****

I blinked and the clock looked back at me, equally as confused at my awake state as I was. It claimed to be six thirty. Yet, I knew that I got to sleep late last night so I knew and felt like I should still be asleep.

Then why was I up?

I shook my head as a heavy film clouded my mind, muddling my thoughts.

My hooves were still slightly aching, my scabs didn’t feel too itchy yet, and my mares were still twitching their ears as they enjoyed dreamland. I should be in dreamland still. Nothing about that moment made sense to my half asleep brain.

Blearily I yawned, using a hoof to remove the crustiness from the corners of my eyes as I tried to take it all in.

Warmth surrounded me, grogginess still had me in a choke hold, and this was all still before the sun’s rays hit me. They were busy painting a dark plus sign on the opposite wall.

Outside the cabin, sleepy yells of sailors echoed replies to each other, and a stray boat horn blasted as a boat left or entered the harbor…But I didn’t wake from noises. Thinking on why wasn’t working so I turned to something that held even more importance.

Scrunching my eyes, I tried formulating a plan, the plan, and instead came up with the insistent grumbles of my insides.

Food first…

But, my muscles were unresponsive under the weight of so many blankets, the warmth adding a paralyzing effect. Grunting at the effort of shuffling, I let my body argued with it. I yawned as Lyric nuzzled further into my chest.

This was nice.

Celestia raised the sun further, distorting the shadowy sign that crept up my far wall, and further instilling the realty of being awake.

An itch started, traveling from one scab on my back to the next with an almost malicious intent.

Whether it was my choice or not, I was up, and the longer I lay there the more my scabs itched and other bodily functions became apparent. The itchy sensation moved to my chest scabs.

Fuck, there really was no going back now; reality had me firmly in its clutches.

Not to mention, I had a plan to finalize before I lost my smiths to their own daily grind.

Slowly I untangled my forelimbs from my mares, placing Lyric’s head aside with minimal grumbles. Finally I was able to army crawled forward, holding my breath as the blankets filled the gap, and released it as they didn’t wake. My marefriends would probably enjoy the extra minutes of peace seeing as they were too out of it to notice my absence; only a scrunching of their eyes showing that they had felt my escape from the warm confines.

They were so sweet when they slept, but my bladder pushed to keep moving.

Soon enough I was relieved, exiting the bathroom, and staring at the door. I released a sigh as my scowl went nowhere, the door was still there. The smiths were still in the cabin across the deck.

And the muted chatter of the nearby fish market leaked into the room.

Looking back to my sleeping mares I knew they would have to be woken. A frown still crossed my muzzle at the thought. I knew there was no way I was crossing the deck of the only airship in the port and not be seen.

But…Sleeping longer would be very nice, that would be good for everybeing involved.

That thought was quickly stalled as the sunlight grew muted. Making my way over to the window I saw why. A mass of dark grey cumulus was moving in. And as I looked down from the incoming storm I saw the fleet of ships pulling in, fishing vessels, colonial ships, and a flood of dinghies. From here it looked like they were trying to outrun the weather.

So much for the weather’s peaceful attitude, I furrowed my brow, and I hope Bente made it home alright.

I had seen enough. The outcome was obvious as the din grew louder outside, the voices rising in pitch and volume as Mother Nature came to play.

Sorry, I meant beat us to a pulp.

Pausing at the edge of the bed I looked down at Chrissy and Lyric as they wiggled under the plush mountain. With a frown I reluctantly began to dismantle the cocoon they had created, levitating blanket after blanket off them, and folding them as I went. This went on till all fourteen blankets were piled at the head of the bed and my herd mates were scowling in their sleep.

But they didn’t wake up.

A wind started whistling under the door and they just twitched their ears.

Dear lord, don’t make me wake them. I waited another minute but they didn’t move. Shrugging I scooted back onto the bed, letting a smile make its way onto my muzzle as my wake up plan took hold.

They turned away when I blew on their ears.

Wiggling filled the bed as my feathers trailed down their barrels. But still they refused to move, just smiling as they eventually made contact with each other.

Across the deck I heard the heavy thumps of one of the Minotaur siblings. Soon the soft murmurs of the others drifted on the wind, but only just. The wind was growing stronger, louder.

Suddenly a great rumbling filled the room.

I turned a cautious eye to the ceiling as the clouds extended their note, holding the warning loud and deep. Sea-green and golden eyes snapped open, whipping around the room before they locked with mine. I gave a small smile to them, my ears folded back from the noise.

