“Geez, that’s a big sack. What the hay’s in that thing?” Dash asked, pointing a hoof at the open-mouthed bag of goods that still sat by its lonesome on the floor of the tank.

“Things we’ve yet to sort. We’ve already had to yank Katie out of it, and that’s because she somehow found a spear in that bag,” Anna replied, rolling her eyes before pointedly glancing at the wraith in question.

“You could say we have Fantasia’s biggest blind bag yet,” Lance agreed, his wings shifting under his uniform. Fortunately, the cyan visitor had her eyes fixed on the sack of stuff, and took no notice of his metal limbs twitching.

“So, what do you think of the Valkyrie’s interior, Miss Dash?” Alexander asked, his question garnering the rainbow-maned mare’s attention.

“Could use some decorations, maybe a bed or two since it’s big enough to carry at least a mattress, but other than that, it’s rad,” the Mythonian pegasus answered with a small smile.

“With how fast I drive the tank, a whole bed wouldn’t be practical,” the red-eyed stallion answered rather matter-of-factly, as if he were speaking an opinion like it had been the gospel. At this, Rainbow Dash turned to him with a brow raised.

“Even if the bedpost were bolted to the floor, the mattress and sheets and pillows would fly off if this tank were driven on a hill sloping downward. It’s as Lance says—it can’t be done unless you want fifteen problems to go with the impracticality,” Natz piped up, shaking her head as the pegasus visitor turned to her.

“What explains the gurneys, then? Don’t those go in a hospital?” Dash mused, pointing a hoof at the gurneys—one of which had Katie laying on it—for emphasis.

“I am a doctor, Miss Dash. The gurneys are there whenever the general and his fellow ponies and soldiers get wounded and need a place to prop up whatever limb is broken. Sometimes, we find bodies and put them on the gurneys for examination before we bury or cremate them,” the dark-colored gryphon replied, and when the cyan mare turned to him with a gape, he smiled in return.

“In fact, our lone wraith here slept on a gurney last night,” Quicksilver added with a nod, gesturing to the dead changeling with a talon.

“Is that what the bed on wheels is called?” Katie questioned, azure orbs widening to the size of saucers.

“Yes, my dear, the bed on wheels is called a gurney,” Nathan nodded, walking up to the wraith and gingerly patting her stringy-maned head with a talon.

“But gurneys have wheels!” Dash protested, waving her pointing hoof desperately at said gurneys for emphasis. She went on, “And you guys just said that beds are impractical—wouldn’t gurneys be the same way?!”

“They would be, if they required blankets and were not bolted to the floor,” Armin sighed, his wings flaring for a moment before snapping shut at his sides. “Hell, damn near everything in this tank is bolted to the floor.”

Matt blinked before grinning as a faint gurgling sound echoed in the tank’s interior. “Welp, my belly demands food,” he murmured, his grin going a little lopsided on his face.

“Don’t ask for giant squid. We ran out of the last few spare tentacles a frickin’ week ago,” Lance remarked, sending the half-Clydesdale a wicked grin when he shot his fellow red-maned stallion a glance.

“Nah, I was thinking about eating salmon today,” Matt replied before noticing Rainbow looking at him with a hoof covering her mouth. The cyan pegasus had been chuckling at first, before she burst out laughing. The mare doubled over, wings flapping as laughter rocked her body, as if the exchange between the two stallions had somehow amused her.

“P-ponies don’t eat squid and salmon!” she spluttered, cackling between words. “Only… only gryphons eat seafood!”

“That’s racist,” Matt sighed, his remark causing the pegasus to cease her cackling fit and glance at him. She noticed his horn had been glowing in a golden aura, and spotted a floating cleaned salmon that’d been skewered on a stick, gently roasting in flames of yellow. The scent of cooking fish filled the tank, and the other Fantasian ponies were looking at their bulkiest member with watering mouths and pleading looks on their faces.

