The Land Before Us

Chapter 5 – The split

The castle dining hall is big fitted with a large bright gold candle lit chandelier that hangs above the gold trimmed polished white stone table. The walls around the room are covered in banners representing unicorns much like the ones that were on the carriage. The wooden chairs of the union castle's dining room are not necessarily the most comfortable thing and the various pastries, fruits, and vegetables that the chef dressed unicorn's brought are not really what Matt wanted; but the large empty room starts to play in Matt's favor as the large blue mare that sits across attempts to break the silence.

Luna sits fully across the large table, but her loud sounding voice doesn't take any hitch as it carries across the room, "If we may ask...how did you come to be in Equestria?"

The young dark haired man twiddles at a grape filled plate with a fine made silver fork as he brings his voice back to himself. This is the first time since he sat at the table that the starring mare has talked so his voice is a bit cracky as it starts up, "We got here through a weird light ball thing." He gives a laugh as he tries to put the strange thing into words, "...I...I can't really explain it."

The mare nods her head as she blinks to his words, "I understand there must be some strangeness in your current situation." She lowers her voice a little as she talks, "Please forgive us as we have not properly introduced ourselves, "I am Luna, the keeper of the night of all of Equestria."

"Hello Luna..." Matt tries to give a smile to the straight sitting pony as he continues to fiddle with the food on his plate.

Luna cocks her head to the motion as she talks in a lower sweeter voice, "I express my feelings for you Matt, we understand it must be difficult for you to be here without your parents or family."

Matt gives a light laugh as he drops the fork to the plate, "Ya, like they care." He follows his motion as he slumps a little down to the unfamiliar chair.

"You are not feeling the homesickness? Princess Platinum has stated that you are not of this land, and I have never before seen another being like you." Luna lightens up her posture as her voice calls back to the young kid.

But Matt's answer back is not the seriousness that she expected, instead the comment has sparked a sarcastic tone in the young kid's voice as he sits back up in the soft cushioned chair. Her comment has brought back the realization of being separated in this strange world, "My parents are probably more worried about Damien...not me." His voice picks up as he stares back to the mare, "...my brother always seems to do everything right and me... I always seem to do everything wrong..."

The young kids voice spikes up in an emotion filled crack as he tries to hide the slight fear of the new world around him. Luna stares back to him, "I feel for you Matt..."

Matt looks up from the gold rimmed plate as he calms his mind and listens to the mare across from him, "Our fair sister raises the warm sun, where we have the duty of the cold dark moon..." Her voice picks up a little as she continues, "Everypony in Equestria enjoys our sister's joy filled day. But now as problems through the land arise the ponies of this land shun the night as dangerous and dreadful."

The mare's soft blue eyes for the first time tonight lose their gaze on Matt as she pauses in thought.

Matt holds a confused and astonished face as he tries to think over the ponies words. He shoots back a slight laugh as he speaks up, "The nights not dreadful? It's free."

Luna brings her eyes back to him as she shake her head, "Free?"

The young kid smiles as he brings his arms to follow his excited voice, "Are you crazy? The night is great, cold air, star lit sky..." He pauses in a laugh as he looks to her, "Well its kinda hard to see the stars in New York, but they're there...the strange little orbs that make us feel so small."

Matt's voice continues off the empty rooms walls as he talks, " The best part about the night is that its free, you can do whatever you want and no one is around to judge you or stop you...you know?"

The mare gives a smile to Matt as her voice calls back lowly, "We thank you Matt...nopony has ever talked of the night with the same passion you have just shown."

He gives a low laugh as he adjust himself to his chair.

"Your land's must be lucky." Luna's voice lowers as her tone shifts to a more serious one, "The nights here are filled with horrors that keeps ponies from their enjoyment."

Matt's happy tone shifts as he thinks over her comment, "You mean like those flying dogs?"

Luna holds her smile to the strange question as she answers back, "Flying dogs?"

"Ya, when we got here there was this really weird looking black dog thing...Preston said it kind of look like a pony....But it was ugly and had fangs." Matt shakes his head as he looks over the dark blue mare, "It didn't have the big life filled alien eyes either, they were just...blue?"

She nods her head as her voice picks up, "You speak of a changeling."

"What's that?"

Her voice picks back up in a regal loudness as she talks back, "We do not yet know, they have only recently started arising." Luna stops herself as she squints back to the young dark haired kid, "You say this pony had wings?"

Matt nods his head as he waits for her to continue.

"This is strange as we have only seen earth pony changelings." Luna studies the table in front of her as she tries to think of an answer.

The young kid speaks up before she can bring her unsure voice out, "Luna, how unsafe is the night?"

