Several beats of the Seraph’s wings brought him towards the surface, and with some finesse, Arin peaked his head from the safety of the ice. Free of the tight tunnels, he finally took in a breath of the wind-chilled air, propped up on the ledge with his hands and soft beats of his wings.

Nothing. All around him, there was nothing - save for the cracked peaks of growing rock faces around them. He couldn’t tell from the light-shock, but they seemed… closer, perhaps. Checking his map, he sighed. It was essentially pointless; there were lots of markings for cliffs and peaks, and the Crag - where they were stretched over a giant portion of the parchment.

They would have to risk it. At the very least, they could at least travel towards Equis, as the snow around them stalled enough to spot it hanging far overhead. Again, it was strange - the Lunar Plane had no clouds, yet snow always fluttered through the air. Planar travel was just… surreal.

He let his wings spread, drifting down steadily to the lantern light below. Celestia nearly jumped when he reappeared in the light of the flame, holding a hoof to her heart.

“Alright. Here’s the plan. I’m going to bring the sleigh up on its own, then I’ll bring you - I don’t want to leave you anywhere unsafe, Tia. Think you’ll be fine without me for another minute?”

“Well, I’ve handled three years alone, I think another moment in the dark can’t hurt. Just… be quick. I won’t try to hide it, but… I’m anxious about being by myself now.”

He nodded, helping her off the sleigh - offering the lantern to her muzzle, so he could find his way back. Folding the toboggan up quickly in the flickering light, his wings pumped hard to take off once more - and in moments, had it set up on top with the heavy bag.

Returning to the shaky Princess, she was the next to breach the surface. The cold wind bumping the Seraph harshly against the sheer cliffs, hissing in pain as a gash tore in his jacket. The culprit - a chipped section of the ice, sharp like a blade, that hooked and slid through the fabric.

Exposed to the chilling wings, he quickly set Celestia down - inspecting the damage with a mitten free hand. Luckily, no blood found his fingers, but the cold blew through the jacket quite easily.

“Tia, can you check this for me?” With his back to the Princess, she winced.

“It looks to be... Nearly a hoof in length, cut through to your blue vest. It couldn’t penetrate the armor, thankfully.” She pressed her limb into the fabric, cringing at the thought of the cold flooding in.

“Great. And we can’t set up camp again - we’re out in the open.” He sighed, pinching the fabric together. “I’ll have to stitch it up later.”

“Here, take off your bag - I’ve got an idea.”

The Seraph did as requested, the Princess slipping the cover off with her teeth before digging around in the large space of the pack. After a moment, she withdrew a white sheet from their bedding. On unsteady legs, she brought the cover forward - motioning for him to spread his arms and wings.

Following along, he did so - and her hooves darted the sheet around him expertly, tying it together with her teeth. When she stepped back, he bore a new, white toga around his chest and the small pack on his right hip, covering the gash in the back of his jack quite well.

“There. An old fashion trend from a long forgotten era, put to good use. It should shelter that hole long enough for us to camp.” She smiled at her work, as Arin gave it a once over. It did seem a bit airy, but did the job well - the cloth cutting the wind enough to prevent him from freezing.

“Well um… thank you, Tia.” He smiled. She pressed a hoof to his cheek, taking him in - a warm smile gracing her muzzle.

After the moment passed, Arin helped situate the Princess on the sleigh - back in her familiar position facing him, the Knight bared his pack once more. He would keep it on the toboggan, next to the Princess - but if they had to flee, or the snow gave out from under them, he didn’t want to abandon their supplies to shoot for safety. In fact, after their little incident with Nightmare Moon, he secretly stashed Nocturne inside - along with Sonata and its quiver. Neither would be of any use here, and they were still valuable to him.

The path forward was much quicker above the ice than it was below, even with the inclement weather. With the majority of their journey ascending rather than descending, he could hardly use gravity to help him - so being on a flat surface eased the pain of pushing somewhat.

“Tia, if I gave you the map, could you figure out where we are?” He asked, and Celestia nodded.

“I’m no cartographer, in fact I’m terrible with maps - but I’ve traveled here long enough to have a good idea of the land.” She soon had the parchment pressed to her hooves, approaching more looming mountains against the cold. Whipping winds blowing sheets of resting flakes into the astral sky, the hum of the air steely cold as they approached.