Dash gawked, her jaw dropping as three more sizzling, flame-engulfed, impaled salmon flew towards Lance, Natz, and Anna. The other two unicorns snatched the fish with their magic, but were courteous enough to let the fires continue searing the meat. The Fantasian pegasus, however, simply waited until the flames receded altogether before carefully clutching the stick that’d been offered to him with the crook of his front leg. Blowing breaths on the fish to cool it down a bit, the general took a hefty bite out of the roasted critter, a crunch resounding from the seared skin as he pulled away and munched nonchalantly.

“You were saying?” he said as soon as he finished chewing and swallowed the gob of meat. Rainbow’s eyes widened, and one corner of her mouth twitched as her brain scrambled to work out the scene she’d just witnessed.

Finally, after taking a few moments to splutter incoherently, the gawking mare found words, “Okay, you guys have been hanging around the gryphons waaaaay too much.”

“They’re part of my army. I kinda have to,” Lance retorted before taking another bite out of the fish.

Matt had already eaten his makeshift seafood kabob, and he wiped his mouth with the side of his foreleg. He gave the cyan pegasus a level look before deciding to venture with words, “I’m going to assume much of Mythos is vegetarian?”

“No; just Equestria. I don’t know anypony who eats meat with a calm look on his face,” Dash replied, shaking her head. Her wings betrayed a cringe, and one that the blond-maned unicorn had been quick to catch.

“Well, we’re in a frozen wasteland at the moment. It’s eat what you can, when you can, or become a popsicle. I’d rather eat than have icicles growing on the fur of my legs,” Matt stated, donning a firm frown as he spoke.

“You mentioned that gryphons only eat seafood, Dash. How do you know this?” Jeremy asked, a quizzical brow raised as he prepared a few more fish on the stove.

“I was… I was friends with one, and she told me,” the pegasus mare answered, wings shifting uncomfortably for a moment.

“Was? What happened?” Natalie inquired, taking a bite out of what was left of her fish.

“Well, she was being… mean to my friends, and I told her off after she crossed a line too many,” came the reply. Rainbow sat on her rump, rubbing her left hoof on her right foreleg. “After that, I never saw her again.”

“What’d she do?” Armin piped up, his horn alight with a soft emerald aura. Dash glanced at the changeling and back to Natalie before noticing a slight glaze in the red-maned unicorn’s blue eyes. Looking at the other Fantasian ponies and spotting glazes in their eyes, she turned back to the chitin-covered sod just as his horn ceased glowing.

The unicorns and pegasus stallion blinked dazedly for a moment before the fog in their eyes faded and they shook their heads in unison to shrug off their brief bout. Lance turned to Armin and sighed, “Please stop hypnotizing us and draining some of our love. Reserve that kind of magic for the local monsters.”

“There are no monsters nearby, and you were the closest food source. Besides, it’s not like love can’t be replenished over time. I didn’t even drain you all so thoroughly you ended up like Miss Skin-and-Bones over there on the gurney; it was just like a teaspoon from all four of you apiece,” the changeling replied defensively. He froze when the red-eyed pegasus sent a glare his way, and could muster no more strength of will than to force himself to nod.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have changelings as part of an army…” Dash sighed, frowning as Lance shot her an impassive look.

“You’re not the general, so I suggest you can it while you are able,” the pegasus stallion retorted in a cold tone. He opened his mouth to continue speaking but paused as Jeremy walked past him on his rear legs, a skewered salmon gripped by a firm talon. The pegasus followed the crow-jaguar’s movements with his crimson eyes as he approached the wraith on the gurney. “Jeremy, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m going to feed our wraith,” Jeremy replied, turning to his general with an enthusiastic smile on his beak.

“Good luck with that. She’s said so herself that she lacks an appetite,” Anna groaned, shaking her head as the gryphon offered the salmon-on-a-stick to Katie.

The wraith looked at the offered treat, a brow momentarily raising as her azure orbs dimmed a bit. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Even if I wanted to, I can’t chew it,” she spoke in a polite tone. Jeremy shrugged and walked back towards the stove, putting the salmon on a plate and storing it in a fridge.

Natalie watched the gryphon put the food away and sighed before turning back to the wraith. “Maybe clamping on that stallion’s horn was a bad idea,” she piped up, frowning.

