The Red Stripe

        Nathan scratched his chin, indulging in the rough sensation of the short, ragged beard pricking his fingertips. Some years ago, when his facial hairs had finally started outgrowing the thin fluff of his puberty into a beard worth of being sported, the gesture had almost been an obsession to him. It was fueled by the silly satisfaction he had in touching the first, most visible physical manifestation of his adulthood, something he had been craving for years.

And he had grown completely sick of it in less than a month.

After the first week or so, the layer of hairs had just made him feel dirty, like he was neglecting himself. The feeling had only increased with time, especially when they said hairs had started to rub against his neck warmer at every minimal movement. Maybe the problem was simply that he wasn't used to it, but he really couldn't stay like that any longer. After three weeks, he had finally shaved with a fury that would have made a rampaging Scyther proud, leaving his face in such a state that one could have thought he had really met one of the dangerous Bugs - a very little one, at least.

Later, he learned that travellers tended to prefer hiring people with a more ragged look to escort them throught the wild lands, probably falling for the image of maturity and experience it gave. So, for the sake of his wallet and his stomach, he had to give up his chin to the annoying hairs once again, allowing himself to cut them only when he had enough money to be sure he didn't need another job in the close future. Sadly, given the erratical nature of his profession and the competition he faced, it didn't happen very often, despite the reputation he had gained since he had started more than five years before.

And to maintain said reputation it was needed the utmost attention during every single one of his travels, he reminded himself, as any kind of accidents happening to his clients, be it his fault or not, could put him and all his hard work in serious jeopardy. Especially when the job required them crossing a dangerous route like the Hoenn desert and one of his charges was an over excited little girl that, despite his doing his best to ignore for the last half hour and the sweltering heat sufficient to make even some fire-types stay clear from the place, just wouldn't stop talking!

"... and then this weird guy comes near and gives daddy a weird paper with a weird Shelmet drawn on it, asking if we were interested in listening to the 'word of the great Lord Ellics' and daddy says we were not but the weird guy insisted, telling that the Lord Ellics was the greatest which is just silly because everyone knows that Shelmets are really weak and the greatest is Victini because he is the cutest and he's also the Victory Pokémon and that means he can win against everyone else and-"

Nathan kept trying to ignore her by concentrating on the landscape around, hoping to find something, anything to distract the girl from bursting his eardrums, but obviously the universe denied him that. There was absolutely nothing in sight beyond the immense lake of sand, limited only by the rock walls encircling the desert, barely visible beyond the undulating distortion created by the heat and the large rocks jutting from the ground like thorns. He couldn't even find one of the occasional Cacneas hopping around or a Baltoy floating aimlessly, both usually really common sights.

What in the name of the nightmares shepherd happened here? I swear, those responsible for this whole thing must be those two damn Space and Time Dragons pulling a grudge on me. They sure took their sweet time, though. Lazy bastards, they and the damned lake Gnomes... Wait... when did she stop talking?

"Aley, stop pestering Mr. Powell this instant! And not only him; even Gigalith looks like it’s about to cry! Apologize to them!" An older, feminine voice from behind, much to his relief, finally interrupted the barrage of words, earning what he supposed was a happy whine from the enormous rock-like creature the girl had been riding the whole time. Rock-type cries were always nearly impossible to understand properly if one was not really used to them, they all sounded like grinding stones.

"But mom..."

"No 'buts'! When we allowed you to come with me and your father on this trip you promised to behave! Apologize, now."

"Listen to your mother, Aley. Mr. Powell came with us to keep you safe, and that means you have to be nice with him. Isn't that right, Mr. Powell?" the father, a sleek man in his thirties, pressed on, earning an angry pout from the daughter.

Nathan had to bite down all the comments about the girl being a Whismur on sugar he had thought of during her tirade. She was just a child, after all, and they were paying clients. Furthermore, he was quickly growing tired of being called with the false surname he had bought all those years ago, and, given how hot it was becoming, it also was time for a little break. Before they could settle down, though, he needed to make sure there weren't dangers around.

