All was silent save for the splashing of water against the side of the lifeboat. The five ponies bobbed up and down in the sea, unmoving. Twilight was huddled up next to Flash, her head on his chest, which was slowly rising and falling with his breath. Pinkie and Fluttershy both sat at the stern, their heads on each others shoulders, resting quietly. Daring lay in a deep puddle of seawater in the middle of the boat. The storm had long ago passed: now the sun hung high in the sky, mercilessly beating down upon the wet, exhausted forms.

The sound of flapping wings snapped Daring from her stupor. She looked up to find that a seagull had intruded on their boat, and was now perched upon the bow. The plump bird cocked its head to the side, staring back at her before letting out a soft caw.

“Guys,” Daring groaned, raising herself up. “Guys, get up. We’re near land.”

“Huh?” Flash stirred.

“Look,” Daring pointed at the bird, which flapped back up into the air, frightened by the sudden noise and movement. “It’s a seagull. That means we’re near land. We have to get moving.”

Twilight grunted as she forced herself up. “She’s right. We’re never going to survive for long in open waters.”

“But...but what about the others?” Fluttershy asked softly, the tear tracks marked on her face evident even beneath the spray of the rain and sea.

“They’ll…” Twilight swallowed nervously. “They’ll be all right, Fluttershy, but we can’t worry about them right now.”

“But we should be looking for them!” Fluttershy protested, looking around. To her dismay, there was no sign of any boats on the horizon. “They’re out here, alone and lost and tired and hungry and maybe being attacked by sharks or a giant sea monster—!”

“And so are we!” Daring interrupted. “We’ve got enough on our plates right here and now, and we just can’t afford to worry about anypony else until we get to safety, all right?!”

Fluttershy stared at Daring, her eyes wide and her lower lip trembling. Daring grimaced a little, but did not say anything, instead pulling a compass out of her vest pocket and searching for their heading.

Pinkie thought for a moment, then opened up the storage cabinet in the stern of the boat and rummaged around. Extracting a fresh apple, she handed it to Fluttershy. “Hey, I know things look bad now,” she said, giving her friend a small squeeze. “But don’t you worry: Applejack and Rainbow Dash are with them, and Rarity and Starlight are both tougher than they look. They’ll be all right: let’s just try to help ourselves right now, okay?”

Fluttershy stared at her for a moment, then slowly nodded, taking the apple and munching on it.

“Southeast is this way,” Daring declared, pointing. “Come on, we’d best get moving.” Removing one of the oars from the side of the lifeboat, she started to determinedly paddle in the direction she’d indicated.

“Here,” Flash said, taking his place next to her. He took up the other oar and started rowing as well. With an exhausted sigh, Twilight summoned up a burst of magic and banished the seawater that had collected in the middle of the boat.

“Well, on the bright side,” Pinkie chirped. “At least it’s sunny.”

Pinkie was right: it was sunny. The relentless heat bore down upon them as they paddled eastwards, cooking them to the bone and sapping their energy. Their rationed supply of water only provided them barely enough sustenance to keep going: while two of them continued to row, straining against the heavy water, the other three lay in the lifeboat in order to conserve their energy.

The hours passed in silence, the need for survival muting all conversation. The waves lapped languidly at the sides of their boat, a warning that the sea could annihilate their pathetic little craft anytime it pleased.

As the sun began to reach its apex, Daring rotated off to allow Pinkie to take over for her. Collapsing in the bow of the boat, she reached into her shirt and pulled out the two books that she had managed to save from the sinking ship. Opening up the atlas, she studied the large map of Aushaylia. The island nation was relatively small, but still too large to cover in a single day: about thirty miles across its middle and twenty miles from its northernmost peak to its southern tip.

“I’ve been thinking,” Flash said, panting as he continued to row. “When we get to Aushaylia, how are we going to find Phil? We can’t just search the entire island for him.”

“He’s right, and I’ve been thinking about that,” Twilight agreed, raising her head slightly. She nodded to the atlas in Daring’s grasp. “There are a few mentions of landmarks related to Aushaylian legends in there.”

Daring flipped a few pages forward and began to study the chapter on the Outback, the arid region in the middle of the island where little grew, the weather was dry and unpredictable, and few survived. Her eyes swept over the paragraphs, absorbing the information contained within the printed type, until a pair of words caught her attention.

“Wandering Colt…” she muttered, laying her hoof on the two words.

