Sky Dancer, the First Flying Unicorn

by Scroll

Chapter Ten: The Rescue

“What's sup, Father?” Star Breeze asked curiously. “Why did you stop? Waiting for me to get older before you finish your tale?”

While she meant that as a joke, Feather Wind replied more seriously, “In a way, that's true. What I'm about to tell you next hints at things that I'd prefer you don't know about at this age. I can tell you that most of the problems I faced in the past I've already dealt with, but . . .”

“But?” Star Breeze urged.

“But . . . I've encountered some things out there that would really frighten you at this age. I feel reluctant to challenge your sense of innocence with the truth.”

That warning already frightened her. Part of her thought to herself, Okay. You know best. If it's too scary to talk about then I'd rather not know. I like being able to sleep at night.

But, to her own surprise, she said instead, “Well, if you already dealt with it then what's the problem? Besides, I know if something big and/or scary comes around then you and mom will protect me.

“Another thing, it's probably best not to shelter me too much. By warning me of the scary things that could be out there, you prepare me to face the danger. Any other pony who gets no warning at all might not even raise their guard in time to defend themselves, so plunge onward with your tale. We've gotten this far. We can't stop now.”

Feather Wind looked down off the edge of the cloud they sat on in the sky, which they moved to earlier to further enjoy the sunset. By then it was starting to grow gray and dark because of the sunset.

“Another problem is I promised somepony of high authority not to tell another pony about this problem but, since it's already been dealt with, I suppose there shouldn't be a problem in telling you. The main danger here is psychological. Are you sure?” Feather Wind regarded his daughter. “What I'm about to tell you is not like some scary campfire story. This is a story of what actually happened in my life. I've encountered some real monsters out there and some of them were extremely difficult and costly to deal with. Are . . . you . . . sure?”

“What's the alternative?” Star Breeze reflected. “Skip the scary stuff? Then I'd feel like we're skipping an important chapter in your life. That makes me feel like I know you less. I want to know you more, Father. I look up to you.

“If you dealt with this problem anyway, then I have nothing to worry about.

“When you tell me this tale, however, be sure you don't stop until after you tell me how you resolved the problem. I want to know how the scary parts got resolved before I sleep next.

“You know, I've been around the block a few times myself. I've seen some scary things out there as well and I heard tale of it from other ponies. I'm not a little pony anymore.

“Well, I am but I'm mature for my age. Give me some credit here.”

“I'm aware of some of the things you've encountered. After all, I was there as well with you through most of it. Trust me, what you've seen so far doesn't compare to this. I just want to make sure you are braced for this impact.”

“I am, Father!” Star Breeze said firmly, finally realizing he was waiting for a certain answer. “I'll be brave. I promise. Get on with it.”

Feather Wind looked forward as he gulped nervously, then said, “Alright then. Here we go.”

xoxo

“What is it?” Stern Wing asked in alarm, noticing Feather Wind suddenly perk his head up in alarm.

{I'm not deliberately trying to sound cliché here but, when I was first alerted to the problem I'm about to tell you of, it was an evening just like this one, and your mom and I sat on a cloud just . . . like . . . this one.

{We were also watching the sunset together, you see. The only difference was it was on a weekend so that was my scheduled flight training day. That was why your mom and I were able to hang out all day, yet more and more of our activities were shifting into more, um . . .} (Feather Wind cleared his throat before resuming) {. . . personal . . . issues.

{Getting to know each other as romantic partners involved the sharing of a lot of personal details and secrets. What I can tell you that's still G-Rated here was it was mostly just talking about and sharing of our feelings together. That's exactly what we were doing together until I heard it again for the first time in years, and boy did I dread hearing that sound again.}

An ill wind blew, and the sound of dark chanting clung to the air except, this time, it seemed considerably more distant. It was more of a whisper in the air, but it was also accompanied by the sound of what seemed like war drums. The beats were steady at first but very gradually got faster. Feather Wind couldn't help but think of it as an analogy of a heartbeat drumming faster and faster. The intent of the drum beats was either intended to hype up some creatures for battle or to intimidate potential opponents. Probably both at the same time.

But there was something else in the air, and this time it wasn't entirely just a sound. He heard some screaming, either in fear or in anguish. It couldn't be good either way, but what seemed almost as disturbing, if not more so, was the smell of smoke and, where there was smoke, there would be a fire.

“Just tell me!” Stern Wing cried out insistently.

“I hear the ill winds again, and the chant . . . but this time I also hear screams and smell smoke,” Feather Wind replied, then he stood up on the cloud. “I've got to check this out, and I've got to do it now! This might be an emergency.”

“Then I'm coming with you,” Stern Wing returned without hesitation as she stood up as well. “Take me with you. You can blow wind into my wings as well. I give you permission this time.”

Feather Wind regarded his friend with uncertainty.

“I promised I would protect you, remember?” Stern Wing reminded. “Don't make a liar out of me. Take me with you, or I'll never forgive you for this.”

“You have family who love you as well. I'm not sure if they would appreciate me inviting you towards danger like this,” Feather Wind pointed out.

“I can say the same thing about your family but, if we both go, we can guard each other's backs. If we stick with each other and watch out for each other, we both minimize the potential danger.

“Look, if this really is an emergency then we have no time to argue like this. Let's go!”

{At that point it occurred to me how insistent your mother was likely to be. When it came to protecting the ponies she really cared for, your mother would go to any lengths necessary to keep them safe. She was always like that.

{Moreover, she was pretty well equipped to do exactly that for her age. She was built like a sports champion. More than one bully regretted crossing her because of that.