Luna looks over his expression as she stutters for a moment, "Do not fret, I am certain that come tomorrow you shall be reunited with your family."

He gives a nod as she continues, "If you would like I will show you to your room if you wish to retire until tomorrow."

Matt licks at his lips for a moment trying to think over how Preston and Damien are doing, he pauses the thoughts back as he talks, "ok."

(In the Everfree forest)

The dense fog that settles over the Everfree forest throughout the day settles a little, but the nip in the moonlit air wips itself against the two older men struggling to make their way through the almost pitch black forest.

Preston holds his arms around his chest as he calls out to his friend that huddles close to him, "We're fucking lost aren't we!"

The large man swings his unsure head back around the slightly moon shined trees as he talks, "No, the road is close...I know it is."

"That's what you said the last hundred times..." Preston's comment shrinks a little as he shivers in the cold.

Damien turns his gaze to his outline as he rubs his large hand to his friend's shoulder, "Don't worry dude, at least its not winter."

The two men both give a low laugh to the stupid comment as there treck through the dense underbrush begins to grind to a halt.

Preston swings his head around again as he gives a low sigh, "So Damien, those talking horses...how big were they?"

The large man picks up his pace as his deep voice calls back to the comment, "I don't know man...I didn't stay around to ask them..." He swallows at his comment as the memory of Matt's body laying on the ground plays through his mind, the memory has been slowly eating away at him all day but the tough guy has managed to stop himself from reliving when he left the young kid's view.

But this time its not Damien’s will that breaks the thought, the two men freeze up as a loud wolf like howl rings through the trees behind them.

"...What was that..." Preston holds his mouth a gasp as the wisp of his hot breath swirls in the dimly moon lit light in front of him, his dark brown eyes latch onto Damien for an answer.

But the stern looking friend that his eyes were hoping to meet doesn't trace through the light as Damien holds the same fear stricken astonishment, his voice is low and his breathing is not panted like Preston's as he talks, "Press, I want you to start running got it?"

The blond haired guy runs his shifty eyes around the tree line behind him as he talks, "W-what do you mean?"

"Press, just run straight and well meet up in a se...-" His voice is cut off as a low hungry sounding growl resonates in the bushes dangerously close to them.

The two men's hearts beat's go rapid fire as they listen to the bushes they stare at rustling, neither one of them can bring their bodies to start as the growl turns into a multiple hungry tone. But this moment of pause only last a second as two dark green orb like eyes show their presence in the bush they stare at .

"NOW!" Damien's voice snaps them into a mad dash away from the sounds as they head straight on through the night blindly.

The sound of a dog like pant is tracing close behind as the fallen leaves beneath their feet mash with a chip like crunch.

Damien's run comes to an end as he spots a large low lying tree branch, As Preston ducks under the branch Damien hules himself over and onto it, as he lays on the branch he calls to the fading figure in front of him, "Preston get on the tree!"

But the outline of his friend does not slow as it fades quickly into the dark. Damien's hot breaths only last a few seconds as the the animals that were chasing him come into view, he watches as the two wood like wolves run under the low hanging branch, the two wolf like animals have their heads down low so Damien's slight high up position goes unnoticed.

The flash of the timber wolves is only a second as they dart into the dark where Preston's figure ran.

Damien's blue eyes blink at the fading sound as he slowly slides himself to the base of the large tree trunk. He gives a few low pant like moans as he looks up through the branch covered sky, he wants to scream and his mouth quivers with the need to yell...but his mind races to much to allow the call to the dark heavens above. Instead he is only allowed the guilt of thinking his friend has been attacked by the creatures that just ran past.

Preston's pace has not slowed and his absent minded running has kept him from noticing the lose of his running mate. The timberwolves growls start to lower behind him as his legs pound to the forest floor, but his momentum is not truly acting as a savior as a low thin wall of gold light shimmers in front of his path.

But his pace can't be stopped as he runs at the light wall in full force.

He instinctively shields his head as he brings his hands over his face but the motion blocks his view of the path as he trips on a nearby fallen log. The blond haired man is sent tumbling through the low light as he falls and hits his head to the hard twig and dead bark covered forest floor.

Preston lays on the ground past the wall of low magic as the timber wolves that were following him come to a sliding stop only a few feet behind where he lays unresponsive.

The two beast of the forest pant as their wood chest buckle back and forth. After a few moments of staring through the dim magic glowing wall they walk off in a still hungry growling turn.

A low feminine voice stirs Preston's eyes open for a moment but the heavy lids quickly close shut again in a faint as the sound of hooves crunching against leaves gets louder.

End of chapter 5