“If you called the Homeward Crest the center of the Lunar Plane, then we’re south west of it right now - I’d say we’re near the Mourning Peaks. I know these mountains; something about the air lashing against the stone makes certain parts of the rock hum. It’s quite saddening, if you sit and listen. Like the very air feels sorrow, and it’s expressing it through song.”

“That’s interesting; so it’s like the world singing. Have you been here before?”

Celestia nodded, folding the map to gently slip it into the strap of his pack. “This is where I awoke, after Leotoln’s Harmony struck me. The tune roused me from my pain, and that’s when I learned I was destitute. Not only that, but in those moments, I truly believed that all was lost. That everypony I knew and loved were dead, dying or escaping - like Twilight and her friends had done before. I had only cried that hard once in my life, when I first lost Luna to the moon.”

A moment of silence soon followed that revelation, the Seraph pushing on through the chill. His hand reached up, brushing away a single, timid tear from the Princess’s eye.

“It won’t happen again. We’ll escape this wasteland, and leave Nightmare Moon here to freeze,” he said, stifling her sob before it even began. With a tense nod from the mare, the Seraph trudged on.

With the looming mountains growing taller by the hour, the wind did indeed shift - occasionally, a faint note would ring out amongst the cold, traveling to them even from leagues away. Punctuated by the sliding crisp of sleigh on snow and the crunch of boots on the ice, the rhythm that it made - though sad - boosted morale in some way. Perhaps as the distance shrank, a flame would be fanned inside - showing their progress with every kick of Arin’s snowy boots.

“Tia… What did you see in me? I mean, what made you offer me a home in Canterlot at all?” he asked, as his memories turned, thoughts wandering to the past.

“It’s not what I saw in you, but what I saw in others. In Equestria, all ponies have some form of magic - this magic is basically a reflection of their personality. When you get to know a pony, you know their magic by feeling - it’s their connection to the planes and realms beyond our own, and it hums in its own tune. That’s why I didn’t believe that you were totally devoid of arcane power - and it’s also why the first thing I did when I met you was check for its presence. I learned that you were more than just an Inert, that your kind… it’s stunted, from old ways of teaching. Segregation based on class and role, it all brought back memories of Equestria’s own history.

“Equestria has never, at least - not until recently - been a peaceful nation. Ponies warred with each other based on race, for food… shelter, many things; or attempted to survive on their own without eachother. Had we not changed, Wendigoes - creatures of this realm, invisible to the eye without a magical touch - would have swallowed Equestria in freezing ice.

“This is why, as a ruler - I stress harmony. Had I let you move out into the world on your own, you would have followed your own ways, slinked off to a forest - and lived as a hermit, sheltering from the rain and winter as it came. You would have lived your life without friends, and would still - not call Equestria home. Instead, I believed it would be best for you to change, to adapt - and also, help my sister grow as well. It’s why that very same day, as night fell and she stirred for supper - I requested she greet you via letter. I believed you two would be fast friends, and I was correct. She was going through a bout of depression at the time, and confided in me that she was feeling lonely… and I thought a friendship could help her overcome this. What better choice than a guest who felt as alienated as her?

“Of course, it came to light that around that very same time, she was under the effects of poisons to control her mood. While everything I did was good natured, it was under the planning of Leotoln. He knew that I would request that you stay, which is why you were sent at sunrise, when I would be free to tend to you. They knew through my teachings that I would ask that you find friends. And they knew that Luna would be privy to the company of a strange being, one who didn’t exactly fit in to the posh and proper of the castle’s night staff. But what they didn’t know, is that deep inside of their Inert - you held magic, waiting to grow and be released.

“And what they also didn’t know was that you had a knack for being extremely lucky. You’ve survived death countless times over, and then some. And on top of that, by simply attending one ceremony, and being in the right spot, at just the right time - prevented me from being killed with a bolt aimed at my heart. Had you not stumbled on that ugly wagon back at the town hall, I would be dead - and you would undoubtedly have fought, and lost, to the Umbrum army later on, after you married Luna. Then, the Seraphs would have just picked up the pieces of our dying nation, rallying the rest of our troops to their death - squash any rebellions - and raised the flag of Alma Sol over Canterlot.”

The first crumpled rocks of the mountain had drawn close, as the Seraph took in Celestia’s ageless wisdom. “I… you know, I had been struggling with my confidence for a while. That… just knowing I was more than just a sandbag, it’s helping. Thanks Celestia. But something you said caught my ear… about a person’s personal magic, how it’s connected to realms beyond our own. Mind explaining?”

