Skyblazer and Cobalt flew west together, close to the cloud level. From this height, it was difficult to see details on the ground. They could tell that it was a green carpet of forest broken up here and there by farmland.

Each tile of farm they passed brought a renewed sense of urgency to Skyblazer. A part of his mind wished to believe that what had occurred last night was only a dream, and nothing more.

He looked over at Cobalt. She was a griffon, with white fur and deep blue feathers on her wings. The glowing, pulsing ring on her left talon was a testament to the fact that it had not entirely been a dream.

According to Luna, something was badly broken. These cracks in Dreamspace were a threat to reality. How exactly did you go about fighting something which was merely a figment, if it escapes into the real world? Could any of these dream creatures even be damaged in reality--did they need to figure out how to get dream weapons into the real world?

Cobalt didn't seem to be quite so worried. Sky didn't get how she could just shake off such insanity, when she didn't have the awareness of magic in their world that he did. He changed his angle of flight to draw closer to her so they could talk over the wind noise.

Sky said to her, "Hey, you feeling okay?"

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"After that crazy dream last night."

"We're all in one piece, ain't we?"

"Yeah, but Violet..."

"She's fine too, remember? Here, let's rest for a bit."

They gained altitude and passed through the frosty cloud layer. Partially frozen sleet clung to their fur and feathers. Above, they settled to roost. Sky could feel the winter-cold cloud layers gather and settle beneath him as his innate magic took hold. Cobalt's artifact glowed blue as she landed.

Cobalt complained, "It's so d-damn cold up h-here I can't stop shivering! A-and I can b-barely breathe in this air! H-how do you stand it?"

Sky answered her, "We can make clouds lower than they naturally form, so it's not this cold and windy in Cloudsdale."

"Isn't that the city made of clouds?"

"Yes, hometown of the pegasi race for most of recorded history. They control the weather from up there for the other races."

"H-how are you not cold!"

Sky smirked, "Been practicing with my element."

He nudged his crystal necklace. One of the Elements of Conflict, it rippled with a foggy glow. It allowed him to control fire, and he had finally managed to turn that power inward and keep himself warm.

"Your feathers are on fire," noted Cobalt.

Sky looked back, and panicked. He canceled out his cloud resting magic so he could dive into the cloud, where the chilly moisture extinguished the flames. On rising back up, with tendrils of smoke wafting off his wings, he said,

"Stop laughing! You're not much better with your magic."

Cobalt couldn't help but chuckle as Sky sat on the cloud, some of his feathers still smoking like extinguished candles. She rolled onto her side from laughing so hard, and when she finally caught her breath she exclaimed, "We're the unchosen ones! The heroes nobody wanted but everyone deserves!"

Sky couldn't help but smile at this aside.

Cobalt said, "Oh, laughing hurts in this thin air. I'd like to visit Cloudsdale now that I can walk on clouds. That place sounds neat. Ever been?"

"Honestly, no," replied Skyblazer, "Since my mom lost her flight and I was so busy on the farm, we didn't often get the chance to explore much. The time we did have, we usually went to Ponyville to trade goods and meet Twilight and her friends."

"Sounds like a good stop then. Do you suppose they have bounties for us to go after?"

"I wouldn't know Cobalt, and I really want to get back to visit my folks first. I'm so worried about them right now I can't even think."

"That's fair. Do you suppose we'll even be bounty hunters, now that we have these magic crystals? It sounds like we're a part of all the craziness that's been happening."

"If we really are that unworthy, I don't see how we can be much help. Might be better off staying away until Twilight needs our help, do you reckon? Take some time to get some bits and some better armor and stuff first."

"I don't want to keep hiding from ponies like this, Sky. Part of the deal was that I want to at least try to make peace with your kind."

Sky considered her, and said, "Okay. Let's find a town and see if we don't get kicked out."

They jumped down from their cloudy perch, opened their wings, and caught warm updrafts as they glided closer to ground level. It was quite a ways down from natural cloud height to solid ground.

As they descended, they could see it was still forested but starting to get more hilly. The mountain range was nearing, and with it would be rivers and fertile valleys. Had to be a settlement somewhere, with the farms not far east.

One came into view after several more hours of flight. It was situated on the mountainside, right before the cliff face became too steep to build upon. They spent the time as they approached guessing the name of the place.

