“...Of all the terrible ideas I’ve been a part of... this one has got to be the worst.”

The immense cavern spread out around her on all sides, the darkness of its hidden cracks and crevasses glittering here and there with small crystals. Aside from the rough path ahead, slowly winding around the mighty stalagmite, there was little to see. Little to hear, as well, aside from her own motions. The harsh clip-clop of her hooves on stone and the beating of her own heart in her ears. Her smoke-stained metal barding rasped softly as the plates scraped up against each other with every movement. The creak of leather as her sword swung gently in the scabbard across her shoulders.

Behind her came the line of Cinderwings, the diamond dogs padding warily up the path. The little zebra, Zanza, rode atop the shoulders of the younger male, Rin-Tin-Tin, anxiously looking about. Behind them came Old Yeller, moving about in biped fashion as he held his bandaged shoulder in paw, his gnarled spear thunking the ground from where it was held in the crook of an arm. Vixen stalked near the edge of the path, occasionally glancing of the side to see how high they had come. Lassie came next, her long coat matted and dirty but her eyes bright and searching, her longbow slung over her shoulders. Bringing up the rear came Entropy, the alicorn hobbling gamely on despite the punishment he had endured. Each of them carried their own sounds with them, baggage of personality and circumstance.

Ginger found it odd how stillness could seem so loud. She irritatedly blew a strand of fiery mane away from where it had fallen over her face.

“Hey, come on, lighten up! This is totally gonna work,” came Daring Do’s muffled voice from her side.

Ginger glanced behind her, fixing the solitary saddlebag strapped to her left flank with a look. “Yeah,” she said tensely. “I’m sure.”

The saddlebag shifted about. “You need to stop worrying, Ginger.”

“Oh! I need to stop worrying?” Ginger huffed. “We’re half a mile underground, in a cave rigged to explode over our heads, tired, hungry, and injured, and the only thing standing between us and getting the buck out of here is a stupid promise and a fully grown dragon.”

“Well, that about sums it up.”

“And I shouldn’t be worried!?”

“Heh-heh. Nah, we got this.”

Ginger kicked aside an abandoned spear in the path, a weapon probably cast aside by the dragon’s fleeing slaves, who were no doubt regrouping at the top of the path. It was nothing more than a sharpened stick, cracked and useless. “How are you so sure?”

“I just got a feeling, is all. Explorer’s instinct. I’ve learned to go with my gut, ya know?”

“Not really,” grunted Ginger.

“Look.” Daring’s muffled rasp carried a little bit of amused exasperation. “We know exactly what we’re doing, so we aren’t going about this blindly. We’ve got a plan, and the means to do it. The alternatives aren't exactly promising.”

“Sudden death by a fire-breathing monster?”

Chuckling. “Please... I deal with that risk every day.”

Ginger gave the saddlebag a rough shake, provoking a sharp yelp of surprise.

“Ow! Hey, come on, I was joking!”

“Shut up,” said Ginger, fighting back a small grin.

There came a grumble. “Alright, alright. But seriously, we can do this. We can. We just gotta stick to the plan. We’ve got brains and surprise on our side. If we can get ahold of the hoard’s Keystone, we can get out of this clean!”

“Remind me where you found this little loophole that we’re basing our lives on?”

“Read it in a book, hon. We do kind of have a library back on the wagon. Echo thought it’d be a good idea to brush up on dragons... and well, he was right. Speaking of the big fella, you mind not swaying your hips so much? It’s hard enough not getting seasick in here, Celestia only knows how bad it is in his ride.”

Ginger’s hoof suddenly caught an edge, and she stumbled. A hot line of red crossed her cheeks. “I am not swaying my hips!”

“I’ve seen the way you move, girl. You strut.”

Ginger tried to ignore the small fuzzy bubble that had blown up inside her chest. Daring had been watching her hips, apparently. That stupid strand of mane fell in front of her face again. She blew it aside with a snort and slammed her goggles down over her head. “Whatever.”

Ginger had more pressing matters to think about than Daring Do looking at her flanks. Stupid Daring. Stupid pegasi. Stupid mane. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It wasn’t the time or the place for such distractions.

A droplet of water smacked her in the nose, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up to see more of them dangling far, far away, where the cavern’s mighty ceiling finally reached a zenith. The water drop sizzled on her nose before she shuddered, throwing it off with a toss of her head.

Ginger shuddered, valiantly trying — and failing — to not think about those jagged points falling from above.

Don’t worry, huh? Yeah... right.

Not for the first time, she was reminded how much she hated caves.

She concentrated on the path ahead. It had become progressively steeper and more narrow as they wound their way up the stalagmite, the stone smoothed with grooves from running water and the steps of living things. Where before four of the Cinderwings could walk it abreast with some room to spare, now they progressed single file. Ginger let herself be absorbed monotonous view of rock passing beneath her hooves. It was better than staring out into the impressive abyss of the cavern, where other natural features hung from the ceiling, pointing down like ragged blades, poised to peirce and rip and tear and crush.

All too soon, the summit was reached.

The great pillar they stood upon had been sundered long ago my some terrible event. Once stretching to the ceiling itself, the top half had snapped away cleanly, leaving a flat top nearly the size of a football field.

Ginger and her pack emerged onto this, and as one, had their breath taken away.

Mountains of treasure were heaped all around, more riches than they had seen in their entire lives. Priceless gems studded the beds of gold and silver coins, piles of jewelry and ornamentations for every species imaginable. Ceremonial weapons were thrust haphazardly into the fields of wealth. Ginger spied a solid gold crown nearly as large as she was, cast aside onto stacks of metal ingots.

“Celestia pinch me I’m dreaming...” she murmured. No wonder it had been such a trial to reach this point. The loot of a thousand years resided within the dragon’s halls. And yet... Ginger had not seen a single scale of the beast. Only the marks it left in the ground, fearsome as they were, and the cruel treatment of it’s property.

