Another week of incessant trudging brought us to the banks of a large black lake. A more apt description would probably be ‘sea’ but in the Withers, all I could see was inky black water stretching out to ‘somewhere’ and the obligatory hills beyond, naturally.

Shades was starting to act strangely too, she would dance nervously, looking around us and at the sky. She’d stopped flying the last few days too. She was a Thestral of few words, or more than one for that matter, and now even our little wellspring of conversation was dry. What was bothering her, I had no idea. Other than my little gender faux pas of course….whoops.

At first, I wondered if it was another of those globular tentacle-y things that lived in the river, but there was no sign of them here. Bat like birds, shockingly transparent, fluttered across the surface of the water, darting this way and that. I had never seen anything like them before and no idea what they were, although, as I found when Shades jumped in the air and snapped one into her jaws, they were apparently delicious.

She tried tempting me with a still flapping morsel and I politely declined. My stomach may not need filling particularly, but I certainly didn’t want to empty it either.

Shades and I were lying together by the gently lapping waters edge when she lifted her head in alarm. Staring off intently across the lake to something I couldn’t see, she crouched low and pushed into me, “Oof !, Shades, whats going on ? Whats got you so spooked ?”, she didn’t reply.

My eyes had become accustomed to the half-light in the Withers but even so, my ability to pick out details at distance was nothing compared to Shades’. Whatever was out there had her worried, so much so she was hiding between my legs. It wasn’t going to provide much cover when the only cover was black sand and sure enough, a shrieking cry and chittering hit my ears like nails down a chalk board.

Thestrals.

Shades whimpered and pushed harder into me, shaking in fear. “No, No you don’t, come up now. Be strong, I’m here with you, I will protect you from whatever’s out there”. I stood, facing the direction of the cries, nudging my companion to my side, “We face this together”. She chirruped and nudged me with her head, giving a quick snort. “Good girl”, I said and stood ready to accept whatever came our way.

I could see them now, three…no…four of the creatures, soaring, diving and looping their way towards us from the lake. Minutes passed and I was beginning to wonder if the strange party were actually heading our way after all. But sure enough, one of them gave a long high pitched cry and dove at us. I readied myself, feeling the now

familiar grip on the cold rage preparing to be unleashed. I didn’t know whether these were friend or foe, though Shades’ behaviour spoke volumes. It didn’t hurt to be alert and prepared.

A loud thud announced a Thestral landing several yards away from us, quickly followed by the other three, huddling to one side of the larger one. “The boss cometh, eh ?”, I wondered aloud. Shades rattled out a menacing growl.

This thing looked like a creature from a nightmare night special. All bones, leathery wings and teeth. The wickedly sharp incisors glinted menacingly atop the midnight black colouring of the Thestral. The other three, smaller and rather ‘shades’ like in appearance, kept back, snapping their jaws and making the odd growling noise.

I could guess without any problem this time, that the biggest of them was a male. The huge ugly thing emanated testosterone like an open furnace. It tried to walk round me to face Shades, but I turned, matching him step for step. He didn’t like that at all. The Thestral male swung his head towards me and lowered into a fighting stance with a long low hiss. I imitated his stance, “Why don’t you just ssssssssod offffff”.

The Thestral stood up, cocking his head to one side before turning to his menagerie, clicking and shrieking to each other in some language I couldn’t even begin to decipher. This display of jerking neck and wing movements together with various
cries and screams, culminated in the male all but kicking one of the smaller ones towards me. She came forward reluctantly, making a quiet chirruping noise towards Shades who replied in kind. I regarded the creature warily, “I hope you’re not expecting me to speak Thestral, miss. I find all the screaming and clicking murder on my larynx”.

She cocked her head to one side, fiery eyes glowing a deep red-orange before she shook her mane. Words flashed into my mind like a fog horns blast,
“Far Sight demands you return his daughter.”
My eyes must have been like saucers, I’d never heard Shades speak like this. Had she been holding out on me all this time ? Confusion reigned supreme. The Thestral shook her mane once more, “You are to hoof over Far Sights daughter immediately or we will take her by force.” The hissing blast of noise roared through my head, Goddesses I wish these creatures came with a volume control.

Very carefully, I spoke to the eloquent female Thestral, “She is not going anywhere with you, not until I know who you are and what your intentions are. Would you hoof over one of your sisters to a stranger without first knowing she would be safe ?”. The female blinked and her eyes flared brightly for a moment before turning to the male. More clicking, cries and screams culminated in the male lumbering into the air followed by two of the females trailing him out across the lake. I watched them slowly disappear from sight, before checking on Shades. She was hissing menacingly at the departing male. No love lost there it seemed.

Silence fell around me with the slight whisper of the water brushing the sandy shore and the breathing of the two Thestrals as they eyed each other warily. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Shades rushed forward with a happy sounding shriek and embraced the other female. The two howled and cried out in, what I presume was joy, while rolling around in the sand. Soon, the energetic pony like creatures, sand sloughing off their backs and wings, stood once again and nuzzled each other, before turning to face me.

“You are Shadow’s….friend ?”, the female asked me. “Who ? oh, you mean Shades ?”. The newcomer regarded me quizzically and clicked at me, “She is Shadow”. I face hoofed, I’d never even asked Shades…Shadow…her name. I’d just sort of, ‘told’ her who she was. I was hopeless with females, I couldn’t imagine how Meadow had put up with me for so long.

Shadow gave me a sad sidelong glance and pushed into me before speaking with the other Thestral in that nerve grating language of theirs. “Shadow says you are bonded now. This is wrong, she cannot take a mate without her fathers approval. Far Sight will not accept this.”

“Wait a minute !”, I said loudly holding up a hoof. “Rewind that a moment, Miss Thestral, what do you mean ‘bonded’ ?”

“She is your mate…”, there was that word again. I looked across at Shadow who had an expectant look on her face, “I’m a married stallion, I cant just take a ‘mate’ as you put it.”

The odd creature gave me a look you might expect her to give a foal. Or dinner. Possibly both, it was hard to tell with these enigmatic beings. She walked towards me and sniffed my coat, the sensation was peculiar to say the least, the Thestrals nostrils flared as she worked. She’d make a wonderful dust remover, I pondered to myself. I think she must have been able to read minds too as she shot me a glare that could have killed me stone dead. Just as well I already was then….kind of.

“There is no other females scent upon you…..’Pony’”, her words rattled through my head but the derision in them was loud and clear. “I have a name ‘madam’..” I said in my most neutral voice, “..I am Fairlight. May I have the pleasure of yours ?”. The Thestral female dipped her head and let out a jet of steam, “I am called Ember.”

“Thank you Ember”, I said neutrally before sitting on my haunches. I waved the other two towards me, Ember looking warily at me then to Shadow before following my lead.

“Now that we’re sitting comfortably ladies..”, I gave them both my trademark smile, “...perhaps the good lady Ember could explain what is going on ?”

Ember squawked and chattered at Shadow before resignedly starting her story.

“Shadow, is my sister. Her father, Far Sight, wants her to come home. She is…incomplete. You are bonded now and so she is your mate. Far Sight will be angry with you.”

“You keep saying we’re bonded and she’s my mate. I don’t understand, how can this be ?”, I asked her. Ember chattered with Shadow before replying, “Did she not share the Cetean egg with you ?”.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the memory of that vile rubbery thing that Shades, or rather Shadow now, had me share with her. Celestia, that’s what is was……

I nodded to her solemnly, “I didn’t know what it was, or more specifically, what it represented.”. Hopefully she would understand and override Shadow’s behaviour in some way as a prank, a mistake, something that would annul this…..

“Then you are bonded.”, Ember said with finality and nodded her head as if affirming the words.

“WAIT !”, I shouted at her, “I’m already married, this is a mistake !”. Ember tutted at me, asking, “Then where is she ‘Fairlight’ ? I cannot smell her on you. Where is this ‘other’ mate of yours ?”

I shook my mane, it hurt to think of it even now. “She’s dead. Crossed over to the Eternal Herd.” I told her sadly. My heart skipped a beat in surprise when Embers hoof
planted itself on mine. “I understand you. Now you must understand my words. She has gone, you remain. Shadow has joined herself to you as your mate. This cannot be undone.”

I sat there dumbfounded, words impossible to find. “Shadow will stay with you, I will inform father. He will be angry, but what is done is done.” She stood, brushing the sand from her legs.

“Ember, please, wait a moment.” I pleaded.

She paused mid groom and re-settled her wings waiting for me to continue, “Shadow cannot stay with me, I’m on a journey to return home, to Equestria, the mortal world. Shadow is a creature of this world, she cant even communicate properly with me ! Please, there must be something you can do.”

Ember slammed a hoof down in front of her for emphasis. “And yet YOU are here in this world, pony of Equestria. Are you mortal ? The smell of a mortal is not upon you, nor the scent of another mate. Shadow will become more like you as you will become like her, it is the way of Thestrals, it is the way of the Cetean. You and she are the beginning and the end of the cycle. Make your own fate Equestrian, together.”

What the blue blazes was that all about ? I scratched my head in frustration trying make sense of the otherworldly creatures ‘logic’. A blast of wind hit me in the face as she took to the air and headed off across the lake, returning to her family. Leaving me with…..”Shadow ?”, she looked up at me, a bashful flush on her cheeks. Quite a cute

sight if you could see past the battery of lethal teeth. She reached up and licked my muzzle with her long blue tongue. Despite my current state of shock and denial, the
feeling was not unpleasant. I sighed and closed my eyes in sudden resignation. This wasn’t going to go away was it ?

Shadow nuzzled into me with a chirrup and began purring like some gigantic cat. In my mind, I imagined Meadows face, ‘Forgive me love.’ I thought silently to her, ‘This is some seriously weird shit I’m facing right now. And sorry about the swearing.’ I wondered what she’d really think. I rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes, I’d think more about this later. Right now, it was all too much to take in. Shadow snuggled into me and laid her head upon my neck. I reached out and without thinking, placed a protective foreleg across her as I drifted off into fitful sleep.