“Well, Espirit, what do you think?” Crescent asked with a smile. The merchant had paid them and left shortly after they had left the caverns, grumbling the whole time. They were now taking a short rest before heading to Crystalopolis.

“That was very exciting, terrifying and amazing!” Espirit said excitedly. She instantly felt guilty and lowered her eyes. “I-I guess it was pretty dangerous though. I shouldn't be so happy about... all that.” She glanced back towards the caverns. How many ponies died? How horrible was she that all she could really feel was excitement over having succeeded? Even if they were bad ponies, she should care more.

“The first time is always the best. Come here,” Crescent said, motioning her forward to stand in front of him and between the other two. She trotted up, giving a smile.

“What is it?”

“Well, we've been thinking and we'd like you to join us. You've got some talent, kid. It would be nice having you on our side.”

Goldenseed took a slow breath. It was all she'd ever wanted. All she'd ever desired. A chance to fight with real adventurers, go on real quests, show what she could do. To save lives, help ponies. It was right here in front of her.

But she was a prince and she had an obligation to her people. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. “I can't. I'm sorry. I want to, I... I really do. But I can't. There are ponies who are going to start wondering where I am, what happened to me.”

The stallion nodded. “I see. Perhaps after you return?”

She shook her head. “I can't. Once they find out where I am, they'll... well, I'll probably not get another chance at this. This was only a one time thing.”

Crescent nodded. “Really? So you won't reconsider?”

“I'd love to, but I...” She took a step back and looked between them. They were watching her in a very strange way. “What's wrong?”

“It's a shame. We really would have preferred you'd worked with us willingly. We really could have used a conjurer. But, if this is where your mind is set, there's no other use for it. The centaurs will pay good money for you.”

“W-what?” She backed up, but found her way blocked by Shatterstep. She turned and looked at him, then her eyes were drawn to his spear. “W-what are you doing?”

“Not very smart on the uptake, are you?” Firecoat asked. She turned back to Crescent just in time to see the shaft of his axe slamming into her skull. The world turned dark.

------

Crescent slowly opened her eyes, her head pounding. At first she thought it was night time, but then she heard the sound of rushing water. She was back in the caverns. Panic started to rise in her as she thought about what happened.

They were going to sell her to the centaurs. Why? They were adventurers! Heroes! Why would they betray her like this? She was one of their comrades, they were...

A shiver ran down her spine as she closed her eyes and tried to listen. She didn't hear the others, but there was no telling where they were. She tried to get up, but found a new problem. She was tied. She tugged on her hooves and found they were tied tightly together. She could roll around, but getting up would be near impossible. It was too dark to see anything either, she could be surrounded by all three of them for all she knew, or maybe--

“--Just saying, they don't care what happens to her. As long as she can use her magic, they'll be happy.” Shatterstep's voice echoed through the tunnels. She quickly lowered herself back down and looked towards the source, trying to stop herself from shaking. A low glow formed down the tunnel and she soon saw the three of them walking around the corner.

“No. There's no telling what that could cause. Especially as young as she is. We don't want her magic getting screwed up, that would make her near impossible to sell,” Crescent said as he walked towards her. She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

“We should have just taken her there when we found her. Would have been easy to sneak her by the war efforts,” Firecoat said.

“She was useful for this job,” Crescent said. “She's pretty dumb, I thought she'd be easy to trick into coming with us.”

“What if whoever she was meeting with finds out?” Shatterstep asked. She heard something crumbling behind her.

“You heard her, they don't know where she is. Even if they ask about us, well, she was only temporarily with us. Lots of adventurers go disappearing once they leave their group. Probably eaten by a timber wolf or something.”

She slowly opened an eye. Her back was to them, so they couldn't see her. She glanced down to her hooves, if only they weren't tied.

“Think they'll want her?” Firecoat again.

“A conjurer? Yeah. Even if she fights them at first, well, I'm sure they have ways of breaking her spirit. It won't take them very long to have her dealing with whatever issues they want. Even if they can't, we'll still be paid, so who cares?”

She tried not to whimper as her eyes scanned the area. There wasn't much she could do. All she could see ahead of herself was the flat, stony cliff leading to the river. Nothing sharp or jagged she could use to help cut her bindings. Just the edge.

“What if they find us?” Shatterstep this time.

“We're in the middle of nowhere,” Crescent said with a chuckle. “We'll just go the long way, meet them in one of the tunnels or something. There's more than one way to meet the centaurs.” She felt a hoof on her side and quickly went limp. He lifted her up a little and she tried not to scream. “Assuming she ever wakes up.”

