The train rides to both Dodge and Appaloosa were smooth and uninterrupted. Thank Faust. Silver probably couldn't take being attacked again without some kind of rest. How soldiers did that she'd never know. But that aside, when they reached Appaloosa, They started across the desert. There was a trail leading south through their apple orchard. The mayor did warn them of the Buffalo Nation. Though they had settled their issues with them, they didn't like ponies trekking their land.

Silver bit and her guide, Orion, hadn't talked since they left Ponyville. He was back to being silent as they made their way across the plains. The desert wasn't hot considering it was night, but the cold was something Silver wasn't accustom to. She never liked the cold. But the word outside was always more beautiful when there was a chill in the air: Snow falling, leaves in the fall, flower buds in the spring; all beautiful and when the air was colder. And the night was no different. The vast expanse of stars stretching out into the infinite was breath taking. They covered the sky completely this far from city lights. They formed ribbons that looked like they tied the earth to the moon, like Princess Luna was never far away. And the moon, the full moon the silver sphere where the ribbons came from. The creators forming the Mare in the Moon formation, another reminder that Luna was watching over them.

The idea was comforting to Silver. She'd always been able to hold her own but over the past few days, she wasn't sure she'd even get this far on her own. Silver looked to the desert ground, the hard clay beneath her hoofs was covered in the pale blue sheet from the moon. The wind was lightly blowing at their backs so it didn't feel like wind until they stopped for whatever reason. Whispers flowed in the wind like the gentle sounds of a lost lover assuring you you're safe.

"You hear that?" Silver Bit asked.

"What?" Orion asked.

"That whispering."

"You hear whispering?"

"Yeah. It's nice."

"That's cool."

"It's not strange to you?"

"I hear them too."

"Really?"

"Every night. The Commander told me that it's the fallen soldiers watching over us in times of trouble."

"Fallen soldiers?"

"Yeah. He says that each pony in the Evening Guard has ancestors that were in the old Armada. We're not made, we're born. We're all natural soldiers."

"That makes no sense."

"Hey, believe what you want but this makes us stronger. We're all connected by our lineage."

Silver rolled her eyes and continued to try to keep pace. "So does that mean I'm one of you?"

"Either that or you're insane."

"What if you're insane?"

"Well then I'll be happy being crazy."

Silver giggled and looked back to the sky and full moon as they walked. She kept Orion's yellow coat in her peripheral vision to keep from getting lost in the desert. The whispers continued for what seemed like an hour before changing from calming to urgent. They weren't coming from around her anymore, they were coming from her right. She looked away from the sky and snapped her neck left and saw two white dots sitting on a hill under a cover of shadow just ahead of them. She stopped at the same time as Orion and looked straight to the hill intently waiting for the dots to move.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is…" Silver said a bit nervous.

More dots started popping up in pairs across the dark hill until they covered the face completely.

"Unfortunately for us, it is."