Emmit's POV
The Map Room
The Next Morning

The following day Tia, Luna, Ember, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and I were standing in the map room. The only one of them that wasn't here was Rainbow and that was because she was on active duty with the Wonderbolts. Because all of us were there, minus Rainbow, all our foals were there as well. Only this time, little Solar was sitting on the table in front of her mother and looking at the table with wonder on her face, curious as to what she was looking at. She even stepped up to the small floating shield just above the table the tried batting her paw at it. Then she looked between her paw and the small floating shield, having no clue why her paw went through it.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and I were nursing our foals with me in my naked human form and nursing Aurora in my arms. My daughter was currently suckling on the bottle while trying to hold onto it with her small hooves. Pinkie and Rarity were nursing their foals as well as they sat on their own thrones.

"So, why are we here this morning?" Twilight asked curiously as she motioned to the table from her throne.

"I had a talk with the Empress and the Tree of Harmony last night about the Pillars," I began telling them while I squeezed myself into Rainbow's throne. Tia and Luna were standing on either side of me as I had everypony's attention. "It turns out that the seed Starswirl talked about was the seed that grew into the Tree of Harmony." They all gasped at that but didn't say anything. "So meeting the Pillars is important to her which is understandable. However, she understands that this isn't the time to free them and deal with the Pony of Shadows. She said that in order to free the Pillars, we would need their artifacts. Starswirl's artifact is his journal. We'll also need Mage Meadowbrook's healer's mask, the shield of Flash Magnus, the blindfold of Somnambula, the flower of Mistmane, and the shovel of Rockhoof. Which is what you see on the map this morning."

"So, if we aren't going to free the Pillars, then are we just going to go get them and store them?" Applejack asked.

I gave her a quick nod, "Precisely. Considering it's not the time to free them and the Pony of Shadows, it's still a good idea to pick them up and store them securely until after the war. This means that Fluttershy will have to go retrieve Meadowbrook's mask, Applejack you'll be going after Rockhoof's shovel, Pinkie will go after Somnambula's blindfold, Rarity will retrieve Mistmane's flower, and Ember and I will go after Magnus' shield. So, if my beautiful Tia and Luna wouldn't mind watching over the foals while we are gone?"

"Of course," Tia agreed with a smile.

"It will be good practice for us," Luna told me with a confident smile and a nod.

Naturally, little Solar heard only one thing through all that. "Daddy leaving?" she asked while turning around toward me giving me the classic puppy-eyed look.

Leaning over closer to her, I reassured her, "Only for a day. Daddy just needs to go get something from the dragons and then come right back. I promise."

She seems to brighten at that, flutters up to me, gives me a kiss, and hugs my face. "Alright, if Daddy promises to come back."

"Always," I whisper to her, kissing her on her head. The interaction between my daughter and I had the rest of the girls looking over at us with smiling looks of "Daww that's so precious".

"Is it really necessary for us to go?" Fluttershy asked while looking apprehensive.

"Yes, because the Pillars represent the Elements of Harmony," I began to explain while Aurora let me know she was finished, so I put the bottle down and gently put her on my shoulder to burp her. "That's why you girls are assigned to the artifacts. But considering Rainbow is on duty and can't go, Ember and I will go in her place. And with the Storm King not doing anything at the moment, this is the best time to go and get them. However, I don't want you, girls, to go alone either, which is why I'm ordering two soldiers to go with each of you just in case."

"Aww we can take care of ourselves," Pinkie giggled away, dismissing my concern with a slight shake of her head.

"I'm sure that you can, but do me a favor and humor me, ok?" I asked where each of them nodded to me with a smile. "Thank you. So, we will all make what preparations we need and go whenever you are ready. For me, I'll spend some time with you, sweetie, before going."

"Thanks, Daddy!" Solar giggled gleefully as she hugged my face.

^_^

Applejack's POV
Three hours later
Airship Nighthawk

Roughly about three hours, Emmit, Ember, and I were on the Airship Nighthawk heading toward the Dragon Lands. It turned out that Rockhoof's old village, where his shovel was located, so happened to be on an island not too far off of the Dragon Land's SouthWest coast. And considering that he and Ember were heading to the Dragon Lands to pickup Flash's shield, we were all going together. At the moment, Emmit was standing beside me with Ember on the other side from the bow of the airship as we flew over the Celestial Sea. He was in his fox form and had a couple of tails around me, holding me against him, as we watched the land below go by under us.

I've never been one for romance or romantic views. However, at this moment, with his tails around me, my body leaning against his, and with my head resting on his broad shoulder, it was really nice. Even I'll admit that it was a peaceful and beautiful view. Which meant that Rarity would have found it romantic. With neither of us saying anything, just enjoying the view, and his presence it certainly seemed like a romantic moment. I was even using a hoof to lightly rub up and down his front leg absentmindedly. Meanwhile, the only sounds that were heard were the wind blowing across the ship's deck and the occasional voice from one of the crew issuing commands.

"You know, this is a right nice peaceful romantic moment we've got here." I knew that my voice sounded soft, content, and even romantic sounding, but at the moment I really didn't care.

He pulled his head away just enough to turn his head and lift my head up to give me a light kiss with a knowing smile on my face. "For you to recognize a romantic moment is rather something," he teased as I kissed him back.

While looking up into his eyes and seeing the love he has for me, reminded me of what Ember said to me about being happy with him. Happy that he's in my life. Which was why I didn't mind that my face was flushed and didn't try and hide behind my hat like I normally would. But looking up at him with a happy smile. "Yeah, I know I'm not the most romantic pony in the herd, but I have my moments."

"Like now?" he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Maybe," I whispered then leaned in to start lightly kissing his neck. "I'm happy that...I'm your...mare," I whispered between kisses.

He hummed happily, tilting his head away to give me more access to his neck, "I'm glad you're my mare as well, AJ."

"Sorry to interrupt, but we've got one of the Storm King's airships approaching from the Port Bow, sir," the captain of the ship told us with a sharp salute. Without waiting for a reply, the mare captain of the ship turned toward the left side of the ship and walked up to the edge of the deck. We all followed her to the left side and saw an airship coming toward us.

"That ship sure looks mean lookin'," I commented. "And it appears like it's speeding right for us, don't it?"

"Good eye, Miss Applejack," the captain commented to me. "Is this any different than the one you've faced before, sir?"

As Emmit spoke, I watched two large streaks of flames come out of the back of that wood and metal ship. It was definitely heading toward us. "From what I can tell right now, it appears that he has completely covered the wooden outer hull with armor plating. Which apparently includes the air bladder."

The captain appeared to agree with a short nod and a quick hum before saying, "That explains why she's so slow even under full power. We could run circles around it without a problem. And because of the weapons that you've installed on us, we could beat her, too."

"Our missions aren't time sensitive," Emmit commented softly as if to himself before turning himself fully to the captain. "We'll take it out. How good is your unicorn on shields?"

"Not your level or the princesses, but he's no slouch, sir."

Emmit gave her a quick nod, "We'll help then. Better be safe than sorry."

With a quick nod of her own, the captain turned around toward the rest of the ship. "Helm! Hard to port, we're going hunting, so pony up the guns!" The stocky earth pony at the helm quickly saluted before lowering his head toward the bell of a brass horn and spoke something into it. A couple of seconds later, we all heard a commotion from below deck as the ship came to life.

As the ship quickly turned toward the other one, Emmit looked down at me with his face showing concern. "There's no shame is going below deck, AJ. This isn't one of your Elements of Harmony adventures. This is war and it's going to get messy and bloody really quickly. That other ship is out of our weight class. We may be faster but she's stronger and got more firepower than we do."

I know he was being serious and I also knew that he was right. But I met his eyes with my determined one. "I ain't leaving your side in this. I doubt that we'll get boarded and all but if we do I'll stand by you." After a quick nod and a small thankful smile, he gave me a quick kiss before looking over at Ember.

