"No," Nightglow said, "but I'm sure if we go back and look again . . ." His wings twitched.
"It was already getting dark by the time we got there," Thistledown quickly added, tossing her white mane. "That's why we didn't find anything."
Moonbeam raised an eyebrow. "Tempest?"
He spread his silver wings in a shrug. "There were some prints by the cascades, but since the foals had been there the day before . . ." There was the faintest flicker of . . . something . . . in his voice.
Moonbeam stared at him for a heartbeat, expressionless, before speaking. "I want you three to get some rest." Nightglow and Thistledown provided a jumbled chorus of protest, but the white unicorn silenced them with a look. "We'll take the herd back and make a thorough search. I need you rested for that."
"Thank you, Moonbeam," Nightglow sighed, and the unicorn inclined her head, well aware that she was not being thanked for her order to rest.
"Thank you," Thistledown echoed.
Tempest simply bobbed his head and turned away to follow his fellow pegasi down the grassy hillside.
"Wait, Tempest," Moonbeam said calmly. "I would like a word with you."
Tempest frowned, but turned back. "Yes?"
Moonbeam watched him a few minutes as he shifted with growing discomfort. "What exactly did you find by the stream?" she said at last.
"I found hoofprints," Tempest said.
"Are you sure they weren't new?"
Tempest shrugged. "Who knows? They didn't seem to lead anywhere besides the little waterfall."
"Hmm . . ." Moonbeam flipped her ivory forelock from her eyes. "And what else did you find?"
"What else?"
Moonbeam waited.
"I found other footprints," Tempest grudgingly admitted at last. "Raal prints."
The sickening surge of despair never flickered onto Moonbeam's face. "Hunting? Chasing something?" she calmly asked.
"I don't think so. It looked like it had stopped for a drink. They didn't seem to be following . . . anything. It did get a rabbit, that I saw. I didn't see any other . . . blood."
Moonbeam frowned. "Nightglow and Thistledown didn't see?" she asked, and mentally thanked the Rainbow when Tempest shook his head. "Thank you, Tempest. You'd better try to get some sleep now. We'll start moving in a few hours."
"Yes, Moonbeam," Tempest muttered, stumbling down the hill.
Moonbeam carefully lowered herself onto the sweet grass. A few birds now sang as the sun blazed over the distant hilltops. She blinked, unable to stare into the liquid fire. Idly she wondered if Evergold was still alive. But she pushed her dim memories of the golden earthling away. Done is done, gone is gone, and a pony without a herd is as good as dead.
~*~*~*~*~
Baby Nightglow and Baby Featherfall walked in silence, occassionally snatching up a mouthful of dry, sun-scorched grass. The blue and white blooms of the bachelor buttons tasted better, but by now most of them had withered away under the burning sun.
"I wish there was something good to eat out here," Baby Nightglow said after a while. "I'm tired of these sticks."
"I wish it weren't so hot," Baby Featherfall said.
"Me too. I wish we'd find some water . . ."
". . . or shade . . ."
"Or the herd."
"My daddy used to say that if wishes were wings, earthlings would fly," Baby Featherfall sighed, tossing her sweat-soaked mane.
"I also wish the flies weren't so bad--" Baby Nightglow complained, almost tripping over a rock as they topped the ridge of a steep hill. "Hey, look! There are trees over there!"
"Trees?" Baby Featherfall raised her head and gasped. As abrupt as a river cutting a path through a rocky bank, a verdant paradise of greenery stretched before them. "It's not just trees," she said slowly. "It's a whole forest . . ."
"A forest with shade!" Baby Nightglow breathed reverently, then broke into a gallop. The pink filly hesitated before following at a slower pace, but Baby Nightglow didn't notice. Faster and faster he ran, pounding through the curling, yellowed grass, beating the smoldering red soil that burned his hooves. His hooves drummed a steady rhythm against the hardened ground and his wings unfurled, carrying him into the forest of languid trees almost dripping with heavy dew, while ferns quietly brushed their fronds against a carpet of soft green moss.