The dead mare shot the living cream-colored Fantasian an unreadable look; her eyes did not narrow, widen, nor dim, and her torn mouth did not move for a few moments. She did not even purse her lips together as Natz kept staring at her. “I had a hard time holding on, because my teeth felt like they were going to jam themselves into my jaw and crack at the same time,” she finally replied. “I don’t even know how many teeth I have now. I’ll be incredibly lucky to still have my full set on me.”

“You telling us your teeth are rotting out of your skull as we speak?” Matt frowned, an ear twitching as the dead mare simply nodded.

“I can’t help it,” Katie argued, eyes narrowing slightly as the words left her mouth.

Anna closed her eyes and scrunched her muzzle before grudgingly letting out a long sigh. “Sadly, she’s right. Unless we give her metal teeth or something, she’ll eventually have to gum things to death,” she groaned.

“Metal teeth on a wraith. Huh. That’s actually something one doesn’t hear every day,” Alexander mused, a smile tugging at the corners of his beak.

“You aren’t putting metal in my face, thank you,” Katie snarled, wings flaring and bristling as her tone echoed with an unnatural hiss.

“Refrain from experimenting on her face. Her split grin’s more than enough facial mutilation for someone with her plethora of issues,” Lance growled, shooting Alexander another glare. The dark-coated gryphon nodded in understanding before noticing that Dash had been looking at his general with a raised brow. The pegasus followed his gaze, once more directing his attention towards the guest inside the vehicle and spoke before Alexander could even open his beak again, “Dash, sometimes my doctor here gets… creative, and I have to stop him if I feel he’s going too far.”

“Did he try to do something to your broken wings that would’ve been bad?” the prismatic pegasus questioned, a hard frown on her face.

“Tried holding them spread out on two separate gurneys, which hurt like hell. I almost punched him between the eyes,” the red-maned stallion answered with a nod. “Don’t even get me started about how he wanted to keep my wings on the gurneys.”

“For a pegasus, he does hit very hard. I’m amazed he didn’t straight-up send that wraith flying back a few feet earlier—y’know, the one he shot immediately after?” Anna mused as she rose a hoof to rub her chin in thought.

“Maybe the armor the dude was wearing kept him grounded,” Natz murmured, looking up at the tank’s ceiling with a vacant gaze. “Either that, or Lance didn’t throw all of his strength in that punch; just enough to stagger the bastard.”

“Can’t use my full potential with broken wings weighed down by saddlebags,” Lance countered, shooting the cream-coated unicorn an incredulous frown.

“Fair enough,” Natz conceded with a nod.

“Okay, something’s been bothering me—you guys can eat fish. What about things like wheat or corn? You eat any of that?” Dash questioned, her gaze dancing from one Fantasian pony to the next. Lance shuddered, turning a shade of verdant in the face, while Matt shook his head just once. Both Natz and Anna, though, had one front hoof raised and accompanying nods.

“I can’t stomach many things besides meat. Bread, milk, eggs, and some fruits and not too many vegetables I can take,” Lance answered, his voice faltering and cracking when the word ‘vegetables’ left his mouth.

“I can eat fruits and veggies, I just prefer not to most of the time,” Matt added with a shrug. “Sometimes I’ll touch them, but only if Natz and Anna nag me enough.”

“We eat more greens than they do,” said Natz. “If it’s hay, though, not even we will touch it.”

“Why can’t you stomach things besides meat?” Dash went on, noticing Lance’s now-green visage.

The stallion’s cheeks blew up like a pufferfish, and he hastily threw a hoof to cover his mouth before swallowing thickly. A shade of dark evergreen had almost entirely muted out the natural burnt orange coat color on his face, even reaching the tips of his torn ears which fell flat on his head. “I… just can’t. Something—” he paused to swallow again when his cheeks swelled for another moment, “—must be wrong with me. I can’t even think about it, lest I start going sick in the stomach.”