"Pine Mountain," said Skyblazer, as they drew close enough for their sharp eyesight to see the place in detail. It was scenic and cozy, and about the same size as Ponyville.

They landed just outside the town, so that they could calmly walk in. Might be a bit less frightening than having a griffon alight on a random street. Sky talked to Cobalt on the way in,

"Alright, I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to be super polite. If you want to fit in you can't go around being all rude and fierce, most ponies scare easily."

"Ugh, do I have to?" asked Cobalt.

"You said you wanted to fit in more, right? Just bite your tongue, and show me you're actually tough enough to use words like 'sir' or 'excuse me'. That will help a bunch."

"Fine, if you say so. Feels so stupid though. I'm not all sappy like that."

"Neither am I, Cobalt. Just, got to know the right time and place for things."

The pair cautiously strode towards town. A stone wall rose up about a dozen feet. The gate was open and unguarded, so they shrugged and stepped on in.

All seemed at peace. Ponies, donkeys and mules went about their various tasks. It felt very much like Ponyville, only more rural. The majority of citizens here seemed to be earth ponies and unicorns, with pegasi being uncommon.

Sky and Cobalt got strange looks as they walked down the stone streets, and some ponies shuffled off into stores to avoid them, but no one was openly hostile to them. They came across a cafe and sat outside on the patio, at a table with an umbrella built onto it for shade from the hot sun.

A mule waiter approached with an uncertain look on his face. He cast several shifty glances at Cobalt, set two menus on the table, and asked what they wanted to drink. Sky had a water and Cobalt requested a beer.

Their drinks were soon brought out by a different, younger worker who seemed equal parts curious and frightened of Cobalt.

This young unicorn said a quavering hello to her, and quietly said, "Um, I've never met a griffon before, but I don't think we would sell anything you guys eat, you know..."

"It's okay, I'd like to try some of your pony food," said Cobalt, as she used a napkin to clean some of the beer off the table. The unicorn had spilled a bit with shaky magic.

"O-okay, take your time then," he said, backing off slowly.

Cobalt looked over the menu. She wasn't sure if she could so much as eat hay, so she ignored those items. She settled on a hearty vegetable pasta dish with sides of corn and fresh berries. Sky had a hay burger and sweet potato fries.

Another unicorn walked out from the restaurant, this one wearing an apron with utensils in the pockets. He spoke in a professional but firm voice, "Guys, I don't want to come across as rude or anything, so please don't take this wrong. I'm the cafe owner and chef here, and I just need to inform you that our village is very well protected from the monsters of the woods. Please don't cause any trouble while you're here, okay?"

Cobalt nodded, and said as politely as she could muster, "I'd imagine that's meant for me. I understand."

"Both of you, honestly, ma'am," replied the owner, "I take it you're some kind of adventurers or monster hunters. We haven't a need for... your manner of services at the moment. Just please, don't do anything to cause a scene."

"I'm honestly not here to cause trouble, sir," said Cobalt, who seemed disgusted with herself, "really just trying to be a part of your pony culture best I can. I'm sorry if I'm not good at it."

"Nah, you should be fine. At least you're polite, more than can be said for most griffons."

He stepped back into his cafe, and seemed content enough with a 'bloodthirsty griffon' in his town. Even an unregistered one! Cobalt knew she needed to say sorry for a second time, and really hated herself for it. She sighed and said to Sky,

"Dammit. You're right and I'm sorry."

"It's alright Cobalt. You're doing great. Be sure to say something nice about the food, we might make a friend, maybe even get some free stuff out of that."

The food was very good and at a reasonable price. Sky was almost completely out of bits now. If he didn't want to forage for wild plants, he'd need to earn some more.

Cobalt had eaten pasta before, Zecora made it every now and then. This had a robust tomato sauce and various steamed veggies. It was honestly pretty good, just needed meat. The steamed corn on the cob and fresh berries with honey were also wonderful.

She had no problem saying the food was delicious--it was, after all. Being polite and friendly sure wasn't natural for her, though.

Skyblazer had a sandwich made of hay, veggies, and sauce, along with sweet potato fries. Cobalt tried some of the fries, and they were pretty good.

