I closed the newspaper, finished with the article.

"Apparently Knightmare's not the only one keeping tabs on the others here." I said to myself with a smile, tossing the article on the table. Reaching over to the window, I snuffed out a candle to let in the bright moonlight. I always found the soft moonlight more calming to my senses than candles or lamps; must have something to do with how we react to the color spectrum. My gaze lost amongst the clouds, I wondered how Rainbow Dash was doing.

'Heh, not even a day has passed and I already miss her.' I closed my eyes for a bit, letting thoughts and memories swim through the gray recesses of my consciousness. I thought about the irony of how in a single day, I met a few friends, had the time of my life, and a battle to never forget. A stray memory floated along the banks of my river of memories, like a fish swimming against the current.

=2 years ago=

"How about a dance, for old times sake?" She asked playfully, reaching a hand towards me. She was beautiful. No, beautiful didn't even BEGIN to fully describe her: radiant, ravenous, rebellious. She made my soul DANCE. The others teased me a few times, saying things like 'Damn Hotshot, not a year on C Class and you've already got a Charlie's Angel in your lap.'

But tonight was special, she was going away on a mission to Avingnon: Underground Drug Ring. One last night, a last dance, one long, passionate kiss...

=Present=

That was all over now, I shrugged off the memory, bringing me back into the present, back to the light of the glistening moon, back to my new life. I heard a knock on the door, interrupting my small episode of nostalgia.

"Aren't you going to dinner?" The mare asked as she cracked open the door.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry." I wouldn't want to wait in line behind the whole crew just to eat anyway. What I much more wished for was a pencil and paper.

As I stepped out into the hallway, I was almost bowled over by the rush of the crew to get to the mess hall as soon as possible, all while the PA was blaring:

"Alright, Whoever wants to eat, come get it, there won't be seconds," announced in the tsundere tone of Maria, the cook. After the initial rush, the crowd thinned out, allowing me safe passage to the main deck. I breathed out a heavy sigh, seeing my breath in condensing wisps in the chilling night air. The deck was completely cleared out, with only a select few members who had brought their food out here.

It was a beautiful night, a relaxing breeze brushed soft, dew like crystals across the deck like sand, tickling the pads of my feet. The clouds still draped the outside of the ship, hugging onto it tightly as if it was a cloak, protecting it from anything and everything. We were this moving, breathing, living fortress, headed to unknown lands afar. It was like something from a children's story, and I was a part of it.

Except my story was one that would rather be shut away from prying eyes. I walked over to the port side of the ship and grazed my paw over the banister, feeling the fluff of the clouds brush past my claws. I wondered what it would be like to sleep on a cloud, aloof from the world. The moon was still full, by my count three nights straight it's been like this. I'm guessing in a world based soley off the machinations of children, some of the laws of nature do not apply: the moon wanes when it's ready, the stars spring across the sky in a dance of golden aura, and the night is merely a curtain for the day. Here, the imaginations of others ruled this world.

I leaned over the banister overlooking the bow, the head of the ship. I extended my arms, feeling the wind rush past me, flapping the sleeves of my dobuku behind me like a flag. The feeling was amazing, a sense of freedom that I loved. But like all good moments, a random thought shatters your moments of euphoria and snap you back to reality in a grand whiplash. I thought to myself if this was permanent or not, or would I soon have to return to the real world.

I let my arms fall to my side and leaned on the banister, resting my chin in my open paw. Glancing back at it, I remembered it was the same paw that once held a scar as a human.

"I guess I should be thankful that I have a new body, at least I don't have to see my scars anymore..." I let my arm hang over the banister, looking down at the expanse of clouds below. Unpleasant memories try to force their way into my mind; an army beating against a fragile wall.

"DAMMIT!" I slam my fist against the banister, "Why can't I stop thinking about what's already GONE?!" Turning back into my human body made me realize that some things still hung on, things that I would never be able to...

'Escape... you can't escape...' I look around, trying to pinpoint the voice I heard. Nothing but the light sweeping noise that the engine made. I heard a pawstep behind me. Might as well make some light conversation to whoever wanted to disturb me.

"I've been on plenty of airplanes before, but there's just something about an airship..." A whiff of the air yielded a familiar, pungent scent, "I don't know how you'd say it... Captain..." I turn around to meet him, beak covered in small flecks of food that he teasingly wiped off with a hankerchief.

"It does have a sense of serenity about it, doesn't it?" he murmured in response, "I thought I'd find you up here..."

"At the very least, I'm not cramped down there with the crew..." I folded my arms and leaned back on the banister. "Finish your meal?"

"Yes, although you seemed to have missed yours."

"I wasn't hungry anyway, that and I almost got trampled in the stampede headed for the soup line." Griffin laughed at my remark.

"Heh, they are a rather enthusiastic bunch when food's on the line."