Time to make his friends earn their meals.

"Oh, don't worry Mr. Checker, your daughter was not that bad. And please, call me Nathan. Mr. Powell was my father. On an unrelated note, the sun is too high to keep going right now; I believe it's time for a break." He reached for his belt, dislodging two red and white metallic orbs, while his shadow started to waver as he softly kicked the ground.

The older man gave him an over the glasses look, clearly unimpressed with the suggestion, "I don't mean to question your professionalism, but are you sure it's a good idea? I know for a fact that this place is infested with night-dwelling Cacturnes. Wouldn't it be a bad idea to stop and risk to be still here when the sun sets, or are you so confident in your ability to fight them away?"

Nathan rolled his eyes at the pompous display of knowledge from the tourist. It was quite common and even welcomed to find people who had somewhat researched the species of Pokémon they could meet during their travels so to know some of the dangers, but when they gloated on what little they knew it was just plain annoying.

"Don't worry Mr. Checker; Cacturnes are not vey 'direct' predators. They prefer stalking and attacking weakened prey rather than engaging them in a fight. If we keep going with this heat, we'll just get increasingly slower and more fatigued. And by the time we'll reach the end of the desert, we will just be easier prey for them. Resting a couple of hours will only be beneficial, it will raise our chances to not even been approached by them. This way we'll be sure to avoid fights that could result dangerous for you and your family. Now if you'll let me, I need to make sure our little camp site is safe."

The two orbs in Nathan's hands opened, releasing flashes of silver light as a large shape started emerging from his shadow, lowering the temperature of several degrees all of sudden. Nathan grinned as he called out loudly, "Garz, Bea, Satel, get up from your asses, its work time!"

The first flash condensed in a huge, feral looking bird with a dark pink beak, long enough to impale a person from side-to-side, and light brown plumage. The Fearow immediately spread out her huge wings and used one to shield her eyes from the blinding sunlight, letting out a shriek of displeasure while glaring at her trainer.

The second revealed a big, floating, bell-like artifact of blue metal with several drawings engraved all over its body. The closest thing it had for eyes, two red metallic spheres embedded in its lower section, a completely vacant look in them. The Bronzong appeared completely unfaltered by the sun and utterly disinterested in the group of both people and Pokémon in front of it, the landscape, or anything at all.

The black shape had in the meantime fully emerged from the young man’s shadow and was tiredly floating around him, bent forward with all his four short stubby limbs limping from his sides,his two pointy ears dangling in a similar fashion. Three lines slowly opened on the uniform dark purple that colored his whole body, revealing two eyes and a comically huge mouth filled with white teeth. They opened even further as the Gengar yawned loudly, before covering his eyes from the harsh light with one of his arms and hissing at Nathan.

"Sorry, guys, I know the light is too strong for your liking but I need your help. Standard procedure: Bea and Garz, I need both of you to fly around here a little and check if there are dangerous Pokèmon and drive them away if necessary. Bea, there shouldn't be any this close to the signed path, but if you see something dangerous as a Claydol or a Flygon, get away as fast as possible and warn us. Don't get too far, stay in sight range and be back here in half an hour, tops. Now go!" The young man pointed a finger at the horizon as he finished giving his orders, but the two Pokémon didn't move, earning a sigh from their trainer and a questioning look from the family of Unovans.

"Tu quoque, Beatrix? I expected some stunt like this from Garz, not you." The bird for all answer, shrieked softly while shielding her eyes with her other wing like the Gengar, as to stress the fact she was quite not happy of where she was. "Fine, fine, you both win," Nathan conceded, raising his hands in defeat. "Garz, tonight feel free to eat whatever dream I'll have while sleeping. And Bea, tomorrow I'll brush your wings for all the time you want. Now, for the love of Shaymin, go!"