“Who?” Twilight asked.

“Not who, what,” Daring answered. “The Wandering Colt is a set of stones in the Lover’s River, so named because they look like a young colt. According to legend, one of the creator beings, the giant Rainbow Serpent, sleeps in that river. One day, a group of Aborigineighs went camping near the cove and left a young colt in charge of their camp while they went out hunting. The colt got bored and wandered to the shore. The Rainbow Serpent saw him and, as punishment for not obeying his elders, turned him into stone.”

“Harsh,” Pinkie commented, wiping sweat from her brow.

“But I remember that,” Daring said. “It was in the songline…” She closed her eyes and dug into her memory, bringing the image of the transcription back to the front of her mind.

“I looked upon the Wandering Colt’s face,
“Where the Rainbow Serpent slept.
“The Seven Sisters sang to me,
“And called me to their rest.
“I followed their trail, I followed their song,
“Until I found the blood-stained rock,
“Beneath which the wandjina danced.
“There, I found my hidden treasure,
“And opened it with the key I held
“In my deepest sleep.

“That’s the songline from Bushwacker’s journal,” Daring reported. “It mentions the Wandering Colt as a landmark.”

“If the pirates are searching for the treasure, they’d probably be having Phillip guiding them,” Flash concluded. “So if we follow the songline, we’ll probably be able to pick up the trail before long.”

“Good idea,” Twilight nodded. “Then once we find them, we can figure out how to save him.”

At that moment, Fluttershy suddenly sat up straight and pointed to the horizon. “Look!” she shouted joyfully.

Everypony turned and, to their immense relief, saw a strip of solid land approaching them. Encouraged by the sight, Flash and Pinkie redoubled their efforts at the oars, pulling them forward through the water.

Still, despite their best efforts, the sun was already dipping towards the western horizon by the time they finally reached the shallow waters. Leaping out of the boat into the cool waters, the five friends dragged their lifeboat onto the shore, panting from dehydration and exhaustion.

Pinkie flopped down onto the hot sands and began kissing the ground out of relief. Almost immediately, she leapt back up, spitting. “Yuck!” she grimaced, wiping sand off her tongue. The others chuckled quietly at the sight.

Daring unfolded the atlas and laid it down upon the beach, placing her compass next to it. She traced her hoof along the border of the island, attempting to discern their position. “Let’s see...there’s a little cove there, and I see a limestone formation over there…aha!” she declared, stabbing her hoof down on a northwestern corner of the island. “Here we are, and the Wandering Colt is...this way,” she added, marking out a path to the east to a small river that partially bisected Aushaylia. “We’d best get moving.”

Twilight gathered up their stores of food, water and other necessities from the lifeboat and distributed them amongst the group, and they set forth, crossing into the bush.

The land that was known as the Outback was a land of dry, red sands, sparse vegetation of bushes and low trees, and grand stone formations. The five crossed wide plains of brush that were silent save for the low wind through the frail branches, and passed through wide canyons with artistic layers of rusty red, dusty brown, and grayish whites. The sun continued to beat down upon them, and the taste of the dry, dusty air passed over their tongues whenever one of them opened their mouth to speak, which was not often.

After about an hour of walking, Twilight called for a rest. They settled down in a grove of tall, wide trees with gray bark and pale green, sickle-shaped leaves.

“What kind of trees are these?” Flash wondered after a few minutes of silent respite, staring up the great height of the tree that he sat beneath.

“Eucalyptus Coolabah,” Twilight recited. “They’re a very common tree on the island.” She carefully pulled down one of the branches to study the leaves more closely, jotting down notes in a notepad that she had been carrying in her saddlebag.

“Hey, look. There’s some carvings on this one,” Flash said, tracing his hoof along the rough shapes of an x, a circular coil, and a diamond marred into the trunk of the tree he was sitting beneath. “Wonder what they mean.”

“They could be some kind of landmark left behind by an explorer,” Daring suggested.

“They’re tree-mendous!” Pinkie grinned, tilting her head back to stare up at the top of the trees.

Before anypony could react to her terrible pun, there came a loud, chittering laugh from the leaves of the tree above. Everypony looked up to see a cream-colored bird with brown streaks across their head, a large bill, and blue tipped wings sitting on a branch on a tree, letting out a long, echoing cry that sounded like laughter.

“A blue-winged kookaburra!” Fluttershy cried in delight, observing the laughing bird. “I read about them in the book!”

