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Court of the Moon

by Primrose

Chapters

Prologue: Memories from a Dream

Princess Luna stood at the center of the room located high in one of Canterlot Castle's many towers, surrounded by maps and shelves full of ancient tomes and scrolls. She had much to catch up on since her return, and even though some of the most important tasks were behind her, there seemed to be no end in sight for the research and documentation of the changes her sister had implemented in her one thousand year absence. In those matters she had barely scratched the surface, glancing at the desk in the corner overflowing with parchment and scrolls, she let out a tired sigh, and moved toward the balcony.

"Princess?" came a tired voice from deeper inside the room, "Is something the matter?" The owner of the voice belonged to one of the assistants provided by her dearest sister.

 "No, I'm fine." the princess replied as she walked out onto the balcony.

From high atop the spires of Canterlot Castle, Luna could see for miles and miles. She observed the city of Canterlot below; still  fairly active despite it being past midnight. Turning to the left and gazing out toward the horizon, the princess could see the dim lights of Ponyville; the village where she had spent a surprising amount of time since her return. A small village, Luna guessed that the majority of the ponies there were asleep. A yawn came from behind her inside the room; Princess Luna rolled her eyes and turned around, "Mountain Laurel, please organize the documents on my desk, then you may go home." The mare bowed and began sifting through the material.

Luna let out a heavy sigh and made her way across the room and into the hallway. It would be some time before those were sorted, so she decided to take a walk through the castle. She strolled down the tower and into one of the hallways that led to the central hall and throne room.

The castle was quiet, probably the most quiet it had been all day. Princess Luna was the only one in the halls, perhaps even the only one in this wing of the castle besides Mountain Laurel. Normally this place would be full of all sorts of nobleponies, some from Canterlot with others visiting from Fillydelphia or Manehattan. Dignitaries and ambassadors from the Zebra Nation and the Griffon Empire could be seen conducting their duties, all while servants rapidly moved about the castle keeping it in pristine order. All this was done during the day; everything important was always done in the day. That much hadn't changed in one thousand years.

All of that political business and constant socializing would have driven her insane eventually, even if it meant more people would probably appreciate her. Luna chuckled to herself, Celestia can keep those "important" jobs. To Luna, maintaining the rising of the moon and the night were fine jobs that she enjoyed doing, but they were nothing when compared to her sovereignty over the realm of dreams.

It was one of the many powers of the Princess of the Night: the ability to sense dreamers and feel their emotions while in the dream world. When she opened her mind and concentrated, she could observe the dreams of hundreds of ponies if she wanted. However, such things were not usually necessary for adolescent and adult ponies. Being older, their connection to the dream world is fragile and they are less susceptible to nightmares or night terrors, and even when they did occur, they were old enough to make sense out of them.

This was not the case for the foals, for them the connection to the realm of dreams was very strong and they were the most likely to have nightmares and night terrors. Since their connection was so strong it was almost as if they were actually present in the dream world when the nightmare was happening. Such an event was surely traumatic for a foal, especially since most of them are too young to make sense of what was happening. It was with great pride that Princess Luna took on the role of a guardian and mother figure to the little ponies under her influence while they slept. If there was any problem when a child was dreaming, the princess would do her best to help. Sometimes she would alter the dream to help the child figure out the problem themselves. Sometimes if the situation was serious she would enter disguised as somepony from the dream, or the rare occasion where she would enter as the Princess of Night herself.

Princess Luna eventually reached the throne room and observed its emptiness; it really was quite large when there was not a crowd filling it. She started to walk along the wall enjoying the moonlight passing through the many stained glass windows. As she did, Luna reached out with her mind and felt the presence of many child dreamers in Canterlot and Ponyville, most were having sweet peaceful dreams tonight. Excellent, she thought as she approached the end of the room and decided it was time to head back to her chambers in the tower.

Instead of going back the way she came, Luna went the long way around and observed the courtyard before ascending the tower. The courtyard was where she and members of her court would occasionally gather during the night to conduct meetings and socialize if there weren't any visitors... and there seldom were. Luna frowned as she reached the courtyard and sat down near one of the fountains; its water glistening in the moonlight. With many statues casting ominous shadows; she looked to the stone figure of Starswirl the Bearded and remembered the unicorn who used to stand by it and offer her council. For a moment when she blinked, Luna thought she saw him...

-------------

A male Unicorn, below average height and weight, stood next to the statue and looked up at his princess. "WE ARE NOT APPRECIATED FOR ANYTHING WE DO, ALDUS!" the Princess of the Night shouted.

"WE ARE ROYALTY, IT IS BECAUSE OF US THAT THE EVERYPONY CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT!" The princess lifted slightly off the ground and spread her wings wide, with a slight white glow starting to form in her eyes.

"AND EVEN WHEN THEY SLEEP, THEY DO NOT KNOW WHO WATCHES OVER THEIR DREAMS. IT IS ONLY BECAUSE OF US THAT THEY CAN SLEEP AND GATHER ENERGY TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR ‘PRECIOUS’ TASKS DURING THE DAY!"

The Royal Canterlot voice was now in full effect, and the wind was beginning to rip through the trees and bushes in the courtyard, "ALL THE TIME SPENT WATCHING OVER THE CHILDREN, AND YET THEY DO NOT EVEN KNOW I EXIST! THEY ONLY COME TO SEE MY SISTER IN THE DAYTIME! THEY--"

"Pff, I'm not royalty." 

Luna whirled around to see Aldus looking up at her, smiling. His robes and mane ruffled by the gusts of wind.

Luna glided back to the ground, landing in front of him. Even though she was younger and smaller than her older sister, she was still larger than most ponies, and she towered over Aldus. "What did you say?" She asked with a glare.

"I said, 'I'm not royalty'," he remarked with a grin on his face. He slowly walked around the Princess of The Night to stand by her side, "You said, ‘WE ARE ROYALTY’, right?" He stood on his hind legs pressing a hoof to his chest, using his magic to partially mimic the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"My princess, I am many things, but I am not royalty," he said with a smirk. Standing on his hind legs and bowing deeply, "I am but a handsome, talented, powerful, and wise mage in service to the most beautiful princess in the land."

"And modest..." Luna said, as she conjured magic from her horn and pulled out the legs of her mage, causing him to face-plant.

With that, Princess Luna sat down and started laughing; a scene many would not think possible had they witnessed her frustration only moments before. Aldus raised a hoof to his head and pushed back the hood of his robes. He looked at his princess and smiled.

 Crisis averted, he thought. If she was happy, he was happy.

Aldus picked himself up off the ground and grunted, "ahem, yes... princess. That was a poorly executed bow; I am capable of far better, thank you for correcting me."

Luna looked down at him with her eyes watering she had been laughing so hard. Aldus was slightly shorter than the average male unicorn and earth stallion. A young adult, his coat was a deep ash grey color and the hair that constituted his mane and tail was almost silver. It was likely some type of genetic abnormality that his mane and tail looked as though they belonged on an aging pony. His eyes were a very dark shade of brown, almost black which was very rare for a unicorn.

Between his height and odd coloration, Aldus had a troubled childhood. He was bullied and picked on by almost all of his peers. This was made worse because his parents had passed away, making him an orphan. Very few ponies would have known that about him though, especially when meeting him and experiencing his comical and playful personality.

His hair style was unique in Canterlot; it was average length with most of it draped off to the right side of his head, except for 3 long braids which hung down the left side. The braids were held together with golden jewelry fitted with slots for different ornamental gems. Coming from poverty and being raised in an orphanage, Aldus did not enjoy or understand the activities and interests held in such high esteem by the nobleponies in Canterlot. However, there was one exception; fashion. For whatever reason Princess Luna could not comprehend, her court mage loved fashion. His collection of robes, cloaks, and jewelry was massive and he loved wearing all of it whenever he could.

One of the things that amused Luna was that some of the outfits Aldus would wear became trendy and inspired styles based off his own, a turn of events that he found hilarious. Aldus would remind many ponies of this with a playful smugness, especially other members of the Court of the Moon, and to some of Celestia's closest followers and Solar Court members. The latter he did only because it amused his princess.

Princess Luna stood up and lowered her head with a frown, "I apologize for subjecting you to these outbursts Aldus, you don't deserve it. I really need to control my temper better and I probably woke up half the castle with that last outburst." she said as she turned away from the mage and started to make her way to the bed chambers.

"No, I took care of that problem, princess.” Aldus had silently teleported from behind her to lean on one of the pillars in front of her leading out of the courtyard. He was a master of teleportation magic and enjoyed using it to traverse even the smallest of distances. "I put a noise dampening spell around the courtyard when I saw you coming from your chambers. Nopony heard a thing." He said with a warm smile.

Princess Luna was relieved after hearing that. She did not feel like dealing with a lecture from her sister the next night, though she surely had one coming anyway... for something.

"Thank you Aldus, you have been a tremendous help tonight as always... but... I really am sorry you keep hearing these outbursts... I- I don't know what's wrong with me.”

"My princess, nothing is wrong with you" the mage said as he walked alongside Luna. "Your frustration is natural, and I can say it is shared by other members of your court. They want to be recognized for their services as well, and as for the outbursts, you may be an all-powerful alicorn, but you still have feelings and emotions like the rest of us.”

Princess Luna nodded as they started up the stairs to her chambers.

"Princess, I-"

"Aldus, the night is almost over and I am growing tired, so please, like I keep telling you, just call me Luna." She said with a chuckle and looked down to see him wearing an almost shy smile looking at the ground as they approached her chambers.

"As you say, Luna."

"See that wasn't so hard was it?" she said, wearing a grin. "Now, what were you going to say?"

"It was what you said about the children, I know you spend a large amount of time in the dream world watching over them, and I know the task can be strenuous at times, but trust me when I say there is not a more noble task to be found anywhere, nor is there a being more suited to it than you, Luna." They approached the entry to Luna's chambers and she motioned for Aldus to come in, knowing he still had more to say.

"You are a kind and gentle soul, Luna. I know you care deeply for the little ones under your watch. You are their guardian, the matron of their dreams, and they are not as oblivious as you think."

The two sat down on a pillow set before a large hearth.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked, looking down at Aldus. He was staring into the fire with a faint emerald green glow in his eyes, and then it was gone...

"I have traveled through the city and among some of the surrounding villages and I have listened to what the children say. Sometimes when talking about their dreams they mention a presence they feel when they are frightened, it calms them and gives them strength."

The emerald glow in his eyes returned, stronger and brighter this time.

"Other children smile and agree, they too have felt the same thing. Some even say they have seen this presence, this guardian angel. A pegasus filly said she saw a dark blue mare in the forest of her dream, another said he caught a glimpse of beautiful blue unicorn in an alley. A unicorn filly said what he saw could only have been an alicorn, for it had wings and a horn."

Aldus looked up at Luna and grinned, imitating the young unicorn he observed, "It HAD to have been an alicorn, what else has wings and a horn? I saw it fly away toward the moon, but it wasn't Celestia!" This made Luna laugh.She leaned in closer, wanting to know more.

"Many children know that something is there, and they desperately want to figure out what it is. Some think that if they stay up through the night, they could see what it is before it enters their dreams. They want to run through the city streets, forests, fields, and meadows under the moonlight in search of whatever they think is out there." Aldus now turned to look at the fading night sky through a window at the back of the room. It was getting early.

"The children laugh with great excitement at the chance of playing through the night, they would love to do it. But wanting to do something is one thing, being able to do it is something else entirely." He said with a laugh.

"Luna, in a way the children are your most loyal subjects, they love you very much. I should know, I was one of them too! Remember?"

A white light cast from his horn enveloped Aldus as he shrank into the tiny form of a unicorn colt. His mane now a messy silver mohawk, he sat staring up at Luna with big brown eyes, grinned, and held out his hooves for a hug.

Princess Luna threw back her head in laughter while extending a wing pulling Aldus to her side. She then wrapped the wing around him as he hugged her midsection.

"Okay, okay!" she said with a chuckle, "I get it, and no, I haven't forgotten. How could I? You were a very special child when I met you, little Aldy." pulling him closer she bent down and nuzzled him.

“Yay!” He cheered while laughing. The feathers of Luna’s wing were tickling him.

Aldus wiggled his way out from under her wing and jumped off the pillow then spun around to face her.

With a wink, he jumped high into the air and performed a back flip, at the apex there was a flash of light and when he landed he was his normal self again.

"It is getting early Luna, you should get some rest, Rigel and I will finish the rest of the tasks ourselves. Once we are finished, I will schedule the next meeting of the court." he said, using his magic to draw the curtains over the windows so only the dim light of the fire remained.

"Aldus, what would I do without you?" Luna asked, laying down on the pillow her eyes feeling heavy.

"You don't need to think about that Luna," he said in warm tone. "We will always be here, myself and the court. We love you Luna, you will never be alone".

As her eyes slowly began to shut succumbing to sleep's warm embrace, she saw the emerald glow return to the eyes of her mage. Then a black shroud began to envelop him just as he disappeared from the room.

"Wha-? Aldus...?"

-------------

"Aldus?!"

Princess Luna awoke with a start in the courtyard; she had nodded off when she sat down next to the fountain. Quickly she stood up and looked around, there was nopony anywhere, it was just her.

How long had she been asleep? "Curses, this never happens to me, how embarrassing... Oh well, at least nopony saw me." It was still dark, but it wouldn't be for much longer. She made her way down the long hallway leading back to her chambers.

"What a strange dream" she thought. Aldus and the court...        

"You'll never be alone, princess"

Princess Luna hung her head low, tears forming in her eyes. How she missed him, missed them. She never truly realized how special they were. Even when the Nightmare took over, and the princess they knew and loved was all but gone, they stayed by her side and fought the civil war. They were there through it all, ‘til the conflict approached its end; so many were lost.

Tears were now streaming down Luna's face. "I- I can't even remember what happened to all of them.”

The last thing she remembered was considered to be the final battle of the Equestrian Civil War, the battle of Moonlock Observatory.

Moonlock Observatory was one of many installations where the Court of the Moon and its researchers would study the constellations and anomalies present in the night sky. The data was collected by high ranking members of the court such as Aldus, Rigel, and Capra then reviewed with the Princess. It was located high in the mountains to the east, and its isolation made for a great secret fortress. It was the last hiding spot for Nightmare Moon. However, it was not a secret for long. Celestia and the army of the sun soon found it and marched to the top of the peak to end the war once and for all.

Luna winced as she fought to remember Nightmare Moon's memories.

She was at the observatory along with Aldus. The building was shaking as Celestia's army fought what was left of her own. They were in the main chamber that housed the installation's large telescope. It was night and the moon hung high above the clouds while several comets raced through the sky.

"Go, princess! I'll hold them off long enough for you to get away!"

"Foolish child, you can't last against Celestia's chosen students! They will be here any minute, and Celestia herself has come! I can feel her presence! You must leave with me now!" said the bringer of eternal darkness, her war boot crashing into the ground.

"My princess, I would only slow you down, you cannot let your sister get to you! You must escape!" concern now growing in his eyes.

"I'm done running, and besides, I have nowhere else to go. As for Celestia's 6 pupils... should they engage me, they will know what true magic is, and it will serve as a final lesson to the sun princess... NOW GO!"

Princess Luna collapsed to the floor breathing heavily. "Stupid, stupid foal! Why did he do that?" She could not remember anything else. It was shortly after that battle that she met her sister for the last time, and the elements of harmony were used to banish her to the moon. It didn't matter; they were all gone now, and she was alone. Sobbing, she slowly started to ascend the staircase to her chambers when she heard crying... but not her own. It sounded as if it was from a very young filly.

Luna turned around and saw the shadow of a small pegasus filly on the wall facing the corridor she came from. She quickly turned the corner and saw the filly huddled in a corner at the far end of the hallway. Luna started to move toward the little pegasus, "Child, what is wrong? What are you doing here this late at night?"

The filly looked up and started to back away, but as the filly retreated out of the hallway, it moved through a small stretch of moonlight that shone through the window. What Luna saw shocked her; the filly was normal, except for its odd jet black coloring. It seemed almost darker than the night, and when it moved in the moonlight it didn't cast a shadow. Something was wrong.The filly began to weep again, and then it turned and bolted out of the corridor.

"Child, stop!" Luna commanded as she ran after the filly.

The little pegasus ran through the courtyard and into the hallway leading to the throne room. "Child, you have no reason to fear me!" Luna yelled as she rounded a corner into the throne room. This situation was reminiscent of the Nightmare Night festival Luna had attended last year. The children ran from her then as well, but she thought most of them knew that she wasn't evil anymore after the help from Twilight Sparkle.

The weeping filly now exited the throne room and ran up the stairs to the library wing of the castle.

The library? Luna did not know why the filly would run there, perhaps to hide among the various tables and bookshelves? It didn't matter because that was a dead end. Luna smirked, preparing a teleportation spell.

With a flash Luna appeared in the middle of the library and looked around. She used her magic to quickly shut the two double doors that were both the entrance and exit. It was then that she saw the filly peek around a desk and dart toward the back of the room.

Luna was about to grab the filly with a magical field but right as she began to cast the spell, the impossible happened; the filly ran straight through the back wall.

"What in Equestria?" Princess Luna couldn't believe what she just saw. How could a pegasus filly pass through a wall?

The Princess flew to wall and examined it more closely. It seemed normal enough, but when she approached one of the edges, she felt a slight coolness to the air. Luna moved back and ignited her horn, scanning the shelves, and then she found something; a book on the top shelf was connected to some sort of lever. She turned around and scanned the library to make sure nopony was around. She was alone for the moment, but the sun was coming up and some early riser students could come down to study. If she was going to do this, it had to be quick.

Luna pulled the book, and the entire shelf collapsed to the side revealing a large room. She quickly went inside and closed the hidden door behind her. The room was full of scrolls and ancient tomes, and they all had the royal sun seal upon them. This must be part of the royal archives, Luna thought as she trotted toward the back of the room. There was no sign of the filly anywhere. Why did she run in here?

When Luna finally reached the back of the room she observed a large glass cabinet filled with scrolls. The cabinet was under visible lock and key, and had a very powerful magical ward present as well. Luna sensed the origin of the magic used to create the ward; it was from her sister. There was something rather odd about it as well The ward was spread across the entire cabinet but it was strongest on a door that contained a locked safe, but the safe had no handle or lever to open it. It was as if it was never meant to be opened.

Luna's curiosity began to get the better of her, "What could be so important that my sister keeps it in this hidden room away from the rest of the archives?"

The princess conjured a spell that would allow her to see the contents of the safe. To her surprise there was only one small book inside the safe, and when she read the title, her jaw dropped.

"Prisoner Manifest of Equestrian Civil War"

Luna could not believe what she had found. Inside that book could be the answers to what happened to her followers after the war. With great haste she prepared a disarming spell for the ward present on the safe. Once the ward was dispelled she teleported the book out and replaced it with another book roughly the same size.

Sensing the sun rising, Luna teleported back to her chambers with the book and climbed into her bed. She did not want anypony to think anything was going on, especially her sister if she entered her chambers in the morning, which she often did.

Luna opened the book and began to read through it. Most of the prisoners were soldiers and field commanders that had been captured during the later battles, though there was nothing unusual about that. The book hardly seemed to contain any super sensitive information.

Luna was just about to hide it away when she flipped to the very back. "Oh you are very clever sister, but not clever enough". Celestia had put an invisibility spell on the last few pages of the book; an interesting way of hiding sensitive information. After removing the magic she began to read the first few pages and her eyes widened.

"The following Individuals have been deemed so dangerous, their crimes so heinous, they are to be kept locked away for all eternity. Their souls removed from their corporeal forms so that they may reflect upon what they have done until the end of time".

The soul separation prison. Luna had heard of this before. It was the highest form of punishment in Equestria. Rarely ever did anypony do anything to warrant such imprisonment.

She read further and dropped the book. She was shaking, she couldn't believe it. A wave of emotions crashed into her, both joy and sorrow.

He was alive, her faithful mage and closest adviser. Aldus was alive!

She did not have to be alone anymore! Whatever it takes, she would release him. Luna picked up the book and read frantically on where to locate her mage. She finally found it, but instead of elation and joy she instead felt uneasy. The name of where he had been resting for the past 1000 years, apparently whatever he did to earn the soul separation prison also earned him an infamous title.

Entombed far in the frozen valleys to the north was his eternal prison.

The Temple of Aldus the Moondeath.

 

Chapter 1: The Journey North

~1013 years ago~

It was a still day beneath the sun as school let out in Canterlot. Many foals rushed about playing and deciding what do with the rest of their day. They had that luxury. The small unicorn that shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight did not. Why in equestria does that thing have to be so bright? He needed to return to the orphanage as quick as possible to finish the chores caretaker Crabapple had assigned him. Ever since he developed his skill at levitation at such an early age and was foolish enough to not keep it to himself, that hag Crabapple forced him to do all the chores at the entire orphanage.

 It had been that way for the past 2 years, and it would likely remain that way for the foreseeable future. Not taking any chances of losing her servant, she made him sleep in the attic away from all the other children thus ensuring no ponies saw him when they came looking to adopt.

All this was very depressing, but it was not all bad. While cleaning the attic for the first time to make room for place to sleep, he found something so marvelous it may as well have been buried treasure. Amidst a pile of boxes and inside an old cabinet, were books and scrolls. The books were mainly on history but there were a few that explained stellar phenomena and the night sky. These books and some of the scrolls chronicled the history of the constellations and several stars, and the best part? Deep inside one of the boxes stood an old telescope. It was dusty but in decent condition; this combined with the books provided an interesting hobby for the young unicorn colt.

He had already gone stargazing many nights learning about the night sky, but recently he learned that the public library near the orphanage had more books on constellations and even some about the moon. Just thinking about those books made him excited as he broke into a run nearing the orphanage. If the chores were to be completed quickly then it might be possible to make it to the library tonight to get those books before it closes.

The thought brought a bright smile to the unicorn’s face as he entered the front yard of the orphanage, but it didn’t last long.

“And just what are you smiling about, Aldus?” came a raspy voice from the porch.

“Nothing Ms. Crabapple, just glad I got back early to get started working.”

“Just make sure everything gets done before dinner, we have some people coming by after which means...”

“I’ll stay up in the attic while being quiet as a mouse,” Aldus mumbled as he trotted into the house and started the ridiculous amount of tasks. After hours of dusting, mopping, washing, and sweeping all the work was finished. Aldus pressed his head to the attic door and heard muffled voices of a few older ponies and Ms. Crabapple.

Ahh still busy, nows my chance. 

Aldus gingerly walked across the floor to the window while levitating his saddlebag with the telescope and star maps over to him and climbed out onto the roof. As he moved along the roof to edge where a thick pile of bushes were planted at the bottom, he looked toward the horizon and saw the sun had almost set.

Mustering his courage he leapt from the roof to land in the bushes below. With a grunt, Aldus climbed out and broke into a run heading toward the library.

Please let it be open. Please let it be open.

As he neared the front door of the library, Aldus noticed a mare approaching it. She wore thick black glasses and sported a pile of books as a cutie mark.

“Ms. Featherquill wait! Please don’t close yet!” Aldus wailed as he advanced on the door, not slowing down at all.

The mare looked up startled. She gave a yelp as she quickly opened one of the doors as Aldus rocketed through only to trip on a large rug and tumble across the floor. He landed in a heap in front of the return desk.

“Aldy what is the matter with you? You could have hurt yourself,” the librarian said as she rushed over to help the colt up.

“I’m sorry Ms. Featherquill, I just wasn’t certain I’d be able to make it here in time. There are a few books I need and it was important I get them for tonight.”

The mare tilted her head to the side quizzically, “What is tonight?”

Aldus opened his saddlebag showing her his telescope, then looked up at her with a grin. “Tonight is a clear sky with a full moon! With two books I need from here, I’ll be able to make additions to my star map!”

Ms. Featherquill smiled and stood up. “Well that sounds lovely, dear. Go find the books and you can be on your way before the sun goes down completely.”

Aldus beamed and took off down an aisle while shouting over his shoulder, “Oh thank you so much! I’ll be right back!”

No sooner had Ms Featherquill sat down behind the return desk Aldus was there with two books in hoof. She took them and began to stamp them while looking down at Aldus. “All this reading you do Aldy, don’t you ever take a break and play with some friends?”

Aldus looked at her, then drooped his head down. “I don’t have any friends... that... um... like to stay up late and play.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that.” She said, sliding the books to Aldus.

“Here you go Aldy, have fun and be careful out there at night.”

Aldus levitated the books into his saddlebag and opened the door to leave, “Thank you Ms Featherquill, and don’t worry I’m not afraid of the dark.” He replied with a smirk, and bolted out the door.


The park in Canterlot was surprisingly large considering how urban the city actually was. Trees were found in the amount one would expect from a forest, and paths wound their way through rolling hills. The land was dotted with many ponds and streams. Aldus made his way to the top of a hill and set up the telescope. He looked around to see if anypony else remained in the park this late, but all he saw was an empty park bench behind him and a barren field below the hill.

Peace and quiet.

The Moon was out in all its beauty and so were the stars. Aldus opened the book and began identifying the stars. He wondered why some of them were brighter than others and why some seemed closer, almost as though he could reach out and touch them. They were beautiful. The night was beautiful. It was so calm, it was like a companion that was always by your side. Never pressuring you, never judging you, it was simply there. It could be welcoming or coldly indifferent. Not like the obnoxiously bright sunny days where it was as if the light was forcing you to be outside. It was oppressive, demanding.

Aldus shrugged, looking back into the telescope he muttered to himself, “Thats all a matter of perspective I suppose.”

“What is a matter of perspective, lad?”

Aldus jumped and spun around to see an aging unicorn sitting on the park bench behind him. He couldn’t see his face, it was hidden by the brim of a large pointy hat. The elder unicorn sported a long grey beard that stretched almost to the middle of his robes, which were covered with stars.

“May I ask who you are, sir?” Aldus said now standing up and wearily examining the paths off the hill. He had heard of strange ponies lurking about the city at night. He needed to be careful.

“Hmm such manners, and from an orphan? Yes lad you may ask who I am. I am simply an old unicorn who enjoys the Nighttime and stargazing same as you! May I now ask who you are?”

How did he-? Aldus raised an eyebrow.

The elder unicorn climbed off the bench and began slowly walking toward Aldus.

Well he seems harmless enough...

“My name is Aldus, sir. Pleased to meet you.”

“Oh I assure you young Aldus, the pleasure is all mine. May I sit?”

“Umm, sure.”

“Thank you Aldus.” The old one said as he sat down next to Aldus with a grunt.

“It’s beautiful out here isn’t it, lad? The Night can be so welcoming.”

Aldus continued to stand and gave the old unicorn a smile, Yes I agree. I love it out here. Its like the stars and moon are actually watching us as we watch them.”

The elder laughed. “That is actually more true than you know, Aldus.”

Aldus gave the unicorn a perplexed look, “What do you mean?”

The Unicorn sat up and faced Aldus, motioning him to come closer.

“The night sky is so majestic that it almost looks as though the whole thing is a canvas, and the stars and moon have been placed there by something, or somepony...” He said, conspiratorially.

Aldus put a hoof to his head and scratched it, “Placed there by somepony?”

“Thats right Aldus. You said that you felt like the Moon was watching you, technically that is true. However, it is very rare for a pony to realize this, especially one as young yourself.”

This geezer is off his rocker

“Aldus, what if I were to tell you that Moon and the night sky were under the control of our princess.”

“But Princess Celestia is the Sun Princess, she controls the night too?”

“No Aldus, not Princess Celestia. The night is under the dominion of her younger sister, Princess Luna. You said you felt as if the moon itself was watching you, what you felt was the lunar princess watching over her subjects in the night.”

Aldus’ jaw dropped to the ground. “Princess Luna? I’ve never heard of her before. There is another princess in equestria that I had no idea even existed? I- I don’t even know what to say... this is embarrassing.” He said with a frown.

The elder unicorn gave a jolly laugh and came to sit beside Aldus. “Oh don’t be so hard on yourself lad, Celestia is the eldest and most popular one after all, and Luna has become a bit of a recluse lately.” His voice trailed off with that last statement and he seemed sad, but he quickly recovered.

“Aldus, for somepony like you who loves the night so much, and has the rare ability to sense the princess, I think you should meet her.”

“Meet her? Meet a princess? Wh- why?” Aldus asked with a gulp.

“To thank her for raising the moon and creating the beautiful night sky that you adore, of course! Oh, and presenting her a gift as a token of your appreciation might not be a bad idea either.” The old one said, nodding to himself.

“A gift? But I barely have enough bits to buy myself lunch. How will I have enough to purchase a gift suitable for a princess? Also, I have no idea what to buy!”

The old unicorn simply laughed. “Calm down lad, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. First, would you like to meet the princess?”

Aldus thought it over, meeting an actual princess... and even better; the one responsible for the nights he enjoys so much. It seemed only right for him to follow through on what the old unicorn was suggesting.

“Yes, I would love to Mr. um... you never actually told me your name.”

The elder pony stood up and smiled at Aldus. “Good answer lad, you might not realize it yet but you may have just started down a path that will change your life forever. As for the name, you can call me Starswirl.”

“Princess Luna holds court tomorrow night, you could visit her then. Now, regarding the gift. I have a few tasks to complete at the market tomorrow afternoon. How about you meet me there by the fountain after school and lend me a hoof, and in return I’ll give you enough bits to buy the princess something really nice. How does that sound?”

Aldus practically jumped into the air with joy. “That sounds great!”

“Its settled then. You will have a busy day tomorrow Aldus, its probably for the best that I return you to the orphanage to get some sleep.”

“You are probably right,” Aldus said with a yawn. I’ll pack up my things.

“No need, lad.”

Aldus watched as his things were levitated into the saddlebags and his telescope was packed away.

Starswirl smirked at Aldus, his horn emanating a faint glow.“Fasten your safety belt!”

Before Aldus could say anything both he and Starswirl vanished from the park.


The next day went by quickly with Aldus meeting Starswirl in the market as planned. The elder unicorn mainly visited shops to obtain strange reagents he claimed to need for special cooking, but Aldus doubted that cooking was only thing he’d use them for. He also visited a tailor to pick up some new robes. Aldus spent time in the shop admiring some of the robes and cloaks, they all seemed very comfortable and some of the colors were magnificent. After that they departed and Starswirl bought dinner for the two of them.

While eating Starswirl produced a large bag of bits from his robes and slid it across the table to Aldus.

“Have you thought of what you want to give to the princess yet?”

“Well yes I did give it some thought,” Aldus replied, taking the bag of bits and depositing it in his saddlebag. “Do princesses like gems and jewelry?”

Starswirl laughed and leaned over the table, “That is a great idea, lad! A princess can never have enough jewels and treasure, and Princess Luna does love sparkly gems. The jewelry store is right over there.”

“Thank you Starswirl, I think I’d better go pick it out so I can make it to Canterlot Castle by nightfall,” Aldus said as he jumped down from his chair.

“Of course lad but before you go take this, it will allow you to enter the castle.” Starswirl produced a piece of paper with a picture of sun on it and a few symbols Aldus could not decipher.

“Just show that to any guards who stop you and you should be fine. I’ll see you later Aldus, sooner than you think.” Starswirl tipped the brim of his hat then disappeared in a flash of light.

Aldus wondered what he meant by that but didn’t give it too much thought, right now he needed to pick out a gem worthy of a princess. He entered the store and browsed through the cases and found a beautiful emerald the size of a tangerine. It took almost all the bits to buy it, but it was worth it. I really hope she likes this!

Aldus exited the store and began down the street to the castle. It was a largely uneventful and was now night time, but then he heard snickering and turned around. What he saw made his stomach turn. Two earth ponies and  a pegasus were following him, all three enjoyed bullying him whenever they got the chance at school. If they were to catch him now they would certainly take the emerald. Aldus broke into a run and the three behind him gave chase.

The earth ponies were much larger than Aldus and thus much slower, however the pegasus was a problem. He was roughly the same size as Aldus and would catch him eventually if allowed to fly straight and gain speed. They were close to the castle entrance, Aldus quickly turned to the left and sped down an alley. He heard the pegasus curse as he flew past the alley entrance and had to turn around. Aldus kept using the alleys to his advantage, tipping over garbage and boxes wherever he could until he finally emerged on the street leading into the castle. He quickly sprinted toward the guards, seeing this the three pursuers halted their chase and faded away into one of the alleys.

Aldus approached the guards and quickly presented his pass. The two guards nodded having examined the pass and lifted their spears while the gate opened. The grounds were quiet, the only things registering noise were crickets and the sounds of ponies patrolling around the castle. The main hallway leading into the throne room was also quiet. Didn’t Starswirl say there was supposed to be a court in session now?

As he approached the large double doors leading into the throne room he noticed a shadow on the ground in front of him growing larger and larger. Looking up, he saw a pegasus mare clad in night guard armor descending upon him. Aldus yelped and fell backward as the guard landed.

“Aw sweetie I didn’t mean to frighten you. You don’t need to be afraid of me,” she said as she trotted over to him and offered a hoof to get up.

Aldus accepted the offer and was pulled onto his hooves. The mare was beautiful; her coat was dark violet with a blue mane and tail. Her eyes were blue as well, but not menacing or intimidating. She looked young, Aldus guessed she was nearing the end of her teen years.

“What’s a little cutie like you doing here this late at night?”

Aldus blushed. She thinks I’m cute!

“I- I’m here to see P-Princess Luna, ma’am. I have this,” he reached into his saddlebag and produced the entrance pass.

The mare examined it and smiled, “What is your name sweetie? Where did you get this?”

“My name is Aldus. I obtained that pass by helping an old unicorn at the market earlier today.”

The mare nodded and motioned for him to follow, “I see, well your pass is authentic, the princess is in the throne room.” She leaned over to Aldus as he approached, “Don’t be intimidated. She may seem imposing, but she is a sweetheart.”

Aldus gulped as the mare opened the double doors and escorted him to the throne. Princess Luna was seated on the throne levitating a scroll in front of her, she then placed it atop a pile and picked up another one. She almost looks... bored. Aldus tried his best of observe his surroundings as he approached the princess. The room  was virtually empty except for the lunar guards. This was a court meeting? There is nopony here.

“Princess Luna,” the mare spoke with a bow, “A subject is here to see you.”

The princess looked up, clearly surprised.

“A most rare occassion as of late, would you not agree Lilith?” she said to the guard who simply giggled then stood to the side, leaving Aldus in view of the princess.

Lilith? That’s a pretty name.

“A little colt? What is your name young one, and what can I do for you?”

Aldus began to speak but stopped abruptly almost forgetting to bow. He quickly removed his saddlebag and knelt down quickly almost slamming his head into the marble floor. The Princess and Lilith both giggled at his nervousness.

Great, this is off to a wonderful start...

“My name is Aldus, your majesty. It is an honor to meet you. I came here tonight to offer you thanks for the beautiful night sky and for watching over us through the night.”

Princess Luna just stood there for a moment and observed Aldus, then she rose into the air and glided down the steps from the throne to stand before him. “You may rise, young Aldus. So, you enjoy my night sky? What about the moon?” she asked expectantly, looking down grinning at Aldus.

He stood up and backed away slightly, “The moon- err, uhh yes the moon! I love the moon! The moon and the stars are beautiful. Its usually nighttime when I am able to get away and have some free time. I like to go to the park and look at the stars and moon. Just recently I found a telescope in the orphanage when I was cleaning, so I use that. Its really fun and peaceful out there, the moon makes it so its not completely dark either, which allows me to read as well.”

Princess Luna’s smile faded for a moment, “Orphanage? You work in an orphanage? Aren’t you a little young to have a job?”

“No princess, not exactly. I work there, cleaning and doing chores and I live there as well. The work sometimes takes most of the day after school, so when I’m done I just usually go to the park to relax.”

“I see,” she bent down to look Aldus in the eye. “Do your friends love the night as much as you? Or are they not as brave as you to come here and thank me?”

Aldus looked down for a moment before replying. “I don’t really have too many friends princess. There aren’t many other foals at school who want to play with me, and the ones at the orphanage play while I work. But thats okay, I like to think think the stars and moon keep me company when I’m outside at night. Sometimes I feel like the moon is lonely up there, the only bright thing amongst all the darkness. I figure if I’m out there along with anypony else, we can keep the moon company, that way nopony has to be alone.”

Princess Luna looked down at the unicorn colt and smiled with a slight mist forming in her eyes. Yes, the moon is lonely... but perhaps not as lonely as it thought.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Adlus exclaimed, producing the emerald from his saddlebag. “This is for you princess, to show my appreciation for all that you do. I chose an emerald because sometimes the moon gives off a faint green glow at certain points during the year, its really beautiful! It also seems to match the color of your eyes.”

“Aww, how adorable!” Lilith was observing the conversation from a few paces away. “What a sweetheart!”

Princess Luna was taken aback by the generosity of the young unicorn. This is lovely, thank you Aldus! She knelt down and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. Aldus didn’t know what to say. A princess just kissed me!

“Y-Your welcome princess, I’m glad you liked it.”

Princess Luna motioned for Lilith to stand beside her, “Lilith we rarely ever have visitors this time of night, but tonight not only do we have one... it happens to be a foal. A foal that presents me with a beautiful emerald.”

Lilith nodded and looked down at Aldus, “He is quite the gentlecolt, princess.”

“Indeed,” Princess Luna rose into the air and flew backward to land on the throne. “You have made a dull night quite eventful young one, I thank you. But unfortunately there are now matters that require my full attention. Lilith will escort you out. Goodbye Aldus.”

“Goodbye Prin--” He did not have time to finish before being scooped up by Lilith and flown out of the throne room. She giggled as she held him close and performed several barrel rolls as they exited the main hallway and flew out into the courtyard near the castle entrance. Lilith flew up and performed a loop before setting Aldus down, who was a bit dizzy after all the aerial acrobatics.

“You are such a cutie, Aldus. I’ve been trying to lift Princess Luna’s spirits for days now and tonight is the happiest I’ve seen her in weeks!” She bent down and ruffled his grey mohawk with her hoof. “Promise you’ll come back one of the nights you are out stargazing, ok?”

Aldus gazed up at Lilith and nodded. “I didn’t anticipate my coming here would have such a positive effect on the princess, but I’m certainly glad I was able to make her happy. I would love to come back and visit. Will I see you again as well, Miss Lilith?”

“Aww of course you will, sweetie!” You can count on it. But I need to return to my post, have a safe trip home Aldus.” Lilith flapped her wings happily, then rose into the air and flew back into the castle.

Aldus turned around and trotted out of the castle. This had been the best night he’d had in a long time, and the night was still young. He decided to take a route back to the orphanage that led him through the park. While he was passing through an area thick with trees he did not notice the three figures stalking behind him until it was too late. From seemingly out of nowhere, a pegasus flew down and with front hooves slammed his head into the dirt path. Aldus screamed out a muffled cry and whirled around to identify his attackers only to be hit again and have his saddlebags ripped off.

“What the- oh, its you three... can’t you just once leave me alone?” Aldus asked as he backed up spitting dirt from his mouth.

“Not a chance small fry, you got lucky losing us earlier tonight but it looks like your luck has run out this time,” the pegasus said with a sneer.

“Sunlance, shouldn’t you be off practicing how to fly straight, or showing your idiot friends how to move rocks with their heads?”

“Oh real funny Aldus, real funny. Actually what we want to know is why you went into the castle earlier. Are you some kind of very important pony now?”

Aldus smirked, “V.I.P. eh? I like the sound of that, I’ve always been a big deal... but I guess it takes some ponies longer to realize it than others,” he said regarding the earth ponies.

“Thats it! I’ve had enough!” one of the earth ponies bellowed as he stalked toward Aldus.

Aldus turned toward Sunlance and lowered his head, he focused on a lesson he had read in spell book and had been practicing. A bright white glow emanated from the tip of his horn. Once it was stabilized he charged toward Sunlance and teleported... only to reappear with his fur singed five paces in front of the pegasus.

Oh shoot...

“Big deal huh?” Sunlance laughed and reared back, drilling both back hooves into Aldus’ face.

Aldus only saw blackness after that, and could only lay on the ground as he received the worst beating of his life. Finally, his assailants relented and emptied the saddlebag over his crumpled form. They yelled some threats, then left the park. Aldus slowly got up and tried to assess his condition. He was certain he had drifted in and out of consciousness during the ordeal and his whole body ached. One eye was swollen shut and his rear left leg didn’t seem to want to work properly. Despite all that just happened Aldus laughed to himself, at least I actually teleported this time, even if it was just a few paces!

Slowly Aldus limped through the park trying to focus his mind on anything other than his sorry state, but he could not. He slowly acknowledged the pain. The pain of loneliness and the physical pain of his beating, and the bleak outlook of his future. Letting all of these things swirl around in his head, Aldus broke down and cried.

He looked up at the moon, the object that had observed everything that just transpired, and silently asked, “Why does this happen to me? What did I do?” To Aldus’ shock, the moon answered.

“You have done nothing but be yourself, and to some insecure ponies that is a crime.”

A mare’s face appeared in the moon briefly before disappearing in a flash of brilliant light. As the light faded Princess Luna materialized and floated down to stand before Aldus.

“Princess Luna! What are you doing here? You shouldn’t see me in such a state,” he said, lowering his head in shame.

The princess gave a warm smile and levitated Aldus with her magic, raising him to eye level. He did not struggle, he simply hung suspended in the field and stared at the ground.  

“I’m the princess here, I think I’ll decide when I should or shouldn’t see my subjects.” she said softly before nuzzling him.

Aldus slowly looked up and met her gaze. Suddenly all the fear and pain started to fade away being replaced by a sense of serenity and warmth. She touched her horn to his for a brief moment then set him back down.

Upon touching the ground he got up and paced a circle realizing he had been fully healed. He grinned and looked up at the princess who was studying him closely.

“I have learned much about you this night, Aldus. I know your life has been difficult thus far and you fear the future. Tonight I am here to erase that fear.”

Aldus did not understand, but he remained silent and continued to listen.

“Despite the despair you have felt and the pain you have endured, it has not made you spiteful. You continued to move forward even when things seem impossible and hopeless. The respect you show to your elders and to complete strangers is a sign of maturity, and last but not least, your love of learning and potential for magic is the strongest I have seen in a long time.”

Princess Luna approached Aldus and turned around to sit with him. She extended her hoof and pointed to the night sky. “I believe that you share an affinity to night, just like I do. It is why you feel so calm at night and darkness does not frighten you. My sister and I have a school for talented unicorns such as yourself. I would like to extend you an offer to enroll there.”

Aldus immediately began to review scenarios in his mind, but before he could even ask, Princess Luna answered his question.

“Of course, you would no longer be able to remain in the orphanage far on the other side of Canterlot and attend your classes every day. You would be taken into our care and live in the castle until a suitable guardian can be arranged for you.”

“I accept your offer, Princess,” Aldus said without a moments hesitation. He had no friends or family to hold him back and he would be leaving that dreadful orphanage.

Princess Luna smiled and draped a wing around the small unicorn and looked down at him, “I’m glad, I foresee great things in your future. Some of my guards will be along to retrieve you from the orphanage soon.”

“The orphanage? But I’m here with you... in the park... aren’t I?”

Princess Luna’s eyes widened as she looked at her young charge expectantly.

“I’m not in the park,” Aldus said as he observed the princess, then the sky and the surroundings. The sky, the wind, none of it seemed natural and Princess Luna seemed to exhibit some sort of control over it.

“This is... a dream?”

“Correct, and your time here is almost done.”

Aldus could feel a slight tension in the back of his mind growing stronger and stronger, he turned and watched as objects began to blur and disappear. But before the world completely dissolved, he quickly buried his face into the alicorn’s fur and attempted to embrace her in a hug.

“Thank you Princess Luna! Thank you for everything!”

The Princess chuckled and stroked his mane, “Your welcome, little one. Time to wake up...”


Aldus awoke abruptly in the attic with his mind going in a thousand different directions at once. He was laying on top of the old mattress near the window with a blanket pulled over him. Slowly he removed the blanket and examined his body and turned slowly to get up and grunted in pain. There were still many bruises across his legs and chest and his eye was swollen shut, but he wasn’t in nearly as much pain as before. Did all that really just happen? Did Princess Luna’s healing in the dream actually heal me here? Who brought me back here? Was it her?

All the questions racing through his mind were cut short by the sound of thumping and screaming downstairs. Aldus heard Miss Crabapple yelling at somepony who seemed to be giving out orders. He pressed his head to the floor to try and hear what was transpiring.

“I can’t believe that somepony like you is in charge of looking after these foals! You will answer for this later, take her away!”

Aldus heard the sound of hooves ascending the stairs to the attic and hastily retrieved his blanket and crouched behind a pile of boxes. The door burst open revealing Lilith clad in her night guard armor. She scanned the room and saw Aldus crouching behind the boxes and rushed over to him. Aldus noticed a faint shimmering of tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh no! Sweetie what happened to you?” she asked pulling him off the floor into tight hug. “Who did this to you?”

Aldus accepted the hug and hesitated before giving an answer, Lilith was warm.

“It was just some other foals from school, we had a disagreement thats all. This is not the first time its happened, though I usually do a better job at protecting my face.” He said with a laugh, but Lilith did not seem amused.

“I’m so sorry you’ve been bullied Aldus, its a horrible thing to endure. But it won’t be a problem anymore. I’ve been sent to take you away from this place.”

“I know,” Aldus nodded, “I had a strange dream where Princess Luna told me somepony would come and get me and take me to live in the castle until she found somepony to look after me.”

Lilith set the young colt down on the mattress and observed the attic. She looked at the dresser and pile of dirty blankets then returned her gaze to him.

“Yes, about that. Adlus... would you like to come live with me?” she asked, while nervously rubbing her left leg with her right hoof.

Aldus did not know what to say, but he felt he had already developed a bond with her in the short time knowing her tonight. He speculated it was because nopony was ever really that outwardly compassionate toward him.

“You would let me live with you just like that?” he asked with a wavering voice.

Lilith nodded, “When I was younger living in Manehatten, I had a younger brother. He was very special to me but was born very ill and was bedridden for all his life. I spent as much time with him as I could but eventually the sickness took him. He was about your age when he passed away. I don’t know why, but... I see much of him in you.”

Lilith began to tear up.

“I don’t believe in chance Aldus, and after meeting you tonight at the castle then seeing that you’ve been forced to live in this place... I just... I know you deserve better, and I know I can give it to you. I hold the rank of an officer, and we are granted our own apartments as living quarters. It isn’t much, but there is definitely enough room for two and-”

“I don’t know what to say, miss Lilith. If you really are willing, then who am I to turn down something like this?”

Lilith sat down and wiped the tears from her eyes, “I won’t let you down sweetie, I promise.”

Aldus laughed to himself, “So I guess this makes you like... sort of... my older teenage sister?”

“Yeah, I guess it does!” Lilith replied.

He limped over to her and wrapped his hooves around her neck. “This has been the best night of my life, Lilith.”

She chuckled and gingerly picked him up and placed him on her back. “Just think, tomorrow will be the best morning of your life! But now, I think its time for us to leave. I’ll send some soldiers over to collect your things when we arrive at the castle.”

Aldus leaned forward and noticed her insignia and the name below it. “Razorwind? Lilith Razorwind is your name? That sounds like a fast name... are you a fast flyer Lilith?” He asked playfully.

Lilith opened the window and jumped out onto the roof spreading her wings. “I’ll let you judge that for yourself, sweetie. But just remember, you asked for it!” With a cheer from the little unicorn on her back she jumped from the roof and climbed high into the night sky heading toward Canterlot Castle and a new chapter in their lives.

--------------

~Present time~

The frigid air nipped at Princess Luna’s ears as the chariot cut through the northern sky, she looked around and saw all the guards had been able to keep up with the chariot despite the brutal winds at this altitude. It took a full days journey to make it this far north, but they were almost there.

Princess Luna had told Celestia that she needed to get away, and that perhaps a trip to the resorts up north would help her relax. Celestia knew Luna loved hot springs, and the best ones were found at the resorts. Luna didn’t sense any suspicion from her sister, but she had been wrong before, and Celestia was always difficult to read.

“We’re here Princess!” one of the guards shouted as the chariot banked left and started its descent. The clouds began to clear and it came into view; the temple. It was quite large, however Luna guessed even more of it was burried into the face of the mountain. Three large spires shot upward toward the sky above what Luna guessed was the temple entrance.

        

Upon landing the guards arrayed themselves in a perimeter around the chariot as Luna stepped down. It was eerily quiet. Suddenly the guards turned and raised their weapons at a shape descending from the sky to the west. As the shape came into view the guards lowered their weapons, recognizing the familiar form of a scout.

The scout landed and trotted up to Luna and gave a quick bow, panting heavily as she did.

“Ahh, Marigold you have perfect timing. What have you learned.”

The pegasus scout turned around and pointed in three different directions to the west and at one to the east. “Princess, there are three villages west of here and one moderate sized town to the east. They are all aware of the temple’s existence.”

Luna nodded, “What else?”

“The citizens of all the villages say that nopony ventures close to the temple, and that it is a desolate place. They say even animals avoid it for miles. But there is one more thing. There is a legend dating back several generations of a... creature... stalking the lands around the temple. They claim it to be a creature of darkness. Those who have seen it describe it as a dark winged pony. According to the legend it killed all the living things around the temple and stalks anypony who dares come near it. I have to admit it is unnerving, I flew the skies between the temple and all four towns today and did not see a single living thing until you came.”

The rest of the ten guards were now gathered around Luna and Marigold listening. One was shaking.

“Do you think its true, that there is monster lurking out there somewhere?”

Luna quickly turned to him with a serious expression on her face, “Do you know who is inside that temple, Shatterstone?”

“N-No Princess Luna, I don’t.”

“What about the rest of you? No? The pony locked inside this temple was one of my closest subordinates and led my royal court. Unlike others who left me when I became Nightmare Moon, he stayed faithfully by my side and protected both me and everypony else who followed me. Back then he learned magic from Starswirl the Bearded, from me, from my sister, and many others. This made him one of the most powerful unicorns to ever walk Equestria. His power and accomplishments in the realms of magic and politics were so impressive that he obtained a title which had not been claimed in thousands of years; the title of Magister. With the amount of knowledge he possessed it is entirely possible that my sister overlooked... something. Perhaps it is a creature he created or summoned should he ever be in danger... or something that awakened thousands of years ago and now protects its master. I do not know, but one thing is certain. With amount of knowledge he possessed, we can’t rule out any possibilities no matter how farfetched.”

Princess Luna flew into the air and hovered for a moment to scan the surroundings. “Make camp near the treeline and post guards around the perimeter of the camp. It will take me the rest of the day and well into the night to prepare the spell needed to unlock the entrance to the temple.”

The guards saluted and started construction of the tents and moved the chariot into the trees to keep it out of sight. Princess Luna continued to stare at the structure.

The Temple of Aldus the Moondeath, and it is guarded by some sort of shadow monster?

The camp was across a large snow covered field and the temple was a long distance away. Luna was about to turn away until something caught her eye. She squinted toward the entrance and felt a chill run down her spine. Despite being far away, she could make out a dark silhouette standing outside the temple entrance, it was watching them.

“Guards! To me, now!” she shouted before rocketing into the air toward the temple.

Two of the guards nearest her followed her to the door, three more climbed higher into the air to trail them and intercept any danger that came from the air. Princess Luna landed thirty paces away from the temple. There was a bridge that spanned a chasm in front of the entryway. However, it was not possible to see the bottom. Several trees filled the chasm and were tall enough to create a barrier around the bridge.

Luna cautiously advanced on the door while preparing several wards and combat spells. Two of her guards followed behind with shock staves ready.

“Princess, what is going on? I thought you said we couldn’t enter yet,” one of the guards asked.

“I thought I saw somepony, or something. Stay alert and watch the trees, there may be something hiding in them.”

The guards gulped and scanned the trees while Luna approached the door. There was a symbol that she recognized instantly as Aldus’ cutie mark; a crescent moon with two open books in the foreground. There was also an inscription on the door.

“Servant of night brought sky to earth, and in the act to infamy gave birth. Now adrift on cosmic streams, penance for the crime dead but still dreams.”

Luna did not have time to think on what that meant. She noticed out of the corner of her eye one of the shadows on the ground beginning to shift.

It contorted and pulsed as it grew larger, then began to writhe as hooves reached out and grasped at the ground beyond it. Luna gasped and backed away as the guards quickly rushed in front of her assuming a defensive formation. The figure crawled laboriously from the shadow as if it was climbing out of a pit, all while moaning in pain. It shakily stood up revealing what looked like a horrifyingly disfigured unicorn.

It wore what appeared to be torn and burnt robes. What remained of its mane and tail were charred black. Slowly it looked up revealing a hideous face contorted in an expression of pure pain. Its eyes glowed a dim green color and the left side of its face seemed to sag, like somepony had snared it and pulled it down. There was also something strange about its body, it was covered in something that looked like tar. It coalesced and swirled covering areas that had shown horrendous burn marks and cuts when it emerged from the shadow. The substance now began covering its face in a manner much like an insect carapace or a piece of armor. It opened its mouth displaying severed skin around the cheeks, it turned from side to side looking at the guards revealing the inner muscles of its jaw. The tar had almost completely covered its head and face revealing a familiar image that made Luna’s stomach turn.

No, it can’t be. It’s... its impossible!

The unicorn took a step toward them and almost collapsed to the ground.

“Release me.”

Its voice sounded like two ponies speaking at once, and Princess Luna recognized one of them. The unicorn recovered and the green glow in its eyes intensified. It advanced two more steps with several dark sparks coming to life from the tip of its horn.

“Release me, Princess!”

It reached its right hoof toward Luna. In response, one of the guards rushed forward and thrusted a shock staff at the unicorn. But it simply lowered its right hoof and raised its left, slowing the pole to a stop just before the tip impacted it. With surprising speed, some of the tar leapt  from the unicorn and slithered down the staff toward the guard.

A sudden bolt of silver light erupted from Luna’s horn and impacted the disfigured unicorn sending it staggering backwards. It attempted to recover but instead collapsed on its left side. Slowly it reached out toward the princess again but was cut down by another blast of silver light. With an ear splitting scream the unicorn fell limp and dissolved into a black puddle of tar, which then crept back into the various shadows cast by the trees.

“What just happened, Princess Luna?” one of the guards asked, clearly terrified. “What was that thing? Was that the monster?”

Luna stamped her hoof to get their full attention, “Back to the camp, now! This area is no longer safe!”

As they flew back to the camp. Princess Luna gave orders for guards to be stationed in a tight perimeter around the camp and had Marigold place motion and magic detection crystals as well. She recognized that voice, it was his. Now more than ever she resolved to get to the bottom of this. Luna would find answers, starting inside the temple and ending with her sister.

Luna and the guards all set about preparing for their entry into the temple later that night. The sun was setting and shadows began to creep across the snow. In their haste, nopony saw the black pegasus filly observing their activities from a nearby hill.  

Chapter 2: Nightmare

Night came fast after the encounter with the unicorn creature and Princess Luna finally finished preparing the necessary magic. She raised the moon as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon. It bathed the field in soft light. The guards were on high alert after the encounter and stood nervously outside the camp watching the temple entrance.

        Marigold stood inside Luna’s tent and helped her prepare. She was a young pegasus and beautiful too. Throughout her training she demonstrated exceptional prowess in air combat and reconnaissance. Her first duty was a night honor guard, during that time she had been scouted for entry into the Wonderbolts twice but declined each time. When asked why, she simply stated that they already had enough talented flyers and she instead preferred to be with Luna.

“That thing, Luna. Do you know what it was? Was it... him?”

Princess Luna did not answer at first, she pointed to a chest near the door of the tent and Marigold trotted over to retrieve it and set it on the table. Luna opened the chest and removed an alicorn amulet from its confines.

“Yes Marigold, it was him. The voice and magic were unmistakable.”

The look on Marigold’s face was one of horror, she did not see the monstrosity herself but the guards told her everything.

She moved to stand beside the princess and put a hoof on her shoulder, “Luna... perhaps we should call this off, or return some other time with more soldiers. I have a very bad feeling about this.”

Luna turned and gave Marigold a reassuring smile, “It’s alright to be afraid, I am afraid too.”

Marigold turned to examine the amulet then moved to her saddlebags to begin preparing her weapons. “I’ll follow you wherever you go Luna, you know that. But what is going on? You brought one of those amulets that increase your power substantially. Will you need it?”

Luna levitated the amulet to her peytral plate and locked it into place above the crescent moon. “Marigold, the prison that is located deep within that temple is a unique one. It separates the souls from the body, in doing so the prisoner does not age. It also means that the prisoner is in a state of... meditation. At least, that is what we say... in truth nopony knows because so few have ever been sentenced to it. The ones that were happened so long ago all written records of them are lost. But what is known is that they are in a state of neither life nor death.”

Luna moved to stand before Marigold and looked her straight in the eyes. “There is something very disturbing at work here Marigold. There is no life around this temple and villagers feel that there is a creature or presence that is moving around the area. Then that thing materializes outside the structure itself, bypassing the magical wards and countless other safeguards that are surely in place. I don’t know what’s in there, I don’t know if it is him anymore or that thing. But whatever is in there is getting stronger and soon I believe it will escape. There are things at work here I had not thought possible, having this amulet is just a precaution. I hope I won’t need it.”

Marigold put on a look of stoic determination and cast aside her fear while sliding her shock gauntlets over her hooves. “Entering a forbidden temple that contains a powerful wizard... I feel like Daring Do! As long as you are with us Luna I’m sure we’ll be fine. Ready to go?”

Luna laughed, it was just like Marigold to lighten the mood and joke even in the face of danger. Just like her ancestor once did. “Yes, its time. Lets go.”

They emerged from the tent and briefed the guards on the situation. Each guard was armed to the teeth with shock staves and shock gauntlets, as well as bows and several crystals enchanted with various offensive magic spells. Two guards remained at the camp to watch it and to report back to Canterlot if something went wrong inside the temple.

Princess Luna, Marigold, and the guards flew to the temple entrance and assumed a protective formation around door. Marigold followed Luna and gasped in awe at the size of the temple and the enormous door.

“Luna, if I may, if Aldus did something so terrible to be put into that prison why build a temple for him?”

Luna examined the door then smirked at Marigold, “You mentioned Daring Do, in truth this structure is much like those that are often found in those books. It was built to contain something very powerful and to make sure nothing could get into it or escape from it. Judging from the architecture, I would say this was built by Zebras commissioned by my sister. Whoever is placed inside a soul separation prison is meant to stay there for eternity, there is a certain... honor given to those who are sentenced to such punishment. Aldus was also a high ranking noble and leader of my court.”

Marigold simply nodded considering Luna’s explanation.

“Stand back everypony and ready your weapons,” Luna said as she spread her hooves and charged the spell needed to break the first ward on the door.

A blast of brilliant light erupted from her horn and impacted the door. Luna strained to sustain the beam as the light expanded to cover the entire surface. Once the entire frame was doused in light the sound of gears were heard and the door split down its middle and opened inward revealing the inside of the structure.

Luna collected herself and ignited the tip of her horn with a simple light spell. She moved to Marigold and whispered, “Stay close to me, if you see any shadows move on their own do not let them touch you. Do you understand?”

Marigold nodded and the group proceeded into the temple.

The temple was quite large and the majority of it was built into the mountain like Luna had suspected. After the descent down the initial passageway they came to a large open space that was lined with rows upon rows of books. Marigold’s jaw just about hit the floor.

“Th- There must be thousands of books here.”

Luna chuckled as she moved forward seeking the path deeper into the temple. “He loved to read, even when I met him as a little colt. Its a shame that these are all ruined by aging, though from what I saw outside the temple... I think the world will be better off without some of them.”

Luna turned and motioned for the party to follow, “Come, I believe this passage leads to the main chamber.”

Marigold trotted up to Luna and whispered, “We haven’t seen that... thing yet. That is a good sign isn’t it?”

Luna frowned, “When I hit it earlier I believe I weakened it, but that does not mean it can’t manifest inside where it is no doubt more powerful. Also, we don’t know if anything else is in here, keep your guard up.”

The path ahead finally ended with large door. Luna did not sense any magic on it at all, which was not a good sign. If there was no magic here it likely meant that either it wore off or it was dispelled by that creature. Luna signaled the guards and they assumed formation, on the count of three they breached the door.

The room on the other side was pitch black, and to her surprise the light from her horn did not penetrate far into the darkness. It was as if the dark was fighting against it. Marigold was examining the walls near the door when she found an object.

“Luna, what is this?” she asked, pointing to a glass container connected to a series of tubes.

The princess examined the object then stamped her hoof, “Ah ha! I know what this is! It is a crystal receptacle. Placing a properly charged energy crystal in here should allow its power to travel through these tubes and connect to the other crystals hopefully in here somewhere, lighting the room.”

With care, Luna levitated an energy crystal from Marigold’s saddlebag and touched it to her horn, charging it. She then placed it in the container. At first there was nothing, then suddenly the crystal began to vibrate and light began to fill the tubes and run along the right side of the room.

“Huzzah! Success!” Luna cheered.

Luna, Marigold, and the guards were focussed on the crystal lighting the room. They turned back to the inky blackness at the center of the room only to see a set of green eyes watching them intently from the darkness.

Marigold gasped and two of the guards dropped their shock staves. Quickly regaining her composure, Marigold shouted, “Formation, now!”

The guards quickly recovered and spread into a protective formation around Luna, who simply stared right back at the green eyes.

The eyes in the blackness studied the party, but did not move. The silent staring contest went on for about a minute until suddenly the green eyes grew slightly larger, gave them a wink, then disappeared.

“What-- what was that, Luna?” Marigold asked with fear in her voice.

Luna paused a moment before giving her answer. “There is corruption here, whether it is from him or from this place I cannot be sure yet, but I do know one thing. The last time I felt it was when I was Nightmare Moon.”

The guards and Marigold all took step back after hearing what the princess had just said. But their attention was soon drawn elsewhere when the last bit of light finally finished its circuit around the room. There was a loud crack and suddenly the entire room was alight with bright crystals. They were able to get their first good look at the contents of the chamber and none of them were expecting what was hidden in the darkness.

At the center of the room was some sort of control panel connected to a large cylinder shaped object protruding from the back wall. A faint blue glow could be seen inside. But while Luna was fixated on the control mechanism, Marigold and the guards were staring at the domed ceiling with their jaws agape. Luna looked up to see a large mural covering the entire dome. Multitudes of golden armored ponies stood at the entrance to a large structure high atop a mountain. They completely covered the grounds outside the structure, there must have been thousands of them. The structure was familiar to Luna, it was Moonlock Observatory. But above the observatory was disturbing image. A familiar unicorn hung suspended in the air by black wings in a pose similar to her sister when she raised the sun at the summer sun celebration. The unicorn’s eyes and mouth were alight with a green glow as it gazed up into the sky to behold a large comet streaking toward the mountain.

“I think I know why he was imprisoned now, Luna,” Marigold said.

Princess Luna didn’t say anything at first, but then solemnly nodded.

The guards arrayed themselves in a formation around the cylinder while Luna trotted up to the control panel. Slowly she began to push the crystals into place. While doing so she addressed the party.

“You are all loyal guards of the night and have served me well since my return. Whatever comes out of that prison stand your ground and don’t give in to fear.”

Luna slid the last crystal into place and moved to stand beside Marigold. The cylinder began to glow brighter and brighter until there was a crack from the ceiling. The front of the prison collapsed through a slit in the floor revealing the silhouette of a robed unicorn suspended in blue light. Slowly the light faded and the unicorn fell to the ground.

None of the ponies in the room moved while they observed what had just fallen out of the prison. It did not look like the creature that crept from the darkness outside the palace. Instead it seemed to be a simple unicorn with a long snarled grey mane that partly obscured its face. Slowly the unicorn began to stir and pick itself up into a sitting position. It looked straight at Luna and the rest of the party but didn’t say a word.

Luna stepped forward two paces. “Aldus, is that you? Its me, your princess... its Luna.”

The unicorn abruptly turned its head toward the sound of the voice but strangely was not looking directly at Luna.

“That voice... this again? I thought I had conquered these hallucinations... leave me alone, you are not real. You are not the princess.”

Marigold whispered to Luna, “He’s delirious, be careful.”

Luna nodded and stepped forward another two paces, “Aldus this is real, I am real. Can’t you see? You have been released from your prison!”

Aldus shakily stood up and turned his head toward the sound of Luna’s voice. He began to sniff the air around him before finally laughing.

“You are real? Prove it!”

Luna began to collect magic in her horn in preparation for a spell, as she did the crystal lights in the room began to flicker and dim repeatedly.

Marigold whispered, “Princess! The lights!”

“It isn’t me,” Luna said, keeping a close eye on Aldus.

Princess Luna cast the spell on Aldus who did not move until he was enveloped in the levitation field. At first he was startled, then he relaxed.

“This magic, it- it is you. This isn’t another nightmare. Princess Luna, it is you!” Aldus exclaimed with tears forming in his eyes.

Princess Luna floated him to her and wrapped her hooves around him in a tight embrace, which he accepted.

“Welcome back to the world, Aldus. It has been one thousand years. Do I look the same? Am I as beautiful as you remember?” Luna asked with a chuckle, while cupping his face with her hooves. It was then that Luna first noticed his eyes. They were now a dull grey color and glazed over. He moved them in different directions trying in vain to find Luna’s face.

“Oh no,” Luna sighed as she pulled him into a tight hug. “Aldus you are blind, what happened to you? What happened to your sight? What happened to make you be locked away in here?”

Aldus gently pushed Luna away and gave a deep sigh of resignation.

“My princ-- Luna. Luna I will tell you everything. I owe you that for releasing me. The first matter of my sight I will answer right now. My sight was taken from me when I dueled your sister after I... dealt with her army at the observatory. She unleashed the full power of the sun and I was not prepared for it.”

Aldus sat down and turned toward the back of the room where the prison was, “That was my punishment, and what an awful one it was. Made far worse since I wasn’t alone in there.”

“You weren’t in there alone? What do you mean?” Marigold asked.

Aldus snapped his back around to the direction of Marigold and smirked. “Princess, you brought others with you, and one that sounds like she could be a beautiful mare?”

Marigold blushed slightly and grinned at Luna, who rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Yes, I did. The mare’s name is Marigold, she is an officer in my night guard.”

Aldus smiled and bowed, “You have a very pretty name, miss Marigold. It is a pleasure to meet you. I apologize for my no doubt disgusting appearance. Luna, you wouldn’t happen to have a camp near here would you? I would love a change of clothes and a meal. After that I will tell you and miss Marigold everything, and answer any questions.”

“Yes, you will tell me everything.” Luna said as four guards surrounded Aldus. He regarded the guards with a small grin. “This is just a precaution, until you explain everything and I deem you safe you will remain under guard, do you understand?”

“Yes princess, I understand.” Aldus replied. As the party departed the temple Princess Luna sealed the entrance and flew back to the camp.

------------

In Canterlot, Princess Celestia woke from what was otherwise a peaceful nights sleep. She had a very strange dream. Philomena flew from her perch to the bed and eyed Celestia. The phoenix always knew when something was troubling her.

“Oh Philomena, I had a very strange dream. I saw Luna at locked door. I had a very bad feeling about what lurked behind it, and when she opened it she released darkness. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Celestia flew over to the balcony outside her chambers and looked up at the moon. She worried for her sister. In many ways she was still the impulsive young filly Celestia had looked after from so long ago. Luna always thought that what she did was for the right reasons, but sometimes she went about it the wrong way. There was no greater example of that than Nightmare Moon. Celestia had been groomed to rule from an early age, because of this she was never quick to trust anypony. She tried desperately to pass that to Luna but it just didn’t take.

Celestia heard a panicked flapping from inside her chambers and high pitched squawking. Before she turned around to see what was happening she felt a sudden sense of dread. She was being watched, and somehow she knew exactly where from. Slowly, with a shiver Celestia looked up to the only tower that was higher than her own. There, perched at the very top was an all too familiar figure of a black alicorn, its wings spread wide seeming to become the night itself. Its eyes seemed to boil and steam with a vicious green glow. Celestia gasped as the doors to the balcony slammed shut behind her and the black figure took off from the tower and rocketed toward her.

“Ahhh!!!” screamed Celestia as she practically flew out of her bed startling Philomena who had been sound asleep. Celestia quickly opened the balcony doors with her magic and scanned the tower and surrounding skies. She knew Luna would be returning today. It was rare that Celestia would ask her sister about dreams, but this was one thing Luna knew more about than she did.

------------

Marigold stood in Luna’s tent carefully watching Aldus as he finished his third bowl of soup and steamed oates.

“Oh goodness, has food changed since the thousand years I have been imprisoned? Or could it be that anything tastes good since I haven’t eaten since a thousand years?” He asked with a laugh.

Slowly he reached his hoof across the table to feel for where the goblet of water was, but as he did so he bumped it and knocked it off the table. Hearing it shatter on the ground made Aldus wince and frown.

Marigold sighed and brought him over another glass. She grabbed his hoof and touched it to the glass. He looked in the general direction where he perceived her to be and gave a small smile. Earlier he had torn a off piece of his new robes and tied it around his eyes. Marigold heard the stories of the ponies who served Nightmare Moon, how they always fought bravely and valiantly even against overwhelming odds. The bat ponies who were created during the war to serve as new soldiers and assassins. The Lunar Knights who commanded the armies.  But by far the most famous and still talked about story were those of the Shadowbolts. They came out of nowhere in the early battles of the war and wreaked havoc with Celestia’s armies. Some even outflew the wonderbolts when they were under the command of their captain.

But looking at the unicorn before her, Marigold did not feel afraid anymore, she had heard what the guards said and she had seen that shadow creature, or whatever it was. Aldus was nothing like that or anything like the ponies from the old stories. And yet, if what Luna said was true, he was one of masterminds behind it all. He led the court that all the other ponies were a part of. This small blind unicorn was responsible for so much. This was Aldus the Moondeath?

“Am I not quite what you were expecting, Marigold?” he asked, trying to find her in the room.

“What?” she asked, being taken aback momentarily.

“I may not be able to see, but I can feel you staring at me. Are you afraid of me?”

Marigold paused before answering, “No, I am not.”

“You are lying, sweetheart.” He said with a smirk. “I was never a fighter or a warrior, but I did know a thing or two about ponies and diplomacy. I knew how to play the game. I’ll tell you now Marigold, I can see that you are a good pony and a loyal friend to Princess Luna. That is all that we ever tried to give her, all those years ago, love and friendship. So you have nothing to fear from me, or from any of the others, if they were here.”

Marigold struggled to formulate the question, “The others, what were they like?”

Aldus laughed, “Well, they were all my friends, but I was closest to Rigel and Polaris. I met them when I was still in school learning magic from Luna and Celestia. Rigel was like a big brother to me and was my best friend. Polaris was not from Equestria, he came from the Island of Jadeth in the Kingdom of the Silver Isles far to the east. During the war Rigel founded the Shadowbolts while Polaris trained the bat ponies. When I was appointed leader of the Court of the Moon I met Cygnus and Alvina. We--”

“You did a lot of good things back then, Aldus. But now we find out what else you did, you have a lot to answer for.” Princess Luna said as she flew into the tent.

“I’m sorry Luna, I was just curious.” Marigold said with a bow.

“Its alright, Marigold. I’m as eager to hear what Aldus has to say as you are, and he loves talking.”

Aldus smirked and slowly got up from the table. At the request of Luna, Marigold helped Aldus to the center of the tent where various pillows and blankets were set in a circle. The three sat down and waited in silence until Luna finally asked, “The local ponies around here say there is something living near the temple that resembles a black winged pony, there is no life around hear and we encountered some hideous abomination in front of the temple. Adlus... its her isn’t it?”

Aldus looked toward Luna, then the floor before finally raising a hoof to adjust the veil covering his eyes. “Yes... and No.”

“Don’t toy with me Aldus, is it or is it not Nightmare Moon?” Luna asked, her tone now becoming impatient.

“I think it would be best for the two of you if I simply showed you, then explain everything afterward.”

Aldus tilted his head to look directly up, “You can come out now.”

At first nothing happened, then slowly the light from the crystals in the tent seemed to dim and the shadows stretched in unison toward Aldus. Slowly they broke away from their respective objects and slithered across the floor to the unicorn. Princess Luna simply regarded Aldus with a face that could have been hard as stone. “Don’t be afraid, Marigold.” She said in a calm tone, “Nothing will happen while I am here.”

Aldus smiled and nodded toward the princess. “Indeed, as I said before Marigold, you have nothing to fear from me.”

The shadows coalesced into a form that remained behind Aldus for a time, then gently draped itself over him as if it were a blanket. It wrapped tightly around him and ascended to his eyes were it slithered in under the cloth veil and lit his eyes with an emerald green glow.

“Ahh, much better! I knew with its help I could see again, if only for brief periods of time.”

Aldus cracked his neck and examined both Luna and Marigold. “Princess Luna you haven’t aged a day, you are as beautiful and fair as I remember. And Marigold you are even more stunning than I imagined.”

Luna stamped a hoof, “Dispense with the pleasantries and tell me what that is, now!”

Aldus simply nodded as the green in his eyes faded. He raised his right hoof and moved it from side to side. Two images could be seen when he did this, one of his actual hoof and another of some sort of shadowy after image.

He put the hoof to his face and removed the veil from his eyes, “I assume this is what you saw outside the temple when you arrived?” The darkness surrounding Aldus swirled and completely covered him then began to withdraw revealing the mangled disfigured unicorn Luna had attacked when arriving at the temple.”

Marigold shuttered as the green returned to Aldus eyes as he faced her. “You have nothing to fear from me," Aldus whispered. "What you two are looking at is what was left of me after I destroyed Celestia’s army and dueled her.”

Aldus levitated his veil back into the air and the darkness reached out and plucked it from the magical field and fastened around his eyes once more. “What you see here now, is a spectre or a shade. It is all that remains of Nightmare Moon.”

Princess Luna simply sat quietly for a minute taking in what Aldus had just said. “Start at the beginning Aldus.”

Aldus bowed and the shadows receded changing him back to his normal unicorn appearance.

“Once you turned to into Nightmare Moon and declared your intent to Equestria, what remained of the court needed to come up with a way to fight the war. You were not a battlefield commander so the task fell to us. At the very start of the conflict I met with the court, we quickly realized that if we were to survive at all it was imperative to know everything Celestia and her followers were doing. This would allow us to conserve our forces and choose which battles to fight and which to avoid. Alvina the spymaster came up with an idea of interrogation to obtain the information we needed, she suggested that I learn to enter dreams just as you did.”

“Impossible!” Luna snapped, “Only an Alicorn can possess enough magic to take her full essence into the realm of dreams.”

Aldus grinned, “Yes, Luna. Her ‘full’ essence. My way is a bit different. I only use half my essence. Through a combination of early notes on the magic of harmony by Starswirl, a few spells of ‘dark’ magic and one particularly tricky chaos magic incantation, I did it. I split my essence in two and created a shade.”

Marigold was completely lost, “A shade? What is that?”

“You could call it a spectre too if you wish, it is an ethereal representation of half of my essence.” Aldus said, as the darkness began to unravel around him and take the shape of an exact copy sitting beside him.

“Using the shade allowed me to sidestep the immense amount of magic required. I was only able to send it into a limited number of dreamers at a time. The shade is a copy of me so in a sense it is actually me entering the dreams.”

“It took some time, but eventually I was able to enter dreams of prisoners and other nobleponies captured from Celestia’s court. Doing this allowed us to survive what would otherwise have been a quick defeat. However, after becoming comfortable with how it worked I was approached by Rigel, Polaris, and Alvina. They all wished to know why we were fighting for Nightmare Moon, they wanted to know if Princess Luna was still in there somewhere... or if she was gone forever.”

Luna began to tear up after hearing what Aldus said, in reaction to this the shade shifted from the copy of Aldus to the form of a black pegasus mare. Its green eyes looked apologetically at Luna.

“My friends asked if I could use the technique on Nightmare Moon to see if Luna was still in there. Who was I to refuse such a request? I owed it to them and to you, Luna. So on one of the rare occasions when Nightmare Moon slept, I sent the shade into her dreams. All was fine at first, but I underestimated the power and vigilance of the NIghtmare. It sensed my presence and corrupted it. Throughout the war, from that moment on, I was fighting corruption from the Nightmare. Ultimately my shade, that half of my essence, was completely corrupted. The events at Moonlock Observatory almost allowed the Nightmare to corrupt me completely.”

“But you didn’t become a monster like Nightmare Moon,” Marigold interjected. “Even if you did, it must have only been temporary. That... thing sits beside you now completely passive. Its almost as if it obeys you.”

The shade looked upon Marigold for a moment, then dissolved into shadow again. It wove itself protectively around  Aldus and returned the glow to his eyes.

“I control it because it was part of the agreement we made during my thousand years in that wretched prison. Also, because it is still technically me. The same way Nightmare Moon was still Luna, this shade is still me. It mainly exists within me, but can separate itself like you have seen here for a limited amount of time. I may be powerful and... unique now, but I am no Alicorn. I could not stand against your sister, Luna. But with the help of this shade and access to some spell books I might be able to recover at least some of my sight. The dark magic I siphon from the shade can only give me brief instances of sight when my eyes glow. But, I imagine that it is a slightly off putting display?”

“Just slightly,” Marigold said, rolling her eyes.

“Aldus, what agreement did you make with the Nightmare?” Princess Luna asked.

Aldus again put a hoof to his face and changed back into the horribly broken monstrosity that appeared outside the temple. However, this time inky black wings began to form on either side of him. Slowly they stretched out far enough and flexed.

“What you see now is what destroyed Celestia’s army, this is Aldus the Moondeath, as I came to be called. This is also what Celestia saw when she took my sight and locked me away in that prison. I do not think she knew about the shade and the Nightmare. If she did know, then I do not believe she cared. But when I was put in that prison I was not alone, the Nightmare came with me. It was like throwing a foal in a sack with a beehive. I don’t know how long it went on during those thousand years, but I fought the Nightmare tooth and hoof. At some point I pushed it back, at another it corrupted me completely but I was able to come back from it due to my prior knowledge of dark magic. I probably went insane at some point as well. Eventually it became a deadlock, so I did what I do best. I talked to it. Over a period of time we both came to a conclusion that lead to the agreement. I would allow the Nightmare to remain in my shade and we would both protect each other.”

Princess Luna and Marigold were both speechless until finally the princess asked, “What was the conclusion you came to?”

“The conclusion was that we both loved you, Luna. And we missed you.”

Princess Luna was frozen and at a loss for words. She thought for a moment about what Aldus was saying. He had never lied to her in the past, and certainly never when she directly questioned him like this. There would be time to think on this later.But for now, there was still one more thing she needed to know.

“Aldus, I need you to tell me one more thing. What happened at Moonlock Observatory?”

“As you wish Luna. However, I think it would be better to show you rather than tell you. I’m feeling very tired. Allow me to rest and you can enter my dreams and see for yourself.”

Marigold nudged Luna with a hoof and whispered, “I’m not sure if thats such a good idea, Luna. Perhaps you should do it with your sister present just to be safe.”

“No, this is something I need to see for myself. Once I do, I will get Tia’s version on the matter.” Princess Luna rose into the air and flew to door of the tent. “Marigold, watch him until he falls asleep, when that happens let me know.”

“As you command, Luna.” Marigold replied as the princess disappeared into the night.

“So, you are going to be here until I fall asleep?” Aldus asked in a playful tone. “Any chance I could get a lullaby from that beautiful voice of yours?”

Marigold giggled and trotted over to him, “Well... since you asked so nicely, no.” As she answered she touched one of the tips of her shock gauntlets to Aldus’ chest giving him a slight shock.

He yelped a high pitched squeal and fell over backwards. This caused Marigold to fall to the ground laughing. “No protection from that by the Nightmare?” she asked.

“No... it would seem she thought I deserved it.” he said with a grunt.

“She?” Marigold inquired.

“Yes, Nightmare Moon was a female. But that is a conversation for another time. I like you Marigold, you are a kind mare and good soldier. You remind me of a pony I met when I was a foal.”

Aldus laid down among a group of pillows and closed his eyes. “The war changed a lot of us, it changed me as you could see. But now I have returned to the world when the war is over. I’ll do now what I’ve always done, offer my knowledge and protection to Luna and all her subjects. You can be at ease when I’m around Marigold, goodnight.”

Chapter 3: The Battle of Moonlock Observatory

Princess Luna paced back and forth near the treeline attempting to reconcile the information her mage had given her. It was true that many members of the court remained by her side during the civil war, but she... but Nightmare Moon never stopped to question their reasons for staying. Perhaps it makes sense that they never truly served Nightmare Moon. They merely remained loyal because they believed their Princess Luna to still exist.

Thinking about this tore Luna’s heart to pieces. She could not imagine being in their position, wondering if the monster their princess became was her anymore or some other being entirely. Luna considered why Aldus remained loyal, she imagined to him, at first, Nightmare Moon was simply his princess embracing some new found power. He probably thought it matured her to a state that rivaled Celestia. Luna knew that she had been responsible for many of the good things in his life, so it made sense he would have remained at her side. However, this realization made her feel even worse. What was his reward for his loyalty to her and his friends? For attempting to find Luna in the darkness? Having the Nightmare try to take him too.

But that was another matter entirely. When she returned from the moon and was defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, she believed Nightmare Moon to be gone forever. Now part of it has returned but is part of him now.

The idea of Aldus fighting corruption from Nightmare Moon in that prison with nowhere to run gave her the shivers. Seeing Aldus inside the tent with his shade... or Nightmare Moon... or whatever that thing could be called was something she still had trouble believing. To think that Aldus could reason and come to terms with something like Nightmare Moon. Luna did not even truly know what Nightmare Moon was, and yet he was able to negotiate with it?

Luna continued to ponder this as she flew back to the camp. It made little sense to think that anypony, or anything for that matter could reason with that entity. But, Aldus was not just anypony when it came to understanding abstract things and diplomacy. He was her court adviser and before the war served as an ambassador for her and Celestia whenever they needed him. Aldus traveled everywhere including the Crystal Empire, Silver Isles, Kingdom of Denosis, Concordia, and even to some of the less hostile Gryphon Kingdoms.

There was substantial evidence to believe what he has said, but knowing what transpired at the last battle of the war would give her some of the final pieces she needed to understand everything.

As she landed in the camp Marigold appeared at the entrance of the tent and motioned for her to come inside. Luna quickly entered the tent and observed Aldus snoring on top of some pillows. He was covered in darkness neck to hooves.

“It seems he wasn’t lying about the Nightmare protecting him,” Marigold said.

“Apparently not,” Luna replied while situating herself on a pillow near Aldus. “Marigold, I need you to watch the two of us closely while I do this. If something happens while I am in his dreams call the guards in here and wake me immediately.”

“As you say, Luna,” Marigold replied as she sat down next to the princess.

“This shouldn’t take too long, here goes,” Luna said as her eyes opened with a bright white light.

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Princess Luna materialized in the sky above a snow capped mountain range. It was night and the sky was pitch black save for the Moon hanging in the sky and the several comets streaking by overhead. Far below she saw the flicker of lights on top of a mountain and a large structure situated at the top of it. She flew toward it and immediately recognized the observatory. Thousands of Celestia’s soldiers fought against the tattered remains of Nightmare Moon’s army. Several pegasi and bat ponies were dug in around the entrance and were mowing down any of Celestia’s troops who approached. However, the defense would not last long. Luna noticed that Celestia’s soldiers were throwing themselves at the defense bulwark, wave after wave. Eventually Nightmare Moon’s soldiers would run out of spells and arrows.

Luna slowed her descent to prepare to land on the roof when she saw a dark silhouette exit the observatory and take to the skies heading west. It was none other than Nightmare Moon.

I was such a coward, why didn’t I stay and fight?

Luna then realized that was the extent of her memory, when she left. Swiftly, Luna climbed into the air flew through the open balcony Nightmare Moon had exited from. Immediately she saw Aldus standing in the center of the massive room that contained the observatory’s large telescope. She remained hovering in the air but moved closer to see what Aldus was doing.

From what she could see, he was fastening some sort of amulet to the light peytral armor under his green golden embroidered robes. Suddenly she heard loud slamming on the door leading into the room. Again and again the sounds could be heard until finally with a flash of golden light the doors flew off their hinges and came crashing down to the floor as six unicorns filed into the room. They stood side-by-side in a line to confront Aldus, who remained stoic despite their explosive entry.

Aldus studied the unicorns as smoke from the door breach cleared. He was nervous knowing that he would need to battle these six powerful unicorns by himself. But he calmed his mind and remembered the training he had received from his friends and fellow court members. Rigel, being a pegasus had little to say about magic so instead lectured Aldus on the importance of psychology in battle and studying your opponent. Polaris was a knight who valued honor and loyalty above all else, but acknowledged that Aldus was not a warrior. He educated him on which combat spells were most effective and how to use them, even teaching him some underhanded tricks. In the remaining few seconds of silence Aldus remembered their last conversation and lessons.

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“You have to focus on the moving targets and shoot ahead of them. Its called leading the target, try again.” Polaris said as he used his magic to reset the moving target dummies.

“Pol, I think he’s had enough for now, lets take a break.” said a tall and sleek pegasus perched on one of the rafters.

“Rigel its okay, I got this,” Aldus said as he prepared another spell but was interrupted when he was picked up and flown to the dinner table that had been set up in the armory. Rigel put him in a playful headlock and messed up his mane.

“C’mon, I’m hungry and you still need to hear my lesson for the day. Get over here Pol and have a drink with us.”

“Cider is not going to help our little Aldy here become a combat mage, nor is it going to help you in instructing the newest Shadowbolt recruits later tonight.”

Rigel laughed as he poured three tall mugs of cider, “I could be three sheets to wind and those rookies still wouldn’t get within thirty paces of me, but they’d still do better than any Wonderbolt.”

“So much for ‘The Flying Pride of the Sun and Equestria’ eh?” Aldus said with a smirk. “How many have you downed now, Rigel?”

“Twenty seven, and three flight leaders.”

Polaris sat down next to Aldus and gave him a pat on the back, “I believe everypony across Equestria has heard of the Shadowbolts by now thanks our ace Rigel. Imagine what we could do if we only had more fliers.”

“That would certainly improve our odds,” Rigel stated as he slid two mugs across the table to Aldus and Polaris, “However it would not change how the servants of the sun view us. To them we are petty and insignificant, perhaps they always thought we were, even before the war.”

Rigel gave a deep sigh and looked out at the moon. “Let them think that, it will always give us an advantage.” he said and winked at Aldus.

“Aldus, soon enough you will have to fight other mages and magic users, perhaps even pegasi or earth ponies. They know who you are now, they know you are a leader like us and Princess Luna. They also know you aren’t a soldier or fighter so they won’t be expecting a challenge, use that to your advantage.” Polaris said after drinking some cider.

Polaris got up from the table and charged a lightning spell on the tip of his horn, “There are many ways of controlling a battle, Aldus. One way is with deception.” He turned and released the spell onto a dummy and completely scorched it, then ignited his horn again and pointed at another target. “Notice anything?”

“Very clever, Pol. Very clever.” Rigel said while pouring another mug of cider.

Aldus examined Polaris’ horn a moment, “Oh I see, that is just a simple light spell!”

“Correct, but to an enemy in the heat of a fight it is just another combat spell. Even if you are out of magic there is no reason your opponent needs to know it.”

“Soldiers, guards, and combat mages are trained to fight others like them, not somepony like you Aldy,” Rigel said as he quickly rose from the table and hurled the mug of cider at Polaris, who barely noticed it in time to catch it with his magic. By the time he stopped the mug from hitting his face, Rigel was already in the air above him. He grabbed him by his armor pauldrons and performed a flip hurling Polaris into a group of target dummies with a loud crash. Polaris quickly recovered and fired controlled bursts of purple energy at Rigel, who dodged them by weaving around the pillars. Suddenly, Polaris ran into the middle of the room and aimed around a pillar where Rigel was hiding. Before Polaris could fire another burst of spells, Rigel zipped out into the open for a brief second in order to maneuver behind another pillar. At the exact moment Rigel was exposed, another Polaris teleported to Rigel’s blind spot and hit him with a pale blue bolt of magic. Within seconds of being hit Rigel’s wings stopped flapping and he plummeted to the floor. Polaris trotted over to him and placed a hoof triumphantly on his downed opponent’s chest.”

“Paralysis spell with a clone double to get me to move, what a cheap shot,” Rigel said with a grunt.

“Oh look whos talking, throwing a mug of cider in my face,” Polaris said with a grin. “Smart trick though, never expected that from somepony like you who never lets cider go to waste.”

Polaris bent over and cast a wave of blue light over Rigel to remove the spell and helped the pegasi off the floor.

Aldus stamped his hooves in approval, “Cider and a fight, and it didn’t cost me a single bit!”

All three ponies laughed as Rigel and Polaris sat down again with Aldus. Rigel began to dish out dinner to the other two ponies. “You see, Aldus? Often the best thing in battle is being unpredictable and mobile. You can be direct and aggressive when you need to be, but often being shrewd and unorthodox can be much better.” Rigel said as they began to eat.

Polaris turned to Adlus and smiled, “Remember these little lessons and you’ll be fine. Celestia’s followers won’t know how dangerous you are until its far too late.”

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Aldus snapped out of the memory to see the largest of the six unicorns step forward and address him.

“You must be Magister Aldus, is that correct?” the large unicorn inquired in an apathetic tone.

“It is.” Aldus answered.

“Ah, excellent. My name is Sunspot, I assume you know of my companions and I?”

“Hmm, yes I believe I do know who you are,” Aldus replied. “Judging by your failed attempt to look like nobles, an air of smug satisfaction that seemed to set in just when you entered the room, and your shiny sun pendants. I’d wager you six are Celestia’s chosen students.”

“His file did say he had a sense of humor...” one of the other unicorns muttered under her breath.

Princess Luna hovered off to the side near the ceiling observing the exchange. She did not know if Aldus knew what he was getting himself into. He was more powerful and more experienced in magic than they were, but they had an overwhelming advantage in numbers and were trained in combat magic. Luna inched closer to the unicorns as another stepped forward to speak.

“Where is your master?” asked a tall mare. “No doubt she fled like the coward she is, some scary Nightmare... she doesn’t even have the courage to fight her last battle.”

Aldus chuckled and the mare glared at him. “You must be Solar Wind, I’ve heard a lot about you. Though the details regarding your beauty seem to be a bit exaggerated. The princess had urgent matters to attend to, she said something about you and your army being beneath her, so she tasked me with entertaining you.”

“There is only one princess, fool. You are the the only one here to ‘entertain us’ then?” Solar Wind asked.

“Yes,” Aldus said, “However I have no wish to fight any of you. There is no point in anypony being harmed here. You and your soldiers have clearly won this battle and I suspect it will be the last battle of the war. There is no need for further bloodshed, let us all retire and return to our loved ones.”

The unicorns looked at one another and a few snickered as they turned to Solar Wind, then to Aldus.

Solar Wind grinned and reached for something in her saddlebags. “See... thats a bit of a problem for a couple of reasons. You see, we’ve come too far to leave without the leader of Nightmare Moon’s court. You’ve caused too much trouble for us to simply let you go, and I’m afraid you just might not have anypony to return to, Aldus.”

Aldus now regarded Solar Wind with a serious expression, “What are you talking about?”

Solar Wind produced a large emerald necklace with the letter “L” carved into the gem.

“In one of our last battles we captured a pegasus mare who was an officer of the former Nightguard. Normally I would have let the rank and file process her but I sensed something, a faint hint of a certain magic. I had a little chat with her, she was stubborn and only revealed her name, Lilith. I inquired about the necklace and asked if it was from you, Aldus. She didn’t answer, even under our... enhanced... techniques. Poor Lilith, she was so tired after the whole ordeal, she went to sleep and I don’t believe she ever woke up.” Solar Wind said with a vicious smile, then threw the necklace into the air toward Aldus.

Princess Luna was frozen in horror and rage. She wanted to do something, anything, but all she could do was watch Aldus, who seemed utterly lost with a blank expression on his face.

Time seemed to slow as the necklace fell to the marble floor. The realization that the only family he had ever known was tortured and taken from him slowly hit home, as the necklace finally crashed to the ground, Aldus snapped.

He slowly removed an artifact from his robes and fixed it to his horn. Luna recognized it immediately as a focus. It was a circle designed to secure itself around the horn of a unicorn. Bordering the circle was a triangle with three long slender crystals fixed upon each tip pointing forward. The tips of the crystals joined the tip of the unicorn’s horn creating four points where magical energy could be focused.

The light in the room began to dim as shadows began to crawl across the room toward Aldus.

“What is going on?” Sunspot asked observing the shadows collecting at Aldus’ hooves.

“Dark magic,” Solar Wind spat, “Get ready, we’re supposed to take him alive but I’m sure we can convince Celestia that he had to be put down.”

“So confident,” Aldus mused as the shadows began to cover him. “You should have left when I gave you the chance.”

The darkness now completely engulfed his body and formed a fanged protective mask over his face. His eyes glowed a fierce green as he threw back his head and laughed with two voices in unison.

“This war is over, and dawn may be coming, but none of you will survive to see it. The Night is darkest just before the dawn.”

All six unicorns charged spells preparing to fire at Aldus, who continued to laugh.

“You came here looking for a Nightmare completely oblivious to the reality. Since the first moment you laid eyes on me you’ve been living in a Nightmare, and it is a Nightmare from which you will never wake!”

“Fire!” yelled Solar Wind as the unicorns unleashed their magic at Aldus who dodged it by disappearing into a black puddle of tar on the floor.

“What's going on, Solar?” Sunspot asked. “There was nothing in the file about this!”

“Shut up, Sunspot! Its just dark magic, we’ve dealt with this before. Everypony stay together and advance, he’ll reveal himself eventually.”

While the six unicorns slowly moved forward into the room Aldus watched them from inside the darkness on the ceiling. It was as if he was in a different room observing them through a window. He took this time to mentally wrestle with the entity inside him.

I won’t let you take me! You WILL stop!

Aldus was in the greatest struggle against the Nightmare he had ever been in. He allowed it the most control ever just a few moments ago and now it wanted to completely consume him.

STOP! Listen to me! Listen! If you do this you might get a few of them, but eventually they will focus you down and kill you. That’s not what WE want...

For a moment, Aldus felt the Nightmare relent.

Yes, thats it. We can get them all, but we need to do it my way. Their strength is in their numbers, we need to split them up and take them apart one by one, and we need to do it together. Do you understand?

Aldus had been sweating from the tense standoff and was panting. The darkness serving as his armor began to swirl slightly cooling him off and allowing him to recover his breath.

I’ll take that as a yes. Aldus thought as he smiled.

Lets begin.

Luna remained in the air and drifted along with the six unicorns as the slowly paced toward the center of the room. She had no idea where Aldus went and was about to fly around the room to look for him when she heard a strange sound. It was coming from ceiling in the top left corner of the room near the entrance. The sound was similar to that of a thick piece of fabric tearing. Luna found the source of the sound being a small black hole in the ceiling and almost didn’t see the black shape fall out of it.

The shape was that of a lump of tar that took the form of Aldus immediately after hitting the ground and galloped full speed toward Celestia’s students. Two of them spotted him when he descended from the ceiling and opened fire with white hot bolts of magic from their horns. Luna was surprised at the reaction time of the students, Celestia had trained them well. However, Aldus dodged them all by performing several short distance teleports with a technique called blinking. Once he closed enough distance, Aldus ignited his horn fired a few bursts of magic at the two unicorns facing him. They quickly reacted to his offensive by conjuring magical wards in front of them to absorb the magic. Before the the two unicorns could drop their wards and return fire, Aldus performed one last blink teleport and appeared inside their circular formation. Before any of the unicorns could react Aldus crouched low to the ground as two black wings materialized from his sides. With one mighty flap they launched Aldus into the air above the students. He hung there a few moments before conjuring fireballs in his hooves and hurling them down at the students causing them to break formation and scatter.

Aldus quickly assessed the situation, the enhanced vision granted by the Nightmare allowed him to see all six unicorns through the smoke caused by the fireballs. He turned to his right to see one student who was burnt by the exploding fireball. He was on the ground being tended to by another student who was using what Aldus perceived as healing magic. The Nightmare shifted Aldus’ spectral armor and focussed on the injured unicorn, sending Aldus a message.

Target the weak.

As the smoke cleared the black wings dissolved and Aldus fell to the floor. Before landing he used his horn to gather force at his hooves, when he landed he sent out a shockwave toward the unicorns who had recovered from his previous attack, knocking them down. He then focused on the injured pony and conjured a simple ball of light in his right hoof. Aldus quickly blinked in front of the two unicorns and wound up like he was preparing to hurl another fireball.

The healer took the bait and immediately erected a defensive bubble around injured unicorn who fell to his side. Much her surprise, Aldus did not unleash a fireball but rather clasped his hooves together then touched them to the ground. A white symbol appeared under the injured unicorn that perfectly aligned with the circular perimeter of the bubble. The healer moved around the bubble taking a few shots at Aldus, but he dodged them then teleported away, laughing.

The injured unicorn looked at the rune and the healer, “Su-Summer! Help me!”

“Corona, don’t move! NO!”

The injured unicorn touched his left hoof to the floor after reaching out for healer and screamed in pain as floor beneath him erupted with raw electricity. His cries split the air but eventually subsided revealing a charred corpse still shielded by the defensive bubble.

The rest of the students ran to the aid of the unicorn called Summer, but before they could reach her the top half of Aldus emerged from a shadow behind her. She turned around just in time to be hit with a blast of concentrated dark magic that sent her careening across the room and into one of the support pillars. The force of the impact was enough to break both bone and the pillar, which collapsed to the ground crushing her.

Solar Wind snarled in rage as she watched Aldus smile and sink away into the shadow.

“He’s using shadows as portals to move around the room!” she screamed. “Quickly, cast a night vision spell on your eyes and destroy all the sources of light!”

Each of the four remaining unicorns touched a hoof to their eyes and proceeded to cast bolts of energy at each of the light crystals illuminating the room. When the last crystal was destroyed the room was pitch black.


Luna hovered in the center of the room using her alicorn powers to penetrate the darkness. Celestia’s students were in a loose formation near the charred remains of the their fallen comrade. Luna was impressed by the shrewd and unorthodox tactics Aldus had used to dispatch two of the unicorns. She assumed the Nightmare allowed him to hide in shadows thus giving him the opportunity for those sneak attacks. However, now the shadows were gone and he couldn’t use the darkness since Celestia’s students could still see in it. Luna tried to think of what he would do but her thoughts were interrupted by laughter.

It was then that it occurred to Luna, he was using psychological warfare against them. The mask, the shadows, the spectral armor, and the laughing. He was trying to break their spirit.

“Getting rid of the light was smart. I won’t be able to move about as freely now.”

Solar Wind’s face contorted into an expression of pure rage. Aldus’ voice seemed to come from everywhere in the room making it impossible to pinpoint his location.

“How ironic, you all are relying on darkness whereas I am relying on light. Its fitting really, don’t you think? For the last battle of the war?”

Solar Wind howled in rage, “It is the last battle of the war, and we have won! You will not leave this place alive, scum! Celestia gives us strength and has entrusted us with great power. She will destroy Nightmare Moon!”

“You are not the only ones to derive strength from a princess. Even now I still feel Luna’s love, the same love she tried to share with everyone. But you shunned her, turned your back on her, when all she ever wanted was to be acknowledged. Now, with her blessing, I’ll end this once and for all!”

Aldus stepped out from behind the farthest pillar at the end of the room and unleashed a beam of dark magic at the ceiling. It cut a swathe bisecting the roof causing it to collapse inward, bathing the room in moonlight.

Celestia’s students dodged the chunks of stone that plummeted to floor but not all of them could retreat out of the light in time. Aldus emerged from one of the student’s own shadows and grabbed her by the hind legs. All Solar Wind and Sunspot could do was watch as their companion was pulled screaming into the shadow, all while frantically trying to hit her attacker with spells to no avail.

The room was quiet again for a few moments before a tearing sound could be heard coming from above. A black circle formed on part of the ceiling that was still standing. Solar Wind watched as her friend’s body fell though it, landing in a lifeless heap on the floor below.

Solar Wind saw that the shadow portal on the ceiling was closing, “Oh no you don’t! I’ve got you this time, coward!” she yelled as she charged a spell. Bright yellow energy gathered on the tip of her horn in the shape of a sphere and in the blink of an eye she teleported directly under the portal.

“Take this!” Solar Wind shouted as she launched the sphere directly upward.

Aldus was about to open another exit portal when out of the corner of his eye he saw the bright sphere enter the shadow dimension. It flew upward and began to pulse rapidly.

A bomb, BUCK!

The sphere pulsed one final time then exploded in a flash of brilliant light. Aldus barely had time to escape before the blast wave hit him. He emerged from a shadow portal near the open balcony. The entire right side of his body was burned even though the spectral armor provided by the Nightmare took most of the blast.

Aldus looked forward to see Solar Wind standing legs spread in a predatory stance charging a spell. She was standing there with another student behind her and to the left, Aldus guessed the one behind her was another healer or at least wielded support magic.

Wait, where is that other uni- oh no...

Before Aldus could finish his thought, the large unicorn named Sunspot materialized from thin air beside him. He had some sort of magical object in his right hoof that glowed bright orange, at the end of it was a four pronged claw. Aldus could barely move before Sunspot closed the distance and with a mighty roar brought the claw down. It connected with the left side of Aldus’ face, its hooks penetrated the protective spectral armor mask and tore skin from bone. Aldus wailed in pain as Sunspot drove his left hoof into his chest, relieving him of any wind in his lungs. The magical device seemed to be siphoning Aldus’ magic preventing him from building up a charge to teleport. It was a miracle he even noticed over the blinding pain of having the side of his face ripped off.

Aldus was in a bad spot, he was about to charge a spell to knock Sunspot away, but out of the corner of his right eye he saw Solar Wind now almost completely eclipsed by a ball of yellow energy floating in front of her. Three focusing crystals floated to the sides and above the sphere feeding energy into it.

Sunspot turned to notice it too, then the realization hit him, “Solar, wait! Solar! SOLAR! NO! NOO!”

But it was too late, Sunspot’s cries were drowned out by the deafening boom of the spell being unleashed. A large golden beam tore through the room and completely filled Aldus’ vision. At the last moment before the beam impacted them Aldus felt the Nightmare react and shift all its essence to the front of Aldus to absorb the blow.

The beam connected with its target and lifted both Aldus and Sunspot off the floor and flung them out onto the balcony. Once the beam dissipated Aldus was sprawled out against the edge. His entire body ached from burns and he could no longer feel the left side of his face. Large portions of his spectral armor were gone revealing sections of scorched skin, but overall he was intact. The same could not be said about Sunspot, however. All that remained of him was a smoldering pile of ash next to Aldus.

If it was not for the Nightmare, Aldus would not have survived that blast. He tried to take that all in as he attempted to get up, only to be met with blinding pain.

“Well that was an intense battle, while it lasted.” came an approaching arrogant voice. “You certainly have been our toughest opponent yet.”

Aldus looked up to see Solar Wind trotting up to him with her subordinate following closely behind. She approached Aldus and studied his defeated form, the horrendous burn marks and torn apart face. The half destroyed spectral armor and fading green light in his eyes. Her face contorted into a look of revulsion.

“Shame about Sunspot, but his sacrifice was worth it for defeating this monster.”

Aldus coughed up blood, “You are the monster here. To throw away the life of a comrade in such a way, Celestia would be ashamed.”

Solar Wind slammed her hoof into Aldus’ face, “Silence! You will not speak of her! In fact, you will not speak ever again. But before you leave this world, know that your ‘princess’ will also share your fate. Its funny really, the last thing Lilith said to me was that I would never be able to defeat you. Oh how wrong she was, stupid pegasus.”

As Solar Wind charged a spell to finish off Aldus at point blank range, he felt something from the Nightmare, it was emotion. Tension, apprehension, fear, anger, hate. From the point of his shade being corrupted there had always been a ‘wall’, so to speak, between the Nightmare and Aldus. But now that barrier was gone, it felt so strange, so different, so good.

Aldus stared right at the spell that was about to finish him. This unicorn was a microcosm of all he, his friends, and even his princess had ever fought against, and she had taken from him the only family he ever had.

“No, it won’t end like this.” he muttered. The moonlight was being harnessed by the Nightmare to return some of his lost strength. Slowly but surely, it was working.

Aldus saw a triumphant smirk come across Solar Wind’s face, and that was all he needed.

“RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGHGHGHG!!”

Aldus harnessed all the emotion he could from himself and the Nightmare and focussed it into a magic augmented scream. It caught both Solar Wind and the other unicorn by surprise as they were lifted from the floor and thrown back into the room. Solar Wind’s spell discharged harmlessly into the night sky, allowing Aldus to slowly get to his hoofs. The Nightmare slowly started to reform the spectral armor on Aldus’ damaged limbs.

The Nightmare was anxious now, Aldus could feel it. He approached Solar Wind as she was slowly picking herself up. Aldus smirked as an idea for a spell popped into his head. Solar wind immediately fired a burst of magic at Aldus but he quickly blinked away reappearing six paces from Solar Wind. He then fired a small but accurate blast of dark magic at Solar Wind’s horn. Once it connected small black crystals began to form on the horn, immediately absorbing any magic used to cast spells. It was a devious trick, something he picked up from another dark magic practitioner, a black unicorn he met during his travels in the Crystal Empire.

As Solar Wind attempted to channel magic through her horn with no success, Aldus turned his attention to the last remaining unicorn. He felt a sensation from the Nightmare, it wanted that student.

Alright alright, after all you’ve done to help me it wouldn’t be right to refuse you. Get ready.

The student panicked and fired a cluster of bolts at Aldus who blinked away and reappeared in exactly the same place. Aldus reared up on his hind legs and wound up his right hoof like he was preparing to throw a fireball. He took one step forward and brought his hoof around in a throwing motion. But instead of throwing a fireball, three pieces of spectral armor detached themselves from Aldus’ right hoof and flew through the air toward the student. As they traveled to their target they transformed into a thick black sludge that landed on the unicorn’s neck, chest, and hoof. The unicorn screamed as the sludge slowly covered his entire body, his movements eventually slowed as the form of a unicorn lost its shape and melted into a thick pool of sludge. The viscous substance moved across the floor to Aldus and merged with him to continue reforming his spectral armor.

That- that was creepy.

Solar Wind was now backed against a wall shaking, whether in rage or fear Aldus did not know, but both he and the Nightmare guessed the latter.

“What- what are you?”

“I told you what I am. I am the Nightmare from which you will never wake.”

Solar Wind’s eyes were now filling with tears, “No, no please. I’ll do anything. I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again. I’ll give you all the bits you want!”

“You were given the opportunity to flee before the battle began, you chose to ignore my offer. Now you will face the consequences of your choice.”

Aldus knelt down and allowed two pieces of the spectral armor to detach from his hooves and slither to where Solar Wind was cowering. They formed a circle then began to rise into a dome that completely covered the remaining unicorn. Once the dome was formed Aldus touched his horn to it causing it to pulse, then disappear. On the ground before him Solar Wind was curled into a ball trembling violently as her eyes darted in every direction under tightly closed lids.

Aldus felt the Nightmare’s disapproval and he laughed to himself.

I know, you are probably right. She deserved far worse, but whenever possible I try to keep my word. I said she would never wake from the nightmare, and she never will.

Aldus fell to his back and sighed. He had done it, he had overcome one of the greatest challenges of his life, but not without a price. Turning his head he saw his reflection in a shard of broken glass. The left side of his face was gone from being torn off by that claw and burnt by Solar Wind’s spell. All that remained of it was torn muscle and bone, his left eye sagged a bit from almost being ripped out itself. The pain was being kept in check by the soothing darkness the Nightmare placed over it. Aldus tried to ignore the pain and the image of his face and just enjoy the quiet of the room. However the quiet was interrupted by the sound of chanting outside. Aldus tried to focus on the sound...

“Sol Invictus! Sol Invictus! Celestia! Celestia!”

It was the army of the sun, they must have defeated the last of Nightmare Moon’s army. None of them sounded like they were attempting to enter the observatory. Solar Wind likely told them to remain outside when she and her companions arrived. Aldus listened to the chanting and cheering, it was likely that this army fought his friends Rigel and Polaris numerous times throughout the war. He had no further communication with anyone else in the court since the order was given to gather at Moonlock Observatory. Aldus feared his friends were gone, and if it was not Celestia’s chosen students who killed them, it was surely ponies in that army outside.

Aldus felt the Nightmare’s anger, an anger that he began to share.

They did win the war, I suppose if I were in their shoes I’d be cheering too. We should congratulate them? Give them something to commemorate their victory?

Aldus didn’t know what the Nightmare was suggesting until it beckoned him to look through the broken roof into the night sky. He saw the moon, stars, and comets streaking by...

Comets? Yes... yes... they should be rewarded for their hard earned victory. Its only proper... you say you can help me do it? Fine, but I’m still going to need a lot of power...

Aldus turned back to where Solar Wind was being tormented and relieved her of her saddlebags. He emptied their contents in front of him and found the three large focusing crystals she used on him earlier in the battle.

These will do. You are sure about this? Very well then, lets be off.

Luna looked on as Aldus secured the crystals in what remained of his robes. Large inky black wings sprouted from his sides and with a running start he took off into the air, flying through the broken roof toward the front of the observatory. She quickly beat her wings and followed him, knowing full well what was about to happen next.

Aldus flew high into the sky and saw the extent of the army that had marched up the mountain. Thousands upon thousands of torches dotted the ground and the light reflected off the golden armor of the soldiers. Banners could be seen waving about as pegasus fliers performed feats of acrobatics, a few sported wonderbolt uniforms.

“Hail soldiers of the sun! You have ended the war and done your princess proud. Therefore, I offer a gift to you and the mighty Celestia. It might not be as large as the sun, but I think you will find it just as bright...”

The Nightmare was handling the flying and keeping Aldus airborne allowing him to concentrate. He levitated the focusing crystals out of his robes and arrayed them in a triangle bordering the tip of his horn. With the help of the Nightmare he judged which comet to target and drew heavily upon the power of Nightmare Moon. It was the same power she used to raise and lower the moon, and it nearly killed him trying to wield it. If he lost control he would have exploded, or worse. Aldus strained to focus on the comet, slowly it began to change course until finally he could see it begin to grow brighter indicating its imminent approach.

Goddesses above... THAT is the power that Luna and Celestia wield? Unbelievable.

The Nightmare continued to keep Aldus aloft while it fed its magic into Aldus’ horn and eyes, giving them an even brighter green glow. Some of the pegasus guards and wonderbolts began to approach him, perhaps in an effort to stop whatever they perceived him to be doing. He felt the Nightmare expressing amusement at their actions. Smiling with the green glow now illuminating even his mouth, Aldus spread his hooves and wings wide in a mocking expression of Celestia’s pose during the Summer Sun Celebration.

Luna hovered just behind Aldus as she watched the comet approach becoming brighter and brighter. The whole army below them noticed it now and began to panic, all while Aldus began to laugh hysterically. The last thing Luna saw was a light as bright as the sun collide into the mountain with a deafening boom before being knocked out of the dream by the shockwave of the blast.

-----------------

“Luna, Luna are you alright?” The voice sounded like it was coming from someplace far away as Luna fully regained her awareness. Marigold stood over her waving a hoof in front of her face.

“How did it go, did you find what you needed?” Marigold inquired as she helped Luna to her hooves.

“I did,” Luna answered with a smile. “Now, please wake him.”

Marigold trotted over to Aldus and nudged him gently, “Time to wake up sleepy head,” she cooed softly.

Aldus awoke with a groan and sat up. He looked around trying to find Marigold’s location, “Miss Marigold, could I ask you to hand me my veil?”

“Of course, Aldus.” she said as she picked it up from the floor. He reached out his hoof to take it but Marigold pushed his hoof down and moved behind him to fasten it over his eyes herself.

“Thank you Miss Marigold, you are too kind.” Aldus said with a slight bow.

“Princess Luna, I- I’m sorry for what you saw.” Aldus said, now lying on his belly with his face buried in a pillow. “I regret destroying the army, but I don’t regret taking Celestia’s students. F-For what they did to her, I- I couldn’t let them get away with it.”

Aldus looked up trying to find Luna in the room, his veil was wet from the tears streaming down his face. Luna trotted up to him and picked him up into a tight embrace.

“I don’t blame you for it, Aldus. It was horrible what they did to Lilith, and from ponies held in such high esteem it was unforgivable. I will question my sister on the matter when when we return to Canterlot. As for the comet, it was still war. You were imprisoned for one thousand years with the Nightmare, I think you have served your sentence.” Luna said in a soft voice.

“Marigold, tell the guards to prepare to leave. Its time we returned to Canterlot.” Luna instructed as she continued to hold Aldus.

Marigold bowed and left the tent. Luna relinquished her embrace and bent down to look into Aldus’ veil. “Can you see me, Aldy?”

Shadows crept up Aldus’ back and slipped under the veil, giving his eyes a green glow. “Yes, Luna. Now I can.” he said with a weak smile.

Luna returned the smile, “There will be time to discuss what transpired at the last battle later. For now, I have learned all I need to know. I’m just happy to have you back, there is much work for you to do and I’m certain with your skills you will benefit everyone greatly.”

“I serve you and your subjects as always, Luna. You can count on me.” Aldus said.

“Excellent, that is what I like to hear.” Luna replied as she stood up and trotted over to the table.

“Come, help me pack up. Its long trip back to Canterlot so the sooner we leave the better, and I have much to tell you about the events I’ve experienced since my return from banishment.”

Chapter 4: Canterlot

The trip back to Canterlot took most of the day so when Luna, Aldus, and the others finally reached the palace it would already be night. Luna had spent most of the trip informing Aldus of the many events that happened after her return. While things sounded interesting and Aldus was eager to meet these “elements of harmony”, the thing that intrigued him the most was this... “Nightmare Night” festival.

“So, what you are saying is, after the civil war that tore our nation apart, the ponies put together a festival where they come out and play during the night? Where Nightmare Moon is said to prowl the streets looking for foals to eat, so the children put on costumes to disguise themselves and offer candy to appease Nightmare Moon?” Aldus asked, clearly skeptical.

“Thats right,” Marigold said with a huge smile on her face. “It is always my favorite holiday of the year!”

Marigold had been flying alongside the carriage casually listening to Aldus and Luna’s conversation.

“Luna loves it too, right princess?” she said while grinning at Luna.

Luna glanced over at Marigold and laughed, “I most certainly do! Though I admit at first I had a similar reaction to yours, Aldus. I couldn't imagine the children would love to be scared, but once Celestia’s student Twilight Sparkle helped me understand, the whole night was fantastic.”

Canterlot city came into view beneath a bank of clouds, and the chariot and guards descended to a landing pad outside the palace. Marigold helped Aldus out of the chariot and perked up, an idea coming to her.

“You know,” she said, smirking at Luna, “Princess, I think Aldy here should come with us to Nightmare Night this year! Its only a few weeks away, what do you think?”

Luna giggled, “That sounds like a wonderful idea, Marigold!”

Aldus suddenly looked a little timid and shook his head, “uh I- I don’t know, I mean I don’t know how to act scary, and I don’t have a costume.”

Luna and Marigold burst out laughing so loudly it made Aldus jump.

Luna put a hoof around Aldus’ shoulder, “We can figure out what you should wear later, there is plenty of time for that.”

“Yeah!” Marigold said as she walked by and brushed her tail across his face. “You can act scary, just turn into ‘Aldus the Moondeath’. That face with the torn robes covered in black was one of the scariest things I've ever seen!”

Aldus chuckled a bit, “I don’t know about that, we’ll see.”

He couldn’t see it, but Marigold looked at him with a pouty face wanting him to say yes. Meanwhile, Luna was instructing the guards to man their posts and was watching for her sister. She did not want Celestia seeing Aldus out here in the open where when the inevitable argument broke out, the whole city would hear the two sister’s royal voices, if it came to that.

“Marigold, take Aldus to my chambers for now and wait for me there. I shall be along shortly.” Luna said, as she flew up to Celestia’s tower.

“Yes princess,” replied Marigold as she turned around finding Aldus looking around and smelling the air.

“Canterlot smells different than I remember, it smells... cleaner?” Aldus said trying to discern the locations of the many different odors.

Marigold rolled her eyes and flew over to Aldus grabbing his hoof and pulling him off the landing pad and down one of the hallways.

“Come on, you! We need to get to Luna’s chambers before she arrives there with Celestia!”

Aldus was barely able to keep up a running pace while being dragged by Marigold.

“You know I’m not in the best shape after being locked away for one thousand years! Could you slow down a bit? You're enjoying this aren't you?”

The question earned him a giggle from Marigold as she whipped around a corner almost causing Aldus to slam into a wall. Finally they arrived in Luna’s chambers, Aldus found a pillow near the hearth and collapsed onto it panting, while Marigold looked both ways down the hall to see if they had been followed. She shut the doors and trotted over to the windows, pulled the curtains shut and lit some candles.

“I hope Celestia doesn’t get too mad about our little excursion to free you.” Marigold said as she came over to sit by Aldus, who was staring absentmindedly into space.

“Aldy, are you ok? You aren't frightened are you?” Marigold asked with a slight sense of worry in her tone.

“Aldy... you know, only a few ponies ever called me that.” he said while turning in her general direction. “To answer your question, no I’m not frightened. Celestia had proper reason to seal me away in the prison, and any anger she has upon discovering my release is justified. But this is a conversation I've been waiting to have for a long time, Marigold.”

Marigold inched closer to him and stared into his veil covered eyes. “Your eyes, I’m so sorry. Can you only see when the Nightmare gives you its power?”

“For now, yes. I can only see when it feeds its power through me. It does not have an unlimited supply of magic so I can’t see things all the time. However, I believe I can restore at least some of my sight with a few spells and some alchemy.”

Marigold smiled and put some more logs on the fire, “Well, I’m happy to have you back Aldus, you don’t seem like an evil pony to me. Try and get your sight back as soon as you can, there are lots of things you should see, and if you need somepony to show you around, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“I’ll do that Miss Marigold, thank you for the offer. If you don’t mind me asking, what made a mare like you remain in the Night Guard with Princess Luna?”

Marigold furrowed her brow at the question and became slightly defensive, “What do you mean ‘a mare like me’? I happen to like the Night Guard, and Princess Luna is one of the nicest most caring ponies I’ve ever met. Would you believe that even after all the good she’s done since her return, barely anypony wanted to be with her? When Celestia reformed the night guard nopony volunteered except me, so she had to create it herself from the existing royal guard. I love Princess Luna, and even turned down joining the Wonderbolts to stay with her.”

Aldus smiled at her reactions. She didn’t realize he was siphoning just enough of the Nightmare’s power to see her reaction to his question. Aldus had always enjoyed setting ponies up in conversations and studying their reactions, there was a lot to learn about them by the way they acted. Marigold’s reaction confirmed Aldus’ initial judgement.

“Remember you’re talking to a pony who fought a war for Princess Luna, you don’t need to sing accolades of her character to me. It doesn't surprise me that ponies are hesitant to be around her now, they were like that even before the war. If only there were more mares and stallions like you so long ago Marigold. That you turned down the fame and prestige of being a Wonderbolt to be with somepony you cared about speaks volumes of your character, Marigold.” Aldus said, while continuing to study Marigold’s reactions.

“I’m happy to hear that Luna had somepony there for her when she returned. I am in your debt, if you ever need anything, you have but to ask. The same would go for any of the other courtiers

if they were here. I know Rigel would have offered you a place in the Shadowbolts in a heartbeat...”

If smiles could beam with actual light, Marigold’s might have blinded Aldus a second time. “Seriously?! I’ve always wondered about him, but there is so little history on him and the Shadowbolts, and Luna never really wanted to talk about it. Could you tell me more about him? Please?”

Aldus tilted his head quizzically and laughed a bit, “I take it Rigel was a hero to you? Or at the very least somepony you looked to for inspiration?”

Marigold nodded and flexed her wings, “Most books say he was a bloodthirsty flier who joyed in shooting down any mare or stallion he saw in the sky. They say the Shadowbolts were formed in mockery of the Wonderbolts, to mock Celestia and her subjects. I don’t believe it, history is always written by the victors in wars. I’ve read accounts that describe a very different Rigel.”

“You are wise not to believe that, since none of those things are true. Rigel and his Shadowbolts downed many of Celestia’s fliers, but the only ones Rigel ever enjoyed fighting were the Wonderbolts, the so-called ‘best fliers in equestria’. I’ll never forget the night I found him high atop a tower in one of our castles, weeping buckets of tears. I consoled him like all the times he had been there for me, and asked what was wrong. He said he shot down seventeen fliers that day, and that they never stood a chance against him. His heart felt compassion toward the weaker enemies he downed. Every time he ascended to the sky for battle he sought out the Wonderbolts hoping that one of them would be a worthy opponent.”

Marigold was captivated by the tale, and the hearth gave a beautiful glow to her soft blue eyes.

“The Shadowbolts were not named to mock the Wonderbolts, they were given that name because of something else entirely, but I’m afraid I can’t say why.”

Marigold let out a cute pout, “Ahw why not?”

Aldus frowned at Marigold, “It was something he confided to me, and I’m relatively certain he told nopony else. Rigel was like a brother to me, he was the first true friend I ever made. He always looked after me, and was always there to teach me whatever I couldn’t learn from books.”

Marigold now noticed tears starting to drip down from under Aldus’ veil. She walked over and wrapped her hooves around him in a gentle embrace.

“He was always so cool, so athletic, so good with the mares. To think he would be friends with somepony like me. I miss him, I miss them all so much.”

Marigold still couldn’t believe that she was comforting Aldus the Moondeath in such a way, but this was something she felt she needed to do. She was about to tell him everything was alright now, but suddenly she heard two familiar voices approaching from outside.

Marigold cupped Aldus’ face in her hooves, “Look at me Aldus, the princesses are coming. Are you ready?”

Aldus looked toward the door and muttered, “Indeed I am ready, I’ve waited one thousand years for this.”

Princess Luna opened the door and allowed Celestia to enter, at first she simply turned around and chastised Luna for dragging her down to her chambers in such haste. Apparently she had been trying to tell Luna about a bad dream she had. Then her eyes suddenly fell upon Aldus, her regal features faded into an expression of contempt.

“You,” she hissed, “Impossible. What are you doing here, what is the meaning of this, Luna?”

Luna moved to stand between Celestia and Aldus, “Recently I stumbled upon a hidden section of the archives and found a book detailing his location in a soul separation prison.”

Luna glared at Celestia, “Dearest sister, you knew I was lonely upon my return, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Celestia’s gaze did not shift from Aldus, who for the moment was still sitting on a pillow with Marigold.

“I didn’t tell you because he was never supposed to be released from his prison. He is a monster, for what he did to Solar Wind and the rest of my beloved students, and he killed thousands of ponies with that comet.”

“Your students were the monsters, Celly.” Aldus said, the words falling from his mouth like acid. “For the grand teacher that you hold yourself to be, allowing ponies like them to obtain that much power was reprehensible. You don’t even know what they did.”

Celestia was about to say something but Luna interjected, “What he says is true, sister. I witnessed the last battle myself through one of his dreams. The mare called Solar Wind captured Aldus’ guardian, Lilith, and tortured her. She used that to taunt Aldus during the fight, and said that she did not survive.”

Celestia’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Impossible, she would never have done something like that, none of them would have!”

“Its true, sister. Do you not believe me?” Luna asked now scowling at her sister.

Celestia paused a moment, eyeing Luna with a somewhat sad expression, but only for a moment. She quickly resumed her contemptuous expression and took a few steps toward Aldus.

“It was that thing wasn’t it? It was Nightmare Moon. It gave you the power necessary to overcome my students.”

Aldus rose to stand and smirked at Celestia, “Yes, my companion gave me some help during the battle, but that wasn’t what defeated your students. It was their refusal to take me seriously until half of them were already dead.” he said as his eyes briefly flashed a bright green under his veil.

He was about to laugh when suddenly he was seized in a magical field and thrown into the adjacent wall with great force. Aldus collided into it with a grunt and crumpled to the floor.

Marigold screamed and Luna immediately teleported between Aldus and her sister.

“That is enough Tia, I will not allow you to harm him again!” bellowed Luna with the full force of the royal canterlot voice.

Celestia was momentarily taken aback by Luna’s actions but she quickly regained her composure. She was about to say something when three royal guards burst into the room with weapons drawn.

Celestia gave a heavy sigh and shook her head. “Luna... this is too much to handle right now, meet me in my chambers in five minutes. Guards, you are dismissed.”

The guards bowed and filed out into the hallway with Celestia following them. She called over her shoulder, “Aldus, you are not to leave this room until I say otherwise. A bed and food will be brought to you if you are hungry. Do you understand?”

Aldus looked at Celestia and mumbled under his breath, “Yes princess, I understand.”

“Good,” Celestia said, “Five minutes Luna, we have much to discuss.”

After that Celestia exited the room and shut the doors with a slam. Marigold rushed over to Aldus and helped him up.

“Why did you antagonize her like that?” Marigold asked.

Luna approached Aldus and raised an eyebrow, “There is no need to posture when I am here Aldus, I am quite capable of handling my sister.”

Aldus simply laughed, “I’m sorry if that alarmed you Miss Marigold, but it was something that needed to be done. I can’t afford to appear weak. Luna, you’ll have to forgive me, but last time you thought you could handle your sister you ended up stuck in the moon for one thousand years.”

Luna simply turned around and walked to the door, “Where it anypony else to say something like that to me, their punishment would be grave indeed. Be glad you aren’t anypony else, Aldus. Now, I need to go solve this with my sister. Marigold, remain with Aldus to make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble.”

“Love you too, Luna.” Aldus croaked with a giggle.

Luna sighed in exasperation and exited the room.

Marigold lifted Aldus up to lean on her while she walked him back to the large pillows. “You are something else Aldy, you know that?”

“Yes, I’m aware... and if I wasn’t something else before, I certainly am now.” Aldus replied with a chuckle

-------------------

Several hours passed while Luna and Celestia were discussing Aldus’ return. In the meantime, Aldus had asked for some books and chemicals to start working on a way to recover some of his sight. Marigold ordered several nightguards to obtain all the items that Aldus required and set up a work table for him. She also had some food brought in for them to eat.

The work on the spell was slow and Aldus tried to work diligently, however having a playful and hyper mare chatting your ear off didn’t help speed along the process.

“Polaris sounds like a boring pony, Aldus. You’re telling me that you, Rigel, and Polaris were best friends?”

“Yes thats right, Marigold. Rigel and Polaris were slightly older than me and a lot bigger when we met as foals. I think they both were protective of me because I was so little back then.”

Marigold was hovering around the room now out of boredom. She had taken off her armor earlier revealing just how beautiful she was. She would occasionally pass over Aldus’ workspace while lying inverted in the air performing movements akin to the backstroke swimming style.

“Are you done yet? You’ve been at this for almost two hours now, you should take a break and have some food with me.”

Aldus was about to protest, but his stomach rumbled loudly. Marigold heard it and snickered.

“Alright, I’ll take a break. That soup smells delicious.” Aldus said as he slowly backed away from the work table and moved toward the smell of the food.

Marigold landed at the table and took a few bites from a dinner roll. “So you got picked on alot as a foal? Just how small were you?”

Before she could take another bite, a bright flash filled her peripheral vision. Marigold turned to see what happened and saw Aldus’ robes lying on the floor with Aldus himself nowhere to be seen, until she noticed movement under them.

“Ah darnit,” came the voice of a foal from under the robe. “Stupid spell, forgot there was an extra part that made clothes shrink too!”

She then watched as a small unicorn colt emerged from the robes. His eyes glowed a slight green and its mane was now a short silver mohawk.

Marigold quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and tried not to choke from laughter. “You transformed into a foal! You can do that?”

With a smug smile, Aldus replied, “Yes I can, and I did. I’m pretty good with magic, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“You’ve got quite the attitude little colt,” Marigold said with an evil grin as she slowly rose into the air. “I don’t know what they did one thousand years ago, but today we teach snarky colts some manners!”

Aldus’ smug smirk quickly changed into an expression of fear, “No, wait Marigold No!”

He didn't have time to say anything else before Marigold dove after him, but he was able to escape by rolling to the side at the last second. As a foal, Luna’s chambers seemed even larger than they were before. He needed someplace to hide... the bed! Aldus made a break for the bed, which seemed so far away. He heard Marigold swoop down at him again, “C’mere little cutie, you don’t have to be scared...”

Aldus dove under the bed and tried to crawl further in but was stopped by a hoof grabbing his leg and yanking him out. Marigold turned him over so he could see her grinning at him and began to tickle him relentlessly.

“Mari- haha stop! Hahaha please, Marigold!”

The mare finally relented and picked the diminutive colt up off the floor, cradling him she ascended into the air above the bed.

“I can’t imagine why anypony would pick on a colt as cute as you, Aldy” she cooed while hovering in the air.

“Well, I know its difficult to believe, but some ponies aren't as easily drawn in by this apparent ‘cuteness’ you refer to. I suspect it may have made me look weak and helpless.”

Marigold giggled, “Well I don’t know about that, but in certain situations you are pretty helpless!” she said as she threw Aldus up into the air and caught him as he fell back down to her.

Aldus let out a sigh of resignation as he was tossed into the air again, why are all the pegasus mares I meet crazy and hyper?

Marigold caught him again and finally set him down by his robes.

“You seem pretty good with foals,” Aldus said while igniting his horn and returning to his original form. “I take it you have experience with them?”

Marigold nodded and flapped her wings happily. “My sister is married and has a little colt in Manehattan. I love the little guy, but I don’t get to see them much.”

“I see,” Aldus said as he put on his robes and sat down to eat at the table. “I too have a soft spot for foals. It comes from my history as an orphan and from helping Luna with her dream walking.”

“You were an orphan? So when Luna said those students you fought captured your guardian, she was your only family?” Marigold asked, but instantly regretted doing so when she saw Aldus wince at the question.

“That is correct, Marigold. Sometime... I’ll tell you about it.”

After about fifteen minutes of dinner, Princess Luna returned from her conversation with Celestia. She seemed calm enough, and flew over to her bed to lay down facing the table where Aldus and Marigold sat.

“Well?” Marigold asked, “What happened?”

Luna stared into the hearth, “Tia is sorry for keeping the secret from me, and agrees that Aldus can stay here. Aldus, you are to remain here until a room down the hall is prepared for you.”

Aldus bowed his head in acknowledgement while Marigold breathed a sigh of relief.

Luna now looked at Aldus, “Celestia will speak to you in private tomorrow after she has looked into the matter of her former students, and you will not antagonize her. There is no need to worry now, Aldus. I have informed my sister that you are not to be trifled with, unless she seeks a conflict with me.”

Luna flew off the bed and landed in front of the door to the balcony. “Marigold, you are free to do as you like. I’m going to the observatory to check on the dreamers. Goodnight you two, I’ll see you tomorrow.” and with that, Luna opened the doors and flew off the balcony up to the observatory tower.

Aldus finished his dinner and returned to his work table to complete the spell. Meanwhile, Marigold rubbed her hoof on the ground nervously.

“Well I’m glad you get to stay, Aldus. Is there anything you need help with?”

Aldus propped up two large spellbooks in front of him and began drawing on some scrolls, “Not at the moment, thank you for asking though.”

“Oh, okay then.” Marigold said, “Well... I guess I’ll leave you to it, goodnight Aldus.” She said as she slowly collected her armor to leave.

Aldus sensed a hint of sadness in her voice and turned to see her open the door to leave. “Marigold, I might need some help later, you are welcome to stay if you want.”

Upon hearing that the pegasus mare smiled and dropped her armor next to the door. “You’re sure? Ok! Hang on, let me go get some reading material so I don’t bother you until you need me.”

Aldus saw Marigold fly out the door and he laughed to himself. What a funny mare, she even reminds me of Luna a bit when I first met her.

As time passed Marigold returned and sat on the bed patiently reading a book. In about two hours time, Aldus had finished the spell and got up to stretch when he heard a light snoring behind him. Upon investigating, he saw Marigold on the edge of the bed asleep with the book on her face. Aldus smiled and silently walked over to her, she mumbled something in her sleep which only added to her cuteness. With gentle care Aldus levitated Marigold to the front of the bed and tucked her in. Before he left her side he levitated Marigold’s book over to him to see what she had been reading. ‘Daring Do and The Adventures Beyond the Everfree’, an adventurer novel? He slowly turned around to see a shadow on the wall take the shape of a black alicorn with green eyes. It looked at Marigold, then at Aldus.

Aldus smiled as he returned to the workstation of scrolls and books. I know you are eager to meet her in her dreams, but that can wait for another time. We’ve only just returned and I need information on the realm immediately. Don’t go beyond Canterlot, start with information on the other pony kingdoms, then the gryphon territories.

The shadow of the black Alicorn peeled away from the wall and switched its form to a large black pegasus mare. It stood behind Aldus and looked over his shoulder at the spell.

Yeah, I hope it works too. If it does I’ll be able to see things without needing your magic, and if I do need it, it should be much less than before.

The large pegasus mare leaned in to nuzzle Aldus, then flew out through the balcony into the night. Be careful, Aldus thought as he watched the black pegasus disappear into the night.

Regaining his focus, he turned to the spell on the table. Ok, please work. Aldus slowly charged his horn and cast the spell. He instantly felt a reaction, his eyes felt like a pot of scalding hot soup had been poured on them. Aldus growled in pain, trying not to wake Marigold. Slowly the pain subsided and he felt better, but fatigued. The spell was not designed to work right away.

With that in mind Aldus listened to Marigold, who was still sound asleep. Knowing she was ok, he climbed into the small bed that had been provided to him and went to sleep. He hoped the spell would work by the morning, because he had some exploring to do.

---------------

Aldus awoke the next day feeling as if he didn’t get any rest at all. He speculated that it was due to his time in that prison, and he might not get a good nights sleep for a while. Slowly he got up and saw that Marigold was still snoring softly in Luna’s bed. However she was not alone, in the bed next to her Luna herself was deep in slumber. It made sense, everypony was probably tired after the long trip. Then suddenly it hit him, he could see! It wasn’t full sight, but he could make out blurry images and some colors. It was better than nothing, and he could always try and improve the spell later.

Quietly he moved to the door and peaked his head out to see four guards in the hallway.

“Good morning gentlecolts, do you have orders to keep me here? Or may I leave?” Aldus asked politely.

The golden armored guards looked at each other before one of them answered. “Celestia said you may go where you like, Magister. But you are not to leave the castle or the castle grounds if you go outside.”

“Very well guardspony, could one of you show me to the royal baths?”

One of the guards nodded and motioned for Aldus to follow.

After a brief soak in the baths Aldus checked his eyes in a mirror, they still were glazed over and pale. He put his veil back on and was still able to see through it, and so decided to keep it on.

Aldus then trotted into the throne room where two large rectangular breakfast tables were set up on either side of the throne. That seemed to be one tradition that hadn’t changed in one thousand years, it was nice to have some comforting familiarity. He looked at the end nearest the throne where he and his courtiers usually sat, but decided it wouldn’t be a good idea right now. Instead he took a seat all the way in the back farthest away from the throne. He noticed there weren’t too many others around this early in the morning and levitated over a glass of orange juice. It wasn’t too long before a servant mare approached him and asked what he would like to eat.

“I don’t need anything fancy, what do you and the other servants make yourselves for breakfast?”

The mare paused for a moment before replying, “Well, today it was just roasted carrots with steamed spinach and oats.”

“That sounds lovely,” Aldus said, and the mare bowed and quickly left the room to prepare his meal.

Aldus sat alone observing the many stained glass images of all the important events that happened in the recent months. The defeat of Nightmare Moon and Discord by the Elements of Harmony, The Changeling Invasion, and most recently the defeat of King Sombra in the Crystal Empire.

‘King Sombra’, what a joke. I knew I shouldn’t have let him walk away after we dueled in the Crystal Empire.

Aldus was ripped away from his brooding thoughts when he was greeted by a soft, sing-song voice. He looked up from the table to see a pink alicorn with a candy colored mane.

“Hi there!” she said with a bright smile.

Aldus glanced over at the window with the pink alicorn on it and connected the dots. “Hello Princess Cadance” he said and bowed his head.

“Please, just Cadance. Do you mind if I sit? I don’t like eating alone if I don’t have to.”

“No, not all.”

“Thank you,” she said while taking a seat across from him. “Any particular reason you are all the way down here by yourself?”

The servant mare appeared and delivered Aldus’ simple meal, and turned to Cadance who asked for her usual.

“I used to sit at the other end, but that was a long time ago. I don’t really know anypony now.”

“You don’t know anypony... now?” Cadance asked.

“I’ve... been away for awhile, my name is Aldus.”

Cadance froze for a moment, “Aldus... the Moondeath?” she squeaked.

Aldus let out a sigh, “Correct.” and began eating his roasted carrots.

“That is why I’m down here alone, if you want to leave I understand.”

But Cadance didn’t leave, instead she looked straight into his eyes and smiled. “Your vision, an injury from the civil war? You saw me coming to sit with you though, so did it return?”

Aldus swallowed his oats and carrots, “Yes, I was blinded by the sun, but it is slowly returning.”

“Well, I’m sure Princess Luna is happy you are back, and you can always consider me a friend if you like.”

“CADANCE!!!”


Both Cadance and Aldus looked in the direction of the loud shout. Three ponies entered the throne room and trotted up to where they were sitting. One was a lavender unicorn with a pink stripe flowing through her otherwise purple mane. She was flanked on one side by a shy looking pegasus with a flowing pink mane, and on the other side by an orange earth pony with a long blonde mane and tail wearing a cowboy hat.

“Hello Twilight! Hello girls! How are you doing? Are you ready for the trip?” Cadance asked.

“We sure are!” said the unicorn known as Twilight, “We’re ready to put our special talents to good use for the Crystal Ponies. Applejack will plant some new orchards, Fluttershy will inspect the wildlife, and I’ll learn about all the different types of crystals.”

Aldus continued to eat while they were talking, until another shout come from the direction of the guard’s barracks.

“TWILEY!!!”

A large white unicorn stallion with a blue mane trotted up to the group. He wore guard armor signifying the rank of a captain. Aldus recognized him as the white unicorn opposite Cadance in the window.

“You girls didn’t think you could leave without saying goodbye, did you?”

“We wouldn’t dream of it, honey.” Cadance said as she planted a kiss on his lips.

“Who is this, Cadance?” Twilight asked, pointing a hoof at Aldus.

“This is somepony who works for Princess Luna, his name is Aldus.”

There was a pause before the realization hit Twilight.

“Aldus? THE Aldus? The powerful wizard who was made infamous at the Battle of Moonlock Observatory?!”

Aldus levitated a napkin to his mouth, “My my, somepony who reads history, and very old history at that.”

Twilight’s expression changed from surprise to fear and anger.

“You use dark magic!” Twilight shouted.

“So do you,” Aldus casually replied, “I sense you used it recently in fact. Did you pick it up from ‘King’ Sombra in the Crystal Empire? He was good, but he lacked... finesse.”

Shining armor stalked around the table and glared at Aldus, “You destroyed thousands of guards and soldiers when you brought down that comet.” He ripped off Aldus’ veil with his magic and dropped it in bowl of spinach.

Aldus returned Shining Armor’s glare with a frown, “Yes, not one of my finest moments. I was imprisoned for one thousand years because of that, and I regret it.”

He turned to Cadance and bowed, “I appreciate you taking the time to sit with me Cadance, but I probably shouldn’t have left the towers. I think I’d better go.”

Aldus levitated his spinach covered veil into his robes and started to walk away. He had only walked four paces before being tackled to the ground and having his head bounced off the tiled floor.

Shining armor had him pinned to the ground and twisted one of his hooves, “The only place you’re going is the dungeon. Dark magic is forbidden.”

Aldus grunted in pain, “I didn’t use any dark magic, please let me go. I don’t want to cause any conflict.”

Cadance stood up from table and shouted at her husband, “Shining let him go! He didn’t do anything!”

Fluttershy and Applejack stood in awe at what was happening, and Twilight couldn’t believe Cadance was defending Aldus.

“No, Cadance!” Shining Armor snapped, “I’m not taking any chances, not after Chrysalis and Sombra!”

While Shining and his wife argued, Aldus was having slight flashbacks of his youth of being held down and beaten senseless by foals bigger than him. This seemed to be playing out the same way. Aldus ignited his horn and teleported out from under Shining Armor only to reappear in front of him.

“Please, listen to me,” Aldus pleaded, “I’m not the same stallion as I was then. Just let me leave in peace.”

Shining Armor’s response was to fire a cluster of magic bolts at Aldus. They were likely some kind of incapacitation spells. Aldus conjured a ward to block them then blinked away, not appearing until Shining started to scan the room for him. When he did appear, he did so beside Shining and touched his hoof to Shining’s horn briefly. The Captain of the Guards tried to summon magic but it was absorbed by the tiny black crystals that started growing on his horn.

Twilight instantly appeared between Shining Armor and Aldus with a spell charged. Aldus backed away when Twilight roared, “I won’t let you hurt my brother!”

“Stop this right now!” boomed a thunderous voice from the throne. It was Celestia.

Oh goddesses, take me now. Aldus thought while bowing to the sun princess.

“Aldus, your chambers are ready, they are in Luna’s tower, two doors down from hers. I strongly suggest you go there now so we can have our little chat.”

“As you command, princess.” Before he left, Aldus apologized to Cadance and the others, then exited the throne room.

Aldus ascended the tower and walked past Luna’s room and peaked inside. He smiled seeing Luna and Marigold still snoozing away on the large bed.

He trotted two doors down and entered a room filled with lots of bookshelves, an alchemy table, and an enchanting circle in the corner of the room. Celestia landed on the room’s balcony and walked inside.

Aldus was about to speak but Celestia cut him off.

“I’m sorry about what happened down there, Aldus. I should have let Shining Armor and Twilight know about your return. Cadance told me what happened, she is my niece and I trust her. All of them except Shining Armor are leaving for the Crystal Empire later today, but they will apologize when they return.”

 

“You don’t have to apologize princess, and neither do they. I should have just taken my food back up here to eat alone.” Aldus said.

“No, its better you were there. You met Cadance and Shining Armor, as well as my student Twilight Sparkle who is the element of magic. The two others are the elements of honesty and kindness.”

Celestia frowned and walked over to Aldus, “I looked into the matters of my students during the war. There are records of them doing some... questionable things. Back then I was so concerned about Nightmare Moon that I ignored many things I shouldn’t have. I’m... sorry they did that to Lilith, nopony deserved that.”

Aldus looked up at Celestia, “Then you know why I did what I did?”

Celestia paused for a moment, “Given the circumstances, yes. I know why.”

Aldus trotted over to the balcony and Celestia followed.

“Celestia, I was a schemer, and in many ways I still am. I was schooled in magic and in politics, and I became very good at lying, so I understand if you might not believe what I have to say.”

He took a deep breath and looked down at the city below. “I never wanted a war or conflict, some of the other courtiers did, but not me. You knew me as a foal, you trained me at a very young age. I’m not a fighter or a warrior, all I ever wanted was to be with Luna, Lilith, and my friends in the court. When Nightmare Moon appeared we didn’t know what to do, many left Equestria as you remember, but for we few who were close to Luna, we could not abandon her.”

Celestia joined Aldus on the balcony, “I will admit, when the news of Moonlock reached me I did not believe you could have done something like that. But having had one thousand years to contemplate it, I suspect many of you cared for Luna more than I did back then. However, I’ve learned from my past mistakes. Which is why we’re having this discussion”

The Princess of the Sun ignited her horn and teleported a saddlebag onto the balcony, which confused Aldus.

“Nearing the end of the war, I knew that I would need to banish Nightmare Moon, and I knew that eventually she would return. When that happened I would get my sister back, so I made plans for that day and the years after. I ordered the capture of every Lunar Court member who still served Nightmare Moon. Do you understand what I’m saying Aldus, you are not the only one still alive.”

Aldus didn’t want to believe it, rarely ever were things like this true. But what if she isn’t lying?

“I knew when Luna returned we would need time to mend our relationship, if it could be mended at all. I knew she would return to rule alongside me and that she would need help. Very few ponies of this time would trust her or want to serve her knowing the history behind Nightmare Moon, so I sealed away her court to be reawakened at such a time when she was ready rule again. However, once I saw what you had done at Moonlock, I resolved to never release you from that prison. Then Luna found you, and my conversation with her last night showed me that decision was never mine to make.”

Celestia opened the saddlebag and levitated a violet book with a gold border to Aldus. “This contains the locations on where you can find your other court members, as well as the spells needed to release them. BUT, you cannot release them all at once or too soon.”

Aldus tucked the book into his robes, “Why not?”

Celestia now looked a bit worried, which concerned Aldus.

“Tension with some of the Gryphon Kingdoms is growing, the reappearance of the Crystal Empire has destabilized the northern region. After defeating Sombra we believed at least one of the kingdoms would invade and try to capture it, but nothing happened. There are spies in Equestria and changelings still looking for any valuable information they can find. If the entire Court of the Moon just suddenly showed up out of nowhere, it might cause a conflict that should be avoided.”

“I understand,” Aldus said, “But Celestia, there is something you aren’t telling me.”

“You were one of the only ponies who could see through me, Aldus” Celestia said with a chuckle. “There is... something... out there in the north. Beyond the Crystal Empire, and beyond the Gryphon Kingdoms. I don’t know what it is, but the other princesses sense it too, and it is not friendly. We fear it may encroach on the Gryphon Kingdoms and drive them southeast into our territories. I didn’t plan on this, but it looks like you are going to be of great use Aldus. You have a role to play now, for Luna, for me, for our subjects and Equestria.”

Celestia motioned for him to join her back inside the room. Aldus continued to listen as Celestia spoke.

“You have always served my sister faithfully, and I will not ask you to do any different now. But this is a diarchy, so I expect you to lend me your aid if I ever require it. The elements of harmony will play a pivotal role in the events to come. I want you to lend them your knowledge and help them in any way you can, and along the way I want you to learn the magic of friendship yourself. It will be a powerful magic to add to your arsenal.”

Celestia now moved to the door, preparing to leave. “Luna already knows about the other court members and I’m sure she’ll want to discuss it with you tonight when she wakes up. I’ve provided servants and builders to assemble this room in the manner you decide, but before I depart, I have one question.”

Aldus tilted his head to the princess, “I’ll answer it if I can, princess.”

Celestia eyed Aldus’ shadow, “When I imprisoned you in that temple and your soul was separated from your body, I thought the Nightmare had completely consumed you. Luna told me everything, so I must ask. What exactly was Nightmare Moon? What is inside you now?”

“I... don’t exactly know, I’m sorry princess.” Aldus said. “My relationship with it is... complicated. Our relationship is symbiotic, in the waking world it exists inside of me as a passive observer. In the realm of dreams it is the opposite. But... I do have some theories.”

Celestia smiled, “Well, I’m just happy its on our side now, if you find out anything and decide to let me know I would appreciate it. I’ll leave you to get settled in Aldus, goodbye.”

“Goodbye Princess Celestia, and thank you.”

When Celestia left the room, two servant mares entered and bowed to Aldus.

Aldus levitated the important book from his robes into the saddlebag Celestia had left and set it on a bookcase. “Alright you two, here is what I need. We have a lot to do before tonight.”

Chapter 5: The Crusade

Marigold opened her eyes slowly as the rays of sun fell upon her. The curtains were pulled over the windows so only a thin beam was able to enter the room. She yawned and trotted over to the window, upon pulling back the curtains she noticed the sun setting over the mountains. It was almost night time.

How long did I sleep?

She heard a yawn behind her, turning to investigate she saw Luna getting up as well.

“Oh my! I slept here the entire day, and in your bed. I’m so sorry Luna.” Marigold said with a bow.

Luna simply smiled and waved a hoof at Marigold while yawning again, “Marigold you know you are more than just an officer in the night guard to me, you’re my friend. You don’t need to apologize, and I must say I’m happy to see you stayed with Aldus. Any particular reason why you stayed?” Luna asked with a smirk.

Marigold blushed, “He- he told me he might need my help, so I stayed.”

Luna giggled, “I see, I returned this morning to find both of you sleeping. I’m going to go take a bath before I start my duties tonight and raise the moon. You’re welcome to join me, but first I’d like you to find Aldus and have him meet us here in two hours time. We need to discuss what my sister told him yesterday.”

Marigold bowed, “I’ll go find him right now, do you know where he is?”

“I’d suggest first checking his new chambers down the hall.” Luna said collecting some things to take to the bathes.

Marigold quickly put on her armor and walked over to the bed but could not find her Daring Do book anywhere. Thats strange, it should be around here somewhere. Not being able to find it she decided to leave and go locate Aldus.

After exiting Luna’s chambers Marigold saw three guards and a servant mare all talking to a unicorn in green and blue robes. She recognized the unicorn as Aldus and slowly approached the group, not wanting to barge in on their conversation.

“It is of the utmost importance that you locate this mare immediately. Once you find her, let her know I require a meeting with her on behalf of the princesses.”

The mare bowed and hurried off past Marigold. The three guards who remained also bowed to Aldus and picked up their weapons to continue their patrol. “Thank you for the chat guardsponies, you will receive word about the meeting as soon as I schedule it.” Aldus said.

Marigold saluted the guards as they walked by and stood in the doorway of Aldus’ new chambers. She whistled in awe. The room was covered wall to wall in bookshelves and many of them were already full of books. A large desk was positioned near the fireplace and across from that was a moderately sized bed. Three more bookshelves extended from the fireplace into the room creating a curving wall near the bed.

Aldus was sitting at the desk organizing scrolls and star charts. “Are you that impressed with books Marigold?”

For her part, she actually was. The amount of books here could fill a wing in the palace library. How could he possibly read all these?

“Do you intend to read all these, Aldus?” Marigold inquired as she flew over and hovered by his desk.

“I’ll need to read many of them yes, but for now they are here in case I need a reference for anything.”

“You seem busy, what are you working on?”

Aldus let out a sigh and slumped back in his large chair, “I’m organizing a titanic backlog of Luna’s paperwork since she returned from banishment and began repairing the night sky. There is just SO much here!”

Marigold could see he was stressed and sleep deprived, “Aldy,” she said, “You look really worn out, you could use a break. I’m going to meet Luna in the bathes right now, interested in joining us?” she asked with a sly grin.

Aldus’ jaw dropped, “I- um, I- don’t think- uhh that would be a good idea. You mares need your privacy and Luna... it would be inappropriate.”

Marigold landed beside the chair and nudged it so it swiveled to face her. “Ahw are you sure?” she pouted while turning to leave and swishing her tail in his face. “You were so flirty when we first found you in the north. Oh well, another time then. Luna wanted me to tell you that after we are done we’re going to have a meeting in her chambers.”

“I’ll be there,” Aldus said as he watched Marigold leave the room.

Godesses... I get locked away for a thousand years and suddenly mares find me attractive? I suppose it was true what they said about being old and mysterious.

Aldus chuckled at that.

Well that gives me even more of an incentive to create a fashionable wardrobe suitable for the current time.

--------------

Luna and Marigold were drying their manes in Luna’s chambers when Aldus walked in. The Nightmare had since returned to him from gathering information and so granted him the ability to see things a bit clearer than normal, even without syphoning its power. Luna and Marigold looked absolutely breathtaking with their wet manes and fur.

Luna noticed Aldus come in and smirked, “We missed you Aldus, you should have come with Marigold.”

Aldus blushed and stared at the floor, “Your notes aren’t going to organize themselves, Luna. I’ll come next time when there is less to do.”

Marigold and Luna giggled, “We’ll hold you to that.” they both said.

Luna sat on her bed and Marigold lounged on some pillows near the fireplace.

“Alright Aldus,” Luna said with a now more serious tone, “What did my sister tell you?”

“Everything she told you, if Celestia is to be believed. If the other court members are still alive, we must waste no time in releasing them.”

Marigold’s mouth practically dropped to the floor, “What are you talking about?”

Luna explained the situation and Celestia’s reasoning before the end of the war.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Marigold said, pondering the logic behind such a decision. “She was right about practically nopony wanting to be around you, let alone work for you, Luna.”

Normally this would have made Luna sad, but things were different now, things were changing for the better.

“I have the two of you,” Luna said with a happy smile, “And soon the others will be here too.”

Aldus nodded and grinned at Marigold with glowing green eyes. “My friends and I are going to make some changes around here for Luna and Celestia... with their permission, of course. That means you will be able to meet your hero, Marigold.”

Suddenly Aldus found himself staring at the ceiling with the wind knocked out of him. Being tackle-hugged was something he might never get used to.

“You’re going to bring Rigel back?!”

Aldus wheezed trying formulate a response while Luna was laughing at Marigold’s actions.

“Why do I feel like Rigel will have a similar effect on many other mares?” Luna asked between bouts of laughter.

“Because he always did?” Aldus added sarcastically as Marigold helped him up off the floor.

“I’m sorry, Aldus. I just can’t wait to meet him! Can I come when you and Luna go to release him?” Marigold pleaded.

“Of course you can!” Aldus said, “I’m sure you’ll get along great with him, and I need a capable officer with me to be in charge of the new guards and soldiers. His location is the closest, so we’re going after him first.”

Marigold turned to Luna, “New guards and soldiers?”

“Thats right,” Aldus said. “I’m not pleased with the situation at hand where nopony wants to join the night guard. If this is a diarchy, things should start to become proportional again, and Celestia agrees. Thats why in the coming days, I’m going to select some new guards to replenish the ranks.”

“But you said soldiers, too. Is there a new need for soldiers now?” Marigold asked, clearly worried.

Aldus looked at Luna, who shook her head indicating that now was not the best time. Aldus ruffled Marigold’s partially dry mane and smiled reassuringly. “Remember what I said about not needing to worry when I’m around? The soldiers are just a precaution. I’m only going to organize them and get things started on the logistics side, the rest is up to Polaris when he returns.”

Seeing the topic was making Marigold uncomfortable, Aldus quickly decided to changed the subject.

“You know, Marigold. I’m going to be more active in meetings and will likely be traveling a bit. I’d like to update my wardrobe. Is there any place you could recommend for me to start shopping?”

Marigold smiled at Aldus and flapped her wings happily. “I know just the place! There is a new designer in Ponyville, she is fantastic!”

“And one of the elements of harmony,” Luna interjected with a wink.

“Yes, I almost forgot about that!” Marigold said excitedly. “I love her work, she is very talented.”

“Celestia did tell me I should visit Ponyville and meet the elements when I had a chance.” Aldus said. “I think I’ll take you up on your offer to show me around, Marigold.”

Marigold beamed at Aldus, “Really? I won’t disappoint you! I’ll send a letter to her right now getting you a private showing of the boutique!”

“Thats not nec-” Aldus attempted to say, but Marigold had already flown out of the room.

Luna giggled and flew over to land beside Aldus, “I’m glad she cares about you, Aldus. I only hope the rest of the courtiers receive the same treatment when they return.”

“I’m sure at least some of them will, Luna. I’ll take it upon myself to see that we are treated fairly and with respect, and with Celestia wanting the same, I don’t see things being too difficult. I worry about other things...”

