Goldenseed was sooooo borrrrrrred. What she had been told was true, there was very little for her to actually do. She spent a few hours near the end of each day helping to tend to the minor wounds the guards and patrols had acquired, but they were nothing compared to her first day. Unfortunately, it didn't mean there was no real threats. The reason there was so little for her to do was because very few ponies who were wounded ever came back. She lost count of how many soldiers would leave in the morning, never to return. Once again she was becoming disturbingly aware of how distant she was from home.

Her time during the day was extremely boring. She spent a bit of time tending to those still in recovery, before joining the few conjurers they had in trying to settle the magic of the land. Stabilizing the magic so it could flow properly was slow, boring work and led to the occasional elemental appearing, though there were others around to help defeat them. The damage the land was suffering was atrocious, were it a pony she would have had to put it out of its misery by now. As it was, she just spent each day healing what she could.

Then, as her first week came to a close, she heard the most wonderful sound. The warning bell was rung, alerting them to the arrival of travelers. She joined almost every other worker in a mad dash to a window or balcony they could see out of. She nearly squealed with delight when she saw them. Wagons. Ponies. Griffons. Even a few smaller dragons. TRAVELERS! Not a small group, either. She glanced about guiltily. She couldn't wait to leave, though she knew the ponies here still needed help. She appeased her conscience by swearing she'd have some conjurers sent here when she returned. Her magic wasn't enough, but as a prince her touch could have a far greater impact. Besides, she was on a time limit. She had to return before... she didn't even know what day it was. Before she turned back to herself.

She shook her head and refocused on the arriving ponies. She could worry about that later. First she had to find a way to get one of those travelers to help her get out of this frozen wasteland. She was a conjurer, surely one of them could use a pony like her. Goldenseed headed towards the stairs, only to find her way blocked by Grove. “Yes?” she asked nervously. Something about the elder conjurer's eyes worried her.

“Esperit, I just want to talk for a moment. Would you come with me?” the mare directed her towards one of the side rooms. It was empty when the two walked in.

“What's this about?”

“I just want to warn you to be careful. You're a conjurer, I'm sure you think everypony is like you, hoping to heal and fix the world. But they aren't. There are ponies out there, plenty of them, who just want to help themselves. Ponies who won't hesitate to use your powers until you're little more than a dried out husk. I... understand your desire to be free of here, but please. Be careful. You managed to escape death once, don't let it get you now. You're young, you still have--”

Goldenseed stared for a few moments before grinning. “Ohhhh. I see. No, I understand.” She waved a hoof dismissively. “Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. You don't have to try to keep me safe, I have my magic for that. I'll be very, very careful about what ponies I go with.” She glanced towards the door. “Besides. If I do go with anypony, it'll only be on my way to Crystalopolis. They're the closest. I can keep myself safe for the week or so it'll take to get there.”

Grove slowly nodded. “Very well. If you're sure. Just... promise me you'll be careful. Don't use your magic for the wrong things. A gift of healing is a wonderful thing, but it can be twisted and shattered. Just go to Crystalopolis. Don't make any side trips.”

She sighed and gave a curt nod. “I know, I know. My father told me all the stories. I'll be careful and I won't abuse the gift I've been given. I promise. Can I go now?”

The mare slowly released her and nodded. “Yes. Be safe...”

“I will. I mean it.” Goldenseed gave a reassuring smile before trotting away. Once she was out of the room and around the corner, she looked back to make sure she wasn't being followed. Once she was certain Grove wasn't behind her, she let out an annoyed sigh. The elder conjurer barely gave her the time of day, but now that she was going somewhere else Grove was all talkative. This was just like being back home. Being a little 'young' seemed to make them think she was 'helpless'. She WASN'T helpless! She was a conjurer, maybe not the best, but she could take care of herself. Besides, her magics were for healing. Even if she got hurt, she could just heal away the pain. Her combat abilities weren't very good, but that was only because her father never let her practice them.

