In a modest village, not far away from one of the largest metropolis on planet Albion, sat a little filly in barn, watching the snow softly flittering down on the ground. Just as flake after flake the snow fell, piece by piece the anger from yesterday began to rise in her again. He left her alone. He had promised to never do that, but now he was gone. Away with the strange changeling and another mare.

They wanted to travel together until they reached their destination. Their destination, not just her own. Her father was still trapped in this world, so his journey was not over yet. She should have been with him now, helping him. Without her, he couldn’t even read a map. Although… he probably had the others for that now. She felt replaced and left alone, and that was what she was mad about. But that was too much for her, and so she let out her anger on the one that caused all these feeling. Something that was much easier.

He would soon see what he would get for just leaving her like this. “Auralia, breakfast is ready!”

“Coming, Applejack!” Her revenge would have to wait until after the breakfast, but it would be all the more cruel.

While the little filly was jumping off the sofa, a certain human was sneezing in his tent, causing the changeling princess that was sleeping at his side to slap him on the nose. Satisfied at having punished the sound that was disturbing her sleep, she snuggled closer to the human, who was wondering why he was getting slapped in the first place and then shrugged. Then he had to wonder why a cold shiver was running down his back that wasn’t coming from the snow outside.

Strangely, Aura found out that the fuller her stomach got, the more her anger faded away. Not fully of course. She did like Applejack and her family a lot. Why couldn’t her stupid father have just remained here? No, now she had to make him see that. She belonged to him and he to her, that was like a law of nature.

Unfortunately, Auralia had no idea who to talk to about this problem in the hopes of finding a solution. Twilight Sparkle didn’t like her father and surely wouldn’t help her there. After the reaction she saw from Aunt Apple Bloom, she didn’t even need to bother asking her or her friends. What made Aura confused was why they told none of the grown-ups about their meeting. But that was a problem for the future.

Aunt Rarity always called her father a barbarian but seemed to always have a special smile whenever she said it. She even said that he at least did something good, even though Aura would never exactly find out what it was. But she was one of the few who would not flinch from him like everypony else. Well, except maybe Aunt Pinkie, but she was definitely crazy.

So her little trip through the morning snow towards Ponyville still stood. It wasn’t easy to get further with her short legs, but at least she wasn’t freezing. The scarf and the shoes that Applejack had given her were taking care of that. They were from some old box in the basement, but that didn’t bother her. Aura ate roots that Thiemo had dug out from underground. What were a few old, musty clothes compared to that? They didn’t smell worse than his for starters.

The rest of the way towards the snowy village, Auralia continued to think of how she was going to punish her father when she got her hooves on him. Clouts, noogies, maybe another kick to the flank. That would teach him to never do this again. Oh, was she feeling keen and dangerous right now. Maybe it should be her picture on the wanted posters.

When she finally reached Ponyville, she saw something that distracted her immediately from any thoughts about punishments. A swarm of pegasi, all armoured and harnessed with some chariots, were preparing their descent in the town center. Their golden armors indicated that they were Royal Guards. For the other spectators, this only raised the question why they were here, but Aura was only thinking about how she could use them to her advantage. Of course they were searching for her stupid father. He probably broke something valuable of the Princess or something like that.

With more energy, she galloped over the snow-free paths to the small town until she arrived at the large space in front of the town hall. Unfortunately, she was too late. The chariots were already there but deserted. Some of the Royal Guards were knocking at doors before talking with the inhabitants. Maybe it was the Princess’ favorite tea cup, seeing the effort they put into this.

Aura waited until one of the soldiers was done talking with a mare and left the property. “Excuse me, Mister. What’s going on here?” The soldier looked down at her and smiled friendly.

“Hello, little one. You should not be running around out here on your own. We are looking for a dangerous convict that has been seen in the area. You did not see a strange creature by any chance?” She acted like she was thinking.

“A strange creature?” The soldier nodded. “A big one?” Again a nod. “Running on two legs and such?” The pegasus nodded even more. “Nope, haven’t seen it, but I’ll get back to you when I do.”

