Having goals in a stressful situation can be extraordinarily helpful. They can keep you focused when extraneous events could distract you; they can keep you motivated when you might otherwise give up.

And, in my case, they helped to keep me from thinking too deeply about the exact situation I was in.

Oh, way back in the depths of my mind, I knew how bad things were. I was lost in an alien world, one where magic was a real and tangible force, and where blending in with the local population was impossible. I had no idea how I'd gotten here, no apparent way to ask for help or plead my case- and my first and only contact with the locals had resulted in me being captured and forced into what had been essentially slavery, and eventually needing to kill in order to secure my freedom.

That was possibly the worst part about the entire situation. It wasn't as though I could just go to the nearest police office to turn myself in and ask for a lawyer, or find some embassy to appeal for asylum; if the minotaur was a citizen of wherever I was, or otherwise considered a “person” rather than an animal of some sort, it was entirely possible that I'd be considered a murderer, maybe even a fugitive from the law- which would explain the sudden appearance of a large number of armored pegasi cruising the skies during the two days since I'd escaped. I couldn't be absolutely sure that they were patrols searching for me, but I avoided them just to be safe.

So I definitely had a full plate of issues to keep me occupied. Competing for first place with evading potentially hostile ponies was the job of keeping myself fed, and for that I needed to find civilization of some sort; I bore no illusions about my skills regarding forestry and foraging- I didn't have any. My previous record for “roughing it” was three days spent at a cabin in a national park with such "primitive conditions" as a laundry room and wi-fi. Living off the land was, well, off the table... I couldn't hope to go on for very long with the occasional berry bush or low-hanging fruits I was finding from time to time, so my best bet was to find some small town and steal what food I could.

Further down the list was keeping myself clean. It sucked that I only had two complete changes of clothing, but with the weather being gentle and the sun somehow managing to not scorch my ridiculously fair skin, I was able to go shirtless for a fair amount of time. My underclothes were going to be a little more problematic, though, but there was a decent-sized stream that I'd been following for the last day that had provided both drinking water and a place to wash, so if needed I could do laundry the old-fashioned way with stones and manual labor.

At the moment I was waiting for the sun to set. The forest was thinning out ahead of me, and if I wanted to continue following the stream, I'd have to strike out into the open- not something I wanted to do in broad daylight, while there were likely eyes in the skies looking for me. Of course, for all I knew, the ponies had magic that could give them nightvision, or let them track me by body heat, or suck my soul out through my toenails and store it in a caramel frappe... I couldn't plan for something that unknown without basically paralyzing myself through indecision, so I'd have to stick to common everyday tactics and adapt as needed, if I could at all.

Something occurred to me, and I frowned. Though my phone was dead, my music player still had nearly a full battery, and I'd been using its clock as an impromptu timepiece as I traveled; I'd had to reset it due to it being five and a half hours or so off, and I'd arbitrarily designated 8PM as sunset seeing as how it seemed to be late summer here. The problem was... the player was reading 8:07, and the sun seemed to not have moved for the last fifteen minutes.

Then, literally right before my eyes, the sun sped towards the horizon as if it had realized that it was behind schedule, and night didn't “fall” so much as it crashed.

I wasn't sure how long I'd stood there leaning against that tree, staring at the sky where I'd just seen the utterly impossible happen. Magic was one thing, but a damn star suddenly diving for cover like there was a gunfight going on? I had to dump what I'd seen in my mental “go crazy later” file just so I could get myself moving before morning stole up on me.

So through the night I ran, the light reflected from the almost ridiculously-large moon giving me enough light to not require the use of my flashlight. Judging solely by the glimpses of pony towns that I'd seen already, they seemed to have a medieval-level, mostly agrarian culture with decent-sized villages and farms clustered around major roads- and, if my high-school education wasn't failing me, I'd be most likely to encounter one along a source of fresh, flowing water, useful for irrigation or powering a mill of some sort. It was really the only plan I could come up with aside from wandering across the countryside aimlessly, and at least kept me near a source of clean water.

