Chapter 13: Villainous Villains of Villainy

I rubbed my eyes as I finished off the fifth book about Aurora Solstice from the library in the Crystal Empire. As I closed the book a thin layer of dust shot out from the cover igniting a very loud sneeze from me as the dust filled my nostrils. The sneeze was loud enough to echo throughout the library and jolt a nearby sleeping Jackpot awake from his boredom induced nap.

“What? Huh?” Jackpot spurted out as he jolted up from the chair he had been napping on, only to end up flat on his face when the chair inevitably tipped over.

“Another dead end. All these books say the same damn thing.” I huffed in annoyance.

“And what's that?” Jackpot yawned.

“That nopony really knows anything about her except some very vague and very general factoids.” I crossed my forehooves in exasperation.

“And what are these factoids exactly?” Jackpot asked.

“Everypony agrees she was some powerful wizard or something and that she maybe founded a town that eventually became the Crystal Empire. After that it's pretty much a bunch of dumb theories that have no basis in facts or real supporting evidence.” I slammed my head down on the table.

“Well Enyi, Scarlet and Silver should be back soon with any more books, if this place has anymore about this Aurora whatever her name was.” Jackpot straightened his chair and leaned back in it.

“Her name was Aurora Solstice and maybe you could contribute something to our search instead of laying around doing nothing.”

“I am doing something! I'm providing moral support and supplying you with a steady supply of high quality cider to keep your energy up.” Jackpot said as he slipped the top of the flask that hung from his neck into his mouth.

I looked back at the pile of books and half-empty flask of cider that laid next to them. I leaned my head down and took another few sips before flipping back through the first book on the pile, “There just has to be something here, I mean these books don't really have anything of substance about Aurora. Grit could probably write a more informative book about her in his sleep!” I shouted, getting some angry looks from several ponies across the isle who were reading their own books.

“Well, I'm bored. Whaddya say we head out towards Yakyakistan now Ives?” Jackpot said stretching his wings out and yawning again.

“I'm too frustrated to head out now Jackpot. These Celestia damned books aren't giving me anything!” After even more dirty looks from various surrounding ponies I stuck my face back into the book I was reading.

“Ivory! We're back!” I heard Scarlet yell from across the library.

I didn't dare look up from my book for fear of the disapproving glare of random library ponies so instead I waved my hoof up to show I had heard her. Scarlet, Enyi and Silver plopped several more books down onto the table I was sitting at, their faces nearly as exhausted as mine.

“We searched and searched, but could not find where your books were perched.” Enyi said, very exhausted himself.

“I'm sorry Ivory but these few books were all we could even find on the early settlement of the Crystal Empire.” Silver said, stretching his own exhausted looking wings out. “We would have been back sooner but Scarlet here just had to read half a book on variances between Crystal Pony and normal pony skin types.”

“Hey! Where better to read about Crystal Ponies than in the Crystal Empire.” Scarlet huffed.

At this point the ponies reading around us got up and trotted away grumbling to themselves. I lifted an eye up from my book in time to see them give more dirty looks as they trotted away which I admit gave me some satisfaction that they were now not sitting there judging me on my friends noisiness.

“Well what other books were you able to find?” I said, looking up from my current book.

“Let us see here, we have: Obscure Unicorn History: Crystal Empire Edition, Early History of the Crystal Empire, Treatises on the royal Line of the Crystal Empire, and The Symposium of Memories of the Ancient History of Equestria and it's Various Neighbors By Account of Gallophon.” Enyi said, reading the titles of each book.

“I've already read Gallophon but I guess we could give the others a try.” I said, still disappointed by my lack of progress.

Enyi sat down in the chair next to me, “Then allow me to assist you in the reading.” he said smiling.

I gave Enyi a quick smile back before Jackpot's voice interrupted, “Just remember to close the door this time ok.”

“Oh shut up.” I said before shoving my face into one of the books(mainly to hide my blushing face).

To my dismay these books really didn't tell me much more than the previous ones did. The only thing I remotely found interesting was some vague and loosely connected link between Aurora Solstice and the original royal line of princess Amore, although I admit it was more interesting because the writer was very enthusiastic about this theory without providing much actual proof and the bit was fun to read.

“You've been looking over those books for hours.” Jackpot whined. “I think we got enough information.”

“Grit always said there is never enough information.” I said as I reread Obscure Unicorn History: Crystal Empire Edition.

I looked over towards Enyi and he was just as busy as I was reading one of the other books. His face, unlike mine, was entirely engrossed in the lines of writing that lined each page.

“Pony history is remarkably different from Zebra history.” Enyi mumbled rather loudly.

“Wouldn't know, you never tell us about Zebra history!” Jackpot continued to whine.

“Would you listen even if I did?” Enyi asked, looking up at Jackpot.

“Good point, now let's go please.” Jackpot said back.

I shut the book I was reading, “I think I'm gonna agree with Jackpot here. These books really haven't said anything that I didn't already know are could have guessed on my own.”

“Sorry Ivory, thought this might help.” Silver said.

“It's ok Silver. Always good to have a few more books under my belt and I still had fun.” I said glancing over at Enyi who was still reading.

It was finally decided to head out of the library and up towards Yakyakistan far to the north. From there Silver had set us up with a local Yak guide who knew the area and was willing to take us to the site where Hero's friends found up near Mt. Everhoof. Luckily, and Silver was very proud of himself for this, Silver had packed us warm clothing for the freezing weather that the Crystal Mountains were famous for.

*****

I knew the mountains would be cold but...”Why can't Celestia just melt all this already!” I shouted. “She controls the fucking sun, why can't she keep everyplace warm like Equestria!” I shouted to be heard over the howling and freezing winds that constantly blew over the Crystal Mountains.

“Give me one minute please.” I heard Scarlet say as the wind began to pick up.

“What did she say!” I heard Jackpot shout as his voice was almost drowned out by the howling winds.

“What!” Silver yelled as he began to lag behind somewhat.

“I think she said to wait for something!” Enyi yelled from behind me.

“Get closer to me!” Scarlet yelled as he horn slowly charged up with magic and she began to grit her teeth with the effort.

That on I heard and I turned back, grabbed Enyi and Jackpot and dragged them back towards Scarlet. Silver saw this and galloped up closer to us as Scarlet released her warmth spell. It only covered an area of a dew feet away from her but within the area of effect it was certainly much more tolerable.

“This storm just came out of nowhere.” I said as I huddled close to Enyi.

“We should have met your guide in the empire.” Jackpot grunted, obviously very uncomfortable.

“He was very insistent on meeting in Yakyakistan.” Silver answered. “Didn't have the heart to say no.”

“Hey, I think we should keep going. I can't hold this up forever you know.” Scarlet said, grunting under the pressure.

“How do you even know this kind of spell?” Jackpot asked. “Thought you were just about doctor stuff.”

“Oh this is 'doctor stuff' as you put it, well originally it was anyway. This spell was supposed to be for cauterization serious injuries but I could never take it that far so I settled for this. But we really need to keep going or at least find a cave or something because I'm really wearing out fast here!” Scarlet was now sweating profusely.

“She is correct, we must find shelter quickly!” Enyi shouted over the wind.

“We have to be careful about that! I've heard stories about monsters that live in these mountains!” Silver yelled.

“Those were decades ago! Haven't been yeti sightings here for nearly sixty years!” I yelled back.

“No confirmed yeti sightings you mean!” Silver yelled towards me.

“Come on! Let's just focus on finding shelter!” I shouted, pulling out from our huddle to lead the group in finding shelter.

The snow that was coming down was nearly blinding. If I hadn't been holding on to Enyi and he to the rest of the group in a chain we probably would have gotten separated and completely lost in the snow-storm. Scarlet's spell kept me from completely freezing over but after a while it's slowly lessening effects became very noticeable. This time luck was on my side as after a while I spotted an opening in an ice-cliff that looked like it offered some decent protection. I quickly turned in it's direction and shoveled my way through the piles of thick snow in order to reach the cave. When we finally arrived I collapsed on the cold floor of the cave, nearly out of breath.

“Well, it's better than out there.” I said, huffing as I lay on the floor.

“Not a bad find Ives.” Jackpot said, glancing around the large cave.

“It looks empty.” Silver said.

“Yes, but for how long?” Enyi asked in a worried tone.

“I need to rest.” Scarlet sighed as she slid down on to the floor next to me.

“Great job, the both of you.” Jackpot said, giving a smile and an approving nod to each of us.

I looked up from the floor around the cave. It went back quite a ways but I could still see the back of the cave wall so I wasn't too worried about things hiding in it. The cave was large enough to offer us decent protection as long as the storm lasted but not big enough for something to come crawling out of the dark crevasses like in some of the Dash Venture books. It was still fairly chilly and wet inside the cave as ice dripped from the walls and ceiling but it was still infinitely better than being outside.

“Are you ok Ivory?” Enyi asked, coming over and helping me up.

“Yeah, just a little exhausted from plowing through all that snow.” I said, grabbing Enyi's hoof and standing up.

“Don't mind me, I'm just laying down exhausted here too.” Scarlet whined as she waved her hoof signaling she wanted some help us as well. Silver trotted over and helped her up and Jackpot flew over to the back of the cave and began inspecting it closer.

“Yeah, cave ends here, shouldn't be nothin to worry about from this end.” he said.

This was enough to comfort the group so we all just kind of sat around for what seemed like hours upon hours. Every now and again one of us would poke our heads and look to see if the storm was letting up...it wasn't. After what seemed days now the storm finally seemed to shift into a gentler state. It would still be difficult to see far but the snow had let up a bit and the sun poked through the clouds, if only slightly and for short bursts. It was at that point we heard it or it would be more accurate to say Enyi heard it first, followed by Jackpot, Silver, Scarlet and then myself. A hollow roar breaching the blowing winds of the Crystal Mountains, rang through our ears and echoed throughout the cave. The walls and ceilings of the cave shook and reverberated as the shrill howl broke through the darkened mountain cave.

