Author's Notes:

My editor Peers is back in the game!

The Unicorns have a Matriarchal Caste system. The High bloods have great magical talents and are set as the highest caste. The Common bloods have normal magical talents but can produce low or high bloods and are the most common unicorns. The low bloods have little magic and are ostracized by the common and high bloods. They are set to do menial work and no matriarchal mare will allow a low blood mare to breed with one of their stallions. All low blood stallions are gelded to keep them from passing on their traits.

The next few days were rather uneventful. Happy found signs of a manticore, but it seemed the beast was unwilling to face such a large and well armed group of ponies. They were careful to skirt around the Ophies Pteretois nest. They didn't want a repeat of what happened last time.

With the help of Morning and Mustard, they found the spot where the enchanted pool had once stood. Walking around the dry basin, they were perplexed by the speed the pond had apparently dried up. Not even any mud remained in the dry earth. Despite this, Dark had them spend a whole day digging out a channel out of the basin so it could never hold water again and kicking in rocks and dirt to fill it in even more. When they were done, all traces of the depression was gone. Morning and Mustard were the last to walk over the flattened ground, leaning herself into Morning's side, they both left, joining the rest as they set off to make camp.

Sitting around the fire, Morning recited to Moon Lily and to the other new mares, a bit of their history. With his head held high, Morning told of the events that lead to the formation of the herd as it now stands with Meadowlark as Herd Mother and Dark as the Herd Father.

"I am a mother!" Morning said, his voice pitched to do a rather good impression of Meadowlark. "Behind me, stands all my daughters! As a mother, I care for my daughters and I am very displeased with all of you stallions for failing them! For your failures to care for my daughters, I have taken them all back! And I henceforth kick out all stallions from my herd!"

All the mares gasped, their eyes going wide with amazement as they listened to Morning. Little Moon Lily giggled and clomped her hooves together. Listening to Morning's rather impressive recitation of Meadowlarks confrontation with the old stallions, Mustard smiled as she sat with sky. She was proud of him for discovering his talent, but at the same time she hated him for finding it before she did. She'll have to think of a special way to make him pay for that.

"Mustard, Sky?" Mirage stepped out of the dark. "Dark would like to see you two."

Mustard exchanged looks with Sky. Why would he want to see them? Following after Mirage, they made their way over to where Dark had his fire. Sitting with him around the fire was Starless Night, Mosswood and Pebble Steam to his right, with Grand Mesa and Tranquil Charm sitting further around on the other side. Tranquil didn't look up at them as they sat down.

"You wanted to see us, Herd Father?" Mustard asked.

Dark let out a deep breath and looked over at her and Sky. "You two have put me into an awkward position."

Mustard blinked at Dark, confused as to what he was meaning.

"Normally this would be considered Mares’ business, and I would wisely stay out of it," Dark continued, "but, since I am in charge of this company and all that happens in it, I am forced to take a reluctant hoof in the matter."

Mustard felt Sky shifting beside her as her gut tightened in apprehension. "Father? I don't understand. What did we do?"

Dark gestured across to Grand. "Recently, Grand Mesa has become extremely upset with something the two of you did." He took another breath and let it out with a sigh. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else at that moment, than there. "Apparently, the two of you told young Tranquil… how foals were made."

Mustard and Sky both exchanged surprised glances with each other. This was not something they were expecting. "We... we thought that because of her age, she should know something important like that. After all, with all the stallions around, something could happen that she's not ready for."

"She does make an interesting point," Pebble spoke up. Turning she looked back to Grand. "Why were you keeping this from her?"

Grand Mesa nervously looked around as everypony waited for her to answer. "I... I wanted to keep her from being hurt."

Pebble shook her head, confused at her answer. "What do you mean by that? How can knowing so simple a thing as that, hurt her."

"Because she's not allowed to breed," Starless answered simply. "Neither of them are."

"Is this true!?" Mirage asked, shocked.

Grand looked down and slowly nodded. "We are low bloods. Our weak bloodlines are seen as unfit to continue so we are not allowed into the breeding stables."