Her foul mood lasted until she got down to the dining hall. Many of travelers were filling up the seats and she struggled to hold back a sqwee of delight. She'd soon be getting out of this place and finding a way back home. Sure, she'd have to make sure she arrived home quick as possible, but it wouldn't hurt her to have a few adventures on the way. One or two, maybe. Just enough to tide her over for the months, even years, of boredom that awaited her return.

She weaved around the crowds, looking around at all the strange sights that surrounded her. Ponies in armor, wielding massive weapons, even a few dragons. She shivered at the sight of a white one with claws that were dyed red. She wondered if that was blood or... something else. Some of the assorted adventurers had scars and dented armor, talking over great mugs of alcohol and plates of vegetables. She made her way to the counter and sat down on one of the stools, glancing up to the cook. For the first time in a while, the things he was making smelt good, not bland. She guessed new supplies added all manner of variety to his meals. She could hardly wait, her mouth watering at the smell of fried herbs.

Even better than the food, though, was the fact if anyone knew where she could get a job, he would. Or rather, he'd know a guy, who'd know a guy, who'd know someone who would be going her way. He was talking with one of the ponies who helped him give out the food, so she just watched and waited.

There was a sudden creak on the chair besides him. “Come here often?” A voice asked. She glanced over and cocked an eye. A griffon had taken the empty seat besides her and was eying her very, very closely. He had the strangest clothing on, thick garments dyed red and blue in the strangest manner. Across his back was the weirdest bow she'd ever seen, it had almost a dozen strings on it and she swore it had a harp built in.

“No, I'm new. Hoping to get a--”

The griffon swooped in, chuckling. “Thought I wouldn't find you, really? When you're so open?” He leaned in close, making her lean back. One of his claws moved behind her, supporting her weight as she let out an eek. In an instant the only thing stopping her from falling out of the chair was his claw on her back. She flailed her hooves wildly, trying to grab something to support herself, but the counter top was just out of reach.

Then his beak connected with her lips. Her eyes bulged as her hooves froze mid flail. She stared into his eyes. After a few horrifying moments the kiss ended and he pulled back. “Hello Steelhorn.”

There was a sudden coughing from behind and the griffon glanced back. Another female's voice spoke up. “Honey? That's not me.”

The griffon turned back to Goldenseed and she had no time to see the look of horror on his face. She had managed to get her balance and when his head whipped back around, her hoof was there to greet it. She slammed it forward with all her might, knocking the griffon back and sending him toppling. She let out a shriek as his claw disappeared and she fell back onto the ground.

She let out a groan and wiped her mouth with her leg, “Pfft, bleck, ick, blah!” she said between spits, shaking her head. “Ew ew ew EW! You kissed me!” Ponies in the hall roared with laughter as they watched the fight, making pink spread through her cheeks.

The griffon was on the floor across from her, a zebra standing over him. The zebra didn't look anything like her though. This other zebra had a red coat with orange stripes and a black mane. The other mare walked over, shaking her head. “I'm so, so sorry, miss. He thought you were me.” She held out her hoof to help Goldenseed up, but she knocked it away.

“How could he think you were me?” she roared, rolling to her front and standing up. “No, I don't care. He had no right to do anything like that!”

“Wait, please, it's not what you think, I'm a--”

Goldenseed ignored her and galloped out of the building, tears brimming in her ears as she ran. The laughter seemed to chase after her, adding speed to her hooves. She'd only been a mare a... well, not long. But already she has her first kiss taken by some stupid griffon as some kind of sick joke. She felt so angry and frustrated as she tried to think of something she could do to get back at them, but nothing really came to mind. Even worse, the griffon had humiliated her in front of everypony. Sure, she'd likely never see any of them again, but that didn't make the shame any more bearable.

