"But I want to help too!" moaned the young dog girl. Her small hands struggled to open the massive paw of the adult diamond dog which clasped her head as her legs kicked futilely in the air. "I can dig too! I even found a gem." Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears, and a moment later she sailed in a small arc into the air. With a yelp, she landed on the hard, rocky ground, which was also unpleasantly warm. The sun had done a good job here around the mine. Some dogs had even fried eggs on a few of the darker rocks.

"Pups like you don’t belong in the mine," grunted the tall diamond dog who had just thrown her out. His dark coat glittered with dust and dirt in the sun.

Ianee scrambled to her feet and pulled something from one of the pockets of her half-ripped dress. "But I can dig!" She held out to her counterpart the shiny stone which she had earlier knocked out from the wall of the mine. At first the large dog did not move, before he leaned forward slightly and eyed what she held in her hands. Then he sniffed and finally took the stone between two fingers. Dust crumbled to the ground as he squeezed it slightly. The little wolf-like bitch shouted and tried to catch the dust, but it trickled through her fingers.

"Worthless. Go home, tiny," he growled, flicking Ianee roughly on her forehead, which propelled her back to the ground. Tears formed on the edges of her eyes as she held her forehead. However, the foreman was unmoved and returned to the darkness of the mine.

Disappointed, Ianee dropped her arms and stuck her tongue out. It was a long tongue. "Dumbass!" she called after him and brushed the dust off her dress. She wanted to work in the mine, just as her mother used to do. She wanted to show that she was just as much of a diamond dog as they were, no matter who her grandfather was. A stone made the mistake to cross her path on her retreat, and with a purposeful kick, it sailed down into the mine.

“Hey!" a voice shouted from the depths. "Who's throwing stones around here?" Now was really the time to get lost, the dog girl decided as she hurried to the exit.

The guard who had let her in an hour ago grinned mischievously. "Well, did they finally kick you out?"

"Yeah, exactly. I'll get going then," she said and left the compound as fast as she could. A moment later, angry screams rang out behind her, but she paid no further attention to them. She took the first path that led into the city and disappeared between the legs of its inhabitants. One day she would be tall and strong like her mother and everyone would have to look up to her, but for today, it was better to be small. She scuttled past a man, between the legs of a zebra mare, and brushed the right shoulder of a griffon as she passed him. That was all it took to reach one of the wider main roads.

Now the only question was what to do with the rest of the morning. Her stomach took the opportunity to make a suggestion to which she agreed. She held her nose in the wind and followed the first smell that promised a good meal. Fish was being roasted over an open fire, and her mouth watered, drool dripping on the street as she made her way to the source. She had once heard the workers in the mine complaining that it took almost their entire break just to get to the port to find fresh fish. Ianee had no idea what the problem was; she made it in less than ten minutes. She could even already see the little shack. An old human stood behind the counter and fried fish over an open fire while a younger woman handled a knife. Dust sprang up as she stopped in front of the takeaway and hurriedly searched the pockets of her dress. And she searched again. And again to be sure. She had lost her money. A whimper escaped her as she looked up to where the delicious brown fish was drizzled with butter and got a splash of lemon. The world was not fair, and this time not even a stone made the mistake of getting in her way.

She trotted off, her head bowed. If only she would search long enough, she would certainly find enough coins to buy a fish. Money could be found on the road, or so the popular saying went. She followed the path to the beach, walked briefly along the shoreline, and finally collided with the back of a large dog. Maybe she should look up from time to time.

"Sorry," she mumbled and tensed her shoulders in anticipation of the expected reprisal. When the expected slap on the muzzle did not materialize, she peered up carefully. The diamond dog in front of her paid no attention to Ianee. His eyes were on the sea, just like all the others standing on the beach. Curious as she was, Ianee did the same. There was a ship out there with the banner of a golden sun on the sails. She knew the ships from Equestria. The ponies there did not like humans in their lands, and they threw the ones they found like garbage in the waters before Ti. Ianee did not always know what to make of humans. Her grandfather was a human, but she had little to do with him. She had inherited his hands and other qualities of the humans, which the other dogs considered to be weaknesses. A diamond dog was allowed to be anything, just not weak.

The ship was different than the others, in that it was on fire. One of the three masts had already adopted a dangerous slope and was about to take a bath. There were distant black spots that jumped from the deck into the water.

"Get the boats ready!" a voice barked over the beach. Ianee looked around and saw soldiers hurrying down the nearby pier, amongst them the General Field Marshal. He ran ahead, shouting instructions and pointing in different directions. "The freighters should get everything and everyone out of the water. Mobilize the fishermen too; we need every available vessel heading out. And find me—" A blast drowned out his words as everyone on the beach witnessed the ship disintegrate into a gigantic fireball.

