“This is the point where we have to bid each other farewell, stranger." Thiemo and Aura had spent the entire day on the back of Schnelle Schwalbe, and now the sun was setting. They had stopped at a small oasis. “Unfortunately, I can’t accompany you any further.” Both climbed down off his back, and Thiemo patted his shoulder in gratitude.

“You brought us further than I could ever hope you would, assuming your information was correct.” Angrily, the buffalo stamped on the ground and shoved Thiemo lightly with his head.

“Of course my information is correct. Appleloosa is half a day to the north from here. I spent my whole life on this prairie and know every patch of grass.” Thiemo doubted this statement, but he wasn’t in the mood to discuss the condition of his homeland. They would camp here tonight and head towards Appleloosa first thing tomorrow to get the Leylands behind them. He was no fan of deserts. They meant sand in his clothes, sweat running down his face, and freezing temperatures at night-time. The weather in Equestria would be a welcome change; at least, if it was really fall there right now. It was hard to keep track of the seasons in a desert. In addition to that, they had spent the last three quarters of the year in the extreme climatic zones of Albion. It was a mystery how an icy tundra could be directly next to a desert, but that was one Thiemo hoped to solve someday.

Since neither Thiemo nor Aura responded to Schnelle Schwalbe, he turned and disappeared into the direction they came from. Without a human and pony on his back, he was significantly faster, so he could be home at dawn. “Why is he crossing the desert when it’s already turning night?” Aura looked at the shrinking form of the buffalo.

Thiemo used the time to get the blankets out of his backpack and threw them to his daughter. “Buffalos have a thicker fur than ponies.” Something he was able to feel before. “He doesn’t get cold as fast as we do.”

But that didn’t satisfy the little foal. “Wouldn’t he sweat terribly in this sun?” Thiemo hesitated with levelling the sand and thought about it for a second.

“To be honest,” he took off his hat and scratched his head, “I have no idea.” He had no fur, so how would he? “You’re the one with fur, so you tell me.” While he was busy preparing his bed, the foal was busy inspecting her fur. Thiemo watched her from the corner of his eye. He knew she couldn’t stay with him forever. He had known it the second he had taken her with him. Lately, he managed to zone this fact out, for his sake as well as hers. But now that Equestria came closer with every day that passed, those thoughts began to crawl back into his mind. He would never be able to teach her what a pony would need to know. She should live with other ponies, learning from them, in a family, and not drift through the world, trying to solve the little riddles of Albion with a vagabond human.

Thiemo wasn’t so arrogant to believe that his questions and his quest would surprise someone. There had to be others who had asked the same questions before him. He was just a mystery himself, looking to solve others. Even if he was to settle down somewhere, he would always remain a mystery. “Dad?” Aura’s voice snapped him out of his darker daydreams and back into reality. The sun had descended even further behind the horizon, and the first waves of the cool night wind blew through the grass around them. That was another sign that they were closer to fertile land.

“Yeah?” he asked, a bit confused as he spread his blanked on the ground. He didn’t always get lost in his own thoughts, but when he did, it hit him hard.

“Why did Mister Billy say we shouldn’t help?” It wasn’t surprising that she had overheard yesterday’s conversation. She hadn’t exactly been that far away.

Thiemo settled down on his blanket and grabbed his backpack. “It’s just between the diamond dogs, the buffalos, and the gryphons,” he started to explain while getting some gems out of his backpack. Last night, he had managed to make some talismans, but they were not enough in his opinion. The rare lapis lazuli would prove very useful here. Not for fighting or defence, but simply for water. With those, they weren’t forced to pack water but were able to summon it. “If more started to interfere in this conflict, it might give even more the idea. Think about the jackals here.” Jackals were similar to diamond dogs, or at least they seem to have the same ancestors. Like the huge dogs, they walked on two legs, but they had long, pointy snouts. While one would describe diamond dogs as bulldogs, jackals were the raging doberman. Their black fur was often coloured red with the blood of a poor creature, mostly zebras. Those two races had some deep conflict that outsiders didn’t know much about. “So, when they get help, the others would do the same, and there would be even more fights and victims.”

