Gusty Twilight was only partially awake. She had been dreaming of a trip across the world. There was the ocean, grand mountains and giant trees, maybe even a Yak or two yelling up at her as she flew through her mind. It was a pleasant reprieve from the horror’s of the waking world and her own self-loathing. It seemed like she had been sleeping for several days, but in the semi-consciousness of the moment she could not tell.

Much of what she felt around her made little sense. While attempting to prevent her dream from becoming a nightmare Gusty gingerly thought over the clearest thing she could remember. A sharp pang of guilt stabbed her in the chest like a cold knife being twisted into her heart. She did not need to even try to visualise the sad little smile that was forever etched on Gabriella’s face and her mind. She turned back to the thought of flying, ready to do anything to sate the pain in her chest trying to instead listen to the usual whispering in her ears.

It was different than before, those voices, none of them were intelligible.They seemed much further off as if their source had been pushed away by something out of her control. Their distance provided a pleasant white noise that helped her relax again. Receding from partially awake to and into full unconscious, Gusty scooted herself further into the unfamiliar bed where she lay. There under the warm and incredibly soft blanket she had acquired she snuggled against the soft belly fur of her husband. He kept his snout buried in her mane and his hooves tightened in a brief hug before returning to loosely holding her body.

Glorious sleep proceeded until Gusty found herself sweating and uncomfortable from the heat of the blanket. Fully awake Gusty realized she could not see, the place she was in was too dark. Reflexively she set her horn to glow a low light. In front of her she beheld the stitching on the inside of her sleeping bag.

“How did I…” Gusty let her sore, raspy voice trail off and finished her words internally, How did I get in this thing? And why is it fully closed?

As if to answer her question her sense of touch reminded her that somepony was holding her rather tenderly, his hoof pressed against her own. It was too large and too finely shaped to be Bunker’s. Likewise, her eyes were not adjusted to proper sight yet. Even with her low-lit horn she could not judge the color of the fur accurately. Her sense of touch, however, reminded her again that there was something familiar draped down her side, flanks, and legs. Gusty hardly needed sight to know the silken touch. The vaguest memory of the past day flooded back and she lay in shock, unable to move, too upset that she was being spooned by a demon. That was when her nose decided it was time to send her some signals. His heavy musk about knocked her out, but when she pulled herself together, she ripped open the fasteners with her magic.

Gasping, with a hardy blush, Gusty relished the fresh air being let in right until light poured into her eyes making her flinch. Once she managed to squint her eyes open, she found that the sun was not even out, instead it was hidden behind low light grey clouds. It appeared to about midday judging by the even dispersion of the light. Looking around towards the ground she found the area covered in deep snow, except exactly where the bag sat. A brief bit of vertigo made her head spin after she had snapped it up and down, forcing her to lean back deeper into the bag than she wanted.

Stuck with Stormwalker adjusting his muzzle unconsciously back into her mane, Gusty spat angrily out of the bag into the cold air. As she moped over her situation she quickly realized she had no idea how long it had been since the “incident” back in the Baylands. However, as she pondered idly she did come to the realization that a part of what had seemed a dream had to have actually happened. The Windegos, the great frozen mountains, Stormwalker, and the snow seemed to point out that she had indeed travelled to the Frozen North and not just hallucinated it. This grounded Gusty enough to make her want to move into the cold and away from the demon’s warm embrace. She moved his hooves; rather she attempted.

Upon trying to slide out of his grip, Gusty suddenly found his hold tighten. He pulled her closer and murmured something. It was too garbled and mixed with a snore to understand. He gently rubbed her chest fur and nuzzled his face even deeper into her mane. Gusty felt her nausea and blush return full force, even in the open air of the cold day. At least he was still asleep and was not teasing her incessantly, but that did little to comfort her nerves.

Out of everything to happen to her, Gusty really, really did not want Stormwalker even touching her. And now, the way he was clutched to her body made her think the only thoughts that the stallion possessed were vulgar and vile. Such suited him, he was a demon after all, but she wanted the thoughts to remain thoughts, and not become an unpleasant reality.

Gusty began more actively trying to free herself. “Damn it!” She cursed to herself, her voice not even a whisper. She must have worn it out from screaming...the day before? She still was uncertain of the chain of events.

However, pushing against Stormwalker’s hooves only resulted in him sliding them lower on her sternum and and re-adjusting his hips to match hers. Moving his face from her mane, he began murmuring softly into her ear. His snout and mouth pushed against the back of her head and neck. His hot breaths pushing the short fur in her ears back and forth.

“Somepony’s such a bad girl.” He purred softly. He literally purred too. Gusty did not understand how he did so, but hoped it was just a function of that clicking noise he usually made. She also had to fight the urge to puke again as he held down her forehooves with one of his and began to move his other hoof slowly back and forth down to the soft, short fur of her belly.

Gusty became suddenly aware of something warm pressing against her back from the small of her flanks to the base of her tail. It was soft and fleshy. It took her a moment to begin realizing what it was, meanwhile Stormwalker continued groping her body,

“Trying to get away like that...you know better…” He cooed. “You are mine, you cannot escape.” He pulled her closer still his voice dripping with desire. Gusty barely heard him, her mind had finally processing the strange touch she had been feeling upon her back.

