Freeport Venture: City of Giants

by Ponibius

First published 6th of February, 2018

It’s not every day you discover that your friend is in an Daring Do novel, but that’s exactly the situation Sunset finds herself in. When she asks Puzzle Piece, she uncovers a truth far stranger than fiction: one of the fabled City of Giants.

It’s not every day you discover that your friend is in an adventure novel, but that’s exactly the situation Sunset Shimmer and Kukri Doo find themselves in when Puzzle Piece, Freeport’s foremost problem solver, makes an appearance in the latest Daring Do book. They only naturally ask Puzzle about it, and uncover a truth far stranger than fiction: a tale of adventure, intrigue, tyrant lizards, the mysterious dromaed people, and the fabled City of Giants.

A Freeport Venture prequel.

Prologue

It’s not every day you read about one of your friends in a Daring Do novel.

Normally when I sought out Freeport’s foremost information broker it was because I wanted to know something. Like when or where to find someone, or to make sure someone who wanted to hire me wasn’t too sketchy. Or if I needed a sounding board for any of my ideas. He was pretty good, if kinda irritating, about telling me about any problems with my plans and how to make them better. But that wasn’t what I wanted to see him about today.

It wasn’t often that I got to learn something new about Puzzle Piece. To be honest, I actually didn’t know all that much about him. That wasn’t something I liked considering how dependant I was on the Free Mind. A lot of what I knew about him was common knowledge—namely that he was an information broker, mercenary, and all-around problem solver. He was very good at what he did and was reasonably well-off as a result, even if he didn’t care that much about money. By contrast, he knew an almost creepy amount of stuff about me, and worked with the Council to some extent. I also knew he was a pretty curious guy, and could be drawn into an adventure if it were interesting enough.

Puzzle didn’t talk about himself all that much for his part. I could get him to talk about one of his previous jobs on a good day, though my attempts to get him to talk about his personal life hadn’t met with much success. I was starting to get him to open up a little bit after working with him, especially after some nasty business that found his marefriend on the wrong end of a blood fued. Still, everything I got to know about him came in bits and pieces, which was pretty irritating considering I didn’t like unsolved mysteries and since Puzzle had been one giant mystery that had been plaguing me since I came to Freeport.

So I was tickled when I was certain I had found out something new about him. Thus, I followed a tracking spell with my apprentice Kukri Doo in tow. Puzzle hadn’t been in his office when we stopped by, which meant he could have been anywhere in the city or even in the out-islands. His work took him all over the place, and if he had normal working hours outside his office hours I hadn’t been able to determine them. Thankfully he wasn’t using whatever methods he occasionally used to block my tracking spells today, and I managed to track him down to one of Freeport’s many docks.

The little island harbor was filled with the yachts of the well-to-do of Freeport. The ships ranged in size from little sailboats to some pretty outlandishly sized vessels, and from the simple and utilitarian to gaudy spectacles that looked like buoyant manors. Several of the ships were moored in the harbor or in the waters right outside of it. Cries of fun and celebration competed with the sounds of the sea as people went about enjoying themselves on a nice sunny day. It all reminded me of the time I had taken a trip out on Mom’s yacht with her—a trip that felt like a lifetime ago.

My tracking spell led me to the next step of the search—or splash, as it were. I followed the signal and saw Puzzle’s yacht anchored out just beyond the mouth of the harbor. It was a nice-looking ship, and while it wasn’t nearly as big or splendid as some of the ships around it, it had a kind of quiet dignity to it as it bobbed in the gently rolling waves.

Kukri waved enthusiastically in Puzzle’s direction. “There he is! This one can see him, Shimmer-mare!”

“Yeah, I see him too.” Though that left me with the problem of how to get to him. I didn’t feel like going through the trouble of renting a boat when I had other options.

I quickly dismissed the idea of teleporting to the yacht. I had tried that not long after coming to Freeport, but Puzzle had some kind of ward on his ship that blocked those types of spells. My first and only attempt to teleport onto the ship had resulted in me taking a swim, and I hadn’t liked it when I’d been ‘helped’ onto the deck of Puzzle’s yacht soaking wet. He claimed that the ward was in place to keep his enemies from doing something like summoning a demon onto his ship, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it was also intended to keep a specific pony from boarding unannounced.

That left me with a quandary of how to get to Puzzle’s yacht and how to do it in style. I looked down at the watery barrier between me and Puzzle, then grinned. Checking to make sure I wasn’t about to ruin someone’s ship and get myself sued for destroyed property—I was more careful than I had been in the past—I began casting a spell.

The ocean in front of me crackled as I stole the warmth from the water. I grunted as a solid bridge of ice formed between me and the yacht. Once that part was done, I had to deal with the heat I’d leeched away. The waters around Freeport were warm year-round, and drawing out enough heat to freeze a long pathway hadn’t been easy. I could have safely dispersed the heat into the air, but I grinned as I came up with a better idea. Multiple spiraling sparks shot from my horn and flew high into the air, and once high enough, they burst into multicolored blossoms of magical flame as they announced my arrival. The others in the harbor oohed and aahed as they watched my magic go to work, and I smiled in self-satisfaction. I technically hadn’t needed to do that, and it had taken more magic than I’d have liked, but it was totally worth it to make my entrance.

I turned and smiled down at my apprentice. “You remember that ice-walking spell I taught you?” It had struck me as a good idea to teach Kukri some novice-level magics to help her deal with the effects of some of my favored spells, and now seemed a good time to try one out. Nothing like practicing in the field to give a young apprentice some experience.

“This one remembers,” Kukri said with a nod. She closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue as she slowly went through the process of casting the spell.

“And what did I say about closing your eyes and sticking out your tongue while casting?” I asked with a hint of reproachment. She was getting better about that habit, but every once in awhile I caught her backsliding. Casting while closing your eyes was a bad habit a lot of unicorns got into, and it wasn’t something you should do if you find yourself in a fight. Not to mention sticking her tongue out was just undignified.

Kukri sighed and opened her eyes. “Yes, Shimmer-mare.”

“And don’t call me Shimmer-mare in public,” I reminded her. “Call me ‘Master’ or ‘Magus’ if you have to call me something.” Her parents had asked me to help her get better at maintaining her disguises out in public, and using Free Mind speech patterns was a dead giveaway. It didn’t strike me as a huge deal either way, but apparently Puzzle was the exception to the rule about letting people know he was a changeling even while in disguise. Most Free Minds made a point of keeping their species a secret from most everyone else. It seemed that old fears about Queen Chrysalis still held strong, and to be fair, my one encounter with her more than proved their point.

Kukri sighed in a way a recognized I used to make when Mom lectured me. “Yes Shim—Master.”

“That’s better. Now complete the spell before the ice bridge cracks.” Ugh, I could hear myself starting to sound just like my parents. Funny how being a responsible adult can sneak up on you.

Kukri nearly closed her eyes as she started casting but snapped them back open. She finished the spell, and a wide smile spread across her face. “I did it!”

I checked the spell over and confirmed that it was working right. “Good job. Now let’s pay Puzzle a visit.”

Kukri nodded. “No kidding. This on—“ I shot her a disapproving look that made her pause. “I have so many questions.”

“Better.” I cast my own ice-walking spell and stepped out onto the ice-bridge. Thanks to the spell, we were easily able to trot our way up to Puzzle’s ship without slipping on the ice. I noted the name Trustworthy printed on the side of the ship. Puzzle had a funny sense of humor.

By the time we reached his ship, Puzzle was busy working at a grill built into the deck. He was in his zony-pegasus disguise that he seemed to favor for casual interaction. If he was perturbed by my ice bridge and sudden appearance, he didn’t let it show as he casually went about sticking slices of vegetable on a metal spike and placing it on the grill. “You know, you could have rented a boat to reach this one. No need to do anything quite so...” He glanced out at the ice-bridge. “Elaborate.”

I snorted. “Yeah, but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun.”

Puzzle smiled and shrugged. “Well, this one wouldn’t want to stand between the Shimmer-mare and her fun.” He stepped over to a cooler filled with ice and bottled drinks. “Come on board, you two. Do you want something to drink?”

“Sure.” I glanced down at Kukri. “As long as it isn’t something Kukri’s parents would disapprove of.”

Kukri rolled her eyes. “It’s not like this one doesn’t know what alcohol tastes like.”

“The answer’s still no,” I told her. My apprentice had led a bit of a wilder life as a cabin filly on a merchant ship, and she’d picked up a few habits I didn’t approve of. I was pretty sure the crew of the Venture had never let Kukri get drunk, but they’d definitely let her sneak a sip or two of something. That wasn’t something I was going to encourage. Being an Alpha-level unicorn and magus had a way of enforcing a teetotaler lifestyle. No one liked seeing the unicorn who could set a whole building on fire drunk, and since Kukri was learning to become a magus, it was best she picked up the right habits for how to conduct herself now.

Puzzle pulled out a couple of bottles and handed them to me and Kukri. “Not a problem, this one has some lemonade, coconut milk, and other kid-friendly drinks.”

“Thanks, Puzzle.” I took a lemonade from him.

Kukri sipped her own lemonade without complaint. She might have wanted a sip of the forbidden drinks of her elders, but she wasn’t about to turn down a free sugary drink. “Thanks.”

I looked around the deck to see that in addition to the grill, the food stacked up next to it, and the cooler, he also had a crate sitting on the deck. “So what’s the deal? You expecting someone?” It was possible that Strumming or someone else was below deck, but I was certain Puzzle wasn’t planning on spending this trip alone. There was too much food and drink for just one person.

“This one’s expecting an old colleague to pick up some merchandise she purchased.” Puzzle returned to the grill to turn the shishkabob. “Though she had some prior commitments to meet before she could come out here.”

“And who's the mystery mare? Anyone I know?” I grinned. “Strumming doesn’t need to be worried, does she?”

Puzzle finished fiddling with the kabob and shot me a grin. “You can stick around and find out if you want. This one didn’t have many plans for today anyway.”

“I guessed as much when you’re setting up a grill here.” I took another drink as I contemplated a few questions. Puzzle was of course being his typical mysterious self. Well, if he was okay with me hanging around to see who his special guest was, then I had a few other things to ask him. “So, Kukri and I went to the A.K. Yearling book signing earlier today.”

Kukri started tapping her hoof impatiently as she drank her lemonade.

“This one remembers hearing about that.” Puzzle picked up a bottle for himself and popped the cap off. “The latest Daring Do book just came out, right?”

I nodded and couldn’t help but grin. “And I was reading through the book when I noticed something pretty interesting.”

Puzzle raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Before I could get to the point, Kukri yelled out, “Why are you in a Daring Do book?!” She whipped out her copy of Daring Do and the City of Giants and presented it to Puzzle. The cover sported Daring Do facing off against a zony-pegasus backed up by a hoofull of menacing individuals, Ahuizotl laughing maniacally behind them, and a pyramid ruin inside a jungle background. “This one needs to know! Do you know Daring Do?! Are you one of her bad guys? Did she lie about you? Why were you in Zanzebra? This one has so many questions!”

Puzzle blinked in surprise and leaned his head back.

I pointedly cleared my throat and tried to keep my voice level. I’d intended to reveal what I had learned myself, but it seemed I needed to have a talk with my apprentice about timing. “Kukri, it might be a bit easier for Puzzle to answer one question at a time.”

“That would help, yes.” Puzzle tilted his head as he took the novel from Kukri. “So what makes you think this one is in this book?”

“Because it blatantly says so.” I pulled out my own copy of the book and flipped to a page I’d memorized. “‘And so it was on the Happy Venture that I met one of the most devious people in the world, Puzzle Piece.’” I looked up at Puzzle. “Remind you of anyone?”

Puzzle grinned as he flipped through the pages of the book, stopping briefly to scan one page in particular. “This one doubts it’s the only one that’s had the name Puzzle Piece.”

I turned to another page I had memorized. “‘I’m from Freeport.’” I flipped to another page. “‘You could say I’m a professional problem solver.’” I turned to the next page. “‘There was a green flash, and where there had once been a zony, there was now the black chitinous form of a changeling.’” I raised an eyebrow as I looked up from the book. “Once again, remind you of anyone?”

Puzzle opened his mouth to answer, but that took exactly half a second too long for Kukri. “It’s you!” My apprentice vigorously tapped the cover of her book. “You’re in a Daring Do novel! This one is so jealous! Can you introduce me to the Do-mare?! Can this one be in a Daring Do book?!”

“Whoa, Kukri.” I placed a restraining hoof on her back. “Give him a chance to answer.” For good and ill, Kukri was a pretty enthusiastic kid. Giving her some lessons for patience might be a smart idea. Right after I got some for myself, maybe.

Puzzle chuckled as he shook his head. “Maybe you should ask her yourself.” He looked around my shoulder. “What do you think, Do-mare?”

There was the thump of hooves on wood as somepony landed behind me, and the voice of an unfamiliar mare replied. “I think I might be able to field a few questions while I’m here.”

Kukri spun to see who had spoken. Her eyes widened and she gasped. “D-Daring Do!”

I turned and blinked at who I saw. Before me was a pony who I had seen on the covers of Kukri’s books more times than I could remember. Daring Do posed and grinned, quite enjoying our surprise. Or at least she looked like Daring. Feeling a nagging suspicion, I frown Puzzle’s way. “This isn’t one of your jokes, is it?”

Puzzle smiled as innocently as a cat with a canary feather in its teeth. “Now, would this one do something like that?”

I snorted. “Yes, I still remember your Liberation Day prank where you transformed to look like you were my brother and pretended we were family all day. I don’t even have a brother.”

“You did say you missed not being able to spend the holidays with family,” Puzzle pointed out.

I groaned. “And having a fake Daring show up is exactly the type of thing you and your changeling buddies could pull off. And you did say you knew about the A.K. Yearling signing today.” In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew exactly what was in the latest Daring Do book and had set up some elaborate prank on the assumption that I’d come around asking questions.

“True, but this is no prank.” Puzzle smiled Daring’s way. “This one assures you that this is indeed the Do-mare in the flesh. We had some business to do while she happened to be in town.”

Daring chuckled. “Yep, it’s the real me. Granted, you have to take my word on that, but if this is a prank there isn’t any fun in it if you’ve already figured out the gag.”

Kukri gasped and snatched her book away from Puzzle and ran over to Daring. “Please, please, please sign this one’s book! I already got the Yearling-mare to sign it, and it would be amazing if you would sign too!”

Puzzle snickered, probably because of how cute Kukri was with her enthusiasm.

Daring smirked. “Sure, I’d love to sign your book. Do you have a pen?”

“Um.” Kukri patted her saddlebags for something to write with, but didn’t find anything. She looked around desperately, her eyes eventually focusing on Puzzle. “Puzzle! Can this one have a pen?!”

Puzzle grinned. “What’s the magic word?”

Kukri groaned melodramatically. “Please! This one doesn’t want to lose its opportunity to get the Do-mare to sign its book!”

“There should be a pen by the wheel.” Puzzle pointed to the wheelhouse. “Go ahead and get one.”

“Thanks!” Kukri was off like a lightning bolt.

Daring chuckled and shook her head as my apprentice darted off. “Cute kid.” She looked to me. “She your sister?”

“What?” It took me a moment to realize that Kukri was wearing her disguise that looked a lot like me. It was pretty endearing, really. The coat was a different tint than mine, and she had an orange stripe in her mane instead of my yellow, but everything in her appearance right down to the manestyle was eerily close to mine. Daring wasn’t the first one to draw the conclusion that we were related. “Oh, no. She’s my apprentice. I’m Sunset Shimmer, by the way, Magus of Freeport.”

“Daring Do, but I think you’ve already gathered that.” She offered me a hoof that I shook. “I’ve heard a bit about you. Most of the stories being about you setting fire to something.”

“I do tend to set bad guys on fire.” I beamed in pride. It might have stroked my ego a little bit to have somepony as famous as Daring say she had heard of me.

“Must be a full-time job in a place like Freeport.” Daring motioned with her head towards where Kukri was rustling around in the wheelhouse. “So your apprentice is a changeling, huh? I’ve never heard of a Free Mind magus before.”

“She’s a pretty enthusiastic learner. I think she’ll be just fine.” I probably shouldn’t have outed my apprentice as a changeling, in hindsight. Not when most Free Minds tried to keep that a secret from casual acquaintances. The problem was that it was a bit awkward to explain Kukri’s current appearance when she looked just like me. Maybe I could claim she was my cousin? Ponies would buy that if they didn’t know too much about me.

Daring shrugged. “As long as it’s working out for you two.”

Kukri returned at a run and offered a pen to Daring. “Here you go!”

“Great.” Daring took the pen but then paused. “Got any ink to go with the pen?”

Kukri gasped and turned to everyone’s favorite enabler.

“Also in the wheelhouse,” Puzzle answered before she could ask.

“Thanks!” My apprentice bolted back to the wheelhouse. We were really going to need to work on her patience and thinking things through before acting. Maybe Mom would have some pointers on how to work on these issues. Great, I was going to have to ask Mom about it. I might as well just accept my descent into being a proper responsible adult.

“So I guess you and A.K. Yearling are meeting up here in Freeport?” I had about a hundred and one questions right then, but that’s the one that shot forward first. I was curious how Daring and her author knew one another. Their relationship was a bit ambiguous from the interviews I had read in the newspaper.

“We both had business that needed taking care of here,” Daring confirmed. “Of course, coming to Freeport does come with the risk of running into this jerk again.” She grinned and motioned to Puzzle.

“The Do-mare wounds this one so,” Puzzle said, covering his heart with a hoof. “And after this one was so kindly going to donate some artifacts to the museum.”

Daring answered with a teasing tone. “Suuure, you’re an all around nice and altruistic love-sucking bug who just happens to be a shady information broker on the side.”

“This one can always send all of this right back to a warehouse where they can collect dust.” Puzzle tapped the crate to emphasize his point.

“Don’t make me go through the trouble of rescuing those artifacts.” Daring grinned in a way that said she wouldn’t mind doing just that.

“You mean steal?” Puzzle gave her an amused flat look.

“I’m sure you got all of this through completely legal means.” Daring started opening the crate, but Kukri came running back out of the wheelhouse.

“This one has the ink!” Kukri presented the inkwell to Daring. “Please tell this one you can sign its book now!”

“No way I could turn down such an enthusiastic and cute fan,” Daring said with a grin. “So what’s your name, kid?”

“Kukri Doo!” Kukri gave her a big smile. “That’s Doo with two o’s. Though this one wonders if you’re related to Clan Doo? Since you’re last name is Do with one o.”

“Near as I’ve been able to tell, I had ancestors from Pegasopolis on both ends of my family. A mixture of Doo’s and Strikers according to my genealogy research.” Daring signed the book and then passed it back to Kukri. “There you go.”

Kukri squealed and danced in place as she hugged her book to her chest. “This one got the Do-mare to sign its book! This one got the Do-mare to sign its book! This one got the Do-mare to sign its book!” She giggled giddily as she hopped around the deck.

I presented my own book. “Mind signing mine while you’re here?” I did my best to maintain a calm dignity, but it was hard considering the circumstances. It had tickled me to get Yearling to sign my book earlier that day, but to get Daring herself to sign it was something else entirely.

“Sure, as long as a whole line doesn’t start appearing behind you.” Daring took my book and signed it. Something nagged me as she did so, but I couldn’t place my hoof on it. It was like there was something I should be noticing, but wasn’t. “I am here on business, after all. I can’t spend all day signing books.”

“It is the risk of having a famous persona,” Puzzle said with a wry grin. “It must be hard juggling so many responsibilities.”

“I manage.” Daring gave me back my book. “There you go.”

“Thanks,” I said. Getting Daring to sign the novel was nice, but it wasn’t why I was here. “So, how do you two know one another?” I looked between Daring and Puzzle. “I admit, it was kinda a surprise to read about one of my friends starring in a Daring Do adventure novel.”

Daring raised an eyebrow. “You’re friends with this jerk?”

Puzzle pulled out a crowbar to help Daring open the crate with. “This jerk is donating rare objects to your museum, it will remind you. Some of them were quite difficult to procure.”

Daring playfully punched Puzzle on the shoulder. “You might be a loveable jerk who gives nice things to me now and again, but you’re still a jerk. I’m sure your ‘friend’ will agree with me.”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “You’re a little bit of a jerk.”

Puzzle rolled his eyes. “This one gets no respect.”

I snorted. “I’ve heard the way your employees and half the city talk about you, you get plenty of respect. You can tell I’m your friend because I deflate that ego of yours and bring you back down to the ground now and again.”

Daring pulled the lid off the crate after Puzzle wrenched it loose. “Besides, if you’re giving me something it’s because you want something in return.”

“Maybe this one just wanted to see the Do-mare while she was in town.” Puzzle set the crowbar aside.

Daring started carefully sifting through the packaging to get to the artifacts inside. “That’s still wanting something, and I’m willing to bet that isn’t all that you want. It’s just a matter of figuring out what you really want.”

Puzzle let out a melodramatic sigh. “It seems that this one will forever be doomed to not be trusted.”

I had to agree with Daring. Puzzle could be a nice guy, but he rarely did anything purely for altruistic reasons. If he was being nice to you it was probably because he wanted to butter you up and get on your good side. Well, okay, it was a bit more complicated than that; as Puzzle himself had told me, the most productive and long-lasting relationships were ones where both parties benefited. It worked, too. Despite the fact I knew I should be careful around Puzzle, I still trusted him. It was a trust I was certain he had carefully built up over the years, and now I considered him a part of ... whatever my little circle of people I knew was.

Kukri smiled up at Daring with bright eyes. “Can this one get you anything?”

Daring hummed as she carefully pulled out a Zebrican shaman mask to look over. “Is there a bottle of rum in the cooler? It’s been awhile since I’ve had any good Freeport rum.”

“Let this one check.” Kukri trotted over to the cooler and rustled around in it.

I looked between Puzzle and Daring. “So, this confirms that you two know one another. Though I’m curious about how Puzzle ended up in one of your novels.”

“Because I’ve ran into this jerk on several occasions during my adventures.” After examining the mask from top to bottom, she placed it back in the crate. “It was about time he actually showed up in one of my books.”

Kukri returned with a bottle of rum and presented it to Daring. “Here you go!”

“Thanks squirt.” Daring took the bottle and took a swig. “Mmm, it’s been way too long.”

Puzzle motioned to the novel I was carrying while Daring was busy drinking. “Can this one have a look?”

“Sure.” I levitated it over to him. “I only bought the book today, so I haven’t had the chance to read through the entire thing. Though as I was reading it, I was wondering how much of any of it is true.”

Puzzle opened my book and his eyes scanned one of the first pages. “‘This book is a work of fiction, and any relationship to any real people, places, or events is entirely by coincidence.’” Puzzle raised an eyebrow at Daring. “Pity, this one really should be receiving royalties for it being used in your books.”

Daring grinned as she fished out an ornate pot. “Hey, you weren’t even calling yourself ‘Puzzle’ back then—and like the book said, everything is made up.”

I frowned as I caught the subtext of what she was saying. “Except it did all happen?”

Daring shrugged. “More or less. Some of the details get changed by me—well, A.K. fictionalizes a few things to make for a better story and to make sure nopony gets hurt.”

“Except those that the Do-mare has locked horns with, apparently,” Puzzle mused as he flipped his way through the book. “Likely you’ve ruined the reputation of most of your rogues’ gallery.”

Daring snorted as she pulled out an old bowl. “Good luck to any of them trying to sue me. Most of them are wanted in multiple countries.”

Puzzle continued flipping through my book. “Ahuizotl would be lucky to get to the courtroom before he got turned into stone and carted off to become a lawn ornament for the White Pony’s garden.” He looked up at Daring with a frown. “Though this one will remind you that it is a respectable business owner, and not some villain.”

“Respectable by Freeport standards maybe.” Daring smiled innocently at Puzzle. “Relax, I didn’t make you look any more of a jerk than you actually were.”

Puzzle shot her a flat glower. “The wording of that statement does not encourage this one.”

“So what actually happened at Zanzebra?” I asked. “I want to know what really went on. From what I’ve read it sounds like you two had quite the adventure.”

“Yes, can you tell us a story?!” Kukri asked with a big smile. “Hearing a story directly from the Do-mare would be amazing!”

Daring looked away from the Zebrican artifacts and smiled down at Kukri. “Tell you what, I’ll trade a story for a story.” She smirked my way. “What do you say, Magus? I’ll give you the unabridged version of the story if you and your apprentice can give me a good yarn each.”

I grinned right back at her. “You’re on.”

“Yesyesyes!” Kukri bobbed her head up and down. “This one can tell you all about how it got to meet the Shimmer-mare!”

“Great!” Daring casually leaned on the crate as she smirked Puzzle’s way. “But Puzzle has to tell his half of the story about how we got to the City of Giants, too. This new book got me thinking about how there were several details I didn’t know about and really wished you were there for me to ask.”

“You could have written a letter to ask,” Puzzle grumbled.

“And probably have you ask me for a small fortune for the truth.” Daring poked Puzzle’s side. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Information Broker?”

“Not necessarily...”

“Great to hear!” Daring leaned an elbow on Puzzle haunches as she grinned. “Then that means you’ll tell your half of the story to your good friends for free, right?” She batted her eyelashes for Puzzle. “We are friends who are just telling each other fun stories, right?”

Wanting to strike the finishing blow, I said, “You did say you would keep fewer secrets from me.” I shot him a grin. “Not going to back down on that, are you?”

Puzzle sighed as his resistance crumbled. “Oh very well, this one will tell its half of the story.”

“See, you’re as friendly as you claim to be.” Daring gave him a friendly slug to the shoulder. “Do you want to start, or shall I?”

“This one might as well.” He grinned back at her. “This one is afraid it might look like a bad storyteller if it goes after you.”

Daring did an immodest shrug. “What can I say? A.K.’s rubbed off on me.”

Puzzle grabbed some more drinks and started handing them out. “Everyone get comfortable, this isn’t a short story.” He rubbed his chin. “Now where to start? Hm, perhaps when—“

“Um, Puzzle?” Kukri interrupted. She sniffed the air and shot a worried frown at the grill. “This one thinks the shishkabab is burning.”

Puzzle paused. “This one will start the story ... after it saves lunch.” He ran for the grill.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengaor Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 1

This one was on an adventure.

Hot and humid air engulfed this one as it pushed its way through the thick jungle underbrush. An old pyramid rose out of the jungle ahead, overgrown by vines and moss, and chunks of masonry littered its steps as the elements took their toll. According to the villagers who lived closest to the pyramid, it had been here long before the zebras had colonized the island of Zanzebra, dating back to a time when the Dromaed dominated the island that lay off the coast of their homeland. An ancient people, the Dromaed still dominated much of the mainland south of the great jungle and mountain range that split the continent between their nations and the Zebrican Empire.

This one stopped when it finally reached the half-overgrown stones that led to the pyramid. It reflected upon—

“Wait, what were you even doing on Zanzebra?” I asked. “That’s a long way from Freeport. I didn’t even know you had been there before.”

Puzzle sighed. “This one will get to that, Shimmer-mare. You asked how this one came to meet the Do-mare, and this one is starting as close to that as possible without losing context. Be patient.”

I crossed my legs over my chest. “Okay, but this better not be your way of skirting around my question.”

Daring shot Puzzle a wry grin. “Oh don’t worry, I’ll make sure we cover that later. Trust me.”

Puzzle frowned at Daring, but didn’t comment. “Now then, as this one was saying...”

The villagers had warned that the pyramid was dangerous, though they couldn’t agree why. Some said it was boody-trapped, or else cursed. Others claimed it was haunted and that the undead walked its halls. Perhaps all these things were true. Whatever the case, approaching the pyramid was taboo to the villagers, and any who went there took their lives into their own hooves. This one wasn’t sure where the line between superstition and reality stood, but this one had been hired to procure the treasure that was supposedly hiding inside its depths and it intended to do just that.

This one stopped short of the pyramid as something caught its eye. An old fire pit sat next to the entrance, filled with burnt-out wood. This one picked up a stick and checked for embers but found none. Not a surprise with how often it rained in the forest; unless a fire was consistently fed fuel every day the embers would quickly be drowned. But still, the ashes looked relatively fresh, probably only a couple days old. There were hoofprints in the dirt, the wet ground making it easy to pick them out. At least two sets of tracks led to the doorway, while none led back out again. Not the most fortuitous sign.

The better question was who had gone in ahead of this one. It probably wasn’t one of the villagers—they seemed scared of the place and had repeatedly warned this one away from it. It was possible that they were hiding something here, or perhaps some small group came to the ruins now and again for some shadowy purpose. The alternative was some group of outsiders had entered the pyramid. Maybe this one wasn’t the only treasure hunter here.

This one flew a circuit around the pyramid, but for lack of resource and time, it was unlikely this one would find some convenient alternative entrance. When its flight yielded nothing, this one resigned itself to the direct approach. It landed and stepped through the archway large enough to fit a two-pony cart through, and was met by perfect darkness. Whoever designed this place hadn’t considered using windows to allow daylight in. Squinting its eyes, this one saw a recess along the ceiling that might have allowed for some sort light fixtures, but the recess was long empty. Thankfully, this one hadn’t come unprepared. This one tapped a small gem on its silver necklace, the various protective talismans clinking against one another as the gem lit up and cast a glow over the stonework of the foyer.

The light revealed that this one was stepping into a large chamber. Bioluminescent fungi had overgrown much of the room, and while it didn’t offer much light, it did give the room a fascinating glow. A fountain sat in the center of the room, and a miniaturized pyramid lay in its center. Whatever mechanisms that ran it had long worn out, leaving only stagnant water surrounding it.

Holding up this one’s source of light, it saw something inscribed into the walls of the chamber. Flying up, it rubbed away the fungus on one section of the wall to reveal an engraving that depicted a half dozen bipedal, feathered reptiles supplicating themselves before a similar creature at least three times their size and much more ornately dressed. The creatures depicted were probably Dromaed, though this one could only guess what exactly the engraving was supposed to represent. Perhaps commoners were paying respect to some sort of ruler?

“You didn’t know much about the Dromaed at that time, did you?” Daring asked. “Like about the Quinametzin, the Hristak, or … well, anything?”

Puzzle shook his head. “No, that was outside of anything this one had read about or experienced up to that time. Freeport didn’t do that much trade with the Dromaed, and they’re not politically important to the Council either.”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s a bit weird for you, considering you always like to be informed about what you’re jumping into.”

“Circumstances weren’t exactly what this one would have preferred, and besides—this was before this one became an information broker.” Puzzle shrugged, seeming satisfied with that non-answer about his weird behavior. “Anyways...”

This one indulged in a bit of archaeological curiosity, examining the ancient mural. Though as its hoof wiped away more of the fungal growth, its hoof brushed upon something decidedly solid. Turning my light source, I discovered a skeleton embedded within a solid lump of the fungus, the side of the skull poking out from the mass. A morbid part of this one wondered how a skeleton had gotten embedded so high from the floor, but it probably didn’t want to find out. Suddenly no longer curious, this one wiped its hoof off and turned its attention back on its task.

This one looked between the trio of doors open to explore. A quick check of the two closer doors revealed only small chambers. One was probably an armory, but the fungal growths and humidity of the air had long ruined anything of value. The other room was largely empty, and this one could only guess its purpose. The third door revealed a wide hallway that led deeper into the complex. This one proceeded slowly, but didn’t get far before it found a very good reason to stop again.

It was one of the explorers that had entered the pyramid ahead of this one. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t get to interrogate the earth pony, seeing as he’s been transfixed against the wall by a swinging roof panel full of spikes. The poor pony still wore the shadow of shocked expression on whatever part of his face not already overrun by fungus.

This one noted his pack had somehow been spared a similar fate, and it crept forward cautiously. The saddlebags had already been opened, this one noted. Going off a hunch, this one checked to see if it could find the pony’s coin-purse.

“Because you totally weren’t hoping to pocket his bits for yourself,” Daring teased.

Puzzle grinned. “This one wasn’t getting paid by the hour, and dead ponies have no need for coin. Besides, whether this one found a coin-purse or not would tell this one a great deal about who it was dealing with.”

Alas, this one didn’t find a coin-purse. So either he hadn’t brought one with him, which seemed unlikely, or his compatriots had liberated him of his coin. He had been equipped for an expedition into the wilderness, as this one discovered as it looked through the saddlebags, but whatever his occupation or purpose for coming here was a mystery. What this one did find was his identification papers. An examination of the packet revealed the pony to be an Equestrian by the name of Rock Steady, and had visited Zebrican Empire mainland before coming here. He had come a long way just to die.

Further examination of the papers and the contents of the saddlebags revealed something of importance. This late pony’s employer of this pony was one Ephemera—the same pony who had hired this one to come here! She hadn’t mentioned sending anyone else here. This one hadn’t asked, admittedly, but she still had failed to bring it up. That was telling, and something to talk to Ephemera about later. Assuming this one made it out of the pyramid alive.

This one had to admire the ancient architects. By all rights, the swinging mechanism should have degraded into uselessness long ago. Preservation magic could theoretically keep it intact, but that type of magic ironically faded with time unless it was maintained.

With that in mind, this one transformed back into its natural form. Considering how dangerous this place was, it seemed best to be in the form this one felt most comfortable moving around in. It has maintained its zony disguise in case it met whoever was in here, as most sapient species tended to react poorly to seeing a changeling in its natural form and this one prefered to avoid that type of trouble. But the traps of the pyramid were a still greater danger, and this one could always transform into something else if it eventually did find someone alive in here.

With its horn available, it cast a spell to detect magic. It didn’t take long to discover that there was indeed preservation magic placed over the trap, and even the whole structure. It had still degraded somewhat over the years, but it was still quite potent for how long the place had stood abandoned.

Or at least it should have been abandoned. What was most troubling was that most of the preservation magic had been refreshed relatively recently. Maybe there was something to the stories about this place being haunted, or at least the tales about regular visitors. Though who and why someone would want to maintain the traps of some old ruin was beyond this one. Were its contents worth that much? The corpse was a complication this one didn’t particularly need, on top of the problem of this one’s current employer hiring others to its job. She had probably hired this one in response to her other employees not coming back, based on how old the corpse looked.

Just to be sure, this one cast another spell to check for poison, but it didn’t detect anything to be worried about. That was good at least. This one didn’t need to die from toxic spores. That would just be embarrassing.

That left this one to decide how best to proceed. It could cut its losses and head back to port. Continuing was certainly dangerous, possibly more so than was worth the coin being offered. This whole situation made this one itch under its carapace. But this one hadn’t come to Zanzebra to be safe, and this one needed to shore up its accounts. That meant continuing forward.

But this wasn’t the first time this one had dealt with traps, and it was prepared. This one pulled out a series of rods and screwed them together until they formed a ten-foot pole.

Kukri snickered. “‘Ten-foot pole.’”

I sighed. “Kukri...” In addition to bad language, Kukri had picked up a crass sense of humor while serving on a merchant ship.

“What?” Kukri asked with fake innocence. “We’re just talking about Puzzle’s ten-foot pole.” She covered her mouth as she tried to contain her laughter.

I groaned, dreading the talk I’d have to have with her later. “Continuing forward...”

This one pressed itself against one wall and slowly advanced, pressing each floor tile with the pole. This one scanned about for more magic in case other arcane traps had been set into the stone. Inching its way down the hallway, this one made slow but steady progress. This one was rewarded for this caution when another of the spiked plates snapped up, nearly breaking this one’s pole in the process. This wasn’t going to be the fastest or most interesting way to move through a pyramid, but a little bit of boredom outweighed a grisly death.

Once this one inched its way up to the plate that had triggered, it pulled out a bag filled with chalk dust and marked the dangerous tile. That done, this one proceeded forward. This one triggered several more spike traps along the way, which made this one wonder exactly what was worth so much defending.

This one was scooting along the wall when the floor under its forehooves abruptly gave out. This one flailed as it lost its balance, and on instinct it flapped its wings as it started to plummet. A pit filled with spikes opened up below it, and this one nearly impaled its eyes on one before its wings finally halted its fall. This one’s heart thudded in its chest as the weight of the fact it nearly died fell on it. It seemed that poking at the floor hadn’t been enough to trigger the trap.

This one belatedly noticed a second explorer at the bottom of the pit. Unlike this one, the zebra hadn’t had wings to save itself with. Curiosity getting the better of this one, it hovered down to the corpse and rifled through its saddlebags as well.

Daring grinned. “If the information brokering thing ever falls through, you could always take up professional grave-robbing.”

“Isn’t that what the Do-mare does on a regular basis?” Puzzle countered. “This one remembers how you’ve looted several burial grounds over the years.”

Daring’s grin lost none of its luster. “No, I’m recovering historical artifacts for museums. That’s totally different.”

Puzzle shot her a flat look. “Yes, the Do-mare is a saint like that.”

This one found much the same as it had with the previous corpse, though this one still had its coin-purse on it—which, yes, this one liberated from it. Its presence meant one of a few things: either Ephemera had only sent two other explorers ahead of this one, none in their group could fly, or they had lost their nerves to the point they could no longer bring themselves to loot their compatriots.

With this latest trap in mind, this one stopped scooting along the wall and instead hovered over the ground. It was more tiring over time, but it was better than falling to this one’s death. Still, this one didn’t hurry. Haste led to carelessness, and this one wanted to be as careful as possible marking the traps for its return trip out.

Caution was rewarded when this one noticed a section of the hallway that had small holes hidden on both sides of the hallway. This one confirmed their function when it triggered a pressure plate and several darts shot out from the wall. This one pressed the plate again and more darts shot out from different holes. Probing around, this one found another pressure plate that triggered the same trap.

Seeing a simple means by which to disarm the trap, this one repeatedly pressed the trigger plate. Soon the floor was covered with dozens of darts, and nothing came out of the holes other than the sound of clicking mechanisms. After pressing the plates a few more times to make sure the dart-traps were indeed spent, this one continued.

This one flew forward and found itself inside of a new domed chamber. Where the fungus had been scattered about in the previous rooms, it covered the walls and ceiling here. The room was cast in the fungus’ blue light, revealing a staircase that led up to a platform.

This one flew up and discovered a strange mechanism on a raised dais. A half-sphere of near-black metal jutted out from the dais, with three discs of gold surrounding it. Each of the discs was engraved with what this one guessed was the written language of the Dromaed. They didn’t look like any arcane sigils or runes this one could recognize, and they looked similar to the writing on the walls in the first chamber of the pyramid.

A skeleton lay next to the dais, and it looked fresh—for a skeleton, at any rate. Magic radiated from the dais, especially from the metal sphere and the discs, and this one could detect several different types of magical effects interwoven together: abjuration, divination, preservation magic, and a few others this one couldn’t identify.

This one examined the side of the dais and found something concerning. Several trap runes had been engraved into the stone and had been tied into the magic of the dais. This one had a sneaking suspicion that one of the explorers had come to the room before this one and had run afoul of the trap, thus ending up as the skeleton lying on the floor. So the question was how best to proceed without getting itself killed?

“Oooh!” Kukri raised her hoof like she was in a classroom. “This one knows! What you do is turn the discs in a specific way to solve the puzzle and make the sphere open up. That’s what you did, right?”

Puzzle chuckled. “Not quite.”

This one turned its attention to the trap runes. After carefully studying them, this one pulled out its dagger and several tools from its saddlebags and worked slowly and deliberately to alter the runes to render them inert. It was exhaustive work, as the runes were so alien that this one had to forego trying to understand them and instead examine the magic behind them. The wrong alteration could either set the trap off or result in this one getting blasted by a burst of wild magic right to the face. It didn’t help that the runes were intrinsically tied into the magic of the dais. Playing around with magic you didn’t even fully understand could easily result in several nasty side effects if you mess up.

It took a several grueling hours of work, but this one eventually disabled the trap wards. Of course, that still left the strong magics woven into the sphere to deal with, which in turn looked like they were tied to the rotatable discs. This one would have liked to play around with the puzzle to figure it out, but the fact it was tied up into some sort of magic made this one wary to do so lest it be disintegrated or suffer some other brief and horrible death. But, as this one had come to learn, there was more than one way to solve a problem if one had a flexible mind and the right tools.

This one pulled out a vial from the magical storage space of its saddlebags and gingerly unscrewed its cap. Using the dropper built into the lid, it withdrew some of the clear and noxious-smelling liquid from the vial. This one precisely levitated the dropper to the edge of the metal dome and released two drops. The acid hissed on contact as it melted away the metal. This one placed several more drops after them, taking care not to melt whatever was inside the dome.

Soon the hole was big enough to allow this one to shine its light inside, revealing a wooden box about the size of a pocket watch or a particularly large amulet. A couple more drops of acid opened the hole enough to let this one slide the object out.

Kukri frowned. “Heeey, that’s not how you solve a puzzle ... Puzzle.”

Puzzle grinned back at Kukri. “This one wasn’t trying to pass a test or beat a game—it was on a job, and for a job it’s the results that matter. Besides, this one wasn’t eager to get disintegrated by some ancient trap because it couldn’t read a dead language.”

“I could have solved the puzzle,” Daring said with a confident smirk. “But I do have a degree in archeology and ancient languages. While you have an education in ... being a crime boss? Spying? Can you get a degree for something like that?”

Puzzle casually took a bite off of his partially burned shishkabab. “Sadly, this one doesn’t have a fancy degree from a famous school like some of its more prestigious friends. But that’s another story.”

This one’s objective in hoof, it checked the small box to confirm that it was what this one was looking for. A small cloth string ran through a ring at the top of the box, but the string disintegrated at the slightest touch. That confirmed that this had been here for a very long time. This one turned the box gingerly in its hooves, worried it might fall apart at any moment. Failing to get paid because the artifact was too delicate to transport would have made for an extremely disheartening trip.

“I’ve been there a couple of times,” Daring grumbled.

Thankfully, studying the box revealed it had preservation magic cast into it like the rest of the room, and while the wood had faded with age it still looked to be in good shape. In fact, there were even a few different magical effects emanating from it. Its lid was engraved with an intricate image of a city dominated by a large pyramid etched into the wood. This one carefully pried at the box to open it up, which took a lot longer than it anticipated due to years of lying around sealed and inactive. The top was attached to the bottom with a hinge in a curious design that, further reminded this one of a pocket watch.

The device’s interior had a rounded emerald inlaid into a wood base that had a vine-like pattern carved into it. The gem had a spark of magic within it, and then an arrow of green light formed. This one frowned curiously and turned the device over in several directions, but the arrow always pointed in the same direction. This one next pulled out its compass and compared it to the arrow. It didn’t take this one long to determine that whatever the device was pointing at didn’t seem to be in a cardinal direction—at least, any of the familiar ones.

Before this one could further contemplate its discovery, the atmosphere in the chamber ... changed. The itch under its carapace returned as it suddenly felt like it was being watched.

“You are not of the Green.” The words were not a sound, but a force that struck this one’s very being. A psychic communication of some kind, perhaps?

This one’s head snapped around as it tried to find the speaker. “Hello? I was just exploring the pyramid and I didn’t realize there was anyone still here. Who might you be?”

There was a moment of silence, and this one saw movement along the walls in its peripheral vision. Was the fungus ... shifting? “You are not of the Green,” the voice repeated. “You do not belong here.”

“Riiight.” This one slowly started backing up towards the entrance and slipped the magical device into its bag. The plant matter that had covered the walls was definitely moving now, and this one did not like that idea. “How about I leave and never return then? I can go ahead and show myself out.”

“That does not belong to you.” The plant matter congealed along opposite wall, tendrils emerging forth from corpulent mass. “The compass is for those of the Green. You are not worthy, abomination.”

This was quickly going downhill. Did this … thing somehow know that this one was a changeling? This one could have dropped the magical compass, and that might have placated whatever this creature was, but this one hadn’t come all this way to come up empty-hoofed.

This one grinned. “‘Abomination’? Now you’re just hurting my feelings.”

It clearly wanted to hurt more than hurt this one’s feelings, for several tendrils shot out towards it like so many pythons. This one drew a fire gem out of its bag and hurled it at the massed bulk of the fungus creature. The tendrils almost reached this one when the fire gem exploded in a raging inferno. The reaching appendages fell to the floor, their detached ends smoking. An inaudible screech hammered this one’s psyche, nearly bringing this one to its knees. It gritted its teeth and turned to flee back to the hallway and away from a fight.

This one had only made it a hoofful of steps when a section of ceiling came crashing down. Hazarding a glance over its shoulder, it saw that it had almost been crushed by a stone ramp. The hallway shook beneath this one’s hooves as a spherical boulder rumbled down the ramp. Had this one set off a trap? Or had the creature somehow activated it? Either way, this one needed to run if it didn’t want end up as a smudge.

This one picked up the pace only to have to come to a screeching halt as a score of spikes suddenly shot up from the floor. It slammed into the side of the metal spikes as they just as suddenly pulled back into the floor. This one tumbled to the floor and instantly rolled to its hooves to get out of the spot it was in. Good thing too, for the spikes once again shot up and barely missed this one’s hindquarters.

Looking ahead revealed an extremely disheartening sight. All the traps this one had spotted earlier and more were now going off and resetting on their own accord. That would have been bad enough on its own, but the boulder was catching up with this one far too quickly.

With no other way out, this one quickly timed the traps’ motions and flew forward. It barely dodged a set of spikes descending from the ceiling as the boulder smashed through the first set of spikes. Trapped by its own momentum, this one kept ducking and dodging its way forward as fast as it could. A hidden blade scythed from the wall and nearly took this one’s head off as a dart skimmed off of this one’s carapace, and only the fact this one didn’t stop moving kept it from getting set on fire by a flame trap—all the while the boulder was catching up with this one even as its momentum was constantly interrupted by the traps.

This one felt the bottom drop out of its stomach as it chanced a look over its shoulder. It flew up and over more spike traps, and its hope grew as it saw the doorway to the first chamber of the pyramid. If it could just make it...

The boulder was now close enough that this one could feel it behind it. It smashed aside another spike trap, sending a chunk of metal smashing painfully against this one’s wing. This one’s wing could not have gotten hurt at a worse time, for it was forced to slide under the next spike trap, costing it valuable time. As it slid, it caught sight of the boulder and the fact that it was almost ready to roll right over this one.

If not for its training it would have died right there. Pity its training wasn’t going to keep it alive—not long enough to get it to the exit. This one went with the last desperate gambit it could think of. Forcing its hurt wing to buzz to life, this one leapt into the air and took flight as pain lanced through , a flash of pain shooting through it as it did so. This one waited for just the moment then kicked out its hind legs. It kicked off the boulder right as it closed the distance and shot forward. This one soared over the last spike trap as it snapped up, and the boulder collided with the trap just a second later. The change of speed wasn’t much, but it was just enough to get this one through the doorway first.

The boulder slammed into the doorway, and while some of the stones for the archway were shoved out of place, the structure as a whole held. Good thing too, because this one’s wing immediately cramped up and sent this one in a tumbling roll along the hard floor. Spots flashed over this one’s vision at the impact.

This one groaned as it slowly regathered its senses. A jab of pain shot through this one’s shoulder as it rolled over to try and get back to its hooves. It wanted out of that pyramid, and sooner was much better than later. The fungus monster was probably still alive, and the traps might not be much of a deterrent to it—for all this one knew, it might well control them itself. So placing as much distance between it and the pyramid sounded like a very good idea. A shame someone had other plans.

“My, my, my, if it isn’t little Puzzle Piece himself?” a vaguely familiar voice crowed. “He’s presented himself to us and everything.”

This one’s vision straightened, revealing a half dozen heavily armed individuals standing about the chamber. They all looked down at this one with a mixture of unpleasant smiles and deep frowns.

“Friends of yours?” I asked.

Puzzle shook his head. “Not exactly.”

This one grunted and struggled to its hooves. It couldn’t afford to appear weak, not now. This one shot them a confident grin as it rose, causing the two closest individuals to momentarily pause. “You’re all here to see this one? Really, you should have arranged a meeting. This one could have met with you someplace much nicer than this.”

The apparent leader of the bunch, a hard-looking zebra stallion in a chainshirt, flashed this one a gold-toothed smile. “Somehow I doubt you’d show, what with you being a slippery one,” he said with a Freeportian accent. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to track you down?”

“This one was aiming for impossible, but it seems that it fell short of that.” After this one had a few seconds to think, it recognized the leader as the skilled Freeportian bounty hunter Cafer. This one had never dealt with him directly, but it knew him in passing. “So, who hired you? This one must have quite the bounty on its head for you to come out all this way.”

Cafer snorted. “No one specifically. In truth, I didn’t wait around in Freeport for everything to be announced. Once I saw how big some of the first bounties were I knew me and my gang better jump on this if we wanted to beat out the competition.” He pulled out a cigar and lit it, taking a deep draft before continuing. “Thinking it over on the voyage here, I’m going to have an auction for who’ll get you. That’ll get us the most ducats for our trouble.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Did things get too hot for you in Freeport?” People placing a bounty on Puzzle’s head wasn’t particularly surprising, though I’d never heard of him fleeing Freeport as a result. Though there was a lot about Puzzle’s history I didn’t know about, and I wasn’t going to believe every rumor I heard about him.

“This one left a ... complicated situation back in Freeport.” Puzzle waved vaguely. “This one had made a lot of enemies at the time, and it wasn’t in a position at the time to deal with them.”

This was the real first news this one had heard about Freeport since coming to Zanzebra the previous week, and it wasn’t a welcome one. This one had hoped, vainly, that things wouldn’t have turned so badly against it due to ... recent developments. But then, this one had left Freeport very suddenly because it had had a bad feeling about what was to come. Considering at least one group of bounty hunters had chased this one to a forsaken ruin all the way out in Zanzebra, it wasn’t particularly encouraged.

Something else that didn’t encourage this one at that particular moment was the fact that some of the fungus on the walls was slowly shifting. None of the bounty hunters had noticed the movement yet, but this one had a pretty good idea about what was coming. Yet another reason to get out of there and quickly. Shame two of the bounty hunters were standing directly in the doorway to prevent this one from escaping, and the other three weren’t likely to let this one get even that far without a fight.

This one hid its worries behind a grin. “This one doesn’t suppose we could take this conversation outside? In case you didn’t notice from the boulder nearly crushing this one, this place isn’t particularly safe.”

Cafer blew out a thick puff of smoke. “And give you the chance to just fly away? Not a chance.” He pulled out some shackles from his saddlebags and tossed them to the floor in front of this one’s hooves. “Put those on, and then we’ll talk about getting out of here.”

This one had no intention of going anywhere in chains. Especially when it had a pretty good idea of who it might get sold to back in Freeport. The trick was getting out of there without being killed. “As far as jewelry goes, this one has to say that what you’re offering for our first date is lacking.”

One of the bounty hunters snickered, and Cafer shot him an unamused glower that cut his employee off. “Real funny, smart guy. Let’s see how smart you are when—”

“You are not of the Green!” the fungus creature roared.

“What was that?!” one of the bounty hunters yelped, jerking his spear up.

This one heard the boulder being pushed out of place behind it, and knew it was out of time. “The reason why this one really wanted to take this talk outside.”

This one’s reasoning was supported when a tendril of the fungus snapped out from the wall to a nearby bounty hunter. She screamed as it wrapped around her neck and dragged her towards the wall. More cries of surprise and horror rang out from the bounty hunters as they brought their weapons to bear, and the fungus gathered to attack—including the large mass this one could feel coming up behind it.

The moment to strike had come. This one tossed a thunderflash stone and covered its eyes as exploded in a blast of light and sound next to the bounty hunters standing in the doorway. This one was quicker to recover than the bounty hunters and charged for the doorway. Cafer was too busy blinking away the spots in his vision and backing away from the moving mass of the fungus to stop this one.

To give them credit, the bounty hunters by the exit, a pony and a gryphon, had gathered their wits by the time this one reached them. The pony to the left jabbed at this one with his ponycatcher, a polearm with a two prong head intended to catch an equine and pin them to the ground. The aim was slightly off, and this one was able to sidestep the blow and step inside his guard. This one threw a hoof right into the side of his knee, which buckled with an audible crack. The pony screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his ruined limb.

The gryphon was the next to try his luck a second later. Metal-wrapped talons slashed at this one’s head. This one ducked under the first blow, stepped forward, and blocked the second by striking the inside of his elbow. Inside his reach, this one flowed forward to use its momentum to chop into his throat. The gryphon let out a strangled gurgle, falling back as he slashed wildly to try and ward this one off. This one caught the limb between its legs, pulled it to its full extent, and twisted it to force the gryphon to his knees. A precise blow to the back of the elbow resulted in a predictable breaking of bone, and this one kicked the howling gryphon in the ribs to knock him aside.

The way open, this one ran through the doorway. This one glanced back to see if it was being pursued and saw Cafer scream in terror as the shambling mound of fungus fell upon him.

This one ran, and didn’t stop running for a very long time.

It was the next day before this one returned to Port Nowhere. This one had a feeling that its pursuers would be in no place to chase it after the encounter in the pyramid, but it still struck this one as a good idea to get back to Zanzebra’s main port where it could hide if need be. Cafer might have more hunters under his employment, after all, and there was the more worrying prospect that there might be even more bounty hunters in Zanzebra searching for this one.

This one wasn’t sure how they had tracked it down. Magic was the most likely explanation, as any number of spells might allow someone to find this one, but there were perfectly mundane explanations as well. Unfortunately, this one hadn’t had time to question Cafer or his followers. For all this one knew, it was walking into a nest of cutthroats looking to cash in on this one’s misfortune.

While this one was tempted to flee the opposite way of the port, it opted to play things cool and head into the city. For one, this one needed to cash in on its find. Money made nearly everything easier, and this one’s funds were running short. This one had quite a bit of ducats in the bank, but they were in Freeportian banks, and this one would bet its horn that interested parties were keeping track of those accounts for a hint about where this one was. That meant getting coin however it could for the time being, and then getting on a ship out of Port Nowhere.

Thus, this one took on a zebra disguise as it headed into the port. It wasn’t a particularly large city; originally built as the Zebrican Empire’s southernmost outpost during the Empire’s heyday, it had been intended to be a launching-off point for greater conquests to the southern half of the continent. But other things demanded the attention of the Zebrican sultans as time passed, and the island of Zanzebra faded into obscurity.

Dromaed warlords and rebellion had threatened to tear the outpost from the Empire, but the sultans had managed to hold it—for now, anyways. This one had a feeling that it was only a matter of time until someone took the island from the struggling Empire, perhaps even this one’s own nation of Freeport. The Council would certainly not mind an additional trading post, and Freeport had conquered the island once before during the Necrocrat’s war with Zebrica before losing it during the Council’s revolution.

“Uuugh!” Kukri groaned. “Do you have to give a history lesson while telling your story? It’s so boring!”

“Knowing your history is important, Kukri,” Puzzle explained. “It helps you understand the context of the situation you're in, and helps you keep from repeating the mistakes of the past.”

I nodded. “I’m going to have to agree with Puzzle on that.” Sure, practical exercises were the best teachers, but there were some things you could only really learn from a book. Though museums were pretty good teachers as well. Still, learning history was pretty important, and I’d wished I had learned more about Freeportian history before coming here. I’d gotten a decent overview, but there seemed to be a whole lot of things the locals learned that had never been covered in Equestria.

“Besides, a lot of history is really interesting.” Daring nudged Kukri with an elbow. “Don’t you like reading about all the cool history facts I put into my books?”

“I kinda skip over all that stuff,” Kukri admitted with a shrug.

“What?!”

But in the meantime, Port Nowhere served as a moderately sized trading post for exotic goods from the island and Dromaed lands and manufactured goods from the Empire heading for the Dromaed kingdoms. While the city didn’t compare to the Freeport, it still had a steady stream of business that prompted the maintenance of a good dock in the port’s harbor. It might have been a bit more orderly than this one’s home city, even if this one had serious doubts about the morals of its guards and officials. This one might even have done well for itself in the city were it not destined to try and get out of there on the first convenient ship it could find.

This one soon reached its destination of the finest hotel in Port Nowhere. The Beauty Rest inn wasn’t terribly impressive, at least in comparison to some of the establishments this one had seen, but it was still a nice hotel that served the well-to-do merchants who visited the port and wanted to rest someplace that wasn’t their ship’s cabin.

This one found a discreet alley to shift into its zony form and made its way into the hotel. Perhaps not surprisingly, this one received suspicious looks from some of the staff and residents of the hotel, but they didn’t prevent this one from going up to see the pony it was doing business with.

Daring smirked. “You are a pretty shady looking guy, whatever your form.”

Puzzle sighed melodramatically. “And this one tries so hard to be trustworthy.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You named your ship the Trustworthy. You can’t tell me you don’t know how that looks.”

“It does seem to be this one’s curse.”

This one reached the top floor of the hotel and headed to the royal suite. Standing before the door to the suite was a pair of heavily armed and armored zebras. They frowned as this one approached, giving this one the cold, hard look of professional bodyguards who perceived everyone as a potential threat to their employer. This one could tell that they weren’t the types to trifle with, and would bet good coin that they knew how to handle themselves.

This one flashed the two of them a disarming smile. “Mind if I see her ladyship? I have business with her.”

The guard carrying a great warhammer on his back grunted neutrally. “I’ll check.” He headed inside the suite and reemerged a couple minutes later. “She’s ready to see you.”

“Good to hear.” This one headed inside, flanked by the hammer guard who closing the door behind us. It seemed that this wasn’t going to be a private conversation, even if the guards didn’t strike this one as the decision making types. Appearances could be deceiving—this one should know, considering its nature—but the simplest answer for the guard staying with us was that his employer did not trust this one all that much. This one could work with that so long as it got paid.

The mare this one wanted to talk to stood on a suite balcony that offered an impressive view of the harbor. The unicorn was a tall and thin pony, and possessed a green coat so pale that it was nearly white. She was sharp featured in the face, and her curled duel-green mane covered her right eye, only showing her ice-blue left eye. She casually sipped from a cup of tea, as though not noticing this one.

This one suspected the air of disinterest was an act; after all, it never payed to seem overly eager. That would always place you at a disadvantage with whoever you were talking with.

Daring rolled her eyes. “So does he give you lessons like this too, Sunset?”

“All the time,” I answered. “I can hardly have a conversation with him without him trying to give advice.”

“This one likes to impart its pearls of wisdom on those it cares about,” Puzzle explained. “There’s little point in being wise if you can’t spread it around now and again.”

“Hello, Lady Ephemera,” this one said in Equestrian as it stopped short of the balcony. “Enjoying the view?”

“It’s ... sufficient.” Ephemera swirled her cup before taking another sip. “In truth, the view in Canterlot is much more breathtaking than some second tier port. Even Manehattan is much more impressive on account of its scale. Once you’ve seen the best the world has to offer, everything else pales in comparison.”

This one shrugged. It rarely paid to directly contradict one’s employer before getting paid. “As you say, there isn’t much here to impress. It’s a long way from any of the first rate ports in the world—more like a miniaturized Freeport, only without all the things that makes Freeport a respectable city.”

Ephemera snorted derisively. “As if that den of smugglers and pirates could be considered respectable.” She turned to face this one and the corner of her mouth turned up in a lopsided grin. “Though I hope you don’t take too much offense about me talking about your home, but Freeport is what it is.”

“Hardly.” This one bowed its head in acknowledgement. “It’s hard to claim that Freeport is perfect. It might be better than it once was, but that’s hardly a ringing endorsement.” This one had certainly seen more than enough of that living and working there, and that was no small part of why this one had fled. And after everything it had done for Freeport too...

Ephemera refilled her cup and mixed some sugar into her drink. “So what brought you to someplace like Nowhere, then? I would have thought Freeport would have had more opportunities for someone like you.”

“I wanted to see more of the world than the little corner I had grown up in.” That was true enough, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. This one had read about the wider world when it was younger and had wanted to see the place described in those pages. It just wasn’t until now that this one could find the time for it. “It’s why I wanted to earn some coin to go someplace else. Speaking of, there was the bit of business we talked about earlier.”

Ephemera’s eye sparkled, the first real break from the calm and bored exterior she had been presenting throughout the conversation. “Oh? Is that so? Do you have something for me?”

“That I do.” This one pulled out the magical compass and presented it to Ephemera. “The artifact you desired?”

Her eye widened and she reached for it. “You found it? Give it—”

This one pulled it back out of her reach and grinned. “I have it, but do you have my pay for the contract?”

Ephemera’s eye narrowed as she frowned. Her bodyguard stiffened, and this one could sense that he was ready to react to any command his lady gave to him. “You worried that I won’t pay you for your service?”

“I like to be able to verify my trust in people,” this one answered. “I went through a great deal of trouble getting this, you should know.” This one dropped its more flighty tone for a far more somber one. “And it proved more trouble than some could handle.”

This one’s patron took a long sip of her tea before replying. “And your point?”

“You could have told me about the fact that you sent others to the pyramid before me.” This one stepped out to the balcony, making a show of looking out at the harbor as it discreetly got itself into the best position to flee if it had to. This one could fly, while the zebra guard and Ephemera almost certainly couldn’t unless they had the right magics on standby. Ephemera was a relative unknown to this one, so it wasn’t sure how she would react to this one needling her for information. Best to be safe, just in case.

Ephemera squared her jaw. “That wasn’t information you needed to know.”

“It would have let me have a better idea about how dangerous the pyramid was,” this one countered. “All your employees are dead, by the way. Killed by the traps.”

Ephemera went very still at that announcement. Seconds passed before she sipped her tea again and took a position opposite of this one on the balcony. “Why bring all of this up? Were you hoping to extort more coin out of me?”

This one shook its head. “Hardly. When I make a deal I stick with it. I just want the coin we had agreed to—nothing more, nothing less.”

She took another long draft of her drink. “Fine, then.” A nearby chest clicked and its lip opened. My patron levitated out a bag of coins and placed it on the table. “Your pay.”

This one stepped to the table, making sure to keep an eye on the both of them. It placed the compass on the table as a sign of trust, and started counting out the ducats.

Ephemera raised an eyebrow. “You think I would cheat you?”

“Just checking to make sure no one miscounted,” this one said to sooth her ego. It seemed that Ephemera has a prickly pride, in addition to being suspicious.

“I assure you, I am quite capable of counting.” Ephemera slide up next to this one and carefully picked up the compass. She opened it, revealing the gem and the magical arrow within. “Excellent, it still works. I was worried I would have to have it repaired.”

“It seems the Dromaed make things to last.” Confirming that this one had received the right amount of pay, it put the coin back in the bag and slid it into its saddlebags. “Though I am curious what this was all for.”

Ephemera frowned at this one. “And why do you care?”

“I was curious what was worth so much blood and gold.” This one pointed at the gem within the compass. “Getting this artifact wasn’t the end goal, was it? The compass leads somewhere—somewhere you think is worth all this trouble.”

“I’m starting to wonder if you’re too smart for your own good, Puzzle.” Ephemera snapped the compass shut. “Your curiosity is liable to get you into trouble someday.”

“True, but my curiosity does help to keep things interesting.” This one gave her a disarming grin. “Not to mention it pays to keep one’s ear to the ground for profitable ventures.” This one know it was probably playing with fire. There was always information others would go to great lengths to keep secret, which was partially why this one was in trouble with powerful individuals back in Freeport. Thought the immediate question was whether Ephemera was going to try and silence this one or bring it into the fold.

Ephemera pressed the tip of her hoof on this one’s chest and then slowly ran it down this one’s body. “You looking for another job? It could be dangerous.”

This one shot her a confident grin. “I can work with that if the pay’s right.”

The slightest smile formed on her lips. “Tell me, have you ever heard of the Quinametzin Empire?”

This one frowned as it combed its memory. “I have, but I don’t remember reading much about it. Something about some long-dead empire that used to spread across where the Dromaed kingdoms are now?”

“More like the entire continent.” Ephemera moved past this one, briefly brushing against its side in what might have been an accident. She stopped before a large map of Zanzebra and the coast of the continent that was sitting on the wall. “According to legends, the Quinametzin were a mighty people, giants whose size rivaled that of the tyrant lizards and who mastered magics we could only dream of today. They created an empire that dominated all it surveyed before some great calamity struck it down.”

“Sounds fanciful,” this one said. “It reminds me of all those legends about cities that had sunk into the sea, or flying cities that disappeared mysteriously.”

“Perhaps, but unlike those cities, the City of Giants is real.” A smile spread across her lips as she looked at the compass in her hoof. “It’s a city so secret that even its name is unknown—only the Dromaed shamans know exactly where it lies in the great forest that divides the continent. Apparently they use the city as some sort of test for their hristak—green seers or knights is the rough translation to Equestrian—and the only way to find your way to the City is with one of these compasses.”

“Is that why that pyramid was trapped like that?” this one mused out loud. “Damnable way to test someone, it’s a good way to kill initiates.”

Ephemera shrugged. “I don’t claim to understand the Dromaed’s ways. They are a strange people. They’re not even equines. Who knows why they do what they do?”

“I’ve found there’s usually a logic to what everyone does, whatever their species,” this one countered. “It’s just a matter of figuring out how that logic works.”

Ephemera grunted and put the compass onto her gold necklace. “I don’t care about some archaic test by a bunch of savages. What I care about is the treasures lying in the City of Giants.”

This one disagreed about completely dismissing the traditions of whoever had built that pyramid, especially when she was planning on using one of their artifacts to find this City of Giants to start with. But it wouldn’t do to voice this one’s opinions on the matter when there might be an opportunity. The sound of treasure and adventure certainly appealed to this one.

“Sounds like you’ve got a plan,” this one said, trying to pry into what Ephemera had planned. “And an ambitious one at that.”

Ephemera smiled. “It is certainly that.” She tapped the compass. “And this is what’s going to let me find the City of Giants. Good thing I hired you to retrieve it—as far as I’ve been able to tell, it’s the only other one on the island.”

This one raised an eyebrow. “There’s another one? Where?” Considering the trouble this one went through to retrieve the compass, it was curious how difficult the other one had been to retrieve. Going after the other compass might have saved this one a great deal of trouble.

Ephemera returned to the balcony to stare out at the harbor. “Right here in the city. Though retrieving it has its own difficulties.” She leaned against the railing and smirked. “My rival went through all the trouble of having it brought to the city, but I have sent my own agents to snatch it out from under her very nose.”

“And who is this rival of yours?” this one asked.

“An old acquaintance of mine, though affairs broke down between us some time ago. Professional differences, you could say.” Ephemera’s face became a stony mask. “Her name is Daring Do, if you must know, and very soon she won’t be a thorn in my side anymore.”

“And here’s where I’ll take over the story for a bit,” Daring said with a roguish grin.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 2

Port Nowhere wasn’t an ideal place for a family vacation. It was the type of port where pirates rubbed shoulders with smugglers, both handing bribes to the local guards who in turn passed on a percentage to whatever corrupt Zebrican noble was driving the place into the ground that year. It only barely passed as civilized, with ramshackle buildings that defied any kind of convention and streets that widened, narrowed, and turned seemingly at random. The locals shunned outsiders with suspicious scowls as they passed, and the only smiles one could find came from insincere playacting as merchants peddled their wares. It was dirty both in body and spirit, oppressively humid, and about the last place any halfway respectful pony should be going.

But there were opportunities to be had in Port Nowhere—if you knew where to look.

That was why I was there: for an opportunity to wipe my debts clean. Going to a prestigious university and leading archaeological expeditions to the ends of the world didn’t come cheap, and archeology didn’t pay very well for honest scholars. There were plenty of creeps out there willing to sell priceless artifacts to the highest bidder, and they hadn’t made life easier for me. In fact, I was in a race against one of my rivals. It was a race both for my future and the integrity of my profession, and I had to win it.

Thus, I found myself heading into one of Nowhere’s shops. Cihan’s Quite Curious Curiosities was an old pawn shop, at least on the surface. Poorly lit, the shop was filled with tightly packed shelves that you had to navigate carefully to avoid knocking anything over. The “You Break It, You Buy It” sign hanging from the ceiling made me suspect this was by design. I reached the front desk of the store without having to buy something I didn’t want and, not seeing anyone, I hit the bell on the desk.

A voice drifted from the back of the shop. “I’m coming, I’m coming!” It wasn’t long before a reedy-looking zebra stallion emerged from the back curtains. Cihan dropped a box onto the desk before flashing me a wide smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Daring Do! Good to see you again. You here on business?”

I frowned. “You know I am, Cihan. Do you have what I asked for?”

Cihan was the best fence in Nowhere, and unfortunately, my quickest means to get the artifact I needed to reach my objective. He wasn’t the type of person I enjoyed working with, but according to my contacts, he could get me one of the magical compasses needed to reach the City of Giants. I had only arrived in Port Nowhere the other day, and while I felt confident I could eventually find one of the compasses on my own, time was pressing. That backstabbing snake Ephemera had already stolen most of what I had learned about the Dromaed City of Giants back in Equestria, and now both of us were racing to our goal. It didn’t help that I had already been slowed down due to ... extenuating circumstances, but I had dealt with worse odds over the years.

Cihan’s smile became something slimy in nature. “Of course. I said I could get it, and I now have it in my possession. It took some trouble to obtain, but nothing insurmountable. That will be fifty thousand bits.”

“Assuming he didn’t have it all along,” Puzzle said. “He could just have said it was difficult to get in order to drive up the price. This one has heard of plenty of merchants and fencers that have done that type of thing.”

Daring snorted. “And I’m sure you’ve never done yourself.”

“This one admits nothing.”

I narrowed my eyes and my teeth started grinding against one another. “We agreed to twenty-five thousand, and not a bit more.”

The fencer shrugged. “It cost more than I originally expected it would. These things happen. Fifty thousand.”

My hoof slammed down onto the desk. “And I’m telling you that wasn’t our deal!”

Cihan shot me an unimpressed look. “The deal’s been renegotiated.”

“This one doesn’t suppose you made a contract with him?” Puzzle asked.

Daring rolled her eyes. “This isn’t Freeport—selling stolen goods isn’t a regular business practice. Besides, I didn’t exactly have the time or money to pay some fancy lawyer to draw up a contract for me.”

Puzzle grinned. “Haste makes waste, Do-mare.”

Daring smacked him with her hat. “Oh shut up, you.”

I braced myself on the desk with both hooves, looming over the greedy merchant. “You’re trying to fleece me, you cheat!”

Cihan crossed his arms over his chest. “Fifty thousand or walk. Just know you aren’t going to find another one of these Dromaed compasses anywhere else.”

I knew that was a lie—there were a few other leads I could follow to get another one, but that would take time, and I was more concerned with how much time I would waste if I tried to get one of these artifacts from somewhere else. I didn’t want to come second place in the race to the City of Giants, not when that would give Ephemera the opportunity to loot the ruins of priceless artifacts. Knowing her, she would just sell everything to some rich snob for a private collection that never saw the light of day. That wasn’t going to fly with me.

“Dad says never to bargain when you can’t walk away from the table,” Kukri chimed in. “But this fence seemed to think he had you over a barrel.”

Daring glowered. “That was the problem.”

I leaned closer to the pawn shop owner. “And just where do you get off being so high and mighty? You haven’t even shown me the compass yet. For all I know you don’t have it, or are planning on selling me a fraud. Especially considering the way you jacked the price on me.”

Cihan snorted. “Please, all of my goods are legit. I’m more concerned you don’t have the money, and plan on stealing my wares as soon as I show them to you.”

I glowered as my frustration rose. “Show me you’ve got the compass and I’ll show you I’ve got the bits. Otherwise, no deal.”

Cihan considered me for a long moment, our eyes locked in a contest of wills before he eventually nodded. “Alright then.” He leaned down and fiddled with a safe sitting under the counter. There was a click as the safe opened, allowing him to withdraw a small box from within. Closing the safe, he set the small box on the counter and opened it up, revealing the exterior of the compass nestled inside.

I studied the compass, determining that its unique designs matched what my research had said it should look like. I reached out to open it, but Cihan’s hoof slammed down to block me.

“No touching,” Cihan warned me.

I glared at him. “I need to make sure it still works. You’re not trying to pass off shoddy goods, are ya?”

“My goods are always the real deal. Here, see.” He opened up the compass, revealing the magical emerald inside. An internal light glowed within it, shifted, and then formed into an arrow. “As you can see, it still works. Just as promised.”

It certainly looked legit. There was still the possibility that it was a very good forgery, but it seemed unlikely that Cihan would have been able to make one in the short period of time since we’d made our deal. I was about to get back to bargaining with the seedy merchant when the tinkle of the doorbell sounded behind me.

Half a dozen burly-looking ponies and zebras entered into the store, and given their decided disinterest in the merchandise and the care they took to block the exit, I didn’t think they were here to shop. They looked like the big, thuggish types Ephemera loved to hire as goons, and something told me they were looking for trouble.

The biggest and ugliest of the lot—the de facto leader, unless I missed my guess—stepped up behind me with a nasty sneer on his lips. “Ephemera sends her regards, Daring Do.”

I sighed and pressed down on my hat to make sure it was secure on my head. “Of course she does.”

Cihan’s eyes narrowed as he took in the scene in his store. “I don’t want any trouble in my store. Take it outside or I’ll call the guards.”

“Afraid it isn’t going to work out that way, Cihan. Sorry about this.” The thugs’ leader lunged for me, but I was ready. My hindlegs bucked out and hit him square in the chest, sending him flying. The rest of Ephemera's thugs started closing on me, knocking items from the shelves in their rush. I snapped my bitbag out of my saddlebags and tossed it into Cihan’s face to his startled cry of surprise. “There’re your bits!”

I scooped the compass up before Cihan could recover and leapt up onto the counter, tucking the compass into my saddlebags with one fluid snap of my wing. I kicked a vase sitting on the counter, hitting the nearest thug in the face. I jumped over the next goon to land on a nearby shelf. It creaked and groaned under my weight and several items fell off to shatter onto the floor. The goon tried to swipe my legs out from under me, but I hopped over the swinging leg, knocking the shelf off balance in the process and onto one of his compatriots. He was pinned to the ground as I jumped onto another unsteady shelf.

Another of the thugs bucked the shelf right as I landed on it, knocking it out from under me. He caught me wrong-hoofed, and I fell before I could catch myself with my wings. I rolled once down the side of the shelf only to knock its neighbor over. The sounds of breaking knickknacks rang all throughout the shop as it descended into chaos.

I found myself wedged between a standing shelf and another pushing against the floor, making it hard for me to regain my hooves. Thankfully, the thugs were having every bit as much trouble moving around thanks to the fallen shelves and their goods littering the floor. Still, the goon that had pushed the shelf out from under me worked towards me, a nasty grin on his face.

Knowing I was in trouble, I pretended to be unable to move. When the thug got close enough, I planted a well-aimed kick right to his knee. He howled in pain as his leg crumpled under him. I scrambled to my hooves, footing precarious as the rest of the goons circled me. I grinned as they drew closer. They outnumbered me and the environment sucked for a fight, but I had an advantage they didn’t.

I kicked off a shelf and snapped my wings open. There wasn’t much room to maneuver, so I took a direct route: the door. Another thug moved to block me from getting out—dumb move on his part. I barreled right into him and slammed his back into the door. The cheap pawn shop door cracked and broke under our combined impact. We both hit the ground, and I landed on top of the goon, blasting the air out of him. I rolled with my momentum until I was back on my hooves.

I could have stuck around to duke it out, and probably have taken them out one at a time as they tried to get out of the shop, but there wasn’t any reason to. I had what I had come for. As Cihan bellowed after me and my attackers to come back and pay for what they had broken, I took to the air and got the hay out of there.

After my initial dash away from the pawn shop, I slowed down to check if anyone was following me. I didn’t see anyone, but after getting jumped I decided play it safe. Ephemera had surprised me more than once already, and while I didn’t like being bored, being constantly ambushed by her goons lost its novelty after a certain point. I was worried how her thugs had known they would catch me in Cihan’s shop. Maybe they had just followed me there? I hadn’t noticed them on my way in. It was possible I hadn’t been cautious enough, or—more worryingly—she had some sort of magical means to follow me. She wasn’t a magus, but she had shown a few tricks over the years, and there were plenty of magical means to track a pony.

Worse still, the third possibility was that someone in my patron’s retinue was a traitor.

Thus, I carefully made my way through alleyways, crowded streets, and over rooftops all while keeping an eye out for any pursuers. There wasn’t any I could see, so unless someone invisible was following me, I should have been in the clear. That being the case, I made my way to my destination to find my patron. To my irritation, he wasn’t in the cantina he was supposed to have stayed in until I returned.

My frustration growing, I headed to the counter to address the owner. “Hey, what happened with the stallion that was drinking over there?” I pointed to the table my patron had been drinking at.

The cantina owner gave me an unimpressed glower. “Why you asking?”

I growled as I saw where this conversation was going. I slammed a couple of coins onto the counter to get to the point. “Where did he go?”

The owner shrugged and scooped up the coins. “Your friend was talking with one of the local bigshots among the port gangs—goes by the name of Melih. They seemed to be getting along before they left together. Sounded like they were heading dockside.”

I muttered something my mother wouldn’t have approved of and bolted out of the cantina.

Now I was really worried. Port Nowhere was a pretty rough place even for someone who knew how to take care of herself, much less for some posh noblestallion. Some gang might think he was a rich, easy mark and rob him, and that was one of the better-case scenarios. My anxiety wasn’t helped by the fact that I had heard about this Melih when I had first made the rounds to find the compass now in my possession. Apparently, he was one of the up-and-coming underworld types who had his hoof in a lot of dirty deeds. My patron could very well be taken away and kidnapped right that moment. That thought quickened my step as I looked around with increasing desperation, but what I found in one of the seaside market squares stopped me dead.

A boxing ring had been set up in the middle of the square, surrounded by dozens of individuals cheering and jeering as two contestants within slugged it out. My eyes widened when I saw who one of the boxers was—and then my jaw dropped when I saw who he, or rather what he was fighting. Capital Idea stood on his rear hooves as he faced off with a big, mean-looking bear. The bear even had a pair of gloves, and to my surprise actually seemed to know how to box as a skillful left hook nearly took my patron’s head off.

I ran towards the ring, but a couple of street thugs stepped into my path. “You’re gonna need a ticket, ma’am,” one of them cooly informed me.

Not wanting to get into two fights in as many hours, I shoved some bits into his hooves. “There’s my ticket!” I broke past the thugs and towards the ring. The goons shouted after me as I squirmed my way through the audience. The crowd was thick with jeering people, and plenty of them cursed at me as I wormed my way through them. I arrived at my patron’s corner of the ring just as the bell rang to end the round.

Lord Capital Idea, heir to the County of Rushington, was a barrel-chested unicorn. His white coat with just a hint of orange in it was drenched in sweat—a mixture of the humid climate he wasn’t used to and the added exertion of boxing with a bear. His normally precisely trimmed mane was matted to his head, and he breathed heavily as he sat back. Still, despite the bruising and swelling he sported, he smiled at the sight of me. “Daring! Jolly good to see you to make it!” he said in a thick Canterlot accent.

Capital’s parents had hired me to take their son out on an adventure—and make sure he stayed safe. He had just graduated from college and wanted to see something of the world before he settled down for a career, and his quite wealthy parents had thought it a grand idea. I had been going through my contacts to find a way to scrounge up enough bits to reach my destination when they had heard I was trying to get to the lands of the Dromaed. With how pressed I was for money these days and the expenses revolving around an expedition to the far-off Dromaed lands, I didn’t have much choice about their proposal to take their son with me. It was take their son (and their money) on my expedition, or there wasn’t going to be an expedition.

Considering Ephemera had just stolen my research on the City of Giants, I knew the clock was ticking, so I took the deal despite my better judgment. No small part of me had hoped that Capital would have found the rigors of the road too tough and gotten homesick—but instead of the decadent noble in over his head that I had expected, he had taken to our journey like a fish to water. I still wasn’t sure how to take that, especially now that Capital had somehow gotten himself into a boxing match with a bear!

“What are you doing?!” I demanded. “You were supposed to be back at the cantina! Not ... this!”

Capital flashed me a grin. “Well, you see, it all started with a chat with that lovely zebra fellow by the name of Melih over there.” He pointed to a zebra in the opposite corner with a top hat and a nasty-looking scar over his left eye. He was giving us a grin I really didn’t like the look of. “We got to talking, and I mentioned that I was part of my school’s boxing club. And ... well, here we are!”

My teeth ground together. This really wasn’t what we needed right now. “You can't talk about boxing with a bear like it's nothing!”

“Oh pish-tosh Daring, I have everything well in hoof!” He hissed as his butler pressed an ice pack to his brow. “Admittedly, it would help if I'd been warned about the blasted ursine boxed southpaw.”

Captial’s butler, a unicorn stallion by the name of Posh Penny, frowned as he treated his master. He was one of the greyest ponies I had ever met; light grey coat, trim dark grey mane, thick grey mustache, and a grey and dry sense of humor. “I'll be sure to ask about that the next time you want to get into an impromptu boxing match on the street, my lord.”
Capital opened his mouth to reply, but the bell drowned him out. “Oh, look at that! Time for the next round—be back in a jiffy!” Despite my cries of protest, he got back up and headed towards the center of the ring to face off against his opponent.

He approached the bear, throwing out jabs to keep it at bay. But after a pair of exchanges the bear broke through the jabs and landed a straight blow right to Capital’s jaw, sending him to the mat.

Having seen enough, I grabbed the bottom rope and moved to jump into the ring when someone loudly cleared their throat behind me. I jerked my head to the side to see Melih standing next to me. When had he gotten over here? What was worse was the fact he had four members of his gang with him. This looked like trouble.

“Is there a problem here?” Melih’s smiled didn’t reach his eyes as he watched me stand halfway through the ropes. “I hope this mare isn’t causing any issues. It would be unfortunate if she had to be thrown out for being too rowdy during a sporting event.”

I hopped down from the ring to glare at the gang leader. “I can show you rowdy you—“

Posh placed a restraining hoof on my shoulder and shook his head. “None at all. She’s just one of the young master’s friends who got a little excited.”

“Ah.” Melih nodded slowly. “I can understand that. It is a good match, after all. Buggy is the port champion, and your friend is quite the sportsman. The audience is getting quite the show.” He glanced towards the ring where Capital was back to his hooves and holding the bear off with a series of flashy jabs to the shouts of the crowd.

I jabbed a hoof towards the fight. “That bear outweighs him by hundreds of pounds! How in the world is that fair?!”

Melih shrugged. “Oh I’m sure it’ll turn out alright for everyone in the end.” He looked to the bear boxer and deliberately patted the top of his hat.

Suddenly the bear dropped his guard, looking like one of Capital’s jabs had stunned him. Capital seized on the moment to slam his hoof into the bear’s kidney, doubling the bear over. My patron’s hoof shot up in an uppercut and sent the bear collapsing to the mat. The referee counted to ten and called for the bell. He raised Capital’s hoof to signal him as the winner to the general applause of the audience. It had all happened so quickly that I had trouble registering everything.

Melih sighed and shook his head, but his grin didn’t lose any of its luster. “Oh dear, it looks like my champion lost. What a pity. People might start talking about how Buggy’s over the hill now. That’ll make things interesting for the next championship match, for sure.”

I scowled. “You don’t seem that upset about losing.”

“You win some and sometimes you lose some.” Melih shrugged. “It’s how you deal with defeat that’s important.”

My eyes narrowed. “Bet it’s pretty easy to take it easy when you signaled your boxer to take the f—”

Melih abruptly pressed a hoof to my muzzle to stop me from talking. “Now, now, ma’am. Let’s not say anything we can’t take back. Especially when that type of talk can get people riled up.” His gaze swept meaningfully over the audience. “Don’t want to start a riot, after all. Not when we’d be right in the middle of it, right?”

Posh squeezed my shoulder. “Perhaps it would be best to leave well enough alone, miss?”

I clenched my teeth, not wanting to give Melih the satisfaction of hearing he might be right. But that was the thing: there’d be trouble if I started screaming about how he’d told his boxer to take a fall. This was a pretty tough crowd, and judging by the angry scowls and gestures of the people around me, more than a few had put their money on the local champ. They probably expected the town favorite to put some snooty foreign noblepony in his place, and boy had they been disappointed. If they learned the real reason Buggy the Bear Boxer had lost was because of cheating...

“Safe money says he was also running the betting ring for the match,” Puzzle observed. “Between ticket sales and knowing the outcome ahead of time, Melih probably made a tidy little profit. Not to mention doubts about Buggy’s performance would have jostled the betting pools for the next match, resulting in even more money being made on the betting pool.”

“You would know all about the scummy ways to earn a bit, wouldn’t ya?” Daring asked through a lopsided grin.

“Just saying.” Puzzle shrugged. “You need to know why people are doing what they’re doing if you want to avoid trouble.”

“Because you’re so great at avoiding trouble,” Daring teased.

“This one is alive,” Puzzle pointed out. “This one can’t be that bad at it.”

Capital returned to his corner to sit on a stool. “Well, that was bracing! I have to say, that’s one way to get the blood pumping, am I right?”

Melih grinned up at Capital. “Right you are, right you are, my good sir.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a purse. “And here you go, the winnings from our gentlestallion wager. You’ve earned every bit of it.”

He tossed the purse and Capitol caught it. My patron grinned and proudly displayed the purse for me and his butler. “How about that? That makes for a fine day, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

I glowered at Capital. “Yeah, great. Mind taking those gloves off so that we can get going?”

“What’s the rush?” Capital asked as Posh assisted him.

My eyes flicked to Melih. I didn’t want a scumbag like him to overhear what we were up to. “I’ll tell you on the way.” I helped him out of the ring and then pushed him through the audience. Posh grabbed our things and followed after us.

“Whoa!” Capital stumbled as I moved him forward and waved to Melih. “Goodbye, good sir! Perhaps we can have another drink later?”

Melih waved back and grinned as we departed. “I look forward to it.”

Capital frowned as we got out of Melih’s sight. “Now there wasn’t any reason to rush, Daring.”

I glowered, really not wanting to get into this right now. “Remind me, what did we agree you were going to do while I got the compass?”

Capital hesitated. “Just have a few quiet drinks at the local pub.”

“Right.” I jabbed a hoof into his chest. “And what did you do?”

Capital rubbed the back of his mane. “Well, one thing led to another...”

“And then you got into a boxing match with some greasy gang leader’s bear?”

Capital cleared his throat and didn’t meet my gaze. “Well, I did win.”

“Naturally that is the most important thing,” Posh stated dryly.

I grumbled under my breath. “Whatever, what's done is done. But the boxing match isn’t what’s important right now.” I grabbed Capital by the leg and pulled him into a nearby alley so that we could be alone. “A few of Ephemera's goons tried to take me out when I was picking up the compass.”

Capital frowned and he drew himself up. “Oh my, that is terrible news. Are you okay? I’d hate the idea of some ruffians putting their hooves on a fine mare such as yourself.”

“I’m fine,” I assured him. Though now that the adrenaline from the fight back in the pawn shop had worn off, I was starting to get a bit unsteady on my hooves. I could feel where I was going to be sporting some bruises from the fight, especially when I’d taken that nasty fall. But complaining about some aches and pains wasn’t going to get us anywhere. “Point is, I think Ephemera is somewhere in the port, and I’d be surprised if her goons didn’t want a second round with me.”

Capital scowled. “You really should have brought me with you. The two of us could have chased those scoundrels off once and for good. Then that would have been that.”

I shook my head. “No way. Last thing I need to do is get you hurt.” Dragging my patron into a fight sounded like a terrible idea. I’d promised to keep Capital safe, and I knew he’d just slow me down. Not that telling him to sit tight had done much good, since he had managed to get himself into a fight anyway. Port Nowhere really wasn’t the type of place I wanted to drag around an up-and-coming rich noble, so the best I could do now was to get us off this island and away from Ephemera’s reach.

Capital stiffened, but he didn’t press the matter further. “Well do we have the lead you were looking for?”

Thankful for the change in topic, I pulled out the compass and showed it to him. “Bingo. It matches my research exactly. Still works, too. I was a bit worried we’d have to get it fixed since it’s pretty old, but it looks like the Greenseers knew their stuff.”

Capital smiled widely, a look of sheer excitement on his face. “Oh capital! I'll let everyone know to get ready to go. Um...” he gave me a sheepish smile. “We are good to go, right?”

I nodded. “No reason to stick around this dump. The sooner we leave the better. If we're lucky we'll leave Ephemera in our dust. She's only gotten this far because she took the easy route and piggybacked off my research—she can't find the City of Giants without one of these compasses and there aren’t many of them lying around. We had to pay out the rear just to get one of these, and I’d be really surprised if there’s another one anywhere in the city.”

Puzzle cleared his throat. “Yes, about that...”

“You’re nothing but trouble for me.” Daring slugged him on the shoulder. “You know that?”

“Only for those this one is paid to be trouble for.”

“We had best make sure she doesn't try to follow us, then,” Capital agreed. “Let’s gather up my retinue and find the first ship on its way to the Dromaed coast. The sooner we go, the less likely she’ll be able to pick up our trail.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more.” I didn’t voice my doubts about being able to give Ephemera the slip. She’d been able to keep on my trail thus far, if not pull ahead of me in a couple places. But talking about it wasn’t going to help much if I didn’t know how she was keeping tabs on me.

Puzzle hummed as he rubbed his chin. “There are a number of ways she could have kept tabs on you. Paid beggars to spy on you, guttersnipe scouts, enchanted scry pools, summoned spirits—the list goes on and on.”

“And I’ve had to deal with it all sooner or later,” Daring grumbled as she crossed her legs over chest.

I crossed my legs over my chest. “There’s still a few ways to counter clairvoyance and tracking spells if you know what you’re doing.”

Daring grumbled under her breath. “Shame I didn’t know them at the time. Anyways...”

“Let’s get going then,” I said as I led the way.

Capital smiles widely. “Bully good! Adventure calls!”

Back at the Ephemera-mare’s hotel room, her door opened and her squad of hired muscle entered the room. The Ephemera-mare’s Zebrican guards followed behind them and closed the doors once everyone was inside. The group looked like they had seen better days; all of them were sporting bruises and other wounds, and their shoulders were slumped as they tried not to meet their employer’s eyes. This was not a group that looked like it had succeeded in its assignment, and they no doubt knew the consequences of failing their master.

“My heart bleeds for them,” Daring said with all the compassion of a rockslide.

The Ephemera-mare’s questioning gaze narrowed into a suspicious glare. “Why do I have a sinking feeling you're going to tell me something I don't want to hear?”

The hired muscle in the center grimaced as he stepped forward—probably the leader, considering he was the biggest of the bunch, though right then he looked like a schoolcolt who had been sent to the principal's office. “Daring—she got away from us.”

“I was right.” The Ephemera-mare’s glare swept over the group. “I didn't want to hear that.”

Seeing the course of this conversation, this one remained silent at the balcony. This one knew what a sinking ship looked like, and wasn’t eager to jump on board. This one had plans developing, and attaching this one to the employees who had just failed their boss wouldn’t help any.

“She flew away,” he tried to explain. “There wasn't anything we could do.”

“She's tougher than she looks,” added another.

“I'm not interested in excuses.” The Ephemera-mare snapped at them. “You’ve failed, every one of you.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room and lasted some time before the leader of the team brought himself to speak. “So what now?”

The Ephemera-mare turned her back to them. “Obviously I need more useful help.”

The leader took a step back. “What do you mean?”

The Ephemera-mare snorted. “What I mean is that I want people who can stop a single mare when they have her outnumbered, something you lot clearly can’t do.”

The leader blinked, but then his face hardened into a scowl. “Hey, we came all the way out to this plothole for this job. You can't just fire us like this!”

The Ephemera-mare turned her back to the group. “Then I suggest you find a way to prove your usefulness. Quickly. I don’t have time to waste on ponies who can’t show results.”

“Now wait one bucking minute.” He placed a rough hoof on his boss’ shoulder. “You can’t just—”

The Ephemera-mare’s zebra guard moved with lightning speed. Before the hired muscle knew what what was happening, the zebra yanked his hoof off and slammed a hoof right into his ribs, then followed up with another blow to the face that sent him to the ground. The leader gasped in pain and lay whimpering on the ground.

The two zebra guards stared in silence at the rest of the hired muscle. For their parts, the remainder didn’t seem particularly eager to start a fight; between seeing their leader crushed before their eyes and their earlier defeat, their morale had hit rock bottom. Not that this one blamed them. This one had seen alchemically enhanced Zebrican soldiers before. More than a few of the mercenary companies back in Freeport used the same potions to enhance their abilities, and this one’s own run-ins with such soldiers weren’t pleasant.

The Ephemera-mare hadn’t even blinked at the sudden explosion of violence, instead picking up her teacup and calmly sipping it, not even bothering to look at the ponies she had brought all the way from Equestria. “Are all of you still here? Unless you have something I can use, get out.”

The hired muscle decided not to press their luck. They picked up their leader and shuffled out of the hotel room.

“That was irritating,” the Ephemera-mare said, half to herself as she returned to this one at the balcony.

“Sounds like you're having some trouble with the help,” this one said, stating the obvious.

The Ephemera-mare snorted as she looked out at the harbor. “Calling them ‘help’ would imply they actually did something helpful.”

This one shrugged, seeing an opening for itself as the conversation proceeded. “You get what you pay for.”

“Mmm, quite.” She poured herself another cup. “And I wasn't getting good value for the money.”

This one grinned. “Perhaps you should buy up. By the sounds of things, this Daring Do is causing you quite a bit of trouble, and the type of cheap muscle you’ve been buying hasn’t been cutting it.”

The Ephemera-mare quirked an eyebrow. “Are you making an offer?”

