(Lumix, Thirty eighth, Nine Hundred and Ninety fifth Celestial Reckoning, Galloping range, Camp Hippogriff.)

The sunlight of a new dawn, filtered through the cloth fabric of the neutral colored tent, keeping the contents within closed to the elements. Small motes of the shining light drop through the canvas and landed on the young tan mare resting within the precarious shelter. As the sun rises, one such beam even manages to pierce straight into her eyes, causing a peculiar reaction. “Ugnh Wha… Aww, horse apples. How long was I out last night?” Rising to a sitting position, the tan pegasus quickly examines her form and surroundings. Upon spotting an old key laying upon her lower legs the pegasus visibly relaxes, a small feeling of euphoria overcomes her at the heartening revelation that the object she had been guarding for several weeks now hadn’t been taken while she slept. “Well thats a load off my...” Suddenly she sniffs, ‘Smoke!!! What could be burning at this time?’ Quickly grabbing the key, she shoves the rusted sapphire encrusted device into her nearby saddle bags, before lashing them onto her back and rushing out of the tent into the daylight.

The sight that greeted her was one of both awkwardness and hilarity. In her blind panic, the sight of an imposing griffon being pinned to the ground by a small (even by unicorn standards) pony, forces her mind to pause for a few moments as she attempted to make sense of the scene before her.

“Gneuu! Stupid pony, get OFF!” Screams the tawny griffon as she struggles underneath her pony captor, a wing flaring out as the other is trapped to her side under a bandage, she even attempts a few bites at the pony on her back, only to receive a sharp kick to the beak for her troubles.

“If you will stop struggling, I will be done soon, However if you continue, then I will be forced to take more drastic measures to ensure you do not injure yourself.” The lavender colored unicorn smacks her hoof across the griffon’s beak as emphasis to her point. After a second or two the griffon stops fighting the young unicorn’s restrains, and just lets the pony do as she wishes.

Shaking her head, the young adventurer finally feels some modicum of connection between her thoughts and voice, “Ah-buwAA!!? Bu-but how?” ‘Not even I can tackle a fully grown griffon! Let alone a Talon mercenary.’ Both the pony and the griffon bend their necks to stare at the newcomer. The unicorn just lifts an eyebrow in query while the griffon blushes in both embarrassment and impotent rage.

“Don’t ask me, ask the crazy unicorn on my back, get her off while you’re at it!” The griffon grumbles tersely.

Looking between the disgruntled griffon and the mysteriously blank faced pony pinning her to the ground, the tan coated pegasus with a wind swept monochrome mane decides to do the first smart thing she could’ve thought of for the morning. “Nope! Too early for this, Call me when you’re done.” With that thought, the tired pegasus turns around and promptly marches back into her tent, tying the flaps closed behind her.

---

Outside the tent both the unicorn and griffon were staring as the pegasus reenters her tent, One with even more fierce rage than before, the other with little emotion on her expressionless face. This lasted for half a second before the Lavender coated unicorn returns to her work on the griffon causing the lion-bird to screech in anger as she tries even harder to remove her persistent equine passenger.

Ignoring the griffons protests, the unicorn uses her magic to gently unwrap the stained bandages from the griffons hind quarters, making sure to hold the protesting Feline still during the process. Once finished, she examines the previously covered area and nods slightly at what she sees. Placing the sullied bandages to the side, Twilight pulls a strange viscous grey substance from her saddlebags, before dipping one of her forehooves into the substance then putting it away. With her hoof stained she places it in the center of the injury and begins liberally rubbing the substance into the wound.

“SquAAAAAAAA!” the griffon jerks and bounces even more as the unbound wound begins stinging like dragon fire. The cleansing gelatin burning away the protective layer of dried blood and dirt, Seconds later the wound cools as a moist fluid begins washing away the cleansing paste. Turning to look at the pony on her back Gilda screeches again in pained indignation. “What in tartarus was that, it felt like dragon fire was riding right up my ASS!”

“Ent sap mixed with dried hemlock and salamander saliva, makes for a pretty good cleansing paste, however it also removes any form of numbing salve put on the wound as it regenerates the damaged skin and muscle. All you need to wait on for now is the fur to grow back, as your puncture wound is just about finished mending. You’ll need to retrain the muscle, but you will at least have full functionality as opposed to the alternative that I’ve seen from city healing facilities.” The unicorn explained before releasing the griffon and gracefully leaping from her back. “Besides, Gilda, I believed that you’d want to be back on your feet as soon as possible, so that you aren’t carted around like yesterday.”

Gilda adopts a blank look on her face before lifting one of her paws palm facing inward with all digits visible, before pulling in the outer two in a vulgar gesture. “Buck you Glimmer. Buck. You.”