“Good morning,” I shifted in front of them on the bed. “I had hoped to wake you gentler than…” I trailed off as we all gazed at the darkening window.

Chrissy jumped up, briskly buzzing her wing before stretching, soon we followed her lead.

Lyric was frowning at the window, “How long ago did it start?”

As we stretched I snuck a look to the clock, “Oh, not that long.” Howling echoed ominously outside the door, drowning out the sailor’s yells for a second. “But I don’t think we should keep Kapera waiting, I don’t want her running around in any storm.”

With that we hurried the morning routine, skipping the bath that felt we needed, and soon enough we were positioned in front of the door, Chrissy and I eyeing our resident illusion magic specialist intently.

“You are sure you can cast that invisibility spell over all of us?” I asked for the second time, earning sighs from both sides of me. I snorted back, “I just want to make sure that no one sees us-,” we all jumped as a very audible crackling filled the air, “-out there.” My sentence finished but I felt antsy, like something was wrong.

It was probably the storm…

That tree flashed in my mind, becoming ash before my eyes. Sure I was far from the Diamond Mountains but that didn’t mean I trusted the weather any more in this location. Hundred foot long Sea serpents were out here!

“Ari, I am completely confident that I can handle casting a localized invisibility spell for less than five minutes.” She raised an eyebrow, “I had to do it for hours in Saddle Arabia.” At that I gave a weak smile before giving her a kiss on the tip of her horn, earning me a disappointed groan as I moved away. With everything going on I had forgotten that part. Five minutes didn’t sound too hard then and she did have a lot of magic.

But that antsy feeling remained.

“Just remember to keep in contact during the spell.” They both moved in closer to my barrel as we eyed the doorway, “If you break contact with me it will wear off.”

We all nodded as a pink field enveloped us, sending a shiver down my back as the magic did its work, and a light hum settled over my ears. I looked to my visible marefriends and spread my wings over them just in case.

Outside it was just starting to spit. Darker masses of clouds blew in behind the initial cumulus as we looked on in apprehension, our feeling shared by the sailors scurrying around the piers below us. They were scrambling to anchor, tie down, and tie together anything and everything. Sails were being folded up, decks cleared, and dinghy’s loaded onto larger ships. We almost stopped and watched as the market became one mass of urgent beings, the stalls being sold out faster than I thought possible.

Fuck.

Last night I lose a stowaway only to gain a storm.

Moving past the rush below us we hurried to the dining room, the hum that tickled my ears released as I closed the door.

“Faust Ari, give us some warning!” Kapera scolded as she gripped the table, her fur on end as others snorted in agreement.

All along the table the snorts and exhales petered off, with the Ayo’s sharing a wide eyed look as the Minotaur siblings slowly released the table’s edge. It was forever indented. Echo didn’t look too bothered by the sudden appearance but he was stuck between his favorite heifer and her brother…He was not smiling, instead narrowing his eyes at me, and he didn’t get any sleep if the red veins on his eyes were accurate.

But I had to go over my plan with them. As I thought of it trepidation ran through me, slowing my advance to the table, and made my heart race.

I shook out my wings trying to dispel the nervousness, tucking them away as we moved to our cushion. “Sorry,” I gave a wry grin as I saw Moonlit Echo’s scowl. “We didn’t want to become front page news.” I glanced to the partially filled table, dragging a bale down with my magic as Lyric did the same from my other side. “So are we still good for the restraints?” I peeked at Kapera as everybeing got back to breakfast.

The smith just nodded, swallowing a bite as twin snaps sounded in the room. “Of course,” She held up her rope as she quickly took another bite of an oval shaped green fruit. The pale flesh glistened with juice and small dark seeds lined the center.

Levitating one over, I began eating the nearly flavorless fruit as she finished her bite.

“Now did you want my advice on your plan or something like that?” She questioned, fixing her gaze on me. Putting down the rope and giving me her full attention.

Everybeing was watching me now, keeping me in their sight as the food slowly made its way into their maws.

Let me add an extra fuck, fuck.

I hadn’t really had time to finalize some things in my head and other factors were unknowns, some I just assumed. Sucking it up, I cleared my throat. “Well, it needs work…But first I’m going to clean up, see if I can heal or cover up these cuts and wrap up my hooves.”

Howling rose above my voice, along with a clatter from outside the ship. The voices grew louder as the wind abated for a second.

