The road that led in and out of Shadowleaf Forest was long and winding; her hooves beating against the packed dirt of the wagon trail that led out of the forest proper, the cloak billowing out behind her a bit as she cantered along the path. Skyward wished she could have said goodbye to her brother, but she knew her sire didn't want her to be seen leaving, and with good reason.

A Haylian pony without a cutie mark was not considered a full adult yet: foal at worst, adolescent at best, and it was forbidden for anypony without a cutie mark to leave their village for any reason. Unless their journey was sanctioned by the three village elders, and all had to agree on such a request. Doing so without their explicit permission would result in either being banished permanently or earmarked for shame until they earned their cutie mark. The mare winced at the thought of wearing a heavy, plain cold iron ring in her right ear until she bore that Nayru-damned mark on her flank that would enable her to ascend to adulthood and earn her surname, and snorted, laying back her ears.

Sometimes law and bureaucracy really sucked plot.

Granted her sire was good friends with the earth pony village elder, Granite Edge, but she prayed to the Goddesses he wouldn't land in trouble for sending her out beyond Fiador's borders even if she didn't have her mark...

The forest's gloom began to lighten, and she smiled, knowing she was reaching the end of the forest pathway, and picked up speed a little bit. Shadow gave way slowly to sunshine, the cool shade of the forest lessening and the full glory of the sun's rays shining down from a bright blue sky dotted with clouds, with naught but rolling emerald green hills ahead of her as far as one's eye could see, with the occasional stand of trees and rock formations dotting the landscape.

This was Hayrule Field.

Skyward shook off her hood and smiled, inhaling deeply of the clean, crisp air and stomping one hoof in excitement. She'd heard stories from the foragers and the healers who went out to gather herbs, or even went to Hayrule Castle Town proper for trading their produce and dairy products from the goats and cows they kept...

Buck the stories...the reality was so much better! She stepped out off of the path onto the springy grass, giggling like a foal as she pranced, reveling in the feeling of sunwarmed grasses against her hooves. She reared abruptly and took off into a full gallop, laughing as she rushed down the slope. The open plains and the blue sky were so inviting, the wind in her mane and face, the bright sun streaming down upon her back, its rays warming her through. She dashed across the grassy flatland with nary a care in the world, laughing like the foal she once had been years ago.

The scent of fresh water caught her nostrils, and she turned her head towards it, skidding slightly as she tried to slow down. She followed her nose (and her ears) to a rushing stream cutting through the Field proper. She sniffed at it...the water was moving fairly quickly, so with all the turbulence she couldn't tell if there was anything underneath. Glancing from left to right, she pricked her ears as her horn began to glow silver, and she levitated a sphere of river water out of the churning current. Tentatively, she lifted it to her muzzle and began to drink...it was clean, thank Farore, and fresh. She drank it down, and went to 'reach' for another...

HSSSSSSSSS!

The unicorn mare recoiled at the noise, her magic bringing the sword and shield out, blade in a guard stance and shield in a defensive angle. She yelped when something struck her left side, and hissed in pain, turning towards the direction the projectile had come from...

It was floating in the water, just poking its shell covered head out of the rushing fluid. Glowing green eyes glared at her from under the shell's lip as it bobbed up and down, making its way towards the shore. Slimy purple colored tentacles ending in sucker covered tips erupted from the water to cling to the rocks on the shoreline, its mouth pursing as it inhaled...

Skyward brought up her shield, hearing a loud SPANG as the rock the Octorok had spat at her struck its surface. It rebounded off the shield and flew into the water...she began backing up, blocking more shots from the beast, but not one of the rocks struck the evil little purple thing. Finally, she had just about enough; scowling viciously, she lowered her head enough to shoot at it with an ice spell. A beam of frosty light erupted from her horn, streaking towards her foe...

CRACKLESPACKLEZZZZZZZING!

On impact, the spell froze the monster in a solid block of ice, which began to float away downstream as the current was going southwards. She smirked victoriously as she twirled her borrowed sword and replaced the sword and shield on her back, turning to leave the river. She continued across the field...but soon noticed that the shadows had grown rather long, and she frowned, looking up at the sun...

Skyward's mouth fell open in shock: it was almost bucking sunset?! How much time had passed? Goddesses time flew by when you got into a scrap! Her sire's words echoed in her head, a warning as she broke into a run, going back to the pathway she could see further down the way.

(...do not travel through Hayrule Field at night. Stop at Bridleriko Village for the night, then make haste with all speed to Hayrule Castle Town before the next eve falls....)