I'd been jogging for about two hours, with no company but the sounds of my feet and various insect nightlife, when I came upon one of the most welcome sights I'd run across since I'd ended up here- a road. A simple, well-traveled dirt road that curled in from the distance and came to run parallel to the stream... and that, after another hour of full-on running, brought me to the outskirts of a town.

It wasn't all that much of a town, at least at first glance in the darkness. But I wasn't here to sightsee, and after a quick run along the town's main road- lit only by a couple of lanterns, powered not by oil but captured fireflies- I found what seemed to be a small bakery. A pair of trash cans in the back held a small amount of day-old baked goods, still entirely edible; hell, the trash cans themselves seemed scrubbed clean enough to eat off of, if I were so inclined. I eagerly grabbed a few selections and piled them on one of my arms, then carefully put the lid back on the can, turned to make my exit- and whacked my knee against the can, making a deep metallic thunk.

I swore silently to myself as I immediately took to the nearest shadow I could find. Odds were good that these mostly-diurnal ponies would all be deep asleep by now, with midnight being less than half an hour away, but I didn't want to risk catching the eye of some insomniac or late-working professional who just happened to glance out of a window, so I waited for a good couple of minutes before I dared to move again.

As I waited, I heard a strange sound, like small wings beating against the air. Something soared past a few dozen feet above my head, resembling a pegasus- but the wings were far different, solid skin instead of feathers, looking for all the world like a pony-bat hybrid. I caught a glimpse of a dark coat and midnight-blue armor before the shape was already out of sight, vanished behind the rooftops.

I found myself catching my breath out of pure shock and a jolt of fear. If I'd moved five seconds earlier, I'd have been in easy view of whatever that was that had flashed by overhead. I'm going to have to be a lot more careful about moving around, I told myself, taking a much less direct route out of the town, heading a bit further downstream to find a place where I could take shelter.

I lucked out in finding a place to hole up about a half-mile down the stream- a small cul-de-sac, probably carved out by the river long in the past, that looked clean and dry enough for me to rest inside for at least a short while. Satisfied that it was nearly invisible from the road and completely hidden from the town, I climbed inside, taking everything out of my bag so that I could use it for food storage for everything but what I'd chosen to be my late dinner. Eating an apricot pie while lying on my side wasn't the easiest thing, but after a month spent on a diet primarily consisting of gruel, I would've sung an aria while juggling rabid weasels to get a single slice.

Once I'd eaten my fill and had plenty to drink from the plastic bottle still in my bag, I laid back, getting as comfortable as I could on the hard-packed dirt of the cul-de-sac, and laid my head down on my rolled-up shirt to settle down for sleep.

There, feeling the safest I had for the last month, I dropped into a deep slumber.

(-)

“Silver Wisk, do you understand the charges laid against you, as they have been explained to you?”

The mare hardly looked up. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Good.” Judge Feather Scales shuffled the papers before him. “This would ordinarily be an open-and-shut case, Miss Wisk. You and your cohorts are clearly guilty of these charges; the evidence shows that you, as well as this 'Big Top' who remains at large, ran for several years a unlicensed traveling sideshow involving a collection of creatures which are illegal to possess within the borders of Equestria. Add to this the charges of animal cruelty, tax evasion, conspiracy to unjustly imprison and commit torture upon legally-recognized sapients... you would typically be looking at stiff fines and no small amount of time spent imprisoned.

“However, it seems that there is a special situation at play here. Princess Twilight has requested that the charges against you, Farris Wheel, and Stout and Strong Hooves be set aside, in exchange for your cooperation with an ongoing investigation to which I am not privy.” The judge harrumphed quietly and ruffled his wings. “However, it has been made clear to me that this investigation is important to the safety and security of the ponies of Equestria, so I will accede to the Princess's request. You are hereby released into the legal custody of Her Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle- and I strongly suggest that you cooperate fully with her in every way.” He raised his gavel and banged it against the sounding block on his desk. “You four are dismissed.”

Wisk turned slowly to see the other three former sideshow workers seated at the defendant's table, all of them watching her. She tried her best to look upbeat for them, but she just couldn't find the energy. “So... what happens now?” Wheel asked quietly.

