Sunlight filtered in through stained glass, motes floated in the air undisturbed. Sitting at her desk, Twilight was nearing completion of her summer courses. It had been a little over a month since school let out, a school she no longer had to go to but insisted on going to anyways. Much to her surprise, the Princess agreed with her.

As she worked, her mind elsewhere as her subconscious instinctively filled out the paperwork to perfection, she thought about the last year. Of the many thoughts that went through her head, a few stood prominent.

The events that landed Orion in front of her mentor, and the results of that meeting still plagued her. She had never really seen Princess Celestia that angry, or the way she seemed to change, it was mind boggling that anypony could do that.

Him coming back from Ponyville with that frightening scar. The fact that he wouldn’t speak on how he got it. She had to ask her brother about where he even got such a thing. Well she had to ask repeatedly over the winter months till he relented and told her to read a newspaper.

To not want to talk about it she could understand, but it left a stirring in her heart over it. He was so brave, willing to put everything out on the line to see justice done. She admired that.

Her desires drove her to try and get to know him, and in realizing she wouldn’t have time to crushed her. But in her sorrow, the Princess saw fit to extend her stay in school. So that she could be closer to him.

This past month she was supposed to spend time with him, at least that was her plan. But when she went to see him to ask for his plans for the summer she found him gone. Whisked away on another adventure. Into Griffonia of all places.

She supposed he would get along well there. Considering his higher aggression levels. But that threw her plans out the window.

Sure she could likely try hanging out with Moon Dancer and her friends. But she never really felt like part of the group. She often found herself buried in a book, using a location spell to keep from being separated from them.

In truth she struggled to connect with them. They had invited her on numerous outings with them and she had only accepted a few. Deep down she knew she was being a terrible pony, and a worse friend, but she was unable to force herself to do more.

Only Orion seemed to make engagement of any topic worthwhile. As if he was the only one capable of speaking on her level. He often went beyond her understanding on subjects she had only a passing interest in, but his passion for learning made her want to look into those as well.

The fact that, to her, he was good looking even with that scar made it all to clear what her own biology wanted to do. Or was that more her heart?

But over the past month she was slowly realizing there was a gap. No, a chasm, between them. Not just between her and him, but him and everypony else out there. As if he knew some secret the world wasn’t ready for.

The way he spoke, regarded the world at large, and his complete dismissal of authority made him seem aloof to the point of arrogance. But his concern for others showed that not to be the case.

Leaning back in her seat she stretched, the work done, a few pops accompanied her actions. She had been sitting far longer than she thought. Getting up she stretched some more before making her way out her own personal study.

That gave her a giggle every time she thought about it. Her own study, never in her foalhood would she have believed she would have a two story private room. Filled with books of her teacher’s choosing. The giant telescope in the center pointed out a window.

She paused just before the door to the hall, her eyes drawn to a book she had recently picked up. Predictions and Prophecies, Starswirl the Bearded. Her inner fan screamed at the idea of owning a book that THE Starswirl had written.

When she received this particular book she took it upon herself to find out what edition it was. She was soon surprised, and a little disturbed, to find out that this particular book never was produced in masse.

There was only one. One only. She was happy, but deeply bothered by the fact that this book was not common knowledge among the readers of Equestria.

She had not realized she had even picked the book up. Setting it back down she grabbed the door handle, turned, and stepped out closing the heavy door behind her.

Walking down the hall with no real destination in mind other than stretching her legs, she chose at random the path she would take, guards nodding in greeting to her. They were stiff, but not unfriendly. Their job required them to be on alert, no time to make friends. No time for her other than a polite nod.

Her mind was drawn from those thoughts to the book once again. The passages in those pages were written in old Equish. Very old Equish. It made the prophecies difficult to understand. She had trouble even translating them.

“Lo when the Moon is high and all seems lost, one will stand with the heart of six, and so push back against the ichor of a dark malady of a poisoned mind. He too shall stand as her bulwark, her shield.” It seemed simple, but who was to stand with six hearts? Why six? And who was He?

It confused her and she had lost more than a little sleep over it. There was another one that utterly confused her. “He shall lie, lie in his purpose, lie in his goals, none shall stop the changes he shall bring. Breaking the great throne, he shall put it together with bindings of truth.” What in the buck was that supposed to mean?!

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. Surprised at where she found herself.

She was outside Princess Celestia’s personal study. Maybe she could ask some questions that had been bothering her about the book, and about other things. Her teacher’s behavior being one of them.

Over the last few weeks, she had been snappish with everypony. Guards, maids, even a few dignitaries. It was totally unlike her normal reserved self. Her mind flashed back to the moment the Princess seemed to change, the way her mane had gone from dawn colors to that of a hot flame. Her eyes, which had frightened her most of all, turning to almost black with the magenta eyes becoming gold.

She was more frightened in that moment then even when Orion had changed. Something about the image spoke to the primal part of her mind. That the Princess was a danger unlike any other.
She couldn’t begin to understand that.