“What was that?” I said, shivering.

“Thought you said there were no monster sightings here for a long time!?

“Well, that's what all the books I've read on the subject said.”

“Then what was that howling?” Scarlet asked, worriedly.

“I say we leave before we find out.” Said Silver.

I was the first one out of the cave as the others followed close behind. The snow was still nearly up to my head in height and the path I had trudged out before had disappeared completely. Before we could get very far the monster leapt up from behind a large snow bank and let out a near deafening roar. It was definitely a Crystal Mountain Yeti, the kind that prowl on four legs and EAT PONIES FOR FOOD!

“Crap!” Jackpot yelled as he flung himself out of the way of the leaping beast.

“Silver look out!” Scarlet yelled as the monsters tail swung around and bashed into Silver, knocking him down.

The yeti was huge, at least four or five times my height and it brought back too many memories of another giant monster from Khaweth that I preferred to forget about. This time though I was more experienced and managed to get close enough to buck at one of it's legs as hard as I could. It certainly noticed that as the yeti nearly stumbled as I kicked the leg it had focused it's weight on. It howled again and turned towards me, thrusting downwards with it's massive jaw and even more massive teeth. The snow was deep and I didn't have any wings so dodging was pretty much impossible for me.

“Shit!” I screamed as the yeti's jaws got dangerously close to my entire body.

Luckily Jackpot had flown back around and smashed his front hooves into the yeti's face with a steep aerial dive. The monster was now knocked over with the sudden blow knocking it off balance, dipping down to me as it was. Luckily again the beast's body missed me and I was able to scramble my way to safety.

Silver and Scarlet, on the other hoof, had scrambled their way out of the way as Silver was still weighed down by his large packs and Scarlet really wasn't the fighting type. Enyi also was standing a good distance from the yeti, not as far as Scarlet and Silver, but far enough away as to not be an immediate target.

“Ivory, I'll get it's attention!” Jackpot yelled. “You go for underneath his belly! I'm sure you'll know where to h it!”

I knew exactly what he meant and now I was busy hoping this thing was a male or at least a very sensitive female. Jackpot swept his way across the yeti's face as it rose up, whooshing his way this way and that as he stayed ahead of it's snapping mouth. I ran as fast as the snow let me up towards the yeti's back while trying to avoid it's constantly shifting feet and large tail. Luck must have been with me today as Jackpot maneuvered the giant monster into the perfect position for me to get underneath and...BINGO, it was a male.

I acted as quickly as I could, lining up my buck as I shifted onto my front haunches and struck straight upwards. The yeti had moved again making my shot miss a direct hit but I still managed to land a blow to the pelvic region of the monster. I must have hit close enough though as the monster let out a howl and leapt backwards with a whine. Luck was again on my side as when it landed it fell right next to where Enyi had been waiting. The yeti was now too focused on the hard kick to it's groin to notice a naturally snow camouflaged Zebra lying in wait in the snow. Enyi struck a blow with his hooves at one of the yeti's feet as it landed, now fully knocking it over once again.

“Yeah! That's how ya do it!” Jackpot whooped as he flew in closer to the yeti.

Jackpot got too close however and the yeti gave a quick swing of it's long tail, knocking Jackpot tot he ground. I stopped my own charge at the monster as Enyi made sure to quickly evacuate the beast's presence as fast as he could. I ran over to help Jackpot up as the yeti shook off it's stunned state and re-centered itself. I could tell it was mad now and very very hungry. I helped Jackpot back up as he, Enyi and I now stood together.

“Ok, here's what we should do.” Jackpot said to us, “I'm gonna keep trying for his face, you two keep on opposite sides of it's body, that way he won't be able to focus on all of us at once.

“That seems quite reasonable.” Enyi said, nodding his head.

“Let's do this!” I shouted, now with some excitement.

Jackpot swooped in first, taking the Yeti's initial notice by flying close to his face and focusing entirely on not being hit rather than hitting back. Enyi and I split up and charged from the left and right side of the yeti. The snow still kept us rather slow but with Jackpot as agile as he now seemed it was of little consequence. Enyi tried to hit it first but the yeti must have seen him somehow and lifted his leg causing Enyi to miss him entirely. I now became very worried for Enyi as he had over-struck his kick and had fallen flat on his stomach with an angry yeti now focused on him.

Jackpot saw this and swooped back in, landing a light blow to the yeti's back and shifting his attention back to Jackpot. I ran over to Enyi and helped him to stand up.

“Give me a boost.” I said.

“What?”

“I have an idea.” Enyi nodded and stood up for me. I backed up and started galloping as fact as I could towards Enyi. “Kneel!” I shouted, nearing Enyi.

Enyi accommodated me as he knelt down as I got nearer to him. I jumped up and managed to land on his back before bending my legs again and leaping from my now not snow covered platform. Enyi saw what I was doing and the moment I jumped he sprang up, giving me a small extra boost as I leapt towards the Yeti's head. Luck just kept coming my way as my blow landed the four-legged monster square in the face. Jackpot timed his next attack immediately after mine which resulted in a twin sided kick to the yeti's face. The monster buckled under the force and leaping, got clear of the group. He let out several audible whines before limping away across the snow.

I stood there in the snow silently staring out at the monster as it limped away. It was now, after the fight had ended, that I noticed how heavily my body was shaking with excitement. I lifted one of my hooves up to my face and gazed as the adrenaline began to wear off and the realization of my having just fought a monster and won crept into my mind. “I'm getting better?” I said silently to myself.

“We must pursue it!” Enyi yelled.

“No, we don't want to get even more lost out here do we?” Jackpot yelled back, landing. Immediately after hitting the ground Jackpot's face scrunched up in pain as he collapsed, grabbing at his wing.

“What did I tell you!” Scarlet yelled, galloping over as fast as she could to look at Jackpot. “No stressful flying!”

“Well sorry for saving our lives!” Jackpot snarked back.

“I don't think wings bend that way?” Scarlet said out loud.

“What!” Jackpot yelled again.

“Oh uh, it's nothing. Your wing just looks a bit puffy right now.” Scarlet's horn began to glow as she clenched her face and exerted her full effort towards Jackpot. Withing seconds the puffiness went down and Jackpot stopped whining. “There, no more puffiness at least. That's about the best I can do though. The bones in your wing are probably still healing so you really can't fly like that.”

Jackpot just sat there staring sadly at his wing, “Will this thing ever fucking heal.”

“Not with language like that!” Scarlet huffed.

“Well we're alive at least. Thanks Jackpot, Ivory and Enyi.” Silver said.

“I say we go straight to Yakyakistan now and no more detours, no matter what.” said Scarlet.

“Yeah, let's go.” I agreed.

Jackpot trotted over to a small snow bank and lifted up his saddlebag which had fallen off during the fight. He brushed it off as the jingle of his flasks could be heard within.

“Those are probably frozen by now.” I said.

“You'd be surprised Ives.” he said finishing brushing off the last of the snow.

As I gazed at his saddlebag I saw the bulge that hid the noticeable(to me) helmet that he had continually snuck with us. I looked back at Enyi for a quick second before turning around and continuing on to Yakyakistan.

*****

Finally, after several more hours of tromping through head-high snow, we managed to find our way to Yakyakistan's gates. It looked about how I expected it to look for a Yak city. The walls and gates were all made of wood(where they got it in this frozen tundra is beyond me) and were slid open to allow us all to pass through easily. The city was a bit bigger on the inside than I expected with large wooden structures(again, where do they get all that wood in a frozen mountain wasteland!) and Yaks all around dressed in admittedly very cool and ornamental horn-dressings.

“Our guide should be there, in that Central house.” Silver said as he pointed towards a large wooden house in the center of a small ring of structures.

“Well prepare yourself Enyi, Yaks are very...well I suppose hyper is a good enough word.” I said.

“Have you ever met one?” Enyi responded.

“Well, not personally but everypony knows what Yaks are like.”

“And what exactly are they like?” Enyi said, staring at me as we neared the large house.

“I just told...” I looked back at Enyi and saw the face he was making and decided it would be best for me to not continue my current dialogue, “You know what, I've never met one so we'll see I guess.”

As we neared the house the door suddenly burst open and a very(very) large Yak came charging out and straight towards us. He had long, shaggy brown fur and large pointy-looking horns that were nearly as large as I was by themselves. He charged up towards Silver and then stopped on a bit right in front of us.

“Yak welcomes little ponies to Yakyakistan! Yak's name is Roose! It is proud Yak name! Now Tell me ponies names!” he bellowed in a loud, deep voice that almost blew me off my hooves.

“Ah, hello Roose. I'm Silver Chaser and these are the ponies you will be leading towards Mt. Everhoof.” Silver gestured towards the rest of us.

“I'm Ivory Star.”

“Call me Jackpot.”

“Scarlet Aloe, at your service.”

“My name is Enyi.” Enyi said, giving a little bow with his head.

“You look strange for pony!” Roose lifted a tuft of hair that hung above his eyes as he stared at Enyi, “Look very strange for little pony!”

“I am a Zebra.”

“Yak has heard of Zebras! Hear you are proud and knowledgeable people! Roose has decided that he likes ponies and Zebras!” Roose smiled as he bellowed.

“See Ivory, this Yak is a very reasonable and...”

Before Enyi could finish Roose grabbed our entire group in his hooves and proceeded to give a crushing hug. He let loose a loud and deep laugh as a large smile appeared on his face.