Gusty realized that she was much, much closer to the very core of the demon Stormwalker than she had ever wanted to be. In fact, full union had only be avoided by luck of positioning and a few inches. Her realization made Gusty panic and flail about, trying to free herself from Stormwalker’s lover’s embrace.

Why is he so strong? Why can’t I get free!? Oh, come on! Now his hooves are moving closer to my groin! She grumbled internally. Gusty managed to free one of her legs but that was before the situation got even worse.

“L-Ehuhuhu! You know that struggling just makes me hotter!” Stormwalker chortled-snored. He pushed his hips fully against her. The entirety of his stallionhood sat from the base of her tail up to somewhere in her mid back.

Even though she had almost freed herself, Gusty froze in shock. Her husband was the opposite of inadequate, but this was ridiculous. She had over her many years known many males, her status as an alicorn allowing her to outlive every one of her previous spouses. Even with her memory troubles, and whether or not she could recall names, she usually could recall sensations. Sometimes specific traits. This just happened to be one detail she had not wanted to learn: for various reasons of keeping sanity and avoiding temptation.

Thus, much like his personality, Stormwalker was simply too much stallion to handle.

Finishing her gasp of surprise, she resolved that she needed to get away from him and his ridiculous appendage. NOW.

Hastily, Gusty reached up her hoof above her ear and touched his face. She confirmed a spot on the bottom of his jaw to hit. She swung back her hoof and shot it forward aiming to hit Stormwalker in the mouth as absolutely as hard as she could.

“Wake up, you big idiot!” she screamed at the same time. It was not very loud as her hoarse voice still could not manage much force.

Pain erupted from her hoof making Gusty certain that she had punched solid stone instead of flesh. But, as she withdrew her hoof Stormwalker grunted in annoyance. His grip on her body instantly loosened and she took the opportunity to get out of the proximity of his member and his clutches. She rolled violently away landing in the deep snow and flipping up to her hooves just as quick as she could. Doing her best not to shiver, she turned to make sure her would be rapist was still dazed and in the sleeping bag.

“Ow...What the hell was that for?” he squinted at her whilst rubbing his face. His fangs still showed and his eyes matched with their slit pupils. Perhaps he no longer felt that it was worth the trouble to hide his true nature from her. It did not matter, Gusty could not care about his reasoning at the moment, she was much more concerned with telling him off. Mainly, because he had to have been at least partially awake for his groping session.

“What do you think it was for!?” She shrieked in a low tone.

“I really have no idea. One minute I’m peacefully sleeping, having a really nice dream and then I get hit in the face!” He yelled back his unhampered voice echoing faintly on the snow.

“Liar! You knew what you were doing you are just trying to cover it up!”

“Gusty I really don’t know what you are talking about, I was dreaming about my, my-my marefriend. And I was really focused on the dream then you hit me!”

“You have a marefriend??!!”

“Yeeaaahh…”

“Well that certainly doesn’t excuse you cheating on her!”

“Cheating on her? What...are you…”

Gusty only had to cast a glance at his groin to unseat his argument. There was no way he was touching her like that accidently. Stormwalker, clearly, had completely underestimated his own stamina and kinks. He even began blushing as he looked down at his thankfully-still-bedroll-hidden jewels.

“Oh.” He responded blankly. “Oh.” he remarked again.

His eyes widened and he awkwardly adjusted the bedroll to lower the appearance of his prominence. He remained quiet, grimacing, waiting on her to respond. At her silence his blush deepened and his posture dipped to a balled slouch.

Gusty stood proudly having silenced him. She smirked with mirth she had not felt in some time. She probably would have laughed had she not been so relieved to be free from the sleeping bag herself. Eventually, Stormwalker spoke again.

“I...I-uh. I got kinda ‘grabby’ didn’t I?” he stammered out

“Try: ‘dry-humpy,’” She grinned hoping to make him feel as bad as possible.

He looked down to the side, his face a tight angry grimace. He grunted with displeasure. Gusty relished moments like this. It was not often that she got to get a leg up on Stormwalker. In fact, in the last two years of having to deal with him she never had. The concept made her chest swell up with joy even more. She felt a genuine laugh coming on as she watched the demon mope pitifully.

Gosh, I really do hate demons, I never used to take delight in others’ suffering. Not even my enemies...Her thoughts gave her pause. She idly continued to observe Stormwalker when she noticed his blush fade and the corner of his mouth perk up in a grin.

“So…” He began, Gusty could almost feel what he was going to say before he said it. “You seemed...impressed.”

Ripped from her thoughts Gusty stared back at him in horror. She shamefully felt another rush of blood to her face. Stormwalker’s grin widened to a full smile, his eyes twinkled with evil delight as he met her gaze aware that he made a correct read. He stood up his big body shielding her eyes from the unmentionable as he strutted towards her. His smile turned to a devilish curl, as he rubbed his tongue against the sharp end of one of his primary incisors.

When he spoke his voice was as silken as it was derisive, lingering on every syllable as if to invoke as much disgust, and lust, as possible.

“If I was to read your mind right now...and judging by that blush…” he moved even closer, his face mere inches from hers now, “I’d say that you were so impressed...that you wanted a trial run.” He snickered deeply. Gusty had to physically restrain herself from rearing back on her hind legs in an attempt to escape him. She was not about to let him see how bad he had successfully riled her. Even though this time it was especially upsetting, worse perhaps than ever before.