"Alright then, Ember. I'll leave the air bladder to you then. I know you can get through the light armor," he told her with proud confidence which got Ember grinning with so much glee it started getting me nervous. But she didn't wait for the ship to get close to us either but launched herself off the deck of the ship with an excited shout.

"Is it me or are we headed straight for it?" I asked curiously while peering over the front of the ship looking directly at the front of the other.

"That's exactly right, Miss Applejack," the captain walked up with a bulky unicorn. "The hardest part about playing chicken is knowing when the flinch. But in our case, it doesn't matter because we'll have shields and guns on both sides ready. And that dragon lady of yours is really going to work on their air bladder." And true to the captain's word, we watched Ember attack the air bladder with such ferocity it was frightening. She would use flames to heat up the metal before using her claws to rip into the thin armor around the air bladder. We were close enough to the other ship that we could hear Ember's shouts and screams as she attacked the ship.

We were also close enough to see the soldiers on the deck. There weren't that many on deck as I suspected that most were below deck at the guns. But there were a few of those ugly soldiers on deck as if waiting to jump aboard. Won't they be surprised when they land in the sea below.

"She turning captain!" we all heard from the helm. And he was right, too. The ship was banking to put her on our left side.

"Fire on my command!" the captain shouted back to the helm.

"Aye, captain," the helm responded then yelled the same into the brass bell.

"In that case, if you can shield us for a few minutes, I can concentrate my fire, literally, against the heavy iron armored hull," Emmit told the unicorn next to him.

"I can handle it, sir," the unicorn responded then both of them moved to the left side of the ship just as our two ships started passing each other. What I thought interesting was that there was no shouting at each other like in some of the stories Big Mac reads. Everything was silent except for Ember's war-like shouts of glee as she tore apart the light armor surrounding the air bladder to get to the bladder itself. Taking a quick look up, I already saw a few large holes in the air bladder's light armor and she was going in to slash it open.

The ships were just starting to pass each other at about fifty hooves or so apart. And it was when the first gun port bored down on us that the unicorn's horn lit up brightly. A second later a shield appeared between us and the other ship with a powerful whisper of hum as the unicorn stood strong and proud. I might not know much about magic but to me, that was impressive. A couple of seconds after the shield appeared, Emmit started shooting a massive stream of flames against the armored hull of the ship. I watched in fascination as the hull of the ship started glowing red as it heated up.

The other ship still hasn't fired yet and as more of the ship bore down upon ours, Emmit used a clone to stand nearby, and fire blasted the hull. As she ships slowly passed each other, more of Emmit's clones started appearing and more of the ship's hull began to glow red, then orange, and then yellow as the hull heated up. Meanwhile, we started hearing a hissing sound from above just as Ember landed on the deck behind us with a soft thud.

"HOLD!" the captain shouted as Ember walked across the deck to stand proudly beside me. However, the other ship didn't hold but started firing off their cannons two at a time as more of their ship bore to ours. The loud explosion from the other ship's guns startled me. But only me as I watched the unicorn and his shield stood strong against the large ammunition race across the gap and slam into his shield. Then bounce off and fall down to the ocean below. "HOLD!" the captain shouted again over the sound of cannon fire even as the enemy still kept trying to get through this unicorn's shield. Even as the enemy's hull was glowing red to white hot.

The whole thing ended when the Captain suddenly turned toward the helm, shouting out, "FIRE, GIVE HER A BROADSIDE!"

The held shouted into the brass bell, "Fire all!" The power of our guns surprised me and startled me with a quick succession of four guns going off almost simultaneously. But it wasn't just the sound that surprised me but their power. The guns we were carrying were so powerful that the whole ship suddenly tilted a few degrees before righting itself. They may have only tilted us, but the effects on the other ship were devastating. My eyes widened in fascinated horror to hear the defeating metallic clang of our shells going through their hull and then exploding inside their ship. The explosion rocked their ship with parts of the deck exploding outward like flames from a volcano. Along with the shouts of terror from the soldiers in fear for their lives, the flames rising quickly on the deck, and the ship itself starting to fall from the sky, it was a sight of horror for me.

Even while on our Elements of Harmony adventures, nopony was harmed or killed. And even though I knew this was coming, I still wasn't prepared for such a sight. As the ship slowly fell from the sky, Emmit made his clones disappear. The stallion unicorn stood strong and kept his shield up until the ship's air bladder, or what was left of it, disappeared out of sight.

After everything calmed down again and after the ship turned back toward the dragon lands, Emmit looked down at me with concern on his face. "Are you alright, AJ?" he asked while putting a couple of tails around me and pulling me against him to comfort me. Which, I'll admit to needing at the moment.

Leaning against him, he steered Ember and I toward the front of the ship again. "Yeah, it's just I wasn't prepared for the brutality of it, I guess. I mean, I knew it would happen but in all our adventures, it wasn't this brutal. Nopony got hurt or killed."

After a soft hum of thought to acknowledge that, he said, "War is brutal, AJ. The Storm King doesn't have any restraint and won't hesitate to kill. Apparently, he wants one thing and that's to conquer. Which means we have to be just as brutal in our defense and not apologize for it."

"I know and you're right," I told him while leaning against him as my eyes focused across the expanse of the sea in front of us. "It just doesn't feel right, I guess, being an Element of Harmony. Being an Element of Harmony, I'm supposed to represent Harmony, not war."

"Think of it as fighting to bring Harmony back to these other places," he suggested softly while squeezing me a little to give me some comfort. "Like fighting off some timberwolves that are attacking your farm."

I had to smile a little at that. "Yeah, I guess your right."

"Right now, let's focus on finding and securing the artifacts," he said to me, giving me a reassuring kiss. So, that's what I did with my eyes focused on the horizon and my mission.

^_^

Dragon Lands Southwest Coast
A few hours later

The ship took off again after dropping me off with a couple of soldiers from the ship. One earth pony stallion decked out with a magically enchanted shield, one magically enchanted sword, and one rifle. And one female hippogriff also with full armor, sword, shield, and rifle. It's sweet and all that Emmit wants to look after me and protect me even though there's no need for it. That's why I'm never going to argue when he wants some soldiers to come with me.

Rockhoof's hometown area was more luscious and green than I thought it'd be considering the inactive volcano nearby. And I wasn't the only one to notice either. "You know, for an area that was supposedly made from a volcano, it's surprisingly very fertile ground," the stallion commented as he and the hippogriff walked behind me. "Not so much this small peninsula we're on as it's mostly rocks, stone ground, dust, and surface vegetation."

The female hippogriff seemed to agree as she commented, "From what I saw from the air, it seemed that they were using this small peninsula as some type of monumental site."

"Well we aren't far from where they're digging, so we'll get to ask them in a few minutes," I told them as the dig site was just up ahead of us. The site itself was nothing but rocks, stone, and dust that was in the process of being cleared away. One middle-aged-looking gray-coated light green mane and tailed mare with glasses seemed to be in charge of the two kids, a filly and colt, and a stallion. The stallion appeared to be hammering away at the base of a boulder while the two kids were busy uncovering something that was covered in rock dust.

"Wow, such a find," the light blue filly exclaimed happily as the mare in charge walked up to them, "maybe it belonged to Rockhoof himself!"

That brought a smile to my face as we started walking into the site itself.

The mare in charge just smiled at that and said with amusement in her voice, "Legends don't wear helmets. This belonged to a real pony."

Considering what I was here for, I thought I'd give my two bits on that. "Oh, I can guarantee that Rockhoof was as real as you and me," I said with a slightly raised voice to announce our presence.

This of course amused the mare in charge as she turned toward me and giggled out in amusement, "And I suppose that ravine was dug with his trusty shovel to save the village from an erupting volcano."

