Shadow and I lay in the welcoming warmth of the bath house come steam room. The water was not uncomfortably hot in here, but bordered on it. Right now though, I needed its muscle soothing heat and I have to say the feeling of submerging your whole body in its rejuvenating waters was something truly wonderful.

We had both washed before easing ourselves into the steaming bath as was the custom in the thestral world. Stretching out my legs, I let out a sigh that made no secret of how tense I’d been up until recently; not that last night hadn’t been a great stress reliever too of course. Shadow moaned softly beside me, snuggling into me while I nuzzled her neck.

“Fairlight?” She murmured quietly.

“Mmmm?”

“Tingles…Tell me?”

So I did. I told her all about how we met, our adventures and even the terrible events at the fortress. Tingles lay in silence, occasionally turning to stretch a leg or wing. She looked into my eyes with an expression I couldn’t begin to describe,

“The fortress…you will take me there?”

“I…” what the hell did she want to go there for?

I cleared my throat, “If you want to, love, but why? There’s nothing there”

“Please?” she pleaded, quietly nuzzling me.

I shrugged, “Okay, sure. Just don’t expect too much when we get there. But in any case, I want to get you home so we can see everypony again. They miss you love, I’ve missed you.”

Tingles reached up and nibbled my ear before breathing into it, “Missed you”. Goddesses, she was working her bloody thestral magic on me again and I pushed myself away to face her,

“I love you, Shadow”

She reached out to pull me into a kiss, “Love…”

At some point, we must have made it back to the bedchamber, but I can’t remember exactly how. I think I was more unconscious than asleep that night, until gradually I came back to consciousness on the large comfortable bed. Somepony had placed covers over me whilst I slept and was singing softly at the far end of the room; a strange song in the thestral language which to anypony who didn’t understand them, would sound like so much screeching and clicking. To me, it reminded me of home, a mother’s love for her foal, and finding a dream. Sentimental stuff or sure, but I couldn’t think of a better way to wake up in the morning.

Despite a nights sleep, I still felt physically worn out, but content. With a good shake and a rub of my eyes, I climbed out of bed to see Shadow brushing her mane in the mirror. She saw me watching her and smiled at me in the reflection, her eyes as warm as my heart. I magicked over the hair brush from her and helped groom her. There was something extremely intimate in mutual grooming and the midnight coloured mare purred happily at the feeling of the brush running through her hair.

We swapped places, Shadow treating me to a good stiff brushing. I couldn’t help but hum in pleasure at the sensations that the feeling of the brush running through my fur sent through me. My tail, mane and coat felt amazing, although I was still a little tender in places despite the healing magic of the wendigo. To conserve energy, I’d released the spirit energy before going to bed. Besides, I just couldn’t get away with sleeping with wings…how did she do that!? It never seemed to bother Tingles either. Albeit her pegasus wings were feathered and a little smaller, she always managed to sleep soundly. Yet when I tried to, the bloody things were always in the way no matter how I lay. Despite my best efforts to get used to them, I’d had wing cramps one morning after sleeping in my wendigo form and I didn’t ever want to experience that again; it hurt like hell!

The two of us trotted out into the main hall and the wretched scene of multiple groaning and hung over warriors. Some still slept, whilst others tried gingerly to stand and head home, bleary eyed and hung over. All the while the indomitable red robed staff glided between the stricken warriors, attempting to clean and tidy the mess from the previous night’s revelry. Even the musicians had been indulging. One of them was fast asleep across their Lute, drool dripping from his open mouth whilst a bubble of snot in the corner of the musician’s nose expanded and contracted in time with his breathing. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

One of the Earls maids trotted over with a couple of bowls of porridge and cherries, including some of the crystal ones for me. They were good too, and I wolfed the lot down before sitting back contentedly. I felt great! The best I had in ages, and now my stomach was comfortably full too. I could have happily stayed there all day, but a certain thestral had other ideas.

Shadow trotted to the door, calling back to me…”Run?”