Not even dignifying the primitive statement with a response, the lavender unicorn turns around and begins walking over to her traveling gear. “Find a comfortable position, Your body won’t be active for much longer with all of the energy it just expended regenerating the damage from your wound”

Raising her foreleg, Gilda moves to protest that she feels just fine, half a second later a small thud comes to Twilights attention. Twilight turns around and notes Gilda’s compromising position, having passed out in the middle of trying to respond to the lavender potion masters warning. Gilda’s hind quarters being held in the air and her head laying on the ground. Rolling her eyes Twilight lights her horn and lifts the incapacitated griffon from the ground and places Gilda on her sleeping mat. Turning back to her previous task, Twilight releases her telekinetic grip from the griffon and uses her magic to sift through her saddle bags.

‘Where did I put that mirror… There!’ With a giddy smile she lifts a small hoof mirror from her saddlebags, It’s outer rim decorated in silvery blue filigree, elegantly depicting parts of the night in such a way as to make the clouded glass if the mirror itself fade into the Night sky. ‘I remember taking this out once some time ago at night, Almost lost it when it blended so perfectly with the Night sky… Hmm I wonder, would Daring know anything about this mirror?’

At that moment, the flap in front of Daring Do’s tent flips open as the pegasus owner storms out, waves of rage flowing off of her like a lake in a storm. “What the buck is going on out here!” She looks around and spots the griffon that had awoken her passed out on the mat next to the fire, then sees twilight holding a hoof mirror in her magic. Pointing a hoof at the griffon Daring pointedly asks, “The buck happened to her?”

Glancing at the cooling pegasus, Twilight begins to turn towards her as she responds smoothly, “Healing poultices can take a lot out of the patient they are applied to, her deeper injuries are healed, however she will be unconscious for the next few hours as her body regains the energy lost in the process.” Twilight answers as she steps up to the pegasus adventurer. “Are you hungry?”

Nod.

Twilight points her hoof to the small kettle hanging over the fire pit, a slight bit of steam wafting from underneath the lid. “There’s some honey oats within the pot, beware there are some ryncol berries cooked in.” Twilight warns before walking over to sit next to Gilda’s unconscious form.

Finally cooled off, the half tired pegasus walks over to the fire and kettle, finding a small assortment of wooden bowls and a solid jade ladle set beside the pot. “Hay uh, Glimmer, would you happen to have any extra healing potions?” She asks, setting one of the bowls to the side and pulling off the lid of the pot.

“If you can find some hemlock while we're waiting, I should be able to make a batch before Gilda wakes.” Twilight answers almost causing the pegasus to drop the ladle she was using to pour some of the mixture into her bowl.

After carefully placing the ladle back where she had picked it up Daring turns to Twilight a sick look on her face. “Why the buck would you need Hemlock?” Before bending down to nibble at the oat slurry.

Twilight smiles, “Because the Hemlock actually balances the magical reactions of the healing reagents, keeping them from causing the patient to go into shock after the healing process completes, or at worst the unbalanced potion could cause system wide shock in the middle of a procedure. I’m assuming you want potions of self healing in case of personal injury during your travels, so I’ll need to make a quart of life brew which would make at least five vials of healing potion. In which case I will need a branch of hemlock to distil the mixture into a brew that can be used without needing any medical assistance.”

Twilight having finished her lecture glances at Daring for her response, Only instead she is greeted by a blank look.Shaking her mental cobwebs clear Daring finally answers. “Ok, so it’s basically necessary for the potion to work.”

Hoof to face, Twilight sighs before correctly. “It’s necessary for the potion to work safely.” Releasing another sigh, Twilight allows the mounted tension to fall off her like so much water. Lifting the mirror into view, Twilight passes it over to Daring as the pegasus finishes polishing her plate clean.

The adventurer takes a look at the mirror quizzically before turning to Twilight confused. “The buck is this, and what do you expect me to do with it?”

“I was hoping you could identify it. I found it in a well preserved chamber within one of the old everfree ruins.” Twilight answers hopefully.

The pegasus does a double take on the cobalt blue item of vanity. “You said you found this in one of the old everfree ruins, Right?” Twilight gestures affirmatively. “Damn, the only one I know of is the Castle of the two sisters, and that place is a death trap. However I’m guessing you found it in one of the old rooms, maybe in one of the towers, I’m guessing the place you found looked like an ursa minor had entered it and exploded onto everything?” Nod “So if I were to guess, this mirror would have belonged to the old Night Princess.” Daring says as she pulls the old artifact out of Twilights magical grasp with her hooves and begins to examine the ancient mirror.

Looking over the objects clouded glass, Daring asks Twilight a few questions. “Alright so what effects have you been able to distinguish from the mirror?”