The chef seemed enamored with their compliments, especially coming from a griffon. He gave them a whole loaf of fresh cinnamon honey bread, and then sat down at the table to chat. He said,

"I've only met several griffons in my life. All of them were very snide and held us ponies in disregard. It's curious that you're traveling with a pegasus."

Skyblazer spoke for her, "My name is Sky, she is Cobalt, and we're monster hunters. We were hoping you had a bounty or two up, running low on funds."

The chef pony nodded, and said, "Might be menial and not much of a job for you, but you could help with a vermin problem. Just some rats and spiders."

"That's it?" asked Sky incredulously.

"They're mutant ones, much bigger than normal you know. Spiders the size of this table. We can't drive them off, tried everything."

Sky spoke to Cobalt, "Most ponies avoid killing other creatures at all cost unless it's in self-defense. More work for us professional monster hunters, right Cobalt?" He nudged her.

"Oh yes, it's no problem for us," said Cobalt, "Where's this at?"

"Grain silo, north side of town."

Sky asked, "By the way, what's the name of this town?"

"Corn Hills."

Sky perked up, "Oh, if you grow corn here, you probably have some good whiskey."

"We most certainly do, and I take it you're thinking of a reward."

"Some bits and a bottle would be nice."

"Get rid of them, don't make much of a mess, do it by night so you don't scare folks. It's a deal."

As they walked away from the cafe, Cobalt quietly said to Sky, "Arggh, I hate eating rats. They're so bony and tough."

"Just use your new element to fling them off into the woods. Good practice."

They explored the town until dusk. A few ponies were brave or stupid enough to hold a conversation with them, though most ignored them and went on their way.

There was some curiosity and loaded questions about Sky's choice of armor and companion, but this was mostly resolved by saying that bounty hunts were dangerous.

As the sun rested at the summit of the mountains, and sanguine light flooded the world below in that eerie and hollow glow of sunset, Sky and Cobalt proceeded with their first bounty.

They walked in silence past lamplighters and townsfolk who were returning home for the night. Cobalt noticed a number of double takes as folks saw a griffon in their quiet town.

The structures become more sparse as they neared the north edge of Corn Hills. This side of town did not have a wall, just a narrow trail winding up the steep slope in zig-zags of stone stairs and dirt paths.

Without so much as saying a word to each other, Cobalt and Sky reacted to this by running, jumping, and then flying up the embankment rather than use the stairs.

As they landed at a wide plateau and turned around to admire the glittering lights of the little town below, Sky spoke, "My mom wrote a lot about her time hunting monsters. This little hunt we're on reminded me of that. 'It's always rats, why does it always have to be rats or snakes? Give me a real fight!' She's always been such a tough pony, even after she lost her wing."

"I can't even imagine that," said Cobalt quietly, "Like looking down on the town here, for us it's just so natural to glide down on the cool evening breeze. Or take off into the sky and just go for a nice fly under the moon and stars. Can you imagine losing that, forever?"

Sky shivered and exchanged a look with Cobalt. They moved on past the last lamps, and into the darkness of the trail.

After what felt like five minutes of walking, a pool of light showed a stone tower ahead. This was the sturdy grain silo, overbuilt in case of monsters. The front door was unlocked. Always interesting how different life in the country and life in a city was. Ponies felt at peace here.

Sky thought about that word. Peace. Cobalt and I are getting along well, even for such very different creatures. And we've handled everything nicely so far. Why are we the elements of conflict? Why are we unworthy? Are we just doomed for failure, will this rat hunt go badly?

Inside the granary tower was a storeroom, where chutes led down to bulky carts parked outside. Various implements and building supplies were stored here in a haphazard manner. The floor on this level was dirt and sawdust. There was a hole at ground level where the rats had burrowed in.

The pair helped each other get their packs and pouches off, and stacked them in one corner. Sky tightened the straps on his dragon scale armor.

Across from the entrance was another door, which no doubt led to the stairs. A number of boards had been hastily nailed across it, and drops of blood could be seen on the ground nearby.

Cobalt looked at Sky. Skyblazer nodded, and Cobalt lifted her left talon and focused on her magic ring. The rich blue energy seized the boards, and ripped them off the door. Rather than toss them down, Cobalt kept them as a weapon.

Beyond, sturdy stone stairs wound around to the grain stores. Cobwebs crossed the stairs, which Sky cleared with small poofs of fire magic.