"Who isn't?" I asked jokingly. The captain walked up and leaned against the banister, the tall mounts of Gem Fido in sight.

"You know, Aoi, this could be more than just, 'Hitching a Ride'. I mean, we've got the same goals, and could use another skilled hand onboard. Besides, I like you, and I don't say that lightly." He looked at me, hoping that I would take his offer. In all honesty, I never really planned out where I was headed, simply a vague direction on a hunch. But to me, that hunch was a strong enough pull to convince me to go there.

"I'll keep that in mind, but I do have a clan to get back to." As soon as I could, I would go head back to the Dominion to check on Eol's former clan to see how there were fairing, "Maybe we'll cross paths again, I'll help you if you need it."

"Fair enough. I figured you for a 'lone wolf' character, if you'll pardon the pun; you'd rather be leading your own pack than joining another." That had something to do with it, but mostly it was farther from the truth.

"That's only part of it. You see, I learned two valuable lessons about working with a team. One, you need to have ABSOLUTE TRUST in them, the second..." One I had to learn the hard way, "... never let them out of your sight..."

"The paranoid are only fools till it pays off, eh?"

"Paranoia has nothing to do with it..." He looks at me with disbelief.

"Of course it does. Look at me. I would have never gotten this far if I hadn't planned for every single situation, and contingency plans as well. Soon as I let my guard down, soon as I stopped worrying? Trixie got shot in the chest. She could have DIED, and it would have been entirely my fault. That's the thing isn't it? In this profession, we CANNOT afford to make mistakes."

"You just don't get it do you," I started to raise my voice at him, "I paid the price for thinking that I had covered everything, every single loophole, thinking we could pull it off without a hitch... The cost was my entire team dead and me in a hospital for over a month..." I slouched, dropping back onto the banister again.

"That's where you're wrong Aoi." He sighed, "After all, we're human, like you said before. Sooner or later, we ALL make mistakes." He looked away, I knew he was holding back something, "And when we do, it hurts. So long as we know we did everything we can, that there's nothing more we could have done, and we did our best, does it really matter?"

The million dollar question, one I heard once before.

"I guess not..." I felt my built slowly fade a bit. "Only move on, knowing not to make the same mistake again..."

"Right-O, Aoi-O. But still, somethings just come suddenly. Take me for example, I was trying to find meaning in my life, so I decided to save that of another. It came back to bite me, and I always hated that fact but...... how was I to know? If I hadn't done what I did, would things have been any different? If so, how would they have changed? I'll never know, and it's pointless to think about it. Every decision we make all lead to where we are now, and thinking back, do you have any regrets?" I thought over his question carefully.

"Only one..." Only one thought came to my mind then.

"And that is?" he asks anxiously. I glance over at him

"... I say that I was helpless... I say that I could have done nothing...." I stand, slowly, unknowingly giving a wide grin. "But I could have tried... at least TRIED to take that bastards knife and drive it straight through his HEART!" I felt my vision go red, remembering the one chance I had that I wouldn't get for 20 years, and I let it slip through my fingers, all because I was afraid... "...But that wouldn't have helped.... It wouldn't have brought my parents back..." I rubbed the blood from my eyes, looking away, "Who knows... I probably wouldn't even be here..."

"Damn straight, and in all odds, you would have died right then and there. But, you had patience, and prepared yourself. Either way, you got your vengeance, this one only took a little longer." His words had a point, but I couldn't leave it at that.

I thought to myself why I didn't do it then, kill or die, at the very least, I wouldn't have had to live through a nightmare, going to sleep only to wake up and find it doesn't change, ever. Now I'm here, now I live. But why?

'Ikiru...' My heart nearly stopped when I heard my mother's voice... 'Ikiru... Aoi... (Live.... Aoi...)'

I felt my legs give out, I stumbled and clutched the banister. I lean over it, letting two small tears fall off the bow of the ship. I knew why I had to live then, why I had to hide, and why I took the path I chose. I wanted to grant her that one last dying request.

I regained my balance, pausing for a long while to regain my thoughts. I had finally had my only regret finally dispersed to the night winds. It felt as if a rope that held me down was cut loose, like I could take off into the air again. As the flood of memories washed over my, I picked out one that I wanted to bury like my regret. Maybe talking to the captain again would put this skeleton to rest.

"Griffin..." I had to ask the captain, right now, while I had the chance, "What do you plan to do about Ember?" I had to hear it from Griffin, while both were still alive.

"Dodge her as long as I can. I know that look in her eye, she's not about to give up just because I keep ahead of her. She'll chase me to the ends of the world and beyond. When she eventually does catch me, I just hope I'll be able to handle her by then. Certainly can't right now, she beat the stuffing out of Luna, and she's way beyond me."

"Dodging may help temporarily, but you have to know whether or not you are ready to face her. I have an idea of what she's going through, after all, I've been through it myself..."

