High Moon Ch. 46:

Of Talks and Faith

While the rest of the High Moon pack dealt with Quill’s mystery problem, Wolf followed Lily and Veil to the tomb that Lily mentioned the other day. The trek wasn’t too long, only a short five minute walk around some of the ruins.

During the short walk, Lily asked Wolf what he had planned for everyone tomorrow, and the days following. Much to the mare’s surprise, Wolf merely said that everyone was free to fall into their own routine since there wasn’t anything else that needed doing. With the greenhouse nearly done, all they had to do was worry about everyone’s health. Which mostly consisted of Cyclone’s fractured dragon’s soul, Spike’s ghost-heart, and Blaze’s pregnancy.

Other than that, everything was done, relatively speaking. High Moon still had to be repaired and renovated to where they could use the space better, but that was an overall goal. A goal that would take way more manpower to handle. So they could take their time with it as they pleased. Both the mansion and archives were in decent condition, so they didn’t have to worry about that. And as for getting stuff from towns, Wolf was more or less sure that either Spike or Quill would be able to come up with something.

So, in the end, Wolf thought that it was time to let the pack start making a few choices of its own. Everyone had already shown that they knew what they needed to do and that they knew how they were going to do it.

That’s why Wolf wanted to take this opportunity to check out the tomb that Lily and Veil had told him about. When Lily asked why he was suddenly interested in it, Wolf would merely said that he was just checking out another part of their home with his own eyes. Upon getting close to the tomb, Wolf was able to see why neither he nor Blaze ever bothered to check this area of High Moon.

“A cliff?” Wolf asked while he continued to gaze up the cliff to see anything that would give Lily or Veil a reason to go up it. However, nothing would come to mind. There wasn’t a need to go up the cliff, but as Lily wasn’t the kind to waste time or energy on something that was fruitless, he had to ask. “Okay, before we go up, I want to ask this. Why were you two bothering with a cliff?”

“Drake’s bird saw something on the top of the cliff and started flying towards it,” Veil answered with a slight roll of her shoulders, unsheathing her claws to get ready to scale the small cliff again. Even if she didn’t really wanted to. “Yo-you still want to check it out right...Alpha?”

Wolf looked at Lily, who shook her head faintly, as if answering a silent question of his. “Yeah, shouldn’t be too much trouble,” he said as he copied Veil’s same motions to unsheathe his own claws. “We’ll see you up there Lily.”

The flutterpony nodded her head to both canines, taking a few steps towards the cliff. “Both of you, please be careful climbing this cliff-face, and don’t get too far a part from each other.” Wolf waved the flutterpony off, not knowing where her suddenly grave concern was coming from. Lily looked over at Veil for a moment before she began rapidly buzzing her wings to take off to the ledge at the top.

Wolf watched Lily quickly fly up to the ledge, still wondering why she was being extra cautious, but soon waving it off as he moved towards the rocky cliffside with Veil close behind. “Alright hound, you ready?” Wolf asked, taking a spot right in front of the cliff with Veil standing next to him, shaking slightly.

When Veil turned her head back down to look towards him, she meekly nodded her head with a small sigh afterwards. Wolf noticed the hound’s suddenly apprehensive body language, but waved it off as something else. He soon jumped onto the rocky surface to start climbing his way up, with Veil following closely behind.

Climbing the cliff-face wasn’t difficult for either of the dogs, as their claws were designed to carve their way into the jagged rocks, and provided enough grip to keep them from falling. And even though Wolf had a head start, Veil was able to keep up with him a little thanks to the shape of her claws. However, Wolf soon noticed that Veil wasn’t keeping up with him at one point. Looking down, he found that Veil had frozen up, shaking badly.

Wolf assumed that it was because of her not having too much experience with climbing anything, and that she was nervous about falling. Rock-climbing, along with tunneling, were skills learned by living in a den. They were skills all diamond dogs needed to master at some point of their lives.

With Veil only living a portion of her life in a den, it wasn’t a wonder that she was lacking some of these skills. It was more of a wonder that Wolf hadn’t realized it until now, or why Lily didn’t tell him about it. Thankfully though, Veil freezing up on the cliff did stop her from falling, which would’ve been worse.

“Hey hound,” Wolf started, carefully sliding down to Veil’s left side to see her heavily breathing and shaking with her eyes opened wide. Wolf carefully removed his left hand out of the rockside to gently place it on Veil’s shoulder to get her to snap out of her daze. “Veil calm down, we’re almost there.”

Veil took a hard swallow before nodding her head slightly. “Y-yeah I know. J-just give me a sec,” she said weakly as she closed her eyes to regain some of her composure. Veil hated climbing things, she hated it worse than digging. But she was a beta diamond dog, these were the things she had to do. She had to do something to keep herself useful to the pack. “A-alright, let’s g-get this over with.”

Wolf nodded his head, letting his hand go from Veil’s shoulder to allow her to climb up ahead of him before following. It took a few more minutes, every so often Wolf had to stop to let Veil catch her breath and regain control over herself. Soon, Veil began clawing at the edge to pull herself up and over. Wolf was right behind the hound as he embedded all of his claws into the rough dirt of the ground, using them to hop straight over the oblong shaped edge.

Veil lay on her back, staring blankly up at the skies with a wide-eyed expression, and panting from a mix of fear and exertion. Wolf glanced down at the shivering beta for a moment before he locked eyes with Lily, beginning to move towards her. Lily glanced at the prone hound before asking, “Wolf, is everything alright? Is Veil-”

“Why didn’t you tell me she had a fear of heights?” Wolf growled, “Lily, you know I would never have let that hound climb up this cliff if I knew she had a fear of heights.” Lily lowered her head in shame at the upset tone in Wolf’s voice, knowing that she deserved it. “Lily, I want an answer. Did you know about this or not?”

