This story takes place in the same world as @Skysun’s fan fiction “Beyond the Sands”, but it is a prequel. Because of this, some characters were added and some had a name change. The characters of Shardwing, Shearcliff, Sparrowsong, Robincall, Gustwing, Skyroot, and Quickfire were added by me. All of these characters would have been dead by the start of Skysun’s story. I changed the names of Adderfire (Adderstripe), Sunfire (Sunshard), Oasisroot (Oasisflower), Pinecloud (Pinewhisp), and Stonewing (Stonefire). I showed the first bit to Skysun as a preview, but a few details changed in that section. Finally, Skysun can decide if this story is canon to hers.
I looked up at the bright sky, letting the wind blow my forelock out of my face. I had seen many sunrises, but none seemed as glorious as this. The sky was painted light shades of pink and orange. It was a reminder that the Ancestors were watching over us, always.
My wing was on my younger sister, Sparrowsong’s back. She was still just a filly, and inexperienced too. Her light brown feathers were a calming presence against the harshness of our desert environment.
“I’m scared, Adderstripe,” she confided in me.
“Scared? There is no reason to be scared. Nature will run its course,” I replied, but I couldn’t hide the quaver in my own voice. The Red Rock Mountains had been my family’s home for generations, and the Tail River our main water supply. A potential landslide could ruin all of that. Wings couldn’t stop the power of nature.
“No, I’m not scared about that.” Sparrowsong moved my wing away. “I’m scared about Camelwing and Galecloud. They are both so new at leading. What if we are attacked?”
“Camelwing is a brilliant fighter. You know that, Sparrowsong.” I rubbed my muzzle along her neck. “No herd would dare attack Ash Herd, and our sire will always be watching from above.”
Sparrowsong looked away. “Gustwing’s death is still fresh in the minds of the other herds. We need to be ready for attack.”
“You need to stop worrying yourself and rest.” I angled my wing towards our family’s cave, where our dam was resting. “There will be time to worry about this layer. Go on and have fun being a weanling, or rest with Robincall.”
She stared deep into my eyes, and I saw some hurt in her own. She didn’t understand that I was doing this for her own good. When she was older, she would mourn for her foalhood years just as I had. Just as I did. She broke her gaze first. “Fine…I’ll go. Robincall said that she would take me and my friends to Tail River, anyway.”
I watched Sparrowsong trot away. The way she moved across the desert was breathtaking. Each hoof she stepped on made no noise at all. Light hooves that could step on air, so it seemed.
After I had taken one last look at the majestic Red Rock Mountains, I flew in the opposite direction of my family’s cave. I hadn’t wanted to tell Sparrowsong, as she would have squealed some nonsense about me having a ‘marefriend’, but I had an appointment with a beautiful young mare.
Amberfeather buzzed her amber wings angrily as she waited for Adderstripe. What was taking him so long? She was annoyed, and she let all who were near her know it.
“Amberfeather, calm down,” nickered Cactusbreeze, her best friend. “Adderstripe isn’t one to miss appointments.”
Amberfeather nodded, agreeing with her friend. “This one is important. I don’t want to think about what will happen if he does not show up.” Once more, she peeked out of the sand cave, but she could not yet see them.
The owner of the cave was watching them. Skyroot, Amberfeather’s dam, was the herd’s medicine mare. The palomino pinto mare was sorting herbs that her apprentice, Oasisflower, had gathered earlier in the day. “Why all the secrecy?” the medicine mare chimed in. “You could just go to Camelwing or Galecloud directly. I’m sure that they will listen.”
“I just…I don’t trust them,” Amberfeather admitted to her dam. “It was not so long ago that Gustwing and Robincloud were leading the herd.”
“Besides, this doesn’t need to involve them,” Cactusbreeze neighed. “It’s a common sense solution, really.”
Skyroot rolled some seeds into a larger leaf for them to carry. “I have everything that you need. Just pray that the Ancestors will send us rain, and we can save the Red Rock Mountains.”
“If only Adderstripe would show up,” Amberfeather lamented, a flush slowly spreading across her face. “We need him to guard us while we plant the seeds. It would be dangerous not to have a guard while alone in the desert.”
Cactusbreeze rested her yellow and green wing on Amberfeather’s back for a moment. “If he doesn’t come, I’ll ask Sunshard. While he is less experienced of a fighter, he is a good scout.”