Luna knew where Aldus was going with this. She cast a silencing spell on the room so that they may talk without fear of eavesdroppers.

“What have you found out so far?”

“According to Celestia, the other princesses sense the same things she does, though they don’t seem to know anything more than we do. From what the Nightmare has told me, and from what little I’ve read so far, I’m worried about the north.”

“What do you mean Aldus?” Luna asked.

“The Gryphon Kingdoms, Luna. I’ve been to a few of them, witnessed their culture first hand, and read about the rest of it. They are warriors and fighters, always fighting amongst themselves because thats all they ever had to fight when it came to matters of their own lands. I don’t worry about them, I worry about what they are afraid of...”

---------------

Aldus awoke the next morning to the sound of pounding on his door. He had spent some of the night with Luna on her duties and continued organizing her paperwork, but otherwise was able to finally get some rest.The knocking persisted but was accompanied by the voice of a familiar hyperactive mare.

“Wake up Mr. old pony!”

‘Mr. old pony?’ Aldus thought as he gritted his teeth at the racket and the insult. Finally he relented and used his magic to open the door, letting Marigold in.

Marigold flew over to the bed and landed at the end, only to see four books in the bed with Aldus, one of them being her Daring Do book.

“Hey! I was wondering where that book wa- ha- hahaha!” Marigold burst into laughter and fell over on the bed. Aldus was looking at her with a disappointed frown that would actually fit on a grumpy old pony. But that wasn’t the best part, apparently he wore his eye covering veil to sleep along with a sleeping cap. It made him look like a character from a story her mother would tell her as a foal.

“Glad I could amuse you this fine morning, Marigold.” he said grumpily while turning over and attempting to get comfortable again.

Marigold grabbed the Daring Do book and laid down on her back next to Aldus so she was staring at him. “I didn’t know you enjoyed Daring Do, Aldus. If you wanted to borrow any of the books all you needed to do was ask.”

Aldus sighed and turned, “I was going to give that back to you today. You could say I’m interested in Daring Do... I suppose. But not in her so much as her knowledge of ancient ruins. Was there some reason you barged in here and woke me up? Or did you just want climb in bed with me?” He asked with a snicker.

Marigold bopped him on the head with her hoof, “Just because you aren’t a little colt now doesn’t mean I still can’t put you in your place. I came here to tell you that you have a private showing of the boutique in Ponyville tonight. The owner would have taken you sooner, but she is finishing a line of dresses and requires the day to work on it. But I thought you might want to get there a little earlier and see the town.”

“That... actually might not be a bad idea,” Aldus said as he climbed out of the covers and sat on the edge of the bed. “Seems to be a popular little town, when should we leave?”

Marigold flew to hover by the door, “Unfortunately I can’t stay with you the whole time, I can only take you there. Luna needs me this evening for an assignment. We’ll leave after lunch.”

“Okay...” Aldus said with a yawn, “Want to get breakfast?”

Marigold smiled, “I’d like that, Aldy.”

“Great, then you can get it and bring it back here for me, I’m going back to bed.”

Marigold shot him a dirty look and threw a book at him, “Kidding! Kidding! I’ll meet you down there in ten minutes.”

“Okay!” she said in a cheery tone and flew away.

-------------

The chariot taking Aldus to Ponyville descended from the clouds and landed near the outskirts of town. Apparently, according to Marigold, there was a pink earth pony in town named Pinky Pie who loved throwing parties for new ponies. Aldus did not want that on his first visit today... or any other day for that matter.

Marigold had talked his ear off the entire time. She wondered why he was so comfortable flying in a chariot, as most earth ponies and unicorns don’t go flying that often. His response was his limited sight and the fact that he could fly himself, technically, reminding Marigold of the Nightmare’s wings he could conjure at will.

Aldus jumped out of the carriage and Marigold said she would return later tonight to take him back to Canterlot. Aldus waved to her and the guards as they flew away, then went into town to look around.

Ponyville was a relatively small town, but it seemed much larger. Aldus pondered why that was as he approached a food stand to get some late lunch.

“I’ll take some hay fries and a daffodil salad please.” he said while looking around the town center. There were many ponies running about conducting their business. Aldus saw a blue mare sitting in a most unusual position on a bench drinking some soda, which made him thirsty too.

“Could I trouble you for a soda as well?” Aldus asked. The pony preparing his food smiled and gave him the same drink the blue mare was having, then handed him his order of food.

Aldus thanked the pony and paid him, then proceeded to find a place to eat. He saw some foals running around playing and figured school must have let out for the day. Thinking about those foals made him remember what he used to do once school was out. Usually he would break his back cleaning for Ms. Crabapple then go to the park. The park, that would be a nice quiet place to relax and eat.

Aldus was about to leave the town square when he noticed a small filly in a uniform standing by a collection box that read ‘Filly Scouts’. He remembered groups like this from his days at the school of magic in Canterlot. They did a lot of charity work and promoted good values. Plus he admired the little filly for standing there while many of the other foals played.

“Hello there.” Aldus said as the filly noticed him. He levitated a generous ten bits from his coin purse and dropped them into the box. The filly’s mouth dropped as she snapped a crisp salute.

“Wow thats a lot of bits Mr! Thank yo-- Hey Mr. are you okay? What's wrong with your eyes? Are you blind?”

Aldus looked down at the now frowning filly, “Blind? No not really. I just can’t see as well as other ponies.”

“Where are you going Mr.? I’ll help you get there.” the little filly offered.

“I’m going to the park to eat, but-” he saw the filly frown again. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt the child’s feelings. Strangely, he found himself wondering what Marigold would do in this situation. “I suppose I could use the help, thank you child.”

“Its no trouble at all!” the little filly said saluting him a second time, “This way!” she said grabbing him by a hoof and pulling him along.

They finally arrived at the park and Aldus thanked the filly before she returned to the town square. He found a bench next to a large tree and sat down. The park was nowhere near as large as Canterlot’s, but from what Aldus could see it was nice all the same. He dumped the hay fries on top of the salad and began to eat, only to be drenched with a bucket full of cold water. His food washed out of its container and onto the ground, his veil was sagging revealing one of his glazed over eyes, and his robes were soaked. Laughter above him brought his attention to three pegasus colts. They had most likely followed him while the Filly Scout lead him to the park.

“Haha, stupid blind pony!” one said while the other leaned against a tree, “Yeah, stupid is right. Just what is he even wearing?”

Aldus felt the Nightmare’s anger rising but before either of them could do anything, three fillies appeared on a nearby hill.

“Leave him alone!” they shouted as they ran toward the tree.

The three pegasus colts saw the fillies and looked at Aldus, who was staring back at them with blazing green eyes.

“Uhh guys, lets get outta here!” the older looking pegasus said and they flew away faster than they had ever flown before.

“Run, cowards! You don’t want to mess with us!” one of the fillies with a red bow in her mane shouted.

“Are you ok, Mr.?” asked one of the fillies, this one a white unicorn.

“I’m alright, just a bit disappointed by those foals’ behavior.” Aldus said while wringing out his robes. He heard a buzzing noise and looked down to see the orange pegasus filly’s wings beating in agitation. Upon closer inspection, he also saw that all three fillies were wearing capes adorned with some sort of symbol. Now he was intrigued...

“Those colts have always been a bunch of jerks, but they’ve reached a new low today, picking on a blind pony.” the orange pegasus said, noticing Aldus’ exposed eye and veil.

“Well it looks like you saved me from them!” Aldus said with a gracious bow. “And just who may I have the honor of calling my rescuers?”

The three fillies adopted a heroic stance and grinned, “My name is Apple Bloom!” the earth pony with the red bow in her mane shouted. “This is Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” pointing to the pegasus and unicorn, respectively. “And together, we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” all three shouted in unison.

“Crusaders? What are you crusading for?” he asked, trying to play along.

“To get our cutie marks! Duh!” Scootaloo practically shouted.

“We’re just happy to have came along to help you when we did. By the way, who are you?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“My name is Aldus, I’m from Canterlot.”

“Well its nice to meet you Aldus, but we have some crusading to do! C’mon girls, we have to get that treasure map!” Apple Bloom said as they raced into town while shouting goodbye over their shoulders.

Aldus smiled as he watched them run off. Such zeal, this is certainly an interesting little town. I bet its no coincidence that many of the elements reside here.

Some of the fries were not drenched with water, so Aldus picked them up off the bench and started eating them with his soda. He produced the book Celestia gave him regarding the locations of his friends and courtiers. As he turned a few pages he heard a slight booming sound overhead. The sky was bright but three streaking images could be seen performing impressive maneuvers around various cloud banks. Their blue uniforms and special contrails revealed them as Wonderbolts. Aldus chuckled and turned to the page marked with Rigel’s cutie mark.

Soon...

------------

The sun was setting and soon Luna would raise the moon to begin the night. Aldus was casually walking down the street thinking about how Ponyville was similar, yet different, when compared to the small towns he had seen in his youth one thousand years ago. Sweet Apple Acres was massive and likely was responsible for a large portion of the town’s trade. The pegasi town of Cloudsdale served as a hub of weather control and partner in trade and income with Ponyville, an interesting and dynamic relationship.

Aldus wondered if the ponies in Cloudsdale were as friendly as the ones in Ponyville, since Ponyville was largely a town of earth ponies. He stopped pondering such things when a decorative building came into view down the road. Remembering to check the note Marigold had given him, he read the name above the entrance. ‘Carousel Boutique’, this looks like the place.

He knocked on the door since it was well past open hours.

“Come in!” said a sweet voice from inside.

Aldus opened the door and stepped inside to behold a wondrous display of dresses and gem decorations. The walls were adorned with artwork that would fit well in any high class establishment in Canterlot. A sweet smell of perfume and flowers radiated from a display room near the front of the shop. Judging by the size of the building and the stairs leading up, Aldus surmised that the pony who ran this boutique also lived here.

“Oh my!” said the sweet voice, “You must be the stallion who was interested in some custom designs. How are you, darling?”

The voice came from a stunningly beautiful white unicorn mare. Her purple mane and tail were curled in a manner that reminded Aldus of the old ballroom styles from so long ago. She was wearing what looked like designer glasses that only enhanced her cuteness.

“Y-yup, thats me. My name is Aldus, I’d like to-”

“WHAAAT?!” the white mare practically shrieked.

Aldus let out a deep sigh of resignation. Of course this pony would be a student of history too, anypony who thinks infamy is appealing has no idea wha-

“You- You’re Aldus? THE Aldus? Former adviser to Princess Luna and leader of the Court of the Moon? The Magister responsible for inspiring such inventive fashion trends?”

“The one and only,” Aldus said with a wide grin. “Am I to assume that my choice in wardrobe so long ago has inspired such a beautiful designer? Miss...?”

“Rarity!” the mare squeed. “My name is Rarity, it such a pleasure to meet you, darling! But how are you here and not... you know...?”

“Dead?”

“Yes,” Rarity nodded, studying him closely, “And what is that horrid thing covering your eyes?”

Aldus realized his veil had been torn, dropped in spinach soup, and doused in water. It likely looked hideous.

“Its a long story Miss Rarity”

“Darling, please, just call me Rarity. I have time, now that my order is filled. I’ll brew us some tea and you can tell me all about it. I won’t take no for an answer, I simply refuse to pass up an opportunity to talk to a trendsetter such as yourself. And I won’t take no for an answer.” She said with a wink while entering the kitchen.

Aldus blushed, “Well... if you insist.”

For an hour or so Aldus informed Rarity about the war, the last battle, and his imprisonment. Rarity asked about the fashion one thousand years ago and what Aldus’ interests were back then. Aldus cited Starswirl and the first tailoring shop he had been in with the robes and cloaks. He had given Rarity enough information to start a few projects for him and she was delighted to take on such work.

“I can get your measurements right now, darling. I just need to make sure my sister and her friends are tucked in for bed, they are having a sleepover tonight.”

“Thats fine, Rarity. I’ll wait.” Aldus said, enjoying his tea.

Rarity smiled and batted those beautiful eyelashes at him as she trotted upstairs. Meanwhile Aldus couldn’t get over how many gorgeous mares seemed to be around between Ponyville and Canterlot. Oh yes, Rigel is going to love it here. I can’t wait to show him-

Suddenly his thoughts were cut short by a bone chilling scream coming from upstairs. Aldus raced up the stairs and burst through the door to find a horrified Rarity looking out an open window.

“They’re gone! The girls, they’re gone!” she screamed, her eyes beginning to shimmer with tears.

“Where would they have gone?” Aldus asked urgently.

They quickly searched the room for clues and Rarity found something that made her shriek in horror.

“There is book here with a map of the Everfree Forest!”

Aldus quickly examined the map and saw markings indicating a structure with the word ‘treasure?’ scribbled next to it. There was only one possibility of what that structure was.

“Rarity, I think I know where they’ve gone. I’ll go after them, but I need you to stay here.”

“But-but, I-”

“Trust me,” Aldus said, “Stay here.”

Rarity wiped some tears from her eyes and slowly nodded. Aldus jumped out the window and galloped toward the Everfree forest praying it wasn’t too late.

------------

The Cutie Mark Crusaders trudged through the vines and mud on their way to the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. Apple Bloom held the map and pondered which direction to go.

“There is supposed to be a river that we have to cross. The map says there should be a shallow crossing up this way.”

Sweetie Belle was having hard time getting through some bushes. Her mane was catching on just about everything. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was holding a lantern while trying not to let on how scared she was. The three filles soon found themselves in a small clearing. They stopped to rest only to notice four sets of green eyes watching them from one corner of the tree line. Four timberwolves stalked out of the bushes and approached the fillies. The crusaders backed up against a formation of rocks and screamed. Sensing their fear, the timberwolves charged.

Scootaloo cracked one eye open to see the timberwolves running at them then suddenly the sky above them darkened as a large black figure flew over them and gracefully landed between them and the timberwolves. It shot fire and lightning from its hooves and blew two of the timberwolves to pieces. Of the remaining two, one lunged at the black figure only to be caught between its hooves and thrown to the ground. Blue fire flowed from the figure’s mouth and burned the timberwolf to ash. The remaining timberwolf snarled and fled and the clearing. The black figure seemed to shrink as it set fire to the pieces it had blown apart when it first appeared.

The girls weren’t sure what to think when the black figure approached them. It was a large pegasus mare with fur and mane as dark as the night. Its eyes were a blueish green color and had a certain warmth to them.

“Are you girls okay?” it asked in voice that sounded tender and caring, but infinitely older than the mare standing before them.

“We’re fine,” Apple Bloom said, her voice wavering.

“We’re just glad you saved us, thank you.” Sweetie Belle said while pulling briars out of her mane.

“You destroyed those timberwolves with magic, but you are a pegasus? How-?

The black pegasus sat down in front of them while a black horn materialized from her head.

“You’re an alicorn!” the crusaders said in unison.

The black mare looked at them and contemplated the term, “Alicorn... I am whatever I need to be for the task at hand.”

“Who are you?” Scootaloo asked. I thought that there were only three alicorns in equestria.

“Who am I?” the black mare asked.

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, “What's your name?”

“My name?”

“Yeah, silly!” Apple Bloom said with a laugh, “You know, the thing that everypony has. I’m Apple Boom, and this is Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. So what’s your name?”

The pegasus mare looked at the fillies and at her hooves. The clearing became brighter as clouds moved away revealing the light of the full moon. She gazed up at the moon before answering them

“You can call me... Selene.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Selene!” the crusaders said in unison.

“It’s nice to meet you too girls. But, what are you doing all the way out here in the forest? Its dangerous out here, as you can see.” Selene said, motioning to the burning remains of the first two timberwolves.

“We’re looking for treasure!” Scootaloo said, “There are ruins deeper into the forest that are supposed to have treasure there. If we find it we may get our cutie marks in treasure hunting!”

“I’m sorry girls, but I can’t allow that. Its far too dangerous.”

“But- but you can protect us!” Apple Bloom said.

“And we’ve come so far already!” Sweetie Belle whined.

“Fine...” the fillies said as they realized they were unconvincing.

Selene saw the sadness in their eyes and recognized where she had seen this before. In two other ponies she had come to know. If it is that important to these fillies...

“Girls... If I take you to the ruins, will you promise to let me take you home afterwards?”

“YES!” came the jubilant response as the crusaders ran over to hug Selene.

“Alright, don’t move.” Selene warned as she summoned a dark power from her horn, and in an instant they were gone.

They reappeared inside the ruined ancient castle of the royal pony sisters.

“Wow, we’re here!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“Yeah! C’mon Selene the treasure is supposed to be in the throne room!” Sweetie Belle said as they ran ahead.

Selene didn’t sense any danger around the castle ruins, it seemed aside from the vegetation, the rest of the forest avoided this place. She slowly walked into the throne room keeping an eye on the three fillies as they ran about looking for their treasure. Selene felt a twitch of pain in the back of her neck. I’ve been here before... but... why can’t I remember?

“Here it is!” Apple Bloom cheered as she opened a chest behind the throne. But Selene only saw disappointment on their faces as they produced stones and ruined scrolls from the chest.

“Theres nothing here,” Sweetie Belle said, sounding lost.

Scootaloo threw one of the stones into the corner, “So much for our treasure hunting cutie marks.”

Selene was seated atop some rubble in the middle of the room watching them, “Girls, come sit with me.”

The crusaders trotted over to to Selene and sat down on the floor below her, all of them looking despondent.

“Why are you in such a hurry to get your cutie marks?”

“Because, Selene,” Sweetie Belle said with a slight mist in her eyes, “Everypony else in class already has theirs!”

“What does that matter?” Selene asked. “You girls shouldn’t rush something like your cutie marks. When the time is right, it will happen.”

“Easy for you to say!” Scootaloo shouted with tears in her eyes. “You already have yours! Its uh- uhm... I don’t know what that is, but its something! And its more than we’ve got!”

The image on Selene’s flank was a mass of strange shaped objects, each with different colors all against a sea of black. Between each shape there were small white dots to accompany the many different images.

Selene smiled and raised the three fillies into the air with her magic and collected them under her large black wings.

“I was like you once, so very long ago. While you are searching for your destiny, searching for just a place to start, my starting point was given to me.”

“Your starting point was given to you?” Scootaloo asked, trying to look at Selene from under the black plumage. “What did you set out to do?”

“... I was... a traveler...” Selene said, choosing her words carefully. “I traveled for a very long time, wandering here and there. I witnessed things so beautiful that touched my soul, moments of creation, birth and rebirth. The showers of waterfalls, the opening of flowers reflecting the sun’s light, and waves of the oceans moving in and out shaping the land around them. I even did some creating of my own. But, after awhile, I became sad... and lonely. However, whenever my spirits were down I would stumble upon something truly remarkable. Girls, just because you’ve run into an obstacle or experienced failure doesn’t mean its the end.”

“Look...” Selene whispered to the girls as she pointed to the chest, this time it was glowing.

“What's that?!” Apple Bloom asked.

“I’m not sure,” Selene said. “Was it like that before?”

“NO!” all three fillies shouted with excitement.

“Well, perhaps you should investigate.” Selene suggested with a smile and released the fillies from her wings.

The crusaders dashed over to the chest and opened it again. What they saw inside caused them to embrace each other with a cheer. They each produced a new crusader cape with gold and silver embroidery. Each cape matched the the color of their respective mane and the crusader symbol seemed to glow with a golden light.

“These are amazing!” Scootaloo said, buzzing her wings as she jumped around happily.

“Let these symbolize your resolve whenever you are frustrated by failure, you only truly fail when you stop trying.” Selene said with a warm smile.

“Now, come to me girls. Its time I return you home.”

“Are you going to teleport us again, Miss Selene?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Not this time, Sweetie. I think we’ll fly back.” Selene said as she spread her powerful wings.

“Um Selene, we can’t fly,” Apple Bloom reminded the black mare.

Selene grinned and enveloped them in a soft blue light. Slowly, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle  floated into the air.

“I’m flying!” squeaked Sweetie Belle as she spun in mid air above Selene.

“This is going to be amazing!” Apple Bloom said with her hooves outstretched like a competitive flier.

Scootaloo looked at the ground and gave a heavy sigh, “Aren’t you going to use that spell on me too, Selene?”

“Why would I do that, Scootaloo?” Selene asked absentmindedly while tickling Sweetie Belle with the tips of her feathers as she floated by.

“Because my wings... I can’t fly, Selene. Not with these anyway.” Scootaloo buzzed her wings.

“They look fine to me, Scootaloo.”

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle squeaked and pointed at her, “Your wings!”

Scootaloo turned around to behold a pair of large orange wings. They looked just as strong and powerful as Rainbow Dash’s.

“Care to lead the way, Scootaloo?” Selene asked, pointing to a large hole in the roof.

Scootaloo hesitated a moment but then remembered some of the lessons Rainbow Dash had started to teach her. She crouched low and broke into a gallop to gain speed and with a powerful jump she was airborne. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cheered as she circled once around the room then flew up into the sky with Selene following close behind, pulling the other two fillies with her.

Selene followed Scootaloo into a cloud bank only to see her drop in from behind and bop Apple Bloom on the head. The three fillies laughed and flew around Selene as they left the Everfree Forest. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom performed barrel rolls and corkscrews and encouraged Selene to play along as well. All three ponies flew around the clouds and even played a game of hide and seek.

Finally they entered the skies above Ponyville. Selene descended to land in front of Carousel Boutique and levitated Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle down beside her. Scootaloo performed one last trick and landed.

“This was so much fun, Selene.” Scootaloo said with a cheer that was echoed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

“I had a lot of fun too girls, but I’m afraid it's time for us to part ways.”

“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked while hugging Selene’s leg, “How come?”

“Your journey is over, you are safe, and I am needed elsewhere.”

Each of the other two crusaders ran over to Selene and hugged her as well. Selene knelt down and wrapped her wings around the fillies.

“Remember girls, you are crusaders. No matter how bad things seem, never give up the crusade.”

“Will we see you again, Selene?” Apple Bloom asked.

Selene’s eyes took on a slight green color and became bright. “I like Canterlot and Ponyville, and it looks like I’ve already made three new friends, so I think I’ll stick around for a while. If you ever need me, just call out to me in your mind. I’ll do my best to help however I can, I promise.”

Selene unfurled her wings and the doors to the boutique opened revealing a white glow.

“Goodbye girls... until we meet again.”

---------------

Scootaloo blinked and tried to focus as she opened her eyes. She was in a bed and was able to hear voices. There seemed to be three ponies talking. She attempted to listen closer but her head and side ached. She realized she had a bandage on her head and her left wing was badly bruised. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were beside her but they were also injured. She focussed her vision on the door on the other side of the room. It looked so far away, her vision was still blurry and the voices were muffled. She coughed when trying to focus too hard made her side hurt.

One of the ponies standing in the door must have heard her because they slowly came over to the bed. Scootaloo recognized the pony from earlier in the day.

“You’re Aldus...” Scootaloo croaked.

“Shh... Yes, I am.” he said softly.

“What happened? We- we were...”

“You were in the Everfree Forest about to be dinner for some timberwolves. If I hadn’t found you when I did, you’d be a lot worse off for sure.” Aldus whispered.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stirred next to Scootaloo, they both opened their eyes and recognized Aldus.

“You...” Apple Bloom said.

“That’s right girls, you helped me today and it looks like I was able to return the favor.” Aldus said with a gentle smile.

“But, you didn’t save us,” Sweetie Belle whispered, “It was Selene.”

“Yea,” Scootaloo nodded, “A black pegasus mare, she had a horn too... Selene.”

Aldus put a hoof to his mouth making sure the fillies saw him thinking about something. “Selene huh? I think... I think I just might know somepony named Selene. I’ll be sure to thank her for helping you.”

“But, you said you rescued us.” Scootaloo said, clearly confused, “Who are you?”

Aldus smiled, “I am a wizard and servant of Princess Luna.”

“Princess Luna?!” Scootaloo wheezed.

“Thats right, Scoot. The Princess of the Night and Dreams... speaking of which.”

A soft gold light formed at the tip of Aldus’ horn and wafted over the three filles. The light began to produce small golden sparkles that slowly fell from the suspended band, only to disappear just before hitting the filly’s heads.  

“Wha- what's going on?” the three fillies muttered.

Sweetie Belle yawned and fell back asleep, but both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo struggled to remain awake and look at Aldus, who was grinning at them. Scootaloo could have swore she saw his eyes glow green for an instant.

“You need to rest after your little adventure today. Sweet dreams are the perfect medicine, besides, you never know who you might run into in a dream...”

And they were out. Aldus tucked them in again and levitated himself out of the room so he was certain to not make any noise. Marigold and Rarity were outside waiting, and both mares were smiling at him.

“What?” Aldus asked.

“You were absolutely adorable in there, Aldy” Marigold replied with a large grin splitting her face. “You really are good with foals.”

Rarity bowed to Aldus and wiped a tear from her eye. “I’m just so glad you found them when you did, are you certain they’ll be alright?”

“I was never good at healing spells, but their injuries aren’t serious apart from a few minor cuts and bad bruises. If you feel like taking them to the doctors tomorrow you certainly can.” Aldus said as they went downstairs.

Rarity turned to Marigold, “Applejack is in the Crystal Empire, but I notified Big Macintosh and he is on his way over right now. I confess I don’t know of anyone to call for Scootaloo.”

Aldus took note of that last bit but remained silent.

“Thats good,” Marigold stated reassuringly “Considering the circumstance, things could have turned out a lot worse tonight. I’ll organize a Timberwolf hunt as soon as I can, I think its time we thinned their numbers a bit.”

“Thats a good idea, Marigold” Aldus agreed, “In fact it might make a good exercise for the new recruits. May I have a moment with Rarity please? I’ll be out to chariot in two minutes.”

Marigold arched an eyebrow at Aldus, but agreed and left after saying goodnight to Rarity.

Aldus levitated over a piece of parchment and a quill and began drawing a design on it.

“It’s really unfortunate that the night ended up like this. I’ll need to come back another time for you to take my measurements and give you my design preferences.” Aldus said while continuing to draw on the parchment.

“I can assure you Sweetie Belle and the rest of the girls will receive a stern talking to tomorrow morning, hmph!”

Aldus laughed, “I’d hate to be on the receiving end of that. You know, I ran into those girls earlier today. They chased off some colts who poured a bucket of water on me. I’m happy to see foals like them in a young generation.”

Aldus finished the drawing and gave it to Rarity. “Use that design and make three of them. Each should be a different color, red, pink, and purple. I’ve listed the materials you’ll need to make them, when you purchase the supplies just send all the bills to me. When you’re done, I’ll come by to pick them up and you can take my measurements then.”

Rarity smiled and nodded, “It won’t take long at all, thank you for all that you’ve done tonight, Aldus.”

“Its part of my job to help and protect the princess’s subjects, and I would never turn away from a chance to help an element of harmony... or a beautiful mare.”

Rarity giggled and blushed, “Goodnight, Aldus. Have a safe trip back to Canterlot.”

“Goodnight, Rarity. I will”

---------------

Princess Luna was observing the dreamscape and dealing with some small problems for the dreamers. Gently nudging their perceptions so they could change the dream themselves, and allowing them to safely face their fears. Luna then felt the presence of a new dreamer, Aldus. His dreams felt like anypony elses except for an overlying feeling.

What is this? Its normal... peaceful and calm except for this.... dread.

Luna entered Aldus dream to find herself on a hill overlooking a verdant green field of flowers. The sky was in the midst of twilight and a soft breeze blew flower petals into the air past Luna.

This place, I remember this place.

Further up the hill there was a large tree with a wooden swing hanging from a branch. A familiar little colt sat in the swing staring at the ground. Sitting behind and to the right of the colt was a large black alicorn. Luna knew it for what it was, but it was still a strange sight to behold. Aldus as a diminutive colt being watched over by that black alicorn.

Luna listened as Aldus conversed with his guardian.

“I suppose that is a fitting name, yes. I apologize for not giving you a name sooner... I... had not thought about it. How selfish of me.”

The black alicorn said nothing, but moved to sit on its haunches in front of the swing and colt.

“I’m fine now, really. It was good of you to help them tonight, you should go check and make sure they aren’t having any bad dreams. I know, I like them too. We’re going to keep an eye on them.”

The black alicorn plucked the colt from the swing and hugged him tightly, then set him down on the seat. It then looked right at Luna and paused a moment. The two alicorns stared at each other for a few moments before the black alicorn took to air then disappeared.

Aldus began to swing slightly on the swing, “Not quite what you were expecting, Luna? The dreamscape, I mean.”

Luna didn’t move, “This is where you would come to spend time with her after she first adopted you.”

“Yes...”

Luna looked at the mountains far across the fields and saw the utterly black sky above them. Lightning cracked the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. She had found the source of dread.

“The Mountains of Madness... or at least... thats what I’ve taken to calling them...” Aldus muttered while he slowly moved back and forth on the swing.

“What do they symbolize?” Luna asked.

“Fear, uncertainty, and most terrifying of all, the unknown of whatever threatens equestria. But we’re not going to face it alone. I’m going to bring back all of them. The Court of the Moon will be stronger than ever before. We’re going to forge new friendships and learn about the past so it never repeats. And finally, we’re not going to lose anypony ever again.”

A sudden breeze blew several flower petals past Aldus’ face. They swirled together at the bottom of the hill to form the shape of a special pegasus mare. The shape smiled at Aldus and beckoned him to follow it into the field to play.

Aldus turned to face Luna for the first time since her arrival, “Its been a long time since you used your power to help me with my dreams, princess. But I’m not about to refuse it now.”

I’m coming Lilith.

Luna watched him chase the shape of the pegasus into the field of flowers. He was right, they would all return soon, and they would face the challenges together.

Chapter 6: Rigel

The next day passed relatively quickly. Aldus, along with the rest of Luna’s servants spent most of the day sleeping. Luna’s presence in Aldus’ dream was something he was not expecting, but it was something he sorely needed. He realized this once she finally departed his dreams and went to sleep herself.

Aldus allowed his mind to freely wander and relinquished his loose control over the dreamscape. For hours he slept and recalled nothing of what transpired in his dreams until he found himself in a familiar environment. It was the small elevated area near the back of Canterlot Palace. The hedge maze could be seen below, and the city walls bordered the area making it seem much smaller than it actually was. This was the ‘play’ area for the students in Celestia and Luna’s school of magic, but it also served as a secluded public park.

Aldus was sitting under his favorite tree with two books in front of him, he remembered the smell of this place, as well as the feeling of the tall grass and the gentle sound of wind blowing through the tree above him. But his serenity was about to be broken when he noticed the familiar figures of the group of unicorns who used to pick on him while he was at the school.  The old feeling of dread started to creep its way into Aldus’ mind, but it didn’t matter in here. In here, he had control. However, before he attempted to change the dream, a pegasus colt landed in front of him and placed himself squarely between Aldus and the group of approaching unicorns. The pegasus looked to its left and as if on cue, a unicorn colt of about the same size materialized beside the pegasus.

“Took you long enough,” the pegasus said with a cocky tone, “I had to fly here, and I still beat you.”

The unicorn laughed, “I had time, I was exploring all these winding streets in your city. I’m not from here, remember?”

Aldus smiled as the two ponies in front of him continued to bicker. Aside from Lilith and Luna, the friendship he struck with these two was one of the best things of his youth.

The group of unicorns confronted the two ponies in front of Aldus, then slowly wandered off to go cause trouble elsewhere.

Aldus got up and jumped on the pegasus who allowed himself to be knocked to the ground. He laughed and messed up Aldus’ mohawk while the unicorn smirked and shook his head in mocking disapproval.

“Rigel! Polaris! Its wonderful to see you!”

“We wouldn’t miss a chance to come see our best friend.” Rigel said, “How is school treating you, Aldy?”

“Its going good, I’m actually learning a few new spells and incantations today.” Aldus said, and motioned to the books by the tree.

“Well we had better leave you too it then,” Polaris said.

“Ah geez, Pol. We only just got here, I don’t want to abandon little Aldy. I have some moves I need to learn for junior speedster flight camp, and you must have some training to do. Lets stick around. We won’t bother Aldy while he’s studying.”

Polaris thought about it a moment, “I suppose theres no harm in that.”

Rigel nodded and bent down to get within eye level of Aldus, “I’m going to spend all day with you, Aldy. We’ll get something for dinner later, and don’t worry about those other foals. Nopony will lay a hoof on you while I’m here.”

Aldus grinned and nodded, he then watched Rigel climb into the air and perform amazing aerial maneuvers. Polaris was practicing some combat wards and doing one hoofed push ups.

The dreamscape tensed for a moment then went back to normal. Normally that meant somepony had entered the dream. A black shadow was cast over Aldus, then it shrank to its usual size. He turned to see a large black alicorn sitting near the tree silently observing him and his surroundings. None of the other ponies in the dream seemed to notice her. In the dreamscape, Aldus had a degree of control... but it was truly her domain.

She could warp this space to whatever form she desired. In fact, in many ways she already had. Whenever they were together like this she always adopted the form of the black alicorn. She looked the spitting image of Nightmare Moon, but was less threatening without her armor, and was even taller. Though in truth, that observation was likely due to Aldus’ current state as a foal. That seemed to be a common theme lately. Aldus didn’t know why he was a foal in many of the recent dreams. Was it simply due to the dreams he was naturally having? Or, was the nightmare influencing them somehow? There was still much he needed to learn.

“Um, Selene?” he said cautiously.

The black alicorn stood up and walked over to him, she was so tall Aldus almost fell over looking up at her. She must have noticed this, since her next move was to lay down on all four hooves. She bent down to be at eye level with him.

“Yes little one?” she said with a warm almost motherly smile.

It was odd, for some reason she spoke to Aldus in his mind. He knew she could speak, but she simply didn’t do it when it was just the two of them. Aldus wagered that it was due to their bond.

“I’m going to need to get used to calling you that name,” Aldus said, “And I’m not that little, contrary to how I look in here.”

Selene smiled again. “But you are little, in the dream and in the waking world. Besides, our current forms speak truths about who we are. I am infinitely older than you, so when compared to me you really are just a foal. Well... just a cute foal.”

Aldus rolled his eyes and turned away from Selene, “I see Marigold has been rubbing off on you. Perfect.”

Selene wrapped a hoof around Aldus and pulled him in close to nuzzle him. A gesture that he begrudgingly accepted, and she found even cuter. Eventually he relented and sat down to lean against her.

“Have you visited Marigold’s dreams yet and introduced yourself?” Aldus asked.

“I may have eavesdropped on a few of them, but I have not personally met her yet.”

Aldus laughed, “Do I detect shyness? I’ll gladly introduce you if thats what it takes.”

Selene looked down at Aldus and saw him smirking. She enveloped him with a soft blue cloud of magic that caused him to slowly float off the ground. It was an anti gravity spell. Aldus floated up in front of her face and scowled at her.

“Very funny,” Aldus said, “I’ll just...”

Aldus attempted to dispel the magic that was keeping him aloft, but the energy collecting at the tip of his small horn sputtered and fizzled out.

“Ugh...”

Selene giggled and raised a hoof to Aldus and gently pulled his tail causing him to spin in the air in front of her. He groaned in resignation as he tumbled in the air. He was about to tell her enough was enough when suddenly a gust of wind blew him into the air. Aldus was still spinning and was having trouble seeing Selene and his friends.

Then, seemingly all at once, a familiar feeling washed over him as he blinked rapidly. The dreamscape had changed completely and his stomach tightened to the signal that he was falling. He opened his eyes to find himself plummeting to the ground. Tears began to form as he passed cloud after cloud, though he could not tell if they were due to him falling or being terrified. He briefly saw the old pegasus fortress above him, confirming his memory of this place. He tried to steady himself but could only wince as he saw the ground rushing up to meet him.

“No! No! No!” He screamed, but could barely hear the sound of his own voice over the air rushing past him.

Aldus clenched his teeth together, “Rigel help me, help me!”

Suddenly a black silhouette streaked past and spread its large black wings to slow its descent and position itself under him. Aldus crashed down on top of it and immediately took its mane in a death grip. Slowly it reduced speed and floated to the ground.

“Selene?” Aldus croaked.

“Yes little one its me, you’re safe.” Selene replied warmly as she laid down on the grass.

Aldus was panting with tears streaming out his eyes. He buried his face in Selene’s mane. “Thank the goddess.” he muttered.

Selene could feel the colt on her back trembling violently. The long tendrils of hair that made up her black mane wove themselves around him to guard against the wind.

She slowly craned her neck to look at Aldus out of the corner of her eye, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know playing with you like that would cause you to lapse into a nightmare.”

“Its not your fault,” came a muffled reply, “I didn’t know either.”

Selene frowned, “But it was my fault, I was too relaxed in my control of the dream and let it get away from me. I won’t let it happen again, I promise.” she said, while gently tightening her mane around Aldus in reassurance. “You’re safe here with me, nothing will ever harm you in here. Now relax...”

Aldus felt the gentle touch of her mane, and her soft fur. Selene was warm, he was able to stop shaking and dry his eyes. Aldus knew much about life, it was part of his special talent to know things after all, but with this entity he was learning new things every day. This nightmare, this being, had grown very close to him. In truth, he still could not believe it, but here he was, nestled safely under her magical mane. Part of being a successful noble and ambassador was never letting your guard down. Aldus had very few ponies in his life that he could feel at ease around, yet he felt completely safe with her. The feeling of love and care was similar to what he felt growing up with Lilith, and yet it was different, perhaps more intense, motherly even?

Was this what everypony with parents felt? A feeling that no matter what, everything was going to be alright? With her mane covering him he couldn’t see much, but he felt her looking at him wondering if he was alright. He answered by snuggling up close and affectionately nuzzling her neck.

“Feeling better now?” She cooed.

“Yes, thank you Selene.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was that?”

“The falling nightmare?”

“Yes, you screamed his name before i caught you...”

Aldus raised his head through Selene’s soft locks to find them back in the park in Canterlot. Selene was watching Rigel perform quick maneuvers in the air, and Polaris was practicing punches and kicks.

“It was a moment in my past when I traveled to the cloud fortress where Rigel was...from...” Aldus finished with a yawn. Suddenly he was becoming very sleepy.

“What happened there?” Selene asked.

Aldus yawned again and rested his head on her neck. “Even though I had magic to allow me to walk on the clouds, I was careless and slipped off, Rigel saved me.”

“He saved you then, and looks after you here at the school as well. I only knew him as the leader of the Shadowbolts, I never got to know him as anypony else. This time I won’t make the same mistake.” Selene said with conviction.

“No, you won’t” Aldus said drowsily, “You will be friends with all of them, just like with the crusaders, I know it. And you won’t have to wait long to meet Rigel, we’re going to go get him tonight when I wake up.”

Selene chuckled, “Sound’s like somepony is getting sleepy back there. Its funny, you can get tired here, but still wake up well rested, and you’ve done a lot in the dreamscape tonight, little one.”

Aldus muttered an inaudible reply into Selene’s fur which made her laugh. The wind picked up again and the sun disappeared behind approaching rain clouds. She knew her little colt still had some time left before he would wake. With care, she slowly rose to her hooves and headed for the the palace entrance.

“Selene?” Aldus asked

“Mmm?”

“Can we wait just a bit? I want to stay with them a little while longer.”

 

Selene stopped and looked over her shoulder, “Alright little one, if you insist.”

--------------

Princess Luna stood outside on the castle’s landing pad with Marigold. The chariot was prepared and was surrounded by both old guards and new recruits. Luna was amused by how excited Marigold was acting.

Rigel hasn’t even come back yet and he already has a fanmare.

Marigold noticed Luna grinning at her and looked confused. “What is it, Luna?”

“Oh, nothing.” the princess said with a laugh

Marigold tapped her left hoof in irritation, “Where is Aldus? He said he’d be here!”

As if on cue, Aldus emerged from the castle and trotted up to join them.

“Apologies ladies, but I needed to take care of something first.”

Luna regarded Aldus suspiciously, “Take care of something? Like what?”

Aldus jumped into the chariot and adjusted his robes for the trip, “Finances for a little project I came up with. It ties into something Celestia asked of me.”

“A project?” Luna inquired with an arched eyebrow.

“Yes, Luna. I can tell you the details when we return, or now if you prefer.” Aldus offered.

Marigold let out an exasperated sigh, “You’re doing it when we get back, I’m sick of waiting! Lets go!”

Luna laughed and got in the chariot as Marigold commanded the guards to assume formation and take off.

The journey was short since Rigel’s prison was located in a sunken temple within a swamp near the borders of the everfree forest. Luna was amused to learn he was imprisoned there given her portrayal of the Shadowbolts to Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty. As Nightmare Moon, she had called them the best fliers in the everfree forest, technically she wasn’t lying.

The chariot landed in the swamp and the guards took up a defensive perimeter. They had not brought provisions for a camp this time since they were so close to Canterlot. The temple housing the prison was a modest one, nowhere near as large as the one Aldus was locked away in.

“The architecture of this seems similar to the one in the north,” Marigold observed.

“Yes,” Aldus agreed, “The book Celestia gave me confirmed that Zebras built them all. Now, lets get inside...”

Aldus cast the spell on the door and it slid open revealing a musty smell. As the group entered, they saw that many plants grew on the ground and walls. It seemed roughly half the temple was flooded. After locating the chamber with the prison Marigold was confused.

“How come Aldus had so much stuff in his temple but there is practically nothing here.” Marigold asked Luna.

Aldus was configuring the prison’s control panel when he answered Marigold, “While there might not be many relics or treasures here from his past, I’d say of the things that are here carry great significance.”

Aldus slid the last crystal into place and motioned for Marigold and Luna to follow him to one of the corners of the room. The light in the prison chamber was dim before the lighting crystals became fully charged and began to better illuminate the area. Marigold gasped and rushed past Aldus to examine what she found.

Three large rectangular slabs of stone were arrayed around a simple pedestal. The design of the pedestal and the stone was that of typical pegasus architecture. Resting on top of it was a Shadowbolt flight suit and goggles. However, Marigold noticed it was not in the normal colors described in the books she had read. Instead of purple and black, this suit was a strange deep red color. It was so red it reminded her of dried blood. The logo was a bit different as well. It was still the winged skull, however there was a lightning bolt behind it emblazoned on a crescent moon.

Marigold examined the rectangular stones and suddenly realized their purpose. Many small symbols were carved into the stones. The symbols were the ancient crest of Celestia’s army during the Equestrian Civil War, and there were hundreds carved into the stones.

“Impossible,” Marigold whispered, “These are...”

“... His victories, yes,” Aldus said with a smile. “In the air, Rigel was without a doubt the best fighter in all Equestria.”

Marigold was without words, she looked closer to see many the markings carved to the stone were that of the Wonderbolts. She attempted to move to the next stone but tripped over something and landed on the floor.

Aldus extended a hoof and pulled her up, “And here I thought I’d be the one falling on my face,” he said with a laugh, pointing to his veil.

Marigold looked down see she had tripped over a hammer. The floor on this side of the room was littered with hammers, chisels, and all manner of tools. A workbench and small scaffold were erected next to some sort of structure that was covered by a large sheet. Marigold pulled off the covering to reveal a partially finished statue of a pegasus. It was quite large and missing its left hoof and wing, however the rest of it seemed to be finished. The pegasus wore plate armor and a helmet, its face was one of stalwart determination.

“This is...” Marigold stuttered, “Why? Why is a statue of him in here?”

Aldus looked at the statue and shook his head in disappointment, “Its here because it had to be, and for no other reason. Rigel certainly would not have wanted it here.”

Marigold was confused, but after seeing Aldus and Luna’s sad expression when they saw the statue, she did not press further.

Aldus moved to the console and initiated the release. Just like before, the soft blue light of the prison faded and the body of a tall pegasus stallion fell to the floor. However, unlike Aldus, the pegasus was completely wrapped in blankets and rags, obscuring all but his black and blue mane.

“Is he alright?” Marigold asked with concern as Aldus evaluated his friend.

“He seems to be fine for now, but he is not a unicorn like me, and so does not have magic available to hasten his recovery.”

Luna stepped forward and cast a blue light over Rigel’s crumpled form, “I suspect he may wake sick and malnourished. We should return to Canterlot immediately.”

“I agree,” Aldus said as he commanded the guards that accompanied them to make the chariot ready for departure.

Luna and Aldus levitated their courtier to the chariot while Marigold followed. Before she left the room she took one last glance at the statue in the corner. For some reason, it made her uneasy.

-----------------

Back at Canterlot Rigel was in Aldus’ bed and still asleep. A check with the doctor’s and nurses indicated he was indeed in good health. But without the aid of magic it would likely take him awhile to recover. Marigold had dinner brought to them as they sat by the fire. Luna had left to perform her nightly duties.

A few hours passed and was about midnight when Rigel began to stir. Marigold had nodded off on a pillow near the fire while Aldus brought a chair to the side of the bed and had been reading.

Rigel’s eyes slowly opened and focussed on Aldus, who was leaning forward in his chair and smiling, “Aldus? What is this...? Is this the eternal shores..? Where is Epsilon?”

Aldus felt a wave of sadness wash over him after hearing that. “Rigel, look at me. You aren’t dead, you’ve been imprisoned for one thousand years.”

Rigel didn’t move, but continued to blink to restore his vision, “I’ve been what?”

“The war is over, Rigel. It’s been over for one thousand years. We lost... but Luna is back.”

Rigel coughed as his eyes widened in surprise, “She is!?”

“Yes, now don’t move. I’ll bring over some food, you should try to eat something.”

“Rigel sat up in the bed and leaned back, “All those years I spent looking out for you, it seems odd you doing it for me now. Alright, Aldy, fill me in. I want to know everything.”

Aldus levitated a tray of food in front of Rigel and grinned, “As you wish, lets start with the nightmare.”

--------------

Outside the Castle it began to storm. Arcs of lightning streaked through the sky illuminating the ominous dark clouds that gathered over the city. Each clap of thunder made Mountain Laurel jump as she hurried through the castle to the princesses towers. She had never heard of anypony arriving to the castle this late, and on such a stormy night. Though on thinking it over, it made sense that things would be more lively since the Magister had returned.

Mountain Laurel entered one of the long hallways that overlooked the courtyard below. She never liked these hallways, they always seemed so empty and quiet. As she hurried along, lightning flashed in the sky briefly illuminating the surroundings. Shadows seemed to leap out of the walls from the various tables and benches situated about the passage. She neared the end when another flash occurred, but this time she was looking at the wall opposite the windows, and saw for a brief second another shadow following her own.

She whirled around and nearly jumped out of her skin. Her mouth opened to scream but no sound came out at all. Mountain Laurel slowly moved to the windows to get a better look down the hallway.

“Hello,” she squeaked, “Who- whos there?”

No reply, other than another loud crack of thunder. She cursed under her breath and slowly turned around. She had read too many horror books to know that turning around rapidly in situations like this usually resulted in something terrible appearing behind you. But perhaps she was just being paranoid. Mountain Laurel practically ran to the tower entrances and didn’t look back until she reached the Magister’s chambers.

A few moments after she departed, a servant mare trotted down the hallway with a washbucket and rags. She softly whistled a tune while the periodic flashes of lightning revealed a sharp glint in her green eyes.

------------

Rigel had finished eating and was now leaning against the headboard staring at the ceiling. Aldus remained seated in the chair beside his bed while a tall black pegasus mare sat on the other side.

“So this... thing, erm... this mare is Nightmare Moon?” Rigel asked, while cautiously examining the pegasus.

“Not exactly. Like I said, Nightmare Moon was when this entity existed inside Luna, now you could say its... Nightmare Aldus, I suppose.” Aldus replied while smiling at the black pegasus.

The black pegasus shook her head while putting a hoof to her face.

Rigel chuckled at that. “Well whatever she is, she sure chose a beautiful form. Does she have a name other than Nightmare?”

Aldus looked at the pegasus and saw her nod in approval. “Her name is Selene.”

Rigel considered the name. A name given to the Nightmare, the thing that could be responsible for the civil war. After hearing Aldus explain his time in his own prison trapped with it, Rigel did not know what he should think about it. When the war started one thousand years ago, Rigel was largely indifferent to it. He, like Aldus, had seen the signs and knew a conflict was coming. Nightmare Moon was simply the catalyst to light the flames, it was not the sole reason for the war. But now he was back, he should have been long dead. And being here now wasn’t all bad, he had some familiar faces at least. Rigel considered the circumstances and decided to make the best of them.

“Well, Selene its a pleasure to meet you. I suppose I served you during the war, among others. Perhaps now I’ll be able to do so again.” Rigel said with a weak smile.

The black pegasus mare trotted over and nuzzled him affectionately.

“Daaw... I think she likes you, Rigel!” Aldus said in a slightly mocking tone.

Rigel was about to say something clever but was interrupted by the door bursting open revealing a panting and frightened Mountain Laurel. She saw Aldus, Marigold, and Rigel, then finally saw the black pegasus after it moved from Rigel’s side. Two hooves came to her mouth to stop the scream from coming out.

Aldus motioned her to come inside and shut the door, “What is it Mountain Laurel?” he asked.

Mountain Laurel was shaking as she looked at Selene, “What is that?” she squeaked.

Aldus recognized what she was afraid of and moved in front of her to get her attention, “She is a friend, now what is it? Why are you here?”

Mountain Laurel regained her composure and took a deep breath, “The mare you requested a meeting with is here. She informed me this was the soonest she could come.”

“Excellent,” Aldus said, “Where is she?”

“I told her to wait in one of the hearth meeting rooms near the library.” Mountain Laurel said.

“I see, well I suppose I shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

“Meeting mares in the dead of night? Seems I taught you well, Aldy” Rigel mused. Though in truth he wondered what his friend was actually doing.

Selene too wondered what was going on, she regarded Aldus with a look of confusion.

“I’ll be back shortly,” Aldus said as he and Mountain Laurel stepped out the door into the tower hallway.

“You stay here,” Aldus pointed to Selene, “And Rigel, there is somepony who was very eager to meet you.” Aldus said with a grin as he shut the door.

Aldus trotted to the stairs leading out of the tower when he felt a hoof on his shoulder, it was Mountain Laurel.

“What is it Moutain Laurel? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The assistant mare bit her lip, “I- I know this will sound strange, but I think there is something here in the castle.”

“Something here?” Aldus asked.

“On my way here, I had the strange sensation of being followed, perhaps I’m just jumpy due to the storm.”

“Perhaps...” Aldus replied thoughtfully, “Or, perhaps not. Did you see anything? What exactly do you think was following you? Did you see any lights or hear anything, particularly a buzzing or clicking sound?”

Mountain Laurel was surprised by the questions being thrown at her, and at her being taken seriously. This actually made her even more afraid, what if there really was something following her?

“I- didn’t hear anything, and the only lights I saw were from the flashes of lightning. But during one of the flashes I saw another shadow on the wall following my own, when I looked behind me there was nothing there.”

“Alright, Mountain Laurel I need you to listen to me very carefully.” Aldus said as he leaned in close.

“Ye- yes?” she said timidly.

“While roaming around the castle at night I want you to be very careful, if you feel afraid ask one of the guards to escort you. Also, if you see a pony that you don’t recognize find the guards immediately. Do you understand?”

Mountain Laurel gulped and nodded in agreement.

“Good,” Aldus said as they both departed the tower.

-------------

Rigel slowly climbed out of bed and paced around the room stretching his legs and wings. Selene silently watched as he flapped his powerful wings and slowly ascended into the air. Rigel moved about the room looking at all the books. Aldus’ desk was completely covered with books and scrolls.

Looks like he hasn’t changed much in regards to how seriously he takes his work, Rigel thought as he flew over to the balcony doors. It was still storming outside, so he couldn’t fly around the castle without getting soaked.

Selene flew over to sit beside Marigold and motioned with a wing for Rigel to sit with them.

“Ah yes,” Rigel said, landing on a pillow opposite Marigold.

Selene gently nudged Marigold and the sleeping mare slowly got up and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them she saw a pegasus stallion staring back at her.

“Hello there,” the stallion said casually, “I’m Rigel, what's your name?”

Marigold seemed to have swallowed her tongue. The pegasus sitting in front of her had the same deep red-almost black color to his fur as the flight suit she saw in the temple. His mane was a deep shade of blue with black stripes. The eyes that stared back at her seemed golden when reflecting the light from the fire. They showed a confidence that Marigold could not understand, but also a certain sadness similar to Aldus’ eyes when she first saw them.

Marigold felt a gentle nudge from beside her to see the black pegasus mare sitting nearby. She nearly jumped into the air at being startled, but calmed down when she saw its soft green eyes and gentle smile.

“Um, I’m Marigold.” she said, “You were leader of the Shadowbolts.”

“Its a pleasure to meet you, Marigold.” Rigel said as he bowed his head, “And yes, I was their leader and founder.”

“I’ve read so much about you, and them.” she said flapping her wings happily. “I have so many questions.”

“I have some questions too,” Rigel said with a sly grin, “Tell you what, I’ll answer your questions... if I can, if you answer mine. Deal?”

“Deal!” Marigold said as she clapped her hooves together in excitement.”

Selene watched the two of them chat while she concentrated on sensing Aldus in the castle, there was something off. When she finally found him he felt nervous, on edge. She would need to find out what troubled him when they next met in the realm of dreams.

-------------

Aldus rounded the corner to the hearth meeting room, before he opened the door he stopped to straighten his robes and adjust his veil. He placed his hoof on the door to open it but hesitated as he heard a sound coming from the otherwise quiet wing of the castle. Aldus took a few steps back listening to the rubbing noise to find a servant mare with a washbucket. She was scrubbing the floor further down the hall where apparently somepony had spilled some food.

Aldus shrugged and entered the room to find the mare he was expecting standing behind one of the chairs near the hearth. The mare sported a khaki coat with a black and grey mane. Her eyes were a shade of red and her cutie mark seemed to be some sort of compass rose. She wore a green vest and held a tan pith helmet at her side. She saw Aldus enter the room and gave him a nod as greeting.

“Can’t say I’ve ever been called to a meeting this late at night before,” the mare said, seemingly amused.

“Yes...” Aldus said, “I apologize for that but it was necessary.”

“Really?” the mare said, “I can’t wait to hear what's so impor- wait, you’re that wizard thats come back from dead, aren’t you?”

Aldus smiled as he took a seat in one the chairs near the hearth and offered her to sit as well. He found it interesting that word of his return had spread so quickly. And if the rumor was he came back from the dead, well, that would only serve to make him seem more powerful. That was a rumor he did not mind being spread.

“Hmm back from the dead, thats one way of putting it... I suppose.” Aldus said with a chuckle.

“Well isn’t this something, to think I might take a job from somepony like you, at least... I’m assuming thats why you’ve called me here. Seems a bit late to be calling and asking for an autograph.”

Both the ponies laughed.

Aldus leaned forward and his eyes began to glow green, which didn’t seem to affect the mare seated opposite him in the slightest. “A job? Perhaps... but first tell me Ms. Derring Dew, just how Daring are you?”

The mare smirked and ran a hoof through her dark mane, “As daring as I need to get the job done, so how about you tell me just what it is you want.”

Aldus nodded, “Alright, take a look at this.”

He produced a map from his robes and spread it out on small table between them. There was a red circle marked on the map that Aldus pointed to.

“This is an area located at the border between the northwestern territories of Equestria and one of the southern Gryphon kingdoms. There is a temple here that holds an artifact of great importance. I need you to retrieve it for me.”

Derring Dew looked at the map a moment then looked Aldus straight in the eye, “What's a temple doing all the way out there on the outskirts of Equestria? Who built it?”

Aldus leaned back in his chair and stared into the fire, “It is a temple of chaos, built during the rule of Discord. I imagine the maps would have looked quite different back then.”

Derring’s eyes widened, “A temple to Discord, I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Neither have I until a few nights ago,” Aldus said, “The time of his rule predates the founding of Equestria, I doubt many temples such as this still exist, which is why I’m certain what I’m looking for might be found there.”

“What are you looking for?” Derring asked.

Aldus produced a small piece of parchment and handed it to Derring.

Derring opened it, “A book?”

Aldus nodded, “Gryphon’s have been spotted in the area, they must not be allowed to get their claws on it.”

Derring smirked at Aldus, “A temple of chaos, no doubt full of nasty surprises. And the Gryphon Kingdom of the Golden Nest, one of the more... problematic of them, if I recall correctly. I can do this, but its going to cost you extra. Double my usual fee, since you did say you need me.” she said with wink.

“The matter of your price is not a problem,” Aldus replied. “I have been given control of my assets once again, and they have accumulated in the thousand years of my absence. If you can do this successfully, and without the gryphons spotting you, I’ll pay you triple and give an added bonus. There might even be more jobs like this in the future, if you’re interested...”

Derring stood up and took the parchment and map. She walked over to Aldus and held out a hoof, “We have a deal.”

Aldus took her hoof and shook it, “Excellent, good luck.”

Derring trotted over to the door and donned her pith helmet, “I don’t need luck Magister Aldus, goodbye.”

-----------

The storm outside showed no signs of dying down, the wind whipped at the trees and the rain continued to pour. Aldus teleported to the statuary garden outside the castle. He pulled his hood up and trotted over to the statue in the middle of the garden. Aldus looked up at it and smiled. He thought some probably considered it a grotesque abomination. The creature before him was an amalgamation of several creatures such as a goat, horse, lion, lizard, and eagle. It was the spirit of chaos, Discord.

“Oh Discord,” Aldus mused as he assumed his own grotesque disfigured form. “I have to admit your last pose while in stone was a lot more entertaining than this one.”

The draconequus stood with arms outstretched and a look of shock and horror on his face.

Black wings dripping with a tar like substance formed from Aldus’ sides as he rose into the air to look Discord in the eye. “A shame that very few ponies know you can still hear things even while trapped in stone. How do I look? Pretty gruesome huh? I doubt we have much in common, but I dare say we probably draw the same looks of disgust, shock, and horror from the ponies.” Aldus said with a laugh as he removed his veil and stared at Discord with green glowing eyes.

“But I believe its rude to drone on and on to a captive audience such as yourself, so I’ll be brief.” Aldus flapped his inky black wings and floated casually around Discord’s statue. “A little birdie tells me that you will be released soon. It seems Celestia has plans for you to be... reformed... by the elements of harmony. If and when this occurs, I urge you to seek me out, I just might have something for you.”

Aldus inverted himself so he was looking at Discord upside down, “Sound good? Nod if you understand. Hahaha oh wait... haha I kid. I’ll see you later Discord.”

Aldus flew off over Canterlot laughing in the storm and downpour. The statuary garden remained quiet after he left, except for the sound of small cracks in stone at Discord’s clawed hand.

Chapter 7: Discoveries

Far in the north, the cold wind rushed over the mountains and down into the northern most gryphon kingdom. The wind was calming to the imposing gryphon standing on a balcony overlooking the valley below the enormous castle. The valley was carved out of the two imposing mountain ranges by a glacier thousands of years ago, but was further excavated by the gryphons of the northern kingdom. Several towers stood sentry across the flat valley with small airships tethered to them for docking. On the ground, larger airships prepared for takeoff as they were loaded with weapons and troops. Similar to their Equestrian counterparts, these airships were connected to larger balloons and gasbags that provided lift, but there was a small difference. Due to the nature of the airships below to engage in combat, their gasbags were not positioned high above the frame of the ship, but rather below or to the sides, and protected by metal plating.

The large gryphon on the balcony wore a long red cloak with golden lining and a gray armor underneath. He turned to see three gryphon officers fly by and snap him a crisp salute, exposing their left wings, each colored a deep gray at the tips. The namesake of the northern kingdom.

The Gray Wing Kingdom, by far the largest and most powerful of all the gryphon kingdoms. King Ziraal Gray Wing returned the salute to the officers as he watched them descend into the valley. Ziraal had come into power when a group of dragons came south from their migration. They attempted to drive out the gryphons from the northern mountains and southern plains. The beasts wanted the area for their own and thought they could just take it from the gryphons living there. Ziraal and his three brothers, being noble born, were attending court the day the previous gryphon king decided to do nothing against the dragons.

Outraged by this decision, Ziraal’s older brother Askor stood in open defiance of the king. He rallied several of the other houses in the then-unified gryphon realm to confront the dragons. At the cost of many lives, including Askor’s, the dragons were slain. Ziraal almost lost his own life fighting the eldest dragon, Kirghast. During the fight, Ziraal’s left wing was badly burnt by dragon fire, but that did not stop him. He landed in a river bed and coated his burnt wing with gray clay from the shale located there. After tending to his wounds, he returned to battle and ultimately felled the elder dragon, ending the conflict once and for all.

After burying his older brother, Ziraal returned to court with a host of his soldiers and entered the king’s throne room. The king praised Ziraal for his victory while offering condolences for the loss of life. Ziraal accepted his condolences by using his halberd to cleave the king in half on his own throne. After such a display, no other gryphon challenged him, and he was crowned king later that day. However, after such a traumatic event, much of the gryphon lands were destroyed and many other noble houses questioned the functionality of a unified kingdom. The three most powerful noble families and their vassal houses threatened to break away from the kingdom. Ziraal, having just assumed power both in his own house, as he was the oldest after Askor, and in the kingdom, was not in a position to stop them. So, with regret, Ziraal let them go, thus giving birth to the four gryphon kingdoms of today.

“A fine sight, my king,” came a dry leathery voice from behind Ziraal.

“Ahh, Lord Thest, come to watch the armada depart?”

Lord Thest stood beside Ziraal and looked out at the departing airship fleet. He was a gaunt gryphon who never seemed to smile. Though smaller than Ziraal, he was still a capable warrior. The Thest family was a vassal house to Ziraal’s, and went into battle alongside them against the dragons. Ziraal never truly felt comfortable around them though. The Thest’s ascended to their current rank by plots and assassinations.

“It truly is a magnificent sight, your grace,” Lord Thest replied, “I still think we should have used it to conquer The Crystal Empire. It would have been weak after its return, I doubt the ponies would have been able to stop us.”

Ziraal clicked his beak in irritation, “We’ve been over this, Thest. It would have been more trouble than its worth. By the time we excavated the crystal mines and recovered the crystals inside, Celestia, and her recently returned sister, would have arrived with an army and forced us into a long drawn out conflict. It would have been too costly, both in lives and coin.”

“And this large mobilization of our fleet will serve us better?” Thest asked.

“We need to figure out what’s beyond the mountains further north, Thest. The priests are afraid. I’ve never seen them like this before.” Ziraal said.

Thest rolled his eyes, “If I had some coin for every time I’ve heard the priests blather on about dangers threatening the kingdom’s...”

“You already have more coin than you know what to do with, Thest.” Ziraal commented as he left the balcony

“This is true, your grace,” Thest admitted as he followed Ziraal.

“While I agree they sometimes can work themselves up over nothing, I am concerned with their latest visions while in the scrying temple.” Ziraal said as he sat upon his throne.

“My king, what did they see?”

“They claim to have seen the return of The Wanderer.” Ziraal said with a grim expression.

Thest’s eyes widened, he had never been one to believe in the stories from ancient times that their faith was based on. However, if one of them was steeped in any sort of evidence, it was the story of The Wanderer.

The gryphon faith revolved around a female deity they called The Matriarch. She was supposedly the first of their kind, and mother of all gryphons. The Matriarch lived with her brood in peace and prosperity, but not on Equus. According to the ancient texts, the gryphons were brought to this realm by the descendents of The Matriarch from someplace else entirely. Where they were originally from was not known. Several of The Matriarchs sons and daughters had the gift of deep scrying and used that gift to aid their growing population. But one day, the seers saw a terrible vision. It spoke of the coming of an other, an outsider, a wanderer from the stars. However, The Matriarch  was not convinced that this other being was something to fear. Several years later, The Wanderer arrived from a falling star. It took the form of a gryphon, even though it was clearly not. The Wanderer claimed it was trying to find its way home, but did not remember where its home was. The Matriarch took pity on it and allowed it to remain with her people until it was prepared to leave.  

What happened next is still disputed amongst the scholars. Some say The Wanderer was an evil being that sought only the destruction of all gryphon kind. Some say The Wanderer wanted to steal all the gryphon’s riches and treasures. Or, that it wanted to know the secrets of the seers. Or... that The Wanderer possessed a very powerful magic and some of The Matriarch’s children wanted it for themselves. While those events remain disputed, what came after was not. There was a massive conflict between The Wanderer and The Matriarch, it is still unknown who struck first, but the end resulted in the death of The Matriarch and several of her children. Those who survived fled to Equus with the remnants of their population. The gryphons of the current kingdoms still worship The Matriarch to this day, believing she saved their race.

No gryphon knew what became of The Wanderer after that cataclysmic event. It was believed that it perished along with The Matriarch. However, there have been priests and priestesses having visions of its return going back one thousand years or more. But none of them ever started proclaiming that it had actually returned.

“Your grace,” Thest said in a hushed tone, “What does that mean? For us? For the other kingdoms?”

“I don’t know,” Ziraal answered while clutching the throne with his claws, “But it can’t be good.”

Ziraal stood from the throne and turned to Thest, “I’m done for the the day, Thest. I’ll see you at court tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, my king. Please give my regards to your daughter.” Thest said with a bow as he watched the king depart for the royal apartments.

Thest looked out at the departing fleet one last time and ran a claw along the golden surface of the throne, admiring his reflection in it. The room was a quiet as a tomb, Thest chuckled as he departed to rejoin his own family.

Ziraal entered the wing of the castle that housed the royal apartments. It was no larger than any other wing, but the rooms were bigger to house Ziraal’s large family. The king frowned as he walked by several empty rooms and cold hearths. Most of Ziraal’s family had either taken on other jobs in the kingdom or joined the air corps. Two of Ziraal’s sons were with the armada and would be gone for some time. His wife had fallen ill just after giving birth to his daughter. Speaking of his daughter...

A shrill scream erupted from Ziraal’s apartment as a brown and black blur crashed through the door and flew down the hallway toward him. Unfortunately, the blur was too busy looking behind at its pursuer, a tall graying gryphon, to notice Ziraal and slammed head first into his armored chest plate.

“Ouch!” came the high pitched voice from ground as the little gryphon rubbed her head and tried to get a good look at the stone wall she had run into.

“Daddy! You’re back!” she squeaked as she leapt into her fathers arms.

“I am!” Ziral said as he kissed his daughter, “Iris, what are you doing out here giving poor Kathe such a hard time?”

The graying gryphon behind them gave a hearty laugh, “Oh think nothing of it, sire. ‘Poor Kathe’ was just not as observant as he should have been, eh kiddo?” he winked at Iris, who giggled at him.

“After a bit of sword practice, we decided to hit the books, but I didn’t see the trip wire on the table connected to a slingshot filled potatoes and gravy.” Kathe lamented as he picked pieces of food out of the feathers on his head.

Ziraal shook his head. These two were always pranking each other. He had to admit it was a stroke of genius though. Kathe had used pranks to successfully pull Iris out of depression when her mother died, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

To Ziraal, Kathe might as well be family. Though he was low born, Kathe joined the priesthood at an early age and chose to take up the blue sash, making him a blue priest. In gryphon culture, the blue priests were a sect of warrior monks who not only learned the special talents of the regular priests, but also advanced combat techniques and blessings. They wore the traditional garb of the priests but with a blue sash around their chest and neck. Kathe had served with Ziraal against the dragons and in smaller disputes with the other kingdoms. His skill with a blade was unparalleled, and he was more than happy to take on the role of Iris’ teacher.

“Iris, go get your things, we’ll go out to the practice yard and see what you’ve learned.” Ziraal said as he set his daughter back on the ground.

“Ok daddy!”

Iris flew by Kathe and blew a raspberry at him, which he returned in kind.

“Kathe, how has she been handling her studies and training?” Ziraal asked.

“Sire, she has been diligent in both areas and is shaping up to be quite promising with a short sword.”

“Is that so? Or are you just getting rusty?” Ziraal asked, grinning at Kathe.

“Old, perhaps. But not rusty, sire. Iris is becoming incredibly fast, just like her mother.”

“I know,” Ziraal admitted. “I miss her, honestly I think Iris dealt with her passing better than I did. But I don’t have time to talk about that now, Kathe. Right now, I need you to tell me what you have heard from the other priests about The Wanderer.”

Kathe adjusted his blue sash and looked at Ziraal with a grave expression, “I have a feeling I should go with you to the practice yard, sire. There is much you need to know.”

-----------

Rigel stood at the edge of Cirrus fortress, his home growing up, and looked out at the horizon. The night sky was as clear as it could be with the moon giving off a pale calming light. He was barely into his teenage years when the tragedy happened. Over near the walls, Rigel saw a smaller yellow pegasus bouncing a ball between his wings. Everypony had told Rigel as far back as he could remember that he was born to be in the air. Every single part of his body was aerodynamic and sleek, from his wings down to his coat. The same could not be said of the little yellow pegasus playing with the ball. His head was large with floppy ears and his frame was stalky. Very few mares would have ever found him remotely attractive. His wings were frail,  prone to cramping, and didn’t seem like they would be able to support a pony of his weight. Rigel watched as the pegasus licked his lips in concentration and attempted to fly over the wall. He got about halfway up before slowly falling back to the ground.

Rigel looked on with tears now forming in his eyes. And in all my years of flying, after all the time in the Shadowbolts, I still have not found a pony who worked as hard as him. Damn it, damn the goddess. Why was she so cruel to him?

Rigel felt a wing drape over him and he looked up to see a black alicorn standing next to him. She flicked away the tears in his eyes with her wing.

“What’s wrong, Rigel? Why are you crying?”

Rigel attempted to compose himself, “Are you Selene?”

“Yes sweetheart, I am,” Selene said in a sweet voice.

“I see,” Rigel said, “Aldus told me you could do this... come into a dream I mean, just like Luna.”

“Yes, I can do that, among other things. I came to check on you to make sure you were alright after being released from the prison. If this dream is making you sad, I could change it.” Selene offered.

“You could change it?” Rigel asked.

“Mhm.”

“Well, alright then. Can you change it to this?” Rigel whispered something into Selene’s ear. She nodded as her horn began to glow with a silver light.

Suddenly, Rigel was standing on a beach looking out over a vast ocean. The sky was magenta and the clouds seemed to stretch in spirals out toward the horizon. He examined his body and found he was younger here, but that made sense with the memory.

Selene sat on a blanket that was spread out under an umbrella. She seemed to be admiring this place.

“This is absolutely beautiful, Rigel. Where are we?”

Rigel grinned and hovered in the air while he spread his hooves wide, “This, Selene, is the island of Pythia in the Kingdom of the Silver Isles. Polaris was from the island of Jadeth, which isn’t too far from here. Once our school in Canterlot was out for the summer Aldus, Polaris, and I would come here and spend weeks, or even months, relaxing and playing in the sun.”

“That sounds amazing for a bunch of friends,” Selene admitted. “I’m glad Aldus was able to get away from his studying and have some fun when he was a foal.”

Rigel rolled his eyes, “Oh, trust me. He studied when he was here too. But Polaris and I got him to play with us a lot. Aldus really enjoyed it, and he even met a filly here.”

“Really?”

“Yes really,” Rigel admitted, “He was quite taken with her too, they would write letters to each other constantly.”

“Wow... I didn’t think Aldus was the type of pony to be in a relationship like that, let alone start one at such a young age.” Selene remarked thoughtfully while putting a hoof to her chin.

“Thats just it,” Rigel stated, “Polaris and I thought the same thing, but she was similar to Aldus in a lot of ways, so we chalked it up to that. All I know is it made him happy.”

“Interesting...” Selene said to herself as she watched the clouds pass by.

“What’s so interesting?” came a familiar smug voice.

Selene and Rigel whirled around to see a young Aldus walking towards them with a sly grin on his face.

“Were your ears burning?” Rigel asked with a chuckle.

“As a matter of fact they were!” Aldus replied.

Selene smirked at Aldus, “Rigel was just telling me about your marefriend you met here.”

“Oh... was he?” Aldus asked, while he glared at Rigel.

“You’re so cute when you get all angry, little one.” Selene said, the smirk now growing even larger.

“I told you to stop calling me that...” Aldus said while grinding his teeth.

“Have you forgotten where we are? You don’t tell me to do anything in here,” she stated threateningly while spreading her large wings, “Little one...”

“Thats it!” Aldus shouted as he charged the black alicorn.

Selene let out a sigh as she aimed her horn at Aldus and discharged a bolt of blue magic that struck him in the chest. His hooves lifted off the ground as he floated in the air helplessly.

Selene gave a devilish grin, “When will you learn, little one?”

Rigel hovered in the air near Selene and studied Aldus as he tumbled in the air, “Uh oh, um, Selene?”

What occurred next seemed to happen all at once. Aldus suddenly disappeared from Selene’s magical field in a puff of pink smoke. Then in an instant, the sand next to her exploded as a small unicorn foal leapt up from underneath it.

“Attack!” Aldus cried as he latched onto Selene’s neck with such force she fell onto her side, laughing.

“I’ve got you now!” Aldus roared triumphantly, reaching for the black alicorn’s horn.

“Oh really?” Selene mused, as the long locks of her dark mane coiled around Aldus’ midsection and legs, dragging him away from his target.

“No!” Aldus cried, as a lock of hair coiled gently around his neck, “Rigel! Help me! Help mphh!”

Another strand of hair fastened itself around Aldus’ muzzle, holding it shut.

“That’s enough out of you, you naughty little colt.” Selene chided sweetly as she sat up. Aldus was now completely constricted in the alicorn’s dark mane. For a few moments, it playfully whipped him about in the air before laying him down on her broad back. The thick locks of black mane spread his hooves so he lay completely flat on his belly, while still coiling around him. In a last ditch effort, Aldus summoned magic to his horn, only to have one black tendril twist around his head to cover his eyes, and another start to tickle his nose. Unable to keep from giggling, the magic in his horn fizzled out and Aldus began to sneeze. Now that he was incapable of speaking, moving, or seeing anything, and was distracted by the constant tickling, Selene was content with the helplessness of her little colt. She then shifted her attention to the pegasus.

Rigel shook his head at the state of his friend. He performed a small back flip and dove at Selene, who shot several bolts of blue magic at him. Rigel dodged each bolt of magic while he flew straight at her. Once in range, he dove under the last bolt and gave a slight beat of his wings, propelling himself over Selene’s head as well as kicking up sand in her face. As she struggled to see what happened and was spitting sand from her mouth, Rigel landed on her back. Aldus screamed something but Rigel could not understand it due to his mouth being clasped shut. While Selene was still disoriented, he reached both hooves under her wings and tickled the joints, a weak spot for pegasi, and he assumed, alicorns.

Sure enough, Selene threw back her head in laughter as her wings flared wildly. The thick coils of mane holding Aldus went limp long enough for him to escape and jump to the ground. With his task accomplished, Rigel jumped into the air and flew up toward a low hanging cloud.

Selene spit the remaining sand from her mouth and sneezed. She looked up and watched Rigel fly away, “What a cute little troublemaker, these foals are too much fun... speaking of which...”

Selene saw Aldus running away attempting to cast some sort of spell.

“Tsk tsk, we can’t be having that,” she thought.

Aldus was just about to cast a spell to hide himself when two black tendrils grabbed his legs and hoisted him into the air and pulled him backwards. It was difficult to tell, since it was the same color as her coat, but Selene’s mane was every bit as long as Celestia’s, or perhaps even longer.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked in that sweet mocking tone.

“Ugh no! Let me go right now, Selene! Let me go mphh!”

One of the thick locks of hair coiled around his muzzle again, as well as his stomach and left hoof. He squirmed and protested as he was gently deposited on her back again.

Selene turned around and shushed Aldus. “Shh,” she whispered, “You’re coming flying with me. I just want to make sure you’re safe back there.” Another tendril coiled gently around his neck and softly stroked his messy grey mohawk in an attempt to calm him. As two more thick coils wound around his forelegs and over his shoulders, he realized she was wrapping him up in a harness of sorts.

When Aldus grunted a few inaudible words to his captor, she allowed the tendril holding his muzzle shut to fall away.

“Did you say something, sweetie? she asked with a grin.

“You aren’t taking me up there if you plan on chasing Rigel. The amount of crazy flying you’ll have to do to will be insane, and it won’t be enough to catch him.”

“Oh come now, it will be fun,” Selene said while tickling his nose again. “And you don’t seem to be in a position to say no. As for catching him, you don’t know how fast I can fly, and if I can surprise him...”

Slowly, Selene stood up and spread her large wings. The locks of hair that gently held Aldus moved him to the nape of her neck. He spread his hooves to hold onto her, preparing for the worst. Before they took off he leaned to the side and saw Rigel flying up to a cloud. Realizing he still had a chance to save his friend, Aldus quickly charged a spell. At the moment, the locks of hair were holding him snugly, not restrictively. He jumped up with all his strength and discharged the spell. A purple orb sped toward Rigel and passed in front of him before exploding with a flash.

Selene tsked and shook her head, “That was a mistake, little one. You know, you are just making it harder for yourself and Rigel.”

Aldus was held in the air as more thick tendrils coiled around him, including one around his eyes and muzzle before he was secured firmly in front of her wings. Selene crouched low and took off with a single powerful flap of her massive wings.

Rigel saw the purple flare explode in front of him as touches down on the cloud. Curious as to its purpose, he turned around to gaze upon pure terror. A black streak with green eyes barreled toward him at frightening speed.

“Goddess!!” he heard himself yell, as he leapt off the cloud at the last second.

The black alicorn broke through the cloud in an instant and immediately banked left in a tight turn to come at him again. Rigel felt something just then as he registered the approaching threat. His muscles tensed and the fur on the back of his neck stood on edge. This was the feeling of danger, the thrill from combat. Selene had done what nopony was able to do for a long, long time; make him experience fear in the air. It was amazing, exhilarating, the best thing he felt in... well, one thousand years.

“Yes!!” Rigel screamed as he pumped his right hoof in the air.

Selene completed the turn and accelerated toward Rigel again, she leveled her horn and discharged several bolts of blue magic. However, to her surprise, Rigel spun in mid air then flew straight at her. She watched him weave through the bolts of magic with ease. Their game of chicken lasted only a few seconds as they closed on each other. Selene prepared to veer away, but before she could, Rigel dove slightly and flew directly underneath her. The alicorn’s eyes went wide with shock as she felt him gently touch a hoof to her belly as he flew by.

Now both surprised and amused, she inverted and performed a split-s to come around behind the pegasus. Selene increased her speed and began to gain on him. As she prepared another spell, Rigel snapped into an almost ninety degree climb, something that Selene did not think was possible. He entered a cloud bank and disappeared. Selene approached the clouds and flew just below them. While she reduced her speed and examined the layer of clouds, Rigel appeared inside the clouds behind her. He looked down to see Aldus held in place by several thick coils of black mane. His head moved from side to side and eventually shook off the tendril covering his eyes. Rigel suspected Selene’s concentration was preoccupied with finding him, so Aldus had a little wiggle room. Rigel silently waited for Aldus to look behind and up at where he was flying. When he finally did, Rigel held up a hoof to his mouth indicating silence. Aldus nodded. Rigel made a few more hoof motions, formulating a plan. Once he was sure Aldus understood, he winked and disappeared into the clouds once again.

Aldus turned around and watched the rhythmic motions of Selene’s wings. The only thing to do now was wait. He mumbled to himself about the pretty blue and magenta sky. His muzzle was still held shut, Selene said she didn’t want him screaming in her ears when they were flying. Aldus shivered slightly as a rush of wind passed by. It was cold at such a high altitude. In response to his shivers, the tendrils holding him tightened gently while more moved to coil around him and provide warmth. Aldus snuggled up to the new additions. At least it wasn’t all bad.

Selene continued to search the clouds for Rigel with little success. Pegasi could manipulate clouds in any way they wanted. For all she knew he might not be amongst the clouds at all, but rather on top of them. Selene decided it was worth a look, as she ascended through the clouds she heard the voice of a rather cocky pegasus colt.

“Having trouble, Selene? I thought alicorns could do anything, and here you are having trouble catching one little pegasus.”

The voice was above her, but she couldn’t find exactly where. It wasn’t as if she was chasing any regular pegasus either. Rigel was one of the most talented flyers Selene had ever seen. She remembered watching him fight during the war and was awestruck even then. Despite him being younger in the current dreamscape, he remained highly skilled.

“Seriously this is pretty bad,” the colt continued, “You don’t seem to be making any progress. Why don’t you just alter the dream and catch me that way?”

Don’t think that hadn't crossed my mind, Selene thought to herself, now trying even harder to find him.

“Ya know, I think I know the problem,” he admitted casually, “Its your flank.”

My... flank?!

“I enjoy your alicorn form, it reminds me more of Celestia than Nightmare Moon. But I noticed your flank seems to be even larger than Celestia’s, if thats even possible. Celestia always did enjoy her cake and pastries. How much cake do you eat, Selene?”

Selene could not believe he just said that. She turned around self consciously and looked at her flank. When she did, she saw Aldus had pressed his face against her back in a poor attempt to stifle laughter.

“Oh, its funny is it?”

The colt looked up and shook his head no, but continued to snicker.

Selene rolled her eyes and summoned a life detection spell to her horn and discharged it. Slowly an invisible magic sphere radiated outward from the alicorn. It continued to expand until it detected a pegasus above and behind her.

I’ve got you now.

Rigel was about to make another wise crack when Selene burst through the clouds almost right on top of him. Thick coils of dark mane shot at him like lightning. Reacting on instinct, he arched his back and propelled himself backward with all the energy he could muster. The alicorn breached the clouds at such a high speed she was unable to alter her course enough to catch him. But even so, Rigel felt a tendril of mane graze his leg as she passed by.

Selene almost had him, she quickly whipped around and gave chase. Their chase had led them further inland but now the pegasus was flying out over the sea. He turned around and smirked at her as he put a hoof to his head in a mocking salute.

“Catch me if you can, big flank!” he said as he gained considerable speed and a cone of air formed around him. Then suddenly the air vanished with a loud boom as he broke the sound barrier.

Selene gnashed her teeth, when I get my hooves on him...

She flew forward with a magic augmented burst and also broke the sound barrier. After catching up to Rigel she closely pursued him while trying to incapacitate him with paralysis spells. The original plan was to stun him then catch him before he fell into the water. But she encountered a problem. On top of him being exceedingly fast, Rigel seemed to know when to dodge her spells at the last possible second. Selene knew she had to try something different. She felt a tight squeeze on her neck as she banked into another tight turn. Poor Aldus had been holding on for dear life for the past ten minutes or so, despite being safe in the coils of her mane. Suddenly, an evil grin split her face as she put together a plan to end this little game.

Rigel dove under a cloud and headed back to the beach. He had been very successful in evading his pursuer thus far. As he leveled out he checked behind him to verify the alicorn’s position. To his surprise she wasn’t there. Confused, Rigel looked ahead again and gasped in shock. Selene teleported in front of him, and before he had time to react, her black mane flailed wildly and hurled Aldus straight at him. Adlus screamed in a pitch usually reserved for fillies as he spun through the air and collided into Rigel. They both spun several times before Rigel stabilized them just in time to see a black alicorn bearing down on them.

With only seconds to spare, Aldus ignited his horn and teleported both of them out of the way. They reappeared a good distance from their pursuer, but it wouldn’t remain that way for long. Aldus fell to Rigel’s back hooves and dangled from them.

“What are you waiting for? Fly!” Aldus yelled.

Rigel grunted in irritation, “I can’t do anything with you hanging on me like this!”

“Oh sooorry,” Aldus apologized sarcastically, “I’ll just drop hundreds of feet into the ocean to free you up a bit.”

“Really?” Rigel asked, “Cuz that’d be great.”

“NO!”

“DON’T SCREAM AT ME, I’M RIGHT HERE!”

As the two foals continued to argue they didn’t notice the black winged object racing toward them.

“Look just get us to the beach and I can hide us,” Aldus said with a sigh while he looked behind them and saw black death approaching. “Just do it quickly!”

Rigel saw the approaching alicorn and beat his wings as hard as he could. They cleared most of the ocean before Selene caught up to them.

“Almost there...almost there. Hurry!” Aldus yelled

“I can’t go any faster!” Rigel shouted, “Can’t you do something?”

“No, my magic is all used up!”

They were above the beach when a blue light lit up behind them. Both of them looked back and shouted, “NOOOOO!!”

The spell detonated behind the two foals and flung them in different directions. Rigel lost control and crashed into the ground, luckily he wasn’t going that fast. He closed his eyes and decided not to stand up until the world stopped spinning. Aldus did not fare as well. As the spell exploded he flew over Rigel’s head and landed face first in a sand dune. His entire body up to his midsection was buried in sand leaving only his kicking backside visible.

Rigel opened his eyes to find a black alicorn standing over him. The sun was to her back which made it difficult to see her expression, but Rigel knew she was grinning mischievously at him.

“Um... Hi.” Rigel said with a meek smile.

Selene enveloped the pegasus foal in a magical field and brought him to eye level. “So I have a big flank, do I?”

Rigel tilted his head to look at it, “Uh... Yes?”

In an instant, five locks of mane began relentlessly tickling the floating pegasus. Two found their way under his wings which caused him to spasm with laughter. The torture continued until tears began to form in Rigel’s eyes. With a goofy grin he begged the alicorn to stop, stating that he was laughing so hard it hurt.

Eventually she ceased the tickling and set him down. “Have you learned your lesson?”

“I sure have,” Rigel said, “If you think an alicorn has a big flank, keep it to yourself.”

The black alicorn simply shook her head disapprovingly.

Rigel looked up at Selene and smiled, “Selene?”

“Yes, Rigel?”

The pegasus jumped up and embraced Selene in a warm hug, “Thank you.”

Selene was a bit surprised by his actions, she sat down on all four hooves and put a hoof around him, “What are you thanking me for?”

“For just... being here. For helping me with that dream earlier,” Rigel hugged her tighter, “And for making me experience fear in the air again. It has been so long, I almost forgot what it felt like. It was incredible”

“I scared you, and you enjoyed it?” Selene asked.

“Yes,” Rigel answered, “Being afraid is important in flying, and it has been so long since I felt that fear. I deserve it, and I deserved it even more during the war.”

Selene held him gently, “What do you mean?”

“Celestia’s fliers in the war were arrogant like all the other ponies who followed her. When Luna turned into...you,” Rigel hesitated for a moment, “When Nightmare Moon first appeared, nopony took her seriously until she refused to lower the moon. Just like nopony appreciated Luna or any of us for all we did for Equestria. When the first battles started and we began achieving victories, it felt great. We were putting those arrogant sun lovers in their place. I flew against the best of The Wonderbolts and ripped them out of the sky. But as the war went on, my victories rang hollow.”

Rigel looked into Selene’s eyes, “There were so few of us, and so many of them, which meant most of my opponents were not worthy. So many young pegasi rushed to engage me, having no idea what they were getting into. One by one they fell out the sky, and I was named an ace. An ace... for what? For downing inexperienced fliers? Does a full grown stallion go around beating up foals and wear it like a badge of honor?”

Rigel shook his head, “It doesn’t matter now. I knew then that fighting for you and Luna was the right thing to do, and you being here now confirms it. I made the right choice.”

“So you don’t mind me being here then?” Selene inquired.

Rigel let go of her and sat down on his hind legs, “Of course I don’t mind it. The dream walking you and Luna do is something I will treasure always. It was one of the main reasons Aldus and I decided to fight for you. Everypony is susceptible to bad dreams and are often helpless to do anything about it. For somepony like you or Luna to use your power to help guide ponies through the unknown is simply amazing. When a being so powerful appears to a child and keeps them safe while they sleep? That is an intimacy that will never be forgotten. Speaking of that, I heard what you did for those three fillies a few days ago.”

Selene smiled, “Ah yes, the cutie mark crusaders. We had a lot of fun that night.”

“I’m happy you are here, Selene.” Rigel admitted, “I had a lot fun flying around up there, and seeing this place again makes me feel great. Aldus had fun too, no matter what he says, he had fun, trust me.”

Selene allowed two black tendrils to fall in front of her and gently tickle Rigel again, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourselves. You two ponies have gone through so much for me and for Luna. But now I’m here for you. I’ll always be around when you dream.”

Rigel playfully batted away the tendrils and laid down between Selene’s forehooves. He spread his wings slightly and leaned against her chest. Once he was comfortable he looked up at her and smiled.

“A personal dream guardian watching over my friends and I? I could get used this. Where is Aldus?”

Both Selene and Rigel looked to a sand dune near the tree line and saw him pressing his hooves to the dune attempting to dislodge his head. They both laughed as Selene grabbed Aldus’ tail with a magical field and pulled him free.

Aldus spit out sand from his mouth and shook his head. After most of the sand was gone he trotted over to Selene and Rigel.

“You two are crazy, and YOU!” Aldus yelled, pointing a hoof at Selene, “How could you throw me like that?!”

“Oh relax, little one. I figured Rigel would catch you, and he did.” Selene said.

“It was a dirty trick and sure caught me by surprise,” Rigel admitted, “She gets points for that.”

“I get points? Yay!” Selene cheered as she laughed with Rigel.

“But if he didn’t catch me?” Aldus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Then I would have, you silly foal,” Selene stated, as five tendrils of black mane rose above her head and wiggled for effect.

One of the long tendrils slithered out toward Aldus and beckoned him to come forward, “Come sit with us and relax.” Selene said softly as her horn lit up with a silver light. The air around her shimmered and rippled, when it returned to normal Selene and Rigel were laying on a blanket with a large umbrella planted in the sand next to them.

Aldus looked at the tendril then at Selene and Rigel, “You know, the flying was pretty cool... it reminded me of when you would take me flying when we were foals, Rigel.”

Rigel beamed at Selene, “I told you he had fun!”

“Can we do this again sometime?” Aldus asked.

“Of course we can, sweetie!” Selene answered happily.

Aldus trotted over to Selene and climbed onto her back. He reclined against her neck and looked out at the blue and magenta skies.

“Rigel, do you remember this place being so beautiful?” Aldus asked.

“Yeah, I always thought it was,” Rigel replied, “For me its always been the sky. The way the light reflects from the ocean far off on the horizon. Its like something from a painting. Selene did a great job creating this place. I kinda don’t want to leave,” Rigel admitted with a chuckle.

“Aww, thank you, I aim to please,” Selene said as her mane gently covered the two colts, “But I can’t take all the credit, this is Rigel’s dream and these are his memories.”

“Mhm,” Rigel nodded in agreement, “And they are good memories, we should visit there soon to see how much it has changed.”

“Oh, we will.” Aldus said with a grin, “The Silver Isles is top of the list of places I need to visit. We’ll stay for a while once we’re there, for business concerning the royal sisters, of course.”

Rigel and Aldus burst out laughing while Selene shook her head, “You two will have to do some work while you are there. Speaking of work, shouldn’t you be working right now, little one?”

“Nope,” Aldus said with a laugh, “I’m done for the day. Thats why I’m here now. I’m taking a power nap waiting for Rigel to wake up so we can get dinner.”

“I’m not waking up yet, Aldy.” Rigel said, “I’m enjoying this too much. The smell, the breeze, the sky, the feel of the sand. This is pure nostalgia of simpler times. Its perfect.”

Aldus contemplated what his friend just said, “It is nice. To know that every time we go to sleep we could find ourselves in paradise. To have somepony watching over us when we are at our most vulnerable. Yes, perfect might just be the best word to describe it.”

Aldus rolled to his side and hugged a large coil of her mane, “We love you, Selene.”

Selene smiled and felt tears forming in her eyes.

“What could we do to thank you for all of this?” Rigel asked.  

Selene looked down at Rigel, “You two colts don’t need to do anything, I’m the one who’s here for you remember? Just relax and enjoy your time here. But, you could tell me more about the Silver Isles. I’m curious what all you did here in your childhood.”

Rigel turned over to look up at her, “What do you want know?”

Selene nuzzled the pegasus, “Tell me everything.”

--------------

Marigold trotted into the throne room to meet Luna and go over some paperwork regarding some of the new guards under her command. When she entered the room she saw Aldus and Rigel sitting at the end of one of the tables nearest the throne. Luna had taken the throne for the night as her sister retired, and she seemed to be sharing a laugh with Rigel.

Marigold smiled as her heart filled with warmth. It was so nice to see Luna sitting on the throne laughing. Before they returned it was just her and Luna. There was the guards, sure, but they didn’t talk much, at least not in Marigold or Luna’s presence.

“That is incredible, Luna! An entire night dedicated to you and Nightmare Moon!” Rigel exclaimed as he filled his plate with more food.

Aldus stuffed a pastry into his mouth and nodded, “I hear,” he said between chewing, “Its very popular with the children. They all love to dress up in costumes and get as much candy as they can.”

“That sounds like so much fun, Aldus. Luna says that they celebrate it in Ponyville by decorating the entire town. We have to go.”

Aldus rolled his eyes, “Rigel, I’m sure we’ll do something, but-”

“No, you don’t understand. We have to go,” Rigel interjected, “Our princess commands it.”

Aldus looked over at Luna on the throne, who smiled sweetly at him.

Aldus was about to say something but he was cut off by the hooves that wrapped around his chest like vice grips.

“Yay!” Marigold cheered, “Aldus and Rigel are coming to Nightmare Night in Ponyville!”

Rigel laughed and motioned for Marigold and Aldus to lean across the table, “I have an idea that will scare everypony to half death, and provide a fun adventure for the children.”  

As they continued to eat, Marigold sat next to Rigel and told him about all her experiences of Nightmare Night from when she was little. She stopped for a moment when the sound of children could be heard entering the room. About fifteen foals ran up and formed a line in front of one of the serving mares near the end of the hall.

Aldus and Rigel looked up to see what the commotion was about. A cheerful purple mare was watching the foals.

“Alright my little ponies, make sure you order your food before we board the train back to Ponyville. And be sure to thank the princess for letting you tour the palace today and giving you dinner.”

“Isn’t it a bit late for them to be on a field trip?” Aldus asked, while the sky became darker.  

“Their trip is over,” Marigold said, “But since it was an all day affair, and they had to travel here from Ponyville, Luna offered them dinner before they leave.”

Marigold suddenly realized something about Aldus

“Hey, Aldus”

“Yeah?”

“Why aren’t you wearing your veil?” Marigold asked.

Aldus rubbed his eyes with a hoof, “I improved the potion that partially restored my sight earlier today. Now my vision is almost fully restored, but it seems my eyes still look blind.”

“PRINCESS LUNA!!” came a high pitched voice from across the room.

Aldus, Rigel, and Marigold looked up to see an orange blur run across the room and glomp Princess Luna. The pegasus filly was too small to move the princess but still hit with enough force to briefly wind her.

“Thats impressive,” Rigel snickered as he watched the filly.

“Hello Scootaloo,” Luna said with a gentle smile, not bothered by the filly’s actions in the slightest.

“You were in my dreams a few nights ago!” Scootaloo said while buzzing her wings, “Because of your help, Rainbow Dash agreed to be my big sister! Thank you so much!”

“See what happens when you have the courage to face your fears?” Princess Luna said as she hugged the filly.

“Scootaloo!” the purple mare yelled as she trotted up to the throne, “I apologize for the inappropriate behavior, Princess Luna.”

“Its quite alright Miss Cheerilee,” Luna said while she levitated Scootaloo off the throne, “I love it when foals come to visit the palace, and I appreciate them staying late so I could see them.”

Luna looked at the foals who had gathered behind Miss Cheerilee, “Did you all have fun today, my little ponies?!”

“YEAH!!”

“Excellent! Would you all like to come spend the day here again?!”

“YEAH!!!!”

“Then we shall make plans for another visit!”

Luna then cleared her throat and leaned over the throne, surveying the foals with a stern look. She quickly turned to Aldus and Rigel and gave them a quick wink.

“One final question, did the foals behave while they were here, Miss Cheerilee?”

“They most certainly did, Princess Luna. They were on their best behavior at all times.”

“Truly? Then that is deserving of a reward! Ice cream and cake for everypony!”

The foals cheered while jumping up and down excitedly. Luna laughed at their display as the servants began preparing the desserts.

Rigel grinned and leaned over to Marigold, “And this is why Luna is best princess.”

All three ponies at the table started laughing when Aldus felt a gentle pull on his tail. He turned around to see Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle staring up at him.

“Da cootee mar crusaers!” He exclaimed with a mouth full of food.

Aldus swallowed the food and turned around, “How have you girls been?”

“We’ve been great!” Sweetie Belle said, “We just wanted to thank you for saving us in the Everfree Forest.”

“You don’t have thank me,” Aldus said, “But that reminds me, I have something for the three of you. Hang on one sec.”

Aldus disappeared in a flash, leaving the crusaders with Rigel and Marigold.

Scootaloo looked at Rigel’s strong, elegant frame and climbed up on the bench beside him. “Who are you?” the little filly asked in awe.

“I’m Rigel, you must be Scootaloo,” he said while extending a hoof to her.

Scootaloo grabbed the hoof and beamed at him, “You look... fast, can you fly fast, Mr. Rigel?”

Rigel extended his wings in wide stretch, “I’ve been known to fly fast on occasion,” he replied casually.

Marigold leaned behind Rigel and put a hoof to her mouth to whisper, “He was the creator and captain of The Shadowbolts!”

“Really?” Scootaloo gasped.

“Really!”

“Thats so awesome!”

“I know!”

Marigold and Scootaloo giggled while Rigel shrugged at Luna, who laughed and rolled her eyes.

Aldus reappeared in flash with a box, which he presented to the three fillies.

“What is this?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well, I met with the mare who helped save you. Selene right? She and I are old friends, and she gave me this to give to you.”

The three fillies opened it to find the crusader capes Selene had given them.

“These are real?” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Of course they are, now take them with you and go eat your dinner, the dessert will be out soon.”

“Thank you, Aldus!” The fillies shouted as they rejoined their classmates.

Aldus watched the fillies sit down and start eating when his eyes passed over a servant mare that was cleaning a table and watching them. Aldus noticed that it was the same servant that was wiping the floor when he met with Derring Dew. The mare finished cleaning and trotted over to the kitchens.

Aldus knew the servants were given sections of the castle in which to work. A servant mare working near the towers should not be cleaning tables in the throne room.

“I’ll be right back,” Aldus said to Rigel and Marigold as he followed the servant mare.

The servant exited the palace and walked around the grounds to a secluded area near one of the walls and stopped. She turned around in surprise when she found Aldus had followed her.

“Oh my!” she squeaked, “Why are you following me?”

“A servant working in the upper towers doesn’t work in throne room, changeling.”

The mare sneered, “Well I guess there is no use trying to fool somepony with your reputation, but you shouldn’t have come out here alone.”

“Its going to take more than you to fight me,” Aldus said while preparing a spell.

“I agree,” the changeling replied.

Before Aldus could react four bolts of green magic hit him in the back. Suddenly feeling all his energy leave him, he collapsed to ground and blacked out.

Chapter 8: Unlikely Allies

Iris dove under Kathe’s legs as he took a wide swing at her with a practice longsword. With a quick flap of her wings she turned and brought her short sword around to slice his legs. However, Kathe anticipated this and jumped into the air to land in front of the small gryphon. He could have performed a back flip to land behind Iris with the aid of his wings, but he often refused to use them when they practiced.

Kathe smirked at Iris and waved a talon at her disapprovingly, “What have I told you about those brazen moves?”

“That they are reckless and just as likely to fail as they are to succeed,” Iris said with a sweet smile, “But they tend to work on beat up old gryphons, don’t they?”

Kathe clicked his beak and tossed his sword between his claws, “Dirty fighting has a good chance of working if you are taking on an individual who doesn’t normally fight dirty.”

Iris shifted her stance slightly and raised her sword but was caught off guard by her teacher’s action. Kathe tossed his blade into his left claw and used his right to unfurl his blue sash. In an instant, he whipped the sash around Iris’ sword and relieved her of her weapon. Iris blinked once in shock, when she opened her eyes Kathe was standing over her with two blades at her throat.

“One of these days you are going to run out of those slick moves and won’t be able to surprise me anymore,” Iris said as she picked herself off the ground.

Kathe flipped her sword around in his claw and handed it back to her, “When that day comes I’ll have to get creative and find out new ways to trick you.”

Iris took the sword and assumed a new stance, “Come at me again Kathe. We’ll see who tricks who this time!”

Kathe smiled and prepared for whatever Iris had planned, but then lowered his guard at that last minute.

“Kathe? What’s wrong?” Iris asked.

The blue priest looked past Iris and watched a flock of birds fly out of the practice yard. Everything had become strangely quiet in the past minute, but he had not realized it right away. His stomach twisted in knots, something was wrong. Kathe saw Iris’ eyes widen as she stared at something behind him.

Kathe turned around to face three golden armored gryphons. Each bore the crest of a nest with a gold cloak to match the armor. Their beaks were hidden by golden neckwarmers and each wore red tinted goggles fastened closely to their eyes.

The middle gryphon stepped forward and extended an armored claw. “Princess Iris, there is an insurrection in progress, we have been sent to see you to safety. Please come with us.”

Iris did not move, she never admitted it, but the golden gryphons had frightened her ever since she had known about them. Theirs was a reserved and secretive culture. They were a wealthy kingdom and preferred to reveal as little information about themselves as possible. This applied to everything from their trade partners to the way they dressed and spoke.

“Kathe?” Iris whispered.

The blue priest held out his claw, Iris remained still.

“What are Golden Nest warriors doing inside the castle?” Kathe asked. “And why are you armed?”

The middle gryphon gave a muffled chuckle under his neckwarmer. To his left, his companion took a step forward and unsheathed a longsword. “Be gone priest, or you’ll regret it.”

Kathe leveled his practice blade at the gryphon who threatened him, “That’s some shiny armor you three have there. Doesn’t look like its seen much action.”

The gryphon with the longsword stalked toward Kathe, “I assure you its seen plenty of action, so has this blade. In fact, it's seen its share of priests, just like you.”

The golden gryphon raised his right arm and swung the blade at Kathe, who ducked under the blade and pivoted to bring the hilt of his practice sword into the throat of his attacker. In fluid movement that seemed like leaves floating on the wind, Iris watched as Kathe spun around the armored gryphon and wrapped its cloak around its eyes. The blue priest kicked out the golden gryphon’s leg from behind and pulled a shortsword from his assailant’s belt. Before the gryphon could do anything Kathe plunged the blade into the back of his neck. The two golden gryphon’s that remained drew their blades and charged Kathe.

“Kathe! Watch out!” Iris screamed as she pointed to the side of the practice yard.

Kathe barely had time to dodge the crossbow bolt as it sped over his wings taking several feathers with it. Another golden gryphon had landed at the edge of the practice yard and loaded another bolt. The gryphon fired the crossbow again. Kathe flapped his wings once to dodge backward and avoid the bolt. Two blades flew forward at Kathe as he ducked under the first and parried the second. Kathe flapped his wings once more and rolled toward the body of the slain gryphon. In one motion kathe picked up the fallen warrior’s longsword and threw the shortsword at the crossbow gryphon. The blade pierced the gryphon in the neck which caused him to drop the crossbow and fall to the ground.

Of the two gryphons that remained, one whirled around and charged Kathe while the other spread his wings and took to the air. Kathe removed a silver amulet from his leather armor and raised it above his head. He offered a prayer to one of the Matriarch’s children as the amulet began to glow. Kathe slid the trinket across the blade of the longsword then plunged it into the ground. There was a small boom as a shockwave spread from Kathe across the practice yard. Both golden gryphons faltered for moment as the shockwave impacted them. Kathe used the moment to remove the longsword from the ground and parry the gryphon who swung at him. He followed through the motion and spun around to decapitate the heavily armored gryphon.

The remaining golden gryphon climbed higher into the air and sped toward the direction of the castle courtyard. Kathe knew he had to act fast before that gryphon got away and was able to summon help. He sheathed the longsword in his belt and raised the silver medallion in the air once again. He offered a prayer to another child of the Matriarch and slid the medallion across his right claw and forearm. Kathe curled his claw as if he was holding a spear as a shaft of brilliant light began to form in it. He took a deep breath and extended his left claw to aim, then threw the spear with all his might. The shaft of light soared through air and pierced the golden gryphon’s chest plate. With a sharp scream of pain the gryphon fell out of the air and crashed atop the roof of the castle.

Kathe scanned the area to make sure there were no more surprises then quickly took Iris behind one of the pillars at the edge of the courtyard.

“Are you alright, Iris?” Kathe asked.

“I’m fine, Kathe. How did you do that? I didn’t know you could use magic.”

Kathe grinned, “That wasn’t magic, those were simple blessings.”

Iris raised an eyebrow, “Blessings?”

“Yes, Blessed Walk of Peace and Sunspear specifically, but we don’t have time to talk about that now.”

“What's going on?” Iris asked, “Why did those golden gryphon’s attack us?”

Kathe put a claw to her mouth and pointed to sky as a shadow passed overhead. An airship with bright gold markings flew down toward the city while several sparkling figures could be seen jumping from its sides.

“The Golden Nest kingdom is invading,” Kathe said, “Most of our army is gone in the north, we won’t be able to repel the attack.”

Iris’ eyes opened wide in sudden realization, “Then they are after me and daddy! We have to save him!”

“We can’t save him now, Iris. But I assure you, your father has planned for a situation like this. I’m sure he’s fine. However, I need to get you to safety away from the kingdom where the Golden Nest gryphons can’t find you.”

“Where should we go?” Iris asked.

Kathe watched as more golden gryphon’s flew over the practice yard, “We need to get to the docks. Follow me.”

Kathe and Iris took to the skies making sure to fly low and not be spotted by the golden gryphon’s patrolling the skies. As they approached the docks, Kathe could see three small airships over the city and one large airship hovering outside the city’s borders. They didn’t bring many ships or troops with them. They must have known most of our army was gone, which could only mean one thing...

 

When Iris and Kathe reached the city’s port they found it unguarded. The port was for airships so the piers were built out of a cliff face for the ships to dock. There were at least eighteen ships docked at the moment and several were preparing to get underway.

Kathe landed with Iris behind him, “That one is getting ready to cast off,” Kathe said as he pointed to a large airship full of grains and oats. “Hurry, the sooner we are out of here the better.”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that, Kathe,” came a voice behind them.

Kathe whirled around, blade in claw, to find a gaunt, slender gryphon walk out of the shadows behind two shipping crates. The gryphon’s face was obscured by a grey hood.

“I see the golden warriors failed to capture you, Iris. Predictable I must admit, given your present company. Never send a foreigner to kill one of the greatest warriors alive today. No, that task should fall to a fellow native gryphon, don’t you think, Kathe?

The slender gryphon removed his hood. Kathe’s face twisted in anger, “Thest, I should have known.”

“Yes, you should have,” Thest replied, “But you didn’t. Now, my dear Iris, I need you to come with me back to the castle, there is the unfortunate matter of your father.”

Iris snarled in rage, “What are you talking about, what unfortunate matter?”

Thest stood on his hind legs and unsheathed two curved daggers from his belt. He casually twirled the right hand blade that was colored red in blood, “I’m afraid King Ziraal is dead.”

“You’re lying!” Iris screamed with tears in her eyes. “There’s no way he’d die to a rodent like you!”

Kathe turned to Iris, “Iris, look at me, you have to go now. Get on that ship.”

Iris’ whole world seemed to fall apart in a matter of seconds, “B-but what about you? I can’t leave without you!”

“I’ll be right behind you, Iris. I promise, now go.”

Iris took one last look at Kathe and Thest then turned away and flew to the ship.

Thest’s  face remained expressionless as he regarded Kathe, “She can run to edge of the world if she wants, we’ll still find her eventually.”

“She’s more resourceful than you realize, Thest.” Kathe said as he leveled his blade at the gaunt gryphon.

“I don’t doubt it,” said Thest, “Sad as it is, I always thought she was smarter than her father.”

The two gryphon’s circled each other, the tension in the air was so thick it could be cut by either gryphon’s blades.

“I see the spirit in your eyes, Kathe. I see it brimming with confidence, but you should know your blessings won’t work on me.” Thest said while he crouched low.

“We’ll see, Thest.” Kathe said as he switched his stance again.

“Its been a long time since I killed a warrior in open combat,” Thest admitted, “I’m going to enjoy this. Goodbye, priest.”

Iris stuck her head out the porthole of the bottom section of the airship as it floated away from the docks. She could hear the sound of clashing steel for a few moments before the ship was too far away to hear anything. Iris crawled over to a corner and curled up in a tiny ball. She didn’t know what she was going to do now, and she didn’t care. All she wanted to do now was cry.

------------

Five changelings trotted through the everfree forest with an unconscious Aldus. The trees tops were whipping around from the wind that seemed to pick up just after they captured their target. The largest changeling carrying Aldus on his back hissed in irritation. He had been carrying the unicorn since they left Canterlot and was getting tired.

The changeling hissed louder to get the attention of their leader, “How long am I supposed to carry this pony?”

The leader turned around to glare at the large changeling, “You’ll carry him until we reach Silth if you keep hissing and complaining.”

“I can’t wait to see what Silth does to this wizard,” another changeling said with a laugh.

“If she’s anything like Chrysalis, she’ll keep him all to herself.” The large changeling said.

“Like mother like daughter, right?”

“Shut up back there!” the leader hissed as they entered a small clearing.

Aldus stirred on back of the large changeling, he slowly began to open his eyes.

“He’s waking up again,” one of the changelings said in irritation, “I thought you said he was in a trance.”

“He was,” replied another changeling, “He is a wizard, he probably is resistant to this sort of thing.”

“Well put him into a deeper trance.” the leader snapped, “I don’t want to -ahh!”

The leader of the changelings was struck in the back of the head with a bolt of green magic. Each of the changelings in the party surrounded Aldus and scanned the forest.

“What’s going on?” the large changeling asked. “What was that?”

“I don’t kno-”

Another bolt of magic hit another changeling and it crumpled to the ground. Aldus fell off the back of the large changeling and watched as his captors panicked and ran in all different directions only to be taken out by the same green magic. Aldus attempted to stand up but was too weak. He saw a large black figure approach him and hit him square in the forehead with a blast of green magic.

-----------

Selene searched the blackness of the dreamscape in an attempt to find Aldus. Twice now Aldus’ mind had been under assault by some type of magic. She was beyond worried as she concentrated and tried to find where he was. If he is asleep or unconscious he should be here somewhere.

Finally Selene noticed a faint green glow in the distance. She rushed across the barren blackness to find Aldus suspended in a green sphere of magic. He wore a blank expression as the energy in the green sphere kept him aloft. Selene yelled his name at the top of her lungs with no response. She used her most powerful magic on the sphere and couldn’t make a dent in it. Transforming the dreamscape didn’t seem to affect the sphere either. She saw Aldus, her little colt, completely entranced in this magic and she could do nothing to help him. The one place she said he would always be safe, the one place she said she would always be there for him.

Selene touched a hoof to the magic sphere and could not control the tears bursting forth from her eyes. I’m sorry, little one. I’ve failed you.

----------

Several hours later Aldus stirred from what might have been the most exquisite rest he ever had. Every muscle felt rejuvenated and he had the best dream ever. When he opened his eyes he felt water flow over them and when he tried to move he felt as if he was in some weightless environment. Something wasn’t right. Once Aldus finally came to his senses he realized he was suspended in some sort of liquid inside a green pod. Aldus had read about these before. Harvesting pods. Changelings would suspend their victims inside these personal pods for storage and safekeeping. Once inside the pod, the occupant was put into a magic induced sleep where they were given all necessary emotions and best dreams to ensure they were bursting with love for the changelings to feed on. It was sinister, but Aldus could think of far worse ways to keep a prisoner. Even awake, Aldus felt great and he even had a dream of her... somepony he hadn’t thought about since near the end of the civil war.”

Aldus called upon Selene who answered immediately, fraught with worry. “Little one! Aldus, are you alright?!”

“I’m fine, Selene” Aldus said, “I’ve been captured by changelings.”

“What do I need to do?”

“The only thing you need to do is lend me as much power as I require. I will do the rest.”

Aldus saw two changelings come forward. They enveloped him in a magical field and removed him from the pod. He could not see where he was, but it seemed to be in some type of cave not far below the ground since slivers of moonlight came through the cracks in the ceiling.

Aldus looked up as a large black figure with a purple mane approached him. She regarded him with cool purple eyes. “I apologize for the rough treatment, I thought some time in one of our pods might help heal you.”

“You apologize?” Aldus asked, still sitting on the ground. “Why is queen Chrysalis apologizing to the likes of me?”

Aldus heard several cackling and chattering voices throughout the cave, and the massive black changeling cracked an amused smile.

“I am not Queen Chrysalis, Aldus.” the changeling said with a chuckle, “I am one of her daughters. My name is Ciaran.”

“Chrysalis has daughters?” Aldus asked.

“Yes, and you were being taken to one of them before we rescued you.”

“Where was I being taken?” Aldus inquired, now interested.

“The changelings who captured you belong to a colony controlled by sister, Silth. They were taking you to her.” Ciaran answered.

“Why?” asked Aldus

“I can only speculate, but if I know my sister, she learned about your return some time ago and now wishes to capture you to present to our mother as a gift, or to keep you for herself.”

Aldus pondered Ciaran’s answer, “So... why did you rescue me?”

“I rescued you because I have a proposition for you. Will you hear me out?”  Ciaran asked while she extended a hoof.

“...No...”

Ciaran was taken aback, “No?”

“No. I think I’ll just kill you all instead.”

Ciaran jumped back as a blast of dark magic streaked by almost taking her head off. The daughter of Chrysalis was now facing a hideous unicorn with a torn apart face and maddening green eyes. Several changelings leapt from the darkness to protect their matron, but Ciaran saw Aldus smirk as more changelings rushed to fight him.

“You fools!” Ciaran shrieked, “Coming into the open is what he wants you to do!”

Ciaran watched in horror as Aldus fired a blue beam of magic from his left hoof. The beam  connected with the changeling nearest him and branched out in different directions like a spider’s web. Each changeling that was hit by the beam shrieked and spasmed in pain as the whole cave was briefly lit by a blue glow. Aldus released the spell and all the changelings in the room fell to the floor, motionless.

“That leaves just you and me, Ciaran.”

Ciaran backed up slowly as the monstrosity stalked toward her, “I- I know how to defend myself against dark magic. Y-you won’t have an easy time defeating me!”

Aldus laughed with seemingly two voices, “Who said anything about dark magic, Ciaran? There are far worse things in the world of magic than simple dark spells, as you’re about to find out.”

Aldus tore away the right sleeve of his drenched green robes and exposed his right forehoof. He touched his horn to it and ignited a bright red light. The light seemed to flow from Aldus’ horn into previously unseen crevices in his skin. Several red marks appeared on his hoof in strange intricate patterns. The patterns ran all the way up his leg and stopped at his chest.

Ciaran had no idea what sorcery this was and she did not intend to find out, but before she could escape Aldus blinked in front of her and reached out with his glowing red hoof. In a moment of sheer panic, Ciaran fired a hypnosis spell and hit Aldus right between the eyes. She saw him falter as the green glow faded from his eyes and they started to roll back. Ciaran grinned as she pressed her advantage. For whatever reason, Aldus seemed to be vulnerable to the simple spells changelings often use to seduce their victims.

Ciaran now advanced on Aldus and hit him again with another hypnosis blast. “Go to sleep,” she said in a soft, soothing tone.

Aldus fell to his haunches with a small submissive smile appearing on his face. Ciaran’s predatory instincts began to get the better of her. She licked her fangs and prepared to lock lips with her prey to feed. However, at the last moment she felt Aldus gain significant ground in fighting her hypnosis and stopped himself from going completely into a trance. Ciaran was too close and did not have time to move. Aldus touched his glowing red hoof to Ciaran’s neck and she screamed in the worst pain she’d ever felt in her life. The roof of the cave shook as the scream caused stalactites to fall everywhere around Ciaran and Aldus. Both of them dodged the falling debris and stopped fighting for a moment.

Ciaran and Aldus stared at each other for at least a minute before Aldus finally broke the silence, “You said you had a proposition for me, I’m prepared to hear it.”

Ciaran grinned, “Am I too much for you, Aldus?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Ciaran. I just don’t want this whole place to come crashing down on top of us. Now did you have something to tell me or not?”

“First tell me what you did to my changelings.” Ciaran demanded.

Aldus relinquished his disfigured form and waved his hoof around the cave, “They are merely incapacitated. However, I do not know when they will wake up. That was a new spell, you see.”

Ciaran breathed a sigh of relief, “I see, very well then.”

“Your proposition?” Aldus asked while tapping his hoof impatiently.

Ciaran nodded and cautiously approached Aldus to sit down on her haunches in front of him, “I wish to trade information for asylum in Equestria for myself and my children.”

Ciaran frowned as she saw a wide grin split Aldus’ face.

“Really?” Aldus asked, “Changelings living in Equestria? Okay okay, I’ll humor you. What information do you have that makes you think I’d even entertain such an idea?”

“My sister Silth’s colony is massive and it is hidden, only recently has my colony been able to uncover its location. Not only does Silth have spies in Canterlot, she has them in other pony kingdoms as well. I believe she will attack the Silver Isles.”

Aldus put a hoof to his mouth, “Go on.”

“Silth has spies inside the silver guard and is rumored to have infiltrated the silver court itself. Once she has enough soldiers she will attack and conquer the Silver Isles. Aldus, Silth is not as impatient as my mother. She has been planning this for a long time and she will succeed if you don’t stop her. And once she gets what is locked away in the silver library...”

“Why do you want to flee to Equestria to live here?” Aldus asked.

Ciaran frowned and lowered her head, “I am the weakest of my sisters and a constant disappointment to my mother. Before Silth attacks the Silver Isles she will use her army to invade my small colony. She will conscript my children into her army and kill the ones that won’t or can’t serve her. Silth will likely kill me herself, or present me to Chrysalis as the ultimate failure, and then my mother would surely kill me.”

Aldus saw a single tear fall from Ciaran’s eyes, “How large is your colony, how many children do you have?”

Ciaran’s eyes filled with hope, “My colony is small and vulnerable, there are barely two hundred of my children left alive.”

Aldus looked up at Ciaran and gave her a warm smile. “It sounds like this sister of yours is a bully, and to think she would kill you, her own family, just to obtain more power.”

Aldus gestured for Ciaran to give him her hoof, “Ciaran, my parents died when I was very young, and I had no brothers or sisters. I never had a real family, I won’t let your sister kill you, and I won’t let her attack the Silver Isles.”

Ciaran looked down at Aldus and smiled, “Oh thank you. Thank you so much, Aldus.”

Aldus shook his head, “No, Ciaran. Don’t thank me yet. You know what your mother did to Canterlot. You know how the royal pony sisters are going to react when I tell them about this. However, I do know of a way to convince them. But it will come at a high price to you and your children. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Ciaran nodded, “I understand, Aldus. Whatever price we pay will be better than what awaits us if Silth has her way.”

Aldus opened a black portal near a fallen stalactite, “Then I will convene with the royal sisters to tell them of what I have learned here. I will meet you back here in one day to inform you of their decision.”

“I understand, Aldus. Thank you.” Ciaran said.

“Ciaran, one last thing.” Aldus said

“Yes?”

Aldus turned around and stared at Ciaran with flaming green eyes, “If you betray me, there isn’t a place in this world or any other where you can hide.”

Ciaran gulped and nodded as she watched Aldus disappear through the black portal. I really hope I don’t come to regret this.

-------------

Rigel and Marigold were pacing in Luna’s room wondering where Aldus had gone when a black portal opened in the middle of the room and Aldus stepped through.

“What in Equestria happened to you?” Rigel asked.

Aldus looked at his soaking wet appearance, along with is torn robes, and messed up mane.

“Its a long story, Rigel.”

The door to Luna’s chambers opened revealing Luna and Celestia, “What is going on, Aldus?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aldus held up a hoof and cast a silencing spell on the walls. “Marigold, could you shut the windows and pull the drapes over them?”

“Sure, Aldus.”

After the room was secure from any snooping changelings that might still be lingering in the castle, Aldus took a deep breath. “You all might want to sit down to hear what I have to say.”

Chapter 9: Strangers and Friends

Lightning cracked across the sky in Manehatten to accompany the pitter patter of rain. The wind whipped through the city streets as it passed by a large apartment building. Several of the tall skinny trees yielded to the ferocious gusts as their branches scraped across the windows of higher apartments. In one such dwelling, a small earth pony colt tossed and turned in his crib as the branches clawed at the window outside.

Pyrite cracked his eyes open and saw jagged claws scratching on the windows. He shut his eyes and shook his head, his sister had told him they were only trees. The silver earth pony rolled over again and brought his teddy bear close and wrapped his hooves around it. His head lolled to one side to see the bedroom door creak open. Pyrite slowly closed his eyes again and they remained closed for what seemed like several minutes. When he was finally able to open them again he saw the door open a little more and felt his teddy being dragged away from him.

“No...” he whispered, to no avail as his eyes shut again.

The next moment he was able to open his eyes his teddy was nowhere to be found and he felt his crib slowly sliding away from the window. Pyrite could only roll his head from side to side as the bedroom door creaked open further and the crib was pulled closer and closer to whatever was opening it. The young earth colt gripped his blankey and prepared for the worst. The crib reached the middle of the room and hit something on the floor. Pyrite was jolted completely awake as his crib tipped forward spilling him and his toys onto the floor.

Pyrite looked forward as he recovered from the fall and saw his bedroom door swing all the way open with a slight creak on its hinges. The long hallway lay beyond covered in a sea of black. The occasional flash of lightning illuminating it via the small hallway windows. Pyrite knew something was wrong, and he needed to find his teddy. With a deep breath, he mustered his courage and grabbed his blankey. Pyrite didn’t take two steps before nearly jumping out of his skin from hearing sounds coming from his closet.

One of the two places monsters lived, in the closet and under the bed! Pyrite didn’t let those thoughts deter him. His sister always told him to be brave, and his teddy might be inside the closet. The young earth colt crept over to the closet and listened closely, hearing a shuffling sound coming from the other side. He looked up and saw the handle was too high for him to reach. Pyrite trotted over to his sister’s stool and pushed it in front of the closet. He climbed up and strained to reach the door handle. Eventually Pyrite found purchase and with a grunt he slid the door to the side and was immediately knocked off the stool and buried by a collapsing mountain of blankets and clothes.

Pyrite untangled his limbs from the blankets and felt a particularly heavy object on top of him. He was perplexed when he touched a hoof to it and it moved. In a few rapid motions he pulled away all the blankets obscuring his vision and the first thing his silver eyes saw were a pair of soft blue eyes staring right back at him.

Both Pyrite and the pony on top of him screamed as they pushed away from each other. Pyrite got to his hooves and tripped as he tried to get away. The pony that landed on top of him jumped back into the pile of blankets in a poor attempt to hide herself.

“Who are you?” Pyrite asked while gripping his blankey tightly.

“I’m not telling a monster who I am!” the pony under the blankets squeaked.

“Hey! I’m no monster!” Pyrite yelled

“You aren’t? Really?”

It was then that Pyrite was able to get his first good look at the other pony as she poked her head out from under the blankets and cautiously approached him. She was a pegasus with a soft blue coat and her cutie mark appeared to be a black splotch with a crescent moon. Her mane was like light blue silk and parted beautifully across her face. Pyrite also saw what looked like a tip of a horn protrude from her head as her mane swished about.

A horn and wings? Pyrite had never seen pony like that before besides the princesses.

“No I’m not, see?” Pyrite said as he wiggled his stubby hooves.

The blue pony smiled at him, “Aww you’re no monster, you’re just a cute baby earth pony!”

Pyrite wrinkled his nose and glared at the blue filly. She was bigger than pyrite and was probably a year or two older, “I’m not a baby,” Pyrite said as he crossed his forelegs and sat on his haunches.

The blue filly was about to say something when the whole building shook from a clap of thunder.

“Eeep!” she squeaked and rushed over to Pyrite to scoop him off the floor into a bone crushing embrace.

“Ack!” Pyrite grunted

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the blue pony said. She loosened her grip but did not let go of Pyrite. The young earth pony did not object. He loved hugs and this blue pony was soft and warm.

“Are you afraid of the thunder?” Pyrite asked.

“Umm yes, a little,” the blue pony admitted, “But I’m more afraid of the monsters.”

“Monsters?” Pyrite gulped.

“Yeah.”

The filly turned Pyrite around in her embrace so his back was pressed against her chest. She held him close and rested her chin on his head as she flew them over to the window. The two foals watched the rain come down and the trees beat against the building.

“The monsters come out on nights like this to snatch away ponies like us,” the blue filly said.

Pyrite looked up at the filly, “Well I’m glad I won’t have to face any monsters alone. I’m Pyrite, what’s your name?”

“Call me... Woona.” the filly said with a smile.

“Its nice to meet you Woona, but what are you doing here?”

“I- I don’t know,” Woona squeaked, squeezing Pyrite tighter, “I fell asleep and the next thing I knew I was falling out of your closet.”

After another clap of thunder, a flash of lightning illuminated a shadow on the wall next to the window. Woona whirled around to see the shadow being cast by something big in the hallway. She practically squeezed the life out of Pyrite as she darted from the window into the closet adjacent to the hallway door. Pyrite didn’t notice his blankey appear in his hooves when Woona released him.

“Get down!” Pyrite whispered before he spread his blankey over Woona and himself.

The two foals watched as a shadowy figure limped into the room. It made some sort of gurgling sound as it moved about the perimeter of the room. Woona was shivering uncontrollably as it shambled toward them. Taking notice of this, Pyrite wrapped his stubby forehooves around Woona’s neck in an effort to calm her. The figure moaned and left the room, its hoofsteps becoming fainter and fainter until they could not be heard at all.

“Don’t worry Woona, I won’t let anything happen to you. We should find my sister, she is big and strong and can protect us.” Pyrite said as they both emerged from the closet.

“You know, you sound a bit like my own sister.” Woona said.

Pyrite grinned, “You have a big sister too?”

“I do,” Woona answered, “They really are the best.”

Pyrite peaked around the corner into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. When he was certain it was safe he started to move forward but was levitated off the floor in a magical field and floated back to Woona.

“What are you doing?” Pyrite asked as he was deposited in front of the blue filly.

“Hold still,” she said with a slight giggle, “If you are going to be a hero, you ought to look the part.”

Pyrite watched as Woona tied his blankey around his neck like a cape. His sister had told him stories of the heroes of ancient times with their robes and special armor.

“This is feels really cool but I’m no hero, Woona.” Pyrite said as he examined his blankey.

Woona laughed, “Oh but you are, Pyrite. If you’ve seen all the things I have then you would know, and you will know... in time. But danger grows as we linger, where is your sister?”

Pyrite didn’t know what Woona meant by that, she was only a little older than he was. But she was right, they needed to find his sister.

“This way,” Pyrite said as they raced down the hallway, “Her room is down this hallway and to the right. Its connected to the living room.”

The two foals arrived at the door just as another bolt of lightning arced across the sky. Pyrite was too small to reach the door knob. He considered sliding a chair over to climb on but Woona simply scooped him off the floor and hovered in front of the door knob. Pyrite reached out and opened the door. Both foals winced as it creaked loudly on its hinges. Woona returned to the ground and remained behind Pyrite.

“Ruby... Ruby are you there?” Pyrite whispered as he peeked his head into the room.

He saw a lump under the bed covers and breathed a sigh of relief. Safety at last.

“Come on,” he said over his shoulder to Woona, who picked him off the floor again and flew over to land on the bed.

“Ruby, wake up I’m scared. I have a friend here who is scared too. Ruby...” Pyrite nudged the covers and watched in horror as they deflated, collapsing into the bed with nothing inside them. A low moaning sound came from behind the door to the living room. Pyrite frantically looked around the room for a good hiding place, but there were none.

“Woona, under the bed!” Pyrite whispered.

The blue filly nodded and crawled under the bed with Pyrite. The sound of a door opening was heard throughout the room as the monster shambled into the room. It approached the windows and checked the closet before stopping at the bed. Woona held her hooves over her mouth to prevent any sound from escaping. Just as Pyrite thought the creature was going to leave Woona screamed and was dragged out from under the bed.

Pyrite froze, he didn’t know what to do. But the sound of Woona screaming was one of the most heart wrenching things he had ever heard, he knew he had to do something. Pyrite rolled out from under the bed on the opposite side from where Woona and the monster were. He climbed onto the bed and was able to finally see the monster. Pyrite froze stiff as a board. The monster was a large black and grey pony with a head that was bent to the side, motionless. Its eyes were glazed over and its tongue stuck out the side of its open mouth. Woona was held in some sort of claw appendage where hooves should have been. Pyrite almost threw up when the chest and neck of the monster split open revealing an enormous gaping maw with at least three slithering tongues. The beast was about to devour Woona.

“No!” Pyrite screamed as he ran as fast as he could and leapt from the bed onto the creature’s back. Pyrite wrenched the creatures head back and jammed a hoof in one of its eyes. The creature shrieked in pain and dropped Woona. It bucked and kicked as Pyrite desperately held on, but eventually he was thrown from the monster to land between it and Woona. The young earth colt recovered and turned to Woona, who stood terrified behind a dresser.

“Run!” Pyrite shouted. “I’ll keep it busy, get out of here!”

Pyrite faced the monster and winced as it reached out to grab him, but nothing happened. Instead of being lifted into the creature’s gaping maw, Pyrite heard it scream in pain as a shaft of silver light shot from behind pyrite and pierced the monster. The light gathered inside the creature and consumed it.

Pyrite turned around to see Woona floating in the air with eyes of pure glowing white. She seemed slightly larger and her wings pulled the darkness from all corners of the room. She looked down upon Pyrite as silver light seemed to drip from the tip of her horn. Pyrite fell to the floor and crawled backwards as fast as he could.

“You- you’re a monster too?! You tricked me?! Why?!” Pyrite stuttered as tears formed in his eyes.

Woona’s glowing white eyes narrowed in what looked like sadness to Pyrite. She floated lower to the ground, and that same silver light now dripped from her eyes.

“No child, I have not deceived you. I am not a monster, not anymore.” Woona said in a voice that was soft as silk.

Pyrite backed up against the wall, but Woona did not move to follow him.

“I never wanted to frighten you, Pyrite. I had to wait for the nightmare to reveal itself before I could act. I am here to offer safety, comfort, and reason, if you wish me to stay.” Woona gave a small smile and spread her forehooves.

Pyrite stared into Woona’s eyes as the white glow began to fade, replaced by a calm pristine blue. Woona radiated calm and serenity while the darkness of the room seemed to bend toward her. Ruby had always told him to trust his gut instinct, and he did not want to believe Woona was a bad pony. Every fiber of his being wanted to run to Woona. All it took was boom of thunder to jolt Pyrite to his hooves, and send him running into the outstretched hooves of the little blue filly.

Pyrite buried his face in Woona’s chest as she held him aloft effortlessly. “I was so scared!” the colt sobbed, “What was that thing?”

Woona ran a hoof through Pyrite’s mane, “Shh... there, there. It was just a nightmare, it can’t hurt you now.”

Pyrite felt his shivering cease and all his fears and bad emotions drift away. It was like they were being absorbed by Woona. This felt just like when Ruby would comfort him after a bad dream. He nuzzled Woona’s chest as she swayed back and forth in the air.

“I’m proud of you Pyrite, so very proud.” Woona said as she continued the calming movements, “We had just met, and you were willing to put yourself in danger to protect somepony you didn’t even know. It warms my heart to find such valor in one so young.”

“You are warm...its true” Pyrite muttered into Woona’s chest.

Woona chuckled and extended her hooves to examine Pyrite, “Why did you do it?”

Pyrite looked at his sister’s bed, “I did it because it was the right thing to do, and because I don’t want to lose anymore friends or good ponies. I think you are both, just like my sister.”

Woona floated over to the bed and deposited Pyrite onto a blanket, “I’m glad you think I’m a good pony. You talk a lot about your sister, but what about your parents? Did they influence you at all?”

Pyrite shut his eyes and turned over on the blanket, “My sister and I don’t have parents anymore, all we have is each other and our friends. Ruby has told me stories of knights in armor, beautiful armor of all different colors. They make promises to fight for others who can’t fight.”

Woona plopped down next to him and playfully bopped him on the nose, “They serve and protect princesses too.”

“Yeah they do,” Pyrite agreed, “They are so cool, and they have lots of friends. I want to be like them when I grow up.”

Woona giggled and snuggled up to the young earth pony, “You are more like them now than you realize. You just saved a princess, Pyrite.”

“I what?” Pyrite stammered.

He saw that Woona now wore a small black tiara and a peytral plate. She was staring right into Pyrite’s eyes, grinning.

“Oh wow!” Pyrite said, squirming out of Woona’s hooves, “What are you doing here? I mean, surely you have other important things to do.”

“More important things? Perhaps I think you are important, Pyrite. There is no place else I’d rather be right now.” Woona waved a hoof across the room, “This is my domain, Pyrite. I sensed you were in trouble so I came to investigate. I don’t intervene all the time, but I’m glad I did tonight.”

Pyrite looked at Woona as she flew over to sit beside him, “Your domain... but this my parent’s old apartment. Wait... no...”

“No...?” Woona squeaked with a chuckle.

“My sister and I have been moving from orphanages to the streets for at least two years now. Is this a dream?”

“Bingo!” Woona shouted with hooves raised in the air.

“Oh sheesh, Woona. I- I mean, Princess Woona. You should have told me you were a princess sooner. Theres probably a special way to act around princesses.”

Woona blew a raspberry and casually waved a hoof, “Oh wheres the fun in that? You saved me from that monster, remember? You’ve got all the browny points you’ll ever need with me you little cutie. Besides, I like to keep things fun if I have the opportunity.”

Pyrite yelped as a wet, slimy hoof was jammed into his ear and Woona fell over laughing.

“Hey!” Pyrite shouted, Woona simply grinned at him.

“Two can play at that game!” said Pyrite as he jumped on the princess and began tickling her.

“Stop! Haha! I’m not ticklish! You won’t-haha-you won’t succeed!” Woona proclaimed between fits of laughter. But Pyrite was taking no prisoners. He reached under her wings and found the weak spot. Woona convulsed and shrieked as she tried to grab the little earth pony. Eventually she found purchase and threw him off.

Woona blew a few strands of mane out of her face and smiled serenely at Pyrite, “Told you you wouldn’t win.”

Pyrite let out a chuckle as he produced a small black tiara and put it on his head, “You were saying?”

Woona rubbed a hoof atop her head but could not feel her tiara, “Oh its on now!”

Woona flew into the air and tackled Pyrite sending both foals tumbling into the bed pillows. Each of them picked up a pillow and proceeded to smack each other silly. Eventually, Pyrite surrendered and returned the tiara. Pyrite walked over to Woona and gave her the biggest hug. “This has been so much fun, Woona. I don’t want to wake up.”

Woona laughed and kissed the young earth pony’s forehead. “You’ll have to wake up eventually, but I don’t mind staying longer to play with you.”

Pyrite frowned, “Things aren’t as fun in the real world, Woona. Will I ever see you again after tonight?”

Woona held the colt in her hooves like she never wanted to let go, “Oh sweetie, of course you will. I look after all my precious little subjects each night. As for you and your friends,” Woona raised Pyrite’s head to stare into his eyes, her own now glowing white, “I think fate has something special in mind for you all tonight.”

“What do you mean?” Pyrite asked.

“Don’t worry, Pyrite. You are going to be okay from now on. Now, I think its time for round two!” Woona exclaimed as she released Pyrite and picked up another pillow.

“Alright Woona, you’re on!”

-------------

Pyrite stirred in the hooves of the yellow pegasus. She had been asleep as well until the little earth pony began to move. She looked down at him and watched his eyes dart about rapidly and noticed the small smile appear on this face. Every now and then he would kick or twitch one of his hooves. It was adorable.

“Antares, I see you’re awake now. How is Pyrite?”

Antares blinked to see a familiar red unicorn filly standing over a kettle preparing to light a fire beneath it. “He’s fine now, Ruby. He must be having some good dreams for him to smile like this.”

“He’s probably dreaming about you, Antares” said a blue earth filly behind Ruby. “He loves spending time with you and thinks you’re beautiful.”

“Very funny, Blue Bell,” Antares said with a chuckle, “Little Pyrite is like the brother I never had. I’m flattered if he thinks that.” she said while kissing the colt on the forehead. “What were you two able to find?”

Blue Bell winced as some rain was blown under the bridge where they were staying. The central park of Manehatten was large enough that nopony would bother them, even if they were discovered. Since it was so big it made had the perfect structures to provide shelter from a storm.

“Ruby found some herbs and plants, and I managed to get some pasta noodles from a dumpster behind a corner store. I even found a few packages that weren’t opened!” Blue Bell exclaimed with a smile.

“Good, now if Frost would hurry up and get back with whatever he found out there.” Antares said as her stomach rumbled. “Where was he going again?”

“At this end of the park we’re close to the docks, I think he went there.” Ruby said.

“He better get back soon, I’m starvin!” Blue Bell whined as she looked into the downpour.

--------------

Iris waited until most of the crew had disembarked before emerging from her hiding spot below decks. The ship had sailed to two other ports before arriving in this city. She had considered jumping ship at the earlier destinations but there were golden gryphons at the first stop, and she did not feel she was far enough away at the second. However, it took a full three days to arrive at this city. To Iris, it felt like they sailed around the world.

Once she was no longer able to hear the sounds of the crew above her, she exited the ship through a porthole and crept along the docks. The smell of fresh caught fish was everywhere, and Iris had not eaten in days. Iris followed the smell of fish until she discovered the source. Behind a warehouse there were two boxes of fish pushed up against a wall. Iris could hear the sound of machinery atop the roof and assumed this was a freezer for storage. She picked up a fish from the box and discovered it was cool to the touch.

Mmm, cold fish is better than no fish She thought while taking a bite. But what are these doing outside?

As if to answer her, there came a loud bang from inside the freezer and two voices shouting. Iris dropped a piece of fish from her beak as a flash of blue light appeared in front of her, depositing a small blue unicorn pony face first on the ground.

“Ouch!” the pony exclaimed.

A pony. Iris attempted to place what city she was in. She had some knowledge of the pony kingdoms from Kathe, but not much. But, on the bright side, she did know almost all of them were very far away from the gryphon kingdoms. She also knew some gryphons lived in the pony kingdoms, so her being here shouldn’t seem too out of place.

The light blue pony whirled around to see Iris sitting near the boxes with bits of fish on her breast. “Hey! Just who do you think you are? These are mine!” the blue pony shouted

Iris considered herself an even tempered gryphon, but she did not enjoy being yelled at.

“Yours? Really? I don’t see your name on them!”

The blue pony trotted over to the fish and put a hoof in one of the boxes, “The boxes say ‘Frosty Fish’, and my name is Frost Wind.”

“Oh, I see...” Iris said.

“They aren’t really mine,” the blue pony said while deadpanning Iris.

“So you’re stealing them?” Iris asked

“No, I’ve just been sneaking around in the dead of night teleporting fish from a freezer to practice my magic. Of course I’m stealing them.”

“So you won’t mind if I have some more fish?”

“Actually I do mind,” the blue pony said, now becoming annoyed.

“Why?” Iris asked, now enjoying antagonizing the pony.

“Because...” the pony said while grinding his teeth

“Because?” Iris asked in high pitched voice.

“Because this isn’t just for me, alright? Why don’t you get lost? What's a gryphon doing at the Manehatten docks this late anyway?”

Manehatten, eh? Iris thought.

A loud bang interrupted the two ponies as one of the warehouse doors flew open and two angry looking earth ponies stepped out into the night. Each wore a blue jumpsuit with a hard hat. One of the two ponies flipped on the light attached to his hard hat and spotted Iris and Frost Wind.

“Oh, Celestia! Run!” Frost Wind shouted, picking up the two boxes with his magic.

Iris followed him into the narrow alleyways between the buildings. The duo continued to run but found themselves approaching a dead end with a high brick wall. Iris looked behind to see their pursuers gaining on them. As a gryphon, Iris was naturally larger than most ponies, and she was quite a bit bigger than Frost Wind.

Iris stretched her wings, “Hey Frost!”

“What?” the blue unicorn asked between breaths.

“Don’t drop those boxes!”

“I won’t- Whoa! Hey!” Frost shouted as two claws wrapped under his forehooves and shoulders, and he was lifted into the air.

Iris grinned and looked down at him as they ascended higher and higher. Frost turned around to find the earth pony workers running back to the warehouse.

“Ahh, feels great to stretch my wings! Are you okay? This isn’t your first time flying is it?” Iris asked, concerned for the blue unicorn whose face was turning green.

“I’m... okay, I have a friend who is a pegasus and she has carried me places before. I just ate some fish from the warehouse before this.” Frost said while trying not to look down.

“So you were going to bring this food to your friends?”

“Yep! They are in the park under a large bridge at the east end. You’re already flying in the right direction.” Frost said.

“You don’t mind if I’m coming with you?”

The blue unicorn looked up at the gryphon and grinned, “After that? No Way! You helped me when you could have just ran off. I’m sorry for being nasty earlier, its just my friends and I haven’t eaten well in a long time. I didn’t want the food to be stolen.”

“You mean... stolen again?” Iris asked with a chuckle

“Erm... well, yeah” The blue unicorn admitted with a laugh.

“Theres no need to apologize, I’m new to this place and I need some new friends.” Iris said.

“Well, we don’t have much, but one thing we can give is friendship. There, right down there.” Frost pointed and Iris descended for a landing.

Frost carried the boxes under the bridge with Iris following behind. A tarp had been hung across the top of the bridge to shield against some of the rain and wind.

“I’m back guys!” Frost shouted as Iris noticed the other ponies.

“Well its about time!” a blue earth filly said as she grabbed a box and carried it over to a red unicorn.

“Yeah, it's seriously been a while. What took you so long, Frost?” a red unicorn filly asked as she examined the contents of the boxes.

“Shh! Quiet, all of you! He’s still sleeping.”

Iris saw a yellow pegasus filly slowly trot over to the boxes with a small silver earth pony colt asleep on her back.

“Sorry, I ran into some trouble... but I found a friend. She helped me escape the warehouse guards.” Frost said as he motioned for Iris to join them. “This is Iris.”

“Hello,” the gryphon said while waving a claw.

“A gryphon huh? Well, if Frost vouched for you thats good enough for me. I’m Bluebell.” the blue earth pony said while extending a hoof.

“I’m Ruby Glint,” the red unicorn said while levitating some fish into a kettle. “The pegasus is Antares, and the young one on her back is my brother, Pyrite Glint.”

“Its good to have another flier around,” Antares said with a smile.

Iris smiled and bowed her head, “Its nice meeting you all. Thank you for letting me stay with you tonight.”

“Bah, don’t mention it!” Blue Bell exclaimed, “This fish is going to make an awesome stew. Why don’t you tell us about yourself while Ruby gets it ready?”

Iris didn’t notice Frost had disappeared and was now sitting in front of Ruby. The red unicorn was examining Frost’s horn closely with a concerned look on her face.

“What did you do?” Ruby asked.

“I just teleported and did some levitations, thats it I swear.” Frost said while staring at the ground. Ruby glared at him. “Okay, okay,” Frost relented, “I teleported a few times, I couldn’t help myself! It worked perfectly each time!”

Ruby touched her horn to his and conjured a soft white light, “If you overdo it, you risk permanent damage, Frost. You know that.”

“I know, I just... it felt so good.” Frost said

Ruby hugged him and lifted his head with a hoof, “Come on, help me with dinner.”

Iris hadn’t heard what Antares and Blue Bell were saying. She thought she saw a small scar or fissure on Frost’s horn when Ruby performed her magic.

“Iris... Iris... hello!” Blue Bell waved a hoof at Iris.

“Oh sorry, I zoned out. I’m really hungry. Lets sit down and I’ll tell you all about it.”

----------------

The children all sat around the fire and ate their warm meals while Iris told them about the gryphon kingdom. Kathe had told her not to reveal who she really was if she ever found herself in a foreign nation without him or any of her father’s gryphons. Iris said that things were changing for the worst back home and she didn’t want any part of it, so she ran away and ended up here. She wasn’t lying, and the ponies seemed to believe her story.

Iris reached into one of the boxes and grabbed a few more fish to eat raw. Frost was entertaining Ruby, Blue Bell, and Antares with their escape story. Iris felt a pair of eyes on her as she swallowed another bite. It was the little earth pony colt. He was trying not to stare, but couldn’t help glancing over at Iris every few seconds. He held a teddy bear between his hooves that looked as if it would fall apart at any second.

Iris wound her long, wiry tail behind the earth colt and tickled his nose.

“Hey! Haha, that tickles!”

“Why are you staring at me, Pyrite? Haven’t you seen a gryphon before?” Iris asked while continuing to harass him with her tail.

“No, not really. Well, not up close. A few live in the city but they usually keep to themselves. I don’t think they like ponies.” Pyrite said as he batted the tail away.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Iris admitted, “My teacher always said we gryphons sometimes have too much pride, and that we take ourselves too seriously. I try not to be like those other gryphons.”

“So you like ponies, Iris?” Pyrite asked.

Iris smiled, this child was adorable. She wrapped her tail around one of his rear legs and brought him to dangle upside down in front of her. He laughed as she poked at his stomach with a talon.

“I like you ponies,” Iris answered with a grin, “I also like to have fun.” She said while tickling under Pyrite’s shoulders.

“You’ll get along great with him then,” Ruby said with a sigh, “He can be quite the troublemaker.”

Iris lowered the earth pony to ground and retracted her tail. “Really? Thats great! Does that mean I have a new pranking buddy?” Iris asked while extending a claw to Pyrite.

“Sure!” Pyrite said as he hoof bumped Iris’ claw.

“Oh boy, thats just what we need.” Antares said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ruby suddenly stood up and looked out behind Iris. Frost got to his hooves as well. Iris heard something and spread her wings protectively in front of Pyrite. Blue Bell trotted up to Iris, “Do you hear that? It sounds like... singing.”

It was true, but it was so dark they could not see beyond the light cast by their small fire. However, years on the streets taught the ponies to be ready for anything. Iris and Blue Bell listened as the singing became louder.

“Sunlight failed, but only for a while...”

“In the moonlight pale, somepony made me smile...”

“What’s going on?” Pyrite asked, stepping around Iris’ wings, “Who’s singing?”

Iris wrapped her tail around Pyrite and placed him on her back in case they needed to make a quick escape. Blue Bell squinted as two shapes came into view out of the darkness. A red unicorn colt with a black pegasus colt on his back. They were both singing together, but stopped when they noticed the ponies under the bridge.

“Hello there, strangers. Do you mind if my friend and I take shelter under your bridge? Its starting to get a little chilly out here.” The red unicorn asked.

Frost trotted up next to Antares, the red unicorn and black pegasus didn’t look much older than they were. Perhaps they were homeless too, and they didn’t look threatening.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” Frost asked, suspicion clear in his voice.

“The red unicorn smirked and bowed, “My name is Red Sun, at your service. This is Black Star.” The black pegasus smiled while not taking his eyes off Iris.

“We’re just homeless colts who happened to be passing by.” Red Sun explained, “We understand if you don’t want unfamiliar ponies staying with you.”

“No... its alright,” Ruby said. “We don’t have homes either, and its only going to get worse out there. Come out of the rain and get warm.”

“Oh, thank you!” Red Sun said as he ran up to Ruby and kissed her hoof.

“Something smells good,” Black Star said in a cold tone.

“We’ll share some food with you,” Frost said, its actually really good. I snagged it from the warehouses tonight.

“Did you?” Red Sun queried, “Well I won’t turn down grub that smells this good, what about you Black Star?”

“What’s a gryphon doing in Manehatten all by herself?” Black Star asked, glaring at Iris.

“She’s not by herself, she’s with us.” Pyrite said between Iris’ wings. She hadn’t realized she’d raised them, something gryphons did when nervous.

“Thats right, Black Star. Gryphons can be friends with ponies, lets not be rude.” Red Sun chided as Ruby poured him a bowl of stew.

Black Star grunted and trotted over to join his friend by the fire.

“What’s his problem?” Frost asked.

“I don’t think he likes gryphons,” Pyrite said, peeking over one of Iris’ wings.

Iris nodded, “I think I might have an idea why.”

“Why?” Frost asked.

“Don’t worry about it, Frost. Lets go get warm.” Iris said while accompanying Frost back to the fire.

The group talked for a bit while Red Sun and Black Star ate their meals. Frost and Iris couldn’t figure out why, but something about their two guests didn’t seem right. They looked the same age, but seemed to have quite a vast knowledge when it came to Equestria and its politics. Red Sun perked up when Pyrite talked about being visited by a princess in his dream. Red Sun claimed to have met Princess “Woona” before and even knew some of her closest servants. When asked about their past, it was Black Star who answered. According to him, they had been gone from Equestria for a long time and only recently returned. They were only staying in Manehatten for a few days, then they were returning to Canterlot. Black Star finally dropped his guard enough to talk to Iris, while Red Sun entertained the fillies with some show magic in gratitude for being offered shelter.

Iris felt a shuffling against her side and saw Pyrite shivering, his eyes trying to remain open. She draped a wing over him and ran a claw through his mane. The other ponies were getting ready to go to sleep as well.

“He really seems to like you, Iris.” Ruby said, coming to lay down next to the gryphon.

Iris pulled the small colt closer to her body, “He’s a special pony, Ruby. No prejudice toward gryphons. Thats part of being so young I suppose, but still.”

“He and I have been from the orphanage to the streets more times than I can remember,” Ruby remarked with a sigh. “I wish he had ponies closer to his age to play with.”

“I don’t think that's necessary, Ruby. He seems to love you and your friends and appears happy. Things could be worse.” Iris said

“Thats true, I suppose,” Ruby said with a yawn, “Goodnight, Iris.”

-----------

Iris had been asleep for about an hour before being jolted awake by screaming and a flash of light. Three stallions stood inside their camp, two earth ponies wearing the same wearhouse uniform and a unicorn wearing business attire. The unicorn stallion held Frost in a magical field. Antares shrieked as she ran to hide behind Blue Bell. Ruby faced down the unicorn.

Pyrite ran to his sister but Iris grabbed him with her tail and placed him safely on her back.

“What are you doing?” Pyrite yelled, “I have to help Ruby!”

“We will help her, Pyrite. But we should ascertain the full situation before we act.” Iris said.

The gryphon looked past the unicorn and two earth ponies to see another earth pony standing behind them. There was another standing behind her, both exits were blocked.

“Let him go, now!” Ruby shouted, magic flowing into her horn.

The unicorn stallion smirked, “I’ll let him go when he returns the valuables he’s stolen.”

“He just took some fish so we could eat!” Blue Bell protested.

“Oh I’m sure thats what he told you,” The unicorn said with a laugh as the magical field glowed and Frost screamed in pain. “But he’s taken quite a bit of gold from our family, and I want it back.”

“The mare told you to put him down, I’d do it if I were you.” Red Sun said while slowly walking toward the unicorn stallion.

One of the earth pony workers laughed and moved to stop Red Sun but was blown into the concrete bridge by a blast of dark energy from Red Sun’s horn. Ruby incapacitated an earth pony stallion with a paralysis spell while Black Star flew into the air and drilled both rear hooves into the unicorn stallion’s face. The stallion flew backwards and relinquished his hold on Frost.

Iris ran at the earth pony blocking the closest exit and swiped a claw across his face, almost taking out an eye. “This way!” she yelled.

Antares grabbed Blue Bell, while Ruby ran over carrying Frost. Black Star flew over to Iris and looked her in the eyes, “Can you carry Frost?”

Iris nodded, “Yeah, I can.”

“Good,” Black Star said while grabbing Ruby, “We need to leave now, follow me.”

“But what about Red Sun?” Ruby asked.

“He can’t come with us if we’re going to fly, its too much to carry. He’ll be fine, we’ve been in way worse situations than this before. C’mon, this way.” Black Star said, leading them out of the park.

Iris and Antares followed Black Star, carrying their friends along the way. Iris looked over her shoulder at Pyrite who was gripping her neck as tightly as he could. The group flew toward the wealthier part of the city while weaving between various buildings. Eventually they reached a four story building protected by very tall walls. Black Star flew over to one of the windows on the top floor and slid it open, “Inside, quickly!”

The group entered the room to find several chairs and sofas all covered with sheets. Black Star deposited Ruby and trotted over to the door. He cracked it open and looked both ways down the hallway before turning to the group.

“Where are we?” Ruby asked, “Why did you bring us here?”

“Those ponies that were after you won’t come in here, even if they follow us. You are all safe now, but I must go, there are other matters here I must attend to.”

Ruby and Iris stepped toward Black Star but became very sleepy when he raised a hoof. Iris’ eyelids felt as heavy as cinder blocks. The last thing she saw before passing out was her new friends collapsing to the floor, and the darkness of the room creeping toward them.

-------------

Pyrite opened his eyes and looked around the room. The last thing he remembered was Black Star leaving the room and everypony falling asleep. He nudged Iris but was unable to wake her. He attempted to wake Ruby and Frost but was met with the same result. Pyrite began to worry, but then he heard something strange, a voice. Pyrite trotted over to the door and opened it, there were several dim lights in the hallway but it was still quite dark. The voice was louder in the hallway, it was a mare, and she was humming a song.

Pyrite crept down the hall of the seemingly empty building and came to what was probably the lobby. He looked down to see the bottom lit by an ornate overhanging chandelier. Pyrite continued to follow the in the direction of the humming but stopped when he heard doors swing open downstairs.

Two ponies entered the lobby, they were hidden by hooded cloaks but Pyrite could hear their voices perfectly.

“It’s really coming down out there, your decision to arrive in the city early was a good one. Travelling in this would have slowed us down considerably.”

“The city has changed alot since we last saw it, Rigel. I figured it might be good to get our bearings before meeting with our guest.”

“Getting here early might have thrown off the enemy spies as well. Do you think the ambassador will listen, let alone go along with your plan, Aldus?”

“Well, hopefully I still have a reputation in the Silver Isles, I think I can make Princess Desalia see reason. I just hope she hasn’t changed in these past thousand years.”

“Knowing her, its a safe bet she hasn’t. Lets get something to eat and dry off.”

“Alright.”

Pyrite watched the two ponies disappear into one of the large rooms beyond the staircase leading down. His ears twitched upon hearing the humming again. The young colt moved further down the hallway until he saw light escaping under one of the doors. He pressed his head to the door and heard the humming coming from inside. The melody was entrancing, he had to see what it was.

Pyrite cracked the door open and saw a fire going in the fireplace and a large black mare sitting in front of it on a cushion. He stepped inside while she continued humming only to bump the door and cause it to shut behind him, alerting the mare to his presence. Upon getting a closer look, Pyrite noticed she had both wings and a horn, just like Woona.

“Are you Princess Woona?” Pyrite asked.

The black mare cocked her head to the side and laughed, “Princess ‘Woona’? No sweetheart my name is Selene. Who are you?”

“I’m Pyrite, um were you singing?” the young colt asked.

“Its nice to meet you Pyrite. I was just humming a tune, I was bored. I’m surprised you heard it. I thought you were asleep with your friends?” Selene said while adjusting herself to face Pyrite.

Pyrite shuddered and recoiled in fear when he saw several tentacles movie behind Selene’s head, casting large shadows against the walls and floor. Pyrite noticed the shadows seemed to be moving freely on their own.