The dragon’s thralls were there, too. Gaunt and hollowed, they slumped dejectedly against the piles, staring at the new arrivals. Many were bleeding openly from wounds sustained from the rout, and hadn’t even bothered to clean them. Crimson lifeblood flowed openly onto the assembled hoard, staining gold coins red. Ginger passed by one, an ancient minotaur cow that merely blinked at her in silence.

“Where is your master, old one?” she asked the old one. “I want to see her.”

The minotaur’s voice was wet and ragged.

“Here... the Mistress is here...”

Ginger looked around again, only seeing the piles of treasure. “Right. Guess I’m going to have to hit the hornet’s nest to draw the queen out.” Her horn sputtered to life, a weak emerald glow cast upon the mounds of wealth. “Just gotta find something to hit it with...”

Behind her, the assembled diamond dogs tired to contain their drooling. Rin-Tin-Tin gazed all around in wonder. “Great Lupus in the sky...” he bent down, paw outstretched to pick up a piece. A gray hoof shot out of nowhere and stopped him.

“I really, really, really wouldn’t do that,” said Disarray. “As much as the thought of taking a money bath appeals to you furry chaps, there’s only one item in here that you’ll get to swipe and live to tell the tale.

Lassie came up beside them, nervously twang-ing the string of her bow. “Look for hoard-stone, Rin,” she reminded him. “We beat dragon if we get that, but we get it first.”

Rin-Tin-Tin noticed a sapphire-studded war-axe lying not feet away. He looked down at his paws, where a simple weapon of stone and wood lay nestled. He whimpered. “But... is so shiny...” He suddenly noticed a sudden lack of weight across his back. “Huh, where littlestripe go?”

Vixen, passing by, heard him. She paused and glared at him, growling. “You lost her?”

Rin-Tin-Tin craned his neck and scabbled at his back, looking for something. Eventually he gave up. “Think so,” he confirmed.

Vixen’s head fell into her paw, while Lassie did a better job of maintaining her composure. “Then we gotta look for the little one,” she decided. “This not good place to misplace a pup. We’ll use our noses, track her down.” The three diamond dogs split up, vanishing into the maze of treasure.

Meanwhile, Ginger Snap was losing the will to stay calm.

“Hey, you know where your master is at?” she asked a frail, emaciated stallion clad in rags, simply lying across one of the small paths that cut through the hoard. “Y’ellooo?” he didn’t acknowledge her, simply gazing off into space as several small wounds bled openly across his frame. She poked him with a hoof, and he simply rolled over. “Alright, this is starting to get annoying.”

The pony was abruptly wrenched off the ground, dangling two feet in the air by a solid band of shimmering light held tight around his throat. He whimpered piteously, the first reaction she’d been able to get out of him so far.

But Ginger was out of patience, not to mention mercy. “I’m going to ask one more time,” she spoke slowly and clearly so there would be no mistaking her words. “Where’s. The. Dragon. ” Only a pained gurgling was her response. “Answer me!” A small tail of fire actually erupted from between her teeth as her magic intensified.

“Ginger, stop that! Look in his mouth! He couldn’t answer you even if he wanted to!” said her saddlebag.

“Wha — why?” she forced open the unfortunate stallion’s maw. There, amidst the soiled dentistry of a life of servitude and brutality, lay a distinct lack of tongue. “Oh, you’ve got to be...!” Ginger’s grasp on him evaporated, and he crashed heavily back to the stone, before curling into a quivering ball.

The unicorn looked away in disgust. “I hate this place.”

Daring’s voice was like water for a burn. “I know, hon. But that’s no reason to take it out on them. They’re bound to service by deeper magic than either of us know. Dragon spells are... scary, to put it bluntly.”

Ginger grunted, moving away down a path carved between a pile of rotting money chests and a precariously stacked tower of candelabras.

“Some of these guys have probably never even seen the light of day. Others might have been here for generations. To be taken as a thrall by a dragon is one thing... but being born into slavery is another thing entirely. Those unfortunates are bound to obey — any command, any desire — no matter the cost. The dragon owns them utterly; mind, body, and soul. With every descendant born into service... the possession only grows, until they have ceased to be an independent entity. They become the hoard.”

The hoard will defend itself.

Something like vomit welled up in the orange mare’s throat. She choked it back down.

“This is just... it’s... this is not right!” Ginger finally gasped.

“That’s why we’re here,” said Daring. “We can break the chains.”

Ginger fell into silence and trudged onwards, weaving her way through the gilded landscape. She had no particular path to follow, letting her hooves guide themselves. Coins clinked and rasped as the few pieces that had spilled onto stone were savagely kicked away. the more she saw, the more she threatened to boil over. A single bloodspattered coin levitated up in her grasp.

She held it up in the air, pretending for an instant that it had become the sun, and she had set it into the sky. A pale orange hoof reached up and blotted it out.

Gold, gold, everywhere.

And not an ounce without a splash of red.

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

“I mean... just. Wow.”

“Uh-huh. Pretty awesome, yeah?”

“I’ll say. How did you even find this place?”

“Wings, hon. And a knack for finding your sweet spots.”

“That’s... that... bwuh!”

“Ha-haa! Trotted right into that one! Oh, wow, look at you blush.”

“Clooouuuuud~!”

To describe it as a beautiful day would be vast understatement. It was the kind of hot, hazy summer rarity that only comes around a couple times a year. In the golden afternoon, hanging laundry fluttered weakly in the muggy breeze. Insects droned, albeit muffled by the sheer serenity of the day. Even the rainforest wildlife weren’t as loud as usual, stifled by fat bellies and sunny spots to sleep.

It was the kind of day where, if you had an ounce of common sense, you packed your saddlebags full of food, a picnic blanket, and a good book, before setting out to claim a choice slice of shade to laze about in.

It was the kind of day where the dogs were tripping over their own tongues. Where if you stood long enough near the gleaming scrap pile behind the screechy clangs of the Snap’s forge — Ginger’s mother had been wailing away all morning on a particularly resistant hunk of steel — you’d burn a bald patch into your coat from the scattered sunbeams slinging off the discarded metals.

It was the kind of day where everypony trotted the dirt paths, because the cobblestones were hot enough to cook on. And because some enterprising few had even decided to do just that, so it was bad manners to step in their food.