The Ghost-type immediately perked up, ears upright and a maniacal grin printed on his face. He then took off disappearing in a dark blur, almost too fast for the human eye to see. The Fearow, on the other hand, flapped towards her trainer, rubbing her head against his while slightly pecking his neck warmer and cheerping cheerfully. Nathan rolled his eyes at her display of affection, but couldn't hide a little smirk creeping on his face. "Yes, yes, now act like the big girl you are and do your job, ok?" This time, the bird obeyed immediately and took to the air with a powerful flap of her wings, leaving a cloud of sand behind her.

"That was... interesting." Mr. Checker suddenly spoke from the side, his eyes still lingering on the now faraway brown shape of Beatrix. Nathan gave him a questioning look.

"What do you mean, Mr. Checker?"

"Oh, please, call me Joseph. You earned it. The behaviour you and your Pokémon showed... It's quite impressive. You trust your Ghost-type enough to let him feed on your dreams, and I'm no expert of big Flying-types but I know for a fact that, being natural predators, they usually are quite serious and prideful. It was nice to see one being so affectionate. Was she your first Pokémon?"

"Not really, sadly that honor goes to Satel here," Nathan answered, waving his hand to the Bronzong, still floating in the same, exact spot. "That reminds me... Satellite, ready to receive commands! Perform a scan of the ground in a radius of ten feet from your actual position with an Extrasensory - output power of only ten percent, non lethal. Give priority to forms of life."

Immediately, the huge metallic creature hummed to life, both eyes glowing an eerie blue that quickly covered the ground in a perfect circle around the Pokémon, making the sand rattle and raising a cloud of dust. Soon, little bulges poked through the sand and started to move around under the group of people, forcing them and the earth-bound Gigalith to take some steps back. After a few seconds, a little pack of Trapinch emerged from the ground and panickingly fled away from the psychic energy as fast as their little legs could carry them.

"Ooo, those are sooo cute! Can I keep one, daddy? Can I?" Aley squealed, almost bouncing on top of the huge Rock-type, the titanic Pokémon totally unfazed by her weight.

"No Aley." Her father answered with finality. "You are still too young to have a Pokémon of your own, especially one that evolves into a Dragon-type. And besides, even if we brought one home, we would have to check on it all the time, unless you want one of our Cacturnes to eat it. They are their natural predators, you know. Oh, don't make that face; you just have to wait another four years before you’re of age."

"But it's not fair!" The girl nearly shouted out, her little arms crossed and an angry pout on her face.

Nathan glanced quickly at the man, puzzled by his last lines. He was really knowledgeable for a tourist, even too much. Few people, even among trainers, knew or cared about wild Pokémon food chains, almost always only worried about which ones were the most dangerous to meet or fight against. Also, what was that story of them having Cacturnes, as more than one, of their own? He never heard of them being found in Unova, and if he really needed more than one than he must have been a breeder or something similar, and that would have presumed  certain knowledge of the species he raised. If that was the case, what was the deal with that dumb question about them attacking he had done earlier?

He shook his head. It wasn't really something he should be concerned with at the moment. Maybe he could get some explanations from the man during the break. At least it would have been a good starting topic for conversation.

As father and daughter kept bickering, Nathan opened his bag and took out several trinkets and survival items; knives, a mess tin and several healing items for his team until he finally found what he was looking for: a thick, soft colored blanket, perfect to be used as a makeshift roof to protect himself and the family from the sunlight. Until a couple years before he would have had to bring with him or find some sticks long enough to be planted in the ground and support the blanket, so to build a very rudimental hut. Then he had one of those ideas that, in hindsight, seemed so stupid he almost wanted to slap himself.

"Satellite, perform standard hut procedure. Use Reflect, three percent of power. Runtime... ninety minutes will be enough." The Bronze Bell Pokèmon's eyes glowed once again, his whole body vibrating with a different sound from before as a thin, translucent wall of light materialized in the air above them, floating perfectly parallel to the ground. As Nathan rested the blanket on it, a shadow large enough for the whole group to take comfortable shelter under was projected on the ground.

