Motherless

It was midday. The herd of machines stopped near the cliffs which lied tall as the sky. Pony-alike machines hanged they heads low to the ground, as smaller ones walked around, inspecting the site they were in. It was a perfect place to strike, and Duskshine with Inlight watched them in the bushes.

"This is your first lesson today, Inlight, so watch and do as I say." Gray unicorn said to pegasi with white fur, who was by his side in the bushes. Close to them, a lone, one-eyed machine on thin legs passed by, patroling the area.

"See this machine over there?" Duskshine pointed a hoof at it. "Those are called Watchers. Guardians of the herds, and one of the weakest of the machines." Unicorn explained to the foal. "But don't let that fool you. Any machine can kill you, if you won't be careful enough." Inlight nodded after this statement, hearing every word his guardian said and looking at the Watcher, as he scanned the nearby area.

Dark-maned unicorn picked with aura a bunch of small rocks, and passed them to Inlight, silently placing them infront of him.

"Now listen carefuly, Inlight. I'll go forward, near the end of the bushes, and I want you to pick up those rocks and throw them near me. That way the machine will come closer so I would kill it." Duskshine said to the flame-maned pegasi as he began to crouch forward.

"But rocks can hurt machines, right?"

Elder pony turned his head to the foal, thinking with what he should reply next. After a long, awkward pause, he answered.

"...No... no, ofcourse not." He spoke and continiued his way. A moment passed, and Duskshine was in the position, near the edge of the bush, as the Watcher was looking elsewhere. Young pegasi understood what he needed to do, and picking up a medium-sized rock with his mouth, he threw the rock just near the Duskshine.

Just as the loud thud sound was heard, Watcher's head quickly turned back to the spot, turning it's blue lights radiating from it's eye into yellow, signaling that the machine is on the alert. It looked to the right, looked to the left, and looked back at the bushes, starting to move there. And when the machine stopped just near the bushes, Duskshine, with the spear in his aura, jumped out of it and pierced his weapon straight through Watcher's neck. It made a screeching sound for a moment, until it faded out, together with the yellow light of it's eye. When the machine fell and unicorn returned his spear back, he signaled Inlight to come.

Duskshine looked around, if there are any threats near them, but luckily the coast was clear for them, and unicorn with a foal came out of the bushes.

"Not bad. Now check the carcass for some salvage" Duskshine commanded, and Inlight did as he said, looting a part of the carcass. It wasn't easy, but flame-maned pegasi managed to get some things to his guardian, passing everything what he got to him by hooves. Bust Duskshine declined it, and instead took the arrow from his quiver and showed it to the foal.

"I need you to craft me some arrows based on this one," he flew his arrow to the nearby rock and landed it softly, as he picked some sticks for Inlight to craft from. "Combine metal shards from the machine and ridgewood to make some yourself." He told a foal.

Inlight first looked at the metal shards he collected, ridgewood Duskshine gave him, and an arrow he made. He felt an unease that he would do something wrong out of it or he would waste the materials. But gladly, he wasn't alone and Duskshine kneed down near him to comfort the foal.

"Don't worry that you'll fail on your first time, Inlight. Just make the one and I'll see if you made it good, okay?" Duskshine gently spoke, making Inlight feel better. Theese words could gave young pegasi a missing confidence, and he began to make his first arrow. It took a fair ammount of time, but in the end, he finished his arrow along with 8 others. Duskshine inspected each carefuly, each picked up with his green magic. After he placed the last arrow back, he spoke once again.

"Theese are decent arrows, good for firing." Duskshine told his young foal, which, objectively, made him really happy. He picked every arrow he had and put them into the small quiver he was carrying arround with him. And Duskshine couldn't hold his soft smile.

"Just don't get distracted. We still have rest of the heard nearb-" he was cut speaking as he and Inlight heard some noises coming out of the cliffs just above the heard. And just after that, climbing on the rocks, appeared a creature, who looked like a griffon, but had a long mane and tail of a pony, along with ears of one. She was with the light-blue feathers, beak yellow with brown stripe on it, mane of hers was pink with a yellow stripe, just as her tail. And in one talon, she was carrying some kind of object, with a rope which was tied up to her arm. She threw it upwards, and the endside of it was revealed, looking like a hook with wheels attached to it. It flew upwards untill it attached to some stones.

Inlight watched it with amazement in his eyes, while Duskshine was... well, unimpressed.

"What's that hippogriff is even trying to do...?" He asked nobody as he watched how hippogriff, without even opening her wings, sharply flew in the direction of the hook she attached to the rocks. It was no ordinary climbing gear, it was like pulling her where she threw it! She almost reached to the top where she could get there with her talon... until a sound of rope breaking was heard across the ravine, and she, screaming, began to fall.