So much for a lazy day then…

Nodding to her, I followed her out into the open air. It was something I’d never get used to in this world; no sun…you couldn’t even have a decent roll as most of the ground was sand and I wasn’t sure what that weird white ‘grass’ was back in the Beyond. I was still oddly tempted to try and sample that stuff, don’t know why really, it was just…different.

Shadow trotted off and I followed her, keeping pace,

“Shadow?”

She turned to me, smiling and raised an eyebrow.

“When I was in Etrida’s cave, she showed me the most beautiful paintings I’d ever seen, and said you’d done them for her”

Shadow nodded.

“Is there a place like that here in the Wither world?” I asked.

“No”, she shook her head, “Dreams”.

“They’re in your dreams?”

She smiled, “Dreams with Meadow, dreams with Tingles. Flying, running”

Shadow gave me a knowing look, “Foals”.

“Foals?”

She blushed. I think I did too; damn it all I was beginning to get the picture. Of the three mares, she was the only one who didn’t have a foal. An image of Mitre popped into my mind, his sarcasm heavy as he spoke, “The harem continues to expand”. I shook my mane, dispelling the image and increased my speed into a canter, as a shiver ran down my spine.

The land here had a dreadful appeal all of its own. The black water lapped against the shore making a pleasant ‘shushing’ sound as the breeze took up my mane and played with it. Tarragon had flown off on her morning breakfast hunting rounds earlier, but now she was back, swooping in to skim over the waves happily chirruping and squawking to us.

On my first venture into the Wither world, I’d notice the complete absence of wind, at least until I entered the Beyond. Even then, it was barely a whisper, but here in the Purple Sands, it was very noticeable. What made the Withers so unique to my mind, was not so much the inhabitants, but more the way their ‘areas’ were defined so specifically, each one a little ecosphere all of its own. It was almost like each area had been specifically tailored to the people living there; very strange indeed. I imagine that the denizens of these places didn’t think about it much as they’d been living here so long it was accepted as normal.

That was something else that worried me. The longer I was here, the longer I was gone in the mortal realm and goddesses knew what that was going to be like. Time was very skewed between the two and it would also appear to be completely random. What would I find when I got back? Lumin as a colt, wondering who I was? It didn’t bear thinking about. We’d have to find Star Beard as soon as possible.

We paused to catch our breath by a small wood, and by ‘wood’, I mean a collection of the lethally spikes ‘things’ that passed for trees in this land, when a plaintive cry drifted to us over the sound of the surf. Shadow lifted her head, listening intently and I followed the direction the sound was coming from myself, trickling a little magic into my senses until,

“There! Come on!”

My hooves dug into the sand and propelled me rapidly towards the cries. Shadow was hot on my fetlocks while Tarragon flew ahead, squawking her encouragement. The little dragon began circling and shrieked at something below one of the purple dunes. Cresting it in a flurry of hooves and sand, was a young thestral mare with a large pack of wood strapped to her back. She was heading right for us…

In a lather, the panicked mare rushed up to us and all but threw herself at Shadow, tears streaming down her cheeks,

“Ghosts! Spirits of the dead!” she gasped, choking for breath.

Her chest was heaving and her breathing laboured. Reaching over, I unbuckled the wood carrier from her back and tried to calm her,

“Show us where you saw them and then get yourself home. I’ll take your wood back for you”.

She nodded her thanks and turned to point back the way she came, “There! The glade beyond the dunes”.

Shadow gave her a hug and sent her on her way, the young thestral taking wing now that she was unencumbered from the wood carrier. I gave Shadow a nod and we both took off at a gallop following the hoofprints in the sand.

It wasn’t far, the mare had been cutting wood for the fire and her axe was still lying where she’d dropped it, together with several piles of cut logs. Just beyond where she’d been working, I could make out the occasional white sparkle of light, its silvery motes glittering through the gaps in the trees. It looked oddly familiar, in fact, very familiar. With a quick shake of my mane, I decided to explore this peculiar phenomenon and confirm my suspicions.

