Nightshade groaned. "Sorry. Apparently I'm turning into my dad." She donned a bandolier of throwing knives and tossed her bag over her back. "This should be a simple job. Let's try to have a bit of fun."
Nightshade took off towards the the southeast, gradually curving their path north as they flew. To a pony without navigation training, which she really hoped Raven was, it would have seemed they were flying a straight path. They landed in a clearing about ten miles south of Hollow Shades. Nightshade tossed Raven a small bottle with the image of a weasel printed on the label. "Here. Put a couple drops in each eye. "
"Err, alright." Raven obeyed, wincing slightly as the liquid made contact with her eyeballs, a feeling she wasn't fond of. "Gotta say, this area seems kinda... sorta..."
"Familiar? Everything pretty much looks alike when you're this far into to forest," Nightshade said quickly. She hated lying to Raven, but she didn't see any other option. She took the bottle of eye drops and used them herself, then slipped it into a pouch on her bandolier.
"Makes sense. So what's that stuff do, exactly?" Meanwhile, back at the bar, Asmo and Az helped the new parents get the doors locked up.
"Weasel tears," Nightshade answered. "Weasels are the only animal immune to a cockatrice glare. Weasel tears mixed with a few other things slow the petrification process. Basically, it gives you about twenty minutes instead of ten seconds."
"It is, isn't it?" She glanced around, trying to figure out where to start. "Okay. Right now, your eyes and nose are better than mine. You smell anything odd? Kinda like a weird mix of snake and chicken?"
Nightshade squinted at the tree above her, and spotted a drey high up in the branches. "Huh," she said, impressed. "So there is. You're pretty good at this, even for a Bat. Somepony teach you?"
Nightshade arched an eyebrow. "Sore subject?" she wondered, "Her parents, maybe?" She looked around, finally spotting a small game trail heading into the forest. She cocked her ears, listening, and heard the faint trickle of a stream in the distance. "Over there. That trail leads to the local watering hole. That's probably where the 'trice hunts."
She shook her head. "A cockatrice is an ambush predator. Much better at it than us. I'm hoping we can pick up its trail by the water, and track it to its den."
"That makes more sense. You sure we shouldn't have just brought like a flamethrower? Or... like would that backfire?"
"We still have to think about the missing ponies. If we kill the cockatrice before it releases them from the curse, they might not be found for years. They might never be found."
"We make it look at its own reflection. Cockatrices aren't immune to the petrification curse. When it realizes what's happening, it'll panic and release itself-- and everypony else-- from the curse. That's when we finish it off." She thought for a moment, then continued. "Oh, and try to make it a clean kill. Just about every part of a 'trice is valuable."