Lily slowly nodded her head in shame, still refusing to meet the angry light in Wolf’s green eyes. “Yes Wolf I did,” she admitted with shame lacing her voice, only furthering Wolf’s anger. Wolf opened his mouth to shout at the mare, but something stopped him from doing so, forcing him to let out another low, rumbling, growl. “Wolf, I’m sorry for not telling you, but Veilstone, she...she didn’t want me telling you or the others.”

“And why in Cerberus’ name is that?” Wolf questioned, unable to see a reason why Veil would put herself through something like that, and upset that she would do it. “Lily, that doesn't make any sense, why would sh-”

“Because I don’t want to look weak.” Wolf turned around to see Veil was slowly getting off the ground and onto shaky feet. Veil then began walking towards Wolf with her head lowered to the point where her eyes were concealed behind her hair. “Alpha,” she continued with her hands tightening at her sides, visibly shaking. “I’m n-not weak. I’m not j-just some normal beta hound...I-I’m…”

Wolf firmly placed his hands on Veil’s shoulders to get her to look up from the gray stone ground and to look him in the eyes. “Veil, I never once said, or thought you’re weak,” he said in a stern tone of voice, a firm look in his eyes. “But that doesn't excuse you for pushing yourself like that. If you really feel the need to test yourself, tell someone first, okay?”

Veil’s breath was slightly taken when she was forced to lock eyes with Wolf, quickly feeling a massive pull that forced her to continue to gaze into the powerful dull-green eyes. However, she didn’t fight the feeling. There was something in Wolf’s eyes, something that granted her a sense of security that she had been looking for all her life.

It was the feeling of belonging to something larger than herself, it was the feeling of having responsibilities, it was the feeling of knowing that she wasn’t alone; it was trust.

“O-okay Alpha,” Veil slowly answered, taking in a deep breath before finally getting her nerves to calm down. Wolf quickly nodded his head, wrapped his arm around her neck, and motioned for Lily to follow them in into the cave.

Veil stood underneath Wolf’s protective arm for a bit, enjoying the comfort of knowing that there was someone strong to lean on when she needed it. But she soon regained her composure, moving out of the alpha’s arm with a small blush on her face.

“Thanks Alpha,” she said, refusing to look Wolf in the eyes while they continued to walk into the cave. Thanks to evolution, both Wolf and Veil’s eyes began illuminating in their respective shines, allowing them to see in the damp cave as though the sun was out.

However, Lily was a vastly different case. The moment all traces of sunlight was gone, her vibrant brown coat and pure white mane began to shift to a darker shade, while her wings lost all of their shine. She was lucky to store as much sunlight as she did in her wings before entering the dim cave, and that there small pockets of sunlight deeper in the cave.

As the three continued to venture deeper in the cave, Veil turned her head slightly to look to her left at Wolf as he was most likely musing over what possible use the cave and its hidden treasures could be to High Moon. She still felt bad for not being able to get the farm job for the pack, now she was making him worry over her own fears.

“Alpha,” Veil started in a low tone of voice, just barely enough to gain Wolf’s attention. When the alpha dog turned his head towards her, Veil flinched slightly from the power behind his illuminated green eyes, but held strong. “I’m sorry for acting like a fool, by the way,” Veil said, turning her head towards the stone ground, rubbing her arm. “It’s just that...I had a talk with Frost, and she said that I should try bettering myself for Cy.”

Sighing, Wolf shook his head, knowing that the beta didn’t truly hadn’t meant any harm. “Don’t worry about it too much. I can tell that you and her are closer than just friends, so it’s only natural that you’d want to get stronger to help protect her.”

“Y-yeah…” It didn’t come as much of a surprise to Veil that Wolf knew that she looked at Cyclone as more than a friend. If Frost was able to tell, there was little question that Wolf was able to see it as well. “It’s just that...everyone here is far stronger or smarter than me. Alpha, I can’t use magic, and I’m no good when it comes to planning something. I’ve got-”

“Veil, stop talking, will ya?” Wolf asked, not liking where the hound was going with her train of thought, and displeased that she was thinking it. “I want you to stop talking for a second, and think. You’ve single handedly taken care of a dragoness for six years. Not only that, you managed to do it in a town that didn’t even want you two there. That takes skill.”

Veil looked up at Wolf to see him looking at her with a bright smile, but could only return it with a small sigh. “No, that takes luck. That’s all my-”

“Veil, stop it,” Lily finally chimed in, sounding completely irritated with the depressing conversation happening behind her. When Veil turned at Lily, all she saw was the piercing coldness in her white eyes that somehow still managed to display some sense of kindness. “Wolf is our Alpha, yes?”

“Uh, yeah, but what does that-”

Veil again was cut off by Lily almost hissing, “Then stop speaking against his words when they are the truth,” the mare said, again sounding far more tired than she was supposed to be. However, neither canine bothered to ask about it.

After knowing the mare for close to nine years, Wolf knew far too well about her breed of equine’s weakness without the sunlight, and Veil had personally experienced it when she first ventured into the cave with Lily. It was weird to Veil as to why her body would do such a thing, but she guessed that it was one of the prices she paid for being able to use magic the way she could.