This one leaned against the balcony railing to give the impression of calm confidence. “For the right price, I bet I can deal with your troublesome archeologist problem.”

This one wasn’t under any delusions that Ephemera was any sort of good boss, but working for the Council hadn’t exactly been a walk through the park either. What’s more, she had money and a lot of it, given the volume of cash she had to be throwing around for this expedition. Another factor was that this one wanted off of this island before bounty hunters and assassins showed up, and a ticket off this island was something she could probably offer. Even better, all the sales and transactions for the trip could be done under her name, thus making it harder to find a paper trail to follow this one under. Not that this one was going to tell the Ephemera-mare any of this—that would have only undermined this one’s bargaining position.

“And you wonder why people don’t trust you, Puzzle,” I said.

Puzzle flashed me a grin. “This one was only following its instincts as a proper Freeportian. You can hardly blame it.”

“Yes we can,” Daring chimed in.

The Ephemera-mare hesitated before asking, “What sort of price?”

“I want a quarter million bits, plus expenses paid,” this one stated as its initial bargaining position.

The Ephemera-mare scowled. “That's a lot up front.”

“You get what you pay for,” this one repeated itself. “How about one hundred thousand now, one hundred on doing the job, and ten percent on whatever you make on this expedition? Consider it impetus to make sure you succeed.” This one knew this was probably a lot more money than she had ever paid out to a single employee before, so this one had to walk her to an acceptable amount for itself.

My potential employer scoffed. “Ten percent on what I stand to make is a lot more than fifty thousand.”

This one was pleased it had confirmation that this expedition was going to be quite worthwhile. In the Ephemera-mare’s head, at least. It was possible this would all be a bust, but that was what the upfront bits would cover for. Even if everything went to Tartarus, this one would have the bits it would need to get by for a while. As long as this one had options, and bits always created options, it could keep itself alive.

“Only if you actually get to this City of Giants.” This one looked out at the harbor, keeping its tone carefully businesslike now. “Tell me, what's your success rate whenever this Daring has gotten in your way?”

Her brow furrowed. “Not as much as I'd like.” She placed her cup down and faced this one. “And what makes you worth it?”

“Because your chances of success will be much better with me around,” this one answered seamlessly. “And if I'll remind you, I'm the one that got you that nifty little compass there—something the rest of your employees failed at. I've got the combat skill, knowledge in infiltration and spywork, and the intelligence to see to it that the job gets done. I don't come cheap, but I get results.”

The Ephemera-mare considered it for a long moment. “Do you know what I'm after?”

“Good old treasure and gold?” Sensing there was something behind this, this one decided to press a bit. “What else are you after then? I know the City of Giants is some fabled city of gold, but beyond that it’s all legends and fables as far as as I know.”

“Oh, you don't realize what the real treasures are?” A smirk spread across her lips. “How much do you know about the Dromaeds?”

“The basics.” This one shrugged. “That they're a species of sapient feathered reptiles and are divided up into a bunch of petty kingdoms on the southern half of the continent. They’ve been there for a long time, predating most equine civilizations.”

“So you know nothing of their history, I take it?”

This one shook its head. “Not much, no. Not beyond some legends, and how their history is a lot of periodic wars between King Someone vs. Queen Important.”

Daring tsked as she shook her head. “I’m disappointed by your lack of scholarship.”

“The lands of the Dromaed were outside the range of most of this one’s studies,” Puzzle said. “This one spent most of its time reading up on nations that Freeport regularly dealt with and were more important to its interests—Equestria, the Zebrican Empire, and Westmarch are way more important to Freeport’s daily concerns.”

“And more important to its bottom line,” I pointed out.

“Trade and Freeport’s interests go hoof-in-hoof,” Puzzle agreed. “And since we just don’t do nearly as much trade with the Dromaed, this one didn’t know much about them. Really, this one wanted to head to Zebrica, where it was much more familiar with the land, but fate had other ideas...”

“They are much more primitive now than they once were.” The Ephemera-mare sniffed haughtily. “They had a great and terrible empire that encompassed the entire continent. Their knowledge of the magic arts was supreme, they built great wonders, and their power was absolute over all they ruled.”

This one digested this information, and guessed where this conversation was going. “This one of those stories about how they used to have some advanced civilization before some calamity struck them down?”

The Ephemera-mare nodded. “Exactly. According to what I read, they were great once. A nation ruled by giants who made the world tremble at their steps. That is until they collapsed from a great civil war.”

Daring snorted. “All she knew was what she had stolen from me. Not that there’s a whole lot of information out there about ancient Dromaed societies to start with, thanks to the passage of time and the lack of written records...”

“A good civil war would do it.” This one had a feeling there was more to it all, but the exact details of why some long-dead civilization collapsed wasn’t overly important. “So this City of Giants is supposed to be full of old artifacts? Assuming anything has survived, they could be worth quite a bit.” This one knew more than one merchant back in Freeport who could sell such things for a very tidy profit.

“My inner archeologist is screaming that you’re thinking about selling historical artifacts instead of putting them in a museum,” Daring said.

“This one just donated a bunch of artifacts to the museum, didn’t it?” Puzzle countered.

“Yeah, which makes me wonder what you haven’t given me.”

“Oh, there most certainly are artifacts that have survived,” the Ephemera-mare purred. “The Dromaeds don't use their own artifacts from the City of Giants, and no outsider has ever been there. And from what I’ve heard, they keep powerful preservation magics over the city. For some reason, their shamans consider the place important enough to keep it as it is. Whatever their reasons, it gives us an opportunity.”

“That would explain why you want to get there first,” this one observed. “This sounds interesting... And very profitable. If you succeed, that is—this Daring Do would seem to be a major obstacle to your plans.” This one didn’t want the Ephemera-mare to forget about her nemesis when that was this one’s key to getting a potentially extremely lucrative job.

“Oh I will.” The Ephemera-mare snapped open the compass and its green light shone in her eyes. “This will make sure of that.”

“And your chances of success would be much higher with my help,” this one reminded.

The Ephemera-mare paused. “Perhaps.”

“If you're not interested, I can take my business elsewhere.” This one moved towards the door. “There are plenty of opportunities for a guy like me. Good luck with Daring Do.”

As this one hoped, it didn’t get more than a few steps away before she spoke up. “I'm interested.” This one stopped and turned to see the Ephemera-mare smirking. “Fifty thousand, and a ten percent share.”

“A hundred thousand and ten percent,” this one countered. “This is going to be a long trip, and it’s going to eat up my time. Time I could spend making money somewhere else.”

“Deal. You drive a hard bargain.” The way she kept smirking at this one made it wonder if it really had. Had this one badly underestimated how much she would have paid this one? Did she know something that this one didn’t? The best case scenario this one could think of was that she was just that happy to have a counter to the Do-mare. Whatever the case may be, this one had an itch under its carapace that wouldn’t go away, and it didn’t like it.

Still, this one wasn’t about to let her see this one’s doubts. It grinned for her as it said, “Trust me, I’m worth the bits you’re paying. Just let me get my things and I’ll be ready to go.”

“I can't wait.” That smirk didn’t leave her face as this one made its exit.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 3

Hunger is one of the most singularly unpleasant experiences this one has ever gone through. It gnaws at you, ever present, always demanding to be sated. The primal need for food can drive even the most civilized and law-abiding individual to truly desperate actions. Hunger could even drive a whole community into rioting, acts of violence, and even revolution. After all, without sufficient food we ultimately have nothing—not even our lives.

It’s arguably worse for Free Minds. The Old Mind designed even her most independent children to feed on love. Whether that was intentional or a byproduct of her own innate limitations, this one could only guess. Not that the Old Mind was inclined to liberate any of her children from the hunger that drove the daily needs of all changelings. The Old Mind was far too malicious of a monster for that; she enjoyed feeding the children that made up her gestalt intelligence, especially because it hurt others.

But the Old Mind had chosen to be evil. The Free Minds proved that we could live side-by-side with other sapient beings in Freeport. By regulating our feeding habits to something equitable to those around us and limiting the size of our population to what the love of the local community could support, we could live symbiotically with our non-changeling neighbors. Though that was the root of this one’s current problem: there were systems in place in Freeport to make sure a Free Mind wouldn’t go hungry as long as they had enough ducats in their purse, or knew people who were willing to give their love.

But Port Nowhere, or nearly anyplace outside of Freeport’s territories for that matter, didn’t have such arrangements. That was a problem for this one as it examined its last jar of thymoplasm in its hotel room. This one hadn’t been in Port Nowhere long enough to make many arrangements to replenish its stocks, especially when this one was both trying to keep its identity a secret and not encourage the locals to break out the torches and pitchforks to go hunting for the love-sucking bug-monster in their midst.

This one had managed to make some small arrangements to feed itself, however, even if those were contacts this one had been very careful about cultivating. Ladies of the night could be very flexible about their clientele’s requests if the price was right, and a small bite wound and a little fatigue were far from the worst displeasure they could experience over their careers.

“‘Ladies of the night’?” Kukri frowned as she puckered out her lips. “You mean whores?”

I blinked. “Kukri!”

“Whaaat?” Kukri held up her forehooves. “That’s what they are, right? This one heard about them on the Venture. Every port has them.”

I groaned and facehoofed. I had to wonder if Kukri’s time as a cabin filly had completely erased her innocence. “A kid like you shouldn’t be talking about stuff like that.”

“Why?”

Considering this was not a talk I wanted to have with my apprentice, I decided to switch tactics. “Because little fillies who talk about that type of thing get to clean all the stairs in my tower.” My eyes narrowed. “With the small brush.”

Knowing exactly how small the brush was and being all too aware of how many steps there were in my tower, Kukri pouted and turned away. Silence was as good a defense as any in a situation like this.

Puzzle cleared his throat. “Anyways...”

But now this one was going to leave even the meager means this one had come upon to feed itself. The presence of bounty hunters forced this one’s hoof. This one had been carefully rationing ever since leaving Freeport, but that had left this one with an edge of hunger for weeks, and it was wearing on this one. This one could supplement its diet with equine food and it had been doing so, but every Free Mind still needed some love to keep from starving. The voyage across the sea to the subcontinent was likely going to drain much of this one’s remaining thymoplasm unless it got lucky somehow.

Allowing itself to starve obviously wasn’t an option. In addition to the real possibility of death, there was also the nasty byproduct of the Old Mind’s legacy: any Free Mind that wasn’t sufficiently fed would end up going feral and start attacking others to feed itself. A Free Mind wasn’t able to restrain itself in its feeding in such a state, and that could easily result in leaving a victim as a withered husk that might never recover. That would be bad for more than one reason. First was that such predation was likely to get a community up in arms about the predator in their midsts, and second, such feral feedings were bound to leave a trail for the bounty hunters following this one. If anything, communities would be bound to aid such pursuers in the belief that it would help keep them safe from this one.

This one might be forced to take up some of the practices of old to feed itself. If this one wanted to think the glass was half full, the bounty hunters coming after this one might provide it an unwitting food source. At least they would know the risks of trying to chase down a changeling.

Whatever this one’s food issues might be, it would have to figure it out as opportunities presented themselves. It concentrated on what it had available to work with and mentally went through the tools spread out on its hotel bed: lockpicks for doors and other mechanisms, this one’s saddlebags, rope, sleeping roll, basic cooking and eating utensils, water canteen, compass, and a variety of other minor tools. Though these were the more mundane tools of this one’s trade, they were still quite helpful in their own ways.

What might more readily raise eyebrows were this one’s magical tools. This one’s eyes fell over the magically sharpened daggers that were this one’s principle weapons, as well as a pair of magical shock batons it kept to disable its opponents. Then there was the slowly dwindling supply of potions, fire gems, and thunderflash stones.

Next to all of that was this one’s silver necklace with its multiple talismans. Not as many as there once was, but its magical protections were still potent enough to justify wearing. This one’s most valuable objects were its steel bracer and silver bracelet; the steel bracer was inlaid with gold runes and was enchanted to create a powerful electrical shock—useful for when this one had to take a target down. The silver bracelet was also covered by runes and small sapphire gems embedded in it. It was a particular favorite of this one, since it could grant this one a few minutes of invisibility each day. No small thing when this one needed to escape or get the drop on someone. Overall, this one felt quite well supplied for an adventure.

Except for that one last jar of thymoplasm.

This one sighed and carefully packed up its things. It needed to meet up with the Ephemera-mare at the docks soon, and there wasn’t time to waste.

We were wasting so much time.

I tapped my hoof on the dock as we waited to speak to the captain about bartering passage. The SS Buried Treasure was a large three-masted merchant ship, and its crew was busying itself with the final preparations to get the ship ready to cast off in order to catch the outgoing tide. To my annoyance, we weren’t the only ones trying to get passage onto the ship. A small group of zebras, merchants by the looks of them, were standing ahead of us to talk with the captain.

“Relax, Daring.” Capital flashed me a smile. “No need to worry, we’ll get aboard.”

“Assuming the ship doesn’t fill up before we even talk with the captain,” I grumbled. “We don’t exactly have a small party.”

I glared back at the twenty retainers Capital had brought with him: cooks, hunters, servants, and even a couple of Capital’s college friends, the motley band had swelled the size of our group way beyond what I liked seeing. Really, I would have preferred this to have been an expedition of one. I could move a hay of a lot faster than this gaggle, and it would have caused me a lot fewer headaches. It had taken us two hours to gather everyone together and get all our stuff so that we could get on the Buried Treasure. The only reason we had even gone that fast was because Capital and I had been driving them. If it had just been just me, the ship would probably have already cast off.

Capital waved off my complaint. “I doubt it will be an issue once we explain everything, and even if it is, there is always the next ship heading to the continent.”

I ground my teeth together. “That’ll take too long. Ephemera might try and steal the compass from us if we wait.”

Capital raised his eyebrow. “You think she would assault us in the open like this? My word, I would think the town guard would do something about that type of tomfoolery.”

“I wouldn’t place much stock in the guards here.” My gaze fell on a squad of said guards not too far away. They were a rough-looking lot that didn’t look all that different from the gangsters we’d had a run in with earlier, the only difference being the spears they carried and the badges they wore. “Taking one look at these guys, I’d say they’d be more than happy to look the other way for a bribe.”

Capital sighed and shook his head. “What a sad world we live in that such behavior is tolerated. If this were Canterlot, I’d report such uncouth behavior and they would be lucky to merely get fired for misconduct.”

“Yeah, well this isn’t Canterlot, and Ephemera’s playing for keeps.” The small legion of minions she had thrown at me over the years definitely didn’t give me any confidence in her common decency, and that's not even getting into the rest of our past history. Ephemera was bad news, and the more distance I put between the two of us, the better. It was only a matter of time until more of her goons showed up to cause me trouble, and the novelty of dealing with dumb muscle had long worn off.

Capital scratched behind his ear. “Perhaps you’re right about that.” He puckered his lips together and nodded. “If that’s the case, we simply cannot be denied passage here.”

“Easier said than done,” I grumbled. I’d traveled enough to know that trying to tell a captain how to run their ship usually went. Considering the usual maxim went that the captain is the master of the ship next after the gods, your average captain didn’t take backtalk from anyone.

The line moved and soon Capital and I finally found ourselves before the captain. The master of the Buried Treasure looked like he had seen better days: one of the zebra stallion’s forelegs ended in a pegleg, he had an eyepatch over one eye, several faded scars crossed his body, and his coat had a worn and weathered look from so many days spent under the hot sun. I wondered from the damage if the guy had been a pirate once, or if he’d just been that unlucky over the years. It was hard to say when a merchant was just a couple of illicit goods from becoming a smuggler.

The captain grunted at the sight of us. “Name’s Captain Hazim. You looking for passage?”

Capital smiled as he puffed out his chest. “So we are, my good captain. My name is Lord Capital Idea, and I’m looking for a ship to take me and my companions to the coast.”

Captain Hazim grunted again. “I’m not anyone’s ‘good captain’.” He didn’t even look at us as he pulled out a clipboard. “How many of ya are there, and how much luggage?”

If the captain’s corrosive personality bothered Capital, he didn’t show it as he continued talking in his jovial tone. “Twenty-one, and we’ve got six crates’ worth of luggage with us.”

“Mmm.” Hazim tapped his clipboard before scribbling something down. “That should be fine, long as you’ve got the cash for all of that. That’ll be three thousand bits for each passenger. That’s sixty-six thousand in total. You can cover that, right?”

“Of course, of course!” Capital reached for his saddlebags, but I quickly stopped him with a hoof.

“That’s way too much for a short little trip, Captain,” I said, scowling. “Especially when this doesn’t look like any kind of luxury cruise.”

Captain Hazim glared back at me with his one eye. “That’s for food, lodgings, storage space, and no questions asked.” He sniffed hauntily. “I can smell trouble about you.”

“We’re not looking for trouble,” I answered evenly. “We just want a ship to the coast.”

“That don’t mean trouble isn’t following you, which I’m sure it is. I’ve seen enough trouble to know it when I see it, and you’re it.” Hazim drew himself up to his full height so he could scowl down at us. “Not that I particularly care what your trouble is. I’ve seen it all: exiles, criminals trying to avoid prison, people running from debt, con men—none of it makes a lick of difference to me as long as they pay up for the voyage and behave themselves while they’re on my ship. Anything else isn’t my problem, and the less I know the less anyone asking pointed questions can ask me.”

Capital frowned. “Well, aren’t you a cheery fellow?”

“This is a merchant ship, not some trust-fund brat’s yacht,” Captain Hazim stated. “I take passengers who’re going the same way I am to help pad out my profits. I’ll take you where you’re going for the right price, and keep you as safe as I can. If that isn’t good enough for you then move on and try and get on someone else’s ship. Once again, the cost is three thousand bits.”

Puzzle smirked at Daring. “Pity you didn’t disguise yourself as someone a bit more respectable looking.”

Daring rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t work so well when you’ve got a whole retinue following you around like Capital did. Too many ponies to slip up and give us away, which could be disastrous. If it was just me I totally would have gotten onto the Buried Treasure with a disguise, and from there it would have been a cinch to keep it up for the whole trip.”

Kukri beamed. “Because the Do-mare is the best at disguises!”

“Hay yeah I am!” Daring rubbed Kurki’s headcrest. “Now everypony in Captial’s retinue trying to pull that off? No way, not a chance. We’d have been caught in no time.”

Capital looked to me with an upraised eyebrow. “Daring?”

I grit my teeth, not seeing a way out of this. The next ship heading out of port was making repairs after getting beaten up by a storm and wasn’t going to leave for another few days. If we wanted to go now, then this was our only option. “...Pay him.”

“You accept bank notes?” Capital asked as he rummaged through his bags.

Captain Hazim nodded. “Long as they’re legit.”

Once our fare was paid, we all boarded the Buried Treasure and waited for our luggage to be loaded. All I could hope for was that we wouldn’t face any more trouble until we got to the Dromaed coast.

I was disappointed very quickly.

This one made its way to the docks to reach its pre-arranged meeting point with the Ephemera-mare. It wasn’t hard to find her waiting outside a dockside cafe, not with her alchemically-enhanced zebra guards flanking her. Their intimidating presence created a bubble around their charge that no one seemed in a hurry to penetrate.

This one smiled as it approached the Ephemera-mare. “Ready to go?”

The Ephemera-mare glared at this one as she put down her cup of tea. “Yes, and I’m not accustomed to waiting for anyone else. You better be worth what I’m paying you, Puzzle, or I’m going to be very displeased.”

This one held up a hoof to pacify her. “Please, at least give me the opportunity to prove myself. We haven’t even gotten started yet.” In truth, I wasn’t particularly pleased with the Ephemera-mare’s perpetually caustic attitude, but at the end of the day this one didn’t have to like her to work with her. This one had dealt with plenty of unpleasant individuals back in Freeport, and it needed her to get off the island. Not to mention this one could use the bits it was going to get for this job. Once everything was done, this one could do as it liked.

The Ephemera-mare haughtily raised her chin. “Come on, then. Enough time has been wasted as is.”

She shot off some tightly worded commands to some servants who were carrying her bags, and then we were off to the docks. We were approaching a large full-rigged ship when the Ephemera-mare suddenly hissed and darted into a nearby alley, her guards swiftly flowing to either side of her. She peered around the corner towards the ship, her teeth bared.

Wanting to appear more casual, this one stepped to the corner adjacent to the Ephemera-mare and leaned against it as though taking a moment to rest. “There a problem?”

“Of course there is,” she hissed. “Daring is on the damned ship we were going to take to the coast!”

Curious, this one examined the deck of the Buried Treasure. This one wondered if this meant events would become tricky right off the bat. Stranger things had happened before, after all. “Which one is she?”

“The one with the grayscale mane and pith hat.” The Ephemera-mare all but spat out the words. “That’s her. Just my luck that she would turn up here of all places, she always has a way of showing up at the most inconvenient times.”

This one rubbed its chin as it considered the problem. It wasn’t hard to see the Do-mare on the deck. She was watching some crates being loaded into the ship and was tapping her hoof impatiently. After the way the Ephemera-mare’s hired muscle had attacked her, she was probably as eager to get out of Port Nowhere as this one.

Still, this one’s plans were in danger of being derailed by this development. It seemed that the Ephemera-mare’s past history with the Do-mare made her reluctant to approach the ship. A moment of timidity on her part now could cost this one dearly if more bounty hunters caught up with it due to a delay. No, that wouldn’t do. This one needed to get itself onto that ship and out of port. This one could probably have purchased itself passage on the ship with the money the Ephemera-mare had given it, but that might not leave it with much cash left over once it got to the coast. Not to mention the Ephemera-mare would likely object to this one taking her money without having actually achieved what it had been hired to do.

This one came up with a quick plan to get itself onto that ship, preferably in the best condition possible. First, this one needed to gather some information from the Ephemera-mare. “Is she likely to attack you if she sees you?”

The Ephemera-mare frowned. “Maybe. She’s a hot-head, and she definitely doesn’t like me.”

Daring crossed her legs over her chest. “Admittedly, punching her in the face would have felt really good at the time. I always hate it when some cowardly creep hides behind all their minions instead of facing you themself.”

This one flashed her a smile as it peered around the corner. “Then the problem might very well fix itself.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“It’s simple,” this one assured her. “We go ahead and try to book passage on that ship, and if she attacks you—“

The Ephemera-mare interrupted this one with a sneer. “That is a terrible plan. I am not some pawn who exposes herself to get beaten up by some thug like Daring Do.”

As this one had worried, the Ephemera-mare was the type who much preferred to risk the safety of others rather than expose herself. A weakness on her part—a leader who wasn’t willing to brave the same dangers as her followers couldn’t really demand the same of them. It only served to undercut one’s authority. In any event, this meant that this one had to convince the Ephemera-mare that there was minimal risk to her, and much to be gained if she was willing to do what this one wanted.

This one raised a hoof to try and calm her for a moment. “Hear me out: if she does try and attack you when all you’ve done is try and get passage, then the captain is bound to toss her off his ship as a troublemaker. No captain wants someone on their ship who’s only going to start fights. Not when being packed in the tight quarters for days on end is going to cause tempers to flair.”

“So what, you say I let her punch me?” She tossed her mane. “What if she seriously hurts me? I could end up stuck in a hospital for days.”

“That’s why you have the bodyguards, right?” This one flashed a smile to the guards flanking the Ephemera-mare. “Think you can handle Daring?”

One of them opened his mouth to answer, but the Ephemera-mare cut him off with a slash of her hoof. “You are not here to talk!” The guard clamped his mouth shut tightly while under the menacing glare of his employer.

This one made a mental note of that little exchange. It was starting to notice that its latest employer didn’t exactly have good relations with her employees. That knowledge could be useful later on, even if it was just creating difficulties at the moment. The Ephemera-mare didn’t seem to like to get her hooves dirty, which meant she was dependant on the very help she had such poor relations with. This one planned to see if it could get the Ephemera-mare’s guards to like it. In the event of a falling-out between this one and the Ephemera-mare, it would be to this one’s advantage if her guards felt even a little conflicted about hurting this one. Perhaps they could even be turned against their master with the right circumstances.

I snorted. “And you wonder why people don’t trust you.”

Puzzle let out a long-suffering sigh. “And when this one works so hard to make people like it...”

This one frowned. “So are they here to protect you against Daring Do or not?”

“They are, but...” The Ephemera-mare scowled, and this one could sense the cogs turning in her head. “They’re a last resort.”

This one scoffed and shook its head. “From what I’ve seen, those two should be a match for some two-bit archeologist. If they’re not a counter to your nemesis, why are you paying them?” This one was curious what would happen when it poked at her pride and stroked the egos of the guards.

The Ephemera-mare stiffened. “I don’t like this plan.”

This one shrugged. “If you’ve got a better one, I’m willing to hear it.” This one walked into the alleyway and leaned against the wall opposite of the Ephemera-mare as it addressed her. “Here’s what we can do to minimize the risks: give me the money I need to get a ticket onto that ship. Daring won’t realize that we’re related and will probably mostly ignore me. With me in place, you approach the ship. When you do, Daring should immediately attack you when you try and gain passage. If that happens, the captain will toss her off the ship as a troublemaker and you pay your way onto the ship.”

The Ephemera-mare grit her teeth. “He’s just as likely to tell me that I can’t get onto the ship either.”

This one flashed her a smile. “Come now, I’m sure a intelligent, resourceful, and affluent mare such as yourself will manage.”

“Maybe.” The Ephemera-mare crossed her legs over her chest. “There is still the matter of Daring getting the opportunity to attack me.”

“If I’m to position myself on the ship,” this one explained. “I can get into position to flank her and disable her if she tries anything. She won’t be suspicious of me, and she’ll all but forget about me anyway once she sees you. That will be a valuable oversight on her part we can take advantage of.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Or you’re just looking for a way to get onto that ship on my ducat. You could leave me out to dry if Daring pulls something, and then sail off with all the bits I’ve already given you.”

How annoying. This one had been thinking of doing just that if events made that preferable, but it seemed the Ephemera-mare was far too suspicious. A pity, but this one could adapt without losing too much face.

This one shrugged and tried to look indifferent. “If you really want me by your side then I can be by your side. Granted, that does come with a risk.”

The Ephemera-mare quirked an eyebrow. “What sort of risk?”

“It’s entirely possible Daring will keep her cool and let you onto the ship,” this one pointed out. “In which case having an agent unknown to Daring could be very useful to you. It gives you a trump card that she won’t know about.”

The Ephemera-mare bared her teeth once more as she scowled at this one. “Are you honestly suggesting that I travel on the same ship as that mare?”

Ah, so this would be the greatest mental hurdle to get the Ephemera-mare over. Her hatred of the Do-mare was going to make it difficult to convince her to do what this one wanted. Really, these two were being far too violent when it came to collecting some old objects.

“Hey, she started it!” Daring stomped a hoof on the deck. “Ephemera’s the one trying to sell priceless artifacts just so that she can get rich and powerful. All I want to do is collect them for museums.”

Puzzle grinned. “This one is curious how many artifacts you’ve ‘liberated’ over the years to give to museums.”

Daring puckered out her lips in a glower. “No comment.”

This one switched tactics and aimed for the one thing this one was sure the Ephemera-mare wouldn’t tolerate being harmed: her ego. “So you want to give up then?” This one frowned and sniffed derisively. “Well, I have to say, I’m disappointed.”

This one could hear the faint cracking as the Ephemera-mare ground her teeth together. “I’m not giving up. Not now, not in a hundred years.”

“Then what’s your plan?” This one pushed off the wall as it addressed her. “What’s your alternative to my idea?”

The Ephemera-mare bit her lip. “I ... I’m thinking.”

“You’re wasting my time is what you’re doing.” This one knew it was pushing it, so it headed to the mouth of the alley. Space to move would be key in the event that this one needed to run. “Let me be frank with you: that’s the only ship heading out of port for the next few days. If we’re not on it, and Daring is, we’re going to fall behind her. Critically so. It might be days, perhaps even weeks, before we get to the coast. Given that she always seems to beat you, you might as well throw in the towel if you’re not willing to take some risks.”

The Ephemera-mare shot this one a baleful glare. “I’m not going to lose to her again. And you better watch your mouth.”

This one stretched out its wings, ready to fly at a second’s notice. “Then we better get on that ship. If not, we might as well part ways right now. There’s no sense burdening myself with a failed expedition.” Whatever ended up happening, this one was getting on that ship. It would figure things out from there one way or another, with or without the Ephemera-mare. Perhaps this one could even form an agreement with this Do-mare.

The Ephemera-mare bared her teeth. “Fine. But I don’t like it.” She stomped her way past me, but she stopped short to glare at this one even more intensely. “But you’re getting on the ship after me. You can support me from down on the dock just fine.”

This one shrugged, knowing it wouldn’t be able to press the point. “If that’s what you really want, though in that case I’m going to have to hang back a bit. It’s still a good idea if Daring doesn’t know that I’m working for you.”

“Just make sure to stop Daring if she does attack me.” A particularly nasty-looking smile grew on the Ephemera-mare’s features. “In any event, I think there might be a few ways I can turn this to my advantage.”

Her smile made this one wonder exactly what it might be getting into. Looking for a little adventure seemed to be getting this one into a lot of trouble.

I tapped my hoof on the Buried Treasure’s deck as I waited very patiently for the crew to finish loading everything onto the ship. I didn’t like waiting; I’d much rather be acting than standing around. At least then I felt like I was in control, that I was being productive. Sure, it’d be a bunch of waiting once we set sail until we got to the Dromaed coast, but at least then we’d still be making progress.

It wasn’t like there was any more research to keep me busy. I’d already thoroughly gone over the scant materials available on the Quinametzin Empire. About the only thing I could do was review the maps and make sure I knew the lay of the land. Maybe on my fifth readthrough of the only half-decent book I’d found I would come across some obscure fact that would make the difference between success and failure. You’d be surprised how important those little things can be in crazy situations. Like the one time when knowing the five alchemical properties of cockatrice blood saved me from...

“Relax, Daring,” Capital said from over my shoulder. “Standing there brooding over the sailors won’t make them work any faster.”

My wings twitched. “Not much else I can do until we get going.”

“You could join me for a spot of tea.” Capital levitated a cup over to me. “It’s quite relaxing. Perhaps we could even play a bit of chess.”

Proper Penny nodded. “I am sure I could procure a board if that is your desire.”

I accepted the teacup and took a sip. “Maybe once we’ve set sail. I’m not feeling up to it right now.” It was all I could do to keep myself from trying to wrangle all the crates into the ship’s hold myself, even if I knew that would probably just slow things down. I’d picked up a thing or two about how a ship was ran from my travels, but there was a difference between knowing a trick or two of the trade and actually being a sailor.

Capital shrugged. “Suit yourself, the offer’s open. Also, if you like, you can join me for dinner with the Captain later.” He gave me a smile. “I know you can tell a captivating story when you’re in the mood, and I wouldn’t mind hearing a yarn about one of your adventures again.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You want to sit down and eat with Captain Suspicious over there? He seems like the type to pat you down after dinner to make sure you’re not stealing any of the silverware.”

Capital waved me off. “Oh hardly so, he’s just a merchant like that. Always being a bit suspicious that someone’s trying to cheat him. You know how bargaining and business are—you have to keep your wits about you when working in those type of circles. I’m sure he’s a charming fellow once he’s let his hair down a bit.”

I leaned against the ship’s railing with a huff. “You’re such an optimist.”

“Come now, you could be a bit more trusting,” Capital retorted in that unceasingly jovial tone of his. “You act like the whole world has it in for you.”

“Probably because it does, half the time.” I turned the cup in my hooves before taking a sip. I stared down into the brown depths of the steaming drink and felt a sting of pain as old history bubbled to the surface. There were reasons why I preferred to work alone.

Capital frowned slightly. “It can’t be quite that bad. Sure, we’ve had a few bumps along the road, but it’s not like—”

My hoof snapped up to shut him up when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. “Oh you have got to be kidding me!”

Capital blinked a few times. “No, I assure you, I am being quite honest. I think—”

“Not that!” I snapped, jabbing a hoof down the dock. “Look! That’s Ephemera!”

Capital stepped up to the railing to see Ephemera walking towards the ship. “My word, that is her! And it looks like she has some friends.”

Ephemera was flanked by a couple of mean-looking zebra guards in full plate armor, though I didn’t recognize them. I’d come to know more than a few of her flunkies over the years, but these two weren’t familiar. “Looks like she’s gotten some new muscle, but I’ve never seen her hire real mercs before.” Ephemera had usually seemed to prefer quantity over quality where her help was concerned. She always tended to see everyone around her as expendable. I should know.

“They look like they know what they’re doing,” Capital said, glancing back at me. “Think she’s looking for a fight?”

“She picked a bad place for it if she did.” Though whether it was bad for us or for her, I wasn’t sure. It looked like my hopes of getting out of port before Ephemera reappeared were dashed. The sight of her made my wings twitch, and I was tempted to fly down to the dock and introduce her face to my hoof.

But before I could launch myself over the railing I felt Capital’s hoof on my shoulder. “Now now, let’s not do something we’ll all regret.”

I ground my teeth together. “You do remember how she sent a bunch of her goons after me just a little bit ago, right? She can’t be up to any good.”

“Yes, but now probably isn’t the time to get into it with her,” he reminded me. “You don’t want to get kicked off the ship.”

“I’m not the one that started all of this,” I shot back.

“All I’m suggesting is that you look before you leap.” Capital squeezed my shoulder. “She might want you to come down there. She certainly looks ready for it with those mercenaries of hers.”

I seethed, but he had enough of a point for me to step down from the railing and merely watch Ephemera and her entourage approach the ship. I scanned the crowd to see if there were any more of her goons, but I didn’t see anyone else that looked like dumb muscle.

“Good thing this one isn’t dumb muscle, then,” Puzzle said with a grin. “Otherwise you might have spotted it.”

“Sorry if I didn’t expect Ephemera to suddenly change tactics,” Daring groused.

“You’re asking for trouble if you don’t expect your opponents to adapt,” Puzzle countered. “Even if the Ephemera-mare was a bit more set in her ways than this one would have liked.”

“You mean she's an evil nag?” Daring countered.

“You said it, not this one.”

Ephemera approached the Captain and gave him a slimy smile. “I would like to purchase passage for myself and my guards.”

Oh hay no! She was not riding on the same ship as us! Capital shouted something after me as I launched myself from the deck, but I wasn’t paying attention. Ephemera blinked as I landed next to Captain Hazim and stumbled back behind her guards, who immediately placed themselves between us.

“Don’t let her onto this ship!” I snapped. “She’s nothing but trouble!”

Captain Hazim narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t remember asking you.”

I stomped a hoof. “But I’m telling you she’s going to cause trouble! You can’t trust her. She’s evil!”

Ephemera huffed and ran her hoof through her mane. “Now that’s slander if I’ve ever heard it. I didn’t realize you were allowing ruffians onto your ship, Captain.”

Captain Hazim scowled at Ephemera. “Don’t care who comes onto my ship as long as they pay and don’t cause trouble.” His scowl turned my way. “Something you seem to have forgotten, miss. Get back onto the ship and shut your yap, or we’re leaving you on the dock.”

I took a step back. “But, but—”

Capital was suddenly by my side, having rushed down the gangway plank to grab me by the shoulders and turn me around despite my protests. “Don’t mind my companion! She’s just anxious to get going is all.”

I dug in my hooves futilely as Capital pushed me along. “Hey, I’m not done yet! If she gets onto the shi—”

Capital pressed a hoof to my muzzle and kept me moving back up the gangway. “I’m sure the Captain knows what he is doing. See you at dinner, my good sir!”

“What’re you doing?!” I demanded, half-muffled as he pushed me back up the ship. “You have any idea what Ephemera’s gonna pull if she gets on this ship?”

Capital grunted as he finished pushing me fully onto the deck. “Quite, but I’m still not about to let you get kicked off this ship.”

I stomped a hoof. “You think I want to be on a ship with her?”

“I severely doubt it,” he said as he met my glare with a level tone. “But it’s not going to help our cause very much if you get us kicked off this ship. Do you want Ephemera to get ahead of us?”

“Of course I don’t, but I’m not letting a snake like her onto this ship.” I looked back down the gangplank, but Capital moved between me and Ephemera. Augh, why couldn’t he let me beat Ephemera up once and for all? Maybe then she would stop sending her goons after me.

Sure, trying to knock sense into her hadn’t worked in the past, but it made me feel better. That was something at least.

“I’m afraid we haven’t much choice.” Capital placed a hoof on my shoulder. “We’re just going to have to abide this.”

“Is there a problem?” Captain Hazim called up to us, his eyes narrowed. “You can have a refund if you’re going to have an issue with my other passengers. I don’t want you on my ship if you can’t control yourselves.”

“No problem at all!” Capital gave the Captain a friendly smile that would have fooled me if I hadn’t spent so much time with him lately. “We were just surprised to see an old acquaintance.”

Hazim’s eyes narrowed yet further as he looked my way. “And you, ma’am?”

I ground my teeth together. Capital had a point, even if I hated to admit it. We’d fall way behind if Ephemera was on this ship and we weren’t. It could be that she only showed up here to steal our compass during the voyage, though personally risking herself wasn’t really her style—not unless she was really desperate. Could it be she’d found her own compass? Maybe. It was highly unlikely, but as I’d discovered over my adventures, ‘unlikely’ was a long way from ‘impossible’.

Then an idea struck me: if she did have a compass, I could swipe it from her during the voyage. Managing that was going to be tricky, especially with how suspicious the Captain was thanks to—well, myself—but I’d pulled off crazier schemes. Ephemera would probably try the same thing, but I’d be ready for her. Besides, there were some questions I wanted to ask her, and the two of us being stuck on a ship with one another would give me the opportunity to do just that.

“No problem at all.” I had to force the words out of my mouth. Whether Ephemera wanted to be tricky or play hardball, I’d beat her.

Hazim grunted neutrally and turned back to Ephemera. “It’ll be a five thousands bits apiece for the lot of you.”

Ephemera’s eyes widened. “That’s outrageous! You can’t be serious.”

“I’m quite serious.” Hazim tilted his hat back to scratch his scalp. “Way I see it, you’re desperate to get on this ship, and you’ve got the smell of trouble about you, so you’re gonna need to make it worth my time to put up with you. Call it an insurance markup if you like.”

“That is one severe markup.” Ephemera sniffed haughtily and ran a hoof through her mane. “I’ll pay five hundred bits and no more.”

“Then you can stay right there.” Hazim turned and started walking up to the ship.

He got halfway up the gangway before Ephemera called out. “Wait!” The Captain stopped and looked back over his shoulder to the glowering Ephemera. “Fine then, I'll pay.”

Shoot, I was hoping the Captain would price Ephemera right out of bothering us. That would have been convenient. Too convenient for me, it seemed. But now the two of them were working out the payment, and soon we’d be co-passengers. I really wish I knew where she got all that money. Did she really sell what artifacts she stole for that much? I had to get a pretty rich patron to get this far.

However she was getting the cash for her trip, it looked like I was going to be spending the voyage sleeping with one eye open. I wasn’t sure what Ephemera was up to yet. Maybe she was just desperate to not fall behind, or maybe she was planning something nasty. I was going to get plenty of time to find out either way, since it was going to take at least a few days with a favorable wind to reach the shore.

I shot Ephemera a glare as she walked up the gangway, and she returned with her own ugly sneer. “Hope you’re not looking for a luxury cruise. It looks like we’re gonna get cozy on this ship.”

Ephemera tossed her mane, and her guards wasted no time getting between us. “I will somehow manage. Just stay out of my way.”

“Pretty sure it’s you getting in my way, Ephy,” I shot back. “What with how you stole my research to get this far.”

Ephemera bared her teeth. “Don’t call me ‘Ephy’, you know I hate that name.”

I snorted. “Yeah, because it’s a friendly nickname that would suggest you actually have friends—which we both know you don’t have.”

“You’re one to talk.” She lifted her chin to look down at me. “This would be much easier if you got off this ship and took the next ship to Equestria.”

I shot her a grin. “Since when did I ever take the easy path? Save your threats—your goons don’t scare me, and we both know you’re all bark and no bite.”

Ephemera’s nostrils flared. “I don’t need to listen to this.” She stomped her way past me and down into the depths of the ship, leaving me alone with Capital.

“Such an unpleasant mare.” Capital tsked and shook his head.

I growled under my breath. “You can say that again. I don’t like this at all.”

“Can’t say I’m wild about it either.” He ran a hoof through his mane. “Oh well, we will do what we must. If you don't mind, I’m going to warn the chaps to keep an eye out for trouble.”

I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, better do that.” I wasn’t exactly wild about Capital’s big retinue, especially how much they were slowing us down, but I didn’t want to see them hurt either. Ephemera was a wimp, but her newest bodyguards looked like they knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t put it past their employer to arrange for an accident or two for some of Capital’s retinue during the trip. Best to make sure they knew what to watch out for sooner rather than later.

I sighed again and leaned on the railing. This really wasn’t fair; all I wanted to do was go to the City of Giants, make some big discoveries, and bring what I learned back to Equestria. That’s all I wanted to do for any of my expeditions. But when there was always someone like Ephemera or Ahuizotl interfering, or Equestrian Intelligence asking me for a favor, or some ancient evil crawls its way out of some gods-forsaken ruin, it was never simple. I wondered if I could even handle normal. It’d probably bore me to death if nothing went wrong on one of my expeditions. Still, it was frustrating to have to deal with a jerk like Ephemera. Traps and monsters were simple to deal with; ponies were something else entirely.

While I was in the middle of my ruminations, something caught my eye. Someone else was trying to get passage onto the ship.

“That’ll be ten thousand bits for you,” the Captain told the latest newcomer.

The stranger raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a lot for a short voyage.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like the look of you.” Hazim spat into the sea. “People that look like trouble pay extra.”

I didn’t know what the Captain was talking about. The guy trying to get passage was quite possibly the most boring guy I’d ever seen. The fact he was a zony was about the most interesting thing about him. Favoring the zebra part of his ancestry with his body covered by black and white zebra stripes, he had a pair of pegasi wings and wore a decent amount of mismatching jewelry, but beyond that there wasn’t really anything distinct about him. Average unremarkable face, average build, average height, average looks—nothing really lept out about the guy. It was like nature took all the average variables you could get into an individual and made a person out of them. Something about the guy was just so uninteresting. He was like the furniture of people in that he just naturally faded into the background.

“Thank you,” Puzzle said with a little smug grin. “This one does try.”

Daring poked his shoulder. “And it’s thanks to you that I’ll never trust anyone boring-looking ever again.”

Puzzle shrugged. “This one has been told it has that effect on people.”

“You kinda do,” I agreed, rubbing the back of my neck. Puzzle had a way of putting on utterly uninteresting disguises when he didn’t want to put on a more roguish face on for meeting with people he knew, or when he was in his natural form.

“I’m not asking for a luxury cruise here,” Mr. Boring said. “A thousand bits sounds reasonable for that.”

The Captain snorted. “Reasonable sounds like you staying in port while my ship’s sailing away. Ten thousand or nothing. Save your peddling for the Freeport market.”

He frowned at Hazim for a long moment before sighing and pulling out his bit purse. “Fine, though you aren’t going to win many repeat customers this way.”

“Don’t get many of those anyways,” the Captain shot back. “Most people leaving Port Nowhere aren’t looking to come back. I wouldn’t, if it wasn’t part of my circuit.”

Mr. Boring looked back at the worn-out dock and its seedy residences. “Can’t imagine why.” He paid the Captain and made his way up the gangway.

I slipped alongside the stranger as he boarded the ship and murmured to him. “I’m starting to think that Captain’s cheating the lot of us. He’s given that line about you being trouble to everyone that’s asked to get on his ship.”

The stranger grinned at me. “Either that or everyone leaving Port Nowhere really is trouble, and he knows what he’s talking about.”

I grinned back. “You saying you’re trouble?”

He scratched the tip of his chin. “My parents often accused me of being trouble. Of course, they might be a bit biased.”

I snorted and extended a hoof to the stranger. “Name’s Daring Do. Looks like we’re stuck together for the next couple of days.”

He took my hoof and smiled—nothing special, but it was still a smile. It was a lot more than I’d gotten from most of the people in Port Nowhere. “Puzzle Piece, and I could think of worse things that could happen.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 4

I felt myself finally getting into my element as I combed over the maps spread out in front of me. The deck rocked gently as I examined them in turn, each one depicting the various plains, rivers, jungles, and other geography of the Dromaed nations. A shame the exact details never really lined up, and the differences ranged from small margins to outright contradictions. That was going to make it harder to figure out precisely where our destination was. Nopony who had come this far south had made a complete, accurate map of the southern half of the continent. Some zebras had tried over the centuries, but those resulted in the very maps I was using. I could only hope that the Dromaed had more accurate maps for their own lands that I could buy, though that might be wishful thinking on my part.

I opened the greenseer compass and compared its direction to my traditional magnetic compass. Capital’s ears perked as he watched me from the other end of the cramped cabin. “Finding anything interesting?”

“Just trying to triangulate where Zihlius might be.” I closed the compass and jotted down the newest readings into my journal, the page already nearly full from other readings. “Until I can get more readings I'm just guesstimating on where the City of Giants actually is. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get to the region the compass is indicating in the meantime.”

I should be able to figure out where the city was once I had enough readings from different locations. Assuming the compass was working, it was just a matter of using math and navigational principles to find our destination. We were currently heading for the port of Haztuha, it's a trading post that we can stock up and prepare to move inland. From there we would travel upriver, across the savanna plains, and then into the hinterlands where I suspected Zihlius was once located.

“Why try to plan a route to a destination when you don't know where it is?” Capital asked as Proper set out a cup of tea for him.

“I don't know exactly where it is yet, but I have a general idea on where it probably is,” I explained. “We have to get close enough for the compass to be more useful. Keep in mind, there's only so many places you can put a city intended to run some massive empire. You need access to food, water, building materials—everything that lets you have a city at all, much less one with the economic clout to effectively control an empire.” I tapped the map. “Between these maps and the compass, I can at least narrow down the area we need to cover.”

Capital nodded along. “Of course, economics and supply lines. Granted, this was supposed to be a society that saw gold as nothing more than a useful writing material.”

“So the myth goes.” I took off my hat to wipe the sweat off my brow. This far south the heat was absolutely sweltering. It made me miss the desert; at least the desert was dry. Here the humidity was killer, and there was almost no escape from it. I’d had a few enchantments interwoven into my hat to help me deal with any number of climates, but they struggled to do any good against this kind of heat. “Trying to find the truth between all the myths, half-lost records and archeological artifacts hasn't been easy, especially when we're going halfway across the world. We’d be lucky to ever find it if it wasn't for this compass.”

Capital grinned and slapped me on the back. “Now now my dear Daring, we'll be more than capable of managing.”

Capital’s eternal optimism must have been rubbing off on me, because I couldn’t help but flash him a grin. “I haven't failed to find someplace I've been looking for yet.” I pointed to my compass cutie mark. “I've kind of got a knack for getting to where I want to go.”

Kukri squealed as she jumped up and down. “Because you’re the biggest and best explorer ever! If you can’t find it, no one can.”

“Darn right.” Daring grinned as she ruffled Kukri’s headcrest.

“Well said, my dear lady,” Capital answered. “We’ll be in the City of Giants in no time at all, you’ll see.”

The optimism started to fade as I considered some of the practical issues with our expedition. “So how's your retinue looking? I’m still not wild about dragging so many ponies around.”

“Bah, I say!” He waved my concerns aside. “The more, the merrier! This will be far more enjoyable with my retinue to keep us company.”

I grumbled under my breath. “They're gonna slow us down, and Ephemera is almost literally on our heels.”

This was an argument we’d had more than once. Sure, the specialized skills Capital’s retainers brought to the table might be useful, but I couldn’t help but think of them as unnecessary. I’d been on plenty of expeditions without hunters, chefs, porters, archeological assistants, and other servants, and while they could help carry around a bunch of supplies, there wasn’t anything I truly needed that a single pony couldn’t carry alone. At the end of the day, an expedition was only as fast as its slowest member. That was a real problem when Ephemera was neck-and-neck in the race to the City of Giants. If she got there first she was probably going to loot the place of anything that looked valuable, and then those artifacts would just gather dust in some rich snob’s private collection.

Capital held up a hoof. “Now now now, I'm sure we'll manage. She doesn’t have the compass like we do, and without that she isn’t going to have much luck finding the City of Giants.”

Daring narrowed her eyes at Puzzle. “Don’t think I don’t hear you snickering over there.”

Puzzle was trying to look innocent as he smiled, ‘trying’ being the operative word. “This one was just contemplating how some of your facts were wrong.”

“No small thanks to you,” Daring groused. “You caused me all sorts of headaches by giving Ephemera her own greenseer compass.”

“Weren’t you worried about Ephemera stealing your compass?” I asked. “I can’t say I’d be sleeping sound knowing she was on the same ship as me, all things considered.”

“Yeah, we’ll get to that in a bit.”

“You don't know Ephemera, not like I do.” I shook my head and paced in what little space I had to do so. “She plays for keeps. She's planning something right now, I just know it.”

“Doubtless she is, but I'm sure we'll be more than capable of handling the blackguard when she makes her move.”

“We're gonna have to.” I starting rolling up my half-accurate maps, past tired of pouring over them. “Just keep an eye out in case she decides to try something during the voyage. It looks like she only has her two bodyguards instead of the horde of goons she usually has with her, but she’s tricky when she puts her mind to it.”

“I hope she does make a try for it.” Capital slammed his forehooves together with an audible clack. “The sooner we see to her, the better.”

I grunted in agreement as I put my maps back in their scroll cases. “I hate the waiting. It’s much better to be doing something than waiting around for something to happen to us.”

Capital hummed and rubbed his chin. “What do you think we should do about Ephemera, then?”

I scowled. “I’m half-tempted to confront her right now.”

Capital crossed his forelegs over his chest. “Is there a reason we shouldn't? You know the mare better, so I'll follow your lead.”

“The captain might get mad at us, considering he didn’t want us causing trouble on his ship.” I shrugged. “But you know what? Screw it. I don’t feel like waiting around for her to pull something. Let’s go have a talk with Ephemera. It's been a long time since I've had a private chat with her.”

Now I really didn’t like Ephemera, but she loathed me. My past encounters with the mare had taught me she had a petty streak a mile wide, and that she wasn’t the type to ever forget a slight. She was behind us in the race to Zihlius, and she wasn’t going to tolerate that in good grace. No, she was going to try and even the scales by her twisted judgment of things, and that wouldn’t be good for us. Better to do unto her before she did unto us.

“It will let us take measure of her, if nothing else.” Capital rolled his head to stretch out his neck. “Well, no time like the present.”

I straightened my hat and made sure it was firmly on my head. “You'll get a good idea of what she's like real quick—trust me on that.”

It didn’t take us long to find Ephemera on the aft deck of the Buried Treasure. Flanked by her heavily armored bodyguards, she didn’t even bother to turn to face us as she watched the ship plow through the waves, instead sipping her tea as though nothing was amiss. She was always like that, putting on the air of being calm and sophisticated even as she plotted against everyone around her.

I stopped short of her guards, who gave me the usual ‘We’re big and intimidating, so don’t come any closer’ looks that all bodyguards seemed to get on their first day on the job. “Hey, Ephemera. We need to talk.”

“Do we now?” Ephemera craned her neck to spare me a glance. “About what?”

“Don’t give me that.” I stomped a hoof on the deck. “You’ve pulled way too much crap to play innocent with me.”

Ephemera scoffed and took another sip of tea. “I see somepony is going to dispense with even the thinnest veneer of subtlety or class.”

I snorted. “Like you know anything about class. You’re nothing but a two-bit crime boss who's pretending to be all sophisticated.”

Capital straightened his vest and nodded. “I must agree, there is more to being a noble than attitude and appearances.” To my surprise, he stepped ahead of me and flashed Ephemera and her guards a smile. “That is why I’m hoping we can find a way to put aside our differences and end this conflict between us amicably.”

My eyes widened and my head snapped in Capital’s direction. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! You seriously think we can deal with this creep?!”

Ephemera quirked an eyebrow and turned to face us. “You’re saying you want to make a deal with me?”

Capital nodded. “Absolutely.”

“No!” I shook my head. “Capital, she can’t be trusted! What’re you doing?!”

“Trying to put an end to this silly conflict before it gets any more out of hoof than it already is.” Capital straightened himself as he addressed Ephemera. “Now then, you seem like a mare who likes to present herself as a pony of class and distinction.”

Ephemera’s eyes narrowed. “Because I am a pony of class and distinction. I am a noble of Canterlot itself.”

Capital held up a hoof. “Of course, of course. I wasn’t suggesting otherwise.” He kept up his warm smile despite Ephemera's scathing glare. “What house do you belong to, if I may ask?”

Ephemera stiffened. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just making polite conversation,” Capital assured her. “I find it best to get to know the ponies I’m talking with before we get to the nitty-gritty of negotiations. Best we come to understand one another as polite and civilized ponies, after all.”

I snorted at the suggestion that Ephemera was either polite or civilized. She was as rotten to the core as any pony I had ever known. “You’re wasting your breath, Capital. There’s no negotiating with the likes of her.”

Ephemera ran a hoof through her mane. “You always were the narrow-minded one, Daring. Which was why we could never work together.”

“I’m the narrow-minded one?!” I took a step towards her, and her guards interposed themselves accordingly. “You nearly killed me the one time we tried to work together!”

Ephemera’s mouth contorted into an ugly smile. “Only because you didn’t see reason and let me sell those artifacts from Neighlantis. Do you have any idea how much they could have gone for?”

I snorted. “Don’t know, don’t care. Those artifacts belonged in a museum and that’s that.”

Her eyes rolled. “Oh yes, now they can be admired by a bunch of snot-nosed schoolbrats who don’t have the least bit of appreciation for what they’re even looking at. That is clearly so much better than turning a profit.”

I shook my head. “What? That’s somehow worse than those artifacts being in some rich snob’s private collection where nopony would ever see them?”

“Yes.” Ephemera smirked in that way that made me want to punch her face in. “Because then I can I make a very tidy profit for what I’ve found. Your altruism is misguided, Daring; where you’re barely making ends meet and scrounging for bits for your next expedition, I’m living the high life and dining with the rich and famous with money to spare for more expeditions. Someday you’re going to die bitless, alone and unmourned, probably in one of your gods-forsaken tombs.”

“We all gotta die someday,” I told her with a shrug. “At least I can look myself in the mirror knowing those artifacts are where they belong.”

Ephemera’s nostrils flared and she turned her back on us to face the sea. “If you think I lose any sleep for what I do, you’re mistaken. The world is a zero-sum game. For every winner there’s a loser, and I have no intention of being among the have-nots. You take what you can get, because if you don’t then somepony else will.”

Capital cleared his throat as he re-entered the conversation. “Now I hardly think the world is quite so stark.”

“Says somepony born among the elite of Canterlot,” Ephemera spat, her words dripping venom. “Try asking those ponies under you who struggle to make ends meet how they feel about the state of the world.”

Capital grimaced and took a step back. “Come now, we can do better than this. What is it you want? I’m sure there’s a middle ground we can find if we’re all willing to negotiate?”

“You want to know what I want?” Ephemera sneered at us. “Give me your compass, go back to Equestria, and never get in my way again. Do those things and I may deign to forget that you exist.”

“Fat chance!” I took another step forward, bringing myself close enough to Ephemera’s guards that we could start taking swings at one another. “If you think I’m giving up then you’ve got another thing coming.”

Ephemera clapped her hooves together once. “And there you have it, Capital—there is no middle ground between us. Daring is going to continue to be the naïve and idealistic fool she’s always been, and I’m not going to give up on what might be the greatest find of our generation. A fortune is to be won or lost, and I intend on becoming very wealthy indeed.”

Capital winced and his ears flattened. “I am sorry that you feel that way. Really, please reconsider. There are still ways for you to earn a profit on this if you spin things right. Perhaps you could write a book about your travels and discoveries? There are plenty of ponies who would pay to read about the discovery of a city of gold.”

Ephemera tilted her head back in a great bark of a laugh. “What kind of sentimental drivel is that? How many idiots would pay to read something like that?”

“A great many people, considering A.K. Yearling’s success.” Puzzle grinned at Daring. “You have any idea how much she makes on her novels each year?”

Daring cleared her throat. “Enough so that money isn’t as big of a problem as it used to be.”

I felt kinda bad for Capital even while glaring daggers at Ephemera. He might have been overly optimistic about the world, but at least he was trying to do the right thing. Pity for him he was dealing with a mare rotten to the core. “See who we’re dealing with? She’s just in this for herself. All we can do is beat her and leave her in our dust.”

“You speak out of turn, Daring.” Ephemera leaned against the railing to glare at me. “You may have gotten lucky in the past, but your luck is just about out. This time I’ve got allies you don’t stand a chance against.” She looked between her two new bodyguards. “These two are but one benefit of the new patronage I’ve recently gained.”

My eyes flicked between the two guards. They definitely weren’t the usual cheap muscle Ephemera usually hired. I’d been in enough scrapes to recognize when someone actually knew how to fight, and those two had the look and stance of professional soldiers. “Yeah, so who’s bankrolling you this time?”

Ephemera put on a nasty smirk. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Don’t want to tell me? Fine. You’re still not gonna get far.” I pulled on the string around my neck to reveal the greenseer compass. “Without this, you won’t even come within a hundred miles of the City of Giants.”

Something I didn’t like flashed in Ephemera’s green eyes. “Oh, you mean like this compass?” She pulled the gold necklace around her neck to reveal a small wooden box exactly like the one I was carrying. To put any doubt to rest, she snapped it open to reveal the emerald within. Its magic activated and formed a green arrow pointing in the general direction the ship was going.

My eyes widened. “What?! How?!” It had taken a ton of trouble and bits for us to find even one of the greenseer compasses. There could only have been a hooffull of the things left outside of the Dromaed kingdoms, and they were pretty zealously guarded by the hristak. Where did Ephemera get one?

“I have my ways.” Ephemera snapped the compass closed and let it dangle from her neck. “I have resources you could only begin to imagine.”

“Money is a resource I can imagine pretty good,” I retorted, though my voice quivered a bit. My one ace in the hole was now gone. If Ephemera had a compass too, then we really were in a dead heat in the race to the City of Giants.

Ephemera chuckled to herself. “Oh, that look on your face is so precious. You’re always used to being on top. It’s so nice to get to turn the tables on you.” The mirth in her features vanished and her eyes narrowed. “Though now I wonder why you decided to confront me. Were you hoping to start a fight?”

I met her icy cold glare with my own. “The idea has an appeal. I wouldn’t mind giving you some payback for stealing all my research.”

Ephemera snorted and tossed her mane. “Please, you don’t have the guts to do what needs to be done—something you’ve proven time and again. If you really wanted to be done with me, you would have already done it during our previous clashes.”

I grimaced. I didn’t like to admit it, but she had a point. I didn’t claim to be a saint, but I wasn’t a murderer either. More than once I’d had Ephemera at my mercy and then let her go, sometimes into the hooves of whatever local authorities were around. Not that anything ever seemed to stick to her, since she had a knack for being freed to cause trouble for me again and again. I had no idea how she kept getting out of jail, but here she once more.

“Though now that I think about it...” Ephemera slowly withdrew a wand from a bag at her side and held it aloft in her magic, pointing it right at my chest. “It might be convenient to dispose of you right now. Either one of my guards are more than your match, and I doubt that fool of a patron you’ve got will be much help in a fight.”

Capital stiffened and stepped closer to me. “There isn’t any need for that. I daresay you are taking this too far, milady. Think about what you’re contemplating.”

Small arcs of magical energy ran up the length of Ephemera’s wand, and several sailors who had been idly watching us while pretending to be working dropped the pretense. Sensing their master’s mood, Ephemera’s guards shifted into defensive stances. “Oh, but I have thought it over, and I like how the math is looking.” Her grin widened. “I think I hear the music of the waltz starting. Want to dance, Daring?”

I clenched my teeth together and lowered my stance so as to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. I might have miscalculated going after Ephemera like this. The more I looked at these guards the more they gave the impression of Zebrican janissaries—the alchemically enhanced and expertly trained elite soldiers of the Zebrican Empire. That would make fighting them a much dicier challenge than the thugs I’d gone up against back in Port Nowhere. Adding to that was Ephemera herself, who loved being able to whip out magical items to use against me. The wand was a new one, and I didn’t like the sight of it.

“You should have considered ambushing her,” Puzzle said. “You might have avoided the trouble of a head-on clash.”

“You would be the type to suggest just assassinating somepony in their sleep,” Daring grumbled under her breath.

“It does tend to leave this one far less bruised and battered than a frontal assault.” Puzzle shrugged. “This one hasn’t lived this long by being reckless.”

“My instincts usually carry me through,” Daring countered.

I thought over my options. It had been stupid on my part to bring Capital with me to confront Ephemera, since he was now was liable to get hurt and it’d be my fault if he did. My best chance was to get around the guards and knock her out right away. Maybe if their leader went down the guards could be convinced to back off. Maybe.

I dug in my hooves and got ready to pounce when a great boom of a voice roared over the deck. “What is the meaning of this?!”

Captain Hazim stomped over in a fury glaring at all of us and flanked by half a dozen of his rougher-looking sailors. “You thinkin’ to start a fight on my ship?”

Ephemera scoffed and didn’t take her wand off of me. “These ruffians were threatening me. We were only trying to defend ourselves.”

“Now that just isn’t true,” Capital started to protest. “We were trying to negotiate and solve things amicably between us. She’s the one that—“

“I don’t care!” the captain yelled over him. He shot all of us another glare. “I knew you were all trouble the moment I set eyes on ya. But I have ways of dealing with troublemakers—I’ve half a mind to just throw the lot of you overboard.”

Capital’s jaw dropped. “Surely you jest!”

“I’m not, but lucky for you I’ve only got half a mind to do that.” Hazim grinned in a way that made his scars seem even meaner. “If you're gonna be fightin’ on my ship, then we’re gonna do it right.”

Ephemera frowned and her wand dipped slightly. “What are you talking about?”

“Simple as simple can be.” The Captain pointed to the center of the ship. “We’re gonna set up a ring right there and let you lot slug it out amongst yourselves. It’ll let you get your aggression out of your system and provide some entertainment for my crew. Sailing’s a hard life, and a little sport now and again goes a long way to keep morale up.”

Ephemera’s face contorted in confusion, which only improved her looks. “You can’t seriously think we’re going to fight for your entertainment.”

“What’s the matter?” I grinned at Ephemera. “Worried you’ll chip a hoof in a real fight?”

Her wand twitched. “I’m not some ruffian who dirties her hooves in slugging matches. Unlike some ponies I could mention...”

Capital pressed his lips together. “Still, this seems a bit ... mmm, extreme, don’t you think?”

Captain Hazim scoffed. “What’s extreme is having you lot running around my ship, starting fights and getting in the way of running this ship. You brought this one on yourselves. Don’t come crying to me because I’m giving you what you want—the opportunity to pummel each other to your heart’s content.” He drew himself to his full height as he addressed us imperiously. “Here’s how’s it’s going to go. Each of you pick your champion, and they’ll have at it. If you still want to go at it after the first round, we’ll go again with different champions until you have it out of your systems. Got it?”

“Remind me never to book passage on a ship with Hazim as the captain,” I said. “I can go without getting forced into fights when I’m trying to get someplace.”

“That’s why this one has never suggested going out Zanzebra’s way,” Puzzle said. “It’s a rough place out there, to say the least. Plus it’s just bad service to be turned into entertainment for the guy you just paid a service for.”

I grunted. As much as I would love to introduce my hoof to Ephemera’s face, I didn’t particularly like the idea of being forced into some kind of blood sport for some crazy captain’s entertainment. Naturally I couldn’t let Capital get involved in this, as one of the last things I needed to happen was for him to get torn to pieces by some ex-janissary. “Fine, I’ll volunteer.”

Capital snapped his head in my direction. “Daring, my lady, you don’t need to step up first. I can take care of myself, you know.”

I shook my head. I didn’t relish the idea of fighting one of the janissary-like guards, but I’d taken down bigger and badder in the past. “No way—not when I’ve promised to get you back home in one piece.”

Capital frowned as he took a moment to think. “Alright then, but if it comes down to it I’m taking the second round.”

I grunted noncommittally. Capital would never step into the ring at all if I had my way, but I’d been in enough tight spots to know that sometimes circumstances took the choice right out of my hooves.

Hazim turned to Ephemera. “And you, milady?”

Ephemera initially scowled at the Captain, but it slowly curled upward into grin. “May I take a few minutes to converse with my guards and decide who will fight on my behalf? We’ll need a bit of time to properly prepare for the fight anyways.” She waved a hoof. “I hear stretching is important before physical exertion.”

Hazim narrowed his eyes. “You may, lass, but no tricks. You have until we have the ring set up. Understood?”

“Well enough.” Ephemera huffed and ran a hoof through her mane. “Give me a few minutes below deck.” She turned to go, but Hazim held up a hoof to stop her.

“One more thing.” Hazim’s smile would have sent a cabin filly running. “There’s no point in a contest if there’s nothing on the line, so it’s time to fix that: whoever wins this contest gets their opponent’s compass.”

My wings snapped out. “What?!”

Ephemera’s hoof snapped to the compass hanging from her neck. “How did you know—”

Hazim cut her off. “Nothing happens on this old captain’s ship without him knowing about it. Your conflict doesn’t mean seagull droppings to me once you’re off my ship, but since you are on my ship, that means it’s my business to deal with how I see fit.” His grin promised many unpleasant things. “If you got a problem with that, you can talk about it with the fishes.”

I glowered at the Captain. “Well when you put it like that, how can we refuse?”

This one was busy doing what it often did: collecting information. The deck didn’t hold much of interest with nothing but the big, wide, seemingly infinite ocean to occupy this one’s attention, so this one turned its attention to those who spent their time below deck. Primarily, the Capital-stallion’s retainers; as this one knew from experience, you could always get a wealth of information about someone from their helpers. They tended to get everywhere, overhear everything, and go unnoticed when they eavesdropped on their employer. It wasn’t a perfect method for gathering intelligence, of course, as employees always have their own biases and tended to not pay attention to the things this one would most like to learn, but useful tidbits could still be gleaned.

This one got itself into a game of cards with several of the retainers and started with questions about themselves. People are almost always willing to talk about themselves, since it’ is the topic they know the most about, after all, and people like it when another is willing to give them an open ear to their daily troubles and opinions. They were a rough bunch, a mixture of ponies accustomed to spending most of their time alone in the wilderness or strong-backed workers living day to day on their modest incomes. From there, it was easy to move onto questions about Capital Idea and Daring Do.

This one learned quite a bit about the Capital-stallion, like the fact he belonged to a long-standing, wealthy, and influential noble house, had a love of the outdoors, was the eager sort, and possessed an intelligent if inexperienced mind. The retainers knew less about the Do-mare, though, as she tended to keep to herself or was off on one errand or another. Apparently though, she was supposed to be quite the adventurer. It would have been nice to gather more about the mare that was the center of this one’s deal with the Ephemera-mare, but it seemed that this one was going to have to meet her in person to get a better measure of what she was like. This one wanted to know as much as possible about its opponent before it acted against her.

“You were planning on hurting the Do-mare?!” Kukri cried out. “How could you?!”

Puzzle shuffled and didn’t quite meet Kukri’s accusing gaze. “This one was in a bit of a spot at the time, and didn’t really know the Do-mare. It was just a job this one picked up—it wasn’t like this one wanted to hurt her.”

I frowned as I finally asked a question that had been in the back of my mind. “And what exactly were you doing before going to Zanzebra? It sounds like you really ticked some people off before running from Freeport.”

Puzzle sighed and poked at some fresh shishkebab he’d put on the grill. “We’ll cover that later. This one doubts the Do-mare will let it get away not doing so at some dramatically appropriate point.”

“Not after the way you planned on killing me, or at the very least making my life very difficult.” Daring poked Puzzle’s side. “Besides, don’t you think you should be honest to your friends?”

Puzzle shot her a flat glare. “Right, because you don’t keep your own secrets that they would be interested in hearing or anything.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah? Like what?”

Daring cleared her throat. “Anyways, back to the story.”

In any event, this one had plenty of time to actually meet with the Do-mare. Neither of us was going anywhere until the ship reached port, and this one didn’t want to appear suspicious as it asked questions. That was much easier to pull off when everyone was at least a little bored waiting for the ship to reach its destination.

This one was even having some success flirting with a cute tracker from the retinue. If this one was lucky it might be able to convince her to come to its cabin for some fun, and to give it the opportunity to feed. Any discomfort she might feel the next morning from this one’s feeding could be excused by the ship’s excellent selection of drinks.

I frowned as I heard of Puzzle’s plans for the time. “Still pretty creepy to hear you talking about that type of thing. You’re basically talking about how you’re preying on ponies.”

Puzzle shrugged. “This one has to eat love magic. If it doesn’t, it will go feral and eventually die. This one doesn’t like that aspect of itself, but it can’t change its nature. There are institutions in Freeport to make these things neater, but in the wider world there isn’t.”

Daring scowled at that. “Instead, Freeport lets you pay a bunch of poor people to feed on them.”

“We both know it’s better than the alternatives,” Puzzle said evenly. “Those individuals who donate thyloplasm get some ducats, and Free Minds get to survive. If you’ve got a better solution then this one is all ears.”

I didn’t, and judging from Daring’s lengthy silence, she didn’t either.

This one was interrupted by a flash of pain from something hitting the side of this one’s head. This one’s hoof instinctively rubbed the sore point, and it looked down to see a piece of hardtack lying on the floor. Guessing the trajectory of the excessively hard piece of bread, this one’s eyes settled on a nearby doorway. Barely perceptible to anyone in the room, one of the Ephemera-mare’s zebra guards stood hidden on the other side of the doorway. He flicked his hoof for this one to come.

Now that was indeed curious. Did the Ephemera-mare want to see this one? And if she did, for what purpose? The idea had been for us not to see one another on the ship unless a good excuse for us to meet without drawing suspicion could be made. So unless it was the guard that wanted to talk to this one, something was up.

“Hey Puzzle, you daydreaming on us?” one of the ponies in the retinue asked as he shuffled the deck. “Hope you haven’t had too much to drink already, I’m just getting warmed up.”

This one grinned cheerfully and snorted. “Hardly, I was just thinking to get up and stretch my legs for a bit.” It definitely wouldn’t do to tell them all that this one was going to meet one of the guards for their nemesis. This one would prefer not to put itself in a situation where someone might want to club it in the head in the middle of the night.

Another one of the ponies, a cook by profession, gave this one a wry grin. “What’s the matter? Trying to run off with your winnings before your luck turns?”

In truth, this one had just been using the card-counting and game theory tricks it had been taught to gradually build up its winnings. With some patience and knowledge of how the mechanics of a game worked—and perhaps a little bit of luck—you could go far gambling. Though that did depend on you gambling with the sorts not prone to breaking a leg or two due to poor sportsmanship. Thankfully, this bunch were in relatively good spirits.

“Nah, I figured I would be nice and not take all your money right away,” I countered. “There’ll be plenty of time for that before we get to port.” Speaking of this one’s winnings, it scooped its winnings into its purse. Waste not, want not.

“Yeah yeah, just don’t keep us waiting,” another pony said. “The game’s more fun with more ponies—and pony-zebra hybrid things, for that matter.”

This one gave them a final grin. “The word you’re looking for is ‘zony’, and don’t worry—you’ll get to see me again soon enough. Now if you’ll excuse me...” This one departed the group and headed to to the doorway.

The guard turned and started walking to a different portion of the ship, his steps surprisingly silent against the ship planking. His lack of explanation irritated this one. “So does Ephemera want to see me?”

He grunted neutrally.

He didn’t seem like much of a conversationalist, but this one pressed again. This one wanted to get an idea of who the Ephemera-mare’s guards were anyways. That might be important information to exploit later, and ideally this one could get them to like this one. Preferably enough to not beat this one up should the Ephemera-mare ever tell them to. “So, what’s your name? I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”

He grunted again, this time sounding irritated.

Being friendly didn’t work, so time for a different tactic. “Did you have your vocal cords cut or were placed under a geas? Because if that’s part of working for your employer then I’m going to have to reconsider my long term employment decisions.”

“No,” he growled in a voice like gravel.

“So just not the talking type?” this one asked. “Really, we might as well get to know one another consider we’re going to be together for awhile.”

Instead of answering this one, the guard stopped in front of a cabin door where the other guard was standing and gestured for this one to enter. This one sighed and scratched behind its ear. It seemed that the Ephemera-mare’s guards were going to be tough nuts to crack. “Alright then.” This one patted him on the shoulder. “Nice talk—”

This one was caught off guard when the guard snatched this one around the pastern and started squeezing painfully. The glare he gave this one sent a nonverbal message loud and clear: ‘Don’t ever do that again. Ever. I’m not your friend, I will never be your friend, so don’t even bother pretending, you lowly piece of mercenary trash. If you do, I’ll break your leg off at the joint and do very unpleasant things to you with it.’

“Your mistress is waiting.” The guard’s grip was like a vice, but this one grinned through the pain. Showing weakness at a moment like this would only have made things worse. No one respects a wimp.

He finally let this one go, and it resisted the temptation to rub its sore leg. This one fought through the pain as it put weight on its leg and entered. The Ephemera-mare’s cabin was small and unadorned like the others; the furnishings consisted merely of a small uncomfortable-looking cot and a small desk barely large enough to write on. Luxury accomodations were, as usual, short on a merchant ship.

Ephemera herself was sitting on the cot and busy smoking a cigarette as though she didn’t have a care in the world. “Puzzle,” she said simply and pointed for this one to sit.

Deciding it wouldn’t be best to be obstinate in this case, this one sat and leaned against the desk. “So why’d you send the guard to retrieve me? You know we weren’t supposed to see each other so soon, and definitely not this openly.” This one couldn’t count on anyone not seeing this one with the guard and then entering her cabin. If someone had seen one of those things then rumors of it had probably spread all over the ship by now. That was going to make collecting information more difficult, never mind its other activities.

The Ephemera-mare took her time answering this one as she took a long drag off her cigarette, probably using the delay to establish her dominance in our relationship. Those who speak last controlled the conversation. “There’s been a complication.”

This one frowned. “What sort of complication?”

The Ephemera-mare put out the last of her cigarette. “Daring confronted me a little while ago, and nearly started a fight with me on the ship deck.”

This one raised an eyebrow at this news. “So what happened?”

She pulled out a fresh cigarette and lit it. “The Captain intervened before anything serious,” she said with a cold detachment, “but that’s not why I called on you. Our dear captain has decided on an unusual solution to my conflict with Daring: here within the hour he intends for Daring and a champion of my choosing to slug it out inside a ring.”

This one didn’t like the direction it sounded like this was heading. “I would have thought you had a couple very good picks to be a champion for you.” This one gestured at the doorway and the two guards standing outside. “You don’t keep those two around just for their looks, do you?”

“No, I don’t.” The Ephemera-mare took a long puff of her cigarette. “But they’re special. They’re my ace in the hole if Daring tries something. They were given to me by my employer to protect me and that’s how I intend on using them.”

This one frowned. “Your employer? This is the first you’ve spoken of being hired by someone else.”

The Ephemera-mare’s mouth spread in a sly grin. “I’ve only recently come into his employ, but he is powerful—and more importantly, quite wealthy. He rewards those who please him.”

And by extension, if this one pleased her this one would please her boss. Which in turn could result in this one getting some nice rewards. Though that led this one into a rather relevant question. “So who is this boss of yours?”

She blew out a long stream of smoke, creating a haze within the confines of the cabin. “You’ll get to meet him soon enough if you can prove your worth. You see, while I know the worth of my bodyguards, you’re an unproven asset.”

It would have been nice to know more about this boss, but Ephemera was as usual unwilling to part with so much as a name. She liked her secrets. This one decided to get to the point. “In other words, you plan on having me be your champion.”

“Yes.” The Ephemera-mare took another puff. “You said you can counter Daring. Prove it now.”

This one frowned as it thought this over. “I planned on trying something a bit ... sneakier than getting into a direct bloodsport match with her.”

“Adapt,” she answered. “The compass you put all that work into getting is on the line. Captain Hazim has seen fit to use our compasses as the wager to make the fight more interesting, which means we have to win here.” Her eyes narrowed. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Quite.” This one didn’t like this. It was much more preferable to fight at a place and time of its choosing to ensure as many variables were in one’s favor as possible. Something quick and messy like this went against this one’s grain. Pity it didn’t have much choice; it was either do as the Ephemera-mare desired or sever ties with her. This one would have vastly preferred to have used one of her guards to fight. Either one of them would probably have beaten her to a pulp.

“Hey.” Daring glowered at Puzzle as she crossed her legs over her chest. “I’m not exactly a wimp, you know.”

Puzzle held up a hoof to placate her. “This one is merely stating what it was thinking at the time, not facts.”

“Better be, buggy,” Daring groused, though the grin at the corner of her mouth offset it a bit.

It seemed the Ephemera-mare had picked our course, and this one was just going to have to deal with it. Fine, this one had worked under worse circumstances. Even if this job was going to be a tricky one. “Alright, this I’ll see to it that it wins this fight for you and acquire the other compass.”

“Oh, I don’t just want you to win.” The Ephemera-mare smiled in a manner that didn’t reach her eyes. “And I don’t just want you to just hurt your opponent, or break her. No, Puzzle, I want you to kill Daring Do.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 5

Sailors scampered about the deck as they worked to set up the impromptu ring at the center of the Buried Treasure. It wasn’t anything the professional boxing commission would approve of, given that they used the same ropes they used for everything else to outline the ring with nothing but the ship’s planking to break a fall. Not that it bothered me all that much. Compared to fighting in a room slowly filling up with sand or a booby-trapped death maze, these were luxury accommodations. Besides, rough-and-tumble was my game.

I was busy putting on some gloves the crew had given me. They were thin and battered from use, more intended to protect a pony from hurting their own hoof than to provide any kind of safety to an opponent, but they were enough for what I needed to do. Capital stood near me, examining Ephemera and her goons. “Which of her guards do you think she'll throw at you?” he murmured.

I took a moment to look up from the gloves to study our prospective challengers. Ephemera had a glare set to smouldering as she stared back at us. As seemed to be the norm, her guards flanked her in stock-still silence. Looking at people like that made me wonder how in the world they dealt with the boredom of standing around and doing nothing all day.

“Usually by sneaking in conversations with each other when they think no one’s looking,” Puzzle offered. “At least that is this one’s experience, though even then it found it endlessly tedious.”

Daring gave him a lopsided grin. “Have some experience at playing guard there, Puzzle?”

Puzzle nodded. “In addition to a great many other occupations. Being a shapeshifter spy requires this one to wear many hats.”

“Literally, in a lot of cases,” I guessed, unable to repress my smirk.

As I studied the group, my attention fell on one specific individual. “Hm, probably her new guy. He seems like one of the more capable ones she's had.”

Puzzle Piece, as he called himself, had struck me as a nobody at first, but I found myself reevaluating him in the lead-up to the fight. My gut screamed that this new guy was bad news.

Capital wasn’t as convinced, raising an eyebrow. “You think so? No offense, but the other two seem a bit more intimidating than the strapping young fellow. They’re quite a bit bigger than he, and each of them looks like they know how to handle themselves in a fight.”

I shook my head. I’d been watching the janissary-like guards for a while now, and my adventuring experience let me get a good measure of someone just from a bit of passive observation. “They're big and muscle-y, and they probably know how to throw a punch, but that's about all they've got going for them. I doubt they’ve heard of the word ‘initiative’ and they're not gonna be able to adapt if I pull something unexpected. The new guy seems to know enough to use his head for something other than a blunt instrument.”

Capital seemed unconvinced. “You can tell all that just by looking at him?”

“Yeah. New guy's looking at me like someone who's trying to figure out how good I'd be in a fight. He’s not making any nervous motions over there, but he doesn’t strike me as the overconfident type either.” I stomped a hoof to check the right glove. “Nah, he’s done this dance before, I’d bet good bits on it.”

“Some of these chaps already have bet on that.” Capital frowned as he watched some of the sailors exchanging coins, with one of the ringleaders calling out the odds. “But I’ll trust your judgment on this. You’re starting to make me wish that the other two were going to step into the ring now.”

“No argument,” I agreed. “The other two ... one looks like there's nothing going on at all upstairs, and the other only ever looks at me when he's trying to sneak a peek at my butt. Sure they’re big, intimidating, and probably know how to hit things with a stick, but they’re nothing I haven’t dealt with already. They’re only good until they fight somepony on their own level.”

Capital frowned as he watched Ephemera’s group. “And after looking at them, I’m going to have to agree it’s the new one that you will have to deal with. Neither of her guards are removing their armor while the other guy is stretching himself out. Any idea who he is?”

“Not sure.” Though now that he mentioned it, I was curious. Ephemera usually just hired big and dumb, probably as some sort of compensation. “It's unusual. Ephemera usually doesn't want anyone with enough brains to figure out how she works.”

“Don’t know why.” Capital scratched his chin. “I always found help that knew what it was doing to be more useful. I find communication with my staff to be important.”

Capital’s butler, Proper Penny, cleared his throat and broke in with his usual carefully neutral tone. “Like how you listened to my suggestion to spend some time skiing in the mountains instead of putting your life on the line for an archaeological expedition where the competition might very well try and kill us, sir?”

Capital scoffed and waved the idea off. “Where’s your sense of adventure, Proper? This will be a grand tale to tell for years to come!”

“Of course” Proper said evenly. “How silly of me.”

I rolled my shoulders. “Yeah, and back to the topic of Ephemera, you're not a backstabbing jerk who treats everyone who works for him as a completely expendable tool.”

Capital’s eyes went wide. “Heavens no, that is not how a gentlestallion acts!”

I did some push-ups as I warmed up. “I'm sure you've noticed by now there's nothing gentle about Ephemera.”

“I'm afraid to say her charms could use a bit of work.” Capital grimaced and turned his sight back to the new guy. “Think he'll be a problem?”

I grinned and felt my blood pump at the idea of getting a chance to cut loose. It’d been forever since I’d last had a real challenge in a fight. It was possible I was overestimating the guy, but my gut said he was the real deal. “Tougher than the other two, but I can take him.”

Capital grinned and gave my back a jovial pat. “Hear hear! Give him one for the team, Daring!”

Captain Hazim walked over to us, his demeanor grim. “The crew’s done setting up the ring. You ready?”

I punched my hooves together. “You bet I am.”

Hazim grunted. “Get in then. The fight goes on until one of ya is knocked out or submits. No weapons, and no biting. Got it?”

“Simple enough.” I froze a moment before heading into the ring, then took off my hat. I considered hanging it off the corner ringpost, but then turned and gave it to Capital. “You promise to keep an eye on my hat until I get back?”

“Of course!” He saluted me with it and held it to his body.

My opponent and I climbed into the ring. He never took his eyes off me as the second mate checked him for weapons. Ephemera shot me a nasty grin that promised she would enjoy seeing me get beat up. “Last chance to give up, Daring.”

I snorted. “What makes you think I would ever do that?”

“I thought maybe you'd have gotten a clue for the first time in your life.” Ephemera shrugged indifferently. “Crazier things have happened.”

I rolled my eyes as the first mate came over to check me over. “How long did you sit alone in your room coming up with that one?” Ephemera’s only reply was a baleful glare from the opposite side of the ring.

My opponent caught my attention when he spoke up. “You might want to concentrate on your opponent instead of the audience.” The corner of Puzzle’s mouth turned up in a smirk. “Unless you like losing, which admittedly I wouldn't mind.”

“Oh, if that's what you like, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.” I threw a few punches to warm up. I had to account for the rolling deck, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Before long, I had the feel of it and was raring to go.

This one was indeed carefully studying the Do-mare as she threw her practice jabs. This one went about the fight methodically, collecting and organizing facts. Based on her expert stance and jabs, it quickly became clear she knew how to fight. She was clearly very fit, lean muscles covered a body with little to no fat this one could identify, and several scars marred her coat. Her eager grin certainly professed confidence. Whether it was deserved…

This one decided to prod her to find out. “Think you've got this in the bag?”

The Daring-mare shot me a smirk. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“I see humility isn't one of your virtues.”

“Nah, but winning is.”

This one grinned. “Hopefully inexperience doesn’t make you a sore loser, then.”

The Do-mare shrugged indifferently. “Dunno, I've never lost. Shame you won't be the one to find out.”

This one took a defensive stance as she approached it and finished its analysis: the Do-mare was definitely confident, but not unduly so; a level of skill and experience backed up that boldness, but there was still some arrogance there that could be exploited. She would want to attack first, and studying how she fought, this one had a good idea how to counter.

I approached Puzzle steadily, but he didn’t seem eager to get moving himself. Big mistake. You won a fight by attacking, not standing back and letting your opponent throw the punches.

I smirked and flicked my tail and wings in a feint, then threw a quick left jab at his face. To my surprise, he deflected the attack and bolted forward, elbowing me in the ribs in one smooth motion. Before I could recover he’d grabbed my extended leg and flipped me onto the deck. Stars flashed in my vision as he held onto my leg and started to twist it painfully. I reflexively tucked my rear legs in and rolled to relieve the pressure on my leg, barely getting my head out of the way of Puzzle’s hoof as it smacked into the deck.

I got back to my hooves, though Puzzle still held my leg. I snapped both of my wings at his head, but his own wings blocked them. He lowered his stance and leveraged my leg to try and force me to the deck. I leaned into the motion, moving faster than he was ready for. When I hit the deck I immediately lashed out with a rear leg to kick the inside of his arm and finally broke his hold on me.

I’d expected Puzzle to press the attack, but instead he returned to his defensive stance and waited. Okay, that first round had not gone as I’d hoped; this guy was good. Way better than anypony Ephemera had ever hired before, and my sore ribs felt it. I didn’t doubt for a second he would have broken something if I’d given him the opportunity to.

Still, I smirked as the opportunity to finally really have a good fight made my blood pump faster. “What's the matter, scared to throw the first punch?”

“Nope.” Puzzle smirked back. “I’m just waiting for you to throw two left jabs followed by a right hook to the jaw intended to knock me to the deck.”

I froze for a second, then scowled. I hadn’t exactly been thinking to do just that, but that sounded like something I’d do in a fight, especially when I wanted to erase that smirk of his. Though he could have only had a lucky guess from someone trying to get into my head. “Think you got me all figured out, then?”

“Was I right?” Puzzle grinned as he tapped the side of his head. “It’s not too hard to figure out what to look for. You’re not doing anything I haven’t seen elsewhere.”

Okay, that was kinda creepy. Had Ephemera told him how I fought?

“Actually, the Ephemera-mare told this one very little about you,” Puzzle offered. “As you noted, she isn’t the type to talk to her minions, this one included, and this one hadn’t had time to work her over and get more information out of her.”

Daring snorted derisively. “You really want me to believe you could tell all that information just from an exchange during one fight?”

“It isn’t that hard to tell the fighting style someone is using after seeing a few of their moves, and especially not when you’re familiar with the styles to start with. It helps that Freeport is a hodgepodge of peoples for that.” Puzzle shrugged. “Also remember this one had gathered bits and pieces of information from what the Ephemera-mare had told it, gathering information from the Idea-stallion’s retainers, and from studying you with this one’s eyes. From there it’s a matter of making logical deductions.”

Daring pressed her lips together as she visibly thought. “Yeah? How so?”

Puzzle grinned at her. “For example, it’s obvious you went to college. It’s hard to be an accredited archaeologist who gets her work put into museums on a regular basis without a degree. You also believe in your work quite passionately, as should anypony willing to put their life on the line for zero direct personal profit.”

Kukri gasped. “He’s right! That was in one of the Young Daring Do books!”
I raised an eyebrow. “And somehow you can use that to predict exactly how somepony fights?”

Daring crossed her arms over her chest. “Now that’s the part I have trouble believing. I’m still half-convinced he’s probably using some sort of magic and faking it somehow.”

“You and the Shimmer-mare both fight using your instincts,” Puzzle explained. “You feel the situation out and follow your guts in a fight. Meanwhile, this one is an analytical fighter: it analyzes the situation before it and makes deductions. Every fighter has their fighting style, quirks, and tendencies, and this one has gotten very good at using the information it collects against its opponents. This one’s changeling nature probably helps too, in that it's very good at mimicking and studying the movements of others.”

The brief flicker of hesitation that ran through the Do-mare confirmed to this one that it was right, and with its analysis, it was confident it would win this fight. Not that it would be easy; even after our brief exchange this one could tell the Do-mare was extremely fast—faster than this one had initially guessed. She also clearly knew how to handle herself in a fight. Still, this one had a good read on what she was capable of and how to beat her, and there wasn’t any reason to show any doubt.

This one grinned. “Sorry, but this is where I start to pick you apart.”

But that flicker of hesitation faded, and the Do-mare’s eager grin returned. “That so? Well you made one mistake: you gave away what you know.”

The Do-mare charged this one, and this one changed its stance to reflect the attack it saw coming. At the last moment, the Do-mare flapped her powerful wings to take off and then dived down for a low kick. This one stepped to the side and threw a punch at her ribs. The Do-mare pivoted in midair to deflect the attack with an arm. Following through with her momentum, she snapped a wing up at this one’s jaw, forcing this one back a step as she landed on her hooves beside this one.

But this one had expected that and threw a series of quick punches that forced the Do-mare to throw up her arms to block. She launched an instinctive punch back at this one, but this one dodged to the side and, wrapped an arm over and then under her leg to grasp it. But before this one could lock that limb down the Do-mare flapped her wings and jumped up into the air and bucked out her rear legs. This one got its arm up just in time to block the blow, the impact sending a shock of numbing pain though it’s leg. The blow sent the Do-Mare into a backflip where she landed on her hooves.

This one didn’t want to give her the chance to regain her balance, so it went on the attack. This one’s hooves flashed out in a series of quick strikes, most of which the Do-mare blocked and deflected except for a clip to the cheek and shot to the barrel that sent her back on her hooves.

A sudden flash of fire burned in the Do-mare’s eyes and this one shifted its stance ready to deflect the incoming left jab, step inside her right haymaker, and deliver a quick uppercut to her jaw. This one raised its right hoof to deflect the expected jab, only for a right jab to hit it in the face. A second later a left haymaker plowed into the side of this one’s head and sent it staggering as stars flashed in its vision. The crowd cheered as the momentum of the match shifted in the Do-mare’s favor.

This one staggered back as it tried to regain its composure, but the Do-mare wasn’t about to let this one recover. It was as she poured on more blows that this one saw what had compromised its defense: she was fighting left-hoofed. Just a moment ago she’d been fighting right-hoofed. Had she been left-hoofed all along? This one shifted its stance to compensate, for this one had fought plenty of opponents that had been left-hoofed.

But as soon as this one settled into its new defense the Do-mare shifted back to a right-hoofed stance and clocked this one in the jaw. Before this one could recover it received another hammer blow to the side that nearly blew the wind out of it. This one was firmly on the defensive, trying to compensate for the Do-mare constantly shifting her attack between an orthodox and south-paw style.

Damnit, she was ambidextrous, and actually knew how to fight both right- and left-hoofed! This one had never encountered that before with an opponent who could switch so seamlessly during a fight. It was badly throwing off this one’s rhythm and ability to predict what was coming.

This one silently cursed its luck. This wasn’t the type of fight where this one could use any of its weapons or tools unless it wanted to get on the bad side of the Captain and crew, and it’s venomous fangs weren’t an option either. No, this one was stuck using its hooves and wits to win, which was a problem when this one found itself backed up against the ropes with the Do-mare ready to continue the assault if it made a move.

“Knock him out, Do-mare!” Kukri cried out.

Puzzle sighed. “This one sees how much its past favors mean to you.”

“That’s because you were on the wrong side,” Kukri said in her defense. “Were. You’re good now, though.”

Puzzle shot her a wry grin. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Daring snickered. “Well if you weren’t such a bad guy at the time, she’d be cheering for you too.”

I smirked as I had Puzzle trapped against the ropes. Sweat matted my coat in the oppressive humid air, but I couldn't have felt better. This wasn’t the first time I’d fought an opponent like him. Guys like him were a well-oiled machine: cold and efficient, and having put in the hours to train themselves into something dangerous. You needed to drop a wrench into their gears. If you could do that, get them off-balance and throw them off their game, then they tended to break down and fall apart at the scene. Now I had him, and he knew it.

“Not so talky now, are ya?” I gloated a little as I stepped closer.

Despite being on his heels, Puzzle still managed to give me a grin. “Just giving you the attention you deserve. I didn't want you to think I wasn't taking you seriously, otherwise you might get offended.”

“Point.” I started skipping back and forth and changing my footing to keep him guessing when and where the hammer was going to fall. “Still, I thought you said you were gonna analyze me and pick me apart easy?”

“Proper analysis requires data,” he told me. “Though if you're getting bored...”

He charged me without further warning. Seems he got tired of me taking the initiative and kicking his butt. He threw a series of quick punches that I either deflected or dodged, and I switched to fighting left-hoofed and fought back with my own fast punches that forced him back. He turtled up, now firmly on the defensive as he was unable to keep up with me. Switching again now that he was against the ropes, I dashed forward and launched more punches and kicks to try and get through his defense. He tried to fight back to get out of his precarious spot, but I easily deflected his attacks and kept right on top of him.

Then I found my moment. His right arm was a bit too slow in returning to a defensive position after deflecting an attack, and I slammed my hoof into the side of his head with a hook. His eyes glazed as his brain got scrambled and he staggered.