She galloped into the cold outside, shivering as the cold winds and snow swept against her form. She glanced down at herself and shivered. Her coat was back in her room. She turned to go back inside, but shook her head. She didn't want to deal with those ponies. She could hear laughter flowing from the hall, even through the walls, and she didn't want to be the cause of even more.

She started walking towards the side of the building. She'd just come in through one of the back entrances and sneak back up to her room, grab her coat and then try talking to one of the caravan groups as they left. Maybe she could find a job then.

“Hey, wait up!” a voice called from behind her when she was halfway to the other side of the building. She was too cold and upset to be nice.

“What do you want?” she snapped as she turned around. “Hoping to get another ki--” She paused when she realized she didn't know who the pony was. He had an axe strapped to his back. A large axe, covered in red near the tip with a freshly sharpened edge. He was an earth pony with a red coat and a black mane, wearing thin chain armor that covered most of him aside from his head. She quickly became distressingly aware that they were alone at this side, the guards likely couldn't see them from the wall tops.

“No, I'm not with that griffon,” the stallion said before bowing his head. He gave her a disarming grin, but she was in no mood to fall for such a thing. She'd already been through enough and she didn't want to have any more troubles. “I saw you take him down, though. Are you one of those pugilists?”

“Pugil...” She trailed off and tried remembering what that was. “Do they raise fish or dogs?”

“Errr, no. They fight with their hooves. I ummm...” He chuckled and looked her over. “Not very often we see a mare like that. My name is Cresent. Nice to meet you.”

She blinked a few times, before scowling. “You aren't going to try to hit on me, are you? Because if you are, you're way too old for me and--”

“What? No! I was curious if you were new here. I didn't remember seeing you in the caravan.” He quickly shook his head.

“Oh!” A grin formed on her lips. “I actually just arrived here a... little bit ago. I was lost in the mountains. I'm actually looking for a group to head to Crystalopolis. I'm a conjurer.”

He nodded. “You know all that healing magic stuff?” A grin formed on his lips as his eyes moved from side to side. “You know, a pony like that could be really useful. I'm part of a group called Crystal Pens. You might have heard of us?”

She shook her head. “I'm afraid not. I...” Her eyes widened as she took a closer look at him. She saw a small glint from under his armor. “You're a crystal pony!”

He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, guilty. We're part of the group that helped take down Discord a few years back. I'm sure you heard of that?” He puffed out his chest.

Her eyes went wide and she took a step forward. “Wait, you are? Really?” She looked him up and down, gasping. “But, but that was... there were hundreds of ponies there! Only a few... only a few...”

He slowly nodded with a sigh. “Yeah. So many of us died, it was horrible.” He shook his head. “But in the end we sent the monster back to the aether where it belongs. Lost a lot of good ponies on that day.” He looked her over and smiled. “Don't suppose you were there?”

She shook her head and sighed. “No. I... I wasn't allowed anywhere near such things. I heard the reports though. The chaos, the panic. How many ponies were... altered. Is it true that...”

“A lot of the ponies who fought him were changed, yes. They had to be... put down. There was no cure for that. So, how did you get lost out here?”

“Huh? Oh, I was--” She sneezed and became distressingly aware of just how icy cold it was. She began to shake uncontrollably. “I... I-I really s-should head b-back in. I-I need to get my c-coat.”

He nodded and moved besides her, grinning. “Of course. Here, how about I walk with you? We can discuss some things. If you're trying to get to Crystalopolis, I'd be happy to help you. If you can help us. We could use a conjurer in our little group.”

“You could?” she said, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.

“Definitely. Aren't a lot of your kind out and about these days. Usually just pen up in towns or cities and take care of the ponies there.”

She shook her head. “N-not me.” They made it to the back door and she gave it a firm knock. After a few moments a pony came to it and gave them a confused glance, but let them in. “I've spent most my life doing that. I want to go on adventures. To fight monsters, to make a real difference.” She sighed a bit. “Not that those other ponies aren't. I mean, taking care of a small village and keeping everypony there safe and sound can't be easy. I've heard some ponies make a nice living doing it, too. Sometimes even arcanists take up the work load too, though I don't know much about them. Lots of conjurers aren't too... accepting of their kind.” She was babbling, she knew it. But she was still cold and excited at the prospect of getting out of here.