Just then, Amberfeather spotted a cloud of sand on the horizon. “Speak of a stallion, and he will appear,” Amberfeather muttered, “only later than he said he would.”
“So you finally decided to show up,” was the first thing I heard upon entering the cave. Amberfeather was watching me, and she looked very cross. I knew that anything I said was just going to make it worse, but I tried anyway.
“I was comforting Sparrowsong. She was worried about Red Rock Mountains.” I tried to shoulder my way past Amberfeather, but both she and Cactusbreeze had me blocked.
To my surprise, it was Catcusbreeze who blew up at me, not Amberfeather.
“You idiot!” she shrieked at me. “Did you realize how worried Amberfeather was about you?!? The ground is covered in her amber feathers! Are you really so blind?!?”
Amberfeather slapped her wing over her friend’s mouth. “Cactusbreeze! Stop!”
She was shedding a lot of feathers, but it must have just been the heat. I dismissed it and finally got past the two mares to Skyroot.
“Are the seeds ready?” I asked her.
“Yes, they are.” Skyroot looked weary as she gazed down at the leaf wraps. “Planting these in the dunes could help stop future landslides.”
“It really was an excellent idea, Amberfeather,” I said, trying to smooth things over with her. Of course, she ignored me. Mares are really good at giving others the cold shoulder.
“Yeah well, we’ve lost a lot of daylight in waiting for you. Let’s go,” Cactusbreeze nickered, and picked up a leaf bundle.
I moved my wings and scooped up one, then headed towards the entrance to the cave. The dirt on the ground had a red tint, like one of Skyroot’s patients had dripped blood here. Amberfeather’s wings brushed mine as she reached for her own wrap, and it was then that I heard the lone cry.
Sunshard limped, alone, across the desert towards us.
Sunshard’s long golden feathers were tattered and torn, and long crimson marks jagged down his dun hide. My best friend’s eyes were wild, and he seemed panicked.
I flattened myself against the side of the cave to allow him to enter. “Crag Herd raid,” he gasped. “There was a group of them at the border, and I couldn’t stop them. They killed Quickfire!”
Skyroot gasped, and I couldn’t blame her. Quickfire was the highest ranking captain in Ash Herd. If even he had been killed by this force…did our group even stand a chance?”
I dropped by bundle to the ground. “Where?”
Sunshard took a moment to get his breath and waved away Skyroot when she started towards him. “I’m not that injured, I will be fine.” He then turned towards me. “They came up from Turtle Beach.”
I scraped my hoof through the dirt, thinking about Sparrowsong’s words from earlier. Of course she was right. I should have listened to her instead of just dismissing her words as those of a foal’s. She had said something else too, something that ticked on the edge of my mind.
Amberfeather, who I had also dismissed as being not interesting in war, asked the best question of all. “How many steeds did you count? Could you name anyone in the crowd?”
Sunshard wiped some of the sweat off his hide with a wing. “At least three dozen, a mixed group of stallions and battlemares. Leading them was Shardwing’s head captain Stonefire. I also saw Pinewhisp in the crowd.”
It was well known that the battlemare Pinewhisp was vying for Stonefire’s attention. As Shardwing was getting old, it was a reasonable power move on her part. However, it made her extra dangerous to all opponents. She wouldn’t let anything stand in the way of her goals.
I finally realized what else Sparrowsong had said to me earlier. “The weanlings,” I gasped. “Sparrowsong told me that she was going with a few friends to the Tail River.”
Amberfeather’s eyes grew as wide as moons. “Crag Herd could try to kidnap them…this could be a raid…”
Cactusbreeze rattled her feathers. “We need to leave now! They need all the help we can give them!”
I quickly trotted out of the cave with Amberfeather and Cactusbreeze. Sunshard made to follow, but Skyroot pulled him back with a wing.
“Sunshard, you can’t do any help if you are injured,” I nickered, cutting off his protests before he even had the chance to give them. He reluctantly allowed Skyroot to lead him over to her medicine area.
Crag Herd had killed the highest ranking captain and hurt my best friend, but they would not get away with stealing my sister and her friends.
I heard them before I saw them. Squealing and braying filled the air, and a few feathers were floated by on the breeze. None of them were Sparrowsong’s light brown, but I still didn’t relax.
