The Shadow Veil

by Scorch215

Chapter 3: The Wilderness

The morning sun shone through the leaves and by pure chance a beam went right into Twilight’s sleeping eyes waking her from the little sleep she had gotten. The sleep had not come easy for either mare given neither of them had a bedroll and their meal consisted of a single trail ration Twilight had left over from her last job they split on top of twice a pegasi had flow overhead in the night and they weren’t sure if it was as scout or just a random pegasus. Then there was the sound of nocturnal animals in the woods.

All this culminated in very poor sleep.

And so a single ray of light to the eye brought forth a groan from the mage as she rolled over to try and escape the beam, only to roll onto a rock making her grunt in pain a sit dug between two of her ribs.

With another groan she sat up opening her eyes to see Dash sitting against a tree not too far away sharpening one of her wingblades. “Morning egg head.”

“Morning…”Twilight said sleepily just before yawning wide and getting to her hooves to stretch feeling and hearing several pops from the poor sleeping and at least one former injury. “So, open to suggestions on what we should do, I don't exactly know this region.”

“Neither do I, I was only in the city a couple days before that bastard hired me.” Dash said before clipping her wingblade back into place. “But either way we wont last long out here without food and I don't know about you but my waterskin could use a refill.” She stood.

“Hmm ... .you're right, I know a bit about hunting.”

“Oh? Little mage actually knows about places outside of cities?”

Twilight frowned. “Yes, my father taught me a bit about things growing up for when work was thin.” She said annoyed.

“Fine, then we both can look for something to eat, if we are careful we should be able to have a small fire to cook with.” Dash said, walking in a random direction. “I’ll go this way and you go the other way, try not to get lost.” Dash's aid nonchalantly.

Twilight took a step towards the dash raising her head high. “We should stay close in case something happens and to prevent us from getting lost.”

“Egghead scared of being alone eh?” Dash smirked at her.

Twilight puffed her cheeks. “No, it's more we have no clue what is in these woods and don't know them and if we run into trouble the other can’t help. It is illogical for us to split up like you suggested.”

“Yeah yeah, you can follow me then.” She said in a tone that made it clear she didn’t change her mind at all, something that made Twilight’s annoyance grow as she followed the prismatic mare.

The two fugitives slowly made their ways through the woods looking for any signs of animals they could hunt or even edible plants.

The two moved through the forest as quietly as they could.

“Hey, I found some berries.” Dash said, picking a few and starting to toss them into her mouth.

Twilight’s magic barley caught them before the pegasus mouth chomped down on them and she blinked confused looking down at the small pink berries held in the lavender glow.

“What's the big idea, there’s plenty of them.” Dash said, frowning at Twilight.

“Those are Blushshade…..they are poisonous, eating them causes high fever and vivid hallucinations of a ... .ahem….personal nature….” She said tossing the berries back. “Not something we want out here.”

Dash backed away from the bush as if she expected it to attack her. “Yeah…right….” She said turning to walk on with twilight scrambling to keep up.

After walking for a bit longer they stumbled onto a small blueberry bush and after Twilight gave the go ahead the two mares picked some to eat, tossing the berries into their mouth ... .and immediately spitting them out.

“That is disgusting!” Dash said, sputtering and whipping her tongue with her hooves in a vain attempt to clean it.

“They are way over ripe, they rotted inside.’ Twilight said.

“Gee you think so egghead? I had no idea!” Dash said as she spat on the ground.

Twilight said nothing as she was dealing with her own issue with the taste but soon the worst of the taste was out of their mouths and only served to further remind them they hadn't eaten anything since before the job last night.

As they began to walk again, Dash stopped so abruptly twilight nearly walked into her. The unicorn opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but dash held up a hoof as her ears flicked around clearly hearing something.

Twilight strained her ears to hear as well and didn't hear anything but the normal forest sound but soon Dash turned to face the left, crouching low to the ground and moving as quietly as she could and twilight did the same to follow her.

Just as the confused Twilight was about to speak up to ask what was happening she saw it, a deer walking through brush as it grazed on some bushes.

Dash licked her lips and carefully spread her wings as Twilight eyed the deer as well, charging her horn with a spell to try and drop it on one hit, not going to rely on Dash to try and bring it down with her speed.

Just before Twilight could fire her spell Dash moved her wing up further and the sun glinted off the wing blades right into Twilight's eyes causing her to flush and her spell went wide striking a tree causing it to splinter and in an instant the deer was running and Dash was hitting the dirt because of the magic that missed her head by a hair’s breadth.

Twilight blinked away the spots just in time to see a cyan hoof stroke her face and send her stumbling back clutching her face.

“What in the name of Celestia were you doing!? Trying to attack me while my back was turned?!” Dash said wings spread ready to attack.

Twilight growled as she planted her hooves. “I was trying to hit the deer as my magic would be far more reliable then your stupid blades, but they reflected the sun into my eyes causing me to miss and breakfast to run off!” She yelled back her annoyance that had been growing from earlier let loose.