Both Joseph and Sally looked up at the 'roof', eyebrows slightly raised in what Nathan hoped was some degree of admiration for the idea. Managing to impress clients with some gimmick like that was one good way to have them remember you and, hopefully, hire you again in the future. Or just suggest you to some friends, either was fine.

"I believe this is a good moment to settle down, eat and drink some water, especially the little Aley. We all need to rest and rehydrate. Just don't exaggerate, we still have some hours of travel in front of us and our reserves will have to last until then."

The young guide sat down, making himself as comfortable as possible before taking some sips of water from his canteen. His example was soon followed by the rest of the group. Aley was leaning on her mother, sitting down between her legs with half her face resting between the folds of the woman clothes. The woman was similarly sitting with her back against one of the huge Gigalith's legs, a small look of bliss on her face as she looked down at the almost sleeping form of the daughter against her chest, gently stroking the girl's back with a hand. Meanwhile, Joseph was awake and vigilant, sitting with his legs crossed as he slowly scanned the desert around them.

Soon, the nothingness of the desert made itself known as an absolute, crystal clear silence settled on the group. Unlike other habitats like the woods and grasslands, there wasn't any background noise caused by soft winds rustling the leaves or the omnipresents small Bug and Flying-types in this immense plain of sand. For someone not used to it, it was just plain disconcerting, if not even scary to a degree. Only five minutes or so had passed since they had sat down, but to most people, it was nearly an eternity, without any kind of sound to scan the passage of time.

Which meant it was the perfect setting for Nathan to make the man loosen his tongue, gather some useful information and get an answer to his doubts.

"So," he began, "do you guys have any Pokémon from around here there in Unova?"

After almost half an hour, Nathan knew more of Unova than he had ever known. Not one to be willing to travel so far, as his job was one that required a nearly perfect knowledge of the routes of the regions he worked in, he had always preferred travelling the relatively close and familiar Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and, in really rare occasions, Orre coast. So he didn't even know of the invasion of non-indigenous species Unova had suffered in the last years.

In the meanwhile, both Garz and Beatrix had come back from their scouting trip, the first now swimming casually in the shadow of his friend's hut, cooling the temperature with his simple presence, something both Nathan and the others appreciated, without losing sight of the boy even for an instant, while the Fearow had decided to keep gliding above their heads, so to make completely sure no danger would have neared her precious trainer-hatchling, not without her pulling a fight first.

"Wait wait wait... wait. You were... testing me?" Nathan couldn't help but gape incredulously as the man, who not only had known perfectly about Cacturnes' hunting tactics from the beginning, but had even revealed to be a researcher specialized in all kinds of Grass-types, nodded as a confirmation.

"Yes, sorry about that, but I needed to make sure you really were a guide who knew his stuff. I think you know how many people try to do your job thinking it is just a matter of fighting wild Pokémon like trainer wannabes. I was not going to let any of them 'protect' my daughter," the Unovan replied, looking at the younger man right in the eyes. "But I was happy to be proven wrong. After we'll conclude our business in Fallabor Town, we'll need to get back to Unova, and I would like to have you escort us all the way back to Mauville City."

"Sure, it would be my pleasure," Nathan replied quickly, "but... I still have a doubt. Both you and your wife don't seem exactly the kinds of people to require help from someone like me, you both seem quite capable, both as travellers and trainers," the young man waved at the imposing form of Gigalith, who had kept tight surveillance on the two humans resting on him with unwavering concentration, "I am quite sure you could have managed even this trip throught the desert without my help, as you have one of your own as one of the main routes of your own region, so why hiring me?"