We pushed into the prickly undergrowth, dodging past the lethally spiked branches and emerged into a small clearing. The brightness immediately hit me like a sledgehammer, shining so brightly it hurt my eyes making me flinch. I’d been in the Purple Sands too long; I was getting so used to dark and drab as being a normal colour scheme, that anything bright was like having a searchlight shone directly in my eyes. It was no wonder Shadow took so much pleasure in creating her landscape paintings, it was the safest way to see colour here. Thankfully, my vision began to clear quickly, the last thing I wanted was to come under attack when I was all but blind.

To make matters that little bit more interesting, my horn began to itch and I could even begin to smell the gradual magical build up in the air. Somepony was here, or had been here, although the place looked empty now. Shadow snorted beside me, nudging me with her muzzle. Turning to where she was looking, I tried to focus on the hazy figure of a familiar pony approaching us. He was carrying a staff in the glow of his magic but something was wrong, the image wavering in and out like a poorly tuned radio signal. Despite that, I could still recognise the outline of the swine I wanted to throttle…Starswirl. He owed me for not warning me about the chamber in the fortress.

His voice was distant, with an echoing quality, “Fairlight?”

“I’m here Starswirl. What do you want, is something going on?” I looked about me, “Where’s Meadow?”

“Theres no time to explain, she’s safe though, it’s all I can do to speak to you like this.”, his image shook and reformed itself, “Damn it! Listen, you need to get to the Rift, its your only way home. My research has shown you need three things, firstly, dragon magic. Second, you’ll need magic from the realm of the eternal herd. Finally, you need a light to shine the way, the beacon you have around your neck. As for the other two, its up to you my boy. I’m sorry, the barrier is just too strong.”

I shook my head. Maybe I hadn’t heard him properly, “Barrier? What barrier?”

The image flickered, “Celestia has put a barrier between the worlds, she sensed you enter the Wither world.”

My blood froze, “She’s trapped me here?”

He nodded, “I’m sorry Fairlight. The barrier is preventing Meadow and I from forming here properly, even where the veil is thin. Its taken all my magic to do this much, and I’m on borrowed time as it is.”

A thought suddenly struck me, “Wait! Tarragon here is a dragon, and we have a dagger Thalio gave me from the eternal herd!”

“My goddess Fairlight, that’s it! But, the dragon…its magic won’t be strong enough I fear. Still, it may be worth a try though.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Speak to my old apprentice. Tell him to follow the directions for combinations in ‘Magical Transmutational Dynamics and Quantifiable Dimensional Quadratics’.”

“What!?”

“Just tell him to read the bloody book!”

I opened my mouth to reply but the image was gone, leaving me standing there like a lost soul. A lost soul with hope…

“Shadow…we can go home, to my home…” I said quietly, my excitement building.

The thestral mare nuzzled me and then pulled me into a hug, her wings flapping excitedly “Home!”

I stopped to collect a nice quantity of the berries for later, loading them into the basket the wood collector had left behind. I wasn’t so sure I’d need them just yet, after all my magic still felt unusually strong, but I certainly wasn’t complaining about that; “Don’t look a gift pony in the mouth” mum would always say. As I’d promised, I collected the thestral mare’s wood before we headed back to the village. It was hard to concentrate though, my head was now a raging torrent of thoughts and emotions after what Starswirl had said; we could go home! Plans began to form in my mind and my excitement spurred me into a gallop which even Shadow had trouble keeping up with. In no time at all we reached the tribe’s hall.

Forge was outside, stretching and yawning before lazily scratching at his tangled mane. He looked up in surprise to see us charging into the village and especially at the large collection of wood strapped to my back. The Earl nodded towards it and grinned mishievously,

“You know, we have staff who collect the wood Fairlight. You needn’t have troubled yourself. Or is this some sort of wendigo work-out routine?”

I laughed, “Just doing my bit Forge, but we have news!”

“Its not those blasted ‘ghosts’ in the woods I heard about is it?” he said rubbing his eyes, “What next!”

With a quick tweak from my magic, I took off the wood pack and had a good shake, “They weren’t ghosts my friend, but messengers. We have a way to send us home at last.”