Seizing my opportunity, I leapt onto the ropes and pole vaulted off of them. My rear hoof snapped out with the intention of taking Puzzle’s head off. I only caught the whisper of a smirk from Puzzle after I had already committed to the attack, and knew I’d made a big mistake.

Like a viper, his hooves snapped up to grab my outstretched leg and, using my momentum against me, slammed me onto the deck. My world exploded into pain. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’d been in a world of hurt more times than I cared to think about, I’d have been beaten right then and there. But I had, and instincts kicked in when Puzzle locked my left arm behind my back and reached with his right to cut off my airway. I reached up with my free arm to keep him from choking me, but it was a struggle to keep him at bay. It only got worse as Puzzle wrapped his hindlegs around my body and rolled onto his back to get more leverage as his right arm slowly closed on my throat.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I’d let myself get caught up in the moment. I’d gotten too used to dealing with Ephemera’s two-bit thugs where I could play it risky and get away with it to end a fight quick, so instead of keeping up with what was working in a fight, I’d hit a big move that telegraphed what I was doing. A dumb mistake against a guy who would take advantage of every opportunity and could apparently read my moves.

Worse still, I wasn’t much of a ground-pounder, which was really bad when I was about to get choked unconcious. If that happened, the best I could hope for was that I’d be short one magic compass. At worst, I’d probably never wake up.

I outstretched my wings and kicked my legs, forcing us to roll back over so that I was on my belly again. I got my hind legs under me and grunted with effort as I precariously forced myself up with Puzzle continuing to hold on. I lost my balance, but went with the momentum to slam Puzzle’s back against the nearby turnbuckle, causing him to grunt in pain. He managed to maintain his hold, and now had my right arm trapped against my throat as he tried to worm his arm into a choking position.

Running out of time, I remembered my joke I’d told Capital about how Puzzle was the type to use his head in a fight. I pushed my head as far forwards as I could, nearly choking myself on Puzzle’s leg as I did so before snapping my head hard back into Puzzle’s head. The impact caused him to grunt in pain and loosen his grip. Seizing the moment, I pulled myself from his hold and spun to face him.

The back of my head stung, but at least I was out of that bad situation. I grinned as Puzzle blinked in pain from the corner. “Aww, did that hurt?” Before he could answer, I headbutted him again. He turned his head so that our foreheads collided, and my vision flashed white. I stumbled back as the whole world started spinning.

Ow, that might have been a mistake.

“Are you trying to give us both a concussion?!” Puzzle growled as he rubbed his head. Several members of the audience laughed while others hollered for us to keep at it.

I groaned as I grimaced through the self-inflicted pain. “Now I know why Wild Sun always told me nopony wins in a headbutt.”

This fight was starting to get dangerous. I couldn’t afford to play around with this guy anymore. The hot humid air was sapping me, and with my main advantage being my speed, that was bad news. We were going to get into another grapple sooner or later, and that’d be it for me. I needed to find a way to finish this guy and end this quick. The good news was that Puzzle only had one direction to go with him being stuck in the corner. Puzzle could predict logical stuff but he clearly had trouble spotting anything wild and different. I could use that against him.

He charged me, a hoof snapping out at my jaw, but I wasn’t going to get into another exchange with him. I flapped my wings as he came at me and leapt over him, one of my legs kicking off of him to get the air I needed. I stopped myself on a turnbuckle with my outstretched hooves. Before Puzzle could turn around, I brought one of my hind hooves up and delivered a kick right to his groin. He gasped in pain, his legs buckling from the debilitating pain.

Puzzle grumbled. “This one had shifted its southward equipment just in time to avoid the worst of that, but a hit to the groin still very much hurts even as a female.”

“More information than I needed, Puzzle,” I told him.

Seeing he was down, I turned and went after him before he could recover. But before I could get to him, he spun on the ground and kicked his hindleg out to hit me in the knees and I fell hard to the ground. Knowing I was in danger, I scrambled to my hooves as Puzzle did the same. Puzzle was shaky on his hooves, but he still managed to lunge at me. I threw a wild punch, but he managed to dodge the worst of it and got into a grapple with me.

Our limbs twisted and struggled with one another as we each tried to get the better grapple—or in my case, try and get out of it all together. One attempt at a lock followed another as we went back and forth, the two of us too close for me to get any decent strikes in.

Then, right in the middle of our tussle Puzzle suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as he looked over my shoulders. Before I could figure out what was going on, he abruptly fell to his back and lashed out with his hindlegs. I barely got my arms up in time to keep my sternum from getting broken as I absorbed the impact.

A second later a green-colored lightning bolt struck between us, exactly where we’d just been standing.

“The hay?!” My head snapped in the direction the bolt had come from, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see its source. Ephemera grimaced as her gnarly wand smoked, then corrected the aim, pointing it right at me. I snarled, all thoughts of continuing the fight with Puzzle forgotten. “You dirty cheating nag!”

Her bodyguards moved to block me as I charged her. I vaulted off the ring ropes and flew over the muscle. They reached for me, but obviously hadn’t been expecting me to attack from that angle so quickly. Ephemera’s eyes widened, her wand crackling with energy as I slammed hard into her, and it discharged wildly into the air as she lost her grip on her weapon.

There was just one problem: in my haste, I’d hit her too hard. My momentum pushed me right into her, and the both of us hit the railing with enough impact to send us spiraling off the ship. There wasn’t nearly enough time for me to use my wings before I slammed into the water alongside Ephemera.

After a moment I bobbed back to the surface, taking in a lung of fresh air as I reoriented myself. But before I could get my bearings, Ephemera’s flailing limbs grabbed onto me and dragged me back under. I kicked my legs to get back to the surface, coughing from the seawater that’d gotten into my mouth.

“I have had it up to here with you!” I screamed as I forced Ephemera’s head under the water, then hit her for good measure.

“Alp! I ca—wim!” Ephemera continued to splash as she desperately reached out for me. It dawned on me as I created distance between us that her attempts to grab me was just her genuinely trying to stay afloat.

Captain Hazim’s voice bellowed from the Buried Treasure along with the rest of its crew as one word I really didn’t want to hear echoed over the water:

“Shaaaaark!”

One of the sailors pointed out behind me, and I followed his gaze. A dark fin cut its way through the water, moving towards me way faster than I liked. I started swimming back to the ship, and a sailor called out to me. He tossed me the end of a rope which I caught. I started pulling myself in as fast I could, but froze when I caught Ephemera out of the corner of my eye, losing strength fast as she flailed in a panic.

I gritted my teeth. I hated Ephemera; there wasn’t a single thing to like about her. She’d lied, cheated, and stolen to get everything she’d ever gotten. She’d both left me for dead and tried to kill me on multiple occasions, and even worse, stolen priceless artifacts just so she could make a quick bit. She’d definitely earned a fate of getting eaten by some predator. At least then she’d have done something good with her life. It’s not like I wanted to get eaten by some shark either, and it would probably get to her before it got to me.

I sighed as guilt stabbed at me. She was still a pony, and I wasn’t a killer. I swore at my conscience as I turned and grabbed the thankless and half-waterlogged mare before pulling myself towards the ship, knowing I couldn’t pull fast enough to get away from that shark.

This was extremely inconvenient.

Matters had spiraled out of control after the Ephemera-mare had decided to interfere in the match. Not that she had informed this one she planned on doing that or that it was a possibility at all. Maybe it was because she was merely seizing on a perceived opportunity, but that was the type of thing you planned for ahead of time. Otherwise big messes like this happened.

Now this one’s employer was half-drowned and at the tender mercies of her nemesis. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a shark, a white pointer unless this one missed its guess, was closing in on them. The Ephemera-mare’s guards were in heavy armor, unable to go into the water without drowning themselves. Not that they seemed to know what to do anyways as they stared over the rail helplessly. The Do-mare could kill the Ephemera-mare, but that shark most definitely would in order to make a meal for itself.

“Actually, sharks usually don’t eat ponies,” Kukri informed us. “They’re just curious about what we are and ‘mouth’ us to get a better understanding, kinda like a puppy with a new toy. Ponies usually bleed to death from the bite rather than from being ripped apart by a dedicated attack.”

Daring snorted. “That sounds great when you don’t have one bearing down on you. But just saying, I’m not going to let a shark take a chunk out of my leg just to see what I taste like out of the kindness of my heart.”

“It’s usually a mistake to think nature is your friend,” Puzzle agreed.

While it might be convenient if the Do-Mare perished here, this one’s employer being dead in the water—figuratively or otherwise—was far less so. It wasn’t thrilled with the Ephemera-mare heedlessly taking matters into her own hooves or nearly shooting this one with her wand, but without her there was no expedition, and more importantly no payday.

Thus this one ran over to its equipment and snatched up its gauntlet. Quickly snapping it on, it then ran for the railing and took off into the air, flying over the heads of the observers. There wasn’t much time to aim this one’s shot; either this one hit its target dead-on the first time, or it would hit this one’s employer or the Do-mare.

This one flew close to the water with its gauntlet ready to strike. Belatedly, this one worried about the shark jumping out of the water to try and bite this one, but by then it was too late to change its mind. Hesitation would only have gotten someone killed, so this one made the final corrections in its flight path as the shark sped up for its attack. In but a few seconds this one crossed paths with the shark and this one struck.

Only for an instant did this one’s hoof touch the shark’s fin, but that was enough for the gauntlet to do its job. Electricity flowed from this one’s gauntlet into the shark. This one wasn’t much in the way of a heavy hitter, hence why it had its magic gauntlet. It was made to pack a punch, and the shark briefly convulsed as lethal levels of electricity flash-fried it. To my satisfaction, it slowly sank below the waves.

This one turned, knowing it was probably going to have to help the Ephemera-mare back onto the ship, but what this one saw surprised it. The Do-mare was actually holding on to her as the sailor dragged the both of them onto the deck. Considering the two were longtime nemeses, that wasn’t what this one would have expected. At the very least this one would have expected the Do-mare to let the Ephemera-mare sink through purposeful inaction, if not active malevolence.

It turned out to be a very good thing that they got back onto the deck when they did, because a dark and very large shape, much larger than the great white, slowly made its way up near the surface. There was a brief sucking noise as the shadow of the shark disappeared into the larger shape, and a moment later viscera and pink water bubbled to the surface. Thankfully, whatever beast had come near the surface returned to the depths and disappeared, satisfied with its meal—this one hoped.

“Oooh, that was probably a platejaw!” Kukri exclaimed.

Daring frowned. “A what?”

“It’s a type of deep-sea armored fish that eats sharks,” Kukri informed us. “Imagine a cylinder with a tail, fins, bony armor around the head that’s thick as a shield, and a guillotine for a mouth, and you’re not far off. The local eggheads have some kind of weird name for it, like dunking … dunkle … dunkley-ass…”

“Dunkleosteus?” Puzzle offered.

“That’s the one!” Kukri chirped, sounding far too happy about the prospect.

With no reason to linger in the air, this one flew back to the Buried Treasure and landed on the deck. As soon as the Ephemera-mare was back on the ship, her guards roughly took her away from the Do-mare and shoved her back.

“You’re welcome!” the Do-mare groused as she let them take their employer. “Jerks.”

The Ephemera-mare’s only response was to cough water onto the deck. Captain Hazim strode over and glowered at each mare in turn. “Well, aren't you a sorry pair?”

“One of us sorrier than the other,” Daring declared as she took her hat from the Idea-stallion.

“Indeed.” The Captain focused his glare on the Ephemera-mare. “You lost, missy.”

The Ephemera-mare coughed a few more times before she was able to reply. “L-lost? What do you mean? My champion didn't lose.”

“No, but you’re disqualified for that stunt you pulled.” He extended a hoof to her. “Hand over your compass.”

The Ephemera-mare’s head snapped up with a baleful glare as she seemed to recover a bit of her energy. “I'll do no such thing! It’s mine!” Her hoof instinctively shot to her neck to grasp the compass, only for her hoof to touch nothing. She patted herself, trying to find the compass, and this one developed a sudden sinking feeling in its stomach.

The Do-mare smirked. “It's alright, Ephy, you don't have to.” She presented a compass on a silver chain—our compass—for everyone to see.

Damnit, she must have snatched it while saving the Ephemera-mare. Assuming that hadn’t been her objective all along in pulling her out of the sea. Part of this one admired her boldness and keeping a clear head in a crisis, even if losing the compass this one had nearly lost its life collecting was extremely annoying. This whole fiasco looked like it was going to set us back.

The Ephemera-mare’s eyes widened and she patted herself more desperately to find the compass that had been in her possession just a little bit ago. “B-but I just had it! When—“ she turned a baleful glare the Do-mare’s way.

The Do-mare smirked as she slowly waved the compass back and forth. “You didn't think I was gonna let it sink with you, did you?”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 6

After the fight with the Do-mare, this one returned to its cabin to think over the situation it now found itself in. This one looked itself over in the small cabin mirror slowly and carefully this one added realistic bruises and swelling where this one had been hit. Changeling chitin didn’t have the same properties as mammalian skin, so unless this one made a point of changing its disguise it wouldn’t show wounds the same way an equine would. It was the type of oversight that caused a changeling to give themselves away. People would start asking questions if this one didn’t show any wounds after getting into a slugout. The key to a good disguise was to be so perfect that no one questioned it to start with.

Examining this one’s battered-looking face served as a bitter reminder of how things had gone back on deck. The fight had been tougher than this one had thought it would be. Oh, this one hadn’t expected a cakewalk, but that had been ugly. The Do-mare was a true natural fighter. Most people needed years of hard training and discipline to become a proper warrior, but she seemed like one of those rare gifted individuals for whom the battlefield was their natural environment.

That knowledge didn’t exactly help this one feel all that much better, physically or psychologically. This one had some talent with using its hooves, but nothing like what the Do-mare had. This one had spent years working on its skills until it was a well-honed instrument. The issue wasn’t helped by the fact that this one wasn’t even sure how the fight would have ended if it had continued. This one had been getting a better grasp on how to fight the Do-mare as it went on, but she had thrown more than one surprise this one’s way.

And this one would never know how that fight would have ended. Afterwards, the Ephemera-mare claimed that she saw an opportunity to take out her nemesis and took it, saying that she had no intention of hitting this one. It was possible she was being honest, but at the time it sure looked like she was firing far too closely for this one’s liking. The Ephemera-mare’s treatment of her other employees made this one suspect she would be quite willing to write this one off as collateral damage if she still achieved her goals. That her actions had cost us our compass didn’t make this one much happier, either.

Hence why this one was sitting in its cabin to think. There was a great deal to think about: how to deal with the Do-mare, how to get our compass back, what to do about the Ephemera-mare, our plans once we got back to land, and so on. Unfortunately, there weren’t any easy answers to those questions. This one wondered if it might have to come up with some inventive solutions to its problems.

A knock on the door pulled this one out of its ruminations. “Who is it?”

The door opened up to reveal an unexpected guest. Before this one stood a zebra mare with a willowy body and a severe face framed by a pair of glasses. She gave this one a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Hello, my name is Alya. I wanted to talk, if you have the time.”

This one frowned and wondered what all of this could be about. This one recognized Alya as one of its fellow passengers, though she had mainly kept to the other merchants that were also taking passage on the Buried Treasure. “And what brings you to me?”

Alya sat at the small desk opposite of the bed this one was reclining on. “I’m a merchant and alchemist who represents the Clover Consortium, and I have a business proposal for you.”

Now this was interesting—suspiciously so, but still interesting. At least it would give this one something else to think about for a few minutes. The Clover Consortium was a major business venture in the Zebrican Empire that had been created when several wealthy merchant houses had combined their resources through a complicated series of marriages. They were no small players, assuming Alya really did work for them.

“How intriguing. And what would your proposal be?”

“It has to do with you planning to head into the continent's interior,” Alya answered.

“Is that so?” This one leaned back, its curiosity growing by the second. “Few people have any desire to do business there, least of all the inhabitants. It’s my impression that no foreigner is even allowed into the interior.”

Alya frowned deeply. “Yes, that's no small part of the problem my consortium is facing. The Dromaed tribes only allow limited trade within their territories, if at all.”

“And even that comes with no guarantees when it comes to the local wildlife,” Alya observed.
“It makes it rather hard to make a profit when you have to worry about being eaten by large carnivorous lizards.”

This one snorted derisively. “That certainly sounds inconvenient.” Once again this one was annoyed by its lack of knowledge about the Dromaed. This one liked to know what it was getting into. What you didn’t know was what was most liable to kill you.

This one leaned forward as it thought of its next question. “So what does your consortium seek?”

Alya grinned wryly at this one. “Seeds.”

“Seeds?” This one raised an eyebrow. “Why seeds?”

Alyra waggled a hoof in front of this one. “Not just any seeds. You see, there are rare spices, medicines, and alchemical ingredients that only grow in the hinterland forests of the southern half of the continent. Lands that no non-Dromaeds are even allowed to get close to. The right plants could be worth a fortune if they could be harvested and removed from the region.”

Ah, so this is what she wanted: profit. That was a reasonable enough motivation, and one this one understood well. “Small surprise, though how well those seeds would adapt to a different climate...”

Alya smiled knowingly. “Which is why my consortium has specially prepared enchanted greenhouses suited to perfectly replicate the necessary climate. If we can get the seeds back to Zebrica the farmers can take care of the rest.”

This one crossed its legs over its chest as it thought this over. “It sounds like your group has thought it out pretty thoroughly.”

“In nearly every aspect, yes.” Alya frowned and leaned closer to this one. “Except for one: we need to actually get the desired seeds out of Dromaed lands.”

“That is rather central to your plans, yes.” She hadn’t explicitly said so, but this one imagined the penalties were quite high for anyone caught trying to smuggle the proposed seeds. The Dromaed were an insular people, and they did not give up their secrets easily.

“And what did you want from me in that regard?” this one asked. “I know a great many things, but herblore is not one of my strengths. And that’s assuming this one is heading into the hinterlands to start with.”

Alya scoffed. “Oh, you’re going. I saw that compass you were all fighting over earlier. I know what they are and what their purpose is.” The smile on her lips spread. “You want to get into the City of Giants, and to get there you need to go into the hinterlands.”

This one made a mental note to be careful about where it allowed anyone to see those compasses, assuming we could retrieve one again for ourselves. That was a rather prickly issue at the moment.

“Still, I hardly know anything about harvesting, or what you want,” this one pointed out. “I’m hardly familiar with the country, much less its herbology.” That wasn’t entirely true, this one knew how to make potions, but she probably didn’t know that. But if she did know then that would tell this one much. It was possible she was actually affiliated with the bounty hunters after this one, so giving her some room to screw up her disguise was to this one’s advantage. Not to mention this one wanted to see Alya’s hoof in this. Having her tell this one everything she knew could only benefit this one.

“No, but I do,” she said. “I’ve been working with potions and herbs my entire life, I know exactly what the Clover Consortium desires, and how best to harvest the desired plants.”

“Then you wish to accompany us?”

Alya nodded. “I could make it worth your while. If we can collect the right plants, then my employers would be willing to offer you a considerable sum for your help.”

“I certainly wouldn't object to that.” Though that depended on the offer being genuine. “Of course, I would need to clear any such arrangement with my current employer, and I would like proof you work for who you say you do.”

“Naturally.” Alya pulled out some papers for me to review. “I would have contacted your employer first, but unfortunately the Captain's guards aren't exactly allowing her visitors at the moment.”

“No, they are not.” This one had only been able to have a brief conversation with the Ephemera-mare through some sweet words and a bribe. “But I never like to burn bridges unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Especially when I would be burning bridges with the type of people who take that personally.”

That last statement was intended to provoke a reaction from the Alya-mare, but she wasn’t the one to reply.

A familiar voice echoed from through the doorway. “Then maybe you should think twice about working for a vicious nag like Ephemera.” The Do-mare pushed open the door and leaned against the frame.

This one raised an eyebrow, a stab of irritation running through it. It didn’t appreciate being eavesdropped on.

Daring snorted. “That’s rich coming from you, Mr. Information Broker.”

“This one’s eavesdropped enough times to know how much important information often gets passed around in private conversations,” Puzzle countered. “And the Do-mare listening in on a potentially illegal contract wasn’t something this one wanted to have happen right then and there.”

Daring frowned. “Point.”

This one instinctively evaluated the situation. The two escape routes were either through the window or past the Do-mare to get into the hallway. Potential fighting conditions were cramped, leaving this one the better position in the event of a fight. All of this one’s weapons were present, but most of them were in this one’s saddlebags and its shock gauntlet hadn’t had enough time to recharge. A fight would likely result in the crew responding, in addition to risking injuring Alya and giving her a negative impression of this one. The Do-mare didn’t seem aggressive, but there was wariness in how she carried herself as she leaned against the doorframe. Best to ask her why she was here then.

“I don't recall inviting you in,” this one told her.

Daring shot this one a cocksure grin. “Yeah, but here I am.”

This one scowled and turned to address Alya. “Could we talk later? It seems this pony has some business with me that just can’t wait.” It struck this one as best to keep the two mares separate. The Do-mare might poison the Alya-mare’s opinions about this one and the Ephemera-mare with her rather vocal and caustic opinion. Or at the very least, negotiate a lower price for our services.

Kukri nodded. “As Dad would say, never pay five ducats for something you can pay with one.”

Alya looked between us before nodding. “Yeah, sure.” She stood up and Daring let her pass, leaving the two of us alone.

“So, you still owe me a friendly hoofshake for the end of our match,” the Do-mare said.

This one considered the Do-mare for a long moment. Was she teasing this one? Sincere? Taking a measure of this one? This one couldn’t say for sure one way or another. So this one decided to play nice for now. After all, good manners cost nothing. “Alright then.” This one said as it offered her a hoofshake.

“Well fought.” She shook this one’s hoof. “Have to admit, it's been a long time since I fought anyone that could keep up with me.”

This one inclined its head. “I could say much the same.”

The shaking done, the Do-mare looked this one over. “So what's your deal, then?”

This one put its defenses up. The Do-mare must have been looking for intel. That made sense considering our fight. This one would do the same in her place. “My deal?”

She waved vaguely. “Like why you're working for an evil jerk like Ephemera. You're not her usual brand of minion. Most of them are big, muscly, and I’d call them dumb as rocks, but that wouldn’t be fair to the rocks.”

This one shrugged. “She paid very well.”

“Again, weird for Ephemera.” The Do-mare tipped her hat back and scratched her head. “So what, you're some Freeportian merc?”

“Indeed so.” That was effectively what this one was now. Perhaps this hadn’t been the career path this one had planned for, but here it was.

“And what were you doing before?” I asked.

Puzzle waved the question off. “We’ll cover that later.”

“Figures. Though is that all you are?” Before this one could protest, the Do-mare snatched up this one’s saddlebags and started rifling through them.

This one tensed and scowled. “Give those back right now, or this conversation will become considerably less civil.”

The Do-mare didn’t show any concern about this one’s threat as she hummed to herself while looking through this one’s objects. “Daggers, batons, tools for breaking and entering, firegems, potions, a thunderflash stone, and a jar of suspicious-looking green stuff.” She tossed the bag back to this one and it roughly hit this one’s barrel. “So you just a merc, or would ‘assassin’ be more accurate? Though I guess an assassin is just a highly specialized type of merc. I bet plenty of assassins would like that nasty gauntlet of yours. I saw how it took out that shark that was looking to make me a meal.”

“It depends on the pay and the target.” This one pushed its saddlebags under its bed. This one didn’t like its personal possessions—the only things it really owned anymore—being gone through like that.

The Do-mare frowned as she watched this one. “So what're you getting paid for? Just to do Ephemera's dirty work, or did she have something nasty in mind for a specific nemesis?”

So that’s what she was getting at. She wondered if this one was a threat to her and her own expedition. A fair enough worry considering our fight earlier and her past history with the Ephemera-mare. The Ephemera-mare had even told this one to kill the Do-mare during our fight, though this one had been ambivalent about the idea. Especially doing it in front of so many others. There was also the fact that it seemed so unnecessary. This one had killed before, yes, but only for good reasons and when necessary. This one had hoped to injure the Do-mare and leave it at that; and a broken leg wouldn’t be hard to explain given the free-for-all we’d been thrust into. People got badly injured in far less risky sports all the time. It wasn’t like the Do-mare could go trekking through a dangerous wilderness with a broken leg, and if she couldn’t follow us she wasn’t a threat.

Daring raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a little creepy hearing about you talking about maiming or killing me.”

Puzzle gave her an overly sweet grin. “Though this one wouldn’t imagine taking a job to hurt you now. This one likes you.”

“So it’s just you liking me that keeps you from thinking about breaking my legs?” Daring snorted, though there was a hint of a smile on her features. “Geeze, that makes me feel so much better.”

In truth, this one was surprised the Ephemera-mare hadn’t indeed hired an assassin to deal with the Do-mare before now, though not overly so. The Ephemera-mare seemed to like to do things on the cheap, and capable assassins tended to be very expensive. A weakness of hers. Of course, she might very well have hired an assassin and hadn’t told this one. This one hadn’t asked, after all.

“So far, you haven't come up,” this one lied. “But I would be surprised if it's not on her list. You two do have a history.”

The Do-mare scowled. This one wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t believe it.

“I didn’t,” Daring confirmed.

“Yeah? So where does that leave us?” Daring asked.

This one shrugged. “For the moment, she's locked up by the captain.”

“So, you don't make decisions?” Daring snorted derisively. “You just do whatever Ephemera does because she's the one bankrolling you.”

“I wouldn't go that far,” I said. “But obviously if my employer is a non-factor...”

“Until we get to land, and Captain Hazim kicks her off his ship.”

“I don't break contract without a very good reason,” I told her.

“Like what? She stops paying?”

This one nodded. “That would certainly qualify. I would also refuse to honor a contract that crossed certain ... lines of acceptability.” In truth, this one had been seriously reconsidering its deal with the Ephemera-mare. There wasn’t much this one liked about her, and the money she was offering was quickly becoming not worth the trouble to work with her. Now how best to act if this one did decide to break our contract...

The Do-mare sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Figures, you're just the expensive version of the muscle she normally hires. I really don’t get guys like you; people who hire themselves out to evil nags like Ephemera. You saw how she tried to zap the both of us during our fight, right? Just saying, I’d think twice about working for somepony that tried to flash-fry me.”

This one stiffened slightly. “She claims she had a clear shot at you.”

“And you believe her?” The Do-mare scoffed. “Well my back was to her, so I'm sure you can take her word on that. After all, she’s been so benevolent to her other employees thus far.”

This one grunted neutrally. What more needed saying?

The two of us remained silent for a time, but eventually the Do-mare shrugged. “Thanks for saving me from the shark anyways, even if I'm pretty sure that was mostly just to save your boss. It’s not just any day someone pulls my rear out of the fire.”

This one found itself chuckling. “Not just for that. It would hardly have been sporting for me to let it end that way.”

The Do-mare quirked an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“I did not think it so mysterious,” this one said. “Letting you get killed by some shark would hardly have been a proper way for this to end. Besides, this one wants to learn if it can really beat you, not just let some random third party take you out.”

In truth, this one didn’t know what it had been thinking. Normally this one would have let the shark have the Do-mare and dusted its hooves off at a job well done. Now though? It didn’t know. This one’s whole life had been upturned since running from Freeport. This job and its budding rivalry with the Do-mare were all it really had at the moment. Letting its emotions get the better of it was wrong, this one knew, but there it was.

The Do-mare studied this one before grinning. “You're a weird guy, you know that?”

This one smothered a chuckle. “You're not the first to tell me that.”

The Do-mare pushed herself off the doorframe to face this one. “So I guess it's only fair to warn you that if you try to tangle with me again I'm gonna knock you out. Guaranteed.”

This one smirked back at her. “We shall see.”

The next day we arrived at the port city of Haztuha, gateway to the lands of the Dromaed. It didn’t look like much as we approached. A couple dozen or so wood buildings were surrounded by a wooden wall and several piers stretched out into the water to accommodate the couple of merchant ships in the harbor. The merchant and fishing vessel ships in the harbor looked to be Zebrican in design. The one structure that stood out was a slightly dilapidated pyramid that sat in the middle of the town, albeit one of a different aesthetic from the pyramids of Somnambula, being narrower and straighter than the even proportions of its desert cousins.

My smile widened as the Buried Treasure slowly settled into dock and laid anchor. Finally! We were in the land of the Dromaed. True, I could only see zebras along the pier, but all the work, research, making deals, traveling, and fighting for my life were finally paying off. It was still a long way to the City of Giants, but we were a hay of a lot closer than we had been.

“You seem happy,” Capital observed with a smile.

“Of course I’m happy,” I said as the crew went about laying down the gangplank and worked to let all their passengers off. “We’re finally here! This is the type of thing I live for. To visit strange new lands, see new sights, and learn new things.”

“I quite agree,” Capital said. “My Uncle Interesting told me all about his trip here, but words really fail to convey the image. I mean just look at that pyramid! You don’t get those back home, no sir. It makes me wonder what else there is to see here.”

The sailors finished putting down the gangway, and I led the way off the ship. “It’s gonna have to wait,” I told him. “First we need to get the supplies we’ll need to go inland, not to mention we’re going to need to get a passport from the mayor. Seems they don’t want just anyone heading into the jungle.”

Capital let out a huff as he followed me. His retinue worked to pull all of our stuff off the ship, and I hoped it wouldn’t take too long given there were crates of stuff to unload. “Oh very well, business before pleasure. Though really, we can spend at least a little time to see the sights and get to know the town.”

I shook my head. “That’s a no-go. We’re still in a race with Ephemera and her goons. Remember, we have both compasses now, and she’s gonna want at least one of them back.”

I looked up at the ship, saw Puzzle leaning against the railing on the aft castle. He wasn’t looking right at us, but I knew he was watching.

“This one always has an eye for you,” Puzzle teased with a grin.

Daring snorted. “For me, and half of Freeport.”

“True, but there’s a difference between business and pleasure.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. These two were the type of old friends that made you feel like the third wheel. “Down you two. Maybe let’s get back to the story?”

Ephemera hadn’t made an appearance yet, but that was only a matter of time. Thanks to her bad behavior during the trip, Captain Hazim was only going to let her disembark from the ship after the other passengers left. That bought us a little bit of time, but not much.

Capital’s hoof reached up to fidget with the compass I had won during the voyage. “I really don’t see why Ephemera couldn’t have been made to see reason.” He sighed. “But I suppose we will merely do what we must. I certainly cannot condone her actions thus far. She tried to hurt you!”

“She tried to do a lot more than that.” I glowered up at Puzzle. “We need to watch our backs and get moving as quickly as possible.”

Capital took a deep breath and nodded. “Right, so what’s our first move?”

I motioned for Capital to follow me, putting some distance between us and the ship. No sense letting anyone easily overhear what we were saying. Even if Puzzle was a good lip reader it’d be difficult for him to get a read on us through the crowd that filled the busy docks. “We’ll let your retinue deal with unloading everything. Maybe you can send Proper to get us some lodgings? As much as I’d like to head out there right now, it’s getting late, and we don’t want to be heading into the jungle when it’s about to get dark.”

“That’s what my Uncle Interesting said,” Capital agreed. “So maybe we should go talk with the mayor while my retinue takes care of some of the other details?”

“Sounds good. Once we’re set, we’re going to head up the Sewa River to Szuszushlui. My research says that it’s the central meeting place for the green seers, and they’re probably the only people who can give us permission to go to the Zihlius.”

Capital grimaced. “I’m still worried they won’t let us go. I mean, it is a forbidden city. That kind of says it all, doesn’t it? Nobody but the hristak and the green seers are allowed to even visit the ruins there.”

“But that’s the thing.” I pulled him aside into an alley so we could talk more quietly. “Nopony has ever been there as far as we know. That’s what makes this so huge: there’s so much we could learn by going there. There’ll be artifacts there that we won’t be able to find anywhere else.”

Capital smiled, some of his usual jovial spirit returning. “Then we’ll just have to win them over with our wit and charm to let us go.”

“Exactly, we can’t worry about failure,” I told him. “If we let ourselves get paralyzed by everything that could go wrong we’ll never get anything done. Besides, it’s not like Ephemera is gonna stop just because the Green Seers say it’s against the rules. She doesn’t care about anything but herself and the size of her bank accounts. At the very least we will need to warn the Green Seers she’s coming, but after that we’ll wing it.”

“Probably the best plan we have until we get a few more details. We certainly can’t let that disreputable mare steal from the forbidden city,” Capital said, his gaze shifting to the pyramid looming over the city. “So, shall we get going, my fine mare?”

I led the way down the main avenue that led to the pyramid. “No time like the present.”

This one watched as the Do-mare and Idea-stallion made their way to the pyramid. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what they were going for. After the Do-mare’s interruption, this one had gone back to the Alya-mare and hammered out a potentially profitable agreement between us. Once that was done, this one had started asking everything it could about the Dromaed: their nations, leaders, politics, customs, economics, anything that might be useful. Among the things this one had learned was that the Dromaed tribes didn’t like seeing foreigners moving through their territory. While some tribes were friendlier than others, they still had a pretty strong xenophobic streak.

Those restrictions instinctively grated against this one’s sensibilities. This one was a Freeporter through and through, and Freeporters were used to being able to travel freely, either within our own nation, on the seas, or visiting other nations. Naturally other nations had a right to know who was coming and going, but just visiting for business or pleasure was rarely a major issue; at least with neighbors like Equestria, Westmarch or Northmarch, all of whom were interested in the goods Freeport possessed.

By comparison, the Dromaed just seemed to have little to no interest in the outside world or its foreign peoples. That struck this one as narrow-sighted. A nation was made stronger by the exchange of ideas, people, and goods. To forbid such things was to invite stagnation, and from the sound of things, that is exactly what had happened to the Dromaed. Despite having a civilization that dated back millenia, life among the Dromaed hadn’t changed significantly in all that time. It continued to be ruled by its various petty monarchs, the green seers gave its leaders and people advice and offered their spellcasting services, and the average people engaged in some agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting and gathering, and primitive crafts.

Admittedly, it probably suited the Dromaed just fine. But from everything this one had read, such societies could only operate as long as they remained isolated from the world. That was a problem when the world seemed to become a smaller place with every passing decade. More than one nation had been absorbed because it had withdrawn on itself, only to have its neighbors surpass it and come to conquer it.

Kukri groaned. “Can you skip the lessons already? This one wants to get to the next fight.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you to learn a bit,” I told my apprentice. I didn’t know all that much about the Dromaed, truth be told, so I was getting to learn quite a bit from this. Not the least of which was Puzzle himself. Thus far this had proven to be an enlightening experience about my friend.

This one was pulled out of its ruminations on this new land as a trio of hoofsteps sounded behind it.

“Time to go,” the Ephemera-mare said, carrying herself with her usual air of calm detachment. “We’ve wasted enough time as is.”

“Alright then.” This one pushed off the railing and led the way to the gangplank. The Alya-mare was waiting for us on the pier, and this one gave her a smile. “Ready to go?”

“As I’ll ever be.” The Alya-mare certainly looked it. She wore a pair of well-worn but sturdy saddle-bags, and a bandolier of potions crossed her barrel. This one made a mental note to ask her what sort of potions she had available later, in the event of an emergency.

“Come on then,” the Ephemera-mare said with considerably less kindness. She brushed past the two of us, one of her guards nearly barreling this one over as he tried to stay right by his master’s side.

This one frowned but fell in behind them with the Alya-mare not far behind. The sailors of the Buried Treasure shot us a number of nasty looks as we departed the ship, but didn’t otherwise impede us as we left. Once we were off the ship, this one remarked, “Nice to be back on land.”

The Ephemera-mare didn’t reply, and when this one gave the Alya-mare an inquiring look she shrugged. This one tried to spark up conversation again, as it didn’t like the idea of being casually disregarded. “I have to say, we were a bit overcharged for the accommodations. The cabins were small, and the food was only passable. Oh, and being made to fight for the crew’s entertainment. Have to say, not a ship I’d recommend traveling on again.”

The Ephemera-mare snorted. “Perhaps you were overcharged, but I got myself a refund, and then some.” She pulled out a bag of coin that clinked as she swung it.

This one pressed its lips together as it considered the implications of that. “I can’t imagine Captain Hazim would have just given you all that money back. Especially after all that happened during the trip.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Captain Hazim,” the Ephemera-mare said as she slipped the coin back into her bags. “He won’t be bothering us.”

That sounded ominous. What exactly had she done? She certainly made it sound like she’d stolen from the Captain, and even more than that. Something he was going to find out sooner or later, and would no doubt be very unhappy about. That was the type of thing that could get the city guards after us if Hazim decided to tell them he’d been robbed. Those facts made the theft an unnecessarily risk to our objectives from this one’s perspective. There were times when risks were necessary to complete a mission, but this wasn’t one of them.

Still, this one decided not to inquire further into the matter. This one couldn’t admit to anything it didn’t know—officially, anyways. That would come in handy if we were questioned by the guards. Considering the matter was already done, this one concentrated on the future. “So what’s the plan? You seem to know where you’re going.”

The Ephemera-mare didn’t bother to look at this one as she addressed it. “I don’t answer to you, Puzzle. You work for me, not the other way.”

This one buried its irritation. The Ephemera-mare needed to be taught something about employee relationships, and while this one hadn’t technically been hired for that, ineffectiveness still got on this one’s nerves. “But I’d be more effective if I knew what we were doing. Encouraging initiative in one’s employees by expressing your desires clearly can yield great benefits if done right.”

The Ephemera-mare’s steps slowly slightly as she peeked over her shoulder at this one. “Is that so?”

This one nodded. “For instance, if you still want that compass this one might very well be able to retrieve it for you.”

That was part of this one’s motivations. The other part was that this one would like to make some other arrangements if possible. Such as getting itself a meal. This one was nearly out of thymoplasm even after careful rationing, and its belly ached with hunger. The hunger was disrupting this one’s concentration and making it irritable. This one had to force itself not to look at every passing couple walking down the harbor. That problem needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.

The Ephemera-mare raised her chin with a derisive sniff. “You retrieving the compass would be nice considering you lost it to start with. I don’t relish the idea of being forced to chase Daring yet again.”

This one glowered at its employer. Had this mare even heard of employee morale before? “So if you give me a good idea of what you’re going to do, I can head off and see if I can get the compass back from our competition.”

The Ephemera-mare considered this one for a long moment before nodding. “Alright. My patron has provided me with everything I’ll be needing for the next leg of our journey. Assuming you can retrieve the compass, we should be able to head out before long.” She pointed down to a nearby warehouse. “I’ll be there. Go and do whatever it is you do.”

This one inclined its head. “Alright then. If all goes well this one should be back by nightfall.”

This one turned to go, but hardly made it more than a step before being interrupted. A great explosion erupted from the Buried Treasure, with pillars of fire bursting from every hole of the ship. This one instinctively dove behind some crates as debris started falling in the area around the ship. When this one determined it wasn’t in any immediate danger, it started taking stock of the situation.

Alya was ducking behind some barrels, her eyes wide as sudden devastation reigned. But what really caught this one’s eye was the Ephemera-mare. Her guards continued to stand by her side, whatever preservation instincts they had overridden by their mandate to protect their master. The Ephemera-mare herself stood still, a slight smirk on her lips as she watched the Buried Treasure burn. Watching her demeanor now and having heard her words earlier, it wasn’t hard to figure out who had caused the Buried Treasure’s sudden and terrible misfortune.

“Oh, and Puzzle,” the Ephemera-mare said in a cold voice. “Don’t fail me. I so hate failures.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 7

“What do you mean we aren’t allowed to go inland?!” I slammed my hooves down on the bureaucrat’s desk. Various objects on the desk jostled at the impact, and the reedy-looking zebra on the other side snapped out a hoof to keep a pen from rolling off.

The clerk shot me an unamused glower as he straightened a stack of papers. “Exactly as I said: we don’t allow tourists to just go gallivanting around the forest. It’s just asking for trouble.”

“Now I know that to be quite untrue,” Capital objected. “My uncle was allowed to visit this country a couple of decades ago, and it didn’t cause any trouble.”

The bureaucrat shrugged. “Maybe that was the case before, but it’s not now. The last time we allowed a bunch of tourists to go in the jungle it was a hoofful of kids vacationing during their college break.” His eyes narrowed. “All we found were some half-eaten bodies.”

I ground my teeth together. I really hated bureaucracy. There was always someone there to tell you no, or that you had to pay out if you wanted to do anything. When we’d come to the central pyramid of the little port town, we’d planned on going right to the mayor to get everything sorted out, but instead we’d been stalled by a clerk.

“Is that so?” I glowered at the clerk, not willing to back down. “Then you should know we’re not some dumb tourists with no clue what we’re doing. We’re experienced explorers and archeologists, and we’re well prepared for our expedition. Just check our credentials and how many people we’ve brought to do this.”

“The Mayor’s instructions are quite firm on the matter,” the clerk said with bureaucratic obstinacy. “No one from outside of Haztuha is allowed to go into the forest. That’s both for your protection and for the people of Haztuha. We don’t need some half-cocked adventurers heading off and getting the Dromaed riled up or awakening some buried supernatural evil that’ll threaten the whole continent. More than one settlement along the coast has already been wiped out by that type of thing, and we’re determined not to have it happen to us.”

“But all we want to do is go on an archaeological expedition! It’s not like we plan on causing trouble.” Well, we did kinda want to go into the Dromaed’s forbidden city, but we wanted to at least try to ask permission before going there. Ugh, bureaucracy.

The clerk shook his head. “No means no. Now if you don’t mind, I have other people who have business.” He waved for us to get out of the way.

I bared my teeth as I felt my blood boil. “Hey! You can’t just brush us aside like—“

Capital’s restraining hoof grasped my shoulder. “Come now Daring, no need to cause a scene.” He flashed the clerk a bright smile. “Could we perhaps schedule an appointment with the Mayor? I’m sure we can clear things up with him after a short conversation.”

The clerk eyes narrowed as he frowned. “The Mayor is a very busy stallion. He doesn’t have time to see everyone that isn’t happy with the laws of the port.”

“That’s quite alright.” Capital pulled out a business card and placed it on the desk. “Tell him Lord Capital Idea, heir to the Marquess of Westmarch would like to see him over dinner, if at all possible. I have some absolutely divine cigars as well as a bottle or two of Bluegrass bourbon I wouldn’t mind sharing after the meal. If nothing else, we can trade a story or two and enjoy one another’s company.”

The clerk frowned as he looked over the business card. “The Mayor already has plenty on his plate to deal with.”

“Just pass along my message, please? Do that and I promise we’ll be out of your mane.”

The bureaucrat huffed but nodded. “Very well. I’ll pass your message on, but I won’t promise anything after that.”

“That’s all I ask. Good day to you, sir.” Capital moved towards the door. “Come along Daring, let's leave him to it.”

No small part of me wanted to keep arguing with the clerk until he gave us what we wanted, but in the end I thought better of it and followed Capital. “Well isn’t this off to a great start?” I groused once we were out of earshot. “Stonewalled by some self-important bureaucrat.”

“Oh, he’s just following his instructions.” Capital waved a hoof casually. “You can hardly blame him for not wanting to get into trouble at work. Besides, it’ll work out in the end. After a friendly chat with the Mayor he’ll see it our way and let us continue on our way.”

“I hope it’ll be that easy,” I said.

Capital gave me a smile. “I’m sure the Mayor is a reasonable fellow who just wants to protect the people that come to his town.”

“Shame we don’t have forever to wait around town to sort things out with this guy.” The clock was ticking, and Ephemera was no doubt up to something—or more likely, several somethings. I just knew it had to be her who blew up the Buried Treasure. I couldn't prove it, but the incident had her hoofprints all over it. We were just lucky we hadn’t been on the ship when it’d gone up in flames. Not everyone else had been so lucky; Captain Hazim had gone down with his ship from the news on the street, and our expedition had lost several crates of supplies. Next time I saw Ephemera I was really going to need to give another introduction of my hoof to her face.

And while Ephemera was bad enough, Puzzle’s presence only made things worse. The guy was an order of magnitude more dangerous than a dozen of Ephemera’s usual brand of cheap thugs. The guy actually had a working brain, for one, and he definitely knew how to fight. And unlike Ephemera and lot of the creeps I’d gone up against, he had self control. Part of the reason why I’d confronted him during the voyage was to see if I could get under his skin for the inevitable round two, but he kept his cool the whole time.

Yeah, he was cool—cool enough to stick a dagger right between my ribs when I wasn’t looking with no hesitation. That knowledge made my blood run cold. This journey was getting more dangerous by the day, and the sooner we put some distance between us and Ephemera the better.

But first things first: we needed to get a plan going, and Capital might be able to do what he said he could. If not, then we’d come up with a Plan B. I’d improvised plenty of plans over the years, and if anything we could always sneak out of the town. Not ideal, especially if we needed to come back here to go back to Equestria, but I was reasonably sure we could pull it off.

“Alright, let's check up on how everypony’s doing with salvaging our supplies,” I told Capital. “Maybe by the time we’re done the Mayor will have gotten back to us.”

“Don’t worry so much.” Capital patted me on the back. “Everything will turn out alright in the end, trust me.”

I really wished I could.

This one wasn’t happy. Recent events didn’t give this one many reasons to think things were moving in a positive direction. The Ephemera-mare was proving to not be the employer this one could have hoped for; she was short-sighted, vindictive, petty, greedy, and quite possibly wholly incompetent, not to mention her employee relations needed work. The trip on the Buried Treasure had certainly showed her limitations. Instead of letting this one do its work quietly, the Ephemera-mare had intentionally exposed it. What’s more, her schemes had resulted in the loss of the compass we needed to reach our goal. The Ephemera-mare was quickly proving to be an outright liability. That was a big problem when she was in charge of this expedition.

Now this one had to figure out how to get at least one of those greenseer compasses back, because otherwise we were going to be stuck following the Do-mare and the Capital-stallion to our destination. That was less than optimal and had plenty of ways it could go wrong. No, we needed to shift this back in our direction.

That would have been easier without an employer like the Ephemera-mare. In truth, this one seriously considered dropping the whole matter and going its own way.

“So why didn’t you?” I asked him. “Not like you couldn’t have slipped away if you really wanted to. She didn’t even know you were a shapeshifter. You could have changed how you looked and she never would have known the better. As far as she could have been concerned, you would have disappeared off the face of the planet.”

Puzzle shrugged. “There was still the contract this one had made with her. This one didn’t like the idea of breaking it just because it didn’t like her personally.”

Daring snorted. “I think this goes beyond merely not liking Ephemera. She was an evil nag who’d been blowing away every advantage you’d been giving to her on a silver platter. Just because you’ve got a contract with someone doesn’t mean you’ve gotta be a dummy about it. She was bad news, and you could see that. Nothing good was going to come out of working with her.”

Puzzle sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “That is true, but to be honest, this one didn’t really have anything else going for it at the time. This one had probably gotten away from the bounty hunters after it, but it didn’t really have a plan past that. This one needed money to build anything up for itself, and the Ephemera-mare had it. Though that money was starting to not look like it was worth the trouble.”

“Sounds like you could have done better for yourself,” I observed, pulling another drink out of the cooler. “I bet you could land on your hooves anywhere if you tried.”

“This one knows that now, but back then this one wasn’t so sure.” Puzzle twirled his shishkebab as he pondered. “So this one was considering its options. One of them was to dump the Ephemera-mare, then work its way to the Zebrican Empire.”

Kukri pressed her lips together as she stared at Puzzle. “But why didn’t you just quit and help the Do-mare?” She smiled brightly at Daring. “She could have used your help against that evil nag.”

Puzzle chuckled at the suggestion. “For one, the Do-mare didn’t have much in the way of money. Perhaps the Capital-stallion had the money to pay for this one’s services, but it seemed unlikely he would when, at best, this one would seem like the type to casually switch sides when the going got tough. At worst, they would suspect this one of being a spy for the Ephemera-mare—admittedly, for very good reasons.”

Kukri frowned. “This one guesses.”

“And if this one is going to be honest,” Puzzle continued, “it was intrigued by the challenge of the situation. At first this one had hoped it could advise the Ephemera-mare to be better, though that idea was pretty well crushed by this point. There was also the Do-mare. Now she was a rare challenge, and no small part of this one still wanted to beat her. Finally, this one was genuinely interested in seeing the City of Giants. This one had always wanted to go on a grand adventure—and there it was, ripe for the taking.”

“I can understand that last part,” Daring said with a lopsided grin.

Puzzle frowned as he studied his drink. “The thing though is that while the Ephemera-mare wasn’t the smartest pony this one had ever met—“

“Serious understatement,” Daring groused.

“—she was still dangerous,” Puzzle continued. “Destroying the Buried Treasure and killing Captain Hazim proved that. She had proven to be inherently vindictive and vicious. How do you think she would react to this one trying to put in its two weeks’ notice?”

“Probably not very well,” I admitted. “Your severance package might have been something a bit more literal than you would’ve preferred.”

“So why not just sneak away?” Daring asked again, scooping up another bottle from the cooler. “Again, she didn’t know you were a shapeshifter, and that’s something you could’ve used to your advantage.”

“Perhaps, but at the time this one wasn’t sure what the full breadth of the Ephemera-mare’s abilities were. She had produced a hoofful of magic items, and she likely had more hidden away. One of them might have been a means to track this one. Certainly she had some method to track the Do-mare and keep abreast of what she was up to. Then there was one particular bit of information that intrigued this one: her mysterious patron.”

“He’s been mentioned a time or two, yeah.” I rubbed my chin. “So you wanted to know who he was?”

“Exactly,” Puzzle said. “This one didn’t know who this patron might be or how they would feel about this one breaking the contract. That could be risky, so instead this one started forming a different plan. It was a bit vague, but that was because this one wanted to keep its options open: it would play along with the Ephemera-mare and pretend to be a loyal follower. From there, if the Ephemera-mare and her patron continued proving to be poor employers, this one would do what it needed to. This one could gather more intelligence, discover the Ephemera-mare’s weaknesses, and discover the patron’s identity. From there, it was just a matter of finding the right opportunity to act.”

“That sounds clever except for all the places where everything could go horribly wrong,” Daring pointed out. “Like Ephemera doing something dumb and getting you killed.”

Puzzle conceded the point with a nod. “True, this one would have to think fast, be quick, and have more than a little bit of luck. But if this one played its cards right then it could come out ahead. Even if this one only had a murky idea of what the endgame would actually look like.” Puzzle’s mouth spread in a grin. “There was also the fact that the Ephemera-mare had a terrible track record against the Do-mare. Based on her past history, this one merely had to wait for the right moment to turn on her.”

“So you decided to play the long game,” I observed. That certainly sounded like Puzzle. It was one of the reasons why I’d initially been a bit worried about working with him. He wasn’t above playing someone if it suited his goals, and this was starting to turn into a story where he was doing just that by the looks of it.

“It seemed the best way to do things,” Puzzle confirmed. “It kept this one’s options open, and sooner or later the Ephemera-mare should make some critical error. Not to mention it would give this one more time to figure out who the Ephemera-mare’s patron was. Though first this one needed to take care of a few things before that opportunity would present itself.”

This one needed to get the greenseer compass if it was going to convince the Ephemera-mare to keep it around. Given what happened to some of her late minions and Captain Hazim, she wouldn’t take this one’s failure well. Trying something then and there seemed unwise. The Do-mare would be wary of this one. Best to give her some time to not think about this one. Plus this one had something it wanted to address before it took on any other task: its hunger.

This one’s jar of thyloplasm was nearly empty. Pangs of hunger ran through this one from the careful rationing it had subjected itself to. Best to do what this one could to at least let it be okay for a few days. That being the case, this one headed over to the town’s, um...

Puzzle’s eyes flicked to Kukri, whose face instantly split into a mischievous grin. “You went to the brothel, didn’t you?”

Puzzle sighed. “Yes, this one went to the brothel.”

“Why are you embarrassed?” Kukri asked, keeping up her grin. “You’re a grown changeling.”

“It isn’t for this one’s sake that it’s embarrassed,” Puzzle groused, rolling his eyes.

This one managed to make some arrangements to feed itself. It ended up draining the prostitute of more love than it really liked to, but this one didn’t know when it would get an opportunity to feed like that again. There probably weren’t going to be many opportunities for it to feed itself in the jungle, which was of little concern to this one. Unfortunately, this one was short on options at the moment, and no doubt the Ephemera-mare would want to leave the port before long to get going and stay ahead of the Do-mare. The best this one could do was to pay the prostitute a substantial tip for her troubles and leave it at that. Apologizing for the headaches and fatigue she was probably going to suffer from for the next couple of days wasn’t really an option, since that would have to involve this one revealing its nature.

In any event, since this one was fed it could concentrate on what to do next without being constantly distracted by its hunger. This one didn’t have a lot of time to get the greenseer compass back, which meant this one was going to have to go with something quick and dirty to achieve its objective.

Thankfully, it wasn’t that difficult to find. This one had placed a tracking gem on the Capital-stallion’s butler back on the Buried Treasure, and using that gem found the butler alongside his master and the Do-mare. They were in the town’s marketplace, buying food and a variety of other goods presumably in preparation for their trip further inland.

Seeing the opportunity, this one slunk its way into an alleyway and transformed into a zebra mare of fairly nondescript appearance. That done, this one then stepped into the marketplace, appearing as just another sailor looking to buy some fresh produce after a long voyage of eating ship fare. This one made a show of examining the wares of the various stalls, and even bought some chopped up fruit to snack on as it worked its way closer to the Capital-stallion. To this one’s pleasure, it saw the compass hanging from his neck. It would have made things more complicated if it hadn’t been. Unfortunately, the Do-mare was standing right beside him. That could be troublesome.

This one played for time, pretending to shop for a few minutes, and even striking up a short conversation with one of the vendors. But the Do-mare stuck right next to the Capital-stallion as they moved between stalls. This one considered waiting for a better opportunity to strike, but decided against it. The longer this one stood around, the greater the risk it would be noticed. The key to a disguise was to never be suspected to start with; you never wanted your quarry to think they were being followed.

One never got anywhere without taking some sort of risk, so this one took a risk. It casually walked up to the Capital-stallion and made itself look like it was distracted looking at the goods being sold at a nearby stall. This one bumped into the Capital-stallion, doing its best to make it look like an accident.

This one placed its hooves on the Capital-stallion, and while appearing to correct itself slipped the necklace and the compass off of him. “Sorry,” this one said in an absent-minded manner, as it slipped the compass into its bags before anyone could notice.

“Quite alright,” the Capital-stallion said with a friendly smile.

This one moved to walk past him in an attempt to make the incident look innocuous when the Do-mare narrowed her eyes. “Hey!” she cried out before this one had taken more than a couple steps. “Stop right—”

She hadn’t even finished saying ‘Stop’ before this one bolted. This one silently cursed as it ran as fast as it could down the street. This was exactly what this one had worried about when it planned to steal the compass off the Capital-stallion. It seemed that the Do-mare had been more wary than this one could have hoped for.

Daring snorted. “You think that’s the first time I’d seen that little pickpocketing trick? Please, I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“Right,” Kukri smiled up at her other hero. “The Do-mare had her bitbag stolen during the first Young Daring Do book.”

Daring sighed as her ears flattened. “Well, Yearling writing that makes me look a little less cool.”

Puzzle chuckled before continuing the story.

This one didn’t bother looking back to see if it was being pursued. That would only slow this one down and risk it tripping on something. Best not to take that risk at the start of a race. Instead this one took a sharp turn and ran for a nearby alley. If this one could break the line of sight between it and the Do-mare long enough it could either change its disguise or use its invisibility bracelet to make its escape.

This one had almost made it to the alley when the Do-mare suddenly darted out of the sky, coming to a sliding halt in front of the alley entrance, forcing this one into a sudden halt to keep from slamming into her.

“I said stop right there, thief!” The Do-mare grabbed for this one, but this one’s own hoof snapped out to grip one of her legs. This one twisted the leg, throwing her off balance as it shoved her face-first into the alley wall. For the briefest moment this one was tempted to put the Do-mare down with its shock gauntlet, but quickly dispelled the idea. This one needed her alive and well to counter the Ephemera-mare later.

But that moment’s delay was all the time the Do-mare needed to act. One of her wings swung at this one’s head, and this one ducked to avoid the worst of the strike. With that opening, the Do-mare flapped her wings, shifting up in my grip, and kicking off the alley wall, flipping her over this one as she broke this one’s hold on her.

Still, the exchange created a half-second opening that let this one flee down the alley, but before it could reach the exit the Do-mare had once again flown over this one to block it. She glared at this one as she shouted, “You’re not going anywhere!”

This one rather disagreed. It was obvious by now this one wasn’t going to be able to outrun its opponent, at least not where she could easily fly, so this one changed the dynamic of the situation. It turned to an alleyway door and tried the handle. This one lucked out and it opened. Another cry for this one to stop sounded as it bolted through the doorway.

This one found itself in a warehouse, with crates and other wares piled up in neat rows extending further into the building. A few workers startled at my sudden entrance. But this one didn’t have much time to reflect on its surroundings as it slammed the door shut—or close to it, the Do-mare’s shoulder slammed into the door with a crack, keeping it open. The impact nearly caused this one to stumble back, and it pushed harder to try and lock the door. The Do-mare was pushing every bit as hard as she grunted with effort.

Seeing that it was stuck in a stalemate, this one changed tactics. This one jerked the door open and the Do-mare stumbled forward with a cry of surprise. This one lashed out and kicked one of the Do-mare’s legs out from under her, sending her tumbling to the ground. Next it grabbed a nearby shelf and tipped it over to trap the Do-mare underneath. The Do-mare’s eyes widened as the items on the shelf started falling on her, and she pushed to roll herself out of the way, barely getting out in time.

This one was starting to become irritated with just how fast the Do-mare was as it started running yet again, ducking and weaving between the crates and shelves of the warehouse to break line of sight with the Do-mare and find a hiding spot. If this one could just buy itself a hooffull of seconds it knew that it could get away from its pursuit.

This one continued making its way through the warehouse, eventually getting to the main entrance while avoiding the hoofful of laborers that were moving around merchandise. Eventually this one picked its way through the aisles of crates to get back outside. For the briefest moments this one thought it had gotten away. This one went stock-still as it listened for the sounds of the Do-mare’s pursuit. At first this one only heard the distant crashing of waves from the sea, seabirds cawing, cracking of lumber, and the grunts of laborers, and then there was the harsh crack of hooves on wood right above this one.

“Think you got away?” The Do-mare glowered down from a stack of crates. Before this one could take up a defensive stance she leapt, the two of us went tumbling, hitting the ground with a jolt that caused us to roll along in a mass of wild punches and grappling.

When our momentum came to a halt the Do-mare was on top of this one, breathing heavily as she struggled to hold this one’s legs down with a savage grin. “Gotcha, creep.”

“Don’t be so sure,” this one told her as it noticed something out of the corner of its eyes. A flicker of confusion ran through the Do-mare’s features, and this one called out as loudly as it could, doing its best to sound like a panicked and frightened mare. “Help! This crazy pony is trying to kill me! Guards! Guards!”

“Hey! What’s going on over here?”

Daring looked up and her eyes widened as she spotted the squad of guards trotting with purpose in our direction. Each was wearing a set of chainmail and wielding a spear, and they had the hard look of zebras who had seen their fair share of fights. “This creep stole from me!” the Do-mare objected, the gears in her head visibly turning as she tried to figure out how to deal with this sudden shift in events. A lucky break for this one, if it could play things right.

“No I didn’t!” This one tried shifting to remove some of the Do-mare’s leverage on it, but she wasn’t having any of it. “You lost that compass to me fair and square. You’re the one that went ballistic on me when you lost a game of cards! Will someone get this crazy pony off of me before she caves my head in?!”

The Do-mare growled. “You’re not going anywhere. That compass belongs to me!” The guards reached us and grabbed Daring to pull her off of this one. She struggled against them, but it was four against one and she didn’t seem quite willing to actually hit any of them. “Hey! Let me go! Aren’t you listening to me? She stole from me!”

“So I heard,” the captain said.

“Thank goodness you came when you did,” this one said with relief as it climbed to its hooves. “This pony’s been trying to kill me!” Hopefully this one could establish its narrative of events, after all, he who proved he was the victim won in a situation like this.

“No I’m not!” The Do-mare pulled her arm out of the grip of a guard and shot him a glower. “She stole from me, and I’m trying to get back what’s mine!”

“I won the compass in cards, fair and square,” this one insisted, building a believable web of lies. “Not my fault you’re a sore loser.”

“I am not!” The Do-mare stomped a hoof. “She’s lying, don’t listen to her!”

The frown on the captain’s face grew. “Ma’am, could you please keep your voice down? No need to get violent here.”

“Yes, please.” This one slowly straightened its saddlebags, trying to sound and look cooperative. As a rule, guards really didn’t like it when you acted uncooperative and were just a problem for them. “I’ll tell you again, I won the compass at cards. I’ve got witnesses back at the tavern if you want to check my story. They’ll tell you the truth.”

The Do-mare glared at me. “Stop lying you—”

One of the guards placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Let us handle this, ma’am.”

The Do-mare’s wings twitched, and for a moment this one wondered if she was going to take a swing at him. That would have been convenient for this one, but she visibly restrained herself before addressing the guard. “So are you gonna arrest her then? She has my compass right on her. Just check, I can tell you exactly what it looks like. And my friend will tell you he was wearing it before this pickpocket snatched it off of him.”

“We’ll figure all of that out as soon as we get a chance to talk with each of you.” He gestured with his head for them to step to the side. “How about we talk over there, and you can tell me your side of the story?”

The Do-mare’s gaze shifted between this one and the guard, the realization she was losing control of the situation dawning on her. “But—”

The guard captain took her by the shoulder and guided her away. That left me with a pair of the other guards. They didn’t exactly look happy to be with this one, but neither were they hostile. Time to work this one’s charms.

“Thanks for the help, I don’t know what she would have done if you hadn’t shown up when you had. She looked like she was about to cave my head in.” Best to sound grateful and happy to the guards. While guards tended to be institutionally paranoid, the fewer reasons this one gave them to be suspicious the better.

“So what happened?” the guard asked, his eyes flicking over this one as he studied its reaction to his questioning.

“Just like I said, we were playing cards at a nearby tavern when she bet some compass, and then she went ballistic when she lost it.” This one shrugged. “If I knew she was going to freak out like that I just would have left the table. In fact, that’s what I started doing after I won the game. She was acting a bit too hostile for my liking, so I thought It’d be best just to leave before there was an incident—but then that crazy pony chased me out of the bar. I ran for it until I ended up here.”

The guard frowned and asked his question in a calm and professional manner. “And her claims you stole it?”

“She probably convinced herself that I cheated during the game.” I snorted derisively. “Really, if I was going to steal something you think it’d be some lousy old compass? We only let her bet the compass to humor her. It was all in good fun, just betting a few ducats while we were hanging out in port.”

“Mhm, and can I see the compass?”

“Sure.” This one reached into its saddlebags. Though instead of pulling out the greenseer compass, this one pulled out a perfectly mundane compass. It had already slipped the greenseer into the hidden magical compartment in its bags.

The guard took the compass and looked it over with an unimpressed frown. “So this is what she said was stolen?”

“It is.” This one shrugged. “And it’s not worth the trouble it’s giving me, if I’m going to be frank. If she wants it so bad she can have it—I just want to head back to the tavern and hang out with my buds.”

The guard grunted in a way that neither agreed or disagreed with me. He exchanged a look with his fellow guard, and some unspoken words passed between them. “Mind waiting right here while I talk with the lieutenant?”

This one gave him an agreeable smile. “Sure, go ahead.”

The guard went to the lieutenant, probably to cross-reference my story with the Do-mare’s. It could be trouble when the Do-mare claimed that wasn’t the right compass. Considering this one’s options, this one spoke to the remaining guard.

“So, what’s it gonna take to let me go?”

The guard frowned, his tone becoming suspicious. “What do you mean?”

This one sighed and rolled its eyes. “I’m from Freeport, I know how this goes. Either I pay out to make this problem go away, or we both end up in the slammer for the night. You’ll claim you arrested me for brawling in the street and public intoxication, and then my captain will have to come by to pay a fine to spring me so that we can leave port in time to catch the tide.” This one shot him a flat glare. “If it’s all the same to you and your buddies, I’d prefer to just skip the middlemare and get right to the point. What’ll this cost me? Fifty bits?”

The guard’s eyes narrowed and his eyes flicked in the direction of his squad. The Do-mare looked to be rather enthusiastically trying to convince them she was right, but for the moment she was being stonewalled. “Are you trying to bribe a guard?”

This one let out an exasperated groan. “Call it a bribe or a fine, it’s all the same to me at the end of the day. Whatever avoids trouble with my captain. Eighty ducats? That’s twenty ducats for each of you.”

The gears turned in the guard’s head. “That fine’ll be a hundred ducats.”

This one made a show of grumbling as it pulled out its coinbag. “Damn expensive night of drinking if you ask me. If I never return to this godforsaken port ever again it’ll be too soon.” This one handed over the ducats and the guard counted them out.

“Everything seems to be in order,” the guard said when he confirmed the ‘fine’ had been paid. “You can go.”

“Thanks,” this one said in the grouchiest manner it could before trotting off. Best not to appear nearly as happy as this one really was. As soon as it was out of sight this one took on a fresh disguise before re-emerging onto the port town’s streets, the greenseer compass secure in this one’s bag. There were some advantages to being a changeling, after all.

So this one headed to the tavern the Ephemera-mare was at to give her the good news. This one did need to win her trust for its sudden but inevitable betrayal later.

Daring punched Puzzle’s shoulder. “It’s moments like this that make it really hard to like you, Puzzle.”

Puzzle smirked back at her. “You know you still like this one.”

“I said hard, not impossible,” Daring quipped back. “You do have a few positive features. Maybe one, two if it's a good day.”

I let out a huff. “You know, I can’t help but wonder if you two actually enjoy being nemesi.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 8

Being jailed sucked. That’s stating the obvious, but it went double when you were the innocent party while the zebra that’d pickpocketed you got off scot-free. It wasn’t even a nice jail cell; all I had to sit on was the hard stone tile floor, the bars had rusted over long ago and could have been broken if they weren’t so thick, and the only thing that counted for plumbing was a leaky bucket. It wasn’t the type of place you held people for long (at least I hoped not), but the type of cell a guardhouse used to hold prisoners until whatever amounted to the justice system dealt with them. There wasn’t even a window to allow for airflow, making it feel like I was being sweated to death within the hot and humid cell.

So it was a relief when about an hour after I’d been thrown in there the guards came by. “Come with us,” the guard said as he swung the rusty door open. A squad of soldiers stood outside, and none of them looked happy to see me.

I stood up with a grunt. My legs tingled from sitting too long on the hard floor, and the tight chains around them didn’t help either. “What’s going on?”

“No questions.” The leader of the group gestured with his spear for me to get moving.

I sighed and did as he said. The guards surrounded me and soon we were heading out of the guardhouse. It wasn’t long before we ended up in front of the largest house in town, which still wasn’t saying a lot. It was two stories tall, a bit wider than the houses around it, and looked better maintained, but otherwise looked like every other house on the block. The guards prodded me to head inside and I shortly found myself in the parlor. The room was filled with old, sturdy wooden furniture, with various knickknacks and other decorations scattered about the room. But the hodgepodge nature of the collection ruined the effect; by the looks of it everything had been gathered haphazardly, probably bought whenever an opportunity presented itself.

There were two individuals there to meet me, and the presence of one of them surprised me.

“Oh Daring! There you are!” Capital exclaimed with a big, bright smile that quickly disappeared as he saw my chains. “My word! Why are you shackled up like that?!”

“Because these jerks arrested me for no reason!” I jabbed a hoof in the direction of the guards, my chains rattling.

“That’s not how my guards put it,” said the other person in the room. Sitting in a big cushioned chair was a heavyset zebra in his later middle years. A trio of old and ugly diagonal scars ran down his face, and they weren’t the only ones on his body. “The way they put it, you assaulted some sailor and then resisted arrest.”

“Yeah? Well they’re lying.” I slapped my hoof to my chest. “We’re the ones that were pickpocketed, and yet I’m the one who got arrested while the thief got off scot-free! Who’re you anyways?”

One of the guards gave me a rough shove. “Give the Mayor more respect.”

I opened my mouth to tell him where he could stuff his respect, but the Mayor raised a hoof and spoke over everyone else with a firm and commanding voice. “That’s enough, all of you. Daring Do, was it? I’m Okan, the mayor of Haztuha. How about you tell me your story and then we’ll figure out what should be done here.”

I ground my teeth, but decided it’d be best to cooperate for now. I wasn’t in much of a position to argue chained up and surrounded by guards. “We were just shopping in the market square when some pickpocket nicked a compass off of Capital. I went after her, but just when I’d caught her these guys pulled me off of her. Next thing I know they’d let her go and were arresting me instead.”

“The sailor said she won the compass in a card game,” the leader of the squad unhelpfully added. “The alleged thief even returned the compass in question to put the matter behind them.”

I glared at the guard. “And I told you, it was a fake. She still had the compass she actually stole.”

“So you’re telling me she exchanged one compass for another?” Okan asked, sounding unconvinced. “Sounds like a lot of trouble for a common instrument that tells you which direction north is.”

Capital cleared his throat. “Not to be rude, but I did tell you this particular compass is unique. An artifact, really.”

Mayor Okan grunted. “So you said, but I wanted to hear her side of the story. Without bonus commentary from you.”

Capital held up his hoof. “Of course, I just wanted to clear some things up.”

So that’s what this was all about: determining my guilt in front of the Mayor. Given the size of the town, Okan was probably the judge and jury. That was good if I could convince him I was innocent, but very bad if I couldn’t.

“Well, he’s right that the compass is special.” My eyes narrowed. “And I bet I know where that thief took it.”

Okan’s eyebrow raised. “Is that so? Care to enlighten us?”

“It had to be Ephemera—she’s a pony who came with us on the Buried Treasure,” I told him. “And she hates us, a lot.”

I decided not to elaborate on the other point clawing at the back of my mind. That thief hadn’t been just any bit-a-dozen pickpocket. That zebra had known how to move. Even worse, how she moved reminded me of Puzzle. Then there was how she had managed to convince the guards to let her go while arresting me. That was exactly the type of trickery I could see Puzzle pulling off.

“Mainly because your thief was this one,” Puzzle added with a grin. “Of course, you didn’t know that at the time.”

“I didn’t have much reason to believe I was dealing with a shapeshifter,” Daring said. “If I started thinking that everyone around me might be a changeling during all my adventures then I’d drive myself batty.”

“Paranoia is like most medicines,” Puzzle said. “It’s best used in careful doses.”

It made me worry that Ephemera had hired more than just Puzzle. Was there a whole gang of elite mooks like him? If Ephemera was really trading up from the usual cheap goons she usually hired.

Okan pulled a cigar from a nearby box and lit it. “And this is the same Buried Treasure that mysteriously caught fire earlier today?”

“There’s nothing mysterious about it,” I told him. “It was Ephemera, I just know it.”

The Mayor puffed his cigar as he watched me carefully. “And your proof?”

“If you knew her like I do, then you’d know what she was capable of. It was because of a bet the captain of the ship set up that she lost the compass to start with, and Ephemera wasn’t wild about how much she got charged for the voyage either. You can ask the Treasure’s crew all about it. She must have set up some sort of fire gem trap or spell to set the fire.”

“I already have people doing just that.” Okan let out a long puff of smoke. “So you don’t have any hard proof, just conjecture and a motive?”

I ground my teeth together. “If I saw her trying to set the ship on fire then I would have stopped her.”

“And why didn’t you come to my guards as soon as the ship caught fire?”

Ugh, this Mayor was really getting on my nerves with all his questions. It was like he thought I was responsible for everything bad that had happened. “We tried to talk to you, but then your secretary got in our way.”

Okan took a moment to think as he fiddled with his cigar. “Sergeant Aykan?”

The sergeant saluted. “Yes, Mayor?”

Okan put the cigar in his mouth and gave the guard a stern look. “Find this Ephemera and bring her here. I have a few questions I’d like to ask her.”

“Better bring plenty of guards if you’re gonna do that,” I told them. “Ephemera’s got a couple of mean-looking bodyguards, and there’s a slippery zony by the name of Puzzle with her. Don’t let him get behind you, if you get what I mean.”

“I know how to do my job,” the sergeant sneered. “What do they all look like, and do you know where they’re at?”

I bit back a comment the sergeant probably wouldn’t have liked. “I don’t know where they went, but here’s what they all look like.” I gave them Ephemera and her gang of ne’er-do-wells’ descriptions.

“Should be easy enough to find.” The sergeant turned back to the Mayor. “Shall I take the prisoner back to her cell on the way?”

“Hey, I’m cooperating!” I snapped. “No reason to throw me back in that sweatbox you call a cell.”

Okan shook his head. “No, leave her here with a couple of guards. I want everyone here when I question them.” The sergeant looked like he was about to object when the Mayor cut him off. “Go already. If this Ephemera is responsible for burning the Treasure then I don’t want her running around town setting anything else on fire.”

“Yes sir.” The sergeant dutifully saluted, then motioned for a pair of guards to stay with us before departing.

Once he was gone, Okan motioned to a nearby cushion. “You might as well make yourself comfortable. I believe your friend was about to break out a drink for us to enjoy while we discussed some business.”

Capital smiled brightly. “Oh yes! I’ve just been dying to share this good bourbon I brought with me.” He waved to Proper Penny, who had been standing to the side nearly unnoticeable despite having been in the room the entire time. “Will you pour us some glasses, Proper?”

“Of course, my lord.” Proper proceeded to open a bottle of a fancy brand of bourbon and started preparing glasses.

“And what business did you want to talk about?” I asked as I sat. While I didn’t like still being in chains, the current arrangements were a lot better than the suffocating cell I’d just been in.

Okan snorted as Proper gave him a glass filled with amber liquid. “You should know. You’re the ones that wanted to see me.”

Capital smiled apologetically. “Excuse my companion, it has been a rather long day for her. The thing we wanted to discuss was being allowed to travel inland for an expedition.”

“Absolutely not.” Okan sipped the bourbon and briefly coughed after doing so.

My wings twitched. The declaration had been so casual as to be insulting. “And why not? We just want to explore the ruins deeper inland.”

“And that’s exactly the problem,” Okan told us. “I’ve had it up to here with explorers, treasure hunters, and soldiers of fortune. You’re all trouble, not the least because most of your kind just get yourselves killed in some stupid manner. We had some college students who wanted to head into the jungle and see the tyrant lizards they’d read so much about. We told them no for their own good, but then they snuck out of town in the middle of the night.” He snorted derisively. “All we found of them were some half-eaten corpses.”

“We’re not some college kids in over our heads,” I growled. “We’ve got a fully prepared expedition with food, supplies, and all the technical expertise we need to survive in the jungle.”

Okan shook his head before taking another sip. “And do any of them have experience with the tyrant lizards? How about dealing with the Dromaed?”

“Not specifically, no,” Capital admitted. “But I’ve hired the best experts in Equestria. If anyone can manage this, it’s them.”

Okan shook his head as he picked up another cigar. “Maybe your people are fine in whatever forests they’ve been skipping around in, but that jungle is a dark place that’ll kill you for the slightest mistake. It devours all that go into it.”

“We’re not scared of the jungle,” I told him. “I’ve been to dangerous places all over the world—places that ponies said nopony could walk into and come out alive. And we’re gonna be the ones who find Zihlius.”

The Mayor’s eyes narrowed. “The City of Giants? If you’re looking for that place then you’re bigger fools than I thought. The Dromaed will never let you get close to that city. Plenty of glory-seeking idiots have tried before you, and how many of them have you heard of, eh? None. Because most of them disappeared in the jungle and were never heard from again. The lucky ones came back with their skins intact and stories to haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

I glowered at Okan. “We’ll do it. I’ve been told plenty of times something was impossible, but I still pulled it off.”

“And what’ll you do about the Dromaed? You think they’re gonna let you go poking around their holy city and steal all the gold that’s supposedly there?” Okan lit another cigar, one of a brand Capital had brought with us, I noted. “I don’t need you starting another fight with them. Things are hard enough here without adding a brushfire war with the local Dromaed tribes. Most of the overgrown lizards are willing to let us be as long as we don’t travel too far inland, but some are just asking for an excuse to burn this town to the ground.”

I tried to cross my arms, but was stopped by my chains. “We’re not looking to start a fight with anyone.” Well, except maybe Ephemera, but she’d long ago earned a good punch in the face.

“And we’re hardly going there to steal anything of theirs.” Capital offered a box of chocolates to Okan as he explained our plan. “We’re going to the Green Seers at Szuszushlui to ask them to let us go to Zihlius.”

Okan let out a short bark of a laugh. “Ask them?! You honestly think they’re going to let you go to the hristaks’ training grounds? You’re due for a pretty big disappointment if that’s your plan. They don’t like outsiders in their jungles in general, much less around any of the ruins. They get prickly about anyone getting too close to those places.”

“Oh I’m sure the Dromaed are perfectly reasonable people once you get to know them,” Capital said with his typical optimism. “Especially once they know we’re just there for wholly scholarly reasons. We’re on an archeological expedition—what could the harm be in learning about the past?”

“I’m sure the Dromaed will have an answer for that,” Okan said between a mouthful of chocolate.

“Then we’ll deal with it as it comes,” I told him. In truth, if the Dromaed did tell us no, then I wasn’t above sneaking into the City of Giants. That wasn’t my first option, but sometimes you had to break the rules to get things done. “Look, we’ve come a long way to be just told no. A ton of effort’s gone into this, and if anyone in the world’s ready for this, it’s us.”

Okan let out a long sigh and placed his empty glass to the side. “Look, you seem like decent sorts.” He waved casually at my chains. “I think you’re telling the truth for the record, but I want to hear this Ephemera’s side of things too before I make any decision. I just don’t want to see any of you get hurt, which is what will happen if you go into that jungle.”

“And we understand that,” Capital insisted. “And trust us, none of us are eager to have anything happen to us, but the danger is something we all agreed to before coming out all this way. We think it’s going to be worth it for what we’ll find out there. But if you have any advice for traversing the jungle we’d be more than happy to listen. We’d even be willing to hire a guide from your village and pay them well for the help.”

Okan grunted as he sat back, a sour look on his face. “Maybe. Though I’m really not wild about the idea. Like I said, let my guards bring back this pony who you’re accusing of naval arson and then I’ll make a decision.” The corner of the Mayor’s mouth quirked into a grin. “In the meantime, I believe you said you had a couple of other drinks for us?”

Capital smiled and nodded. “Proper, if you will be a good chap and bring out another one of the bottles we’ve been saving, I believe our dear mayor would like a sampling of some fine spirits that are hard to come by out here.”

I sighed and settled back. It looked like we were back to the waiting game. Though I couldn't shake this bad feeling about those guards who had been sent after Ephemera...

After procuring the compass—

“Stealing,” Daring corrected.

—this one did some shopping around town to gather some of the supplies it would need for the trip into the jungle, and to give it some time to think. Now that this one had determined that its relationship was doomed to end unhappily for one of us, it had to consider how best to approach the situation. The wrong misstep could spell doom for this one, especially when the Ephemera-mare was such a volatile and toxic individual. But once this one was done getting some fresh air, it headed to the bar the Ephemera-mare had said she would be going to. The Port Landing wasn’t much to talk about, being a dockside bar that served all of the alcohol-based needs of anyone in the area. It was a relatively large building by the standards of the surrounding structures, but one look at its exterior and interior quickly identified that it didn’t cater to affluent clientele. Still, it seemed to serve the simple needs of the hard-working villagers and sailors that frequented it.

The place was certainly packed as this one entered, surprisingly so. There wasn’t a single empty table, and all around this one pressed the bodies of rough-looking zebras, ponies, and gryphons. The only open spots left were at the bar, and the Ephemera-mare seemed to have reserved most of that section for herself, with some help from the glowering prescience of her janissary bodyguards. The only person that was risking the bodyguards’ attention was the Alya-mare, who seemed to be trying very hard to concentrate on her drink as she ignored the catcalls of a nearby table of mean-spirited patrons.

This one decided to get to work and sat near the Ephemera-mare despite the disapproving looks from the bodyguards. This one flashed her a grin. “I found a little something you misplaced.” The greenseer compass slid down the counter to a stop in front of the Ephemera-mare.

The Ephemera-mare’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of the compass, and she snatched it up. “How did you get this back?”

“Trade secret,” this one announced mysteriously. “I’ll share some of mine if you’ll share some of yours.”

The Ephemera-made snorted derisively and hung the compass around her neck. “It’s about time you did something to justify the money I’m paying you.”

This one didn’t let its smile waver at the rude dismissal. From this point forward this one couldn’t give away it had any intention of betraying its employer, and that meant ignoring her more caustic comments. “I said I’d get it back for you, and I did. So what’s our next move?”

The Ephemera-mare took her time taking a sip of her drink before answering. “We’re heading into the jungle and meeting up with my patron.”

This one raised an eyebrow. “We’re not heading straight for the City of Giants?”

“No, my patron wishes to meet with us before we head to Zihlius.”

There were aspects of this plan that struck this one as odd. “Out in the jungle? Why didn’t he wait for us here in port?”

The Ephemera-mare’s eyes narrowed. “He has his reasons, and that’ll be good enough for you.”

This one frowned, because that wasn’t good enough for it. Not that this one expected to get any more details than that. “Alright then. How are we going to find him? The jungle is a big place.”

She turned from this one, suddenly interested in her drink. “I know how to get there. You don’t need to worry about any of those details, just work on getting us there.”

This one considered how best to press for more information, but then the door to the bar opened, and suddenly this one had more pressing concerns. A dozen guards with the stern looks of law enforcement on business entered the bar and surveyed the crowd. Considering earlier events that day, this didn’t give this one a good feeling. Still, this one kept its cool and motioned for the bartender to get this one a drink. It was possible that the guards weren’t here for this one, and if so this one shouldn’t draw attention to itself.

Unfortunately, the guards headed straight for us, moving with a purpose that promised trouble. This one considered running for it, but that would have only confirmed this one’s guilt to the guards. But staying put might allow it to talk its way out of whatever situation had come up. If the Ephemera-mare was concerned by the guards she didn’t show it. She just kept sipping her drink, though her bodyguards moved so that they would be ready to intercept if needed.

When the guards reached us the leader of the troop cleared his throat loudly. “Excuse me, are you Ephemera?”

“I am,” the Ephemera-mare said with clear annoyance. “Why do you ask?”

“We’d like you to come with us to see the mayor,” he told her. “He wants to discuss some matters with you.”

The Ephemera-mare didn’t even deign turning to look at him. “Tell him I’m busy with something more important.”

This one suppressed a grimace. That was not how this one would have spoken to the guards, especially when they outnumbered us by a considerable margin. The mayor probably wanted to speak with us about some very recent events in town, if this one had to guess. This one was confident enough in its ability to talk its way out of most problems, but it seemed like the Ephemera-mare didn’t even want to bother with diplomacy. That was going to cause trouble.

The guard sergeant glowered at the Ephemera-mare’s back. “That wasn’t a request, ma’am. When the mayor wants to see you, you come.”

“I’m no one’s dog.” The Ephemera-mare turned a baleful eye in the sergeant’s direction. “Now be a good boy and go scampering back to your master. Tell him if he wants to see me he can come himself.”

The sergeant wasn’t willing to back down any more than the Ephemera-mare. “You’re coming with us willingly or in chains. The choice is ultimately yours.”

The Ephemera-mare sighed and tossed her mane. “I think not.” She turned around on her bar stool and spoke out with a loud and commanding voice to the bar patrons. “Boys! Deal with these guards for me, will you?”

To this one’s surprise, everyone in the bar stood up and gave the assembled guards menacing looks. There had to be at least five dozen rough-and-tumble individuals filling the bar, and it looked like every single one of them was one of the Ephemera-mare’s henchmen. Whether all these goons had been hired by the Ephemera-mare or her patron this one could only guess, but they definitely had quite a bit of hiring potential and an ability to pay this many employees. That was something to worry about. Though this one suspected the guards were worrying a bit more than this one right at that moment.

The sergeant glanced at the gathered patrons, and while he tried to speak with authority, there was a note of worry in his voice. “Go back to your drinks everyone. This doesn’t concern you.”

“What’s the matter?” the Ephemera-mare purred. “Worried you bit off more than you can chew?”

This one certainly thought so. Assuming the new goons were up for it, they should be able to easily overpower the guards. All of the guards were armed with spears, but they wouldn’t be able to use them properly in the close confines of the bar. The press of bodies would simply be too much.

The sergeant swallowed. “Ma’am, maybe we can—”

The Ephemera-mare didn’t let him finish before she cried out, “Get them!”

The goons rushed the guards in a wave, their hoots and hollers nearly deafening. For this one’s part, it leapt over the bar and hid behind it as soon as the Ephemera-mare ordered the attack. This one did not want to get mixed up in this bar brawl.

“That’s our Puzzle,” Daring teased. “Bravely running away.”

“Because you’ve never decided discretion was the better part of valor?” Puzzle countered.

Daring answered with a cocky grin. “I exercise my right to remain silent.”

And it was a good thing this one dove out of the way when it had, because soon the guards were being pressed up against the bar by the mass of bodies. The Ephemera-mare was only saved from such a fate by her bodyguards, who were not above punching anyone who got too close. Meanwhile the Ephemera-mare sat on the bar itself to get a better look at the chaos she started, a malicious smirk on her lips.

The fight wasn’t a long one. The guards were overwhelmed by the deluge of blows from hooves and improvised weapons. They could hardly turn to one foe without two others jumping into their openings. After securing victory the goons had their pleasure at beating the guards into incapacity, shouting all sorts of taunts as they did so. However the Ephemera-mare came by her hired muscle, they seemed to share a uniform nasty character. This one’s employer seemed to have a type, and that type displayed itself as taking advantage of the weakness of others.

Before this could get any more out of hoof, this one stood and shouted over the ruckus. “Ephemera! Aren't you going to call them off before they kill someone?”

The Ephemera-mare shrugged uncaringly. “Why should I care? It’s going to be a long trip through the jungle, so they should have their fun while they can.”

That probably wasn’t the only reason she was letting her goons off their leashes. This one could sense her enjoyment at the pain of those she held power over. That was a major negative personality trait that sent up red flags. It was one thing to hurt someone as a matter of course, but it was quite another to gain pleasure from it.

“It’s going to be trouble for us if you let them keep going,” this one explained. “For one, we don’t have much time before others start to investigate the ruckus that we're causing.” If there was any member of the bar staff left in the building this one didn’t see them. They must all have snuck off during the confusion of the fight. Smart.

She narrowed her eyes in a bored expression. “And?”

This one bit back a more provocative comment and instead kept arguing logically. “Given how many people you have here, you’re going to bring the whole town militia down on our heads. This is a pretty rough-looking town. I’d be surprised if everyone didn’t own a weapon and knew how to use it.”

The Ephemera-mare hummed unhappily. “That is true.” There was a sparkle in her eyes and a cold smile spread on her features. “I’ve got an idea. How about we arrange a distraction?”

Before this one could inquire further, the Ephemera-mare looked up to address the group. “Everyone spread some of that booze along the bar and walls! We’re torching this place!” There was a mixture of cries welcoming the opportunity for some arson, those disappointed at the end to their fun, and some grumbles at the waste of good drink.

The Ephemera-mare returned her attention to this one. “How does that work? We set this place alight then we make a break for the gate. The townsfolk will be too busy keeping the town from burning down to stop us.”

This was escalating a lot faster than this one liked, so this one moved towards damage control. “It’d be best if we left most of the guards outside as we leave. No sense letting them be burned alive.”

The Ephemera-mare raised an eyebrow. “And why’s that? I hardly see a reason to leave them in a state to follow us after we leave.”

“Because if we kill all these guards then the whole town will try and hunt us down,” this one pointed out. “Everyone knows everyone else in a small town like this. Kill this many guards and half the population’s going to lose a family member. They’ll want blood if that happens, and even if we get out of the port they know the local terrain much better than us. At best we’ll be harrassed all the way to our destination.”

“And, you know, murder is wrong,” Daring stated. “There’s also that whole thing.”

Puzzle gave her a flat look. “How likely do you think a moral argument was going to work with the Ephemera-mare?”

Daring scowled. “Good point.”

“The best way to convince someone else to do something is to convince them it’s in their best interest to do it,” Puzzle explained. “People are inherently selfish. Even when doing things like donating to charity, they in no small part do it because it makes them feel good to be helping others. Appealing to someone’s morality will only irregularly work, but appeal to what personally benefits them and you’ll have them in your hooves.”

“As it is they don’t have that much reason to follow us into the jungle,” this one continued. “Sure, they’re not going to be happy with us, but some property damage and assault is a long way from mass murder.”

“Then what would you suggest doing?”

This one considered its options and who it was talking to as it finished formulating a plan. “We go ahead with your plan to burn the bar. That’ll distract the townsfolk. Once we’ve set the fire we leave most of the guards outside, but keep a couple to serve as hostages. We’ll need them to convince whoever’s watching the gate to let us pass. Once we’re through we drop the hostages and go as fast and hard as we can to put distance between us and the town. If we’re lucky we’ll get far enough away to avoid any pursuit.”

The Ephemera-mare’s eyes narrowed and there was a flash of something nasty behind them. She was not accustomed to being told what the best course of action was, especially when it contradicted some of her own plans. But in the end she seemed to concede, growling deep within her throat as she addressed her minions. “Alright, that’s enough all of you! Pick those guards up and get ready to move fast once the fire’s set. We’re moving out and putting this sorry excuse of a town behind us.”

She glowered at this one. “Happy?”

This one gave her a smile. “Oh, I’m sure it’ll work out in the end.” This one had every intention of making sure it would. Whatever the Ephemera-mare and her patron had planned, this one was going to come out on top.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 9

I watched the little portside bar burn down. I would have preferred to jump in and help the villagers trying to put out the fire and keep it from spreading to any of the nearby buildings, but that wasn’t really an option when I was still in chains and guarded by idiots who thought it was more important to keep an innocent pony chained up than to do something productive. Life is so frustrating at times.

At least Mayor Okan seemed to be just as frustrated, based on the way he was glowering at the sergeant he had sent after Ephemera. The sergeant looked like he’d had a rough time of it; he was bruised all over, and the left side of his face was badly swollen. The rest of the guards who’d been with him didn’t look any better. None of them met the Mayor’s gaze as he addressed them, and only the sergeant managed the dignity of standing at attention staring off into the distance like a good soldier.

“So let me get this straight,” Okan said, condescension dripping off his words. “Instead of seizing this Ephemera, you got yourselves beaten up, captured, then allowed this pony and her minions burn down the bar and carry you off as hostages so she could escape into the jungle?”

“Yes sir,” the sergeant said with careful neutrality. “There were more of them than we expected.”

“A whole bar’s worth, according to you,” Okan sneered. “Mind telling me how a small army managed to get into my town without anyone noticing, sergeant?”

The sergeant remained stock-still as he answered. “They didn’t advertise who they were all working for before they attacked.”

Okan stepped into the sergeant’s personal space. “That’s why I give you money to get people to spy on visitors, so that we know what’s going on in our town and so stuff like this doesn’t happen.”

“Yes sir.”

It didn’t particularly surprise me that Okan had some sort of little spy network in his town, even if it didn’t seem particularly effective. I’d been to enough small towns like this to know that whoever was in charge liked to treat their community as their own little fiefdom. That meant controlling the guards, information, and the money. And based on what I saw here Okan had a grasp on all three, even if that looked like a tenuous hold on a little port that barely held onto the coast against the wilderness and Dromaed.

Okan’s teeth clenched as he continued. “And now we’ve got a rogue band of misfits roaming the countryside causing who knows what kind of trouble for our farms. And I don’t even want to know what sort of trouble they’ll kick up with the Dromaed once they get that far. Because they will. A lot like that doesn’t stop with a little bit of arson.”

“Yes sir.”

“Any other bad news you’d like to report, sergeant?”

“No sir.”

The Mayor growled from deep in his throat and waved the sergeant off. “Get to putting this fire out already, I’m done looking at your ugly mug. And try not to make it worse. I’ve already got enough work on my hooves sorting out the rest of our ‘guests’ and sending a message to the Dromaed explaining this Ephemera’s gang has nothing to do with us.”

“Yes sir.” The sergeant seemed to believe that discretion was the better part of valor, and returned to his fellow guards barking out orders to get back to efforts to control the fire.

The matter taken care of, Okan turned back to me and Capital. “This is a fine mess that’s been dropped into my lap.”

My nostrils flared as Okan glared at us. I could see him blaming us for what happened, despite how we’d warned him about the dangers. “So do you finally believe me that Ephemera’s an evil nag?”

Okan grunted. “Can’t say she’s left a good impression thus far. But just because she’s proven she’s trouble doesn’t mean you’re all saints.”

“Oh, come on!” I stomped a hoof and made my chains rattle. “We’ve been cooperating with you!”

Okan snorted. “Still doesn’t change the fact that’d I’d probably save myself a lot of grief locking the lot of you in a cell until I can pack you onto the first available ship. At least then you’d be someone else’s problem.”

That was about the exact opposite of what I wanted to happen, and it was all I could do not to jump at him. “And what about Ephemera? We can help you take her down. You need all the help you can get when you go after her.”

“No such thing’s happening as long as I’m mayor.” Okan spat. “That lot’s too dangerous to go chasing after. They already beat up half the town’s guards, and I’m not about to lead the militia into the jungle if I can help it.”