Rainbow’s brows shot straight up to the base of her bangs. “So even thinking about foods besides meat will make butterflies go haywire in your gut?” she asked, her eyelids slanting in concern. The reply she got had been nothing more than a nod from the green-faced pegasus, who shifted his legs so he could lay down.

“Let’s change the subject before Lance explodes,” Natz interjected, causing the cyan mare to look at her. “Dash, what’re your companions like—when they aren’t calling us barbarians or accusing us of hurting an already-dead mare?”

“Which one? We’re talking about five different ponies, a bear, a rabbit, and a small dragon here,” the Mythonian retorted, one brow lowering while the other stayed well within a few inches of the hairline boundary.

“Any one of them.” Natz shrugged. She paused for a moment, frowning, before adding, “Though, I am more interested in that ivory-coated unicorn…”

“You mean Rarity? She’s a dress designer and runs a store called the Carousel Boutique. She also… flips when she sees things or ponies like the dead changeling,” Dash sighed, unaware that now said changeling had started glaring at the back of her head like her eyes were a two-piece magnifying glass.

“Dress designer that flips when she sees…” Matt spoke his thoughts aloud but trailed off, rubbing his chin with a hoof. After a moment, he let out a long sigh, “Sorry, I don’t get it.”

“It was her first time seeing Katie, so maybe her reaction was simply the natural one?” Quicksilver mused, a half-frown on his beak.

“Yeah, pretty much. Honestly, though, I was kinda expecting her to faint on the spot,” Rainbow nodded and shrugged her shoulders. She’d still been unaware that Katie had been trying to burn a hole in the back of her head with the glare she cast.

Anna’s eyes betrayed a glimmer, and her pupils widened as she spoke, “Ooooooh, I get it. She’s one of those squeaky-clean, overly fashionable, hates-bland-and-ugly-types, right?”

“‘Hate’ doesn’t exactly cover it, but that’d be a good start on that last one,” Rainbow nodded once more. “For the love of all that’s holy, I can see her trying to style his mane,” she added, using a hoof to gesture towards Matt.

The half-Clydesdale flinched, a frown marring his features. “She puts one brush near my head, I’ll truss up her mane—” he started, but a green magical glow clamped his mouth shut before he could finish.

“Sensitive about the golden locks, I take it?” the cyan pegasus asked, turning to the stallion who had his muzzle held closed with magic that had not been his own. Matt merely nodded with a grunt, and at this, she continued, “I don’t blame you. Sometimes, Rares gets a little cray and I have to take to the skies to avoid her brushes and trips to the spa.”

NoLegs meowed, using his tail to tap at Rainbow’s left front leg until she looked at him. The legless cat looked at the pegasus and purred as she rose her hoof to rub his furry cheek. He curled up next to her when she stopped petting him, still purring, as his eyes closed.

Everyone else in the tank exchanged looks with one another. Then, Lance spoke up, his voice weak and his face still tinged in green, “I’m impressed that the cat trusts you.”

“Well, if he’s okay with Dash, then I guess we don’t have much cause for alarm,” Anna conceded with a nod. She covered her mouth with a hoof to yawn before speaking again, “Damn, I feel ready to conk out.”

“Something does not sit right with me about her,” Katie snarled in a low tone, raising a shaky hoof to point it at Rainbow.

“Well, not much you can do about it, even if you wanted to do something,” Natz sighed, glancing at the wraith and shaking her head. “And besides, it’s not like she could try anything. Fly out, perhaps, but not like hand our asses to us beforehand.”

“True,” the dead mare conceded as she set her hoof back on the gurney and nestled her head between her forelegs. “Still don’t trust her, though.”

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“Something about them ponies just didn’t seem right,” Applejack grumbled, frowning.

“And the eyes of that archer… I could’ve sworn they shimmered red for a moment,” Twilight nodded, a shiver running through her body at the thought.

“Um, do you think she might’ve been corrupted? Trixie’s eyes glowed red when she had the Alicorn Amulet…” Fluttershy piped up, looking at Twilight with shifting wings.

“But that mare’s magic didn’t turn red… now that I dwell on it, corruption is a possibility,” the lavender mare sighed, shivering again.

