the crowd and raised his voice to be heard by everypony. "Attention! I need six volunteers for guard duty, ASAP. The theme has entered the clean up stage. Switch activities from nocturnal to diurnal. The search is over!" Hundreds of hooves pounded down on the snow in applause and celebration. Several volunteers quickly came forward and the earth pony turned back to Diamond Rose "Lead the way to our queen, miss Rose."
“Come on, Night. We’re gonna be late!” a small filly cried, tugging on Night Owl’s back leg and simultaneously using him as a light shield against the bright late afternoon sun. “Come on, come on!”
The little filly looked to be around nine or ten. Her coat was a soft, silvery blue and her mane was a deep midnight blue. Her eyes were almost an exact match to Night Owl’s: a bright opaque yellow with a vertical slitted iris. The light glinted off the shining silver membrane of her right wing. Although he could only see the shoulder of her left wing, he knew exactly what it would look like.
“Just a second, we need to finish locking up.” Night Owl smiled down at the excitable filly, moving a bit to better shade her from the sun. “Besides, what happened to `Noooo-hoooo, I don’t wanna get uuup`?” He said, trying his best to imitate her drowsy whine.
“Well, I forgot about the competition.” She hopped up onto one of the two chairs on the large patio. “If I had remembered, I would have jumped straight out of bed and rushed down the hallway to the bathroom,” - she pounced off the chair and jumped past the other - “quickly do all my bathroom stuff, speed through breakfast,” - she pantomimed brushing her teeth and eating her oatmeal - “and we would have been out the door ten minutes ago!” the filly was left panting at her little show of how fast she would have done everything.
She had, in fact, been woken up ten minutes ago and done all those things after Night had reminded her of the competition, but he didn't feel like spoiling her mood. He also didn't like thinking about the odd feeling of something being wrong he had felt when he woke up. Instead he simply dead-bolted one of the the windows and asked, “And which part of the competition are you looking forward to the most?” Night knew exactly what the answer would be, both just from knowing his sister, and this being her favorite topic of conversation for the past week.
She clambered back onto the chair, coiled her hind legs, and jumped off with her wings spread. “The Flying races!” she shouted, eyes closed, simply enjoying the faux flight.
“Wo-woah!” The wind had decided just then to pick up and had turned her jump into a glide. At least, it would have been a glide had it been anypony else. Instead she was sent spinning off towards the edge of the patio.
She couldn't see the drop that awaited her at the edge, but she knew it was there. The empty air greeted her, the towering trees all around silently watching as she came closer to the fateful fall. As she flipped over again she caught a glimpse of the ground, a full one hundred fifty trots below their home in the tree. Her screaming may have filled the air, but there was nothing else she could do to prevent herself from plummeting to her death as she was pushed past the railing.
She was in open air now. Nothing to grab on to, no branches to break her fall. Their house was built as low as it safely could be, which was well beneath any branches throughout the forest of gargantuan trees. In a few seconds she would become violently acquainted with the ground, scaring off any creatures that either couldn't fly or dared to traverse the forest floor.
A pair of golden brown hooves wrapped around her and her fall was blessedly cut short. Night Owl had been prepared for something to happen. He was always prepared for something to happen if she wasn't planted on the ground, even if she was simply jumping up and down. “Are you okay, Silver? You’re not hurt are you? Are your wings alright?” She was shaking violently in his legs. “Stars and moon, Silver. I was afraid I’d lose you. … I will always protect you.” he whispered hugging her tight, hoping to comfort his shaking sister, and ignoring the damp splashes falling against his barrel as he flew back up to their home.
He landed back on the patio, but he didn't let go of her. He walked on his hind legs over to his chair and sat down with her still in his fore legs. After a while the shaking had stopped and the tears were no longer falling. “Are you going to be okay, Silver Star?” Night owl asked.
“Yeah, I’m just fine.” Silver Star glued her eyes to the ground and hung her head, an all too familiar melancholic look on her face.