My eyes narrowed. “So you’re really just gonna do nothing? Ephemera’s allowed to just walk away and do whatever she wants?”

A short bark of a laugh escaped from Okan. “Hardly. As far as I’m concerned, that pack of lunatics just walked into a death trap. My plan is to let the tyrant lizards and Dromaed deal with them; if any of the fools manage to stumble their way back here then all they’ll win is a short rope and a long fall from us.”

“And you think that’ll be good enough?”

The Mayor shrugged. “It’s been good enough for most of the troublemakers that go running off into the jungle. You can ask the rest of the folks in town how well that worked out for them. Most of the time we never see them again, and that suits me just fine.”

Capital stepped forward, wearing one of his perpetually idealistic smiles. “Now I understand you’re upset about the bar—I know I would be if my favorite watering hole got burned down by some rapscallions—but that hardly seems like a good reason to punish us. We hardly did anything wrong.”

Okan sniffed derisively. “You being here and causing me trouble is plenty wrong in my book.”

“Now now, there is no need to be sour.” Capital wrapped an arm around Okan’s shoulders, and Okan stiffened at the touch. He probably wasn’t used to physical contact from others, especially strangers. “I understand things have been stressful for you and your townsfolk, and it’s simply awful what’s happened to your guards and the bar. Why I was thinking to give your town a bit of a donation.”

Okan’s eyes narrowed. “A donation?”

Capital flashed him a friendly smile. “Indeed. Something to help those poor folks who lost their business and help cover the medical expenses for your guards.”

“And what’s the catch?” Okan demanded. “You bribe us with some money and then we let you go waltzing into the jungle?”

“We can’t make you do anything, my good mayor,” Capital said. “Though we would greatly appreciate it if you let us continue with our expedition. Either way, I don’t see a reason why I couldn't give out a little bit of coin to help some people in need.”

“Besides, we might be able to stop Ephemera from causing even more trouble if you let us go,” I told him. “And the Dromaed could use a warning about who they’re dealing with, and I’ve beaten her plenty of times. You can’t like the idea of her causing all this trouble and then getting to walk away.”

Okan hissed through his teeth and turned his back to us as he growled something under his breath. “Fine, if you’re all crazy enough to head into the jungle then go on ahead. You’d probably just sneak your way out if I tried to stop you anyways.” He whirled around and jabbed a hoof into my chest. “Though I’m washing my hooves of you the second you pass through the gates! Don’t count on me or any of my people to bail you out if you get in over your heads.”

I scowled at him. “Hey, I already said we know what we’re doing.”

Okan snorted. “If that were actually true you wouldn’t have come here to start with. Unless you’re just plain suicidal, which I’m starting to think is the truth of it.”

I flashed him a fierce grin. “Not the first time I’ve heard that one.” I held up my arms to show him my shackles. “Now are you gonna get these off of me already? We’ve got work to do.”

Okan grunted and nodded to one of the guards watching over me. He pulled out a key and started unlocking my chains. “When’re you planning on heading out?”

The chains chafed something awful, and it felt good to rub my legs once they were freed. “Tomorrow at first light. We’ll be ready to go by then.” I would’ve liked to head out immediately, but it was getting late and we still had other preparations to make. By the time we had everyone together and ready to go it’d probably be dark, and I didn’t want to tackle the jungle when we wouldn’t be able to see ourselves stepping on brightly colored poisonous snakes or right into the jaws of some apex predator.

“Works for me,” Okan grunted. “The sooner you’re all out of my hair the better.”

“Hopefully you’re not too eager to get rid of us,” Capital said, still all smiles. “We did talk about sampling another drink or two before being interrupted.”

Okan sighed but nodded. “Fine, I could use a strong drink after the day I’ve had. Let me deal with everything here first and then we’ll retire for the evening.”

I wasn’t quite sure how Capital had won this prickly mayor over, maybe it was just because he was bribing him with booze, but I was willing to work with it if it got us where we wanted to go. “Sounds good. Capital and I need to talk about a couple of things anyways.”

“Suit yourselves.” Okan left us to direct the zebras working to put out the fire.

I let out a huff before speaking to Capital. “Well that was a whole load of trouble with nothing to show for it.”

Capital nodded in agreement as he sighed. “Seems so. And here I was hoping Mayor Okan would be able to deal with Ephemera. It would have made things much simpler for us.”

I shook my legs out to get the blood pumping in them again. “No such luck. Ephemera’s an idiot, but somehow she always seems to find a way to escape the authorities. She’s a big cockroach like that.”

“And now I’m afraid we’re in a race again.” Capital ran a hoof through his mane. “I’d feel a lot better if it was just some friendly competition. But all of this...” He waved at the smoldering remains of the bar. “This is too much. The bar, attacking the guards, burning the Buried Treasure ... is finding the City of Giants before we do really worth this much to her?”

“I told you she was an evil nag, didn’t I?” I waved him over to the side to talk in privacy. “She’ll do anything to get what she wants, including hurting others. Hay, I’m pretty sure she likes hurting people.”

Capital frowned. “I just have trouble believing somepony can be like that. It’s just so-so ... evil.”

I shrugged. “You heard her back on the ship. She thinks it’s a dog eat dog world, and that it’s better to do onto others before they can do onto you.”

“I heard her.” Capital crossed his arms. “I guess I just still don’t understand it. I mean, intellectually I get it. We all have to look out for ourselves to some degree. But there’s looking out for your own best interests, and then there’s hurting people—I mean really hurting them—that I can’t understand.”

“Probably because you’re such a nice guy, Capital.” I turned to face him, knowing there was something I needed to say. “And don’t stop being a nice guy. Don’t let people walk all over you or anything dumb like that, but there’s nothing wrong with being nice to people when you can be.”

Capital gave me a big, dopey smile and wrapped a leg around my shoulders. “See? I knew you cared.”

I turned my head away. Ugh, I knew I was getting too sentimental here. “Whatever. Mind if we keep our heads in the game instead of getting all emotional? We’ve got a lot of work to do so we’ll be ready first thing tomorrow.”

Capital nodded. “Of course. What should we tackle next?”

“Did you manage to finish that purchase we were working on before that thief showed up?”

“I did.” Capital waved to his butler. “Proper, mind getting Miss Do her bracers?”

“Of course sir.” Proper ruffled through his saddlebags to present a pair of bracers to me. They were pretty normal: stuff that any skilled blacksmith could have made, except a layer of rubber had been glued to them. That had been trickier to arrange, but a quick examination showed that the rubber was still stuck tight.

I tied them to my forearms to make sure they still fit right—no sense risking some greedy merchant trying to cheat us—but a quick check confirmed everything was alright. “Hm, everything looks good.”

Capital frowned as he watched me move around with the bracers. “You are sure those are going to work?”

“They’re gonna have to,” I said. “They’re the best counter I can think of on such short notice for whatever that Puzzle guy might throw at me. I got a look in his bags; the guy’s packing daggers that I’m sure Ephemera would love to have stuck in me. At least now I’ll have something to block them with.” I did not relish the idea of getting in a knife fight with Puzzle. He’d been tough enough to fight when all he had were his hooves, and if he was as good with his weapons then I really had something to worry about.

“And the rubber layered in them?”

“I’m hoping will block his magic shock gauntlet.” I frowned as I thought back to the fight on the Buried Treasure. “He flash-fried a shark with that thing, and I’d rather not try it for myself.” Not that I was overly eager to block the equivalent of a lightning bolt with something attached to my leg, but I didn’t have many other options. Maybe if we were in an actual city I could buy a talisman or potion to give me electricity resistance, but this crappy little port town only barely qualified as civilization so I’d have to make do.

“Hopefully you won’t have to find out,” Capital said. “I’d rather not get into a fight to start with.”

“Me either, but I know my luck. And it’s better to have and need not than to need and have not.” I shot him a grin. “Besides, it’ll be fun to see the look on Puzzle’s face when he sees his ace in the hole doesn’t work.”

This one hated the jungle. If not for our compasses it would have been utterly impossible to navigate. Even so we still had to slowly weave our way through trees, fallen logs, and other obstructions. Four strong individuals with machetes led our column through the wall of green, but we were still moving at an unbearable crawl unless we lucked out and found an animal trail that led in the direction we were going. The humidity was absolutely stifling and close to unbreathable. No relieving breeze penetrated the trees. With all the talk of the dangers of tyrant lizards and Dromaed, everyone had somehow neglected to mention the more mundane hazards of the jungle. We were constantly beset by biting mosquitoes and other bugs of unusual size, most of which probably carried diseases or poisons. There was a plurality of snakes and other dangerous animals hiding in the underbrush, and more than one of the Ephemera-mare’s minions had already learned the hazards of the jungle the hard way.

This one had believed itself ready for the jungle. This one was hardly a stranger to tropical heat, having experienced the island jungles of its home. But the Dromaed’s jungle was a magnitude worse than anything else it had ever experienced up to that point, and this one was starting to feel increasingly out of its depth. That was not a pleasant feeling. This one liked to feel in control, but the Ephemera-mare’s despotic neglectful leadership and the oppressive jungle surrounding it steadily eroded any feeling this one had of being the master of its destiny.

This one’s confidence was not helped by its frustrating lack of knowledge. Any inquiries to determine where exactly we were going or how long it would take were met by a disdainful sneer and rebuke from the Ephemera-mare. She had already told this one that we were to meet with her patron, and she wasn’t willing to tell this one more than that. Trying to gather information from her minions wasn’t any more helpful. None of them seemed to know where we were going either and universally clammed up when this one asked about the Ephemera-mare’s patron.

At first this one thought this was merely because they knew to keep their mouths shut or simply truly didn’t know anything, but as the universal nature of their reactions to this one's inquiries became clear, this one grew suspicious. Any attempts at bribery, favor trading, or giving a sympathetic ear to their plights were all stonewalled by silence. There was always a disgruntled employee who thought their boss was a son-of-a-bitch, someone experiencing a moment of weakness, or an individual who’d happily tell you anything for some extra coin, and this one had gotten very good at spotting those people and pumping them for information. The complete lack of success here was extremely unusual.

This one found out why the minions were so tight-lipped when it examined them for magic: they were under a geas. This one wasn’t enough of an expert on magic to determine the exact nature of the geas, but it could tell that it was complicated and had a powerful compulsion to it. One aspect must have been to remain silent about their master, though if there was more added to that this one could only guess. The fact there was a geas told this one a few things. The first was that the Ephemera-mare’s patron had access magic that allowed him put geases on people, no small feat considering the number of individuals under their spell. Second was that he was very determined to keep the silence of his employees. That was prudent when he was obviously up to illegal activities; more than one criminal empire had crumbled thanks to a loose tongue.

Unfortunately, that was about the extent of what this one could find out. That the Ephemera-mare’s patron had hired individuals from such a wide area told this one he had reach, not to mention wealth to organize an expedition this size. Even cheap muscle added up when you hired dozens of bodies, especially when you had to account for costs of equipment, food, and other necessities. Also he was interested in the artifacts in the City of Giants. A pity that that didn’t exactly narrow things down. This one could name half a dozen individuals rich enough to arrange this expedition off the top of its head who had the black market ties to sell stolen historical artifacts.

The fact he was going to meet us out in the middle of this gods-forsaken wilderness was unusual, if the Ephemera-mare was telling the truth anyways. Most of the sufficiently rich were more than happy to let hired help take on the truly dangerous tasks needed to maintain their monetary empires, especially when doing those jobs would take them away from their power bases. He must have thought this was so important that it absolutely required his personal attention, though this one could only guess why.

And so for that first week of our trek through the jungle, this one’s thoughts were its principle companion. This one still tried to pry what information it could from those around it; not like there was much else to do given the situation it found itself in. Thus this one headed over to the Ephemera-mare after we had stopped for a break. This one hadn’t been able to get much out of her thus far, but sooner or later this one was bound to dig up something useful, hopefully.

Even the Ephemera-mare had been forced to allow her minions regular breaks due to the backbreaking and sweaty work required to penetrate the jungle. She had taken to sitting on a fallen tree while her guards stood over her. This one sat on the ground opposite of her and gave her a friendly smile. “I trust you’re doing well today?”

The Ephemera-mare snorted as she pulled out a cigarette from her pack. “Hardly. It’s hot, it’s muggy, we’re in the middle of damned nowhere, and we’ve only been making a couples miles of progress every day.” She let out an irritated huff. “I’m getting tired of how long this is taking.”

This one agreed, but complaining rarely did much good. “Is our rate of progress going to be a problem? I can’t imagine your boss will wait forever for us.”

“Let me worry about that,” the Ephemera-mare declared, lighting her cigarette.

This one pushed down its irritation at her unhelpful answer. “And how much further do we have to go?”

The Ephemera-mare cocked an eyebrow. “Why are you so worried about that? Do you have someplace to be?”

“I just like to know what to expect,” this one explained. “We can hardly spend forever in the jungle before we run out of supplies.”

She waved this one’s worries off. “We’ll be fine. Just stand to the side until I find something worthwhile for you to do. Now be quiet; I already have to deal with everyone else’s senseless prattle all day long, and I want a few minutes of peace and quiet.”

As though to spite her, just then one of the bigger and meaner goons approached her. “Lady Ephemera, I looked into ... the problem. It’s worse than we thought.”

The Ephemera-mare took a long draft of her cig before replying, with the smoke briefly hanging in the air around her. “How much worse?”

The goon’s eyes darted about as he looked like he badly wanted to be somewhere else. “I looked everyone over and several of us have been bitten. All the same way too.”

She took another puff. “I see.”

This one raised an eyebrow. “Bitten? What do you mean?”

In truth, this one knew exactly what this matter was about. This one wasn’t content allowing its thymoplasm to run out during a long trip, so it had taken to preying on the Ephemera-mare’s goons to feed. Such work had to be done very carefully unless this one wanted to get discovered. This one couldn’t imagine the Ephemera-mare would be understanding of its nature, much less the goons this one had been feeding on, so it had deliberately ambushed and fed on lone individuals who left the camp during the middle of the night. Thanks to the dark nighttime jungle and this one’s training, the task had been relatively simple and thus far no one had raised the alarm while this one was out feeding. Though there was the matter that this one’s activities could hardly go unnoticed indefinitely, especially when it had refrained from killing anyone. This one had considered disposing of its victims, but in the end decided against it. A bunch of bodies piling up would undoubtedly have quickly caused a great stir in the expedition, but with everyone surviving their encounters with this one the reaction had been slower in coming.

The Ephemera-mare waved this one off. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. Leave us.”

This one considered debating with the Ephemera-mare to say that it could help with whatever problem there was, but thought better of it. While it would have been nice to know whatever she was up to, it wouldn’t do for this one to appear too eager to help, potentially raising suspicion against itself. In the end, this one could ask everyone else what the Ephemera-mare was up to with a reasonable expectation of success. Besides, it wasn’t like the Ephemera-mare was prone to listening to this one anyways. Best to save its influence for when it really mattered, especially when this one’s employer seemed most comfortable with blind obedience.

So this one stood up and dusted itself off. “Alright then. If you need my help you know where I’ll be.”

The Ephemera-mare didn’t comment as this one walked away, instead concentrating on smoking her cigarette in silence. All the more foolish on her part. She could have put this one in an awkward situation where it would’ve been forced to advise on how to capture itself. If she wanted to only plan using her own skills then let her reap the consequences. This one would merely have to be more careful with its feedings in the future. It might pay to restrain itself for a couple of days in order to lull everyone into a false sense of security.

With the attempt to get more information out of the Ephemera-mare more or less a bust, this one decided to try and chat it up with the other hired help. While they weren’t willing to talk about who was in charge of all of this, this one might be able to pull something out of the aether by asking about other things like where all of them came from and their previous work. All information is relevant if you know how to put the pieces together.

But this one didn’t get very far before a startled cry caught this one’s attention. It followed the sound to find something it didn’t like the sight of: the Alya-mare was struggling as one of the Ephemera-mare’s goons as he tried to take her saddle-bags away from her. Surrounding them were a hooffull of other individuals watching on with unpleasant grins as the zebra merchant tried to fight off her assailant.

“Come on, let's see what you’ve got,” the goon said as he tried to take the bag from her. “I want to see if there’s anything worth having a look at.”

“I said let go!” The Alya-mare twisted the bag around, bringing the goon closer to her as her elbow snapped up to smash him in the muzzle. The goon cried out in pain and released her. The Alya-mare moved to get away, but one of the other goons lounging nearby extended a leg to trip her. The Alya-mare lost her footing and fell on her face, to the hoots and hollers of the crowd.

“You gonna take that?!”

“Show her what’s for!”

“Now it’s getting good!”

This one scowled as it considered what to do. This situation was going to escalate quickly out of hoof; the Alya-mare might even be hurt or killed, something this one didn’t want to see. For one, this one had negotiated a deal with the her. That came with a certain level of professionalism, which this most certainly was not. The Ephemera-mare shouldn’t tolerate this type of thing in her camp, but this one was sure that going to her to try and stop this would just result in cold indifference. That left this one alone to act. Though that would come at considerable risk; it was difficult to say how many of the goons would react poorly to this one’s interference in their fun, and this one couldn’t hope to beat the dozens of them present in the camp, even if the jungle had taken its toll on them as well.

But if this one didn’t act, no one else would. And truthfully, this one was growing sick of feeling hopeless and like the whole world was against it. It wanted to do something, and here was something it could at least feel good about doing. Perhaps not the smartest thing this one could have done from a survivalist perspective, but life was about compromises.

So this one stepped towards the campfire that everyone was centered around. “Excuse me, but I don’t think that’s a particularly professional way to act towards someone in our little expedition.”

The goon looked up from shoving Alya’s face in the dirt to glare at this one. “Nobody asked you, pal.”

This one glanced at the pot of beans cooking in the fire as it spoke with cool detachment. “No, which is why I’m inserting myself into this. Leave her alone. There’s plenty of other ways for you to have your fun. Cards is always a good choice.”

The goon snorted and then nodded to some of his buddies. A half dozen stood up, all of them grinning at this one. “And what’re you gonna do if we say no?”

This one sighed and scratched the side of its head. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”

This one then snatched up the pot from the campfire to splash the boiling beans into the head goon’s face. He squealed in pain as he tried to wipe the burning morass from his face, stumbling back from this one and off the Alya-mare. Without missing a beat, this one swung the pot to smack against the head of the next nearest goon, sending him to the ground. This one judged the pot unlikely to survive another use, tossing it away into the face of a goon that charged it. It struck him right in the muzzle, momentarily stunning him.

While this one had seized the initiative, it was still badly outnumbered, and now others were starting to close in on this one, even if it was with more than a hint of hesitation. One of them took a swing at this one’s head, but it parried the strike and stepped inside his guard. Then this one quickly grasped him and shoved him into the campfire. He howled and crawled off the fire as fast as he could, rolling on the ground to try and put out where his coat had begun smoldering.

Two other goons moved in on this one’s flanks. Given it couldn’t back up anywhere without running into more groups of goons, this one was forced to stand its ground. They each threw punches at the same moment, and this one dodged to the side of one while blocking the attacks of the other. This one snapped a hoof into the blocked goon's face to stun him, then it turned on his compatriot who was pressing his own attack. This one turned aside a pair of punches before catching his arm with this one’s right arm, thus uppercutting his elbow. There was a pop as the elbow disconnected, and this one let the screaming goon jerk away. This one barely got its defenses back in place in time to hold off a renewed attack by the other goon. But when he overextended himself to press his advantage, this one knocked one of his strikes to the side and elbowed him in the throat in the same motion. His eyes bulged as he instinctively grasped his windpipe. The opening let this one chop him on the shoulder, forcing his whole leg to spasm and a follow-up blow to the side of his temple sent him to the dirt.

This one immediately went back into a defensive stance and quickly assessed its surroundings. The goons this one had picked a fight with didn’t seem particularly eager to continue, all either disabled or hurt enough that the fight had been taken out of them. Sadly that didn’t seem to extend to the rest of their compatriots. Other groups of goons glowered at this one, clearly unhappy with how their fellows had been manhandled and their fun disrupted. All told there were a couple dozen of them, not good odds in the least. Bad enough odds in fact that this one was considering using one of its remaining fire gems and drawing a dagger or two. This one hardly intended on dying this day, and it placed a much higher value on its life than theirs. The Ephemera-mare might react poorly to this one using such methods, but one had to survive the short term before the long term became an issue.

This one was considering its other options, like talking the goons down before this got really ugly, when help came from an unexpected quarter. A vial flew past this one and broke as it impacted the ground right in front of the gathering goons. A noxious green smoke exploded out and encompassed them. This one instinctively covered its muzzle and took several steps back; whatever the gas was it was potent enough to make this one’s eyes water even well away from where it billowed out.

It was far worse for the goons caught in the noxious cloud. They coughed violently, tears and snot pouring down their faces, and more than one ended up retching. Not all of them had been caught by the initial cloud, but another two vials joined the first, and soon all the goons had been enveloped by the smoke. The crowd very quickly worked to disperse in every direction as they desperately tried to escape the cloud that assaulted their senses, any fight left in them now completely gone.

The Alya-mare stepped next to this one, another vial in her hoof ready in case any goon decided they wanted another one. “You like that, you bastards?! You wanted what was in my bags?! Well there you are! Try that again and you won’t be getting off easy with just crying like a bunch of foals and puking your guts out!”

In a moment of wisdom, none of the goons replied, instead making good in their escape as the cloud slowly dispersed.

This one raised an eyebrow as it watched the merchant glower at their retreating backs. “Well, this wasn’t how I expected things to turn out.”

The Alya-mare sniffed and returned her potion to a bandolier at her waist. “How did you plan on that ending? You fighting all of them and somehow coming out on top against twenty-to-one odds?”

This one shrugged and motioned for us to move where the impromptu camp was less crowded. “I had a trick or two up my sleeve if it came to that.” This one flashed her a grin. “Not that I mind the save.”

“Likewise.” The Alya-mare huffed and ran a hoof through the braids in her mane. “Things could have gotten really ugly if you hadn’t shown up when you did. Those bastards have been bothering me since we stopped in the port, and they just weren’t taking no for an answer.”

“So I noticed. I’m guessing Ephemera didn’t do anything to rein them in?” This one looked over its shoulder to make sure no goons were following us, but it seemed they were done for the day.

She shook her head. “No, when I asked her to tell her dogs to back off she told me I was an adult and to deal with it myself.”

“I was afraid that was the case. Then it seems we have a problem on our hooves.”

“You’re telling me.” The Alya-mare sat down on a fallen log and rubbed the side of her brow. “I wanted to work with some people willing to bend the rules a bit so that I could get those seeds. Not ... this. What Ephemera did to the Buried Treasure...”

“Was completely out of line,” this one finished. “I have to admit, this is starting to spin out of control.” Being troubled wasn’t a hard sentiment for this one to relate with, and could be useful for interacting with the Alya-mare. The Ephemera-mare’s goons might be in lockstep with her, but that was clearly not the case with the Alya-mare. That could be used to this one’s advantage. Allies were almost always useful, especially in circumstances such as these.

This one leaned up against a nearby tree, one of the great towering things that made up the vast jungle around us. “All things considering, I’m thinking it might be smart if we start looking out for ourselves. Just saying, I don’t think our travel companions are looking for mutually beneficial business propositions.”

The Alya-mare studied me for a time before replying. “That sounds right. Are you proposing an alliance of some sort?”

“Why not?” This one flashed her a wry grin. “The way I see it, we’d both be better off watching each other’s backs. And if this whole expedition goes belly up I’d still have your seed project to fall back on to make a tidy little profit. Especially when I don’t think Ephemera would be in a place to collect on that contract anyways.”

“And you would so casually betray your employer like that?” the merchant asked with more than a hint of suspicion.

“It’s hardly a betrayal if she breaks contract first, or acts in such a way that it’d be stupid for me to keep going with this,” this one pointed out. “Given how cheap Ephemera is, I’m more than a little worried she’s going to hold out on me when payday comes around, if it ever does. And she’s got a lot of hired muscle that can give her a pretty strong no if she decides to be cheap on labor expenses. Can you blame me for looking into more productive options for the future?”

“You make a point.” The Alya-mare’s ears twitched. “I have to admit, I’d feel a lot safer having you around than the rest of these idiots.”

“So we have an agreement? We watch each other’s backs, and try and make a profit out of this mess?” This one extended a hoof to her.

She pursed her lips, considering this one’s hoof for a long moment before finally taking it. “We have an accord.”

We shook hooves and an alliance was born.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 10

I felt great. It had taken a ton of work, but we were in the land of the Dromaed and on the way to our destination. Finally, we were in the field, out in the wilderness and on the way to our destination. We were following the river inland, and the ponies of our expedition trailed behind me as we followed a path. After all the trouble we’d gone through to get this far, I couldn’t be happier.

Puzzle snorted. “This one has trouble believing how you could possibly have been happy traveling through that jungle. This one certainly didn’t enjoy the heat, humidity, the solid wall of vegetation, or the dangerous fauna and flora.”

Daring smirked and nudged Puzzle. “That’s because you’re a city bug. You have to be willing to rough it if you want to go on a real adventure. Also, I’m pretty sure you guys were doing things the hard way. There’s a reason we stuck to walking by the river. You can follow it, plus there’s usually more animal trails nearby, so less hacking our way through the jungle.”

“True,” Puzzle grumbled. “The Ephemera-mare seemed determined to walk a straight line to her destination, geography be damned.”

“Next thing is that your company sucked,” Daring pointed out. “That’s going to make any trip feel longer and more arduous. I know that from first-hoof experience.”

“Oh!” Kukri smiled up at her idol. “Like when you got captured by Caballeron and made to go through the Maze of Torment?”

“Yeah, being made to go through a big deathtrap by your companions tends to sour the relationship,” Daring confirmed. “And given I worked with Ephemera the one time back before I learned how big of an evil nag she was, I know how much her company sucks. I was nearly to the point of strangling her already even before she stabbed me in the back.”

“That definitely didn’t help,” Puzzle agreed with a sigh. “Still could have gone without the jungle, though.”

“No sense of adventure.” Daring tsked and shook her head. “You gotta learn how to enjoy what you’re experiencing, especially when it’s something new you’ve never done before.”

And I wasn’t the only one enjoying the trip. “Oh bully!” Capital cried as he stared up into the jungle canopy. “Look at those birds there! You see how brightly colored they are? And such a variety as well!”

I looked up and saw the sheer variety of prismatic birds darting between the trees. It was an explosion of diverse life usually only seen in zoos, but instead of being constrained and cordoned off within cages, it was out and about in its natural environment. It was the kind of thing I lived for. If it weren't for the terror birds prowling the skies above the jungle canopy I would have flown right up there and taken a look around. But everything I had read said that was tantamount to suicide, and while I was an adventurous pony, I wasn’t crazy, no matter how often other ponies told me I was nuts.

“That sure is something alright.” I grinned at Capital. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Quite so.” Capital’s face lit up in an enthusiastic smile. “Here we are, exploring distant exotic lands only a few ponies have ever even seen.”

“You'll get no disagreement from me.” I took a moment to stretch before yelling, “We're here, we're really here! Not in the Zihilious yet, but we're close. I can almost taste it.”

Capital nodded. “And it's just a matter of time before we get there. Everything's going just wonderfully.”

Some movement further up the river caught my eye and my smile widened. “And it's about to get better. Check this out!” I ran up a nearby hill with Capital in close pursuit. As we crested the hill we got our first look at one of the sights I had really been looking forward to this whole trip.

Thunder Lizards, a whole herd of them. A pair of them were massive, with long necks that stretched up into the sky, a large body, four stout legs and a tail as long as a good-sized tree. Their bodies alone were as big as a house, and it was almost daunting just how big they were. Walking alongside them were a half dozen relatively smaller specimens, though each was still larger than a carriage. They were also quadrupeds, with thick armored hides running from the back of their heads along their backs to a spiky bulbous tail that looked like it could easily be used as a club. They were working together to get a drink from the river, with some of them standing guard while the others got some water.

Capital gasped as he took them in. “The famous Thunder Lizards. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Definitely.” I pulled out a pair of binoculars from my bag and used them to watch the herd. “Look at them, they're huge. I mean, it's one thing to read about them in a book, but to actually see them in person...”

“No words in a book could do justice to this sight. Though we might want to go around them if we want to continue upriver—we don’t want to spook them, after all.” Capital glanced back at our expedition. “In fact, this might be a good place to take a break. I’m sure everyone would like some time off their hooves, and we can all watch the Thunder Lizards while getting a bite to eat.”

“Probably a good idea. About the last thing I want is to be at the business end of a Thunder Lizard stampede.” None of my books had really said how herbivore Thunder Lizards reacted to ponies, but it was probably best to be careful for the moment. A bad part of me wanted to go right up to them and touch them, but they were animals, and all sorts of bad things could happen if animals that big decided they didn’t like you petting them. Maybe if we were lucky we would get to ask the Dromaed about it. They had domesticated several species of Thunder Lizards, and if we made peaceful contact with them we might be able to get close to their animals. Though that did depend on us getting along with the Dromaed. One step at a time...

As Capital started issuing orders to the ponies in the expedition, something caught my attention. “Hey, look over there!” I darted down the hill toward a pyramid structure that was so overgrown with vegetation I almost overlooked it. A thrill of excitement ran down my spine as I got my first actual opportunity to look at some Dromaedian ruins. I started carefully cutting away the vines and vegetation to get a look at the stone underneath.

“My goodness you're excited!” Capital declared as he ran to catch up with me. He stopped short of the pyramid and all but gaped at it. “But then, I am too. Everything's just looking first rate.”

I finished removing enough of the vegetation to reveal pictograms on the wall that looked like Dromaed engaged in fishing from the river. We were going to need to get a picture of this before we left. “You bet. Everything's going great. Nothing could go—” I grimaced, quickly stopping myself from finishing that statement. Almost instinctively I started looking around for threats. “Probably shouldn't jinx it.”

Capital shook his hoof, lightly scolding. “Now now, let's not spoil the moment.”

“Just saying, this is exactly the type of moment Ephemera would love to ruin. She has a talent for that sort of awful timing.” I growled deep in my throat. “I’ll be working to scavenge some artifacts for museums and then she comes along and makes a mess of anything. Did I tell you about the time she sank the Temple of the Morning Sun into the ocean? Or how because of her the entire collection from Pharaoh Hisan's tomb got dumped into a volcano?”

“Yes, Daring, you have.” Capital clapped my shoulder. “But she's not here to cause any damage right now.”

I grumbled, wiping away vegetation with more effort than technically necessary. “That just means she's causing damage somewhere else. If she's not planning on ambushing us then she's probably making trouble with the locals. Or causing some other disaster like unleashing some imprisoned evil spirit that’ll want to take over the world. Not like she hasn’t done that before.”

“Perhaps, but you can't let her ruin the joy of moments like this.”

“Easier said than done.” I started ripping away vines to reveal more of the wall. “But just thinking about her ruins my mood. She's bad news, you have to know that by now. And she’s out there, somewhere.”

“Of course I do, but letting her destroy your happiness just gives her another victory,” Capital said. “As my father says, if you let your opponents control your happiness they’ll never let you crack a smile.”

I groaned and took off my hat as I wiped perspiration from my brow. Capital really wasn’t going to let this go. Worse, he had a point. “I guess. It's just not easy, though, especially when I have to worry about her making a beeline for the City of Giants. We're taking the roundabout route so we can ask the Green Seers if we can go to Zihilius legit, but Ephemera won't care what they think. She's going to get ahead of us because we have to play nice with the locals, I just know it.”

Capital hummed and tapped his chin. “And how badly do you think that's likely to end for her? From everything we’ve heard the Dromaed don’t take kindly to trespassers.”

I shrugged. “Depends on how good they are at keeping ponies out of their forbidden city. Just saying, I’ve gotten into plenty of places people didn’t want me in. And Ephemera always finds a way to be trouble.”

“Still, considering how dangerous the jungle is, I don't think we want to go running around in hostile territory without the locals’ permission,” Capital pointed out. “That’s just asking for trouble.”

I sighed and nodded before returning to my archeological work. “Point. If the rumors about how protective they are of their territory are true, Ephemera's just walked into a world of hurt.”

“So, how is the seed collection going?” this one asked the Alya-mare a couple of days after we had made our deal.

“It’s coming along.” The Alya-mare bottled up seeds from a plant this one wasn’t familiar with. She stood and her gaze swept over the meadow around us. “I just need to find a few more samples of ulthua root.”

“Alright then, do what you need to.” This one shrugged and kept watch over the local area as she searched. We weren’t that far from the evening camp, but in the jungle it was still far enough to warrant caution. Many of the Ephemera-mare’s goons hadn’t taken due precautions when wandering the jungle and had just never came back. It was making everyone edgy. That in turn was crimping this one’s feeding. The Ephemera-mare had ended up setting a couple of traps for this one, mainly by sending one of her goons to try and attract this one while others laid in ambush. Not being an idiot, this one had failed to make an appearance for the obvious traps. This one hoped they would all calm down soon and give this one some easier opportunities to feed. No one could maintain such a high level of alertness forever, and it was only a matter of time before other matters would start pressing.

Though what was really crimping this one’s movements was staying near the Alya-mare. This one had indeed offended all of the Ephemera-mare’s help by spoiling their fun, with none of them willing to speak to this one afterwards. It had become a matter of us versus them, extra contract hires versus regular employees. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that some of the Ephemera-mare’s goons might seek some revenge, and the two of us separating would be seen as an opportunity to attack. Thus we had stuck close to each other for mutual safety.

The Alya-mare found another one of her roots and started digging. “So, you’re from Freeport?” she asked conversationally. Little surprise when we were the only real company each other had that she was going to want to socialize.

This one leaned against a nearby tree, its trunk wide around as some houses and its branches towering far over this one's head. It seemed best to answer her questions sincerely enough as long as they didn’t probe too deeply. “Born and bred.”

“So how did you come all the way to Port Nowhere?” she asked, grunting as she pulled the root up. “I’m not under the impression you were hired like the rest of Ephemera’s ... help.”

This one sighed, already not particularly liking this line of questioning. “I was between jobs. I fell out with my previous employer and ended up in Nowhere, so I took the first profitable job I could that would get me out of there.”

“And I see you’ve come to regret those decisions.” The Alya-mare straightened her glasses as she looked up at me. “Or at least that’s been my impression from your conversations with her.”

“She’s petty, vindictive, short-sighted, of questionable intelligence, and just not the type of person I want to be working for,” this one confirmed. “As soon as I’ve got my pay I’m heading to the Zebrican Empire. There’ll be better opportunities there.”

“I can’t disagree with you.” She signed wistfully. “I miss home. I’ve always wanted to go on a grand adventure, but ever since I left and found myself here I can’t wait to go back.”

This one chuckled. “Isn’t that the way of it? You don’t realize what you have until you lose it.” Admittedly, this one missed its home too. Even if the memories of Freeport created a fresh stab of anger.

The Alya-mare finished harvesting the root and bottling it before dropping it into her bags. “And what about you? Don’t you want to return home?”

This one shrugged. “Maybe someday.” In truth, this one wasn’t sure it would ever be able to return to Freeport. With all the enemies this one had, it might very well be suicide to go back. That was a nice and depressing thought. “So what are your plans for when you get back home? Any of them change with your new experiences?”

The Alya-mare let out a long sigh. “After this job I was hoping to have the coin to buy myself a merchant ship, sailing the world while making a profit. Now... I’m not so sure about that.”

“There’s always setting up shop on land,” this one suggested. “Nothing wrong with setting up in a local market if you know what you’re doing.”

She frowned as she started looking for another root. “Maybe. It’s an option at least. I’ll decide once I’m out of this mess. I’m sure my relatives will have all sorts of ideas of what I can do with my money then.” Her head tilted to look at me. “And what about you? What are you going to do, find a new employer?”

My ear flicked. “I’m not really sure, honestly. I can’t say that working for others has particularly worked out for me lately.”

“Maybe you just haven’t found the right employer?” the Alya-mare suggested. “Why did you quit your last job?”

This one grunted. “Lack of advancement opportunities.”

“Well isn’t that vague and mysterious,” I said. “Mind elaborating?”

Puzzle rolled his eyes. “All in good time.”

Daring snorted. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to let him get out of revealing all his deep, dark, terrible secrets.”

“Everyone wants to know this one’s secrets,” Puzzle grumbled.

“Because you’re a big mysterious guy,” I told him. “You know just about everything about me, but I hardly know anything about you. And so far this has been pretty interesting.”

“So let this one continue.”

“I can understand that.” The Alya-mare started leading the way back to the camp. “Though I do have to wonder what your previous occupation was. You don’t exactly have what I would consider a standard skillset.”

This one decided to go with something close to the truth as we approached the camp. “I was something of a problem solver. Dealing with various problems that came up for my employer.”

“Yeah, like what?”

This one was about to answer when it was interrupted by a high-pitched scream from the other side of camp. Soon several goons in the camp were running the way we had come, wild, wide-eyed terror twisting their faces.

The Alya-mare’s head swiveled as she tried to watch the entire flow of goons stream past us. “What should we do?”

“Let me see what’s going on.” This one took to the air, minding the low hanging branches.

It didn’t take this one long to discover what was causing the uproar. The camp was being invaded by massive bug-like creatures—at least a dozen of them, each roughly twice as long as a pony, and vaguely reminiscent of centipedes as they scurried along on their many legs. Though the long plates running down their backs mostly obscured those legs, they definitely didn’t hide the pincered jaws.

“That’d be the arthropleuras,” Daring informed us. “Or ‘scurriers’ to the laymare. They’re a nasty group of omnivores prone to attacking anything that comes into their territory en masse.”

One of the goons slower to identify the threat screamed as he was overtaken by one of the pseudo-centipedes. It quickly lunged and bit into him, wrapping its body around his torso to keep him from escaping.

This one darted back down to land where the Alya-mare stood with a hoof ready to pull out one of her potions. “We’re being attacked by a group of some kind of giant centipede,” this one informed her. “Let me pick you up. I can get you up where they can’t get you.”

The Alya-mare’s eyes widened as she saw one of the scurriers move towards us, maw clacking. “Sounds good to me!”

This one scooped her up and rose as quickly as it could. The scurrier drew itself up and snapped at this one, its pincers coming uncomfortably close to this one’s rear leg. This one pumped its wings harder, straining to carry a full-grown mare by itself, until we reached a branch big enough to bear our weight.

The Alya-mare carefully balanced herself on the branch and gulped as she looked down. “We’ve got a problem.” She pointed to where a pair of scurriers were climbing up the tree, their little legs catching and digging into the bark as they propelled themselves up.

This one cursed as it watched them climb. It had hoped the giant bugs would content themselves with chasing the others, but it seemed these predators were a determined lot. This one pulled out one of its daggers and considered its options. “Looks like we might need to fight.”

“I got this.” Before this one could react, the Alya-mare whipped out a bottle from her bags and tossed it down. It struck a scurrier right in the face, and the potion burst into a fireball that disintegrated the top third of the creature. Unfortunately, the explosion also shook the tree and cost both of us our precarious footing. The Alya-mare screeched as she slid off and only barely caught onto the branch at the last second. This one spread its wings to take flight, and as this one dropped it saw the scurrier coming up for it, its jaw snapping.

This one’s options limited, it chose to dive down instead of trying to fly up. The scurrier snapped at this one but it rolled, barely dodging the gaping maw. This one lashed out with its dagger and the blade bit into carapace. The scurrier hissed as ichor pulsed out of the wound. Working to regain altitude, this one saw it had only caused a superficial wound, and the bug was now working its way up to the precariously-positioned Alya-mare.

With basically no time left to stop this threat, this one banked up and flapped its wings as hard as it could to catch up with the scurrier. This one flew up and over the scurrier as it made its final approach to the Alya-mare. She screamed as death came for her and scrambled to pull herself up onto the branch. This one whipped out a tanglehoof bag and tossed it at the scurrier. It hit the scurrier direct in the face, and the adhesive exploded covering its eyes and mouth.

The scurrier thrashed about as it tried to get the adhesive off. Taking advantage of its precarious state, this one dived at the massive bug. It slammed into its middle with this one’s shoulder, the impact causing the creature to lose its grip on the tree. The scurrier fell and hit the ground with a thump. It twisted and convulsed this way and as it suffocated.

A quick circle of the tree confirmed that no more of the scurriers were climbing up, so this one landed back on the branch. The Alya-mare had pulled herself up by then, and was holding a hoof to her chest as she breathed heavily. “That was far too exciting for me. Let's not do that again, okay?”

“I’ll make sure not to schedule fighting any giant bugs in the future,” this one said as it scanned the jungle floor. There were some groups of goons that had formed pockets of resistance, and even picked up weapons to fight the scurriers. But most of the Ephemera-mare’s help had fled or were out of sight. Though there was one group that caught this one’s eye.

The Ephemera-mare and her bodyguards were assaulted by a trio of the scurriers. They had taken position in the middle of the camp, using some crates to cover their backs. The janissaries were making a strong showing of it, darting out to deliver some quick blows to their attackers before dodging back to avoid snapping jaws and protect their charge. They were well coordinated too, each taking turns on attack and defense to hold back the scurriers. So far two of the giant bugs had already been slain, their carapaces cracked in multiple places.

Naturally, the Ephemera-mare held herself with significantly less grace. “Come over here and help me!” she screamed at her goons, or just no one in particular. “I don’t pay you to ru—”

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by her own screeching when a scurrier lunged for her. But one of her bodyguards intercepted it with a shoulder-tackle that sent both to the ground. The giant bug started wrapping itself around the bodyguard as he desperately fought to keep it off of him. This in turn left the Ephemera-mare’s flank dangerously exposed as the remaining free guard tried to keep the other two off of his charge.

The Alya-mare frowned as she watched the scene unfold. “Are we going to do anything?”

This one rubbed its chin and took its time to consider the matter. “No.”

“You sure are a hero, Puzzle,” Daring teased. “Bravely staying on your tree and out of the fight.”

Puzzle grinned at Daring. “This one apologizes for nothing. As was blatantly clear by this point, the Ephemera-mare was not this one’s friend. In fact, we were well on our way to being enemies. If some random wildlife happened to kill the Ephemera-mare at no risk to this one, then this one could live with that.”

Daring hummed unhappily as she crossed her arms. “Still not a great thing to do.”

“And this is why your enemies keep coming back time and again to bother you,” Puzzle said. “You keep pulling their rears out of the fire instead of letting them burn.”

“He’s got a point,” Kukri reluctantly conceded. “You do keep saving your enemies or letting them go at the end of your adventures.”

Daring grunted. “Maybe, but it still doesn’t feel right. I don’t like seeing people die around me.”

Puzzle shrugged. “Better my enemies die than me. The Ephemera-mare had had every opportunity to turn this one into a valuable ally, but instead she kept pushing this one away. In the end, this is very much her fault.”

The Alya-mare frowned, but didn’t say any more on the topic. She probably knew what this one was thinking, even if she wasn’t willing to say it.

As if things weren’t bad enough for the Ephemera-mare, more of the scurriers were closing on their position. The Ephemera-mare saw them too, and with wide-eyes, looked up at this one. “Save me already! Get me up there!”

This one shook its head as it called down to her. “Sorry, I think I sprained my wing getting the two of us up here,” this one lied. “I’d just as likely end up dropping you on your head if I tried.” This one was tempted to do just that on purpose, but then that would be a bit too obvious. There was a big line between killing someone by neglect and killing intentionally on purpose.

“Useless fools!” The Ephemera-mare pulled out her wand and blasted the nearest scurrier as it came for her, sending it flying backwards with green lightning. “Fine, I’ll do everything myself if I have to!”

She levitated several rubies out of her saddlebags and threw them at the encircling scurriers. The fire gems exploded, setting the whole camp ablaze and killing the scurriers in the great conflagration. She had even caught a couple of her goons on fire in the attack, to predictable results. But the scurriers were dead, this one had to admit. And the Ephemera-mare grinned in clear self-satisfaction as she watched everything burn. It made this one wonder what other magical items she had stored away. Another reason to be wary of the mare.

The Ephemera-mare’s bodyguards had even managed to finish off the scurriers they had been fighting, and near as this one could tell, all the blood on them belonged to their opponents. It seemed they did indeed know how to fight. Another problem for down the road.

“Oh no,” the Alya-mare said with sudden dread. “Our supplies...” She pointed to the edge of the camp where one of the fire gems had landed—right in the middle of a great deal of the supplies we had brought for our expedition. In fact, with so much of the camp now on fire, many personal possessions were now going up in flames.

That was bad, really bad.

“That mare is going to get us killed, isn’t she?” the Alya-mare muttered.

This one didn’t answer.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 11

The ruin we discovered upon our first sighting of thunder lizards wasn’t the only one we ran across during our journey up the river. While badly dilapidated and often overgrown by the jungle, more stone ruins dotted the landscape. Most of the structures were the tall and narrow pyramids that seemed to be standard for the Empire of Giants, but there were some low-lying and common ones too. Whatever purposes they served had been eroded by time and the harsh environment: between the sweltering humidity and vegetation most objects just didn’t survive long enough an enterprising archeologist to find.

If we had had more time I would have loved to explore these more thoroughly, especially if I could get some artifacts to bring back to Equestria, but we had a bigger prize to find in Zihlius, the capital of the Empire of Giants. And the fact of the matter was that we only had so long in the jungle before our supplies ran out. Sure, we could probably forage for food if we had to, but that would have slowed down our expedition. Even before the supplies ran out, it was only a matter of time before the equipment wore down and broke from use, and not everything could be fixed or replaced deep within the jungle. For instance, we had brought with us magical talismans we set up every time we made camp that should keep the local animals from wandering in and eating all of us, such as the deadly skitterers that were said to prowl the jungle floor.

Puzzle let out a long sigh. “You’re only mentioning the skitterers because this one was nearly eaten by them, and to rub its face in the fact you were better prepared to deal with them.”

Daring flashed him a grin. “If you hadn’t signed up with an evil idiot like Ephemera then you wouldn’t have nearly gotten eaten by a bug even bigger than you, would you? Just saying, being properly prepared for the environment goes a long way in keeping yourself alive. I know having the right tool for the job saved my butt more times than I can remember, and Ephemera would rather save money than lives—even when her own life’s on the line.”

Puzzle rolled his eyes. “Yes yes, this one regrets many things. If this one could go back with what it knows now it would have done a great many things differently. But that’s what experience, hindsight, and wisdom will do to you. It’s not like you haven’t had your fair share of regrets over the years either.”

The moment we ventured into the jungle we had started a timer for how long we could stay. All we could do was make the best use of the time we had,. so I spent the time we took on breaks to look over the ruins that dotted the riverbank. My explorations weren’t nearly as thorough as I would have liked, but life is full of compromises.

That day, a relatively small pyramid sitting by the river had caught my attention. A quick examination revealed engravings along the side of the structure consisting of symbols I only half understood and some pictograms involving some sort of religious activity. I carefully cleaned them of the lichen and vines that covered them, I then started making a charcoal copy so that I could properly study them later. I was in the middle of that when I heard a rustle in the bushes behind me.

I spun around to face the sound, my wings snapping out as I prepared for a fight. “Who's out there?! Come on out, I’ve already heard you!”

For a long moment, nothing happened. The only sound was the cacophony of birds and bugs that always echoed through the jungle. But then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. My head snapped to the left just in time to see someone stepping out of the brushes right next to me as I caught sight of my very first Dromaed.

It was bipedal, a little taller than me, though with his tail he was longer than I was. He was covered in bright colorful feathers, ranging from blue feathers running down from the top of his head along his spine that flowed into black along his body, ending with white along his belly. He looked at me with pale yellow catlike eyes, and his serrated teeth showed themselves in a sneer. Both of his arms ended in long, dragon-like talons, and he carried a club that had shards of sharpened obsidian running up opposite sides of the weapon. His feet were much the same as his talons, though each foot had a single large hooked talon. He was also covered in leather armor.

“Hold, intruder,” he growled at me in heavily accented Zebrican. His voice was a deep hiss that came across as one used to having his commands followed.

“Who’re you?!” I demanded as I jumped into the air.

“I said hold.” The Dromaed made a strange gesture with his free hand and hissed something I didn’t understand. Suddenly vines hanging off the pyramid snapped out and grabbed me around my legs and barrel.

“Hey!” I spun around in the air, fighting against the vines in an attempt to either break them or squirm out of their hold, but they held me fast as I flapped my wings fiercely. “What’s the meaning of this?!”

“Hold still or I will kill you.” It was a cold pronouncement, and while I had trouble reading the Dromaed’s strange features, I believed he was telling the truth.

“I’d like to see you try,” I snapped back. I pulled a couple vines free of the pyramid, and would be free in a few more seconds if I could keep him talking.

“No you would not,” he announced calmly. He made another gesture like the last and more vines grabbed me.

“I've heard that one before: plenty of big, bad, and scary people have told me they were gonna be the end of me. But here I am. So why should I give up?” I struggled against the vines, but I was quickly getting entangled. “No reason for me to give up if you're just gonna club me in the back of the head when you have me at your mercy.”

“You mean besides the fact he had you captured?” Puzzle teased.

“I could have gotten out if I'd really needed to,” Daring groused. “I’ve gotten out of tighter spots in the past.”

Puzzle grinned. “Oh, no doubt.”

The Dromaed’s nostrils flared. “If I meant you harm, interloper, you would already be dead. This is me being gentle, and you do not want to see me when I am not so. We have already captured your companions, so do not make things difficult for them as well as yourself.”

My heart seized up. “You’re lying! I would have heard it if you did something to everyone in the camp.” I couldn’t see it from where I was tied up due to the pyramid blocking my view, but I definitely would have heard something if the camp had been attacked.

“I speak only the truth. Do not presume to know what happens in our lands. You are the last of the interlopers to remain free, and now I have you.” His lips pulled back to reveal his teeth. “Why are you here, intruder? Why do you defile our sacred lands?”

I stopped struggling since that didn’t seem to be working. Time to try my words instead.

Puzzle snickered. “This should be good.”

“Hey!” Daring sniffed. “I can talk my way out of trouble, you should know.”

“It’s a statistical possibility, yes,” Puzzle said with a wide grin.

“Don't doubt the Do-mare,” Kukri said. “She can do anything.”

Daring ruffled Kukri’s headcrest. “That’s right, kid.”

“I'm here on an archeological expedition,” I told him. “We all are.”

“Ark-eee-ah-lo-gee?” The Dromaed’s head tilted to the side, the words sounded unfamiliar on his lips.

Right, the Dromaed had probably never really had experience with archaeologists, or museums. “We're trying to learn about history by examining objects. Like how I’m studying this pyramid to see what it can tell me about the people who built it.”

His eyes narrowed. “Looking at them, or stealing them?”

I grit my teeth as I tried to keep my temper in check. More than one person had tried calling my work grave-robbing, but now wasn’t the time to get into a fight. “I'm taking historical artifacts and putting them in museums for people to study and learn from. Stuff people haven't seen or been in forever. I’m not hurting anyone here.”

“Our treasures and history are not yours to take,” he growled. “Many come here to steal from us, seeking power they have not earned or deserve. You seem no different to me.”

I shook my head. “I'm not seeking power or looking to make money. I'm only here to learn about history and help others do the same.”

The Dromaed pressed his lips together as he watched me. “Even if that history is one better left forgotten?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? I don’t see how just forgetting the past helps anyone. That just means people will make the same mistakes, and no one benefits from that.”

He growled from deep within his throat. “Did you think we let our cities fall to ruin by accident?”

“I don't know why you did,” I admitted. “That's part of what I wanted to find out. We don’t know much of anything about your people or this land. I’m trying to correct that.”

“So you seek wisdom, then?”

I nodded. “Among other things, yeah. I’m trying to learn about this land’s past so that I can teach others later.” That was roughly close enough to what I did, anyways. I was trying to pass along the concept of the whole field of archeology to someone who had never heard of it, after all.
Best to take it in steps until he got it.

He frowned in a way that showed his teeth. “Your words sound fine, but outsiders lie often and easily. Especially when they seek our treasures.”

I glowered, but couldn’t help but acknowledge his point. There were plenty out there who just looked at some old ruin and thought about what sort of loot they could ransack from the place. Either it was somepony like Ephemera who wanted to steal artifacts to make a quick bit or someone like Ahuizotl trying to find some sort of doomsday artifact. “Fair enough. That’s why we wanted to ask your greenseers if it'd be okay to look around. We didn’t want to look like a bunch of thieves—which we’re not, by the way.”

His head tilted back. “You seek the greenseers?”

“That’s why we're following this river.” I motioned to the water. “It's supposed to be the fastest way to get to Szuszushlui.”

The Dromaed considered that for a moment. “If that is true, then we will escort you and your companions there. The greenseers will decide your fate.”

I frowned as I studied him. That sounded like exactly what I wanted, but I’d been tricked before by people who said they would help me, and this wasn’t the most auspicious circumstances. “...alright then. Can I at least get assurances we'll get a fair hearing from your greenseer?”

He snorted. “The greenseers are always fair.”

“Uh-huh, we'll see about that.” I tried to pull myself out of the vines, to no success. “This better not be any kind of trick.”

“We do not lie.” He waved and the vines let me go. “Follow. If you stray from the path, you will die.”

I rubbed my arms where they had been painfully pinched. “Jeez, you're making me feel so welcome.”

He got behind me and motioned for me to start walking towards the camp. “Until the greenseers welcome you as a guest, you are a trespasser. Be happy it was me who found you first. Not all hristak are as merciful as I.”

I did as he said and started heading back to the camp. Not that I was intimidated by him, but working with him seemed best. Especially if there were more Dromaed out there, and they had in fact captured Capital and the others. “If you’re so worried about trespassers, then you probably want to know about someone else lurking around out here.”

The Dromaed turned his head to me. “Oh?”

I nodded. “Her name's Ephemera, and she’s got a small army of goons following her. She’s trouble, unlike me and my companions they’re not here to study history. They’ll steal everything they think is valuable and hurt anyone that stands in their way.”

He raised an eyebrow, or what passed for its feathery equivalent. “Tell me more.”

“That certainly could have gone worse,” Puzzle commented. “No one was hurt during your first meeting with the Dromaed.”

Daring grinned. “See? I told you I can talk with people if I have to.”

“And how did your first encounter with the Dromaed go?” I asked Puzzle.

Puzzle sighed as he rubbed his brow.

Between our supplies running short, the jungle sapping our group’s strength, and the ongoing uncertainty of how close we were to meeting with the Ephemera-mare’s patron, this one’s morale was waning. The whole trip was making this one homesick. Necrocrats be damned, this one was starting to miss Port Nowhere. To think, this one had once longed to go on a grand adventure to someplace strange and exotic, and now after getting it all it wanted to do was be anywhere but there. It wasn’t even the location that was the problem. Sure, the climate was extremely unpleasant, the fauna and flora were extremely dangerous, and this one was far removed from anything that could reasonably be called civilization, but even all of that was tolerable compared to what truly made this one miserable.

The Ephemera-mare was at the center of this one’s discontent, and relations between us had only deteriorated since our encounter with the scurriers. She had taken it quite personally when this one had failed to help her, and this one had been reduced to a position of little importance within her retinue, with her refusing to even see this one since the incident. Her goons had picked up that this one was on the out with their employer and made a point of making this one and the Alya-mare’s discomforts worse in a variety of small petty ways. It had nearly resulted in several fights already, and only further fueled this one's brewing discontent.

Shame there wasn’t much of a choice on what this one could do about it unless this one wanted to break contract with the Ephemera-mare and make a break for it in the jungle. Even then, this one’s employer was petty enough that she might very well drop whatever she was doing just to hunt this one down for revenge for every perceived insult. No, this one would stick with the plan for now, even if it found the whole exercise to be increasingly intolerable. Thus this one marched alongside everyone else as we delved yet further into the forsaken jungle.

The Alya-mare growled as she slapped her neck. “Ugh, I swear, the bugs in this jungle are going to eat me alive.”

Despite the situation, this one grinned. “What? No potions to keep all the bugs off of you?”

“Oh I’m using them alright,” she groused as she slapped at another mosquito. “It just doesn’t seem to be working. Or a more terrifying thought, it is working, and it’s the only thing standing between me and getting all my blood sucked out.”

“Quite possibly. Especially when comparing you to everyone else.” This one looked up the column of goons and how many of them were suffering the ravages of the forest’s minor nuisances. Given how much they were slapping at themselves and the number of red sores on their bodies they were faring even worse than the Alya-mare. By and large, this one seemed to be immune to the various pests bothering everyone else. They must not have had much of a taste for changeling ichor, not that this one was about to complain.

“At least I have the cold satisfaction that everyone else is at least just as miserable as me.” The Alya-mare pulled out a salve from her bags and started smearing it onto her neck. “Any luck with figuring out how far we’ve got to go?”

This one shook its head. “No, no one else seems to know where our destination is either.”

“You sure they’re not just being difficult?”

“I don’t think so,” this one said. “They seem every bit as frustrated as we are about how long this is dragging on.” Yes, their frustration was growing. That and fear. This one wasn’t the only one who saw that the expedition wasn’t going well. They knew our supplies were dwindling faster than our numbers, and that this couldn’t last for long. Unless something changed really soon we were all going to be in deep trouble.

The Alya-mare glowered up the column and spoke to this one in a dark whisper. “Can’t say I’d be sorry to see a mutiny against Ephemera. But I don't like her help all that much either.”

This one leaned in to whisper back. “Be careful with talk like that. If it reaches the wrong ears it could be quite bad for us. At this point, Ephemera would barely need an excuse to vent some of her own frustrations. It’s best to keep such thoughts to yourself for now.”

She frowned but nodded. “Still, I can’t help but think I might have made a mistake.”

“You and me both.” This one noticed that the column was slowing down and tilted its head to try and get a better view. “But we’ll make it work out in the end, trust me.”

The Alya-mare put away her salve and let out a huff. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?”

“I usually manage to land on my hooves, whatever the situation,” I explained. “It’s just a matter of making out as best you can with the situation you’re dealing with.”

The Alya-mare sniffed. “Easy to say, harder to put into practice.”

“You could say that about just about anything.”

I finally got a good look at what had slowed down the column. We now stood on one end of a rope bridge crossing a river. It was a good thing we found it too: on each side of the bridge was a three-story drop into a fast-flowing river with sharp rocks jutting out. It would have taken us days to find a means to cross the river if not for this bridge. Though this one had to wonder who had first built the bridge: the Dromaed seemed the most likely answer, but then that just raised the question of why they had built it here of all places. We hadn’t run across any Dromaed or a village that would need trade routes set up.

Was there something the Ephemera-mare knew that this one didn’t? It was quite possible. Near as this one had been able to tell we’d been going in a straight line through the jungle, though admittedly that was hard to tell for sure with how dense the vegetation was. Of course, we could have always run across the bridge on our own by dumb luck. Weirder things had happened, and the Ephemera-mare certainly seemed to have the favor of fortune given how far she had come in life despite her crippling shortcomings. Though luck was still an inherently insuccificent answer for this one.

No one seemed particularly anxious to try out the bridge first. It looked study enough, but it had been weathered by time and the elements, and the jungle was hard on anything within it. The Ephemera-mare finally ordered a pair of her goons to test the bridge by crossing it. The goons exchanged looks, clearly not sure about the idea, but their employer barked at them until they started crossing anyway. Having no other choice, they did as they were told and slowly picked their way across the bridge as the Ephemera-mare impatiently tapped her hoof on the ground. They got across without incident. The bridge declared safe, the Ephemera-mare waved for everyone to make their way across the bridge in groups.

As we waited for our turn to cross the bridge, a growing unease began to settle over this one, though it couldn’t quite place exactly what was bothering it. This one split its attention between the Ephemera-mare, the jungle, the bridge, and the goons, but nothing really stood out. Still...

“Is something the matter?” the Alya-mare whispered.

Her voice pulled this one out of its ruminations. “Hm? Why would there be?”

She corrected her glasses as she glanced around. “You’re frowning and looking around like something’s bothering you.”

Had this one been that obvious about its unease? “Just a feeling,” this one assured her.

“If you say so...” The Alya-mare didn’t sound convinced, but when it was our turn we started heading down the bridge nonetheless.

We were halfway down when there was movement on the far side. As though out of nothing, at least a dozen figures moved out of the jungle’s underbrush to appear before us. The Dromaed, this one quickly recognized. It wasn’t hard to guess; beneath the vegetation they were using for camouflage, each Dromaed was a riot of colorful feathers, each different from the next. What concerned this one far more was how each one of them was armed either with obsidian-tipped spears, bows, obsidian-lined clubs, or toxic blowdarts.

“Halt right there, interlopers!” the leader of the warband declared, loud enough even to be heard over the roaring river beneath us.

A quick examination of our predicament proved that the Dromaed had been careful in timing their trap: our column had been caught in the middle of its transit over the bridge, with people on both ends exposed, and more Dromaed had started appearing behind us in addition to the warriors before us. We were trapped in an extremely precarious position. If this one didn’t do something, our trip through the jungle was about to be cut drastically short.

“Wait here,” this one told the Alya-mare. Before she could voice a response, this one leapt over the side of the bridge and took flight, keeping close so as not to provoke the archers overwatching us ... this one hoped. At least three of the archers were tracking this one with their arrows, and this one didn’t doubt they would shoot if this one made a break for it.

The Ephemera-mare was standing on the far side of the bridge, glaring at the Dromaed standing before her. Her goons were glancing around, unsure how to proceed against this new threat, while her bodyguards stood impassively. Thus the guards barely reacted when this one came near, their muscles tightening ever so slightly as this one approached their master.

This one stopped next to the Ephemera-mare and spoke in the calmest but firmest voice it could manage. “We should try and talk with them.”

The Ephemera-mare snorted. “You think these savages intimidate me, Puzzle?”

This one ground its teeth together. As this one had feared, the Ephemera-mare was going to be stupid about this. “Whether they’re savages or not doesn’t matter. What does is that they have us surrounded and pinned on a bridge. This isn’t the time to get into a fight if we can avoid one.”

Her eyes narrowed. “So what are you suggesting? We surrender to them so that they can kill and eat us? I think not.”

“I’m suggesting we talk with them,” this one said, forcing itself to sound calm and reasonable. “Maybe we can convince them to let us continue through their territory, or at least arrange something to let us get off the bridge.”

The Ephemera-mare scoffed. “And you think they’d listen to us?”

“Let me talk with them.” This one nodded to the Dromaed’s leader. “I might be able to arrange something with them. It’s worth a try. If I fail then we can still fight.”

Not that this one expected us to actually win in a fight, given the circumstances. The Dromaed had picked just about the best possible spot to ambush us. It was a small surprise they hadn’t already gone ahead and attacked to wipe us out. But this one would seize any opportunity it could to survive this. If that meant negotiating with the Dromaed, then this one would be more than happy to do so.

The Ephemera-mare’s eyes narrowed. “I think not. I’m not about to let you negotiate with these savages where I can’t hear. No, I’m going to talk with them. You wait here while I sort out these overgrown feather dusters.”

This one shook its head, for it could imagine how well the Ephemera-mare’s negotiations with the Dromaed would go: very, very poorly. “I’m not sure that’s—”

“Shut up!” she snarled with bared teeth. “Not. Another. Word. You think you’re so clever, that you have the answers for everything, and know better than me. Well I’ll have you know that I’m in charge of this expedition, and I’m tired of listening to your condescension and undermining at every turn. We’re doing things my way, so you can sit down, shut up, and do as you're told. Am I clear?”

This one frowned. There was no talking to this mare. “Crystal.”

The Ephemera-mare didn’t bother to give this one another word as she pressed forward to talk with the warband’s leader, her bodyguards by her side. Though this one did its best to keep its expression neutral, that was proving quite difficult as the situation continued. The Ephemera-mare was going to start a fight, this one just knew it. It was clear she expected to get what she wanted, facts or consequences be damned. Though unlike her rank-and-file goons, this one wasn’t content with getting killed due to her idiocy.

This one flew back to the Alya-mare. She frowned, probably sensing this one’s mood as it landed on the bridge. “How did it go?” she asked. The nearest of the goons eavesdropped, one ear perked, even if they tried not to be obvious about it. Nothing to be done about it, there wasn’t time or space for it.

“Badly,” this one said bluntly. “Ephemera’s going to ‘talk’ with the warband’s leader, and I don’t think it’s going to end with us all having a picnic and trading stories with one another. Not when she seems to think they’re nothing but savages.”

The Alya-mare bit her lip as she glanced at both ends of the bridge and the Dromaed warriors just beyond. “What’re we going to do? There’s nowhere to run.”

This one examined the terrain and considered our options. Given the pandemonium that was bound to break out any minute now, trying to escape through either side of the bridge wasn’t likely to work out. We’d just run right into the warriors, which sounded like a great way to get killed. This one wasn’t bad in a fight, but it preferred when its opponents didn’t even know they were getting into a fight with this one until it was too late. Flying was out too with those archers in place. They would pick off anyone that tried to fly away, and there was no way this one could fly fast enough to escape if it was also carrying the Alya-mare. This one looked over the side of the bridge to the fast-moving river below.

“How good of a swimmer are you?” this one asked.

The Alya-mare raised an eyebrow. “I’m decent at it. Why?”

This one flashed her a grin that deep down it wasn’t feeling. “Because I’m thinking we should jump.”

The Alya-mare blinked. “Are you crazy?! That’ll get us killed for sure. If the fall doesn’t get us, then the rocks in the river will.”

This one shrugged. “Likely death is still better than certain death. I’ll catch you before we hit the water to slow our descent, but slowing us down a little bit is about all I can do. Otherwise, we’ll be pickings for the archers.”

She frowned as she took a long, hard look at the river well below us. “You sure know how to paint a rowdy picture.”

Just then the Ephemera-mare’s shouting echoed over us, and a quick visual check showed that the Dromaed were readying their weapons. In a few more moments the archers would start shooting everyone on the bridge. Given how close we were all crammed together, that’d be like shooting fish in a barrel.

This one braced itself on the rope railing. “If you want to die on this bridge then that’s your decision. I can’t make this choice for you, but I’m jumping and taking my chances. You can come with me if you want. Either way, make your decision quick.”

In truth, this one considered jumping and leaving the Alya-mare to her fate. That would improve this one’s chances for survival in the short-term, since then this one would only have to worry about itself in the raging river. But this one had made a compact with the Alya-mare, and going through the jungle alone didn’t particularly appeal to it either.

The Alya-mare sighed as she ran a hoof through her mane. “Fine. I don’t have any better ideas.” She pulled out a couple of potions and quickly downed them. “Though if I get killed doing this, I have the right to be mad at you.”

“Fair enough.” The shouting between the Ephemera-mare and the Dromaed was reaching a crescendo, and while this one couldn’t hear what they were saying, it wasn’t hard to tell that things were about to turn south. Deciding this was about as good a time as any, this one called to the Alya-mare. “Ready?! Three, two, one, and go!”

This one leapt over the side and plummeted. A pair of arrows whizzed past precariously close to this one as it fell, and it was only the fact that the Dromaed hadn’t expected us to jump off the bridge that kept this one alive. Tucking in its wings close, this one oriented itself to see the Alya-mare falling near it. With no time for errors, this one beat its wings to come alongside the merchant-alchemist and take hold of her. The river quickly filled this one’s vision, and this one spread its wings at the very last moment to slow our descent. This one wrenched itself up to keep us from hitting the water, with the Alya-mare’s rear hooves just touching the whites of the roiling water.

More arrows flew past us, coming much too close for this one’s comfort, and the sounds of fighting echoed behind this one, punctuated by an explosion that sent up fire and smoke from where the Ephemera-mare had last been standing.

This one dove into the water. It seized us and pulled us along with irresistible force, causing this one to become fully submerged. Before this one could even reorient itself, it painfully slammed into a rock, causing a flash of pain from its shoulder. This one fought against the pain to keep its senses and to think of what to do next. Swimming in the fast-moving river was indeed extremely dangerous, but thankfully this one could cheat a bit.

This one transformed its rear legs into a webbed tail, gills formed along its neck, and its forelegs shifted to have fins instead of hooves. Now in the form of a seapony, this one pumped with its tail to swim up to the Alya-mare, who was desperately splashing to try and avoid the rocks she was hurtling towards. This one took ahold of her from behind and, taking advantage of its new body, maneuvered our way through the rocks. It was still a damn near thing; there was no fighting the current while assisting the Alya-mare, only going along with it. But still, this one carefully swam and used its strong tail to thread the needle between the jutting rocks.

Soon this one got into a tempo for the process, gauging where it needed to be to avoid the rocks and other debris, and placing itself where it needed to be. Though it wasn’t long before this one’s tail started to ache from the effort, even though this one was pacing itself to conserve its stamina.

We needed to get out of the water and onto dry land. Pity this one didn’t know where a safe spot might be, since there were only sheer rock faces on either side of the river. It took a few more desperate minutes before an opportunity presented itself: one of the great jungle trees had grown up along the river, with its roots jutting down right into it.

“Grab onto those roots!” this one called out. This one swam as hard as it could towards the roots and then turned to slow us down in the foamy water, but despite this one’s best efforts we still slammed into the roots with jarring force. The Alya-mare clung onto the roots for dear life while this one snagged a root, and between the current and the slippery root this one nearly lost its grip.

Seeing this one’s plight the Alya-mare wrapped a couple legs around a root and hooked a hoof around this one’s saddle-bags. She grunted with effort as she dragged this one closer to the roots. Before this one was dragged out of the water it transformed back into a zony-pegasus, and between the two of us we got this one into a less precarious state.

This one looked up at the roots to judge our current predicament. The climb didn’t look particularly inviting, so this one thought through its options. “One second.” This one dragged itself up onto a shaky perch in the crook of a root, and then reached a hoof down to its companion. She took this one’s hoof, and this one dragged her up so that she was lying down on another root.

“What ... now?” she asked, panting from effort.

“Now we fly.” This one shook the water out of its wings and tested them. They were more tired than this one liked, but lingering in the drenching sprays of water wasn’t much of an option.

This one took to the air and carefully grabbed the Alya-mare, and soon we were back on drier land. After placing her on the ground, this one all but collapsed against a tree as it tried to catch its breath. The whole experience had been utterly draining, and this one wanted more than anything to just go to sleep forever.

The Alya-mare flicked droplets of water off of her leg. “So, it seems we’re still alive. That’s something.”

Despite this one’s fatigue, it grinned. “See, I knew what I was doing.”

She snorted with a grin. “Liar. We nearly died.”

This one shrugged. “Still, it was a better option than staying on that bridge. What, did you want to stick it out with Ephemera?”

The Alya-mare let out a short bark of a laugh. “Hardly! If I never see her again it’d be too soon.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

“Think she managed to survive the Dromaed?” she asked as she stretched out tired muscles.

This one closed its eyes, leaning its head back against the tree as it shifted its thought process from short-term survival to analysis and planning for the future. “It seems unlikely. Given the way she was no doubt provoking them she would have made herself their primary target, and her goons weren’t in a good place to protect her. Maybe her bodyguards could have helped her fight through the ambush, and she might have a few magical tricks hidden away, but it seems unlikely.” This one rubbed its chin. “The Dromaed held all the cards since this is their territory, and they chose the ambush site. Even if she got away they’ll be hot on her trail, and again, they know their land much better than we do. It might just be the paranoid side of me, but I don’t take it for granted that someone is dead until I’ve seen the corpse myself.”

The Alya-mare sighed and ran a hoof through her mane as she tried futilely to correct it. “So what’re we gonna do? This little expedition hasn’t exactly been going the way I thought it would.”

“That is the question of the hour.” This one took a moment to think before answering. “How many of your seeds have you collected?”

The Alya-mare’s eyebrow raised. “About a quarter of what I was looking for. We need to head further inland before I find the more valuable ones. Why do you ask?”

This one grunted. That wasn’t exactly the news this one wanted to hear, but we would just have to make do. “Because I’m thinking we say to Tartarus with this expedition, this jungle, and especially Ephemera, and head back to the port. With some luck we’ll be able to get into the city and onto a ship without any major problems.”

Of course, getting back into the port would be a trick after the rather spectacular way we’d left it. Really, that whole incident made this one wonder how exactly the Ephemera-mare had planned to get out of Dromaed lands once she was done picking over the ruins of the City of Giants. People don’t tend to forgive and forget assaulting their town guards and setting their bar on fire, and especially not the type of stubborn and hard-bitten people that normally filled frontier settlements. But there were ways to manage such a risk, and this one had a lot of experience getting into places others didn’t want it to go.

“That’s it?” She frowned. “We’re just giving up like that?”

“What’s the alternative?” this one asked. “Continue on to the City of Giants by ourselves? We have limited supplies, no protection of a large group, and no magic compasses to guide us anymore? To be frank, that sounds like another great way to get ourselves killed.” This one shook its head. “No, sometimes it's best to just cut your losses and go home.”

The Alya-mare sighed and slumped against a tree opposite of this one. “You probably have a point. We can make some money off of what seeds we’ve gathered, anyways. And I can’t make a profit if I’m dead.”

“Exactly.” This one stretched its tired legs and felt the joints pop. “So we head back to the coast as quickly as we can while our supplies hold and forage where we can. If we’re lucky, the Dromaed will either think we’re dead or won’t bother us since we’re trying to get out of their territory.”

“And if they do decide to pursue us?”

This one stood up despite the groans of protest from its body. “Then we’d better get moving.” Beyond the river was the impenetrable jungle that had already nearly killed us multiple times, full of the promise of yet more horrible and exotic deaths. It wasn’t a journey this one relished. “We’re just going to have to take this one step at a time.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 12

This one was growing to hate the jungle. No, that was probably understating it; this one already hated the jungle, it’s just that the reasons for hating it were growing. While the thick vegetation was still extremely difficult to move through, the local bugs continued doing their best to eat us alive, and the need to avoid several carnivorous thunder lizards, we were still moving faster now that it was just this one and the Alya-mare. This one might have been able to move faster still if it had been able to fly freely, but that would have meant abandoning the Alya-mare. That would have left this one alone and vulnerable, especially when the Alya-mare was more familiar with the jungle. She had found the animal trail we were now following and knew what could be eaten in the jungle along with how to get water. This one knew a few survival techniques, but she was on an entire other level.

That much became obvious as this one tripped over yet another branch hidden in the undergrowth while the Alya-mare deftly glided through it. She smiled back at this one, and this one could well imagine her mirth. “You have to move with the terrain, not hammer through it.”

“So I gathered,” this one said as it nearly tripped again. “I'm not used to moving through this much underbrush. The Freeport islands’ undergrowth can get bad in some places, but nothing on this scale. It helps that you’re rarely more than a couple days from some sort of civilization, unlike here.” In fact, this one was starting to long for its home, even if it was pretty sure by this point it would never be able to go back. But this one had made its decisions, and needed to concentrate on the present in any event.

“It's not that hard,” the Alya-mare said. “Just watch what I do.” She proceeded to show this one how she did so by example. This one picked up on the technique pretty quickly, in no small part due to its changeling nature. If there was one thing we were good at, it was copying others.

“So where did you learn how to do this?” this one asked. “Did you grow up in the jungle, or did you receive training?”

“Training, specifically from the consortium I’m working for. Training was part of the deal for me coming out all this way to collect their seeds. No sense in sending me to the jungle if I didn’t stand a chance of coming back.” The Alya-mare grinned as she watched this one follow her. “You're a fast learner. Faster than I was learning this.”

This one smiled back. “I like to think I'm quick on the uptake. You could say it’s one of my talents.”

The Alya-mare took a swig of her canteen. “No offense, but you’re not much of a jungle guy are you? Makes me wonder what you’re doing out here in a place this far removed from your comfort zone.”

“The giant equine-eating bugs, diseases, and Thunder Lizards do make the place less appealing than it might be,” this one conceded with a shrug. “It was part of the contract I made with Ephemera. I figured it would be a simple enough job, I’d get a big payoff, and then find work someplace else once I was done. Granted, I didn't expect it to get nearly this bad. I never had the impression Ephemera was the best employer, but she had coin to spare.”

“Yeah.” The Alya-mare wrinkled her nose. “Should've vetted her before you signed up.”

I sighed and nodded. “That much is true.” But then, that was no small part of why this one was in this mess to start with. This one really needed to learn and be much more careful who it worked for in the future. At this rate, this one’s employers were going to get it killed in some messy and spectacular fashion.

“Well, you're in it now,” she pointed out. “So what's the plan?”

“For right now, get back to port and then hopefully get a ship to Zebrica. From there I should be able find other work.” And hopefully stay one step ahead of my pursuers.

The Alya-mare frowned. “I’d like to point out that I haven’t gathered all the seeds I came for. We need to go further inland for them, but since we’ve already come so far already...”

This one shook its head. “As I’ve already said, that’s liable to just get us killed. And we can’t get a payday if we’re dead.”

“Yeah, but crossing the consortium that hired me isn't exactly great for my prospects either,” the Alya-mare pointed out. “They put a lot of money into getting me here and they expect results for their investment.”

This one wondered just how nasty this consortium might be. Regardless, this one felt its chances lay in getting out of the jungle. It could deal with the results after it was out of immediate constant mortal peril, and for that this one needed to convince the Alya-mare to come with it. “You have a point, but your prospects will be even worse if we’re killed by the Dromaed for crossing their lands.”

The Alya-mare grimaced. “So we're in a ton of trouble either way.”

“So we are.” This one shot her a confident grin. “Unless we seek alternatives.”

Her eyebrow raised. “What sort of alternative?”

“With your talents it wouldn’t be too hard to start a new career,” this one pointed out as it ducked under a branch. “We could work together and find new employers. There’s always more work out there to be found, and if we can find enough money to pay off your consortium we can make sure there aren’t any hard feelings about not completely succeeding in your mission.”

The Alya-mare frowned as she thought the proposal over. “Maybe, but I’m not particularly eager to work with someone like Ephemera again.”

This one shook its hoof. “We can find people to work for other than Ephemera. The world is a big sea, and with a little bit of breathing room we can be more selective about who we work with.”

This one’s travel companion let out a long sigh. “Alright, so what's the game plan?”

This one smiled, for it looked like this one had convinced her to go along. “As I said, get back to port and take a ship to anywhere that isn't here. From there, we look for work to make some more coin.”

“Okay. So how do we get there?”

This one looked about the jungle and the trees that towered over us, unusually quiet for once. “Walking, unfortunately.”

“Right...” The Alya-mare pulled out a compass to check it. “I’d feel better about that if we didn’t have so far to go.”

“One step at a time,” this one advised. “We’ll make it work if we can just make it back to civilization, and I'll be happy to put this jungle behind us.”

“Yeah, same here.” The Alya-mare continued leading the way as this one followed in her hoofsteps. “I just wanna be sure we make it out of here in one piece.”

“I’ll do my best,” this one assured her. “I’m not about to let myself die in this accursed jungle if I can at all help it.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her face. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask about something that happened earlier.”

This one instinctively became suspicious. “What about?”

When the Alya-mare spoke it was with a cautious tone. “When we were in the water you ... transformed.”

This one smiled and used a ready-made lie. “Ah, that. I have a magical item that let me transform into something a little better at swimming. It’s part of why I felt confident jumping into the river to start with. When you live on an island nation it often pays to have a means to get back to shore in the event something happens to your ship.”

This one had considered telling the Alya-mare the truth, but it didn’t seem like a good time. Not when this one needed to have her trust. Suddenly revealing this one was a love-sucking bug was a good way to snap those already taut strands of trust. At the very least she would look at this one with more suspicion, no doubt worrying if this one was just keeping her around as emergency rations, and that type of distrust could get us both killed during a time like this. No, if this one was going to tell her it needed to be under much calmer circumstances, when we could part amicably if she found this one’s true nature not to her liking. True, keeping secrets had its own risks, but keeping secrets was something this one was good at.

“Okay then.” The Alya-mare shook her head to clear her thoughts. “I was just wondering. It came as a surprise earlier, is all.”

This one patted her back. “It’s quite alright. Let’s just concentrate on—” This one stopped as it felt the ground tremble slightly. “Do you know if this jungle is prone to earthquakes?”

“Not that I've heard, though the continent's not all that well mapped.” She shrugged. “In truth, not much is known about the interior of the jungle beyond some generalities, and even then some of what we know is wrong or contradictory.”

Before this one could inquire further something burst out of the underbrush, and a bipedal thunder lizard a little larger than a pony ran full-tilt towards us. This one flapped its wings and darted to the side as the thunder lizard shot past it. This one pivoted to face the thunder lizard, expecting it to continue its attack, but it barreled on through the jungle as though this one hadn’t even been there. It wasn’t the only one; the rumble under this one’s hooves grew enough to shake the earth as dozens of thunder lizards and other animals of all types and sizes ran past us, none paying us the least mind. It would have been amazing sight if not for the implications.

“That’s extremely foreboding,” this one called out over cries of the thunder lizards and the rumble of their footsteps.

The Alya-mare nodded as her head snapped back and forth between thunder lizards passing on both sides. “If the locals are running, maybe we should be too.”

“I always was inclined to abandon ship alongside the rats.” This one waved for us to go, and we started running.

It wasn’t long before this one got the sense of something very big behind us before a loud growl rolled up from behind. This one glanced over its shoulder and immediately didn’t like what it saw: a tyrant lizard. Standing as tall as a building, it moved on three-toed legs and possessed a pair of almost comically small arms. Its long body swept down to its long tail.

It was the head with its large jaw full of far too many long, sharp teeth that concerned this one the most.

Kukri squealed and jumped up and down. “You actually got to see a tyrant lizard?! This one’s so jealous!”

Puzzle snorted. “You wouldn’t be so jealous if you had been there in person. This one was terrified. It doesn’t like to see anything that big and carnivorous running up behind it.”

“You do seem to have all the luck,” Daring teased as she fished through the cooler for a beer. “Though a lot of it seems self-inflicted. Just saying, if you hadn’t teamed up with Ephemera you probably wouldn’t have gotten into this situation.”

I narrowed my eyes as I studied Puzzle. “Not your best move. Admittedly, I wouldn’t have expected you to work with someone like her.”

Puzzle shrugged. “It wasn’t the best time of this one’s life. But anyways...”

“This just keeps getting better and better!” This one picked up speed and ran as fast as it could.

The Alya-mare must have seen it too, because she broke into a full gallop. “Must go faster! Must! Go! Faster!”

But even running at our fastest wasn’t enough as the tyrant lizard closed in. It caught up with one of the smaller animals and almost effortlessly snatched it up. With a violent shake of its head it broke the prey’s neck and threw it back between its jaws, all while barely missing a step.

The Alya-mare glanced back. “Does he look like he wants to eat us?”

“It looks like he's just going for targets of opportunity,” this one guessed.

“So ... hide until he moves on?” she asked through labored breath.

“Sounds good!” This one spotted some advantageous ground, and when we got past a tree with some thick underbrush it grabbed the Alya-mare and dragged us into cover. We hit the dirt and crawled under the brush.

The tyrant lizard’s feet boomed as it ran past us, much to this one’s relief. For a moment this one thought the hunter was going to keep right on running after the rest of its prey, but then it caught up with a four-legged beast. Its jaws snapped out and caught the animal by the neck, and the two of them slid along as the tyrant lizard dug in its heels to drag its prey down to the ground. There was a crash as the thunder lizard landed far too close to us, and the tyrant lizard wrenched its head to break its prey’s neck. The tyrant lizard was still too close for this one’s comfort, and it didn’t look like it was going anywhere fast as it ripped into its meal. It hadn’t noticed us yet, but this one wasn’t keen on waiting around until it did.

This one grimaced as it thought of how to get us out of this predicament. “I don't suppose you have a potion to help us out here?” this one asked as quietly as it could.

The Alya-mare frowned as her hoof went to her bags. “I could try invisibility, but that thing could probably still hunt us by sound and scent.”

As if to prove her point, the tyrant lizard briefly raised its head to sniff at the air before returning to its kill.

“Isn't that a comforting thought?” This one let out a sigh as it moved through a list of increasingly desperate plans. Staying still wasn’t much of an option if it could smell us, and this one wasn’t willing to risk that it would be too full to want to come after us once it was done with its latest victim. That meant we had to get away, one way or another. “Maybe we should try to slowly sneak away. It might be too busy with its meal to notice us, and might not even bother as long as it’s still eating.”

She nodded. “Sounds good to me. Better than waiting here, at least.”

The two of us slowly stood and started moving away, being careful not to disrupt the vegetation too much as we progressed. As the tyrant lizard continued its meal, all we needed to do was break line of sight with the monster and then get some distance between us. Everything was working out just fine until there was a loud crack that echoed through the jungle far more than it should have, and then a thunder lizard jolted past us. The tyrant lizard’s head snapped in our direction, gore dripping from its jaws, its eyes focusing on us as a low growl reverberated from it. The way it turned its immense frame our way suggested it hadn’t been completely satisfied with its latest meal and wanted a second helping.

“Damn.” The Alya-mare sufficely described the situation.

“Run!” The two of us bolted, not that it did us much good. The tyrant lizard’s predatory instincts had been triggered by our flight, and it was after us.

The Alya-mare glanced behind her shoulder and then pushed her legs to run faster. “It’s faster than us!”

“I noticed!” This one felt each of the tyrant lizard’s steps grow stronger as it caught up with us. Considering our rapidly depleting options, this one decided it might be best for us to split up. At least one of us might get away, and if the tyrant lizard followed this one it might be able to fly up and out of the monster’s reach. The Alya-mare in turn might be able to use one of her potions to get away as well. It wasn’t a perfect solution, and it might result in us getting permanently separated, but some chance of survival was better than none.

This one opened its mouth to make the suggestion when we broke out into a clearing in the forest. The river cut through the route ahead of us, but something more curious caught this one’s attention: walking along the riverbank was a mixed group of ponies and Dromaed of about a couple dozen individuals. Not what this one was expecting, but it offered potentially life-saving opportunities—or the promise of death, considering our first encounter with the Dromaed. But certain death was behind this one, and that made the mere possibility of death ahead of this one a more attractive prospect. There was the little matter of who these people were and why they were here, but those questions could wait until after this one wasn’t about to be eaten by a tyrant lizard.

The Alya-mare must have read this one’s thoughts. “Any port in a storm!” We ran for the convoy, the tyrant lizard closer than this one liked to think about as its jaws opened.

Admittedly, this one half-expected the people in the convoy to panic when they saw what was now coming at them, but the Dromaed deployed themselves with practiced efficiency and formed a semi-circle around the convoy, spears projected outwards and archers standing behind them. Though what surprised this one was when a dark yellow pegasus streaked past us toward the tyrant lizard. A corner of this one’s mind realized that it was actually the Do-mare, and she was on a collision course with quite possibly the most dangerous creature in this jungle.

Being little more than a giant eating machine, the tyrant lizard wasn’t the least bit perturbed by its meal coming to it for once, and it snapped its jaws at the Do-mare. She dodged to the side as razor sharp teeth passed a hair’s breadth away from her. The Do-mare shot past the monster, flipped to reverse her momentum and flew at the back of the tyrant lizard. She outstretched a rear hoof in a flying kick to the base of the neck of her colossal opponent. Her hoof slammed into the tyrant lizard with a dull fleshy thump, suggesting she might as well not have bothered. The tyrant lizard jerked in surprise at the attack, like someone who had been suddenly flicked with a small pebble, but otherwise the Do-mare bounced off without having done any apparent damage. Thus the tyrant lizard went right back to snapping at the Do-mare as she dodged, trying to stay out of the range of those biting jaws and getting in more, largely ineffective, attacks.

Meanwhile, this one and the Alya-mare reached the convoy. Our arrival was less than happily received as we were met by the upraised spears of the Dromaed.

“Whoa!” The Alya-mare held up her hooves to appear as non-threatening as possible. “We're friendly. I mean, we're not your enemies. We just don't want the monster to eat us!”

A familiar-looking Dromaed stepped forward to speak to us. It was the same Dromaed that had demanded our surrender at the bridge, or at least one that looked remarkably similar. His eyes narrowed at us as he gestured for the others to surround us. “That is no monster. I will deal with this.” He stepped past us to approach the massive hunter.

The tyrant lizard, apparently growing tired of an annoying prey it couldn’t actually get into its mouth, turned to go back to charging the convoy. The leader Dromaed stood right in its path, looking calm despite the danger. He held up a talon and said but a single word that somehow carried a greater weight than what a mere word ever could. “Stop.”

Despite all rationale saying that the tyrant lizard should have kept right on going towards a veritable buffet, it did indeed come to a slow stop in front of the Dromaed. Its nostrils flared as it growled deeply, its head tilting this way and that as it studied the thing that had put itself between it and its next meal.

“No,” the Dromaed stated firmly, as though speaking with a misbehaving child instead of a creature that could have gobbled him up in a single bite. “Go back into the jungle and find food there. We are not food.”

The tyrant lizard growled again, but then—amazingly—turned and stomped back the way it came. That had to be some form of magic. No way a beast like that would listen to just anyone. Such an ability would help explain how the Dromaed could survive in their hazardous jungle. This Dromaed might be one of the hristak, or greenseers, this one had heard about.

First, this one needed to concentrate on the little matter of surviving. This one was being held up at speartip, after all, so it flashed them the friendliest smile it could manage. Best to appear friendly and thankful.

“Thank you for saving us!” this one said to the leader as he returned to the group. “That tyrant lizard nearly had us. I don’t know what we would have done if it wasn’t for you.” Instead of the friendly reception this one hoped for, he glowered at this one. “You’re friends, right?”

One of the Dromaed warriors butted me in the face with his spear, and went dark.

“So not friends, then?” I asked with a grin.

Puzzle sighed and shook his head. “No, not friends.”

Daring poked him in the side. “What did you expect to happen when you invaded their territory? That they’d welcome you with open arms and declare you their god?”

“Maybe not get clubbed into unconsciousness when this one wasn’t resisting them?” Puzzle suggested. “That would have been a good start.”

“I thought the part where the Do-mare fought the tyrant lizard was really cool,” Kukri said with a wide smile.

“You bet it was.” Daring patted Kukri on the head. “Not that I’d recommend trying it yourself. I nearly broke my leg trying to kick that big bastard, and it didn’t seem to do anything to it.”

“You would have figured out something,” Kukri said, not letting inconvenient facts get in the way of her hero worship. “You always do.”

“Yeah, probably.” Daring grinned. “There’s always a way forward, if you can figure it out.”

“So you obviously weren’t killed, Puzzle. What happened next?” I asked.

Puzzle was tied to one of the Dromaed’s platebacks after they knocked him senseless, and Alya was tied to the thunder lizard to prevent her own escape. Stass, the Dromaed’s hristak leader, questioned her as we got moving again. I wasn’t allowed close enough to overhear whatever they were talking about, but after a couple of hours Stass finished his interrogation and returned to leading the convoy further up the river.

We didn’t go more than a few steps before Puzzle started groaning and rubbed his head. It was somewhat of a surprise to see him again, but not that much. The surprising part was seeing him away from Ephemera. I guessed that she’d sent him away on some mission and it had ended how most of them did: in some sort of disaster. Certainly Puzzle hadn’t been enjoying getting run down by tyrant lizard. Though I was pretty eager to find out what my nemesis was up to, if I could get Puzzle to talk.

“Hey, you alive there?” I asked as I stepped up beside him.

Puzzle blinked blurrily as he took in the sights around him. “Not based on thi—my headache.”

“The guards were somewhat overenthusiastic,” Stass said as approached us. “Though with how many outsiders insist on invading us, who can blame them?”

Puzzle groaned again as he rubbed his head with his tied-up hooves. “Just for the record, I was trying to get out of this jungle, not keep invading it. I’ve had quite enough of this adventure.”

“So you say.” Stass looked him up and down. “An easy enough story to change to after you're captured. Outsiders lie as easily as they breathe. Do you think you're the first to come lusting after treasure and forbidden knowledge, only to claim innocence?”

I was with Stass on that one. Obviously Ephemera and Puzzle were up to no good. He was probably just lying about trying to escape the jungle to try and save his own butt now that he’d been caught.

Puzzle raised his hoof. “This one would like to note that it was telling the truth. It was quite done with the dangerous jungle that had tried to kill it multiple times by this point.”

“Yeah, but the problem is that you’re kinda hard to trust,” Daring pointed out. “We all know you can lie through your teeth if you want to and make it sound damn convincing. I’ve seen you weave a pretty elaborate lie a couple times, to the point that it made me wonder what the real truth was even when I knew it. It can make a pony pretty cautious around you.”

Puzzle shrugged. “That seems to be this one’s curse.”

I had to agree with Daring. Even though I was pretty sure I could trust Puzzle, there was always a pang of doubt in the back of my mind whenever I talked with him. It didn’t help that I knew he was indeed a very good liar, and very much capable of playing the long game by doing things like telling a thousand truths just so that you’d be ready to believe the one critical lie he really wanted you to believe. He could be a frustratingly practical guy like that, so while I was pretty sure he was on my side, I could never be one-hundred percent sure.

In any event, I hadn’t liked how Stass had looked at me out of the corner of his eye when talking about people coming in and stealing artifacts. I glowered at the hristak. “Hey, I told you, I'm not here to steal a bunch of treasure for myself. I'm here to preserve historical artifacts.”

“By taking them away from us,” Stass growled back. “They are not for you.”

“It’s not for me, it’s for everyone,” I countered. “I’m trying to preserve history for everyone. Ponies, Dromaed, zebras—everyone. Doesn’t matter who they are.”

Stass shrugged. “You can make your case to the greenseers. They will be the ones to decide your fates.”