With a quieter wind bustling around the ship I continued. “As I was saying, I will clean myself and make sure we have the inhibitors,” I looked to Kapera as she immediately nodded, “And the poison.” My eyes found Ayomide’s rapidly wilting form.

A couple of hesitant coughs left her muzzle as she seemed to flinch under my gaze, “I, uh,” swallowing audibly the former assassin straightened slightly.“What I mean is that I don’t have it, it was removed at the shop.”

Everybeing turned to the smith as she nodded, “I will bring it and a saddle bag as well.” Ayomide’s muzzle dropped, “No way you are getting in that cloak of yours back.” We all stared and I began to cock my head, “What?!” The smith’s muzzle scrunched up, “That cloak stank like a hoofball player’s locker.”

I laughed even as Ayomide turned red.

Hoof-ball, I don’t know why but the image of horse’s playing sports seemed too funny. Kicking a ball around…Or was it throwing it around? That was something I had to see later, I wasn’t into sports but the novelty of seeing how hoofed beings play sounded interesting.

Regaining some control, I smiled and looked up from the table and saw that everybeing was staring at me. Ayodele giving me a tight frown as her cousin lay down on the cushion, trying to hide below the table’s edge.

Maybe that was an inside laugh…

“No I didn’t mean that as a mean thing, it is just we have a similar sport on Earth and for some reason that just seemed so funny that there was one here too.” Brown eyes peeked up at me, the body slowly straightening.

Outside a strong pattering started, plastering the windows with rain as we all frowned at them.

“So…That’s right!” I perked my ears, getting the attention off the mare. “So with everything gathered and myself cleaned up I will carry it in my saddle bags to Canterlot. However, only I will be going to the capital,” Chrissy and Lyric folded back their ears at that, Chrissy frowning as my siren snorted. I was expecting this, turning to left I started, “As much as I respect your ability to fight and infiltrate the castle I can’t have you come for obvious reasons.” The frown intensified as her eyes narrowed, “You can’t use your magic without feeling weak still right?” Her widening eyes and silence answered for her. Turning my focus to the mare on my right I tried keep my will strong. “And you need to be there for Chrissy while I am meeting with the princesses.” Lyric’s mouth opened, “Despite how powerful you are I am not risking our foal.”

My throat constricted as the image of many Thestrals surrounding us filled my mind. Her draconic eyes searched mine for a second; growing duller the longer I looked. The thought of the mysterious magical mirror filled my mind and made that antsy feeling intensify.

I really needed to talk to her about it.

“The first visit will be a sort of recon mission, to get a lay of the land so to speak. After that we will have to return,” My eyes slipped to the Lunar guard, sitting stiffly as he watched us. “Who knows if they moved it by now…” I let the thought sit with her as her frown grew at the unspoken question of how long. The question hung in the air for a tense moment. Till eventually her scaled neck was leaning on my wither, eyes downcast, and her bale was forgotten.

Exhaling loudly, I tried to find my place in the plan.

“So,” I looked at the smith, trying to work up emotions, any emotions that didn’t hang around that mirror. “I will park the airship on the outskirts of Equestria.” Nodding to myself I continued, “From there I will fly to Canterlot.” Wherever that is…It had a giant castle. How hard could it be to find it? “Once I am there I will go to the castle, ask to speak with the princesses, and somehow get a private meeting with them.” Kapera was starting to raise an eyebrow as my rough patch revealed itself. “Once I am meeting with them I will try my best to convince them of the truth using the etiquette and persuasion that Chrissy and Echo will teach me soon.” I winced as several more eyebrows rose. “And if they won’t see reason then I will slip some of the poison into their food and apply the-.”

“HOLD UP!” A paw was raised, outstretched as the storm intensified. “So, in front of the millennia old princesses and their guards you are going to slip green poison in what?” It was Green? Don’t judge, I hadn’t seen what hit me. “They practically live off cakes and aren’t going to notice a whopping four times the lethal dose of poison in their sweets.” It had been four times the lethal dose?! I briefly glanced at my body and couldn’t believe I was still here.

Echo was nodding along, “I agree with the rodent. That is stupid. Even if the Solar guards are less observant, I am sure Celestia’s personal guard will have their eyes on you the whole time.” He pointed a hoof at me, “You are an Alicorn! The whole country has been talking about you! Everypony has heard countless rumors about you!” His withers slumped as his voice returned to normal, “There is no way they won’t notice it.”