Behind the South end of Wethoof lay a ridge, unknown to most, a slab of ancient bedrock thrust up through the forest floor at a steep angle eons ago. It was made of the bones of the earth itself, and it always felt cool to the touch on a roasting summer day. It bent towards the town, like a bow, and at the zenith of that arc, a great hunk of the mossy rock thrusted higher and farther than the rest, cutting into the treetops like the bow of a mighty stone ship. Only a pegasus or an enterprising tree-climber could reach its prow. The land dipped down and away on the far side of the ridge, so if you decided to climb it, you’d be treated with an astounding view of the forest beyond the small village.

This was where two figures lay, side by side on the moss, looking down into the valley beyond their home.

One of them slugged the other in the shoulder.

“Ow! Hey, come on, that was funny.”

“...Okay, yeah, maybe it was. A little.”

The larger of the two — though not by much — a pale pink pegasus sporting a short-cut blood red mane, snuggled up against her counterpart, drawing close with a wing. The other pony, a pretty pale orange unicorn mare with mane of messy, fiery locks, sighed contentedly and buried her face into the pink wing.

The coin landed with a noise that seemed unseemly loud for its size.

Ginger watched it roll aways, before it settled at the base of another pile, this one the largest of all, consisting of a sheer mountain of jewels; every kind and size was represented, glinting diamonds rubbing against fiery opals, sharp sapphires. Every color of the rainbow was represented in that one place, she suspected.

Wait... since when were black and white part of the rainbow?

They weren’t.

There, at the summit, a moving shape, small from distance.

Zanza?

Something poked her on the shoulder. She glanced around to find Old Yeller standing in front of the rest of her pack, awkwardly twiddling his paws. The others seemed just as uncomfortable, despite the fact they were literally covered in various trinkets and jewelery. Rin-Tin-Tin, in particular, was doing a very poor job of concealing a monstrous gilded axe in his vest. Beside them sat Entropy, smiling lamely through golden teeth.

Ginger’s hoof took the express route to her face.

The diamond dog opened his mouth to speak, but Ginger cut him off with a look that could melt rock.

“You guys totally got distracted, didn’t you.”

Lassie bashfully shuffled in place, several small bags of gems dangling from her harness. Vixen looked away, trying not to fiddle with a veritable arsenal of knives thrust through her belt, a multitude of arm bands and rings sparkling. Rin-Tin-Tin tried not to drool on his new toy. Entropy gnawed on his hoof with solid gold mouthwear, before flashing her a grin. His braces spelled out ‘PHRESH’ in big, diamond-studded letters.

“...Uh-huh,” said Old Yeller, eyes darting to a single silver earring in his ear.

Ginger glared back towards the pile of gems, squinting. The peak itself was capped by a pristine sapphire, almost the size of the diminutive equine scrabbling towards it.

“And the reason we’re here in the first place managed to slip away.”

“...Uh-huh.”

“And is now climbing right towards... what looks to be the exact heart of the hoard. Is that... it has to be, look at the size of it.” She rubbed her temples. At the least the little zebra had initiative. No doubt she’d seen the gem and come to the same conclusion.

“...Uh-huh.”

“Which will immediately awaken the dragon and send it into a blind, frothing rage, no doubt bringing this entire mountain down over our heads.”

Old Yeller swallowed a lump in his throat. “...Uh-huh.”

Ginger looked at him, then back to the pile.

She groaned to herself.

“...Alright let’s do this.” Ginger’s aura spread to her single saddlebag, lifting it off her back. She hefted it, testing the weight.

“Daring?” she asked.

The clasp unlocked, and a certain pegasus’ face popped out of the pouch.

“Showtime?” said Daring Do.

“Showtime,” affirmed Ginger. Daring’s face disappeared into the depths of the saddlebag once more. “Find something to hold onto!” She turned to the diamond dogs. “Yeller? Get ready for a fight.”

With that, Ginger Snap took a deep breath...

...spun in place...

...And ground herself to a halt, opening saddlebag as hard and fast as she could as it pointed straight towards the peak. A dark-gold rocket exploded outwards, trailing a monochrome grayscale behind it.

“YA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” screamed Daring Do, a saddlebag of her own strapped to one flank, zipping along at speeds she’d never before achieved.

Ginger watched her go, heart thudding loudly in her ears. The pegasus sliced the tip right off the pile of treasure, scooping up the sapphire and the little zebra in one fell swoop, before looping around into an easy glide. Ginger could tell the load was heavy by the wobble of her flight.

For a moment, it seemed things would turn out just fine. Daring had the prizes in hoof, the dragon was nowhere in sight, the slave army had been bested, and they hadn’t even needed to resort to Plan B.

Ginger felt it in her hooves first.

A deep, bass rumble, as if the earth itself were a string, plucked by an idle god. All around, the piles of treasure began to shift and crumble, an avalanche of wealth and material goods thundering down from all sides.

“Get to high ground!” Ginger barked, though there was none to be had. Instead, she was forced to wade ever upwards through an ocean of gems and coins. The diamond dogs scrambled up alongside her. Ginger tripped and stumbled, threatening to be swallowed whole by the current, until Old Yeller plucked her out of the golden tide and set her over his shoulder as he struggled gamely on. The diamond dogs finally found a safe haven atop a large, overturned painting of a black sky ship cutting through the air.

From her perch, she could only watch in horror. The thralls did not move to safety, even as they were buried alive underneath their hoard. Not a one so much as attempted.

The great mountain of treasure, formerly capped by the sapphire, exploded outwards, revealing a titanic, surging shape from underneath. All around, the carpet of priceless wealth shifted and heaved, as a titanic form shook itself off.

“Suchhhh arrogancccceeeee...”

For a long while, they were silent, but it was a silence of contentment.

Finally, the pegasus spoke up, not more than a wondering whisper.

“Makes ya feel... kind of small, doesn’t it, Ginger?”

“Hmm?” Ginger surfaced from the pleasurable sensation of nuzzling the soft feathers. “The view? Yeah... yeah, I get what you mean.”