{As much as I loved her and felt concerned for her safety, I also respected her wishes and had to admit to myself she may very well be an asset in this mission so, in the end, I agreed.}

“Alright, but we have to hurry if we plan to make a difference,” Feather Wind said.

“Agreed. Let's move.”

Both of them dove off the cloud then suddenly burst forward four times their initial speed in one second which was accompanied by a small sonic boom behind them. For each second across the next twelve seconds, they kept on doubling their speed.

xoxo

“OH MY CELESTIA!” Feather Wind had to shout to be heard by Stern Wing across the screaming speed of the wind past their ears that zipped by extremely fast. “I ACTUALLY KNOW THESE PONIES!”

Feather Wind couldn't believe it. The Orchard family was being attacked again, but this time far more directly. His uncle, Ramadon, took care of that nasty dust storm years ago, but now their farm was being assaulted by many tiny humanoid creatures, some of which held flaming sticks.

I can't believe this! Will this kind-hearted family ever catch a break? Feather Wind asked himself in misery. Well, for my part, I will try, Feather Wind thought as he narrowed his eyes in determination.

Incredibly, they crossed hundreds of miles in only four minutes but, since they were nearing their destination, Feather Wind calmed the wind that thrust them in this direction at near breakneck speed. Because they slowed down, it also grew easier to talk to each other.

“By Celestia, what are those nasty critters?” Stern Wing asked in astonishment.

Feather Wind studied them. The creatures in question were tiny creatures that stood upright on two legs, usually about two feet tall. They were a bit squat, tended to have pot bellies, always had bulging googly eyes and had very wide creepy mouths filled with tiny jagged teeth. They had the skin texture like a frog. Their skin color was mostly ranging from green to brown with many black spots, especially along the spine. Their arms were very long and spindly which ended in three very long and very flexible fingers. They were usually hairless unless it protruded from various warts (which he heard could be infectious to the touch).

“They're goblins,” Feather Wind answered after studying them for six straight seconds. “They are dim-witted, tend to travel in thick packs and are often mischievous. They usually aren't anywhere near this aggressive.”

“Well, they are today!” Stern Wing observed while the two of them hovered over this carnage. “We have to help these ponies!”

“Something or some creature must be driving these goblins wild,” Feather Wind announced aloud, mostly at himself.

“Feather Wind!” Stern Wing exclaimed urgently.

“Yes, of course. We'll figure out the rest later. For now, let's move!”

Both of them dove down into the scene.

It was quite chaotic down there. The barn and the wheat fields were already ablaze. The Orchard's house was starting to catch fire. A bunch of insanely giggling goblins kept on trying to chuck flaming sticks at the house. While that happened, two ponies kept on trying to put it out with buckets of water. From what Feather Wind could tell, it was Lady Hamilton and one of her sons scrambling back and forth to chuck another splash at the fire. From a distance, it was hard to tell which son it was, but one thing that changed about this stallion, besides the fact that he was older, was the fact he gained his cutie mark since Feather Wind last saw him. In this case, it was several horseshoes crisscrossed in various directions.

The other son, this one with a cutie mark of a banjo and two music notes on the side of it, tried to fend off the various goblins from approaching the house armed with a pitchfork. He did this beside his father, Braeburn Orchard.

For a brief moment, Feather Wind felt proud of himself upon seeing the new cutie mark of the second son. He had a strong hunch that his cutie mark would be something like that and it turned out his guess was dead on.

But that feeling lasted only for a brief moment. He had a crisis to deal with.

Even before he landed, it occurred to Feather Wind that one more member of the family was missing from this set. Last time that little filly was recently born but, on the day of the goblin attack, she should be roughly four years old. She wasn't anywhere to be seen among her family outside.

If she wasn't dead already, she was likely in hiding inside the house.

Considering the assault of the goblins on the outside, the inside of the house might be the safest place for her for the time being unless the fire of the house continued to spread. Aside from protecting the home itself, it was no wonder why this family was so desperate to defend that particular building. If their only daughter and youngest foal happened to be in it then their actions outside the home definitely stood to reason.

When Feather Wind finally landed on the ground, he shot forth a giant wave of wind that made itself quickly larger and larger as it spread from him like a shock wave. At the very least it blew the tiny goblins off their feet and even extinguished their torches. Some of them were sent flying and spinning quite a ways away.

Feather Wind noted, with concern, that some of the goblins landed within the burning wheat fields. Despite their actions today, Feather Wind hoped he didn't really hurt the little guys.

Right after the shock wave of wind, Stern Wing landed with a bold pose as she puffed out her chest and spread her brown wings with black tips widely apart as if to indicate herself as some kind of barrier. There was an extremely grim and serious expression on her face.

“Go help put out the fire!” Stern Wing cried back to those behind her. “Feather Wind and I have got this.”

“We don't have any more buckets,” the son with the banjo cutie mark announced with regret. “Or rather we did, but they got burned up in the barn. We're currently using the two buckets that were in the kitchen, and unfortunately, those are a bit smaller.”

“Cheese and biscuits!” Stern Wing cried tightly through clenched teeth.

Shortly after she said that, she turned about and bucked at several goblins with several strong rear end kicks, then she spun about and flapped her wings at high speed. She blew several more off their feet again due to her efforts. The ones she kicked was sent sailing away, considerably more injured.

“I know this situation isn't ideal, but it's good to see you again,” Braeburn said warmly to Feather Wind while holding tight to his pitchfork and holding a guarded pose while near and behind Feather Wind to his right side.

