Umbral Storm

“And then Elders Raze-Bayn were like; ‘Oh, young ones, but if you spend too much time gallivanting the plains, you’ll have no time to become noble warriors!’. And then I said, ‘But if a great warrior can’t catch a bumblebee, then how can he fight an umbrum?’ And then Xyka was all like-”

“Nai.” I started simply with a voice of exhaustion and disinterest, “I don’t need the entire story.”

Xyka nudged him. “He’s telling you to shut up politely.”

…

“Oh…” Nai muttered sheepishly with a defeated tone, “Well anyway, that’s the gist of why momma never lets us climb trees anymore.”

“More like how you get us banned from having any fun,” Xyka complained with a roll of his eyes.

…

It had been a while of simply following the cliff line through the forest, and every step reminded me of how far we were. In the distance, the image of Ponyville only grew more and more distant as the cliff showed no signs of declining in any way that would allow us to descend with our injured companion.

It was irritating; it was… defeating.

Seeing the thing that could save you, but not being able to reach it no matter how hard I tried. It was like one of those bad dreams where you can never stand back up after tripping while running from the monster.

…

Nai-Xyka were resilient, much more so than me. They kept berating each other with brotherly mocking as I felt myself gradually fall deeper into my spiral of despair. I fell behind them on my steps, little by little. Each one of my breaths became more ragged by the second as the anxiety consumed me.

Eventually, my anxiety resulted in a lack of awareness as we passed through a section of the forest that was littered with bushes and trees with far-reaching limbs that felt like they could graze the stars at night if they tried. Where I tripped over a large root protruding from the ground. The rope unraveled from around my chest as I tumbled forward and down a small hill into a large puddle of water and mud. My chest heaving with exhaustion as I fought to pull myself out of the deep mud.

Nai turned around concernedly. “Are you okay?” They dropped the rope and ran down to my side to help me out, with much heaving.

As they used their wings to help pull me up, I couldn’t hold myself back as I groaned angrily. Pushing their wings away from me as I got to my feet and staggered away from them. There was an unfortunate bite to my words as I struggled with my emotions. “You’re pulling too fast.” I seethed through my teeth as I wiped the mud out of my face. “I can’t keep up!”

Nai whined a little, “Sorry…”

“We weren’t trying to. We’re just in a bit of a hurry.” Xyka said with an annoyed look. “I thought you’d feel the same way.”

I huffed angrily, “If you’re in that much of a hurry, you’ll end up having to pull me around too.”

They walked past me back to the sled and as they did, Xyka huffed loudly and exasperatedly at me, “Alright, I get it. We’ll try not to ruffle your feathers anymore, princess.” He mocked while rolling his eyes at me, “The least you could do is thank us for helping at all.”

“Xyka don’t!” Nai admonished angrily.

I felt my spine stiffen as red rage overtook my face with a growl. “Helping is the least you could do after alerting them to exactly where we were because you thought you had something to prove!” I yelled.

“Guys…” Nai tried to interject sadly.

Their tail whipped as Xyka turned back around on me with a loud growl, “We could just leave and you’d be stranded out here without help.” He approached and angrily poked my chest with his wing, “Then you and your deadweight friend could have fun with the umbrum all by yourselves!”

I took a few steps back and held a hoof out towards our surroundings as I glared at him with tears brimming my eyes, “Then why don’t you!? Nothing’s keeping you here! You have no reason to help me or care about what happens to either of us!”

“You’re right, I don’t!” He spat, “Only my ancestors know why they lead us here with you. A stuck up royal brat who hasn’t got a single idea how to fend for themselves! Me and my brother aren’t like your little servants back home!”

…

…

My head lowered as my expression darkened. “You’re right. My life is all sunshine, rainbows, and fairy tales, isn’t it?” I sneered while glancing back at the growing storm.

I looked back at him with a glare, “And maybe I am a brat… Kinda hard not to be when it feels like the entire universe has it out for you. But I’m just a dumb princess. What would I know?” I said angrily while brushing past him with my head down. “It’s not like I know anything about suffering and separation from family, and whatever else you two got going on. No, not at all!” I remarked quietly.

Xyka’s head retracted backwards in surprise as he began opening his mouth again, though my words seemed to trip him up on his thoughts. Surprisingly, Xyka actually called back after me, though he stumbled on his words, trying to sound brave again, “Y-Yeah. I’m glad you understand it from our perspective, then.” He gave an awkward attempt at a confident laugh afterward.

I found my way back to the cart and pulled the rope around my chest. “Whatever…” I mumbled just loud enough for him to hear.

…

Nai bumped into his brother’s head aggressively as Xyka recoiled downward. “Ow, what was that for?” He whispered harshly at Nai.

Nai seemed to take over, walking over and picking up their side of the rope again as he interjected his head between our arguments and tried to be the amicable middle-ground. “We’re all a little… stressed. Why don’t we calm down and find a place to take a brief rest?” He gave a small hopeful smile as he nearly cowered under both our expressions.

I simply turned my head away from them and sighed harshly. “We don’t have time for a rest.” I said shortly.

My point was only further proven by Flitter’s soft uncomfortable groan from behind us that she released immediately afterward. And once again, I was being spurred on as we continued to follow the cliff line. Trudging my soaking wet and muddy coat around only made things more awful. Though at least the cold water had stifled my growing wish for rest.

…

…

I mean, who did Xyka really think he was? So what if you were sent here by some flash of light from your mother? Why does he suddenly have to act like I’m the bad guy for asking them to slow down just a tiny bit?

It’s not like I was born with the power to change my path. Or defend myself. Or do anything expected- no, required of me by everyone else.

And that goes for Earth and Equestria.

I wasn’t born with fantastical powers. I wasn’t born with a loving family that accepted me unconditionally. And I certainly wasn’t letting some dumb light wyvern lecture me on treating others.

He talked like I’m the royal brat with no idea how the world works? Maybe he needs to look in a mirror!