After a quick look around and spotting the ravine nearby, I looked back over to her, gave her a quick nod, and said to her, "Probably."

I watched her shake her head with an easy smile, "I love legends as much as any pony but a pony that's strong enough to save a village from rushing lava with a shovel is..." She paused long enough to shake her head again before finishing with a soft amused voice, "preposterous."

And that's when fate decided to give us all a heart attack. The stallion that was hammering away at the large boulder nearby chipped away at something that was holding the large boulder in place. With a crack and a rumble, the large boulder quickly started rolling away from its resting spot and toward the gray mare and the two foals. "Lookout!" called out the stallion as he started running toward the three of them. But there was no way for him to get to them in time. Even after the earth pony soldier and hippogriff soldier with me immediately jumping into action wouldn't be able to save them in time. Especially with them standing there like a bump on a log and paralyzed with fright. There was only one thing to do, so I did it. I ran over as quickly as my legs could carry me and placed myself between them and the boulder.

Then braced myself.

When it got close enough, I slammed my back hooves against it to stop it. It was larger than anything I've ever had to stop and buck in my life. And because of the weight and momentum of it, it almost was too much for me. Almost. But I got it to slow down and stop, then with a quick deep breath and an encouraging shout, I gave it my all. And was happy to see it fly not only away from them, but also out of the immediate area. It was also satisfying to see the shocked faces of not only the gray mare and the foals but also the two soldiers that accompanied me as well. After taking a couple of seconds to stretch and crack my legs, the gray mare walked up to me. She had concern on her face as she looked me over, "I...I can't believe...you just did that. You saved us."

With a smirk, I couldn't help but say to her, "I bet if you told somepony else this story it might sound...preposterous," while taking a pause at the end for an overly dramatic gasp.

She took it with a grateful smile as the stallion that was previously hammering away at it, tapped my shoulder before pointing to where the boulder once stood. We all looked at the uncovered entrance to a small room. A small room that I immediately recognized as the shovel that I came here for. With a wide smile, I quickly walked up to it and then into it where the shovel stood upon a stone as if a prize to show off. "I suppose that some stories just might be true," I heard from the gray mare as I picked up the shovel, twirled it in my front hoof, and then slammed it into the ground in front of me.

"Still as strong as ever, I see," I said with a shout of excitement before picking it back up again and walking out of the small room.

"You are just going to keep that?" the gray mare questioned me as I stepped out.

I gave her a quick sympathetic nod. "I'm afraid so, yes. You see this shovel along with the rest of the artifacts from the legends is being gathered up to be put into a secure location."

"They are?" she asked where I simply gave her a nod. "Well, how did you know it was here?"

"The Tree of Harmony showed us where each of them is located, so we can find them and round them up," I told her simply before starting to walk back over to the two soldiers that were now waiting at the edge of the dig site.

"W-Wait, hold on a minute," the gray mare shouted after me. When I stopped and turned to look at her, she brought a smile to my face when she asked, "You want to stay for a bit and tell us about Rockhoof and the Legends of Equestria?"

"Yeah, I suppose we got time," I told her while walking back over to the excitement of the two foals. "Besides, my ride probably will be a little while anyway. You see, I came with Emmit, my stallionfriend, and Ember on the same ship because they were coming to the Dragon Lands to pick up the shield of Flash Magnus."

^_^

Emmit's POV
Dragon Lands
About one hour later

"I noticed that you have changed from your fox form to your human form, my mate," Ember commented with a smile on her face that told me she liked what she was seeing. I had no idea where Flash's shield might be in the dragon lands, so we were just walking around basically. But while we were walking around, I felt that the heat from the lava wasn't affecting me as nearly as it did before. So, I morphed into my naked human form to see if that changed as well. And it did. It wasn't cool to me or anything but it also wasn't burning me either.

"Yeah, I felt that the heat wasn't bothering me as much, so I changed," I told her with my arm around her, rubbing her sides affectionately. Which she returned with her arm around my waist with her hand gripping my ass possessively. "And I was right and pleasantly surprised that the heat of the area isn't bothering me. This to me is like a warm day. That doesn't mean that I'll take any chances on swimming in lava or anything."

We were currently walking toward a small crowd of teenage dragons with about seven standing around talking; both male and female. Ember stopped me when we were about twenty or so feet away from them, turned square to me, and then took my semi-hard cock in her hand. "That pleases me, my mate," she said with bedroom eyes, a soft voice, and as she gently squeezed my cock. "Because I'm in heat, as the ponies say. And I'm happy that you get to impregnate me in my homeland in front of all dragons present."

"And I will shout my joy at our union for all dragons to hear," I told her with passion filling my voice and lust for her in my eyes. "And forsake all other dragons and fight others which dare to keep us apart."

After a short happy growl, she reached up and grabbed my head right before she pulled my head down for a passionate kiss. During this kiss, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me against her while spreading her wings wide as if in royal fashion. Returning her kiss with a passionate one of my own, I reached down and grabbed each of her butt cheeks with my hands giving them a possessive squeeze. And because we weren't exactly being silent about it, the seven dragons in the near distance spotted us. But it was only the female dragons, four of them, that were running up to us.

"Hey, Ember!" a light green female dragon replied as she and her three friends ran up to us, all with excited looks on their faces. One thing I also noticed was that dragons, like humans, have different size breasts. Hers appeared to be around a B-cup but her nipples weren't showing. Not like Ember's were. The other dragons, which were brown, red, and light yellow respectively, all had breasts sizes either bigger or smaller and of varying height. "You're back with your mate. Are you here for mating season?" she asked as she and the others were bouncing on their toes as if excited about something.

Breaking our kiss she pulls away just enough to turn her head to them. "That is part of it yes. And yes, we do plan on mating where the eggs lay."

"That's wonderful!" the brown female dragon asked as I noticed that her breasts seemed to be the largest at a C-cup.

"But what's the other reason that you're here?" the red one asked, looking between us curiously.

"We need to find a shield that's a little larger than a buckler," I told them while still holding Ember against me.

"A shield?" the light yellow dragon asked, appearing to not know at first. Then she brightened up and said, "Oh, I saw Garble with a shield a short time ago. Yeah, he was using it as a surfboard in the lava."

With a frustrated sigh, I looked down at Ember, "Let's go get it before Garble destroys it."

"Where did you see him last?" Ember asked, looking at the light yellow dragon.

The light yellow female dragon grinned mischievously and put her hands behind her back while looking at Ember like a woman with a secret. "I'll tell you if you tell us about your mate. Like how is he during sex?"

"Yeah, and how big is he?" the red one asked with an actual slight excited giggle. In response, Ember looked up at me then with a slow smile that spread wide on her face, backed up away from me, and then took my now hard cock in her hand as if presenting it. They didn't need to be told twice to look down. The red one was the first to say something. "Wow! He looks so different than a dragon."

"Is he bigger and longer than a dragon's dick, Ember?" the green one asked while looking like she was itching for a feel of me.

"Yes, he is," Ember told them while slowly stroking me to keep me erect. "And he can still pleasure me after one round."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," I responded to the brown one. "Two rounds is my limit, though."

"Believe me, that's alright," she said with a schoolgirl-like giggle. "The typical male dragon can only go one round and not last long enough to fully pleasure us."

Meanwhile, I noticed that the male dragons were walking off somewhere while glaring at me the whole time.

"My mate has shown me the true nature of sex and pleasure," Ember said about me as she looked up at me with love and lust in her eyes. Her hands stopped stroking me to grab my waist and with one look from her she told me to continue where she left off.

So, I took her head in my hands and looked into her eyes. "That sex and pleasure are more than just an act." I paused to kiss her passionately before breaking the kiss to kiss her neck. "It is a way to show your mate how much you care and how much you love them." Then I just stared into her eyes as I told them, "It's about connecting yourself with your mate. Loving them with every fiber of your being. It's more than emotion. It's more than just an act. It's a deeply personal choice where you surrender yourself completely one to the other."