She approached the door, and knocked, the guards not making a noise nor moving a muscle.

Raven Inkwell answered the door. Her bobbed mane looked a little frazzled. “Oh Miss Sparkle. What do you need?”

That was rather short even for the rather brusque mare.

“I was just, wondering if Princess Celestia is available. I have some questions I was hoping she might be able to answer.” She smiled, hoping to placate the secretary if she could.

“She is in, but she is terribly busy at the moment. Would this not be better left till tomorrow? When you are scheduled to have lessons with her.” She didn’t seem to want to be rude, but she must have been as busy as she claimed the Princess was.

“Yes.” She nodded sadly, the smile slipping from her face. “I can understand that. Thank you Miss Inkwell. Sorry to have intruded.” She turned to go, surprised to see the guards themselves looking a little sad for her.

“I’m sorry she could not be available to you Miss Sparkle, I understand how studies sometimes need a direction pointed out. I hope she may answer your questions soon. Goodbye.”

With that, the double doors closed with a quiet slam. Twilight was left only with her worries, and the guards that shared them.

“Why am I here?”

Shining Armor had probably asked that question for the twelfth time that morning. He was cold, his troops were cold. This was supposed to be a simple retrieval. Instead they were left to go from door to door in the town of Arber. Looking for this little shit of a colt.

He had no idea why the Princess was so invested in his retrieval. True, he was a colt thus special consideration was to be made with the gender imbalance of their species. But to mobilize a platoon to get him. He hardly thought him worth that.

They had arrived in Arber this morning. Already wishing he and those under him had packed cold weather gear, the metal against their bare fur was unbearably cold. He had begun by securing lodgings, at an exorbitant price no doubt, and directed the guardsmares and three guardstallions under him to begin patrolling the town.

His hope, which was now dashed, was to find Orion within the day. He had a feeling that he had been had. But he could not see to what purpose the King would lie to him. Thus he did his duty. He was going to make sure he had scoured the town for the colt before returning to Griffonstone and confronting Bloodbeak about his deception.

Before he could knock on the door of the home before him, Corporal Broad Strokes rushed up to him. “Sir!”

Turning he addressed the Corporal.

“What is it Strokes?”

Huffing from his run, which Shining could understand considering his route took him to the other side of the town, he doubled over and took gulping breaths. He needed to consider putting his troops through reconditioning. They were woefully out of shape.

“Sir….sir some griffons had actually seen him and his entourage here in the village.”

He blinked, that was a surprise. He had been almost certain that Bloodbeak had lied to him. He smiled, maybe this could be wrapped up quicker than he had hope.

“Well, out with it soldier where are they?”

“Sir, they were here, but then they discovered the snow in the area was too sticky due to it being summer. Apparently it makes for more difficult skiing and the locals had recommended they move to a higher elevation for better conditions.”

Shining Armor’s hopes sank faster than an anchor. “Where?”

“According to what I and a few others have learned, Oberjoch. A four day journey north east. But considering the mountain weather conditions at the moment, likely eight days.”

Eight bucking days?! This was not good. He would have to expend funds to get cold weather gear, and the locals only sold clothing with animal pelts in them. The very idea of wearing the skin of another animal disgusted him. But they had no choice if the little shit had gone further into the mountain range.

“How many of you have confirmed this?”

“Twelve of us sir. I made sure to ask others before bringing this information to you.” At least Strokes had thought ahead to ask the others. That saved them time.

“Good thinking Corporal, my orders are to round up the others, we will have leave tonight with only a minimum guard on our accommodations. This afternoon we will be getting cold weather gear.” He raised a hand at the disgusted look on Broad Strokes face. “I know I know, I am not happy about it either but we did not pack for this kind of engagement so we must do what we have to. I will not have soldiers falling out due to lack of protection.”

Strokes nodded. “As you say sir, embrace the suck.”

“With any luck we will catch the little shit in, what did you say? Oberjoch? What kinda name is that for a town?”

“No clue sir, but that is where reports confirmed he had gone. I will inform the others.” He saluted, and jogged back into town at a slower pace than he had arrived.

“Please, by Faust let us find this colt in this....whatever town.”

Early morning saw the departure of a troop of ponies from the small town of Arber. The locals smiled with relief. They had bought it. Hook, line and sinker.

In truth they were happy that the ponies had arrived at all. It meant that they were going to get a substantial reward of coin for misdirecting them. By order of their King they were instructed to tell them that some colt had gone further north.

The idea of making them travel further on a ruse made them collectively chuckle. The bonus was they had ended up selling more cold weather gear to outsiders then they had in years. The town would most certainly survive the coming winter this year.

One villager, Gareth Overwing, was laughing the hardest. The look on those whorses faces as they unwilling pulled on the furs that had been sold to them was priceless. Never had he seen more revulsion then he had yesterday.

He smiled at the backs of the retreating force. Good riddance.