“Should have just let me cast a sleep spell on her,” Firecoat grumbled.

“The moment we tried moving her she'd have woken up. Couldn't tie her up that way.”

“Could of held a blade to her neck, kept her quiet.” Shatterstep said.

“No, don't want to take any risks of her getting too cut up.” Crescent lowered her back down. “She's still out. Get some sleep. We're heading out tomorrow. I'll take first watch.” She heard him step up and trot away.

After a few more moments the lights went out and she was once again in the darkness. She didn't move, though she kept an image of what was around her imprinted in her mind. The ledge was her only hope. It had to be sharp enough, she prayed, for her to cut off the ropes. She could flee in the dark then. She closed her eyes and waited.

She waited until she heard the other two snoring. She let out a soft sigh and slowly, inch by inch, wiggled herself closer to the ledge. As quietly as she could, she reached her hooves out and started rubbing them against the edge, letting the rock slowly dig in. Unfortunately, it wasn't going very fast. The edge wasn't very sharp and she had to be careful not to fall off it. Below she could hear the water racing by.

Her front hooves hurt as she dug the rope into the rock, over and over. Piece by piece she tried to cut it off, the rocks chipping away. She could feel small little strands pulling apart. But blood began to form around her hooves as the rough rope dug in, slowly cutting into her flesh. She had to hold back her tears as she worked. She told herself she could fix it after, that she had to escape now. That's all she could do. By the time the rope was little more than a few strands, her legs burned like fire. But she just had to go a little further.

A hoof slammed down on her side as light flared above. “Noisy little thing, aren't you?” Firecoat asked. He stood over her, a flame hovering over his head. “Woke me up with all your scratching.”

She went completely still, her eyes wide and terrified as she looked at her bloody legs. She was so close. She'd been so close. Sure, she'd still had her back hooves, but her front hooves could have been enough.

“Don't worry,” Firecoat said with a chuckle as he rolled her over to face him. “I won't tell the others. Now that you're awake, I think we can have some--”

She didn't let him finish. She called upon the world around her, using the aether in the air to gather up a small burst of water and slam it into the stallion. He was sent flying back, the water coiling around and binding him for a moment. She quickly rolled back around, digging her legs into the side of the cliff and cutting as best she could.

“She's trying to get away!” Firecoat yelled.

She heard Shatterstep starting to wake, grumbling as he did. She couldn't fight off both of them. Her front legs popped free, but it didn't matter. She didn't have time to free her other legs, she couldn't run like this. Her eyes widened.

But she might be able to swim. She closed her eyes, gripped the edge and pulled herself over it. She heard yelling from behind, but tuned it out. She drew in a breath, closed her eyes and waited for the icy water to envelop her.

Unfortunately, she had to wait a few seconds longer. There was an incline leading up to where she had been, making her slam down onto the dirt and knocking the air out of her. She smacked into the ground twice more, the rocks jabbing into her. Then she bounced into the water.

Goldenseed flailed her hooves wildly, trying to get herself back to the surface as water flowed in through her nose and mouth. She spun and turned in the water, unable to find out which way was up as she raced through the darkness. She slammed against rocks and other things in the water. She didn't remember it being so fast before, but then she was in the dark and couldn't move correctly. She struggled in her bonds as her back hooves kicked out again and again. She broke the surface, barely managing to spit out the water before being dragged under again.

Her lungs burned as she spun around in the river. She was tossed around wildly, doing everything she could to get to the surface. Then her back hit something hard, like a wall. Rocks dug into her, but she wasn't impaled or skewered. Painfully, she climbed up from it and gasped, her lungs filling with life giving air.

Then the ground shifted under her and she was flung forward. It was impossible to see in the dark, but even she could realize she was over empty air. She closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for the inevitable crashing below.

She hit the water after only falling a few feet. She fell through to the bottom, hitting the ground, before bouncing back up to the top, gasping for air. The current was far gentler now, though it was still too dark to see anything. However, off in the distance she could see a very dim light. It wasn't much, but it was something. Slowly, she let the current sweep her towards it as she struggled to keep above.

The water drained out from the caverns and back to the outside world. The moon was hanging high above, casting its light onto the world. More importantly, it showed her how close she was to the shore. She paddled her way over, a grin on her lips before she climbed out from the water. She then dropped onto her back. “I... I did it. I'm alive. I escaped. I actually escaped! Hee... hee hee. I'm free. I... I have no idea where I am.” She looked around, but in the darkness she could barely see anything aside from the trees in the distance. She shivered a little and got to her hooves before taking a deep breath. “Okay. Just... need to find out where I am. Find a place to relax. Find... something. Anything. I'm safe now. I'm out of there. They can't...” Her words trailed off and she glanced back to the caverns. “I... I don't think they can find me. I'm sure they can't. They'd have to be crazy to just come after me. Jumping into that water in the night is crazy. They could drown, they...” She shook her head and quickly got to work on her back hooves.