"Oh, you are so lucky to experience that, Ember," the light green one told her with a look of sorrow for herself.

"He is even raising his own young himself," she told them while looking up at me with happiness in her eyes. "He is educating them himself and he will raise our young himself. And he vows to keep the egg warm with his own heat."

"He will?"

"He can do that?"

Two of them asked simultaneously in shock with wide eyes and mouths hanging open as if catching flies. That's when Ember looked over to them with a mischievous smirk on her face. "Help us retrieve the shield from Garble and I will permit each of you to get a small taste of what real sex is like. What a real connection is like. And let him take you through the journey of completely surrendering to a mate."

Almost before Ember was able to finish, they quite literally took off with excited giggling glee. "I'm so going to kick Garble's ass," one of them yelled out. "Let's get that shield, girls," another one yelled as they flew off out of sight.

Once they are out of sight, I simply looked down at her with a raised eyebrow in curiosity as to what she was playing at. She took my hand in hers with a wide mischievous smile on her face and started pulling me in the same direction that the other girls went. "Worry not, my mate," she started telling me as we walked through the hot arid landscape. "I do want them to experience what true, real, and surrendering intimate sex is like. They will also understand that they will not be permitted to speak of it outside of the dragon lands or to other dragons. You are permitted to pleasure them. Even to be inside of them. However, you are not permitted to fill them with your seed. Only a few thrusts to give them a taste of joyous surrender to a loving and caring mate."

"I get what you're saying, my mate," I said to her as we heard the sound of a commotion up ahead over a ridge. "I promise and swear to you that I will not fill them and try to show them the same love and joy that I have for you."

When we crested the ridge, I looked down to see that there was a pool of lava that fed a kind of lava slide. Kind of like a waterslide but with lava. The sight was humorous as the four girls were either attacking him when they could catch up to him or chasing after him when he got loose of their hold.

"Give me that shield, Garble," the light green dragon girl shouted as she raced after him. But it was only her and I was wondering where the other three were. That was answered when Garble tripped over the red dragon girl's leg as she suddenly came around a large boulder. She chased after the shield when Garble dropped it when he fell as the shield slid on the hard stone ground. However, Garble was having a hard time getting up this time because the other three girls landed on top of him. "Go!" the light green one shouted as the red one took flight with the shield in her claws.

And flew straight for us. When she landed in front of us and present us with the shield of Magnus, the other three cheered first before flying off Garble and over to us. Once the shield was in my hands, the girls cheered and giggled with glee as Ember looked at them, saying, "Come and experience a small taste of his love for me." As we walked away with the shield in my hands, Ember was walking beside me with the rest of the dragon girls around us. Two of the girls, the brown one and the red one, were rubbing their hands against me from chest and side all the way down to my ass. And I don't think that Ember minded either considering she wasn't saying anything and what she said to them just a couple of minutes before.

I never really saw where they kept their eggs and it didn't take long to get there. But it was how Ember said it was. It was a shallow trench with eggs of all colors and sizes sitting on small dirt-hole-looking cradles. The trench itself was very warm to me, like a very hot day but it wasn't burning me any. Ember took my hand with a smile and lead me into the midst of the eggs with the other four following us. In the midst of all the eggs and near the entrance was an area where there were no eggs. And it was there that Ember pulled me in and then turned around to face me.

Ember had both of my hands in hers as the four girls surrounded us, two on each side. Ember's scales were soft and separated but I don't think that the others noticed. So, that's where she started showing them. "My father raised me himself as you already know," she began telling them while looking up into my eyes. "But there were some things that he didn't teach me that I had to find out for myself." She let go of one hand to bring up her arm for them to see. "You see how my scales are separated?" She paused while they all leaned in to take a closer look. "When we totally surrender to our mate our scales will separate and soften so we can experience every sensitive touch from our mate."

The four girls looked on in amazement at the sight even with looks of confusion. "And my nipples are showing between my softened scales." Again, they looked closely at her breasts. "Right now I have totally surrendered to my mate by taking down all protective barriers between us. When I was having sex before, I was going through the act of sex without knowing there was a deeper meaning and a deeper experience. We dragons pride ourselves on our scales that are hard and protect us. But they also keep us from experiencing the real and total enjoyment of being intimate with a mate. Total surrender to a mate is scary. Our scales protect us from harm, so softening your scales in surrender to your mate makes me vulnerable to him. It was scary at first. But if you have a strong and honorable mate, you know that he won't hurt you. You know that he will love you." Her half-lidded eyes were still looking up at me and smiled wide when my hands squeezed her butt cheeks. She responded by pressing herself against me where the head of my cock was poking her stomach. "That's when you'll want him to touch you."

"Hold your male dragons to a higher standard," I added softly while gazing into Ember's eyes. "That they should treat their mate as if she is the greatest treasure. Protect his treasure." I paused to kiss her lips. "Polish her." She tilted her head to the side so I could kiss her neck. But I didn't stop there but knelt down as I started kissing her upper chest. "Strengthen her and make her stronger." I was now on my knees with my hands massaging each breast as I leaned in to take a nipple in my mouth. While gently sucking on it, I felt her hands massage my head as she moaned loudly her approval.

"Relish his touch, his lips, on my most vulnerable and softest of places," Ember moaned loudly.

"Whoa, this is so hot," I heard one of them whisper.

"I so want to experience that," another one whispered.

With her hands, Ember moved my head to the other nipple where I gently sucked on it while massaging that breast.

"Other males do that, but they don't do it that well."

"Heck, no, they are always too rough."

"Then we females should hold our males to the standard that my mate has set for us," Ember moaned while running her hands through my hair and gently scratching my head. "That we females deserve to be treated like a priceless treasure like my mate treats me." With her hands, she encourages my head down lower, so I let go of her nipple, ran my hands down the sides of her body, and started kissing down her chest and stomach. When I reached her pussy, I used my tongue to slowly lick up her lips while looking up at her. She spread her legs wider for me and looked down at me with love and lust in her eyes. "Lick me, my mate. Kiss my entrance, my mate. For I joyously open myself up to you and welcome you inside."

After placing my lips against her pussy and sucking lightly, I also slipped my tongue inside of her. And felt her legs tremble a little as she moaned her approval and dug her talons into my hair.

"They don't do that either," one of them whispered.

"I've never had that done to me."

"No, they only want one thing and never want to give so much pleasure," another one whispered while two of the girls helped Ember to the ground. Once on the ground, she spread her legs wide for me while my hands gripped and massaged her butt cheeks.

"Yes! Pleasure me, my mate. Then claim me for I am yours."

When I heard that, I started moving up her body. Kissing my way up her body, I whispered, "You are my treasure, Ember." My cock was hard and throbbing to be inside her as I kissed one nipple and then the other. "I love you, my treasure." She lifted her head up, grabbed my head, and brought it down for a deep passionate kiss while my tip pressed against her lower lips. As she moaned into the kiss and ran her talons through my hair, I felt her legs wrap around me and her heels dig into my ass. She was telling me that she wanted me inside. So, at her urging, I started pushing myself inside as my head parted her lips. As her warmth surrounded me, we wrapped our arms around each other in an embrace. And she rested her head against my shoulder, pressing her cheek against mine, as I hilted myself fully inside.

"Love me, my mate," she whispered in my ear as I started loving her. "Fill me and impregnate me, my mate. Then show them what true intimacy is."

