Nights on Horlick's Hill

by RarityEQM

Night 9

"Tell me about the mission, again?" Scootaloo asked thoughtfully before she cast a glance at Diamond. The other filly didn't respond right away, instead, she let her gaze linger a bit longer on Everfree forest. She had positioned herself a few branches higher than where Scootaloo had settled, for the express purpose of staring into the forest adjacent to the town. She shook her head quietly with a dismissive snort when she didn't see what she'd been looking for, and turned to peer down at Scootaloo.

"Well, there have been reports of strange lights being sighted at night in Everfree forest lately. Luna wants me to go and check it out to see if it's a threat or not," Diamond explained proudly. Scootaloo arched an eyebrow slowly.

"So, basically, the mission is screw around in the forest all night, but instead of sending in well-trained soldiers, Luna wants to send in an untrained filly and hope for the best? Huh. Interesting strategy," Scootaloo snickered. From somewhere immediately above her, an angry snarl rang out through the leaves.

"Firstly, it ain't screwin' around! It's a super important recon mission for the safety of Equestria! And two, I am totally trained! I trained super hard for, like, months and months to do the things I do! Virga trained me, n' Nightshade, and Firefly, and even Luna herself!" Diamond protested, now dangling from the branch she was resting on. She held on awkwardly, leaning down just far enough to take in Scootaloo's near liquid form below her. The orange filly was languid and relaxed, limbs dangling lifelessly from the branch below her. Diamond continued, unabated by Scootaloo's lack o response or even acknowledgment.

"Thiiiird It's a GREAT strategy! See, this way, the castle doesn't waste a bunch of horsepower on something that turns out to be a harmless Will-o-Wisp, ya' know? Nopony gets hurt, I get to help Luna, Equestria stays safe!" Diamond barked loudly. She had an extremely proud smile wrapped around her features, and Scootaloo couldn't really blame her. From Diamond's point of view, she must have felt like she were protecting the majority of the castle's military force from potential threats. Why risk the soldiers when she could step in instead and return unharmed? A noble gesture, when you looked at it from the right light, but ultimately, Scootaloo preferred Diamond not to be in any danger at all, even if the mission was simply 'search for strange lights.'

Diamond began making her way down the tree, tentatively, and one branch at a time. Originally, had hoped she could get a good view of the forest from the tree that sprouted at the peak of Horlick's Hill, but apart from a few dark tree trunks and foreboding darkness, nothing stood out to the little Errant-in-training.

"You know what you could use if you're heading into Everfree forest? Somepony to watch your back!" Scootaloo pipped, dropping down to the next branch below her following Diamond towards the ground.

"Yeah, but not you," she responded. Flatly. Scootaloo scowled.

"Why not, I can help!"

"Yeeeah, but if you got hurt or somethin' happened to you, I'd feel super bad, and I would never, ever forgive myself!"

"What, like that doesn't go both ways? I can't just let one of my friends walk into Everfree forest alone and get eaten by a bug-bear! Who would hang out with me on Horlick's?"

And that was the end of it with Diamond's protest dying in her throat at the masterstroke of Scootaloo's argument. It had given her pause, and that was all Scootaloo needed in order to sway the filly to her favor.

"You said it was just a recon mission, right? We're just lookin' for something weird, we don't have to actually fight anything, so wouldn't two heads be better than one?" she asked, watching Diamond struggle with the final few feet from the last branch in the tree to the ground. With a waggle of her legs, she tumbled from the tree and landed solidly on her belly against the grass.

"Sellin' me tickets to Tartarus," Diamond grumbled gruffly. Scootaloo grinned. Whenever Diamond muttered that phrase, she knew Diamond was giving thought to whatever the situation was at hoof.

"You've been trained, right? You JUST said you were trained for months for this sorta thing, riiiight? And if anything happens, you can just use your star to wish us somewhere safe, right?" Scootaloo continued, biting at her lower lip as Diamond's shoulders rose and fell in silent defeat.