"Ohh, it is a lot cooler in here," the colt sighed contently, stretching his wings as a refreshing breeze ruffled his blue mane.
"I don't think we should go in there." Baby Featherfall stood at the edge of the glade, peering in suspiciously.
Baby Nightglow looked incredulous. "You want to wander around out there in the heat?"
"Well, no. But have you ever seen a forest like this?"
"Not plants exactly like this, but so what?" he shrugged. "I've never seen a field with big rocks lying around either."
The Rainbow foal shifted from hoof to hoof. "That's not what I meant. Have you ever seen a forest that just . . . starts like this? Shouldn't there be a few trees here and there until the forest really starts? But here, the dry land ends right here--" She planted a hoof firmly on the cracked, arid ground. "--and the forest starts right here." She placed her other hoof onto a spongy pillow of moss.
Baby Nightglow tilted his purple head, considering. "Well . . . yeah, that's kind of weird. But we can't stay out there in the heat. I thought my coat would start sizzling!" He licked a little dew off a rubbery, broad-leafed plant.
Baby Featherfall paced fretfully. "I don't know what to do . . . "
"It's fine in here," Baby Nightglow said encouragingly, though Baby Featherfall's jitters were now making him feel a little nervous. "I don't smell any danger."
Hesitantly, the pink filly edged into the forest. "I still think this is a bad idea."
She really doesn't like this, Baby Nightglow thought anxiously. What should I do? What would Daddy do if he were here? He nuzzled his friend. "If we go all the way through this forest, I'll bet we can find the valley with that little waterfall and figure out where the herd went. I'll go first," he said. "Just in case. Don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid of!" Lifting his hooves high, he began striding through the forest, more bravely than he felt.
Baby Featherfall shook her colorful mane and followed him. "I'm not afraid," she whispered to herself, "and that is what worries me."
~*~*~*~*~
Shadow rested his head on the ground, exhausted from yet another futile search. After sending tendrils of shadow magic coursing through the woods, blindly seeking anything large and warm-blooded, he had found only a few very frightened and confused deer. Glimmer hovered nearby (figuratively speaking), occassionally sending shimmering globes of light high into the sky so that the foals would know where the herd was if they were nearby. Droplet, Azure, and Lilac had not yet returned from their ground search.
Sunshine sat near the unicorns, feeling useless as she stared at the tiny splashes of water cascading over and around the smooth-worn rocks. This was where she had seen him last . . . so recently that she half-believed that he would leap over the lip of the cataract any moment, shrieking joyfully. Half-believing . . . and yet knowing he was gone . . . . She closed her eyes.
A moment later she heard the swish of wings and lifted her head. Nightglow had returned from yet another ariel search, wearily and awkwardly gliding to the ground instead of landing with his usual flourish. He exchanged a few words with Moonbeam in a low tone, then slowly moved towards Sunshine, favoring one hoof.
The yellow pegasus bit her lip; "Nightglow--are you okay?" she anxiously queried, galloping up to him.
He managed a smile. "It was my own fault . . . just a clumsy landing. I saw something move in a field and--" his voice faltered as he lowered his head. "It wasn't him," he whispered.
His mate nuzzled him gently. "Your leg, Nightglow. Maybe Glimmer can help."
Nightglow snorted and rolled his eyes.
He still hasn't forgiven her for my wing, the orange-maned mare thought, and inexplicably felt a wave of relief. "She did her best, Nightglow," Sunshine reminded him. "She has more healing powers than any unicorn in the herd."
"Only because the others don't have any healing magic," he muttered, glancing around to make sure the grey unicorn wouldn't hear.
"Nightglow--did you . . . did you find anything? Any trace?" She already knew the answer, but still a lilt of hope crept into her voice. Her face fell as he shook his head.
"I searched, Sunshine . . . Every trail, I followed. Every twitch of movement, I stopped for. I found nothing . . . nothing but deer tracks and rabbits. Sometimes . . . sometimes I'd almost forget what I was looking for, why I was looking, but then I'd see his face, remember his eyes . . ." He blinked through his tears. "Eyes so blue . . . like the sky in summer . . ."
