My companion knelt to take a long drink from the pool we had stumbled across as we trudged ever onward. I didn’t feel thirsty at all myself, and even if I had, the water looked more like quill ink than something you’d find in Equestria. Unless you were in a stationers shop that is. On our journey to, wherever the crystals light was taking us, I’d tried marking time by counting Shade’s bones. I don’t think he much cared either way, the Thestral was a free spirit and would probably grow bored sooner or later, leaving to go his own way.

Speaking of Shades, I wondered where all the other Thestral’s were ? I hadn’t seen anything in this land for weeks, unless you counted that vile creature in the river. He didn’t speak much and when he did it was more often one-word replies. He knew my name and called me friend, that was enough for me.

“Shades..”, the Thestral looked up from his drink, the black liquid dripping from his wickedly sharp teeth,…”Do you know what lies beyond those hills ?”

I motioned towards the black shapes in the distance. The same ones that looked exactly the same size and distance as when I had first arrived here. He stared off at them for a moment before returning to his drinking.

“Beyond”

I had never quite gotten used to Shades’ way of communicating. The words weren’t spoken, they were more ‘thought’ at you, appearing centre stage in your head. He’d have made a killing as a ventriloquist back in Manehatten, I chuckled to myself.

Shades looked up quizzically, “Fairlight ?”.

“Just ignore me shades, I’m just having one of my moments. Anyway, we were talking about the place beyond the hills ?”.

“Beyond”, he hissed, nodding his head in affirmation.

Well that certainly helped clear things up didn’t it ? Letting out a long sigh, I stretched my legs and examined the pendant. The light it gave was bright and clear, a welcome purity in this drab land. The Withers wasn’t on any pony’s holiday destination plans, that was for certain. The chain it was on was of intricate, fine gold links. Quite beautiful in its own way and my only physical link to Meadow, from what seemed like a lifetime ago. In some ways, I suppose it quite literally was.

Shades and I had been walking in silence for some time now, when he stopped and stared intently into the far distance. He let out a low rumbling growl, his wings flexing. “What is it ?”, I asked warily.

Without looking round, the Thestral’s eyes flared like tiny suns, throwing his thoughts at me.

“Run”

I didn’t hesitate this time. Muscles flexing, adrenalin kicking into high gear, I took off into a gallop. Likewise, Shades leapt, leathery wings hammering the still air as he gained height.

“Follow !”, he shrieked into my head and disappeared ahead of me until he was a faint speck in the distance.

“Not so fast !”, I puffed back. Bloody hell fire, what had him so riled up ? I trusted his instincts, after all he was a native of this place, but still, it was difficult to fathom what was going through the creatures head sometimes and this was most definitely one of them. The sand billowed up around my hooves as I galloped on, a spear whistling past my ear, nicking it on the way past before embedding itself in the ground. “Oh shit !” I shouted to myself, increasing speed as another thudded into the sand a few feet away. All I could do was keep running and hope I’d outpace whatever, or whoever was throwing those damned things at me.

The chase didn’t last long. I couldn’t help but admire the cunning of my hunters, when the rope hidden in the black sand shot up and I ploughed into it full tilt. Sand exploded into the air as I crashed and skidded to a halt, some of the damned stuff had got in my eyes partially blinding me too. I was royally screwed this time.

“Hold knave, in the name of the Queen, I command thee to hold !”. The commanding voice boomed out with a most peculiar effect; my legs buckled. For all I tried, I just couldn’t get the damned things to work. Whatever the voice’s origin, it had done its work well. Helplessly, I tried to focus on where it was coming from, only to be met with an array of spear points inches from my muzzle.

Crunching sand announced the arrival of a blindingly white pony in golden armour, burnished until it shone like Celestia’s sun. He was a magnificent image of the knights from my old school history books, his sea green eyes boring into me as I lay helpless at his hooves.

“You are Fairlight of Equestria ?”, It was more an announcement than a question.

“Yes.” I replied.

“You will follow us.” His tone brooked no dissent. Turning away with his two fellows, virtually clones of the one in charge, they were several paces away before realising I hadn’t moved.