“Er, okay. Sorry for that, it’s just that-” Veil stopped speaking when she saw Lily glaring daggers at her, telling her to be quiet with nothing but her eyes. “Right, walking, salvaging, staying quiet. I can do that.” Once Lily turned her head around to continue walking down the tunnel, Veil let out a small breath of relief, and took note not to cross the flutterpony at night.

It was soon after that that the three came upon a large chamber that held weaponry, tools, and other articles from the past. Just like the tomb that Wolf, Blaze, and Lily found Isis in, blue and gold tapestry lined the walls, torn from the trudging of time.

Stone structures were scattered about, carvings that appeared to be tributes to somepony. But they were unrecognizable, as they were cracked and missing several pieces. Jewels, gems, and golden coins lie on the floor, all hopefully having value in the present world now. Bits and pieces of armor, some for battle, other for decorative purposes, were placed against the walls, and most of it was still in a useable condition.

Wolf wasn’t too surprised with the status of the tomb. From things he’d seen around much of High Moon, this was to be suspected. What mattered was if there was anything of value to the pack in some way. Giving the cave a quick look around, Wolf handed out assignments to the other two.

Lily was told to gather as much of the cloth as she could, that way they would have extra cloth to use when they needed it. Wolf told Veil to stick around him while they looked around the cave floor for things of initial interest that they could use. When Veil asked what that would be, Wolf said that it’d be stuff that could be useful for cooking, trading, or for Blaze’s potion-making.

The task wasn’t too hard, because everything in the tomb seemed to be personal items. A gauntlet and broken sword or two, but not much for what the pack needed right now. That didn’t mean Veil didn’t find all the of treasure in front of her... enticing, to say the least, but they served no real purpose for the pack.

When Lily finished her task, and had flown back down to the two canines, Wolf thought it best for them to take a quick break before heading back to the temple. Naturally, Lily chose a spot where sunlight was shining through as her resting place to recharge her magic and energy.

Wolf was laying on his back against the oddly smooth stone floor, tossing up a brass bracelet in the air before catching it again. Veil herself was toying around with a ring she’d found on the floor, following the decorative patterns that flowed around the ring in an eternal circle.

Giving up on solving the frustrating puzzle that seemed to be toying with her, Veil began to think about the one issue that has been bothering her all day: Drake. She knew that Frost was right, and that she did need to take some time to get to know him along with the others, however there was just something about the drake she couldn’t lay her finger on.

It could be that she was still comparing Spike to the only other male in the pack, but that was her only way of doing it without being too forward about the matter. The problem wasn’t that she disliked Spike, or wanted to keep Cyclone to herself. When it came to her, though, she always tried to make sure that Cyclone would be safe and happy. She chuckled to herself, remembering that Cyclone always joked about them being pack-sisters. Like that would happen with the drake. And while it was likely not necessary to be worried in this case, she always became concerned when it came to Cyclone. Most likely an irrational concern.

But still…

“Hey Alpha,” Veil spoke after giving up on trying to think about it herself, only able to rely on the one person she had to trust more than the others. Not that she didn’t trust anyone else, it was just that Wolf and Blaze were the leaders of High Moon, and to her they had full say-so on any matter.

“Yeah Veil, what is it?” Wolf asked as he continued to toss the bracelet up in the air to keep his hands busy while they rested. A few moments passed as Veil continued to remain silent, only letting out a few sighs every now and again, telling Wolf whatever she had to say was a pressing issue on her mind. “Veil, you know that you can tell me if something is bothering you.”

Veil opened her mouth again, only to let out a frustrated sigh a moment later. “Yes Alpha, I know,” she sighed, giving Wolf a small nod of her head. Veil took in one more deep breath before saying, “You know Spike, right? Well...what do you think about him?”

“Huh? Spike, what in Cerberus’ bloody fangs would you want to know about him?” Wolf asked, catching the brass bracelet one last time before sitting up to look at the hound. “He’s a pretty open book if you talk to him long enough, but I wouldn’t know much.”

“How come, Alpha?” Veil asked, still wanting more information on the drake before she confronted Cyclone about him. “The twins have been here for two months now, right? So you must know more about Spike. Uh, right?”

Much to her displeasure, Wolf shook his head before laying back down on the ground, and resumed his catching game. “Normally yeah, but like I said, the drake is kinda an open book. You shouldn’t take other’s opinions. Make your own, hound.”

Veil’s head and shoulders slumped at Wolf’s response, letting out a small sigh. Yet again, something so simple, so basic, had flown right over her head, and the only reason she knew was someone else pointing it out. ‘Alpha’s right, I can’t keep asking everyone about Drake. Only way I’m getting answers is if I go to him myself.’

“Alright Alpha, sorry to bother you with pointless stuff like that,” Veil said as she rubbed her arm out of habit, keeping her eyes firmly placed on the ground. “You got more important matters than to answering my silly questions.”

“Don’t worry about it Veil,” Wolf began, still continuing with his catching game as he spoke. “It’s my duty as alpha to hear about it. Besides,” Wolf paused, catching the brass bracelet, and sitting up to look at Veil. “It’s the truth.”

Veil stared into Wolf’s green eyes for a moment, lost from the power and wisdom in them. She had never seen anything like it before, and she never thought she’d meet an alpha she could trust so fast, yet here she was. “Thanks Alpha, it means more than you know,” Veil said with a small smile on her face, becoming more comfortable with the choice to live in High Moon.

Wolf nodded his head towards the hound before getting up off the ground with a small stretch and yawn. He then waved Lily over with a hand, prompting her to grab the folded up cloth in her arms before walking out of her small ray of fading sunlight. The moment she did so, her fur, mane, and tail all took a darker shade of color, signifying that her mood would be slowly darkening as well.

