Midnight kept a watchful eye on her filly as Dove cautiously crept up on the snail. The little filly was carefully watching the little thing with great fascination, almost crawling along the ground to keep her eyes close to it. Her wings were held high in excitement as she crept along after the creature. Midnight couldn't help by smile at how cute Dove looked right now.

Midnight was also trying to keep a lookout at the surroundings for snakes. When they had first arrived here they were told by Shadow that there were snakes here in the past. There definitely were still snakes, only now the things had wings and could fly. The first time they had accidentally disturbed one of the snake nests had been a shock.

Drinking greedily from Midnight's udders was Sweet Pea's thestral colt, Quiet Word. The little colt was well named, as he barely ever made a peep. He would on occasion give out a little cry for Sweet Pea if he was in a clingy mood, and he clearly understood a few words, but they hadn't gotten him to say his first word yet.

Their camp was set up in a little clearing near a river and a small set of cliffs. A waterfall went over the cliff and fed the river. The river itself wasn't very deep, though it was too deep to let the foals get near for fear that they might fall in and get hurt. The camp itself had a few small shelters made of wood and leaves, a large communal fire pit, and the beginnings of a garden which would hopefully soon start producing food so they didn't have to go scavenging as much out in the woods.

On the far side of the camp there was a small area that was reserved for Sweet Pea to practice magic. The unicorn was over there now doing just that under Sunset's supervision. The unicorn was worked hard by the alicorns, who wanted her to be capable of performing spells to help defend herself along with the rest of them. They would have her do concentrated destructive blasts of magic, try to put up magic shields, and now were adding short range teleportation to the list. Sweet Pea was of course still learning, and keeping her at a distance from the foals as she practiced was an understandable safety concern.

Midnight and Sweet Pea took turns nursing Quiet Word. About the same time Dove had gotten to where she didn't need to be nursed on udders Quiet Word had been born. The two friends agreed to split the time nursing so they would each have time to work on other things. The little colt wouldn't need nursing too much longer as his fangs were just starting to come in; which had been a somewhat painful discovery for Midnight recently.

It was hard to say how old either of the two foals were now; tracking time in this world was exceedingly difficult.Their development was all they had to go by, and Midnight depended on Sweet Pea to give her an idea of where they were in that respect. Sweet Pea said Quiet Word was about under one year old, and Dove just over two. In their homeworld it would still be morning of the same day they left it, but that wasn't how time flowed here. The fact that the sun never set and night never came made it impossible to track days, weeks, or anything else involving time. They slept when they were tired and there was no telling if they slept once a day, multiple times a day, or sleepless for days. She supposed she could count the seconds, but that wasn't really a feasible thing to do.

Time was clearly passing though. Dove walked on her own most of the time now, though Midnight would put the little filly on her back from time to time. Her daughter now had a growing vocabulary, and could form very short sentences. Dove was quick to tell her about things she was looking at, and would excitedly beg her for stories from time to time.

She smiled as she thought about what story to tell Dove next. Sometimes when Midnight told stories her cutie mark would sometimes light up, which would delight her daughter each time. This was actually happening with increasing frequency. Midnight had figured out the meaning of her mark by this point; she kept alive the memory of the past, and when she got caught up with a lot of emotion when dealing with things of old her mark would light up. It wasn't some grand talent, but it was who she was, and she received joy from it.

Dove finally had worked up the courage to try to touch the snail. When the filly lightly touched her hoof on the snail's shell the little creature pulled itself into its shell. This caused the her to bring her muzzle close enough that it was almost touching the snail as she tried to see where it had gone. She then tried tapping it a few more times with a hoof.

"Dove, don't do that to it. How would you feel if something giant started banging on our roof? You wouldn't like it would you?" Midnight said to her daughter with a smile.

"Bug is hiding, Mommy!" Dove announced loudly.

"It's not a bug, it's a snail, and that shell is like its home. Be nice to the little snail," Midnight replied.

"Snail? Why it do that?" Dove said with her head tilted in thought as she processed this new information.

"That's just the way they are, sweetie. They just carry their home around with them. Sometimes you can find shells that snails have stopped using. I think snail shells are very pretty to look at," She explained. She honestly didn't know much about snails herself, but she wanted to instill in her daughter a respect for other living creatures, even if that respect had to be put at odds with the ones Midnight had to hunt for food.