“‘Cause, look on a map, and we’re like, in this itty-bitty splotch of green way off in the corner. And we’ve never even seen anything outside of this rainforest.”

Ginger rolled onto her back, legs kicking in the air a bit as she scooched into the nook where wing met shoulder. The other mare’s forelimb wrapped protectively around her. “I visited Canterlot once, you know,” she said. “Cloud, you shoulda been there! There were towers taller than the trees.”

“Wow,” breathed the pegasus.

“Hehe. Yep.”

Maybe it was the way she could feel Cloud’s heartbeat kick up the slightest of notches, the slightest flex of her wing muscles, or the firmness of her eyes as they fixed on the distant jungle horizon, but Ginger knew something was passing through her counterpart’s head, and if she knew Cloud Nine — and she did — it was something significant.

“You know...” Cloud began.

“Not really,” said Ginger, but gave her an encouraging squeeze anyway.

“Wanna see it from a better angle?”

“Well, sure, I guess, but — woop!”

Faster than she could have thought, Cloud Nine had wriggled out from underneath, flipped her over onto the mossy rock, and hooked forearms around her in a powerful hug. Smushed into the ground as she was by her marefriend's weight, Ginger only had time to register a pair of strong wings spreading wide.

“ — Cloud Nine if you’re about to do what I think you are so help you Celestia they will never be able to find your remains — ”

“Fivefourthreetwooneliftoffbaby!”

PHWOOOM.

The monster had arisen, a terrible golden dragon, hundreds of gems embedded in the cracks between scales. Upon the forehead, a hole in the crystal ornamentation, previously held by the sapphire. Fangs the size of a pony glinted in the half-light of the cave, and great claws kneaded the stone. A wingspan that stretched an entire city block extended wide, the delicate skin stained a riot of colors by dyes and paints.

Its long, serpentine neck coiled down from above, a massive head lowering until the end of its encrusted snout was within a hoof’s reach away. A blast of steam washed over the pack as the dragon took a deep, even breath.

Ginger hopped off Old Yeller’s shoulder and placed herself in front of the diamond dogs. She stood tall and defiant, scraping a hoof against the painting they had found refuge upon.

The great dragon blinked, huge gem-encrusted eyelids revealing pale, milky orbs. No pupils were visible, only a soulless, dead stare.

It was blind.

“Well... that’s interesting,” Entropy mumbled from somewhere behind her.

A rush of dusky feathers, and Daring Do whizzed by overhead, dropping Zanza and the enormous sapphire clutched between her forelegs off, each caught handily by the packmates. Ginger smirked to herself, despite everything. There was actually a chance this would turn out alright. She glanced at the other saddlebag strapped to Daring’s flank as the pegasus pumped hard for altitude, vanishing amongst the stalactites high above. And they hadn’t even needed to go to Plan B. Today was shaping up to be marginally better than most.

The monster’s mouth opened slightly.

“I hear the patter of pawssss... and the knocking of hoovesssss... who hassss dared trespasssss in my domain? Ssssspeak, and ssspeak well.... ‘twill be the lasssst wordsss you utter...”

“My name is Ginger daughter of Frost Snap and Ruby Glow,” she began. “I am a unicorn pony, heiress to the Snap family dynasty, and the Alpha of the Cinderwings, the pack that stands behind me now. And you have some business to conduct with me.”

She turned and bucked the sapphire, her horseshoe’d hooves making it ring like a crystalline bell. The tone echoed mournfully about the cavern, fading away until there were no sounds but the nervous fidgeting of the diamond dogs and the deep, easy breathing of the dragon staring them down.

“I lay claim to your Hoard-Heart, dragon, the first piece of your treasure. By the traditions of your kind, you will grant me an audience and one favor.”

Silence.

The great dragon’s head crept forward, somehow knowing exactly where the sapphire would be. It sniffed the gem delicately, before the cornets of its gilded lips turned down.

“Yesssss... that would be so... had you chossssen correctly. Thissss... trinket... be not the Heart of my Hearts...”

The dragon opened its maw further, a long, forked tongue sliding out. Balanced upon the very tip lay a smooth, polished pebble. It was the type of stone one would expect to encounter lying upon the side of the road, or just under the surface of a babbling brook. After a second, the tongue retreated again.

Ginger felt her stomach try and climb up her throat.

“The sssstart of any collection... issss often the mosssst unimpresssssive. Yet... alwayssss the clossssesssst to the heart. And I have been collecting for a long, long, time...” The gilded head rose as the dragon stretched to its full height. “You amussssse me, little pony. Far and between are the occasionssss I entertain guesssstsss... no matter how unwanted. And few sssstranger than you. I would hear the purpose of your quessssst. A sign of ressssspect... for a brave... but foolish pony.”

“Give back my momma and poppa!” squeaked a little voice.

Unbelievably, it was Zanza the little zebra, perched atop the head of a rather worried-looking Old Yeller. She shook a tiny striped hoof at the dragon, tears brimming at her eyes. “Give them back, you great... big... lizard!” The massive scaled face flinched away from her hoof, snout crinkling as though something spicy had crossed its nostrils. A harsh, sizzling hiss resonated across the cavern.

It took Ginger a moment to realize what was happening.

The dragon was laughing.

“Ssss-sss-sss-sss-sss...”

The Cinderwings shared an uncomfortable look. The grips upon various weapons were adjusted, hackles rose across the group like a wave. Ginger slowly unsheathed her sword, the arcanite blade ready to rip and tear.

“The little plainsssssdweller... she be the sssspawn of the two I found wandering my landsss... they too were brave in the faccce of peril.”

“Where are they, dragon? What have you done with them?” called Ginger, giving her blade a shaky flourish, more to calm her nerves than intimidate.

“My name is Lady Pyrite, pony... remember it well. Assss for the other plainsssdwellersss... they were sssent... to your... former pack-mate... from the wintry wasssstesss...”

“What!?” Ginger spun around. “Yeller, who is she talking about?”