The rain came down harder, pounding on the metal sheeting as we all took in the flaw.

He had a good point…But, how else do I get it in them? Blow dart them? Perhaps a needle to the neck would work? No, that would be way too obvious and I didn’t have a needle…Really, I didn’t know anything on the substance.

“W-well,” our eyes moved to Ayomide, “I-I mean you could sneak it into the icing. As long as it isn’t baked the poison should retain full potency.” I nodded at her as a new idea formed in my mind. “So all you need to do is…” She trailed off, glancing to her equally confused cousin as my smile grew.

Chrissy snorted beside me, probably feeling my excitement growing.

“You can come and sneak into the kitchen while I chat up the princesses!” Excitement flowed through me as that felt right somehow, it just clicked in my mind, and I wasn’t seeing any other being that would fit the bill. She was used to sneaking around, a veritable expert on poisons, it really couldn’t get more perfect!

Echo didn’t count; he was liable to get second thoughts.

The rain continued to pound down, a bright flash illuminating the room further as everybeing looked at me with a mixed reaction. Most notably was the slow nod that the master smith was giving me.

“N-no,” the skinny zebra exclaimed, looking between her cousin and me. “I just got her back!” Ayodele’s voice cracked then and she pressed herself against her frowning cousin. I stayed silent, losing my smile as I realized what I was asking of the mare. But Ayodele pressed on, her voice rising above the wind, “F-for e-eight years,” her words caught in her throat as her cousin looked up at her, “I don’t want to lose her.”

She had killed many beings…For eight years.

Beside me Lyric was watching me, all eyes attentive as it fell into place.

I had a flaw there too. “Actually, forget that.” Brown eyes widened in surprise while the green orbs beside them leaked a stray tear. “The presence of a zebra in Canterlot, the capital of racists will draw too much attention.” I eyed her maneless state, which would gather stares too.

“So is that it?”

Kapera inspected her claws as I frowned.

“No.” My voice sounded almost petulant to my ears as I felt my fur bristle, not entirely at her but more at myself and this situation. I needed to show them what they were doing wrong…

Was I approaching this from the wrong angle?

The bottom line was convincing two millennia old Alicorns to listen when a thirty something ‘Alicorn’ that came out of nowhere and tells them to stop doing what they had been doing for millennia. My words didn’t hold water, wouldn’t, and they wouldn’t hold me on a pedestal like the other species seemed to…But the ponies would. My brow scrunched as a sick thought entered my mind, it was exactly what I hated to do, but it could work.

“Echo,” I said his name in question, watching as he turned to me with a curious expression. “The princesses received my letter, right?” He remained rigid as he became center of our attention, nodding briefly as a heavy feeling started in my stomach. If I continued…Chrissy would understand, hopefully, and Lyric should see the point. “And how did they react to it? Did you see or hear anything in that way?”

My eyes strayed to the Ayo’s faces as they frowned at me.

As the Lunar guard went from scowling to frowning I tried to tamp down my emotions. This was just a mission and I had to use what I had.

Finally the guard ended in a long sigh and I felt my resolve harden then. I could fake it…Probably…If I kept the talk civil. “Yes.” He licked his lips, eyes darting around the table top, “Everypony knows you are coming.” He closed his eyes as my thoughts were confirmed, “Princess Luna already showed a lot of care for you and Princess Celestia had expressed great interest in meeting you. T-there niece has even heard of you all the way up in the Crystal Kingdom.” Crystal Kingdom?

No, ignoring that kingdom I was happy in a bitter sort of way. It confirmed that I could use my…Manly wiles? Was that the term? All I knew was that god knew what he was doing, giving this planet a ‘male’ of a near extinct species.

I wasn’t touching the whole ‘going to rut them’ part he assigned me, hell no. But, I would save the world.

Chrissy’s voice came out as a hiss at first, sighing before she managed out, “Really?” The way her lips frowned told me she knew so I nodded briskly. This topic felt awkward the more I thought of faking interest in two racist mares.

Ayodele’s narrowed eyes didn’t help.

“If they want to meet me and if I am the only,” I paused briefly as thought how to word it, but gave up as the eyes across from me widened. “Well, if I am the only stallion and they are Alicorns too then I believe I have some sway over their choices,” inside I was cringing, “Although not much but enough to perhaps, get them alone.” I looked to the rodent as she smiled wide. My skin crawled as I thought that but it was true, they were even in a population crisis so their minds would be going down that way.