"That's monstrous!" Pebble exclaimed in outrage, her eyes flashing in rage. "Every mare should have the right to bare a foal!"

"Letting all the low bloods to breed as they please!?" Starless shook her head. "That would destroy us! Our bloodlines would be so diluted, we wouldn't be able to raise or lower the sun and moon anymore!"

"But still," Pebble muttered sullenly, "it's just not right."

"I thought that way too," Grand added, her voice taking on a sad note. "One night, when I was younger, I snuck into the breeding stables. I was terrified that I may be caught and I nearly turned back several times, but my desperation made me press on. When I came across a stallion, he was surprised at finding me wandering around in the dark of the night. He saw how scared I was and knew that I shouldn't be there, but he could also sense my readiness. Other stallions were also drawn to my scent but the first one warned them off and quickly took me away to his sleeping pen.

"He spoke with me and learned the reason I had to sneak in at night rather than coming openly during the day. He was moved by my plight and agreed to mate with me and give me the foal I wanted. He was older than me and well experienced with breeding new-time mares. His touches were gentle and his words were soothing as he eased my youthful fears. My memories of the short time I spent with him that night, are held in a special place in my heart. When the deed was done and I was bred, I slipped back out, never to see him again.

"Over the next few months, I noticed the signs that our mating was successful and I was with foal. I was overjoyed, and like a fool, I let slip to others that I was pregnant." Grand paused to stare down into the fire. "The Casters came for me a few days later. They questioned and hurt me, forcing me to tell them how I came to be with foal. The stallion's mother was furious when she was told and demanded that something be done. They made me eat dark, broad-bladed leaves that tasted horrible and beat me, kicking me in my stomach. A few hours after I was released, I started to have painful cramps that had me crying on the ground." Tears began to drip off of Grand's muzzle. "They killed my unborn foal." Grand looked over to Tranquil. "That is why I didn't want her to know. I wanted to save her from making the same mistake I did."

Mustard felt sick. Rising with Sky, they both crossed over to Grand. "We're sorry. We had no idea."

"We should have come to you first, before telling her.” Sky finished.

Grand looked up at them in surprise. She was unused to ponies apologizing to her. Smiling, she gave her head a little shake. "No, it's okay. Despite my good intentions, I shouldn't have been keeping this from her. I was wrong for doing it."

Tranquil reached out and hugged her. "Mother Grand. You have been there for me since I've been little. You were the mother I needed to have. I love you."

"Well," Mosswood said explosively. "Since everything seems to have worked out just fine and I'm apparently not needed. I'll bid you all a goodnight." With that, she got up and slipped off to rejoin her companions.

"Grand Mesa, Tranquil Charm," Mustard said. "You are both welcome to join us at our fire. Morning's been teaching the new mares our history and it's actually quite entertaining to watch."

"That... sounds wonderful. Thank you." Grand accepted, sounding oddly grateful.

Mustard and Tranquil both got on each side of Grand's litter and together they lifted her up. "I'm coming with you," Pebble called out, joining them. "I want to spend more time with Sky, and her little chubby tummy."

"My tummy is not chubby!" Sky complained in outrage. "Mustard, is my stomach chubby?"

The next few days, they made good time. They crossed back over the rolling grasslands and entered the western woods. Knowing how close they were to finally be back home with all their loved ones, many of the ponies started to sing. Ash felt a sense of joy at thinking that he would soon be back with Meadowlark, Celestia, and Luna. He was really looking forward to being swept up into Meadowlarks hooves and hugged so tightly he wouldn't be able to breathe.

He was also looking forward to being back with Celestia. He missed her more than anything. There were times where he dreamed of her at night, and he felt a sadness when he awoke in the morning to find she was not there.

That night, they made camp atop a small hill that was clear of trees. Ash had trouble falling asleep and stayed up late gazing up at the night sky. He traced the constellations with his hoof one by one, naming them as he did so. The Elder Tree, the Fishing Bear, the Drifting Leaf, the Lonely Mare, the Great River, the Mother Goose followed by her three goslings.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked.