“He’s got a great sense of humor!” Pinkie chirped.

“What’re those?” Flash asked, pointing. A half dozen strange creatures were wandering across the sand nearby: they looked like large mice with sandy brown fur, large hind legs, very long, strong-looking tails that dragged across the ground, and short front legs with which they pawed the ground, apparently looking for morsels to eat. One of the closer creatures rose up on its hind legs and gazed at the strangers with its great brown eyes, its nose and large round ears twitching.

“Kangaroos!” Fluttershy squealed in delight. “They are real!”

Something wriggled on the kangaroo’s belly, and a second, smaller head popped out of a small pouch, blinking and yawning.

“And it’s got a little joey!” Fluttershy cried. “Oh, isn’t it cute!”

Some of the kangaroos raised up onto their hind legs and began to bound across the landscape, propelling themselves with their legs and their tails. Pinkie giggled at the sight of their bizarre method of transportation, then began to bounce around in an imitation of them. “Boing! Boing! Boing!” she sang.

Twilight chuckled softly. “At least a couple of us are enjoying themselves,” she said softly.

Flash managed a very weak smile, then looked down at his hooves. He pawed softly at the ground, marking out a line in the sand.

“Hey,” Daring called out to him. “We’re going to find him and bring him home.”

“I want to believe that,” Flash replied, not looking up. “But…” He blinked and swallowed. “I just got a father. I don’t want to lose him so soon.”

“You’re not going to,” Daring reassured him. “Because I’m not letting my partner die either.” She guzzled down a drink of water and rose to her hooves. “But we’re not going to find them just sitting around here. Come on, guys, we’d best get moving. It’s going to start getting dark soon.”

“Aww,” Fluttershy grumbled in disappointment, waving goodbye to the kangaroos as she followed the others. Pinkie happily bounced after them, using her tail as a spring.

But as they departed, there came from the distance a long, wailing howl. “What’s that?” Fluttershy cried, cowering from the sound.

“Just some dingoes, probably,” Daring answered. “Wild dogs,” she added by way of explanation. “Don’t worry; if we stick together, we should be fine.”

The howling continued, a single voice joined by several others that echoed across the brush. Fluttershy swallowed and scurried after her friends. Flash raised a hoof to the scabbard at his side, his head panning from side to side. The sun dipped lower to the western horizon, allowing the darkness to creep steadily onwards.

“I think you all owe me a new ship,” Trim Mainsail grunted as he strained at one of the oars of their lifeboat, carrying the ragtag band of survivors across the Celestial Sea. The setting sun cast vibrant hues of gold and orange over the waters.

“We’re really sorry, Captain,” Starlight apologized, her head hanging. “We should’ve told you about the pirates, I admit it. We just…” She sighed and shook her head slowly, biting down on her lip in regret. “It was my decision to lie. We were desperate to help our friend, and we were afraid that you wouldn’t help us if we told you the whole truth.”

Applejack, who was pulling at the other oar, gave Starlight a harsh glare. Starlight lowered her gaze.

Mainsail sighed, continuing to haul them across the sea. “Well, I did suspect that you were up to something,” he admitted, raising an eyebrow at Starlight. “Calling a huddle right in front of me was a bit of a giveaway. But, part of this is my fault, I suppose: I may not have known exactly what you were up to, but I wanted a taste of adventure again. Not much for an old sea dog like me on land, so…” He shrugged. “You’re right, though: I probably wouldn’t have helped you if you’d told me about the pirates.”

“Well, it does not do to dwell on the past, dears,” Rarity declared. “Right now, we are all in the same boat...both figuratively and literally. We need to concentrate our efforts on getting ourselves out of this mess.”

“Right,” Rainbow Dash agreed, studying the compass around her neck. “We need to keep heading southeast. We were close to Aushaylia, we’ll be bound to find it soon.”

With a glimmer of magic, Starlight conjured up a large glass pitcher and dipped it into the ocean, filling it up with water. “Well, at least we won’t die of dehydration,” she commented.

“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you, lass,” Mainsail smirked. “First of all, that’s saltwater. Drinking that will just dehydrate you. Secondly, keep in mind that fish use the sea as a bathroom, and that ponies have been using it as the world’s largest garbage dump since sailing was invented.”

Starlight stared at the pitcher of water, a faint green tinge coloring her cheeks, then slowly dumped the contents back into the sea. “I’m not thirsty anymore,” she mumbled. The others snickered quietly.