“Very well! Roose knows the way to ancient ruin! Must be very ancient and sacred Yak site! It is strange ponies are interested but wonderful at the same time!” Roose bellowed again.

“Well actually we think it might be an ancient pony site and...” Roose's hug squeezed most of the air out of me.

“You will follow Roose now!” the overzealous Yak said, letting go of the death-hug and tromping off towards the gate of Yakyakistan.

“Just like that? No plan? No advise for getting across the frozen wastes?” I said, still reeling from the death-hug.

“Yak prefer to take things as they come.” Roose said, continuing on towards the gate.

Jackpot moved past me, shrugged, then proceeded to follow Roose. Silver, Scarlet and Enyi followed suite with me following behind them, trying to catch up.

We continued at a brisk pace in the brisk mountain air of Yakyakistan. Roose had given us some warm coats made from yeti hair that he claimed were completely cold proof...and he was right. I felt it very soon, the feeling of sweat dripping down my face and body as the fur coat brilliantly kept all the cold out and the heat of my body inside.

“These coats are amazing!” I said, running to catch up to Roose who led our little pack.

“Yes! Yaks make best clothes! Ponies think they do but they don't know fine craft of Yak tailoring!” Roose yelled. “What confuses me is why ponies so interested in ancient Yak ruin? Ponies usually not interested in anything non-pony.”

“Well, I wouldn't say that's entirely true. Grit Stratum discovered many Yak heritage sites across the Crystal Mountains back when he was still an adventurer.” I said, doing my best to once again sound as intelligent as I could.

“Yes, Roose has heard of this pony. Yaks now have many lost items he took from us back along with many apologies from pony princesses.” Roose said in a loud but serious tone.

Seriously! He even took shit from the Yaks! By Twilight Sparkle's sparkling orgasms was there no fucking end to this Celestia damned realization that the fucking pony I based my entire life around was a fucking fraud. I at least intend to give the ONE thing I took back and I didn't even really take the helmet, it was Grit. My face began to show just how miserable I had suddenly becomeprompting Enyi to give me a reassuring pat on my back(and one other place) to cheer me up.

The next few hours of the hike proved easy if not somewhat awkwardly silent. This lasted until Roose stopped us at a large chasm that spanned several dozen feet on our intended path. The fissure was at least fifty or sixty feet across and fell downwards at least two or three times that length.

“We are now on height of great Yakyakistan glacier!” Roose bellowed out. “Ruin is not far on the other side of pit here!”

“Well I think I know how we're getting across.” Jackpot said stretching out his wings.

“Oh no you don't!” Scarlet scolded. “Were you even listening to me back there?”

Jackpot shut his wings back up against his side with an annoyed groan. I swiftly trotted over towards the edge of the fissure and took a look down the chasm. It nearly made me dizzy, looking down from such a high vantage point into a near bottomless ice-pit.

“Well it might take a while but I suppose I could try to carry some of us across.” Silver said, speaking up. “Although I can't say that I can lift our friend Roose here or...” he glanced over at Enyi, “I mean if what Jackpot has told me is true...”

“I am sure we will find another way thank you.” this time it was Enyi's turn to sound somewhat annoyed.

As we all stood there trying to think of a way to cross it Roose's face lit up like the Canterlot Hearths Warming tree, “I have an idea!”

“What is it?” Scarlet asked.

“Yaks have best Buckball team in all kingdoms!”

“What does that mea....” I started to ask before quickly realizing what he meant.

“KICK THE PONY!” Roose yelled as he suddenly charged at me.

“WAIT, WHAT!?” is all I had time to say before Roose barreled into me and sent me flying into the air and straight onto the other side of the chasm. I dug my face out of the snow-pile I had thankfully landed in. I shook off the snow and looked angrily back across the chasm, “What the fuck!”

“Haha! Roose knew that would work!” Roose said proudly before turning back towards the others.

“Don't even think about it.” Jackpot and Scarlet said simultaneously before Roose proceeded to buck them successfully across the chasm.

“You know I really don't want anything in my pack here to get damaged and I as I can fly I think you don't really need to...” Silver started to say before being thrown over the chasm himself by Roose.

“This will not end well.” Enyi said as he too went flying over the chasm, courtesy of Roose.

“My turn!” Roose yelled from the other side.

Roose backed up quite a ways away from the edge, “He isn't.” I said in disbelief.

“He's crazy.” Jackpot said, digging his head out of a snow-drift.

Roose started out at a charge towards the chasm. He let out a loud scream as he sped up faster than I though a Yak could go and leapt off the edge of the chasm. Roose flew through the air almost as if he was flying before landing safely on our side of the chasm with a loud THUD.

“How the hell!?” Jackpot said, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“Yaks strong!” Roose exclaimed with great pride in his voice.

“That's more than just strong, that was amazing!” Scarlet said with a look of wonder on her face.

“Most impressive.” Enyi said, still shaking snow off himself.

“Yeah but how about we don't do that again.” I said, still shaking the daze of being bucked across a large ice-chasm from my head.

“Ponies just jealous of Yaks! Is understandable.” Roose yelled out in happiness.

With a new-found respect (and fear) of our Yak companion we once again set out towards the base of Mt. Everhoof where the newest site was located. It took only a few more hours of hiking before the mountain truly came into view for me. The top peaks of the large mountain could not be seen as the clouds shrouded them in their misty embrace but everything else was absolutely beautiful to look at. With the snow-storms at an end the large majority of the mountains could be seen with startling clarity in the Yakyakistan sunlight. Glistening snow covering tall and imposing rock formations that had been forming for thousands of years, if not longer. The whole area seemed to sparkle as miles of untrodden and pristine snow covered everything allowing it to reflect the sunlight back onto us, creating a shining floor for us to trot on.

“Gotta say, without the blizzards and yetis this place is actually pretty beautiful.” I mused as I turned my head around in order to take in as much of the view as possible.

“And just look at the cliff edges!” Scarlet said in a delighted tone. “It looks like a pony can see forever from up here!”

She wasn't lying. I looked over towards the lower points of the mountain and could see in an unbroken line for miles on miles. If I squinted hard enough I could even just barely see the edges of the green fields that made up the borders of the Crystal Empire, protected by the Crystal Heart as it was.

“In Khaweth, the Zebra have many mountains similar to these. They might not be as tall as this but many of our own peaks are filled with gems which can sometimes be seen sparkling for miles about.” Enyi said, looking out at the views himself.

“What about the mountains that don't do that?” Silver asked.

“We do not speak of those peaks. They are...dangerous.” Enyi said cautiously.

“How so?” Scarlet asked in a slightly trembling voice.

“I will say this, there are worse things than the Pyth in those places where the Zebra seldom tread.”

“Worse than those monsters? Not possible.” I said in disbelief.

“Oh don't be so sure bout that Ives.” Jackpot said. “Enyi's right on the mark on this one.”

“What's a Pyth?” Scarlet asked.

“Giant winged, acid spitting snake monsters that could eat even Roose here in one bite.” I said back to her.

“Roose doubts this.” Roose said.

“Sorry I asked.” Scarlet said with a terrified expression on her face.

“Well, what's worse than a Pyth?” I asked, kind of curious at the prospect of something worse than a monster that nearly took out me, Grit, Jackpot and Enyi with relative ease.

“You do not want to know.” Enyi said.

“I do now!” I said excitedly.

“They are difficult to describe as they are rarely seen and the few who do see them do not speak of them much.” Enyi said with a modicum of hesitance.

“So they're some kind of terrifying monsters?” I thought out loud.

“Think giant squids with poison knives for tentacles that live in lakes. There's also the...” Jackpot started to say.

“Jackpot!” Enyi yelled, “How you learned these things is beyond me but they are not openly discussed among my people.”

“Well we ain’t with your people now are we?” Jackpot snidely said back.

“Please just respect my wishes this once.” Enyi said stuffing his hoof in his face in an act of annoyance.

“Fine but Ivory's gonna want to hear more if you want her to give you more later.” Jackpot gave a suggestive wink at Enyi and a mocking nudge.

“JACKPOT SHUT UP!” I yelled before quickly covering my mouth as a slight shaking noise suddenly came from up the mountain.

“We are now high enough for Yakyakistan avalanches.” Roose said sternly. “We must be more quiet from here on.”

“Let me guess, Yakyakistan avalanches are the biggest right?” Jackpot sarcastically asked.

“Pony is correct. Yakyakistan avalanches very big.” said Roose.

“Well then, I say we get a move on before something bad happens.” Silver said, readjusting his large pack and turning back towards the mountain.

“Yes, lets get to where we're going before we get buried in a hundred feet of snow.” Scarlet said, eagerly agreeing with Silver.

We all turned back towards the mountains as Roose took the lead and continued to lead us towards the site. With the now present fear of a large avalanche the talking pretty much ground to a halt for a while. Every now and again I could hear Jackpot saying something soon followed by a giggle or a gasp from Scarlet. I would look back every so often to see Silver looking eagerly at his surroundings, his head rolling back and forth as he took in all the majestic views that surrounded us. Enyi kept his face forward (I was in front of him) and whenever I looked back at him he would smile and give me a small wave. Eventually Roose dropped back a bit so he was not so far ahead of the rest of the group.

“Small pony. Yaks were wondering why you are interested in stone wall in middle of mountains?” Roose said, trying to be as quiet as he could while still being what I would consider loud.

“Well actually we have reason to believe it is actually an old pony ruin.” I said back to him.

“This seem unlikely. No ponies up here in Yakyakistan. Yaks lived here for many generations and have many stories of great Yaks doing great things.”

“I'm sure but I heard of some symbols that match the cutie mark of an old pony wizard from way before even the rule of Celestia.”

