We climbed cautiously to the top of the platform, Thorn walking slowly with the aid of one of his troops. There wasn’t one of them who hadn’t been wounded but they’d insisted on reaching the top before pausing for anything other than life saving medical aid. The poultices they had applied to the more serious of their wounds was a pungent blend of what appeared to be mushrooms or fungi of some kind. It stank to the high
heavens but worked amazingly well, stemming blood loss quickly and covering the wound in a rubbery seal preventing any dirt ingress. I’d dipped a hoof in some when the medic offered a little to me in case I’d been hurt and I’d gladly dabbed some onto the patchwork of cuts and burns I never realised I’d had until now.

It was amazing, an instant relief from pain and a cooling sensation that had me marvelling at some of the creations here in the Withers. Considering how barren the whole land seemed to be, there must be resources here which could be farmed. Like those handy white blob things that they made leather straps from, I wondered. My coat shivered at the thought !

“Commander ?”, I asked politely as we climbed the stairs, “Is Shadow nearby or is she with another party ?”.

The old Thestral gauged me with one of his fiery eyes and spoke levelly, “No Captain, I fear the Lady Shadow is not with us. We lost sight of a lot of our people in the city.” He rubbed his eyes with a foreleg, “It would appear we have been betrayed, my friend. Our route here, our plans, were known only to a select few and we had precious little time to concoct them. All of our preparations were drawn up quickly in case of need, although there was always the chance that the Duchess would have allowed you to leave.”

I doubted that, the old bitch was power crazed. I’d seen it in the way she attacked any pony, even her own family, to assert her dominance. I’d thought at the time that maybe that was the ‘Thestral Way’, and that really, I shouldn’t be judging them. After all, I was the outsider here whichever way you looked at it. ‘When in Roam’ and all that shtick. At least, that was until she struck Shadow, so maybe….nah, she was just a bitch, I decided. Personally, I’d love to return the sentiments to her before I left. Once I’d found my Shadow of course, and I could only pray to the Goddesses that she was nearby waiting for me and would appear once she heard the sound of battle die away.

I gritted my teeth and climbed, I had to have faith we would find her and we’d leave together.

Painfully slowly, we broached the top of the plateau. It stretched out before us sparkling white, pure, unbroken and radiating the feeling of a sleeping, hidden power, faint but alluring. This place was incredible, there were no signs of flagstones as I’d expected, nor seams of any kind. It was a structure wrought of magic, immensely powerful magic, the type written about in books that foals would read and marvel at.

The light from its surface reflected off our coats and we had to allow our eyes a moment to adjust to its glare. Looking up I saw…the moon, the equestrian moon, shining like a massive light house in the dark seas of the sky. A thought popped into my head and I took out my pendant. To my shock its bright light was now almost blinding, and it lifted out of my hoof to float towards the celestial orb. The little golden chain, thankfully, anchored the crystal to my neck and I went to place it back into my barding.

“Great Goddess……” came a voice thick with wonder next to me. It was the recon sergeant, “…What is that ?”.

I held out the crystal for him to see, his eyes burning just as brightly as the others moved toward me in wonder. “It’s a beacon, a guide of sorts I suppose, It’s guided me all the way here. With your help, all of you. I nodded to them. In all the time I’d been with these people, they had never questioned why they were doing what they were doing. The enormity of it was staggering, they had betrayed their ruler, fought and killed their own people….their own…

Thorn spoke to the Sergeant, “I saw it in Star Beards quarters, it glows when held in a certain direction. To here apparently. Useful, if this is your only destination.”

The Sergeant gazed at the crystal for a moment longer then walked away to sit on his haunches for a scratch. ‘Very pony like’, I thought. I could even overlook the teeth now.

“Sir, who are the ones who attacked us, they don’t look like they’re from your tribe. The purple mark on the armour, the minotaur…?”

Thorn sighed and nodded. “They’re the Earls soldiers”.