“But...if I recall correctly, you let your trial period run out about a year-and-a-half ago…” He cooed as she stood strong.

Gusty did not understand what he was talking about. She had made it very clear many, many times that she hated him. The stallion was simply too full of himself to get the message, even whilst possessing a significant other. Of course it did not help her case that he was, as much as she despised him, unimaginably handsome. She had often cursed her body for picking him out as a suitor. Just looking at him, especially in times like this, made her more than blush. But, that was just her hormones’ natural response to someone who looked that good. No other mare could blame her, however, it only left her one option to keep her dignity. She had to go on the attack: if she could shake his confidence, she might trick her body into thinking he was not as quality as it thought.

“Shut up, you disgusting ass! How do you think your marefriend would feel if she saw you acting like this, or even just heard you talking?” She scolded.

“She wouldn’t mind at all, actually. I’m perfectly capable of harassing you without ever so much as disturbing a single hair or feather, and that's what matters to her. And to counter the snuggling-fest argument, she would fully support the action given that it saved your life, the other details...she would find humorous...So I fail to see your point…” he drug his droll on.

Having fully walked past her now, Stormwalker stood facing the deep snow that surrounded them. Gusty felt as if he was still looking at her without using his eyes. The sensation made the skin on her withers crawl.

The argument had quickly reached a loop. In such a battle of wits and ardor neither side would ground, without being able to take some in return. Thus, Gusty chose not to continue speaking to Stormwalker. She had said enough to calm herself down, for now at least.

Likewise, he seemed to notice her decision and snorted indifferently. Silence started only to give way to a wispy cold wind that made Gusty regret moving from her bedroll, if only for the warmth. Her hooves had begun to feel numb already and it had not even been three minutes of standing in the snow. She bit her lips and tongue to resist the urge to complain about it. She had already gotten more help from the demon than she wanted. She would sooner be damned to Tartarus before she incurred more debt.

Behind her, Stormwalker exhaled from his nose harshly and began digging through the snow in front of him with his hooves. It was a particularly large mound and his actions caught her attention. Quickly her pack of supplies was tossed from the snow.

She stared awkwardly at Stormwalker’s backside glad the demon-stallion had a thick tail. Her mail was the next item thrown from the snow followed by her sword and skirt. Gusty watched confusedly as he moved to her supply pack and began rummaging through it. She really was too shocked to stop him. Such a brazen act of privacy invasion was simply too impressive for her to interrupt. He promptly tossed it aside after clearly determining that there was nothing of value in it. He strutted off into the snow seemingly at random.

Gusty objected at this. “What are you even doing?” she asked him angrily. “Rummage through my stuff then walk off? So it’s kidnapping and a botched theft? She shouted as he gained distance.

Gusty was not about to walk further through snow without boots nor a cold resistance spell. She remained stuck there unwilling to waste magic following Stormwalker and lacking boots.

At about twenty meters away he stopped walking. The snow was even deeper than she first realized, coming up past Stormwalker’s knees. Glad she had opted out of pursuing him further, Gusty rolled her eyes at him. The stallion was beyond strange, demon or not. In a flash, his body lit up in flame and a wave of heat hit Gusty in the face with such force that she sneezed. Wiping her face from the influx of warmth she beheld a blazing Stormwalker standing amongst a completely open patch of olive green tundra grass. The snow around him was completely evaporated in a perfect circle with a radius the distance between them. Steam, still actively hissing, was brushed away by another cold stroke of wind, leaving Gusty gawking at him.

He motioned her over with a hoof and.Gusty shamefully trotted towards the burning stallion, unwilling to brave the cold winds any longer. As she drew near she was forced to stay at a distance, the heat from the unnatural fire of his body too intense. He watched her closely a small grin starting to perk up his lips again, before a brief scowl overcame his features. It lasted for perhaps a quarter-second, before being replaced with a more neutral look.

“Stay here, I’m going to get some firewood for you, and I’ll be back.” he remarked plainly.

“So...you are just going to leave me here?” Gusty was actually surprised he decided flying over to the mountains was a good idea.

“Well I did say I was coming back. Besides, I thought perhaps you’d prefer to not have to stare at me to keep your face warm,” Stormwalker answered.

“Oh.”

“Sit tight, sweetheart”

He silently took to the sky. The heated air he had been creating stayed strong as Gusty watched him speed off to the giant trees to their south. However, just as she lost sight of him a hefty draft of wind blew across the tundra grass patch and made her shiver. Once it settled the air in the area was significantly colder than before, her body continuing to shake from the sudden drop in temperature.

Gusty turned to where her sleeping bag remained partially obscured by the snow. She lifted it up out of the ice with her magic, floating it over to herself. She gave it a hardy shake, making sure to remove any excess snow on the inside and out before laying it flat on the ground. She quickly crawled into the enormous bag and successfully turned around about the same time another gust of frigid wind blew across the empty chunk of grass. It was much warmer in the portable bed, but the aforementioned fire would be very welcome. Luckily, she did not have to wait long. In the distance she noticed Stormwalker making a leisurely dive towards where she sat wrapped in her heavy cloth sack.

