Through Thick and Thin
Part 3Chapter Twenty-Two: Darkness of the Past
Baby Lofty hovered for a moment, her breath coming slowly. She tried to tell herself that it was the thin air but she knew it wasn't. her heart had sped up and she longed for her mother's warmth, her mother's comforting words. Yet she was aloen and she knew it.
It was as dark as midnight above these clouds. Yet, she knew the sun had only sank below the hills a few minutes ago. Baby Ribbon and Baby Gusty slept more than they usually did lately. So it was still fairly early. Yet up here, it was dark, no, pitch black.
She saw the figure that brought such fear into her heart. She flared her wings and fought against the fierce winds that tried to beat her down to the earth. She wondered several times if she should just fly back home. But she always decided against it. She had to find out what was going on.
As she floated higher and higher, she found herself panting, struggling to draw air into her burning lungs. The higher she went, the more her lungs burnt. But she pushed onward, despite the fact she began to feel dizzy. She knew that she shouldn't be this high. In fact, she knew that her mother had never been this high.
Alien words met her ears. Moving as silently as she could, she peered over a mountain of black clouds, now visibly panting. Her heart froze.
Creatures of dark were being formed from the clouds and as she watched they hardened into beings of flesh, blood, and bone. She looked beyond them and saw them.
"I knew it. Hydia, Draggle, Reeka…"
Sure enough, there the three witches were, oblivious to her for the time being. They were creating the creatures, even Draggle. They already had quite a few. Swallowing, the little Pegasus glanced over their army.
All their creatures were black. They looked like regular ponies except they were bigger, stronger, scarier. Some spread feathered wings, while others flared black-silver butterfly wings. Some have sharp pointed horns as well. The eyes flared dark red. Baby Lofty felt her mind soar backwards, towards some old tales she heard Paradise tell. Stories that had happened a mere few months before she was born. Tales of when the witches were greater in numbers, when her father was still alive.
They had summoned these same creatures and used them to attack Dream Valley. The stallions had fought to protect their mares and the few foals that had been born but that battle was how most of them had perished. Her own father had died saving Lofty, who had been heavy with her foal. Since then, Lofty had been furious at the witches and had only stayed out of the war to make sure her daughter was born safe.
Now, this creatures were returning. The girl gently flared her wings and drifted closer, making sure to stay out of sight. As she slid closer, she listened.
"You really think these will work, Hydia?"
"Foolish girls. They nearly worked once before if not for those accursed stallions. They're out of the picture now."
Draggle looked up and she and Baby Lofty's eyes met.
"maybe but that one isn't."
Baby Lofty yelped and took off. She heard the witches shout some words she didn't understand and soon she had two black horses at her tail. She screamed louder, praying for someone to hear her.
No one did.
She flew and flew and flew. She had never beta her wings so hard in her life and yet the horses behind her gained. She could feel their hot breath on her tail, wilting it. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and she started to pray she was having a nightmare.
But as the wind whipped past her face, she knew otherwise. She was awake and close to her death it felt like. She dared to turn and saw the sharp death nip at her tail. She swished it to avoid such an issue and went into a sharp left turn, but only succeeded in turning head over tail into an endless spin. She fell through the clouds and through the rainbow, screaming all the while.
Baby Lofty fought to straighten herself, knowing that if she hit something at this speed it would shatter her hollow bones. But she was an amateur when it came to dealing with wind currents. They hit her and jerked her in every direction until she no longer knew which way was up.
The horses pursuing her halted when they reached the end of the clouds, via their mistresses' command. With a snort, they watched the foal tumble out of control and, their job done, turned and flew away.
Baby Lofty let out a scream as her wings ceased to work and she plummeted towards the ground.