“And they're what exactly, to you?” Puzzle asked as he tested the strength of his bonds. It was a good thing the Dromaed had stripped him of his gear and thoroughly checked him.

“They guide us and ensure we never fall into the old ways again.”

“And what are those?” Puzzle pressed.

I raised an eyebrow. “Don't you know anything about the Dromaed? Didn’t you do any research before coming here?”

Puzzle shrugged. “This was a rather impromptu visit. Something I’ve been rather regretting, and not a mistake I plan on repeating if I can help it in the future.”

Stass tightened his grip on his spear as he glowered at Puzzle. “Doubtless you thought us nothing but primitives whose ancient treasures were all too easily stolen.”

Puzzle shot him a flat glower. “Considering how few manage to survive your jungle, I’d hardly call the prospect easy. Your ambush of Ephemera’s party certainly showed you know what you’re doing.”

Stass smiled faintly, showing some fangs as Puzzle complimented him.

That made me wonder what exactly happened to Ephemera. Stass had taken a bunch of his fellow Dromaed to take out Ephemera after I’d told him about her. He must have used some of his magic to find her, since it didn’t feel like he was just wandering off at random. Either that or his scouts had found Ephemera’s party too. Either way, he and his warband had returned later, though they hadn’t seemed all that happy. I’d questioned him on what happened, but he’d been tight-lipped about everything. That was frustrating to say the least, though maybe Puzzle could offer some insight into what happened.

“So what happened to Ephemera and all her goons?” I asked.

“They all got ambushed when we were trying to cross a rope bridge over the river,” Puzzle told me. “Seeing how bad things were about to go, Alya and I decided our chances would be better in the river and we jumped for it. From there we ended up getting chased by that tyrant lizard, and that’s how we got here. As for what ended up happening to Ephemera and her party, you would have to ask him.” He gave Stass a significant look, but Stass didn't reply.

Since Stass was going to keep his silence, I went into a different topic. “This is why we wanted to meet with the Dromaed instead of sneaking into their territory like you. We didn’t want to get wiped out by the Dromaed the second they thought we were intruders. Now we’re gonna convince the greenseers to let us continue our archeological expedition.”

Stass hissed under his breath. “I do not know if the Greenseers will accept such an offer, but that you at least thought to ask speaks well of you.”

I frowned at his negative attitude. If these greenseers were as wise as he said, they were then they should understand that what we wanted to do was a good thing. “We'll convince them, you'll see.”

“Yes, we will see.” I wasn’t familiar enough with Dromaed tones and body language to really be able to say whether Stass was agreeing or disagreeing with me, or to what degree. Whatever the case, he then turned to glower at Puzzle. “And what do you want?”

“Right now, to leave in peace and never return.” Puzzle sighed and stared up at the jungle canopy. “Coming here seems like more and more like a huge mistake with each passing day.”

Stass looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “You seem to know him. What do you think of him?”

“I don’t trust him,” I said bluntly. “At best he’s some merc that Ephemera hired, but I’m pretty sure he’s an assassin too, and has been up to some pretty shady stuff in the past. You’d have to have some pretty loose morals to work for Ephemera:”

“I’ll mention that I don’t work for Ephemera any more,” Puzzle countered. “I thought it best to quit her employ before she ended up getting me killed for some stupid reason. And in my defense, I didn’t know exactly how bad she would be when I first started working for her.”

I scoffed. “Just because you’ve got more brains than most of the goons she hires doesn’t mean we should trust you. I’m pretty sure you’re crooked too.”

Puzzle scowled at me, and a hint of anger broke through his perpetually calm mask. “Could you please not cast me in a light that’s liable to get me killed? Believe it or not, I really do just want to get out of this jungle, get onto a ship and then sail far, far away from here.”

“And why should we spare you, invader?” Strass hissed.

Puzzle was quick to answer. “Because I can help you. Based on what you’ve said, Ephemera’s still alive, which means she’s still a problem for you. I know what Ephemera is planning and where she’s going. What’s more, I know how she thinks, what resources she has available, and other pertinent information.”

“Assuming you're telling the truth about no longer working for Ephemera,” I pointed out. “You could be lying about that.”

Stass nodded. “It is easy to call yourself our friend.”

Puzzle offered his arms in a pleading gesture. “Alright, is there anything I can do that would prove I am a friend?”

Stass frowned as he drummed his talons along his spear and then looked to me. “You claim this Ephemera is our true enemy.”

“Yeah, of course she is,” I said. “She's bad news, and one of the most evil people I know. All she wants to do is steal your artifacts and sell them to a bunch of shady ponies back in Equestria, and she doesn’t care who she has to hurt to get what she wants.”

“Yes, the outlander obsession with little pieces of gold.” Stass’ tail swished back and forth as he thought. “She is persistent?”

I nodded. “Extremely. I've beaten her a dozen times, but she's still messing with me. She just doesn’t know when to quit. Probably because that part of her brain is damaged.”

“And that’s not all,” Puzzle added. “She mentioned something about working for someone. I’m not sure who it is, but this patron hired her to help get him a compass to get into the City of Giants, and she’s trying to meet up with him.”

Stass stiffened and his head snapped to Puzzle. “You know this for certain?”

Puzzle frowned slightly. “She was pretty tight-lipped about most things, but that was one of the things she was pretty adamant about. It’s what she hired me to help her with, and I didn’t sense she was lying.”

Stass growled and scratch his jawline. “The greenseers will want to hear about this.”

Something about his reaction seemed peculiar. Was it something to do with the compasses? The City of Giants was supposed to be pretty important to the hristak, so that might be it.

Stass poked Puzzle in the side with the butt of his spear. “Tell me everything you know, outsider. And I mean everything—talk like your life depends on it.” His eyes narrowed. “Because it does.”

Puzzle sang like a bird.

“Now that is a bit of an exaggeration,” Puzzle said in his defense. “It wasn’t like this one was rushing to say everything all at once.”

Daring grinned and nudged him in the ribs with an elbow. “You were pretty quick to tell Stass what he wanted to know.”

“Holding back information would have been a very good way to get this one and the Alya-mare killed,” Puzzle countered. “It’s not like this one had much reason to be loyal to the Ephemera-mare anyways.”

“Good point,” Daring said. “Ephemera isn’t worth any kind of loyalty.”

The next day we finally reached Szuszushlui. I couldn’t help but smile as I got to see our first big destination: at the center of the city was a pyramid rising into the jungle canopy, its steps covered by vegetation. Surrounding the structure were a series of fenced-in gardens and pens for the domesticated thunder lizards the Dromaed used. We passed by a ring of stone markers with arcane sigils on them—some sort of warding stones, if I had to guess.

Stass led us to one of the gardens, but told us to stop while he went to speak to another Dromaed. There was an older Dromaed who seemed busy weeding his garden. He had bright green feathers in a variety of hues and talismans of gold and wood hanging from his neck. Stass spoke with the elderly Dromaed in a rapid back-and-forth exchange in a language that I couldn’t follow. I’d learned quite a bit about ancient Dromaed, but it only had a few words and syntax in common with the modern iteration.

Capital leaned in to whisper to me. “Wish I knew what they were talking about. I’d cast a translation spell, but I worry they would be offended by us listening in on them.”

“They’re probably talking about us,” I told him. “Don't know what else they'd want to talk about, other than Ephemera. That’s probably one of their greenseers there.”

“That is most likely true.” Capital glanced back to a couple of his porters carrying some chests. “I do hope they like our gifts. I want to make a good first impression on these chaps.”

“I think we’re about to find out.” Meeting out in some garden for such an important conversation wasn’t what I had expected, but the location didn’t matter all that much. What did matter was the substance of that conversation.

Stass turned back to us and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “This is the great seer of the green, Sapiearl.”

Capital bowed politely. “A pleasure to meet you. I am Lord Capital Idea, and this here is Daring Do, the head archeologist of our expedition.”

Sapiearl dusted himself off before looking at us with piercing green eyes. “We rarely receive visitors. I would say it's a pleasure, but you were not invited.” He locked his gaze on Puzzle and Alya. “Especially you two.”

Stass motioned to the warriors behind Puzzle and Alya, and they pushed the two of them forward so that they stood directly in front of the greenseer. “What shall we do with them, honored one?”

Sapiearl stroked his cheek as he considered them. “We will hold them for now. I will consult the stars to decide their fate. They might be of use until we capture the other interlopers into our land.”

Puzzle raised an eyebrow. “Consulting the stars seems like an ... esoteric way to determine judgement.”

Stass growled at Puzzle. “You would be wise to respect the wisdom of the greenseers.”

Puzzle inclined his head to the hristak. “I don’t mean to offend, but in my experience it's best not to trust blindly.”

“But you have no experience with us,” Stass said.

Puzzle looked down at his legs, which were still bound together by rope. “That is part of the problem, yes.”

“And yet you presume to be wiser than the Greenseers.” Stass swiped his spear. “This is not a debate. You will be held until the Greenseer decides your fate.”

Puzzle frowned. “Alright, but once again, I’ll mention that I can help you. Ephemera is dangerous, and I’m willing to bet she’ll cause all sorts of trouble before she’s caught.”

Sapiearl snorted. “Do you abandon your loyalties so quickly?”

“Based on what I learned about her, she didn’t deserve my loyalty,” Puzzle answered. “She’s petty, small-minded, vicious, short-sighted to the extreme, and cares nothing for those that work for her. She thinks nothing of hurting those who stand in her way and will do whatever she thinks benefits her in the short-term.”

“The fact you chose to follow her and then so quickly abandon her only to offer your services to another says much about you.” Sapiearl pulled a weed out of the garden soil and presented it to Puzzle. “You are like a plant with shallow roots: easily uprooted and transferred elsewhere. You do not believe in your master’s cause; you merely seek a patron who will benefit you. I do not think we need the help of one such as you.”

He tossed the root into a nearby compost heap and then stepped up to Alya. “And you were caught with several seeds of this land. Did you think to take them back home, interloper?”

Alya gulped and nodded. “Th-the consortium I’m working for wanted some seeds to grow back up north. They think they could help zebras back home.”

Sapiearl’s lips peeled back to reveal his teeth. “In other words, you wanted to steal the wealth of our land, only your trinkets are what grows out of our soil instead of what was mined from our mountains.” Alya didn’t reply to that, and the Greenseer turned his back on her. “My judgment has not changed. You will be held until the other invaders have been dealt with.”

Puzzle’s face became a stony mask. “Very well then.”

For once, I wasn’t sure what to say. There was a good chance Puzzle and Alya were going to be executed by the Dromaed, which wasn’t an idea I was wild about, but they had thrown in with Ephemera in the first place. I couldn’t see how they thought that would turn out well. In the end that decision had caught up with them, and now they were in the hooves—claws of the local authorities. And me speaking up on their behalf might mess up my chances to go to the City of Giants. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t see how I could help them without messing up everything I’d been working the last year for. Besides, Puzzle and Alya has dug their own grave here, and there was still a chance the Dromaed would go easy on them.

“And what about us?” I asked. “Can we continue to the City of Giants?”

Sapiearl’s eyes narrowed at me. “While you came under less evil intentions, you are still interlopers. We did not ask you to come here.”

Capital flashed a smile and stepped forward. “Now we understand that, and while I do not wish to be rude, you do make it a bit difficult to communicate with your people. You don’t keep any embassies anywhere, or keep up any other means by which to communicate with you. The only way we could contact you was to come out into the jungle and find you.”

Sapiearl crossed his arms over his chest. “Perhaps you should have realized that we were hard to contact because we did not wish for contact with outsiders.”

I glowered at the high-and-mighty attitude. “Just because you don't want to be talked to doesn't mean you can stick your heads in the sand and ignore everyone else. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, there’s a whole world out there, and it’s not just going to ignore you because you want to be left alone.”

Sapiearl turned his head to me. “And who are you to tell us how we should live in our own homeland?”

Capital cleared his throat and flashed a smile that looked a bit more brittle than before. “Let us restart, shall we? Our point is that we very dearly wished to speak with you, and we consider our mission here to be worthy of your time.”

The greenseer stared at Capital for a long moment before answering. “Very well then. I will hear what it is you wish to say.”

I took a quick breath to steady myself before launching into it. “Right, we want to go to Zihlius for an archeological expedition. We want to collect historical artifacts where we can and take them back home to put into museums in order to preserve history, and help educate others with what we discover from the past.”

Sapiearl frowned deeply. “No.”

I blinked. “No? What do you mean 'no'?”

“That is the word, is it not?” Stass mocked. “We do not get to practice the zebra tongue much, but we have used the word correctly—no? Negative? Negation. We will not allow it.”

Not liking his tone, I got close enough that I was nearly muzzle to muzzle with Stass. “But why not? What's wrong with us going on an archeological expedition?”

Sapiearl held up a claw to the both of us to stop fighting. “Zihlius is best left forgotten. It once served as the capital of the Quinametzin, and they were an evil people who enslaved the Dromaed. Their empire stretched over the continent and beyond as they used magics too foul to mention. Eventually the Quinametzin’s evil caused them to turn on each other, and they waged a terrible war among themselves for power. The gods and spirits struck them down for their hubris, but fragments of their evil still remain. The blood from their foul magics has seeped into the very stones of Zihlius, and now its only purpose is to test the spirits of those who wish to become hristak, and to teach them of the dangers of our past. It is not for outsiders to gawk at.”

I clenched my teeth together. “So it’s dangerous? Well I’m not scared. I’ve gone to plenty of haunted and cursed places, and I’ve come out the other side. Whatever’s in Zihlius, I can handle it.”

Sapiearl shook his head. “More than mere bravery is required to survive Zihlius. The hristak are specially prepared for the dangers of that evil place, but not all return. What is more, we know what outsiders would do with the dark secrets of that city. That is why the one called Ephemera seeks it.”

I crossed my arms over my chest as a few facts clicked into place. Sure, I’d read the City of Giants had a bad rep, but that was true of a lot of ruins that ended up perfectly mundane. Though from the sounds of it Zihlius was legitimately bad news, and if that was true... “Then what's there that she's so interested in? Is she looking to steal some of the Quinametzin’s magical artifacts?”

Sapiearl growled as he returned to weeding his garden. “Things best left forgotten. We are not about to let you go there and then leave to spread such evil secrets around the world. Our trouble with outsiders would only multiply if such things were allowed. If even a taste of the power of the Quinametzin were to escape, it would only addict the evils of the world and they would flock here in ever greater numbers. That is something we cannot allow.”

“Being all mysterious isn't exactly keeping people from wanting to see what's there,” I pointed out. “Ephemera’s on her way there right now.”

“And we have found solutions to that problem,” Sapiearl countered. “The jungle sees to those who intrude, and if that is not sufficient, we have the hristak.”

I snorted derisively. “That so? Last I heard Ephemera’s still out there getting closer to Zihlius.”

Sapiearl shook his head as he pulled up a particularly difficult weed. “She will not reach the city.”

“Yeah, I've heard that before.” I jabbed a hoof in his direction. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve been told that some place can’t be broken into or that something was unstealable, only for Ephemera to come up with some way to pull it off anyway? It’s happened a lot. A whole lot.” I slapped a hoof to my chest. “Look, I can stop her. I’ve always done so in the past. Let me help, and we can stop her together.”

Sapiearl let out a long sigh. “You do not know the jungle or the city, and you do not respect our ways. Our answer is no.”

Capital stepped forward as he tried to play diplomat. “Perhaps there's a way you could teach us your ways? We certainly don't mean to offend—we're merely scholars here to learn.”

“Yes, but even ignorance can be dangerous.” Sapiearl stood up with a bucket full of weeds. “Perhaps we could discuss teaching you in time, but you will not go to Zihlius.”

My ear twitched. “So, what? This whole trip was for nothing?”

Sapiearl dumped his bucket onto a compost heap. “Our lands and history are not for you to plunder. If you respect our ways and we see that respect, perhaps we could teach you. But for now, you may show respect by not intruding upon us any longer. You are to leave our lands, and if the stars align, then we will see.”

“I can't believe this.” I started pacing up a storm. “We went through all this trouble, offered to help, and now we’re supposed to just turn the other way and go?” I noticed Stass scowling at me out of the corner of my eye. “What? You want to say something?”

Stass lips peeled back to show his fangs. “You have no respect for us and our ways and are no better than any other plunderer. You simply try to dress it up with nicer words.”

I stomped my hoof. “I'm trying to preserve your history and traditions! You're the ones making that impossible.”

Sapiearl frowned. “You presume we need or want you preserving our history, or that we are incapable of doing so on our own. Arrogance.”

“I don't exactly see any museums around here.” I waved to the old, decaying pyramid looming over us. “Just a bunch of decaying buildings at least hundreds of years old, and most of the artifacts in them nearly gone.”

“We preserve our history in our own way,” Sapiearl stated firmly.

I snorted. “Yeah? And what ways are those?”

Stass’s hold on his club tightened. “The greenseer does not need to explain himself to you, outsider.”

Sapiearl held up a talon to forestall Stass. “We have our own ways. And some of our history is better left forgotten. As I said, if you respect our ways there may be possibilities in the future. Leave our lands for now, and when the stars align you may return.”

So that was that. The Dromaed weren’t going to let me go to Zihlius. Nothing I could say was going to convince them to let me do what I wanted. I’d been stonewalled. “Right, I think I understand now.”

“Good.” Sapireal gave me a serene smile.

I understood alright. If I was going to get to Zihlius and stop Ephemera, I was going to have to do things my way.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 13

I was getting to the City of Giants, and nothing was gonna stop me. I hadn’t come this far just to be told no. What’s more, Ephemera was still out there, and I needed to stop her. It was my responsibility to make sure she didn’t steal anything or hurt anyone else. The only reason she’d even come here was because I’d been planning to go to Zihlius and she thought it’d be a great idea to steal more artifacts to sell. Maybe the hristak could stop her, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I’d been told by the Powers That Be in other places they could protect whatever it was they were protecting, but then Ephemera would find some way to steal what she was looking for anyway—or as happened half the time, destroy what she sought.

Also, I really wanted to see the City of Giants. Sure, the Dromaed said the place was evil and that the Quinametzin’s empire was all big and bad, but thus far all I had as proof of that was the word of the Dromaed. That wasn’t good enough for quality historical and archeological research. Word of mouth had its place, but I needed to know the truth. I needed to see the city for myself. Of course, the issue was how to get out of Szuszushlui and back into the jungle without getting caught. But I’d managed crazier escapes in the past, and I knew I could do it again.

Thus I was checking my gear and packs within the room I’d been given in Szuszushlui’s pyramid, making sure everything was ready. The room wasn’t much to speak about; there was a window that let the moonlight in and a moss filled mattress, but it was enough for a short stay and had enough room to let me to pull everything together. The key to a good expedition was proper preparation. I couldn’t say how many times it’d saved my rear to have the right piece of equipment, and I wasn’t about to get lazy now. As I was repacking everything, I heard a knock at the door.

I bit back my irritation at being interrupted. “Come in.”

Capital opened the door, smiling like he always was as his eyes flicked over my bags. “Planning to head out so soon?”

I stiffened and turned my back to him, pretending to concentrate on my gear. “I was just getting everything ready. No sense hanging out here if the Dromaed are just gonna escort us back to the coast. There’s stuff I can do elsewhere if I can’t do my work here.”

Capital let out a long sigh. “Daring, please.”

I turned to face him so I could glower at him. “What?”

“I know what you're planning.” He slapped his own full pack.

I sniffed and raised my chin. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“I think we both know you do.”

My ear twitched. This was not the discussion I wanted be having. “You're not coming.”

Capital raised an eyebrow. “And why wouldn't I?”

“Because it's too dangerous!” I stomped a hoof. “I promised your parents I'd keep you safe, and sticking with me is the opposite of safe. Especially when I'm going out to try and stop Ephemera, and double especially when the Dromaed will be on my tail the whole way! I can move faster on my own, and whatever happens will fall on my head. And I’m okay with facing the consequences of my own actions, but what I’m not okay with is other people getting hurt because of me.”

“And I don't think you'll be very safe on your own out in the middle of the jungle,” Capital said without wavering. “We’ve gotten lucky thus far, but we both know that one of the last things anyone should be doing is going out in the jungle alone.”

“I've done it before,” I told him. “I've been to dozens of dangerous places people said I'd never come back from, and here I am doing it again.”

“But you'll do it better with someone to watch your back.” Capital placed a hoof on my shoulder. “I can handle the risk.”

I groaned and ran a hoof down my face as I felt my resolve wavering. “Do you have any idea what you're signing up for?”

“A jungle full of dangerous wild animals, Dromaed troops trying to capture or kill us, and at the end of it all a fight with a dangerous madmare, near-certainty of death, and miniscule chances of success?” Capital grinned and patted my shoulder. “When do we start?!”

I let out a louder, longer groan. “I can't talk you out of this, can I?”

“I should bloody well think not.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I’m in this for the long haul. I’m going to be here all the way to the end, right by your side.”

I sighed. I knew this was a bad idea, but I didn’t know what else to do when the big goof was so insistent on coming with me. I’d just be being as stubborn as he was if I refused to acknowledge that he was following me all the way to Zihlius. “Fine, you can come! But you gotta keep up, no whining, and all you're taking is what you can carry.” I poked his nose. “Got it?”

Capital grinned and nodded. “Jolly good.”

I started tossing the last of my things in my bags. “You good to go? No sense waiting while there's good darkness to sneak away in.”

He slapped his full pack again.

“Right, so we've got to sneak out of here without being seen.” I threw on my saddlebags and latched them into place. “The front door's out, but this window looks big enough to climb out of if we drop our packs out separately. I can go first, you give me the bags, and then you drop down. From there we make our way beyond the settlement and into the jungle. We move as quickly as we can, use those totems we got to block any tracking magic, and get as much distance from this place and the Dromaed as possible. That sound good?”

Capital hummed as he rubbed his chin. “Yes, though perhaps we could use a bit more help.”

I frowned at the idea. “Like who? No offense, but most of your porters and scholars don't have the type of skills we'll really need. They’re not going to be handy in a fight, and a run through the forest would be brutal on them, especially when we need to keep light and move fast.”

Capital shook his head. “No, not them. I was thinking of getting the help of the one who's been rather consistently close to your equal all through this journey.”

I tried thinking who the hay he was talking about, and then scowled at the only possible individual. “You can't possibly be thinking to get Puzzle's help! He was working for Ephemera, and he still might be!”

Capital waggled his hoof. “Was. Not still is.”

“You can't know that,” I insisted. “You've seen him. You have to know you can’t trust anything he says. He's the type that could tell you he's a purple polka-dotted platypus with a straight face and make it sound believable.”

“But I don’t think he is lying now. Like you said, Ephemera has a rather disagreeable personality that doesn’t engender loyalty. Besides, he could be a lot of help.” Capital crossed his arms. “And really, who else do we have? You know how many followers Ephemera has. That’s a lot of hired muscle for just the two of us to take on alone, not to mention this mysterious patron of hers we need to worry about. I’d feel a lot better recruiting Puzzle and hopefully Alya to our cause. That would even the odds at least a little bit.”

I started pacing around the room as I thought it over. It was risky, but Capital had a point; if Puzzle could be convinced to help us that would help even the odds. He was tough, smart, and knew how to take care of himself. The problem was the question of whether we could really trust him. But he sounded like he was willing to work with the Dromaed against Ephemera. Granted, it was a do-or-die situation he was in, but... “I can't believe you're talking me into this.”

“I'm very persuasive,” Capital said. “Besides, I don’t think you want to see Puzzle and Alya executed by the Dromaed. The Dromaed haven’t said they were going to do that, but I have a bad feeling about it, and I’m sure you do too. Yes, it might be wrong for them to come into the Dromaed’s lands without permission, but I think killing them for it is going too far. Don’t you agree?”

I let out a huff and nodded. “Yeah, that seems like a bit much.” I rubbed the sides of my temple. “I just know this is going to bite me in the rear somehow, but I’m not comfortable leaving those two here to hang. But we’re gonna need a plan to get them out of there.”

“Those do usually help, yes.”

I pressed my lips together as I considered our options. “Right, so how does this idea sound?”

Thankfully we had enough freedom to move about the pyramid that we could get to the dungeons they had set up in the basement. Of course, there was the problem of the guard standing in our way. Beyond him lay the cells with the prisoners we wanted to free, even if we couldn’t get a good look inside from where we were. Go figure, they didn’t want just anyone waltzing into their dungeon to cause trouble. But this wasn’t my first dungeon, and definitely not my first time dealing with troublesome guards.

I approached him and gave him my best friendly smile. “Hey, we wanted to see the prisoners.”

The guard growled at me. “No.”

I scowled at him. “But the greenseer said we could see them.”

“I have heard of no such thing.”

Ugh, I hated it when guards got stubborn about this type of thing. “Okay, fine, I guess you didn’t get the memo.” I sighed and muttered under my breath. “Hate when I have to break this one out.”

I cleared my throat and changed my posture. I cocked my hips and batted my eyes at the guard. “Okay, okay you got me. I was just ... well, I've never seen a Dromaed before, and I was kinda curious and wondering if maybe we could sneak off for a little ... ‘private time’.” I tossed my mane and gave him a suggestive smile.

Instead of acting the way I’d hoped, the guard leaned his head back and narrowed his eyes. “I think it is time you go before I toss you into a free cell.”

I glowered at him. Normally I could put the moves on some bored guard. Now I was just insulted.

Puzzle chuckled. “If it’s any consolation, this one thinks you’re a very attractive mare.”

Daring smiled. “Good to hear someone appreciates beauty, thank you.”

“Careful there, Puzzle,” I warned, unable to resist teasing him a bit. “You might not want Strumming to hear you talking that way about another mare.”

Puzzle cleared his throat. “This one is speaking purely academically, of course.”

“Sure, I believe you.” It was Daring’s turn to chuckle. “But thanks regardless.”

I sighed and turned to go, then quickly bucked out my rear hoof to hit his helmeted head. He fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Capital stepped up, checking the guard over to make sure he wasn’t hurt too badly. “I would've thought you would have a few more plays for getting past a suspicious guard.”

I snorted. “Well if you're so good at it...”

Before Capital could respond, there was a call of another Dromaed in their native tongue. When there wasn’t a response from the guard I’d just knocked out, a new pair of guards stepped into view. They saw the scene before them and brought up their spears. One of them snapped out a few more words in dromish that I didn’t understand.

“I got this one,” I whispered to Capital. I quickly scooped the unconscious guard’s head up and cradled it in the crook of my leg. “Go get help!” I pleaded. “Some weirdo just knocked this guy out and ran off! You gotta stop him!”

One of the guards said something to the other and motioned to their downed fellow guard. The guard that seemed to be in charge kneeled down while the other one moved to step past us. I took my shot when it presented itself. My hooves snapped out to grab the kneeling guard by the head and slammed it into the wall with a loud bang. His eyes rolled back as he also collapsed to the floor. Seeing they had been tricked, the third guard brought his spear to bear, but Capital was already casting a spell. A stun bolt struck the guard in the side and he went flying into the wall.

I swiveled my ears and looked around carefully, but no more guards showed themselves and the alarm didn’t seem like it'd been raised. “Good enough. Now let’s dump these guys in one of their cells and free who we came for.” I started patting the guards.

“Sounds good to me.” Capital levitated one of the guards, and I found a ring of keys and promptly unlocked a free cell. We tossed them inside and closed the door.

I tossed Capital the keys and grabbed another set from the wall. “Okay, let's get them out of their cells.” I frowned at Puzzle’s cell. “You get Alya, I’ll deal with the other one.”

“Sounds good,” Capital said as he went to Alya’s cell.

“Here we go...” I wanted to make sure Puzzle was going to play nice, since I still wasn’t completely sold this was a smart idea. But I’d come this far, might as well go all the way.

Puzzle was lying on his back in his cell. When he didn’t react to me standing there I banged on the bars. “Hey, wake up! It’s a prison break! Up and at’em!”

He turned his head and cocked an eyebrow at me. “So, you're making your escape then. I admit, I didn't think you'd be adding a jailbreak to that.”

“Yeah, well, neither did I.” I turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

Instead of jumping up and getting out of the cell like I’d expected, he just lay there on his mattress. “You actually want me to join you?”

I shrugged. “I need some backup, and the Dromaed don't seem interested.”

Puzzle laid his head back down. “Probably because they're going to deal with Ephemera, one way or another. They seemed confident enough about it, and not for unjustified reasons.”

“S'what they think, but they don't know Ephemera like I do,” I told him. “Or I guess like you do. You know how dangerous she is, and what she’s willing to do to get what she wants. You also know she’s too stupid to realize when something’s too dangerous to do, and that makes her unpredictable. She’s surprised plenty of people with what she’s willing to do, and I’m not confident they’ll actually stop her.”

Puzzle let out a long sigh. “Not sure why I should care. The Dromaed say it's their responsibility. Let them take care of it, it's their forsaken ruined city.”

I leaned against the bars. “And what if they can't pull it off?”

Puzzle crossed his arms over his chest. “That depends on what's in Zihlius. If it's just a bunch of crumbling ruins, probably nothing major will come out of it outside of finding some gold trinkets. Worst case... They find something dangerous. Could be a lot of things. She could accidentally unleash some monster or uncover some forbidden knowledge or artifact. If one of those things were to happen then things could get interesting.”

“And let's say she or whoever she's working for does get something nasty,” I said. “Something they can use for evil. Who do you figure is first on the chopping block?”

“You.”

Okay, now he was just being a smartass. “Not just me. You know how Ephemera deals with anyone she thinks backstabbed her.”

Puzzle sighed and sat up. “That is a point. Of course, that depends on her pulling that off, where the Dromaed are much more likely to kill me during an escape.”

“Oh, they'll kill you regardless,” I pointed out. “So why not run for it?”

“They might show me mercy.”

I grinned, because I knew I had him. “Wanna bet your life on that?”

Puzzle huffed and stood up. “No, I don't.”

I pushed off the bars and turned my back to him. “Then get your flank in gear before I leave you behind.”

Puzzle stepped out of the cell and started looking around. “Just one problem: the Dromaed are most likely going to be waiting outside for us.”

I pointed at the cell where we’d dumped the guards. “I doubt it. We took out all the guards nice and quiet. The alarm hasn’t been raised, and no one knows what we’re up to.”

Puzzle waggled his hoof in front of my face. “I guessed you were going to try and make a break for it, and I’d bet good money that the greenseer knows you're going to try something like this as well. I saw it in his eyes; he has you pegged. If I was him I’d be waiting outside for you with his hristak. From there they’ll have all the justification they’ll need to execute you.”

I scowled at the mercenary. “I’m not that transparent.”

“You wear your heart on your sleeve,” Puzzle countered. “You’re highly independent, prone to diving head-first into a problem, and don’t like authority figures telling you what to do. It’s pretty obvious you’re the type to defy the Greenseer’s word and sneak off to Zihlius, and the Greenseer struck me as a sharp one. He’ll know what you’re up to, and he’s going to give you enough rope to hang yourselves by letting you prove you’re trouble.”

It was annoying, but he had a point. Capital had guessed what I was up to, and Puzzle claimed he had known I was going to try to sneak past the Dromaed too. Maybe it was possible the Dromaed could have guessed what we were up to, which would be a big problem. “Well even if that's true they'll kill you too, so you might as well help.”

“Agreed.” Puzzle picked up a helmet from one of the downed guards. “Thankfully, I have a plan. Helps when all I could do in that cell was think to myself. Would you mind using those keys to open that chest there, and then the door to their armory? They put our gear in the chest, and I need one of their sets of armor.”

“Why do you want some of their armor?” I asked as I tried different keys in the chest. “You’re not thinking to try and pass yourself off as a Dromaed, are you? Because I know a thing or two about disguises, and there’s no way they’re going to buy that you’re one of them by just putting on some armor.”

Puzzle’s lips spread in a grin. “Let’s just say I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeve.”

I opened the chest and then scowled at Puzzle. Now I was really suspicious about what he was up to. “You know if you screw me over you'll be dead too, right?”

His grin didn’t waver. “Of course. I'm hardly going to make it out of this jungle by myself. Not with the Dromaed and the jungle itself trying to kill me. And if I got the ‘clever’ idea of going to the Dromaed and betraying all of you in the hopes of getting leniency, well, I don’t think that would work. The Dromaed don’t strike me as the types to respect a backstabber.”

Puzzle wasn’t stupid, I had to give him that. That was saying a lot more than some of the people I’d worked with in the past. There had been plenty of times someone had backstabbed me in order to try and run away with whatever artifact we were trying to recover only to fall afoul of some curse, trap, unhappy locals, or something equally lethal as they ran for it. Though I did have to worry that Puzzle was playing the long game for a really good betrayal later, instead of something stupid and short-sighted now. I was going to have to trust that Capital knew what he was talking about and hope this wasn’t going to bite me in the rear later.

“So what is your big fancy plan?”

After this one got all that it needed it headed out of the dungeon, got out of sight, and then transformed into an exact copy of one of the Dromaed guards. This one then quickly put on the armor it had relieved from its captors and then made its way to the main door of the pyramid. Admittedly, this one wasn’t entirely sure it would be able to pull things off, but it was the best it could come up with. This one had been serious about the greenseer knowing what the Do-mare was up to, even if he might not know the specifics of her plan. It had been too easy to read her motivations and see what type of person she was when she spoke with the greenseer. That meant the Dromaed were going to be waiting outside to ambush us on the way out.

Successfully disguising itself as a Dromaed was the first big hurdle this one would have to get over in order to complete its plan. This one could look like a Dromaed, but there was still the matter of their language and mannerisms. This one had carefully studied the Dromaed since its capture, and it had gotten a measure of their body language as well as a few words from their language. One of the advantages to being a Free Mind is that we’re natural polyglots in addition to being masters of physical disguise. After all, in order to be successful at infiltrating you need to be able to perfectly mimic those you intended to interact with. This one had to walk, talk, and act like a Dromaed. A difficult proposition when this one couldn’t even speak their language.

But this wasn’t the first time this one had to improvise, and acting nervous would only attract everyone’s attention. As such, this one walked like it belonged in the pyramid, keeping its head down, and swishing its tail in the same manner it’d seen from other irritated-looking Dromaed. This one walked by one of the guards within the pyramid, with us only exchanging a quick nod to one another. So far, so good; it helped that there weren’t many Dromaed out and about at this late hour.

This one reached the open gate and crossed the threshold. There were a pair of guards flanking the entrance who appeared bored, as most guards did given the long hours where little to nothing happened.

Unfortunately, one of them called out to this one as it passed. “What are something something something?” he asked in his native tongue.

This one only caught part of his query.“Food. Sleep,” this one grunted, trying to sound like it’s just finished a long day at work and just wanted to get home. It must have worked, because they let this one pass without further comment.

It was an effort not to let out a sigh of relief, and this one kept walking at a casual pace. One barrier crossed, just a couple more to go.

At first it didn’t seem like there was anyone outside, but then there was a shimmer in the air, and this one suddenly found itself walking by Greenseer Sapiearl, Stass, and a couple other Dromaed. Judging by how they were wearing necklaces with strips of inscribed gold and obsidian like those Stass worse, they were probably hristak as well. The greenseer was sitting on a chair that had been brought out for him, and the the hristak were all chatting with him in hushed tones.

This one very carefully kept walking and didn’t look directly at the group. The last thing this one wanted to do was bring attention to itself at that moment and get asked all sorts of questions it wouldn’t even be able to understand. That would end this one’s plan in a rather premature and unpleasant manner, so this one kept walking like everything was normal. Out of this one's periphery, it saw other guards and hristak standing near the pyramid. They were all watching the exits attentively. This one felt a mite of self-satisfaction over correctly guessing the Dromaed’s actions, but that feeling was tempered by the fact that one misstep would probably get us all killed.

In truth, this one didn’t like our chances no matter what happened here. The odds were badly stacked against us, but at the end of the day even a one percent chance of survival was better than none.

Soon this one was before one of the animal pens, though ‘pen’ was almost an insufficient word for the size of the holding area for the Dromaed’s range of mounts, warbeasts, and livestock. It was enormous, unsurprisingly, given the thunder lizards inside. The animals before this one were a wonder to see; the Dromaed had successfully domesticated a variety of thunder lizards for their purposes, most of which were asleep at this late hour. It almost seemed comical that the pony-high wood fence could keep the thunder lizards inside, but there was a reason for the livestock’s passivity.

Dotted around the pen were a series of small boulders covered in magical sigils. While this one wasn’t an expert in magic, it knew enough to identify the nature of the boulders. Their sigils created an aura of passivity for the thunder lizards inside and discouraged them from going beyond the boundary of the fence. It was intricately, almost lovingly made.

It was a genuine shame to destroy it.

This one pulled out a pair of the Alya-mare’s potions and threw them against two of the wardstones. The glass broke and the stones started hissing as the acid started melting the sigils. It wouldn’t destroy the aura outright, but it should weaken the complex network enough for this one’s intentions.

This one was opening one of the gates when the harsh cries of one of the Dromaed called out. He was running at this one, barking out a question too quickly for this one to understand, but the meaning was clear enough: he wanted to know what in Tartarus this one was doing damaging the wardstones and opening the pen in the middle of the night.

This one decided to show him when it pulled out a pair of the Alya-mare’s vials from out of the bag at its waist. This one sent one vial after another soaring into the pen where they landed amongst the sleeping thunder lizards, breaking and releasing noxious green vapors. It followed the vials up with its last thunderflash stone, which exploded in a violent flash of light and sound, forcing the thunder lizards into a cacophony of panicked cries. The Dromaed guard raced towards this one, but slid to a stop when he saw a herd of charging thunder lizards pounding towards the weakened section of the pen. His eyes widened and he scrambled to get out of the way. This one didn’t waste any time; the alarm now raised, and it would be only a matter of time until the area was swarming with Dromaed. That, and this one was going to get itself turned into a pancake if it stood still.

This one snatched up the next potion the Alya-mare had been so kind to gift this one and drank it, then felt as much as saw itself shimmer as it turned invisible.

Now that this one was hidden, it quickly shrugged off the armor it’d been wearing and transformed into its zony form. This one took to the air just in time to avoid getting trampled.

The best distractions are ones that your opponent can’t bring themself to ignore. As confirmed by the fact the Dromaed were largely abandoning their ring around the pyramid, the thunder lizards were such a distraction. In addition to the destruction they were causing while stampeding, they were a valuable resource to the Dromaed. As was usually the case with domesticated animals, they made up a large portion of the Dromaed’s food, transportation, and even entertainment. Considering the significant time and energy it must have taken to domesticate and keep such creatures, their loss could not be easily borne by their owners.

Its mission complete, this one headed north and landed beyond the Dromaed’s settlement. Within half an hour the Do-mare and the others joined this one. The Do-mare grinned at this one and tossed it half of the tracking gem duo it.

“That worked out pretty well,” she said. “Not quite sure how you pulled it off, but the Dromaed went scrambling when they saw their thunder lizards stomping around.”

This one grinned back at her. “I do need to keep some of my secrets.”

The Idea-stallion nodded and smiled at the Alya-mare. “Alya’s invisibility potions did the trick. Near as we can tell, the Dromaed didn’t even see our escape.”

“Even if we did nearly get run over by some of the thunder lizards,” Alya groused as she gave this one its saddlebags. “But at least we’re out of there.”

“And if we want to stay that way we’d better get moving,” this one said. “It’s only a matter of time until the Dromaed get their act together and come after us. I’m not eager to go running off into the jungle at night, but right now we need distance from here.”

Daring nodded and snapped open her magic compass, its green arrow lit up the small clearing. “Follow me.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 14

We proceeded deeper into the jungle after our escape from the Dromaed and made surprisingly good progress over the next couple of days. The ground became less even as we began moving uphill, but even then four people moved a lot quicker than a couple dozen people carrying a bunch of supplies.

I hoped that the ponies in Capital’s entourage would be able to get back home alright, but for now we had to concentrate on getting to Zihlius and stopping Ephemera. Though while I was confident in my ability to confront the backstabbing thief, I was more concerned with my travel companions. Capital was a nice guy, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was too nice for something like this. I didn’t want to see him hurt by the time all was said and done, and I couldn’t deny we were going into the jaws of danger. Alya was a bit of an unknown. She said she was just a simple merchant trying to pick up seeds, but was that really the truth? I’d been given sweet and innocent stories before only to get kicked into a death trap after someone else had gotten what they’d wanted out of me.

Then there was the one I was the most cautious about. I was leading the way by necessity, seeing that I had the greenseer compass. While I could easily hear Capital and Alya following behind me, there was barely a whisper from Puzzle, and that sent goosebumps down my spine. I couldn’t help but keep looking back to make sure he was still there.

“Least you learn quick,” I remarked, “I thought you'd make a racket for the whole trip.” Puzzle hadn’t been that stealthy when we’d started, but he’d been getting quieter and quieter as we progressed.

Puzzle grinned up at me. “The fundamental principles for sneaking around a jungle aren't all that different from sneaking around in the city, and I'm a quick study.”

So that was it; he was watching and copying how I was moving through the jungle. I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised, given what he’d shown himself capable of thus far. Still, I had my suspicions that he might be playing me, and only saying he was copying me in order to hide that he had really known what he was doing all along.

“Right, figured you were a big city guy,” I said. “A Freeporter based on your accent, which begs the question of how an urbanite like you winds up out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Puzzle frowned slightly, and some of the pleasantness left his tone. It wasn’t like he was angry with me, just ... like I’d hit a sore spot. “Career change. I decided to strike out on my own and take independent work.”

I climbed my way over some roots and offered a hoof to help him over them. “So why wilderness explorer for a crazy backstabbing nag?”

Puzzle helped me down as we got over the barrier of roots. “Because I thought anywhere was better than sticking around Port Nowhere at the time and Ephemera offered a ticket off the island.” He shrugged. “And I thought it'd be interesting to find this City of Giants and all its fabled gold. It was something to do, and Ephemera was offering a lot of money for my help.”

I pulled off my hat to wipe the sweat from my brow. “So how’d you end up in the ass-end of the world at Port Nowhere?”

Puzzle’s ears flattened to his head. “You could say I got blacklisted after I quit my job. My old employer isn't the forgiving type, so I took the first ship out of Freeport which just so happened to be heading to Port Nowhere.”

I put my hat back on and checked my magic compass. “So you're on the run from a pissed-off boss? You'd think that'd make you more careful about vetting your next client.”

Puzzle grimaced. “It tends to narrow your field of vision when your old boss or the people you pissed off working for your old boss send bounty hunters after you.”

“Ah. I suppose I get that.” Now I had to wonder what sort of people Puzzle had been working with. Freeport has always been a hive of scum and villainy which was sad considering the Council was probably the best government Freeport had ever had. Sure, their rule was pretty corrupt and your status in society was based entirely on how much coin you had, but they were still pretty benign in their rule compared to who came before. They didn’t enslave a bunch of people like the Necrocrats, engage in mass piracy like the pirate kings of old, or impose the kind of strict laws from the despotic and religiously dogmatic rule of the Golden Path.

“Kinda already know all of this,” I told her.

“Intimately,” Puzzle agreed.

Daring waved the issue off. “Just outlining my thoughts at the time. Why people do the things they do in a story is every bit as important as what they do.”

“Something you learned from A.K.?” Puzzle asked with a grin.

Daring smirked back. “Something like that.”

“I made quite a few enemies back in Freeport,” Puzzle explained. “A lot of them being the types with the money and power to make life very unpleasant for those that made them unhappy enough. Which I did.”

I could think of dozen different nasty types he could have been working for—corrupt plantation owners, shady merchants and smugglers, cutthroat mercenary companies, and all sorts of nasty government officials. It wasn’t hard to make unpleasant enemies in Freeport. I should know, seeing that I’d made several myself over the years. “So what'd you do?”

A shadow of his grin returned. “A whole lot of things that would take multiple stories to cover.”

“Break it down to basics.”

Puzzle frowned as he thought the question over. “Theft, arson, learning people’s deepest and darkest secrets, and ruining their hopes and dreams.”

Jeeze, this guy was competing with most of the guys in my rogues gallery for nastiness, or at least for what he was capable of. “Okay, not quite that broken down.”

Puzzle quickened his step so that we were walking side-by-side. “Are you really surprised to learn that I have a colorful history?”

“Nah, I just wanna know who I'm dealing with.” I pushed my way through some bushes, making some small thunder lizards scurry off. “Bringing you along was a pretty big risk on my part.”

If he was the least bit offended by that, he didn’t show it. “Fair enough given the circumstances. So, what caused you to want to come all the way out here?”

I rolled my eyes. “I'm not that mysterious. Ancient city that’s never been seen by a pony who lived to tell the tale...” I pointed to myself. “Crazy adventurer archeologist.”

Puzzle chuckled. “Just wondering if the spade is a spade. No offense, but I’ve seen plenty of people present themselves as one thing, only to be something very different below the surface.”

“Well, with me what you see is what you get.” I glanced back behind us and noticed that Alya and Capital were starting to fall behind. “Hey you two! Keep up!”

“Sorry!” Capital waved to me. “Just enjoying the journey, is all.”

“Enjoy it a bit faster or you’re going to enjoy the business end of a Dromaed spear.” I sighed before turning back to Puzzle. “Anyway, now everything’s about stopping Ephemera. The Dromaed might not want me taking any of their stuff back to Equestria, but we’ll figure that out after we stop Ephemera and see what we’re dealing with in Zihlius. Besides, do you want her getting Ultimate Power?”

Puzzle snorted and held up a branch to let us both pass under it. “Hardly. I'm not sure if she would do more harm to herself or others with that kind of power. Most likely it would be a bit cataclysmic for everyone. Or more than a bit.”

“If there’s anypony who could manage to destroy the world with some ancient magic artifact by accident it’d be Ephemera,” I agreed. “I swear, she has the dumbest luck. But it sounds like we both agree she needs to be stopped first and foremost.”

Puzzle nodded. “I suppose that's why I’m still here. Not like I have much else going for me.” He stared up at the jungle canopy and got a distant look in his eyes. “Like I said—I'm blacklisted in Freeport, Port Nowhere doesn't have anything for me, and I'm not about to work with Ephemera again, so I’m a bit short on options.”

I frowned at that lack of enthusiasm. “Lame reason to help out.”

Puzzle shrugged. “I'm not exactly eager to have Ephemera succeed either. She's trouble and she needs to be dealt with.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I frowned, unconvinced. “Just feels like you should have more.”

Puzzle raised an eyebrow. “Have more what? Motivation to stop her, or wander into this forsaken jungle? In truth, I really don't. Nothing's really worked out for me since quitting my old job. When I signed up with Ephemera I thought there was a significant chance that this job would get me killed—chances that have gone way up thanks to Ephemera—but I thought it’d be okay as long as I got to do something new and wonderful before my past caught up with me.”

Ick, that was no way to live, just waiting for the end. I liked moving forward and seeing what was on the next horizon. Sure, I knew there was a chance that I’d maybe get myself in over my head, but I had no plans on making it easy for anyone or anything to take me down. Puzzle just sounded like he was plodding forward until the clock ran out. “Sounds like you need a new job.”

“So I've been thinking,” Puzzle said halfheartedly.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad.” I nudged him. “You couldn’t have gotten this far from just dumb luck.”

“From what you've seen,” he said. “In addition to knowing how to take care of myself in a fight, I know how to gather information and take care of business in an unconventional manner. I was something of a problem solver for my employer in Freeport.”

I pressed my lips together as I considered his options. “You could make a good archeologist. Or at least a good sidekick, since you’d need a degree to become a full-fledged archeologist.”

Puzzle chuckled and his smile returned. “A sidekick? My, what a prestigious position.”

I grinned back at him. “If you're looking for something new...”

“That is true.” Puzzle was silent for a time, his face unreadable. “I can think of worse jobs. Anything in retail, for example.”

I shivered. “I’ll take regular mortal peril and death traps, thank you. Long as we make it through this in one piece without you doing something horrible or backstabbing me, I'll look over your résumé later or something.”

Puzzle shot me a wry grin. “I’ll try not to disappoint.”

It was hard to argue that it would be nice to have someone who could watch my back. I was a pretty independent pony, but sometimes it could get lonely. What was the point of my exploits if I couldn’t share them with anyone? Sure, I shared plenty of my findings with museums and archeological societies, but that wasn’t the same as having someone by your side finding artifacts and going through all the same times and tribulations you went through.

I almost hated to admit it, but having Capital around was pretty nice. The problem was that I couldn’t imagine he was going to be sticking with me long term. This whole trip was basically his parents’ big expensive college graduation present for their son who really wanted to go on a big grand adventure before he sat down behind some desk and became a good honest government bureaucrat serving Princess Celestia. Puzzle on the other hoof didn’t have that. He didn’t have anything, by the sounds of it. Why not switch gears and do something entirely different if he’d be good at it? True, he might not have the education for archeology, but that was just a matter of learning, like anything else. And I could help him with that; I was a pretty good teacher.

Though I still questioned whether I could really trust him or not. Puzzle looked behind us and frowned. “It seems our companions are going the wrong way.”

“Wait, what?” Capital and Alya were now going almost the exact opposite direction. “Hey Capital! Where you going?!”

The both of them stopped and started looking around as they noticed what they were doing. “Oh my, I thought we were going this way?”

“No, Zihlius is this way.” I pointed in the right direction. “Pay attention and don't split up!”

“My apologies.” Capital chuckled and led Alya back to us. “It seems we were a bit too engrossed in our conversation.”

I shrugged and pushed down my irritation. “Happens. Easy enough to get turned around in the jungle. Just be careful, we don’t need to be losing somepony in the underbrush.” We started back up again, though a few minutes later I noticed that everyone split up and started going different directions.

I stomped a hoof and called out to everyone. “Hey! Stop wandering! We’re splitting up again!”

Alya froze and blinked as she looked around and saw she was wandering off alone. “Aren't we going the right way? I thought I was following you...”

Puzzle scowled as he started scanning the jungle around us. “Okay, this is starting to get suspicious.”

Alya sighed and started rubbed her temple. “I think this jungle is getting to me. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

I double checked the compass to make sure I was going the right direction and then hummed to myself as I considered what might be happening. “One more time. Try and stay with me, and don’t wander off, no matter what.”

Everyone agreed to this and we started back up again. But only a few minutes had passed before everyone began straying from me and getting turned around again. “Okay! Stop!” Everyone did so, and they all started looking around with expressions ranging from consternation to confusion. “Once is coincidence, twice is happenstance, three times is enemy action! Something’s up here.”

“I agree,” Puzzle said. “I’m thinking some sort of magic is at work here. I was very deliberately trying to follow you, but somehow I got turned around. We all did.”

“What could be doing that?” Alya asked.

“I think it’s something the Dromaed are doing.” I snapped out the compass for everyone to see. “Everything I read said that you needed one of these compasses to find the City of Giants. I wasn’t really sure how literal that was. I knew it would show us the way to the city, but I didn’t know for certain if the compass was absolutely needed to get to Zihlius. Given the way you’re all wandering off, I think there must be some sort of illusion over the city that causes people to go the wrong way when they get too close—unless you’re carrying one of these.”

Puzzle gaze swept over the thick vegetation around us. “Assuming you’re going the right way and aren’t getting as disorientated as the rest of us.”

My first instinct was to argue with him, but I had a better way to prove my point. I snapped the compass open and let the emerald arrow point the way.

Puzzle frowned but nodded. “As good as proof as we’re going to get. I’m pretty sure you’re right, but best to be sure so that we’re not going to be wandering the jungle until our food runs out, or more likely, the Dromaed catch up with us.”

“Fair enough, I know I don’t have any plans on dying.” And there was a bit more than that. My instincts were pretty good, but I got a sense that... Well, it was kinda hard to explain, like I was being pulled to where I wanted to go. Maybe it was the magic of the compass, but somehow I just knew where I was supposed to go.

“So what’s our plan?” Alya asked as she started digging up another root for her collection. She’d been doing that type of thing every time we stopped, for whatever reason. “From the sounds of it, only the person carrying the compass isn’t going to get thrown off the trail.”

“Hm...” I rubbed my chin, and an idea struck me. I opened my bags and pulled out some rope I presented to the others. “We can tie your saddlebags together and I can pull all of you along. It’s not the most sophisticated solution, but it does have the advantage of being simple.”

“A fine idea.” Capital slapped me on the back. “As long as we don’t all end up dragging you the wrong way, it should work.”

The others agreed and we went about putting the plan into action.

The plan was working. It took a bit for us to agree on exactly how to tie everything together to minimize getting caught on branches and vegetation and let us move without complication. Not to mention we didn’t want a situation where we would all be unable to move should a sudden emergency pop up. In the end I had three ropes tied to me, and the others were walking in a line behind me. After we got started again I would occasionally get a tug from one of them trying to wander off, but the resistance provided by me pulling them along was enough to snap them out of it. Whatever magic the greenseers were using, it seemed to work on a subconscious level. As soon as it was pointed out to anyone they were steering off course they would snap out of it and get back on the path. It was a bit annoying, but nothing we couldn’t beat.

For a while I thought everything was going to work out just fine. We were making good progress when the ground started to shake with slowly growing intensity.

Capital braced himself against a tree to maintain his footing. “Oh my, is this an earthquake?”

“Oh no,” Puzzle groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Not again.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’re you complaining a—“

I saw what he meant when several smaller thunder lizards sped past us, and their pursuer stormed its way into our vision: a tyrant lizard crashed through the underbrush, coming right at us in its eternal quest for its next meal.

“Run!” I dropped the ropes before bolting. The risk of anyone getting lost was a lot less than everyone getting eaten right at that moment.

Everyone else did the same as me, and within a couple of seconds we were all running as fast as our legs could take us. Though the one problem with that plan, it wasn’t fast enough. The tyrant lizard was closing on us, and it was only a matter of time before we became its next snack.

“Everyone turn left!” I called out and took a sharp turn left. It was my hope that by breaking away from the herd of fleeing thunder lizards the tyrant lizard would skip us. That plan proved to be a bad one when the tyrant lizard turned and followed right after us.

“Now that just isn’t fair!” Alya cried out through gasping breaths.

“It’s because we separated ourselves from the herd!” Puzzle said as he leapt over a log. “Its instincts are telling it we’re vulnerable!”

“What do we do now?!” Alya demanded. “It’s catching up with us!”

I considered our options and cursed. If it was just me I could fly up and out of the tyrant lizard’s reach. Darn it, even if it was just me and Puzzle we could do the same. If we had time we might even be able to fly Capital and Alya up into the jungle’s branches where that monster couldn’t get us, but we didn’t. I focused around me, trying to see if there was any opportunity to get out of this without getting eaten.

I saw a cave in the distance, but we’d never make it in time before the tyrant lizard caught up. If we could just buy some time to run over there...

“Capital, Alya! Run for that cave over there!” I pointed and then snapped my head to Puzzle. “Puzzle! We need to distract that tyrant lizard long enough for the others to get to safety!”

Puzzle’s face wrinkled in consternation. “Are you nuts?! How are we going to distract that thing?!”

“Improvise!” I looked over my shoulder as the tyrant lizard started closing the remaining distance between us. “We can fly but they can’t. We've got options, but they’re going to get killed before they can reach the cave. It’s time to prove if you’re part of the team, or just along for the ride.”

Without waiting for a reply, I snapped out my wings and took to the air. I took a sharp turn and kicked off a tree to reverse my direction, flying right at the tyrant lizard with its waiting jaws. It snapped out at me, but with a quick aileron roll I dodged out of the way and bucked it right under its yellow eye. It winced, more surprised its prey had attacked it than anything, probably. Puzzle wasn’t far behind me to my relief. He went for one of the tyrant lizard’s ankles and slashed with a dagger. The dagger bit into scales, but didn't go deep. His weapon was designed for cutting something the size of an equine, not taking down a monster like that, so at best he just inflicted a paper cut.

Still, while we did not do appreciable damage, the tyrant lizard’s steps faltered as its instincts failed it. Its prey was supposed to run from it, or maybe go into a defensive stance for those able to fight back. The tyrant lizard was a godless killing machine; it hunted, chased down, and killed its prey. Its prey didn’t charge it and go on the attack.

I took advantage of that hesitation by turning and going for the back of its head. I flipped my body and carried through with my momentum to slam my rear hooves into the back of its head. The tyrant lizard’s head gave, slightly, though lightning bolts of pain shot through my legs from the impact. I kicked off the thick hide of the tyrant lizard to get back into the air. The tyrant lizard tried to snap at me, but Puzzle came in again to slash at the back of its knee. The tyrant lizard snapped out at the object of its latest pain and tried to bite down on Puzzle, but he’d aimed his flight such that his only moment of vulnerability was small before he flew beyond those ravenous jaws.

Puzzle and I fell into a pattern, flying around the tyrant lizard, keeping it off balance by attacking its blind spots, and not letting it fully concentrate on either of us. The problem was that we weren’t really hurting it enough to disable it or drive it off, and sooner or later we were going to wear ourselves out. The tyrant lizard’s own stamina was waning too, but we had to keep doing everything perfectly to not get killed. He only had to get lucky once.

Time passed in a blur, there wasn’t anything to do but concentrate on the fight, timing my quick kicks with Puzzle’s slashing blade. But finally I caught the cave out of the corner of my eye, and our companions running into it.

“Time to go!” I yelled to Puzzle. “Get to the cave, I’ll keep this up!” Puzzle opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off. “Just go! I’m faster than you!”

He must have done the math pretty quickly, because he thankfully didn’t stick around to argue about who got to do the big, dumb heroic thing of holding off the tyrant lizard and escaping to the cave last. Puzzle followed through with his last attack and then darted for the cave. Giving him just a couple of seconds head start, I came around and kicked out with a rear leg to land a blow against the back of the knee of the tyrant lizard before making a sharp turn towards the cave.

While the tyrant lizard momentarily hesitated, but its instincts kicked in at the sight of its prey making a run for it and it started chasing after me again. I pumped my wings as fast as they would go, and bobbing and weaving to avoid branches as I hurtled towards the cave. The tyrant lizard didn’t worry about those branches nearly as much as it crashed through them.

The cave quickly started to fill my vision. Puzzle slowed down as he started entering the cave so that he wouldn’t crash right into something. I, on the other hoof, didn’t have nearly as much of a margin of error to work with as the tyrant lizard’s jaws coming precariously close to my tail. It was only as I passed through the threshold into the cave that I slammed on the brakes. My wings snapped out and flapped to try and break my momentum. I only partially succeeded, though my momentum did come to a bone-jarring stop when I slammed into Puzzle’s back. The impact sent both of us tumbling until we struck the far wall of the cave.

Stars swam in my vision as the world kept spinning even after I stopped. I blinked as I reoriented myself, seeing that I was in a awkward pile with Puzzle who groaned in pain. It was then that I saw a critical flaw in my plan to hide in the cave: the cave’s mouth was just big enough for the tyrant lizard’s head to fit into. That became clear as my whole world’s vision became razor sharp fangs that reached out for me. I yelped, and Puzzle and I scrambled to untangle ourselves and flatten against the wall as the tyrant lizard’s teeth came but scant inches away from us, its hot breath washing over us in waves. The tyrant lizard pushed against the cave entrance as it tried to close that precious gap between us.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone move. Alya stepped out from behind a nearby boulder and tossed one of her potions. Her timing was perfect as the vial landed within the tyrant lizard’s mouth. Noxious green gas erupted from the vial, and I nearly retched from the smell. The tyrant lizard was even less happy with this development, jerking its head twice to pull itself free of the cave’s mouth. Once free, it started violently hacking as it stumbled away.

“Over here!” Capital called out to us from further to the side, his back to a passage leading further underground. “He can’t reach you from over here!”

He didn’t have to tell us twice. We both bolted over to where Alya and Capital were standing. Then we stopped short of the passage to catch our breath after the chase and fight.

“Are you two okay?” Alya asked as she looked us over.

“I’m alive,” Puzzle gasped.

I waved her worries off. “Sure thing, never better. Good throw by the way. I don’t think the tyrant lizard liked that one bit.” The tyrant lizard was still hacking and coughing outside, though it sounded like it would survive in the end.

Alya smiled proudly. “You’re welcome. You helped save us, so it seemed only right to return the favor.”

“I won’t complain about that exchange.” Puzzle drew in a deep breath and then straightened himself.

“Same.” I stared into the darkness of the passage. It called out to me and I pulled out a light-gem from my pack to illuminate the way. “Though now I’m curious about what’s down this way.”

Puzzle snorted and shot me a grin. “We just barely escaped death by a tyrant lizard, and the first thing you want to do is explore some cave that might be filled with all sorts of unknown and horrible deaths inside?”

“Well duh,” I said. “Way I see it, we can just sit here and wait for the tyrant lizard to leave, or we can see what we’re dealing with in this cave. If there is something nasty in here then I want to find it before it finds us, if it’s all the same.” I gave him a wry grin. “Unless you want to go outside and ask big and ugly if he’d let us go our way without being eaten. It might even work if you say please and thank you.”

“We’ll keep that as Plan B.” Puzzle pulled out his own light-gem and hooked it on his necklace. “For now, let’s see what we’re working with in this cave. There might even be a back exit.”

“That’s the spirit!” Capital clapped Puzzle on the back hard enough to nearly make him lose his footing. “Onwards and upwards!”

We headed deeper into the cave, with me at the front. We only traveled for about a minute before we reached another cavern within the cave. Stalagmites and stalactites flanked us as we started exploring. Feeling as if I was being pulled forward, I ended up in front of a large pool of water as black as night. It covered about half the large cavern, and there weren’t any other passages or exits to be seen. It looked like a dead end.

“Looks like we won’t be getting out this way,” Capital observed. “Something of a pity.”

“It’s a bit foreboding.” Puzzle picked up a Dromaed’s skull lying off to one side of the cavern. “Especially considering our company.”

Alya’s gaze swept over the cavern as she too failed to find any exit. “So what now?”

“I suggest we take this as an opportunity to eat and get some rest,” Puzzle said, putting the skull back down. “We should have enough time for that, and this place seems safe enough. If we’re fortunate, the tyrant lizard will have grown bored and moved on by the time we’re ready to move again.”

“That sounds reasonable,” I agreed. Though something was nagging me, even if I couldn’t place my hoof on it. Well, I was going to have some time to think about it. We weren’t going anywhere just yet.

This one poked a small mirror out of the mouth of the cavern to look at what was around the corner. What this one got was a mirror full of tyrant lizard. The beast was perched near the cave mouth, like a cat that was waiting for a mouse to come out of its hole. It’d been an hour since we’d run into the cave and we were all ready to get moving again, but the tyrant lizard didn’t look to be in a rush to go anywhere.

This one sighed and put its mirror away. “Don’t you have anywhere else to be?” this one shouted. “There has to be something else bigger and meatier out there to eat, and we’re busy.”

A deep growl from the tyrant lizard in response resonated to the very core of this one’s being, a peturbing feeling to experience, and yet another reminder of just how big that monster was.

“So it’s just waiting there?” Alya asked.

“Sorry to say it is,” this one confirmed. “It doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere soon, and I doubt it’s going to move unless some kind of prey comes by and grabs its attention.”

“So are we going to wait until that happens?” Capital asked. “We have enough food to wait it out.”

This one shook its head. “We might have the food to wait that long, but we don’t have that long before the Dromaed catch up with us. And unlike us, the tyrant lizard isn’t going to be an obstruction to the Dromaed if they have one of their hristak or greenseers coming along. You saw how Strass was able to just talk one of them into going away rather than eating everyone.”

Capital frowned. “That is a problem, yes.”

“What’s the plan, then?” Alya asked. “We can’t wait here, but no way we’ll be able to get past that tyrant lizard as is.”

This one had a few ideas on how to bypass the tyrant lizard, but they were all risky. “Let me go get Daring. She should know the tyrant lizard isn’t going anywhere fast, and I’d like to hear her thoughts on how we might get out of this pickle.”

The others agreed to this, and this one headed back to the other chamber. Daring was standing at the edge of the water, staring down into its inky black depths. She turned her head when this one approached. “What’s the news?”

“The tyrant lizard is still outside waiting to pounce on us,” this one told her. “It’s got us trapped and it knows it. The paranoid part of me worries this might even be some greenseer trap. They do seem to have some sort of connection with this land and its animals, after all.”

The Do-mare pressed her lips together and her gaze returned to the water. “Maybe. But I’m going to guess that you’re with me about how we can’t stay in this cave forever?”

“I would highly recommend against it,” this one confirmed. “We’re in a race, and it’s going to go very badly for us if the Dromaed catch up with us in this cave. We’ll be able to make a fight of it, but I wouldn’t consider it ideal to fight with our backs to the wall and nowhere to run.”

“You said it.” The Do-mare pulled out the greenseer compass and opened it. Its emerald arrow glowed, pointing forward. She snapped it back closed and started pulling off her saddlebags. “I’ve got an idea I want to try. Hold my stuff.”

“What are you—oof!” The Do-mare tossed her bags into this one’s chest, and before this one could object, dove into the black depths of the underground pool. Soon the darkness consumed her from sight, leaving the surface of almost obsidian water smooth and undisturbed. This one waited a minute before it grumbled to itself. “Well, this is going to be awkward to explain if she never comes back.”

“What’s the matter?” Daring nudged Puzzle in the ribs with an elbow. “Worried someone will think you murdered me and dumped my body in the water?”

“The thought did occur to this one,” Puzzle said. “You have no idea how many times this one has been accused of one misdeed or another.”

“Yeah? And how many times was it true?”

Puzzle only replied with a grin.

This one sat on a rock and waited. This one hoped the Do-mare hadn’t gotten herself killed in some pointless manner, but there was the fact she had come out on top despite the long odds of whatever dangerous thing she was doing before.

About half an hour passed before a light appeared in the dark recesses of the pool, and the Do-mare broke the surface several moments later, gasping for breath. This one didn’t move from its seat and spoke with an even tone. “Enjoy your swim?”

The Do-mare smirked at this one as she bobbed in the water. “Yep, the water’s great. You should give it a try.”

“As much as I’d like to get some relief from the heat by going for a swim, we do have the matter of escaping the tyrant lizard and getting to Zihlius.”

“Great, because you can do both.” She swam forward and pulled herself back up onto dry stone. “Hope you’re a good swimmer.”

“Reasonably good,” this one said. “I did grow up on an island, after all. I take it you found something down there? Unless you’ve just made the world record for a pony holding her breath underwater.”

The Do-mare’s fierce grin widened. “Now that you’re going to have to see for yourself.”

This one pushed itself to its hooves. “Being mysterious, are we? You could just tell me what you saw, you know.”

“I could, but that’d be boring.” The Do-mare wrung the water from her mane. “If you’re gonna be my apprentice then you need to have a sense of adventure.”

“And that includes swimming through pitch-black water underground without knowing where the other side ends up?”

“Well maybe not do that blindly,” the Do-mare said. “It’s not like I went spelunking for kicks.”

“I was hoping you weren’t being outright reckless.” This one gestured at the water. “I’m not even quite sure what possessed you to jump in like that.”

“Simple.” The Do-mare pulled out the greenseer compass and opened it. “This thing is supposed to guide any would-be hristak to the City of Giants, and it’s been pulling me along. It’s subtle, but the effect is there.”

This one frowned as it studied the compass, its arrow pointing right at the water. “So it’s doing more than just pointing in the right direction?”

“Definitely.” She closed the compass and put it back around her neck. “And you've got to think about it from the greenseers’ perspective. This is supposed to be one big test for the hristak. That means putting them through the wringer to prove they’re up for doing the job. The compass led me here, and I got the sense I had to keep moving forward. So I thought about how bravery would be something a hsitak would need, in addition to physical prowess, and then I jumped in to see what was down there. It’s not like the compass would just lead its bearer to a dead end.”

“That’s an awfully dangerous leap of logic,” this one mused. “All sorts of bad things could have happened to you if you were wrong.”

“Sometimes you need to follow your instincts and take a leap of faith.” Daring shot this one a fierce grin. “And I have pretty good instincts.”

“You’re not dead, so there is that.” This one started stretching out its limbs to prepare for a swim. “Though this better be a manageable swim. I’m not inclined to drown myself after coming this far.”

The Do-mare slapped this one’s back. “Danger is part of the business. You should know that.”

We got the others, and thankfully the Alya-mare had a pair of water breathing potions for herself and the Idea-stallion. That left this one and the Do-mare to swim without magical assistance—well, if you didn’t count the fact that this one is a shapeshifter. The Do-mare gave us instructions for how to proceed and, as seemed to be her way, led the way by jumping back into the black depths first.

This one followed not long after. The gem hanging from this one's neck served as the only source of light in the dark depths. The water was cool, especially in comparison to the hot and humid air of the jungle, and it was a welcome relief. This one swam down deeper into the pool, and once this one was confident it was deep enough that no one could see it, transformed into a seapony. The Do-mare managed to traverse this pool without any kind of magic, but this one preferred to play it safe.

This one searched near the bottom of the pool and found the hole in the rock the Do-mare had described. Large enough for this one to fit through without too much trouble, this one pushed forward. The hole continued for a time, and this one wasn’t exactly thrilled when it ran across the skeletal remains of a Dromaed. It seemed not all the would-be hristak succeeded in their quest. That made this one wonder what other dangers must be in front of this one. It would have been nice if the dangers in the jungle and this underwater trip were the only things we had to worry about, but this one doubted it. The hristak seemed to be made of sterner stuff, and it seemed unlikely the Dromaed would warn us off from the City of Giants just due to some old superstitions.

This one reached the end of the tunnel, to no small relief on this one’s part. This one was a good swimmer, even discounting its ability to transform, but there was a big difference between swimming along the beach during the day and swimming deep in darkness underground. This one emerged in a new pool, and transformed back to its zony form before breaking the surface again.

The Do-mare, still damp from having taken another plunge, grinned at this one while sitting on a rock. “About time you showed up. You didn’t get lost did you?”

“Hardly.” This one pulled itself onto the stone of a new cavern. “I just decided to take my time and enjoy the view... What I could actually see, anyways.”

“If you think that’s cool, then you haven’t seen anything yet.” The Do-mare hopped off her rock and motioned for this one to follow. “Come on, you have to see this.” This one opened its mouth, but the Do-mare cut this one off. “And no smart aleck comment about how I can just tell you what’s up ahead. Some things are just better seen than heard about.”

This one decided it would just be best to follow her as she led the way through a passageway. It was a long walk, taking about fifteen minutes before we reached the end of the passage and emerged into the sunlight once again. This one blinked against the bright light and was forced to shade its eyes. We stood on a small plateau of moss-covered stone that overlooked a river valley.

But it was what stood in the center of that valley that caught this one’s attention: poking out from the jungle canopy was a dozen of the Dromaed-style pyramids, each one dwarfing any structure we had seen thus far during our journey and sitting near the river that had carved out the valley. A more careful look spotted yet more pyramids and other buildings nestled between the larger pyramids. The city had been nearly wholly reclaimed by the jungle, but there was no mistaking there was indeed a city here—or at least the forsaken ruins of one.

The Do-mare was standing just outside the mouth of the cave, a wide grin on her face. “So, what do you think? Pretty great, isn’t it?”

“It’s certainly intriguing.” This one’s gaze swept over the valley and Zihlius itself. “Let’s see if this city is worth all the trouble we went through to get here.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 15

Zhilius: the City of Giants. The center of the long dead empire of the dreaded Quinametzin. They were said to be giants who had ruled over the enslaved Dromaed with a bloody fist, using foul blood magics the likes of which have never been seen since. Their empire extended across a continent and stood for a thousand years, their might unchallenged. But in the end, they were punished by the gods for their many sins and struck down by great calamities that ended both the Quinametzin and their empire.

This one had its doubts. Part of this one's stock and trade was information, and part of that meant sifting through rumors. Rumors are inherently unreliable; spread from ear to ear, they morph in the process of communication, colored by the people that speak them and are sometimes based entirely in lies. But the thing with rumors is that there is almost always a kernel of truth to them, however obscure. Several rumors speaking of a king’s presumed misdeeds could hint at discontent with the crown. Talk of trade slowing can speak of wariness from merchants about the economy. What someone thinks about a rumor can say a great deal about them, such as their biases or how well informed they are.

Myths and legends are like rumors, only aged like a fine wine. Unlike the rumors that surrounded our daily lives, they possess the power to stay in our minds from generation to generation. Like rumors, they also often contain a kernel of truth. In order to stay in our collective minds, they need to have the power to imprint themselves within a cultural conscience. To do that, they needed to both reflect and shape society. Such tales are where our paragons and villains reside, our examples for how we should conduct ourselves; who we should and shouldn’t act like. Every society has its heroes and villains, its national paragons of what they are. Even if the idea of those heroes was very different than the truth.

Thus this one couldn’t help but wonder what Zhilius was supposed to represent within the collective conscious of the Dromaed. What kept the Quinametzin so ingrained within the Dromaed psyche that the Dromaed still spoke of them thousands of years after their fall? Why did the greenseers insist on using this place as a testing ground for their hristak?

As for Zhilius itself, it was a city long forgotten and neglected. Trees and vines had long ago overgrown over every structure within sight. Still, the great stone pyramids loomed over us, their structures casting us in shadow as we walked through what remained of the streets that thousands must have traversed so long ago. It spoke of a long-forgotten magnificence, of a society that once dominated all it observed but was now little more than a whisper.

This one wasn’t sure how to feel about what it saw. Part of this one was disappointed; its imagination had conjured up images of something truly magnificent and indomitable pyramids, streets paved with gold, and objects of near immeasurable value. Deep down this one knew such sentiments were silly and such illusions were utterly dissolved in face of the ruin and deterioration that surrounded it in reality. But still, especially after all the danger this one had gone through to get here, this one had wanted something greater than just a macrocosm of the lesser ruins we had walked past on our journey here. Instead it seemed as though it was but a matter of time until the jungle reclaimed these desolate remains of a once great civilization. So this one concentrated in looking for dangers, and any sign of Ephemera and the Dromaed.

The Do-mare on the other hoof seemed much more pleased with our arrival in Zihlius. She tried to keep herself in check, keeping an eye on her surroundings and being careful not to damage anything, but her big smile and gleeful gawking betrayed her excitement.

“Happy to finally be here?” this one prompted.

“Well yeah, it's an unexplored ancient Dromead city!” The Do-mare’s gaze swept over the skyline of the city, her wonder at the sight palatable. “Chances are nopony’s been here in millennia. Who knows what we’ll learn if we get enough time to look around?!”

“It's certainly something,” this one agreed. “To think, they've stood for this long. There's definitely preservation magic holding this place together.” In fact, this one had felt the preservation magic over the place immediately upon coming here, but it wouldn’t do to let her know the extent of this one’s magical talents.

“Yeah, though the quality of the construction counts for a lot too.” She flittered over to a nearby structure, a squat, small building that might have been a small business or home long ago. She pushed aside some of the vines to examine the stone underneath.

“Right, they made it to last.” This one’s eyes flicked to a structure that hadn’t survived the elements and ravages of time so well it was nothing more than a pile of stone. “Even if I doubt they intended it to end up like this. But then, what empire does?”

“No empire ever thinks it might fall.”

This one glanced back to the Alya-mare and the Idea-stallion to see that they were busy talking with one another as they took in the sights. Capital had a camera out and was taking pictures of the ruins. “Oh, they think about it, I’m sure. Every empire is usually just the inheritor of another empire’s legacy and sees the ruins of their forebears. It’s among the reasons why they work so hard to build up their empires and make sure they stand, not to mention build monuments to their greatness.” This one nodded to a half-crumbled statue of what looked like a Dromaed warrior or shaman. “Immortality is perhaps the most precious commodity in the world.”

The Do-mare stopped what she was doing to examine the statue. “Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. I can point out several old works of literature where someone laments how their empire is getting worse with every generation and how their fall is inevitable.” She shot this one a grin. “Usually complaining about how stupid the kids dress, the awful music they listen to, and how provocative their dancing is.”

This one chuckled. “I’ve read much the same. Funny how much stays the same despite all that changes.”

“Something like that.” The Do-mare leaned down to examine the head that had fallen off the statue, now cracked in half and nearly covered in moss. “People are people at the end of the day, and on some level we don’t change that much.”

This one watched her as she worked, curious to see how exactly she went about her job now that we had actually gotten to our destination. “So is this how it normally works for you? You come running up to some long-forgotten ruin and start poking around?”

“It's kind of how archeology goes, yeah.” She slowly circled the statue, examining its base as she did so. “Though a lot of it is pretty slow. You don’t want to damage the artifacts you’re trying to collect, after all.”

“When you aren’t leaping through centuries-old traps to grab something particularly shiny that is,” this one said with the intention of provoking her a bit. “From what little Ephemera told me, you competed quite fiercely for some noteworthy finds.”

The Do-mare smirked at this one. “That can be part of it, yeah. Though that type of stuff is supposed to be the exception to the rule. Most of the time when I’m trying to snatch an artifact that way I’m playing keep away from someone like Ephemera because they just want to sell it on the black market, or because it’s some dangerous magical item that could be misused in the wrong hooves. What I really want to do is preserve historical artifacts for the future so that generations can learn from them.”

“A pity the Dromaed don't seem to agree with your methods,” this one observed. “I couldn’t help but notice that they didn’t want you poking around in Zihlius, or anywhere else for that matter.”

The mention of the conversation with the Greenseer immediately darkened the Do-mare’s mood. “Yeah, guess they're kinda close-minded.”

“It could be argued that these artifacts do belong to them,” this one said as a Discord's advocate. “They’re a part of their legacy, so they have the right to decide what should be done with them.”

The Do-mare snorted and jabbed a hoof at the delabodated statue. “Then they should care more about their history. Look at this! Everything is rotting away.”

Sensing that this one was getting to the heart of the Do-mare, this one pressed on. “Alternatively, they could have a different take on how they want to preserve their history. Not everyone thinks or acts like Equestrians. The Dromaed quite simply don’t have our concepts of the traditional museum to preserve artifacts and history. I’m sure they would argue that they don’t even have a need of such things.”

“Just because someone has a different way of thinking doesn’t mean they’re right.” The Do-mare stomped to a nearby building absolutely covered in vegetation, the stone underneath only barely visible. “And it's not just that. Do you know how fast roots and vines grow in a rainforest?”

“Very.” This one had lived long enough in a tropical region to know how quickly some plants could grow if unimpeded.

“And how much damage they can do to a building when there's no cleanup and maintenance?” She gestured at the building that had collapsed in on itself.

“Significant,” this one conceded. “Between the rain, humidity, and vegetation, buildings can be pretty quickly destroyed.”

“You don't know the half of it. Here, help me with this.” The Do-mare pulled out a machete and started hacking away at a patch of vines blocking a doorway. This one pulled out its dagger and helped her until we managed to cut our way inside afterwith a few minutes’ work. Within was a large chamber, barren except for the moss, vines, and other vegetation that had managed to worm its way in.

The Do-mare growled as she shook her head. “Look at this. What condition do you think any artifacts in here are going to be in?”

If there were any artifacts within the room, they were long lost underneath layers of flora and stones. “Anything not long-lasting will be long gone, I suspect.”

The Do-mare whirled to face this one. “Exactly! They're literally letting their history rot away, all the while saying it's the noble and enlightened thing to do! It's historical vandalism by neglect! Yes, maybe they have their stories of what happened in the past that they pass down through the generations, but that’s not the same as having actual items from the past. And once an artifact is gone, it’s gone. There’s no replacing it.” She sighed and her wings drooped. “Ignorance and apathy destroy a lot more history than malice.”

She made a good point. This one didn’t see much a point in just letting objects lie on the ground to rot, though it knew it was biased. It was highly unlikely the Dromaed would ever see things the Do-mare’s way, whatever her argument. They were determined to see that things remained the way they were, and that was that. They were an insular and isolated people that had no intention of changing their ways, that much this one was certain of, and there was little use in negotiating with them. Now whether that made it right for the Do-mare to steal away artifacts that were doomed for destruction by neglect was the sticking point of the argument, and ultimately came down to one’s personal opinions on such things.

But there was an issue that concerned this one more than the philosophical ethics of archeology. “You make a good argument, though there is the question of if they were right about this place being evil. That is a pretty important part of the discussion if we’re dealing with some kind of forbidden magic.”

The Do-mare snorted. “If I had a bit for every old ruin I've been to that's supposed to be an accursed place of ancient evil, I'd be richer than Capital. Just because the locals say there’s something dangerous with the local ruins doesn’t mean there is, or that they even have it right on why it’s dangerous.”

This one grinned. “So I take it that you're not intimidated by Zihlius?”

The Do-made started digging around, making sure the ravages of time and the environment had indeed destroyed anything of value. “Honestly, at this point it'd be more shocking if I ran into an ancient ruin that wasn't cursed, haunted, or full of death traps.”

“That would certainly be my luck,” this one said. “The Ephemera certainly seemed convinced something was here.”

“Only one way to find out.” Finding nothing in this building, the Do-mare led the way out.

“So where to—“ This one was interrupted when its stomach loudly growled. Clearing this one’s throat, it smiled apologetically. “Sorry about that.”

The Do-made grinned and nudged this one in the ribs with an elbow. “You gonna need a meal there before we continue?” She gave this one a second glance, noting this one’s slim body—slimmer than it had been before we had set out from Port Nowhere. “You’re starting to look like skin and bones. Rationing’s important, but there’s no point saving for later if you fall over from starvation right now.”

This one waved the suggestion off. “I’ll snack on something along the way to wherever we’re going. No sense delaying everything just because I’m a little hungry.”

The Do-mare shrugged. “If you say so.”

In truth, the matter was far more concerning than this one was letting on. This one was suffering from a hunger that no mere trail rations could sate. The journey to the City of Giants had not been kind to this one’s reserves of love magic. This one’s jar of thymoplasm had run out the other day, and it had been some time since this one had last fed on the Ephemera-mare’s minions. This one was getting hungry. Distressingly so. More than once over the past day this one had caught itself staring at its companions, sensing the love within them. Each of them had people they loved, and there were the growing bonds between them as we traveled together. Perhaps if this one could draw one of them away for a few minutes to—

This one firmly clamped down on those thoughts before they strayed into actions. This one had learned how to deal with its hunger, even when it was severely short on food. But an iron will and training only went so far. This one had effectively been keeping itself on half rations for weeks now, and bit by bit the hunger had gnawed at this one’s self-control. At the end of the day, no amount of self-control or discipline could stave off becoming feral sooner or later. This one needed to eat, and soon.

In truth, this one had hoped we would run across one of the Ephemera-mare’s thugs by now. If this one could just get five minutes alone with one of them, or even two...

This one reminded itself not to drool over the thought. If we didn’t come across a convenient meal within the day, then this one might be forced to reveal its nature and ask to be allowed to feed itself before it did something beyond its control. That wasn’t something this one particularly wanted to do. There was a long string of unfortunate incidents in the past when a changeling had revealed their nature to a non-changeling.

Not knowing this one’s distress, the Do-mare looked around before her eyes settled on the biggest pyramid that sat in the city. “Well, the biggest, most intact-looking building is that way. Any objection to heading there next?”

She flashed this one a grin and this one returned it. “That does seem like the most obvious place Ephemera would go. So let’s find out if she’s already there and get the drop on her, or prepare an ambush.”

“And see if there are any valuable artifacts inside,” the Do-made added.

This one chuckled. “No reason we can’t multitask.”

The central pyramid of Zhilius was a massive construction that stabbed up through the heart of the city like a well-worn dagger. Time and the elements had taken their toll on its blackened stone. Rain had worn down the features of its statues, vines crept up its sides, and birds and bugs infested its crevices, but still it whispered the promises of the power of a foregone age. This had been the center of a millenia-dead civilization, and it still stood, even if only as a gravestone for the Quinametzin Empire.

We headed through the half-open doors of the pyramid, their features long since eroded by time and use, claw marks all along the gate. Inside was near perfect darkness, and the corners of the entrance hall seemed to drink in the light that seeped in from outside. Only the dim glow from the odd patch of fluorescent fungus offered any kind of light within. The Do-mare flew past this one as she activated her light gem, its light only seeming to emphasize the darkness that somehow felt like it was reaching out for it. Once illuminated, the entrance hall was every bit as impressive as the outside of the structure—if almost every bit as worn. The chamber was almost deceptively large, big enough to fit a small hamlet within. Large statues of various figures ranging from Dromaed warriors, scholars, spellcasters, and artisans lined the hall, flanking hallways that lead further into black hallways. They stared down at any who entered with seeming disapproval at those who would dare interrupt their masters from within its halls.

The Do-mare pulled out a notebook and started jotting down notes as she hovered around a statue. “Capital, can you get some pictures?”

“Of course.” The Idea-stallion smiled helpfully as he pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures, the flashes of light briefly illuminating sections of the chamber. “Thankfully I was able to find room to bring this, even if I only have so much film to work with.”

“We’ll make it work.” The Do-mare jotted down some more notes. “Just pace yourself and make sure to take really good shots of what you can. We’ve got this whole place to explore.”

This one started activated its own light gem and walked around the chamber, keeping a wary eye out for any dangers. Between the Ephemera-mare, the hristak, traps, and a dozen other threats, there was more than enough dangers to think about. Still, this one couldn’t help but let its eyes wander to the stories-tall statues that loomed over us, and it stopped under the giant figure of a grim-faced armored warrior, his grip tight on a spear as he looked ready to spring into violence at any moment. It made this one feel small and insignificant—which was probably the point of their construction.

The Do-mare whistled. “The scale really is amazing.”

“It must have taken forever to build all of this.” Despite the immensity of our discovery, the Alya-mare still pulled out her own notebook, consulted it, and then started harvesting some mushrooms from the wall.

“Time or lots of labor,” this one observed. “The Quinametzin were supposed to be into slavery, after all.” It might have been the Free Mind in this one, but the idea of thousand of slaves being made to toil away to make something like this for their masters soured the discovery.

“Not just normal labor.” The Do-mare flittered down to tap at a portion of one of the statue’s legs. “Look, there's no obvious lines where different pieces of rock were put together. It's like the whole statue was carved out of a single solid block!”

The Idea-stallion whistled. “My word! A block of stone that large would have to weigh...” He pulled out some paper and quickly scribbled his calculations. “Almost fifty tons!”

The Do-mare nodded. “Even the biggest blocks in the southern pyramids of Old Selerika are only a fraction of that size.”

This one raised as eyebrow as it carefully studied the statue. Indeed, there weren’t any of the usual lines indicating different blocks of stone being sealed together. That was highly unusual for a couple different reasons; first and foremost was the simple fact that the larger a stone was the heavier it would be, and thus harder and more expensive to move from whatever quarry it came from. Second was that it could be difficult to find consistent blocks of the same type of stone large enough for even a modestly sized statue, much less these monstrous things.

“Perhaps they used magic?” this one suggested. “Geomancy could have melded the stones together to appear seamless.”

“That’d explain it.” The Do-mare returned to circling the statues. “Even if it’s a bit soon to say for certain. That’s going to require more study. Pity we couldn’t bring the whole team here like we’d planned, this is such an amazing find!”

This one flew up to hover by her side. “It certainly seems that way.” This one frowned at where one statue’s arm had fallen off and smashed on the ground. “Even if this place has seen better days.”

“Yeah.” The Do-mare scowled. “We need to get some proper archeologists out here and preserve everything before the neglect gets any worse.”

“Easier said than done,” this one pointed out. “I doubt the Dromaed will have changed their opinions since we last saw them, and getting a full expedition of archeologists here would be a challenge even if they weren’t a barrier.”

“We'll find a way. I can't believe those lizard-birds are letting something this amazing just rot away. This is their history, their legacy! Sooner or later it’s all going to be gone because they didn’t do anything to preserve it!”

The Idea-stallion took another picture. “Let's not worry about the far future until we're done and on our way back to civilization. I think we’re going to need to rethink our approach with the Dromaed, but I’d prefer to do that from the safety of my family’s study.”

“Not much we can do about that here anyways.” The Do-mare reached out to clean off some of the fluorescent mold from the statue, but this one caught her hoof.

“Better be careful about touching that,” this one warned, remembering its encounters with the mold spirit back in the pyramid near Port Nowhere.

The Do-mare frowned at this one as it held her hoof back. “It's just mold, it's harmless.”

“You've never been attacked by sapient mold before,” this one insisted. “Back at Port Nowhere I saw a bunch of this stuff form into some sort of monster that attacked me. I barely got away from it with my life.”

The Do-mare stared at this one as she digested that story. “Is that seriously a thing that can happen? You better not be making stuff up, because this isn’t really the time for it.”

“I assure you, I've seen it,” this one insisted. “It might even be tied up with the Greenseer’s magic. The mold monster was protecting the compass I managed to get, and I’d rather not have to deal with one of those things again.”

“I've been all over the world and never seen it.” Still, she pulled her hoof away from the mold and this one let her go. “But even if you are just making that story up, it could be dangerous in other ways.”

The Alya-mare nodded up in our direction. “Better safe than sorry. The last thing we want is for someone to get sick from tropical mold spores.”

“We have more than enough trouble to deal with without borrowing more.” This one glanced around, still not detecting the presence of anyone else. “Speaking of trouble, I'm not seeing any sign of Ephemera or her lot yet.”

“Doesn't mean they aren't here.” The Do-mare snapped her notebook closed and returned it to her bags. “But if she’s already here, she'll be covering her tracks.”

“You honestly think she can be that subtle?” This one’s impressions of the Ephemera-mare were that she possessed all the subtlety of a brick. If a problem was to be solved, then it was to be done in the most direct method available.

“She's brutal, but she has the kind of low cunning you’d expect from a chronic backstabber,” the Do-mare said. “Don’t get overconfident around her. You’ll be thinking she’s an idiot, and then she’ll surprise you with something nasty when you least expect it.”

This one hadn’t lived as long as it had by being sloppy. Even if the Ephemera-mare wasn’t the most dangerous opponent this one had ever faced, she still had us badly outnumbered, and her mystery employer might have yet more nasty tricks to throw our way. No, best to be cautious for now until we had a proper handle on the situation. Though the knot of hunger in this one’s stomach also reminded this one of the potential rewards of finding the Ephemera-mare or her minions.

“So where to next?” The Alya-mare glanced around to the pitch black hallways. “I doubt we want to spend all our time here looking at old statues.”

“Onwards of course.” The Idea-stallion took one last picture before putting his camera away. “We can hardly stop after coming so far.”

“Which way, though?” this one pressed.

The main hall was lined with a dozen different passages that led further into the pyramid. Most were smaller doorways, probably for servants of whoever resided within the structure, though three were larger passageways that could allow dozens of individuals to walk abreast of one another. The Do-mare flitted about the room to examine the statues and doors. Considering this was her area of expertise and she had a natural talent for navigation, this one was content to let her decide where to go.

Eventually she decided upon the central doors, flanked by a pair of statues that struck this one as crowned warrior-priests with their spears and staves held crossed over their chests. “Hm, the central one seems the best choice. When in doubt, go to the fanciest-looking place.”

“Bully!” the Idea-stallion declared as he approached the statues flanking the double stone doors. “Just when I thought it couldn't get any grander than what I'd seen before!”

This one stepped up to the doors along with everyone else. They were large and imposing, and underneath the mold were engravings of Dromaed-like figures and letters this one didn’t understand. After a quick examination an obvious problem presented itself. “It looks like the doors are sealed, or at least I’m not seeing any obvious door handle here.” This one had a feeling the doors had either been opened through the copious use of slaves or magic, neither of which we had in abundance.

“We'll open them.” Daring flew up and down as she looked for a means to open the portal. “If I had a bit for every door in an ancient crypt that looked like it could never be opened...”

“Too right.” The Idea-stallion reached for the door, but then the Do-mare suddenly slapped his hoof away.

Her eyes were wide when she screamed at us. “Don't touch it! Everyone get ten meters back and take cover!”

This one didn’t waste time asking questions. It bolted from the door, and upon seeing that the Alya-mare had froze, pushed her to get her moving. “Go! Now!” That snapped her out of shock and she ran for it. We reached one of the doorways and hid behind the door frame, and the Do-mare and the Idea-stallion had found their own door frame to take cover behind.

When nothing immediately happened this one looked to the Do-mare. “What was that about?”

“Look.” The Do-mare snatched up a rock and threw it at the door. It smacked against stone and bounced to the floor. Not a moment later a green ooze started spraying from the door, sigils along its length glowing as it did so. The ooze immediately started sizzling when it hit the ground, and an acidic smell wafted into the air. The smell was so noxious that this one was forced to pull out a handkerchief to cover its muzzle, and the floor tiles bubbled where the acid had landed.

The Idea-stallion blinked owlishly upon seeing the death he had only just narrowly avoided. “Starswirl's beard!”

“Looks like the traps here still work,” this one observed. “The Giants must have built them to last.”

“Or the Greenseers have been maintaining them,” the Alya-mare suggested.

“Don't worry,” the Do-mare assured us as she left her hiding spot and slowly approached the door. “I can crack ruins like this in my sleep. No problem.”

As though in answer to that challenge, a loud rumble came from the ceiling, along with the scrape of stone on stone as a dozen hoof-sized holes opened up.

The Idea-stallion frowned as he stared upward and walked up next to this one. “Why do I have a sinking suspicion we've just made a right pig's ear of this?”

Bursts of bright green gas began seeping out from the holes in the ceiling. Seeing that nothing good could come of this, this one suggested the only rational course. “Run!”

The Do-mare bolted our way, her wings pumping hard. “It's heavier than air! Get out and find high ground!”