Barely able to count to thirty before he was at the edge of the clearing, Gusty caught herself nodding approvingly at the volume of sticks and logs the demon-stallion had brought back. She grit her teeth in a scowl more at herself than him, it felt strange to approve of anything he did. Slipping down with silent grace he tilted his head up to her inquisitively, but she turned away from his eyes. Gusty was not in the mood to indulge his interest; even if she appreciated his concern albeit sparingly.

With a shrug Stormwalker dumped the wood from his back and hooves. Quickly and with a bit of meticulous precision he began stacking the wood he had gathered into a nice pyramid. Once satisfied with his pile he reached down with one of his inflamed wings and touched the center of the wood. Smoke crackled and sparks flew up from the wood and soon a reasonable fire was burning. Gusty scooted herself and her bag closer, trying hard not to look in his direction. He moved somewhat closer to her but it allowed her to still face the fire without needing him to be in her direct vision. It was a rather thoughtful gesture to be sure.

However he did not stop walking, remaining quiet as he slid past her, making no noise as his hooves touched hard grassy ground. Gusty watched him cautiously out of her peripheral as he gathered her belongings and piled them on his broad back before returning to the fire he had built. He deposited them next to her in an organized manner. Her armor and sword kept separate from her pack and and skirt. Trotting off again, he quickly returned with a small flight pack that he kept near him. Sitting down on the other side of her equipment with a sigh, his wings extinguished with a soft fizzling sound. He looked up at her and caught her staring at him before she could managed to turn away.

Gusty swallowed awkwardly wondering why the stallion refused to speak. She had expected him to be just as chatty as he usually was around her. In fact, though she hated the thought, she would not mind him teasing her for getting herself into trouble, even gloating seemed better than nothing. Instead she was left with a scrutinizing quiet, that felt upsetting yet comforting.

What seemed like a great length of time passed without Gusty finding things to say and Stormwalker calmly adding the finite spare logs to the fire. Absently, Gusty’s stomach gurgled loudly as if it intended to end the silence.

“I am going to grab some more firewood. You should make yourself some food.” he said finally, having heard her stomach’s cries.

“What am I supposed to eat?” she asked as she stood up.

“Well you are a pony…” he looked down at the tundra grass. “It might not taste the best but its still food.” He scratched at the olive-colored plant life with a hoof.

Gusty opened her mouth to ask him to pass her pack over, but she was left alone as Stormwalker took to the sky instantly, speeding off to the trees again. Left with only her thoughts she was forced to consider how to converse with the stallion without trading insults with him. While she had often spoken to him when he would invade her meetings with Celestia, it had all been rude banter. Although, Stormwalker had always clearly enjoyed the mudslinging, Gusty had a bit of a change of heart this morning. It did not feel like now was the time or place to fight. Worse, as much as she wanted to pretend it had not happened, he did save her life. He had done it twice actually, first from Windegos and then from herself.

Doing her best to try to piece together her situation, Gusty pulled her sleeping bag tighter around herself as the wind picked up again. The heavy, musky smell of Stormwalker wafted up out of the bag. Shuddering from the unexpected dose of pheremones, Gusty rubbed her face trying to overcome nature. She eventually beat the feelings back thanks in part to the familiar sounds of her voices. Their strange call not clear enough to understand but strong enough to remind her that she had a little to build upon to establish fantasy from reality.

Her impression of the recent events had been that of a hallucinogenic dream. She looked down at her hooves inside her covers, the blurred, almost totally broken perceptions had continued until she had woken up this morning. It was like she had not even slept. It made her wonder if those emotions she had felt were her present feelings or something from the past. It certainly hurt her chest like it was something she was unconsciously suppressing in the moment. She hated that feeling. The empty, unanswered burning that had slowly been getting worse since she had been reunited with Gertrude; it made her want to scream.

Stuck in the torrent of emotions Gusty could not help thinking of Stormwalker again. How had he found her and how did she get here? If her dream of flying had been real, then was he the one causing all this? Why did she suddenly feel more stable? And why was it around him that she felt better?

A rush of wind blew over Gusty’s back pushing the heat of the fire away from her momentarily. Stormwalker swooped down with a thud as he deposited a pile of logs about twice the size of Gusty herself. Recalling again the massive trees she had passed through, the pieces were likely only fallen branches. He folded up his great wings and tossed a pair of knobby chunks into the fire before sitting down and looking at her. Gusty caught his gaze. His slitted eyes looked distant as if he was looking not at her but through her to a different land that she could not see.

Gusty held her tongue. She did not know what to do with him, even apologizing for being overzealous seemed ill-timed, if not ill-fated. Eventually she settled on collecting the dull tundra grass as he had mentioned before. Though it was not a grain made specifically for eating, the grass could hardly be bad for her if perhaps bland. Levitating her pack over to herself, she poked her nose slightly inside. In the bottom of the bag sat her travelling crock pot, a small flask of oil, and her spice pack. She had to remove her other tools from the basin, but the action was not difficult with levitation. Pulling out the proper cooking materials she dusted out the pot with one of her wings.

