As Celestia’s sun crested the horizon, it dipped the world in gold.

Sunbeams streaked through the window of the messy bedroom, kissing the forms of two entangled figures, sleeping soundly amidst a mess of linens. Daring was wrapped against her lover’s chest, her wings had unconsciously unfolded into a sort of protective cocoon that swallowed them both into a tiny sphere of warmth. The diamond dog let out a deep, rumbling sigh in his sleep, content with all. The sound of it set Daring’s eyelids aflutter, and she gradually came into awareness, peering out from in-between her feathers.

The room was a wreck, as always. Their clothing was scattered haphazardly around, more so his than hers, due to how vigorously she’d removed them last night. Scrolls, maps, half-read books, stale hunks of bread and empty jugs of cider sat side by side on the table they kept here. Motes of dust floated lazily in the sunlight.

She yawned, taking a moment to simply nuzzle the furry body beside her, unwilling to truly surrender herself to the day just yet. It was mornings like these that she loved so dearly, when there wasn’t a care in the world and she had nothing else to do but bask in the sunlight.

Fate, as it happened, had other plans. A loud, muted bang, followed by a stream of gruff gibberish, coming from somewhere in the moving castle they called a home alerted her to the possibility of Coconut making breakfast. With the possibility of food looming, the sleepy pegasus promptly shoved Echo out of the bed and staggered to her hooves.

Ow. Good morning to you, too, came his thoughts from where he was now sprawled, blinking dazedly on the floor.

“Breakfast. Talk less. More stretching.”

Daring groaned in satisfaction as she arched her back, popping the vertebrae loudly. Her wings trembled as she shook them out. Echo heaved himself up off the ground and sat down on the bedside, flexing his scarred, naked paws in the sunlight. Daring gave him a sympathetic wince and sat down next to him, taking a paw in her hooves and massaging it gently. The diamond dog winced, but the surge of gratitude she got from him said it all.

His paws were often so stiff and sore in the mornings that he could barely move them. Just another leftover from Wethoof, she realized. Daring rubbed the mobility back into them, one paw at a time. When this was done, she then promptly flopped across his lap and unfurled her wings. Echo returned the favor with his newly dextrous fingers, running them through her feathers and rubbing the meat of her wings, near the shoulder, where most of the muscle was. It was a strange sort of tradition they had, and few pegasi let others preen them, but Echo was different. She closed her eyes and blissfully surrendered herself to the sensation of his fingers working their magic.

Thoughts and emotions flowed easily between the two. “We’re getting too old for this crap,” Echo said. “Can’t even get up in the morning without physical therapy.”

“Shut up. You love it anyway,” Daring murmured. “Besides, I’m older by, what, a decade? If anypony should be saying that it’s me.”

“And yet, you tend to act ten years my younger,” he chuckled.

“Gotta have fun while you can.” She sighed in contentment. “Ooh, yeah, that’s the spot, right there.” One of her hindlegs kicked as his paws found a particularly loose feather and plucked it out. That had been bothering her for a week! She watched as Echo held it up to the light, peering at it with something like wonder written across his face. “What?”

“You have beautiful wings,” he said softly, holding the feather up to the light. It shone a dark yellow, tinged with sunbeams around the edges.

Daring felt a small blush come to her face. It was a very different thing to take a compliment and feel the emotions behind it. She could sense the strange sort of wonder and respect he felt when he preened her. It was not unlike what she felt when she cracked open a forgotten tomb or laid eyes upon formerly-buried treasure. He truly appreciated her body for what it was, and that made her glow inside.

“C’mere, you,” she growled, throwing her forelegs around him and pushing him back into the bed. She met his lips in a long, slow kiss that seemed to go on forever. He paused, surprised, as he always did, seeking her permission to continue. She mentally rolled her eyes at this. Always the gentlecolt. Instead, she took the initiative and slipped her way inside his mouth. Their tongues danced, and Daring marveled at how his long, strong tongue somehow matched her movements stroke for stroke, and yet never seemed to complicate things. Oh, what he could do with it!

Needless to say, all thoughts of food had vanished from her mind, quickly replaced with a different sort of hunger.

What she had with Echo was magical, literally and metaphorically. Daring had had many conquests throughout her life, that was no secret. But nopony else made her feel like a schoolfilly and a goddess at exactly the same time. It was a unique sort of blend that drove her wild, eager for more.

She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, their lips wrestling together in a competition that neither wished to draw to a close. It could have been seconds, minutes, or hours. She didn’t care, either way. It felt too good to bother with anything else.

Daring adjusted herself without breaking the kiss, swinging her leg around and straddling him, her forelegs resting easily as they stroked his neck and shoulders.

This was one of those times where she appreciated their link. It was almost as if they were one entity. She could feel what he felt, taste what he tasted. Daring reveled in that, knowing that they were completely whole; body, mind, and soul.

She ran her small, pink tongue across the tips of his serrated fangs, revelling in the sensation of sharpness and power they delivered. Daring felt a queer thrill when she did this, as she always did when they were together. Echo was a formidable creature, bred for hunting and fighting and digging. He could have torn her in half if he wanted to. His jaw alone could crush solid rocks. And yet, here he was, willingly submitting himself to her ministrations. He trusted her absolutely, and she returned the favor gladly. The fact that she held such sway in him excited her, a tinge of adrenaline pumping through her blood.