“What happens now is that the four of you come with me,” replied an all-too-familiar voice. Wisk hadn't even seen Twilight approach, and in her haste to kneel she almost whacked her muzzle on the table. Twilight let out a soft sigh. “Let's just leave off the kneeling, bowing and scraping for the time being, can we?” she asked. “We have a lot to discuss. Follow me.”

The alicorn escorted them out of the courtroom and through a number of hallways, finally bringing them to a secluded meeting room that looked as though it hadn't been used in a while; Twilight's horn glowed, and the doors closed behind them. “Everypony have a seat,” she said.

The four earth ponies complied, the twins sitting next to each other and Wisk sitting on the other side of Wheel; the poor stallion looked confused and lost, and Wisk had to admit to herself that she felt kind of protective of him in this situation. Twilight took a seat opposite them. "Firstly, I need to express my utter disappointment in all of you," she said, her voice and expression neutral. "I understand that this 'Big Top' may have been in charge, but to aid and abet his actions as you did, for so long...." She went silent for a moment. "I can't even understand how you... how you could just let it happen. I'm told that every creature in your 'show' bears signs of years of mistreatment, and I'm almost afraid of what we'll find when we examine that poor minotaur. And let's not forget the griffin!" Now the alicorn's mask of neutrality began to crack. "I long ago grew out of any beliefs that all ponies are paragons of love and tolerance, but this... this is monstrous. I-" She paused a moment, then shook her head and regained her former neutral expression. "That's all I have to say on that. The reason you four are here, and not being taken to the Canterlot dungeons, is because I want your help in understanding the other creature you kept." She gave each of them a hard stare. "You're going to help me in any way I ask, do whatever I say, or by Celestia's name I'll have those charges reinstated so fast your heads will spin. Do I make myself clear?"

All four of them nodded in absolute earnestness.

“Now,” she said, “we need to discuss this creature in-depth. The four of you have the most experience with it, and-”

“Him,” Wisk corrected, on an impulse. “The yeti's a male.”

“Miss Wisk, your 'yeti' is anything but a yeti.”

She blinked, and sensed Wheel stiffen beside her. “...I'm sorry, what?” she asked quietly.

“There is no known subspecies of yeti that looks anything like what you described to us, nor any that has the fine manipulation skills that you mentioned. And absolutely none of them have the ability to speak at all.”

“Then... then what is he?”

“That is exactly what I'm trying to determine, Miss Wisk. That, and a great many other things.” The Princess set her forehooves on the table. “We have reason to believe that this creature is not native to Equestria, but may have somehow come here from the unexplored reaches of the world. I need to understand its- or his, rather- mentality, how he thinks and reacts, and find a way to bring him into our custody without causing any more violence or death.”

“I... I don't think he could....”

“We have a dead minotaur on our hooves, Miss Wisk. He absolutely could.”

“It was in self-defense! I told you that, Princess!" Some part of what remained of her rational mind screamed at her for actually shouting at royalty, but she paid it no heed. "I'd be dead now if not for him! He saved my life!”

“I want to believe that was his intention, Miss Wisk. This would be much easier for me if I could just assume that he's just frightened and looking for safety. But you also told me he was apparently ready to kill a pony who was completely defenseless and no direct threat to him.”

Wisk had opened her mouth to reply when Wheel beat her to speaking. “Princess, uh... with all respect, you don't know how Big Top is.”

Twilight's gaze shifted to the sea-colored stallion. “Then please, Mr. Wheel, explain to me.”

“Top... he could get to you. It's like his talent was getting into the heads of others, make you feel things and do things that he wanted you to, whether or not you actually wanted it. It's what he did with Cobalt and Sveti, and I bet he got into the yeti- errr, that creature's head too, even if he couldn't understand Equestrian.”

“...so are you telling me that this creature could potentially harbor an involuntary psychological antipathy towards ponies?”

Wheel's expression went blank. “...I'm sorry, Princess, but I don't know what those words mean.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “...never mind. What's important is that we locate and secure this creature as soon as possible, to prevent any more possible harm to him or others.”