^_^

Rarity's POV
Mistmane's Garden Village

I was so happy to hear that Mistmane's village resided in the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Empire is a wondrous place filled with beauty. So, it wasn't a surprise that Mistmane would be a resident there. Ever since I first heard of the legend of Mistmane, her beauty, and how she sacrificed her beauty to save her village, it has been an inspiration to me. Inspired me to be a better pony. And now that Emmit and I have a foal, I vow to teach the same meaning of sacrifice to my son. And considering I was headed back into the Crystal Empire I made a promise to Twilight to stop by and see Cadence and Shining Armor after picking up the flower. I also knew that I would be spending the night in the Crystal Empire because of how long it would take to get there. Picking up the flower shouldn't take too long, so by my estimate, there was plenty of time for me to be at Cadecen's castle just before dinner.

Oh, how I was wrong.

The state that Mistmane's garden was in was shocking, to say the least. After walking through the large double doors, I stopped dead in my tracks and gasped at the horrific sight before me. The once beautiful garden was clearly not being tended to and was now in desperate need of cleaning up. Flowers and foliage that were once beautiful were left alone to grow wherever they wanted. So, now the whole garden was now overgrown and looked absolutely hideous. On the bright side, it was easy to spot Mistmane's flower because it was the only thing that was still beautiful in this whole place. It was also right in the middle of the garden as the centerpiece putting it right in front of my face. Being easy to spot, I walked in and up the path leading to the flower. But I didn't see anypony around and it was wrong to just up and take it without checking to see if anypony was here first.

"Hello? Is anypony here?" I called out while walking up the path toward Mistmane's flower. At first, nopony answered back until I got close enough to the flower to touch it.

"Don't you dare try and take that flower!" came the cry of an older mare from the small house off to the right side of the garden from where the flower stood. The door opened with a loud slam, startling me, as the older mare started walking down the stairs toward me with a garden trowel in her magical grasp. She was waving it around as if she was going to use it as a weapon. Which meant that she clearly had the want to use it. "That's the last thing that's still beautiful in this place and I will not have my family's legacy of serving Mistmane go out the door with the flower. Ponies came from all around to visit this garden and I won't have the last beautiful thing here go out that door."

Due to her rather rude greeting, I decided to be more tactful. After turning to face her, I tried to give her my best Princess Celestia look as I could while also trying to imitate the royalty in her voice. "My good mare, I am no ordinary pony. I am the Element of Generosity, Miss Rarity Belle. Wife of Emmit Knight and sister-in-law to Princesses Celestia and Luna. I am on a royal mission to find Mistmane's flower and bring it back to be secured in a vault."

I expected her to readily agree to it because my marriage to Emmit is well known and I just expected her to know about it. That's why I was so surprised when she blatantly told me, "I don't believe you."

It took my mind a couple of seconds to catch up to what she said and when it did, my thoughts made themself known with one word. "WHAT?!"

When I didn't say anything else but kept staring at her in shock, she reiterated her point. "I don't believe you," she told me again while practically shoving the trowel in my face. "You know how many ponies come into this garden wanting to take this flower and giving me all kinds of excuses?"

In spite of what she just said, I tried to negotiate again. So, after a calming breath, I told her, "I am the Element of Generosity Rarity Belle and I am married to Emmit and your disbelief doesn't change that fact. I am on a royal mission and your disbelief doesn't change that either. It is clear that you are incapable of taking care of this garden and while I mean no disrespect to you because of that, I will say that I think your pride keeps you from asking for help. I know about such things because as I have been guilty of that myself. My friend Applejack, the Element of Honesty, has also been guilty of that in the past as well. If you do need proof of who I am and my mission, then I will ask Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, who rule over the Crystal Kingdom and whom you are supposed to be aware of, to come here with volunteers which will restore this garden to its former glory without you. However, if you let me take the flower now, I do promise as the Element of Generosity to mention this place to Princess Cadence and tell her that you need help in taking care of this garden. I ask that you don't sacrifice your legacy for your pride."

She seemed to think about it before narrowing her eyes at me, still with the trowel in my face, saying, "I'll make you a deal. Clean this place up to its former glory and I'll think about it."

I rolled my eyes at that with a horse-like snort because I knew what she was trying to do. "While I would like to beautify this garden back to its former glory, that would not solve the underlying problem. That being you need help in taking care of this place. So, even if I did that and even if you gave me the flower, the garden would still return to this decrepit state in a few years. Thus not solving anything. The size of this garden needs more than one caretaker and we both know that. I am a seamstress by trade. Which means I need to sacrifice my pride for the sake of what my customer wants. Your customers should be the ponies who want to see this place when it is indeed beautiful. So, I stress again that you do not sacrifice your legacy for your pride."

She seemed to think about it again, still with her eyes narrowed at me, as if gauging if I was bluffing or not. Naturally, I wasn't but apparently, she wanted to call me on my bluff. So, she outright told me, "Still don't believe you. So, I want you to leave."

Holding my head up high, I harrumphed at her, turned toward the door, and started to leave. "Very well. Just remember that you brought this upon yourself when I return," I called back at her before leaving the garden and on my way to see Cadence and Shining Armor.

^_^

It didn't take me long to get to Cadence's castle where she was surprised but happy to see me. After hearing that I wanted to see her, she told the guards to escort me right into her chambers. "Rarity!" Cadence exclaimed happily upon seeing me walk into her bedroom, getting up from the chair, and walking over to greet me. "I'm happy, but surprised to see you."

After a hug and pulling away, she led me over to the corner of her room where a table and two chairs were waiting for us. "Yes, it is good to see you Cadence. How are things with you and your family?" I asked as we sat down at the table. Apparently, she was already drinking tea when I walked in, so she just poured me a cup. "Thank you."

"Our daughter is growing like a weed and now that she knows how to talk, she is just not stopping," Cadence told me with a happy motherly giggle that I am thankful that I can relate to now. I noticed that there was paperwork in front of her as well. Life of a princess. "And you have a son now that's an omnivore like his father?" it was a rhetorical statement strictly to add to the conversation. Which I was more than happy to extend.

I took a sip of tea before telling her, "Oh my yes. His coat is the same as his father's and his mane and tail are the same white as mine. Don't know about his eyes just yet but I suspect that they will be just as beautiful as mine. But yes, he's an omnivore like his father. That was obvious when I started liking the smell of meat and then the taste of it. I still do."

"You still..." she was shocked to hear that as she put her glass down on the table in fear that she might drop it because of the shock of what she just heard.

"Meat is just in our life now," I told her with a soft sigh. "Not just me either. Luna and Twilight are now pregnant, and Pinkie, Tia, and Fluttershy still keep meat because of their foals."

"How do you feel about that?" she asked, almost breathless because of the shock of a pony eating meat.

I looked down at the cup in thought for a couple of seconds before smiling. "I love my son with every fiber of my being and love his father with all my heart. As any good mother would, I will do anything for my son to keep him healthy as will his father. So, as I said, meat is just in our life now."

"I bet Emmit loves that," she said with a scrunched-up face as if in disgust.

I gave her an easy smile. "He has promised me to cook as much meat as he can when he has the opportunity to do so."

"I should say so," she cheered with a firm quick nod of her head. "I don't know if I could ever do that. Speaking of...he's not with you?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "He's off with Ember in the Dragon Lands retrieving the shield of Flash Magnus."

Once again, she looked at me with wide eyes filled with shock as she slowly put her glass down on the table again. "But...those were just legends."

With an easy smile, I said to her, "They are very much real. This brings me to the primary reason for my visit. I need your help in retrieving Mistmane's eternal flower." When she just looked at me in shock, I continued to tell her what happened to me. "The mare in charge of the garden simply refuses to hoof it over even after I told her who I was and the retrieval mission I was on. This is why I need your help. It would be hard for her to refuse an order from her princess. The garden the flower resides in is in such a state that it would take a team to bring the garden to its former glory and it really needs a team for upkeep. Right now the older mare is the only one there." I knew I had her with this, so I just waited until her mind caught up with everything with a knowing smile on my face. While taking a moment for a dainty victory sip of tea.

