//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Northen Stars // by Flower03 //------------------------------// The dark, star-filled night sky that stretched over the entire village made the night seem more peaceful than usual. The full moon in the sky reinforced that appearance of ethereal tranquility. And so it would be for a while longer. However, although many of the ponies that dwelt in their homes were already on the verge of falling into their own dream world, for one pony in particular that had proved to be especially difficult. Twilight stirred for the umpteenth time in place, as she tried by all means possible not to wake Spike with one of her moves, although with how tired the dragon was she didn't think it would be that easy to do. After all, he was still a growing child, he needed a lot more rest than she did. But Twilight had been more distracted than usual. Her mind was still going back to the memory of everything the mare had told her before, and that made it difficult for her to fall asleep. Inevitably, this had left her with more questions than answers, and she knew that now she must find a way to find them. After emitting a low snort, Twilight carefully slipped out of her small space until her hooves touched the ground beneath her. After picking up her cloak from where she had left it hanging, she slipped away in a stealthy attempt not to wake any of the other sleeping ponies oblivious to her intentions. Then she closed the front door to the home very carefully behind her. The following was quite easy to accomplish due to the fact that there was absolutely nopony else on the streets of the small town. Twilight intended to clear her thoughts better, and to do this she needed to get to the outskirts of it, to the edge of the forest to the west. Twilight spread her wings and rose unhurriedly, letting the light night breeze help clear her mind better. She made an attempt to always stay in the same direction with regard to the village. She knew she could use the river to get her bearings at the time she decided to return, although after a few minutes of flight she calculated that she was close enough distance to walk back if she wanted to. Twilight descended again very carefully due to the pointed branches of the trees, given the lack of any clearings in which to land in a better way. She shook her feathers a bit before folding her wings again, then turned on the light on her horn to illuminate her. She walked to the base of a tree, gave a small sigh and slumped down, then leaned her back to the trunk behind her. Her eyes closed only slightly, but she still remained alert to her surroundings despite there being nothing to indicate a possible threat. Her ears moved in reaction to the different noises that harmonized the place. In a way, that prevented that area from adopting an eerie silence, somehow making her calm down. The sounds of the night came softly to her ears, and that ended up helping her in her task. "So such things exist here, or so she has implied," she began to say to herself, keeping a very low tone of voice and wondering with some doubts: "But is it really true? I don't doubt the dangers that can be found in the forest, but sometimes the ponys' minds can be given to exaggerating about that sort of thing. Although they usually don't believe it or simply ignore it, as happened long ago with that prophecy about the return of Nightmare Moon." To be sure, ponies could be very skeptical of such things at times, but now she was aware of the fact that it was obvious that these ponies were not the same. Those stories were part of their lives, and sometimes the legends had a bit truth to it. "The best thing we can do is to tread more carefully," she said decisively as she put a hoof on her chin. "I just wonder if there will be more things we haven't seen yet." "I think I'll leave that for later for now." Twilight didn't know how long she was there as she tried to organize her thoughts in her head, but she soon figured it was time to go back. She spread her wings again and soared above the trees, then stayed that way as she followed the river that guided her with ease. And it was because she was at such a level in relation to the ground that she ended up noticing something strange. Twilight paused for a moment and glanced as she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to see past the leaves and branches of the treetops. A thought crossed her mind as the point of light beneath her stopped and went out, the scarlet light belonging to a magical signature that she already recognized. "I guess it's who I'm thinking." Twilight carefully lowered herself again. When she finally landed she wasn't too surprised that Sombra was there, after all she had already become aware of his presence. It did, however, make Twilight interested in the fact that he was leaning against the trunk of a tree while keeping his eyes closed. Somehow strangely, she seemed to feel as if he was... Exhausted. He opened his eyes again when he became aware of her presence. "What are you doing here?" Sombra furrowed on his face as he saw her walk toward him. He really didn't expect to find her there, even though he had noticed