…

…

“Are we going at a fine pace? You feeling okay still?” Nai suddenly asked me in a whisper.

I gave a surprised look up and nodded before turning my head away.

…

Why does Nai have to come in and be so friendly? It’d be so much easier to be angry and not feel guilty if they were just both insufferable to be around.

I shouldn’t feel guilty. Xyka started the insults by mocking me as a princess when he knows I consider myself a male. He did it specifically to make it sting even harder. He could’ve called me prince, or king, or any other royal moniker as a mocking tool. But nope!

So I shouldn’t feel guilty!

…

Why do I keep glancing in his direction? So what if they’re helping me? Protecting me? The only one I trust to protect me right now is Flitter and she’s…

Well, she’s…

…

The booming of looming thunder, and the wind picking up at an increasing pace, only accented my angry trudging through the forest.

It was inevitable with our situation. Eventually, the awful umbral storm caught up to us. Lightning thundered around the forest. As the creatures swirled overhead like an impossibly large void of darkness masking the sky with despair.

No words had to be said between any of us as we understood, and the wordless lighting of Nai’s orb that he’d used this morning was enough explanation needed of the danger we were in.

We were in the thick of it…

…

Immediately, the darkness descended around us, as haunting calls of laughter and whispers echoed in every inch of the forest. The trees to our right turning into a stampede of dark shadows and white eyes. And the edge of the cliff on our left looked as if you could fall endlessly and never reach the bottom.

It was absolutely haunting.

And I almost ended up falling behind with my steps once again as Nai-Xyka seemed to carry on with seemingly no visible reaction to their features. Other than the vaguely smug smirk I nearly detected on Nai’s face, as I could almost imagine him taunting them with extreme prejudice while he gazed up at his orb.

I decided that focusing on the orb was a much more interesting and less terrifying thing to focus on than our current surroundings.

Even as the constant whispers and beckoning from the surrounding umbrum became so incessant and pleading that it nearly gave me a headache. None of their voices would rise above the others, and I couldn’t understand what they were saying. No voice would rise above the others.

Eventually, one of their voices had made it through to me, as a dissonant call that felt off and wrong. “Come here!” I heard Sage’s voice say once again in the most creepy offputting way possible. The voice came from one side of us, then reappearing at another, never staying in one place.

“Come back, p-please?” It tripped over its own words like an odd cat yowling out awful sounds that made vaguely similar phonetics.

I looked up at Nai-Xyka and begrudgingly asked, “What… are they doing?” I asked warily.

Xyka huffed with slight amusement. “Isn’t it obvious? They’re mimicking voices.” He started before saying the last bit with a louder voice, clearly to mock them. “Unfortunately, they're a bit too stupid to realize that their mimicry is awful!”

I continued to look around in confusion as Sage’s voice gave way to mimics of Chaser, Heath, and just about every other one of their family members. “Those aren’t… my actual friends, right? They weren’t hurt, were they? I’m pretty sure they were just after me…”

Nai looked back at me and shook his head as he talked quietly, “They wouldn’t have been able to give chase if they had hurt them all, don’t worry. They likely didn’t mess with any of your actual friends, considering how fast they redirected onto us. They really are after just you.”

“Yeah…” I paused with unease. “Seems that way.”

…

That allowed an enormous weight to release from my chest, though. If Flitter’s family was truly all fine, then it just meant Flitter was the only one in danger. And I really needed to get her to safety more than ever. “Why do they mimic if they’re so bad at it?” I whispered back to Nai questioningly.

“Maybe they practice making it easier for themselves in the future?” Nai suggested with a small shrug of his shoulder.

“They do it to break you. Hearing family members is the number one thing that can break morale.” Xyka followed up with a steeled expression, his voice getting quiet and stiff as he continued. “The only way to turn you into one of them is by breaking you down. First, they take all of your remaining magic away, and then once they’ve broken down your spirit with whatever means they wish, they corrupt you. And then suddenly you’re an umbrum, without a single care or regard for your previous life. The luckier ones get to hold on to a semblance of their previous consciousness, and become imperators.”

Oh great, that meant I was only halfway to being a perfect candidate for an imperator. Along with being an alicorn. No wonder they were so ravenously chasing after me. They likely left Flitter’s entire family alone and confused in the wake of their destruction of the cornfields.

We kept going as every surrounding umbrum tried every single voice from Flitter’s family that they could to try to and slow me down and coax me in. Though it was exceptionally unsettling, I did eventually become numb to it. It helped to imagine the voices I was hearing as a parrot trying to mimic people. If that parrot was heard through a low resolution video that had been repeatedly compressed a couple hundred times.

Everything seemed to be going fine, given the circumstances. It was something I could mentally handle, and Flitter’s constant uncomfortable shifting kept me going with a clear minded goal.

…

“Nai-Xyka, come here, little one!”

…

A chill ran down my spine, and I nearly fell over as my companions stopped moving, which caused my rope to pull me back and choke me a bit. I looked up to them and their faces only spelled horror and they looked forward with newfound fear I hadn’t seen on them yet.

“Nai-Xyka, I’ll be home soon, alright little warrior?”

Nai tilted his head as his voice came out in a small whisper. “Dad?” He muttered sadly.

…

“Yes Nai! Daddy’s over here!” An unfamiliar male voice called, starkly different the the first male voice. It was probably the voice of both of their fathers.

The first voice was deep, rumbling, and gruff. But sounded so kind and loving at the same time. And unlike the voices from before, this one sounded real. I’d never met their father, but there were no hints of dissonance or stuttering.

That fact creeped me out even more. That there was something nearby that was mimicking their fathers perfectly.

Xyka’s disbelief turned to rage, as his face practically boiled red in hatred. He yelled at the top of his lungs, “Shut up! We know that’s not him!”

…

“Why, Xyka? Why don’t we all take a trip to the beaches as a family?”

“Who are you!?” Xyka once again screamed as his voice went hoarse, “And why do you have my father’s voice!?”