“My Goddesses,” I suddenly realised what had been nagging at me since my first encounter with the one in the city below, “the Earl of the Purple Sands. Shadows betrothed”.

One of our party stood up, gazing up at the moon intently. “You’re going to be meeting him sooner than you think Equestrian. To arms warriors of the Beyond, we’ve got company !”

Shading my eyes against the moons brightness, I could just make out the flapping shapes approaching. There must have been hundreds of them and they were getting closer. I felt a hoof on my shoulder and Thorn appeared, “Listen Captain, you are the one they want but we are now equally hated in the eyes of our Duchess. I don’t know if any of us will leave here alive now. I sincerely wish I could have brought you both here safely and I feel I have failed you.”

“No Thorn, you are the bravest and most noble warrior I have ever met, Pony or Thestral. You and your team have sacrificed your lives for a Pony you’d never met before, you’ve done what no other could have done to get us to this point. Whatever happens next, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

I took his hoof in mine and gave a single shake, “Thank you Storm Major Thorn, it has been an honour serving with you.”

The scarred commander of the Thestrals looked surprised and smiled a toothy grin, his white scar showing vivid against his skin, “And I thank you Watch Captain Fairlight, for this final chance at glory for my kin.”

He rose on his hind legs and the Thestral warriors fanned out, weapons ready. “Brothers and Sisters, we may die this day but our spirits will go to the land of our ancestors who will welcome us all as true warriors of the Goddess. Honour to you all, Warriors of the Beyond !”. He let out a howling roar, followed by the others; a fanfare of defiance to the approaching mass. My little pony voice had nowhere near the strength and power of my comrades but I added it to theirs. This Equestrian would fight by their side and stain his blade with the blood his enemies. I thanked Luna that Shadow wasn’t here to witness what would be surely coming, but prayed that she was safe. I missed her terribly but I knew too, that whether in this world or the next, I would see her again. Soon, I would be with my family, one way or another and all of us would be as one. I would have a lot of explaining to do to Meadow, oh Goddesses I was in for it !

The sergeant clopped me on the rump, laughing and raising his axe, “You smile Equestrian, good ! You are a true Thestral warrior now, happy are those who fight by their brothers side.”

“….And their sisters !” called another voice from further back in the formation. I laughed aloud, I had never felt comradeship, friendship, like this since….home. Friendship truly was magic.

With a blast of wind and the shudder of hooves landing on the plateau, a good distance from us, the Earls troops readied themselves for battle. Arrayed in ranks

several deep, Blood red banners emblazoned with the purple bulls head flapping lazily over the heads of standard bearers, they stood in silenced, waiting.

I adjusted my barding, scythe glittering in the moonlight, my brothers and sisters with me by my side. We too waited for what was to come. With the crack of a whip, a Thestral driven sky chariot swooped low over the plateau and above our heads giving me a clear view of the being within. As it passed by a pair of yellow eyes in a huge bulls face stared down with undisguised hatred. Dressed in what looked like furs, the minotaur cried out a hideous bellow which was echoed by his troops who began banging their spears on the ground in unison. It was quite impressive, if a little theatrical, but I had the impression it was more to psych themselves up for battle rather than to intimidate us. If that had been their intention however, it had failed hopelessly judging by the smirk on Thorn’s face.

The sky chariot swept over us and banked, landing in a clatter of hooves and creaking wood. The chariot itself looked like it had originated from Equestria judging by its design, with modifications to accommodate the bulk of the gargantuan thing inside; the Earl I guessed. He pulled himself out of his conveyance which quickly took to the air, landing far back behind his massed troops, well out of crossbow bolt range. Perish the thought we’d damage the upholstery…

The Earl’s cloak caught the wind and flew out, revealing the massive musculature of the minotaur beneath. His horns, polished to a near mirror finish, shone brightly, their lethal points could doubtless disembowel a pony effortlessly. By the looks of his cloak, he’d managed to do that more than once already. The macabre thing was an assemblage of Thestral and pony hides, sewn into a grotesque robe of his defeated enemies. Cutie marks, faded and old were still quite visible. I felt a pang of hunger in my chest, pain for my fellow ponies, but something more….a desire for vengeance.