Sunshine quietly leaned against him. "Nightglow, Nightglow . . . you'll see those eyes again. He's safe somewhere, you'll see. We just need to believe."
"Every hour, every minute, it gets harder." His voice broke. "How long can a pony believe?"
She pressed her cheek to his and their tears melted together. "Belief is all we have left, dear."
Nearby, Shadow lifted his head a moment before laying it heavily on the ground again. Sometimes belief is not enough.
~*~*~*~*~
"We can stop for a rest if you're tired, Featherfall." The purple colt glanced behind him. "Uh . . . Featherfall?"
"Hmm? Sorry, I'm over here." After a brief rustling, she fluttered casually over a leafy plant blossoming with huge and frilly red flowers.
"We should really stay together," Baby Nightglow said anxiously.
Baby Featherfall nodded absently, staring at the canopy of green above them as she began wandering away again. She had become more and more distracted as they had continued through the forest. Ironically, she now appeared perfectly unconcerned while the sick feeling of worry writhing in Baby Nightglow's stomach had grown exponentially.
This isn't like her at all, he thought anxiously. Not at all. He paused, anxiously looking at her. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Huh? . . . I'm fine. We're getting closer," she replied distantly, still walking.
"Closer?? Baby Featherfall, stop!" he said, stamping a hoof. "Closer to what?"
As she halted, her eyes seemed to flicker a moment, then focus. "I don't know. The edge of the forest, I guess. You sure are jumpy, Baby Nightglow. It was your idea to come in here, remember?"
"I know," he muttered. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe we should go back."
"After travelling in this far? Backtracking all that way?"
He sighed. "I guess not . . . but let's stay close together, okay?"
"Well, of course we will," Baby Featherfall replied in a practical tone.
They started off again, but before long the filly began drifting again; Baby Nightglow gave up and simply began following her. It's not like we knew where we were going anyway.
The foals pushed through thick waves of ferns and brilliant flowers, ducking under moss-covered tree trunks propped at awkward angles and flying over the rocks that occassionally arose in their path, crumbling and ancient. Baby Nightglow paused by one, examining it, for it seemed to him that it was more symmetrical than a rock should be, but he quickly leapt off the stone, picking up his pace to keep up with Baby Featherfall. She was moving at a slow trot, barely taking notice of the branches and fronds catching at her coloful mane and tail as she stared towards . . . something. "We're getting close," she whispered.
"Close to what?" Baby Nightglow asked for what felt like the hundreth time. "Baby Featherfall? Close to what?" She didn't even turn her head. Baby Nightglow wondered if she had even heard him. I wish we'd never gone into this stupid forest. What's happening to her? With a sigh, he ducked under a broad, red-veined leaf--and stumbled right into Baby Featherfall as she stood in contemplation. Both foals went down in a tangle.
"Ow! Baby Nightglow!" She awkwardly extricated herself.
"Sorry." He pulled himself to his hooves. "Uh . . . why did you stop all of a sudden? Did you find whatever we're looking for?"
"Maybe . . ." she answered slowly.
She moved into a small clearing and as Baby Nightglow followed, he saw it: a perfect circle of water set in an unnaturally flat stone that lay level with the forest floor. Baby Nightglow thought it was water, at least. It gleamed silver and opaque, seemingly thicker than water, somehow. It seemed more. Both foals stared. Inconsequentially, the blue-maned colt noted the dust motes danced in the shafts of sunlight dodging between the leaves high above. He shook himself out of the stupor as Baby Featherfall took a step towards the pool.
"What is it?"
Baby Featherfall shook her head, sunlight glinting off her rainbow tresses. "I don't know. I think it used to be very important . . ."
"Well, is it important now?" Baby Nightglow's confidence began to return. Secretly, he had worried that Baby Featherfall was unknowingly leading them towards something really dangerous. "Do you think it's good to drink?"
"I don't know," the filly repeated, doubtfully lowering her head to examine the pool. No pony-reflection shone back at her, though the silver sheen glistened like starlight. Very cautiously she dabbled a hoof in the liquid, swirling it to create furrows and trails of silver. As she drew back her hoof, the silvery liquid beaded and reformed. "It's safe to touch, I guess."