The diamond dogs looked confused as she was. “Only two Cinderwings of the North breed. Ice wolves. Ghostclaws is one, and the other is —”

Ginger sucked in a breath. “Balto!?”

But... she had left Balto in charge back at camp, with Coconut and the other diamond dogs. How could the sullen mutt have already met the dragon? Or why, for that matter. Balto was always one of the capable Cinderwings. Secretive and sly, the wolfish diamond dog was the only one who had ever come close to taking Echo down and ascending to Beta. He had proven himself intelligent and showed a disposition for ruthless ambition unseen in any of the others.

Ambition...

Ginger recalled the lesson of her father and Mosspaw, a pair who had once called each other blood-brothers. So great was their desire for more power, they sacrificed what could have been a utopia in the rainforest to the black waters of the Styx and the fuels of their own thirst for greatness.

“Yesssss... I found thisss one poaching the prey of my territory... I would have killed him there... had he not offered show me where other prime ssssstock were. Ah, such a rarity, plainssssdwellerssss... they fetch a good price. I enssssslaved him too, of coursssse... and hissss imbecile lackey...”

Last night, Balto had been out unusually long. The more Ginger thought about it, the more the pieces fell into place. The diamond dog must have made a run for the hoard as soon as Ginger left, and would no doubt have beat them there, already knowing its location from dragon that dwelled within.

She’d been betrayed.

Again.

At least, this time, the treachery hadn’t been blatantly staring her in the face until she was powerless to stop it. She could not have planned for this.

Oh, wait. Plan B.

“Dra —” Ginger barely caught herself, inbetween labored breaths of a mighty rage that was threatening to break loose.. “Lady Pyrite. Where... is Balto now?” So I can find him and skin him and sell his coat for something worthless, she silently added.

“Roam. Ssssselling my waressss... bringing home more gold for the Long Sssssleep ahead.”

Despite the furnace of rage and hate roiling within her guts, Ginger’s extremities suddenly felt a chill. Even the Cinderwings behind her were disturbed.

Roam.

The last great slaving city. A dulled, bloodied gem, from an ancient crown that was once the splendor of the world; the Crystal Empire. It was remote as it was mysterious. Once a trading hub between the Empire and the distant gryphon eyries, it had become a place of legend and a symbol of older, colder times. After the Mad King Sombra had risen to power, the outpost had boomed into a slaver’s paradise, pumping stock to the insatiable gryphon clans. Far, far north, on the edge of the Feathercap Sea, it lay, a stain on the arctic wastes, encased in dirty ice and blackened snow, the frigid waters of the berg-ridden ocean the only means to reach it. Small wonder it continued to profit from the blood trade, so isolated and notorious it was. Only the insane dared travel there, not to mention the permanent residents.

Even she, growing up nearly isolated from the outside world, had heard stories. Stories that had made a little filly cower in fear through the night, desperately holding out for the light of dawn.

Ginger’s mind crunched. Lady Pyrite must have used the magic of her dragonfire to send him such a vast distance in such a short time. According to Echo, dragons could do all sorts of stuff like that.

“Now... I have delayed your deathsssss long enough. Give my regardsssss to the Grey Mare... when I ssssend you to Tartarusss.”

The gaping maw opened wide, revealing row after row of pony-sized fangs, and a hot light welling up at the back of a golden throat.

Oh, right. There was still the fire breathing monster to deal with. Ginger would take these new developments one step at a time.

They had a plan, after all.

Step one.

“Oh like hell you will!” she screamed, igniting her horn.

Take cover.

A solid wedge of rock ripped out of the stone in front of her, hiding her from the dragoness in the crook of a rough V-shape. She turned to her pack. “Don’t just stand there! Get behind me!” They did, scrambling forwards into the shelter.

A horrible noise, like the gurgling rush of a whirlpool. A dreadful pause. And then the world became golden fire, a mighty column of flame ripping from the draconic maw and slamming into her barrier, split in half by the wedge and curling away to the sides. Ginger sucked hot air, lungs burning from the sheer tempurature. If she was feeling the heat, no doubt her pack wouldn’t last very long.

With that in mind, she pivoted on her forehooves, channeled every ounce of magic she had into her hind legs, and bucked, ripping her stone barrier right out of the earth and sending it screaming through the flame, right into the mouth of a very suprised golden dragoness.

Step two...

“Attack! Attack!” she screeched. “Go for the gaps in her scales! Lassie, shoot for anything soft, don’t bother with the eyes, they’re useless anyway!”

...Counter strike; exploit weakness.

Like cannonballs out of the barrel, her diamond dogs sprang into action; Rin-Tin-Tin charging forwards to hack his new axe at gilded claws, Old Yeller wielding two spears at once to stab and tear at the wings, and — surprisingly — Vixen, in a rare display of bloodthirst, jumped right onto the scaled neck, clinging there by tooth and claw and stabbing viciously wherever possible with her daggers. Lassie stayed put on the painting, smoothly notching a barbed arrow in her longbow and sending it straight up a golden nostril. Beside the archer-dog, Entropy sprang into action, the wounded alicorn’s rainbow cloak billowing around him as he began hammering away with lances of pink magic.

Lady Pyrite roared her defiance, clawing angrily at the chunk of rock stuck in the back of her throat. She stomped back and forth, seeking to crush her nimble attackers underfoot. The earth shook with every movement as the Cinderwings fought on, knee deep in a shifting sea of treasure that grew with every blow to the encrusted hide.

“If I keep this up, soon I’m not gonna have enough juice to make the jump!” Entropy warned over the din of battle. “I just! Can’t do it, cap’n! I DON’T! HAVE! THE POWER!”

“Hold nothing back!” she ordered. “I have an idea to get us all out of here!”

“Improv!” Entropy nodded in agreement. “Now you’re thinking with portals!”

Ginger twirled her sword above her head and ran into the furious melee that had unfolded. She charged heedlessly onwards, hacking ruthlessly through shining scales and gems as she weaved between the shuddering columns that made up the dragoness’ legs. Somehow, she emerged onto the other side, having run straight underneath the writhing beast.

Something whistled through the air. She ducked — just in time — as the mighty tail whipped overhead, slamming into the ground nearby.