"Well, it's not like Everfree is under restricted access or anything. It's still public and since it's just a recon so I guess it couldn't hurt too much to snoop around together. Maybe we'll find aliens or something!" she laughed, but her comment drew her to a thought; what if it was aliens? Mysterious lights, deep in the forest late at night... she shuddered watching as Scootaloo giddily landed on the ground next to her, and raced over to her scooter.

"This is gonna be awesome! Do you know any, like, cool, secret routes through the forest we could take?" Scootaloo asked, climbing aboard her scooter. Even in the grass, Scootaloo's wings could propel herself around with relative ease. She zipped over next to Diamond, who rose up on her hooves and began to trot down the path off of the hill.

"Naw, nothing like that. Nettie is the one who lives in the forest. She knows all kinda of crazy secrets about that place. I just visit on occasion," Diamond squeaked, gesturing towards Everfree. The forest wasn't terribly far from Horlick's Hill and the jaunt to the edge of it was a short one. The pair stopped just outside the entrance and peered nervously into the darkness.

There was a depth to Everfree Forest, Scootaloo noticed, that did not seem to adhere to normal laws of physics. The forest always seemed deeper, darker and larger every time she looked at it. Like from any distance, the trees seemed like they were swallowing up every last drop of her perception until the forest was all she saw. An optical illusion, she was sure, but it never failed to send a distinct chill down her spine. Diamond, similarly seemed unable to avert her gaze from the encompassing darkness, but unlike Scootaloo, Diamond seemed drawn towards it. She'd once said the darkness was alluring and comforting, often calling to her when she'd been 'in the light for too long'. As a proclaimed 'night pony' Diamond seemed more at home in the late hours of the evening than she ever was during the day. Here, she presented much less hesitation than Scootaloo, dipping herself into the shadows of the forest without further pause. Scootaloo was quick to follow.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, strolling through the forest side by side while Scootaloo took everything in. She was on high alert, analyzing every last detail of her surroundings, with her senses opened up to the world and keeping an extra careful eye on Diamond. The silver filly seemed utterly cavalier in her quiet trot. Her shoulders were relaxed, her demeanor airy and she seemed nonchalant about the dangers that could befall them at any minute. Was it part of her training, or had she forgotten that Scootaloo wasn't 'invulnerable' like she was? Or perhaps she didn't hear anything worth worrying about. Of the numerous things Diamond claimed, her extraordinary sense of sight and hearing was something that she could consistently prove. As long as Scootaloo kept close, Diamond could provide an early warning to anything dangerous lurking in the shadows.

"So, Diamond, what do you actually do in combat? Like, when you're with the other Shadow Servants? Do you have special orders? Or a specific battle formation like the phalanx?" Scootaloo pipped thoughtfully. Diamond shot her a sidelong glance before she gave a nervous little chuckle as she walked along and shrugged her shoulders.

"Err, well, mostly I try to stay out of the way. Virga's the real heavy hitter in combat situations," the girl squeaked. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

"Stay out of the way? That's what you do in battle? That's it?!" she asked incredulously. Diamond gave a snort.

"Whadda mean "That's it?" Yeah, that's it! Look at me, Scoots. Look over here, y'see this? You can see my ribs when I inhale, kay, watch," Diamond explained, doing just that. True to her word, Scootaloo could easily count each tiny individual rib Diamond had presented for review when she drew her belly up against her frame in a sharp intake of air.The filly exhaled and dismissively waggled a tiny hoof in Scootaloo's direction. "I'm a lil' skelly filly, ok? I'm a little boney pony! I'm not exactly throwin' knockouts when it comes to the servants. If Virga needs me in combat, it's usually to use me as a weapon," the filly grumbled.

"So, you're saying you just watch all the battles that go on?" Scootaloo asked flatly. The filly had claimed to be a monster hunter. Luna's top monster hunter as a matter of fact, and had regaled Scootaloo with tales of fighting packs of Timberwolves and giant monstrosities. Had Diamond really only been on the sidelines for all of those? It would make sense, considering the girl was wiry and scrawny. The thin strips of muscle that bled through her fur were prominent but tiny, and her gaunt features and minuscule, malnourished wings left much to be desired when it came to tackling some of the beasts Diamond had claimed to have fallen.