“Alright you two,” Wolf started, looking between the two females with his arms crossed over his chest. “What’s the quickest, and safest, way out of here?” he asked the other two, knowing that going back down the cliff was not an option.

“Uh, oh yeah, there’s a hill that we can take from a path outside of the cave’s entrance, Alpha,” Veil answered, far preferring that over climbing the cliff-face any day. With a nod from Wolf, and a wave of his hand telling her to take lead, Veil turned to the cave’s entrance.

No words were spoken during the trek out of the cave, mainly because the three were tired for their own reasons, and there was no doubt that the rest of the pack was just as tired. It had been a pretty busy week in High Moon for everyone. Frost, Veil, and Cyclone joining the pack, Spike’s ghost-heart and new training, the dragons’ tests, and now the greenhouse.

Now he figured that it was time to get things moving back to the norm. Time for the twins to start working on their magic, time for Cyclone to really began her training, and it was time for Wolf to get the pack all ready for winter’s coming. So much to do, Wolf only hoped there was enough time.

It wasn’t long before they found themselves outside of the caves, only to see that the sun was making its last few moments of light known to the world. “Hm, we better hurry back,” Wolf openly mused as he continued to follow Veil along the path near the cave. “I’m sure the others have the seeds already planted. If not, I think we might have to work late in the night.”

Wolf began picking up his pace, using the subtle hints from the path that they were on to guide him down the hill. It was then Wolf realized why Lily took him to the cliff and not this path. This path lead back down right near the mansion, a far long-shot away from the greenhouse where they were at, and most likely would have been hard to move up on.

Once they were on mostly flat land again, Wolf looked back towards the two and noticed that Veil seemed better climbing down than she was at climbing up. “Come on you two, let’s get this done.”

Moments later, the three began making their way towards the mansion ruins when Lily excused herself for the night, saying that she would be completely useless the moment the sun passed over the horizon. Wolf asked the mare if she was sure she would skip over dinner like that, but she merely said that she had a stash of apples and other fruit in her room that would keep her over for the night.

After seeing her off, Wolf and Veil headed towards the tunnels to gather the others so they could finish the greenhouse and wouldn’t have to worry about it the next day. During said trip, the two conversed about what was scheduled for everyone to do tomorrow.

From the sound of things, Wolf didn’t have anything generally planned for tomorrow, or the days after, in fact. As long everything went the way it was supposed to within the pack, and everyone did their duties, nothing extra would have to be done.

A part of her was happy to hear that things would be calming down for a bit, giving her the time she’d need to continue thinking about the choice she was about to make. It wasn’t any of her business if Cyclone did like Spike the way she did, but she couldn’t just wave off someone that she’d been protecting for six years.

Cyclone was like the sister she never had, Veil had been there to comfort her when she needed; Cyclone made her feel useful. Veil couldn’t abandon her like that, not to someone that they barely knew. Everyone could tell her what they believed in Spike, but she needed to see it herself.

“Hey Veil,” Wolf started, breaking Veil out of her protective thinking. The moment she looked over at Wolf, Veil again caught the power and wisdom behind his dull-green eyes. “Blaze may ask us to head out tomorrow to grab some ingredients, so be ready if she does. You understand?”

“Yeah sure, Alpha,” Veil said, rubbing her arm with her hand again in the same nervous habit. She knew that Wolf was right when he said that she needed to form her own opinion about Spike, but that would take time. Time that she might not have from the look of things. ‘Tonight. I’ve got to speak with him tonight. I need to know if I really can trust him with taking care of Cy.’

While Veil continued to think about the private matter, Wolf continued to list the many things that needed to be done before winter. However, keeping track of the tasks in his mind was starting to become bothersome, and he wondered if one of the twins could make one of those ‘check-lists’ that he heard them go on about a few times before.

From the sound of it, a list would be better able to organize the activities in High Moon so that things would get done a bit more efficiently. ‘It’s at least worth a shot.’ Wolf thought to himself as he and Veil began reaching the main slab-door to the temple, opening it with the fire-stones in his collar.

Once the door was moved out of the way, both Wolf and Veil raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of them. Both Cyclone and Quill seemed to be engaged in some activity with two unknown devices in their hands, while Spike was showing Frost some book that appeared to be about magic.

However, Blaze was nowhere to be found, and only Isis stood up from her chair to greet the two canines. “I see that everything is back to ‘normal?’” Wolf asked the sphinx while Veil walked over to Cyclone to see what the two dragonesses were doing. “Isis, what’s going on, and where’s Blaze?”

“Master,” Isis started, placing her hands on Wolf’s chest in a slow manner to get him to calm down, and to show him that there wasn’t anything to worry about. “Mistress is fine, she is just asleep in bed right now. As for everyone else, everything is...mostly alright.”

Wolf looked down at the sphinx’s eyes for a moment before letting out a small sigh and a nod. It was good to know that everything was back under control and that there wasn’t anything to worry about. “Alright, but I want to know what caused this whole commotion, Isis.”

“But of course, master,” Isis said, removing herself from Wolf’s chest, walking over towards the younger members, and waving the twins over. With a quick look towards each other, both Spike and Quill stopped what they were doing to walk over towards Wolf.

Once the twins were standing in front of him, Wolf crossed his arms over his chest. “Quill, what happened? And what caused all this ruckus in the first place? Cyclone said you were sick, but you don’t look it to me.”