Rainbow Dash looked up and squinted forward, studying the strange shape rising up from the horizon. “Is that a ship?” she asked, pointing at the three peaks in the distance.

Everypony studied the strange shape. Mainsail pulled a set of field binoculars out of his pocket and handed them Rainbow Dash, who peered through them.

“Wait, it’s not a ship,” she reported. “It’s a building...shaped like a ship.”

“Building means land,” Mainsail said, pulling harder at the oar. “Which means that’s where we’re headed.”

Invigorated by the promise of safety, the crew rowed even harder, pulling themselves across the water as the darkness continued to invade the sky, chasing the retreating sun. By the time the sun was halfway below the horizon line, they were within sight of the Sydneigh Opera House.

“Oh, my,” Rarity gasped, staring up in awe at the grand building. “Even in its current condition, I can tell that this was once a beautiful piece of architecture! You can—”

“Look out!” Starlight hissed, pointing and ducking down beneath the sides of the lifeboat.

Anchored next to the the building, bobbing up and down in the low waters, was the Silver Talon, instantly recognizable for its silvery sheen. Carefully, the group rowed their lifeboat around the concrete island, placing the Opera House between them and the pirate ship. Mainsail tied the lifeboat off on a cleat anchored to the concrete walkway and they climbed onto the walkway. Finding a nearby door that was fortunately unlocked, they entered the crumbling Opera House.

The interior of the old theater was dark, the crumbling walls covered in faded paint, dusty photographs and moss. Guided by the light from the unicorns’ horns and the lantern that had been packed in the lifeboat’s storage, the group walked down a long hallway, passing by several small offices and rehearsal rooms. Old papers and other junk lay scattered across the floor. With a startled squeaking, a rat ran across the hallway in front of them. Rarity made a terrified sound somewhere between a squeak and a gasp at the sight of the creature and clung to Applejack.

“For Pete’s sake, it’s just a rat,” Applejack said, rolling her eyes.

“That’s the problem! It is a rat!” Rarity squealed in fright, climbing up onto Applejack’s back in an attempt to get off the floor.

“Hey, wonder what’s behind here,” Rainbow muttered, pausing at a door at the end of the hallway. She opened it up and led the others through.

They found themselves standing on a grand stage, the floorboards creaking beneath their hooves as they strode out onto the center. Amongst the clutter on the stage, an old piano and a dust-covered drumset sat in one corner, long ago abandoned. The once-crimson curtains, ravaged by time and rats, were pulled back to reveal rows and rows of seats placed before the stage, more than a thousand in all. Though the colors had long ago faded, the seats were painted to look like a rainbow from onstage. A large hole in the roof allowed the light of the setting sun to filter down onto the stage, bathing the ponies in a dim glow as though they were lit by a spotlight, preparing for a show.

“Wow,” Starlight breathed, slowly scanning her head across the auditorium. The orange light from above made the crystal star around her neck shimmer slightly.

As she stepped forward, her hoof trod on one of a collection of sheet music that was scattered about the stage. Out of curiosity, she picked up the sheet and began to read the lyrics upon it:

A strapping old stockpony lay dying
His saddle supporting his head
His two mates around him were crying
As he rose on his pillow and said:

(Chorus)
Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket
And bury me deep down below
Where the dingoes and crows will not find me
In the shade where the coolibah grows

Oh, had I the flight of the bronzewing
Far over the plains I would fly
Straight to the land of my foalhood
And there I would lay down and die

(Chorus)

Then cut down a couple of saplings
Place one at my head and my tail
Carve on them cross, stockwhip and blanket
To tell of the stockpony’s tale

(Chorus)

Hark, there’s the the wail of a dingo
Watchful and weird—I must go
For it tolls the death-knell of the stockpony
From the gloom of the scrub down below

(Chorus)

"Hmm," Starlight muttered, pocketing the sheet music.

Rarity spotted a black binder sitting by itself off in one of the wings. Intrigued, she lifted up the book and flipped it open. Inside were collections of old photographs, most of them black and white, placed in plastic sleeves. The very first yellowed image was what looked like the skeleton of the Opera House, wooden frames upon fresh concrete, with a large group of ponies holding tools standing in front of the construction. She turned the page to find that there were many other photographs that followed, depicting concerts, plays and other events in full swing, crowds of cheering ponies, performers relaxing backstage or spending nights out on the town.