“We'll talk more on that later,” Feather Wind promised before sending forth several blast beams of energy from his horn. He hit three and blasted them back, stunning them. If he put more power into that beam, he could have easily killed them but he wasn't trying to do so. Besides, that would cost more magical energy anyway.

After the third hit, he saw a small wave of goblins rushing at them. Feather Wind projected a more constant beam and waved it across the line of charging goblins. The attack sent each of them blasting back. They all landed on the ground with a painful twitch but, eerily, they continued giggling hysterically as if they actually enjoyed the pain they suffered.

For a moment Feather Wind got distracted by a bold charge from Stern Wing. She charged into a thick area of goblins then bucked back and forth. She kicked with her hind legs and stomped down with her front legs. She spread her wings apart with so much force that she sent several goblins sailing away.

Some goblins leapt on top of her. She twisted her neck about, bit into whatever she could reach, then flung the little critter crashing into another pile of goblins.

For every one she sent sailing away or injured, it seemed two more quickly replaced them and their numbers grew faster and faster as time went on. The goblins converged on her like a rabid swarm of piranha fish. Gradually she was losing this battle but her efforts were also incredibly effective and heroic, all things considered.

Feather Wind shook his head to clear his head then concentrated. He created a miniature tornado around Stern Wing and had it spread apart from her. Doing so cleared away most of the goblins converging except the ones directly on her. The tiny tornado thus made a clearing and it expanded away, spiraling the giddy goblins on it for a few seconds before chucking them away a good distance.

After biting into the last goblin on top of her and flinging it into the spiraling tornado around her, Stern Wing flashed a grateful smile back at Feather Wind and quickly called, “Thanks.”

Of course. I will protect you, too, with my life.

The goblin horde was starting to thin out at that point but more kept coming, primarily from the sides.

Feather Wind looked to his left then to his right, quickly taking stock of how many were charging on each side. He noticed there were a few more on his right compared to his left, and the ones on his right were more tightly packed together.

“Feather Wind, give me a boost!” Stern Wing called as she charged at the group that was to Feather Wind's left. She leapt into the air and spread her wings.

On cue, Feather Wind waved his horn across her and a gust of wind shot behind her which suddenly quadrupled her speed. She twisted about in mid-air to aim her right hind leg at a goblin she sailed toward. Not only did she hit that goblin with that kick (and hard enough to make that goblin explode) but she also hit three more behind it as she dragged across the ground.

Meanwhile, Feather Wind concentrated to create a pressured pocket of air above the goblin horde to his right then had it crash down directly on top of them. The effort smashed them flat on the ground. It even left a lowered imprint upon the earth.

While that happened, several goblins made it past Stern Wing and leapt at Braeburn and his son. They, in turn, lunged their pitchforks right back at the little critters.

Between the two, the one on the son's pitchfork got totally impaled by the fork and was left twitching spasmodically.

Meanwhile, the one on the father's pitchfork simply got caught between the spokes. That goblin grabbed the other end of the fork. Seeing that, Braeburn tried to shake it off. The little guy's strength was no match for Braeburn so, eventually, the farmer did manage to shake the little guy off after three seconds of trying.

After that, all the ponies had a moment's reprieve except for those busy trying to put out the fire in the house and gradually losing that battle.

“Is everypony alright?” Braeburn asked while huffing with fatigue.

Before any pony could answer, they all heard a much larger cry of goblins somewhere out in the burning wheat fields and quickly approaching. In dismay, they realized a much bigger wave was on the way and, for some odd reason, they were not burning out in the wheat fields.

That was not their only problem. Damage to their burning home escalated. At that point the fire chewed through some of the critical frameworks which made it start to collapse due to the damage of the home's structural integrity.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Lady Hamilton screamed in horror.

That was all the confirmation Feather Wind needed. He suddenly grew almost absolutely certain their youngest daughter was indeed in that burning and collapsing home.

“Is somepony in there?” Stern Wing asked with growing dread while huffing in exhaustion.

As if to answer her question, a cry from a frightened young filly issued from somewhere within the home.

In response, Stern Wing's shoulders sank.

“MY BABY! SOMEPONY SAVE MY BABY!” Lady Hamilton screamed in desperation.

Spurred by that cry, her son with the horseshoes cutie mark tried for a moment but an explosion of fire gushed out one of the windows he was going for which caused him to back off, startled. Not only that, but he was also cut up a bit by shards of broken glass as well as singed a little.

“I'll do it,” Feather Wind declared. He bent down and pressurized the air around him before he leapt up with an explosion of air underneath him. He sailed up, around, then curved back down to charge through a window on the second story of the house.

A column of air blew ahead of him to shatter a window inwardly in order to get it out of the way in advance. He hoped to Celestia their daughter was not directly in the path line of those glass shards but, the more time passed, the fewer safer spots there could be in that home.

{It took me only a second to realize that, while I charged into the burning home in an attempt to save their youngest daughter, I left the rest of her family outside less defended.

{The rest of the Orchard family and Stern Wing were still out there. I had no doubt they would try their best to defend themselves, but an even larger wave of goblins was incoming.

{For multiple reasons, I knew I had to act fast. The whole situation was quickly getting out of hoof.

{For the second time it also occurred to me that the entire assault was way out of character for the goblins. Sure they were mischievous and annoying before but the scale of their previous assaults was usually no more serious than stealing food or pulling off a few harmless pranks. Something was really wrong with them on that day.}

Very quickly upon arrival, Feather Wind noticed the black, choking smoke that filled the air. He ducked low and breathed deep. When he exhaled, he exhaled deeply. While that happened, a sudden updraft of air blasted upwards mildly which shoved the smoke further up. The smoke had to go somewhere, however, so the extra squeeze on it sent quite a bit of it spilling out the now open window on the second floor.