I led my team higher, and we caught our first glimpse of the Crag Herd raiders. There were five of them, including Stonefire and Pinewhisp. Sparrowsong, Redhawk, and Brightsand, all of them were being held by a steed. Robincall, my mother, was being held by the remaining two.
It filled me with fury to see my family being held in this way. If Galewing had still been alive, none of these steeds would have dared attack them. Even though I wanted to swoop down and attack, I knew that we had to be careful. I looked around us for anything that we could use, and slowly a plan started to form in my mind. For this plan to work, we would need all the players we could find.
I flew my group back towards Skyroot’s cave and landed gracefully. Skyroot and Sunshard came out of the cave. “I have a plan,” I told them, my gaze landing on each of them, “and everyone is going to have a part of play.”
Sunshard loped towards the Crag Herd attackers, his tattered wings dragging behind him. He was alone, no one was there to guard his back. He looked lost and deserted.
“S-Stonefire!” He skidded to a halt, golden feathers falling from his wings as he shook.
The brutish captain released his grip on Robincall and flew over to Sunshard. “You dare return here, eh?” The lone stallion gave a small nod and hung his head.
“I want to be spared Crag Herd’s wrath. After the forces I saw…after how easily you were able to Quickfire…I want a safe pass. To trade for my freedom, I will give you the location of three of the weanling colts. They are unprotected and will be easy for you to take,” Sunshard looked at the ground as he nickered.
Pinewhisp looked excited as she looked over at Stonefire. “Shardwing would reward us tenfold if we were able to get him this load of foals plus three colts.”
Stonefire walked around Sunshard and pondered the situation for a moment. “Very well. Give us your information, Sunshard.”
Sunshard lifted his head and pointed his wing towards the nearest spire of Red Rock Moutains. “At the top of that mountain, you will find a solitary cave. The colts are hidden in there.”
Stonefire gestures towards Pinewhisp and another steed, and the two of them flew towards the mountain. “If your information is wrong, Sunshard…you will regret it dearly.”
The captain and his two remaining steeds gathered Sunshard, Robincall, and the weanlings in a circle and waited for their team to come back.
I was waiting by the cave on top of the cliff when I heard Pinewhisp and the other steed’s wingbeats. The battle mare seemed excited about something, and I heard her chippy nickers from yards away. The plan must be working, which was good.
I ran my hooves through the ground and prepared to fight. Suddenly, I heard a small nicker behind me, and I turned around with a start.
“Amberfeather?!? You aren’t supposed to be here!” I shoved her back with a wing. “What were you thinking?!? The other team needs you!”
She lifted and met my eyes. “I saw two of them coming up here, and I knew that I had to help you. This is a critical part of the mission, and I won’t let you mess it up with your dumb heroics.” I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off. “Fighting two experienced warriors at once when you are hardly one yourself is a death sentence.”
I lowered my head, knowing that she was right. “Fine,” I muttered, “but remember that we aren’t fighting to kill, just to knock them out.”
I put my wing over her mouth as I heard the Crag Herd steeds approach.
“Come here, little colts,” Pinewhisp lashed her tail and stood at the front of the cave. Her shadow stretched far beyond her and gave her the appearance of a monster. At her side was a diminutive stallion, but that could have just been because he was hunching.
“Come and get us!” I nickered loudly and pulled Amberfeather’s wing to move her deeper into the cave. It would be better to spring an ambush here. Our shadows against the wall looked small, as if we were the colts Sunshard had claimed we were.
Pinewhisp and her stallion darted into the cave, expecting little colt hooves instead of my adult sharpened ones. I sprang at the battle mare, and Amberfeather took on the stallion. I focused on my quarry, pushing all thoughts of my mare friend to the side.
My attack didn’t catch Pinewhisp as much off-guard as I had hoped. Though she hadn’t been expecting an adult, she had been expecting colts to attack. When my hooves struck her side, she staggered but did not fall. I reached out with my neck to bite her shoulder, but she was as fast as my namesake. She kicked me in the flank and sent me reeling against the wall.
I knew that I shouldn’t divert my attention from Pinewhisp, but Amberfeather still lingered in my thoughts. I looked over to find the stallion she was fighting lunge at her tail with jaws snapping. She avoided him easily and I admired her grace in avoiding him.
A blast of pain jerked me back into my fight, and I felt blood deep down my chestnut hide. One of Pinewhisp’s hooves was dripping in my blood, and she was leering.