“Wonderful news!” he clopped me on the shoulder and nodded to Shadow, “Come, let us ready you for your trip home.” He trotted back up the steps into the hall, his morning fatigue forgotten. Shadow and I followed him in and before long, were packed, fed, watered and ready for our return to the Beyond.

Thorn and his warriors assembled outside the hall along with most of the tribe’s villagers, crowding round to bid us farewell. Flying above the throng, I spotted the wood collecting mare who gave us a hearty wave; no doubt relieved to find her ‘ghosts’ actually weren’t after all. Forge shook hooves with us, even Thorn which I was pleased to see. Shadow received a hug and a kiss from her sister, making for a heart warming scene.

Tarragon was safely snuggled into my pannier and probably munching her way through the berries. Fortunately, I’d had the foresight to mash the rest and refill my empty flasks before the little monster scoffed the lot. It wasn’t life energy, but it would be better than nothing.

Horns blew and trumpets sounded our departure, it was all a lot more than I’d expected to be honest; I felt quite the celebrity. With a cry from Thorn, we leapt into the air, sand billowing up around us as we soared into the sky, the village quickly dwindling behind us. The thestrals seemed re-invigorated by the knowledge that they, and us, were returning from a successful mission. Minimal casualties this time thankfully, only I’d been mangled, stabbed…the usual. I sighed, with my luck, going out for dinner was probably going to result in a life threatening situation. That said, I still considered myself to be one bloody lucky pony; my own herd, a heritage and friends…what more could a stallion ask for?

Star Beard looked up at his bookshelf, “What was the name of that book again?”

“Trans…transmu…something…”

“That’s not helping Captain!”

“I’m sorry! I know bugger all about magic and he didn’t exactly write it down you know”.

Star Beard face hoofed, “Fine…I’ll keep-”

“Magical Transmutational Dynamics and Quantifiable Dimensional Quadratics”

We both turned to stare open mouthed at Shadow who was taking down a dusty leather tome, inscribed with golden letters in equestrian. Sure enough, it was the very book Starswirl had told me about.

That mare never ceased to amaze me. It may have been my imagination of course, but she seemed a lot more…’eloquent’ than when I’d first met her.

“Here…yes, this is it. Right then…hmmm”, Star Beard’s voice trailed off.

“Anything?” I asked moving closer to peer at the book.

Star Beard tutted, pushing me away, “No! Go and sit over there and play with your dragon or something, I’m going to need time to read this. It’s not that simple you know.”

I raised my eyebrows. The awkward old bugger, ‘go and play with your dragon’. Probably a metaphor for something he did with the massive maid. Shadow looked up at me, a mischievous smile on her face when I plopped myself down on the chair beside her.

“Won’t be long love, I said. We’ll be going together this time, as the goddesses are my witness, we will be”. Shadow nickered and nudged me playfully.

Time passed. Star Beard read and re-read the book, scratching his head far too much for my liking. Occasionally he’d cross reference another book, tutting to himself and making notes, sometimes stopping to stretch and refill his mug with water.

I loaded his pipe and passed it to him which he accepted gratefully. Of course, I had one myself much to Shadow’s annoyance and I received a hard stare from those red eyes. Even in this world…I groaned inwardly, another bad habit I enjoyed would have to stop.

Hours dragged by until with a sleeping thestrals head on my shoulder and a dragon snoozing on my back, I looked up to see Star Beards bleary eyes looking into mine making me jump,

“I know what to do…but its not good news.”

I waited for him to continue, “You need the old magic, the magic of dragons. The beacon and the dagger we have, but that magic…”

I motioned toward Tarragon, “But we have a dragon, she may be small but she’s still a dragon”

He nodded sadly, “She is Fairlight my boy, but she’s too young. The sort of magic needed would need to come from a dragon who was more mature, and strong”, he stretched out, yawning, “I just don’t know…”

Something was pulling at my saddle pack…Shadow. With a few tugs, she produced a large crystal orb. My goddess, of course…Etrida.