“What’s wrong, Pyrite?” Selene asked

“Why are the shadows moving?” Pyrite stuttered, “And how did you know about my friends?”

Selene let most of her mane fall to her back, except for two large tendrils that came to rest in front of her. “The shadows obey me, Pyrite. You don’t have be afraid of them.”

“You control the shadows?” Pyrite asked, curiosity overcoming fear.

Selene smiled, “I do, care for a demonstration?”

A dark hole appeared in the floor in front of Selene, one of her dark tendrils slithered through it. Pyrite heard a slight tearing sound as another hole appeared in front of him.The tendril emerged through it and slithered up to be eye level with Pyrite.

“Are you tired being afraid of the dark and shadows?” Selene asked.

Pyrite remembered the feeling of fear that paralyzed him when Woona was in danger, and he hated it. “I am,” Pyrite admitted.

“The power of darkness is in what it hides, if it hides nothing than it has no power over you.” Selene said, her eyes glowing green, “You must face your fear to vanquish it, are you ready?”

Pyrite stared at the tendril in front of him, he knew what he had to do. Pyrite extended a hoof and allowed the tendril to coil around it. The tendril tensed and lifted him into the air before disappearing with the colt through the portal. Pyrite entered a void of utter darkness, he frantically looked around to get his bearings. There was no up or down, there was no floor or ceiling. He shut his eyes and was about to scream, but the tendril holding his hoof coiled around him again, suspending him in the void.

Open your eyes Pyrite.

He heard Selene’s voice in his head and obeyed, opening his eyes ever so slightly and was surprised by what was there to meet him. It was Ruby, Frost, Antares, Blue Bell, and even Iris. He felt the tendril tense again as it pulled him away from his friends and up toward a dim light. Pyrite exited the void and found himself laying in Selene’s forehooves.

“See, was that so bad?” Selene asked while she bent down to nuzzle him.

“I saw my friends,” Pyrite said, “Why were they there?”

“In the void there is nothing, Pyrite. You saw only what you wanted, what you needed to see. You have the power there.” Selene said with a smile, “And you weren’t alone.”

Pyrite watched as the tendril that held him detached from Selene’s mane and transformed into a familiar black pegasus colt.

“Black Star?” Pyrite gasped. The pegasus was smaller now, about the same size as Pyrite. He grinned at the little earth pony.

“Thats right, kid.” the pegasus replied while messing up Pyrite’s mane, “That was incredibly brave what you just did, Red Sun was right about you and your friends.”

“My friends, where are they?” Pyrite asked.

Selene gestured to the wall on the far side of the room. A black portal much larger than the ones on the floor opened revealing his friends in the furniture room, still sleeping.

“Can we go to them, Selene?”

“Of course we can, sweetheart.”

Black Star nudged Pyrite’s shoulder and raced him through the portal as Selene followed close behind. Pyrite roused everypony from their slumber and introduced Selene to his friends.

Ruby examined Frost to make sure he was okay after being attacked when she heard hoofsteps coming from the hallway. Selene was sitting with Pyrite and Blue Bell when she heard the sounds as well. She watched as the door opened revealing two cloaked stallions.

Pyrite recognized them as the ponies he saw earlier in the lobby. The shorter of the two stallions pulled down his hood revealing a grey unicorn with a silver mohawk. He surveyed the foals before him and noticed Iris.

The other pony laughed, “Looks like Selene has been busy while we were out. What are we going to do with these children, Aldus?”

Aldus glared at Selene, who wrapped a hoof around Pyrite and smiled placidly.

“Selene... what are these children doing here?”

Chapter 10: A New Family

“Seriously, Selene. What is going on? I don’t have time for this.” Aldus said to the black alicorn.

“You don’t have time for us?!” Frost yelled, “Black Star saved us from those bad ponies in the park and brought us here!”

“Black Star...?” Aldus mused.

Selene smiled and nodded at the black pegasus colt sitting next to Pyrite.

“I see...” Aldus said, not impressed.

“I’m curious,” Rigel admitted, “Just what is a gryphon doing with all these foals?”

Iris came forward and shyly bowed her head, being of nobility meant she could tell who was a high born, regardless of if they were a gryphon or not. Upon observing them, she believed the grey unicorn held some sort of high title by the way he was carrying himself and speaking, but was not high born. However, the red pegasus was definitely nobility of some sort.

“Its... somewhat of a long story... umm?”

“Call me Rigel, child. What is your name?”

“Iris, its a pleasure to meet you.” Iris said as she bowed

“Look at this Aldus, such manners.” Rigel said to his friend with a smirk.

“I see that,” Aldus remarked, “Selene honestly, of all the times, you know what’s at stake here.”

Selene was about to make her case when she was cut off by Frost Wind storming up to Aldus, “You know, its not like my friends asked to be lead here by Black Star. Just who do you think you are?! If we’re so much trouble, we’ll leave! We’ll leave... right... now... we’ll... I...”

The blue unicorn collapsed to the ground as a viscous blue liquid poured out of the now plainly visible crack in his horn.

“Frost!” Antares screamed as she and Blue Bell ran to him.

“Oh no! No! No!” Ruby screamed as she lit up her horn to help her friend.

Selene released Pyrite and got to her hooves but stopped as Aldus held up a hoof. He trotted over to Frost and pushed Ruby and Blue Bell out of the way. “Oh wow... this is not good. We won’t make it to a hospital in time. How long has he been like this?” Aldus asked Ruby.

Ruby stared at Frost, tears flowing down her face, “I- I-”

“How long?!”

“Ever since I’ve known him! Years! But its been really bad recently!”

Aldus took off his cloak and draped it over Frost, who was now shivering. “I’ve never been any good at healing magic... Selene, get the children out of here. Rigel, I need you.”

“Of course, Aldus.” Rigel said.

Selene stood up and walked toward the door, “Alright little one, come children lets go.”

Black Star picked up Pyrite and flew him out into the hallway. Before leaving, Iris looked to the pegasus who gave her a reassuring wink. Blue Bell, Ruby, and Antares refused to go. Selene frowned and extended three coils of her mane to collect the foals. “Come now, children. Frost will be alright. We need to give Aldus some space.”

After the hearing the door shut behind them, Rigel knelt down next to Aldus, “Will you be able to help him? What is that stuff coming out of his horn?”

“That ‘stuff’ is unicorn magical essence. All ponies have some form of it. Unicorns store it in their horns, pegasi through their wings, and earth ponies throughout their entire body.”

“I see,” Rigel said, “How did this happen to the poor foal?”

“Its a common birth defect among unicorns, but it can be corrected early with proper medical attention, something I’m guessing this child did not have. If it isn’t corrected... the end result is... well, this.”

“What do you need me to do?” Rigel asked.

“Tear apart my cloak and make several bandages from it, and go find the first aid kit. It should be somewhere on this floor.”

“Alright, I’ll get the kit first.” Rigel said as he flew out of the room.

Aldus looked down at Frost, “Poor child, you remind me of myself when I was your age, but even I didn’t have this problem. I’m going to fix this, and with luck, you’ll be able to use the full extent of your magic when I’m done.”

--------------

Ruby paced back in forth in one of the lounge areas further down the hallway while Blue Bell and Antares sat together trying to make sense of the events taking place tonight. Iris leaned against a wall trying to place exactly what this place was. She heard a loud yawn and looked over to see Pyrite leaning against the chest of the black alicorn. Selene had sat down and coiled two tendrils of her mane around the little earth colt.

“I’m sorry about all that has been going on tonight,” she whispered to the colt, “But I couldn’t just leave you all out there at the mercy of those criminals.”

Pyrite yawned in response and snuggled up to the tendrils of mane around him. Down the hall a door opened revealing Rigel. Ruby immediately latched onto his hooves and sobbed buckets into his fur.

“Is- Is he going to be alright? Is Frost going to be alright? It was all my fault!”

Rigel lifted the filly up and looked her in the eyes, “Don’t say that, it wasn’t your fault. Frost is going to be fine. Aldus has repaired the damage to Frost’s horn and he’s sleeping now. Aldus will  stay with him until he wakes up.”

Ruby wiped away the tears in her eyes and wrapped her hooves around Rigel’s neck, “Oh, thank you so much. How can we ever repay you?”

Selene grinned at the display of affection, knowing Rigel loved it.

“Well, child. How about we start with introductions. My name is Rigel”

Ruby smiled, “I’m Ruby Glint, the colt over there is my brother, Pyrite Glint.”

The yellow pegasus filly flew up to Rigel and hugged both him and Ruby, “Your name is Rigel? My name is Antares! We’re both named after stars!”

Rigel laughed and set the two fillies down, “You know what that means, right?” he asked with a smirk.

“That we’re awesome?” asked the pegasus filly.

“Exactly!” Rigel said, hoof bumping the filly.

“I’m Blue Bell,” the blue earth filly said. “Rigel, why did your friend seem so upset about us being here?”

Rigel hesitated for a moment, noticing Iris looking on intently, “He’s... got a lot on his mind right now. But don’t worry, we aren’t going to kick you foals back onto the street. Frost will be asleep for a while. Aldus and I think you should go clean up while he is resting. While you are all washing up I’ll prepare a proper meal for you if you are still hungry.”

Pyrite’s stomach rumbled as he rubbed his eyes. Selene giggled and lifted the colt onto her back, “Well there’s your answer, Rigel. Follow me children, the baths are this way. I think you are going to like them, they are pretty big.” Selene said with a mischievous grin.

Iris and the ponies followed Selene downstairs while Rigel departed to the kitchens. Black Star however, lingered behind the group and returned to the room with Aldus and Frost. The black pegasus colt opened a portal through the wall and stepped into the room to find Frost asleep on a sofa, and Aldus lounging in a chair next to him.

“So... he’s going to be alright?” Black Star asked.

“He’ll be fine,” Aldus replied in a soft tone, “He just needs rest. I’m just surprised it worked out as well as it did.”

“I knew you could do it, Aldus.” Black Star said while hovering over to sit on an arm of the chair.

“‘Aldus’ is it? You aren’t going to call me ‘little one’?” Aldus asked with a laugh. “I admit, Nightmare Moon... ‘Black Star’... its not a bad name.”

The black pegasus colt’s eyes flashed a vibrant green, “I sent ‘Black Star’ and one other to investigate the city and came upon this group of foals. But it wasn’t until I discovered that Frost had stolen gold from a group of criminals that I was forced to act.”

“I see...” Aldus said while eyeing the sleeping unicorn colt.

Black Star hovered in front of Aldus, “We can’t leave them here in the city Aldus, they’ll be in danger.”

“You’re right, Black Star.” Aldus said with a smirk. “Sweet Celestia, you really forced me into a corner here. Alright, I’ll talk it over with Rigel and see what he thinks.”

Black Star did a flip in the air and grinned at Aldus, “You really are the best, little one!”

“A black pegasus colt... a conjuration of the Nightmare... calls me ‘little one’... weird. Go rejoin the others. I’m going to catch some sleep before I meet with the ambassador. Wake me when he gets here... oh and make sure he isn’t having any bad dreams” Aldus said while pointing a hoof at Frost.

Black Star put on a serious face and saluted Aldus, “You can count on me!” he said before flying through a portal in the floor. Aldus shook his head and shut his eyes, thinking of the meeting that was to come.

---------------

“Cannonball!” Blue Bell shouted as she jumped off the ledge into the large pool.

The baths were situated next to a large circular pool complete with a lagoon and waterfall. It was the definition of luxury. Antares and Ruby looked over to Selene who nodded, giving them permission to join their friend.

Ruby turned to Pyrite, “Are you okay with Selene, Pyrite?”

The little colt nodded, “I like Selene, shes really nice.”

Selene smiled at Ruby, “I’ll watch him, don’t worry. You just go have fun with your friends.”

Along the edge of the pool, Iris stepped toward the water and stared at her reflection.

“Something wrong Iris?” Selene asked while setting Pyrite on the ground.

“I just have a lot of questions,” Iris said, “I’m sorry. I should be happier.”

Selene laughed, “You can’t force happiness Iris. I understand you must have many questions. I can answer some now if you’d like.”

Iris smiled, “Well I mainly want to know why we are here in this particular building. What is this place?”

Selene watched Pyrite trot alongside the deep end of the pool, “Pyrite sweetheart, be careful.” She turned to Iris and waved a hoof around the expanse of the pool area. “This is one of Equestria’s embassy resorts.”

“Embassy resorts?” Iris was confused.

“Yes, Equestria is a peaceful kingdom and doesn’t maintain full embassies from the other kingdoms anymore since they have been at peace with each other for so long. So, instead of having representatives maintain permanent residences in the kingdoms, they simply travel to these resorts and stay for a certain amount of time, then they are free to return to their homeland and families.”

“I see,” Iris said. Ponies certainly had different customs than gryphons.

Selene heard a scream as Pyrite fell into the deep end. She teleported to the side of the pool and scooped him out of the pool with a tendril of her mane.

“What did I tell you, Pyrite?” Selene chided.

“I’m sorry, Selene.” Pyrite said with a frown.

“Its okay,” Selene said in a soft tone, “Just be more careful next time.” the black alicorn said as two coils of her mane tickled the earth colt’s nose.

Selene heard laughing coming from the pool as she noticed Iris had joined the other three fillies. “You girls can play as long as you want, just make sure you wash afterwards.”

“Okay, Selene!” came the response.

“Alright sweetie, time for your bath.” Selene said while entering one of the smaller coves that were elegantly decorated to look like a hidden lagoon. Selene spread her wings and sat on her haunches while floating the colt in front of her. She let most of her mane fall forward since she decided to bathe as well. Her mane continued to slither about and harass Pyrite who was annoyed at first, but quickly began to giggle as it tickled him.

“Hold still, sweetheart.” Selene said while pouring soap into their bath. She used her hooves to wash Pyrite’s mane and tail and held him under the small waterfall at the end to rinse off.

“This feels great, Selene.” Pyrite said with a big grin, “Its been a long time since I had a bath. It reminds of my mommy.”

Remembering his mother, Pyrite frowned and began to climb out.

A coil of mane, now thick and solid due to being wet, wrapped around Pyrite’s middle, “You are just going to leave? You know Pyrite, I could use some help washing all this,” Selene said while running a hoof through her locks.

Pyrite watched it slither around independently, “Why is it moving like that?” he asked.

Selene smiled and swished her mane toward Pyrite, “Oh, some days I think it just has a mind of its own,” Selene said with a giggle. “It would take a brave pony to tame this mess.”

Pyrite smiled and jumped into the water with a large splash. Selene kept a coil around him to keep him from going under as she sat down on all four hooves. Pyrite climbed onto her back, being just above the water. A tendril gave him the bottle of soap which pyrite squirted into Selene’s wet locks. The black alicorn bent her head down allowing most of her hair tentacles to float atop the water. Pyrite began rubbing his hooves through the shifting mane and felt Selene move a bit.

“Like this?” Pyrite asked while spreading the soap around.

“Perfect,” Selene said while shifting her shoulders  and enjoying the soothing motions.

Pyrite climbed atop Selene’s head and washed between her ears. While reaching for a lock of mane he slipped and grabbed onto Selene’s horn. She laughed as he tried to hold his grip but eventually fell into the water in front of her.

The earth colt broke the surface and wrapped his hooves around the tendril keeping him afloat, “Why is your mane so long, Selene? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Selene nuzzled the earth colt and put a hoof to her chin, “Well... I’m not like other ponies, Pyrite.” She leaned toward him and whispered conspiratorially, “I’m actually pretty old, that’s why my mane and tail are so long.”

Pyrite considered what the black alicorn said, “You don’t look old, you are one of the prettiest ponies I’ve seen.”

Selene’s heart melted at such adorableness, “Aww thank you sweetie! You really know what to say to make a mare happy.”

A few more tendrils snaked their way through the water and coiled affectionately around the earth colt. Selene smiled and nodded to Pyrite, “I wasn’t kidding about my mane sometimes having a mind if its own, but it seems to like you.”

Pyrite swam to Selene’s side to recover the bottle of soap and proceeded to empty it onto the remainder of her mane floating in the water. However as Pyrite approached them, the tentacles of black hair began to flail about in protest. The young earth colt attempted to grab them but was quickly immobilized.

“Hey! How am I supposed to deal with this?” Pyrite asked while several black tendrils coiled around him. The colt could only laugh as he was tickled and twisted about in the air.

While being twisted around above the water, Pyrite noticed a black hole open up in the wall. A small black pegasus bolted through and spun in the air toward Selene. “Have at thee monster!”

“Black Star!” Pyrite shouted in excitement.

Black Star careened into the mass of tendrils holding Pyrite, causing them to drop the earth colt into the water. The earth colt grabbed the empty bottle of shampoo and used it to bat away the tendrils that came at him.

“Get out of here!” Black Star yelled, “Go for help if we’re going to defeat this monster!”

“Monster?” Selene said with a gasp.

Pyrite knocked away more tentacles but lost his balance and fall backwards off Selene’s back. He held his breath preparing to meet water, but instead he landed on something soft and feathery. Selene had extended her right wing to catch Pyrite. She winked at him as he continued to fight his way to the wall between the bath and the pool. He saw Iris and the three fillies trotting over to the bath.

“Help- mphh!” a tendril of mane coiled around his muzzle preventing him from yelling. Two more coiled around his middle and brought him back to the black alicorn. Pyrite was pulled into the water while all the coils holding him fell away except for the one keeping him afloat.

Pyrite looked down at it as he bobbed up and down in the water. He rather liked these locks of mane that Selene had. There always seemed to be at least of one of them around, and several followed him when he was helping wash the rest of Selene’s mane. She seemed to control them like appendages. Pyrite patted it gently with a hoof, in response the tendril tightened and coiled around him further. The earth colt grabbed the tendril with both hooves and tugged it twice. Pyrite was gently lifted up and deposited on Selene’s back, just like he wanted. He looked over the side to see Black Star pinned to the ground by other locks of mane.

“Thats what happens when you call somepony mean names, Pyrite.” Selene said with a hint of mischief in her voice.

Pyrite shuddered, “I’ll be sure never to do that then.”

The three fillies and Iris trotted up to the bath and entered the water.

“Ahh...” Blue Bell sighed, “Nice and warm...”

Ruby stood in front of Selene with Iris at her side, “Thank you again for all of this, Selene.”

“Its no trouble at all, dear.” the black alicorn said with a gentle smile.

“Is Pyrite here? Did he enjoy his bath?” Ruby asked.

Selene giggled and lowered her head as Pyrite climbed on top of it, “I’m here, Ruby! Do I look clean?”

“You have a silver coat?!” Iris asked in surprise, “I didn’t notice before since you were so dirty!” she said with a wink.

“We’re done, Ruby. You girls can come to the dining room to find us when you’re finished. Are you hungry, Pyrite?” Selene asked.

“Yeah, a little bit.” the colt replied.

“Okay, lets go find Rigel and see what he’s prepared for us. Come along Black Star...” Selene said while stepping out of the bath.

Black Star grunted in resignation, “Coming mom...”

Selene levitated a few towels over to Pyrite and Black Star. The two colts dried themselves off while Selene exited the room. Pyrite turned around and slid down onto Selene’s back across from Black Star. The pegasus sat on his haunches swaying to and fro near the alicorn’s hips.

“I’m surprised you let yourself get caught so easily,” Pyrite said with a small grin.

“It’s not so easy getting away when she is determined.” Black Star stated plainly.

“You know me, Black Star.” Selene said, “Once I have something I love I don’t ever want to let it go. That goes for you too, sweetie.” Several locks of mane coiled affectionately around Pyrite, who hugged them all as best he could.

Selene entered the dining room to find an assortment of breakfast foods distributed across a small table. Rigel appeared from one of the kitchens carrying a pitcher of orange juice. “Hey there Pyrite, feel free to dig in.”

--------------

Frost Wind stirred and slowly opened his eyes. The room was dark except for the light showing through the window nearby. The young unicorn turned his head to see big green eyes staring at him. He almost screamed in surprise but the pony before him put a hoof to her lips indicating silence. Frost recognized her as the black alicorn Pyrite was with earlier in the night.

“What happened?” Frost whispered. “I remember blacking out...”

“You did blackout, sweetheart.” the alicorn said. “That unicorn saved you and repaired the damage to your horn.”

Frost began to remember. In a chair next to the couch was a grey unicorn with a silver mohawk. Frost remembered arguing with him about his friends.

“Wait...” Repaired the damage to my horn?

Frost ran a hoof across where the fissure in his horn should have been, but it was gone. “It’s- its gone!” Frost exclaimed, “It’s not there anymore! He fixed it, Selene!”

Selene motioned for the colt to lower his voice again, but giggled at his enthusiasm. Frost quickly got up and jumped for joy, but soon regretted it. The unicorn colt witnessed the world spin and colors begin to shift. He stumbled toward the alicorn and fell off the couch to be enveloped in a magical field. Something was different, as he floated in front of Selene he could feel her magic reverberate off his horn. He could sense her magic in ways he could not before. Selene sat the unicorn on her back and got up to leave the room.

Frost was too excited to simply stay still. He grabbed parts of the black alicorn’s mane and climbed onto her head. “Where are we going?”

Selene looked up at the anxious colt, “We’re going to the atrium, Frost. I want to see what you can do now that your horn is fixed.”

“Fixed?” Frost asked, “As in, I can do magic now without hurting myself?”

“Thats what we’re about to find out!” Selene said in excitement.  

The black alicorn entered the atrium and set Frost down. “Okay, we don’t want to overdo it since you are still healing. What simple spells do you know?”

Frost frowned, “I don’t know much, just the utility spells that Ruby taught me. Simple levitation, teleportation, and an invisibility spell.”

“Those will be fine, sweetie.” Selene said. “Do you like games, Frost?”

Frost smiled and nodded.

“Good, why don’t we make a game out of it? First, show me your levitation.”

Selene picked up a few rocks with her hair tendrils and tossed them at Frost, which he caught each time.

“Excellent,” Selene said, “Now teleportation, follow me if you can.” Selene teleported to many different places throughout the atrium while Frost followed as best he could.

“Alright, how about a game of hide and seek?”

“Oh, okay so I use my invisibility spell to hide?”

“Yup!” Selene said with a grin.

“Wait... how do I know you won’t just sense my magic and find me that way?” Frost asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Cheat?” Selene asked with a gasp, “I would never! Alicorn’s honor!” she put a hoof to her chest and made a crossing motion. Five thick tendrils of her mane slithered forward and did the same.

 Frost nodded and looked around to find a good hiding spot.

“Frost...” Selene said, “Lets make this interesting... if you can hide for ten minutes without me finding you... I’ll give you a cool reward. But, if I find you before then, you have to answer any question I ask and you can’t lie.”

Frost grinned, “Ten minutes for a cool reward? Deal!”

“Alright,” Selene said. The black alicorn sat on her haunches and draped her mane over her face, then began to count.

Frost looked around and quickly cast the spell on himself. He saw a tree near the edge of the atrium that was a perfect hiding spot. However, upon arriving there he watched several of Selene’s hair tentacles probing the air. There was obviously something magical about her mane. He had seen Princess Celestia once, and only for a few seconds, but he remembered her ethereal mane and how it flowed even when there was no wind. Something about the way they moved made him feel uneasy. Frost needed a backup plan.

Selene eventually stopped counting and surveyed the area, “Ready or not... here I come...”

The black alicorn moved about the area slowly, being careful to not overlook anything. She knew Frost was clever having observed his behavior via Black Star and Red Sun, he was much like Aldus in that respect. Selene passed by the most obvious hiding places, then checked some of the more subtle areas. Nothing under the small bridge, nothing near the picnic tables, nothing in the flowers or bushes. Selene closed her eyes and attempted to think like a crafty unicorn colt. Suddenly, a realization. She saw at least three tall trees in the atrium. However, upon checking them she found nothing. The time passed ten minutes, and the black alicorn could not believe she had been bested.

“Sweetheart,” she called, “It’s been ten minutes, you’ve won, you can come out now.”

Selene hovered in air at the center of the atrium and heard nothing but silence. Then, out of nowhere a cheer came from above her. Seconds later something fell onto her back and latched onto her mane. Selene looked up in shock at the glass ceiling of the atrium then at the colt on her back. He grinned and laughed as her mane coiled around him.

“You were on the roof the whole time?!” Selene asked in shock.

“Yup! Pretty cool idea huh?”

Selene didn’t want to admit it, but it really was. “How did you do it?”

“Just a little spell I came up with a while ago, but could never use because... well, you know...” Frost said.

“You created a spell yourself? At your age? How?”

“Well, I read about it in a book. It was an entry level textbook for unicorns who went to school for magic. I just... um... borrowed it from a library.”

“Borrowed it?” Selene asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Okay... I stole it, but they were going to throw it away! Honest! It was wrinkled and torn up. I just figured I shouldn’t let it go to waste. Besides, fooled you didn’t I?” The colt asked with a smirk, “I’d say it payed off.”

Selene tickled the colt with her mane as she descended to the ground, “That’s true, you beat me.” Selene admitted as they exited the atrium heading toward the dining room.

Once Frost felt Selene’s mane loosen its hold on him, he climbed onto her head, “Selene, even though I won, I’ll still answer the question you were going to ask me.”

Selene looked up at the blue colt, “Aww sweetie, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Frost leaned forward and wrapped his forehooves around Selene’s horn, “Please? I owe it you for being so nice and taking care of my friends and I.”

“Don’t you care about your reward...?” Selene asked, “Don’t you want to know about that?”

“Well, yeah I do. But I figured you’d tell me about it or give it to me when you were ready.”

Selene admired the caring attitude of the young unicorn, and the way he was acting gave her a good idea of what his answer to the question would be.  

“Alright Frost, the question I was going to ask was why did you steal gold from those ponies at the docks?”

“Oh... that...” Frost said. He relinquished his hold on Selene’s horn and slid off her head back into the awaiting coils of her mane. “I shouldn’t have done it, I knew then it was wrong.”

“So why did you do it?” Selene asked.

“I did  it for my friends,” Frost said, pulling a tendril to himself and wrapping his hooves around it. “I wanted us to finally have something, anything. Some new clothes for the cold nights, a new teddy bear for Pyrite, some fresh food for once, a place to stay for a few days, or even a way out of this stupid, unforgiving city.”

Selene smiled, “Well... I can think of way worse reasons to steal than those.”

Frost looked up, “You aren’t mad, then?”

Selene laughed, “Oh sweetheart, I’m not mad. I’ve never been mad at any of you foals. And I wouldn’t worry about leaving this city, I think Aldus might just have something in mind.”

Frost couldn’t believe it, “What?! Are you serious?!”

“I am quite serious,” Selene said.

“Aldus,” Frost murmured, “Yes that was his name, is he a powerful unicorn?”

“One of the most powerful I’ve ever known,” Selene answered.

“I need to thank him for helping me, and... I- there is something I need to ask him.”

“Oh?” Selene asked, “Well he’s going to be busy for most of the day, but I suspect you’ll have all the time you need to talk with him at dinner tonight. But for now, I know your friends have been worried about you.” Selene said as they entered the dining room and were greeted by cheers and the embrace of friends.

-----------------

Black Star arrived to find Aldus already awake and staring out one of the far windows in the room. “He’s here, Aldus.”

“Excellent,” Aldus replied and trotted out the door. He crossed the lobby and made his way to the topmost floor where a large set of double doors were cracked open. Upon entering the room an older, slightly greying unicorn in a silver robe rose from a table to meet him. He had two large unicorns at his side wearing silver armor and helmets that completely hid their faces. The armor was adorned by many gleaming silver gemstones, while their helmets sported decorative purple and blue plumes. Seeing the hulking armor, Aldus was reminded of his dear friend Polaris. He often wore a variant of such armor.

“I can scarcely believe its true, Aldus... you are alive.” the aging unicorn said with a gentle smile.

“Ambassador Silverthorne?” Aldus asked with a gasp. Once the old unicorn was close enough, Aldus immediately recognized the family resemblance.

With a smile Aldus knelt in front of Silverthorne, “I am struck with distant memories, sir. Forgive me. It was your distant grandfather who welcomed me into your kingdom when I was just a foal, and it was he who I worked with when I assumed my political position. I swear you look just like him.”

Silverthorne pulled Aldus off the floor, with tears in his eyes he pulled Aldus into an embrace. “Stories are told even today about the unicorn who our Princess Seabreeze fell in love with. Many young colts and mares romanticize your relationship, and you remain ever a friend to the Silver Isles.”

Aldus frowned and stepped away from Silverthorne toward a window. The Silver Isles ambassador immediately regretted bringing up the princess. However, Aldus simply held up a hoof and silenced any attempts at apology. “Well, I suppose its good they remember the good rather than the bad. I try to do the same, but not with much success.”

Silverthorne moved to stand beside Aldus, he was slightly shorter than the magister but still commanded a mighty presence, just like his ancestor. “You should know that Princess Desalia still believes that the love you two shared was a vital part of Princess Seabreeze’s alicorn transformation.”  

“Then I am truly to blame for what happened to her. I- I don’t want to talk about that now, Silverthorne. Princess Desalia... how is she?” Aldus asked with a smirk.

Silverthorne met Aldus glib’ expression with one of his own, “Oh she’s been fine, all things considering. The Silver Library remains the same, its secrets kept safely under the guard of our princess’s watch. But she has been troubled lately... she claims there is something... different about the kingdom as of late...”

Aldus nodded and motioned for Silverthorne to sit down, “Then she has not lost her perceptive wit, that is good. Indeed there is something different about your kingdom. It’s changelings.”

For the next few hours Aldus recounted the events of his capture by Silth’s changelings and her plans for the Silver Isles. He also revealed his plan, which Silverthorne considered for a long time, and had many questions. However, eventually he agreed and shook hooves with Aldus.

“Are you certain this plan will work, Aldus? The entire thing hinges on one key moment.” Silverthorne said with concern.

“It is our best chance, Silverthorne. According to Ciaran, Silth doesn’t know her servants already attempted to capture me. She only gave them orders to attempt my capture when they felt I was most vulnerable. I could arrive to her at any time in the near future and she shouldn’t suspect a thing. If its me she wants, its me she’ll get.” Aldus said with confidence, whether genuine or not, Silverthorne couldn’t tell.

“Our armada can be in position in two to three days, the ocean permitting. But, Aldus... you realize this could all be a trap? Trusting changelings...”

“I understand Silverthorne, but I believe Ciaran was being honest. Also, part of our agreement was that she reveal the location of her own colony. Our scouts confirmed its location and it is being watched as we speak. If we are betrayed, her colony will be obliterated.” Aldus said with a sinister smile.

Silverthorne put a hoof to Aldus’ shoulder, “If this information came from any other pony...” he said with a hearty laugh, “But since it comes from you, I believe Princess Desalia will listen. Once this is over, I hope we can welcome you and your friends to stay with us a while.”

Aldus’ grin nearly split his face, “Oh you know we’ll be there. Pythia has been calling my name, as well as Rigel’s. We’ll visit the Silver City as well I’m sure.”

Silverthorne clasped his hooves together in excitement, “Excellent! Excellent! Oh yes, excellent! Well, I’d better take my leave. It was wonderful meeting you, Aldus. It’s been a tremendous honor, truly.”

Aldus walked the ambassador to the door and bowed in respect, “Assuming we all live through this, it will continue to be an honor. Goodbye Silverthorne, safe journey home.” As both unicorns went their separate ways, neither noticed that one of the guards had been listening intently the entire time.

-------------

Aldus found Rigel and the foals outside in the yard. Iris was playing tag with Antares while Blue Bell and Ruby and Rigel were sitting on the grass watching the clouds pass by. Selene sat in a patch of grass watching Pyrite and Black Star kick a ball back and forth. Before long Aldus saw the last foal, Frost. The blue unicorn seemed to be better now, and was using his magic already. He emerged from some bushes with a red and purple flower and presented it to Selene, who was overjoyed at the display of kindness. Frost climbed onto the black alicorn and levitated the flower into her mane.

Aldus approached the group and cleared his throat to announce his presence. “I see you have recovered, Frost. That is good.”

Frost wrinkled his nose in concentration and teleported in front of Aldus, “Thank you, Aldus. I’d like to know how I could show my appreciation. I’d also like to apologize for the way I acted earlier. Could I ask you a question?”

“Can it wait, Frost? I’ve got something important to announce to your friends.” Aldus said.

“Oh, um... sure. Okay.” Frost said.

Selene enveloped Frost in a magical field and sat him between her forehooves. “Now is not the time to ask him that, Frost.” Selene whispered.

Frost looked up, “How do you know what I’m going to ask?”

Selene winked at the colt and nuzzled him. “Oh, just a hunch.”

Rigel flew over to Aldus, “Well, how did it go?”

“The ambassador was Silverthorne, you remember his ancestor?” Aldus asked.

“I do!” Rigel said, “He was the one who suggested we stay on Pythia during our vacations. Oh I’m happy his family is still around.”

“Me too,” Aldus agreed, “They agreed to our plan, and are ready to mobilize in two to three days. Which means we have to leave tonight.”

“Right, what do we do about the children?” Rigel asked.

“Rigel, I’ve thought about it a lot the last few hours and I think they should return to Canterlot with us. Would you object to them staying at our manor?”

Rigel smiled, “It was going to be big for the two of us and Marigold, wasn’t it? I think that is a fantastic idea.”

“Children, I need you all to listen to me.” Aldus said. The children trotted over to sit in front of Aldus and Rigel. Selene slowly got up and moved to stand behind them with Pyrite and Black Star atop her head.

 “Rigel, Selene, and I are leaving Manehatten to return to Canterlot, and we’d like to take you with us. What do you think about that?”

All the children cheered. Ruby and Iris spoke up first, “Will we be living in Canterlot then?”

“No,” Rigel said, “Not exactly. Recently, Aldus and I decided to purchase a manor along with its accompanying land in the countryside behind Canterlot. Many nobles maintain summer homes there and we decided it was a good idea to have a second place of residence. Princess Luna needs her space, we can’t be cluttering up her towers all the time.” Rigel said with a smirk toward Aldus.

“Princess Woona?!” Pyrite practically screamed.

“Shh... Yes Pyrite, you’ll probably get a chance to meet her once we get back.” Selene said softly.

“The home itself is quite big, but we intended it to be used for a few different purposes anyway, I don’t think having a few foals stay with us will hurt anything.” Aldus said.

“This is a dream come true,” Blue Bell said with tears in her eyes, “When do we leave?”

“Right now,” Aldus said, “Our airship is waiting.”

“Airship?!” Frost and Pyrite gasped.

“Oh thats right kids,” Rigel said while picking up Blue Bell. He flicked away her tears and flew up over the embassy and pointed toward a massive airship docked nearby. On its side, the large crest of the royal pony sisters could be seen glittering in the sun.

“Wow...” Blue Bell said in awe.

“Thats right, Blue Bell. When Luna’s courtiers come to a city, we do it style!”

--------------

Several hours later, Pyrite tossed and turned in his bunk while the airship rumbled through some turbulence. They were sailing through storm clouds now and every so often lightning would arc across the sky illuminating the rolling hills and many lakes around Manehatten. He and Frost had eaten a delicious dinner with the rest of their friends while Aldus and Rigel snuck away to have some sort of meeting. There were several ponies with golden armor all over the place, Ruby had told him they were the royal guard, but he was still afraid of the storm on this strange airship.

Pyrite looked up at the bed above him and saw flashes of light against the wall. They appeared even when there was no lightning.

“Frost,” Pyrite whispered, “Frost are you awake?”

“Yeah...” Frost said, “Can’t sleep, what about you?”

“I can’t either... I’ve never been in the sky like this before. I’ve been flying with Antares, but this is different. The lightning seems so close. I’m scared.” Pyrite said, “I don’t even have my teddy bear anymore.”

Frost stopped practicing his candlelight spell and jumped down from his bunk. He tucked Pyrite in and leaned on his bed, “I’m scared too, but for different reasons. Don’t worry, I know Selene and Aldus will keep us safe.”

“Selene!” Pyrite said, scrambling out his bunk. “We should find her and ask if we can sleep with her tonight!”

Frost put a hoof on Pyrite’s shoulder, “I’m not sure we should be wandering around the ship this late. Besides, we don’t even know where Selene is.”

“I think she is with Aldus in his cabin,” Pyrite said while trotting to the door. “Coming, Frost?”

Frost sighed and followed behind Pyrite, “Yeah I’m coming, if only because I know Ruby would kill me if she knew I let you wander the ship alone.”

Pyrite and Frost entered the hallway and crept down the stairs, passing by Antares and Blue Bell’s cabin as well as Ruby’s and Iris’. At the bottom there were two doors, Pyrite approached the one on the right and knocked.

“How do you know its that one?” Frost whispered.

Pyrite shrugged, “Just a feeling.”

Aldus rolled over and muttered something while the knocking became louder. The darkness and shadow from the moon shifted on top of Aldus as it peeled away to form a large black alicorn. Selene sat on the bed and looked at Aldus, who lay sprawled out atop the covers snoring. The bed was large, as the cabin belonged to Celestia and the one next door to Luna.

“Somepony is at the door, Aldus,” Selene whispered.

Aldus yawned and rolled over again, “Jus.. jus tell em to go away...”

Selene rolled her eyes and used her magic to open the door, revealing a small silver earth colt, “Pyrite? Sweetie what are you doing out of bed?”

Pyrite trotted over to Selene and flinched as a clap of thunder shook the ship, “I can’t sleep, I’m scared of the storm. Could Frost and I sleep with you tonight?”

“Frost?” Selene asked, finally seeing the blue unicorn appear in the doorway.

“Yeah...” Frost said rubbing his eyes, “Neither of us can sleep.”

Selene smiled at Pyrite and levitated him onto the bed, “Aldus... you don’t mind Frost and Pyrite staying with us for the night, do you?”

Aldus squinted over his shoulder at Pyrite, “No... the bed is big enough. Just try and go to sleep as soon as you can, okay?”

Pyrite climbed onto Selene’s back and disappeared under her mane. She looked at Frost and smiled, “Coming? I don’t bite.”

Frost felt his eyelids becoming heavy as he stared at Selene’s glowing green eyes. The cabin was starting to get cold and the bed looked warm. Frost jumped up and laid down between Aldus and Selene. The black alicorn laid on her side and wrapped her forehooves around Frost. Selene looked down and chuckled at his attempts to remain awake.

Frost found it hard to look away from Selene’s eyes, “Do you think he’ll do it, Selene?” Frost asked while letting out a big yawn, “Do you think Aldus will teach me? Make me his apprentice?”

“Shh...” Selene cooed, “Aren’t you too tired to be thinking about that now?”

Frost yawned again and nodded, “I am tired... why are your eyes... so... pretty?” he finally relented and laid down his head.

 Selene smiled as the colt finally passed out. She pulled him to her chest and looked over at Aldus.

“Well... will you teach him?”

“I've never taken on an apprentice, but... if I survive this business with Silth and Ciaran... perhaps its time I did.”


Chapter 11: The Deadnight War (part 1)

Frost awoke the next morning and stretched his hooves. He turned over and nuzzled the mass of soft black fur next to him. As he came back to reality he remembered being dragged into Aldus’ room so Pyrite could sleep with Selene. The blue unicorn opened his eyes realizing he was nuzzling Selene’s chest. The first instinct he felt was to get up and jump off the bed, but he was still tired from all the things that happened in the past day. Also, there was something else preventing him from leaving, he didn’t want to. He felt safe, safer than he had ever felt before. He pressed his head into her fur and listened to her heartbeat, the sound he had remembered last night before falling asleep. Frost wasn’t sure, but he thought Selene used some type of magic on him to make him calm and relaxed.

Frost wrapped his hooves around one of Selene’s forehooves, which she had curled around him protectively. He gently pushed it to the side and realized parts of her mane had coiled around him while he slept. Frost gently untangled himself from the soft locks and looked up to see Selene asleep with her head on a pillow, snoring lightly. The blue unicorn got to his hooves and stretched again while noticing Aldus was nowhere to be found. He also noticed they weren’t in the airship and this wasn’t the same room he and Pyrite went to sleep in. Frost stared out through an open balcony into rolling meadows. This must be the countryside Aldus was talking about.

Frost trotted to the edge of the bed and prepared to get down when a tendril coiled around his rear left leg. Apparently Selene didn’t want him to leave, he looked over at the alicorn but found she was still snoozing away. Could these tentacles of hers move on their own? Frost trotted back over to Selene and watched as three tendrils slithered around behind him. He sat down and pondered what to do. If these tendrils wouldn’t let him leave then he would just have to wake up Selene... but somehow he doubted she was a morning pony.

There was only one way to find out, with a grunt he climbed onto Selene’s side and crawled over to her shoulder. He lay there for a while and let his eyelids droop a bit. Her fur was so soft and comforting. She didn’t seem to notice him crawl up on top of her, talk about a sound sleeper. Frost heard more snoring coming from behind Selene. He looked over her shoulder and found Pyrite swaddled from neck to hooves in her mane. The silver earth colt slept with a small smile on his face.

“Hi!” came a voice from behind Frost.

Frost whirled around, startled, to find a dark blue pegasus filly standing at the foot of the bed grinning at him. She trotted up to Selene and jumped up on her back. Frost didn’t know it, but his jaw hung open as he attempted to process the filly in front of him. She was absolutely gorgeous, possibly the most attractive filly he’d ever laid eyes on. She was bigger than him, but most fillies were at his age. Her eyes were a soft shade of green and she sported a dark blue mane that was cut short and hung across her face, covering one eye.

“Hmm, you know you’re even cuter when you aren’t sleeping?” the filly squeaked with a sly smile. She sat on her haunches in front of Frost and stared down at him.

Frost had no idea what was going on, “You... were watching me when I was sleeping?”

“Yup!” The filly said nodding her head.

“Umm... why were you doing that?” Frost asked.

“Well because its part of my job, silly!” the filly said with a laugh and snort.

Frost found the way this filly was acting to be really cute, “Part of your job...? Just who are you?”

The filly frowned at him and looked over at Selene, “Has mommy not told you yet?”

“Mommy?” Frost asked.

The filly nodded and floated down beside Pyrite. “I’m sure she’ll tell you when she wakes up, I’m Andromeda, Frost. It’s so good to finally meet you.”

Andromeda nudged the tendrils holding Pyrite causing them to unravel. She gently picked up the silver earth colt and cradled him in her forehooves. Pyrite yawned as the pegasus filly rose into the air and hovered above Frost. He nuzzled Andromeda’s chest before looking up with surprise at the new pegasus filly.

“Hello cutie,” Andromeda said as she kissed the silver colt’s forehead, “Did you sleep well with mommy?”

“Mommy? You mean... Selene?” Pyrite asked.

“Mhm,” Andromeda nodded.

“Selene is our mother,” came a voice from the balcony. A black pegasus colt entered the room and flew over to lay beside Frost. “She created us.”

“You children are so loud,” Selene said with a groan. “But I suppose its time to get up.”

Frost and Black Star jumped down as the large black alicorn stretched on the bed before getting up to face them. “This is Aldus and Rigel’s manor, we arrived about five hours ago so I took the liberty of moving you and Pyrite here to let you sleep.”

“Where is Aldus?” Frost asked.

“He and Rigel left for an important... assignment... tasked by the princesses. I’ll be leaving to join them soon.” Selene said while looking out the window.

“No!” Pyrite said as he squirmed out of Andromeda’s hooves and jumped down onto the bed. He pressed his head into Selene’s chest and murmured, “You can’t go yet, we only just got here. Please don’t go.”

Selene frowned and nuzzled the small earth colt, “Now now little Pyrite, we all have duties to perform, and Aldus may need me. Once this is all over I’ll come back soon, and I’ll have Rigel and Aldus with me.”

“Promise?” Pyrite asked with some tears in his eyes.

“I promise,” Selene said with a gentle smile.

“What are we supposed to do while you are gone?” Frost asked.

Andromeda fluttered to the ground beside Frost and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to turn the brightest shade of red. Black Star watched and rolled his eyes. The blue pegasus filly giggled and swished her tail seductively in Frost’s face as she trotted over to Pyrite.

“Andromeda and Black Star will look after you while we are away. Aldus has arranged for a servant to arrive and look after the manor while you and your friends are staying here. She will feed you, take care of you and whatever else you deem necessary.”

“We don’t need a foal sitter, Selene” Frost said, “You know we can take care of ourselves.”

Black Star laughed while Andromeda looked at him like he was the cutest thing in the world. Frost wrinkled his nose and pointed to Andromeda, “Who is she, Selene?”

Selene grinned coiled her mane around Andromeda and Pyrite, bringing them in front of her. “Remember when I said you would get a cool reward, Frost?”

“Umm... yeah?” Frost said, unsure of where this was going.

“Well, here she is!” Selene said, nodding at Andromeda. “I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you and Pyrite that you were the kind of foals that would get into trouble all the time. I shudder to think what would have happened if Black Star and Red Sun didn’t happen along when they did in Manehatten. I can’t be around all the time, and neither can your friends, so I created Andromeda to protect you and Pyrite.”

“Like... another big sister?” Pyrite asked while looking up at Andromeda.

“Exactly,” Selene said, “Andromeda will be a close companion, and will always watch over you. She can even help you practice your magic, Frost.” Selene said to the blue unicorn.

“What? How? She is a pegasus...”

Andromeda grinned and blew aside some of her mane revealing a small black horn. She ignited it and teleported above Frost, landing on him.

Frost looked up into the filly's beautiful green eyes, “You’re an alicorn?!”

“Mmm... sort of,” Andromeda said while wrinkling her nose in an attempt to focus. The horn wiggled and disappeared into her forehead. “I can do magic, but mommy thinks its best if I keep a low profile and just pretend to be a pegasus when we’re around other ponies.”

“So... you can fly and do magic?” Pyrite asked

“Thats right, cutie.” Andromeda squeaked, “Want to see?” The pegasus filly knelt down and extended a wing.

Pyrite looked up at Selene who nodded in approval. The silver earth colt ran over and climbed onto Andromeda.

“How high have you flown before, Pyrite?” Andromeda asked with a smirk as she flexed her wings and trotted over to the balcony.

“Umm, not that high... why?”

“Oh... no reason,” the pegasus filly said with a laugh before taking off and flying straight upwards at surprising speed.

“Black Star...” Selene deadpanned.

“Yeah Mom... I’ll make sure she doesn’t crash.” the pegasus colt said while shooting a grin at Frost.

Frost frowned and stared at the ground. Selene levitated him in front of her and stroked his mane with a hoof, “Not what you were expecting for a reward?”

“No, thats not it,” Frost said, “I just... I get the feeling something dangerous is about to happen, I don’t want to lose the new family that I have now. If I can call you that without presuming too much.”

Selene nuzzled the unicorn and placed him on her back. “Sweetheart, of course you can call us your family. You don’t have to worry about a thing, we’re all going to come back. I promise.”

Frost pressed his face into her fur and began to cry, “Alright, I’m- I’m sorry for crying. Just, be careful.”

Selene smiled and looked behind her shoulder, “It’s okay Frost, I understand, let it out. I don’t have to leave just yet, how about we practice some magic before Black Star comes back to make breakfast?”

Frost wiped away the tears from his eyes, “Alright, Selene. That sounds good.”

-------------

Princess Luna stood at the edge of her balcony in the observatory tower and finished lowering the moon. Her servants had catalogued the star charts for the night. The children were taken care of in the dreamscape and many had a peaceful nights rest without interruption, including the young silver earth colt she had visited recently. The princess knew he had been brought back by Aldus, but she did not know exactly why. Her curiosity piqued, she resolved to visit the child when she had the time. Luna giggled as she imagined the child’s reaction to seeing her true alicorn form.

“What is so funny, Luna?” came a voice from behind her.

“Hello sister, just imagining some of my subjects...” Luna said, stifling another giggle.

“I would think your mind would be on the more serious matter at hand, considering your courtiers have already set the plan into action.” Celestia said with a stern look.

Luna raised an eyebrow and turned to face the her older sister, “Why are you so concerned? I trust that Aldus knows what he is doing, and you do too. You did approve it, and let him explain the entire thing to you.”

“Trusting a changeling after what just happened... Aldus really does have a silver tongue.” Celestia said, “I suppose a silver tongue will help in dealing with the silver ponies.”

“So thats what this is about,” Luna said with a roll of her eyes, “You never did like all the good Aldus did for the relationship between the Silver Isles and Equestria.”

“Luna... I just, Princess Desalia-”

“Has always been a friend to me and to our subjects. She donated several books to the royal library and has offered keen insight as to the inner workings of the elements of harmony.”

“Lulu...” Celestia said with a frown, “Please, I don’t wish to argue. I’m only concerned.”

“Celly, I understand... all I’m saying is you put so much faith in Twilight Sparkle. She is your student and has worked hard to earn that faith, but so has Aldus. Have you forgotten? He was your student once too, just as he was once mine, and he did not acquire his ‘silver tongue’ from me... dear sister...”

Celestia winced at that, remembering the lectures and meetings she had taken the grey unicorn to. She remembered him watching with apparent disinterest, but it was a ruse. Aldus learned quickly how to mask his emotions and never let anypony know what he was thinking unless he wanted them to know. The sun princess remembered the games they would play where Aldus would tell things to Celestia and she would attempt to guess if he was telling the truth or not. Indeed, it was through him that she refined the lessons that would soon be taught to Twilight.

Luna approached her sister and draped a wing around her neck, “Aldus could have killed this... Ciaran if he desired... you know what sort of diabolical magic he capable of... you know because you taught it to him, sister. Remember?”

“Times were different then, Luna. You know that. Those spells don’t have any place existing anymore... and Aldus knows that too, I made sure he was aware.”

“Celly, he came to us first and told us everything. What more do you want? You know what Princess Desalia guards in the Silver Isles... could you imagine what would happen if Chrysalis gets her hooves on the contents of that library? We might not be able to stop her, not even the elements could triumph against that sort of power.”

“I know, Luna. I know. I wish there was more we could do...”

Luna picked up her sister’s head with a hoof and smiled at her, “It just so happens there is something we can do, or... something I can do.” Luna said.

Princess Celestia saw one of Luna’s night guards enter the room in full battle armor and bow, “Princesses...” the mare said, “Luna, we are ready to depart.”

“Ready to depart?” Celestia asked, “Where are you going?”

“To put the final part of our plan into action,” Luna said.

---------------

Aldus put a hoof in front of his face to shield against the fierce winds. The changelings escorting him moved out of the trees and began their slow pace across the barren landscape beyond. Darkmire Moors was a desolate land seemingly devoid of any life, or perhaps the other creatures simply avoided his place because they knew what lay close by. Darkmire Moors was named after the swamp bordering the tips of the Silver Isles. Aldus remembered this land, even though he had only traveled through here once before. That was before the incident with Seabreeze.

“You look like you have just seen a ghost.” one of the changelings remarked, giving Aldus a sidelong glance. “Your face will be paler than that once we deliver you to Silth.”

Aldus grinned at the changeling, “Are you certain Silth isn’t on to you and Ciaran’s other changelings? Seems like she would be if she is so terrible and cunning as you all claim.”

The changelings surrounding Aldus all chuckled. The one conversing with Aldus widened his eyes, “Oh you are a brave pony, we’ll see if you remain that way when you meet her. As for us, we are quite skilled at blending in amongst our own kind, even in another colony.”

“How much further?” Aldus asked, “We’ve been travelling for the entire day.”

“Just across the moors,” the changeling answered.

It was then that Aldus sensed it, a slight tingle in the air. As they crossed over the moors he noticed the forest they were approaching had clearings cut deep within it, but were hidden by magic. The mountain beyond the forest looked normal, but upon closer inspection it was a veritable fortress. Several alcoves and terraces were carved out for defense while Aldus suspected tunnel networks stretched from beneath the mountain to far out into the forest. The nearby sea crashing against cliffs made Aldus think of the approaching fleet of warships. They could bombard the mountain, but Aldus sensed the tunnels would allow the changelings to move quickly into their forest and regroup there.

The changelings escorting Aldus shoved him along to give the sentries watching them the right idea. Aldus was their prisoner, and soon would find himself in dire straights. Finally, the party reached the base of the mountain and approached the entrance of a cave. Aldus saw a large changeling wearing... armor? The changeling trotted out to the six surrounding the unicorn and displayed a mirthful grin.

“Ahh the new pet has arrived, he doesn’t seem like he’ll last long.”

“Thats none of our concern, we’re just glad to be back and away from all those sniveling hoity toity Canterlot ponies.” the changeling nearest Aldus spat.

The large armored changeling laughed, “True, it isn’t your concern, and I can imagine the ponies you must have dealt with, thats why I’m glad to be here. Well, this way then... best not to keep Silth waiting.”

Aldus was lead into the mountain to behold an incredible sight. The entire mountain was hollowed out and carved into what looked like the inner architecture of a massive castle. Several pillars supported each level with massive arches and a narthex that loomed over everything. It reminded Aldus of one of the silver cathedrals in the Silver Isles. Being in such close proximity to them, Aldus reasoned it was possible they were influenced by the architecture. However, never did he believe changelings to be so... sophisticated. There was still the signature green slime covering the majority of the architecture and the place was dimly lit. Aldus did not have time to marvel at the sights before being forced up a set of winding stairs. At the apex of the mountain Aldus found himself being led down a long hallway to a massive room with a set of double doors.

The large changeling knocked three times. before an all too familiar voice chimed, “Come in!”

The changelings entered before Aldus and all bowed low to a shadowy figure standing before a large hearth. The room was enormous with a gigantic queen size bed complete with ornate bed posts and silk top coverings. Several books were strewn about a table near the left side of the room and on the right was a balcony that overlooked the entirety of Darkmire Moors.

“Excellent, my guest has finally arrived. Leave us.” The familiar voice commanded.

All the changelings filed out of the room leaving Aldus alone with the shadowy figure.

“What... no magic? I’m surprised, Aldus.” the familiar voice said with a laugh.

“Well... I would show you some spells, but your servants saw fit to drain me of my magic on my way here, as well as knock me out cold for most of the journey.”

“Unacceptable!” the voice boomed. Princess Luna stepped forward with a menacing glare. “Your princess commands you to perform magic!”

Aldus stared at Princess Luna, “You know, thats actually not half bad, but the mane is too short and it takes years to master the royal voice. I give it an A for effort, though.”

Princess Luna chuckled and was consumed by green flames. When the flames died down a changeling similar to Ciaran stood before him, but smaller. She smiled at Aldus and ran a hoof through her dark orange mane.

“A sense of humor... I like that,” the changeling giggled, “I’m going to enjoy our playtime, look,” the changeling gestured to a corner where a harvest pod stood awaiting its occupant. “I made that just for you, so you can rest after I--,” the changeling paused to lick her fangs, “ After we are done playing.”

Aldus gulped and tilted his head, “You know Silth, for somepony with a reputation like yours... I was expecting you to be bit... taller.”

The changeling in front of Aldus grinned and collected green energy at the tip of her horn.

“Cynthia!”

The changeling dropped the grin and magic immediately while looking behind her victim. Aldus felt a chill run up the length of his spine as he slowly turned around to see where the voice came from. Hidden in the shadows behind one of the large doors, an enormous changeling emerged and stalked toward Aldus and the smaller changeling. This one was was even larger than Ciaran and sported a dark yellow mane that flowed down to her back. Her skin was not black like other changeling’s, but rather a dark grey.

“She is not Silth, wizard. I am.”

Aldus looked up at Silth with a weak smile. “Yeah... thats more like I imagined.”

Silth gave Aldus an amused smirk then turned her attention to the one called Cynthia. “You’ve had your fun. Get out, brat. This one is mine, and mine alone. Go find your love somewhere else.”

“Yes mother,” Cynthia said with a bow then quickly left the room.

Silth assessed Aldus with piercing blue eyes, “I wondered how you would look after being alive so long, you are still blessed with youth... and significantly more delicious looking than the books describe.” the changeling cooed in a dangerously soft voice.

“Uhh... thanks?” Aldus said.

“Your welcome. Now, before we start the nights... activities... there is something I want to know.” Silth said while buzzing her wings and landing on the bed. “Why did you do it?”

Aldus looked at Silth, fear giving way to genuine curiosity, “Why did I do what?”

Silth tsked and laid down on the bed, seductively spreading her hooves and laying flat on her belly. Her eyes began to glow pale blue as she playfully rolled over on her back, looking at Aldus upside down, “You know what... you ponies call us changelings monsters, but you... you are a true monster.”

Aldus froze, did she know about Selene?

“You killed all those poor ponies with that comet. Why?”

Aldus felt relief wash through him, but he did not allow Silth to notice. He looked over at the many books on the table, “Student of history are you?”

Silth licked her fangs seductively, “Only in things that interest me.”

Aldus took a few paces toward the bed, eliciting a wide grin from the changeling, “If I tell you why, will you let me go?”

Silth chuckled, “That depends on a few things, Aldus.”

“Like what?” Aldus inquired.

“Well, it depends on if you tell the truth. It also depends on how good you taste.” Silth said with a playful wink.

Aldus gulped and felt the chill return to his spine.

“Do you really want to know?” Aldus asked.

Silth leaned forward, “Yes!”

Aldus took a deep breath and lowered his head, “I did it because they deserved it, and for one other reason.”

“What other reason?” Silth asked.

“Its not something I reveal to anypony, that includes you, Silth. Sorry.”

Silth rested her chin on her hooves and smiled at Aldus, “You are pretty confident... I wonder why? Is it because... you are a powerful wizard?” Silth asked while climbing off the bed. “Is it because I don’t frighten you?” the changeling rubbed her hooves across Aldus’ back. “Is it because... my own machinations couldn’t possibly compare to the schemes of your own?”

Silth suddenly pressed her face into Aldus’, her eyes inches away from his, “Or is it because the Silver Isle ponies are on their way here with an armada of ships and soldiers to rescue you and destroy my colony?”

Aldus turned as white as a ghost while his heart sank. Silth stood behind her prey and wrapped her long forehooves under Aldus’ shoulders bringing him against her chest. She looked down at him pityingly with a more intense glow in her eyes, “I am everywhere, little wizard. In your kingdom, in the Silver Isles, in the gryphon lands, and in the Crystal Empire. I know what your princesses like to eat, and I know what they secretly think about their nobles. I know about the little bakery Celestia likes to sneak off to when she gets a break. Did you really think you could plan something like this against me and succeed?”

Aldus broke free of her embrace and backed away, “There is... no way... how-?”

“We’re changelings sweetheart... infiltration and information gathering is what we do.” Silth laughed and transformed into Princess Celestia, “How did the sun princess react when you told her of my little sister’s request, hmm?”

“You- you knew about that too?!” Aldus stammered.

“Unfortunately for Ciaran, yes. Poor girl, part of my army should be arriving at her colony tonight. I have no use for children as weak as Ciaran’s, so they will be disposed of. But she will be brought here so she can know the true magnitude of her failure. Oh... and your Silver Isle allies? My children await below the waves to surprise them as they approach our shores.”

“Even if you do surprise them, they will not be defeated so easily.” Aldus said.

“Thats true, it will take a great many of the tens of thousands of changelings in our underground colony to stop them, but we will emerge victorious in the end... and their will be nopony left to stop us from marching on the Silver Isles and sacking the the Silver City. I shall look forward to feasting on Princess Desalia.” Silth admitted while returning to her natural form.

“Tens of thousands?” Aldus slumped to the floor, “I- I lost... how? I’ve failed... everypony...”

Silth grinned and stretched her hooves, “Aww... I can’t stand to see you like that my little pony. Here, let me cheer you up. Look at me.”

Aldus stared at the ground and caught a green flash in his peripherals.

“Aldus...” Silth cooed in a sweet, seductive voice, “Please look at me.”

Aldus continued to gaze at the floor, but a soft voice in the back of his mind spoke to him. The voice said there was no harm in listening to Silth, it said it might even be fun. His eyes began to show a dim blue glow as he listened to the voice. Slowly, Aldus picked up his head and looked at Silth. But it was not changeling standing before him now. Aldus’ mouth dropped to the floor and his eyes locked open.

“No... it can’t be... it’s impossible.”

A light green alicorn mare stood in front of Aldus with wings unfurled. The alicorn’s mane was a light blue with several pink streaks running through it here and there. A few of the locks were braided at the ends and sitting atop her head was a silver tiara fitted with several blue gemstones.

“Seabreeze... I- I-”

The alicorn’s eyes glowed the brightest blue with her horn to match. Aldus’ eyes soon mirrored Seabreeze’s and in an instant something pinged in the back of his mind. Aldus’ eyes remained fixed on Seabreeze as a small, content smile appeared on his face.

“There... that’s better,” she said while moving her face from side to side, watching Aldus follow her motions, held completely in a trance.

Silth remained in the form of Aldus’ long lost love. This was the best she had felt in months, perhaps even years. Everything was going according to plan, and she finally had her toy to enjoy for as long as she wanted. Silth put a hoof to Aldus’ face and closed his jaw, but as soon as she let go it dropped open again. She giggled at how pathetic and helpless her new toy was. She had always found the reactions of her victims to be the most enjoyable part of the feeding process. It might even be better than the feeding itself. Aldus’ reaction to her current disguise meant the image she had formed from reading all those books must have been accurate. Silth leaned against Aldus and rubbed her head against his, letting her mane drape over him. She looked at his seemingly happy expression in the mirror across the room. She would make sure he enjoyed this as much as she planned to.

“Oooh...” Silth squeaked, “Do I look pretty, Aldus?”

“Yes...” Aldus said with a submissive smile.

Silth grinned and pressed her muzzle to his in a passionate kiss. Blazing hot energy surged through Silth causing her to squeeze Aldus tightly, but he did not seem to mind. Silth felt like she was fighting for her life in raging river. Every second was a fight to remain afloat in the torrent of love flowing into her. After what seemed like an eternity, Silth finally broke the kiss and gasped for air. Aldus now wore a wide smile and fell forward to be collected in the changeling’s forehooves. She giggled and held him against her chest while savoring the love. Her skin twitched as the energy moved throughout her body. She had never fed on a pony like this before. The love felt... wild, yet refined like a good wine.

A good aged wine... Silth thought. Then it hit her, this was a love that was one thousand years old. That explained why it was so different. It was sublime.

“So good!!! I’m definitely keeping you!” Silth squeed while returning to her original form. She threw Aldus onto the bed and dove on top of him to continue feeding for the rest of the night.

-------------

The manor was quiet as a graveyard when Pyrite and Frost returned from their walk. It truly was an elaborate house with many rooms neither of the colts had explored yet. Black Star had taken Iris, Blue Bell, Ruby, and Antares into the city to buy some food and other things needed until the housekeeper arrived. Frost felt uneasy being in such a large place knowing that he and Pyrite were the only ones there. Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. Frost trotted along behind Pyrite observing Andromeda interact with silver earth colt. They ascended the stairs to the master bedroom that Selene was in earlier. Black Star mentioned that several of the rooms still needed work, so sleeping on the top floor was probably the best idea since they all had clean furniture. Pyrite was telling Andromeda about their time in Manehatten and all the things they did together.

Once they got into the bedroom Frost collapsed on the bed and motioned for Andromeda to stay with Pyrite. Frost had so much food for dinner he passed out immediately after hitting the pillow. Andromeda smiled after hearing Frost start to snore. She looked over at her other charge, who was having no such luck. Pyrite had pulled back the curtains and opened up the balcony to look outside. Andromeda noticed that as Pyrite stepped out into the night air, the light of the moon shined brighter. The rays of light intensified as they surrounded the little colt.

Andromeda crept up behind him and sat down on her haunches. She plucked the colt off the ground and sat him in her lap. “Looks like somepony is watching you, Pyrite.”

“The moon?” Pyrite asked.

“Yup!” Andromeda smiled, “And the stars, they are all watching over us in the night. At least, that is what mother says.”

“Do you think Aldus and Selene will be ok?” Pyrite asked.

Andromeda paused, she really didn’t know. The further away mother got, the less of her she could feel. “I’m sure they will be fine, Pyrite.”

The earth colt yawned and squirmed out of Andromeda’s hooves. “I wish I could stay up later... but I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open. Its strange, I wasn’t tired before I came outside.”

Andromeda looked up at the moon and grinned, “Sleep has a way of creeping up on you.”

Pyrite climbed onto the bed and looked over at the other side to find Frost sprawled out snoring loudly. He put his forehooves to his ears as Andromeda plopped down next to him. “He’s so loud, I’ve never heard him snore this loud before.”

Andromeda grinned and put a hoof to her muzzle, telling Pyrite to be quiet. She crept across the bed and stood over Frost. Watching for the perfect moment, Andromeda pressed her muzzle to Frost’s in a kiss. Startled awake Frost sat bolt upright and saw the blue pegasus in his face. He screeched and fell off the side of the bed, landing with a loud thump.

Pyrite and Andromeda fell over laughing while Frost groaned and climbed back onto the bed. “Why did you kiss me?!” Frost blurted out, blushing.

“Because I kiss cute colts?” Andromeda answered with a shrug. She picked up Pyrite and kissed him on the cheek, “See?”

Frost shook his head and got comfortable. “Whatever... are you going to stay with us tonight?”

“If Pyrite wants me to.” Andromeda said looking down at the colt.

“If you could stay, I’d like that.” Pyrite said with another yawn.

Andromeda smiled and trotted over to the side of the bed to lay down. After getting comfortable she began to shut her eyes but stopped when she felt a tugging on her wing. Pyrite stood next to her, “Andromeda... its a little chilly in here, could I sleep next to you to get warm?”

“Of course, sweetie,” she said while wrapping her hooves around the earth colt and bringing him close. Pyrite hugged around her neck while she covered him with a wing.

“What do you think Selene and Aldus are doing?” Pyrite whispered.

Andromeda rested her chin on Pyrite’s head, “I don’t know, sweetie. I really don’t know.”

 

Chapter 12: The Deadnight War (part 2)

Lord Thest sat on the edge of the golden throne as he watched the servants scrub the blood off the floor and clear the rubble from the fallen statues. The battle in the throne room had been fierce, several of Thest’s family had fallen to Ziraal and his guards before he arrived with several golden gryphon elite warriors. Thest didn’t let it bother him, he had a big family and there were always more relatives.

The doors at the edge of the room flung open and knocked down a few servants near them. Four golden gryphons filed into the room escorting a hooded figure. Thest leaned forward on the throne, but did not get up. He raised a claw and dismissed the servants while the cloaked figure approached him.

“You are a failure, Thest. I’m beginning to think my father was a fool in trusting your schemes.”

Thest expected this considering how the events in the past few days had turned out, but he still considered the “scheme” to be a success.

“The king has escaped and fled to Matriarch knows where, and you couldn’t even capture his whelp of a daughter.”

Thest regarded the cloaked figure with a featureless expression, “She is of little consequence away from the city, and her father suffered grave wounds fleeing your warriors, he has likely died from them.”

“What about the other one, the blue priest? Tell me you were at least able to kill him. Judging from your appearance, I’d say you failed there as well.”  

Thest’s body temperature began to rise as anger boiled its way to the surface. He never became angry, and even if he did, he would never show it. Thest had been trained by the deadliest assassins in the grey wing kingdom, his father and uncles. Part of that training was never letting your emotions reach the surface where others could exploit them, but Thest had taken it further and all but purged them completely.

The gryphon assassin wore a bandage over his left eye while his left claw was held firmly in a brace. His left wing was bandaged as well, and a few splotches of missing feathers could be seen around the edges of the dressings. The battle with Kathe had been the closest brush with death Thest had experienced in a long time. But for every blow Thest suffered, he returned one to the priest. Kathe had taken a hit from one of Thest’s poison daggers, if he didn’t find a cleric soon he would surely die. Thest was certain to station golden gryphons at all the temples and medical pavilions located around the city.

“I inflicted a lethal blow to the priest with my special weapon,” Thest said plainly while spinning a curved dagger in his right claw. “As much as I love discussing my problems, you aren’t without your own, Jena,” Thest said while sheathing his blade. “Seems to me that for gryphons as esteemed as you, retrieving an ancient tome from a dusty old temple should be a task of relative ease. However, I hear your warriors and scholars were thwarted by a pegasus explorer.”

The cloaked gryphon removed her hood revealing a young female warrior. Her beak was obscured by a red neckwarmer but her piercing eyes were focussed on Thest. “She slipped in and out before we could do anything about it, we’ve sent warriors to apprehend her.”

“They will fail, she has already traveled deep into Equestria,” Thest said, “I doubt anything of value was lost, whatever was in that temple should have remained there.”

“You would turn down a potential weapon from the Lord of Chaos?” Jena asked in amused shock.

Thest descended the stairs to stand next to Jena, “A weapon of chaos... think about that for a moment, an artifact of chaos would cause just that. It would be damaging to everyone around it, including the fool wielding it.”

“I suppose that is true, but we still could have learned so much from it.” Jena said while they walked over to one of the large windows.

“We may still get that chance,” Thest said with a clicking of his beak, “Our next phase of the plan is about to begin.”

“What of Iris? She may be inconsequential, but if she were to return it could cause problems for my soldiers occupying the kingdom. The commoners would rally around Iris.” Jena reminded Thest.

“I have taken the title of Regent until she is found,” Thest said casually, “The citizens believe Iris was kidnapped. I informed them we are doing everything we can to look for her.”

“Kidnapped?” Jena mused, “By whom?”

Thest looked down at Jena, “I told the public I don’t know, but once we discover where she is hiding, we’ll have something to tell them. Until then we continue to search and prepare. What is the status of your airships?”

Jena raised a golden claw from under her cloak and balled it into a fist, “They are loaded with our troops and will depart tonight.”

“Excellent,” Thest replied, “Now all we need to do is wait.”

------------

Pyrite slowly opened his eyes after having the strangest dream. He slowly turned over in Andromeda’s hooves to look at the other side of the bed. Frost was sprawled out on the covers snoring. Some shadows danced on the wall from the balcony door catching Pyrite’s attention. He watched them move in the moonlight and began to fall back asleep when he saw the silhouette of a pony on the wall.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Pyrite gingerly moved Andromeda’s wing and untangled himself from her hooves. He began to slide away but felt two forehooves gently curl around his shoulders and pull him backwards. Andromeda sighed and snuggled up to earth colt once again.  Pyrite couldn’t help but giggle as her soft hooves rubbed at his chest and belly.

“So soft...” she murmured, “Just like my very own teddy bear.”

Pyrite smiled at his guardian talking in her sleep. Andromeda was a very sweet pony. He felt safe around her and she was a lot of fun.

“Where were you going?” she asked as Pyrite rolled over to see Andromeda staring at him. “Don’t you want to stay and cuddle with me?” she pouted.

Pyrite smiled and nuzzled into her chest, “Of course I do, its just that I woke up and saw shadows from the moonlight. One of the shadows seemed familiar so I wanted to investigate.”

Andromeda rolled over on her back still holding Pyrite in her forehooves. She looked at the door to the balcony and there was indeed somepony out there. Upon focusing she immediately recognized the magic. Pyrite pressed his small hooves into Andromeda's chest and stared down at her. “Can I just go outside for a little bit? I’ll come right back in I swear. Besides, its not like its going to be easy to sleep with that racket.” Pyrite said while pointing a hoof at Frost.

Andromeda smiled and pressed her head back into the pillow, “Alright cutie... I suppose you have a point,” she admitted while releasing the earth colt, “Just don’t stay out there too long, you might catch a cold.”

Pyrite beamed and wrapped his hooves around her neck, “Thank you, thank you! I love you Andromeda!”

The blue pegasus filly smiled as the colt jumped off the bed and quietly trotted to the balcony, “I love you too, sweetheart.” she whispered.

Pyrite opened the door and put a hoof to his eyes to shield from the bright moonlight. Once the light dimmed he saw a familiar light blue filly standing at the edge of the balcony looking down. She turned around and grinned, “There is my brave hero.”

“Woona!” Pyrite shouted as he ran over to hug the filly.

Woona laughed as she was glomped by the silver earth colt. “I missed you, Pyrite. Are you enjoying your new home?”

“I am!” Pyrite exclaimed, “Aldus and Rigel are really nice ponies, it was so kind to let my friends and I stay with them.”

“They have served me for a long time, I’m happy they did this for you.” Woona said while getting up.

“Serve you? Oh right, you are a princess!”

“That’s right!” Woona grinned, “Pyrite, come with me. There is something I want to show you.”

Pyrite frowned a moment and looked back inside where Andromeda was resting, “I don’t know,” he murmured, “I’m not supposed to be out here that long.”

Woona approached him and nuzzled his head, “You will be safe with me Pyrite, and I’ll bring you right back. I promise.”

Pyrite looked into Woona’s crystal clear eyes and grinned, “Well, you are a princess. I guess I can’t say no to royalty.”

Woona beamed and scooped the colt off the floor before spinning into the air, “Yay! Trust me, Pyrite. You are going to think this is so cool!”

The two foals flew over the meadows and rolling hills into the forest beyond. The moonlight lit their path as they approached a clearing. Pyrite could hear machinery and metal as they got closer, he could also see lights getting brighter and brighter. Woona descended into the area and landed near a set of blue tents. It was then that Pyrite saw it, a sleek silver airship. It’s lights along the edges illuminated the clearing along with several light crystals positioned near the tents. Pyrite saw some tough looking ponies in purple armor surrounding the tents while different ponies worked near the airship. These ones wore silver robes and hoods obscuring their faces while they worked. One turned to look at him wearing a mask with some sort of tube extending from its mouth that flowed to somewhere underneath its robes.

The earth colt backed up and bumped into something large. He turned around to see a tall midnight blue pony standing in place of Woona. Her mane seemed to be the night sky itself, complete with stars and galaxies. She wore the same tiara as woona but with a crescent moon peytral plate.

“Woona?” Pyrite stammered as he backed away.

“Yes little one, its me.” the blue alicorn said with a gentle smile. “This is my natural form.”

Pyrite bowed, “You certainly look more like a princess now.”

The alicorn put a hoof to the earth colt’s chin, “Child, you don’t need to bow to me. Treat me as you treated Woona.” she said in a reassuring voice.

“But you said you were Woona?” Pyrite asked.

“Woona was a name nickname I had when I was your age,” the alicorn said with a chuckle, “My name is Luna.”  

“OH MY GOSH!!” came a shout from the direction of the tents. Pyrite turned in the direction of the sound to see a purple and blue streak heading toward him. He fell to his haunches as the pegasus mare came to a sudden stop in front of him. She looked absolutely terrifying, her armor lined with spikes and sporting a pair of shock gauntlets. Her helm completely obscured her face.

The mare retracted the gauntlets and removed her helmet. “A little earth colt! He’s so cute!” she squeaked while scooping up Pyrite in a back breaking hug.

“Marigold,” Luna chided, “I think he’s had enough.”

The mare frowned and sat Pyrite down, “Oh, sorry. I’m Marigold. What’s your name cutie?”

“I’m Pyrite, its nice to meet you.”

“Aww,” Marigold sat on her haunches next to Pyrite, “Sorry sweetie pie, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Pyrite smiled and ran a hoof across the armor, “Its okay Marigold, the armor looks really cool on you!”

Marigold smiled at Luna while messing up Pyrite’s mane.

Luna suddenly grinned and nudged Pyrite, “Look over there, this is why I brought you here.”

Pyrite looked over by airship and saw a unicorn kneeling before a mirror while three silver ponies surrounded him and began fitting him with armor. The unicorn remained completely still as several silver plates were clicked into place while one of the robed ponies held a scroll in front of the unicorn’s head. Once the unicorn was fully fitted with armor it turned and approached Princess Luna. Pyrite didn’t even realize he had backed into Marigold as the unicorn came closer.

The pegasus mare bent down to nuzzle Pyrite, “It’s okay, this big guy won’t hurt you.”

The unicorn stopped in front of the princess and knelt. Pyrite noticed several blades sheathed in saddle pouches and a specific gauntlet in his right hoof. Pyrite’s eyes widened, he remembered Ruby telling him about such devices used to aid in wielding very large blades. The unicorn’s armor covered its entire body while a purple mesh could be seen woven underneath. There were several tubes that ran from the neck to slots on the underside of the armor. Pyrite noticed crystals fused into the larger plates and around the neck where the helm met the breast plate. The helm itself had two tubes that ran down the side to connect to the breast while a curved silver visor protected the wearers eyes. A long blue and purple tassel was fitted at the top and hung down below the unicorn’s waist. The armor itself was spotless silver except for a dark splotch located on the left shoulder pauldron going down to the breast plate. It looked as if somepony had spilled tar on the otherwise clean armor. However, the black coloring left an area untouched resembling a crescent moon like Luna’s own cutie mark.

Princess Luna smiled at the armored pony in front of her before bending over to Pyrite, “You said you always looked up to knights in shining armor, what do you think of him?”

Pyrite gazed upon the hulking pony as it turned to face him. “It is good to see a fellow silver pony, what is your name, young one?” His voice sounded metallic and distorted from speaking within the helm.

“It’s uh- uhm P- Pyrite... sir. Excuse me for asking, but what do you mean ‘fellow silver pony’?”

The knight extended his left foreleg, two of the plates protecting his limb opened revealing a silver coat almost exactly the same color as Pyrite’s.

The knight leaned in close to stare into Pyrite’s eyes. “Pyrite, as a fellow silver pony, I have a favor to ask of you.”

Pyrite jumped to his hooves, “What favor, sir? I’ll do it if I can.”

The knight looked at Luna and Marigold who were smiling down at Pyrite, “I must depart these lands for now. While I am gone you must protect the fair Princess Luna and lady Marigold. Can I count on an honorable silver stallion such as yourself?” he asked while extending a gauntleted hoof.

Pyrite’s eyes practically glowed, “You can trust me!” he said in the bravest tone he could muster before hoof bumping the unicorn.

“Excellent,” the knight said before standing up, “Princess, captain, I take my leave.”

Pyrite fell back into Marigold as he watched the knight strut away to the ship while two silver ponies hooked a flowing purple cape to his pauldrons. Princess Luna, Pyrite, and Marigold watched as the airship rose quickly into the air then sped off to the east, leaving the clearing quiet once more.

“Who was that?!” Pyrite asked Princess Luna practically jumping up and down.

Luna smiled at the colt and sat down on all four legs, “Somepony who will do his duty for our kingdom. You can ask him yourself when he returns. But for now I think its time for you to return home.”

The princess of the night enveloped the colt in a magical aura bringing him to hover in front her. She kissed his forehead and smiled, “I’m so very happy you are staying with us now, it was wonderful seeing you, Pyrite.”

The young earth colt smiled and hugged Princess Luna’s muzzle before being levitated to Marigold.

“I think that knight might have just made you his squire,” Marigold said with a chuckle while scooping Pyrite up and placing him on her back. “Time to head back to the manor, I just hope we don’t run into any monsters or bandits on the way back.” the pegasus mare said with a hint of fear in her voice while slipping a wink to Luna.

“Monsters and bandits?” Pyrite asked.

“You better not be scared!” Marigold exclaimed while rising into the air, “You heard what the knight said, you have to protect me!”

Luna chuckled to herself as Marigold departed with Pyrite, in a few days time this would all be over. One way or another.

---------------

Silth trotted into her lavish room after meeting with her battlefield commanders. Any day now the silver ponies would be arriving in their ships unaware of the ambush that awaited them. They were fools, still... she had to give them credit. Aldus planned ahead considerably and it showed. If her spy network was not so entrenched in pony society, he might have succeeded. But he didn’t and now he was hers. Silth licked her fangs, patience was the key. Her mother was impatient in her attempt to take Canterlot, and that is why she was defeated and sent crawling away back into the desert. Silth still remembered the horrid time she spent in that desolate wasteland. Leaving to make her own colony was the best decision she had ever made, and it way paying off in dividends. Ciaran was also too impulsive, and far too trusting. She never fully understood the contempt that Silth had for her, and she was lucky they both had to be weary of their mother. Ciaran was always subtle, and nice... too nice... Silth had never found out for sure, but she suspected Ciaran was much more powerful than she let on. Chrysalis hadn’t noticed it either, and Silth didn’t know for sure, but soon she would. Once Ciaran was brought here she divulge everything. Patience... patience gets you what you want. Speaking of getting what you want...

Silth glanced toward the green glow emanating from the side of the room. Her colt toy floated in his pod with a small smile on his face. She could only wonder what type of dreams he was having. It didn’t matter, because he was going to enjoy the next few hours way more than dreams. It had been half a day since she had finished feeding. Silth had refrained from getting too intimate with him their first night, she had gained all she needed and so put him to sleep afterward.

The changeling enveloped her toy in a magical field and gingerly pulled him from the pod. The thin membrane resisted at first, as if not wanting to relinquish its occupant, but eventually Aldus floated out into the room and was deposited on the floor in Front of Silth. The blue glow from Silth’s hypnosis spell was fading. Aldus began to shake his head and blink rapidly. However, this didn’t bother the changeling who simply leaned against a bed post admiring her toy.

Silth had thought Aldus would be scrawny since the books she read described him as small and unathletic. Instead the stallion in front of her was quickly capturing her more... base... desires. Upon removing his robes Silth found that he was well toned and somewhat muscular around his forehooves and shoulders. There were also small indentations on both forehooves in some sort of pattern, but Silth could not discern the significance of them.

Aldus picked himself off the floor and shook his head, “What- what happened to me?”

Silth grinned and ignited a soft blue glow from her horn, “Oh, you had a wonderful night sweetie. I must say all the things that I read about you were true. Dashing, handsome... and well endowed...”

Aldus blushed and stared wide eyed at Silth, “You! I- I didn’t!! I couldn’t!!”

Silth giggled, enjoying toying with her new pet, “You were wonderful...”

The unicorn began to shake his head more and more trying to break free of the spell. Silth enjoyed watching him struggle.

“You know, you muttered a few names during our fun last night.” Silth cooed while stepping toward Aldus. “I made sure to remember them, but I was surprised by the first name.”

Aldus stared at the ground, only vaguely listening to the changeling when suddenly he was pushed back into a table. Soft lips met his in a comforting kiss, Aldus let his eyes close slightly just catching a glimpse of pink... PINK!

“Cadance?!” Aldus shrieked while pushing her away.

The pink alicorn’s cheeks puffed in indignation, “What's wrong with me?” she pouted. “You kept saying my name last night... that must mean something...” she said with bat of her eyelashes.

She slowly advanced on Aldus who backed away along the table, standing on his hind legs showing off those well toned shoulders and legs.

“I’m the princess of love! I know I’m sexy... I hear what all the stallions say about me...” Cadance’s horn glowed blue for an instant before she spun around and bent over, wiggling her rump in front of the grey unicorn.

Aldus’ eyes twinkled blue for an instant as he leaned forward hungrily looking at the pink flank shaking in front of him. Cadance was absolutely stunning, both the real one and this... ‘Cadance’. He would never admit it, but he disliked Shining Armor for more than just beating him up that day, Shining had this beautiful flower all to himself. It didn’t seem fair...

Seizing the moment while he was in a daze, Cadance leapt at her toy knocking him back onto the table sending scrolls and books flying. Aldus wrapped his hooves around the pink mare while accepting her passionate kisses. Then something hit him, this wasn’t right. This wasn’t the real Cadance... he was being used. Aldus broke away from the kiss and attempted to push the imposter away but Silth had already tasted the delectable love, she would not be denied. Cadance’s eyes glowed bright blue and stared down into Aldus. His eyes shrank to tiny dots as a blue beam of energy hit him in the forehead. Aldus’ hooves fell to the table as a submissive grin appeared on his face. Silth smiled as she locked lips with her prey again, savoring the tidal wave of love crashing into her. She pulled away with a squee and lifted Aldus off the table flying them both over to the bed.

Silth wrapped her hooves around Aldus and rolled around on the bed taking him with her. The amount of love coursing through her was like nothing she ever felt before. The amount of power she had now was almost unbearable. It was entirely possible she could fight Desalia, Luna, Celestia and all the other alicorns and hold her own, if not prevail. Silth pulled away panting, she rolled off of Aldus and lay beside him for a few moments letting the emotions subside. She felt a shuffling beside her as Aldus murmured something and rolled over, exposing his flank. The emotions supercharging Silth were having a strange effect on her. She felt much more playful than usual. With a grin she returned to her natural form and licked her fangs. For a moment she hovered over Aldus, giggling, before chomping down on his cutie mark like an apple.

The guards down the hall from Silth’s room heard a high pitched scream followed by high pitched laughter. They looked down the hall then at each other. The senior officer deadpanned the younger, shaking his head. Whatever their princess was doing, it would mean certain death to interfere. The older changeling pitied the poor pony. Activities like tonight were sure to go on for a long time.

Aldus practically flew out of the bed landing in a heap on the floor. The bite was enough to break him completely out of the trance. He looked at his cutie mark and noticed two small holes with a bit of red flowing out down his flank. Aldus looked up to see Silth lying on her belly at the edge of the bed staring longingly at him.

“What in the name of the stars is WRONG with you?!” Aldus asked, exasperated.

Silth grinned, “It looked delicious, I couldn’t resist.”

“You are insa-”

Silth leapt off the bed and tackled the grey unicorn. Both of them rolled into a table causing it to flip and spill its contents all over the floor. Silth pressed her muzzle into Aldus’ in another kiss. This time the emotions were different, love, frustration, sadness, and anger. Unbeknownst to the changeling, the amount of emotions being consumed were causing her horn to become red hot. The tip grazed Aldus’ mohawk just long enough to ignite a spark.

Aldus was finally able to push the changeling back while sniffing the air. “I smell... burning?”

“Your mane!” Silth squeaked.

“Wha-? I’m on fire!!” Aldus cried scrambling to his hooves. He looked in a mirror and shrieked in horror as his mane erupted into flame.

“No!” Silth shouted in genuine worry, “Quick, over here over here!!” The changeling flew over to an alcove in the wall and pressed a stone to open it.

Aldus whirled around to see Silth motioning him through a door that had appeared in the corner. Beyond he could see the shimmering of water. Aldus charged through the opening and dove into the water sinking below the surface before coming up for air. The room was a cavern filled with stone pillars and several ledges. The only light in the room came from the opening Silth had motioned him through. He wiped the water from his eyes only to see the door close shrouding the room in darkness. Aldus felt his stomach drop as he heard the sound of something else entering the water.

Aldus attempted to conjure light from his horn but was unable due to being drained by that pod. Something tugged at Aldus’ hooves, he looked down into the murky depths and saw something move. Before he could scream he was pulled under. Aldus thrashed about under the water before feeling two long forehooves snake around his chest and neck. He broke the surface held in Silth’s forehooves. She held him close and kissed his cheek.

“I’m so sorry for burning your mane, sweetie.” the changeling cooed, “I love your mane, it makes you look so bad... so naughty.”

Aldus looked at Silth from the corner of his eye, “What’s the damage?”

The changeling frowned and ignited her horn lighting the room with several blue crystals jutting from the walls. Aldus could now see the cavern. It was very cozy with several alcoves and even a waterfall. He looked down at his reflection and saw almost half of his mohawk had been burnt away.

“No!” Aldus moaned, “It’s going to take forever to grow that back!”

Silth squeezed him tightly and nibbled on his ear, “Well its not like you’re going anywhere. I think we’ll have the time.” Silth ran a hoof through her yellow mane and allowed part of it to flop onto Aldus, “Do you like my personal cave? It can double as a hot spring. You should count yourself lucky... only my favorite toys ever get to see it.”

Aldus turned around in her embrace and looked at her eyes and mane. He hated to admit it, but she did look sexy in a dangerous sort of way. The way her wet mane covered one of her eyes, the way she smiled with those fangs. Rigel was always the best when it came to dealing with mares, and that didn’t bother Aldus, especially since he had found Seabreeze all those years ago. But... he had always wondered what it felt like to be coveted for just his looks. Silth was obviously infatuated with him for one reason or another. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

Aldus playfully pushed away from Silth and swam further into the cavern. “Well... I’ll say this, I’ve certainly been in worse situations as a prisoner.”

Silth swam toward him, “Oh?”

“Mhm,” Aldus nodded, “I suppose if I’m going to be your plaything I should at least try and have a little fun too.”

Silth’s eyes pulsed in blue spirals, “Now that’s more like it, I see you're finally starting to understand.”

Aldus felt his mind being pulled away, he wanted to look at the spirals, they would make him feel good. He had to fight it, “Can I ask a favor?”

Silth swam up attempting to put him under her spell again, she pouted when he turned away and wrapped her hooves around him again. “Hmm? What favor might that be?” She asked while bouncing him up and down on a leg.

Aldus swam away again, “You’re a changeling right?”

Silth laughed and looked around, “What gave it away?”

“You are a changeling, so you can turn into anypony right?”

Silth licked her fangs, “Not all changelings can turn into anypony, but one such a me? Yes I can.”

Aldus grinned, “Then you could turn into anypony I ask for?”

Silth felt her heart flutter for a moment, it was an odd sensation. She shook her head and looked at Aldus, “Who did you have in mind, darling?”

Aldus paused before swimming up to Silth and putting his hooves on her shoulders. He leaned in to her ear and whispered, “Princess Celestia.”

Silth looked down at the unicorn stallion and raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

Aldus nodded.

The changeling princess shook her head and planted big kiss on Aldus’ lips. “Only for you, sweetie.”

In an instant Silth dove under the water splashing Aldus in the face. He saw a flash of green beneath him before Princess Celestia broke the surface and swam over to him.

“How do I look, my little pony?” she cooed while circling Aldus.

“Uhm,” Aldus said with a gulp, “Breathtaking.”

Celestia put her hooves around Aldus preparing to feed when loud knocks could be heard coming from her room. Silth dropped the disguise with a growl as she turned to where the noise was coming from.

“I told them not to bother me!”

“Problem?” Aldus asked with a chuckle.

“No sweetie, I’ll be right back. Can you look at me before I go?”

Aldus knew what was coming, he turned away and shut his eyes.

“Aldus...” Silth said in a sing song voice, “It’s rude to look away when somepony is speaking to you.”

Aldus started to swim away but was blocked by something big. He heard something emerge from the water in front of him. He felt to hooves grab him under his shoulders then two lips pressed against his muzzle in an aggressive kiss. Silth’s wiry tongue forced its way into his mouth and wrapped around his own. Aldus opened his eyes in surprise to stare into seemingly endless glowing blue spirals. He pressed his hooves against her chest but they soon fell limp against her sides. Aldus’ mind wanted to fight, but all he could do was listen to the soothing voice telling him to relax.

Once Aldus was completely in a trance he began to lean into Silth. She pulled away while playfully biting his lower lip. “I’ll be right back.” she said while swimming to the edge.

“Sssiiilth.”

Silth turned around, an expression of shock on her face. Aldus was slowly attempting to swim toward her. A sad expression on his face while his eyes pulsed with blue spirals. Never before had anypony been able to act on their own while under her most powerful hypnosis spell. She swam over and cradled him in her long forehooves. His eyes displayed the signs of being in a full trance and he showed no sign of complex coherent thought. Silth smiled, he was truly an amazing unicorn. There was also something else she felt beside amusement, no pony or changeling had ever called her name like that before. Like she was something important, something to be cherished, loved? Silth shook her head, she was wasting time. She bent down and whispered in her toy’s ear. “Wait here, I won’t be long.”

Silth levitated Aldus onto a ledge before exiting the cavern. Once the cavern door shut behind her Aldus sat against the wall with a blank expression and his mouth agape. From the darkness, two orange eyes blinked and approached the unicorn.

“Aldus... over here,” a soft voice beckoned. Aldus slowly looked over to find another changeling staring at him.

 

Cynthia licked her fangs hungrily as she approached Aldus from the water. She reached up and pulled him gently into the pool, “You still have some love left, don’t you?”

The young changeling greedily locked her lips with his and began to feed. She savored the torrent of love and lust that flowed off the grey unicorn. With enough of this power, she would finally be able to challenge her mother. The sound of Silth yelling nearby followed by hoofsteps signaled her time to depart. She broke her kiss with Aldus and whispered in his ear, “I’ll be back for more later.”

Cynthia released the unicorn and dove under the water as the cavern door opened again. Silth found her toy floating in the water looking into the depths.

“Aldus...” Silth cooed in a soft voice while entering the pool.

The grey unicorn’s ears perked up upon hearing her voice. He slowly turned around and gazed upon the changeling princess. Silth lifted a hoof from the water and beckoned him to forward. “Come to me, Aldus... Come to me...”

Aldus groggily nodded and began slowly swimming forward. Silth squeed as her toy approached. “That’s it,” she said while maneuvering herself into the deepest part of the cavern, “Come to me my sweet, come to me.”

As Aldus came closer Silth blinked her eyes revealing swirling blue spirals. Aldus gave a submissive grin as he saw them, unable to look away. Intent on strengthening the hypnosis, Silth wrapped her forehooves around Aldus and pressed her forehead to his. Their eyes now inches apart Silth licked her fangs, “Do you love me, Aldus?”

“Yesss” the stallion moaned.

“Excellent, how much love are you prepared to give me...?”

“All...”

“Really?” Silth asked with an amused grin, “Does that mean you are ready to get more intimate?”

Aldus’ tongue fell out the side of his mouth, right now his whole world was just the spirals in Silth’s eyes.

“Heeheehee, you are going to make me so powerful... the entire world of ponies may fall because of you.” Silth cooed while locking lips with Aldus. The changeling princess dimmed the lights while she sank with her toy into the depths of the cavern.

Chapter 13: The Deadnight War (part 3)

Silth rolled over panting, attempting to calm down after feasting on so much love. She knew from earlier how such a concentration of love could affect her horn so she was certain to keep it from touching any flammable surfaces. As she lay on her back staring at the ceiling, she thought of what she would do once her children conquered the Silver Isles. The ancient library would be all hers and she would be able to consume all the knowledge inside. But that wasn’t all she would consume. Princess Desalia and her advisors, as well as other ponies. Once Ciaran was brought here she would drain her of any scrap of emotion she had left. Then there was her prized possession. She smiled imagining them all hanging in pods from the ceiling, soon it would be a reality. Silth was distracted from her fantasizing by the sensation of liquid dripping down her side. She lifted her head to see her toy laying on top of her. Aldus lay facing the changeling with all four hooves dangling at her sides. Completely entranced, he was drooling while staring at the wall

“Aldus...” Silth Cooed in her most seductive voice.

The grey unicorn's ears perked up and he slowly raised his head. Silth remained still as Aldus mustered strength in his forelegs. In her feeding, she had sapped him of almost all his strength and magic. Still, she enjoyed seeing her pet react to her voice. Silth was almost twice a tall as Aldus with her long legs and large but slender body.

“Hello there...” Silth said as she wrapped her forehooves around Aldus and brought him in for a passionate kiss. She was surprised to find he was such a good kisser. The kissing was quickly becoming just as satisfying as the emotions being consumed. With lips still locked on her toy, Silth ignited her horn for a split second and ended the hypnosis he was under.

With the blue vanishing from his eyes Aldus continued to kiss Silth before finally breaking away and staring into her own pale blues. He simply frowned and collapsed into Silth’s chest. The changeling looked down at him and frowned, “What’s wrong, sweetie? Did I take too much?”

No response.

Silth lightly stroked what remained of his mane, “Would you like to go back into the pool? We can relax there in the hot springs. Or maybe you need to go back in your pod for a while?”

Aldus tried to move but did not have the strength. Silth licked her fangs before rolling over on her side and bringing Aldus to eye level. The poor thing had shut his eyes, but for Silth, bringing him out of a trance only to put him back into one was all part of the fun. It exhausted the mind of the victim and made it easier for Silth to feed, but Aldus’ mind was stronger than any she’d ever attempted to overpower. Even so, at the moment he was completely in her clutches. The effects of her spell still lingered in Aldus’ mind, with a bit of coaxing she was able to bring them forward in very subtle ways.

Aldus tried to ignore the sweet voice in the back of his mind. But as he was exposed to more of Silth’s magic it was becoming harder and harder. His mind told his eyes to remain shut, but he could feel them starting to slowly open.

Aldus opened his eyes a crack to familiar blue spirals. He slowly turned his head away but his eyes remained locked on the changelings. His face contorted into an expression of sorrow. “Please... Silth... no more...”

The changeling only grinned and intensified the spirals in her eyes. The sad frown Aldus wore soon turned upside down into a broad silly grin. Silth was quick to move in and give the grin purpose. After another hour of feeding, Silth decided enough was enough. She encased Aldus in a magical field and levitated him to his pod. But as he was spinning in the air he reached out to her and muttered her name... and something else.

Silth was positive no pony could form complex thought patterns under her spell, and she considered him saying her name while under its effects to be a fluke due in part to his prowess as a wizard. No... she definitely heard him say something. The changeling princess sat up and levitated the unicorn in front of her. She looked into his eyes and spoke to him.

“Did you say something, sweetie?”

Aldus simply stared at her, some drool beginning to drip from his mouth. Silth levitated him into the air again and began to move him away when he spoke.

“No... I... don’t want to be alone...”

Silth’s eyes widened. She pondered the situation for a few moments. The pods the changelings used to detain their prey were hardly cruel. Supplying good dreams and happy feelings to their occupants, the magic they used almost gave them a personality of their own. Like guardians ensuring a safe slumber for those who resided inside them. The liquid suspended them and kept the occupants warm or cool depending on the weather. They even provided them a form of nourishment. Silth remembered the details of the prison Aldus was stored in. She was unable to learn much about it, due to the lack of information, but she surmised her toy could be associating his pod with his prison. Perhaps it gave him a similar claustrophobic feeling, albeit on a subconscious level?  

Silth stared into his sorrowful expression as he reached for her with a limp hoof. She had taken so much love from him already, he didn’t need to go back to his pod yet. Slowly the changeling levitated him to the bed and collected him in her hooves. They both laid down as Silth kissed her toy and ran a hoof through his mane.

“Silth...” he muttered.

“Shh” Silth whispered, “It’s okay... you won’t be alone tonight. Its time to go to sleep.” Her horn emitted a dull blue glow as Aldus’ eyes struggled to remain open. “Sleep Aldus, I’m not going anywhere.”

Once Aldus’ eyes shut, Silth rested her horn under his’. This must have been what ponies who truly loved each other did when they slept together. She had to admit, feeling Aldus’ warmth next to her was comforting. There was no need to feed tomorrow, she would let Aldus regain all of his strength for when her hunger returned. With her mind at ease, the changeling closed her eyes and welcomed the call of sleep.

----------

The moon passed behind a few clouds as Marigold adjusted the new attachments to her armor. Since arriving on the flagship of the silver fleet, their engineers had offered to give her new technology they had been developing. She donned her helmet and its visor clicked into place and illuminated the night in front of her. It was a form of night vision, and she welcomed the advantage. Only the bat ponies could see perfectly well in the dark. Marigold wondered if any of them would make an appearance at the battle. Their old battle commander could certainly make good use of them now that he has returned.

The clamoring sound of soldiers preparing ceased for a moment while a tall figure approached the area of crates where Marigold was seated. Rigel trotted up to her a with a nod. “Well, well... you look simply stunning in that armor, Marigold.”

The pegasus mare looked up and blushed, though the stallion in front of her could not see it. Rigel wore a light flight suit similar to the Wonderbolt and Shadowbolt uniforms. However, this one was fitted with several tubes and power crystals. Marigold thought his helmet was... odd. quite odd in fact. It covered his entire face while a tube ran from a respirator to a device situated on his back. His eyes were hidden by a visor that was the shape of an upside down V. It appeared that somepony stuck it on his face while the two lines ran down and outward passing over his eyes.

Marigold had to admit though, not seeing his jovial smile and dashing good looks made him an ominous presence. The silver flight suit covered most of his body except his blue mane and tail. The wrist joints of his wings were fitted with some kind of silver metal.

“What’s on your wings?” Marigold asked.

“Oh these? Just something the silver ponies thought I could test out.” he said while extending the joints. Two slightly curved blades swept forward and reflected the moonlight. “Retractable blades, for dealing with close range enemies.”

Marigold removed her helmet and frowned. “Close range? You think it will come to that?”

Rigel put a hoof around the mare’s shoulder and leaned in close, “It always does, always. Follow me, I want to address the rest of the pegasi before we arrive.”

Marigold followed Rigel onto the deck of the ship and watched him move through the crowd. As he approached, the Silver Isles pegasi began to take notice and straightened. Some saluted him while others whispered to themselves. Rigel took it all in stride, giving some stallions and mares reassuring pats on the shoulder while stopping to help one stallion get into his flight suit. Marigold felt her heart pounding from both fear and admiration. Rigel was a natural leader, the way the ponies looked up to him, the way their mood changed from fear to anticipation when he stepped on deck. This must have been what the Shadowbolts felt like before they entered battle with their leader. A rush of excitement washed over her as the realization hit her. This was what she had been training for, it wasn’t for nothing that wonderbolts wanted to recruit her. Tonight she would show Rigel and these silver ponies what she could do.

Rigel climbed up on a platform and surveyed the crowd of ponies on the deck. Their number must have neared four hundred at least, with as many more below deck. He cleared his throat and removed his helmet. “Soo...” he said with a sly grin, “Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

--------------

Silth stirred in her slumber. She was having strange dreams, as her senses returned to her she felt the bed shake a bit. But it wasn’t just the bed, the entire room shook as grains of dirt fell from the ceiling. She turned her head to the side to make sure her toy was alright, but he was not beside her. Silth’s eyes shot open and scanned the room, She saw a figure leaning on one of the balcony doors but could not focus her eyes due to waking so abruptly. She attempted to rub her eyes with her hooves but could not move them. To her horror, her hooves and forehooves were locked to the bed by some sort of viscous black tar. She struggled and grunted, which seemed to alert the figure standing by the balcony.

Silth’s struggling ceased upon seeing the complete image of the figure approaching her. It was a unicorn but its face was... destroyed, there could be no other word to describe it. Half of the left side of its face was gone, what remained of the flesh and muscle sagged and dangled from its jaws and cheekbones. The left eye socket and eyebrow drooped as well, giving it a sorrowful appearance, an eternal frown. Its teeth were visible through the holes where flesh should have been, it was almost as if it was grinning at her. But that was not the case as the other portion of its face remained stoic and unmoving, studying her.

Silth felt her heart begin to race, this was fear. No... dread. She had never felt this way before, not even when her mother attempted to legitimately kill her.

“A- Aldus?”

“Aldus The Moondeath,” the mangled unicorn replied with a slight bow, “Or so I have been called before.”

“I- I-” Silth stuttered.

“Do I frighten you, Silth?” Aldus asked, his ruined features attempting to twist into a smile.

Silth flushed in anger realizing he should still be under her control. She struggled to lean forward and overwhelm Aldus with a hypnotic assault. Her eyes turned to fast racing blue spirals, but Aldus only shook his head and sat on the bed next to her.

“I’m afraid that won’t work anymore, Silth. It was fun while it lasted.”

Silth gnashed her teeth together, “You! YOU!! ... I’ll!!” sudden energy rushed to her jagged horn to take the form of a powerful offensive spell, but was quickly absorbed by the many black crystals growing there. “What? What is this? What have you done to me?!”

Aldus ran a hoof through her mane, his features were truly frightening this close, Silth could only imagine what he had gone through to look like this.

“I’ve simply decided to remove you from tonight’s coming events, I believe it is for your own good. But don’t worry, you’ll be able to observe what happens from here, and I’ll be  by your side... for most of the night, anyway.”

“Tonight’s events?” Silth asked, “Oh...” She remarked with a sneer, “Is tonight the time your friends arrive? They will be ambushed by thousands of changelings from the sea, they will be annihilated.”

Silth’s confidence began to fade when she saw Aldus lower his head and pityingly stroke her mane.

“Yes...” Aldus admitted while more loud rumbles could be heard in the distance, “They are already here... but not by sea, by air.”

Silth’s eyes widened. She had positioned more than a third of her army beneath the waves and by the shore awaiting ships that would never come. The information she had obtained via her spies was... wrong...

Silth spat in Aldus’ face, “It doesn’t matter if they come from the air, there is no way you can defeat a force the size of my colony, no matter how many you kill there will be more. You will drown in our dead.”

Aldus wiped the liquid from his face and got up from the bed. He regarded Silth with a nod and began to pace beside her. “That is true, your numbers vastly outnumber our own, and matters of war are far beyond me. They are also beyond most ponies in Canterlot and the Silver Isles. I wouldn’t trust anypony from this time to formulate a winning strategy against overwhelming odds, and against changelings.”

Silth didn’t like where this was going. Aldus looked at her with a genuine sad expression, “I lost many friends and loved ones in the civil war, but those of us who survived long and till the end gained strength and courage beyond measure. We became different ponies.”

Silth narrowed her eyes at Aldus and watched him motion toward her collection of books and scrolls. “You are a student of history, Silth, or so it seems. You must have read about the company I kept during the war. Did you ever wonder if I was the only one to return?”

The changeling slowly nodded. Aldus continued, “I am not the only one, there are others, my friends.” Aldus paused for a moment and surveyed the moors beyond. “One of which is an expert in war and combat, the one who led Nightmare Moon’s armies in battle.”

Silth’s heart all but stopped, an uncomfortable heat washed over her like a wave. She had studied the Equestrian Civil War extensively to learn about Aldus. In several documents there was mention of the general who commanded their armies. A noble knight who was not Equestrian, but fought for the Princess of the Night nonetheless. The commander for whom every battle fought was one of being vastly outnumbered, yet he claimed victory after victory. He trained the savage bat ponies to fight amongst his army and struck fear into the army of the sun. A unicorn from the Silver Isles who was never bested in single combat.

Silth stared at the ceiling and muttered, “The Dreadstar...”  

“That’s right,” Aldus said with a grin, “Polaris the Dreadstar.”

The changeling princess began to breathe heavily, it was too much... too much. She couldn’t do anything, she panicked, “GUARDS!! GUARDS!! HELP ME!!”

Aldus shook his head and looked at her before turning toward the door, “You should not have done that, Silth.”

The double doors to Silth’s chambers burst open revealing three changeling guards. It took seconds for them to see Aldus and their leader subdued on the bed. All three rushed forward to apprehend the unicorn. The floor below them erupted into dancing white arcs of light. The changelings were lifted into the air screaming as their carapaces burned away. After a few moments, three charred corpses fell to the ground in a heap.

“No...” Silth croaked.

Aldus rounded on her and opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He realized Silth was staring at something behind him. Aldus whirled around to be lifted off the floor by a blast of orange energy. The blast of magic was so powerful in sent him crashing through the wall deep into the mountain.

Through the smoke still hanging in the air from the lightning rune, a tall female changeling stepped through, her horn steaming with energy and her eyes ablaze. Cynthia’s eyes swept over to her mother, they stared at each other for what seemed like hours. There were no words between them, none were necessary. Cynthia had taken some of Aldus’ love and made herself powerful, perhaps powerful enough to challenge Silth. But there were bigger problems now, and their eyes registered a mutual understanding.

Cynthia stepped forward and prepared another spell. The hole made in the wall was obscured by bits of falling rock and dust. Suddenly Silth felt a slight surge of magical energy, “Cynthia!” she cried.

A shrill scream erupted from the hole as Aldus flew through the opening at unthinkable speed slamming into Cynthia. He pinned her to the wall and reached for her horn.

“Don’t let him touch you, Cynthia!” Silth shouted.

The younger changeling reacted, mostly in fear, throwing off the unicorn, if it could even be called that. Aldus’ face contorted into an expression of pain as he spread the tar black wings sprouting on from his sides. But that wasn’t all, three slimy tentacles began to appear on his shoulders and back. They pulsated and grew as Aldus began to laugh.

Cynthia snarled, baring her fangs, “I’ll suck you dry after breaking every bone in your body, pony.”

“Will you now? Why don’t you run off and let the grownups talk?” Aldus asked with a grin, glancing over to Silth.

Cynthia howled in rage and fired a beam of orange energy directly at Aldus’ horn. Silth watched as his left hoof began to glow with purple markings. In a split second he maneuvered his hoof in front of the blast and stopped it short of impacting his face. The beam began to narrow the closer it got to Aldus, at that moment Silth realized what was happening.

“Cynthia, you fool! Stop! He’s absorbing it!”

The young changeling halted the assault to see her adversary’s left hoof steaming with purple energy.

“All you changelings love to feed on other creatures, I think it’s high time you learned what that felt like.”

Aldus reached to his right shoulder with his left hoof and pulled the writhing black tentacle out of his back. He held it in his hoof and squeezed it, in response the tentacle flailed about as purple energy coursed through it. Aldus threw it onto the ground where it dissolved into a puddle of black sludge. Moments later the sludge began to take the shape of a small black pony. The pony grew tiny wings and horn before raising its head in an ear splitting scream.

Two tiny fangs flicked out from its mouth as it slowly turned on Cynthia. Silth’s eyes bulged in horror. “CYNTHIA!!” Silth wailed, “GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!!!”

The small pony opened its mouth wide, wider, wider still until its top and bottom jaws formed a one hundred eighty degree angle. It screamed and lunged at Cynthia who dodged away at the last second. Aldus teleported in front of her and fired a blast of dark magic directly into her chest causing her to stagger backwards. As she recovered, blinding pain erupted from her rear left leg as the little pony clamped its jaws down. Cynthia winced and tried to force it off. Her eyes widened when she realized what this little monstrosity was doing. She felt her emotional energy, magical energy, and life energy being sucked away. Aldus ran toward her preparing to fire another spell, but Cynthia saw him from the corner of her eye and slugged him right in the mangled jaw. He grunted and flew backward landing on his back.

Cynthia shook the pony latched onto her frantically but stopped when an idea came to her. She closed her eyes to focus all the magic energy she could and forced it to gather away from her horn, closer to the abomination stealing her power. Now, the majority of the energy it was taking was magic. Cynthia forced nearly all her reserves into the little monster, and as a result it began to glow orange.

Aldus recovered and got to his hooves but Cynthia was prepared, she hit him with all the magic she could muster. Aldus was able to erect a ward at the last second, but the blast was so powerful it shattered it and launched him off the balcony. Capitalizing on the moment, Cynthia tore the pony away taking a chunk of her leg with it. In one fluid motion she spun and hurled the pony out the window at Aldus. Just as the small pony collided with him, Cynthia hit it with a bolt of lightning causing a catastrophic explosion.

------------

Rigel assessed the Silver Isle Pegasi standing before him. He began to pace back and forth before speaking. “Some of you might know who I am, others may not. In the end it doesn’t matter. Though I may be from a different time, one thing remains certain. We are all pegasi. But for those of you who do know me, and know of my record, I’d like to make something clear before we get started tonight. I’ve been called many things in my time of flying. Captain, Ace, Blood Hurricane, and all the other ridiculous nicknames. I was trained as a combat flyer, but I never looked at it that way specifically. Do you all know what I am?”

Marigold looked on from behind Rigel as the crowd muttered to itself and waited for Rigel’s answer, she had to admit she didn’t know where he was going with this.

“I’m a real estate pony!” Rigel said with a triumphant hoof pump in the air. The crowd grew silent as the silver pegasi scratched their heads in confusion. Rigel turned to Marigold and gave her a quick wink. “I don’t just look for any real estate, oh no. In the past, and now, I’ve always gone after one specific type. The most vital, most important, most beautiful real estate in the world, the sky.” Rigel said while hovering into the air and sweeping a hoof across the horizon.

The silver pegasi began to understand what Rigel was saying. They nodded and began to get revved up. Marigold felt like she was watching history in the making.

“We are just a small part in the larger plan of this battle, but our part is important for our friends. Once we complete our tasks, Polaris and Aldus will have an easier time accomplishing theirs.” Rigel put a hoof to his chest and bowed his head, “Long ago, the Silver Isles was a place of rest and relaxation for myself, Aldus, and Polaris. You ponies have always been our friends, and we will not let the isles fall to a bunch of bugs!”

The silver ponies cheered as Rigel worked the crowd. Marigold found herself standing up and moving closer to Rigel without realizing it.  

“Tonight you all fly with me and my wingmare! Tonight we’ll steal the show from Aldus and Polaris! Tonight... these skies belong to the silver pegasi and Princess Desalia!!!”

The cheering suddenly fell silent as a bright light erupted from the approaching mountain. Rigel and Marigold put on their helmets and looked on through their visors. What came seconds after the light appeared was the deafening boom and shockwave that rocked the ship. Marigold was shaking but stopped when Rigel placed a hoof on her shoulder. He turned to the silver pegasi and shouted, “Look at that! Are we going to let Aldus steal all the glory, lets go!”

The silver pegasi yelled battle cries as they flew off the deck toward the mountain.

Rigel leaned down to Marigold, “You are my wingmare for this battle, stay close to me, Marigold. Show me what you can do.”

Marigold nodded and took off after Rigel. There was no way they would lose.This sky belongs to Equestria and the Silver Isles.

-------------

The shockwave of the explosion shook the four troop airships as they descended to land upon the moors. Each of the silver warrior ponies looked at Polaris with awe and respect. He was a hero in their kingdom, stories about him were still taught to young foals. Many of the warriors gathered around him now were foals when they learned about him, and now they were about to go into battle with a legend.

Polaris braced himself as the troop airships began to take fire from changelings emerging from the forest. The ponies muttered to each other before stopping when Polaris raised a hoof in the air.

“Our time is short, so I’m going to be brief. Aldus is subduing the enemy leader and sabotaging their efforts from within, Rigel is taking control of the sky. It is our job to break the enemy army. The creatures we’re fighting can take the form of our fellow soldiers, but our airships will be broadcasting a frequency from their crystals to disrupt the shape shifting ability. However, this is no reason to take the enemy lightly, they will fight savagely.”

Polaris bowed to his fellow silver ponies, “It has been too long since I stood together with ponies from my homeland, I’m very proud to be with you today. But just because you are silver ponies like me does not mean I expect less from you, on the contrary, I expect more! When I commanded Nightmare Moon’s army I had one rule for my soldiers in battle. You are NOT allowed to die until you’ve killed ten enemy warriors! Is that clear?!

“Yes sir!” the silver warriors shouted pressing their hooves to their breastplates.

Polaris reached across his back and unsheathed an enormous silver greatsword. “Outstanding.”

As their airship touched down, the doors opened revealing a wall of black figures charging toward them with green eyes and fangs shimmering in the moonlight. Polaris took two steps forward and turned to face the warriors.

“For Princess Desalia!!  

----------------

At the top of the mountain, Cynthia flew out and hovered above the balcony. The smoke from the explosion blew wisps across the black sky but all could be seen under the moonlight. Cynthia looked up at the moon, it seemed to be shining brighter tonight than usual. As the smoke finally cleared there was no sign of Aldus. The explosion blew away a chunk of the mountain below Silth’s chambers, if it hadn’t been protected by a ward the whole thing might have collapsed. Taking care of that wizard was easier than she expected, his love had made her very powerful indeed. Cynthia heard explosions near the forest and saw several silver airships taking position overhead while some moved toward the coast, likely preparing to intercept the troops positioned in the ocean. After dealing with her mother, Cynthia would take command of the colony and eradicate these ponies.

Cynthia returned to the bedroom and approached her mother with a grin. After all the abuse, verbal and physical, after all the pain and humiliation, Silth would finally pay. Cynthia looked at her mother one last time before charging her horn. Silth did not look away, but rather stared her daughter down, straight into her orange irises.

“I’ve waited a long time for this moment. Goodbye, mother.” Cynthia said as she unleashed the spell. The orange beam of energy traveled toward the bed but was absorbed just before impacting Silth. Dark energy shimmered around her as the energy dissipated. Cynthia’s eyes widened, before she could teleport away three thick black tentacles wrapped around her legs and neck. Slowly they lifted her into the air and turned her around. Aldus floated in the air panting, nearly a third of his flesh and muscle had been burned away by the blast. Cynthia could see his exposed heart beating near a few splintered ribs. Black tar dripped near his wounds as he took deep labored breaths.

“Almost got me, that was a close call.” he said while bringing her closer.

“H-How? That blast...should have... broken through any shield... any ward.” Cynthia said while struggling to breath.

Aldus’ eyes glowed a dim green for a moment. He seemed to stare off into the distance. He blinked as the green flashed in his eyes, “She won’t let me die...” he whispered seemingly to himself with a dangerous chuckle.

Aldus reached out his hoof as Cynthia was brought closer. In a last ditch effort Cynthia conjured magic into her hooves and ripped off the tentacle around her neck before slicing away the bottom two. She turned quickly to fly away but was tackled to the ground by Aldus. The wizard pinned her and touched his horn to his right forehoof. After a few seconds it began to glow red. Cynthia punched and kicked at Aldus but she couldn’t stop him. Aldus slammed his hoof into Cynthia’s face.

Silth looked on with her mouth agape as a bright red light appeared on top of Cynthia. Her daughter screamed as blinding pain coursed through her body. Her carapace began to steam as orange energy leaked out of her pores in liquid form. Her screaming reached decibels Silth had never heard before from any living creature. Cynthia’s horn began to collect orange energy as Aldus pressed both hooves down on her neck. The young changeling’s horn began to vibrate with immense energy before shattering into a million pieces. The orange energy began to exit Cynthia’s body through her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Aldus finally released her as the screaming subsided, replaced by gurgling as the orange material filled her mouth. Silth stared at what remained of her daughter, the orange liquid pouring out her orifices and her steaming carapace. Watching the scene happen from afar, it seemed Cynthia had been cooked from the inside out by some type of ridiculously intense heat.

Aldus stood up and stretched. He limped over to the balcony and doors to place more trap runes before returning to Silth’s bedside. Silth, for her part, was attempting to process everything that just happened. The tar had begun to repair the damage to his skin and the tentacles began to reform on his shoulders and back.

“You saved me, why?” Silth asked.

Aldus looked at her before taking a deep breath. “I need you.”

Silth figured as much, “What for?” she asked with a slight tinge of fear in her voice.

Aldus cracked his neck and walked over to the harvesting pod that held him the past few nights. “Subduing you was not my only task,” he replied casually, “You know, before coming here I researched your kind quite a bit. The substance used in creating these pods can be found somewhere else too... changeling eggs. But I wonder... is it fire proof?”

A jet of flames erupted from Aldus’ forehooves and impacted the harvesting pod. Within seconds the pod melted away while the fluid inside turned to a boil before evaporating.

Aldus floated into the air on his inky black wings, “I need you alive, Silth. I need you to answer this question. Where is the hatchery?”

Chapter 14: The Deadnight War (part 4)

“Answer me, Silth.” Aldus pressed, now growing impatient, “Where is the hatchery?”

Several droplets of water began to form in Silth’s eyes. She glanced over at the melted harvesting pod and began to weep. “You can’t! No, no not my babies! You can’t kill my babies!”

Aldus put his hoof under Silth’s chin and lifted her head, “I can do many things, Silth. I have done many things, terrible things, things you won’t find in your books.”

“You really are a monster, Aldus.” Silth said, the tears now flowing.

“So I’ve been told,” Aldus said with a neutral expression, “I can see you are going to be stubborn, that’s fine. I’ll just have to find it the old fashioned way.”

Aldus stepped back and began to dissolve into a puddle of tar. Silth looked on as the puddle pulsated and grew on the floor before slipping out through the entrance of her chambers.

“No...” Silth whimpered, thinking of the thousands still in eggs and incubation pods, “NO!!!!”

---------

In the air above Darkmire Moors, it was chaos. Black and Silver specks raced through the sky attempting to gain the advantage over one another. Rigel flew in a wide arc and let loose a pair of bolts from the enchanted crystals on his sides. In air combat, a situation like this was commonly known as a “furball”. Hundreds of pegasi and changelings racing through the air in one tight space, however it wasn’t just a battle between the two. Air combat and dogfighting always came down to several small engagements, one vs one, two vs one, three vs two. These could last several minutes or several seconds. To Rigel, it was never anything more than a series of smaller engagements fought consecutively over the course of a larger battle.

Glancing behind him for a moment, Marigold veered away from him and targeted three changelings going after one of the AA airships in the silver fleet. In an aggressive and bold move, she rapidly gained speed and fired on the two lead changelings, striking them both in the back of the neck, killing them instantly. When the third changeling saw her and began to turn, Marigold waited for just the right moment before accelerating to shocking speeds. She closed the distance quickly and clicked her shock gauntlets into place before slamming into the changeling. She stabbed it in the neck and sliced off a wing before pushing away and returning to formation with Rigel.

Rigel grinned at the skill displayed by his wingmare but felt a tingle at the back of his neck. He quickly bolted upward and arched his neck to find at least thirty changelings barreling toward the nearby flak frigate. He returned his gaze to Marigold and saw two black specs bearing down on her from above and to the left, her blind spot. Rigel cursed and sped off to aid his wingmare. Marigold saw him speeding toward her and noted his trajectory, she instinctively felt a tinge of fear and investigated her blind spot. What she saw were two sleek black changelings, one rapidly closing, the other practically on top of her. The one nearest bared its fangs and opened its mouth preparing to bite when a red streak zoomed by slicing through the changeling like a knife through butter. Due to the adrenaline, Marigold perceived the event in slow motion before reacting and recovering. Rigel had closed the distance between them so rapidly he was able to use his retractable blades to dispatch the first changeling. It had no idea what hit it, its expression of anger and anticipation of the perceived kill never leaving its face as the blade liberated head from body.

The other changeling reacted quickly and turned into a steep climb to get away. Rigel did not pursue it, instead he flew up alongside Marigold.

“There is a large enemy formation approaching the flak frigate and carrier its guarding, I want you to make sure no changelings get near it.” Rigel said as he pointed to the large carrier disgorging silver pegasi into the battle.

Marigold nodded and flew off to join the two airships. Rigel quickly turned to spot changeling that got away and soon found it. The changeling tailed three silver pegasi and engaged them. The first two it hit with green bolts of magic causing their wings to seize up and fall miles to their deaths, a common tactic for magic users. Rigel sped toward the changeling as it brought another charge to its horn preparing to down the last pegasus. As he approached, the changeling glanced behind and spotted him. The bug turned around and fired on Rigel, who spun into a barrel roll at the last second, evading it. The changeling flew by Rigel at alarming speed and began to bank into a tight turn to come around behind him.

Rigel felt the familiar surge of adrenaline begin to kick in, it tended to happen whenever he sensed he was truly in danger when facing a skilled opponent. During their brief flyby Rigel noticed a large scar on the changeling’s face and gash in its carapace right above the chest. These injuries, coupled with that little stunt of turning into him when he was spotted were all Rigel needed to guess that this changeling was experienced. It was a common tactic in aerial combat known by all sentient creatures who could fly, if you are being attacked you must turn into your opponent and attack as well, putting them on the defensive. However, it was the speed and execution of the attack that told Rigel he was facing a veteran.

Rigel spun around and dodged more green bolts as the changeling flew by again, but this time he was ready, with a mighty flap Rigel turned tightly and got right on the changelings tail. It took seconds for Rigel to catch him as he opened his retractable blades. Before striking, Rigel saw the changeling glance at him from the back of a green eye as it disappeared in a flash of light. Rigel cursed as he checked behind and in his blind spots. A look of shock played across his face when the changeling reappeared in directly in front of him. With conservation of momentum, the changeling drilled a hoof into Rigel’s face causing him to black out and plummet from the sky.


Near one of the silver carrier airships, Marigold circled the area and assessed the situation. She landed on the deck where more pegasi were being fitted with their weapons and preparing to take off. Some wounded fliers were returning for medical attention as well. Marigold trotted over to the flight officer and introduced herself.

“Sir, I’m Rigel’s second in command, you have a big problem.” Marigold said while moving out of the way as ten pegasi trotted past her preparing to take off.

“Problem? What problem?” The greying officer asked.

His answer came in the form of green magical bolts that strafed the carrier deck as twelve changelings flew overhead.

“Damnit!” The officer roared, “How did they get that close?”

An explosion of severe force shook the ship from its port side. Marigold and the officer witnessed the flak frigate lose altitude and fall out of the sky. The two ducked as the flight of changelings came around for a second pass. After they had gone, Marigold looked out at the mountain and saw several changelings flying in tight formation toward the carrier. Each carried some sort of large green crystal.

Marigold wasted no time in reacting. She quickly took command while the deck officer ran to the bridge. “Open fire on those changelings!” she shouted to the gun crews on deck, “Don’t let them get close. You three!” she pointed at three silver pegasi, “Join the pegasi screening the air for this carrier and take out those changelings!”

As they were readying themselves, the changelings carrying the crystals broke formation, making them more difficult to hit. The two closest ignited their horns and charged the crystals, with a flash of green light, the crystals broke free from the changelings and raced toward the carrier.

Marigold’s eyes almost popped out of her head, “OPEN FIRE! SHOOT THOSE CHANGELINGS DOWN!”

The ship they were on was the sister ship to the fleet’s flagship. This carrier, the Radiance, was bristling with anti air weaponry. The entire port and starboard sides were lined with rows of triple A crystal cannons and beam weapons. To supplement them, several guns powered by enchanted gems could lob exploding crystals as shrapnel if fliers got too close.

The weapons sprang to life as a hail of crystals and beams ripped into the changelings. Several were downed in the first volley but some managed to get through and launch their crystals. “Flak cannons, intercept those crystals!” Marigold shouted.

The captain of the carrier saw the crystals closing on his ship, “Evade!” she shouted, “Hard to port!”

The carrier slowly turned in the air as the rudder swept to the side causing the ship to slowly turn. The flak cannons destroyed all the green torpedo crystals except for two. The ship turned just enough to avoid one, but the other struck the stern belowdecks causing a violent explosion. Marigold jumped into the air to save an earth pony gunner who fell off the side. He screamed as Marigold grabbed hold of him, “I’ve got you!” she said while pulling him back up.

“Report!” the captain shouted as she picked herself off the floor.

“The engine rooms been hit!” a unicorn mare shouted from her control console. “The port main power crystal is damaged, we can remain airborne but our mobility has been severely impaired!”

“Get a team down there to repair it immediately, we can’t afford to go down until we have significantly weakened their presence in the air!” the captain barked as she helped the CIC officer up and healed a bruise with her magic.

“Already on it ma’am!”

Outside, Marigold commanded the gun crews to fire on the remaining changelings that were harassing the carrier. The pegasi who were protecting the carrier were doing an excellent job keeping away the enemy until one different changeling showed up. It was slightly smaller than the rest but significantly faster. In what seemed like moments, it downed half the flight of pegasi protecting the carrier and drew the rest of the flight away. Marigold cursed as more pegasi flew after the remaining changelings and away from the carrier.

She trotted over one of the gunnery officers and snatched away his crystal communicator, “Captain, you need to get those pegasi back here right now!”

Marigold heard the captain shouting orders from the communicator, but her voice began to fade as Marigold’s fears were realized. Several larger changelings flew in from the starboard side and landed at the bow of the ship. Many of them were heavily armed and armored, some attempted to transform into silver isles gun crew or pegasi, but the distortion effect caused their disguise to shimmer and ripple, giving them away.

Marigold locked her visor into place and banged her shock gauntlets together as she and the rest of the pegasi and gun crew charged the changelings.

“Marines and all available pegasi belowdecks report to the flight deck immediately to repel boarders!” the captain yelled as she donned her own armor.


Rigel opened his eyes to see ground rapidly rushing up to meet him. In an immense show of strength, he angled his powerful wings and pulled himself out of the dive. This would have broken the wings of most pegasi, but thanks to the power in his lineage, Rigel was able to pull it off. Rigel zoomed across the battlefield and observed the carnage, he also spotted a hulking figure in gleaming silver armor wielding a gigantic greatsword. As he flew by, he could just barely hear the cheers of the Silver Isle warriors. He smiled and performed a quick corkscrew before ascending to the air battle once again.

On the ground, Polaris watched Rigel cut across the sky flying in such a way that for a brief moment, his wingtips drew sharp red contrails. The warriors around him cheered as he flew by. Pfft showoff, Polaris thought to himself with a chuckle before returning his attention to the battle.

Rigel raced up through the clouds to find the Radiance in dire straights. Marigold and deck crew fought alongside the silver marines to repel the borders while two smaller frigates flew in to offer support to the wounded carrier.

After scanning the skies Rigel found his nemesis. The scarred changeling was hard at work taking on a group of pegasi a good distance away from the carrier. With a grin, he flew over to the group to re engage his enemy. The changeling downed two more pegasi before looking over its shoulder and spotting Rigel. It immediately turned around and flew straight at him. Upon closing the distance, the changeling opened up with a flurry of green bolts from its horn. Rigel nimbly dodged them and returned fire with the weapon crystals mounted on his armor. The changeling responded by teleporting away and reappearing behind Rigel directly in his blind spot. Anticipating this, Rigel quickly snapped into a vertical climb, forcing the changeling to follow. After breaking through some clouds higher up, Rigel could feel the air becoming more frigid. He slowed his ascent and flipped around, careening once more straight at the changeling. Just as a before, the changeling teleported away when Rigel fired on it, but this time Rigel was prepared. The instant the changeling disappeared, Rigel flapped his wings once to start the rotation, then folded them at his side. Where the changeling materialized would have been behind Rigel, if he continued flying forward. Instead, the changeling was right in front of the pegasi dead center in his crosshairs. Rigel fired a spread of bolts from his weapon crystals in an arc as he turned. The changeling tried to evade, but was struck by three bolts. Two in the chest, shattering its already cracked carapace, and one in the head. It’s wings ceased buzzing immediately as gravity snatched it from the air. Rigel spread his wings and came to rest on a cloud, catching his breath.

Almost, the thought, he was almost good enough. Rigel noticed the light shift on the cloud for a brief moment and spun around to look at the moon. There, in all its splendid beauty, was the face of his princess. Rigel bowed on all fours as the light intensified around him. He felt his energy returning and the pain in his face slipping away.

“You have done well, Rigel. It is always a joy to see you fly, even if it is in combat and war.” Luna spoke in a soothing tone.

“The night sky is yours, Princess Luna.” Rigel replied as he spread his powerful wings. “And what a beautiful night it is.”

“I see that the battle is going well so far, I’ll leave you to your duties. Once the sky is secure, see that you make sure Marigold is alright and help Polaris should he require aid... though I doubt he will.” Luna added in the end with a chuckle. “And Rigel, its just Luna.”

“As you command, Luna.” Rigel said as the princess’s face slowly faded from the moon’s surface. With two cracks of his neck, Rigel flew over to the besieged Radiance to take command of its remaining pegasi.

------------

Deep within the mountain fortress, panic gripped the changelings as more soldiers and guards poured out of the underground caverns to meet the silver army led by Polaris. Aldus, still formless in the puddle of tar, waited under the narthex until he saw something promising. Three changeling females running into a passage that lead further underground. Aldus reasoned that the hatchery and egg chambers would be the furthest below ground due to the added protection. He followed them all the way down until the tunnel opened into a wide glowing green cavern. There must have been hundreds, perhaps even thousands of eggs and pods in this place. Aldus smiled and crawled out from the puddle.

The three changeling females stood on a balcony overlooking a large portion of the hatchery, as he crept up on them, Aldus heard a familiar voice. “You aren’t going to do this, little one.”

Selene had rejoined him sometime when he was sleeping in the pod. But due to the extent of Silth’s hypnosis and dream interference from the pod, she was unable to do anything except wait.

“Do you really think this is necessary?” Selene asked with a slight edge to her voice.

Aldus found it amusing that Selene chose this moment to speak up, and not when he was fighting for his life with Silth’s witch of a daughter.

“Just trust me, Selene.” Aldus thought to himself to placate the black alicorn, at least for now.

One of the changeling females finally noticed Aldus and screamed. Three guards ran up the stairs to stop him, but Aldus quickly dispatched them with dark magic. More heard the sounds of combat and ran to engage Aldus. They were met with an arc of lightning that passed through each, leaving their charred bodies twitching on the floor.

“This is the hatchery, correct?” Aldus asked.

Two of the changeling females cowered on the floor, terrified by his appearance. One tried to run away but was stopped by a black tentacle. The changelings squeaked in fear, the one held in Aldus’ tentacle began to cry. “Please, don’t cry.” he said in as calm a voice as possible, “We don’t have much time. Is this the hatchery, is this all the eggs in the colony?”

One of the females pushed the other two behind her and nodded, “Yes, this is the main hatching chamber, there are only a few small caverns below here.”

A large explosion shook the mountain causing some rocks to come loose from the ceiling, Aldus quickly grabbed all three changelings and dove out of the way as two massive boulders came crashing down. The small females looked up at Aldus, the bravest one whimpered, “You- you saved us, why? Why are you here?”

Aldus sat them down and gestured toward the surface, “Is there a way out of here other than the main route to the surface?”

The changeling paused for a moment, “Yes, there is. A small passage that leads out of the mountain and returns to the surface far on the other side of the forest.”

Aldus let out a sigh as relief washed over him, “Listen to me, you need to take as many young ones and eggs as you can and get out of here. Use that passage and get as far from here as you can.”

“But...” one of the females whimpered.

“You have to go!” Aldus yelled as he pushed them away. He flapped his wings and fired a beam of dark magic at the ceiling, collapsing the tunnel between him and the hatchery.

As the dust settled, Aldus started to make his way back to the central chamber.

“I knew you would do the right thing, little one.”

“Did you?” Aldus asked with a chuckle, “You seemed doubtful before.”

“You have an example to set for the children waiting for you back at the manor, I knew you would never do something like that.”

“Yes, well... you have the luxury of truly understanding me, Selene,” Aldus admitted. “You knew I wouldn’t do it, but Silth doesn’t...”

------------

On the battlefield, Polaris ducked and weaved through several changelings as they crashed into the Silver Pony’s lines. Two changelings came at him with fangs bared, each wielding claw weapons. Polaris hefted his greatsword with one hoof and swung it in a wide arc at the approaching changelings. The first one jumped over it and attempted to wrench off Polaris’ helm. The silver knight knocked the changeling away with his free hoof and spun around, swinging the greatsword again to decapitate the second changeling. The survivor screeched in rage seeing his comrade fall and charged firing several bolts of green magic. Polaris let the bolts impact is armor, the green energy dissipated and began to collect in the crystals located around the chest plate and pauldrons. The changeling lunged at Polaris with force enough to knock him over, only to impact a kinetic barrier erected by his armor. Hefting the greatsword, Polaris took it by both hooves and ran the changeling through before he could recover.

A quick scan of the battlefield showed they were doing well, their lines were holding, and the changeling reinforcements were unable to gain a significant advantage. He had sent commanders to the flanks to ensure they would not fall while they pushed to the mountain. Then positioned several airships along the coast to intercept the changelings that may attempt to join the battle from there. Rigel seemed to be keeping things in control in the air, the ground forces were not under attack by many changelings and the few that did chance a fly by were quickly shot down.

Behind him, the flagship of the Silver Isles fleet, the Reticence, a supercarrier of immense size began to bombard the mountain. The cannons were new inventions, crystals of immense power, charged and maintained by unicorns. The energy from the continued blasts began to make Polaris’ fur stand up. The ground shook with each shot, then it shook again... when the cannons didn’t fire...

Polaris braced himself as the earth exploded a distance away from him. A pit formed in the ground as silver warriors fell into it screaming and crying for help. Polaris ran toward the pit and grabbed a pony being swallowed by the flowing rocks. He felt uneasy, this reminded him of those spiders that would wait at the bottom of pits in the sand and eat whatever unlucky creature fell in.

Confirming his fears, a gigantic set of jaws pushed up from the ground and swallowed the warriors at the bottom of the pit. Polaris stepped back a few paces as the largest changeling he had ever seen crawled its way out of the pit. The entire thing looked like a mutated horror show. Several tumors and abrasions adorned its grotesque face, its limbs were malformed, yet strong. It swept its eyes across the battlefield and let out an enraged roar, then charged straight at Polaris.

“Scatter!” Polaris commanded as he teleported away from being smashed to pulp by the creature’s massive hooves.

The changeling roared and fired an enormous blast of magic into the clustered ranks of silver ponies. When the smoke cleared, hundreds were gone, all that remained was ash. Polaris rallied the ponies near him and charged the behemoth. It turned its attention toward them, then to something else. The side of its head was hit by several fireballs as a black pegasus hurtled toward it. Upon closer inspection, Polaris realized the wings were constructs and it was actually a unicorn. Still, the unicorn continued to harass the creature until it completely rounded on the pest and swatted it from the sky with a swing of its hoof. However, it wasn’t long before the unicorn flew back into the air and hit it again, this time with lightning. Now having its full attention the unicorn was impacted with a powerful blast of green magic from the behemoth.

Polaris watched the way the unicorn moved, always attempting to stay ahead of the creature, baiting it into making unnecessary moves to create openings and waste energy. What little offensive spells the unicorn used were practical ones, requiring little magic. He was fighting the exact way Polaris had instructed somepony one thousand years ago, his dear friend.

Aldus? Polaris thought.

The unicorn was hit again by a blast of green magic, but this time caught and absorbed a large amount of it. As soon as the changeling behemoth ceased its attack, it was blinded by a flash of light from its attacker. “Now!” the unicorn shouted to the surrounding silver warriors. “Attack!”

Polaris and the warriors surrounding him charged the behemoth with all the numbers they could muster. The flying unicorn landed on the behemoth’s head and took hold of its horn with a glowing red hoof. The changeling began to scream in both pain and irritation from being attacked on all sides. Polaris teleported right in front of the behemoth and plunged his greatsword into its right eye. The enormous changeling howled in pain as it attempted to shake the two ponies on its head loose. Polaris barely got a look at the flying unicorn before it was thrown to ground.

Polaris hung on for dear life as the changeling flailed its head back and forth. He growled and jammed the greatsword further into the eye, eliciting satisfying screams of pain from the behemoth. Polaris channeled all his magic into his sword and horn, draining the power crystals in his armor as well. Once the magic was collected, he released it from his sword and horn, straight into the changelings head. There was a gurgling and popping sound as the shaft of silver light passed through the behemoth's head and out the other side. As the light faded, the changeling behemoth ceased its movements and toppled to the ground spilling Polaris in front of it.

Polaris reoriented himself as a pony came to his side to help him up. “You did it, old friend.” came a familiar jovial voice.

His helm was damaged during the fall, with a second of hesitation, he removed the helm to see a horribly disfigured unicorn. But even with its face destroyed, there was no way Polaris could not recognize his friend. “No Aldus, we did it.”

Tears began to form in both Aldus’ damaged eye, and regular one. “I missed you so much Polaris!” Aldus said as jumped into his friend’s forehooves. “I’m so sorry that this where we would reunite, on a battlefield.”

Selene felt the warmth of joy and calm washing over Aldus as he embraced Polaris. She smiled as part of the energy flowed into her as well. It was as if part of Aldus’ spirit was restored. She resolved to talk to him about it later.

Polaris lightly rubbed Aldus’ back and chuckled, “We are no strangers to conflict, Adly. When the princess came to free me, she informed me of the growing danger to my homeland. She then spoke of your brave plan to help save my home. You know I wouldn’t refuse.”

Aldus laughed and gripped his friend tighter, “It’s my home too you know, ever since we all spent our summers there. I couldn’t let anything happen to it, for the ponies there now, for Princess Desalia and the library, for you, and... for Seabreeze.”

Polaris winced at that name and lifted Aldus to be at eye level, “Aldy... what happened to you?” he asked, with traces of water now collecting in his eyes, a rarity.

Aldus lowered his head as Polaris sat him back down, “It’s... a long story, lets just say... what you see before you is deserved for what I did. I’ll tell you once we return to Canterlot, Polaris, I swear. I- I need you to hear what I’ve done.” he said in a somber tone.

Polaris nodded and raised Aldus’ head with a hoof, “There is a time and place for everything, right Aldy?”

Aldus smiled and nodded.

“You know I’m impressed with the combat prowess you displayed while fighting that monster, and the wings certainly allow for advantages.”

Aldus chuckled and bowed a little, “I had a good teacher. I learned from the legend all these ponies are told.” Aldus said as he motioned to the group of warriors surrounding them. “I was just lucky enough to be around when the legend was in the making.”

Polaris laughed and playfully placed Aldus in a headlock, “I should have taught you to be more humble.” he said while the warriors around him chuckled at the two friends.

“So, what of the changeling leader?” Polaris asked, “I assume she has been taken care of?”

“She has,” Aldus replied, “That reminds me, I should probably get back there. I’ll see you again when is over.”

“Alright, Aldus,” Polaris said putting a hoof to the moon symbol on his chest, “Moon protect you.”

“And you,” Aldus replied, placing a hoof to his heart.

As he flew off toward the mountain, Polaris noticed the battle had moved farther off the moors and closer to the actual tunnels leading into the colony. A few of the warriors trotted up to Polaris as he began to recharge his armor. “Um, sir, who was that?”

Polaris looked up at them with a grin, “Boys, that was Aldus, leader of Princess Luna’s court.”

-----------

Silth squirmed in the bondages and attempted to conjure any sort of magic, but the crystals on her horn sucked it all away. She stopped moving when Aldus landed on the balcony and slowly walked inside.

“What did you DO?!” Silth screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Aldus arched an eyebrow, “What? You can’t smell the burning from up here?” he asked with a laugh.

Silth bared her fangs and snapped at Aldus, “How could YOU?!?!”

Aldus crawled onto the bed and laid down next to the changeling princess. Silth’s anger quickly began to fade, replaced by sorrow. “They... they are gone, aren’t they?” Silth said between sobs, “Each one was special in its own way, but now... now they are all gone.”

Aldus studied Silth closely and ran a hoof through her mane, “Yes, they are gone. Right now they should be emerging from the tunnel out of the mountain.”

Silth blinked and glared at Aldus, “What?!”

“Your changeling young have left this place, they took the exit at the bottom of the colony.” Aldus said while laying his head down next to hers.

Silth stared at Aldus in disbelief, “I- I don’t understand.”

“I may look like a monster, and I’ve done some horrible things, but I will not harm innocent children.” Aldus said resolutely. “It was important they leave before the Silver army penetrated that deeply into the colony.”

“Why?” Silth inquired, “You’ve captured me and defeated my army, what do my children have to do with it?”

Aldus brushed the changeling’s hair away from her eye while giving her a brief sidelong glance, then returning his gaze to the ceiling. “Do you know why the Silver Isles are so advanced? Do you know why they are pioneers in magic and possess so much knowledge?”

Silth paused a moment, “Because of the ancient library, it holds many arcane secrets rumored to be from the beginning of time.”

“That is indeed part of it,” Aldus admitted, “But the library is massive, and Princess Desalia’s purpose is to both protect it, and fill it with knowledge.”

Silth felt her stomach turn, suddenly the room seemed to get slightly warmer. “Fill it with knowledge?”

“If the silver ponies were to get their hooves on your changeling young, they would be dissected and studied until every piece of them was known and accounted for. Their capacity for magic would be tested by forcefully injecting them with different types of unicorn magic. Many would be used as test subjects to find out the most effective weapon against changelings, so that the Silver Isles would be prepared should a threat like you ever appear again. Finally, I suspect the majority of your young would have been subjects of shapeshifting experiments so the silver ponies could elucidate just how your disguise magic works.” Aldus said with a frown. “Now, the only one who will suffer from that is you, I’m afraid.”

“So... that is to be my fate,” Silth said, turning away from Aldus.

“It is a fate I would not allow your children to share,” Aldus stated plainly, “And it doesn't have to be yours either.”

Silth heard a crackling sound, she looked at Aldus who held a ball of lightning in his hooves, “It would be quick, I promise.” he said with a hint of sadness.

“No,” she said, “I lost, and there are consequences for losing. You saved my children, for that reason, I’ll accept this fate. But I’d like to know, how did you break free from my hypnosis?”

Aldus laid his head against the pillow, “It was a gamble, every time you put me in that pod it overwhelmed any attempt to regain control of my mind. It wasn't until you decided to keep me out of the pod that I could focus enough to break your spell. I also had help... but now I have a question for you.”

“What’s that?” Silth asked.

“You seem quite unphased that I ended the life of your daughter right in front of you. Why?”

Silth glanced at the charred corpse, “She attempted to kill you, and failed, now she is dead. A consequence of her action.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Aldus asked, somewhat surprised.

“Changeling princesses don’t usually have good relationships with their mothers. Each require larger amounts of emotion to sustain them, so naturally there is conflict and fighting for such emotions. She was going to kill me, you saw that.”

“I did,” Aldus said, “I suppose that makes sense.”

“Would you really kill me if I asked? I’m not stupid, you want something from Princess Desalia, and giving me to her will grant you considerable leverage. You’d just throw that away to spare me the pain that is to come?”

Aldus paused, “Yes, Silth. I’d find another way to get what I wanted.”

Silth didn’t understand it, but she was more attracted to Aldus now than ever before. But with that attraction came a deep sense of anger and disgust. Anger at Aldus, but mostly anger directed at herself. For all her hypnosis, for all her reading and studying, for all her planning, she still had no idea what he was thinking. Some of his motivations were clear, but even those had a shadow of doubt.

“Aldus...”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t understand,” Silth said, “If Princess Desalia and the Silver Isles perform such heinous and unethical experiments, why do you support them? Why does Polaris? If he is such an honorable virtuous unicorn... then why?”

Aldus moved closer to Silth, to where he was almost touching her face. “As a changeling, Silth, you of all creatures know that things are not always what they seem. Though her exterior may be that of a kind and gentle ruler, one should never take such things at face value without a certain skepticism. Desalia, when last I saw her, was a pragmatic and practical alicorn. Never too harsh, but not overly kind either, she takes her responsibility very seriously. Can you blame her Silth?”

Silth closed her eyes, thinking of her plans for the Silver Isles, “No, I can’t.”

“I don’t know if she is the same as she was one thousand years ago,” Aldus continued, “But back then, she was not above doing questionable things for what she perceived as the right reasons. I don’t truly know if your children would face that grim fate, but I did not want to chance it. In truth, the only reason Polaris, Rigel, and myself knew about these things was because of Seabreeze.”

Silth felt a pang of guilt come over her, “The green alicorn...”

“Yes, the green alicorn,” he admitted, “Upon becoming a princess, Seabreeze was privy to information very few other ponies possess. Once she found out, she came straight to me. It took an entire night to stop her from crying...”

Silth was about to say something but was stopped by a pair of lips connecting to hers in a passionate kiss. She allowed her eyes to close and let love energy flow through her.

After Aldus pulled away, Silth stared at him with a look of bewilderment, he had returned his features to normal and now looked like a regular unthreatening unicorn. “I don’t understand.”

Aldus gave a small smile, “Just a thank you, Silth. Even if you used it to seduce me for your own ends, you still allowed me to see her again. I’m grateful for that.”

“I see, “ Silth said, “Then allow me to give you something in gratitude for sparing my children. I don’t know where they will go, but I think its best if they find their own way now. I know that my sister Ciaran helped you plot this, she has proved more devious than I believed. Be careful with her, Aldus. You don’t know what she is capable of.”

Aldus took on a serious expression then lost it when the double doors to Silth’s chambers burst open.

“Aldus!”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!” Adlus screeched in his highest voice possible, pulling the sheets up to his muzzle covering himself, “Ever heard of knocking!?!?!”

The pony standing in the entrance was a red pegasus wearing a silver flightsuit. Both ponies laughed as Aldus teleported to the red pegasus and embraced him in a hug.

“So, just like I thought... you had it easy...”

“Pfft, you see this place?!” Aldus exclaimed, “You call this easy, Rigel?”

Rigel messed up Aldus’ mane, “Hmm... I guess it wasn’t easy after all, is this their leader?”

“Yes,” Aldus answered, “This is their leader, Silth.”

Rigel and Aldus trotted over to the side of the bed. Silth undressed Rigel with her eyes and licked her fangs, “Oh... he’s cute. Are all you ancient ponies so delicious looking?” she asked with a chuckle.

Rigel arched an eyebrow, “Still a sense of humor eh? Well that’s for the best I suppose, you’ll need it where you’re going.”

Aldus pulled Rigel to the side, “I need a quick favor from you Rigel.” Aldus said. Silth couldn’t hear what Aldus whispered, but it didn’t matter. All three turned their heads to the door hearing three sets of hoofsteps approaching the room.

Two silver warriors dressed in honor guard armor surveyed the area before a tall silver alicorn stepped into the room. Aldus teleported himself and Rigel in front of her and both bowed low to the floor.

The alicorn stared at Silth for a few moments with a neutral expression, then looked down at the stallions. A gentle smile formed on her face as her sparkling silver mane billowed in the nonexistent wind. “You may rise, boys. I must say, I am pleased with how the events played out here.”

“As always Princess Desalia, we aim to please.” Aldus said with a smile.

“It is good to see you two again after so many long years, and that unfortunate civil war.” Desalia said while spreading her large wings. Aldus and Rigel moved forward and allowed the alicorn to kiss both their foreheads.

“I am overjoyed to see you again as well, princess.” Rigel said, “But I’m afraid I must depart, there are still matters to attend to. I apologize.”

“No no,” Princess Desalia said with a wave of her hoof, “I understand, Rigel. I trust you and Aldus will come to the Silver City to catch up once this is all taken care of.”

“You can count on it, princess.” Rigel said with a bow. He then nodded to the honor guard as they let him pass and exit through the doors.

Princess Desalia looked at Aldus and motioned for him to walk with her out onto the balcony. “I can’t thank you enough for your services here, Aldus. Though I must admit I’m surprised you are back now of all times.”

Aldus smirked at the beautiful alicorn, “What, you didn’t think I died in the civil war did you?”

Desalia smiled placidly as she gazed at the horizon with the sun beginning to rise. “That was what the information we gathered indicated, but I knew better. Celestia wasn’t competent enough for that, and her servants certainly weren’t either.”

Aldus nodded contemplatively, “Yes, a certain number of them were... lacking.”

“All told, I might have preferred Luna emerge victorious from that conflict. Things certainly would have been more interesting.” she said with a mischievous grin. “But enough about the past, let us focus on the present. I suspect you want something for your services here.”

Aldus chuckled, “Well, princess, I understand one of your daughters is due to be married soon. I’m sure Princess Luna, my courtiers, and some others would enjoy a few days in the Silver Isles. And it is only right that we show support to your daughter and the lucky stallion.”

Princess Desalia raised an eyebrow, seemingly unamused, “And?”

“Well,” Aldus said with a bit of hesitation, “I’d like the painting, the one that Seabreeze and I painted together. I imagine it is still in your possession?”

The princess dropped her neutral expression and frowned at Aldus. She gently draped a wing over him and nuzzled his cheek, “Yes, of course. It will be done. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. We all miss her, Aldus. All of the citizens of the Isles, we all miss her very much.”

“So do I, princess.” Aldus admitted, a single tear falling from his eye, “So do I.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Just one more thing,” Aldus said, “I request full access to the ancient silver library, the same level of access as you.”

“Pfah!” Desalia exclaimed, “Absolutely not.”

“Before the war, I was allowed the highest access besides yourself. Now that I have returned, my courtiers and I are serving both princesses in Equestria. We’ve helped you as well, have we not? I work best when I have the most information at my disposal. You’ve seen what I can accomplish with the right amount of information? Yes?” Aldus asked, glancing over at Silth.

“All valid points Aldus, but that level of access is reserved only for myself and the other princesses... IF I allow it.” Desalia said resolutely.

“I understand,” Aldus said, seemingly defeated, “I suppose the less noses you have poking around those dusty old corners and shelves the better. Ruling is stressful enough as it is, and I understand the council of magistrates has become increasingly irritating for you.”

Desalia’s faced turned into a scowl as she stared down at the grey unicorn stallion.

“Silth informed me that she has several spies in the Silver Isles, even some among the magistrates themselves. It would be an absolute shame if the other magistrates, along with the citizens, were to find out that so much of their kingdom had been compromised. I suspect that wouldn’t do well for your image.”

Princess Desalia summoned magic to her horn as she faced down Aldus, “Blackmail... you know, only six ponies in all of existence have ever had the courage to try and force me into a decision?”

Aldus simply stood there wearing a neutral, yet expectant expression.

Desalia relinquished the magic and allowed it to fade away, “You haven’t changed, Aldus. Alright, you will have full access, so long as you let me know whenever you intend to use the archives.”

Aldus smiled and bowed so deep his nose touched stone, “Thank you, princess. Your great wisdom is only rivaled by your beauty.”  

“Yes, yes” Desalia said, “If that concludes things, I think I’ll take the changeling off your hooves and be on my way.” She stomped a hoof and four robed unicorns entered the chamber with a large crystal capsule. Silth was levitated into the capsule, but before she was sealed inside she looked Aldus straight in the eye and mouthed the words, “We’ll meet again, Aldus.”

The unicorns exited the room as Desalia trotted to the door, “I’m glad you are back Aldus, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all that you’ve done here for my people. I’ll see you and your friends at the wedding.” she said with a wink before teleporting herself and the two guards away.

“Goodbye princess,” Aldus whispered, “There will be fun times ahead to be sure.”


At the edge of the forest beyond the mountain, a silver pegasi scout flew the perimeter. As the sun began to rise, shadows were cast by the trees on the edge of the forest. The scout noticed other shadows too. He flew closer to investigate and found a column of changelings exiting the forest in the direction of the desert. There seemed to be few warriors, but most were either workers or females, and they appeared to be carrying eggs and pods. The scout reached for his communicating crystal when something blunt struck him from behind, knocking him out cold.

Rigel caught the scout in his forehooves and shook his head, “Sorry about that kid, you really should watch where you’re flying. Those low tree branches can come out of nowhere.”

He watched as the column of changelings continued to exit the forest, several hundreds at least, and they showed no sign of stopping. They don’t know how lucky they are, Rigel thought as he tossed the scout onto his shoulder and flew back to the fleet.

-----------

At the manor, the foals spent most of the day relaxing and playing inside since Cloudsdale had scheduled a downpour for the meadows and fields outside Canterlot. Antares, Ruby, and Andromeda were reading by the fireplace while Black Star, Frost, Pyrite, Blue Bell and Iris were playing hide and seek throughout the rest of the manor.

It was Iris’ turn to count, once she was finished she flew into the living room area where some of the furniture had been uncovered. After scanning the room she noticed a small silver tail sticking out from under one of the couches. With a smirk she paced around the room and stopped behind the couch. In an instant she snaked her tail under the couch and dragged Pyrite out.

“Found you!” Iris squeaked with a laugh as she tickled Pyrite.

“Stop it!” Pyrite yelled as he twisted and turned trying to get away from Iris’ claws.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Iris asked.

Pyrite eventually got free of her tail and dropped to the floor. He quickly righted himself and ran at her. Iris jumped into the air and began to ascend just as Pyrite grabbed onto her tail. Using all his strength he scrambled onto her back as she hovered in the air. “What do you think you’re doing back there? Hey! Haha! Knock it off!”

Pyrite anchored himself to Iris’ middle with his rear hooves and tickled under and between her wings with his forehooves. “Stop it!” she screeched before falling to the floor.

In an effort to dislodge Pyrite and stop the torture she rolled over onto her back. However, this proved to be a mistake as Pyrite immediately scrambled onto her stomach and continued to tickle her. “Stop! I give up! I give up!”

When he finally relented, Iris took a deep breath and sprawled out on the floor. “Well... now I know what happens when I antagonize you.” she said with a chuckle.

She felt something pulling on her feathers when Pyrite crawled onto her breast and bopped her beak with a hoof. “You aren’t the only one who can tickle, you know.” the colt said with a smirk.