"We'll go immediately," she said while getting up from her chair, "because this is something that I want to see for myself." Then immediately started walking to the door where I followed her with a happy smile on my face.

^_^

Cadence was silent for most of the return trip to the garden as if deep in thought. So, there wasn't much conversation. There wasn't much conversation after she walked into the garden either. At least, not at first. Cadence's first reaction to seeing the garden, and especially the current state it was in, was similar to mine. Her first reaction to seeing the garden was pure shock and awe. Her head was swiveling everywhere to try and take it all in. Her walk slowed as her eyes locked on the sight of Mistmane's eternal flower in the center of the garden in front of a small building on a pedestal. "The legends are real," she whispered in awe as we got closer to the flower. "The flower is real and so is the garden. So, why is it in such a state? It should be a monument for Mistmane and her sacrifice." After saying that, she rushed up to the flower for a closer look. Then her face fell from a look of shock and awe to that of disappointment and even anger. That anger was directed at the small building nearby. "WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THIS GARDEN?!" she demanded while facing the small building with her wings wide open. I have not seen Cadence angry before, but I can honestly say that she is definitely angry now.

The door slammed open and the older mare from before stomped out and down the steps once again with her trowel in her magical grasp. "Who is yelling and dares to-PRINCESS CADENCE?!" When she finally realized who was standing there by the flower, she stopped at the bottom of the steps now looking at Cadence in fear and awe. The trowel clattered to the ground as the shock of seeing Cadence there as she lost control of her magic.

"Are you in charge of this disaster of a garden?" Cadence asked as she lowered her voice while maintaining the anger and disappointment in it.

"I am Princess Cadence," she said but with her voice now sounding like a child caught doing something wrong. Her face looked like it, too as she was remembering what I said earlier. I knew she was thinking that because she kept taking glances over at me.

Cadence held her head high as she demanded, "You will step forward and answer why this garden, which is supposed to be the monument to Mistmane's sacrifice, is in such a disrespectful state."

Slowly the older mare stepped forward and bowed to her. "The care of this garden has been in my family for generations. However, I confess that I did not care about the garden early on in my life. So, I didn't pay attention to how to take care of a garden."

That shocked me but still explained a lot and why she was so protective of a flower that she basically didn't have to care for other than watering it.

"You mean that you don't know how to care for a garden?" Cadence asked with an incredulous look on her face. When the mare didn't answer but simply stood there with her head hanging there in shame, Cadence then asked her, "Then why didn't you ask for help?"

She lifted her head enough to look up at Cadence but didn't say anything at first. But she did after finally taking another glance over at me. "I guess Lady Rarity was right, that I let my pride get in the way. It has been in the family for so long that I guess that I felt like I couldn't ask for help." She sighed and hung her head once again. "I realize that I should have asked for help. That I should have believed Lady Rarity when she visited earlier."

With a disappointed snort, she looked down at the mare giving her a quick nod, "So you should have. You will release Mistmane's flower to Lady Rarity's possession at once. After that, you will return with me and we will have a long talk regarding your future role in this garden. Whether or not you are still a part of it will depend on you."

"Yes, your highness."

And with that, I finally had Mistmane's eternal flower. Plus, even though I didn't know if this older mare would still be part of her family heritage, I was glad that the garden itself would finally be taken care of. And be the monument to Mistmane and her sacrifice once again.

^_^

Fluttershy's POV
Hayseed Swamps

Because I was a pegasus and would have to fly to get to Hayseed Swamps, I thought that was why Emmit wanted a couple of pegasi to join me. We had to travel from Ponyville to Appleloosa to Dodge City. But from Dodge City we didn't have a train to travel on, so we had to either walk or fly. I think that was the reason I had two pegasi soldiers accompanying me. By taking to the air we could fly over the canyon and away from most dangers with ease. Because I was going to get Meadowbrook's mask, I quickly read up on my favorite legend. And now after we were approaching Hayseed Swamps, the two pegasi soldiers with me were also getting curious. One was a stallion of dark colors and the other was a mare of light colors.

"Begging your pardon Lady Fluttershy, but I always thought that Mage Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, and the others were nothing but legends. Because of the nature of our mission, does this mean that the legends are true?" Corporal Radar, the mare pegasus, asked as we started flying over the end of the canyon and the beginning of the Western border of Hayseed Swamps. She had flown forward to fly next to me as did Sargeant Skrill, the pegasus stallion.

"I thought so too for a long time," I told her as we flew. "Mage Meadowbrook was revealed to be the legendary healer that was previously known as only the 'Mystical Mask'. My mother told me about her when I was a filly. Mage learned everything that she knew because of her mother and luckily for all of us, she kept many journals. It is those journals that tell us natural cures for many swamp diseases such as Swamp Fever."

"How did you find out about this?" the Sargeant asked, now curious about it.

"A friend of mine, a zebra named Zecora, got sick with Swamp Fever and at first, I didn't know how to help her," I began explaining while also looking around for Meadowbrook's village and Cattail, the caretaker as we started passing over the swamp. "I've always heard of the legendary mask healer but I didn't know it was Mage Meadowbrook at that time until I found her old home, met Cattail who is her home's caretaker and last descendant, and he let me read her old journals which had the cure in them. So, she really was a real pony and her old home is just up ahead down below us. Doctor Horse was really happy to have the cure for Swamp Fever when I got back." While flying, I paused while putting a hoof against my chin in thought, "I wonder if Cattail will help me gather more Flash Bee honey? They are running a little low. And the only place to find Flash Bees is in Hayseed Swamps."

"Is that her old home down there?" Radar asked as she pointed down to a clearing in the swamp with a single twisted tree in the middle.

"Yes, it is and hopefully Cattail is still there," I said happily then started flying down toward the single twisted tree. After landing by her home and taking a quick look around, Cattail didn't seem to be around at the moment. "By the way, I want to caution you to be careful around Flash Bees. They are very territorial and aggressive."

"Thank you for telling us, ma'am," Radar gave me a grateful smile.

"These bees are blue and yellow," I added. "And even though they sting like regular bees, these bees will also shock you with electricity. Plus they don't listen to me either and my stare doesn't work on them."

"Then how do you get the honey you need for the cure?" Skrill asked curiously.

"Two ponies are needed. One to wear the mask to lure the bees away while the other pony gathers the honey," I told them before taking another look around. "Cattail has the mask but it appears that he's not here at the moment."

"If you know where he lives one of us can go and get them for you," Radar suggested.

"What does he look like and where does he live?" asked Skrill.

"He's a brown earth pony with a light yellow mane and tail with two cattails as a cutie mark. He's just the caretaker for this place, so he doesn't live here. He lives just over there," I paused to point the way, "just beyond the forest in a small village."

"Oh, ok, I'll go get him for you."

"Oh thank you. That would be a big help," I said to her as she gave me a wide smile and a quick salute before flying off.

For the next little while, Sargeant Skrill and I passed the time by telling him all about the pillars and why we are gathering them up. So, we sat outside of Meadowbrook's old house where I told him all that I knew about the Pillars. Meadowbrook I knew best but I was surprised at how much I remembered about the others. He was really attentive and appeared to enjoy the stories that we now know were actual real events. At least, he was enjoying it until I saw his body go still with fright.

"Oh my, what's wrong, Sargeant?" I asked, now concerned for him or perhaps me.

"S-Snake," he said with his voice shaking in fear while looking down at something on the ground beside me.

"Snake?" I asked rhetorically before looking down and spotting a snake by my front hoof. With a welcoming smile, I leaned my head down closer and then got concerned for the snake because of the fear that I saw in its eyes. "Hello, what's wrong?"

A bee hive is keeping ussss from getting to the water.

"It is? I'll be happy to help. I can move the bee hive for you. I'm here to gather their honey, so I'll just move the hive before gathering it," I told the snake while smiling reassuringly.