…

There was a long pause as every other umbrum’s voice dissipated the area, causing things to become deadly silent.

…

“I just want to see you again, my hatchling.” The lighter male voice called in a hurt and sad tone.

“Our dad is gone!” Xyka screamed with rage as he dropped the rope. Immediately he ran forward, causing Nai to drop the orb next to me in a panic to give me and Flitter a semblance of protection.

They bounded forward into the forest as Xyka was shooting off light beam after light beam at everything that moved. The umbrum began to cackle and laugh together in a cacophony like a pack of hyenas as they swirled around them in a predatory circle.

I could only watch from my spot next to the orb with fear and anxiety in my chest.

“Stop… Using… His… Voice!” Xyka demanded between his large blasts coming from his maw.

“Brother, stop wasting all of your light!” Nai pleaded down at his feral expression’d brother. He glared at the surrounding shadows with disdain. “It’s not worth it.”

Xyka's head whipped on his brother. “It was there! Nai! Whoever has his voice was there! Are you stupid!? Don’t you care!?” He yelled angrily.

…

Nai’s hurt expression caused Xyka to pause in his rampage. As he opened his mouth in shock at his own words, “N-Nai… I…”

The voice was actually of their fathers. And… their father was dead? So had an umbrum been around to witness their father’s death to mimic his voice? The whole idea sent chilling blood through my veins.

I saw one of the umbrum creeping up on their backs in the middle of their stupor.

I opened my voice to call out, but realized I didn’t have the words or time to do so.

So I did the next best thing, and without thinking, I ran. I forced the miniscule amount of energy I had into my legs as adrenaline took over and I bolted into the forest after them in panic.

The shadow loomed just within their blind spot as it reached for them.

“Watch out!” I called as I lunged forward, slamming my body into the two wyverns and pulling them to the ground with me. They came to their senses immediately as Xyka turned and blasted the shadow lurking after us while heaving breaths overtook him.

The voice of his father hauntingly crept in from right next to all of us. “Your days are numbered, cursed little whelp.”

Nai-Xyka immediately whipped around toward the voice with another light blast, but the shadow merely drifted away from us with a loud and feminine chuckle. Nai whispered a few things in his brother’s ears as his defeated head hung low. And slowly, they stood up as Nai made his orb pulse with an even larger light that even reached up towards us while we made our way back to the cart with Flitter.

We were all heavy breathing, with the two brothers sitting with haunted expressions and fear in their eyes. I looked back out into the darkness, just waiting to hear the odd feminine unfamiliar voice again, but I didn’t I turned back around with a million questions, “Who… what was that?” I panted out.

Xyka’s head stayed steady, looking firmly at the ground. As Nai slowly looked up at me with the saddest expression I’d seen on him since I met him, “We’re going to find a place to rest, if that’s alright with you.”

I couldn’t bring myself to refute him, as I simply nodded and shortly whispered, “Lead the way.”

The forest was surprisingly rather quiet after that. They weren’t trying to mimic the voice of anyone I knew, nor did they try to mimic his father.

They just followed, silently. Like a vulture hovering above its nearly dead prey, just waiting to swoop in after our last moments.

It was almost more nerve-wracking than the mimicry…

Eventually, Nai spotted a cave sitting precariously next to a small river and next to a waterfall. Even though our track record with caves so far had been… less than adequate… This one had a super small entrance that we only just barely pushed Flitter’s sled through.

Once we entered, Nai dropped his orb at the entrance and reduced it in size. I assume to save his magic. Almost immediately afterward, Xyka took control of their body and they disappeared into the back shadows of the rather small cave.

Though I was skeptical if the small orb at the entrance could keep them all out, I trusted it regardless. Pulling Flitter slightly farther in to get away from the whispers and prying eyes of the lurking umbrum outside.

When I was satisfied with our distance from the opening, I practically fell to the ground in exhaustion. If ponies could have blisters on the bottom of their feet, I’m sure I would have had plenty. The feeling of soreness radiated from my entire body, the aching of my magic-less limbs hardly mattered anymore. Even breathing was painful.

But I still pushed myself across the ground and around the front so I could check on Flitter. When I got to her side, she was still sleeping in a cold sweat. One hoof against her forehead immediately confirmed that she had some sort of fever, a bad one at that.

Closing my eyes, I sighed deeply as I felt well and truly helpless. I didn’t know how exactly I expected to get us all down and away to safety. I was in over my head. At first I’d thought that Nai-Xyka were these all powerful convenient allies that would lead me and Flitter through this storm, but after what happened with the voice…

Their father’s voice…

I didn’t want to assume too much, but I could certainly catch the pain in Xyka’s voice as he said he was gone. Which was enough to make me feel a deep pang of guilt over everything.

I think they were in over their heads just as much as me… And yet they had stayed with me and put on brave faces while I denounced them mentally and tried to stay reclusive.

I gazed at them in the back of the cave. Nai was clearly whispering to Xyka comfortingly as he rested his head over his depressed brother’s head. The sight was rather sad and made me appreciate Nai’s kindness to me all the more. He had to be feeling just as distraught by the voice as well.

And yet Nai had still tried earlier to be nice to me, even though I hadn’t been able to do anything except to suggest that their lives were better than mine…

I sighed and turned away and watched as Flitter struggled through another bout of uncomforted slumber. I quickly had an idea and looked between the sled and the entrance of the cave a few times. And with a nod, I leaned forward and ripped a portion of the flag’s cloth off.

Then I carefully made my way to the entrance, and through the hundreds of soulless and waiting eyes, I walked just barely to the outer ridge of Nai’s light and soaked the cloth in the waterfall’s cold water.

I turned from the eyes with an angry swish of my tail, hurriedly rushing over to Flitter and laying the bundled cloth against her forehead. Almost immediately, an expression of mild relief washed over her face as her breaths became slightly less ragged.