“You WILL follow us !”, He bellowed pointing a foreleg at me. I couldn’t help but feel compelled to move as he commanded, even though every part of me was screaming out to do the opposite. Meadows warning replayed in my mind, “they’ll be coming for you. They don’t like loose ends, I said I’d try to persuade you to surrender, but its not right. If they take you, they’ll strip your memories, your mind. Don’t let them !”. Strip my memories ? “To hell with that and to hell with you !” I snarled, holding the crystal to my chest. I would be with Meadow again some day and no pony, or whatever this lot where supposed to be, would stand in my way.

“Art thou a fool mortal pony ? Thy mind must be befuddled to try to think such a way !”. One of the glowing ponies companions sidled up to him, speaking in a low voice. What he said, the head of the not-so-merry band backed away, waving his compatriot towards me.

“Thalio is unused to speaking to ponies from the equestrian plane, mortal. I have agreed to speak in his stead.”, despite the different tone of voice, the unmistakable expectation of obedience was still there.

“I expect you have a name ? I do, it’s Fairlight, not ‘Mortal’. I think ‘Thalio’ mentioned it ?”.

A look of surprise and anger flashed across the ponies face. “I am Helios, I collect souls and return them to the herd. You should have been collected long ago..”, he snorted and shook his golden mane, “..you have been hard to track.”

“Yeah well, considering the situation, I’m glad I have been. Normally try to kebab ‘mortal ponies’ with spears rather than speak with them first, Helios ?” I jibed. Helios bobbed his head in irritation, ears flicking as he looked towards his fellows then back to me.”

“We, that is, the Eternal Herd, cannot have tainted souls wandering the Withers. It is wrong, you are wrong. Don’t you understand, Fairlight, we are trying to help you”.

“You threw a bloody spear at me ! Two of them !” I shouted back, stomping a hoof. This pony was really starting to get my back up.

“The spears were to slow you down, they would not have ‘killed’ you”. I didn’t like the way he emphasised the word “Killed”. He continued, “You are harbouring a dangerous entity Fairlight, we must exorcise it from your spirit so that you can move on. Surely you must see how this is the only choice you have, the right choice.”

I wasn’t convinced. “And just how do you plan on exorcising this ‘entity’ from me eh ?”.

Helios shifted uncomfortably. “You will have your essence cleansed, made pure and clean, flushing out the taint from your soul. You will be reborn and ready to join us, be one with your brothers and sisters in the herd.”

“By wiping my memories away ?” I asked.

“That is one of the effects I fear. The entity taints your being, your memories, who you are and everything about you. To purge it from you, the only way is to cleanse your soul. Your memories are part of who you are, therefore, they are linked with your soul itself. Naturally, cleansing your essence, your soul, will unfortunately wipe your memories clean.”

“Will they return ?” I asked.

Helios paused, giving me a pained look, “No. At least, it is highly unlikely. Your case, Fairlight is rare, very rare indeed. I cannot say what will happen, but we cannot leave you like this, the Queen herself has commanded we collect you.”

The Queen ? “And if I refuse to follow you ?”

“You do not refuse a request from Her Highness, Fairlight. May as well refuse sunlight itself”.

I stomped my hoof, lowering myself into the classic watch fighting stance, “Then I will live on in the night”, I growled.

“You cursed stubborn fool !” Helios shouted at me in fury, “No pony denies the Queen, No pony denies the herd. You are coming with us, NOW !”.

“Go buck yourself”, I smiled, narrowing my eyes. For the briefest moment, Helios looked disconcerted and that was all the opening I needed. I charged him, hooking a foreleg around his neck and pulling the long knife from his scabbard. The blade glowed blue with crackles of lightning along the fuller. I had never seen such a thing, but now was not the time for marvelling at its design. In any case, I had the ponies full attention now.

“We are going to take this nice and slow boys”, I said in my deepest authoritative voice, “drop your weapons. All of you if you please.” I couldn’t resist a suitably menacing grin.

Briefly, I wondered if the ponies would charge me regardless of the peril their comrade was in. They glared angrily at me but thankfully and soundlessly complied, dropping their spears and swords onto the sand before them.

“Now, nice and easy, fuck off the lot of you.”

“You do not command the Eternal Herd !” The one I knew as Thalio bellowed at me in indignation.

“Yeah ? Well your friend here is going to gain some extra ventilation unless you two clear off and leave me be.”