“What’s that you got there?” Applejack called to Rarity, walking over to her.

“A visual history, I believe,” Rarity stated, turning the page. “I’m certain Twilight would be interested in—” She paused, letting out a small gasp as she stared at the image she had just uncovered. It was one of the first color photographs in the album. The image depicted a group of ponies standing on the stage, all of them grinning at the camera. On the left was a pair of young earth pony mares. Both of them had auburn coats, blue eyes, and a coal black mane with a dyed red stripe. Aside from their differing cutie marks—one had a guitar and a treble clef, the other a guitar and a bass clef—the two mares were mirror reflections of one another.

Next to them was a broad-shouldered black pegasus with ivory white hair and the cutie mark of a musical quarter note with wings. He was grinning from ear to ear at the camera, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. He had his foreleg around a small chocolate brown unicorn mare with frizzy yellow and red hair, emerald green eyes that graced a freckled face, and the cutie mark of a pair of crossed drumsticks. On the mare’s other side was a dark green pegasus with a slicked-back brown mane and the cutie mark of a trombone. His smile and posture were easygoing and casual, his gray eyes seeming to twinkle behind his spectacles.

At the far right of the photograph was a tall light brown earth pony with a long red tail, a mane drawn back in a long ponytail, and a bushy beard. He was wearing a black bowtie around his neck and a gray trilby atop his head, and his cutie mark was a trumpet with a treble and bass clef. His focus was not on the camera, but on the foal that he was carrying around his shoulders. The skinny little chocolate brown foal appeared to be around eight years old, but his flanks were bare. His long black mane was drawn back in a ponytail and his gray eyes were radiant with joy. Both the foal and the hat-wearing stallion had eyes only for each other, smiles spread across their faces.

“That looks like…” Rarity started to say. Carefully, with a quiet reverence, she extracted the photograph from its sleeve and turned it over. The back of the photograph carried several signatures, the ink faded but still legible.

Rock String and Roll String, their signatures looping with one another.

Charlie Ivory, written in meticulous, careful lines.

Ella “Beats” Hoovesgerald, a vivid, energetic signature declared.

Timmy Slide, written in a smooth, flowing script.

Bobby “Dizzy” Baseline, read the simple font beneath.

And right below, in quick scribble of a youngling: Phillip Finder.

A quiet but heavy breath escaped Applejack’s lips as they both stared at the signature. Rarity slowly turned the photograph back around, her eyes faintly watering as she stared at the young, happy colt aside the stallion’s shoulders. “That must…”

“That’s his father,” Applejack concluded quietly, studying the other faces. “And the others…” She swallowed, reflecting that those happy faces, frozen in time, had no idea of the fate in store for them.

“Hey, guys!” Rainbow suddenly called. Looking up, Applejack and Rarity found that she and Mainsail were now standing at one of the doors that lead into the entrance of the auditorium. “You need to see this!” Rainbow called, gesturing for everypony to join her. Starlight, Rarity and Applejack rushed over, and Rainbow guided them down an entrance hallway to an open window. They peered through, their faces stung by the cold salt air of the night.

The Silver Talon sat in the water of the bay, bobbing up and down in the water, lights dancing about its deck and in its windows. Behind it, the ruins of Sydneigh were illuminated by the light of several torches, the dozens of flames flickering as if trying to divert attention away from the stars above. Silhouettes of pirates walked across the bush, many of them bending over the ground. Clouds of dirt flew up into the air, and the faint sounds of commands could be heard from across the water.

“What’re they doing?” Starlight whispered.

“Looks like they’re digging for something,” Applejack commented.

“For what?” Starlight asked.

“Does it matter?” Mainsail growled, his eyes on the Silver Talon. “Right now, that ship is our only way home, and it’s five of us against all of them.” He looked at the mares. “So what the hell do we do now?”

Night had already fallen by the time Daring and the others reached the Lover’s River, which curved across the red sands, bubbling and murmuring to form a soothing chorus. The shivering waters reflected the stars above.

“There’s the Wandering Colt,” Twilight said, pointing to a rock formation on the bank. The gray stones did indeed look vaguely like a young colt, crouching down as though in fear with its featureless, roughly formed head turned away from the river.

“But no Phillip,” Pinkie commented, looking about. The flat starlit bush stretched out before them in all directions, but there was no sign of any other ponies.

“You think maybe we’re early?” Flash theorized.