"What are you still standing around here, go!" he shouted as relative silence reigned. Ianee’s ears were still ringing. "You there, run to the hospital and tell them to send as many nurses and doctors they can spare to the pier. The rest should get ready to treat the wounded, mainly for burns." One of the soldiers saluted, handed over his spear to a colleague, and sprinted away. "You, we need fresh water. Take two comrades and get as much as you can." The order was accepted and he turned to the onlookers, including Ianee. "And you all, make yourselves useful! If you have boats, go out and collect people. If not, look for survivors in the water and help them get onto land." He paused for a moment. "But only if you can swim for sure," he finally added. A task, one with which she could prove that she was useful. Ianee grinned broadly, allowing her teeth to flash, as she followed a group of different creatures to carry out their orders.

Ianee paused her story as Danielle came back from the kitchen. "Thank you," she said, accepting the cup of tea held out to her.

"One thing you have to give to your double, he has a good kitchen," said the young woman and placed a cup before Thiemo and Amaryllis. The shaman saw the pity in Danielle's eyes as she looked at Amaryllis. For ten minutes she had said nothing, and if it hadn’t been for the couple of times she had held back a sob, Thiemo would have thought she had fallen asleep. That would at least have given her the necessary peace her mind needed right now.

"I have a question. You said the guards had spears with them. For what?" he asked without looking at the dog. His attention was all on Amaryllis. His arm was around her shoulders and he gently stroked her neck. He hoped that he at least helped a little.

Ianee lowered the cup and pointed to a lamp in the corner of the room. Like the rest of the house, it looked like it was made of scrap metal, lots of glue, and some madness. "We did not have any devices like this back then. No electricity. One or two shamans living on the island might’ve produced clouds and lightning, but not enough to supply a city with. Only in the last twenty years have our sages succeeded in restoring ancestral technology. "

"Let me guess, I played a big role?" Ianee looked a bit surprised, then nodded. "Makes sense—Blue Light was a brilliant engineer."

"What does Blue Light have to do with it?" Danielle asked.

Thiemo grinned. "Me, I'm a nobody. I wasn’t even on Albion twenty years ago." Ianee looked even more astonished, if that was possible. "That's why my conclusion is that I was not 'copied'." He mimicked quotation marks in the air. "Blue Light was."

Ianee was probably confused enough now. "Who is Blue Light?"

"Firstborn son of Celestia. Alicorn of Change, but he died over a thousand years ago," Thiemo explained, taking off his coat. He held out his left shoulder. "Apparently I'm possessed with what's left of him."

Ianee's eyes widened and began to glow. One of her hands rose and softly ran her fingertips over the emblem on Thiemo's shoulder, two white crescents separated by a white flash. "Possessed is probably not the right expression," murmured the bitch. "A destiny that is not your own has been imposed upon you."

Thiemo shrugged, which seemed to break Ianee’s trance. "I was trying to complain, but I was told not to behave like a little bitch." He pulled his coat back on. "You were going to tell us how my double came to the island?"

Fresh sea air assaulted Ianee’s nose. Seagulls shrieked and water struck the bow of the somewhat dilapidated fishing boat, nature’s sounds being broken only occasionally by the instructions the captain called to his men. She had hidden in a roll of rope not unlike the colour of her coat. No one had yet discovered her, though that was probably more because the men were busy looking for survivors. It was a task she was certain she could do better. With renewed vigour, she turned and stared out at the water. The burning ship, or what was left of it, was now much clearer. Boxes and barrels were floating around in the water, and some of them had ponies and humans clinging to them. Boats were already on their way to them, though the one she was on seemed to be searching for anyone who had floated further away.
Her eyes strained as she stared into the distance, but from her hiding place, the view was rather dim. That changed suddenly when she was lifted about a meter in the air.

"Thanks, I can see much better now." She blinked. Five fingers had dug firmly into the fur on the back of her neck, holding her tight. She tried to turn her head but didn’t get far.

"What are you doing here, girl?" the captain's voice rumbled, much closer than she was comfortable with.

Caught, Ianee decided to tell the truth, "I'll help!" He hummed the sound that all adults made when they did not believe her. "For real! I'm on the lookout for survivors. We diamond dogs have the best noses, ears, and eyes—everyone knows that. Without me, you won’t find anyone!"

Her vision changed as she was turned around and held under his arms. "Really?" he asked in surprise, the pipe in his mouth changing sides. "Well then, if you’re telling the truth, we should get you a good place to look out. Your talent would only be wasted down there in that rope." Pleased that she had finally found someone who could appreciate her talents, Ianee nodded enthusiastically. Satisfied, he looked around and grinned. "Do you think the counter in front of the steering wheel would work?"

The steering wheel came out of a raised wooden pedestal, on which a shelf was mounted. Paper—probably maps—a compass and a weird circle, and other objects that she could not name lay around on it. Several rocks acted as weights to ensure they remained in place. If she stood on it, she would be taller than the captain, maybe even her mother.

"Eh, it’ll have to be enough," she managed, though her voice didn’t sound as casual as she would have liked.

"Well then..." He placed her on his shoulder.

"Ianee!" she gave her name cheerfully.

"And I am Captain Gabriel. Well then, show us how well your dog eyes can see." She hopped from his shoulder to the flat surface of the pedestal and looked around, seeing only water, water, and more water. She changed sides and did the same, with the same result. She peered back at the captain, who was back at the wheel, his eyes also fixed on the sea.