Thank you sssso very much.

"You are very welcome and you can wait right here with me until our friend gets back. Then you can lead me to the hive." The snake was very grateful and looked up at me with the widest smile I've ever seen on a snake.

Thankfully, my interaction with the snake eased the Sargeant's tension which gave way to curiosity and awe. "You can talk to it?" he asked with shock on his face, looking between me and the snake still by my hooves.

"Oh yes, it's my special talent. I can talk to almost all animals."

For a couple of seconds, he just looked at me with awe on his face. "Wow," he finally said quietly, "that's incredible."

"Thank you, Sargeant," I thanked him with a slight giggle and a blush. "It is rather great that I get to talk to animals. Unfortunately, there are some that just don't listen, and flash bees are one of them."

"Found him!" came Radar's call from the edge of the clearing. We both turned to watch her fly slowly beside Cattail as he walked in a zig-zag pattern across the only dry ground. Because it was a swamp there weren't many places that were dry enough to walk on if you didn't want to wade through the mucky swamp water. Which was probably why Radar was flying right now instead of walking. Unfortunately, Cattail didn't have a choice being an earth pony. He looked a little nervous probably because of Radar being in uniform. Then his face showed curiosity as he entered the clearing. That turned into a smile when he saw me standing by Meadowbrook's home, so he quickened his pace to meet up with me. He also had her mask on his head but flipped up over his head and out of the way.

"Welcome back, Fluttershy," he greeted happily as he walked up to me. "But why the soldiers?"

"Because we are at war, Emmit doesn't want to take any chances with my safety," I told him. "And I didn't want to go alone on such a long trip. I'm here because the Tree of Harmony wants us to gather up the artifacts of the Legends. So, I'm here to retrieve Meadowbrook's mask. But before that, I would like your help with harvesting some more honey from the bees."

"Sure, I'd be happy to help you," he said initially before tilting his head in curiosity. "But what do you mean by gathering the artifacts of the Legends?"

Before answering his question, I looked down at the snake and said quietly, "Go ahead and lead us to the bee's nest." After motioning for the others to follow, I started to explain to him what we were doing. "Like the mask is to Meadowbrook, the others had objects of their own and the Tree of Harmony wants us to gather them up and to secure them someplace safe. We learned that Starswirl the Bearded along with Meadowbrook and the others had to use themselves to trap an evil Pony of Shadows in limbo a very long time ago." While explaining it to them I followed the snake which was the nearest and newest bee nest. It wasn't far from the tree either, maybe one buckball field away. As we got near, I saw that the bees had made their nest close to the ground. And because of that, they would attack anything that got near it. The nest would have to be moved. "He's worried that if the enemy finds out, they would free the Pony of Shadows to help them take over Equestria. So, we are gathering up the artifacts and sealing them safely away until after the war." I also noticed that he slithered over to a spot under a bush that was hiding a few other creatures. After a quick look at everything, I got an idea of what to do. I then asked Cattail, "Would you please use the mask to lure the bees away while I move the nest and gather some honey?"

"Certainly," he said happily as he reached back to a small bag, picked out a jar, and presented it to me. After thanking him, he turned around to walk some distance away before calling out to the bees that were buzzing around their hive.

"What do you need us to do?" Radar asked as she looked between Cattail and I.

"Just stay a little out of sight, please," I explained to them while motioning them over to the side near the same bush that the snakes were hiding in. "The bees are aggressive, as I've said. For some reason, they are attracted to the mask like a moth to a flame. But that will get ruined if anypony gets between them and the mask." After explaining it to them, they followed me to hide behind the bush just as Cattail began to call out to them and start dancing around while wearing the mask over his face. And after a few seconds, the bees started buzzing away from the hive. After the buzzing ball of bees slowly flew by, I emerged from my hiding spot and flew up to their hive as quietly as I could. And set to work. My first task was moving the hive which was easy enough after detaching it from the branch. Then after relocating it to one of the highest branches in the tree, I held the jar in a hoof and started quickly gathering some honey. Once that was done and the jar was full, I flew down from the hive and waited until I was safely away at the bush again before waving to him. "Alright, I'm done."

Cattail, then raised the mask and slowly started backing away from the swarm. Where the bees then quickly flew back to their nest and then inside of it. Now that they were safe from the hive, the same snake from before slithered out of his hiding spot and up to me as the soldiers and I stepped out from behind the same bush while Cattail started walking over to us.

Thank you, again, he hissed out happily.

"Oh, you're very welcome."

"I had a thought," Cattail said while hoofing over the mask. "If you are going to put her mask in a safe place, then why don't you do the same for her journals as well?"

I blinked in amazement at that as I hoofed over the full jar to Radar as I took the mask. "Are you sure? You're caretaker of her home."

He gave me a reassuring smile, "I'm sure, Fluttershy. I think that her journals need to be in a place that is more kind to books and journals than out here in the swamp."

"Oh, I didn't think about that but my friend Twilight would definitely agree with you," I told him as he motioned for us to follow him to Meadowbrook's tree home. "She loves books, reading, and learning and has her own library. So, I can say with utmost certainty that she will take great care of Meadowbrook's journals. And the information they contain should help a lot of ponies."

"I hope so, Fluttershy," he smiled as we approached her old tree home. "As much as I'd like for it to stay within the family, it is better this way. Preserving my heritage and her old home does only some good if the memories and knowledge are preserved. And sometimes keeping it all for myself would help her memory to fade away eventually rather than preserve it."

"I agree completely, Mister Cattail," the Sargeant commented with a wide smile.

^_^

Pinkie's POV
San Palomino Desert

I was so excited to go on this trip. Especially since I had to go through my family's rock farm to get to her old village. Because of the great deed she did to save the pharao's son from an evil sphinx, they named the village after her. I wonder what a village named after me would be named? Pink town, where everything is pink with chocolate rain? Anyway, I stopped at home long enough to say hello, hug everypony, and leave. Because my focus right now was getting to her village and finding her blindfold.

I had my own transportation after I got off the train near my family's farm. What did I use? I used my balloons silly. My balloons kept me in the air while using my tail as the propeller. It took me about an hour or so of balloon flying for Somnambula's old village to come into view. It was a small village with mudbrick-made square houses with flat roofs that were laid out like a checkerboard with a large statue of Somnambula in the center. A huge pyramid stood just beyond the village. And with my balloons from my height above the village, I could see the Phinx's pyramid off in the distance looking dark and menacing. Or at least there was a large statue of Somnambula in the center of the village. As I floated closer, the only thing left was nothing but a pile of rubble.

And it didn't take my Pinkie sense to know that something was up in the village either. A crowd had gathered around the center of the village around a pony wearing a red cloak. By the sound of the yelling, they were doing it was a stallion. And whatever he was yelling was stirring up the crowd. I needed to get closer to hear what he was saying, so I used my tail to propel me literally over the crowd.

"Don't you see what Daring Do has done in your...our town?" the stallion cried out to the crowd; riling it up by the minute. "Just look at what she did to yo...our precious statue? And what about those glowpaz thefts? We need to make sure that she's punished for her crimes if she ever returns, right?"

"He's right," a local stallion shouted out from in the midst of the crowd, "now that Daring Do has destroyed our precious Somnambula statue and stole our glowpaz, we don't have a statue to make a tribute to even if she didn't take all our glowpaz." I noticed a few things about that other stallion. He was also wearing a cloak around him and had a large saddle bag with him. Plus my Pinkie Sense was telling me that I should know both of those stallions. The brown cloak around the stallion in the crowd didn't hide his face, so I floated around above them to bring his face into view. When that happened and after recognizing his face, I gasped in recognition. It was one of Caballeron's henchponies. I gasped again when it clicked just who the stallion in the red cloak was. I recognized the voice of Caballeron himself. And they were claiming that Darging Do did all this, but I knew better. Daring Do was no thief.