I couldn’t help but lay myself against her side as a few tears made their way down my face. “You were supposed to be the one taking me home, not the other way around.” I said in depressed amusement, almost as if I was hoping she’d release a small chuckle in response. But when she didn’t, I buried my face in her shoulder, “What am I supposed to do, Flitter?”

The lack of response only caused me to continue to cry in response, “I’m weak, and… and I don’t know if I can do it. I already feel like giving up.” I admitted both to her and myself at the same time.

“But I can’t, because of you.” I muttered sadly, “Because you wouldn’t just let me lay there and waste away.”

…

…

“Please, say something, Flitter…”

My head fell dejectedly as I felt a few sobs wrack my body.

Who was I kidding? I was still that same weak kid that I’d always been. Who was I to think I could deal with this in her stead? I was weak, and that was all I was ever going to be…

…

Which is why I need to rely on others… Is it really such a bad thing to be weak?

I slowly held my weak, tired, and exhausted head up to gaze back into the depths of the cave and Nai-Xyka. I gave myself one more inward sigh of sadness and acceptance as I closed my eyes momentarily. Then I got back onto my hooves and slowly approached them.

As I shuffled closer, I felt more and more anxiety. The last thing I wanted was for Xyka to explode with rage on me. But I had to do something about all of this. Because after all, I was partially to blame for the umbrum problem…

As I got closer, it became apparent that Xyka was… crying.

My heart sank as I stopped a few feet from them, unsure of what to say. “U-Uhm…” I shuffled my front hooves awkwardly as I sat down as Xyka’s crying audibly halted. “I’m… listen, Nai, Xyka… I-”

“We’ll get back to traveling soon.” Xyka replied coldly, with a monotone voice devoid of emotion.

I sighed loudly, “No, no, I… I came over to tell you that… I’m sorry.” I said while shying my eyes away.

Xyka stayed silent, but Nai turned his head and gave me a curious look of sympathy as I continued. “I would be… completely done for without you two… And I don’t want to let that fact go unappreciated. So… thank you.”

There was a long bout of silence, as Nai smiled, but continued to look at his brother for any signs of life. The silence between us expanded, and with another brief sigh, I started turning my body away to leave them be. Of course, I couldn’t just fix things with a couple of words. And yet… I heard shuffling behind me and spun back to see Xyka pushing their body up from the floor. Even Nai seemed surprised.

“No… You shouldn’t be sorry.” Xyka said with a hoarse voice that raised barely above a whisper.

Tilting my head at him, he turned to look at me with only one eye, which was obscured by the darkness, yet I could still see the sorrow in it. “I tried to show off and got us in trouble. I insulted you for being injured, called you a brat princess and I… I couldn’t even follow my own advice of not letting their voices get to me.”

He huffed at his own words as his head hung lower. “I’m really just pathetic.”

…

It was at that moment that I could instantly see myself in Xyka, and it was truly eye opening.

And not just one or two pieces of myself, I almost felt like I was looking directly in a mirror.

I couldn’t even immediately realize how ironic it was at that moment. But I was staring straight at myself. A wyvern, yet all the same, he had a lot of the same issues going on as me. Both of them did. But… Xyka had power, and yet it wasn’t a sudden fix for all his problems. It didn’t make him feel better about himself or the situation.

He still felt worthless.

And what about Nai? Was his air of happiness and friendliness just a mask to hide his true feelings of self-resentment?

That was something else I could sympathize with. I had done it for far too long back on earth.

…

Before I could even say anything, Xyka had continued with a hint of anger in his tone. “What happened earlier, it… It just…” He growled under his breath, “It just isn’t right.”

Nai waited to see if he would continue, and when he didn’t, he explained the situation to me. “That was our father’s voice that the umbrum was mimicking before he… turned. Our actual father is an imperator now.” Nai said with an enormous sigh as his voice wavered.

My jaw dropped, and my eyes widened. “W-What?” So their father wasn’t dead, just an umbrum? Well, I could see how they would consider him dead at that point. He’s probably a completely different being now.

Nai nodded. “They were… our hero. The greatest wyvern we’ve ever known.” The melancholy smile on his face turned downcast, “They still thought that the umbrum could be reasoned with, they didn’t know how low they’d go to prove a point…” Nai began to choke up on his words as I sat there feeling helpless to comfort them.

Xyka took over with a voice of rage and hatred. “They agreed to meet with them. They ambushed them. They imprisoned them. And then… then they turned them! Into a filthy umbrum!” He yelled as his clawed wing scraped against the ground heavily, “I hate umbrum!” Xyka seethed through his teeth.

I sat in silence as I let the story play out in my mind, the whole idea making me feel sick. Nai, after a long bout of silence, spoke up, “We don’t know who they are, or why they know what our fathers voices sounded like. But they shouldn’t be able to, not unless they can read our memories, or have been able to hear their voices in the past.”

“So it’s not your… actual father..? As an imperator chasing us?” I asked carefully.

Nai shook his head, “Doubtful. When our father became one of them, he became intensely violent. That umbrum out there… was playing with us, mocking, like they caught us right in their spider web.” Nai’s wing traced aimless lines on the dirty cave floor. “It’s not him.”

Xyka sigh deeply, “so it might’ve been an imperator… I mean, really, how often do all the other umbrum go completely silent as they allow one of them to mimic with perfect accuracy? It’s all so unnerving.”

“We’ve never dealt with something like this,” Xyka remarked sadly. “How are we supposed to know what to do?” He questioned towards the wall he was glaring daggers at as his head fell.

…

He was just like me…

I shook my head and stood, taking a few steps forward until I was right in front of them, “Hey, Xyka… You’re not pathetic like you said earlier… Both of you saved me and Flitter, you helped me find a way to carry her with us, and you even tried to help me with my magic… sorta.”

Nai let loose a small smile at that. But Xyka kept his head low and looked at me through one eye. “Why are you trying to cheer us up?”