She kept searching as their ship drew closer to the blazing inferno. All she had discovered so far was debris, barrels, and a dead fish that might have gotten caught up in the blast. Suddenly, her ears twitched as she heard a faint sound, no more than a soft squeak. The scream of a seagull was enough to drown out the sound. Had she been mistaken?

"I found something," she said to Gabriel, whose attention was immediately drawn to her. "I hear something." The pointed ears on her head twitched as they sought the source. "There," Ianee finally said, pointing to the east, away from the burning ship. A line of crates and barrels bobbed in the water as they floated along the current.

The captain nodded and turned. "Okay, let's see…"

Two of the men at the bow of the ship cast a surprised glance back as their direction seemed to be headed away from the scene of the accident. One even came running, though his eyes soon locked onto Ianee. "Sir, where are we going? And what’s that puppy doing here?"

The older man calmly waved away his concern. "She is my assistant and here to help. We can use every pair of eyes, ears, and hands." He winked at Ianee. "And those ears here…" Gabriel started patting her head. Her tail inevitably wagged and not because it felt good to be praised. "…have heard something unusual about those crates. Get the hooks out; we'll check it out."

The young man nodded. "All right, boss."

Ianee glanced at the other boats on the water. Everywhere, creatures were being pulled out of the water. Some were still visible in the water, but not all stirred. There had to be well over a hundred boats involved in the rescue mission, but apparently they were not enough. Only now, when she could smell the smoke and the fire practically scorched her fur, did she notice how large the ship had been. Still, it made sense—you needed big ships if you wanted to transport so many people.

They kept on moving past the wreckage. Several other ships seemed to notice, and people waved frantically from the boats, pointing in other directions, but Gabriel paid them no attention. Ianee concentrated again and pricked up her ears. The sound was gone and a hole opened in her stomach. If she did not find anything, they would have wasted valuable time. She would have wasted valuable time that they could have used to help others. But she had been so sure. There had been a noise, a voice. It still had to be there.

"I have one, Captain!" called one of the humans from the front, who was just pulling a box on deck with a long hook. It landed with a thud onto the wooden deck, and another man came in with a small axe. A swing cracked it open, and in the next second, a few bags fell out. The man with the hook picked one up and opened it. "Rations !" he shouted to Gabriel.

"Okay!" he called back and looked at the young bitch. "We can’t open every box. Where did the sound come from?"

Under pressure, she jumped from her lookout and ran to the edge of the boat. She heaved herself up on the rail, closed her eyes, and listened again. Nothing, just the sound of water, seagulls, and the steps of the men around her.

"I know I heard it," she muttered to herself. If she could not hear it, maybe she could see it, as close as they were. Pushing back all her other senses, Ianee concentrated on her eyes, opening them as wide as they could go. She had to see, see everything detail. Water, wind, and the sun were her enemies. She was a child of the earth, a diamond dog! They were a species that could spot the faintest of imperfections in even the clearest diamonds. If anyone could find it, it was her.

And then she could see. It was like she was really opening her eyes for the first time. Colours danced before her that she had never witnessed before. Everything seemed to shine from within. She could see fish underwater, every seagull close by. Even the crates, boxes, and barrels glowed in a dark brown. However, one barrel was different. Another light came out from it, weak yet distinct.

Ianee did not second-guess herself as she pointed to it. "That one there!" Gabriel turned around and two of the men used the hook. He wedged himself in the wood of the barrel and together they pulled it to the deck.

"Stand clear!" roared the man with the axe as he smashed the lid. He peered in, his eyes widening. "Oh fucking shit!" he bellowed, dropping the axe and reaching into the barrel. At first, Ianee could not tell what he was pulling out. She ran past the man who blocked her view before she halted, her eyes widening as well. There had been a boy in the barrel. A boy with white hair.

"My doppelganger," Thiemo interrupted, pursing his lips.

Ianee nodded. "Yes. We rescued five more people that day. Captain Gabriel managed to breathe life into him with a heart massage and artificial respiration. The men thought the boy had hidden in the barrel when fighting broke out on board. Later, none of the survivors knew who he belonged to." She put down her empty cup of tea. "The then Field Marshal used the incident to stir the pot with Equestria and to set an example. He decided to adopt one of the victims. Suddenly, he was no longer the white-haired boy from the shipwreck, but Elias Charon, son of Ti’s Field Marshal.

The shaman fell back in the sofa. "I'm slowly losing the belief that there’s actually something like coincidence." He wiped his hand over his mouth before pointing a finger at the bitch. "And you also believe that he was placed there. Or placed himself there. Otherwise, you could have told your story in one sentence."

She nodded. "I might not have thought about it then, or years later. However, the events of the last few weeks have placed some stories in a new light, while leaving me to doubt things I thought I knew."

There she was not alone, Thiemo thought mockingly.

Author's Notes:

After another "little" break I'm at it again. I needed that break, so I'm not really sorry, but I am at the same time.
I hope you can forgive me nonetheless.

Thanks goes to JBL for translating and editing.