“Apparently not.” Iris chuckled

Pyrite collapsed into her feathers as they both caught their breath from the struggle. The silver colt lifted his muzzle from Iris’ feathers and sneezed. “I’m glad I have a gryphon for a friend,” Pyrite said as he wrapped his small forehooves around Iris’ neck. “You are a lot of fun.”

Iris smiled and ran a claw through Pyrite’s mane, “Aww, well I’m glad I have a little silver earth pony as a friend.” She held Pyrite against her breast as she got up off the floor then gently placed him on her back. “Lets go find the others.”

“Okay!” Pyrite said as he grabbed her feathers to hang on.

As Iris flew upstairs there came a knock at the door.

“Hmm... who could that be?” Iris wondered.

“Should we go answer it?” Pyrite asked

“I guess we should,” Iris said as she flew through the rooms to the large front door.

By the time they got there, Blue Bell and Frost had left their hiding places to answer it as well. Iris landed behind them as Frost used his magic to unlock the door and open it. On the other side was a tall purple unicorn mare with a suitcase and two saddlebags on her back.

“Well hello there little ones!” the mare said in a voice that almost sounded too happy.

“Hi,” Frost said, “Is there something we can help you with?”

“Oh no, dear” the mare said, “I’m hear to help you! But I suppose I could use some help with my things.”

“You’re hear to help us?” Blue Bell asked, “Who are you?”

The unicorn grinned, “That’s right! I’m the new servant mare. The owner of this estate hired me to come take care of you foals and tidy this place up. Aldus... I think his name was.”

“Selene did say that somepony would be arriving to take care of us eventually,” Frost said to Iris and Blue Bell.

“So what’s your name?” Iris asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My name?” The unicorn asked, “Oh yes yes, of course... my name. Willow... yes that’s right, Willow is my name. You can call me Willow.”

“Umm okay...” Frost said, shooting a glance at Blue Bell and Iris. Two portals in the wall behind them opened up to blackness as Andromeda and Black Star stepped through together. Both of them glared at the purple unicorn.

“I’ll show you to your room,” Black Star said motioning Willow to follow.

“You said you needed help with your bags?” Pyrite asked while jumping down from Iris’ back, “I’ll help.”

“Oooo!” Willow squealed. “What an adorable little foal!” She used her magic to pinch the children’s cheeks then licked her lips. “I swear I could just gobble you all up.”

“Okay,” Frost said, rubbing his cheek, “We’re going to go upstairs and play for a bit. It was nice meeting you, Willow. Pyrite, we’ll be in Selene’s room when you’re done helping.”

“Don’t play too long, I’ll have dinner ready soon.” she said over shoulder as Black Star lead her away.

Andromeda trotted up to Frost and whispered, “Watch her... I don’t know what it is, but something is off about that mare.”

Frost nodded as Andromeda left to rejoin Black Star.

“Well that was weird,” Iris said as she walked beside Frost.

“Yeah, It was.”

---------------

Later that night, Frost was asleep on the large bed hugging and drooling all over a pillow. Andromeda lay on the other side of the bed atop her own pillow. Pyrite rested on her back with both forehooves hanging down to her neck and his chin on her head. Across the hall, the fillies were sleeping in their own beds while Black Star slept by the door. Frost woke up with a thirst for some water. Willow was an odd mare, but she sure could cook. The meal they had for dinner was excellent, except it made him thirsty.

Frost rolled out of bed and began to trot to the door when Pyrite got his attention.

“Pst, Frost... where are you going?” Pyrite whispered.

“I’m going to the kitchen to get some water.” Frost whispered back.

“I’m thirsty too, can I come with you?”

“Sure, c’mon.”

“I... can’t”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to wake her, I can’t move.” Pyrite said motioning to Andromeda.

Frost squinted his eyes, “Hold still.” In a moment, a blue aura formed around Pyrite as he slowly levitated him off Andromeda and deposited him on the floor.

“Thanks Frost!” Pyrite said as he trotted into the hallway.

“Don’t mention it, Pyrite.”

As the two colts left their room they hesitated when the door to the filly’s room opened a crack. Slowly Iris backed out of the room and quietly shut the door. When she turned around to see Frost and Pyrite she jumped and almost screeched before covering her mouth with a claw.

“What are you two doing out here?!”

“We’re going to get some water, we’re thirsty.” Frost said.

“So its not just me, Willow made great food but wow was it spicy. Even in the gryphon kingdoms we don’t have food that spicy.” Iris exclaimed.

As the three children approached the kitchen they noticed some of the lights were on. Willow was supposed to have gone to bed along with everypony else. Pyrite, Iris, and Frost entered the room to find Aldus and Rigel sitting at one of the tables with Polaris standing at the counter.

“Hey kids,” Aldus said with a smile, “we’re home.”

Another voice came from the darkness in the next room, “I told you they’d all come back, didn’t I?”

“Selene!” Frost and Pyrite shouted in unison as they ran over to the black alicorn.

Selene wrapped a hoof around the foals and sat down on her haunches. “Oh my little ones, I missed you so much.”

Iris stared at Selene apprehensively until the alicorn opened a wing and beckoned her to join the other foals. The young gryphon joined Frost and Pyrite in Selene’s embrace and let the warmth and comfort wash over her.

“If that doesn’t warm your heart, I don’t know what does.” Rigel said to Aldus.

Selene whispered something to Iris and Frost and after a while they trotted over to Aldus and Rigel. Polaris poured three glasses of water and levitated them to the three foals. Pyrite gulped down the water and drowsily trotted over to Polaris to return the glass. “Thank you, Mr. but I still don’t know your name.”

“My name is Polaris, young one. Princess Luna tells me you wrote letters to her making sure she was alright while I was gone. That was good of you.”

“I didn’t want to let you down,” Pyrite said with a yawn.

From behind, two black tendrils wrapped around Pyrite and brought him back to Selene. He yawned again and giggled as her mane coiled around him. Once she was done, Pyrite dangled in front of her chest wrapped in a bundle of her black locks.

“Lucky kid,” Rigel said with a laugh.

“I think its time we went to bed, goodnight everypony.” she said with a whisper as she smiled down at Pyrite.

Iris looked at Rigel and smelled him. She examined his wings and the neutral expression on his face. She had seen this look before on Kathe after he had been in a fight or battle. “You were in air combat weren’t you? There was a battle, that’s where you all went, wasn’t it?”

Rigel grinned and extended a wing to pick her up, “You are very perceptive Iris, I was in a battle. Would you like to hear about it?”

“I think I would,” Iris said with a bright smile.

“Alright, tomorrow then. It’s too late now.”

“That’s right,” Aldus agreed, “And you had better get some sleep Frost.”

“Why is that?” Frost asked.

“You’re going to need all the energy you have, Frost. Tomorrow we’re going to see if you have what it takes to be my apprentice.”

Frosts eyes almost burst out of his sockets, “Really?!?!”

“Yes, really,” Aldus answered. “Now run along to bed, you too Iris.”

As the foals sped off down the hallway, Polaris joined his two friends at the table. “So what do you think, Pol?” Rigel asked, “You think Frost will last under Aldus?”

“I do, but I pity him for having to sit through whatever lessons Aldy here cooks up.”

Aldus laughed, “Oh yeah? Well what about Pyrite, I’m sure Luna will ask you about training him sooner or later. Will you do it?”

Polaris nodded, “He has a strong spirit, if it his desire, I will not refuse him. You know,the gryphon possesses quite the wit,” Polaris mused, “Did you see the way she was studying you Rigel? That isn’t normal for a foal her age, gryphon or pony.”

“You’re right, of course,” Rigel said, “There is something about her, and I’m eager to see what she can do in the air.”

Aldus leaned back in his chair, “Well... looks like I won’t be the only one shepherding a little one now.” he said with a chuckle. "These next few months are going to be very interesting."

Chapter 15: First Lessons

Pyrite moved his head back and forth to avoid the sensation but it wasn’t working. He felt like he was in a trance, in that area between being awake and being in a dream. For some reason he couldn’t move his hooves to itch his nose. The sensation returned again, and this time he couldn’t ignore it.

“Ah-choo!” the young earth colt sneezed and jolted himself awake.

After a few moments of blinking, he noticed the moon was in the sky and the sun showed no signs of rising. It was still night, which meant he hadn’t slept long. Pyrite felt the tickling sensation return to his nose again. It was one of Selene’s many tendrils of mane. Several locks had secured themselves around him as he slept, which explained why he couldn’t move his hooves. One tendril had rested atop his head and was moving back and forth tickling his nose. The colt giggled and freed his hooves to gently move the tendril away. It reminded him of a cat’s tail the way it slowly swished about.

As he sat up, Pyrite glanced behind him to see Selene’s head resting on a pillow with a smile on her face. The black alicorn lay sprawled on her back with the right wing stretched open. It seemed Selene had placed him on her chest when she had gone to sleep. He didn’t remember much from earlier in the night, except for meeting Polaris and Selene carrying him off to bed.

Pyrite stretched and yawned as he decided whether to get up or try to fall back asleep. He turned around to face Selene as more of the tentacles slithered down her neck  toward him. They must have sensed he was awake. Selene shifted a bit in her sleep and moved her head on the pillow, muttering something under her breath. Some of her tendrils coiled loosely around the earth colt while others rubbed at his back and sides.

“Having trouble sleeping, Pyrite?” a whisper came from the far side of the room.

Pyrite jumped as he spun around in the direction of the voice. To his surprise, several of the tendrils coiled around him protectively while others put themselves between him and the sound.

“I’m just not tired,” Pyrite whispered back, “So much has happened in the past few days.”

“You can say that again,” the voice from the dark said, “It’s why I’m up and not over there sleeping with you ponies.  I thought I could get some work done if I’m not going to sleep. ”

“Aldus?” Pyrite whispered, squinting to see the unicorn in the dark, “ You’re working? How can you see?” The moon had passed behind some clouds and the shafts of light did not reach the dark corner where Aldus was sitting. The dark didn’t seem normal either, it reminded Pyrite of the void he had passed through with Selene a week ago.

“I don’t need light,” Aldus said as two glowing green eyes opened to stare back at Pyrite, “You’re forming a very strong connection with her, you know that?”

“Who?” Pyrite asked, “Selene?”

“Mhm,” Aldus said as he got up from his desk and walked over to the side of the bed without a sound, “Those tentacles that compose her mane are... unique. The way they move around you, watching, protecting, its something special.”

Pyrite looked at the mane covering him. Five or six larger tendrils were loosely wrapped around his body, legs, and forehooves. They moved back and forth creating a soothing sensation while two more gently rubbed his back and another ran through his mane. “I like them,” he whispered, “They make me feel safe.”

Aldus smiled and bent over, “They make me feel safe too.” he said with a wink. “It’s going to be a while before the sun comes up, do you want to go back to sleep?”

“I don’t know if I can,” Pyrite said with a shrug.

“Well you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Aldus said with a smile.

“But little colts need their rest,” Selene whispered with a half opened eye staring at Aldus and Pyrite. “Why are you up, little one? You should be sleeping as much as the children.”

“Pfft, Pyrite and I don’t need sleep,” Aldus said with a yawn as he hoof bumped the silver earth colt.  

“A huh,” Selene said with a wry look.

“I’m going to look into something, once I’m done I’ll be taking a dip in the pool. You two want to join me when you get up?” Aldus asked.

“Pool?” Pyrite gasped with a huge smile before turning to Selene.

“We’ll be there,” Selene said with a chuckle as she tickled the earth colt.

“Alright,” Aldus said, “Oh, Selene, make sure Frost gets up when you do.” then he was gone in a flash.

Pyrite was lifted into the air and held above Selene’s head. He giggled as her mane spun him around. After a bit of work, he was able to free himself from the tendrils and fell to land on the bed near Selene’s chest. Pyrite crawled up to her head and hugged her muzzle. The black alicorn playfully pushed him into the pillow and kissed his small nose and tummy, eliciting giggles from the child.

“Why couldn’t you sleep, Pyrite?” she asked, “I thought you were comfortable?”

Pyrite sat up on the pillow next to Selene’s head and grabbed some of her mane that was slithering around him, “I was comfortable, but too much has been going on, I’m sorry.”

“Aww it’s okay sweetheart,” Selene said, “It’s still a long way until morning, but I don’t mind if you want to stay up a bit more, just don’t disturb these two.” she warned glancing over to her side.

Pyrite crawled across her neck onto the other side of the pillow and stifled a laugh. Selene’s huge left wing was wrapped around two forms huddled against her side. Frost and Andromeda were cuddling in the most hilarious way. Pyrite was sure Selene found it adorable. He looked back to find her grinning at him.

“You’re welcome to join them if you want, sweetie,” she said with a giggle.

“I’m not tired, Selene!” Pyrite whispered with a yawn.

“Okay, okay. Would you like me to summon Black Star to play with you?”

“Nah...” Pyrite whispered as he climbed back on her chest, “I’d rather play with you.” the earth colt said with a grin as he jumped onto her head.

Selene grinned and had an idea. “Pyrite, I know something fun that you can do, but you have to promise to stay quiet.”

“Okay, I promise.” the colt replied.

“Put your forehooves around my horn, and don’t move.” Selene instructed.

Pyrite did as she asked and hugged against her horn. As the magic collected inside it the horn began to glow a dim green color, then a black tar substance began to creep across Pyrite’s body. It felt similar to when he was wrapped in her mane except this tickled him. He put a hoof to his mouth and stifled a giggle as the tar collected on his back. Soon after, the tickling ceased and Selene encased Pyrite in magic and levitated him above her head.

“Have you ever flown before, Pyrite?” Selene asked.

“Yeah,” Pyrite answered, “A few times with Antares and Iris.”

“No,” Selene said while shaking her head, “Have you ever flown by yourself?”

“I can’t fly by myself, Selene. I don’t have wings.” Pyrite said

“Then what are those?” Selene asked while pointing a hoof at the colt.

Pyrite turned around and saw inky black wings attached to his sides. His smile was so big it almost burst off his face. “Oh my gosh!” he exclaimed before cupping a hoof to his mouth, remembering he was supposed to be quiet. “What are these?”

“It’s a spell... sort of,” Selene explained, “It’s what Aldus uses to fly when he needs to.”

“Aldus can fly?”

“Yes,” Selene replied, “Though not nearly as well as a pegasus. It is only a spell after all, no spell can compete with the natural flying ability pegasi have. Aldus can summon these wings by siphoning some of my power within him. I’ve given you that power now, Pyrite. But only for a time, are you ready?” the alicorn asked while relinquishing the magic keeping Pyrite aloft.

Pyrite remained in the air as the small wings flapped back and forth.

“Just think where you want to go, and they’ll do the rest.” Selene said with nod toward the window.

Pyrite stretched his hooves and thought about flying around the bed once then moving to the window, and the wings obeyed. He flew over to the balcony and looked back at Selene. “Can’t you come with me?”

“Not without waking the little ones, but you don’t have to go anywhere alone Pyrite.” she said.

Pyrite heard the door open and close. Black Star trotted up to Pyrite and grinned. “So you can fly now? Is there anything you can’t do, Pyrite?”

The earth colt giggled and opened the balcony doors then floated down to Black Star. Lets play tag Black Star, “You’re it!” Pyrite said before flying out of the room with the black pegasus behind him.

Selene laid back and looked at Frost and Andromeda sleeping next to her. The blue filly shifted in her sleep and hugged Frost tighter. The light blue colt responded by burying his face in her mane. The alicorn rested her head against the pillow and allowed her mind to wonder. Frost had a big day coming up, and it was good he was getting his rest.

------------

Across the manor, Willow was cleaning one of the guest rooms. She hummed a tune while levitating flowers and other decorations out of the way as she worked. She bent over to pick up a rag and stood up to see Aldus’ image in a large mirror. Willow jumped and turned around, then put a hoof to her chest with sigh.

“Don’t scare me like that!” she said with a nervous giggle.

Aldus simply stared at her with a neutral expression.

“So... um, how did it go?” Willow asked with a meek smile.

Aldus chuckled and reclined in a chair, “How do you think it went, ‘Willow’? I’ve returned haven’t I?”

“Yes, yes you have...” she said shakily, “What of my sister?”

“Silth was... certainly something,” Aldus said, “But you don’t need to worry about her anymore, Ciaran. I gave her to the Silver Isles. Your sister is imprisoned, and my position there is strengthened, a win-win.”

Ciaran sighed in relief, she trotted to the door and poked her head outside to make sure nopony was around before closing and locking it. Ciaran ignited her horn and closed the blinds and drapes over the windows as well. Once the room was secure, she transformed. Aldus stared at the tall changeling princess in front of him and mentally compared her to Silth. Ciaran was slightly shorter than her older sister, but more elegant. Her purple mane and eyes seemed more mild to Aldus. Less threatening.

“I must say I’m happy our arrangement worked out, but this is degrading, Aldus. I am a changeling princess, not a damn maid.” Ciaran said.

Aldus nodded, “I know, but this is the way it has to be. You’re lucky I was able to convince the princesses to agree to this. Luna looked at me like I had swallowed an entire field’s worth of poison joke when I first told her. The only ponies who know about you are Marigold, Polaris, Rigel, and Myself. Besides, I need to keep an eye on you.”

“But what am I supposed to do?” Ciaran whined, “Do I just clean the house? Am I a foalsitter too?” Ciaran lowered her head and trotted over to Aldus. She placed a hoof on one of his shoulders and rubbed his chest with another, “How am I supposed to feed?”

“You're supposed to mph-!” Aldus was silenced by an aggressive kiss from Ciaran. She moaned as she savored the love flowing through her.

“This... this is the most intense, most delicious love I’ve ever tasted,” Ciaran wheezed as she pulled away. “THIS is what my sister feasted on the past few days?!”

Aldus smirked at Ciaran, “Yes, but Silth was classy enough to start with foreplay.”

Ciaran licked her fangs and dove in for another go, she was so aggressive that she knocked the chair over. Both Ciaran and Aldus tumbled to the ground. Aldus turned over as the changeling princess locked lips with him again, “I’m starving!” she grunted, “I need this!”

Aldus let Ciaran take her fill, partly because the changeling did need love badly, she was withering away the last time he saw her. And partly because... he enjoyed it, even though he knew he shouldn’t. After a few more minutes, Aldus pushed her away. But Ciaran was persistent, she leaned in and let her mane fall over his head. “But I’m not done yet,” she whispered in his ear, “Just sit back and relax,” she cooed while moving her purple eyes in Front of his. Aldus watched them transition into swirling purple spirals. He felt the familiar feel good sensation come over him again. With a grunt he shook his head and teleported away from Ciaran, leaving her laying on the floor.

“Don’t do that.” Aldus warned, standing a few paces away. “I let you have that because I knew you were famished, but don’t expect this to a be a regular thing.”

Ciaran groaned and blew the mane out of her face, “Oh... but it was soo good...” she whined while rolling over on the floor, “There’s a bed right there, it’ll be quick, just five minutes.”

“NO!” Aldus shouted, then winced at himself, “No... that isn’t how you’re going to be getting the emotions that sustain you.”

Ciaran raised an eyebrow, “How else am I going to get them?”

“The same way everypony else does,” Aldus said. “You’re going to earn love and friendship. That is why you are going to take care of these foals, along with myself and the others. These children were on the street when we found them, they don’t have parents or loved ones other than us. Take care of them, be kind to them, comfort them when they’re scared, laugh with them, love them and love will be returned to you. I promise.”

Ciaran remained silent for a moment before transforming back into ‘Willow’. “Alright,” she groaned, “I suppose things could be worse.” She trotted up to Aldus and blushed. The purple mare gently put her hooves on Aldus’ shoulders and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Aldus was surprised that she simply kissed him without siphoning any love energy, “Restraint, that’s good. I suggest you continue to restrain yourself, especially around the children.”

“Don’t worry, Aldus. I’m not going to do anything to the children,” Ciaran said.

“Good!” Aldus exclaimed, “Then you can take a break and come swimming in a few hours. I’m sure the children would love a chance to play with their new foalsitter.”

Ciaran nodded, “Alright, but just so you know Aldus, you don’t have to threaten me. I’m not afraid of you, and I’ve seen you at your worst.”

Aldus chuckled, “No, you haven’t seen me at my worst, and concerning the children, it’s not me you should be afraid of.”

--------------

As dawn approached and the sun began to creep up over the horizon, Frost yawned and began to wake up. He felt something warm against his chest and looked down to investigate. His eyes bulged when he saw Andromeda snuggled up to him. She was so close, Frost instantly began to wiggle away. While he squirmed, he noticed that they were wrapped snuggly in Selene’s wing.

“Stop moving...” Andromeda muttered into Frost’s chest.

“Andromeda... you’re so close... this is-”

“You’re so cute when you’re all fidgety like that...” she whispered with a giggle, “You don’t have to be so nervous around me Frosty, I’m supposed to be your protector.”

“Frosty?! Don’t call me that! And I don’t remember going to sleep with you last night,” he whispered with a slight shakiness in his voice.

“That’s because mommy helped you get to sleep with her magic, you wouldn’t stop jumping around in excitement. I helped too, and eventually you were out like a light.”

“What did you do?” Frost asked.

Andromeda’s eyes suddenly appeared in front him, “Oh I just gave you something warm to snuggle up to.” she said with a wink.

Frost blushed, he rubbed his eyes and gently moved Selene’s wing away. “Today is the big day, the day I finally get to learn some real magic!”

Andromeda rolled over on her back and grinned, “Let’s hope so! Oh, it looks like cutie pie is awake.”

A small horn formed on Andromeda’s head as she conjured a small amount of magic. Soon, Pyrite floated overhead as he yawned and stretched. She lowered him down before relinquishing the magic and dropping him neatly into her forehooves. Andromeda let out a small squee as she rolled back and forth with Pyrite. “You are just the most adorable thing, Pyrite! I love you!”

The silver earth colt laughed as Andromeda playfully assaulted him with small kisses, “Stop it Andromeda haha, stop it! I love you too!”

Frost jumped off the bed and bounced in place, “Where is Aldus? I want to start learning right away!”

“He’s in the pool right now waiting for us,” Selene said with a yawn, “We should probably go meet him there.”

“Yay swimming!” Pyrite shouted as Andromeda giggled and nuzzled him. He squirmed out of her hooves and pulled her out of bed and toward the door. “C’mon Andromeda, c’mon Frost lets go!”

Frost zoomed by and shouted, “Last one there is a rotten apple!”

Pyrite puffed his cheeks in indignation as he ran after Frost. Soft hooves wrapped around his stomach as Andromeda lifted him off the floor and tossed him onto her back. She slipped the colt a quick wink before jumping into the air and tearing off after Frost. “Woo!!” Pyrite shouted as they barrelled down the hallway.

Selene chuckled to herself as she heard Pyrite’s shouts of joy. Caring for these foals was the best thing she’d done since returning to the world with Aldus.

-----------

Aldus sat on his haunches at the shallow end of the pool with a few scrolls held in front of him. His concentration was interrupted by the sound of quick hoofsteps coming from the stairs. Frost bolted into the room and galloped toward the pool, but right behind him Andromeda whipped around the corner with Pyrite hunched over clinging to her mane. It was going to be close, both Frost and Andromeda entered the water at nearly the same time. Once both foals broke the surface Aldus lowered the scrolls and smirked at them.

“Who won?!” they both asked.

“Lets hope you’re better at magic than you are at racing, Frost. Andromeda won that race.” Aldus said.

“Woo! Yeah!” Andromeda shouted as she held Pyrite up under his shoulders.

Pyrite swam over to Frost and splashed him, “You’re the rotten apple, Frost!”

Frost splashed him back, “Am not!” The water hit Pyrite but most of it splashed Andromeda square in the face.

The blue filly raised an eyebrow at Frost and began to slowly swim toward him.

“Andromeda wait, I- I didn’t mean to- wait, don’t!” Frost yelped as the filly dove under the water. Frost quickly gathered magic to his horn and teleported out of the pool to stand near the entrance. Andromeda surfaced and waved her right hoof in the air until it transformed into a blue tentacle. Ruby, Antares, Blue Bell and Iris came down the stairs just in time to see Frost snatched from the entrance and dragged back into the pool. Pyrite had trouble staying afloat due to laughing so hard. Frost tried to get his head above water but every time he did, Andromeda playfully pushed him under.

The girls walked over to the side and tested the water before they entered the pool. Ruby levitated Pyrite over to her and kissed him. “How have you been baby brother, have you been behaving for Selene and Aldus?”

Pyrite nodded as Ruby messed up his mane.

“He’s been no trouble at all,” Andromeda said with a grin as she swam over to the girls. “I love the little guy.”

Pyrite jumped into the pool nearly landing right on top of Andromeda. She swam away while teasing him to chase after her.

Blue Bell backed up and prepared to take a running jump into the pool when she was stopped by Aldus. “Now girls, we need to be careful around the pool and-”

“Woo!!!”

Rigel ran through the entrance and jumped into the air with a flap of his wings. While in midair he performed a corkscrew before curling into a ball and crashing into the deep end.

“Nevermind...” Aldus said as he rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the scrolls.

Rigel surfaced and shook his blue mane back and forth. “Woo! The water is perfect. C’mon in girls! Frost, you okay buddy? You going to cough up a lung?”

Frost floated next to Rigel and was attempting to cough up all the water he had swallowed when Andromeda all but drowned him.

“Hey Rigel,” a playful voice chirped.

“Hey wha-?” he barely had time to react as the ball of feathers landed on top of him with a big splash. He broke the surface with several white feathers stuck in his mane. Iris hugged around his neck and positioned herself against his back between his wings.

“I got you good!” she squeaked with a giggle.

“You did... but I don’t think you realize what you’ve started, little gryphon...”

“Oh I know exactly what I’ve started... now girls!” Iris shouted.

Rigel turned around to find the three fillies standing behind him at the edge of the pool. “You wouldn’t dare...”

“Wouldn’t we?” Blue Bell asked with a smirk.

Iris nipped Rigel’s neck and covered his eyes with her claws as the three fillies leapt from the edge and pounced on him. The four ponies and gryphon all went under before Rigel burst from the water with four children attached to him. “Aldus! Frost! Polaris! Help me!”

“Oh, I think you can handle four fillies,” Polaris said with a grin.

Polaris had entered the water and sat beside Aldus while Frost attempted to pull off one of the fillies. Andromeda was keeping an eye on Pyrite as he splashed at Black Star, who had arrived just after the fillies. Eventually Rigel overpowered his assailants and held Ruby and Antares in his forehooves, while Blue Bell was wrapped in his right wing. Iris managed to stay attached to his back the entire time and remained there after calling a truce.

As Iris held onto Rigel she couldn’t help but notice his physique. He was in top physical condition, even more fit than Kathe and her father. His entire body was muscle, and up this close, Iris realized how massive his wings were compared to her own. She had never seen a pegasus with such powerful wings like this before, but then, she hadn’t seen too many pegasus ponies.

While the children squirmed to get away from Rigel a black portal opened from one of the walls. Selene stepped through the opening and grinned, “Is everypony having fun?”

“Yes!” the foals cheered.

Selene looked over to Aldus and Polaris to find them studying a set of scrolls. “Aren’t you two going to play with the foals?”

Aldus waved a hoof dismissively without bothering to look at her, “Yes, yes. When Pol and I are done discussing this.”

Selene glared at Aldus before returning her attention to the children. Pyrite and Black Star chased Andromeda around the pool while the fillies attempted to subdue Rigel and Frost. The black alicorn backed up a few paces before jumping into the pool with an enormous splash. Waves from the impact carried Pyrite and Black Star out of the pool and onto the deck. Rigel let the three fillies go while Iris remained on his back. Frost was pulled out of the water by Andromeda who smiled ear to ear. “That was great Mommy!” she squeaked while hitting Frost in the back to make him cough up water.

Aldus and Polaris’ were thoroughly soaked, along with the scrolls they were reading. The foals swam over to Selene to play while Aldus climbed out of the pool. “Aldus, where are you going?” Selene asked while letting the children climb on her head and back.

“I’m going out back behind the manor to prepare Frost’s first test. Frost, I want you to meet me out there in an hour.” Aldus said while drying his head with a towel.

“Yes sir!” Frost said with a bright smile. He began to swim toward the exit when Selene’s mane grabbed his leg and hoisted him from the water. The fillies laughed as he dangled upside down in front of them.

“Frosty,” Selene chided with a playful smile, “You're not leaving til you’ve played with us!”

“Fine!” Frost said with a smirk as he teleported onto her head joining Pyrite in wrestling her writhing mane.

As Aldus left the pool, Willow came in with a basket and towels. She went about her business hanging towels on the racks when Pyrite called her name.

“Willow!” Pyrite shouted, “Come swimming with us!”

“I’m sorry children, but I have work to do. Maybe once this is all done then I’ll come in.”

“Frost...” Pyrite whispered.

Frost nodded and fell back into Selene’s mane so only his eyes were peaking over her head. In a split second Frost grabbed Willow’s hind legs and flank with his magic. Before she could react, Frost pulled her backwards and into the pool. Little did he know that she was refilling soap, and so had two open bottles in her hooves.

“Whoa!” Willow shouted as she fell backwards.

“Oh no!” Rigel said as the water immediately began to fill with suds and bubbles.

“This is great!” Pyrite exclaimed as he and Ruby jumped into the bubbles with the rest of the foals.

Frost jumped on Blue Bell as the bubbles spread until he was encased in a magical field. He was pulled deeper into the mound of bubbles and soon found himself wrapped in Willow’s forehooves. “Oh you’re a naughty little thing, Frosty. Grabbing my flank like that? Shame on you...”

Suddenly Frost felt a slight tingling sensation through his whole body, then it stopped as quickly as it began. “I’m sorry, Willow. I won’t do it again.”

“Oh don’t worry your cute little head, Frosty. I’m not mad.” she said in an almost whisper. Frost could have swore he heard her voice change for an instant. Her mane slipped over her shoulder draped over Frost’s chest. “I think... yes... I think I’m going to enjoy this place after all. Good luck with your little magic test today, Frosty. And by the way, I know a thing or two about magic myself. If you need help you only need to ask.”

She kissed Frost on the cheek and let him swim away. As Willow emerged from the bubbles Pyrite and Blue Bell swam over to her to start a splash fight.

Rigel laughed as all the foals were playing with the alicorn and the their foalsitter. All except the little gryphon on his back. “Iris, don’t you want to play with Selene?”

Iris lowered her head and noticed her reflection in the water. The white plumage of her feathers and the grey tips of her wings. “No...” Iris answered with a sigh, “I’m... tired, I think I’d rather just stay here with you, Rigel. If that’s okay.”

Rigel saw her expression in the water and nodded, “Of course its okay. Are you alright Iris? Is something the matter?” Rigel asked while shooting a quick glance to Polaris. The silver unicorn swam over to them and smiled at Iris.

“Iris, you can tell your uncle Rigel and Polaris anything. That goes for Selene and Aldus too, we’re all family.”

The gryphon frowned and tightened her grip around Rigel. She didn’t want them to know just yet, but these ponies were smart. Iris was certain they knew something. She had caught Rigel and Aldus looking at her wings at least twice.

Family... I miss my family

“I know...” she said with a small smile. “Hey umm, Rigel, what are you doing today?”

The red pegasus stretched his wings in the pool then retracted them, “Not a whole lot, but I’m going to the city later for a meeting with Princess Luna. Would you like to come with me?”

Iris grinned and hugged Rigel tighter, “Yes! That sounds great.”

“Alright. We’ll make an evening out of it, I’ll treat you to dinner and we can pick up some things for the mannor.”

“Can we look at some flying gear?” Iris asked with excitement, “I haven’t had time to really stretch my wings and go flying since I’ve been here. Back in the gryphon kingdoms, we wore vests when we were going to fly high in the clouds to protect against the cold.”

“I’m sure we can make time for that, we’ll ask Princess Luna to recommend a store. I’ll buy you whatever you want.” Rigel replied.

Iris slid off his back and swam in front of him. “Thanks, Rigel. I think I will go play with Selene.”

Polaris nudged Rigel’s shoulder and grinned at him. “You handled that well, Rigel. I’m impressed.”

Rigel leaned against the pool wall and ran a hoof through his mane, “Yeah, well... it’s not like I don’t know how to deal with troubled foals. I had a little brother, remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Polaris said, though he didn’t want to talk about it. It was best to move the conversation along to other things. That was a dark chapter in Rigel’s life.

“Whatever is troubling her, she’ll tell me when she feels the time is right,” Rigel said.

---------------

Outside, Aldus stood in front of a large crystal rising out of the ground near a few trees. He touched his horn to it and attuned his magic, the crystal reacted accordingly and began to turn green. Satisfied, Aldus stepped away and watched the crystal return to a clear white.

Frost trotted up behind him and looked at the large crystal. It was taller than Aldus.

“Wow! Is this going to be part of my test?”

“This is your test, Frost.” Aldus replied, still examining the crystal.

“Well, I’m ready. What do I do?” Frost asked eagerly.

“Come stand next to me and touch your horn the crystal.”

Frost trotted up to Aldus and did as he was told. The crystal began to hum as Frost’s horn made contact with the surface. It was also quite cool to the touch.  

“Now charge the crystal with your magic.” Aldus said, backing away slightly.

Frost summoned magic to his horn and began to charge the crystal. Slowly but surely, it changed from a pale white to a calm blue. Once the crystal’s color changed completely, Aldus allowed Frost to stop. Feeling slightly winded, Frost looked at the crystal, now with a blue glow. “I did it! I passed the first test!”

“Passed the first test? No..” Aldus said with a slight chuckle, “That wasn’t the test, Frost. I haven’t even instructed you on what it is yet. But I like your eagerness.”

Frost wrinkled his muzzle, “Well... what is it then?” he asked, feeling slightly frustrated.

“Now that the crystal has been charged, your magic has made it a reflection of you, or at least part of you.”

“What do you mean?” Frost asked.

“When I touched the crystal, it turned green reflecting my, well... lets just say my taste for certain types of magic and knowledge.” Aldus said with a smile. “Now that the crystal is attuned to you, I want you to sit here and look at it for the rest of the day.”

Frost didn’t understand, was the a punishment? “Did I do something wrong, Aldus? Why stare at the crystal the whole day?”

Aldus laughed and sat down next to the colt, “You didn’t do anything wrong, yet. But you will, its all part of being a student. I made tons of mistakes with Starswirl.” he said with a snicker. “You’re going to stare at this crystal, because at some point its going to show you something.”

“What will it show me?” Frost asked, now staring at it more intently.

“In the crystal, you are going to see the reason why you will learn magic. When I return, I’ll ask you what you saw. Depending on your answer, I’ll decide whether or not to teach you.”

Frost’s mouth dropped, “But.. what am I looking for?! What do I tell you?!”

Aldus stood up and shrugged, “How should I know, Frost? It’s your crystal. You have till late tonight. See you later.” Aldus disappeared in a flash of light leaving Frost alone with his crystal.

Frost frowned and began to search for whatever he was supposed to find.

------------

Later, Blue Bell, Antares, and Ruby came outside with Black Star for a walk. “Whatcha doin’ Frost?” Blue Bell asked, “Is this something to do with your test?”

“Yep...” Frost said as he sat down and rested his face on a hoof. Ruby and Antares joined him and observed their reflections in the crystal.

“What are you looking for, Frost?” Ruby inquired.

“I don’t know, Ruby. Aldus didn’t say.”

“He didn’t say anything?”

“Well, all he told me was that whatever I saw would be the reason I learn magic.”

“Cryptic...” Antares said.

“Yeah,” Blue Bell agreed.

Black Star sat down next to Frost and examined the crystal. “I think you’ll be fine, Frost. Just think on what Aldus said.”

“Well, good luck.” the three fillies said before leaving with Black Star into the woods.

Not long after that, Polaris, Pyrite and Andromeda trotted up to Frost to investigate what he was doing.

“So... this is what Aldy cooked up,” Polaris mused, “Interesting.”

Andromeda stood next to Frost with Pyrite riding on her back. “It's certainly pretty,” she said while Pyrite climbed atop her head to get a look himself.

“Did you do something to make it glow that way?” Pyrite asked.

“Yeah, buddy. It’s my magic.” Frost replied.

“Oh... well it looks really cool! You can do it Frost! You got this!” Pyrite exclaimed as he offered a hoof to his friend.

Frost smiled and hoof bumped the earth colt. “Thanks Pyrite.”

Andromeda kissed Frost lightly on the cheek and grinned mischievously at him, “Once you finish this test, you’ll have to tell me about it before we go to bed.”

“We?” Frost asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes we,” Andromeda replied with a chuckle. She turned around and wiggled her flank at the crystal, knowing Frost saw it in the reflections.

Frost blushed and shook his head, “I- um, I need to concentrate.”

“Yeah, he does. Come along you two.” Polaris said.

“Wait, why are you guys out here?” Frost asked.

“Polaris is going to show me how to meditate!” Pyrite exclaimed.

“Yes...” Andromeda said with a groan, “It’s going to be so exciting...”

“You’re going to behave yourself, missy,” Polaris said, “Now c’mon. Keep concentrating Frost, I’m sure you’re doing great.”

“Thanks guys, see you later.” Frost said as he waved goodbye to his friends.

About an hour later, Frost felt his stomach began to rumble. He couldn’t get up and leave for fear of missing anything, and nopony was around. “Ugh...so hungry,” Frost groaned as he fell to his stomach in front of the crystal.

“Well its a good thing I’m here now isn’t it?” a voice said from behind Frost.

The colt turned around to find Willow trotting up to him with a small picnic basket. Frost could smell the food inside and let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness you’re here, Willow. I’m starving.”

“Oh think nothing of it, Frosty. I have to admit I was surprised to learn Aldus demanded you stay out here all day.”

“All night too,” Frost said as he took a bite of sandwich.

“Really?” Willow asked, “Thats... oh...”

“Oh?” Frost asked.

“I’ve seen these crystals before. They’re very rare, only found at the far borders of The Crystal Empire.” Willow remarked.

“Really? You’ve been to the Crystal Empire?”

“A few times, yes. I’ve traveled quite a bit.”

“What can you tell me about it?”

“Well, now that it’s charged you’ll be able to store more magic in it. Also, its one of the best types of reflecting crystals.” Willow said while making a few funny faces.

“Anything else?” Frost asked.

“Mmm perhaps, but I don’t want to ruin Aldus’ test.” Willow said while she packed up the rest of the food. “Good luck, Frosty. Come find me when you’re done. I’d like to know how you did.”

Frost burped and paced around the crystal. Perhaps if he just looked at it from a different angle he’d find what he was looking for. The sun was beginning to set as Rigel and Iris descended from the sky. Both of them landed next to Frost, casting large shadows along with their reflections in the crystal.

“This is massive...” Iris stammered, “It’s going to be pretty glowing in the darkness, though.”

“What did Aldus say you were supposed to do?” Rigel asked.

Frost sighed and threw a rock at the crystal, clearly frustrated. “He said I’m supposed to see something special in the crystal, and that something is the reason why I’m going to learn magic. Whatever it is could appear at any time, so I have to be watching constantly, but I haven’t seen anything yet!”

Iris wrapped a claw and wing around Frost’s shoulders and nuzzled him, “I’m sure you’ll find it, Frost. Don’t give up.”

The light blue colt simply nodded and glanced over at Rigel who wore a pair of saddlebags. “Where are you two going?”

“Rigel has a meeting with Princess Luna, and after that we’re going to dinner and shopping!” Iris squeaked. “Do you want anything, Frost?”

“We could bring you back some food if you’d like,” Rigel offered.

Frost waved a hoof, “No, that’s alright. You two enjoy yourselves. I’ll probably be out here all night.”

Iris frowned and saw Rigel shake his head at her, “Well... I hope not, I’ll see you later Frost.”

The pegasus and gryphon flew off toward Canterlot leaving Frost alone with his thoughts. There must be something he was missing, something that didn’t occur to him. Frost paced around the crystal more and more until the sun fell completely behind the horizon and the moon began its ascent into the night. Having tried at least twelve different things with no results, Frost shouted in anger and shot the crystal with a cluster of magical bolts. The magic ricocheted off the crystal and flew back at him. Most of the bolts missed but one struck him right in the shoulder. Frost fell to the ground in pain and slammed his hoof into the dirt. Why was this so hard? Why couldn’t he find what he was looking for? After an entire day of frustration combined with the burning injury from his magic, Frost broke down and began to cry.

“It’s my first test... I can’t even pass my first test? I’m a failure...”

Frost felt his eyes become heavy as the exhaustion from stress began to take its toll. As his eyes shut he felt himself being raised into the air. Half asleep, he saw a black rod shape in front of him and wrapped his forehooves around it.

“Wake up Frost,” a soft voice cooed, “You can’t stop now, not when you’re so near the end.”

“Mother?” Frost said with a sniffle. “Selene?”

“That’s right. It’s me, Frost.”

The black alicorn had pushed her head under Frost and lifted him up. Frost opened his eyes and winced at the burn from the magic. Selene gently sat down on all four hooves and looked up at the colt atop her head. “You’re hurt, what did you do?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Frost grumbled, “I failed.”

“Oh sweetheart, how do you know that? Did Aldus come back and say that you failed?”

“No...” Frost mumbled, “But I haven’t seen anything in the crystal.”  

Selene wrapped Frost’s hind legs in her mane and touched a single tendril to Frost’s chest. He flinched at the contact but then relaxed as the tendril dissolved into tar and coated his chest and shoulder. The burning sensation began to fade, replaced by cool touch. Frost pulled himself forward and leaned on Selene’s horn while he looked at the crystal again. Light snoring caught his attention and he looked down to investigate. Pyrite leaned against Selene’s chest wrapped in a bundle of her mane.

“Why is Pyrite with you?” Frost asked.

“He wanted to come see you again, so I said I’d come with him. But he fell asleep on the way here. He cares about you Frost, you’re like a big brother to him.”

“I know, I’m glad he came.” Frost replied while he smiled down at his friend.

There was a flash of green light as Aldus appeared on the opposite side of the crystal. “Well, I think its been long enough, so tell me, Frost. What did you see and why are you going to learn magic?”

Frost frowned and looked away, “Well...I-”

“Frost wait, be careful what you say.”

“Selene?”  Frost thought, “How are you in my head?!”

“Don’t worry about that now Frost, just stop and think before you answer Aldus. What did you actually see? I can’t help you anymore than that.”

Frost stopped and looked at the crystal, seeing himself, Selene, and Pyrite. A realization dawned on him.

“I saw... myself.” Frost said.

Aldus raised an eyebrow, “Anything else?”

Frost paused, thinking about what Selene said. “I saw Ruby, Antares, Blue Bell and Black Star, they came by early in the day.”

“Oh?” Aldus inquired, “Really?”

“I saw Pyrite, Polaris, and Andromeda. Then Iris, and Rigel. Willow came by to bring some food, and just a few moments ago Selene arrived with Pyrite to stay with me.” Frost continued, “And I saw you at the beginning, and you at the end.”

“So why then will you learn magic from me, Frost? Spells, incantations, curses, magic that only I can teach you. I am one of the most powerful unicorns to ever exist.” Aldus said in a low and dangerous tone. Inky black wings sprouted from his sides as his eyes began to glow green. His face transformed into a hideous monstrosity as he ascended into the air to hover above Selene. “Gaze upon your master, Frost, and behold the power!!”

Pyrite woke up at the sound of Aldus shouting and saw him in his transformed state. He screamed and tried to burrow his way into Selene’s chest. The black alicorn wrapped a forehoof around the colt and completely hid him away with her mane. Meanwhile Frost stared at Aldus with his mouth agape. The disfigured unicorn above him fired a blast of green magic into the air which caused clouds to swirl around it. He then conjured lightning between his forehooves and shot it into the clouds to light up the sky.

“Why do you want to learn magic? What will you do with what I teach you?!” Aldus bellowed.

Frost put aside his fear and stood up on Selene’s head, “I’ll use my magic to help others! You said I’d see the reason for learning magic in the crystal. The only thing I saw was my friends who came to see me. Anypony can learn magic just for themselves, but I have a new family now, and I’ll take what you teach me and use it to help them!”

Aldus raised both hooves in the air, then dropped to ground returning to normal. “Alright, good enough. You pass, Frost. You’re now officially my apprentice.”

Frost leaned forward but was restrained by Selene’s mane. “What was that?” he asked.

“That was... that is me, Frost. Or, a part of me. I thought it would be respectful to demonstrate my power. But...” Aldus hesitated as he saw the trembling form in Selene’s forehooves, “I may have overdone it a bit. Sorry, I sometimes have a flair for theatrics.”

Selene scowled at Aldus while he bent down and removed some of the locks covering Pyrite’s head. “Hey buddy, sorry about that. I overdid it.”

The silver colt turned around and wiped the tears from his eyes, “You aren’t a monster then?”

Aldus collected the colt in his hooves and sat down on his haunches, “I might have been one once, but I’m not now. You don’t have to be afraid of me or anypony else.”

Pyrite nodded and hugged Aldus, “Okay. I trust you.”

Frost jumped down and messed up Pyrite’s mane, “It was scary at first, but it was cool too! Don’t you think Pyrite? Who would ever mess with us when we have Aldus to scare them away?”

Pyrite laughed and agreed with his friend, “That’s true!”

Frost bowed his head to Aldus, “I meant what I said, master. I’ll use the magic you teach me to help my friends and new family. I’ll serve the princesses too.”

“Will you?” Aldus asked with an amused chuckle, “We’ll see about all that soon enough, and don’t bother calling me master, unless you really want to.” he said with a wink to Selene, who rolled her eyes. “Tomorrow you’ll go to Canterlot and get some supplies and some robes. And if you’re lucky, I might teach you some elemental magic before that.”

Frost smiled and jumped up and down, “Can you start teaching me now? I’m ready!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Selene said while standing up. She picked up both Frost and Pyrite and held them in front of her glowing green eyes. “There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow, for now you two should get some rest.”

Frost and Pyrite soon fell limp in Selene’s hold as her powers put them to sleep. Her mane coiled around them and deposited the colts on her back. “Was all that really necessary, Aldus?”

The grey unicorn ran a hoof through his mohawk and grinned at the alicorn, “You mean the test? Or the theatrics?”

“Both!” Selene shouted.

“Careful or you’ll wake the children,” Aldus said with a smirk as they both began to walk to the manor.

“They won’t be waking up anytime soon, and I’ve put them into a calm dreamscape. So where did you get the idea for that test? Was it something Starswirl did?”

“Nope, its something I thought up earlier today.”

Selene stopped in her tracks and deadpanned Aldus. “What?”

“Yeah, I thought it would be a clever way to get him to understand a very important point about magic. It is a tool best used in helping others. I used my magic to help Princess Luna, and Frost will use his to help his friends and family. The worst ponies I’ve ever fought were selfish in their lust for power. They used magic as a tool too, but they abused it in order to satiate their ever growing hunger for it. I’m not about to let Frost start down that path.” Aldus said.

Selene paused a moment, then hovered in the air. “You still didn’t need to scare Pyrite like that.” The black alicorn turned with a single powerful flap of her wings and flew off to her bedroom.

“Ugh... I’m gonna hear more about this tomorrow.” Aldus sulked as he trotted into the manor.

----------------

Iris rolled out her bed and looked at her feathers, most of them were messed up from flying and she didn’t have time to preen today. She stretched and left her room silently to not wake the other ponies. As she crept down the hall she opened the door to Rigel’s room and saw he was sitting out on the balcony. Iris entered the room and shut the door behind her.

“Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” Rigel asked without turning around.

Iris smiled and sat next to the red pegasus. “I did, thanks for getting me that vest.”

“Don’t mention it, Iris,” Rigel said with a smile. “Not tired yet?”

“I just need to preen some feathers, do you mind if I do it here?”

“Nope,” Rigel said, “It’s what I’m doing.”  

Iris smiled and began to work on her feathers, but there were always some she had trouble reaching. Rigel took notice and gently hooked his right wing around the gryphon. He lifted her off the floor and began to preen the feathers she was having problems with. Iris enjoyed the warmth of his chest and snuggled up to it as Rigel worked.

“I see some of your feathers are grey,” Rigel said with a mouth full of feathers, “Why is that?”

Iris’ mind raced through the recent memories of her home under attack, and Lord Thest gloating about killing her father. She remembered the sound of blades clashing as Kathe dueled Thest so she could escape. Tears began to trickle down her face, she tried her best to force it them back, but she couldn’t.

“It’s a marking from my father's kingdom,” Iris replied, her voice shaking, “I’m from the Grey Wing Kingdom.”

“Your father’s kingdom?” Rigel asked, clearly surprised, “So that means your father is a king?”

“Was king...” came Iris’ solemn reply. She turned around and hugged around Rigel’s shoulders, “But he’s dead now!” she screamed before bursting into tears.

Rigel wrapped his forehooves around her and gently rubbed at her back. “Dead? Why? What happened?”

“It- it’s a long story...” Iris stammered with a sniffle.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Rigel replied in a soothing tone, “Just let it out, what happened?”

“My kingdom was attacked by the golden gryphons. They brought airships and their army to our capital city. I was practicing combat with my mentor, a blue priest, when the attack happened. We fought our way to the docks where I escaped. But when we arrived there one of my father’s vassal lords betrayed us. He said he killed my father and I think he killed Kathe too!”

Iris buried her face in Rigel’s shoulders and was shaking uncontrollably. “Iris, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” he asked.

“I didn’t want to bring any unwanted attention to myself, it was by sheer luck that I ended up in Equestria. That’s when I ran into Frost and the rest of the ponies before Red Sun and Black Star saved us.” Iris replied. “My mother is dead, my father is dead, and my older brother left for the northern regions. The rest of my family might as well be dead for all I know. I’m alone!”

“Shh...” Rigel whispered as he stroked her back in an attempt to calm her, “You aren’t alone, you have us. Hey, so doesn’t that mean you’re a princess? I guess I should start treating you with more respect, huh?” he said with a chuckle.

Iris giggled a bit between sobs, “No, I’m not like Luna and Celestia.”

“A princess is a princess,” Rigel said with a shrug as he nuzzled Iris.

After half an hour consoling the gryphon, she finally lost her energy and fell asleep in Rigel’s forehooves. Rigel frowned and stroked her head with a hoof, “Poor little thing, what a horrible experience that must have been.”

Upon hearing hoofsteps in the room behind him, Rigel turned around to find Black Star standing near the bed with a concerned look on his face. “Is she alright?” he asked.

“Better now, but far from alright.” Rigel replied, “You are her guardian?”

“Yes,” Black Star said.

Rigel opened his wings revealing the curled up ball of feathers and fur he was holding. Her feathers were drenched in tears and her eyes clenched shut, “Stay with her, you have no idea what this little one has been through.”

Black Star shifted on the floor as he grew taller and spread his wings. Now almost the size of Selene, he took Iris from Rigel and cradled her in his forehooves. “Where are you going?” he asked as Rigel flew to the door.

“I’m going see Aldus, he needs to know what I just heard.”

Black Star nodded and hovered over to the bed. He covered Iris with his wing and touched his forehead to hers. “No more tears.” His eyes shined bright green as he connected her dreamscape with Frost’s and Pyrite’s, “Only fun and happiness with friends.”

Chapter 16: Chaos Rising

General Ghrast stalked back to his tent with his cloak billowing behind him. The weather this far in the north was terrible. He had been in cold environments before when he was in training, and when he and his father went hunting for young wyrms on the peaks of the mountains. But this... this was starting to wear on his already thin nerves.

“My general, the scouting party has returned,” his lieutenant stated while landing next to him. Ghrast returned the salute and nodded. “I’ll have them report to your tent right away.”

“No, I’ll go meet them in the airship, no need to drag them out into this Matriarch forsaken weather.” Ghrast replied through his grey neckwarmer.

Several thousand gryphons were camped near the cliff of a large glacier. Passing the northern mountains of their kingdom, they were far beyond their borders and even the farthest reaches of the Crystal Empire. The only thing known to exist this far north was seemingly endless ice fields and the tips of the great northern sea. Still, the priests insisted that something was up here and demanded they investigate. Ziraal commanded Ghrast take the majority of the army to face whatever threat lurked here. The priests were convinced the threat was genuine, and Ghrast had never seen so many of them shaken up, or witness them agree on any one thing.

“General Ghrast,” the scouting party saluted as he sat down at their table in the ship's mess hall.

“Welcome back, what have you got for me?” Ghrast asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.

“The only thing we saw was a blizzard and the northern lights as we came back,” one of the gryphons replied. “Theres nothing up here.”

Ghrast nodded and prepared to leave when he felt a claw clasp his shoulder, “General, sir, thats not all.”

“Not all?” Ghrast asked, “What else did you see?”

The gryphon commanding the scouting party set his mug down on the table a little too hard, causing each gryphon to look at him, including Ghrast. “Oh, this again? Pay no mind to Farkas, General Ghrast. He was just imagining things.”

Ghrast looked into the young scout’s eyes and registered fear, “What did you see, Farkas? Tell me everything.”

The young gryphon shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of his fellow soldiers, “It was only for a moment, but I saw what looked liked ruins of some sort.”

Ghrast’s eyes widened, “Where? What did they look like? Describe them.”

“It was just before we were about to head back,” Farkas replied, “As I was scanning the ice fields the snow and wind parted for a moment showing ruined towers and buildings. I saw a collapsed wall and what looked like spires that had fallen to the ground. They looked as though they belonged to large structures.”

“You saw all that?” Ghrast asked while tapping his right claw on the table, “None of you thought this was important enough to tell me?”

Farkas spoke up again, “I- I only saw it for a second, then it was gone. I tried to find it, I even tried to fly to where I thought I saw it, but found nothing.”

“I see, well I’m glad you decided to share this with me, we’ll see what’s really out there once this weather clears.” Ghrast said while getting up.

“General,” a voice called to him, this time it was from the commander, “Sir, there is something else. While we were there, some us heard something. It sounded like... voices.”

“Voices?”

“Yes, they were faint, probably just the wind. But, sir,” the gryphon stuttered while momentarily averting his gaze, “At one point we thought we saw...”

“Saw what?”

“Tracks in the snow...”

“Are you sure they weren’t yours?” Ghrast inquired, “Surely in this blizzard you could have wandered over a previous path.”

“No sir,” the commander replied.

“No?”

“They were hoofprints, sir.” the commander said with a worried look on his face.

Ghrast looked out into the still raging blizzard, “I see... well, finish your food and get some rest, you earned it. We’ll know more about this tomorrow.”

The gryphons saluted him as he stalked out of the airship and flew to his tent near the center of the encampment. His own ship was deployed nearby but he preferred to be near the rest of his soldiers when camped out like this.

Hoofprints, poines? What in Matriarch’s brood could they be doing out here? Could it be the crystal ponies  are out looking for the same thing we are? Princess Cadance must be craftier than father imagined.

As Ghrast touched down outside the tent he saluted the guards and made his way inside. Ghrast’s mind wandered to thoughts of home and his younger sister, Iris. She was growing so fast, and Kathe had already taught her much about defending herself with a blade. He made it a point to spend more time with her when he returned.

The general sat down at his desk and began to study the maps of the area when he noticed a shadow move behind him. Ghrast immediately jumped out of his chair and whirled around, blade in claw. What stood at on the other side of the planning table near the end of the tent, was a pony. The stallion was average in size and sported a white coat with a light pink mane. But there was something wrong about it, upon closer inspection the stallion wore deep age marks. Creases of various sizes stretched under his tired eyes. Also strange, there was a smell about the tent. Ghrast sniffed at the air, it was sweet, like honey or candy.

There was something odd at play here, the stallion didn’t seem to notice Ghrast yet. It was lazily looking around the tent seemingly intrigued by the most mundane details. As the stallion finally turned to Ghrast, he noticed a gold liquid escaping the stallion’s mouth. It had a slight glow to it and began to drip to the floor. The stallion’s mouth was stained by the liquid in several places. Despite the odd situation, Ghrast hesitated to call his guards. The pony was several times smaller than him, and was an earth pony at that, which meant no magic. No, he would get answers from this pony.

“You are in the command tent of a gryphon general. How you got in here without notice I don’t know, but you’re going to answer my questions if you value your life.”

The stallion paused before coughing lightly, “My life has little value... A... command tent... of a general? Is there a war?”

“No...” Ghrast answered, “Who are you? What is your name? Why are you here?”

The stallion seemed to look past Ghrast, then examined his own hooves. “My name? I- I don’t remember. Strange... I remember other things, but not my name... I’m sorry.”

Ghrast tightened his grip on his blade, “Why are you here?!” he asked with a snarl.

The pony examined him then coughed up more of the gold liquid, “I don’t recognize you... what are you? You said a ‘gryphon’? How long have your kind been here?”

Ghrast began to feel uneasy, why didn’t this pony know what a gryphon is? Furthermore, why doesn’t he feel threatened. Ghrast knew himself to be intimidating, but he seemed to have no effect on this stallion.

“Yes, I’m a gryphon. We’ve lived here on Equus as long as the ponies have. Are you from the Crystal Empire? Did Princess Cadance send you here to spy on us?”

For whatever reason, that question got the stallion’s attention. He ceased looking around the room and snapped his focus directly at Ghrast.

“Ah, that got your attention? So who do you serve?” Ghrast asked with a smirk.

“I serve our people and maintain the gift.” the stallion replied while hacking up more gold liquid.

“Who is your princess? Cadance? Celestia?”

“Our princess is no more.” the stallion replied. Ghrast saw a small smile flicker across the stallion’s face before vanishing. “There are pony kingdoms? Several of them? Ruled by alicorns, yes?” The stallion coughed up more gold liquid and began to advance around the table. “Then... they have yet to receive the gift, and still live under tyranny...” the stallion muttered, as if arriving at a foregone conclusion.

Ghrast backed up a few paces, he hadn’t noticed the stallion was slouching before. It now stood fully erect making it much more imposing, despite its small size. “You seem more talkative now... good,” Ghrast said, “Now we just need to get you talking about the things we want to know. I think some time in the brig will help with that.”

The stallion continued to advance as it now stood on the same side of the table as Ghrast. “You are a war leader with experience,” the stallion said, “You will be of use to us. We have need of a leader and emissary to spread the gift to our fellow ponies. Of course, we are generous. I offer you the gift as well, General.”  

Ghrast had heard enough, he stepped forward and hit the stallion hard in the face with the hilt of his sword. The stallion made no effort to move, and thus received the full force of the blow. It collapsed to the ground with a bloody gash in its forehead.

“I appreciate your generosity, but I think I’ll decline your gift. Guards!!” Ghrast yelled.

Within moments, two armored gryphons entered the tent, crossbows at the ready. “Sir, how did this pony get here?”

Ghrast smiled, “Never mind that, just take him to brig and lock him up.”

The guard nodded and stepped over to the collapsed stallion. Both guards grabbed his hooves but the stallion began to resist. In response, one of the guards reversed his crossbow and brought the butt down on the stallion’s head with a sharp crack.

The stallion blacked out, and the guards began to haul it away. Just as they were about to exit the tent, the stallion stirred and disappeared in flash of golden light. He reappeared next to Ghrast and touched a hoof to his shoulder, causing him to go limp and fall to the floor. The guards snapped their crossbows at the stallion and loosed their bolts, which deflected off a barrier and fell harmlessly to the ground. Each guard was seized in a magical field and levitated in front of the Stallion.

Ghrast watched in horror as a cracked horn materialized on the stallion’s head. “I remember now... thank you for that blow to head.” The stallion said while making a small bow. The gryphon who struck him convulsed in the air as his body bent in ways it was never meant to. The other guard followed suit and a few moments later both dropped to the floor never to move again.

The stallion approached Ghrast but halted and crouched to the floor coughing violently. More of the viscous gold liquid sprayed from its mouth as it turned away. Ghrast felt some strength returning to him as he reached for the desk and grabbed his blessed amulet. The Matriarch’s blessing flowed through him and restored all his strength allowing him to get to his feet and unsheath his sword.

The stallion ceased coughing and wiped away the gold liquid as he turned on Ghrast. “You’re able to move? How? Wait... it’s an object of some kind. Your sword? No... smaller, more powerful. Your ring? That amulet?”

Ghrast shouted for more guards, but ceased when the stallion sat on its haunches and laughed, causing more gold liquid to escape its mouth.

“They can’t hear you, General. But thanks to your guard’s blunt force attack, I’ve remembered my name,” the stallion said. “I am Seiros the Luminous.” Ghrast gripped his amulet tightly and looked for ways to escape the tent as the stallion continued. “Once Arch Curate of the everlasting light, but now only a glimmer remains. Still, it is a gift. A gift for all ponies, and I am more than willing to share it with your kind as well.”

Ghrast spat on the floor and raised his amulet, “Take your gift and shove it up your flank, pony.”

Seiros nodded solemnly, “I see, you react in such a way because you have yet to taste the light, to bask in its brilliance. Fear not, for even a glimmer can light the darkest darkness.”

Ghrast raised a claw to his eyes as the space inside the tent glowed brighter and brighter, until he was blinded by light.

---------------

As Aldus strode into his study he noticed strange clouds forming outside, they were pink... Rigel and Polaris said there were curious brown puddles on the ground as well. Very strange, Aldus didn’t know what to make of it until balloons and party poppers appeared out of thin air. Then he noticed he was wearing a party hat.

“Discord, you should really save these antics for when the children are around. I bet they’d love it.” Aldus said while scanning the room.

 “Don’t you love it?” came a voice near the bookshelf.

Aldus smiled and picked up a party blower from his desk and blew it a few times. “Who doesn’t love a good party and some crazy fun now and again?”

Suddenly a white flash appeared on a stack of Aldus’ books depositing a pint sized draconequus, “I know! That’s what I tried to tell Celestia and Luna one thousand years ago! And look what happened...”

“Stone for one thousand years,” Aldus said while he put a hoof to his cheek and sighed into the blower, making a lackluster sound. “Celestia doesn’t respond well to change... she wasn’t too keen on everlasting night, either.”

Discord smiled and teleported on top of Aldus’ head. He performed a handstand at the tip of his horn, “I see I’ll have somepony to talk to when Celestia inevitably gets on my nerves.”

“Oh, naturally. Come find me whenever you want to chat. But I thought you’ve been reformed, no more chaos and all that? Don’t you have to play nice with Celestia now?”

Discord let out a resigned grunt and snapped his fingers, appearing in front of the desk in his full form. “Yes... ‘reformed.’ They can think whatever they like, but chaos is what I am, Aldus. I’d have as much luck not being chaotic as you would have not scheming.” he said with a grin and raised eyebrow.

“Scheming!? Me!? Preposterous!” Aldus exclaimed while reaching across the desk for the bowl of cotton candy. He helped himself to a liberal amount and stuffed it in his mouth. “Scheming... hah,” Aldus said between chewing, “Don’t know what you’re talking about...”

“Where’s my book?” Discord asked, uncharacteristically straight to the point.

“Oh... “ Aldus said with a hiccup, “That scheming...” He swallowed his cotton candy and opened the drawer at the right of his desk. Aldus produced a large multicolored book bound by a lock on the front cover. “Here you are, just as I said.”

Discord took the book and inserted a talon into the lock until Aldus heard a click. He opened it and flipped through a few pages. “Everything seems to be in disorder,” he said with a smile, “Thank you for retrieving this, Aldus.”

“Never really figured you for a book spirit.” Aldus said while reclining in his chair, “What made you want to write a book?”

Discord snapped his fingers and reclined in his own chair, still styled as a throne, “You think I wrote that?” he asked, pressing a paw to his chest for effect before bursting into laughter. “No, young one. No...” he said wiping a tear from his eye. “No, the book of chaos was written by the scribe Autumn Leaf during my rule. She did an excellent job, but lost her mind in the process.” Discord said as he conjured a glass of chocolate milk for himself, “She was a lot more fun after that.”

“You know, Discord.” Aldus said as he leaned forward, “I’ve always wondered what you were like. As a child I used to study in the statuary garden quite a bit. A few times I even sat under your statue. I always wondered what it was like trapped in stone for such a long time. I even tried to talk to you a few times, but I doubt you remember.”

“Oh but I do.” Discord said with a smile, “Over the course of those years, many ponies came by to look at me and stare. They would always talk about me, but few ever talked to me. While most of the things you said were dreadfully boring, one thing was apparent. I knew you were the type of pony to go places.”

“Yep, straight into a soul separation prison for a thousand years, give or take.” Aldus said as he rolled his eyes, “But that means a lot, Discord. Thank you.”

“So you were imprisoned too, eh?” Discord mused, “Celestia really is no fun...” he said in a dangerous tone.

“No, she isn’t.” Aldus agreed. “Discord, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciated you listening back then, even if you didn’t have a choice. Whether you’re serious about making friends now is your business. But if you are, you could always consider me a friend.”

Discord laughed and threw the chocolate milk out an open window where it exploded on the lawn. “It would be quite the boon to have a spirit of chaos on your side, eh boy?”

“That isn’t what I meant,” Aldus said, “I-”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Discord snapped, “You can’t manipulate me. One snap of my fingers and I could turn this place, and you, inside out. But... I won’t. No need to worry.”

“Well, that’s good.” Aldus said.

“The children are out then?” Discord asked with a frown, “From what I’ve observed, they’ve had enough chaos in their lives recently. There is such a thing as overkill. But I think they could have some more fun in their lives.” The draconequus said with a wink, “I don’t like seeing sad ponies, especially children. I’ll do my best to make them a little happier. Consider it payment for retrieving my book.”

As Aldus and Discord were chatting, a portal opened in the wall and Selene walked through to find the draconequus staring at her with his mouth agape. “You... what are you doing here? You’ve returned?!”

“What are you talking about?” Selene asked, “Oh you must be Discord...?”

Discord arched an eyebrow and snaked out of the chair, “What? ‘I must be Discord?’ We’ve met before... wait... you don’t remember, do you?”

“Remember what?” Selene asked, now slightly irritated.

“You don’t remember! Hahaha!!!”

Selene looked at Aldus, who shrugged his shoulders.

“We met before? When? Where? What are you talking about?” Selene asked while she tapped a hoof impatiently.

“Oh you probably don’t even remember your real name! Ha! HAAA!!! This is fantastic! Why create chaos when the perfect storm is right here?! Oh no, I’m not telling. It’d spoil the fun. But I think its best to let things like this run their course anyway. And its not like there isn’t any chaos in the works already... I imagine your student and the little gryphon will have quite the story to tell when they get home,” he said with a wink to Aldus. “Thanks again for the book. Ta ta for now.” and with that, the draconequus vanished in a flash of bright light.

“What just happened?” Selene asked Aldus.

“I have no idea... but now I’m worried about the children.”

---------------

Frost trotted down the street with his saddlebags full of supplies as Ruby joined him from a corner shop. Aldus had agreed to teach Ruby some basic alchemy skills since she revealed an interest in cooking and potions. As they turned onto another street, Antares flew down to meet them with tears in her eyes.

“They’ve taken her! They’ve taken Iris!”

Frost and Ruby looked at each other while they calmed down Antares. “Who’s taken her? Where are they?”

Antares dried her eyes and let out a sniffle, “Other gryphons, five of them, they said they’re going to take her home. But Iris didn’t want to go.”

“Where is Black Star?” Frost asked, “He’s supposed to be protecting her.”

Antares shook her head, “He tried to stop them but the big gryphon, the one with a blue cloth around his shoulders, he attacked Black Star with some sort of lightning and knocked him out.”

“I’ll go try and help stop them,” Frost said as he raced off in their direction, “No gryphon is going to steal Iris away from us. Ruby, stay here with Antares and call the royal guard.”

Ruby nodded and consoled Antares, “They’ll be fine. C’mon, there is a guard post this way.”

--------------

“Stop squirming, brat.” the blue priest snarled. “If you keep this up you’ll end up tied in a bag for the rest of the trip home.”

Iris bit down hard on the arm of the gryphon restraining her. He screeched in pain and dropped her, but Iris was immediately grabbed by the priest who swiped a claw across her face. Torn feathers and blood trickled down her beak as tears escaped her eyes. “Thest can rot for all I care, he’s a murderer! Matriarch burn him alive!!!”

The priest’s eyes went wide as he brought a knee to Iris’ stomach, winding her. “How dare you speak ill of Lord Thest.”

“Hey, you! Fat ball of feathers!”

The priest looked up to find a blue unicorn galloping toward him. “Sir, the rest of the children are still here too.” a gryphon said.

The priest followed what his subordinate was gesturing at. Two of the gryphons were trying to scare off a blue earth filly and a blue pegasus filly with a silver earth colt at her side. “Get rid of these children!” the priest snapped.

“Let her go right now!” Frost shouted, “The royal guard are on their way!”

The confrontation was happening in an alley away from the main populated areas of the city. Still there were likely a few ponies around who wouldn’t take kindly to a fight. The royal guard would take time getting here though. The priest knew they had to leave now.

“We’re leaving, get Iris and lets go before their guard shows up.” the blue priest commanded as he handed Iris to another gryphon.

“Help me!” she wailed.

“Hey!” Andromeda shouted before charging a bolt of blue magic and unleashing it on the closest gryphon. It struck him in the backside and erupted into fire. He yelped and tried to put it out while another gryphon stepped forward and reached for something in his town clothes. He produced a small wooden device that quickly unfolded into a single handed crossbow. The gryphon aimed at Andromeda and fired.

“No!” Pyrite pushed Andromeda out of the way at the very last second and caught the bolt in his chest. The force sent him flying backward through a low broken window in a condemned building.

Frost and Blue Bell had no words... it happened so fast.

“NOOOO!!!!!”

It was difficult to tell which was louder, Iris or Andromeda but both foals wailed as the gryphon put away his weapon and rejoined the others. Andromeda disappeared inside building and Iris’ struggling was halted as the priest knocked her out. Blue Bell ran forward but Frost grabbed her tail with his magic.

“No, get out of here Blue Bell. Go for help, get anypony you can. I’m going to deal with them.”  Frost said through gritted teeth.

“What?! What can you do? You can’t take on five gryphons!” the blue filly exclaimed.

“No... but I’ve learned a few things from Aldus, and taught myself a few tricks too. I can stall them. But you have to leave. Get out of here! Go!”

Blue Bell nodded, “Be careful, Frosty.”

“Hey bird brain!” Frost shouted, “Think fast!!”

Mere seconds after turning around, an ice spike was lodged in the gryphon’s throat. An expression of surprise played across his face as red liquid gurgled in his mouth. Seconds after that, his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground, dead.

All reservations Frost had about violence and taking a life were thrown out the window when he saw the bolt enter Pyrite’s chest. The priest stood staring at Frost with a mixed expression of awe and anger. One gryphon ran toward him with murderous intent, while another produced a crossbow of his own and loosed a bolt. Seeing it coming, Frost teleported away and reappeared under an awning. It had rained last night, so the awning hung low under the burden of a large amount of water. As the gryphon charged past it, Frost tugged the awning down with his magic and launched the water into the air.

Aldus had given him what amounted to a crash course in manipulating readily available resources for elemental magic. This was best used when a unicorn’s raw magical reserves were low or depleted. Aldus demonstrated with air particles used to form lightning and fire. He quickly discovered Frost’s affinity for water, and particularly ice. In just a few short hours, Frost had mastered slowing down particles in water to form them into solid shapes of ice, impressing Aldus.

Frost maneuvered the water in position then dropped it onto the gryphon, freezing it as he did so. In only a few moments the gryphon was frozen solid just a few paces from Frost. In a fit of anger Frost grabbed some bricks from a nearby scaffolding and hurled them at the frozen gryphon, shattering him into a hundred pieces.

The gryphon with the crossbow fired again and Frost teleported away, this time to the roof of the building on the left side of the alley. However, he failed to see that the priest had taken to the air and was now right on top of him. Claws wrapped around Frost’s neck as he was hurled into the ground with the weight of a fully grown gryphon on top of him. Frost wheezed in pain as the impact fractured some bone, but he didn’t have the energy to scream.

“You unicorns love your magic, don’t you?” The priest growled. He bent down to whisper in Frost’s ear, “Did you know I have magic too?”

Frost winced as the gryphon pressed his head to the ground and flashed a ring at him. The next moments were of excruciating pain as electricity surged through him. Frost whimpered as the gryphon picked him up with a single claw.

“What’s that?” the priest chuckled.

“I killed two of your companions... and I only just started learning magic.” Frost muttered as he coughed up blood, “You gryphons are pathetic.”

The priest threw Frost to the ground and unsheathed his sword, placing it at Frost’s neck. “Too bad you’ll not be learning any more magic, boy.”

A sound of metal banging against metal came from the building nearby. The priest stopped and looked at the condemned structure. Another clang, then another, and another. The sound became louder until the source revealed itself. A pony stepped out into the open and stared straight at the priest. It was about tall as the average mare, but the strangest thing was its appearance. The entire surface of the pony was armored in what appeared to be silver plates. But it was not like it was wearing a suit of armor, the plates looked as if they were part of the pony’s frame itself. As if the muscle sinew was exposed as solid silver metal. In small slits between the plates, a blue mesh could be seen as the pony moved. It’s face and head were protected by the plates except for it’s blue eyes, which were narrowed in a fierce slanted expression, not unlike a war helm. Two plates slid into place around its mouth covering it to create a tight V shape, giving the pony a more sleek dangerous appearance.

“Pyrite?” Frost muttered as the priest let him go and turned his full attention to the newcomer.

“What have we here?” the priest mused. “What’s that armor?”

“Leave Iris alone and get out of here, now. This is your only chance.” the silver pony said with a voice of steel. There was no doubt, the voice belonged to Pyrite, but he sounded different. Older, more experienced.

“I don’t think so,” the priest said with a laugh. “Kill him.” he commanded to his remaining gryphons.

The gryphon nearest Pyrite aimed his crossbow and fired. The steel bolt impacted Pyrite directly in the face and bounced away like a harmless twig.

“Hahaha!” Pyrite laughed under his protective mouth plates, “HAHAHAHA!!!”

As the gryphon reloaded Pyrite closed the distance between them with surprising speed. He brought an armored hoof to the gryphon’s midsection, shattering ribs and causing him to double over. With deft movement, Pyrite relieved the gryphon of his crossbow then pulled his head back with the free hoof. He jammed the crossbow into the gryphon’s mouth and squeezed the trigger. The bolt ejected from the gryphon’s head as Pyrite dropped the body at his hooves.

Enraged, the last gryphon charged Pyrite with sword in claw. He swung the blade in an arc to decapitate the silver pony. The blade broke in half as it impacted the armor protecting the colt’s neck. Pyrite grabbed the tunic at his shoulders and slammed his armored head into the gryphon’s face. Frost watched Pyrite continue to do it seven or eight times before the gryphon slumped to the ground, twitching.

The priest spat on the ground and snarled, “You will pay for your barbarism!”

Pyrite crouched low as the priest flapped his wings and lifted slightly off the ground in a charge. He brought his sword down on Pyrite’s head which snapped it in half, just like his companion’s. The gryphon cursed as he flapped his wings again and jumped backwards. When he landed Pyrite was on him, he slammed a hoof into the priest’s chest and prepared to strike another but stopped as the priest grabbed his head with a claw. Pyrite screamed and backed away, head steaming.

The priest panted and stood up. He extended the claw which had the shining ring, then retrieved and amulet from inside his tunic and blue sash. In a fluid motion the priest grabbed a lightning bolt from the air and hurled it at Pyrite, striking him square in the chest. Pyrite screamed in pain as he was thrown backwards. Frost couldn’t see any damage to the armor, but saw electricity skitter across Pyrite’s body as he fell to a knee.

The priest conjured another lightning bolt and raised it high in the air, “In the name of the Matriarch, die pony!”

Pyrite looked up as the bolt impacted him square in the face sending him tumbling backwards. “Pyrite... no...” Frost muttered as he tried to crawl toward his friend.

The priest conjured a third bolt and lifted off the ground, preparing to finish off his foe. Pyrite shakily got to his hooves and stared defiantly at the priest, then clutched his stomach. “No!” Pyrite yelled, “Stop!”

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the priest hurled the lightning bolt at Pyrite, only to have the earth colt deflect it away with a single hoof.

“How?” Frost murmured.

The priest shouted some gryphon curse and conjured yet another bolt, “Just die!”

“NO!” Pyrite shouted as the plates protecting his mouth opened and he threw up black liquid onto the ground. “Stop it! Stop it!” He fell over clutching his head with both forehooves, “AAAAHHHH!!!!”

Black liquid exploded from the slits in Pyrite’s armor and consumed him. The blue priest backed up a few paces and Frost managed to summon enough energy to teleport to Iris, who was still unconscious. He dragged her out of the way by a bunch of trash cans to hide.

Where Pyrite had fallen, there was now a bubbling black puddle of liquid. From its depths a claw reached out and scratched at the concrete. What emerged from the liquid was a large three headed black and blue gryphon. To Frost, it looked like a super gryphon. Of course, there was no such thing. But whatever this creature was, it had four wings, one pair under the regular pair, three heads, and three long writhing tails. The middle head stared at the priest with blue eyes and a neutral, pitying look. The two other heads wore different expressions, the left one held an image of pain and sorrow, while the right one smiled wickedly. Each had glowing green eyes that were all too familiar to Frost.

The priest backed up more and more until he was right in front of Frost, who witnessed the sheer terror displayed on his face. The priest gripped his amulet tightly and ripped it off his neck. “I- I don’t believe this ... It can’t be...” he stuttered as the three headed gryphon stalked toward him like a cat hunting a mouse. “M-matriarch preserve me, protect me...”

The gryphon lunged at the priest and swung it’s massive right claw in a brutal cleave, slicing off part of the priest’s tail as he jumped out of the way. He flew into the air and hurled three lightning bolts at the monster, who took all three hits with a grunt. The priest conjured another as the monster disappeared.  He screamed as the monster reappeared beside him and threw him to the ground. Frost heard bones snap as the priest landed, he guessed at least one his wings were broken. The monster landed by the dead gryphons and reared back as all three heads vomited a green liquid onto the bodies. Within moments, they began to move pick themselves up off the ground. As the priest saw his fallen comrades shambling toward him, the smiling gryphon head began to laugh sadistically.

The blue priest recovered as quickly as possible and pulled a dagger from his belt. With a cry of pain and perhaps horror, he fought his reanimated comrades, expending what little energy he had left. After he dispatched his comrades, he held out the amulet and formed a shield of light around himself. “You should be dead! You should be dead! Why are you here?! You killed her!!!”

“And her children,” all three heads spoke in unison, “And now you as well. Do you know how many of them met their end at these talons?” the monster asked as it raked a claw across the nearest building. “Die now in terror, and join your Matriarch in oblivion.”

Frost leaned against Iris and conjured what little magic he had left to form a field around the amulet, and snatch it away. As the shield of light disappeared, the priest looked at Frost, who sneered at him. “Goodbye, priest.”

“You bastar- ahh!!!” the priest yelled as he was tackled to the ground by the three headed gryphon. Frost looked away as the screaming continued, accompanied by the sound of rending flesh and snapping beaks.

When the sounds stopped Frost held Iris protectively as the three headed gryphon approached them. Each head bent down to examine Frost and Iris. To his credit, Frost did not shy away from their gaze. The middle head spoke and pointed to the amulet in Frost’s hoof. “Your intervention in taking that amulet from him was... appreciated.”

“Who are you?” Frost asked in almost a whisper, “What did you do with Pyrite?”

Each head retracted, this time the sorrowful one replied, “He is with us, he is safe.” The gryphon placed a claw to its chest. For a brief moment, Frost saw a small colt curled up inside the beast.

The three headed gryphon looked up as the sound of armored ponies approached. The smiling head leaned down to Frost and whispered, “Looks like the authorities are almost here, took them long enough. I think we should get out of here, sticking around to explain all this won’t be much fun.” It said with a wink.

The three headed gryphon gently picked up Frost and Iris in one claw, then retrieved Black Star in another. With a flap of its wings they lifted off into the sky. Frost knew they were flying back to the manor. He looked at Iris and rested his head against her breast. At least they were safe, for now. He succomed to the pain and shut his eyes.

------------

After what seemed like forever, Frost woke up to find Willow hovering over him, “Hey little guy, you’re finally awake.” she said in a sweet tone.

Frost struggled to sit up but was gently pushed back by Willow. “No, no. You’re pretty banged up, Frosty. Not the best idea to be moving around just yet.”

“What happened?” Frost wheezed, “Where is Iris and Pyrite? Ruby and the girls?”

“Shh shh,” Willow whispered as she planted a kiss on Frost’s forehead. “Iris is right over there, and Pyrite is down the hall with Ruby. The rest of the girls are with Polaris and the royal guard discussing what they saw.”

Frost found Iris laying on the bed next to him, asleep. He tried to get up again and pushed away Willow’s hoof, “I’m fine!” he snapped. “I want to see Iris!”

Willow recoiled and frowned at the blue unicorn. Frost instantly regretted the outburst, “I’m sorry, Willow. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“It’s fine, Frosty. I understand. Here, hold still.” Willow enveloped Frost in a magical field and gently placed him on her back. She trotted over to Iris and climbed onto the bed next to her, allowing Frost to be close.

One of the gryphon’s eyes opened, “Hi Frost, what happened? What happened to the gryphons? Pyrite! What happened to Pyrite?!” she screeched, remembering what happened.

“Pyrite is fine, the gryphons are dead...” Frost said as he lowered his head. “We killed them, Pyrite and I.”

Iris paused before she got up and hugged Frost around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispered before pressing her beak to his lips in a light kiss.

Frost closed his eyes as the rough edges closed around his mouth. He smiled as she pulled away. “They weren’t going to take you, Iris. You belong here now.”

“He’s awake?!” a voice shouted as the door to the room flew open revealing Aldus and Rigel. “Come with me Frost, we’re going to see Pyrite.”

Willow got up off the bed and trotted away with Frost and Aldus, leaving Iris alone with Rigel. He trotted over to her bedside and ran a hoof through her feathers. “You’re one tough kid, you know that Iris?”

“Thanks, Rigel,” Iris said with a smile, “Does Aldus know? Did you tell him?”

“He knows... But don’t worry, we’re going to take care of this.” he said with a wink, “You’ve never seen Aldus in action when it comes to politics, I’m sure he’s eager to have some words with the golden gryphons.”

Black Star jumped up onto the bed and sat down next to Iris. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t know the gryphon with the blue sash could use magic... I failed you.”

Iris placed a claw around Black Star and nuzzled him, “No you didn’t, and don’t think I don’t want you around anymore. You’re not getting away that easy.”

----------------

Aldus entered Selene’s room with Willow and Frost in toe. Selene sat on her haunches while she cradled Pyrite in her hooves. The young earth colt was still crying. Aldus took Frost from Willow and levitated him to sit next to Selene. He knelt down on all fours and whispered to Pyrite, “Hey buddy, Frost is here now.”

“Frost?” Pyrite whimpered. He turned away from Selene’s chest and looked down at the blue unicorn.”Is everypony alright?”

“We’re all fine, buddy. Thanks to you.”

Pyrite shook his head and squirmed in Selene’s hooves, wanting to get down. “No, not thanks to me. I killed those gryphons. Frost, Aldus, Selene, I killed them and ... I wanted to. What’s happening to me?!” He wailed, jumping down from Selene and running over to Frost and Ruby.

“Shh its okay,” Ruby cooed as she held her baby brother, “Nothing is happening to you. You’re still my little brother.”

“Frost, Pyrite... listen to me very carefully.” Aldus said in as a calm a way possible, “I want you to tell me what happened.”

“The gryphons tried to take Iris,” Frost began, “Antares found Ruby and I then told us what was happening. I told them to go find the royal guard while I went to try and stop them.”

“Then what?” Aldus asked.

“When I got there I told Blue Bell to get the guards as well. Black Star was knocked out and Iris was being taken away. Andromeda shot one of the gryphons with magic, which caused them to fire back at her with a crossbow. Pyrite knocked her out of the way and was struck by the bolt instead.”

Selene and Willow gasped while Aldus put a hoof to his mouth, “Go on.”

“I- I didn’t think after that, I used what you taught me about forming solid objects with ice and killed two of the gryphons. After that... Pyrite....”

“That’s when I came back.” Pyrite said with a sniffle.

Selene picked him up and planted a kiss on his forehead, “What did you do? What did Andromeda tell you?” she asked.

“Getting hit with that thing hurt, Selene. It hurt bad. Like a bunch of really bad bee stings. I started to get tired and everything got fuzzy. Andromeda said that she’d make it feel better if I just took her hoof. She told me to let go. I didn’t know what she meant, but the more I thought about something else the more the pain went away, so I closed my eyes. After that I woke up in the void, but I wasn’t alone, Andromeda was with me. She was bigger, all around me, she said that together we’d save our friends. Then she told me to open my eyes. I was different, bigger, stronger. I killed the two gryphon’s with her help and tried to kill the third, the one with the blue cloth. When I couldn’t, she said she would take control from there. She began to shut me away, to lock me up. It hurt. I told her to stop, but she wouldn’t listen. She said all I had to do was sit back and watch, that I’d be safe. I don’t remember much after that.”

“P-Pyrite?” a whimpering voice came from the door. Andromeda opened the door and stepped inside. Her eyes were puffy and red while her cheeks were stained with tears. She shook uncontrollably and shied away from everypony glaring at her. “I’m sorry, Pyrite.” she sobbed, “I- didn’t, I didn’t mean to do that. I don’t know what happened. You shoved me out of the way from that crossbow and I- I didn’t know what else to do.”

Selene stroked Pyrite’s mane then looked at the blue filly, “Come over here, Andromeda.” She said in a calm voice.

Andromeda obeyed and sat next to Frost. “I don’t know what happened, Mommy. I- I really wanted to hurt those gryphons, hurt them bad.”

“So did I,” Frost spoke up. “Aldus, I don’t think I regret what I did. They hurt Iris and tried to kill Pyrite.”

Aldus moved over to sit beside his apprentice. He put a hoof around the colt and leaned down to him, “You protected your friends. This is why I’m teaching you magic, Frost. I don’t want you to regret what you did. What would have happened if you didn’t? Would we be having this conversation now?”

“No, master.” Frost said and bowed his head.

Aldus rubbed his shoulder and picked his chin up with a hoof, “You reached your limit though, didn’t you? Don’t worry, theres ways of dealing with that. We’ll take care of it.” he said with a reassuring wink. Frost grinned and hugged his master.

Pyrite whispered something to Selene and she let him down. He walked over to Andromeda and spread his hooves for a hug. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m pretty sure you saved me. I forgive you, Andromeda. I still love you, I know you didn’t want to hurt me.”

Andromeda burst into tears and took Pyrite in a death grip, “I love you too sweetie pie! I love you too! So much!” she cried buckets into Pyrite’s fur and showed no signs of stopping until Aldus touched Pyrite on the shoulder.

“Hey buddy, how about we go see Princess Luna, would you like to talk to her?”

Pyrite smiled and quickly nodded his head, “I’d like that.”

“Good,” Aldus said, “You’re coming too, Frost.”

“Sure,” Frost replied as Willow picked him up and placed him on her back. “Everypony else stay here until we get back, we won’t be long.”

-------------

Well into the night, the throne room was ordered vacate as Aldus stood behind Frost and Pyrite. A small order of food and drink was provided as they reviewed the events with Princess Luna.

Pyrite frowned and trotted up to the throne. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

Princess Luna smiled an levitated Pyrite in front of her, “No, sweetheart. You’re not in trouble. The royal guard are investigating the matter as we speak. So far, your story matches up with what they’ve found. You and Frost acted in self defense, there is no crime against that.” Luna turned to Aldus, “As for the blue priest, there was almost nothing left of his body. Frost and Pyrite couldn’t have done that...”

“It’s under control...” Aldus reassured the princess.

“I see,” Luna said with a raised eyebrow. “You have nothing to worry about Pyrite, you’re going to be just fine.” she said while planting a kiss on his cheek. “But I think I’d like a moment to chat with Aldus alone, I’ll see you foals later.”

Willow trotted up to collect the foals and left the room, leaving Aldus and Luna alone together.

“I want answers, Aldus.” Luna snapped, “And I want them now.”

“The gryphon they were after was the runaway we collected from Manehatten. She was with Pyrite and the rest when we found them. Rigel recently discovered she is the daughter of King Ziraal of the Grey Wing gryphons.”

“What?” Luna asked, clearly in disbelief.

“It gets better,” Aldus continued, “Apparently she fled the kingdom after one of her father’s vassal lords staged a coup. A rival kingdom, The Golden Nest, now has control of her lands. Apparently, they want her back.”

“What of Ziraal?” Luna asked.

Aldus sighed, “There’s no way to know for sure, but it doesn’t sound good. He’s likely dead. By the sound of things, I don’t think it would be wise to send her back.”

Luna nodded, “I refuse to put her life in danger, and I’ve been informed that those gryphons were dressed as regular town and city folk. Their weapons were concealed. There are likely more around searching for Iris. I don’t think it’s safe for the children to be here right now.”

“What are you suggesting?” Aldus asked.

“They could have followed you back to the manor. I suggest leaving for the Silver Isles... tonight.”

“That’s a good decision, I think.” Aldus agreed, “The wedding of Desalia’s daughter is still a few weeks out, but I’m sure they can find something to while they wait.”

“You’re going too, Aldus.” Princess Luna commanded. “I’ll have a ship be readied to leave at once. It’s not wise to use the royal airship this time. The gryphons may be watching.”

“Princess, what about Thest and the Golden Nest gryphons? I’ll find out everything there is to know if you send me to speak with them.”

“No, Aldus.” This is political upheaval and a possible change in leadership in one of the more powerful non-pony kingdoms on Equus. Celestia and I agree this is a matter that requires our direct involvement.”  

Aldus paused before bowing, “As you say, Luna. I’ll get the children to start packing.”

--------------

At the manor, Iris was packing some things with the help of Black Star when Aldus appeared in her room. He sat next to Rigel and nodded. Rigel motioned her to come forward and sat her in his lap. “Iris... I want you to tell us about this Lord Thest.”

Chapter 17: The Silver Isles

Frost and Iris laughed as they wrestled with Pyrite in Aldus’ cabin, nopony could sleep after being pushed onto an airship in the middle of the night. Rigel sat in the corner watching them play while Selene laid on the bed with Black Star and Andromeda. The red pegasus stretched his wings and let out a yawn, it was good that the children were playing now. Whatever it took to get their minds off the gryphon attack was worth it.

Aldus and Willow were discussing plans in the galley while Polaris was busy briefing Marigold on what had transpired. The pegasus night guard had been with Luna for the past few days but was assigned to the Lunar Court to help guard them and the children. Luna herself would be traveling to the Silver Isles a few weeks after they arrived, so she allowed Marigold to leave early.

“You foals don’t get into trouble while I’m gone, I’m going to talk to auntie Marigold.” Rigel said as he got up to leave.

Pyrite jumped off of Iris and bounded over to Rigel, “Can you tell her to come play with us when you’re done?”

“I sure can!” Rigel said as he messed up Pyrite’s mane.

All of the children had instantly taken to Marigold, and she loved spending time with them. Rigel didn’t understand how a mare so beautiful and great with foals wasn’t taken. He shrugged and trotted out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Pyrite felt something slip underneath him as he was lifted into the air. Iris held him under his forehooves with a single claw while she hovered over Frost and the others. “You saved me, Pyrite. You saved me from those gryphons.”

Pyrite smiled and nodded, “I wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to you, Iris. You’re family now. You’re my big sister.”

Iris felt her eyes watering slightly while staring at the silver pony. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a more genuine pony or gryphon,” she said with a smile, “I’m happy to be your big sister.”

Pyrite frowned and looked over at Andromeda before staring at the ground. Iris noticed and cradled him against her soft breast of feathers, “What’s wrong?”

“I just wish I didn’t have to kill them. I told them to leave, I gave them the chance, but they didn’t listen.”

Iris held Pyrite in front of her with both claws, “Where I come from, violence and fighting is common. Many conflicts happen for stupid reasons.” Iris said as she remembered what her mentor always told her about knowing when to fight.

"If you know that you need to do something, you set it in your heart and carry it through."

“If there was ever a reason to fight or take a life, it would be to protect family.” Iris said as she nuzzled the earth colt. Just then she was struck in the face by a pillow. Both Pyrite and Iris turned to see Frost smirking up at them holding two more with his magic. Iris placed Pyrite on her back as she swooped over Selene to grab some ammunition. Both Pyrite and Iris dive bombed Frost as he ran around the room returning fire with his own pillows.

Selene was busy watching Antares, Blue Bell, and Ruby stare out the window as the clouds passed by. She had thought long and hard about the situation with Andromeda and the gryphons. She didn’t understand why her daughter acted the way she did, but one thing was certain. Her intervention surely saved all the little ones, especially Pyrite. Frost was learning magic, and Pyrite had Andromeda. Iris showed some combat prowess and she had Black Star. But these three fillies...

Selene got off the bed and sat down in front of the girls, who turned to look at her. “Girls, what happened when gryphons attacked? What did you do?”

Blue Bell huffed and stomped a hoof on the floor, “Nothing! I felt completely useless.”

“I was scared,” Antares squeaked while averting her eyes, “I flew to find Ruby and Frost as fast as I could.”

“Yeah,” Ruby agreed, “There wasn’t anything we could do except find the royal guard as soon as possible.”

“I see,” Selene said, “But the royal guard didn’t get there in time, and there will be other times like this in the future. I won’t have you be put in a situation like that again.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

“Stand back girls,” Selene instructed.

Two large tendrils of mane separated themselves from the rest of Selene’s black locks. They slithered in front of her and dissolved into two puddles. The fillies moved behind her as Frost, Iris, and Pyrite joined them. Selene spread her wings and smirked at Andromeda and Black Star. “Ready to meet your new brothers?”

Andromeda smiled and grabbed Pyrite, holding him against her chest. She leaned down and whispered, “You’re going to love this, watch!” Black Star simply nodded and moved to sit beside Iris. The small cabin began to shake as Selene collected the magic in her horn. Once she obtained enough, it was released into the two black puddles. Soon, two ponies emerged from the goop and stood next to each other in front of Selene. They were larger than Andromeda and Black Star, more toned and muscular.

Selene retracted her wings and gently pushed the three fillies forward. “Allow me to present your guardians, and new friends,” she said with a smile while looking at the new ponies. “Their power will keep you safe, isn’t that right? My Firebrand, my Stormcaller?”

As she spoke one of the ponies fur changed to a soft orange while his mane turned two colors of red and yellow. The other’s fur took on the color of dark purple, and a mane of blue and yellow. Faint cracks of electricity jumped through his mane as he looked at the pony beside him and smiled.

Both ponies stepped forward and bowed to the fillies. The orange one spoke first, “I’m Firebrand.” The other shoved him out of the way and also bowed, “And I’m Stormcaller.”

Firebrand shoved Stormcaller back and soon they were wrestling around on the floor.

“Ahem... boys...” Selene chided.

The two ponies stopped messing around and trotted up to the foals. “It’s so good to finally meet you all.” Stormcaller said. He went over to Ruby and took one of her hooves. “You’ll never be helpless again, the next time something like the gryphon attack happens, you’ll all be able to do something about it, we promise. Isn’t that right, Firebrand? Firebrand...? Firebrand!!”

His brother was busy admiring Antares as he snapped out of it, “Wha? Oh yeah, we’ll keep you safe.”

Stormcaller face hoofed and apologized to Ruby about his brother. The red filly giggled and leaned against him, “What can you do to help protect us?”

“Yeah!” Blue Bell said, “What’s so special about you?”

Both colts looked at Selene, who merely smiled at Blue Bell’s question. Firebrand teleported behind Blue Bell in a flash of smoke and ash and wrapped his forehooves around her. Blue Bell jumped at first, but then relaxed as she started to feel warm. The cabin was very cold at this high altitude and wasn’t heated, so she and Antares had been shivering. But Firebrand was hot, almost like a furnace. “Ahh...” Blue Bell said with a sigh, “You’re so warm...”

Firebrand smiled and sat down on his haunches while Blue Bell snuggled into his chest, “Yeah, I’m pretty hot. What can I say?” He opened an orange wing and beckoned Antares to join her friend. The yellow pegasus wrapped the wing around her and giggled to Blue Bell.

“So, Firebrand is attuned to fire?” Ruby mused as she turned to Stormcaller, “What about you?”

Several flashes of lightning arced around the airship followed by loud booms of thunder. Pyrite jumped a bit and backed up into Iris. The gryphon chuckled and tickled him with a talon, letting him know everything was alright.

Ruby noticed a faint glow in Stormcaller’s eyes when the lightning flashed across the sky. “That, among other things,” he replied with a reassuring smile. “Ah, our other siblings are here too.”

Firebrand effortlessly picked up Blue Bell and Antares and flew over to Stormcaller. “That’s right, is that the brave colt that bonded with Andromeda?” he asked, looking at Pyrite.

Iris scooped up Pyrite and trotted over to the new ponies. “Yep he and Frost saved me.”

Stormcaller took Pyrite from Iris and nuzzled him, “You know we’ve been watching you with mother for a while now. I’m impressed by your bravery.” He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “And even more impressed that you bonded so easily with our idiot sister.”

“I heard that!” Andromeda shouted.

“And Frost...” Firebrand said with a snicker, “I wanna see some of that ice magic.”

“No...” Blue Bell murmured with a yawn, “No ice magic, its too cold.”

“What?” Firebrand asked with a chuckle while looking down at the filly, “You’re still cold?” He released the two for a moment as his mane burst into dancing orange and yellow flames. He smiled and ran a hoof through it before opening his wings and forehooves, welcoming the fillies. Blue Bell and Antares jumped into his embrace as he closed his wings around them. “Better?”

“Better...” the two fillies whispered as they snuggled closer.

Stormcaller extended a hoof to Iris and Frost, “We’re going to be great friends, I can tell!”

Iris and Frost smiled as Pyrite climbed on top of Stormcaller’s head and examined his mane. “You have sparks in your mane, did you know that?” he asked.

Stormcaller grinned and looked up at the earth colt, “I do, the mares seem to like it...” he said while slipping a wink at Ruby, who blushed.

Frost let out a yawn and sat down in a bunch of the pillows near one of the corners. “I’m getting tired.”

“It is getting late,” Selene admitted with a yawn. “I think it’s time for bed, we should be arriving early in the morning.”

“I don’t really feel like going back to our cabin,” Ruby said with a yawn, “Can we just stay here?”

“I don’t see why not,” Selene said with a shrug.

Firebrand smiled down at the fillies in his hooves, each had already fallen asleep. With care, he fluttered into the air and laid down opposite Frost with the fillies snuggled up to his chest. Stormcaller extended a wing and laid down with Ruby while Andromeda landed near Pyrite and allowed him to crawl onto her back. Iris paused before settling down with the rest of her new family. She silently fluttered out of the room and down the hall only to find Black Star behind her.

“Where are you going?” he asked

“I- I wanted to talk to Rigel.”

Black Star nodded, satisfied with the answer. He stepped into Iris’ shadow and began to fade away. “If you need me Iris, I’ll be here. Remember that.”

Iris smiled, “I will.”  

She walked into the galley to find Aldus and Rigel eating while Willow was doing some dishes.

“What are you doing up, Iris?” Aldus asked.

“I just wanted to ask something,” Iris said while avoiding looking at him.

“What’s wrong, Iris?” Rigel asked, now getting a bit concerned.

“It’s just... I studied some of the pony kingdoms before. I’ve read about the Silver Isles, and well, they aren’t too kind to non pony folk.”

Rigel frowned and trotted over to the gryphon. “They’re a bit... different,” Rigel said with distaste, “But you’ll be with us, you won’t be treated unfairly.”

Aldus nodded, “Rigel and I are a big deal in some parts of the Silver Isles, once the ponies see you’re with us, there shouldn’t be any trouble at all.” he said with a wink.

Iris smiled, “Okay, if you say so.”

Rigel turned her around and nudged her out the door with a wing, “Off to bed now, we’ll be there sooner than you think, and you’ll want to be awake once we arrive, its quite the sight.”

Iris nodded and flew back to the cabin as Rigel turned to Aldus. “A big deal, are we?”

“We’re heroes!” Aldus exclaimed reclining in his chair and levitating his coffee for a sip, “We’ve defeated the evil changeling princess and saved their kingdom!” He said while playfully tugging on Willow’s mane with his magic.

“Hur hur...” she grumbled while continuing to work.

“And you’re the famous wizard who fell in love with their beloved Princess Seabreeze...” Rigel said.

“Yeah...” Aldus said while staring into his coffee, “That too...”

Iris entered the cabin again to find the ponies sleeping. However, a small light could be seen under a blanket near the corner of the room. She fluttered over silently and heard the faint sounds of whispers coming from under it. The gryphon slipped a talon under the blanket and poked her head inside. Frost had a book propped in his hooves as he lay next to Pyrite. A small glow emanated from his horn as he turned a page and noticed Iris.

“What are you two doing?” Iris asked.

“I’m reading to Pyrite,” Frost said, “It’s one of our favorite stories. Want to join in?”

“Yeah, come sit with us, Iris. We’re just getting to the good part!”

Iris smiled and sat down next to Frost. She picked up Pyrite with her tail and deposited him between her claws, “What’s the story about?”

Pyrite leaned into her breast and looked up at her, “It’s about a brave hero who goes on a quest to save a princess from an evil wizard and his black knights.”

“Black knights?” Iris asked, “They sound cool, what do they look like?”

Frost smirked, “They are cool. Their armor is charred black with horns. They wield swords, greatswords, great axes, halberds, and spears.”

“A halberd? My father’s weapon was a halberd.” Iris said with a frown.

Frost noticed Iris’ change in demeanor and changed the subject, “Pyrite doesn’t like the Black knights, right buddy?”

“You don’t like them?” Iris asked, “They sound really cool!”

“I don’t like them, they’re the ones who broke into the tower and took the princess. They’re bad.” Pyrite huffed while crossing his forehooves.

Iris freed a claw and tickled Pyrite’s tummy with a talon, “Every story needs some good bad guys, right Frost?”

Frost nodded and grinned as Pyrite squirmed trying to stop Iris’ tickling, “Yep, and these guys are cool.” he said as he turned a page.

After hearing about the brave hero’s ascent into the tower to rescue the fair princess and do battle with the wizard, Pyrite fell asleep against Iris. Frost closed the book and set it aside as he fluffed a pillow and prepared to go to sleep. Iris moved over to him carefully, making sure to not wake Pyrite. She wrapped a claw around him while he drooled into her feathers, but she didn’t mind.

“Frost?” Iris whispered.

“Yeah?” he said while turning over to face her.

Iris felt her heart flutter a little as his light blue mane parted and draped over his shoulders, which were more muscular up close. “Where I come from, it means a lot when you save the life of another gryphon.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Iris continued, “What I’m trying to say is... I...”

Iris closed her eyes, hating herself for stuttering and not being able to say it. Then she felt a set of lips touch her beak. She opened her eyes to see Frost staring back at her, grinning. His eyes seemed to twinkle light blue in the moonlight. “I’m just happy you’re here with me, here with us.” Frost said while glancing down at Pyrite huddled in Iris’ claw. He pulled her close and ran a hoof through her feathers. “Life has been hard for me for as long as I can remember, I taught myself almost everything I know. Only now have things started to look up. Iris, I’ve heard about your past, you’re a princess!” he said with a smile. “Thats so incredible! I can’t even imagine what your home must be like!”

Iris felt her eyes beginning to water. Frost and Pyrite were nothing but street urchins when she met them in Manehattan, and her being of the upper class didn’t make them resent her in the slightest. “Frost...” she whispered.

As the tear dropped out of her eye, she felt a cool sensation on her cheek. Frost levitated the single tear in front of him as it froze into an ice crystal. “No crying,” he said while resting his forehead against hers, “We’re going to have so much fun in the Silver Isles. I can’t wait.”

Iris smiled and kissed Frost, “Neither can I.”

----------------

Sunlight broke through the porthole of the cabin as the ship lurched in the wind. Pyrite yawned, opened his eyes, and was greeted by a mass of soft white feathers. He nuzzled them lightly and whispered to Iris. “Psst, hey Iris its morning.” No response. The colt pushed open the claw holding him and noticed Frost asleep next to her. He had his hooves around her. Pyrite climbed in between Iris’ wings and gently rubbed her shoulders. “Get up, its time to get up!”

Pyrite jumped down and crawled out from under the blankets and found Ruby. She was sleeping next to Stormcaller, who was dozing atop one of the large pillows. Antares was wrapped in one of Firebrand’s wings and barely visible, while Blue Bell was sprawled out on Firebrand’s chest moving up and down as the colt took each breath. Pyrite huffed in frustration when he heard a whisper from Firebrand. “Awake so early, kid?”

“Yeah,” Pyrite answered, “I usually get up before the rest of my friends.”

“I’m an early riser too, buddy. Could you help me get up?”

Pyrite nodded and helped Firebrand gently push Blue Bell off his chest while he wrapped Antares in a blanket. He stretched and hoof bumped Pyrite for the help. “Hehehe...” Firebrand chuckled mischievously, “Wanna see somethin’ funny, Pyrite?”

The earth colt grinned and quickly nodded his head. “Okay, c’mere” Firebrand said while he picked up Pyrite. With care, Firebrand crept over to Stormcaller and lit a tiny spark at the tip of his tail. After a few seconds it grew into a tiny flame.

Ruby yawned and nuzzled Stormcaller, “Mmm do you smell, burning?”

Stormcaller sniffed the air and looked down at his tail to find a growing inferno. “Gah!” he grunted while rolling to extinguish the flame.

Firebrand fell over laughing while Pyrite jumped off and laughed along with him. Soon, Stormcaller tackled his brother and they were rolling around the room grunting words Pyrite didn’t understand. While the other foals began to wake up, Pyrite climbed onto the bed and found Selene sleeping beside Aldus. The earth colt scrambled onto her back and climbed on top of her head, disturbing the motionless tendrils of mane in the process. “Mommy, get up.”

Selene eyes snapped open when she heard the child say that. “What did you say, Pyrite?”

The colt giggled as the her mane began to coil around him, “I said wake up, Mommy!”

The black alicorn shifted on the bed and turned around to look at Pyrite, “You called me mommy?”

“Well, yeah,” Pyrite said as he settled down between her wings, “That’s what you are to my friends and I. You take care of us and love us, and we love you back.”

“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said, Pyrite.” Selene said while she got up off the bed.

Aldus grunted and turned over, burying his face in the pillow, “Five more minutes...” he muttered incoherently.

Selene giggled with Pyrite, “Get up, Aldus. We’re almost there.”

“Five more minutes... mom.”

Selene scowled at the grey unicorn and shot him in rump with a bolt of green magic. “Ow!” Aldus yelled as he tumbled off the bed tangled in sheets. Iris stretched and untangled herself from Frost’s hooves. The blue unicorn sneezed as he opened his eyes.

“Are we there?” he asked with a yawn.

“Almost!” came a jubilant response from the door.

“Auntie Marigold!!” the foals shouted as they all ran to the night guard. Rigel appeared behind her and trotted over to Aldus, who hadn’t budged from the floor.

“We’re coming up on the ash mountains, its even more beautiful than I remember.” he said.

“Okay,” Aldus said with a yawn, “Lets all go topside.”

As the foals followed Selene and Marigold, Aldus and Rigel trotted over to the side of the ship and looked out beyond the mountains.

Iris and Frost joined them and asked what was so special. Rigel allowed Iris to jump onto his back and pointed a hoof, “That.”

As the airship moved cleared the final peaks, the Silver Isles came into view. Enormous gleaming spires stretched toward the sky while several domes dotted the areas near the shores. The isles continued past the central Island where the silver city was located. Iris saw what looked to be enormous cathedrals with arches and towers stretching out along their frames. Residential areas could be seen as they approached one of the landing towers. Each of the towers around the edges of the main island was connected to a tram that ferried passengers into the silver city.

Polaris and Willow stepped onto the deck and joined Aldus and Rigel. Marigold stayed with Selene and the foals while they departed the airship. As they made their way to the tram, an old unicorn surrounded by four guards stepped up to greet them.

“Hello my friends, welcome to the Silver Isles!” he said with a jubilant smile.

Iris and Frost watched as Aldus, Rigel, and Polaris each stepped forward. All of them towered over the old stallion. Each pony knelt and bowed their heads, which made the old unicorn smile.

“Thank you for your hospitality ambassador Silverthorne,” Aldus said as he embraced the stallion in a gentle hug.

“You are welcome any time, you know that,” Silverthorne said. “Oh my... Polaris? Is that you?”

“Yes sir,” Polaris said while nodding his head in courtesy.

Silverthorne touched a hoof to his face and shed a single tear, “Welcome home, soldier.”

After a few moments Silverthorne composed himself and turned his attention to the children gathered around Selene, Marigold, and WIllow. “Well, what do we have here? Hello little ones!”

The children exchanged greetings while their things were loaded onto the tram. Silverthorne sat next to Aldus and Rigel as the it departed for the city. “The wedding is going to be so much more exciting with you all here,” Silverthorne said. “I can’t wait.”

“I’d like to see Princess Desalia as soon as possible,” Aldus said, “We have some matters to discuss before Princess Luna arrives.”

“Yes, I do apologize Aldus, but her majesty is away for the next few days.” Silverthorne said.

“Away?” Rigel inquired, “Where has she gone?”

Silverthorne shrugged, “Urgent matter in Concordia is what we were told, she departed yesterday.”

“I see, well that’s a shame,” Aldus said as he shook his head.

“She did leave some instructions regarding your visit before she departed,” Silverthorne said with a smile. “You are granted your previous level access to the archives effective immediately, and shall receive full access when the princess has returned. While you work in the archives, you can stay in any room in Silver Crown Citadel. Otherwise, Princess Desalia has arranged a cottage for you and your friends to stay... on Pythia...”

Aldus and Rigel’s heads snapped up. Iris and Frost giggled as they watched their two guardian’s reactions. Each had a silly grin on their face like they were foals on Hearth’s Warming Eve.

“Excellent!” Rigel exclaimed while putting a hoof around the old stallion, “I can’t wait to see what’s changed! You’re welcome to bring your family any time, of course. I’m sure the foals would love to play with your children.”

“Well, if its no trouble...” Silverthorne muttered.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Aldus said while rubbing the stallion’s back, “I’d like to share a cup of tea with you when we get the chance. There is much that I’d like to know about.”

As the tram came to a stop, Aldus, Rigel, and Polaris said goodbye to Silverthorne and told everypony to start walking to the docks. There, a sea ship would allow travel to Pythia.

“Rigel...” Iris whispered, nudging the red pegasus.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think its okay if I fly around a bit? This place is beautiful, I’d love to see some of the city before we leave the main island.”

“I don’t see why not,” Rigel said with a smile, “Just don’t go near the citadel and don’t fly too high, we don’t want any trouble with the guards after only just arriving.”

“Oh! Can I come?” Pyrite asked jumping in place.

Rigel grinned and picked up the earth colt and nuzzled him, “Listen to what Iris says and don’t do anything foolish while she’s flying with you.”

“It’s not him you should worry about,” Frost said with a wink to Iris.

The gryphon knelt down and let Pyrite climb on before kicking off the ground and soaring over the residential districts. She zigzagged between apartment buildings and flew under clothes lines in the alleys. Pyrite leaned forward and pointed a hoof beside Iris’ head, “Whats that?”

Iris looked up and found a winding path leading up a cliff near the rear of the citadel. At the top sat a set of three enormous towers. “I don’t know, but we’re getting close to the citadel, we should turn back.”

As Iris turned around she saw a pegasus in one of the guard towers spot her. She felt a tinge of fear and quickly dove into the streets. Several merchants shouted as she flew over their carts and stalls, blowing away their clothes and smaller items as she flew by. Soon, she saw the docks and spotted the rest of her family already on a ship headed for a distant island that she assumed was Pythia. She glanced back at Pyrite who was smiling and taking in the view. With a smile, Iris began a gradual descent and craned her neck around, “Hey Pyrite, want to do something cool?”

The colt leaned forward and quickly nodded his head. Iris gently took the colt from her back and wrapped her claws under his shoulders. His hind legs dangled as they flew lower and lower. Soon, Pyrite’s hooves were skipping across the calm water as Iris kept her speed. She didn’t think the smile on his face could grow any larger, but she was wrong. The colt giggled and kicked his hind legs around as the water splashed against his face. While they they were skimming across the surface, a school of flying fish began jumping out of the water around them.

Iris got the colts attention and winked, “You’re lookin good, Pyrite! You don’t need me anymore!” The gryphon relinquished her hold on the colt and let the wind catch her wings pulling her upward.

“Wait! Woahoah!” Much to Pyrite’s surprise he didn’t fall into the water, but instead kept moving at much the same speed. He spread his hind legs to keep his balance and watched the fish dance around him. Eventually his momentum began to fade, but not before propelling him off the crest of a wave and into the air. Pyrite fell back and took a breath preparing to go under when Iris swooped in caught him with both claws.

She cradled him against her breast as they turned toward the ship, “You didn’t think I’d leave you, did you?”

Pyrite grinned and nuzzled Iris, “No! That was really fun, Iris! You’re a really good flier!”

Iris raised an eyebrow while she tickled the colt with a talon, “Think so? Hmm I wonder what a certain pegasus thinks... Hold on Pyrite, we’re not landing just yet.”

------------

On the ship, Rigel was sipping some coffee Marigold has just brewed him a few minutes ago. The children were off with Willow, and Selene was with Aldus belowdecks. Polaris was skipping stones across the water while Marigold shifted closer to Rigel.

“You know, Rigel...” she said.

“Hmm?”

“I don’t really know you that well. I- I mean, I don’t know much about you.”

Rigel took a sip of coffee and turned to look down at the mare, “No, I suppose you don’t.”

“Well, I was thinking... you don’t know much about me either, and since we flew together in that battle, maybe we could spend some time together, if you wanted.”

Rigel admired her as she shyly looked away. It was amusing to see her act this way, especially since she was usually such a forward mare. He draped a wing around her and grinned, “I’d like that, Marigold. Whenever you want.”

Her face lit up and that adorable goofy grin Rigel had come to love made another appearance. She leaned against him and giggled, “We should have a picnic!”

Just as Rigel began to respond, something large flew right over the two pony’s heads coming inches away from Rigel’s mane. For a moment, he could feel his mane touching feathers. Neither had seen the gryphon coming so they jumped when it happened, causing Rigel to spill his coffee over the side. Marigold laughed as she watched the gryphon perform a few victory rolls as she flew away. Rigel on the other hand did not have the same reaction, he stared off after her with a raised eyebrow twitching slightly.

“That was really good coffee...” he muttered before stretching his wings and cracking his neck. He turned to Marigold and handed her the mug, “Hold this, please.”

Marigold frowned and took the mug, but grabbed Rigel’s wing, “Oh they’re just having fun, you aren’t mad are you? Please don’t be mad.”

Rigel turned around and put both forehooves on Marigold’s shoulders before staring down into her beautiful eyes, “I’m not mad,” he said with a gentle smile, “I don’t get mad. I’m just going to give Iris her first flying lesson.” he said with a wink, “Don’t worry.”

Marigold backed up as Rigel propelled himself into the air with a single flap of his wings, something that took several for any other pegasi. Polaris trotted up to Marigold and grinned at her, “I’ve known him a long time, and I actually think he’ll be a better teacher than Aldus.”

“Why is that?” Marigold asked.

“He’s patient, understanding, and never loses his temper. Not that Aldus doesn’t exhibit those qualities. However, Rigel has one thing Aldus doesn’t, and that’s prior experience with foals.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Polaris answered, “I think Aldus tries to imitate him a lot of the time. Rigel was like a big brother to Aldus when we were growing up, just like me. But Rigel had a real younger brother, whereas Aldus and I did not, his name was Epsilon.”

Marigold watched the red contrails cut through the air around Rigel’s wingtips and frowned, “Rigel’s never said anything about a brother, but then again, he hasn’t said much about anything in his past.”

Polaris placed a hoof on Marigold’s shoulder, “Ask him about it, I think he’ll tell you, and it will be good for him to talk about it after so long.”

---------

Iris flew around still holding Pyrite in her claws when she felt something, a slight shivering on her neck, without a second thought she turned over and flapped her wings once, propelling her into a sharp vertical drop. As she did, a red streak passed by then stopped abruptly.

“That was good,” Rigel said, “You have the instinct, perhaps a part of your predatory nature?”

Iris grinned and sped off in another direction, this time ascending into the lower clouds. When she broke through to the other side, she turned over and prepared to dive straight to the ocean. At the apex over her turn, she looked up to see a shadow looming. Rigel flew in and plucked Pyrite from her grasp, landing on the cloud opposite her.

“I don’t think it’s fair for you to try and out fly me while carrying another pony.” Rigel said before kicking off the cloud and hovering above Iris. Pyrite was still enjoying himself and laughed while Rigel held him atop his shoulders. “Tell you what, you try and catch me, and I’ll do something for you tomorrow once we’re all settled in.”

Iris grinned and crossed her arms, “Do something? Like what?”

Rigel threw Pyrite in the air and caught him with his forehooves, “I dunno, what do you want to do?”

“I want to see the rest of the city and spend the day with you.” Iris said.

“Done,” Rigel said, “Providing you catch me, of course.”

Iris kicked off the cloud as hard as she could with her paws and lunged at Rigel, who sidestepped her and bounced backward toward the edge of the cloud. Iris backflipped and disappeared under the cloud, causing Rigel to place Pyrite on his back, “Listen kiddo, stay right there and hold on tight.”

Pyrite nodded and grabbed as much of Rigel’s mane as he could while anchoring himself in position. In an instant, Iris burst forth from beneath the cloud and almost grasped Rigel’s forehoof, but the pegasus was too quick. He fell back and plummeted off the cloud into a dive. With his wings tucked he gained speed and checked underneath him to make sure the little gryphon was pursuing.

Pyrite’s face slowly turned from joy to fright as the ocean rushed up to meet them. He clutched Rigel’s neck and closed his eyes. Iris angled into a steeper dive to go as fast she could without breaking her wings. In an instant she saw what Rigel would do next. He’d snap to the left and begin to climb again. Iris made her move and began to intercept the pegasus. Just as Rigel began to turn left he heard Pyrite whimper and didn’t notice Iris rapidly closing in. He barely had time to invert into a barrel roll to avoid her. Two or three feathers grazed the edge of a talon as she passed by and pulled up, skimming just across the surface. Unfortunately, she failed to see the large wave directly in front of her and crashed into it, causing her to tumble into the water. Meanwhile Pyrite lost his lunch as Rigel came around from the roll. Most of it went into the sea, but some made it onto Rigel’s mane. “Oh no, I’m sorry!” Pyrite exclaimed while losing his grip.

Rigel cursed as he slipped out of reach. Luckily, a purple pegasus flew by and caught the colt. Marigold held him against her chest fur and shook her head at Rigel, “Are you okay, sweetie?” she cooed.

 Pyrite groggily looked up and shook his head, “I don’t feel so good.”

Rigel winced and ran a hoof through his mane, “I’m sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to go that fast.”

Pyrite turned around and smiled at him, “It’s okay uncle Rigel, It was fun, I just shouldn’t have eaten lunch.”

Marigold stroked his mane and kissed his forehead, “Once we’re at the cottage I’ll give you some medicine. That should make you feel better, okay?”

“Okay,” Pyrite said while snuggling into her embrace.

Rigel frowned as he watched Marigold fly back to island.

“Ahem!” came a screech from behind Rigel. Iris treaded water just below him and held out a claw. “A little help?”

Rigel quickly scooped the wet gryphon out of the water. “Didn’t see the waves?”

“No...” Iris grumbled, “And I think I sprained my wing when I hit the water.”

“We’ll take a look at it when we get back. But no flying tomorrow, understand?” Rigel said.

“What? Why?!” Iris exclaimed.

“We’re going into the city tomorrow and you don’t need to fly around there. Your wing can heal for the day.”

“You’re going to spend the day with me? But I didn’t catch you!”

Rigel laughed and straightened some of the gryphon’s feathers, “No, but you touched some of my feathers.”

“So?” Iris huffed, “That’s still not catching you.”

“Iris, you don’t know how many others never even came close to what you just did. You have potential, and under my guidance, you’ll be ready when the time comes to retake your kingdom.”

Iris beamed at that and hugged Rigel as tight as she could, “I love you, Rigel.”

Rigel chuckled and massaged her damage wing, “I love you too, Iris.”

--------------

On the Island, Aldus took in the view from the rear of the cottage. The foals were busy running around playing with Willow while Polaris trotted next to him. “Something wrong, Aldus?”

“No...” Just taking in the view, “It’s just like I remember.”

“Indeed, the Silvermane family has always tended this island with great care.” he said with a smile. The house of Silvermane was said to be one of the founding houses that crossed the sea from mainland Equestria to settle the isles during the founding of the kingdom. Their influence was vast, and they still maintain a presence in the royal court and hall of magistrates to this day. Long ago, a unicorn of great magical prowess named Arcanus was said to have helped Princess Desalia create new spells and organize part of the library. A statue of him still decorates the approach to the archives, along with many other talented unicorn wizards and scholars.

Selene trotted up to Aldus and watched him closely, “So I did do a good job in the dreamscape recreating this place...”

Aldus smiled and nodded, “Yes, you did...”

Soon the laughter of the foals could be heard entering the yard as they chased each other. Frost followed Willow as Firebrand ran away from Blue Bell and Ruby. The cottage wasn’t really a cottage at all, it was a large manse nestled near a mangrove patch and thick groups of palm trees. Several drapes hung out the sides and billowed softly in the wind as the sun began to set.

Earlier Marigold had returned with an ailing Pyrite, and Rigel came back with Iris. After bandaging up her wing, he left her with Black Star to rest. Pyrite on the other hand was feeling much better and was wrestling with Andromeda. The blue filly fell over and pretended to be in dire straights as Pyrite gnawed playfully on her ear. Frost came over to break up the fight but was dragged into it instead by a playful Andromeda. She tried to kiss him while he pushed her away.

“Frosty...” she pouted, “Frosty just one kiss...”

Firebrand grinned and ran over to the three foals. “Pony pile!!”

Frost felt the wind leave him as the larger colt landed right on his chest. Andromeda screamed rolled away with Pyrite. Blue Bell landed on Firebrand and put him in a death grip. “I gotcha!” she yelled triumphantly. Antares and Ruby tackled Stormcaller onto the pile and soon Frost was buried in ponies.

Willow trotted up to them and tsked, “You foals all play so rough, I swear.”

Frost freed a hoof and stretched out to the unicorn mare, “Willow... help me!”

“I think I’ll pass, Frosty.” she said with a giggle.

Meanwhile Firebrand’s mane began to change into flames causing Blue Bell to yelp and let go before he got too hot. “Hey!” she pouted.

“You’re so clingy!” Firebrand said, exasperated. “I need some space!”

When he got up and turned around, Blue Bell smirked and charged him, pushing them both straight into the pool. Firebrand broke the surface, his mane steaming. Blue Bell swam over to him and cupped his face with her hooves, “Oh look at the big tough pony... you’re much more lovable when cooled off.” He sighed as the filly cuddled up to him again. Stormcaller laughed while Ruby jumped into the pool, she winked at Firebrand who instantly understood her mischief. Ruby summoned her magic and pulled Stormcaller into the pool by his tail, causing all the foals to laugh.

After an hour of swimming, Firebrand had an idea. The colt swam over to Pyrite, who was sitting on a raft with Andromeda and whispered something in his ear.

“I don’t see why not, I did like the way it felt at first,” Pyrite said.  

“What?” Andromeda asked.

“Firebrand wants to see me transform like we did with the gryphons.” Pyrite said innocently.

Andromeda scowled at her brother and protectively scooped up Pyrite, “That isn’t something to be done at just any time, Firebrain.”

Firebrand shrugged, “It’s better he learns to control it now. Who knows when they might need it in the future?”

“I agree,” Aldus said from the veranda, “I want to see what this looks like.”

Iris nodded, she had come outside with Black Star and was dangling her talons in the pool. “I was unconscious the whole time and didn’t see what saved me.”

Andromeda looked down at Pyrite, clearly concerned, “Are you sure about this? I don’t want to hurt you again.”

Pyrite turned around and nuzzled Andromeda, “You won’t hurt me, I trust you.”

“Alright...” Andromeda relented, she fluttered out of the pool carrying Pyrite with her. “Relax and clear your mind, then think about something you love, something calm.”

Pyrite took a deep breath and closed his eyes, soon Andromeda hovered into the air and formed a black sphere around both of them. It rippled and coalesced until dissolving into nothing, revealing a large armored colt where Pyrite once stood.

“Amazing...” Polaris admitted while examining the armor up close. He touched its joints and pauldrons while examining the face plates. “It covers the mouth and vulnerable points around the neck, too? Interesting.”

Firebrand fluttered out of the pool and deposited Blue Bell next Pyrite, who was now about twice the size of Firebrand and Stormcaller. “You look... awesome!!” Firebrand practically squeed. Blue Bell hit the armor with her hoof, “You’re hard as rock now Pyrite, fits your name I suppose.”

An audible chuckle came from inside the mouth plates, the hulking colt turned to face Blue Bell, its slanted eyes giving it a fierce expression, “That’s true.”

“It looks durable... I wonder how tough it is?” Aldus said while staring at Selene, who watched Pyrite carefully.

“I’m bored...” Pyrite suddenly said while stamping his front hooves, “Who wants to spar with me?”

“Spar?” Stormcaller asked, “You want to fight?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Frost said while shaking his head at Pyrite. “We don’t know what damage that armor can take.”

Pyrite turned on Frost and took a few steps toward him, the armor protecting his mouth slid away, revealing a wide grin, “This armor can take anything the likes of you can dish out... Frosty...”

Frost scrunched his snout and stood up with a raised eyebrow, “Frosty? Little Pyrite wants to call me names and dare me to fight?”

“I’m not so little anymore, am I?” Pyrite chuckled

Aldus teleported next to Frost and put a hoof to his mouth, “You know, that might be Andromeda talking...”

“What makes you say that?” Iris asked, with Frost wondering as well.

“Well when I merged...I mean... when your auntie Selene and I are together, our personalities touch... Selene was aggressive the first time we did it, if I recall...”

Selene nodded in shame, and Aldus continued, “Andromeda is a very... forward pony.”

“And Pyrite is quiet and reserved in comparison,” Iris added.

“Correct,” Aldus said, “The change in personality is likely a result of this."

“You know I’m right here, right?” Pyrite said, an edge in his voice, “We’re both here.”

Aldus raised and eyebrow and smirked, “Frost has magic... what do you have?”

Pyrite smiled and closed the plates around his mouth. He lifted a hoof and banged against his chest three times while leaning forward at Frost, “Unbreakable armor.”

“It sure sounds unbreakable.” Firebrand said to Blue Bell with a nervous laugh.

“Andromeda says I can win... she doesn’t think Frost has what it takes. Well, Frost?” Pyrite asked.

Frost looked at Aldus, who clasped him on the shoulder. “Show me what you got, kid.”

“What about the stuff you taught me earlier today? I can use that?”

“You heard what he said, ‘unbreakable armor’. He should be fine. If things get out of control we’ll step in.”

“Alright, then I’m going to cut loose.” Frost said with a grin

“Just don’t embarrass yourself,” Aldus warned with a sigh before joining Rigel and Polaris on the veranda.

Everypony backed away while Frost and Pyrite circled each other. “You never did like the cold that much,” Frost said, “You’re not going to enjoy this.”

Pyrite smiled and jumped to the side, steam coming from his nostrils, “You’ll never break this armor Frost, and once you’re out of magic, you’re mine. Nowhere to teleport, nowhere to run.”

“We’ll see,” Frost said as he charged a spell to the tip of his horn, and fired.  

Chapter 18: Mistakes

Pyrite jumped out of the way as the frigid cold beam tore across the ground. The energy left dirt hanging in the air as Pyrite tried to locate his target. Immediately after recovering from the jump, he was struck by another beam. It clung to him and covered his whole body in ice, freezing him in place. Once the dust settled, Frost smirked triumphantly atop one of the old statues decorating the rear of the cottage. He raised his hooves in the air and waved to the ponies.

“Well, that was quick,” Rigel quipped with a shrug.

Aldus stared at the light blue unicorn with his mouth agape, then quickly regained his composure. But not before Marigold and Willow saw him.

Willow wrapped her forehooves around Aldus from behind and giggled, “You better not let Frosty see that look, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so impressed.”

Aldus huffed and shook the changeling off. It was true though, for a unicorn who almost died of a broken horn, Frost was becoming an adept at this elemental ice magic.

“It’ll take far more than a little ice magic to impress me, Willow.”

She smirked and shrugged her shoulders while cheering for Frost, “Woo! That’s some good magic Frosty! You showed him!”

“Don’t call me that!!” Frost shouted with a scrunched muzzle.

“He’s so cute when he’s all irritated,” Willow whispered to Marigold, who nodded and laughed.

Stormcaller chuckled and was met with cold shoulder from Ruby, clearly not enjoying seeing her brother frozen in a block of ice. He sighed and wrapped a wing around the filly, pulling her to him. “Oh don’t be like that, Ruby.”

She grumbled and stared daggers at Frost, “You wanted him to win?”

“Um...No?” he said with a hint of fear in his voice. “It’s just that Firebrand thought Pyrite would win... so I figured I’d put some faith in Frost.”

“Pyrite might still win,” Polaris said from behind the foals.

Ruby leaned against Stormcaller and frowned, “I don’t see how, Frost has powerful magic and Pyrite doesn’t even know how to fight.”

Polaris smiled warmly and sat down next to the filly, “No, but your little brother has heart, and you have no idea what that can do in a fight. Determination can be the tipping factor in a close battle. Watch...” Polaris whispered, “Your brother isn’t done yet.”

The ice around the armored colt began to crack, causing gasps to escape from some of the others watching. Frost couldn’t believe it.

Pyrite shattered the ice with a scream and glared at Frost, who took a worried step back on the statue. However, he quickly regained his composure and fired another ice blast. But this time, Pyrite was ready. He held up a hoof as part of the armored gauntlet transformed into a triangular wedge, a shield. Pyrite knocked away the blast then charged at the statue. With a single outstretched hoof, he punched through the support and toppled it.

Frost teleported away before it hit the ground, but Pyrite anticipated his move. Another hoof gauntlet extended with three curved prongs, two on the top and one on the bottom forming a claw. Before Frost could react, Pyrite caught him with the claw and held him in the air before slamming him into the dirt.

“Impressive,” Polaris said with a whistle, “Most impressive.”

“That looked like it hurt...” Blue Bell said with an uneasy look, “Is Frost okay?”

“Bah, he’ll be fine!” Firebrand said, “Pyrite showed him who's boss! You go little guy!”

Willow gasped and leaned against the veranda, a clear expression of worry on her face. This time it was Aldus’ turn to play. He sidled against her and whispered in her ear, “I’m glad you’re starting to get attached to these foals. Is Frost your favorite?”

Willow snapped out of her worried state and stared at Aldus, unamused. “That wasn’t messing around, Aldus. Frost is still recovering from the incident with the gryphons. Aren’t you worried?”

“No, not really. That armor Pyrite’s wearing has a few tricks, but so does Frost. In combat, it’s common to think if you can survive a spell caster’s onslaught enough to get close, the battle is over. This isn’t the case with me, and it isn’t the case with Frost. Pyrite’s about to learn that being near Frost is the last place you want to be.”

Frost struggled as he was squeezed and lifted into the air, Pyrite tilted his head as if he were smiling under those mouthplates. Something that began to anger Frost. “Sorry about that, it was Andromeda’s idea.”

Frost struggled as he was brought closer to Pyrite’s face, “Let go!”

“I will if you give up,” Pyrite said, now sounding a bit more like his old self.

“Not a chance!” Frost screamed as a frigid wind erupted from his mouth, blinding Pyrite.

The earth colt screamed in surprise and dropped Frost, recoiling while trying to clear his vision. Frost seized the opportunity and slammed his forehooves into the ground causing large ice crystals to spear outwards in all directions. Several caught Pyrite and threw him into the air and he landed with a loud thud. With an angry roar he righted himself and charged Frost, who was already preparing another spell. Just as Pyrite closed the distance Aldus teleported between them and both halted Pyrite’s advance and squelched Frost’s magic. “That’s enough.”

Frost wheezed while glaring at Pyrite, who stood stoically without saying a word. “That’s enough, Andromeda.” Selene said from the veranda. “Pyrite is getting tired, relinquish the form.”

The armor on the earth colt linked to a black sphere on the colt’s back as he himself began to shrink. Soon, Pyrite was dangling in Andromeda’s gentle hooves as they both touched down. She kissed Pyrite on the cheek and gently rubbed his chest and tummy. “Was it better this time?”

Pyrite stretched and nodded with a yawn, “It was, I wasn’t scared at all.” He looked at Frost and frowned, “I’m sorry if I hurt you, I didn’t mean to.”

Frost glowered at the earth colt for a moment before feeling the eyes of everypony else on him. He gingerly got to his hooves and pushed past Aldus not bothering with a response to Pyrite. He trotted over to Willow and coughed, “Can you heal my chest? I think some ribs might be broken.”

The unicorn mare nodded and lifted the colt onto her back before trotting into the cottage.

Pyrite frowned and slumped into the dirt, only to be comforted by Andromeda, Blue Bell, Firebrand, Polaris and his sister.

“Frost is mad at me,” he said while wiping away a tear.

“It’s just pride,” Polaris said with a reassuring pat on Pyrite’s shoulder. “An older brother won’t likely take it well when the younger bests him.”

“Don’t worry about him, kid.” Firebrand said, sweeping him into a playful hug, “You kicked flank today, I’m impressed. And I’m not easy to impress.”

Ruby watched her brother’s mood change with the orange pegasus. It was as if all the bad feelings and misfortunes were drained away when he was with Andromeda or any of the other children of Selene. She was glad they were here to help take care of her brother. For so long it seemed she was looking after their group, what with Frost’s nearly broken horn. Now that it had been repaired, it was nice to have help looking after her family.

In the cottage, Frost lay on his back while Willow healed him. Aldus appeared at his side and ran a hoof through his mane, “Nothing to be ashamed of, you did well.”

“It’s not good enough,” Frost said, “I wasn’t powerful enough.”

“Power isn’t everything, Frost.” Willow cooed before planting a soft kiss on his cheek, “All done.”

“She’s right, Frost. You think I was the most powerful unicorn from one thousand years ago? I wasn’t, that was my teacher, Starswirl.”

Frost yawned and snuggled into the covers on his bed, “Whatever, I just don’t like to lose. But I trust you, master. ”

“Good,” Aldus said before tucking him in, “Tomorrow you’re going to go into the city with Rigel and Iris. You’ll be picking up some things for me and for yourself, then traveling to the citadel where we’ll meet and continue your training.”

-------------

The next day seemed a blur to Frost as he was dragged around by Iris to several different stores while Rigel looked after them. He said Iris could buy whatever she wanted, so the gryphon was getting lots of trinkets for Frost as well as for herself.

“Here!” she squeaked, “Try this on, it’s a bracelet.”

“Iris I-” Frost murmured as the bracelet was shoved onto his hoof. “Thank you, but this is too mu-”

“Oh! Look at this... it matches your eyes.” Iris held an amulet in her claw that was made of light blue glass. “They look like ice crystals.”

The gryphon blushed and walked over to Frost and ran her claws around his shoulders. She leaned and gave him a light peck on the cheek while fastening it behind his neck. “It’s beautiful, Frost. Do you like it?”

Frost picked the amulet up in a hoof and smiled, “I love it, I can see myself wearing this.”  

Rigel leaned over the bench where the foals were trying on the jewelry and grinned, “So how much of this stuff will I be buying?”

“Just the amulet, Rigel,” Iris said with grin, “It’s the only thing Frost seems to like.”

Frost gasped and shook his head, “What? I liked all the stuff you’ve shown me so far!”

Iris fluttered her eyelashes and grinned slyly, “We both know that’s not true,” she said while sideling up to him and draping a wing over his side. “You were just trying to make me happy, I appreciate the effort.”

Frost blushed and Rigel chuckled at the foals, “Alright you two, let’s go.”

As Frost and Iris walked with Rigel to the tram that would take them to the citadel, Iris stopped and wanted to get some food for the ride. She waved Rigel away and told him they’d catch up. As they got in line, Frost reached into his saddlebag and produced a bag of bits, making sure he had enough to pay for the food. Aldus had given him more than enough for the robes and spell books he was tasked with buying.

When the couple in front of them walked away, somepony bumped into Iris and quickly apologized before scurrying off. As Frost made sure she was alright, another pony came up beside him, deftly unhooked his saddlebags and ran off.

“Hey!” Frost shouted.

“Stop! Thief!” Iris shouted trying to get the attention of the nearest guards.

Frost growled and tore after the pony, he had just bought those for his training and wasn’t about to let some stupid thief take them, not to mention all of Aldus’ money. He trailed the pony through various alleys and streets, each time he thought he had him something obstructed his view or the pony threw an object in his way. Frost almost tripped over a barrel of apples toppled to the floor by the escaping colt. Anger building, Frost saw an opportunity and teleported in front of the colt, blocking his escape from the alley. He fired three small ice spikes that would spread rather than pierce, hoping to immobilize the colt. Each shot missed, but one tore threw his hooded rags revealing the identity of the thief, it was a zebra.

The zebra scowled at him and turned around, forcing Frost to give chase again. Before Frost could catch up, the zebra disappeared around a corner. Winded, Frost frantically searched for where he had gone. Upon closer inspection, he saw an upturned sewer entrance and heard a splash come from below. Grunting, Frost jumped into the hole and plummeted to the bottom. Surprisingly, he didn’t fall into a pit but rather through a set of tubes where the water likely flowed into some reservoir. He saw the zebra ahead of him and tried to get closer. Just as he got near enough to get off another ice blast, the zebra grabbed hold of an opening to his left and stopped himself. As Frost flew by carried by the rushing water, the Zebra kicked him in the face. Frost screamed in rage as the tunnel turned into a steep drop, dumping into a large dark pool of water. Frost landed with a splash and looked around in the murky depths. He thought he saw something big move. That was enough to get him out of that water. He teleported to the side and leaned up against the wall just in time to see a large ridged fin slide out of the water where he just was not seconds ago. Frost gulped and caught his breath, cursing to himself in the process.

He had no idea where he was and estimated he had fallen to the depths of the city. That little rat zebra had gotten away and he had no idea how to get out.

“Drat!!” he screamed and slammed his hoof into the metal floor causing a loud echoing crack.

Frost sat down and cleared his mind, the water in the reservoir seemed to be flowing out somewhere. He could feel a cool breeze on his face coming from his left so he decided go that way. As he distanced himself from the water, he heard a strange sound coming from below him. Upon stopping to investigate, it sounded like... crying?

Frost saw a small opening near a drain and put his head to the floor to listen more carefully. The sound he heard was definitely crying, and it sounded like it was coming from a mare. He opened the drain cover and saw an opening. He slowly lowered himself down and let go of the floor. Frost entered a small crawlspace and heard the metal buckle beneath him. In seconds, it broke and he fell into a dark room.

“Ugh... that hurt...” he grunted to himself. He gingerly picked himself off the floor and winced at a pain in his leg. Then the crying returned, and in the very room he was in. It startled him at first, but then quickly changed to faint whimpers. Frost faced the direction of the sounds and conjured a light from his horn to illuminate the room. What he saw was horrifying. A yellow pegasus mare hung suspended from a rack on the wall. Several cuts and bruises dotted her body and the floor beneath her was still wet from water. Frost surmised it had been stained with blood and was recently washed away.

The mare opened an eye that wasn’t swollen shut and shook violently. “Please go away...” she whimpered, “I’ve already told you everything I know, I don’t have anything else, I swear. I swear!!”

Frost’s heart broke in two, one oh her wings was visibly broken and the other was burnt to a crisp missing much of its feathers. “I’m not here to hurt you, who is doing this to you?”

The mare sniffed and continued to shake, “The guards,” she squeaked, “The silver guard and the military ponies. They’ve been torturing me for weeks...”

Frost’s head was spinning, he had to do something. He recharged the light spell and made it brighter. There had to be something he could do to get this mare out of here. He saw a lever attached to a chain that ran the length of the room and over to the rack. Frost limped over to it and pulled with all his strength. A series of loud cracks and grinding gears signaled the torture rack descending to the floor. Frost smiled and limped over to the mare, but stopped when she began to convulse. Several parts of her yellow skin were burning away by some strange green fire. The splotches revealed a coarse grey skin and slender frame. Her legs had several holes in them near the hooves and her mane was a dirty matted yellow. Finally, her face changed from a pony to that of a fanged horror. Her head drooped for a moment before snapping up at Frost.

“You’re... you’re a... a...” Frost whimpered backing away slowly.

“A changeling, yes little colt,” the monster hissed.

“You’re not a mare... you tricked me!” Frost said backing into the wall.

“No I didn’t...” the changeling grumbled with a cough. Green liquid dripped from its mouth as it coughed again and again, “I couldn’t hold the disguise... I don’t have enough magic, those damned ponies drained me earlier today.”

“Why are you here?” Frost asked, still terrified.

“It doesn’t matter, kid. You should get outta here before the silver guard comes back.”

As if on cue, hoofsteps approached from behind one the large doors on the opposite side of the chamber. Frost whimpered something and tried to teleport away, but something was sapping his magic. The door opened revealing a very angry looking guard and his partner.

“What’s this?” the guard asked with a sinister smirk, “A colt?”

Frost didn’t have time to react before he was seized in a magical field, one of the strongest he’d ever felt.

“Are you some sort of changeling sympathizer?” the guard asked, bringing Frost closer.

“Oh yeah...” the changeling said, “When I was captured, my location when out to all the schools and orphanages so my secret squad of children could come rescue me...”

The torturer’s assistant produced a long catchpole and brought it to the changeling’s ribs. Between it’s prong a current sprang to life and ran through the changeling, causing her to scream in pain.

“You know the rule, Silth. Only speak when spoken to.” the torturer said, the grin never leaving his face. “Now, boy. You’ll tell me why you’re here and I might let your death be a quick one.”

“Death?” Frost croaked, “I haven’t done anything! I-I just fell in here, from over there.” he pointed to the destroyed metal from the roof. “I thief stole my things and I chased him into the sewers. I heard crying and investigated. I’m here with important ponies! Aldus! Rigel! Polaris!!”

Silth’s head snapped up, “What did you say?” Another surge of electricity shocked her and made her scream in pain. But it didn’t matter, how could this colt possibly know those ponies? What were the odds?

The torturer smirked and turned to his partner, both of them flogged Frost with laughter. “That has got to be the most impressive lie I’ve ever heard, and by Desalia I’ve heard a lot. Polaris, the legendary general? Even if the rumors about them returning and leading the assault to capture this changeling bitch are true, you couldn’t know them. Now, tell me why you’re here!”

Frost screamed in pain as the field holding him turned red and started to burn his skin. It felt like magma was poured over him and his skin was being melted away. “I already told you! Please stop! Please!”

Silth winced seeing the pain on the child’s face. She deserved this, but not a child. “He’s just a foal you monsters! Stop this! Is this the justice your Desalia represents? I shouldn’t have even entertained feeding on her. I should have just killed her instead!”

“Enough!!!!” The torturer screamed and shot Silth with a bolt of magic while still holding Frost. “How dare you speak her name you disgusting bug!!! Now that you’ve angered me and disrespected our princess, this colt will pay the price.”

The field enveloping Frost grew brighter until Frost’s world collapsed upon itself. Both his rear legs were snapped backward, breaking instantly. He heard himself scream, or at least thought he did. The pain was so intense he was sure his head exploded. He fought the urge to pass out when he saw the changeling looking at him, It was a strange thing. It was a similar look of concern Selene had when she was worried about Frost or the other foals. But it was gone as soon as it appeared, replaced by pain as the catch poll shocked her again. After he could no longer scream, he looked at the torturer and muttered something.

“What?” he asked.

Frost muttered it again, struggling to maintain consciousness.

As the torturer leaned in more, Frost snapped his head forward and breathed ice onto the torturers face and head. He screamed and dropped Frost on his broken hind legs, which didn’t affect him as much as he thought it would. Frost figured he was in shock. As soon as he hit the floor, Frost aimed his horn at one of the shackles holding the changeling and grinned at her.

Silth watched in awe as the little colt loosed an ice spike from his horn that broke the shackles on her right hoof. Wasting no time, she grabbed the torturers assistant by the neck and snapped it like a twig. She looked over to the colt, who was reeling from the pain of two broken legs. He smiled at her weekly and aimed his horn at her other shackle, breaking that one too. Silth saw his lips move before he fell backward and passed out.

The torturer recovered and broke the ice from his face, he stood over Frost and howled in rage preparing a spell to finish off the colt. Silth summoned all the energy she had and more. All her rage, all her hate, all her primal predatory strength and burst free from her remaining restraints. The torturer had no time to act before the changeling was on him. Like a feral beast she sank her fangs into his throat and tore it open, ripping it to shreds.

After she was done, she limped over to the door and looked around outside to make sure the coast was clear. With nopony in sight, she limped over to the colt and examined him. This colt had saved her, he’d smiled at her and said something before setting her free. Of course, his life was on the line as well. But still, she was free, and he had mentioned Aldus and his companions.The changeling bent over and sniffed the colt. Yes... she could spell traces of Aldus’ magic. This colt wasn’t lying. Silth frowned at his sorry state and gently picked him up off the floor. She cradled him against her chest and smashed the control console near the rear of the room, shutting down the magic canceller.

Silth felt her magic returning and transformed into the torturer. She grabbed his keys and studied his appearance changing subtle nuances to perfectly resemble him. With those things covered, she made her escape with Frost.

---------------

Aldus sat in one of the citadel’s studies going over research for Luna, he had dinner brought to him by Willow and was sipping coffee when a loud crash came from the other side of the room. Aldus closed his notes and slowly got up from his seat. He casually walked over to one of the decorative sofas and sat down on it.

“You know girls, its a good spell but it needs some work.” Aldus said to the apparent emptiness in the room. “Come now girls... it’ll be much easier to get the information you want if you simply ask me.”

Three unicorns materialized around Aldus, all with mischievous grins on their faces. Each of them were wearing necklaces denoting their royal status as daughters of Desalia. One was rather skinny and tall, she was the one to speak first. “We demand you tell us about your involvement with Princess Seabreeze!”

“Demand? Well that isn’t very polite.” Aldus said with a comical frown.

Another unicorn, this one younger stepped forward and punched the tall one’s shoulder with hoof, “Stop it Scarlet! He’s really old, you should respect him.”

Aldus’ eyebrow twitched in irritation, “I’m not that old...”

“One thousand years,” the smallest filly said, “That seems pretty old to me. It’s amazing that I’m standing here talking with you, somepony out of the history books. I’m Katarina.”

Aldus smiled and stood up. He bowed graciously and took her small hoof, “You must be Desalia’s youngest... the pleasure is all mine, little one.”

She smiled and bowed to the unicorn, grinning at her sisters. “See girls, this is all takes. Being polite will get you more than being assertive and rude.”

The other two unicorns grumbled and sat down next to Aldus on the sofa while Katarina snuggled up to him on the opposite side. The door burst open with three guards and a unicorn mare with an elegant silver robe staring at the fillies and Aldus. “Young ladies, you really shouldn’t scamper off like that!”

“It’s quite alright, I don’t mind the interruption.” Aldus said with a smile. A smile that didn’t seem to phase the mare.

“Girls, you must return to your chambers and prepare for bed. It’s getting late and your mother might be returning tomorrow.”

“But Aldus was going to tell us about Princess Seabreeze!” Katarina pouted.

“I was? Ow!” Aldus winced as scarlet kicked him in the ribs, “Umm... I was. It’s fine. I’m great with foals.” Aldus wheezed, smiling meekly to the intimidating mare.

“One hour. Then we’ll be back to collect the fillies.” The mare said before leaving the room and posting the guards outside the door.

Aldus sat back and rubbed his side, “Who was that?” he whispered to the fillies.

“Silver Linings...” the three fillies groaned in unison.

“Yeesh...” Aldus said, “Nightmare Moon wasn’t as scary as her.”

“Tell us about Nightmare Moon!”

“Yeah, how is Princess Luna now that she’s returned from the moon?”

“He still has to tell us about Seabreeze!”

“Relax girls, relax. All in good time. Now, what did you want to know about the love of my life?”

---------------

Silth shut the door and moved over to the window to see if she had been followed. She had flown through several districts to find a safe place to stay. Eventually she found the slums and a condemned dilapidated building with a small secluded attic. It was perfect, no pony would come looking for her here, and if they did she would have most of her power back by the time she was found.

The changeling heard moaning coming from the bundle she had deposited in the middle of the room. Frost removed the blanket wrapped around him and wailed in pain. He looked at his legs and began to cry. When Silth approached him he saw her and froze. His expression, one of pure terror, caused him to regain some control of his limbs and he tried to crawl away.

Silth frowned and shook her head, “No no... I can’t let you leave.”

Frost screamed in pain and pounded the floor with a hoof, “Let me go! Please... Please... let me go...” Frost sobbed as he buried his head into his forehooves, “Please... my life has meaning now, I have a real family now. Don’t kill me!!!”

Silth sat on her haunches and levitated Frost between her forehooves. The changeling took on an entirely different demeanor and shushed him, “Shh... I’m not going to kill you little pony. Look at me and know that I’m telling the truth.”

Frost opened his bloodshot eyes and saw swirling blue spirals. Almost immediately his body went limp and his Iris’ shrank to pinpricks, only to burst forth with the same blue spirals. He smiled and reached for the changeling’s face. Silth gently pushed his hoof back to his chest and made certain he was completely under her spell. For a moment, she forgot what she was doing and found herself licking her fangs and leaning toward the child’s mouth. Silth blinked and snapped herself out of it. No, not with this poor foal. She’d resist the urge, he’s been through too much already.

Silth examined the colt’s hind legs and winced, looking at her own. “This might hurt a bit...” she whispered as she seized his legs in magic. She counted to three then snapped the legs back into their proper place. Frost barely registered the pain, his pleasure centers being on full overload from Silth’s special hypnosis. His tongue was hanging out,  causing Silth to crack a weak smile.

The changeling cursed to herself and wondered what to do next, she looked around the room and found a plank to create a makeshift splint for his legs, but that was it. She had no magic to heal the broken bones and there were no changeling pods for him to rest in. It would be days before she had enough energy to make one of them. Then it hit her, it was so simple.

Silth broke the wood in half and tied a piece to each of his legs, then plucked him off the floor. His head lolled to the side and he smiled at her. Silth knew it was the compulsion from her powers, but it still made her feel that motherly instinct. It had been a long time since she last held one of her own in her arms.

“Feel better?” she cooed while moving her head around Frost. The unicorn stared at her eyes and allowed the colors to dominate his mind. He wanted nothing more than to stare at them forever.

Silth began to spit a green goop out onto Frost’s legs. It was a thick tangy substance that remained connected to the inside of her mouth. As more of the liquid emerged, she began to gingerly rotate Frost in her hooves, winding it around his body. The cool liquid started to harden around his legs when Silth was nearing his chest. She pushed both forehooves to his sides and continued her work until only his head and part of his shoulders were visible. Frost was now completely encased in a shimmering green cocoon. It was something changeling females sometimes did with their young to keep them safe and warm. The liquid was created in special glands in the mouths of mature changelings. It had slight healing properties and would numb his pain when he eventually woke up. She made sure to make it as tight as possible, it was no cast, but it would do for now.

The changeling sat on her haunches and rocked Frost back and forth in her forehooves, watching him stare into her still swirling eyes. He muttered something incoherent, causing Silth to chuckle. “Now little one, I wonder what your connection is to Aldus...”

“Ald.. Aldus...” Frost murmured.

“Mhm...” Silth whispered.

“He’s... my. He’s my master...” Frost said, now struggling to keep his eyes open.

“I see, so you’re his little student? Interesting...”

Frost nodded his head and muttered something else about magic, then yawned. The yawn was contagious as Silth soon found herself yawning as well. She levitated Frost’s cocoon and pulled out an old mattress from under a pile of junk. It was surprisingly soft despite having a veritable rainbow of stains on it. Silth despised being surrounded by filth, but at least she was no longer being tortured, and she had company. Silth gingerly laid down on the mattress and covered herself with a blanket she had swiped from a stand on their way to the slums. She held Frost between her forehooves and stared at him. “You should sleep, cutie. We both need our rest. So shut your eyes...”

Silth began to hum a song her mother had taught her long ago. A bedtime lullaby, she told herself it was for the poor pony, but that was a lie. It was for her as well. Thanks to her hypnosis, Frost was asleep in seconds, blissfully unaware of the tears streaming down the changeling’s face.

--------------

Several hours later, Frost awoke in a haze. He wanted to stretch but for some reason his arms didn’t move. Then he remembered the torturer and the changeling. Frost looked down and found himself bound in some sort of green cocoon. He couldn’t feel his legs, which meant no pain, so that was good at least. Frost heard breathing beside him and slowly turned his head to investigate. His fears were realized when he saw the changeling sleeping behind him.

Frost held his breath and tried not to scream, but he couldn’t stifle the rapid breathing. He squirmed as much as he could to free his forehooves. Eventually he decided to use magic to warm the cocoon around his chest and melt some of it away. Soon he had his two forehooves free and began to crawl away, dragging the rest of him across the floor. He had to move at a slow pace to not make much noise. Frost eventually made it to the window, he looked back to see the changeling still asleep and sighed in relief. He saw a way he could climb to the window. Frost dragged himself up onto a few boxes and crawled onto a dresser. As he traversed the piece of furniture, he accidentally knocked over a vase. Frost summoned what little magic he had to catch it, but to his horror it was already levitating in a magical field. He slowly turned to see the changeling laying on her side, grinning at him.

“And where do you think you’re going, you tasty little morsel?”

Frost gulped and backed away, not aware he was at the edge. He slipped off the side and landed on his head with a loud thud.

“Aww... poor baby...” Silth said in a pout while retrieving Frost with her magic. “But maybe that will teach that you shouldn’t try to escape.”

Frost gulped and shut his eyes, he didn’t remember much, but he knew this changeling had powerful hypnosis magic. “I don’t understand what’s going on...” Frost said, “I’m confused.”

Silth laid down next to him, inches away from his head and flicked her tongue against his nose. “That makes two of us, little one. What’s your name?”

Frost wasn’t sure what to do, but he wasn’t dead yet. He knew changelings fed on love. But that was it, he didn’t know what that felt like. Did she already feed on him? How could he tell?

“My name’s Frost. Why am I bound in this... stuff?” Frost asked.

Silth smiled and sat up, she gathered a pillow and propped it against Frost’s back so he could lean on something. “Call me Silth. Do you remember your legs being broken, Frost?”

He nodded, then shook his head, trying to forget the pain. “Yes, that guard was going to kill me. What happened?”

Silth licked her fangs and grinned, “He won’t be torturing anypony ever again. I fixed your legs and bound you in that cocoon to let them heal. Are you in any pain?”

Frost didn’t know what to think. Why was this changeling helping him? “No... I can’t feel them. There’s no pain.”

“Good,” Silth said with a sigh, “Now I have some questions for you, why were you down there? Why did you help me?”

“It’s like I told that guard, I was with... my friends.” Frost hesitated a moment, he didn’t want to reveal too much yet, “Then a thief stole my saddlebags. I chased him into the sewers and heard crying. That’s when I found you. Why were you being tortured?”