This one led the way down one of the hallways. There was no way to tell where it led, but this one liked its chances going down a random hallway than staying where that gas was going. At least had a chance to counter any new form of death trap we ran across. We passed by multiple rooms as we fled, our light sources only briefly illuminating their interiors before we passed them. Spotting a staircase, this one took a sharp turn and ran up them, the clatter of everyone else’s hooves behind it as it sought safety.

Once we had ascended the stairs this one kept running for a bit until we found ourselves in a new room. If the gas had followed us this far then there was probably no place safe we could reach in time to save our lives, and this one would prefer not to keep running until we got into some form of trouble. Besides, this room had caught this one’s eye.

Near as this one could tell, we were in some sort of artificial garden. In the center of the room sat a crystal tree, its trunk so black it seemed to absorb the light. Our reflections danced along its irregular surfaces, and glowing orange orbs hung from its branches. Along the walls were a vast variety of crystal plants of all colors. Whether they had been grown through some arcane means, transformed into their current forms or were the mere mundane creations of some artisan, this one could only guess. Though this one noted that the fungus had not reached this room, whatever that meant. Still, the gas didn’t seem to be coming this far, which was something.

A soft song, deep and melodious with its use of wind instruments and drums, echoed from the halls further into the pyramid. It contrasted the sterile beauty of the crystal garden, but still, this one felt relaxed for the first time since coming to the forsaken city.

The Alya-mare let out a long relieved sigh as she slumped down onto one of the benches lining the room. “Please tell me we’re safe.”

The Do-mare hovered about the room, examining everything with a keen eye for danger and archeological reasons both. “Safe for now by the looks of it. Though don’t get too settled. We’re not out of the woods yet.” She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “But it might not hurt to just rest a bit.”

“We have come a ways.” The Idea-stallion agreed, sitting next to the Alya-mare. “After all that excitement I could stand to close my eyes for a few minutes.”

“Alright we can—” A yawn cut the Do-mare off. “Sorry, we can take five and then work from there.”

The mention of rest did suddenly feel like a good idea. After all the danger we’d just gotten through, and the soft music making this place seem so relaxing...

This one blinked as it realized something was wrong. This was hardly the time to be nodding off, and yet this one found itself sitting and struggling to not lie down despite itself. This one slapped itself to try and stay awake. Through heavy eyelids this one saw that everyone was already asleep around it, the song continuing to play, pressing against this one with its melody. This one tried to stand, to get away, but its limbs were heavy and didn’t cooperate, feeling as though this one were trying to move through molasses. This one was just so tired, its fight against its own hunger having gone on so long, and this one’s will worn down from so many failures and the dangers of the jungle.

This one’s eyes closed and it drifted off to sleep.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 16

The sand of the desert whipped around Ephemera and me as the wind blew. It’d been a tough journey through the inhospitable land where it often seemed like the sand and rock would never end, but we had finally reached our destination. A rockface loomed over us, a single carved opening marking where we needed to go. A hooffull of tents sat around the entrance, each flapping aggressively in the wind as ponies sat within for what meager protection they provided.

“Almost there.” Ephemera pulled her scarf away from her face with a relieved sigh as we finally got close enough to the rockface for protection from the sun and wind. Both could be utterly punishing as they incessantly wore you down hour after hour and could be lethal with extended overexposure, so any kind of relief from the elements was quite welcome.

“Just about.” I pulled my protective goggles from my face and grinned at Ephemera. “Now we get to the fun part.”

“Wait wait wait!” Kukri cried. “What’s happening?! You were just in that pyramid in the jungle with everyone but now you’re with Ephemera in the desert? This one’s so confused!”

Daring chuckled and patted Kukri on the back. “Hang in there, kid. It’ll all make sense soon enough, trust me.”

“If you say so.” Kukri sounded less than convinced, but let Daring continue.

Ephemera flashed me a toothy smile. “Or at least the part you’re good at. I look forward to seeing you in action. As nice as your company is, we do have a job to do here.”

“You bet. Hopefully the Transmidian Amulet is here like it’s supposed to be.” While I would have liked to take the time and explore the tomb of Grand Vizier Senet for its own sake, we desperately needed the magical amulet he had created. Many centuries ago he’d used the amulet in a ritual to seal up a nasty demon by the name of Daggoth, but after all this time the wards had seriously weakened. Unless we redid the ritual, it was going to get out again and wreak untold havoc on the world. Thankfully Ephemera had already discovered the location of Senet’s tomb, but she’d been stalled by its traps and defenses. Thus, why I was here.

Shame that there were still all sorts of things that could potentially go wrong with an expedition like this. Someone could have already looted the tomb centuries ago, or we could be in the wrong place entirely—it wouldn’t be the first time either of those things had happened to me. But I wouldn’t let past failures stop me now, and so I stepped up to study the entrance. It was flanked by a pair of dog statues that had been carved out of the rockface itself, next to inscriptions of a long dead language. I read them and found the name I was looking for: Grand Vizier Senet. Bingo.

“I think this is the right place,” I called back to Ephemera.

“Oh trust me, it's the right place. I didn't spend this long searching for it just to turn up empty now.” Ephemera wiped the sweat from her brow. “Mind giving me a drink?”

I offered up my canteen. There wasn’t a ton of water in it, but I could still hear splashing inside. “Sure. Is yours already empty?”

“Nah, just harder to get to.” Ephemera drained it dry, then scowled at the empty canteen as though it had somehow slighted her. “Dammit.” She shifted through her gear until she eventually retrieved a pair of fresh canteens. She passed one with red paint on it to me while keeping the other to herself. “Here, take my backup.”

“You could have just taken a minute to pull out your own fresh canteens.” Still, I was thirsty and I’d need my strength for what I was about to do, so I took a healthy drink before putting it to the side.

Ephemera rolled her eyes. “Let's just focus on getting past the traps. One mistake and...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know how to do this. This isn't my first rodeo.” I took off all the gear I wouldn’t need for this part and placed it by the doorway. My wings stretched out as I worked to limber myself up.

“Mine either.” Ephemera grinned as she watched me stretch. “Don't get all grumpy on me now, DD.”

I grinned up at her as I did some pushups. “I'm the one heading in there, I can be as grumpy as I want.”

“Oh don't worry, I'll be right behind you.” Ephemera took position behind me, keeping her eyes on me all the while.

I finished stretching and stood back up. “Just be careful about not being too close. You never know what you'll find in places like these.” I rolled my neck until it cracked. “I swear, it's like all the pharaohs were all trying to outdo one another with their deathtraps.”

“Everypony needs a hobby.” Ephemera nudged my side. “And if I'm not too close behind I might miss the view.”

I snorted and flicked her with my tail. “Just be careful not to get too distracted. It'd be a shame if you got caught in some boobytrap because your head wasn't in the game.”

Kukri interrupted the story. “Wait, you and Ephemera were hitting on each other?!” My apprentice stuck out her tongue in revulsion. “Why, Do-mare?! Why would you do something so horrible?”

Daring groaned as she rubbed her temple. “Because she was being nice to me and acting interested, ‘acting’ being the keyword there. But yeah, I’d come to like her. She could be a bit prickly sometimes, but she could also do a good job of pretending to like you and I got suckered in. My profession can be pretty lonely at times, and it was nice to have a buddy for once.”

“Feigning interest is a common tool of manipulation,” Puzzle added. “Pretend to be romantically interested in someone and you can get them to say or do all sorts of things.”

“Speaking from experience?” I asked.

Puzzle shrugged. “This one is an information broker. There are worse ways to gather information.”

“Just don’t let the Heartstrings-mare hear that, right?” Kukri grinned and elbowed Puzzle’s leg, causing him to groan in exasperation.

“Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.” Ephemera took a swig of her canteen before following me into the carved stone hallway of the tomb. “Least it's not as hot in here.”

“Heat’s about to be the least of our troubles.” I proceeded slowly, taking in everything around me. The pattern of the stone under my hoof, the feeling of the air, the sound of it moving through the hallway. The brief sound of stone grinding against stone was the only warning I got before the floor suddenly fell out from under me. My wings instinctively flapped to propel me over the new gap, and I rolled as I hit the floor. But my maneuver caused me to hit a trigger tile, and several spears launched at me from the ceiling. I kept rolling, dodging one spear and grabbing another as it flew past me. All in one motion, I rolled to my hooves and swept the spear, deflecting more incoming spears before they could hit me. My wild movements caused me to trigger yet another trap and a guillotine-like blade swept in on my side, its rusted blade threatening to chop me in half. I slammed the butt of the spear against the ground and with the power of my wings pole vaulted over the blade. It sliced through the haft of the spear, causing me to temporarily lose my balance. I tucked and rolled in midair to land on my hooves.

My head snapped back and forth and my ears swiveled as I watched for more dangers to come at me, but none immediately did. “Well that was exciting. You know, I think I recognize the engineer who made these traps. This is just like the tomb of Pharaoh Amenti.”

“Oh yeah?” Ephemera took a few steps back before running and leaping over the gap I’d just found, being careful to land where she wouldn’t trigger the same traps I’d just set off. “What'd you find there?”

I carefully picked my way forward and found additional pressure plates and other trap triggers, and I carefully marked them with some light chalk before continuing. “Not much, unfortunately. The place had already been long looted. Probably by some of the locals or even the guys who made it. That’s happened a lot, sadly—the laborers used to make it usually knew exactly how to get around the traps and guardians for the tomb, so they’d wait until the whole thing was completed to collect their pay, then break in again once the place was sealed up with all its treasure and whoever had just died.”

“That’s one way to collect a commission bonus,” Ephemera commented. “I suspect that may be why some pharaohs took to killing off anyone who helped build their tombs. Dead ponies tell no tales.”

I carefully picked my way over a trigger plate that ran across the whole hallway. “Yeah, a few did. The problem with that is that people wised up to that real quick, and soon no one wanted anything to do with building anyone’s tomb, which was kinda a problem when you wanted to take it all with you to the afterlife. So they started getting clever: building them in remote places that were hard to find, erasing everypony’s minds of anything relating to the tombs with magic, hiring different groups to build different sections of the tombs so no one group knew exactly where all the traps were, and finally placing wards and illusions over the tombs to make them harder to find. That, and undead labor was often an option in Selerika, especially for a spellcaster like Senet. Probably how this place managed to stay hidden for so long. Senet could have done a lot of this himself when you get right down to it.”

“Thus why we’re still finding tombs to this day,” Ephemera said as she continued following me. “Though I hope you at least found something interesting.”

“Oh definitely,” I said. “Pharaoh Pshent IV’s tomb was amazing. We managed to find his sarcophagus and those of his seven wives, plus a ton of artifacts.” I flashed my teeth in a grin as I found an opportunity to tease Ephemera a bit. “Including all the Pharaoh’s removed organs.”

Ephemera’s green eyes flashed, probably in excitement over the big historical find we’d just had. I could hardly blame her. “Oh, if we find anything half that good we're going to have one hay of a party to celebrate.”

“You can count on it.” I stopped in front of a sealed door and carefully examined it for traps, whether mundane or magical. “Though it's hard to say what we'll find in the tomb of a wizard-vizier. He wasn’t a pharaoh, but this guy was supposed to be pretty influential back in his day. Being at the right hoof of three generations of pharaohs will do that, and he was a really good spellcaster to boot.”

“Well, only one way to find out.” She waved vaguely at the door. “Lead the way, DD.”

“Just need to make sure this is safe before I crack it open.” Once I’d done that, I braced myself against the door and slowly pushed it open to the crackle of stone on stone.

There was the hiss of centuries-old air escaping the tomb, and soon we were in a new room. Four ornate sarcophagi sat in each corner of the chamber, along with four pillars decorated with elaborate carvings that dominated the room. On the far wall was a sealed door that blocked our way.

I carefully made my way inside, taking in every detail around me. “Hm, I wonder what this room is for?”

With a haste that made me cringe, Ephemera walked up to the door and tried to open it, though it didn’t budge an inch. “Looks like it's blocked. Think it's some kind of puzzle thing?”

“That’s what I’m starting to think.” My attention turned to the pillars. They were divided into layers, each of which had archaic symbols for different elements: fire, water, earth, air, and spirit. Or was that death? Aether? Metal was also a favorite. The fifth one was always different depending on the culture, and that was when they only restricted themselves to five elements. The zebras had twelve of them.

“I can get some of the workers in here with hammers to knock the door down.” Ephemera arched an eyebrow. “But I'm betting you don't wanna do it that way?”

I shook my head. “No way! Look at the engravings on those doors. They're priceless.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ephemera let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall as she pulled out her canteen. “I'm sure you can crack this puzzle anyway. Show me what you got, hot stuff.”

“Can do.” I shook my hips as I returned to studying the pillars for any discernible patterns. I needed to get this right, otherwise I’d probably end up setting off yet another lethal trap. Perhaps sand would fill the chamber, or I’d be dropped into a pit of scorpions or snakes, or I could get the best of both worlds and be dropped into a spiked pit full of snakes and scorpions while the room slowly crushed us. Trapmakers and their patrons could be devious bastards like that.

After a few minutes of studying, I thought I had it. “Hm, looks like the sections of this pillar can be moved. I'm detecting an old elements pattern here. I think what I need to do is turn each element in relation to which elements beat them, and...” I proceeded to do so with each pillar until they were almost all correct.

Ephemera came up alongside me as I nearly finished. “Right, right. It'd go like this.” She pushed the last piece into place, and then there was the rumble of stone as the door slowly opened. She gave me a sultry smirk and hip bumped me. “Just like that.”

“Good eye.” I hip bumped her back. “Even if I did most of the work.”

Ephemera huffed in an exaggerated manner. “I just about had it when you solved it. Besides, you're the trap expert, I'm the brains.”

I scoffed at that suggestion. “I’m pretty sure my degree suggests I’ve got a pretty good percentage of the brains in this operation. Now if you want to talk about who has the looks in our little party I’d say—” Just then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye as the lid to one of the sarcophagi started to open. “Look out!”

I pushed Ephemera behind me, but then realized that wasn’t such a great move as the other sarcophagi also started opening. From within their confines a pair of withered old skeletons in ancient decayed armor emerged. The one in front of me hefted its rusty tipped spear as it focused on me with green pinpricks of light within its eye sockets. It spoke, its voice sounding like old cracking papyrus. “Why do you disturb our sleep?”

Ephemera rolled her eyes and pulled out a couple of hidden knives. “Because we want to steal all your master's treasure and sell it on the black market.”

The skeleton hissed and stepped towards us, his spear now raised to strike. “Intruders.”

Now she’d done it. I glowered and positioned my legs in a defensive stance. “Not exactly diplomatic, Ephy!”

“Like they weren't going to kill us regardless!” Ephemera raised her knives as the skeleton from behind us approached. “Way I see it, I’m just saving us time.”

“Doesn't mean you should provoked them!” Admittedly, she might have a point. It was hard to imagine that the skeletal guardians would have let us take their long-dead master’s amulet, but we wouldn’t have known unless we asked. After all, Senet had sealed away Daggoth to start with, and they might have allowed us to do so again. Shame Ephy had thoroughly burned that bridge.

That point was emphasized when the skeleton in front of me jabbed his spear at my face with amazing speed for something that hadn’t been alive in many centuries. I ducked my head to the side and dived in, hoping to get inside the skeleton’s guard before it could stab again. But with the cool efficiency of a warrior that trained for years on the practice field, he snapped the butt of the spear up at my jaw. I threw myself to the side in a roll to get on the skeleton’s flank, but with a precise step back it pivoted so that it had its spear back in position. The tip flashed forward time and time again in a series of quick and efficient attacks. It was a struggle to keep myself from being skewered as I gave up ground, buying myself time to gain a measure of my opponent.

I chastised myself for underestimating the skeleton. These weren’t the typical brainless undead monsters your average necromancer magicked up, who tended to slowly stagger towards you to throw clumsy attacks. Instead of seeing them as cheap minions, the magi serving the pharaohs saw their undead warriors as sacred protectors of their land, and they tended to retain a significant measure of their past prowess. That, and they tended to be a lot smarter. That much became clear as I found that the skeleton’s strikes were trying to force me into a corner where I could easily be turned into a shishkebab.

Ephemera had her own trouble. Her knives flashed and met her opponent’s spear repeatedly as the two of them tried to land a blow. Ephemera’s knives moved in a blur, and while they normally wouldn’t match the reach of a spear her telekinesis allowed her to strike at a deceptive range. One of her knives slipped through the skeleton’s defenses and scratched its leg. That was a problem. Those types of knives were intended for stabbing vulnerable parts of unarmored opponents, not an armored enemy that needed to be smashed to really be defeated.

But that wasn’t the whole story. The bone where Ephemera had scratched the skeleton started to rot, blackening and disintegrating into dust until the leg fell off and the rot started working its way up.

“You're already dead. Again,” Ephemera said with a cocky grin. “Or destroyed or whatever. Point is, I’ve already won.”

The skeleton continued to strike at Ephemera, who was content to fight defensively as the rot took hold. Once the skeleton became imbalanced she landed two more blows in quick succession, and the rot became even more pronounced until it fell apart completely.

The skeleton facing me was still very much active, though. Needing to reverse the momentum of the fight, I pretended to lose my footing and balance under that constant assault. Seizing its moment, the skeletal guardian committed to a strike aimed right at my heart. I dodged to the side, barely avoiding the attack, and grabbed the shaft of the spear. Before the skeleton had time to pull its weapon back, my hoof smashed through the shaft, and the ancient wood snapped. Following through with my momentum, I spun and cracked the skeleton on the side of its head, denting its helmet as it stumbled back.

Having bought myself a precious second of breathing room, I took wing and jumped up to hook an arm around one of the pillars. Using my wings to build up speed, I swung around the pillar and let go as I came back around again. The skeleton regained its footing just in time for my rear hooves to smash right into it. It went flying and struck the wall with enough force to break apart.

My head snapped back and forth as I sought more enemies, but none presented themselves. I let out a relieved sigh. “I think we’re safe for now.” I grinned at Ephemera. “That was a nifty trick with the skeleton. How’d you do it?”

Ephemera smirked as she waggled one of her daggers. “Always bring a dagger with some corpsebane when exploring old tombs.”

I checked out the as-of-yet unopened sarcophagi to make sure they were going to stay that way. “That’s some pretty potent stuff. Where in the world did you get something like that?”

Ephemera shrugged. “I killed a master alchemist and stole his notebook. All kinds of useful recipes in there.”

I blinked and stiffened at the offhoof suggestion. “Wait, what?”

“I’m kidding, DD.” She slapped me on the back before approaching the newly opened doorway. “You can buy this type of stuff if you know where to look.”

I tried to recover quickly, not wanting to look foolish. “Oh, right, I knew that. Still, we were pretty lucky. Looks like the magic on these guys was getting pretty thin after centuries of just sitting around. Two of them didn't even rise when they were supposed to.”

“Saves us some trouble then.” Ephemera put away her knives and dusted off her hooves. “C'mon, let's find our treasure.”

“And the amulet, don't forget that,” I said. “It’s why we're here to start with. We need it for the ritual if we're going to stop Daggoth.”

Ephemera waved me off. “Well yeah, that's part of the treasure.” Her hips swayed as she walked into the next room.

“Which you definitely weren’t looking at,” Puzzle teased.

Daring snorted. “Yeah, because I’m sure you’ve never looked at a pretty mare.”

“This one admits nothing.”

Kukri stuck her tongue out. “This one still thinks it’s gross anyone would like the Ephemera-mare.”

We emerged into what could probably be best described as a treasure room. The old grand vizier’s sarcophagus sat prominently in the center of the room, its surface elaborately covered with engravings depicting his various accomplishments in life. Chests sat along the walls, as well as a number of pedestals with a variety of items on display. One of them was an amulet, and my heart raced as I went over to examine it. We were finally here after a long trip, and it was totally worth it. This tomb was everything I could have hoped for and more. I could already see what it would all look like in a museum someday.

“Niiiice,” Ephemera called out, her green eyes flashing. She pulled out her bag and started weaving her way through the pillars as she looked everything over.

After making sure the pillar wasn’t trapped, I double checked the amulet against my memories of what the Transmidian Amulet was supposed to look like. “Great, I think this is it.”

“Yeah?” Her eyes lingered on a golden mask intended to look like the rising sun. “So what do we do with the rest of it?”

I carefully picked up the Transmidian Amulet, taking a moment to truly appreciate its historical value. It’d been used to defeat and seal up Daggoth, as well as a dozen other malicious spirits when Grand Vizier Senet had defended his kingdom from being ravaged by a would-be usurper of the throne. He had been a legend back in his day, and now I was in his tomb about to unlock dozen of secrets from a long ago age. It was so amazing. “Get it to a museum when we get the opportunity. After it's all been carefully studied, first. We want to preserve everything we can, and I don’t want to damage anything if we can prevent it.”

Ephemera let out a soft sigh. “Right.” Her hoof blurred and suddenly a knife shot out at me. Only pure instinct saved me as I threw myself to the side, causing me to drop the amulet. But even with my instincts a flash of pain shot through my shoulder when the knife still skimmed it, and a red line opened up.

All I could do was stare in open-mouth confusion. “What the hay?! What was that about?”

Ephemera sighed as she slowly pulled out another knife. “Sorry sweetie, I was hoping you wouldn't be a problem, but Ephy needs money and the black market just pays so much better than your silly museums.”

I glared at her as my teeth ground together. So everything had been a lie? She hadn’t really wanted to help me, but steal all the treasure here for herself? I felt a stab to my heart that had nothing to do with Ephy’s knives, and I had to fight back against the stinging in my eyes. I wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of seeing how much she hurt me. “You backstabbing nag! So what, you plan on taking me out, and then walk out of here?”

“I hardly need to fight you to walk out of here.” Ephemera’s smile took on an evil light. “I’m going to let the poison do that for me.”

My heart sank as I realized then that the shoulder she’d hit had gone completely numb. Knowing I didn’t have any time to waste, I bolted into action and charged Ephemera. Or I tried to. My front right leg refused to even move and I landed right on my face. I tried to stand but I found that my body wasn’t responding to my commands.

Ephemera sighed and kneeled down as she addressed me with sickeningly sweet mockery. “I was hoping I wouldn't need to, but I did slip you the first part of the poison just to be safe.” She picked up the red canteen she’d given me earlier before tossing it to the side. “Now would you please be a dear and stay down already? I’d hate to have to hurt you even more just because you’re being willfully stubborn about all of this.” She picked up her poisoned knife. “Not that we can't have a little bit of fun this way.”

“W-why?” I demanded through clenched jaws.

“Weren't you paying attention, sweetie?” Ephemera started bagging up the artifacts on the pillars as though she were picking up groceries at the market. “Money. Bits. Ducats. I'd say it was nothing personal, but you don't believe that ... and hay, neither do I, really.” She stepped back over to me with an evil smirk. “Oh, look at you and your poor little broken heart. Isn’t that precious?”

I lay there, helpless and unable to stop her. My eyes stung and tears started streaming down my cheeks, probably due to the damned poison. “Y-you t-tricked m-me. You d-didn't c-care about...” I couldn’t say it, not to her, not now. I couldn't believe I hadn’t seen what she was really like, after all this time. She’d just been using me, and I’d been too stupid and lovesick to see what was right in front of my face. In addition to everything being stolen, ponies were going to get hurt because I’d been so stupid. Without the Transmidian Amulet we couldn't seal up Daggoth again, and there’d be consequences for that, bad ones. And it was all my fault.

Ephemera patted my cheek mockingly. “Don't worry, I'll leave you in here with all your precious artifacts. Or at least the ones I don’t care about.”

The backstabbing bitch hummed a happy tune as she opened up the sarcophagus and casually tossed its lid to the side with her magic. “Here, how about you get to know your precious grand vizier?” She dumped the mummy right next to me, Senet’s gross decayed face nearly touching mine, and all I could do was lie there impotently as Ephemera looted the rest of the treasures in the sarcophagus.

Once she was done there she turned to snatching everything off the pedestals. The storied artifacts of Senet’s long service to his kingdom and pharaoh were pilfered and dumped into the magical depths of Ephemera’s bag, all while she hummed some song to herself. She paused when passing back near me. “Oh right, I nearly forgot. I have a couple buyers in Zebrica who'll give me quite a bit for mummy parts. Mummy components are useful for quite a few potions, especially aphrodisiacs, and I know a painter who thinks a bit of ground up mummy gives him such a lovely shade of brown he just can’t get it any other way. Of course, none of them need the body intact, so...” Before I could tell her to stop she brought down a hoof to break off one of Senet’s legs.

“H-hey! Stop!” I growled through now painfully clenched teeth. But she kept right at it and tore the mummy to pieces. A one-of-a-kind historical artifact that was broken forever and would now be used like common components for some zebra’s potions. Despite my paralysis I trembled in rage. I hated seeing historical vandalism like that. More than anything I wanted to preserve historical artifacts for future generations, and Ephemera was grinding the mummy of a historically important figure into powder. What I would have done just then to get my hooves around her neck...

"Is that why you were so mad at the Greenseers?" Kukri asked. “Because they’re destroying all their artifacts?”

"Yeah," Daring answered. "Big shock, nothing sets off an archaeologist more than destroying history."

That done, Ephemera aimed a malevolent smirk my way. She lifted me up with her telekinesis and held me aloft. “Don’t worry, DD, I haven’t forgotten you. I know just how attached you are to these old things so I think I’ll let you get comfy with all this old junk.” She casually tossed me into the sarcophagus and moved into position to close it. “This should do nicely, don’t you think? Maybe when they find you in a few hundred years they'll think you're the original mummy.” She frowned as she tapped her cheek. “Well, probably not. I'm not going to bother extracting your organs or anything to make it look more authentic. I’ve got places to be, black market auctions to arrange, a fortune to spend. I always wanted my own island.”

I tired to move, but my body just wouldn’t cooperate no matter how much I willed it. “W-why are y-you doing this?”

“I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of the bits I'm about to make.” Ephemera started to close the lid before she paused and instead pulled me out of the sarcophagus. “Okay, tell you what, I'll make an exception.”

Ephemera held me up as she pointed to the sand-covered floor. “You see those grains of sand?” She scooped a hoofful of the sand up and let a slow, continual trickle of it fall away. “Imagine each one of those is a pony.” She caught one of the grains of sand and held it in front of my eye. “Now, what would you say if I told you I'd give you one hundred thousand bits to make one of those tiny little grains of sand go away? Just ... vanish.” There was a bright spark as the grain of sand was blasted from existence, the sudden light causing me to wince. “That's a lot of money, isn't it?” Coins from a nearby chest started to glow with Ephemera’s magic and they flew out of the chest and into her bag in a continual stream that mimicked the flow of sand. Her green eyes sparkled as one coin after another filled her bag, and her self-satisfied smile grew. All while the trickling sand barely held any of her attention. “Think about what you could do with it. And really, do you care that much about a single unimportant little grain of sand?” With a puff she blew the remaining sand from her hoof. “Ponies are so much like sand on the wind, blowing around, moving at random, going about their own business, always being everywhere, all the time, irritating. But gold, coins, magical artifacts? Oh yes, I can do many wonderful things with those.”

Was that all anypony was to her? Grains of sand? Did life mean so little to her? Had I always meant so little to her? “You're t-terrible.”

Ephemera scoffed and tossed her mane. “Should've known you wouldn't be able to get with the program. I must be getting soft, trying to recruit you.” She unceremoniously dropped me back into the sarcophagus. “So, any last requests?”

I glared at her as best I could out of the corner of my eyes. “Th-the chance t-to stop you.”

“Aww, you're cute when you're defiant.” Ephemera gave me a patronizing pat on the head. “Well, since you didn't ask for anything realistic, I'll make it up myself.” She leaned in and kissed me, the whole act doing nothing but mocking me after everything that had happened. The only way I wanted to kiss her now was with my hoof colliding with her face.

Once she was done with her fun she dropped me back into the sarcophagus like so much discarded trash. “Ta ta! Have a nice death!” She sealed the sarcophagus, leaving me in darkness.

“What a horrible, terrible, traitorous, backstabbing, horrid bitch!” Kurki cried out with an angry scowl.

“Kukri, language,” I lightly chided my apprentice.

Kukri turned to me with an imploring look. “What? It’s true! The Ephemera-mare is the worst. She’s an evil nag who hurt the Do-mare.”

I couldn’t argue any of those points. If I met Ephemera there was a pretty good chance that meeting would end with her on fire. But there was the issue of propriety, and I wasn’t about to encourage Kukri’s dirty mouth. “Be that as it may, as my apprentice I expect you to not curse.”

Kukri crossed her arms over her chest and grumbled to herself.

“Still, that’s pretty rough to go through,” I told Daring. “No wonder you really hate her.”

Daring’s wings twitched. “Yeah, I got her back later, but having your feelings strung along and then having being backstabbed isn’t something I wanted to go through. Meeting Ephemera was one of the worst things to happen in my life.”

“You shouldn’t feel so bad about being tricked by the Ephemera-mare,” Puzzle said. “She showed several symptoms of antisocial personality disorder, and was probably some form of sociopath. That type of person can very easily lie to you without showing the usual tells of a liar, and are inherently manipulative. Unless you know you're looking for, it can be very easy to be tricked by them.”

That’s how it sounded to me. I’d read up on the topic when one of my history books had suggested that my favorite magus Sunbeam Sparkle had probably been a high functioning sociopath. Listening to this story, Ephemera had checked her way right down the list of antisocial behaviors: No capacity for empathy, refusal to follow any of the rules of civilized society, not capable of having any relationship beyond short-term manipulation, prone to extreme violence at the drop of a hat, and incapable of feeling guilt or remorse for her crimes.

Daring sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I know. We’ve already talked about this.” She shook her head. “How about we move past that nasty stuff?”

Kukri pulled on Daring’s leg. “What happened next, Do-mare?”

I didn’t know how long I was trapped in that sarcophagus, paralyzed, helpless, steeped in darkness, as close to being dead without fully having expired yet. Eventually the poison wore off, but that only made things worse. I pushed at the lid, but it refused to move. My hooves slammed into the roof and sides of the sarcophagus as I desperately tried to escape. I hit again, and again, and again, struggling to get out, get back into fresh air and stop being confined as the darkness started pressing down on me, tighter and tighter. I needed out. My heart raced, and I fought against my prison until I had nearly cracked my hooves and my body burned from effort. I wanted out more than anything, but I was trapped, and in the end all I could do was scream. I screamed, and fought, and screamed until my voice grew hoarse and exhaustion took me. It was all for nothing.

I was trapped for what felt like an eternity in an all consuming darkness. Then suddenly the lid to the sarcophagus was lifted. Light jabbed at me, and my swollen eyes stung. Eventually the blur in my eyes cleared to see the smiling face of Capital.

“Wait, what? This one’s confused again,” Kukri said. “This one thought you met the Idea-stallion way after you met Ephemera.”

“That’s right, but just work with me here,” Daring assured her. “It’ll all make sense eventually.”

“Remember how they fell asleep before all of this?” I reminded Kukri.

She blinked a couple of times as she put some of the facts together. “Oh yeah! This one thinks it knows what’s going on now.”

“Ah, Daring, there you are. Jolly Good.” Capital reached a hoof down to help me up. “It’s so good to see you. This place...” Something flashed behind his eyes that made his usually vibrant smile as brittle as thin ice. “Well, let’s not get bogged down in the details. I’m just happy to have found you. Wherever here is.”

Despite myself, I took that hoof and he lifted me out of the sarcophagus. I staggered as I put weight on my legs and I had to brace myself to keep from falling over. Why was Capital here? What was going on? My head felt ... fuzzy. There was a buzzing in my head I couldn’t shake that made concentrating difficult, and my hoof went to my head as a spike of pain shot through my brain.

Capital immediately moved to hold me and keep me upright. “Whoa! Careful there. Are you alright? You look like you’ve had a row of it.”

I felt a stab in my heart as I remembered everything that had happened with Ephemera. Her betrayal, like the betrayal of everyone else that had used me in the past, abused me, lied to me, tricked me. And it was all happening again, wasn’t it? I was falling into the same trap, the same circle of stupid decisions with the trip to Zihlius. Pretty soon we’d make it to something like a big treasure, and then...

“Get away from me!” I pushed Capital away, not wanting the future traitor anywhere near me. The effort nearly caused me to fall back into the sarcophagus, and I stumbled to my knees.

Capital blinked as he stared down at me. “Daring, what’s the matter? Are you hurt? I heard screaming earlier.”

Oh sure, he was playing the nice guy angle. I’d seen that before. Well I wasn’t going to fall for it this time. I looked up to glare at him. “So what's your deal?”

His head tilted slightly, as though the faker didn’t know what I was saying. “‘My deal?’”

“You know what I’m talking about.” I forced myself to my hooves and started stalking towards him. “What do you want out of all of this? Let me guess. You’re looking to make sure I get you to your big score before you stab me in the back too. You’ll probably shove me to the side as soon as I’m not useful to you and let the Dromaed deal with me while you run away with something bright and shiny.”

Capital blinked and took a step back from me as I got closer. “Daring, whatever are you talking about? I would never do something so uncouth. Especially not to a good friend.”

“Suuure we’re friends.” I started walking circles around Capital, and he stiffened as he watched me warily. “You think I haven't been onto you? You think I haven't played out this tired old dance before? You act nice, be all smiles and act all buddy-buddy as we face dangers together, and pretend to care about me and what I’m doing. But the second you get what you want—BAM!” I cracked my hooves together. “I'm disposable! You can't wait to get rid of me, and steal whatever you wanted.”

“I don't know what you're talking about, Daring,” Capital lied, almost convincingly. “All I wanted was to join you for an adventure!”

“That's what they all say.” I jabbed a hoof right into his chest. “That's what Ephemera told me, and she lied! So did all the others. Hay, half of me wouldn't be surprised to find out you're Ephy's big, mysterious patron we've been hearing about. That'd fit, wouldn't it? You work this side of things, fool me, herd me into getting you to your goal, and then wham! She shows up at the big moment, you turn on me, and I'm shoved into some deathtrap once again.”

Capital spoke in a calming tone. “Daring, I don't know what's gotten into you, but that's not the case at all. And you’re really not acting like yourself. Look, something’s wrong here. First we were in Zihlius, then I was back in Canterlot, and now we’re in the desert? Something very strange is going on, don’t you see it?”

The buzzing in my head grew worse and I winced in pain, and that only made me want to punch something all the more. “Don’t dodge the question! You’re working for Ephemera, admit it!”

He shook his head. “Why would I want to work with someone as detestable as Ephemera?”

I scoffed. “Take your pick. Wealth. Fame. Power. I've seen ponies that have wanted all those things and more. You want me to believe that you're the one unambiguously nice guy I've ever met? That you've got no angle? You’ve got secrets, everypony does.”

Capital’s ears dropped. “Okay, fine. I do have an ulterior motive.” He took a deep breath. “I was hoping to go into politics once I have an adventurous reputation. Truth be told, I tried to before, but ... nobody thought I was manly enough.”

My ear twitched as I processed that. “Oh come on! That's supposed to be your big, dark secret?! You? Not manly enough?”

“Yes.” Capital spoke with a slightly irritated voice. “I was somewhat sickly as a child, and many of my peers remember that. That, and I’m a bit too ... bookish for some. More prone to going on long walks through the countryside and cataloging nature than sitting around drinking with the guys.”

“You expect me to buy that?” I shook my head and started pacing around the tomb. The buzzing made my head hurt, and it was so damned hard to think straight. I had to be getting tricked by Capital, right? Everyone else had thought they could pull a fast one on me, why should Capital be any different? He was just too nice, too good of a pony. “Gah! I don't know what to believe!” I clutched my head, the pain getting worse. “I suck with people! I can't trust anyone!”

Capital watched me for a long moment before placing a hoof on my shoulder. “We're all on your side, Daring. Maybe you’ve been mistreated by some in the past, but I won’t do that to you. I’m here for you, right through to the end. I promise.”

My head snapped up to glare at him. “And why should I trust you?”

“Because you know me.” Capital smiled that hopelessly optimistic smile of his. It was frustrating to look at.

My wings slumped. “I'm just so tired of not being able to trust anyone.”

“So trust me.”

“And if you stab me in the back?”

Capital patted me on the back. “I won't.”

There was just something about that damn smile that removed my doubts. I knew I shouldn’t trust him, that I couldn’t afford it, but I so badly wanted to. I just wanted somepony I could depend on, just once. I let out a frustrated scream before I slumped over in defeat. My decision was made, whether I was just being a fool again only time would tell.

I forced myself back on my hooves, briefly swaying before Capital helped balance me. “I guess we better get going then.” My ears perked as I really looked at our surroundings. “Wherever this is.” Now that I was paying attention, everything just felt ... weird. I remembered this place, from back when I’d first met Ephemera. Why hadn’t I seen that before? This place was hundreds of miles away from where we'd been. That wasn’t right. Something was off. The stuff with Ephemera had already happened, I knew that. But it was like I’d just lived through it all again, in all its raw feelings. Like an old wound reopened with all the old agony surging up again.

“That’s what I was confused about as well,” Capital said. “Any idea on where we should go?”

I crossed my arms as I considered what our priorities should be. If we didn’t know where we were, then we had to figure that out. But first there was something else I wanted to do. “Let’s look for the others. Something’s wrong here, and if they’re experiencing what we’ve been going through...”

Capital grimaced and nodded. “Lead the way, Daring.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 17

This one raced down the nighttime Freeport streets. Moonlight shone in the puddles created by the latest tropical downpour before this one splashed through them. This one sped past several individuals who yelled at this one as it whirled by them without any kind of apology. This one didn’t have time for courtesy. Several ritualistic murders had already been committed in Freeport over the last couple of weeks, and if this one was right then another innocent was about to become the next victim of a mad cult that had taken to stalking Freeport’s streets.

The outlandish nature of the murders had been widely publicized, and their sensational nature had scared many people. As a result, the Council had ordered that the perpetrators brought to justice. After a week’s investigation, this one had discovered evidence of a cult based at least partially in an old religion called the Golden Path. The Golden Path had ruled Freeport many centuries ago, with several spirits inhabiting mortal bodies acting as the heads of state. It had been a spectacular failure, with an oppressive and dogmatic religious hierarchy turning the whole populace into virtual slaves for their so-called divine rulers. In the end, the Golden Order collapsed when their false gods were destroyed and the Zebrican Empire invaded to topple their wavering government. Not that the end of their oppressive rule had helped Freeport much in the end.

And now it seemed that some remnants of the Golden Path had survived, or as this one suspected, some group claiming to be a remnant of that defunct religion to serve their own ends. According to the experts this one had consulted with, the murders were definitely part of a summoning ritual, but what they were summoning wasn’t one of the spirits of justice used in the past. The only question was whether the cult knew that or had been tricked by some spirit into summoning it. Either way, they needed to be stopped.

This one had gotten lucky when it captured one of the cultists. But the cultist had been difficult to break, taking more time than this one liked to finally get anything useful out of him. He had been thoroughly indoctrinated and was of a zealous mindset, and this one was reasonably certain that magical blocks had been placed in his mind. This one got what it wanted out of him in the end, but the issue was how precious little time there was before the next—and final—sacrifice. The condottieri were assembling, but it would take too long before a suitable force could be gathered and deployed.

Thus this one approached an old manor sitting alongside the shore. Made of grey stone, the manor had an older style that dated back to when gargoyles, looming arches, and stained glass windows had been popular. Its dark interiors whispered of secrets that echoed through time as venerable old families of influence plotted and schemed. Within the dark hallways glowing orbs moved, briefly casting light through the windows—patrols most likely. Considering there should have been more guards patrolling outside the manor than the interior, this one was all the more confident that the information it had gotten out of its prisoner was correct.

Knowing that time was ticking, this one flew over the manor's fence when it felt sure no one was watching it. This one landed on the manor wall, and after checking a couple of windows, found one to be unlocked. Opening it, this one crawled in through the window into a study that was illuminated only by the moon and stars.

The sound of hoofsteps on wood flooring echoed through the closed door, and this one saw an opportunity present itself. This one hid itself behind where the door would swing over, its black carapace blending in with the shadows, and then with a push of telekinesis knocked over a vase on the far side of the room. The resulting crash was almost painfully loud in the quiet manor, and it had the desired results.

The door all but slammed open as a large, heavyset earth pony stallion barged into the study. “Who's there?!” he barked out, casting his lantern about to see how the vase had been knocked over. Unfortunately for him, he was looking in the wrong direction when this one emerged from the shadows cast by the door. Still, to his credit he sensed that this one was coming and spun to face this one. He opened his mouth, either to shout out a warning or demand to know what this one was doing there, but this one silenced him with a jab to the throat. His eyes widened as his hooves instinctively clutched at his throat. This one didn’t give him any chance to recover before quickly giving him a bodyshot to the liver and a kick to the inside of his knee. The knee popped out of place and he fell to the floor, disabled by the pain and debilitating nature of his injuries.

Not having any time to waste on this guard, this one roughly dragged him to the wall, sticking him there by spitting up some resin and closing his mouth in a similar manner. That done, this one picked up the lantern and transformed to appear exactly like the guard before proceeding further into the manor.

Listening carefully, this one followed the hallways that led to the loudest noises. This one opened a door and found itself on the second floor looking down at a garden enclosed within the manor. Several individuals milled about below while dark clouds roiled above. Before this one could study what was going on, another guard glanced over his shoulder at this one.

“Everything okay?” he asked. He sounded bored, though there was a hint of wariness. Probably because his fellow guard wasn’t supposed to be here.

This one approached him from behind as though nothing was amiss. “Nothing to worry about.” Before he had a chance to react, all in one motion this one’s arms wrapped around his head and neck, and it dragged the guard down below the railing so no one below could see what was happening. This one cut off the blood flow to his brain, and it wasn’t long before his eyes fluttered into unconsciousness. Making sure he wasn’t faking being knocked out, this one took out a pair of manacles and locked him to one of the stone pickets of the railing.

That little matter taken care of, this one took position behind a pillar to examine the courtyard below. In the center was a decorative stone slab onto which a female gryphon had been tied down. Her eyes fluttered and she moved around languidly, probably either having been drugged or put under some sort of mind magic. Standing at the head of the stone slab was a figure clad in white and gold robes rhythmically chanting arcane words, their features obscured from this one’s vantage point. On the ground around them was an intricately carved and precisely measured magic circle, its lines filled with a variety of powers and the spaces filled with a seemingly random assortment of objects, a dagger in one spot, a feather in another, and piles of dust and bones in others. Several more thuggish figures milled about the courtyard, the only major consistency between them being that each was armed and each were being careful not to disrupt the circle and their apparent master.

A sudden burst of wind swirled about the courtyard with such strength that it blew off this one’s recently procured hat, and in turn the clouds above crackled with energy. The cloaked figure's esoteric words raised in crescendo as he picked up a dagger from beside the head of his latest victim. It seemed this one had arrived just in time.

No time to waste, this one considered the best course of action. Briefly this one considered clearing out the ground floor with fire gems, but quickly dismissed the idea. That was liable to kill the hostage, and there might be more prisoners within the building. None of these people looked like they belonged in the manor, and they certainly didn’t carry themselves like mere servants. That meant the staff and owners were probably inside. What’s more, this one could taste the magic in the air from the ritual down below. Introducing something as volatile as a firegem to this equation could have all sorts of nasty effects, including possibly even ripping a hole in the fabric of reality that could unleash whatever they were trying to summon, or maybe something else entirely. But the ritual was reaching completion now and there wasn’t time to wait for the reinforcements that were coming. That meant that this one had to act aggressively, even if that came with a great deal of potential personal risk for itself. But then again, this one wasn’t one of the foremost agents of the Masks for no reason.

This one pulled out several vials from a pouch at its side. It downed three of them in quick succession and fought down the instinct to cough and hack at their unpleasant taste. What this one would have paid to anyone who could make the more potent potions this one used more palatable. But this one kept the potions down and their alchemical power went to work. Sights and sounds became sharper even as everything around it seemed to slow. This one pulled out a pair of batons from its side, reverted to its natural form, and took careful note of where everyone was in the courtyard.

Leaping into action, this one tossed the other four vials about the courtyard, and cries of shocks and confusion echoed. Glass broke and a grey gas exploded out to obscure the whole area. This one came down on one of the thugs, and cracked a baton against the back of his head to bring him down. Flying forward with its momentum, this one reached the next thug, who spun to face this one. He swung sloppily at this one, but it easily dodged to the side and swung its baton into his knee. It gave out, and he tried to bring his club up to block, but this one simply smacked him across the ankle to break his grip, jabbed and struck him across the ribs and head to bring him down as well.

This one ran for the center of the garden, only for the two thugs closest to their master to intercept it. The zebra and gryphon each carried a club as well, probably the best weapon they could find that could also both be relatively easily hidden and used inconspicuously. Worse still was that they carried themselves like they knew how to use them. Based on their stances, they had learned their craft on the street, and their attacks would be simple and efficient.

The gryphon came on first, his club coming down for this one’s head. This one raised its batons with its magic in a crossguard to catch the attack and deflected it to the left. This one’s right baton then snapped out to strike him across the shoulder with the intention of taking the strength out of the arm. This one would have kept up the attack, but the gryphon’s compatriot stepped in to make a jab with his own club, driving this one back a step. He pressed on with a whirling series of attacks that flowed into one another, forcing this one into a rapid exchange of blows. The action bought his friend enough breathing room to recover, and while his next attacks were slower, the both of them kept this one moving, attacking, and blocking, and far too busy to continue the advance on their leader.

This one could feel the trickle of sand in the hourglass in the back of its mind, and to add to this one’s trouble, it heard someone else approaching it from behind. Now in danger of being overwhelmed, this one pulled out a gemstone from its pouches. Picking its moment, it struck at its opponents’ clubs as hard as it could to sweep them aside for a precious second. This one closed its eyes, flattened its ears, and tossed the thunderflash stone behind it at the attacker that threatened to flank it.

The roar of thunder and light was painful, especially with the enhanced senses granted to this one thanks to its potions. But at least this one had been ready for it, unlike its opponents. This one forcefully blinked through the spots in its vision and ignored the ringing in its ears as it reorientated itself. Seeing the pony previously coming up behind it now staggering, this one pulled out a dagger and tossed it. It flew true and sunk into the thug’s leg, and he howled in pain, falling to the ground to clutch at his wound. The gryphon swung his club wildly trying to keep this one busy while he recovered. This one stepped inside one klutzy swing and struck him across the wrists to make him drop the club. Next this one’s batons slammed into his throat and then the back of his head in quick succession to send him to the floor.

This one tried to eliminate the zebra thug, but he recovered from the thunderflash stone quicker than this one would have liked. This one’s batons flew in a blur of attacks as this one tried to break his defense, but he was fast and readily gave ground as he regained his bearings, expertly deflecting one attack after another to the side. Adding to this one’s annoyance, the last thug this one had identified emerged out of the slowly dissipating smoke, a crossbow at the ready.

Not wanting to get shot, this one stepped closer to the zebra, and one of its batons met the club. This one slid its baton down along the side of the club and then turned it to hook his arm. Having caught him, this one grabbed his other arm and twisted it to force him off balance and place him between it and the crossbow right as it fired. The bolt slammed into the zebra’s shoulder, and this one swept his legs out from under him with its free baton. The crossbow wielder jerkily tried to reload, but this one tossed its baton at him. It tumbled end over end before striking him right between the eyes, sending him to the ground with a pained groan.

The way clear at last, this one bolted for the leader of the cult and their latest would-be victim. The cloaked figure raised their dagger over the heart of the writhing captive as magic crackled in the air. This one snapped out one of its own daggers and threw it at the cult leader. The leader’s head jerked in the direction of the impending threat to her life, and a magical golden shield appeared to intercept the dagger. Unfortunately for cult leader, this one had thrown a specially enchanted dagger intended to breach such defenses, and it to slip right through the shield like air. It sunk into the flesh of the foreleg holding the sacrificial dagger, and it clattered harmlessly to the floor.

The cult leader clutched at her wound, and her cowl fell back to reveal the pained expression of a unicorn mare of blue coat and purple mane. She started to cast another spell, but this one threw its remaining baton to strike her horn. Sparks erupted from the horn as the spell was disrupted, and this one closed the distance between it and its quarry. This one grabbed her injured leg with the intent of twisting her to the ground, but right as this one was in the middle of doing so it caught a flash of something metallic within the robes of her good arm out of the corner of its eye. That was all the warning this one got before a blade flashed out right at this one’s neck. This one’s hoof impacted her wrist, the surprise attack was deflected just a hair's breadth away from this one’s neck.

Not wanting to risk her pulling any more nasty tricks, this one tied our arms together, and pushed her against the stone slab. The cult leader snarled and her horn lit once again, but this one was already in the process of casting its own, far simpler spell. Some more telekinesis had another one of this one’s daggers slashing out and then pressing to the cult leader’s throat.

“This one wouldn’t recommend doing that,” this one warned her coldly, pressing the dagger close enough to nearly shed blood. “Drop the spell, or this is going to end very quickly for you.”

The cult leader glared at this one with a primal hatred. “Would you commit blasphemy by killing the herald of the gods?”

This one shrugged. “This one doesn’t worship your gods, or whatever spirits you claim to worship. If killing you is what this one needs to do then this one won’t lose any sleep over it.”

In truth, this one has a rather practical approach to such things. Gods and spirits could make themselves useful, but this one could just make do without them. After all, the creator of the Free Minds hated her rogue creations and would see us wiped from the face of the earth. No sense feeling beholden to a creature such as that. And any being that required the sacrifices of innocents in order to appear probably wasn’t who you wanted to invite over from another plane of existence, regardless of whatever promises they might offer.

The cult leader didn’t lose any fight in her eyes as she refused to be cowed. “Fool, do you think you can stop the will of the gods?”

“This one doesn’t need to stop the gods.” This one pressed the dagger just a bit more to draw a tiny trickle of blood. “Only mere mortals. Mortals who can very much die.”

“Then know you would send me to an eternal paradise from where I will recieve my just rewards for my service.” Her eyes flicked to her minions, a couple of whom were stirring themselves, but they didn’t seem particularly ready for another fight just yet.

This one detected the slightest quiver of doubt behind her zeal. “If you’re particularly eager to meet your god then this one can accommodate you. This one’s orders were to take you prisoner for trial, but sometimes these things just can’t be helped. But if you're actually not so sure about that, this one suggests you call off the minions and tell them to surrender. This one isn’t about to turn its back to you if they want a round two with it.”

There was a flash of recognition behind her eyes of the realization that this one was very serious about killing her, and her voice took on a more conciliatory tone. “Why do you work for the Council? Don’t you see how corrupt this nation has become under their rule? With the gods we could bring Freeport back into a golden age of justice and prosperity.”

“To answer your first question, because the Council is still a better alternative than a lot of options. And as for your second...” This one nodded to the murmuring, disoriented victim of the cult. “How is it justice to sacrifice another for your benefit?”

The cult leader stiffened. “An unfortunate but necessary measure to bring about change.”

This one tsked and shook its head. “This one is sure we can do better than placating some blood-mad god and asking it to rule over us. Now then, if you’re quite done, please surrender before this one has to cut your throat. That is, unless you’re particularly eager to see your god sooner rather than later.”

As this one suspected, this cult leader was quick to sacrifice others for her cause, but as was so often the case with such figures she was unwilling to consider herself such a disposable asset. Sacrificing for the gods was something for other people to do, not those with the vision and will to see that those things got done, such as herself. She surrendered.

A little less than an hour later the condottieri belatedly stormed the manor with the usual military professionalism shown by the clanponies of the Striker and Doo Clans. There was the banging of doors being slammed open by mercenaries going room by room in the manor to make sure it was secure, and to deal with any remaining threats while freeing any prisoners. It didn’t take them long to take control of the garden considering this one already had the situation under control. This one still had its dagger to the throat of the cult leader, who had gone silent after surrendering despite this one’s attempts to get more information out of her. Her minions were all shackled together and under the watch of the crossbow this one had confiscated from them. The condottieri didn’t waste any time in seizing all of them and escorting them out of the manor.

That was all well and good, though there was one little matter that needed to be taken care of before this one could leave. An earth pony stallion with a dark blue coat and dual-stripes of green in his mane approached this one, every bit as well armed as this one and the mercenaries he accompanied. Though I knew that this individual wasn’t really a pony. No, he was a fellow agent of the Masks and a Free Mind like this one.

Cold Comfort was his name, and he was a rival of this one within the Masks. The two of us had entered Freeport’s intelligence organization around the same time, and as two up-and-comer agents we had competed for accolades and promotions. He was, if this one had to be honest, a good agent; methodical in his conduct, good at combing through and organizing available intel, and as one of the best at putting together an operation, he tended to get the job done. Professionally, this one’s main criticism of him was that he was a bit too methodical and ponderous for this one’s liking. He didn’t like to strike until everything was just right, and would stay his strike until that moment came. He tended to let unexpected opportunities slip through his hooves, either ignoring or missing them since they weren't part of his thorough planning. Still, he was an otherwise fine addition to the Masks.

A far bigger problem was that we just didn’t get along, at all. He always took offense whenever this one ever beat him and was very quick to criticize this one. Cold always liked to hold himself up to a high standard, and it always irked him to be second best; his pride just didn’t allow for it. And no small part of this one liked showing him up, and to be the one to get the accolades of beating whatever case had fallen into our laps. Our boss even encouraged this rivalry, letting it push us to do better instead of becoming content with our stations. Though the paranoid part of this one’s mind wondered if The Mask also encouraged our rivalry in order to prevent us from ever combining forces against it. The Mask had held its position for a very long time for very good reasons. But at the time that hardly seemed a serious worry.

More immediately concerning was the deep scowl Cold fixed this one with. “You were reckless, Puzzle.”

This one rolled its eyes. “And you were too slow. As this one said, there wasn’t time to wait for the condottieri. The ritual was nearly complete right when this one had gotten here. If this one hadn’t been here they would have succeeded.”

After this one had cracked its prisoner during interrogation we’d been left the options of either going immediately to the manor ourselves or martialing the full power of the condottieri to deal with this cult. Believing that there wasn’t time to wait, this one had chosen the former. Cold chose the latter.

Cold frowned as he watched the condottieri escort their prisoners away. “You were outnumbered, and didn’t know what you were going to be up against. It’s only dumb luck that you weren’t killed.”

This one waved him off. “If it turned out to be too much this one would have waited for reinforcements. This one scouted its opponents, weighed the risks against what was about to happen, and made a decision. In the end, this one was right, the victim was saved, and the cult captured.”

Cold snorted. “You’re also lucky the cult didn’t get away while you were playing hero. What would we have done if they had ran for it the second you showed up?”

“Gone after their leader and beheaded the organization,” this one answered cooly. “This one is confident this whole cult is merely one of personality. Without their leader, the whole cult will fall apart.”

“So you claim.” Cold knew this one was right, but he wasn’t about to admit it out loud. After all, it wouldn’t pay to give his rival a compliment, and there were always endless nitpicks and minor recriminations to level against the job another did. At the end of the day, criticism is easy; actually doing the job is hard.

This one decided to needle its rival. It had been a long day and it was already tired of his naysaying. “And if you were so concerned about this one going in alone you should have come with it when you had the chance. It wouldn’t have hurt to have some backup.”

Cold’s nostrils flared. He could never stand the idea of being anyone’s backup. “This one was right in gathering the condottieri. The fact you managed to win despite your recklessness doesn’t mean you’re right after the fact.”

“And if the cult had managed to fully summon their god because you took too long?”

“Still nothing the condottieri couldn’t have handled,” Cold immediately dismissed. “It’s what they’re for. It wouldn’t have been the first time they’d dealt with some rampaging spirit, and it wouldn’t be the last.”

This one sighed. It seemed Cold was once again determined to fight this one for every inch of crest there was to be had in this. “And quite likely they would have suffered casualties. Even if you wanted to argue that they’re only mercenaries who were paid to put their lives in danger, what about her?” This one pointed to the gryphon who had been the cult’s latest attempted sacrifice. She was quivering as the condetteroiri tried to question her.

“She might belong to the cult,” Cold said, stubbornly unwilling to admit defeat. “She’ll need to be thoroughly questioned and investigated to know what her role in this is.”

He was right about that much. No sense in getting sloppy in a case with multiple murders, but this one’s patience was at an end where Cold and his petty criticisms were concerned. That being the case, this one turned from him and headed for the exit to the manor. “Goodbye, Cold. Try and make sure to gather all the evidence on the cult and to not lose any of our prisoners. We do want to make sure we squash this cult once and for all.”

Cold glowered at this one’s back as it walked away. “And exactly where do you think you are going?”

This one flashed him a toothy grin over its shoulder. “This one has a report to make.”

“You need to learn your place in the world,” Cold called after this one, determined to have the last word in the conversation. “Someday this one going to show it to you.”

This one ignored him.

As befitting the headquarters of Freeport’s intelligence agency, the building in which the Masks’ resided was as non-descript as a building could be, completely indistinguishable between the other offices that surrounded it. It didn’t even have a sign announcing what its purpose was. But then the Masks were supposed to be unnoticed, by and large. There, but faded into the background. The Masks dated all the way back to the earliest days of the Council, back even before Torch’s Rebellion and the official rise of the Council to power, when the Council was still freeing slaves and fighting against the Necrocrat’s rule.

Once inside, this one headed to the office of The Mask, the leader of our organization. It was a distinguished space with darkwood furniture, old sterling, pottery, and some old photographs and paintings decorating the walls. The office held all the signs of being the workplace of the same single individual for a long time. Personal items lay here and there, nearly forgotten in the daily grind, and the dirt had appropriately accumulated to accommodate the furniture.

Sitting in its office chair was The Mask itself, Double Dilemma. It was an older changeling, in the process of crossing the threshold from late middle age into the truly elderly, though there was still a brightness burning behind its eyes even if it lacked the vigor of yesteryears. Double had led the Masks for a long time. Likely it could have used its influence to join the Council quite some time ago if it had wanted to, but it preferred its role as The Mask and had controlled the organization with a deft hoof for decades, a rare accomplishment. As members of the Council rose and fell it was only natural they would want to put their own supporters in possession of such an important position within Freeport, but Double had countered all attempts to remove it from power. In addition to its competence in running the organization, this one suspected it had survived the various changing of the guards within the Council by always keeping odd bits of blackmail on key members, not that Double would ever admit to such a thing out loud.

But there was one master that all eventually had to bow to: time. Double was a long way from young, and it was starting to show. It had been some time since The Mask had entered the field itself, and it had been increasingly depending on agents like this one and Cold to take care of the organization’s daily affairs.

Kukri groaned. “This is confusing. So the leader of the Masks is also called ‘The Mask’?”

Puzzle chuckled at my apprentice's displeasure. “It’s all quite intentional to be confusing to outsiders. You have the organization of the Masks, The Mask leads the Masks, a mask can be a disguise, or mean an agent within the Masks.”

“Doesn’t that ever get confusing?” Kukri asked.

Puzzle shrugged. “Context within a conversation usually helps.”

“Double, this one has returned,” this one said as it approached The Mask’s desk.

Double took in this one’s appearance before tsking. “And didn't bother with taking a shower before coming back here, too. The custodians have to clean up the halls after you leave hoofprints, you know.” It smiled despite the light chiding. Admittedly, this one could perhaps have taken some more time to clean up before reporting. There had been another tropical downpour while this one had been walking here, and it had collected quite a bit of grime over the course of the past couple days trying to bring down the cult.

But this one decided to brush off the minor mess it was creating with its presence. “Given the circumstances, this one presumed you would want a report right away.”

Double shrugged and stood from its desk. “True, people were getting upset with that cult's activities.” It walked over to a liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rum. Likely he already knew something of what happened, or at least suspected, and wanted a little something to celebrate the capture of the cult’s leader. “You want any?”

“Certainly, thank you.” After the long days this one had been through, a drink sounded pretty good. Not enough to debilitate oneself, but a little bit in celebration was fine by this one.

Double poured a glass of rum and gave it to this one. “So then, how did it go?”

“A bit messy,” this one said. This one could have colored the truth in its favor, but this one knew Double valued honest and straightforward information. “If this one had gone at the pace Cold and the condottieri wanted to set it wouldn't have made it in time to stop the sacrifice from happening. Thankfully, it decided to exercise a bit of initiative, and this one managed to capture the cult’s leader and six of her followers. They should be getting locked away as we speak and will be ready for interrogation at our pleasure.”

Double took a sip and grinned. “That’s one of the reasons this one likes you. You know when it's time to show patience and when to gets your rear in motion. So I take it you stopped their ritual?”

This one nodded. “Of course. We saved their prisoner from being sacrificed as well.”

“Excellent.” This one’s boss sat back behind its desk. “No loose ends then? I'd hate to have to deal with this damned cult again later.”

This one took a sip of its glass. “The matter should be well in hoof. We should be able to find out if there were any others involved from interrogating the prisoners. From there it’s just a matter of rounding up any stragglers.”

“That sounds right.” Double swirled its drink. “This looks like another case of a charismatic individual bringing together a cult. Without her the whole cult should fall apart. Still, there is the matter of justice for their victims, plus we don’t want some other charismatic lunatic sweeping them up for more mischief.”

“Agreed. Best to pull this problem up by the root before it becomes an issue again.”

Double sighed and nodded. “You would think people would know when to leave a bad idea dead in the past. The Golden Path were nothing but trouble back in their day.” It shrugged and took a sip. “No accounting for some people. Anyways, this one will send a couple of agents to make sure everything is cleaned up. The Council will decide what to do with their leader after all the trouble she's caused. This case was so sensational that it got everyone in an uproar, so the Council wants a personal hoof in her punishment.”

“Doubtless they’ll decide on some form of execution.” This one studied its drink as it considered how that might go. “Ideally something quiet, just so nobody can think she's a martyr. No use getting rid of this cult if a dozen copycats end up inspired by her example.”

“That's what this one will be recommending.” The Mask frowned as it leaned back in its seat. “Though that might be a bit problematic. There are a lot of angry people right now—people that have lost friends and loved ones. They’re gonna want the Council to give them blood in answer for their own that got hurt by these fanatics.”

This one thought of a potential solution to that issue. “Perhaps it could be a private execution viewable only for those closest to the victims. That should keep things relatively quiet while still satisfying those most vocal about punishing the members of this cult.”

Double rubbed its chin. “Not a bad idea. This one will run it by the Council later.” It shot this one a grin and raised its glass. “Good thing this one has capable agents like yourself. Otherwise this one would have some very unpleasant questions to answer for the Council.”

This one clinked glasses with it. “This one certainly likes to think it does its part.”

In truth, Double’s words made this one’s chest swell with pride. This one greatly admired its boss and the work it had done for Freeport. This one’s father had done some jobs for Double, and this one had caught Double’s eye when it had been a grub and so it had convinced this one to join the Masks. It had mentored this one and taught it much of what it knew, and this one had risen up the ranks of the Masks as a result.

This one would miss having Double around here in a couple of months.

“So you have, and you’ve done good by me over the years.” Double smiled as it settled in with its drink. “This one will miss this job. You know that? But it's just time for this one to move on.”

This one sat opposite of it. “Well, at least you know they'll be in good hooves after you retire.”

This one’s boss’ eyes swept over some old photographs hanging near his desk. “That's why this one's been mentoring others to be able to take over once it's gone. If this one has done its job, everything will keep persisting as it has even once this one’s retired.”

“This one is sure it will be.” This one gave it a proud smile. “You’ve certainly done a good job with this one.”

Double snorted. “This one hopes so. It put a lot of time and effort into making you the agent you are today.” It mulled over its drink. “Though at this point it’s just a matter of who the Council will end up picking to replace me. This one's been at this job so long that it’s almost hard to remember a time when it hasn’t been in charge.”

Seeing a potential opportunity, this one said, “Doubtless your recommendation will carry considerable weight for who replaces you. The Council has seen fit to keep you in charge of the Masks for a reason.”

Double snorted. “It probably would, yes.” He turned a wry grin this one’s way. “Looking to replace your old boss?”

“Why not?” this one asked. “This one is one of your best agents. You trained this one, mentored it, and this one thinks it could really do a good job as The Mask. It’s worked hard, and done jobs you wouldn't trust to anyone else.”

And this one would dearly have liked to become The Mask, naturally. Both because it knew it could do the job, but also because it was a good stepping stone to joining the Council someday. The position possessed the type of influence and importance that would make it much easier to aim for such heights. This one enjoyed being a part of the Masks, but this one also wanted to make a better Freeport, and the best way to do that was as part of the Council.

Double smirked at it studied this one for a time. “Admittedly, this one could leave the Masks in worse hooves.” It tapped the top of its desk as it thought. “Well, this one will see if it can bring the topic up with the Council tomorrow when it gives its report on the Golden Path cult. Naturally your name will have to come up in the report, and this one would prefer if a candidate of its choice replaced it.”

“There is the factor to consider that you can either promote your own pick, or let the Council pick someone purely for political reasons,” this one said. “And the position of The Mask really is too important to leave in the hooves of someone who can’t do the job, right?”

Double snorted. “The Masks hardly need some political appointee who doesn’t know the first thing about spycraft.” It leaned forward over its desk, grinning at this one. “So, how about you give me all the details of what happened? No doubt the Council's going to want to know how the latest threat to Freeport got dealt with.”

“Sure thing.”

This one spent the next day on one of the less pleasant aspects of its job: paperwork. No good deed went unpunished, and everything this one did for the Masks had to be recorded, accounted for, and reviewed meticulously. When this one was younger it’d been surprised just how much of its time was spent filling out forms, reports, and other paperwork instead of being out in the field. But there was nothing to be done about it, and so this one made sure to be thorough in its current report. Considering how notorious the Golden Path murders were, people would be especially keen on looking through every aspect of this case.

While this one was in the middle of its work it received a summons from Double Dilemma. Naturally curious why it was being called on, this one made its way to Double’s office. But what this one saw when it got there was not at all what it expected. The Mask’s office was all but empty, the dusty outlines of furniture obvious as a few porters removed the last of Double’s personal possessions. Confusion flashed through this one, and this one nearly grabbed one of the porters to demand what they were doing. It seemed somehow profane for Double’s things to be so coldly removed from a place this one had always associated with its mentor, but this one kept its control and thought carefully.

A hopeful smile spread over this one’s face as it instead considered a possibility it very much liked the sound of. Had this one been promoted? That would explain the unexpected summons and Double’s office being empty. It would certainly be a surprise, as this one’s boss wasn’t set to retire for another couple of months. But perhaps Double wanted to set this one up in its place and have a couple months where it would still be around to watch over this one as it got used to its new duties.

A door leading to the back portion of Double’s office opened, but instead of Double walking out as this one expected, Cold Comfort emerged, holding a file it was perusing. He closed the folder and smiled at this one in a way it already didn’t like. “Puzzle, this one sees you answered its summons.”

This one raised an eyebrow. “Your summons?”

“Ah, I see you haven't heard the good news yet.” Cold stood up straighter as it made its announcement. “This one's the new Mask.”

This one’s heart sank at the news, and for the first time in this one’s life it was at a complete loss for words. How had this happened? Where was Double? How had Cold of all changelings come to be The Mask? These and a dozen other questions whirled through this one’s mind.

This one must have been carrying quite the dejected look on its face, because Cold chuckled. “Yes, this one was quite thrilled by the news as well. It seems that the Council, in their infinite wisdom, decided to grant Dilemma's retirement early, including a sizeable severance package as a reward for its long and capable service for Freeport. And they knew exactly who they wished to replace Dilemma with.” He bowed immodestly for this one.

“Evidently so.” This one did its best to recover and absorb this new information. Cold could now make life very hard for this one if it wanted to. Still, this was recoverable if this one played its cards right. Cold was the new Mask. Fine, this one could work with that, it was a loyal agent of the Masks. Perhaps declaring this one’s allegiances would help smooth over any issues there were between us. After all, this one could make itself useful to Cold, especially for this difficult transition phase as he took charge. If Cold came to rely on this one then its career might still prosper despite our past history.

This one smiled pleasantly for Cold. “Congratulations are in order for your promotion, it would seem.”

“So there are,” Cold said, his delight palatable at this one congratulating him. “This one would invite you to the celebration party, but sadly, duty calls. As one of the Masks' best agents, this one has an important assignment for you.”

Dread crept into this one. “Oh?”

Cold nodded and pulled out a map he then pinned to the wall. “Dilemma had an eye for detail, but this one thinks it had an oversight where Freeport's interests are concerned.” He tapped the map to the southwest of the Freeport Archipelagoes, and just off the coast of the continent. “Are you familiar with Port Nowhere?”

This one’s dread increased. “The Zebrican port city that’s on the far edge of their control?”

“Exactly, and one Freeport has a long claim to. We once owned that island, and this one would like to see that happen again.” Cold’s smile didn’t reach his eyes as he continued. “Thus this one is sending one of our best agents there to see if that can happen.”

The story Cold was weaving was an obvious lie. Freeport had only taken the island around Port Nowhere under very unique circumstances. The Zebrican Empire had been badly overstretched and vulnerable due to civil war from one of its periodic succession crises, and that was with Equestrian aid. In the end Freeport lost the island after becoming distracted by its own internal instabilities when the Necrocrats had fallen. Without allies, Freeport would never risk war with Zebrica. While Zebrica wasn’t as strong as it once was, it was far from a power to trifle with. Besides, the island had almost no real value in any case. There were no natural resources in Port Nowhere that Freeport didn’t already have in abundance, and its strategic value to Freeport’s security was negligible. It just wouldn’t be worth the cost of taking and holding, especially when Zebrica would always seek to take the islands back as a matter of national prestige.

But this one knew what this was really was: exile. Cold was trying to get rid of this one by sending it to the most remote and isolated post he could find. As Double Dilemma had once told this one, whoever had said that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer either didn’t have very many enemies or they were weak ones. Keeping an enemy close was a great way to suddenly find six inches of sharpened steel in your back. No, Cold was placing this one someplace where it couldn’t cause him serious trouble, far from this one’s own allies and support base, isolated.

This one thought over its words carefully, the next couple of minutes were going to be critical. “This one will see what it can do. It will, of course, need time to prepare for such a long journey and important mission, as well as considerable resources.”

Things were bad, but this one still had options. This one had allies, favors, and resources to call upon. Given some time this one could maybe even get some strings pulled to get it out of this situation. If worse came to worst, this one could quit the Masks. That would be ... regretful, but it was better than being forced into exile.

Cold tsked and shook his head. “This one is sorry to say that until the Council authorizes the expenditure of such resources, there isn't anything in the budget to assist you. It was all this one could do to scrape enough together to buy you a ticket to Port Nowhere. Perhaps in time, once this one has the influence to convince them to do so, the Council will loosen the purse strings to allow the Masks to give you more resources.”

This one’s brow furrowed. “This one sees. And when will it be departing?”

Cold clapped his hooves together twice, and a half dozen Mask agents emerged from the back portion of the office. They moved to surround this one, and this one recognized some of Cold’s allies and friends. “Immediately. No doubt it will take you some time to build up an information network from nothing, and the only ship heading out Port Nowhere's way anytime soon is leaving the harbor in but a couple of hours. This one knows it’s a great burden to you, but sometimes we have to work under ... adverse circumstances.”

This one grimaced, but it couldn't see any way out of this now that Cold had called on his reinforcements. Even if this one managed to kill Cold with a surprise attack, something this one very much wanted to do right at that moment, six against one were bad odds. No, this game had been rigged from the start. Cold had planned out every detail, and he wasn’t leaving this one any wiggle room to work with.

“Very well, this one will pack its things,” this one said through gritted teeth.

“Quickly now.” Cold’s smile took on an ugly light. “This one would hate to think you're defying a direct order by missing your ship. What would people think if an agent of the Masks went rogue? Naturally we couldn't have that, now could we?”

The threat there was obvious. If this one didn’t toe the line it would be declared a rogue agent and thus able to be eliminated as a danger to national security. “Naturally. Do not worry, this one will make its voyage on time.” This one stared him right in the eyes as it spoke slowly and deliberately. “And once its mission is finished, it will return to Freeport to conclude any unfinished business.”

If Cold was at all worried about this one’s threat, he didn’t show it. “Don't worry, this one will make sure that all your business in Freeport is well taken care of in your absence. After all, this mission is likely to take a long time. In fact, you should consider this an indefinite assignment until told otherwise, and then only by this one. Understood?”

“Understood,” this one growled.

“Good. This one will make sure to tell everyone that you had good reasons for missing the party.” Cold gave this one a patronizing pat to the cheek. “Now off with you. You know your place in the world now, don't you, Puzzle?”

This one’s voice tightened as it saw all its hopes and dreams for the future come crumbling down around it. “Yes. This one does.”

“Well that explains a few things,” I said as Puzzle finished up that part of the story. “Particularly about your background and stuff. I mean, I'm not surprised you were a spy considering you're an information broker now. Just finding it out for sure versus suspecting it was something like that.”

Puzzle shrugged, a bit solemn at that moment. “Fair enough, you don't get this one's skill set from just anywhere.”

I pressed with some more questions. “So you used to work for Freeport's version of the EIS?”

“This one did.” A wistful smile found its way to Puzzle’s face. “This one liked its job in the Masks, and it was good at what it did. Before, well...”

I frowned and nodded. It wasn’t hard to figure out why Puzzle had been so reluctant to talk about this topic. Getting exiled like he did must’ve been humiliating for him. I knew I didn’t like bringing up the whole story about how I’d ended up in Freeport, and if Puzzle was completely honest, he hadn’t even deserved what happened to him. He’d just been outmaneuvered by a scheming coworker. “Office politics left you in pretty rotten shape.”

“To put it lightly.” Puzzle’s eyes narrowed and I saw something flash behind his eyes that I’d rarely seen in him: genuine hate. It took something like when Strumming had been shot or talking about Chrysalis to get a look like that in his eyes. “This one's entire career was destroyed in a matter of minutes, and it was dumped in one of the most appropriately named ports in the world to rot and die. This one has never been able to prove it, but it would bet a million ducats that Cold told every enemy this one had in Freeport that it was open season for this one in Port Nowhere. It would explain exactly why so many bounty hunters suddenly arrived looking for this one’s head. Best of all for Cold, it’d be a convenient way for him to quietly get rid of this one for good without having to get his hooves dirty.”

“Sounds like that guy was a jerk,” I said. “Well, at least you bounced back.”

Puzzle took a deep breath before nodding. “So this one did, eventually.”

Sensing a loose end, I asked, “So did you get around to ... dealing with him?”

Obviously Puzzle had come back to Freeport at some point, and he was pretty big enemies with Cold. It wasn’t hard to imagine that Puzzle might have done something proactive about his old colleague in the Masks. As Puzzle had always told me, you didn’t let enemies remain in a condition where they could hurt you if you could do something about it, and Puzzle did as he preached.

Puzzle’s ear twitched. “Cold is ... doing far better than this one likes to think about.”

Now that was an interesting answer. Maybe as head of the Masks Cold had been untouchable by Puzzle, too far out of his reach. That was one of the few explanations I could come up with for how Puzzle and Cold could stand to be in the same city together. Though maybe there was another explanation considering Puzzle had said that Cold was doing very well for himself...

Kukri frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest. “But how did Cold get promoted over you? You’re way better than he is. And what happened to Double Dilemma? Wasn’t he supposed to ask you to take his place? And how did you come back from exile? Wouldn’t that bastard Cold have tried to have you killed if you returned to Freeport?”

“This one is afraid that is a story for another day.” Puzzle nodded to the setting sun on the horizon. “It’s already getting late, and we still have this story to finish.” He grinned wryly down at Kukri. “Unless you want to wait to finish the story of the City of Giants until later.”

“Nonono!” Kukri shook her head vigorously. “Please finish the story!”

I was pretty sure Puzzle was diverting the conversation, but he’d set some pretty good bait to avoid whatever it was he didn’t want to talk about. But there was always tomorrow to probe for more answers. “Yeah. So what happened after the weird dream-vision quest?”

This one lay on its cot in the cabin-cum-holding cell until it was dumped off at its personal prison of Port Nowhere. What else was there to do? Cold was in control of the Masks and doing everything in his power to make sure this one’s career was over in all but name. This one would never be able to get off of Port Nowhere unless it wanted to be censured and made an outright enemy of the Masks. How long would this one last even if it attempted to fight Cold? What was the point? This one had lost. There was no coming back from this. It was over. This one was just winding down the clock until it stopped forever. It was hopeless.

This one lay on that cot for ... what did it matter? After some inconsequential amount of time had passed there came a commotion outside that had nothing to do with this one. Then its door slammed open and one of Cold’s agents flew to the floor, landing next to this one’s cot with a pained groan. The Do-mare came flying in after this one’s so-called bodyguard, and landed on top of him, glowering down at him to make sure he was staying down.

This one briefly glanced at her before flopping back down. “Oh. It's you.”

Daring frowned down at this one. “Well don't rush to get out of here or anything. I'm sure we'll have all day before this guy gets back up again.” She kicked Cold’s agent in the ribs.

This one let out a long sigh. This was so bothersome. “Get out? And do what?”

“Stop Ephemera for one.” Daring shook this one by the shoulder. “Remember? The whole thing where we’re trying to stop her from potentially stealing a bunch of evil artifacts to do evil with?”

“And then what?”

The Do-mare raised an eyebrow. “Once Ephemera’s been stopped, maybe see if we can find some artifacts to save. At least if they aren’t cursed or anything like that, and then see about getting back home.”

“Home?” This one scoffed bitterly. “What is home to this one? I’ve been exiled. There is no going back, no home.”

The Do-mare glowered down at this one. “So what if you got exiled from home, you can always go find a new one! Lots of ponies do that when they’ve been kicked out.”

“And then lose it again?” This one rolled to turn its back to her. “What’s the point?”

The Do-mare shook her head. “If you want something you need to fight for it. You can’t just lie around and mope, otherwise nothing will get done.”

“If this one fights, it loses.” Why couldn’t she just leave this one alone? Why was she bothering?

The Do-mare let out an annoyed huff and sat down next to this one. “Hey, you can win. You're tough and smart.”

“And so are the others,” this one said. “And they have more resources, more men, knowledge of the terrain, and more magic.”

“Then you just have to be better than them anyway.” The Do-mare rubbed this one’s shoulder. “You can pull through this. We can do this. What else are you going to do? Lie here and mope? You gotta get back in the fight. Otherwise they win.”

“They've already won.” This one was doomed. This whole expedition was doomed. There was no recovering from this disaster.

“No. They. Haven't.” The Do-mare hopped back to her hooves, her wings shooting out. “We're a long way from being out of this race. I’m not saying that it’ll be easy, but the best things in the world tend to be the hardest to achieve.”

This one groaned and wrapped its pillow around its head. “This one would be wiser to not waste any more time on a forlorn hope.”

The Do-mare stomped a hoof down on the planks. “So what is it you want in life?”

This one was so tired, it just wanted to go asleep, but the Do-mare just wouldn’t leave this one to die. “To make a difference. To make Freeport better. Foolish things.”

“Doesn't sound foolish to me,” the Do-mare said. “Nothing wrong with wanting to make your nation better. Just means you're a decent guy.”

“And a failure. All this one can do is fail,” this one insisted. “Look how this one has botched everything thus far, if not made everything worse. Ephemera wouldn’t have gotten this far without this one. It would be better if this one just stayed here and starved.”

The Do-mare frowned as she sat back down next to this one. “I don't think so. I think you're better than that. I can see it in you. Some people have that spark to make a difference, and you have it.”

This one looked over its shoulder to look at the Do-mare. “What if you're wrong?”

The Do-mare flashed this one a smile. “Better to have tried and failed than to have never tried. What I’ve always said. I didn't get as far as I’ve gotten without falling a time or several. Sometimes life kicks you down. All you can do is get back up again, and tackle the world.”

This one frowned as it thought that over. “This one has heard that before.” But where? This one wasn’t sure. Despair continued to press in on this one, but... Something seemed off.

“You don't strike me as a quitter.” The Do-mare offered a hoof to help this one up. “So get up and help me.”

This one wasn’t sure if it should take that hoof. “Will we win?”

The Do-mare’s eyes sparkled as she grinned confidently. “I'm sure we can. I'm not about to let a creep like Ephemera stop us.”

This one’s ears drooped and it’s gaze fell to the floor. “And if we fail?”

“We won't.” The Do-mare prodded this one’s side. “And what’s with this defeatist attitude? This doesn’t seem like you. There’re a few things I could call you, but a quitter isn’t one of them. Aren’t you curious about what’s going on here?”

This one felt a moment of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” The Do-mare glanced around, frowning at the walls of the cabin. “How did we even get onto this ship? What ship is this even?”

“It’s...” This one grimaced as a piercing pain lanced through this one’s head. Despite the pain several questions suddenly pressed themselves forward, and this one tried to make itself think through the pain. How had this one gotten here? Wait, Cold’s agents had escorted it to the ship, but that was before this one had met the Do-mare. That didn’t make sense. This one had already arrived in Port Nowhere. They’d then left this one to its exile, their mission complete. And then there was the long trip to the land of the Dromaed to seek out the City of Giants. So why was this one back on this accursed ship?

The pain became a white hot flash that consumed this one’s world. When it finally receded just enough to let this one think, this one found itself on the cabin floor, blinking spots out of its vision. The Do-mare and the Idea-stallion were both standing over this one with concerned faces.

The Do-mare placed a cautious hoof on this one’s shoulder. “Puzzle, you okay? You just started screaming and fell to the floor.”

This one held its head, the pain starting to subside, if far more slowly than this one liked. “T-this one—I think so.” This one reached out to them. “I need some fresh air. Need to be able to think.”

“Careful there, good chap,” the Idea-stallion said as this one got onto unsteady hooves. “You’re looking a bit pale.”

“Another good reason to get some fresh air.” This one wanted out of that cabin immediately. It didn’t know why, but it just needed to be away and somewhere, anywhere else.

Daring gave her companion a questioning look but shrugged. She took position next to this one and helped it out of the cabin towards the deck. “Okay, but just to warn you, it’s going to be a bit weird once we get outside.”

This one staggered as a moment of vertigo made the whole world turn upside down. It felt like this one had gone a week without any sleep, gone on a bender, and then ended the whole episode with a boxing match with a minotaur—that it lost, badly. “Ugh, what do you mean?”

“Probably easier to show you than explain,” the Do-mare said as she helped this one pick its way over the rest of the unconscious guards on the floor.

This one saw what she meant when we reached the deck. It did indeed seem like we were on the ship that had carried it to Port Nowhere, but that was far from the weirdest thing about this. All around us was an infinite nighttime sky, the ship floating on a sea of twinkling stars. There was nothing but the void beyond.

This one blinked and suddenly felt much more sober. “Oh, this could be a problem.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 18

Puzzle stared up at the infinite starry expanse for a long moment, leaning against the railing as he took in the sight. “So ... where do we start? As you’ve noticed, this isn’t exactly normal. I’m not even sure where we are right now.”

I looked toward the wheelhouse and examined the wheel. “I think we're in the Dreamscape. You know, the plane of existence your consciousness goes to when you dream?” Admittedly, most of the time you weren’t conscious when you were in the Dreamscape, in more ways than one. This was way more vivid than your typical dream, and way less pleasant too. Something was definitely off, but what…?

Capital stepped up beside me and watched as I played with the wheel. “When were you last here, Daring?”

“A couple years ago,” I said. “I was helping a buffalo tribe get back some artifacts that'd been stolen by some creeps connected to the black market.” I glanced around, trying to see if there were any landmarks around us. There weren’t. “This certainly looks and feels like the time I went on that dreamquest with Chief Thunderhooves.”

Puzzle rubbed his chin. “And how did you get into the Dreamscape?”

“Drugs,” I told them. “Lots and lots of drugs.”

“Wait,” Kukri said. “It said in your books you used some meditation techniques to get into the Dreamscape.”

Daring scratched her neck, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “Well... yes, I used those too. Just, A.K., uh ... sanitizes the books a bit considering kids tend to read them.”

“Why?” Kukri asked. “They helped, didn’t they?”

“Because that’s not something she wants to encourage kids to be doing,” Daring said, her voice becoming more steady as she got on more familiar ground. “I only did it under very specific circumstances. Just because I do something doesn’t mean it’s the smartest thing in the world to do, and A.K. knows that.”

Puzzle grinned at her. “Pity that she isn’t always there to advise you in those less-than-wise moments.”

Daring’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, ha ha. Back to the story.”

Puzzle tapped his hoof on the desk. “Well how did you get out of the dreamscape that time?”

I shrugged. “Just kinda got to the end of the vision quest and then I woke up. It was pretty weird last time. Things just kinda happened, and then it was over.”

Capital scratched the side of his head. “Well, how do we end this one?”

“Not sure,” I admitted. “I didn't come into this dream with any specific purpose, and I doubt either of you did either. Unless one of you are holding out on me.”

Puzzle shot me a flat glower. “No, I always enjoy reliving past trauma.”

“Yeah, figured as much. Kinda suspicious that that seems to be such a consistent theme with this place.” Reliving the time I got betrayed by Ephemera had been massively unpleasant, and I’d caught bits and pieces of what Puzzle had been through. Whatever Capital had experienced, he hadn’t exactly been eager to talk about, either. The Dreamscape was built on ideas and willpower. If we were all experiencing painful memories then it couldn’t be good. There were some pretty nasty things in the Dreamscape you could run into. It was said that Queen Luna used to protect ponies and had chased off all the bad things that resided here, but that had been a long time ago. Best to get out of this place as quickly as we could.

“I’m not sure how to get out of here, but I’ve got an idea we can try.” I concentrated on the wheel and thought of a specific individual. Turning the wheel, I felt a sudden wind move the sails, and then the whole ship was going forward.

“Well fancy that.” Capital beamed. “It’s actually moving. How did you do that?”

“This place is based on thoughts, conscious and subconscious,” I explained. “I just thought about someplace I wanted to go, and that got the ship moving.”

“Brilliantly good.” Capital patted me on the back. “So where are we going, then?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re still missing one of our companions,” I said. “Seems like the most sensible thing to do is find her if we can.”

Capital nodded. “Too right. No pony—or zebra—left behind.”

“Sounds good to th—me.” Puzzle shook his head, probably still rattled by what the Dreamscape had just done to him. “I’d like to find Alya and get out of here.”

I steered the wheel, thinking about Alya as we went. “Right, so first we need to get everyone together, and then find a way to wake—” I was nearly thrown when the ship came to an abrupt halt, the squeal of breaking and protesting timber resonating. Puzzle grabbed onto the railing to steady himself while Capital fell onto his rump and slid a few feet before coming to a halt.

I groaned as I held onto the wheel. Once I had regained my bearings I flew to the stem to see what we were dealing with. The ship had crashed onto a beach, and beyond that was a big open plain of long, brown grass. Scanning the horizon, my gaze fell upon a port town sitting along the shore further up the coast, its domed buildings of white stone marking the place as Zebrican in design. I’d been to the Zebrican Empire before, and between the architecture of the town and the arid plain that made up much of the Empire, it wasn’t hard to figure out where we were—or where someone thought we were.

“Ugh, land ho, I guess.” I rolled my shoulders to loosen them up from being jolted by the sudden stop. “Though you’d think we could’ve gotten some kind of warning. Or a gentler landing.”

“Let’s just be happy that we’re making progress, or at least I hope we are.” Puzzle went to the railing where he found the port as well. “I’m not an expert on the Dreamscape, but I believe that might be a clue. Given the nature of dreams, going somewhere with direction seems better.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” I glided down to the beach and waited for the others. “Everything is only as real as you think it is... or as real as someone else thinks it is.”

Capital climbed down the side of the ship. “So if there's something here that none of us are thinking...”

I nodded. “Let's have a look then. It sounds like a better plan than wandering the featureless plain forever, anyways.”

It wasn’t long before we reached the port town. The streets were almost empty except for some faded out, plain-featured zebras that seemed to be wandering around at random. Then came the crash of pottery and yelling from further down the street.

“Well that doesn't exactly sound promising.” I made sure my hat was firmly on my head, as this was probably going to get harder before it got easier.

Puzzle rolled his neck as he limbered up. “On the contrary, if this is Alya's dream, and most likely a very unpleasant one going by past experience...”

“Right, let's go find her.” I ran down the street towards the sound and stopped when we reached one of the shops lining the street. Looking through the window, there was a small group of rough-looking zebras that instantly reminded me of the sorts of goons Ephemera liked to hire. Against the far wall was a family of zebras who had run out of room to back away. Alya was packed in among them, tears running down her cheeks.

One of the thugs was holding the shop owner’s arm painfully behind his back, twisting it both to cause pain and to hold him in place while one of his buddies talked to him with a thick zebrican accent. “So you understand our problem don’t you? You don’t have our money to pay back the loan our boss gave you, and we can’t very well go home empty-hooved. That’s a bit of a problem, isn’t it?”

The other goon twisted the shopkeeper’s arm harder, making him cry out in pain. “G-give me time! I’ll find the money.”

Puzzle peeked through the window, pressing himself up against the wall to remain unseen. “Well well well... Interesting.”

Capital pressed his lips together as he spoke with clear indignation. “I say, are we going to just sit back and watch this, or give these ruffians what-for?”

Puzzle frowned. “Interfering in the dream could cause complications.”

I’d seen this song and dance enough times already to know where this was going. Those thugs thought the shopkeeper owed them some money, and they were going to get it, or cause some serious trouble. I wasn’t about to let that happen, even if this was just a dream. “So let's make it complicated for them for once!”

I could all but hear Puzzle sigh as I leapt through the window and made for the nearest thug, and Capital bellowed a “Bully!” as he charged with me.

“Who're—” was all the thug got to say before I introduced my hoof to his face. He spun in a circle before dropping to the floor.

Capital was at my side as the thugs started to turn to react to us, the one holding the shopkeeper tossing him off to the side as we came to teach them a lesson. “For Princess and country!” Capital cried out, catching the nearest thug with a perfect jab and cross boxing combo that sent him sprawling. These guys looked tough, but it seemed they couldn’t take a real hit. Still, the next minute was a whirlwind of punches and kicks as Capital and I stood back to back and laid into them, and the shop suddenly seemed way fuller with thugs than it had been a second ago. One of them almost got me from behind before Puzzle appeared from behind a shelf and put the thug in a chokehold that quickly knocked him out.

Having no time to thank him, I uppercutted another goon, the force of the hit sending the thug tumbling up and over the register bench. And just like that it was over. The floor was nearly carpeted by groaning bodies, way more than had been in here to start with. Stupid Dreamscape and its weird nonsensical rules...

I took a deep breath to steady my breathing as I wiped the sweat from my brow. “I guess no one else wants any.”

“Jolly good,” Capital said as his gaze swept over the goons. “We gave those ruffians a sound drubbing.”

Before we could come down from the adrenaline high of the fight, Alya’s voice cried out. “What have you done?!”

I was momentarily taken aback. “Saving you from these creeps. They were trying to extort money from your family, right?”

“And you’ve made everything worse!” Alya knelt at her father’s side as he leaned against the wall and not looking in the best shape. He was bruised and his face was pretty badly swollen.

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? I would’ve thought you’d like seeing us pound these jerks.” Or at least their copies in the Dreamscape. It was way too easy to get drawn into a dream that seemed this real.

Alya looked her father over as she told us. “Don’t you get it? Their boss is going to be mad that you beat his thugs up. He’s going to retaliate against us for this. And then what?” She started sniffing as she saw how bad off her half-comatose father was and then broke into a sob.

I grimaced as Alya bawled her eyes out. It was pretty hard to see, but I had to remind myself that this wasn’t real and not to get drawn into it all. We needed to snap Alya out of this, quick.

So I knelt beside Alya and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, this isn't real. This might have happened in the past, but this isn’t happening now.”

Alya’s face wrinkled with befuddlement. “W-what are you talking about? Of course this is real. If I don’t go to the land of the Dromaed and collect these guys’ seeds then they’ll hurt my family.”

Puzzle scowled. “Is that so? That might need to be addressed later.”

Knowing what snapped Puzzle out of this dream-thing, I tried to point out the irregularities of the reality around her. “Then why are you here and not in the jungle like we were just a little bit ago?”

Alya blinked a few times. “I-I don’t understand.”

“Because none of this right here is real,” I told her. “Something’s making us relive nasty memories like this one.”

Puzzle caught onto what I was doing and piped in. “It may seem real enough, but it's only a dream. We were tricked too. Think about what you were doing before and what you’re doing now.”

Alya’s mouth worked wordlessly as she glanced between us. “This doesn’t make any sense. How can...” She grimaced in pain and held her head. “But this... this happened.”

Puzzle cupped her cheeks in his hooves. “Alya, do you trust me?”

Alya sniffed and nodded. “Y-yeah?”

“Then believe me when I say that this isn't real,” he assured her. “This all happened in the past, and you’re just reliving memories. That’s all. Think about it, you met us all long after this happened. But everything is going to be okay. We’ll make everything work out, I promise. But we need you to work with us here.”

Alya gripped Puzzle in a hug and held him tight. Puzzle stiffened at first but then slowly wrapped his own arms round her. “O-okay. I trust you.”

“You wouldn’t if you knew what he really was,” called out a voice like cracking branches. It echoed throughout the store, and a wind with no visible source whipped through the room. One of the thugs drew himself up like a puppet having its strings pulled, and when he opened his eyes they were black as coals. “He just can’t wait to sink his teeth—”

I picked up a piece of pottery sitting on a shelf and chucked it at the thug. Whatever he was about to say was cut off when the pot smashed against his head and sent him sprawling back to the ground. “Yeah, none of that creepy horseapples. I’ve seen enough of stuff like this to know I want no part of this.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” the voice said, the wind sweeping through the shop with enough strength that I had to hold my hat to my head. The image of Alya’s father stood up in the same unnatural manner as the thug, his eyes black as well. Alya squeaked and backed away from the thing pretending to be her dad and hid behind Puzzle. “I’m going to make you suffer for it.”