The Early lifted his cloak and inhaled of the hides deeply, eyes closed in pleasure, a gratuitous display of intimidation which failed to have the slightest noticeable effect on Thorns team. A voice rang out, “Time for some more of your bullshit your Earlship ?”, sniggers and laughter rang out from the Thestrals. I noticed even some of the Earls troops chuckle.

The great beast bared its teeth, scanning the line of Thestrals one by one until its eyes caught mine. With a snort from those giant nostrils of his, the Earl howled his words at me. “YOU !”, he pointed a brown clawed digit at me, “Where is my betrothed you cursed thief pony ?”

I took a step forward and looked him in the eye, “Don’t you know Earl ? My, my, you really are careless aren’t you ?!”. I don’t know when I’d started delighting in antagonising my opponents, especially one’s with hooves that could crack a ponies head like an egg, but it had the desired effect. My comrades sniggered and the Earls face turned scarlet. “WHERE IS SHE ? I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN PONY”, the words were like a sonic attack on my ears. I thought I’d become immune to the denizens of the Withers and their ability to speak deafeningly into my poor old brain.

The translation thing in my ear had done sterling service, but I half expected it to explode with this hairy clowns deafening racket.

I opened my mouth to speak, my grip on the scythe tightening. This beast was coiling like a spring ready to release and I knew with deadly certainty, if I didn’t meet his charge, my hide would end up as patches on that Goddess damned cloak.

Before I had a chance to speak, there was a loud commotion from behind the Earls warriors, drawing every pony’s attention. Momentarily forgotten, the Earl turned his back to me and I had to refrain from seizing the opportunity to attack. Maybe, somehow…we could all just walk away from this. ‘Some hope’, I thought to myself sarcastically as the huge form of a deep green Thestral mare rose over the plateau followed by the familiar shape of Far sight and, bringing up the rear, an enclosed sky carriage that landed next to them. All very dramatic, I pondered, but even so an icy chill tingled down my spine. Events were reaching their zenith but I was damned if I
was going to be carried along helplessly like a leaf on the river. For now though, I waited for the Duchess to speak.

“Hold, my most gracious Earl, please, I beg you stay your hoof !” She shouted breathlessly. The Earl stood where he was and rumbled his reply, “The thief is here Duchess, he has stolen my betrothed. Where is she ?”

The Duchess gave a startled snort, “Yes…but before that my lord Earl, there is the matter of the treaty…”

The Earls face darkened “THERE WILL BE NO TREATY , FEMALE, UNLESS YOU FULFILL YOUR SIDE OF THE AGREEMENT !”. Goddesses ! That noise !

The Duchess recoiled from his bellowed words but quickly regained her composure. “But my Lord Earl, I have fulfilled our agreement. Here…..”, she held out a hoof to the carriage door which a cloaked Thestral opened. My heart skipped a beat and I felt a wave of cold realisation flush through me. A slender black leg emerged from the carriage. Muzzled, and wings bound, hobbled to prevent escape, Shadow followed, stumbling onto the white flat stone of the plateau.

I felt a huge pulling sensation deep inside my chest, all the while choking back my desire to call her name. I didn’t want her to see this.

“…here is your gift from the people of the Beyond !”. The Duchess smiled expansively and spoke once more to the Minotaur who continued to glower at the new arrival, “Now my Lord Earl, the treaty…?”. The minotaur leaned down, sniffing at Shadow and growled low, “She stinks of the….pony. She has been tainted and is useless to me now. There will be no trade agreement.”