“How long is that?” Roose asked, confused.

“What do you mean how long is that? Everypony knows how long Celestia has ruled Equestria.”

“Yak is not pony.”

That's right, I forgot that Yaks would probably not be as keen to know pony history as ponies, especially since most ponies don't really know much about pony history. There were the ponies of Adventure Incorporated and of course professor ponies and museum ponies and such but they represented a relatively small part of the overall pony population.

“Well Celestia has ruled for over one thousand years.” I said proud of the fact.

“Hmm. Yak stories go back two thousand years. Yaks must have been here longer.”

“Well two thousand years is about the time period this pony probably lived in so really my case is still just as good.”

Something sounded a little off though about what Roose just said. I took a quick look back to Sparky, which still adorned my hoof, and saw the outlines of Griffon, Buffalo, Earth Pony, Pegasus, Unicorn and the Zebra all around the purple crystal, but no Yak. Enyi had told me that Abila disappeared for a number of years and when she came back she brought with her many creatures. Also according to Enyi the Zebras used to control pretty much all of this which means no Yaks. I stopped briefly, wondering if all the species that adorned Sparky, ponies included, were all the creatures that Abila brought back with her. It also got me wondering why the Yaks now seemed to match up their own history with this time table and why, if they were part of this group, they were not pictured on the bracelet.

“There.” Roose suddenly said, pointing his hoof towards a large cliff-face that had just appeared over the horizon.

“Finally.” Jackpot groaned as he passed me by, tromping through the thick snow.

“It appears we have arrived.” Enyi said, coming to stand next to me.

“I hope there are no monsters inside there this time.” Scarlet said as she caught up.

“Hard to say. This place is remote, even for yetis, but I guess you never know.” Silver added as he approached from the rear.

“We'll soon find out I guess.” I said, picking up my hooves and moving towards the rocky wall.

The spot reminded me of the Griffonstone entrance. A large, mostly flat, cliff-face that rose several dozen feet high and had carvings on it that were covered by snow. Scarlet got to work using her telekinesis to brush snow off of the high places on the wall with Silver dropping his packs and flying up to help her.

“We should hurry up. There's an hour or two of sunlight left at best.” Silver told me.

After several minutes the wall had been cleared off and the similarities to the Griffonstone site became even more apparent. In the center of the wall was another carving of a very similar tree that took up the majority of the wall. The tree trailed off into many branches as it gently curved off into slender boughs that spread out across the wall. Across the upper branches of the tree was written several lines of Pre-Celestial Script while images of stars mixed with rays and mists of light whisked across the base and mid-section of the tree.

“Any clue what that writing says Ives?” Jackpot asked, looking over to me.

“Is not ancient Yak writing.” Roose said from his position behind us.

“No, this is ancient pony writing.” I said to Roose, prompting him to rub hif hoof under his chin in a contemplative stance.

“You think you can fly me up there Jackpot?” I asked.

“If Scarlet wont complain I'd be happy to.”

“Just don't stay up there too long ok.” Scarlet responded.

Enyi, can I have the journals?” Enyi reached behind into his bags and pulled out Abila's journal and the journal filled with our notes. Jackpot began to gently flap his wings as he swiftly floated up off the ground. He wrapped his hooves around my waste and slowly lifted me up off the ground. “You ok Jackpot?”

“Yeah yeah, I'm fine.”

We continued to rise up until we came to the top of the wall until the writing came directly in front of my face. I looked intently at it before fumbling the journals open to be sure I got the words right: Tinuwiella era sel. Ea fidele an durin as se galia. As se galia unil ror ir edroe, Ar era Aleigh.

“Uh, whats that mean?” Jackpot asked.

“Give me a minute.” I said as I peered back into the journals. I flipped through several pages looking for anything that could help me translate the text as I had not seen several of the words before.

“Well?” Jackpot asked impatiently.

“Aurora Solstice is here. She made the door with her magic. With her magic alone can it be opened, this is truth. Or something like that.”

Jackpot lowered me back down to the ground, “What's that supposed to mean?”

“I think it means we need Aurora Solstice's magic in order to open the door.” I said.

The others trotted over to Jackpot and me, “And how exactly do we get that?” Silver asked.

“How should I know?” I said back.

“There must be something we are not seeing.” Enyi added.

“Yaks know little of pony magic. Roose suggests ramming the door down.” Roose said.

“Somehow I don't think that would work.” Scarlet said.

“Well if magic is necessary I say we let Scarlet give it some good whacks.” Jackpot suggested.

“I doubt my magic is even a tenth as good as this Aurora Solstice's was. Besides, My magic is mostly medical and I don't have anything really in the way of attack spells.”

“Just spit-balling ideas.” Jackpot shrugged.

“Well if magic is involved then I guess Scarlet will have to be our best bet since she has magic and all.” I said.

“Let's sleep on it and continue in the morning.” Silver said. “It's getting late anyway so we might as well get some rest and clear our heads.”

“Silver is right. I say we rest and continue this in the morning.” Enyi said, agreeing with Silver.

With that suggestion Silver pulled out the necessary items we needed to build a fire from his large pack. Roose plowed away a large area on the stone ground beside the wall of snow and prepared enough room to accommodate our group. Within several minutes Silver had placed the components for the fire on the ground as Jackpot got it going.

The night rolled on as I sat around the fire with my friends. Jackpot had spent an enormously long time regaling us with more stories of past adventures he had been on and was willing to talk about. Roose even told a surprisingly delightful story about the Yaks saving the world from a great evil, long ago. This story got me thinking again about the Yaks. They seem to appear the same time in Equestrian history as all the other surrounding species but why a Yak wasn't on Sparky I couldn't guess. I looked down at Sparky and all of the images that adorned its surface. Griffon, Buffalo, Earth Pony, Unicorn, Pegasus and a Zebra. Why those six creatures exactly? Why six?

“By Twilight I think I've got it!” I said, popping up from my thinking.

“Got what?” Jackpot asked.

“At Luna Bay there was a plaque in that cloud palace thingy that said selflessness, at Griffonstone the statue the cloak was on said compassion. Don't you see!? There are six creatures on Sparky here!” I said excitedly.

“What's that got to do with anything?” Scarlet then asked.

“The Elements of Harmony.” I said, looking back at the wall. “This is truth. Don't you guys see? It's a riddle.”

The rest of the group stared at me with confusion in their eyes. Silver grew a little smile on his face as he looked back up at the wall, most likely understanding what I was saying first.

“What about at Numnah?” Enyi asked, “I saw no inscription there that matched these?”

“I don't know. Maybe we just didn't find the right room or something.” I said.

“So the helmet could still be there?” Enyi said to himself.

“So what exactly is this riddle anyhow?” Jackpot said, changing the subject.

“The last line, this is truth. That's the answer. Compassion is kindness, Selflessness is probably generosity or something and truth is obviously honesty.” I said excitedly.

“So we gotta tell the truth?” Jackpot said worriedly.

“I'm sure it's more complicated than just simply telling the truth about something.” Scarlet said.

“What does pony suggest?” Roose said.

“I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead.” I said, shrugging.

“Well at least we have something to think about now.” Silver said.

Eventually as the others eventually drifted off to sleep I just couldn't. I stayed up and stared at the wall for hours without so much as a new thought on what to do to open it. When everypony had gone to sleep I crept over to Jackpot's saddlebags and dug my hooves into them. I slid the flasks out of the way and pulled out Abila's helmet, still wrapped in a cloth. I took a glance back down at the flasks and ended up grabbing one in my hooves and taking a few swigs to try and calm myself for thinking. I slid Abila's helmet onto my head and immediately noticed the swell of energy as Sparky sprouted up around my hoof.

My eyes darted across the stone wall in front of me. I found myself quickly taking in every inch, every crack and every image that graced the tall and imposing wall. I just needed a clue, I had to be missing something.

“Ugh! I hate not knowing!” I shouted before immediately shoving my hoof into my mouth. I turned my head towards my sleeping companions, Roose snorted a little as he slept but other than that they didn't stir. I rubbed my temples with my forehooves in frustration. “What could I even say? Would I even need to say anything? Is it some kind of feeling or maybe even an actual spell?” I just didn't know and it began to burn away at me.

I put Abila's helmet back into Jackpot's saddlebag and began to pace relentlessly. I looked up one more time at the many carvings that graced the side of the wall. “A tree, Aurora's cutie mark, various symbols probably representing magic, the riddle and...not much else.” A cold wind blew past me, I shivered as I curled inside the yeti-fur coat Roose had given me.

“Hey Ives, keep it down. Yer pacing is keeping me up.” Jackpot's voice suddenly shot up from behind me which gave me a little jolt of surprise.

“You scared me Jackpot. Don't just pop up from nowhere like that.” I said to my sleepy friend.

“Any luck?” Jackpot said, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Ugh.”

“I'm guessing that's a no then.”

I slumped my face down into the fur coat and let out a groan of failure. Jackpot trotted over to me and patted me on the back with his wing.

“I just don't get this.” I said, frustrated.

“Well it seems that if we want to get in we need to be honest about something. That's what you said before right?”

“It's a guess. Plus something like that could really give a highly up to interpretation view of what exactly constitutes an honest confession of something. I mean does it have to be a secret or some kind of general truth. I could say that I like Enyi, which is truth but it's not really secret. Or I could say that I'm now ashamed and embarrassed of being Grit's apprentice which becomes more and more true with every passing day it seems.” I shoved my face into my hooves and started to cry a little bit.

“Yeesh.” Jackpot groaned. “I guess everypony has their own emotional baggage, at least everypony in this business.”

“So then Jackpot, what's yours? I mean beside you having worked for a secret organization bent on world domination or whatever it is they're really doing.” I said looking back up at Jackpot.