I sighed and gave a quick shrug. “Because it’s what Flitter showed me how to do. I’m sorta bad at it honestly…” I rubbed one hoof over the other, “But I figured it was the least I could do after snapping at you like I did before.”

Nai hummed and shook his head. “Well, let's not forget that my brother entirely provoked you with his own words while you were down.” He admonished with a raised brow towards his brother.

Xyka’s face went red as he shied his head further away. “Yeah, we’re fine now. I-I… wasn’t being the best either… I’d say we’re even.”

I sighed, “I don’t want to be even. I want us all to trust each other. We’re stuck in this together.” I said with a downcast look.

Nai tilted his head and looked at me sympathetically. “The way you spoke before… It sounded like you knew how we felt? Unless I… misunderstood…”

“No, you didn’t, actually.” I reassured as I brushed my hair away from my face with a hoof and uttered a sigh as the silence continued to take over. I thought about whether it was worth saying all of this, but quickly made my decision and spoke as much from the heart as possible. “When I died in my world, I was abandoned by the only person I’d ever trusted in my entire life.”

Both of them looked at me with curious expressions.

I gave a small huff of a laugh as my eyes gazed at the ground. “He was my brother. He found me one day. I was just a small little skeleton of a kid… He found me under a box that I’d found after running away from an orphanage. I’d been there for a week. I didn’t know what food or warmth was…”

“Then he took me with him… He didn’t reply when I asked why, just guided me by hand to where he’d been staying. A completely different home for orphans on the other side of town.”

I shook my head. “I remember thinking, ‘this is it!’ that I was finally going to feel like I belonged somewhere. For a couple of years, I tricked my mind into believing that it was true.”

Nai reached a wing out and laid it on my hoof. I smiled appreciatively at him, “Then one day, my brother got in trouble… I took a very, very damaging blow for him. And while I was on the ground dying, he just… he left me.” Nai-Xyka’s eyes widened.

“I remember being livid, thinking ‘is this a joke?’ In my dying breaths, I was cursing the universe, the world, for letting something so cruel happen to somebody who didn’t deserve it. I remember, even after death, I could still feel my feelings of hatred toward everything and everyone. They only got worse and worse until I eventually found myself here in Equestria…”

Both of them were now staring at me in a mix of shock and sympathy.

I sighed again. “The rest isn’t important to you. And I know that it’s not quite the same as your fathers being taken from you by an umbrum…” I stopped to gather my thoughts a bit more. “But I know how it feels when someone you trusted and thought of as a hero is suddenly taken from you. How betrayed by the world you feel, how awful that sinking feeling in your gut is when you think of them. Every single time.”

Nai leaned them forward a bit to pull his wing around me, “It really really hurts, doesn’t it?” Nai muttered sadly, with tears in his eyes.

I hadn’t expected the sudden hug, but coming from Nai, maybe I should have. Slowly, I reciprocated with a hoof. “Yeah, it’s… rough, but we pull through it.”

…

Xyka mumbled something to himself before sighing before raising his head to meet mine reluctantly as he still acted shy and with a slightly red face, “Our story is bad but… You got left with nothing.” He lifted his wing and rubbed the back of his head with a great sigh, “I… Kieran, I’m sorry too. Please forgive me.” He said sadly, with a voice of sincerity.

I smiled up at him. “For sure!” I laughed mildly. “I wasn’t trying to guilt trip you into apologizing, Xyka. I just felt like you deserved to know.”

His face went bright red again. “I knew that! I just…” A small smirk raised on his face as he finally met my eyes, “I guess we all just feel a little worthless around here.”

Nai glared at his brother. But I couldn’t help but release a small laugh and a nod. “We really just have so much in common, don’t we?” I said jokingly.

Xyka’s smile raised even higher. “Hooray for being left behind.”

Nai rolled his eyes slightly with a giggle. “If it’s any consolation… our problem happened a couple years ago.” He sniffed me again like he could smell the past or something. “Your wound is still fresh, is it not?”

I waved it off with my free hoof. “It’s not a competition anyhow.”

Xyka finally sighed, pulling his wing up and around my body suddenly, and causing my eyes to widen as I was now cocooned between their wings. I really didn’t expect Xyka to warm up to me at all, let alone this quickly.

“I’m sorry again Kieran…” Xyka admitted, “Calling you princess and calling Flitter dead weight and all that…” He had an embarrassed face of shame.

I smiled widely at him, “No harm done… I forgive you, Xyka.”

He was giving me a friendly, sincere smile back. “I’m really glad now that the soul of an ancestor brought us to you,” Xyka said with a nod.

Nai nuzzled his head against me as Xyka continued to look down at me with a smirk, his wing reaching up and ruffling my hair as I shied away with a small laugh.

I took a deep breath and relaxed against their soft scales and accepted the embrace. “I don’t really have any grand wise advice about our situation… And I also still don’t know how we’re getting out of this… But I just thought it would be nice if we got to know each other before things go bad. ”

They released me from the hug and fell back onto their haunches as Nai nodded happily, “Agreed!”

Xyka’s head raised proudly, “Of course. Let’s start over.”

“Well…” I began with a small smirk, “My name’s Kieran.”

Nai pulled one of my hooves up with his wing and shook it excitedly. “I’m Nai!”

Xyka took my other hoof in his wing. “And I’m Xyka.”

“It’s nice to meet you both.” I said with a large smile. They nodded largely with welcoming smiles.

…

My head tilted. “What did you mean when you said ‘the soul brought us to you’ a second ago?” I asked.

Nai’s eyes gleamed with sudden excitement. “Oh, oh! Our people believe in souls, or spirits, like yours! After all, that’s why you’re here in Equestria as well, isn’t it? Spirits, or souls, are our ancestors. Sometimes they linger around and they guide us.”

I eyed him with curiosity as he continued, “When we got transported to that desert, we really had no clue where we were or what to do. We were just sort of wandering aimlessly and sleeping in small caves. And then one night, this little blue spirit looking thing floats up to us, one like we’d never seen before.” Nai began gesturing with his wing in a performative way. My eyes widened as I looked up at him with full attention.