"Pretty shell," Dove said with wonder as if just noticing it as she went back to carefully observing the snail.

Midnight noticed her own stomach rumbling. She would need to track down some food soon. The river provided a nice little hunting ground for her. She needed some meat in her diet to keep completely healthy, as would Quiet Word when he got bigger. A thousand years ago thestrals could have subsided on just vegetation if need be as omnivores, but centuries of subsiding on primarily meat had as a result changed them, and now thestrals were now primarily carnivorous in nature. She had tried eating just fruit and other vegetation at first when getting here, but after her getting sick consistently the group had learned of the change. The others in the party weren't thestrals, and though the physiology of crystal ponies and unicorns had changed too over those centuries, so they were much more omnivorous than herbivore, they could still do without meat if need be.

A bright flash happened right next to her just then, causing her to jump in shock. Then she yelped in pain as the Quiet Word bit down hard on her when she startled him. She bolted into the air on pure instinct, and the poor little colt fell down on his rear on the ground below. He did let off a quick startled cry, but didn't make any further noise. He did seem to be shedding some tears though. Midnight felt guilty as she looked down at him.

Sweet Pea quickly gathered her son up in her magic and nuzzled him to sooth him.

"I'm sorry, little one. I startled your aunt and she startled you. I didn't mean to have that all happen. It will be okay, your alright. I didn't mean it and she didn't mean it," Sweet Pea said soothingly to him. The little colt cuddled into her mane.

"What was that?" Midnight asked after her heart stopped pounding hard.

"Oh! I actually did it, Midnight, I teleported!" Sweet Pea shouted excitedly. "I can't believe I actually managed to do it. I've been trying, and failing, for a while now, and was about to tell Sunset and Shadow that I just wasn't going to be able to do it, but I actually did it. I am so excited! It is like I have more power to draw on than before. I don't understand it, but I am doing things I didn't think possible."

"Well, I'm happy for you," Midnight said with a smile, then lowered herself back down to the ground. "Next time a little more warning though, please. Especially when I am feeding your little piranha."

Sweet Pea took on a thoughtful expression as she nuzzled her looked over her son.

"Maybe it's time we started him on some solid food. He is going to get to where he can accidentally hurt one of us before too long with his fangs coming in. Really hurt, not just what we have gotten so far. thestral foals typically don't get nursed much longer than a year or they end up taking a bite out of the wet nurse," Sweet Pea said as she hugged her now content foal. Quiet Word was an easy enough foal to please, nuzzle him, hug him, let him eat, and he would quickly get happy. Dove was easily to please too; she was just louder, and more rambunctious, in showing her pleasure.

"Well, if you are done with your magic for right now I can see about finding something for me to eat and I'll share what I find with him so we can see how he does with it," Midnight said.

"Maybe you could find enough for me too? I'd like to eat along with him, to show him how. You don't have to spend extra time trying to find enough if it is too much trouble. I still have plenty of those melons we found the other day I can eat still. I just want him to see me eating the same things when trying to start him off," Sweet Pea requested. The unicorn then floated her colt up on her back and he quickly curled up there. He would likely fall asleep within a moment or two.

"I'll see what I can do, no promises though," Midnight said as she lifted herself back into the air.

"Mommy don't go!" Dove cried out as Midnight made to leave.

"Mommy needs to hunt, Dove. You don't want mommy to be hungry do you?" Midnight said her her filly.

"Take me with!" Dove insisted, stomping her hoof.

"No, that is too dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt. Maybe when your bigger, but you don't really need to ever hunt. Just be good for your auntie Sweet Pea and I will tell you a story when I get back," Midnight bargained.

"Promise story?" Dove said with a tilt of her head.

"Yes, as long as you are good for Sweet Pea," Midnight assured her daughter.

"Okay, I be good for Auntie Sweepy," Dove replied. Midnight covered her muzzle to hide a smile at her daughter's continued butchering of Sweet Pea's name. That was a longer sentence for Dove, seven words. Before long her filly would likely be a regular little chatterbox at this rate.