Night knew that there was nothing he could say to make things better, so he simply hugged her tighter. His eyes traveled down her silvery blue coat down to her left wing. The silver wing membrane was torn apart between the fingers, leaving her flightless. And it was all his fault. He had gotten his cutie mark that day, but all the shield and bat wings did was remind him of his failure to protect– No, stop.
The two of them sat there, both the recent trauma and harsh memories weighing them down, neither of them wanting to leave the other’s embrace.
Night Owl eventually broke the spell. “Do you want to just stay here today?” She shook her head. She had been looking forward to this and a fall wasn’t going to stop her. “Come on then, we’ve got to go if we’re going to get there on time.”
He tightened his hold on her and lifted her onto his back on top of his saddle bags. He walked back over to the window that he had been locking and pulled the key out. “Can you lock the last window for me?” She simply nodded and took the key, the excitement from earlier vanished without a trace.
He walked over to the window and sidled up to it so that she could reach the dead bolt. When metal bar clicked into place, Silver Star took the key out and placed it on its clip in Night’s bag. “Are you sure you still want to go?” She nodded. He sighed. “Okay, hold on tight.”
Night owl unfurled his wings, stepped back, galloped towards the edge and jumped.
Silver clutched his mane as hard as she could and kept her eyes closed. She had always hated the initial jump into open air. Several agonizing moments went by where she couldn't be sure if they would keep falling or fly through the trees. Then Night flapped his wings and the world felt safe again. She loosened her hold and opened her eyes, and she was once again reminded of why she loved flying.
Nothing could beat the feel of the wind rushing past her coat and whipping through her mane and tail. She tentatively unfurled her own wings in a way that they would slice through the air instead of catching it. She closed her eyes and just let herself feel the wind as Night made his way through the trees, passing neighbors and park platforms alike.
Night Owl had long since perfected the art of flying with a passenger. He easily swept through the trees, not even blinking as he careened past the massive limbs and boughs. He and his sister had lived in the Hollow Shades their entire lives, as had the rest of the thestral community. Thestrals weren't exactly widely accepted among the main pony races, especially among the pegasi, which was why it was odd that ponies from Cloudsdale had suggested this competition.
Flyers from all the nearby towns and communities were invited to the competition where all sorts of feats of strength and agility were to be contested. The main event, though would be the flying races. He would be competing in the long distance race, but he had left that as a surprise for Silver Star and had already gotten one of her friend’s parents to carry her to the different checkpoints along the course.
He smiled at the thought of seeing the pride and joy on her face as he won the race for her, the gold medal hung around her neck, him barely winded while the rest of the contestants flapped tiredly to the finish line, barely having made it without using one of the resting points.
As the town’s central platform came into view his smile only got wider. More pegasi were present than he had thought there would be. There were probably hundreds of them, all mingling with the community and each other. There were even some gryphons there.
“Silver do you see this?” He knew she would have her eyes closed, and always pretended that he didn’t notice her wings splayed out as if she was the one flying. It scared him a bit when she did that, but he knew she was careful about it. As such he was careful to always avoid the updrafts so that she wouldn’t be flipped over. It might mean that he would have to put more effort into flying on his own power, but it was well worth it for his sister. As a bonus, he didn’t have to work out much after carrying her around everywhere and avoiding any free lift.
“Yeah, its really coo–Woah, there’s gryphons over there!” She shouted. Her meloncholy from earlier had worn off from the flight and now her exhuberance had returned en force. “Can we go meet the gryphons? Huh? Huh? Can we?”
“I don’t know, Silver,” Night joked, “it might not be such a great idea; them competing against our town and everything.”
“Please? I’ll be good, I promise!” She brought out the powerful weapon that was commonly used throughout the universe: the puppy dog eyes.
Night laughed, he was willing to let her meet the gryphons either way, but he just loved seeing how cute she was like that, and she knew it. “Sure thing.”