“Now you are thinking stud!” I winced at the word. A chuckle followed and voices carried on the wind wrapped around the ship.

But…My eyes wandered to Chrissy as she remained silent. Her muzzle shut tight as her ears went from the sides to the back and sideways once more.

What about after the mission? A voice of doubt whispered but I quickly shut it down. I wouldn’t commit to anything with the princesses. Then I would let them down easy…And run for the Zebrican forests as fast as I could.

Then the mirror, it whispered, my mind circling around the fact that I didn’t quite know how to bring it up.

Lyric…

A jolt of static jumped through me as the smooth sensation of scales on my scabs caught my attention. Lyric wouldn’t meet my eyes but I could see her wither flexing.

I didn’t want to play with the hearts of two mares. But…If I needed to I would to secure the world for my mares and foals. The diarchy might have the oddity of including a nomadic race in their racist country going for them and Moonlit Echo’s praises…But perhaps something more was going on? No, that didn’t cover up the banishment of a sibling to the moon or the execution of Chrissy’s father. The more I thought of it the harder my determination grew. For at least a century slavery had been going on, supposedly without their knowledge. That accompanied by unconfirmed and subsequent pony eating and whatever the hell the nobles in Saddle Arabia did made it hard for my reluctance to hold ground.

Considering they herded I doubted sex was all they had a slave do

Turning my attention to the room, I was surprised at how the energy drained from it slightly.

“Okay Ari,” Her enthusiasm was gone, a serious expression on her face. “What are you going to do to get the poison in them then? And How in Tartarus do think you are just going to waltz out of there with two dead weights?”

Echo was taking deep breathes now, leathery wings twitching until Dinari leaned in closer, forcing him to stay still.

I started to open my mouth but paused. How the hell was I going to get away? Flying away into sunset sounded doable, until I took into account the guards that would be following her, then it sounded like suicide. “How many guards are employed and working on any given day?”

But I was an Alicorn…Couldn’t I teleport them?

Tufted ears remained splayed as my prisoner frowned.

A sigh came from beside me, frustration bleeding into it, “Several hundred guards worked there last time I checked, but if you go in the day time you will face the most pathetic force imaginable. Even my youngest warriors incapacitated them.” I nodded, ignoring the snort from beside the heifer. Small equestrian ponies sounded easy anyway…In small amounts that is, I didn’t want to face hundreds of ponies.

So teleporting was the way to go.

“Thanks Chrissy,” she purred as I said that, shuddering against me as I focused on my memories of her. A little extra love never hurt, which maybe what my other mare needed as well. Dividing my attention was hard sometimes, more so with the nagging reminder from my conscious about finding the mirror. Focusing on Lyric I nuzzled her till a sigh escaped her, slowly nuzzling me back as she kept her eyes down.

A sigh was better than before at least.

Kapera was glancing at the clock now, a worried look on her muzzle as the airship creaked in the storm.

“And the poison will come in the form of cake,” a grin spread as I looked at the Thestral, “I will bake them a cake, if they are anything like me they will eat it before I can blink.” A smile was on Kapera’s muzzle as I continued, confidence growing as the plan ran through my head. It sounded better every second. “I will arrive around lunch time, bringing the desert to the special occasion, and since my words obviously won’t work I will teleport them away.” My head tilted, “They can’t track teleportation can they?”

“Not the last time I checked,” Chrissy muttered as her eyes scrunched up and a frown grew, “But Starswirl the Bearded was-,” a sudden loud snort caused her to stop.

The whole room turned to my scaled mare as her expression turned to one of anger, ears pinned back at the table.

As nothing came from Lyric Chrissy hesitantly continued. But both of our eyes watched our herd mate carefully. “That old, unicorn stallion was developing a generalized teleportation tracking spell but never finished it, the reason was obvious though.” Seeing my eyes on her she gave me a grin, “Only those with a lot of magic can teleport and even then many don’t because of the risks associated with their concentration breaking.” We shared a wide smile and even Lyric managed a small one.

Entry to exit I had it down. Well, except for the castle layout, but I was sure they could fill me in on that.

Sharp teeth were exposed as my conspirator looked back at me, a glint in her eyes as they left the clock once more, “I don’t think you need me here anymore then.” The reminder of the forgotten green fruit was hastily shoved into her maw, going down with a loud gulp. “See yah,” Her eyes squinted at the ticking face, “Around one.” She frowned at the soaking window pane, “Probably.”