Wisk opened her mouth to speak- and was once again interrupted, this time by the doors being flung open. All of them turned to see a large minotaur standing in the doorway, both of his meaty hands still pressed against the doors, as a dozen guardsponies gathered behind him, seemingly unsure of what to do. “What is this?” Twilight demanded. “Sir, these quarters are off-limits to civilians without specific dispensation! I'll have to ask you to... wait.” Her voice quieted. “...don't I know you?”

“I'm sorry to interrupt, Your Highness,” the minotaur replied, in a voice that was somehow boisterous even in apology. “But I couldn't get a straight answer from anypony in this place, so I decided to come to you.” He adjusted the loose black necktie that hung over his broad chest. “My name's Iron Will. I came to find out what happened to my brother Cobalt.”

(-)

“Momma? Momma, I can't find the red blanket.”

Dustmop let out a long-suffering sigh at her daughter's forgetfulness. “Where did you leave it last, sweetheart?” she called back.

“I'm sure I had it hanging up on the back porch to dry out after Snowdrift spilled peach juice on it! But it's gone!”

“Did you pin it down with rocks like I said you should?”

There was a momentary pause. “...um, I can't remember.”

“Then I think the wind might've taken it, sweetheart.”

“Awww! But that was my favorite blanket!”

“I'll see if I can find you another one the next time we're down in Ponyville, dear. In the meantime, why don't you use the green one?” She chuckled to herself as she heard her daughter grumble something and stomp off, before resuming her search. “...Hammer?” she called out after a moment.

“Yes, dear?”

“I can't find my paring knife. Did you do something with it?”

(-)

Shaving with a paring knife was not the easiest thing, but somehow, with the help of a hand mirror- or would it be a hoof mirror here?- I'd managed to get the hair off of my face without slitting my own throat or carving my chin off. It wasn't entirely a clean shave, but I'd take uneven stubble over a full beard anyday.

I'd spent the last four nights... “procuring” things that I needed from the nearby town, thanks to what was apparently a pony penchant for not having locks on their doors. I didn't really like the idea of stealing from innocent ponies, but survival ranked higher than civility- and anyway, I was taking things that were relatively unneeded or easily replaced. Having an actual blanket and pillow, even undersized pony-scale ones, was very important to my quality of life.

One of the things I'd managed to snag from what seemed to be a general store was extremely useful- a map. It wasn't exactly the kind of high-quality atlas you'd find on a shelf in a convenience store, and of course I still couldn't read the language, but a compass rose was easy enough to figure out, and I could see that there were a few more towns and settlements in the area- including a somewhat larger-looking one at the southwest edge of the map. It still looked pretty rural, comparatively, so I decided I'd head that way once I felt that it was time to leave this little town.

I wasn't entirely sure when I should leave, though. It wasn't as though I had any other place to be, and none of the town's population had gotten wise to my presence yet; I was maybe getting a little tired of baked goods, but I could endure continuing to eat some of the best pies, muffins and other assorted goodies I'd ever tasted for however long I needed to. Still, it really was only a matter of time before I was spotted, or one of the ponies suspected that there was a thief around, or....

My musing was cut off by a sudden cry outside my cave, followed by a splash of water. I looked out into the late-afternoon countryside, leaning against the edge of my little cul-de-sac, but couldn't see anything- but a lot more shouting caught my attention, and carefully I stuck my head outside to see.

The shouting was coming from what seemed to be a bunch of foals clustered up by the edge of the stream; the splash had come from one of their number falling into the water, and the current- which was actually kind of strong at this section of the waterway- was carrying the foal away. In about a minute, the floundering pony would pass by my little hideaway, and get swept around where the stream curved- into currents stronger than even I could manage safely. The foals on the shore were growing increasingly panicky, and there didn't seem to be an adult in sight.

In the same instant, I knew what I had to do, and cursed myself for even thinking it.