“And the general also had red eyes. Just looking at them made me feel as though he could crush me under his hoof without a care in the world,” Rarity murmured, shaking her head in an attempt to rid herself of the thought. “His tone of voice said one thing, but the eyes… they did not once reflect it.”

“The way he told us about what happened to his ears made me think one o’ two things is going on as far as them ears are concerned,” Applejack sighed, garnering the attention of the ponies, bear, rabbit and drake in the airship.

“And what would those two things be?” Twilight frowned, and her ears fell flat as the blond-maned mare took a moment to swallow thickly.

“Either he didn’t feel the pain, or…” the earth pony trailed off for a moment.

“Or what?” Rarity mused, a frown marring her own features.

“Or he’s straight-up lying about how it happened,” Applejack answered, shaking her head. “How am I supposed to know which is more likely? I wasn’t there when his ears got shredded, after all.”

“How was he able to fight if his wings were broken? Sure, he didn’t do much fighting with those wraiths, but don’t wounded pegasi need to rest?” Pinkie interjected, her head slightly tilted to one side.

“Well, he did say his wings were bandaged, a gryphon backed him up on that, and that wraith tried turning him into a shishkabob. Maybe he just fought out of necessity,” Spike stated, shaking his head.

“But broken wings and wounded sides would make it hard for a pegasus to balance on their back legs like he did, especially with that sword-like thing he was carrying. The only situation I can see where such a thing is possible was if his wings kept getting broken to the point he just went ‘to Tartarus with it,’” Twilight countered, her frown becoming more pronounced on her muzzle.

“Either that or he’s lying about that too,” Applejack agreed with a nod.

“Well, we won’t know which scenario has happened until—and I don’t mean to sound rude in any sense of the word—he takes off his uniform. Either he’s going to slip up on accident, or he’ll willingly show us the state of his wings. We only need to wait,” Rarity stated, punctuating her remark with a long, low sigh.

“But there’s a chance he won’t do either; he was armed when he trotted to us, Rarity. You ever noticed how slowly he approached, and how many times he stopped to look around before continuing? He was being overtly cautious,” Spike interjected before a puzzled frown made its way onto his features. He rubbed his chin with a claw and added, “Okay, now that makes me wonder: why was he the only pony that had a full set of clothes? The unicorns and wraith had nothing more than scarves.”

“One of the gryphons said he sustained serious injuries and needed to keep his wounds out of the elements. Are you suggesting it’s something else entirely, Spike?” Twilight turned to the drake as she spoke, a brow raised.

Harry let off a growl, which Fluttershy translated. “Harry says the uniform could be a part of the whole general schtick he has going on,” she murmured.

“Well, the royal guards and their captains trot around in armor twenty-four seven back home; I can certainly see why Harry has that line of thinking,” Twilight slowly nodded as she spoke.

Angel started thumping his foot on the floor, garnering the attention of the yellow pegasus. “What is it, Angel?” the mare asked, noticing the rabbit making wild gestures with his front paws. After a few moments of eyeing the bunny’s gestures, which ended with a digit held up against the forehead in a way reminiscent of a unicorn horn, she frowned. “You noticed that Mister Bladerune’s horn was smaller than his friends’ horns?” she murmured, to which the bunny set his paw down before nodding.

“That is very peculiar. Maybe it’s just a birth defect?” the lavender mare mused, rubbing a hoof on her chin. “We only saw him performing basic levitation and a weapon-summoning spell—perhaps he has a very limited magical range because of the smaller-than-normal horn.”

Angel began making more gestures now, rapidly flapping his front limbs as if they were wings. The yellow pegasus kept her eyes locked on him as the rabbit began making more signs, which ended with him pulling the corners of his mouth wide, resulting in him appearing as though he had the widest grin anyone’s seen yet. “The wraith with the split mouth? You think she’s pretty odd?” Fluttershy asked, and again, the rabbit nodded to respond.