“Well,” Twilight begins, “To start off with my etherical inspection, with the notable exception of telekinesis most if not all other spell forms have the same effect as a rock trying to grasp air, it’s there yet it’s all I can do to even grasp it’s presence.” The lavender mare says disgruntledly, remembering several fruitless nights where she had attempted to disassemble the spell work on the mirror only to watch as her magic just faded from existence without any noticeable effect or feedback. Letting the frustration go with a sigh, Twilight refocuses on the second part of her explanation. “As for physical examination, I’ve managed to find several interesting effects from the mirror. Occasionally during the night the mirror’s face would become clearer to the point where you could possibly see your reflection, however instead of reflection like a normal mirror, the reflection you saw, would instead show a pair of glowing blue eyes amidst a great field of darkness. Another more minor one is that the surface of the mirror doesn’t feel like glass but more like a liquid, again any attempt that I’ve made at studying the substance have proved fruitless.”

Taking a quick breath Twilight glances at the unconscious griffon at the fire, returning her full concentration to Daring and continues her explanation. “Its design does befit the night sky and yet you are correct, I found it in a well preserved room that resembled the night.”

The helmeted adventurer nods a few times and hums a bit while examining the artifact a bit more. “Seems I was right, very old, I’m surprised Celestia hadn’t commissioned the retrieval of such a powerful artifact as this. Hmm, if I’m right, this mirror is in fact more of a communication portal than an object of vanity. I bet those eyes you saw were in fact the owner of it trying to communicate through her connection to the mirror…” Suddenly Daring’s overjoyed demeanor takes a nose dive her ears splaying back as she begins to realize the implications of her discovery. “Eh, heh, ehh. Aghm! Said owner being Nightmare Moon, I think it would be safe to just put it back whereever you were holding it, I honestly don’t like the thought of Nightmare Moon spying on us.”

With a nod Twilight pulls the mirror from Daring’s hooves, and douses it once more within the stasis like field maintained by her saddlebags of holding. Within second she draws forth a few more Items, including A tattered old journal and a Sword With a golden gem encrusted handle fueling a set of glowing runes that flow up the length of the blade itself. “Thank you for the help, also here. I have no use of these since I’ve finished studying the magic behind their use, and I feel you would know where they would be better put to use.” She says passing the artifacts over to the surprised adventurer. “Think of it as… Payment, for services rendered. And for allowing me and Gilda to stay the night when-...”

Daring had stopped listening, as her focus honed into the journal, all other senses shutting down with only one thought processing through her head. ‘How the buck did this filly manage to get her hands on Clover the Clever’s secret journal, and how the hell is she wielding Starswirl’s Glim?’ The tan pegasus could only gawk as tidbits of knowledge that she had read about the artifacts begin to pass before her minds eye. ‘Only the most talented and powerful of mages can wield the damn sword due to the amount of power it drains from it’s user per strike, and Clovers actual journal was supposed to reside in Starswirl’s tower hidden deeply within it’s spell protected walls… NO WONDER I COULDN’T FIND THE DAMN BOOK! This mare probably collected it before I even got inside Starswirl’s Tower.’ After several more awkward seconds of raging within her own mind, Daring looks straight into Twilight’s eyes before closing them and bowing deeply. ‘Well atleast I don’t have to worry about searching for them now, hopefully Celestia will be happy with these safely returned to her hooves.’ “Thank you Glimmering Wisp, you may not know how much these artifacts will assist me, but I do and will forever be in your debt. Please give me a few moments to stow these safely away.” she says before placing both artifacts on her back and reentering her makeshift tent and tying the flap closed behind her.

A nearby rustling sound catches Twilights attention causing her to turn and observe as Gilda stretches her wings, disturbing the detritus on the ground with small gusts of wind from her feathered appendages. Opening her eyes without a flutter, Gilda becomes fully conscious and concentrates her annoyance on Twilight as soon as she spots her. “Damn it Glimmer, that was a dirty trick… Don’t you dare mention to anypony about this, ever! Ya got me? Otherwise I’ll prank you so hard you’ll be wondering if you got haunted by a poltergeist.”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle in response to the griffons fierce declaration. “Don’t worry, I’m not the one who would spread rumors. I’ll keep it to myself, though it might be a little harder to convince Miss Do to remain quiet about it.”

The griffon deflates a second after Twilight mentions the explorers name, it starts at first with a chuckle, then after a few more seconds Gilda falls onto her back howling in full blown laughter. Several moments before Twilight would have questioned her sanity, letting out a few more laughs as she regains her breath, Gilda stands wiping a tear from her eye. “Heh, sorry I needed a laugh, In answer to the question on your face. Honestly, It would be ridiculous to think that that treasure hunter would release any information about any events that happen during her quests, without permission from ol’ Princess Sunbutt herself.” The griffon chuckles again. “Honestly I’m surprised that she even let us rest in her camp site in the first place.”

Raising an eyebrow in interest, Twilight prepares to ask the question that had come upon her thoughts, “Why would she have denied us access to the campsite?” Twilight hears a slight rustle of leaves nearby as she listens into the griffoness’ answer.