"Well, the point is, me and Sally always travelled alone with each other, even as students, but this was our first travel since we had Aley, and while we didn't want to leave her back home, we were also worried that, as rusty as we are, we couldn't have protected her, hence," he lifted one finger pointing it directly at Nathan, "you. I am making this clear right now, you are meant to guard my daughter during both this trip and the way back. If you'll ever have to choose between helping me and my wife or my daughter, you'll alway take Aley as your first priority. Is that okay with you?"

Nathan almost flinched away by the sheer seriousness the man had been talking with. Garz had probably perceived the discomfort his trainer was going throught as he glared at the Unovan through dangerously narrowed slits, the air around him suddenly way colder than it had been before. The Gigalith glared at the Ghost too as the sudden drop of temperature made the two sleeping women shiver, but even so, the old man's eyes, hard and cold as steel, never left Nathan's own ones nor faltered for an instant, the man either ignoring or uncaring of the look the Ghost-type was giving him.

That impressed Nathan more than anything else. Even he had the creeps whenever Garz gave someone that look.

Satellite, in the meanwhile, was still peacefully keeping the barrier on, completely uninterested in the potential slaughter that might have happened a few inches from him in a manner of seconds, as a quick glance from Nathan confirmed.

Dumb piece of metal.

After spending a few seconds to think of some great, heroic answer to give, the boy just sighed and settled on a simpler: "Of course, Mr. Checker, you can count on me."

The man's previously hard features seemed to almost melt like butter under the sun as he relaxed and gave Nathan a small smile of gratitude, as well as a simple "Thanks."

Garz and Gigalith relaxed too, easing their previously hostile or plain malicious glares in softer, distrusting ones. The Rock-type went back to guard the mother and daughter, while Garz just went back to float, half-immersed in the shadow as if it were a swimming pool, looking at the improptu ceiling. Both Nathan and Joseph looked at the slightly other-worldly display with mild amusement, trying to find another topic of conversation.

In the end, Nathan took the initiative. "So far we only talked about your region, it's only fair for me to answer back to some questions right now. Anything you want to kn-"

Before either could realize what was happening, the light barrier right above them broke with a loud static snap in a million glittering pieces that immediately faded in thin air, the sound sudden and strong enough to wake up the sleeping women with a startle.

Then the blanket, just a moment before sitting on the barrier, was shoved down on them, dragged by a huge, heavy shape that bulged through the middle of the length of cloth. Before being covered by the thick sheet, Nathan heard the scared scream of Aley calling her mother, her voice quickly becoming a mess of confused, histerical sobs.

As he fell to the ground, he immediatly threw the cloth off him, his hands on the other three spheres on his belt while screaming the names of his already released teammates. But even at his loudest, his voice was merely a whisper compared to Joseph's one, thick with fear as he freed himself from the cloth too and quickly answered to his daughter pleas. Nathan immediately turned to see what had fallen on them through the cloth, breaking through the frail barrier, not meant to sustain any other weight than the blanket itself. His mind was already running rampant thinking about all the kinds of flying Pokémon living in the route, but he froze when he saw the figure pummeled to the ground and now half wrapped in the blanket.

It was Beatrix.

There was not a drop of blood on her, the combination of soft tissue and sand had prevented any serious trauma, but she was not moving, like she had suddenly fallen asleep while flying.

Then, as he heard another scream, he turned to see the family of Unovans. Both Aley and her mother had fallen to the ground, equally unresponsive to Joseph’s growingly desperate pleas. The same eyes that a few minutes before had seemed so cold and determinate, beared now confusion and fear beyond anything Nathan had ever seen. Even Gigalith suddenly seemed to lose his balance, tilting dangerously to the side, struck by an immensely powerful drowsiness.

In that moment, his legs gave out under him too, and he found his mouth full of sand as he fell face first on the ground. As his eyelids quickly became unbearably heavy, he looked around, desperate for any kind of help, but it seemed he was not going to get it anytime soon. Joseph had fallen to the ground too while holding his wife, Garz was nowhere in sight and even Satellite seemed to have shut down, now just a big piece of metal lying on the ground.