Glancing over, he saw Starless looking at him curiously.

Ash had never spoken to her before. "I couldn't sleep, so I'm tracing out the constellations."

"Oh, I see," she said, nodding. "It looked to me like you were trying to write in the heavens."

Ash paused to look back at Starless in confusion. "Like I was trying to what?" He was unfamiliar with the word write.

"To write," she answered again. "You know. To scratch words into things."

Ash shook his head, perplexed at what she was meaning. Scratching words into things!?

"Here, I'll show you." Starless's horn glowed in the night and a stick lifted out of the wood pile next to the low burning fire. Going to the dirt before the colt, the stick began to drag strange lines in the ground. "This means Pony."

Ash studied the strange marks in the dirt. The swirls and loops looked nothing like a pony. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, we do it to keep records of our history," she answered, scratching something else down. "There are entire chambers in our mountain whose walls are absolutely covered in our history and lore. Written out into the very stones of the mountain with the magic of my forebears. The Matriarch that lead us to live there was named Mystic Stars, and I was able to read the words she had left behind long after she had gone to the ages."

Ash watched as she finished scratching the swirling lines next to the first one. "What does that one mean?"

"It means several things." Starless explained. "It can mean soil, dirt, land, or earth."

Ash mused over it for a moment. "So both of them together means, Earth Pony?"

"That is correct," Starless said with an amused quirk of her lip.

Reaching out his hoof, Ash attempted to copy the marks she had made using the edge of his hoof. It was harder than he thought and he had to restart several times before he sat back with a relieved breath. "How's that?"

Starless looked it over and gave him a satisfied nod. "Not bad. It's a bit sloppy in the loops, but otherwise it's quite good for a first try."

"I want to try again." Ash smoothed out the dirt, erasing his work.

"Here use this," Starless said, holding out the stick for him to take.

This time as he worked, Ash kept his lines more neat.

"Your name is Ash, right?" Starless asked as he worked. "I was curious about something. Do Earth Ponies have magic?"

Ash paused to look up at her. "My papa and many of the others think we do. There's a mare back home named Greenhoof, that says that she can feel a kind of power in her hooves when she works out in her fields, passing it over to the plants she tends to, allowing them to grow faster and healthier. Others have said that they feel tireless when they're hauling in heavy loads of lumber from the forest, saying that they can feel the strength of the forest seeping into them."

"Interesting," Starless said thoughtfully, her hoof idly played with her golden necklace at her throat. "And what about you?"

Ash knew he had magic, but his was different. His magic was related to one of the Trees of Harmony. Papa told him not to tell any others about it, especially Starless. He even went around and told every pony who witnessed the event with the hydra to not speak of it. He didn't know why his papa wanted to keep his magic secret from her, but he also didn't want to lie. "I'd like to think that I have magic."

Starless's eyes examined him carefully as she considered his answer, her hoof continuing to play with her necklace.

Her careful scrutiny of him made him feel a bit nervous. Did she suspect the he was holding something back from her? "You're a unicorn. You know magic. How about you study Earth Ponies and see if we really do have any magic?"

Starless blinked at him in surprise. "Study Earth Ponies?"

"Yes!" Ash said happily, raising his voice. "You said it yourself that Unicorns know very little of Earth Ponies. Just think of it. You could be the first to witness a new kind of magic!"

She gazed down at him thoughtfully. "That's... an interesting idea."

Ash smoothed out his scratches in the dirt. "Can you teach me how to mark my name?"

Starless lifted another stick out of the wood pile with her magic, "Sure, there's a word that will work. It goes like this."

Across the low burning fire, Dark lay with his head resting on his mat. His hooded eyes gazed thoughtfully over to Starless and Ash as she taught him to write his name.

The next day, they set off early. Mirage helped to carry her mother's litter up front so she could be close to Dark. Her health was still frail and she slept for much of the time, but being close to her son seemed to lift her spirits some. Working their way through the forest slowed them down, but Happy was confident that they would arrive back home before sunset.