“Or maybe we’re late…” Twilight mused. “Hold on, I have an idea.” Closing her eyes, she channeled magic to her horn, sending out pulses of magenta energy through the air. Almost instantly, the faint image of several sets of prints appeared upon the sands, leading up to the bank, pausing, then turning and walking towards the northeast.

“Five sets of prints,” Flash reported, bending over the trail. “Four ponies, one griffon.”

“It has to be the pirates,” Daring growled. “Come on!” She took flight, pursuing the trail. The others chased after her, racing across the bush.

Before long, the silhouettes of five figures appeared ahead. Slowing to a halt and taking cover behind a low boulder, the friends examined their quarry. Three ponies, all of them with a pistol and a sword at their hip and one of them carrying a carbine over his shoulder, surrounded a lone prisoner, each of them holding tight to a lasso that was fastened around the pony’s neck and forelegs. A reddish-brown griffon wearing a dark green headband stood next to the prisoner, glaring at him as he held one claw over the three cutlasses at his hip. The prisoner walked forward slowly, his posture slumped and defeated: occasionally, he would look up at the starry sky. The dim starlight made the masses of scar tissue on his bare torso seem to glow faintly, particularly the large patch of burn scarring on his left shoulder.

“Phillip,” Twilight whispered, her eyes on the prisoner.

“How are we going to handle this?” Flash asked.

“There’s five of us and four of them,” Daring growled. “Come on!” With that, she leapt out from behind the boulder and started flying towards the pirates in a gray blur.

“Wait!” Flash shouted after her, but it was too late. With a frustrated growl, he chased after her, closely followed by Twilight. Pinkie bounced after them, with a horrified Fluttershy behind.

Hearing the screaming wind of Daring’s approach, the pirates all whirled around, their eyes widening as they saw the grey whirlwind approaching like the descending wrath of God. Reacting immediately, one of the pirates swung the carbine off his back and pressed it into his shoulder, taking aim. Daring snapped out her bullwhip, wrapping the rope around the barrel of the weapon and tugging it out of her opponent’s grip. The gun went off, sending the bullet wide. A moment later, Daring barreled into the griffon at full speed, sending them both skidding backwards across the sand.

Taking advantage of this turn of events, Phillip bucked backwards, striking the disarmed pirate in the head and knocking him down. Twilight followed up with a stunning spell that finished him off before turning to the sole unicorn pirate. The bearded dark orange unicorn immediately fired a jet of flaming magic at Twilight, who calmly blocked the attack with a conjured shield that reflected the spell back at the unicorn. He grunted in pain and staggered as his own magic was forced back into his horn. Without pause, Twilight flew up and finished him with a flying double buck to the jaw.

The other pirate, a charcoal gray earth pony, knocked Phillip to the ground with a punch to the jaw as he withdrew his cutlass from his sheath, swinging the deadly blade at Flash’s neck. Without slowing for a moment, Flash ducked, then headbutted the earth pony in the jaw with the crest of his helmet. He followed up by seizing his opponent around the neck with both hooves and driving his knee into his gut before twisting around his torso and flinging him to the ground. The buccaneer rolled when he hit the ground and rose back to his hooves, snarling and huffing as he faced Flash.

“Kangaroo kick!” screeched a voice behind him. The pirate turned just in time to see Pinkie, determination in her eyes, bouncing towards him on her tail. With a great shout, Pinkie raised herself up with her tail and kicked out with both her hind legs, pummeling her opponent in the face for the knockout.

With a sudden roar, the griffon that Daring was fighting flung her off him, sending her tumbling across the sand, her pith helmet falling off her head. With a flap of his great wings, he rose back to all fours, snarling at his attackers. With a flourish, he drew one of his cutlasses, tossing it up into the air. He drew both of his other swords, clutching one in each claw, then snatched the one he had thrown in his tail.

Unsheathing his own sword, Flash nodded sharply, causing the visor on his helmet to snap down over his eyes. Daring coiled up her bullwhip and Twilight charged up her horn.

“Come and get it!” Roaring snarled at his opponents.

Author's Notes:

At last. Sorry this chapter took so long, things got really hectic around this time of year for both myself and my proofreaders. But we finally managed to finish this!

We've finally reached the island of Aushaylia, and we've found Phillip. We also may have found trouble.

If you're an American reader, I hope you're having a happy Thanksgiving, and I hope that all of you enjoy the new chapter!