“Oh, I really wouldn't know where to begin, or end.” Jackpot let out a long sigh. “Did I ever tell you about the time I went to the Dragon lands?”

“No.” I said, curious.

“I must have been...eighteen at the time. Sable had been in power for a few years at this point and I got orders to go down to the Dragon lands with Goldie and steal some staff or whatever.” A scowl appeared on my face when Jackpot mentioned Goldie but he just continued to talk. “Goldie, predictably, wanted to go the direct approach and fight the Dragons to get the staff. I on the other hoof decided to take a more measured approach.”

“You, measured? I find that hard to believe.” I said.

“Yeah well, back then I was very committed to the Family and actually wanted to be successful with them. I knew that two ponies wouldn't stand much of a chance against all the Dragons so I found this really nice looking Dragoness...”

“I don't need or want to hear the end of that sentence.” I said flatly.

Jackpot cleared his throat, “Fine then, be that way. Well anyway I got her to trust me and get me in to see the Dragon-lord and her magical staff. Goldie, luckily, started to cause some noise outside which allowed me to get in behind and slip out with the staff with relative ease.”

“Wait, you were the one who stole Dragon Lord Embers staff? That was front page news for weeks!” I said in shock and surprise.

“Yeah, turns out that Sable wanted to use it for something with the Dragons but I never really found out what exactly that was. I'm not proud of it now of course but at the time I just...I just felt so accomplished and to have actually done something of that caliber was just...indescribable.” Jackpot's gaze turned towards the night sky as his eyes became somewhat glossy.

“I have to say, that was pretty honest.” I looked up at the door but it hadn't moved an inch. “Guess it wasn't honest enough.”

“Guess not.” jackpot sighed.

“I still find it hard to believe you and Goldie were ever friends.” I said, looking down at my hooves and avoiding Jackpot's eyes.

“We weren't friends.” Jackpot said.

“Huh, but she said...oh...OH!” my eyes opened as I remembered Goldie and Jackpot's interaction from Luna Bay. “And yet you two never...did anything.” I murmured.

“Nope. I liked her, don't get me wrong, but there was always something unsettling about her. I don't know...it was like she just didn't belong here or something. Can't say if it was her personality or how she carried herself or what.” Jackpot continued to stare at the sky. “I need a drink.” Jackpot nuzzled his face into one of his saddlebags and tugged out a flask. He took a large swig of the cider and turned towards me, “Want any?”

“Sure.” I said. Jackpot slid the flask over and I slipped the nozzle into my mouth, turned my head up and guzzled down a swig of the burning cider. “So, you did have feelings for her?”

“Yeah. She wasn't always cruel you know. Every so often she could be...normal, or at least mostly normal for a pony.”

“What do you mean?”

“I remember she used to smile a lot and not always when torturing small animals. Sometimes she would just sit outside and take in the cool breezes while holding onto this big smile that I always found adorable.” Jackpot started to look a bit too content talking about Goldie for my taste.

“Jackpot, what exactly made you leave?”

Jackpot did not answer right away. His face stayed turned towards the sky for a second before turning towards our sleeping companions. After he had stared at them for several seconds he turned back to me.

“I'm afraid I lied to you Ivory. I didn't leave because I thought what they were doing was wrong. I left because...I made a dumb choice and decided to run out instead of trying to fix it.”

“What did you do?” my curiosity was growing.

“I found this incredibly beautiful mare and decided I was in love with her. Goldie found out and...thing's didn't turn out well for me.” Jackpot squirmed ever so slightly as he said this.

I immediately put two and two together, “That's what Goldie meant. You and this mare...you had a foal?”

“Yeah.”

“And that's what Angela meant by visiting those two?”

“Right again.” jackpot squeaked as he immediately gulped down the last of his flask of cider.

“Why don't you?”

“Well, she pretty much hates me now and the kid barely even knows I exist. I tried supporting them for a while but eventually she found out I was tomb robbing and artifact smuggling and other things I would probably be thrown into a dungeon for if anypony found out. So I decided to cut my losses and venture out into the world by myself.”

“So you left the Family because of this mare you liked?”

“Yeah, and when that didn't work out I was too embarrassed to go back. Plus I think Goldie would have skinned me alive or something.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.

Jackpot let out another sigh, “Truth door.” Jackpot turned his head towards the door with a disappointed look on his face, “Guess it didn't work.”

“Well thanks for telling me. It means a lot that you would trust me enough to tell me something so personal.” I lifted my hoof and gave Jackpot a friendly pat on the back.

“It's gonna be hard ya know. I have a feeling we're gonna be seeing Goldie again soon in all honesty...I don't know what I'm going to do about it.” Jackpot shoved his face into his hooves.

“What do you mean you don't know?”

“I grew up with her Ivory. I know how you feel about her but you need to know I don't hate her, not really. If we're pushed into another confrontation then I don't know if I could actually hurt her, assuming of course she doesn't just kill us and we can actually survive fighting her.”

I looked down at the ground, I understood what he was saying but if I saw Goldie again and I got the chance...I would take it. There would be no hesitation, no second thoughts and no stopping.

Suddenly from behind us a loud grinding noise came rumbling across the mountain. I shot straight up and turned around back towards the cliff-face. The tree carved onto the wall had suddenly had started glowing a bright blue as the wall itself began to rumble. Enyi, Scarlet, Silver and Roose each had thrown themselves up from their sleep and were galloping towards Jackpot and me.

“Ivory, Jackpot what's going on!?” Scarlet yelled.

“I don't know. The wall suddenly started glowing and...and moving!” I shouted back.

Indeed the wall had started to split in half as each side of the wall began to push to the side. The wall suddenly turned into two large doors that swung open with a large gust of cold air that came from within the now open chamber. From within the chamber the only thing I could see was a large pale light that shone out from the inside. I covered my eyes with my hoof and, curiosity driving me on, began to step towards it.

“What is that?” Enyi said as he came up behind me.

“I don't know, but I want to.” I stepped forwards towards the light emanating from the chamber as it began to fade the closer I drew to it.

“Careful Ivory, it's fading.” Silver called out from behind.

I crossed the threshold of the now opened chamber as the last bit of light faded away into the darkness of the night. What stood before me still glowed but with a softer light that only emanated outward slightly. A pony stood there, a Unicorn mare with a pink coat and a mane that was awash of various colors. Red, green, blue and purple hair flowed from her head as he body sparkled in the starlight that shone down on the mountainside.

“Is that?” I couldn't finish my statement as the pony's head turned towards me. I stared straight back into her clear, silver eyes as her mouth began to move.

“Maegola. Saya si Tinuwiella.”

I stood ther confused. I didn't really know what was going on so when she spoke I nearly forgot to say anything back. “Um, I'm Ivory Star. Are you Aurora Solstice?”

The pony stared at me before speaking more in her slender voice, “Ar era seya varr.”

“Your what? I didn't understand that last word.” I looked straight at the Unicorn only to realize she wasn't really looking back at me. I lifted my hoof and stretched it out to touch Aurora only to see my hoof slide right through her. “It's some kind of projection.”

The others approached carefully, not shifting their gazes from the shimmering image of Aurora that stood before us. Aurora suddenly turned around and began to slowly walk down the passageway that led further into the chamber.

“Oh no. Not more tunnels.” I groaned as Aurora disappeared down the dark corridor.

“HAHA! Roose not scared of dark tunnels.” Roose bellowed as he trotted onward into the tunnel.

“Come on there Ives! Don't wanna be left behind.” Jackpot said in a surprisingly cheery voice as he followed Roose down into the tunnel. The others all quickly followed him and with a groan I reluctantly went in last.

I ran down the hallway in order to catch up to my group and the mysterious image of Aurora they were following. As I looked around the tunnel I was extremely glad to notice the place had a vastly different feel to Greywing's tomb back in Griffonstone. The walls of this hall were not a rigid and had a delightful lack of light sucking spider webs covering them. The walls and ceilings had a slender curve to them that made the tunnel give off a more comforting feeling that eased my own tension of having to shuffle my way into another set of dark tunnels.

Come to think of it, the tunnels never even seemed that dark. Whether it was the dim glow that emanated from Aurora or some other magic that I didn't understand, the halls we passed never seemed dark or oppressive. In fact I could see perfectly fine the entirety of the time without so much as a single candle or light source outside from Aurora herself.

“I'm taking this coat off.” Scarlet said as she slid off the yeti coat. I could tell by looking at Scarlet that she was sweating and from that realized that I was to. The inside of the ruin was surprisingly warm and once I slid my coat off it became very comfortable. The rest of the group had taken their coats off as well and given them to Roose to carry.

“Ar royo.”the image of Aurora Solstice said as she looked back at us and turned down a side passage that connected with ours.

“What does that mean? Where is she leading us? And can she even perceive us or is this just some kind of recording?” I asked repeatedly.

“I guess we still do not fully understand the language yet.” Enyi said.

“It's just frustrating that I can get some of the words yet I have absolutely no idea what others mean! I hate only knowing parts of things.” I huffed.

“I don't know but I still say we follow her.” said Silver from up front.

“Wonder what we'll find here?” Jackpot asked, mostly to himself probably.

“I can't wait to find out.” I said.

Aurora led us into a medium sized room that seemed to naturally light itself up as we entered. This chamber was vastly different from anything I had seen in Griffonstone. There was no treasure or monsters but lines upon lines of writing that covered the walls. In fact the entirety of the room was filled with thousands of lines of Pre-Celestial Script that froze me in my tracks. I rushed up towards the walls and started reading every word I could understand.

“This is...this is amazing.” I gawked.

“What does it say?” Scarlet asked, trotting up behind me.