That cleared some of the smoke in the local area but, as long as the house continued to remain on fire, the smoke would quickly be replaced with more smoke. Feather Wind just wanted to make the local area easier to see and breathe in. That way he had an easier time assessing the local situation and maybe also locating his target.

While that happened, he heard the goblins charge onto the property from outside. The defending ponies met up with them, probably even the ones with the buckets this time because, at that point, they had little other choice.

“Hello?” Feather Wind called out, coughed a bit, then called out again, “Is any pony in here?”

“Down here!” a little filly called from somewhere downstairs. She coughed for a moment after she spoke, then called again, “Quit your yammering and get down here and save me!”

Feather Wind was taken aback by her attitude considering the situation. It didn't sound like she was in a panic, more like she was merely annoyed and impatient.

While surprising, he quickly realized that was probably a good thing considering the severity of the situation. At least this meant she was not completely out of her wits which may yet end up saving their lives.

Feather Wind quickly assessed his situation more carefully. He spotted where some of the fires in this room were already raging. He spotted where smoke spilled out. He felt heat more intensely in some areas.

Taking a few cautious steps forward, he listened to the creak of the wooden floor to assess which areas seemed safer to step on before realizing that he probably shouldn't apply weight to it at all if he could help it.

Activating his cutie mark ability, he lightened his body weight and telekinetically lifted himself.

Since wind could actually intensify flames, he figured he should be sparing with that ability while inside the burning home. Causing an updraft to clear away some of the smoke was already a risky move but, in that particular case, it temporarily paid off.

For extra protection, Feather Wind covered his mouth with his Mist Cloak. That actually ended up the perfect defense. Not only did the cloak filter the air quite a bit from the smoke, but the built-in moisture within the ever misting cloak made him somewhat fire-resistant except he could gradually feel the water molecules of the cloak heat up. Eventually the cloak would turn into something akin to hot steam and, at that point, it could be as deadly as plunging himself directly into the fire.

The Mist Cloak, in this situation, simply bought him valuable time. That's all.

“Tell me, little pony, what's your name?” Feather Wind asked aloud. His Mist Cloak muffled his voice a bit, but she still heard him well enough. Feather Wind asked in an attempt to try to calm himself and her further down while also trying to zero in on her current position.

“Little rude to ask a lady her name before giving one's own, eh mister?” the young filly asked coyly. “But eh, I'll let ya slide this time. The name's Smith. Baby Smith.”

That announcement made Feather Wind pause. All of a sudden it made sense to him why the mother would only yell out, “Save my Baby,” instead of calling out the young filly's name. It turned out that it actually was her name.

{And I'm not going to lie. To this day I still think that was a strange name for a young filly. It would sound especially strange as she continued to grow up. Kina-sorta lacked imagination as well and, based purely off the last name, I had a flash image of her growing up to be a blacksmith. There was nothing really wrong with that but, considering the history of the Orchard family so far, that was kind of an unexpected move on their part.}

“Not that I don't appreciate your efforts, whoever you are, but could you HURRY IT UP A BIT?!” Baby Smith complained. “It's getting a little toasty down here. Don't much care for the smoke either.” After she said that, she coughed again.

{Be that as it may, her calling out did help me to assess her rough position. I only had to try to figure out a safe path to get to her.

{Floating through the home though was like moving through a shifting maze if the maze's walls were made of fire and smoke. That maze was also shrinking and threatening to collapse. I had to think quickly.

{Also, I couldn't help but imagine how frightened I would have been at her age in this situation. Heck, I was quite frightened at my age as well during that time. If she could remain this calm under this situation, it made me wonder what it would actually take to really rattle her.}

“I think she was very frightened, but was good at hiding it,” Star Breeze suspected.

“That was my assessment of her too at a later time,” her father agreed. “Back then, however, I guess I was too frightened for that possibility to occur to me.”

“And let me guess.” Star Breeze gave a dry look and flat tone. “The house collapsed and you died and she died and everypony died, right?”

Feather Wind grinned at his daughter in a bit of amusement. “Sorry for pulling your leg earlier, but I think you might also be able to imagine how serious the situation was back then. Obviously I didn't die back then and neither did your mother, but can you say the same for Baby Smith or her family?”

“No, which is why I'm waiting impatiently for you to get on with the story!”

Eventually Feather Wind did find a path down to the first floor but he had to create that path to get there. Using his magic, he created a force field around one area of fire but he had a small hole in the bubble. He then used his wind power to suck out the oxygen within the force field. The fire inside the force globe suffocated.

While effective, it was far too slow to work on the entire house. He realized that, at best, he might temporarily clear a few patches of fire. He also managed to do that while still levitating off the ground.

When the path was clear, he finally floated down to the first floor. He saw quite a mess down there. There were bits of burning furniture everywhere, including the one Baby Smith hid under but it was only burning at the top dresser, otherwise that tipped over dresser temporarily shielded her from further harm. The tipped over dresser collided with a wall only at the upper end at a fourty-five degree angle, making a small gap in the bottom corner.

Now that Feather Wind could see her, he finally realized that her calm vocal tone was just a cover. In person, she looked considerably frightened.

The little green filly with braided, very light yellow mane was visibly shaking and looking about with wide eyes until she saw Feather Wind. Upon sighting him, there was a bit of relief flooding through her. Her potential rescuer was here but whether he could succeed or not was yet to be seen.