Silth growled and looked away, “I’m a changeling... that is reason enough. But why did you help me?”

“I was going to die if I didn’t... but...”

“But?” Silth queried

“No creature deserves to be tortured like that, changeling or no. It wasn’t right.”

Silth smiled, amused at this little colt. “Suppose I did something terrible to warrant it? Maybe I commanded an army vast enough to swallow this entire kingdom? Maybe I would have killed a lot of other ponies after I was done here? Maybe I would have set my sights on Canterlot next. What then?”

“Then you should have been killed,” Frost said, surprising Silth with how quickly he responded. His attitude and body language were ice as he stared into her eyes. “But not tortured.”

“You’re a strange little colt, aren’t you?” Silth mused.

“Well, what about you?” Frost quipped, starting to gain some confidence, “Why didn’t you just leave me there?”

Silth smiled and picked up Frost in her forehooves, “I may be a changeling, but I have principles. After helping me like that I couldn’t just leave you there. Also, I’d like to know about a certain unicorn wizard.”

Frost raised an eyebrow, “You mean... Aldus?”

“Mhm.” Silth said, “We’re... well. We’re acquaintances, you could say.” she said with a chuckle while licking her fangs.

Frost suddenly became worried, several things began to click into place as he looked at the changeling. “You’re going to eat me, aren’t you? After you find out what I know about Aldus, you’re going to feed on me.”

Silth shook her head and laughed, “Eat you?! No, child. I’m not going to eat you. I’m not even going to feed on you. You’re just a colt, even if I wanted to you wouldn’t provide me any meaningful amount of sustenance.”

“So then... you’ll let me go?” Frost asked with a meek smile.

Silth chuckled and kissed the colt on the forehead, “I don’t see why not... but I have some more questions for you first.”

“More questions...?” Frost asked, “What kind of questions?”

Silth leaned against the wall and sat Frost in her lap, “Lets start with this. When Aldus returned from his trip a few weeks ago. Did he return with any new mare?”

“No...” Frost said, “He just returned with Rigel and Polaris. But there was a mare that Aldus hired to come look after us and clean the manor. She arrived a day or two before he did.”

Silth raised an eyebrow and picked up Frost’s chin with a hoof. “What was her name? Was it Velvet? Mangrove? Violet? Willow? Rose Petal?”

“Willow,” Frost said, “How did you know?”

“Willow...” Silth mused with a laugh, “Oh Frosty, you looked so terrified when you first saw me. I don’t know why, I’m not the first changeling you’ve seen.”

“Yes you are,” Frost said, “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve met my sister, Ciaran. Or ‘Willow’, as she’s going by now. Wait... Aldus didn’t tell you? Oh my...” Silth said with a small gasp.

The two remained quiet for a few minutes while Frost’s mind raced in a thousand different directions. He eventually leaned against Silth and allowed her to wrap a hoof around him. “Silth...”

“Yes, sweetheart?” she said with a smile.

“How did you come to know Aldus?”

Silth smiled and ran a hoof through the colt’s mane, “Well, Frosty. It all started with a book.”

Chapter 19: Compassion

Frost shook his head in disbelief. If all that this changeling said was true, she was incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous. Aldus was under her spell for several nights before breaking free by some unknown means. Aldus, his master, and one of the most powerful ponies alive today.

“But... that’s history now,” Silth lamented upon finishing the story. “Now I’m hiding in the slums with a little blue pony. I have no hive, no servants, no warriors, nothing. I’m alone.”

Frost was still sitting in her lap staring at the door to their little room. “How is it that love magic can make you so powerful?” he asked the changeling.

Silth looked down at the colt and smiled, “Changelings are able to merge emotions with our magic. The resulting product is most potent, but it comes at a cost.”

“What’s that?” Frost queried.

Silth sat Frost on the mattress and stood up. She made her way to the window and peered down at the small market below their building. “We changelings aren’t able to hold emotions within us the way other creatures do.” Silth held up a hoof and examined the holes in it. “There are places where we aren’t... whole. Places where emotions just leave us.”

Frost rolled around on the mattress trying to right himself. Silth chuckled at his struggling and enveloped him in her magic, depositing him against a pile of blankets. Frost smiled at the gesture and put a hoof to his face in thought. “Why is that? Does Chrysalis know? You said she is your mother.”

Silth growled and turned away from Frost, “Was my mother. She’s dead to me now.”

Frost winced and lowered his head, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”

Silth frowned and shook her head, “It’s fine, Frosty. It’s fine. To answer your question, none of us know. Whatever happened it was so long ago that even the oldest of us don’t remember anymore.”

“I see,” Frost said. “Where are you going?”

Silth smirked at Frost and transformed into a beautiful blue mare. Her mane was curled at the edges and her tail was long and wavy. “I need to feed, sweetie.” she cooed while batting her eyelashes at him.

Frost raised and eyebrow and laughed, “That isn’t going to work.”

“Excuse me?” Silth said, a bit taken aback.

“It’s not bad, but needs some adjustments.” Frost continued.

“What are you talking about, you silly little colt? I’m a changeling. I’ve been doing this since before you were born. I know how to disguise myself.”

Frost nodded, “I’m sure you do, but have you ever disguised yourself as a prostitute from a dirt poor neighborhood before? I’m assuming that’s the look you’re going for...”

Silth narrowed her eyes at the colt, “And if it is, what of it?”

“I grew up on some of the most terrible streets in Equestria. I know what they look like, and that’s not it. Nopony is going to buy that and you might get us caught.”

“We’re not going to get caught, I’m just a whore. Nopony is going to care about a whore.” Silth said with a laugh.

Frost shook his head and let out a sigh, “A changeling princess is still a princess... royalty have no idea what life is like on the streets. Prostitutes are watched by their handlers and several of their... customers. You’ll be new and draw some attention. If the other mares, their handlers, or skittish patrons get suspicious they might check in with their bosses. Some of those bosses could be crooked guards, and by now every guard in this part of the city has heard about us.”  

Silth paused for a moment, the colt had a convincing argument. Silth prided herself on being a master infiltrator. She’d once spent months studying a mark before taking their place in a royal court. But she had never tried something like this.

“You have a point, so what do you suggest?”

Frost grinned and held out his hooves, motioning for her to pick him up. Silth enveloped him in her magic and floated him in front of her. He pulled himself behind her and began to mess up her hair. “You’re a changeling, I’m sure once you’re out there you’ll be able to act the part. But that isn’t enough, you’ll need to look the part as well.”

The colt levitated some dirty blankets and rubbed them across Silth’s chest and face, smearing it up with dirt. After a few more adjustments he grinned and let out a low whistle. “Now that’s what I call gorgeous, right out of the gutter.”

Silth chuckled and deposited Frost back on the mattress. “I’ll be back later, don’t try to escape, Frost. If you do I’ll find you...”

Frost looked down at the cocoon restraining him, “Where am I going to go?” he asked with a frown.

Silth nodded and started toward the door. She turned around called over her shoulder, “I’ll have some food for you when I return, and... thanks for the advice, Frost.”

The changeling quickly shut the door behind her, leaving Frost with an amused smirk across his muzzle. He didn’t seem to be in any danger, and whatever Silth had planned for him wasn’t going to happen until she had most of her power back. Until he had more information there was nothing he could do. But that wasn’t the big problem, the big problem was going to be Aldus and rest of his family wondering where he was.

------------

Aldus reclined in his chair and smirked at Rigel, “This has got to be some story, lets hear it.”

Rigel stood in front of Aldus’ desk in the cottage’s small study. Despite being older than Aldus, he still served under him the court. Rigel reported to Aldus, then Luna. That was it. He stared at Aldus with a cool neutral expression, the two of them barely ever got into arguments. He glanced over his shoulder at Iris, who was struggling to hold back tears.

“I was with them the entire time until Iris wanted some food. I went ahead to get the tram tickets and before I knew it, Frost was tearing off after some thief who took his saddlebags.” Rigel said with a shrug. “Iris tried to follow them but lost track in the crowds.”

“Please don’t be mad, Aldus.” Iris squeaked, “He didn’t want to lose your money and the things he bought.”

Aldus ran a hoof through his mane. “I’m not mad, Iris. Don’t worry.”

Rigel picked Iris up and smiled, “We’ll find him. No need to cry.”

Polaris was looking out the window on the other side of the room. He turned to Aldus and shook his head, “Quite the rascal, your apprentice. I seem to remember another little pony who got himself into trouble frequently. He was around Frost’s age when Rigel and I met him.”

Aldus laughed, “Alright, alright. I get it. Have you heard anything from the guards?”

“Nothing yet,” Polaris said, “But I imagine we’ll be hearing something soon. The guards in the area have already been notified.”

Rigel and Iris turned around when loud knocking came from the door.

“Enter!” Aldus said.

Willow trotted into the room with a unicorn in ornate silver armor. The unicorn caught site of Polaris and froze. “You- You’re-- I-”

“Captain, I’m just a soldier same as you. Have you something to report?” Polaris asked.

The captain regained his composure and bowed to Aldus, “Members of the Lunar Court, I’m afraid there has been an incident.”

“We know, one of the foals we were looking after disappeared chasing a thief. Have you located Frost?” Rigel queried.

“That is not the incident, Lord Rigel.” The captain said with a quivering lip.

“What is it then?” Polaris asked, now growing impatient.

“There has been a breach in one of our secure research facilities and its occupant has escaped. The occupant was the prisoner taken from Darkmire Moors...”

“WHAT?!?!” Aldus roared, his face taking on a monstrous appearance.

A loud thud impacted the floor behind Iris as Willow fainted. Rigel rushed over to her and shook his head at Aldus.

Polaris narrowed his eyes and turned to Aldus, who was absolutely seething. Iris cowered behind Rigel after seeing Aldus in such a state.

“Captain...” Aldus said, “I want to know everything that happened, and I want guards posted around the island this instant.”

------------

Silth returned in the late afternoon and levitated a bag of food to Frost, who ate it immediately. The changeling chuckled and dropped her disguise while laying down next to Frost.

“Don’t eat too fast, you might get sick.” Silth said with a small smile.

Frost stuffed a hoof full of hay fries in his mouth and swallowed, “What about you? Did you eat fast and get sick?”

Silth licked her fangs and stretched her forehooves, “No... the stallion was succulent enough for me to take my time.”

“Poor guy...” Frost said while continuing to eat.

“Is that all you have to say about it?” Silth asked, “You know I just fed on a pony, that doesn’t bother you?”

Frost finished his food and looked at Silth, it was only now that he realized just how big she was. For the most part it was her long slender legs, but her chest and body were large as well. She was easily as big as Selene. But for some reason, he wasn’t scared anymore.

“Suppose it did bother me, what good would that do?” Frost queried, “Did you feed enough to kill him?”

“No.” Silth replied. “What happened to make you this way?”

“I’m cold, Silth.” Frost said with a sigh, “It’s in my name, and it’s in my nature. Both my parents were killed just after I was out of my diapers. The orphanages didn’t care about me. I was abused and mistreated. Once I was old enough to make it on the streets, things improved, but not by much. The attitude helped me take care of the only friends I ever had, and back then I didn’t have any magic.”

“What do you mean?” Silth asked.

Frost pointed to his horn, “This thing was busted, I could only do a few spells before it would sputter out. Aldus fixed it.”

Silth smiled rested her head against a hoof, “Of course he did.”

Frost finished the food and burped, “Thank you for the food, Silth.”

“Don’t mention it cutie, I’m going to start work on a little project. It’s going to take a few hours, but it’ll be worth it.”

“What project?” Frost asked.

“You’ll see,” Silth said. She rolled onto her back and picked up Frost’s cocoon with a single hoof. “But I can say that it’s for you.”

“Joy...” Frost groaned as Silth held him above her head.

“Is that attitude I’m hearing?” Silth asked with a slight giggle.

Frost rolled his eyes, “Very observant, now why don’t you let me go?”

“Let you go? So soon? But I thought you were just starting to like me?” Silth pouted. “You were all smiles last night...”

Silth winked at Frost and held one eye shut, while the other began spinning with blue spirals. Frost immediately was drawn to it and felt his vision began to fade. He tried to lean away and resist. “This magic... it’s hypnosis...” Frost said, struggling to think straight. He’d never felt this way before, his mind still remembered the taste of euphoria, it hungered for more, all he needed to do was look at Silth.

Frost’s left eye cracked open and barely caught a glimpse of Silth’s face, but that was enough. Soon it began to mirror Silth’s and caused Frost lean back in momentary ecstasy. “Please... stop,” Frost said, trying to fight it.

“Frosty...” Silth cooed, “It’s okay... just look at me, you can trust me. I just want to help you.”

Frost shook his head and covered his right eye. He focussed as hard as he could on certain image, an image that gave him hope. A beautiful gryphon smiling down at him while extending a claw. Frost gritted his teeth and erected a mental barrier.

Silth could not believe it. He was resisting the spell, at least for now. Granted, it was way below full power and she was only toying with him. But still, that was an accomplishment. Silth smiled as she watched him rub his eyes. He was starting to grow on her.

“Don’t do that!” Frost said, “It’s not fair, I have no clue how to defend against magic like that. I-”

Frost stopped as he was lowered down and Silth softly kissed his forehead. “But if I stop, how are you going to figure out a way to resist it?”

“Well I- wait what?” Frost stammered.

“I’m hardly the only changeling who knows this magic, Frost. Though I must say I am pretty good at it.” she said with a giggle. “Someday you might be up against it again. Also, if you figure out how to resist it, that makes learning it a bit easier...”

“What?!” Frost gasped, “I can learn that? It’s not changeling magic?”

“It is,” Silth answered, “But it’s not exclusive to our race. It just hasn’t been taught to non-changelings because, well...” Silth paused with a shrug, “I’m sure you can imagine why.”

“So you’re going to teach me?” Frost asked.

“I didn’t say that...” Silth said while licking her fangs, “I might entertain the idea if you show promise resisting my magic. And that’s a big if...”

Silth blinked and resumed her hypnosis, still with one eye. Frost tried his best to prevent it, and for a few minutes he was doing well. But ultimately it was a battle of attrition, and the child’s mind was weakening.

“Frost...” Silth cooed. She tickled under his shoulders and leaned forward. The blue unicorn made the mistake of cracking his eyes open the slightest, and was captured by Silth’s spell. His mouth dropped open in a stupid smile. “I thought you were going to resist it this time?” the changeling chuckled.

Frost only managed to moan as the spirals pulsed from the center of his eyes. With care, Silth cut open the cocoon and examined the colt’s legs. She gingerly lifted Frost out and nestled him in some blankets. “Nice and warm?”

Frost managed to nod his head in response.

“You’re drooling, Frost.” Silth playfully admonished. The colt grunted and wiped his face with a hoof, an act that appeared to take significant effort.

“Are you tired? Then shut your eyes, Frosty. I’ll have something special for when you wake up.”

Frost yawned and groggily nodded his head. Once he was asleep, Silth gathered her magic and began her work, all while being sure to not disturb the colt.

-------------

At the cottage, Pyrite sat in the corner of Frost’s room with the book they had been reading. He looked over at the dresser and thought about its contents. They never had much, being on the streets, but Frost always kept a special trinket with him. Pyrite opened the drawer and found the locket laying atop some blankets. He didn’t open it, for he already knew what was inside. A picture of Frost’s deceased mother. He rarely talked about her, but that locket was easily his most treasured possession.

The silver earth colt curled up in the corner and felt a tear fall down his face. The other ponies said Frost would forgive him, but what if he didn’t? Pyrite was never as competitive as Frost, and now he had made his big brother angry at him. If Frost didn’t come back how would he ever get the chance to apologize?

The door to their room opened as Andromeda stuck her head inside. “Pyrite, what are you doing sitting there all by yourself?” The blue pegasus filly frowned when she saw Pyrite crying.

“I’m sorry, Andromeda.” Pyrite sniffled, “I just want to be alone right now.”

“Well that’s too bad, cutie. You’re not getting rid of me.” Andromeda said as she picked up Pyrite and sat down with him in her lap. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Frost, I’m worried about him. I hope he’s not mad at me.”

Andromeda shook her head and shushed the colt, “He’s not mad, he’s just stubborn and prideful.”

Pyrite leaned against her chest and wiped some tears away, “I guess...” The earth colt looked up at Andromeda with hopeful eyes, “Hey, do you think we could go look for him?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Andromeda said, “Mommy and Aldus seem very upset about something, I think it’s dangerous to go around looking for him now.”

“Okay...” Pyrite relented.

Andromeda kissed Pyrite on the cheek and playfully squeezed him, “Cheer up, cutie. He’ll be back before you know it.”

“She’s right, Pyrite.” a voice said from across the room. An explosion of fire erupted near the bed revealing Firebrand.

The orange colt trotted over to Andromeda and sat down in Front of her. “Frost won’t be mad, he’s not that type of pony. Mother wants to see you, Andromeda. It sounds important. I’ll stay with Pyrite.”

Andromeda narrowed her eyes at Firebrand, then smiled down at Pyrite. “I’ll be right back, Pyrite. Don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone...” she said with a glare at Firebrand.

The orange pegasus chuckled as Andromeda left the room. “Now that she’s gone, want to have some fun?”

“What do you have in mind?” Pyrite asked.

Firebrand ignited his mane and conjured a fireball in his right hoof, “Playing with fire.” he said with a smirk.

“Don’t do that!” Pyrite yelped, “It’s dangerous!”

“Really?” Firebrand asked absentmindedly while throwing the ball of flame back and forth between his hooves, “Then you take it.”

He tossed the ball at Pyrite who jumped out of the way letting the fire land on the carpet. To his surprise, it didn’t catch fire. The ball of flame simply bounced into the wall and sputtered out.

Pyrite turned to Firebrand and scratched his head, “What just happened?”

“This is my fire, Pyrite. I won’t let it burn you. Here, catch.” the orange colt conjured another ball and lobbed it at Pyrite.

This time the silver earth colt caught the ball of flame in his hooves. He jumped at first, still expecting burning, but there was none. Instead it just felt like a lukewarm rubber ball. “This is fun!” Pyrite exclaimed as he tossed the fire back to Firebrand.

The orange colt grinned and took a deep breath, standing on his haunches. He exhaled a gout of fire at the ceiling and flexed his forehooves. “Dragons got nothing on me!”

A few minutes later Andromeda returned to find Pyrite wrestling with Firebrand near the foot of the bed. If he was crying before, you definitely couldn’t tell now. She couldn’t help but sit down and smile as she saw the happiness on Pyrite’s face.

Pyrite jumped onto Firebrand’s back and pulled at his mane, which was now a blazing inferno. The orange colt wailed for effect and spun around before face planting on the floor. But Pyrite wasn’t finished yet, he started tickling under Firebrand’s wings and around his stomach.

“No no, now you’re tickling. Stop, I can’t stand that!” he pleaded while rolling over. Pyrite only climbed onto his stomach and continued his assault. “He’s a monster, a tickle monster! Andromeda help me!” Firebrand wailed between laughter.

Andromeda grinned and flew over to her brother. She started tickling behind his ears while winking at Pyrite. “Sorry baby brother, but I’m on Pyrite’s side!”

“No!” Firebrand shouted as Iris flew in through the window.

The gryphon glared at Pyrite and narrowed her eyes. The silver earth colt knew what was coming and leapt off Firebrand making a break for the bed. He crawled under it just as Iris caught his tail. She dragged him out and fell onto her back as he struggled in her claw.

“So you like tickling other ponies?” Iris teased with with a smirk.

“Get him Iris!” Firebrand said as Andromeda shoved his head into the carpet.

The gryphon grinned and wrapped her wiry tail around Pyrite’s middle, suspending him above her. A single talon touched against Pyrite’s snout, “Say something nice about me and I might let you go.” Iris said with a sly grin.

 

Pyrite tried in vain to unwind the tail around him, “You’re the prettiest gryphon I’ve ever met!”

“Hmm... you can do better than that,” Iris said as she slipped the talon under Pyrite’s shoulders and tickled him.

Pyrite laughed as Iris’ tail twisted him around in the air, “Your feathers are soft and fluffy!”

Iris giggled and dropped him onto her chest. “Yeah, they are. That’s what happens when you practice good hygiene.”  

Pyrite giggled as Iris kissed him on the cheek and stroked his mane, she got up and allowed him to climb onto her back as they trotted over to Andromeda, who had Firebrand pinned on the floor. “Do you know what’s going on?” Iris asked Andromeda. “Aldus was very mad the last time I saw him.”

Andromeda frowned and shook her head. “I don’t know, but we’re all supposed to be on our guard until this situation passes.”

The door to their room burst open revealing Rigel and Marigold. Selene glided in soon after with the rest of the children on her back. “Listen carefully children,” Rigel began, “Aldus, Polaris, Selene, and I are going into the city. Something urgent has come up.”

“What’s the matter?” Iris asked, “You wouldn’t tell me earlier, you just shoved me out of the room.”

Rigel frowned knelt in front of the gryphon, “I know, Iris. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s about the prisoner escape, isn’t it?” Iris asked. “You don’t think that is related to Frost’s disappearance? Do you?” She asked with worry in her eyes.

“Frost might be in trouble?!” Pyrite asked as he climbed on Iris’ head to stare at Rigel.

Marigold took the colt from the gryphon and embraced him, “We don’t know that, Pyrite. Uncle Rigel and Aldus are going to get him back, wherever he is.”

Rigel nodded with stoic determination, “While we’re gone, several guards will be posted around the cottage. None of you are to go outside, not even for a second. Marigold and Willow will remain here with you.”

“When will you be back?” Iris asked while grabbing Rigel’s wingtip with a claw.

He turned around and ruffled her feathers, “We’ll be back before you know it. But Iris, stay here. I’m serious.”

The gryphon smiled and nodded. “I’ll look after everypony, you can count on me.”

“Outstanding.” Rigel replied. Selene deposited the children on the bed and nodded to Rigel before disappearing into a black portal.

The red pegasus waved goodbye to the rest of the children and began to leave when he was stopped by a hoof. He looked down to see Marigold holding him back with Pyrite still in a hoof. “Be careful.” she said while planting kiss on Rigel’s cheek.

He blushed the slightest shade of red before regaining his composure. “I will,” he replied with a slight bow before shutting the door behind him.

“Ooooooo!!” came a chorus of voices from the bed, “Somepony has a crush!”

Marigold blushed and sat down with the children, “No... it’s nothing like that...” she blushed even more when they continued to giggle. “Alright alright, that’s enough. Who wants some dinner?”

--------------

Frost stirred as the sound of the slums made it’s way into the attic. Much happened at night in this part of town, and little of it was good. Silth was gone, but there was something on the other side of the room. A small oval shaped protrusion coming out of the wall. It glowed the faintest green and pulsed every few seconds like a heartbeat. Frost uncovered himself from the blankets and examined his legs, they were starting to hurt now. The splints Silth used were still helping, but after her hypnosis wore off the pain started to creep forward.

He leaned against the wall wondering what that new thing was, then he remembered Silth talking about a pod. As if on cue, the changeling entered their room again, this time disguised as a proper rich looking unicorn mare.

Frost yawned and raised and eyebrow, “I thought I told you that getup wouldn’t work around here?”

Silth reverted to her changeling form and licked her fangs, “Who said I was around here?”

“You went somewhere else?” Frost asked, now a little interested.

“I took a stroll uptown and hit up a fancy party, that scene is more my style.” she said with a chuckle.

“Oh?” Frost asked, “And are you well fed?”

“Full to bursting,” Silth replied with a less-than dainty belch.

The changeling noticed Frost wince as he shifted on the mattress. “Any pain?”

“Just a little...” Frost mumbled, “Maybe removing me from that cocoon wasn’t such a good idea.”

Silth sat down next to the colt and examined his legs, “After tonight you should be fully healed, so it won’t be a problem.”

“Silth... why are you doing this? Why help me?” Frost asked with a frown.

Silth looked perplexed, “What are you talking about? You saved me, I owe you. Remember?”

Frost turned to face her and winced again, “You were a changeling princess, in possession of an army ready to conquer this entire kingdom. You would have fed on these ponies and many others.” Silth appraised the colt with a neutral expression, but let him continue. “Who knows how many ponies and other creatures you’ve killed, and you could’ve killed Aldus, too.”

“Yes, I could have.”

“Obviously you’re planning on giving me back to Aldus, perhaps as some sort of leverage or message.”

“You have quite the wit, Frosty.” Silth mused while stroking his mane.

“You could have just taken me to Aldus after you regained some energy, you didn’t have to place me in that cocoon. I’m certain your hypnosis is so powerful I could be put under for days or maybe even weeks.” Frost said, staring Silth in the eyes. “You could have delivered me and been leagues away from here by now. Yet you’re still here looking at me with caring eyes, eyes that don’t make sense.”

Silth got up and trotted over to the window, for a while she said nothing until transforming into Aldus. “It’s because of him that I’ve changed.”

“What are you talking about?” Frost asked.

“Aldus spared my hatchlings, he could have burned them all, incinerated the hatchery. He could have stopped an entire new generation of changelings from growing and threatening ponykind, but he didn’t. He spared them.” Silth said while returning to her original form. “Once he captured me, Aldus revealed the fate that awaited me, the torture at the hands of the silver ponies.”

“I can’t believe Aldus would do something like that, even to a changeling.” Frost said. “It’s so... cold.”

“He offered me an easy way out, to end it right there and save me the pain. I refused.”

“Why?” Frost asked.

Silth put a hoof to her forehead, “Because he beat me. I thought I had all the pieces of the puzzle figured out, and yet he still won. I wasn’t going to take the easy way out.”

“That’s why?”

“What do you know about your master, Frosty?” Silth cooed, returning to sit next to the colt. “Do you know why he’s called ‘Aldus the Moondeath’?”

“I didn’t know he was called that at all,” Frost admitted.

“Mmmm I thought as much,” Silth said while resting her head next to Frost’s. “Might want to ask him about it sometime...”

“Why? How did he get that title?” Frost asked.

“Your master was a very bad pony once, Frost. He did some horrible things. But... he’s different now.” Silth said while she collected Frost in her long forehooves, “In my intimate time with him, he’s not the same pony he was back then, he can’t be. He’s changed, and if he can change, perhaps I can too. Starting with helping you.”

Silth buzzed her wings and floated over to the pod. Frost crawled backward as she set him down. “You’re going to put me in that thing? I thought you said you weren’t going to feed on me!”

Silth grinned and caressed the pod, “Frost, I’m not. These are what we keep our prey in, its true. However there is no feeding that occurs inside them. The pods are designed to rejuvenate and revitalize their occupants, restoring both emotions and energy. They also possess healing powers. The liquid will heal your legs completely.”

Frost gulped and continued to back away, not convinced. “I don’t think I want to.”

Silth enveloped him in a magical field and brought him in front of her, “Did I mention you’ll be asleep the whole time? Having the best dreams? It’s a variation of our changeling magic. The best way for the prey to be refilled with happiness and love is by experiencing it themselves...”

“I- I don’t know...” Frost said, “You’re sure this will work?

“I’m sure, Frost.”

Frost looked at the changeling and grabbed her face with his hooves, “Use your hypnosis on me, then put me in there. I don’t want to just go in.”

Silth shook her head, “I don’t want to, Frost. You can do this. Don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid, I just-”

“I’ll be right here until you go to sleep.” Silth said with a small smile.

Frost stared at her for a few seconds then nodded, “Let me down.”

The changeling complied and deposited Frost in front of the pod. It seemed to pulsate at a more rapid pace, perhaps sensing the blue unicorn. Frost pulled aside the thin membrane and crawled inside. The fluid filling the pod did not escape when he opened it, but remained still. Frost held his breath before Silth motioned for him to breath. Eventually he did, and noticed it was just like air, another marvel of changeling magic. The fluid razed him up to the center of the pod and suspended him there. The green glow became dim while the fluid began to warm up. Frost felt his eyelids becoming heavy as the pod began to lull him to sleep. He looked outside the pod to see Silth standing there watching him, just like she promised. With a bit of effort Frost reached out a hoof and touched it to the pod membrane. Silth mirrored his movement and held her hoof to Frost’s for as long as he was able to remain awake.

After a few minutes, his hoof dropped to his side and he was fast asleep. A calm smile played across his face while he bobbed up and down in the pod. Silth smiled in return and trotted over to the window. Several silver guard ponies were patrolling the streets and questioning some ponies. The changeling felt a tinge of fear run up her spine. She looked back at the colt floating in the pod. He had at least five or six hours to go at minimum. But Silth didn’t know if they had that long...

Hurry up, Frost. Silth thought while watching the silver guard, We won’t be safe here much longer.

-------------

The next night, the cottage was locked up tighter than a fortress in wartime. The courtiers were still in the city and none of the ponies could go outside. Ruby trotted to the baths with Pyrite after a short dinner. Marigold had advised the ponies to stay in their rooms as much as possible, something that Ruby didn’t like one bit. She hated being cooped up all the time. Like the hotel embassy in Manehatten, this cottage had a group sauna bath, only it was considerably smaller. Pyrite wrinkled his nose and tried to slink away, but Ruby caught him with her magic.

“Where are you going, mister?” she playfully scolded her baby brother, “You’re filthy, you need a bath.”

“Am not!” Pyrite shouted, “I’ve been inside all day, I’m not dirty.”

“Kiddo, you know mares like clean colts. You should enjoy it.” Stormcaller said as he trotted into the room behind Ruby. The red unicorn filly blushed and set Pyrite down.

“I do like a good smelling colt... if only there was one around here. Oh well.” Ruby said with sly grin, turning her flank toward Stormcaller.

The blue and purple pegasus sniffed under his shoulders and looked at his reflection in the water. “I suppose I could use a good soak. If only there was a stunning filly to join me. Oh well...” Stormcaller teased as he winked at Ruby. He trotted into the bath with Ruby following soon after.

Seeing the two of them distracted, Pyrite crept away only to be stopped by a tentacle wrapping around left leg. “Selene?” he asked while turning around to see who grabbed him.

Andromeda grinned at her charge while bringing him to sit in front of her. “You do need a bath, cutie. I love cute colts, but not when they’re stinky.”

“I’m not stinky!” Pyrite protested while waving his forehooves in the air.

“Fine, I guess you’ll have to find some other filly to cuddle with tonight.” Andromeda said while returning her hoof to normal.

Pyrite sighed and shook his head, “Okay, Andromeda, I’ll take a bath.”

“Good, now lets wash you up.” the filly giggled while flying into the bath with Pyrite.

Across the cottage, Iris and Black Star were resting together in Selene’s room with the other children. Marigold was checking with the guards to make sure everything was in order for the shift change. Meanwhile, Willow was preparing the children’s beds when a terrible chill ran down her back. She jumped and turned around, making sure nopony was there. When she was satisfied she was alone, she continued her work. She was alone, but the sooner Aldus got back, the bet-

“Ciaran.”

Willow froze... that voice, there was no mistake, it was her. The moment she had dreaded was finally here. But she knew this day might come. Willow calmed herself and made for the rear of the cottage.

-------------

Outside their was a cool breeze winding it’s way through the trees near the center of the island. A small forest lined the rear of the cottage, and that was where Willow was headed. She had to hand it to her sister, it was perfect timing. All the guards were gone for at least five to ten minutes changing shifts. But Silth was taught by their mother. Still, she winced wondering what pony had to suffer for her to acquire such information.

“Such a clever girl,” came a sultry voice from about ten paces away. “But not clever enough...” Silth revealed herself by stepping out of the shadows near a large tree, “It’s been too long baby sister, now drop that hideous disguise. I would speak to you in your true form.”

Ciaran dropped her disguise and stretched, now able to resume her full height. “I was really hoping to never see you again, wretch.”

“That hurts, Ciaran. You don’t mean that.” Silth sneered.

“I do, with all my heart. Have you come for revenge?” Ciaran asked, summoning magic to her horn.

Silth shook her head, “No, I have not. Even though I should kill you for what you helped Aldus do. I’ve come to deliver something to you.”

Ciaran relinquished her magic and stepped forward, “You have him? I knew it.”

Silth produced a bundle in her left forehoof and cautiously stepped closer to her sister. Both changelings appraised each other, ready for anything. She stood next to Ciaran and unwrapped the top revealing a hypnotized Frost. The swirling blue spirals in his eyes pulsed rapidly as he saw Silth and Ciaran staring down at him.

Ciaran shook her head and snarled at Silth, “You fed on him?! How could you?!”

“I did nothing of the sort!” Silth snapped

Ciaran stared at her sister, clearly not buying it. “Why should I believe anything you say?”

Silth smirked while stroking Frost’s mane, “You shouldn’t, but I’m going to tell you what happened anyway. I don’t have much time. This little cutie saved me.”

“What?” Ciaran deadpanned.

“He saved me, and the guards attacked him. They broke both his legs to punish him. With his help I was able to kill the guards and escape. While I recovered, I tried my best to mend his wounds. I created a small pod for him to heal in. He’s just come out of it.”

Ciaran could not believe what she was hearing, “If you were in my position, you know how hard this is to believe.”

Silth nodded while smiling down at Frost, “I know... I know. This colt, he’s something else. I couldn’t let him suffer like that. When he wakes up, listen to what he has to say. Then decide if you want to believe me.”

“Since when have you ever cared for anypony but yourself?” Ciaran asked.

A fair question. Silth had been selfish her whole life, with little in the way of consequence, aside from the occasional beating from their mother.

“I know, Ciaran. But... I think I want to change. I understand you don’t believe me, and that’s fine. Just take care of Frost, I don’t want to see anything happen to him.” Silth said while handing the bundle to Ciaran. Frost was vaguely aware of what was going on and reached out for Silth. The elder changeling frowned and leaned in to kiss Frost on the forehead one last time. “Goodbye sweetie.”

“You’re just going to leave?” Ciaran asked.

“Are you going to stop me?” Silth asked with a raised eyebrow. “My old life is gone, baby sister. My colony destroyed and what’s left have surely chosen a new princess to lead them. From here on, I’m starting a new life.”

“No, I’m not going to stop you. Start your new life, just do it far away from here.”

Silth chuckled and began to trot away, but stopped near the large tree and turned back to her sister. “Ciaran?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you taste Aldus?” Silth asked with grin that nearly split her face.

Ciaran propped up Frost in her hoof and nodded, “I did, briefly.”

“Really?” Silth replied, “I’m surprised to hear that.”

“Best love I’ve ever tasted,” Ciaran admitted.

“It was, wasn’t it? And I’ll have it again... farewell, Ciaran.” Silth said before disappearing into the shadows.

Ciaran looked at Frost, still completely under her sister’s spell. She quickly transformed back into Willow and teleported back into her room.

------------

Once inside, Ciaran sat down in her room and lit some candles, bringing light to the otherwise dark room. She sat on her haunches and gently rubbed at Frost’s chest to get his attention. Ciaran began to use her own spell to replace her sisters. He watched the purple spirals and touched a hoof to Ciaran’s face. Once he was completely under her control, she ended the spell and shook Frost lightly.

“Frost...  Frost... wake up, can you hear me?”

Frost regained control of his forehooves and rubbed his eyes, he saw Willow staring at him and realized she was holding him. He looked around and realized he was back at the cottage.

Frost kicked Willow in the chest enough for her to drop him. He landed on his feet and backed away. His legs were healed, Silth was telling the truth. Frost figured she must have hypnotized him as soon as she removed him from the pod, then brought him here. Silth healed him and let him go, just as she promised.

“Frost, I’m so glad you’re safe. I-”

“Transform, now.” Frost growled.

“Frost, I can explain...”

“Transform!! Now!!” he shouted.

Willow held up her hooves, signalling him to be quiet. She shut the windows and locked the door before trotting over to Frost. She bowed her head and transformed into her true form as a changeling princess. Much taller than her ‘Willow’ disguise, she was not quite as large as Silth, but still held a similar presence.

Frost sneered while pacing around her in circles. “So, Ciaran is it? Seems Silth wasn’t lying about you either.”

Ciaran frowned as the small unicorn circled around her. “Frost, I can explain everything.”

“Oh I’m sure you can...” Frost said with a chuckle. “And I want to hear it all. But first, where is Silth?”

“She brought you here and gave you to me. She’s gone now, you don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

“Worry?” Frost asked with a laugh, “I’m not worried, so far it seems everything she’s told me is true. Unlike Aldus deceiving me letting a changeling take care of my friends.”

“Frosty, sweetheart...” Ciaran said, lowering herself to the ground, “I didn’t hurt or feed on any of your friends, if that’s what you're thinking. I would never.”

Frost stopped and sat on his haunches in front of her, “I’m a bit sad, Silth told me the truth about all these things. She nursed me back to health and returned me home, and I never got to thank her.”

“You don’t know her like I do, Frost. It’s not wise to trust what she says.” Ciaran said.

“Oh? And I should trust you, ‘Willow?’ I don’t think so, not yet.” Frost said. “Just how long were you going to fool us? Maybe I should go and get my friends, they deserve to see the truth.” Frost said while turning to leave.

Ciaran stopped him with a forehoof, “No Frosty... please, they can’t know.”

“Why not?” Frost snapped, “What are you going to do? Are you going to stop me with your hypnosis. You must have the same powers Silth does.”

Ciaran blinked and let a single tear fall from her eye, “No...no I won’t do that. I’m not like my sister.” She pulled Frost closer, he didn’t resist. “I’m so sorry, Frosty. I didn’t want to deceive you or anypony else. But I didn’t have a choice.”  The changeling hugged Frost against her chest and shook her head. “It was Aldus’ idea, it was part of the bargain I made to keep my colony safe from Silth.”

Frost let the changeling embrace him, he wrapped his forehooves around her neck and sat there a few moments. Despite everything that happened, it was good to be home. “Alright, Ciaran. Alright.” Frost said while gently pushing away, “Where is Aldus?”

“He is with Selene, Rigel, and Polaris in the city. I think they went looking for you.” Ciaran said.

“Ciaran, I want some answers, and I’m sure you have some questions for me as well.”

“I do,” Ciaran said. “Now that you know what I am, I see no harm in telling you everything else.”

“Don’t tell my friends I’m back just yet,” Frost said, “Let’s stay here a while so we can clear things up. But I’m hungry, could you get me some food please?”

Ciaran smiled, “Of course, Frosty.” The changeling transformed into ‘Willow’ once again and left the room for the kitchen.

Frost dimmed a few candles so he was surrounded by darkness. It was starting to rain outside the cottage. He stood on his hind legs and stretched them, admiring how they were completely healed. Frost closed his eyes and remembered a memory, or was it a dream? The pod had given him many good feelings and dreams, but this seemed different. It was Silth’s voice.

“I will always remember what you did for me, Frost. You’re a sweet colt, and you know much already. But there is always more to learn. Continue to grow, and be safe. We’ll meet again someday.”

 

Chapter 20: Trust

Upon the news of Frost’s return reaching Aldus and Rigel in the city, both of them had raced back to Pythia to question the colt. Polaris however was informed by the guard he was requested at the Citadel.

Polaris trotted through the silver halls and past several normal guards and honor guards. Each of them bowed deeply in respect as he walked past. Eventually reaching Desalia’s chambers. The two honor guard positioned at the doors bowed. Polaris returned the gesture as one of the ponies approached him.

“I’m sorry Polaris, sir. The princess is busy at the moment.”

Polaris wondered what was keeping her when screaming was heard on the other side. The guards winced as Polaris chuckled.

“How were we supposed to know she was going to disappear like that?!”

“You were the ones supposed to be watching her! The guard didn’t do anything?!”

“She slipped away! You know how she is about helping other ponies!”

“Agh, I don’t need this, not after Concordia and NOT before your sister’s wedding. Get out of here. I’ll deal with you all later.”

The door opened as three fillies trotted out of the room. Polaris bowed his head to them but only one returned his gesture. The small filly looked up at him and smiled before rejoining her sisters. Polaris returned her smile as he watched them trot away.

“Come in, Polaris.” Desalia said in a stern tone.

Polaris entered her large chambers and stood at the center while the princess was sitting in front of three large mirrors examining her mane.

“It’s been a long time,” the princess said without turning around, “You did well at Darkmire Moors, unfortunately our prize escaped...”

“Yes, I’ve heard.” Polaris replied.

“So you know of the evidence concerning a unicorn colt involved in her escape?”

“I heard the same time Aldus and Rigel did, yes. They are no doubt questioning him about it now.”

Princess Desalia stood to her full height and turned around to face Polaris, “I wish to speak with the colt. When you return you will bring him here.”

“As you wish,” Polaris said.

Princess Desalia stared at the silver unicorn for a moment before shaking her head. “What went wrong, Polaris?”

“What went wrong? I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean.” he replied.

“I sent you to Equestria so you could serve as an extra pair of eyes and ears. I also did it so you might have a better life. It was something your father would have wanted for you. Then, when the the civil war broke out, you were in a position to help Luna overthrow her arrogant sister.”

“She ceased to be Luna at that point.”

“Yet you still served her along with Aldus and Rigel. Despite all your victories, despite all the ponies you and your armies killed, you still lost.”

“If we had won, what then?” Polaris asked. “You would live under eternal night?”

Desalia smirked and sat down in front of the unicorn, “There are ways we could have... adjusted. The archives hold many secrets. I’m curious to know what she told you about that, though. Surely you questioned her?”

“I recall her saying that we needn’t worry, that she would take care of us and all subjects who were faithful to her. She said something about a certain magic, but that is all I remember.”

“It would have taken some time, but I could have talked her into bringing the light back to the world. I could have guided her, better than her sister who allowed the situation to happen in the first place. Ultimately, things would have returned to normal for the ponies. If not in one or two generations, then later. The world would have changed, true. But nature has a way of righting itself eventually. And with the guidance of the alicorns and our magic, the world and its inhabitants would have survived. Well, most of them would have. The only difference would have been one less alicorn.”

“You’re thinking into the future, far into the future. Potentially thousands of years.” Polaris said, “Are we all just pawns to you?”

“It’s a perspective gained with the long lives alicorn's possess.” Desalia said while looking at the ocean through her window, “I do what do because I have to, it is my destiny. I have had many children, and loved each of them. And I’ve loved all the stallions I’ve been with. That never will change.”

Polaris looked over to the far side of the room where several portraits of stallions hung on the wall. “I’m sorry I failed you, mother.”

--------------

“So... that’s what happened?” Frost asked while sitting on the bed.

Ciaran nodded, “That’s it, if I didn’t enlist the help of Aldus my colony would have been destroyed.”

“How have you been gaining the energy you need to sustain yourself?”

Ciaran let out a long sigh, “It hasn’t been easy, Aldus has forbidden me to feed on anypony. So far, the only thing sustaining me is the energy of affection I receive from you foals.”

“Really?” Frost asked, “That can’t be much compared to feeding on a pony directly.”

“It’s not,” Ciaran stated plainly, “At first it was barely anything, but I’ve grown accustomed to it, and with time it’s increased.” she said with a small smile. “Was I-  good as ‘Willow?’ I mean, did I take good care you and your friends? Did you appreciate me?”

Frost laughed at that, “Appreciate you? Ciaran, most of us have been on the streets for our whole lives. Having you take care of us as a nanny and foalsitter might as well be a dream.”

Ciaran smiled at that, “Oh Frosty, that’s sweet.”

The door to the room cracked open as Pyrite stepped in shaking his head. It looked like he had just stepped out of a bath. He looked up to behold an enormous black pony with holes in its long slender limbs. It was staring at Pyrite with piercing purple eyes and long sharp fangs.

Pyrite shrieked in horror and bolted out the door. Horror played across Ciaran’s face as she realized she failed to lock the door after bringing Frost his food. She was about to go after him but Frost stopped her and teleported out of the room.

The silver earth colt ran as fast as his legs could carry him and screamed out for Andromeda. Suddenly a flash of light blue appeared in front of him and he crashed into Frost.

“What is that thing?!” Pyrite wailed, “We have to tell the others!”

“Pyrite calm down, I’m here. It’s alright.” Frost said in a soothing tone. “She looks scary but she won’t hurt you.”

Andromeda appeared beside Pyrite and scowled at Frost, “What’s going on? When did you get back? Why is he scared?”

Pyrite jumped into Andromeda’s forehooves as she hovered slightly above the floor, “Theres a monster in there Andromeda!”

“She’s not a monster. Well, maybe she is. But she’s friendly, she won’t hurt us. C'mon I’ll show you.”

Frost led them back into the room where sat behind one of the bookcases, “I didn’t mean to scare anypony.” she said with what sounded like a sniffle. “I’ll change into my disguise, you won’t be scared then.”

“No,” Frost said, “Come out, you won’t scare us.” he said with a resolute calm. “We’re too brave to be scared so easily, aren’t we Pyrite?” Frost whispered to the colt with a smile.

Pyrite nodded and turned around in Andromeda’s embrace. Ciaran slowly walked to the center of the room and sat on her haunches.

“A changeling!” Andromeda snarled, her eyes beginning to glow.

“She’s a friend,” Frost said while moving between Ciaran and Andromeda.

“So...” a voice said from outside, “You’re a changeling?” The ponies and changeling looked at the door to see Iris leaning around the corner. “I thought I heard yelling so I came to investigate, “I certainly wasn’t expecting this.”

The gryphon flew into the room and landed next to Frost. An enormous shadow followed her in and materialized as a large threatening pegasus, ready to destroy anything that threatened Iris. Iris, who appeared more amused than anything, smiled at Black Star and motioned for him to stand down. He nodded and returned to the form of a small colt.

Frost used his magic to shut the door so they could finally have some privacy, only to hear two sets of hoofsteps entering the cottage. They could hear a set of muffled voices which became clearer as they got close.

“Let’s not be hasty, I’m sure there is a good explanation for all of this.”

Aldus burst into the room and locked his eyes on Fost. After a few seconds, he saw Ciaran wasn’t in her disguise and both Pyrite and Iris were in the room as well. Rigel couldn’t stifle a chuckle at the situation.

“Shut up, Rigel!” Aldus snapped.

“Don’t tell him to shut up,” Frost said, in open defiance of his master.

Aldus turned to him, staring him down with blazing green eyes. “What did you say to me?”

“I said don’t tell him to shut up!” Frost repeated, still standing tall despite his master now towering over him. “I can’t believe what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?” Aldus asked through gritted teeth, “What about what you’ve done? Answer this, and don’t you dare lie. Was it you who somehow managed to free Silth?”

“Yes.” Frost replied. Before he had time to say anything else he was sailing into the wall next to the bed.

His vision blurred from the impact causing Aldus’ eyes to appear larger and more menacing.

“Aldus!” Rigel shouted while stepping toward him.

“You stay out of this!” Aldus snapped. “Stupid child. You have no idea what you’ve done. This is why I’ve never taken on a student. You’ve barely finished learning elemental magic and already you’re interfering in my plans!”

“You don’t care.” Frost said.

“What?” Aldus asked.

“You don’t care!” Frost shouted while firing an ice spike directly at Aldus’ head.

Aldus swatted it away with a hoof but was startled enough to release Frost from the wall. “How dare you...”

“No!” Frost screamed. “How dare YOU!”

Aldus took a step forward but was halted by Rigel, who shook his head and would not let go.

“Don’t you even care about what happened to me?” he asked, tears starting to form in his eyes, “I almost died!” Frost stepped toward Aldus, now shaking in anger. “My saddlebags were stolen by some street rat. Ironic, right? I’ve stolen plenty of things myself. I chased after him because I didn’t want to lose your money. I didn’t want to disappoint you! So what happens? I hear crying and end up falling into a torture chamber! What kind of screwed up kingdom is this?! The guards catch me, doesn’t matter that I told them I was with you, they broke my legs! The only way out was to free the changeling, her sister!” Frost shouted flailing a forehoof at Ciaran. With tears now streaming down his face, he continued. “Silth took me hostage and explained where you were those past weeks. Then she told me that you had her sister watching us! Deceiving us! Were you ever going to tell us?”

“Frost...” Aldus said, but was cut off.

“NO! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Frost screamed at the top of his lungs, “Just who do you think you are?! Silth told me about you... I know you’re not from our time. You may be powerful, but you’re not the goddess. What are you some kind of master manipulator? We’re all just pieces on a game board to you? You’re just like the rich noble ponies of Manehattan. Stepping all over others because you can, manipulating events because you can. You can’t treat ponies like that! We barely know a thing about you. What kind of family is that? I don’t know how that unicorn mare ever fell in love with a stallion like you. It doesn’t matter, I won’t be a part of this. I don’t need you. I don’t want your magic. I’m moving myself off the game board. Goodbye.”

Frost stomped around Aldus and headed for the door. Iris stood in his way and stretched her wings out, not wanting him to go. He simply teleported behind her and continued walking. However, he was stopped again when Ciaran teleported into the doorway blocking it.

“Get outta my way, bug!” Frost shouted. Ciaran shook her head and planted herself on her haunches. Frost ran into her as hard as he could, trying to force her out of the way. He slammed his hooves against her stomach, “Let me go!”

Ciaran simply took the beating and wrapped her forehooves around Frost. He looked up at her and noticed she also had tears in her eyes. “No, you’re staying right here with us.”

“Please,” Frost pleaded, “Let me go.”

He continued to resist, but Ciaran only held him tighter. Frost rested his forehead against her when soft feathers touched against his side. Iris wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace, also refusing to let go. Soon Frost felt something forcing its way between Iris and himself. He looked down to see Pyrite hugging one of his legs. None of them were letting him go. Frost lost all willpower to do anything and crumpled in the embrace of the ones holding him.

Meanwhile, Aldus was staring into space hearing a vivid voice from the past. He slumped onto the bed and stared at the floor.

------------

“I can make them see reason, they’ll listen to me.”

“There you go again,” a playful voice chimed from behind him, “You’ll make them see reason, not let them come to it by themselves.”

“You know what I mean, stop teasing me.”

A green unicorn mare trotted up behind a grey unicorn stallion, who was making marks on star charts. The mare decorated her mane with flowers that she picked today. She sat down next to the stallion and leaned against him.

“I do know what you mean. Aldus, you can’t make ponies do things all the time. You can’t lie and play mind games with everypony.”

“True, mind games don’t seem to work on you.” Aldus said while nuzzling the mare’s cheek. “You see right through me, Seabreeze.”

Seabreeze giggled and playfully shoved him away, “I’m serious Aldus, not everything is politics.”

“You don’t know how things are becoming in Equestria.” Aldus said while standing up and walking to the cliff edge. They were on Jadeth near Seabreeze’s local fishing town. The view across the ocean was breathtaking, but it did nothing to calm Aldus’ nerves. “Our court continues to be disrespected. Just last week several of Luna’s favorite tapestries were vandalized during the daytime when the night guard were off duty. There have been conflicts with the lower courtiers and Celestia’s own courtiers. One time I had to step in myself to settle the matter. And Luna... Luna is not acting herself as of late. We’re all beginning to worry.”

“Can’t you appeal to Celestia?” Seabreeze asked.

“Luna claims she’ll address her sister on the matters. The last time I went to Celestia myself Luna completely lost her temper and reprimanded me. She’s all but forbidden me to do it again.” Aldus said with a frown, “I don’t know Seabreeze, I see storm clouds on the horizon.”

“Well yeah magic brain... you’re staring right at them.” Seabreeze deadpanned.

“Huh?” Aldus asked, then realized that a storm was rolling in off the ocean. “Oh, heh... yeah. But that’s not-”

“I know what you meant,” Seabreeze said while joining him near the cliff, “Just remember what I said. You need to respect other pony’s wishes and not treat them like inanimate objects. You’re better than that.”

Aldus turned to Seabreeze and placed his forehead against her own, “I love you, Breezey. But I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my friends and Luna.”

-------------

“You’re better than that...” She was right, she was always right.

“Frost,” Aldus said, turning around to see his student embraced by Ciaran, Iris, and Pyrite. “You’re right. You’re right about everything.”

“What?” Frost said with a sniffle. Iris picked up Pyrite with a claw and backed away. The light blue colt hugged one of Ciaran’s legs as Aldus turned around to face him.

“You’re right, I should have told you. All of you. You deserve more respect than that.”

Frost remained close to Ciaran wiped his snout with a hoof. The changeling levitated some tissues and presented them to the colt. “So what now?” Frost asked.

“Now I’m going to apologize to all of you. I’m sorry.” Aldus said while lowering his head. “Rigel I shouldn’t have shouted at you, that was out of line.”

The red pegasus simply smiled and clasped him on the shoulder, “It’s fine buddy, don’t worry about it.”

“And you Frost, I’ve wronged you as a guardian and as a teacher. I should’ve been more concerned for your safety. I understand if you wish to leave, but I hope you’ll stay and give me a chance to make it up to you.”

Frost chuckled while wiping more tears away, “Yeah, well... I don’t think they’ll let me leave. So here I stay.” he looked up at Ciaran and saw her fanged smile, then at Iris and Pyrite.

“Bring the rest of the children here, we’re going to have a family meeting.” Rigel nodded and flew out of the room as Ciaran picked up Frost and stepped out of the way. Once everypony was present, Aldus stood at the center of the room and levitated over a chair. He sat down facing them and smiled, “Lets start from the beginning.”

---------------

Lord Thest stalked the hallways of his mansion in the Grey Wing Kingdom. After a meeting with Jena’s father, the king of the Golden Nest, he was starting to become fatigued. Ziraal was blithering idiot, but he always seemed energetic despite the responsibilities of ruling. That was at least one thing Thest could respect.

A day ago he had received word that the sun princess wished to speak with the leader of the Grey Wing Kingdom. Apparently there was an incident regarding an attack on her citizens. One of the units he sent to Equestria must have found Iris. At least now he knew where the brat was hiding. That put his mind at ease, knowing she was so far away meant dealing with her could wait. Having taken the role of regent, he would be the one to address the princess. Thest wondered if her sister would be present as well. It would be amusing to see how much she differed from Celestia when dealing with a matter such as this. But he was in no hurry to speak with her, she could wait.

Thest entered his room and locked the door after nodding to the guards outside. He carefully pulled the windows shut and discarded his cloak and tunic. He placed his belt on the dresser and stretched. Most of his family was away on business, so he had the place mostly to himself.

“Things are moving too slowly Thest,” a low voice rumbled from the other side of the room.

The gryphon assassin smirked and stretched on his bed, “I would’ve thought you’d learned patience by now. It’s not like you can do anything but be patient anyway.”

“Insolent pile of feathers, I really hate your kind.”

Thest’s smile widened, there were fewer simple joys in life than antagonizing ponies. He got up and poured himself some wine. “You shouldn’t say that, where would you be without me?”

No response.

Thest moved to a large painting of his grandfather and clicked a button behind it. With the sound of gears turning, the painting collapsed backward and slid to the side, revealing a small dark room.

“The longer you wait, the more in danger you are. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

Within the room a red light flickered with each spoken syllable. A small tube stood at the center containing a horn and several of its shattered fragments. A few tubes connected it  to dim power crystals. Lord Thest still didn’t know if bringing this thing here was such a good idea. One of the small towns located in his family's lands began acting strangely not too long ago. They started to become irritable and angry with each other and outsiders. They murdered the few guards stationed there and attempted to kill a merchant before he got away. The merchant told Thest of their strange behavior and violent nature, something he had never seen before. The gryphon assassin organized a platoon and pacified the town. Many of the male gryphon’s died upon attacking his men, but Thest managed to subdue a few himself for questioning. One finally said something about a red horn landing in the outskirts of his farm. It contained some sort of magic and spoke into his mind. The villagers didn’t survive, Thest considered it merciful that they died, knowing what they’d been through.

The horn was the remains of the ancient tyrant of the Crystal Empire, blown to pieces by the new alicorn princess. Thest had learned much from the ancient king. New crystals that could revolutionize the gryphon war machine, crystals that could negate or even destroy magic, rendering the unicorns helpless. But the old king spoke of something else, something that concerned Thest. The reason behind his rise to rule and control of the Empire. There was a terrible power buried deep in the north, something that the old king even feared. From the times when Equus itself was an entirely different place, before the gryphons had arrived. Whatever it was, it was enough to make him afraid, and that was good enough for Thest.

“I might have an idea if you told me more,” Thest said, stopping in front of the tube. “The army is north, if there is a threat they’ll take care of it.”

“Take care of it?” The horn flickered with laughter, “The wards and restrictions I placed there one thousand years ago have withered away by now. That meddling pink alicorn stopped me from regaining my power and restoring them.”

Thest tipped his glass over the top of the tube and dripped some wine inside, “Would you like some wine? I think it’s time you told me more about what’s up there and stopped being so cryptic. I’ve taken control of the kingdom to do what you’ve said because I believe it will be for the good of all gryphons.”

“You arrogant little- Thest... you fool! We’re not alone!”

The king was right. Thest whirled around and saw a cloaked figure standing in the middle of the room. He cautiously approached the doorway without making any sudden moves. The figure tracked him with dim golden eyes and tilted it’s head.

“I came here to investigate a power, looks like I found it.” the intruder said with a hint of amusement.

“I recognize your magic, it was you who placed wards around our lands and kept us in slumber. We would have emerged eventually, but you sought to delay it for as long as possible. What a futile waste of effort.”

The intruder removed their hood, revealing a pegasus mare. Thest observed several scars on her face, all appeared to be from close calls with blades. Her mane was short and disheveled while a golden liquid seeped from her left eye and the left corner of her mouth. She coughed briefly before smiling at Thest.

The gryphon cursed under his breath, his belt and daggers were across the room. He and his adversary were the same distance away from them. She traced his eyes to the belt and smiled. “Go ahead, the others would rather you join the glimmer. But I’d rather just kill you.”

“Thest.!” the old king shouted.

Thest used that moment and made a break for the daggers. The pony was on top of him almost instantly. Jumping into the air revealed she was a pegasus, explaining her nimble movement. Thest flipped and retracted his tail as a dagger sailed by, taking off a few hairs at the tuft. He spun around to block her next attack. She lashed out with a claw and grabbed Thest’s left arm. He twisted around and kicked her away, wincing as the claw took some flash with it.

The pony landed near the door to the old king and glanced at him. She produced another dagger and attempted to throw it at the container. Thest grabbed two throwing knives and hurled them at the pony, causing her to keep attention on him. Thest was a blur of motion as he spun into the air and clashed blades with the pony. He had never fought an opponent like this before. She was trained in arts similar to his own, but much older and refined. At least that was what he guessed. No movement was wasted, it was like a dance. Several times she swiped at him with her claw, giving Thest brief moments to observe it. It looked like a small dragon claw, green and sewn onto the pony’s limb.

Just when Thest parried a blow and gained his first attack of opportunity, the pony produced something from her cloak and grasped it in her offhoof. It lit up instantly and she disappeared, only to reappear behind and attempt to bury a dagger in his spine. Thest whirled around and kicked the pony in the stomach, sending her staggering backward. It was then that he got a look at what she was holding. It appeared to be a wand of some sort.

The pegasus cracked her neck and leapt at him again, just as she closed the distance she teleported again, this time appearing at Thest’s side. He flapped his wings and vaulted over her, parrying another strike from her dagger. With her mobility, she seemed to gain the upper hand. But Thest had fought unicorns before, and was familiar with magic. Thest purposefully turned to his left just a little too much, exposing a weakness. He parried more blows while doing this, and eventually the pegasus teleported to that position to attack him. Thest was prepared and grabbed the mare by the forehoof. He glanced at the wand and was shocked. The shape, the tip, the spiraled inlay, it was a unicorn horn. Still able to conjure magic? Using the horn of another pony and a claw, what was this mare?

The pegasus backed off as the two combatants circled each other. The mare coughed up gold liquid and flexed her wings. “A formidable opponent... I hate those.”

Thest chuckled, “Don’t like challenges?”

“It doesn’t matter, you’ll not survive what is to come.” the mare said while coughing up even more liquid. “Didn't you know? Your general Ghrast will be coming home soon.” The pegasus stopped with her back to the window and smirked, “Unfortunately, you seem cunning enough to survive. So I’m sure we’ll meet again, and when we do, I’m going to carve your heart out.”

The pegasus dropped two pellets onto the floor and vaulted out the window. Thest shielded his eyes from an explosion of bright light and smoke. He took to the air and saw the pegasus flying low between the buildings before disappearing completely.

Thest landed in the courtyard as guards ran over to him. “What was that explosion?” The captain asked.

“I had a visitor, a rather rude visitor.” Thest said while clicking his beak, “Wake Jena immediately, we have a situation.”

“Yes, sir... but... what happened to the guards? How did the intruder get it?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out. Captain, summon new guards. All the ones upstairs are dead.”

“Yes sir,” the captain said while running off and turning the lights on around the grounds.

Thest sat down near a fountain and stared into the water. He didn’t like what he saw, his reflection, and a look of genuine fear.

---------------

“You destroyed an entire army with a comet?” Ruby asked in awe, “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Can you do it again? Bring a small one down so we can keep its gemstones!” Blue Bell exclaimed.

Firebrand lifted his head and snickered at the filly cuddling him. “They’ll all be burnt up when the thing hits the ground. Ow!”

“Shut up! It’ll be exciting!” Blue Bell said after bopping him on the snout.

“Girls, that was kind of a one time thing.” Aldus said with a laugh.

“You can’t do it again?” Frost asked.

“No, back then there were two conditions that allowed me to pull the comet into the army. First, the comets were already in the sky. A side effect of the chaos Nightmare Moon created when forcing night time over a long period. Second, Selene and I used all our power to do it, and even then it almost killed me.” Aldus said while looking at Rigel. “I regret it now, I never should have done it. But I was so consumed with anger and hate. I didn’t know if you or Polaris were dead, Rigel. I thought they killed you... and I wasn’t going to let them get away with it.”

Rigel rubbed Aldus’ shoulder and smiled, “It doesn’t matter now, we all served our time. What’s in the past is in the past.”

“So you can’t summon a comet?” Iris queried.

“Summon it? Goodness no. I’m no alicorn, Princess Luna is the only one that can do that.” Aldus said with a laugh.

The story about the war and their return took considerable time to tell, and their recent involvement at Darkmire Moors left the children wanting to know more. Most of them were curled up on the bed struggling to stay awake. Aldus and Rigel were surprised how fast the children adapted to seeing Ciaran in her true form. She was laying on her bed with Ruby and Antares resting against her back. Frost was on his stomach next to her listening attentively while Pyrite struggled to stay awake atop her head.

“Well...” Aldus said with a stretch, “I’m happy you’re home safe, Frost. It’s the middle of the night now, I think we should all get some rest.”

“I agree,” Rigel said with a yawn, “Lets go children, time for bed.”

The children groaned and yawned at Rigel’s request. Ciaran chuckled and waved the courtiers away, “They’re already half asleep. I don’t mind them staying here for the rest of the night.”

“You’re sure?” Aldus asked.

“I am. Frost came back safe and sound. Let them be together.” she said while smiling at Pyrite’s yawns.

Aldus and Rigel shrugged and left the room, closing the door softly behind them. Iris was shutting her eyes along with the three fillies as their guardians remained awake to watch over them. Pyrite lolled to one side and slid off Ciaran’s head, only to be caught in a magical field. Ciaran gently spun him around and sat him between her forehooves.

“How much magic do you know, Ciaran?” Frost whispered.

Ciaran looked over at him, “What?”

“How much magic do you know compared to Silth?”

“Oh... you want me to teach you, do you?” Ciaran queried with a slight giggle, “I know as much as my sister, and maybe a few tricks that even she doesn’t know.”

Frost sighed and rolled over so he was facing Pyrite, “Good, so you’ll teach me about changeling magic...”

Ciaran remained silent as Frost went to sleep and wondered just what ideas Silth put in his head. It was apparent to her now more than ever that Frost wouldn’t have just one teacher. She would be guiding him as well.

--------------

The next went by relatively quickly as Frost began more advanced lessons from Aldus. He was attempting to boost his magic reserves by absorbing power from special crystals. As they day neared it’s end. Aldus was sitting Rigel’s room reading the paper when a knock came at the door. Rigel flew over and opened it find all the children and Ciaran.

“They all wanted to hear more stories,” Ciaran said with a smile, “Do either of you object?”

Rigel looked over at Aldus, who put away the newspaper and nodded. The children sat down and Ruby was the first to raise her hoof. “Yes, Ruby?” Aldus said.

“Aldus, we’d to know about the former princess of the Silver Isles, Seabreeze.”

Rigel’s eyes widened and he shot Aldus a worried glance. The grey unicorn chuckled and waved a hoof at his friend, “It’s okay, Rigel.”

“You married a princess? That’s incredible!” Blue Bell said, “You’re royalty here!”

Aldus laughed along with Rigel, “No, I wasn’t married to her. And she wasn’t a princess when I met her, that happened later.”

“How did you meet her?” Ruby asked.

“When I was young we would travel among the lesser islands on our breaks from school in Canterlot. It was Polaris’ idea to spend summers here, that’s when I met her. She was just a pretty filly from a fishing village.”

“Why did she like you?” Pyrite asked innocently.

“Pyrite! That’s a rude question!” Ruby admonished.

“Yeah, but it’s something I’ve been wondering.” Ciaran said with a playful smile to the colt.

Aldus began to speak but Rigel cut him off, “Way I remember it, she recognized instantly that he no skill with fillies. She thought it was hilarious.”

“Yeah... hilarious,” Aldus grumbled.

“I think it started out as a game for her,” Rigel mused, “She genuinely liked spending time with him, she’d teach him do’s and don’ts when being around mares. It really was perfect, she loved teaching and Aldus loved learning.”

“Oh she’d teach me things alright,” Aldus said with a laugh, “Like that one time she dropped a fish in robes, or the other when she froze a waterfall while I was meditating under it.”

Rigel guffawed, causing the children to laugh as well. “I remember that! You had spent all your magic earlier and were trying to recover it. She did that and left you there because you were twenty minutes late for a date the previous night. It took Polaris and I forever to get you out of that.”

“I was so angry,” Aldus said, “But the next time I saw her it all melted away.”

“She was always playing tricks on you, reminds me of somepony else I know.” Rigel said while slipping a playful wink to Iris. The gryphon grinned and tickled Frost’s neck with her tail.

“So the statue we passed near the middle of the city was her?” Frost asked.

Aldus closed his eyes and remembered the statue. It was cast in the image of her sitting at the edge of a fortress, watching over the seas. “Yes, that was her.”

“How did she become a princess?” Iris asked.

Aldus smiled and stood up. “Come with me children, I’ll explain on the way.”

The foals got up and murmured to each other in confusion. “Where are we going?” Frost asked.

“You’ll see,” Aldus said. “Lets just say in some instances showing is better than telling. But you wanted to know how she became a princess? Well, Seabreeze always lived in a fishing village with a sizable port. Fishing was the main source of income for many of the small towns and villages located on the smaller isles. She would use her magic to help boats come in and out of port by subtly changing the currents and tide. In some situations she would even alter the weather, if only slightly.”

“Why did she do all that?” Ruby wondered aloud.

“Her father was a fisherpony, and many other children had parents who were out at sea for extended periods of time. Seabreeze wanted to be a teacher, and acted as a foalsitter to many of the younger foals in her village. She would take them to the docks and watch the ships come and go, and to welcome back their mothers and fathers when they returned.”

“What does that have to do with being a princess?” Blue Bell asked.

“Well,” Aldus began, “One evening there was a terrible storm, and a group of ponies forgot about the notice from the weather pegasi. They were trying to make it back home ,but were in danger of being crushed against the rocks near the mouth of the bay. Seabreeze calmed the storm and suppressed the waves all by herself, saving the ponies. The next thing everypony knew, Seabreeze was swept up in a vast cloud of light and vanished, only to reappear near the outskirts of the village with wings, and Princess Desalia herself by her side. Seabreeze finally understood her cutie mark on that day. Three waves cresting with three gusts of wind.”

“Wow...” Blue Bell said, “What then?”

“Princess Desalia announced the new princess and commanded the villagers to bow, despite Seabreeze’s instance of it not being necessary.”

“Wait a second,” Iris said, “Aren’t pegasi supposed to constantly monitor the weather?”

“Yes, Iris.” Rigel replied, “There is always a weather team on standby in the pony kingdoms.”

“Then why did Seabreeze need to watch the tides and manipulate the weather at all? Don’t storms only form when the pegasi want them to?”

Aldus stopped and knelt down to the gryphon, smiling at her. “Normally, that would be correct. And Seabreeze herself asked the same question to Princess Desalia. She wondered why she was made a princess. Desalia, cryptic as always, stated that it was simply her destiny. However, she also alluded to magic emanating from the Silver Ocean, far beneath the waves. The Isles themselves are strong in magical energy, but there is a raw random force in that sea, and it can affect weather beyond the control of the pegasi. I think Desalia believed it was Seabreeze’s destiny to counteract this and protect the smaller Islands near the tip of the kingdom.”

“So what happened next?” Frost asked, “How did you react to finding out your marefriend sprouted wings?”

“At first I didn’t know what to think,” Aldus said, “I traveled to the Isles as fast as I could. When she finally saw me she was surrounded by guards with tears in her eyes. She wanted to know if I still loved her. Of course I did, she had nothing to worry about. I took a few weeks off to be with her during her transition to princess hood. There was a coronation and a few other events that we attended. After that, she returned to her village and explained what Desalia had in store for her.”

“What was that? Ruling alongside her?” Ruby asked, “This Princess Desalia doesn’t seem like the type of mare to share power.”

“What ever gave you that impression?” Rigel asked sarcastically while tickling Ruby with a feather.

“Princess Desalia is the true ruler of the Silver Isles, and always has been. But throughout its history several mares have risen to become alicorns in the Isles. Each time Desalia did the proper thing, it was no different with Seabreeze. She allotted whatever resources were necessary for Seabreeze to perform her duty and granted her a place in the royal court. Seabreeze was treated fairly and given all the benefits befitting a princess.”

“Oh! What benefits?” Blue asked excitedly, “Jewels? Gems? Money?”

“Power? Influence?” Frost added.

“Yes yes all of that. Desalia told her she needed a seat of power in the southern Islands and commissioned a fortress to be built. Seabreeze decided to place it near her home village so she could continue to be near those she loved. But the thing she really loved was painting.”

“Painting?” the children asked.

“That’s right, the southern tower of her fortress was an art gallery, complete with a large balcony on which she created dozens upon dozens of paintings.” Aldus said with a loving smile, “They were the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, besides Seabreeze herself. When she wasn’t traveling around the islands seeing to the needs of the citizens, she was watching the children in the fortress, still able to be a teacher just like she wanted.”

Aldus unlocked the door to his room and motioned for the children to enter. Once they were all inside he winked at Rigel and chuckled along with him. “As a princess, Seabreeze was granted access to the archives that Princess Desalia protects and maintains. She discovered a special magic related to painting, a lost art that hadn’t been done in centuries.”

“I remember this,” Rigel said, staring at a large rectangular object as large as the room itself.

“During one of my visits to the Isles, Seabreeze was delighted over something she found in the archives and couldn’t wait to show me. When I saw her in the fortress she immediately sat me down and told me not to move. I knew what she was doing, or at least I thought I did. I hated it when she wanted to paint me, and she always complained I was too rigid or fidgety. She blindfolded me and said she required my magic to create this painting. I allowed her to use as much as she needed. For several hours I sat there patiently allowing her to draw upon my magic, and she used it all. I was exhausted by the time she was done, and I wasn’t even doing anything.” Aldus smiled as he unhooked the cloth covering, “When I first saw it, I can definitely say it wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Ciaran gasped along with all the children as the cloth fell away. The painting was massive, in fact it looked large enough to be a mural. It was a scenic depiction of an enchanted landscape. Rolling hills and meadows made up the foreground with a sunkissed horizon over an ocean. Trees blew in the wind and a winding path led up to mountains far in the distance. Atop the largest peak were the towers of a castle. Misty clouds obscured the neighboring peaks as the sky transitioned from day to night. It was magnificent.

Frost leaned closer and saw black spots dotted around the towers of the castle. Either his eyes were playing tricks on him, or he saw them move. Ruby nudged his shoulder and pointed at the trees. The leaves seemed to be moving as well. Was this one of those optical illusion paintings?

“Notice anything strange?” Aldus asked, grinning ear to ear.

“Are objects in that painting... moving?” Iris asked in awe.

“When Seabreeze became a princess, she was stressed with all the responsibilities. Eventually she became accustomed to her new life, but she yearned for a place to go away from all the work. She found a special magic in the archives, and infused it into this painting. After it was finished she embraced me and marveled at her creation. ‘Our own world’ she called it. Created using both our magic. For us and the children Seabreeze looked after. A place of safety and comfort to be shared with anypony we desired.”

Ciaran marveled at the painting and smiled, “I’ve never seen anything like this. Incredible.”

“So... does that mean...? Iris asked, leaning forward in excitement.

Aldus grinned and touched his hoof to the painting. It passed through creating slight ripples across the surface. “Are you ready for an adventure in a new world?”

A chorus of joy erupted from the children. Rigel whispered to Aldus, “What’s in that castle up there?”

Aldus shrugged knowingly, “Only one way to find out...”

The children watched the courtiers enter the painting and stepped forward as their guardians materialized beside them. Andromeda, Black Star, Firebrand and Stormcaller all smiled and readied themselves. “Let’s go!” Pyrite shouted and dove through the painting, followed by the rest.

Ciaran stepped toward the painting and chuckled, “An entire world stored in such a small thing. How useful... a clever princess might use such a place to hide secrets. What will we find, Aldus? What could be hidden here, even from you?”

Chapter 21: The Shores Beyond

The field of flowers was stunning. Ciaran smelled the air and watched as a group of leaves were blown toward the sea. This entire place was a world of its own, and it practically radiated with magic. Aldus stood with Rigel as the children played in the field, the two ponies smiled at the changeling as she moved to join them.

“What do you think, Ciaran?” Aldus asked.

“This place is beautiful, it’s paradise. Did you and Seabreeze spend much time here?”

“We did... though when I was last here we had a bad argument.”

“Oh? What about? The war?”

“Yeah, the war...” Aldus trailed off as he watched the children playing. “Seabreeze didn’t want me to fight, she wanted me to do anything but that. She wanted me to leave and be with her. She begged to talk with Celestia and Luna, to make them see reason, but it was too late.”

“Did you ever think about leaving for her?” Ciaran asked.

“Yes,” Aldus said as he lowered his head, “But I couldn’t choose between Breezey and Luna. The Princess of the Night was like a mother to me. The things she did for ponies, for children in their dreams, it was such a good. All that I am, I owe to her. I loved her for what she gave to me. I couldn’t abandon that. But... I loved Seabreeze, too. And because of my choice, I wasn’t there when she died...”

Ciaran watched Aldus’ ears fall flat against his head as he slumped to the ground. Rigel extended a wing and rubbed Aldus’ shoulders in comfort. The changeling felt a tear come to her eye as she leaned down to be at eye level. “What happened? You can tell me. Hey, maybe it’ll make you feel better to talk about it.”

Aldus looked up at the changeling and allowed a weak smile to form across his face. Rigel nodded to Aldus and left to join the children. Iris, Ruby, and Blue Bell wanted to explore the castle at the top of the mountain, so Rigel agreed to go with them.

“During the war,” Aldus began, “The night and day cycle was constantly erratic. It caused problems throughout the land, though the Silver Isles were largely unaffected due to their magic. However, one particular night the magic in the Silver Sea built to a level that was out of control. It caused a massive hurricane and tidal wave that threatened to destroy half the Silver Isles. Princess Desalia was away on royal business when the disaster happened. Word was sent for her to return, but she couldn’t make it in time. Seabreeze knew what she had to do. As a princess, she knew the burden was hers to bear. Taking what little power crystals she had, she stood atop her fortress and erected a barrier around the smaller islands. With what remained of her magic, she calmed the storm and broke the tidal waves, saving the lives of thousands of ponies. But it took all of her magic, and even when she had none left, she continued to stop the waves and the winds. Seabreeze died that night, using her own life energy in place of magic to dissipate the storm.”

Aldus was crying now, tears streaming down his face. “When I heard the news, I braved the blockades of Celestia’s army and traveled to the Silver Isles. I had never felt so hollow in my entire life. When I entered her fortress I was greeted by Princess Desalia and the children Seabreeze looked after. It was the first time I ever saw Desalia cry. I didn’t have the words, and neither did she. She simply opened her wings and embraced me. The children joined us as we mourned. Later that day, she was entombed with the rest of the princesses of the Silver Isles. I never got to say goodbye, the last thing I ever said to her was in an argument.”

The grey unicorn was absolutely balling now, unable to control himself. Ciaran carefully rubbed Aldus’ shoulders and pulled him into a comforting embrace. “I’m so sorry, Aldus. I can’t imagine how that must feel.”

Aldus shook his head and muttered into her chest. “All this sorrow, is this good for you?” he asked with a sarcastic laugh.

Ciaran giggled and shushed him, “If I consumed this, I’d get sick. Thanks for the offer though.”

They both laughed as Aldus regained his composure and let go of Ciaran. “That was... I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Ciaran.”

The changeling smiled, “Now I know why that love is so sublime. It’s charged with so much emotion, layers upon layers, it’s just so... mmm” Ciaran moaned.  

“Yes, well... I think you’ve had enough of my love,” Aldus said, “So what did Silth have to say when she visited you?”

Ciaran was taken aback by the question. “How did you know she met with me to deliver Frost?”

“I didn’t, you just told me.” Aldus said with a smirk. “ But I didn’t think she’d simply leave him on our doorstep. So, what did she say?”

Ciaran swallowed and paused a moment. Aldus watched her while he dried his eyes. She could lie, but that wouldn’t end well. He’d see through it, and Ciaran knew better. Despite his skill in magic and fusion with the Nightmare creature, Aldus was no warrior or battlemage. He was proficient in combat, but that wasn’t his true talent. No, Aldus was a political figure. A leader among nobleponies and diplomat for the princesses. Ciaran was a changeling, deceit was part of who she was. But every fiber of her being told her Aldus would see right through it. The changeling didn’t enjoy just how unsettling that feeling was. That possibly the most important weapon in her arsenal was useless against him. But that didn’t matter, she was smarter than her sister. In a situation like this, the best strategy was to simply not lie.

“She returned Frost under the same spell you experienced...” Ciaran said with a wink, “Silth seemed to care about him, she told me to look after him.”

“Interesting, is that all?” Aldus inquired.

“She said she wanted to change, that you influenced her. Oh... and she said she’d taste your love again...” Ciaran said with a sly smile.

Aldus chuckled and stood up, “Ciaran, I want you to answer this question truthfully.”

The changeling raised an eyebrow, “What question?”

“Do you care about Frost? Is there a bond growing between you two?”

Ciaran nodded, it was true. She did care for the colt. He was adorable and had a lot of spunk. Teasing him was fun and she admired how he cared for his friends. It reminded her of some adolescent changelings in her colony. “Yes, I care for him.”

“Would you enjoy seeing your sister’s actions influence him over your own?” Aldus asked.

Ciaran exposed her fangs and curled her lips in disgust, “No...”

“Then replace them with your own. Once Frost has enough spells and bit more experience, I’m giving him to you for some training and lessons of your own.”

Ciaran smiled and sidled up to Aldus, rubbing against his head, “And what am I supposed to teach him exactly?”

Aldus grinned, “We’ll get to that when the time comes.”

------------------

At the top of the mountain, Rigel landed in front of the castle and knelt down, allowing Blue Bell and Ruby to climb off. Iris landed beside him, dropping a very sick looking Frost in front of her. Antares was the last to land with Pyrite giggling from her back. Rigel stretched his wings and began to examine his feathers when small hooves wrapped around his legs.

“Thank you for flying us here, Rigel.” Ruby said while grinning.

“Yeah,” Blue Bell said, “Next time you could fly a little faster, though.”

Rigel smiled and embraced the fillies, “It was no trouble at all girls, maybe next time I will go faster. Just remember you asked for it.” he added with a wink to Blue Bell.

Frost and Iris trotted forward and stood in awe of just how large the castle was. The door was enormous, at least three times the size of any normal castle or palace entrance.

“How do we get in?” Ruby asked.

Frost approached the door and observed a large ring resting against the door. A strange creature adorned the surface. It seemed almost... feline in appearance. On either side a long mane dangled below it’s head while large teeth clenched the ring knocker. Frost stepped forward and picked up the ring. He looked back to his friends, then slammed the ring against the door three times. At first, there was nothing but silence, then a loud creaking sound reverberated through the door as it slid open.

The foals waited as light bathed the interior of the entrance hall. It was absolutely enormous, with pillars erected on either side stretching to the ceiling. Frost and Iris slowly entered as the rest of the foals followed Rigel. The entrance hall split off in three different directions. The castle itself had three areas all leading back to the central tower.

“C’mon! Let’s explore!” Blue Bell exclaimed as she ran off down the central corridor. Ruby and Antares shrugged and chased after her. Rigel nodded to the Iris, trusting her enough to be alone. He slowly walked down the corridor behind the fillies, admiring the architecture. Pyrite jumped on Iris’s back as she briefly took to the air down the corridor to the right. Several of the doors were closed, so she flew up to the ceiling and examined the stained glass. She hovered close and ran a claw across it, watching the light bend. Pyrite leaned forward and tried do the same but almost fell. Iris giggled and retrieved him from her back with a single claw. She held him up to the glass and chuckled as he smiled at all the colors.

“Wow...” Pyrite murmured, “This is beautiful.”

“Yeah, it is,” Iris agreed as she placed the colt on her back and slowly circled down to the floor. “We have windows like those around the temples dedicated to the Matriarch.”

Frost turned around as the two landed, he squinted at the windows. “They sure look cool even from down here.”

Iris grinned, “I can fly you up there if you want.”

Frost shook his head, “No thanks.”

Iris laughed and flexed her wings, “You’re so light it’s not even a problem. Don’t you like flying with me?” she pouted.

Frost turned away to avoid displaying his blush, “No, I do. Oh! Look at this Iris!” the blue unicorn pointed at something and dashed off further down the corridor.

Iris chuckled and flew after Frost, “You can’t avoid the question by just running off after something... wha?”

The gryphon trailed off as she found herself in a new room alongside Frost. There was a darkened corridor that lead out of the room and continued in the same direction, but it was pitch black. Iris didn’t understand what was going on, the windows stopped just ahead at the entrance to the dark corridor, but there was still light in the room from the outside. So why was it dark down there?

“Iris... look...” Frost said while motioning her forward. As they moved closer to the corridor, the sun began to set outside, revealing a starlit night sky. Frost grabbed Iris and moved backward. With each step back, the sun reversed its direction and climbed higher into the sky.

“What is this?” Iris asked.

“It must be some type of illusion magic in this room, there’s no other explanation, is there?” Frost asked Iris.

The gryphon shrugged, “You’re the magic student, you tell me.”

“I don’t know,” Frost said, pondering the darkness, “But it seems whatever this is, it wants to keep that passage dark for some reason.”

Frost stepped forward and was halted by Pyrite, who grabbed hold of his tail. “Frost, I don’t think going there is such a good idea.”

“Are you scared? I can just make a light with my horn. Besides, I don’t see why Seabreeze would put anything scary in here.” Frost said.

“I dunno...” Pyrite said while staring past Frost into the dark, “I think there’s something bad down there.”

Iris winked at Frost and crouched down. “Tell you what, how bout you go first. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t worry, we have our guardians with us. Nothing is going to hurt us here.”

Pyrite considered the situation and looked at his shadow. A pair of blue eyes materialized from the darkness and winked at him. Andromeda was there to protect him. And Frost had his magic.

“Alright,” Pyrite relented, “But can you stay right behind me?”

“Of course,” Iris said with a smile. The gryphon stood up and extended a wing behind Pyrite as he walked.

As they approached the corridor, the sun retreated beyond the horizon leaving only stars to light the sky. There was a strange statue of a pony. It was a pegasus sitting on its haunches. It’s face obscured by a veil, the pony extended it’s forehooves as if awaiting an offering.

Pyrite continued down the corridor but Frost stopped him, “Wait you two, look at this. I think we’re supposed to place something with this pony.” Frost looked around and found a chest near the statue. He opened it to find several white crystals. He cautiously looked at Iris and Pyrite before placing the crystal in the hooves of the statue. With a low hum, the crystal clicked into place. The statue’s eyes behind the veil began to glow green as fire’s lit up down the corridor, illuminating their path. The fires sprang to life from chandeliers high above the floor. Light allowed various shadows to creep along the corridor, spawning from the various clutter now visible.

Iris chuckled, “Thanks, Frost. Now it’s even more creepy.” She nudged Pyrite forward with her wing, “C’mon brave warrior, lets go.”

The passage was indeed creepy. Several portraits hung on the walls. Paintings of ponies and various landscapes, all illuminated by the fires above. Chairs and tables were covered in sheets along the walls. As they passed further into the corridor, Frost whirled around and looked behind them.

“What’s wrong?” Iris asked.

“Did you hear that?”

“No, what did you hear?”

“I don’t know... I guess it was nothing,” Frost said as they continued on.

At the end of the passage was a great wall covered with a mural. Frost and Iris weren’t sure what make of it. It was equal parts beautiful... and disturbing. A vast sea dominated the mural. The water sparkled as the light danced off the surface, while the sky transitioned from day to night, just like the painting they were in. A beach ran the length of the mural, near the water there were several boats preparing to depart. Ponies gathered around them, some waiting their turn while others boarded the craft. Far in the distance, a pristine shoreline could be seen. It was the destination of the boats.

Despite the beauty of the background, it was the object in the foreground that was most unsettling. A fair distance away from the beach atop a hill, a creature leaned against a tree. It was depicted as watching the ponies carry out their tasks. Though to Frost it seemed quite passive, despite it’s vigilance. The creature was massive, standing at least five times the size of the largest stallion, and twice the size of a minotaur. It was painted in great detail. The creature had long legs, one the hoof of a pony or minotaur, the other the scaly hide of a dragon. It’s torso was obscured by a short tattered green cloak, but it appeared to have a muscular upper body and stood upright. One of it’s arms was a paw, similar to a gryphon’s while the other was a green reptilian claw. The most striking features were it’s head and tail. The creature’s head was feline, that of a lion. A long greying mane hung below it’s massive head while some patches of fur were missing on it’s face and shoulders. It’s tail wasn’t a tail at all, but rather an enormous blue snake. It looked like a cobra and stretched all the way above the creature’s head. In it’s claw rested an enormous pole axe with a blade made of material Frost had never seen before.

“Iris...” Frost whispered.

“Frost,” Iris whispered back, “What exactly am I looking at? What is that thing?”

“I- I don’t know...” Frost answered, “But I think I know what this mural is depicting.”

“What?” Iris asked.

“The Eternal Shores...” Pyrite whispered.

“Yeah,” Frost nodded in agreement. “It’s ponykind’s idea of the afterlife. The shores of eternity. You sail across a tranquil sea and land on the shores, paradise lies beyond.”

“Really?” Iris asked.

“Yeah, some say it’s where the alicorns are from. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But... I don’t know why that thing is standing there.”

Pyrite backed into Iris and looked up at her, “Why is it holding that big battle axe? Is it going to attack those ponies by the water?”

Iris frowned at the mural and shook her head, “I don’t think so... because that isn’t a battle axe.”

“It’s not?” Pyrite whispered.

“I don’t think so. The blade is too long, and it lacks a strong curve. But I have seen something like that before in my kingdom.”

“What was it?” Frost asked.

Iris took another look at the creature and grimaced, “It looks like an executioner’s axe.”

“What?!” Frost exclaimed, still with a whisper. “Why is that thing standing there like that? Seabreeze had to have painted this, it’s so similar to the one Aldus showed us. The one we’re inside.”

“Iris... can we go now?” Pyrite asked, “It’s getting spooky in here.”

“Why are we whispering?”

The foals almost jumped out of their skin at the sound of another voice amongst them. Pyrite lept into Iris’ breast as she jumped backward. Frost teleported alongside her at the same moment while seconds later Black Star and Andromeda were between them and the voice.

“I knew this was a bad idea!” Pyrite shouted.

“Woah! Hang on! Hang on!” the voice pleaded, a claw emerged from the shadows waving a small white flag. “I didn’t come here to fight.”

The foal’s eyes bulged when the owner of the voice revealed himself. Another abomination, but this one they recognized all too well. The trickster spirit of chaos.

“Discord...” Frost said, still very much on edge.

“Yes! Um... Frost, is it? I apologize for the scare, couldn’t resist.”

“The spirit of chaos who ruled Equestria before the alicorn sister’s rise to power, I’ve read about you.” Iris said.

Discord smiled at the gryphon and extended his claw, “All good things I hope.”

Iris reluctantly grasped the draconequus’ appendage and shook. She mentally braced for something to happen, but nothing did. Discord simply smiled and peered around Iris’ neck to the colt who was crouched between her raised wings. “You’re Discord?” he asked with a slight tremble in his voice.

Discord laughed and disappeared in a flash of light. He reappeared on Iris’ back the same size as Pyrite and grabbed the colt in a playful hug. “Thats me!”

Pyrite chuckled at the current size of the draconequus, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Mr. Discord.”

“Mr. Discord? Ha! I appreciate the respect.”

“Alright enough messing around,” Frost said, trying to remain calm, “Why are you here?”

Discord smiled at Frost and returned to his normal size. He snaked his body around Frost and looked at him upside down, “A couple of reasons, honestly. I’ve been wanting to play with you foals for a while now. But I’ve been busy, chaos you know...”

“You’ve been causing chaos?” Pyrite asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Yes, and it’s been wonderful but... limited... Can’t upset ol’ sunbutt.”

“Sunbutt?” Iris asked with a laugh, “As in, Princess Celestia?”

“Yep,” Discord answered with a sigh, “So boring. I’ve been traveling, too. I made some stops here and there. The outer planes, the eighth dimension, then I sensed a presence here... where nopony should be.”

“Wait... so you know what this place is?” Frost asked.

“Oh naturally,” Discord replied, “Where is your mother?” he asked to Black Star and Andromeda. “I’m sure she’ll be able to shed some light on this.”

“She’s away,” Black Star said, “We don’t know when she’ll be back.”

“What is this place? Tell us!” Frost demanded.

Discord grinned, “Why, this is a castle. One of splendid make, I might add. A castle that just happens to be inside a painting.”

Frost and Iris deadpanned the draconequus, “Okay... can you at least tell us what that is?”

Discord looked up to the mural and the creature Frost was pointing at. Iris noticed he took on a different demeanor when looking at the mural. “That is somepony you don’t want to meet.” he said.

“Who is it, why is there a mural with him in a place like this?”

The spirit of chaos scratched his head, contemplating his next words carefully. “That is another spirit, like myself and Selene. I knew him a long time ago. Why is there a mural of him here? I can hazard a few guesses. You see... it’s a bit complicated.” Discord snapped his talons and the foals soon found themselves floating above the entire world. “This place is in a... hmm... different world. A pocket dimension so to speak, and it has neighbors.” He snapped his talons again returning them to the corridor. “I’m guessing the neighbors came to visit at one time or another. The creator of this world likely met them.”

“Wait... you’re saying that thing lives in a world next to this one?” Frost asked.

“Next to it, or close to it, yes.” Discord said.

“This is too much to take in,” Frost said with a sigh, “Do you think Aldus knows about this?”

Discord began to say something when an earsplitting scream resonated from deeper inside the castle.

“That sounded like Ruby!” Frost exclaimed. “What’s going on?”

“Your friends are in trouble,” Discord said as he snapped his talons, except nothing happened. He examined his claw and snapped it again and again, still nothing.

“What are you doing?” Iris screeched, “Use your magic! Teleport us to them! Or them to us! Do something!”

Discord frowned, “I can’t, my power is being disrupted, and it’s his doing...” he pointed to the creature on the mural. “Quickly, we can still help them.”

Discord grabbed Frost and flew off down the hallway with Iris close behind.

--------------

Blue Bell screamed as a gigantic blade fell upon her. Just before it hit, Firebrand grabbed her and rolled out of the way. “Stay back!” he yelled to her. Stormcaller was with Ruby and Antares dealing with another assailant. Firebrand watched the creature pull it’s curved blade out from the marble floor it cracked. It looked like some sort of lizard with goat horns. It sported tattered wings and long wiry tail that Firebrand was certain could be used as a piercing weapon. The creature nearest them wielded a halberd and buckler standing on its hind legs, while the other held a single curved sword and sported a feline appearance. There were multiple versions of these creatures in the great hall. They were statues, but somehow these came alive and immediately tried to kill Ruby and the rest of the fillies.

Firebrand extended a hoof to hurl a fireball at the creature. However, all that manifested was a sputter of flame and smoke. As he attempted to cast, he noticed a purple gem glow from the chest of the creature. “Oh no...” Firebrand muttered as the creature brought the halberd across in a wide arcing slash, sending him flying into a wall.

“Firebrand!” Blue Bell screamed in terror.

The creature turned it’s attention to Blue Bell and raised it’s halberd for an overhead strike. She winced and cowered on the floor with nowhere to run. The shadow of the blade grew larger on the floor, then stopped. The blue earth pony looked up to find a draconequus standing in front of her. It caught the halberd with a claw, stopping it mid swing. The creature snarled and pushed the halberd further. Blue Bell knew who it was that saved her. Discord turned around and winked at the filly, “It’s okay, run!”

Blue Bell nodded and ran to Firebrand while Discord faced down the creature. He recognized it all too well, a gargoyle. A creation ancient ponies used to watch over fortresses and important structures, and a remarkable few were granted the ability to come alive and protect their castles. The ones granted that power were often crafted in the likeness of certain spirits, and it was quite obvious which spirit these represented.

Discord conjured a purple sphere in his free paw, as he did the gemstone embedded in the gargoyle’s chest lit up to match it. The interference caused Discord to pour more magic into the spell to make it effective. Once it was large enough, he loosed it on his foe, the impact staggered the gargoyle, but that was all. It roared in anger and slammed it’s buckler into Discord’s face sending him careening into the wall to land in a coiled heap. The gargoyle turned it’s attention to Blue Bell again, and stalked toward her. Firebrand recovered and picked Blue Bell up off the floor. He noticed Frost trying to get Discord to move after the blow.

“Frost! Distract this thing!”

Frost gritted his teeth and pulled at Discord’s paw, “Get up! We need you!”

Discord let out a grunt and reoriented himself, “Those things are passively draining our magic. Whenever we try to use it, they take even more.”

“You’re the spirit of chaos! It took Celestia and Luna to defeat you! You’re more powerful than this!” Frost shouted.

Discord crouched low and looked Frost in the eye. “You don’t understand, these things are guardians placed here specifically to defend against other spirits. Spirits like me. They drain all magic, especially mine and  that of your protector’s.”

“Then why did you come here if these things could kill you?!” Frost stammered.

“I didn’t know they were here!” Discord shouted back. “We need to destroy them before our magic is drained completely.”

“Frost!!!” Firebrand shouted as he dodged a swing from the halberd.

A sound of breaking stone came from above as a third gargoyle broke from its position on the roof and jumped down. “I’ll handle these two, go Frost.” Discord instructed.

Frost nodded and ran to the gargoyle attacking Firebrand, he summoned ice spikes and hurled four into the gargoyle’s back causing it to turn on Frost. Firebrand squeezed Blue Bell tighter and glanced over to Stormcaller, who was dodging attacks from the curved sword. He was cleverly using the pillars to his advantage forcing the gargoyle to limit it’s attacks. Firebrand knew he couldn’t keep it up much longer, not while holding both Ruby and Antares. Luckily, he saw Pyrite bond with Andromeda and transform into his armored appearance. This was the perfect chance.

Firebrand flew over to Pyrite and Iris and pointed a hoof at the curved sword wielding gargoyle. “Stormcaller and I are going to protect the fillies, keep that one occupied for us.”

“Where is Rigel?” Iris asked.

“There were two more in here that awakened earlier, Rigel got their attention and led them away.” He pointed to a hole in the ceiling.

Pyrite nodded and charged the gargoyle, running as fast as his form would allow. The gargoyle heard him coming, but didn’t have time to react. Pyrite plowed into it and forced it back several paces into a pillar and away from Stormcaller.

Iris looked on and clenched her talons. Behind her Black Star grew in size and stared down at her. “Black Star, I’ve got to help. I can wield a blade. Can you do what Andromeda does?”

The black pegasus smiled, “We’ll fight as one. You shall be the most powerful gryphon in the world.” Iris smiled as Black Star picked her up. “Quiet your mind and don’t be afraid.”

Black Star sat on his haunches and slowly pushed Iris into his chest, which gave way becoming a viscous liquid. He hunched over and folded his wings around her. Soon Iris was consumed by darkness in a complete void of black. Then, light. She could see clearer than ever before. Each sense was heightened. She could feel the power radiating through her, Black Star was a part of her now. An extension of her very being like a claw or a wing. Iris set her sights on the gargoyle and leapt into the air.

From a distance away, Frost did a double take to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. Iris had transformed into the same type of gryphon that killed the blue priest. She doubled in size and sported three tails, two sets of wings, and claws that looked like they could rend the strongest iron. Discord was still busy with the third gargoyle, and he had this halberd to worry about. He just hoped Iris and Pyrite could handle themselves.

The gargoyle engaged with Pyrite finally gained leverage and was able to throw off the earth colt, only to be blind sided by a swipe from Iris’ razor blade claws. The gargoyle screamed and slashed at Iris, who dodged at the last second.

Meanwhile, Pyrite got up and shook his head, “I don’t know if we can do this, Andromeda. These things are strong.”

Andromeda coiled ethereal tentacles around Pyrite to calm him, “We can, these things disrupt magic, but I’m not using any while I’m with you. It’s just intertwined with your armor, we’ll beat these things to rubble with our bare hooves!”

Pyrite smiled and focused on the gargoyle, allowing Andromeda to guide his movements. He charged the gargoyle again, but this time it simply sidestepped and kicked him across the room.

Iris watched Pyrite bounce off the floor like a stone skipping across the water. She snarled in rage and flew up to another statue. With a grunt she wrenched the blade from its claws and dropped down. The curved sword sailed through the air and clashed against her blade. Now, with Black Star a part of her, and other lives on the line, Iris was in the first real sword fight of her life.

On the other side of the great hall, yet another gargoyle came to life and landed on the floor with a crash. This one wielding a whip and catch pole, and there was nothing stopping it from attacking the fillies and their guardians. Discord grunted as he dodged another swing from the second halberd gargoyle, but this time the the blade managed to graze him. Discord was shocked to see blood escape the wound. At that moment he felt fear for the first time since he fought the alicorn sisters. These were blood hunt weapons. Deadly tools capable of meting out justice to spirits and alicorns alike. Selene’s children were just as vulnerable to these as he was. Discord watched the gargoyle stalk toward the fillies, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Firebrand and Stormcaller saw their new foe getting closer. Both colts sat the fillies between them and stood on either side. “Hold onto each other and don’t move,” Firebrand instructed while spreading his wings. Opposite him, Stormcaller smiled to Ruby and extended his own wings. “Don’t be afraid, you’ll be safe with us.”

A dark dome covered the fillies, causing the gargoyle to take a step back in caution. Once the dome disappeared, the five foals were gone, replaced by an alicorn. Frost ducked under a swing and teleported a distance away to get a look. It was a combination of the three fillies. Frost considered the situation and it made perfect sense. Firebrand and Stormcaller merged with the girls and created a single entity. An earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. All three aspects represented in an alicorn. And this one sported markings from the three fillies. Overall it was purple, but shades of yellow, blue, and red could barely be seen in it’s mane and tail.

The alicorn stepped forward and fired a beam of magic into the gargoyle’s face sending it staggering backward. Seizing an opportunity, the alicorn flew into the air and prepared another spell. A charged blue orb gathered at its horn and was launched at the gargoyle. The construct rolled to the side and lashed out with its whip, catching the alicorn around a leg and wing. It pulled down hard and sent the mighty pony crashing into the ground. Before it could rise, the gargoyle leapt into the air and pinned the alicorn around its neck with the catch pole. Not able to move, it was finished. The alicorn struggled and attempted to charge a spell when a blast of energy impacted the gargoyle and knocked it completely on its back.

Aldus flew into the room and conjured a rune directly under the fallen construct. As soon as it moved, it was paralyzed with magical energy. However, the crystal in it’s chest lit up brighter than ever, indicating it would soon break free. Aldus wasted no time in seizing a large chunk of concrete from the ceiling and dropping it onto the gargoyle, crushing it.

Aldus surveyed the area and made certain Ciaran was still with him before acting further. A loud boom shook the entire castle as yet another gargoyle crashed to the ground to do battle. This was the largest one, easily double the size of the rest, and it landed right behind Aldus. None of the ponies saw it before since it was resting directly above the entrance on the rear wall. It grabbed Aldus and held him in the air. He screamed as energy left his body, being absorbed into the gargoyle’s chest crystal and gauntlet. It roared in Aldus’ face then slammed him into a wall three times. Frost and Ciaran looked on in horror as the gargoyle tossed Aldus into a wall across the room, limp and unconscious.

The large gargoyle straightened itself and produced an enormous hand ace from its back. It surveyed the hall and focussed on Discord, slowly stalking it’s way toward him. Meanwhile the alicorn got up and yelled to Ciaran, “Help Frost, I’ll fight alongside Discord!”

Frost dodged slashes again, and again until he was out of energy. Several ice crystals were lodged in the construct’s back and chest, but it only seemed to be slowing it down, rather than doing real damage. The gargoyle raised the halberd for an overhead strike when something attached itself to Frost’s back and quickly pulled him backward. He landed in Ciaran’s forehooves as the halberd crashed into the ground where he was just standing. The changeling used some of the green goop Silth cocooned Frost with. Apparently it could be made into other things as well.

The gargoyle spun the halberd in one hand and flew at them with alarming speed.

“Ciaran!!” Frost screamed as the gargoyle approached.

The changeling held Frost against her chest and spit out the slime in her mouth. At the last second she jumped into the air and flew toward the ceiling. As they broke through into the sky above the castle, Ciaran pushed Frost onto her back and looked at him. “Got a plan, Frosty?”

“Plan? We can’t use our magic, and Aldus is knocked out. What do you think we should do?”

The gargoyle charged through the hole and barreled toward them. “Let’s just focus on not getting killed.” Ciaran said as she turned around and flew toward the castle, “Hang on ,Frosty.”

Frost gripped the changeling’s neck for dear life as she dove low and circled around a tower, then zig zagged over and under the buttresses supporting the great hall. The gargoyle was too large to follow them maneuver for maneuver, and so slammed into at least two buttresses knocking them free from the castle. Frost saw part of the gargoyle’s arms break away as it plowed through the supports, then an idea came to him.

“Ciaran, that green stuff you used to save me earlier, can you spit it?”

“Yes,” Ciaran panted, “Why?”

“I think I can destroy the crystals in these things. But I need your help. Land on the topmost tower.”

Ciaran nodded and flew to the top of the castle to land. The tower was flat so they were able to prepare. They didn’t have too long though, the gargoyle rushed up the side and plummeted down with its halberd. Frost waited for the last second to jump out of the way when the blade came down. The impact was so strong in penetrated the tower, just as Frost hoped it would. Frost conjured as much ice as he could around the blade to cement it in ground.

“Now!” Frost shouted.

Ciaran spit green saliva at the gargoyle’s chest and covered the gem completely. Frost then used every last ounce of magic he had to freeze the area round the gem. The gargoyle retaliated by backhanding Frost with the buckler so hard it sent him flying off the edge of the tower. Ciaran seized the opportunity and stuck the gargoyle square in the chest with a precise bolt of magic. With the gem shattered, the gargoyle dropped it’s halberd and fell to the ground.

Ciaran turned around and vaulted over the ramparts to find Frost rapidly approaching the main roof. The changeling dived as fast as she could but knew she wouldn’t make it in time. Ciaran teleported under Frost and clutched him protectively as they impacted the roof and bounced across it. She curled around him as best she could and took most of the impact. When they finally skidded to a halt, pieces of Ciaran’s carapace were torn off and one of her four wings was torn. She winced in pain and opened her forehooves, Frost was unconscious with a large gash in his forehead. She ignited her horn began to heal some of his bruises when he opened his eyes.

“Did we get it?”

“Yeah, Frosty. We did.” Ciaran said with a smile.

“Where are we?”

“You took a little tumble off the tower, but I was able to catch you.” Ciaran said with a cough.

Frost crawled out of her embrace and saw she was injured, “You’re hurt... what can I do to help?”

“I’m fine, Frosty. I’m fi-”

Frost wrapped his hooves around her neck in a tight but gentle embrace. “Thank you for saving me, Ciaran. I love you.”

Ciaran was surprised to hear that, and even more surprised when he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. The changeling princess felt the warmth of love begin to radiate off Frost. She used it to help the healing process of her carapace and wings. Frost still clutched her tightly.

“Frost, it’s okay, I’m fine.” she said reassuringly.

The blue unicorn refused to let go, “No, take this love, use it to get better. I don’t- Ciaran I don’t want to let go. I’m scared.”

Ciaran wrapped her hooves around Frost and gently rubbed his back, “Okay, then I won’t let go either. Not until you’re ready.” she kissed Frost lightly on the forehead and shushed him. “Everything is alright, we’ll rejoin the others soon.”

As the energy seeped into Ciaran to rejuvenate her, she felt another sensation, liquid on her shoulders and neck. Frost was crying. Ciaran hugged him tighter and nuzzled him, “Everything’s going to be fine.”

--------------

In the great hall, Iris parried blow after blow from the gargoyle. It’s curved sword swinging in wide cleaves and diagonal slashes. She was able to land several hits but none were enough to bring the beast down. Meanwhile, the gargoyle itself was learning her attacks, and pressed it’s advantage. The construct followed through with another strike and brought the sword hilt up to strike Iris in the beak, staggering her. The gargoyle followed up with a kick that knocked her flat. It raised it’s sword in two claws and brought the blade down to finish her, but was halted by Pyrite, who appeared in front of Iris and caught the blade. With a roar he bent his hooves and snapped it, causing the gargoyle to roar in anger. Iris wasted no time and jumped over Pyrite grasping her sword in two claws, with a spin she decapitated the gargoyle and landed next to it’s fallen body, Pyrite wasted no time in smashing the gem in it’s chest for good measure.

Iris grasped the blade in her claw and ran a talon over it. She closed her eyes and collected herself. Kathe had taught her well, all of the exercises she thought were pointless contributed to her form and finesse. In the void she suddenly panicked and looked around, Black Star hadn’t said a word since they merged.

“Black Star,” she called. “Black Star! Where are you?!”

Iris felt a claw on her shoulder which made her jump. She turned around to see a black and grey gryphon floating in the void. It had the green eyes of Black Star, and a third eye on it’s forehead. It sported the same two sets of wings, and the wings themselves were massive. However, the thing that made Iris tear up was the grey feathers at the tips, just like her own. The gryphon smiled and extended it’s arms, welcoming her. Iris jumped into it’s embrace without hesitation and let a few tears escape her eyes.

“Black Star?”

“Yes, Iris.” Black Star replied. “I’m here.”

Iris gripped the gryphon tightly, “I was so focussed on the fight I thought I lost you.”

He stroked her back with a single massive claw and chuckled, “I’ve always been here Iris, and I always will be. You fought so bravely and beautifully I barely needed to intervene at all.”

Iris looked up at the gryphon, “Why are you like this now?”

Black Star blinked all three eyes and nuzzled Iris, “I don’t know. But when I merged with you I remembered having this form. I- I don’t remember when or why. Does it not please you?”

Iris looked at the grey wingtips again and pointed to them, “I didn’t expect those.”

Black Star shifted and brought all four wings forward surrounding Iris, “I thought it would be proper to respect you and your father. My loyalty is to you Iris, plus it adds a bit of flair. Is it too much?”

Iris giggled and rested her head against his chest, “No Black Star it’s not too much. In fact, I love it. I think we’ll keep it.”

Pyrite nudged Iris and pointed to Discord, “I’m going to help them. You should go find Rigel.”

Iris nodded and clasped him on the shoulder, “Good luck. I’ll be back.”

Pyrite turned his attention to the spirit of chaos. The enormous gargoyle was slow, it couldn’t manage to land a significant strike against Discord. The smaller gargoyle however presented a bigger problem. It was preventing the alicorn from assisting Discord.

The alicorn circled above the gargoyle and dodged a thrust from the halberd. Pyrite got it’s attention and lured it away. The earth colt waited until the construct attacked him with a thrust before grabbing the blade. Pyrite held his ground long enough for the alicorn to fire a precision shot and destroy it’s crystal. The gargoyle slumped to the side and crashed to the ground, once again an inert statue.

Now all that remained was the big one. Discord dodged yet another swing from the axe and jumped backward to land beside the alicorn and Pyrite.

“We need to destroy that crystal, but I can’t get close to it with that axe.” Discord said.

“We need to make him expose the gem for us to attack it.” that alicorn stated.

Discord nodded, “I think I have an idea. Pyrite, how tough is that armor?”

“It’s unbreakable,” Pyrite replied. “Why? What do you have in mind?”

Discord turned to the alicorn and pointed to the axe, “Get him to do a two handed swing at you. Can you do that?”

The alicorn nodded, “I can.”

“Okay, go now.” Discord said as he jumped away from another slash.

The alicorn flew in front of the gargoyle and fired several bolts at it’s chest. Eventually the creature raised the axe high above it’s head with it’s right claw. It’s left claw was spread out to the side, balancing the massive swing. With little to no warning. Discord grew to the same size as the gargoyle and picked up Pyrite.

“Hey what are you doing?” Pyrite asked.

Discord gripped him tightly and grinned, “Turning you into a projectile.”

With the snap of his talons Pyrite was turned into a silver crossbow bolt. Discord conjured a strange crossbow in his hands and loaded Pyrite. With a moment to aim, he fired straight at the gargoyles chest and landed a direct hit. Pyrite passed straight through the gargoyle destroying the gem. The large construct registered surprise on it’s face before falling backwards with a large crash.

Discord smiled and twisted his body in a stretch, “Ahh... full power again. Feels great.” He snapped his talons and Pyrite appeared in his paw as his normal colt self.

Andromeda materialized from his shadow and screamed at Discord. “Don’t you ever do that to him again! How dare you!!”

Discord laughed and zipped her mouth shut like a zipper on a jacket. “Oh come now he was never in any danger, and he saved the day. Good job, Pyrite.” He returned to his normal size and placed Pyrite on top of his head. “You okay up there?”

Pyrite was still trying to process being turned into a bolt. “I- I think so, Mr. Discord. Just please don’t do that again.”

Discord chuckled and stuck his tongue out at Andromeda. “Let’s go make sure Aldus is okay.”

Pyrite was collected in a magical field and brought into the hooves of the new alicorn. “Who are you?” he asked.

“You don’t recognize us?” it asked with a laugh. “It’s us Pyrite, it’s all of us.”

A large smile formed on Pyrite’s face as he looked the alicorn in the eye. He could hear them in it’s voice. Ruby, Antares, and Blue Bell. Firebrand and Stormcaller were granting them the power to be one pony. The alicorn trotted over to Aldus, who was starting to come to.

“What happened?” He asked groggily, “Who are you?”

The alicorn laughed and levitated Aldus onto it’s back, “It’s going to take a while to explain.”

“But it’s a fun story to tell!” Discord said with a laugh as he floated next to Aldus.

“Discord?” Aldus asked.

“That’s right, these children are so fun! They might be even more entertaining than Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

Three shadows appeared overhead as Iris and Rigel landed near the group along with Ciaran and an injured Frost.

“We need to get out of here before more things try to kill us,” Ciaran said.

“Yeah,” Iris agreed, “But first I think Aldus and Rigel should see that mural. We need some answers.”

Aldus looked at Iris and raised an eyebrow, “Mural? What mural?”

---------------

Aldus exited the portal with the new alicorn followed by the rest of the group. He quickly grabbed the canvas and covered the painting.

“How do we know those things won’t try to come through and attack us here?” Iris asked.

“I think they just protect the castle,” Aldus said, “Nothing can come through the painting if there is something blocking it from this side, like the canvas. But I’ll put a ward on it just to be sure.”

“What were those things?” Frost asked, “Why would Seabreeze put them there? Why would they attack us? Why would they attack YOU?”

“Those things weren’t there the last time I was inside the castle. And the last time I was inside, the castle was much smaller. For some reason additions were made. The corridor gallery wasn’t there before and neither was the central tower. I have no idea what that thing is in the mural, but Seabreeze painted that herself, I know it. Whatever it is, it stood there while she painted it. It’s the only way she could have captured that much detail.”

The ponies looked over to Discord, who merely averted their gaze.

“Discord, please help us.” Iris pleaded.

“I’ve already done enough, I’m afraid.” the spirit of chaos lamented. “I’m sorry, but I must depart and see to my wounds. I suggest you all do the same.”

“Discord, wait.” Frost said while struggling to see straight. “Thank you for helping us. We might have died without you.”

“Yeah,” Pyrite agreed, “I’m glad you were on our side.”

The alicorn smiled and nodded in agreement. Discord grinned and slithered around Frost and Pyrite. “You all did well, you saved my life as much as I saved yours. I’ll be back for some more fun, hopefully under less dangerous circumstances. Until then, I’ll simply say this. To reveal the identity of the individual in the mural, once in the archives research the eternal shore. Goodbye everypony.”

The spirit of chaos snapped his talons and disappeared in a flash of white light. Aldus let out a sigh and started for the door when Polaris burst through it.

“There you are, I’ve been looking for... by Desalia what happened?!”

“I got punched off a castle tower by a gargoyle’s buckler.” Frost muttered while leaning on Ciaran’s neck. The changeling giggled and shushed him.

“What?” Polaris asked.

“We were attacked, we’re fine. It’s a long story.” Aldus said.

“Well, I’m here to say Princess Desalia wishes to meet Frost.” Polaris said.

Aldus looked at Frost, then at Polaris, “Nopony is going anywhere until we are rested and healed, Desalia can wait.” he winked at Frost before limping out of the room with Rigel and Polaris. Before he left, Aldus poked his back into the room and gave instructions to Ciaran. “See to their injuries, Marigold will help. Children, that was a traumatic event. I think you should spend some time with your guardians tonight.”

The children nodded as Aldus closed the door. The alicorn shook its head and began to speak, this time a familiar chorus of voices could be heard. “We’re enjoying this feeling. We’ll stay like this for a while. Pyrite, Frost, will you be okay?”

The two colts nodded to the alicorn. It teleported away leaving the rest of the foals together. Ciaran levitated Pyrite onto her back with Frost and headed to her room. “Let’s see to those injuries.”

----------------

Later that night, the fillies were still merged with Firebrand and Stormcaller and hadn't returned yet, leaving Iris by herself in their room. The gryphon got off her bed and stretched her wings. She hadn't suffered many injuries thanks to her skill with a blade and Black Star’s enhancing of her senses. She began to preen her feathers and soon found herself at the ones that were difficult to reach.

“Black Star,” Iris called. In a moment the black pegasus emerged from a shadow and stood before her.

“Yes Iris?”

“Could you change into the gryphon, please?”

Black Star nodded and grew larger, almost three times the size of Iris. His features changed to a more avian appearance then sprouted another pair of wings and two more tails. After a few other changes, a black and grey gryphon stood before Iris.

“You know, I think I that look on you.” Iris said with a laugh.

“I’m happy you like it,” Black Star said. “I like it, too. It feels... right.”

Iris was going to say something, but hesitated a moment. “Black Star, can you help me preen. There are some spots that are hard to reach.”

He nodded and sat down behind Iris. Black Star gently hooked a single set of wings around Iris and lifted her in front of him. He began his work softly arranging the feathers in order. After he finished, he was surprised when she didn’t move.

“Is something the matter Iris?” he asked, wondering if he did something wrong.

Iris turned around with tears in her eyes, “No, you did nothing wrong. It’s not you.”

Black Star leaned against the wall and embraced Iris, “What is it?”

“It’s my father,” Iris squeaked, “I miss him, and you remind me of him when you look like this.”

“Oh, I do? I don’t want to make you cry, I’ll change back.”

“No.” Iris said, “I’m glad you can look like this. It reminds me of home. I don’t want you to leave me tonight. Don’t go,” she whimpered, “Just please don’t go.”  

Black Star cradled the little gryphon in his claws and closed all four wings around her. “I won’t go anywhere, Iris.”

The gryphon muttered a thank you into his breast. He gently rubbed a talon against her back to calm her, “Are you tired yet, Iris?”

“No, not yet.”

“You know, it might make you feel better to talk about your father. Tell me about him. What was he like?”

There was silence for a moment after Black Star proposed the idea, then Iris shifted in his embrace and leaned against him. She ran a claw up and down some his feathers. “My father’s name was Ziraal, he was a great king. He was never one to speak often, just like you. But he was always there for me... just like you.”

--------------

Frost walked down the hall and around a corner attempting to be as quiet as possible. Pyrite had already fallen asleep with Andromeda so he was able to leave. He approached Iris’ room and stopped. It wasn’t his destination, but he wanted to make sure she was alright. He cracked the door open and peaked inside to find utter blackness. He slowly stepped inside the room and shut the door. There was a familiar blackness on the opposite side of the room.

“Iris,” Frost whispered.

A single green eye opened within the darkness and blinked.

“Frost, it’s you. How are you doing?”

“Black Star...” Frost whispered with relief. He knew he was referring to the bandage wrapped around his head and covering one eye. “I’m fine, is Iris here?”

One of three tails extended to Frost and beckoned him to approach. The darkness peeled away revealing Black Star’s gryphon form. He opened one of his four wings to show Iris curled up against his chest. “She just went to sleep, would you like to join her?”

Frost shook his head, “No, I just wanted to make sure she was alright.”

As he turned around to walk away one of Black Star’s tails wrapped around his stomach, “Frost, somethings bothering you, I can tell. I just want you to know that if you want to talk, or if you have any problems, I’m here.” he said, then unwrapped his tail and let Frost go.

Frost smiled and quietly left the room. He continued on down the hallway until he reached a certain door. He knocked lightly and waited for a response. The sound of hooves trotting across the floor could be heard. The door opened a crack as Ciaran looked down at the blue unicorn.

“Hello, Frosty. Feeling better?” she asked.

“Uh, yes. Ciaran, can I come in?”

The changeling nodded and opened the door. Frost trotted past her and jumped up on her bed. Ciaran walked over to him and sat on her haunches. “Did you want to talk about something?”

Frost frowned, “I wanted to thank you for saving me today.”

Ciaran chuckled, “What was I supposed to do, let you get hurt?”

“Well... yeah,” Frost said. “I mean, no... I’m happy you care about me. but it’s just...”

“What’s wrong? You can tell me, I won’t bite” she reassured with a giggle.

“Changelings are supposed to be horrible emotion stealing monsters. They kidnap ponies and trap them in pods to feed on them forever. They stick them to walls with that green goop and mess with their minds. But you aren’t like that...”

“It’s true,” Ciaran admitted, “We don’t have a good reputation among the other races.”

“I’ve come to believe all these things about changelings, but your sister helped me when she could have just left me to die. And today, you saved me not once, but twice. You aren’t like what we were told.”

Ciaran smiled, “Being a changeling can be difficult, Frost. Not all are given the opportunity to be themselves in a colony. But I was fortunate enough to be born a changeling princess. I was given the opportunity to be different, and I took it.”

“I’m glad you did, I might have died without you today. I might have died...” Frost shook as his ears fell flat against his head, “For the first time in my life I was afraid of death, I was afraid because it was right there. I saw it coming for me just before you saved me. I didn't feel it when I fought the gryphons. This was different.”

“But you’re okay now, Frosty. It’s over.”

“Living on the streets I've had to be brave for my friends, I had to be tough. I couldn't wear my emotions on my hooves. That can get you in trouble.”

“Frost, slow down,” Ciaran said as she reached out to him, but he smacked her hoof away.

“Today I saw it, I thought it was the end. To see somepony like Aldus dispatched so easily. To see Discord almost killed in front of my eyes, I realize how insignificant I am.” Tears began to escape his eyes.

Ciaran enveloped Frost in her magic and brought him into her forehooves, “Calm down, Frost. It’s okay.”

“I was scared, I’m still scared. Princess Desalia wants to see me. She’ll execute me for freeing Silth.”

Ciaran fluttered onto the bed and laid down with Frost, “No she won’t. Aldus won’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen.”

“All the others have their guardians, Andromeda is with Pyrite, Black Star is with Iris. I don’t have a guardian like they do. But it’s fine, I don’t need one. I can’t afford to be like this. Thanks for listening to me Ciaran, I’ll leave you alone now.”

Frost attempted to leave but was pulled back, she held him tighter and rested her chin on his head, “You’re not going anywhere, little one. You can sleep with me tonight.”

“No, I’m fine.” Frost insisted.

“You’re fine?” Ciaran chuckled, “I don’t think so. I’m a changeling, Frost. You’ll have to do better than that if you want to lie to me.”

“Ciaran,”

“You’re staying, make a fuss and I’ll just use my powers to make you stay. Your choice, Frosty.”

“Fine,” Frost grumbled.

“You need to understand Frost, it’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to be scared even now. But I’m here, nothing is going to hurt you. And if it makes you feel any better, I was scared as much as you were.”

“Really?” Frost asked.

“Mhm. Now go to sleep, Frost. You’ll need rest if you’re going to see the princess tomorrow.”

“You can’t make me sleep if I don’t look at you.” Frost said with a laugh.

Ciaran smiled and began to quietly hum a song. Frost felt his eyes begin to droop as she continued humming. It was familiar to him, he thought he heard Silth sing something similar when he was with her, but that seemed so long ago now. Frost let out a yawn as Ciaran continued humming her song, she leaned over to Frost and whispered in his ear. “Sleep, Frosty. Go to sleep, safe and sound.” She laced her tones with the same magic used in her hypnosis. It now had an audible effect instead of a visual one.

Frost struggled to keep his eyes open and rolled over. “Will you-” he paused for a yawn, “-Will you come with me when I see Princess Desalia?”

“Yes, Frosty. I’ll come,” Ciaran cooed. He fell asleep soon after. Ciaran smiled and turned out the lights, her violet eyes briefly illuminating the blackness. “And when Aldus lets you into the archives... I’ll be there, too. In fact, nothing could keep me away.” she chuckled while pulling the covers around them both.

---------------

Inside the painting, two ponies emerged from the castle corridor gallery. They trotted to the great hall and examined the aftermath. The ponies observed the latent energy still lingering in the room and were able to discern silhouettes of the trespassers.

“Who are they, do you think they knew her?”

“The creator of this realm? Probably.”

“We should question her about it, she might want to know there were intruders here.”

“No, she is at peace. I won’t trouble anypony across the shores.”

“They managed to destroy the guardians, even the strongest one.”

“Yes. I’m curious as to how they were awakened in the first place.”

“Didn’t you see? The chaotic one was with them.”

“I don’t think he set them off, he arrived later. It was something else, there is latent spirit energy here but none that I’ve felt before. It’s strange.”

“You know he’ll want to know about all this, right?”

“Yeah. He’ll likely come himself. They were friends after all, he won’t tolerate defilement of this place.”

“Heh, No... he won’t.”

Chapter 22: Trials

Aldus dashed across the shrinking platforms as the mass of shadows closed in on him. He turned around and fired beams of magic into it, but the mass kept coming, completely unphased. The platforms ran out ahead as he reached the end. Two tentacles shot out from the blackness and seized him around his legs and stomach. He used what little magic still in his reserves to get free, only to be grappled by five more writhing appendages. They dragged him down into the blackness where he was tossed about like a toy by an angry child. His vision blurred as he was constricted further. Below him a set of green eyes opened in the blackness, they seemed to spread across the entire void. A face emerged along with them, it was his. Aldus stared in horror at his own saddened, ravaged face.

“No!” he screamed, trying in vain to get free.

The face turned into a combination of Luna and another black alicorn, then into something else. It was only for a second, but to Aldus it seemed avian. A gryphon? Regardless, the creature’s cavernous maw opened wide as is dropped Aldus into it. He slid across the creature’s tongue being coated in saliva as yet more tentacles coiled around him, this time pulling him further and further down into nothingness.

“NOOO!!!” Aldus screamed sitting bolt upright in his bed. He was covered in a cold sweat. He surveyed the room, empty and quiet. With slow laborious breaths Aldus climbed out of bed and entered the hallway to the washroom. That was a nightmare, a genuine terrifying nightmare. What's worse, it was the third one he’d experienced since coming to the Silver Isles. It was his struggle with Selene in the prison. He was consumed by her at one point, utterly and completely. Aldus entered the washroom and splashed water on his face.

Selene isn’t here now, she won’t be back for a while yet. Why am I having these terrors? I need answers.

--------------

Ciaran opened her eyes and twitched her ears. She definitely heard a scream. One of the courtiers must have had a bad dream. Ciaran started to move when she realized she was being restrained. Frost had wrapped his hooves around her neck and was drooling on her carapace. She giggled to herself and returned to her previous sleeping position. Frost was out cold, snoring lightly. He muttered something and snuggled closer to her, causing Ciaran to feel latent motherly instincts. Changeling princesses were mothers to many offspring both directly and indirectly. She had to admit, she enjoyed the feeling of caring for a little one. It gave her purpose. Purpose that she could take pride in.

She nuzzled Frost and laced her voice with magic. “Frosty... what are you dreaming about?”

The colt let out a peaceful sigh and kicked his legs. Ciaran took notice and grinned. Her magic was barely having an effect. It was subtle, like an encouraging friend, coaxing and reassuring. “I’m... running.” he muttered.

The changeling giggled, enjoying the harmless fun. “Oh? Why are you running?”

“Mom is in danger...” he muttered in a slightly more panicked tone.

Ciaran frowned and realized his dream might not be good after all. The last thing she wanted was to perpetuate that. “Wake up, Frosty.” she cooed while igniting the smallest amount of magic from her jagged horn. “It’s time to get up.”

Frost’s eyes glowed a faint violent, obeying the changeling’s horn. He yawned and opened his eyes to be greeted by a grinning set of teeth and fangs. “Ciaran? So I did sleep here last night.”

“Mhm,” The changeling nodded. “Sleep well?”

Frost stretched and let out another yawn, he did actually feel good. “Yeah, I did. Wait... what did you do to me?”

“Me?” Ciaran asked innocently, “Whatever do you mean?”

Frost jumped off the bed and ran to a mirror, sure enough there were faint violet rings in his eyes. He ran back to the bed and pointed a hoof at himself. “How do you explain these?”

The changeling grinned, “You said I couldn’t make you sleep without looking you in the eyes. It would appear I have other ways...”

Frost stomped to the edge of the bed and shook his head to get rid of the magic, “I’m getting real tired of being a changeling’s plaything.”

Ciaran ignited her horn and began to exert influence on Frost with the miniscule amount of magic that remained. “Don’t turn around.”

“What?” Frost asked as he started to turn, only to be zapped by a tiny bolt of magic. “Ow! What was that for?!”

“Don’t turn around.” Ciaran repeated.

Frost stared at the wall in front of him and wondered what Ciaran was talking about. Then he tried to turn around again. Strange, what was happening? Frost sat on his haunches and locked his eyes on the wall. Something in his mind was telling him to turn around. It was giving him reassuring feelings, like when he slept beside Iris and when Selene embraced him with her mane. He shook his head and tried to force a wall of emotions between the voices and his will. It was working. The voices were fading.

“Frosty...”

Ciaran shattered the walls instantly and empowered the voices. They crawled into his mind, assaulting his senses and willpower. They were telling him everything he wanted to hear, promising him pleasure, all he needed to do was listen. Frost visualized the struggle in his mind, he had to do something, he had to think. If the voices wanted him to be happy, he'd be the opposite. Would that work? Frost thought about things that made him angry. The ponies he met on the streets, everypony who had ever picked on Pyrite, the guards that broke his legs, the gang that broke into his house that night.

The voices were silenced. Frost stood resolute on the edge of the bed breathing heavily.

“Very clever, Frosty.” Ciaran cooed from behind him. “You’re doing it, you’re resisting my magic.”

“I knew I could do it. Your magic is different than Silth’s.” Frost said, sounding a little confident.

“Oh? How is that?” Ciaran asked, now intrigued.

“It’s... more subtle, more welcoming. I think it’s less forceful, but harder to resist. What else you got?”

Ciaran chuckled, “Let’s try this...”

A wiry tail ran up Frost’s back sending shivers down his spine. The tuft wrapped around his forehead and turned him around. Iris leaned against the bedpost with her wings splayed out on the pillows. She grinned at him and extended a claw, beckoning him to come forward with a single talon.

“W-What is this?” Frost stammered.

“This is step two of the test,” Ciaran said in her normal voice, “Don’t you want to come cuddle with your little marefriend?”

Frost noticed her eyes were beginning to glow violet, he blinked and looked away. “Not going to work, Ciaran.”

“But Frosty, it’s me...” she said, mimicking Iris’ voice perfectly. “I’m your friend... who just happens to be a beautiful gryphon with a desire for cute blue unicorns.” She giggled. “Come lay down with me.”

Frost shook his head and threw the tail away. He was going to jump off the bed but the tail caught him again, this time around the stomach. It dragged him into the claws of the gryphon. He clenched his eyes shut and refused to look. “Not going to happen, Ciaran.”

“Ciaran’s not here,” Iris said with a playful giggle, “It’s just you... and me...”

She lifted off the bed with a few flaps of her wings and sat down again with Frost in her lap. He refused to open his eyes until she extended her wings and began tickling his sides. Frost glanced up at Iris and was instantly assaulted by purple spirals. He didn’t have time to erect any mental barriers before his own eyes mirrored the gryphon’s. Something pinged inside Frost’s mind as slipped calmly into a trance.

Ciaran reverted back to her changeling form and placed Frost at the center of the bed. “Hmm... well, it’s a start.” she said with a chuckle. “You stay here and don’t run off. I’ll freshen up, then make you some breakfast before we leave. Okay?”

Frost smiled and nodded, “Foooood.”

“Good boy,” Ciaran giggled as she disappeared into the bathroom.

--------------

A few hours later, Iris stirred from her slumber and stretched her wings with a large yawn. She leaned against the mass of feathers with sigh, remembering falling asleep in Black Star’s embrace. Her protector had done what she asked and remained with her the whole night. His wings were folded around her protectively. Iris smiled and gently pushed two of the wings aside, allowing her to see the daylight. The small gryphon turned around in his claws and stood on her hind legs. Doing so put her at eye level with her protector. Iris nuzzled her beak affectionately into his neck. In response, Black Star’s third eye opened and he smiled.

“Hello, Iris. Sleep well?”

The gryphon princess sighed and wrapped her arms around his massive neck. “I did, thank you for staying with me, Black Star. I needed that.”

“It’s my duty, Iris. If you ever need anything, you have but to ask.”

Iris grinned, “Well, it just so happens I want something right now.”

Black Star’s other two eyes opened as Iris relinquished her embrace, but still stood in his claws. “What is that?”

“I want to merge, I want to feel that sensation again.”

Black Star frowned and sat the diminutive princess down in front of him. He then stood at his full height and spread all four wings. “Iris, I have no problem doing this with you, but it’s just for your protection.”

“I know,” Iris squeaked, “And I enjoy the feeling of being protected by you. It makes me feel strong, a feeling I’ll need in the future.”

“Be that as it may, remember that you’re a talented gryphon. You have skills and abilities of your own without my intervention.” Black Star said.

“Yeah yeah, I know. What are you my second mentor now?” Iris asked with a chuckle while turning away and crossing her arms.

“Perhaps I am, one can never have too many sources of learning.”

“Sheesh. You even sound like him, too.” Iris mumbled.

Black Star snaked his three tails forward and wrapped them around Iris’ stomach and under her shoulders. He lifted her into the air with a chuckle, “Good, another gryphon you can tell me about. I can’t wait to learn about him.”

Iris laughed as Black Star tickled her belly with one of the tails. Slowly she was pressed against his chest as it gave way and transformed. Iris took a breath as she was absorbed into the gryphon. A likely unnecessary action, but a reflex nonetheless. Iris closed her eyes as the light of the room faded away to utter darkness. When she felt the presence of Black Star all around her, she opened her eyes and was treated to the same sensation as last time. Heightened senses and a vast amount of energy.

“Ahh... this feels great!” Iris said as she stretched her four wings and neck. She moved to a mirror and marveled at the new look. It was the same as Black Star’s gryphon form, except smaller. “Oh yes, I like this. I like this very much!”

“I aim to please. It’s a form befitting a princess, I think.” Black Star spoke within Iris’ mind.

She laughed and crossed her arms while floating in the void. “I think you’re right, but don’t start calling me Princess Iris. I’m just a gryphon, a gryphon exile to be more precise.”

“As you say... princess.” Black Star said with a chuckle.

Iris rolled her eyes and flew over to the door leading outside. She opened it and stepped out to be greeted by a soft morning breeze. “Ahh, lets go flying Black Star.”

“You’re driving, Iris. I’m just here to make sure nothing goes wrong...” Black Star said while warming the gryphon in reassurance.

Iris grinned and took to the skies. She faltered a bit at first, not accustomed to the heavier body. But after a while, she was flying just like before. She flew higher and higher into the sky, noting that her extra pair of wings granted a considerable amount of lift. As she circled around the building, Iris spotted a spec on the ground. A light blue spec.

Iris’ face almost split in half with a grin. Frost was sitting at the edge of a pond close to the middle of the island. The gryphon took advantage of her enhanced vision and saw that he had his eyes closed. He appeared to be meditating. Iris was aware of this. Frost had mentioned that Polaris and Aldus were teaching him methods of controlling his magic reserves.

“Iris... leave the poor colt alone, he’s concentrating.” Black Star said.

Iris wondered if it was because he could read her thoughts while merged, or if he just knew her too well. “You’re no fun, Black Star.” Iris chuckled while circling high above the colt.

“He came to see you last night, you know.” 

Iris stopped mid air and looked down, her heart fluttering. “Really? How come? I mean... what did he want?”

“He wanted to make sure you were okay after the fight inside the painting. I offered him a place beside you and was going to link his dreamscape with yours. He was still on edge, and left after knowing you were safe with me.”

Iris felt tears start to sting her eyes, he wanted to make sure she was okay after a battle. What would have happened if Black Star hadn’t been there? He really cared about her.

“Are you alright Iris? You’re crying.” Black Star said as his presence came forward to Iris in the void.

“I’m fine, it’s-  it’s the wind at this high altitude.” The gryphon wiped her tears away and smiled down at her light blue friend. She only pulled pranks on the ones she cared about most, and now, Frost was going to be graced with her first ever prank in the merged form.

Iris flew over to the edge of the pond and banked into a steep dive. She righted herself at the edge and rocketed across the water toward Frost. She flapped all four wings furiously building to ludicrous speed, all while just above the water’s surface.

Frost opened one eye and screeched like a filly upon seeing the four winged gryphon about to crash into him. He fell on his back as she zoomed just over his head and flew straight up. He sighed and returned to his meditating position only to find a tidal wave of water rushing to greet him.

Frost charged his horn and spread his forehooves in a wide arc, gradually freezing the wave just before it crashed to shore. He then sat on his haunches and admired the glistening wall of water.

“Nice try, Iris. But you’ll have to do better tha- HEY!! PUT ME DOWN!! DON’T YOU DO IT!! IRIS!”

The gryphon had landed silently behind Frost and grabbed him in one of her large claws. She nuzzles him briefly before winding up and hurling him into the middle of the pond. Frost sailed through the air yelling curses before landing at the center with an enormous splash.

Iris fell over laughing on the bank while Frost floated at the center of the pond with a scowl on his face. Black Star admonished Iris for her tricks, but it had little effect on her. The unicorn froze the water in a circle around him and climbed out of the pond. He then froze a path back to shore and trotted over to Iris who was still laughing.

“Oh c’mon, Frosty. That was funny.” Iris said while still laying on her back.

“Har har har, yes. Very funny,” Frost grumbled as he shook his head to get the water out of his ears. “So this is your form with Black Star, I’m guessing?”

Iris sat up and smiled brightly, “Mhm, what do you think?”

Frost had to admit she looked the picture of an apex gryphon. Sleek frame with four powerful wings, and the three tails moving about were intriguing to say the least. Not to mention she was quite imposing, at least twice her normal size, which was still larger than Frost.

“I think you look amazing,” Frost said, “I wouldn’t want to mess with you.”

Iris grinned down at him, “No, no you wouldn’t.”

“I have to get back to the cottage, I’m leaving to see the princess later today.”

Iris grinned and scooped up Frost in her claws and took off toward the cottage, “You should probably get washed up after your little swim.” she said with a chuckle. “Oh, and Frost. Thanks for coming to check on me last night. I’m glad you did.”

“Anything for a friend, Iris.” Frost said as they touched down at the cottage.

Iris relinquished her merged form and trotted inside with Frost.

“Princess, I really must protest.” came a voice from the dining room.

Frost’s heart stopped for a few seconds, the princess was here? Iris stopped him with a claw and beckoned him to lean against the wall with her. They listened on intently as the conversation continued.

“Aldus, I know how you feel about this matter, but I feel it will be necessary to bring him back into the fold. I sense we will need him for the matters lurking on the horizon.”

“Luna, Thule is reckless, dangerous. He barely listened to me during the war. He’s more of a problem than anything.”

“Polaris,” Luna said. “You brought Thule and his Sarosians to our side before, they were a great asset. Can it be done again?”

“Yes, Princess. He will join us, or else.” Polaris said with deathly calm.

“Excellent. I will be arriving in the Silver Isles in a few days. I look forward to seeing you all and the children. I know you can handle this Aldus, farewell.”

“Goodbye, Luna.” Aldus said while turning the lights back on.

Frost looked at Iris and motioned for her to move back as hoofsteps were heard leaving the dining room.

“I can’t even believe that insufferable mongrel is still alive,” Aldus practically spat. “To think, he escaped imprisonment and is still in power over several courts of his people.”

“He always proved resourceful when guided properly.” Polaris stated as they stopped in front of the dining hall.

Frost could hear Aldus pacing anxiously. “Oh yes, Pol. ‘guided properly’ like from the tip of your sword?”

“When necessary,” Polaris replied, “His pride drove him there, nothing else.”

“Yes,” Aldus admitted. “And his powers no doubt granted him the longevity to survive this long. A gift from the bloodline of Saros herself.”

“I’m certain he’s aged, Aldy. Though how much I cannot say. I’ll leave tonight, and I won’t be going alone.”

“Oh certainly, I’m sure Rigel and Marigold wouldn’t mind accompanying you.” Aldus said.

“I’m not talking about them,” Polaris said, “Pyrite will be coming with me.”

Iris bumped into Frost when she heard that. Frost calmed her down and held a hoof to his face, indicating silence.

“What?” Aldus asked. “I don’t think so, not in a million years. Marigold and Selene would have my flank if they knew he went with you to Thule’s fortress. Not to mention poor Ruby would want to come, too.”

“Luna wishes to have the colt trained after the incident with gryphon priest. I’ll be able to get to know the lad while we travel. He’ll be safe with me, and Andromeda will still be with him.”

“Sometimes I think Luna enjoys torturing me like this.” Aldus said.

Frost peaked around the corner with Iris leaning on his back. He saw Polaris put a hoof around his friend to comfort him. “I know Thule used to scare you back then, none of us ever liked him. But he performed admirably at the tasks he was given, and was a skilled warrior. He won’t do anything while I’m here, Aldy.”

“Scared? That was then, this is now, Polaris. I brought down a comet and killed ten thousand ponies or more. I faced down the sun princess herself. My magic has grown considerably. If that mongrel so much as steps out of line once, I’ll turn him inside out. Luna can reprimand me later.” Aldus said while his eyes radiated green magic.

“It won’t come to that, Aldus. Maybe he’s changed?” Polaris said.

“Yeah, maybe he has, and maybe the first alicorn will appear right now and kiss me.” Aldus said with a groan. “And maybe my apprentice should stop eavesdropping like a nosey little spy.”

Frost froze when he heard that, only to be shaken out of it by Iris pulling him close with a wing and giggling.

“Just get ready, we’re leaving for Silver Crown Citadel within the hour, and there is much I need to instruct you on before you go meeting with Desalia. Oh, and Iris, Rigel was looking for you earlier. Something about flying to the neighboring islands.”

Iris flapped her wings happily and jumped for joy. She went to leave, but stopped and turned to Frost. She blushed and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you when you get back, okay?”

Frost blushed in return and nodded, watching her fly down the hallway.

-------------------

After boarding the airship and flying directly to the palace grounds, Frost was listening to Aldus instruct him on the decorum in which he would address the princess. Being from the streets, Frost found it amusing how many senseless customs were to be taken into account when simply greeting another pony, princess or not.

Aldus sighed heavily and nodded, “I think you’ll survive. Princess Desalia shouldn’t be in a killing mood this late in the day. But you never know.”

“How mad do you think she’ll be?” Frost asked.

“Oh, I don’t know...” Aldus said while waving a hoof from his spot on the bench of the airship, “You only let loose a changeling that came very close to conquering this entire kingdom. And you’re my student.”

“What does me being your student have to do with anything?” Frost inquired.

“Well, I may have... coerced the princess into a position that she found uncomfortable.” Aldus said.

“You blackmailed her?!” Frost yelled. “Oh, that’s just great.”

The airship lurched to a halt and docked to nearby tower as two guards stepped aboard to escort them to the princess. “Frost, I think it’ll be best if you just don’t mention me at all.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Frost said with a groan as he exited the ship and followed the guards.

The trip to the palace was short and Aldus soon found himself in front of the Princesses’ chambers with Frost. There was commotion from inside the room as Desalia could be heard voicing her displeasure about something.

“Anything else I should know?” Frost asked, more than a little nervous.

“Well, there is one thing...” Aldus began.

The doors to Desalia’s chambers flung open and Aldus’ eyes bulged. “You’ll be fine Frost I’ve prepared you enough, bye!” he disappeared in a flash of light just as two silver guard officers hurried out of the room.

“Princess, the colt who’s staying with the Canterlot ponies is here.”

“Alright, send him in.”

The guards motioned for Frost to step inside, and closed the doors behind him.

Princess Desalia stood in front of a massive mirror and appeared to be enthralled in whatever she was doing. At least a minute passed before she acknowledged Frost’s presence at all. Typical royalty upper crust, Frost thought. But Aldus instructed him to not speak unless spoken to.

Eventually Desalia turned around and regarded the colt. “Hmph, scrawny thing, aren’t you?”

“Er.. yes, princess.” Frost stated while bowing deeply.

Desalia laughed and smiled at the colt, “Really now? ‘Yes princess?’ I just insulted you and that’s how you take it?”

“Um... Yes?” Frost answered.

“Yes?” Desalia asked.

“I mean, no.”

“No?”

 

“No.”

“Yes, no?”

“Yes, no that’s not how I take it.” Frost said, now confused.

Princess Desalia threw back her head in laughter and fell onto her haunches. “Oh you’re a cutie, young one. I like you. Come here, please.”

Frost trotted forward and stood in front of the alicorn princess. She was a large mare, possibly even larger than Celestia. Her mane was laced with jewelry and her regalia was the brightest silver Frost had ever seen.

“You don’t like me, do you?” Deslia asked.

Frost hesitated, not wanting to fall into a trap. “I don’t know what you mean.” he said, trying to stay neutral for as long as possible.

Desalia smiled, her demeanor changed from the stoic rigidity of a ruler to just a mare with a lot of weight on her shoulders. Frost could recognize the difference. He couldn’t miss it for the world, his own mother used to wear the same expression. A fragile outward facade of happiness.

“We can continue this game, or we can dispense with the pleasantries and conduct discourse unhindered. It’s up to you. But I’m offering you a chance to ignore all the advice your master has undoubtedly told you about how to act around me. Just be yourself. What is your name, young one?”

“It’s... Frost, your majesty.” he answered, bowing his head slightly.

Desalia sat down on all fours in front of the colt and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Frost. Now, you don’t like me. Can I ask why?”

“It’s not you, Princess. Not just you. I don’t like the upper class in pony society.”

“Were you from one of the poorer classes of Equestria?” she asked.

“The poorest. My father died when I was young, leaving only my mother and myself. She was a waitress at a filthy bar in the city. She also might have done... other things to get some money. I don’t know.”

“I see,” Desalia said. “But that doesn’t explain why you don’t like the upper class.”

“One night a bunch of thugs broke into our house and took my mother away, she said everything would be fine and that she’d be back. That was the last I saw of her. I later found out that the thugs were connected to a wealthy family in Manehatten. It was because of them I lost my mother and ended up on the streets.”

“Then you have every reason to hate and be suspicious of upper class ponies and royalty, don’t you?” Desalia said. “I’m not going to baby you and apologize for something I had nothing to do with. You deserve more respect than that, Frost. I can tell you are bright unicorn.”

“Thank you, princess. But I’m here to answer for my crimes. I’d appreciate it if we could get to that.” Frost said, gaining some courage.

Desalia smiled. “Indeed, Frost. Normally such a crime would be death, with an added bonus of torture for freeing such a dangerous criminal. But I’m not about to sentence that to a child. I assume you know the gravity of what you have done, and are sorry?”

“Yes, princess. It was random happenstance that lead to the situation in the first place. I assure you it was beyond my control...”

“Well, that’s good enough for me, Frost. But you’re still not off the hook.”

“I’m not?” Frost asked, his heart plummeting.

“No,” Desalia smiled, “Not just yet. There are three tasks I want you to complete. After that, we’re even and you are forgiven in the eyes of the Silver Isles.”

“Okay,” Frost said, “What are these tasks?”

The princess levitated over three tiaras, each adorned with different colored gems and designs. “Which one of these would look best at the upcoming wedding? I’m thinking this one, with black inlay and green gems.”

Frost couldn’t believe it, was she serious or just toying with him? “Well, princess. I think the dark blue one with the gold gems looks better.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Well, it’s just that everything around here is silver. Gold is nice, too. Isn’t it? I think the dark blue of the tiara with gold gems would compliment the darker parts of your mane. At least, I would like that.” Frost said with a shrug.

“Interesting... my mane has been appearing darker in certain places, it’s true. Perfect. I love it. Thank you, Frost. Your first task is complete.”

“Well that was easy,” Frost said, “What’s the second task?”

Princess Desalia smirked and levitated Frost to sit beside her. She gently draped a wing around him and pulled him close to her side. “I have many daughters, Frost...”

Frost’s face went white as a ghost. He could see it, she wanted to wed him to one of her daughters. That was to be his punishment. Princess Deslia burst out laughing and nuzzled Frost’s mane. “I know what you’re thinking, don’t worry, I’m not that desperate to marry off all of my daughters.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Frost said before covering his mouth with a hoof, causing Desalia to laugh and giggle further.

The princess levitated over a picture of a beautiful young mare with artificial silver flowers in her mane and a flowing silver dress. “This is Orianna, one of my more... troublesome daughters.”

“She’s very pretty,” Frost said.

“Oh don’t let her appearance fool you, Frost. She’s nothing but trouble, which brings me to your second task. Two days ago Orianna was traveling with some of her sisters and ran off. I don’t know why, but I assume it has something to do with helping the poor.” Frost looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. “She seems to think I don’t do enough for them in some parts of the Isles, there is only so much I can do.” Desalia said. “She’s been gone for two days. I thought she was just messing around and trying to make me angry, but now I’m starting to get worried. I’ve sent the guards to look for her, and you’re going to help. With your knowledge of the poorer classes and streets, you likely possess knowledge some guards do not, and are thus an asset.”

“I can do that, princess. I’ll tell Aldus right away so-”

“There will be no help from Aldus or his courtiers, Frost. This is your task and yours alone. Besides, the last thing I need are a bunch of powerful ponies running around the slums tearing the place apart looking for my daughter. I’m sure she’s alright, for now. The quicker you find her, the quicker it stays that way.”

“As you wish, Princess.” Frost said.

He moved to get up but Desalia’s wing forced him back down. “I’m sorry about your mother, Frost. It’s a shame when good ponies die. Perform well here, and not only will you be absolved of your crimes, but I’ll personally reward you for your actions. Run along now.”

Frost got up and quickly exited the princesses chambers and trotted down the hallway. As soon as he rounded the corner Aldus popped out of thin air beside him. “How did it go? When is your execution?”

“Very funny, Aldus.” Frost droned.

“Seriously, so then everything is fine?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Frost said, “I have to go to the southern islands to look for Desalia’s missing daughter. The guards are already there trying to find her, and I’m supposed to help, it’s the second task out of three I must complete in order to be pardoned.”

“I see,” Aldus said, “How can I help?”

“You can’t” Frost said, “Desalia has forbid it.”

“She would do something like that. You can tell me all about it on our ride back to Pythia.”

----------------

Iris flew around the halls of the cottage looking for a certain blue unicorn. She eventually found him in his room looking at a picture in his dresser. He put it away and shut it upon realizing she was standing in the doorway. She noticed he had saddlebags on and was preparing to leave.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I have to go to the southern islands.” Frost said while he zipped one bag shut. “Orders from the princess.”

“What did she tell you to do?”

“Apparently the princess’ daughter has gone missing and I have to help find her.” Frost said while he walked to the door. He was stopped by one of Iris’ wings.

“Oh, alright.Then I’m coming with you.” Iris said.

“No, you’re not.” Frost said, “I’m supposed to do this alone. I can’t have any help from the courtiers.”

“Well I’m not a courtier,” Iris said as she leaned against Frost and draped a wing around him, “I can be a help, Frosty. You know that.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Iris. It might be dangerous.”

Iris twitched an eyebrow and immediately tackled Frost to the ground and had him in a submission hold she’d learned from Kathe. “I can take care of myself.”

“Okay, okay...” Frost relented with a bit of laughter, “You can come.”

Iris smiled and lifted Frost off the ground. “When do we leave?”

“Right now. We’re going to look around before it gets dark.”

-------------------

As the sun was setting, Frost and Iris arrived on the main southern Island. These were the poorer locations of the Silver Isles. Often the most beautiful, yet they did not have the lavish structures and citizens in the north. Instead, these islands were home to several other races. Frost saw some buffalo, a few other gryphons, some earth ponies, and zebras. There were even a few goats and donkeys that tended to shops around the main bazaar.

“Stay close to me, Iris.” Frost said as they strolled around the perimeter. “I’m surprised Rigel let you come with me, isn’t he worried?”

Iris smiled and shook her head, “Nah, he trusts me. I’m a big gryphon, Frosty. Aldus and Rigel told me to make sure you didn’t do anything too stupid.”

“Of course they did. Wait, what?”

Iris giggled and nuzzled Frost affectionately, “Don’t worry about... oh matriarch, what’s that smell?” Iris asked. She fluttered into the air and saw a gryphon cooking fresh meat with vegetables. He had kabobs propped up on a tray for sale. “I’m starving. I’ll be right back, Frost!”

“Whatever,” Frost muttered to himself. He waited a while and observed the surroundings while Iris waited her turn in line. There were plenty of shady characters around here, and something was off. Frost just couldn’t put his hoof on it. Then, the alicorn goddess blessed Frost with luck. In the corner of an alley near the edge of the bazaar. A zebra colt rummaged through some sacks, tossing away some items while keeping others. It was the same colt who stole his saddlebags and caused him to fall down the drain and meet Silth.

Iris fluttered over to Frost with her beak stuffed with meat. “Here you go, Frosty. I got some for you, too. Don’t worry, yours just has vegetables with cheese. They’re really good.”

“Iris! Do you know how amazing this is?!” Frost asked in a hushed tone, cupping her face with his hooves.

“The meat is surprisingly good, I admit. A bit more burnt than what I’m used to. Back home Kathe would sometimes prepare-”

“Not the meat you bundle of feathers!” Frost practically spat, “Look over there!”

Frost turned her head to the zebra colt, still rummaging through his sacks. “It’s a zebra...” Iris said with a shrug.

“Not just a zebra, the zebra!”

“Frosty, why’re you this excited over a zebra colt? Am I not exotic enough for you?” Iris asked with a pout of disappointment.

Frost flushed the brightest shade of red before double facehoofing. “That’s the zebra that took my stuff! Don’t you remember? He’s the reason I’m in this mess in the first place!”

“Oh yeah, I guess that is him.” Iris admitted while taking another bite from the kabob. “What’re you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna kick his flank, you just watch.” Frost said while starting to trot over to the alley.

“Ok, Frosty. Ok.” Iris said with an amused chuckle as she followed behind him.

Frost approached the alley from the side and counted to three, then teleported right in front of the zebra colt. The colt was surprised and backed up into the wall. Frost grabbed him by the neck and teleported both them to the other wall and materialized, slamming the colt into it.

“Hey asshole, remember me?” Frost asked before slamming his hoof into the colt’s face.

The zebra quickly got over his shock and headbutted Frost, staggering him. He then turned around and bucked him in the jaw before running off. Frost fell to the ground and cursed before shooting a bolt of ice at the zebra, it hit him in the flank, but he kept running anyway.

 

Iris touched down next to Frost with a kabob sticking out of her beak, “You’re really not good at this, are you?”

Frost growled and slammed his hoof into the ground, “Just get him!!”

Iris shook her head and took off. The zebra had rounded the corner into the next alley when a claw wrapped around his midsection and another around his muzzle to prevent him from screaming. Iris flew to the top of one of the three story buildings bordering the alley and hovered above the roof.

Frost teleported to the top and snarled at the zebra. “Nowhere to run now, stripes. Let him down Iris so I can freeze him solid.”

The Zebra mumbled something in Iris’ grasp as he kicked and struggled. Iris was a great deal larger than the colt, so his struggling didn’t amount to much. “I don’t think so, Frost.” Iris said with a shake of her head. She leaned forward and looked the zebra in the eye. “I’m going to let you go, Frost isn’t going to hurt you. You’re three stories off the ground and theres nowhere to run. You’re not going to scream, understand?”

The zebra nodded and looked at Frost, who appeared ready to explode. Iris fluttered to the ground and let the zebra go. The colt took few breaths before staring at Frost, “How did you find me?”

“I didn’t find you, I wasn’t looking. I just happened to see you in that alley while my marefriend and I were passing through.”

“Oooo!!! Marefriend?!” Iris squealed  while cupping her claws to her cheeks. Her eyes practically sparkled with joy, “D’aww Frosty!!”

“Anyway...” Frost said through gritted teeth, “Why did you steal my stuff? I want it back!”

“Well, you can’t have it back, I don’t have it anymore.” the zebra said with a shrug.

“Why not?” Frost asked.

“I sold it, alright? Look, you caught me fair and square. You can have all the bits on me, okay? Then can you let me go?”

“Why did you steal it in the first place?” Iris asked, “And what’s your name?”

“My name is Denova,” the zebra colt replied. “I need the money to help my sister, she’s in trouble.”

“Oh such a noble cause,” Frost scoffed, “Why should I believe you?”

“It’s the truth you stupid unicorn, my sister was taken when we first arrived here. The Arrowheads have her.”

“The Arrowheads?” Iris asked.

“They’re the local gang. They take homeless and helpless foals off the street and force them to work in their shops and factories. That’s where they took Sohara, I know it.”

Frost paused, “You didn’t go to the guards?”

“Half the guards around here are corrupt, they look the other way all the time!” Denova said, holding back tears, “I just want my sister back, you have to believe me!”

Iris trotted over to Denova and embraced him in a comforting hug, “We understand, and we forgive you, don’t we Frost?” she asked while glaring at him.