Step three...

Ginger plunged her sword right into the end of the tail, where the scales were soft and young, so hard her blade burrowed hilt-deep into the rock underneath.

...Immobilize.

The dragoness screamed in pain, so loud the Cinderwings had to cover their ears. Pebbles and coins danced across the stone ground.

“CURSSSE YOU PONY! A THOUSSSAND LIVESSS OF SSSUFFERING ARE NOT PUNISHMENT ENOUGH FOR THAT!”

Crimson lifeblood gushed outwards as the pinned limb tried to rip away from the grip of the sword, but its bite was too deep, and held fast into the bedrock.

Perfect.

Ginger left it there, galloping onto the trapped tail and running up, up, up! Soon she was swerving between spines, gripping them ferociously with her teeth as the dragon bucked and heaved beneath her hooves.

No amount of struggling could dissuade her. The fires of rage sang hot through her blood, and only revenge would quench the burning thirst. She ascended higher and high, until she pulled herself up to the flat of the draconic skull, holding on to the two horns that jutted out from either side for dear life.

“Daring!” she cried. “Daring Do, where are you!?”

The pegasus had been circling high above with the remaining saddlebag and Zanza riding on her shoulders, out of range and out of sight. At the cry, she zoomed down into the action, narrowly avoiding being gored by a slashing claw. “Whaddaya need, hon!”

“Saddlebag — ngh! Give it here!”

“Plan B!” Daring smoothly executed a loop-de-loop, flinging the solitary item on a dead shot to Ginger. She caught it with her magic, opening it up and peering inside.

“You ready to play, big guy?!”

Inside the impossibly large container, at the center of a heaping pile of junk, a single diamond dog looked up at her from where he was sitting down on a cushion with a thick book. With a sigh, he heaved himself up by his staff and threw his green hood over his head, before rolling his shoulders and cracking his bandaged paws.

“We need to go to Roam, okay! Roam!”

Echo just looked at her like she was crazy.

“Don’t want to hear your sass, just do it!”

Step Four...

Her magic reached in, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and yanked him out of the saddlebag, the diamond dog landing unsteadily beside her and bracing himself on the other horn. She slung the saddle bag over her own flank and prepared to jump off. “BACK OFF!” she screamed to the Cinderwings below, and they did.

Echo held out his paw and she twisted her head to it. Rough, bandaged skin gripped her horn uncertainly. The unpleasant feeling sent shivers through her spine.

“I’m going to regret saying this, but give me everything you’ve got.”

Oh, she’d been waiting for an excuse to let it out. Her teeth grit, ever muscle in her body clenched as she unleashed the floodgates, a tide of hot magic surging out of her and into him. So potent was the transfer that his wrappings began to smoulder, and every hair of fur on his body spiked out. Just when she thought she was spent, another barrier was broken down, and even more sizzling energy was mustered forth. It was do or die.

Finally, the current turned to a trickle. Ginger was spent, absolutely spent, not a drop of magic left in her. She slumped against the horn, panting heavily.

Echo, meanwhile, looked fit to burst, crackles of magical electricity running over his body. His eyes were wide, shining a hot pink, a surprised expression on his face. He gave her a worried look.

Ginger wheezed, “don’t... worry... about... me.” Her grip on the horn loosened, she began to slide off. “Just... get us to Roam!”

Lady Pyrite convulsed again, and suddenly there was nothing but empty air before her.

She had a seconds to register the weightlessness, embracing it like an old friend. Through her ever-blurring vision, a pink shape appeared, wings outstretched. Something wrapped around her chest. She felt like she recognized that tight grip. Cloud Nine?

Meanwhile high above, Echo held a single bandaged paw to the ceiling, sparks of arcane current crackling along his fingertips, before slamming it down in the crater where the massive sapphire had once adorned Lady Pyrite’s head. A silent shockwave issued from the epicenter. It washed over her in a warm wave. Was that somepony screaming?

The world exploded silver.

And then...

...nothing.

“ — WHOAWHOAWHOAWHOAWHOA!”

“WHA-HA-HA!”

A rush of green, pulling and sucking away, unwilling to relinquish the grip on her... but it lost struggle, and everything was unbearably bright. A carpet of yellows and greens and browns splattered the world below, cut through by lazy slash of glittering river water.

Ginger was suddenly aware of how very, very high up she was.

“...E-e-eeeeep!” she squealed.

The pair of pink forelimbs softly crushing her sides shuddered in amusement. “Ha-ha! Calm down, hon! Ha! I gotcha, I gotcha!”

“Clooouuuud...I’m gonna fall...” Ginger whimpered. Just don’t look down, just don’t look down, don’t look down and she’d be fine. She clamped her eyes shut. A grinning face rubbed against the terrified unicorn’s. She could feel that blasted smirk ever through the wind and vertigo.

“Ginger, look at me,” said Cloud Nine.

Ginger creaked a single eye open to the side. Goddesses, did Cloud look amazing with the wind ripping through her mane.

“Do you trust me?”

“...Yes?”

“I will not let you fall. I will catch you. That’s as good as fact. Okay?”

“O-okay.”

“Now... see this? All around? This is what I see. This is a better angle.”

Hesitantly, Ginger peeked away from the one thing preventing her from plummeting a thousand feet to her doom. “H’oh sweet baby back buffalos...”

What she saw took her breath away.

It was the void itself that had the biggest presence, the sheer yawning emptiness of open sky stretching out in all directions. She could see the very curve of the world itself, a gentle green arc kissing the distant edges of azure horizon.

There, on the ground, a scattering of huts and worn pathways.

She held up a single hoof, squinting as she peered down her leg. It swallowed up the entire village of Wethoof, obliterating every trace of ponykind from the rainforest in an instant. She pulled it back. “Whoa...”

Cloud gently banked into a tailwind and they picked up some speed, coming up alongside swathe of clouds.

Ginger watched in awe as those wonderfully soft pink feathers cut right through the wispy clouds, curling away off the leading edge of the wing like smoke. There was a sudden twist, the sun stared her in the face — she blinked confusedly back at it — and then she was skimming across the cloudscape, dragging her hooves through a wonderfully cool haze.