“Sorry, but I’m not buying what you’re selling.” I snatched up another pot to throw, but in the brief moment when I’d taken my eyes off him he’d gotten right in my face. Before I could react, his hoof slammed into my chest and sent me flying. I hit a shelf hard enough to knock it over, and the crash of pottery and other objects resounded through the shop.

“Daring!” Capital rushed the thing that wasn’t Alya’s dad, throwing a hook at his face. The thing casually slipped aside the blow and then backhooved Capital hard enough to send him spinning to the ground.

Okay, no way this thing was natural. Was it some sort of dream spirit? Someone playing games in the Dreamscape? I wasn’t nearly well versed enough in dream lore to know exactly how things worked here. All I could say for certain was that this thing was bad news and that it packed one nasty punch. I was struggling to get up as my whole body protested, and he’d only hit me once. At least now I had a pretty good idea who’d been causing us so much trouble.

The thing smiled at Alya, showing far too many teeth in a mouth that spread unnaturally wide. Alya kept backing away until she was cornered, and she whimpered at the sight of the abomination in front of her. The thing let out a throaty chuckle. “What’s the matter? Don’t you want to give your dear old dad a hug? Maybe daddy needs to teach you a—”

Puzzle reappeared as his invisibility dissipated and his dagger sliced right into the thing’s neck. The thing’s eyes widened as Puzzle wrapped his arms around its head and neck. “I quite agree with Daring, that’s enough of that.” With a swift jerk Puzzle broke the thing's neck with a resounding crack and it fell listlessly to the floor.

“I-is it dead?” Alya asked through trembling lips, not being able to bring herself to look at the thing that looked like her dad.

As if in answer, the ground started to shake, sending items tumbling off the shelves and smashing on the ground. That thing’s low chuckle flowed through the room and once again the wind picked up.

Puzzle yanked his dagger out of the thing that had pretended to be Alya’s dad, and cast a wary look around the room. “I think we still have a fight on our hooves.”

I pushed myself to my hooves, holding my chest where it still felt like it’d been hit by a runaway cart. “Keep your eyes open. Who knows what this thing will throw at us.”

The earthquake intensified and cracks started crisscrossing the floor. Capital pulled himself up with a shelf, using it to balance himself, and I took to the air to avoid the shaking. Fissures opened up, revealing a starry night below us, and Puzzle was forced to take to the air as well to avoid being swallowed up.

“Look out!” Puzzle pointed to right above me, and I saw a chunk of the roof break off as the whole building started coming apart. I dodged to the side, and the chunk of stone came so close to hitting me that I felt the wind of its passage.

It got worse from there. A big spidery limb emerged from the hole and planted itself on the floor. The fissure kept growing, and from within its depths climbed out a spider the size of a small home. Only instead of the normal head of a spider there was Ephemera’s face, a pair of giant fangs sticking out of her mouth.

I growled as I flew up to get some space between me and that monster. “Hey! If you wanted to scare us then you shouldn’t have decided to look so punchable!” I dived down, and one of the monster’s legs shot out to hit me, but I barrel rolled to the side to avoid it. My hooves hit it right across the cheek and its head snapped to the side from the impact. Its forelegs tried to smack me aside but I poured on the speed to get outside of its reach.

Capital charged its flank and bucked it right in one of its legs causing it to flinch in pain. Alya was next as she grabbed one of her potions and tossed it towards the creature. An explosion of fire erupted when it broke against the spider’s carapace, and the monster let out an unearthly roar. Hate filling its eyes, it started wildly swinging at Capital and Alya. Alya let out a cry as the tip of a spider leg hit the ground with such force that it made rocks go flying and pelt her multiple times. Capital was too slow in dodging another leg, and a mere clip from one of the appendages sent him flying into and then crashing against a wall.

“Capital!” A flash of anger shot through me at the sight of Capital being hurt, and I dived at the monster. Once again I hit it across the face and, keeping up my speed, turned to hit it in the joint of one of its legs. It swiped at me as I hit it again and again, but I dodged and came in to attack. But while I was on the offensive, it didn’t take me long to figure out that I wasn’t actually doing any visible damage to the monster. Another of its legs came in at my side, but this time I was too slow, and it clipped my wing to send me into an out of control spin. I hit the ground shoulder first and tumbled end over end.

My body was slow to respond to my commands to get back up again, and every part of me hurt from the fall. The monster slowly approached me, and Ephemera’s mouth opened unnaturally wide to reveal far too many venom dripping fangs. But before it could close its fangs over me a dagger flashed through the air and hit the monster right in the eye. The monster shrieked and the very world shook from the unearthly scream. Several more daggers hit the monster’s face as Puzzle flew up and over it, landing on the creature’s back and dive punching a gauntleted hoof into the giant spider. His gauntlet sparked and electricity discharged right into the abomination. The monster spasmed sporadically and it collapsed to the ground.

But it was still moving, if languidly, as it recovered from the attack. Puzzle shot over my way, throwing more daggers into the monster’s face mid-flight before scooping me up and withdrawing to cover behind some ruins that had once been one of the town’s shops.

“I think we’re in trouble.” Puzzle glanced over the broken wall to see the monster slowly standing up. “I just hit that thing with my biggest shot, and it’s still moving.”

“I wasn’t doing much to it either.” I grunted as I shook off the tumble I’d taken. “Thanks for the save by the way.”

“Nothing you wouldn’t do for me.” Puzzle grinned at me. “I’d hope.”

“Well I’ve already pulled your rear out of prison, so I think that counts.” Something struck my curiosity as I watched Puzzle pull out yet another dagger. “How many of those things are you carrying? You’ve tossed at least a dozen of them by now.”

“I’m trying not to think too hard about it,” Puzzle said, keeping his voice low. “No sense complaining as long as this place keeps giving me as many daggers as I want. We might as well use the rules of this place to our advantage.”

A wide grin spread over my face, and I thumped Puzzle on the chest. “Puzzle, I know how we can take that thing down. Distract that thing while I pull this off.”

“Wait, what are you—“ The Do-mare leapt and rolled into the next set of cover, keeping this one from asking what in the world she had planned.

Great, she wanted this one to keep that monster busy when its most powerful attack had only temporarily stunned it. Now the monster had grown an additional six sets of eyes to make up for the ones this one had injured, and it was searching the ruins of the city, stepping over the fissures that had reduced the area to so much rubble. This one had hidden the Idea-stallion and the Alya-mare while the Do-mare had distracted the monster, but it was only a matter of time before it found someone.

Fighting it seemed like a losing proposition. This one couldn’t seriously hurt that thing, but it only had to hit this one once to end the fight. On the off chance it would work, this one tried to imagine a fully loaded ballista, but when this one opened its eyes no such weapon presented itself. It seemed the trick this one had used for its daggers had its limits. It would have been a serious help if this one had a better idea how to use the rules of this place, but this was not the time or place to learn how to manipulate the Dreamscape. So if fighting was off the table, that meant this one needed to try something else.

Not particularly liking the alternative option it’d decided upon, this one stepped out into the open and called out to the monster. “Can we at least get your name before you destroy us?”

The monster froze before slowly turning to face this one. It let out a low hiss and slowly stepped forward, its black eyes bearing down on this one. “I have no name within your understanding.”

“That’s going to make a civil conversation a bit hard,” this one said, standing its ground. “Normally I like to know why someone is torturing me before we get started.”

The monster’s mouth spread in an ugly smile that promised all sorts of unpleasant possibilities. “Can you not guess? You know what it’s like to feed on others and the pleasure it can bring.”

This one tried not to show any discomfort as the monster’s spindly legs stepped closer. “So is that why you’re tormenting us? To feed?”

“And what a feast I’ve had.” The monster chuckled menacingly. “It’s been so long since I’ve truly fed. Those hristak barely give me anything to sink my teeth into. But you? Oh yes, I will enjoy feeding on every last morsel I can get.”

It wasn’t terribly surprising that there might be a creature like this in the Dreamscape. There were plenty of monsters from other planes of existence that fed on the emotions of others. Not that our own world was exactly short on native monsters that did the same thing. Changelings fed on love, after all, and there were dark rumors that the Old Mind had experimented on feeding on other emotions a long, long time ago ... and was still experimenting.

“So you just want to feed on us?” This one tensed as the monster moved into striking range. “Makes sense considering what you put us through. Though it kinda defeats the purpose when you tell us what you’re doing.”

“I’m not too worried.” The thing let out a long hiss of a breath as it drew near. “Once I capture you again, I can befuddle your minds and continue my meal.” The monster’s features warped into a sneer. “Until you perish.”

This one forced a grin onto its face. “Assuming you can capture us again.”

“And where do you think you can run?” it asked. “You are already in my web. There is no escape.”

A shadow fell over the monster as it slowly reached for this one, and this one took a step back. “That’s assuming we need to escape you.”

The monster hissed, its fetid, hot breath nearly causing this one to gag. “And what do you mean by tha—”

A ship came crashing down on the monster bow first with a cataclysmic crash of breaking timber. Wood shattered and splinters flew as the oversized spider-monster was squashed, and this one was splattered with pale green ichor. This one didn’t have any time to complain before the main mast of the ship started coming down on this one’s head. This one dove to the side, barely avoiding getting crushed itself. Trapped under the sail, this one put its dagger to work to cut itself free of the wreckage.

Once this one emerged it checked to see the status of the monster. It was dead, very dead. Most of it was covered by planking, and what little of it could be seen made it very clear it wouldn’t be getting up again, assuming no weird Dreamshape shenanigans allowed it to recover from being splattered. Best not to stick around if possible.

The Do-mare landed next to this one with a proud grin on her face. “Hah! Got it!”

This one cut off a piece of the sail to wipe the ichor off of itself. “I take it this was your doing?”

The Do-mare nodded. “Yep! I took your advice and decided to use that ship we’d come in on as a weapon.” She pointed to the air. “Gravity is only a suggestion here, not a rule of physics. I just imagined the ship flying, and away she went. From there all I had to do was aim the thing and then splat!”

This one shot her a grin. “You nearly crushed me, you know.”

The Do-mare chuckled with a note of embarrassment. “Sorry about that. I’ve never used a ship as a weapon before. It’s not exactly easy to steer something that big by yourself, and time was of the essence.”

“True enough.” This one cleaned off its face and saw that the Alya-mare and the Idea-stallion were making their way towards us. “So now that the monster is gone, how do we get out—”

This one woke up with a start. Its breath came hard and heavy, as though it’d just taken a mile run, and it took effort to try and make its heart beat slower. Around this one, the others were waking up as well. We were back in the garden, consciously anyways. That was probably a good sign, assuming this wasn’t one big trick on the part of the monster, the paranoid part of my mind cautioned. That was always the issue with things like the Dreamscape: you could never be entirely sure about anything.

The second thing that immediately seized this one’s attention was its hunger. Its stomach was in a knot. That damnable, always present hunger that could never truly be satisfied was worse than ever. How long had we been asleep? Too long, certainly. This one felt weak from famine, and its head throbbed.

The Alya-mare yawned and stretched. “Is that it? Are we safe?”

“As safe as we can be for now,” the Do-mare said, hopping up to look around. “It seems we’re awake, anyways.”

Capital pushed himself to his hooves. “Well if it’s all the same, I’d like to get moving after that nap.” He smiled at the Do-mare. “Good job with the ship, by the way.”

The Do-mare puffed out her chest. “Not a problem. I couldn’t find a fly-swatter big enough for the big bug, so I picked up the next best thing.”

“Anything to make that thing stop.” The Alya-mare shivered. “I think that thing was a chaneque. I’ve heard stories about them. They're supposed to be malevolent spirits that lull people to sleep and then torment them to feed off their souls. They live in the jungles along the southern border of the Empire, but it seems they exist here too.”

The Do-mare nodded. “Sounds like what we were dealing with. Best not to wait around if we didn’t take it down, or there are more like it.” The Do-mare frowned at this one as it stood up on shaky legs, and had to brace against the wall just to keep from falling over. “You okay there?”

“I’m fine,” this one said too quickly. Damnit, this one was slipping, losing its concentration and cool. Best to throw out a lie until this one could collect itself. “Just a bit shaken after everything that happened.”

The Do-mare frowned, not entirely convinced by this one’s lie. “Do you need a minute?”

This one shook its head, and immediately regretted it as its headache caused its vision to swim. “No, th—I just need to get moving. Take my mind off it all.” This one flashed her a grin it didn’t feel at all. “We’ve got the rest of this pyramid to explore and to find Ephemera, right?”

That much was true. Pity this one wasn’t sure what shape it was going to be in when we actually found the Ephemera-mare at the rate we were going.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 19

We continued through the darkened hallways of the pyramid. The place was eerily silent. Despite it being dead for thousands of years the sense that people should still be here yet lingered. Unlike those made by the ponies of Selerika, this pyramid was supposed to be a place where people worked and lived, not a tomb. That feeling was not helped when we walked past skeletons dotting the hallways and rooms we came across. Most were Dromaed, but there was the odd equine or other creature as well. Had they been slaves of the Quinzametin? Or served as guards, bureaucrats, some other purpose? It was impossible to tell just by looking at them. Whatever clothing or personal items they had worn had long since rotted away.

We passed through another one of those creepy crystal gardens, all of us tensing as we did so, wary that we might be accosted by another baleful dream spirit. But while that odd melodious music played once, again we weren’t pulled under this time. There were other rooms as well, some with yet more skeletons, and a few with decayed furniture, pots, and other objects that still survived in some decayed state. The sight of each artifact left to experience the ravages of time unchecked drew a glower from the Do-mare, but she didn’t dare actually try and pick anything up for fear of damaging what was left even further. Whatever the purpose of most of the rooms were this one could only guess. Time had eroded their identity, whether they were living quarters, offices, supply rooms, or something else.

Though eventually we arrived at a chamber that had a more obvious purpose. Lining each side of the room were cells large enough to easily fit half a dozen individuals each. Their doors had long ago rusted shut, and could probably have been snapped apart in their dilapidated state. Each cell’s floor had its own collection of long silent skeletons.

The Alya-mare took a step away from the nearest cell and moved closer to the group, staring at one of the skeletons as though it might jump to life at any moment. “What is this?”

This one scowled as it considered the most likely possibility. “Holding pens for their slaves?”

“Sure looks like it,” the Do-mare said. “It might be some sort of jail, but the layout of this place would make it weird for that. No, this was probably a slave pen. Guess that figures, with how these giants were supposed to be pretty bad.”

“I wonder why each cell has dead in them,” this one mused. “Slaves aren't particularly useful dead, and just leaving them here to die doesn’t seem particularly productive.”

The Idea-stallion nodded. “And you would think that if the Dromaed took the Quinametzin down they would free the slaves in the process. Leaving them here to die goes with the whole rebellion and war of liberation thing, which is what it sounds like happened when the Dromaed rose up against their masters.”

This one continued forward until it noted a cobbey hole which probably served as a guard station, if this one had to guess. There was yet another skeleton, this one wearing a suit of black armor that had somehow survived the millennia. This one gestured at the skeleton for the others. “Though if those are slaves in those cells, they didn’t die alone.”

The Do-mare frowned and scratched the side of her head. “Weird. Very weird.”

This one drew on its knowledge of other revolts and revolutions that had happened in the past. Given this one’s line of work—former line of work, it was prudent for this one to know about how such things happened. “There’s one possibility. It's not a stretch of the imagination that when the Dromaed rose up, any collaborators to the Giants might have been shoved into those cages instead of the slaves and were left to die. Slaves don’t tend to be kind to those they overthrow. A lifetime’s worth of abuse can make them outright vicious in striking back against their former masters.”

There had certainly been cases like that in Freeport back when slavery had been legal. Especially right after the Necrocrats had fallen and the Council came to power and freed all the slaves. While efforts had been made to try and curb the following retributory acts of violence, there was only so much that could be done when the flames of revolution were burning at their hottest. The fact the Necrocrats had all but been wiped out was in no small part due to their former property rising up against them and getting revenge for their enslavement.

The Alya-mare grimaced. “It's not like slave uprisings are exactly the nicest things to happen. Whenever the Empire has a civil war things can get... unpleasant. Even for the innocent. Sometimes especially for the innocent.”

“So perhaps things turned bad.” The Idea-stallion stroked his cheek. “Like you said, it’s one possibility. Even if it’s hard to confirm either way without knowing who these poor chaps were.”

“Especially when we're just looking it over real quick,” the Do-mare added. “We'd want a team of archeologists with plenty of time to do a proper study of the whole city to get the big picture.”

This one decided now wasn’t the time to bring up the logistical difficulties of getting a whole team of archaeologists out here. This one liked to think it was pretty good at taking care of itself, but this journey had nearly killed it multiple times. A bunch of academics probably wouldn’t last a week between the dangerous environment and the hostile natives. But that issue could be left for another day.

What was more of an immediate concern was what we found in the next room. Before us were several forges that reminded this one of a foundry. Beyond that were several stone tables, each bearing tools that looked like arcane enchanting tools, if somewhat different in appearance than what this one was used to. Some of them were made of obsidian, but a closer examination confirmed most were some sort of metal so black that it was darker than the shadows cast by our lights. Some of them showed the marks from the passage of time, but others had withstood the weight of millennia remarkably well. There were even some half-complete artifacts, exotic necklaces of beads, talismans with unknown iconography stamped on them, weapons of a variety of types, and parts of armor.

“Hm, looks like some sort of magical workshop,” this one guessed. “I don’t recognize some of these tools, but some of this was definitely used for enchanting magic items.”

The Do-mare stepped close to the table and motioned for the Idea-stallion to take a picture. “That’s what I’m seeing too. This is all pretty remarkably preserved compared to everything else. I wonder if there’s some sort of preservation magic in here? The air’s a lot drier too, which would help keep everything from decaying as fast.”

“What’s this?” The Alya-mare pointed to a slab of black stone. It was about the size of a bed and hollowed out with a shallow depression. At its foot was a channel that ran down and away from the slab to a smaller bucket sized block of stone.

The Idea-stallion hummed as he looked it over. “It looks like it's made for gathering up some kind of liquid and channeling it off.”

The Do-mare examined the slab and grimaced as she read the arcane sigils carved into its sides. This one started to get a good idea of what we were looking at when it saw a dagger sitting on a small table next to the slab. This one picked it up and examined it. Its handle was carved out of bone, with more iconography running all along its length. Initially this one thought the blade was obsidian, but a closer examination revealed it to be a metal this one had never seen before. It must have been the same material the guard’s armor and the magical tools were made of.

This one turned the blade in its hooves as it imagined its purpose. “Weren't there tales about the Giants being into blood magic?”

The Do-mare gritted her teeth. “Yeah, it's a table for blood sacrifices.”

The Alya-mare took a step away from the table. “But why? Why do something that awful?”

“Power, usually.” The Do-mare braced her hooves against the table and glowered down at it. “It’s a tale as old as time. There have always been those who would do anything for power, and blood magic is a quick and easy way to get it for the unscrupulous.”

“How dreadful,” the Idea-stallion said. “To kill someone just for some extra power...”

Was this what the Dromaed were so determined to keep hidden? It would make sense. This wasn’t the type of knowledge or tools you wanted to get out into the world, though that did beg the question of why the Dromaed hadn’t just destroyed everything here. This stuff already seemed too dangerous to leave lying around where someone like the Ephemera-mare could pick them up.

“Come on, let’s keep moving.” The Do-mare started leading the way further into the magical workshop.

This one started to follow her, but then something caught this one’s attention out of the corner of its vision. There was a flicker of movement within the dark reflection of the dagger. This one focused on its surface, and from within its dark depths a Dromaed skull of pale green luminous light emerged, screaming the howl of the damned.

“Feed!”

The single word struck this one’s mind like a physical force, and with it came needs. The need to draw blood, to strike down with it and—

This one dropped the dagger as if it had stung it.

The Idea-stallion looked back to this one. “What is it?”

This one rubbed its hoof as it cast a wary look at the dagger. “There was ... something in that dagger.”

The Do-mare scratched the back of her head. “Something like ... what, magic?”

“Definitely something magic,” this one said. “But it spoke to me. Or … screamed, rather.” A shiver ran up this one’s spine, and this one determined it was not going to be picking up that dagger again.

The Idea-stallion shot his own wary look at the dagger. “Well that sounds bloody ominous.”

“Maybe it's psychic residue due to what it was used for?” The Alya-mare nodded to herself as she tried to reassure herself by rationally explaining the horrors that the dagger had been used for. “Some magic items can be affected by what they're used for or who uses them. Some particularly potent artifacts can even gain an intelligence of their own, under the right circumstances.”

“Sounds right, if there were that many blood sacrifices.” The Do-mare walked over to a nearby table that had several half-complete artifacts on it and pointed to a sword lying on top of it. “A lot of this seems to be in a similar vein. See how this sword has these little grooves in it? Designed to channel the blood of whoever you stab with it to empower the blade.” She shivered as well, keeping her hoof well away from actually touching the weapon. “Okay, so it's still history and ought to be preserved, but not this stuff. These things are just ... evil.”

So there were limits to what the Do-mare wished to preserve. Not that this one blamed her for drawing the line at blatantly evil or dangerous artifacts. You wouldn’t keep a live fire gem in a museum, after all. Some things were just too dangerous to keep lying around where anyone could gawk at them.

“I'm inclined to agree.” This one's eyes fell over a whole set of armor made from the black material and tried not to look too deeply into its depths. “Looks like they were bringing prisoners here to use their blood to empower whatever they were working on.”

“And I think I might have found where they produced all this black metal they were using.” The Alya-mare pointed a hoof at a construct that dominated the back wall of the workshop.

It was a pyramid the size of a small house, all black metal and stone with sigils and iconography written all over it. The pyramid hummed with latent power, slumbering but waiting to be awoken. At the top of the pyramid was another sacrificial slab like the one we’d examined, only this one drained right into the interior of the pyramid. Sitting on a decrepit conveyor belt were several bars of the black metal, and three stacks of the black bars sat next to the base of the pyramid.

The Do-mare grimaced as she realized the implications of what she was looking at. “Well, that's horrifying.”

The Idea-stallion paled at the sight. “Were they ... somehow refining metal out of blood?”

The Alya-mare circled around the pyramid, and her ears flattened. “Looks like it. Take a look at this.”

This one walked next to her and saw a slide that ran down the back of the pyramid, and a chute that led to a pit. This one used its lighting gem to look into the pit and saw bones. A lot of bones.

“They used blood to make whatever this metal is, and I don’t think that’s the only material they used.” This one moved away from the hole, trying to keep its revulsion in check and keep its head. Out of the corner of this one's eyes it thought it saw another screaming skull in the reflection of one of the metal bars, and it could swear it heard that unearthly screaming once again too. “They probably used their slaves and other undesirables as ... fuel for their magical artifacts, in addition to their other magic. Not hard to imagine why the Greenseers don't want something like this to be stolen.”

“I say!” the Idea-stallion exclaimed. “The world is better off without things like this in it!”

“We agree,” said a familiar reptilian voice from behind us. “Pity outsiders covet such wicked things.”

This one spun around to see Stass and a pair of other hristak standing at the entrance to the workshop, and they did not look happy to see us here. “It seems you've managed to catch up with us.”

Stass nodded slightly. “You had a head start, but we know the jungle and the city far better. I’m almost surprised you’ve made it this far, but your invasion ends here.”

“Great.” The Do-mare planted her hooves in preparation for a fight. “So what happens now?”

“Surrender, and the Greenseers may show mercy.”

The Do-mare snorted. “Yeah, I don't think so.”

This one wasn’t any more convinced to surrender itself either. “I tried that earlier. That got me a death sentence. Not a whole lot of reasons to give myself over to what you call a justice system if that’s all I have to look forward to.”

“Really, you can keep all of this.” The Alya-made stepped behind the rest of us, her shoulders hunched. She waved vaguely at the workshop. “I don't want any part of it. This stuff ... it’s evil. What was done here is about as wrong as anything I’ve ever heard about.”

Stass hissed. “Then why come here?”

The Do-mare let out a long sigh. “Because I wanted to find out what happened here. This is the only known ruin of a civilization that disappeared a long time ago. Most of what we know back in Equestria is just myths and legends by this point.”

“And some things should stay that way,” Stass countered. “These evils can never be known by outsiders lest they be repeated.”

“Okay, I get it,” the Do-mare said. “Some horrible things happened here, evil things that never should've happened. That magic should have never been used, and hopefully it will never be used again, but that doesn't mean you should just hide it all away and pretend it never existed. That's how you forget, and things like this ... shouldn't be forgotten.”

Stass growled deep from within his throat and the grip on his serrated club tightened. “You do not understand. We keep the knowledge of the Quinametzin secret to protect the world. You have only caught a glimpse of the true evil that was the Princes of Blood. In the twilight of their age, when the Quinametzin Empire fell into civil war as its sanguine lords fought one another for power, they unleashed great horrors upon the world in their desperate grasps for dominance. Blood flowed like rivers to fuel their magic—terrible spells that made the land and its people scream, and dark beings whose names should never be uttered were summoned. It was only because the Quinametzin were destroyed that the world was saved from some great catastrophe. If what they knew were ever to be unleashed once again, the results would be equally as terrible.”

“Secrets have a way of getting out,” this one said. “And the bigger the secret the harder it is to keep. And this is a big one.” As a spy, this one had certainly played its part in both keeping and revealing secrets, and this one knew exactly how difficult they were to keep.

Stass shook his head. “We have destroyed everything except what lies in Zhilius. Every city, every sacrificial pyramid, every vile magic item they created, every book—everything. Only Zhilius remains, and only then as a monument to the follies of the Quinametzin, something to show the hristak what they must defend against. If some remnant of the Quinametzin were found elsewhere or their works recreated by others, we must be ready to face that evil for the good of all.”

This one tried to imagine the logistics of the task the Greenseers and the hristak had put before themselves. An empire must have had many dozens of cities, with all the artifacts and buildings they must have built over time. It must have taken them many, many years to destroy all of that and make sure they had hunted everything down. But then, they had had many centuries to do that.

The Do-mare scowled after being presented with that information. “So you want to keep the knowledge of what the Quinametzin were doing secret? Okay, I can get wanting to keep the specifics of how you turn blood into metal secret. But there’s other stuff you’re keeping secret even now.”

Stass’ tail twitched as he hissed. “What are you talking about?”

“Like the fact that I’m pretty sure there were no giants.”

Stass bared his teeth in a growl. “The Quinametzin are real, I assure you.”

“Oh, I’m sure the Quinametzin are real, just not giants.” The Do-mare pointed to one of the few intact cartouches on a nearby wall. It showed what looked like Dromaed standing above a huddled mass of slaves, with lines of power leaving the slaves and going into the Dromaed. “This whole place is Dromaed-sized, the steps, the door sizes, the tools—everything was designed for use by creatures your size. Like the ones who lived here were you. Nothing here looks like it was designed for creatures supposedly the size of Tyrant Lizards. You're not protecting the world from the artifacts of some evil monsters who died out an eon ago, you're just covering up the crimes of your ancestors!”

Stass snarled and took a couple steps towards us, his tail whipping violently. Yet he had no immediate reply. This one only had a rudimentary knowledge of Dromaed body language, but it was pretty sure the Do-mare had hit the nail on the head.

That had ... several implications.

“It’s all myth, isn’t it?” this one asked. “A story that’s been passed down from generation to generation to warn of past evils while dissociating yourselves from the sins of your forebears.”

“What happened here was very real,” Stass hissed. “Yes, the Quinametzin were our ancestors, and the Greenseers destroyed them.”

One of the other hristak, this one with bright red feathers, hissed at his compatriot. “Stass, they are not to know about—”

Stass held up a talon to silence him. “They have come this far despite the trials and tribulations. Let them know the rest of the story they worked so hard to seek if that is what they truly desire.” He turned back to us. “The Quinametzin threatened to destroy everything with their foul magics, and the land screamed in pain as the Blood Princes fought one another. The Greenseers could take no more, and so acted. They unleashed a plague upon the Quinametzin—a terrible one, in order to save the world. Nine in ten afflicted succumbed, and more yet for generations as the plague resurfaced time and again to ravage our people. But it was necessary lest everyone be killed by Quinametzin madness—including your equines, who were also victims of the Quinametzin’s slavery and bloodletting.”

The Do-mare clenched her teeth. “That isn’t something you should have hidden from the world. Yeah, it’s not nice, but it happened a long, long time ago. You can’t be blamed for what your ancestors did.”

“And yet their sins continue to affect us to this day,” Stass countered. “It is a burden we carry, and duty demands we protect everyone from the horror they once unleashed.”

This one’s eyes flicked to the sacrificial pyramid behind us. “The problem is that this place still remains as a target.”

“Which is why we guard it.” Stass took a test swing of his club. “As you said, secrets are hard to keep, but it’s a burden we know well and have endured for millenia. There have always been those attracted to the evil of Zhilius, who, rather than be horrified, would actually seek to replicate it. So they must be silenced before they take that knowledge out into the world.”

He motioned the others and they moved to flank us. This one placed a hoof on a dagger, ready to pull it out if need be, but was hoping that a fight might still be avoided. At the very least it would be to our advantage to put some doubt in our opponents’ minds about what they were doing. The idea of fighting these three was not one this one relished. These were trained warriors also capable of magic. This one didn’t doubt for a moment they were perfectly capable of killing us if it came down to it. Maybe we’d win, maybe not. Casualties were likely, whatever happened. This one preferred the option with a higher chance of none of us getting hurt. “See, the part where all of us die is where I take exception. Not the part where Ephemera dies, just to clarify, but I rather place a significant value on our own lives.”

“Pity we cannot trust you enough to leave you alive,” Stass insisted.

This one backed up to buy some time to talk, the others doing the same. “Any interest in negotiating? This doesn't have to come down to a fight. We could help one another. We want to stop Ephemera as well.”

Stass brought himself to a hesitant stop. “Where is Ephemera?”

“Like I said last time we spoke, the last time I saw her was at that bridge,” this one said.

Stass frowned, visibly considering his options. “Can you help us find her?”

This one nodded. “We can help you search for her, yes. That’s why we came here. It seemed like the most obvious place she’d come.”

Stass stood there as his tail swished back and forth. “Perhaps we could cooperate to put an end to her and move forward from there.”

The red hristak hissed as his head snapped to Stass. “Did the Greenseers not declare that the interlopers must die?”

“Yes, but the Greenseers are not here, and the task of protecting Zhilius’ secrets is ours,” Stass said. “The other ones are far more dangerous than these four. If these outsiders help us capture Ephemera...”

“This is blasphemy,” the red hristak insisted. “We should slay them and be done with it.”

Stass looked him right in the eyes. “Do not think so narrowly. The others have thus far eluded us, and they outnumber us. We should use these ones against them if they will aid us. What comes after that will be for the Greenseers to decide. All that matters is that Zhilius’ secrets are kept, not the details of how it is done.”

This one was somewhat surprised the Ephemera-mare had eluded the hristak. Perhaps she was using some form of magic to protect herself. That was the only thing that made sense to this one if the hristak were as good at tracking as they said they were. They had certainly caught up with us, after all.

“Helping you stop her would be an acceptable price for our lives,” this one said. The Do-mare squared her jaw, and this one could sense she wanted to argue about something, but she remained silent.

“I make no promises; I cannot overrule the Greenseers.” Stass’ club dropped into a more relaxed grip, though his fellow hristak gave him wary glances. “But ... if the facts change, so will their decision.”

The Do-mare let out a huff. “I guess that's fair. At least I get it now why you want to keep this stuff quiet.”

This one placed a hoof on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. “Bide your time for now. We can work out the details later when we don't have to worry about fighting them. Maybe after we’ve helped them we can convince them to let you have some non-harmful artifacts for the museum.”

The Do-mare glowered but nodded her head.

Stass grunted and hefted his club to his shoulder. “From all that you told us, this would be her destination, correct?”

“This is the biggest building in the city and this place has exactly the sort of things she would want to steal,” the Do-made confirmed. “She’s coming here, trust me.”

“Yes, she seemed like the type that would seek our darkest secrets,” Stass hissed. “But if we know what bait to set for her, then we can lay our trap.”

This one shrugged. “No sense running around the city after her when we know she’ll end up here eventually.”

Stass motioned for his fellow hristak to take positions around the workshop. “Then we wait for our mutual enemy.”

“You're making the Dromaed nervous,” I told Puzzle as he kept pacing back and forth. We’d been waiting since the Dromaed had decided a fight to the death might be a dumb idea after all when Ephemera was still running around. Alya and Capital had settled on talking to one another, with Capital carrying most of the conversation while the hristak took to watching both us and for Ephemera.

Having way more experience with waiting than I liked to think about from all my travels, I’d taken to sitting against a wall, and caught a brief nap. I’d woken up to Puzzle pacing like he was trying to wear a groove into the floor. That wouldn’t have been so bad, if a bit uncharacteristic for the normally laid back spy-for-hire, but he was drawing looks from the hristak. I’d seen those before, they were the nervous types of looks that could cause our precarious truce to break down.

Puzzle scowled and started speaking Equestrian instead of the Zebrican we’d been using thus far. Little surprise, he was perfectly fluent in that language as well and I couldn’t even note a Freeportian accent in it. “Of course they're nervous; they don't know if they can trust us. That and the fact they're all xenophobic insular tribalists who think the rest of the world doesn't affect them.”

Okay, that was more biting commentary than I’d expected from the guy who was normally so level-headed. “Yeah, and they're also nervous 'cause you're pacing around and clearly on edge. We just finished making sure we wouldn't have to fight them, let's not ruin that already.”

Puzzle narrowed his eyes as he watched the hristak with a sideways look. “That's all assuming they don't decide to kill us by the end of this anyways. We have very good reasons not to trust them either.”

“Sure we do, and they don't have much reason to trust us.” I leaned my head in to give him a sharp whisper. “Which is why you should cut it out acting so twitchy before it sets something off!”

“I'm not twitchy!” he shot back. “All we're doing is waiting!”

“You are twitchy,” I insisted. “If I didn't know better, I'd think you were on drugs and going through withdrawal.”

“I'm not on anything.” Puzzle took a deep breath and sat down next to me. Now suddenly looking really tired, his wings slumped and the tension in his shoulders gone. “Just... I've got a problem. A big one.”

I blinked. “Oh Celestia, you are on something.”

“No I am not!” Puzzle snapped, his brow furrowed. “I've never done anything like that in my entire life!”

I crossed my forelegs over my chest. “You’re irritable, nervous, and you’re not acting normally. If you’re not coming down from something then explain what is going on.”

Puzzle fell silent for several seconds as he stared forward. “I have a condition. One that ... has been with me my entire life. It's starting to become a real problem.”

I rolled my eyes. “Wow, that's really vague and unhelpful.”

Puzzle growled. “How much do you like talking about uncomfortable facts about yourself? Especially to someone you haven’t even known for that long? I bet you have a few skeletons in your closet you don’t like to talk about.”

“Difference is, mine aren't causing a problem for all of us right now,” I pointed out.

“I'm aware of that.” He rubbed the bridge of his muzzle. “I'm not handling this well.”

“Gee, ya think?”

Puzzle scoffed and shook his head. “You know, I'm starting to understand why you might have so much trouble keeping company while traveling the world.”

I snorted. “Because I have a low tolerance for getting the runaround?”

Puzzle shot me a flat look. “A certain lack of tact. Not that you don't have your virtues to make up for it. I've certainly been in worse company in the past.”

“Back at you.” I poked his side. “But you’re avoiding the main issue. How about you tell me what’s going on already?”

Puzzle grimaced and looked away from me. “The thing is that... I'm not exactly as I appear to be.”

I frowned. “Still keeping it vague and nonspecific, I see. Out with it already.”

Puzzle let out a huff. “What I'm trying to explain is—“

“We know what you are, beast.” The red colored hristak was stomping his way towards us. “You're a shapeshifter, a liar, a vampire, an evil that needs to be purged.”

The both of us stood up and I stepped forward to confront the Dromaed. “What in the feather are you talking about?”

“This.” Red’s wrist snapped out and a gold dust shot from his claw. It stuck Puzzle in the face, and there was a bright flash of green fire. Before I could demand what the hay he thought he was doing, the words caught in my throat as the fire died away. Instead of a zony standing next to me, there was now a creature of black chitin, still equine in shape, its legs were full of holes and its eyes were solid blue.

“You're one of those love-sucking bugs?! A changeling?!” I took a step away from the thing that called itself Puzzle and braced for a fight. Red hefted his club, ready to strike. Capital and Alya each let out gasps of surprise and Capital inserted himself between Alya and the potential threat. The other two hristak prepared their weapons as well, blocking the exits to prevent the changeling’s exit.

“Yes,” Red said, his body poised to strike the second the changeling tried something. “We’ve seen your kind here before. The Thirsting Queen has tried to steal Zhilius’ secrets in the past, and we have stopped her. Just as we will stop this monster now.”

“We suspected one of you might be one the Thirsting Queen’s drones,” Stass announced grimly. “One of our guards was spotted destroying the thunder lizard’s pen the night you escaped, but when we looked into the matter the guard was locked up in our cells. He could not have committed the crime. That left two possibilities: some sort of illusion had been used to trick us, or at least one of you was not what you seemed.”

It put up its hooves in a calming gesture. “Now let's not do anything rash. This doesn’t need to come to violence. This one isn't like one of the Old Mind’s drones. This one isn't going to attack you and try and feed on you.”

I started figuring things out. If Puzzle really wasn’t one of Chrysalis’s drones, then that must have made him a Free Mind. They were supposed to be located out of Freeport, so that much lined up. But that still left a few other nasty implications for his behavior. “But that's why you're so twitchy, isn't it? 'Cause you're hungry. I know those fangs of yours aren’t for show.”

Puzzle’s ears wilted. “That's part of what this one wanted to explain, yes. But that isn’t—”

“You lied to me!” I snapped. “You lied to me about who you really are and only started to tell the truth when you were forced to! So am I just food for you then? Is that the only reason you were cozying up to me? So that you could sink your fangs in me and get a nice meal in?”

Puzzle took a step back away from me. “No, of course not!”

I couldn’t believe him. He’d lied about who and even what he was. What else must he be lying about? “What, were you twitchy 'cause you were trying to figure out how to get me somewhere you could chomp down on me?!”

Puzzle bared his fangs in a scowl. “This one wasn't about to just feed on you without permission! It wouldn’t do that!”

‘Without permission’ meaning he did want to make a meal out of me, he just wanted to talk me into going along with it so he wouldn’t have to have a guilty conscience. “Even if that's normally how it goes, I bet that changes if you get hungry enough...” My eyes narrowed. “And given how you’ve been acting, I bet you're very hungry right now.”

His wings snapped out. “What is this one supposed to do? Starve to death?!”

I scoffed, I was just about done with Puzzle all around after what he’d just pulled. “Well considering your idea of food is me, that sounds like a whole lot of not my problem!”

“Do not listen to this monster.” Red inched closer to Puzzle, his club at the ready to cave in the changeling’s skull. “They are creatures of deception and cannot be trusted.”

Puzzle backed away from the approaching hristak. “Will you listen to this one? This one isn’t—”

Whatever he was about to say was drowned out by a deafening and unearthly shriek. My hooves shot to my ears to try and block out what sounded like the howl of the damned, the noise so all encompassing it struck at my very core. Then I saw the origins of that sound: a rolling tide of pale green spirits, vaguely Dromaedian, skeletal and howling as they moved forward in a stream towards the hristak guarding the doorway. He brought his shield and spear up in an utterly futile attempt to ward off the spirits as they crashed into him. They didn’t so much strike him as roll through him, dragging his soul out of his body as they passed, his anguished screams adding to the chorus of the damned. His body fell to the floor like a puppet whose strings had just been cut.

“The hay?!” I screamed. We all stared in horror at what had just happened. Was this yet another danger of Zhilius? Some sort of attack? Whatever it was it had caught the hristak as flat-flooted as the rest of us.

Then the cause of the attack made itself apparent as there was a shimmer in the air, and a wall of ghostly faces appeared and then parted with a dying gasp. Behind the dissipating magical veil, Ephemera smiled. She was flanked by her zebra bodyguards and a dozen more of her goons behind her, but what drew my eye was what she was wearing: on her right arm was a black gauntlet that extended all the way up to her shoulder. Pale green sigils burned all along its length, casting Ephemera in a ghostly glow.

“Why hello there DD, how’s it going?” the bitch said with sickeningly fake sweetness. Before I could answer her horn lighted with the same pale green light as the gauntlet, and she swiped it through the air. A wall of ghostly fire appeared above me and descended. Puzzle and I scrambled. I dove behind one of the workshop tables just as the fire hit the floor. Red tried to do the same, but he was too slow and was consumed by the flames as they exploded upon touching the ground. Flames licked over the edge of the table, but I didn’t feel heat from their presence. Just ... cold, cold in a way that bit into my heart.

“What is that?!” I peeked my head over the table to see that Puzzle was out of sight. Stass charged Ephemera while Capital was getting Alya to cover.

Ephemera’s evil laugh echoed through the workshop. “You like it?” She took a moment to admire her new toy as its sigils burst into light with renewed vigor. “My patron knew where one of the Giants’ caches was, and he gave me one of their weapons to play with.”

Ephemera cast an amused smirk Stass’ way as he closed the distance between them. She stomped a hoof, and a green wave of rolling specters and stone launched at her attacker. Stass slipped to a halt, and he bit out words of power. Vines shot up from the ground to create a shield between him and Ephemera’s attack. But it wasn’t enough, the rolling wave crashed into and smashed aside his barrier to send him flying. He hit the ground in a tumble.

“Was that all? I expected more from the daunted hristak.” Ephemera laughed maliciously and leveled her gauntlet to finish off Stass. But the sigils on the gauntlet extinguished, causing her to scowl at her newest weapon. “Damn, out of power. I really must ask my patron to give this thing an upgrade.” She shrugged. “Oh well, I know how to give this thing some juice again.”

She pointed her hoof at one of her minions, and his eyes widened in horror. Tellingly, he started backing away from her, and the rest of her minions got well clear of him. “N-no, Lady, please don’t! I—”

He had half-turned to flee when Ephemera struck. A green beam shot from the gauntlet and plunged into the goon. A pained shriek echoed through the chamber as his soul was ripped out of his body and dragged into the gauntlet, and its sigils burst back into malevolent hungry flames once again.

I saw my chance, my one shot to stop her. Whatever horrible weapon she’d just gotten was seriously bad news. There was way more space between me and Ephemera than I liked, but somehow I had to close the gap and get at her before she could cast more spells with that thing. Otherwise we were all dead.

I leapt over the table I’d been hiding behind. It was all or nothing. But there was a flash of something black in my peripheral vision, and next thing I knew my left leg had been snagged, twisted painfully, and my face hit the stone floor. I tried to push myself up, but whoever held my leg wrenched it back, threatening to break it if I moved. A dagger pressed against my neck, its cold steel promising death if I kept resisting.

“This one suggests you stop before you get yourself killed, Do-mare.” Puzzle held me fast and his dagger pressed just a millimeter closer to almost draw blood.

I hissed in pain as he held me in place. “Gah! Should’ve known you’d stab me in the back, Puzzle!”

“To be fair, this one is very good at what it does.” Puzzle painfully pinned my arm behind my back and lifted me up to my hooves, his dagger not wavering from my throat for a second.

Ephemera raised an eyebrow as she held her gauntlet up at us. “Puzzle? So that’s what you really look like?”

“That must be what attacked us out in the jungle!” one of her goons called out.

“Yeah, kill it dead, Lady Ephemera!” called another.

Ephemera shot them a withering glare to silence them before turning her attention back to us. “They are right, unless there’s another vampire in our midsts. The attacks did stop after you left us.” Her eyes narrowed and the sigils on the gauntlet burned brighter. “So tell me, why shouldn’t I kill you where you stand? Make this good, because you’re also holding my worst enemy right next to you, making for a very appealing two-for-one deal right now.”

I fully expected her to blast us. It’s not like Ephemera would lose any sleep killing Puzzle. Endless night, she wouldn’t have lost sleep murdering one of her perfectly loyal minions just a minute ago, assuming she ever thought twice about it to start with. Not that it wouldn’t be just rewards for Puzzle to get wasted by his employer.

“Because this one caught the Do-mare exactly how this one said it would.” He positioned me between him and Ephemera like I was a shield. “That was what you hired this one to do, after all: to counter the Do-mare.”

Ephemera snorted. “Please, I had already won this fight before you managed to tackle DD. More importantly, you abandoned me on that bridge. Did you think I would forgive that?”

“I did no such thing.” Puzzle smiled. “This was all according to plan.”

Ephemera dropped her gauntlet slightly. “What plan?”

“The plan to deliver the Do-mare to you on a silver platter.” Puzzle started pushing me closer to Ephemera. “Why do you think this one asked you so pointedly if you could deal with the Dromaed that had ambushed us? This one wanted to make sure you were confident you were going to be fine dealing with those savages before it started the next phase of its plan. You were, and as we can all see, the Dromaed failed to kill you just as this one knew they would.”

“How did you even managed to get away from the Dromaed?” I demanded. “It sounds like they had you dead to rights.”

Ephemera’s ear twitched. “I’m not as easy to kill as you think. I was more than capable of holding those savages off long enough for my patron to come to give me some relief. I didn’t need the help, but the sentiment was appreciated. But let’s not get distracted by me. There’s still the matter of why you felt it smart to jump off a bridge instead of helping me.”

Puzzle smiled. “You see, this one needed to make it look good for the Alya-mare when we made our exit from your group. The situation needed to look dire enough for this one to convince the Alya-mare to run away with it and into the jungle despite the dangers and make it seem like a good idea.”

The changeling shot Alya a smirk as Ephemera’s goons closed in around her and Capital. “This one needed to convince her that this one was her savior and protector. The Do-mare and her associates weren’t likely to trust this one all by itself, and for good reason. So this one needed a ... morality pet, we’ll call her. A poor mare in over her head who just wanted to save her family by collecting her seeds and had just been saved by a dashing rogue who’d had a change of heart.” He chuckled to himself. “A fine story, isn’t it? It pulls at the heartstrings, and was this one’s in to gain the Do-mare’s sympathy. After all, this one could simply have abandoned the Alya-mare and concentrated on saving its own skin, but how could this one be all bad if it was willing to save her out of the goodness of its heart?”

I growled and started to struggle, but another press of the dagger to my throat reminded me that I was caught fast. “You’re such a jerk! I bet you also kept her around to feed on her.”

Puzzle shrugged uncaringly. “Admittedly, that was a nice bonus on top of everything else. This one won’t turn down an emergency food source when it presents itself.”

Alya stepped closer to Capital, a pained grimace on her face. “Y-you used me? You only helped me to get at Daring?”

“Sorry about that,” Puzzle said, not sounding sorry at all. “But you were a necessary pawn in my plan. If it makes you feel any better, you worked like a charm. The Do-mare was so convinced we were a couple of helpless victims caught up in the Ephemera-mare’s schemes that she was willing to go so far as to break us out of the Dromaed’s prison.”

Tears started forming in Alya’s eyes. “Y-you’re terrible!”

Capital wrapped an arm around Alya to comfort her. “How in the world did you manage to find us? That jungle is dense to say the least.”

“Oh that part is simple.” Puzzle dragged me towards Ephemera as he explained. “The same way this one found you back at that little port city to take back the Ephemera-mare’s compass: this one placed a tracking gem in the Idea-stallion’s bags while we were still on the ship. You really are too trusting of your help. Why if, for example, someone looked exactly like your butler who would question them tidying up your saddlebags a little bit? All this had to do was follow its gem and it would find you eventually.”

Recognition flashed behind Capital’s eyes. “That was you who stole the compass?! You transformed into that scamp who pickpocketed me!”

“Yep, that was all this one,” Puzzle admitted. “This one did have to make sure the Ephemera-mare got to Zhilius for the coup de grace to its plan, naturally, and for that we needed a compass.” He frowned, a note of irritation finding a way into his tone. “Of course, this one didn’t plan on nearly getting eaten by a Tyrant Lizard, but this one made it work out. Part of this one hoped that by luring the Tyrant Lizard to your group it might even make a snack out of the Do-mare, or at least some of her companions. It might have disappointed the Ephemera-mare a bit if some random giant lizard ate her nemesis, but sometimes we have to make allowances for unexpected elements to our plans. At the very least it would make for an entertaining story to tell everyone later.”

“You fiend!” Capital’s brow furrowed. “We put our lives on the line to help you, and this is how you repay us? With betrayal?!”

“When this one signs a contract it fulfills it,” Puzzle said cooly. “This one is a professional. Though this one will thank you for saving it. No sense being rude about this.”

“I can tell you where to stuff your professionalism,” I told him as he brought me before Ephemera.

“Now now, no sense losing your dignity at this late hour,” Puzzle mocked. “Besides, you were so useful in helping us find the most valuable of Zhilius’ treasures and getting past this city’s various dangers. Suckering the Dromaed into trusting us was the icing on the cake. Everyone who could oppose the Ephemera-mare all in one room, warily eyeing one another, and could all be scooped up with one, big, decisive blow. All this one had to do was time the coup de grace of its plan just right to seal the deal. It’d been simple enough to place a couple of tracking gems on the Ephemera-mare’s employees and then wait for her to draw near.

“Once this one knew Ephemera-mare was close to striking, this one created a little drama here to distract everyone. Ideally, this one wanted to convince the Do-mare to let it feed on her.” Puzzle smiled in a nasty way that bared his fangs near my neck. “From there it would have been simple to use this one’s venom to paralyse the Do-mare and leave her as weak as a kitten to be captured. Alas, the hristak interrupted this one’s plan before it could pull it off, but overall this one would say things turned out pretty well.” He waggled his dagger in front of my neck. “Wouldn’t you say so?”

“I hope you get what you deserve once Ephemera gets bored of you,” I told him.

Ephemera frowned as she watched the two of us. “You should have included me in this little scheme of yours before you went running off.”

“And for that this one apologizes.” Puzzle inclined his head in reticence. “This one wanted to prove how valuable it was to you, but it worried that one of your minions might overhear our conversation and somehow screw up the plan. Loose lips sink ships, and this was far too important to screw up because of a few indiscretions. Not to mention none of them know how to act, and this one needed everyone to act naturally. To do that certain deceptions were needed.”

A smiled slowly spread over Ephemera’s face. “I suppose I can’t be too mad. Especially when you are giving me DD’s head on a silver platter.”

“This one likes to think it’s the results that matter at the end of the day.”

Damnit, some of it sounded like it was horseapples. Part of me suspected Puzzle was blowing smoke and had only changed sides at the last moment to save his own hide. Or maybe he’d been playing both sides the entire time.

Whatever the case was, he’d betrayed us, and I’d let it happen. I was so stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I should know better by now than to trust anyone. How many times had I been betrayed by now? Too many. Far too many to have trusted Puzzle for even a second. I’d been a fool to ever think there might have been something good in him. At best he was a cold-hearted mercenary. At worst he was every bit as bad as Ephemera, if not worse. And now we were all screwed because of my mistake.

“I should never have trusted you!” I screamed. I felt so stupidly helpless. Puzzle had me dead to rights, and there wasn’t anything I could do.

Puzzle grinned evilly. “No, you shouldn't have.”

I forced myself to try and figure out a way out of this. I decided to ask a question nagging me to buy some time to think. “How did you even get here?” I demanded from Ephemera. “We nearly got killed at least a dozen times getting here.”

Ephemera rolled her eyes. “Like I said, I’m not so easy to kill as you seem to think. Though it certainly helped that my patron knew how to bypass many of the dangers of Zhilius. Still, there were some ... necessary sacrifices. I’m down to...” She glanced back at her minions. “A third? A quarter of what I started with. Oh well, I can always get more of them.” She smirked at Puzzle. “Though I will say, splurging on a more competent minion now and again might be worth it.”

“This one hopes it’s answered all your questions to your satisfaction?”

“I’d say so.” Ephemera raised her gauntlet at me, and its sigil burned brightly. “It seems you were worth every bit I spent on you, Puzzle. Now be a dear and lemme get a clear shot. I've been waiting a looong time for this. She just doesn't stay dead.”

“Puzzle! Why did you betray the Do-mare?!” Kukri lip quivered as she looked up at Puzzle with big, hurt eyes. “Why are you so EVIL?!”

Puzzle raised an eyebrow. “So quick to judge this one, Kukri? Don’t you see the truth?”

Kukri’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “What’re you talking about? You lied to the Do-mare and gave her to that evil heartless bitch the Ephemera-mare.”

Puzzle flashed my apprentice a grin. “Actually, everything this one had just told the Ephemera-mare was a lie.”

Somehow Kukri’s face managed to screw up with even more befuddlement than before. “But-but-but... You just said everything was your plan!”

Puzzle flicked his hoof. “A verbal sleight-of-hoof. All this one did was string together several events and then claim they were all part of some big elaborate plan. If you really think about it, it should be pretty obvious that it was all a lie.” He started counting off points with his wings. “First, any plan that requires several factors well beyond your control to go a very specific way is a really stupid plan. Just think about all the ways the plan this one lied about could have gone wrong: what if the Ephemera-mare got herself killed in some stupid manner while this one was off gallivanting around the jungle? There were dozens of ways she could have died between the wildlife, the Dromaed, and the dangers in Zhilius. What if the Do-mare and her companions told this one to go away? What if this one got seriously hurt diving into those rock infested rapids? What if the Do-mare failed to break this one out of its cells, or thought stopping the Ephemera-mare was more important than helping this one? On and on this one could go. Way too many maybes to account for it to be a safe plan to bet this one’s life on.”

I frowned as I thought about how convoluted a plan like that would be. I’d had enough of my own plans come apart to know how easy they were to unravel, and I’d never come up with anything nearly this complicated. “Right, point taken.”

“Not to mention all the things this one couldn’t have known about,” Puzzle continued. “How the Dromaed would react to everything, when, or even if, the Ephemera-mare would show up, and what we’d actually find in Zhilius. This one lied about its tracking gems. They only had a big enough range to work within Freeport’s city limits, not the vast tracts of a jungle. Not to mention this one had used its last tracking gems back in the port.”

“But why lie about all of that?” Kukri demanded. “Why attack the Do-mare when she was going to stop the Ephemera-mare and hold her prisoner?”

That was a very good question. The suspicious part of me wondered if Daring had been right about Puzzle telling a tall tale to convince Ephemera that he’d been on her side the whole time. Him being outed as a changeling had not gone well for him, so just to survive he might have decided to switch sides. I didn’t like to think about Puzzle like that. I’d known him too long, thought of him as a friend, and I didn’t want to think he would betray someone like that, even if he was in a tight spot. So I gave him an opportunity to explain himself.

“To put it simply, this one was trying to save her life.”

Kukri’s eyes narrowed. “You have a very funny way of doing it, giving her over to one of her worst enemies.”

Puzzle held up a hoof for Kukri to give him a minute to explain. “Here’s the situation: no offense to the Do-mare, but most likely she was going to get herself killed charging the Ephemera-mare at that time and place. The Ephemera-mare would have had plenty of time to cast a spell with her new weapon to kill the Do-mare before she could have gotten close enough to hit her.”

Daring blew strands of her mane out of her eyes with a huff. “I might have been able to dodge whatever spell she threw at me, you know.”

“Perhaps,” Puzzle allowed, not sounding particularly convinced about the idea. “But even if you managed to close the gap, there were still the janissary bodyguards to deal with. Fighting trained alchemically enhanced warriors two against one wouldn’t have been easy, and the Ephemera-mare wouldn’t have been that bothered by blasting one of her bodyguards if it meant she killed her nemesis in the process. And after all of that she could have thrown her minions at the Do-mare to dog-pile her. Even if this one threw itself into the fight there was an equal chance this one would have been killed by the Ephemera-mare or one of her bodyguards as well. In short, the odds of us winning a straight up fight were bad given the circumstances.”

That sounded like Puzzle’s way of thinking. He wasn’t the type to throw his life away in a heroic last charge when there were other options. No, he was the type to try something clever. Like Celestia always told me: if you can’t win the game, change the rules. Of course, that depended on all of this actually being the truth.

It was always hard to tell what was and wasn’t with him. For all I knew he’d been playing all the angles, and setting himself to come out on top whoever won in Zhilius. Sure, he might have preferred for Daring to win in the end, but that wasn’t the same as saying he was willing to go down with the ship.

“Still, putting a knife to Daring’s throat and making the both of you sitting ducks doesn’t seem all that much better, though. Seems like you were just playing for time.” I frowned as I thought about what Puzzle might have been up to. “Unless you were planning something.”

“Admittedly, this one was playing for time right at the start. Pretending that this one had been working for Ephemera the whole time kept both of us alive for a couple of minutes—a very valuable couple of minutes. Time for this one to come up with a plan. A head-on fight was off the table, but this one came up with another option.” He held up his hoof, the one covered by his shock gauntlet. “One zap with this and the Ephemera-mare wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Taking her out would hopefully break the morale of her goons and make them run. Her bodyguards might still be a problem, depending on how diehard they were about protecting their lady, but at least then it would be more of an even fight.”

“Just one problem with that little plan,” Puzzle continued. “This one had to be close, and it means really close to pull it off. Given any time to react and the Ephemera-mare might blast us both for this one’s trouble. Not to mention her bodyguards had extremely fast reflexes as well and were wary of any tricks on this one’s part. So this one had to be close enough to the Ephemera-mare so that none of them could stop this one from hitting her with this one’s shock gauntlet and take her out of the equation.”

“Hence why you’d been sneaking us up closer to Ephemera the whole time you were being a chatter-bug,” Daring said. “You wanted her to trust you enough to give you your shot.” She glowered at him. “Not that I knew that at the time.”

Puzzle shrugged. “Unfortunately this one couldn’t tell you what it was up to without tipping the Ephemera-mare off to what was going on. Not to mention it was a lot easier to fool everyone if you acted like you’d been genuinely betrayed.”

“So how did things work out?” I asked.

This one raised an eyebrow as the Ephemera-mare prepared to fire. It was a struggle not to throw the Do-mare aside and take cover as the sigils on that gauntlet glowed, but this one maintained its cool. This one wasn’t close enough yet to use its own gauntlet and needed to play for more time. “Going to end it so quickly?”

The Ephemera-mare’s cheek twitched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She's been a thorn in you side for this long, hasn't she?” This one dragged the Do-mare closer to the Ephemera-mare, removing most of the distance between us until this one was but a couple of steps away from her. “This one would have thought you’d want to enjoy your ultimate victory over your nemesis.”

The glow of the sigils dimmed as the Ephemera-mare considered this, her desire to hurt others being provoked by this one. “Ooh, right, the old draw it out and make her suffer trick. Sounds fun.” She smirked evilly and came a couple steps closer, past her bodyguards. Maybe close enough for this one to hit her, maybe not. Considering everything rested on this gambit working, it wanted to hedge its bets as much as possible.

The Do-mare started struggling again before this one tightened its hold. “Go ahead and do your worst, Ephemera! I’m not scared of you!”

The Ephemera-mare chuckled. “Well when you make such a convincing case for me to hurt you...” Her eyes flicked to this one, and there was an ugly light in them that made this one stiffen. “Actually, I get it. You did say you were hungry, and she clearly hates the idea of letting you have your way with her.”

This one’s hunger roared back to this one’s attention, the dam of discipline holding it back nearly bursting at the mention of the idea of feeding. “This one would think that you would prefer to have her all to yourself,” this one temporized, trying to regain its concentration. It needed to think, and not about how hungry it was. This wasn’t the time for it, no matter if this one was dying for a meal, for anything to make that gnawing, ever present pain of starvation go away. This one so missed the euphoric feeling of a good love meal. This one wanted, needed to feed, as much as it needed to breathe after being plunged into the lightless abyss of the sea.

“Oh don’t worry about me. I just got a new way to kill things.” The Ephemera-mare admired her new weapon, the baleful light flickering in her emerald green eyes. Then her attention turned to the artifice responsible for producing the black metal that made the production of her gauntlet possible. “And now I have the option to build lots more. So I'm feeling magnanimous. Just make her suffer and I'll be happy.”

This one was … Hungry. So hungry. This one could sense the love in the Do-mare. There was the love of her family, her love of adventure, the sense of discovering something new and the excitement that brought with it. She loved it all, and her love hurt this one, to have it denied.

And all this one had to do to make that soul-gnawing pain go away was sink its fangs into this pony and feed. Then this one could be sated, sated enough to think, to plan, to not be in continuous pain.

This could even work towards the plan. Just a little feeding and the Ephemera-mare would be convinced this one was working for her. Then when she dropped her defenses it would be her turn to die. All this one had to do was feed, make the hunger stop, and then stop the Ephemera-mare. It was so simple, and this one wanted it. All this one had to do was feed on the Do-mare, and then it would all work out...

This one flashed an easy smile. “Actually, this one was lying about being hungry. That was all an act as well.” This one puckered its lips in a fake pout. “Aw, poor old me is so hungry. Please Do-mare, will you let me feed on you so that I’ll feel better? Pretty please? Really, this one was just hoping to hit her with some venom to make capturing her easier, and create a distraction. Nothing more. This one is quite alright.”

“You’re such a bastard!” the Do-mare spat. “I can’t believe I ever trusted you!”

This one only half heard the Do-mare’s words. Spots flashed through this one’s vision as it fought back its hunger, and it was all this one could do to keep its knees from shaking. There was a toll for denying this one’s hunger, and this one considered itself lucky not to have fallen over yet from denying it so long.

This one wanted to feed, so terribly...

But it would have been wrong.

Evil.

This one was no saint, but if this one had done as the Ephemera-mare had bidden and fed on the Do-mare, a personal line would have been crossed, one that could never be uncrossed. If this one had let itself be used as a tool to violate the Do-mare in such a way, then what else could this one justify to itself down the road? How long before this one really became the monster it pretended to be? That was the danger in wearing a mask, if you wore one for too long, you could lose yourself.

The Ephemera-mare shrugged. “Whatever. I’ve got other options.” She condescendingly patted the Do-mare on the head. “As for what I have planned ... think of the worst thing you can imagine. The very worst thing.” She smirked. “And then think harder.”

This was this one’s shot. The Ephemera-mare’s leg was extended touching the Do-mare, and all this one had to do was wait for her to withdraw it enough so this one didn’t accidentally shock the Do-mare. But then she said something that made this one pause. “Hm, though now that I think about it, my patron will probably want to see you and decide your fate himself. Not that I mind, he can be very inventive when he puts his mind to it. Delightfully so.”

In the crisis of the last few minutes this one had nearly forgotten about the Ephemera-mare’s patron. “Your patron? Where is he?”

“He’s already here,” called a voice from within the darkness beyond the doorway. Then a towering figure emerged into the light of the workshop, canine teeth flashing as he grinned down at us.

“We meet again, Daring Do,” Ahuizotl said.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 20

Ahuizotl, my mortal enemy. I wish I could have said I was surprised. He had a way of showing up at the worst possible times. That backstabber Puzzle was holding a dagger to my throat, Ephemera had us at her mercy with that vile new weapon of hers, and Alya, Stass, and Capital were being tied up by Ephemera’s goons, all while Ahuizotl laughed at my misery.

“Oh dear, looks like you're in quite the predicament,” Ahuizotl cawed as he approached me. His stupid cats flanked him, sauntering forward at a casual pace and making Ephemera’s goons back away as the cats eyed them as potential future meals.

Despite everything, I grinned. I wasn’t about to let this bastard see I was afraid of him. “Well yeah, now I have to put up with how bad you smell on top of everything else.”

Lightning quick, Ahuizotl’s hand shot out and his index finger and thumb squeezed my cheeks so tightly that I worried he was going to break my jaw. “Don't you mock me. You're my prisoner, as are your precious compatriots. I suggest you be very careful with your words.”

“Oh come on, Ahuizotl,” I said through pinched cheeks. “We've done this dance before. You shove me into some elaborate death trap, then I get out and foil your plans. Why don't you just save a lot of time by letting me go and running away with your tail tucked between your legs?”

Ahuizotl’s eyes narrowed and the pressure on my cheeks increased, causing pain to shoot through me. Ephemera smirked and stepped forward to speak. “Want me to teach her a lesson?” She lifted her gauntlet, its sigils faintly glowing.

Ahuizotl’s teeth flashed in a grin. “If you would, Ephemera. Show our dear Daring that new trick I taught you earlier.”

“Gladly.” Ephemera raised her gauntlet and Puzzle immediately let me go. Seems he didn’t trust his employer so much that he was willing to take a chance she might zap him to get at me. For the briefest moment I thought I might get a jump on Ephemera, but before I could introduce her face to my hoof a green beam shot out of her gauntlet and hit me in the chest.

The next moment was indescribable agony. The beam didn’t hit my body, but my very soul as it was slowly torn out of its mortal coil. Every part of me seared with pain as Ephemera threatened to subsume my very essence into that damned weapon of hers. But instead of pulling all the way and finishing me off in the worst way possible, she just held my soul in place, half in and out of my body in a moment that seemed to last forever. When she released me, there was only blackness.

Next thing I knew I was lying on the workshop floor. My throat was raw from a scream I didn’t remember making. It felt like I’d just finished a full marathon, gotten on the wrong end of a boxing match, and then ended the whole thing with the worst hangover ever. Every part of me ached and I nearly lost the contents of my stomach right there.

Ephemera stroked my mane, a condescending smirk on her face as she stared down at me. “Does that hurt? It looks like it hurts.”

I shuddered at her touch. “Buck you.” I groaned and tried to force myself up, but found that my wings and legs had been bound. How long had I been out? Ahuizotl leered as he watched my discomfort while Puzzle stood to the side with a profoundly neutral expression on his face. Alya was crying into Capital’s chest, whose lips were pressed together as he tried to keep a stiff upper lip.

“Puzzle, why didn’t you help the Do-mare?!” Kukri groused. “Why didn’t you blast the evil Ephemera-mare when you had the chance?”

Puzzle shook his head. “Because this one’s plan was ruined the second Ahuizotl showed up. Yes, this one could have zapped the Ephemera-mare with its gauntlet, but that still would have left Ahuizotl and all his minions outnumbering us badly. Ahuizotl is a couple thousand pounds of supernatural muscle and he had the drop on us.”

“You still could have fought them!” Kukri insisted. “The Do-mare beat Ahuizotl all the time.”

Puzzle shrugged. “This one didn’t like our odds. One of the few advantages we had was that the Ephemera-mare and Ahuizotl didn’t know this one fully intended on betraying them. It was a trump card this one could only play once, and it needed it to count. That meant that this one needed to bide its time until the moment to strike came.” He bared his fangs in a glower. “Unfortunately, that meant this one had to stand aside and let things proceed while hoping that the right moment would come.”

Ahuizotl grinned as he ran a finger over Ephemera’s gauntlet, admiring its evil craftmanship. “A wonderful tool, isn't it? Made of bloodsteel, with so much power in one little gauntlet to be able to deliver death so easily.” He slowly stepped his way to one of the tables and examined a half-constructed amulet. “And it's but one of the weapons made in the Empire back in their day. The Dromaed used to make such wonderful things.” He craned his head to give Stass a dismissive sneer. The hristak had been liberated of his weapons and tied up like Alya and Capital, and he glared back at Ahuizotl. “A pity they're such a pale shadow of what they once were. The Quinametzin were a people to respect, to fear. Their empire stretched across this whole continent once, their pyramids visible from every horizon and their magic mighty enough to break nations. Now look at them: nothing more than a bunch of savages sulking in the jungle.”

Stass growled as he fought his bonds. “You will be stopped, monster. We have done so in the past, and we will again.”

Ahuizotl tilted his head back and laughed. “Oh, I’ll admit, up till now you’ve managed to keep me out of Zhilius, but it was only a matter of time until I claimed this city’s treasures for myself.” He scooped up a fistful of the bloodsteel bars and let them trickle out of his fingers. “And now that I have them, your silly little Greenseers and hristak are all going to be crushed for daring to keep me out of Zhilius for all these centuries. The only reason the Greenseers managed to topple the Quinametzin was because they had turned on each other and didn’t see the threat you posed until it was too late. That isn’t a mistake I’ll be making. I’m going to crush the Dromaed and return them to how they were, only with me as their emperor!”

I struggled against the ropes that held me, but to no success. Ahuizotl’s cats circled close to me, probably determining whether they wanted to rip me apart for dinner or play with me first. “What're you trying to do, talk me to death?”

Ephemera kicked me in the solar plexus and I curled up on myself as I gasped for a breath that wouldn’t come. “Not such a smart-mouth now, are you?”

“So anxious to die, Daring?” Ahuizotl flicked me on the forehead hard enough to send stars through my vision as I was sent rolling. “That's simple enough to arrange.”

I grunted against the pain, trying to clear my head. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to keep provoking these monsters, but I wasn’t going to let them see my fear. But I needed time to think and find a way out of this situation. I knew Ahuizotl well enough to get him talking, especially when he probably shouldn’t. He was a spirit, and bound by his nature. A demon would try and get you to sell your soul with a bad deal, a muse would seek to promote the arts—Ahuizotl couldn’t help but be an oversized villain.

“Well ... before you kill me,” I said, forcing myself into a sitting position, “why not tell me what this is all about?”

Ahuizotl snorted. “Not smart enough to figure it out?” He pointed to the pyramid artifice behind me. “Isn't it obvious what you could do with this, this Blood Forge? The gauntlet Ephemera has is but a shadow of what the Quinametzin could do at the height of their power. With what I will find here I will have power—enough to create an empire that will rule from sea to sea. First I will conquer the Dromaed, then I will break the Zebrican Empire and add it to my rule.” He leaned his head in so that I could smell his putrid breath. “Then one day I’ll crush even Equestria under my fist and defeat that pretty pony princess of yours. Oooh, how I will enjoy getting payback on her for all the times she’s foiled me over the centuries.”

“I'm more interested in some of the lore we can dig up.” Ephemera’s emerald eyes flashed. “Like how to pull off some of their blood magic. Imagine what I could do with the power to kill anyone I wanted with just a drop of blood.”

“Sounds like something you'd like,” I said. This was not the type of power I wanted in either of their hands. It wasn’t hard to imagine the type of damage those two could do if they had all of Zhilius’ secrets to themselves.

Still, there might be a way to turn this around.

I smirked Ephemera’s way. “So do you have any of Ahuizotl's blood yet? Never knew you as the type who'd be happy as a lapdog.” Maybe if I could turn them on one another I could get out of this. Ephemera would betray her own grandmother for a bit, and Ahuizotl was pretty much evil incarnate. It wasn’t a matter of if they’d turn on one another, just when. Especially with such a big prize to fight over.

A deep growl rolled from Ahuizotl’s throat. “She'll more than benefit from working for me. Instead of running around raiding tombs for trinkets, she’ll be at my side as a pony of near unimaginable power and wealth.”

Ephemera’s smile was as insincere as her conscience. “Exactly. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement.” The tiger of Ahuizotl’s feline entourage growled at Ephemera.

“Yeah? And how long before you decide it's more fun to be in charge?” I asked. “You’ll stab him in the back; it’s what you do to everyone eventually. And it’s usually sooner rather than later.”

Ahuizotl had finally had enough of my provocations and scooped me up with a big meaty fist. Corded muscle squeezed my barrel, and I gasped as I thought he was going to pop my head off. I wondered if I’d finally pushed him too hard, but then he grinned and whispered into my ear so that only I could hear him. “I know. She's so wonderfully predictable like that. She’s an equine scorpion: she can’t help but sting anyone around her, but for now she’s useful to me. And when the time comes, I have every intention of out-betraying her, and I have the advantage of knowing the stinger is coming. Soon enough I’ll have other tools at my disposal, and Ephemera will be utterly disposable.” His eyes trailed to Puzzle. “Maybe I'll use him to do the deed. He looks like he knows where to stick a dagger, and he certainly fooled you.”

I struggled against Ahuizotl’s crushing grip, but it was futile. “And maybe it'll be you he sticks it into. Unlike Ephemera, he can play the long game. He’s not going to betray you until he knows it’s the right moment. Just like he did to me.”

A deep chuckle rolled out of Ahuizotl. “It does help keep life interesting, doesn't it? But by the time I have to worry about any of that you’ll be long, long gone.”

“We’ll see.” I raised my voice to shout out. “Hey Ephemera, never thought you'd be so weak you'd have to become someone else's lackey!”

“I say we break her jaw to shut her up.” Ephemera ran a hoof through her mane. “I’m getting tired of her going on and on. In fact, let’s get rid of her entirely. I've been trying to come up with something special for her. I mean, we could just let Puzzle eat her or let the guards have a little fun, but that's normal torture. You deserve something a bit more special than that, don't you DD?”

“I’m way ahead of you.” Ahuizotl smirked. “I’ve come up with something that’s going to make her positively scream.”

I groaned, knowing all too well where this was going. “Yay, another deathtrap.”

Ahuizotl’s trap of choice this time was an old coliseum. Stone stands that could have seated thousands circled a fighting pit. The sight of a few dozen of Ephemera’s minions taking seats seemed almost comical for how little space they actually filled up in the place. As was the case with much of Zhilius, plantlife had overgrown much of the coliseum, grasses and lichen covering much of the interior, and vines having overgrown the statues that dotted the structure. The fighting pit itself was filled with black sand, though several bushes and small trees dotted its interior. At its center sat a black obelisk with more of the sharp-lined sigils that covered Ephemera’s gauntlet. It was about the only thing the jungle hadn’t yet claimed as its own within the coliseum.

My captors dragged me and the others to a box that overlooked the fighting pit. If I had to guess, it was the personal box of someone important in Zhilius, possibly the Quinametzin Emperor himself way back when. Ahuizotl approached what appeared to be some sort of antiquated control panel. He ran his hand over it to wipe off the centuries’ worth of grime and revealed sigils carved into its surface. “Ah yes, good, it's all still here.” He pressed a couple of runes as his cats took positions about the box to lounge around while Puzzle took a spot in a corner, watching as his new master did his work.

Ahuizotl’s fingers moved back and forth deliberately over the controls. “Back when I was summoned by the Quinametzin to ... assist them, I learned a great deal about them. I got to see many of their toys in action, among them this very arena. And I really enjoyed the gladiatorial fights here. Possibly some of the best bloodsports I’ve ever seen as gladiators from across the Empire and beyond were made to fight to the death to the roar of the crowd.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d seen Ahuizotl play up whatever deathtrap he was about to throw me in enough times to have gotten tired of that old hat. “Gee, can't imagine why all their neighbors hated them. It’s like they were bloodthirsty monsters or something.”

Ephemera scoffed. “The weak always like to think they're better than the ones who're stronger than them.”

“More like the weak are jealous of the strong,” Ahuizotl said.

“I like to think of it as a mix of jealousy and trying to make their own weakness into some sort of virtue.” Ephemera sneered and pushed me towards an open hole in the railing leading down to the fighting pit. “But that’s enough philosophy. Time to die.”

I balanced precariously on the edge as I said quickly, “Well, what sort of horror is this gonna be? Snakes? Alligators? Snake-alligator hybrids that spit acid?”

“Something even better.” Ahuizotl continued to play with the controls, and I felt a buildup of magic in the air, something that made the air become frigid despite the humid jungle air. “You see, this coliseum is quite special. The Quinamentez didn’t like to see their favorite fighters merely die, so they found a way around that.”

He pressed a final sigil, and the obelisk started humming with magic. All around the circumference of the fighting pit the block stones started showing lines of pale green magic glow through them. Warding stones, I realized, though how exactly they worked was way beyond my relatively rudimentary knowledge of magic. Next the same lines of magic started glowing within the crevices of the obelisk itself. The black sand shifted and moved, taking to the air and swirling up to form shapes. Skeletal figures coalesced together, covered in armor, wielding a variety of weapons, and representing a range of species ranging from Dromaed, equines, gryphons, to others from more distant lands. I realized the sand was in fact grains of bloodsteel, and from within each metal skeleton’s depths glowed a pale green fire.

Little surprise, I did not like where this was going.

I frowned as I considered what I was hearing. “Based on what you’re telling me, I think this bloodsteel has some kind of property that lets it harness soul and life energy. That would align with the fact it was made of blood, however the Quinamentiz managed to do that. Blood is a natural conduit for life and as a result it can pack a nasty punch, which is why warlocks like to use blood magic.”

“That is what this one theorized as well,” Puzzle said. “Granted, this one doesn’t have a firm grasp on a lot of the technical aspects for how all of that is done.”

“It’s not exactly the type of knowledge you want getting around.” The Magi Order took a rather dim view on blood magic, or at least the type that required the sacrifice of others. There were a number of legal spells and rituals magi could use that required some blood to use, but that was when it was the user's own blood. Not to mention you needed to have some knowledge about the topic to use a proper death curse since that required you to use up your life essence. The line was drawn when it was other people’s blood being used, but there were always black magic users who were perfectly content to make others sacrifice so they could prosper. There was a whole chapter in the Black Codex that just covered blood magic and its potential uses, emphasizing just how important this type of magic was to those who wanted to use forbidden forms of magic.

Ahuizotl smiled with obvious eager anticipation as the undead started moving. “Excellent, it all still works.”

Ephemera grinned as she watched the skeletons slowly come to life, or whatever you called what it was those things had. “Ooooh, spirits. Nasty.” She pulled out one of her daggers and waved it in front of my face. “I'm almost tempted to let you borrow one of my corpsebane daggers, just to keep it interesting.”

I scoffed. “I don't need any favors from you.”

Ephemera tsked as she shook her head. “Sweetie, you're not in a position to turn down any help. Even if it's just me wanting you to last long enough to give me a good show.”

Ahuizotl laughed. “Indeed. Cling to life for as long as you can, for you won’t enjoy what comes after.” He pointed a finger at the obelisk. “You see that? When you perish that obelisk will collect your soul so you can fight for our amusement again, and again, and again. Just like all your playmates down there. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Wonderful was about the opposite of what I was thinking. As far as fates go, living on in perpetual undeath to be Ahuizotl and Ephemera’s plaything had to be up there as the worst. Not that I saw a way out of this predicament.

Ephemera smirked as her dagger waggled in front of my face. “Sure you don't want to beg for this knife?”

“Keep dreaming,” I told her. “I'd rather die than give you the satisfaction.”

“Well, that part's happening regardless,” she mocked. “And I will find it very satisfying. Still, I suppose you deserve something before your inevitable doom.”

Before I could react her lips met mine in a mocking final kiss.

“Eeew!” Kukri stuck out her tongue. “This one still finds the idea of kissing the Ephemera-mare gross.”

Daring grinned and ruffled her headcreast. “You and me both, kiddo.”

Before I could pull away from that nauseating kiss, she gave me a swift push that sent me falling. Her dagger caught on the ropes binding my arms, and gravity caused the blade to slice through my binds as I plummeted. I hit the ground and the air blasted out of my lungs.

“Consider that a good luck kiss, DD!” Ephemera mockingly waved at me as I tried to catch my breath and get up again. “I just regret that you can only die once.”

Ahuizotl leaned out the box to grin down at me. “I can always turn her into your servant later.” He pointed to the obelisk. “We’ll have her soul soon enough, and it will be simple enough to shove her soul into a body to be your slave forever and ever.”

Ephemera rubbed her chin. “That's true. But soulless minions aren't so fun to torture.”

Ahuizotl’s head tilted to the side. “No, the construct would have a soul, that’s rather the point: to shove her soul into some golem that’s forced to follow your commands.”

Ephemera scoffed and waved him off. “Whatever, it’s not the same.” Once again she tauntingly flashed her dagger for me. “Tell you what, I'll hover this dagger down to you if you beg for it.”

I snorted and turned my back to her to face the undead, several of whom had turned to face me. I wasn’t about to beg Ephemera for help, and instead searched around for some sort of option to defend myself. I was completely unarmed, whereas all my opponents were decked out in arms and armor. It was hard not to think of myself as some sort of sacrifice right at that moment, but I steeled myself and concentrated on surviving—however bad the odds looked.

This one stood off in the corner of the box, watching and waiting. This whole situation had truly and wholly spiraled out of control. All this one could do was stand by and watch as the Do-mare and the others were abused by their captors, hoping all the while an opportunity to strike would come.

This one had to keep itself from grimacing when the Do-mare had refused the offer of a dagger. If she had taken up the Ephemera-mare’s offer, she might have been able to cut the binds on her wings and escape. That would have made the overall situation much better. The others would still be held captive, but a whole range of options would have opened up to us. Pride was such an inconvenient emotion.

Ahuizotl narrowed his eyes at Ephemera and he hissed. “Stop trying to give her a dagger! She'll just use it to cut the binds to her wings and then fly out of here.”

The Ephemera-mare’s head snapped in Ahuizotl’s direction, and her face contorted into a vicious, homical visage that she quickly clamped down on. As this one had come to learn, the Ephemera-mare hated it when she was told she couldn’t do something, especially when it was called out for being foolish. She was the type to step off a cliff just to spite someone telling her it was a bad idea.

Daring blew a strand of her mane out of her face. “I’d be so lucky if she had.”

As if to prove this one’s point, the Ephemera-mare snatched a club from one of her goons and tossed it down into the pit next to the Do-mare. “You were such a good kisser I figured I should give you fighting chance, DD! Besides, it's more fun this way!”

Ahuizotl growled from deep within his throat. “You didn’t need to give her a weapon, she’ll do just fine on her own.”

The Ephemera-mare puffed her mane with a hoof, not deigning to look at Ahuizotl. “She'll fight harder if she thinks there's a chance. There's no point in killing her if we can't enjoy it.”

The Do-mare had the right idea to try and create a break within the tenuous alliance between the Ephemera-mare and Ahuizotl. It was only a matter of time until they turned on one another. The problem was that the time hadn’t quite come for them to become enemies. The Ephemera-mare still had much to gain from their alliance: magical artifacts, arcane lore, and a host of other resources and powers Ahuizotl could shower upon her over time. Ahuizotl in turn was constrained by a fact no would-be ruler could get around: no ruler could rule alone. Every king needs people to collect their taxes, enforce their laws, and fight their wars. So they needed each other—for now. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to wait for those natural fissures to rip open.

“Foolish,” Ahuizotl declared and turned his back to the Ephemera-mare. “I'm going back to the Blood Forge.” He smiled widely at the Alya-mare, the Idea-stallion, and Stass, their gags keeping them from speaking. “I want to try out my new toy, and I have plenty of ... building materials to work with.”

The Ephemera-mare quirked an eyebrow. “What's the point of even putting our nemesis into a deathtrap if you don't get to watch her die?”

Ahuizotl eyes narrowed. “Are you questioning me, Ephemera?”

The Ephemera-mare shrugged. “Nah, just thinking out loud.”

This one had trouble believing it was saying this, but it actually agreed with the Ephemera-mare. Just up and leaving before the Do-mare was dead seemed like a terrible idea. For them, that was. This one was quite pleased by their terrible decision making, even if it grated against this one’s sense of practicality.

“That’s Ahuizotl for you,” Daring said. “He can’t help but shove me into some sort of deathtrap and then leave me alone to escape. It’s part of his nature.” She frowned slightly. “If he were a pony I’d accuse him of having a very weird fetish.”

A sassy grin found its way to Kukri’s face. “Well you know how some ponies are into manacles, whips, and—“

“And you are forbidden from finishing that sentence,” I interrupted. “Unless you want to clean the lab from top to bottom.”

Judging from her silence, Kukri did not in fact want to clean the lab from top to bottom.

Ahuizotl picked up on her sarcastic tone and his teeth showed in a snarl. “Daring is dead by my design, that is good enough for me.”

The Ephemera-mare shrugged and sat down on the central stone chair overlooking the pit. “Suit yourself. I want to watch her die.”

“And so she shall.” Ahuizotl pressed a pair of glyphs on the controls and an arc of green magic ran along the obelisk.

Within the pit there was a whir of activity as traps started forming out of the black sand. Pinwheels started spinning their blades, pillars blasted flames, and pit traps all moved about the stage seemingly at random and irrespective of who or what they damaged. Green lights flashed briefly under one of the undead warriors before a pit trap opened up. The undead gladiator fell for but a moment before spikes shot up to impale it. On another section of the battlefield another gladiator was melted by the pale green flame of one of the flamethrowers. It was havoc on the floor, and the gathered audience cheered and whooped at the devastation below.

Ahuizotl hit a final sigil and the skeletal gladiators all went into motion, bearing their weapons and turning on one another with great, unrestrained violence—and against the Do-mare. Ahuizotl tilted his head back for one final laugh. “Best of luck, Daring Do!” He turned and depared while the Ephemera-mare smiled with eager anticipation, leaning forward as she watched.

All this one could do was wait and watch, waiting for the moment to strike.

I didn’t have time for Ahuizotl or Ephemera’s taunts as the undead gladiators went into motion. Not having any other weapons available, I snatched up the club Ephemera had thrown my way. It seemed a poor offering next to what I was up against. All the gladiators were heavily armed and armored while all the protection I had was my cloth vest and a cheap stick of wood.

One of the gladiators, a Dromaed skeleton with green flames burning from within its eye sockets, approached me as it brought its greataxe to bear. It swung its axe in a couple lazy arcs before the weapon suddenly flashed for my head. I only narrowly dodged to the side, but the undead thing used the momentum of his axe to keep his blade moving in fast circles, striking again and again forcing me to move back and to the side to keep my head from getting cleaved in two. I had briefly hoped that these skeletons would be dumb and slow, but these things had kept all their agility, strength, and skill in undeath.

I gave ground until for a split-second the undead changed its momentum and went for a horizontal slash to take off my head. I rolled forward and under the axeblade, using my momentum to roll to my feet, pirouette in place and then brought my club swinging into the back of the undead’s knee. The blow was enough to knock it down to one knee, and before it could recover I slammed my club down onto its wrists. The hit caused it to drop its axe, and I saw a valuable opportunity present itself. If I could snatch up the axe and use its blade to cut my binds I’d be flying out of here in no time.

I reached out for the axe, but with quicksilver speed the undead spun and whipped its tail. It swept my legs out from under me and sent me face first into the sand. Adding to my misery, the blinking lights of one of the pit traps moved under me and my opponent. Desperately, I pushed against the ground and rolled as fast as I could to get beyond the blinking lights. Not a moment later the trap doors opened and my opponent fell in—along with the axe I’d been trying to grab. Spikes shot up and skewered the skeleton, the green fire within its ribs extinguishing as the whole thing started falling apart in streams of black sand.

“Awww! Gimme some blood!” Ephemera called out from the emperor’s box.

I ignored her, concentrating on the simple act of survival. I was still in this thing, and if I could just get one of those bladed weapons I could get out of here. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, another undead warrior presented itself, its late opponent little more than a half-formed pile of sand in its wake. It wielded a pair of the Dromaed-style bladed clubs and it wasted no time putting them to work in a whirling dance of death.

I tried to get a read on my opponent, but he was fast, his clubs striking in an alternating blur, and soon it was all I could do to dodge and use my club to deflect what I could. Each time the serrated edge of its club hit my own, splinters of wood were shaved off, and I misjudged the angle one of his attacks was coming in and there was a flash of pain as an obsidian blade cut across my cheek.

Ephemera whistled. “That's the spirit! Bit of blood, bit of danger, just what I want! Gimme a death worth remembering, DD!”

Seeing I was about to get myself killed if I just stayed on the defensive, I struck out my club with a downward strike. The undead easily swept it to the side, but its momentum had been interrupted. I threw in a couple more feints and the undead struggled to keep up as it was wrongfooted. It seemed that while this thing was amazing on the offense, its defense could use a little work. Its clubs and arms got tied up with one another, and I seized the opening. I rammed my shoulder into it to throw it off balance and rammed my club through its ribcage. Before the undead could recover I levered the club to break the thing’s back and sent it falling to the floor.

I was about to try and pick up one of the bladed clubs, both as a better weapon and to finally cut these damned bonds that were keeping me in this deathmatch. But before I could do so, one of the flamethrower pillars turned my direction and flames built up in one of its muzzles. I threw myself to the side in a roll, narrowly avoiding the gout of flame that consumed my opponent and his weapons.

Okay, I was really starting to wonder if this place was actively trying to kill me. I didn’t mean in all the obvious ways—it felt like this arena was being intentionally malicious, trying to keep me here to make sure I died. It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least if the Quinamentiz had somehow bound some poor sod’s soul to this fighting pit, and programmed him to make things hard on everyone forced to fight here.

Having no other choice, I turned to face my next opponent, my breath already starting to become labored from the effort of fighting such a gauntlet of battles. If something didn’t change soon, I was going to be in real trouble.

Time was running out. It was only a matter of minutes before the Do-mare was killed. Briefly this one had thought she might succeed in grabbing one of her opponents’ weapons, but fate seemed to be conspiring against her. Basic facts flew through this one’s mind: the Do-mare was trapped in the arena, and there was a small army’s worth of thugs in the audience. Even as this one watched, the fighting pit was creating more gladiators to fight one another and the Do-mare. This one was stuck in the emperor’s box with the Ephemera-mare and her two bodyguards. Ahuizotl was on his way to sacrifice the others to the Blood Forge. On average, a warrior could fight for five minutes before becoming winded from the sheer exertion from the high activity that came with fighting for your life. The Do-mare had that long before she became exhausted and overwhelmed by her opponents or the traps.

The seconds were ticking.

But what could this one do? Another cold hard fact was that this one was fading; it was well and truly starving by now and its growing weakness made the prospect of trying to fight the Ephemera-mare and her guards unappealing. Half the reason this one was leaning up against the box’s wall was to preserve what remained of its strength, and it was all it could do to keep its legs from shaking. This one didn’t even have enough magic to transform. It’d been a mistake not to tell everyone what this one was earlier. This one should have done so back in the jungle. It would have been a risk, but then we might not be in this current predicament. Now there wasn’t even time for this one to try and feed on one of the Ephemera-mare’s lackies.

This one had to figure out what to do. This one considered its paltry options, coming up with scenarios before dismissing them as unworkable. Attacking the Ephemera-mare would likely just get this one killed and do little to help the Do-mare. Diving down into the fighting pit would probably be an equally swift and brutal death. That left a particularly unpleasant option: let the Do-mare die. This one could let events proceed as they would and play the long game, working to undermine Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare from the inside. It was only a matter of time until the two of them turned on one another, and this one could encourage that. There were just two rather major problems with that. First was that this one would be writing off the Do-mare and the others. Second was that this one might end up working under Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare for an unpalatably long period of time. This one had worked for the Ephemera-mare long enough to know it did not want to go back to doing that again. In that specific case, practicality and logic be damned, this one wasn’t going to live like that, it still had a soul.

That left one final option, an extremely risky one, but unfortunately the best one available.

It was as the Do-mare was approached by an undead gladiator wielding a flail and shield that it turned a smile the Ephemera-mare’s way. “Enjoying the show?”

“Immensely. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this.” Her gaze was fixed on the combat below. The undead monster swung his ball and chain until it was all but a blur. It struck out at the Do-mare and she was forced to give ground or risk having some part of her body caved in.

“Years, this one imagines,” this one said.

“Oh yes.” The Ephemera-mare’s lips spread in a smile. “It's been a fun little dance. I'm almost sad to see it end, but nothing lasts forever.”

“Nothing does.” That one let that idea hang in the air before saying, “We could make this a bit more entertaining before she dies.” This one pointed at the controls. “This one watched Ahuizotl as he turned everything on, and it thinks it could make things more ... interesting before the inevitable happens.”

The Ephemera-mare gave this one an indulgent wave. “By all means, make it good. Just don't kill her too quick.”

“Hardly, no sense ending this too quickly.” This one turned to the controls and desperately prayed that it knew what it was doing. It had indeed carefully watched Ahuizotl at work, and if there is one thing changelings are good at, it is copying others. This one very carefully mimicked pressing a very specific set of control gems and sigils.

The warding stones that surrounded the fighting pit spluttered and then died, the light in them going out with a pained wheeze. The only barrier keeping the undead from the audience had just been turned off.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the audience, the Ephemera-mare included. “What'd you do?”

“Oops.” This one dropped a potion onto the floor and smoke exploded into the box. Not wasting a moment, this one lept over the rail and out of the box. This one let itself fall for several feet before taking wing. Above this one a great burst of green fire shot out of the box.

“Puzzle, you backstabber!” Ephemera shrieked as this one flew away to aid the Do-mare.

The spiked ball of the flail came screaming for my head. I jerked my head back just in time to keep it from being knocked off my shoulders. I jabbed with my club to try and force my opponent back, but the undead gladiator easily blocked with his shield and brought his flail up and over for another attack. I brought up my club to block, only for the flail to smash the weapon in half, and spray my face with splinters. I threw myself back to keep the flail from hitting me and landed on my back.

I silently cursed Ephemera for going cheap on the weapons for her thugs, just like everything else.

Not wanting to lie there where the undead thing could pummel me, I tried rolling to my hooves, only for one of the pinwheels, its blades spinning fast, to block my exit and trapping me between it and my opponent. The gladiator spun his flail, ready to put an end to me once and for all—but then it suddenly stopped.

All around the arena the wardstones flickered and then died, the power keeping the undead inside the fighting pit now gone. As one, the undead gladiators turned their heads to the gathered audience, who went deathly silent as they fell under the baleful green stares of the monsters they had just moments before cheered on. Then they started moving to the walls. Many centuries of neglect had caused much of the stone to crumble, and there were plenty of purchases the undead could use to climb with.