The last thing he saw was Aley's face. Her eyes were closed but still wet and red with tears, and from her nose, a huge amount of clear snoot had dripped down reaching even her mouth, twisted in a grimace of fear. That was the same girl that just an hour before had been happily tormenting him, excited for her first adventure outside her home and surrounded by her parents' love.

Before his eyelids finally gave up to the unbearable weight upon them, he thought how many years had passed since he had last seen his own mom and dad.

...

"Rest now my children, for when you awake, a whole new world shall be your home."

Wooden Bit softly caressed one of his perfectly styled moustaches, enjoying the feeling of smoothness he had achieved with the lengthy, patient grooming daily applied to both of them with practiced hooves. Through the large window in front of him, he could look down on the main plaza of the Baltimare harbor, his harbor, where every day hundreds of ponies and griffons passionately hunted for the best bargains possible among the dozens upon dozens of stands presided by similarly combative vendors.

He then raised his look to the other end of the square, opposite to the building he was in. Many considered him as the uncrowned king of not only the port, but the whole town of Baltimare itself, as its existence depended almost solely on the harbour, from where the town had been born from in the first place. But he knew better than that. The true king was there, immense and moody as ever: the ocean, on which the hundreds of ships the city depended on travelled every single day, their charges of goods and lives at leisure of the unsettling monster of water beneath them.

A quick series of soft, but firm knocks on the door of his office yanked him away from his thoughts. "Wooden Bit sir, I have some cards for you. Can I enter?" a feminine voice he knew too well called through.

The stallion sighed. For how much he would have liked to spend further time simply basking in the glory of the little split of world visible throught his window, that was an honor he had yet to earn. He ruffled his wings lightly before turning around and sitting down behind his desk, the window now right behind him. He would have needed his feathery appendages very soon. "Yes, Silver Glass."

The doorknob was enveloped by a familiar light blue aura as the the polished wooden plank twisted on its hinges, allowing a young, slender unicorn mare inside the room. The pegasus couldn't help but cringe visibly at the huge stacks of paper floating at her sides. The young secretary shook her head at the antics of her employer before setting down the paper on the table. "Oh, sir, don't be like that, it's not that bad today, and you should have gotten used to it by now, don't you?"

The stallion didn't even look at her before extending his wings, grasping sheets of paper one by one between the first primaries of his wings with blinding speed, scanning them quickly with his eyes and then dividing them in different piles depending on the attention they needed before being signed. "We'll discuss this manner again when you'll be forced to do it nearly every single day of your life for more than ten years. And, by the way, it’s not something I'll ever want to get used to." He grumbled in answer, both the original stacks already cut in half as his wings kept repeating the fast motions ingrained in them by time. "Now, if you don't have anything more to say, please bring m-" his wings froze in place as one of them kept one sheet of paper in front of of his face, a unreadable mix of emotions in his eyes.

This time it was Silver Glass' turn to cringe. She recognized that sheet.

"What am I reading exactly, Silver?" the stallion asked, his even voice barely betraying calm fury.

"...an approved request from Canterlot to allow the Changelings to open their first Equestrian embassy here in Baltimare, sir."

"And who approved it, Silver?"

"Mayor Bronze Sonata, sir, with the approval of the rest of the city council."

"Those... damn... flankholes!" Wooden Bit almost roared as he stood up. "Who gave them permission to decide something like this without conferring with me first?"

"The Equestrian law, sir," the secretary replied as she calmly levitated up the few pages floating around for the sudden outburst, "no matter how influential you are in this city, to the eyes of the law, you are only responsible for the workings of the port. They don't need to ask you for this kind of political matters."

The older pegasus paced around the room with his wings flared, occasionally opening his mouth as if to answer back, but every time the words died in his throat. After the fourth or fifth time, he just sighed and sit down at his desk. "I'm so much going to get back at that damn stallion, one of these days... like Tartarus he's going to sit on that chair ever again," he muttered, defeated.