As they landed, she shot off his back towards the nearby gryphons. He watched as one of the male gryphons brushed her off, while a female seemed to take a liking to her.
The sound of large leathery wings flapping through the air that was brushing against his mane brought Night Owl’s attention to a thestral mare that was landing beside him. “Hey, Ghost Wind. How are you today?” he greeted her as she landed.
“Well, I’ve had a crazy day so far."
"Crazy compared to a normal day at your house? This ought to be good."
Ghost Wind laughed. "The whole family got up for a final practice early this morning. After that, we helped everypony set up the courses and events and then the `dynamic duo` got a little competitive with each other, starting their own little event that somehow became official and is due to start in an hour. Later I had to help Breeze wash some punch out of her fur
"And how did that happen?
"Well, one of the colts is from one of the nearby towns and he started making a bit of trouble. Steady Breeze was keeping steady until he called her- well, you know, their name for us."
"Oh. I see."
"Yes. I swear she's going to join the Forest Guard when she gets older."
"If she does I'll personally vouch for her as fine guard material."
"Oh, I'm sure she would love that," Ghost wind said with a knowing smile.
Night winced a bit. It wasn't hard to realize that his little sister's best friend had a heavy crush on him. "Yeah, I'm sure she would."
Ghost Wind laughed. "Aren't young crushes just adorable?"
"Yeah, adorable. Um, uh–Oh!" He lowered his voice so only she could hear it. "Have you already signed me up for the race?"
"Yes, I made sure that got done before we finished helping everypony set up." She looked around before reaching into her saddlebag and handing him a sheet of paper with a few numbers with a few strings attached.
He quickly took the paper and put it in his own saddle bags. “Thank you for that, Wind. And thank you for flying Silver around while I'll be racing."
"Your welcome and good luck on the race today. I'm absolutely sure you'll get first."
"Ha. Shouldn't you be saying that to your husband? I know he's in that race too."
"With you racing? He's hoping to get second place, just behind you." Some shouting back in the direction she had come from caught her attention. "Oh, I've been gone a bit longer than I had thought I would. I'd better go make sure the twins don't start any new impromptu events. Good luck!"
“Thanks. I’ll see you at the race.” he waved at the retreating mare and decided to see how the thestral/gryphon relations were going with his sister.
What he saw sent shots of fear and joy down his spine. The gryphess had taken to juggling the filly in the air with her massive wings, Silver giggling like mad.
Night’s first thought was to rush over and pull her out of the air and away from the decidedly dangerous gryphon, but he figured the gryphon knew what she was doing if she would do this with a flightless young filly. Or at least he hoped. Besides, he didn’t often see Silver having that much fun. He would still hurry over though, just in case.
“I see you’ve met my sister,” he greeted the gryphess. “I hope she’s been in good talons.” he hinted, hoping she wouldn’t take offense.
“Oh, Bonjour.” She paused in her game with Silver and put the giggling filly down. “So de little one is wit’ you? She has been no problem. I love children and dis one is jus too cute. We have been getting to know each other and what our different races our like. We are almost as new to ponies as she is to us. I had jus been telling her how we were on vacation in a nearby town. When we heard about dis competition we decided to join. We did not expect to see bat ponies” - Night Owl stiffened at the word - “or other gryphons when we got here.”
“What’s a bat pony?” Silver spoke up. “Do you mean us? ‘Cuz we’re called thestrals, not bat ponies.” She looked completely cute and innocent to the normal eye, but Night saw that little glint in her eye that told him just how much she was aware of what she was saying. His pride in his little sister swelled to the point he thought he might start grinning like a goofball.
“Oh, I am sorry for de miscommunication. I had heard the name spoken among a few of de pegasi here. I had just assumed that is what you were called.” She looked genuinely apologetic, so he decided to ignore the mistake. Besides, anypony that would say that name was either ignorant of its context or wouldn’t say it to a thestral's face without a few lackeys to back them up.