Daring deepened the kiss, pressing herself hard against him in both desire and gratitude. Her tail lashed back and forth against his thighs. His own caught it, and they intertwined, shaggy red-brown spiraling together with her own silver, black and gray. She moaned faintly into his mouth, exhaling hard through her nose. Below, at the junction of her loins, a familiar heat was brewing, and, judging by the pressure she felt there...something else, if she was interpreting the sensations from Echo’s end correctly.

She pulled back, a thin trail of saliva snapping between the two as she gazed down at him lovingly. He was panting, his eyes glazed, but he had that stupidly large smile on his face she adored so much.

“We’re going to be late for breakfast again, aren’t we.”

Daring Do looked over her shoulder at her erect wings. They were rock solid, pulsing faintly with their increased blood flow, and standing out from her spine like sails, catching the light in just that right way, giving her a sort of soft, golden outline. My, I’ve certainly worked myself up. And it’s not even Tuesday! She turned back to Echo and leaned over, nipping gently at the side of his neck.

“Breakfast?” she said in a low, husky voice. “Hay, we’re going to be late for lunch.”

They were, surprisingly, not late for lunch.

Regardless, Coconut was not amused.

“Oh, I see how it is, eh? Ye two layabouts get ta do whatever it is ye feel like doin’, hmm?” The chef was standing behind the counter at the pair as they awkwardly shuffled in place. He drew the edge of a long carving knife over a whetstone. It was one of many that had been stabbed into the countertop. “And yer just so busy ruttin’ eachnother silly that ye forgot ta think ta yerselves, ‘Oh, hey! Mebbe we shouldn’t make sweet old Coconut’s food go ta waste? Mebbe that would make Coconut feel underappreciated, hmm? Mebbe Coconut’s never gonna cook for our sorry arses ever again?’ Did ye? Choose yer next words very carefully.”

Daring eyed the knife as he brought it for a another pass at the stone. Her ears flattened at the sound of it. “Uh...”

“'Doesn't matter had sex,'” Echo grumbled sarcastically. “Whoever thought that up should be crucified onto a lightning rod. With barbed wire.”

“We...uh, kinda got distracted, Coconut.” Daring sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

“For an hour and a half!?”

Help me out here, Fluffy. If I’m going down, you’re coming with me. Daring elbowed him in the side. Echo wheezed and gave her a look.

“Just do what you always do. Own up and damn the consequences.”

Right. Because usually that never runs the risk of being carved into pieces by a chef on the downswing of his menstrual cycle, Daring dryly observed.

“He’s been a pacifist since Wethoof, you giant chicken!”

I don’t see you too eager to fess up.

“I’m mute,” he deadpanned.

Never stopped you before!

“A-hem!” Something silver whizzed by them, embedding itself in the wall. They stopped glaring at each other to find Coconut giving them the evil eye, having selected a new knife to sharpen upon throwing the old one. A butcher’s cleaver and a spatula had mysteriously joined his ensemble of kitchen utensils. “I do not appreciate when ponies be forgettin’ just who it is that cooks all their grub. It makes me feel a tad disrespected when I can’t even get just a little recognition for my efforts.” He punctuated his words with casual flicks of his hoof, sending a flurry of sharp objects at the pair.

Echo shivered a little from where his robe was pinned against the wall by no less that three knives and a spatula. Daring, who had dived out of the way, picked herself up off the floor and found her pith helmet nearby, butcher’s cleaver stuck neatly into the top.

Daring, whatever you’re going to do, do it now. I don’t like having my dangly bits used as target practice for a sharpened... - Echo looked down between his legs, where a particular utensil was quivering an inch away from his thigh - ...spatula.

The pegasus grumbled a bit as she removed the cleaver from her headgear. “Sorry, Coconut. We lost track of time, doing...ah, you know. We’ll make sure it never happens again. It was a mistake, missing out on all the food that you worked so hard on. If we can make it up to you, then at least let us do so,” she said, bashfully scraping a hoof against the floor.

The large stallion glared at them for a few moments. Another spatula was held in one hoof. Echo gulped nervously, hiding beneath his hood.

“Coconut, stop being such a mare and get over it.” Another voice cut through the silence accompanied by an impressive bang as the door to outside flew open, Ginger Snap walking through this, the zebra filly, Zanza, close behind, eyeing everything with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity.

Coconut sighed, as all signs of hostility suddenly vanished. “Aww, who am I kiddin’. I couldn’t hold a grudge even if I had fingers.” He reached under the counter and pulled out two plates full of food. “I managed ta save somethin’ for ye both. Omelets, one of them’s got all sorts ‘a veggies, and the other one’s-”

Daring didn’t hear him finish. “Foooood! Gimmie-gimmie-gimmie!” The morning’s activities, combined with a pegasi’s naturally rapid metabolism, had left her ravenous for sustenance. She darted to the waiting plates of food and tore into one of the omelets face first. Uh! This is the stuff! Wow, even better than usual! She lifted looked up from the plate to ask Coconut about it, only to notice that everypony was staring at her with wide eyes.