Gilda grimaces slightly at the question. “The Obelisk of Rhigalian. One of the older land markers that we had found several centuries ago, well about two years back it began acting up and she took a small company of Talon Black Claws with her as protection, anyway before they arrived at the site they had happened upon a small group of travelers from the eastern City states, and they camped together. The travelers were apparently thralls for the unicorn that activated the Obelisk’s power, and killed the Talons as they slept before they could even put up a token fight. Daring, of course, being one of the more antisocial ponies we’ve come across in the merc business was able to escape with forewarning from the dying Talon screams. That is also the reason that Talons won’t do business with Daring anymore.”

“That still doesn’t tell me why Mrs. Do would deny us to joining her camp for the night.”

The griffon slaps her uninjured paw against her face, groaning exasperatedly. “Ughh, It should be bucking obvious, she prefers to be secluded when she sleeps because she doesn’t want to chance getting caught off guard again by enemies hiding in her own camp.”

Twilight nods, “So predators try and sneak up on her disguised as other ponies?.. Oh okay, I understand now. So she’s afraid that mean ponies will try and sneak up on her, after telling lies to get into her camp, and attack her while she sleeps.” Gilda sighs in relief as the unicorn finally understands her point.

“Exactly, but mostly because she is protecting some magical artifact or other from falling into the hooves of some pony with hostile intentions for seeking the items power. Anyw…” Any other words she was about to say are cut off by a rock cracking her on the side of the head. Collapsing to the ground like a broken ragdoll, Gilda could only think one thing. ‘Not again!’ Before consciousness fully left her.

Upon hearing the whistle of the traveling rock, Twilight bursts into action, upon seeing that the object is already too close for her to stop it from hitting Gilda, Twilight instead sends a command for her staff to float over to her while also closing her eyes and summoning her thoughts into speech. ‘Fang, I’m under attack, assist me.’

The response is almost instant, as the rock hits Gilda in the head, the cloak Twilight wore the night before flies over to Twilight and explodes into a gaseous form, obfuscating Twilight’s presence from the discerning eye before expanding to cover the field and hid the unconscious griffon. ‘On my way mom.’ Is the reply, a screech from above preceding the arrival of a black shadow bursting through the conjured mist and landing next to her. and resolving itself into the form of a small scaled creature somewhat more than three feet in height, with a pair of wings, a long sinuous neck, and sharp piercing eyes brimming with an intellect to rival the unicorns own. Releasing a huff, the voice whispers into Twilights thoughts once more. ‘I’m here mom.’

Instead of answering the thought Twilight leaps over Gilda’s unconscious form, barely dodging the second rock aimed at her previous location, glancing in the direction the stone came from, Twilight motions her hoof to the right giving the mottled grey drake a meaningful stare. With a nod, Fang disappears through the mist in the direction Twilight commanded, while Twilight silently glides into the origin of the ranged attack. After a few seconds the sorcerous fog fades as she breaches the perimeter of the cloak’s magical reach. With her vision expanded, Twilight sees the form of her assailant, another griffon in the same uniform she had found on Gilda, if in a little better condition.

Turning to get a good look at the shadow stepping out of the mysteriously summoned mist, the Griffon grunts as he spots the lavender pony that was standing next to the female Talon mercenary, right claw sifting through the brush beneath him, he grasps another stone, this one smooth, and thin. Not realizing that Twilight had noticed his presence, he winds up and aims carefully for the side of her head, preparing to knock her out with one blow. ‘First gotta knock out this pony, then deal with the pegasus in the tent, then finally return to that stupid monkey with the damn artifact, then he’ll release me from this rotten shelled life pact, however he’ll do it as long as I can get back to...’

He doesn’t even finish the thought as a wrathful force of nature strikes him from behind, before he can even screech in surprise, he finds his beak held shut by a magenta magical field, with the unicorn staring straight into his eyes as he finishes collapsing to the ground. Caught off guard and in a bad situation, training immediately takes over, feeling the presence on his back he immediately retaliates by slamming his wings together behind himself, sending the errant back rider fling off of him, next he rolls over out of the unicorns sight behind a tree, losing the remnants of his black body armor in the process.

Suddenly the ground beneath the tree begins to rumble, causing the griffon to flare his wings out for stability. Within half a second dozens of roots burst out of the earth, grasping for the griffon and latching onto both his outstretched wings and one of his forelegs. Dragging him to the ground before he can muster enough strength to tear out of their grasp. ‘Shit, it just had to be a freaking druid.’ Using his razor sharp talons, the warrior make short work of the vines attempting to encase him, starting with the ones holding his arms in place and then moving on to the ones attempting to pull his wings in agonizing directions. ‘Next thing I know Timberwolves will start leaping down from the...’ After cutting off the last root holding on to his tail, he stands up to his full height attempting to scout the area around him, only to get slammed back down to the ground, his thought getting cut off midway through the sentence by a massive wave of force.