She quickly opened her wings to atleast minimise the impact damage, but she caught up to the tree branches on the cliffs which tangled her up and made her fall once again. The land was near, and she again managed to open her wings to prevent her from breaking her bones or even more, and she succesfuly managed to land mostly unharmed.

"Ouch..." the only thing she managed to say before she was cut out by the sounds of Watchers coming to her location. She quickly hid behind a rock, hiding from the yellow sigh of the machines. Meanwhile, two outcasts watched from the distance at everything that happened.

"We should go help her!" Exclaimed Inlight, "If we won't help she would be killed by those machines!" Inlight started to move, but elder pony stopped him with his hoof.

"If you go there, you would be killed too. There's too many machines here," he spoke as he examined the territory, where a couple of watchers and herd of pony-like machines walked in the ravine. "And if I alert them, I'll be overrun, so as you. Inlight, we have no other choise but abandon her!"

But Inlight weren't listening to Duskshine, and instead focused on the machines who walked by. Looking at the machines, he got an interesting idea. He tapped under his right ear, where his Focus was, and when he activated it, he saw that machines were now covered with blue lines, together with arrows on the ground, they pointed to one direction, and then to another, almost as they were... machine's path routes! He could see where the machine could go!

"I can see where they go..." Inlight said for Duskshine to hear.

"Boy, are you crazy? You won't get past those machines."

"The Focus shows me where they go!" Young colt explained

"Stop playimg with this toy and let's go before they spot you!"

"I can't let her die, Duskshine!" Colt said before jumping down the small hill into the bush. Duskshine tried to stop him with his hoof, but only thing he managed to catch was Inlight's bow from his back. He was frustrated, but was forced to step back to avoid Watcher's detection, who was passing by. It saw nothing unusual, and continiued it's patrol. Moment later, Inlight emerged from the bush, and now was quietly moving towards fallen hippogriff.

Seeing the path of walking machines was an easy task, but it didn't change the fact that sneaking near them would be easy. He passed them once they were moving to other location, some of them noticed that something was moving, but they stopped looking after a couple of minutes. Meanwhile hippogriff, scared for her life, tried as hard as she could to stay quiet and to not make any loud noice again. Her invention failed, and lead her straight in the middle of the herd of machines, full of machines which could kill her instantly. Fresh tears started to form on her eyes, as she thought that her life would end here. Suddenly, she heard a calling noice, coming from a bush near her. She turned her head, and saw a young colt with mane colored in flames calling her to follow.

"W..who are you?" She whispered after wiping her tears out. She expected a machine to find her, not a foal out of nowhere! Inlight didn't spoke, but he did told her to stay quiet and follow him. Hippogriff, who was a little smaller than Duskshine, obeyed and followed young pegasi through bushes and tropes of machines, amazed by the knowledge of when a Watcher would pass them from a young colt. They passed machine after machine, until they passed the last one and gone far enough from the herd for them to speak normaly. Duskshine wasn't too far away, as he was watching both kids moving stealthy across the bushes and grass. And once they were safe, hippogriff broke the silence.

"Oh, thank you SO much for saving me! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be standing here!" She adressed young colt, who kept being quiet together with Duskshine. Female hippogriff didn't understand why they were quiet, but it was too late to thi-

"SLIVER REEF!" strong male voice was heard not far away, and later, 3 figures appeared: one stallion with golden fur and white mane, paired with blue eyes, a tall male hippogriff of cyan-gray body with brown beak and yellow mane and tail, and a changeling, full dark with purple eyes and shining purple wings.

"Oh sh-" exclaimed young hippogriff untill she was cut off by elder one.

"What were you THINKING when you ran away from home!? Your mother almost went mad when she found out you were gone!" Hippogriff shouted loud at the Sliver Tide, who was standing near him, heads down.

"And you even dare to speak to an OUTCASTS!? Do you even know what Matriarchs will say about this!?" Inlight wanted intervene to defent Sliver Reef, but his mouth was closed by gray hoof of the Duskshine.

"Seal your lips." He told a boy quietly. Hippogriff then took a look at both outcasts, who were standing behind young hippogriff, examining both of them.

"To speak with a hunter, who should not have returned..." He spoke as he was glaring at Duskshine, but then he looked at the colt behind him. "And this thing.. is motherless!" He announced to everyone and at the same time to no one, after which he turned back, and ordered pink-maned hippogriff to follow her, along with other two creatures. Sliver did tried to look at Inlight one last time, but she was quickly put in place by an elder.

Outcasts watched as the group was moving away from them, and when they gone far enough, Inlight finally broke the silence.