“This looks like some kind of record. The beginning...here, it starts with Aurora or...Tinuwiella, as she is called in Pre-Celestial Script, taking some ponies with her up north to search or watch for something.”

“Watch for what?” Silver asked as he came up behind me.

“This word here, Morlor. I don't know what it means.” I said, staring at the word.

“It is the Darkness.” said Enyi as he walked up behind me.

“How do you know?” Jackpot asked.

“It is similar to our word and it has some similarities for the scripts word for dark, Morol.”

“Oh yeah, duh! Why didn't I see that.” I said, slapping my forehead.

“So Aurora Knew about this Darkness thing as well then?” Scarlet asked.

“Looks like it.” I answered.

“Ponies, glowing pony is moving!” Roose called out to us as Aurora began to move down another passageway.

I didn't want to leave this room until I could translate more but I also didn't want to lose Aurora down here so I led the others in running after her. She continued for a while further down several more passages until she came to another chamber that was slightly larger than the last. This room had but a single image that had been set into the wall. The image an Alicorn with sapphires for eyes and diamonds set into her dark mane. Her white coat was lined in silver trim she wore an absolutely beautiful set of silver armor that was inlaid with beautiful, flowing trim and images of stars circling around a great tree.

“Beautiful.” Silver said in an awed voice.

“Amazing.” Scarlet added in an almost equally awed voice.

“It's almost as if you can feel the magic.” Jackpot said, himself entranced by the glowing picture on the wall.

“Terria.” I mumbled.

“What?” Silver asked.

“In Abila's journal she mentioned somepony named Terria that she was friends with. I think this is her.”

“She looks so sad.” Scarlet said softly.

“Yeah, she kinda does.” I said, staring deeply at the image while nearly losing myself in it.

Suddenly a strange noise came echoing down the passageway we had just come from. Aurora had disappeared when the noise turned into audible shouting.

“I think I heard something down here!” I heard a voice yell.

I suddenly had a terrible feeling in my stomach at what was about to happen. “Enyi.” I said quickly as I turned towards him, “Head on further down the passageways with the others and whatever you do, don't get caught.”

“What do you mean Ivory?” Enyi asked, confused.

“I don't think whoever's shouting down there is friendly.” I said nervously. “Take everypony else down and make sure you aren't seen ok. Please, just do this for me.” I said, giving him a little kiss on the cheek.

“Very well.” Enyi nodded and gestured for the others to follow him. They all followed Enyi down the passage except for Jackpot who insisted on staying with me.

“I'm not running from nothing.” Jackpot said defiantly.

“Fine, get into the corner with me.” I shoved Jackpot off to the side of the room.

Suddenly several ponies in familiar black body covering outfits came galloping into the chamber. They were unicorns and the uniforms immediately told me who they were, Goldie's goons from Luna Bay. I didn't hesitate. I jumped right out at them from behind and struck one of them in the face with my front hooves as Jackpot took down the other one with an equally impressive buck.

“Goldie's here.” I said, my body trembling with excitement.

“Fuck. How did she know we were here?”

“I don't think she does. She probably heard about this place being found and was ordered to come take a look. She probably saw that flash from earlier as well.”

Jackpot's face turned rather dour as he took a quick look down the passage. I looked also but didn't see any more ponies running down it.

“These were probably just scouts.” Jackpot said. “We need to take this carefully.”

I did not listen as I had already begun to run down the passage, Jackpot quickly caught up and took a position behind me. We got back to the writing chamber as about five more of Goldie's goons were standing around looking at the writing themselves.

“You got Sparky ready?” Jackpot whispered.

I nodded and stretched out my hoof before letting my emotions go and firing a large blast of energy that stunned two of the Unicorns while Jackpot swooped in and swiftly knocked out two more. The fifth Unicorn was so surprised that he just stood there as I neared him and dealt him a strong buck to the face, knocking him out cold.

“I'm sure somepony heard that blast. Doubt we'll be surprising them again like this.” Jackpot said, letting out several deep breaths.

“I don't care if they know we're coming. I just want to get to Goldie.” I said, my voice and body getting more and more excited at the prospect of bucking Goldie repeatedly in the face.

Jackpot quickly took the lead this time as he moved quietly through the warm hallways of the ruins until we came to right before the exit. Jackpot and I crouched down as he poked his head out of the doorway just enough that he could see but not so much that he could be easily seen.

“I don't see anypony.” Jackpot whispered.

“Doesn't mean they're not out there.” I whispered back.

“It's a trap you know.”

“I think we can take them. As long as I have Sparky here, they really don't stand a chance.” I said in my own cocky voice.

“You're getting decent but don't think you can take on a couple dozen ponies on yer own just yet kid. And that Sparky of yours is only gonna be useful if you can move your hooves to aim it. One good ambush and we could be knocked out before we knew what hit us.” the moment Jackpot said this irony stuck. Something hit me in the head hard and immediately made me lose consciousness. The last thing I heard and saw was Jackpot hitting the floor at the same time as me.

*****

My eyes fluttered as I lay there in a pile of snow. The blackness of my unconsciousness fading away as I opened my eyes to see a still unconscious Jackpot lying near me tied to one of the many large rocks that stuck out of the mountainside. It was still dark out so I had probably not been unconscious for very long. I tried squirming around but I was still extremely dizzy and my head was badly hurting. I tried to move my body only to find that I couldn't due to some tight fitting object that hung around my waste, keeping my hooves stuck pointing towards the ground. When I regained enough sense to look around I saw that I was being restrained with ropes against another rock a bit away from where Jackpot was laying.

“Well well, looky who's finally awake.” a voice that I instinctively hated said. I looked up to see Goldie standing over me with a large grin on her face. “I've been wanting to see you again after Vanhoover but I was beginning to think I was never going to get the chance.”

“Fuck...you.” I said weakly.

Goldie sighed as one of he Unicorn ponies trotted up to her. “Ms. Grail, from what we've seen this looks like the right place.”

“Good.” Goldie responded, “Let's make this go as smoothly as that mud pony's tomb.”

“Wait! What tomb!” I suddenly shouted out in surprise.

Goldie's grin grew just a bit bigger, “Oh we found one of your little relics and soon we'll have all the rest of them.” Goldie turned towards several other Unicorns that were standing near her. “Get everypony else into those tunnels! I want the artifact and any of Jackpot's other friends found!”

There were several dozen Unicorns gathered around the entrance, most of them ran in at Goldie's command while a few more remained outside. I heard a slight groan come from the side as Jackpot slowly began to open his eyes and roll his head around.

“Oh, your up Jackpot!” Goldie said with a giddiness in her voice that unnerved me.

“What? Goldie!” Jackpot said weakly as he stared up at Goldie, his eyes opening up wide as he saw her standing over him.

“Why didn't you come back yet Jackpot? This isn't like you.” Goldie said to him.

“Oh, fuck me.” Jackpot groaned.

“Don't tempt me.” Goldie said in a sultry voice as she ran her hoof through Jackpot dirty blonde mane. “Why are you still hanging around with these fuckers?”

Jackpot rolled his eyes and remained silent. Goldie's expression immediately went from unnervingly sweet to her more fitting enraged.

“WHY!” She yelled, her face enraged at Jackpot's silence.

“He doesn't have to answer you.” I said angrily and defiantly.

Goldie slowly turned her head back towards me then back to Jackpot, “Oh, I get it. Hahahahaha! She doesn't work for you, you work for her! HA!” Goldie started laughing near uncontrollably. “The great Jackpot working for some dumb-ass kid.” Several of the Unicorns even started to chuckle to themselves. “As for you, I remember one of those striped fuckers with you. How would you like your head cut off and shoved down his throat huh?” I immediately lost all defiance in my face as my body turned pale, “Thought that might shut you up.”

“Shut up already Goldie.” Jackpot said, rolling his eyes, “You obviously want us for something or else you would have killed Ivory here already.” my gaze darted straight towards Jackpot with a 'don't give her ideas' look.

A Unicorn trotted over towards Goldie, a small radio in her telekinetic grip, “Goldie, he's here.”

Goldie groaned slightly, “Fine, can't see why he didn't want me to just kill her but whatever.” Goldie looked straight at my face, “Somepony wants to talk to you.” Goldie moved to the side as the Unicorn floated the small radio down in front of me.

“What? Who wants to talk to me?”

A loud buzzing noise came from the radio before leveling out into a low hum.

“Is she here Goldie?” a soft voice from the radio said.

“Yeah, she's here.” Goldie grunted.

“Who are you?” I asked, curiosity taking hold of me for the moment.

“Sable Granite, at your service.” the voice said.

My face stopped dead, I clenched my mouth and began to grit my teeth as I tried to struggle my way out of the copious ropes that held me tied to a frozen rock.

“You must be Ivory Star, former protege to our former acquaintance Grit Stratum. I must say it is a pleasure to speak with you.”

“Go fuck yourself!” I shouted into the radio.

“Now now, no need for such aggression here my dear. I just simply want to talk with you is all.”

“I have nothing to say to you except that I'm going to find you and smash your face in for what you did to Grit!” I said, anger taking over me.

“Ah yes, that business with Grit was...unfortunate, but we all have our orders to follow. The past is the past my friend, what would you say to coming to work for me eh?”

“I would say again, go fuck yourself!”

“Ivory I understand your hesitation but you really do not know what is going on here do you?”

“I know all about this Darkness of yours and about how you think you can control it.”

“Ok, so you know the base level of my plan. It is true that these artifacts, the first Elements of Harmony, can be used to control this ancient force but do you even know what I plan to do with it?”

“Doesn't matter, can't be good.”

The voice let out an audible sigh, “Do you know what the darkness is Ivory?”