earlier that the place where she had been lying was empty. "I'd like to know that, too," Twilight replied after stopping some distance away. "I couldn't sleep and I went flying for a while to clear my head a bit," she ended up clearing her throat. "What's your reason?" "Does there have to be one?" he asked, and resumed his characteristic seriousness. Twilight looked down a bit and frowned as she shrugged. She just wanted to know, but that wasn't what she ended up saying when she raised her head again. "I guess not," she conceded as she agreed with him, and then gestured with her hoof. "I'm just asking because it's weird that somepony decides to go into a forest in the middle of the night where obviously everything is dark and anything can happen," Twilight narrowed her eyes a bit more. "And that's not to mention that it's also weird that you took the same direction as me. Sombra took a brief look at her, before simply closing his eyes again. "The darkness doesn't worry me, and as for the other, I too think it's strange and unfortunate that you've crossed my path." Twilight rolled her eyes, not caring much about the fact that he would choose to ignore her again. Maybe he didn't want to hear her, but he was going to hear her anyway. "Well, you'll have to get used to that, though," Twilight said with a resigned expression. "At least until we get out of here." He didn't bother to open his eyes again, and only expressed his displeasure in a loud snort. Twilight let out a sigh of exhaustion, noticing once again his uncooperative attitude. She really believed that they had gained some progress, although she wasn't going to give up so easily anyway. Letting out another sigh, Twilight spoke again. "What's wrong with you?" Sombra opened his eyes and looked at her with a suspicious expression this time, wondering what that princess wanted to accomplish with her questions. Honestly, he just wanted her to leave him alone with his thoughts. "I don't know what you mean." Seeing that he wasn't willing to say anything to her, Twilight moved just a bit closer as her voice tried to take on a more disinterested tone. "I'm only asking because I've noticed that you've been acting... a bit strange lately." She frowned a little. "As if something is troubling you." A slightly awkward silence formed in the place, causing Twilight to turn her head away a bit and avoid looking at him in his direction. A surprised expression briefly formed on Sombra's face before he again hid his emotions behind a mask of coldness. He got up from his place and turned, turning his back to the alicorn. "Nothing of importance is happening," he replied in a curt tone. However, Twilight wasn't going to give up so easily. She needed to check if anything on his mind had anything to do with their current situation. She really didn't want them to experience so many surprises every time. "I know that's not true," she reaffirmed her words as she slammed a hoof into the ground, however that ended up not liking it the stallion very much. Sombra turned in her direction, and she took a step back when she noticed the look on his face. The shadows of the night made his gesture even deeper. "Why are you trying to know, huh?" he growled slowly closer. "I'm nothing to you. I definitely don't need your worry." Twilight frowned at his sudden attitude, but didn't back down again. "It's not worry, it's..." She interrupted her train of thought when she realized something. Was that really what she thought? That she was interested in whatever was on his mind just because it might be relevant information in the future? But if she was honest with herself, the truth is that she also wanted to get both of them to have even a minimal relationship, if after all she wanted to continue with her idea. And for that, she needed to show him that she could be more than just an apparent nuisance. But that wouldn't be possible for now. "I thought so," Sombra murmured, turned and resumed his way towards the village. Twilight lowered her head as she let out a sigh. However, it was her next words that somehow made him listen. Or so she wanted to believe at the time. "I'm trying because... somehow, I wish I could understand you," Twilight murmured with a slight shrug, knowing he couldn't see her. Sombra stopped in place, and Twilight felt a little spark of hope that he was really willing to listen to what she had to say. However, the moment Sombra turned to face her, a strange expression suddenly crossed his face and caused him to turn his head in a certain direction again, as if he had caught something unusual that she could not yet notice. Twilight cocked her head a bit and wondered for a moment what had caused that unexpected change in him, but she forced herself to push her questions away to a corner of her mind when he spoke again. "We must go back to the village, now." Twilight didn't like the tone in which he said it. Several times ago she had heard him the same way and it had not been a good thing. But before she could ask him to explain his words, Sombra turned quickly, turned on his horn once more, and began to gallop in that direction. Twilight wasted no time in following him, spreading her wings and quickly