They stopped for lunch by a small stream and ate a quick meal. Many of the ponies were eager to resume their journey so they could be back home sooner. Their progress through the western forest was steady and by the time the sun was drawing close to the horizon behind them, they all began to notice the smell of smoke.

Dark asked Sky to fly up to see if she could see where the smoke was coming from. After a short while she returned with some disturbing news. "There's a lot of smoke coming from the settlement!" She reported quickly. "It was hard to make out, but it looked like it was being attacked. The fires were set up to make a barrier."

"How far away are we?" Dark asked, his voice stiffly controlled.

"Not far. About two hills over will bring you to its edge," she answered.

"Did you see what was attacking them?" Dark slid his pack off and pulled his spear out. "Did they look like wolves?"

Sky shook her head. "No. Wolves are sleek and long, moving with a swift grace that are lacking in whatever these things are. They are rounded in a bulbous kind of way, and they seem to crawl along the ground.

Dark racked his mind for what it could be and only came up with one thing. The thought that his home and the ponies he loved being attacked by those horrid things sent a cold chill running down his spine. "Ground Pound! Have every spear bearer take up their weapons and gather before me now!"

"Dark! What is happening!?" Mirage asked, rushing up to him.

"The settlement is being attacked by giant spiders," Dark answered.

Starless let out a hiss when she heard what he had said. "Gigas Arachne!"

Dark turned to her. "You know of these things?"

Starless nodded. "Yes. About a hundred years ago, a nest of Gigas Arachne was discovered nearby when unicorns started to vanish during the night. The Casters attacked and eradicated those disgusting creatures down to the very last one!" she said proudly. "We've not seen them since, but stories are still told of them. I want to come with you when you attack. My magic can help."

"Thank you," Dark said. Turning he looked down at Ash. "Ash. I want you to stay here."

"But Papa!"

"No! Listen to me!" Dark ordered sternly. "I am taking most of the spears with me and that is going to leave the rest of the ponies out here with little to defend themselves with. I need you to stay with them and protect them for me! It's important and I need you to do this for me!"

Ash felt stupid and selfish for not considering the safety of the ponies that were being left behind. There were young foals with their mothers and several ponies that needed to be carried on litters. "Yes, Papa."

Off to one side, Morning and Mustard were in a heated argument about whether she was coming with them on the attack. "You are not coming and that's final!" Morning shouted.

"I'm coming with you and you can't stop me!" Mustard argued back, trying to keep Morning from taking her spear away. "And that's final!"

"No you're not! It's dangerous down there and I don't want you to get bitten!"

"Oh! Somepony is going to get bitten, but I assure you it's not going to be me!" Mustard snapped angrily.

"Stop it the both of you!" Dark commanded sternly. "Mustard. You're staying here! I'm putting you in charge of the ponies here. Arm every able bodied pony you can and set up defenses until we come back for you." Dark's voice softened. "Keep my ponies safe. Please."

Mustard gaped at him for a moment before she finally nodded. Snatching her spear back from Morning's grasp, Mustard gave him a withering glare. "Don't think this is over. If you get yourself killed, I'll make you regret it!" Whirling about, she snapped her tail across his face with a stinging slap before moving back to join those who were staying behind.

With a last look at Ash, Dark took up his spear and galloped off. Behind him, Ground Pound and the five remaining spear bearers followed his lead with Starless taking up the rear.

Pushing himself and the ponies with him, Dark and the ponies with him practically flew across the land until they suddenly broke out of the western woods. Ahead of them, smoke billowed up in multiple locations inside the compound, mostly to the north where the river was. Along the wooden walls, could be seen the bulbous forms of the spiders as they worked their way around the choking smoke.

Breaking into a run, Dark dashed across the field to the gate which was barred with logs set across the gap. They were locked out! The sound of two thumps to the ground announced that their presence had not been unnoticed. Two spiders that had leaped down from the wall, skittered towards them, their mouthparts clicking with their eagerness.

A flash, followed by a booming crack, blasted one of the spiders back into the wall with enough force, it blew a hole right through it! Starless leveled her fiercely glowing horn at the second spider and sent another magical blast into it sending it off to join the first one, knocking a even bigger hole in the wall. A hole big enough for them to fit through!