Aura nodded in silence and spread herself out on the blanket. Thiemo stretched out, got some of the small stones surrounding him, and placed them in a small circle between the blankets. Next, he placed one of the prepared rubies in the middle, which made it glow radiating warmth. This had the additional effect of keeping wildlife away. When there was magic, there were unicorns. No problem for gryphons or other intelligent predators, but other, more primitive animals seemed to be afraid of magic. Somehow, they managed to sense the magic and avoided it. “That’s nice and warm.”

Thiemo agreed with her, rubbed his hands, and held them against the stone. “Too bad our tent was destroyed by the sandstorm.” A day before they had reached Round Rock, the storm had kicked in, and the bigger grains of sand had torn the tent apart. “But enough of that. If we sleep now, we’ll be in Appleloosa by noon.” Early to bed, early to rise, that was the secret of the camels. The temperature was the best in the early morning hours, and skilled travellers were able to get a lot of ground behind them in the short time they had. Moreover, they would avoid the heat of the day this way.

The night passed without any incident, at least for Aura. Thiemo, on the other hand, didn’t pass the buffalo’s soup the way he intended, and he had to seek a bush several times that night. The fact that there was no paper shrunk his storage of reading material. Since he was awake anyway, he used those hours to make more talismans. The process had become something of a routine for him. Magic was everywhere on this planet, and gems seemed to attract it. All he had to do was engrave the runes with a small file he got from the zebras and let them load for some time. In his rather short training, they had built altars and put the gems on them for a few days so they could fill with magic. He had no time for this, so he had worked out his own system. His staff was like a sponge — a big sponge. The amount of magic it needed for one of the two spells was enormous. However, it was more than enough for the small talismans. He just touched the gems with the staff and let the magic flow. Apparently, the passive suction of the staff was weaker than the one from the gems, otherwise they wouldn’t fill up. He knew that a talisman was done when he picked it up. They tingled a little bit, like licking a battery.

Mostly, talismans were only good to cast the engraved spell once. Some could even be used twice, once they were loaded and sturdy enough. Thiemo could use larger gems, which were better quality, but that wouldn’t work since it would increase the chances of someone noticing or sensing them. It was no secret that those learned in the arcane arts were able to sense magic. This way, he had the element of surprise on his side. Physically, he was weaker than most creatures here, including ponies and even Aura. Earth ponies were very strong, and a kick from one of them didn’t let you miss a real horse, something he had to learn the hard way from his daughter.

While he was thinking about her, she started moving. The sky got remarkably brighter, and he could tell that dawn was just a few minutes away. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he greeted her. Appleloosa was already waiting for them, together with a meal, a shower, and probably a chance to wash his clothes. If he was lucky, he could make some money. Billy had given them back their bits but couldn’t spare any more. Not that he was expecting it — the unicorn had to provide for an entire herd.

A bit sleepy, the orange filly rubbed her eyes and brushed her mane out of her face. “Huh? This early already?” With a yawn, she got up and stumbled towards the small waterhole. Thiemo did the same, rising up and putting the tools back into his backpack and the new talismans into his cloak. Since they had to wait a while before having breakfast, he went over to the waterhole and dunked his head in it.

He took a few deep sips and got his head out of the pleasantly cool and wet water. “Puh!” he said, now more than awake. Shaking his head to get his long hair as dry as possible, he went back to their camp and folded his blanket. Minutes later, he was ready to go, but not his daughter. She was still somewhere between the bushes. “Everything alright, Aura?” he called in her direction. Thiemo didn’t want to disturb her privacy, which seemed kind of ridiculous given the fact she was naked all the time. But that was the way humans were raised. On the throne, there was one rule: quiet on the can. Still, he slowly approached the bushes to look after her.

She just stood there as though she was petrified and didn’t move an inch. Watching his step, he approached even closer and eventually picked her up. Like a cat, his hands found its way underneath her forelegs and held her face to face. Her eyes were strange. The usual light-blue of hers had a greenish touch, and it looked as though she was staring right through him as though he didn’t exist. “Aura?” She didn’t react, and her head fell to the side as if she was sleeping, which was obviously not the case since her eyes were still wide open without blinking. “Aura?” Thiemo repeated and shook her softly, feeling his stomach clench in worry. He knew that shaking kids was bad. No matter if this wasn’t the case for foals, he didn’t want to risk anything.