positioning herself beside him. The sound of his hooves was all they could hear as they both followed the entire parallel path upstream. "Can I at least know what...?" Twilight didn't have a chance to express all of her question when she suddenly began to feel a strange vibration that slowly spread everywhere. "I don't know what's going on, I just hope it's not what I'm imagining," Sombra muttered regardless. They were already entering the boundaries of the village when something made them stop suddenly. It was just as Twilight landed and hid her wings again that a tremor began to shake the earth, spreading throughout the village. All the ponies who had not yet woken up ended up leaving their homes when they felt that last shudder. Twilight swept her gaze over the habitants without stopping at anypony in particular, but she detected in each of them the expression of alarm and confusion that reigned within them. But she also managed to notice something else that she couldn't identify at the time. Twilight's mind shifted her thoughts to a more important issue at that moment, when she wasted no time galloping towards the small shack where her things were and where Spike was. She eventually left Sombra behind when she lost him in the crowd of villagers. But she didn't need to go too far as she soon saw the dragon running towards her, with his cloak on and her saddlebag in his arms. Spike narrowed his eyes slightly for a moment when he finally realized who the pony was coming in his direction. "Twilight, I'm glad you're okay!" He dropped her bag in front of her and took her in a tighter than usual hug. Twilight raised her head, but soon returned it to him when he, too, looked up again. "I couldn't help but get scared when I didn't see you next to me after the sound of the ponies woke me up, all of a sudden they started coming out and shouting things and then that shaking happened." "I'm so sorry, Spike, I shouldn't have left like this." She gently stroked his head to comfort him, but there was still nothing at that moment that could erase the guilty expression on her face. "Yes, yes, I forgive you Twilight, but..." Spike couldn't finish saying his sentence when a new shudder shook the whole earth, the ponies' cries of surprise rang out again. Twilight pulled away from him slightly and shook her head, trying to look above all the others to find a particular crimson horn. It didn't take long for her to locate Sombra, though she was surprised by the fact that he had his eyes fixed on the river. "May I know what's going on now? Why I don't think this is normal!" Twilight paid almost no attention to the comment Spike had made next to her. Everything about her was focused on the situation that was brewing too quickly beyond. And at last, she realized something very strange. The water on the surface of the river had begun to churn, as it bubbled in waves that seemed to rise from the depths. Meanwhile, the jolts became more powerful at the same time that it reverberated everywhere. And yet, nothing could have prepared them for what happened next. The current of the river stood still for an instant, but only for that brief second. After that, a sudden, immense stream of water opened rapidly as a large, dark body emerged in a burst from the depths of the river. But in the midst of all this confusion and in spite of the darkness, everypony and the dragon present could see perfectly the four long necks on which sat a head with large, sharp fangs. The hydra swept its gaze across the small town, its piercing green eyes gleaming in the darkness. Everything suddenly stood still, in a silence that was too eerie. The noises of the night died down considerably, and the shouting of the villagers finally faded away, as they all stared completely paralyzed in the direction of the recent threat looming over them. But that stillness was quickly broken when the deafening shriek of the creature resounded thunderously in the ears of everypony present, causing a general shudder... That was soon replaced by screams of terror. Twilight wasted no time in putting Spike on her back and running through the crowd as the creature began to approach the village, encouraged by the screams of the little ponies below it. Each tried to escape the threat by sheltering in their homes and that was just what Twilight planned to do with Spike when she left him in front of the gray mare's home. "I don't know why this had to happen now, but you'd better follow me!" exclaimed the pony when she saw them appear as she quickly removed several things from inside the house. Spike climbed off Twilight's back, however he kept her bag when she quickly unbuttoned it and handed it to him in the process. Both visibly shuddered as a terrible roar and resounding screams rose behind them. "What are you going to do, Twilight?" Spike suddenly looked ahead, in the direction of the four headed being that had just destroyed one of the houses with a wave of its long tail. "Are you going to face that thing!?" Twilight made a quick shake of her head. It wasn't really necessary for her to do that, though she just hoped she wouldn't be in need. "Of course not, Spike, but there's no time and you must listen