“Too worried about your marefriend to concentrate?” Pinewhisp taunted me.
I roared and charged at her, but she had been expecting it and nipped at my leg. I fought to keep myself grounded and forced myself to think. She was taking advantage of me, and I couldn’t let her best me with her words. The important thing to do was to focus on getting her out of the picture. Sparrowsong and Robincall were relying on me.
I calmed myself down and my focus narrowed to just my quarry. Now I was ready. I slashed my hoof towards Pinewhisp, and just as I was expecting, she dodged. However, she did not manage to avoid the hind leg that expertly kicked her in the haunches. She yelped and sprung away from me.
I felt the brush of a stallion’s body and the other steed Pinewhisp had brought ran out of the cave. His ears were pinned to his head, and he only had the shallowest of scratches. It had been the fear that had done him in.
“Shearcliff!” Pinewhisp barked. “Stop this immediately! I command you!!!” He didn’t turn back.
I took the opportunity to hit Pinewhisp in the head with my hooves, not hard enough to kill her, but hard enough to knock her out. She fell to the floor, senseless. Amberfeather, who was fairly unscathed, gave me a congratulatory nicker.
Now that both Pinewhisp and Shearcliff were out of the way, we could focus on the task at hand. Doing exactly what Sparrowsong and I had been worrying about earlier: creating a landslide.
Amberfeather and I flew slightly lower down the mountain and found a large boulder that could create the effect we were looking for.
“Ready?” She asked me as she got next to the stone.
“Ready,” I replied, and we both shoved at it together. I could hardly feel the aching of my own body as I strained my entire being against the stone.
“You know, Adderstripe,” Amberfeather nickered as she looked over at me. “Maybe this adventure wasn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed spending time with you.”
I felt my ears grow hot, and it gave me extra energy to push so that I could ignore the embarrassment. “I did too, Amberfeather. We should hang out more, but maybe do things that don’t involve kicking Crag Herd steeds.”
“Or trying to make landslides,” she added, a note of teasing in her neigh. “I have much better activities in mind.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do.” I leaned back for a moment, then resumed pushing. “You have a larger amount of expectations for me than the sky has for the sun. You can count on me to make them.”
“Sky’s sun,” Amberfeather muttered, and I was about to ask her about the phrase she had just spoken, but the boulder budged.
“There!” I gave the boulder a hard kick and sent it on its way. It spiraled down the mountain, kicking up dirt and plants in its wake. Amberfeather and I flew after it, devoted to seeing the rest of our plan through.
We arrived to see things getting fierce on the ground. The three foals bleated in fear at the dirt plummeting towards and my mother and Sunshard tried to calm them down. Stonefire’s two steeds looked to him for instructions, but he seemed momentarily speechless.
Cactusbreeze and Skyroot flew towards the foals, paces ahead of us. Amberfeather was supposed to be in the team with them, but now that she was here, things couldn’t go so smoothly. Skyroot was blocked from her approach by one of Stonefire’s steeds, Palestone. Cactusbreeze managed to fly through and reach the foals.
Sunshard took the colt, Redhawk, and urged him into a run. Cactusbreeze did the same to Robincall and the other filly, Brightsand. To cover for them, I swooped down at Stonefire, and Amberfeather took on the last steed remaining.
Stonefire jerked when I landed on his back. “What the-“ He reared, but I stayed on like a leech. The thunder of sand was getting louder. “Forget the foals! Run!” he screeched.
Stonefire and the other steed ran off towards Tail River, where they would be able to cross back to their territory. I quickly scanned for Palestone as I blinked the sand from my eyes. He was fighting Skyroot, but he hadn’t yet taken off yet. I moved forward to help, but a cry made me look away.
Sparrowsong was bolted to the ground, her ears pinned back. She was shaking so hard that she could not fly. I flew to my sister’s aid, but I couldn’t lift her up alone. I stood there, helpless. I couldn’t leave her, even if it meant my own death.
With a reluctant look back at her mother, Amberfeather flew towards me. We grabbed hold of Sparrowsong’s light brown wings together and hoisted her into the air.