The deep pan was splashed with her spare oils and various seasonings as she set it to levitate over the fire. Meanwhile she had been pulling up clumps of the grass with her magic as well. There was no reason not to use her telekinesis and remove herself from the comfortable bag. She cast a quick glance in Stormwalker’s direction. He was looking down at a sizable tome that he had produced from seemingly nowhere. Gusty peered inquisitively at his flight pack realizing that it was larger than it looked. The oil and the tundra grass began to sizzle in the pot and Gusty stirred the mixture with her magic.

She had the grass cooked soft and pleasant smelling in a few minutes. Grabbing herself one of her only forks from her pack she finally came up with a decent idea. She pulled another bowl from the case and another of the forks out and filled it with some of the garlicky tundra grass. She took the bowl in her telekinesis and floated it in between Stormwalker and his book.

“Here.” she said to him.

“No thanks, Gusty, I’m not hungry.” Stormwalker said plainly, pushing it out of his way.

“Just take it, I made too much.” Gusty was determined to have him at least try it. She pushed the bowl against his muzzle this time.

“Really, it’s fine.” He looked up gently at her but pushed the bowl away again.

Gusty loosed an exasperated sigh closing her eyes in frustration. He was both modest and a jerk at the same time, a feat few could manage. She looked back at him. He had not looked away from her his eyes concerned as he met her gaze. She silently pleaded with her face hoping to at least solicit a reaction out him. Something in the back of her mind told her guilting him into eating would work.

She hardly had to wait.

Stormwalker broke his slitted eyes away quickly and pursed his lips.

“Oh, alright.” he responded softly. He took the bowl with a hoof and the fork with a wing, inhaling a deep breath of the steam from the bowl as he did.

“Smells great. Thank you. I’m still surprised you even offered.” Stormwalker smiled as he looked over the bowl at her. He lifted a bite up to his mouth before pausing mouth open, fangs glinting the light of the fire.

“You didn’t poison it, did you?” he asked with roguish bob of his head.

“No!” Gusty pouted at him, “Who do you take me for? You?”

“A point well made, sweetheart.” He stuck the bite into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully not looking directly at her.

Gusty blushed again, turning down to her own food to eating most of it hastily in an attempt to hide her face. The situation would have been much more tolerable if he did not possess this eerie, attentive calm. It would seem that Gertrude had been both correct and incorrect about Stormwalker. As much as she hated it, and as much as she loathed him, he would do anything she asked; but more importantly he would always be there to help her whether or not she asked him. Unlike her other friends, Stormwalker positively did not care how she acted. He seemed motivated by something else entirely.

Did I just think of him as a friend? Gusty internally shouted at herself, stopping her thoughts mid-coalescence. Somewhere inside her a clear grunt of disgust came from “not-her.” She rolled her eyes at herself. It was a supreme irony to not know her own thoughts as her own. Worse yet, which part of her was the real Gusty? Could Stormwalker see it? Did he know who she truly was? Was that why he liked her? Why he wanted to help her?

Gusty grabbed her head. The questions had triggered a response from the voices. They erupted into her thoughts like a mighty volcano. They were already to the point where she could understand them again. Split apart compared to the mess from before in the Baylands, they were easily identifiable. Gusty was forced to listen as they overcame her will.

Mom, is it really important that I get married so soon? We are all immortals around here.

It was the voice of the young alicorn of her visions. The sound of her words bringing tears to her eyes.

Oh, to be free of this prison. If only for a fleeting moment. Trust him. He knows the-

It was her own voice. She did not understand how. It was cut off before she could say more.

Liar, deceiver, traitor! He must be destroyed! He seeks to undo all we have built!

Not-her had some choice words about somepony. Gusty had a feeling it had something to do with Stormwalker, but the voice never specified. The only evidence she had was the weird instance in the mine before she ended up here in the Frozen North.

Wine? Its nine o’clock. Eh....I don’t want to be sober for the nobles at noon anyway.

Celestia: Gusty let the familiar sound of her friend bring her happiness if for a moment.

I’m not saying I told you so….Da, da, da, you told me so. I was just saying! Shut it!

Zeccaran and Bunker: They were arguing about something, she could not remember what. She just remembered laughing at the two stallions’ contrasting personalities.

A heavy clearing of a throat gave the echoing responses pause. The splitting pain in her temples started to receded as well. She let out a long sigh and shook her head glad the episode was over. Gusty was starting to think that she liked the disheveled mess of sound better. This new clarity brought no peace. As she came around the feeling of Stormwalker thinking of her prickled up her back until suddenly it was as if she was encompassed by it.

Seems as if things have worsened. Severely, I might add.

His voice sounded worried and upset as it echoed alone into her mind. Gusty looked up to him in shock. He cleared his throat again as if to ensure she knew it was him. Her heavy breathing caught in her throat. Not truly able to react, all she could do was look him directly in his eyes.

“You can hear them?” she croaked after a moment. Strangely, it would seem he could stop the onslaught of her own mind. Still, Gusty felt like he was invading her privacy but at the same time there was not much she could do about it, especially if he had the intent to ‘help’ her.

Yes. It is not as if you have a quiet mind. And I can stop if you like. It just seemed appropriate to pull you into reality again by personally knocking the trouble out of your way.

“Please,” she begged aloud doing her best to ignore their mental proximity. They sat in silence for a time just looking at each other. Gusty broke first, her stallion counterpart too good at what he did to ever stop looking into her eyes.