“Well, I was, but Blaze fixed that up,” Quill answered rubbing her arm. She glanced over to Spike for a moment before the two averted their eyes, thinking the same thing. “As for what happened…”

“I’m listening.” Wolf waited for them to tell him what was the cause for everything that had happened over the last two hours or so. The room soon filled with a thick and tense air as no one wanted to break the silence for fear of the alpha’s wrath.

The silence lasted so long that it began irritating Wolf more than he already was, to the point that he began growling at the two. When the sound of his growling reached their ears, both twins looked up towards the dog, only to see that his expression was slowly turning darker the longer they didn’t say anything.

With another look towards each other, and a deep breath, both twins rushed to say, “It’s my fault!” Again, silence took over the room, this time with Wolf blankly staring at the twins as they tried to take the blame for what happened. This persisted to the point where they began arguing with each other over whose fault it was.

“Spike this is my fault,” Quill snapped, crossing her arms over her chest while she stood up straight to give her the appearance of not having it any other way. “If I had just been honest with you and said I didn’t have any feelings for Rarity, then you would have never done any of that stuff. That’s final.”

Spike’s fists tightened at his sides from Quill trying to take the blame of the mess that he caused. Quill didn’t do anything wrong. It was Spike’s choice to continue pursuing the mare, even though everyone tried to tell him otherwise. So he was supposed to be the one that got punished. Not anyone else, especially Quill.

“No Quill, this is my fault,” Spike retorted, copying the same stance as his sister, but somehow appearing stronger in it. “I’m the one who was too scared to face the truth when it was right in my face. You didn’t want anything to do with her, and you tried to help me see why I shouldn’t have, either. I was too dumb to notice.”

Quill began glaring at Spike slightly, angry that he wouldn’t just let her take some fault for what had happened throughout the time they’d lived in Ponyville. It didn’t matter that he was half right. If she had talked to him instead of arguing, Spike might have seen Quill’s point of view.

“Oh no you don’t Spike,” Quill flatly said with a small growl as her wings began to flex outwards behind her. “This my fault as much it is as yours. Don’t think I’m gonna watch you take all the blame for something like this a-”

“Enough!” Both twins jumped at the sound of Wolf deep voice roaring over them, forcing them to look up at him to see the displeasure on his face. When the twins turned their heads towards the floor in shame, Wolf softened his voice with a small sigh. “Listen, I don’t care whose fault it was. I want to know what caused all of this mess in the first place. Now, what in Cerberus’ bloody fangs are you two talking about?”

Spike looked up from the ground to meet his sister in her purple eyes for a moment before she nodded her head towards Wolf, signifying that he could go first if he wanted to. Sighing, Spike turned towards Wolf, and started to rub the back of his head.

“It’s about our past lives in Ponyville...” he started, only meeting Wolf’s eyes for a few moments before turning towards something else that couldn’t crush him. “Really, more about the things I did behind someone’s back. Things that I’m not sure I can correct.”

Before Wolf could question the drake, Spike let out a whistle to call Peewee from his perch. The bird did as he was commanded, flying down to Spike’s shoulder with the necklace in his beak. “I did some pretty bad things that I’m not proud of. I tried to pay them back however I could. Basically making myself a slave to a pretty face to repay a debt. This necklace was what helped cause our greed-growths. After we recovered, I overheard something that made me realize my dreams with her were hopeless. But I refused to give up for a time, just lying to myself. I’m guessing my ghost-heart started festering after that.”

Wolf looked at the necklace in Peewee’s beak, more specifically the gem that was inside. He knew that now wasn’t the best of times to think this, but a gem like that would be perfect for Blaze and his’ cub. However, he pushed those thoughts aside for later when he saw Spike tightening his fists at his sides with a look of anger on his face.

“I can’t believe how stupid I was!” Spike shouted in a small growl, still angry at the way he dealt with things, and not happy that it was just a part of his dragon heritage. If he had known that, Spike would have thought of a better way to control himself, or found a way to put it to better use. It had never even occurred to him to ask Celestia, or even the Lunar goddesses about the matter.

“She didn’t even love me,” Spike continued, keeping his eyes down to the ground with a growing snarl on his face. “Not even once. Yet I acted as if I was the only one good enough for her. I thought, I honestly thought that if I could win her over that...that I would be respected. I dunno anymore.”

Spike took in a deep breath and let out a small sigh in the form of a small burst of green embers. Weak, that’s how Spike felt right now. That’s how he had felt throughout all his life. Always stuck in someone else’s shadow. “You know, our lives are sort of ironic. Don’t you think Quill?” Spike asked with a half-hearted chuckle, only getting a sigh from his sister as a response. “The two of us, dragons, the most powerful beings on the planet next to immortals, and yet we’ve been weak our entire lives.”

“Yeah, yeah we have,” Quill said, softening her tone a little, and dropping her shoulders. “What with the ‘shining’ light of the elements and Celestia always in our faces.” Quill snorted out a small cloud of gray smoke through her nose, thinking of all the times everything they’d ever done being outshone by the elements.

It didn’t matter what mess they’d cleaned up for them, the elements would just say thanks or sorry, and move on to do the same fucking thing the next day. “But that’s the past Spike, we don’t have to live like that anymore. We can make something of ourselves out here.”

“Yeah you’re right Quill, but that doesn’t change one fact,” Spike sighed as he looked over at Peewee still holding the necklace in his beak, the ruby shining. From the small amount of light and the red reflection from the Fire Ruby, Spike saw Wolf’s face gazing only at him. Spike turned his head away from the ruby, unable to even dare look at the mere reflection of the dog, not when he continued to remind him of something he didn’t have the right to ever be. “I don’t ever deserve to be a knight.”