"Why..."

Duskshine looked at the foal near him, who continiued.

"Why am I an outcast?"

"Inlight, it is not the time..."

"Yes it is!" Young colt finally snapped and walked away from the gray unicorn. "That has something to do with my mother, right!?" After being called motherless just before your eyes, it was foolish for Duskshine to assume that Inlight won't question it, and after a minute, Duskshine answered.

"It's not for me or you to know, boy. Matriarchs gave you to me when you were only a newborn!"

"So Matriarch knows who was my mother?" That's it. There was no turning back, elder unicorn had to tell him.

"Maybe? Only they know and there is no way for you to find out!" But he had an idea. A dangerous one, but it should work. "Unless..."

"Unless what? Please tell me!"

"But that would be impossible..." Duskshine talked to himself while holding his chin with a hoof, as Inlight tried to get into his view. "It would take years of hard training, and with even that, who know will you make it..."

"What is it?" Flame-maned pegasi exclaimed as he tried to hear what stallion mumbled under his hoof. "How can I find out who was my mother!?"

"T-there is a way to find out, but that's impossible! No one ever tried this before! And it would take years if not decade of training-"

"I don't care!" Inlight told his guardian. Nothing can stop him from finding out about his mother, not even extencive training. "Just tell me what is it!"

"T-he Proving!" Duskshine shouted, not wishing to look at his adoptive son, keeping his head turned from him. "A ritual where young warriors of the tribe become Braves. But the one who will be the first gets a Boon." Elder stallion explained.

"A Boon?"

"Matriarch grants the wish of the one who gets it, anything he will want..." Inlight finally understood. If he could get the Boon on the Proving, he can not only rejoin the tribe, but find out his origins, maybe even who was his mother, and even why she aban- "But that would be near impossible. No child outcast ever participated in the Proving before, I'm not even sure if they'll let you in!"

"Then I'll try!" Duskshine was surprised from the confidence Inlight beared, and finally turned his head to him. "I will find out who she was, no matter what it would take!" He exclaimed proudly, and only thing unicorn could do is look

"Well then... that 'toy' of yours could help you with that." He pointed at Inlight's Focus he recovered earlier that day. After witnessing what that Focus of his could do, he was sure it would help him. Inlight was exited, and he quickly asked

"When would we start training?"

"Tomorrow." Duskshine answered, looking at the sun which started to set over the mountains to the west. "Now... we should go rest." He spoke as colt behind him followed. The training would be intence. But no matter what it would take, how much it will go on, there was seemingly nothing what could've stopped Inlight. But he was not alone, because there was Duskshine with him, and no matter where he will go, he will always follow.

The next day started simple. Pass through the obstacles and pass without using wings. It was hard for colt, but he continiued, day after day. In the light of the sun, Inlight practiced shooting with his bow, climb through the obstacles and use wings during the close combat. Duskshine teached him everything he knew, and not always Inlight succeded, but he always stood up and continiued to fight. He once almost fell from the platform, and Duskshine was quick to lend a hoof for help, but Inlight refused it, and picked up himself.

Swimming, shooting climbing, all while learning to use his new Focus, and history of the land. Duskshine still wasn't happy that young colt spent time with that 'toy' but he later accepted it as valuable tool. Some trainings were at day, but others at night. Under the light of the Mare on the Moon, they fought with spears in their mouths, like they were fighting for their lives. Inlight's shooting became better over time, so did swimming and climbing. But shooting at target practice and a living machine were different things, and when Inlight was almost killed by the attacking Watcher, the arrow passed through his body, taking it's life with it. Inlight looked, and saw his guardian who putted his bow back.

Over time, Inlight fought better. He could shoot right into the target, fight without remorse and use his wings to dodge incoming attacks. Climbing the platforms, he didn't fell like in the previous times, but succesfuly passed through all of them, and when it came for the long jump, Inlight, from the young colt he was all theese years ago,

Became a full grown stallion.

For over a decade he perfected his skills of hunting and survival, together with knowledge about his future-to-be tribe. No cliffs could falter him, no machine could stop him. When the machine attacked, he wasn't standing there like a scared colt he was long time ago, but quickly drawed a bow and pierced the arrow right through his heard, sliding under him and killing it instantly. He looked at the machine, then at the Duskshine, who couldn't even draw the bow before Inlight did. They both shared the look in the eyes, and elder stallion quietly nodded, which made Inlight smile.

He was ready.

Author's Note

Colt Inlight no more, and now to a grown up! But he has yet to pass his last challenge...

Anyway I just wanted to thank anyone who read it to the end, this chapter was tougher for me to make because of rewrites and, well, procrastination.

I just hope mods will allow this..