Heavy silence reigned for sometime afterward. Not the wind nor the fire were capable of interrupting the moment. Gusty pulled the hem of the sleeping bag up over her snout and turned to face the fire.

“You know this is really good.” Stormwalker mumbled as he pushed waht looked to be the final bite of tundra grass into his mouth. “Like really good.”

She did not look towards him. She could not, at least not at the moment.

“Just...thought you should know…” he let his voice trail off back to the crackling of burning wood.

Honestly, she just wanted to be left alone. However, it was Stormwalker she was sitting with, even if he was not going tease her, he would not leave her to her mind only. He always had a way of dominating the situation, his purpose-driven attitude hard to divert. In Gusty’s opinion she preferred the fight he would present, this new finessed approach to their acquaintances made her nervous. Nervous enough to pull her eyes up from the ground and to him.

“I’m worried about you Gusty,” he said affectionately just as soon as she caught his eyes.

“You are?” she questioned, her voice even more muffled by the cloth bag. The worst part was that he she could feel he was genuine in his concern

“Yeah. You aren’t really acting like yourself. You haven’t once tried to stab me with your sword. Not once. And while I already know you don’t feel well, even if I couldn’t feel it from how loudly you are thinking it, I could tell by just looking at you. You lack your usual spunk.”

His eyes betrayed no tell and his eager lean toward her made Gusty feel rather bashful. Underneath the cover of her bag she grinned tenderly. The damn fool actually cared: she bitterly wondered if she would remember that by this time tomorrow. She would never admit it aloud, but she was glad he had saved her. Glad that it had been him instead of Bunker, or Zeccaran, or Celestia. She did not want them to worry about her, or how she had been feeling. Stormwalker was allowed to worry and fret, especially since she knew her condition bothered him. But also because somehow, regardless of the dispute between them, his acknowledgement of her suffering brought her a deep comfort.

Still, she would never give him the satisfaction of spoken thanks, instead she responded by levitating up her sword. Floating it towards him slowly, Gusty felt her smile spreading to her eyes. Stormwalker even played like he did not notice and turned down to his book. She poked him in the shoulder, perhaps a little hard, but it was not as if she could actually hurt him.

“Ahhh! Oh no! My two-hundred and sixty-one dodge streak, nooo!” he dramatized as she put her sword back down.

“You’ve been keeping count?” Gusty sniggered, the hem falling off her face.

“Haven't you?” Stormwalker shot back.

“No…” she most definitely had: this counted as two-hundred and sixty-two dodges. She would not be given a freebie. Stormwalker just laughed at her and she could not help but join in, it was enjoyable to not be stoked into a constant rage around him. They, however, finished chuckling quick enough and with the end of the moment came a sudden weight in the air. Gusty looked from the idle spot on the fire she had settled on and found him looking at her, his face much more focused.

“Tell me what happened,” he ordered. His tone was concerned, but deadly serious.

Moment ruined Gusty felt some of her old angst build back up.

“Why would I tell you?” she snorted, “I don’t even wanna talk about it with the ponies that were there!”

Stormwalker grunted, the sound low and disgruntled.

“You may not want to, especially not to me. But...if I, Celestia, Luna, Zeccaran, and Bunker are going to help you...they, and I need to know. Besides, it couldn’t hurt for you to vent. We both know how many things you have swimming around in your head right now.” He made a sound argument. It was too well-refined of a statement for Gusty to do anything besides accept his position or just cease talking.

However, the little tidbit that Gertrude had told her in the Baylands sprang back into her mind: That stallion would do anythin’ for ya iffan-a ya just ask. The words came as they had once been heard. The old Dame Ewe was right. All she had to do was ask, and a little bit of playing along always helped. Biting her lip to cover up her the sly smile that was trying to find its way across her lips Gusty huffed, starting her gambit. She would tell him, but then she would make him explain why his soldiers were there, and what exactly he had at stake. It was only fair if she paid a high fare she would receive something in turn.

Gusty told the tale of the Baylands. She let the words flow, not sparing any detail, something about his demeanor making her talk candidly. It did not matter, one way or another he would have found out. Besides, he was right, it did feel good to vent. Stil, it grated against her being that he was capable of evoking such a reaction out of her. As pleasant as the day had been save the awkward start, she loathed this game. It was always his facial expressions, the glimmer in his eyes, or the way he projected his consciousness that proved the most effective in their game of cat and mouse. The combination was just nagging enough to push her towards what he wanted without being too conspicuous. But that did not matter, she finally, truly had an advantage and she would take it for all that it was worth, as soon as the right moment struck.

Gusty finished her story:

“And…you were there, in my head, and other demons just like you too. I couldn’t control what I was doing, either. It was like I being forced to watch myself live through a bad dream that I couldn’t wake up from,” she found herself continuing, “it scares me...starting to lose control like that again. It...I-I’m scared.”

Where did all that extra emotion come from? That might be true but that wasn’t what I was going to say...guess I got a little carried away with that damsel in distress thing. She concluded before looking to the ground embarrassed. Occasionally, part of her wished to be saved from the recurring past, instead of saving herself. It always seemed to come to a head around him. Gusty presumed that was because he might literally be able to un-damsel her regardless of the severity of the situation or whether or not she wanted it.

Stormwalker let out a long sigh that rattled with a few clicks of his throat. He raised a hoof up to his for head leaning his neck to the side a stressed expression on his face.