“I’m impressed she can still trot, let alone fly! No changeling, gryphon or pony should be living in such a state as she is; why, not even Celestia would let herself stoop so low as to show her bones through her skin and be calm about it!” Rarity huffed, eyes narrowing as the words tumbled from her mouth.

“Well, as one of the Fantasians said, there’s not much we can do about it. That changeling was already thin, according to her, and…” Twilight trailed off and shuddered as she recalled the wraith’s arrant horn stump that sat on her skull. She swallowed thickly before continuing, “And the wraith did say they gave her a place to sleep that’s warm, but I don’t know how much any one of the ponies are telling the truth.”

“At least we’re in the same boat, Twi,” Applejack remarked, eyelids slanting in worry. “But I want to know what that changeling did to her face that made her look like her jaw was half torn off like that.”

“Perhaps someone tortured that mare! Whoever would defile a face, let alone in such a way the damage is irreparable, has done one of the most horrid things ever known in the history books! By Celestia and Luna, Discord was considerably more tame once we freed him from his stone prison!” Rarity hissed, eyes narrowing lower still. She had begun turning a shade of red in the face, and her form trembled as her blood started boiling over.

“Or, well… I suppose it’s possible that her wounds were self-inflicted, but I don’t see why anyone would want to carve into their own face and leave a very wide scar in its wake,” Twilight mumbled with a grimace, shaking her head solemnly. “And we still don’t know why she’s… pencil-thin, for a lack of better words.”

“Queen Chrysalis said that love is food for changelings. The wraith’s broken horn could’ve been a factor in her starvation,” Fluttershy piped up, wings cringing.

“That’s possible, Shy. Which leaves two questions: were the wounds self-inflicted, and if not, then who would do such a thing?” the lavender mare inquired, turning to her pegasus friend with a frown on her muzzle.

“Well, whatever it is, I swear I will find who is responsible and dunk them in tar and feathers!” the ivory unicorn snarled, seething rage alight in her eyes as she stomped a hoof. At this, the others turned to her with flinches and worried frowns, only to relax as Rarity took deep breaths with a heaving chest and gradually calmed down.

“What if the wraith did it to herself, Rarity? What then?” Applejack ventured, swallowing thickly.

Rarity flinched, ears falling flat on her skull as the furious light in her eyes faded, replaced only by the embers of a mild irritation. “If she’s the only guilty party, then... “ she trailed off, the irritation fading from her eyes until it’d been left with only a numb, distant gleam. “...then I’ll ask why she’d do such things to herself,” she finished after a few moments. “Twilight’s right; nobody would do that, even for the worst of reasons imaginable.”

“Hopefully, she’s going to be at least willing to talk about it. But it’s highly likely she won’t want to. Ponies and changelings and gryphons who receive split grins are often deeply hurt about how they got it in the first place,” the lavender unicorn sighed, her frown deepening.

“Why’s that?” Spike asked, walking up to Rarity whilst keeping his gaze focused on Twilight.

“It often goes hoof-in-hoof with violent, traumatic crimes,” Twilight answered in a glum tone, shaking her head. “And so does having a horn broken off, for that matter. For all we know, the wraith could’ve been a victim of some violent attack.”

“But then, how is she still trotting and flying like nothing happened?” Applejack mused, a hoof on her chin.

“I guess her being dead could be a factor—maybe wraiths just don’t feel physical pain,” Fluttershy replied, and made to speak once more, only to close her mouth when Twilight shot her a glance and shook her head for the upteenth time.

“That’s not possible; we all saw how she reacted after that arc of lightning hit her. If she couldn’t feel it hurting her and maybe leaving a lingering tingly sensation afterwards, then I doubt she’d have felt Matt’s magic forcibly levitating her against her will,” the lavender unicorn groaned, flailing a hoof in a dismissive manner. “All I know is that something is not right with that mare!”

“All I know is that the Fantasian ponies and their wraith confuzzle me to no end, and normally, I do the confuzzling back home!” Pinkie exclaimed, sitting on her rump and crossing her front legs together.

“Which is really saying something,” Twilight conceded with a heavy sigh, closing her eyes as if in defeat. “I’ll be impressed if they perplex us more than Discord did.”