Celestia sat before her vanity. Brushing the long multicolored mane with an ornate brush she studied herself in the mirror. She had washed her face of the light amount of makeup she had applied, and what she saw looking back at her made her frown.

She had bags under her eyes. Not enough to be noticeable, but after millennia of uninterrupted ruling she could see them. In truth it was not a surprise. But she felt her alicorn nature should have compensated for this. She sighed.

Her dreams were to blame. More specifically her nightmares. She had been plagued by them for the past fifty years. They seemed to only increase in intensity over the last ten of those years. Dark halls of fire blackened marble, she would run down those constantly, never stopping. Sometimes she would see the sky, and see an eclipse that blanketed the castle in darkness.

Something was always pursuing her down those dark halls. Her instinct to run always consumed her to run, for she had no way to fight whatever it was.

For the millionth time she wished her sister was with her, her dreams might be interpreted then, a solution found and for once she could go to bed without dread.

She shook her head, there were other worries. Always more worries, and her dreams didn’t even rank at the top of those. The explosive anger she had developed was likely another symptom of her lack of good rest. She had broken that dinning hall table at least five times this year. If she didn’t think it was a problem by now, she would never believe it was.

And it was. A major problem. The stress of ruling alone after all these years had finally caught up with her. The colt, Orion, was not making that stress lessen at all.

He frustrated her to no end. Had she not known better she would believe he was orchestrating her downfall all on his own. In reality, everything ended up being circumstantial. While his departure to Griffonia may have been a nice idea, he never let anypony know about it. He just simply left a message and hopped on the train northbound.

She rubbed her temples. Already she could tell that she would awaken with another headache.

Celestia stood and waved a hand, golden magic surrounding it as the drapes were pulled closed by an invisible hand. She did have to smile, the colt was inventive.

Pulling back the covers she removed her nightgown, she never did feel right in sleeping in anything, even on the coldest of nights. A quick glance at her vanity’s mirror showed that her body was still shapely. Her breast hung with no sag, her hips, flank, and thighs firm. The muscle under her fur tensed as she flexed her body in the way those muscled stallions in the magazines did.

“Well, I can say one thing, at least I still have my looks.” She giggled to herself, this was silly, but she needed a laugh. Looking back, she did notice that while she had the marely curves of a thirty something, she found that the muscle she had built during the time of unrest in her kingdom had not faded.

No stallion would wish to go to bed with a mare that could toss them around in bed like a ragdoll. Just another knife in her non-existent dating pool. Though she could largely blame the Church of Sol for that.

She shook her head, her thoughts were already all over the place this evening and she hadn’t even climbed into bed yet. She needed some much needed stress relief. Maybe a vacation?

Laying down and drawing the cool sheets over her she closed her eyes and sighed, already dreading having to rise with the sun tomorrow. Maybe tonight, she would sleep well.

The pounding headache that had developed before bed had flared upon her waking. So bad was it that she had to cast healing spell after healing spell just to lessen its effect on her.

The nightmare she was hoping would leave her alone, didn’t. Of course. Her makeup applied, she looked into the mirror. There sat the High Princess, looking as motherly and kind as she always had. But her eyes looked like they had not seen hope in years.

Ignoring the image that haunted her she glanced through the delivered mail that morning. A missive for building a pool from Lady Jewel was the first to be burned. That mare was as childish as she was tactless. She wanted to use crown funds to expand her estate, knocking down homes for the families of hardworking ponies that kept the city running smoothly.

In truth Celestia found herself wanting to light the socialite on fire, or at least that gaudy travesty she called a home. Needless to say she would not be getting what she wished.

Most of her mail was more of the same. Noble ponies wanting this or that, and expecting her to pay for it.

Every now and then she would get a letter from a foal, those were always so cute. One such letter was in her hands now. Sapphire Song, she was thanking her for helping the plants grow every year. That was too precious. She set the letter aside, she would put it in the room she had set aside for such letters. She had them plastered onto the marble walls.

Getting to the end, she found nothing from the one she wanted to hear from most of all. Shining Armor had reported that Orion had gone south from Griffonstone. Apparently the colt wanted to ski of all things.

Sighing, she picked up Sapphire’s letter and carried it into the private room. She stopped her mouth in gaped in horror.

The room was blackened, the letters having been burned, many so badly that they were illegible. Her mind couldn’t understand how this could have happened. No pony was ever allowed in her, indeed she was the only one who could come and go as her magic was quite literally the key.

She fell to her knees, soot staining the fresh dress. Her hands trembled as she picked up the burnt letters. They fell to ashes in her shaking hands. Who would do something like this. She wept, unable to do anything else.

Clearing her eyes after a time she noticed something scorched into the carpet. Soon. What under her mothers skies could that mean? She wept again. Clutching the only letter to her breast, tears falling and staining the tip of the paper.

For once, it was all too much for the loan monarch. A moan of anguish ripped from her throat.

Twilight greeted the day with a smile. She had slept well and rose with her Princess’s sun.