“I am such a goddamn idiot,” I murmured to myself even as I packed up everything I could into my bag. I'd have to leave the blanket and pillow, sadly, and any food would be smashed if I tried to squeeze it inside. With a quiet sigh, I placed the bag on the blanket, then stepped out of my shelter.

The foal- a unicorn filly, I could see now, with a deep grey coat and a straw-colored mane- was still struggling to stay afloat, though I could see that her strength was beginning to flag. I had just enough time to wade into the stream and get an arm around the foal before the current could sweep her past me, then carefully dragged her out of the water and carried her back to shore. There I stood, sopping wet from the chest down, holding a heavily-panting and obviously frightened unicorn filly in my arms as all of her friends stared at me for a moment...

...and then broke for the town, yelling in panic the whole way.

I let out another sigh. It wasn't like I could have expected anything different, after all. I gave a hopeful glance down at the filly in my arms; she was staring up at me in absolute horror, shivering more out of fear than cold. On apparently realizing I was looking back at her, her eyes rolled back and closed, and she went limp in my arms.

“Well, I guess that saves me a little trouble,” I murmured. I knew I wasn't done quite yet- there were witnesses to my little show of bravery, and simply dumping the kid off and heading for the hills right away could end up making it look like I'd scampered off in the middle of trying to eat her... I was already in enough trouble, it seemed, and didn't need to add a reputation for attacking and trying to eat pony children to the whole thing.

So instead I walked my dripping-wet body back to the town. There were already a group of adults there listening with various degrees of skepticism to the group of foals who were no doubt relating the tale of the horrible monster who'd dove in to make a meal of their poor playmate. So involved was everyone in the proceedings that I had to actually clear my throat to make my presence known.

The reactions I got were mostly expected. The foals immediately scattered, most of them heading towards what seemed to be their parents, who began backing away from me fearfully. Several of the other adults began advancing on me threateningly, snorting and stamping their hooves, growling what seemed to be threats or orders- but two of the adults in particular were exceptionally upset, alternating between shouting and pleading at me with their eyes fixed on the foal in my grasp.

I was starting to get a headache and had to put a stop to this before things went crazy. “Shut up!” I belted out; the effect my voice had was immediate, silencing the entire crowd and backing the lot of them up a couple of steps, aside from the two adults who I was now convinced were the parents of this foal. After a moment, I approached them, watching as they trembled fearfully but refused to give ground- I had to give them credit; they were showing a lot of bravery for their daughter's sake.

Four feet away from them, I knelt down and gently put the unconscious filly on the ground, then lightly patted her on the head while I gave my best smile to the two adults in front of me. Then I slowly rose, hands up, and took a few steps backwards away from them- before turning and sprinting away.

It was a few seconds before I heard the first of the shouts behind me. I hadn't expected that I'd somehow win the whole town over, but there was a good amount of confusion evident in the voices; my show of goodwill hadn't gone ignored, it seemed, and while it sounded like there were quite a few ponies looking to go after me, some others were maybe not so sure about it.

All part of the plan, I thought, as I stopped by my small shelter just long enough to grab my bag, then set out again further down the river. The map showed a bridge a mile or two downstream that I could use to cross over and begin heading southwest. If I do end up getting caught, a few tales of the horrible monster actually saving a pony might work in my favor.

Plus, seriously- sitting by and watching some innocent kid drown? Hell, they'd be right to call me a monster if I did that.

(-)

“Ring the bell! Get the guards! The monster is escaping!”

Dustmop hardly heard the shouting. Her mind was busy processing what she'd just witnessed- a bunch of the village foals had come rushing up claiming that the Everfree Yeti had snatched Dewdrop from the river after she'd fallen in... and then the creature had actually appeared, its strange clothing sopping wet and her daughter in its grasp. What she'd been terrified would be the end of her sweet filly at the teeth of the horrifying creature had instead been a show of gentleness, as it had placed her at their hooves and then run off like all the demons of Tartarus were nipping at its tailless rump.

There was a clatter of armor as a quartet of Royal Guards came galloping into the town square, hardly gaining her attention until one of them pressed a hoof against her shoulder insistently. “Dustmop?” came a stallion's voice. “Is Dewdrop injured?”

