The Beckoning of Nature (Re-Written)

The two pegasi agreed to wait until the unicorn left the house, but that sadly didn’t happen until well into the dead of night. As a result, they had to do other activities during that time simply to avoid invoking that white-pelted mare’s ire again. The way she glared at them could kill a veteran soldier who was still in his prime--they figured that, had they stayed longer, she wouldn’t refrain herself from mopping the deck with them.

“Hey, Swift, you forgetting something?” Cloudy asked, dusting off a small bookshelf.

“No, why?” Swift replied, wiping sweat off his brow with a hoof.

“The unicorn.” Cloudy answered, sighing. He stopped dusting the small bookshelf, inspecting it to make sure it was clean as he liked it.

Swift processed his companion’s words for a moment or two before they registered in his head. “Dammit!” He pouted.

“Hey, at least we just finished the house cleaning. Let’s go visit her.” Cloudy replied, inspecting the house he was currently in a final time. Everything was organized neatly, the floor had been mopped to the point a reflection could be seen, no cobwebs hung from the ceiling; the place was spic and span down to the last inch.

They began trotting to the door of the house, only to be stopped by a brown earth pony with a darker, spiked mane and ocean blue eyes. “Where are you going?” He asked.

“We’re on a tight schedule.” Cloudy lied quickly. “We’ll come back later, though.”

“Alright then.” The brown earth pony sighed, letting the two pegasi trot out of his home. As soon as the door closed behind them, they bounded off towards the house where the unicorn was, just in time to see her trot out the door with her plethora of fabrics once more obscuring her face. She jumped, seeing the two pegasi waiting for her in the nearby alley, and quickly galloped away from the town as if her hooves were ablaze. The pegasi took to the skies and followed her just as she passed an apple orchard and carrot farm.

“We just want to know about the Steel-Horned Alicorn!” Cloudy yelled, descending dangerously close to the unicorn.

“I said I know nothing!” She shrieked, yanking a shape bent at an obtuse angle from her saddlebag via magic. “Leave me alone already!”

Cloudy got a closer look at the bent object--as purple as purple could be, with the bend rounded, and four blue teeth lining the sides in pairs.

“Go away! I have a boomerang here, and I’m not afraid to use it!” The unicorn cried, galloping well beyond the vastness of the Everfree Forest. She too was following a train track--dangerously close at that. Taking a sharp left, she and her pursuers came across a bridge that was placed just above a riverbed.

“How is she not exhausted yet?!” Swift cried out, eyes wide at the anomaly. He was right--the cloaked unicorn should’ve collapsed by now, especially considering her garments of choice and the fact that they retained all generated heat like a snake.

And, for a few moments, she did indeed collapse as soon as she crossed the bridge.

“Go...away…” She pleaded, her voice dry and ragged. Her body shook with pain from heavily abusing adrenalin and oxygen much more than she should have, and even her magic gave out, letting the boomerang fall just inches from her hooves. Sweat clung to her body, and in turn caused her garments to do the same. “Just...leave me alone…”

“We just want you to answer our question.” Swift replied as he and his friend landed next to the exhausted mare.

“I...don’t know....anything…” She gasped, her voice cracking. Her breathing was still ragged.

“Let’s get those blankets off your face. You need some fresh air.” Cloudy stated, raising a hoof to begin the cloth-removal process.

Just then, something hit him right on that hoof, and he howled in pain before retracting it. The moonlight revealed a new, sizable bruise on that hoof. “Leave her alone!” Cried another feminine voice, this one sounding as if it belonged on a tomboy at best. Swift and Cloudy turned their heads beyond the bridge and unicorn, finding another cloaked figure approaching the scene with dark purple wings spread in a threatening manner. Strapped to one hoof was a grey and purple yoyo.

“Thank...you…” The unicorn wheezed, just barely putting her boomerang into her saddlebag before passing out.

“Leave her alone.” The second figure hissed, approaching even closer to the trio. “I’m not afraid to fucking bury you two alive with both of my bare hooves.”

“And you say this with a toy on one hoof?” Swift asked, cocking a brow before bursting out in a fit of laughter. He too found himself howling in pain, covering his muzzle with a hoof just seconds after the yoyo connected with it.

“LEAVE HER ALONE.” The second figure growled, taking on a position to pounce. “I AM NOT REPEATING MYSELF.”

“Swift, I think we should do as she says…” Cloudy murmured, taking to the skies again. Swift agreed with a silent nod, also taking wing. The figure didn’t give chase, choosing instead to relax before approaching the unicorn who was still passed out. The pony was carefully loaded onto its back before it turned around and ran off towards a gorge that was at least fifty feet deep. It jumped, descending down a bit with the unicorn on its back, before spreading its wings and flying along the wide rocky passageway.

“That one was more aggressive than the unicorn…” Swift murmured, his muzzle now marred with dried rivers of blood and a fresh bruise.

“Yeah.” Cloudy agreed. “But they went to Ghastly Gorge.”

“Why?” Swift asked. Cloudy shrugged.

“Perhaps we should follow.” Cloudy suggested. “Something really seemed off about those two.”

Swift nodded, and both flew to the gorge posthaste. By the time they reached the wide rocky corridor, though, they noticed that the cloaked figures were gone. The moonlight shone through the open air, but that didn’t help matters much. The two darted their heads around, still not finding a sign the figures had existed, apart from their recent injuries.

“I’ll take one side, you take the other. Holler if you find something.” Swift said, taking the side that had the dense woodland above. Cloudy nodded, and took the other. A good hour passed as the two searched, and this didn’t include rest periods. After that, at the very heart of the gorge, Cloudy found something.

“Hey! Check this out!” He cried, causing his companion to fly to him. A strange gemstone jutted out from the rocky surface, its color hard to make out in the shadow of the pony hovering in front of it.

“That’s it? A stupid sparkly rock?” Swift groaned, a hoof connecting with his face. He then punched the rock, feeling it shift within its boring grey prison.

Cloudy turned around, finding rocks part on the other side. “Swift, I think that was a switch.” He remarked flying towards the open rocks which gave way into a cavern of some kind. Swift turned around, seeing the anomaly. As soon as his hoof parted from the gemstone, the rocks slammed shut in a second’s notice.

“I’ll stay here and keep the gate open for you. Get out as soon as you can.” Swift called out, pushing in the gemstone with his hoof again. Cloudy nodded, flying towards the cavern that beckoned him inside.