The evening prior she had resolved to speak with her mentor, she really needed help with that book. The pages written were a confusing mess of old time prophecy that she could hardly make sense of.

So she had gotten an early start and headed toward Princess Celestia’s personal rooms. The guards let her pass without any trouble as they always did.

She was not inside her bedroom, looking around Twilight’s ears turned toward the sound of weeping. That scared her, who could be crying this early inside the Princess’s bedchambers. Stepping forward she heard the weeping coming from a room she had not been allowed to go into.

She hesitated at the door, should she just go in? The cries coming from the partially open door pulled on her heart strings, and she slowly pushed it open.

The room that greeted her had looked like a raging inferno had blasted through it. Burnt paper had littered the ground. There near the center, sat Princess Celestia, weeping and clutching a letter to her chest.

“P-p-princess?” To see her mentor in such a state, she couldn’t comprehend what could bring somepony so powerful to their knees like this.

Celestia turned to look at her student, tears streaking her makeup, her eyes bloodshot. “Twilight, I-” She swallowed thickly, “ I thought I told you to never come in here.” There was no anger in her voice, just a cracking pain, as if she had lost somepony very precious to her.

“I k-know, but I….I heard crying and had to find...you.” She finished lamely. In that time she had approached her monarch, kneeling down in front of her. She smiled.

The surprise came when Twilight was swept up into her arms as she again began crying. Tears fell onto her head. She didn’t know what to do. So she just held on and made soft noises like her mother had done for her when she was a filly, gently petting her back.

“What was in here Princess?”

Celestia had stopped crying sometime ago, but both were quiet as they sat amongst the ashes of letters in the room. She had been quiet for some time, just holding her student in her lap and staring. Staring at the ashes of memories she had saved for terrible days. To remind her why she even bothered at all.

“This, my dear student, was where I kept my hopes and dreams. I would often get letters in the mail from foals all over Equestria. I would keep them here as a reminder of what I was achieving every day.” She softly petted Twilight’s mane.

“Was...was my letter in here?” She nodded. “Oh….”

The filly in her arms, not much of a filly not quite a mare, fidgeted.

“I, I remember what I wrote. I could write you another so you could have it again.” So earnest. Sometimes she forgot how the foal only wanted to make her happy. It had been a long time since she had anypony wish to do that for her.

“I would like that very much, Twilight. Very much indeed.” Looking at the room again she couldn’t stop the dark thoughts that now plagued her, she knew who had done this.

It was her, but how and the why escaped her. The magic signature in this room was strong, but days old. This had not been done last night. But sometime in the past month. What furthered her own confusion was the fact of how her magic was used.

Only during the time of war had she ever manipulated the energies within her in such a violent way. The way she used her magic now was gentle. Mostly to not frighten her ponies. But in this room, her magic had the signature of violence she had not had cause to use in centuries.

How and why had she done this was all she could ask herself.

Aspen woke from sleeping at the foot of Barney’s sister's bed. She had fallen asleep to the quiet weeping of the two siblings.

She did not understand what all the worry was. The chickens were above and they were below, safe. If it had been another pack she would have been far more scared, the last fight between her pack and another cost the lives of her mother and brothers. She was the last of her family now.

That rational thought brought a pain to her heart. She missed her mother’s soothing voice. She missed the rough play of her brothers. She never knew her father, a dog who had wandered through their previous den. A night was all it took to produce her and her brothers.

He had vanished the morning of never knowing his sired pups. She never dwelled on that fact. In truth most thoughts were regulated on what to eat and what Barney had for her to do. Truth be told she always found taking her orders from Tilly to be much easier. But she obeyed, it was easier to obey then think for herself.

Thinking would often cause her pain. It was explained to her that when she was young, and the pack still strong, she had gotten into trouble with soldier ant. The mammoth creatures often broke into the dug tunnels of the Diamond Dogs and preyed on the young if they found them.

In her case she was slammed into the wall several times in an effort to daze the young pup. By the time rescue had come she was never quite the same. Oh she was still happy, but others around her found her without a lack of will for herself.

The only instincts she still carried were to fight, and breed. Of which she chose to ignore what her instincts told her was weak mutts. Those that tried to force their attentions on her often found themselves without a lack of equipment shortly there after. A harsh reminder that while broken, she was massively more powerful then most Diamond Dogs.

Then, the pony came. She was surprised at first when the pony not only avoided all but the glancing blow of the club she wielded, he had managed to avoid her far longer than any dog. It made her excited to find a male so quick and strong. Her instincts claimed him to be the proper one.

Every attempt she had made to get to him had been thwarted by guards, Barney, or Tilly herself.

Now she was alone, and her ears had picked up that most if not all the pack were gathered at the entrance to the tunnels. Her sensitive ears were not picking up the sound of any dog further in the tunnels, where the pony sat bound and restrained.

She smiled in eagerness, now was the time her instincts nearly screamed at her.