Guilt struck through me as I heard the pound of hooves on bone…Skyroot…her mother…me…all for the sake of the mission…
“Skyroot died on that mission, but her death was not in vain. Because of her help, all of the foals were saved from the Crag Herd raiders. Palestone lived, but was immediately banished by Crag Herd for killing a Medicine Mare. The rest of the raiding party was returned to Crag Herd with a warning: no more trespassers would be tolerated on Ash Herd land.” I looked down at my two fillies as I told them the story. Lighthoof had heard it time and time again, but this was Skysun’s first time.
“What happened to Tail River?” Skysun asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“Tail River was fine,” Amberfeather chimed in. “The landslide we caused was a minor one, and it didn’t effect the river. Later, a mission led by your sire would plant the seeds around the mountain to ensure that it remained strong.”
Lighthoof raised a copper red wing to ask a question. “Was that when you became a captain?”
“Yes,” I answered her proudly. “Camelwing gave both Sunshard and I the position of captain for the bravery we showed in protecting our herd. That was also when I first started to fall for your dam.” I looked at Amberfeather fondly.
Amberfeather peered out of the cave and up into the darkening sky. “Fillies, it is time to rest now. Tomorrow will be another day, with more stories to tell.”
While Lighthoof got ready to go to sleep, Skysun trotted over to me. There was a question in her eyes, and I nodded to give her permission to ask it. “Was I named after Amberfeather’s dam, Skyroot, and your best friend Sunfire?”
I looked to the setting sun, a half-smile on my face. “It’s more than that, my filly…”
Herd Alliances (Named Characters Only)
Ash Herd
Over-Stallion
Camelwing:
Dun stallion with a black mane and tail, black points, two white front socks, two white hind stockings, a slim white blaze, and sandy yellow feathers.
Lead Mare
Galecloud:
A spry chestnut mare with a chestnut mane and tail, pale yellow feathers, four white socks, and a wide white blaze.
Medicine Mare
Skyroot:
Older palomino pinto mare with a flaxen mane and tail, blue feathers so pale that they look white, and a single stocking on one of her hind legs. Dam of Amberfeather.
Oasisflower:
Pearl chestnut pinto yearling mare with a slightly darker mane and tail, and sun yellow feathers. Medicine mare in training.
Captains
Quickfire:
Liver chestnut stallion with a light brown mane and tail, dark points, and blood red wings.
Under-Stallions
Adderstripe:
Chestnut stallion with a chestnut mane and tail, two white hind stockings, and golden feathers tipped in a sandy yellow. Colt of the late Over-Stallion Galewing and the Lead Mare Robincloud.
Sunshard:
Dun stallion with a black mane and tail, black points, four white socks, and golden feathers that fade to a pale yellow. Adderstripe’s best friend.
Jetflight:
Young golden buckskin stallion with a black mane and tail, black points, two white hind stockings, and cream yellow wings tipped in white.
Mares
Robincall:
Red roan mare with white points, white mane and tail, a stripe, and fire red wings tipped in a soft yellow. Formerly Robincloud, the Lead Mare of Ash Herd, but retired after Galewing died.
Amberfeather:
Palomino mare with a white mane and tail, a wide white blaze, two white hind socks, and amber feathers tipped in coppery red.
Cactusbreeze:
Golden buckskin mare with a black mane and tail, black points, four white socks, and yellow feathers fading to a pale yellowy green.
Weanlings
Sparrowsong:
Small palomino pinto mare with a flaxen mane and tail, a stripe, one front sock, and light brown feathers. Younger sister of Adderstripe. Filly of the late Over-Stallion Galewing and the Lead Mare Robincloud.
Brightsand:
Palomino pinto filly with a white mane and tail, and sand yellow wings
Redhawk:
Red roan colt with brownish yellow wings tipped in white
Crag Herd
Over-Stallion
Shardwing:
Dappled dark gray stallion with a black mane and tail, a wide blaze, and dusty white wings. Desires more land for his herd.
Captains
Stonefire:
Dark gray stallion with a black mane and tail, two white hind socks, and dark blue wings.
Under-Stallions
Shearcliff:
Light gray pinto stallion with a dark gray mane and tail, socks, and mint green wings. Reluctant follower of Shardwing.
Palestone:
Silver dun stallion with a light gray mane and tail, and cream colored wings edged in deep blue.
Battle Mares
Pinewhisp:
Light gray mare with a dark gray mane and tail, four white socks, and pine green wings. Desires to be Stonefire’s mate.
Thank you for reading!
Morning, I think I know what I want my art trade to be!