Xyka nodded and took over. “Not only did that spirit lead us up into the forests, but into the path of that umbral storm. And then not long after, it zipped away and brought you to us. Pretty lucky, eh?”

Nai couldn’t help but look at me cheerfully. “I don’t think I need to tell you it couldn’t have possibly been a coincidence! We were guided there to help you and Flitter for a reason or another.”

“Yep.” Xyka confirmed his words with a large nod as his wing folded against his chest, “To disrespect the wishes of what we perceive to be a spirit in our lands is a great dishonor. So if you’re wondering why we so eagerly helped you at first… uh… that would be why.”

Nai chirped, “But now we will help you no matter what, so don’t worry, friend!”

“That’s really nice of you.” I said with a smile, wondering just what that spirit that guided both of us could’ve been.

I suspected that there was more to it than simply being an ancestor spirit from Nai-Xyka’s homeland. Since it wouldn’t make too much sense for one of them to be here. But what could it have been? I had no clue.

Xyka smirked at the look on my face. “Look, I think all of this is weird, too. But we’d be a bit stupid to back off and abandon you two now, right? The least we could do is see where all this ends. Which includes helping you escape those dusty old heartless kj-.”

Nai pulled his wing over Xyka’s face before he could finish his word. “Language…” He admonished with a growl as he warned his brother.

Xyka just rolled his eyes as he pulled Nai’s wing off him. “Either way, I’ve got your back.”

Nai smiled brightly at his brother, then looked at me again, “Exactly! We’re in this together now! You’re our friend!”

I felt Nai’s wing wrap around me again and I couldn’t help but laugh a bit as he pulled me towards him and laid his head on mine. Xyka seemed a bit surprised by the sudden second hug, but he slowly pulled around me with his own wing and looked in the opposite direction with a bright red face.

I allowed Nai his brief hug before I backed off. “Okay, okay… Now you’re just getting mud all over yourself.” I said while gesturing to my mud covered fur.

I heard another moan of discomfort from Flitter and quickly rushed back over. There wasn’t any other way to help her, so I checked her damp cloth, realizing it had already burned up all the cold water. I quickly grabbed it and rushed towards the entrance and the waterfall again. All the while, Nai-Xyka watched me with curiosity.

As I got back and laid it across Flitter’s head, she released another contented sigh as my body relaxed a bit.

Nai looked up at Xyka with his eyes dazzling. “That’s how we can fix our brain burn!”

Xyka batted the back of Nai’s head with his wing. “That’s not how it works.”

“Oh.”

Nai-Xyka wandered to the entrance and sat. Following right behind to join them at the entrance, laying my whole body down with a groan of pain, I couldn’t help but look out uneasily in the forest.

“They must be hiding or something…” I said quietly, regarding our stalkers.

“Yeah… They’re out there still, I assure you.” Xyka said with a sigh.

…

Another crackle of lightning and a boom of thunder reminded me of the storm overhead, and I looked curiously up at the two. “I didn’t think an umbral storm was an actual… storm.” I said with mild amusement.

Nai hummed, “That’s because umbrum can only move during the day by using a storm. The storm clouds are just dark enough for them to hide in their shadows.”

My eyes gravitated towards the little ball of light that had managed holding back the entire umbral storm while we sat in the cave. It glowed and pulsated with a warm, golden gleam.

“Say… Nai… what is this orb, anyway?”

He looked down and tilted his head before his ears perked up. “Oh! That’s my light! I accidentally figured out how to make it when I was young and scared of going to sleep in the dark. Even though the temple was lit up outside and they couldn’t possibly get in our room.”

“It was annoying,” Xyka muttered with a roll of his eyes.

“Is not! Momma says it’s a very special magic technique! Every wyvern develops a special technique that they master throughout their life! My specialty in the future could be a royal escort for nobles or-”

“Or a lamppost.” Xyka said with a smirk. Nai looked up with exhaustion at his brother, who only snickered.

I smiled at Nai as I spoke genuinely. “I think it’s a really cool special power. Especially since you made it all on your own.”

Nai’s face brightened at the praise as he blushed, “Thank you.”

I looked up at Xyka, “If his power is so dumb, then what’s yours?” I accused Xyka with a grin.

He smirked. “Only the coolest, most useful magic technique ever.”

…

“It’s our little magic space where we store things.” Nai said, opening it and pulling another apple out of the confusingly large subspace.

I couldn’t help but release a small laugh as Xyka withered in embarrassment. I held a hoof over my mouth to stifle my laugh, “I thought that was Nai’s power as well. Xyka’s always shooting light beams everywhere.”

Nai smirked as he finally had the upper claw on his brother in a situation. “He’s so embarrassed by it he lets people think it’s also my power. He’s convinced that he has another one that he’ll develop one day.” Nai hummed and giggled with a mischievous grin, “Even I can shoot light beams brother~” He taunted Xyka who was looking away from us with a bright red face.

“Mine are more powerful.” Xyka huffed angrily with a quiet voice.

“Whatever you say, brother.” Nai laughed loudly.

Now that was some irony I didn’t see coming. Nai had the more combative special power out of the two, while Xyka had the more supportive ability.

Even though the two acted in the complete opposite way.

I couldn’t help but begin laughing loudly with Nai.

“Ha…Ha.” Xyka mocked us as his head swayed back and forth. “At least we have a special power.”

Nai looked at him in complete shock and admonishment, expecting me to take it the wrong way.

But all I did was begin bursting out in laughter once again, as I rolled onto my back and held my stomach.

“If I ever get my own body to learn how to do magic, or a cooler power than yours, I’ll never let you hear the end of it, Xyka.” I said out loud. “You deserve it for that little comment just now!” I warned him.

He smirked and craned his neck over my body as I looked up at him. “If that happens, I deserve it and give you full permission.” He said with a dejected blush.