With that Kapera stood, stretching as her workers joined her. I rose to let them out.

As I opened the door we all cringed at the torrent that slammed against us, whipping water at us in near bucketfuls with how wet we grew. Securing the door I looked to the group, narrowing my eyes against the onslaught. They were pushing on, shouting something that was lost as a slam stole my focus.

We stared as a bucket rolled across the deck, pushed on by wind before it was suddenly hurled off into the water.

I paused on my way to the control room, ignoring the disturbance in my feathers as a whisper of flowers whipped past my senses. But I shook it off, the gray sheet surrounding my ship and the far away flashes insisted I move on. And so I did, knowing that the wind would have blown away the scent, that the source was long gone, and almost guiltily aware of why I might have imagined it.

That scent stirred a memory of wild joy and childhood relaxation in me, something I was sorely missing here.

Gears turned as I gazed out at the sea, frowning against the waves as they grew in height and choppiness. Looking back to the town that withstood Mother Nature’s beating, I grew somber. A faint smell of acrid smoke was coming in from the inner reaches of the city. While the mountains that lay behind them were completely obscured in the dark atmosphere, and it was only nine in the morning.

Another white bolt arched across the sky, skipping across black cumulus on its way to the outskirts of the town till it struck at the ground. Through the gray sheet I could almost see dark plumes rising into the rain.

My own comfort didn’t matter much right now.

****

Chrissy

As soon as my stallion left with our helpers the Thestral was up and stretching his back. Popping as we all stared at him.

I felt conflicted on Ari’s plan still but this bat clearly had more issues with it.

Even as pops came from him his muscles bulged as soon as he rested, frown capturing the look in his eyes perfectly.

“So just how interested is Moonbutt in Ari?”

Just like I thought he flinched at my insinuation. It would figure that the socially awkward one would latch onto him after one dream encounter. But my wing still couldn’t help but buzz at the thought of her presence on the ship.

“I see, well, please work on growing the balls to tell her how you feel,” Lyric scooted over to me as he nearly choked on the fruit he had just bitten into. “Just because I shouldn’t kick an incapacitated mare in a mare challenge doesn’t mean I won’t if she pursues my stallion.” Lyric straightened up, nodding just as Ari opened the door.

All that was missing was the dramatic lightening to highlight him and he would have the guard quaking in his hooves.

Blocking out unrelenting downpour, Ari dragged himself over to a corner and shook his wings one at a time. As he did so Echo made a beeline for the pillow, straightening his back, and rustling his wings. Trying a little too obviously to keep in my stallion’s good graces, sharing an eye roll with Lyric I felt a little better.

“Are you ok?” He asked as we made space for him between us, this time we shared a frown. Just a little better, not one hundred percent better.

My stallion wants to purposely lead on two mares that are extremely powerful and hate me.

“No.”

Lyric remained silent, her tail started to swish.

Drops rolled onto my chitin, cool, and indifferent to his unpleasant worry. “I know it’s not the best way…But I can’t think of any better ones.” Sweet love poured in as I looked away, “You know I love you both very much.”

“Can’t you just be polite, laugh when they laugh?” Lyric’s voice cracked at the end, and I felt her pain.

The sweetness grew sour, a frown set on our stallion’s muzzle, “I will be as polite as I can be and laugh when appropriate…Truly though, I am not good at faking things so I won’t be preening them or anything now that I know what that means.” Involuntarily I sighed, letting my eyes wander to the zebras, and Ayodele in particular. Pitying the mare as her eyes widened. My affection for Ari was great…But his ignorance to Equus culture was hard to understand and had hurt me at first when I learned of it…But that was mostly over with.

Ari paused as he waited, looking at me with perked ears before they dropped again. “I won’t mention either of you and if you want you don’t have to leave the cabin when they are here.”

His dark ears were splayed now, wings shifting uneasily, and an all together uncertain look in eyes as his gaze flitted between us.

Echo would tell, somebeing would slip up, and yet no being seemed to want to say it.

“That isn’t true.” I take that back, my scaled herd mate was going there. “The Thestral will spill his guts to them as soon as they get here.” Ari just nodded, sadness and fear leaking through the wall of sweetness he was trying to maintain. “You don’t know have everything planned out yet.” He winced but briefly dipped his head once more, “And you don’t have a clue about the mirror.”