“Oh, my fault eh? Typical unicorn, it's never your fault huh? Always someone else's. If you ever took responsibility maybe you all could accomplish something really amazing.” Dash said.

Twilight’s hackles rose. “It. was. You. fault!” She said, charging her horn. “Maybe I should show you why my magic would have been better to handle the deer than your stupid blades?

Dash got ready to launch herself when there was the sound of a branch breaking and a roar and both mares barely rolled out of the way as something large landed between where they had been.

As both mercs came up they found themselves face to face with a manticore pulling its tail free from where Twilight had been standing as it righted itself from the swipe it had made where Dash had been when it landed.

“Crap.” Dash said.

“It must have been drawn by the yelling.” Twilight said as the monster turned to face them.

“Can you outrun it?” Dash asked.

“No.” Twilight said and before Dash could grab her like last night the Manticore lunged for them and Twilight snapped a shield up as Dash shot off into the air. The monster slammed into her shield and clawed at it several times making twilight wince before slamming its stinger into the shield, piercing it and causing it to shatter and sending pain down Twilight’s horn.

Before the Manticore could take advantage of the stunned mage’s predicament a rainbow blur shot past it and it roared in pain as a gash was left behind on its side.

This bought the time for Twilight to shake her head as she recovered and back peddle away preparing a spell as the beast turned to face the direction Dash had gone, it roared again when a firebolt struck it in the back.

Rather than turn around its stinger shot out back but luckily twilight was far enough away it struck only air as the blur shot past again and it roared in pain.

Twilight readied a second spell as the blur returned but this time the manticore was ready, they were smarter than most people thought…and a lot faster.

Its claws shot out and there was a yelp of pain as Dash was sent careening out of control and slamming into the tree hard.

“Dash!” Twilight yelled and fired another firebolt at the Manticore’s face causing it to stumble back as Twilight ran over to Dash, relieved to see her shaking her head as she started to get to her hooves though one of her wings was at an impossible angle.

“Look out!” Dash yelled and Twilight barley got her shield up for the beast to slam into it and quickly slashed at it and broke the shield again. This time though there was no fast pegasus in the air. “Twilight!” She faintly heard Dash yell through the pain in her head.

That pain was quickly forgotten as new pain bloomed in her side and she felt herself lifted off her hooves as she came back to full awareness finding herself lifted off the ground by the Manticore'ss stinger buried in her side and she screamed.

“No you don’t!” Dash said and charged forward her one good wing daring out and slashing the tail causing the beast to roar and throw twilight as its tail jerked, sending her crashing down into some bushes.

She gasped for air as she looked over and saw Dash between her and the monster, one wing hanging uselessly at her side as she tried to fend it off with her one wing though without being able to fly there wasn’t a lot she could do.

‘No you idiot, run! It’s going to kill you!’ Twilight thought as she tried to get to her hooves, the wound in her side screaming at her and making her see spots as the poison from that tail worked through her system.

Her head snapped up as she heard Dash cry out and saw the pegasus soaring through the air in a spray of blood as the bleeding manticore lowered its paw and readied to pounce the downed pegasus.

‘No, no, no!’ Twilight's mind raced and she fired off her magic without setting a spell in pace, just unleashing raw magic in a single burst that struck the manticore in the side causing it to roar louder than before in pain as the magic burned into its side.

Twilight magic burst ended and the Manticore side was nothing but blackened as it tried to run but only fell to the ground coughing once before succumbing to its wounds.

Twilight forced her legs under her. “D…Dash..'' She said to the unmoving prone form and stumbled towards it as the spots grew rapidly having burned away a lot of her magic and the adrenaline pumping the poise through her faster and faster.

She got within feet of Dash before her legs gave out and she collapsed, weakly reaching out to the mare who was bleeding out in front of her because she stayed behind to help twilight when she could have just flown away and saved herself.

“O-oh my…” A voice said somewhere, sounding distant as the spots covered Twilight’s vision and she saw a flash of pink as darkness claimed her.

---

Twilight lay curled up beside a fire reading a book she got from the local library in their little house on the edge of the city in the Thronecrest Dominion, it was one of the rare times Shining got leave and was close enough to visit from his mandatory military service. Well not officially mandatory but if you didn't have a good reason while a family member wasn’t in the military then you were rightly labeled a cowardly family.

He was sitting beside her making a model like he always did while she read as her parents worked on dinner. It was nice, it was peaceful and twilight didn't want to be anywhere else ever.

Twilight eyes snapped open; she halfway shot up as she woke up, only for her side to burn, resulting in her falling back down onto something soft as she was staring up at wooden beams of a room.

“Oh good you’re awake…” A voice said beside her.

Twilight head snapped over to see a butter colored pegasus with a pink mane wearing a cloak held together with a clasp with a symbol of a sun and moon.

Twilight blinked at it. “You're from the Church of the Two Sisters….”She said. “I didn't know there was a temple nearby…”

The mare shook her head. “There isn't ... .I'm on a pilgrimage…I was walking through the woods when I heard fighting ... ..when I went to see what was happening I found you and the other mare injured….”