“So why were you trying to steal money? What did that have to do with saving your sister?” Frost asked.

“One of their gang leaders, a captain. He said they had Sohara, and if I wanted her back I’d have to pay for her. I didn’t know what else to do. It’s just me and Sohara, we don’t have anypony else. Our parents sacrificed everything so we could start a new life here!”

“You do realize that after you gave them the money they would have taken you too, right?” Frost asked which putting a hoof to his forehead in concentration.

“No! Scratch said he’d let her go!” Denova said.

Frost looked down at the bazaar and thought about the situation, then it hit him. It all made sense. “Denova, have you seen this filly?” Frost asked while showing him a picture of Orianna.

“No, why?” he asked while wiping tears away.

“Just wondered. Iris, I think I know where she is.”

“I think I know, too.” Iris agreed with a frown.

“C’mon, Denova,” Frost said motioning him to follow, “You’re gonna help us find this filly, and we might just get your sister back in the process.”

--------------

As the Night laid across the skies of the Silver Isles, Iris stayed with Denova while Frost made a few rounds around the bazaar. Eventually he made his way over to a shady looking pegasus colt playing dice near a food cart.

“You know where I can get some information ‘round here, feathers?” he asked with a smirk.

“Information? That’s a valuable commodity ‘round these parts, pixie dust. Let’s see some shinies before we go talkin’ like we’re friends.”

Frost produced a bag of bits and shook them in front of the pegasus before tossing them on the ground.

The pegasus grinned and nodded, “So whatcha wanna know?”

“Have you seen this filly in the past few days?” Frost asked, after showing him Orianna’s picture.

“I have, the Arrowheads took her a few nights back. Filly didn’t stand a chance, looked upper crust to me. Maybe she ran away from home? Bet she’s regretting’ that decision now, eh?” the pegasus said with a laugh.

“Thanks for the info, I’ll see ya around.” Frost said while turning to leave.

“Watch yourself out there, pixie dust.” the pegasus called from behind.

Frost returned to Iris and Denova and shook his head. “It’s just as I thought, they have her, too.”

“Shoot,” Iris said while slamming the ground with a balled up claw. “What do we do now?”

“You’re not gonna like it,” Frost said to Iris and Denova.

“What?” both asked.

“We’re going to get taken, probably tonight.”

“What?!” Denova shouted, “How will that possibly help?”

Frost calmed him down and looked at Iris, who seemed calm, but dubious of Frost’s intent. “Listen, that pegasus who sold me that info is a spotter for the gang. He was eyeing an earth pony stallion a few times when we were talking. I’m guessing he’s the one who marks their targets and then they get taken in the night. It’s probably what happened to Orianna and Sohara. I’m sure we’ll be taken too since I asked questions about Orianna and where she was. Now we just have to wait.”

“What do we do when we get in there?” Iris asked.

Frost smirked, “Then we improvise, I’m thinking this up as I go, Iris.”

“Great,” Denova said, settling into a sleeping bag, “I hope you’re right about this, Frost.”

-------------

Later that night, Iris instructed Black Star not to intervene, no matter what happened. Merging with him would be disastrous to their plan and they’d never find the two foals. A little after midnight, each foal drifted off to sleep as two figures closed in on them from the end of the alley. Iris felt a large hand clasp down on her beak while a belt was tied around her wings and stomach, pinning them against her. A black bag was forced over her head and tied shut while the same was done to Denova. Frost was gagged immediately while a ring was fixed to his horn. All three foals were tossed into a sack and slung over the shoulder of a massive bipedal creature, then the alley was silent once more.

Chapter 23: Stardust

Polaris and Pyrite disembarked from the airship and made their way into the small town of Silver Shade. They had traveled across the Silver Sea and landed on mainland near Concordia. The Silver Isles still had some towns and villages near the sea, and this was one of them. It was a dreary place, it’s citizens averted the gaze of Pyrite and Polaris as they walked to the post office.

“I’m going to go find a map,” Polaris said with a smile, “I’ll be right back.”

Pyrite nodded and yawned, the trip had taken longer than expected. Andromeda appeared next to him and draped a wing over his side. “Tired buddy?”

“Just a bit,” Pyrite replied with another yawn. Andromeda grinned and nuzzled him. “I’ll make sure you get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

Polaris trotted out of the post office with the map and a smile on his face. “Interesting, looks like some things changed in the past thousand years.”

“You don’t say,” Andromeda droned.

“I know, crazy right?” Polaris fired back in an equally sarcastic tone, making Pyrite chuckle. “There appears to be a forest between here and our destination. That wasn’t there before. I think we’ll end up camping out for at least one or two nights before we get there.”

“How will we do that?” Pyrite asked.

“Don’t worry, I came prepared.” Polaris said with wink. “We can’t use transportation to get there anyway. These ponies don’t take well to strangers close to their homes.”

Pyrite shrugged and followed Polaris out of the town and noticed all the townsfolk watching them leave. It made his hair stand up.

After traveling for about three or four hours, it began to get dark. Polaris set up the tent and cooked Pyrite some dinner before turning in for the night. Their tent was sizable for two occupants, which left ample space for Pyrite. Space that Andromeda used to snuggle with him. Later in the night, Pyrite woke up and untangled himself from Andromeda’s hooves. He was thirsty and scanned the tent for any water, but couldn’t find any. Then he remembered a stream nearby. Pyrite glanced over at Andromeda and didn’t move. Almost every time he tried to sneak away from her at night she caught him, so he needed to be extra careful. Slowly he stood up and crept across the tent. Polaris was turned over on his side, barely making any sounds at all.

Now came the most challenging part, unzipping the tent flap. Pyrite gingerly grasped the zipper and moved it down, he turned over his shoulder to see Andromeda let out a tranquil sigh and roll over. The zipper reached the bottom and Pyrite stepped out into the night. The cool air hit his muzzle causing him to smile. It was peaceful out under the moonlight. He perked his ears up to ascertain the direction of the river, then began to trot toward it. He passed through a thicket of trees and bushes to get to the bank, unaware he was being watched.

The water was crystal clear and refreshing. Pyrite wiped his mouth with a hoof and turned around to head back to camp. As he approached the thicket and trees. Something dropped down from a branch and startled him. It was a pony... hanging upside down from a tree branch. It’s slitted eyes glowed gold in the moonlight.

“Hullo!” the pony said with a somewhat low voice, but Pyrite still knew it belonged to a mare.

“Who are you?” Pyrite asked while catching his breath from the jump scare.

The pony dropped down from the branch with a chuckle and trotted over to Pyrite. When she stepped into the moonlight, he began to back up a few paces in apprehension. She looked like a normal filly, but her ears were pointy and furrier than normal. Aside from her eyes, her wings were webbed and leathery, and she had fangs that glistened in the moonlight.

“Evening Rose,” the filly replied, “But my friends just call me Eve, for short.” She flicked her blue mane away from her eyes and grinned at Pyrite, who continued to retreat.

“You’re a bat pony!” Pyrite shouted as he backed into a rock.

The filly raised an eyebrow and giggled, “Yes, though we usually prefer to be called something else. What are you doing out here? Are you lost, little earth pony?”

Pyrite scrunched his muzzle in irritation. She was barely bigger than he was, and he guessed she was around the same age, too. “No, I’m not lost. I’m Pyrite, by the way.”

Eve inched closer and batted her eyelashes at him, “Then... you’re a tourist, Pyrite?”

“Tourist? I guess that’s true.” he said.

Eve turned around and leaned against the rock beside him, “You really shouldn’t be out by yourself like this, there are dangerous things in these woods. Things that wouldn’t hesitate to gobble up a cutie like you.” She looked back at the forest and sniffed the air, “You aren’t all the way out here by yourself then, your parents must be with you, or some other adults?”

“Yeah, I’m with my...um, my uncle.” Pyrite said while scratching his head. “We’re camped just over there beyond those trees.”

Eve’s smile brightened and she nodded happily. “That’s perfect. Come with me, Pyrite. I have something to show you! It’s really cool!” she grabbed him by the hoof and dragged him along the bank and across the shallows to the other side. They ran through more trees before coming to a clearing. Eve motioned him to follow her up a hill. As Pyrite followed, several white flowers were in bloom near the top. Dew was beginning to collect at their tips and caught against his fur. “What do you think?” Eve asked “Pretty, isn’t it?” she sat down and motioned for Pyrite to join her. “Isn’t the sky pretty? Princess Luna does a wonderful job, it’s like a painting.”

“Yeah,”  Pyrite agreed.

Eve’s eyes shot open and she fluttered into the air happily. “Hey! Do you want to dance with me, Pyrite?”

“What?” the colt asked, perplexed.

“Dancing under the moonlight! Just like in the old stories, it’s so romantic. C’mon don’t be shy! We’re friends, right?”

“Well, we only just met.” Pyrite said, rubbing his hoof, “I’m really not good at dancing, and there’s no music.”

“Isn’t there?” Eve asked, “You don’t hear it?”

Pyrite twitched his ears and heard crickets, tree frogs, and some birds. The gentle breeze made a soft cadence as it passed through the trees and their branches. The flow of the river nearby only added to the symphony. He could see what she meant. Slowly he got up and trotted over to her. “How do I-?”

“Don’t worry, cutie. I’ll take the lead.” she said while bringing him to stand on his hind legs with her.

They swayed back and forth together while Eve began to hum a quiet song. She squeezed him and whispered into his ear, “Isn’t this nice?”

Pyrite felt like his mind was slipping into a daydream, he snapped himself out of it and looked up into Eve’s eyes. They were turning red now for some reason. “Nice? Yeah, it’s nice.”

Eve chuckled and continued the gentle motions while humming her song. She briefly unfurled her leather wings and rubbed them against Pyrite’s back, further dulling his senses. Eve looked at Pyrite and saw he was staring ahead in a daze. With a smile she gently turned him around and moved his mane away, exposing his neck.

Pyrite jerked suddenly feeling a pinch, then a soothing warmth began to spread across his neck and back. He let out a moan and slumped backward, still swaying from side to side with his dancing partner. Eve moved him back and forth while she fed, her venom beginning to take effect around the colt’s upper body. She squeezed him tighter as she sucked the warm red liquid, then broke away and licked her fangs. “Mmm... I told you there were dangerous things out here, didn’t I?” she said with a low giggle.

“Yeah,” Pyrite murmured, half in a trance thanks to Eve’s nocturnal powers.

The filly gripped Pyrite tightly and flapped into the air to take him away. As she turned toward the mountains, a sound jolted her around.

“Pyrite! Pyrite!” a voice called, getting closer.

“Sun be cursed!” she hissed. She thought they’d gone far enough away to avoid this exact situation. The filly fluttered to the ground and grinned, “Thanks for the dance, handsome. See you around.”

As the voice came closer, Eve’s mouth curled upward into a proper smirk. She planted a wet kiss on the colt’s cheek before disappearing into the night sky.

“Pyrite! Where are you?! Pyrite!!”

Pyrite shook his head and came out of the daze. “What happened?” he groaned. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he looked at his neck. There were bite marks! That filly bit him! Pyrite wheezed as his blood ran cold. He heard Andromeda coming, she was close. He wiped away the red on his face from Eve’s kiss and looked at his neck. He wasn’t bleeding, that was good. He flipped his silver mane over and covered the bite.

Andromeda flew up to the top of the hill wearing a scowl. “What are you doing out here, Pyrite?!”

“I- um, I got up to get a drink from the river and uh- I saw this hill with all these flowers and wanted to come see what it was like.” Pyrite said.

Andromeda narrowed her eyes and looked around, “You came all the way out here to look at moon flowers?”

“Well, yeah. Moon flowers. I’ve never seen them before. When Princess Luna comes to visit I’ll be able to tell her that I saw them.” Pyrite picked a flower and slid it into Andromeda’s mane. “Blue and white, you look so pretty.”

Andromeda looked at the flowers and her features softened. “Think so?”

“I know so,” Pyrite said. “You aren’t mad at me are you?”

Andromeda looked down at the colt and let out a sigh, “How could I be mad at you?” She picked him up and nuzzled him, “But you aren’t doing this again!” Andromeda flew back down to their camp and shook her head. “Next time you won’t be waking up until I say so.”

-----------------

Aldus munched on some crackers as he filed away tax reports from Luna’s Canterlot office. Celestia had delegated several matters to Luna since her return and she quickly found herself swamped with busy work. Lucky for her, Aldus had his share of experience running things and brought some of the work with him to the Silver Isles. He yawned and reclined in his chair while putting the morning paper over his head. Just as he was about to nod off the paper was ripped away and a pair of violet eyes dominated his vision.

“What do you want, Ciaran?” Aldus groaned.

“I’ve been doing some digging, and I think I found a way for us to help Frost find this missing filly.”

Aldus yawned, “I can’t get involved, Ciaran. And it’s probably for the best anyway. Frost is a resourceful pony, he can handle this himself.”

“Aldus, we really should help... we should do something, anything. We’re right here. Desalia doesn’t have to know.” Ciaran argued.

Aldus raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Worried that your little colt might get into trouble and do something naughty? Seeing you be this motherly is a nice change of pace.”

Ciaran blushed for a moment then turned and flicked her tail in Aldus’ face. “Well one of us should be worried about him, don’t you think?”

“Frost grew up on the streets, he knows what to avoid. This will be a good lesson for him. Plus Iris is with him and she’s even smarter than he is. Besides, I have to get everything ready for when Thule gets here...”

“Sounds stressful,” Ciaran said with a sigh.

“You’ve no idea,” Aldus replied.

“Oh! That reminds me,” Ciaran remembered, “This came for you today. The royal seal, looks important.”

Aldus took the letter from the changeling and opened it. He squinted at the fine print. “You are cordially invited to a dinner party honoring the bride and groom to be. It will serve as a meet and greet for the foreign guests who plan to attend the wedding. Party and catering hosted by the Hoofague family?!” Aldus exclaimed, “Augh! They’re still alive, too?! Goddess!”

“Hoofague family?” Ciaran asked.

“Only the most stuffed up, hoity toity, arrogant, insufferable family I’ve ever encountered.” Aldus fumed.

“I’m sure they can’t be that bad, all the ones you knew are long gone.” Ciaran suggested.

“Oh no, I’m sure they’ll be equally awful. Just you wait.”

“If it’s going to be that bad then don’t go.” Ciaran offered with a shrug.

“Don’t go?” Aldus said with a laugh, “I have to go, it’s part of my job. I’m still head of the night court. They’ll expect me there. Plus they’ll all want to know how I’m still alive in the first place. I’m getting a migraine just thinking about it. I need a drink.” he said as he walked over to the cider cabinet on the other side of the room.

“Aldus wait,” Ciaran said.

“What?” he asked. Now irritated.

“That place I was talking about that might have a lead to help Frost? It’s a bar. We can go together and enjoy an evening, all while investigating to help Frost and Iris. I’m sure Rigel and Marigold would want to come, too.” Ciaran transformed into Willow and wrapped her hooves around Aldus from behind. “Please...” she cooed.

Aldus thought about Frost, Thule, the upcoming wedding, and now this party. “Alright, we’ll go. You help Frost by investigating, I’ll help Frost by drinking excessively.”

-------------------

Frost, Iris, and Denova tumbled out of the sack and onto hard cement floor. Each of them were placed beside each other and made to kneel. They heard voices around them and laughter. Suddenly their blindfolds and bags were removed. Blinding light hit their eyes as a voice spoke up to silence the others.

“Now boys, lets not be rude to our new guests. Welcome little foals, so glad to have you here.” Frost regained most of his vision and looked around the room. The voice was coming from a speaker. The stallion that owned it was not here. “To the unicorn and gryphon, your wings and horn pose, shall we say, safety hazards for both your co-workers and my staff. They have thusly been restrained.”

Frost looked at the ring around his horn, guessing it would absorb magic if he tried to summon it. Frost tested that hypothesis, and to his surprise he received a shock when the magic collected in his horn. He fell to the ground and yelped in pain.

“Frost!” Iris squeaked, trying to scoot over to him. She screeched as large hand impacted the back of her head. It hit her so hard she rolled into a wall, bending her wings in an obtuse angle.

Frost snarled in rage and turned around to ascertain what hit Iris.

“Now, now Steel Slab, don’t damage them. We need them to work.”

“Yes, boss. Sorry boss.” a low voice rumbled.

Frost fell backward in fear. If a mountain could move and talk, it would look like this. A minotaur stalked over to Iris and picked her up by her bound wings. He planted her back next to Denova, who looked like he was about to have an accident all over the floor. The minotaur was pure white, an albino. Several tattoos adorned it’s gargantuan shoulders and arms. Three golden rings hung from it’s muzzle as decorative pieces, while it’s horns were curved to menacing points facing outward, easily utilized as piercing weapons.

“Now, where was I? Ah yes. You young children now have glorious purpose in your lives. You’re in on the ground floor of a booming business here in the Silver Isles!” the voice said with a high pitched laugh. “You can call me Fine Print. I specialize in the synthesis and distribution of Star Dust, a very popular substance enjoyed by mares and stallions, colts and fillies, and all manner of non pony folk. And there’s great news, you start right now. Work hard! I’ll be watching...”

The microphone clicked off as Steel Slab grabbed all three foals and dragged them into a warehouse basement where at least ten other foals were working. Frost saw empty tables and benches, he wondered why there weren’t more foals around. Steel slab forcefully placed Denova and Frost down at a table with three other foals, one of them another zebra colt. An earth pony trotted over to them and handed them each a mortar and pestle. A bag of blue crystals and a purple paste was given to each of them, the pony instructed them on their tasks, then moved on to inspect the other children.

Frost looked over to Iris and saw her planted at another table. She appeared to be instructed to do the same thing. At the far side of the warehouse, there was a large mixer that seemed to be breaking down whatever the purple substance was into the paste that Frost was using. It was being turned by three foals, each harnessed to a pole forced to walk in circles around the machine.

Frost whispered to Denova, “We’d better just keep our heads down and work, then we’ll start trying to find your sister and Orianna.”

Denova nodded and began his work, “That sounds smart.”

Frost worked for at least two hours grinding crystals into paste. A bell rang near the warehouse door signalling a break. Denova and the rest of the foals at the table all got up and were escorted to the bathrooms, leaving Frost alone with the other zebra.

“Hey,” Frost said. The zebra ignored him and kept working. “Hey, um.. so how did you end up in this mess?”

The zebra finally acknowledged Frost and moved some of his black and white mane from his face, “I wandered into a place where I didn’t belong, almost got killed in the process. Not very smart, is it Frost?”

Frost was taken aback, “I’m sorry, how do you know my name?”

“Your friend said it while you were whispering to each other.” the colt said while he motioned to where Denova was sitting.

“Oh, well, alright then.” Frost said with small smile. He didn’t remember that, but it was possible.

“Are you from around here, Frost?” the zebra colt asked. “I feel like I’ve seen you before, but from someplace far away.”

“Oh, really?” Frost asked. “Well, I’m from Manehatten. That’s a city in Equestria. It’s pretty far away.”

“I see,” the zebra said. “I’ve been to Equestria before. I stayed in Bridle’borough for a while.”

Frost raised an eyebrow, “Huh? Bridle’borough? Don’t you mean Fillydelphia?”

“What?” The zebra asked, then quickly nodded, “Oh right, Fillydelphia. Sorry, it’s been a while since I left there. I’m Kethona, by the way.” the zebra said as he reached out and shook Frost’s hoof.

“Frost!” Iris called from behind.

Frost turned around and saw the gryphon trot up to him. “Iris! Are you okay? You aren’t hurt, are you? That minotaur really hit you hard.”

“I’m alright,” she whispered, “Black Star has been healing the injuries. I’ll be fine. What about you? Who were you talking to?”

“That’s Kethona, I think he might be able to help us find Sohara.” Frost replied.

Iris shot Frost a worried glance, then looked around. “Frost, there’s nopony there.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, “He’s right... there...” Frost turned around and found the table empty. “I don’t understand, he was right there. I was talking to him!”

Iris ran a claw through Frost’s mane and nuzzled him, “Are you okay? That thing on your horn didn’t shock you too much, did it?”

Frost’s ears fell against his head, “I swear I saw him, Iris.

“Frosty, the only zebra here is Denova. I don’t know what to tell you.” Iris cooed. “I think after this we’ll be sent to our beds. I heard some of the other ponies talking about it. We can figure out what to do there.”

Frost nodded as the guards came back with the other foals. Iris nuzzled him again before leaving to return to her table. He looked at where Kethona was sitting and shook his head. “Strange.”

---------------------

“Get to sleep runts, you get most of the day off tomorrow until the new shipment comes. So make the most of it.” a guard said while slamming the door behind the children.

Frost and Denova walked over to Iris as she slumped against the wall. “You okay?” Denova asked.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” she said with a small smile.

There were three other foals sharing their small bunk room. Spring Shot, a pegasus filly, and two young earth pony colts, Silver Spark and Flint. The two of them were about Pyrite’s age.

Each of the three foals came over and smiled at Iris. “Hullo.” Flint said with a thick Trottingham accent. “I’ve never seen a gryphon before. Nice to meet ya.”

Iris smiled and ruffled the colt’s mane, “Right back at ya, cutie. Where are the rest of the foals? Theres lots of beds here.”

“They move everypony around to keep us isolated, they think it’ll stop trouble from happening if we aren’t together all the time.” Spring Shot said while rubbing Silver Spark’s back.

“That’s probably why we haven’t seen Sohara and Orianna yet.” Frost said to Denova. “I bet we’ll see them soon.”

“What are you talking about?” Spring Shot asked. “You’re here looking for somepony?”

“Yeah,” Denova answered. “My sister and a filly named Orianna.”

“We found out they got captured, so we figured this would be the best way to find them. Now just comes that matter of getting out.” Iris said with a sigh.

“Getting out?” Spring Shot asked with a laugh, “There is no getting out of here. Ponies have tried, I’ve tried. You only get caught and beaten by Steel Slab.”

Silver Spark, who had been quiet till now, jumped when Spring mentioned the minotaur. “Aww I’m sorry, buddy. I know you don’t like to remember that.”

“Remember what?” Iris asked.

Silver Spark shook his head and turned around, part of his left foreleg was out of place, causing him to limp. A product of being punished by Steel Slab. It appeared to have healed, but not properly.

Iris frowned and picked up the colt with her tail, causing him to jump. She cradled him against her breast and let some tears escape her eyes. “How could ponies allow cruelty like this to happen? Why doesn’t Desalia do something?”

Frost rubbed the colt’s back as Iris held him, “It’s okay, we’re going to get out of here. I don’t know how yet. But we’ll think of something.” he said while trotting over to stand beside Spring Shot. “And I’m going to kill that minotaur.”

“He’s been the source of many nightmares for us,” Spring said. “He’s a psychopath. Been in several gangs, each of them kicked him out for being too brutal and violent. Those three rings on his muzzle? Each of them taken from minotaurs bigger than him, he beat them all to death with his bare hands.”

Iris huffed, “I wouldn’t worry about nightmares anymore. There’s somepony I want you to meet.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Iris?” Frost asked.

“It’s fine, we need him now. And he’ll disappear if anypony comes by. Do you normally get checked on at night?” Iris asked.

“Nah,” Spring replied. “That door is six inches of steel. Nothing’s breaking that down. No reason to check on us, no way out.”

Iris nodded, “Come out Black Star, time to meet our new friends.”

Iris’ shadow bulged and rippled as part of it peeled away and took the form of a large four winged, three tailed gryphon. “Hello there, little ones.”

Denova and Spring were staring at Black Star with their mouths agape, while Silver Spark buried his head in Iris’ feathers. Flint however stared at him with a bright smile. “Woah... that’s so cool!” He ran forward and jumped on Black Star’s back, examining and prodding his four wings. “This is so cool! You use all four of these to fly? You even have three tails!”

Spring chuckled and flapped over to Black Star, “That is pretty neat, what are you?”

“I’m a friend,” he said with a smile, “What’s wrong with the little one?” he motioned to Silver Spark.

Iris trotted over to Black Star and rubbed the colt’s mane. “It’s okay, he’s not going to hurt you. I know he looks big, mean, and ugly. But he can’t help it. He’s really just a big softy.” she said with a wink. Black Star twitched and eyebrow and grumbled something under his breath.

Silver Spark giggled a bit and turned around to face Black Star. Iris sat him down and watched him stare up at the large gryphon. Black Star leaned down smiled, “Nightmares tormenting you, kiddo?”

Silver Spark nodded and lowered his head in shame, “Yeah, I haven’t slept well in a long time. I’m not brave enough.”

Black Star picked the colt’s chin up with a talon. “You won’t have nightmares anymore, Silver Spark. Not while I’m here. You just need some help, we’ll be brave together.”

Silver Spark sighed, “But the nightmares are scary, especially the minotaur.”

Black Star smirked and opened his third green eye, “I’m scarier.” He picked up Flint with one of his tails and sat the giggling child next to Silver Spark. “Tonight, we’re going to give those nightmares a taste of their own medicine.”

Frost sat down with Denova and Spring while Iris entertained the two colts. “Tell me about this place. Where do you think we are? Any details will help. I need to get word to my master.”

As he listened to Denova and Spring try to reason out their location. Frost prayed to the first alicorn that Aldus would help him, despite being forbidden to lend aid.

---------------------

At the cottage, Rigel watched the sun set on the patio outside his room. He preened his feathers and let out a sigh. Polaris would return soon with that troublesome member of the court. He had never gotten along with Thule, even though Thule liked him. In fact, he was one of the only ponies Thule seemed to respect. Rigel never understood why, perhaps it was because of his heritage? It didn’t matter, he banished the thoughts from his mind as a knock came from the door.

Rigel flew in and opened it to find Marigold standing outside. “Marigold! Come in!” Rigel said with a smile. He extended a wing to hold the door open for her as she trotted inside. Rigel shut the door and realized she was out of her night guard armor. Her shapely curves and toned muscles now fully visible and marvelous.

She turned around and smiled. “Rigel, Aldus and Ciaran have discovered a place that might have information to help Frost and Iris. It’s a bar.”

“That’s great!” Rigel exclaimed, “I’m sure they’ll be able to get some information that’ll help them. And between you and me, Aldus could use some time away and a few drinks.”

Marigold smiled and looked away for a moment, she began playing with her mane and cleared her throat. “Well, Rigel, you see... it’s a classy upscale bar, and Ciaran and Aldus are going together. So they were wondering, and uh, I was wondering too if maybe you’d like to come with me.”

Rigel chuckled at the adorable mare. She reminded him of himself when he first asked out a mare, it didn’t go well at all.

“Of course I’ll come with you.” Rigel answered with a grin. “It’s a date!”

Marigold turned the brightest shade of red and jumped into Rigel’s forehooves. “Oh thank you! I was afraid you’d think I was being too pushy.”

Rigel laughed and looked down at the mare, “It’s not a problem. I happen to like pushy mares anyway.”

Marigold giggled and continued to play with her mane, “Well, thanks Rigel. I’ll leave you alone now. Goodnight.”

As she reached the door, something happened that she’d never thought possible. Not in a million years.

“Marigold, you don’t have to leave. Why don’t you stay with me a while?”

Despite being an attractive mare, Marigold considered herself a bumbling idiot around stallions she liked. It was a fault her sisters constantly ridiculed her for. And in her later years, she grew increasingly self conscious about it. What few relationships she’d attempted while in the nightguard never got off the ground due of her impulsive and odd nature.

“Really?” she squeaked.

“Really,” Rigel replied. He motioned her over with his wing and poured her a glass of cider, “You said it would be nice to get to know each other better.”

Marigold smiled and fluttered over beside him. They talked for about an hour before she found herself laying next to him on his bed. Rigel listened intently as Marigold told him about her various times of turning down the Wonderbolts.

“I’m sure you would’ve made a great addition to their team, but staying with Luna was a great choice. I really respect that Marigold. I’m happy you stuck by her when she needed it.” Rigel said.

Marigold was just a bit tipsy after a few drinks, and laughed. She rolled over and took hold of Rigel’s wing. She wrapped it around herself and rested her head on his chest. “You fought the Wonderbolts, what was that like?”

“Exhilarating, and terrifying,” Rigel replied. “Their highest ranking members were the best fliers in Equestria.”

“Highest ranking members? They must’ve been good. What happened to them?”

“I shot them down.”

Marigold looked Rigel in the eye, “You did?”

“Yes,” Rigel replied. “All of their number were expert combat fliers, each fought against us in the civil war. Even my mentor, the legendary flier to first perform a sonic rainboom, Sun Streaker.”

“You shot down your mentor?” Marigold asked, now pressing both hooves into Rigel’s chest.

“I did... it’s not a fond memory.” he trailed off.

Marigold realized she was practically on top of him and was being awkward again. She quickly switched topics to her sisters and their kids. Rigel seemed to enjoy hearing about them. He listened intently until Marigold fell asleep against his side. He smiled and moved the mane out of her face. “Epsilon would’ve loved you, Marigold. Such a sweet mare.” He gently moved her to the side with his wing and pulled a blanket over her. “Goodnight.” he whispered before turning in himself.

Chapter 24: Night's Children

The world stretched on far below as Selene came to her senses, if that’s what you could truly call it. She was everywhere, near and far, she felt the earth move beneath her and the wind caress her essence. The land was strange, misshapen, malformed, primordial. It was a place she’d seen before, but the memories were sparse and fleeting. Selene looked around and breathed heavily, there was a foul stench in the air, something wasn’t right. It was difficult to move, she didn’t remember any of this from personal experience. It was as if she’d seen this from afar, from the eyes of another.

She followed the foul stench and placed herself at the top of a cliff. What she found below startled her. Bodies. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of bodies. It was a mass grave. Selene felt the mass of corpses below and let a single tear escape her eye. Some of the bodies were familiar. Ponies, goats, minotaurs, but there were some that she didn’t recognize. Large serpentine corpses with limbs hinging their figures. Scaley forms that could only be described as failed dragons, due to disproportionate size and mangled features. Selene looked around and saw silhouettes standing near the edge of the divide where the corpses rested. Ancient ponies, necromancers. She shook her head at the foolish desire to control the abandoned forms of sentient creatures.

As the ponies chanted, Selene felt the ground shake. Black tar was oozing across the corpses and collecting near a mound at the center of the divide. However, it wasn’t the intent of the necromancers. They didn’t know what was coming. Selene floated closer and watched energy swirl around the corpses until some started to move. Then something happened that she wasn’t prepared for. Black tentacles shot out in every direction from under the corpses near the mound. For the first time in what seemed an eternity, Selene felt fear. The corpses were pushed aside as a claw burst forth from the pile and reached for the sky. A creature slowly crawled it’s way out of the bodies and gasped for breath. It hunched over and looked around, covering its head.

Selene inched closer and saw it’s head was feline, while the rest of it’s body was a combination of all the other corpses found around it. The creature stood and screamed into the air. It was a deafening roar, one of sadness and pain. The mournful wail seemed to stir up the magic energy around the divide. It began to collect around the creature. It’s mane began to writhe and move freely, much like her own. Then the creature turned abruptly to see a robed pony approach it, one of the necromancers.

Selene was caught in the moment and could only witness what happened next. As the creature moved and gained power, she felt her own power weakening and leaving her. The pony attempted to conjure something at the creature and shot a beam of energy at it. The creature was struck in the chest and looked down at the pony, terrified. It’s expression tore through Selene’s heart. It was the innocence of child, a newborn. It didn’t understand why it was being attacked, it didn’t understand anything. Despite it’s overwhelming size, the creature screamed and swiped a paw near the necromancer, blowing the pony back with a powerful gust of wind. But the ponies were not deterred, more had started traversing the bodies and moved to aid their comrade. The creature saw them and desperately pulled itself from the mound and ran as fast as it could. Selene noticed it’s legs were that of a dragon and a minotaur. It’s tail reared up and hissed at the pursuers. The blue cobra attached to it’s back swayed back and forth as the creature fled. It tripped and stumbled over the corpses as the necromancers closed in around it. Selene tried to do something, anything, but she didn’t have the power. The more this dragged on, the weaker she became. At this point she could barely move at all.

The creature was cornered against the corpse of a massive dragon. The necromancers all fired beams of magic from their horns, hoping to weaken it for capture. It sunk to the ground and protected it’s head with it’s misshapen arms. The beams intensified, culminating into a single energy surge. The creature crumpled to the ground and screamed. It reached out it’s claw, as if begging the necromancers to stop. Then a strange thing happened, they did. The ponies ceased their attacks, and one by one fell over, dead. The creature peaked out from under its arm and slowly stood up. As it did, the essence of the ponies were dragged from their bodies sucked into the creature. It seemed to have no idea what was going on. As the first essence entered it, the creature jumped and attempted to back away. After the last pony was absorbed, the creature roared mournfully into the sky as the clouds began to pour rain on the divide.

Selene tried to move away, but when she summoned the power to do so, some escaped her grasp. The creature’s ears twitched and it whirled around to face her. Selene’s scream that followed rose from her depths, the fear from seeing that ravaged, worn face catapulted her back to the waking world.

She sat upon a cloud and looked out over Canterlot. Further meditation was required. Selene would find out what these visions were. And she was certain that creature was real, and it held terrible, terrible power.

---------------

Pyrite sat in a tree swing as Andromeda pushed him higher and higher. It was a similar dreamscape to last time, but Andromeda made a few adjustments. They were alone now, nopony else was around and most of the creatures were gone, too. At the apex of the swing Pyrite jumped off, performing several flips in the air, then Andromeda swooped in and caught him just as he started to fall.

“That was higher than last time!” she said with a smile while tickling Pyrite.

“Stop!” Pyrite wailed as he tried to escape his tormenter.

Andromeda sighed and layed down with Pyrite on her chest, “So what ya wanna do now?”

Pyrite rolled over on his back and snuggled up under Andromeda’s chin, “I have an idea, how about we do something different.”

Andromeda wrapped her hooves around Pyrite and nuzzled him, “What do you have in mind, cutie?”

“Lets find out where we’re going on why we’re going there. Aren’t you curious?” Pyrite asked.

Andromeda pondered the question, “Yeah, I suppose I am a bit curious. So you want me to search Polaris’ dreamscape and find out what he knows about it, right?”

Pyrite rolled over and put on the cutest expression he could think of. “Please!?”

Andromeda groaned and fluttered into the air with Pyrite, “Alright, I suppose theres no harm in finding out what we’re doing out here. Hold on tight, Pyrite.” she said while placing him on her back. She flew out in the dark void and hovered in the air, pondering which direction to go. Then she saw a bright white orb in the distance. “Aha! That’s what we’re looking for.”

Pyrite shut his eyes as Andromeda accelerated to high speed. He felt a tapping on his shoulder and looked up, “Where are we?”

“I don’t know, but this is Polaris’ memory. It was near the surface, so he might have been dreaming about it recently, perhaps even last night.” she replied.

They were standing in a large cave, but it wasn’t a normal one. The ceiling and walls were all constructs, not natural formations of rock. They were concrete walls and pillars holding up the area around them. A large set of rings and platforms circled high above, all focussing on what was below. Several stalactites and stalagmites jutted from the ground and roof, each with disc shaped bridges and balconies extending from them in different directions. This place was the center of a civilization. Near one of the walls a group of figures sat in the dark, the absence of  light obscuring their forms. But their eyes were all too visible. Most were gold and yellow, except for one pair which were deep red, just like Eve’s. Pyrite began to shiver in apprehension, Andromeda bent over to comfort him.

“This is spooky, Andromeda.” Pyrite whispered.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m here, and this is a dream. Nothing can hurt us. Look!” Andromeda gasped and pointed to the edge of the cavern.

A group of bat ponies escorted a figure in vibrant silver armor, it was Polaris. “He’s alone?” Pyrite stammered, “What is he doing?”

“I think this is during the war, Pyrite. Look at his armor.” She said while grabbing him and fluttering closer. Polaris’ armor was similar to what he wore before when Pyrite met him, but it was lighter. He carried a shield that was in the shape of a sword, it had an edge and two sides resembling a hilt. Pyrite could see the guards hadn’t disarmed him, since there was a sword hooked onto a harness inside the shield.

Polaris stopped at the center of the cavern and stared at the figures shrouded in darkness. The mumbling that Pyrite had been ignoring until now had ceased, suddenly bringing a tense silence to the spacious area.

“Well, well... what have we here? My dinner? You know I don’t like stallions... I don’t swing that way.” a haughty voice said from the shadows.

One of the guards standing next to Polaris laughed and bowed, “I’m aware, Lord Thule. This unicorn appeared at the entrance and demanded to see you.”

“Demanded, eh?” the one known as Thule asked with a chuckle. Pyrite still couldn’t tell which one was talking. But the tightening sensation in his stomach told him. “That’s some spiffy armor you have their, soldier. Not a scratch on it. Is there a war?”

“As a matter of fact there is, and I’ve come to get you and your people to help fight it, Thule.” Polaris said with smile.

The cavern erupted in laughter. Pyrite and Andromeda realized that there were hundreds if not thousands of bat ponies gathered inside.

“And just who would we be fighting for, exactly?” Thule asked, now sounding less amused.

“The Princess of the Night, to whom you owe much. All of you do.” Polaris said to seemingly all the bat ponies in the cavern. Several hissed at him and yelled curses. But he stood his ground. “You all have a stake in this war, for if we win, Luna promises nighttime eternal.”

The reaction was mixed after hearing that part. Some muttered to themselves while others continued to laugh. Thule spoke again and caused the cavern to go silent, “I’ve heard the princess goes by a different name now. Nightmare Moon, is it? Seems like the poor mare finally snapped under her sister’s shadow. Too much time in the dark can do strange things to a pony, I should know.” he said with a dark chuckle.

“You won’t speak of the princess that way, bat pony. I won’t allow it. You and your kind will be joining us in the war, or else.” Polaris said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.

Several gasps could be heard from the bat ponies gathered near Pyrite and Andromeda. The red eyes in the shadows began to move as they inched closer to the light, but still remained in the shadows. “Or else? Careful soldier, my amusement is wearing thin.”

“I’m not here for your amusement, I’m here for your conscription. Luna has granted you night after night in which to live. She’s stopped incursions into your land by other races. She’s defended your image in the courts of Canterlot, and respected your desire for seclusion away from pony society. I can tell you now, such things should not be expected of her sister.”

“You wish to drag us into an unwinnable conflict, the sun princess is too powerful for the little moon. It is folly.” Thule said.

“I’m not here to debate this with you,” Polaris stated. “I have two warships stationed at the neighboring mountain range. If you refuse, I’ll instruct them to fire on the mountain, collapsing the entire complex.”

“You fool,” Thule spat, “You’ll die along with us, how do you plan to serve your princess then?”

“I have a plan in place should that event come to pass, but it won’t.” Polaris said with a smirk. He stepped forward and removed the shield from his back. “This can go another way, we can avoid unnecessary bloodshed.” He pointed a hoof at Thule and raised his voice. “I challenge you to a duel, Sarosian. We’ll let that decide how things play out. If you win, take my head outside and present it to my officers, they will leave you in peace. But if I win... you and your subjects will swear fealty to the princess of the night. And you’ll take your rightful place in her court.”

Silence filled the cavern as everypony awaited Thule’s response. Pyrite saw the red eyes narrow from the shadows. “Your magic...?”

Polaris reached into one of his saddle pouches hooked onto his armor and produced a silver ring. He slipping it onto his horn and attempted to conjure, resulting in sparks.

A sharp laugh rang out from the shadows as the red eyes moved forward into the light. “I accept your challenge, soldier. Look your last upon the moon.”

A large rock formed in Pyrite’s stomach as the bat pony revealed itself. Thule was every inch the apex predator. His fangs were long and hooked over his lower lips, they could probably kill all by themselves. His mane was dark purple with golden weaves, it hung down just shorter than Polaris’ long silver locks. He seemed every bit as tall as Polaris and appeared to be in peak physical condition. His leathery wings were long, stretching to two clawed tips at the joints in front of his chest. They were hooked together acting like a cloak. But the most striking features were his eyes, red as blood. Slits that only seemed to narrow as he stepped down toward Polaris.

Thule opened his wings, unsheathed two swords from his belt, then leapt into the air at Polaris with surprising speed.

Andromeda gripped Pyrite tightly, “This is gonna be bad.”

Polaris removed his sword from behind the shield and raised it to defend against his attacker. Thule hammered strike after strike into the shield, hoping to force Polaris out of his guard, but it had little effect. Polaris moved the shield ever so slightly to maximize the block of each strike, then swiftly took an upward swing at Thule, who backed out of the way. He flapped his wings once then recovered as Polaris advanced. Thule gripped both swords and prepared to counter when an unexpected blow impacted his shoulder.

“His shield?” Pyrite gasped.

Polaris speared the tip of his shield into Thule’s chest, staggering him, then brought his blade around in a horizontal slash. Thule raised his offhand sword and parried it away, immediately countering with a thrust of his main hand blade. Polaris slid to the side and charged into Thule with his shield, further bullying him and forcing him backward.

“Thule is at a disadvantage here,” Andromeda said while looking down at Pyrite, “His offense is formidable, and he’s fast, but if he can’t manage to land a hit on Polaris, he’s in trouble.”

Pyrite nodded, but something wasn’t right. He had a bad feeling about the bat pony.

Thule retreated, then allowed Polaris to close on him again. In a lightning fast movement. Thule tossed one of his swords in the air, freeing a hoof. He grabbed the front of Polaris’ shield and wrenched it to the side, then pierced his shoulder through a gap in his pauldrons. Polaris winced and brought the shield back up, but he wasn’t fast enough, his heavy armor slowed him down too much. Thule however didn’t have that problem, wearing only light leather. He flipped around the unicorn and caught the sword in mid air, bringing both blades to slash across Polaris’ back. At least one broke through the armor, allowing blood to seep out.

Polaris quickly recovered and readied himself for another attack. Thule stood still then opened his eyes wide. They began to glow red as he shot a piercing gaze at his opponent. Polaris faltered in his stance and backed up a few paces.

“What happened?” Pyrite asked.

“I don’t know,” Andromeda replied. “Thule did something to Polaris, but I’m not sure what.”

Polaris’ body began to shake and buckle. The hair on the back of his neck stood up while shivers ran down his spine. He was afraid, terrified. Thule had done something to him with his eyes. Polaris shook his head and raised his shield against a series of blows from Thule. The Sarosian ducked under a swing and rolled to the floor while slashing at Polaris’ ankles. He grunted in pain as the blade cute tendons.

Thule bounded away and paused in a defensive stance. He had the upper hand now, if Polaris didn’t do something soon, he was finished. He couldn’t let Luna down. Polaris raised his shield and feigned injury, slouching to the side where Thule had cut his legs. The Sarosian took the bait and charged in. Polaris waited until the right moment to make his move. He raised his shield as Thule brought down his mainhoof sword for an overhead strike. Instead of blocking with the shield, Polaris reversed his blade and brought the hilt upward into Thule’s downward swing. The connecting blow simultaneously knocked the blade from his hoof, and broke his stance. Polaris seized the opportunity and reversed his blade in a diagonal reverse slash. Thule twisted and parried the blow as best he could, then was bashed in the face with Polaris’ shield. He recovered and knocked the shield away, but to his surprise Polaris let it go. Thule saw a prime opening and slashed at Polaris’ head. Polaris ducked under the swing, the blade taking his mane instead of his head. He whirled around and kicked Thule in the chest, then swept out his legs. The Sarosian fell to the ground with a blade at his throat.

“You lose, bat pony.”

Thule snarled in rage, then sighed, “Very well, soldier. By my honor, I’ll uphold our agreement. We fight for Princess Luna.”

Polaris sheathed his blade and pulled Thule up with a hoof, “That was the closest I’ve ever come to losing my life in single combat, Thule. We’ll have great use for skills like yours.”

Pyrite felt hooves wrap under him as Andromeda picked him up. She carried him out of the cave and back into his own dreamscape. “That was incredible!” Pyrite said as he squirmed out of Andromeda’s hooves and jumped around, “Polaris was so good!”

Andromeda watched Pyrite jump around and imitate the moves and swings of Polaris during the battle, he was adorable. “I think I know where we’re going.”  she said with a grin.

Pyrite sat down and nodded, “Yeah, the scary bat pony caves.”

Andromeda fluttered over and draped a wing around him, “Don’t worry, did you see how Polaris fought back there? I think we’re safe.”

“And I have you, right?” Pyrite asked with a laugh.

“You most certainly do!” Andromeda answered. “So what do you want to do now?”

Pyrite jumped up and imitated Polaris stance, “Sword fighting! I challenge you, Andromeda!”

Andromeda laughed and changed the dreamscape to reflect a castle courtyard and picked up a dueling blade. “You asked for it, cutie.”

------------------

“Oh my gosh!” Marigold squeaked as she stepped out of the taxi, “This place is huge!”

Rigel looked up and nodded, “Yeah, we’ll be staying here for the night. Seems like a pretty nice place.”

The bar they made reservations at was connected to a large, lavish hotel. It was located on an island just north of where Frost and Iris had gone. Both were far away from Pythia, which was located near the central island. So Aldus and Rigel had elected to stay the night and just return in the morning.

Ciaran leaned against Aldus in her ‘Willow’ disguise and giggled, “This is so romantic...”

“Please,” Aldus groaned, “I just hope for two things. Exquisite cider and hopefully a lead on where Frost has gotten off to.”

“I’ll take care of both, don’t you worry.” Ciaran said as she allowed Aldus to lead them into the bar.

Aldus approached the hostess mare and smiled, “Reservations for four, should be under Aldebaran.”

“Ah yes. This way, sir.”

As the mare led them to a table, Ciaran sidled up next to Aldus and whispered, “Aldebaran?”

“You bugs don’t study the night sky?” Aldus whispered back with a grin. “My name, kinda strange don’t you think?”

“Well, you’re old... so I just figured it was something to do with back then.”

“I’m not old...” Aldus groaned, causing Ciaran to giggle. The hostess seated them and let them know the waiters would be coming shortly. “You’re partially right, though. It is because I’m from back then.”

Rigel let Marigold slide into the booth and sat down beside her, “It was a tradition back then,” Rigel began, “Usually practiced among noble houses or families, but others did it too. If you were born during the day. your name might reflect the sun or the sunny skies. If you were born during the night, your name might reflect the moon or the stars. My name comes from stars, and my brother’s did as well.”

Aldus smiled at Ciaran, “Aldebaran is a star, it’s my namesake.”

Ciaran sat back and looked at Rigel and Aldus, it was sometimes easy to forget who these ponies were and what they’ve done. Despite her situation, and how she ended up there, Ciaran was starting to like these ponies. Frost and the foals were certainly helping, too.

Two mares approached the table, both of their eyes undressing Rigel. “Hello, are we ready to order? Let’s start with you handsome...”

The other mare giggled, then winked, “We have an assortment of delicacies and... succulent desserts.” Rigel perused the menu and placed an order, then looked to Marigold. The two waitresses huffed and glared at her, “And what will you be having... dear?”

After looking it over, Marigold ordered an appetizer and some light cider. The waitresses then turned to Ciaran and Aldus. Ciaran whispered something in his ear, then ordered for both of them. But before the waitress’ departed, Aldus stopped them. “Ladies, what’s the most exquisite drink you’re offering tonight?”

“That would be Silvershade Reserve, very good year. Would you like a bottle?”

“Yes please!” Aldus replied.

Ciaran shook her head at his silly grin. Then it occurred to her that she might be able to get two things she wanted tonight. All she needed to do was play her cards right.

The waitresses returned to deliver their drinks and appetizers, both were practically throwing themselves at Rigel. Ciaran was beginning to get annoyed by the behavior and shot Aldus a ‘Do something!’ look. He only shrugged and poured his first glass of liquor, “I’m used to this by now.”

Meanwhile, Marigold shifted uncomfortably in her seat and averted her eyes from the mares. Normally, if this were any other place she would have been assertive and put these rude fillies in their place. But this was a fancy hotel-bar, she was out of uniform wearing a nice dress, and with Rigel, who she didn’t want to embarass. It didn’t help that these mares were beautiful, and she was never good at competing for stallion’s affections.

“Anything else we can get you, handsome?” one of the mares asked to Rigel. “Or the filly...?” the other one asked with a smirk.

Marigold’s ears fell flat against her head after hearing the passive aggressive insult. Then, a wing wrapped around her and she was pulled close to Rigel.

“I think we’re fine,” Rigel said, “Thank you for your hospitality.”

The waitresses stared daggers at Marigold, while putting on their most fake smiles. They nodded, then all but stomped away. Marigold didn’t know what just happened. She looked over to Ciaran, who was sticking her tongue at the mares as they stalked off. Meanwhile Aldus was enamored with his drink.

Marigold felt the wing around her move up and down, she looked up at Rigel and saw him grinning, “Rigel... you didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” he chuckled

“Those mares-”

“Were rude.” Rigel said, “Calling you a filly? You’re ten times more mature than they are. Ridiculous.”

Marigold rested her head against him and whispered, “Thanks, Rigel.”

Ciaran whispered to Aldus that she was going to go check her information, then return shortly. He nodded and let her go. As Marigold and Rigel talked and enjoyed each others company, Aldus poured himself another glass and looked around the room. There were statues and paintings decorating bar and restaurant, they depicted a particular stallion. Aldus assumed it was the owner, a dapper, arrogant looking earth pony. Strange, the Silver Isles nobility and wealthy class were mostly unicorns due to their magic and lineage. This stallion was a rarity.

Eventually their food arrived and Aldus ordered more to drink. Ciaran returned and began to eat with Aldus.

“What did you find?” he asked.

“This place might be a front for an organization that traffics illegal substances and foals to make them.”

Aldus slammed down his glass and glared at Ciaran, startling her. The alcohol was starting to take it’s toll. “What?! Child slave labor?” He noticed Rigel and Marigold staring at him, along with a few neighboring tables. Aldus shook his head and calmed down, “I apologize, that was rude of me...”

Ciaran leaned over to Aldus and rubbed his back, “I think the filly they’re after might have been taken by these criminals. It makes sense that she’d be an easy target, but they likely don’t know who she is. Otherwise they’d have attempted a ransom by now.”

“If this is true,” Aldus said while lowering his head, “Then Frost does need my help, I don’t care what Desalia says.”

“Is this personal?” Ciaran asked, knowing a little about his childhood.

“As bad as my life was back then, at least I wasn’t forced into servitude and slavery. What horrible lives those children lead, they don’t deserve it. If we find the ones responsible, I’m going to kill them.”  

Ciaran nodded and saw Marigold looking at her expectantly across the table. “Excuse us, we’re going to use the little fillies room.” she said while slinking away with Marigold.

Rigel poured himself some cider and nodded to Aldus, “You’re really putting that away, you should slow down.”

Aldus chuckled, “Shut up, Rigel.”

“You know I think she’s starting to care about you, Aldus.”

“Ciaran?” Aldus asked, “She just wants to suck on my love.” he said with a hiccup. “That... sounded dirty. Not what I meant.”

“It was dirty,” Rigel said with a laugh.

Aldus and Rigel burst out laughing and toasted their glasses. “I’m glad you’re hitting it off with Marigold, she’s a special mare. I wish more mares like her were around one thousand years ago.”

“I agree,” Rigel said, “Listen Aldus, I was serious about Ciaran. Maybe enjoy yourself tonight? No harm in a little fooling around.”

“You plan on ‘fooling around’ with Marigold?” Aldus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not going to force anything,” Rigel said while stretching his wings, “Whatever happens, happens.”

The mares returned and questioned what the two stallions were laughing at, neither could do anything but grin. The two couples conversed about their time in the Isles and told some stories about ancient times, one thousand years ago. Once Aldus was out of liquor, Ciaran smiled and left to get some more. Then some music started to play. Marigold smiled brightly and whispered something in Rigel’s ear. He nodded and led her out onto the small dance floor, leaving Aldus alone.

Ciaran returned with more alcohol, which Aldus poured immediately. “Would you like to-?”

“No... not really,” Aldus muttered, “I’m not a good dancer, never was.”

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun.” she insisted.

Aldus sighed, “Fine.”

He stumbled into the center of the room and had to be supported by Ciaran. She wrapped her forehooves around him and swayed back and forth. “Isn’t this nice?”

“I know what you want, Ciaran.” he said while pulling her close and whispering in her ear. “No need to order more liquor for the room tonight, I’m too far gone to put up a fight.”

Ciaran licked her lips and stared Aldus in the eyes, “What are you saying?”

“No harm in having some fun, and this way I can’t say you took total advantage of me.” he said with a laugh.

“But... what about her?” Ciaran asked.

“Breezey’s been dead a long time, I should have joined her, but... that’s not how things turned out. I think it’s time I moved on, she would have wanted that.”

Ciaran looked down as they swayed back and forth, then her eyes slowly opened as she felt Aldus’ hooves wandering toward her flank. “Naughty colt, Aldus...” she cooed.

“This is love given willingly, what are you waitin fo-?”

Aldus felt Ciaran’s lips close around his in a forceful, yes passionate kiss. He closed his eyes and felt a warm sensation around his mouth as Ciaran siphoned energy. She began to take more and more, causing her horn to glow.

Aldus cracked and eye open and struggled to break away, but Ciaran was having none of it. “Ciaran, mm- your horn” he stammered, “Mmm- you’re going to draw attention.”

“Let them look,” she purred, “I don’t care.”

She kissed Aldus again, then did something a little different. She transformed only her tongue back to its original state. Then proceeded to tease him with it. Soon both were giggling like school foals trying to hide what was really going on. Eventually the dance ended and they returned to their table.

“Well,” Rigel said with a yawn, “I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night. How about we get our rooms.”

Ciaran sat Aldus down and smiled at Rigel, “I’ll go get them.”

Marigold trotted off after her while Rigel shook his head at the now very drunk unicorn. “Who knows what trouble you’re going to get into tonight, Aldy.”

“I think I know what I’m going to get into...” he said with a laugh.

Marigold joined Ciaran in the lobby and trotted over to her. “Well, this was a fun excursion. Thanks for asking me along.”

Ciaran smiled, “Think nothing of it.” she turned to the mare working the desk, “I’d like the keys to our rooms, should be under Willow.”

“Willow... Willow...” the mare muttered while searching through some documents. “Here we are. Two rooms, single beds.”

Marigold’s stomach dropped when she heard her say that. Ciaran thanked the mare and tossed one of the keys to Marigold, “You can thank me later, have fun tonight!”

“Ciaran!” Marigold shrieked. The cider wasn’t helping her control the volume.

Ciaran giggled and wrapped a hoof around her, “I almost envy you, it’s what you wanted, right? We should go find those waitresses tomorrow and rub this in their faces.”

“How are we doing?” Rigel asked. He trotted over with a nearly passed out Aldus slung across his back.

“I have our key, lets go.” Marigold said with a bit of apprehension. Ciaran and Rigel followed her into an elevator and ascended to the thirty fifth floor. They walked down the hall until coming to their rooms. One was on one side of the hallway, and other on the opposite. Ciaran opened the door to her room and turned on the lights so Rigel could see. He trotted over to the bed and sat Aldus down.

“Thanks, Rigel.” Aldus muttered.

“No problem, I’ll see you two in the morning.” he said while leaving to join Marigold in their room.

Once the door shut, Ciaran closed the windows and pulled the drapes over them. She locked the door and turned around to find Aldus trying to get up. He fell off the side and struggled to stand.

“Where are you going?” she asked playfully.

“Washroom.” he groaned while stumbling toward it.

After finding the light and relieving himself, Aldus looked in the mirror and splashed water on his face. He wanted to have a clear head if he was going to be dealing with Ciaran. But who was he kidding, he probably wouldn’t remember anything in the morning.

He walked back into the room and sat the towel down on one of the chairs, then he turned his attention to the bed. Ciaran was in her natural form, sprawled out atop the covers. She was drinking a bottle of expensive cider. Aldus chuckled a bit at how she was doing it, the neck of the bottle was threaded through one of the many holes in her forehooves. It was kind of hot.

She finally noticed Aldus and seductively wrapped her tongue around the bottle, “Oh, you’re finally done. Come to bed sweetie.” she cooed while opening her forehooves to him.

Aldus chuckled, “Must have killed you to have to wait this long before feeding again.” He crawled onto the bed and fell into her hooves. “You knew this would happen eventually, you knew I’d let you have it.”

Ciaran pulled Aldus close and kissed him, “Maybe... but don’t pretend that you don’t want this.” She rolled over and leaned back on top of him, then upturned the bottle in her hooves and downed what remained of it.

“Wow...” Aldus croaked.

“I want this...” Ciaran cooed while leaned over Aldus and conjuring magic in her horn, “But so do you. You still remember the ecstasy from my sister... oh yes, Aldus.”

Aldus’ eyes widened as violet circles began to form inside them. “I- I-”

“Shh...” Ciaran motioned with a hoof. “Now is your time to relax.” Her eyes burst forth with violet spirals and completely took control of Aldus.

The changeling slid down further toward his waist, then grabbed what she was looking for. Aldus’ eyes widened as he gasped in pleasure. She then began gyrating her body, adding to the hypnosis. Aldus moaned, “Ciaran...” She silenced him again with another kiss.

“Now that I have your complete attention, before we have our fun, I have some questions. Wait... what’s this? You put barriers in place? Mental magic? Interesting. You thought with this I could only use a weak version of hypnosis, a safe amount of it? You’ve underestimated me, handsome. I suppose I should have told you I’ve mastered our race’s particular brand of hypnosis and control spells. Silth might be older, but she’s an amateur compared to me...”

“So good...” Aldus moaned while playing with her mane and slowly bucking his hips.

“Lets take down those barriers, shall we?”

“Yes...”

“Excellent,” Ciaran said while kissing him again, “Now, I’m going to tell you something, Aldus. It’s an instruction. I’m planting it deep in your subconscious, you won’t remember it, but when the time is right you will obey.”

“I’ll obey...” Aldus said between gasps.

“When Desalia lets you into the archives, you’ll take me with you. Understand?”

“Yes,” Aldus nodded.

Ciaran leaned back and let her mane fall behind her, she dragged Aldus up and held his head against her chest. “It’s been too long since I’ve felt romantic love and charnel love at the same time,” she growled. “Hngh, once we’re done we’ll take a break so I can follow up on that lead to help Frost, then we’ll play some more.”

“Play some more...” Aldus repeated with a complacent smile.

“Good...” Ciaran grinned, “Now you’ll see I’m better than my sister at just about everything. And I do mean everything.”

----------------

Across the hall, Marigold fumbled around in the washroom and stared at her image in the mirror. She decided to take a quick shower before facing Rigel. After she finished, she stepped out and let him take his turn. Rigel didn’t shower, but he did spend some time preening. Once he was done, he saw Marigold sitting on the bed with a frown.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Rigel asked, taking a seat beside her.

“Nothing,” Marigold replied, “It’s just, this was the best date I’ve ever been on. I’ve never really done something like this.”

“Really? What do you mean?”

“I know I’m flirty and I try to be playful, but I’m awkward and usually screw things up. It’s something my sisters and parents always ridiculed me for. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but you should have seen their reaction when I decided to join the royal guard. It was even worse when they learned I would be serving under Luna when she returned.”

“I see,” Rigel said. “It’s like they had an image for you all picked out, then you had the audacity to be your own pony with your own desires.”

“They were certain I was just trying to make a statement, trying to rebel. ‘You don’t need to prove anything’ they said.” Marigold recited in a mocking tone, “I felt at ease around Luna, I could tell she was different and didn’t go with grain. Her mannerisms, style, moods, and personality were all different. She helped me overcome anxiety in my dreams. She’s like a big sister to me, perhaps better than my actual sisters.”

“I can relate to that more than you know, Marigold.”

“Really?”

“Yes, my family expected much of me. I was destined for great things, even when I was small. It’s just... those things weren’t exactly what my family had envisioned.”

“Tell me about your family, about your little brother.”

Rigel shook his head, “My brother is a conversation for another time. I don’t enjoy remembering what happened. I’m sorry, Marigold. I’ll tell you, eventually.”

“Did you disappoint your family like I did?” Marigold asked.

Rigel frowned, “My father and uncle, yes. My mother died when I was young. I was to be a champion of Celestia and take command of the Wonderbolts. My father didn’t enjoy the ponies I became friends with. Polaris, a foreigner from another kingdom. And Aldus, especially Aldus.”

“What was wrong with Aldus?”

“Aldus was a small unicorn, my father detested weak appearances, and held little respect for what he called, ‘over reliance on magic.’ Also, Aldus eventually became head of Luna’s court. My father didn’t want me associating with Luna’s ponies. They were not as privileged or respected as those who served the sun.”

“Why was he so against them?” Marigold asked. “What did he want from you so badly?”

Rigel turned toward Marigold, his eyes started to glisten. “Marigold... are you aware of the things they called me back then?”

“Yes...” Marigold replied.

“There is a reason they called me Blood Hurricane...”

Marigold’s mouth dropped, “You’re related- you’re a descendant of Commander Hurricane?! That’s why that ancient armor was adorning the statue in your prison!”

“I’m the ‘apex of our species,’ and ‘the image of all pegasi,’ or so my father said” Rigel scoffed. “Destined for greatness, but not the kind dad was thinking...” he said with a sinister grin. “My heritage doesn’t matter, Marigold. I know what it’s like to disappoint your family.”

Rigel felt forehooves wrap around his stomach as Marigold embraced him. She buried her face in his chest and wept, “I just wanted to be happy, you just wanted to be happy, Luna just wanted to be happy. We’re all so similar.”

Rigel wrapped Marigold in his wing rubbed her back, “We are, and it’s not all bad. We have each other.”

Marigold caressed Rigel’s wing with a hoof and smiled, “So that’s why these are so big...”

Rigel gently laid down with Marigold and shook his head, “Yeah, they’re definitely useful for some things.” he said with a chuckle.

Marigold snuggled against Rigel and sighed, then both of them heard playful screaming across the hall.

“Sounds like they’re having fun,” Rigel said with a laugh.

“They don’t have to be the only ones,” Marigold said with a blush.

Rigel grinned and embraced Marigold, “I love forward mares"

Chapter 25: A Gentle Guide

Frost snuggled closer to Iris, not wanting to wake up. Their room was still very dark, with only slits for windows. He buried his muzzle into her feathers and took in her scent. She must have noticed, since she turned over and stared at him with her big golden eyes. Iris didn’t say anything, instead she reached her talons over Frost and ran them through his mane. Frost sighed as the waves of pleasure washed over him, her claws running across his scalp felt amazing.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, “Still sore?”

“A little, but I’m okay, Frost.”

“How are Flint and Silver Spark?”

Iris sat up with Frost and smiled. She pointed near one of the beds. Black Star sat on the floor curled up and asleep. On his back between his wings, Flint was snoring and could barely be seen surrounded by the large feathers. Silver Spark was sleeping against Black Star’s side, partially covered by one of his wings. Iris’ guardian had secured a tail around both of the colts.

“Why does he have his tail around them?” Frost asked.

Iris’ features softened and she let out a quiet giggle, “Because when Black Star first brought them into the dreamscape, they started sleep walking.”

Frost laughed, “That’s too funny. What do you think they’re dreaming about?”

Iris leaned against Frost and looked up at him, “I know what they’re dreaming about, I was there. Black Star took them flying for a while then began to teach them about controlling their fears when they sleep. Eventually he coaxed their nightmares out and we fought them.”

“You fought them?” Frost asked

“Yep, well... I mostly just watched. But Black Star gave them weapons and with his help, similar to the way he merges with me, they defeated their nightmares.”

“Black Star is something else,” Frost mused.

“You should have seen what he did with Flint. They ripped the horns off the minotaur’s head then made him eat them.”

“Such violence!” Frost whispered, “I love it.”

Denova and Spring Shot were sleeping in the beds next to Frost and Iris. Eventually Iris heard a yawn and saw Flint rolling around in Black Star’s feathers. He woke up and stretched, “I can’t believe I did all that... it felt so real.”

Iris jumped down from the bed and trotted over to him, “Nightmare’s can’t hurt you anymore.” she looked down to see Silver Spark starting up at her. “Same with you, they’re nothing but apparitions.”

Flint smiled and climbed onto Black Star’s head,” That was so cool! Can we do it again? The flying? The fighting!?”

Black Star opened all three eyes and chuckled, “Not up to me,” he lifted both up with his two tails and playfully dangled them in front of Iris. “She’s the boss.”

“Please!” both colts pleaded.

“Well I don’t know...”

“Please!”

“Well... okay!” Iris exclaimed.

Black Star dropped the colts to the floor and rested his head on a claw, “Looks like I’ll need to think up some new weapons for you kids.”

The foals spent most of the day playing and thinking of ways to try and escape. Eventually Black Star heard the guards coming to collect the ponies and take them to work. He stood up and began to enter Iris’ shadow when he felt something tug on his tail. He turned around and saw Silver Spark clutching it tightly with tears in his eyes.

“Do you have to go?” he asked.

Black Star picked the child up and nuzzled him, “I do, but I’ll be around. I’ll be watching you, Flint, Spring, and everypony else.”

“Thank you for helping me, Black Star.” Silver Spark said while hugging his beak.

Black Star faltered a moment, visions raced across his mind. For a second, he wasn’t staring at Silver Spark, but a small black and blue gryphon child. He shook his head and put him down, “Off you go, I’ll be with you tonight in your dreams.”

Silver Spark’s smile exploded as he trotted to the door.

The moment Black Star disappeared, the door opened and the guard burst in. “Time to get to work, runts. Lets go!”

The foals moved out of the room and were blindfolded until they reached the warehouse again. Their tasks were similar to the ones they did last time, however there was much more to do. They were worked at least five hours before being permitted a break for food and rest.

Iris sat down away from Frost and Denova again. She was stationed near the the large machine being driven by ponies. One of the foals, a small one who looked no older than Flint or Silver Spark, appeared ready to collapse.

Further down the table, a blue pegasus filly was eating and drawing on some paper. Iris moved her tray and sat beside her.

“Hi, I’m Iris,” she said, “What's your name?”

The filly looked at Iris and smiled, “Hi Iris! My name’s River Gale. How did they catch you with those awesome wings?”

Iris chuckled, “Well I could ask you the same question.”

River Gale shook her head, “These things? Yeah they’re good, but not fast enough. Steel Slab grabbed me before I could get away. He broke my left wing to make sure I wouldn’t fly away again.”

Iris dug her talons into the table and ripped away a chunk of wood, “What a monster.”

“Yeah, it’s a shame things like this are allowed to happen. But... there’s a better place after this. It doesn’t end here.” she frowned and looked at the little pony pulling the machine. “It’s just the beginning.”

Iris wasn’t sure what River Gale was referring to, and was surprised when she gave her the drawing. “What are you talking about?” Iris asked while picking up the drawing.

“Things happen, and it’s not our fault. Remember that Iris.”

Iris looked at the picture and almost swallowed her tongue. It was done with just pencil, but it was just like the mural in the castle. The shores of eternity in the distance, and that same creature leaning against the tree.

“River Gale...?” Iris asked as she looked up from the picture. River Gale was gone. It didn’t make sense, she was right there. She couldn’t fly, and Iris would have heard her get up to leave.

Iris’ concentration was broken when the slow rumble of the machine ground to a halt. The little colt turning it collapsed, blocking the way for the pony behind him. He didn’t move, despite being nudged and prodded by the colt behind him.

“Get up, filth!” a guard said while striding over to the machine, “Did I say you could stop?” He kicked the colt in the head and in the stomach, “I know... you need some encouragement. This won’t hurt a bi-”

The earth pony guard collapsed to the floor from a blow to the head. Every set of eyes in the room locked on Iris, who stood atop the table ready to throw another bowl. “Why don’t you pick on somepony bigger? See how you fair then...”

The earth pony slowly got to his hooves and snarled in rage.

“What’s going on in here? a voice boomed. The children immediately got back to work, leaving Iris and the earth pony to ascertain who the voice belonged to. Steel Slab stalked into the room and smiled wickedly at Iris.

“She stopped me from reprimanding this col-” the pony choked out as he was lifted off the ground. “St- stop!”

“You let that pile of molt stop you from getting this job running again?” Steel Slab asked, then punched the earth pony in the stomach several times before hurling him across the room.

“Now as for you,” he said walking over to Iris. “Play the hero, you’ll take his punishment along with your own.” He grabbed her by the neck and carried her out of the room. Before they left, Frost and Denova saw him unhook a lash from his belt. This wasn’t going to be pretty. Steel slab threw Iris out the door and stuck his head back in the room. “Replace the colt and get that working again, now!”

Some of the foals grabbed the collapsed colt and moved him away while another took his place and started turning the machine again.

Iris was in a daze after being hit by the minotaur. She could feel herself being strung up on a board. Each of her limbs died down tightly to a post. Black Star spoke in her mind, “This is going to hurt, Iris. Do you wan-”

“No! No... you’ll do nothing. Understand?” Iris commanded.

“... As you say.” Black Star acknowledged.

Iris heard the whip hit the ground behind her and braced herself, but nothing prepared her for the pain.

Outside Denova winced each time he heard the whip crack. Frost seethed in anger, staring at the door where Steel Slab had taken Iris. All of the foals winced and clenched their eyes shut after each crack. After about twenty lashes, they began to hear Iris screech each time she was hit. It started as high pitched, then began to fade as she lost energy.

After what seemed like an eternity. Steel Slab returned, holding Iris by one leg. He threw her down in front of her table and turned to the rest of the children. “Let that be a lesson for you! Step out of line, and you’ll get worse than what she got.”

He stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Iris didn’t move from the ground, Frost was about to go help her but she turned her head and shot him a dangerous look. A look that said to stay put and shut up. He frowned and got back to work.

Iris felt Black Star take the smallest steps to start healing her. He didn’t want to be noticed. “That was one of the most selfless, bravest things I’ve ever seen, Iris.”

Iris turned her head and grunted. The fur along her back was ripped away in multiple places where the lash struck her. Bare skin was exposed and bleeding, and several parts of her wings were missing feathers. She saw at one of the tables past Frost, the colt that had collapsed working the machine was looking at her.

Iris managed a smile and winked at him. The smile proved infectious, since he returned one before hobbling off to work at another table.

The foals continued working for several more hours until some were exchanged for new ones. Frost nudged Denova and pointed to a table on the far side of the room, a zebra filly sat down and began to work. She eventually looked over to Denova and saw him. Her mouth dropped, she couldn’t believe it was him.

“One down, one to go.” Frost said with a smile to Denova, “Once we find Orianna, we’ll start our plans to get out of here.”

“Sounds good,” Denova replied, “I’m just glad I found her.”

Once the paste and crystals were all used up, the children were escorted back to their rooms. The foals were blindfolded again and taken to another place with more beds, this place was a bit larger. Frost immediately went to Iris’ side and gently embraced her. “I was worried... are you okay? What can I do to help?”

Iris smiled and pulled Frost close, “Just this...”

Frost sat down and cuddled with Iris for a while, then noticed they had another guest. Spring Shot was with Flint and Silver Spark. They were talking to the foal who Iris had saved. Up close, he looked absolutely awful. A sickly appearance with baggy eyes and a dirty coat. Frost could see his ribs, and he was missing some teeth.

Black Star peeled away from Iris’ shadow and bent down, “Iris... I don’t have the words. I would follow you to the end now, regardless of what mother says.”

“Black Star,” Iris croaked, “I’m fine... go be with the foals, they need you now.”

As if on cue, the little earth colt ambled in Front of Black Star. He was afraid, but he stood his ground. “Can I speak to the gryphon?” he asked timidly.

Black Star stepped aside allowed the colt to approach Iris. She looked up and smiled at him, “Are you alright?”

“Me?” the colt sobbed, “What about you? Why did you do that? Nopony has ever done something nice like that for me. Not here.”

“I did it to prove a point,” Iris said with a chuckle, she pointed to herself with a fist, “I’m the baddest gryphon around. That minotaur is a panzy.”

“You’re the only gryphon around,” Frost said with a chuckle.

“Shut up, Frosty.” Iris giggled.

Flint and Silver Spark ran up to Black Star and hugged him. “We’re so glad you’re back, is Iris going to be okay?”

Black Star took one last look at her, then nodded to the colts, “She’ll be fine. Now, the faster you two get to sleep, the more time we’ll have for some fun.” He sat down and allowed Flint to scramble onto his back while Silver Spark settled between his arms.

Frost helped Iris to a bed and laid her down. He jumped into bed and wrapped his hooves around her. Several splotches of tar from Black Star covered the areas hit by the lash. The pain was starting to go away. To Iris’ surprise, after shutting her eyes she felt a small form rub against her. She looked down to see the colt wrapping his stubby forehooves around her chest.

“You’re a nice gryphon, Iris. Thank you.”

Iris smiled and pulled the colt close, “What’s your name, little one?”

“It’s Pebble.” the colt said with a yawn.

“Say Pebble,” Iris said in playful whisper, “Want to go on an adventure?”

The colt nodded eagerly.

“Go to sleep,” Iris said while glancing at Black Star, who nodded. “It all starts there.”

------------------

Flint and Silver Spark sat atop a hill with Black Star and played with his three tails. Every so often he’d catch one of the colts and toss them into the air. Then just as they were about to fall, he’d catch them with another tail. The colts laughed and screamed as Black Star teased them.

Iris watched from a good distance away with Frost, who refused to leave her side. “Really, Frost. I’m fine.”

“I know...” Frost said. “I just like sitting with you.”

“Frosty...” Iris cooed as she wrapped a wing around him and leaned on his shoulder.

Pebble sat in front of them and marveled at the landscape. “I can’t believe this, how are we all here? This is so fun!”

Iris ruffled his mane and pointed to Black Star, “You should go play with Black Star! He’s a lot of fun. If you ask nicely he might even take you flying.”

Pebble’s eyes lit up and he galloped off toward the four winged gryphon. Soon enough, all three colts were airborne as Black Star zoomed around the sky.

After a while, Black Star let the colts engage in some combat with some monsters. He conjured them within the children’s memories of past nightmares. Once they were tuckered out, he sat them down in front of Iris and Frost. The group relaxed until Black Star looked up and saw a pony walking toward them across the field.

“Impossible,” Black Star said, “How can another pony be here?”

Iris turned around and did a double take, it was River Gale.

The blue filly was much taller now, perhaps into her mid teens. Her mane glistened in the dying light. “Hello again, Iris. I must confess I didn’t expect to see you here, but now I know how you did it.” she said while glancing at Black Star.

“Who are you?” Iris asked, along with Frost. “And how did you get here? This is a dreamscape.”

“I already told you, my name is River Gale, and I’ve come for him.” she pointed a hoof at Pebble, who hid behind one of Black Star’s wings. “Hello sweetie, you have to come with me now, okay?”

“He doesn’t have to go anywhere,” Frost threatened. “Why exactly does he have to go with you?”

River Gale sat down and sighed, “I was ready to collect Pebble when he couldn’t continue moving the machine. I knew Steel Slab would have punished him, and that would have been the end.”

“The end...?” Iris asked, starting to understand.

“Your intervention stretched things out, an unforeseen circumstance. But what you did wasn’t wrong. In fact, I’m happy you did it. Now Pebble has slipped away peacefully.”

“Slipped away?” Iris asked, “Wait...” she looked at the sky and focussed on her image in the bed. Pebble was laying with her, but he was still. His chest wasn’t rising and falling.

“No...” Iris sobbed. “He died... right next to me?”

Pebble looked at his hooves and body. It was starting to glow.

“You've lived a hard life, Pebble.” River Gale said, “But that journey is over, now you start a new one. I’m your guide, nothing more. Come... it’s time to leave.”

Pebble understood, and complied. He walked over to River Gale and took her hoof.

“Frost, Iris, Black Star...” River Gale said, “You saw the mural in Seabreeze’s castle.”

“Yes, and you can draw it too?” Iris asked.

River Gale didn't answer, instead she looked at Frost, “You saw the creature in the mural?”

“Yes,” Frost answered.

“My friend thinks you should meet him. Understand that I’m not forcing you. But he’ll want to talk to you after learning you were in Seabreeze’s castle, in Seabreeze’s world.”

“There’s a reason for that!” Frost exclaimed. “Aldus was-”

“I’m not the one who needs to hear this,” River Gale stated plainly. “I wish not to be rude, but I don’t want to keep Pebble here waiting.” She smiled down at the child and nuzzled him, “Let’s get going. Frost, Iris, and your guardian can come. But I wouldn’t recommend taking the other foals.”

Black Star whispered to the children, vowing he’d return to play with them some more, then sent them scampering off into the distance. He retreated into Iris’ shadow for the journey.

River Gale stretched out of a hoof and opened a portal of pure white light. She extended a wing and coaxed Pebble through, then motioned for the rest to follow. Frost and Iris stepped through and were awestruck. It was exactly the same as the image painted in the castle. The sky, transitioning from sunset to night, the trees near the cliffs, and the beautiful shoreline far in the distance. Iris was close to balling, it took everything in her power to hold back the tears. She followed River Gale, but stayed a distance away, not wanting to interfere again.

Frost stood back near the edge of the beach and looked around. A twinge of fear crept up his spine when he saw a certain tree. It was the same one that creature was leaning against in the mural, but there was nothing there now. He breathed a sigh of relief, then jumped out of skin when a hoof fell on his shoulder.

A familiar zebra stood behind him with an amused grin, “You really have a knack for showing up in places you don’t belong.”

“Kethona!” Frost gasped, “I knew I wasn’t imagining things! Wait... if you’re here... then...”

“I’m dead,” Kethona said with a laugh, “Yep, been that way for a long time now. I don’t really remember how long, though. Three thousand years? Four thousand? Something like that.” He looked over to River Gale smirked, “A lot longer than River over there. I assume she’s the one who brought you here?”

“Yes... this is all a lot to take in.” Frost said while collapsing on his haunches. “This place, this is the end... for ponies.”

Kethona sat down playfully punched him with a hoof, “No... not the end, it’s the start of something better. I’m sure you’ll be coming back here, when it’s your time. But that’s far in the future.”

“Then that means, my mother...” Frost gasped.

“Yep,” Kethona said with a grin. “Just across that sea.”

The zebra reached a forehoof around Frost to comfort him, “A lot to take in, I know. Our leader will answer any questions you have, after you have the courtesy to answer his, of course.”

“Your leader? You mean...”

“The scary monster you saw standing over yonder?” Kethona grinned while he pointed at the tree. “Yes, the spirit of death and all endings.”

Frost shivered a bit, then looked for Iris. “Why isn’t he here? He was here in the mural.”

“He resides in his own world, much like Seabreeze’s painting. I’ll take you two there as soon as River Gale is finished, looks like she almost is.”

Iris watched as River motioned for one of the ponies in the boat to bring it closer to shore. She knelt down and rubbed Pebble’s mane. The colt seemed to say something, then started running back toward Iris. He galloped as fast as he could then leapt into Iris arms. She couldn't take it anymore, there was no holding it back. Iris fell to her haunches and sobbed buckets while clutching the colt, not wanting to let go.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I tried... I didn't know.”

“Iris...” Pebble said, he looked up from her breast and touched a hoof to her beak, “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

Iris thought of her father, her mentor, and her mother. Every gryphon who was dead. This place where ponies took their journey to the next life, it made all the feelings rush back and sting her in the heart. “You were so young, you had an entire life ahead of you. It wasn’t fair!”

“River Gale says I can start a new life over there,” Pebble said while pointing to the distant shores. “I won’t forget what you did for me, Iris. I love you.”

Pebble started to crawl away, but Iris grabbed him again and lifted off the ground. She flew him over to River Gale and let him down. River gently picked him up and placed him inside the boat. The pony operating it pushed away from the beach and began the journey across the sea. Pebble stood at the edge and waved goodbye to Iris and River.

“It was a good thing that you did, Iris.” River said while stepping out of the waves. “That little pony will remember you always.”

Iris sniffed and wiped the tears on her foreleg, “I know.”

Both of them walked over to Frost and Kethona. Frost smiled triumphantly and pointed to the zebra. “This is Kethona, Iris. I told you he was real.”

Iris laughed a little and extended a claw, “I’m Iris.”

“I know,” Kethona said with a smile, “You and your friends caused quite a ruckus in Seabreeze’s castle. That place was never meant to be entered again. It was to be a mausoleum. But you didn’t know.”

“That’s right,” River Gale said, “I don’t think he’ll be too mad, guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”  

Frost and Iris looked at each other warily and followed the two into another portal, leaving the beautiful beaches and shores. They emerged in a realm similar to the one found in Seabreeze’s painting. It even had another castle, but this one was much, much larger. Three large spires jutted from the sides, each surrounding a central tower, much like in Seabreeze’s. The architecture was similar, yet older. Large stained glass windows could be seen framing several rooms above the entrance. The castle was located atop a hill, surrounded by dark forests.

Kethona pushed the door open and was greeted by some fillies and colts, they were playing with wooden swords and axes, dueling their way down the halls. A few other mares and stallions were meeting in a room off to the side. River Gale lead them into the main hall. Frost saw sets of tables with food and drink, all of which looked delicious. There were maybe seven or eight ponies in the room, some talking, others eating by themselves. One stallion lounged in a large throne situated at the end of the room. It was  too large for him, the cloth adorning it and arm rests appeared made for something much, much bigger. Frost had only one guess who normally sat there.

“Who are these ponies... who are you?” Frost asked.

“You could call us... spirit guides, I suppose.” Kethona said with a shrug.

“Our leader, the lord of this realm and castle offers this existence to ponies that have an affinity with death.” River Gale said.

“An affinity with death?” Iris asked. “What do you mean?”

“Warriors, soldiers who end lives. Doctors who fight valiantly against the end, and seek to stave off our leader’s touch. Children whose only relationship was with death, having their lives end so young. He respects these ponies, all of them. It makes no difference. At the end, we offer them a place here. To help guide others like them, and all the rest to their destinations.”

“So you chose this?” Iris asked to River and Kethona, “If I may ask, why?”

River smiled and draped a wing over Kethona, “Friendship, family, an honorable chance to help ponies like Pebble. And finally, out of respect for him.”

“The spirit of death...” Frost said, “The creature with the head of a lion. Where is he?”

Kethona motioned for them to follow, “Come, this way.”

The zebra led them away from the main hall and down a staircase into the catacombs beneath the castle. He took a torch and handed it to River, who hovered a few paces behind him. The catacombs were damp and barren, but Iris could hear sounds of things scurrying in the darkness. Stalactites and stalagmites were interspersed around the area. River flew up to a set of pillars and lighted torches around them, illuminating a larger area.

Frost gasped. A large engraved coffin leaned against a pile of bones and dirt near the wall. It was open, the top was off to the side leaning against it. The light of the torches danced around the catacombs, and every so often it would illuminate what was inside. A large creature, a mish mash of other living things, all combined into one being. In fact it was similar to Discord, something that Frost hadn’t considered before. But unlike Discord, this terrified Frost on a whole other level. The creature didn’t move, not when River hovered over it’s head, and not when Iris yelped at first seeing it. Stranger still, it wasn’t the only coffin. Two more were beside it, with one much larger than than others. However, these were closed.

“What’s going on? Is he... what’s wrong?”

“Is he dead?” Kethona asked with a laugh, “Is that what you were going to say? The answer to that would be yes... and no. It’s rather odd... he was born dead.”

“Yeah, I didn’t understand it.” River agreed, “And to be perfectly honest, I don’t know if he does either.” she whispered conspiratorially. River touched a hoof to his forehead and fluttered down onto his shoulder. “It might be a while until he wakes up.”

“He’s sleeping?” Iris asked. “The spirit of death is sleeping? Shouldn’t he be out doing... spirit of death stuff?”

“He’s left that matter to us and some of the others. He needed a break, it took River to finally convince him to do it though.” Kethona said.

“How long has he been sleeping?” Frost wondered aloud.

“Six hundred forty seven years.” River chirped with a laugh.

Frost and Iris couldn’t believe it, but it was just one of many things that had been hard to believe in their lives lately.

“So... I have another question. All the other ponies here are... ponies, yet you’re a zebra. Do your people go to the eternal shores, too?”

“A fair question,” Kethona nodded, “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m here at all. Well, it might be a while before sleepy head over there finally wakes up. So I’ll tell you. It was a long time ago...”

Chapter 26: New Horizons

~Several thousand years ago~

Fillies and colts scrambled about outside as the rain came pouring down from the clouds. The pegasi in their fortresses had not yet grasped full control over the weather, and could not stop the massive thunderstorm. From a small room inside an older hospital, a zebra colt watched the rain attack his window and let out a sigh. It was going to be another one of those nights. He hated storms and lightning. He remembered the saying the elders from his tribe would always tell the young ones. Whenever they behaved badly, it made the ancestors angry. They would stomp their hooves and buck around, churning up the whole sky. He always wondered what they did to make their ancestors angry all the time.

It had been some time since he last saw any Zebras. His tribe had been traveling for a long time, and they had lost a great many of their company coming to this land of ponies. His father had been one of them. His mother was sick the last time he saw her. That was when his aunt took him to this hospital and had him admitted. She said that they had more traveling to do and would return for him once they reached their destination. That was three months ago.

The colt frowned and decided to think on something else. He struggled to sit up in his bed and reached over for one of his many coloring books. He began coloring in the mane of a pretty filly when a couple of loud knocks came from the door. A nurse came in and sneered at the zebra.

“Dinner time, Kethona.” she said with a raspy voice and a cough. She stumbled over to the bed and dropped the tray onto his lap, causing the soup and sandwiches to bounced of the tray and spill onto his sheets and coloring book. “Hope you like it, and I better not hear any screaming tonight. You’ve got nothing to have nightmares about. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, nurse Briarheart.” Kethona said with a meek smile. He wrinkled his nose as the smell of cider left her mouth and permeated the room.

“Good. Sleep tight, stripes.” she said with a chuckle as she left the room and shut the door.

Kethona set his now ruined coloring book aside and tried to dry off the sheets stained with noodle soup. Just as he organized everything back onto the tray, a clap of thunder boomed overhead causing him to jump and spill juice all over his gown. He put a hoof to his face and shook his head. The colt reached over to the table beside his bed and collected a towel to dry his gown. He then used it to wipe away the drool collecting on the side of his mouth.

Kethona had started his meal when a flash of lightning illuminated a figure from the other side of the room. For a moment, he saw bright golden eyes staring back at him from under a hood. Then it was gone.

The Zebra wiped more spittle from his mouth and leaned forward, “Is-is somepony there?” he half whispered.

After a few moments of silence another flash of lightning illuminated the darkness, and to Kethona’s horror, the figure was there. It sat in a chair at the far side of the room staring at him, unmoving.

Kethona turned over and pulled the covers over his head, “It isn’t there, it isn’t there, it isn’t there!” he told himself.

“Greetings, child.” a voice rumbled from the end of the room. “You need not fear me.”

Kethona peaked over the covers and saw the figure, still seated opposite his bed. “Who are you?”

“May I approach?” the figure asked politely.

Kethona nodded and pulled the covers up to his face. The figure slowly rose from the other side of the room and walked on two legs over to a chair beside the bed. It’s form was mostly obscured by it’s cloak, but it held a large pole closely, using it as a walking stick. Kethona noticed a large curved blade at the top, which made him even more nervous. The figure sat down next to the bed and removed its hood, revealing a head of a lion. Kethona gasped as he registered the appendage that removed the hood. It was a reptilian claw.

“Who are you?” Kethona asked, shuddering under his sheets.

“Just a wandering vagrant who happened along,” the lion creature said. “It really started pouring out there, do you mind if I stay here for a while out of the rain?”

Kethona winced as he moved his right foreleg to sit up. “I don’t mind. But your cloak isn’t even wet.”

The lion creature looked at his cloak and smiled placidly at the little zebra, “I see you're right, the folks I purchased this from did speak of it’s quality. Child, was that your nurse who brought you this food?”

Kethona nodded with a frown. “Nurse Briarheart, she doesn’t seem to like me. I don’t know why.”

The creature’s lips curled into a snarl, “Is she always drinking while working?”

“Lately she has been,” came Kethona’s solemn reply.

The lion dropped it’s angry expression and replaced it with a friendly smile. He stood up, grabbing the pole for support and began to collect the tray and dishes from the bed. As he did, the zebra saw his chiseled features under the cloak and got a glimpse of his legs. One was scaley like a lizard, while the other was a hoof like his own.

“Um, Mr?” Kethona croaked, “What’s your name?”

The lion finished moving the dishes to the table and bowed his head, “You can call me Rixis, child. What’s yours?”

“I’m Kethona, Mr. Rixis. I don’t get many visitors. Actually, I don’t get any. You can stay as long as you want.”

The little colt reached out a hoof to shake. Rixis extended his paw and gently shook with the colt. As he did, the sheets fell away and showed the entirety of the Zebra. It only served to confirm what Rixis feared. The colt was born badly, with several deformities and physical afflictions. Kethona’s limbs were disproportionate, his right foreleg and left hind leg were small and shriveled. Parts of his fur were matted and falling away. He appeared to suffer from abnormal curvature of the spine, giving him a small but noticeable hunched appearance. His eyes sunk back into his head while the left one wandered as he looked at Rixis. Occasionally a trail of saliva would leak from the side of his mouth, only to be quickly wiped away when noticed.

As Kethona shook Rixis’ paw, a long shape moved behind him and rose alongside the bed. What he saw made him jump away and wrench his hoof free of Rixis’ gentle grip. A large blue cobra looked over the side of the bed and moved toward him. Rixis laughed and pointed to the snake, “Oh don’t worry about her, she only wants to meet you, too.”

The hooded snake moved over to Kethona, it suspended it’s large body in the air and flicked it’s tongue against his face. “I think she likes you.” Rixis said with a laugh.

Kethona relaxed a little and giggled as the snake’s tongue tickled his cheek and neck, examining him. He reached out hoof and patted it on the head, which it seemed to like. “Is this your pet?” Kethona asked.

“Hmm,” Rixis pondered, as he leaned on his pole. “Not really, we’re sort of connected.” he said while turning around. Kethona saw the long body of the snake travel up under Rixis’ cloak where it appeared to stop near the middle of his back.

“She’s your tail?” Kethona asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, a bit strange huh? I just woke up one day and there she was. I haven’t really named her since she’s, well... me. Or, erm, part of me.” Rixis said while scratching his chin with a claw.

“What are you?” Kethona asked. Staring inquisitively at Rixis.

Rixis smiled as the cobra moved away from the zebra and returned behind him. A bit of a rude question, but he couldn’t fault the little one for asking. He was young and it wasn’t every day you saw something like him. In fact, barely any living creature ever saw Rixis at all.

Rixis sat down with a grunt and chuckled, “I’m... unique, even among my kind. I’m afraid that’s all I can say for now. But it’s getting late, and I think a little colt like you should be getting some sleep.”

“No!” Kethona shouted, “I mean, no. I’m... I’m lonely. I don’t have much to do, but I do have these.” He said with a bright smile holding up some coloring books. Do you want to help me color some pictures?”

Rixis nodded at Kethona, “Okay.” He slid his chair over to the bedside and picked up some crayons.

------------------

A few weeks passed and Kethona eagerly awaited the return of his new acquaintance. Nurse Briarheart noticed his small change in demeanor and scoffed at it, but she didn’t complain about the quiet nights. It was nearing the end of Fall and the leaves had just fallen off the trees.

Just as promised, Rixis returned and spent some time with Kethona, but it was short lived. They were reading a book when Rixis stood up and said he needed to leave immediately. As he walked away and began to disappear, he saw Kethona’s eyes begin to glisten with tears as he curled up in the bed. Rixis frowned and called out to the colt. “I might have to leave, but at least I can leave you some company.”

The cobra detached itself from Rixis and slithered over to the bed. From the floor it rose up higher than the bedpost. For whatever reason, it seemed to have grown considerably after detaching from Rixis. The snake coiled it’s large, long body around the width of the bed a few times before stopping and flicking it’s tongue across Kethona’s face, eliciting giggles from the child. The snake picked up some crayons with it’s tail and began to color in some pictures with him. Kethona paused and looked at the snake. He leaned back against one its coils and wondered aloud, “What do I call you? You’re not part of Rixis anymore.” The snake tilted it’s head to the side and watched Kethona intently. “What’s a good name for a snake? I don’t even know. Hmm, he did call you a she. How about Gari? That was the name of a pretty filly in my tribe.”

The cobra seemed to smile and quickly nodded it’s hooded head while it’s wiry tongue stuck out. Kethona laughed while wiping the spit away from his mouth. It was then that he heard hoofsteps coming from outside in the hallway.

“Oh crap! It’s Briarheart! Gari, hide! Hide!” Kethona exclaimed while waving his hooves. The cobra quickly uncoiled herself from the bed and slithered underneath it.

The nurse hiccuped as she entered the room and saw Kethona staring at the ceiling. “What was so funny, stripes?”

“Nothing, why do you ask?” Kethona inquired with a cough.

The nurse huffed and trotted into the room and set his dinner tray on the table beside the bed. “Just thought I heard something, but I suppose it didn’t come from your room. How could it? What do you have to laugh about?”

Kethona sat up and reached for the dinner tray, but Briarheart slid the table away from the bed. She chuckled to herself as she left the room and returned to the Nurse’s station.

Gari emerged from the bed and coiled around Kethona protectively, she raised her hooded head and hissed angrily at the door. Kethona slumped over inside the coils and rubbed his eyes. “What did I ever do to make her hate me so much?”

Gari looked down at the colt and grabbed the tray. She took the cup of fruit and offered it to Kethona. The cobra hovered over him as he finished his dinner. After a moment of relaxing, he crawled up on one of the coils and pointed to a cup sitting on the table. Gari extended her tail and brought it over. Kethona took the cup and emptied its contents into his hoof. Three tablets. He placed them in his mouth and swallowed. After more time coloring, the tablets began to take effect and Kethona had to lay down. Gari slipped her tail under his shoulders and lifted him up. She looked at him with concern and flicked her tongue against his nose.

“It’s okay. They’re supposed to do this.” Kethona said with a laugh. Gari gently lowered him onto the bed and tucked him in. She wrapped her body around Kethona and his pillow as he drifted off into dreamland, and watched over him the entire night.

--------------

The next morning, Kethona woke up in a haze. He felt something moving around him. He rubbed his eyes and saw snake coils everywhere. Gari had coiled her body on the bed while he was sleeping. Kethona smiled and saw her flat hood laying near the edge. With care he crawled over her body and climbed onto the top of her head. “Gari...” he whispered with a giggle. The cobra’s eyes opened and she hissed playfully while unwinding her body. She rose into the air and looked directly up, causing Kethona to lose his grip and slide away. He laughed as she maneuvered her body such that he was falling down a slide. He slid around the bed on her coils until reaching the end and falling off, only to be caught at the last minute by her tail. She wrapped it around him a few times and sat him back on the bed. They spent most of the day playing around since Briarheart wasn’t working.

As the day went on, the sun began to set and Kethona looked longingly at the window. “It sure is pretty,” he said to the snake. “I wish I could see it, instead of being cooped up in this room all the time.”

Gari tilted her head at him then wrapped her tail around his shoulders and stomach. She lifted him up to the window and they both stared outside as the sun dipped below the treeline and the mountains. Gari then started hissing playfully and grabbed a blanket from one of the chairs and wrapped it around Kethona. Still holding him, she put her tail to her face, instructing Kethona to be quiet. He obeyed, but was confused at to what she was doing. Gari slithered over to the door and peaked outside making sure the coast was clear. She slithered out of the room carrying Kethona with her and found the the stairwell leading up the roof. Once they got there, Gari sat the colt down and watched him hobble over to the edge. He clutched the blanket closely, it was chilly outside, but that did not distract him from the view. He sat down and let a few tears escape his eyes, it had been so long since he had tasted fresh air. It felt good. Several things seemed to hit him at once, though none were revelations. He knew his tribe were probably not coming back for him. It was because of his body and weakness. It only slowed them down, wherever they were going. In a way, he understood. Kethona harbored no ill feelings toward them. He just couldn’t see what good that would do.

He started coughing violently and clutched the blanket to himself. Gari wound her tail around him again and brought him in front of her. She flicked her tongue against his face. Kethona rubbed a hoof against her and smiled, “Thank you for this, Gari. You did something special for me. But can we go inside? I don’t want to get sick.” The cobra turned around and slithered back inside the hospital with zebra in tow.

Later that night, Gari had laid down on a pillow just like another patient. Kethona rested on his side under Gari’s chin. He found her hood to be smooth and comfortable. After he fell asleep, she pulled the covers over him to make sure he was warm. Late into the night, Rixis finally returned. He crept over to the bed and motioned to the snake, who coiled her tail around Kethona to move him away. The movement caused him to wake up and spot Rixis.“Welcome back,” he exclaimed with a cough. Rixis motioned for Gari to return to him. The snake unwound from Kethona and reconnected to Rixis, but not before giving the zebra colt a series of kisses.

“Have you two behaved while I was gone?” Rixis asked.

“Yeah, we did. Gari was a lot of fun!” Kethona said.

“Gari?” Rixis question while looking at the snake, who was still fixated on the young colt.

“Yeah,” Kethona replied. “I figured she needed a name since she was by herself.”

“Makes sense,” Rixis admitted. “Kethona... I need to ask you some questions.” he said in calm tone.

“Okay,” Kethona said. “What’s up?”

Rixis pulled up a chair and stared at the floor, Kethona noticed he was fidgeting with his claw and paw before he looked up. “Have you been visited by anyone like me?”

Kethona giggled and stifled a cough, “Like you? You mean tall lion headed things with arms and legs that are different from each other?”

Rixis wasn’t amused. “You haven’t seen any other strange things? No figures from your tribe’s folklore or legends?”

“Nope,” Kethona said with a smile. “Why, should I be expecting them?”

Rixis frowned for a moment, then reclined in the chair. “I... don’t know. But I’ll stay with you tonight. You needn’t worry.” Kethona smiled from ear to ear as he conversed with Rixis about all the things he had done with Gari, until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

------------------

As the weeks went by, Kethona found himself feeling more exhausted with each day. He no longer had the energy to get out of bed, and didn’t feel like coloring or reading. It was becoming harder to focus, and food just wasn’t satisfying anymore. Rixis had returned a few times since Gari had taken him out to the see the sunset. But that all seemed a distant memory. Nurse Briarheart was gone so another nurse took care of him instead. She would feed him and wash him when it was needed. Her name was Soft Hooves, and she was a great deal nicer than Briarheart. One evening, Rixis came and left Gari with him, but Kethona was too weak to do anything. Even so, he still managed a smile when Gari gently picked him up and placed him inside her smooth coils. She stayed with him an entire two days, making sure he was comfortable and relaxed. When Rixis returned he found Kethona asleep clutching Gari’s tail.

Rixis leaned over and gripped his axe, still unsure of what he should do. But he was glad the zebra no longer needed to worry about that wretched nurse tormenting him. She would never bother anypony ever again.

About a month ago, he materialized in a small house. It appeared dilapidated and filthy with messes everywhere, but it wasn’t long until he saw her. Briarheart was snoring on the couch with empty cider bottles all around her. He had to admit, there were few things in the worlds that he did not understand. But this was one of them. Fate? Coincidence? Justice? He had no idea, but this circumstance was not crafted by him. Over the weeks and months, Rixis observed some other hospital staff and patients while he was looking after Kethona. Briarheart was not just mean to the little zebra, but to every other patient, especially the foals. She had stolen money from the hospital numerous times to fund her drinking habits. She was messy, unqualified, mean, and self aware. But now it was the end.

A gurgling sound came from her throat as she began to cough. Vomit erupted from her mouth, but did not escape it. She began to gag violently, all while Rixis looked on with a smirk. Once her body ceased its spasms, Rixis extend his axe and tilted on its side so the blade was parallel to her body. He passed it over her once, then waited. Eventually, Briarheart’s essence left her body and she shook her head.

“Where- where am I?” she wondered, then shrieked when she saw Rixis towering over her. He was much larger now, taller than he was when visiting with Kethona. “Who are you? Are you a spirit?”

“Very astute.” Rixis said with a smile. “I am indeed.”

“Then I’m... that means...” she looked over at her body and screamed. “No!!!”

Briarheart ran to the door but Rixis moved a claw and shut it. She looked back at him standing in the middle of the room and began to cry. She ran to the windows, but he shut those, too. She ran to each exit, and each one was systematically closed off by Rixis. Eventually he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and lifted her in front of him. His cobra tail moved around her, hissing violently. She squirmed and looked him in the eyes, terrified.

“You’re going to take me to the Eternal Shores, spirit?” Briarheart asked with a meek smile.

Rixis raised an eyebrow, amused, “Do you really think you’re going there? If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.”

Briarheart’s face couldn’t be more pale, “No? Then...” she started as her teeth chattered, “Tartarus... you’re sending me to Tartarus...”

Rixis leaned on his axe, “Tempting, but no. I don’t think so.”

“Wha- what?” she squeaked.

“See, both of those places you’ll continue to exist. Each existence would be vastly different, but you’re still existing.” Rixis explained. “I don’t usually do this, but there are exceptions, and I think you qualify as an exception...”

Briarheart’s expression changed to one of hope, “Really? What do I get?!”

“You get, oblivion.” Rixis roared as he opened his maw and devoured the screaming pony. Her essence now added to his own, but she would have company. There were several more before her.

Rixis rubbed his stomach after thinking about that night, he was certain it gave Kethona at least a few more weeks of happiness before he started to decline. The zebra finally opened his eyes and managed a weak smile. “Rixis...” he croaked.

The spirit leaned down while cobra propped the child’s head up, “Yes, child. I’m here.”

“It hurts...” the colt squeaked while closing his eyes. “Is this the end? I’m scared.”

If Rixis had a heart it would have broken in two. He leaned against his axe while the cobra flicked it’s tongue against Kethona. He didn’t know what to do... his duty was to ponies, not to zebras. That’s what his instincts told him. Rixis had never known any instructor or mentor, there were no guidelines, there was no rulebook. He had no one other than his siblings, and they all scorned him. But ever since he was born from that pile of corpses, he knew this was his purpose. No other spirits came to the colt. Not before, and not now, even as he faded. Rixis picked up his axe and slammed the butt into the ground. Consequences be damned, he would not let this little child slip away into nothingness.

“No young one, it’s not the end. You’ll see.” Rixis slowly reached out his paw and placed it to the colt’s chest. Kethona shivered and whimpered at the touch. “I know it’s cold. Shh. It’s alright.” Rixis said as the touch spread throughout the zebra’s body. Eventually the shivering ceased, and Kethona felt release. Rixis took hold of his essence and removed it from the corporeal body. He cradled the small child in one paw.

“It’s all behind you now, little one.” Rixis whispered as he left the hospital, the land that would later be known as Equestria, and the world. “You’ll never suffer like this again.”

----------------

Kethona stirred as he was gently rocked back and forth. He opened his eyes and was immediately assaulted with bright rays of sunlight. He rubbed them and looked at the ground moving beneath him. Rixis looked down at the zebra and smiled. “I see you’re awake, that’s good.”

Kethona realized it was a great distance to the ground. Rixis was a lot taller now, more than twice his height in the hospital. “Where are we?” Kethona asked. Rixis was striding through a meadow awash with every color of the rainbow. Flowers swayed in the wind as birds sang and flew overhead. It was so peaceful. This land was the definition of beauty.

“We’re in an enchanted land far away.”

“Am I dead?” Kethona asked with a frown. “If this is the afterlife, then that means you’re a... god!”

Rixis let out a hearty laugh as they continued to make their way across the fields. “God?!” He looked down at Kethona with bright glowing eyes. “If I am a god, so are you.”

“What do you mean?” Kethona asked.

Rixis chuckled and shook his head, “I’m no different from you, Kethona. Not in any way that would make me a god. We have more in common than you realize.”

As they walked, Rixis neared the edge of a cliff and extended his claw. “What do you think?” he asked.

Kethona’s jaw dropped as he took in the view. A vast ocean lay before him with crystal clear sparkling water. The sun was starting to set, casting shadows across the fields behind them. Across the ocean, Kethona squinted and made out a shoreline. It was just as beautiful and welcoming as this place.

“I don’t even know. This place, it’s something out of my dreams.”

Rixis gripped Kethona tightly and jumped off the cliff, landing at the bottom with a powerful thud. As he approached the beach, he balled his claw into a fist and moved it aside. In response, a small boat appeared on the shore. “Wait, what’s going on?” Kethona asked as he gripped Rixis’ arm.

“You were correct, Kethona.” Rixis admitted. “You have passed on from the world. It was your time. I came to you because I sensed your pain, and loneliness. I was lonely, too. I chose to escort you here.”

Kethona shook his head, “Where is here?”

Rixis gently lowered the colt into the boat and waded out into the calm waves. “Across this ocean are the shores of eternity. Beyond them is everlasting paradise.”

Kethona crawled to the back of the boat as Rixis pushed it out with the butt of his axe. “Aren’t you coming, too?”

“I cannot,” Rixis replied with a solemn shake of his head, “I do not belong there.” He raised his claw and waved goodbye. “I’m happy to have met you, Kethona. Enjoy paradise.”

Kethona looked around as the boat began moving on its own, ferrying him out into the vast open water. “Wait! Don’t go!” he shouted, tears forming in his eyes. “I don’t want this! I don’t want to be alone!”

He jumped off the boat and into the water, disregarding that he couldn’t swim. “I don’t want to be alone again! What good is an eternity alone?!”

Kethona flailed in the water as he sank below the surface, still screaming for the spirit. His vision soon darkened as the weight of the water fell upon him.

----------------

It seemed an eternity that Kethona thrashed around in blackness. He saw images of his mother and father, his aunt, and the many of zebras of his tribe. He saw Briarheart laughing at him, and all the sunsets from his hospital bed. Then a sudden cold across his chest jolted him awake. He was in another bed, but this one was much bigger. Kethona found himself in a lavish room with a large roaring hearth. There was furniture around that oddly seemed to fit him perfectly. He stood on the bed and noticed that even in the afterlife his deformities remained. As he reached the end of the bed the door to the room slid open and a blue cobra poked it’s head inside.

Before Kethona could do anything the snake lunged and tackled him off the bed. He fell to the floor in a huge tangled mess of snake coils, laughing as its tongue tickled his face. “Gari it’s so good to see you!” She squeezed him tightly and nuzzled against his mane. Kethona crawled atop Gari’s head and grasped the folds of her hood, “Where is Rixis?”

The cobra untangled her long body and slithered out the door and into a corridor. They appeared to be in a ruined castle or keep of some sort. Kethona had been in a castle before. His tribe was granted an audience with a gryphon king to ask for safe passage through his lands. They paid a heavy price. Gari slithered into the throne room and Kethona’s expression exploded in happiness. On an old, crumbling throne, Rixis sat with his axe leaning on his shoulder. He was asleep, snoring loudly. Gari formed a seat with her coils and sat Kethona down. She raised her head in the air and hissed loudly. Rixis was jolted awake and slowly raised his head.

“Wha? Ungh. I’m up, I’m fine... Oh, Kethona, you’re awake.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t abandon me.” Kethona said with a smile.

Rixis tapped the talons of his reptilian foot impatiently, “Child, I don’t think you understand what you turned down. Why did you do it? I understand you didn’t want to be alone, but there are other ponies across the shores. I’m sure any of them would have welcomed you.”

“But I don’t know any of them,” Kethona said with a frown, “You were the only one who visited with me as I was dying. In the end you were my only friend.”

Rixis nodded, “And you were mine. I was lonely, Kethona. I’ve existed a very long time. Shunned and cast away. But as you can see, this isn’t really a place for foals. You can’t stay here, if that’s what you want.”

Kethona shifted in Gari’s coils as he looked around the throne room. The ceiling was collapsing and much of the walls and support pillars were cracked. “I admit, I’ve seen better kept homes.” he said with a laugh.

Rixis chuckled, “I’m a busy spirit, little zebra. I’m never home anyway.”

Kethona climbed out of his coiled seat and hobbled over to one of the pillars. Gari followed him closely, curious what he was doing. “Well, we’ll make it better! You got magic, right? Lets use it!”

Rixis smiled and shook his head, “You’ll be the only one here when I’m gone, this realm can be a lonely place, believe me.”

Kethona walked over to Rixis and sat down. “What if I helped you?”

Rixis looked down at the colt and chuckled, “Help me? I escort the dead to their places of rest, Kethona. You want to help with that?”

Gari hissed a bit of laughter. Kethona playfully punched Gari’s stomach as she sat behind him. “I’m serious, guys!” he insisted. “You were going to take me to paradise, so let me thank you.”

“Hmm...” Rixis contemplated, “You aren’t a spirit... but you could pass between worlds if I allowed it. I’d have to train you to get a grasp of the magic.”

“I can do it!” Kethona said as he wiggled in Gari’s grasp.

Rixis bent over and gave the zebra a stern look, “I don’t pass judgement, Kethona. Well... most of the time...” he trailed off. “Ponies’ fates usually have been determined by their actions in life, thus it is not your place to judge. Understand?”

Kethona nodded. “I just take them where they need to go.”

Rixis leaned back in his throne and pondered the situation more. “I’ll accept your help, young Kethona.” Rixis said. “I’m tired of being alone, and you just might be good at this.” he said with a wink.

Kethona raised his hooves in joy as Gari spun him around in celebration.

“But first, I think it’s time we fixed that form of yours.” Rixis said with gentle smile.

“My form?” Kethona asked while looking at his deformed body.

Rixis motioned to Gari and stood up from the throne. The cobra nodded to Kethona in reassurance and raised him high into the air. Rixis picked up his axe and leveled the pointed tip at Kethona, who closed his eyes in fear. “What are you going to do?”

“You lived your entire life disabled in a feeble body. But you aren’t alive anymore. For going through that and keeping your spirits high, you deserve better.” Rixis said. He stepped back and gently touched the tip of his axe to Kethona’s forehead. A wave of cold froze him to the core, causing him to close his eyes. Then he felt Gari lower him to the ground. He opened his eyes and examined his hooves, they were the same size, all of them were. He could move his neck without it hurting. He wasn’t drooling anymore.

Rixis upended his axe and planted the blade into the ground in front of Kethona. “Not bad, eh?”

Kethona gasped as he saw his reflection in the blade. He was a normal zebra! Limbs proportioned, eyes straight, everything. He shouted in joy and took off at a gallop around the room. Gari followed, enjoying his happiness. Kethona stopped and bowed to Rixis, “Thank you, Rixis. I- I don’t know what to say.” he stammered with tears of joy dripping from his eyes.

Rixis bent over and picked him up in the palm of his paw. “Never bow to me, Kethona. I am not your better, but I graciously accept your gratitude. Now come, you have much to learn.”

------------------

~ present ~

“You were the first one!” Iris exclaimed, “But you had a horrible life before this.”

“Yeah,” Kethona replied, “But I’m much better now, and I owe Rixis much.”

The foals heard shifting and creaking coming from the open coffin. River fluttered off his shoulder as Rixis began to move. Frost and Iris backed up a few paces when they saw his reptilian claw grasp the edge of the coffin. Slowly Rixis stepped out and bent over. He let out a low growl as he stretched his back, cracking what seemed to be hundreds of bones. He spread his arms wide in a gargantuan stretch then yawned. As he did, his green claw fell away as a gout of sand escaped his arm. River attempted to pick up and give it back, but it was just too big. Rixis smiled and helped her lift it with his paw. He fixed the limb back into it’s proper place and nuzzled River. She landed on his shoulder again and winked at Frost and Iris.

Rixis reached his claw to something in the distance, and his axe flew to him. Eventually his eyes settled on Frost and Iris, “I’m starving.”

Chapter 27: Line in the Sand

Ciaran moaned as she connected in another passionate kiss with Aldus. Their night had been exquisite. She barely had to coax Aldus at all, at least not until the very end when he tuckered out. The changeling princess was positively radiating energy from the charnel love she received, and Aldus was a slobbering mess. Ciaran rolled over on her back and waited for Aldus to come out of her spell. They were situated on the floor near their window. Both of their magic released in large amounts during the night, so much so that they began to levitate off the bed at certain points. Ciaran, finding it sexy, decided to wrap them in their sheets and continue with the pleasure while floating around the room. Poor Aldus would wake with a sore head, though, having bumped into a wall while kissing and not paying attention. Also, Ciaran giggled at the large hole in the wall nearest the washroom. Her horn had penetrated it while she was... coaxing Aldus along. She placed a picture over it, hoping that nopony would notice until later.

The night was not all pleasure, though. Ciaran has been able to get some measure of information about where Frost might be. Now the only thing necessary would be to narrow down the locations. But rescuing the foals could prove a problem. She could sneak in and try to exfiltrate them herself, but that might take too long. Knowing Frost, he might want to take the other foals with him, and that would not be possible. She could send in one her changelings, but none had been sent to the Silver Isles, and it would take weeks for them to arrive. She needed to think. A yawn next to her caused Ciaran to chuckle and snuggle up to the pony.

Aldus opened his eyes in a haze, he put a hoof to his head and groaned, “What in the universe happened last night? Did I?”

“Yes,” Ciaran answered.

“Did we?”

“Yes.”

“Was I?”

“You were wonderful, sweetheart.” Ciaran cooed while cupping his face in her hooves.

Aldus felt her press her lips to his, and he sighed in pleasure. “Wait, how are you not hungover? Did you put a spell on me? Ow...” he held his head and winced.

Ciaran chuckled and playfully bit his neck, “You probably shouldn’t be thinking too much, you drank enough to knock out a minotaur last night. Quite frankly, I’m impressed. That said, you were so far gone a spell wouldn’t have made a difference.”

Aldus groaned and got up, he looked around the room. It was utterly destroyed. He turned back to Ciaran who only smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “I need a shower...” he grumbled while stumbling over to the washroom. “My hips are so... wobbly.”

Aldus entered the washroom and turned the water on, he waited until it was hot before getting some towels and setting them on counter for when he was done. Just as he was about to step in, hooved encircled his neck from behind and two fangs bit into one of his ears. Ciaran leaned forward and whispered, “We need to talk about Frost.”

----------------

Frost and Iris backed away as Rixis flexed and oriented himself to the world. The spirit was enormous, and frightening. Kethona stopped them both and smirked. “I know he looks imposing, but he’s nice.”

“I’ve been asleep too long. I told you to wake me after two hundred years...” Rixis growled.

River merely chuckled and grabbed a hoof full of his mane and hugged it to herself. “I forgot... sorry, Rix.”

“You forgot...” he mused. “I’m sure.”

Rixis’ tail slithered forward and hissed at Iris and Frost. The gryphon was clutching Frost tightly, but not cowering. Frost wondered if something happened just who would act first, him or her.

The spirit looked down and raised an eyebrow, “You two are neither dead nor dying, why are you here?”

“They trespassed into the princesses painting and awoke the guardians, I figured you’d want to see them before any of us took action.” Kethona said.

“Does she know about it?” Rixis asked.

“No, I did not cross the shores to disturb her. I thought it unnecessary.”

“That’s good,” Rixis said, “How did the guardians get activated? Wait...” he said, faltering. Rixis bent over slightly and his eyes widened. “It can’t be... I- I don’t believe it...”

Frost and Iris looked at each other dumbfounded. “You can’t believe what?” Iris asked.

Rixis bent over on one knee and smiled. Frost noticed a single tear in his eye. “It’s my sister... or... part of her.”

“I’m not...” Iris stammered.

“Not you, young avian, the one who accompanies you. The one who protects you.”

“Black Star?” Iris asked.

“Black Star...” Rixis mused, “Come out Black Star, stand before me little one. Don’t be afraid.”

Iris felt a shadow slide off her as Black Star took his gryphon form and stood protectively behind Iris.

Rixis set his axe down and smiled at the four winged gryphon. “It’s you... you’re part of her, I can’t believe it.”

“I feel as if I know you...” Black Star said, while holding his head with a claw, “But I can’t remember anything. Do I know you?”

Rixis shook his head, “You might not... but the rest of you might. Where is she?”

“You mean mother?” Black Star asked. “Selene is gone, we don’t know where she is. But she should be coming back to us soon.”

Rixis slumped over and looked at the ceiling, “Selene... Selene... what a lovely name. My big sister finally has a name.”

“What’s going on?” Frost asked, “Selene is your sister? What are you talking about?”

“It all makes sense now...” Rixis muttered, “I’ll finally get to see her. But, to the matter at hand.” Rixis raised a claw and snapped it, teleporting the group to a large hall situated with many statues and stained glass windows. It was twilight, and the light of the moon was just starting to seep into the hall. A throne was situated at the end with several portraits hanging behind, all of a familiar style.

Rixis sat upon the throne and let out a sigh. River fluttered down and sat on his knee while smiling and Frost. Kethona merely stood beside them and awaited what was to happen next.

“Why were you in the Painted World of Seabreeze?” Rixis asked.

Frost was becoming irritated, “Why were you in it?”

“Careful how you speak to him, Frost. I don’t think you know exactly what he is.” River warned with a glare.

A single talon extended to River and ruffled her mane while tickling her. The cobra attached to Rixis slithered around to her and swept it’s tongue across her face in quick motions. “It’s fine River, I’m in a good mood. I presume you’re referring to the painting, child?”

“Yes, the one where you’re watching ponies depart for the eternal shores.”

“Well, I happened to step into the world when I found out it was inhabited. I met Princess Seabreeze, and she painted my picture.”

Iris left Frost’s side and fluttered into the air, Black Star following close behind. She hovered in front of Rixis and performed several hand motions before bowing deeply. “My name is Iris, of the Grey Wing gryphon kingdom. It is an honor to meet you, Rixis.”

Rixis leaned back and smiled, he then held out his lion paw offering Iris a place to land. “There is no need to be so formal, little avian. But I appreciate your gesture nonetheless, and greet your honor in kind.”

Iris touched down in his pawn and bent over in a bow, “If that place was a tomb, or mausoleum, I hope you’ll forgive our transgression.”

Rixis moved his paw and deposited Iris on the arm of the large throne. “How did you discover the painting in the first place?”

“Aldus,” Frost said while trotting forward.

“Pardon?” Rixis asked.

“Aldus,” Frost repeated, “Seabreeze’s lover, he recovered the painting and took us inside on an adventure. We entered the castle to explore and those things tried to kill us.”

“Aldus... of course... he never did die...” Rixis said while stroking his chin in thought. “Interesting...”

“So... are we in trouble?” Iris asked.

Rixis smiled and shook his head. “No, Iris. You’re not in trouble. I understand what happened. I’ll return to Seabreeze’s painted world and repair the damage.”

“Then you’ll let us go?” Frost asked.

“I don’t think I was ever holding you here.” Rixis said with a jovial laugh, “Unless you want to end your life, in that case we’ll just need to take a trip back to the shores.”

Iris chuckled a bit, while Frost’s face went white as a ghost. “N-no thank you, sir.”

“Very well, and I see you two are in a bit of a situation in the Silver Isles. Interesting stuff. I might watch to see how it all turns out. Best of luck to you.”

Iris placed both her claws on Rixis’ paw and bowed her head again, “Thank you, Rixis.”

“You're very welcome child,” Rixis replied, “When your mother returns, Black Star. Please let her know that her little brother misses her.”

Black Star nodded and collected Iris before flying to join with Frost. River walked with them to the edge of the hall and opened a set of double doors with the wave of a hoof. They seemed to be near the top of the castle, since the stairs beyond went down in a circle so far that Frost couldn’t see the bottom. Still, he was glad to be leaving this place. Even if he would be waking up back in slavery with the rest of the foals.

“Stop.”

The voice boomed and shook the room, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Kethona, River, Frost, and Iris looked back to see Rixis standing in front of the throne with blazing golden eyes. Iris gripped Frost tightly while Black Star coiled a tail around each of them, preparing to merge if they needed to make a quick getaway.

“You almost fooled me, very clever.” Rixis raised a paw and pulled Kethona and River into the air, depositing them away from Frost, Iris, and Black Star. “I think you’re getting rusty.”

“Who are you talking to?” Frost asked.

Rixis snarled and began to stride forward, staring directly at the light blue unicorn. Frost’s lips began to quiver, suddenly he was wanting to call out for Ciaran, or Aldus, or anypony to save him.  Black Star wasted no time in merging with Iris. She muttered something before being absorbed into the black tar. He lifted up Frost and began to do the same, but Rixis reached out a claw and seized Frost. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. It was frigid, utterly and complete cold. The grip of death. Frost shivered and cowered as he was brought forward. Black Star and Iris tried to interfere but were swept away by another wave of the spirit’s paw.

“Come out. Don’t make me force it.” Rixis growled.

“I’m right here...” Frost squeaked, tears forming in his eyes.

“Not you, boy!” Rixis bellowed, “The parasite you’re carrying!”

“What?” Frost whimpered, “I don’t-”

“Come out Dermon, I know you’re there! I won’t ask again.”

Frost looked at Iris and Black Star, who couldn’t approach. He could see fear and concern in both of their eyes. “Please...” Frost begged.

“Killing this child, will that make you come out? Are you still selfish enough to allow that? Is that what it’ll take? Fine.”

Frost began to breath heavily and struggled with each breath as the cold infected his body. He tried using magic to stave off the effect, but it didn’t work. The cold was numbing and all consuming. Frost’s eyes began to close, the last image being Iris reaching out for him. Then the feeling stopped in a flash of white light.

Frost found himself cradled in the warm embrace of a claw and paw. Warmth was rushing back into him, and he could see clearly again.

“Hey kiddo. Don’t think I was going to let anything happen to you.”

“Discord?” Frost murmured.

The draconequus smiled down at Frost before the sound of clapping echoed throughout the hall. Rixis smirked while the glow in his eyes intensified. “Well well... look at this... Dermon risked his own life to save another, and a pony no less! What are the worlds coming to?”

“Couple things...” Discord started before gently setting Frost down on a soft cloud of cotton candy. “One, my name isn’t Dermon anymore. Two, I was never in any danger. Not from the likes of you, Rixis.”

“HA! Oh... forgive me, that’s right. You’re ‘Discord’ ... how chaotic. You don’t really expect me to entertain that nonsense? What are you? A villain from a Saturday morning foals cartoon?”

“Villain enough to enslave the ponies behind the backs of all my siblings including you, Rix. It was fun, but I don’t recall you ever trying to stop me.” Discord smirked while pacing toward Rixis.

Rixis snarled and balled a fist. “I don’t interfere in the affairs of mortals.”

“Oh yes you do, baby brother.” Discord smirked, “You’ve done it on more than one occasion.” The draconequus snatched Kethona with his tail and dangled him in front of Rixis. “What do you call this?” he snapped his claws and River appeared coiled in the tail next to Kethona. “And this?”

Rixis waved a paw and freed the zebra and pegasus, returning them to the floor. He then shot them a look, warning them to stay away. “That is nothing compared to what you did.”

“Perhaps not in scope, but in principle it’s very much the same.” Discord smirked. “I know you baby brother, you and your soft side. You wanted to stop me, but you didn’t. You didn’t because you were smart. I’ve always been better, and stronger. You knew your place, but it seems you have forgotten.”

Discord turned around and looked at Iris and Frost, “These foals are friends of mine, and I don’t think you want to be bullying my friends.”

Rixis raised his hand, but Discord disappeared in a flash of light. He reappeared behind Rixis and poked him in the middle of his back. The spirit of ending shuddered, then fell apart. His lizard claw and leg broke free from the rest of his body, as did his minotaur hoof and lion head.

River screamed and ran toward the pile of limbs but Kethona stopped her. Discord smirked and motioned over Frost’s cloud of cotton candy. Iris flew over to him while Discord grabbed part of the cloud and stuffed it into his mouth. “You foals alright?”

“Yeah,” Iris stammered, “You were with us the whole time?”

“Not the whole time, I only just found you inside that sweatshop. When the zebra appeared inside as well, I figured we might end up coming here after our little escapade in Breezey’s castle.”

“Your name is Dermon?” Frost asked.

Discord grimaced and shook his head, “A very long time ago, yes. But now, I’d prefer you call me Discord.”

Iris’ eyes widened as she looked behind Discord. The spirit of chaos noticed and turned around. Several familiar black tentacles slithered from a puddle of tar on the ground that was expanding outward. Slowly the mismatched limbs reassembled themselves and Rixis stood glaring at Discord.

“Glutton for punishment I see,” Discord sighed while cracking his neck and knuckles. “You never did know when to stay down.”

Rixis raised his claw again, and Discord disappeared again. This time however Rixis whirled around and caught Discord’s claw with his own. Both spirits locked hands and grappled for dominance. Frost and Iris watched on with mouths agape. Each spirit was roughly the same size, but Rixis was by far stronger and more muscular. However, this didn’t seem to be helping him. He was being slowly forced back by Discord. Frost shook his head and squinted. No, he’d seen this before. It was a trick. Foals would sometimes do this on the streets. Feign losing the upper hand, only to capitalize when their opponent misstepped.

“Discord!” Frost yelled.

The draconequus realized too late what was transpiring. Within a second, Rixis bent over and his cobra tail streaked forward around his back. It attacked like lightning, burying it’s fangs deep within Discord’s shoulder. The spirit of chaos winced and his hoof buckled. Rixis threw away their grip and punched Discord straight in the mouth sending him to the floor.

“No...” Iris whispered.

Frost tried to stand, but the cotton candy seemed to restrict his movements. It was holding him in place atop the cloud. Likely due to Discord’s magic, he didn’t want him to get hurt.

Before Discord could do anything Rixis snapped his claws. In response, several ethereal chains erupted from the ground and bound Discord to the floor. The spirit of chaos’ bite wound was seeping green liquid. The venom was spreading throughout his body and disrupting his magic. He was helpless.

Rixis cracked his neck and smiled, “Those one thousand years in stone have clearly slowed your mind, Dermon. This is my realm. You might have been stronger then, but time... time is ever on my side. My power has waxed, while yours has waned.”

“I’m so scared...” Discord mockingly sobbed. “You can’t hurt me, baby brother.”

Rixis raised an eyebrow. He extended his claw and caught his executioners ax. Then, conjured a wet stone and began to sharpen the blade. “Who said anything about hurting you, Dermon?”

Frost and Iris gulped as they saw Discord’s expression turn from macho confidence, to apprehensive fear and anger. “Iris... help me!” Frost whispered.

“I can’t!” she replied. “You’re stuck to that cloud!”

Rixis knelt down to Discord, who was fastened tightly to the floor. He spun his paw in circles until a window appeared in front of them. Through the window, it was a misty morning, with the sun just starting to creep into the sky. The view cleared to reveal a yellow pegasus mare trotting around outside a small cottage. A little white bunny followed her while she took care of the many animals that appeared to live there.

“Who’s that... ?” Rixis asked.

Discord blinked and squirmed in his restraints. “Fluttershy...” he whispered.

“You know, I wasn’t dead to the world while I slept. I kept tabs on a few things. One of which was you, my loving older brother. Not only were you freed, then defeated. You made a new friend...”

“Don’t do it, Rixis.” Discord growled.

Rixis continued sharpening his blade and chuckled, “Do what? Use my powers to utterly destroy the lives of mortal ponies? Who could honestly consider doing such a thing? You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you Dermon?”

“Rixis I swear... don’t.”

“River, Kethona...” Rixis instructed while nodding to them. Both the zebra and the pegasus vanished on command.  

“Rixis, please don’t do this...” Iris pleaded as she flew over to him, “Discord has done some horrible things. I’ve read about them... but you don’t need to sink to his level.”

The spirit of endings looked up at the gryphon and shook his head. “Young one, what you read cannot describe the horrors that mortals suffered under his cruel humor. You don’t know how many twisted ponies I led to the shores during Dermon’s reign. How many of their minds were irreparably broken by his influence. Now... now he’s going to see things from a different perspective.”

Rixis raised his paw and expanded the window until it encompassed most of the hall in front of them. He leveled his axe and flicked the blade with a claw. Through the window, one of the squirrels following the yellow pegasus seized up and fell over, dead. The pegasus dropped her things and rushed to the side of the creature, trying in vain to resuscitate it.

“Fluttershy...” Discord lamented while watching the display. The pegasus began to cry as more animals gathered around her.

Rixis flicked the blade again, this time a bird fell out of the air and landed next to the pegasus. Another flick, and a beaver took it’s last breath. Another after that, a cat met it’s fate.

“Fluttershy!!!” Discord yelled as he thrashed in the chains.

Fluttershy was now surrounded by dead animals, only a few remained alive. She was shaking with tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.

“Too bad...” Rixis said with a shrug. “Taking care of animals must have been her special talent. Who knew she could be so bad at it?”

“You’re horrible...” Discord snarled, “This isn’t fun, you’re not being clever. This isn’t funny!”

“It’s not supposed to be funny you halfwit!” Rixis roared. “You hate seeing this? You don’t like watching this? Too bad! This is what you did to thousands of ponies before the two alicorn sisters ended your reign. You just never saw it. You were too busy enjoying yourself, wrapped up in your own fun.” Rixis ran his claw across the blade of the axe. The blade began to glow purple and hum with energy. He leaned over and got within inches of Discord’s face. “I’m going to kill you now, brother. For the harm you caused mortals, and all the abuse you’ve given me. But before I do, I want you to know that after, I’m going to take her. I’m going to take her and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Discord writhed in the chains and tried to conjure whatever magic he could, but nothing happened. Rixis stepped back leveled the axe at Discord’s neck. He pulled back and lifted the axe high over his head, then brought it down in a tremendous swing. As the blade fell, a flash of light blue light appeared under the blade and deflected the blow away from Discord’s head at the last second. Frost had teleported between the blade and the draconequus. Discord was able to move his head away slightly, and so might not have been decapitated. But he didn’t expect Frost to intervene.

Iris screamed in horror and leapt out of her merged form. Black Star barely caught her with three tendrils and managed to pull her back into his protective embrace. The falling blade cleaved Frost’s body completely in half. Blood coated Rixis’ weapon and dripped from the blade into a pool forming near Discord’s mouth.

The spirit of chaos was in utter disbelief, Frost had deliberately taken the blow for him. Why? How?

“Frost!” Iris wailed as Black Star held her and cradled her head against his shoulder. She punched at his chest and tried to squirm away. “Why?!”

Rixis slowly turned to the crying gryphon and stared at her. He half handed his axe and brought the blade near his claw. A blue aura began to swirl in a vortex between his talons. He moved the spiraling mass of magic across the blade of his weapon, then across the floor where Frost’s body rested. Rixis knelt and placed the swirling ball of energy down, then released it. Eventually the magic subsided, and Frost stood staring blankly at the wall.

“Little avian... come and see.” Rixis said.

Iris was balling into Black Star’s shoulder when he nuzzled her and whispered for her to turn around. She sniffled and looked over her shoulder to see Frost, fully formed and alive. She leapt out of Black Star’s embrace and tackled Frost to the ground. Iris wrapped her wings around him and pushed his head into her breast.

“Frosty... I thought I’d lost you! Thank the Matriarch you’re back.”

Frost stared into Iris’ eyes when she cupped his face in her claws. “What happened?” he stammered.

Iris’ eyes widened as Rixis tapped her lightly on the back. She stood to the side, but glared uneasily at the spirit. “I don’t know what to say...”

Rixis ignored her for the moment and bent down to be within inches of Frost’s face. “I don’t give second chances often, little unicorn. Don’t do that again.” Rixis stood up and gripped his axe, “Now where was I?”

A snapping sound was heard from behind as Discord broke one of the chains holding him and fired a purple ball of chaos magic into Rixis. It blew a gaping hole in his chest, sending him flying into one of the pillars. The spirit of chaos’ eyes glowed red as he screamed and broke out of the rest of the chains. He walked over to Rixis and kicked away his axe. Both his paw and claw glowed with purple chaos energy. He picked up his younger brother and punched him in the face repeatedly, then through him across the room.

Rixis got up and shook his head, only to be blindsided by a chaos wave. Discord had poured the majority of his power into a pure wave of chaos magic. It caught Rixis and propelled him backward through the stained glass windows and into the cold night air. The magic took all the sound with it, leaving Frost and Iris to witness the next few moments in utter silence. The wave exploded, then released all the sound at once in one deafening boom.

Discord looked out through the destroyed wall and windows at his work and smiled. “Now, kids, that’s what would have happened to Celestia and Luna, had I taken them a bit more seriously.”

Iris flapped into the air and hovered at Discord’s eye level, “I just wish you two didn’t have to fight. Can we leave now?”

Discord snapped his fingers and once again a cloud of cotton candy appeared under Frost and lifted into the air alongside Iris. “I’ll send you two back, but I’m not finished here. I do have some words of advice for both you. They’ll help you in your current situation.”

“None of you are going anywhere.”

Discord’s eyes widened as he slowly turned around. “That should have been enough to shatter his essence.”

“To kill him?” Frost asked.

“No,” Discord replied, “It’s hard to kill spirits, we’re very resilient. But that should have forced his essence apart and given us ample time. He should have spent the next few days recovering his form. It’s always what has happened...”

A shadow descended from the sky and touched down at the edge of the hall. Rixis’ body was destroyed. His mane and face were ripped apart, with pieces dangling from his cheeks and jaws. His cloak was incinerated, so it was now possible to see his opened chest and stomach. Both legs had skin burned away which allowed both muscle and bone to be seen. Rixis summoned his axe and grasped it tightly, he began advancing on Discord. But then, stopped.

Rixis looked on at Discord and grinned. He slowly set down his executioner’s axe and stretched his arms.

“I’ve consumed several things in my time of existence, but never the essence of another spirit...”

“Cannibal...” Iris muttered, “Discord... we need to get out of here!”

However, despite Iris’ wishes to leave, the draconequus stood his ground. “Just try it. You were a mistake, Rixis. You never were supposed to be born.”

Rixis lowered his head and balled his fists. “I know... I know...” He looked up with pure hatred in his eyes, “But I’m still here. I’m here, despite mother wanting me or not. Despite all of it I’m here, and I’m going to devour you alive, Dermon.”

Rixis opened his mouth as wide as it could go then gripped his bottom jaw with both claw and paw. With a snap, he broke his lower jaw at the hinge and extended his bite to almost one hundred eighty degrees. Frost was now staring into a misshapen gaping maw. The blackness inside combined with the golden angry eyes terrified Frost.

Iris looked closely at Rixis and noticed that there was something different about him, his tail was missing. Fear struck Iris in the heart as she whirled around to see the gigantic blue cobra slither out of the rubble behind them and lunge at Discord. The draconequus screamed as the cobra sank it’s fangs into his leg. The lapse in concentration was all that was required. When Discord attempted to conjure his magic, Rixis was already on him. Both claw and paw gripped around his neck, forcing him to the ground. Discord writhed in struggle, coiling his wiry body around Rixis in an attempt to get free, but it was futile. Rixis bent over and began sucking a light blue and purple mist from Discord’s face. The spirit of chaos struggled even harder, trying to knock Rixis away with magic or anything, but to no avail. The spirit of ending was consuming him. He managed to poke Rixis in the eye, which caused him to throttle Discord and slam his head into the marble floor repeatedly, all while consuming his essence. Eventually Discord’s form began to wither away and age, until it became frail and dissolved into dust.

Rixis paused a moment, then slammed his fist into the ground in frustration.

Frost collapsed on the cloud as it molded around him, “I don’t believe it... Discord is gone. He’s dead.”

Rixis turned to Frost and laughed, “Not dead, little one. Just injured and depowered.”

Iris fluttered closer to Rixis and shook her head, “What happened?”

Rixis grabbed what remained of his lower jaw and snapped it back in place, then gradually began restoring his body to it’s mostly intact form. “He knew that it would be the end if he couldn’t get away, so he relinquished his foothold in this world and dissipated his essence.”

“You were really going to kill your own brother...” Frost said. “I don’t believe it.”

“I don’t believe it, either.” Iris said.  “You weren’t going to do it.”

“Pardon?” Rixis asked with a chuckle.

Iris, still merged with Black Star, fluttered in front of Rixis’ nose and crossed her arms, “You hate your brother, that much is clear. I might not know all the evil he’s done. But I know siblings. I have an older brother, too. The look in your eyes when he said that you were a mistake. That pause. He hurt you by saying that, you were sad. If you truly hated him enough to kill him, I wouldn’t have saw that in your eyes. It would have just been hate.”

Rixis grabbed his axe and leaned on it while studying Iris, “Really?”

“Yes,” Iris said with a sagely nod, “And I saw the look in your eyes while killing those helpless animals. You didn’t find it funny, in fact you hated doing it.”

The spirit of ending raised an eyebrow, “Little avian... you impress me.” Rixis raised a paw and sent out a wave of energy through the window still present in the hall. The yellow pegasus was now being consoled by a cyan pegasus and an orange earth pony. In response to Rixis’ magic, all the dead animals returned to life, each of them rushing to the embrace of the one known as Fluttershy.

Rixis closed the portal and waved his paw again, this time his magic began rebuilding the destroyed section of the hall. Rixis let out a sigh, then was surprised by the young gryphon landing on his shoulder and hugging his mane. “Rixis, sir. You’re a big softy...” Iris whispered.

Rixis chuckled and plucked the gryphon from his shoulder and held her in his paw, “Shh... no, I’m not. I’m just not my brother, and I never will be.”

Frost struggled to move in the cloud, so Rixis motioned him over with his magic as he walked over to the throne. “I don’t understand this, you were going to kill me... you did kill me!”

“I wasn’t going to kill you, Frost. I was bluffing, and Dermon fell for it. As for actually killing you, well... you really ought to be careful where you teleport.”

Iris chuckled a bit, causing Frost to angrily thrash about in the cloud in an attempt to get free. “That doesn’t excuse what you did!”

Rixis frowned and pulled Frost free from the cotton candy and sat him on the side of the throne with Iris. “I needed to face down my brother. I meant what I said, I almost didn’t know he was here. Once I saw him and he started taunting me... I- I slipped into my more primal tendencies. But I was never going to hurt you, Frost. I wasn’t going to hurt either of you. It’s not your time.”

“Why did you do all that? All that horrible stuff? I don’t understand.” Frost said with a with a frown.

Rixis looked down at the two children and sighed. “I’ve been alone most of my life, and I’ve lived a very long time. It was only recently I made friends, it was only recently that I could rely on others. It was only today that I learned my sister wasn’t dead.”

“Selene isn’t dead, she’s super powerful.” Frost said.

“You were alone most of your life, so Selene wasn’t with you? Where was she?” Iris asked.

“Selene... as she is called now... went away.” Rixis said with sorrow in his voice. “You see, Selene and I, we’re different than our other siblings. Dermon knows this, he bullied me, scorned me and was just a nasty monster. That performance you saw, it was necessary. It was the only way to show him what exactly he was like. He had to experience it for himself.”

“You really don’t believe he’s changed?” Iris asked.

“Pfft,” Rixis spat, “The sun princess is wise, but she’s also flawed and overconfident. She sought to reform ‘Discord.’ That might satisfy her, but not me.”

Frost was still shuddering and shaking his head. Rixis noticed and gently rubbed the child’s back with a paw. “Frost, child, I’m sorry for what I did. Truly I am. Sometimes we spirits can too easily tread on the lives of mortals. Please, allow me to make it up to you.”

Frost allowed Iris to embrace him while he looked up at the spirit. “How will you do that?”

Rixis smiled and leaned his head to the side, “You’re still learning your way. But I’ve seen many unicorns come and go throughout the ages. I’ve learned combat from the bravest and most skilled warriors. I’ve watched the most powerful unicorns create magic and forge new paths for pony kind. I know potential when I see it, and kid, you’ve got it.”

Frost’s eyes lit up a bit after hearing that. “You- you think so?”

“I know so.” Rixis said with a wink, “You have questions. Questions about magic, questions about life, and questions about your past. I know my brother has given you some advice, and he’ll likely help you in the future. His actions here are evidence of that. You can learn from him, and you can also seek guidance from me...”

“How?” Frost asked.

Rixis reached into his tattered cloak and produced a green crystal shard. He handed it to Frost and pointed at it’s surface. The crystal was cracked and sported an eye shaped engraving.

“A cracked green eye shard,” Rixis explained, “Use it to summon me. Either I’ll come to you, or I’ll bring you to me. If neither happens, then I’m occupied with another matter.”

“I understand,” Frost said while starting to smile again.

“Frost, I can’t help you if you get in danger. I’m not your guardian, and I don’t get involved personally in mortal affairs. It’s a matter of principle.”

“Makes sense,” Iris said, “But are you getting involved right now, and even moreso with giving us guidance?”

“Well...” Rixis said while standing up and stretching, “All I can do is give you the advice, what you choose to do with it is entirely up to you.” He opened his palm and allowed Frost and Iris to step onto it, “I think it’s time I got you children back to that horrible place. I hope you know what you’re doing in there.”

Iris chuckled and leaned back against Rixis’ thumb as he passed between worlds to return them to their room. Black Star relinquished his merger with Iris to be with Flint and Silver Spark in their dreamscape.

“We’ll be fine,” Iris reassured the spirit, “Have a little faith.”

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we, Iris?” Rixis said with a laugh, “I see that Pebble’s body is still here.” he observed while standing over Iris’ sleeping form, “I’ll see to his body. Goodbye little ones.” Rixis stepped into a magical doorway, but hesitated a moment. He turned to Frost and smirked, “Frost, it would seem your actions have caused ripples in more ways than you know. You have a friend in this place that cares about you. It is obscured to me whether you’ll find them, or they’ll come to you. Either way, I think that will be your ticket out of here. Goodbye, and good luck.”

-------------------

Two days passed after the confrontation between the spirits. Iris spent her time with the little ones while Denova and Frost tried to puzzle out who might help them from within the facility.

After a long day of work, Iris was sent back to their room before the others. She entered the small space and trotted over to her bed. She crawled onto it and stared at the ceiling before realizing she wasn’t alone. Silver Spark sat in the corner pushing a ball against the wall with his hooves.

“Silver Spark, what are you doing over there?” she asked.

“Hey Iris.” the colt said with a sigh, “Just thinking about stuff.”

Iris laid down on her stomach and rested a claw under her chin, “Well you don’t have to sit over there all by yourself.”

“I’m fine,” Silver Spark said, “I like this corner.”

Iris frowned and rolled her eyes. “Wish I could say the same. They had me running in an out of the freezer today. I’m still cold. How about you come over here and snuggle with me?”

Silver Spark turned around and saw the glistening puppy dog eyes of the gryphon. “Okay, Iris.”

The colt trotted over to the bed as Iris reached down and picked him up off the floor. She fell onto her back as the colt settled down beside her. Iris snuggled up to him and held him close. “Ahh, you’re so warm....” she cooed. “Isn’t this nice? Now, what were you thinking about?”

“All the ponies that have come and gone so far since I’ve been here. I wonder where they are. I wonder what I did to deserve this.”

Iris picked up the foal and held him over her head, “Listen to me, Silver Spark. It’s not your fault you’re here. You didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

Silver Spark sighed as Iris lowered him down, he climbed onto her breast and opened one of her claws, “Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?”

Iris closed her claw and offered the colt a hoof bump, “Kiddo, I know we will. Once we are, I’ll look after you until I know you’re safe and happy.”

Silver Spark hoof bumped Iris and looked at her with a confused expression. “But why? You barely know me.”

“Why? Because you deserve better, and I think I can help you. Besides, just because we barely know each other doesn’t mean we can’t show love and friendship to each other, does it?”

Silver Spark laughed and wrapped his stubby hooves around Iris’ neck. “The first gryphon I’ve ever really met and you’re so nice to me. Thank you, Iris. Is Black Star here?”

A shadow took shape next to the bed as Black Star assumed his gryphon form. “Hello Silver Spark.” he said with a smile.

Iris leaned up against the bedpost and cradled Silver Spark, “How about we get to know each other? Tell me about yourself, and I’ll tell you about me. What do you think Black Star?”

Black Star leaned on the side of the bed and nodded, “I love learning more about those I care about.”

Silver Spark smiled and began to share stories about his life on the streets and lack of a stable family. Iris listened intently and shared information about her kingdom and it’s traditions. She even promised to take Silver Spark flying when they finally escaped their imprisonment. Eventually, the colt succumbed to call of sleep and passed out in Iris’ embrace. She continued to hold the colt as Frost got back and trotted over to her.

Frost climbed onto the bed next to Iris and looked her in the eyes, “I’ve been thinking about what happened in Rixis’ castle.”

“Are you okay?” Iris asked.

“I don’t know...” Frost admitted, “I feel... cold. It comes and goes. But sometimes I just feel that sensation in my chest when Rixis faked trying to kill me. Plus I still don’t know who that friend is that Rixis was talking about.”

“We’ll figure it out, Frost.” Iris reassured. “For now, I think we should get some sleep. We can ask around for information on the other foals tomorrow before we’re put to work.”

----------------

The next day Frost was hard at work grinding out powder and mixing together ingredients. Most of the children working in the area were regulars, so production was running at a smooth pace. But all that changed when Frost accidentally bumped a container full of Stardust and spilled all over the floor. He cursed under his breath as all the foals at his table stared at him.

“You!” one of the guards yelled as he began trotting over to Frost’s table.

“Wait. I want a crack at this one.” came the voice of another guard.

A slender mare with a tattoo on her face approached and gave Frost a wicked smile. “You and I are going to have some fun, c’mon runt!”

Frost was shoved out of his seat and thrown across the floor. Before he could stand up, a black bag was fastened over his head. Frost was forced down a hallway and walked along for a long while before he was stopped and thrown into a room. The door shut behind him, after orienting himself he heard locks clicking into place.

“You’re in a lot of trouble little pony-” the mare spoke.

Frost registered a green flash from under his covered face when the bag was lifted off.

“-for being so cute.”

Frost stood up and shivered. The mare’s voice had just changed. He knew that voice, that silky smooth confident tone. He turned around in the darkness and saw a set of blue eyes staring back at him.

“Silth...?” Frost asked shakily.

The eye’s were soon illuminated by a small light from a jagged horn. “Hello, Frosty.”

“Silth!”

Frost immediately broke into a run and jumped into the changeling’s forehooves. Silth allowed the small impact to knock her to her haunches. She gripped Frost tightly and kissed his forehead. He wiggled around in her embrace, which only made the situation more adorable. Silth kept him firmly in her grip and whispered in his ear, “I told you we’d meet again someday.”

Chapter 28: Rescue

“You’ve been getting into trouble lately, Frosty. I thought I told you to be careful...”

Frost looked up at Silth and smiled, “You know me, if there’s trouble then I’m in the middle of it.”

Silth chuckled and put the colt down. She looked at him and shook her head, “What am I going to do with you?”

Frost laughed and hugged her again, this time around her abdomen. “I never got a chance to thank you for healing me since I was in your trance. You kept your word. Thank you, Silth.”

Silth rubbed Frost’s back with a hoof, “I know, but it was the best way to deal with the situation. You were peaceful under my spell, and I knew Ciaran would take good care of you.”

“Well, you were right.” Frost said, “But what are you doing here?”

Silth grinned and stood up on all four hooves, “Looking after you of course! Don’t want any harm to come to my wittle Fwosty-wosty.” Silth said while she reached down and ruffled Frost’s mane.

Frost sat on his haunches and crossed his forehooves, “Why are you really here?”

Silth sat down on all fours and put a hoof to her chest, “Frosty I’m hurt! That’s the reason. I care about you, and so does Ciaran... Wait... oh my...”

“What?” Frost asked.

“What has my little sister been up to? Oooh!!” Silth squealed in delight, “She’s been teaching you more about our powers! I can tell!” The changeling opened her mouth in a wide smile and brandished her fangs. Her eyes turned to blue spirals as she leaned toward Frost, “Can you resist me now little Fros-”

Frost shut Silth’s mouth with both forehooves so abruptly that she almost bit her tongue. Her eyes returned to normal in surprise. Frost pressed his forehead to the comparatively massive changeling’s and stared her down, “I’ve learned a thing or two, please stop doing that to me.”

Silth shook her head as her eyes lit with warmth. Frost stood in front of her unafraid. She could overpower him with raw magic or hypnosis, she could break every bone in his body if she wanted. But right here, right now, he wasn’t afraid. He was changing.

The changeling princess rested a hoof under her cheek and let out a sigh, “Frosty... you continue to impress me.”

Frost laughed and paced around the changeling. She playfully swished her tail at him as he came around behind her. He eventually stopped and slumped over against her stomach. “I’m really not in the mood for games, Silth.”

Silth curled her body around the colt and looked down at him, “How have you been holding up in here?”

Frost’s eyes began to glisten, but only for a moment. “I’m used to this kind of abuse. I faced it all my life on the streets. But it doesn’t make it any easier. It’s the others that I’m worried about. Iris, Denova, his sister, and the others. I’m not scared of much that is here, but that minotaur...”

“Steel Slab,” Silth growled, “I ran into him when I infiltrated this place a few days ago. He’s a psychopath.”

Frost leaned against the changeling’s carapace and laughed, “You would know.”

Silth chuckled and nuzzled Frost, then she raised his head with a hoof, “Did he hurt you, Frost?”

“No... but he did hurt my friend, a gryphon.”

Silth nodded and bared her fangs, “If I were here for another reason, I would’ve killed him. Now that I know he’s hurt your friends, I still might.”

“Another reason?” Frost asked while standing up, “So it wasn’t just to help me, why are you really here?”

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re here, Frosty?” Silth fired back with a chuckle.

“I’m here to rescue somepony,” Frost said.

“Oh...” Silth mused, “It wouldn’t be her, would it?” Silth asked while motioning behind Frost.

Frost turned around and saw a figure sitting in the corner. He slowly approached the pony and gasped. The filly slumped over was none other than Orianna, Princess Desalia’s daughter.

“Silth...”

“You shouldn’t be so quick to judge, Frosty. I said I was here to help you. I wasn’t lying.”

Frost turned around and leaned over, he picked up Orianna’s head with a hoof and saw her eyes were spinning rapidly with blue spirals. She was smiling while a puddle of drool had collected on the floor. She was in a heavy trance at the mercy of Silth’s powers.

“So this is why you’re here.” Frost said while shaking his head. “You still don’t feed on foals?”

Silth chuckled and walked around to stand behind Orianna. “No, I don’t feed on foals. That is as true now as it was then. Isn’t that right, dear?” Orianna’s head snapped up as she smiled and nodded to Silth. The changeling lightly stroked her mane and bent over, pressing her cheek to the filly’s, “We just had a little chat, that’s all.”

Frost shook Orianna’s head, then shook her shoulders, “Wake up! Snap out of it!”

“Afraid that won’t work, Frosty.” Silth lamented with a giggle, “She’s gone, gone, gone.”

Frost stomped his hooves and screamed at Silth, “Why are you doing this?! What happened to wanting to change?! You’re plotting against Desalia! You don’t need this! Just help me get out here, then you can come back with me. You and Ciaran can-”

“Enough!” Silth shouted while she slammed a hoof down in front of Frost. The unicorn backed away as his ears fell flat against his head, a hurt expression played across his face. Tears began coming to the surface but he fought to keep them back. Silth immediately regretted raising her voice and encased Frost in her magic, “I can never do that, Frost. Not after the things I’ve done. This is the only way.”

Frost sniffled a bit and slumped down in her magical field, “I don’t understand.”

Silth levitated Frost into a warm embrace. “You will someday, Frosty. I said I would help you, and I will. Listen carefully. Once you wake up Orianna, she won’t remember ever meeting me, so it will do no good to mention me. I do have plans, but I’m not plotting against anypony or the Silver Isles. I just needed a small bit of information from her. That’s all. Do you believe me?”

Frost pushed away and looked up into the changeling’s large eyes, “Should I believe you?”

Silth paused then pressed her forehead to Frost’s to the point where their eyes were almost touching. “Only you can answer that, Frost.”

Frost closed his eyes and thought about the consequences of his actions. Silth lying was a very real possibility, and the damage she could inflict with whatever information Orianna gave her could be severe. But Frost owed Silth after saving him and healing his legs. He hated to trust changelings, but the strange thing was, Ciaran and Silth were among the few mares in his life that ever showed him kindness, care, and love. He was positive most of it was genuine.

Frost hugged Silth’s muzzle and looked her in the eyes, “I won’t tell anypony you were here. It’ll be our secret. Just... please don’t make me regret this decision.”

Silth kissed Frost on the cheek and hugged him tight, “I’m glad. You won’t regret it, Frosty. Now, I’m going to leave and let Aldus know where you are.”

Frost perked up and pushed against Silth’s chest, “You’re going to help bust us out of here?”

“Not directly,” Silth said, “But I’ll do what I can.” She held Frost under his shoulders. Her features turned to concern, “Once it happens, you’ll know. You and all your friends need to be ready.”

“Oh we’ll be ready,” Frost assured Silth with a confident smile, “Finally I’ll get my revenge.”

Silth placed Frost on the floor and stared down at him, “Listen to me, Frost. Things will get dangerous, these ponies will hurt you if they get a chance, or worse.”

“I understand,” Frost said, “Thank you, Silth. I suppose... I suppose I’m in no position to judge you. I just wish-”

Silth stopped Frost by putting a hoof to his mouth. She bent over and connected a beam of magic to the ring around his horn. After a moment she stopped and knelt down to be at eye level with the colt. “I’ve cracked the magic canceller that’s been restraining you. With enough magic you can shatter it. When this happens I want you to be careful. Understand?”

Frost nodded and hugged Silth’s foreleg. “I do.” The changeling nuzzled him and trotted to the door. “Wait...” Frost began, “Will I see you again? Where are you going?”

Silth turned around and grinned at the colt, “I have business here in the Isles, then elsewhere. Never in a million years would I have thought a little blue unicorn colt would be the catalyst to change my life. I’ll be watching you Frost, I am certain we will meet again.” She then turned back into her disguise and left the room. No sooner had she disappeared, Orianna began muttering incoherently on the other side of the room. She was already coming out of the trance.

Frost shook her lightly then stepped back as she regained consciousness, “Unh.. wha? Where am I? Who are you?”

“My name is Frost Wind, I’m here to rescue you.”

----------------

“So who’s this, Frost?” Iris asked with an edge in her voice.

“I’m Orianna, princess of the Silver Isles and daughter of Princess Desalia.”

Iris sat on her haunches as a pair of small hooves wrapped around her neck to keep from falling, “Oh... I see. You sure do have a thing for princesses and royalty, don’t you, Frost?!”

Frost deadpanned Iris as she glared at him. Orianna backed up a few paces, “I’m sorry, I don’t-”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, she’s like that all the time.” Frost said with a wave of his hoof. “This is Iris.”

Orianna bowed slightly and offered a weak smile to the gryphon. Iris wound her tail around the colt gripping her neck and dropped him into one arm. “Nice to meet you, we’ve been looking for you. Hope you’re ready to get out of here. This is Silver Spark.” Iris said while playfully holding the colt.

“You’re a princess?” Silver Spark asked, “What are you doing here?”

“That’s something I’ve been wondering, too.” Frost asked. “Why did you leave the company of your other sisters?”

Orianna huffed and turned away from Frost, an act that bothered Iris more than him. “I see you’ve talked to mother, I assume she put you up to this? Only she would tell another foal to come and rescue me. Now we’re both stuck.”

“Not for much longer,” Frost said, “We have friends, powerful friends and a powerful family. They’re going to come rescue us.”

“A powerful family?” Orianna asked with a laugh, “Royalty?”

“You could say that,” Iris replied with a smirk, “Why don’t you go grab a bunk and get some sleep, princess...”