The stallion chuckled as he followed her through the halls. “I can't imagine why. You'd think they'd be happy to have healing magic anypony could use.”

“Well, anypony could use conjury, too,” Goldenseed mumbled softly. “But it requires more... feeling and emotion. You have to learn to speak to the land and, until you can, the magic is useless for you. Arcany... is different. Not to mention the story of how the first arcanist came to be.”

He gave her a confused look.

“Oh... I guess you might not have heard the story. It... might just be a legend but a lot of my teachers seemed to believe it.” He kept watching her and smiling, so she started giving more details. “Well, there's no actual proof to it. I mean, some think it was just made up by conjurers and that arcanist magic originated by dissecting the base spells themselves. But the fact they're able to use healing magic makes a lot of people believe the magic originated from conjurers. The legend goes, well...” She squirmed a little and suddenly started feeling very foolish, shuffling her hooves. “Well... that the first arcanist was actually a white mage, a powerful one. But he was captured by a tyrant and forced to watch as his friends, family and even home were destroyed, one by one. Tortured and defeated, the white mage lost all hope and, in his despair, his magic changed what it was all the way down to the core. Rather than healing, all his magic could do was spread disease and poisons. It was these magics that allowed him to eventually slay the tyrant, slowly poisoning and making his very body collapse from the dark magics. But... there was a cost. He was cut off from nature, after that. Either he was so corrupted and hurt that he could no longer bring himself to heal others, his magics had been fundamentally changed down on a base level or... nature itself had abandoned him for what he became. Supposedly his students underwent the same training he did and, rather than using nature to help share the burden, they used aether itself to hold their burden.”

Cresent nodded slowly. “I see. That's pretty... well, good, right? Not the story, but that they're there. I mean, more healers is always a good thing. Heavens know we could use all we could get.”

“Well, yes. To an extent. The problem is... it takes a special mind to use conjury, there's actually very few of us. Arcanists are pretty much just thaumaturges. They both use aether to fuel their magics and, eventually, aether strikes back unless it's correctly managed. That's why conjurers are so important. We're the ones best at repairing all the damage other magic does, calming the land and fixing it. Now though, well...” She waved a hoof. “Grove said that centuries ago these mountains were cold and rainy, but filled with life. They used to grow fields of all kinds of fruit here and supply Crystalopolis.” She glanced out a window, towards the walls. “Now it's a barren wasteland of snow and ice, due to the war between the centaurs and us. The magic is constantly being used and there's just not enough we can do to fix it. A few more centuries and there might be nothing here but a wall of ice with elementals the size of houses flying around.”

The stallion nodded, his face grim. He didn't seem to be watching her anymore, instead focusing off in the distance. After a few more moments he glanced to her. “So, you're able to... fix these things? Repair the damage dealt?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.” She gave a soft chuckle. “Minor damage is easy to fix. Greater damage though... well... it can get out of control sometimes. You'd need a master conjurer, possibly even a group of them to repair some damages. It's why this area is so bad. It's like... trying to dam the ocean. Sure, you can maybe block off tiny streams by yourself, maybe with a few of you a river or two can be fixed. But the worst places are just waiting to snap and any conjurer who tried without plenty of backup would be... destroyed.”

“You might be worth a bit more than I initially thought.” He flashed her another grin. “We have a thaumaturge in our group. If you could cut back on the damage he did--”

“I'd be happy to!” Goldenseed said enthusiastically.

“That's great. Though, I should warn, we aren't heading straight to Crystalopolis. We're heading that direction, but we have a job we're being paid for on the way. We'll be heading into the sashafrash caverns. Gotta help get some ponies through it.”