“I...” Belatedly, she thought to check her daughter for any wounds; she let out a sigh of relief when she found none. “No, I think... I think she's just unconscious.”

As if on cue, Dewdrop began to stir. “M... Momma?” the filly murmured. “What... what happened?”

“Shhh. It's okay, sweetie. You're safe now.” Dustmop scooped her daughter into her forelegs, holding her tightly, looking up at the stallion who'd spoken- it was Spring Mist, a member of Hammer's old squad. “I'm so glad you're here, Springy,” she murmured.

“We came as soon as we heard the bell. We've got some other earth ponies on the creature's trail and plenty of pegasi in the skies- it's not likely to get far.” The Guard looked down at the still-dazed filly. “Let me call Crescent over to look at her just to be on the safe side, hm?”

“I... I guess so,” Dustmop murmured. Spring vanished, and a few moments later she heard heavy hoofsteps coming towards her- and then the broad, bearded, smiling muzzle of Red Crescent appeared. “Hello again, Lady Dustmop. It's been some time.”

She couldn't help but smile; the Saddle Arabian's gentle nature always helped soothe her during stressful times. The stallion looked down at Dewdrop. “And little Lady Dewdrop, ever the oasis of loveliness. You seem a bit out-of-sorts, little raindrop.” He raised a hoof to gently lift her head. “Let me have a closer look at you, hm?” As he gave the filly a careful examination, he glanced up. “Perhaps you should fill me in on what happened, Lady Dustmop,” he said quietly.

She did so, giving him a quick recap of what had happened. The stallion's expression became thoughtful. “Hmmm,” he murmured. “An interesting development in the tale of this 'Everfree Yeti', as I've heard the creature called.”

Both of them looked up at her husband's approach. “There's a bunch of townsponies going after it," Hammer said. "Spring had to send half our detachment to round them up so that they didn't end up cornering it and provoking it into doing something harmful. I tried telling them that it wasn't hostile, but I don't think they were paying attention.” He let out a deep sigh as he stopped by his wife and foal, his ears lowered. “I would've liked to think they'd listen to me a bit better.”

“Frightened ponies are quite reactive sometimes, my Captain,” replied Crescent, even as he carefully checked Dewdrop's ears and the back of her neck. “Logic and reason are often the first casualties, especially when foals may be at risk.”

Hammer chuckled quietly at that. “Don't I know it. And you don't have to call me Captain anymore, Crescent... I've been retired for five years. It's just 'Hammer' now.”

“You will always be my Captain for as long as I wear this armor.” The medic smiled. “Now, my little raindrop,” he told Dewdrop, “follow my hoof with your eyes only.”

Spring Mist had returned by the time Crescent had finished his examination and declared Dewdrop unhurt; and Dustmop was just gathering up her filly onto her back when a couple more Guards approached, one levitating a familiar object. “My blanket!” Dewdrop exclaimed, watching as it was brought close- and then crinkling her nose a little. “...hey, it smells funny.”

“The creature was apparently bedding down on it for a while, in a small cave by the river,” the Guard holding it said. “Its scent is strong on the fabric. We'll want to have any nearby Guardsponies have a good whiff in case we can catch its scent trail.”

“It was living right near us? And we never knew.” Hammer shook his head. “Though... what if it hadn't been? What if it hadn't grabbed Dewdrop? Sergeant, that creature saved my daughter's life.”

“Be that as it may, we're still under orders to capture it,” Spring said. “We don't want to hurt it, but we can't let it run around free. There's just too much that can go wrong.”

Dustmop nodded absently. The creature's motivations, and its eventual fate, were beyond her concern at the moment- all she wanted to do was get her precious foal inside and hug her until she popped.

(-)

"Stockgroom Syndrome."

Iron Will looked up from the table at Twilight's words. "I don't understand, Princess," he said quietly.

