Two weeks had passed since the trial of combat.

Aside from the occasional roar from the somewhat-nearby Ursa Major, Canterlot had been very quiet. The evacuees from Ponyville hadn’t been too disruptive to the city’s social dynamic (save for a few Pinkie incidents), nor had they caused problems to the economic balance, contrary to what some had predicted.

As Princess Celestia’s protégé and the lead Spirit of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle had joined with a few top military strategists in order to figure out how to deal with the Ursa Major and restore Ponyville. While some theorised that the Elements of Harmony would deal with the creature, others disagreed. The Elements, at their core, restored balance. Would a beast such as an Ursa Major destroying Pony-made structures be considered unnatural in the view of the ancient artifacts? None knew, and it was too great a risk to take.

Others suggest poison, or destructive weaponry. However, once again, others disagreed: No weapon which the Equestrian military possessed could do the slightest amount of damage to a creature of that titanic size, and the same went for poison.

After many hours of debate, only one thing became clear - Ponies could not deal with this alone. If the Ursa was to be defeated, an alliance would have to be formed.

“...It’s settled then,” finished Twilight, “we ask for an alliance with the Dragons.”

A very dazed and drowsy Cloud slowly opened his eyes. He was laying on a colourful thatch mat inside a small, one room cottage which appeared to be constructed from sandstone bricks. The room was simply decorated, though the furniture seemed somewhat crudely made.

Cloud blinked a few times to wake himself up more before taking a deep breath. He gathered his thoughts about what he knew:

I’m not dead. That’s a good start to the day.

Cloud sat up, but gasped in pain. Looking down at himself, he could see that both of his forelegs were heavily bandaged, as was his chest and, by the way it felt, his torso too. As he inspected himself, he felt bruising in his mouth as well as a couple of missing and smashed teeth on the left side of his mouth.

Jeez, that dick really left a mark... And on that note, I know need to learn how to word things better. Cloud frowned. If I ever see that guy again, he’s gonna regret he ever-!

The front door opened. Cloud turned towards the sound and instinctively tried to channel magic to his horn, only to feel a sharp stabbing pain in his head. He gasped again, this time closing his eyes for a moment.

“I’d go back to resting, friend,” suggested a deep, male voice. “Those wounds are far from healed.”

Cloud opened his eyes. The stranger was a Horse, brown in both body and mane.

Horses were taller and slimmer than a Pony, though lacked any kind of Pony-esque magic. Instead, Horses were generally more intelligent than a Pony, and were naturally more physically fit, though unlike Earth Ponies, this wasn’t due to magic. Rather, it was due to the harsh environment of their homelands.

Of course, being the uncultured swine he was, Cloud knew none of this.

This guy is freakin’ skinny! Has he done nothing but cardio his whole life?!

“Uh... Are you alright?” The Horse asked.

Cloud realised he had been staring at him for a minute or so in complete silence. “Y-Yeah! Yeah, I’m- Well, not good, but y’know... Yeah.” Cloud coughed. Reading the situation, it’s pretty obvious this guy is the one who healed me. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Ghyr Muhimm.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Ghyr Muhimm. I’m the Horse that treated your wounds.”

Wait, ‘Horse’? Actually, what accent is that?

“Um, where exactly am I? Am I still in Equestria?”

Ghyr shook his head. “Not even close, I’m afraid. You’re in Saddle Arabia. I found you lying in the middle of the desert on a trip back from another town.”

“I... But... W-Where did you say we are?”

“A geographical dumbass, huh?” Ghyr asked.

Cloud frowned. “What did you just c-?”

“I’m not entirely surprised. With injuries like those, brain damage isn’t out of the question. It’d explain why you think you’re in Equestria too, now that I think on it.”

“I don’t have brain damage,” probably, “and I can remember how I got here just fine,” probably, “I just need to know where ‘here’ is.” Please don’t be too far...

“Saddle Arabia is more or less on the opposite side of the planet from Equestria.”

There was a long pause.

“Shit.”

Princess Luna sat atop the observatory. She had been there for hours, unmoving, sitting directly next to the spindly spire.

At around two in the morning, an owl flew up to the roof of the observatory and sat next to her. After utilising her neck to check her surroundings, the owl exploded into flames.

Princess Luna paid her no mind.

The owl transformed into one of the Princess’s Changeling guards, a saddlebag strapped to her back.

“Your Highness,” she saluted.

“Lieutenant Mawr,” Princess Luna nodded. “Have you obtained the item we discussed?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mawr reached into the saddle bag on her back and pulled out a large, red crystal, its surface rough and rugged. Within its centre, a strange energy danced.

Princess Luna took the crystal from Mawr with magic and held it to the end of her own horn. Magic flowed into her horn, and the air around the two Ponies seemed almost electrified from her sheer magical power.

“Do try to bring him back in one piece,” the Princess requested.

Mawr’s eyes widened. “Wait, what do you-?” She was suddenly surrounded by a magical aura as deep and dark as the night sky. “Wait! No! I never agreed to thi-!” After a thunderous BOOM, Mawr vanished.

The night sky was gone, replaced by a blue sky filled only by the sun, blasting the ground with endless heat.

Finding herself face down in sand, Mawr lifted her head to see an empty desert with no civilisation in sight. Not only was she in the middle of nowhere, she had no idea where to go, who she was looking for or what to do. After a small panic attack, Princess Luna’s strict military training kicked in and her nerves improved.

Her situation, however, did not.

“Shit.”

Author's Notes:

First of all, Ghyr Muhimm's name is a joke which is pretty impossible to decipher thanks to Google translate being STOOPYD. His name is (according to Google) the English words 'Not Important' translated into Arabic (Arabic because it's Saudi Arabia). Unfortunately, typing 'Ghyr Muhimm' back into Google translate doesn't give 'Not Important' back, ruining the joke and meaning that I have to explain it here.
As of 22/07/19, this ^ has been fixed. Woop~!

Secondly, Mawr is a reference to an old story of mine (The Unquiet Journey) that went nowhere and was deleted. Other than her sex, species and name, she's still a completely new character. I'm recycling the plot from that story a fair bit in this arc, so it seemed fitting to have Mawr the guard that Luna sent.

I had a third point, but I have absolutely 100% forgotten what it was. Well done, me.

EDIT: I just remembered a few hours later! Ten points to whoever gets the title.

---

I'll probably be drawing (or at least starting) a picture soon which will include Mawr, so I'm not bothering with a portrait like I often did in 'The Quest for the Past'.

While I'm on the subject, here's a link to a picture of Sight Watcher for those curious. I'm not sure how relevant he'll be in this story, I just like the idea of reusing characters from TQFTP because I like to think this is the events of a parallel universe. I don't know if Vesper will become a thing, but it's not looking likely.