"Follow me!" Dark shouted and rushed to the hole. Ducking through, Dark found the smoking remains of the two spiders splattered across the ground. Their hard shelled bodies broken open. Inside the compound, webs covered many of the huts, and strands were seen spanning down from the walls. Spider bodies littered the ground everywhere he looked. Some had been piled together into great heaps, showing that this attack had been going on for quite some time. A great deal of the bodies he saw were about the same size of wolves with most of them being about half of that.

Being careful to not get caught in any webbing, Dark rushed over to the nearest hut and looked inside. Finding it empty he quickly moved to the next one and once he got the door open, he saw that it too was empty.

"If they followed the defense plan, they all should be in the longhouse." Ground Pound pointed out.

"Right. Let's hope they're all safe there!" Dark said.

Moving further into the compound, they soon had difficulty avoiding all the webbing that was strung all about. Comet Tail carelessly brushed up against a strand and was immediately stuck. Trying to use a spear to cut the strand only got the spear stuck as well. It took a bolt of magic from Starless to finally cut him free, though he did end up with a burnt patch of hide as a reminder to watch where he was going more carefully.

Weaving their way through the mess of webbing was time consuming, and occasionally they had to stop to fight off some of the smaller spiders that attacked them. The smaller ones weren't difficult to deal with. Usually all it took was a good buck or a swift stab of a spear to dispatch them. They were becoming more persistent with their attacks. Dropping down from above or just crawling out from hidden locations, their numbers began to increase the closer they got to the longhouse.

Making their way through a section of webbing that Starless had cleared with her magic, spiders started swarming in on them from every direction. Most were the smaller ones, but one was far larger, about half the size of a pony.

Dispatching one of the smaller ones with a quick buck of his hoof, Dark turned and stabbed his spear, aiming for the larger one's grotesque chattering face. With a nimbleness that surprised him, it suddenly slipped to the side to dodge his attack, causing his spear tip to shatter against its hard shell. With its fangs dripping venom, it lunged toward him. Desperately, Dark reversed his spear and struck the spider to the side with the butt end of it, just barely avoiding its bite. Infuriated at having been denied it's prey, the spider turned and furiously charged back at him. Dark was ready with his spear and with a mighty crack he slammed his spear down onto its head as hard as he could, killing it.

"Look out!" Ground shouted at Starless, spotting a spider that was about to land on her back from some webbing above her. With a quick swipe of his shaggy hoof, he knocked a spider into the side of a hut with a sickening crack, that split it open. "Pay attention, it almost got you!"

Starless whirled herself around, and to his shock, she sent a bolt of magic searing down past his hind legs, just barely missing him. He was about to snap at her, but stopped when he noticed the remains of a spider that had just been about to bite him, lying just behind his leg. Starless gave him an amused smirk and resumed blasting spiders. Letting out a grunt, Ground slammed his hoof down onto another spider.

Their fight was fierce and messy. When it was finally over, all their hooves were dripping with spider ichor and the air stank of its putrid scent. Panting for breath, Dark watched as Ground Pound dispatched a wounded spider that was trying to crawl away with a swift stomp of his massive hoof. His legs were soaked all the way up to his barrel and even his chest and throat was heavily splattered with fluids from his numerous victories. Next to him, Starless sneered in distaste as she flicked a glob off her rather clean cloudy blue coat.

"Herd Father!" Comet Tail shouted urgently as he helped to support a young mare named Precious Rose. "She's been bitten! What do we do!?"

Starless quickly rushed over. "Show me where!" Looking closely at the two swollen punctures on the side of Precious Rose's neck, Starless bent forward and touched her glowing horn to them. Precious Rose cried out in pain as clear fluid mixed with blood began to weep out of her two punctures. After a short while, Starless lifted her horn away as she finished drawing out the spider venom. "I did what I could, but I don't know how much good I did."

"How do you feel?" Dark asked, stepping close to her.

"I feel... really sleepy," Precious murmured, her eyes were unfocused and she was struggling to look at him.

