Heartfinder (MLP Fan Fiction)

Bats!

Blooming Rose was lost. After descending slowly from the clouds that had always been her home, she had found herself in the deep forest that lay underneath the clouds. With sunlight quickly falling, Blooming Rose began to get nervous. The air was filled with the strangest creatures and sounds. With every unknown sound, there was a large, hungry animal to fill it. She could just imagine one of them seeking up behind her, silent, until screaming its hunting call. Although this didn't quite send her hairs to stand up, it was enough to make her to constantly glance over her shoulder.

The worst was the way the incoming darkness tried to swallow her. Blooming Rose had never, never been afraid of the dark. She had never understood why Cutedrop needed a candle lit all night, or why she needed to make a lot of noise approaching Glen at night as to not scare her. She had laughed at them for being so scared. But this darkness that reached out for Blooming Rose was so totally dark, so devoid of light, it seemed to be reaching out to snuff her out. She could feel the heaviness of each shadow, the way it seemed to tie her down. The hungry, gaping jaws of the darkness was many more times scary then any beast Blooming Rose could imagine.

The sun was almost set now, the darkness almost complete. Tonight, the sky was so overcast that Blooming Rose couldn't even make out one small star and the trees above shielded the lights of the Dragonwings. She could not escape the patience darkness.

As the darkness grew more complete, so did the aches in Blooming Rose's bones. With no light to guide the way, neither path nor way, she tripped and fell constantly. Soon, cuts and bruises were everywhere. She caught herself again wishing she was back home, tucked in bed, fast asleep and warm. Oh to be warm again. To have just a little of Glen's famous hot chocolate, just a sip. Just to remember warm by for the rest this night.

The Empress told me my heart would show me the way to the Hearts. But all my heart shows me now is how much I miss home, thought Blooming Rose. How am I ever going to save Cutedrop anyway? I probably won’t even make it through the night. I am going to die, and no one will ever know.

With that thought, the last ray of sunshine faded from the horizon. A series of distant roars echoed throughout Blooming Rose’s surroundings. I need to snap out of it and find somewhere to sleep fast, before the darkness makes me run into something…or eats me, she couldn’t help thinking. If I can get into one of the taller trees I should last the night.

She placed her horseshoe on the first trunk she felt, pulling herself up, step by step. It was much harder to walk sideways than one would expect, and when she finally got into the first branch, she was tired enough to not notice the difference between eyes open and eyes shut. Laying down on the hard, uncomfortable branch was like a bite of heaven. Even with darkness all around, Blooming Rose nodded off…

Cutedrop was screaming. Blooming Rose ran, ran as fast as she could to help her. She stepped outside long enough to watch shadowy figures strap Cutedrop down beside a medical table covered in sharp knives. "Cutedrop!" Blooming Rose yelled, and she galloped harder and harder to stop the shadows. Then the ground disappeared and Blooming Rose realized she had forgotten her magic horseshoes by her bed.

Without their ability to grip onto anything, she fell down through the clouds...

"Cutedrop!" Blooming Rose screamed, jumping awake. Her eyes only showed total darkness, yet she could feel a presence close. “Who is that? Where am I?”

"Shh" cooed a voice. "Sleep now. You can explain in the morning."

Things began to feel soft around her, and Blooming Rose’s eyes began drooping even as her heart was still pounding from the dream. "Wait! Who...who are you?" she asked through the drowsiness that came.

"We are the Batwings." answered the voice, and then Blooming Rose slipped into dream again.