Wolf took the necklace away from Peewee’s beak, and gestured for the bird to fly back up to the shared nest that he had with Cinder. After a quick nuzzle against Spike’s cheek, Peewee flew back up toward the nest to let Wolf say what he needed to say.

“Listen Spike,” Wolf started, getting the drake to look up from the ground and towards him. “I don’t know what it means to be a knight, or even how to began to help you achieve this. But what I do know is that you know what honor and sacrifice is, and that has to count for something, right?”

Spike wordlessly nodded his head, not knowing what else to think, or knowing what to believe in any more. “Spike, it’s a start. At least that’s what I believe from the things I’ve seen you do. But you know what they say, actions speak louder than words.”

Wolf moved the necklace towards Spike’s face, waiting for him to hold out his hand. “The worst thing you can do is deny your past and let it control who, and what, you are now.” Spike held out his hand to take the necklace from Wolf, looking solely at the red ruby inside of it when it fell in his hand. “Hey Spike,” Wolf started, patting Spike on the shoulder a little to snap his attention towards him. “Just do what feels right.”

Not giving the drake time to think about it, Wolf began walking towards the arcane doors leading towards the bedrooms, stopping when he began opening the door. “Isis, you coming to bed, or are you going to stay up for a little bit longer?”

“I will be up there in a moment, master,” Isis said with a serious look on her face as she remained standing where she was. “There’s something I want to speak with the others about, first.” Shrugging his shoulders, Wolf started out of the room as the door began moving back into place. Once it was closed, Isis closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath before letting out a small sigh.

“Tell me, Draguls,” she started in a low tone of voice that sent out a wave of chill in the room. “The reasons that you’ve put yourselves through so much over the last two months. Why you two constantly strive to become stronger. What legacy will the two of you be leaving?”

Both Spike and Quill glanced quickly at each other. They weren’t sure where the sphinx’s sudden question came from, yet for some reason they felt inclined to answer. This time it was Spike who nodded his head towards Isis, telling Quill that she could go first this time if she wanted to.

“Well…” Quill mused, looking up towards Isis’ shining blue and crimson eyes, feeling an intense wave of...something powerful just behind them. Why she never noticed it before was a bigger mystery than Isis’ sudden question. “Becoming stronger was my only reason, but that’s changed. I don’t want to just become stronger for just for the sake of being strong. There’re things that I need to set straight, and I’ve got no plans of changing the path I’m on now.”

Isis flatly stared down towards Quill for a moment, as even with the vague wording of her goals, Isis knew exactly what the dragoness was talking about from the few moments of personally speaking with her. It was good to know that Quill actually had a goal with her power, for if she didn’t then she would be nothing but a tool for someone to use. However…

‘Humph, no, she’s far too headstrong for someone to control her.’ Isis quietly mused to herself before turning her eyes over towards the dragoness’ twin brother. “And you Spike?” Isis questioned, sending out another chillwave down everyone’s spines with her words alone. “Surely a drake with the aspirations of becoming a knight has a plan to accomplish that.”

“Ye-yeah… I did, at least,” Spike sighed, looking down towards the red ruby necklace in his hands, still greatly displeased with everything that he had done. “But after the things I’ve done, after the pain I caused others, how can I ever call myself a knight?” Spike paused before looking back into the sphinx’s eyes. “A knight is supposed to be noble, he’s supposed to be fearless, living with honor for his whole life. I’ve lived nothing but a life of shame, I’m not worth calling a knight...ever.”

“Spike…” Quill sighed, upset to hear Spike giving up on his biggest life goal of becoming a knight. Sure, she thought that he was overdoing it a bit, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want him to actually achieve it.

Even with his sister’s begging gaze, Spike couldn’t return it, as he was too ashamed to look Quill in the eyes. All the drake could manage was to stare at the stone ground, while the collective focus of the room was placed on him.

As the moments passed, Isis realized that it was upon her to step up and take the role of guiding the drake down the path he wanted to live. “Do you truly believe that, Spike?” Isis inquired, slowly walking over towards Spike with an unreadable posture. Even Frost wasn’t able to understand what kind of emotion the sphinx was giving off. It was almost like trying to read a ghost.

“Is that what you think of a knight?” Isis continued, stopping right in front of Spike, staring down into a lost look that she had seen far too many times before. “Honor, fearlessness, selflessness, you think that’s what will make you a knight, and nothing else?”

Spike refused to look up at the sphinx, fearing the look of disappointment on her face as well the others’. ‘Look at me, I can’t even look anyone in the eyes...’ Pathetic, that was the only way to describe how he felt right now. Everything out in the open, and yet he still couldn’t muster up the will to look the others in the eyes.

“Spike,” Isis whispered, gently taking hold of the drake’s chin, and turning it towards her own. Much to Isis’ surprise, there was a small tone of red clouding Spike’s emerald green eyes. “You are wrong, regardless of how you look at it. A knight is much more than that.”

“Wh-what?” Spike faintly breathed out, in pure disbelief of what Isis was saying to him. He wanted to say that she was wrong, that she didn’t know what she was talking about. However, with Isis living just as long, if not longer than Celestia, Spike had little to no room to question her.

Slowly, the cold blank expression on Isis’ face began changing to one that was more kind; almost motherly. “You heard me Spike,” Isis softly giggled, moving both of her hands to cup the sides of his face, and raising his head further up a bit. “Granted that while what you said is true, a knight also knows what humiliation, failure, and fear is.”