“This... this is amazing!” she cried, throwing her legs wide as if she had wings of her own.

“Oh, it gets better!”

PHWOOM-PHWOOM-PHWOOM-PHWOOM-PHWOOM!

Acceleration. Raw power seized her and hurled her decidedly up, clinging helplessly to the chest of a cackling pegasus. “Heeheheheheheeeeeeeee-!” Ginger felt her face pull back, her eyes watering as they rocketed even higher, until the air grew cold and dry, the sky began to darken, and little bits of frost began appearing in her coat and mane.

Were those stars? Had they really come that high? They seemed so close, like she could reach out and touch one.

It was here, at the very roof of the word, Cloud Nine snapped her icing wings tight and sent them back the way they’d come.

It was... obscenely peaceful after the initial sickening lurch of gravity. There was just wind in her ears, and a wonderful sensation of weightlessness. Ginger squirmed about in the powerful grasp, twisting about until she and her mare were face to face.

Spiraling headfirst from the limits of high sky, emerald met rose, and her fires roared all the fiercer, ablaze with warmth and adrenaline.

Their lips met, and Ginger felt no more fear.

Only love.

Where am I?

She was drifting, that much could be certain.

There was only a deep blackness, soft as silk and as encompassing as a lover's embrace. It went in all directions; up, down, left, right. She turned to see if it extended behind her as well, when she realized that she had not actually moved, and yet the sensation of motion was felt.

Her body had been left behind. Wherever she was, whatever she was, it seemed that matter had no purpose. She had no heart nor brain, yet she lived and thought. She simply was. Unbounded consciousness.

Is this death? she wondered to herself. The silent dark made no reply. Is this the next life? Only her own thoughts provided the singular source of a disturbance.

It was very peaceful, to say the least...

...Too bad she wasn’t in the mood to go out quietly.

“Echo! What did you do!?” Ah, she had a voice, and it worked just fine. Excellent. Now a certain someone could get the proper tongue lashing they deserved.

It was as if a switch had been thrown.

She felt form return to herself, and suddenly she was there, not everyplace at once. She looked with eyes and saw, twitched with legs and felt, pumped blood with a heart and lived.

A presence materialized to her side, slowly coalescing into something huge, golden and hulking. Gems sparkled in the darkness amidst the dull gleam of golden scales.

Blinking in the emptiness, Lady Pyrite looked just as confused as she was. The blind dragoness seemed to know she was not alone, however.

“What sssorcery be thisss...?” rumbled the great beast. Not an ounce of aggression laced the deep voice, nor did her posture express intention of continuing the fight. “Pony...I sssenssse you... hear your little heart beating... explain thyssself...”

Ginger, too, found it impossible to be hostile, the simmering furnace that usually boiled just below sight within her ran cold and empty.

“I... I don’t know,” she finally said. “I mean, I thought I knew. This was supposed to be our last resort, the ace in the hole if everything went sour. I have a packmate who... can do things, can go inside your head.”

One of the dragoness’ eyebrows raised. “Yesss... I felt... someone prying at my thoughts... before everything collapsed...”

“Yeah, we thought if he had enough power, he could try and mind control you. It was a blind shot in the dark.” She awkwardly laughed, glancing at those milky orbs gazing off to the distance. “No offense.”

“Sss-sss-sss-sss-sss. None taken. But... your effortsss have failed, it ssseemsss, for I am under no rule but my own. But — wait. Pony, sssomething approachesss...”

Indeed, something was coming closer. Ginger could make out nothing but the ebony void, spreading in all directions.

Except...

There.

Below, a small shape, a slender spike, capped by a soft light. It was slowly coming closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Ginger realized it wasn’t so small at all. It was enormous.

Then, it was upon them.

That tiny star of light was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In this case, it was actually a huge spiralling horn, deepest of blacks, rising higher and higher like a tower soaring from the depths of the ocean. It dwarfed her, it dwarfed Lady Pyrite, it dwarfed anything she’d ever seen or imagined.

The horn broadened, and the monolithic creature it belonged to surfaced from the depths of infinity. Trailing behind it came a curtain of cosmos; red giants and supernovae, galaxies and black holes, a riot of colors and light and heat. Awash with the stellar wind, it rippled out as far as could be seen.

Two planet-sized eyes opened, as bright and harsh as truth. Like searchlights, they cast their beams onto her, staring into her very soul. She felt impossibly safe under its gaze, and yet terrified of what that meant.

“Ec-cho,” she choked out through small breaths. “What have you done?”

"Joined into the game. I play my queen,” came the reply, and she whirled around to find him there, or at least something like him, something twisted and warped, a cross between diamond dog and other. "Check."

The thing that was Echo and yet not Echo adjusted his hood with mismatched paws, one huge and bandaged, the other nimble and bony. Fur had fallen out in places, revealing smooth, pale skin underneath. He had developed a hunchback, and limped towards them on a thin, twisted leg. She could not see his face, and for that she was strangely glad, for no doubt it was just as hideous as the rest of him had become.

“Welcome to the Dreamtime, Ginger. Lady Pyrite. This is the place where everything that ever has been, is, or will be, is created,” he said calmly, disembodied voice humming mournfully across the vastness of space.

“You know about this place...?” Ginger wondered, staring in awe at the great entity before them.

“Oh, yes. First time I came here, it was an accident. Nearly died in the process... but I learned how to come back. She taught me,” he said, pointing a slender paw at the titan. “She is known to all as Creator, but I call her Galaxia. She's... a friend of mine, I suppose. Taught me how to play chess, at least. She is here to keep the peace and witness.”

The frankenpony of a creature that he was drifted past her, to the dragoness, whom had been silent this whole time, observing in the way that only the blind can.

“May I?” he asked of her.

Lady Pyrite hesitated, sightless eyes flicking towards the general direction of the thing called Galaxia. The deistic presence was enough to instill obedience, though it was a hard fight. But she dipped her head, long forked tongue sliding out. Echo gently took the smooth pebble off the tip of this, holding it reverently.