“Am I the only one who still thinks the ‘end of the worlds’ gig that the unicorn whose eyes turned red for two seconds mentioned is a hunk of bad baloney?” Pinkie piped up again, garnering a glance from her lavender companion.

“You’re not the only skeptical one,” Twilight replied, opening her eyes and giving the pink pony a weak smile. “Maybe they’re all a bunch of loons and we just haven’t seen their true inner crazies yet.”

Applejack also grinned, “I done told that orange-maned pony she was darn tootin’. But she and that other mare said they heard the ‘end of the worlds’ nonsense from some other pony or whatever that talked to their group; they might be darn tootin’ and they’re just telling us their tall tales.” At this, the other mares, the animals, and Spike nodded in agreement, each with smiles on their faces; Angel being the exception, as the rabbit had donned an unreadable look as his head bobbed up and down.

Harry growled again and sat on his rear. He stretched his front legs and let off a lengthy yawn.

“That’s a good idea, Harry,” Fluttershy murmured, stretching her wings for a bit.

“What is?” Rarity mused, turning to her pegasus friend with a puzzled glint in her eyes.

“We should sleep and think about all of this tomorrow. I mean, it’s an awful lot to try to make sense of, with what the torn ears and the wraith and all of the other things going on. It would be better to rest and talk in the morning. After all, we have to stay for at least three days and a lot to learn about this place—if you don’t mind, that is,” Fluttershy answered, laying down and folding her wings with a small smile on her face.

Twilight shifted her legs and laid down as well. “I get what you mean, Fluttershy. Maybe a nice night’s sleep should give us all clearer heads,” she agreed, nodding her head before settling it between her front legs.

“And we got lots of time to sort things out, and maybe the Fantasians will be less cranky tomorrow,” Pinkie chimed, smile widening as she too shifted to lay down.

“The less cranky everyone is, the better,” Applejack stated, also curling up on the floor.

“I concur. I just hope Rainbow hasn’t sparked another fight,” Rarity sighed, shaking her head.

Angel hopped over to Fluttershy and curled up next to her, ears upright as he dozed off. Soon, the lot within the airship went to sleep and all fell silent. Nothing dared to break the tranquility for a good few hours before Spike sat up, rubbing his eyes with a claw. His vision bleary, the young drake slowly stood up and walked to a window absentmindedly. Already, the moon began rising up in the horizon, tinting everything a soft silver-blue. He could see the Valkyrie, the wraiths that had been slain earlier in the day, and…

“What the?” Spike mumbled, squinting his eyes as he saw two shadowy figures collide with two more others. Wings flared wide, a halberd-like weapon had been drawn so fast it reflected the moon’s light for the barest of instants, and the figures engaged in a very violent scuffle that sent snow flying everywhere. When, after a few moments passed and the snow had stopped getting kicked up in all directions, the drake saw two figures sling two more onto their backsides like sacks of flour, and one had still been clutching the halberd-esque thing as if in defiance.

Whirling around, the drake found that the boarding dock had been closed. On the opposite side of the ship, a window stood wide open, bringing in the cold breaths of nightly gales. A darker shadow loomed just outside that window and closed it in haste, and Spike blinked before he heard another window open just behind him. The drake felt something that had large, thin digits hold his mouth shut from behind before a scream could leave his throat.

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Angel thumped his foot on the floor, standing next to a snoring Twilight as a soft drumming filled the air around him. A few moments flew by, and the bunny stopped thumping to catch his breath, chest heaving as exhausted pants left his small mouth. The unicorn had not stirred even once, and the small white critter shot a glare at her sleeping form before trudging over to Fluttershy. Gathering some more strength and a few more breaths, he started thumping on the floor once more, only stopping after a moment when the pegasus blearily opened her eyes and dazedly stared at him.

“Oh, my, Angel. Is it morning already?” the yellow-bodied mare asked in a sleepy tone, rubbing her eyes with a hoof as the bunny nodded. He started making wild gestures again, which ended in one paw held over his head with the pads of the appendage facing one of the windows. Fluttershy rose to her hooves and looked around, noticing that one window stood wide open and the fact that, somehow, her group had been one member short.