Rising from the bed she quickly made her way to the entrance of the den that Tilly and Barney called home. Glancing both ways she sprinted left heading deeper into the tunnels, the scent of her ‘prey’ now firmly caught in her nose.

She almost rounded the corner too quickly. At the end of the tunnel, was Brick. Barney’s faithful. The older dog had been the one to stop her more times in the past than any before him. That would not happen now.

Quietly she crept around the corner, listening intently as the old mutt was quietly speaking to her chosen.

She slowly moved to the other side of the tunnel wall, staying out of the crystal light hung at irregular intervals in the tunnels. She looked to her left and saw her prize. Catching herself from panting, already having given her away on more than one occasion, she slid up behind Brick and smashed his head on the tunnel side as hard as she could.

She did feel bad for that, he had always been kind to her and never tried to force her to breed. Even gave her scraps when she was young, when the pack was lean on food. But he was wearing a helmet so she figured he would be okay.

Thinking about all that hurt her head, any time she thought it would hurt. Shaking her head she smiled widely at her prize.

For his part, the pony sat there gaping in astonishment and more than a little fear.

“Aspen can’t wait to make puppies with you!” She crowed excitedly, with no one to stop them, she could take her time and enjoy this, the burning itch inside her was almost gone. A few days later and it would have all been too late.

She stepped around Brick’s body, the old hound breathing steadily.

The pony’s horn was doing the glowy thing already, she didn’t fear that. The special rock Barney had her slip on his horn seemed to stop his spooky voodoo from touching her, or anyone for that matter. She smiled. “No no little pony, you can’t do that now. Rock stop that.”

Instead of ceasing his attempts at magic, the blaze on his horn seemed to just increase in brightness, and this sound like wind but much higher pierced her ears. It hurt, and that was making her angry.

Shaking her head she decided that dragging this out might not be in her best interest. But the closer she got, the louder the noise got. What she thought would be easy, suddenly wasn’t.

Aspen had no idea how she had ended up on her knees, but her head was in her hands and she was howling at the noise that seemed to only increase in pitch. Under that sound was a rattling noise, she didn’t understand what that was.

Through watery eyes she looked at the pony responsible for her pain and watched as the stone on his horn rattled violently, cracks were appearing on the stone, the blaze of his magic seeping through.

Suddenly her world was sent all topsy turvy. Tumbling rear over head she crashed back first into the wall behind her, upside down. Her eyes slowly blinked the pain away and looked up in surprise. The pony was free, and looking very angry.

As he stood up, the rope that once bound him fell off. So did his pants from her earlier efforts. She grinned, he wasn’t small like many of the mutts within the tribe.

The pony looked down, then back at her. “Okay you little shit, time for you to know what the receiving end of an ass beating looks like.” She never saw him coming.

Orion stepped back from the wall of which he partially buried the dog, Aspen, into. He spat, then thought better and did a quick scan. That hurt, he already had a massive headache from shattering the nullstone ring, doing more with his sensitive horn and mind only seemed to compound the pain. He pushed through.

“Oh shit, I may have broken her brain...fuck. Damn I need to take a shit.”

He be more concerned if she hadn’t been attempting to rape him. Again. He shook his head, he needed new pants, she had trashed his and he was now regretting free balling it on vacation.

Checking on Brick he found that the old dog was going to be fine, just a minor headache when he woke up. He thought, no time for new pants, so using rope and the tattered remains of his pants he made a serviceable loin cloth.

How low he had fallen. A fucking loin cloth. “Man I need to take a shit.”

Dirt fell on his head, and he looked up. The magical explosion must have disturbed the delicate tunnels. He could see several spots sinking down. “Oh shit that’s not good.” Quickly he used his magic scoping up the shattered remains of the ring into his right hand, grabbing Aspen with his left he hoisted Brick on his right shoulder and shuffled down the tunnel.

Using his magic he found his way back to a tunnel he had previously saturated with scanning magic. He grinned as the map he had made in his head quickly reformed pointing his way out. Small miracles. Which was good as the tunnels not too far behind him began collapsing.

“Oh shit fuck!”

He sprinted down the tunnel heading outside. The sound of a milling crowd reaching his ears before he could see them. Rounding a bend in the tunnel he nearly ran headlong into the entire pack of dogs gathered just outside the entrance.

One of the guards just gaped at him. He tossed Brick at the poor dog, reflexively he caught him still staring at Orion.

“Well this is getting us nowhere, these idiots and myself will be caught in the tunnel collapse if they don’t move their collective furry asses.” He smiled having a sudden thought come to mind.

Dropping the tracing spell he created a wall of air around him and Aspen. At the same time, just outside that wall flames of black and gold erupted around them both. Grinning he casted the final spell, though how he could smile with the pounding headache beating down his head was a wonder to him himself, his image had transformed into what he was hoping was a terrifying apparition.

“Boo’”

That seemed to work as the pack, as one, screamed in terror and bolted out the tunnel in a flood of furry bodies and piss. He grinned and dropped the last spell. Keeping the flamewall and the air protecting him and the mutt in his left hand from being harmed.