“It’s alright. I’m Night Owl, by the way.” He extended a hoof in greeting.
“Oh, where are my manners? I am Genevieve -” She shook his hoof, careful to avoid scraping him with her talons “- and my husband, Gustav should be around here somewhere. He is likely by the food. He is a renowned baker and pastry chef. It is only thanks to me that he has not become too heavy to fly.” A quick look told them that he was, indeed at the bake sale booth, enjoying a few of the mooncakes that were kept as a secret recipe among the colony.
The sound of an enchanted microphone turning on brought silence over the majority of the large crowd. A pegasus mare with a bright yellow coat and fiery two-toned orange mane stepped up to the podium to many cheers among the pegasi and several of the gryphons. The mare smiled and motioned for the crowd to settle down, waiting a moment for a few of the flyers -Gustav included- to make their way back to their friends and families before speaking.
Genevieve introduced her husband to Night Owl while the mare on stage went through a speech about the relations between thestrals and pegasi.
Night Owl began to notice a strange smell near the end of the mare’s speech. It was such an odd smell, one that he had only smelled maybe once or twice before. He just couldn't place the smell. The uncomfortable evening heat was only making it harder to identify the smell with the rising stench of sweat.
Night Owl looked out towards where the sun was currently setting, the mare’s speech all but background noise at this point. Is it getting warmer? The sun was almost gone, but the light around him didn't seem to diminish in the slightest.
Night Owl fanned out his wings, trying to get a bit of relief from the heat. A warm updraft brushed against his wings on its way into the sky. This isn't right. The updraft from the heat shouldn't be this strong. Not right here on the platform. “Silver, stay close to me, alright? Something’s not right here.” The filly looked at him weird, but obeyed anyways, sticking close to Night Owl’s side. She knew better than to ignore him when he was feeling cautious.
Night Owl looked around and it seemed he wasn’t the only one looking uncomfortable. One of the thestral stallions by the edge of the platform was unfurling his wings as well. Suddenly the wings snapped open and he was pushed into the air by the force of the wind alone.
“Oh, ponyfeathers.”
The mare’s speech had only just ended when the flying thestral opened his mouth, eyes bulging and glued what ever he saw beneath the platform. Night Owl watched the stallion’s reaction and knew that something was terribly wrong. There was a strange orange glint to the pony’s eyes and suddenly the reaction made sense to Night Owl. The crowd was still hushed from waiting for the mare to continue talking when the thestral's voice rang out over the crowd.
“Fire!”
The crowd ceased all whispered conversations and for a moment there was no noise coming from the top of the platform, the sound of crackling finally washing over the horrified crowd.
The mare on the podium picked up the microphone again. A smile graced her lips as she spoke, “Let the games begin!” A flash of green fire encompassed her body, and what was left was a shiny black carapace with transparent insectile wings, holes carved through her legs, a smooth curved horn, long white fangs, and bright blue pupil-less eyes.
The entire crowd burst into pandemonium. Everywhere, pegasi were bursting into changeling forms, the green fire catching on the wooden floor beneath them. hundreds of ponies were escaping into the skies where more changelings awaited them above the tree tops.
Night Owl grabbed Silver, threw her onto his back, and ran towards the edge of the platform, Genevieve and Gustav close behind. Night held his wings straight out, preparing for the jump. “Hold on tight!” He jumped.
This time there wasn't a moment of unnerving calmness, but rather a violent jerk upwards as the heat from the fire bore them up. “We have to get away from here!” he shouted over his shoulder. “The changelings are covering the skies, so we’ll have to travel through the cover of the forest before surfacing. Stay close to me and whatever you do, don’t slow down. Forest fires won’t wait for anypony, and I doubt these changelings will either.”
“They heard you,” Silver informed him. “Night, what’s going to happen?” her voice was quivering but he could still hear a defiant strain of bravery in her voice.
“Stay strong, Silver. We’re going to to get out of here and tell Princess Luna what happened here.” He wasn't going to let anything happen to his little Star. Nothing.