“Whuffup, guyff?” She chewed heartily and swallowed.

“...That wasn’t the veggie one,” Coconut said slowly.

Daring froze. She glanced back at the omelete. Here and there amongst the fluffy yellow egg were small bits of a reddish-pink color.

You ate the one he saved for me. The one with meat in it. Echo was as surprised as the rest of them, something that rarely happened.

Daring frowned, and gently bent her head down, picking up one of the small chunks of cooked flesh between her teeth and gingerly slipped it against her tongue. The texture was somewhat rubbery, but tough. It was salty, and yet had a hearty spice to it. She flexed her throat and let the morsel pass down into her stomach.

“Daring, are you feeling alright?” Ginger asked. Behind her, Zanza was looking on with a nauseated expression.

“Um, yeah. I mean, I think so.” What was going on? She’d tried meat once a while ago, purely out of curiosity about what the diamond dogs relished with such enthusiasm. At the time, it had tasted revolting, and she’d vomited violently afterwards. Ponies weren’t meant to eat meat, that was a known fact. And yet she’d just devoured a good amount of it...kept it down...and liked it.

Daring simply sat down and stared at the plate, not sure what to think about it all. The taste of the meat was still there. It really wasn’t half bad at all, she reflected.

“Echo, explain what the actual buck is going on,” Ginger’s voice was sharper than Coconut’s knives.

“It’s the link,” said Daring Do, looking back up.

“What about it?”

It’s getting stronger, Echo realized. Daring nodded at this, stepping over to his side.

“Ginger, when that spell over-loaded, it joined us together, tethered our minds into one. We’re close...but much closer than just telepathy. We can do incredible things, things that shouldn’t even be possible. It’s hard to describe, and I wouldn’t expect you to understand. But we think there’s more to it.”

“Y-you and he are together?” Zanza gazed at the pair in confusion. It was the first time the filly had spoken up so far. “As mates?”

Daring gave her a wink. “You got it, kiddo.”

“But you’re...different.”

“Apparently not that much, anymore,” Echo mused. Daring nuzzled him good-naturedly.

“Just because somepony looks different doesn’t mean you should treat them any less or more. Sure, Echo isn’t a pony, but that doesn’t mean we love each other any less than two ponies...or zebras.”

“Oh,” said Zanza, looking thoroughly puzzled.

Daring continued. “Anyway, since the incident,, we’ve been noticing the effects are becoming more and more pronounced. At first, it was just, you know, talking to each other with our thoughts. Telepathy. But...later, we learned how to deepen our connection, to the point where we’re more or less one mind in two bodies.”

“Prove it,” said Ginger, one eyebrow raised. “I knew you two had been brought together...but that seems unlikely, even for us.”

Daring shrugged. With an unspoken agreement, Echo lowered the barrier on his end, and their consciousnesses rushed together into a collective pool. Daring flexed the fingers on Echo’s paw, while the diamond dog slowly shook out her wings.

As one, they lifted a forelimb and waved it about, each mirroring the other perfectly. “See?”

Ginger frowned for a moment, then reached behind her with her magic, and tore a knife out the wall, before throwing it as hard as she could at Echo.

In a flash, the diamond dog’s arm came up, his thick metal bracer slapping away the blade like it was an irritating insect. Beside him, Daring Do made the same exact motion, despite having nothing to intercept.

“Well, I’ll be...” murmured Coconut in disbelief. Zanza simply stared, eyes wide in surprise.

“What was that for?!” Daring all but shouted. “You almost killed him!”

Key word, there. ‘Almost.’ Echo grumbled.

“To see if you were faking,” Ginger shot back. “You aren’t. That was reflexive. You can’t copy reflex...unless you really are as joined as you say. But what does this have to do with you being able to eat meat all of a sudden?”

Daring huffed, allowing the connection to fade back into the tiny tether it usually was. “I'm just guessing here, but it may be that we’re so conjoined that we share instincts, as well. He sometimes gets the urge to fly, despite not having wings. And I...sometimes get a little...wolfish, let’s call it. But it wasn’t always like this. At first we couldn’t do any of this.”

“So, it’s getting worse over time?” Coconut guessed.

“I wouldn’t say worse. More like...stronger. It’s like a muscle, we think. The more we use it, the stronger it gets,” said Daring. Considering how intertwined they got themselves just a while ago, that wasn't exactly a surprise. “And I guessed it’s gotten so strong that I can choke down meat, apparently.”

“That’s just weird.” Ginger slowly shook her head. “Honestly, we’re the strangest bunch in Equestria. It’s like this freaky stuff is just attracted to us. Look, I don’t care what you eat. As long as you keep contributing to our goals, it doesn’t matter to me. Speaking of which, I believe you two more or less volunteered to kill yourselves last night. As a start, you can explain to Zanza here what that means.” She pushed the zebra filly forward, who squeaked a bit and huddled at the center of the room.

“You mean she doesn’t know?” Daring shot a questioning glance at the Alpha.