“About time ya showed up!” she complained irritably which belied the flood of relief and gratitude in her eyes, but also worry. “Rude ta keep a lady waiting, ya know. Now do ya think ya can figure a way to get us out of . . . hey! Are ya floating? How are ya doing that, mister?”

“Magic, obviously,” Feather Wind explained dismissively while he carefully examined the surroundings ahead of him.

The smoke limited his visibility but, even through the smoke, he could see lit areas which indicated various sources of fire.

He decided he'd dare not use a gust of wind again to blow out the smoke. Not only could that intensify the fire, it would probably cause the roof to collapse on top of them.

Feather Wind could feel his courage at a razor's edge as he could sense his options thinning by the second.

He knew he could clear a few fires at a time by repeating the force globe and oxygen sucking strategy. He could only concentrate on one area at a time, though, so it was important to plot a path line out of here.

At the very least, he wanted to make sure the young filly got out safely.

But the problem with that strategy was poor visibility. That made line of sight an issue.

As the smoke and heat built up and his emotions churned to near panic, he had several other mounting problems when it came to valuable spellcasting.

“If I recall correctly, isn't there a door at the end of this hallway?” Feather Wind called to Baby Smith.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, then realized something a bit surprising. “Hey, how did ya know?”

“I was here before, four years ago. Back then you really were a baby.”

“Bet ya I was cute as a button, eh mister?” she asked with a slight chuckle, an obvious and near desperate attempt to crack humor and lighten a near panic situation.

“Actually, yes. You were,” Feather Wind confirmed.

If memory serves, it's just a straight shot down this hallway to the front exit of this house. One blast of wind might send her sailing out the exit.

Eh. He rubbed his chin with a hoof in a worried and thoughtful pose. Risky. Very risky. I'd blow all the furniture between her and the exit as well, but the wind might also blast the door off its hinges if it blows hard enough. There is a chance she could get shredded or crushed by the other furniture along the way out unless I can extend a bubble of a force field around her, but I'd quickly lose line of sight. That bubble would only last for so long. I could reinforce the magic to make it linger for a few more seconds.

Actually, that could work. I'd only need a second or two to get her sailing out of here.

Of course, that blast of wind would stoke the rest of the flames for a moment. The rest of the house might collapse after that. Maybe . . .

“Ooo, I know!” Star Breeze called. “What you should do is have the wind's origin point start behind you and send it straight forward. If the hallway is just a straight shot to the exit then it should work. That way it can blow both of you out of the house and into safety. Sure, the house would probably collapse after that but the two of you would be out of the house by then so it would no longer matter.”

“Oh, so you're telling the story now?” her father asked curiously. “Oh goodie! I can't wait to find out what happens next. Come on. Tell me, tell me!” Feather Wind cried out excitedly.

Star Breeze giggled a bit and waved for her father to resume.

{Before that point, I had never erected two force shields while also busy floating. I really doubted I could pull it off back then.

{My best chance, then, was to make my way over to her and erect the bubble around both of us before blowing both of us out of the house. If I made my way to her while reinforced with a force field then I would be protected from the fires between me and her. I had to make sure the bubble was very tight around my body in order to squeeze between some of the tight spaces between me and her.

{For a moment that sounded like a solid plan, but then disaster struck and the situation got even worse.}

“Oh no!” Star Breeze's eyes widened with worry.

Feather Wind in the past closed his eyes for a moment to summon his courage and concentration until he heard intense cracking sounds above him. Looking above, he noticed, just in time, as the ceiling started to collapse down on top of him. Reacting on quick instinct, he erected a force barrier around himself to prevent being crushed to death.

This collapse also totally cut off line of sight between him and the young filly, of whom he was even more afraid for.

A lot of weight was applied on top of the force barrier after that. It took the most intense concentration of Feather Wind's life at that time to keep the shield from collapsing but, even through that effort, he managed to call out, “BABY SMITH, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

This time she didn't answer him directly, only indirectly. She was crying, finally too frightened to hide it anymore.

She wasn't screaming in pain, though. Feather Wind suspected she was merely scared. That burning dresser, apparently, continued to save her life for the moment. It held back all the weight that collapsed on it.

Feather Wind suspected there was less weight on the dresser. If it had been more weight, that dresser should have broken under the pressure and crushed the young filly underneath it, especially considering it had been burning a while before.

Now what? Feather Wind wondered to himself while struggling extremely hard to maintain his own collapsing force field.

He could hear the force field above him cracking like damaged glass. If his eyes had been open at that moment and looked up while emitting light from his horn, then he would have seen the cracks spread as well. If that force field collapsed then there was no way he could create another in time to save himself.

As it was, he was fighting too hard in concentration to open his eyes and, even if he did open his eyes, he was mostly in the dark anyway.

He could only support a tiny bubble about one foot in diameter so he had to squeeze himself into a tiny ball just to fit within it, and outside of that was the collapsing weight of a building that was on fire to boot.

This was surely a claustrophobic's worst nightmare, and Feather Wind actually did have a mild case of that phobia. At the time he was too busy fighting for his life to give that fear any attention, but it did cause him many nightmares years afterward.

{I have to admit, however, I did think I was doomed at the time. Holding that force shield was only delaying the inevitable. It took everything I had just to achieve that much.

{I had no other plan back then. Certainly nothing that could actually solve that dire situation. I really, truly, thought I was going to die on that day.}

But then, all of a sudden, the crushing weight on the force shield lifted a bit. It became easier to focus on maintaining it. The force shield even had enough room to breathe in order to repair the cracks somewhat.

A few seconds later the load got even lighter. Something was lifting the weight from above.