Before dark...

It became very clear to her then: there were actual monsters here, this wasn't the village or a pleasure jaunt, and if she wanted to survive, she'd damn well better do what she had been commanded to do! Din's flaming mane, if she was lucky she'd make it there just after sunset at this rate! Mentally she berated herself for losing focus of her mission's goal.

<This is what you get for goofing off Skyward, you moronic little foal! Your sire gave you a mission to carry out, so snap to it soldier or you won't live to see the next dawn!>

Her horn glowing silver, she cast a haste spell on herself, similar to the one she had used last night to increase her speed, and galloped as fast as she could, raising a cloud of dust behind her. The sun continued its descent across the sky, and as the air grew cooler, the sky began to change colors....

HOOOOOWWWWWLLL! YIP YIP AWWWWWOOOOOOOOOWWWW!

The bloodchilling ululation sent a shiver down her spine, and she risked a glance over her shoulder. She saw nothing in the growing dusk, but she continued to run; it wasn't even dark, but the cries were clear enough...it was a Wolfos, but how close it was, she knew not, and she kept running, praying it was just one and not a whole pack.

Haylian ponies, be they earth, unicorn or pegasi foal from the time they could walk, talk/show signs of magic/flight skill, were gathered together each day and taught to fight. They were taught to build muscle and stamina by running obstacle courses and carrying around stones tied to their bodies, being tested by unicorns for what sort of magic they were best suited for, flight skills and timing, each day for an hour, and that time increased as they grew older, planting and harvesting time permitting of course. If it was raining, they were training. If it was snowing, they were training. If it was a dry, hot day, they were training.

Most ponies would call this cruel and unusual punishment and foal abuse, but the outlying Haylian provinces scoffed at the soft city ponies who lived in Hayrule Castle Town. They had the Haylian Castle Guard, and with the current war going on in the Barren Wastes against the Gerudo pony tribe in the west, the army could not afford to come to the aid of the villages scattered throughout the kingdom...

Meaning that it was up to them to protect themselves. But Princess Zelda's father, King Valion Hayrule knew that without proper instruction, they would not stand a chance against enemy forces and thieves, and so many, many years ago he sent a few of his royal guards to each village to teach them how to fight effectively, and heal the wounds of their fellow ponies. Eventually, some of the guards decided to remain in those villages and ever since that time, every village was armed and ready to fight if the raiding parties or a skirmish happened within Hayrulean borders.

So too it was with Skyward, who had been born to Mossy Boulder and Inferno Flare, a unicorn mare whose fur, tail and mane resembled a roaring bonfire; gold with streaks of red. But Inferno Flare had died of chillcore sickness when Skyward was four years old and her brother Tempest was nine, leaving Mossy Boulder to care for both his foals, with the aid of the village. Skyward pricked her ears as a scuffing, clicking noise made itself known to her, along with heavy panting and a deep growl and she increased her speed, risking a glance over her shoulder...

The Wolfos chasing her was a medium sized one, with a tawny colored coat, but in the fading light it looked almost black. Its blazing orange eyes focused on her, its long red tongue hanging out of its maw as it salivated at the thought of feasting upon pony flesh. Skyward's mind raced as she struggled to think past the panic rising in her chest....Bridleriko had to be close; just had to be close by!

By Din's almighty teats, where were the glow of the gate lamps?!

The Wolfos snarled, increasing its own speed...Skyward felt anger surge through her at the thought of failure and she suddenly stopped short. She coiled her back legs, tensing up as she looked over her shoulder; the beast letting out a savage bay of victory as it sprang upon her, its razored teeth ready to rend flesh...

Only to get a vicious faceful of Skyward's rear hooves, and sent flying backwards with an agonized howl. There was a sickening crack when her hooves connected with the Wolfos's face, but she paid it no mind, taking off once more into the night in a blur of dark blue and indigo. Up ahead, twin points of light gleamed in the distance, and she could have cried in relief upon seeing them. Down a hill, up a rise...and as she got to the very top, she beheld her destination as lamps were lit and sentries changed places along the stone pillar watchtowers.

Bridleriko Village! At long last!

A wet sounding snarl echoed behind her and she spun around to see the wounded Wolfos scrambling to catch up to her, its paws scrabbling on the loose dirt and small stones. Blood ran from its jaw, which was swinging oddly for some reason...

StopbuckingstaringandRUNyouidiot!

