Watermelody bit onto a tree branch with her mouth and used it to swing over a large creek. Or well, the large creek that existed in her mind. In all reality, it was barely even deep enough to get her entire hoof in.

The others simply stepped through the water as Watermelody jumped onto a rock and posed in what she imagined a heroic pose would look like.

“Onward my compatriots!” Watermelody cried and flung a hoof forward. “For victory is over thatta way!”

“I have a weird choice in allies,” Twilight muttered under her breath and Wallflower giggled before stopping to heal another tree.

While it did slow them down, none of them dared to intervene in Wallflower insisting to heal every sick tree the group came across. The large stick Wallflower had strapped to her saddlebags was a pretty good warning of what would happen if they tried to stop and none of them really wanted to find out if she was serious about using that thing to fight somepony with.

“You really think they’ll make plays about us?” Wallflower asked hesitantly as her brown eyes flicked to Watermelody. Wallflower preferred to stay out of the spotlight.

“Yes! There will be heartbreak, death-” Wallflower shuddered as Watermelody continued staring ahead at the castle in the distance. “We will be taken hostage and our superior officers head will be cut off with a chainsaw by a damned Saddle Arabian chief-”

“Watermelody!” Twilight snapped and pointed at Wallflower hiding behind a tree. “You’re scaring her!”

“And there’s not even Saddle Arabians out here thank Celestia,” Spitfire grumbled and snorted before kicking her hindlegs in frustration. “Stupid bastards.”

“What’s your deal with Saddle Arabians?” High Winds asked curiously before she slammed a hoof into her muzzle. “I forgot about the Saddle Arabia incident a few years ago.”

The what? Twilight thought to herself as Watermelody looked around sheepishly before she trotted over hesitantly to Wallflower and sat in front of her.

“Hey,” Watermelody said quietly and tapped on Wallflowers foreleg. “I may have gotten a bit carried away there. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Nopony is getting uh that sort of treatment. None of us would let that happen, especially not to you. They’d have to kill us all first before they got to you.”

“Are you sure? Who knows what could be here watching us? Maybe some manticore with drool waiting to eat me, a pony that could be eaten in three bites!” Wallflower snapped and shuddered slightly and Watermelody internally cursed at herself.

“I’m absolutely certain. And besides, I’m a pretty strong pony. I can take a manticore. And we got two unicorns and two Wonderbolts. We can easily handle anything the forest throws our way,” Watermelody reassured her with a warm smile. “Now come on, we got a evil pony to defeat.”

“Are you sure? What makes you think we will even be successful?” Wallflower asked hesitantly and eyed Watermelody.

“Hope,” Watermelody said simply and snorted. “Sounds super cliche I know but it’s true. I just have hope that we will win. We have a lot of ponies counting on us. And I’m not planning on letting them down. I may not get along with my parents much, but I don’t want them to be kept in an eternal slumber. And your sister Fuchsia is back there sleeping too if I remember. Don’t you want to help save her?”

“Yes,” Wallflower answered finally and chewed her lip slightly. “How are you not scared? Of all of this. The woods and our potential impending death? If Nightmare Moon easily took out Celestia, what chance do we and these element thingies stand?”

“I’m terrified,” Watermelody admitted softly and nuzzled Wallflower. “It’s easier to deal with when I’m with my friends. And between the two of us, I tend to get a lot more dramatic when I’m scared. Coping mechanism and all.”

“I usually just hide around my plants. They calm me down. Or sitting with Fuchsia,” Wallflower muttered and scratched her neck with a confused expression. “Why am I awake? I was at my house when the sleep spell hit. Why wasn’t I affected but the Wonderbolts who were further away got affected?”

“I got a theory about that,” Twilight interjected and shifted on her hooves cautiously. None of the others had wanted to really interrupt the moment but Twilight wasn’t gonna turn down a learning moment. “A few actually. One is your house helped block the spell which is probably the most likely. I saw a few other ponies hiding inside houses when I was running with Spike and Sunset. Spitfire said she, High Winds and Misty got down fast enough to get away from the brunt of it which explains why the two are simply drowsy. Second is you were protected by something or your willpower kept you from falling asleep. That’s about all I’ve come up with at the moment. Won’t know more till I can do more testing later at the lab.”