She nodded happily, a wide grin on her lips. “I'd be happy to help. I can, well... how long would it take?”

“The caverns themselves? It would take about two days to get there, then two or three days navigating through. There's sea ponies there, bad ones. We're being paid to root them out and get a bunch of things they'd stolen.” He paused. “It could be very dangerous, but all you'd have to do is stick in the back and tend to our wounds. Got it?”

Goldenseed nodded. “Bandit sea ponies? That sounds... dangerous.” She grinned wide at the thought. It would be an adventure, a real adventure. Not just one she'd be viewing from afar. Maybe one day they'd write a book about her story, too.

“Well, it could be a little bit. But don't worry, we're professionals. We know what we're doing.” He gave a little wink. “Once we're done with this little detour, it'd only take about another week to get to Crystalopolis. It'll be hard work, but the pay is great.”

She nodded and stopped outside her room. “Well... I'll do it.” Heaven knew she could use the bits. “When do we leave?”

“We'll be leaving tomorrow morning at first light. I'd make sure to get some sleep, you'll need it.” He gave her a pat on the back. “Good to have you with us miss... errr...?”

“Esperit. It's good to be going with you.” She gave a little wave before trotting into the room. She could barely believe it. She was going on an adventure, fighting off evil sea ponies. This was going to be the most awesome story of her life and she couldn't wait.

------

Oh gosh why did the sun have to rise so early?

Cresent hadn't been kidding and they'd all been set to leave at first light. Goldenseed huddled inside her thick coat, a few supplies strapped to her hips. To her delight, Cresent had no problem supplying her with a few travel rations for the trip. When they left the winds across the frozen tundra were picking up, throwing ice into their faces and whipping up the snow around them. Even worse, the skies were clear and sunny, making it all the colder as the winds refused to die down in the slightest.

The ponies walked in double file, keeping an eye out for all sides and occasionally switching positions so a new pony walked in front. The path wasn't completely clear, so the forward ponies had the worst of it as they had to make a path for the rest of the group. Fortunately, it gave her ample time to get to know her new comrades.

Aside from the pony who hired them, they were all crystal ponies. Firecoat was another ruby coated stallion, though his mane was a dark purple as opposed to Cresent's black. He carried a gem topped staff on his back, the focus through which he used his black magics. He wore thick, fur covered robes. He wasn't very talkative, having not even said a word to her since Cresent had introduced them.

Shatterstep was a diamond coated pony with a golden mane. He carried a long, diamond tipped spear and, like Cresent had been wearing this morning, thick steel armor that covered the majority of his body. He was far more talkative than his comrades, even with the piercing winds he seemed to always find his way to her side and constantly chatted her up, asking her about where she was from and what brought her here, how many family and friends she had in the area and questions like that. She tried to be as vague as possible, making up stories as she went.

“H-how are you and C-cresent enduring this cold s-so well?” she finally asked, glancing to the spear pony. All those two had on was their thick, form fitting armor. The steel had to be icy cold and she couldn't imagine how heavy it had to feel on such a long trip. Her coat was thick and fuzzy, but it could only barely keep her warm in the piercing winds.

“Magic armor,” Shatterstep said with a chuckle. “Pretty common down in Crystalopolis. This stuff feels almost light as a feather and warm as a fur coat. Nice and cool down in the valleys where it's hotter.”

Her eyes went wide. “Wait, t-they do that f-for armor?”

“Oh yeah. It's a really common enchantment for adventurers like us! Weight one can be a bit tricky, though. Doesn't work so well on spell casters. Apparently your magic tends to interfere with the enchantments and throw them off. But hey, it makes these long marches a lot easier on those of us who need to fight on the front lines.”

Goldenseed nodded, sighing softly. She wished she'd spent a little more time studying enchantments, all this time she'd thought the ponies who went charging forward and fighting all day in all that heavy armor were so strong. She guessed it made sense they had magic on them, especially when sometimes fighting required them to slog through less than hygienic locations. Otherwise all the forward fighters would constantly be getting colds and diseases.