It was a bluff, and a poor one at that. I hoped that the shock of being denied, something these ponies had obviously never expected, would be enough to gain some time for me to make my escape. The flaw with the plan was that as soon as my captive, Helios, was released, there was nothing to stop them returning and finishing what they had started. The next time would no doubt involve a lot more spears and that, I thought to myself with a grimace, would certainly not end well.

What came next surprised not only myself, but all the ponies assembled.

In the struggle with Helios, the crystal pendant had dropped down across his neck. His eyes focussed on the glowing object and he cried out, waving a foreleg frantically, “Hold ! For the Goddesses sake, hold ! Thalio, this one bears Starswirls Beacon !”

There was a long pause whilst every pony stared at the little white crystal. “The what ?” I asked in surprise, looking down at the little white crystal, “You’d better start making some sense here friend.”

“How didst thou come by this mortal ?” Thalio rumbled stepping forward, all concern for his comrade forgotten in his fascination with my pendant.

“None of you concern friend”, I said in as neutral a tone as I could muster.

“Fairlight. This changes things, please, let my brother go. You have my word I, we, will not harm you.” The third pony walked forward, Thalio bowing to him as he did so. Ah ! So this was the head pony here, I was beginning to wonder.

“Artemis, Captain of the fifth cohort of the second legion, Wither world detachment.”

There was no arrogance or expectation of obedience in this one. I almost took a liking to the pony.

“Fairlight, Captain of the Royal Equestrian Watch, Manehatten”, I replied in a no-nonsense voice which seemed to unsettle poor Thalio. “Forgive me Captain Artemis, I think you will appreciate that were the situation reversed, you would be unwilling to release your hostage until our negotiations are complete. You do outnumber me three to one you know, not good odds.”. Artemis smiled and gave a short nod.

“I understand Captain Fairlight.”, he looked towards Helios, “Keep still brother. This one appears to be a pony of his word and a kindred officer of ponies. We will discuss this like stallions of honour”.

‘Oooh, fine words !’ I thought to myself. I felt a little self conscious after that, holding a hostage was not what an officer of the watch should be doing. Right now however, needs must when the Thestral drives.

“Fairlight, my brother has already explained to you who we are and what we do. We have little choice as, by royal decree, we must bring you in to the herd.”. I shook my head but Artemis went on, “You know yourself that here, in the withers, there is no beginning and no end. You cannot live here, there is no life for ponies, only death. We want to bring you home. Please Captain, many of your ponies are here from the watch, they are waiting for you.”

I stood transfixed. What the hell could I say to that ? I dropped the blade and my arms flopped to my sides. My friends in the watch, my ponies who died on that terrible night, here ? waiting to be with me ? By Luna’s radiant moon I wanted to be with them, see them once again. Beg their forgiveness for my failure to protect them. I hardly felt Helios scooch away from me. Artemis however, a pony of his word, stayed where he was.

“Your brothers will welcome you home Fairlight, I beg you, don’t let this terrible place take you.”. The captain was virtually pleading now.

“What about Meadow ?”

“Who ?”, he asked, suddenly looking disconcerted.

“My Wife” I told him, a tear trickling down my cheek. “If I go with you, you will take my memories of her from me ?”

“Yes.”

It felt like I had swallowed a leaden weight as the Captain continued, “ I cannot say whether you will eventually recall her or not once the exorcism has been completed Fairlight, I would, truthfully, tell you if I knew.” Artemis looked down at his hooves, not wanting to meet my eyes, “I’m sorry, there’s no other way.”

“Then the answer Captain Artemis, is no”. I gave him the only reply I could. Meadow was all that kept me sane in this dire land of black sand. Whatever it took, I would find my way back, following her crystals light.

Rubbing his neck, Helios stood up and shook his mane, pushing a few loose hairs back into place. “We’ve tried reasoning with you Fairlight but you just don’t seem to want to listen to reason.” Says the spear throwing pony, “Should you stay here, as you are determined to do, you will fade away until there will be nothing for us to save. It will be too late for you. Nothing can live in Wither world”.

“Thestrals” I said, wondering where the elusive creature had vanished to.

“What about them ?”, Helios asked.

“You said ‘nothing can live in the Wither world’. They do. So your assertion that I cannot survive here is wrong.”

Artemis huffed, “Thestrals are not truly alive as you know it Captain. They are creatures that live ‘between’. They were once ponies like you and me. Some of them…once.”, His eyes took on a distant look as silence fell.