However, it was of no use. The foal didn’t awake from the trance, and he was running out of ideas for what to do or what had even caused it in the first place. Was she bitten by a snake or stung by a scorpion? He had no idea what effect their venoms had in this world. Finally, he used the simplest method. Normally, this was reserved for best friends, but it was time for the exception of the rule. He reached out and slapped her right in the face. “Hey!” Aura yelled instantly and rubbed her right cheek with her hoof. “What the hay?” Relieved, he released his breath.

“You were in some kind of rigor. I tried everything.” Thiemo especially emphasized the everything. “And that was my last idea.”

The foal in his hands seemed grumpy and kept rubbing her cheek. “Your last idea was slapping me?” Saying it like that didn’t make it sound like such a good idea anymore.

“Hey, I was worried. What happened?” The pony stopped any kind of movement, and her eyes widened again but without the green.

“I went into the bushes to...” She thought about it and turned her head towards said bushes. “But then everything turned black. I have no idea what happened.” On the one hand, he was relieved she was better; on the other hand, he was worried she could get sick. They could hardly afford food and shelter, not to mention a doctor. He had just a poor knowledge of medicine, and that was just about humans, not colourful, speaking, magical pony foals.

But it was of no use, just another reason to get to Appleloosa as soon as possible. Thiemo sighed and took a last look at his daughter. She held her hindlegs in a weird position, and he quickly put her down. “We’ll take care of that later. Now get your business finished, and we’re outta here.” She nodded and again disappeared into the bushes around the oasis.

“Freaking sand, freaking sun, freaking Leylands!” Thiemo was pissed and on the edge of both his nerves and powers, both from cursing and travelling. Noon had come and gone in a matter of what felt like seconds, but there was not a hint of Appleloosa. On the contrary, they again exchanged plain fields for hot sand and blazing heat. “If I ever meet this God, I’ll go all peppermill on his neck, with his...” He looked down on Aura silently watching him. “...make some scrambled eggs and put a toothless smile on his face.” He imagined that somewhere there was an almighty being that was playing him like a puppet on strings through this world. Only that this being was three years old and spent most of the time sucking on his thumb.

“Dad.” Again, he looked down at Aura and fought the urge to smack his fist into his palm. “I’m certain we’re on the right way. Schnelle Schwalbe pointed us in this direction. Maybe we just need to go longer than he thought?” Surprised about such logical thinking at her age, he felt relieved. Her words made sense. They just had to. For the rest of his life, he had enough of deserts. If he had to see sand, then it would have to be only in combination with water, palm trees, and women in too small bikinis.

At least there was no storm. “You’re right, we should just hurry up.” Thiemo put some more weight on his staff and took it up a notch. He knew that when he stopped, there was no way he could start again.

Aura, on the other hand, seemed to be just fine, untouched by heat and fatigue. “Come on, it can’t be far anymore.” She seemed to be excited and kept jumping around in front of him. “I bet it’s right behind this dune.” Thiemo would love to believe that, but cities didn’t just hide behind dunes. It was high and wide but not enough to hide a whole city. Slowly, step by step, he walked through warm sand, water in his boots and on his forehead. What would he have given to finally escape this oven and to sit in a cool bar or restaurant, enjoying a fresh fruit salad or maybe even fresh strawberries with whipped cream, something so delicious that it was enjoyed in different worlds. With a small jump, he reached the top of the sandy hill and got ready to slide down on the other side. Aura was already ahead. With another jump, he followed her and used both hands to keep his balance. A fall, even in warm and soft sand, was not something to enjoy.

Then he saw it. At the end of the dune was no ground, and the sand kept falling into a big crack. From the top, it looked normal since the crack was in a blind spot. But now he could clearly see it and reached out for his daughter. “Aura, watch out!” But it was too late, and he saw her falling into the gap. Cursing inside, he tried to stop, but his momentum was too much now. Quickly, he rammed his staff into the sand and tried to stabilize. He succeeded for a short moment, his feet now hanging down the abyss. He couldn’t see the bottom, and from what he saw, he concluded that there were no ledges. If Aura fell, she fell straight down. “Crap, just when I thought we had it all.” With one hand, Thiemo got one of his talismans, got it around his wrist, and released the staff from the sand.