“No. You two seemed so eager to claim responsibility for her, I thought it fitting. She’s your problem, now.” With that, Ginger stepped away, clearly giving up custody to the pair.

Zanza watched her retreat, deflating a little, before facing the others. “Umm...” She scuffed her hooves awkwardly on the floor. It was adorable, in an embarrassing sort of way.

Daring gave Echo a helpless look. “Don’t look at me,” he said. “I’m...not good with kids. Besides, last time I was with her I ended up putting us into this mess as it is.”

Daring groaned in exasperation, smacking him gently upside the head. “Useless.” She scowled and addressed the zebra. “Okay, so...you know how Echo promised that we’d go after your folks and stuff?”

Zanza perked up immediately. “Did you find them? Are they all right?”

“...Not exactly. We found the wagon where you had stopped in the forest. Over the ridge and into the valley, right?” At Zanza’s hesitant nod, she continued. “But when we got there, the place was a wreck. And...kind of on fire. Ginger found two sets of tracks leading away from the flames, but then we found some signs that they’d been...uh, taken.”

“T-taken?”

“By a dragon.” At this, the filly’s expression visibly fell. She swayed a little on her hooves.

Echo facepawed. “Nice one, Darin’. Way ta break it ta her easy,” Coconut chimed in.

“Cork it,” she snapped at the chef. He corked it. “And, yes. A dragon. We think it may have taken your folks as hoard thralls. They’re zebras...so it may have seen them as something exotic, to add to its treasure stash.” Zanza seemed horrified at this. “Look, this doesn’t change a thing. We’re still going to go after them. And if the dragon gets in our way...well...it won’t be pretty.”

Zanza was silent for a long moment, staring down at her hooves. Daring moved to put a wing around her, something to reassure her, but the filly suddenly looked up, slanted eyes narrowed in determination. “I want to come with you,” she said softly, then again, louder.

“I like this one,” Ginger commented. “Zebra’s got spirit.”

Daring and Echo shook their heads simultaneously, though. “Absolutely not, kiddo. This is way too dangerous for you to involve yourself with. I’ve heard stories about your homeland, I know its an achievement in itself making it to adulthood. You’ve got lions and hyenas and plainstriders...but you don’t have dragons. You’ve got no idea what they’re like.”

“It’s called the Zavannah,” Zanza sourly stated. “I must do something! I have to prove my worth. I can’t be scared off by some snake with wings.”

“You’d be the lucky one if you were scared off, kiddo. Did you see the fire it started last night? If I hadn’t been there to save your striped flank, well...” Daring trailed off. “No. You’ll stay in the caravan with Coconut. And that’s final.”

“But-”

“Final,” barked the explorer.

The filly looked crushed, but bowed her head in submission. Maybe it was her imagination, but Daring could have sworn she saw a spark of rebellion in those eyes.

She reminds me of you, Echo observed thoughtfully.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Daring muttered as she brushed past the others and outside.

The Cinderwings had been busy, indeed. The four diamond dogs Ginger had assigned to the excavation had burrowed an impressively large burrow in the ground, one that was almost big enough to roll the Shagwagon inside. That was the intent of the project, after all. Ginger didn’t want to risk the dragon spying them from above, so their caravan would be sheltered under several feet of earth, the entrance disguised with fallen limbs and leaves.

Echo meditatively watched as Daring Do zipped here and there, gathering various supplies and stuffing them into her enchanted saddlebags. The mare was the epitome of caution when it came to her adventures, contrary to what the book series had written about her. Daring certainly had her fair share of reckless and bold adventures, but she always made sure to have an ace up her sleeve and Plans A, B, and C ready to go.

Meanwhile, the diamond dog had already gathered his own materials: a simple length of rope with a grapple, his old switchblade, Winchester, from his days as a human, a pouch of first aid supplies, and a small canteen of water. Everything he needed fit easily upon the sash he wore around his waist, with the exception of Winchester, which he kept in the folds of his left arm-wrapping.

Echo glanced at the compass around his neck, watching it spin almost violently fast in random directions. It was called a Homeward Rose, a special gift from Daring herself, an enchanted compass that could point the way to any place the user had already been. All they had to do was think of their destination, and the Rose would lead them to safety.

At that particular time, Echo was picturing home.

It never worked when he did so.

The wagon, he thought. The needle smoothly slid towards where their caravan was standing by the ruins of a still-smouldering campfire.

Wethoof. The needle swung quickly to the South-East.

Rio de Maneiro. Now it pointed dead South.

Home. Earth. Immediately, it spastically began to twitch and whirl around.

Echo scowled to himself and slammed it shut, before adjusting his hood. He noticed Daring was busy burrowing through the second small wagon they used for supplies and such. He padded over and peered over her shoulder, his coat brushing against the pale green shirt she was fond of wearing.

“Dynamite? Really?” he asked upon seeing what the mare was busy bundling up.

“What?” Daring Do grinned, almost sheepishly. “You can never be too careful. Besides, what if we need to blow something up?”

“It shouldn’t have to come to that. We’re just going to find the nest, slip into the hoard, and run out as fast as we can with the zebras. If we end up facing the dragon, something’s gone wrong.”