Star Beard stared at the orb in fascination, “What is that?” he said in wonderment. Shadow tapped it knowingly with a grin, “Etrida”.

The old thestral stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to stare at her, “Etrida? By the moon, girl, do you know who that is?”

She nodded, “My friend”.

Star Beard scrubbed his chin, flopping into his chair, “I think you need to explain my dear.”

I sat back in wonderment, listening to Star Beard and Shadow talk. This was like a whole new thestral. She was still a little shy in some ways, but I could understand her perfectly clearly and Star Beard spoke with her with no trouble whatsoever. Shadow was full of surprises today and this was one more to add to the list.

The old fellow stared at us shaking his head, “I still can’t believe it. Our old allies, old enemies, and now you befriend their elder? By painting her cave? Astounding…”

Tarragon nudged the crystal with her nose, sniffing it intently. Star Beard watched her, “Captain, if you can enlist the aid of Etrida, we can do this. The question is, will she come here to help you?”

I tapped the crystal, “Lets ask…”

Star Beard nearly choked but sat back, letting me continue. I held the crystal in my hooves and stared into it clearing my mind. I brought forth a memory of the emerald dragon with the blue eyes, her cave, her voice, her scent, “Etrida”, I whispered. Nothing…

“Etrida”

The crystal glowed and a voice, feminine and strong flowed out, “Ah, Lord Fairlight…you kept me in your heart I see.”

I blushed deep red and the dragon chuckled, “You wish to ask me something?”

Fighting my embarrassment, I glanced at Shadow who held her laughter behind a hoof, she knew all too well what Etrida was like,

“Etrida, I have found Shadow, she is safe and well”

“Good, this news is pleasing to me, Fairlight. I suspect there is more?”

“Yes. I’m afraid that to return home, I will need dragon magic.”

“Dragon magic? I have tried many times and even I cannot penetrate that shield. It is even stronger now than it ever was, something is keeping me here.” Her voice rose in anger, “I wish to return to my children, if there is a way…”

Star Beard nodded to me before facing the orb, “My lady Etrida, its Star Beard of the tribe of the Beyond, may I speak?”

There was a pause, “I remember you…you have more honour than most old one. Speak.”

The two began talking at length about the processes needed to break through the barrier in the Rift, or the ‘Shallows’ as Etrida called it. Most of the following conversation was way over my poor addled head and the old Fairlight brain cells were taking a real pounding. I beat a hasty retreat to play with Tarragon instead, as previously suggested I may add.

Luna’s arse, they’d been at it for bloody hours. Tarragon had gone back to sleep and Shadow was now on her third book as we waited patiently for Star Beard and Etrida to formulate their plan. I stretched out my hooves and gave my wings a quick preen and brush down, that bloody sand got in everywhere and made me itch something chronic.

“Fairlight?” Star Beard said suddenly, making me look up, “Get yourself tidied up, I need to see the Duchess straight away.

“Why?” I said scratching my mane.

He face hoofed, “Weren’t you listening? We’re expecting visitors. And we’d better be bloody well ready fast.”

Oh bollocks!

This was the nearest I’d seen to out and out pandemonium in many a year. Thestrals rushed about carrying boxes, trays, banners, in fact everything they could lay their hooves on by looks of it. The head maid directed it all like some sort of general on the battlefield. I expect in some ways, this was one, and by the goddess she knew what she was doing. Chaotic it may appear, but there was a certain order to the proceedings which I marvelled at. Perhaps I’d need to reassess my opinion of that expansive thestral.

Fortunately, I’d managed to wash and brush up earlier and had my gear packed and ready…just in case. Tarragon had picked up on the general air of expectation and was swooping wildly around the hall, letting out little jets of flames in her excitement; much to the annoyance of the staff and guards.

A loud shriek of protest from the other side of the hall as one of the banners caught light from a dive bombing Tarragon, incentivised me to leave the staff to do what they did best…as quickly as possible.

Shadow was already outside with Star Beard and Ember.

“Ah! Good, you’re here boy. I’ve explained the situation to the Duchess here and the staff should have everything in place ready any time now.”