Eventually he shook his head and tried to change subjects off of his own powers. “What sort of power do you want?” He asked me while laying down, resting his head over his wing and gazing at me intently.

I rolled onto my stomach, “Uh… I don’t know. I’m sorta over the whole giant magic beam of energy thing… I’ve had too much of an issue with it before.” A deep shudder wracked through my body. “Maybe something simple, fun, and less destructive, like the power of… no friction or something.”

“The world would just be a slip and slide!” Nai said with a giggle. “And you’d never be able to slow down.” He giggled even more at the idea as he covered his face with his wing.

Xyka huffed with a small laugh. “Plus, don’t ponies get to learn all kinds of magic? And if you’re an alicorn, don’t you get to rule over something like the sun or moon?”

“All the questions I’ve asked myself a million times.” I muttered with a sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just fine with being a pegasus. I think flying would be cool.”

“Oh, you’d love it!” Nai chirped excitedly. “Momma always takes us on these flights between temples and-”

I listened to Nai tell me stories about flying for a while, with my complete attention focused on him. But eventually his voice drowned out amongst the silence and an uneasy feeling grew in the middle of my chest. And I suddenly felt like I was being watched.

…

“Little one…”

I heard a faint whisper in the darkness that made my ear twitch. My head swiveling in the direction instinctively as Nai-Xyka were left wondering what my sudden shift in expression meant.

“Little one~...”

The faint whisper wasn’t a voice I knew. But it carried a certain tone and hum that absolutely demanded my attention. Making my vision tunneled as I gazed curiously into the darkness of the forest outside.

My head hurt, especially my horn, as I slightly groaned in pain. But no matter what I was feeling, I couldn’t take my eyes off the darkness.

“What’s wrong?”

“We wish not to hurt you, child. Come out, we very much wish to meet you.”

The voice was so alluring, like a beautifully hummed and vocalized tune you’d hear fluttering about a town square, yet no matter how much you search around, you can’t find the source.

My head tilted in intrigue as I lifted my hoof, placing it just slightly outside the bounds of the cave.

“Hey.”

…

“Hey, snap out of it!”

I felt my body suddenly violently shake as I found Xyka’s wing tightly blocking my path as he pulled me back farther in.

Once they did, I gave them both a surprised look, my eyes widening as I shook the sudden feeling of disorientation from my head, and I looked up.

“Are you okay?” Nai asked first.

I nodded shortly, “I… heard a voice. In the forest.” I felt my mind blank as I struggled to describe the feelings I just went through. “It sounded… nice. I couldn’t stop listening to it…”

Xyka put his clawed wing under my chin, “No, bad pony! Don’t listen to the voices.” To emphasize his point, he began violently shaking my maw back and forth, making my head spin as he disoriented me. “No listening to shadow creatures.”

He only stopped because Nai pulled his wing away from me. “He’s right. Whatever they were saying isn’t real. Don’t let them get to you.”

Xyka offered out his wing to help me stand, and I obliged, pulling myself up onto my hooves. He then led me to the entrance of the cave where he gazed out on the forest with his chest puffed and that overly full-of-himself pride. “Were you trying to lure my friend out so you could take him!? Well ha! Try again you useless good-for-nothing ghouls!” Xyka yelled childishly into the dark.

Nai smirked and giggled, “Yeah! He’s under our protection! Just try to trick him you… you… rude shadows!”

I think Nai knew he’d failed the insults as he looked at me and Xyka’s deadpan faces with a sheepish grin.

Xyka rolled his eyes as he whispered while holding his wing up to block the view, “Leave it to me, Nai. I’ve got this.”

Xyka cleared his throat as he puffed his chest back out, “You really thought we’d fall for such petty tricks as-” He looked over at me suddenly and whispered, “-wait, what did you hear them say?”

“They said they didn’t want to hurt me.” I whispered back.

He nodded shortly and glared back outwards, “The good old ‘we won’t hurt you’ trick! Oldest one in the book! Man, you guys really are stupid, haha!” Xyka mocked.

“If you really want us so bad, then you can come kiss it!” He turned his back towards the outside and shook their rump mockingly as Nai sighed and buried his face in his wing.

I couldn’t help but bury my muzzle in my hoof as I stifled my laugh as best I could. Especially as Xyka kept looking back and smirking with his mischievous grin.

When Xyka was finally done, he walked forward, back into the cave with a strut of pride.

Though I doubt the creatures of pure resentment and hatred really cared about his petty act, I guess it couldn’t hurt if it made him feel better.

“Is provoking them such a great idea?” I wondered aloud.

Xyka huffed, “It is when it’s so fun.”

I slowly made my way back into the cave where Flitter was. “I think it’s time we move again. You certainly seem lively enough to continue.” I said with a smirk.

Nai-Xyka quickly rushed over and picked up their side of the rope as I did the same. Taking our first agonizing steps towards the outside.

At least now I was traveling with two friends, instead of begrudging bodyguards.

Maybe this wouldn’t go so badly after all.

There really had been some sort of unnerving and significant mood shift in the way the umbrum acted. Overhead, the storm clouds continued to follow, but the overwhelming presence of the umbrum from before had all but disappeared from around us.

I’d be lying to admit it wasn’t peaceful.

Nai was even telling me stories about their elders from their childhood. And I listened with full interest, as it was a pleasant distraction from the aching in my bones and the futile feeling of our journey.

Turns out that wyvern society was rather interesting. By his description, it was rather the same as Equestrian land, though they had a king ruling their people at present, and most of them lived in these fortified and brightly lit stone monoliths they called temples.

Nai and Xyka were both quick to answer any question I had as they told me about how their people handled their umbrum problem. With the way they were describing it, the umbrum sounded more like a pest that just wouldn’t die for good rather than a consistent threat.

But then there was the story of what had happened that caused them to be transported…

Apparently, a single guard one night forgot to close the door to one of their storage rooms. Which allowed an imperator to rush through and extinguish all of their lights in the lower levels. And the umbrum swiftly took advantage of the sudden disaster. Basically causing mass panic and hysteria amongst the wyverns.