The two spells he had used separately were of moderate strength. But not much use. But when he combined them he had a defense not many could likely physically get past. The airwall being far more useful of the two as it kept the flames from choking him with fumes and provided him with breathable air. The firewall was set two inches above the ground and attached to the previous spell. Both allowing the air to pass under and feeding the flames.

He was rather proud of that trick.

The pain was getting almost unbearable, better make it quick.

Marching out of the tunnel he stepped into broad daylight and nearly lost control on his magic. Through sheer force and gritted teeth he hung on as his pained eyes landed on a gobsmacked Barney another dog he had only seen once, laying on their backs in terror.

He nearly balked when he saw Bloodbeak. “What in the blue fuck is that asshole doing here. Nothing is ready for him to inspect yet!” This development only spurred his anger on. Blood surging in his ears with the throbbing of his head.

On his approach he tossed the shattered remains of the nullstone ring at the fucko’s feet, paws whatever, and the body of his lap dog to the all white mutt next to him.

“Hello Barney. I think you and I need to have a little talk.”

He would have said more but the dog passed clear the hell out. “Fuck, man I need to take a shit.”

Bloodbeak was in shock, what he thought was going to be a rescue, but it turned into a circus. The stallion that stood before him was wreathed in flame and the dead look on his face spoke of uncompromising anger.

Before he could open his beak, Orion spoke to his commanders, completely ignoring him.

“Hey assholes, make sure that lot that just bolted doesn’t get away. This will have all been for absolute shit if they managed to flee.” His officers to their credit hesitated, looking to their King for guidance. “ Hey assholes! While we are young!” A bolt of magic shot between them impacting the ground. They scrambled to obey in the face of wrath that was this pony.

Bloodbeak bristled, how dare he order his soldiers. Opening his beak once again, magic encircled it and clamped it closed.

“No, you already fucked up enough by marching up here with an army. Scaring these idiots with the theatrics. I have a massive headache and I don’t need to hear your blah blah blah.”

His eyes bulged. No one, not even that whorse Celestia spoke to him like that. But at the same time he didn’t want to incite any more anger out of the stallion. Clearly he was no in a stable mind right now.

Taking in Orion’s appearance he could see why he might be angry. There would be repercussions for his actions here, but Bloodbeak could be patient. The fact that he was trying to save his people gave him a little leeway in his eyes. Not that he was happy about it.

The magic dissipated after a moment, a brief nod and the stallion walked passed him.

“If anyone needs me, I’m going to take a shit.”

“You want me to what?” King Bloodbeak spoke all too quietly. The village lodge was packed full of the villagers of Avery, many with angry looks on their faces at the bold demand. The two Diamond Dog leaders, who were bound and chained before the makeshift throne that was hastily thrown together for this impromptu trail, gaped at him as well.

The dogs looked miserable. The white one, of which Orion learned was named Tilly, all but sobbing in front of them. He was surprised to find her taller than her brother. Coming up to his own chest she was clearly not a chihuahua. Or whatever the hell they called their own breeds.

Aspen was there too, still unconscious. That worried him. If she didn’t waken soon she would likely be dead and no one would blame the dogs for not forgiving him.

“I didn’t stutter your Majesty.” His guards bristled, but a look from him settled them down again.

“You want me to not just spare them, but provide them lodging, food, and a village contract for...mining for me?” The old bird shook his head. Man their feathers were expressive. “And why would I ever want to waste valuable resources on them?”

“Excellent question, and the right one.” Turning he looked at Barney who had been wearing a puzzled question. “Hey midget. Ready to hear my proposal now?” He nodded dumbly that unbelieving look in his eyes.

Orion pulled out a chunk of raw iron ore. “Know what this is? It's Iron ore. I’m sure you’ve come across it before.” Another dumb founded nod. “Excellent. See if you mine this stuff in mass, you might actually be able to EARN a home rather than just sneaking in and taking one. By mining this you can provide for your people food in trade for your services. Are you following me so far?”

He was explaining this in detail not just for the dogs, but for Bloodbeak himself. He blinked, Tilly had stopped crying, her eyes locked on his own, a calculating look in her eye.

She was the brains behind the operation. Where the fuck was she when he first got captured? Both dogs nodded as one.

Shaking his head he looked back to the King. “How long would it take you guys to set up a mine to get all this metal?”

After a hurried conversation with one of his advisors he looked back to Orion. “A few months to survey the land, then another four to five to get the mine up and running proper with the right tools.”

Looking back to Tilly, and not Barney. “How long would it take you? Provided you were given the proper shoring logs to hold up and support the tunnels you would dig?”

She licked her lips. “Two maybe three weeks if we get that as soon as we start looking for a place.” He nodded and turned back to Bloodbeak.

“Employing a species with the natural ability to dig effortlessly will reduce operation costs for you, thus saving lives and equipment. Fully taught to use mine carts and proper mining techniques these Diamond Dogs could become Iron Dogs.”