“Above you!” Genevieve cried. Silver screamed as several changelings came from above, aiming to tackle Night out of the air. He flew to the side, knowing they would follow his movements. They were all watching him, rather than where they were going.
Whump. Whump. Whu-crack.
Night Owl had led the changelings into a dark tree limb that was hanging out in the air. Half of them had flown straight into it, ripping it from the tree and dragging the last changeling down with it.
“Thanks, Genevieve!”
“It is my pleas-Argh!”
“Genevieve!” Night Owl looked back to see Gustav ripping a changeling from his wife’s back and throwing it down to the depths of the forest floor, another hanging limp in Genevieve’s talons.
“Do not worry about us. We are capable of holding ourselves. Fly!”
He didn't wait another moment. They took off through the forest. A few more changelings came upon them, but after they were all quickly dispatched, no more were seen.
It was setting Night Owl on edge.
The rising moon left shadows everywhere and even a thestral’s eyes could only discern so much in the dark.
Nothing was happening. He didn't know if they had given up, if they had lost them, or if they were waiting for a chance to attack. He didn't like not knowing.
“Do think they have left us alone?” Genevieve called out.
Something caught Night Owl’s eyes in the shadows on the forest floor.
“It could be,” Gustave answered. “They must have many more people than just us to worry about.” He laughed. “I saw a few other gryphons there, all much athletic than us. I’m sure they have their hoof holes filled with troubles.”
“Shh.” Night put a hoof to his lips. Silver must have repeated the gesture to the gryphons by the way she moved on his back.
The small, indistinct noises of nature filled the air. There was something wrong with the shadows. They were moving too much. “I don’t think we’re out of the woods quite yet.”
Silence. Deathly still silence. “Ambush!” Night owl screamed.
They were everywhere. The three of them fought the horde back but were forced down to the ground. Genevieve and Gustav took out a large part of the swarm together but there were still so many to go.
This couldn't be happening. Night Owl was useless in the fight. He couldn't do anything to the changelings. All he could do was dodge their attacks while keeping Silver from falling off his back. He jumped to the ground as another changeling flew over him, tripping over Night’s wings he had put up to protect Silver.
He had to find a way out. He looked around frantically. He had to get Silver to safety. There were changelings in every direction, the gryphon couple doing their best to hold them all off. Then he saw the gorge to the side. “To the left!” he shouted, the two gryphons quickly catching his intent.
They barreled through the crowd, Gustav clearing the way in front while Genevieve protected Night Owl and Silver Star from behind. As they passed the opening to the gorge Genevieve flew up and knocked a rock out of place along the mountainside, causing a small avalanche and blocking the changelings on the ground.
As the stones fell around the entrance several went flying towards the small group. They all did their best to avoid the falling boulders but Night saw one as it careened it way towards him. He moved purely on instinct, throwing Silver off his back and away from the boulder’s path.
Silence.
Everything looked fuzzy.
He blinked a few times.
Sound was gradually coming back to him, a voice echoing above the ringing.
He couldn't tell, but he thought he recognized that voice.
Silver...That's Silver's voice...
“Night!” Silver Star was screaming.
Night Owl could feel blood running down his face and more pooling down by his hind legs. He couldn’t feel his left wing.
“Night, come on, get up!”
Why can't I feel my wing?
“Night, They’re coming!”
He tried lifting himself up but he seemed to be caught on the boulder laying beside him.
“Night, come on, you've got to get up!”
He must be stuck underneath the boulder. He guessed it might be his wing and hind leg.
“Night, come on! Night! Night! You said you would protect me. Night, please!”
That brought Night owl back to his senses. He could see changelings just calmly crawling over the avalanche debris, crawling down the sides of trees, and crawling down the tall cliff face across from him. Just crawling, as if it didn't matter how long it took, it wouldn't matter.