{I finally opened my eyes and looked up. It was very smoky but I saw a hoof reach down at me.}

“Take my hoof, quickly!” somepony up above called in desperate strain.

Since all the weight was lifted off Feather Wind for a moment, he collapsed the shield and reached out to grasp that hoof. Upon doing so, the other pony hoisted him up much further than he suspected they would. So high did they ascend that they actually took off into the air. It was only then that Feather Wind realized his rescuer had to be a pegasus.

Looking up, not only did he confirm that fact, but it was also a special kind of pegasus. One of the best of the best. This was a genuine Wonderbolt, wearing the leather flight jacket attire.

{I didn't know the name of this yellow hide pegasus at the time, but I later found out her name was Searing Wind, largely because of her fiery mane which was a blaze of gold and red. She had reddish eyes. She often caused a fire streak in the air if she flew through it fast enough.

{I would have some issues with her later on in life but, at that time, she was the most blessed angel I had ever seen.}

Searing Wind curved down in front of the house with her previous cargo and dumped Feather Wind off there. She was about to take off again until Feather Wind called out to her.

“Wait!” Feather Wind called to her desperately enough to hold her attention for a moment. “There's another young filly still inside the house! Please help her!”

“Already on it!” Searing Wind said with a confident and somewhat cocky salute. “Actually, one of the other Bolts should have rescued her by now.” Looking about, she grinned triumphantly as she said, “And speak of the devil. There she is.”

Following her gaze, Feather Wind noticed two Wonderbolts deposited the young filly into the welcoming and desperate embrace of all of her family. In each other’s legs, they all cried and emotionally healed together.

Assessing the Orchard family's condition from about twenty feet away, Feather Wind noticed there were some injuries on some of the ponies but it looked mostly superficial.

In fact, the one who seemed to be injured the most was actually Stern Wing. Apparently she took the brunt of the assault, likely on purpose. She was hobbling as she made her way around the family and to her friend.

Despite her injuries, she looked very proud of herself and happy to see the Orchard family fully reunited at last. She also looked intensely relieved to see her friend alive and well too.

Looking further about, Feather Wind was surprised to see no further sign of any of the goblins, not even the injured or dead ones. If it weren't for the blood splashed on various parts of the earth, there wouldn't have been any sign of them. Apparently the Wonderbolts took care of them in his absence. They even cleared out the bodies for some reason.

Which made Feather Wind recall when both Stern Wing and his father both said that the Wonderbolts made an awesome emergency response team. On that day that was well proven to him, but it was somewhat confusing how they knew this attack was occurring here. That question begged a response. Maybe the column of smoke? But still, they were many leagues away from Wonderbolt headquarters. This was honestly very odd. Welcoming, but odd.

“Are you okay?” Stern Wing asked through a wince of pain herself.

“Better than you, it seems,” Feather Wind observed. “Honestly, I'm just shaken up.”

Suddenly Stern Wing kind of collapsed onto Feather Wind to embrace him in a hug. She could only wrap one wing around the little pony. The other was too injured to lift so it continued to hang limp.

After a few seconds, Feather Wind could feel warm tears drip onto his hide. For the most part, Stern Wing was still quiet as if she did not want to advertise her vulnerability too widely but, at the same time, she couldn't hold it back entirely so she kept it quiet.

Feather Wind also felt her shake with pain, relief, and other intense emotions. Her breathing was also unsteady, especially the intake of breath.

{Standing there, after everything that happened around me at that moment, I felt too stunned to think straight or to act. It was a lot to process. I needed time for that quite desperately.}

“I finally got my cutie mark,” Stern Wing announced almost nonchalantly. “I finally know what I am, now.”

{Yet another fact to pile on top of my already crushed mind. Honestly, it was just too much to process it all. I knew I needed a moment. Until then, all this information felt kind of painful.

{As if that wasn't enough, one more disturbing fact came to my attention but, this time, it seized and held my attention more successfully because it might be dangerous.}

The ill wind blew again. That immediately seized Feather Wind's attention.

Stern Wing felt her friend tense up so she pulled back and looked at the face of her friend in alarm. When she did, she saw the horrified look on his face.

“What? What is it?” As she asked that, she seemed on guard again but also very exhausted. She knew she would fight on if there was still danger, no matter how physically or mentally drained she was. There was dread in her too, because she knew she did not have much more to give regardless of the severity of the necessity.

The wind was blowing so much closer this time. Feather Wind could almost trace it back to its source. The chanting and drumming issued within that wind and, for once, he actually heard the words to a dark lullaby.

“Go to sleep, little foals.

Go to sleep in your beds.

Go wake up one morning to find everypony else dead.

There's blood on their hooves,

and blood on their walls.

They realize with horror they've turned into dolls.”

This came from an absolutely chilling sounding voice in the wind that sounded insane with evil glee.

Tracing the voice to its source, Feather Wind eventually spotted it but, in a way, he would later wish he hadn't.

The face of this pony was very difficult to make out. It was mostly concealed in black smoke of the wheat fields while the bright fire continued to rage in the background. What stood out the most were too tiny red glowing eyes in this sinister-looking pony. They whirled a bit, the gaze of both eyes not fixed at any point but instead wandered off seemingly aimlessly.

That pony was the stuff of pure nightmares. It seemed to laugh maniacally with insane and evil glee as it backed off into the smoke without harm to it.

Despite all of Feather Wind's exhaustion and terror, he boldly took a step forward as he watched this other nightmarish pony go. He felt determined to his last to protect these ponies from any further harm from this creature, come what may.