The second story held great wooden bins of various grains and cornmeal, which rose far above them to the roof of the tower. Steep stairs and catwalks circled the walls. Oversize rats and spiders had the run of the place.

Sky gulped, and charged at a spider half the size he was. He took flight without nullifying the air, and sent a number of smaller rats and spiders flying with the force of wind from his wings.

He yelled as he slammed his hoofs down on the spider. Surely enough, despite the size, it squashed. However, as Sky made contact, there was a static sound and a fierce zap. A spark arced through the air.

Sky slammed into the ground, and lie there for a moment, winded. Cobalt ran over.

"Oh sweet Celestia that hurt," moaned Sky.

Cobalt looked him over for injury and said, "Yeah, I heard that! I'll avoid touching the bugs."

She used her telekinesis to grab the boards, spiked with nails, and gave a half dozen large, electrified spiders the what-for. She complained, "Alright that's just nasty. Sky, you alright to get some of these rats? They seem... agitated."

The rats, also mutated by magic, glowed red from the inside and were covered in burns. Sky guessed that these vermin had somehow been infused with pure fire magic. His mom's journal had a note about that, but he was still seeing stars and couldn't recall the entry.

So, options. What good was a fire amulet against fiery rats? Charging them seemed like a bad idea. They were angry now, hissing and surrounding them. Cobalt smacked a few with the boards, which resulted in them spitting flames.

Cobalt and Sky backed up against the wall, flames singing their fur, the heat getting unbearable. Sky was sweating now as the confined space became a sauna. He couldn't condense a cloud in a space like this with this much heat, so rain wasn't an option.

Water magic would be so handy, or a beam of ice. Twilight had shown him ice magic on one occasion, just as a cool party trick. She said it followed the same pattern as any other empathy-based magic. Be cold, calm, and collected. Fierce, but resolute. He tried exactly that, and closed his eyes.

Sky breathed deep, ignoring Cobalt as she said, "Sky what are you doing?"

Cobalt was in too much of a panic to focus on her new magic, and it kept fizzling out. She growled, and fought the rats with talon and fangs. This burned her, but she kept fighting and killed several of the rats.

Winter. The end of harvest. Rest and peace in the frosty cold. Snow blankets the desert, until all is a sea of white powder.

The amulet around Sky's neck ceased rippling. It dulled for a moment, appearing as a plain gray gem.

I am calm. This may be dangerous, but we are capable of flying away, slamming the door, and giving up. But I refuse to, I am resolute. I want to prove my father wrong. I want to win this fight. I want to protect Cobalt.

Now the crystal glowed again, but this time with a consistent glow through a frosty texture like a frozen window. A pale blue energy encompassed Skyblazer. Rays of this energy shot off towards each of the dozens of rats swarming around them.

There were squeaks and squeals as the Element of Conflict brought ice magic to bear against fire. Awful sizzling and popping sounds were followed by small explosions.

Sky heard Cobalt say, "Well. So much for not making a mess," and he opened his eyes.

He put his ears down, his jaw dropped, and he stared. Wasn't much left aside from rat bones, smoldering fur, and a lot of blood. Cobalt and he had been spattered by it.

After a moment of shock, Sky noticed Cobalt limping and asked how badly she was hurt. She replied, "Burned pretty badly. That's about it. I can't quite feel my tongue, biting those was a bad move."

Sky looked at the icy patches of stone and the frozen blood mingled with smoking rat fur. He sat, and said, "Ice magic? That's new."

"You just had to chill a bit," said Cobalt, as Sky glared at her.

They used empty grain sacks to clean up best they could, and went downstairs. Sky poked around in his pack to find a jar of aloe vera extract, which Cobalt applied to her wounds.

Cobalt seemed a bit ruffled. She exclaimed, "Oh sure, forget to mention the fire rats and shocking spiders. I ought to..."

"Continue sucking it up, being polite, and get a nice reward?" asked Sky, "There's whiskey for us."

They left the granary, pausing to leave a note on the door saying it was cleared out and pardon the mess. They both stretched fore and aft, and stretched their wings. Cobalt craned her neck, and Sky winced at a loud crick. She was twice his age, after all. Also, a meat-eating griffon. Definitely would have to stay just friends, if they could even do that through all the chaos.