“All that...is well...ughh…” He tried to speak but pinched his eyes closed in a a look of concentration.

It took a few more minutes before he recovered. “So what you are saying is that while you remember more, your stability has decreased rapidly.” He spoke looking up to her. Gusty nodded, it was a rather good summary.

“And not only has your stability decreased this ‘not-you’ has gotten more powerful?” he asked.

“Yeah. It has been extremely difficult just to sit still and do nothing, if you haven’t noticed.” Gusty pursed her lips as she answered. She did not like where this was going.

“Yep. That all makes perfect sense, as much as I would like it all to be lies.” He turned and spat in disgust. His snarled up snout made his fangs look more vicious than before, making Gusty flinch at their sight.

“It's just that I have-we have been working to clear that up, I hope we’re not too late. If you are starting to have full relapses...things are much worse than I predicted.” He sighed before continuing. “But you’re safe now so...I guess, small victories?’ he smiled. That kind sad little grin was Gusty’s signal to use her advantage. She met his eyes again, trying to not broadcast her intention. It was as difficult task while looking into those bright yellow orbs that seemed to want to pull her into them.

“May I ask you a question?” She decided to start sweetly and work her way to sour.

“Anything.” Stormwalker pulled his hoof away from his face locking all of his focus on her. This was it, she could get the answer to anything she wanted now.

“Did you manipulate Gertrude into coming to Equestria?” Gusty had been developing a theory before she had lost control back in the old country. The lack of Royal Guard during the events, and the seeming prominence of Stormwalker’s troops. Not to mention his overtly knowing appearance back in Canterlot, made Gusty suspect he done some elaborate staging.There was the genuine reaction of shock when Gertrude had recognized her, but she was certain Stormwalker had had plans for the Baylands before she had gotten involved.

“No, I did not,” he answered,, “I did however arrange for her to be smuggled there.”

“And how did you manage that?” Gusty turned on her best suspicious glare, letting her sweetness start to die, perhaps a bit too quickly.

“Well you remember me when we first met. I was a little...crazy...and I had done some crazy things before the Cave, like recruiting an international legion of spies…” he grimaced with embarrassment rubbing the back of his head with his hoof.

“An international legion of spies? Are you just teasing me now?” Gusty rolled her eyes.

“Yes a legion. And no, I’m telling the truth. Turns out even after their reformation, Changelings really like adventure and spywork. Its sorta their thing, and between them and a number of individuals with a price...yeah…” he let his voice trail off momentarily. “I mean… waste not want not?” He froze in an awkward shrug unable to clean up the seedy element of his endeavors.

“So...you knew about Gabriella didn’t you?” she asked eyes narrowing in a building rage.

“Yes...I knew about everything...the Griffons...Gabriella’s betrayal...the advantages that it would bring Equestria and myself if we managed to botch their operation. Yeah, I knew about it all,” he answered steadily, showing little nerves, but clearly realizing he was in the hot seat.

“You could have stopped it all then! You could have had her captured and whisked away...she wouldn’t have died! Gertrude and her people could have been spared all that suffering! Why? Why didn’t you intervene sooner!?” Gusty let go over her restraint and flat yelled at him. He had no excuse for letting innocent creatures suffer, they both knew that. The thought made her blood boil.

“Because intervening would not give Equestria and myself the optimum results.” he sighed grimly. Gusty raised her top lip in pure revulsion, no matter the circumstance she could not justify the suffering she witnessed in the Baylands, not to mention her own.

“You are a horrible creature, Stormwalker. How do you live with yourself?” she glowered.

“Not very well, I can assure you. To compensate, I hold total faith that the end results will have been worth it. So long as I don’t screw up before I get there.” He answered turning his face away. He leaned his head down and his mane and brow worked together to darken the area around his eyes.

“I know you don’t understand why I do things. So I’ll just say this” he continued his voice losing its happy candor. “Nothing will stop me from getting what I want. And what I want is not something I can tell you about without hurting you. Severely. Something I will not do.”

Gusty noticed the very air seem to darken in the area around them and the fire start to dim. She hoped that was just because it needed more fuel and not something Stormwalker was doing. Levitating a few of the logs into the fire she looked away from him to gather her thoughts. She decided she was not done, he had more to answer for now that she had confirmed he was behind the Baylands’ suffering. However, something seemed peculiar about his presence here.

“If you were leading a deep espionage operation, how did you end up here in the Frozen North?” Gusty motioned to the icy landscape. Even for somepony literally on fire like Stormwalker the land was inhospitable.

“Oh, I wasn’t the one leading that op. Stiff Inspection was, alongside the liaison officer Celestia set along: the unfortunate Captain Garrison as you mentioned. I just organized it and set up the situation, everything else was for the soldiers and agents to perform without me writing the script.” He answered keeping his tone darker than before.

Gusty shivered from the thought of how much influence the demon stallion had. He was not even involved with the events beyond preparing the instance. She believed him, she just really wished he did not have such ample control the events around her. Assuming he had not staged even her arrival here, Gusty kept plying him with questions.

“Then if you weren’t monitoring your plan...how did you send that letter? Why are you here? I can’t figure it out, so tell me.” she demanded.