Quickly, before the soldier realized that she was playing with him, she went on her way again. At least her assumption was right, and she ticked off the first item on her inner checklist. Now she knew about the situation just like Thiemo had taught her. For a moment, she grinned at the thought. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be angry at him right now.

Ignoring the remaining soldiers, she walked the short distance to Rarity’s business. Carousel something. She always tripped over the second word, so now it was Carousel something. Aura galloped the rest of the way as the building came in sight but stopped as she saw that somepony beat her to it. At the door stood the Captain of the Royal Guard, Estoc. She had only met him twice, but a grey unicorn with a blue mane was not easily forgotten since the rest of them all looked the same. Aura still wondered what his cutie mark, hidden by his armor, could be.

The captain knocked at the door, and Aunt Rarity opened it a few moments later, seeming surprised at first, though she adopted a happy expression soon after. “Oh, Estoc. I did not expect you would take me up on my invitation so soon. Unfortunately, I’ve really just arrived. I did not even have time to unpack, darling.”

“To be honest, Miss Rarity,” he said with a sharp emphasis on the ‘Miss’, “my visit here is job related.” He said a few more things that Aura couldn’t understand from her position behind the trash bins. But it made Rarity giggle first, and then they both kissed. Blech!

“So, why is the Captain of the Royal Guard standing at my door?” her aunt hummed and leaned against the doorframe with a grin.

Estoc sighed loudly. “Well, it’s a bit embarrassing, but the human did escape. Fled while using Princess Celestia’s private bath. We believe he got help by Professor Heartstrings in removing the magic blockers. After that, they broke the large window and escaped on the back of Princess Amaryllis.”

Startled, Rarity gasped for air. “By Celestia, that’s horrible.”

“I’m out here with a company to catch him, but so far we have no leads. I also still have to inform Princess Twilight Sparkle. My job is on the line if it’s going after the generals.”

“The poor furniture! I’ll have to write a letter to the princess and offer her my help in the renovation.”

“Rari… Miss Rarity! Did you not listen? We’re searching for an escaped convict.”

Aura looked over the bins but immediately ducked again as she saw Rarity turning around. Apparently, she was holding off from disappearing in her store again. “Estoc, I really like you, but you sometimes fail to think. Everypony would try to escape if they were banished to Tartarus. But I have absolute faith that you will catch him.” She placed a hoof on his chest and leaned her head forwards. No, Aura didn’t need to see that again.

“Thanks Rarity. Now I have to hear that from Princess Sparkle again.”

“Let that be my worry, my dear. I am coming with you. Twilight can send my offer directly to her mother then.” A door was closed, and Aura saw the two disappearing down the road.

So they had a contingent to take one the pursuit after her father? That was her chance. But they would never let a filly come with them. With her father, she could go through any danger, but Applejack didn’t even let her feed the pigs on her own. Now it was time for lesson twenty… or was it thirty? It didn’t matter. The lesson said that now was the time to observe and wait for the right moment.

Slowly, she peeked out between the trash bins and checked her surroundings. No pony was in sight. There were only a few soldiers in the sky, but they were busy with other things. She jumped out of her cover and rushed after the two adults towards the library. Since she knew that it was in the large tree in the center of the town, a building her father would have loved if he ever got to see it, she could keep enough distance without risking being seen. She dashed from bush to bush, from corners to trash bins without being discovered by the two ponies who were deep in conversation.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Golden Oak Library, the home far away from home of Princess Twilight Sparkle. At least that’s what the tourist guide that was sold at the town hall said, Auralia remembered from her tour through the village. The stallion looked a bit nervous while Rarity knocked, humming a tune she did not recognize while they waited. Not a moment later, the door opened in a purple aura, and the ponies disappeared inside. Darn, she hadn’t thought about that. Now she had to get inside to eavesdrop on them.