"There were some pygmy pigs about ten furlongs out in that direction last time I flew over," Sunset called over to Midnight while pointing a hoof off to the south. "I think they are about the right size you can carry back a carcass. I am sure that one would make a decent few meals or a larger meal for several ponies. Would be an upgrade from your normal birds, snakes, fish, and crustaceans that you typically go after."

"I don't know," Midnight replied uncertainly. "That's much bigger than I typically hunt. And aside from the snakes, most of the things I go after can't really fight back."

"I am confident you can deal with a pig. It is in your blood to deal with things much larger and much more dangerous than that. Just let your instincts take hold and it will be no problem," Sunset assured her.

"I'll see what happens. If it seems like it is more trouble than it is worth I am going to just try to catch some fish down river though," Midnight said. The idea of trying to take on and slay a pig made her more than a little uneasy, but it was true that she would need to start getting more meat per hunt if she was going to feed Quiet Word as well until he could hunt for himself. She supposed one of the others could hunt too, but it really was strongly against their natures. Sweet Pea had tried hunting once and even to Midnight it was laughable how clumsy a hunter her friend was than Midnight had started out as. This was just part of being a thestral.

Midnight took to the air and headed in the direction Sunset had indicated. She took a quick glance around to see if she could see Water Shadow anywhere in the distance. The blue alicorn had been out scouting and looking for seeds for their garden. Midnight saw no sign of her though, not that she had expected too. The alicorns went out much further than she or Sweet Pea ventured. Midnight had gotten much better at flying over time in this place, but she was still not up to such ling distance flights. The alicorns reported signs of vast forests, jungles, deserts, and mountains. The land they were in was vast, larger than their world back home. There was never any sign of civilization, but there was an unending amount of flora and fauna.

When she reached about the correct distance for where Sunset had spotted the pigs she dropped down below the canopy of trees to get a better look around. Landing on a tree branch, the first thing she did was scan around the branch for any snake nests. She had no intention of accidentally stepping into one. The snakes' venom wasn't fatal to a pony, but it had a strong paralysis effect. If she took a bite from a full grown snake she would fall down onto the forest floor and have to pay there helpless until one of the alicorns found her or the venom wore off. The newly hatched ones in the nests were not a concern, as their venom was too weak to even impact the foals, but where there was a nest there was a full grown mother close by. Midnight could deal with a snake if she was aware of it, but that was only if she took the time to be aware of her surroundings.

After a brief scan around the branch and surrounding ones she was satisfied that their were no snake nests, just a few birds. She therefore turned her attention to the forest floor to find sign of the pigs. After a minute or two of glancing around she thought she spotted cloven hoof tracks, indicating they were close by and had been here very recently.

She glided down to the underbrush and examined the tracks. She could see the direction they seemed to move towards and she quickly made her way after them. Within a minute or two she picked up the scent of them and her instincts began to take hold. She offered up no resistance to their compulsion as instinct likely was more effective here than her trying to think things through. She could easily over think this and fail as a result.

She got back into the branches and began rapidly gliding from branch to branch in pursuit of her prey. There was little to no sound as she moved, her thestral magic which was now flowing freely masked it and made it so her movements barely disturbed the branches. She was moving too quickly to be beset upon by any snakes unless she landed directly on one. Snakes were the primary predator in this world up to now, at least by daylight, but she was something fiercer. She knew it in her core that she was the alpha predator in the local food chain, and nothing would dare try to attack her deliberately.

Midnight came to a halt as she spotted the pigs down below. There were about half a dozen of them, all munching on a patch of mushrooms that they had found in this area. She bared her fangs as she looked them over to determine the best target. The largest were about the size of a younger teen pony, but the majority were about twice the size of Dove or smaller. The larger ones were likely too big for her to properly carry back home, but the majority were of ideal size for her to lift, even if the weight would slow her down.

There was one of appropriate size that was near the middle of the group. Midnight didn't think she could miss her pounce, but if she did it was well removed from having anywhere it could run and cause her difficulty in pursuing. The rest would likely scatter when she came down on the one, and the larger ones that could put up some sort of fight were near the outside of the group well away from it. It seemed to be a defensive tactic placing themselves this way, but she was fairly sure that when the rest scattered the large ones would move with the majority rather than try to come to her target's rescue. She wasn't sure how she knew this, but her instincts told her this is what would most likely happen. She trusted those instincts.