Wind howled long and low for a second as his blue eyes disappeared.

“Of course I don’t know Lyric,” he rested he chin on her head as I leaned into him. “But I would love to learn more about the mirror if you feel up to talking about it.”

****

Lyric

My heart ached fiercely, as if it was wrapped in a vice like grip. I knew he wouldn’t know about the mirror. I knew he was trying to keep me happy while he figured out things. But, I was tired of going along with his attempts to keep moving, it never ended then. Not when one sister was banished or the grey coltcuddler himself disappeared.

I just kept moving.

And nothing changed.

Talking became hard, the grip having moved to my throat. You would think after this long it would be easy, easier, but it never was.

“You don’t have to now-.”

Interrupting him with a kiss, I felt a warm tears roll down my scales before I released his muzzle. With a couple rubs of our muzzles, the soft fur soothed me. I felt a small medium of calm descend upon me, enough to continue.

“Of course I do!” The way it came out shocked me into silence. “S-sorry,” but his eyes just returned to their concerned expression. Chrissy looking sympathetic and the audience across the table appeared very far away.

Echo knew everything already anyway; we can’t even leave him alone anymore.

Grabbing some hay, I chewed the flavorless mouthful as my mind tried to recall the facts, not that they were hard to remember. It was more the process of time, the when’s and where’s that moved on but at the same time didn’t change at all.

Rain pounded on, the seconds ticked inaudibly, and I swallowed that dry mush resigned to the pain.

“The mirror is strange,” my eyes closed as the mirror stood alone in the black expanse of my mind. “It almost looks like a regular body mirror, oval with a purple frame and trim…But the base is welded to a platform.” The room expanded in my mind’s eye to include blurry desks and a slumped over bag. “All around the platform purple horseshoes are encircling it, small cuneal writing engraved on them.”

Images of determined guards and sparkling checkered floors flew by in my mind as I could almost hear their hoof steps pounding down the imaginary hallway.

Damp feathers wrapped around my body, stilling a shaking I hadn’t noticed till then.

“But I don’t remember what the room looked like, not really…It had a plain brown desk, a white marble floor, and plain walls.” I wish I were even half as skilled at enchanting as my father was, is. Then I could have decoded what the writing meant. “Not that that matters, surely it has been moved or the room redecorated with whomever is on the new castle design now.”

A second basked in silence before his low query broke it. “How,” my stallion trailed off growing rigid beside me, but I knew what he meant.

Hollowness filled me then. Cold nights and empty relationships with the bodies beside me, all easily lulled into laying with me, and all even quicker to leave a monster.

“Long enough,” They all accepted that, even the mares across from us looking solemn.

“Do you remember anything that might be important?” As a herd we all did a variant of a cringe, the redundancy of the question was obvious but necessary. Somehow it was easier not having to explain it all at once, the prompts keeping me here instead of there.

The Thestral was watching me intently then.

My pillow seemed to sink away as I remembered the worst part.

“I had snuck past the guards, so easy they were to distract then, and entered the room.” The glow had almost blinded me. “The chimes had just begun, from some clock in the room, and a silver sheen passed over the mirror’s surface. It blinded before I spotted my father’s bag on the floor.” Sympathetic murmurs came from my herd and to my surprise the zebras.

As the muted splashing sounded came from the sea I let their comfort wash over me, erasing the images.

My herd was here.

“Well, perhaps a very interested researcher will have me inquire about such a well crafted enchanted mirror.” I did a double take, blinking rapidly as he continued with his playful grin. “I could easily go there with a list of issues, this world is full of them, and getting your, no, our family home is pretty important.” His eyes traveled to my stomach briefly and I felt a small burst of hope.

Setting my lips in a serious line I channeled my inner Chrissy, “But don’t make them too eager,” I let my eyes flick to the skinny mare that watching me intently. “My aunts told me mother was terribly possessive when she was carrying me.”

I didn’t look at the beings across from me, instead relishing the smile that lightened Ari’s muzzle.

Although we could hardly hear the time pass over the storm, it was. We kept to eating mostly, my herd mates and I comfortable with the silence, while our tagalongs looked around the room. But I didn’t pay them any mind, my chance was paying off.

If I hadn’t taken that chance, following what could have easily been my mind losing itself in the desert’s heat, and then I wouldn’t have ended up curled up beside my stallion. Well, our stallion, but my herd mate wasn’t the way some were. I didn’t scrunch up my muzzle the way my father did to herding.