“Should see some of the enchantments they have back in the city. I've seen a few mares who enchanted their armor to, well... look like other pieces of clothing, if you catch my drift.”

“Like robes?” Goldenseed offered.

“Oh, something like that,” Shatterstep said with a snicker. A sudden glare from Firecoat made him quickly change the subject. “So, why come all the way out here if you don't got anypony to help yah out?”

“Wasn't really a choice. I was... traveling via the aether and there was an accident.”

“Ohhh, I've seen those. Lucky you didn't end up in six or seven different places.”

“I've... heard of some problems that occur, but I managed to make it in one piece. I really just need to find my way home, but I have time until it becomes a real issue. I doubt anypony will even notice I'm gone for a while.”

“Well, that's good,” Shatterstep said with a chuckle. “Maybe we can take you around, show you some of the sights. Once we're done with this job, of course.”

“I'd like that. My parents tend to be pretty... protective. Once I get home I doubt I'll be allowed to go anywhere for quite a while.” Her mind drifted back to her nightmare, making her shudder. “But I guess that's not important now. What can you tell us about the pony who hired us?” She mentally did a little squeal. Us. Hired us. She was part of a real adventuring group, going on wild adventures. It felt amazing. Maybe they'd write books about her one day. Even do a play.

Shatterstep lifted his head and glanced towards the front of their group. “Shinybit? Ehhhh. Decent guy I guess. Got a whole boat of merchandise stolen by those sea ponies. Magical stuff, expensive. Paying us a good amount to get it all back.” His voice went lower. “Cresent doesn't trust him though...”

“Doesn't? Why not?”

“Merchants like that, well... notice he doesn't talk much. He's been extremely tight lipped about the whole affair. Only giving vague answers. Adventurers and merchants tend not to get along well.” He moved closer, though the harsh winds ensured nothing he said could get by the two of them. “Merchants tend to just see our kind as an expense. Once we're paid for, they don't care if we live or die. It's all about the bits with them. They'll hire you for a job clearing out a few mutated mushrooms that bite back, never mentioning the twenty foot treant that's taking up residence, telling you it's your problem. It's why you gotta take a steady hoof with their kind, if you catch my drift.”

She nodded slowly, eying the merchant suspiciously. He was so bundled up in thick coats she couldn't even begin to imagine what he looked like under them, but she wondered if the words were true. Was that all he saw them as, expenses to be spent? Would them dying just be a discount in his eyes?

If that truly was all they were to him, what would it mean when they finally did arrive at these caves? What could be waiting for them there?

------

Warmth, comfort and sunshine. The good kind. To Goldenseed's surprise, by dusk the world had grown far, far warmer. Most of the trip had been spent going down and, the farther they got from the outpost, the less the land was torn apart by aether. Her hooves were burning and she was certain only generous and regular applications of her magic prevented her from being frost bitten, but as they set up camp in the night they were almost to the base of the mountains and delightful warmth seemed to surround them on all sides. Even the snow, what little remained this far down, was thin and weak. They could even nibble at delightful tufts of grass that just seemed to pop out all over the place.

Firecoat and Shinybit went off to bed in their own tents, though Cresent and Shatterstep stayed up late with her to discuss the coming day.

“So, this can all get a bit dangerous,” Cresent said with a shake of his head. “We'll be in tight, confined spaces and these ponies know the area far better than we do. We'll have to be extra careful and make sure they can't ambush us. That means striking down anything that tries to flee, we can't risk them alerting each other.”

Goldenseed slowly nodded, chewing on a small cracker from her rations. “Do we have enough rope?”

“Rope? What for?”

“Well, we don't want them waking up and coming after us, right?”

The two burst into laughter and shook their heads. “When I say strike down, I mean the last strike down. We'll be killing those that get in our way. It's the only way.”