"It's pretty." He drew his hoof along the surface as well. "We should stop and play for a while."
"Play? Baby Nightglow, we're LOST!" The little Rainbow pony was beginning to sound like herself again.
He snorted. "Well, why are we here then? Why did you lead us here?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?? You led us who knows how many miles and every time I asked you what in the Rainbow you were doing, all you'd say is 'We're getting closer.'" He mimicked her voice. "Well, now we're here and I want to know what we're supposed to do!"
Eyes narrowed and ears laid back, the filly spread her wings, emphatically beating them at each word: "I . . . DON'T . . . KNOW!" She folded her wings back and landed with a thump, then strode to the other side of the pool and sat with her back to the other foal.
Baby Nightglow hesitated before flying over to her. "How did you even know this was here?"
"I didn't," she replied, hastily scrubbing her eyes with a hoof. "I just felt . . . it was like something pulling me. Dragging me, almost. I couldn't stop. I couldn't turn away."
"That sounds awful," Baby Nightglow said slowly.
Baby Featherfall looked thoughtful. "Nooo, it wasn't bad. All I could think about was getting to . . . whatever it was, so it wasn't scary. But now that I'm here, I don't know where to go or what to do. Now I'm scared."
Baby Nightglow extended a purple wing over her back in sympathy. "We'll be okay."
She sighed. "I feel like there's something calling to me more than ever, but I can't tell where. I wish my mommy were here."
"And I wish my daddy were here." Baby Nightglow's face clouded.
"Well, if wishes were wings . . ." Baby Featherfall stood up and turned around. "It must have something to do with this pool."
"There are usually rocks and shells and things in a streambed; maybe there's something under here too, hidden." Baby Nightglow hovered above the basin of silver.
"Maybe," the filly replied doubtfully, flicking her rainbow tail.
"I'll check." He held his wings out, slowly descending towards the shimmering liquid.
"Baby Nightglow, I don't know if that such a good id--"
The pool pulled him down and the world cracked around him. Crackling swirls of pure power spun around him, now flashing light, now dark. The abyss constricted, enveloping him, blinding him, but before he even had a chance to scream, a dizzy swaying of greenery appeared above him. Darn, I'm upside down, he thought semicoherently just before landing hard on his back.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed loudly. His cry died a little too quickly on a shroud of silence. He could hear every scrape of hooves against stone as he got to his feet. "I'm in the same place as before," he murmured in confusion. "There's those big mossy stones and there's the pool only . . . Baby Featherfall?" He turned in a tight circle as his call once again faded into the forest a little too soon. The Rainbow pony was nowhere in sight.
"Baby Featherfall!" he called again, louder, and his hooves clattered against the silence as he galloped across the strange, smooth stone surrounding the pool. He spread his wings, flapping hard against the muggy stillness of the forest. Spiralling, he scanned the ground with growing anxiety.
Nothing stirred. The spears of sunlight darted through the trees, clear and whole.
Baby Nightglow landed by the pool, on the far side where he had last seen his friend. "FEATHERFAAAALL!! . . . please, Rainbow, don't let me be lost all alone . . . BABY FEATHERFALL, WHERE ARE YOU??"
His ears caught the faintest of sounds. He turned to see the silvery pond ripple once. Then twice. He gaped in astonishment as a pink hoof emerged, flailing. Struggling wildly, Baby Featherfall fell out of the pool as streamlets of silver poured down her mane and tail to rejoin the pool. Baby Nightglow blinked and rubbed a hoof over his eyes. It was as if she were being hurled upward from the pool (upside down) and falling from a great height (towards the sky) at the same time. Her momentum slowed and it seemed she would plummet to the ground after all . . . but she squeezed her eyes tightly and began drifting gently. A twist of her wings righted her and she landed neatly.
"Your magic saved you from the landing I got," Baby Nightglow said, beginning to understand.
Baby Featherfall turned towards him with relief. "So you are here!" she exclaimed. "And . . . and . . . something else is here too. Something I have to find . . ." Her eyes glazed over.