Daring gave him a flat look.

“On second thought, bring the dynamite. All the dynamite.”

“That’s what I thought,” she said, digging her hooves down to do just that.

Echo chuckled to himself as he moved away, back towards the old campfire. The Cinderwings that weren’t busy burrowing the pit for the wagon were lazing about, nothing to do at the moment. Echo observed them from beneath his hood. They immediately noticed this and milled about, attempting to look busy doing something. He knew they could never tell where he was looking, with half his face thrown into shadow. It was a old trick he’d picked up, back in his days with the UN forces in-

-He rapidly shook his head to clear away his thoughts, out of a mix of old, bitter feelings, and an anxiety that Daring would pick up on them. He glanced back at her. That was close. Too close. With the link getting stronger, it was only a matter of time before she discovered what he truly was.

What truly frightened him about it was that he didn’t know how she would take it. On one hand, Daring had been very accepting of his peculiarities. On the other, he had been keeping this a secret from her since day one. There should have been nothing to hide at this point, especially with the link. Would she feel betrayed? Angry? Sad? All of the above? His instincts told him to hide the truth, but his brain told him that it would only make it worse in the end.

How did one even go about something like that? It was maddening, pretending to be the peculiar foreigner, forever dodging questions of his homeland. He wanted to tell her, so very, very badly, but he simply didn’t know how.

If only I’d been born an Equestrian, or something.

Echo banged his staff against a nearby crate. At the sound, the other diamond dogs gathered around. He studied them carefully. Luther; the lazy bum with a nose like a bloodhound. Vixen; the foxy, (but really creepy) nymphomaniac who had more skill with her two daggers than any other. Rin-Tin-Tin; the hothead of the group, almost as fierce as Ginger, prone to action before thought. Lassie; the cheerful intellect of the bunch - only she showed interest in anything besides the pack. Old Yeller; the wise, experienced veteran of the wilds, and the only one who hadn’t challenged him yet. Balto, Boxer, Chance, and Shadow would be remaining behind to guard the camp, having spent the night working.

“What we doing?” Lassie asked.

Echo beckoned her forward and laid a paw on her shoulder, using her as a mouthpiece for the others to hear. The long-haired diamond dog was usually the one he relied on for this, anyway.

“Okay. Plan simple,” Lassie relayed. “First we go to where sky-dragon made tracks. We split into two groups. Cindercorn takes one group. Luther is tracker for this group. They go and follow scent trail. Other group is led by Ghostclaws and Featherpony. They will go different way, try to find dragon nest from air. When dragon found, we send up signal for other group to find location.”

Lassie bent down and began to draw a rough diagram of a cavern, as Echo continued to speak through her. “When we find dragon, we don’t want to get trapped in nest. So, if it inside, we need find way to lure it outside and away from nest and pack. If not outside, then we go in and dig tunnel out ourselves for when it comes back. It is important that we don’t end up fighting dragon.”

“Pah! Are Cinderwings scared? I will face dragon and kill it dead!” Rin-Tin-Tin brandished his battleaxe, a large weapon made of a tree-limb and sharpened stone.

“No,” Lassie barked, with surprising force, answering of her own accord. “We face dragon together, and only if no other way. Dragon kill us easy. We are prey, it is hunter.” Echo was impressed by this. The female showed a natural aptitude for planning and leadership. “Now, any question?”

Old Yeller raised a paw. “If we do fight dragon, how we gonna kill it?”

“Featherpony is bringing boomsticks with her. We will drop cave down on top of it,” said Luther. “This is good. Less work for me.”

“What if we inside with dragon?”

“We will begin digging a bolt hole in cave as soon as we go in. If we collapse cave, we have place to hide and tunnel out of.”

“And the hoard?” asked Rin-Tin-Tin. “Dragons have lotta treasure. What we gonna do with it?”

Lassie’s response was interrupted as Ginger shoved her way into the group. “I've got something in mind for that. We’ll take as much as we can carry,” she said simply. “All the more proof that we raided a dragon hoard and lived to tell the tale. If we encounter another pack, that alone might cow them enough to yield to us peacefully.”

Echo poked her on the shoulder. “Don’t forget that we’re there for the filly’s parents, Ginger. That’s our priority.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Ginger waved him off. “Now that everypony knows what’s going to happen, suit up and prepare to head out. Balto is in charge here with the others while we’re gone. I’ll decide on the teams when we're ready to go.”

The mid-morning glare cut down through the empty sky, shining through airspace that had been occupied for centuries. All around was the smoking and charred landscape of ruined forest, a bomb-site of wreckage and debris. Many of the huge ironwoods, once so tall, had crashed to the earth, their enormous bulks creating walls twelve feet high and just as wide. The fallen trees had formed a literal maze out of their dead hulks, and if it wasn’t for Daring Do acting as an eye in the sky, it could have taken forever to search through the devastation.

Echo clambered over the ruins of a massive tree-trunk, observing the rings on it morbidly. There seemed to be an infinite number of them, so small and finite that he had to squint to pick them out.