She waited another moment or two to judge her pounce and make sure she had a clear shot. Then she zoomed down from her hiding spot above and landed on the defenseless pig. In another instant she sank her fangs deep into the pig's neck, and with a quick jerk of her neck snapped her victim's neck.

The rest of the pigs fled as she had anticipated. She bent her head down and put her fangs into her already prone prey's throat and ripped it out in a spray of gore. Blood splattered all over her face and the ground. In a few quick seconds life vanished from the pig. This had been quick and easy. There had been no reason to doubt herself.

She licked the blood off her muzzle near her mouth, and resisted the urge to feed right this moment on her kill. It had taken her several times hunting to learn how to get her instincts back in check afterwords. It was still a small struggle. There was something primal that drive her to try to feed right away, but she was no animal. Animals were slaves to their instincts, she made her instincts work for her, but she would not be a slave to them. This pig wasn't just for her, this pig was for her herd.

She bent down and lifted the body onto her back. Blood poured off the pig and got all into her fur, making her even more a bloody mess. It likely made her look fairly terrifying, and she was glad she didn't have a mirror to show her reflection or she would likely scare herself. She would need to go downstream at the river once she had returned this to camp to wash it all off. It was best not to get blood into the water near the camp. They needed to drink from that water, and washing in that part of the river or defecating near it just wasn't healthy for any pony.

Once she was certain the body was positioned so it wouldn't fall off when she took to the air she launched herself back into the sky above the canopy, and made her way slowly back to camp.

As she flew she considered herself lucky that there weren't any large predators other than her in the area. The pig was still dripping blood, and she was making a trail that could be tracked all the way back to the camp. In the future she would need to figure out some way of of making sure that didn't happen. Just because there wasn't any threatening predator in the area currently didn't mean something couldn't end up migrating their way, this world was still an alien one to them.

After several minutes of slow flight she finally came in for a landing at the camp site. Sunset went out to meet here and quickly removed the pig from her back so the alicorn could prep it to be cooked.

"Any problems at all?" Sunset asked her, as the alicorn floated the pig into her dwelling so the preparation could be done out of sight.

"No, no problems at all. It seemed really easy actually. I just let my instincts take hold and it all went smoothly," Midnight replied.

"Mommy? You hurt?" Came the trembling voice of Dove from behind her.

Midnight looked back at her little filly and her heart lurched. Dove was looking at her terrified. Dove must have seen all the blood and thought it meant that Midnight had hurt herself. The mother considered how to best deal with this in a way that her filly could understand. She wasn't sure she could explain hunting properly to Dove yet. The filly never saw blood like this when Midnight came back with her typical smaller kills, and may not understand what those were.

"Mommy is okay, sweetie," Midnight began. "It is just like when you got covered in juice from that melon the other day."

"Just juice?" Dove said with uncertainty still in her voice.

"Close enough to juice," Midnight answered, not willing to tell her daughter it was blood, but not wanting to completely lie to her either. She looked over to Sweet Pea for help.

"Come on over back to your auntie, Dove. Your mommy needs to go take a bath, and when she comes back you'll see she is perfectly fine. Do you want to help me sing a lullaby to Quiet here?" Sweet Pea offered up for a distraction. "I can teach you all the words. It will make him happy to hear you sing to him."

Dove seemed to take interest in the idea of learning how to sing a lullaby. Midnight gave Sweet Pea a grateful smile for dealing with the situation for the moment. The time would come she would have to explain this kind of thing to Dove, but she really didn't want it to be now. Sweet Pea took Dove away to another one of the little shelters, and within a moment her voice could be heard singing the timeless Hush Now Quiet Now song.

"You could have just explained it to her. Foals are really accepting of what their parents tell them at that age. I am sure she wouldn't be that upset," Sunset said to her.

"I just feel like I would be destroying her innocence or seeming like a monster to her if she knew I killed for food," Midnight replied with a sigh. "I don't even really like the idea I need to do it. Back in Ocid we all knew where the meal bars came from, but we could feel detached from it since we never saw it happening. It was like it felt more okay because it wasn't me actively killing any pony. But now I am actively killing. It might not be ponies, but it is still killing. I am torn between being proud that I can hunt, and feeling like a monster."