to me." Twilight looked into the home, where the mare was unblocking the way to what she thought was some kind of basement. "Hide with her and I'll try to somehow get it away from these ponies." Before Spike opened his mouth, she stepped ahead of him. "I'll be careful." "I hope so, Twilight," Spike said with a slight frown. She nodded and turned once more, as she began to gallop past the crowd seeking refuge in their homes. He turned to where the other mare was. Spike had the knowledge that when it came to the safety of other beings, he couldn't make her change her mind so easily, even if she put her life in danger and he didn't agree. But he knew that was her, his Twilight, a pony willing to do anything for the good of others. And he admired her for that. *** After leaving Spike, Twilight moved with great effort through some ponies that were still running outside their homes. Regardless, the creature's shrieks couldn't mask its panicked screams. For this reason, Twilight had in mind to find Sombra if she wanted to solve the current problem in a better way. It took her longer than usual to find him due to the fact that his coat blended too well with the shadows of the night. However, she was able to locate him near one of the homes furthest from the dangerous threat, simply by observing with a critical eye from a distance. Meanwhile, the hydra continued to destroy any buildings in its path, while its four heads tried to find its smalls preys in the rubble. Though it was a relief, Twilight was surprised that each of its attempts resulted in failure, as if the ponies that had hidden in there had vanished. That only infuriated the creature even more. Twilight moved quickly to Sombra's side, he only looked at her with a frown as she looked past his direction. She looked at him again with a determined expression. "If we don't get it out of here, it's going to end up destroying the whole town," Twilight said, watching as the hydra stopped and the quartet of heads seemed to sniff something in the air. Sombra looked at her with the same neutral expression as always. "And what have I to do with that?" he replied with a grunt. Twilight let out a slight sigh. "I may have a hard time saying this, but I need your help," she replied. "I know you're the only one who knows how to stop this, or at least you must have some idea. I'm also aware that this is none of your business, nor am I asking you to do it for me or others," she gave another sigh as she looked him straight in the eye this time. "But could you please help me?" Sombra looked away and turned it once more to the creature, thinking for a few seconds about her words. Without turning, he finally answered: "I'll only do it because this threat also threatens my safety." After those last words, Twilight let out another brief sigh and nodded. At least it was a relief to her to know that she wouldn't have to do it alone. With a swift movement, she got rid of her cloak as she kept that place in her mind for when she decided to return for it. The two of them scurried away quickly as they inched closer to the hydra. After ending up behind the remains of one of the nearby houses, Twilight took a brief look over it. She was surprised by the fact that the hydra was still sniffing the air, as if it couldn't locate its true target. "We must distract it somehow," Twilight said as she turned her head back to Sombra. "The point here is to avoid its heads in the attempt," he replied. "You must still remember what I mentioned earlier." She nodded to his words as her mind caught the memory of that conversation for a moment. "We have to plan a better course of action to follow," she conceded as she gathered her hooves together. "If we can get its attention, we can slowly get it to the edge of the river, and then scare it away somehow." Twilight gave a confused look as he just seemed to shake his head. "We must use this darkness as a potential advantage." She turned when she caught his tone, though she couldn't quite notice his expression. Anyway, she knew that she wouldn't be happy with what he was going to say next. "If we want to get out of this alive, we have to strike first." Twilight ended up opening her eyes even wider in a frightened gesture after hearing his words, even though he didn't seem to show an ounce of fear at his recent idea. "We'll end up worse off if we confront it directly, I don't think... Watch out!" Neither Twilight nor Sombra noticed the moment when the creature had crept up to where they were hiding. Twilight only had enough time to shout the warning to the stallion when one of the heads attacked them with suppressed fury. The force of the impact drove them some distance away from it, but it wasn't pleasant for Twilight to have her breath cut off when Sombra fell on top of her. "I really need... that you come out of above me." Twilight coughed as she tried to crawl in search of her release. He shook his head as he pulled away in confusion, but they only had a second to clear their heads a bit before the creature's screams reminded them of where they were. In the blink of an eye, they both made a detour and parted in opposite directions as the creature's paw stepped very close to them. They dodged its long tail with difficulty when they found themselves behind it again. Sombra snorted loudly for no apparent reason as he galloped, or maybe he did. The terribly annoying situation in front of him was more than enough. He was already tired of everything and everyone, but despite that, the sudden spark of an idea crossed his mind. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the alicorn, while that same thought developed further. He was well aware that it was probably one of the riskiest ideas he had ever had, after his confrontation with the Two Sisters, and yet he knew that in a way it was the only way. Weaken it before finishing it off, that's all they could do. And for that he needed her help. "Listen to me! I'll go ahead and distract it from the ground!" cried the stallion. "You must fly stealthily until you land on top of it without it noticing!" Twilight's eyes widened more than they already were. "Did you go crazy!? Too many things can go wrong!" she replied with a cry. "I know what I'm telling you!" he replied in exasperation and turned his head to see how the creature was still focused on them. "You must trust me for this time if you really want us to get rid of it!" Twilight snorted again, she didn't really have any more options. Only on that occasion did she light her horn and in a burst disappeared from the place. She reappeared a few feet above the hydra as she spread her wings. The darkness didn't let her see enough, but she could still see without all her vision how the creature's heads were trying to catch the stallion underneath it. Twilight had to admit that he was still doing a good job. With great care she managed to get closer, however it was not an easy task because her target did not stop moving, while destroying part of the forest in its path. After getting her bearings, it didn't take long for her to yell at Sombra again. "You've got to think of something!" Twilight's voice echoed urgently. "There must be something that affects it, some kind of weakness!" "I'm just on it! Wait a minute!" Time dragged on for Twilight as Sombra dodged the hydra's new lashes and thought of a possible response, though it was only a few seconds before he spoke again. "The area where the four heads meet is its weak point!" shouted Sombra as he dodged one of the falling trees. Twilight snorted loudly as she tried her best to grab onto the creature's hard skin, and screamed again for him to hear above the noise. "And what am I supposed to do with that? Pass it through?!" Through it all, Twilight charged her horn into a small sphere of power that grew larger and larger. She quickly deflected it in the direction of the spot Sombra had indicated. She intended to release it right on that spot, but she didn't get a chance to fully execute her plan when something happened that wasn't quite planned. One of the heads had become aware of her little maneuver when it turned around at the aura of her presence. Twilight was only able to get out in one swift flight from there when it almost touched her in its lethal touch. Her heart pounded as she saw that sharp fanged mouth pass by too closely. One minute... She walked away, but the others had already caught her and were now ready to capture the small threat. And it was in the midst of one of her elusive movements that Twilight remembered Sombra's words. "Its fangs possess a venom capable of destroying anything unlucky enough to fall into its jaws." The light of a new idea lit in her head as she smiled to herself. Twilight clicked her tongue and veered off the path in a quick aerial turn to the left of the nearest head. She flapped her wings upwards, so fast that she thought that if Rainbow Dash had seen her at that moment, she would have been as amazed as she was at that very moment. After that brief acceleration, her speed slowed down and Twilight stopped in mid-air. She looked down and let her smile widen a bit more when she saw that the creature had completely focused its attention on her, its four heads growling at her in anger and annoyance. It was time to implement her plan. Even though she didn't realize it, Sombra was looking at her the whole time with a look of interest in knowing what she was planning to do now when performing her little maneuver, but it changed quickly when she did something that he definitely hadn't expect. Twilight fell. She folded her wings to her sides and let the force of gravity do its work in hastening her fall. With her eyes narrowed by the strong gust of wind and her front hooves pointed towards her target, Twilight began to once again charge the magic of her horn. The creature's heads grunted louder and let out a resounding screech in her direction. However, it was quickly silenced when Twilight's offensive beam struck the side of one of its necks. Instead, it was replaced by the cry of pain from the attacked head. But she wasn't done when she took advantage of the distraction. Swift and accurate, her hooves hit that same target hard and caused the creature to take a step back. Because the acceleration of her fall had increased the force of the impact, Twilight fully unfolded her wings and quickly slowed down in the