"The Mayor is going to retire by the end of the next month, sir. I doubt anything you could do would really damage him at this point." the mare observed, earning an angry groan from her employer, "Besides, if I might ask... why are you so distraught by this? I mean, you usually are the first to offload anything vaguely political to others, sir, it's not the first time they take this kind of decision without you knowing."

The stallion looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you really think that's what had me so offset?"

The mare sighed. She did know the real reason of the pegasus anger, but she had hoped to be wrong.

"The Canterlot wedding." she stated with a small voice.

"Of course it's the damn 'wedding'!" Wooden all but shouted, both his hooves slamming on the desk with a loud bang. "Those blasted bugs almost took over the capital! They nearly killed even

the Princess! Before I'll let even one of those sly, metamorphic bastards in my city, you'll see me dancing a Luna-damned polka with a Chimera! Ah, no, wait, the 'city council' already did let them in! All the better, I'll make sure to make their lives so hard they will roam back home and never come here again!"

"But, sir, they were forgiven by the Princesses! It was fault of a group of terrorists, mislead by a lesser member of their Crown! You can't judge them all just like that! It's... it's even stupid, coming from you, sir!"

As the last words left her mouth, Silver clamped it shut, her whole body frozen in front of the desk. Wooden was a fairly tolerant employer, but she feared to have overstepped her boundaries with that line. As the stallion turned his muzzle to her, the look of pure, unadulterated rage in his eyes confirmed it.

"Given how long you have worked for me and how helpful you were, I will pretend to have not heard that last line, miss Silver Glass" he hissed, "but exactly as I will not tolerate another slip like that, I will not allow any bloody monster into my city, be it Chimeras, Dragons or those cursed Change-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a huge boom interrupted him; it was far, but strong enough to make even the building windows rattle slightly in their frame. Before any of them could wonder what had just happened, another thump could be heard far closer, as something seemed to fall from inside the wooden closet in the corner.

Both of them looked at the piece of furniture, before turning to each other from opposite sides of the desk. Wooden Bit was the first to talk. "What... exactly is going on?" he asked, unsure if to expect an answer from the unicorn mare.

"I... have no idea, sir. My best guess is that was a- Sweet mother of Celestia!" she shrieked the last part, her eyes widening to the size of plates as they stared down at the plaza through the large window.

Wooden turned immediately to see what had scared his secretary so much. Right in the middle of the square, surrounded by suddenly mute vendors and buyers in shock, a pony was lying on the ground. Wooden Bit could not determine what tribe itbelonged to, nor if it was a stallion or mare, and he barely registered even the colour of its coat, a soft yellow-ish cream.

What really caught his attention was that both the mane and tail of the pony were lit ablaze, a uniform mass of roaring fire that menaced to spread on the whole equine in a manner of seconds killing it horribly.

And no one was helping him.

That wouldn't do.

Wooden Bit spun on himself, reared on his front legs, wings spread to give him more balance, and bucked as hard as he could on the frame of the window, slamming it open. The sudden bang and shattering of glasses broke Silver out of her shock induced paralysis, and her eyes immediatly went to the older pegasus, ready to fly out of the window and to the square below. Before he took off in the air, he just screamed her two words.

"Medic, now!"

She turned to the exit and galloped frantically out of the room, slamming behind her the door with her magic by sheer routine, still too scared to really think about what she was doing. All she knew and moved for was that she needed a doctor, and needed it fast.

As she ran away, a couple of smaller shapes started to wake up in the closet.

"Nnn...? Noi? Noiba-ba?"

"Urrrgh... What is it, Wubby? What happene..."

"Nob! Noibat!"

"What... what do you mean? Sorry, but I'm not sure what you are... wait a minute! Wubby? Did you just talk? And since when you were this big and... and… ah… aaah..."

"Nii?"

"W-w-wubby?"

"Noi?”

"Wh-wh-where are m-m-my hands?"