What’s wrong, big guy? Daring asked as she perched on a lonely cloud, high above, funneling an aerial view to the back of his mind.

This tree was ancient. It must have been here for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It must have been around when Nightmare Moon rose. Maybe even when Discord first began to cause havoc. It’s...sobering, to see something so old and venerable brought low in an instant. It was a reminder of their own mortality, he reflected, which was even frailer than the mighty giant he now walked across. Daring offered him a murmur of comfort, struck by his sentiments.

Echo hopped off the edge of the stump, landing heavily amidst the scorched pine needles.

The Cinderwings were all around, clad in the shabby but sturdy armor that Luther, the only one who knew the art of metalworking, had crafted. Ginger was nearby, standing poised atop the summit of another downed tree. The sunlight glinted off the silver soot-stained barding she wore, a scarred and dented set of gorget, cuirass, battle saddle and boots. Her fiery mane spilled out of the crest of the old guard helmet she’d worn back at Wethoof. Slung at her side was a scabbard, holding her sword, a three-foot length of arcanite steel, the fabled metal sharp enough to cut through magic itself.

Before them lay a large, free-standing boulder, half-covered in great gouges ripped through the solid stone. Luther was sniffing it cautiously. “Silent One!” he called, “I think I have scent!”

Echo padded over. “Smell here,” Luther instructed. Echo dipped his nose forward, into a gash, and inhaled. A peculiar sensation filled his nostrils, akin to sniffing hot air, yet at the same time, sort of spicy, and sour. Up in the clouds, Daring Do shuddered as she sensed the same thing.

He spun about and whistled loudly, a two-tone blast of noise he reserved for getting attention. Ginger responded instantly, bounding off the tree at once and stepping to him. “Both of us have the scent, now. My group will use Daring to try and find the flight path the dragon took. It may have left a scent trail in the air, something like that. The flares are prepared, right?”

Ginger nodded grimly. “Aye. Is that extra little insurance we talked about ready to go?”

Echo glanced over to where Vixen was struggling under the weight of a large, burlap sack, the shape of several large objects within outlining themselves clearly.

“Sadly, yes. I still can’t believe you talked me into weaponizing them.”

“Funny, I’d thought you’d appreciate it. I took a page out of Daring’s book, after all.”

“My common sense is tingling. That’s all. It just doesn’t seem right to me.”

Ginger snorted with amusement, then moved off, flicking her tail. “My team, let’s move out! Luther, you have the lead. Smell me out that scaly bastard so I can steal its things.” Luther, Old Yeller, and Lassie immediately scrambled after her.

Echo looked around at his own team. That left...Rin-Tin-Tin...him...Daring...and...oh, crap.

He scowled as Vixen suddenly rubbed herself along his side, giving him a small, sultry wink. “We are paired together, my Beta! See? Even Cindercorn wants us together.” The end of her tail tickled his nose. He sneezed, his face reddening and ears pinning themselves backwards.

Meanwhile, Daring Do cackled to herself.

Ha, ha, ha. Oh, so funny. Let’s all laugh at the embarrassed diamond dog. Jerk. Echo lashed his tail in frustration and loped off in an arbitrary direction, head held low. The others bounded after him.

As his nose was filled with the burning scent of dragon, the pegasus up above began to sniff around as well.

Daring launched herself into the sky, inhaling in deep breaths through her nostrils. Their connection deepened after a few moments, and she detected a whiff of the same scent in the air. She grinned. There seemed to be quite a few benefits of their link, if it meant she would be getting diamond dog-level senses. She turned from side to side, eventually choosing a direction and zipping away, following her nose as best as she could.

The pair continued on in this fashion, trailing the scent trail as best as they were able throughout the day. The sun rose high to its zenith and slowly began to sink down towards the horizon.

The going on the ground was tough. The high log-walls of the fallen forest were difficult to navigate as it was, and with Daring leading them in a straight direction, that often meant they had to scale these as best they could. Echo in particular found problems with this, lacking his front claws, and had to resort to using his staff to vault as high as he could before sinking his rear claws into the bark and scrabbling upwards. Vixen, burdened by the burlap bag, pushed gamely on, despite the obvious handicap. Rin-Tin-Tin, meanwhile, was having no problems whatsoever, even throwing a taunt or two at the others as they struggled to climb after him.

Maybe it was the environment that had them on edge, Echo pondered. There was no color save for the sky, it was a wasteland of ashes and the dead hulks of giant trees. There was no birdsong, no chirping of cicadas. Aside from the padding of paws in the dust, there was utter silence.

As if nature itself was in shock.

The diamond dogs could feel it. All of their hackles were raised, eyes scanning warily. Something was wrong, here. But what? They each dealt with their apprehension differently. Vixen found herself daydreaming of curling up next to Echo after a long day. Echo, for his part, became even more stoic than usual, his sharp mind a literal storm of thoughts and hypotheses regarding their situation. Rin-Tin-Tin became irate and surly, taking out his anxiety on the others.

Echo was perturbed by the other male's behavior. The younger diamond dog had been growing more and more rebellious the farther they went in this hellhole. All signs pointed towards a possible confrontation in the future, something Echo never looked forward to.