It took only an instant for her to register the fact, and another to register the open window, but once she did, her front hooves flew to her face and her eyes went wide. “Oh no, Spike’s gone!” she exclaimed in a hushed tone, whipping her head around to glance at Angel. “Did you try waking Twilight up?” she asked, and the bunny nodded with an irritated glint in his eyes.

Fluttershy sucked in a deep breath, and then exhaled before repeating the breathing pattern a few more times. Yet, no matter how much she breathed in and out, the growing panic within her would not cease. “Spike’s gone,” she mumbled, her form trembling. “Spike’s gone!” she exclaimed, voice rising higher in both pitch and volume—loud enough to briefly echo within the airship.

“Spike’s gone!” she yelled loud enough to echo in the area outside of the airship. Her cry of alarm aroused the mares and bear from their slumber, all standing bolt upright and looking at her with widened eyes.

“Spike’s what? Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, eyes twinkling in concern.

“What the hell are you all on about?” a voice called from outside. Turning to the open window, Twilight trotted to the anomaly and peered outside to find the Valkyrie’s hatch had opened, with Lance poking his head out of it. The unicorn glanced around in the airship’s room, and had instantly noticed Spike’s absence.

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash called, flying out of the tank and hovering next to the open window within seconds. When Twilight turned to her with pinprick pupils, the airborne pegasus frowned and made to speak again, only to fall silent as a lavender hoof rose up to cover its owner’s mouth.

“Spike’s gone, Dash. Spike. Is. Gone!” Twilight answered, voice rising in tandem with her panic. At this, the cyan mare gaped.

“You mean, he’s not in the airship with you? Like, he’s missing?” Rainbow asked, her own voice an octave higher. When Twilight glumly nodded, she turned to the tank and flew towards it, only stopping when her aloft form hovered over Lance.

The red-eyed stallion shot her an unreadable look. “What are your friends getting their tails tied in a knot over?” he asked.

“You know the little dragon? Spike?” Dash replied, ears flat on her skull.

“Purple and green, hard to miss unless he was in a crowd of full-grown tall ponies?” the stallion groaned, a brow quirked. “What about him?”

“He’s not in the airship. He just up and vanished!” the cyan pony replied, her voice rising another octave higher as she spoke.

“Maybe he’s in another part of the airship. That thing does look like it has multiple rooms,” Lance stated, a firm frown on his face. His eyes widened as Dash slung her front hooves onto his withers and violently shook him like a piggybank she’d been trying to get money out of.

“It only has one room for me and my friends, one room for supplies, and one room for the pilot, and he’s not in the room meant for my friends!” Dash objected, continuing to shake the general until Matt poked his head out of the hatch and stopped her with a bit of gold-colored magic.

“The little drake may be in the storage room, or sleeping with the ship’s pilot for all we know. Check in there, and come back once you do. Tell us what you can or cannot manage to find,” the half-Clydesdale said simply. “Until we know for certain he’s not in the airship, we can’t do anything.”

“Can’t do anything, or won’t?” Rainbow asked, her voice rising and her tone marred in an angry growl. Her eyes narrowed low as she waited for the unicorn to answer.

The response came in mere seconds. “Can’t, until we know for sure. If you want, we can go in the airship ourselves and search,” Matt answered, sighing.

“I’ll search. You guys would get distracted by whatever they have in that thing,” Anna groaned, poking her head out of the hatch. She shot Rainbow a look and added, “Tell your friends I’ll help scour every square inch to help see if I can spot any whereabouts of the dragon.”

Natalie poked her head out of the tank, facing opposite of the airship. Amidst the dull, soft grey clouds, she spotted something black rising up and up. Clambering out of the hatch to stand on the tank, she carefully maneuvered around the lid of the hatch with a brow raised. “Um, what is that?” she asked aloud, now noticing that the faint plume of what looked like smoke had appeared to spindle upwards from the ground in the distance.