I didn't answer. It wasn't exactly that I didn't want to answer but my knowledge of what exactly the Darkness was was pretty much limited to it was evil and powerful and it destroyed the old Zebra Empire.

“So, you do not know what it is then. Do not worry I will enlighten you. The Darkness was the most powerful wizard to ever live. A being so powerful he brought the largest and most powerful empire the world ever saw to it's knees before destroying it utterly. The Zebra Empire, a nation that spanned continents and that had prospered for thousands of years, brought low by one being.”

“I already know that.” I said.

“Well then, do you know what the Darkness was or should I say who it was?” I had to admit I did not. “He was an Alicorn. An Alicorn who came from across the sea and who, over time, grew so powerful he as able to bring the world to heel. He destroyed cities, armies and countless millions of lives. The Darkness threw down empires and kingdoms like dominoes and brought about a century of death and darkness on the greatest empire in history.”

“Wait, what do you mean an Alicorn from across the sea?”

“Did you think Alicorns were native to Equestria? Where do you think they left to then? They simply returned to their own home after living here for some time. The Darkness created strife and discord throughout the world. It spawned armies of demons and monsters all led by two nightmare lords, Lazilob the spider and Balaur the Dark Dragon. He left vestiges of power that popped up from time to time in Equestrian history, from the many monsters that live in and around Equestria to the powers that corrupted Nightmare Moon and the Pony of Shadows. He was imprisoned in the first dungeon of Tartarus thousands of years ago for his innumerable crimes.”

“How is that possible? If he was as powerful as you say, what could have had the strength to imprison him?” I wondered.

“I would love to find out but unfortunately Grit decided to betray us before finishing his research on the subject.”

“Wait, what!? Since when was Grit researching this?” I was shocked he didn't mention it.

“It is what we had him doing before he decided to go after the helmet by himself to keep us from getting to it.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I want trust between us Ivory. It would make things so much easier if you would just join with the Family. We could all study and learn this together and then think about what we could use his power for. The Family is not some great evil entity as you have been led to believe. We do not seek to go around ruining lives for no reason. We seek knowledge and power so as to improve the world and bring some long needed order to it.”

“Oh please! I know about how that group Grit beat in Marewaukee were part of you guys. What Gold Mane wanted was far from orderly.”

“That was over forty years ago and yes, Gold Mane was not a good pony. It is good that Grit stopped his madness.”

“Listen, we both know I'm not going to go for this and if you tell me that we have so much in common or some crap like that I'm gonna punch you twice as hard when I find you.” I said, still trying to worm and push my way out of the ropes that held me down.

“Well if you cared to converse more you would find we share many similar interests. History, mythology, archeology, all these things I can help you with. Please Ivory, I would hate to have to let Goldie here finish off Grits legacy in such a manner.”

“I'm going to get out of this and when I do I'm going to destroy everything you're trying to build.” I said flatly to the radio.

For several seconds there was no answer from the radio. “There was a reason I had Goldie personally do it you know, would you like to know what that reason was?”

“Sable, don't put her through that.” Jackpot begged from the side.

“Oh, Jackpot is here as well. I must say it has been a while and I wondered why you disappeared for so long. Imagine my surprise when you suddenly popped back onto my radar asking to work with Grit on his little project. Even I never thought you would betray us like you did my friend. But alas, I think Ivory has a right to know.”

“Right to know what?” I asked desperately.

“You were not Grit Stratum's first little student Ivory Star. He helped her get her cutie mark you know, what was it, twenty years ago now?”

“Yeah, I was eight at the time I think.” Goldie said. “Always did want to end up one-upping him though, glad you gave me the chance.”

“WHAT! You learned under Grit?” I looked frantically at Goldie.

“Yup, old goat taught me all kinds of things. I was in awe of it all at first obviously, but after a few years I just felt the urge to go home to my wonderful Jackpot here.” Goldie pinched Jackpot's cheek with a small magic grip. Jackpot remained silent.

“So Ivory, what do you say? Join me and be able to see the truth, or don't and never leave this mountain. The choice yours.”

I just sat there, unable to get out of the ropes that kept me tied to the rock. Jackpot started yelling something at Goldie but I was to unfocused at this point to really hear him or what he was saying. There was no way I was going to even consider working with Sable in any way but I was still perplexed by the things he had said. I was now even more determined to stop him from getting his grubby hooves on the power that this Darkness had and I hated Goldie even more now for what she had done to a pony who once looked after as he had me.

“My answer is the same, fuck off.” I said, almost murmuring.

“That is a shame my dear but if that is your wish.” the radio cut out and was silent.

“Oh well, I told him this was a stupid idea but he had to be all smug about it.” Goldie said, kicking the radio away.

“Goldie, please! Don't do this.” Jackpot begged.

“Oh Jackpot, I want to do this. Besides, if I get rid of her then there's really nothing keeping you from coming back with me now is there.” Goldie said coyly as she ran her hoof through his mane again.

I looked up at Goldie, equally afraid and angry as I tried even harder to get out of the ropes, not even attempting to hide the fact that I was.

“You know Ivory, did I ever tell you about the time I decided I was in love with Jackpot here?” Goldie said, sliding one of her knives out of bandoleer that held them.

“Goldie please!” Jackpot continued to shout out to her.

“I had always liked him mind you but the moment I truly knew I loved him was when we went to that stinking Zebra filled shit-hole. This was what...seven years ago now, we had the job of looking for any information that would lead us to that artifact we had Grit looking for, you know, the one he betrayed us for.”

“Goldie, she doesn't need to know this! Please!” Jackpot yelled.

“There was this village that we thought would have some information you see and of course they had to go and make things difficult. Now I thought I was always pretty good at getting information but these fuckers weren't budging about saying they didn't know anything. Jackpot was getting rather impatient so he came up with a wonderfully successful way of getting the information we needed. Do you know what he came up with?” Goldie's face lit up with happiness.

“Ivory, don't listen to her! I swear she's...” Goldie kicked Jackpot in the face, not enough to knock him out or hurt him but hard enough to daze him for a few seconds.

“He put stakes into the ground and tied up all the adults on one side and the foals on the other, ooh I can still remember!” Goldie squealed in delight a bit, “He went up to the first adult and asked her nicely where the ruins were, she didn't know.” Goldie used her telekinesis to grab one of her knives out, the one with the red stripe on it. “He went up to the kid across from her and took this knife here and...”

“Goldie! Please don't” Jackpot's face fell down in utter defeat.

“...He slit the kids throat from one end to the other.” My face went white at hearing this. I slowly turned my head over towards Jackpot and stared at him, he was crying. “He tried to ask nicely again but the bitch was too busy crying so she had to go as well. He then went down the line, Zebra by Zebra until the last one finally told us what we needed to know.”

“You're lying. There's no way he would do that and besides Enyi said...”

“That cunt Zebra of yours wouldn't know shit. We burned the whole town down in the end, no less than the fuckers deserved though. Jackpot got called back to Equestria after that but I went on to have a bit more fun in Khaweth before I packed up for home.” Goldie now sighed, “Too bad I found out he was cheating on me.” Goldie dug out a small box out of a pouch on her bandoleer with her magical grip and waved it in front of me. “Luckily I took a bit of Jackpot to remember him by before he managed to run out on me.”

I stared ahead as Goldie dangled the little box in front of me but I was not staring at the box at all. Instead I was staring past it straight as Goldie, my eyes very overtly showing the extreme anger I was now feeling towards the fucking bitch in front of me.

“You look a little tense.” Goldie cooed at me, “Allow me to help relieve some of that.” she raised the knife towards my throat.

Goldie set the blade against my skin and gave her lips a satisfied lick as she stared at me with very eager eyes. Suddenly the ropes that held me fell away and the hoof the held Sparky shot straight up at Goldie. She must have noticed this and known what it meant because Goldie immediately backed up and leapt to the side as a red ZZAT shot through the air, hitting several of the Unicorns that were standing behind Goldie.

I leapt up myself and, with all my strength, kicked another Unicorn in the face that had run up from behind to try and restrain me. I was surprised when a small magical beam hit me from behind, knocking me down, as another Unicorn jumped from where Jackpot was laying. His horn was already glowing again before I even regained my senses when Enyi jumped from behind the rock I had been tied to and knocked the Unicorn down. I now was able to get up and kick the Unicorn Enyi was wrestling with down into unconsciousness.

Goldie was now back on us as she now had eight other Unicorns behind her. Enyi and I stood there as she raised up seven knives with her magic and started walking towards us with a devilish and furious look on her face.

“You're gonna fucking pay for that!”

“Enyi, I got her.” I yelled as I jumped towards Goldie, my hoof with Sparky leading.

Another ZZAT shot from Sparky but Goldie deftly avoided the blast which hit another of her Unicorns. Goldie now charged at me but I pivoted and tried bucking at her, hitting her face but not phasing her in the least. One of her knives found it's way to my leg and I fell down onto the ground bleeding. Enyi started running towards me until a very large blast of magical energy blasted Goldie to the ground.

“Ivory, You'll never guess what we found!” Scarlet's voice yelled triumphantly. In her own magical grip was a staff of glowing silver that was smoking slightly from the blast.

Roose and Silver followed her, who were then followed by about another two dozen Unicorns from out of the ruins.

“Ugh! More bad ponies!” Roose bellowed as he turned and shrugged off multiple blasts from the Unicorns before he rammed into them, scattering them.

The Unicorns behind Goldie were now firing magical blasts towards me but in the confusion Enyi had scooped me up and carried me behind the rock I had been tied to.

“Jackpot!” I yelled as I noticed he was still tied up.