Sure enough, banners, flags, warriors in polished armour and tables laden with food appeared with almost military precision. Freya had done her job well indeed. Now it was just a case of waiting I supposed. According to Star Beard, if Etrida had left straight away, she was likely to be…

“She’s coming!” one of the lookouts shouted, diving down to take position with the other assembled warriors. They all smartened themselves up quickly, the drums beginning to beat along with the sounding of some sort of horn like instruments. The effect was impressive, if a little nerve grating. Thestrals would never win any musical awards, that was for sure.

In the distance, and growing larger by the second, was an enormous green dragon…Etrida, the queen of them all. She called herself the ‘elder’, so maybe they didn’t go in for the trappings of royalty as ponies did, but the effect was still the same. Despite years of animosity, there was a great deal of respect here amongst the thestrals for an old foe, and likewise from Etrida herself. Fortunately for us, she appeared to have no qualms whatsoever about entering a thestral village.

The huge dragon swept down and across the village, the wind buffeting us whilst she banked to come in along the centre of the village thoroughfare. The sheer size of the noble creature left the warriors hastily backing up to allow her more landing room. Etrida’s wing span alone was extraordinary.

The emerald dragon landed surprisingly gracefully for such a large animal, blasting out a thunderous cry and gout of flame straight up into the sky. The warriors held their weapons in the air and shouted three times, “Etrida! Etrida! Etrida!”. Star Beard had hastily informed everypony that this was the ‘correct etiquette’ when dealing with a visiting dragon. The first time I’d met one, the etiquette had seemed to be a little on the thin side.

Star Beard and the Duchess walked forward and bowed, “Lady Etrida, we bid thee welcome to our home.” Ember said respectfully, “We have prepared food and drink for you should you desire it.”

Etrida nodded to them both before looking about her, “Where is the wendigo?”

I stepped forward, “I am here lady Etrida, thank you for coming here today”

She sniffed the air and all but knocked us all out of the way to reach Shadow, who raced up to greet her, “Shadow!”

The thestral mare nuzzled the dragons face like a friendly house cat and it was obvious straight away who Etrida had really come to see. These two were friends and my heart soared to know that Shadow had been safe with the powerful creature, at least until she’d decided upon a monastic lifestyle of course.

Shadow gestured to us to join them and all of us gathered around her and Etrida to discuss Star Beard’s plan. It was ‘relatively straight forward’, according to the ancient thestral, but personally it went way over my poor pony head. Magic had never been my strong point, apart from the wendigo’s powers of course, but that seemed to happen more ‘naturally’ since I’d merged with the spirit. It didn’t do much to help me understand magical theory unfortunately.

Apparently, with a combination of the dagger that Thalio had given me, Starswirl’s beacon and Etrida’s magic, Star Beard believed he could create a ‘key’ of some sort that would allow us to breach Celestia’s barrier in the Rift.

Etrida had willingly agreed to the plan but it was fairly clear early on that she was doing this for two reasons; firstly for Shadow’s sake and secondly so she could return to her children and Barathel. Poor Tarragon barely got a look in. Sure, her mother had acknowledged her but now seemed to take the opinion that she’d made her choice and was quite capable of looking after herself, thankyou very much. Pretty harsh I thought, when compared to equestrian society at any rate.

At the risk of speaking too soon, it looked like, for once, things were actually going to work out favourably. Etrida, Shadow and Star Beard continued to talk at length together, leaving me to sit with Ember and Tarragon.

Ember passed me a bowl of nuts and flaked ‘something’, that was actually very tasty, “What will you do when you return home, Fairlight?”

“I don’t know for sure.” I replied munching on the contents of the bowl, “I want to settle down and raise my family, that’s all. I’ve got a pot of money put aside my Aunts been looking after for me and I quite fancy getting into the landlord business.”

“Landlord?”

“The ‘Wyvern’s Tail’, it’s the tavern which Tingles and I have been staying in with some of the tribe’s descendants. Little place in the middle of nowhere, but I like it. With Shadow, our family will be whole.”