Looking the direction of the attack, only to find a single reptilian eye staring directly into his, as Fang lands on the unconsciously extended forelimb. “Wha!...” The drake opens his mouth wide, and blasts a blizzard of Ice cold magic flame right into the stunned griffons face, also consequentially going down the avians non magically protected throat, and freezing him in place, like a statue.

---

Hearing the gout of blue flame extinguish itself in the midday heat, Twilight swiftly steps her way over to see the results of Fang’s swiftly cast spell.The griffon lay upon the ground, his head encased in a layer of Ice, with his beak wide open and the majority of his facial feathers frozen backwards in an expression of intense shock. Several feet behind the griffon lay a cone shaped field of Ice encased ground and plant matter. Thinking swiftly, Twilight lights her horn with a heating charm and places it against the griffons forehead, forcing the temporary spell to sink beneath the griffons mana dampening feathers.

Standing up, Twilight glances towards the young drake that had flitted onto her back while she was tending to the griffon. ‘Good form Fang, however, please mind the environment and strength of your attacks in the future. You never know when a friend may be in the target zone of your attack. Also, mind the lethality of your attack until the opponent truly means to hurt you the same way.’ Outwardly Twilight exhales in relief that she didn’t have to worry about the griffon dying from her son’s blunder, Her traveling cloak reforms upon her back once more, the swirling mists obscuring the camp from sight having dissipated long ago with Twilight’s swift departure from its shadowy folds.

Fang, being used to the cloak’s antics, leaps for half a second allowing the living fabric to settle upon Twilight’s back before making his own landing, rolling his eyes at Twilights admonishment while settling calmly upon the soft velvety fabric. ‘I soo, would have held back if you were behind him.’ He says with an upward flick of his snout.

Twilight responds with a simple, “Uh huh, yea.” Before checking on the griffon once more, his head fully thawed, however still showed signs of severe hypothermia, and near frostbite in the griffons unconscious state. “And that explains why a few more seconds of your breath would have killed instead of incapacitating the griffon here?”

“Hey he tried to kill Gilda and almost succeeded in knocking you out as well!” He growls from atop her back, his leg talons flexing in annoyance and slightly digging into Twilight’s back. In unconscious response Twilight’s horn releases a charged bolt into his Talons, the jolt of energy forcing them to relax, before they begin cutting into her skin for the thousandth time.

A groaning sound from the direction of camp announces Gilda’s recent victory against unconsciousness, however that still doesn’t cure the effects of a concussion, neither does slapping herself in the face. “Buck!...” she screeches, rubbing her temples softly with the good claw before continuing. “I feel like some bird slammed an anvil on top of my head.” Taking a second to focus her gaze, Gilda glances around the camp, her first noted item is a fist sized stone laying next to her leg. Pulling her paw from the side of her head, Gilda notices a smattering of smeared blood on the first two talons. “Well, atleast I know what hit m… Wait, wheres that crazy unicorn now?”

Twilight raises a hoof over the hedge line into the griffons vision, “Gilda, please come over here. I think you would be better at understanding who this is.” Twilight calls worriedly.

The incensed griffoness glares in the direction the waving hoof had last been seen, before responding angrily. “Go buck yourself Glimmer, it’ll be at least another minute before I can even walk, let alone drag my sorry carcass through that thick brush you like to dance through.” With her second breath Gilda quietly appends her previous statement. “Stupid bucking hornheads.” After a few minutes, Gilda finally feels her balance taking it’s rightful seat in the center of her mind, helping force the spinning world around her to stabilize into it’s proper place, with the sky above her head and the ground beneath her feet.

Closing her eyes, Gilda finally feels the dizzy spell dissipate completely. Opening them once more, it is as if a breath of fresh air had come upon her psyche, revitalizing her thoughts, empowering her actions, and numbing the painful lump on the back of her head. “Alright coming ov-mph” Gilda only makes it a step in Twilight’s direction before two hundred and fifty pounds of unconscious brown feathered griffon dead weight slams right into her, knocking her to the ground. Pushing the unconscious griffon off her self and standing up, Gilda screeches in the direction of her new lavender annoyance. “DWEEEEB! When you get back here, I’m going to Rmph...” Gilda’s rant cuts off as a band of magenta energy mounts itself around her solid beak, holding it closed.

Twilight silently steps into the camp melting out of the foliage like some stray forest spirit, her relaxed gaze focused upon the simmering griffon. “It’s not me you should be angry at,” As if in answer Fang bursts into the camp from the tree branches above with a screech, dragging several branches behind him, held in his signature glowing steel grey field of telekinesis. Releasing an excited squeal, he wheels twice in the air before plummeting at a rapid speed and landing on top of the other griffon and slamming the branches into the ground like impromptu steaks, before reforming them over the unconscious griffon into a solid prison of wood.