He was pinned beneath the boulder and Genevieve and Gustav were sitting there, horrified, not knowing what to do. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't protect anyone. He had left his community to the changelings’ mercy. He had abandoned everypony there. His neighbors, his friends; all gone. There sat his only family left, crying her eyes out, defenseless without him.
He couldn't protect her.
But he had a promise to keep.
“Genevieve,” he called, “I need you and Gustav to take Silver Star and fly away from here.”
“What? Night, no,” Silver cried. “I need you Night. You have to get up!”
Genevieve put on a brave face and walked towards Silver.
“Night, come on. I can’t leave you. Night, no-No!”
Genevieve picked her up and spread her wings, tears staining the fur beneath her eyes.
“Night, no!” Tears rained down Silver Star’s cheeks as she was placed on Genevieve’s back. “No, take me back! Help him get up! NIGHT!”
The small, flightless filly jumped. She spread her wings, one shining a pale silver in the moonlight, while the other was a gray skeletal reminder of the first time Night Owl had failed to protect her. She tried to keep a glide but was quickly flipped over, out of control, with only one wing being able to catch the air.
A pale yellow taloned foot reached out and snatched the filly from the air leaving her helpless but to watch as the changelings surrounded her brother. Her protector. Her only family left in the world.
Night Owl wanted to scream for Silver, wanted to be with her at least one last time, but it would be no use. He could see the changelings crawling closer, swarming in from every side, every surface covered in the parasites. He couldn't move, couldn't do anything.
A loud grinding noise filled his ears. He looked around, and there was Gustav, pulling the boulder off of him, shaking from the effort. When the boulder had been moved far enough Night rolled out from under the weight and tried to stand.
“Gustav you need to go.” Night Owl wouldn't be able to leave. He was a lost cause.
“No, there is more for you to do. More for you to see!” Gustav replied. “Do you not want to see your sister one last time?” Gustav helped Night Owl stand on the three legs he had use of left. “You must live for her. Do not give up until she is with you again!”
He's right. Silver...I will catch up to you and I will never leave you again. Night Owl struggled to keep standing. He could do this. He looked at his left wing and cringed. It was torn apart. Skeletal claws with bleeding rags hanging off. “I can’t fly, Gustav.” There had to be another way out.
“You were not meant to, monsieur.”
“What?” Night Owl looked over at the gryphon who had just saved him. What he saw sent icicles down his spine.
An electric green flame was running along the course of the gryphon’s body, covering Gustav. A haunting smile was plastered on Gustav’s beak until the flames had obscured him completely. Then, slowly the flames receded, leaving thick, hole-filled, black-shelled legs and a massive body to match. Where Gustav had stood, there was now a gargantuan changeling roughly the same size as a gryphon. The only similarities left between Gustav and this thing was that cold, haunting smile, white teeth and fangs shining brightly among the black shell beneath the deep glaring blue eyes. “Surprise.”
The sound of a pair of large feathered wings filled the air above him. He looked up and saw Genevieve still holding Silver in her talons. A patch of green slime now covered Silver’s mouth, her eyes stricken with fear and tears staining her cheeks.
“No…”
Genevieve landed at the top of the cliff face across from him, that same cold grin stretched across her beak. The same electric green flames surrounded her and left another hulking changeling with Silver clutched in its magical grasp.
The trees all around were lighting up in that unnatural green fire. Orange and green shadows dancing all around.
Several changelings came up behind her as she brought Silver up to her face, her mouth open wide, showing off the long glinting white fangs.
“Stop!”
Her jaws closed around Silver Star’s neck with and audible slap. His sister’s muffled scream piercing the air. The fire reacted violently, overflowing into the ranks of changelings, feeding off of her fear and pain. None of the changelings were affected by the fire at all, some still crawling through it while others were lit up in the green fire, as it it was a part of them.
Night owl to lunged forward, trying to get closer to his sister, but he was thrown back by the gargantuan changeling that was once Gustav, now a hulking monster that was half inferno. He tried lifting his wings but when he tried to fly up to her he only flipped onto his side, crushing his wing again, his own scream filling the air.