Isis released Spike’s cheeks to rest her hands on his shoulders, continuing, “Knights come in all shapes and forms, some in shining armor, others in the rags they call clothing. Purity does not make a knight. Acknowledging their weaknesses, and knowing guilt helps guide one to the path of knighthood. What is told in fairytales follows after. And not all told is strictly the truth.”

Spike’s body started to ease up in the sphinx’s warm hands, only able to stay attached to those words she was speaking to him. “Yes, knights are supposed to be strong, but strength comes in many forms.”

“Bu-but...th-then it isn’t too late?” Spike asked, wanting to believe the sphinx’s words to be true. “I still can be a knight.”

Lowering her eyes, Isis placed her hand on Spike’s head, playfully wiggling his head-spikes. “That is for time to decide, Spike. However, I do believe every knight needs something to fight for.” Isis’ eyes quickly flicked towards where Cyclone was standing next to Veil, slyly smiling as she looked back at the young drake. “In time, you’ll find something to fight for. That I’m sure of.”

Spike followed the sphinx’s glance over towards Cyclone, catching the dragoness looking at him with a blush shining brightly on her white scales. “Th-thanks Isis,” Spike said with a small smile and blush of his own, rubbing the back of his head. “If you believe I can still be a knight, then I’ll find my way.”

“I know you will Spike, we all know you will,” Isis said, walking over towards the others that were standing at Blaze’s work table. Frost quickly tried to determine the emotion Isis was giving off, only to get the same feeling she did from Blaze, compassion. “And what of the three of you? All of you must have something you want from life, no?”

Looks were shared by the three, all seeing who would want to go first to answer the sphinx’s question. However, after realizing this day was going to come, Frost thought that she should make her intentions known to the rest of the pack.

“Redemption.” Isis looked over towards the scorpio mare, only getting a stare of determination in return. “My sister confined the changeling race to the shadows when she acted upon her greed three years ago. I seek to correct this.”

Isis simply nodded her head as she already knew of the situation with the failed invasion that occurred in Canterlot. “That is a hefty goal Frost. I must warn you though,” Isis continued with a grim tone in her voice, dropping both her smile and mood. “With ambitions such as that, there tends to be bloodshed.”

“Yes,” Frost breath out in a long sigh as her shoulders dropped a bit, knowing the sphinx’s words to be true. “I’ve already reflected on that several times before, and there’s no avoiding it any way I look at it. My only hope is that the good done will outweigh the evil I do.”

Isis nodded her head, figuring that this was the thing that her master and Frost spoke about the day before the dragons’ tests. “That all depends on how you chose to go about it, Frost. However, I know you won’t lose your way in doing so,” Isis warned, knowing what happened to those that lost what was important in the pursuit of their ambitions. “And know that you’re not alone.”

“I know, thank you Isis,” Frost said with a small, slow, bow of her head in respect towards the sphinx’s words, making a mental note to ask her more questions some time in the future, and also genuinely befriend her like the others.

Isis returned the changeling's nod before moving on towards the remaining two. “Veilstone, Cyclone, surely you two have something as well you would like to achieve.” Cyclone began blushing a little, already knowing what she wanted out of life, while Veil turned her head up towards the ceiling as she stretched her neck. “Oh come you two, we will not jest if you do not wish to tell.”

“Well...actually,” Cyclone started, turning her head down towards the ground with the blush growing on her face, and twiddling her thumbs while she rubbed her knees together. “I-It’s nothing too big, at least not like the others, but…” Cyclone paused for a moment, taking a quick glance towards Spike with a small smile. “I wouldn’t mind becoming a mother one day, you know? Taking care of a hatchling, or two, of my very own.”

Everyone in the room all contemplated the dragoness’ simple goal. Granted that it was on the list of things for all of them to do at some point of their lives, none of them truly thought about it until now, and this thought lead them all back to Wolf and Blaze. Those two were bringing in life in the next six and a half months, and they were depending on all of them to help make High Moon safe for their offspring.

“That’s a beautiful dream Cyclone,” Isis said with a soft smile on her face, though not surprised with the dragoness’ dream. Unlike Quill, Cyclone was raised in a traditional dragon clan, regardless of the number of years, she was more in-tune with her instincts of motherhood and courtship. “And I’m sure, with time, that dream will be a reality.”

Cyclone brightly smiled at Isis’ words before blushing at the thought of actually caring for a dragon of her own, and the one she wanted to have that hatchling with. While her friend was fantasizing about the thought, Veil herself dreaded the thought of Isis’ question.

Everyone, even Cyclone, had something they wanted to do with their lives, and what did she want? Nothing. Not that she didn’t want to find a mate of her own and have a cub, but she hadn’t actively thought about it.

However, knowing that the question was going to turn on her anyways, Veil forced out a small chuckle. “Heh, guess that leave me the odd hound out,” Veil said, rubbing a hand through her black and white hair with a small smile on her face. “I’m gonna be honest, the best dream I have, and had, was me spouting a pair of wings, flying off to Cadjo knows where,” she joked, tapping a black claw on the table in thought. “Really, as long as everyone around me is fine, and I’m doing all I can to help, that’s all I want.”

“And that is noble as well, Veil,” Isis said with a proud tone in her voice, and she had a right to be. As aimless as it was, Veil’s desire was a selfless act. She didn’t seek to gain anything from the others. It was almost comparable to Spike’s actions in his past, the main difference being Spike acted out on his dragon’s greed and other instincts. Veil was genuinely saying this from the heart. “And I can assure you that master Wolf would firmly agree with you.”