Rolling her eyes at Fang’s over excited antics, Twilight raises her hoof upward and off to the side. “It would have to be my over excited charge here.” Releasing Gilda’s beek from her firm magical grip, Twilight sets her hoof back onto the ground asks her question again. “Before you try and avenge your pride against a magically overcharged drake, I would like to ask. Do you have any idea whom this might be, or why he attempted to incapacitate us?”

“Fine! Bu-” Rolling her eyes, Gilda takes a look at the bound griffon, thoroughly examining him for the first time since he landed on her. She backs up a step at what she finds. ‘This isn’t any normal banded or mercenary, Who the hell would have been able to purchase the services of a Talon for a hit on The Lone Treasure Hunter, Scratch that, what gryph would be mad enough to even contemplate accepting this kind of suicide mission.’ Gilda mulls over the information while trying to identify the unconscious talon.

“Well well well, what have we here?” Gilda mumbles with a small smile, pulling a small insignia from the remnants of the griffons undergarments, shattered bits of black lacquered armor crumbling off like dust. Imprinted onto the leather is a small insignia containing a black crow, it’s wings spread high, with it’s claws holding a limp snake. ‘Shit this is the symbol for the Night Hawks, The hell, is a special tasks group warrior doing so far into pony territory. Wait if I remember correctly, one of their newest members, went missing several weeks ago. I think his name was-’ Gilda takes a wide eyed look at the heavily bound and unconscious griffon. “Shit, Hagraven!...”

‘Buck, theres nothing that can truly hold a Night Hawk.’Gilda turns a worried eye to Twilight before setting her terrified gaze upon the unconscious warrior before her. ‘Nope!’ Reaching underneath one wing, Gilda grasps the hilt of a dagger, hidden amongst her primary’s, without any further encouragement Gilda unsheathes the blade and in one swift motion sinks it into the base of the other griffon’s skull.

“Wait!” Twilight futily cries out, the body jerks once before going limp, with no sign of life remaining in the avian warrior. Her power shooting to the surface, Twilight easily grasps Gilda’s head and turns the distracted griffonesses gaze towards her. “Why did you do that!” She yells, at the stunned griffon.

‘Damn, she’s strong.’ Is all that Gilda thinks as Twilight drags her over, to glare directly into her face, as if to say ‘Well?’. Twilights piercing, predatory like look shakes off the last of Gilda’s stunned surprise. Taking this chance, Gilda answers, “He was a ‘Night Hawk’, best of the best when it comes to combat in the Talons, he’s too dangerous to keep alive, anywhere near by. If I didn’t kill him now, we probably wouldn’t have had a chance to later when he finally broke through your root bindings and killed us in our sleep.” Letting loose a sigh before taking in another breath, “Sorry.” Gilda apologizes.

Twilight gives the griffon a disapproving look. “You really still think so little of my ability?” Exhaling a sigh of her own with closed eyes, Twilight sits down opening her eyes, and gives the body one more glance. “I could have handled him myself, but I wished to help Fang train his abilities so he can handle larger and more skilled foes, incase he runs into trouble on his own.” An indignant blat from above answers Twilight’s undignifying words. “He has power, but he lacks the control needed to put that power to it’s best possible use. One more thing, when a situation like this comes up again, consult me before attacking anypony outside of a fight.” She her eyes, colder and sharper than the harshest of winter storms.

The griffoness with her larger frame shivers, feeling the pony’s glare piercing straight through her defenses. ‘Shit, how the buck can a candy colored pony get that terrifying of a stare.’ Gilda wonders silently as even more chills wrack her own body, Deciding not to challenge her host, Gilda nods. “Alright I-i understand, your terms.”

As if a weight had been lifted from her, Twilight’s shoulders slump, A sigh she didn’t even know she was holding escapes her lips as she closes her eyes. A second later, her eyes open and she smiles up to the griffon. “Alright, as long as you understand and agree, I’ll allow you to wield your blades, Otherwise I will take them.” As emphasis, Twilight’s horn lights up and several sharp daggers slide from Gilda’s body, Three from her wings, and two from her back legs, and floats them in the air before herself. “All of them.”

Gilda looks at the lavender unicorn dumbfound, and not for the first time. “Ho-bu, The buck? How did you even know that those were there? You could not have seen them!”

Twilight stares at the Griffon with a deadpan expression, “Your answer?” She asks with a blank tone.

“Fine.” Gilda growls in furious annoyance as she reaches for the blade closest to her, sheathing the blade, she reaches for the next, continuing the process while she answers. “However, if I get into a situation where I cannot ask you- ” Gildas Beak is suddenly wrapped tightly in a magenta glow before being dragged forward into her knees, her face held inches inches from Twilight’s own.

“Then I expect you to follow the morals I put forth and make a better judgement of the situation. Save killing for after the creature or person has proven themselves too violent or dangerous to contain.” Twilight’s fierce expression softens, “Otherwise, remember be reserved about who you kill, and be merciful to your lessers, they don’t know any better.”

Gilda rolls her eyes at Twilight’s sentimental words, “And what about hunting?”