"I wouldn't say I just 'watch' I take an active role in not getting my tail kicked, That includes running away and hiding!" Diamond explained cheerfully. Scootaloo stared, drew in a sharp breath, and let it out with a frustrated sigh. She was utterly positive Diamond was lying to her, but she wasn't ever quite sure about what. The girl had demonstrated she actually worked for the Princess and really was on a team of elite servants. The outlandish story about the tiny trinket around her neck granting her impossible wishes was jaw-droppingly true, and she even claimed she had super speed like Rainbow Dash. Of course, she had claimed she was a monster hunter for Luna when she was in fact an errand girl. She'd made claims of reaching the Mesosphere on sheer wing power alone, and she claimed she'd survived a train to the face. All things Scootaloo found dubious, at best.

"So, what do we do if we actually come across Timber-wolves? You've got a plan for them, right? You said you hang out in the forest all the time, so you must run into them, right?" Scootaloo asked nervously. Diamond simply shook her head.

"Well, since they can't really chew through crystal, most of the time they leave me alone. Every now and then one will get bitey and go for my face, but that always ends with them realizing they can't actually eat me, and end up going after some other meaty morsel. Sides, I'm not quite a main course. Boney-pony, remember? I figure if they see you they won't bother you cause you're with me, but don't worry, I'll hear them long before they get anywhere close to us," Diamond explained with an arrogant smile tugging at her lips.

"It must be neat having super senses," Scootaloo sighed. Diamond rolled her eyes and gave a groan.

"It would be neat to have regular senses. Like, maybe taste. Or maybe smell. Hey, that's a good question! What do I smell like?!" Diamond asked, immediately glancing at Scootaloo, who merely shrugged.

"Sugary." she said. Diamond stared.

"...Sugary?"

"Yeah. Sugary. Like, powdered sugar,"

"sugar comes in 'powder' form now?"

"And you smell like it,"

"I feel like I should be taking offense to this. I think? I smell sweet, is what you're saying?"

"Like sugar. The powdered kind,"

"Is that better than the regular kind?"

"I guess."

"Is it better than sugar cubes?"

"Nothing is better than sugar cubes, Diamond,"

"So you're saying I'm powdered sugar, but not cubed sugar,"

"That is correct."

"How can I reach cubed status, Scootaloo?! Tell me, I must know!" Diamond giggled, before she stood up straight and stopped in her tracks. Scootaloo stopped too, turning to stare into the darkness where Diamond was facing. The silver filly's ears splayed back against her skull and she took a step back, peering into the gloom at something Scootaloo couldn't see.

"What...What is that?! W-what in Tartarus is that?!" Diamond snapped suddenly, taking several steps back. Scootaloo did the same, still wildly searching for whatever seemed to panic Diam- oh.

The creature lumbered toward them slowly. Moving a massive, shaggy furry bulk, the creature was large and decidedly squarish. Like a black furred rectangle, someone had given limbs. It towered over the fillies, peering down at them out of a single, bulbous blue eye in the center of its head. The eye gave off a faint metallic sheen that glimmered in the moon light, and it played its gaze across the two of them curiously before moving on.

It swayed back and forth with its steps, seemingly in no particular rush to get anywhere. Whatever it was, the creature did not seem hostile and walked with big, booming steps crashing through the underbrush . It meandered pass the stunned girls, it made its way deeper into Everfree forest and vanished into the darkness, leaving Diamond Dancer and Scootaloo stunned and mouths agape.

"Was...was that a cyclops? Are there cyclopses in Equestria? Cyclopsees? Cyclopseses?" Scootaloo whispered. Diamond shrugged.

"I've never seen something like that before...I have no idea. But I'm willing to bet if we follow it, it'll lead us to whatever those lights are! Come on!!" Diamond squeaked, the two of them wading deeper into the darkness of the forest.

Comments

[ilubatar nuctemeron]

Favorite chapter <3