“What of this pendant then ?” I queried, holding up the glowing crystal, “You said it was ‘Starswirls Beacon’ ?”

“Don’t…..”, Helios began, but Artemis stopped him with a hoof on his shoulder, “No brother, I can tell him.” He looked me square in the eyes.

“You know who Starswirl the Bearded is of course ?”, he asked me. I nodded.

“When he still lived, he would travel the planes between life and death, a walker of dreams and a seeker of the deeper knowledge.”

“And he developed this crystal as a way to find his way home ?”, I ventured, marvelling at the tiny creation.

“No.”, Artemis shook his head. “The crystal was a gift. Starswirl found a way to enter the plane of the Eternal Herd, something no living mortal pony had ever accomplished before.” He scratched his ear with a fore hoof and sighed.

“The gift was from a member of the…”

“For the goddesses sake brother, hold thy tongue !”, Thalio shouted. “Thy head will roll !”.

Artemis lowered his head and sighed, “You’re right brother, it is not my place to tell. Forgive me Captain Fairlight. I would tell you if I could. Suffice to say that the crystal you wear around your neck lights the way to the veil.”

“The veil ?” I asked, intrigued. At last I had a name for my destination.

“Yes. The place where the divisions between the Wither world, the mortal and the immortal realms are at their thinnest. Though know this, the veil can only be crossed by one with enormous magical power. A power both from the mortal world and of this world, raw magic.”

My heart sank. Goddesses, I couldn’t sink into despair now. Racking my mind a question came to the fore, “That being the case Artemis, how did Starswirl manage to cross in both directions ? He was a mortal pony !”.

“Yes….yes he was. But Starswirl had tapped into magics unheard of. Primal power which few save the King and Queen had ever known. Do you have that power Fairlight ? That knowledge ?”, Artemis fixed me with a searching look. I think he actually expected me to say “Yes”.

“No. No, I don’t.”, I said dejectedly.

“Then come with us brother. I will take you to Meadow. Even if your memories are gone, you can start afresh and with her love, begin again as you were meant to be.”

My heart ached. I threw my head back and took in a deep breath fighting back the tears, damn you Artemis ! You know just where to strike a pony. Shaking my mane, I held my resolve. I would end this. End it the way Meadow wanted me to.

“Forgive me Captain, as you have your mission, I have mine. Be it a fools errand to which no good will come of it or not. I will follow my orders.”

Artemis looked impressed and smiled appreciatively, “Your Wife’s orders ?” he chuckled.

“My Wife’s orders”, I said with a broad grin. The two of us broke out in laughter and I felt my heart lift, re-invigorating me with new energy.

Helios unbuckled the baldric for the knife I had recently taken from it and tossed it to land at my hooves with a nod.

“Captain Fairlight of the Equestrian Watch. My brother stallion.” Artemis announced, standing straight and tall, “I commend you sir for your integrity and honesty. Gentlemen…..”. Helios and Thalio walked back to stand either side of him.

“Goddess speed you on your journey sir. I pray you complete your mission and return to us one day, victorious.” The three snapped off an impressive salute, which I returned smartly.

“Keep the blade Captain, may it serve you well”, Helios said with a wry smile. “I’m just glad you didn’t try it out on me !”. I blushed, scratching my ear with a hoof in embarrassment.

“Farewell, Captain.” Called Artemis as a white glow of almost blinding white light appeared behind them. As one, they turned and walked away until they were enveloped in the light. The three figures grew smaller and more distant as the glow began to fade, a faint voice calling back barely audible now, “See you again soon, my brother.”

Soundless darkness re-asserted its dominance and I blinked my eyes to re-adjust. I had a renewed sense of purpose, a cool looking knife from the Eternal Herd, an ancient relic from an equestrian hero and a sturdy set of hooves. What more could a pony ask ? With a loud neigh and swish of my tale, I span to aim myself in the direction the crystals glow indicated. “Starswirl you old bugger, I could kiss you.” I laughed aloud to the silent land surrounding me, I settled for a peck on the crystal instead. I wanted to shout a war cry, defiant and challenging, full of mystique and portent. “BOLLOCKS !”, I bellowed with a wild laugh and galloped off as fast my pony legs could take me.