They stopped relaying the story when it got to them being trapped in a room with their mothers right before they got transported here. But I understood wholeheartedly.

“So… what are ponies like?” Xyka asked, “What have you noticed from being here for such a short time?”

“Ponies are incredibly, overbearingly, nonsensically, the kindest people… err… beings that I’ve met.” I said with amusement.

“Princess Cadance especially,” I quickly sighed. “I’m still not even sure if I believe everything nice she has told me. That’s how nice she is.”

“What sorta nice things?” Xyka asked.

“Oh, nothing really,” I said with a short, sheepish laugh. “Just her and Prince Shining Armor adopting me for a day or two. Nothing big at all.”

…

“Wow. Really?” Xyka remarked genuinely with a hum.

“Mhm…” I mumbled, “But I have a hard time trusting people and some other things happened and I… ran away.”

Nai sat in silence for a minute before he tilted his head. “Well, did she say it from the heart?”

“I hope so… How would I know the difference?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

Xyka pursed his lips. “When others lie, they make it very obvious with body language, facial expressions… When they speak from the heart, there’s just a specific warmth and sincerity that accompanies their words.”

I thought back on a lot of things Cadance had told me in our time together. And I thought of the things that the two wyverns had told me in the cave and smiled, “I think I know what that feels like then.”

“She’s also the alicorn of love.” I admitted.

…

…

I looked back at my companions as they’d stopped moving. And both were giving me the most deadpan look of ‘really?’ that they could muster.

Xyka just raised a brow. “You’re dumb.”

I almost choked on my breath, “Y-Yeah… maybe…”

Nai looked disapprovingly at his brother's insult as they started moving with me again. “Maybe all you need to do is talk to her again. If she really didn’t care, she’d probably give up by now.”

I sighed, “Thanks… I think you’re right Nai.”

“But you’re still dumb.” Nai chirped with a giggle.

“Yep!” I remarked back.

The missing presence of the bulk of the storm, and the umbrum themselves, was making me very nervous, yet hopeful. Maybe they had given up on us, considering I had great protection? Or maybe they were waiting for us to screw something up. Something akin to leaving a door open, like in Nai-Xyka’s story.

Regardless, the sun was slowly beginning to set now as it crested the horizon. I gazed out over the cliff and into the distance at the retreating light, with a pit forming in my stomach.

Suddenly, the brothers bumped into me, causing me to stumble with a small huff of laughter. Xyka looked down at me with a raised brow and a mischievous smirk. “You don’t need that ancient old thing in the sky, anyway. You’ve got us!” He remarked boisterously.

Nai nodded and looked up at his brother eagerly, then back to me, “We can be your light!” He said eagerly. “Wait! Xyka! We can-”

Nai stopped himself from finishing, and there was a small gap of silence as the two brothers seemed to realize something together, and they both looked at each other silently before looking back at me in intrigue, much to my confusion as I tilted my head.

Suddenly, they stepped forward.

“I’ll be your radiant shine!” Nai Chirped.

“And I’ll be your lustrous light.” Xyka accompanied him.

Then they both spoke unanimously, “And no evil shall descend tonight, or a hundred more.”

They ended the saying with a stream of giggles between each other.

I smiled as they both laughed like they’d just told the best joke, “Okay, what’s all that mean?”

Nai chirped excitedly. “It’s an ancient oath of protection! I think…”

Xyka nodded, “To our people, to fail an oath, there is no greater shame.”

My eyes widened, and I waved my hooves wildly in panic, “Wh-Why would you promise something that important to me?”

Xyka waved his wing dismissively. “Because you’re our friend! And it doesn’t matter. Our fathers used to always make that same promise to our mommas multiple times a day.”

I tilted my head slightly with an unsure expression. I don’t want bad things to happen to the two of them if something happened to me. It just seems unfair…

I didn’t have time to dwell on that though as Nai placed his claw on my left hoof comfortingly, the one that was bandaged. “We’ll be fine.” He said with a reassuring smile in front of my face.

…

Suddenly, a golden, blinding glow erupted between the two of us. I immediately turned my head away to cover my eyes in sudden confusion. I felt an intense searing feeling of pain in my left hoof that immediately made me release a yelp.

The light lasted for a very long time. All the while, my injured hoof felt like it was being burned from the inside out with the intensity comparable to sticking your hoof above a campfire. It was uncomfortable, and far too hot.

Eventually the pain gave way, and I felt a great sense of relief as the warmth turned comforting, making my hoof feel better than it had for a long time now.

As the blinding light died down, I turned my head back to see that Nai-Xyka had been caught off guard by the glow just as much as me. Xyka immediately came closer as he got worried, “Uh oh… Nai, what did you do? You hurt him!” He admonished.

Eventually, all our eyes ended up on my once injured hoof. The bandage covering my entire leg had reduced to ashes as it practically disintegrated off my arm. As I shook the ashes off, and two things became very apparent.

My injury had healed completely, leaving no trace of a scar.

And there was now some sort of glowing yellow symbol engraved into my leg just above my hoof. Xyka gently pulled my leg up as we all got an even closer look.

It was a rather large symbol that wrapped around my leg and conjoined into a golden heart, where two heads in the shape of dragons defended on both sides. That was the most I could make out of it, as the rest looked like a bunch of runes.

Are ponies able to get cutie marks on their hooves..?

I looked up and suddenly noticed that the two brothers had a very similar symbol engraved on the top of their chest. I pointed at it, “You guys have one too…”

Both brothers looked at the base of their necks with intrigue.

“I… I uh…” Nai began silently, “I don’t remember the oaths doing that.”

“I don’t think it’s supposed to?” Xyka commented unsurely.

“Oh…” Nai said shortly.

Rather amusingly, the two brothers had yet again done something completely unexpected just when I thought things had just started making sense.