“Oh? Surely Twilight would have told you more about Harmony.” She tilted her head curiously, as the Seraph gave a nervous chuckle.

“Sometime in one of her four hour lectures, it may have come up?...”

A mirthful chuckle followed. “That sounds just like her.”

“Magic, as you know, comes from the fabric of reality. This fabric isn’t flat - it’s many layers of other realms laying on top of our own. There’s the elemental chaos, where Discord was born. The Shadowfell, home of the Umbrum. The Feywild, where breezies reside. The Solar plane, which hosts denizens like Tirek and his ilk, and the Lunar Plane, where the cold of Windigos runs freely. Encompassing it all, is the realm of the Astral Plane, a void of stars mostly barren of magic - which Luna and I can manipulate. There is also the dream realm, which makes up the combined imagination of nearly every creature, which she also holds a unique power over.”

A soft hum of the rock picked up, lonely and desolate. “Beyond this, there are planes of existence that mirror our own, in some light - but aren’t layered over ours. They are instead resting distant to the Prime, as the Outer Planes. Where deities and demons reside. These creatures mostly stay away from our realm - but can occasionally appear with the right power.”

By now, Arin had begun to push up a thin slope - the rocks above would provide shelter, and perhaps an eye over incoming danger.

“The planes enshrouding ours are where magic spells are born - evocations sprout from the Elemental Chaos, illusions and their magic spring from the Dream Realm; necromancy the Shadowfell and restoration the Feywild. A foci can grant access to these magics. But all spells require a source of magic - which you draw partly from both the Lunar and Solar plane, when you cast a spell, and partly from one’s ember - along with a hint of the original plane’s magic. Most creature’s embers are charged from the sun and moon both; without one, you are limited to half the strength as normal from ambient magic - and must supplement the rest from your own ember’s residual energy.”

“So while you may cast any spell freely in the Lunar plane, your ember can only store - and convert - so much Lunar magic before becoming chilled, and needing time to recover. This shows through signs of magical exhaustion. The same can be said for the Solar Plane, where your ember will become hot - and need to cool off.

“Additionally, without a balance, some spells may require more energy than others. Casting a flame spell here beyond a few sparks would be exceedingly difficult - while frost magic, already rampant, would be nearly free. This is because half of the cost of magic comes from you - you use that to amplify the ambient magic, where the other half stirs. The less ambient magic available, the more you take from your Ember to cast it.”

“And this is also why Unicorns - as a whole - can move the Sun and Moon when working in mass. My Sister and I can also move the other’s celestial body - but that’s because in Equis, we have the magical skill and energy to do so, even though our embers are entirely focused on our element’s magic. I can use the Sun’s energy to move the moon, because I can expend a vast amount of Solar magic to essentially ‘force’ ambient Lunar energy to move it. It’s like… using a bowl, to scoop a ball from a pond. While moving our own element, we can easily snatch the ball and move it on our own. If… any of that makes sense.”

She waved her thin hoof around, giving a well educated smile. Half of that went over Arin’s head, but okay.

“It’s easier for the magically inclined…” she finished, as Arin continued to stare right through her.

“Riiiight…”

“Well, Twilight understood it, when I explained it to her. And she was only seven.”

“Aha! There’s your problem. I’m not seven. I’m thirty three now. Soon to be thirty four, come Cloptober! Er, I believe. Maybe. Your calendar is… weird.”

Celestia facehooved, sighing. “Ugh, please don’t call it that. There’s a big trend surrounding the word ‘clop’ that the younger mares and stallions love to talk about. I was thinking of having it legally renamed ‘Docktober’, but that also presents a much worse problem of being associated with tails.”

“So… what’s wrong with Cloptober?”

“I can show you, if you’d like - when we set up camp~” She winked. He suddenly didn’t want to know… well, maybe a little. Three years of pent up-

No no no. Keep it professional.

“Nice try, Princess. But you can’t afford that kind of workout. You’d drop dead halfway through,” he teased. A white hoof gently wrapped around his neck, her muzzle hanging close.

“A good theory, but it’s only that; a theory. You’ll find that I’m made of much sterner stuff~”

He stopped pushing to duck down, Celestia’s spent body toppling partly over the bars from the drop.

“Nuh uh. That is the last thing you need. I appreciate the attempt, though! Maybe after I have my talk with Luna.”

She buzzed her lips, sighing. “...Fair enough.”