“Really, Alpha wants the same thing?” Veil asked in mild surprise that an alpha would genuinely care about others. Sure, Wolf was a different kind of alpha, but she didn’t think that he would worry himself about the other members that much. Then again, her experience with alphas had never been overly positive. “Why would he, unless…” Veil paused for a moment to think about something, and made the hard decision of letting go.

Cyclone was going to ask Veil if everything was alright when the hound suddenly snapped her head towards Spike, a hard and determined look in her eyes. “Hey Drake,” she started, still not sure if what she was going to do was right or not, yet still needing to do it. “Can I talk to you, now, and in private? It’s sort of important.”

“Uh...sure?” Spike said, thrown off by the hound’s sudden question. He wasn’t sure where it came from, or why it required them to speak in private. When Veil gestured her head towards the arcane-slab door, Spike followed her towards it, opening it up with the fire-stones in the center of his gloves.

Once the door was open, Veil continued to lead Spike into the tunnels while everyone else was trying to understand what was going through her mind. However, only Frost had a faint idea about what Veil was thinking, but she kept it to herself, as she was bound by the trust Veil gave her earlier today.

As they continued in the tunnel, Veil tried to work up as much of her nerves as she could before she suddenly stopped in front of Spike, catching him off guard again. “Hey Veil, what’s the matter?” Veil took in a deep breath before turning to face the dragon behind her.

For a moment all she could do was stare into Spike’s shining green eyes, praying to Cadjo that the feeling she was had was the right one. “Dra...Spike, can I really trust you with Cy? Will you be able to take care of her, make her smile every moment of her life?” Veil lowered her head to where her hair covered her eyes while Spike stared at her. “Ca-can I trust you with someone th-that’s like a...a sister to me?”

Spike sighed, turning his head down to the ground with his eyes closed. “Veil, I don’t know what you think about me, but,” Spike paused to look at Veil, who had yet to look up from the ground. “I’ll protect her Veil. Believe it or not, I like seeing Cyclone smile just as much as you do. And to be honest, she seems pretty interested, and so am I.”

“You promise?” Veil questioned with a hollow, empty tone in her voice, looking up at Spike, one of her eyes covered by her hair. “Do you really promise to keep her safe? She’s already been through a lot Spike. Things that I still don’t know about, that she still won’t share with me. Can you really make her forget her past?”

Taking a step towards Veil, Spike placed his hands on her shoulders, making her jump slightly. “I can’t say that I can, to be completely honest.” Veil’s face went into a quick snarl at Spike, but Spike was able to cut her off. “But, I can try to help her find closure with it, Veil. That much I can do,” Spike said as he wrapped his arms around Veil, pulling her into a strong hug that got another flinch out of Veil.

For a moment, all the beta could do was stand there against the warmth of Drake’s chest with both eyes wide open. She tried fighting the urge to return his embrace, soon giving up as she placed her hands on the lean, yet built, chest while resting her head against it.

Veil soon closed her eyes as she began leaning into the securing warmth that she’d only felt from Cyclone before this. ‘Dr… Spike feels nice,’ Veil thought to herself as she let out as long sigh into Spike’s blue shirt.

“Veil,” Spike said softly, wrapping his arms tighter around Veil’s shoulders, snapping her out of her daze. Veil lightly tugged at Spike’s shirt a bit, not wanting to leave his embrace just yet, for some reason that she couldn’t place. “I’ll do it, I’ll take care of Cyclone for you, but...don’t you think you’re being a little overprotective?”

Veil started to weakly chuckle as she discreetly used Spike’s shirt to wipe away her tears that had began forming around her eyes. “Ye-yeah, I probably am,” Veil laughed before she pushed herself out of Spike’s strong arms, wiping away a tear that had again formed in her eyes. “But I’m serious about what I said Spike. I’ve seen her broken more than once before. I can’t, I won’t, stand to see it again. So if you mess this up, I’ll make you eat your own tail, you hear me Drake?”

‘This has to be hard for her, especially if she’s crying,’ Spike thought to himself as he started to follow Veil back to the temple. “Veil, I promise. I’ll take care of Cyclone. You know if you ever need someone to talk to, we’re all here for the both of you. And I know this might be silly, but I’m still sorry for not being able to save your home.”

Veil shook her head as she waved a hand towards Spike, no longer caring about the place she used to call home. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Our home is here with the pack now,” she said with a small smile, feeling a large weight off her shoulders for some reason. “Now are you and Frost going to fix something to eat or not?”

Spike let out a small chuckle as he rolled his eyes, thinking Veil sounded just like Quill. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll fix something for everyone,” Spike said as he waved a hand towards the hound, still laughing a little at the thought of Veil and Quill being the best of friends. The thought, scary because of the pranks the two could pull off if they worked together, was one that Spike actually enjoyed if it meant that everyone was happy.

“Hey Veil,” Spike said as they came up on the arcane-slab door to the temple. When Veil turned her head towards him, Spike stopped his walking to look the hound straight in her gray eyes. “Thanks for, you know, having faith in me to take care of Cyclone.”

“Yeah,” Veil breathed out as she looked at the ground for a moment before snapping her head up towards the drake. “Just don’t mess it up, or you’ll be hearing from me, Drake. Got it?”

Again, Spike just started laughing at the hound, Veil sounding more like Quill every moment he spoke to her. There was no doubt that both she and Cyclone would make great additions to their growing family. Spike was happy that he still had the trust of them both, even after everything that had been said said in the last few hours.

‘No more selling yourself short, Spike. No more running. Time to dragon up.’

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”