She turned and bolted towards the gates, her horn glowing as she yanked something out of the saddlebags. It was a medium sized warhorn, carved of maple with leather cord tied to it. On either side of the horn was a raised carving of a rearing unicorn, it so lifelike it almost seemed as if it would leap off of the wood and start running. Skyward brought the horn to her lips and blew as hard as she could.

The sonorous call of the horn echoed through the growing twilight--she blew on it again, gasping now as her stamina began to give out. She being a mare, she didn't have as much stamina as a stallion did...which was why she had removed her warhorn from her saddlebags to call for help.

Three pegasi flew from their posts at the watchtowers to answer the horn's call...the leader spotted the Wolfos and barked commands at his two subordinates, pointing down with one hoof. The one on the left, a pale green and white stallion, angled his wings and shot off high into the sky; the one on the right, a deep purple with black streaks in his mane and tail, folded his wings, readying his spear as he dropped from the sky, aiming right for the Wolfos chasing the cloaked figure...

Just as the pain maddened beast was about to pounce on the fleeing figure, a pale green/white pegasus stallion swept in from the side and scooped her up, out of harm's way. Thwarted of its prize, the beast let out a furious howl...a howl that ended in a death scream as the other pegasus divebombed him from behind, his spear lodging itself right in the back of the Wolfos's head, piercing its brain and going deep. The purple and black pegasus soared up, did a wingover and hovered well above the thrashing beast, waiting for the death throes to settle before he retrieved his weapon and flew back to the gates, where his wingpony and leader waited for him. They were seated by one of the watchtower entrances for earth ponies and unicorn; he made a face at the ichor covered spear and tossed it against the watchtower's wall, coming forward to see the newcomer for himself.

The pale green/white pegasus was offering the cowled newcomer a cup of cool water from a built in fountain close by...silver light surrounded the cup as the pony brought it to their muzzle to take a long drink, coughing briefly before they spoke; he knew from seeing that the pony they had saved was a unicorn.

"My...my deepest thanks, sons of the sky. This one is in thy debt....how might I repay thou for thy kindness?"

The third pegasus stallion chuckled, his voice deep and stentorian when he spoke. He was an eggshell white, with an ice blue mane and tail, and his cutie mark was that of a whirling trio of snowflakes.

"You owe us nothing, milady battlemage, save thy name?"

"I am Skyward, of Fiador Village. I am traveling with all haste to Hayrule Castle on my sire's orders. Tis' most important I get there by tomorrow's sunset."

The three pegasi males looked at one another, noting the lack of completed name and the white/blue pegasus stallion nudged her gently. "Your sire sanctioned thy journey?"

"I know not, he knows the Elders well but spoke nothing of to them, he bade me go, with all haste...forgive me, I know not thy name, sir...?"

"Guard Captain Blizzard Burst, Skyward of Fiador. To my left is Jade Mist, to my right is Dark Wind, my wingponies. So your sire sent you to Hayrule Castle...who is your sire?"

"Mossy Boulder of Fiador, why?"

Blizzard Burst's ocher eyes widened in surprise and he peered closer to her, much to her consternation. "Mossy's your sire? Goddesses, so he did marry and have a filly...here I thought he wouldst have a colt!"

"My brother Tempest Wing was born first. I am the second born, Captain. My mother Inferno Flare died of chillcore when I was four seasons old," Skyward replied, her voice a bit snippy because she hated it when ponies compared her to her brother.

Blizzard Burst reached out with one wing and patted her shoulder. "Easy now; I meant no disrespect to thee or to thy clan. Why did thy father send thee alone? Not that thee did not give that vile beast what for...what didst thou do, cleave its jaw off? The wretch all but slavered its own blood."

"I stopped short and bucked it in the face, Captain; I had no choice but to slow it down somehow...EEEEYIIIIIIII!"

Skyward let out an unholy shriek and leaped off the stone bench she was sitting on, violently shaking her head and cursing a blue streak, given that the black and purple pegasus had just taken a drink of water himself and upon hearing what she had done to the Wolfos had done a spectacular spit take...
Unfortunately, the mare in question was well within blast range, and she took most of it right to the face. Mane and face soaked through with stallion spit and spring water, she stomped her front hooves and pawed the ground preparing to charge at her offender, rage burning in her royal blue eyes. But Blizzard Burst got there first, sharply snapping a wing at her for her to stand down as he faced his chagrined wingpony.

"The hay did you spit on her for, Dark Wind?! Explain thyself!"