Challenging a superior for the right to command was an intrinsic part of diamond dog society. If a male or female thought their Beta was unfit to lead, it was within their rights to challenge them for that role. A Beta was honor-bound to defend their title, and Echo had so far repelled all his challengers.

But would the other male really think to do this while they were on a mission such as this? He hoped not.

Fate, however, didn’t care what he thought. As the sun continued to bake down on the land, tensions came to a head, just as he feared.

He was pulling himself up another log, when the butt of a battleaxe crashed into his paw. He looked up to see Rin-Tin-Tin, glaring hotly down at him. “Why do you keep doing this? You are broken. You don’t have claws. You are half a diamond dog.”

Echo groaned to himself. Was Rin-Tin-Tin seriously going to try and taunt him into action? That would doubtfully work. Echo was known for brushing away insults as easily as a giant might brush away a fly. Daring, just a heads-up, but we may have a problem.

Yeah?

Rin. I think he’s finally gotten too big for his britches.

...He doesn’t wear any britches.

You know what I mean. Find a cloud and stay put for now, just in case. With that, he slammed their link closed to the merest thread of connection. No sense in making her experience an unneeded beating, after all.

Echo ignored the hothead's jeer, shoving the axe out of the way and grabbing onto the log with his other paw. Again, the butt of the weapon came down. He winced.

“Why should I follow half a diamond dog? You don’t want to kill the dragon, I can see this. You are scared. I am not scared. I do not bring shame upon this pack.”

Echo rolled to the side and scrambled up, continuing to move on.

Rin-Tin-Tin, however, would not be ignored. Angered by his Beta’s indifference, desperate to take out his anxiety on something, he lashed out.

Violently.

The flat of the axe suddenly crashed into Echo’s chest, catapulting him backwards over the edge of the log and into empty space, before he fell into the springy needles below. The air left his lungs with a noticeable wheeze of pain. He rolled as the other diamond dog slammed into the ground a heartbeat later. Rin-Tin-Tin was on him in a flash, kicking with his rear legs and pushing the axe at him, driving the shaft into his neck in an effort to force a submission. Nearby, Vixen yelped and dived out of the way of the tussling males.

Echo twisted and elbowed him firmly in the face, earning himself a few seconds of reprieve. He launched the male off him with a powerful two-legged kick to the stomach, sending him sprawling some ways away.

Echo crawled to his paws stood tall, unsheathing the shaman staff across his back and giving it a skillful twirl, before cocking it back under his arm.

He gestured with his free paw; the universal symbol for an invitation to a beat-down.

No more words needed to be said at this point. The challenge had been issued! Rin-Tin-Tin was on his paws almost instantly, rushing him and swinging his axe from the side. The staff snapped into action, deflecting the blow at the last possible second. Echo felt the small breeze of wind it made as the axe-head whistled past his face. He pulled back and sent the lower end of the staff up into his opponent’s gut. Rin-Tin-Tin howled in pain as the other end of his staff quickly lashed forward as well, smashing him in the face and violently denting his helm.

Echo ducked under the retaliatory strike, spinning away and sending a vicious backhand across Rin-Tin-Tin’s face, made all the more painful by the heavy bracers he wore. The other diamond dog was wearing a full helm, spaulders, and a chest guard, but beyond that, he was unarmored. Echo, on the other hand, only wore his hooded robe, sash, and bracers. It made him much lighter and faster than his opponent, and it showed.

Rin-Tin-Tin shook off the blow and raised his axe high, bringing it down for a mighty overhand chop. Echo side-stepped this and stamped a paw down on the weapon, holding it in place as he quickly struck with his staff - once, twice, three times!

The challenger roared in pain and abandoned his weapon, rearing backwards, bruised nicely in three unarmored places, before simply charging forward and bulling Echo into the ground. His staff went flying towards the fallen tree. The pair tumbled about for a moment until Rin-Tin-Tin emerged out on top, straddling his foe and pinning him down.

Echo gargled in pain as Rin-Tin-Tin pulled him forward and savagely head-butted him with enough force to make him see stars. A rain of blows began falling, and he weakly intercepted these as best as he could. Most he blocked with palm or bracer, but a few more got through, punishing him relentlessly. Echo himself had trained many of the Cinderwings, so he knew how they fought. But this was different. This was raw, uncoordinated, brawling.

He violently twisted, heaving and bucking until Rin-Tin-Tin was upsetted, and he rolled out from underneath and grappled wildly, the pair thrashing around in the dust before he was kicked away. He staggered to his paws, bleeding from where a punch had cut his lip open.

“See? You are weak!” Rin-Tin-Tin spat, before charging him for another tackle.

Weak, maybe, but not stupid. I’m not falling for that again.

Echo darted to the side, smoothly spinning and sweeping a leg out, taking the advancing attacker’s paws out from under him. Rin-Tin-TIn slammed face-first into the ground, skidding forward a few feet from the momentum. Echo gazed frantically around, eager to finish the fight as quickly as possible. His eyes settled on the fallen battle-axe, sunk into the earth. He wrenched this out of the ground and, just as Rin-Tin-Tin sprang back to his paws, Echo gripped it like a baseball bat and swung like it was the bottom of the ninth and the bases were loaded, connecting the back of the axe onto the top of Rin-Tin-Tin's helm as hard as he could, causing a spectacularly loud CLANG! to fill the air.