He turned to the angry mutterings of the villagers. “Oh shut up. You are partly to blame for this mess. While I was in ‘their hotel resort’.” This got a snort of laughter from more than a few guards that was swiftly silenced. “I found out that they came to you for help. Help which you not only refused to give but chased them out of town. Thus twenty-three dogs suffocated to death in a collapsed tunnel network. Your help could have saved lives and built a connection with a people who were merely trying to do the same as you. Survive.”

He was glaring. Didn’t care. He swiveled his glare to the drake sitting on a throne with a speculative look on his face. How did their beaks bend like that?

“You propose that I fund them, feed them, house them, in exchange they produce ore for the two smelters you and the villages have built here? For what? Iron is not that valuable.”

“No, but carbon steel most certainly is.” The gasp from many villagers echoed throughout the room. “All you need is carbon, which is abundant in coal, which is all over the place here. Make coke coal and you can blend that into super heated iron, once done quench and wallah, carbon steel.”

For long moments Bloodbeak just stared into nothing, eyes darting back and forth, but the smile slowly forming over his beak could not be hidden. Orion knew that look. It was a Eureka moment.

“Got your attention now don’t I?”

Actual steel? He could hardly believe his ears. He looked back to the smug pony. He did have his attention. Steel, for his army, for his people, to sell to other nations at cost. The report on his temporary desk reported that the hills in the area were absolutely packed with iron and coal. Not to mention what looked to be some very promising gem locations.

All he had to do was allow the mutts to remain, and work for him, for his people. He ran the numbers in his head again. But it was clear, this would turn the nation's fortunes around in a year. If not less if he played his cards right.

He slowly nodded. “Yes, you do. But I must ask, how do I know these mutts, won’t run the first chance they can get?”

The stallion smiled and looked down at the two leaders of the ragged pack at his mercy. “That's easy, this lot doesn’t have anywhere else they can go. If they leave now they risk most if not all of them dying out. According to a guard I managed to talk to, they have been running from hole to hole, being chased out till they came here. They have no food saved up. Hell they can barely hunt. They will all die out eventually. If they swear loyalty to the throne of Griffonia, they just might survive, maybe even thrive. All they have to do is agree to working for the betterment of not just themselves."

A chill ran through Bloodbeak, Orion was right. “And you, dog. Are you willing to swear to my throne? In return for protection, food and your service to my nation. To send sons and daughters besides my own peoples in order to defend nest and tree? In your case I imagine it would be den and pack. To work hard in exchange for services needed for your own to survive?”

Both dogs looked at each other, the black one nodding to the white one. A shift of power just happened. The white one turned and bowed low, as low as the chains allowed. “If you would accept such an oath from us, we would swear to it. My people, brother, and I are tired of running. Tired of watching our pups die of starvation. Tired of not knowing what the next day would bring. We would so swear to you, and not be Diamond Dogs any longer. We would be Iron Dogs. At the call of you, and your descendants.”

Throughout that little speech, Bloodbeak watched the eyes of his citizens of Avery, many looked guilty, some nodded. Others still held onto some deep seated anger. True his nation had always been at a quiet war with the Diamond Dogs. Back when they once were a nation unto themselves they often fought his people for territory. Often with disastrous results on both sides.

He sat back considering. He knew he was going to agree, the how was his only conundrum. Orion had handed him an opportunity that he or any ruler would be moronic in not taking. He would have to expend resources in education for the mutts, but in just a few short years he could start to pay debts he long since resigned would claim his nation.

To break Celestia’s economic hold, that would be a bigger slap in the face than any invasion.

He smiled broadly. “We will have to make it official. You will have to inform your people of your plan to swear fealty to me. And a formal document will have to be drafted to be signed by each of us. But yes, I think that will be a wonderful start.”

Sitting in the private study of the burgermeister, Orion sat with cider in his hand. He had no idea how the stallion had gotten a hold of the beverage seeing as to the fact that he was still too young to legally drink. Bloodbeak ignored it. He deserved it after all.

It had been nearly a week since the events in the lodge, the town was in a flurry of activity. The Diamond Dogs, no they were Iron Dogs now, had quickly gotten to work once they were properly fed. It was amazing to see them scour the hills and valleys before selecting a location to mine and another to build a new den, as the old one was collapsed in the stallion's rage.

During that time some of them were put to work digging out and creating a tunnel network into the salt fields. The salt that came from just the few days of digging was already more than most had seen in a decade. Again the pony had proven his knowledge, which was well ahead of his own inventors and investigators.

From Neighbon, four-hundred barrels of packed fish were processed here and already set to be shipped to distant towns to shore up food stocks for the coming winter. As far as he was concerned, those barrels were more precious than gold. So he would use his own guards to distribute the precious cargo. Next year in the early spring, seeds would be cultivated and shipped to farming communities with instructions on how to prepare farmland for new crops.