"You aren't the only thestral to ever feel this way. I dealt with one before that felt this way too. She eventually got over it, and accepted that this was part of what she was, and there wasn't anything wrong with doing what she needed to do. You'll feel more comfortable with it in time," Sunset said.

"I just feel so torn. I feel proud that I can do it, but then feel guilty that I am proud of it," Midnight said with lowered ears.

"Did you feel guilty when you killed that snake that got too close to Dove not long ago?" Sunset asked.

Midnight's fur fluffed slightly at the memory, her protective instincts resurfacing again at the memory of it. It hadn't been that long ago when one if those things had come flying at Dove. Midnight had immediately sprung into action without even thinking and slain the thing in midair. The venom from a full grown snake might do more than just temporarily paralyze her daughter at her age and size.

"No, not a shred of guilt about that. Nothing is going to hurt Dove, nothing," Midnight said darkly.

"Well, if you don't hunt then she won't have her mother or Quiet Word because you two will starve. You are protecting her indirectly by providing for yourself. Try to think of it that way if it helps," Sunset explained.

"I'll try to do that. This just isn't the life I was raised to lead. I am still trying to get used to it," Midnight said. She then looked herself over again and scrunched up her muzzle. "I need to go get washed and get back. I promised Dove a story, and don't want to keep her waiting too long. Please cook that pig up quickly. I really am hungry."

"I will go do that right now. Go get yourself cleaned up," Sunset said as she walked back to her shelter.

Midnight gave a brief glance over to where she could hear her daughter singing Hush Now Quiet Now and smiled. Then she lifted herself into the air and made her way down river to get herself cleaned up.

[

Sunset lay on top of the overlooking cliff listen as Midnight recited a story to Dove and Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea was carefully breaking up little bites of roasted pig and feeding Quiet Word. Dove sat enraptured in her mother's story, barely eating her own food, though she did take bites whenever her mother took time for dramatic pauses. Sunset had to admit Midnight was a gifted storyteller.

She couldn't help frowning though as worries played at her mind. Midnight's cutie mark was glowing again, something it did frequently when recounting some story about the distant past. Telling these stories was as much a treat to Midnight as it was to her audience. Ponies' cutie marks glowing wasn't really an uncommon occurrence. What was unusual was the frequency of how often Midnight's did.

"Something bothering you that is causing you to brood up here?" She heard Water Shadow say from behind her. A moment later the blue alicorn walked up beside her and laid down on the cliff edge as well.

"I am coming to realize some things about the nature of this place," Sunset answered her.

"And what might that be?" Water Shadow asked, now watching the ponies down below as well.

"Can't you feel it? Our power is growing again. We aren't back to what we were when Harmony still stood, but right now we possess more power than we ever did in Ocid. I am sure there are many things I could do now that I haven't been able to do in centuries," Sunset said.

"I had noticed, but wasn't sure if it was a trick of my imagination up till now," Water Shadow answered.

"It isn't just us though," Sunset continued. "Their magic is growing stronger as well. Sweet Pea's power reserves were well below average when she got here; I tested her so I know. Now she is functioning at an average to slightly above average level. That isn't just practice, her wellspring is bigger. Midnight's cutie mark is lighting up more and more frequently when she does things that embrace its meaning. That typically should only happen when a pony does something exceptional in regard to their purpose, not like this."

"The matter of her glowing mark is definitely something I have noted, it is kind of impossible to miss. Though I hadn't realized Sweet Pea was growing in magical strength as well. I really had just considered that progress based on practice," Water Shadow said as she looked more carefully down at the two mares in question.

"And are you listening to what story Midnight is telling right now?" Sunset said with a fluff if her feathers.

Water Shadow seemed to listen carefully for a moment and developed a slightly confused look on her face.

"The old tale of Hearth's Warming Eve. The one we were told in our youths, not the more modern one that has no resemblance. That is indeed an old story which is well in line with Midnight's values," Water Shadow said approvingly.

"It definitely is, but that isn't the problem," Sunset said. "That story isn't in any of the databases in Ocid, nor did I ever tell her that story. Did you ever tell her that story?"

"You can already guess I didn't. So how did she learn it?" Water Shadow said now concerned.

"I think it is her cutie mark. She is just getting so much power here that she is literally able to tell about things from the distant past she never even learned," Sunset answered. It was an impossibility but her ears were giving her too much evidence that it was exactly what was happening.