“The letter? Heh.” His dark mood broke. “That was just something I whipped up beforehoof for fun!” Stormwalker’s toothy smile widened to the point where Gusty almost stood up out of her warm bag and punched him. The cold air kept her snuggled up tight, instead she opted for scowling at him indignantly.

“Gotcha pretty good didn’t I?” He leaned toward her with is neck extended, begging to be chopped with her sword. Gusty facehoofed herself angrily, refusing to play his game.

“Don’t start with me now, Stormwalker. You already had me tell you about it, teasing won’t help either of us. Just tell me what you were doing up here,” She grumbled with her eyes closed. Chuckling, he agreed before clearing his throat and continuing.

“I was actually out here looking for you. Well, not you you, but you in the records of an ancient library. I managed to do both it seems. This book,” he patted the tome he had sitting out next to him, “is full of material regarding...uh...most simply...you.”

This perked Gusty’s interest. If what he searched for took priority over the Baylands Operation then it must have truly meant something to him. However, she was unaware of any civilization that existed in the Frozen North, save the Yaks. They were on the other side of the continent from here: where to demented magic of the Windegos was not as powerful. Likewise, it made little sense why she had flown out here, but she bet Stormwalker knew the answer.

“So you were out here…” she began, retracing her thought, “I flew out here...and now you are telling me there is an ancient library, with books about me in it. Seems pretty far fetched. Care to explain?” Gusty asked carefully. She wished to maintain her offensive, but this change of pace had made her lose some steam.

“Sure...Just don’t know where to begin…” he traced the scar over his eye absently as he spoke. A few seconds passed and his brow knitted together in thought, before he turned to look at the ground. Gusty took the opportunity to cast the her ‘truth’ spell on the fire so it would affect where they sat. If he was going to lie about anything it would be this, to make it seem less obvious she lifted another log into the fire as she waited patiently. Gusty was fairly confident he had not noticed her cast the specific magic. So long as he did not move she would get what she wanted. Of course the gamble was that now she also could not lie. While the spell had limited range when cast on the ground, she was not immune to her own magic and getting up and moving would certainly give her away.

“I believe the best summary is that we were both following the call of home.” Stormwalker finally answered her question. She just raised an eyebrow at him, she would have never considered this awful icy waste a home.

“Long, long ago, those ruins up in the mountains were home to the alicorns, back before the dark times of the Cirran Empire. Likely why you were flying towards them.” He took a breath and looked at her stoically.

“Likewise, once the old empire rose up, its dark lords claimed those halls for themselves. Filling the buildings with their trophies...their histories...and their ghastly remains. It’s why I was up here.” Stormwalker tapped the book again.

“It is also where many very terrible things happened to you, Gusty Twilight.” His nose pinched up some just after he stated the last bit, confusion evident on his face.

“So, this place wasn’t always so...desolate?” she asked, intentionally trying to divert the conversation to something he could speak more freely about without noticing his compromised position.

“Yes. It was once the most beautiful valley in the world,” He sighed for a brief pause.

“Those mountains,” He pointed to behind her. Gusty turned barely able to see dull grey lumps on the far horizon. She looked back at Stormwalker waiting for him to continue.

“Were the site of our collective ancestry. It was the most coveted place on this earth. These plains we sit on were the site of all ponykind’s origin. But now...all of it is buried beneath snow and ice, in no small part thanks to the demon’s from which I hail.”

“Oh, what fools those Shadow-kin were, too hellbent on revenge to understand what they could have possessed. Pfft, I’m no better. But thanks to you I managed to pull my head out of my ass before it was too late, barely.”

Tale complete Stormwalker sat in silence his gaze, again, looking through her. Gusty could feel his mind move about just outside of her own, lingering just outside the metaphorical gates like an errant knight too nervous to enter. She shot him a disapproving look with both her face and mind and the sensation stopped. Taking a long, steady, and a touch to audible breath Stormwalker turned to his book again, and opened it.

“That’s enough questions for now, Gusty. You probably need to rest more, before we get going. Maybe eat some more” He said lazily.

“Why couldn’t we get going now? I feel fine.” she looked at him indignantly.

“Because, after about three hours of flying we would only be a quarter of the way through the Crystal Mountains, and you’ll probably be too tired to continue. Thus, I would have to carry you because it is too dangerous to camp up there. It’s Ice Giant Territory in those valleys. After all you did just fly for two-and-half days straight so you may not feel tired but your body certainly will feel that way after a bit.” He turned a page slowly in his book, Gusty caught the sight of strangely familiar yet unintelligible runes. However, she was quickly distracted by a coy grin she could feel coming from Stormwalker, she looked at him tepidly.

“And...I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to have to carry you, right?” he asked innocently, meeting her eyes.

“Actually I wouldn’t mind at all, so long as you didn’t tease me. I love how soft your wings are.” As soon as she finished the sentence Gusty practically shoved a whole hoof into her mouth. A blush of self-loathing and embarrassment flashing to her face as she sat in horror of her own words.

“So that truth spell does work both ways, huh, sweetheart?”

Gusty refused to answer deciding to sulk whilst keeping her hoof in her mouth. She would just have to consider this round a draw. Stupid Stormwalker and his ability to sense magic was cheating anyway.

Next Chapter: Act 3: Chapter 5 - Journeys Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 42 Minutes