They Came from Up There

I'm gonna stop naming the chapters now. It's unnecessary.

He was cold, wet, muddy, and in serious danger. But he had to carry on. There was no going against King Draugr's orders. To do so was to admit death into one's life. He looked up at the sky-  He could see a peek of moon through the clouds, so he judged that it was around 1:00 AM. The rain had picked up, and it looked like it was going to start striking lightning soon. Even more danger to his life, since he was in the middle of a large pasture. An attacker would see him easily with his arctic white fur. In front of him was a large barnhouse, and far behind him was an enormous orchard of apple trees. He needed to learn a lot about the Forbidden Green World in S.G.M.T., short for Sky Guard Mercenary Training. Since he was in the Merc's division, he was permitted on the ground to do whatever he pleased, if he followed some simple rules:

1. Do not let any groundlings see you. If they do, you must either kill them or persuade them to forget you.

2. Do not return to the cirrus with pursuers.

3. Follow the orders of your employer.

So far, he had followed all of them. He needed to move out and follow his orders, but he was unsure of which route to take; Take the woods and risk being jumped by bandit ponies, or take the clearing and risk being seen. He didn't want to take any more lives than he had to; He decided to take the clearing and dart straight for the house. As he was sprinting towards the house, he caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flying above. Suddenly, he crashed his front right leg into a plow, making both him yelp and the plow clooong!

He froze, and slapped himself on the forehead for not watching where he was going. The shadow quickly flew away, and he could hear what sounded like an eagle screech. He hoped it wasn't a Griffon- Their claws could tear a Skykin apart easily. He kept running for the house, and when he reached the side of it, pressed himself against the red walls to avoid any residents seeing him if they looked out. He readied his claws, and made sure it was the right window. After double-checking his mental image, he was sure of it, and poked his head towards the window. On his way up, he heard a few giggles, then a quick "ssh", making him pull back. He waited a few minutes, and began his way up again. He pressed the window open quietly, taking a good look inside. There were posters on the walls, picture frames on shelves, and various little filly's toys scattered about the room. But he was here for something else. someone else.

Taking a look down, he spotted his targets. Three shadows could be seen moving against a blanket shaped into a tent, and judging from their postures laying belly-down on the floor, they were reading something. Something funny, due to the repeated giggling. He poked his head in further, taking a good look at the blanket, then he brought a paw up, grasping the blanket, and yanking it off of the wire that it was hanging from, revealing three shocked young fillies staring into the guard's face. They almost screamed, until the one with the orange coat whispered to him.

"Mikar? What are you doing here? I thought you were hurt!" She said.

"Yeah, Mikar. Wah ain't ya back at Miss Zecora's?" Said the one with the bow.

"Umm, girls... I don't think that's Mikar."

Both girls looked at the white filly that had spoken up, and looked back at "Mikar". Then they realized- Mikar had two ears. This guy only had one ear, as well as brilliant white fur that seemed to glow in the dark. The other ear was torn off at the base. The guard growled a low, loud growl and grabbed the orange on in one paw. In the other, he took the screaming white one. With his mouth, he attempted to nab the one with the bow, until she quickly bared her flanks and bucked him square in the mouth. A tooth went flying into the wall, sticking a picture of a colt named "Hoity Toity" in the head. He roared at her loudly, and was about to bite her with his venom when a light flicked on, blinding him temporarily. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a giant, red beast standing in the doorway. It stared at him, then at the screaming fillies with a look of first shock, then pure, unfiltered rage.

"Nnnope!" The red pony said, rearing back and mashing the guard in the face with his hooves.

The blow connected with his nose, and the red pony heard a satisfying crack as bone gave way to muscle. The guard roared again, and dropped the screaming fillies back to the floor. He was about to yank his head out and abort the mission, but another hoof came flying at him. He dodged it this time, taking a big bite on the red pony's side. He let loose his venom and yanked his head out of the window frame, tearing part of it open by trying to pull his forearms out as well. He took flight and flew quickly into the safety of the darkness.

"Big Mac! Ya saved us! Thanks, big bro!" Applebloom hugged her brother tightly, who was inspecting the bite holes on his side. He hadn't felt the bite in all his rage.

"Eeyup."

"Yeah, Mac! You were all like, whoo-psh and he was all Ow ooh ow!" Scootaloo was overly excited from the commotion.

"Thanks, Mr. Apple. No wonder my sister has a crush on you." Sweetie Belle was less excited from the ordeal, but still very thankful towards Big Macintosh.

"Eeyup."

"Big bro? He bit your belly, are you alright?"

"Nnnope." Big Macintosh said as he collapsed to the floor, his blood mixing with the orange blood of the guard's.

"Oh no! Hey Mac, wake up! APPLEJAAACK!"

"Ah'm here, Ah'm here. What happened? I heard a big fight in here!"

The fillies told Applejack about the entire incident, then helped Applejack lift Big Mac into his bed. The fillies were a little shaken from what happened, but otherwise unharmed. Big Mac woke up a little later, seemingly unharmed by the venom. He said it made him see colors and hallucinate strange things, but he only fainted because of how close his little sister came to death. Applejack insisted that the three fillies sleep with her that night.

They were happy to oblige.

"WHHHAT?! What do you mean, ESCAPED?!" Draugr was furious. His voice alone woke half of the cirrus.

"M-m-my sire, the r-red one. He k-kicked me hard, I think he br-" The guard didn't have time to respond before he was attacked by another volley of vicious words from his master.

"I don't care what it did to you! I told you to get me those groundlings and you FAILED!"

"M-m-m-my sire, I'm so-"

"Don't say it. Don't even THINK of saying that word!"

"Y-yes, my lord."

"Get out of my sight before I tear you into *BLOODY RIBBONS!*" Draugr roared at the top of his lungs. He hated failures almost as much as he hated Mikar. Now not only was his mission compromised, but now the groundlings might be preparing to defend themselves. Draugr didn't want to have to face resistance when he found Mikar and tore him apart. He could have torn him apart on the cirrus, but that would break the law, forcing him from the throne and letting his heir take it while Draugr was put to death. Normally, his word was law, but those millennial-old laws outruled him by far. He may have been the ruler of the cirrus, but none could over-rule the ancient laws. His rage boiled even more at this.

Suddenly, he remembered the lack of law below the stratus clouds, and his rage resided. He knew already that he could go to the Forbidden Green World if he wanted to, but he first needed to find Mikar, and thanks to his spies, those three fillies looked like they knew him. The failure guard told him that the fillies had called him Mikar, so they must know Mikar personally. Draugr took note of this, and  thought about facing Mikar himself and destroying him with his now amazing flame breath. He formulated a plan. The Forbidden Green World had dragons down there, too. Not Dragon Skykin, but dragons. He could probably pass as one of them if he tried to blend in with them. He ran the plan through his head a few times, and smiled for the first time in years.

He was finally going to have his hands on Mikar.