Air Horse: Expanded Skies

To the Shifting Rocks

"Where are you going?"

Copper froze and glanced guiltily over her shoulder at the creamy white filly behind her.

"Nowhere, Cloudy," Copper said innocently, turning to her friend.

Cloudy didn't look convinced.

"Ever since Aeolus returned, you've been acting strange. You just stand there staring and last week, you disappeared all day!" Cloudy said.

"An air horse has the right for some privacy, isn't she?" Copper snorted. "I just want to be alone."

Cloudy backed away, looking hurt by Copper's response. Then she narrowed her eyes.

"Fine! Go off and 'be alone.' See if I care!" Cloudy exploded.

Copper was too shocked to respond as Cloudy spread her wings and flew off. Copper wondered why her friend was so upset.

"Well... maybe I have been ignoring her a bit," Copper thought. "But this is important. She'll understand."

Copper turned northwest, where beyond the Gorge lay Shifting Rocks, home off the rock lizards lived. For the past two weeks, Copper had been trying to gather up the courage to fly there.

"I should go now. Once I get back from Shifting Rocks, I'll tell her everything." Copper thought.

Content with her decision, launched herself into the sky.

It was late afternoon when Copper finally reached the Gorge. Landing at the Gorge's edge, Copper began having second thoughts. She had come here the previous week, but had talked herself out of crossing the Gorge.

The Gorge was more than a length of slick mud and a rushing river below, but the river itself was of no concern to Copper, for she could fly right over it. It was the land beyond that scared her.

Finally, Copper made up her mind. Unfurling her wings, Copper was soon across the Gorge. Copper landed briefly, but quickly returned to the air as the rocks underfoot shifted. Hovering low, Copper scanned her surroundings.

Shifting Rocks well deserved its name. The ground was uneven and consisted completely of rocks. The rocks were, for the most part, small. Just big enough for an air horse to stand on, but there was no way to know how sturdy the rocks were.

Copper saw several boulders balanced precariously atop one another, and as she flew over to investigate, Copper saw the boulders formed a small cave.

Copper looked around and saw there were several other caves nearby. Grinning, she began darting around, studying caves and the strange rock formations formed by some large, unbroken rocks.

Copper flew about for several hours, soon forgetting why she had come in the first place: to find and learn about rock lizards.

Copper glanced upward, shocked to see that it would soon be night. Copper had gotten a fair distance from the Gorge and she didn't want to fly here in the night.

Spotting a tunnel leading into the ground, Copper carefully landed. Finding the rock she stood on sturdy, Copper studied the tunnel.

A steep tunnel led to a cave, which looked to be a good size. The whole cave looked quite sturdy, the roof seemed to be one large rock that covered a hole in the ground. The only problem was the tunnel. The sides were too narrow for Copper to fly down, the only other option being to walk down the tunnel and risk stepping on loose rocks.

As Copper debated on what to do, she began to feel as if she was being watched. Copper spun around, but saw nothing.

Uneasy, Copper turned back to the cave. Deciding the cave would probably be safer than leaving at that moment, Copper began her descent.

To Copper's relief, the tunnel floor was firm. Then, halfway down, the rock shifted. Copper instinctively flared her wings, but that only made it worse.

Copper's right wings hit the wall almost instantly, throwing Copper sideways. Copper managed to fold her wings as her hooves skittered on loose stones. Copper then steadied herself by planting all four hooves firmly on the ground.

Copper froze, afraid the rocks would move again. When nothing happened, Copper carefully looked ahead. She squinted, wondering if she saw what she thought she saw. The tunnel floor seemed to... disappear before reaching the cave.

Copper stepped forward, trying to see better. She suddenly pitched forward as the ground shifted too suddenly for Copper to regain her balance.

Copper landed hard on her stomach, the breath whooshing out of her. As she tried to get her breath back, she began sliding down the tunnel.

Unable to slow herself, Copper began to roll wings over hooves. Just then, the ground dropped out from beneath Copper.

"What-" was all Copper could think before her head hit a jutting rock and she blacked out.

Outside the tunnel, a lizard-like creature peered into the cave entrance. It saw Copper's still form inside the cave.

The creature peered down at Copper for several minutes. Then it glanced to either side before entering the tunnel. Bracing itself with long, sharp claws, the creature edged down toward Copper.