The heavy blow sent Rin-Tin-Tin drunkenly flying backwards, yelping in pain and surprise. Echo continued his advantage, relentlessly pummeling with his own weapon until the other diamond dog was backed against the fallen tree. In desperation, Rin-Tin-Tin surged forwards, arms swinging wildly, claws unsheathed.

Echo twisted around as the axe was knocked away by a lucky strike, and danced away again as he was forced to evade the storm of sharp claws. Suddenly, he found himself back against the tree. Shit! Think-think-think-think-think-GOT IT!

He spun and ran up the trunk, springing himself off and flipping over the frenzied diamond dog, landing in a smooth roll before he grabbed his fallen staff, twirling upwards and jabbing this forth, catching his foe in the neck as he spun around in astonishment. The blow hit straight and true, and Rin-Tin-Tin gasped with shock as his windpipe was pressed closed, Echo shoving him backwards until he was pinned against the tree by the end of his staff against his neck.

Both diamond dogs fought for air, covered in ash and needles, glaring at each other. Echo’s hood had been lifted back during the fight, and a cut above his cold, grey eyes was bleeding steadily. He ruthlessly pressed forward on his staff.

Rin-Tin-Tin held out for another few seconds before he realized the fight was lost. “Yield! Yield!” he called in desperation, sucking in a breath of fresh air the second Echo’s staff pulled away. He collapsed, sitting down hard, armor dented in several places. He spat out a broken tooth. “You fight well, for half a diamond dog,” he wheezed.

Echo sat next to him, leaning against the tree. “You fight not as well, for a full one.” Rin-Tin-Tin roared with laughter at this, slapping him comradely on the back, all aggression gone. It was as if a switch had been pulled.

Echo sighed to himself. Diamond dog life was a constant competition for dominance. Only the best of the best could rise to power. No doubt that Rin-Tin-Tin would be at his throat again in a few months. It wasn’t the first time he’d issued a challenge, after all. The others were no better; even Vixen and Lassie had each fought and lost to him once.

It eerily reminded him of being on a sports team.

Even he was expected to abide by the unspoken laws of diamond dog culture. He’d had to challenge Ginger, though unwillingly, to prove to the others that she could handle herself. The mare had shown absolutely no mercy, despite their friendship, and had sent a clear message to the others that she was not to be trifled with, despite her species difference.

Echo lapsed out of his train of thought when he noticed Daring had been banging on his metaphorical door. He widened the link a bit. What is it? I’m a little tired, in case you haven’t noticed.

Daring huffed. I know, I was watching. But, one thing No. Two things, actually.

Lay ‘em on me.

One; I know where the nest is, she said.

Okay...

Daring continued. He could sense her excitement, a tingle in his blood, despite being exhausted from the fight. Ginger sent up her signal flare. I can see it from here.

Right. She must have found the entrance, then. What’s number two?

Daring hesitated for a few seconds. She always saved the best for last, he’d noticed. We’ve got company, she stated.

Echo slapped his face with a paw. Vixen, who was inspecting Rin-Tin-Tin’s wounds, flinched away in surprise. He scowled at her. ...The zebra?

Yep. She tracked us all the way from the camp. Impressive, huh?

I had a feeling this would happen. We seem to run into a plethora of strong-willed females, for some odd reason.

Is that a bad thing? Daring growled. Echo chose his next words very carefully.

No...just...dangerous. Mostly to me, as it usually turns out.

Wimp.

He sighed. It had been a rough day since the moment he woke up.

I don’t know, the beginning was pretty sweet for you and I.

Aye, but it was most certainly rough.

Daring giggled. Did you just make a dirty joke, Echo?

I don’t know what you’re talking about, he pompously sniffed. Echo groaned and stood up, cracking his back loudly before slowly climbing up the tree. He scanned the broken horizon,and sure enough, he spied a green plume of smoke rising in the distance by a small, rocky hill. That was where Ginger and the dragon were, he observed.

He peered around again, squinting in the sunlight, until he spotted her. The black-and-white dot against the grey backdrop of the fields of ash stood out like a sore thumb. He whistled at the two other diamond dogs and gestured for them to stay put, before loping off down the fallen tree.

Above, as the sun began to sink towards the horizon, it dipped the world in gold.

Achievement Earned: "Doggystyle"

Level up! - Echo Ghostclaws, Beta of the Cinderwings + Dr. Daring Do, PhD.

-Perk Unlocked: Afterglow: (+10 spirit, -1 intelligence) "I just had sex...and it felt so good!" You just scored some tail. You feel on top of the world!

-Perk Upgraded: Prototype Telepathy Spell: (+6 intellect, +20 magic) The bond between you and your significant other is growing, causing unexpected psychological and physical alterations. Science might be an annoying bitch, but Magic is her slutty, drug-addicted cousin. Who enjoys screwing with your head.