All he could do was watch helplessly as his pleas were ignored and his sister was passed around like a snack, her silvery blue coat turning grey, her eyes losing focus and reforming to milky white discs, both of her wings looking like skeletal claws now.
The changelings had finished feeding on his sister. The slime covering her mouth was gone, but she was bleeding from her neck, scorched in places by the green fire, and now looked like a skeleton with skin and fur. Everything about her looked lifeless except for one thing.
He could still see her breathing. Long, jagged, shallow breaths, but still, she was alive.
The thing that was once Genevieve once again adopted that vile grin, malice and hatred burning in her eyes.
The magical grasp around the shriveled filly shrunk and squeezed her until small sounds of pain could be heard.
“Stop. Please. Leave her alone!”
Those eyes. There was only hatred and malice in those eyes.
The magical grip on Silver Star began to slacken, but it didn't stop when she was no longer being squeezed. Very slowly she was slipping down through the magical field.
“No…”
Her hind legs passed the edge of the green aura.
“No.”
Her stomach started rolling out.
“No, no, no!”
Her withers were hanging out.
“No, No, No, NO!”
He tried again to run to her aid but was only blocked by the former Gustav, forced to watch as Silver Star’s head dipped below the field of magic. The green Aura tightened on her mane and she stopped sliding down. A small whimper escaping her muzzle as she hung by the hairs of her mane.
Night didn't breathe. He held as still as his sister, as if both of their lives were held in the changeling’s magical grip.
The Changeling bought Silver up above its head, giving one last snarl of hatred before the glow around its horn faded out.
The world faded to slow motion. Everything around Night Owl swirled into a blur, the only things left in existence now were him and Silver Star, falling to her death.
Every agonizingly slow movement he made was matched by a few inches lost between her and the cold hard stones beneath her.
His hooves thrashed against the ground.
His wings made pitiful attempts to speed him further.
His little Star continued to fall from the sky.
He stretched out his hooves, desperately reaching out for her.
He never even came close.
He heard the sickening crunch as she hit the rocks.
He made it to her side moments later. “Silver?” Her eyes were closed and he couldn't see her breathing. “Silver, please, speak to me.” She didn't respond.
He felt something hot and sticky beneath one of his hooves. His leg shot back as if seared. He looked down at it and there was blood on his hoof.
Night watched in horror as small black pools coalesced under his sister’s frame with a hoofprint left on the fringe of the largest puddle.
“No. Silver, I need you to wake up now.” She didn't move. “Silver, wake up. Just wake up.” He moved closer, ignoring the blood. “S- Silver?”
He wrapped his hooves around her and picked her up, cradling her in his legs. “Silver p-please don’t leave me.” She was cold.
“P-please, don’t l-leave me.” Her fur was shining like silk in the moonlight and he could feel her blood rolling down his legs and barrel. “Please, I've tried to k-keep our promise, don’t b-break it now.” Tears blurred his vision and ran down his cheeks.
“Just wake up for me, will you? Please, don’t go. Silver. Silver, wake up. Silver! I need you to stay with me! Please, I can’t lose you! Just wake up!” He broke down into uncontrollable sobs as his hope was drained away.
“P-p-ple-ease d-don’t le-eave m-me…”
A harsh insectile chuckle rose from behind him.
He didn't want to look at them. She’s gone. The world was meaningless to him now. My little star is gone. And they...they took her from me. Rage filled his heart, pitifully trying to fill the hole that had just been ripped out. They killed her.
He carefully put his sister down, turned towards the laughter behind him.
Quivering with rage he faced her murderers. thousands of changelings stood to face him, outlined by their unnatural fire. In the front stood the two large changelings with triumphant sneers plastered across their faces.