The minutes whittled away into hours, the Seraph’s legs burning in his steps as they pushed up the mountain. From the peak, they should be high enough to get a clear vantage on their surroundings, and be sheltered against prying eyes from Nightmare Moon. If only Arin’s legs could make the full ascent.

Several hundred yards from the lonesome ridge, Arin’s leg’s gave out - collapsing in front of Celestia. His breath came in sharp, slow gasps - his body actively fighting him, demanding he just stay down. Sleep. Rest. Anything but walk.

“Arin, are you alright?” the weak Princess asked, her front hooves slipping off the handlebars to gingerly press into the icy snow. She draped her left wing around him, worry filling her features. “Do you want me to set up the tent? There’s a few rocks nearby that might do.”

“P-Please.” He sputtered, stripping the heavy pack from his shoulders to toss over the sleigh. Now free of the weight, he grunted - letting his body block the toboggan.

He just hiked a mountain after nearly three full days without sleep. Seraphs were naturally strong, but that strength came through their recovery speed and magic. Without magic, he was weakened - but without sleep, he was crippled to the point of absolute exhaustion.

His eyes drifted to the empty, distant stars of the astral plane. Void of magic, huh? His thoughts churned, seeing the twinkle of the stars, but something about them seemed off.

A sign. A mark. Long ago, Arin told Luna of one constellation from his world - the Arcanis Ring - which was the mark of ascended. He despised it, and thus - the blue Princess wiped it from the very sky, every night.

And even still, under Nightmare Moon’s mind altering influence… she had the thought to remove it from the sky for him. The pony he knew and loved was still down there, deep inside. Maybe one day he could find her heart again, and bring her back. If their love was more than just a passing fancy. Perhaps the stars told another tale he didn’t quite understand yet.

At one point, he didn’t even realize his eyes were settling shut. Three days of walking, flying, and crawling had bested him. Even with their breaks, he simply wasn’t able to recover enough to stay awake. In the freezing snow, his eyelids flicked down - up - then down once more. Head rolling into the comfort of his hood and scarf.

Literal seconds from sleep, the Solar Princess weakly kicked snow across his eyes - before batting him with her thin wings. “Don’t you dare.”

“Huh?... Oh, yes… sleep…”

His arms gently pressed back against the ice, flicking snow from his wings. Doing his best to dust himself free from the powder as Celestia offered him a hoof.

“Arin, stay with me. We can’t sleep. We can’t,” she said, swaying in the wind.

“Yes… I know. Just… surely she can’t find us from a five minute nap?...”

“Don’t underestimate Nightmare Moon,” came her reply. He took her hoof, stumbling to his feet - Celestia bumping into his chest, all but collapsing in his arms. The two swayed in the lunar light for a moment - a dance of exhaustion - before Arin seized the light weight sleigh and dragged it roughly towards the tent. Legs buckling and kicking seemingly at random, Celestia’s body the only thing preventing him from falling once more into the snow.

Once he slid into the tent, he fell to his knees - Celestia zipping up the wind blocking fabric behind them. She shed her jacket as quickly as her gaunt body would allow, tossing it to the side of the lazily made pillow fortress. When Arin didn’t move, only stared dazed at the floor - she worked her unsteady legs over to him, popping the buttons off his front one after the other. He barely recognized it, as she stripped his jacket - leaving him in just his familiar white shirt and blue vest.

“Come on, Arin… we’re well over halfway there. Once your legs are ready, we can…” She yawned, her baggy eyes refusing to open more than a sliver. “Let’s… let’s just stay awake. Okay? We can do that. Another hour or three, just… keep your eyes open. Arin?...”

She had to shake him with a hoof, startling the Seraph from his half doze. “No no, cupcakes are five bits, the cookies are three…” he whispered. Celestia sighed.

They would very well die here if they can’t escape soon. How many more steps can he take before sleep deprivation claims him? How many nights can she herself survive, half awake? Twilight didn’t plan for the need to skip sleep - that simply wasn’t an issue she had ever faced before, as Nightmare Moon had shown too much mercy.

Now? She’s gone bloodthirsty and enraged. She weaved nightmares of terror and suffering, an art she had not just three years - but a thousand to hone. And from Arin’s recollection of events from his past encounter, she had near full control over Luna’s powers. She had been careless before, thinking she held all the cards here on the moon - but Arin somehow broke free of the command of Nocturne’s enchantment, and bought them precious time to escape.

Now, there would be no second chances. A flash of her horn when the Nightmare found them, and they would both collapse in torrential nightmares. Whatever she had planned for them, it would likely be the end.