They all fell silent and Twilight found herself holding up a yawning Spitfire. Twilight was planning on extensively researching sleep spells. She only knew basic ones to help Spike sleep when the dragon was having nightmares. Now that she thought about, she was probably going to have to use plenty of those tonight on Spike and herself to sleep. If she didn’t die tonight of course. Bit hard to cast spells when you’re dead.

“What do you think Misty Fly is doing right now?” High Winds asked suddenly and Spitfire shrugged.

Misty Fly trotted back and forth inside Sunset’s house after dragging the rest of the Wonderbolts to the house, narrowly avoiding stepping on a sleeping Wave Chill and Lightning Streak.

“It’s too quiet,” Misty Fly mumbled to herself and paused to pull a blanket over Fleetfoot and Soarin. “Oh Soarin. What I wouldn’t give to have you or Fleetfoot awake with me right now. I’d never admit this if you were awake but I’m scared. That evil mare could come back at any time. I’m practically a pyschiatrist. I’m always there for the others but I can never vent to others. Sounds stupid doesn’t it? And I’m still talking to myself. If Surprise saw this, she’d call me crazy.”

Misty paused her trotting to wipe some drool off Rapidfire’s muzzle with a yawn and a tired expression before she slumped over next to Surprise, nuzzling her friend.

“Listen to me, it’s like I’m mourning a bunch of dead friends. You guys are just simply sleeping. Spitfire will solve this. She and the others. I don’t know the others, I only know Spitfire, High Winds and Sunset but they are determined ponies. They got this,” Misty Fly mused aloud and her ear flicked as Spike wrapped a claw around her hindleg and she smiled at the small dragon and wrapped a wing around him protectively. “You’re kinda cute, in a weird way. Like a sibling. I hope they got this at least.”

Misty Fly pulled the sleeping pony and dragon into a hug before stifling a yawn herself.

Misty stretched out on her back and smiled slightly at the two hugging her back and she nuzzled them both.

With a final yawn, Misty closed her eyes and felt sleep take her.

Author's Note

Name: High Winds.

Age: 27.

Status: Alive.

Rank: Sergeant.

Element: Generosity.

Bio: High Winds is one of the lesser known Wonderbolts but that fact doesn't bother her any. She is a sergeant in the Wonderbolts and spends most of her town with her fellow teammates. She is a generous pony who often goes overboard around the holidays and birthdays for her friends and family. Contrary to popular belief, she is not related to Soarin even though the two look very similar. She is friendly with most ponies and attended flight school with Surprise as a filly. She is charge of the third flight team of the Wonderbolts, which consists of Dizzy Twister, Surprise, Parasol, Silver Zoom and White Lightning. High Winds took part in defending Canterlot during the Canterlot Wedding and was the second of the elements to be defeated. She was led against Tirek by Spitfire and was the second element of harmony to fall against him. She has a cutie mark of a feather and wind currents. She is a talented flyer and occasionally assists with the weather when requested. Her calls callsign is Hoof in Mouth after she accidentally walked into the hoof of a Wonderbolt statue. High Winds was one of the first ponies to help Wallflower get out of her shell and open up.

Motto: Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.

Abilities: High Winds is a generous pony and firmly believes in her element she represents. She has a wing speed of 15.8. High Winds is quick to follow orders and is capable of leading the Wonderbolts when Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Soarin and Blaze are absent. High Winds is highly intelligent.

Weaknesses: High Winds is one of the weaker elements and is more comfortable at staying away from conflict. She will engage in combat when necessary.

Allies: Spitfire, Blaze, Luna, Twilight, Spike, Wallflower, Watermelody, Sunset, Soarin, Misty Fly, Surprise, Parasol, Silverspeed, Silver Spoon, Rapidfire, Silver Zoom, Dizzy Twister, Fleetfoot, White Lightning, Celestia and other Wonderbolts, Discord, Rainbow Dash, Roseluck, Daisy, Lily.

Enemies: Discord (Formerly), Tirek, Chrysalis, Stormy Flare, Lightning Dust, Rolling Thunder, Short Fuse.

Notable quotes: "I enjoy cooking. You should try it some time Lightning Streak and skip the Hayburger. Maybe you'll have a nice frame like me"- future story.

"You should try to be more generous Silver Spoon and you'll have more friends"- future story.

"You really need to be more careful. That Changeling almost ripped your wing out of your socket and killed you"- after the Battle of Canterlot, said to Soarin.