"Try to stay awake! We'll get you help," he told her. "Comet. You're going to need to carry her."

Setting off, they resumed their attempt to reach the center of the compound. They were so close now! Coming to another wall of webbing, Starless began to cut at it with her magic. It was much thicker this time and it was taking Starless longer to cut through it.

Suddenly, the webbing she was working on burst open as an enormous spider, almost twice as big as a pony, lunged through it! Starless let out a terrified scream as it charged right at her, its large mouthparts eagerly clicking together in anticipation of juicy pony flesh. Just before it reached her, Ground suddenly raced past her and slammed both of his hooves into it! With a grunt of effort he set his back hooves firmly into the soil and brought the spiders great bulk to an abrupt halt just a pace away from her.

Blinking in shocked amazement, Starless watched as Ground slowly began to force the spider back, step by step. The creature's fangs were bared just before Ground's face, but the stallion ignored them as he continued to heave it back with his great strength. The spider's legs dug furrows into the dirt as it desperately attempted to halt itself until it finally found purchase against the sides of a pair of huts.

The area around them came alive with spiders as they started to attack from every direction! Dark quickly shouted orders to the rest of the ponies to form a defensive ring.

Ground's muscles strained as he heaved ever harder. Starless was at a loss, she had never seen such strength before! The spider's legs began to lift off the ground as Ground began to force the spider up. Chattering in alarm, the massive spider lashed out with one of its legs, knocking Ground away with a hard blow to his side and sending him flying back to crash painfully into the ground.

Free, the spider skittered toward the prone stallion as he struggle to rise. Running to his side, Starless shot blasts of magic at the spider, but they bounced off its hard shell with little if no effect. Switching her efforts, she sent a dazzle spell bursting into the spider's face. With a bright flash, colored lights exploded out, causing the spider to leap back in alarm and stagger about in sudden confusion.

Ground Pound gathered himself and stood, his usually gentle eyes were now hard as stone. Starless was amazed he was able to even stand after the hard blow he had received. With dirt falling off his muscled shoulders, Ground let out a snort and charged at the massive spider.

Roaring with rage, Ground reared up and slammed his hoof into the side of the spider with a mighty blow that staggered the creature into the side of a hut. Recovering quickly, the spider lunged back at Ground, who met it's attack with another powerful punch that sent the spider sliding back. Blow after blow, the brute of a stallion struck the spider with his massive hooves. Cracks started to appear on its hard shell and the spider let out a loud chattering as it retreated back from his relentless blows.

Suddenly, another spider, the size of a pony, rushed at Ground from behind! Starless shouted out a warning to Ground as she shot a bolt of magic into the spider, scoring its hard shell and causing it to stumble for a moment. Alerted to the new threat, Ground planted his front hooves firmly into the earth and bucked out with both his hind hooves as hard as he could. The blow to the smaller spider was devastating. It's legs left the ground as it flew back and crashed down onto his back.

Snorting in irritation, Starless lowered her horn and charged. If she couldn't hurt it with magic on the outside, perhaps there was another way she could do it. With a jarring crunch, her horn speared deeply into the spider until her forehead came to rest against its body. Gritting her teeth in disgust, Starless gathered her magic and released it in one massive blast directly into its grotesque body. The spider's legs kicked wildly in the air as steam and fluids bubbled out of it's cracked shell from its seared and boiling innards. In moments, its legs went still as it died. Yanking her horn free, Starless felt the creature's warm ichor running down her muzzle and cheeks and she sneered in revulsion.

Ground had a gash in shoulder that bled down his leg, but despite his injury, he continued to relentlessly attack the massive spider. Letting out a strange hiss of rage, the spider lashed out with one of its numerous legs as it attempted to fend off the stallion's savage assaults. Dodging back, Ground raised his hoof and brought it down on it’s leg as it passed him, shattering it with a crack that left it dangling!

The spider reared back with a strange squealing-clicking sound. With a reckless leap, the spider lunged at Ground with its fangs bared. Instead of dodging or falling back from the unexpected move, Ground charged forward to meet its attack head on. Starless heard Ground's name suddenly being screamed and she was shocked to realize that it had come from her.

Rearing up at the last moment, Ground lifted his right hoof back and slammed it right into the spiders ugly face with a sickening crunch that crushed its head in. With a whomp that shook the ground, the massive spider's body collapsed into the dirt where it lay dead. Ground Pound stood over his defeated opponent and panted for breath as he looked back at Starless.

Starless' heart raced in her chest at the sight of him and she nearly swooned. What was with these Earth Ponies!? The spider probably outweighed him by two or three times and it was twice his size! And still he beat it to death with his bare hooves! Feeling her face suddenly flushing, Starless firmly clamped her tail down as it threatened to expose her aroused marehood.

Tearing her attention away, Starless saw that the others were still fighting. She had used up a great deal of her magic killing that last spider and she couldn't keep using her magic bolts for much longer. She would need to come up with another way to fight that didn't use so much magic. Seeing a discarded spear, Starless grabbed it up in her magic and took some experimental swings with it. Smiling, she gave a satisfied nod. This could work.

Wading into the fight with her spear whirling around her, she smashed the butt of her spear straight down onto a spider that was darting toward her with a satisfying crunch. Next, she slashed a spider in half as it descended down on from above. She stabbed, clubbed, crushed and dismembered every spider that came into her reach. She had become death, and she smiled.

Spiders continued to stream in from all sides. Most of them were small and easy to dispatch, but some were larger with harder shells. Most of their spear-tips were broken during the fighting, so they were making due with using just the shafts and their hooves. Their defensive ring was growing smaller as they were forced inward by their vast numbers and it became clear to them that it was only a matter of time before they fell to the spiders.

As they fought, the ground beneath their hooves started to rumble. Ponies looked about as they wondered what new horror was about to descend onto them. Charging out from the gap left in the webbing, a host of armed ponies appeared and began slaughtering the spiders around them. Instead of using spears, the ponies had long, rounded stones strapped to the end of shortened poles. Their new weapons proved rather devastating to the spiders as they smashed and crushed their way through their numbers with ease. The ponies’ limbs were wrapped with what looked like rope, covering most of their exposed skin and draped down their necks and backs was more rope that had been woven into some kind of matting. Their heads were encased from their ears down to their muzzles with a strange wooden carving that had holes bored through them for them to see through.

Three pony sized spiders huddled closely together as they attempted to hold off the new attackers. The wolf-headed stallion boldly charged in and with a heavy swing of his weapon, crushed one of them to the ground, killing it with a single blow. One of the spiders leapt forward and bit the wolf headed stallion in his exposed side, but its fangs were unable to penetrate the rope mesh that protected him. Freeing his weapon, the stallion smashed it into its face as it went to bite at him again. With its head caved in by the blow, the spider crumpled to the ground, convulsing with its legs twitching and digging at the dirt as it died. The third spider was apparently smarter and quickly fled, disappearing over a web covered hut.

It didn't take long after that for them to clear up the rest of the spiders who either fled off after the larger one or were simply killed off. The wolf headed stallion trotted over to Dark and bowed his head down. "Welcome back Herd Father. I apologize for not coming to your aid sooner."

"Strongbuck?" Dark asked in disbelief, recognizing the stallion's voice from under the carved wolf head.

The stallion reached up and tipped his wolf head back to show his tired looking face. "It's good to see you. It's not safe to talk out here. Where are the rest of the ponies that were with you?"

"I left them out in the western woods. What happened here? What of Meadowlark and my foals? Are they alright?" Dark asked hurriedly.

"The Herd Mother, Celestia and Luna are all okay. They are safely back in the longhouse with the rest of the ponies." Strongbuck explained. "Hopefully, the ponies you left in the western woods won't be noticed. There's not much we can do for them today, it's about to get dark. Come on. We can talk when we get back to the longhouse." As he turned, Strongbuck paused to blink in surprise at Starless. A quick flash of alarm flickered across his eyes as he met her gaze but then he slipped his wolf head back down and trotted off ahead.