Twilight felt a red mark coming on after lowering her hoof from her face once again. ‘If I keep this up that mark might end up becoming permanent.’ To Gilda she responds, “Do you even know how stupid that question was? No, don’t answer that. First of all, if you’re hunting, you should be out of civilized areas and in the middle of a forest or at least on the road, and only hunt creatures that won’t be missed by someone else.” Sighing in even more frustration, Twilight cools a little before finishing her rant. “Also, don’t bring any carcases back to camp, I do not want Fang picking up any bad habits.”

Gilda feels her plumage rise in offence to the accusation. “You honestly think that I would bring my meal back to camp, I’m not that stupid. Predators for miles would be able to smell the blood all the way back to us, also how did you know I had knives hidden in my wings?” Gilda’s voice echoed within the clearing, just a few octaves from a shout, as she glared at the Alchemist journeyer before her.

Twilight rolls her eyes, “As a skilled healer, I found it odd during my visual examination, that several of your Primaries had been unnaturally shifted out of alignment. Upon attempting to maneuver them back into place so I could apply proper bandages, I found your knife sheaths. You did a good job hiding them from sight, however, it would only take a bump to know they were there.” The lavender mare says clinically.

If the griffons feathers could have puffed out even further, she would have looked like a swallow. As it was Gilda lifts a foreclaw her index didget pointing skyward above the lavender unicorn her mouth wide open, “Now see he-”

“Grahhhh!” Excludes a voice from the tent near the bonfire. a tan hoove slaps the tent flaps aside as the tents enraged pegasus occupant stares down both sides of the argument with equal vehemence. “Will you two give it a bucking rest already, I can’t concentrate or get any of my notes down with all of this racket going on out...” Finally noticing the body, she looks immediately to the lavender mare standing calmly to her right. “What the buck happened out here, and where did he come from?”

Though phrased as a question, Gilda could immediately detect the command underneath the words, before she could speak up, Twilight answers. “He attacked the camp. He knocked out Gilda, and tried to take out me, however Fang and I outmaneuvered and rendered him unconscious.” Glancing the griffons way, Twilight adds. “Gilda here killed him before I could stop her.”

Daring slaps a hoof to her face, “Buck, I didn’t even think he could find me this close to the equestrian border.” Daring glances towards her tent before swiftly returning her attention to the lavender unicorn before her. “Look I know you’re nice, and would probably help if you could, but Ahuizotl plays for keeps, and that includes using ancient artifacts with near unlimited power to kill anyone that gets in his way. I don’t want to involve you or the griffon if I can get away with it.” With her speech over Daring loses all pretenses at bravery and sprints over to her tent, Stopping at the entrance the tan coated mare says off handedly. “Oh, you might want to leave camp before I do, I don’t want that idiot and his feline pets chasing you down under the assumption that I’m with you.” Without a second look the adventurer disappears inside the makeshift shelter.

Twilight stands there, mouth left wide open as she stares at the entrance of the tent, “Well... That just happened.” Says a voice says from nearby, knocking Twilight’s senses back into alignment, the young alchemist turns in the direction of the voice to find Gilda staring at the entrance of the tent for another half second, before distracting herself with Twilight’s recent attention. “Well, I guess that’s as good a send off as any, let’s get packed up and out of here. I don’t know who this Ahooi person is, but he definitely doesn’t sound like someone we should be tangling with.”

“Gilda, wait! Just get in the cart and I’ll get everything packed, you still shouldn’t be stressing your wing and arm like that. Also I need a moment, he at least deserves a proper burial.” Twilight says, stepping over to the griffon body near the fire. With a slight ruffle of wings, the griffon pads away from the scene, leaving Twilight alone for the moment, eyes closed and head lowered in reverence. A single spark of magic, drops from her horn and falls upon the deceased griffon, exploding into a brilliant flash of light before dimming to a more bearable brightness. upon inspection, Twilight notes the body had been fully restored, however upon caster her necromantic sight, she confirmed that the griffons soul had already departed from the previously broken vessel.

Releasing a sigh, Twilight magically lifts the griffon from the ground, and carries him with her into the forest. She returns a few minutes later, minus one body, completely refreshed as if the previous hour’s events hadn’t taken their toll on her. It was another few minutes before Twilight finally finished packing her hers and tools back into the cart, along with her sleeping mats, and salvaging several chunks of the former mercenary’s shattered armor.

Taking one last look at the campsite, Twilight notes several small dirt piles with one slightly raised above the others. ‘She really needs to study how squirrels hide things, it would help her keep things hidden that she doesn’t want others to find.’ Finding nothing else left in the area that belonged in the cart or on her person, Twilight turns around and carefully bends down to examine the wheels of her cart. ‘Now, how did that spell work again?’ Twilight thought as symbols and half formed lines formed before her vision, small sparks of magical energy dancing off the tip of her horn only to dissipate mid air.