“Dash! Is she okay?” Twilight asked, trying to sit up and hissing with the pain as she fell back.

“Shhh..she’s sleeping, don't wake her, she needs to rest before I can finish healing her…..you two were lucky….she had severe injuries and you did as well on top of the manticore poison….you've been asleep for a few hours….i treated the poison first and middle healing just to stop the bleeding on your other injuries but if you keep moving like that you're going to treat yourself open again.”

Twilight sighed in relief. “Alright……I’m twilight by the way.”

The mare bobbed her head. “Fluttershy, Cleric of the Two Sisters.” She said,

“Thank you…..without you…..”

The mare shook her head. “Don't think about it, it didn't happen so no need to dwell on it, just focus on resting.” She said,

Twilight looked around seeing the two beds in the room with a window, a wardrobe and nothing else. “Where are we? You temple?”

“No, as you said no temple here, we are at the Hopping Drake Inn in the town of Fairval, near where I found you two.” She said.

Twilight internally had her breath catch as she realized this mare brought them to a town where their posters most likely have been or will be distributed.

She tried to get up as they had to leave but a firm hoof went to her chest and forced her down with surprising strength as Fluttershy frowned at her. “If you keep doing that I will be forced to put you to sleep.” She said firmly.

Twilight laid back, the quiet mare clearly having more bite to her then her quiet voice would lead one to believe.

Twilight sighed and nodded, as long as she was here Twilight couldn't leave, and looking over at Dash she couldn't leave till the mare finished healing them anywhere as the pegasus was wrapped in bandages.

Seeing twilight wasn’t trying to get up anymore Fluttershy nodded in satisfaction removing her hoof. “Are you hungry? I didn't see any food with you…..oh…forgive me I went through your packs hoping for health potions or other useful items…..”

“It’s fine.” She said, “And yes…starving…..”

She nodded and went to a small table in the corner to get a plate of the food there. “Mr. Green let me have the food and room at a discount to help tend to you.” She explained as she came back. “So don't worry, eat as much as you want.”

Twilight nodded and started to eat, trying to be polite but her stomach felt like a void.

A groan from the other bed interrupted her gorging and she looked over to see Dash trying to sit up, only to be pushed back into the bed by Fluttershy who was by her bedside in an instant.

“Ooohhh ... .what dragon danced on me…” She asked.

“No dragon, just a manticore ... .you and twilight are lucky to be alive Dash.” Fluttershy said soothingly.

“How do you know my name….”Dash asked suspiciously.

“She called you that.” Fluttershy said stepping to the side so Dash could see Twilight who had a piece of bread halfway to her open mouth and looked like a deer in light spell.

“Well...glad to see you made it Egghead…..got any more of that food?” Dash asked prompting Fluttershy to get some of the food for her, While Twilight had tried to be polite Dash held no such inclination as she dove into the meal like a starving mare, which in a way she was.

As if a switch was flipped in Twilight seeing her doing it she abandoned all notion of politeness and dove in as well.

The meal was quickly gone and not even crumbs survived.

Both mares laid back in their beds and sighed contently as their stomachs no longer gnawed at them.

Fluttershy nodded and smiled. “Feel better?”

Both mares nodded, Dash going as far as to belch getting a glare from Twilight.

“What? It was good.” Dash said as she shrugged and wincing.

“Now then, if you two are up to it I'd like to do some more healing…if…that's okay…” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes...please..” Twilight said and Dash nodded.

Fluttershy smiled and closed her eyes, lips moving silently and when she opened her eyes they were filled with a golden light. “Mend flesh and knit bone, I call upon the divine light of Celestia to heal these two with your divine light.” She said and a warm golden light enveloped Dash and Twilight feeling like a warm summer day that settled where their injuries were.

The warmth was pleasant and the two mares did flinch as they felt their wounds start to close.

Before their wounds could fully close there was a commotion from outside the door, the sound of shouting voices and hooves and a crash Fluttershy to stop her channeling to look at the door a moment before it burst open as 5 ponies in armor with weapons drawn forced their way in.

“See boss, told you I saw them brought here, and look we got their coconspirator, bet we get more gold for her head too.” a unicorn stallion said smirking.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane. “I…I…um ... .hello?” She squeaked out.

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Oh Fluttershy

[Asolem2]

She tried to get up as they had to leave but a firm hoof went to her chest and forced her down with surprising strength as Fluttershy frowned at her. “If you keep doing that I will be forced to put you to sleep.” She said firmly.

Twilight laid back, the quiet mare clearly having more bite to her then her quiet voice would lead one to believe.

Don't anger the Cleric, for they are fully capable of breaking your bones before they heal you

“See boss, told you I saw them brought here, and look we got their coconspirator, bet we get more gold for her head too.” a unicorn stallion said smirking.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane. “I…I…um ... .hello?” She squeaked out.

Ahhh, Cliffhanger, my old nemesis, we meet again

[DILLYbOd]

I shall give this a read... one day. *Looks at my library bursting at the seams*