"Oh no, not again! Baby Featherfall--" he trotted after her. "Wait! We need to figure out what's going on! I know this forest looks just like where we were, but I think it's different, and--Hey, wait up!"
Heedlessly, recklessly, she galloped full out, skillfully dodging treetrunks. She could feel it pulling . . . pulling her along. Somewhere very near, it waited . . . Her hooves were a blur of motion. Over a stream, under a log . . . The world raced by her and she only skidded to a stop when she reached the shore of the lake.
Somehow she had known it would be there. She could only see the nearest whitecaps as great bands of fog swirled and circled over the surface of the lake like a whirlpool, but instinctively she felt its enormity. The surf roared as it hammered the beach and the wind whistled shrilly as it curled protectively over the lake, dragging banners of mist behind it. The water was not blue or turquoise, but a deep, deep color just off of black, disturbed only by frothing waves stuggling to free themselves.
The filly had a hard time taking in the scenery, though. Her entire being was focused on one goal. "To get to the center . . . yes," she murmured.
"The center? Of that?"
Baby Featherfall glanced behind her, vaguely recalling her purple traveling companion. "To the center . . . it calls." Wave-worn stones and seashells clicked and crunched under her hooves as she strode towards the shore; breakers flung themselves between her feet before retreating, pulling the rounded pebbles into the depths of the lake with a rattling grate. She could hear the purple colt calling her, entreating her to come back, but she didn't take any notice. She spread her wings, leapt towards the whirling fog--
--and came to a sudden stop as Baby Nightglow grabbed her tail. "Are you cwazy?" he asked around a mouthfull of rainbow hair. "Tha's dang'rous!"
"Baby--" She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "Baby Nightglow, let go of my tail!"
"Nuh-uh!" He shook his head, rearing onto his hind legs and pulling her further back.
Baby Featherfall's ears went back. "I have to go to the center! You don't understand! I have to!" She flapped hard, pulling Baby Nightglow over the beach as he lost his footing. Each stroke of her wings drew her closer . . . closer . . . and a sudden gust pulled both foals into the whirlwind.
Baby Featherfall determinedly beat against the storm, trying to plunge deeper into the fog, towards the center. Baby Nightglow, maintaining his grip on the little Rainbow pony's tail, desparately tried to pull her in the direction he thought was shoreward. But both ponies were tossed and buffeted by the shrieking wind, helpless against its rage.
The purple pegasus now fluttered blindly, disoreinted and confused but still clenching his teeth around Baby Featherfall's tail. The wind screamed, tearing at his feathers as he tried in vain to control his flight. The gale toyed with him, twisting him this way and that, occassionally sending sudden gusts that slammed him into Baby Featherfall or yanked him away from her until his jaw ached. I don't care. I WON'T let go! he thought stubbornly, pressing his teeth together until he thought they would meld.
As if sensing a challenge, a howling blast sent him somersaulting backwards before catching under his wings and slamming him down, down, down, pulling the Rainbow pegasus after him. Baby Nightglow tried to shift his wings and found that the wind had pinned them back. He fought valiantly against his invisible foe and had almost escaped by the time he hit the water.
The colt gasped with shock at the cold, then realized his mistake as waves closed in above him. He struggled to the surface, frantically looking around for the pink pegasus. "Featherfa--glug!" He swallowed a mouthful of water as a breaker crashed over his head. He tried to shove his sodden blue forelock out of his eyes and tread water at the same time. The mist swirling above and waves rising around him filled his vision.
She must be here somewhere. She has to be. He craned his neck, trying to see above the swells of the lake. The biggest whitecaps flung stinging sprays of water into his eyes as he winced away. He lunged upward, trying to fly, but his wings felt as heavy as stone, as they were soaked through.
"Baby Featherfall!" he called again. He strained his ears against the crashing waves and whining wind. Had someone called from over there or was it his imagination? "I'm coming, don't wo--" A wave washed over him. "--don't worry!" His legs churned through the surf, creating trails of frothing bubbles. As the billowing waves rose and sunk, he caught a glimpse of something pink. Getting close, he thought with renewed hope, redoubling his effort.