“WHAT !!” She screamed, grabbing at Shadow roughly and pulling her muzzle towards her, she stared into her eyes. Shadow looked back, unmoving. Her mother released her and with a gasp of shock shouted her rage in a gout of steam,
“You…filthy little whore!…you’ve lain with that stinking, filthy….HORSE !”. There was that word again, by Luna, I didn’t like this mare and I didn’t like where this was leading either. She was a vicious Thestral who even her husband had little sway with.

Maelstrom turned to me, grabbing her daughter around the throat. Far Sight rumbled low, steam pouring from his muzzle as he advanced towards his wife. “She’s ruined now…you…you filth ! All those years of planning, grooming….ruined….damn you to the deepest circles of hell !”

The Duchess was incandescent with rage, all reason and sanity disappearing like the steam whisping from her maw. She smiled, shaking as the insanity took her,

“Well….well my dear sweet one…sweet, sweet shadow….I hope we meet again in ‘pleasanter’ times. You can go to be with your sister now…..”. A flash of sparkling diamond filled my vision as the Duchess took a dagger to Shadows throat. I screamed in fury and charged at the same time my vision turned white, a jet of flame like a surgeons scalpel, burning across the Duchesses chest and foreleg. The knife clattered to the ground and was kicked away by Far Sight, flames and smoke licking up the side of his muzzle. “You go too far wife !”, he said in barely controlled fury.

Shadow was quickly collected by two cloaked ponies and had her bonds removed, she was shaking in fright and, knowing Shadow, a healthy dose of anger.

“PITIFUL”. The Early turned his back to the scene behind him, the Duchess crying In outrage and shame while her husband put a protective wing around her. He looked over to me and nodded slowly. Shadow broke free of her assistant looking about her frantically before she saw me. Her nostrils flared and she prepared to come full gallop just as another cloaked pony stepped before her and she stopped suddenly. The two spoke and Shadows face looked towards me in desperation before nodding and walking slowly, head down, back to the sky carriage.

“NOW….PONY. WE WILL FINISH THIS CHARADE. YOU HUMILIATE ME AND I ANNIHILATE YOU !” The Earls furious words made the dust dance around him.

“Oh dear”, I smiled, “I don’t think so.” Thorn shouted to me, “Now Captain ! Your moment is hear, seize your glory !”. If a pony had shouted that to me at any other time, I would probably have cringed in embarrassment, but, as my old mentor once told me, it was all about timing. Timing and context. I breathed in several times, calming my heart, gently sensing for the cold anger inside. Like a frightened cat it backed away into the dark and for an instant, I feared I wouldn’t be able to achieve my goal. I

breathed slowly, all the while easing the storm inside, holding out an invisible hoof to it, teasing it, promising it all it wanted to fulfil its needs. ‘Come’, I thought, ‘a banquet await us, will you let me feast alone ?’

I felt a movement, virtually imperceptible, but I could feel the restraints I’d put on it relinquish their grasp. Slowly, the tiny icy feeling sent questing tendrils out to my consciousness, ‘Come’, I said to it in the darkness, ‘let us be one again, we are halves of one whole are we not ? Join me in the symphony now and bring our foe to the feast of death.’

A bare whisper, ‘yes’. Again a moment later, stronger, ‘…yes’. The cold wall burst free of its restraints and flooded through me sending a rush of ice and fire through my body that made me gasp out loud….”YES !“.

I cried out, my heart soaring on a wave of euphoria and anger. Cold, black vengeance, retribution for the fallen, it was all waiting for me. My rattling cry of pain and despair howled out across the plateau, my wings bursting forth from my back and snapping out to show their magnificent, terrible beauty to the world. I growled low and loud, the thick white mist beginning to pour like liquid cloud from my teeth. My vision became tinged in blue, vision becoming impossibly clear. Every detail of my surroundings, every smell, every sound, the tiniest of movements, were as an open book to my senses. My hooves were the bringers of thunder, my teeth would rend, my fire would burn. There was time to kill……

The minotaur dragged a giant axe from its back as it yelled a terrible battle cry and charged me, horns down. With a single beat of my wings I flew up into the dark sky, my white coat and blue mane shining brightly in the moonlight. I hissed my defiance and swept down, plumes of white cloud shrouding my flanks making me appear like a comet from the heavens howling down to earth. The Minotaur swung his mighty axe but I was too quick for his lumbering frame and I released a blast of blue fire from my horn straight for his chest. Surprisingly fast for such a monster, he twisted and my attack glanced across his chest flensing his flesh and drawing a shout of pain.

“COWARD !”, he bellowed, stopping and lowering his axe to the ground. “YOU FLY WITH YOUR MAGIC. YOU HAVE NO HONOUR.” I came to a halt, my wings beating steadily. He was wrong. I was no coward, I was a pony of Equestria, a captain in the service of their royal highnesses. I would kill this animal, claim my mate and return home. We all would return home. Except…..him.

I called to the Earl with my Wendigo voice, cold and otherworldly, “Very well…….”.

“By the Goddesses arse, Fairlight, dont do it !, its what he wants. Take the bastard out with you power.” Thorn shouted up at me from below. I understood, victory was victory no matter how you achieved it. I flew down to him and recovered my scythe, turning to my commander as he regarded me with wide eyes. “The ends justify the means eh, sir ?” I hissed, feeling the weight of the scythe in my magical grip. He looked at me, tears and a far away look in his old eyes, I could almost see the images of the Pony Lieutenant, banner in hoof, his son, nailed to pieces of crystalline wood.

“No Captain. Not always……”. I nodded and turned my face to the minotaur, my blue eyes reflected in the blade of his axe. The creature laughed expansively, “FOOL ! You cannot defeat me ! I have been in over a hundred battles !”. “Oh don’t worry

bully”, I retorted, “you cant lose all the time”. He screamed in a red haze of fury and ran at me full tilt, swinging the axe like it weighed no more than a feather. I deflected it with the scythe and span, cutting up and round, slicing through the vile creatures thigh and side. His axe swept down, cleaving through my flank, a trail of silvery blood pouring down my leg.

We circled each other, everything and every pony else forgotten, our sole focus on cutting down the other. I felt the exhilaration of combat sizzling through me, almost but never quite overwhelming my conscious mind. I was floating in a sea of calm, dead calm, the waters around me surging and boiling, white wind flowing and crying out for release. Inside the eye of the storm, I controlled it all, worked the flow of power and anger, the conductor of an orchestra of destruction, I was the bringer of woe, maker of windows and the harbinger of death. I cried out into the storm and the wind flew free.

The Minotaur lifted his axe above his head and brought it down with a bone splitting strike that would have cleaved me in two. Whirling around him, my scythe flashed and struck, blood blossoming where it drew back to strike once more. Unstoppable, the Earl snarled and tried to grab my mane, screaming in pain as his fingers froze when they barely brushed my body. Incensed with pain and fury, he lowered his head and charged, horns glinting with deadly purpose. I barely dodged his attack, his horns grazing my foreleg, drawing forth more shining blood. Even as his horn froze in shining blue ice, he swept the great axe at me and I pulled out all my speed to block the heavy weapon away from me. The blade nicked a piece of flesh from my rump and I gritted my teeth against the pain, dropping the scythe and pulling the short-sword from its sheath. The hulking creature, blood streaming from its many wounds threw his ruined weapon on the ground and ran at me, bloodied clawed arms outstretched, screaming his hate and bloodlust as he came.

I stood my ground, waiting for the right moment. He was almost on me as I arrowed the sword straight into his throat. Staggering off target he reached up and yanked the sword free, tossing it like a toy across the white ground towards the watching Thestrals.

He gagged, choking on his own blood and turned to glare at me with his cold hard bullish eyes. I took up my scythe, power seething through me in a cascade. It was beyond ecstasy, the end was near now, so near I could taste it. And I would, I would drink deep this day,

“Oh Earl….” I hissed, the cold of the north winds in my voice, mist dripping, steaming onto the plateau’s solid ground, “…No more running…no more games….time to play.”

I took my fighting stance as he came at me, a final rush that would leave one of lifeless at the dead centre of the city of ghosts.

Time slowed and I took in every movement of his muscles, the steam blasting from his nostrils, the blood seeping from his wounds. The claws, several broken away by the frozen touch of my body, reached for me. His mind was gone, any thought of the
injuries he would receive in grappling me meant nothing to him now, only my death at his claws. I waited, reaching out with my magic, bringing the scythe to my hooves.

With an animalistic cry, time snapped back on track and the Earl of Purple Sands stumbled to a halt. A line of blood spilled from his neck to his waist. The life sparked in his eyes then went out, the two halves of his body slipping wetly to the now blood slicked ground. I dropped the scythe from my hooves and stood over the defeated enemy. My breath slowed, I closed my eyes and opened my mist dripping maw, breathing in the delectable aroma…. it was time to feed.

Silence fell across the city like a shroud. I sat back on my haunches, my hunger satisfied. After what felt like hours, I opened my eyes and looked upon the shrivelled ruin of the Earl of Purple Sands. Lifting the scythe, I cut the thong holding the cloak to his remains and brought it up so I could take a closer look at it. I was right, cutie marks, old and worn. Dark red, purple, black and green tinged Thestral hides
contributed to this abomination before me. I rolled it up and held it in the air with my magic before incinerating it with a pulse of blue fire. The cloak burned filling the air with the stink of hair and skin, sending black smoke up into the sky, covering the face of the moon.

I lifted my head to look to the symbol of the Goddess, “Luna, princess of the night, goddess of our dreams, hear my prayer…..your children are coming home.” Tears stung my eyes and blue fire rolled down my face. A light nuzzle against my neck brought me back, to look into my lovers eyes. Shadow smiled shyly and licked my nose. I leaned into her and spread a wing across her back, feeling her warmth against my hide.

A familiar voice echoed out across the vastness of the plateau from behind the Duchess who was still weeping into her husbands chest as he cradled her. A broken doll she may be at present, but I had no doubt that the stern Thestral inside would return some day. Hopefully, her children and husband would help her to become more, to be a better ruler.

“This is nice isn’t it ? Everyone here then I take it ?”, a cloaked Thestral emerged from the covered sky carriage and trotted over with Ember who kept several steps behind him and her head down. I looked at Star Beard and smiled, “Impeccable timing my friend.”

“Well..hmmmm…not really, I was quite tired galloping about after everyone you know and, well, I may have had a little snooze in the carriage….um.”

Thorn trotted over with his Thestrals, the Earls troops may have been invisible for all the attention they paid them. “You old donkey fart !, I thought you’d finally been done in. Thank the Goddess you’re alive.”

Star Beard clopped hooves with the Storm Major and pulled him into an embrace. “I missed you too my son.”. Bloody hell, just how old was Star Beard ?! I remembered

him explaining how time was different between here and the mortal world, but somewhere between fighting wars, he’d fathered Storm Major Thorn and, quite a bit later judging by the age difference, the Duchess. I wondered just how many of the tribe the randy old sod had spawned. Wait a minute, that means…..If Shadow is my mate, then she’s the daughter of the Duchess which makes him….

“Well hello grandson…”, Star Beard said nudging me with his nose. “Long time no see ! Hope you’ve been taking good care of my Granddaughter”. Okay make that Grandfather-in-law then.

“Star Beard….” I began, but he stopped me with a raised hoof and spoke to both the commander and myself, “We have guests, fillies and gentlecolts, and we must attend. It would be rude not to now wouldn’t it ?”.

Star Beard nudged Shadow and myself into following him out in front of the confused looking soldiers from Purple Sands. Their commander dead before them, they looked
to have lost their will to fight as well as any idea as to what to do now. With a flourish, the old Thestral unclipped his cloak, revealing another underneath. I recognised it from the secret room beneath the hill. It was a floor length dark blue cloak, a little mouldy looking but serviceable. Silver crescents and stars were sewn into it and, oddly, brass bells, which tinkled as he straightened himself out. He fussed a moment longer, pulling out a huge blue hat in the same style as the cloak, complete with bells, from the depths of his saddle bag and plopped it on his head. Ember fussed with his garments until she was satisfied. He smiled and nodded to her and she backed away coyly.

Clearing his throat, Star Beard addressed the massed warriors “Thestrals of the Purple Sands, who speaks for you now that your Earl has been defeated in honourable combat ?”

A tall Thestral in black and red striped armour and several white stripes on his helmet stepped forward, “I do. I am Captain Light Step of the tribe of the Purple Sands.”

“Do you speak for all your people Captain ?” Star Beard asked.

“I can. The Earl is dead and his only heir is also slain.”. I nodded as the Thestral dipped his head in my direction.

“Captain, the ancient agreements of our peoples still bind us. By the laws of the Goddess, your tribe now belongs to this warrior.”, I nearly fell over backwards when Star Beard pointed his hoof at me.

“But….Elder”, he stuttered, “He is not a Thestral, nor even a pony….I…do not know what he is. How can he lead us…such a…..demon ?”.

“A demon ?!”, Star Bear laughed and clopped the Captain on the shoulder, “Oh come on now my dear fellow, don’t you know a Wendigo when you see one ?”

Thestrals broke out in shocked mutterings and nervous movements all around me. Goddesses, I hated being the centre of attention and I could feel myself blushing slightly. How that looked on a white ‘demonic’ being with a blue mane and tail, not to mention leaking white fog everywhere, was any ponies guess.

I certainly had an effect on the Thestrals here though.

“They are extinct ! How can you say this one is a warrior of the Goddess when none of them have been seen since the Return ? My people….”

“…Your people will know when they see a Wendigo Captain, as you did when he slew your despicable Earl. Where were you looking when the blue fire burned the sky, when the breath of the princess of the night caressed the ground. You have heard the war cry of our ancestors here today and you still say they are…extinct !?”

“I…Elder…I’m sorry, its all….”

Star Beard put a hoof on the stricken Captain, “I know my boy, in truth I couldn’t believe it myself at first, but here he is before you. Speak with him now…go.”

The Captain nervously stepped up to me, eyes full of uncertainty, fear and a touch of pride. “My Lord…” he began.

I stomped a hoof, making him wince, “I am not your Lord, Captain”, my voice flowed from my maw like wind gusting across a glacier, “You are a Thestral, proud and strong, a warrior of the Goddess. Hold your head high my brother.”, The Captain stared up at me, his eyes wide, “I have fulfilled the terms of the agreement with the tribe of the Beyond. From this day, I decree that both tribes will be as one, whole as they once were and shall be again. Be as one under the moon of the Goddess.”

Silence.

“I am leaving this land my brothers and sisters, I cannot say if I can return or not, but know this. All of you share a bond with me now, forged in the heat of battle, we fought and bled upon the land of the ancestors.”

“LORD FAR SIGHT !” I called and the great Thestral landed beside me shaking his large mane. “Your warriors await your orders, my father. Now, I must beg your leave.” Far sight stared at me intently for a moment before smiling and giving me a sly wink with those big red eyes of his. With a sweep of his great wings, he turn to speak to the Captain, Thorn walking over to join him. I walked away with Shadow

and Star Beard, leaving the old soldiers to discuss the future of the two tribes. Whether things would last, whether they would be able to put centuries of division
aside and forge a new future together, was in their hooves. I quietly prayed to Luna it would be so.