"It's a psychological term for prisoners who bond with their captors. It was coined after the robbery of a gem repository at the border town of Stockgroom, where three Diamond Dogs held ponies as hostages for six days. It...." She paused, then shook her head. "The details aren't important. What it means, though, Mr. Will, is that your brother formed some sort of... attachment, I suppose, to Big Top, which would explain why he attacked the creature during his confrontation with Mr. Top. From what I've been told...." She spared Wheel's group a sidelong glance. "Your brother was... subject to physical and psychological duress for an extended amount of time."

The minotaur seemed to digest that for a few moments. "How did he die?" he asked, in a voice far too small for such a large creature.

"We don't know the specifics. By law we needed to wait for permission from family to examine... the body." The alicorn tried for a comforting smile. "But he didn't suffer."

Iron nodded slightly, then stood. "You, uh... you have my permission for the examination, I guess," he murmured, stepping away from the table. He turned to look at the four earth ponies in front of him, his expression so lost and saddened that Wheel had to avert his gaze before he burst into tears. "Cobalt wouldn't have hurt a fly," the minotaur said after a moment. "If he tried to kill that 'Everfree Yeti' everypony's talking about... then I don't think that what the yeti killed was my brother, anymore."

He made his way out of the room, his head hung low, as the guards outside dutifully escorted him away. Wheel felt like he was going to throw up. "What did we do, Wisk...?" he whispered, leaning against the older mare's shoulder, feeling tears drip down his muzzle despite his best efforts. "I... I never wanted to be a bad pony...."

"Shh, sweetie." She patted his withers lightly.

Across the table, the Princess stared at him, a tiny bit of sympathy visible on her face. "You can't erase what's done, Mr. Wheel," she said quietly. "But if you want to redeem yourself, then help me. All of you, help me understand this creature so we can find him, before something else happens."

For the first time that day, Stout Hooves spoke up. "Princess... you're right, we know. We can't excuse what we did. But what can we even do to help?"

A thick book appeared next to Twilight's head, hovering for a moment before settling down on the table; written on the cover in broad strokes was "Unknown Bipedal Entity, F.E. Everfree Forest, 18Aug1004". She magically flipped through a number of pages covered in small writing and detailed sketches of something Wheel didn't recognize before settling on a blank page. "I'm going to ask you a series of detailed questions about the creature," she said, "and I want you all to answer them to the absolute best of your abilities. And I want full answers this time, Ms. Wisk- you have nothing to gain by leaving out details."

The earth pony mare lowered her head. "Yes, Princess."

"Now." An inkpot and quill flashed into being on the table; the Princess lifted the latter with her magic. "Let's begin."

(-)

It was well past midnight when Luna set her hooves down in the soft ground by the Four Furlong River near the small village of Broncston. A number of hoofprints of various sizes still crisscrossed the riverbank, almost covering the few strange tracks the report had mentioned; she lowered her head to examine one under the moonlight, then trotted down the river to where the creature had sheltered itself. Its strange scent still lingered in the small cave, teasing her sensitive nose with a tale of something unknown, alien. Certainly have I never encountered anything quite like this, she thought, leaning her head back and taking in one more deep whiff.

But she wasn't here to find physical traces of this creature's presence. Her purview over the dreams of ponies came as part and parcel of her royal position, but the dreams of other species were normally closed to her- but she knew ways around that, ways that had served her and ponykind well back in the days when relations with the other denizens of Equus were... less settled. She closed her eyes and concentrated, lowering the psychic barriers that protected her mind, and opened herself to the world around her.

The creature spent several days here for its scent to still be so strong, she thought. And if it slept, it likely dreamed. And if it dreamed... ah hah, there we are.

Dreams were her purview, and she knew that the sleeping mind of every sapient species left psychic "echoes" where they slept- even dragons, though the older and wiser among them learned to shield their minds in sleep as well as when awake. But this creature apparently knew no such tricks, and the echoes of its mind's subconscious murmurs thrummed faintly in the aether around her. It took her only a few moments to attune herself to them. Now that I have your "scent", creature, I need only find your sleeping mind and make my way inside. What shall I learn within, I wonder?

She concentrated, willing the night to bend itself to her wishes, and in a flash of Void energy she was gone.