He narrowed his eyes in the direction the dark pony pulled back from. Feather Wind stared at that direction for a while, waiting to see if it came back. During that time, he contemplated every spell he knew and what order he might cast them in, determined to fight to his last if he had to.

A bunch of things happened in the background, mostly involving the Wonderbolts checking on the condition of the Orchard family before attempting to do the same with Feather Wind and Stern Wing. That was what finally drew Feather Wind's attention away from the direction the dark pony retreated off to but he still kept an ear out in that direction just in case. Whatever that dark pony was, it felt so dangerous that Feather Wind felt he could not relax his guard for quite a while, despite all his exhaustion.

xoxo

Feather Wind paused for a moment to assess the condition of his daughter, but honestly, he kind of felt the answer. He noticed she sat quite a bit closer to him on the cloud. That was close enough to feel her shivering with fright.

When their eyes met, though, she said, “I'm not scared,” in pure denial.

“Of course you are,” Feather Wind denied. “Just about any pony else would have been in your place, or especially in mine back then.

“We, as a society, are so accustomed to peace and harmony, for the most part, that when monsters like that pop up once in a rare while, it's difficult for us to imagine how we can even cope.

“One thing I can tell you about this pony, even back then, was he was deliberately designed to inspire terror. I found out more about that later on.”

“You really dealt with it later on?” Star Breeze asked hopefully.

“Yes, but I won't get to that part until way later on in the story, and even then it wasn't easy.

“You're safe now, Honey, at least from this threat. You don't have to worry about it anymore.”

Star Breeze kept shivering a bit but she steadily calmed down, especially after her father started to sing her a lullaby of his own.

“Hush now little one,

don't worry your little head.

There ain't no need to worry,

as you crawl into your bed.

Your daddy will protect you,

from all who seek you harm.

You can rest in bed peacefully,

no matter where you go.

The clouds above are cozy

so soft under your wings.

It invites you into a world

to dream of many things.

So go off to your adventure

I'll join you on your way.

We will continue the journey together,

no matter what you say.”

Upon the conclusion of his lullaby, he tickled his daughter a bit. She squirmed and giggled as the last of her horror melted away. She then gazed up at her father lovingly before settling her head to the side of his body.

“Of course I know what my mother's cutie mark is, but when did you first get the chance to process it?” Star Breeze wondered aloud as her head remained pressed against his ribs.

“Um,” Feather Wind thought on that, then answered, “I had other things on my mind for a while.”

xoxo

{After witnessing that sinister pony pull back, I could not help but continue to feel on my guard. It wasn't dealt with yet so I wondered if it would later attack the Orchard family again.

{I remember how Lady Hamilton cried into her husband's shoulder, wailing about why all these bad things kept happening to them one after another. Again she suspected that they were cursed, and I was starting to get the feeling that she might be right.

{That sinister black pony might have caused the dust storm somehow and, when that was dispelled, he might have moved in to investigate and then reassessed his attack strategy. I don't know why it took so long, but a repeated attack on one single family starts to form a pattern. A very disturbing pattern.

{After further assessment of the situation, it was discovered that the earth had been contaminated as well. Rot worms had been planted all over the place, presumably by the goblins and, after that night, Braeburn knew a plague of this magnitude wouldn't recover for years. Given a little time, he figured he could rebuild his home but, if the earth of the farm was contaminated too, then his livelihood in this area was totally destroyed.

{Something wanted him gone very badly apparently, and he finally had enough.

{Braeburn decided that his family had no choice but to move off of the farm for good. His only plan at the time was to seek an audience with Princess Celestia and see if she had any ideas about where to go next. He really didn't want to beg her for hoofouts, but the situation was growing desperate and he had his family to protect. If she said no or had no ideas then he figured he would keep on roaming until he found a place somewhere out there.

{With that, he and his family collected their dignity as much as they could and took with them anything else that wasn't burnt to the ground.

{One of Braeburn's wagons managed to make it through so they spruced it up a bit to make it a temporary home while on the move.

{Since I knew their plan was to head for Canterlot, I figured the journey with all five of them would take several months at least, possibly even years if they made frequent detours along the way, likely to collect food somehow. I knew for sure that Braeburn had a knack for finding useful seeds and I suspected the rest of his family could assist to some degree.

{Still, I was concerned.

{The Wonderbolts took off with Stern Wing the first night, but I insisted to stay for a little while. I don't think any pony was on my side when it came to that proposition.

{At first the Wonderbolts thought it was required to carry me back until they realized I was that flying unicorn they heard so much about. That knowledge actually awarded me a cold glare from my rescuer for some reason but, since they learned that I could just take off on my own, I knew my way back, and I did not appear too injured, they didn't insist on carrying me in their wagon.

{Stern Wing, on the other hoof, actually needed swift medical attention. She was scratched up pretty badly and bitten in many places, and she needed to be checked for infectious diseases to boot.

{Stern Wing was the most understanding of those who objected to my continued presence with the Orchard's, but that only limited her complaints. If she wasn't there to guard me, that made her feel very nervous, but she also observed my look of horror towards the end of the night.

{I also told her a bit about it in secret to help her understand my position. In return, she encouraged me to share this information with the Wonderbolts.

{I couldn't tell you why at the time, but I had a bad feeling about that so I decided to keep this information to myself other than telling her about it and I also made her promise not to tell anypony else. She was reluctant to agree but she ultimately agreed.

{I told her I would return to Canterlot in a few days. I just wanted to stick around for a while to make sure I didn't sense the presence of that dark pony again.

{As for the Orchard family, in a way they welcomed my company. I helped to save them, after all, just as they once helped me out but . . . they also felt guilty. If I stayed, that delayed my arrival back to my own family.