...

Well...

...

She is because she steals from the evil Ahuizotl to protect artifacts from his evil ways. But she would never steal from the common pony. My Pinkie Sense was telling me to take a closer look at the bulging bag that Caballeron's henchpony was carrying. And when I floated down close enough, my eyes spotted something that was shiny and green that twinkled when the light hit it. I gasped once more after realizing what it was. Glowpaz! Now everything was fitting into place. Caballeron and his henchponies went around stealing the glowpaz and destroyed Somnambula's statue so they could blame it on Daring Do.

Those big meanies!

Momma Pinkie will take care of this. After carefully hovering myself directly over him, I used my hair to cut the cords that were holding me up with the balloons. With a quick, and very satisfying, yell, I landed hard on the stallion's back and quickly yanked open his saddlebag spilling it out, and all the stolen glowpaz all over the ground in the midst of the crowd. The evil henchpony let out a loud, "OOF," as I landed on him and was angry at what I'd done. At least at first. He was shocked into silence when I pointed at all the spilled glowpaz and shouted, "If Daring Do stole all the glowpaz then why do you have them? Was it because you and," I paused to point over to Caballeron in the red cloak while pausing for dramatic effect, "Doctor Caballeron over there were really the ones that stole them and destroyed the statue?"

In the midst of the angry gasps from the crowd, as they started gathering around the spilled glowpaz, I saw Caballeron starting to back up wanting to slink away like the snake he is. But he was stopped when one of the local earth pony stallions quickly ran up, grabbed him, and yanked the hood off of him. "IT REALLY IS DOCTOR CABALLERON! He must have been lying to pin it on Daring Do!" And that's when the crowd started shouting angrily at the both of them and started to surround them both. Noticing that it was time to leave, I jumped off of the henchpony and used my tail to hover over the crowd long enough to get out of their way. And landed outside of the growing angry crowd that has now surrounded them both and was proceeding to carry them away.

As the crowd carried them off, I heard the flaps of wings a couple of seconds before Daring Do landed on the ground beside me. There was a pause where we just watched the angry shouting crowd carry away Caballeron and one of his henchponies. And she finally said, "Thank you, Pinkie Pie," with a wide thankful, and genuine, smile on her face. "That was probably the easiest they've ever been defeated."

"You're welcome," I told her with a little happy squeal.

"But I got to ask what are you doing way out here anyway? It's not someplace that I'd expect to see you."

That got me excited, so I turned to her and gleefully told her, "I'm here to find Somnambula's blindfold. The Tree of Harmony wants all of the artifacts of the pillars found so that one day we can free them from limbo. We found Starswirl's journal where he said that he and the others had to trap the Pony of Shadows in limbo but they had to go with him for it to work."

Her eyes went wide when she heard what I was there for. "Really? That's..."

"Want to help me look?" I asked her, though already knowing her answer.

"Yeah! Finding those artifacts was something I've always wanted to do but could never find the time." With a happy tone in her voice and a happy flap in her wings, she started leading me out of town while telling me what she knows. "According to the legend, this village was being run by an evil Sphinx that claimed most of the crops for herself. Somnambula started using whatever she had, like a pearl necklace, to help provide food and hope for the village. Prince Hasan, the pharaoh's son saw her compassion and was moved by it enough to do something stupid." While listening to her, I noticed that she was leading me away from the town and toward the dark and menacingly evil pyramid off into the distance. "He went to challenge the sphinx only to be captured by her. Well, the sphinx decided to use the prince for her own ends and started challenging the ponies for his release. And once again Somnambula accepted the sphinx's challenge." That's when she stopped flying to look down at me with a knowing smile. "One of those challenges required her to wear a blindfold and walk across a narrow bridge without flying. I bet you that the blindfold is somewhere around where the lava pit used to be inside that old pyramid of hers."

"Great! Let's go get it!" To make this short trip go faster, I quickly inflated my spare balloons and attached them to me like I did before, and used my tail as a propeller to speed off toward the dark and scary pyramid. While we flew toward the dark pyramid, Daring Do flew up beside me and stared at me with wide eyes of wonder and awe that an earth pony was flying. I let her look. After a couple of minutes, she just accepted it. Probably remembered what Rainbow Dash might have told her that it was just me being me.

She didn't say anything until we both landed in front of the dark stone pyramid. "I doubt very much that there is any worry about traps because ponies have been in and out of this place countless times since." After she said that, she simply walked in without another word. Following her inside, I found out that the inside was just as dark and foreboding as the outside. The entrance to the pyramid was the beginning of a long narrow hallway that was just wide enough for the both of us side by side. Because it was made from the same dark stone, and the only light came from the entrance, it quickly got progressively darker the deeper we walked into the pyramid. It got dark enough for her to stop at the end of the hallway as it opened up into a much larger room and looked over at me to ask, "I don't suppose you have a light somewhere?"

"No, but one of the guards that were with me is a unicorn and I'm sure that she can use her magic to produce some light," I told her and she immediately blinked back at me in confusion.

"Wait... There's supposed to be guards with you?" she asked.

"Yeah," I shrugged a little, "but I lost them after I used my balloons to fly to the city from my family's rock farm."

"Then why didn't you wait for them?" she asked me with a wide-eyed shocked look on her face.

"I think my family needed their help with something because they just sort of disappeared after we arrived at the farm."

After saying that, she didn't say anything; just stared at me with the same disbelieving shocked look on her face and whispered the same thing I'd heard from my friends all the time. "It's just Pinkie being Pinkie." And she said it a few times before she shook her head at me, saying, "Well, we need some type of light in order to find..."

Just then, as if on cue for dramatic effect, a bright yellowish light started to lighten up the room. It was dim at first and started getting brighter with each second. Both of us looked toward the center of the room where the light was coming from. After a few seconds, the light was bright enough that we could see around the room we were in. And we could see where the light was coming from. It was coming from the very center of the room and from the bottom of a half-empty large pool.

"This was the sphinx's throne room," Daring Do, said as we both walked deeper into the room and up to the edge of the half-empty pool. "You can see it now on the other side of this pool," she told me while pointing toward a dark stone throne on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, and look down there!" I pointed a hoof down toward the center of the pool. "That's where the glow is coming from and my Pinkie Sense is telling me that it must be Somnambula's blindfold down there. It's glowing to show us the way and give us hope." After that dramatic last sentence, I reached into my mane pulling out a pair of goggles. "I put on these goggles to go down into the yucky mucky water to retrieve what Somnambula wore to give others hope." Daring Do didn't say anything as I reached back into my mane, after putting on the goggles, and pulled out a snorkel with a long hose on it. "Hold this, please," I told her, holding the end of the hose out to her. The look on her face was filled with shock, awe, and disbelief as she hesitantly took hold of the end of the hose. "Thank you," I said then jumped into the air with a loud, "Cannonball," then quickly put the snorkel in my mouth just before I hit the water.

After the big splash that probably sent mucky and yucky water everywhere, I righted myself and swam down toward the glow. The water has apparently been slowly draining for a long while. I knew this because of how dirty and smelly the water was. And because I saw a drain at the bottom of the pool that was plugged up. Getting to the bottom of the pool took a few seconds because of how deep it was. Once there, I started pulling out everything that was clogging the drain. At the bottom of the muck in the drain was the glowing object that was quickly identified as Somnambula's blindfold. Once that was out of the drain, the water started to flow down the drain freely.

Once back up to the surface of the water, I spat out the snorkel, raised the wet blindfold up with a hoof, and shouted, "I GOT IT!" Then quickly said, "Oops! Sorry, Daring Do," to her because she was all wet. She stood there dripping wet while glaring down at me and dropping the end of the hose a second later.

Next Chapter: Chapter Five: Securing the Artifacts of the Pillars Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 49 Minutes