He didn't know what he was doing anymore. The next thing he knew he was in a throng of changelings biting and kicking in every direction. Several flashes of the ensuing combat came to his mind. A changeling in front of him, his mouth latched to its neck as his sharp incisors pierced its shell. A changeling on his back, tearing at his wings. A changeling beneath him taking the full force of his power beneath his hooves. Several changelings holding him down as more pummeled him to the ground.
He was caught. Beaten and bloody, he lay before an army of identical monsters.
Breathing was a chore and would easily send him into a bloody coughing fit.
His ears were ringing, but the sound of magic could still be heard. When he looked up every single changeling had lit its horn, collectively producing a light that out shone even the unnatural fire around them.
He knew he was going to die. They were going to finish him off with this final blow. He looked up to the night sky one last time. He made a silent prayer the the night goddess Nyx that she might take Silver up to the stars with her.
I’m sorry, Silver.
The green glow of changeling magic was suddenly pierced by the light of a shining star, as if in answer to Night Owl’s prayer. The changelings let their built up magic fly as the white light of the stars blinded him and the world around him disappeared.
So, Night Owl's nightmare was a bit difficult to write partially because I had to scrap the first one I wrote. It just wasn't bringing up any emotion even in me. Its main flaws were that it just didn't have enough of Silver Star and made Night look like a serious wimp. No. I don't like the thought of Night being a wimp. So I redid it and started off with using Silver a lot. Then I started thinking about the world around him (at least from when he lived in the Hollow Shades). Ah, I love the smell of lore in the morning.
Also, around Valen–Hearts and Hooves day, I made a picture that was supposed to be a spoiler for this chapter. However, I ended up cutting this chapter in half, so now it is a insignificant spoiler for the next chapter.
I know you want to know, but you'll have to wait.
FUN FACTS
~Changelings, despite being slow magic learners in the majority, have invented many magical items in their efforts to stay incognito throughout history. The brazier in the middle of camp had been made for discreet camps in cold regions with very dry grass during the Gryphon War.
~According to Hollow Shades building regulations, the lowest a house can be built is 120 trots(feet) above the ground. Night and Silver's house is thirty trots above that, making it a good fifteen stories high.
~Mooncakes have always been a well guarded secret among thestrals, but that doesn't mean they're not willing to share the actual cakes. In fact mooncakes are their biggest export. Of course the only reason they began exporting them in the first place was because Luna shared some of her "Welcome Home" gift with a few famous chefs and the soon-to-be best customer, an odd white pegasus mare named Sunny Skies.
~Naturally, living in a forest, every thestral colt and filly is taught of the dangers of fire. There is no use of fire permitted anywhere in the forest, so anything that requires heat is achieved through use of enchanted heat plates.
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4115483 Here you go! Sorry I took so long, but this chapter was originally going to be twice as long before I cut it in half.
I was on the brink of tears at one point, congrats.
4117549 Your pain makes me happy
thank you for enjoying it. I was really worried I might not be able to get people connected to Silver enough in one chapter to feel for her death.
4117744
That sounds so creepy!
4117817 Ha, says the one with a Fluttershy slasher fic. (yes, this is advertisement for the few people who read this. If you like an insane Butchershy and wanton tourture, Eclipse's fic is for you.)
4119497 Someone advertises me!?!?
I-i-is this real life? 
4119497 I actually just took the cover art into consideration, and I have to say...I think TheMaiah was doing it so very right.
Update isn't here?
4248682 Not yet sorry. I am a very slow writer and often get stuck on simple things, like trying to write the dialogue of a capricious character. I am, however, once again surprised to see that you remember and check up on my story.
4256963 Your writing is very good and if you can make me cry, I'm gonna keep checking in.
I like the story, but I do hope next chapter we will get to see more king Sombra and queen Chrysalis.
4451529 There will be, but there will also be a lot of Night again, too. It will be a long chapter.
4661418 Thank you
He's one of those characters that keeps making rewrite what I've written, so I hope you continue to like him as the chapters lead on.
4694443 Ugh...if the chapters lead on. I've been taking forever recently.