Orianna huffed at the gryphon and walked past her, slightly intimidated by Iris’ larger size. She pulled the covers over herself and was soon fast asleep.

Frost sighed and sat down, knowing what was coming. Iris sat down beside him and crossed her legs. She placed Silver Spark in her lap and awaited a response from Frost.

“I was able to get word out to Aldus and the others,” Frost said, “It took some doing, but they should be coming any time now. But when they get here, we have to be ready.”

“I’m ready right now!” Silver Spark exclaimed, “Black Star will protect us while we make our getaway!”

Iris tickled the colt and smiled down at him, “Yes he will, cutie.”

After all the foals went to sleep, Iris climbed into bed with Frost and nipped his neck. “Hey!” Frost snapped, “What was that for?”

“How did you get word out to Aldus and Rigel?”

“I managed to use a small amount of magic with this inhibitor on,” Frost lied. “It took a while, but I enchanted a letter and filled it with all the possible locations Denova and the others could think of. If they check all of them, they’ll find us eventually.”

Iris stared at Frost for a second, then ran a claw through his mane before snuggling up to him, “Good thinking, Frost.”

Frost smiled and snuggled up to the fluffy gryphon in return. His guilt for lying kept him up longer than Iris, who fell asleep almost immediately. He didn’t like lying to her, but he was going to trust Silth. Frost only hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite him.

---------------

Over the next few days, the foals were wondering if anything would ever happen. It had been almost a week since Frost had his encounter with Silth and nothing seemed to be happening. Orianna was getting to know Iris and Denova until the guards decided to split everypony up again. Now Iris was separated from Frost, and Spring Shot was separated from Flint and Silver Spark. Denova was allowed to stay with Frost by sheer chance, but was separated from Sohara.

Late one night, the foals were woken up by the sound of running outside the halls and screams. Frost heard several guards talking among themselves outside, they were planning on moving the foals. He also notice panic in their voices. Frost motioned for Denova and the four other foals with them to crawl under their beds. When the door opened and two earth pony guards stepped into the dark room with lanterns, Frost summoned all his power into his horn. The sound alerted the nearest guard to his presence, but it didn’t matter. As the guard approached, Frost blew the bed off of him and into the guard, knocking him over. He leapt from the floor and landed on the bed, plunging an ice spear through it and running the guard through.

Denova and the rest of the foals were shocked by the violence. The other earth pony guard grabbed a button and charged Frost, who teleported behind him and peppered his back with shards of ice. The guard fell twitching to the floor with hundreds of spikes protruding from his back.

Frost motioned for Denova and the rest of the foals to come out, “Listen to me, we have to find Sohara and the others. Stay behind me and keep quiet. If we run into more than a few guards, we’re in trouble.”

“What about Steel Slab?” one of the foals asked with a quivering voice.

“Lets hope we don’t run into him.” Frost said while trotting to the door and looking both ways down the hallway. “Coast is clear, lets go!”

Frost waved a hoof and followed them out the door. He was afraid of meeting the minotaur, but part of him wished he would run into him. Frost was going to make the beast bleed for what he did to Iris.

Meanwhile, at another location on the compound, Flint was gathered around a small group of foals who were talking among themselves. They were excited, nothing like this had ever happened before. There was talk of a rescue, or at least a chance to escape during whatever was happening.

One of the guards opened the door and snarled at the foals. “Listen to me, runts! Get your crap and form a line! We’re leaving right now!”

The foals all huddled together and refused to listen. Flint stared defiantly at the pegasus and stuck out his tongue. “We’re not going anywhere anymore!”

The guard stepped forward and backhoofed Flint across the face, sending him tumbling into one of the beds. He turned his attention to the rest of the foals, “Move!”

The foals obeyed, then stopped when they all heard a blood curdling scream from down the hall. Loud banging noises were heard shortly after, then more screams. Hoofsteps clacked against the floor as another guard burst through the door and shut it behind him. He braced himself against it and looked at his companion in sheer terror.

“What’s going on?” the first guard asked while standing behind the foals.

“It’s- it’s a monster! We have to get out of here!” the guard said as his eyes darted around the room.

“What are you talking about?” the other guard asked. “What monster?”

“You don’t understand!!” the guard wailed as he stood against the door, “We’re all going to die! We have to leav- ahgh!!!”

The children screamed as a curved white blade pierced through the door and the chest of the guard. He shouted in pain and gurgled blood as he looked down at the blade. The other guard began to shake as the sword cut upward through the door, raising the guard off the floor before it was pulled back. The guard fell to the ground, gasping and choking. The door opened to reveal a tall cloaked figure brandishing the curved blade. The light in the room revealed something that made the other guard’s blood run cold. Long fangs that glistened in the light as the figure’s mouth curled up in a smirk.

The children froze as the figure casually looked down at the dying guard and plunged the blade into his back, finishing him.

Flint suddenly was grabbed around the neck and held against the other guard’s chest.

“Hey! Let me go!” he shouted as he thrashed about.

The guard held a blade to his neck and shouted to the figure, “You! If you come any closer I’ll kill this kid!”

The figure turned it’s attention to the guard and lowered it’s hood. All the children turned white as ghosts as they looked on at the bat pony. Flint saw the pony had a mane braided into a ponytail. His velvet ears twitched slightly in irritation. However, most terrifying were the eyes, complete crimson red. The bat pony said nothing and relaxed the sword at his side while taking a step toward the guard. Flint whimpered as the blade was pressed against his neck enough to cause a small cut.

“I’ll do it, I swear!” the guard yelled in panic, “I’ll open the kid up! Stay back!!”

The bat pony stopped and stared at the guard. His eyes opened wide and became even more red. Flint looked away and prepared for the worst, then the guard pony loosened his grip just enough for him to get free. He jumped down and ran under a bed.

“Wha- what’s going on?” the guard shrieked, “I can’t move! I can’t move at all!”

The guard was stuck standing as he was while holding Flint. His wings attempted to lift from his sides but appeared to be glued down. His body shook violently as the bat pony took a step toward him.

“You like hurting defenseless foals?” the bat pony spoke in a low mocking tone, “Make you feel tough?” The children backed away as the bat pony slowly stalked toward the guard. “You spent so long beating up on children, you forgot what it’s like to pick on somepony your own size! Now look, you can’t even move... tsk tsk tsk.”

“Please... please!” the guard sobbed, “I didn’t mean to, I’ll give you whatever you want!”

The bat pony raised his sword and looked at his reflection, then licked his fangs while he slowly pushed the blade into the guard’s stomach. The pegasus groaned in agony and could only watch the blade disappear inside him.

“Shh... shh... have some dignity, eh?” the bat pony said while leaning forward and driving the blade deeper. The guard gurgled as blood escaped his mouth with his coughs. The bat pony pulled the blade free after the pony died, then wiped it clean with a cloth. He then turned his attention to the foals. Each of the children backed up as he stared at them, then he turned to where Flint was cowering under one of the beds.

The bat pony peaked down and smiled at him, “Hey there kid, I’m Thule. You want to come out of there? It’s safe now.”

Flint gulped and slowly crawled out from under the bed as Thule took a step back and stood at his full height. Flint noticed a few age marks across his face and under his eyes, but he still appeared formidable and powerful. “You saved us Mr. Thule, thank you.” Flint said with a small smile.

“Yeah, thank you.” another foal said as they cautiously approached their rescuer.

Thule laughed then quickly produced a throwing knife from his belt and sent it sailing to the door where it struck another guard in the throat. The children gasped and crowded around Thule as he relaxed and chuckled. “Never learn, do they kids?”

“Are you here to free us?” Flint asked.

“As a matter of fact I am.” Thule said while smiling, which brandished his large curved fangs. The children noticed and backed away. Thule realized and laughed, “Don’t worry, I already had dinner before I got here. You’re all safe.” Some of the children giggled a bit, but most remained stiff with apprehension. Thule cracked his neck and bent over to be closer to the foals. “Listen, I don’t want anymore interruptions, so I’m gonna need your help, okay?” The foals nodded and payed attention. “Alright, I need one of you to go get that dagger and bring it back to me, and a few more to go shut that door and put something in front of it. We don’t want any mean guards coming here til we’re ready to kill them, understand?”

The foals went to work which allowed Thule to focus on Flint. He was still shaking, and was averting Thule’s gaze. “You’re bleeding, kid. Lie down so I can dress your wound.” Flint nodded and fell onto his back. Thule reached into his cloak and pulled out a small first aid kit. He opened some salve and began cleaning the wound. “I’m sorry that pegasus did this to you, and I’m sorry you’re still shaking. I didn’t want you to suffer under my gaze, too. But it was the only way to make sure he wouldn’t hurt you further.”

Flint winced as the salve was rubbed on his wound, but he managed to open his eyes and look at the bat pony. “Your eyes, how did you do that?”

Thule smiled and shrugged “Guess I’m just scary.”

Flint laughed and looked at the kit, “Do you always carry that around with you?”

Thule smirked and began to bandage the cut, “No, to be honest, I’m usually the one making the injuries and lacerations rather than fixing them, but I was told to be prepared to help injured foals. What’s your name, kid?”

“It’s Flint, just Flint.”

Thule grinned and sat the child up, “Well Flint just Flint, you’re all patched up.”

“Thanks!” Flint said, “Who told you to be prepared to help us?”

“The Princess of the Night, Princess Luna.” Thule replied with a smile. “I suspect she’ll want to talk to all you kids when you’re out of here.”

“What?!” Flint gasped, “I’ve never met a princess!”

“First time for everything, right? It’s probably best not to keep her waiting.” Thule lifted Flint off the bed and sat him down. “Alright children gather ‘round, here’s what I want you to do. Once I open that door you’re going to run straight down the hall to the left. Don’t stop until you find a big, stupid looking silver unicorn with a busted nose. He’ll make sure you get out of here safely.”

The children nodded but Flint tugged on Thule’s cloak. “Wait, there are others still around. Some might be hiding in the freezer.”

“The freezer?” Thule asked.

“Yeah,” another said, “There are good hiding spots in there, we used to hide inside if one of the guards was chasing us. They never were able to find us there.”

“Okay,” Thule said. Flint watched in awe as he unfurled his huge leathery wings. Each had a claw appendage at the wrist joint. “You and Flint take me there, the rest of you run and don’t stop til you find the silver pony.”

Thule tossed the other colt on his back and picked up Flint with one hoof, “It’s down the hall and to the right, then down a flight of stairs.” the pegasus on his back said. “I’m Swift by the way.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Swift. Hang on tight.” Thule flew down the hall and came to an abrupt stop in front of the freezer. He heaved open the door and frowned when he saw three foals shivering in the corner of the massive room. “Come on out, it’s alright.” he said while beckoning them forward. When one little filly didn’t move. Thule extended his wing and wrapped it completely around her. He held her against his chest for warmth and took off his cloak. Thule wrapped it around all the foals and huddled with them to get warm. “It’s alright, kids. I’m getting you all out of here.”

-----------------

Silver Spark shuddered in the corner of a closet. All the other children had run away when the fighting and screaming started, but he stayed behind. He was too scared to go anywhere and knew with his bad leg he couldn’t get away if a guard saw him. He heard voices coming from the outside and covered himself with ripped blankets and sheets. More screaming came from outside, but this time it was close, from the other side of the closet door. A scratching sound scraped across it followed by a series of loud bangs. The colt quaked in fear as one of the doors was ripped open.

“Silver Spark? Silver Spark? Where are you?”

Silver Spark knew that voice and let tears of relief escape his eyes. “Black Star! I’m here!” he shouted while throwing off the blankets and jumping to his hooves.

Black Star looked down and immediately grabbed the colt in a comforting embrace. Silver Spark sobbed into Black Stars plumage as he comforted the child. “There there, you’re safe now.”

“Where is Iris?” the colt asked with a sniffle, “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine, she wanted me to come find you.”

Black Star sat the colt down and bent over to make sure he wasn’t injured when Silver Spark screamed. Several bolts of magic peppered Black Star’s back as he was inspecting Silver Spark. The two unicorn guards sustained their assault, hoping to bring the four winged gryphon down. Silver Spark cowered on the ground while looking up at Black Star’s enraged face. He knelt over the colt and completely shielded him from any harm. Once the unicorns ceased their assault to inspect their damage, Black Star slumped to the ground and fell over Silver Spark. The colt teared up and pushed against Black Star. “Get up! You have to get up!”

The two unicorn guards advanced cautiously, one of them spotted Silver Spark. Black Star’s form rippled and pulsed, then he inverted his body completely. His front was now his back as he crouched low and lunged at the nearest guard. The unicorn fell over screaming as Black Star ripped him apart with his claws. The other guard turned on Silver Spark and fired a bolt of magic at him. Black Star grabbed him just in time with his three tails and yanked him out of the way. He then opened his third eye and froze the guard in place with a piercing screech. The guard’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the ground.

Black Star held Silver Spark in front of him and closed his third eye. “You okay?”

Silver Spark removed his hooves from his ears and nodded, “Are we leaving?”

“Yeah,” Black Star said, “But we’re still in danger. Silver Spark, we’re going to do the thing that we did while fighting the monsters in your dreams. Do you remember?”

Silver Spark nodded, “Will I be able to see things?”

“You’ll see everything,” Black Star replied, “All you have to do is sit back and relax. You’ll be safe.”

Silver Spark sighed as Black Star put him down. The gryphon’s chest split apart as several black tendrils came forward and gently wound themselves around Silver Spark’s body. Slowly, they lifted him up and pulled him into the hole in Black Star’s chest. To Silver Spark it felt like taking a mud bath as the thick black liquid formed a mold around him and suspended him in the void.

Black Star flexed as the merger was complete. He put a claw to his chest making sure that the colt was alright. He saw his curled up form in a reflection and smiled. He opened his third eye again and scanned the room, Iris was battling some guards but she was alright. There were others fighting in the compound as well. Aldus and Rigel, along with Polaris and one other pony, a stranger. Black Star decided it would be best to link up with Iris first, then they could find Frost. With a powerful flap of his wings Black Star sped down the hall and into one of the working areas. Black Star looked down at his chest momentarily after detecting joy from Silver Spark. He performed a few tricks to the child’s delight and chuckled to himself, at least he wasn’t afraid anymore.

---------------

Iris swiped a claw across the face of a guard then drilled his face into a wall. The brutal fighting was enough to shake up Spring. The pegasus crouched next to Sohara as she and the zebra waited for Iris to give the all clear signal. The three children were by themselves when the rest of the group decided to run off. As Iris rounded the corner she saw a massive shadow creep down the length of the adjacent hallway. Two pointed edges to the head and violent grunting revealed the owner’s identity. Iris shivered with fear and flew back into the room.

“Hide!” she yelled as the children split up and disappeared. Spring flew up and hid above one of the ceiling tiles while Iris and Sohara hid under beds. Thanks to Sohara, Iris was able to take the bindings off of her wings, but she knew if Steel Slab caught here he’d snap both of them like twigs.

The minotaur lumbered into the room and snorted loudly. He sniffed the air and stalked to the end and opened up the closet. After throwing aside some boxes and beds he stalked to the door and paused. Iris almost swallowed her tongue before he muttered something to himself then continued down the hall. Iris motioned to the other foals to remain still until they heard the coast was clear. As Iris moved, she heard screams come from down the hall and mighty gust of wind ripped past the doorway. Iris was puzzled and crawled out from under the bed to investigate.

She peaked around the corner and saw Black Star flying toward her. Iris quickly motioned him inside and shut the door.

“Iris, are you alright?” he asked in concern.

“I’m fine,” she replied while Sohara and Spring emerged from their hiding places. “Did you find him?”

Black Star nodded and looked down at his chest. Inside, the dim glowing form of a colt could be seen curled up in a ball. “He says he’s glad to see you, Iris.”

Iris smiled and waited a moment before grabbing Sohara and putting her on Black Star’s back. “We need to find Aldus and Rigel.”

A scream from the corridor made Black Star spread his wings and stand protectively in front of Iris and Spring. The sound of crackling could be heard outside as a pony fell to the floor in a heap. Dark magic tore through the wall of their room as another pony fell to the ground with a gaping hole in its head.

Aldus teleported inside and relaxed as he saw familiar faces. “Well, hello there Iris.”

A tall crimson pegasus stepped through the hole in the wall and smirked at the foals. “Ready to leave, kids?”

Iris leapt into Rigel’s forehooves as he chuckled and hugged her. The gryphon gripped him tightly and breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, I’m ready, and I’ve made some new friends.”

------------------

Frost and Denova dashed through the halls and searched every room they came across until finally they discovered Orianna together with a group of foals. They were locked in one of the more spacious areas. Frost shouted for them to stand back while he opened the door with his magic. As he calmed the foals down, the ceiling at the center of the room caved in as a hulking figure dropped through and landed with a thud.

Steel slab recovered from his fall and snorted. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m going to find out. Why are armed pegasi and unicorns attacking this place, huh? What possible reason would they have for putting their lives on the line for a bunch of pathetic children?”

Frost was about to suggest the minotaur beg for his life when Orianna stepped forward and shouted at him, “You goat legged freak! I am Orianna, daughter of Desalia and princess of this kingdom! Today is your reckoning, surrender or die as my mother’s soldiers fill this place!”

A mirthful grin appeared on Steel Slab’s muzzle, “So that’s it...”

Frost shoved Orianna back forcefully, “You stupid filly! Why did you tell him that?!”

Orianna was furious and shoved Frost back, “My mother’s soldiers will kill everyone here once they find me and know I’m safe! Just you watch!”

“Your mother’s soldiers aren’t the ones invading this place, little filly.” Steel Slab said with a chuckle, “Just some random heroes who won’t make it out alive after I’m through with them.” He slammed his fist’s together and slipped on a pair of cestus’ from his belt. “Fine Print is going to love this, after he learns I brought him royalty I’ll be set for life with the reward he gives me.”

Frost immediately teleported above Steel Slab and landed on his back, he froze Steel Slab’s head and began to do the same with the rest of this body. The minotaur thrashed around trying to reach Frost, but the cestus’ prevented him from grabbing the unicorn. Eventually Frost froze him to the ground. He jumped off and grabbed part of the ceiling to shatter the minotaur, but was awestruck when Steel Slab powered his way out of the ice. With a roar he punched the incoming slab of concrete and reduced it to dust.

Frost switched tactics and ran around the room firing ice spikes at Steel Slab. A few hit the minotaur in his bear chest, causing him to grunt in pain. He slipped off his left cestus and grabbed a rebar exposed concrete slab to use as a shield. He charged Frost immediately to close the distance, but Frost teleported away. The struggle continued for several more minutes until Frost began to run out of magic. Steel slab pivoted to the right as Frost teleported yet again and grabbed him as he reappeared.

“Too predictable, runt!” Steel Slab roared as he punched Frost in the ribs with his right cestus, breaking them and causing Frost to cough up blood. He threw Frost against the wall and slammed the cestus through a pillar in sheer anger. Steel Slab picked up Frost and began to choke him when a high feminine voice rang out from behind.

“Oh my, what a strong beast...”

Steel Slab held Frost while turning around to see a beautiful blue unicorn mare with violet hair and eyes. “Who in Tartarus are you?”

“I’m looking for that little unicorn there, I’m going to have to ask that you let him go, right now I’m afraid.” she said with a smile.

Steel Slab laughed and squeezed Frost’s neck, choking off his air. “I don’t think so.”

The unicorn mare sighed and fired a beam of purple magic that impacted Steel Slab square between the eyes. He faltered and let go of Frost, who fell to the ground gasping for air. The mare stepped forward and fired another blast, driving the minotaur to his knees. She then turned around and used her magic to repair the holes in the walls and the door, closing the room off once again.

She smiled as a green flame consumed her entire body and a large dark skinned creature emerged and stood much taller from the flames. The children all gasped, while some screamed. Frost opened his eyes and saw Ciaran stalking toward a downed Steel Slab. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes that scared Frost.

Steel Slab attempted to get up and took a swing at the changeling, who sidestepped the blow and hit him again with the same purple beam.

“Wha- what are you doing to me? You... I can’t...” Steel Slab’s words began to slur together as his legs buckled.

“I’m preparing my feast, I like my meat tender...” Ciaran said with a low chuckle. She hit Steel Slab once more with the beam causing his eye’s to glow the same color. Ciaran got him up and shoved him forcefully against the wall. She stood on her hind legs and opened her mouth wide before sinking her fangs deep into Steel Slab’s neck. The minotaur only managed a moan as energy began to leave his body and swirl around Ciaran. The changeling princess was siphoning more than love energy, but life energy as well. The children huddled together scared to death from what they were witnessing.

Steel Slab’s body itself was beginning to shrink and wither away, his muscle’s turned to flab as he slumped further to the floor. Meanwhile, Ciaran was actually growing. Her carapace cracked in several places as her limb’s gained size and her abdomen began to glow in several places. Her horn cracked and sizzled as more energy was absorbed. Steel Slab collapsed, now a frail skeleton compared to his former stature. Ciaran licked the blood from her fangs and cracked her neck.

“Love, but what kind of love, children?” she asked while she turned to the group huddled together. “Love of money, violence, and pain...” Ciaran mused, “Too sour for my taste, but you take what you can get.”

Frost coughed, alerting Ciaran to his predicament. He crawled over to Steel Slab, who was still alive, if only barely. Frost dragged himself up to his face and whispered, “I said I would kill you, and so I will. Die.” Frost stabbed an ice spike through the roof of his mouth and out the back of his head.

Ciaran sighed and plucked Frost off the floor, “Satisfied?”

Frost wheezed as Ciaran cradled him, “I said I’d kill him, so I did.”

“So you did,” Ciaran repeated with a chuckle. “You need healing, and rest.”

“I think he broke something,” Frost said as he tried to move, then winced in pain.

Ciaran shushed him and levitated all the children in a magical field, “Don’t be afraid little ones, I promise you won’t be harmed.”

The children all shook in fear as they were placed in front of the changeling. Ciaran sat on her haunches and pressed Frost’s head against her chest, obscuring his vision. “What are you doing?” Frost asked.

Ciaran shushed him again and spoke to the children, “I have something very important to share with you children, I need you all to look at me.”

Frost knew what was coming and tried to turn around and tell the children to shut their eyes. But he was too weak, and Ciaran held him firmly against her carapace. Ciaran’s eyes pulsed with magic, made even more powerful augmented with life energy. Each of the children was put under Ciaran’s power in a matter of seconds. They sat with mouths agape and eyes aglow.

Frost managed to turn around and saw Denova, Orianna, and the rest in a trance. “What are you doing?”

Ciaran smiled down at Frost and wove a healing spell around him, “We can’t have a bunch of random children running around saying they saw a changeling. That simply wouldn’t do, Frosty.”

Frost groaned and looked at Orianna and Denova, “So what are you going to do, erase their memories?”

“I could,” Ciaran pondered, “Or I could do a few other things.”

Ciaran tilted her head back slightly and spit out green goo onto the floor. The same viscous liquid she used to save Frost at Seabreeze’s castle. She held Frost in front of her and spat some onto his chest and stomach.

“Eww, not this stuff again! Stop!” Frost whined as he squirmed in Ciaran’s hooves.

Ciaran chuckled as she looked down on him with glowing purple eyes, “Behave Frost, this is for your own good. It’ll heal most of your bruises while my magic mends your ribs.”

Frost groaned in resignation as the warm liquid formed around him like a vest. Ciaran turned him around and connected the two sides to his back before setting him down. Frost wobbled forward then fell down. Ciaran went to help him up but stopped when he shoved her away. She smiled and sat patiently watching him examine all the foals, still as statues under her spell.

Frost went to Denova and shook him, but nothing happened. He did the same to Orianna but she was deep in a trance. Ciaran only smiled and continued weaving the golden aura around Frost’s chest.

“So... what do we do now?” Frost asked.

Ciaran grinned and shrugged, “Whatever you want, Frost. I should think Desalia will be in your debt after tonight.”

“I mean with them,” Frost said while motioning to the foals, “You’re going to erase their memories?”

“Just the portion where they saw me like this, that’s all.” Ciaran replied, “Don’t worry, you won’t need to reintroduce yourself or anything like that.”

Frost sighed and nodded, “I suppose it’s for the best, we don’t need two known changelings running around the Silver Is-” Frost stopped himself as he realized mid sentence what he might have revealed. He looked at Ciaran, who raised an eyebrow. “-I mean, they know Silth escaped, maybe they think she’s still around. But she’s long gone by now, that’s what you thought, right?”

“Yes...” Ciaran replied, “That is what I thought...”

“What did you do to Steel Slab?” Frost asked, attempting to change the subject, “That seemed like something other than changeling magic.”

Ciaran smiled while she wove rings of purple magic around the head’s of the foals. Each one collapsed into their minds and caused them to fall over, asleep. “It is done, they won’t remember a thing that happened here. And yes, Frost. It wasn’t changeling magic, but an ancient art said to be practiced by the first changelings, and even some ponies. The art of Lifedrain.”

“Lifedrain?” Frost asked, “So it’s exactly what it says then?”

“Correct,” Ciaran said, “But it comes at a great price... however, now is not the time to discuss this. When I get more time to train you, we’ll discuss it at length. For now, the healing spell needs time to take effect.” Ciaran leaned forward, then stopped. She studied Frost and put a hoof to her chin. “You know, we could continue your training right now, actually.”

“Now?” Frost asked, “I’m all out magic, you want me to resist your powers now?”

Ciaran smiled and shook her head, “No, Frost. This will be a passive learning experience, an up close study of my most potent magic.”

Frost’s ears perked up, “What do I have to do?”

“Just sleep on it,” Ciaran cooed.  

Frost looked on as Ciaran’s eyes transitioned into glowing violet orbs. It felt so good, and he was so tired. Frost fell forward into a cloud of gentle magic as he was brought into a comforting embrace. Ciaran transformed into Willow and held him like one of her own. He snuggled into her velvet coat and let her powers take him.

Ciaran ran a hoof through Frost’s mane and hummed the song her mother taught her. She looked down at the sleeping foal and wondered just what he’d been through. Ciaran looked up while humming the song and gently rocked Frost back and forth. Aldus leaned against the open doorway watching the display. As Ciaran hummed along she watched Aldus tip toe around the sleeping foals and sit beside her. She kissed Frost on the forehead and ended her song. He smiled and shifted in his sleep.

“Is he alright?” Aldus asked.

“He was hurt, but he’ll be better after some rest and taking it easy for a few days.” Ciaran replied.

“He needs more training, once he’s rested, I’ll teach him more effective spells other than elemental ice magic.”

“I’ll stay with him until he feels better,” Ciaran said while watching the colt’s chest rise and fall.

Aldus smiled and put a hoof around Ciaran,“C’mon, let’s get the children up and get out of here. It’s time to go home to Pythia.”

------------------

Rigel sat on deck as their boat headed back to Pythia. Pyrite had reunited with Iris, who was overjoyed to see him. She introduced him to Flint and Silver Spark and was currently playing with all three. She dangled Silver Spark as she hovered slightly off the ground. Flint held onto her neck tightly as Pyrite hung from her tail. Black Star sat off to the side watching the whole scene.

A slight tugging pulled Rigel away from his thoughts. He looked down to see a pegasus filly standing next to him. She shied away when he looked at her and ruffled her wings in nervousness.

“Hello there,” Rigel said while extending a wing behind her and gently rubbing her back, “No need to be shy, what’s your name?”

“It’s Spring Shot, sir. I just wanted to thank you for rescuing us. We really were starting to think we’d never get out of there.”

“It’s no problem, Spring.” Rigel said, “That horrible place is all behind you now.”

Marigold stepped out of the cabin leading below and winked at Rigel, “I think we’re all ready.”

Rigel stood up motioned for Spring to follow him, “Come with me, there is somepony who wants to meet you.”

Iris flew inside with the three colts she was playing with and joined the rest of the children. They sat on pillows and were given blankets and warm food. The children talked among themselves and wondered what was going on when the lights went out. A blue aura formed in front of a set of carpets that had been laid out with some larger pillows. It materialized into a midnight blue alicorn. Princess Luna smiled at the ponies and spread her wings.

“Hello little ones, I am Princess Luna of Equestria, Shepherd of the Night and Keeper of Dreams. I want you to know that you are all safe, no more harm will come to you.”

The children looked on in awe as the alicorn stood before them. Many were trying to understand how her mane rippled in the air when there was no wind, or how stars could be seen twinkling inside her blue locks.

“What will happen to us now?” one of the foals asked while bowing his head slightly.

Luna gestured out the porthole to the approaching island, “You’ll be staying with us until I talk with your princess about your previous... predicament...” she said in a low tone.

Flint stood up between Iris’ wings and raised a hoof, “Princess Luna, where are the one’s who rescued us? Are they here too?”

“Yeah!” another foal said, “A big scary pony rescued me from the freezer and kept me warm. Is he here? I didn’t get a chance to say thank you.”

Luna chuckled and sat on her haunches while folding her wings at her side. “Yes, little ones, the big scary pony is here.” She focussed on one of the corners near some crates. “Come out here, Thule. Stop skulking in the shadows.”

The children all turned around and saw two red slits open from the darkness. “Princess, I prefer the shadows. I don’t wish to frighten any more children.”

Luna puffed her cheeks in irritation, “We are in a foreign land and I would feel safer with you at my side. Now, if you please...” she said with a sly smirk.

A sigh of resignation was heard from the corner before a large object took flight just above the children’s heads. It flew over in a second and landed next to Luna. Thule’s hood was removed as he leaned against some crates beside the princess.

Flint waved at him and smiled, “He’s so cool! He stopped the guards from hurting us! Thank you, Thule!”

More of the children agreed and thanked the bat pony. Luna smiled up at Thule and whispered conspiratorially to the children, “He’s a dangerous pony, but he’s also a big softy once you get to know him.”

Thule groaned and rolled his eyes, “Yes princess...”

Luna patted a spot next to her and motioned for him to sit down. He merely stared at the spot and raised an eyebrow at Luna. The Princess of the Night’s brow furrowed as her eye’s began to turn white. Thule groaned and took off his cloak. He unhooked his sword belt before unfurling his wings and sitting next to his princess.

Luna smiled and nuzzle into Thule’s neck. “Gather ‘round little ones, have you all had bedtime stories before?”

Rigel motioned to Iris as he gently took to the air and sat on the other side of Luna. She smiled at him and motioned for the foals to come forward. Thule and Rigel opened their wings so some foals could cuddle up beside them. Luna dimmed the lights and closed her eyes. Her horn lit up with a dim glow while the stars in her mane grew brighter. Some grew so large they escaped and floated out among the children. The foals gasped and played with them as Luna created more and spread them around the room, creating a dim ambient light.

Luna cleared her throat to get the attention of everypony, then began her tale. “Long ago, far to the north, a powerful king built a powerful kingdom, I believe they called it...”

----------------

In her cabin, Ciaran was making her bed and gathering more pillows for Frost, who was asleep on the floor at the moment. The changeling princess dropped her Willow disguise as she locked the door. Aldus, Rigel, and Frost’s friends had dropped by earlier to see how he was recovering. The healing magic needed more time until he was fully mended.

Ciaran heard a thud as Frost fell over. His eyes were open, and showed glowing purple orbs instead of his normal blues. He smiled and rolled over, letting the power flow through him. Ciaran’s spell was different than normal changeling magic. It sort of had a will of it’s own when inside the mind of another creature. It toyed with their subconscious and tempted them with every pleasure imaginable, subtle or overt. It was like a companion that was too good to be true. Ciaran knew it was with Frost, caressing and carrying him to wherever he wanted to go. She sparked her horn and added more power to the spell, which made his eye’s pulse, and his smile grew wider. Normally there was sinister intent behind the use of this magic. It would lower defenses of a creature without even letting them know it was there. It was used for interrogation on more than one occasion. Ciaran had even debated using it on Aldus when they spent their night together. However, this time Ciaran gave her magic one simple instruction: make Frost happy. Judging from the expressions on his face, it wasn't having much trouble.

Ciaran considered it to be no different than the dream manipulations of the Lunar Princess. She had read about the dream walking and power over dreams. Her spell worked in similar ways with the subject, however instead of working with their dreams, it sought to offer them a more appealing alternative. That was what Frost was enjoying now. Ciaran smoothed out the sheets and levitated Frost onto the bed. She cracked open his vest made from her healing saliva and wrapped another aura of healing magic around him to replace the older one. Frost muttered something under his breath and kicked his feet, then chuckled. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, whatever he was doing. Little did he know that the presence of her magic was not only it’s greatest strength, but also it’s greatest weakness. Calling it out and denying it was the only way of defeating the spell.

Ciaran levitated Frost into the bed then crawled in herself. Frost felt another pony nearby and unconsciously wrapped his hooves around her. Ciaran closed her eyes and let Frost’s warmth seep into her. As she fell asleep, she didn't notice one of the holes in her foreleg close up.

Chapter 29: Temptation's Melody

Frost shouted in joy as he went over the waterfall and plummeted into the lagoon below. The sunkissed water was warm and welcoming as he swam into the center and broke the surface.

“Woo hoo!!!” came the high pitched sound from the top of the falls. A pink sphere cannonballed into the lagoon with an enormous splash. Frost spit out water after being overwhelmed by the resulting wave. Without warning, an unbelievably soft pair of hooves wrapped around him and giggled. “That was so much fun! I’m glad you suggested doing this!”

Frost turned around and smiled, the pony holding him was a vibrant violet and pink. Her mane was long and wavy and she was very tall, despite being around Frost’s age. Her smile and presence lifted Frost’s spirits to enormous heights. He couldn’t explain it, but he was just so happy.

His companion ignited her horn and climbed up onto the surface of the water. She motioned for him to follow, and offered him a hoof. Frost saw her wink and blushed. He let her lead him to the shore and collapsed on the warm sand.

Frost knew there was something really strange about this mare. She looked like other ponies he knew, and even reminded him of some other mares. But... he couldn’t remember their names. She rolled over and stretched, revealing her shapely curves and beautiful tail. She had wings too, only... they weren’t wings. Or were they? It was hard to tell, they only appeared when she was barely moving. Two strands of violet light that formed from her back, ethereal and transient. They would appear and flow into the air like wisps of smoke.

“What are you thinking about, sweetie?” the mare asked while staring intently at Frost.

“Umm, I don’t know... I just,” Frost paused a moment, looking at the mare. He found himself stumbling over to her as she beckoned him to come closer. “I just feel so good. Why?”

The mare batted her eyelashes, “You’re so sweet, Frosty. Do you need a reason to feel good? Don’t you deserve it?”

Frost had to admit, he didn’t really care about a reason. Everything was just amazing. He wasn’t sure about where they were, or what they were doing, but it didn’t matter. He only knew he loved being with this mare, and she loved being with him.

“I do deserve it... but I don’t know your name, I- I don’t know why.”

“My name?” the mare asked with a giggle.

She nuzzled Frost and laughed as a gust of wind blew through the lagoon. Her long mane blew lightly across Frost’s face. It was so soft and gentle, and smelled like flowers and perfume. It was intoxicating. Frost let out a sigh and smiled when the wind died down and left her mane draped over his shoulders.

The mare touched her forehead to Frost’s, her eyes flashed violet for an instant as she wrapped her hooves around him. “Does it really matter what you call me?”

“I guess it doesn’t...” Frost murmured. He looked into the mare’s violet eyes and saw his own reflection. There were solid purple rings around both of his irises he hadn’t noticed before.

“Melody,” the mare said, “You can call me Melody. Let me show you why.”

Frost sat back as Melody pulled away and sat on her haunches. She began to hum a chant while holding her hooves to her heart. Her voice carried with it a joy that Frost had never felt before. He leaned forward as the song took hold of him. Melody swished her mane to the side and flashed her violet eyes again. The rings around his own flashed in obedience to the mare.

Melody’s singing conjured wisps of magic from around her as she swayed back and forth. She smiled and raised her hooves, and suddenly Frost was floating into the air. He watched the wisps dance around him while the magic in his eyes intensified. The wisps caressed his face and carried him higher and higher. Soon the island was a speck far below as he passed clouds on his way up. The wisps encircled Frost and blurred his vision as he approached a thick cloud bank. The song still rang out in his ears, Frost closed his eyes let the sound control his breathing, let it control everything. He was startled when a pair of hooves pulled him into a warm embrace and a gentle set of lips closed around his own.

Frost floated above the clouds as Melody held him aloft. The wisps circled them as she pulled away. She grew a shy smile, “Did you enjoy my song?”

Melody’s long mane enveloped Frost like robe as he stared into her glowing violet eyes. Frost’s answer came in a kiss of his own. He held Melody tight as she giggled and floated down to the cloud tops. Frost touched the clouds and gasped, then felt a hoof caress his mane.

“How?” Frost began, then stopped as Melody put a hoof to his mouth.

“I would never let you fall. You’re safe and sound with me.” she said, bending down to him again. “I love you, Frost.”

“You... love me?”

Melody nodded and pressed her forehead to his. Her eye’s radiated magic as her mane blew past Frost. “With all my heart. Do you love me?”

Frost’s heart fluttered as the rings in his eyes glowed and nudged him to respond. “I- yes, I love you.”

“What do you desire, Frost?” Melody cooed while leaning down and resting her head on his shoulder, “What do you want?”

Frost picked up Melody’s head again and kissed her, “I just want you.”

Melody rolled her eyes and flashed them again, “Oh you little cutie. I mean other than me.”

“I don’t know...” Frost muttered, “It’s... hard to think. I’m sorry...”

Melody smiled, content with Frost’s compulsion. “You don’t need to think, no need to apologize. Are you hungry?”

Frost’s stomach growled, he looked down at it in bewilderment. “I guess I am...”

Melody grinned and used her magic to shape the clouds around them. She grabbed Frost under his shoulders and leaned back with his head below her chin. The clouds supported her as Frost let out a sigh of contentment in her embrace. Her mane fell around him like a blanket as the sun began to dip down over the horizon. She levitated some grapes and other fruit above Frost’s head, “Open wide.”

Frost ate some of the grapes and tried to look up at Melody, “These are so good. All of this is just perfect.”

Melody grinned and leaned her head back on some clouds while casually flashing her eyes once again. Frost struggled to stay coherent as her potent powers began to get the better of him. The pleasure and energy was beginning to wear him out. Melody watched the clouds above them begin to race by at a quickening pace. Their time together was just about up.

“It’s almost time for you to go, sweetheart,” Melody said with a pout. “You’ve been a lot of fun.”

The reverie Frost was entranced in suddenly broke when he heard Melody say that. He rolled over and crawled up to look her in the eyes. “What?! But I don’t want to leave! Wha- how will I? What will I? You-”

“Shhh,” Melody hushed Frost with a gentle hoof over his mouth. “Come here,” she commanded with a giggle, then pulled him down into a passionate kiss.

The power of compulsion flowing through Frost was enough to manifest in his own horn. It began to radiate the familiar violet magic. He looked up at her beautiful face and captivating eyes, “What will I do?”

Melody laughed and pulled Frost into a loving hug, “Oh, somehow I think you’ll survive.”

“No...” Frost moaned, “I need you. Don’t go...”

“I think we’ll see each other again soon, Frost.” Melody whispered into his ear.

“Why?” Frost whispered back, “What will we do then?”

“Whatever Ciaran wants...” Melody said with a chuckle. “We both know you can’t resist me. You’re mine, Frost. All mine...”

Frost remembered the name Melody mentioned. Ciaran... the one who had been looking after him. The more he tried to remember, the more his mind fought against him. It was too much work, it wasn’t fun. Frost heard a distant, familiar voice calling out to him, then felt himself slowly rise into the air. Melody’s soft hooves unwrapped from him as he was pulled away. He stretched his hooves out to her but was just beyond her reach. She smiled at him and waved goodbye. The beautiful mare flashed her glowing eyes one more time and winked as he climbed higher and higher into the clouds.

“Frost... Frost...” the voice kept repeating. “Frost!”

“No!” Frost shouted as he woke up and smacked his head on something hard.

A grunt of pain was heard above him. As his vision cleared, he saw Ciaran leaning over him. “Almost took my eye out with that horn, mister.”

Frost struggled to control his breathing and sat up. “I’m sorry, Ciaran. Where are we?”

“We’re at the cottage on Pythia,” she replied with a smile, “It’s still early morning, I moved you off the boat when we got here. The rest of your friends are sleeping along with the rescued foals from the slums.”

Frost rubbed his head and looked around, then finally focussed on Ciaran. “You aren’t going to believe the dreams I had.”

Ciaran chuckled and swished her mane to the side. She levitated over a tray with some breakfast and placed it in front of Frost. “Why don’t you tell me?”

Frost’s stomach growled as he smelled the food. “Thanks, Ciaran. I met this amazing mare, she was so beautiful. She was just perfect, I’ve never seen anything like her before.”

“No, you haven’t...” Ciaran mused.

“What?” Frost asked with his mouth full.

“Nothing,” Ciaran replied, “What did this mare do with you?”

“We played in the water, and I told her we should go over the waterfall!” Frost exclaimed while standing up and painting the picture with his hooves, “After that she kissed me!”

“You just let her kiss you?” Ciaran asked, “Just like that?”

“Well... yeah...” Frost answered, “It was the only thing I could do.”

“I see,” Ciaran said with a chuckle, “Then what?”

Frost sat down and rubbed his head. “She started singing, it was the most enchanting voice I’ve ever heard. It was uplifting, literally. I floated into the sky after hearing it. Then she grabbed me and we both cuddled together in the clouds. Her eyes were glowing violet most of the time...”

Frost trailed off that last sentence and looked at Ciaran, who smiled at him and motioned for him to continue. “Did this mare have a name?”

“Melody...” Frost replied, “Before I woke up, she mentioned you. I remember now! You put me under your power after I killed Steel Slab! That mare was you!”

Ciaran laughed and shook her head, “No, Frost. It wasn’t me. I conjured it, but aside from instructions, I don’t know what goes on in your noggin. It’s a special magic, something that I learned and even partly created all by myself.”

“I don’t follow,” Frost said while leaning back onto a pile of pillows.

Ciaran sighed and stretched out next to Frost so she was looking up at him, “Do you remember what I said before you allowed yourself to be taken by my powers?”

“You said that I’d experience first hand your most powerful magic. And what do you mean, ‘allowed myself?’ I don’t like your powers.”

Ciaran chuckled and a familiar violet flash appeared in her eyes, if only briefly. “You didn’t resist, and that’s why Melody had such an easy time with you.”

Frost remembered times when he tried to make sense of the dream, but it was just too hard, and Melody was distracting him. “So that’s what it was...”

“Mhm,” Ciaran nodded sagely, “She’ll try her best to seduce you. It’s your will that will either stop her, or let her have her way. Speaking of which... you two didn’t...”

“Didn’t what?” Frost asked.

Ciaran chuckled and swished her tail, “You were kissing... and that’s it?”

“Yeah, just kissing... what else would we be doing? Oh... that? No. No! Nothing like that happened.” Frost said.

Ciaran rolled over and lifted her forehooves in mock defense, “Didn’t hurt to ask, you were at her mercy. I’m sure if she wanted to...”

“Nothing happened...” Frost affirmed through gritted teeth.

“Of course, there’s no way we can be sure,” Ciaran continued while rolling on her back and looking at the ceiling, “We only have your word to go on, and your mind was not your own.”

Frost had enough. He crouched low and pounced onto the changeling princess. “I said nothing happened!” Frost shouted while pushing Ciaran’s face down with a pillow.

Ciaran laughed under the child’s assault and flailed her hooves, “I think I hit a nerve!”

Frost began tickling under Ciaran’s forehooves and her stomach. After hearing her laughter, he started on the other side. Ciaran’s laughter became louder and louder until she rolled over, and eventually off the bed. Frost jumped down with some blankets and covered her face, obscuring her vision. After continuously attacking her, Frost stopped and collapsed on her chest.

“I think I’m owed an apology,” Frost said with a smirk.

Ciaran pulled the blanket off of her face and looked up at him, “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Frost said while leaning forward, “Let’s hear it.”

“Okay...” Ciaran relented, “I’m sorry I assumed Melody took full advantage of you. But she still might...”

“Ciaran!” Frost shouted while grabbing her muzzle.

Ciaran chuckled while he let go and wrapped his hooves around her neck. “Alright, I’ll stop.”

“Ciaran?” Frost whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“No,” Ciaran replied, “Ask me whatever you want, Frost.”

“When I was with Silth...” Frost began, then paused to wait for a reaction from Ciaran, but she kept silent. “... She mentioned her mother, your mother.”

“Did she?” Ciaran asked while taking a deep breath.

“Yeah, um...” Frost stammered, “She said she was harsh, cruel, and was dead to her. My mother died when I was young, I just wondered what your relationship with her was like.”

“The relationship was fine, until resources were shrinking.” Ciaran said, “But... that’s not really true.”

Ciaran levitated Frost for a moment while she brought down some pillows and placed them behind her head, propping it up. She sat Frost back down and he returned to his embrace around her neck and shoulders.

“The attack on Canterlot...” Frost speculated.

“Not just that, but before,” Ciaran admitted, “Chrysalis was always fond of the powers we changelings can possess. I say ‘can’ because only a select few are given the rights, by birth, or by knowledge. Both are rare cases. Chrysalis enjoys her gifts, as do SIlth and I, but I’ve always found my thoughts wandering elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere?” Frost asked.

“History, books, scrolls, knowledge,” Ciaran explained, “I’m a bit of a bookworm.”

“Bugs will be bugs,” Frost said with a laugh.

Ciaran nuzzled him and laughed, “I suppose so. Anyway, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live a normal creature’s life. A life where I didn’t have to take the emotions I needed from others. Such curiosity was mocked and scorned by my mother and sister. In their view, I had their power and could do as I please, so why should I be bothering with such pointless questions?”

“They don’t seem pointless to me,” Frost said, “So you were looking for reasons why changelings are... changelings?”

“I was,” Ciaran confirmed, “While pouring over old scrolls and different records, I found out about the Court of the Moon, Aldus, and the others. I also found some information about the spirits.”

An image of Rixis flashed in Frost’s mind as he listened to Ciaran, “What did you find out?”

“It’s hard to say... but I don’t think we changelings were always like this.” Ciaran motioned to Frost as they both examined the holes in her hooves, “Something happened, something terrible... and I think the end result was, well, me... and all the rest...”

Frost looked into Ciaran’s eyes and saw them begin to glisten. “You looked for answers as to why you are different, and Chrysalis scorned you for ignoring such a clear ‘gift.’ That was what drove your relationship apart, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Ciaran replied, “I suppose it all started there.”

“Well, I don’t know Chrysalis, but you’re nothing like her.” Frost said while squeezing Ciaran’s neck and shoulders, “You and your sister have shown me more love and kindness than anypony in a long time. Having that older female presence in my life again, it...” Frost paused while tears formed, “I’ve missed it.”

Ciaran pressed her head against Frost’s in comfort. “I can’t replace your mother, Frost. But I can look after you and teach you, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.” she bent over and kissed his forehead, “Thanks for listening to me ramble about our race. It felt good to talk about that again.”

Frost picked himself up and straddled Ciaran’s chest, “It’s what family does.” he said with a smile. “When do my next lessons begin?”

Ciaran smirked and held up a hoof for Frost to bump, “Tonight. You and Melody are going to have your second ‘date,’ so get ready.”

------------------

Pyrite struggled to sleep with the visions of dark and upset stomach. He jumped down from the bed and trotted into the washroom. The light switch was to his left, but he paused before touching it. Once the fogginess from his vision cleared, he could see quite well in the dark. Pyrite shook his head and pulled over a chair to get up to the mirror and sink. He splashed some water on his face and looked at his reflection. He was getting slightly pale and there were bags growing under his eyes. Pyrite couldn’t tell, but he thought for a second he saw a red tint around his irises.

Pyrite jumped down and exited the washroom. He realized he could see mostly everything in the room, despite it being pitch black. Black Star was sleeping on the floor next to the bed. On his back, Spring cuddled with Silver Spark while Flint was sprawled out against his side. Pyrite however smiled as he saw his own sleeping companion shift in her sleep. Iris had listened to his story of going to see Thule and his colony of bat ponies, and she was eager to know more, but decided to go to sleep since it was so late when their boat arrived. He jumped onto the bed and squirmed under her claws. Iris’ wing twitched and she purred slightly. That was something he’d never heard her do before. Pyrite inched forward and spread his hooves across her soft plumage. He sighed and buried his face in her feathers.

A claw brushed against his back and gently pushed him against the feathers. “What are you doing up?” a playful voice asked from above him.

Pyrite muttered into her breast as she leaned over and nuzzled him. He grabbed at more feathers with his hooves until a poke was felt on his ear. Iris gently nipped him and finally got his attention. He removed his face and found large golden eyes transfixed on him.

“Can’t sleep,” he whispered, “I thought maybe a soft pillow might help, but your feathers might be too soft.”

Iris chuckled quietly and sat up. “Well, now that I’m awake, why don’t we do something fun.”

“Like what?” Pyrite asked.

“Something I’ve wanted to do ever since we got here.” Iris motioned for Pyrite to climb on her back. The colt nodded then crawled over her shoulder with a helpful nudge and happy giggle from Iris. “Shh.” the gryphon whispered while putting a talon to her beak.

Iris carefully climbed out of bed and tip toed to the door leading out onto the patio. Pyrite hugged around her neck as she nudged the door open. She craned her head back to make sure Black Star was still asleep. Satisfied, Iris crept out and shut the door behind her. She made sure Pyrite was secure, then kicked off the ground and flew upward at an easy pace. The cool early morning air felt amazing running through her feathers. Pyrite reached out his hooves and felt the wind rush through his mane. The moon and stars were still in the sky to provide light before the sunrise. Iris flew straight up then leveled out, which flung Pyrite off and into the air above her.

“Whoa!” he shouted.

Iris turned over onto her back and plucked Pyrite from his fall. He laughed as she lazily flew upside down in a mock backstroke. He crawled from her stomach up to her breast and pumped his forehooves in the air. “Woo!”

Iris flipped over and pushed him onto her back as she descended onto a cloud. Pyrite was so excited and caught up in the moment he leapt from her back to tell her how much fun he was having, and fell straight through the cloud. Pyrite’s stomach flew into his throat as he plummeted down. The cool air stung his eyes as he flailed his hooves in any attempt to slow his fall. He saw the big blue ocean rushing to meet him as he broke through the lower layer of clouds. Suddenly a brown and grey streak zoomed past him and aligned itself with his fall. Slowly it matched his speed, then two claws took hold and he felt himself slowing.

Iris folded Pyrite into a comforting hug and pushed his head into her warm breast. Pyrite’s heartbeat slowed to match the powerful flaps of Iris’ wings that were holding them aloft. He looked up at Iris, who frowned in concern and nuzzled his head. His eyes were watery, but Pyrite didn’t know if it was due to the wind stinging his eyes, or if he had broke down and started crying.

“Is it common for earth ponies to forget they don’t have wings and can’t stand on clouds?” Iris whispered.

Pyrite wrapped his hooves around Iris’ neck and laughed, “Most earth ponies don’t go flying and land on clouds.”

Iris giggled and calmly swayed back and forth in the air, “Do you want to go back down?”

Pyrite swallowed and shook his head, “No, I don’t want to ruin your fun and why you brought us out here.”

Iris shushed Pyrite and shook her head, “Silly little pony, you’re not ruining anything. What I wanted you to see is right behind you.”

Pyrite turned around and gasped. The sun had just started to creep up over the horizon. He had seen the sunrise over the Silver Isles before while arriving, but not at this altitude over the ocean. The light was casting sparkles off the waves as they approached Pythia and the night sky was starting to recede. Where the light was pushing against darkness, a purple band could just barely be seen. Pyrite rested his head against Iris as she adjusted her grip and cradled him in her forearms.

Before they started back, Iris saw a shimmering off in the distance. It was slightly above the water heading straight for their cottage. Several pegasi in armor escorted a carriage carrying a very large mare. It was Princess Desalia.

“We better get back, Pyrite.” Iris said as she fell into a dive to gain speed. “I wonder if she’ll want to meet us.”

------------------

Marigold stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her mane. Her feathers were in pristine condition after pruning them. They always felt amazing after a nice warm shower. She left the room and made her way to the kitchen for some breakfast, then returned to get dressed.

Marigold took a bite of her muffin and trotted over to her night stand, not realizing she wasn’t alone. She saw a large dark reflection in the small mirror and jumped.

“Hello there, m'lady. I do apologize, I didn’t mean to frighten you, but your door was open.”

Marigold watched the Sarosian bat pony motion to the door. She swallowed and collected herself. “Yes, um, it’s fine. I forgot I left that open.”

“Not very wise, you never know who might decide to lurk about and cause harm.”

“I suppose you’re right, Lord Thule.” Marigold said while putting on a robe.

Thule smiled and shut the door. He slowly stepped over to Marigold and sat down beside her. “How did such a beautiful pegasus end up serving in the royal guard?”

Marigold noticed a shimmer in Thule’s red eyes and felt a shiver run down her spine. “I have many talents.”

“Oh, I believe you,” Thule admitted while looking the mare up and down. “Why don’t you show me some?”

Marigold suddenly found herself standing up and seductively removing her robe. She twirled in front of the bat pony then sat down in his lap. She felt a warm blanket drape around her shoulders. It was like velvet, she shivered at the touch and looked up into Thule’s knowing eyes.

“These are... your wings?” Marigold asked while hidden away inside the membranous flap.

“They are,” Thule replied with a chuckle, “You like?”

“Yes...” Marigold purred.

Thule nudged the pegasus mare forward and smelled her recently washed mane. It smelled of peaches. Unfortunately for her, he was not of the fruit bat persuasion. He draped her mane to the side and whispered in her ear. “You’re one of the most beautiful mares I’ve seen in a long time. Enjoy this, sweetheart.”

As Thule brandished his fangs and bent down to bite, the door to their room opened and Rigel stuck his head in. “Good morning Mari-”

Thule pulled back from Marigold’s neck, “Uh oh...”

Marigold had a warm sensation moving through her body. It felt nice, but some dull thudding noises were breaking her out the moment. She shook her head and attempted to focus. When the thudding became louder she turned around to investigate.  Marigold gasped and stifled a scream when she saw Rigel standing over Thule bouncing his head off the floor like child’s ball.

“What in the night’s name do you think you were doing?” Rigel snarled.

Thule looked up in a daze and glanced over at Marigold, “I was going to have breakfast, I didn’t know she was yours, Lord Hurricane. I do apologize.”

Rigel spread his wings, further expressing his dominance over the bat pony. Marigold had never seen this side of Rigel before. Two predators were squaring off in her room, yet it was no mistake who the dominant male was. Rigel completely hid Thule under the shadow of just his wings.

“She’s not mine, you leather winged mongrel.” Rigel hissed. “And don’t call me that.”

“Now now,” Thule chided in a calm manner that unnerved Marigold, “One doesn’t need to be as old I to see you two have feelings.”

“This is exactly the type of behavior that made everypony despise you during the war.” Rigel said, “You haven’t changed.”

Thule leaned forward so both stallion’s muzzles were steaming onto each other, “They didn’t need any excuse to hate me other than for what I am.”

“Maybe they were right,” Rigel said with a smirk. “Once Aldus hears about this, he’ll turn you inside out.”

“If he hears about it,” Thule smiled. In a flash he rolled on his side and kicked Rigel off him.

Thule flipped to his feet and assumed a fighting stance. Rigel grunted and did the same. Marigold ran between the stallions and held out her hooves. “Stop this! We’re on the same side!”

Rigel looked wide eyed at Marigold, “He was going to bite you!”

“He was, but he didn’t. You stopped him. We don’t need to fight.”

Rigel was stunned, but Marigold pressing her soft hooves into his chest calmed him down. He let go of his anger and sighed.

Thule laughed and cocked his head to the side, “Talked down by a mare? I ought to teach you how to be a proper lord, Lord Hurricane.”

Marigold took two swift steps back and bucked Thule in the face so hard it dislocated his jaw. He fell backward onto a table and broke it in half. Rigel’s jaw hit the floor as Marigold fluttered over to Thule and whispered a threat in his ear. “This doesn’t leave this room, and you’ll never do this again to me or any other mare. If you do, Princess Luna will hear of it.”

Marigold flew over to Rigel and pulled his head down in a quick, but passionate kiss. She grabbed him by the hoof and lead him away.

Thule’s eyes burned red in anger, and his jaw hurt like Tartarus. He picked himself up and dusted off his tunic.

“What happened here?” a mocking voice chimed from the hall.

“Just a misunderstanding,” Thule grunted as he snapped his jaw back into place.

Polaris entered the room and stood next to Thule, “Now we both have injuries to our faces.”

Thule turned around and faced Polaris. The crumpled muzzle he gave him when he arrived at his colony with that colt was still there.

“Mmm, yes.” Thule muttered, “But yours is an improvement.”

“Princess Desalia is on her way. I suspect she’ll be here in about an hour. Will you be joining us?”

“If Luna commands it,” Thule said while starting for the door.

“Best to just stay in the shadows where you belong,” Polaris advised. “I doubt Princess Desalia would find much honor in an assassin.”

Thule stopped and lowered his head. He hooked his clawed wings around him like a cloak and turned to face Polaris.

“And there it is,” Thule muttered.

“There it is,” Polaris repeated.

“We’re both warriors,” Thule said.

“No, only one of us is.” Polaris corrected, “The one who bested you and made you bend the knee to Princess Luna. The one who fights with honor and carries dignity with his service.”

Thule rolled his eyes, “Dress it up however you’d like, old friend. We’re both killers, and to the spirit of death, it doesn’t matter whether I put a sword through somepony’s back, or you put one through somepony’s stomach.”

“Spirit of death,” Polaris said with a chuckle, “Wouldn’t have thought you to be superstitious.”

Thule smiled and winked at Polaris, “I don’t think it’s a legend, Pol. Not everything get’s written down in the old tomes. I’ve lived a long time. I’ve served princesses and killed magical ponies. I’ve seen things that I can’t explain.”

“I’m sure,” Polaris said with a chuckle. “Was Saros ever this superstitious?”

Thule’s face took on a grave expression. He slowly walked up to Polaris and looked him in the eye. “Saros was given her night powers by an unnamed spirit. By her blood it was passed down through generations, eventually coming to me.”

“An unnamed spirit?” Polaris asked. “There is no history in your colony about who this mysterious spirit was? I find that hard to believe.”

“Raxis...” Thule whispered. “In the only surviving piece of writing from Saros, she called it Raxis.”

--------------------

Princess Luna stood outside with Aldus just behind her. Princess Desalia’s carriage touched down and her guard all fanned out to secure the area.

“Shouldn’t your apprentice be here?” Luna asked under her breath, not bothering to look at Aldus.

“Yes,” Aldus grunted in reply.

No sooner had he replied to Luna, Frost ran out the door and stood beside him. Ciaran trotted up behind him in her Willow disguise and sat on her haunches. Marigold arrived with Rigel, and Polaris arrived with Thule. As Princess Desalia emerged, she looked around and saw Princess Luna, she smiled and stepped forward, her guards remained in place.

“The little moon, so good to see you again,” Desalia said with a smile. She gave a deep bow to Luna, which the Princess of the Night returned. “I still remember the grave news of your banishment like it was yesterday. I’m glad you returned to the world.”

Luna tilted her head and cleared her throat, “Yes, it’s good to be back.” She looked up at the larger alicorn and smiled. “You’re still beautiful as ever, how do you do it?”

“Spells, good hygiene, and never letting the stress of ruling bring you down.” Desalia said while draping a wing over the smaller alicorn. “Did I mention spells?” She looked down at Luna and nuzzled her, “You are the youngest of us, and far too beautiful to be ignored the way you were. I know it pains you to hear it, but I understand why you did what you did. The honorable ponies who served you are always welcome here.”

“I thank you for that,” Luna said, “It’s nice to have an older mare to talk to who isn’t my sister.”

“How is she?” Desalia asked, “She could have come if she wanted...”

“Somepony has to rule, and she’s used to doing it by herself, she’s done so a long time, after all.”

“Yes, she has.” Desalia agreed, “In that time, she barely ever contacted me. I often wondered if it was something I did, or something I didn’t do?”

Luna’s eyes glistened and she looked up at the elder alicorn, “No, you didn’t do anything. My sister is too proud... too independent.”

“I seem to remember that being the problem that started the whole mess to begin with...” Desalia said with a low chuckle.

Luna shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject, “I’m actually not the youngest of us, not anymore, not technically...” she said with a small giggle.

“Then it’s true?” Desalia said with bright smile, “Your rigid sister actually raised a mare and let her into the fold?”

Luna smiled brightly and nodded,”Princess Twilight Sparkle. I suspect you’ll meet her soon, when she’s gotten acquainted with her power and responsibilities.”

“It’s been a long time since something like that has happened here,” Desalia admitted, “Not since Princess Seabreeze.” She looked at Aldus and frowned. “I see the little student is here, shall we congratulate him on his success helping my daughter?”

“I think we should,” Luna said with a playful smirk.

“Frost,” Luna called and beckoned him to come forward.

Frost looked at Aldus who practically smacked him to get him moving. He calmed his breathing and looked at the two beautiful alicorns. He swallowed and fell into a deep bow. “My princesses.”

“Rise,” Desalia gestured, “You did it, Frost. Thanks to you, I have my daughter back.”

Orianna trotted out of the house with Marigold and shied away from her mother’s gaze. She saw Frost and decided to sit beside him. “Hello mother...”

“You are in so much trouble, missy.” Desalia admonished. “But first, I want you to tell me exactly what happened.”

“I don’t remember much, but the last thing I knew I was captured and set to work in that awful place. After a few days I met Frost and his gryphon friend. They said we’d escape, then they came to free us.”

“They?” Desalia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Frost’s stomach plummeted. He remembered she said he had to do it himself, or he wasn’t off the hook.

“Yes, I didn’t see much, but the other children couldn’t stop talking about them. The older ponies.” She said while waving at Aldus and his courtiers, “They helped us escape.”

“Really?” Desalia asked with a smirk, “Is this true, Frost?”

Frost began to sweat and lowered his head, “Well, you see...”

“Aldus,” Luna chimed with a giggle.

Aldus stepped forward, “Yes princess?”

“Did you and the courtiers aid Frost in helping the children escape?”

“It just so happened that we were all out for a stroll one night, and we stumbled into the most disreputable part of town. We heard rumors of this disgusting practice of using child labor, and we just couldn’t sleep without doing something about it.”

Desalia rolled her eyes and levitated Frost, “I’m sure. Frost, you know what I told you about doing this yourself.”

Frost struggled to balance himself in the silver aura and nodded solemnly. “Yes, I’ve failed.”

Desalia glanced at Luna, both mares despite their age, could not help but be drawn in by the adorable attitude of the apologetic colt. Frost was startled when hooves wrapped around him and he found himself being pressed against Desalia’s silver regalia.

“You didn’t fail, I have my daughter back, and that is enough.” Desalia said with a sigh. She held Frost out in front of her and kissed his forehead. “That’s two tasks complete, only one more to go.”

Frost smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, “What is that, princess? If I may ask?”

“Attend the wedding of my daughter, and perhaps share dance with an old mare like me.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Frost said.

Desalia sat him down and nudged him with a wing, “Run along now, Frosty. I need to discuss some things with Aldus and your princess.”

Frost broke into a run and leapt into the embrace of his nanny. She smiled at him and carried him inside.

Luna turned to Desalia and cleared her throat, “There is something I wanted to discuss regarding the sweat shop my courtiers discovered and halted.”

Desalia lowered her head and nodded, “A terrible business, that. I try to stop these things as best I can, but being an island kingdom has it’s problems.” She motioned for Luna and Aldus to join her for a walk. They went down to the edge of the water and let the waves gently wash over their hooves. “The smaller isles have always been hard to govern completely. That was actually something that I enjoyed while Seabreeze was princess.” she said to Aldus, who only nodded. “A royal presence on the small islands that might give pause to such individuals who would do these things. The ports and trade that comes into our hooves brings all manner of riches and good capital, but it also brings foreign criminals and is a breeding ground for all sorts of illegal activity. I assure you, we’ll be scouring the area to find out who was behind this.”

“I understand,” Luna said, “But my concern was for the children we rescued, many if not all are orphans and have nowhere to go.”

“Yes,” Desalia replied, “It is very unfortunate.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Luna said while stopping, “I would take these children back with me to Equestria. We can find them new homes there, and lighten your burden.”

Princess Desalia stopped and turned around. Her eyes glowed ever so slightly. “Lighten my burden? The children of my kingdom are a ‘burden?’ An interesting way to phrase it...”

“You have a large kingdom to run, and all manner of things to look after between the upcoming wedding, and the archives. Please, allow me to do this for you as a token of good faith, and of our friendship.”

Desalia sat on her haunches and looked down at the smaller blue alicorn. “These children are citizens of the Silver Isles, they belong here.”

“Are they?” Luna asked while turning to face the sea, “I wonder if I would find any documents pertaining to their citizenship. Aldus, you’ll get to work on the matter tomorrow morning.”

“As you wish, princess.” Aldus replied.

Desalia laughed and crossed her forehooves, “You really do care about the little ones, don’t you, Luna?”

“It’s part of my duty, Princess Desalia. They are tormented and haunted in their dreams, I do what I can to help.” Luna said, then glared at the elder alicorn, “And I see much torment in the dreams of children from these isles.”

Desalia shrugged, “Perhaps their parents shouldn’t let them eat so close to bedtime. What do you plan to do with these children once you take them with you?”

Luna motioned to Aldus. He stepped forward and within a few seconds, Rigel joined him at his side. “These two loyal servants of mine have pooled their tremendous wealth in a philanthropy project for myself and my sister.”

“Oh?” Desalia mused while discreetly eyeing Rigel up and down.

“Starfall Sanctuary,” Aldus began, “That’s the tentative name we’ve decided on, it may change later. Rigel and I have started a plan to build homes for foals who are homeless and without families.”

“Not just homes,” Rigel added, “They’ll be educated and cared for until they’re ready to set out on their own. They’ll have room to play, and be offered several ways in which they might find their talents.”

“Well, I can certainly see why Aldus would want to help, but Rigel... your reasons are bit unclear.” Desalia said.

“Not having parents doesn’t have to be all bad. To live in a place where nothing is forced upon you, where no expectations are placed upon your shoulders like weights. Those weights can kill a pony. They have killed a pony... and many more after...” Rigel said with an edge in his voice.

Desalia raised an eyebrow in fascination, then stood up. “If you would care for them and love them, then take them.”

Princess Luna smiled and bowed slightly, “Thank you, Desalia, Would you like to stay for breakfast?”

“I’m afraid not, dear Luna. There are many preparations I must make before the wedding, and Aldus requires the paperwork to enter the archives. I’ll get started on that tomorrow.”

“Thank you princess.” Aldus said with a smile.

“It was good to see you again, Luna. And you as well, Rigel. I’ll see you all soon at the wedding.”

Princess Desalia exchanged the royal courtesies with Aldus, Rigel, and Luna before rejoining her guards and flying back to the citadel.

Aldus and Rigel joined Luna and smiled, “So who is going to tell the kids?” Rigel asked.

“I believe Luna should be the one, they really seemed to enjoy their evening with you.” Aldus said.

“Oh no,” Luna refused, “You two are putting the bits forward for this project, you can tell them. I’m sure they’ll love you forever after giving them this opportunity.” Luna began to trot back to the cottage, but stopped and turned around. “Starfall Sanctuary?”

Aldus nodded, “Rigel and I thought it would be appropriate. It’s suits your dominion over the night, and is reminder of my past actions. It’s here that continue to make amends.”

Luna trotted back and put a wing around Aldus and Rigel, “You two are something else. Come on, tell me more about your plans for this Sanctuary.”

--------------------

Later that evening, Frost sat in his room with the patio door open. The drapes blew in as the night breeze began to pick up. Pyrite sat with him and wondered what all the children were going to do now they were free from the sweatshop. Frost noticed he was surprisingly energetic, usually Pyrite was starting to feel fatigued as night time rolled around.

Frost was ignoring Pyrite’s constant glomping and his current attempt to gnaw at his ear. The green eye orb Frost was holding was cracked on the surface, which made Frost a little nervous. He wasn’t quite sure how to make it work. Perhaps it had something to do with magic?

“What’s that you have there, Frost?” a gentle voice chimed from outside.

Pyrite stopped trying to eat Frost’s ear and stood up. Frost stood beside him and looked outside. They knew that voice anywhere. A black alicorn floated down onto the patio and stepped inside the room. She smiled at the foals and sat on her haunches. Frost and Pyrite ran into Selene’s embrace and didn’t let go. She nuzzled both foals as her mane coiled around them.

“You’re finally back!” Pyrite exclaimed. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Frost said. “I’ve done quite a lot of exciting and dangerous things while you were gone.”

Selene looked down at Frost and raised an eyebrow, “Dangerous? Do you know how I’d feel if anything ever happened to you? Or you?” she asked while tickling Pyrite.

Frost produced the cracked green eye orb and showed it to Selene, “I’ve met your brother.”

“My brother?” Selene asked, “You mean to tell me... you saw...”

“Rixis,” Frost said, “It’s a long story. Because of Black Star and a few other things, we met his servants, and they took us to meet him. He gave me this and said he wanted to talk to you.”

Selene composed herself and looked at the green orb. She slowly stood up and took hold of the colts with her mane. She put them on her back and took the orb from Frost. “Alright, let’s go and see him.”

Frost leaned over and hit the orb with some of his magic. After a few seconds, the air in front of them rippled and coalesced into an image of the room where Rixis had fought Discord.

Selene stepped through and into the room as the orb ceased to glow and Pythia faded behind them. Pyrite peaked around the room and saw a giant sitting on a throne at the end of the hall. A giant with the head of a lion, and arms and legs of other things. A hood was over Rixis’ head and he was staring at the floor. Slowly he looked up, when he did, golden eyes opened and transfixed on Selene. Pyrite shivered and buried his face in Selene’s neck. Her mane coiled around his body and hid him away. Frost untangled himself from her mane and jumped down. He trotted forward and sat down.

“When you took us back to the sweatshop, you said that somepony would help me, you said I had a friend there.” Frost said with a smile. “You knew that she was there, and that she would help me.”

Rixis shifted on his throne and removed his hood. “Yes, I did.”

“What else do you know that you won’t tell me?” Frost asked.

“I know what you want to know...” Rixis said. “Now is not the time, Frost. You brought company, and it’s rude for us to not entertain them.”

Rixis got up from his throne and stepped down toward Selene. As he moved, he grew smaller in size so he was just as tall as she was. He used his axe for support and stood before the black alicorn.

Rixis bowed slightly, “Greetings sister, it’s been... a long time.”

Selene was distracted by the shivering child on her back. She craned her neck and shushed him. Rixis took notice and stepped to her side. He looked under the thick bundle of mane and tilted his head.

“Am I so scary I can’t even say hello to my guests?”

Frost grabbed a hold of one of Selene’s tendrils and had it pull him up onto her back. He pushed his head into her mane and whispered to Pyrite, “It’s alright, he’s not going to hurt you. He’s just like Discord and Selene, and she won’t let anything happen us.”

Pyrite pushed his head out from under the black locks and saw Rixis standing only a few paces away. “Um... hi.” Pyrite croaked.

“What’s your name, little one?” Rixis asked.

“It’s Pyrite, sir. Who are you? What are you?”

“I’m wondering the same thing,” Selene said as her eyes began to glow green, “You are my brother?”

“Don’t you recognize the family resemblance?” Rixis asked as his lion mane turned into black writhing tentacles. “We’ve met before, you know... My name is Rixis.”

Selene slowly sat down on her haunches and let the two colts gently slide off her back. “I was there... but not there at the same time.”

Rixis motioned for them to walk, “You weren’t fully formed at the time, but I remember seeing you.”

“And I remember seeing you,” Selene said, “They tried to kill you, those necromancers.”

“Not kill me,” Rixis corrected, “Control me, but they failed. Nothing can control death, and death is what I am.”

“You’re death?” Pyrite asked, “How can something be death?”

“I used to ask myself that almost every day-” Rixis said with a chuckle as he bent down on one knee, “-for the first thousand years or so. Then, I just got used to it.” Pyrite smiled a bit which made Rixis smile in return. “Selene and I have much to discuss. How would you and Frost like to explore the castle?”

Frost looked at Selene, who nodded in approval. He started off toward the exit when one of Selene’s tendrils wrapped around Pyrite’s stomach. She lifted him off the floor and kissed his forehead, “Be careful, and stay with Frost.”

Pyrite nodded and joined Frost when Selene let him down. As the two colts left the room Rixis’ tail detached and slithered in front of him. “Gari, make sure the two of them don’t get into any trouble.”

The cobra nodded and slithered away after the two foals. Selene looked at Rixis and shook her head, “Of all the colts you meet, of all the ones you choose to meet, it’s the ones that have been part of my family. Quite the coincidence.”

Rixis shrugged and leaned on his axe, “Isn’t it? But this is the first time I’ve met the little one.”

“So... you’re my little brother... I don’t recall having siblings.” Selene said.

Rixis frowned and reached out a claw, then retracted it. He sat down his axe and wrapped both arms around Selene’s neck in a hug. He pressed his muzzle into her neck and squeezed hard. “You don’t remember anything, what happened to you?”

---------------------

Pyrite and Frost trotted along the hallways and looked around. The castle was large, but this section seemed empty. Cobwebs adorned the ceilings and walls. Frost opened one of the doors and found a room with many mirrors all covered with cloth. He unhooked the cloth and looked at himself in one of the larger ones.

Pyrite yawned and tapped Frost on the shoulder, “Are you just going to look at yourself?”

“Shh,” he playfully shoved Pyrite away, “These mirrors are made of crystal.”

Pyrite sighed and left Frost in the room to stare at himself. He went back into the hallway and realized he could see further down without light. The shadows began to yield to him more and more. It was exciting. Pyrite trotted down the hallway and a circular flight of stairs. He found a large room with lots of weapon racks and tables full of armor. The room was big enough to fit a full sized dragon. Pyrite saw all of the weapons on the racks and on the tables. Lances, pikes, spears, halberds, all of the pole arm weapons. Further down against the wall he saw more. Swords and axes, each sharp like they were ready to use. Pyrite grabbed an axe and examined the blade. He liked how it felt heavy at the end, how it would fall when he swung it. He put it down and picked up a warhammer from a rack near the halberds. This was something Pyrite could get behind. Large smashing weapons. He put down it down and picked up a flanged mace. He remembered Frost telling him about one of the knights using this from his stories. The edges would penetrate armor when swung with great force.

Pyrite assumed a fighting stance and swung the mace at one of the pillars. He danced around it like it was his opponent and swung again, this time harder. He back stepped then spun into a flowery turn and struck the pillar with a loud bang. He wasn’t fully expecting to hit it, but had been lost in the moment.

He only now realized that he was in a pitch black room. No torches or lights at all, yet he was seeing everything as if there were a dim light. Pyrite realized he had chipped the pillar and bent over to pick up a piece. When he looked up he saw a fanged reptilian face staring back at him. He swallowed his tongue and stepped back. After a moment, he realized it was just a statue, though familiar. Upon closer inspection, it was another gargoyle head, just like ones he had fought in Seabreeze’s castle.

A low growl and moan echoed in the distance behind Pyrite. A shiver ran up his spine as he slowly turned around. His eyes weren’t so good as to see what lurked in the shadows further into the room. A large disfigured hand reached out of the blackness and dragged it’s body with it. It was a stallion with a broken jaw and large spokes sticking out from it’s shoulders. It’s body was attached to another, a minotaur. The minotaur’s head was off to the side, looking vertically at the wall. It craned over and stared at Pyrite. It’s tail was long and thick, with a spiked ball at the end. The creature shambled forward quickly and turned to bring it’s tail crashing into the pillar above Pyrite’s head. Stone and dust fell around Pyrite as he dropped the flanged mace and turned to run.

The creature was quick, despite it’s deformities. It leapt over Pyrite and blocked the door. He screamed and dove under one of the tables. The monster upturned the table with a single hand and grabbed Pyrite by the tail. Pyrite screamed as the monster screamed back at him, then Pyrite fell hard on his head as the creature dropped him, along with it’s own arm. He was dazed, but saw a shadow dancing in front of the creature, and as it danced, the creature screamed. The sound of liquid spilling onto the floor could be heard along with the pulpy smacking of guts and innards. After the creature stopped moving Pyrite saw the shadow bend over, it had red eyes. The red eyes seemed familiar, and they were the last thing he saw before passing out.

Chapter 30: First of the Night

Pyrite’s head throbbed. It felt like all the blood in his body was rushing to his head. He opened his eyes in bewilderment. Everything was upside down. He could see the room as though it was dimly lit, just like before. He closed his eyes again, thinking it might have been one of those weird dreams. When he reopened them, everything remained the same. Pyrite felt something shift across his chest and realized two soft, but strong hooves were holding him up. He tilted his head up toward the floor and gulped. A bat pony mare let out a quiet sigh and bent down to look at him. She had the same red piercing eyes as Thule.

Pyrite remembered being near a bat pony mare like this before. She was just like Eve, and Eve bit him. Pyrite squirmed in her grip and managed to free a hoof.

“Hey, calm dow- oof!” she grunted as Pyrite elbowed her chin.

“Let me go!” Pyrite shouted as he continued to squirm.

The mare simply shrugged, “Okay.”

She released Pyrite just long enough for him to scream, “No!”

He fell down and was caught by the very tip of his tail. As he dangled, he saw several shadows shift on the floor. More of those creatures were roaming about. He counted at least five or six underneath him. One looked up and saw him, crouched low and jumped up with a roar. Pyrite screamed as it’s hand came close enough to brush against his mane.

“Ahh! Pull me up! Pull me up! Please!” Pyrite wailed as more creatures took notice of him dangling just out of reach.

The mare grabbed lengths of his tail, and with two strong pulls, had Pyrite safely out of reach back where he was before. Pyrite saw several more creatures come into view. Some had glowing eyes of different colors. They moaned and growled as they tried in vain to climb the pillars in the room and jump to reach him. Pyrite’s body quaked with shivers. He wrapped his stubby hooves around the mare’s neck in a death grip and buried his face in her shoulder.

“Why did you do that?” Pyrite muttered into her fur.

The mare chuckled, “You told me to.”

Pyrite began to get angry. “I didn’t mean it!”

The mare was about to respond with something witty, but stopped when she felt her neck getting wet. The child was beginning to cry. He was struggling to hold back the tears.

“There there,” she whispered, “It’s alright. I’ve got you.” Pyrite choked back tears and stared down at the creatures circling them. He shuddered again and clenched his eyes shut. The mare took notice and nuzzled the top of his head, “Those things are scary, huh? We don’t have to look at them.”

Two large membranous flaps opened on either side of her. Pyrite noticed her wings were similar in size to Thule’s, and they also had clawed wrist joints. The bat pony flexed her left wing, then the right. She gently folded them together and hooked the claws, creating a cocoon closed off from the world around them.

Pyrite had seen bats do this before. He often shared spaces with them when Ruby and Frost would find shelter from the rain in Manehatten. They always looked so comfy and warm.

Pyrite nuzzled the mare’s chin and whispered, “Thanks, I’m sorry I hit you.”

The mare’s red eyes illuminated the darkness from her closed wings, “You’re welcome little one, no need to apologize. What’s your name?”

“It’s Pyrite,” he replied, “I wasn’t expecting one of you to be here. Actually I wasn’t expecting anypony to be here.”

“One of me?” the mare asked with a chuckle, “What do you mean, Pyrite?”

Pyrite felt safe in the embrace of this mare, yet it still was unnerving when he looked at her fanged smile. “You’re a bat pony.”

The mare chuckled and bent her head down to Pyrite’s ear, “Not just a bat pony, the bat pony. Call me Saros, Pyrite.”

Pyrite pondered the name for a moment, then remembered the dream Andromeda had showed him. Thule called himself a Sarosian. So that meant... “You’re a special type of bat pony...” Pyrite reasoned.

“The very first,” Saros cooed, “But enough about me, why were you down here banging around with those weapons? They aren’t toys you know.”

Pyrite scrunched his muzzle. Of course he knew they weren’t toys. “I was trying out different ones to see which I liked best. I uh... got a little carried away.”

Saros giggled and rested her chin on Pyrite’s head, “Bit of an understatement. You’re lucky I was here.”

“Why are you here?” Pyrite asked.

“I’m here to see the smith who forged all those weapons.” Saros answered plainly. “He’s been working on some things for me, and I came to pick them up. I wasn’t expecting to find a little colt in trouble. Those things don’t deserve a tasty little earth pony like you.”

Pyrite laughed as Saros slipped him a playful wink. “Too good a meal for them, but what about you?”

“Well...” Saros pondered, “Foal’s blood is sweet...” She flipped Pyrite around and examined his neck, “But it looks like somepony beat me to it.”

Pyrite knew she was referring to his encounter with Eve, “Yeah, a filly bit me.”

“I see...” Saros said, “Are you enjoying your emerging night powers?”

“My what?” Pyrite asked.

“My wings are keeping us snug, warm, and in the dark. But you can see, can’t you?” Saros asked.

Pyrite saw everything. Saros’ soft fur and light leather vest. Her membranous wings that were folded around them. Her dark purple mane and golden necklace. “I can... so that means...”

“You’re family, yes.” Saros said with a gentle smile, “Whoever bit you carries my blood. I wasn’t about to let my own blood get eaten by one of those wretches.”

“But... what if-” Pyrite stammered, “What if I don’t want your blood? I don’t want to be a vampire bat pony!” Pyrite began shaking again, “What will everypony else say when they find out? I’ll start craving blood! I’ll be dangerous! I don’t want this! What can I do?”

“Shh...” Saros shushed him and squeezed her forehooves in reassurance. “Calm down, Pyrite. Calm down. Listen to me. This wasn’t consensual? You didn’t want this? ”

“No, she danced with me, then bit me. I really don’t remember much.”

Saros shook her head, “My people, they never learn. Does this filly have parents?”

“Yeah, a father. He’s like you.” Pyrite replied.

“Good,” Saros said. “If you don’t want the gift, just tell him what happened, and ask him to remove the blood.”

“He’ll do it?” Pyrite asked, more than a little skeptical.

“He will,” Saros said with a nod, “Tell him what happened and say you didn’t want it, he’ll fix you up.”

Pyrite felt a lot better hearing Saros reassure him. He knew something was different, but he never thought he was in the process of turning into a bat pony. It was more subtle than he imagined. Pyrite decided to think about something else, worrying wasn’t going to help anything. He looked at the belt around Saros’ waste and spotted two blades.

“You killed one of those monsters?” Pyrite queried.

“I did,” Saros replied, “Ugly thing, he wasn’t so dangerous missing his arms and half his guts.” she said with a chuckle. “I had to use these old things.” Saros gently released Pyrite and let him lay against the soft membranes of her wings. She reached back and produced her blades. One was a dagger with a slight serrated edge, the other was larger, possibly a form of short sword. “They barely got the job done.”

Pyrite looked up past Saros and wondered, “Hey, just how are we hanging like this? You don’t have claws on your hooves, do you?”

Saros laughed and rubbed Pyrite’s belly with one of her hooves, “No silly, I’m not some lizard. But I do have a prehensile tail. It’s pretty useful, as you can see.”

“What in Tartarus is going on in here?!”

Pyrite jumped when booming voice shook the room. Saros reached down and collected him in her forehooves once again. She whispered in Pyrite’s ear, “The smith is back. He’s a charming fellow. Just wait til he sees what I’ve done to one his pets.”

Saros opened her left wing so Pyrite could see what was going on. A large figure came into view from the far side of the room. It was one of the gargoyles that were in Seabreeze’s castle, but this one was different. It was as large as the ones he had fought, but more developed and... real. It moved and acted like a living, breathing creature. Rather than some stone construct.

Pyrite couldn’t help but smile when Saros pressed her head to his and laughed at the smith’s constant cursing. He spoke in some form of a truculent Trottingham accent. It reminded Pyrite of an old police pony in Manehatten who walked the parks at night. He could never catch Frost or Ruby when they ran, and constantly shouted obscenities at them.

“What in Rixis’ glorious majestic mane are you shits doing out of your cages?! Get back! BACK!”

The gargoyle smith produced a whip from his belt and cracked it menacingly at the creatures. They backed away toward their cages, most of them. Some roared defiantly at their harasser. The smith reacted swiftly, he cracked the whip again and kicked the nearest creature in the mouth, sending it reeling backward. After all the creatures were back in their pens, the smith locked them in and assessed the damage to the room. He noticed the dead creature and balled his fists.

“Who did this?!” 

Saros dropped from the rafters and flew around the smith’s head. She landed in front of him and sat on her haunches while holding Pyrite against her chest. “I’m afraid I did, Gargy. Sorry about the mess...”

The smith was livid. He grabbed the minotaur head and shoved it in Saros’ face. “I need these! It took me months to get them moving, and you just come in here and hack them to pieces? Why?!”

Saros chuckled and sat Pyrite down in front of her, “This little one was down here and about to be torn to shreds. I wasn’t about to let that happen.”

The gargoyle finally noticed Pyrite and narrowed his eyes. “What’s this little cub doing in the castle? He’s not even dead. But that could change in a few minutes if he doesn’t explain himself to me right now!” he roared.

“Gargy...” Saros chided while wrapping a protective forehoof around Pyrite.

“It’s Gargarensis!” the smith shouted with balled fists. His tail slithered forward and quickly wrapped Pyrite up. He brought the colt within inches of his face and breathed hot steam through his nostrils. “Well?!”

“I-” Pyrite stuttered, “I was just, exploring and...uh...” Pyrite knew he needed to think quick about what he said next. If this thing was really intent on hurting him, Saros might not be able to help. His mind raced until he came to Frost. What would Frost do? He’d seen Frost talk his way out of problems before when they were about to get pummeled by bad police ponies or gangs. That was it. “I saw your warhammer’s and mace’s. I’ve never seen them like that.” Pyrite gulped and managed to free a hoof. He pointed to the flanged mace on the floor, “I was testing that and accidentally hit the pillar. That’s when the monster came and Saros saved me.”

“Those aren’t toys, little pony. Misuse them and you’ll be meeting Rixis under more normal circumstances...” he warned.

“I know...” Pyrite said. “I apologize, Mr. Gargarensis. It’s just that, my friend and I read stories of knights and warriors. They use these weapons all the time, and these are just like how they’re described in the books. The edges on that flanged mace look like they could smash plate to pieces.”

“Aye, that’s a fact.” Gargarensis agreed. “Takes a certain type of warrior to use bludgeoning weapons. Not as flashy as blades, so underappreciated.”

“I guess I just got carried away. Seeing all these things from my imagination right in front of me was just too cool. You’re very talented.” Pyrite complimented.

Gargarensis nodded, “Aye, lad. That I am.”

Saros flew up next to him and spread her hooves apologetically. “See, he’s not so bad. He even loves your work.”

“Lad’s got better taste in weapons than you, I’ll say that much.” Gargarensis said with a grunt. “I’d take a good strength weapon any day over those pig stickers you love so much.”

“Right...” Saros said with a roll of her eyes, “My ‘pigstickers,’ they stick more than pigs as you can see,” she said while reminding Gargarensis of her work killing his creation. “Speaking of them, do you have my new set?”

Gargarensis grumbled and nodded, “Aye, I do. But first the matter of the little cub.” He dropped Pyrite from his tail and into an outstretched claw. “Don’t go wandering off into places that could be dangerous, not unless you want to take an early trip to the shores.”

He bent over and sat Pyrite down, then picked up the flanged mace with the tips of his claws and sat it back on the crafting table, “Next time you hold one of those, it’d be best if you knew what you were doing.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Rixis said while materializing out of the wall. He bent down and smiled at Pyrite. “So, what weapon do you want?”

---------------------

Frost stood in front of a great mirror. He didn’t know exactly what is was, but as he looked on, a scene seemed to take place before him. The image in the mirror reached out from the glass and encapsulated the room. Frost held his breath when he saw the scene in front of him.

A nurse rushed out of a large tent drenched in blood. More ponies ran in and out. It was frantic, then he heard a scream.

“LEAVE!”

Princess Celestia screeched as the rest of the ponies emptied from the tent. She bent over the pony on the makeshift operating table and grabbed his gauntleted hoof in her own. “Sharp Sun, please... don’t go.”

The stallion gurgled blood and turned his head to the side. “I’m sorry, princess. I’ve failed you.”

Celestia felt a gentle wing fall across her shoulders. Luna nuzzled into her neck for comfort.

“You haven’t failed anything, you’re going to be fine. My magic is already starting to take effect.” Celestia said with a half smile.

Sharp Sun smirked and looked down at the gaping hole in his chest, “I believe you.” he lied.

“The dragons are in retreat,” Luna said. “We’ve driven them back, thanks to you and your soldiers, we’ve won.”

Sharp Sun gulped and nodded, “I’ve fulfilled my duty to the princesses.” He rested his head on the pillow and started to shut his eyes, “I- I need rest...”

“No! No!” Princess Celestia sputtered, “Stay here, stay awake. I’m your princess, I forbid it.”

“I’m sorry, Princess.” he muttered, “I wish...”

“No. NO!” Celestia shouted, “You can’t, you’re not just a soldier. You’re my soldier. I need you. I love you...” she whimpered.

Sharp Sun’s breathing slowed, until it stopped altogether. Celestia pressed her head to the stallion’s neck and emptied her tears into his coat. Luna grabbed her sister in the warmest embrace she could muster, “I’m sorry, Tia. He’s gone.”

Celestia lifted her head and swallowed her tears. She wiped them away with a hoof and shook her head, “No. No Luna, he’s still here. He hasn’t taken him yet.”

“He?” Luna asked, perplexed.

Celestia unfurled her wings and summoned her power. Her eyes began to glow pure white as the tent billowed in the wind. “I know you’re here! You won’t take him! I won’t let you!”

Luna backed away after receiving a menacing glance from her sister. “Tia, please. He’s gone.”

“Reveal yourself!” Celestia shouted, “Come out!”

Celestia summoned a pulse of magic to her horn and gathered energy. The magic sapped the color from the room and expanded outward. It encapsulated the entire tent before revealing a large misshapen biped. Luna gasped and retreated behind her sister. Celestia exploded the magic from her horn and ended the spell. The color returned to the room as the air around them shimmered and coalesced. The hooded figured leaned on a large axe and looked down at the two alicorns. Two golden eyes glowed from beneath the tattered green hood. It stepped forward and with a lizards claw, removed it’s hood.

“Princess Celestia,” it said with a respectful bow. It noticed Luna as well, and likewise performed another, “Princess Luna.” The creature stood up and shook it’s head, “This is most irregular.”

“You won’t have him, Rixis.” Celestia snarled.

Rixis looked at Sharp Sun, then at Celestia. “Princess, I don’t want him. It’s merely his time, and I’m merely a guide.”

“No, you can’t. I need him. I’ve been so long without a stallion like him. I won’t go back to the way it was before. I can’t!” Celestia sputtered.

Rixis paused, then frowned, “I see, he was your lover. I promise he’s going to a safe place. I’m sure he’ll always love you.” he stepped forward and reached out his paw.

Celestia screamed and conjured a powerful beam of white hot magic. She teleported in front of Rixis and shot him directly in the face.

“TIA!” Luna shouted as she grabbed her sister and tried to hold her back.

As the obscuring steam from the spell cleared. Rixis face was almost completely melted away. One of his eyes was gone, and his mane was burnt to a crisp. Where muscle sinew once held a lion’s muzzle, now was charred black along with the white of bone. The impact dislocated his jaw, which caused it to hang sideways, almost comedically.

Despite the injury, Luna didn’t think his expression changed. Rixis rested his executioner’s axe against his shoulder, then cupped both claw and paw around his face. Black writing tentacles wrapped around his head until the damage was repaired. He cracked his neck and stared down the alicorns. “Do you realize what you just did?”

“Sh-she didn’t mean it!” Luna stuttered, “She’s in mourning, she needs to come to her senses.”

“I’m fine!” Celestia shouted, “I can make him better, he stays here!”

Rixis looked around the tent and let out a long sigh, “Warrior!”

A sound behind Celestia and Luna caused the alicorns to turn around and gasp when Sharp Sun began to breath again.

“Ri- Rixis...” Sharp Sun whispered.

Celestia rushed to his side and cradled his head in her forehooves, “I’m here, I’m right here!”

Rixis appeared in front of the pony and stared down at him, “Warrior, do you know who I am?”

Sharp Sun slowly nodded, “I-I’ve seen you before, on battlefields. I’ve seen you ever since I killed my first foe. A phantom, a ghost. I thought I was just seeing things.”

“Perhaps you were,” Rixis said with a lighthearted chuckle. “I’ve watched you, and all your brethren. I’ve watched you win, and I’ve watched those who oppose you, lose.”

“You’re death,” Sharp Sun muttered.

Rixis leaned over slightly, “Are you afraid of me?”

Sharp Sun swallowed and leaned against Celestia, he knew lying to Rixis would be a mistake. “I’ve killed many, it’s only fair I meet you when it’s my time.”

Rixis smiled and nodded, “Well said.” He looked at Celestia, then at Luna. He knew the Moon Princess was petrified. Once he got her attention, he slipped her a quick wink.

“Warrior, do you love your princess?” Rixis asked.

“I do,” Sharp Sun replied.

“Love her as more than just your princess?”  

“Yes,” Sharp Sun answered.

“What would you be willing to do to stay with her?”

Sharp Sun looked at Celestia and smiled, “Anything, I’d do anything.”

“Would you not attempt to cheat death like so many others, and instead attempt to obtain your desire honorably?”

Sharp Sun raised an eyebrow, “I would, but how?”

“You are a warrior, skilled in battle and ending lives. I challenge you, Sharp Sun, to a duel. To the death.”

Sharp sun paused. “If I lose, I go with you? If I win, I stay with Celestia?”

Rixis nodded, “If you win, you will live as long as Celestia lives. This I promise.”  

Celestia grabbed Sharp Sun and held him tightly, “No! He’s the spirit of death! He’ll cheat, you can’t kill him!”

Sharp Sun calmed Celestia and smiled, “I trust him, Celly. I’ll win.” He nodded to Rixis, “I accept.”

Celestia looked at the towering spirit and grimaced, “It’s still an unfair advantage.”

Rixis chuckled and extended his claw down to Sharp Sun, “I respect your honesty and confidence. Your actions in life have earned you a fair fight, and a fair fight you shall have.”

Sharp Sun reached out and took hold of Rixis’ large claw. When he did, a bright light began to envelope the spirit. The light wrapped around him in long billowing bands until his figure was completely obscured. Sharp Sun continued to hold Rixis’ claw, until he felt something different. It was as if he himself caused the change. The light began to fade, and where a towering amalgamation once stood, only a pony remained. A stallion, one of similar build to Sharp Sun.

He stepped forward, revealing hard leather armor with an axe and rapier attached to either side of his belt. As the stallion held his hoof, Sharp Sun was reinvigorated. The gash in his chest had closed, and he felt like he was in his prime again. Sharp Sun let the adrenaline flow through him and gripped Rixis’ hoof harder. Both Stallion’s smiled like children about race.

“To the death,” Rixis said.

“To the death,” Sharp Sun replied.

And with the agreement, both stallion’s disappeared in flash.

----------------

Frost blinked and snapped himself out of the moment. It was as if he was there the whole time. The mirror rippled and returned to normal as if the entire scene never happened. Frost didn’t understand what he just witnessed. Rixis seemed quite selfish when he was pretending to kill Frost, and his justification for why was also self centered. Yet, he was willing to indulge that warrior. He could have murdered Celestia and Luna on the spot for attacking him, but he did nothing.

“Ssssearching through memoriessss are we?” a female voice cooed from behind Frost.

He turned around to find a large blue cobra slithering through the doorway. She shut it behind her with her tail and raised her head high above Frost.

Frost gulped and backed into a mirror, almost knocking it over. “I umm... I guess. You can talk?”

“Of coursssse, child. Why couldn’t I?” the cobra asked with a chuckle.

“Well, I’ve not seen too many talking snakes,” Frost said with a nervous laugh.

The cobra slowly slithered around the room, trailing her long body around the mirrors, and Frost. She stopped when he was completely encircled. “Sssso, what are we watching?”

“I’m not sure, I just saw Rixis agree to fight a stallion in a duel. If he lost, he would have let the stallion live forever.”

“Forever? No... I don’t think sssso.” The cobra hissed with a chuckle, “He didn’t win anyway.”

“He didn’t?” Frost asked, he was somewhat disappointed to hearing that. “How do you know?”

“I wassss there, little pony.” the cobra replied.

Frost remembered seeing Rixis’ tail, and it was indeed a snake. “Yes, I did see you, umm...”

The cobra smiled and gently brushed Frost’s mane with the tip of her tail, “Call me Gari, little pony.”

“Ok, you can call me Frost.”

“Yessss,” Gari said with a smile, “The one who Dissscord hid inside when coming here.” She wrapped her tail around Frost and lifted him up to her head, “Delicioussss.”

Frost winced and shut his eyes, “Why are you here? Am I in trouble?”

“No ssssilly,” Gari said with giggle, “I’m here to make sure you don’t get in trouble.” She tossed Frost up such that he landed atop her hood. Her body uncoiled as Frost slid down it’s length and came to a stop in coils near more mirrors. These were locked inside metal cases.

Frost couldn’t help laughing when Gari’s tail tickled his nose, “Gari stop!” he pleaded.

Gari leaned down and flicked her tongue across Frost’s cheeks, “Who knowssss what trouble you’d have found yourself in if I hadn’t arrived.”

Frost squirmed in her hold and eventually freed himself. “What are these for?”

“They are memoriessss,” Gari hissed.

“Why keep memories in mirrors?” Frost asked.

Gari tilted her head to the side, “Why, to revisit them of coursssse.” She picked Frost up again and placed him atop her head. “You ssssee,” she began while elevating her body up toward the high ceiling, “When you live as long as Rixissss, you tend to accumulate many memoriessss.”

Gari stopped at one of the many mirrors and used her tail to remove it from it’s rack. Frost was amazed at just how long her body was. She didn’t appear nearly this big when attached to Rixis. Gari lowered them both to the ground and placed the mirror on one of the receptacles, then nudged Frost toward it.

“What?” Frost asked.

“Rixissss is...” Gari paused, “A complicated spirit. I understand what reservations you might have, but perhapssss it’s too early to pass judgement.”

Frost knew what she was trying to do, and her constantly swishing tail was starting to get on his nerves. He grabbed Gari’s tail and forced it to stop moving. “He was going to kill me, he did kill me. All for some petty squabble with Discord. I get that there’s bad blood between them, but for a spirit who claims to not interfere with mortals, he sure is a hypocrite. All those things he hated Discord for doing, then he does them to me and that poor pegasus pony.”

Frost didn’t realize how hard he was gripping Gari’s tail. The cobra frowned and slowly flicked her tongue. She looped her body into a pile of coils and sat her head down on it, still facing Frost.

“I know...” Gari said with a sigh, “I know. He hasn’t had an easy life. In situations like those, it’s always one cloven hoof forward, and two back. Sometimes I wonder if he’s learned anything at all.”

Frost noticed Gari sounded strange. Her lisp was gone, and her voice almost seemed different altogether, but it was hard to tell. “You said I should wait to judge, why? What should I see? This?” he motioned to the mirror.

Gari nodded, “Mhm, but I understand if you don’t want to. I’m sorry for what he did to you.”

Frost lowered his head and picked up Gari’s tail, “I squeezed kinda hard. Sorry about that. Can we watch it together?”

Gari flicked her tongue and chuckled, “I’m used to tight squeezes.” She gingerly picked up Frost and sat him next to her head, “You might recognize this pretty pony...”

Frost opened his eyes as the mirror began to project its image into the room. He saw an image of a pony and his mouth dropped, “Thats... !”

--------------------

Seabreeze swished the paint brush across her canvas with a quick flick, then dabbed it in more paint. “There!” she said with a triumphant grin, “Do those clouds look happy or what?”

“Yeah!” the fillies and colts said with a cheer as they watched from their stools.

“Alright, now you all try.” she said while flexing her wings and levitating the small bottles of paint to the foals. “Remember, it’s not-” Seabreeze’s sentence was cut short by a colt mashing his paintbrush into his canvas with such force you’d think he was wielding a battle axe. “Clipper, dear. That’s a bit rough, don’t you think?”

The colt smiled at her and shook his head, “These are thunder clouds, Breezey!”

“Clipper!” a filly shouted next to him while waving her paintbrush and flinging paint everywhere. “She’s a princess!”

Seabreeze wiped paint from her face and saw Clipper frown. She laid a green wing across him and nuzzled the top of his head, “It’s alright Wind Walker, you all can call me Breezey.”

After gently encouraging Clipper to be less forceful, Seabreeze strolled down the hall of her castle. She had painted this place with the magic of her beloved, and it was their world to share. The castle wasn’t big at the moment, in fact it was quite cozy, as far as castles go. As she brewed a cup of coffee in the pantry, three loud knocks shook the central hall of the castle.

Seabreeze almost dropped her coffee in surprise. Nopony could enter the painting without her express permission, and right now Aldus was the only pony who knew the incantation. As she was lost in thought, she failed to notice Wind Walker innocently approaching the doors. The castle doors were large, too large for foals, so Seabreeze had Aldus install levers that could let them enter and exit at their leisure. It was a shame, the children never got a chance to see Aldus the last time he was here.

Wind Walker pulled the lever and stood at the doors, waiting to greet the pony on the other side. As the two doors slowly creaked open, Wind Walker fell under the shadow of an enormous creature. It stood taller than two minotaurs with a long green cloak and a walking stick.

“Hello,” the creature said as it looked down at the filly.

An ear splitting scream jolted Seabreeze from her reverie. She saw Wind Walker bolting through the halls, her tiny wings buzzing in frantic attempts to lift her off the ground. Seabreeze intercepted the foal and tried to comfort her, “Shh, what’s wrong?”

Wind Walker quaked in Seabreeze’s hooves and pointed to the entrance. Seabreeze noticed the sun was briefly blocked out by something large. The creature knelt down and peaked through the doorway. It reached in with it’s arm, a lion’s paw. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

The rest of Seabreeze’s class had come to investigate and saw the creature. They screamed and ran back into the castle, tipping over canvas and paint cans as they went. The creature pulled back it’s paw as if it had been stung by a bee. Seabreeze couldn’t tell for sure, but she thought she saw a pained expression on it’s face. Whatever it was, it pushed itself to it’s feet and began to walk away. The expression she was unsure of, but her heightened senses as an alicorn definitely allowed her to hear what the creature said before it left: “I’m sorry.”

Seabreeze sat Wind Walker down and whispered to her, “Go join the others and stay inside, okay?”

Wind Walker nodded and bolted off down the hallway. Seabreeze slowly made her way to the doors and stepped outside. She saw the prints the creature left in the ground. One the shape of a lizard, the other a cloven hoof. Seabreeze was debating whether to go after it when she saw something on the steps next to the door. It was a basket. Inside was a meager bundle of flowers, and some baked goods. Underneath the basket was a small, plain rug. Seabreeze opened it up and gasped. The rug depicted an embroidered image of her castle backed by a setting sun. Underneath in simple letters it read: “Welcome.”

Seabreeze sat the rug down next to the basket and ascended into the air. She was still getting used to the wings, but she was able to fly well enough. She saw the creature walking down the road away from the castle and took off after it.

“Wait, stop!” she called.

The creature halted and glanced at Seabreeze without turning around, “I didn’t mean to frighten any children. I should’ve known better than to come like this.” it said while gesturing a claw across it’s body, “I should just go.”

“No,” Seabreeze said while fluttering over it’s head and landing in front of it. She blocked it’s path and looked into its golden eyes, “You were just here to welcome us? That’s very nice of you. I’m Seabreeze, it’s nice to meet you.” she said while offering a hoof.

The creature offered a weak smile and touched a talon to Seabreeze’s hoof. “I’m Rixis. You... don’t know who I am?”

“I’m afraid not,” Seabreeze replied, “Should I?”

Rixis knelt down and examined her, “You’re an alicorn, you should-” he paused a moment and sniffed Seabreeze, “You weren’t always an alicorn?”

“I- no, how do you know that?” Seabreeze asked.

Rixis stood once again and shook his head, “This world resides in a realm near my own, which is why I came to welcome you as a neighbor of sorts.” he explained with a gentle smile. “It would take very old magic to create this place, I was expecting an alicorn much older...”

Seabreeze chuckled flapped her wings happily, “Well, these only recently came into my possession. I have a mentor, an older alicorn named Desalia.”

“The silver one?” Rixis inquired, “Ah yes, she watches over an ancient library does she not? That would explain where you came across the means to make this.”

Seabreeze stood silently for a moment, then clapped her hooves together, “You know, we were just about to sit down for lunch. Would you like to join us?”

Rixis raised an eyebrow, “You really want to sit down to lunch with the spirit of death?”

Seabreeze dropped her hoof and took a step back. She paused a moment and appraised Rixis, then did something he didn’t expect. She grinned, then shrugged.

“You’re still a neighbor, right? Come on, it’s only right I show hospitality. And by the sound of things, there’s a lot I need to learn about this place.”

Rixis twirled his walking stick and was consumed by light. When the light dissipated, a brown earth stallion stood before Seabreeze. “Don’t want to scare the children again.” he said with a laugh.

Seabreeze giggled and glomped Rixis, “I’m sure they’ll love you. C’mon!” she grabbed his hoof and led him back to the castle.

-----------------

Frost leaned back and scratched his head. “So that’s how he met Princess Seabreeze.”

Gari turned her head and nodded, “It issss. The little alicorn never expected to meet a spirit, and Rixis never expected to meet such a young princessss”

Frost sat against Gari’s coils and yawned. He noticed that Gari was different in those memories. “Gari... what are you?”

“What am I?” she asked, “What do you mean?”

“Discord doesn’t have any other parts of him that talk and have their own minds, and he’s the spirit of chaos.” Frost said. “You are a separate thing right now, but when you become Rixis’ tail... then what? Are you part of him? Am I talking to him now?”

“Such a curioussss little pony,” Gari said with a chuckle, “If I told you what I wassss, I’d have to kill you.”

Frost laughed and grabbed her swishing tail, “With your lethal venom? You’d have to catch me first.” He was starting to get bored watching the memories. He wondered if he egged her on, Gari would play with him.

Gari hissed and elevated her head. She looked at her coils surrounding Frost. “One could ssssay I’ve already caught you. And I don’t need venom, I could jusssst eat you.”

Frost, now delighted that Gari was playing along, teleported on top of her head and pushed it down. He teleported away a second time and materialized on one of the many high shelves. “I hope you have magic to keep up with me, that big body seems pretty slow.”

No sooner had Frost finished his sentence, Gari exploded toward him like a spring and bit the shelf off just where he was previously standing. She spit out the wood and began to coil around one of the pillars nearest him. “Sssso, is this to be hide and sssseek?” Gari closed her eyes and started to count, “Run and hide little Frossst. Once I find you, you won’t be using that magic any more.”

Frost snickered and silently teleported to the room’s entrance. “Good luck finding me in this huge castle, and I know just the place where you’ll never think to look.” he laughed to himself as he took off down the hall.

--------------------

Luna ran a brush through her mane as she tracked the moon on it’s trajectory through the night sky. It was definitely picturesque here in the Silver Isles. A knock on the door captured her attention. She sat down her tea and cleared her throat.

“Enter.”

The door opened and Thule stepped into the princess’s room. He smiled and bowed, almost too politely. Luna rolled her eyes and continued to brush her mane. “Please shut the door, Thule. I wish to discuss this in confidence.”

Thule smirked and obeyed, “Oh, always in confidence...”

Luna turned around and put down her brush. “You know why I called you here?”

Thule grinned knowingly, “I would assume it’s because you wish to employ my special talents.”

Luna frowned, “Yes, just like I used to do when-”

“Nightmare Moon,” Thule interrupted, “Yes, oh starlight am I feeling the nostalgia right now.”

“I have only vague memories,” Luna admitted, “How did it go?”

Thule flexed his wings and unsheathed his blades. He placed them on the floor before his princess and knelt. “I would present myself and my tools to you, and you would ask me if I’m prepared to serve.”

“You served me then, are you prepared to serve me now?” Luna asked.

“I am,” Thule replied.

“Now what?” Luna inquired.

“Now, princess... you speak a name to me, and I end them.”

“You’re not going to kill anypony, Thule.” Luna said with a stern glare.

Thule was taken aback, “Then, forgive me princess... but why am I here?”

“Your skills can be put to other uses. I want you to find whoever is head of this child slavery ring.”

“... And then... kill them?” Thule asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No!” Luna snapped. She put a hoof to her chest to calm down. “No I mean, I don’t know.”

“You’re conflicted,” Thule said while picking up his swords and sheathing them. “I understand, this isn’t the same as it was back then.”

Luna remained silent and turned away. “Back then I wasn’t me.”

Thule shook his head, “Yes you were, I remember.”

“What?” Luna asked, “What do you remember?”

“You were a Queen back then,” Thule said with a chuckle, “Your confidence was contagious. Not all of the courtiers thought so, but I found it... enrapturing. You were different back then, but you were still Luna. We all saw it. Aldus, Rigel, Polaris, we all knew you were in there.”

Luna shivered when she felt a membranous wing fold around her side. Thule sat down beside her and looked down into her eyes. She didn’t notice if she was slouching, but Thule sitting near her was comforting. As alicorns, she and her sister were generally taller than mares and stallions, but some matched them in height. Her courtiers were some such ponies. Rigel and Thule possessed special bloodlines which contributed to their frames and stature.

Luna sighed and leaned against Thule, “I wish I remembered more, but then again, perhaps it’s best I don’t.”

“Then I assume you don’t remember what else happened during our meetings?”

“No,” Luna replied, “I don’t.”

“As Queen of the Night, you...” Thule paused, “Hmm how to put it...” He gestured with his hoof for emphasis, trying to find the words. “You demanded certain... other services from me.”

Luna raised an eyebrow, “I’m not certain I follow.”

“I think you do,” Thule stated plainly.

Luna got up and ruffled her wings in embarrassment, “I can’t believe that. I- I couldn’t have. Thule, I- I’m sorry.”

Thule shook his head got up to comfort Luna, “Nothing to be sorry about, you were Queen, and I didn’t object at all. In fact, I enjoyed myself... as did you.”

Luna blushed and turned away, “I don’t know what to say.”

Thule crept up behind Luna and wrapped his forehooves around her. He brushed her mane away and lightly kissed her neck, “You don’t remember this?”

Luna moaned and fell back into Thule’s embrace. Being held by a protective stallion made her feel so... “No... why don’t you remind me?” she asked while grinning like a filly.

Thule flexed his wings and brought them forward around them both, “You used to love it when I’d bite.” he growled.

Luna turned around and nuzzled into his neck, “Trying to turn me, are you?”

“Never!” Thule said in mock insult, earning a giggle from Luna. “Don’t imagine I’d have much success even if I tried, what with your alicorn blood.”

Luna threw her forehooves around Thule’s neck and kissed him on the muzzle. “I want you here the rest of the night, mister.”

“Oh course,” Thule said, “Who knows who might come lurking in the night to hurt you?”

“That’s right,” Luna cooed while leading him over to her bed, “The children always think nightmares and monsters are the scariest things. I wonder what they’d think knowing the most dangerous nightstalker serves me and is such a sweety pie?”

Thule silenced Luna with a kiss and fell onto the bed with her on top of him. “Shh... I have a reputation to maintain.”

“Yes,” Luna agreed with a mischievous smile, “About your reputation...”

Chapter 31: The Gift

Luna gripped Thule tight as he removed his fangs from her neck. He hadn’t bit her, not yet. He didn’t want to escalate things too quickly after just arriving. Plus, Luna was already thoroughly enjoying herself. She held onto him like a life raft in a raging ocean. Luna barely had any room to move when Thule pinned her wings to her sides, then locked his own wings behind her. Thule reasoned her behavior was due to being locked away without companionship for that long thousand years. He knew he could never survive so long without the company of another. That... and with living so long, he was very, very experienced. It only made sense Luna was enjoying herself.

Thinking about it, that was something that always amused Thule. He was old, having Saros’ bloodline granted him a long life. But he was nothing compared to Luna and Celestia. They’ve been around for ages. Yet... Luna didn’t present herself as an experienced mare under the sheets. As a ruler of many clans and covens of bat ponies, Thule knew political posturing. It was entirely possible Luna was hiding her true skills and knowledge as she would anything else, but he doubted it. What reason would she have? Perhaps her reclusive nature explained it, perhaps it was that simple. Despite that, it didn’t mean Luna lacked for playfulness or some measure of skill.

Thule felt teeth sink into his neck. Luna let out a low purr and adjusted herself on top of him.

“Who’s the bat pony here?” Thule whispered with a chuckle.

Luna poked her head out from under Thule’s wing and bit him again, “You are, but I’m not just some submissive mare you can charm, little colt...”

Thule raised an eyebrow and trailed his hooves sensually down Luna’s back. She let out a small gasp when he took a firm hold on her moon, “Little colt...?”

She grinned, and began to slowly rock her hips, “I remember you when you were just a little thing. You were so cute... and you were afraid of me.” she said with a giggle.

Thule let out a sigh. He might have gotten angry if that bit of mane covering one eye wasn’t making her so sexy right now. “You were scary... and loud...”

Luna stopped her motions and frowned, “I was, wasn’t I?” She laid down against Thule again and cuddled closer to him, “That’s part of why ponies didn’t like me.”

Thule pulled her forward and stared at her, “No, it’s not. They didn’t like you for the same reasons they didn’t like me... we’re different.”

Luna cracked a small smile and let a single tear fall from her eyes, “Yes, and you’re a bit of an asshole.”

“A bit of an asshole?” Thule asked.

Luna didn’t have time to respond. Thule wrapped his forehooves around her wings, pinning them to her sides again. He leapt into the air and landed back on the bed with a small bounce of the mattress. Luna was at his mercy and enjoying every second of it. Thule slowly sank his fangs into Luna’s neck and squeezed her. She let out a gasp, but not in pain. He pulled his fangs out and examined the bite, no blood. That was the thing with Luna, no matter how deep he’d bite, never any blood. He wondered if that was the case for all alicorns.

Luna moaned and shivered at Thule’s aggressive gesture. She smiled as he let her down, then shoved him back so hard he fell over. “Naughty little colt.” Luna scoffed.

Thule was taken aback. He grinned at first, but it quickly faded as Luna flapped off the bed and whipped her mane to the side. She slipped on a small bath robe and tied her mane in a ponytail.

“I give you the best night you’ve had in one thousand years, and this is the thanks I get?” Thule asked with a nervous laugh.

Luna cracked her neck and stretched her wings. She opened the door to the beach and gave him a sidelong glance, “I’m going for a walk, you’re just going to let me go all by myself?”

Thule flipped out of the bed without a second thought and grinned. Luna rolled her eyes and trotted out to the beach with him close behind. The waves gently lapping at the shore were something Luna enjoyed, it felt soothing against her bare hooves. The moon was obscured by ever growing stormclouds. That was something she was not used to in Equestria, weather changed much quickly here near the ocean than back home.

Luna stopped and turned to Thule, who had remained silent, “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Thule asked innocently.

“You know what!” Luna snapped, “I wasn’t ready for that, you can’t just bite a princess.”

He paused, then raised a hoof, “If I had announced it, the experience wouldn’t have been the same. You smiled before shoving me...”

Luna’s brow furrowed and her eyes turned white, “We weren’t ready...”

Thule became more cautious after hearing Luna slip into the old dialect, “I only thought it would bring you pleasure.” He knelt and touched his forehead to the sand, “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

Luna’s eye’s returned to normal and she sighed, “You didn’t hurt me... get up, Thule.” She shook her head trailed her eyes across Thule’s body, “You just caught me off guard.” She sat on her haunches and looked down, “This is something I’ve never been good at. I’ve never been able to just... do it. I’m not like my sister or Desalia, I don’t have that posture and presence. That confidence. I’m not a mare like they are.”

Thule frowned and ran a hoof through his mane. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Luna was different from the other alicorns. Aside from Cadance, and the newly ascended princess, she was the smallest in stature of all the others. To some it might be insignificant, but those who believed that, have never stood in an alicorn’s presence. They radiated magic and the confidence of ages. Thule was an alpha, in every sense of the word. He was at peak physical condition for what his age would allow, and he was taller by a head than most other bat ponies. He ruled over several clans of his people. He got there by political scheming and assassinations, several of the latter he performed himself. When he finally died, history would likely remember him as a prominent figure, in one manner or another. Yet, despite all that, Thule felt every bit a child when in the presence of every alicorn he’d ever known. That was partly why he reacted the way he did when Luna called him a little colt. He didn’t enjoy being reduced to such a helpless thing. But... if Luna felt similarly around her sister and the others?

Thule picked up Luna’s chin and offered a genuine smile. “You might not be a mare like they are, but you’re still a mare, and a beautiful one.”

Luna looked up at him and shook her head. “You’re just saying that.”

Thule groaned and wrapped a wing around Luna, “I don’t like getting all sappy like this. But I want to tell you something.” He felt Luna lean against him, and took that as a sign of approval. “I remember meeting you for the first time. We all were told a princess was coming. But not just any princess, the Princess of the Night. The princess who presided over the time in which we could thrive. The one who guided the beautiful moon across the sky.”

“Guess I was a big deal in some places, too bad your people always wished to live away from ponies.” Luna lamented.

Thule ignored her negativity for a moment and continued, “The time when I first saw you I was a little foal. Do you remember?”

Luna looked up at him and nodded, “Your parents and others were introducing the kids to me. You were near the very back, trying to stay hidden. You were a runt back then.”

Thule cleared his throat and glanced down at Luna, “Yes, well... some things have certainly changed. But please, do continue.”

Luna smirked, “I saw you shying away from me, and I admit it bothered me a little...”

“Really?” Thule asked, genuinely surprised.

“Oh yes,” Luna said with a nod. “Oh goddess, it’s all coming back to me now. I levitated you over and you squirmed in my field the entire time. I sat you in my lap and asked what was wrong. You couldn’t even speak you were so timid.”

“Do you remember how you placated me?” Thule asked.

“I conjured a small star from my mane and morphed it into a sphere, in the shape of the moon. I gave it to you to play with, and as something to remember me by.” Luna said.

Luna felt Thule shift next to her. He produced a small pouch sealed with ornate gold lining. He handed it to her without a word. Luna slowly took the pouch and opened it. A small faded grey orb lay in the center of her hoof. Tears formed in her eyes and her lips began to quiver.

“When Polaris came to conscript us, I resisted. Not just because he challenged me openly in front of my people. But because I knew we couldn’t win, even then.” Thule said with a heavy sigh, “After Polaris defeated me, I returned to my chambers and tore them apart in rage. I’d lost in front of everypony. Because of my failure, several parents would never see their colts and fillies again. The war would claim many of their lives. But that wasn’t all. I personally didn’t want to serve a monster who would only rage and send me off to die with some stupid decision. That, and I hated Polaris and Aldus...” He paused, then pointed at the bauble, “Then, in the ruins of my drawers, I found this. I had almost forgotten about it. I picked it up and remembered that day. I remembered the warmth and care in your eyes as you held me. I remembered you letting me play with your mane so much that it became incredibly snarled, but you didn’t care. I remembered what you whispered before letting me go, ‘I’ll be with you in your dreams, should you ever need me.’ When I did need you, you were there.”

“Thule...” Luna said as tears began to fall.

“I picked up my blades and made a vow that day. I vowed that no matter how you looked, or how different you sounded, I would look into your eyes upon first seeing you. If I saw you were still there, if you were still you, I would serve. I vowed whoever you ordered me to kill, would die.”

Luna wiped tears from her eyes and pushed her head into Thule’s chest, “I- I don’t know what to say.”

Rain began to fall from the gathering clouds as lightning arced across the ocean. Thule lifted his wing above his princess and picked up her chin, “You’re more a mare than nearly all the mares I’ve ever been with. You don’t need to beat yourself up all the time. Nor do you need to feel guilty about our time tonight. It’s just a harmless bit of fun. Fun, I might add, you seemed in dire need of.”

Luna playfully pushed Thule away and looked up, “I suppose we’d better get back.”

Both rushed back to the cottage and dried off while Thule hurried to shut the door. The wind began to assault the house and brought torrents of rain to smash against it. He had to admit, this type of weather was not common where he was from in the deciduous forests far away in northern Equestria.

“Is this a monsoon?” Thule asked while Luna dried her mane.

“Don’t know,” Luna said, “I hope it doesn’t last the night.”

Thule noticed that the sheets of their bed had been changed while they were gone. How odd. He’d have to thank the maid for being so thorough... and also ask how exactly she knew what they were doing...

Thule trotted to the door and opened it to leave, but Luna stopped him. “Where are you going, mister?”

“Well, we’ve had our fun. I’ve opened up to you and have been far too sensitive. I was going to go back to my room.”

Luna blinked and swished her mane, “I don’t recall giving you permission to leave.”

“I was just-”

“I recall wanting you here for the entire night. I don’t recall changing my mind. Now come to bed.”

Thule was still getting used to be ordered around like this, but coming from Luna, he enjoyed it. He climbed in bed and opened a wing for her. She climbed in and pulled it around herself.

“I love it when you give me orders like that,” Thule whispered into her ear, “If you want any more of my services... the night is young.”

“I’ve had enough for one night, Thule. Just shut up and cuddle me.” she said with a small giggle.

Thule rolled his eyes and sighed in lament, “Fine...”

Later into the night, the storm had kicked up and was battering the cottage with gale force winds. The trees outside were bent in half and the waves crashed loudly to shore. Thunder boomed overhead and shook the cottage with each clap. Several hooves shuffled through the hall outside and stopped at Princess Luna’s door. The door cracked open and several fillies and colts stepped inside.

Thule twitched in his sleep and sensed intruders, he bolted upright and unsheathed a blade. The children only saw an intimidating figure with piercing red eyes. Screams ripped Luna out of her dreamscapes and she woke with a start. The children were tripping over themselves trying to scramble out of the room.

“Children...” Luna muttered through half lidded eyes. The foals kept clawing at the door and ignored her. “Children... Children!!!”

They froze in place and turned to face Luna. “Umm... hello, princess,” one of the colts muttered as he stepped forward to speak for the group. “I’m Swift, Swift Wind.”

Luna leaned forward and offered a gentle smile, “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Another boom shook the cottage. The foals pressed themselves against the floor  as nearby trees brushed against the windows.

“The storm, I see...” Luna said with a chuckle, “And you all wanted to stay with me for the night?”

The children nodded in unison, which earned a giggle from Luna. Thule turned to her and shrugged his shoulders, “They need you? It’s just a storm, they’ll be fine by themselves.”

Luna raised an eyebrow and leaned within inches of Thule’s muzzle, “Oh really? I seem to remember a Sarosian colt who wet the bed from thunderstorms...”

Thule glared at Luna and whispered, “That-never-happened.”

Luna grinned mischievously, then opened her wings to the foals, “Come to bed, little ones. Let’s all get to sleep.” The children didn’t move, most of them were fixated on Thule. Luna noticed he still had his blade out. “Thule, dear. You can sleep on the couch tonight.”

“Excuse me?”

“The children are scared, I’ll sleep with them here. You’re too big to fit, so go sleep on the couch.” Luna repeated.

Thule let out a defeated sigh and forcefully sheathed his blade. He looked at the foals and grumbled before hovering away..

The children ran to the bed and jumped for joy, until another thunderclap and they were stuck to Luna like magnets. She shushed them and laid down on her side. The foals nestled themselves under her wings, and in the middle against her back. Several nestled under her twinkling mane, while others pulled her forehooves around them.

Thule rolled over and set his sword down underneath the couch and turned in for the night. He needed rest for the meetings in the morning.

--------------------

Frost ducked into another room filled with mirrors. Most of which were on display against the walls. He crawled under some old furniture and boxes while making sure he wasn’t followed. No sooner had he controlled his breathing, he heard a heavy object sliding across the floor. Frost peaked under the cloth of the bed and saw Gari slither into the room. She looked around and passed by one of the mirrors. When she did, Frost saw something that made him do a double take. The reflection in the mirror was not a cobra. It wasn’t even a snake. As she slithered by, Frost saw long slender legs of a pony. It looked like a very tall mare with a red or purple tail, it was too hard to tell.

Frost was about to investigate an exit strategy when he felt smooth coils quickly wrap around him. Before he could do anything he was yanked from the bed and playfully whipped around.

“Stop... I think I’m gonna be sick,” Frost muttered.

“Oh sssso sorry, little pony.” Gari hissed with laughter. She brought him in front of her hood and flicked her tongue across his snout, “I thought you’d do better than thissss.”

Frost squirmed in her grip. It wasn’t so tight to cause pain, but snug enough that he had trouble moving. He muttered something, but made it inaudible so Gari had to bring him closer. When she did, Frost blew frigid breath across her face. Stunned, Gari let Frost fall while she hissed in irritation. He ran to the door, thinking he could escape the room. He could have teleported, but conserving magic was a top priority. Unfortunately, conservation had it’s drawbacks. Before Frost got to the door, Gari slammed it shut with her tail and dropped loops of coils on top of Frost, trapping him again. This time she squeezed harder, making it difficult to breathe. She lowered her head down and glared at him.

“They don’t call you Frost for nothing I ssssee,” Gari mused while moving her head around him.

“Yeah. Come closer and I’ll give you another taste...” Frost threatened.

“A tassste?” Gari queried with a sly smile, “What an excellent idea...”

Gari raised Frost into the air above her head, she adjusted her coils such that he was dangling upside down.

“Gari... what are you doing?” Frost asked with a nervous laugh.

“Having a taste, like you suggessssted,” she answered. “Poniessss are my favorite, and you’ll be safe inside my sssstomach.”

“You can’t eat me!” Frost shrieked, “I- I’ll cause indigestion. Selene and Rixis won’t be happy!”

“Sssselene and Rixis are the ones who told me to keep you out of trouble. Sssso that’s what I’m going to do. Down the hatch...”

Gari’s mouth opened incredibly wide, revealing a cavernous black hole that stretched at least twenty paces to the ground, and the rest of her body. Frost felt the coils holding him let go, and he summoned his magic. He swore he felt her tongue start to wrap around him before disappearing.

He reemerged and made another break for the door. Frost tried to teleport outside, but nothing happened. He panicked and saw coils moving in his periphery. He jumped out of the way and ran behind more furniture. He tried to teleport again, this time just above to the second level of the room. Again, nothing. Soon, Frost was surrounded by blue coils. Gari positioned herself, then lunged at him with surprising speed. Frost closed his eyes and reacted on instinct. He casted a spell Aldus had shown him when they first started training. It was a basic one that didn’t require nearly as much magic as teleporting.

Frost erected a small bubble around him and expanded it outward five paces in all directions. It stopped expanding just as Gari slammed into it. Her body folded together like a slinky as the momentum carried her into the barrier. Frost fell over laughing as Gari recovered.

“That looked like it hurt,” Frost said with a chuckle while running a hoof through his mane, “You should just let me go. I can keep this up all day.”

Gari hissed angrily, then reared back. She fanned her hood menacingly and spit green venom onto the barrier. The venom clung to the shield and started to eat through it like acid. Gari spit more onto the barrier until it was completely covered. Frost tried to reinforce it, but realized he was losing magic as some of the venom dripped onto him. He remembered from Discord’s fight with Rixis the power of Gari’s venom. As the last of the shield collapsed, Frost dodged to the side, but was slammed by a stream of green slime. The venom clung to Frost like thick mud. He felt the magic leaving as the slime weighed him down. He collapsed to the floor, helpless prey.

Gari slowly slithered up to him and brandished her fangs. “What were you ssssaying, little one?”

“Please don’t eat me...” Frost pleaded. The venom was practically sludge, it was so hard to move. But it didn’t hurt, that was the strange thing. Frost figured it would at least sting or hurt in some way.

Gari opened her mouth wide and descended on Frost. He closed his eyes and waited for it, but nothing happened. A small nudge caused Frost to open his eyes. Gari kissed him on the cheek and tilted her head to the side.

“You’re a good pony, Frost.”

Her voice changed again, this time it sounded deeper. “How do you know that, you barely know me?” he asked.

“Oh, but I do know you, Frost.” Gari said with confidant gleam in her eyes, “You’re just like Kethona. You have anger and hate, but you don’t let it rule you. When it comes time to act, you know which emotions help you, and which ones harm you. You put trust in one that could easily turn on you, but that didn’t matter. You believed in her.”

“We’ll see how that turns out,” Frost grumbled while thinking of Silth.

“Yes, we will, won’t we?” Gari agreed. “I’m not going to eat you, not when you have so much left to live for. Besides, she’s going to need you in the times ahead.”

“Who?” Frost asked.

Gari only smiled touched her tail to Frosts head. The venom fell off of him like water, and he was free to move around again. She lowered her head and motioned for him to get on. Frost laid down atop Gari’s hood and gripped the folds as she began to move.

“She’s going to need you, and you’ll need her. But enough about that. Let’s find that other delicioussss colt. If I can’t eat you...” she teased.

---------------------

“So what’s it gonna be, lad?” Gargarensis asked with a grin, “How about’ a war hammer?”

Pyrite raised a hoof and was about to respond when he was swept off his feet by Saros. She flew with him over to the smaller weapons and whispered in his ear, “I think it’s better we start of with something small. What do you think of these?”

Gargarensis rolled his eyes and blew steam from his snout, “A strength weapon would be your best option. You might be a pipsqueak now, but I think you’ll be growing into a beast when the time comes.”

Pyrite chuckled as Saros playfully prodded his muscles, “Don’t listen to him, you’re plenty strong now, cutie.”

Pyrite stepped away from Saros and picked up the flanged mace again. He swung it a few times and examined the handle. It was too big. Saros knelt down and looked at it. Pyrite held it it out to her, prompting her to take it. “What do you think?”

Saros looked at it and shrugged, “Not my style, little guy. Too big, too slow. No finesse.”

“Oh!” Gargarensis shouted behind them, “No finesse? There’s plenty of finesse, just not the kind you’re used to. What does the little cub have there?”

Pyrite was wrapped up in Gargarensis’ long tail and deposited on the crafting table. The smith spread his hands and bent over. “That mace, huh?”

Saros flew up and landed behind Pyrite. She sat down four other flanged maces and wrapped a wing around him in reassurance. “Don’t rush him, there’s a lot of weapons here to think about.”

Gargarensis grunted, “Well, while he’s thinking, here.” He reached over to a shelf and picked up a bundle between his two talons, “Forged to your specifications. Rixis even admired the red one. I do love my work, even if it’s for pig stickers like that.”

“The red one?” Saros asked with an anxious smile.

She opened the bundle and gasped. A straight sword forged in rare red material with a slightly curved tip sat next to a blade as dark as the night. A dagger, with a tip that looked like it could suck the life out of whatever it touched.

“Wow...” Pyrite muttered in awe.

“Eee!!” Saros shrieked in joy. She picked up Pyrite and held him bonecrushing hug. She lifted off the table and spun in the air so fast it almost made him sick.

“Saros... can’t breathe!” Pyrite wheezed.

She settled back on the table, then smirked at the smith. Saros flew up to him and hugged his cheek, “I love you, Gargy. This is the best work you’ve ever done. Such a sweetie pie!”

“Alright! Alright!” he said while swatting her away, “I’m glad you like them. Now, little cub, what’s it going to be?”

Pyrite examined the maces and picked up his favorite. He hefted it over his shoulder and swung it hard. The momentum almost took the weapon away from him, but he was able to recover from the swing.

“This weapon...” Pyrite said, “It can’t leave here, can it? I can’t take it with me?”

Saros and Gargarensis looked at each other, “No,” Saros replied, “It stays here, we’re not of the living, but you still are.”

Pyrite frowned and sat on his haunches, “I figured...”

“Hey,” Gargarensis said while leaning down. He offered a reassuring smile. “You dream, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Pyrite asked.

“Well there you go!” Gargarensis said with a laugh. “You can come here and train with the weapon then!”

“Really?” Pyrite asked.

“Really,” Saros said while fluttering down beside him. She laid on her stomach and examined the maces. “So, what’s it going to be?”

Pyrite picked up his favorite of the ones in front of him, “Well, I like different things about all of them. I don’t know which one is best.”

“Kid, Rixis told me to take care of you. The big guy wants you fitted, so that’s what I’m gonna do. What did you like about each of them?” Gargarensis asked.

“Well, this one had a grip that’s too big.” Pyrite said while pointing to the first mace. “But this one is too long. I like the design on this other one. So, maybe do something with this one?” Pyrite asked.

Gargarensis wound his tail around Pyrite and suspended him over a can of paint. “Hold your breath, little cub.”

He dropped Pyrite into the can and swished him around a bit, then levitated him out and into his palm. He pulled the liquid off with his other claw, and formed a cast of his entire body.

“Woah...” Pyrite exclaimed while examining his image in the mold. “Do I really look like that?”

The image before him was a well toned colt that looked like he could pull the horns off a minotaur.

“Well...” Gargarensis considered, “Yeah, sure! It’s just to help when I nail down the specifics.”

“I really appreciate all of this,” Pyrite said. He looked up at Gargarensis and extended his hoof. “Thanks, but can I just ask for one more thing?”

Gargensis touched a single talon to Pyrite and shook, “Sure, what is it?”

“The color, can you make it silver?”

Gargarensis threw back his head in laughter, “You got it, cub, To match your coat.”

A hissing sound brought Pyrite and Saros’ attention to the door as Gari poked her head in. “What’ssss going on in here?” she hissed with a laugh.

Frost teleported over to Pyrite and ruffled his mane, “What are you doing, buddy? Getting fitted for war?”

“He’s not the only one, kiddo.” Saros said while twirling a dagger. She extended her hoof and shook with Frost. “Call me Saros, and you are?”

“Frost, it’s pleasure.” he said with a smile.

Selene entered the room from a portal in the wall. Rixis followed behind her and smiled at the foals. Selene trotted forward and collected them in her mane. “It’s time I returned you two home.”

Frost raised an eyebrow, “Are you not coming with us?”

Selene shook her head, “I’m going to remain here with Rixis for a while. We have a lot to catch up on. My children will continue to look after you, I promise.”

“You’re leaving again?” Pyrite asked with frown.

Selene smiled and kissed Pyrite, “I’ll be right here, and I’ll be watching you all. Besides, you’ve made some new friends who will help you be strong. Tell Aldus I’ll be gone for a while.”

“What are we supposed to say?” Frost asked.

Selene nuzzled him and opened two portals behind each foal, “Just tell him I’m doing some soul searching.”

She slowly moved her tendrils through the portals and deposited Frost and Pyrite on a bed, their eyes snapped shut the moment their heads hit the pillows. The coils lovingly caressed the colts before disappearing back through the portals. Just as the portals began to close, Saros slipped through and leaned down over the sleeping foals. Her eyes glowed intense red as she playfully whispered, “It’s probably best that you two keep our little visit to yourselves for now, okay?”

Frost and Pyrite murmured their replies, spurred to answer by Saros’ potent night powers.

“Good boys,” she said with chuckle, then disappeared through the portal just as it closed.

--------------------

Pyrite awoke the next morning and rolled over on his side. He was glad Frost was there with him, even though he didn’t remember how they got back from that other world. But he did remember hearing Saros whisper something in his ear. That he should stay quiet about their little meeting. Pyrite didn’t mind that at all, in fact he’d rather the next time he saw her he’d be cured, whenever that was. After thinking about his vampiric condition, as if on cue, he made the mistake of rolling over to the other side. Blinding light bombarded his pupils and caused a sharp pain to travel up the back of his head. Pyrite literally hissed and pulled the sheets over his head in a fit of rage. He was about to get up when he heard the door open, and the silent flaps of gryphon wings. This whole night powers thing Saros was talking about did have it’s benefits. Normally he never would have heard Iris sneaking up on him.

She had a history of doing this with Pyrite. Iris would sneak up on him at unsuspecting times and capture him. What followed was tickle torture for a solid five or six minutes, which Pyrite had a difficult time escaping. But now... things would be different.

Pyrite looked through a crack in the sheets and saw Iris raise her claws and cautiously approach the bed to grab him. He waited for just the right moment, then turned and leapt straight at her.

“Rawr!” Pyrite mockingly yelled as he dove at Iris with outstretched forehooves.

Iris was not prepared for what jumped out at her. Her feline fur stood on edge and her feathers twitched. In the heat of the moment, all Iris saw was a silver pony lunging for her throat with red eyes and small fangs. Her training from Kathe and fight or flight instincts took over. She swiftly maneuvered to catch Pyrite by the throat, then let his momentum take her into a spin. Coming out of it, she threw him into the wall across from the bed. As soon as Iris let him go, events happened in slow motion. She watched him sail through the air, legs flailing, and impact the wall hard enough to leave a small crack.

Pyrite yelped as he fell to the floor in a heap. Pain registered through his body, but mostly from his shoulder and right forehoof. He winced as tears came to his eyes.

The impact was enough to wake Frost, who sat up and surveyed Pyrite’s position by the wall. He saw Iris hovering nearby and put two and two together, even though it didn’t make sense at all.

“What was that?!” Frost shouted at Iris.

Iris looked at Frost frantically, “I don’t- I didn’t mean-”

She stopped when Pyrite got to his hooves and limped out of the room. Tears now flowing free down his face. He tripped over the door, but quickly got up ran away over the hills.

“What’s the matter with you, Iris?!” Frost yelled, while he climbed out of bed. “He was just playing around.”  

Iris was still uneasy about Pyrite’s appearance, “I- I don’t know, he just startled me and I reacted.” Iris touched down and shook her head, “He’s really pale, his eyes are red, and I thought I saw...”

“What?!” Frost asked.

“Fangs...” Iris whispered.

“Pfft,” Frost scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous, you were just seeing things. I was with him last night and I didn’t notice anything like that. Look, I don’t know what came over you, but you better go find him right now. I’ll go get Ciaran for when you come back.”

Iris stopped Frost as he went to leave, “Frost... I would never-”

“I know,” he said with a sigh. Frost turned around and put a hoof on Iris’ shoulder, “We can talk about it later, just find Pyrite.”

Iris breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded. She turned around and tore out of the room as fast as she could. She climbed high into the air and surveyed the surroundings. After thinking it over, she had a pretty good idea of where Pyrite was. Iris headed in that direction immediately, she couldn’t believe what she’d done.

Pyrite slumped over against a tree and tried to stop crying, but it wasn’t working. He was just trying to play with Iris, why did she do that to him? Was it something he did? Pyrite trotted over the large pond nearby and looked at his reflection. He was pale, almost all of the color in his face was gone. His eyes were even more red, and when he opened his mouth he noticed small fangs starting to grow.

He realized why Iris was scared. It made sense now. He was a monster, it was too late. Saros was wrong, Thule couldn’t help him now. Pyrite looked at his sides for a moment, half expecting wings to suddenly appear. It probably wouldn’t take long. Pyrite looked at his hooves and slapped the water in anger and despair, anything to get rid of his image. The sound of flapping wings was heard behind him as Iris touched down a few paces away.

Pyrite sniffled and waved her away with a hoof, “Go away, I’m a monster!”

Iris was still devastated by what she had done, and was on verge of crying herself. But when Pyrite turned around and looked at her, she broke down. Pyrite’s face was stained with tears, his eyes were even more red from crying, and he was shaking.

“No, Pyrite. You’re not a monster. You’re a sweet little earth pony.” Iris said while taking a step toward him.

“You’re wrong! Just stay away before I bite you!” Pyrite screamed as he broke into a run.

Iris lifted off the ground and gracefully landed in front of him. She stretched her wings out as far as they could go and forced him to stop. “Pyrite, I know you would never hurt me, and I should have never hurt you.” she said while tears streamed down to her beak. “I didn’t realize what happened until after. I’m sorry, so very sorry.”

Pyrite slowly looked up at the sobbing gryphon and wiped some of the tears from his eyes. He trotted forward and hugged one Iris’ legs. “I love you, Iris.” Pyrite said while pressing his head into her leg.

Iris looked down and gently picked Pyrite up. She fell to her haunches and hugged him tight, letting him wrap his hooves around her neck. “I love you too, Pyrite. My precious little brother. I’ll never do that again, I promise.”

Pyrite nuzzled his head against Iris’ feathers then pushed away. Iris sat him down then looked at him with a grave expression. Pyrite wasn’t sure if she was angry with him again. “What’s wrong, Iris?”

Iris sat down on all fours to be near Pyrite’s level, “In my lands, in my culture, to harm someone’s family directly is a serious crime. A crime which results in retribution. What happened to you, Pyrite? How did you get infected with this?”

Pyrite rubbed his eyes and played with his mane, not wanting to show Iris where he had been bitten. “It happened when I was with Polaris. We were going to see Thule and-”

“Thule?!” Iris shouted while standing up. “He did this?”

“Not exactly, but his blood is different from other bat ponies.” Pyrite said. “What happened was-”

“I knew there was something I didn’t like about that bat pony,” Iris snarled. “All of this was because of him...” she said while raking her claws across a nearby stone. “He’ll pay for what he’s done.”

Before Pyrite could stop her, Iris rocketed into the air and flew back toward the cottage. Pyrite shook his head. Things were only going to get worse. There’d been conflicts like this before in his family. Sometimes his friends would fight and things would spiral out of control. He couldn’t let that happen. Plus, Thule still needed to remove the blood.

---------------------

In the backyard behind the cottage was a  secluded clearing nestled between a few patches of trees. A table was set up there along with various refreshments and some food. Aldus and Rigel sat at the table waiting for the meeting to start. Polaris arrived after a few minutes and took his seat.

Aldus stared at Rigel with an irritated grimace. Rigel wore island attire, that of a light shirt and sunglasses. Polaris and Aldus wore the same, it was strange having a meeting that was so... casual. However, the attire was not why Aldus was bothered.

“Really... I suppose we should have expected this.” Aldus said with a sigh. He cracked open a drink and began gulping it down.

Rigel simply shrugged, “Luna’s not here yet, not like we’re starting anything.”

“Yes...” Aldus said with a roll of the eyes, “But she’s allowed to be late, she’s the princess.”

“Where is she?” Rigel asked.

Polaris poured himself a drink and motioned over to the far end of the cottage, “The children were scared of the storm last night and sought comfort from Luna. She was happy to oblige. Last I saw they were having breakfast with the foals. Luna wanted to hear about their dreams.”

“Children take priority,” Rigel said while he kicked back, “We can afford to wait a while.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Aldus admitted.

Rigel got out a deck of playing cards and raised his eyebrows to Aldus and Polaris. “How about a game or two with some friendly wagers?”

After a few games, Rigel had a sizable pile of bits in front of him, and a couple of salty courtiers across from him. Princess Luna trotted into the clearing wearing some sunglasses and a light fabric dress. Marigold followed, wearing similar garb, yet hers was much more suggestive. Rigel noticed and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Wow...” he said while slipping the bits into a coin purse.

“Like what you see, boys?” Luna said while sharing a chuckle with Marigold.

The stallions stood and bowed to their princess. “Ravishing as ever,” Rigel said with smirk.

As they sat down, Aldus finally saw Thule exit the cottage and begin to make his way to the table.  Thule wore the same light island attire as the rest of the courtiers, only with a very thick pair of sunglasses. Aldus assumed they were custom made to shield his eyes from the very bright sun. Thule approached the and offered a curt bow to Princess Luna and Marigold.

“You’re late,” Aldus snapped.

Thule took off his glasses and rolled his eyes, “Well, tomorrow I can be on time, but you’ll be stupid forever.”

Aldus stood up with a spell ready in a flash, while Thule remained still and smirked.

“Boys...” Luna warned in a stern tone. Both stallions slowly turned to Luna, who was shaking her head in disapproval. “I swear, some of the foals I had breakfast with are more mature than you are.”

Aldus relinquished his magic and sat down with a grunt. He poured his glass so full of alcohol it overflowed onto the table. After that, he began to gulp the whole thing down.

Thule stepped forward to sit, but not before offering another snarky remark. “Quite the heavy drinker over there... that won’t fix stup-”

Something brown and white slammed into Thule so hard it almost took his head off. He was knocked back with such force he bounced off the ground like a stone skipping across water. He stopped after hitting the base of a palm tree and crumpling to a heap.

Princess Luna stood up shocked. While the others were fixated on Thule, Rigel scanned the skies for the attacker. It didn’t take him long to see the little gryphon circling overhead. She touched down across the clearing from where Thule had stopped.

“What just happened?” Margold asked to anypony.

Iris turned around and looked at the courtiers for a moment. Each of them were momentarily stunned by her actions. Except for Aldus, who smiled and raised his glass in a toast of approval.

Thule slowly got up and touched a hoof to his face. Upon examining it, he saw blood. The Sarosian looked up to see the young gryphon standing defiantly in front of him.

Iris stood her ground and stared down Thule. She had struck him as hard as she could, and still he was able to stand up? As he assumed his full height and spread his wings, Iris found herself taking steps backward. His piercing gaze locked onto her and didn’t let go. Her breathing became labored, each breath being harder to take. She didn’t notice she’d ceased stepping backward, and now stood stock still.

A feral high pitched scream erupted from Thule as he exploded from the ground and closed the distance between them in seconds. His blade was out in a flash and arced to the side to open Iris’ throat. Luckily for her, it clashed off another blade as Polaris teleported in front of Iris and deflected the blow away. The moment Polaris appeared in front of her, Iris felt herself be grabbed from behind and pulled aside into a roll. Rigel held her protectively as he tumbled clear of the fight.

“Iris! Are you okay? Snap out of it!”

Iris came out of the daze and realized she was shaking. She looked up at Rigel and hugged him. “R-Rigel... he did it... he turned him into a monster!”

“What? Who did what now?” Rigel asked in bewilderment.

Iris forced herself to stop shaking and screamed at Thule, “You bit Pyrite! You turned him into one of you!”

Thule jumped back from Polaris and looked around him at Iris, “I didn’t bite anypony! How dare you accuse me of turning somepony in front of Princess Luna. I’ll skin you alive!!”

“No you won’t,” Polaris said while stepping in front of Thule again.

Princess Luna touched down amidst the fighting stallions and motioned for them to calm down. “Boys, put your weapons away.”

Thule’s eyes lowered in intensity and he reluctantly sheathed his blade. After he did, Polaris did the same. Luna trotted over to Iris, who was still being comforted by Rigel. She had started crying. Luna wasn’t sure of the reason why. Was it because of Thule, or because of what she was yelling about?

Aldus teleported next to Thule and smirked up at him, “If it turns out you’ve bitten anypony here, I’m going to rip off your wings.”

“Just try it,” Thule growled, “And I didn’t bite anypony!”

“Alright alright,” Luna said, “Let’s all calm down. Now, Iris, what are you talking about?”

Iris wiped her tears away and shook her head. Rigel nuzzled her feathers and gave her a reassuring smile, “It’s okay, answer Princess Luna.”

“Pyrite and I were playing this morning and he jumped out at me. He had red eyes and small fangs. His coat was less silver and more pale white...” Iris said.

“I see,” Luna said as she looked at Thule.

“I hurt him,” Iris whimpered, “When he jumped at me I just reacted and threw him into the wall. I didn’t mean to, it just happened.”

Rigel sat her down and lifted her face with his hooves, “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out...”

Iris latched onto Rigel’s neck and cried buckets into his shoulder and mane, “He did this, Rigel. He’s got to pay!” she shouted.

“Shh... we’ll get to the bottom of this... don’t you worry.”

Luna looked around and saw Pyrite hiding behind a tree in the shade. “Pyrite, sweetheart. Come here, it’s alright.”

Pyrite slowly limped into the clearing. He made it about a quarter way across before Marigold swooped in and scooped him up. Luna looked at him and gave Thule a grave expression. As for Thule himself, he was still very angry and glaring at Iris. Which was starting to make Rigel upset.

“Princess Luna,” Pyrite began, “Can I please speak with Thule?”

Luna nodded and followed him over. “Explain this,” Luna said in a toneless command.

Pyrite looked up at Thule and first opened his eyes wide, then his mouth to show the fangs. Thule raised an eyebrow and bent down to examine him more closely.  

“He’s been bitten, my blood now courses through his veins.” Thule said with a nod. “Pyrite... that’s your name?”

Pyrite nodded, “Yes sir, I’d like you to remove the gift. I want to be cured.”

Thule was surprised, if only momentarily. “You want me to remove ‘the gift,’ who called it that?” Thule asked while sitting down in front of Pyrite, “The one who bit you, was it a filly? One about this high?” he raised his hoof in the air a few paces above the ground. “She had red eyes and a mane similar to mine?”

“Evening Rose...” Pyrite said, “She found me one night while I was traveling with Polaris to meet you. She lead me away and danced with me. She seemed really nice, then she bit me.” He looked at the ground then shook his head, “I think she was going to carry me off somewhere, but Andromeda came looking for me and stopped her.”

“Eve...” Thule snarled, “My stupid, idiot daughter.”

“Your daughter bit him?” Aldus asked, “You just let your children go around biting ponies? What are you teaching these kids?”

“No, I don’t just let them do that,” Thule said in a dangerous tone. “As Luna knows, the bat ponies who carry my blood, the Sarosians, aren’t to feed on other ponies... though there are occasionally exceptions...” Thule slipped Marigold a glance before turning back to the courtiers.

“What exceptions would those be?” Aldus asked.

“Criminals who try to plunder our colonies and are dumb enough to get caught, along with other miscreants. But that rarely ever happens.” Thule said, then turned to Marigold and Luna, “When an adult Sarosian bites somepony, they can control whether or not they wish to turn them. It’s a special power within our blood... a... type of venom, if you will.” Thule looked down at Pyrite and frowned, “Children cannot control this, and will turn whoever they bite...”

“Fine,” Luna said with a stern glare, “Tell us how you’re going to fix this.”

Thule bent down and reassuringly rubbed Pyrite’s shoulder, “I’ll remove my blood and you’ll be back to normal. The process is far along, but I can still stop it. Just don’t make any plans tonight. It might take a while.” He stood up and bowed to Luna, “As for Eve, she will punished... severely. I’m deeply sorry this happened to Pyrite.”

Luna sighed and nodded, “Very well, we can put this ordeal behind us. But first, Iris... I think you owe Thule an apology.”

Aldus and Rigel both looked shocked, but quickly changed their demeanor when Luna glared at them. Rigel let Iris down and nudged her forward with a wing. “Come on, let’s go. I’m right here, no need to be afraid of him.”

Iris looked at Rigel with eyes like ice, “I’m not afraid anymore.” She stepped forward and spread her wings so the tips barely touched the ground. With a deep bow Iris touched her beak to the grass, then looked into Thule’s piercing red eyes, “I’m sorry I hit you like that, Pyrite tried to tell me the situation but I didn’t listen. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

Thule smirked and offered a bow of his own, though not nearly as low, “Jumping to conclusions is a very gryphon thing to do, from my experience.” Thule said with a chuckle, he observed the stern disapproving looks of his fellow courtiers and couldn’t hide his grin. “But I will say it’s rare for me to be caught off guard like that. Had you been attempting to kill me, I might have been in trouble. Apology accepted, Iris. But I warn you, payback can be a bitch...”

Rigel stepped in front of Iris and spread his wings. “If you so much as lift I hoof, I swear-”

“We swear...” Aldus interjected after appearing next to Rigel.

“Oh relax, Hurricane,” Thule said with wave of his hoof, “It’s a joke... I’m not going to hurt anypony, I swear to Princess Luna herself. Now, If you’ll excuse me, I need to begin preparations for the ritual tonight.”

Pyrite’s eyes widened, “The ritual?”

-------------------

Frost and Iris sat together and watched Pyrite eat his dinner. They were in Frost’s room sitting by the bed. Most of the other courtiers had gone about doing their business after the ordeal was settled. Thule had left to prepare the ritual and took Marigold with him. They were waiting for her to come get Pyrite so they could begin. Ruby came to see her baby brother earlier. She had been on the neighboring island working with Antares and Blue Bell to control their new form with Firebrand and Stormcaller. She took the news very hard, and was advised to wait until the ritual was over. Princess Luna personally consoled her after she heard the news.

Iris leaned on Frost and swished her tail back and forth. She wondered if it was a good idea to have Pyrite eat right before it happened, but Thule insisted. He said he’d need all the energy he had. The door creaked open as Ciaran slipped inside and relinquished her disguise. She laid down behind Pyrite and stroked his mane reassuringly.

“How you holding up, sweetie?” she asked.

Pyrite burped and looked up at her, “Okay, I guess. But I’m nervous...”

Ciaran nodded, “I understand. But this is what happens when you let a bat pony bite you instead of changeling. We don’t turn ponies into changelings after bites.” she said while playfully nibbling at his neck. “You’ll be ok.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us there with you?” Iris asked with frown.

Pyrite shook his head, “Thule said it’s best that not many come, it’s something best done alone.”

A knock on the door signalled the arrival of Marigold. She stepped inside and smiled at Pyrite, “It’s time, sweetie. Let’s go.”

Iris immediately got up and took Pyrite in a death grip, “I love you!” she whispered. Pyrite returned the hug as Frost appeared next to her.

“You’re strong, buddy. A lot stronger than me. You’ll get through this, and we’ll be waiting when you do.”

Pyrite nodded and slowly trotted over to Marigold. Not one to waste time, she scooped him up and placed him on her back before taking off into the night.

“Where are we going?” Pyrite asked over her shoulder.

Marigold flew toward a medium sized cloud bank and pointed ahead, “Right here, don’t worry. I’ll be there with you the whole time.”

“But Auntie Marigold, how will I stand on the clouds?” Pyrite asked as he started shaking a bit.

“We’ve got everything taken care of, Aldus will see to that.” she said with a smile.

Marigold touched down on the cloud and noticed an altar had been formed from the cumulus. There were three crudely erected walls on the other side which Thule emerged from and stretched his wings. “Evening you two, lovely night isn’t it?”

Marigold deadpanned Thule as Rigel and Aldus flew in and landed. Aldus trotted over to Pyrite and hoof bumped him. “Ready to walk on some clouds like a cool pegasus?!”

“Yeah!” Pyrite said with a smile.

Aldus conjured a blue ring and placed it over Pyrite’s head. He lifted him off of Marigold and passed him through the ring twice, then let him fall. Pyrite bounced on the cloud like it was a trampoline. Rigel bounced over and ruffled his mane. “Don’t think you were going through this alone. We’ll be right here the whole time.”

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Thule said, now standing at the altar. “This process might be... intense.”

“We can take it,” Aldus replied with a roll of his eyes.

“That’s just it...” Thule said while coming to stand in front of Aldus and Rigel, “Pyrite could do some things, say some things he might not want you to hear.”

“I thought you said this would be easy,” Rigel said with an edge in his voice.

“I never said it was going to be easy,” Thule clarified, “Just that I could remove the blood, so without further delay, let’s get this started.”

Thule turned to Pyrite and sat him on the altar. “So what’s going to happen?” Pyrite asked.

“Glad you asked,” Thule replied with a wink. “Remember when I said that I’d remove my blood? Well, there’s a problem...”