We followed Star Beard past the milling Thestrals, old rivalries forgotten, weapons left on the ground to talk to new friends. We passed the huddled form of the Duchess and headed down the steps behind her. She gave a terrified cry and scuttled away from us, from me, with a foreleg over her face, “…Demon !...” she hissed, “…to think my daughter….with you….demon !....back to the pit with you…demon….”.

Star Beard craned his head round sadly and spoke to me, “Don’t worry about her my young friend, I will see she is tended to. Its all been a little too much for the poor girl.”

I glanced back to the Duchess who squeaked when she noticed me looking at her and covered her face with a wing. I hoped Star Beard knew what he was doing, the Duchess looked like she needed a little more than simply “tending to”.

We were lead into a large building with a crescent moon carved on the door lintel. No pony had been in here for a long time, our hoof prints were the only ones visible in the dust on the solid floor. The building itself was built, like the rest of the city, in that solid white crystal giving the feeling of being inside a cube of ice, but without the chill. I’d noticed on my breakneck journey through the empty streets, a distinct lack of doors or glass for the windows, in fact furniture of any kind. Almost as if the city was a blueprint, a plan for something that never truly happened. There was certainly no sign of decay, wear or life of any description. There was one pony who I knew held the key to this mystery and he was a few feet in front of me wearing a relic from equestrian history.

“Star Beard”, I asked, “or should I call you Starswirl the Bearded ?”, you knew what was going to happen today didn’t you ?”.

He stopped in his tracks. Without turning he spoke, “My dear boy, I’m not a pony you know, I’d have thought you’d know that by now. The glowing eyes and teeth are a bit of a give away.”. His voice was level and had an almost dangerous note to it compared to his usual manner of speaking.

I pressed on regardless, “The cloak, the hat, the secret room full of Equestrian artefacts in a world like this ? How old are you, what, like a thousand years or more ?” I wanted answers before I left this place, probably forever.

“You have a right to ask questions Fairlight, Equestrians have always been…’inquisitive’, but I cannot answer them all. I have my….reasons, why I can’t. A promise to a friend, from long ago.” He slowly turned to face me, “But you my pony friend, will have to bear in mind that no pony, not even the Goddesses can know everything. That friend of mine I mentioned, he tried, spent the best part of his life searching for answers to magic, to life, even to death, finding some but not all that he

desired to know. His passion for knowledge slowly consumed him until one day, he simply stopped. He realised that sometimes, the answers are not always ones we should, or want to, hear. And so, he came to us here in the Wither world. He spent many years helping our people, teaching them, helping them to become more than the brutish, warlike animals we were. There is still a lot to do but I am old, Fairlight, as you said, very old.”

“The cloak and hat belonged to your ‘friend’ ?”

Star Beard nodded. “Yes Fairlight, they belonged to him. Oh, I dare say that he had more than one set of clothes, but now, sadly, he is no longer with us, so it falls to his….protégé to follow in his hoof steps. My adopted name is in homage to him, to help us remember what he did for us.”.

“But you’re not a unicorn !” I blurted, regretting my thoughtless words the moment they left my mouth.

Star Beard looked past me into a memory only he could see, “No, I’m a Thestral, like the rest of my people. However, we all have a magic within us Fairlight, be you a unicorn, Pegasus, earth pony, Thestral or even, yes, a minotaur. Aren’t you taught that any more in your world ?”

“I’d….forgotten.”, I hung my head in shame, “I’m sorry Star Beard, I shouldn’t have pushed you for answers and now, I’ve made you remember painful memories.”

Star Beard shook his mane and looked puzzled, “Painful ? Goodness me no ! If my mentor hadn’t have come here, I’d never have had the chance to wear such an amazing cloak and hat !” He suddenly pranced around the empty room making the bells jingle and tinkle, striking ludicrous poses. Shadow laughed, I looked into her face as she held her hoof to her mouth, eyes sparkling with mirth. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing with her at the old Thestrals antics. Star Beard was a little strange and secretive, but I knew in my heart that he was the best chance we had of getting out of here and I would put my trust in him completely.