My eyes widened in hope. A lack of maintenance over the millenia must have caused the wardstones to break down. I thought my opportunity to get out of this situation had come, but then my undead opponent turned back to me and his flail was sent spinning. The flail came down, and I rolled to the side to keep from getting pulped. I got back to my hooves, but the undead moved to keep me pinned between it and the pinwheel. Darn it, could I just get one break already?

Puzzle Piece kicked the undead in the back of the head and sent it stumbling forward, past me, and right into the pinwheel. The undead was sliced clean in half and its top half bounced several times off the rapidly spinning blades before falling limply to the ground. Puzzle landed in front of me and pulled out his dagger. “Let this—”

I slugged him right in the face and sent him staggering back. He dropped his dagger as he tried to regain his balance and I snatched it up. I knew what was happening here. Puzzle had seen that the wardstones had broken down and that I was about to break out of this mess. Now he’d come to make sure that wasn’t going to happen. Unlike Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare, the big horsebug was a cold-hearted mercenary who’d kill me quick and be done with it. This wasn’t pleasure to him, just business.

Well this business was just about to go bust.

Puzzle held up a hoof. “Wait! Just—”

I slammed into him with my shoulder and sent him flying to the ground. I was on him in a moment, straddling him with his own dagger at the ready. The backstabbing bug wasn’t going to tie this loose end up for his employers. I brought the dagger down, but he got a leg up to keep me from driving the weapon home. The two of us struggled, but it was clear from the start who was going to win this one. I had gravity on my side and it was both my arms against his one, and so the dagger slowly inched its way towards Puzzle’s neck, right between the plates of his chitin.

He grunted as he fought a losing battle. “Stop! This one’s trying to help you!”

“You backstabbing bastard!” I pressed on with renewed strength, my blood up as I finally got my shot to strike back. “I trusted you!”

“This one was trying to save you!” Puzzle screamed. “Ephemera was about to kill you! The only way this one could save you was by taking you prisoner!”

“So you let her play her sick games with me?!” I continued pressing, I wasn’t going to fall for his tricks. I knew he was a con and couldn’t be trusted. Everything he said was just to try and save his own skin. “Thanks but no thanks!”

“This one didn't have a choice!” the backstabber pleaded, still trying to play his games right up to the last moments of his life. “It was either play along with her or let her blast you with that weapon of hers! She was going to rip your soul right out of your body!”

A creeping moment of doubt worked its way into me. “I could've taken her.”

Puzzle’s face contorted with effort as he continued to speak. “With a weapon like the Ephemera-mare had? When you had to close the distance, and her bodyguards could have blocked you?”

I hesitated and slacked off the pressure on the dagger. Okay, so the odds hadn’t been in my favor back in that bloody workshop, but Puzzle still had a lot of explaining to do. “So why betray me?”

“This one didn't!” The mercenary took a couple deep breaths so that he could speak. “The only way it could see to save you was to pretend to betray you. Everything this one told the Ephemera-mare was a big lie! There was no way this one could have planned for everything to have gone the way it said it had. What this one was really trying to do was buy time to turn things around on the Ephemera-mare. All this one needed to do was get close enough to her to zap her with this one’s shock gauntlet. With her dead, her minions would have broken.”

I saw an obvious flaw in that lie. “Then why didn’t you do it! You had the shot! Why didn’t you take it!”

Puzzle frowned. “Unfortunately, Ahuizotl showing up threw this one’s plan out the window. This one didn’t know how to take both him and the Ephemera-mare down at the same time, so it just kept up the deception.”

“How convenient for you,” I snarled and held the dagger in place. “Even if all that’s true, I bet you backstabbed me just to save your own hide! You saw that things had turned against us after it was revealed what you really were, so you switched sides when it was convenient! Now you’re just trying to clean up after Ephemera’s screwups!”

The dagger slid down until it was almost puncturing Puzzle’s hide, and he grunted with effort. “If this one wanted you dead it would have killed you in the workshop! One slash of the dagger and it would have been done! Leaving everything to the Ephemera-mare’s stupid whims would have been idiotic. That would just be asking for her to drop the ball.”

“You might just have kept me alive to make your employer happy,” I countered. “Earned some brownie points with her by letting her do whatever she wanted with me.”

“Then what about this right here?” Puzzle nodded to the stands where the undead had swamped the thugs. “What possible reason would this one have had to come down to this fighting pit and risk its own life to try and take you down? Especially after this one turned off the warding stones in the first place?”

My ear flicked. Could he actually be telling the truth? Every instinct in me told me he must be lying, but his words were nagging me. “You might be keeping one of Ephemera’s stupid whims from screwing everything up. The wardstones probably broke on their own accord, and now you’re here to try and keep me from escaping.”

Puzzle stared me right in the eyes. “If this one wanted you dead, then why didn’t this one shock you to death the second you pinned it down?” I blinked and looked down. Puzzle had his shock gauntlet pushed right into my stomach, and he grinned when I finally noticed. “It would be a rather poor performance on this one's part if it killed you trying to save you, don't you think?”

Feathers, he was making way too much sense now. I should have noticed that one of his hooves hadn’t been occupied with keeping him from getting ran through by his own dagger. He’d had me dead to rights this whole time and I hadn’t even noticed. Puzzle was a steely bastard if he had the nerves to not zap me while I was actively trying to kill him. Maybe he was lying, but I had too many doubts now to do him in.

“Fine.” I withdrew the dagger and got off of him. Using the dagger, I cut the ropes holding my wings in place.

“Thanks for not killing your rescuer.” Puzzle stood up and his gaze swept over the area. Thankfully, none of the undead had come for us during our scuffle. As for the thugs, the quick and smart ones had seen how things had gone to Tartarus and had fled for the nearest exits. Those that weren’t so quick and smart became object lessons in evolutionary biology. A burst of green fire shot out of the emperor’s box—Ephemera, no doubt. One of the undead was blasted out of the box, its body lifeless after it hit the ground, but a dozen more of the things were climbing up after it. “We should probably get going.”

“Ready to take on Ephemera?” After a moment’s trepidation, I gave Puzzle his dagger back and turned my back to him. It was dumb, all things considered, but I needed to know. I could feel it coming, the moment Puzzle would take that brief moment of weakness to stab me in the back, regardless of the fact I’d just spared him. I’d been there a dozen times before. Any second he’d say something like, ‘Gotcha!’ or ‘You’re far too trusting, Do-mare.’ Then he’d strike with the dagger. But I was ready. He now stood between me and the pinwheel, its blades still whirling. One good buck and he’d get what he deserved.

I waited for the inevitable.

Puzzle sheathed his dagger. “Actually, this one thinks it’d be better to go after Ahuizotl. He’s heading back to the workshop, and he said he was planning on sacrificing everyone to that Blood Forge we found. Time’s ticking to save them, and while this one is loath to leave an enemy behind its back, those undead should hold the Ephemera-mare down for a while, and with any luck deal with her for us.”

I blinked and turned my head to stare at him. This was not how things normally went. Was Puzzle really on my side? Truly?

Puzzle noticed my hesitation. “Is there a problem with that plan? This one figured saving our companions would be the highest priority.”

“No! I mean, that sounds good to me!” I found a grin forming on my lips. “Let’s get going.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Chapter 21

The sun was setting when we returned to Zhilius’ central pyramid. We ran into the main entrance and threw open the door leading to the section of the pyramid that contained the magical workshop. The two of us ran forward, only to be brought to a screeching halt by the sight before us. Instead of the straight hallway we’d fled down before to escape the gas trap in the entrance we now faced three different hallways, each branching off in a different direction.

I frowned. “Well, this is new.”

Puzzle glanced down each hallway, but each ended in hard turns that led to further into the pyramid. “This is not how this one remembered this part of the pyramid.”

“I remember from my studies legends of how the Quinametzin’s pyramids could change, and each time you walked into them it'd be laid out completely differently,” I said. “Guess there was something to those stories.”

“So we're talking about some sort of magical architecture?” Puzzle stroked his cheek. “This place did seem a bit bigger on the inside. At first this one just dismissed it as just all being in its head or some trick of perception, but if the internal layout can change...”

I grimaced as I considered some of the implications of that. Something must have been prompting the pyramid to change its layout. Either the pyramid changed itself or Ahuizotl had somehow gained control of it. He had claimed to have worked for the Quinametzin and clearly knew how some of their stuff worked. Honestly, I didn’t know what would be worse for us. Sure, Ahuizotl was working against us, but at least he was a known factor. If the pyramid was changing itself, then it could be completely random or based on some arcane intelligence we knew nothing about.

“This is gonna make it a lot harder to find where they took Capital and Alya,” I observed.

“Possibly too long,” Puzzle said. “But this one isn't seeing a better way forward.”

“Yeah, I'm not gonna quit now.” I examined each hallway, trying to decide if any of them were different in any way. “And even if the place is changing, there'll still be some pattern to it.”

“You're supposed to have a special talent for finding your way, right?” He briefly glanced at my compass cutie mark. “Then lead the way. Let's hope the pattern isn't hard to figure out.”

Seeing no difference between the hallways, I picked the right one and barreled forward. It wasn’t long before we reached another fork in the road with yet more hard turns in seemingly random directions. I took another right, only to reach a dead end. Turning around, I took a couple more rights just to find yet another dead end.

“Great, a maze.” I briefly took off my hat to wipe my brow. At least we haven’t run into any traps or monstrous guardians ... yet. “You know the first rule of solving a maze, right?”

“Keep going only left or right until you reach the end?”

“Exactly!” I turned around and took yet another right, with Puzzle shortly behind me.

“Might as well go with the brute force method then,” Puzzle said. “This one doesn’t have any better ideas.”

“We got this!” I assured him, keeping an eye out for traps or other dangers even as we ran. I wasn’t wild about being this reckless in unfamiliar territory, but the others’ lives were in danger and time was of the essence.

We kept at it for a few minutes, but then I noticed that Puzzle was lagging behind enough that he’d almost missed the turn I’d made. “Hey Puzzle, keep up!”

He scowled up at me. “This one is trying.”

“Well just trying isn't gonna be good enough!”

“This one knows,” he snapped.

“What's the holdup then?” I called back, noticing that Puzzle was huffing and puffing pretty bad. We were setting a pretty hard pace, but I thought Puzzle was good enough shape to keep up.

“It's been a long day,” Puzzle said through gritted teeth.

Something about how he’d said that made me worry. Considering everything that’d happened I had a pretty good guess on what was really going on. “You weren't lying about being hungry, were you?”

Puzzle wasn’t quick to answer. “No. Quite frankly, this one isn't doing very well.”

I grimaced and slowed down the pace. I didn’t know all the particulars about changeling biology, but I’d gone hungry enough times to know that wasn’t fun. “We gotta get you some food, don’t we?”

“That would be ideal,” he agreed. “A pity then that there’s only one way for this one to do that, and you made your opinions very clear on it. And as this one said, it isn't going to feed on you without permission.”

“Not like I was suggesting that,” I said, perhaps a bit too quickly. I turned my attention to the next bend in the turn. “But maybe we can find one of Ephemera's goons or something. Not wild about feeding you anypony, but ... I mean if we're taking them down anyway...”

“It's all still bodily harm at the end of the day.”

I wasn’t exactly sure how a changeling feeding ranked on the whole scale of violence, but it couldn’t be great. I knew I didn’t want some changeling sinking their fangs in me.

Puzzle fell silent for several seconds. “Though this one believes most of them are back at the coliseum, and you can guess how many of them are left by this point.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Those undead had been out for blood, and any of the goons that’d been at the coliseum were either dead or scattered throughout the city by now. Maybe some of them had gathered at some sort of home base they’d set up in Zhilius, but we didn’t have time to pull them out of their hole. “But this is gonna be a lot harder with you barely functional.”

Puzzle huffed with effort, his speed slowing down yet further. “This one is quite aware, and not wild about the idea of fighting someone like Ahuizotl while starving.”

“We'll get you some food.” Just the little matter of actually finding any before Puzzle went feral or collapsed entirely. “All we can do is keep moving,” I said to try and encourage him, though his only reply was silence.

Some minutes later, we arrived in a new chamber. At first I thought we’d entered another one of those weird crystalline gardens, but this place had an entirely different layout. This room was much larger, for one; the whole place was crisscrossed by stairs, raised platforms, and ramps, with plenty of cubby holes dotting the place. But before I could worry about what the purpose of it all was, something rather more pressing came to my attention.

Above us were Ahuizotl’s five cats: a tiger, cheetah, lynx, panther, and, for whatever reason, a common housecat. All their heads immediately turned and they got up to prowl towards us.

“Horseapples.” I spread my wings and considered my options.

Puzzle glanced about warily. “So, how bad are his cats?”

“Pretty vicious.”

“Normal cat levels of vicious, or pony-eating vicious?”

The cats growled deeply as they approached.

“Definitely pony-eating.”

Puzzle let out a sigh. “Of course they are.” He pulled out a dagger. “Looks like we're going to have to go through them to get to Ahuizotl.”

“Super.” My eyes flicked between the cats as I decided how best to approach this. This wasn’t the first showdown I’d had with Ahuizotl’s feline squad, so I knew what we were up against. “I'll try to focus on the bigger ones. Can you feed on these guys?”

Puzzle shook his head. “Afraid not. This one can only feed on sapient beings.” The lynx stepped dangerously close to Puzzle and he took a step back. “But we’d better concentrate on surviving before we worry about this one's dietary habits.”

Before I could reply, the cats charged. The both of us leapt up and took flight, but the environment was pretty tight for the close confines, and the cats ran and climbed up to different platforms trying to get to us. The tiger and cheetah came after me while the lynx and panther went after Puzzle. I went wide, trying to make it so that I’d only have to face one cat at a time. I didn’t need to be dealing with one only for the other to jump on my back when I wasn't looking. So I kept climbing, dodging, and darting between stairs, crystal branches, and platforms as I worked to split the cats up, buying precious seconds.

Thankfully, cats hold no true loyalty to anyone, even each other, and the tiger and panther eventually split off in different directions. Eventually they were probably going to pin me between them, but I didn’t plan on letting them get the chance.

Once the tiger was nice and isolated, I timed my moment. As the tiger moved to jump from one platform to another, I dove and caught it in midair, my hooves slamming into its side sending it plummeting downward. It hit a platform with enough force to shake it. The tiger looked down and out, but I didn’t have any time to celebrate. The cheetah, quick as lightning, had taken the opportunity I presented it to get above me and pounce. I kept up my dive, barely dodging all the obstructions on the way down. The cheetah missed me, landing on another platform. It didn’t miss a beat before setting off at a run again to try and catch me, moving from one platform to another with liquid feline grace.

I took the momentary reprieve to glance in Puzzle’s direction. There was a cloud of noxious green gas on one platform, probably from one of Alya’s alchemical bombs, and the panther came stumbling out of the cloud, hacking and coughing. It slunk away, clearly having had enough of this fight and deciding this meal wasn’t worth the bother.

Puzzle was flying around another tree, the lynx climbing up after him. The changeling had pulled out a rope and cast its grappling hook onto one of the branches. He dived, passing right past the lynx, which pounced after him. Turning to dart to the side, he caught the lynx up under its legs and pulled up. The lynx was violently jerked up, its back slammed against the underside of a branch where it stayed pinned. Puzzle flew in a circle, wrapping the rope multiple times around the lynx before landing on another branch to tie it off, the rope now firmly holding the lynx in place.

I started to let out a relieved sigh, but then Puzzle wobbled and fell from the tree. I started a dive to catch him, but his wings started buzzing. It wasn’t enough to keep him in the air though, and he hit one of the platforms harder than I liked. But I didn’t have time to worry about him just then. The cheetah had moved into position while I’d been distracted and pounced down on me.

I pivoted midair and somersaulted to kick my rear legs up. My right hoof planted squarely on the cheetah’s jaw and brought its momentum to a sudden, jerky halt. It went flipping backwards before landing in a heap on a platform.

I hovered in place as I examined the scene around me. The cheetah was down and out as it slowly slinked away, and the tiger was nowhere to be seen. The other two large cats were also out of the fight. That just left... uh-oh. I’d nearly forgotten about that stupid evil housecat in all the chaos. I bolted for where I’d last seen Puzzle.

He wasn’t doing great. When I caught sight of him, the housecat was firmly attached to one of his rear legs, biting into the joint between the plates of his chitin. Puzzle cried out in pain and tried to get the cat off himself, but the cat let go on its own and scurried off into a cubby hole. Puzzle tried to examine his injuries, only for the cat to emerge from another cubby hole and take a cheap shot at another one of his legs. This time Puzzle managed to knock it off, but it just bolted for another hole to hide in. There must have been some sort of tunnel network within the platforms and wall, because the cat struck time and again, getting in some claws and bites before retreating to do it all over again.

Kukri held her hooves up to her mouth as she snickered to herself. “What’s the matter, Puzzle? Having trouble pounding that pussy?”

I groaned and rubbed my forehead. “Congratulations Kukri, you’ve just earned yourself the privilege of cleaning the stairs leading up to my tower landing with a toothbrush.”

Kurki’s earns wilted. “Aaaw... oh who is this one kidding? It was worth it.” My somewhat mischievous apprentice snickered to herself some more.

Puzzle normally probably wouldn’t have had trouble with something as mundane as a housecat, but his movements were sluggish and weak. His hunger was getting to him, and all the running and fighting we’d been up to wasn’t helping. He suddenly lost his balance when the cat took another swing at him. It then faded back, only to re-emerge from another hole, this time going for Puzzle’s eyes.

I caught it with my jacket, holding it like a net as I flew in for the save. “No you don't!” I quickly wrapped the jacket around the furball and tied it up to keep the cat from escaping. It hissed and struggled viciously to get out, but I took the jacket’s sleeves and tied them to a nearby branch to keep it out of trouble.

While I was finishing that up, Puzzle tried to stand but lost his balance and fell against the wall with a grunt.

I blinked in surprise as Puzzle breathed heavily. I darted over to him to check him over. “Whoa! Careful there. How much damage did that cat do to you?”

Puzzle took in several more heavy breaths before answering. “Nothing too bad, this one thinks.” He tried to pull some bandages out of his saddlebags, but his hooves were shaking so badly that he only ended up dropping them.

“Hey, let me take care of that! You just sit there and rest.” I snatched up the bandages and started looking over his wounds. They weren’t great, but they could have been worse. His chitin saved him from the worst of the cat attack, but wherever it didn’t cover him the cat had got him good. “Um, your blood's supposed to be this color, right?”

Puzzle sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. “If it’s green, then yes.”

“Great.” I started bandaging up his lacerations. “How you feeling?” I had a pretty good idea already how he was feeling: crappy. But I needed to check anyways.

He didn’t immediately answer, and for a moment I thought he had nodded off, but then he spoke slowly and deliberately. “This one thinks ... it might be best if you went on ahead.”

“No way, I don’t leave anyone behind.” I kept right on bandaging his wounds. “So get up!”

Puzzle kept his eyes closed as he rubbed his brow. “This one is afraid it's done, Do-mare. That last fight ... this one doesn't have anything left in it.”

I cut off the bandage and finished tying it in place. “Fine! I'll carry you then!”

“When you're heading into a fight?” He weakly shook his head. “That's a terribly dumb idea. This one would just be dead weight. This one was getting savaged by a damn kitten just a minute ago. There's no sense in trying to save this one if it's only going to get us both killed. And the others, don’t forget them. One life doesn't equal three. And more than that will die if you don't stop Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare. They’ll use what they find here, and we can’t allow that, whatever else happens.”

I grit my teeth together. “I’m not leaving you here just for those stupid cats to eat you!” Ahuizotl’s cats might have run off for now, but they hadn’t slunk off that far. As soon as they saw some isolated and weakened prey they’d come back out to play. I couldn’t leave Puzzle to that, whatever dumb self-sacrificial thing he had going on.

“You can't save everyone. This one rolled the dice, and this is how they fell. This one bet itself and lost.” Puzzle chuckled harshly. “To be honest, this one was betting against long odds from the start, assuming the game wasn't just rigged from the start anyway. The best this one could do was hope to give you a shot at beating Ahuizotl.”

“Shut up with your defeatism!” I grabbed the sides of his head so he had to look me in the eye. “So what, do I just let you die? Is that what you want?!”

Puzzle sniffled and his voice became tight as he spoke. “No, of course not. This one never wanted to die. This one... Dammit, there was so much more this one want to do, get promoted within the Masks, join the Council, make Freeport a better place, see more of the world. Not just some cursed ruin like this, this one wanted to get to see places like Canterlot, Lubeak, Manehattan—places that mattered. Now this one is so damned weak it’s going to die in this gods-forsaken ruin.”

“Well then stop whining and being all doom and gloom, and help me find a solution!”

Then Puzzle did one of the last things I expected him to do: he started crying. “It's just not fair!” He slammed a hoof on the floor. “It's stupid. This one's tried so hard, Do-mare. This one has always tried to play things smart, to make the right move, meet the right people, do whatever it took to succeed. But now look at this one: beaten, starving to death, surrounded by enemies, all because that stupid Cold Comfort hates this one. Now Ephemera—Ephemera is probably going to outlive this one! Where's the justice in that?!”

I blinked in surprise as Puzzle started to sob, his hooves covering his face.

“What is this one doing wrong?! Why is this the way things have to turn out?! Is this one just fighting fate until the lights finally go out?! Was this one just doomed from the start? This one doesn't want to die, but it doesn't know what to do. It's just ... weak.” He shook his head as his sobs ran their course. “This one doesn't even know how its fought off going feral for so long despite the pain, and this one doesn’t know what to do anymore.”

“Well I know what you’re going to do.” I wrapped a wing around his back to give him support. “You’re going to do what you’ve been doing thus far, and get back up again. 'Cause you're strong.”

Puzzle sniffled and rubbed his eyes. “Strong?”

“Yeah, you are.” I squeezed him with my wing. “Sure, you’re tired, you’re hungry, and life’s kicked you down, but do you know how many people have managed to come this far? In thousands of years almost no one but the hristak have gotten to Zhilius. Capital and I only got here because we’d carefully prepared for it, plus I have a lot of experience at this type of thing. Ephemera’s only brute-forced her way here through sacrificing tons of her goons, in no small part thanks to you, and Ahuizotl isn't even mortal and already knew a lot about this place besides. Without any real plans or preparation, you’ve schemed, plotted, and used your skills to come all this way, even discovering a secret the Dromaed have been hiding for centuries all while everything’s been trying its damned hardest to kill you. Hay, you’ve spent half this journey with a handicap by dragging Ephemera behind you. Most would die trying that. It takes someone strong to do what you’ve done, and I know you can keep going. Just a little longer, one step in front of the other.” I stood up and smiled. “Now come on. Get up, power through this, and let's save everyone!”

Puzzle looked down at the floor. “This one can't even stand anymore.”

“Yes you can!” I offered him a hoof. “Just let me help you.”

Puzzle stared at my hoof before he took it. “This one ... wants to keep going with you. To see this through to the end.”

I pulled him up and got Puzzle onto shaky hooves. He nearly fell over, but I caught him with my wing and held him up. “Right, there we go. You’re not done yet. As long as there’s life there’s a chance. We’re beaten up and battered, but we haven’t lost yet. You got that?”

Puzzle took and deep breath. “Right, we haven’t lost yet.”

I grinned. “And we’re not gonna be. Now let’s get moving.”

We continued further into the pyramid. Thankfully, there wasn’t any more of the maze to get through. Ahuizotl must have intended for his pets to deal with anyone that actually reached the end of it. Arrogance might as well be Ahuizotl’s middle name, and we were about to show him why that was a bad thing.

We arrived at the entrance to the magical workshop. The both of us crept to the doorway and leaned out to see what was going on inside, and it wasn’t good. Ahuizotl was hard at work with his new Blood Forge. Where before the Blood Forge had merely thrummed with the potential of power, now it was winding up to its full strength as green lines of magic ran through its channels. Capital was tied down on top of the miniature pyramid, and Ahuizotl was speaking arcane, hard-edged words of power that the Forge reacted to. Within his hand was a long blade of blood steel that looked like a mere dagger inside his massive palm. Alya and Stass were at the base of the Blood Forge, tied up and gagged to keep them from trying anything.

“Not good,” I observed. He was not going to use the Forge if I had anything to say about it. I promised Capital’s parents that I’d protect him, and that was what I was going to do. Not to mention I’d come to like Capital over the course of our journey. Sure, he could be a bit naive at times, but over time it’d come to be a part of his charm, and he was one of the last people to deserve what Ahuizotl was about to do him. Not that I liked the idea of anyone getting turned into that accursed blood steel.

“We'd better act fast.” Puzzle gaze swept over the workshop. “You’ve beaten Ahuizotl before. How did you do it?”

I grimaced as I remembered all my previous encounters with the evil spirit. “Usually through a lot of improvisation and more luck than I'd like to admit. He’s tough, he’s strong, and he’s way faster than a guy his size has any right to be. His main weakness is in the head department. Honestly, half the time I’ve just run from him when it came to a confrontation.”

Puzzle stroked his chin. “The way this one sees it, our main objective is to deny Ahuizotl his goal of sacrificing the others and turning them into bloodsteel. If we stop him from doing that then we’ve gotten at least a small victory.”

“It’d be best if we stopped him right here and now.”

Puzzle looked me in the eyes. “And do you have a workable way to make that happen?”

“Getting there...” I grumbled.

“While you’re working on that this one will offer up an alternative suggestion.” He pointed to where Alya and Stass were sitting. “We free the others and get them out of here. With Stass we might be able to get reinforcements into Zhilius to deal with Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare. We know what their objectives are, and it won’t be easy for them to pack up everything they want and get out of here quickly unless they’ve got a trick we’re not aware of. Especially that Blood Forge Ahuizotl’s so taken with. So we should have time.”

“Maybe...” I crossed my arms over my chest as I thought it over. Given the circumstances, it sounded like a decent plan. I didn’t like leaving a fight to anyone else, but Ahuizotl wasn’t exactly an easy opponent to take down. The hristak had claimed they’d dealt with Ahuizotl in the past, and with any luck they’d be able to do so again. At the very least, this plan would help keep our friends safe, which was definitely something.

In the end I nodded. “Let’s do this. I’ll distract Ahuizotl while you free the others and get them out of here. There should be plenty of places to hide in the city if we make it that far.” And given how weak Puzzle was right now, I wasn’t sure how well he’d even do in a fight. There was the little issue of leaving a hungry changeling with the prisoners, but we weren’t exactly spoiled for choices at the moment.

“And how will you disengage with Ahuizotl?”

I grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ve gotten away from him plenty of times in the past. Just make it so I don’t have to worry about everyone else and we’ll be fine.” In truth, that was a sticking point of the plan: the workshop was pretty big, but there was only so much room for me to work with and only one exit that I could see. That was going to make it tricky to make my escape, but then nothing ventured, nothing gained.

“Good enough.” Puzzle pulled out a dagger. “On your mark.”

The Blood Forge’s magic had the rhythmic flow of a beating heart as its energies built towards a climax, and Ahuizotl’s arcane words were picking up in pitch as he raised his blade over Capital.

I zoomed out from our hiding place and flew right towards Ahuizotl. He didn’t have time to react before my rear hooves slammed into the back of his head, the force of the hit sending him tumbling forward. Failing to maintain his balance, he fell down the steps of the Blood Forge and dropped his blood steel blade.

“Hey Ahuizotl! You forget someone!” Ahuizotl started to stand, but then I hit him right in the back to send his face smacking into the side of the Blood Forge.

“Daring Do?!” Ahuizotl roared. “How dare you! How did you escape my death trap?!”

“Maybe if you ever stuck around you’d know how I keep doing it.” Ahuizotl bolted to his feet, and I dived again to knock him back down again. But this time he’d known I was coming and a meaty fist swung at me in a backswing. I flipped in midair to pass over his arm, but the dodge put me out of position to hit him again. Ahuizotl snatched at me, but I was moving too fast and out of his reach.

“I’ll get you!” Ahuizotl picked up a nearby table and hurled it at me. I dove out of the way, and the ancient table smashed against the wall. I charged him again, but his guard was fully up now. He dashed forward and moved below me before I could course-correct, swinging an arm up at me with the intention of snatching me right out of the air. Once again I dodged to the side, and I could feel his fingers almost snatch my wing. Not having a whole lot of other options, I banked to go back on the attack, using my speed and maneuverability to try and keep Ahuizotl on the defensive.

Good news was that I had his attention on me. Bad news was that his attention was on me.

This one darted between tables and forges that dotted the workshop to move unseen. The Do-mare had successfully done her part of keeping Ahuizotl distracted, so now it was this one’s turn to act. This one knew it didn’t have that much time to free the others. At the very least the Do-mare was struggling against Ahuizotl. She was keeping him off balance, but she lacked the power to put him down. That much was obvious when nothing she had thrown at him so far was even slowing him down.

This one decided to free the Alya-mare and Stass first. They were harder to see and had the benefit of being together. Their eyes widened when they saw this one. No doubt they were having a bad reaction seeing this one coming at them while holding a dagger, whatever this one’s intentions. As far as they knew this one was still an enemy. Best to avoid a similar misunderstanding that resulted in the Do-mare slugging this one back at the coliseum.

“This one is here to help free you,” it quickly said when it reached them. “In brief, this one lied to the Ephemera-mare, and it got the Do-mare free and we’re working together. Please don’t scream or hit this one when it frees you, that will make escaping much harder.”

They might have squirmed away from this one, but Ahuizotl had done a good job of tying them to a post used for the very purpose of keeping slaves in place for their upcoming sacrifices. Given actions spoke louder than words, this one started cutting the Alya-mare’s binds first. Of the two, she was less likely to hit this one when it released her.

Unfortunately, less likely was still a long way from impossible, and her hoof slapped this one across the cheek. “You tricked us!” she hissed, her eyes burning.

“And you can properly scold this one for its behavior after we’ve escaped to safety,” this one told her, ignoring the pain from its cheek. “Before then, perhaps we should concentrate on not getting captured again.”

The Alya-mare squared her jaw and looked like she wanted to argue the point further, but her gaze shifted to where all of the group’s seized gear had been piled up. “I’m getting my things.” This one didn’t belabor the point and let her do as she would.

No time to waste, this one moved to cutting Stass loose. When he got the opportunity, he pulled his gag from his mouth. “You here to feed on us, parasite?”

“That would be a very stupid thing for this one to try after untying you,” this one reasoned as it cut the bonds on his legs. “Now if you will kindly cooperate, we need to get out of here. The Do-mare can only hold off that monster for so long. We need to get out of here and get you someplace where you can call for reinforcements.”

Stass’ eyes narrowed and he rubbed his wrists once they were free. “I’m not going to run from that monster.”

The hristak stormed past this one before it could ask what he was doing and picked up his serrated club, then ran to a panel in the center of the room that looked similar to the one used to control the fighting pit and started pressing sigils.

This one left him to it, cursing as the Dromaed was now standing in the open for anyone to see. This whole plan could come apart if we couldn’t get reinforcements. Now we had maybe seconds before Ahuizotl saw what was going on. This one ran up the Blood Forge’s steps to reach the Idea-stallion. His eyes widened and he started mumbling something under his gag. Probably some curses about this one being a backstabbing traitor given the vehemence of the mumbling.

This one spoke quickly as it cut through the ropes holding him down on the sacrificial slab. “This one lied to the Ephemera-mare about working for her, it freed the Do-mare, and now we’re working together to save all of you. Please don’t hit this one.”

The Idea-stallion pulled his gag from his mouth and glowered. “Concisely said, but you make it a bit hard to trust a thing you’ve said.”

This one finished cutting the last of the ropes. “Just join us in getting out of here while the Do-mare distracts Ahuizotl.”

The Idea-stallion’s mouth opened in shock. “I’m not about to abandon my friend to that monster!”

I grabbed him by the arm, we didn’t have time for a debate. “Go before—“

The Do-mare tumbled past us, her flight out of control as she hit the wall and fell to the floor. Our time had just run out.

“Daring!” the Idea-stallion called out at the sight of the Do-mare lying on the ground. She groaned and tried to stand but then collapsed.

His immediate opponent disabled, Ahuizotl’s head snapped to glare at the two of us. “Puzzle, what do you think you are doing?”

This one thought of something very clever that might just work. “You see—” But before this one could respond Ahuizotl charged. It seemed the time for words had passed.

This one shoved the Idea-stallion and started moving in the opposite direction. “Move!” This one ran, but to its shock the Idea-stallion didn’t get out of the way as Ahuizotl barreled forward with terrible momentum. Instead the Idea-stallion countercharged. He flew down the stairs, and Ahuizotl jerked in surprise. The momentary hesitation was enough of an opening for the Idea-stallion to punch Ahuizotl right in the nose with everything he. But Ahuizotl was far too large and his momentum too strong for a single punch by any mortal pony to stop him entirely. His bulk slammed into the Idea-stallion and the two of them tumbled down the Blood Forge in a pile.

Both of them scrambled to get back up, but the Idea-stallion was the faster of the pair, going right on the attack. “This. Is not. How civilized. People. Behave!” the Idea-stallion roared as he delivered one hook after another to Ahuizotl’s jaw, sending him jerking to the side with each strike.

“Enough!” Ahuizotl backhanded the Idea-stallion and sent him flying. He hit the ground hard and skidded for several steps before coming to a halt. Ahuizotl stomped over and raised a fist to bring down on the prone pony.

Before he could crush the Idea-stallion, a vial smashed into his chest and exploded, sending Ahuizotl staggering. “Leave him alone, you monster!” The Alya-mare dug out another vial from her bag and tossed it as she ran over to defend the Idea-stallion. One explosion after another rocked Ahuizotl as the Alya-mare unleashed everything she had. But then the Alya-mare’s hoof reached into her bag and came out empty, her extensive supply finally expended.

Ahuizotl’s hands lowered from his face. His body smoked from the repeated explosions, though his supernatural constitution had weathered the storm. If he had any injuries, this one couldn’t see them. He growled and scooped up the nearest heavy object. A table flew caught the Alya-mare as she tried to dodge, landing on her as she cried out in pain. This one’s plans for escape had truly come undone.

Ahuizotl turned his attention to Stass, who was still busy playing with the control panel. The doors to the workshop closed on their own accord, and there was a rumble in the pyramid. Stass turned to face Ahuizotl as he stalked forward.

“What do you think you’re doing, little hristak?” Ahuizotl demanded as he loomed over Stass.

Stass raised his club to defend himself. “Fighting you, monster. As my ancestors have and, the spirits willing, as my descendants will for many generations hence.”

Ahuizotl chuckled and brought up a fist to strike. “You’ve failed. The Blood Forge is mine and—”

His words turned into a scream as this one used its shock gauntlet from behind. Ahuizotl convulsed as electricity coursed through him, falling to the ground as his body stopped following his commands.

This one’s shock gauntlet expended, it landed next to Stass, the only able-bodied fighter at the moment. The Do-mare was stirring, but slowly, and the other two were still recovering from Ahuizotl’s rampage.

“So, you got a plan? Because this one doesn’t think that’s going to keep him down long.” True enough, Ahuizotl was already stirring and starting to push himself up. This one considered going at him with its daggers, but they seemed pretty pitiful things against the mass and power of such a creature. The shock gauntlet was this one’s most powerful weapon, and against a supernatural entity like Ahuizotl it just wasn’t enough. That left this one with precious few options for stopping him.

Stass’ lips peeled back in a grin. “As you suggested, this one called for reinforcements.”

Before this one could ask the rather pressing question of when they would show up, a familiar sound this one had come to dread from its journey through the jungle started up. A rhythmic thump thump thump thump resonated through the ground itself, and this one’s first instinct was to start running.

The doors to the workshop burst open as a great force hit them. A Tyrant Lizard stepped through the doorway, nostrils flared as its predatory gaze swept over the room. Its deep-throated growl shook this one’s insides, and it was all this one could do to keep from fleeing in terror. Stass pointed to Ahuizotl, whose eyes were as wide as saucers staring up at the great tyrant of this land. “That one,” Stass said with a terrible finality.

The Tyrant Lizard roared, and this one clamped its hooves over its ears to keep from being deafened by the sound. The behemoth charged. Ahuizotl may have been a ton of pure muscle and supernatural malevolence, but he was a chew toy compared to what bore down on him. To his credit, he reacted quickly. His arms shot out to grasp the Tyrant Lizard by the jaws as it struck, and while he slid back a couple dozen feet, for a moment it seemed as though he might be able to match the Tyrant Lizard’s strength. Then the Tyrant Lizard simply turned its head, causing Ahuizotl to lose his grip, and its jaws clamped down on him. Ahuizotl screamed in pain and rage as he was lifted up and then shaken like a chew toy.

“Whoa.” The Do-mare stepped up to us, unable to tear her eyes away from the carnage. “There’s something you don’t see every day.”

“You can say that again,” this one said. The idea that the hristak could have such a great beast at his beck and call was more than a little bit humbling. No wonder the Dromaed had managed to live in this hostile land. A quick check showed that the door to the workshop now led to the main entrance of the pyramid. That must have been why Stass had been working the controls: he wanted to invite his friend in—his very big friend.

Stass smiled, perhaps just a little bit smugly. “I trust these reinforcements are sufficient?”

“Quite sufficient, yes,” this one agreed.

The Idea-stallion limped over to us while holding up the Alya-mare, all while staring up as the Tyrant Lizard continued to ruthlessly shake Ahuizotl. “I dare say that he’s definitely not enjoying that.”

The Alya-mare glared in Ahuizotl’s direction. “He was about to sacrifice us to turn us into bloodsteel. I don’t feel particularly bad for him.”

“So what’s next?” the Idea-stallion asked. “Assuming the Tyrant Lizard has Ahuizotl taken care of.”

Stass rolled his shoulder to limber it up after being tied up. “We deal with the remaining invaders.” He looked to this one and the Do-mare. “Where is Ephemera?”

A green lance of fire struck the Tyrant Lizard in the ribs and sent it falling. The behemoth seemed to take an eternity to hit the ground, and when it did, the ground shook. Ahuizotl tumbled from its mouth, moaning pitifully after being ravaged by the now-still Tyrant Lizard. For a moment all we could do was stare at the fallen titan, but then our attention turned to the source of the Tyrant Lizard’s sudden death.

Ephemera stood in the doorway, ethereal smoke trailing off her accursed gauntlet. She was flanked by her bodyguards, and a half-dozen of her thugs stood further behind. All of them looked the worse for wear; most of the thugs seemed to have some sort of wound from their escape from the coliseum, and all of them had a harrowed look in their eyes. Each warily eyed Ephemera, seemingly more concerned by her than what any of us were going to do to them. Her bodyguards had several fresh dents added to their armor, and one in particular was walking with a limp. Even Ephemera had a scratch along one of her shoulders, with her jacket nearly in tatters and her hair was in a tangle. But her emerald eyes were still cold as she watched us.

“You know, I can’t help but think I’ve gone in one long stupid circle.” Ephemera held her gauntlet up as she approached us slowly. “Just a few hours ago I was killing some stupid lizards here to get all of you at my mercy, and here we are again, only I’ve just killed a giant stupid lizard to have all of you at my mercy again. Now who do I have to blame for this massive inconvenience? Oh yes, I know.” She turned her gauntlet on Ahuizotl.

Ahuizotl’s eyes widened and he tried to push himself up, but he just collapsed onto the floor again, his injuries too severe to let him up. “You treasonous wench!”

Ephemera smirked as she reveled over her former patron’s moment of weakness. “Oh, Ahuizotl, you really should've seen this coming.”

Puzzle snorted. “This one certainly did.” I had to agree. It had been only a matter of time until Ephemera decided she didn’t want to take orders anymore. She’d never taken marching orders or being told no very well.

Ahuizotl clenched his teeth. “You need me. Without me you’ll never learn the secrets of the Quinametzin.”

Ephemera waved his point off. “I’ll figure it all out on my own. And if for some reason I can’t, I’ll just hire someone else to do all the hard work, then kill them to keep all the secrets for myself.”

Ahuizotl growled and his fists clenched. “You’ll pay for this, Ephemera, that I swear.”

“I doubt it.”

One of her bodyguards stiffened. “This is not—“

Those were the first and last words I ever heard him speak, because Ephemera abruptly whirled on him and tore his soul from his body to feed fresh power into her bloodsteel gauntlet. She then leveled it on Ahuizotl, and a torrent of green fire consumed him. When the fire subsided there was nothing left but ashes. I doubted that was really the end of Ahuizotl though; spirits like him always tended to pull themselves back together eventually, but it would still probably be a long time before he managed to rebuild a corporeal body. But that still left us with another monster to deal with.

Ephemera turned to the minions. “Right, you all work for me. Any objections?”

There were none. Most of them tried their best not to be noticed and looked away, while the remaining bodyguard stood in stiff stoicism.

Her minions now sufficiently cowed, Ephemera turned her attention back on us. “Now then, where were we?” She smirked and leveled her gauntlet on me. “Oh right, deciding how horribly all of you were going to die.”

Everyone stiffened, and Puzzle and Stass got ready to fight. I spread my own wings, ready to dodge as soon as she fired. But now after everything that had happened, we were back to square one. Ephemera had the distance on us, and it didn’t seem like we’d be able to close it without someone dying. Unless...

“Come on Ephemera, you don't want it to end this way.” I stomped a hoof in challenge. “Sure, you can blast me with that fancy new toy, but what you really want to do is face me mare-to-mare, hoof-to-hoof.”

Ephemera’s eyes narrowed. “What makes you think that?”

I grinned as I hooked her inner psycho. Now time to reel her in. “Because you know you want to make me hurt, you want to enjoy this. You’re only going to get to experience this once, so do you really want to waste it by just waving your gauntlet and killing me outright?”

Ephemera hummed to herself. “Well you're not wrong. I have to admit, the gauntlet is just a touch too impersonal. But I know you're trying to play me.”

“What, you’re not scared are you?”

Ephemera scoffed. “Hardly.”

“So let's dance, one last time.” I scraped my hoof along the ground, my wings outstretched. “Make it something special.”

“That's true.” Ephemera grinned and pulled out three of her knives and levitated them before her. “And I can always kill you the quick way if it goes against me.”

“We'll see about that.” I started moving and circling around her with the intent of drawing her attention away from the others. With any luck they’d be able to join in before Ephemera got a chance to use her bloodsteel weapon.

“Oh, one more thing.” Ephemera fired a blast of sickly green magic that created a circle of energy around the others. “No interference from the peanut gallery.”

“Give her what for, Daring!” Capital called from within the barrier. “You can beat her!”

“I doubt that.” Ephemera set her three daggers to hover around herself. “Come on then. I believe you promised me a dance.”

I tried not to let the fact Ephemera had just cut off my reinforcements get to me. I was in it neck deep now, and the only way to get out was to fight.

Wasting no time, I charged her. She had the reach advantage with her telekinesis, not to mention she was armed where I wasn’t. Those problems quickly showed themselves as Ephemera sent her daggers into a whirl, stabbing and slashing to force me back or risk suddenly developing several new holes in my body. My movement forward halted, Ephemera pressed the attack with a torrent of quick stabs that forced me to duck, weave, and give ground. Then there was a flash of pain as one of her knives slashed me across the shoulder. I beat my wings to get out of the range of those daggers and give me some time to rethink this.

For her part, Ephemera grinned at the bit of blood on her knife. “Got youuu,” she sang in a sing-song, and then licked the blood off the dagger.

“That’s unsanitary, you know.” I examined the wound on my shoulder. It wasn’t deep, thankfully, just stung a lot.

“Like you said, I should enjoy this,” Ephemera mocked. “This is going to be my last chance to get a taste of you. Might as well make it count.”

Sick of listening to her, I took to the air before going into a quick dive. Ephemera moved her daggers to intercept, but instead of going right for her I hit the ground in a crouch. My rear leg kicked out to sweep her front leg out from under her, but I misjudged the distances and didn’t quite manage to put her down. Instead Ephemera let out a yelp and fell back to try and regain her balance.

Deciding that speed and flight were my main advantages, I flew up and over Ephemera and swept at her legs once again. This time I connected solidly and she tumbled to the ground. I leapt to get on her so I could get hoof-to-hoof with her, but Ephemera smirked and I suddenly found a pair of daggers waiting for me. I knocked one to the side, but the other one cut me across the leg. I brought a hoof down on Ephemera’s head, but she managed to jerk out of the way just in time. Her third dagger came in, going right for my jugular. I was forced to throw myself into a roll to get out of the way. I continued rolling to get back to my hooves, and I turned to see Ephemera was back to her own hooves as well.

Ephemera chuckled and there was a sadistic glimmer in her green eyes as she watched me. “You sprang another leak, DD. How long are you gonna last?”

I glared at her. “More than long enough to take you down.”

“Oh DD, even now you can’t see how in over your head you really are.” Her teeth flashed in a vicious grin. “Why don't you just let me have my fun? Maybe I'll even spare your little friends if they swear to obey me.”

I stomped a hoof. “Like I'd ever believe that. You kill anyone that annoys you, much less anypony standing in your way.”

“Oh, Puzzle's definitely dead. I’m going to make sure he suffers for betraying me twice. It’s the only right thing to do. But the others...” Ephemera lifted her bloodsteel gauntlet to admire it. “Well, there are some fun new tricks I can try with this gauntlet. I haven’t even gotten to try its mind enslavement ability. That’s one I’m really going to enjoy. No more back talking, no more having to pay people, no more people telling me ‘You can’t do that, Ephemera, that’s wrong!’ or ‘You shouldn’t do that, you won’t like the consequences!’ Nope, just mindless obedience to their true mistress. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Wonderfully terrible, more like it. I could tell Ephemera was just getting warmed up with what she could do with the evil artifacts of the Quinametzin, and I couldn’t let her get away with doing more. “Not gonna happen!”

Once again I took to the air and dived, but this time Ephemera ran forward and threw off my aim. I came down to her waiting daggers. I dodged one with a quick twist, knocked another to the side with a hoof, but then a searing hot pain screamed from my wing. I screamed in pain as Ephemera pushed her dagger deeper into my wing, threatening to push its tip right through to my ribs. I pushed my wing out, but Ephemera was holding fast and the dagger was buried to the hilt.

In addition to her telekinesis, she pushed her hoof against the dagger, and I staggered until I hit one of the workshop tables. Several tools and half-finished artifacts fell to the floor. Bars of blood steel clattered about as a pile of the dark material shifted from the sudden impact. Ephemera continued pushing, smirking in delight as her breath came in fast and excited as she pinned me against the table. She could have twisted the dagger, causing who knew how much harm if she started doing so, but instead she held me there on the precipice of death.

Ephemera giggled with malicious mirth. “There we are. You were right, DD. I do want this. I love the feeling of my steel sliding into your flesh. It's just so much more satisfying this way. All the little feelings and details that you just can't get any other way but with a knife.” Her hoof started stroking my mane in a sickeningly sweet manner. “Don't be afraid, it's just a few neurons firing randomly while you die. Because you're just a silly little archeologist who never learned how to quit when things got too big for you to handle.”

I grunted in pain, trying to keep Ephemera from pushing the dagger right into my side. “And you're a monster.”

Ephemera clicked her tongue as she shook her head. “That's what you never got, DD. I'm not a monster, I just see the world for what it really is.”

“So is that why you’re doing all of this? You think it’s okay for you to do whatever you want because you’re somehow stronger and smarter than everyone else?” My eyes drifted to the pile of bloodsteel bars sitting right next to me. “That it gives you the right to kill whoever you want whenever you want, and use stuff like bloodsteel?”

Ephemera rolled her eyes. “Oh please. You think Equestria, Zebrica, the Gryphons, Freeport—any of them wouldn't use this stuff if they could? Freeport has plenty of useless eaters in their slums. Why not make them into something that'd actually be good to someone for once?”

“Maybe it's because it's evil?!”

Ephemera scoffed. “Please. Evil's just a word weak ponies use to complain because they lost to someone who was better.”

I gritted my teeth as I glared. “So what're you going to say when I beat you?”

“Sweetie, all I need to do is twist the knife and you're dead. Be the bigger mare and accept that you've lost. Let me enjoy this for just a little longer.” Ephemera leaned in for one last kiss, her other daggers floating to deliver the finishing blows once she was done with her twisted fantasy.

I gave her a kiss, alright. I snatched up one of the bloodsteel bars and kissed her right across the face with it. Ephemera’s head snapped to the side and she staggered and fell back, her knives falling to the floor as well. “You want bloodsteel! There’s your bloody bloodsteel!”

Ephemera tried to rise, blood dripping from her muzzle, but she was so rattled she couldn’t even get up much less bring up her defenses. I didn’t give her the chance. I leapt on top of her and laid into her. I brought my hooves down on her head again and again. I needed to stop this before Ephemera recovered and turned this around again. Before she could use—

Ephemera’s gauntlet flashed to light with its sickly green fire. Next thing I knew I was flying, and not because I was using my wings. A wave of unfocused magical energy carried me and I hit the ground hard well away from her. I groaned as I tried to regain my senses. Everything seared with pain, especially my wing, which still had Ephemera’s dagger in it. I pushed it to get myself upright again, but my body moved slowly, terribly slowly.

Ephemera used the workshop table to help herself back to her hooves. She snarled as she wiped the blood from her muzzle, her face now badly swollen and bruised. The gauntlet flashed again, and Ephemera was enwrapped by its energy. Before my eyes her wounds closed, and the bruises and swelling disappeared, leaving her appearance immaculate. She stood up straight, arrogantly glaring down at me.

“You know what, enjoying my kills is overrated.” Ephemera leveled her gauntlet at me to fire. But the light within it died out, its energy spent. She growled in frustration as her glare snapped to her gauntlet. Knowing exactly what was coming, her minions were already scattering. Ephemera brought up the gauntlet, only for most of her minions to have already escaped from beyond the doorway. Instead she soul-drained the easiest target to hit: her stoically standing bodyguard. He was paid for his misplaced loyalty by having his soul ripped out of his body, and it fell unceremoniously to the ground.

Ephemera turned her gauntlet back on me. “For what it’s worth, this was fun, DD.”

I forced myself up on wobbling legs and cursed Ephemera, her stupid gauntlet, and my own weakness. My wing was shot from the dagger sticking out of it, and that shockwave Ephemera had hit with me left me in bad shape. Ephemera charged her gauntlet and I prepared to dodge as best I could.

A dagger flew through the air and hit Ephemera’s gauntlet, jolting her aim. I darted to the side as a green burst of fire shot out. The barrier that had been holding the others prisoner had been opened up by a dozen little saplings—Stass’ magic no doubt. Puzzle had been the first one through the hole and was running at Ephemera.

Capital was the next one out, but then he hesitated once outside. “Wait, isn’t this something we should let Daring handle for herself?”

That idealistic... “No!” I told him. “Just stop Ephemera! I don’t care how it happens.”

Ephemera waved the gauntlet, and the vines holding the barrier burst into flame, and the hole snapped closed before Alya could escape. “Really? I thought you were supposed to stand aside and let Daring fight me all on her own.” Ephemera turned her gauntlet on Puzzle, but I charged and closed the distance between us before she could fire.

Ephemera, seeing she was being flanked, changed targets back to me, but she was too slow. I knocked the gauntlet aside and struck her across the face. She snapped up another dagger and slashed out at my head, and I jerked my head back to barely avoid getting my throat opened. Using the opening, Ephemera hit Puzzle with a quick blast of sickly green magic to knock him to the floor.

I roared and knocked the dagger aside, slamming a hoof into Ephemera’s ribs. She staggered back in pain as she tried desperately to give herself some breathing room, but Capital was on her. He threw a straight punch, but Ephemera blocked it with her gauntlet. With her own roar, Ephemera called upon the gauntlet to send out another shockwave that knocked the both of us down.

Stass flicked his claws in specific patterns and suddenly dozens of bats flew into the workshop and swarmed Ephemera. Ephemera snarled and fired off bolts of fire to try and get the bats off of her while still trying to focus on the rest of us.

“Get her!” I fought against my aches and pains to get back up, but my legs wouldn’t work quite right. A full day of running and fighting for my life had taken a harsh toll, and I was feeling it at the worst time.

Ephemera tried to bring her gauntlet on me as I struggled, but the bats were disrupting her aim. Puzzle came in on her flank and grabbed her gauntlet to twist her arm. He bit into her shoulder and Ephemera cried out. Her dagger slashed down for Puzzle’s neck, but he turned, brought his elbow down hard on her shoulder, and used his leverage on her arm to force her to the ground and avoid the stabbing dagger. His hoof shot out to pull one of her spare daggers from her waist. He turned the blade deftly to bring it down on Ephemera, going for the kill. Ephemera wrangled her arm free and intercepted the dagger with her gauntlet, and Puzzle ran the side of the dagger down the length of the gauntlet to get the blade into a better position to bring her down. But Ephemera twisted the gauntlet to press it against Puzzle’s barrel and blasted him with a burst of raw kinetic force. Puzzle was sent flying and hit the ground in a heap. He groaned and didn’t get back up.

Capital charged, but Ephemera spotted him coming and tossed a knife. It sunk into Capital’s leg and he staggered. Ephemera tried to bring her gauntlet to bear on him, but her arm moved stiffly and unnaturally as Puzzle’s venom went to work. She was forced to use her other arm to help aim her gauntlet at Capital, and she fired a quick burst of telekinetic force to blast him from his hooves. The bats came in to harass Ephemera once again, but with a wild swing of her gauntlet a wall of fire intercepted the swarm and immolated it. Ephemera kept up the torrent of fire and brought it down on the head of Stass. Stass raised his arms, and a wall of vines shot up from the floor to intercept. There was a roar as the flames hit the vines, creating an explosion that knocked him from his feet.

The others momentarily disabled, Ephemera used her good arm to help aim the gauntlet right at me as I got to my hooves. The gauntlet’s sigils burned brightly as Ephemera charged a blast just for me. “Just die already!”

She fired her weapon, but instead of me being consumed by a pillar of fire, sickly green flames punched holes through the side of the gauntlet, like little geysers that had finally built up enough pressure to burst. The force of it pushed Ephemera over, and the screams of the damned wailed from within. When the flames subsided Ephemera blinked then looked at the gauntlet. It was now dead, its flames having gone out. “What? It can't be ... I just recharged it!”

Ephemera leveled the gauntlet at me to yank my soul out for more power, but nothing happened. She reexamined her gauntlet, and down its length it sizzled. It was like someone had poured caustic acid down a strip along the gauntlet, and several holes poked through its where its own baleful flames had further damaged it.

Puzzle chuckled, forcing himself up into a sitting position with a grunt. “This one wasn’t sure if that was actually going to work.”

Ephemera snapped a baleful glare at Puzzle. “What did you do?!”

Puzzle held up the dagger he’d stolen from Ephemera. “This is your corpsebane dagger, right? The one you taunted the Do-mare with back in the coliseum? The way this one figured, the bloodsteel, as its name suggests, is made of blood, and there has to be quite a bit of necromancy used to make both the bloodsteel and that weapon of yours. So it made sense that it would be affected by an alchemical solution intended to destroy undead. It was a risk, but then, in battle the greatest risk is to take no risk at all.”

“You .... oh horseapples.” Realizing the tide had turned against her, Ephemera started pulling out a wand, but I was on her by then. I smacked her horn, disrupting the levitation field on the wand and letting it clatter to the floor. My next blow struck her across the face and she went down.

I stood over her, my breath ragged, ready to give her another if she tried anything. “You're done, Ephemera. Give up.”

To my surprise, Ephemera laughed even as blood leaked from her muzzle. “DD, I was always way better at seeing all the angles than you.” She held up her remaining good arm in surrender. “Fine. I surrender. Be a good little pony and take me back to Equestria to stand trial for my crimes or whatever.”

“This one hardly thinks so.” Puzzle limped badly as he walked over to us, Stass not far behind him. Alya was helping Capital with his wound off to the side. “We shouldn’t give her yet another opportunity to escape justice once again. No doubt she’s planning to take advantage of the long trip back to Equestria to get away from us, and failing that, break out of jail again when she gets to Equestria.”

He had a point, even if I wasn’t wild about this conversation or where it was going. Puzzle hadn’t put the dagger he’d stolen away, and didn’t seem in a rush to do so. “Yeah, then what do you think we should do?”

Puzzle looked at Stass out of the corner of his eyes. “Zhilius is the hristaks’ responsibility, is it not?”

Stass’ talons tightened around his obsidian-toothed club. “That it is. And for the crimes of invading Zhilius, the murder of my brother hristak, perfidy towards her own bondsmen, and many other crimes, the punishment is death.” The hristak growled deeply. “We will not let this criminal leave without facing our justice. If the Equestrians want to put a corpse on trial, they may.”

I didn’t like the idea of there being a summary sentencing and execution for Ephemera, but ... this was Dromaed land. And if anyone deserves to get punished big time it was Ephemera. Not to mention Puzzle had a big point about how Ephemera kept escaping from whatever prison she was thrown in. Sooner or later enough had to be enough, and a lot of people had died because I hadn’t been willing to do something extreme to put a stop to Ephemera.

“So it's an execution then?” Ephemera looked to me. “If you do that, what makes you any better than me?”

I glowered. “That list is so long I don't even know where to start.”

Ephemera scoffed. “You invaded Zhilius just like me, and you wanted to steal their artifacts as well. That stupid overgrown lizard should cut off your head right after he’s done with me.”

“I only ended up coming here because of you.” I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my muzzle, the fatigue and pain of the day now badly catching up with me now that the battle was over and the adrenaline was wearing off. “You needed to be stopped. Seeing what you’ve done after just one day here is proof of that. And I never wanted anything like that gauntlet you’re wearing, much less that evil Blood Forge that made it to start with. I wanted to collect things like pottery, some tools, maybe an old weapon—stuff like that. Not artifacts of ultimate evil. If it wasn’t for you I would have... I don’t know, asked if I could go someplace else, seen if there was an alternative than having to come here and see what you wanted so badly.”

“Sure, tell yourself that if it helps.”

“Their crimes will be addressed later,” Stass said. “As long as they do not try and escape, the Greenseers can decide what’s to be done with them. But you I can kill without any guilt weighing down my heart.”

Ephemera gaze swept over everyone gathered. “So that's it then? Huh. Last request for the condemned?” She nudged one of her daggers towards my hooves. “Do the deed yourself. Don't let some big dumb lizard have it. I deserve that much after everything we’ve had.” With a shrug of her shoulders, she chuckled. “I always kinda hoped it’d be you if I had to go down.”

My eyes narrowed and I left the dagger on the floor. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“What, you think having someone else do the deed keeps your hooves clean?” she mocked. “If you stand by and do nothing you’re just as culpable as anyone for what happens.”

“Probably, but I'm way past being done with you,” I told her. “I’m not going to lose any sleep knowing you’re gone.”

“Bah, you're still no fun.” Ephemera smiled wistfully as Stass took position behind her, his club upraised. “Still, we had some good times, didn't we DD?”

I shook my head. “No, no we didn't. You're quite possibly the most repulsive creature I've ever met, which is saying something.” Whatever corrupt thing Ephemera thought we had, I wanted no part of it. She’d made my life thoroughly miserable every time she came into it, and the world would be a better place without her.

Ephemera chuckled and grinned wryly. “Someday—”

Stass took her head off with his obsidian-toothed club.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.

Epilogue

After our battle with the Ephemera-mare and Ahuizotl, we ended up surrendering to the hristak. Our options weren’t great by that point; most of us were injured to to some extent, and our supplies were short. The Ephemera-mare’s remaining and starving minions had devoured the food they’d kept in their packs, so even if we’d decided to run we wouldn’t have been able to move quickly, and we didn’t know the ground nearly as well as the Dromaed. Not to mention we just didn’t have the drive to try and escape. The whole experience had been draining, and what we had found in Zhilius weighed on us.

The hristak ended up escorting us back to Szuszushlui. Stass claimed that he needed to report to the greenseers and that they might wish to speak with us about what happened. Thus we returned to the greenseer community, and each of us were questioned by the hristak and greenseers at least once over the next couple of days. This one would have been fine with that if not for the fact that our fates were yet to be determined. Going days without knowing whether we were to be executed was stressful. This one hated unknowns; it could at least plan for bad news if it came to that.

Still, even if the Dromaed were planning on executing us, they hadn't treated us poorly. We hadn’t been tied up and thrown in cells, but instead we were given our own rooms within the pyramid at the center of Szuszushlui, even if they were under guard. Their greenseers had even treated our wounds. This one checked on their work in its room as it pulled the bandages from its elbow where that damn kitten had scratched it.

The Alya-mare looked it over as well. “Seems like it's knitting up pretty well. Though I'm not exactly used to your ... anatomy.”

This one stretched the limb. It felt rubbery more than anything. The trip to Szuszushlui had been pretty unpleasant, even at the relatively slow pace we’d gone, but now everything seemed to be on the mend. “It feels alright. The Greenseer that looked it over seemed to do a good job of it, and whatever he put on it seems to be working. Or at the very least it isn't poisoning this one.” This one shrugged. “Not every medicine that works for equines works for changelings. Probably the same for Dromaed medicines.”

“As long as it's healing, it should be fine,” the Alya-mare said. “I’m pretty sure the plants he used are good for healing.”

“Right.” This one started putting some fresh bandages on. The wound was probably fine on its own, but this one would prefer not to risk any kind of infection in the jungle climate. “It helps that this one is getting some regular meals again.”

The Alya-mare chuckled nervously as her hoof drifted to the fang marks on her neck. “Yeah, guess so.”

“You feeling okay from this one's feeding? This one's been careful with how much it’s been taking.” The Alya-mare and this one had come to an arrangement for this one’s feeding, but this one still had to be careful. Considering how badly this one had been starving back in Zhilius, this one had to fight instinct to control how much it took from the Alya-mare. It was like telling someone who’d just survived a trek through the desert that they can only drink a cap’s worth of water at a time instead of the whole canteen.

“It's fine.” The Alya-mare rubbed her neck. “Feels kind of weird though, and it probably didn't do much to convince the Dromaed you're not a vampire.”

This one sighed. “Probably not. There is a significant chance they'll decide to kill this one just for what it is, never mind the laws this one broke that they tend to kill people over.”

The Alya-mare slumped onto a feathered cushion. “Somehow I don't think they'll get that you just filter the energies you need out of the blood.”

“They can be ... intentionally ignorant at times,” this one said. “Especially where outsiders are concerned.”

“Admittedly, it took me a bit to be okay with it. It takes some adjustment to accept the idea of someone else feeding off of you.”

This one shrugged and plopped onto a cushion next to her. “That's true of most people. The Free Minds don't exactly have the kindest origins.” Even in Freeport, revealing one’s nature was often an awkward process. It probably didn’t help that Free Minds were still inclined to hide our nature. Not that there weren't very good reasons for that, but keeping secrets inherently creates suspicion. Considering people were more than capable of coming up with insane rumors on the flimsiest of evidence, it wasn’t hard for those same people to come up with some pretty unpleasant ideas about Free Minds when there really were some unpleasant facts about us.

She shrugged. “Right, I'd heard a few things, but...”

“The very short story is that the Old Mind wasn't keen on her creations having a will of their own,” this one said. “Especially when they decided not to be slaves anymore. There was a war, and the Free Minds lost—badly. We spent some time trying to stay one step ahead of the Old Mind until we eventually settled in Freeport. Though the Old Mind still takes shots at us now and again, probing Freeport’s defenses, sending in a few drones to cause trouble and attack Free Minds at least in part to remind us she’s still out there, and most Free Minds keep disguises up for that reason.”

“Right.” The Alya-mare glanced out the window to where Dromaed were tending to the small fields of crops. “Well, hopefully they’ll go easy on us. They'd have to be pretty ungrateful not to, all things considered.”

“It's easy to be ungrateful after the goods have been delivered,” this one pointed out. “This one can easily give a dozen examples where someone became significantly less friendly to this one after they got what they wanted out of this one.”

“Point. Never count on gratitude after the fact.”

This one stretched some of its muscles to keep its injuries from becoming too stiff and sore. “It’s one of the reasons why this one wasn't keen on continuing to work for the Ephemera-mare. You know, in addition to all of the evil. She’s the type to dispose of anyone who isn’t immediately useful to her.”

“Considering how she treated all her subordinates, that was a good call,” the Alya-mare concurred. “I know I don’t miss being in her company.”

This one grinned as it tried to lighten the mood. “And if we do get out of this and back to proper civilization, we’ll be getting a tidy little profit out of all of this.”

The Alya-mare patted her satchel where she’d stored all her seeds. “I got what I need, assuming I can keep it all. The Dromaed might not want anything from the jungle to leave it..”

“They haven’t seized it all yet, so that’s a good sign. Though this one thinks its gotten its hooves on something even more valuable if used right.” This one pulled out some identification papers and other documents that used to belong to the Ephemera-mare.

The Alya-mare raised an eyebrow. “Well hello hello, what have we here?”

This one grinned. “The keys to Ephemera's fortune. This one has a hunch that she had a few illicit bank accounts with the type of banks that don't ask a lot of questions about where the money came from and where it goes.” This one transformed into the Ephemera-mare and took on her haughty demeanor as it spoke with her voice. “And if I look like Ephemera and have her identification papers...”

“Clever.” The Alya-mare rubbed her chin. “Not like there's going to be a death certificate or other paperwork when she died out in the middle of the jungle hundreds of miles away from civilization.”

Those were this one’s thoughts exactly. Even if there was a slight issue. “No, though the Do-mare and the Idea-stallion will probably report her death. But that will take time to sort out, and this wouldn't be the first time some do-gooders falsely reported some villain dead when they really weren't. It'll probably take a bit of time for this one to withdraw all of her money and sell off her assets without drawing suspicion, but it should still result in a nice little profit. Enough to pay off all your family's debts in thanks for feeding this one. So this one isn’t too worried about getting what it wants as long as it doesn't dally.”

The Alya-mare smiled. “Thanks, Puzzle. And you can always cut the others in on the action if need be.”

This one frowned as it put the papers away. “This one doubts our other companions will be quite as interested in these types of profits. There’s blood on the Ephemera-mare’s money, likely literally, and at least a significant proportion of it was gotten from selling historical artifacts on the black market.”

The Alya-mare crossed her arms over her chest as she thought. “You never know. I’m sure there's a museum or something you could donate to if we need Daring to go along with it.”

This one sensed what was really bothering the Alya-mare was this one leaving the others out of the profits after all we’d gone through together. The issue was their morals getting in the way of their self-interest. This one had a good feeling the Ephemera-mare left no one to inherit her wealth, and it seemed a shame for all of her money to end up seized by some government when it could do us so much good. But there were ways to deal with this so everyone could be happy.

“Oh, this one can certainly make a donation to something the Do-mare cares about. Same with the Idea-stallion—this one will talk to them subtly to discover what charities they care about. They don’t necessarily need to know where the money came from to profit from it. Certainly the Do-mare deserves something nice for everything the Ephemera-mare put her through.”

“No kidding.” She grimaced. “Seemed like she had some kind of crazy obsession with Daring.”

This one suddenly felt very uncomfortable wearing the Ephemera-mare’s skin and went back to natural form. “That was this one's takeaway. She seemed to think she had something with the Do-mare despite her wanting nothing to do with her. But then, the Ephemera-mare was not healthy in the head, this one’s certain of that.”

“Understatement of the century, she made my skin crawl. And all the people she killed...” The Alya-mare shivered. “I just hope the Dromaed take into account that we helped take her down, considering how much we're counting on getting credit for helping stop her.”

“Considering this sounds like the closest Ahuizotl or anyone else has gotten to nearly stealing Zhilius' treasures, our help should count for something.” This one shrugged, not wanting to stress too much over something currently out of our hooves. “This one plans on making an argument for it if we get the chance. This one doesn’t want to die if it can help it.”

“At least we should have Stass on our side,” the Alya-mare said.

As if summoned by her words, there was a knock on the door. This one opened it to see Stass on the other side, and he didn’t bother with any greetings upon seeing this one. “The Greenseers wish to see you.” His eyes flicked to the Alya-mare. “Both of you.”

“Nothing for it.” This one nodded to the Alya-mare and she got up to follow. It seemed that the Dromaed had gotten around to deciding our fates.

We were all escorted outside of the pyramid to meet with Greenseer Sapiearl. I’d hated waiting to see what was going to happen, but the Dromaed didn’t seem to be in any hurry to judge us. Or maybe they were just taking their time deliberating. We’d certainly had quite the tale to tell, and with any luck the Dromaed would take into account how we’d helped them, and then given ourselves up after defeating Ephemera and Ahuizotl.

As for the old Greenseer himself, he was sitting on a stone chair overseeing a lillypad and muck-covered pond. Below the surface were fish seeking to nab any unwary bugs that came to the surface. He tossed some fish food into the pond before turning to us with a paternal smile.

“So, we meet again,” he said. “Curious how things have come in a circle.”

“We may be in the same place now, but sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination,” I pointed out. “A lot has happened since we left here.”

“You have certainly been on a journey,” the old Greenseer agreed. “That much is without question. I have met with the other greenseers and listened to what you have to say, as well as taken Stass’ account. Is there anything you would like to say for yourselves before judgement is declared?”

I nodded. “If we hadn't busted out, Ephemera and Ahuizotl would've gotten away with all the dirty secrets of your people. We put our lives on the line to stop them when we could have just run, or even stolen some of the secrets of the Quinametzin while you were all busy. Instead we helped, and then we surrendered to face judgement. Does that sound like the actions of someone evil?”

“That much is true.” The corner of Sapiearl’s mouth quirked into a grin. “But then, there were good reasons why we let you escape into the jungle and head to Zhilius.”

Puzzle raised an eyebrow. “Excuse this one? You let us escape? Why would you ever take such a risk when it's the hristaks’ mission to stop anyone from getting to Zhilius?”

“Because it was clear your fates were tied to Ahuizotl and Ephemera.” He pointed to me. “Especially you. You have danced with them before, and I suspect it will not be your last encounter with Ahuizotl. It is the nature of opposite forces to clash, and the currents of the universe will conspire to make them meet so that they can eternally play out their dance. At the very least, we knew you would lead the hristak to Ahuizotl.”

“So what, you're saying me stopping Ahuizotl was all part of your master plan?” I couldn’t help but feel a bit incredulous at the idea. Sure, I’d been told before that Ahuizotl and I were tied up by destiny in some way, but my actions were still my own. I’d come this far because I’d wanted to, not because some nebulous force told me to.

“More like we let the plans of something greater than any of us proceed as they would,” Sapiearl said.

Puzzle frowned. “That sounds risky, to say the least. Things could have gone very terribly if those two had their way, and they very nearly did.”

“The currents of destiny flow as they will, and to swim against them is to invite disaster,” the Greenseer countered. “And we did send the hristak in your wake to ensure events followed the path we preferred. There is a difference between fighting against the currents of fate and using them to navigate. And things have turned out for the best, as we suspected they would.”

“So what of us?” Puzzle demanded. “This one hopes that we haven't gone on this grand adventure of fate only to meet an unfortunate end. It would seem like a poor end to the story.”

Stass stepped up to address the Greenseer. “They fought bravely and righteously, Greenseer.”

I nodded. “You're damn right we did.”

“Indeed.” Sapiearl scratched his cheek as he considered us. “So let me be sure that I understand everything correctly: they have braved the dangers of the jungle, found a compass to pierce the veil surrounding Zhilius, bypassed the many dangers of the city itself, learned the truth of the Quinametzin, resisted the temptations of that dark place, and defended it against those who would steal its evil treasures. Is this correct?”

“It is,” Stass confirmed.

Saprieal grinned. “Correct me if I am wrong, but are these not most of the tests demanded of any acolyte of the hristak who would join your ranks?”

Stass grinned back, and I got the sense that all of this was rehearsed. “That is also true. And I would stand for them, if need be.”

“Ah, well if that is the case, then I see no reason why we can't declare them hristak, no? Honorary hristak, in any event.”

“I rather doubt they would undertake the duties of that post,” Stass pointed out. “Making them honorary seems better to me.”

Puzzle let out a relieved breath. “As long as it keeps us from being executed.”

Saprieal clapped his claws together. “Excellent, I think this the most satisfactory way to deal with this problem. You did break many of our laws, but I do not believe you had nefarious intentions and your actions speak for themselves. Besides, I would not wish to stand in the way of fate and what it has planned for all of you.”

“Great.” I felt a whole lot of relief at being let off the hook, but I still felt a bit irked by one issue. “So ... what's my destiny supposed to be anyway?”

Saprieal shot me a knowing grin. “To be exactly who you are.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Wow. Has anyone ever told you your prophecies are really vague?”

The Greenseer chuckled. “More than one youngling has told me much the same over the years. Is that not true, Stass?”

“I recall saying something similar myself,” Stass said with perfect stoicism.

“In any event, I doubt you would do anything different merely because destiny said it was not to be,” Saprieal said. “You have a little bit of a stubborn streak in you.”

I snorted. “Well, you're not wrong.” Determination and stubbornness were two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways, and it had gotten me pretty far in life.

“The Do-mare doesn’t tend to give up easily.” Puzzle nudged me with an elbow. “An admirable trait under the right circumstances, if sometimes exasperating to deal with.”

“You’re not exactly a towering example of virtue either.” I nudged him back. “You caused me a whole lot of trouble this journey, you know that?”

Puzzle shrugged. “In truth, if this one had known all the trouble it was going to get up to it would have done things very differently. But there’s little sense in lamenting the past too much when everything turned out alright.”

“And thankfully, Zhilius' secrets are safe.” Saprieal leaned forward on his chair. “And as thanks, you will all be escorted safely back to your own homelands. While we thank you for your help, we Dromaed prefer to keep to ourselves.”

While the Greenseer was trying to dismiss us, there was a point I didn’t want to give up on quite yet. “What about the history?”

Sapiearl raised an eyebrow. “History?”

I waved at the pyramid that loomed over us. “I wanted to preserve the history of this place, of your land, your people. I mean, I know we don't want stuff like bloodsteel and that horrifying soul magic getting out into the world, but...”

Sapiearl frowned and the paternal warmth in his tone disappeared. “There are reasons why we have kept the secrets of the Quinametzin just that. You have seen the grave temptations Zhilius has for dark souls.”

“But there has to be some way to preserve history without letting all that stuff get out.” I stepped closer to him as I pressed my point. “We can leave all the dangerous stuff right where it is, I’m only interested in preserving the stuff that can help people learn. Pottery, tools, whatever written works remain—stuff like that.” I slapped the center of my chest. “I care about saving history. It’s important to me, and I want everyone to learn what happened to your people and why they changed.”

Sapiearl growled deep in his throat. “There are reasons why we have kept those details secret.”

“I know, but secrets aren't always good,” I stated. “Sometimes facing the truth is better. You can’t tell me your people are better off not knowing their past, having a bunch of lies fed to them. All that does is increase the chance they’ll make the same mistakes in the future. We learn the most from our mistakes, and studying them is the only way to make sure we don’t repeat them. That counts for you as much as us. It’s important that the weapons and evil knowledge in Zhilius stay exactly where they are, but there’s nothing preventing everyone else from rediscovering what the Quinametzin did. I can cite several examples where different civilizations invented similar inventions entirely independently of one another. The same could happen with bloodsteel, and the world needs to know to not repeat the same mistakes as the Quinametzin. Don’t you think?”

Saprieal sat back in his chair and considered my argument. Eventually he looked to Stass. “What do you think?”

Stass carefully weighed his words before speaking. “The hristak grow stronger by facing the secrets of our past. Perhaps all the Dromaed should be strong.”

Sapiearl tapped the arm of his chair with a single talon. “Admittedly, as you have said, little good comes from secrets.” He let out a long sigh. “Long have I wondered if our ancestors did not seek to protect their descendants from the past so much as hide their own shame. No pride can come from the downfall of the Quinametzin, other than that a great evil was stopped. I cannot help but think we do ourselves a disservice by hiding the sins of the past, however unpleasant they might be. Perhaps it is time for things to change.”

Stass nodded. “And so we shall move forward.”

“I think that's the right call,” I said. “You can’t do anything about the past, but the future is yours if you’re willing to seize it.”

“There is truth in that,” the Greenseer said. “I will speak with the other greenseers about this, for this is a decision too big for one old Dromaed to make alone. But if we are as wise as we claim, then we will make the best decision for our people. In the meantime, you can coordinate with Stass for everything else.”

“It will be done,” Stass agreed.

Sapiearl shook his head to himself before his smile returned. “But let us put such weighty considerations to the side for the moment. There is always time for councils later. Right now I believe we need to have a victory celebration, barring any objections.”

I grinned. “A celebration sounds great.”

And celebrate we did. After the Dromaed had mourned their losses from the battle, they seemed as eager to relax and enjoy themselves. Plenty of food and drink had been brought outside, and for all their differences with equine society, the Dromaed definitely had the essentials of partying down.

It was as I was in the middle of watching a trio of Dromaed doing a celebratory dance that Capital came up to give me a friendly slap to the back. “Daring! How are you?”

I took a sip of my drink before replying. It was a marvelous mix of exotic fruits, and definitely hit the spot. “Haven't felt this good in a long time. I got to do a lot of exploring in a city that's practically unknown to Equestrian scholars, I made friends with the Dromaed and got them to open up to their secrets and respect their history a bit more, Ahuizotl won't be bothering me again for a long time, and Ephemera's gone for good.” I paused and frowned down at my drink as I swirled it. “Sounds a bit wrong to say I'm glad she's dead, but ... well, I'm glad she won't bother me or hurt anyone else ever again.”

Capital grimaced and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I admit, she was quite the fiend. I would have preferred if she had faced proper justice, but there doesn't seem to be anything for it. It’s likely she would have kept right on hurting people if she hadn’t been stopped.”

“I'm just glad she's not a problem anymore.” I snorted and shook my head. “Bah, that’s enough moping. This is a party, we should be happy!”

“Indeed, we're all alive and should celebrate a successful expedition.” He tapped his drink against mine and smiled. “Even if things got hairier than we expected.”

“They always do.” I grinned a wry, humorless grin. “You wanted to go on a Daring Do expedition, right? Well, things getting far more dangerous than you expect is just part of the experience.”

“I’ll say.” Capital scooped up some fruits from a nearby bowl. “I'll have some good stories to tell my chaps back home, let me tell you. Even if I suspect they'll just say I'm telling tall tales given everything that happened.”

“Well, at least you'll have Yearling's next book to back you up, once she gets around to writing it,” I told him. “I’m still going over things with the Dromaed to decide exactly how much will get put into the book. Obviously we don't want to put enough info out there to inspire anyone else to try what Ahuizotl and Ephemera did. Might have to take a few creative liberties, like say the entire city collapsed and sank into the ground or something. Yearling'll probably want to tone down Ephemera too. I mean, kids read those books.”

Capital shivered. “I would certainly think so. Ephemera was a monster that beats several actual monsters I've heard about. So yes, it might be best if ponies didn't know every detail. If some less than savory individuals knew about the Blood Forge...” He shook his head.

“The Dromaed are pretty clear about not wanting anyone else to try that stuff ever again,” I said. “And I don’t blame them in the least for it.”

Capital nodded in agreement and sat on a nearby bench. “I'm all for revealing the truth of the Dromaed's past, but as they say: do no evil. History is supposed to help people, not hurt them.”

I sat on the bench next to him and started enjoying some of the jungle fruit gathered there. “Yeah, we’re all on the same page for that now.”

Capital smiled as he nudged my side. “Haven't I told you communication is important? Most everything can be smoothed over if we just listen to one another and be honest.”

I sniffed and tossed my mane. “Well I was always talking to them and being honest.” Though the Dromaed seemed to have taken the threat facing them more seriously than I originally expected and used us for their own goals. I really needed to get better at reading people.

Capital cleared his throat. “Yes, well, I'm certainly not arguing with your ability to state your case.”

“Thanks.” I finished up my drink before asking a question that had been on my mind. “So ... what's your plan now?”

My traveling buddy took a deep breath. “Admittedly, I do miss home. And my parents are probably worried sick by this point. I've had my adventure, and I feel pretty satisfied with the idea of entering Her Highness' service in one of her agencies now.”

“Oh yeah? Which one?”

“Oh, it depends on who will have me.” He grinned. “Perhaps after this adventure Equestrian Intelligence might be interested in me. That certainly sounds more exciting than the Ministry of Agriculture.”

I snorted. “If you want exciting, that'll definitely do it.” Part of me was sad to be parting ways. I’d come to enjoy Captial’s company, even if he was still a tad too idealistic. But deep down I’d always known this was going to happen. He had a whole life spread out before him, and that road wasn’t the same one I was going down.

“I'll have the entire trip back to Equestria to think about what to do with myself, at least,” he said. “Plenty of time to reflect on everything, and after everything that's happened, I could probably use a couple of months of relaxing sailing.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “I bet halfway back you get bored and decide you want to get into a boxing match with a bunyip or a kraken or something.”

“Two months can be a very long trip.” Capital nudged me with an elbow. “Besides, you need to keep things fresh somehow.” Capital’s neck craned as he looked at something. “Speaking of, Puzzle is coming this way.”

“Goodie.” I waved to Puzzle as he approached. The two of us hadn’t spoken much since leaving Zhilius. Part of that was just because Puzzle had been in rough shape between his hunger and injuries, but a lot of it was because the two of us needed a bit of a break from one another to digest everything. A lot had happened between us over the past couple of weeks, not all of it pleasant.

Capital stood up and gave me a pat on the shoulder. He’d probably known this talk was coming and didn’t want to interrupt it. “I'll let you two be. That chap over there is telling quite the tale, and I want to see where it is going.”

He headed off, as Puzzle arrived. Puzzle had somehow gotten a ring of flowers wrapped around his neck and was carrying his own drink. “Do-mare, this one trusts you're doing alright?”

“I am.” I waved for him to sit on the bench. “Though still not used to you talking like that.”

Puzzle transformed into a pegasus that looked similar to his zony disguise. “Well I can talk like everyone else if you find it disconcerting.”

I shrugged. “It's not a huge issue, just a bit weird. I don't get why you Free Minds talk that way.”

Puzzle sat down and swirled his drink as he gathered his thoughts. “It's more cultural than anything else, near as this one can tell. Knowledge about our early history is pretty badly fragmented. Our early ancestors weren’t particularly preoccupied with writing anything down, and most everything that had been written has been destroyed by the Old Mind or the ravages of time. So this one can't say exactly why we use 'this one' and the 'Idea-stallion'.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “Not the weirdest cultural quirk I ever came across. Sometime on the way back, ask me about the village where they juggle geese.”

Puzzle chuckled. “This one would say that you're joking, but it's seen plenty of strange things as well.”

“We'll have to swap stories.”

Puzzle smiled and nodded. “That does sound fun. There are certainly worse ways to pass the time.” His smile disappeared as his tone took on a more serious edge. “Of course, that does beg the question of where things stand between the two of us.”

I had a pretty good idea of how to define our relationship. “I'd say battle buddies works.”

“That works.” Puzzle fiddled with his drink. “No hard feelings about pretending to betray you, then?”

I shrugged. “Since you were pretending, I can give you a pass on it.” Considering all the real betrayals I’d gone through, I could forgive someone merely pretending to do the same. He has been trying to save my life, after all, and he’d actually come through in the end. That was a whole lot better compared to what Ephemera pulled.

“Good.” Puzzle smiled with obvious relief and he took on a teasing tone. “And this one can forgive you slugging it during all the ... confusion.”

I grinned back at him. “I didn't ask you to forgive me for that. Far as I’m concerned, you deserved it for fooling me.”

Puzzle snickered. “Well if you want this one to hold a grudge...”

“'Course not. Just saying, at the time with all the information I had to go off of, my actions were totally rational.”

“This one perhaps did too good of a job with its deception.” He shrugged. “The hazards of being a spy. Ex-spy, this one supposes.”

“But yeah, sorry anyway.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Even if it seemed like the right thing to do at the time, it wasn't.”

“It's alright,” he assured me. “This one is just happy we made it out alive. Well, and stopped Ephemera and Ahuizotl as well. This one doubted it could have slept comfortably if those two had gotten away with what they wanted.”

I glowered at all the damage Ephemera had caused just with her brief exposure to bloodsteel. “Nobody would be sleeping well with Ephemera having that weapon she was after.”

“No.” Puzzle took a deep draft of his drink. “She was far from the smartest mare this one ever met, but she was still very dangerous. And even if she didn't manage to use bloodsteel to its full potential, it would only have been a matter of time until it fell into the hooves of someone who could.”

“Yeah, good point. She was just a crazy psycho. Imagine that stuff in the hands of someone like the Warpsmith Foundries...”

Puzzle scowled at the thought. “That is a collaboration effort the world doesn't need to see.”

I shivered. I’d run into some nasty sorts in the world, but I had considered myself lucky that the Warpsmiths weren’t one of them. “Nooo kidding.”

Puzzle tried some of the fruit before continuing with the conversation. “So is it normal for you to dig up things that were best left undiscovered? Because if you do this one might need to rethink that proposal you gave it earlier.”

“Yeah, it's pretty much what I do,” I admitted. “Even if I’m not looking for something like that to start with, that’s usually what ends up happening. Especially when Ahuizotl shows up.”

“Yes, this one gathered that you do this in no small part for the adventure.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Adventure and discovery is pretty much what it's all about, yeah.”

Puzzle scratched his cheek. “Still interested in having this one along? This one is ... well, there's a world of possibilities out there for it now is probably the best way to put it. Even if this one doesn't exactly have a plan at the moment.”

“You seem to know what you’re doing,” I pointed out. “You can come with me for a while, if nothing else.”

Puzzle frowned as he thought that over. “So this one can. Though this one should warn you there's a risk its past might catch up with it someday. This one can make a new identity and get new papers, but there are people who really don't like this one and want to make their displeasure known. This one can hide its face, but there's only so much this one can hide of itself without outright giving up who it is. So unless this one wants to do something like quietly retire to a farm off in the middle of nowhere, there’s a good chance this one’s pursuers will catch up with it eventually, even if we don’t make it easy for them.”

“I’m not intimidated,” I told him. “You've seen who I have to deal with. Having enemies isn’t anything new to me.”

Puzzle leaned back in his seat. “You do seem to be dealing with bigger game on average than this one is used to. Evil spirits, major crime bosses, criminal masterminds, and the criminally insane, among others.”

“Yeah, keeps life interesting,” I said. “And I wouldn't say no to getting some backup.”

“It does have an appeal.” Puzzle stroked his cheek. “And this one is its own changeling now. Out in the big wide world by itself.”

“Not by yourself.” I offered him a hoof.

“No, not by itself.” He took my hoof and we shook.

“Awesome. Been a while since I had a good long-term partner in this.” It felt good to know I was going to have someone watching my back that I could depend on again. Spending time with Capital had reminded me how nice it could be to enjoy your adventures with someone. Too many times getting double-crossed and backstabbed, in addition to getting others hurt who hadn’t deserved it, had soured me on the idea of working with anyone else. But with Puzzle I was pretty sure I could really make it work, and I was actually looking forward to it.

“This one will try not to disappoint.” Puzzle waved to a Dromaed refilling drinks. “At least this one has advantages over several of your previous partners.”

I snorted. “You're not a crazy obsessive psycho?”

Puzzle grinned at me as his cup was filled. “If this one is crazy, it's doing a marvelous job of hiding it.”

“Yup. So then ... any idea where our next adventure should take us?”

Puzzle took his time drinking to think. “This one’s always wanted to visit a few places in Equestria, Westmarch, and the Zebrican Empire, even if it worries you might get bored with the normal tourist destinations. But this one hasn't had the opportunity to really see the world and it would like to correct that.”

“We can always see about stopping at places like those along the way.” I rubbed my chin as I considered our options. “As for more exciting destinations, I've got a few interesting leads...”

Puzzle leaned in closer. “Well then, please do tell.”

“Well, I've heard of this Zebrican Sultan who insisted on being buried with all of his treasures...”

“And that's the end of the story!” Daring looked out at the horizon where the sun had already set. “And just in time, too.”

Kurki had the biggest smile on her face as she looked up to Daring. “That was amazing! And at the end of it ... did this one hear that you two went on more adventures together?!”

“Sure did!” Daring said. “Plenty of them, in fact. It got pretty crazy at times. But that’s the story of my life.”

Puzzle chuckled. “We did have quite the time together.”

“Can you tell this one those stories too?” Kukri gave Daring her puppy dog eyes look that she’d perfected on her parents. “Pleeease?”

I snorted and moved in to give Daring the save. “I’m pretty sure they have more to do than just be your personal storytellers.” Both of them had already been pretty generous with their time to tell Kukri a story, and I didn’t want her feeling like she could take advantage of the adult’s time. Besides, I didn’t want to be here until sunrise.

“Sorry kid.” Daring patted her back. “I'm pretty busy, and this has already taken up more time than I planned for. But hey, you’ll get to read about those stories later once Yearling gets around to writing them.”

“You always did like spinning a yarn when given the opportunity.” Puzzle grinned. “Sometimes this one can’t help but wonder if Yearling only exists to enable that part of you.”

After hearing Puzzle say that I went back to reexamined the signatures Yearling and Daring had written in my copy of City of Giants, and I couldn’t help but draw some conclusions after doing so.

“I blame you for taking up so much of my time, Puzzle.” Daring poked his shoulder. “You trapped me with this cute little grub here.”

“Yes, this one’s trap was terribly fiendish and had only malevolent intentions,” Puzzle said with exaggerated sarcasm. “It’s an evil mastermind like that.”

Kukri sighed. “This one’s going to have to wait until forever to find out what’s next!” Kukri groaned loudly and looked at her copy of City of Giants. “It already had to wait forever for this book!”

“Well, why don't you find something nice to do with her then while you have the chance?” I suggested.

“This one did have some fireworks ready in case things ran long.” Puzzle motioned at a box sitting on the deck. “You can set them off if you like.”

“Fireworks?” Kukri scampered over to the fireworks with all the glee one would expect of a child told she can play with exploding flashy colorful things.

“Always thinking ahead, that one.” Daring grinned at me. “He started doing that creepy thing where he knows you'll want something before you actually want it to you yet?”

I smiled, knowing exactly what she was talking about. “Yup. You get used to it.”

“Yeah, just means he cares.” Daring chuckled and trotted over to where Kukri was already opening up the box and looking at the goodies inside. “Wait up, let's see what we've got here...”

Once we were relatively alone, Puzzle sighed. “So, this one hopes you had some of your questions answered.”

“Yeah, a lot of them actually.” I reflected on everything I had learned over the course of the story. “Including a couple I didn't even know I had.”

Puzzle leaned against the ship railing. “Right. Some of that ... wasn't exactly easy for this one to talk about.” His ears wilted. “Specifically the part with Cold and this one being exiled. Failure is difficult to deal with. Especially one that profound.”

I could empathize. I’d spent a lot of time regretting how a single failure had changed the course of my entire life. “Yeah, but you just picked yourself back up and got back into the fight twice as hard.”

“So this one did.” Puzzle didn’t sound quite as convinced about as I would have liked. “Really, at the end of the day, what this one’s more concerned about is...” He took a moment to search for the right words. “There are reasons why this one keeps so much secret about itself. Part of that is because this one wants to keep everyone guessing. This one believes you remember what it thinks the most important thing to know about someone is?”

“Knowing what they want.” Specific facts clicked together. “Something you've been very careful to keep hidden even from me.”

Puzzle smiled with a touch of sadness. “Noticed, have you? Keep your goals hidden, and it becomes very difficult for potential enemies to stop you.”

It wasn’t hard to understand that. Though if Puzzle was trying to open up a bit just now... “So does that mean I'm not a potential enemy for you anymore?”

“This one hopes not.” Puzzle stared out at the dark waters as Kukri and Daring set up some fireworks. “Otherwise this one is making itself much more vulnerable than it likes thinking about.”

I snorted and nudged him. “Come on, you know I'm not gonna turn on you like some random psycho.”

Puzzle shook his head. “No no, this one doesn't think that. It's just not easy for this one to trust, is all. This one has had bad experiences in the past, and very good reasons to keep some of its secrets.”

“Oh. Right.” I paused to think about that. It was no secret that Puzzle was a pretty secretive guy, which was a big part of why I’d confronted him about the latest Daring Do book when I saw him mentioned in it. Puzzle wasn’t dumb—he must have known he was likely to be in that novel way before it was actually released to the public and that I was going to find out its contents sooner or later. He had to know that I had questions, and he could have chosen to keep his mouth shut about the topic or lied.

But he hadn’t. What’s more, he even told me more than I had asked for. That was a pretty big measure of trust for a guy who placed a whole lot of weight on the truth and secrets.

I placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Thanks for trusting me.”

Puzzle smiled and this time the gesture was warm. “Nothing you haven't earned.”

“But still appreciated,” I said. “You wouldn’t be telling me any of this if you didn’t trust me. I know that’s a big deal for you.”

Puzzle watched as fireworks started going off. “Maybe ... it's about time this one started thinking about revealing some of its other secrets.”

“Oh yeah? Well I'm here if you want to.” That piqued my curiosity. There were plenty of things I could pretty confidently say Puzzle wasn’t interested in, but I couldn’t say what he really wanted. Sure, I sensed he liked an adventure now and again, but I didn’t think that was at the core of what motivated him. Whatever he really wanted had to be significant, that I was sure about.

Puzzle nodded. “We can talk about it later. For now, how about we just enjoy the show?”

“I'd like that.”

We watched as the blooms of fireworks burst in the sky.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.