Sky spoke, "Let's find a place to sleep for the night, get our reward and get going. I need to make sure everything is okay at home."

Cobalt nodded, and they ran towards the edge of the path, leapt from the cliff, and took flight into a dark sky glittering with stars.

The town below was a good landmark for them to gauge their direction and distance from the ground. They landed on a street this time, with nopony out to bother. A night guard was startled and drew a sword from off his back.

"Whoa, we don't mean any trouble!" said Sky.

The mule guard spoke in a muffled tone while holding his sword, "Is that a griffon? And are you guys okay, looks like you're bleeding, what happened?"

Cobalt wearily replied, "Took care of your granary problem."

The guard's eyes widened. He said, "Oh! Just the two of you? We had five guards go in yesterday, and they were all badly hurt."

"Might help if you would fucking mention that the rats were on fire," said Cobalt.

The guard offered a nervous laugh and said, "Uh, right, sorry. We just really needed to make sure they were taken care of, hunters don't often stop by here."

"Ah, so you have a part in this," said Sky with anger, his wings bristling. He looked at Cobalt and said, "Want to rough him up a bit?"

"Dear Luna!" yelled the guard as he dropped his sword, "Don't hurt me! I'll give you bits, a room for the night, with a hot bath!"

Sky and Cobalt calmed down, exchanged a glance, and burst into laughter.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" said Sky, through manic laughs.

Cobalt caught her breath, and said, "Oh, but seriously though. We damn well deserve a room." She used her element to hoist an entire wagon of hay into the air, and hold it over the guard.

"Do you have a guest house?" added Sky.

The guard, who seemed on the verge of either passing out or running away, said in a very small voice, "Yes we do, you're welcome to stay long as you like. Follow me."

Cobalt tried to set the cart down gently and failed. Two wheels broke. Both Sky and Cobalt ducked, and winced.

"What was that?!" came a shout.

"You better run," Cobalt instructed the guard.

They all ran into a dark alleyway as other guards rounded a corner. They disappeared into the city streets. The hassled guard led them to a cozy stone guest house, which also seemed to be the mill. Rooms were upstairs overlooking the river.

Sure enough, a stove, basin, and large pitchers for water were available. The room even came with fur conditioner and fluffy towels.

Cobalt filled the tub, while Sky was able to use fire magic again to heat it. Sky eased into the tub with a sigh. He sat up with a start as Cobalt got in too.

"Hey! Get out!" he yelled.

"Oh, get over it you damn feathery bastard."

They washed all the rat blood and bug bits out of their fur and feathers with a great deal of disgust. Sky complained about Cobalt barging in on his personal space, and she ignored him.

When they were done and dried off, they looked at the luxurious room. They each had their own incredibly soft bed. A nice change from sleeping on the ground all the time.

Sky spoke, "You were really being an ass to that guard. Might want to work on that."

"That's racist," said Cobalt.

Sky tried to think of a clever retort, and he said, "You certainly are getting to know pony culture. Well, guest rooms are normally free so we didn't steal anything. The sign said we're supposed to have permission from the guards to stay here, though."

"We did get permission," said a grinning Cobalt, "get some rest now. Good night, Sky."

"Good night."

Bright sunlight woke them up as dawn greeted their window, which was a fine bamboo screen. Vibrant bird song and the rambling of the river could be heard beyond.

The two got prepared for the day's travel. Sky stepped into his armor vest, and carefully eased his wings through the wide slits on the side. A few feathers got snagged on the sharp dragon scale and were plucked out, which hurt.

Sky found containers of oatmeal, brown sugar, and honey. There were also exotic bananas and a coffee press. Cobalt stepped out to the balcony, launched off the railing, and flew off towards the woods.

She returned as Sky finished eating, saying she had gone to hunt her own breakfast.

"Oh, what did you catch," asked Sky, not even perturbed.

"Rabbits, I love those things. Tasty and tender."

"Neat," said Sky, as he enjoyed a piece of buttered toast.

Cobalt tilted her head and said, "You could at least pretend to be bothered."

"Oh trust me, it's taking a force of will to keep my food down right now."

They exited the guest house, but not before admiring the machinery of the mill on the first floor. Workers were just arriving for the day with cartloads of corn, and were understandably flummoxed at finding a griffon in their mill.