"I have no idea what to say to that. To her, I'm a monster that killed her father. To us, her father was a monster that was trying to kill us. We see each other as evil, something that needs to die. But then, who's right?"

"Neither of you... If you two actually decide to fight, at least without listening to each other first..." I sigh. I let him speak his words, found him begging for mercy at my feet. But there was another... "Little known fact, I've been on both the giving, and receiving end of a vendetta..."

"I'd be willing to listen, but something tells me she won't be so talkative." He sighed, but then perked up as if he had an idea, "Unless..."

"Unless..."

"I find her first. I take the initiative. I track HER down. It should at least throw her off guard long enough for me to get a word in." He was giving me the answer I was looking for, but now he needed to make sure his answer was the right one.

"But what to say..... I don't think she would be in the mood for 20 questions Griffin..."

"I wouldn't need twenty, just one." I grinned as I heard the words I was looking for, "'Why do you want me dead?' I know the answer, but if I can make her explain it fully, I can find holes in her reasoning. There's still no guarantee, and I'll probably wind up dead, but then that would happen anyway, wouldn't it?"

"Well, that depends, do you want her dead? And be completely honest... it's important." His life was riding on it.

"Honestly? No. To me, she seems like a kid who's pissed off that her dad died. I mean, barring me, since I happen to hate mine, who wouldn't be? So of course she'll try to get revenge. I'm not upset with her at all about that. If she tries to kill me, yeah, I'll have to fight back and try to do the same, but I don't want her dead. She's just another person who the game of life said 'fuck you' to and gave a bad hand."

His answer made me feel at peace again. One more strand to cut loose.

"Now, you have nothing to fear." I clapped slowly, "Congradulations, we've just passed step one in dealing with the loose ends in our past." He rolled his eyes at me and continued to look out across the panorama.

"In all seriousness, the worst case scenario, I die, go to Tartarus, and have a few 'words' with the fates. Most of them being 'I can swing my sword-sword'." He swings around an imaginary blade for emphasis, "Best case scenario, I gain a valuable ally to my cause, but I can't hope for too much...."

"Wouldn't hurt to have a dragon onboard." I say with a shrug, my mood on a lighter note now.

"But of course!" He states in a faux French accent before continuing, "After all, they're just part of life as well. They do what they do because they don't want to starve. That's it isn't it? Everyone only looking out for themselves. The dragons don't want to starve, the diamond dogs don't want to starve or be eaten, and the griffins and ponies don't want to be enslaved or eaten. We're all just looking out for ourselves, and that's what let the rest of the world get into this situation. From what I can tell, even as an adolescent, she's far more powerful than most grown dragons. If I can get her, they could be made to listen to reason, and that makes this a whole new ball game. But that all hinges on her being willing to listen, because she DOES want me dead, and she may just see me talking as an attempt to snake out of it."

"Think of it this way, If she was willing to apologize, then something tells me she has a voice of reason."

"Well, she didn't seem too reasonable with Luna," he rebutted. He had a point, which brought to my mind what exactly was going on with her and Luna...

"Infernus." Griffin said as he pulled out a gem. Black flames burst from his hand for a few seconds before quickly dying out as he shouted, "Extinguo!" He looked at me with an out-of-breath expression. "The fires of Tartarus. They burn using magic itself as fuel. "

He put up the gem before continuing, "As a dragon, magic is her lifeblood. It's lethal for any with magic in their veins, so, basically, anyone in this world, but it'll be far more intense on dragons, unicorns, or alicorns due to their massive reserve. I'm restricting it's use to anything princess level or higher. I haven't tested it as a human yet, but I don't really want to. The problem is, it takes a SHITLOAD of magic to use, and maintain, and it spreads faster than wildfire, so it would most likely kill me while I'm at it. After that tiny flame, I'm wiped. And, I gotta actually hit something to pass it, and if I miss with it or run out of time....... well, game over."

"As long as you don't pay too heavy a price for power..." I glance at my paw, flexing it once before dropping it back onto the banister.

"Well, you might as well settle in. We're headed to Masonry, and it's not a long trip, but it would suck to spend it all out on the deck." He stretched and stood back up.

"I might have to... I just can't shake the feeling that something's... out there... that something's calling me..."

"And you expect for it to just float on deck if you wait for it..." He yawned then started to head down to the galley. "I'm gonna get some rest. I put off the interviews today so I could let them settle in and we could all sleep, since I'm still recovering from the gala debacle and they traveled a long way just to get on board. I don't think the shock of seeing us for what we really are has worn off yet either."

"Of course... by the way... Do you happen to have a pen and paper?" I asked the bed-longing captain.

"Not on me. You'll find a room down in the hold with your name on it, and a desk, fully stocked with crap like that."

"Thanks..." He left without another word. The deck soon cleared out of everyone except for me. I looked up towards the constalations.

"Find the Stars of Lupus... Hmm..." I turned and headed back to my quarters... I had a letter to write...