“What problem?!” Aldus and Rigel snapped.

“It’s not my blood that’s inside Pyrite. Eve is my daughter, so it is my blood, but it’s diluted. It’s not my blood.” Thule pressed a hoof to his chest for emphasis.

“So...?” Marigold asked.

“The process is far along, her blood has had time to integrate with Pyrite’s body. If I just removed Eve’s blood I might cause permanent harm to Pyrite. But, there’s a way around this: my own blood. I bite Pyrite, my blood purges Eve’s and I remove that instead.”

Rigel nodded in understanding, but Aldus was not convinced. “What’s the catch?”

Thule frowned draped a wing around Pyrite, “Normally it takes a great length of time for a pony to turn when bitten by a Sarosian. However, I am a pure blood, and my blood is power. It varies from pony to pony, but it could merely be hours for somepony to turn from my blood. And Pyrite here-”

“-Is already in the process...” Aldus said, his voice laced with melancholy.

“Correct, my blood may cause him to turn quicker. But as long as the draining process starts immediately, he should be fine.”

Marigold leaned against Rigel and wrapped one of his wings around herself, “This is horrible...” she whispered to him. “How did this happen?”

Rigel looked down at her and offered a hoof, “I don’t know, but I’m going to talk to Polaris and find out. I promise.”

Thule massaged his wing against’ Pyrite’s back, “Did you understand all of that, kiddo? Want me to explain it again?”

Pyrite rubbed his hooves together, it was cold this high up. He wasn’t used to it. He found himself withdrawing further into the folds of Thule’s wing for warmth. “I’m good, Thule. I think I’m ready.”

“Excellent.” Thule said with a gentle smile, “Let’s get this show on the road.” He lifted up his wing and allowed Pyrite to slip through back onto the altar. Thule produced a ceremonial dagger and made a small cut to his own right hoof. “As the elder presiding over this ritual, I offer my blood and greetings.” Thule extended his hoof to Pyrite and bent forward a bit, “Shake my hoof...”  he whispered with a playful smile.

“Oh...” Pyrite said and shook with Thule. He appreciated the disarming tone and gentle playfulness Thule was displaying.

“Before we begin, we remember that it was Saros who shared the gift with other ponies, thus creating our race. She shared this only with those who wished to have it. Pyrite Glint, before I act, I shall ask, do you wish to reconsider? Do you wish to retain these powers?”

“No.” Pyrite quickly answered.

“Very well,” Thule replied and approached the altar. He noticed Pyrite’s shivering and gently picked him up, “With what comes next, you won’t feel the cold anymore. Quite the opposite, actually. I’m not going to lie, Pyrite. This will hurt, a lot. Here... bite down on this, it’ll help.” he produced wood cylinder and placed it Pyrite’s mouth. Thule’s eyes began to glow intense red, he leaned down to Pyrite and saw the fear in the colt’s eyes, “You’re strong, Pyrite. I’ve lived long enough to know character in ponies when I see it. You’ll get through this. When you do, I’ll make it up to you. We’re both going to take a trip back to my colony and get an apology from Eve.”

Pyrite appreciated the kind words, “Thanks, Thule. That means a lot.” he muttered through the wood.

“No problem, now let’s see what you taste like. I’m gonna count to five, ready? One, two, three-”

Pyrite groaned as Thule’s long fangs sank into his neck. The wood cylinder dropped from his mouth as a molten hot sensation spread throughout his neck. He winced as Thule moved away and gently returned him to the altar. Things began to get foggy and red as he watched Thule motion for Aldus to come forward. He placed magical restraints on Pyrite’s hooves as his body began to shake. Thule produced the dagger and made four cuts to his hooves. Two at the wrists and two at the ankles. He adjusted the altar so Pyrite was now somewhat upright which allowed the blood to drain when it was time.

His body felt like it was on fire. He opened his mouth and wailed in pain, but didn’t realize how loud he screamed. Thule placed the cylinder in his mouth and Pyrite bit down hard. He could vaguely see the others standing around him. They were staring at him, judging him. They thought he was weak, that he couldn’t take this. Pyrite began to get angry as his eye’s turned as red as the blood coursing through his veins. He looked at Rigel and Marigold, then saw another figure beside them. It was another bat pony. He knew her, it was Saros. She was the one responsible for all of this. He hated her, he wanted to do horrible, horrible things... until she spoke.

“Pyrite... “

Her voice was like silk on the wind, it calmed him and banished the anger to the corners of his mind. But with the anger gone, the pain was intense, it was unbearable. Tears streamed down his face as Saros stepped up beside the altar. Pyrite’s eyes fluttered open and closed as he tried to focus. “I- I can’t...” he muttered through clenched teeth.

“Yes you can, Pyrite.” Saros cooed. “Take my hoof, don’t listen to the anger.”

Pyrite’s eyes closed again, when he reopened them, Saros was hugging him and pleading, “Stay with me, Pyrite. Listen to my voice.”

Marigold buried her face in Rigel’s wing as the scene took place before her. Pyrite spit out the wood and screamed at the top of his lungs. He shouted violent threats to all of them, even Iris and Frost.

“We’re in for a long night...” Aldus whispered to himself.

Chapter 32: Blueblood Painted Red

A gentle breeze blew through the cottage as Pyrite stirred and opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, and it took him a while to focus. He turned his head to the window and looked out into the sunrise. He was able to see clearly and without pain. Suddenly he remembered what happened last night and quickly reached into his mouth. No fangs. They were gone. The cure worked, he was back to his normal self again.

Pyrite laid down and surveyed the room. In the corner sat Frost and Iris, both were asleep. Iris was wrapped snugly in a blue blanket and was sprawled out atop Frost’s chest. As for Frost himself, he was busy drooling and twitching in his sleep, as usual.

“Congratulations, kid. I knew you could do it.”

Pyrite turned to see Thule reclined in a chair nestled away from the light. He slid a wet stone over one his blades every few seconds.

“Then... it’s over?” Pyrite asked, “I’m cured?”

“You fought through it and came out unscathed. Well... mostly,” Thule said with a chuckle. “My blood seems to have made some changes.”

Pyrite saw Thule gesture to the table near his bed. He grabbed a mirror from it and gasped. He was... bigger! A little taller, and more muscular. Toned and trimmed. He looked like a contender for the Iron Pony competition.

“Wow!” Pyrite exclaimed and grinned at Thule. The Sarosian chuckled and nodded.

Iris stirred on top of Frost and rubbed her eyes. She saw Pyrite was awake and let out an excited squawk. She flapped her wings and landed on the bed beside Pyrite, scaring Frost half to death in the process.

“You’re awake!” Iris said as she hugged Pyrite and folded her wings around him. Iris manipulated her claws on his shoulders and forehooves to examine the muscles. She sat up to her full height and looked down at her smiling little brother. “You’re... huge!” Iris exclaimed.

Pyrite grinned mischievously and flexed, “Yeah, I am!” He pounced on Iris, now with enough force to stagger her. She caught him and tumbled off the bed with a fit of laughter. Pyrite was straddling her chest and tickling her wings. Iris screeched in between fits of laughter and eventually threw Pyrite off.

Frost yawned and took a good look at Pyrite, “Wow... you look like you’ve been training for the Equestria Games.”

Pyrite shrugged and trotted over to Frost and gave him a loving hug. “I made it, just like you said I would.”

“Was there ever any doubt?” Frost asked while ruffling Pyrite’s mane.

“Never,” came a voice from the door as Aldus stepped in followed by Ciaran.

Iris, Pyrite, and Frost noticed she wasn’t wearing her disguise in front of Thule, and remained silent while watching the two of them.

Thule looked up from sharpening his blade and rolled his eyes, “Oh no... it’s a changeling. But not just any changeling, a changeling princess...” Thule kissed the air to Ciaran as she walked by him, “Like I’ve never seen one of them before...”

Ciaran motioned for Pyrite to get back in bed as she sat some breakfast down in a tray. “I approve of the new look, but you really shouldn’t be running around. You still need time to recover.”

“Yes,” Aldus said while winking at Pyrite, “Let’s all leave him alone to rest. We’ll come back tonight to check on him.”

Aldus motioned everypony out of the room and shut the door behind him. He followed the foals down the hallway but stopped when Ciaran tugged on his tail. He turned around to see her grinning at him.

“What?”

“Why don’t we go some place private and... relax a bit?”

Aldus rolled his eyes, “Is it that time again?”

Ciaran playfully crept up to Aldus like a panther stalking it’s prey. Her eyes briefly turned to violet spirals as she draped her hooves around him, “Don’t act like you don’t need it too...”

“Fine... lead the way,” Aldus said with a chuckle and allowed himself to be dragged off.

-----------------------

Later that night Pyrite was greeted by the return of his friends along with Aldus and Thule. Both were attempting to be civil with each other when in the presence of the children. There was a moment of silence when Frost cleared his throat and spoke up.

“So, Thule... just how old are you?”

Iris shifted on the bed next to Pyrite as all eyes turned to Thule. The Sarosian reclined in his chair and put a hoof to his chin. “Hmm... I’m two thousand two hundred eighty seven years old.”

Frost and Iris’ jaws dropped along with Pyrite’s. Aldus, however, looked unimpressed. “You’d think you’d have improved your attitude being so ancient...”

“I haven’t stuck a knife in your throat yet,” Thule said while looking out the window. “That comes with centuries of learning to tolerate imbeciles...”

Aldus’ eyes glowed green and he sat forward in his chair. Thule turned to him and sat one of his swords on the table.

Frost saw the potential for a fight and thought quickly on how to disarm the situation. “Thule... how did you escape capture by Celestia?”

Thule and Aldus looked at Frost and decided to kill each other another time.

“You mean how I avoided being put in one of those prisons? It’s a long story, and a particularly violent one.” he said with a pang of regret in his voice.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Iris said while wrapping a wing around Pyrite, who took the invitation to snuggle with his other big sister.

“I am intrigued by how you managed to get away, and even more so with how you evaded capture by Celestia after the war.” Aldus said with a raised eyebrow.

“Celestia didn’t dare come after me,” Thule said with a small smile, “But that’s the end of the tale, not the beginning. It all starts with one Lord General of Celestia’s Army of the Sun.”

Aldus reclined in his chair and poured himself a glass of cider. “Oh yes... I remember him...” he said while levitating a glass over to Thule.

“Yes,” Thule answered with a nod as he plucked the glass from the air, “Lord General Barristan Blueblood.”

--------------------

~ One thousand years ago

Thule was sent to the ground by the butt of a crossbow. There he awaited the inevitable following blows. They came in quick succession to his head and stomach. He knew this was coming, it was the price for getting captured. How it happened was still a mystery to him, had he been sloppy? Perhaps he didn’t cover his tracks? It didn’t matter, the war was lost and Luna was shot into the moon by Celestia. He’d heard Aldus went out in a blaze of glory, taking an entire army with him. That was some feat, he admired the unicorn wizard for that, if nothing else. Polaris disappeared and Rigel had taken on a squadron of pegasi by himself, or so the story went. Thule wondered if he made good on his promise to clear the skies of the Wonderbolts once and for all.

His mind was once again sent back to reality when a harness was secured firmly around his neck. Even though his head was covered, he still had his heightened senses, though they were slowly fading. The ponies who captured him were quick to cut him and drain him of blood, leaving him weak and helpless. They knew how to disable him, what was weak about him. Thule knew where he was being taken, and he wished it was anywhere else.

The ponies flanking him, four if he counted correctly, all held poles attached to the harness on his neck. They guided him forward with his hooves chained together like he was some sort of feral tiger. Thule grinned, if he got enough blood, that wouldn’t be far from the truth.

Thule felt tent flaps open and he was forced to the ground. The laughter and clapping that echoed in the tent confirmed Thule’s fears.

“Well done, boys... well done indeed.” the voice said while nearing Thule.

The hood was ripped from Thule’s head as blinding light assaulted his vision. There were three or four lamps powered by crystals that bathed the area in intense light. Almost enough to blind him or any bat pony. He was certain that was the idea.

“Thule... it’s so good to see you,” an arrogant voice chimed.

Thule saw the figure wave a hoof and the some of the lights dimmed. As he recovered his vision, he saw the one who likely engineered this whole situation. Lord General Barristan Blueblood. Thule shook his head, he had no idea how cunning this stallion actually was. One of Thule’s first assassination targets was the brother of his wife, Camilla. It was an easy kill. He spent the night shadowing him and ended up following him into a bar. Once he was too drunk to stand, he waited until the poor fool wandered out into the street. Once there, and in full view of everyone, Thule slipped a blade between his ribs. That job was another of Aldus’ personal “suggestions.” Thule wondered if half the ponies he ended up snuffing out at the behest of the unicorn wizard had no strategic value at all, and were simply revenge killings. Camilla had urged Barristan to capture Thule at any cost after that. Not like he needed any encouragement.

“Oh, Blueblood... it’s you...” Thule said, his slow reply being half condescension, and half fatigue. “Last time I saw you was when I was leaving Canterlot.”

“Yes...” Blueblood said while pacing back and forth, “You paid War Minister Iron Pike a visit... so sorry I missed you then, but it looks like I’ve finally caught up to you.”

Thule grimaced. The war minister was a sloppy job, he almost got caught. Blueblood had made it his life’s ambition to capture Thule, and he almost succeeded that time.

“Well... here we are, Barristan. So what happens now?” Thule asked while raising his head to look his captor in the eye, “Interrogation? Torture? Rape...?” Thule trailed off and suggestively raised his eyebrows a few times.

“All tempting... except for that last one,” Barristan said with a shiver of disgust, “How any mare or stallion could copulate with a mongrel beast I’ll never understand.”

There it is Thule thought. Blueblood hated Thule’s kind. He always did, but when the war broke out and the colonies sided with Luna. Barristan took to the royal court to say, ‘I told you so.’ He called for a hunt of Thule’s entire people before they could properly integrate into Luna’s armies. However, Celestia denied it and instructed Barristan to not overstep his position as a field general.

Barristan signaled to some of his soldiers and they brought in two carcasses nailed to poles and dropped them in front of Thule. “Well, that makes sense...” he muttered while looking away.

“These lads thought that when they made a deal with me, they’d get to return home along with the rest of your little band. Pretty gullible lot, if you ask me. Not very loyal, either. But I suppose that’s what you get from killers, not soldiers.” Barristan practically spat.

“What else did you offer them?” Thule asked.

“Some money and some pardons, for those who wished to live among Equestria’s true ponies again, basically the same things I offered this lot...” Barristan trailed off with a sinister grin on his face.

His soldiers brought in a tremendous wall mount that stretched almost twenty paces long. Mounted on it were the heads of bat ponies. Thule’s blood began to boil as he grit his teeth, then he went pale as his eyes came to the end of the mount. The heads of three foals were mounted there, each of their faces contorted in surprise and anguish. Thule recognized one of them. It was one of the little scamps who always tried to sneak up on him while roaming the halls of his colony. He never succeeded in scaring him.  

“Barristan... how...” Thule whispered through half lidded eyes.

“What? These trophies? Bah! They’re nothing. Most of the them I bagged myself, but Camilla got a few. Couple of the little ones were hers. Celestia can she aim, and such small targets, too!”

“Your wife did that...?” Thule hissed.

“Oh yes, but that’s not the best part. They’re all going on my mantle, but the centerpiece is none other than you. My greatest catch, you’ll be the prize addition to my collection. Once I’m done with you, I’ll proceed to hunt your colonies. But for now, we need to get back to my main camp before I can mount you on this mantlepiece. So, off you go.”

“You don’t know what you’ve done, Blueblood.” Thule snarled before being struck in the face.

“Oh yes I do,” Blueblood answered, “I’ve helped win a war, captured the enemy’s most skilled assassin, and will soon be expanding my hunting grounds. These are truly great times.”

Thule watched Barristan exit the tent and just barely saw the hoof connect to his head before blacking out. Images swam through his mind while he was unconscious, some dreams, others glimpses of his surroundings while he was being dragged across the camp. Thule was thrown into a special cage, completely devoid of light. The soldiers chained him to the sides to make extra sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

It was night time now, and the cycles of day and night were becoming more regular as Celestia took control of both celestial bodies. Thule heard two soldiers banter back and forth outside his cage. The more Thule could see it looked less like a cage, and more like a small shipping container. Strong and secure, he wouldn’t be able to break out of it, even at full strength. The soldiers were talking about mostly trivial things. How they were glad the war was over and that they’d be returning to their families soon. They were happy for the events that would happening tonight. Apparently Barristan wasn’t in as much of hurry as he was letting on. Some of his soldiers arrived with some fireworks and planned to have a little party. It made sense, Barristan probably heard the dangers had passed, and he had his prize.

Thule looked at his hooves and his shoulders. He was emaciated to the point that he looked like a skeleton. Without his blood, he was nothing. It was over, he lost. They lost. It was just like he predicted back when he lost the duel to Polaris. Now they were all dead or captured, and Thule’s head would adorn that fool’s mantle.

It was that thing he hated most. Thule had his own measure of pride, and he indulged in it when appropriate. However, it never bothered him when somepony thought lesser of him. It didn’t matter, and it didn’t matter that Barristan Blueblood didn’t respect him. What ate away at Thule went beyond that. Barristan didn’t consider him an equal, or even a pony. To him, he was a beast ready to be slaughtered. There was zero dignity to be found within Thule, or his people. That was what Barristan thought. It never made sense, this hatred. Sure Thule had killed a number of Celestia’s followers, and some that Barristan personally knew. But that was the extent of his crimes. He wasn’t a beast!

Thule let the anger slip away as he began to drift off to sleep. The loss of blood made him weary. Eventually he nodded off.  But sometime during the night he was stirred awake by dull thuds coming from the top of his cage. His blurry visions obscured what was happening. A small sparkling light poked through the roof and moved in a circle until part of the cage broke free. The circular section was put to the side as three ponies slowly descended into the cage. The last one lowered the bodies of two soldiers they must have killed to get into the camp. One of the ponies, a unicorn, gently touched Thule’s head and tried to talk to him.

“Thule, sir. We’re here to help you. Can you stand on your own?”

Thule squinted and saw the marks on their uniforms. They were with the group he was traveling with. The two ponies who Barristan tricked wore the same insignia.

“Ponies from your unit... sold me out...” Thule whispered while attempting to stand.

An earth pony came up beside the unicorn and shook his head, “No, our captain made that decision. He was so afraid, he thought if he gave you up we’d all get a royal pardon.”

“But we realized our mistake in going along with it,” the unicorn added hastily. “We’re going to get you out of here. They’re setting off fireworks right now, it’s the best time. I’m going to cut your chains. Give me a sec...”

Thule watched the unicorn get to work with his magic. He began the process of inhaling and exhaling, each time deeper than the last. He was going to need all his strength if he was to get out of this alive.

As the last chain was cut, Thule dropped to the floor and allowed himself to be picked up by the unicorn. He smiled at the stallion, then broke his neck. As he crumpled to the floor Thule relieved him of his knife and threw it across the cage, striking the third pony in the neck. No sooner had the blade left his hooves Thule leapt into the air and spread his wings. He closed the distance between him and the earth pony in seconds. Before he could unsheathe his blade or utter a sound, Thule forced his mouth closed with a hoof and wrenched the blade free.

“MMMM!!!!!!” the earth pony screamed, but it was lowered to a muffle with Thule pressing him against the cage.

“You ponies have redeemed yourselves,” Thule said while forcing the pony’s head to the side, “It’s because of you I was captured, and it’s also because of you that I’m free. We’re square.”

Thule bit down on the Stallion’s neck as hard as he could and drained a quarter of his blood in seconds. His wounds began the slow process of closing, but he would need to see to them later. After draining the blood from the earth pony, Thule moved on to the others. The unicorn, the pegasus he dispatched with the knife, and even the two soldiers they had killed on the way in. He could simply leave right now, he could slip away and warn his colonies of the impending danger. But it wouldn’t mean a thing if Barristan was allowed to get away, he’d just come back with an even bigger force, and night sky forbid, Celestia herself. No, Thule would stop him here and get his revenge.

As he grabbed the last pony and sank his fangs into him, Thule seethed in rage. Barristan didn’t know just how personal he had made the situation. At the time, Thule was the only Sarosian male in his main colony old enough to have foals with his mares. He didn’t marry, he had several mares he loved, as was the way of their culture. With those mares he had many children, which meant every Sarosian colt or filly was his. Two of the children’s heads on that board were Sarosian.

Thule began to feel sick from so much blood, he was past the point of being full and powerful, but he needed more. To get his revenge, he needed to utilize the full power of his blood. He chuckled at the irony. He was so angry that Barristan considered him to be a beast, yet that’s exactly what he would become, at least in appearance. Thule would retain his mental faculties... he hoped. The transformation was something very rare, even among Sarosians. It required tremendous focus and the proper blood chemistry. Aside from Saros, only a few had ever been known to do it. Thule himself had only done it once before, and that was when he was a young stallion. It became more difficult to do with age.

It was dangerous, the risk of losing control of the mind and body were great once he began to feast, but it was the only way Thule could think of to dispatch this many soldiers. It was desperation. He began to think about the things that enraged him, he needed to get angry. He thought of Aldus and his smug superiority and sense of knowledge. He thought of how Polaris beat him in front of everypony. He thought of Barristan and what he would do to get revenge. His blood began to boil, literally. It began to heat up as Thule’s muscles expanded. His wings grew in size, more in surface area than actual length. Their membranes spread out and tightened to support his increased weight. His face retracted into a scrunched snout while his fangs curled. Hooves were replaced by clawed feet and his back arched into a hump.

Thule’s coat dropped to the floor replaced by scales. He was more reptile than mammal now. His ears twitched as he became accustomed to the surroundings. His breathing became labored and he faltered for a moment. Thule fought to keep his sanity, his mind was slipping. He wanted to burst through the entrance of the cage and rip every pony he saw in half. But that would only get him killed, there were too many. He needed to thin their numbers before the brutality could begin.

A loud boom echoed over head as another round of fireworks detonated above the camp. A chorus of cheers and yells soon followed. Thule grinned and looked up through the hole in the cage.

That’ll do he snickered to himself before taking off into the night.

--------------------

Private Mangrove stood off the side and watched the lights go off the sky. Night time used to make him feel uneasy because of Nightmare Moon, but it was different now. Celestia regained control of everything, and he was able to enjoy the fireworks. He returned to his work of crafting a small piece of wood. It was a toy soldier for his little foal. Soon he would be home to see him.

He sat back and stared up at the sky, it was peaceful and quiet. He blinked once, then twice. As another round of explosions went off in the sky, Mangrove saw something that struck fear into his heart. A dark silhouette seated atop a rocky outcropping overlooking the camp. It’s red eyes illuminating the blackness around it. Mangrove rubbed his eyes and checked the area again. It was gone. He grabbed his shocklance and trotted to the other side of the camp near the outcropping. He scanned the treeline for the lookouts and saw one.

Mangrove let out a sigh of relief and slowed down. He trotted up to him while scanning the rocky area above. “I’m glad I found you, I just wanted to tell you I thought I saw someth-”

His speech came to halt when he noticed something was wrong. He ran up to the tree and nearly dropped his lance. The lookout, a young stallion, perhaps younger even than himself, was dead. A knife was driven through his throat and into the tree, keeping him upright.

Mangrove broke into a run back to the camp. He frantically looked around and for a split second he thought he saw the demonic figure watching him from the trees. It’s red eyes boring into him like a drill.

He ran into the middle of the camp and looked around. Too many soldiers were passed out asleep or getting drunk. He caught his breath and ran into the command tent. He sprinted past the guards and screamed for General BlueBlood.

“What is going on out here?!” Blueblood yelled as he stumbled out his tent, half undressed.

“Sir- I- we- we have to-”

“Speak boy!” Blueblood commanded, “What’s wrong?!”

“He’s dead! A sentry! He’s been stuck to a tree! We’re under attack!”

“The prisoner! Is he in his cage?!” Blueblood roared, his face turning crimson.

“I- I don’t know. I was-”

“FUCKING CHECK!”  Blueblood screamed as he flipped over their planning table. “Sound the alarm!”

Blueblood’s personal guard tore out of the tent and dashed across the encampment. They yelled and screamed for the soldiers to ready themselves. Mangrove followed them a few paces behind, wanting to help in any way he could. The first guard flew onto the cage and saw the hole. He turned around to scream but was cut short. The demonic figure touched down and grabbed him before lifting off into the night.

Mangrove whirled around and shouted, “Prisoner escape!”

Several soldiers gathered in the clearing and scanned the skies with their shocklances and crystal rifles. Each could fire bolts of magic at fairly long range, however they could not fire rapidly. Amid the chaos one of the sentries ran into the camp like he was being chased by a ghost. Something was wrong. His eyes were pale and his stride was unsteady. He ran into a group of thirteen stallions and shouted something. Mangrove could barely hear it.

“I can’t control it! Get away from me!!” the sentry yelled before he detonated his anti-pony fragmentation crystal. The explosion sent a small shockwave through the camp and killed all thirteen stallions with lethal shrapnel.

Across the camp another sentry sprinted toward the center but was cut down by two bolts of magic. Blueblood recovered from his shots and ordered the soldiers to form up near the center of the encampment. As more joined the formation. Mangrove and a few others noticed crystals lying on the ground, they hummed with energy. One exploded sending stallions and mares into the air. Mines had been placed in certain areas throughout the camp.

Mangrove began to regain his composure. He was going to get out of this alive. He saw Blueblood taking command of troops on the other side of the fire pit at the center of the camp. He decided he would do his best to organize things on this side. Mangrove joined with a few of Blueblood’s personal guard and rallied the soldiers to back away and form up near the command tent.

As they did, Mangrove surveyed the surroundings and ran over to Blueblood. “General, sir. What now?”

Blueblood grabbed Mangrove by the shoulder and started to give him orders, but he trailed off after coming to a realization. For a brief moment, he saw inside his nemesis’ mind. He knew what he was doing. Years of studying tactics and attacks let him see into Thule’s mind. Each of the sentries had come from different angles, the mines that were set up in plain view, likely dropped from the air, were placed at certain points. They formed the edge of a wide circle that collapsed inward toward the command tent. They were being pushed back and crowded together.

Barristan looked at the command tent, then the tent next to it. The makeshift storage area for their fireworks. His face went pale as he saw his soldiers moving closer and closer to it. He stared through the smoke and saw a figure perched atop a stack of large supply crates. It was Thule, he had transformed into the monster that Barristan had read about before he began hunting the bat ponies. Apparently it was not just a foal’s tale to scare them into behaving. Barristan’s jaw dropped when he saw Thule aim a rifle at the tent and charge a bolt of magic. He was too far to use his own magic to deflect it away. He could only watch as the Sarosian mongrel fired the bolt into the tent.

The explosions that followed started out small, but the first large one knocked all of the soldiers off their hooves. Fireworks shot off in all directions like missiles and exploded into the tents and grounds around the encampment. Parts of the forest were caught on fire as the explosions continued.

Fire trailed through the camp once the last of the fireworks had gone off. Mangrove got to his hooves and couldn’t hear a thing. The explosions had temporarily robbed him of his hearing. He quickly brought his shock lance to bare and searched for the prisoner.

A dull thud sounded behind Mangrove as the demon attacked. Mangrove had been trained in hoof to hoof combat, along with all the other soldiers. His reflexes saved his life. He groaned as a knife entered him, narrowly missing his vital organs. However, the knife wound was just the beginning. The prisoner reached down to his belt and pulled the pin off his fragmentation crystal, then turned and kicked him into a group of soldiers.

Mangrove landed with a grunt and immediately reached for his now live crystal grenade. It slipped from his grasp, which prompted him to remove his entire belt and toss it away. The belt exploded a few seconds later, again sending the nearby soldiers to the ground. Mangrove recovered from the blast and managed to pick up a nearby rifle. He saw the prisoner killing more soldiers as they attempted to defend themselves. The walls of flame created from the explosion separated the majority of the soldiers. It was utter chaos that allowed the prisoner to take apart Mangrove’s fellow soldiers. Their numbers were slowly being cut down, and eventually they wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Mangrove waited for the prisoner to jump back into view and fired a shot at him. However he dodged it at the last second and locked on to Mangrove. For some reason, he couldn’t move his hooves. It was the prisoner’s eyes, they were paralyzing him. Mangrove looked down and saw blood covering the carving he made his son. He wouldn’t die like this. He was going to make it home. Mangrove began to fight his way out of the paralysis and noticed something. It was the first bit of relief he’d felt all night. The prisoner was weakening. He faltered for a moment and clutched his head. The muscles and wings began to shrink in size, becoming more and more like a pony again. Mangrove didn’t know much about the prisoner. He had heard that he was some famous assassin in Nightmare Moon’s army, but that was it.

“Thule!!!” General Blueblood shouted from across the fire.

So that was his name. Mangrove summoned his courage and finally broke free from the paralysis. He grabbed his rifle and clicked a button near the butt, extending the bayonet. He dug his hooves into the ground and charged.

As Thule recovered from his momentary lapse, Mangrove closed the distance. To his delight, he wasn’t the only soldier to capitalize on the assassin’s moment of weakness. Another pony, a pegasus, slammed into Thule and grappled with him. The pegasus managed to turn Thule around such that his back was facing Mangrove. It was the perfect opportunity. Mangrove lunged and was shocked as Thule wrenched the pegasus’ forehoof passed the breaking point and spun him around, directly into the bayonet. Mangrove impaled his comrade with a look of horror.

The momentum from the lunge carried Mangrove forward and he was not able to stop. Thule drew a sword and stepped into a cross cut to take off Mangrove’s head. Mangrove reacted on instinct, he let the momentum take him and bent over backwards like he was playing limbo. The blade grazed his chin as it sailed by.

Mangrove recovered and slammed the butt of his rifle into Thule’s jaw causing a gout of blood to spray from his mouth. Thule growled and recovered on one nimble hoof. No sooner had he recovered he kicked Mangrove in the gut to stagger him. Mangrove dropped the rifle as he caught himself and picked up a combat knife from one of the fallen soldiers. He was completely in the moment now. He knew if he could just hold out long enough and keep the assassin busy, the rest of his comrades would overwhelm him.

Mangrove crouched low and assumed a fighting stance. Thule did the same and they circled each other for a what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, Thule made the first move and came down with an overhead strike. Mangrove saw it coming and caught the blade with his own. He focussed on turning the blade away and putting Thule on the defensive. Then, something happened. Something that he didn’t plan for. With all his focus on Thule’s hoof holding the blade he wasn’t paying attention to anything else. Never taking his eyes off Mangrove, Thule dropped the blade and caught it with his off hoof. Mangrove took one breath of surprise before the blade was plunged into his stomach.

Mangrove’s vision blurred and his mind drifted. He watched in slow motion as the blade was twisted, then removed. He was stabbed again in the stomach, then a final time in the heart. Mangrove fell to the ground and clutched the carving. He stared at it and gripped it tightly. He remembered his son and wife. Their images were the last thing he registered before his eyes shut forever.

Across the camp behind a wall of fire, Barristan watched as one by one his soldiers were picked off. He ordered his guard to leave him and fly to the nearest outpost to get reinforcements. He reached to his back and retrieved his crossbow. Slung across his back were special bolts design to weaken bat ponies for capture. Barristan hoped that with enough of these he’d be able to bring Thule down. He slowly rounded the corner of his burning command tent to search for him. As he passed by a stack of supplies a large object stuck him in the head and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

------------------

Lord General Barristan Blueblood awoke with a throbbing pain in his head and neck. He attempted to move only to find his hooves bound together and his body tied to a large tree. Three chains secured him to the massive tree trunk. They were fastened so tight it made even breathing difficult. A magic canceler was placed around his horn, preventing the use of any magic. Likely taken from storage and meant for use on rebel unicorns.

The fighting had stopped and bodies lay strewn across the camp from end to end. Some of the fires were still burning, and a small flame emanated from the central fire of the camp. The dim light cast long shadows through the desolation. It was the same sensation Barristan had felt after every battle he’d been in. It was strange, like the horror that occurred never happened at all.

“Ahh, you’re awake.” a deep voice chuckled from nearby.

Thule sauntered over to Barristan with a bottle of fine cider in one hoof. He grabbed an empty supply crate and placed it in front of the general, then took a seat.

“Drinking to commemorate your victory?” Barristan hacked out with a few coughs.

Thule raised an eyebrow and took another swig of cider. He sloshed it around a few times before spitting to the side, “No, actually. Just trying to get the blood out of my mouth.”

“I thought you loved blood in your mouth...”

“Not my own,” Thule corrected. “Your stallions were pretty pathetic when the chaos started. I imagine they fought well against other soldiers.” Thule hypothesized with stroke of his chin. “Too bad I’m not a soldier...”

“I shouldn’t have even bothered with the cage,” Barristan lamented. “I should’ve just killed you.”

“Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve...” Thule said, “We’ll get to the consequences of that in a minute. But first...” Thule began while producing a small wood carving from his vest, “There was one soldier who fought bravely, and smart. He almost got me.”

“But he didn’t,” said Barristan, “He failed me, that’s why I’m in this situation right now.”

“No, Blueblood,” Thule growled, “You’re in this situation because you butchered my children and ponies like beasts. You were dead the moment you fired those shots, you just didn’t know it.” Thule unsheathed a blade taken from one of Barristan’s guards and began to spin the tip in the ground. “But I wonder, this soldier, this... Mangrove. He was a regular, not part of your personal guard?”

Barristan looked at Thule, then nodded, “Yes.”

“Did the regular soldiers know about your hunts?”

“No.” Barristan replied.

“Why is that?”

Barristan turned away and refused to answer. In a flash, Thule flew over and pressed a hoof into a wound on his shoulder. “Ahh!! My guard were a troop I hoof picked! Many served me before the war! I filed them in with the rest of the forces assigned to me from Canterlot command!!”

“You took them with you because you knew any other soldiers with ethics and empathy would have exposed you.” Thule hissed. He backed up from Barristan and gripped the blade in his hoof so hard it was shaking.

“Killing me won’t bring them back,” Blueblood said with a chuckle.

“No, and killing your family won’t either, but I’m going to do it anyway.”

Barristan’s eyes shot up to Thule and filled with rage, “Monster...”

Thule sheathed the blade and trotted behind some crates, “You see, you keep saying that, and to be honest... this time tonight, you were right. I was a monster, briefly. But I’m not a monster anymore. I’m one of you.”

Thule came around the crates dressed in a uniform taken from one of Barristan’s guards. A dark green vest with a gold scarf and gold leggings. The vest had a golden hood adorned with a stylized rendering of Celestia’s cutiemark.

“Clever, but you’ll never find my family.” Barristan said. “It’s useless to try.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about your safety plan.” Thule said with a nod as he sat down on the crate again. “I remember reading over it briefly when I was working on the job involving your brother-in-law. Your family constantly moves between three mansions. Each has an escape route, and if somepony attacks the wrong one, then they’ll go to ground and be nigh impossible to catch.”

“Like I said, useless...” Barristan chuckled, “And I’ll die before I tell you anything, vermin.”

“We’ll see...” Thule said while reaching behind the crate and examining a pouch of medical tools taken from one of the field doctors. “I might not able to enter a pony’s dreams, but I can make you talk.”

“His family is in the second district away from the military garrison,” a small voice said from behind Thule.

Thule got up and looked around. Under the rubble of the collapsed command tent. A diminutive mare struggled to stand, but was pinned down by fallen debris. Thule flew over and easily lifted the debris off then helped her up, discovering she was a pegasus. She wasn’t dressed in military attire at all, instead she wore a plain dress that was torn up the side. Her face was badly scarred from the collapse and one of her wings looked broken.

“You stupid bitch!!” Blueblood shouted, “Do you know what you’ve done?! I’ll rip your heart out!!” He thrashed in his chains and screamed in rage.

Thule let go of the mare and she immediately shied away. Part of her mane covered an eye, it looked out of place.

“Who are you?” Thule asked.

“P-Poppy,” she stuttered.

“Poppy?” Thule repeated.

“You know, like the flower?” she said with a small smile, “You’re the one that they captured. You got out and killed all these ponies...”

“I am and I did,” Thule answered.

“Please don’t kill me... I- I wasn’t involved in this, I swear.” Poppy pleaded.

“Why are you here?” Thule asked. Barristan’s screaming scared Poppy and began to annoy Thule, so he gagged him with a rag then returned to her and knelt down. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I’m his... entertainment...” Poppy said with shame as she hid her face under her one useful wing. “That’s why I’m here.”

“You’re a prostitute.” Thule said.

 

Poppy nodded and offered a defeated smile, “I’m addictive... like the stuff they make from poppy flowers. That’s what I’m supposed to say.”

Thule noticed welts and bruises on her forehooves and shoulders. He gingerly moved the bit of mane covering her eye and saw the marks of a black eye. It was almost completely healed up, but Thule could still recognize it.

“These bruises, these didn’t come from tonight...”

Droplets formed in Poppy’s eyes, “They brought me into the trophy room to show off the bat ponies. When they saw I thought it was disgusting, they hit me. General Blueblood had his way, then he gave me to his stallions.”

Thule sat back on his haunches and shook his head, “I’m sorry, I-”

“You’re going to kill them?” she interrupted, “His wife and the others?”

“Yes,” Thule replied.

She looked away, like she was staring at something far in the distance. Then she peaked around Thule to observe Barristan. “I overhead the guards talking one night, after they hit me with their canes. They were ordered to do it by his wife. She knew Barristan was sleeping with me, and hated me. Camilla wanted me punished.” She lowered her head and muttered into the ground, “They all deserve to die.”

The look in Poppy’s eyes was something that intrigued Thule. Fear and submission, but also a glimmer of resolve. This mare was strong, even in her current sorry state. He extended his large wings and brought her into a comforting embrace. She gasped as the leather wings folded, encasing her in warmth.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you here. Blueblood will pay, along with his wife. For what he did to us, he will pay the ultimate price. With your help, his wife is now within my reach. For that, you deserve a reward...”

Poppy muttered into his shoulder, “Just let me go, I can find my way home, saving me from this is enough.”

Thule gripped her tight and leaned down to her ear, “No, it’s not enough. There is but one gift I can give equal to the information you’ve given me. My blood.”

“What?” Poppy gasped.

“With the power of my blood you will never feel helpless again. If stallions ever try to hurt you, break them. Leave your life of submission behind and be born a new mare. Let me give this to you.” Thule bent down and planted a light kiss on her neck, then cupped her face in his hooves. She looked up at him and her eyes glistened in the moonlight. Thule saw the look of determination in her eyes, then she smiled at him. That was his answer.

Thule flipped her around and changed her life forever. His fangs descended into her neck and began the process. Her body went numb as she attempted to grab onto him. She was adrift in the sea and needed something to hold on to. Thule removed his fangs and turned her back around. She wrapped her forehooves around his neck as he lifted into the air with powerful flaps of his wings. He bit down again and siphoned more blood. After he was finished he planted a gentle kiss on her lips as she began to drift away.

“I- feel...” she began, but couldn’t finish the thought.

Thule touched down then ripped a cloak off a dead soldier and wrapper her in it. “My blood is powerful, soon it will overwhelm you, but the pain won’t last.” Poppy shut her eyes as Thule’s blood went to war with her own. He laid her down near the fire and whispered, “When you turn, come to my colony. You’ll know when the time is right, listen for my voice... come...” he cooed. He knew she was able to hear him, and she would come when she was ready.

Thule stood up and placed a few pieces of wood on the fire to provide warmth and some light. He adjusted his uniform and turned to look at Barristan. The smile on his face made Barristan’s blood boil. Thule trotted up to him and picked up a crossbow. He cranked the handle back and armed it before pointing over at Poppy.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve turned a mare, it might be hard for somepony like you to believe, but it really doesn’t happen that often. You see, Barristan, I’m not going to kill you. You’re going to be Poppy’s first meal. When she wakes up, well... there are many words to describe it. I think... feral... might be appropriate.”

“Mmm!!” Barristan grunted through his gag.

“Oh relax, Barristan.” Thule said with a chuckle while tightening his restraints. “I know you’re a sporting stallion, right? So you’ll appreciate this.”

Thule displayed the crossbow to Barristan and set it down just out of reach. He bent over and clasped him on the shoulder. “This is where we part ways. We’ll never see each other again, but don’t worry. I’ll let your loved ones know what happened to you, that you were ripped to shreds. Goodbye, Barristan.”

Thule took off into the night and looked back at Poppy. It wouldn’t be long until she turns, and after she finished with Barristan, she would be long gone by the time reinforcements arrived. If they were coming at all. Thule focussed on the task at hand, he knew exactly where he was

going and let the anger consume him. Good old fashioned revenge, and he’d send a message to Celestia in the process.

------------------

Thule trotted along near the garrison in Canterlot. The Blueblood mansion where Barristan’s family was located loomed in the distance. It’s towers were imposing, no doubt on purpose. He passed several royal guard on the way, each of them snapped him a crisp salute. Thule returned each in kind below the brim of his hood. He closed his mouth and hid his fangs so nopony would grow suspicious. The vest concealed his wings, and the cloak helped hide it as well.

Soon enough he arrived at the gates of the mansion. The grounds were impressive, very large and decorated with shrubs and large evergreen trees. The two guards standing watch stopped Thule and hefted their rifles. One had a scattergun slung across his back. Thule smirked and casually waved a hoof, but he didn’t stop moving.

“What are you doing away from the compound so late?” one asked with an irritated grunt.

“Yeah, we’re all supposed to be inside the walls by this hour. Where were you?”

Thule lowered his head and patted his vest, searching for something. He changed his voice to a higher pitch and stuttered, “F-forgive me, sir. I- I was just assigned here. I have my transfer order here s-somewhere. I know I put in one of these pockets. Hold on...”

The first guard growled and pressed a hoof into Thule’s chest, “We don’t get transfers, who are you?”

“I found it,” Thule said while producing his combat knife. The guard looked down directly into the blade as it was driven through his bottom jaw. The other guard reacted clumsily and dropped his scattergun. Thule struck like lightning and drove the knife through his heart. He carefully moved the bodies into some shrubs, then relieved the fallen guard of his weapon. Thule looked at it and smiled. It was perfect.

The scattergun was a close range projectile weapon used by Celestia’s shock troops in the war. It loaded a crystal into the barrel then sent a charge of stored concentrated magic into the base, shattering it. The shards left the barrel in a spray and carried enough force to cut an average sized tree in half. Best of all, there was no loud bang. It was mostly silent, since it used magic to shatter the crystal, and not power from a crystal itself.

Thule took a deep breath, he was now standing at the entrance. He took some time to think about how he was going to pull it off, and he first needed to make sure none of them escaped. Thule looked around and saw a small house, likely belonging to groundskeeper. He knew exactly what to do.

-----------------------

Camilla Blueblood was in her study when she heard something from downstairs. At first, she thought it was nothing. Such an old home made noises all the time. But then she heard a scream. She rushed outside and looked down three floors and saw guards rushing into the armory. One pegasus flew up and told her to go to the panic room, there was an intruder.

Camilla shook her head. She had pegasus pony determination. Whoever was stupid enough to attack this place was in for a nasty surprise. Not only were there at least ten guards in the mansion at all times, the garrison was nearby. They had an alarm that would have a platoon of royal guard swarming the place in minutes.

“I’m not going into the panic room, the guards from the garrison will be here any minute.” Camilla said with a huff.

The pegasus guard glanced below and shook his head, “No, ma’am, the alarm has been cut. They aren’t coming.”

“Aren’t coming?!” Camilla screeched, “Send some of your stallions out to alert them!”

“The guards stationed outside near the groundskeeper have orders to fly to the garrison if anything happens. We’ve got the situation under control, but I advise you get into the panic room with your children.”

Camilla shook her head and flew into her study and retrieved a rifle, “Send them, I’m killing the fool who invaded my house.”

The pegasus put a hoof to his face, “Just stay here, we’ve got the numbers. We’ll take care of it and tell you when it’s over.”

Camilla nodded and flew down the hall to the servants wing. “Feather Duster! Get up, now! Take the children to the panic room and don’t come out until this is over! Do you understand?!”

The aging earth pony mare nodded as she hobbled off down the hall to get the foals from their rooms. Camilla flew back down the hall and stopped when the lights flickered, then went out. A few seconds later the backups were activated. Loud clicking noises could be heard as bars locked into place around all the windows in the manner. The security system was triggered, it was meant to be triggered when somepony activated it from within. The power going out must have tripped it. Though things were looking bad, Camilla knew exactly where the intruder must be, and so did her guards. Whoever they were, they were now very surrounded, and very dead.

-------------------

The ten guards were in formation outside the den. Lord General Blueblood often studied in there and it was one of the locations with crystals that powered the home. They heard movement inside and readied themselves to breach the door. On the count of three, they rushed in, while three stallions waited outside. The guard taking the lead bucked open the door then stepped aside while another threw in a flash crystal. Once it discharged, the stallions entered and surveyed the room. The desk was overturned, causing a nervous stallion to shoot it.

The sound of a thud came from outside the room as the third guard waiting outside fell to the ground, along with his companions. A canister rolled into the room between the stallion’s legs. Before any could react, it broke open and three flash crystals detonated inside the room. Thule took his time with the guards. Three well placed shots with the scattergun dispatched all seven of them.

As he was reloading, he was struck from behind. Another guard fired a shot and hit Thule in an area just above the wing. The fabric of the vest dissipated the magic, such that he only felt a burning sensation, and wasn’t knocked over with a hole in his side. Thule brought his weapon to bear but the guard closed the distance and moved the barrel away. Both stallions grappled until they were back in the den. Thule tripped over a dead body and allowed the guard to exert his full strength. They crashed through a bookcase into a larger room, completely in the dark. Thule had a natural advantage with his night vision, and rolled off the guard. He slid the combat knife neatly across his throat and ended the fight.

As Thule got to his hooves, he dropped the scattergun along with his jaw. All around him were taxidermied exhibits of various animals. Buffalo, Minotaur, and more bat ponies. There were five together in one area. Thule quaked with rage and picked up the gun. He had to find Camilla.

Thule ascended the stairs and checked the rooms on his way down the hall. He saw a light flicker further down and crept up to the door. He cautiously entered the room and looked around, then heard sounds coming from the closet. He nudged the door open with his weapon and saw two foals cowering in a pile of clothes. They were trying to hide. One was a unicorn colt, the other an earth filly. Thule smirked and reached down to them, then grunted as something struck him in the back.

Thule straightened and slowly turned. An aging earth pony stallion stood with a broken broom handle in his forehooves, a butler. He wilted under Thule’s piercing gaze. Thule flipped the weapon around and cracked the stallion in the stomach with the butt. The sound of the foals crying could be heard behind him. Fueled by pure hatred, Thule picked the stallion up by his vest and held him in the air. He pushed the barrel of the scattergun to his chin, then pulled the trigger, blowing the butler’s head into a million pieces.

Each of the foals screamed at the sight of violence. However, Thule’s attention was taken away again. An old earth pony mare shuffled into the room and forced away her tears. “Listen to me, please, I don’t know who you are, but please don’t hurt the foals. They’re innocent.”

“Feather!” the filly cried, “Help us!”

“Don’t hurt them,” she repeated, “They didn’t do anything!”

“My foals didn’t do anything, and they’re mounted trophies for your sick master!!” Thule seethed.

“Just let them go, let them-” her pleas were cut short by a sharp blow to the ribs.

Thule grabbed her by the neck and pushed her up the wall. “Where is Camilla? Where is your master?! Tell me!”

“I- I- ack- The children... ugh-” she croaked as Thule’s grip tightened.

Thule squeezed more and more until she drew her last breath, then tossed her aside like garbage. He once again returned his attention to the children and bent down to address them.

“Where is your mother?” Thule asked. Both foals cowered under his gaze and remained silent. “If you tell me where she is, I promise I won’t kill her...”

The foals remained silent, before one broke down crying. The other, the unicorn colt, looked at Thule with fear and hate. “She’ll kill you, I know she will... for what you did to Feather. I don’t know where she is, but her office is just down the hall.”

Thule smirked and nodded, “She’ll get her chance, young one. As for you two, remain here, and make no sounds until you are found. You will survive this.”

Thule shut the closet doors then slid two lamp stands through the handles to keep them shut. After that, he moved a desk in front of it. She was close now, he could feel it. A scent in the air, a light perfume.

As he neared the room, the walls behind him exploded as crystals cut toward him in an arc. Thule ducked as wall above him was destroyed. After the sound of the weapon discharge ceased, he could hear it cooling. Camilla was in there with some sort of heavy repeater. Thule smirked and decided to capitalize on the situation.

“Uh, argh... ugh...” Thule grunted and coughed, then rattled his weapon against the floor for effect.

When he heard the sound of the weapon crystal powering up again, he dove forward and tossed his last flash crystal into the room. The shrill shriek was like music to Thule’s ears. He flew into the room and knocked the barrel of the weapon away. Camilla drew a knife and attempted to stab him, but Thule wrenched it out of her hooves and stepped around behind her. She was now completely at his mercy.

“Monster...” she growled, “How did you find us?”

Thule began to sway with her back and forth, as if they were performing a romantic dance. “Oh, it’s fascinating, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“My husband would never give us away, not even under torture...” Camilla spat.

Thule squeezed her and whispered into her ear, “It wasn’t him, it was his harlot, Poppy. She wants you dead.”

“That bitch...” Camilla seethed, “Then Barristan is dead...”

“He is, he didn’t die well... and he isn’t the only one...” Thule growled.

“You didn’t...” Camilla hissed.

“Not yet, I’m thinking me and the kids play a game of hide and seek. Either here, or back at my colony. I’ll give them the same chance you gave the young bat ponies. Fair is fair.”

“You can’t...” Camilla yelled, losing her composure. “No... I don’t understand, how could this happen...?”

“You weren’t thorough, and your husband didn’t kill me when he had the chance.” Thule explained. “Now, don’t pass out on me. I need to send a message to Celestia, and I’m going to need your help.”

----------------------

“Secure the perimeter!” the captain shouted while the guards sweeped the mansion. He turned and bowed his head to the princess, “Your Highness, the area is secure, and we’ve checked the surrounding buildings and districts. We haven’t found anything.”

“You won’t find anything, captain. The one who did this is long gone now. We’re here to assess the damage. I was afraid of something like this happening eventually...”

“Princess... about that, it’s not pretty in here. You should wait until we clean it up a bit.”

“Stand aside,” Celestia commanded as she threw open the entrance and moved to the set of double doors leading to the main room.

The stench coming from the other side was disgusting. She stepped inside and immediately put a hoof to her nose. The sight in front of her made her stomach turn, and anger began to build. The one who did this had defiled her little ponies, on purpose. A pile of bodies lay before her, some died of stab wounds, while others appeared to have been shot point blank with a crystal weapon.

At least twenty bodies were in the pile, several members of the Blueblood family, yet on the other side there was one propped up in a chair. It was one of the the guards. She grit her teeth when she saw a sign hanging from his neck. On the sign written in blood was her name. She noticed the guard had a letter in his hooves. Celestia levitated it over and began to read.

Dear Princess Celestia,

        Beloved princess of all under the sun, if you’re reading this then you surely know a few things. You know who I am, and you’ve seen what I’ve done. You understand why. Or, at least you think so. You’re wrong. Near the body holding this envelope there is a visible trail of blood, follow it.

Celestia looked around and saw it. She followed the trail into a den and through a broken bookcase into another room. When she entered, her blood ran cold. The busts of several bat ponies were erect in front of her. Their eyes glazed over and staring back. At that moment Celestia understood everything. This violence, it was retribution.

A million thoughts raced through Celestia’s ancient mind. Luna had distracted her. The war had forced her attention elsewhere. She had given too much power to too many, too quickly. This was the price. Barristan was sick, she knew when he approached her in court, yet she did nothing. Celestia was a mess. She understood why this happened, but she couldn’t forgive him. He killed too many of her ponies under her sister’s twisted commands. She looked down to the note and continued to read.

        Look what’s before you, and witness what your little ponies have done to mine. I’ve taken my revenge, it is done. While I’m certain things look grim from where you’re standing right now, it’s not all bad. I spared the children. They’re safe upstairs. I could have snuffed out their lives in an instant, but I didn’t. You’re wondering why... aren’t you, Celestia? Let me spell it out for you. I didn’t do it because I’m better. We were better, regardless of how the war concluded. This is your proof. I’m done now. It’s all over, and it will stay that way unless you come after me.

        Princess Celestia, I warn you, if you make a move against me or my ponies, disaster will rain down upon you. My assassins in the other pony kingdoms will murder key targets. When caught, they will all point to you. I will personally travel to Canterlot and devour the noble houses from the inside. Then, I will come for you. You are aware what is in my possession thanks to your sister, and you know I can use it to kill you. I swear on the blood of Saros, you’ll never see me coming.

Now that we understand each other, this is goodbye. Farewell, Princess.

Oh! I almost forgot, make sure your guards don’t disturb Camilla. She’s probably not in the best of moods after our little chat.

Yours always,

Thule

xoxo

Celestia’s eyes bulged. She threw the letter away and dashed out of the room, yelling for her guard captain. She had to stop them.

In one of the offices, a unicorn guard was looking over the the room with his partner. As he looked at one of the portraits on the wall, something brushed against his hoof. A wire snapped as he stepped forward and caused a plank stuck in one of the closet doors to drop. The door opened revealing a skinny pale figure. As the guards approached, it turned around and shrieked. The stallions had no time to react as the pony descended on them. It ripped out the throat of the first, then broke the neck of the other.

The rampage continued upstairs until half of Celestia’s guards were killed or seriously injured. Two guards had found the children and were escorting them out when Camilla flew into the hall. She saw the children and ran toward them with a feral shriek. A beam of light cut through the air in front of her and took her head off in an instant. Celestia flew up and spread her wings in front of the children.

“Get them out of here, now!” she commanded to the guards.

As the stallions left with the children, Celestia examined the body of Barristan’s wife. She had almost undergone the complete transformation into a bat pony. The blood in her veins steamed as the sun made contact with it on the floor. Her wings had molted and transformed into part membranous flaps. Her eyes were crimson, and her coat was pale. Celestia knew this was part of the message. She would have to keep an eye on Thule, and she would have to sleep with one eye open for the foreseeable future.

---------------

As Celestia departed with her guards and the children, a homeless foal watched them leave and bounced a ball against a building. He waited as more guards arrived with cleaning supplies and suits to remove the bodies. After they left he trotted away to one of the lower districts nearby. He made his way to an alley between a pub and a whore house. Some drunk stallions cursed at him while he ran by. Eventually he stopped in front of a large figure seated against the wall.

The colt didn’t know who he was, and couldn’t see his face since it was hidden by a large hood. The stallion wore rags, and kept his face hidden.

“So... what did you see?” the mysterious stallion asked.

“The princess was there just like you said,” the colt answered. “She came out with a bunch of guards and some other ponies around my age.”

“What did the princess look like, did she say anything to the stallions?”

“She looked angry, I heard her tell the guards to make sure nopony enters the mansion.”

“Excellent,” the hooded stallion said as he stood up.

“Well...?” the foal asked as he held out a hoof.

The hooded stallion chuckled and tilted his head to the side, “Manners, little one. They’re important when conducting business.”

“Just give me the money, grandpa,” the foal said with a roll of his eyes, “Manners aren’t really important around here, if you hadn’t noticed. Now give it.”

The stallion leaned down to the foal, causing him to step back, “Grandpa? What if I were to walk away without paying you at all?”

“You can’t do that!” the foal shouted, “We had a deal!”

“Deal schmeal...” the stallion said with a shrug, “Are you going to force me to pay?”

“I could beat up an old stallion like you...” the words drained from the foal’s mouth as the stallion stood up to his full height. The colt realized he’d been cheated and there was nothing he could do. “You know what, forget it. I’m outa here.”

As he turned around and started to trot away, the mysterious stallion touched down in front of him. Large leather wings folded under the rags and hooked together in front his chest. The colt gulped and backed away.

“You’re just going to give up so easily?” the stallion asked. He saw bruises on the colt’s forehooves and face, “Do other colts beat you up?”

“Colts and fillies,” the child replied, “I can take care of myself, it just get’s tough when it’s five on one.”

The stallion sat on his haunches, “What’s your name, kid?”

“Dust, my friends call me Dusty.” the colt replied.

“Well, Dust, I have two lessons for you,” the stallion said. “Number one, always ask for payment up front,” he tossed a pouch of bits in front of Dust so big his eyes almost popped out of his skull. “Number two, don’t fight battles you know you’ll lose to prove something. Wait for a time when you know you’ll win, then prove yourself there.”

Dust looked at the ground, “Sometimes it’s still not enough, and they have weapons. I don’t have anything.”

The stallion paused, then reached into his rags. He produced a combat knife and flipped the blade around, presenting it to Dust. “Sometimes it’s best to simply look threatening, without actually being a threat. Brandish that and see if they want any trouble, but try to avoid using it if you can.”  

“Thanks, mister... but some of the colts will just see this knife and go get bigger ponies to come and take it from me. There’s really nothing I can do about that.” Dust said with a frown.

The stallion looked up into the sky, then returned his attention to the foal. He put a hoof to his chin inside the hood then knelt down on all fours. “Dust, what would you say if I asked for your continued services?”

“Continued services?” Dust asked, “What? Like... what I just did for you?”

“Yes,” the stallion replied, “I need somepony in Canterlot who knows what’s going on. What Celestia is doing, what her guards are up to, the basic info on the grapevine. Interested?”

Dust looked at the pouch of bits, “Will there be more of this?”

“Much more,” the stallion confirmed with a chuckle. “I’ll be in the city once every few months to check up on things. We’ll meet then, and I’ll show you how to use that knife properly.”

“What about the ponies bothering me?” Dust asked.

The stallion leaned forward removed his hood, “Let’s pay them a visit, I have a feeling after a chat with me they’ll leave you alone.”

Dust was apprehensive at first, but softened when the stallion winked and ruffled his mane. “Alright, but don’t you want to keep a low profile? What if they tell the guard about you?”

“We’ll explain to them why that would be a bad idea. Let’s go, partner.”

Dust’s eyes lit up, “Partner? Okay, follow me!”

----------------------

~ Present

Thule sat in silence as the others in the room took in his story.

Pyrite and Iris sat together and didn’t move, while Frost had jumped onto the bed to join them.

Iris nodded, “I would have done the same thing, and my father would have, too. Barristan deserved what he got.”

“Agreed,” Frost said.

Aldus stood up and trotted over to Thule. He didn’t say anything, just extended his hoof. Thule stared at it a moment, then grasped it.

Aldus pulled him into an embrace, “I didn’t know... even when we were investigating him. I didn’t know. He hunted your kind, I should’ve known. We should’ve done something.”

Thule shook his head clasped Aldus on the shoulder, “We were preoccupied with other things. There was nothing we could have done.”

Thule sat down again and gestured for Aldus to pour himself another glass. Upon realizing they were out, Aldus left the room to find more.

Pyrite settled into his pillow as Iris snuggled with Frost. He raised his hoof to get Thule’s attention. “What happened to Poppy?”

Thule smiled and sat forward in his chair, “She returned to my colony after hearing my call. She needed to be taught control.”

“What happened after that?” Iris asked. “Did she stay with you, or move on?”

“She stayed,” Thule answered with a grin, “And I married her.”

Chapter 33: Control

“I’m pleased to see you’ve set aside time to finally get in touch with us, Lord Thest.” Celestia said with a forced smile. “We’ve been eager to settle the matter of the gryphon attack on our citizens for some time now.”

Lord Thest sat upon the throne and averted the gaze of the solar princess. He held a goblet of wine in one claw and traced a talon around it’s circumference. “Yes, well... I am very busy you see.”

“Busy letting your followers attack our citizens and abduct them?”

Princess Luna’s image shimmered into existence next to Celestia. Now both alicorns stood in front of mirror. From Thest’s end, he could see into the halls of Canterlot where Celestia stood. Luna’s image appearing next to her must have meant she was away, and communicating from somewhere else.

“Luna the Moon Princess, I presume?” Thest said with a low chuckle, “I almost didn’t see you there, still hidden away in your sister’s shadow.”

If Luna was angry, she didn’t reveal it. She merely tossed her mane to one side covering an eye and looked up at her sister, “Such a scrawny thing, I see the gryphons haven’t evolved much in my one thousand year absence.”

For the first time, Thest’s expression changed to one of anger, then vanished as soon as it appeared.

Normally Aldus would have allowed himself a chuckle, but he was too busy ingraining every detail about Thest into his mind. He watched from behind Luna as she conducted the talk with Celestia. This gryphon was dangerous, and the way he carried himself in front of the alicorns revealed a calm, stoic personality. Aldus also didn’t miss the look in his eyes. It was the same dull glaze he often saw in Thule and Rigel. Eyes of an individual that has taken many lives.

“Now now you two,” Celestia chided, “We’re here for a reason. Lord Thest, do you have any idea why gryphons carrying concealable weapons, as well as a member of your religious sect, would attack our citizens in broad daylight?”

“Some time ago there was a failed insurrection, unfortunately they were able to kill the former king, Ziraal.” Thest said.

From behind the wall to the meeting room, Frost listened intently as the princesses talked with Thest. They were talking about Iris’ father. He needed to remember all of this so he could tell her later. Without warning, Frost felt a hoof on his shoulder. Aldus silently appeared behind him and dragged him into the room. He sat on his haunches and Frost did the same.

Aldus looked down and whispered, “Stay silent and listen.”

“We believe the gryphons behind the attack were from another small kingdom that seeks to gain power. Amid the chaos, we believe that Ziraal’s daughter fled the capital. Unfortunately, our enemies know this as well. Several of them infiltrated our kingdom wearing our markings and attire. As for the religious sects, the priesthood exists in several forms across all the kingdoms. It’s not surprising some of them have been lead astray by whatever politics drove this despicable act. We believe they wish to capture the late king’s daughter to gain leverage against our kingdom. We’re currently preparing for a counterattack.”

Luna whispered to her sister, “This is unbelievable.”

“Princess Celestia,” Thest began with a small bow of his head, “If Iris was the gryphon they were attempting to abduct, do you know of her current location? Things are safe enough now for her to return. It would boost the spirits of the kingdom’s gryphons to know their princess is still alive.”

“The gryphon escaped before our guards arrived at the scene, her current whereabouts are unknown.”

“I see, that is unfortunate...” Thest said with a heavy sigh. “Regardless, if you happen to locate her, I trust you will inform me.”

Luna snorted, “Don’t hold your breath.”

Frost smiled, he was glad to see Luna act in such a way concerning Iris. He looked up to see Aldus unphased. He could practically see the murder in his eyes.

“Mind yourself, Thest.” Luna continued. “We’ve seen your scouts probing our borders. You may sit the throne now, but I don’t think it’s meant to last. It’d be a shame for you to lose it by doing something foolish.”

“Thest,” Celestia said with a calm smile, “I’m sure you have the situation under control, and it’s a shame about Ziraal’s passing. He was a great king, and a peaceful king. You would do well to follow in his footsteps.”

“My dear princesses,” Thest said with a hearty laugh, “Any gryphon would be a fool to move against a pony nation with two alicorns. I seek no conflict, I assure you whatever you’ve seen has only been exercises. I’m glad we had this conversation. Goodbye Celestia and Luna.”

Thest stepped off the throne and smiled, the images in the mirror disappeared into nothingness, leaving him alone once again. “A nation with two alicorns would be too much. But a nation with one...”

Princess Celestia turned to Luna and shook her head. “There was no need for such aggression, Luna. He would hav-”

“He would have lied to us regardless, dearest sister. You are the elder, you surely know this.” Luna interrupted, standing tall. “Tia, he’s nothing more than a thug. It’s important to show him we mean what we say. I sense danger from that scrawny pile of feathers. In fact, I have half a mind to send Thule to pay him a visit.”

“Luna, no.” Celestia said, standing even taller in the mirror. “That is not the answer, for now, we’ll simply keep an eye on him and see if any of his claims check out. In the meantime, keep a close eye on Iris.”

“I assure you the little gryphon is safe and sound with us, Tia.” Luna said.

“Very good, we’ll discuss this more when you return to Equestria. Goodbye for now, Luna. I love you.” Celestia said with a smile.

“I love you too, Tia. Farewell.” Luna replied, then stepped away from the mirror.

Luna let out a deep sigh and rubbed her neck. She removed her tiara and let her mane fall to one side, then turned around and trotted to the door.

“Princess, your orders?” Aldus asked.

“Nothing for now,” Luna replied. “Tomorrow before you leave for the archives we can have a brief meeting.” She stopped at the door and gave Frost a sidelong glance. “You just saw the gryphon who likely murdered Iris’ father. How does that make you feel?”

Frost paused, “It makes me angry.”

“Good,” Luna said. “Keep this to yourself for now, we’ll tell Iris what we know when we have more information. Now off to bed, Frost. Have some pleasant dreams.”

“Goodnight Princess,” Frost said with a bow.

After she departed, Aldus trotted over to the mirror and stood there. He rubbed his chin in thought, then turned to leave. “Come with me, Frost.”

Frost followed Aldus to his room and shut the door behind him at his master’s command. Aldus pulled the curtains and locked the doors while conjuring his magic.

“What is it?” Frost asked.

“Eventually Iris will need to return to her home, she cannot stay with us forever.” Aldus said. “This Lord Thest can only be dealt with one way. I’ve seen his type before too many times. Luna knows it, too. As well as Celestia.”

“Iris will need to face him,” Frost said while lowering his head.

“That is likely her path,” Aldus said. “You two have become close. You saw the enemy tonight, when the time comes, will you help her?”

“Of course,” Frost said. “Iris is one of the few good friends I’ve ever had, aside from Ruby, Pyrite, and the others. She rescued me from a jam in the first five minutes of meeting her. I’ll go with her wherever her journey leads. Besides, aside from our odd little family, I don’t have anypony else.”

Frost’s gaze fell to the floor when he realized just how little he had in his life. But the embrace he felt soon banished the sadness from his mind. Aldus knelt down and held Frost tight. “I never had many ponies growing up, either. But that doesn’t matter. It’s the ones that we do have that count. You know that, and I couldn’t ask for a better apprentice.”

Frost pressed his head into Aldus’ shoulder and returned the embrace, “Thanks, Aldus.”

“I think the time has come to teach you some advanced spells, Frost.” Aldus said, letting him go and moving to stand near the window. “This will be our little secret until you have it mastered. Understand?”

“I do,” Frost replied. “What is it?”

Aldus channeled magic into his horn and floated into the air. Frost observed the spell in awe. After it was done, he smiled. It was exactly what he needed in order to help Iris.

----------------------

Pyrite wandered through a dark and dreary forest. He wondered where he was, since he’d never seen a place like this before. He walked through a spider web and had to stop to spit the spindles from his mouth. After he was clear of it, he heard a sound that permeated the night sky. It was singing. The melodious voice made him turn in a different direction. After wandering a bit further, he could see a small light.

Pyrite carefully approached the light and saw some tents set up around a fire. There were three logs arrayed around it, and some animal cooking on a spit. Pyrite crept closer and hid himself in some bushes, as he moved, he realized there was somepony sitting on one of the logs across from the fire. It was a mare, she was busy sharpening a large knife. As she continued to hum her song, she looked up and revealed herself. Pyrite felt a smile creep onto his face and decided to step out of the bushes.

The mare saw him and smiled, her fangs glistening in the moonlight, “Couldn’t resist my song, could you, Pyrite?”

She spread her forehooves and wings in invitation. Pyrite didn’t let the opportunity go to waste and ran into her embrace. “Saros! It’s you! You helped me when Thule was taking away the blood!”

Saros nearly had the wind knocked out of her when the little bundle of energy crashed into her chest. She laughed along with Pyrite as she hugged him tight, “I would never have let you face that alone. Besides, I’m partially to blame anyway.”

Pyrite looked up into Saros’ red eyes and vehemently shook his head. “That’s not true, Saros. You didn’t have anything to do with this.”

Saros lowered her head and flexed her wings. She brought them forward so they were shielded from the night wind. “It was my blood that caused you the pain, I bear the responsibility.”

Pyrite sat back on her forehoof that was supporting him and pushed his head into her chest, “No it wasn’t your fault! Please stop saying that.” He nuzzled into her chest and tried to spread his forehooves around her as far as they would go. “You can’t control what other ponies do, it was Eve’s fault, and now she’s in trouble.”

“So, Thule is going to do something about it?” Saros asked.

“Yeah, we’re on an airship now going to his colony. He said we’ll stay one, maybe two days then fly back to the Silver Isles.” Pyrite replied.

“Then we have time to practice,” Saros said with a playful grin.

She let Pyrite down and unzipped a sack near her log. She motioned Pyrite over and showed him what was inside.

“My mace!” Pyrite shouted with joy. He picked it up and swung it around, “It’s perfect!”

“Yes,” Saros said with a happy smile, “The smith did an excellent job. So, Pyrite, what do you say? Ready to start learning how to fight?”

Pyrite shouldered his weapon and turned to face Saros, “You bet I’m ready! Wait, will I be able to do what I learn here when I’m awake?”

Saros nodded, “Time flows differently when you’re in an active dream like this. You’ll have to practice, but the knowledge should remain with you. Now, come at me.”

Pyrite leveled himself and spread his legs. Saros was a great deal larger than him, but she practically tiny compared to Thule. He was sure he could manage.

Pyrite charged Saros and swung his mace in a large arc toward Saros’ legs, but she simply performed a backstep and avoided it. He turned around and swung a second time, but Saros avoided it again. For a third attempt Pyrite slowly advanced on her and swung the mace to strike her in the chest. This time she stepped to the side and watched as Pyrite fell to the ground.

“Ugh, how am I supposed to hit you if you keep moving?” Pyrite asked.

“Do you expect your opponents to just stand there and take the hit? Most of them won’t.” Saros explained. “And for those that do, if they’re able to take a direct hit from a weapon like that, you’ve got a lot to worry about.”

“I’m worried right now, how am I supposed to hit you if you keep moving so fast?” Pyrite asked with a frown.

Saros shook her head, “Maybe we’re going too fast. You seem like you’ve learned at least a little bit about combat. You know how to hold the weapon properly. Your stance is centered, which it should be while using a blunt. Let’s work on your attitude.”

“Attitude?” Pyrite asked, “What’s wrong with my attitude?”

“You have to have your mind in the right place. You’re too passive. I want you to get angry. Give me a growl or a scream. Scare me!” Saros said as she flapped her wings and stepped toward Pyrite.

Pyrite wasn’t exactly an angry pony. In fact there were few times he’d ever been so angry to growl or scream. Nevertheless, he tried anyway. Pyrite screamed and slammed his hooves into the ground while glaring at Saros. His anger left him when he saw Saros smiling. The same way Ruby would smile when she thought he doing something too difficult.

Saros shook her head and rubbed her eyes, “Pitiful...” She waved her forehooves and opened her wings, “I’m talking about a big scream. A warcry!”

She threw her head back and wrapped her wings around herself such that she was completely hidden. Then unwrapped them and let loose a scream so terrifying it made Pyrite feel like his heart stopped. Saros’ face was contorted in such a way that she looked like a feral beast. Her rigid cheekbones accentuating her fangs, which seemed even scarier now. Her eyes pierced through Pyrite’s very soul.  

Saros saw Pyrite’s reaction and regretted cutting loose like that. The colt’s lower lip began to quiver and he fell to the ground a shivering wreck. Such was the result of her gaze.

Saros made certain to soften her features to console the child. She hooked her wings together and trotted over to the collapsed colt. “Pyrite I’m sorry. I overdid it with that scream. I shouldn’t expect you to-”

Saros felt something impact her jaw and sent her staggering to the side. It was an odd sensation. Pain. She felt the taste of blood in her mouth. It had been so long since she tasted that, it was sour. Pyrite had waited until she got close enough then hit her right in the lower jaw with his mace. The child wasn’t that strong, even with his new muscles. Still, she was not expecting it at all, and she caught the full force of the blow. If he had hit any harder she might have lost some teeth.

She ignored the pain for a moment and stared off into the wilderness in thought. He got her with a dirty hit. That might have made another pony angry, but not Saros. She was trained in arts that weren’t exactly honorable. But that wasn’t what baffled her. For such a child with such a meek disposition, he should have been paralyzed with fear until she brought him out of it. Her gaze did have an effect, she knew he wasn’t faking it. However, somehow in the moments between him falling and her walking up to him, he banished the fear and regained control.

Pyrite waited for a reaction from Saros and became worried when she didn’t show one right away. He finally got her, but now it looked like she was mad.

Saros turned around and smiled at Pyrite. She wobbled around, exaggerating her dizziness and groaned. “Oh, Pyrite... by the night sky, you got me!” She stood on her hind legs and wobbled some more, then collapsed on her back. “The warrior assassin is no more, cut down by the brave hero! Finish me off...”

Pyrite picked up a small stick and pounced on Saros’ chest. He raised it high in the air and yelled the phrase the hero from the books shouted right before he struck down the evil wizard. “For great justice!”

Saros jerked when the stick struck her in the chest, then let out some over the top gags and coughs before lolling her head to the side with her tongue hanging out.

Pyrite giggled and went to climb off when he was stopped by her forehoof. Saros’ opened one eye and grinned at him. “That was smart Pyrite, I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

Pyrite fell to his haunches, “So you’re not mad?”

“Mad?!” Saros exclaimed, “You got me. It was a dirty trick, but you saw you weren’t going to succeed otherwise. I won’t be the pony to fault you for that.”

“Okay, good.” Pyrite said with a sigh, “You were pretty scary, I don’t think I’d like to see you angry.”

Saros adjusted herself and looked up at Pyrite sitting on her. “About that... how did you escape the fear?”

Pyrite giggled and shook a hoof at Saros, “That’s a secret.”

Saros raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Pyrite felt something grab him at the back of his neck as he was lifted into the air. The claws on Saros’ wings held him such that he was helpless. He squirmed to try and get free but he couldn’t reach them. Saros simply watched and playfully prodded his stomach, waiting for an answer.

“Okay okay, I’ll tell!” he said while swatting away Saros’ hoof. “It’s a trick my big sister Iris taught me. She’s a gryphon.”

Saros raised an eyebrow, “Really?” She thought about questioning that, but decided to not pursue it further. The smile on Pyrite’s face was answer enough. “Go on.”

“Well, she told me to center my thoughts on something happy and control my breathing. It’s something a priest taught her. She told me that it would help if I ever had a nightmare.”

“Interesting.” Saros said, “Can you do it again?”

“Uh, I think so.” Pyrite replied.

“Good.” Saros said while lowering Pyrite toward her. He was assaulted by her murderous crimson orbs. Fear took hold of him almost instantly and he began to shake. But then, he pictured himself in a void of complete blackness. He remembered Selene’s words, the darkness could never hurt him. He imagined Andromeda being with him, and he imagined Iris. His breathing became regular, and his heart rate slowed.

Pyrite opened his eyes and stared back at Saros with confidence. “I’m not afraid.”

Saros shook her head and lowered Pyrite down to her chest. She wrapped him up in a warm embrace and chuckled, “Oh Pyrite, you have the heart of a warrior. I can work with that.”

Saros rolled over and flew with Pyrite to a nearby pond. She handed him a pale and instructed him to gather together some clay. Once Pyrite started, Saros did the same. After both of them were done she scooped him up and they flew back to the camp site.

“What are we doing, Saros?” Pyrite asked.

“We’re going to start with basics, Pyrite.” Saros said, “Practice makes perfect, so that’s exactly what you’re going to do.”

“No, I mean what are we doing with this clay?”

Saros smiled and produced a small gemstone from a pouch on her belt. She dumped the clay near the fire and rested a hoof over it. After a few seconds she raised her hoof into the air. As she did, the clay began to take shape from the ground. It slowly formed a familiar figure to Pyrite. It was one of the gargoyles that they had fought in Seabreeze’s castle. But this was absolutely tiny by comparison. In fact it was Pyrite’s size.

The gargoyle stood there motionless until Saros placed the gem into a socket in it’s chest. The gem began to glow and the gargoyle came to life almost instantly. It growled and stared at Saros and Pyrite.

“Say hello to your training partner, Pyrite.” Saros said with a smirk.

“I’m supposed to fight him?” Pyrite asked.

“For now, you’ll just be training. Fighting will come later.” Saros picked up a shield and gave to the gargoyle, she pointed a hoof to a spot near the fire where the gargoyle took up position. “Alright Pyrite, have at him.”

Pyrite nodded and grabbed his mace. He took a swing at the gargoyle and stuck it’s shield. It grunted then shoved Pyrite away. “How was that?” he asked.

“Good,” Saros said, “Again.”

As she watched Pyrite train, she wondered if Rixis had made the right decision. She looked at the sky and yawned. Time will tell.

--------------------

Frost stretched and trotted into the cottage. All the practicing he was doing for the new spell was making him tired, though he was making significant progress. After his dinner he was feeling the need to rest, but then remembered something.

Aldus hadn’t been able to take them shopping for the wedding, or take his trip to the archives. He’d been inundated with paperwork sent to Luna from Canterlot. He had already talked it over with Frost, and hoped he would be done tonight. Wishing not to be disturbed, he released Frost from his lessons.

Frost stopped at Ciaran’s room and noticed the door was open just a little bit, allowing a small bit of light to creep into the hall. He slowly opened it and stepped inside. Ciaran was sitting in front of a mirror running a brush through her violet mane.

“Evening, Ciaran.” Frost said while trotting up and sitting beside her.

Ciaran looked down and smiled, “Hello, Frost. Anything you need?”

“I was wondering if we could continue with the hypnosis practice.” Frost asked. “I um, I was away when we were going to try it last.”

Ciaran nodded and put down her brush. “Alright, Frost. Since you got a taste of my most powerful magic last time, how about we ease into for tonight?”

“I only got a taste?” Frost asked. “I thought you said that was your most powerful magic?”

“And you believed me?” Ciaran asked with a chuckle while bending over and messing with Frost’s mane. “It was my most powerful magic, but I have other tricks and spells, as I’m sure Aldus does. Wise teachers always keep some things to themselves.”

Frost considered that, then nodded. “So what are we doing?”

Ciaran plucked Frost off the floor and sat him on the counter in front of her. As she sat on her haunches, they were just about eye level.

“Silth put you under her power when you were with her, how much did she use?”

Frost shook his head, “I don’t know, I think she only did it a few times.”

“Describe it,” Ciaran said motioning with her hoof.

“Well, the one time she did it she said she’d teach me about it.” Frost said.

Ciaran rolled her eyes, “Did she now?”

“Yes,” Frost answered, “She was just playing around, only using one eye to try and let me resist it.”

Ciaran put a hoof to her chin and smiled, “Well, my sister isn’t a complete idiot. We’ll start with that. Ready?”

Frost nodded and took a deep breath. Ciaran grinned and closed her left eye, while her right burst open with bright violet spirals. Frost looked into her eye and felt himself getting tired, he heard that voice in his head. Part of his own subconscious telling him to just let go. He shook and closed his eyes, trying to banish the suggestions away. After about a minute, he succeeded.

Ciaran clapped her hooves together and giggled, “Very good, Frost. How about with more power?”

Frost now stared into both of Ciaran’s glowing purple orbs. They both spun in such a comforting pattern that Frost couldn’t look away. He tried to close his eyes and ignore it, but closing his eyes only made him tired.

I’ll  just shut my eyes a bit and be fine in a minute...

Frost nodded off and fell forward off the counter right into Ciaran’s outstretched forehooves.

Ciaran cradled him and gently roused him from his peaceful slumber. “Wake up sleepyhead, you failed that time.”

Frost woke up and saw Ciaran staring down at him, “What happened?”

“You fell under my power, and almost cracked your head on the floor.” she said with a laugh.

Frost allowed Ciaran to place him back on the counter and shook his head, trying to disperse the after effects. “Maybe use a different method to wake me if I fail again.”

Ciaran nodded, “Alright, Frost.”

Frost stared once again into Ciaran’s violet eyes and could not resist her powers, though it took longer for him to fall asleep this time. Seemingly just as he succumbed to the powers, he was jolted awake by something incredibly cold. He opened his eyes and shivered as he felt the water all over him. Ciaran stifled her laughter while holding a small vase, presumably what she used to douse him with the water.

“What was that?!? Frost shrieked.

Ciaran grinned and tilted her head to the side, “Shh, don’t be too loud. You know for a colt with the name of Frost, you still get cold pretty easily.”

Frost shivered and muttered under his breath, then dried himself off. “Alright, do it again.”

Ciaran rested her head on a hoof while shaking it ever so slightly in mock disapproval. Frost gazed into her magic for much longer before falling under it’s spell. Once again he was jolted awake by a splash of cold water. This time Ciaran couldn’t stifle her laughter. She threw back her head and waved her hoof, “You’re doing good, Frost.” she said between laughs while catching her breath, “Don’t let me discourage you.”

Frost smirked and used his magic to silently fill another vase with water. When Ciaran finally returned her attention to him, he gave her a taste of her own medicine. Ciaran blinked a few times as the water soaked her mane and dripped down her carapace. Frost laughed and mimicked her reaction.

Ciaran raised an eyebrow and inched closer to Frost, making him cease his laughter. Her eyes shot open as wide as they could while two violet rings exploded from her irises and rippled out to the circumference. The effect was instantaneous, Frost’s eyes immediately followed and turned into bright violet orbs. The ping in his mind happened so fast he had no idea what happened. He now stared open mouthed at Ciaran, who was only a few paces away.

The changeling princess let out a sigh and looked around Frost to her image in the mirror. Her mane was tangled and dripping all over the floor. “It took me forever to brush this.” Ciaran watched Frost’s expression and chuckled, “You’re lucky you’ve really started to grow on me.”

Ciaran picked him up and hovered over to her bed. She sat him down and propped up a pillow behind his head. He’d be encountering her magic taken form once again. What had he called it? ‘Melody?’ He was doing a good enough job resisting her less powerful hypnosis, maybe he’d fare better with her? Ciaran brushed some of his mane out of his eyes and whispered into his ear. “Good luck, Frosty. You’re gonna need it.”

----------------

Frost opened his eyes and found himself on a beach. It was similar to the one on Pythia, if not exactly the same. He could see the cottage far off in the distance, and the edge of the island to the other side. Toward the horizon the main isles could seen, it was quite the view.

As the waves gently lapped at the shore, Frost saw a pink pony rise from the water and shake her vibrant mane from side to side. She ran a hoof through it and spotted Frost on the beach. His heart fluttered when she noticed him.

Frost sat down as she trotted out of the water and skipped over to him.

“Frosty! It’s so good to see you again! Oh we’re going to have so much fun together!”

Frost smiled as the pink mare sat down next to him and gave him a gentle kiss. “You’re Melody,” he said with a lovesick smile.

“You remembered!” she squeaked, “Oh you’re so sweet! What do you want to do today, Frost? I live to please you.”

Frost thought for a moment, then something crept into his mind. Something wasn’t quite right. There was something about this mare that was bothering him. It was what she said, no mare he knew existed to serve him. That was crazy.

He felt her rubbing a hoof against his chest and looked up into her beautiful violet eyes. She leaned in to kiss him again, it was bliss. But he had to ask her some questions.

Frost pushed her back and smiled. Melody resisted at first, but then sat back and ran a hoof through her mane. “Something wrong, Frosty?”

“Melody, why are you doing this?” Frost asked.

Melody looked hurt, she put a hoof to her chest for dramatic effect, “Why? Because I love you, Frosty! Isn’t it obvious? Isn’t that enough?”

“No, it isn’t enough...” Frost trailed off. Part of him was screaming inside, shouting that he was an idiot to question this gorgeous mare. That he was lucky she even noticed him, let alone spoke to him.

And that’s just it Frost thought.

Melody slid closer to him and pulled his head into her chest, “What’s the matter Frosty? Tell me and I can make it all better, I promise.”

Frost sighed and wrapped his hooves around her, she was so warm and soft. Her steady heartbeat threatened to lull him to slumber, but Frost snapped out of his stupor yet again. He shook his head and pushed her away.

Melody rubbed her shoulder with a hoof. Her ears fell flat and she lowered her head to the sand. “I’m not good enough, am I? I’m not enough to make you happy. You don’t love me.”

Frost’s mind raced with reasons and things to say to console Melody. He rushed to her side and cupped her face in his hooves. Before he knew what was happening, their tongues were dancing together and he was on top of her. When her eyes flashed violet, Frost knew something was definitely wrong. He seemed to remember something similar happening during their last encounter.

He got up and rubbed his eyes, “Let’s just stop for a minute.”

Melody let out a tired sigh and got up as well, “Alright, Frosty. You think we’re going to fast?”

“I don’t know what to think, it’s so hard to think right now, that’s part of the problem.”

“Thinking is overrated,” Melody said with a giggle. “Why think when I can just make you feel good?”

Frost crossed his hooves and sat on his haunches, “I have some questions that I’d like you to answer.”

Melody rolled her eyes and laid down on the sand, making sure to display her curves in full view to Frost. “If it’ll ease your mind so we can go back to kissing, fine.”

“Where am I?” Frost asked.

Melody looked around and yawned, “A dream, I’d assume. Your dream.”

“Why am I dreaming this?”

“I don’t know. You’re a colt at the age where you might be dreaming of a mare such a myself?” Melody said with a sly smile and wink, then flashed her glowing eyes again.

Frost rubbed his head and continued, “Why are you here?”

“To make you happy, I keep telling you this, if you’d just let me-”

“Why me?” Frost asked, pressing the question.

“Because I love you, I-”

“What are you?”

“I’m your friend, Frosty. I just want-”

“None of this makes sense, I've never even met you before last time.”

“I’m your friend, I love you, I’m beautiful, and I'm all you need.” Melody said as she got up and began walking toward Frost.

Frost smiled as Melody crept toward him. Solid purple rings fixed themselves around his eyes, making him feel perfectly at ease. Even so, part of him resisted, and that was the part that Melody wished to squash.

However, as Melody approached him, something was off. The air became cooler the closer she got, to the point that it was almost frigid. She shivered and looked around, trying to find out what was happening. She looked at Frost, who was mostly under her control. His compulsion was at the level that he had trouble doing anything without first being instructed by her. His eyes radiated a faint violet glow, and he smiled at her.

Whatever was happening he wasn't responsible. The climate and atmosphere weren’t changing. It was still a picturesque beach in the tropics. Melody returned her attention to Frost then stopped. Something was standing behind him, something that she failed to notice before. The air rippled and shimmered, like the dream itself was being broken open from another space. The fabric was wrinkling and turning in on itself.

It was difficult to make out, surrounded by an ethereal fog. That combined with the rippling made it almost seem like a ghost. Then as Frost slowly began to move, the intruder moved as well. Melody finally got a good enough look at it. It was equine in shape, very tall and lanky, with almost no meat or muscle to be found. It was focussed on Frost, and reached out a hoof to stop him from collapsing under Melody’s powers. That was when it first took notice of her.

Vibrant blue eyes like crystals fixed themselves on Melody. For the first time in years, Melody felt genuine fear. Whatever this thing was it held power equal to or greater than her own, and she had a feeling her powers of compulsion would have little effect on it. Realizing the danger that Frost could be in, she quickly opened her forehooves and pulled Frost away. He fell neatly into her embrace as she watched the creature react. It was slow, very slow, but it began moving toward them. With each step the air grew more frigid.

Melody conjured her wispy wings and took off in a flash, flying as fast as she could. She looked behind to see the creature trotting after her. It appeared as though it wasn't able to catch them, and was struggling to even keep up. Melody flew into an abandoned village and cloned herself and Frost, sending it off in another direction as a distraction.

As the clone left, she felt the air chill as the creature trotted through the village and in the direction following her clone. Melody found herself clutching Frost tightly, allowing his warmth to flow into her. It wasn't working very well.

Frost overcame some of her compulsion enough to regain awareness and observe where he was. He looked up at Melody from her lap and nuzzled her, “Melody, why are you shivering?”

Chapter 34: Secrets of the Past

The door of the airship swung open with a bang, alerting any in the vicinity that somepony had arrived. Thule grabbed his bags and Pyrite’s and motioned for him to follow.

“This is it, kiddo.” Thule said with a grin as he stepped off the ramp and made his way to the entrance.

Pyrite followed close behind, “It’s just a cave, this is your home?”

“It is,” Thule said, “Only it’s not just a cave, see?”

Pyrite trotted up alongside Thule and finally saw the expansive cavern before them. It was similar to what he saw in Polaris’ dream, except this one was slightly smaller. They must be in a different part of the colony.

“Where is everypony?” Pyrite asked, “I thought there would be lots of bat ponies to greet us. You are their leader after all, right?”

Thule nodded, “Yeah, but we’re here at an off time. It’s not quite evening, there are still hours left for my people to sleep. But my wife should be awake. We’ll see her first, then deal with Eve.”

“Poppy?” Pyrite asked in excitement. “It’s weird I’ll be meeting somepony from your story. She sounds really cool.”

“She is very cool,” Thule said with a lick of his fangs, “And she loves meeting new ponies.” Thule grabbed Pyrite under his stomach and put him on his back. They took to the air and flew toward the upper chambers. Thule looked over his shoulders and whispered, “Careful she doesn’t try to bite you, we don’t want a repeat incident do we?” he asked with a chuckle.

Pyrite laughed and hopped off when they landed on a large balcony overlooking the expanse of the cavern. Several female bat ponies took notice and began talking amongst themselves. They giggled, laughed, and swooned over Thule, who mostly ignored it. While Thule set aside their bags, some of the mares took notice of Pyrite and rushed over to him. They picked him up and examined him, while others hugged him.

“Leave the poor colt alone, ladies.” a commanding female voice ordered from where Thule was standing.

Pyrite looked across the room and saw a beautiful bat pony mare wrapped in one of the Thule’s wings. Her face was similar to Saros’, and her height was about the same. Her fur was a lighter tint than Thule’s, and her mane was straight, complementing her figure.

“Leave us,” Thule commanded.

The servant mares bowed and flew off the balcony. Poppy left Thule’s embrace and fluttered over to Pyrite where she knelt down and held out a hoof. “How you doing, kid? Did the trip go well? My husband can be a real killjoy on long journeys.”

Thule grunted and hooked his wings together, “This is Pyrite Glint, a personal friend of Princess Luna and the rest of her court.”

“Really?” Poppy asked, “You’ve got some friends in high places for one so young. How did you manage that?”

Pyrite smiled and shrugged, “Princess Luna came to rescue me from a nightmare, but I ended up saving her, too.”

Poppy laughed and sat on her haunches, “I can only imagine how that went. So, why are you here with my husband?”

Thule flew over to them and unhooked his belt, setting it off to the side and throwing off his cloak. “That is something we’ll discuss over dinner, Pyrite can fill in all the details. I want you to hear it from him.”

For the next hour or so, Pyrite ate with Thule and Poppy, telling them exactly what happened with Eve and what she said to him. Poppy was shocked, not to mention angry. Thule simply ate his dinner and listened while Pyrite told the whole story, then about his near transformation. After they were done, Thule flew with them to another balcony. This one a bit lover in the cavern. It was one location where Thule would hold his court and rule from. Any ponies with grievances, travelers, or merchants would see him here.

Two large thrones were situated near the back wall, while the balcony in front of them collapsed inward near the edge where it overlooked the cavern. Guards were positioned around the perimeter. Aside from them, nopony else was around.

Thule sat upon his throne with Poppy beside him, he motioned for Pyrite to come forward and bent over to whisper in his ear. “Eve will be coming shortly, she’s been summoned here. You’re going to hide behind my throne. We’ll question her and see if she comes clean with what she did. You’ll come out when we’re ready, sound good?”

Pyrite had to admit he liked where this was going. After all the pain he went through in that ordeal, some justice sounded really good. He nodded and made his way behind the throne. A few moments passed, then he heard wings flapping and the soft thud of a pony landing.

“Evening Rose,” Poppy began, “So good to see you, I’m glad you could make it.”

“Yes, well, you know how it is mother. Busy schedule.” Eve said with a light chuckle.

“Busy schedule spending my bits and neglecting your studies,” Thule groaned in displeasure.

“Say hello to your father,” Poppy said with a placid smile.

“Hi daddy, I’ll be needing a bit more credit. Just so you know.”

Pyrite could practically taste Thule’s growing anger. He wondered why Eve was so arrogant and rude. But then he remembered how Thule acted and what the other courtiers thought of him. In a way, he sort of pitied Eve.

“We need to ask you a few questions, that’s why we’ve called you here.” Poppy said.

“Why is father here?” Eve asked, “Weren’t you supposed to be with Princess Luna or something?” Eve inquired, her eyes wandering in disinterest.

“We’ll be asking the questions here,” Thule said, now leaning forward on his throne. “You haven’t been leaving the colony much, have you?”

Eve rolled her eyes and sat on her haunches, “Sometimes when I’m bored. But you know that, dad.”

“Yes,” Thule replied, “Were you out around midnight a few weeks ago? Near the area where the river connects to the small lake?”

“Um, no.” Eve said, “I never go out that far.”

“Eve...” Poppy warned, “Are you certain you weren’t there, you didn’t see any ponies?”

Pyrite didn’t hear Eve answer right away. She paused for a moment, then repeated herself. “I told you I wasn’t there, what’s all this about?”

“Eve, have you bitten any ponies despite my explicit orders forbidding it?” Thule asked, his eyes glowing crimson.

“What?” Eve gasped, “Of course not! There are barely any ponies around here, and I would never.”

Thule lowered his hoof to the side of the throne. Pyrite stepped out from behind it and stood next to him. Eve had been examining her hoof, then she saw him. When she did, her faced turned white as ghost.

“Do you know this pony?” Poppy asked, her expression grim.

Eve remained silent, her eyes raced in different directions, trying to find anything to say.

“Well?” Thule asked, looking down at Pyrite.

“That’s her, she bit me.” Pyrite replied.

Thule nodded and leaned forward, “What have you to say for yourself, Eve?”

Eve was visibly sweating now, her tail twitched nervously as she looked at her mother. Poppy merely shook her head in disapproval. She opened her mouth to answer, then immediately turned to run. She galloped to the edge of the balcony and took off, but did not get far.

Thule reacted so fast it was as if he teleported. He flew to the edge of the balcony and caught Eve by the tail. He yanked her back and threw her across the balcony. Since she was airborne, Eve was not injured. She merely tumbled through the air and righted herself near Thule’s throne.

Thule was on her in a second, he pushed his hoof into her chest while spreading his wings wide. Both Pyrite and Poppy backed away.

“My own daughter betrays me...” Thule seethed, “You know the number one rule for all my children, and you broke it.” He hooked his wings together and ran a hoof through his mane, “You’re young, you don’t understand. Centuries ago we were hunted like beasts for the very thing you did to Pyrite. We have our urges, and even I am not immune to this. In my short time with Princess Luna, I already found myself losing control, and giving in to my base desires. I regret it.”

Poppy stepped closer, “Thule, I think we need to discuss this further. Eve needs-”

Thule stopped her with a raised hoof, “Pyrite suffered because of what you did, and he even tells me you were going to take more. You have no idea what you’ve done. This incident was brought to light in front of Princess Luna herself.”

Eve’s mouth dropped, tears beginning to form, “Daddy, I didn’t know.”

“No, you don’t.” Thule said, “Not only did Luna learn of it, but so did other powerful and influential ponies. Aldus, Lord Hurricane, and Polaris know what you did. Do you even know what those ponies could do if they decided we were a threat? Do you know what Aldus did to earn his infamy?”

Eve slowly nodded with a sniffle, “Yes.”

Thule sighed, “You’ve constantly ignored my instructions. You’ve disrespected your mother, and you’ve disrespected me. I have assured Luna and the others that your punishment shall be severe.”

Eve’s eyes widened, “Daddy, please...”

Thule let out a sigh and pointed a hoof, “Evening Rose, I banish you.”

Eve let out a croak and burst into tears, “No daddy please! I’ll change, I have nowhere else to go!”

Poppy wrapped a wing around Thule and turned his head with her hoof, “Honey, I think that’s a bit harsh. Let’s talk about this.”

Thule shook her off and motioned to the guards, “Escort her to her room. She has one day, two at the most to gather her things, then you are to escort her off colony grounds.”

The guards nodded and escorted Evening Rose off the balcony. Pyrite couldn’t believe what he witnessed, he didn’t think that would be her punishment. “Thule, I wanted her to answer for what she did, but not like this.”

Thule looked down and him, “It had to be done, Pyrite. The guards will take you to your room, your things should already be there. Two of my personal guard will be posted outside for your safety. If you need anything, you need only ask them. Now, goodnight.”

Pyrite watched as Thule flew off the balcony and down toward the bottom of the cave. He turned to Poppy and looked at the ground, “I didn’t want her to go through this.” Pyrite said, “I just wanted to see that she was sorry.”

Poppy reached down and pulled his head up with a hoof, “I know. I’ll talk to him tonight and see if I can talk him out of it. I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow. Goodnight, Pyrite.”

------------------

After a few hours of sleep, Pyrite woke up and stared at the wall. He had the guards bring him some water earlier, and he was starting to get thirsty again. He yawned and rolled over to find red eyes staring at him.

“Wha- mph!” Pyrite began to shout but was silenced by a hoof over his mouth.

Eve was lying down next to him and put a hoof to her face, indicating silence. Pyrite slowly nodded and got up as Eve pulled her hoof away. “What are you doing here?! How did you get in?” Pyrite whispered. “Are you mad? Want to get some payback? Because I never wanted you to get banished.”

Eve raised an eyebrow, “I know my home very well, and you don’t want  me banished? That didn’t make you happy? Really?”

“Really,” Pyrite said.

Eve got up and sat on her haunches across from Pyrite, “I didn’t come to hurt you or get you back. I came to apologize.”

“Apologize...?” Pyrite asked “You didn’t seem so apologetic in there, you even lied.”

“My father is a liar, too.” Eve said, “You shouldn’t believe everything he says. But I just wanted to let you know I’m sorry, and... I wanted to ask a favor.”

“A favor? What kind of favor?”

Eve lowered her head, some tears were beginning to form, “I should never have bitten you or put you under my powers. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you, really. But I have nopony else, and nowhere to go. Can you please talk to my father and convince him not to do this?”

Pyrite paused, he wondered if Frost would forgive her so easily. But then he remembered what Luna had told him when they went for a walk together before he departed with Thule. She had spent a few hours with him alone on the beach and told him a little about the bat ponies. She then told him about her experience with her sister when she returned from the moon. Her words resonated with Pyrite.

“It’s not always easy being the hero in your own story, sometimes the best we can do is to avoid being the villain in someone elses.”

Pyrite didn’t hate Eve, and he didn’t want to make enemies where he didn’t have to.

“It takes more strength to forgive than it does to hate,” Pyrite said. “I forgive you, and I don’t want to see you banished from your home. For a long time I didn’t have a home, you don’t want to go through that.”

Eve’s tears dripped onto the sheets as she wiped them away, “Thanks, Pyrite. I wish there was something I could do.”

Pyrite laid down atop the covers and rested his head on the pillow, “Don’t bite any more ponies, and maybe be more respectful to your parents?”

Eve nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks again, Pyrite.”

Just when Pyrite thought he was alone, he felt a hoof nudge him from behind, it was Eve. “What are you still doing here?” he asked.

“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” Eve said, “Do you mind if I stay here with you?”

“Uh, I guess not...” Pyrite said, “Do you snore?”

Eve giggled and pulled him to her with a wing, “No, I don’t. Do you?”

“No,” Pyrite replied with a yawn, “But I do like to snuggle.”

“So do I,” Eve said with a grin.

--------------------

Aldus stacked his papers after the brief meeting with Luna was over. He suggested actions on the new laws proposed by the nobles, and agreed that they should extend enrollment in Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. He suggested they add on to the current building and also offered his assistance as a guest professor should he be needed.

“I think that’s all for today, boys.” Luna said to Rigel and Aldus.

“Alright,” Adlus nodded, “I think it’s time that we finally made our way to the archives.” As he was speaking, two solid purple rings flashed from his eyes. It happened too quickly for Luna and Rigel to notice. Aldus rubbed his head with a hoof and groaned, “I think Ciaran will accompany us. She can help Iris and Frost pick out some robes for the wedding. After that, we’ll go to the archives.”

Rigel nodded, “Sounds good, I can pick out my outfit there as well. After we’re done I’ll take Iris back.”

Luna nodded, “I’ll see you when you return.”

After an afternoon of shopping, Frost was standing next to Iris as she giggled uncontrollably. The amount of robes she made him try on was exhausting. She said that if she was going to dance with anypony at the wedding, they would have to look their best. They finally settled on a light blue robe with a white tint to match Frost’s coat and mane. Iris chose a violet and red robe, similar to what Ciaran chose. Frost didn’t get to see what Aldus and Rigel picked out, being busy with Iris for so long.

Eventually they said goodbye to Rigel and Iris and began their walk to the archives. It was only a few blocks away and a tram ride up the mountains. Frost stopped and told Aldus and Ciaran to continue on, his stomach would not shut up, so he decided to get some food.

As Frost stood at the stall and got his food, he felt strange. Somepony was watching him. He had learned to sense these things when trying to pickpocket on the streets and avoid other colts that were looking for him. Frost sat down at a table and casually ate his salad and oats, all while taking in the surroundings. He knew they were in the square where he was eating, but wasn’t sure exactly where.

When Frost finished his food he threw away his trash and began to trot away. Once he sensed he was being followed again, he took a detour into an alley and crouched behind a dumpster. It was obvious what he was trying to do, and he was sure whoever was following him knew that. He imagined it was one of the gang members whose Stardust operation had been shut down when the courtiers rescued him and his friends. However, there was one other possibility Frost didn’t want to ignore.

As the pony neared him, he teleported behind them and shoved them into a wall. The pony was wearing a hood, which Frost ripped off.

“Oh Desalia!” the mare shrieked, “Please, don’t hurt me!”

Frost was gripping the mare tightly. She was a bit taller and bigger than Frost, but didn’t seem to possess much strength. She wilted under his gaze and whimpered apologies. Frost smelled her, and ran his hooves up and down her shoulders. Then down to her hooves, stopping there to examine them. The mare shifted uneasily as Frost touched her.

“Wha- what are you doing to me?”

Frost took a step back and smirked, “So, what does Silth want with me?”

The mare paused, then fell back to all four hooves. “What? Who’s Silth?”

Frost smirked and sat on his haunches, “Cut the act and transform, I know what you are.”

The mare paused again, then lowered her head in a pout, “I was never any good at this.”

The mare shed her cloak and transformed into her true form: a changeling. This one was similar to Ciaran, but slightly shorter with a long blue mane. Her carapace was black, and her legs were sporting the many holes common to her kind. Her eyes were a deep green, and she crumpled to the ground when she saw Frost staring at her.

“So who are you, and what does Silth want?” Frost asked. “I’m assuming you work for her, and not her sister. Silth did say she was still doing things in the city.”

“My name is Salinia,” the changeling said, “She wants me to keep an eye on you, she’s curious about what you and her sister are up to.”

Frost chuckled, “Of course, but why send you? You look like another changeling princess, shouldn’t you be doing something else? Something more important than stalking me?”

Salinia covered her head with her hooves, “Yes!” she shouted, “I was one of Silth’s top agents inside the Silver Crown Citadel. I was in deep cover for years! Now I’m following some stupid kid through the streets... um, no offense.” she said with a weak smile.

“None taken,” Frost said with a laugh, “You’re not too good at the whole disguise thing, are you?”

“Not this type of disguising, no.” Salinia replied.

“Well, stop following me.” Frost said, preparing to leave. “You can go tell Silth that if she wants to know what I’m doing, she can come see me herself. Or maybe write a letter.”

“Wait!” Salinia squeaked, “You can’t tell her you discovered me!”

The changeling dove at Frost’s legs and wrapped her forehooves around them.

“What? Get off!” Frost commanded. When he looked down at Salinia, she returned his gaze and spit slime onto his face, blinding him. “Ahh!” Frost screamed as he tried to get the viscous liquid off. Salinia struck him in the gut with a hoof,  then grabbed him and teleported away.

Frost tumbled to the ground and grabbed at the sticky green slime. “What are you doing?!” He could hear Salinia moving a few paces away.

“Taking us to a more private location,” she said. “What would your little gryphon girlfriend think if she heard you were making out with a changeling?”

Frost eventually tore away the slime around his eyes and looked around. They were in an apartment, an upscale one, too.

“Once Silth finds out about this she’ll kill you,” Frost said as he got up and backed toward one of the windows.

Salinia merely ran a hoof across one of the couches in the room and smiled, “She most certainly would, if she found out. But that won’t be happening. Now come sit with me, Frosty.”

Before he could do anything Frost was caught in her hypnosis. Green spirals emanated from her eyes and assaulted Frost’s senses. It was potent, and already having a noticeable effect as Frost struggled to stand. Slow green pulses began to form in his own eyes as the powers took hold. But Frost resisted, this magic wasn’t nearly as powerful as Silth’s or Ciaran’s. This changeling was nothing compared to them.

Salinia tsked and trotted over to Frost, “Come now little pony, how long have you been in the Silver Isles? When a lady gives you a command-” she began, briefly transforming into Princess Desalia- “You obey.”

She pulled Frost toward the couch, but he resisted, digging in his rear hooves into the carpet. Salinia chuckled and buzzed her four wings, pulling him off the floor and into a loving embrace. She kissed him and began siphoning the love energy she so desperately craved.

Frost’s mind swam in the pleasures of the hypnosis, and being loved by this changeling. He found himself wrapping his forehooves around her neck and returning her kisses, rather than simply taking them. Still, a small part of his mind continued to resist.

“Uhn... ah, stop...” Frost muttered between kisses.

Salinia chuckled and fell onto the couch with Frost, “Stop? What ever for? We’re both enjoying this, and when you’re all used up I’ve got a pod ready, just for you. We’ll be back at it in no time.”

Frost moaned as she fell back and explored his mouth with her tongue. “I- can’t...”

Salinia purred and ran a hoof through his mane, “Did you know I was one of the first changelings to be sent here? I’ve been in deep cover for almost a decade, working to prepare for Silth’s invasion. Then your master shows up and the Isles attacked our colony, ruining everything. All the other agents fled when the news reached us. I was about to leave as well, but Silth caught me before I could. Now I’m doing the job of drones, stalking colts in the streets. Disgusting. But you’ll be my revenge. She cares for you, I don’t know why. When I’m done with you there’ll be nothing left at all. Just a brain damaged husk.”

Frost heard what Salinia was saying but could do nothing about it. He barely understood everything she said. Kissing her was the best feeling in the world, and he didn’t want to stop. But he needed to get out of this predicament. Aldus and Ciaran were waiting for him, and Iris...

He focused his mind and projected an image of himself standing alone in a void. There, a lone pillar stood resolute holding up a ceiling of ice. This was the image of his inner mind. Suddenly the pillar began to crack and crumble at it’s base. Each crack gave way to more, and more, until it began to lean toward him. As it did, pieces of the ice above came crashing down.

Frost threw himself against the pillar and pushed. He had to keep it from falling, if it fell and the ceiling collapsed, then all was lost. He put all his weight into it and grunted, but nothing seemed to be happening. He was losing ground, his rear hooves sliding back along the marble surface. Massive icicles crashed around him as the pillar continued to fall. Frost looked up and couldn’t see the top where it connected, it was too far.

“Come on!” Frost shouted in anger, “Why is this happening?”

He began to lose hope as his strength waned, but a soft hoof on his shoulder pulled him out of his stupor.

“Push, Frost. You’re stronger than this.”

“Melody?! What are you doing here?” Frost asked in bewilderment.

Frost shut his eyes and focused his mind, something that proved wise going by past experiences with her. Whatever was happening she wasn’t the cause, not this time. He wasn’t under her power at all. He stared as she joined alongside him and pressed her forehooves against the falling pillar.

“We can do it, Frost! Come on!” Melody shouted as she heaved against the massive stone column.

Frost joined her, and with their combined efforts the pillar began to right itself.

Melody looked at Frost from the corner of her eye and saw him weakening. “Remember your friends, Frost! Remember Pyrite, Ruby, Blue Bell, and Iris! Remember your new life, remember all that you’ve been through! This is nothing! You can do this! Now, push!”

Frost growled and summoned every bit of strength he had left and threw it at the pillar. After that, he drew upon strength he didn’t know he had. His efforts forced the column further back to it’s original position. He didn’t notice Melody had backed away while he was struggling, and that he righted the column by himself.

Once it was in place, Frost fell over and turned around. Melody stood near him and smiled, “You’ve become strong, Frost. I’m so proud.”

As Frost was trying to make sense of what happened, something pinged in his head and his concentration shifted entirely. He remembered where he was, and what was about to happen.

Frost snapped out of his trance and pulled away from Salinia.

“What?” she gasped, “How?!”

Frost slammed both hooves down into her face and teleported off her. He reappeared across the room and fired three ice spikes. Salinia screamed, her snout crumpled from being pummeled. She flipped over the back of the couch just in time as the spikes stuck through the other side, still almost striking her. Frost jumped over the couch with a scream and landed on her as she was attempting to get up. Both of them rolled around the apartment, vying for dominance. Salinia tried to conjure spells but couldn’t concentrate with Frost constantly trying to strangle her. Likewise, Frost was unable to conjure magic and hit her at such close proximity. Salinia was able to free a hoof and struck Frost in the face, hitting him square in the jaw enough to force him off. As she got up, Frost screamed and tackled her into another room. When he rolled off he saw the pod that was supposed to be his. It held the familiar dim green glow that Silth’s did.

Anger swelled as he imagined what she was going to do to him. Frost conjured ice from his horn and grabbed the spike in his hooves. He threw himself on Salinia and howled in rage, “Die you changeling bitch!”

Salinia barely caught the spike in time as it was thrust downward at her face. She grunted as Frost forced it lower and lower. It scraped against her cheek, drawing blood as she fought to push it away. Eventually she shoved it to the side and kicked Frost off.

Frost landed by the fireplace and struggled to get up, but this time Salinia was on him. The changeling grinned, sure of her victory. She gripped Frost’s face with her forehooves and summoned her most powerful hypnosis magic, “You little worm! Now you’ll be mine forever!!”

Little did she know that’s exactly what Frost wanted. He grabbed a hoof full of ash and threw it directly into her wide open eyes. She screamed and staggered backward, it was like music to his ears. Frost snarled, picked up a fire iron and stabbed the changeling through the chest and out her shoulder. She screamed in pain as Frost forced her down on one side, her rear legs flailing wildly. He twisted the iron and leaned in close, “This is nothing compared to what Silth is going to do to you.” He then turned around and bucked her in the face as hard as he could, knocking her unconscious.

Frost fell back on his haunches and coughed. Salinia put up a good fight, and Frost almost lost. He saw that she was losing blood fast, and decided he needed to act. He wanted to kill her, but turning her over to Silth would be better. She would decide her fate. He remembered saying to Silth that nopony deserves to be tortured, and that Salinia might be subjected to... displeasures, after this incident. But Frost didn’t want to commit any more crimes, he had just got off thin ice with Desalia only days ago. It wasn’t worth it.

Frost grabbed Salinia and pulled her over to the pod. As he neared it, it sensed him, just like last time. Frost shoved Salinia inside and backed away to observe. For a moment, nothing happened, then the pod began to glow and she floated to it’s center.

“How amusing,” Frost chuckled, “They work on changelings, too.”

Energy collected at the tip of Frost’s horn as he froze the pod to the ground, the wall, and the ceiling. This type of ice magic wouldn’t melt for days. He sealed the flaps shut and shoved a desk and dresser in front of it. She wasn’t getting out any time soon. The pod would keep her asleep and prevent her from bleeding out.

Frost looked at the clock and realized he had been gone for about an hour. Aldus and Ciaran were probably starting to wonder where he was. Trotting through the apartment, Frost eventually found what he was looking for in one of the desk drawers in a small study. Several letters all signed with the letter “S.”

Frost took note of where the letters were being sent and picked up a quill and some parchment. He recorded the events that had just taken place, and told Silth of what he did to Salinia. At the end of the letter, he asked her to reply to him and wished her well. He signed the letter, “F.”

At the edge of the desk was a cylindrical tube with a small knob. Frost knew exactly what it was. A dragon fire burner, used for sending letters. Aldus used one just like it. Frost turned the knob to ignite the flame, then tossed in the letter. After that he made his escape and sprinted toward the tram that would take him to the archives.

--------------------

Frost ran up the approach and got into the tram. He shut the doors and pushed the power crystal into place to begin the ascent up to the archives. Much like how Canterlot was isolated on the edge of a mountain, so too were the Silver Archives. The ancient library appeared to be hewn from the very stone of the mountain, then added to with silver crystals. To Frost it looked more like a fortress than a library, but Desalia did take this very seriously. Frost wondered exactly what he might find in these halls, and the feeling of what he was about to experience hadn’t quite hit home yet. He was going to see something very few ponies could ever dream of seeing. To think of the power that he could find here.

As the tram lurched to a halt, Frost examined his body and face in the crystal. He wasn’t too beat up from his fight with Salinia, but he still used what little healing magic he knew before coming here. Most of his injuries were gone, and he doubted Aldus or Ciaran would notice.

Frost ran up the steps and stopped as two guards crossed their spears, blocking access.

“I’m here with Magister Aldus and his assistant, my name is Frost Wind.”

“A bit late, aren’t you boy?” one of the guards asked with a laugh.

“Yeah...” Frost said while scratching his head in embarrassment. “I got side tracked.”

“Now boys, tormenting this colt is my job.” a female voice echoed from just inside.

The guards retracted their spears and stepped aside. “Go on in, kid.”

Frost was about to move when a magical field enveloped him and swiftly pulled him through the door and into a dark hallway. Ciaran, in her Willow disguise, deposited him on her back and shook her head. “I don’t even want to know what you were doing, I’m just glad you’re here. Aldus was beginning to get salty.”

Frost leaned forward, “Oh, we wouldn’t want that.”

They both chuckled as they entered into a enormous atrium, and Frost’s mouth dropped.

Ciaran turned around and nuzzled him, “Yeah, I had the same reaction.”

The central chamber was enormous, with stairs and halls spiralling out in every direction. It must have been some type of architectural trick, because as big as the building appeared, he didn’t expect the inside to be this spacious. Ciaran trotted up a set of stairs to a an overlook where a few tables had been pressed together and a mountain of books had been stacked haphazardly.

Frost climbed off of Ciaran and trotted alongside the table where Aldus was engrossed in a book.

“Where were you?” Aldus asked.

“Does it matter?” Frost asked.

Aldus paused, “Did you get in trouble?”

“No.”

“Kill anypony?”

“No.”

“Then I guess it doesn’t matter,” Aldus said with a grin, which Frost returned.

“This place is amazing,” Frost said.

“I know.” Aldus replied while getting up. “All this knowledge, do you know all the stuff we could learn in here?!”

“Will you teach me whatever you find?” Frost asked.

“Only if you teach me what you find,” Aldus replied.

Ciaran rolled her eyes, “I’m going to go have a look around, care to join me, Frost?”

Frost shrugged his shoulders, “Do you need me, Aldus?”

Aldus returned to his seat and shook his head, “Nah, not right now. Go see what you can find with Ciaran and come back here when you’re done. We’re going to be here awhile. I’ll send you to go get some food for us later.”

“We’re allowed to have food in here?” Frost asked.

“I hope so,” Aldus said with a laugh, “But if not, Desalia doesn’t have to know.”

“Right...” Frost said with a smirk, one that his teacher soon shared.

As Frost and Ciaran went on their way, Aldus levitated a book from his stack and blew the dust from it’s cover.

‘Tomes from Creation’ Aldus said to himself. Interesting.

While he was looking for answers regarding what was happening in the north, he figured starting at the beginning would help. Something scratched at the back of his mind, something he had considered meaningless until recently. The other alicorns were sensing some sort of disturbance coming from the far polar regions. Long ago, when Aldus was young, he had known the black unicorn who later became a tyrant, King Sombra. He was just another apprentice back then, an adept at magic relating to crystals. He was convinced there was something special about the barren ice lands in the north. A magic that was found in the crystals, something unlike anything ever discovered before. He theorized that there was an ancient pony civilization that lived there. That back then, it wasn’t completely frigid. Something happened to make it that way.

Aldus had previously disregarded these claims, and when Sombra became increasingly paranoid about the power within the crystals, he became more confrontational. One day he challenged Aldus to a duel, and was defeated. Afterward he flew into a rage, and the former Crystal Princess had him banished. What happened between then and the time of his return was unknown, but Aldus had a feeling he knew where he went...

Aldus opened the book and saw that several parts were burned or destroyed. Smudges covered some of the writing, while other sections were clearly obscured on purpose. The scribe who recorded the information did his best to correct and interpret what he had. Aldus was grateful for his efforts. With a sip of coffee, he began to read.

‘When Equus was young, there was but an island in a vast sea of blue. The mother of all, the alabaster queen, the shining star and the burning sun, the first alicorn... was thought to reside there. What follows are fragments written by an unknown pony, believed to be the first alicorn herself.’

It has been hundreds of years since I first arrived here, the world was such a different place then. I’ve spent the necessary time gathering my power and meditating. The kiln is complete, it’s magic will give life. Now the time has come to plant the first seeds. My children...

Xanth... son of the sky, my precious flier. Soar the skies and watch over all creatures of the air.

Clotho... daughter of life, so much like your mother. Create life and shepherd it when I'm gone.

Bresoth... son of fire and storms, the chained anger. Wield the primal forces of nature.

Darya... daughter of the waves, free and courageous. Guard the seas and all who travel them.

Seirya... daughter of magic, thoughtful and ambitious. All magic is your domain.

Dermon... son of change, restless and curious. Mischief is your nature, but does not define you.

My children, we shall live in peace and harmony while we shape the world. We will be humble guardians and teachers to those we create and those that come after.

~ Fragment ends ~

‘The following is believed to be recorded sometime after the first creatures were created. Several lines were destroyed.’

While my children are all special to me, they are not all I have created...     -another child, the first.  -result of my impatience with the kiln -born of excess magic used in forging it and the others   -imperfect, yet in possession of great power. Able to traverse the realms  -creature is black, and despite immense power, has no form of it's own. All my children lack true gender, spirits as they are, their forms androgynous.  -has no form at all. - Manifests as a puddle of black tar. Despite this, it shows no signs of mental deficiency. -kindest child I've created, wishes only to be loved.   -hate it. -cannot name it, ... ... ... the formless one.

As a consequence of the formless one's birth, there will be one final child created... It shall rise from the latent magic of the formless one. In death it shall appear, the first of the dead, cold and unfeeling. This final child and the formless one will be close siblings... but not of my design. I had no control over this... -will meditate on correcting my mistakes. Seirya wishes to lend aid, to help them control their power. -Naive child, nothing to be done. She cannot help them.

~ Fragment ends ~

Aldus continued reading, unsure of what to think. More was written, and in slightly greater detail.

Formless one came to me today, asked why it must remain away from it's siblings. -Told it that constant meditation was required to hone the power it possessed. That I had gone through the same things before being ready for the world and realms. In truth -must not chance it's power interfering with the shaping of this new world. -Pondered what I said, then it agreed. -Mentioned it's desire to have a form then showed me something. Before my very eyes the liquid took shape into my mirror image. -Elegant body, powerful wings -Eyes black as the oblivion between realms. -Angered, furious, sent it back to it's cave in isolation. To see my own image in that... -Require time away. The lesser creatures are beginning to grow here on the island. -Others have begun transplanting them to the other lands. -Darya watches the other islands while they grow.

~ Fragment ends ~

It was difficult for Aldus to understand why the first alicorn was behaving this way. So little of her was known that nopony knew anything about her personality or the reasons behind her actions. As he continued along, he realized more had been written. This portion seemed to happen just after the last.

Returned today to find that both Clotho and Seirya disobeyed my orders to stay away from the Formless One. They've taken to calling it 'sister.' Seirya and Clotho have both taken a liking to the appearances of some of the new creatures, choosing to take on their feminine features. -To my horror, they've shared some of their own power and essence with the formless one. Clotho gave it the power to create life, and Seirya granted it the ability to differentiate it's power, to split it into different frequencies and variations. Through what I can only guess as their encouragement, the Formless One created... new life. -Formed from it's own twisted and corrupted influence, combined with the different magical frequencies, it gave birth to clones. -Sported distinct personalities, -were individuals, not copies. Clotho and Seirya stated their 'sister' no longer needed to remain alone -that they had given her a means of companionship.

-Sent them away, and destroyed the formless one's creations. -Bastardizations of life, one mistake should not breed more. -Would only serve to magnify my incompetence. The Formless One watched as I obliterated it's creations, then a curious occurrence -Leapt in front of it's last creation in my form, shielding it from my wrath, pleading me to stop. -Insolence, after disposing of the last, the Formless One was punished severely. -Strange, though I inflicted pain upon it, I don't think it was crying because of that, but because I disposed of it's creations. -Side effect of Clotho's influence, as I departed the cave, the Formless One watched with tears streaming down it's face. -Eyes no longer black, but glowing green.

~ Fragment ends ~

Aldus pushed back from the table. He couldn't believe it, there was just no way. He took a deep breath and looked around. An air of dread passed over him as what he was reading hit home. Suddenly, the library seemed like a downright spooky place. But the growing darkness didn't deter him. There was more written, and before he jumped to any conclusions, he had to be sure.

-Considerable time has passed since I disciplined the Formless One. -Has not left it's cave since, and I'm sure the others have left it alone. Creation has continued as planned. Darya and Bresoth have helped form two large continents. Both have been populated with several creatures. -Things going well.

-Seirya visited me yesterday while meditating, she said she had noticed some of the creatures on our island had gone missing. -Some of the simians, curious and adventurous, they often explored beyond their borders. Seirya knew where they were, she had been watching some of them for unknown reasons. They were last seen entering the cave of the Formless One. -Arrived at the cave, and at first saw nothing. Then the large puddle of tar rippled and formed once again into my mirror image. Seirya gasped and ran up to the Formless One. She shouted that she found the simians... inside the Formless One itself. -Shocked and disgusted, I quieted my anger. Much did not make sense, but with Seirya's own observations, it soon became clear.

-While in a state of hibernation, the liquid tar essence of the formless one sank into the hole in the cave. Thinking it was water, the simian's likely got stuck and sank into it. However, instead of perishing, they fell into a deep slumber. The Formless One created an environment to keep them alive. -Difficult to sense, the simians were in a dream realm created by the Formless One. It conversed with them there and found companionship. However, the most startling revelation was found in the change of the Formless One's essence. It was... whole, more complete. The simian's added themselves to it, likely unknowingly. Then it clicked. The Formless One was not conceived as a being, it was not planned. -No idea present to govern it's existence. -A product of random occurrence, unknown at the time, but inevitable. It was a being without, in some ways empty. In these creatures it found a means to be whole.

-Told the Formless One to relinquish the simians, that they must return to their homes. It knelt down and released them without any resistance. Each fell free from it's chest covered in tar. -Before joining Seirya, some hesitated and returned to the Formless One to embrace it. An embrace which it returned. Curious. After assuring Seirya that I would return the simians to their community, I sent her away and left the Formless One. The simians were disposed of shortly thereafter, -influence of the Formless One could cause untold damage to the ecosystem and indigenous lesser creatures. This development could be of dire consequence, I will meditate on the fate of the Formless One for considerable time. The other child has not been born yet. -Will act before that happens.

~ Fragment ends ~

Nightmare Night

The town of Ponyville bustled with costumed foals along with their parents and older siblings. Decorations adorned the buildings and the streets were lined with ghoulish figures from myth and folklore. Ever since Princess Luna made an appearance on a past Nightmare Night, the town made extra effort to prepare for her continued return.

Frost waited near a fruit stand for Iris to join him. They had arrived about two hours ago and were told to take some time to sightsee around Ponyville before Princess Luna arrived. Frost didn’t know what she had planned, but apparently it had something to do with Aldus and the others. He heard Aldus planning things with Rigel and Thule, and amazingly he and Thule were getting along quite well.

“Frost!” Iris screeched from across the street. She flew over to him and grinned, “What do you think of my costume?!”

Iris wore a somewhat revealing witch dress with holes cut in the sides to allow her wings to poke through. However the most attractive addition was the wide brimmed point hat that she wore tilted slightly to one side, allowing some of her feathers to be seen.

“Wow... you look great.” Frost said with a shy smile. “I didn’t know gryphon’s could do magic.”

Iris smiled and draped a wing over him, “Well, I’ve had a tiny bit of practice with some blessings from the matriarch. But I don’t need to that to cast a spell on you...”

Frost looked at her, “Cast... a spell on me?”

Iris raked a claw through his mane and across his scalp, causing him to sigh in pleasure. Those claws felt so good. She slowly turned and pressed her beak to his lips. Frost closed his eyes and wrapped his forehooves around her.

“Mmm, you taste good.” Frost said.

Iris grinned and nodded, “It’s because of these.”

She produced a candy apple from her saddlebag and shoved into Frost’s mouth. Frost eye’s widened in surprise as he removed the apple and looked at it.

“These are pretty good.” Frost said with a bit of surprise. “All the one’s I’ve had before have been kinda bad.”

Iris began walking toward the center of town, motioning for Frost to follow. “Yeah, an orange earth pony was there with her younger sister handing them out. They seem to know their stuff.”

“Where did you get that costume, I’m surprised they had one that would fit your large wings?” Frost asked.

Iris beamed and flapped into the air happily, “They didn’t have any my size, but a white unicorn mare saw that I needed help and made changes to one specially for me!”

Frost raised his eyebrows, “Really? That was really generous of her.”

“I know,” Iris said, “I even told her I probably didn’t have enough bits to pay, but she didn’t want any money at all. She said that it was rare to have gryphons in town, and said I should consider it a gift.”

“That’s really sweet,” Frost said, “I’ll have to go thank her if we see her later.”

As they reached the center of town Frost sat down next to Iris on a bench. “Are Pyrite and the rest of your friends coming?” Iris asked.

“Nah,” Frost replied. “They’re making the rounds in Canterlot, but they might come out here later according to Marigold.”

The music and celebrating went on for a bit more, then the mayor took the stage and got everypony’s attention.

“Citizen’s of Ponyville! I thank you for making this celebration of Nightmare Night truly one to remember! Princess Luna will be arriving shortly. At this time I need all the adults, mares and stallions to join me in the town hall for a brief meeting. There is a new policy that Luna has asked me to review before she arrives. Please, right this way...”

The mayor motioned for them to follow as she lead them to the hall. The stallions and mares shrugged and left the children to attend the meeting.

“Everypony join us please, don’t want to disappoint the Princess of the Night!” the mayor said with a chuckle.

After all the adults appeared to be inside, she joined them and closed the doors.

“Well... that’s strange...” Frost said to Iris.

“Yeah, totally strange.” Iris said. “Who would want the little ones out by themselves on a night like this?”

--------------------

Across the town square, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo wondered what was going on. Something like this didn’t usually happen, and the mayor sounded different somehow.

Applebloom almost tripped on her wrappings as she walked over to Sweetie Belle, being a mummy was fun but Apple Jack didn’t tie the bandages nearly tight enough around her hooves. Sweetie Belle was dressed as a witch doctor with the help of Rarity and Zecora. Her costume consisted of less things to trip over.

“What is going on?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I’ve got no idea,” Apple Bloom replied, “Where is Scootaloo?”

“I just saw her. Oh, there she is.” Sweetie Belle said while pointing to the fountain.

Scootaloo stood on the edge of the fountain scanning the skies for her favorite flyer. “I still don’t see her...” she muttered.

“Aww cheer up, Scoots.” Apple Bloom said, “She’ll be here soon, I know it.”

Scootaloo was dressed as a Shadow Bolt, a similar costume to Rainbow Dash’s. Rainbow wore the costume almost every year, and this year Scootaloo wanted to spend time with her and show off her own awesome costume. Rarity had helped her out with the details, and it fit perfectly.

“Why are all the other ponies in the town hall?” Scootaloo asked, “What does Princess Luna want?”

“If I could have your attention, please.” 

 

A commanding voice boomed over the children in the town square, prompting them to look to the edge of town. There are hooded and cloaked figure stood alone.

“What’s going on?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I don’t know,” Apple Bloom said, “I don’t like the look of this.”

“Greetings children, how are all of you doing on this fine... frightening night?”

“Who are you?” a young colt asked from the crowd.

The hooded pony moved forward a few paces and looked at the children, revealing glowing green eyes and long gray mane that flowed out of the hood.

“I’m glad you asked. I am Aldus, court wizard to the queen of the night, Nightmare Moon.”

“Nightmare Moon?” Sweetie Belle asked, “Don’t you mean Princess Luna? She’s not Nightmare Moon anymore.”

A small chorus of murmurs came from the children, all thinking the same thing.

“No, he means Nightmare Moon.”

Another loud voice boomed, but from much closer. All the children looked up to find a large figure sitting atop a chimney on a nearby building. It surveyed them all with piercing red, glowing eyes. Many of the children yelped in fear and began to bunch together.

Apple Bloom tried to calm her friends down along with some of the other foals near her. However she jumped herself when she turned around as saw that Aldus had appeared within their midst. He chuckled and began to walk among them.

“Now now little ones, there’s no need to be afraid. My associate up there is just a little... displeased that he won’t be able to enjoy the delicacies tonight. I’m afraid our Queen has laid claim to them, and to you.”

“What?!” Apple Bloom shouted from behind him, “She can’t claim us! Where are the other ponies? Where is my sister?!”

“And mine! Where is mine?!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

Aldus turned to them and walked over. He stopped in front of them and noticed Scootaloo. “Nice costume.” he said with a smile. “As to your sisters and the other adults, they’re being entertained by my dear friend.”

Aldus motioned to the town hall where the mayor stepped outside. She grinned at the children and was consumed by a bright green flame. Once the flames subsided, a large changeling mare with a violet mane and glowing violet eyes laughed sadistically at the children.

“Oh but they look delicious...” she said while flutter toward them with her buzzing wings. “I’m sure Nightmare Moon won’t miss one or two of them, there are so many.”

“Ciaran... we talked about this!” Aldus said through closed teeth. “You’re gonna get me in trouble with the Queen!”

“Mmm” she moaned while licking her fangs and looking at a small foal dressed in a pirate costume. “That’s your problem, not mine...”

“The Queen of the Night will know if some are missing, it’s best not to upset her.”

Apple Bloom looked to the edge of the opposite street and saw a pony clad in bright silver armor. He had a gigantic sword slung around his shoulder and began to trot into the square to join Aldus. His face was obscured through a helmet but his long silver mane flowed almost to the ground in a large tassel.

“Tell them what fate awaits them, she’ll be here soon.” he said through his closed helmet.

Before Aldus opened his mouth, a deafening boom cracked the near the mountains as clouds began to flow toward Ponyville from the direction of Canterlot. Scootaloo’s mouth dropped in surprise. It was Rainbow Dash, no other pony could create a sound so loud... but there was no rainbow. Even in the dark she knew she would be able to see a Sonic Rainboom. The clouds moved as if something was pulling them, then she saw it. A pegasus streaked over Ponyville so fast it caused everypony’s costume to blow in it’s direction. Scootaloo couldn’t believe another pony could fly like that.

The pegasus flew over Ponyville and landed on a cloud above the square. He spread his mighty wings and stretched his hooves to the moon, which was now out in all it’s glory. In the moonlight, Scootaloo could tell he was wearing a Shadow Bolt costume just like her! Except there was a small difference, his appeared to be red.

The red eyed pony perched on the chimney opened larger leather wings and took to the air to join the pegasus on the low hanging cloud.

“About time, Hurricane. What kept you?” the red eyed pony growled.

“Apologies, Thule.” the pegasus said. “Our queen wished me to procure her some fine cider for her meal this evening. Apparently it tastes good after fresh foal.”

“Fresh foal?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “She’s going to eat us?! I thought that was just a story meant to scare us?!”

“And doesn’t it scare you?” the one called Thule chuckled.

“Oh don’t listen to him!” the pegasus said with a wave of his hoof. “There’s nothing to be scared of at all. You won’t feel a thing. In fact, you won’t even know it’s happening! That’s what Aldus is here for. It’s a great honor to join your loving queen for dinner on a night like this.”

“Too true!” Aldus said with a hearty laugh, “I can always count on you to put things in perspective, Rigel.”

Several of the foals screamed and attempted to run away. Some sprinting in different directions, while others took to the skies. The cutie mark crusaders were too scared to do anything but watch.

The pony in armor froze some of the children in place with some sort of spell, while the changeling spit a green goop at three others, rooting them in place. Some of the pegasus foals only got a few feet off the ground before they were caught by Rigel. Apple Bloom turned around and backed into her friends as she saw Aldus laughing.

The foals who attempted to escape were brought back into their circle, which was now surrounded by Nightmare Moon’s servants.

Aldus got their attention by clearing his throat, “Now that you all know escape won’t be happening, let’s get this night started.”

He began to waft a golden aura from his horn and suspend it over the foals. As it increased in size, Scootaloo and the others remembered it. They had met Aldus before, he was the one who was in Carousel Boutique after they were almost eaten by Timber Wolves. He helped save them, why was he doing this?

“Don’t look at the spell!” Scootaloo shouted to all the foals.

“This will all be over if you just cooperate. Nightmare Mo-”

A blast of cold air impacted Aldus in the back and sent him tumbling forward into a building across the street. He went right through a wall and shattered a window, leaving everypony stunned. Nightmare Moon’s servants all backed away from the children and saw another pony standing on the porch of a Sugar Cube Corner. He was a light blue unicorn colt with an even lighter blue mane.

“Nightmare Moon won’t be eating any of us tonight, right Iris?”

On the roof above him, a gryphon landed and produced a glowing crystal from her saddlebags. “That’s right, Frost. Nightmare Moon’s servants shall not claim us!”

A gout of flame erupted from the hole Aldus was flown through as he stalked out and kicked away some debris. His eyes burned of green flame.

“Frost... you’re going to regret that...”

“Not as much as you’re going to regret this!” Frost said with laugh.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all closed their eyes when Frost conjured a frigid gust of wind and swept it over the foals. They all covered their eyes, which served as Iris’ cue. The gryphon flew into the air and tossed the crystal into the square above their heads. It exploded in a flash of brilliant light, blinding all the servants of Nightmare Moon, yet having no effect on the closed eyes and covered heads of the foals.

Iris flew over and picked up two of the smaller foals. “What are you waiting for?! Run!”

Every foal screamed and ran in different directions. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom ran into Sugar Cube corner with Sweetie Belle and Pip while Frost distracted Aldus. Thule was so stunned due to his sensitive eyes he fell backwards off the cloud, only to be caught by Rigel at the last second.

“Dammit Rigel! What just happened?!” he shrieked.

Rigel’s gold tinted flight goggles lessened the brightness of the burst, but he was still seeing stars.

“Iris played a very clever trick, and now the foals ran away.”

Thule grabbed onto Rigel once he was back on the cloud. “Once I get my vision back we’ll have to find them before she gets here.”

“Of course,” Rigel said.

“You should get started.” Thule said while rubbing his eyes.

“I’d rather not leave you alone with those eyes. Don’t want you falling off a cloud or crashing into and buildings.” Rigel said with a friendly clasp of his shoulder.

Thule smiled and nodded, “Thanks... Hurricane.”

On the street, Frost grinned at his fuming master. “What are you going to do once Nightmare Moon finds out you failed her? Will she eat you?”

Aldus formed a sphere of energy between his hooves and shook off his hood, “No, she’ll be eating you when I present you to her!”

Aldus slammed his hooves into the ground and created a bright ring around Frost. Frost saw it an immediately teleported away, safely avoiding the rune.

“Very good, Frost.” Aldus said, “But you can’t run forever.”

“We’ll see, Aldus.” Frost said as he sprinted off down an alley.

-------------------

The cutie mark crusaders barricaded themselves inside Sugar Cube Corner, placing tables and chairs near the door. After that they huddled behind the counter and tried to come up with a plan.

“What do we do?!” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo began, “But I’m sure not all of our friends are caught.”

“Where is Princess Twilight?” Pip asked from the corner.

The crusaders didn’t notice that he followed them inside.

“I’m not sure,” Apple Bloom answered, “But she might be at her new castle. If we could make it there we might be safe.”

“Are you kidding?!” Scootaloo shouted, but then lowered her voice to a whisper when her friends winced. “Did you see that pegasus stallion? Rigel? We met him before, remember? In Canterlot? We’d never be able to outrun him.”

As Pip became more frightened he backed into the kitchen door and looked around.

“Girls, I think it’s safe back here.”

As the crusaders got up to join him, a green slime attached itself to his back and yanked him back through the door. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran after him and skidded to a halt when they saw him in the hooves of the changeling. The crusaders screamed, scrambled out the side door and ran into another building.

Meanwhile Pip turned around and got a glimpse of the grinning changeling. He saw her smile at him, then fainted.

Ciaran cradled him against her carapace and facehoofed. “Guess I’m too scary for my own good.”

The crusaders ran outside and sprinted out of town toward Princess Twilight’s new castle. They made it over a few hills before a gust of wind blew over them. The pegasus stallion circled overhead than landed in front of them, stopping the girls in their tracks.

The moonlight reflecting on his angular flight goggles caused a menacing gold tint to appear as his eyes. His blue mane billowed in the wind atop the hill, and when he flexed his wings and smiled, Scootaloo more than the others was genuinely frightened. It wasn’t just his appearance, it was what he represented. Scootaloo was constantly wondering where Rainbow Dash was, why she hadn’t swooped in to save them. But now, standing in front him, Scootaloo wasn’t sure Rainbow even could save them.

“Now girls, it’s very dangerous to be out alone tonight, especially this close to the Everfree Forest. “ Rigel began to walk toward them and smiled, “Let me take you back to town where it’s safe.”

Before the girls could even answer, a thick darkness descended on Rigel. He slowly turned around and gasped. As the darkness got closer he covered his head and actually cowered behind the fillies.

“You’ve failed me, Rigel...” the the darkness boomed in a menacing tone.

“No- I- I- didn’t, I swear... here... take them, eat them!!”

“Fool! You expect me to gobble up only three fillies?! Where are the rest?!

“There in the town, I think. Aldus and Thule-”

“I have no time for excuses!” the darkness screamed.

Slowly it transformed into the shape of a pony. A shape the fillies new well, none of than the Queen of Darkness herself: Nightmare Moon.

Then something strange happened. Rather than gobble them up, she slipped them a wink and slowly trotted over to Rigel. The red pegasus still had his eyes covered.

Nightmare Moon lowered her head until it was inches from his ears and silently took a deep breath.

“BOOO!!!!!” she shouted at nearly the top of her lungs.

Rigel nearly jumped out of his skin, rocketing into the air with one frantic flap, leaving several red feathers where he once was.

All the fillies fell over laughing, as did the Queen of the Night.

“Very funny...” Rigel said while catching his breath.

Nightmare Moon recovered and swept up the fillies in a magical field. “Come my subjects, I wish to address the town!”

-------------------

Back in Ponyville, the majority of the children had been found by Polaris, Ciaran, and Thule. Iris was still in hiding with a few colts, while Frost squared off against Aldus in the middle of town. Both unicorns connected beams of magic and attempted to force each other back. Nearly all in the town were watching with mouths agape.

For Aldus’ part, he was a bit surprised that Frost could hold out against him for so long. But he wasn’t trying to win, just create a show. Something Frost was aware of as well. He saw Frost begin to step toward him, and so decided to do the same. The magical energy closed within a few paces as the ponies got so close, they could almost touch. In a powerful blast, both ponies were flung back into the air. Frost spun in circles and teleported himself to safety amidst the foals, while Aldus crashed into a ground and rolled to a heap... right in front of Nightmare Moon’s hooves.

Aldus grunted and looked up beneath his robes, “Oh... shoot...”

“You lose, Aldus. Time to make good on our agreement.”

Aldus sighed, then nodded. “So much for all our candy...”

“Citizen’s of Ponyville, since my wizard has failed to deliver all of you to me. I shall no longer eat you... but instead, join you in eating all of this candy!!”

Aldus ignited his horn and teleported to the center of town. He stood on his rear hooves and traced a circle in the dirt with his forehooves. After he was done, he teleported a massive chest into the circle.

After the smoke clear, he leaned against the chest and whistled. It was bigger than he was.

“Is that filled with candy?!” one of the foals asked.

Rigel flew down and landed beside Aldus where he was joined by Thule and Polaris. Aldus handed the child a large key. “Why don’t you find out yourself?”

As he approached the chest Rigel hefted him onto his shoulders to let him reach. He inserted the key and with the help of Rigel threw open the lid. The amount of candy in the chest was unlike anything anypony had ever seen. It could feed the whole town, and that’s exactly what it did.

Princess Luna transformed into her normal appearance and began the celebration with the ponies of Ponyville. Happy to announce that the adults were not harmed, and were in on the act the entire time. The foals were happy they got to experience something scary, and the entire night was spent celebrating.

As things began to die down, Frost took his leave from the festivities and walked over to the bank of a small stream. He let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes. The peace and quiet calmed his mind and allowed him to think of what he was now able to experience.

The sound of hoofsteps broke him out of his meditation and he turned around. “Oh, hey Ciaran. What’s up?”

“Frost, why aren’t you with Iris enjoying yourself?”

“I spent time with her earlier, she’s playing with some foals right now. I just wanted some time by myself.”

Ciaran paused, then asked, “Do you mind if I join you?”

Frost smiled, he was glad she asked that. “No, I don’t mind. In fact I’d like that.”

Ciaran sat down and gently rubbed his back. “This was fun, I’m glad I decided to come.”

Frost grinned, “What did the ponies think of your ‘costume,’ did anypony get suspicious?”

Ciaran nodded and stuck her tongue out, “A few, but the explanation of a really good spell usually did the trick.”

There was a pause before Frost spoke again. “This must seem strange to you, huh? Changelings probably don’t celebrate this.”

Ciaran chuckled, “No, we don’t. Dressing up in costumes is something we do all the time. Have you celebrated Nightmare Night before?”

Frost didn’t answer at first, then nodded. “Yeah, my mother took me out one year. I was a ghost. I didn’t get much candy, so she used what little money she had to go buy me some after we were done. I don’t think she ate that night, or the night after.”

Ciaran frowned and looked down at Frost, his mane hung below his head, obscuring his face. On the ground, she could see small droplets of water hitting the mud.

“Frost...” Ciaran whispered.

“I’m sorry...” Frost said between quiet sobs. “Don’t let me ruin your night. Go have fun with Aldus.”

Ciaran pulled Frost into a warm embrace and kissed his head, “It’s okay, Frost. I’m not leaving you here all alone.”

Frost wrapped his hooves around Ciaran and cried into her carapace. “I miss her...”

Ciaran chose not to say anything until Frost’s tears stopped. When they did, she picked up his chin with a hoof and smiled. “Do you want to tell me about her? Will that make you feel better? I’d be happy to listen.”

Frost wiped his nose, and offered a chuckle, “Maybe another time. I have a picture of her, when I show you that we can talk about her.”

“Alright, Frost.” Ciaran said. “Whatever you feel comfortable with.”

“I’m sorry, Ciaran. You shouldn’t have to see that.” Frost apologized when getting up.

Ciaran got to her hooves and bent over. She smiled at Frost and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Didn’t you say your mom would walk with you around and get candy?”

“Yeah,” Frost said with a nod.

Ciaran held out a hoof and motioned for Frost to follow. “Let’s go get some.”

Frost smiled and hugged her foreleg, “You’re too nice, Ciaran. Thanks.”

Ciaran smiled and licked her fangs. “Don’t mention it, Frost. You know, some of this candy is really good. I’m really starting to like this Night of Nightmares.”

“Is it better than love?” Frost asked with a laugh.

“Not quite,” Ciaran replied with a small grin.

Frost laughed and ran ahead to get a bag while Ciaran watched from behind. “It really is the most wonderful of nights.”

Chapter 35: Influence

Pyrite awoke the next afternoon and saw that Eve was still with him. She was laying there snoring lightly. Pyrite chuckled, looks like you do snore.

With small movements of his hoof, he nudged Eve awake. “I think it’s time we talked to Thule. I want to get this over with soon.”

Eve opened her eyes and yawned, she squinted at Pyrite and nodded, “Lead the way.”

Pyrite opened the door and lead Eve outside. Both of the guards took a step back in surprise and made a move to to grab her, but Pyrite held up a hoof to stop them. “It’s alright, she did sneak in, but I was fine. I let her stay.”

The guards looked at each other, then shrugged. Pyrite made his way to the dining hall and saw Thule seated at a small table with Poppy. He looked up from a book and saw that Eve accompanied him.

“Well... what do we have here?”

Poppy turned around and smiled, “Why don’t you two join us, we were just about to eat.”

Pyrite nodded and sat down next to Thule. He waited while Thule poured him some orange juice before clearing his throat. “Thule, I wanted to talk to you about Eve’s punishment.”

“Why?” Thule asked, turning to face Pyrite.

“I don’t think it’s entirely fair, I’ve forgiven her. I don’t think she needs to be torn away from her home.”

“Respectfully, Pyrite. What you think is irrelevant. She’s disobeyed me for the last time, and I can’t risk my leniency on her influencing others in the colony. We don’t feed on other ponies.”

“But you do, dad!” Eve snapped. “I know you’ve done it in the past, and you even said you had a lapse when being with Princess Luna for such a short time! You’re a hypocrite.”

Thule’s eyes blazed, but he remained silent. He thought back to his interrupted time with Marigold, but before he could say anything, he felt a soft hoof on his shoulder.

“Dear, she has a point. The best leaders lead by example. You’ve served us so well, and you’ve done so much, yet you still have vices and problems. This isn’t right.”

“Do as I say, not as a I do.” Thule said with growl. “I’m not perfect, but actions have consequences. I’ve faced mine more times than I can count, and you’ll face this one, Eve. It’s the only way you’re going to learn. In perhaps a decade or two, I’ll consider letting you come back.”

Eve’s eyes glistened, she got off her chair and started to trot away when a hoof stopped her. She saw Pyrite’s hoof on her wing, but he wasn’t looking at her. Instead his eyes were transfixed on Thule.

“Unacceptable.” Pyrite said.

Thule lowered his gaze to the colt, “Excuse me?”

“It’s unacceptable. It’s not fair. I can’t make you reconsider, but I can offer Eve a place to stay, if only for the time being.”

“Really?” Poppy asked.

“I’m sure Aldus would let her stay with us, we are a big welcoming family after all. Princess Luna will want to know about my trip, I’ll be sure to let her know about this unfair treatment.”

The air in the hall was still as a statue, and all noise vanished. Poppy and Eve stared open mouthed at Pyrite’s actions. Even Thule’s expression was one of shock, if only for a moment.

Thule regained his composure and slowly got up from his chair. His eye’s burned crimson as he unfurled his wings. With a single clawed appendage he picked Pyrite up by the scruff of his mane and held him against a wall.

“I’ve killed hundreds, if not thousands of ponies. I’ve defeated warriors from nearly every pony kingdom. I’ve killed gryphons, changelings, minotaurs, diamond dogs, manticores, timber wolves, and even a dragon. I’ve saved your life... and you’re going to blackmail ME?”

Pyrite looked into Thule’s gaze and felt himself beginning to shake, but he had experienced this before. It was the same with Saros, and he could withstand her, the first of their kind. He took a deep breath, blinked then leaned close to Thule’s face. He would not be bullied, he would stand up to them just like his big brother would.

“You don’t frighten me, Thule. I’ve stared into eyes much more menacing than yours. This isn’t right, and I’ll make sure Luna knows. You don’t have to do this. Do the right thing, Eve will learn, she won’t do it again. Please...”

Thule eye’s narrowed, then he slowly relented. “You know, you’re a lot like Polaris, Pyrite. I couldn’t scare him either. You’re going to make a fearsome warrior someday. Alright, Eve can stay. Her punishment will be changed to suit her remaining here. Poppy can come up with something. As for us, Luna doesn’t need to know about this little incident, does she?”

Pyrite smiled as Thule let him down, “What incident?”

Poppy laughed and got up to hug him, “Thank you Pyrite, you know not many ponies can stand up to my husband. Forcing him down with words rather than a sword reminds me more of Aldus than Polaris.”

Thule growled and returned to his seat, “Let’s not talk about my peers. Our food’s getting cold. Now that the matter is settled, we’ll be departing tonight. Sound good, Pyrite?”

“Sure does,” Pyrite answered while taking a bite from his toast.

After they finished breakfast, Pyrite went with Thule to take a tour of the colony which took a few hours. Upon returning to his room, Pyrite was once again treated to a visit from Eve.

“Pyrite... thank you. I don’t know what to say.” she said while trotting over to him. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

Pyrite smiled and shook his head, “You don’t need to repay me, Eve. Just don’t get yourself in trouble like this again.”

Eve blushed and offered a small smile, she slowly put her hooves on his shoulders and touched her forehead to his. “Nopony has ever shown me kindness like this before. I hope we can meet again someday, Pyrite. Don’t...” she began, while briefly turning away, “Don’t forget about me.”

Before pulling away, Even lowered her head and gave Pyrite a soft kiss on the lips. After seeing that he was receptive, she leaned against him and wrapped her wings against his back.

Pyrite’s eyes closed, only to reopen when Eve slowly backed away. “Eve- I” he began.

“Don’t forget about me, Pyrite. Goodbye.”

----------------------

In the archives, Frost sat on a stool pondering exactly what happened when Salinia was feeding on him. It was mostly a haze, but he remembered being helped by Melody. It was strange, Frost only ever encountered her when under the influence of Ciaran’s hypnosis. After all, Melody was essentially a manifestation of Ciaran’s magic. So why did she appear when under the effect of magic from another changeling?

Frost shook his head for a moment and looked up to find Ciaran was gone. He walked around the corner and saw that she had moved to the other side of the shelves. Whatever she was looking for seemed illusive. Many of the books she levitated out to examine she returned just as quickly.

“Ciaran... I- um, I have a question.” Frost said.

Ciaran was perusing a book when she finally answered, “Huh? Oh, yes Frost. What question?”

“Well,” Frost began, careful to not let slip anything about Salinia, “I had a question about your magic, specifically your hypnosis magic.”

Ciaran nodded, “Ahuh.”

Frost looked up from the floor and saw that she was engrossed in reading, and let out a quiet sigh. “I guess it can wait til later.”

Ciaran heard quiet hoofsteps walking away and looked up from her book. Frost’s head was lowered and his mane almost touched the floor. Something was wrong.

Ciaran shut the book caught Frost’s tail in a small field of magic, halting him. “Frosty, if something’s wrong, you have my undivided attention, come here.”

Frost smiled as she patted the floor. He trotted over and sat down. “So... I had a dream the other night...”

Ciaran smiled, “Really? Weren’t dreaming of me were you?” she asked with a chuckle.

Frost rubbed the back of his head, “Well, kinda...?”

“Kinda?” Ciaran asked.

“It was Melody,” Frost replied. “She appeared in my dreams when I was having... um... trouble. A nightmare. She helped me.”

“Well that’s good,” Ciaran said. “Nightmares are never fun. I’m glad she got you out of it.”

“That’s the thing,” Frost said, “I don’t think she did. She just encouraged me. I just don’t understand why she was there. I- I don’t think I dreamed her. It didn’t feel like I was dreaming on my own. It felt like... well, I was under a spell again.”

Ciaran raised an eyebrow and bent down to be closer to Frost. She looked at him closely, then flared her nostrils as if to take in his scent. “That is strange, Frosty...”

“Could- could Melody be in my head right now?” Frost asked, “Like, could a remnant of your magic still be with me, even after we’re done practicing?”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing, Frost.” Ciaran said, “I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. Once we get back to the cottage we’ll investigate this further, I promise.”

Frost smiled and hugged Ciaran’s stomach, which she returned with a hug of her own and a small kiss on the forehead. Suddenly Frost felt Ciaran’s hooves stop rubbing his back and fall back to the floor. He turned around and his heart dropped into his stomach. There, at the end of the aisle stood Princess Desalia.

The silver alicorn stood in her full regalia staring down at them. Ciaran froze, she was in her Willow disguise but she never expected to run into the alicorn princess alone. Well, not alone exactly, Frost was there, and that was a larger help than  she realized. Her connection with him was growing every day. It wasn’t even a few seconds before Frost put himself between her and the princess. He knew the gravity of the situation.

Frost trotted over to her and bowed in respect. However, something strange happened. The air became thick and heavy. Small particles of pink and silver began to fall from the ceiling, and an odd light emanated from Princess Desalia to expand in all directions. It seemed to stop time all around it. Ciaran could move as she pleased, but she noticed Frost was stuck in his bow, his head still touching the floor. Desalia glanced down at him briefly, then walked around him to Ciaran.

Ciaran didn’t know what to expect. She was shivering in fear. All her plans did not factor in this variable. She wondered if she fired her most potent beam of hypnosis magic and hit the alicorn right between the eyes,  would it save her? If she fought, right here, right now, would she survive long enough to get away? As Desalia came closer, Ciaran was petrified with fear until the alicorn spoke.

“I’ve always enjoyed this section of the library, you know. It’s history, pure and simple. No spells, no accounts of madness from long dead kings and queens. No notes regarding the traversals of the multi-dimensional plains... just cultural history. Nothing more.”

Ciaran knew this, and it was exactly why she was in this part of the library.

Desalia came closer and stopped. She stared directly into her eyes, her expression completely neutral. “I’ve always been fascinated by your kind. Your actions are always something that is brought up when many of us alicorns meet to discuss things.” She paused, then looked away for a moment before running a hoof through her long silver locks, “The one who was going to attack us, I’m guessing a relative of yours, she wanted this,” Desalia said while motioning all around her, “It’s what they all want.”

“So...” Ciaran croaked, “You knew?”

Desalia’s expression did not change, “I knew the one called Silth was going to try something eventually. Though I did not know the extent to which she infiltrated the Isles. You see, we alicorns, despite what ponies say, cannot see the future. We can however use our long lifespans to accumulate knowledge and study patterns. After living thousands of years, one begins to notice certain patterns, and can reasonably predict how events may or may not turn out. Silth might have succeeded, but certain individuals intervened and stopped it. Were you one such individual?”

“Does it change anything if I was?” Ciaran asked.

“Right here, right now? No, it doesn’t.”

Ciaran’s face paled, her eyes shrinking to pin pricks. Her disguise threatened to falter at any moment. She was at a loss of what to say, then Desalia spoke again.

“I’ve always believed you can judge the character of an individual based on what they do when presented with opportunity and power,” Desalia began. “Silth attempted to get what she wanted through subversion, then brute force. She failed. But you... subversion and careful planning is what brought you success, and here you are.”

Ciaran grew tired of being on edge like this. She gulped and cleared her throat. “Here I am, so what happens now?”

“You don’t understand,” Desalia said with a slow shake of her head. “You’re here, in the archives, on this floor, in this wing, looking through these books. You could have gone to another wing and learned magic so powerful defeating me would be as easy as breathing. You could have learned ways to turn the Isles inside out, but you didn’t. You’re here, searching for answers about your race. That tells me so much about you, changeling.”

“Like what?” Ciaran asked.

“This library holds secrets that you cannot even begin to imagine. There are many things here that are even beyond my understanding. The alicorns decided long ago that the world wasn’t ready for this knowledge, and it might never be. