Lostore stood on a hill in the Salquedor grasslands, feeling the wind blow through his pure-white mane. He was a black Pegasus, although he couldn't fly as he had lost a wing as a small child, leaving him with just the one white wing. He was still by no means old for a pegasus, despite the fact that he was about 100 years old. His eyes were a mix of blue and green, and against his black coat, sparkled like stars in the midnight sky.

Lostore heard someone approaching, but he didn't care. He just wanted to feel the breeze in his mane. He thought about it, and decided that he could stay here forever, if no one stopped him. It was such a beautiful morning he thought.

The raptalon let out a sharp screech before lunging at one of Adeliâ's legs. She skittered to the side just in time to evade the jaws of the pony-sized creature. The Nightmare Pegasus arched her neck and unfurled her two great wings. Each brown-tipped feather was neatly arranged, none broken or tattered in any way. She positioned her wings to face forward toward the small dragon, an attempt to make her appear bigger and more intimidating. It was unfazed, and continued its assault by emitting a guttural growl. Behind the raptalon was a large burrow in the ground, half-collapsed and dirt flooding its recesses. Adeliâ snorted and took several steps backward. Her flaming hooves began to heavily scorch the grass, causing smoke to rise and a quiet sizzling noise to riddle the air. The raptalon itself was less than a third Adeliâ's size, but it was much quicker than she was. Its strikes were lightning-fast and hard to dodge. It was covered in tiny brown scales. Its short legs and bulky tail were very crocadilian, but its head had a beak similar to a stegosaurus dinosaur. Two tiny ears were pinned back in anger. The beast continued to hiss and screech for several moments, trying with all its will to get Adeliâ to just go away.

When the raptalon struck again, Adeliâ was prepared. She lifted her super-hot hoof moments before the drake's beak struck it. It yelped in pain and bounced backward. Steam rose from the burn. The collision had scraped off the scales in the impact area, allowing the soft flesh beneath to burn to a crisp. Adeliâ snorted and folded her wings slightly, taking the moment to make an escape while the raptalon was writhing in pain. She turned to her right and trotted off, hooves no longer scorching the ground. Adeliâ slowly built up speed until she was in a full gallop. The fire emitted from her hooves couldn't move at the same speed she was going and flew backwards in a long trail. While racing at top speed she slowly opened up her wings, enjoying the wind rushing over her feathers. Two flaps of the large appendages later, Adeliâ was gently gliding a foot above the ground.

An hour passed by. The Salquedor Grasslands were so vast that she still had not reached its boundaries. Adeliâ prepared herself to ascend in altitude when a black spot caught her eye several yards away. Curious, she landed and trotted closer. She could barely make out a horselike figure atop a hill, but she dared not move closer.
"State your name, stranger!" she yelled, confident she was loud enough for it to hear accross the distance between them. She could have assumed that anything black-colored was evil...but look at her.

Lostore thought he heard whoever it was yell something. "State your name, stranger!" it yelled. Lostore turned around and looked to see who it was. It appeared to be another black pegasus. Slowly walking down the hill towards the other, Lostore called out, "Lostore. And yours?" as he moved closer, the black Pegasus before him appeared....different. It appeared...evil. Lostore stopped a short distance away from Adelia, and smelt the air, to see if it smelled evil. Smell evil? What on earth am I doing? he thought and mentally laughed to himself. It doesn't smell like anything I've ever seen before. I hope it doesn't attack, because it has two wings and can fly, I'll bet. I can't fly, so I'd be at even more of a disadvantage. I had better be careful.

Lostore kept his eyes on the stranger, who seemed to be equally apprehensive. Lostore flexed his single white wing a bit, which was little more than a nervous habit. All the same, Lostore wished that he had two wings, but alas, it was not his privilige to fly. Maybe someday, when I die, I'll go see mother, and we'll fly together again.

"Adeliâ." was all she said in her answer. "What are you doing here?" It was then that she noticed Lostore's complete lack of a wing. She took a step back in surprise. One-winged pegasi were considered abominations of pegasus society. Good thing I'm not apart of pegasus society, she thought, chuckling to herself. She never thought of herself as an outcast. The only problem she ever had with fitting in was that her evil appearance gave off a bad first impression. Lostore himself didn't seem too threatening to Adeliâ. He looked younger than her, anyway. Adeliâ opened both her wings horizontally and stretched them for a few seconds.

Time passed by without any movement or speech. Finally: "Hey, do you hear tha---" The air was forced out of Adeliâ's lungs when a brown streak flew straight into her side. The raptalon had followed her. It soared upward, flapping its leathery wings and screeching in triumph. Adeliâ almost fell from the impact and she winced at the gash the drake's beak had made. The equine closed her eyes for several seconds. The fire covering her hooves began to expand and completely engulf her legs. It continued up to her shoulderblades, her head, and the rest of her body until she was eventually completely covered in a thick cloak of fire. She tossed Lostore an absent glance. "If you don't want to get hurt or can't defend yourself, I suggest you run." Her attention shot up to the raptalon, who was preparing himself for another dive at Adeliâ. As it arched around to position itself for the next attack, it suddenly tumbled through the air, emitting cries of pain. A blur of blue feathers was goring the creature.

Adeliâ leapt powerfully into the air and spiraled around the aerial fight. A blue hawk was the culprit. The raptalon kicked it away and glanced toward the ground, but Adeliâ wasn't there. A flaming hoof came into view and the beast was knocked into the ground. After she landed immediately next to Lostore, the blue hawk alighted on a nearby boulder, carefully watching the two. Adeliâ turned her head toward the one-winged pegasus. "I apologize for the interruption. I had accidentally stepped on that creature's burrow, and it seemed so full of contempt that it followed me all accross Salquedor." Adeliâ narrowed her eyes at the raptalon, which was laying on the ground either dead or unconscious.

Lostore looked down at the creature, and then at Adelia's flaming hooves, then at Adelia, "I would be too if my home got torched..." Lostore stopped for a moment, seeming to be lost in thought. That's right, it was. They burned it and took us captive. And then, well, the rest is evident... Lostore looked up again at Adelia, and said, "Sorry about spacing off there for a minute. So, do you have anywhere you plan on going? I'm kind of wandering around, and I'd be happy for some company."



[soooooo sorry it's that short, class is about to start GAH!!!]