Dark Wind instantly prostrated himself before his angry leader, backing his ears and tucking his tail, horrified at his own actions. "I meant no disrespect, sir; 'tis bad timing, Captain, I swear by the Goddesses! But one finds it hard to believe this mare bucked a Wolfos in the face and lived to tell the tale!"

"Given her sire was a Captain in the Haylian Army, it should come as no bucking surprise to you, soldier. Skyward might not have her cutie mark yet but she sure as sunrise has proven her mettle out in the Field. Now, thou owes her an apology, and it had better be a good one or I am making thou muck out the town latrines for a moonturn, dost thou hear me?"

Dark Wind nodded his head as he approached the still angry unicorn mare and bowed to her, opening his wings to show his sincerity. "Milady, I humbly beg thy pardon for my foalish actions. Truly I meant no disrespect to thee. Name thy wish to salve mine honor, and I shalt see to it."

If one pony had offended another pony, they could name an honor price; which was the offended pony could choose the punishment for the offender, within Hayrulean laws, and in this case pending approval from his superior officer. Skyward was more than tempted to request he be grounded for a solid week, but she knew she needed to get to Hayrule Castle Town before tomorrow evening, and above all else she would carry out her father's mission, her dignity be damned right now. "How fast can thee fly, Dark Wind?"

"I am quite fast, my lady. Jade Mist outstrips me by a wing's length, however...why dost thou ask?"

"If you can be spared thy post here at the gates I will need swift transport to Hayrule Castle Town at dawn. My sire gave me a mission and I will carry it through to the end, Goddesses strike me if I lie," came the cold reply as she stared him down.

Dark Wind glanced at Blizzard Burst, who stroked his chin with one hoof, thinking hard. He knew Mossy Boulder well, and he knew the earth pony wouldn't have defied his village's laws for nothing. Something stunk and it wasn't a rotting corpse, either. He needed to talk to Mossy Boulder, and sooner the better.

"Both of my lads shall get you to Hayrule Castle Town, Skyward. Thy sire sent thee for a solid reason, what is more, I knew thy father, and he does not usually go against the rules without a damned good reason. Jade Mist, take Skyward to the mares' barracks and make sure she is quartered for the night, unless you would prefer the town inn?"

"The barracks will be fine, Captain."

Blizzard Burst nodded at her approvingly, turning to look at Dark Wind. "I expect the both of thou to treat her with respect. At dawn, the two of thou will escort her to the gates of Hayrule Castle Town; and I do mean the gates themselves, not the damned bridge. Do I make myself clear?"

Both pegasi saluted their leader with a bellowed; "SIR YES SIR!" and Blizzard Burst gestured to Dark Wind. "Thou art coming with me. Jade Mist, take her to the barracks, make sure she gets food and a bath and find her a cot, then come back and find me."

The pale green/white pegasus saluted his captain and led the unicorn mare to the barracks, a long, low building hewn right into the stone walls of Bridleriko Canyon. He led her to the mess hall, and while she had herself a meal he spoke with the quartermaster, a large pale green earth pony, who nodded and took herself off into the barracks sleeping quarters. After her dinner, which consisted of roasted corn, acorn squash and blackeyed peas with bread and cheese, and cool water, Skyward felt exhaustion steal over her and she yawned mightily, covering her mouth with one hoof. The matronly looking green pony with a cornucopia filled to bursting with food cutie mark on her flank chuckled at her when she met her at the door, Jade Mist giving her a nod and a smile before he left to rejoin his leader.

"Well, young filly, come this way and let's get thee a hot bath before bed, aye?"

Skyward wanted to facehoof---young filly her plot--but she knew she would be labeled as such since she didn't have her cutie mark yet. She brought her things into the bathing room with her, and after a nice hot bath, she followed the green mare into the sleeping area.

"Rest well, youngling. Thou fought well today. Thou made thy clan proud."

Skyward managed a tired smile in return as she turned back the covers with her hooves. She could have used her magic, but pffft, the Goddesses gave her four good hooves and she preferred using them for simple tasks. "Please, wake me at dawn...umm...what is thy name?"

The green pony smiled at her warmly over her shoulder. "My name is Bountiful Harvest. Rank: Quartermaster."

Skyward saluted her, and the mare returned it with a nod. "Sleep well, Skyward of Fiador. I shalt wake thee when dawn comes."

Skyward settled back into the rough linen sheets and simple blankets, tugging them over herself proper. With another yawn, she closed her eyes as she fell almost instantly into slumber.