A small smile stretches Twilight’s face as she feels the spell she was searching for finally begin to form in her thoughts. ‘Ah, there it is, i’m glad that I found that journal, Clover had some fascinating additions she introduced to Starswirls more unstable works. including a temporal spell form that allowed you to designate a reverse in time up to five seconds in a constant effect. Attached to a detection spell, I can easily manipulate the spell to reverse any signs of travel as I move down the road. Now what will I use as the vessel of the enchantment.’ Lifting a hoof to her chin, she first examines the wheels themselves and quickely drops the first choice. ‘Dead wood holds enchantment like paper holds water, it may work for a day or two however the spell will unweave itself far too quickly for it to be of any real use.’ Looking up she notes the solid tube shaped axle made of bronze, set between the wagons wheels. ‘Perfect!’

The spell fully formed, Twilight sets to work empowering it, and ducking under the wagon to reach for the potential vessel for her spell. The axle now within reach, Twilight Taps her horn onto the metal construct, Transferring the stored spell into the forged bronze. Casting her mage sight, Twilight watches as the empowered runes and sigils solidify their places upon the axel, making minor alterations as she sees fit, after a few more seconds, Twilight nods acceptance of the spells final form. Before her eyes the runes fade from existence, the design into empowered connections. In a single glance, she knows the spell will hold strong,pulling herself from under the wagon Twilight lets go of her mage sight. ‘now to test it.’

With a small wave of her magic, Twilight lifts the front of the cart and begins pulling it forward several feet. “Oof,” Gilda grunts as she falls over from the sudden motion of the cart. “The buck are you doing, hornhead.” The griffon complains as she pulls her head over the cart to glare at the purple menace.

“Experimenting to see how well my spell works.” She answers back, examining the cart as it rolls along. After five feet, the trail from where the cart had been laying suddenly began warping, along the same path as the wagon, and leaving no trace that the wagon had even moved over the ground. “Perfect!” Twilight exclaims with a joyous leap. Turning around, Twilight rushes away from the irate griffon, over to the small tent, where she could hear no small amount of shuffling and jingling within. “Good by miss Do, I hope to meet you again.” She says and is off again before any form of coherent reply could be heard, returning to the cart, and seeing the simmering griffon sitting on top..

“Are you pissing me off on purpose, cause it’s workin.” Gilda growls lowly.

Twilight smiles back, unphased by the griffons mood. “I guess I should have warned you, I cast a spell on the wagon that should cover our trail, without any difficulty. Just let me get the wagon tied and we’ll be off.” Gilda calms noticeably as Twilight’s half apology sinks in. Twilight steps over to the front of the wagon, lifting the yoke, and equipping the harness. checking the straps to ensure they’re properly secured, Twilight treks over and through the shrubbery and onto the road. “Besides, unlike Fang I really don’t take an interest in creating tension between myself and others.” A loud roar from above precedes the arrival of the aforementioned drake, who swoops down and latches onto the front panel of the wagon, right behind Twilight.

‘Hay, I take offence to that statement!’ He responds slapping Twilight’s back with the tip of his wing, and releasing a second indignant blat at her.

“Sncht, hehe.” Gilda couldn’t help but laugh, not giggle ’Griffons don’t giggle, it’s not cool.’, at the drake and unicorn’s little spat.

Suddenly the drake twirls around, his tail whipping against Gilda’s beak in a lightning fast spin, before roaring in her face, wisps of fog spewing from his mouth. With a single utterance of, “Eep!” she ducks low beneath the drakes line of fire. A warbling sound followed by the whoosh of displaced air grabs the griffons attention enough for her to look up and note the absence of the drake from his former perch.

Lifting herself from the bed of the cart, she peaks over the rim, to see the drake hanging upside down by his tail, his wings folded against his chest and glancing away as Twilight gives him the stink eye. “Fang, play nice. I don’t want to be wasting materials treating injuries incurred by your antics. Are you okay Gilda?”

It takes a second for the question to register in her head, “... Wha- OH!” she looks herself over once more. “Yea, I’m fine, what are you going to do with him.”

“Fang’s in time out, I’ve bound his magic so he can’t cast anything until I release him. Anyway get some rest, you still haven’t fully recovered from the injuries from two day’s ago, it’ll be at least a week before you’re anywhere close to where you were before.” Twilight lightly sniffs the air, “Do you smell something burning?” Turning around, Gilda gets an eyeful as she looks back towards where they came from, noting a small pillar of smoke coming from where their former camp was, smoothly she turns back around and gives Fang a negative shake of her head before answering Twilight. “Nope, just keep going, and I’ll get some rest. Wake me up if you need something.”

Author's Notes:

Bout damn time I finished the chapter. Looking forward to you guy's comments, and thoughts.

Cheers^,=,^

Prereader: Janushyde (Makes good story's, awesome person, best comments, Updates like a turtle climbing a cliff.)