The rope refused to give, so she was forced to feel around until she found a nice, sharp rock. She jabbed it into the rope, over and over. Though her own hooves were cut up, in the end she was free of the binds and let out a small, gentle cheer of victory. She'd done it. She'd escaped. Just like a hero. She pulled on the aether yet again, using her magic to heal her wounds before getting to her hooves.

There was no telling if or when they'd return and she decided to not risk it. Though it was dark, she walked into the trees and left the river behind. Invisible branches and rocks cut into her with every step, but she pushed on. The icy water froze to her coat, making her shiver as she walked. But it was still nowhere near as bad as the last time she'd been lost and alone. There were only three ponies after her this time, too. Not a whole centaur army. She'd survived that, she could survive this. All she needed to do was be lucky.

It dawned on her a moment later that she was still unarmed. She closed her eyes and stomped a hoof down. “Dang it! I'd just gotten that nice stick, too!” She shrugged and shook her head. “It had been so nice, too. I'd earned it. I totally fought off that other conjurer on my own, and--”

A branch snapping in the distance made her freeze. She whimpered and quickly lowered herself, praying it wasn't them. After a few moments she saw something big and black moving through the trees. She screamed and ran, plowing through the branches and leaves as she went. Fear flooded through her as she pushed through the foliage, tripping and stumbling every few seconds, but not stopping. “Don't eat me don't eat me don't eat me!” she screamed.

She ran as hard and fast as she could, her heart pounding in her chest. But she couldn't keep the pace up forever and before she knew it, she tripped over a branch, rolled across the ground and couldn't get up, no matter how she tried. Her muscles refused. She whimpered and closed her eyes, waiting for whatever it was to follow and grab her. Even eat her.

She closed her eyes, listening and waiting for the monster to slide out from the darkness and descend on her. But nothing came. Instead, when she finally opened her eyes again she realized it was morning. No, noon. The sun was high in the sky, her body ached in objection to her moving and, most importantly, she was alive.

“W-what? Did I fall asleep? But... how? It's...” She slowly managed to stand, sending pain through every muscle in her body. She whimpered but slowly started walking. She didn't know where she was, but she had to move. There was no telling what waited for her. What could be tracking her. Would they follow her, or would they give up and just let her go? She thought back to Crescent and shivered. Something told her he wouldn't just let her go. Not if he could still find her. Against her body's wishes, she took a step forward. Then a second, a third, then over and over she pushed her body forward.

Each movement made her feel as if she was hauling a hundred pounds of bricks, all which were latching onto the trees as she went. But she kept pushing herself, even as tears started falling down her face. Even though the wounds were healed, she could still feel pain echoing through her limbs. She just had to keep going. That was all. Keep going.

The ground gave out from under her and she let out a scream. She landed on the ground, a few yards further down, with a pained moan. She glanced up the incline to where the sudden fall had been hidden by all the brush. She laid there for a few minutes as she caught her breath, before slowly rolling over. She could do this. She would do this. She got to her hooves and took a few more steps. “I... I am an adventurer. I am... I am a warrior. I am a fighter. I am a conjurer. I am not defeated. I am not destroyed. I can and will persist.” She kept walking, life slowly spreading through her body despite the aches and pains. Though her knees threatened to give out every few steps, she kept going.

Her stomach rumbled and her throat was soon parched as she walked. She could barely believe she hadn't even thought about food since she'd gotten here, but her dry mouth and empty stomach soon called out for it. To her surprise, after a few more seconds she found it. Food.

A small bushel of delicious looking apples, just dangling there in the middle of a small clearing. She couldn't believe her eyes as she stared. Food. Actual food. With a sudden burst she galloped forward, practically tackling the food.

The ground collapsed under her, making her scream. Her hooves flailed in the air for a few seconds before she hit the ground. She rolled on it for a moment, before ending up on her back in a small, dirty pit. She stared up blearily at the sky. “W-what... happened?”

She then looked back to the ground. The apples were smashed into the dirt, splattered all over. She whimpered and salvaged what she could, chewing and swallowing them. Then she weakly got to her hooves and tried climbing her way out. She poked at the walls for a few seconds before collapsing and closing her eyes. She was so tired, so weak. She just had to rest for a little bit, then she'd escape. She'd use her magic or something, she could. She would. She wasn't done, not yet.