{They tried to encourage me to return home with the Bolts, especially Braeburn. He, above all, didn't want any free hoofouts. He just wanted to collect himself and his family then keep trekking on their own, come what may. No matter what hardship they had to endure, Braeburn wanted to face it only in the privacy of his own immediate family.

{I told them I'd only stay with them a couple of days. He asked me what difference did that make. I told him I just felt it was important. He looked hard into my eyes for a few minutes before reluctantly agreeing to the proposal, reminding me sharply that he'd only tolerate that for a few days.

{Of course, during that time, I was expected to participate as a member of the family and pretty much all of us welcomed that to some degree.}

“Darn it, you were still unaware of my mother's cutie mark?” Star Breeze complained impatiently with a frown. “Weren't you at least curious back then?”

“Of course I was, but I was also concerned about the welfare of my friends. That had a higher priority at the time. The Orchard's recently endured a life or death situation and I was terrified that they weren't out of the woods just yet. I wanted to hang around them for a few more days just to make a little more certain that they were in the clear when it came to supernatural threats against their lives, yet I did not want to tell them that directly either. I felt they'd endured enough, and I knew there would continue to be hardship for them for quite a while down the road.

“My heart ached at the injustice of this all. Here was a good family who had a good home and continued to get battered down by some of the worst events in Equestrian history, but they clung tightly to each other and were determined to weather it together.

“Actually, in a way, it was kind of inspiring to see. Every time life pushed them down, they got back up more stubborn than ever, and they did it together.

“Witnessing that, I glimpsed even further into the subtle magic my uncle was talking about when it came to earth ponies. I realized then that their strength didn't just come from their physical muscles or endurance, it came from a strength of spirit.

“Not all earth ponies, of course. The world is a big place and full of variance, but this was definitely an example of earth ponies at their finest.

“Watching that, I slowly grew convinced that they may indeed make it if they stuck together.

“Again, assuming they didn't continue to be assaulted by some external and persistent force.”

{It was on the second day they finally took off from the farm for the first and final time.

{My heart ached when I saw Braeburn look back at his farm one last time from a distance. His sons joined him to his sides too, flanking him on both sides. He looked back and forth between them, then he pulled them both into a hug and kissed their forehead one at a time. After that, I remember he said something that felt inspiring to me, and I never forgot it since.}

“As long as we have each other, we're always home,” Braeburn assured his family.

“Yeah,” agreed Conrad, the son with the banjo cutie mark flanked by two music symbols, “but it sure would be nice to have each other and a farm. We need ta eat too, you know.”

“Nature will provide for us as we continue to seek a better place,” Braeburn assured his family. “I know it's going to be tight for a while. We're gonna hafta tighten our belts, but we'll make it. I just know we will, and we'll find a new home to live on. One that, hopefully, will be more welcoming.”

“That farm provided for us for so many generations,” the other son, Jacob, remarked. “Why did all of this happen to us all of a sudden? It was going so well for so long.”

“We'll still have our memories and experience of that farm,” Braeburn pointed out. “We'll use that experience ta make our next farm an even better place.”

“It will take a miracle for everything to work out for us at this rate,” Lady Hamilton lamented with a dejected sigh.

“Then one miracle, coming up!” Baby Smith said in faith. “Everything will work out for us. I know it. I feel it in ma bones.”

Those words cheered her mother up a bit who subsequently bent down and kissed her daughter's forehead for a moment.

Then, on a whim, she reached into the wagon then pulled out then tied a bonnet on her youngest foal.

First Baby looked up at it with her eyes, then she smiled happily at her mother, then said, “Okay. That's enough of our bellyaching, so let's hop to it.”

Glancing at Feather Wind, she said to him, “If yer coming too then yer darn sure going ta pull yer own weight too, ya hear?”

“My own weight?” Feather Wind reflected at her with an amused grin. “My dear young lady, you have no idea how easy a challenge you just proposed.”

xoxo

{There's only a few more things I want to talk about before I move on to the next chapter of my story, and that involves the last few days I spent with the Orchards.

{For starters, I never did sense the presence of that evil pony again, at least not while I remained with the Orchards. While my mind screamed at me to remain on my guard, something in my heart deep down claimed that this family should be in the clear for the time being. Maybe whatever that thing was really wanted their original farm for some reason, or maybe it was after something else and somehow got it.

{Funny thing was, the Orchards unknowingly made it quite difficult to concentrate on my fears, and here I thought Braeburn was a music box.

{Altogether, the family sang quite frequently on the trip and their songs were quite uplifting and endearing.

{They insisted I learn the words to the song too and join in because, as they said before, for as long as I was there, I was part of the family.

{Of course, I realized that they did so to help lift their spirits and, by Celestia, it was working.

{Conrad was an especially good singer. He lost his precious banjo to the fire, unfortunately, and that was a painful loss for him because he first got his cutie mark when he learned to play it but he was confidently convinced he'd get another someday. He said it was his destiny, and I truly believed him.

{In the meantime that boy could sing! I got so swept up in the spirit of it I actually felt like a member of the family for a while.

{That was an experience I will always treasure. Their no quitting attitude, their effective strategies for picking each others' spirits up.

{They didn't know it at the time, but the way they inspired me made me permanently just a bit stronger on the inside. From that day on, every time I felt myself on the brink of despair, I thought back to the Orchard family and what they had to endure and how well they hoofled it.

{There were other experiences like this later on in my life, but things like this just added to a very important pile in my heart. In their own unique and deeply meaningful way, they helped me save the world on multiple occasions later on in life.}