After a time, he nodded to himself and put it back.

“Thank you for sharing,” he said kindly.

“You jussst held the very ssoul of a dragon... and sssought no boon for it,” wondered the Lady. “What manner of creature are you...?”

He shrugged. “A little of this, a little of that. In truth, I’m not so sure anymore. It shows apparently.” He patted himself on the misformed stomach. “But enough about me. I have brought you both here for the one thing neither of you thought worth your time, that you might turn this into a profitable situation I think everyone can benefit from.

“Diplomacy.”

Ginger and her scaly counterpart experienced a simultaneous rise of skepticism.

“With her?”

“With her...?”

Presiding over them all, the corner of one pair of lips curled upwards in the slightest.

“Yes,” said Echo. “Both of you possess something the other needs.”

The only sound was the gentle thrum of the universe as it wove through the endless abyss. He seemed to take that as a sign to continue.

“M’lady. My Alpha, Ginger, is in dire straits. It seems you’ve swayed a compatriot of mine to defect, and along with him went our caravan and half our number, not to mention our pack's reputation and hope of ever uniting the diamond dogs under a single banner. You have the ability to send us after him, and greatly assist in our other effort.”

Lady Pyrite blew steam in a snort of dismissal. “Petty... mortal... affairsss. I am above such mattersss. What hasss yonder pony that I would not already possesss?”

“Friendship,” Echo replied, and he was completely serious.

“...What.” was all Ginger could manage.

“Despite a lifetime of collecting wealth and land and slaves, you have never found that one thing that would sate your desires. I know for a fact that your hoard will never fill that burning hole in you. You might wear it in your scales, but I know better. The proof is in your hoard-heart. A simple pebble. Someone probably gave it to you, long ago, didn’t they?”

The dragoness face bared in a snarl, but her tone was civil. “Yesss... how did you know?”

“Because I know someone like you, m’lady, and he taught me that the greatest of treasures are not those taken, but given. If you accompany us in our journey, you shall only ever need that pebble and nothing else, until the end of time. We have what you’ve been seeking, m’lady. We live it every day. We can give you friendship... the gift that keeps on giving.”

Ginger could no longer contain herself. “Echo, you bastard, that’s completely idiotic!”

And yet, the dragoness seemed uncertain of herself.

“A lifetime of sssinsss againssst ponykind... and you would welcome me? I have tortured... ssstolen... dessstroyed... enssslaved.”

Echo merely spread his warped arms wide. “So have I, in a fashion. So we can relate. It will be hard, m’lady, I will not lie. You will have to earn, there can be no taking. But I would be your first, the first of a new hoard. One where laughter and love are the showpieces, and the only true currency is as valuable as you make it. I’ll be your friend, even if nobody else won’t. Because we’re alike, you and I, more than the others know.”

“How...?”

Echo fingered a small golden compass dangling from his neck by a chain, the only thing unaltered in his appearance. “...Sentimentality, for one.”

Ginger stepped forward. “You can’t be serious. You’re going to forgive her? For the horrible things we saw back there in the cave? Did you see what she’d done to her slaves? She killed them all!”

“On the contrary, I already have. And I also forgave you, Ginger Snap, for leaving somepony dear to me out in the mud to die, for racism, for your own stubborn pride, for taking part in a genocide, and for covering up the delusions of your insane father. If you have changed, then so can she.”

That stung. More than she thought it would. But still she dug in, unwilling in the slightest. “No, this is ridiculous! The others will never accept it. Daring will never accept it!"

"Your pack will do as you command, and I will meet any would challenge that. As for Daring..." he paused, then sighed wearily. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I can’t possibly —” she started.

“—Done.”

The golden dragon seemed to shiver, and gems began to fall off her like a rain, as her form began to condense, shrinking down with the creaking of bones and grinding of scales.

When the shower ceased, a much smaller, slender dragoness remained in her place, standing almost uncertainly on all fours before him. Small crystals remained studded in her golden figure, and a brilliant sapphire appeared on her brow where before there was only a gaping crater. Her elegant horns barely allowed her to pass him in height.

She held up a claw.

“I have nothing to lossse,” she said, in a voice that no longer shook the air with age and size. “Though be thisss some deception... and I will end your life.”

“Get in line,” Echo answered dryly. Somewhere within the shadow of his hood, a raspy whisper of a chuckle could be heard.

They shook.

Above, Galaxia smiled as two monsters forged an unlikely alliance. A warm, silky wind began to blow, ruffling Ginger’s mane. She blew a strand of mane out of her eyes, looking on in disbelief.

Once again, the blasted mutt had defied her, outsmarted her, and defeated her. Once again, she lost nothing but a blow to the pride, but gained much, much more.

Ginger Snap scowled to herself as the galactic winds wiped them away with a gentle flash of light.

Victory never tasted worse.

Achievement Unlocked! - "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Anemones?"
Level Up! - Ginger Snap

-New Talent: Earthbending: Sometimes, flamethrowers can't solve your problems. Sometimes, you just need to crush something into the dust with a big old mountaintop, or ride a rock off into the sunset to deliver pizza, just like the pioneers. You have become proficient in the art of earth-style elemental magic. Go metamorphic or go home.

-New Perk: Temper Tolerance (+3 all resistances, +1 int): Living in a state of near psychotic rage since you started hanging around with these idiots has given you an incredibly large resistance to aneurysms, allowing you to think clearly even in the heart of your wildest tantrums. However, you should really see a doctor about that high blood pressure.
Ally Gained! - Lady Pyrite

-Perk: Dragon: She's a fucking dragon, that's perk enough. That shit's OP as balls, man.
Ally (sort of) Gained! - the Creator, AKA: "Galaxia"

-Perk: ???: ???
Region Discovered: The Dreamtime

Author's Notes:

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT RUST BLAHARAHGHAHGA -"

Because I've been planning that scene for exactly a year now. Because Echo is innately human, and therefore one ruthless son of a bitch when it comes to negotiating. Because I actually know what's going to happen next.

...usually.