Scarlet's eyes began to glow as another huge blast flew forth from the staff. The Unicorns shooting at Enyi and me were blown down onto the ground, completely dazed. Goldie rose, now covered in bruises from the blast and definitely more pissed off than before. Scarlet shot several more blasts but Goldie kept jumping out of the way as if they were nothing. I looked out from behind the rock and could see the nervousness in Scarlet's eyes as Goldie kept getting closer and closer. Eventually Scarlet let out a scream and turned around, running from Goldie.

Goldie, however was still faster, and had nearly caught up with Scarlet before Roose plowed himself into her. In the shock Goldie dropped her knives as Roose let his full body weight fall on her. I tried to limp out to help but Enyi held me back.

“You cannot. You are hurt!” Enyi said frantically as he saw my bleeding leg.

“Just a flesh wound. It's not deep.” I said, wincing in pain as I tried to walk on it.

I looked back up and saw Goldie throw Roose from her with a strong telekinetic throw. Roose yelled in surprise as he flew through the air and landed on top of several Unicorns who had been getting up after regaining consciousness. Goldie now looked up again and I wish I could have captured the look on her face when she saw Scarlet aiming straight at her with the staff. A powerful blast came from the staff and hit Goldie square in her chest. The yellow Unicorn was thrown back a good ways before toppling towards the ground.

Some of the other Unicorns were regrouping and shooting back at Scarlet. One of them hit the staff, causing her to drop it before Scarlet dove back into the passageways of the ruin for cover. I lifted my hoof from behind the rock, as best I could, and ZZAT, Sparky let loose another blast of energy. I missed them due to my pained leg but the distraction allowed Roose, who was now back up, to charge at them. His body slam broke the Unicorns up enough for Scarlet to pick up the staff once again. At this the Unicorns froze in place, their eyes filled with fear as they probably didn't know what to do now.

Just as I thought we could end this a knife flew past Scarlet, just missing her. Goldie was now back up if not a little wobbly on her feet as she still held six of her knives in her magical grip. She charged Scarlet and once again Scarlet yelped and turned to run. Goldie however, managed to catch Scarlet in her magic and throw her and the staff to the ground.

“I remember you, I said I was going to kill you.” Goldie aimed her knives right at Scarlet and nearly brought them down before I shot Sparky at her.

Goldie dodged again(FUCK) and turned back towards me. Her face was like a hurricane of anger now. She grasped Scarlet again and threw her against the cliff wall before coming back at me with her knives. I was too weak to keep holding Sparky up as my hoof was still bleeding and I was starting to lose energy fast.

Enyi jumped up between me and Goldie, “I will not let you hurt her!” he said before Goldie threw him aside like a rag-doll with her telekinesis.

I was completely terrified as I tried crawling away from her with all my strength, what little there was. My cut was still bleeding and Goldie was getting closer very fast. Every time I tried to pick up speed my leg would cry out in pain, slowing me down. Goldie was now nearly on top of me when I looked back to see her and her knives hovering over me.

I thought I was done for until Silver stepped out from behind Jackpot's rock. Goldie stopped dead in her tracks as she stared straight at Silver and then at Jackpot who rose up from his bonds.

“You little fucker, I should have...” Goldie didn't finish before Jackpot dashed forward straight into Goldie, knocking her way back and leaving Silver behind.

Goldie tried to fight Jackpot off but she had gotten too many injuries. I watched as Jackpot began to slowly overpower Goldie with a dead look on his face. Jackpot lifted himself from the ground with his wings and slammed his hooves onto Goldie's back, throwing her to the ground. Goldie flipped over and kicked up, knocking Jackpot to the ground as well as they each began to kick at each other.

“Ivory! The mountain!” Silver yelled.

I looked up and saw what I was afraid Silver meant. A large mass of snow and ice was barreling down towards us.

“Avalanche!” I yelled as Enyi galloped over and scooped me onto his back.

Roose had just finished chasing off the last of the Unicorns and was carrying Scarlet, our saddlebags and the staff on his back. We ran over and quickly scooped up Jackpot who was still grappling with Goldie.

“Get back here you...” Goldie started to yell before she looked up at the stampede of frozen death that was barreling towards her.

I looked back and saw her face turn white as she got up and tried to run in the opposite direction we were. Luck was on my side this time as the avalanche curved more towards Goldie than us. The last I saw of her was the avalanche overtaking my sight line and Goldie disappearing behind the wall of snow. Enyi, Roose, Jackpot and Silver were now all running at their top speed. The avalanche was now bigger and picking up speed as it expanded and barreled towards us.

“I've got this!” Scarlet yelled, picking up the staff with her magic and blasting beams of energy into the barreling snow.

The magic actually seemed to help as the beams blasted the avalanche black slightly, slowing it down. But even with this is still was catching up to us. Scarlet's face lit up as her horn glowed a bright red in conjunction with the staff and a massive telekinesis grabbed the front portion of the avalanche. This created a massive wall of snow that had the added effect of stopping the avalanche dead in it's tracks. Scarlet held this up for nearly a minute before losing the glow and falling back onto Roose's back. Roose luckily caught the falling staff in his mouth and barreled on ahead as Enyi, Silver and Jackpot followed. The avalanche was now far enough behind us and had been slowed considerably by Scarlet and the staff.

Luckily for us Roose had spotted a large rock that we were able to climb and stay on top of as the avalanche caught up and rolled past us. The rock jutted just high enough upwards to stick above what was left of the avalanche and because of a now unconscious Scarlet the avalanche had all but slowed to a crawl. It was with this sudden relief that realized my hoof was still bleeding as the last of my energy left and I closed my eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

*****

“Oh, she's finally awake!” Scarlet yelled happily as she stood over my face.

I slowly opened my eyes to find I was inside one of the Yakyakistan houses. The gash on my leg was sealed up, most likely by Scarlet, but I was still very weak and could barely move.

“Ivory! Are you ok!” Enyi yelled as he rushed over to me and shoved his muzzle into mine, nestling against me in a worried rush.

“I'm ok Enyi.” I said lifting the hoof that didn't work to hug Enyi.

Enyi kissed me suddenly as he wrapped both of his front hooves around me, “Thank the spirits!”

“Whoa there Enyi.” I heard Scarlet say, “She needs rest now. She lost a lot of blood and should be lucky that knife didn't puncture anything too important.”

I looked down at the sealed gash on my hoof, “Was it really that bad?”

“Oh well, I didn't have to amputate, yet!” Scarlet said sternly, “But you might have some trouble walking for a few days before the parts under the skin heal up.” Scarlet said, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

“Scarlet here stayed up all night and day using everything she had on you.” Enyi said, giving a thankful look to Scarlet.

“Night and day!? How long was I out?”

“Oh, it's still the next day from when you went under but it is nearly evening.” Scarlet said.

“Where's the others?” I asked.

At this Enyi turned his head away from me.

“Oh they're around.” Scarlet said, trying to sound like nothing was wrong when something clearly was.

“What happened?” I asked.

“It seems some things were overheard with Goldie and...”

“Jackpot should not be with us anymore.” Enyi said, interrupting Scarlet.

“Enyi, you can't say that! We need him.” I said just as sternly.

“How does this not repulse you!” Enyi roared.

“It does it's just...”

“Just nothing. I cannot work with him anymore.” Enyi stomped up and walked to the other side of the room where he sat down on a mat.

“Um, I think I'll leave you two alone for a bit.” Scarlet said shyly as she slipped out of the house.

“Enyi, I know what Goldie said was...horrifying but we can't do this without him.”

“Yes we can. Why do we need him?”

“He's good at finding things and he's probably the best fighter we have in our group.” I said in a desperate attempt to get Enyi to see where I was coming from.

“It does not matter. He killed children Ivory! How can you forgive that!”

“He's not like that anymore Enyi. That's why he's doing all this, he's trying to make up for those mistakes.”

“I do not care.” Enyi stated adamantly.

“How did you not already know this anyway? You said you had heard of Jackpot before right?”

“I know the village Goldie spoke of. We were told it was a Pyth attack at the time and the thefts were said to be unrelated.”

“How does that make any sense? Why would they tell you that?”

“It makes sense now. The Family owned those who told us. They used those connections to hide the fact they were looking for information and attacking villages.” Enyi's voice lowered into a more somber tone.

“Then howd you hear about the thefts you say he was involved in?” I asked.

“Those came from the city of Qurt. Museums had been vandalized and broken into with many artifacts having been stolen. Jackpot was seen in the company of those who were caught robbing the museum so he was implicated and wanted as well.”

I rubbed my forehead with my one good hoof as I suddenly developed a splitting headache causing me to groan. I laid back down on the mat I was set on and groaned some more.

“Enyi please. Goldie said she found one of the relics. She has the one that belonged to the Earth Pony which means there's only one more left.”

“You mean two?”

“Huh?”

“Abila's helmet and the artifact that belongs to the Buffalo.”

“Oh yeah, I must still be a bit out of it.”

Enyi let out a sigh, “I am just happy you are ok.” Enyi trotted back over and gave me a small kiss on the cheek and another hug. “I will remain here with you until you feel fit to move around.”

“What happened to the staff?”

“Roose still has it. It was decided that we will return it to princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. It does belong to one of their founders after all.”

“That seems fair. At least if a princess is guarding it Sable won't be able to get at it.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “What about Goldie?”

“I do not know. Several Yaks have gone out to search the area but have not returned yet.”

“I'm sorry about all this Enyi. We'll definitely talk with Jackpot but please just be willing to listen to what he has to say.” I sat up and wrapped my one good hoof back around Enyi, following it up with a small kiss on his cheek.

Enyi visibly calmed down, “Ok Ivory. When we return to Canterlot I expect to have this conversation and I will listen to him.”

“Thanks.” My eyes got wider from staring into Enyi's. I gave him one more kiss before laying back down.