Torrential enjoyed walking. 

While he often enjoyed going for a fly every now and then due to his connection with the sky and the rain, Torrential felt most at home with his hooves on slightly muddy ground as the rain poured down. He didn't really have to be anywhere in a hurry and he enjoyed viewing the world as mortal ponies viewed it; It helped prevent him from looking down at them like members of his kin tended to do. 

He also tended to pick up on things that his kin would have overlooked in their flight, such as the... things attempting to follow him stealthily.

Fair was fair, they were doing a really good job at moving silently. A mortal pony wouldn't have known they were being stalked until it was far to late; Considering that none of them had a pulse to speak of, none of his kin would have felt them coming either. Under the same circumstances, the only one who he could think of that would have a decent chance of detecting them would have to be Thea, who's senses as a hunter would have given her the chance to do what he was doing now; listening to the rain bouncing off of their abominable bodies while the mud beneath their 'legs' shifted and betrayed their footholds as they moved. 

Torrential continued as if he hadn't noticed them following him. In truth he was expecting an ambush of some kind thanks to the last earthborn farmer he had visited, whom had warned the traveling stranger that anything short of a fully armored convey that had traveled this way had vanished without a word or trace. Having granted the mare his blessing as reward for her kindness, the alicorn had come this way anyway. 

Having finally decided how he was going to deal with his ambushers, the cloaked and hat wearing Torrential finally came to a stop. 

The ground behind him exploded.

.........................................................

Ten hours later, a squad of Pegasus trained by Lightning Dust herself and tasked with tracking down the alicorn that had entered than shortly fled Appleloosa arrived at what could only be described as a scene of one sided carnage. It was hard to tell just how many smiling dolls had been present at the battle since they weren't exactly uniform; Since the damnable things could have any number of limbs and legs, the amount of broken pieces that were scattered around and stuck in the mud could have belonged to a small army of small, mass produced smiling dolls or it might have been a strike force made up of some of the bigger ones with more limbs then normal... it also didn't help that many of the pieces seemed to be missing altogether. 

The pegasus squad were put into a good mood by the discovery. Not only were they on the right track, but a dangerous marauder band of Cult of Laughter abominations had been removed as a threat altogether. Today was shaping up to be a good day!

......................................................

Fifteen hours after the battle, another pony would discover the sight of the slaughter that had taken place against the creations of the Cult. Bearing the symbols of the Scholars, Star Dancer would do what any other non military pony would do when they encounter the sights and smells of a battlefield that has been given almost a day to decay... throw up on the side of the road before pushing onwards as quickly as possible.