The large tree, which changed its leaves according to the season, didn’t seem to find it necessary to grow some low hanging branches to climb up on. With a puckered mouth, Aura ran around the tree house to search for an open window, but the odds were again not in her favor. “Now I know what my dad meant by saying the whole world was always against him,” murmured the filly as she reached the entrance again. She had gotten too far already to know…

“WHAT!?” came a loud voice from the library that blasted all windows open. Aura was sure she had seen some locks flying in the snow, but that wasn’t her fault. Happy about the turn of events, she positioned herself at the low window next to the entrance and peeked inside. In the middle of the room, around a small table with a bust, stood the expected ponies. Twilight Sparkle seemed to the one who screamed and was gasping for air now. Rarity still held her hooves over her ears, and Estoc laid on his back and stared at the ceiling. Various books had fallen out of the shelves, paper were scattered around, and ink coloured the floor black.

When Rarity slowly put her hooves of her ears and opened her eyes again, the filly quickly ducked. “Twilight… Darling, it is not your fault. The Royal Guard is doing what they can.”

“Not my fault?” the answer was shouted. “Not my fault!? It was me who threw all protocols to the winds to study those two. My mother had given me explicit orders, and I failed them because of my curiosity. They should have been immediately sent to Tartarus.”

“I do not want to be intrusive, but one of them turned out to be your niece. I know you don’t like to admit it, but are you not even the tiniest bit relieved that she is not at that horrible place?” Aura risked another peek inside and saw Estoc standing on his legs again, throwing an evil look Rarity from the side.

“I didn’t even think about that, Rarity!” For a moment the white unicorn grinned. “What if the aristocrats finds out? They will assume I helped them escape.”

“Actually, that was Miss Heartstrings…”

“Can a princess be called in front of the parliament? Will I get a trial? I have to ask mom, Aunt Luna, I…” And with that the princess stopped and stood still like she was frozen.

“Twilight?” her friend asked. “Twilight… Darling?” Again no reaction. “Is that the first copy of ‘Magic for the Magical Gifted’?” The head of the princess automatically spun in the direction Rarity was pointing at. Then she blinked a few times and fell to the ground.

“What am I going to do? If I could bring them back… but we have no lead, do we?” Estoc shook his head, causing a groan of the purple mare. “My first term will always be remembered as a complete joke.” That was her moment. Surely she could convince the princess into a trade. She had the information, and she could order the guards to take her with them.

With a wide grin on her face, she turned towards the door just so that it could stick in her throat. There stood Applejack, one brow raised in with a very unhappy looking face. Didn’t seem like she would be getting dessert today. “And what are you doin’ here, sugarcube? Shouldn’t you be helpin’ Apple Bloom in the stables?” She didn’t reply, which was a mistake. From inside, the voices of Rarity and the others appeared. “Aha, eavesdropping. If ya really want to know what’s going on inside there then we will take a look.” Applejack grabbed her by the tail and dragged her over to the door and knocked.

After Thiemo’s rough awakening, he decided that he had enough sleep for now and left Amaryllis alone in the warm tent. Outside in the snow, he was already awaited by one of his new companions, Night Hawk. What she was lacking in size, she made up in finesse and a vocal organ that could knock over trees. The entire yesterday they were marching, and now they were somewhere between the Everfree, Canterlot, and the Lost Woods at a little lake.

“Morning,” he greeted her briefly before disappearing in some bushes for a few minutes. After he was done with his morning business, Thiemo sat down next to her at the remains of yesterday’s campfire. “When are we going?”

“In a few hours. We need our rest. We should leave the flatlands as quickly as possible and get trees above our heads as fast as possible. If the Flashers had not been looking in the south, they would surely have found us by now.” Flasher, as Thiemo had understood from the context, was how she called the Royal Guard. With their shining armor and big heroic entrances, they were as unobtrusive like a lightning bolt during the night, hence the name Flashers. “Estoc is not the brightest, but at some point even he will realize that we were going north. Somepony should have seen us and since that didn’t happen… It’s a matter of time until he sees it.” Thiemo nodded and took the ration she gave him. “Funny, a few months ago, I was at the coast and put your kind into chains, not feeding them.”

“Funny, where I’m coming from, ponies are a delicacy.” They stared at each other for a while before Hawk laughed.