Soon enough my lazing was disturbed, Ari was squirming and Chrissy was buzzing as she wiggled. She probably felt too exposed again, her hormones kicking in. Something I wasn’t quite looking forward to. She described it as feeling vulnerable for no reason and so nesting came into play.

Wings adjusted themselves over me as I glanced at the clock, frowning and nudging my stallion.

He looked at the clock and joined me in a frown, it was past one.

But before he could comment a dull thumping whispered under the wind. With an apologetic smile he was out the door, returning several minutes later with a soaking wet saddle bag draped over his back.

Closing the door he muttered to himself before he shook out his mane. “Kapera gives her apologies,” we watched as he placed it the on the table. “But she wants to make it home before the storm gets too bad.” Rolling his eyes he muttered the end, “Like it wasn’t bad out there already.”

“She’s not staying to wait it out?” I frowned, sharing a worried look with Chrissy as the thunder rumbled outside.

“No-pe,” Ari sounded out, snorting before opening the saddlebags onto the table.

The jingling of chains filled the room as a curious set of shackles fell out of the bag. One was obviously for the hocks, being four shackles connected by a chain, and the other was not so obvious. They were two rings engraved with various runes. Inspecting them, I tried to recall the meaning in the writing, but only some of the basic symbols were popping out at me.

“Kapera said to apply those to the base of his wings, they should block off his aetheratic channels.” We turned to the Thestral. He was frowning at restraints. But as bad as it may sound I was happy that Ari had kept his guard up.

Slitted eyes scanned my herd mates and I, even glancing at the zebras, but they just shrugged.

A grunt made me look over to my stallion, his horn was encased in gold yet I didn’t see what he was manipulating.

“What are you doing?” Chrissy asked, cocking her head as he scrunched his eyes.

His horn grew brighter before it petered out, “Trying to levitate the restraints over to the-,” I interrupted him. Encasing the small gate keys in my magic I unlocked the restraints, dropping the keys and grabbing the wing shackles.

“If the cuneal writing isn’t broken it keeps relaying the effect, which in this case is a general magical restraint.” The eyebrows rose on every being’s face. “My father is an enchanter; I picked up a little bit watching him.”

“That’s such a cool skill!”Ari exclaimed, fluttering his wings as I blushed and Echo muttered to himself. That muttering proved to remind my stallion of what we had been doing. My blush faded as he nodded to the restraints. Placing them on Moonlit Echo was easy, the Lunar guard even standing as a golden field added the hock shackles.

Every being’s eyes traveled to the still bulging pocket.

Looking to Ari and back to the bag I felt a surge of excitement travel up me, my scales tingled as he unlatched it and let the contents roll out.

Several vials filled with a green powder and several more filled with a dark red liquid came out first.

Ayomide gasped as we all looked at the vials curiously. “W-why did she send the hydra blood?” She flinched under the stares, “Well, you see…When I was tracking you down I ran across the Hydra you killed and pocketed some blood for selling later.” Her cousin’s gaze went to Ari and he just shrugged.

“You can keep it,” he said as he grimaced at the vials. “Just don’t let that near me, that stuff burns like acid.”

With a brisk nod from her we turned back to the bag watching as the key components of the plan appeared.

My father would love to see them.

They weren’t like a standard magic inhibitor or even like the prototype my stallion had worn. Both were more like safety cones than shackles, taking up nearly the whole length of Ari’s horn, and with twelve gates. I was speechless, my herd felt the same as we inspected the finely crafted inhibitors.

Scratch what I said about my father, he will want worship the ground Kapera walks on, especially if they work. And with twelve gates I don’t see how they won’t work. It was a magic number, mind you, it was one that no being had done much research on seeing as twelve was seen as overkill for the being with an average magical core. When three did the trick why use all the extra material and put in the time?

“Well, now all we need is the storm to end,” I looked to Ari as jingles made my ears twitch. He turned from Chrissy, meeting my gaze before looking across the table. “As soon as it lets up we are hitting the air.”

I slowly nodded, feeling uneasy for some reason.

Chrissy managed to pinpoint why, “What if it’s night time then?”

Our stallion frowned, chewing his lip for a second, “I doubt that it is going to let up anytime soon. The last storm we were in lasted a whole day. So, I guess I meant at the first light we head for Equestria!”