Goldenseed froze in mid nibble and slowly raised her head. The color drained from her face. “W-we have to kill them? But... but...” She paused for a second and nodded. Well, she supposed the centaurs had tried to kill them. These were bandits, after all. Probably kill them if given half a chance. She wasn't a foal, she knew ponies died and fought to the death out here.

It still sent a chill through her bones. “I... I've never... killed a pony before...”

“Well, obviously,” Shatterstep said with a chuckle. “You're a conjurer. I've seen my fair share of your kind trying to put up a fight, it's pathetic. Besides, it's not--” He was silenced by a nudge from Cresent.

“What the idiot is trying to say, is none of us expect you to fight. You just need to stay near the back and let us get the fighting done. Your hooves will remain as clean as the day you were born, okay?” He reached down and took her chin, gently bringing it up to look him in the eye. “You're our backup, don't worry about having to kill anypony. That's our job.”

She nodded slowly, before looking down at the floor. “O-okay. Healing ponies? That I can do really well. I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't get so much as a papercut.” She felt the excitement bubble up in her again, though it was far more suppressed this time. “I... I should probably get to sleep.”

Shatterstep raised a hoof. “You can bunk with--”

“No,” Cresent said with a shake of his head. “She'll be sleeping in my tent. She has a busy day tomorrow, doesn't need your molestations keeping her distracted. Come on.” He turned and trotted into one of the tents. “Shatterstep, you have first watch!”

Goldenseed nodded and trotted towards the tent. She was halfway to the tent before the color drained from her face and she remembered that she was now, in fact, a mare. A mare who was about to sleep in a tent with a random stallion. While she was young, she wasn't so young as to realize that such things normally didn't happen. She felt panic rise in her, but quickly suppressed it. There were only a few tents and everypony was sleeping in one. She was new to the group so of course she had to crawl in with one of them. It wasn't like she could just ask them to give up their beds for her. Could she? No, no no. That would be rude. It was too cold to sleep outside, anyway.

Apprehension boiled within her as she made her way to the tent. She took a deep breath and slowly pushed the cloth door open. Cresent was laying down, lightly snoring. She rolled her eyes at how foalish she'd been. He only wanted her in his tent to keep her safe, he was a noble pony like that. She curled up on the ground, pulling one of the few blankets over her as she closed her eyes. Besides, he was an adventurer, like her. Their kind had to stick together. She, thankfully, had a long, dreamless night.

------

Excellent time was made over the next day. Amazing even. They went farther down the mountains and soon the icy winds gave way to warm spring breezes. There was still a hint of cold in the air, but compared to the mountains it was hot as summertime. Even better, the land was far less bleak. She could sense the disturbances in the land's magic, but it was nothing like the mountains. There were a few places close to snapping, but mostly it was minor things. The trees and plants in the area were full of life and they were able to skip on their rations and enjoy a nice dandelion and berry lunch. A little after noon they broke off the main road and started following a side, slightly overgrown path.

“That road leaves to Crystalopolis, right?” She asked as she glanced back towards where they had come from.

“Yeah. We'll backtrack to it. But for now, we need to get to the caves. Keep your head down, watch out for any trouble,” Cresent warned.

After a few hours of travel even Shatterstep stopped chatting her up. The group started moving low and silent, keeping an eye out for any trouble. Off in the distance they could hear the sea, but they made sure to keep away from sight of the beach. They didn't see anything to cause alarm and, a few hours before sunset, they came to a river that cut through the land and drained straight into the mountains. Goldenseed stared at it, but the darkness inside was impossible to penetrate.

“Is that it?” she asked in a whispered voice.

“Yes it is. Sashafrash caverns. From here it all gets interesting... come on.” He motioned the others forward as he drew his axe. Timidly, they stepped into the caverns, their hooves sloshing against the shallow end of the river. From the darkness, two pairs of blue eyes peered at them before silently slinking off, deeper into the caverns.