"It might be pulling the information from us. Now that I am listening closely I can tell she is telling that story pretty close to word for word as I was told it. I know that is just a highly filtered version of the story that glosses over a lot of details. It isn't just coming from nowhere, but it is still very remarkable," Water Shadow said with awe. Shadow looked at Sunset with a perplexed expression. "Where do you think all this power is coming from here? What is making us stronger?"

Sunset looked up at the sun. That same sun that kept dark magic away, and somehow didn't hurt any of the eyes of the ponies below when they looked straight at it. A sun that behaved in ways that no star should. Water Shadow followed Sunset's gaze and looked back to Sunset curiously.

"You think it some sort of wellspring?" Water Shadow asked.

"No, I think it is more than that. I think it might be this universe's allspark," Sunset replied.

"Um, you will have to give me a better explanation than that. You forget sometimes I am not magically versed as you are. By the time I started caring about performing my duties as an alicorn rather than sailing my ship I had much more pressing matters than learning magical theory," Water Shadow said with a bemused tone.

"Allsparks are kind of like the sources of magic in each universe to put it in the simplest of terms. Wellspring aren't ultimate sources, just high concentrations of magic that can be drawn on," Sunset answered.

She had considered that sun at length and realized it couldn't just be a wellspring. That thing wasn't just radiating magic, it was infusing and enhancing magic. It was a force of creation, which would explain how it was something that was so opposed to dark magic, the antithesis of magic that creates. An allspark was the source of all magic in a universe, every universe had one, and this world was sitting right under the one for this universe. Even the magic that had been altered into dark magic ultimately came from an allspark. Sunset wasn't even completely sure where their own universe's allspark resided, and had only seen one once before, in another universe. For the most part it was only magical theory that they even existed, but one that fit the rules too closely for it to not be so.

"So does this give us any advantages on survival once we leave here?" Water Shadow asked.

"Well, we will obviously be much stronger, which will certainly help. The magic is too raw for us to harass directly, but it will strengthen our own magic the longer we are near it. I am actually mildly concerned about the long term impacts it might have on our friends down below," Sunset said, and she turned her gaze back down to the ponies below.

"What do you mean?" Water Shadow asked.

"They are going to keep absorbing that raw magic from the allspark. How much power will they have absorbed by the time we leave? Ponies aren't meant to have that level of power. Both you and I have had it, and can likely deal with it now, but we both had our struggles in the past. I went temporarily mad when I was first exposed to the power of the Element of Magic. You nearly went mad twice yourself. Looking over others it doesn't take long to realize that is more often the result than anything else. Look at the Time of Madness, look at Pinkie Pie, look at ourselves, look at Biblo, look at Peridot, might as well toss in look at the Mare of Shadows. With the exception of the necromancer, whom we know basically nothing of her past, none of these ponies were bad ponies before they went out and caused havoc. They just couldn't handle that kind of power. Now we have those two mares down there getting slowly charged with more power than they have a right to, and we haven't even considered what impact this is having on the foals yet. I worry that even if we make it out of everything alive we may be unleashing a new evil on the world down the line."

"That is a little dramatic don't you think?" Water Shadow scolded. "Plus that is dependent on us making it through this alive. It seems our only hope is in all of us absorbing that power So we can hopefully defend ourselves versus the necromancer. I am not even sure that we will be able to do that with all the extra power we gain here. She is unbelievably strong, she took down Twilight, Starlight, and Luna when the three of them went up against her together."

"You are right, but I can't help but feel nervous after all the things that have happened in the past. Even if we go by the best success rates with ponies being able to deal with that kind of power that would mean three of the four down there are monsters in the making," Sunset said sadly.

"Perhaps the power will top out well before then. Bring them to their natural peaks rather than pushing beyond those boundaries. There is always a chance too that things will be better this time as we know that many of the previous tragedies were the result of neglect," Water Shadow offered.

Sunset kept watching the younger ponies, not replying to her longtime friend. She loved them all, but she couldn't help worrying still. She hoped this was just paranoia. Their world couldn't stand to have any more monsters. She also couldn't stand to lose any more friends and loved ones to their own madness, and she couldn't bear to be forced to have to end the life of another friend for the good of all.