process. The shrieks behind her made her turn around, only to realize the great wound her magic had left it. Both ponies covered their ears when the noise echoed too loudly in their ears. Twilight seized the distracting opportunity and lunged at the hydra's heads. She dodged its onslaughts as she flew around, between, and over it; pretty much in every direction. She wasn't discouraged that she missed some of her punches, she knew that just needed to confuse it and keep it busy. The next part depended on that. Twilight's efforts ended up paying off at the right time. As if everything had happened so slowly, Twilight veered out of the way of the head chasing behind her, only to send it straight into crashing into one of its sisters. "What the hell are you doing!?" Twilight didn't respond when she heard the stallion's scream as she flew over him. She just looked past and snorted as the two heads that had bumped into each other shook off in its confusion. All hissed in her direction after that, letting her see the length of its forked tongues. It was angry. Very angry. And she knew it. Sombra grunted at being ignored, but he didn't wait for her to respond. He quickly dodged the wobbly tail coming in his direction, with dexterity and agility even for a stallion of his size. He turned away from the creature, but his ears moved in a certain direction and he turned his head again when he heard the alicorn's voice. "Your information about it helped me!" she shouted as she held up a hoof. "Now I know what to do!" At that, Sombra again took on a serious expression in which he nodded when he understood her reference. He strayed even further from the creature's path, leaving it free for the alicorn. In a convoluted way, yet possessing a strange sense, Twilight dodged, lunged, and strayed from the path of the creature's heads. If the force of her lunges were anything that further provoked the hydra's fury, it was her elusive movements that ultimately caused what she truly wanted to achieve. Fleetingly realizing the confusion she had left it, Twilight executed the last part of her plan. She caught the attention of one in particular, until she guided her right where she wanted. With its jaws wide open, the head that chased her set out to finally catch its little prey, after all only a short distance separated them... However, Twilight was faster. She swerved swiftly as she encircled the neck of another head, directing the path of her flight past it all. And at last, there was a great shudder that ran through her as the powerful reverberation of the shriek reached beyond her ears. Twilight didn't need to turn around to know that her idea hadn't turned out to be such a bad thing in the end. The creature let out a shriek of rage, fury and pain as the venomous fangs struck the neck of one of its sister heads. She closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears as she flapped her wings with effort. A few seconds later she realized that the shrieks had become more and more distant, so she deduced that the hydra was already leaving the same place it had come. And that's what she actually saw when she opened her eyes again. Twilight could only see for a moment the immense body disappearing into the dark waters of the river. These bubbled a bit before leaving the atmosphere in a strange stillness, again. All had fallen silent as Twilight flapped weakly toward the ground. She gasped wearily from the physical exertion she had subjected her body to. She raised her head as she began to hear the rumbling sound of hooves in her direction, only to see the stallion walking towards her. Twilight sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I really don't know what these creatures have to do with going for a walk right when we're there," Sombra grumbled. "Don't they have anything better to do?" Twilight opened her eyes again and looked in his direction as she blinked rapidly, but now she really couldn't take it anymore as the corners of her shoulders began to shake. The situation they had just experienced was so absurd and unexpected that she couldn't help but let out a suppressed laugh from the back of her throat, however she quickly released it completely, bursting into a fit as she wrapped her front paws around her chest. Sombra could only stare at her in confusion as that sound burst into his ears, thinking that he had seen it all now. Not that he cared much about it, either, or so he wanted to believe. "I thought I couldn't experience any more surprises," he said as he moved closer, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Is what I said funny to you?" "No, no, it's just... I didn't expect you to say that." Twilight tried to calm herself down as she covered a giggle with her hoof. "And in that tone." Regardless, Sombra allowed himself for a moment to change the expression on his face as the corners of his mouth raised slightly. "I'm more than I really look, princess. Twilight looked at him for a second. "I can already feel it," she replied in a whisper, looking away as she smiled slightly. After that, they simply resumed their way to the village side by side, knowing that for that moment, at least, they had been spared the threat.