Two Iron Dogs would also travel from village to village that same year to help dig trenches for water supply and till the soil. Bloodbeak was still in a state of shock. His people for the first time in over eight-hundred years, would make a comeback the likes of which never seen in their nation.

“You laid claws on me colt.” He was still sore at the disrespect. But not so mad as he was the day it happened. Deep down he was glad Orion had interrupted him when he did. He would likely have said something very foolish.

“Bullshit, I never physically touched you and I have hands not claws.” He took a sip of his cider and sighed in contentment. No reports had stated he was a secret drinker. To see him enjoying what was considered an acquired taste was confusing.

“Your magic most certainly did, and that in itself is a crime. One usually punished with the minimum of twenty-five years in prison. If not death.” The stallion just gave him a look. He chuckled. “Yeah I would likely not get away with punishing you like that. It would be unpopular amongst my people knowing what you did. That and Celestia would likely not allow me to do it either.”

Looking out the window, to the great Lunar Sea he finally asked the big question.

“Why Orion? Why help me and my people? You stand nothing to gain from this. You want your name stricken from the records of even coming here. The people to swear to silence of you even being here. You will get nothing, not even recognition of your incredible service to them. Why?”

Another sip and a sigh. “Well your Majesty. What would you think the Princess would think if she found out I traveled all the way here, and helped a foreign nation achieve independence of her economic block?”

Bloodbeak blinked. So he had actually considered what might happen to him if she found out. “I see. So you wish to lie by omission to your monarch. By doing so keeping you out of her eye of suspicion.”

“Oh yeah, she would be all over my ass in a second. Madder than hell over it. Best not to rile up someone who can scorch my existence from this reality.” He chuckled to himself.

This pony was playing a very dangerous game. Did he even know the rules? He suspected he knew exactly what he was doing, and that scared him more. A stallion of his age did not act with such motivations. Those his age had no ambition like this. A shudder ran through him. How dangerous was he?

Switching tact. “When you first arrived in my kingdom, what did you think of it?”

Orion was quite a moment, so Bloodbeak took a drink from his ale.

“To be frank it’s a shit hole.” He spat his drink all over the floor. Glaring at him he huffed.

Holding up a hand to forestall his angry tirade he spoke quickly. “Lets face it, your predecessors ran this nation into the ground. Before you, each one threw massive amounts of bits and resources at trying to dislodge Celestia. That was bound to fail. Even you realize that now. Hell you were likely the only one of your line to consider the economic impact such futile attempts were having on your nation.”

He sighed to himself, another swig of ale of which he quickly swallowed, calming his temper. “I see your point. As long as she controls the sun, our very lives will always depend on her.”

Orion laughed so hard he choked. “Fuck no she doesn’t!”

“What do you mean she doesn’t control the sun? There are witness reports of her getting up everyday and raising the sun. Even unicorns have confirmed it. That bitch has us all by the feathers.” He finished sourly.

“It's a nice ruse she has going on I’ll admit. But she doesn’t control a sun that is roughly four-hundred and fifty-thousand miles in radius.” Bloodbeak’s mouth fell open.

“W-what?” He couldn’t speak. How did this pony know the size of the sun itself?

“You heard me, I’m just spitballing for the most part but it's around that size give or take a few thousand or so. No. What she has is a connection to the sun. I suspect it’s the reason for her massive amount of power. She pulls that little ritual everyday. For an entire month I watched how she did it. If anything there seemed to be a siphoning of power.”

She didn’t control the sun? She had been lying to everyone for over a millennium?

“Hold it right there chief big shit. Just because killing her wouldn’t kill everyone doesn’t mean you should try and do it. Mostly because I believe the rumors of her ability of healing. She hasn’t been sick since she took over in Equestria. And she’s at least a thousand years old, though I suspect she is far older. Likely she will catch any agent you send long before they get to her.”

“There is another reason. Out with it.”

“Well, in this delicate stage of recovery, your nation would not handle the war that would follow when you fail.”

Bloodbeak was quiet for a moment, swirling the ale in his mug as he collected his thoughts. “How do I know you're telling the truth?”

Another swig. “You don’t. I can offer no proof other than my observations. But I am highly confident I’m right. That makes it all the more dangerous. My advice is to keep it to yourself for now. If word comes out that she doesn’t control the solar body that is the sun, you can bet she will hunt down the source of that rumor. So keep you and your nation safe. Stay quiet about that one.”

Bloodbeak was contemplative for a long time, he knew it was a long time because the next time he took a drink the ale in his mug was sour and warm.

“What are your plans now, Orion?”

“To actually enjoy what is left of my vacation. Mind if I drag your niece to Neighbon?”

Author's Notes:

Hey Everybody! Just wanted to drop a reminder that I have a Twitter. @RedgraveMorgan
I'll be posting updates on what I plan to do, share art, share other peoples work, that sorta thing. I will credit everyone.

Also, please leave a comment. I actually love hearing from you guys. Let me know how I'm doing. You guys are damn funny XD. I appreciate that.

As always, Thanks for reading.

Peace