He instantly fell down and got ready to use the talisman to slow down his fall. He could use the sapphire to condense the air beneath him, which would function as a cushion. Since there was some sand as well, he shouldn’t get badly injured. At least that was his hope. Despite all his planning and thinking, he couldn’t help but scream his very soul out. The sunlight got rapidly dimmer, but the reflecting sand was enough, so he could see that he was approaching the bottom. He activated the talisman, and when it kicked in, his screams died as he got slower, which didn’t stop him from falling down in a bad position when he touched the sand. His staff flew away, and his right leg turned at a very unhealthy angle. Exquisite pain. “Ah, godfuckingdammit! Shit! Shit!” he yelled out and straightened out his hurt limb. That resulted in some pain fading away but not the feeling of just having pulled off a full split. He had probably pulled a muscle or even worse. Right now, he couldn’t find out more. He knew just one thing: it hurt. Like hell.

Crawling on the floor, he used the spare lighting to find his staff. Not far from it, he found Aura. “Hey, Aura!” He crawled over to her and examined her body. There were no injuries visible to the naked eye, but he was no doctor. She could have fractures or internal bleeding. They had to get out and quickly. But something seemed strange. She didn’t try to escape, she didn’t try to grab his hand, and she didn’t yell or scream like he did. Carefully, he opened one of her eyelids, and they were again the same green color like this morning. So it was no venom — it was some kind of spell. She had been attacked or bewitched in that bush and probably was made to lead him here. Instantly, his instincts perked as he got up to sit on his butt so he could use his arms. The now spent talisman was thrown away, and he got another one of his pocket, this time a ruby. Again, he wrapped it around his wrist with the chain and summoned a small light. He wasn’t as skilled with fire as he was with wind or water, but smaller spells were no problem. However, if he were to use fire or earth in a fight, he would probably end up hurting himself.

His eyes scanned the gulch and saw that they were surrounded by clean, sheer rock. This was no natural rock formation - someone built it. Due to this fact and his injured leg, there was no climbing out of it, even less so with a foal on his shoulders. He kept looking around and saw two tunnels, one in front and one behind. He knew just one race that used tunnels as underground homes, and that was the diamond dogs. However, they had no magic and didn’t know anything about shamanism. Thiemo would never describe himself as a shaman, maybe an apprentice. His teacher had been able to cast lightning storms with a combination of wind and water, or she could create a hot spring with water, earth, and fire. Every time he had tried to combine elements, it blew up, and he had burned himself with hot steam or electrocuted himself.

What creature had the power to manipulate another creature? The only creatures that came to Thiemo’s mind were unicorns, but they were too peaceful to do such a thing. Even those who were called bandits were actually benefactors, although in twisted way. Minutes passed without his sight leaving the tunnels. If someone set up this trap for them, he had to show himself sooner or later. As long as he stayed alert, he had an advantage. There were only two possible ways for the hostage-taker to enter this room, but Thiemo could be everywhere in the room. This way, he could see him first, knock him out, and turn the situation around. Then he could make him show them the way outside and all would be fine. If necessary, he could accelerate things if the host was not cooperative.

With another talisman in the other hand and his staff ready, he pushed himself and Aura into the exit in front of him. That way, he could hear anyone coming and would spot them first. His leg hurt with every move, but it was bearable, and he assumed again that he had just pulled a muscle. He took a last deep breath and started breathing through his nose, short, quiet breaths to make as little noise as possible.

Minutes passed, but nothing happened. Then, after a few minutes, there was a sudden noise. It was a humming sound and echoed through the whole gulch, making it impossible to track to its source. He quickly looked around, but he couldn’t find anything. He quickly extinguished the ruby to make himself harder to spot. The humming got louder and clearly came closer, and then he noticed that he had forgotten an opening. He looked up and saw ten to twenty small pegasi, but pegasi didn’t hum. As they came closer, he saw they were all pitch black with wings like an insect. Blue, segmented eyes were staring at him as they quickly approached. They thought him an easy prey, but he wouldn’t surrender without a fight.

Author's Notes:

There we go. It took some time, but thats life. Sometimes it don't go as planned. Actually, it never really does.

As always thanks for proofreading to faktopus. I really appreciate your help.
A second time edited by JBL. Thanks buddy!

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