“Tingles? This is the mare Shadow has told me about?”

Oh hell, I’d dug a hole for myself with this conversation and was walking straight into it.

“Yes, that’s the one”

“In our society, taking more than one mate is not uncommon. Our birth rate is…not as it could be. I think Star Beard has explained?”

“He has”, I stretched my hind legs out, “Equestrian society used to herd commonly, the ratio of males to females has always been low. These days though, I don’t think society would so readily accept it.”

“Nor would they accept a wendigo or a thestral.”

I nodded in agreement, “True, but we have magic that could alter Shadow’s appearance just by wearing a collar”

Ember sighed, “My sister should not have to hide who and what she is, not for anypony, Fairlight. Would she really need to?”

I paused and looked into her eyes, “I don’t know Ember, I wish I had an answer for you. But to many ponies, she would look…a little frightening.”

Ember chuckled, “And how do you see us now, Fairlight? Did you not find us, even Shadow, ‘frightening’ when you first met her?”

I smiled, shrugging my shoulders, “At first, but I was able to see beyond my instincts and see her for who she is, who you all are for that matter. With everything that’s happened, I don’t know…I’m starting to think I’m less and less the pony I thought I was.”

She leaned across and gave me a quick nuzzle, “You are who you are Fairlight. My sister loves you and you love her, there’s not much more I could wish for than that. All I can say is that I pray to the goddess you will both live long happy lives and have many foals together.”

“Thanks Ember”, I smiled to her softly, “But what about you? Isn’t there any thestral who’s caught your eye?”

She blushed, looking away shyly, “Not yet…maybe one day”

Ember was a young healthy thestral, and the duchess of two tribes, I didn’t doubt that one day she’d find her special somepony. The thestral mare laughed aloud as Tarragon squeaked and clicked to her onslaught of tickles. I lay back on the grass, enjoying a few more berries and a glass of wine before Star Beard trotted over leaving Shadow and Etrida talking quietly together,

“We’re all set. Tomorrow you will fly through the Rift with Etrida, Shadow and your dragonling. I’ll explain more in the morning, but for now I must prepare things with Etrida and you will need to sort out your own affairs. You don’t have long Fairlight, so if you want to do anything before you go, this is the time to do it.”

“Thanks, Star Beard. I don’t know what to say old friend.”

He looked quite taken aback by my words, huffing slightly, “Yes…well, I suppose I’ve quite…’enjoyed’ your company, Fairlight. You saved the lady Shadow and brought our tribe together with the Purple Sands. Somehow helping to get you home doesn’t seem all that much after that.”

“It means a lot Colonel,” I said honestly, “both to Shadow and myself. I just hope we can meet again some day, in your world or mine.”

He stared into the distance, an empty look on his wizened old features, “Maybe…”

Star Beard pulled out a bag of tobacco, tossing it to me, “Here, take this with you. There’s enough there to keep you going and i’ve made notes on how to make it too, it’s in the book I’ve put in your pannier.”

“Book?”

“My diary, from the war. No thestral here would interested in it, and…I’m old Fairlight, my children have grown up and even…well, I’d like it to go to somepony who would understand it.”

He took out his pipe and passed it to me to load up for him, “Not everything in there is suitable for ‘youngsters’, you understand. I wasn’t always proud of what I did, but in war, there is seldom room for sentimentality. Or mercy…”

I paused, looking into eyes, but Star Beard wasn’t seeing me any more; he was lost in the past reliving scenes that nopony should ever have had to face. I lit my pipe and waited, until, with a snort, the old warrior snapped out of his revelry.

“Don’t smoke alone, Captain, not when you have comrade’s with you”, he admonished with a smile.

The lines in the warrior’s face occasionally betrayed long faded scars that spoke of fights and battles that had been close in and brutal. I’d been there, seen things and done things I wasn’t proud of either, and one day when I was old and grey, maybe those memories would come back to haunt me too. Maybe Meadow’s concerns for me, for my soul, were…I don’t know…I didn’t want to think about it. Not now.