“At least you’re not a pansy. You wouldn’t believe how much some cried when I held the knife against their throat.” To give utterance to her words, the dragonpony pulled out the blade somewhere out of her short fur and cut a piece off the brown thing they called a meal. Thiemo was puzzled as to where she hid it; he didn’t even saw it glinting. “So, tell me. What’s with the green sissy?” She nodded towards the tent were Lyra and Iron Heart were still sleeping.

“Professor for anthropology. Human researcher. Tried to save me from Tartarus, but unfortunately got in between our escape. I couldn’t just leave her there. Unfortunately, we had to land near Ponyville because of that.” The eyes of the little thestral widened, and she almost choked on her breakfast.

“What? Did anypony see you?!” She reached for her canteen and washed down the piece that got stuck.

“Umm… just my daughter and some of her friends.”

“What? There are humans living in Ponyville? Guess I was deployed for too long…”

“No, she’s a pony. I took care of her a while ago. She is one of the reasons I’m here in the first place. I brought her home.”

“Huh? A human puts his flank on the line for a filly? Never thought I would see that day. And how did you get to this abomination over there in the tent?” This time it was Thiemo’s eyes that went wide, and he stared at Hawk. “What? She’s a bastard from a rape of nopony less than Prince Shining Armor.”

“Never! Okay!” Thiemo stood up and stood planted himself in front of her, glaring at her murderously. “You will never call her that, understand! It’s not her fault for being born this way. I’ve met Chrysalis, seen what a monster she is. But even that monster cared about her daughter and her people. And I will be doing the same.”

“At least I know now why Princess Celestia gave you this option. You love her.” Hawk grinned. “Love is a strong feeling. Made many soldiers switch sides already. She’s playing with you like a ball.”

“So what? I’m also winning.” Thiemo sat back down again and picked up his ration that had dropped into the snow.

For a minute both were silent. “So, would your daughter betray us?”

Thiemo didn’t even need to think about the answer. “Never.”

“So, why were you eavesdropping?” Twilight asked again. Auralia muttered something. “Speak a bit louder, please.”

“Because I wanted to find my father.” All ponies present sighed.

“Look, little one,” Estoc began and leaned his head down to her, “do you know something? Anything?”

“Maybe…”

“Auralia Apple, you will immediately tell the soldier what he wants to know!” She flinched at Applejack’s sudden shout.

“He was here yesterday. He said goodbye.”

“Something more? Maybe where he was headed?” Twilight asked, excited.

“I’ll tell you… but only if I can come with you.” Applejack nudged her with a hoof against her flank and looked at her with a stern face. “Crystal Empire,” she admitted defeatedly. “But please take me with you. I want to see my dad!” All ponies looked gloomily down at the little filly.

“Ya know what, sugarcube? I’ll bring ya to yer father. Come on, Twilight, just like old times. Gather the others, and we’ll go catch the human.”

“I agree with Applejack, darling. It is a crime to make a young lady cry. And one last adventure won’t hurt.”

“What do you mean, Rarity?” Twilight asked, worried.

“Well… Twilight, time does not stop for us. The adventure of life won’t be waiting for us. Fluttershy is happily together with Eris; Celestia knows how that works. Pinkie has her little herd, and Rainbow will be a mother soon.” Everypony looked at her, flabbergasted. “Don’t tell me she did not tell you the happy news yet? She will even be moving back here to Ponyville to raise her foal. And I, well…” She looked over to Estoc. “Well, maybe I won’t have much time for that too, soon.”

“So… this will be our last journey?” Twilight seemed just as sad as Auralia felt.

“Well no, just the last one where we can go into the world without sorrows. Applejack, you search for Pinkie and ask her if she wants to come along. I will try to convince Fluttershy. Twilight, it is your call.”

The princesses looked at the grinning faces of her friends. “Then we’re going to catch ourselves a human!” The group cheered and didn’t notice how a little filly was sneaking out of the house. Just like they weren’t going to notice that she would be right behind them.

Author's Notes:

Every year around this time I catch a cold thats lasts until spring. Then I have my allergies until summer. Isn't that great ^^
And for everyone who thought I would leave Aura behind: Shame on you!

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Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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