His thought was interrupted as a powerful current snared his hind legs and pulled him down. It rolled him, sucking him deeper and deeper into the depths of the lake as he fought desparately, kicking with all his might. He watched the air bubbles floating past him as he struggled against the water that unceasingly pressed against him from all sides. Must . . . keep . . . fighting. He was tired. So very tired. If only he could rest . . . NO! I have to . . . I have to . . . He couldn't remember what he had to do. Surely it could wait. Now was the time to rest . . . sleep . . .
The currents tearing at his limbs seemed almost gentle now and the water muffled the chaos of the storm above. He went limp, falling into a darkness blacker than a moonless night.
~*~*~*~*~
The voice echoed faintly in the distance, far, far away beyond the darkened stars. Insistently it murmured indistinguishable words that he vainly strained to understand. "What?" he cried. "What?"
"I said are you all right?"
The darkness receded slowly; with sudden urgentness he coughed, expelling a stream of lake water. He snorted, trying to banish the smell from his nostrils. "Featherfall?" he managed. As he lifted his head, trickles of icy water crawled from his mane. "Is that you?"
The Rainbow foal nodded. She looked just as waterlogged as the purple pegasus, with flakes of sand and grit flecking her coat and driblets of lakewater staining her muzzle.
Baby Nightglow pushed himself to his hooves with some difficulty; he was sure he'd slosh when he tried to walk. "You pulled me out, didn't you? You rescued me."
"After leading you into danger in the first place," she mumbled, hanging her head. "I'm sorry, Baby Nightglow. I just--it was calling me. But--but that's no excuse." She scuffed a hoof on the loose lying rocks.
"Uh. Well . . ." Baby Nightglow shifted uncomfortably at this confession. "You wanted to stay out of the woods to begin with and I said we should go in, so it's my fault too."
She raised her head, eyes flashing. "But I'm a Rainbow pony! I have to protect and serve! I shouldn't have forgotten that, not for a minute, no matter what!"
"Is that what Rainbow ponies do?" It sounded adventurous. Some ponies had all the luck. He glanced around the lake shore. "Hey, where's that pool? We should get back to that other forest."
"I think it's that direction," Baby Featherfall pointed. "I hope it works both ways."
"Me too," the colt sighed. Slowly he began walking towards the still, ageless trees, feeling every ache and bruise on his body. Baby Featherfall kept pace with him, fluttering her beraggled wings to dry them more quickly. Once in a while she stole a glance over her shoulder.
"Can you still feel it?" he asked her. "Calling?"
She nodded and they walked on in silence.
Finally--after wandering through the woods for so long that it seemed they would be lost forever--they stumbled upon the strange, glistening pool.
"We made it!" Baby Nightglow exclaimed, rearing with excitement.
"Yes . . ." Baby Featherfall said. She looked a little bit lost as she cast one more look behind her, into the still, dim forest. Then she firmly stepped towards the pool. "Come on," she said.
The foals leapt forward together, their hooves not so much splashing into the quicksilver as sinking into it, through it . . .
The world cracked. The silence screamed. The darkness blazed.
Suddenly, dust motes danced against a pale beam of sunlight . . .
Both ponies drifted to the ground, aided by Baby Featherfall's magic. They sighed in relief, then tensed.
"This . . . this isn't the same forest!" Baby Nightglow stammered. Rough-barked pine trees stretched to the sky and a carpet of dry-rooted flowers scraggled around them.
"Maybe if we go back through the pool--" They turned. The crumbling pool was filled with water. Clear, regular water. Baby Nightglow tentatively waded in anyway. Nothing happened.
"Well, we might as well get a drink while we're here," the Rainbow pony said.
"Yeah, before our feathers singe." Baby Nightglow looked around, muzzle dripping. "Well . . . I've seen forests like this before, at least."
"Me too. But we never went through them 'cause it would be too hard to keep the herd together."
The colt sighed. "I hope they're nearby . . ." Baby Featherfall nodded. "There's no turning back."