Cobalt derived great pleasure in saying hi to them and being super friendly to watch their reactions. Combined with her soft and downy feathers from the recent bath, the poor mill workers were left with a whole can of mixed emotions.

They walked with a spring in their step back to the cafe. Word had spread fast in such a small town, and the ponies here were much nicer than before. Many of them even drew up the courage to walk right up to Cobalt, and tell her thanks.

Sky noticed that Cobalt had a legitimate smile, and her wispy lion tail was flicking with delight. He smirked, and walked with his wings drooped in a state of deep zen.

A herd of gossiping old ladies waved from the porch of the tavern and said a profuse thank you. Sky grinned, and sarcastically commented that dealing with rats and spiders hardly seemed worthy of being the town hero.

Cobalt nipped him on the ear. "Ow!", said Skyblazer, as Cobalt told him,

"Don't ruin the moment! I've never been able to so much as walk into a pony town before without being driven off just for who I am."

They arrived at the cafe, and asked to talk to the owner. He walked around the counter, and beckoned them to a table.

He spoke, "As promised I have a reward for y'all. Here's a hundred bits, one bottle of Corn Hill whiskey, and some food for the trail. Oh, and here's a letter from the night guards."

Cobalt and Sky collected their reward, and thanked the pony. Sky asked him, "Don't think we ever caught your name, stranger."

"Copper Skillet."

Cobalt said, "That's... strangely fitting."

"I changed it, I was born just Copper."

The letter was opened and read:

'Dear heroes, we left a cart of armor pieces outside the town cafe. Have your pick, just please never come back here again. You threatened the guards, damaged private property, the griffon stole some things from market, and you both left the granary looking like a horror story. Want to guess who gets to clean it?'

Copper was not amused. "Is that all?" he asked.

"Sky also spelled out some naughty words with clouds to practice his weather magic," replied Cobalt. Sky punched her with a front hoof.

They sheepishly stepped outside with feeble apologies to the huffing chef pony.

A rickety two-wheeled cart of armor and weapons was here. Sky tried on several helmets, and found one that fit. As ponies would never consider using leather as a material, the helmet was thick canvas and metal.

Sky also took a nice, sharp knife with a serrated blade. A monster hunter's knife, well balanced and versatile. It would be fun learning to throw it precisely. His old dagger was tossed in the cart.

Cobalt, to her surprise, found a chain mail vest that would fit her if not for her wings.

"Let's try our magic out," said Sky, as he began heating the links. When the chain glowed red hot, he changed his focus to cold thoughts and chilled the metal, weakening it. Cobalt applied shaky telekinesis while sticking out her tongue, and managed to pull the links apart to make slits for her wings.

She also took some plate armor for her legs, and a heavy falchion which she strapped across her back. The sturdy sword belt fit diagonally, just between her wings without restricting them.

Cobalt snarked, "This armor must be meant for the big n' hefty ponies."

"Oh, so you're a big and hefty pony now?" asked Sky with an evil grin.

"That was funny. I'm not even mad."

They tipped over the cart just for the hell of it, and scrambled to get out of town, now stocked up and prepared for the dangers ahead. They had split the reward money, and Cobalt carried the whiskey bottle since she was the more experienced, graceful flyer. The heavy chainmail and sword didn't slow her down, but her normal flight speed was still half of Sky's.

To Sky, flight with her felt like a slow jog. A paranoid part of his mind wanted to get back home faster, even though he knew the situation there was handled and all was well. He breathed in the frosty air, and focused on just relaxing. Cloud layers were just overhead, soft and gray with no threat of rain. Birds were plentiful, and had to be dodged at times. The scenery below was watery green with patchy ground. The Hayseed Swamps.

Cobalt pointed out a dark gray spot, and said that it was a quarry called the Rambling Rock Ridge. Zecora had told her most of the granite and marble in the kingdom came from there.

Everfree was a day's flight away now. They were both almost home.

A rumbling, booming voice came from overhead as the sun was blocked out and a shadow fell over them, "Is that dragon scale? You killed one of my brethren? This may be a fine day for revenge."

Author's Notes:

As mentioned previous, the official map is used for this story as a rough guide to the layout of Equestria. I have moved the Hayseed Swamps further north, and extended the badlands region further east with a mountain range splitting the low and high deserts.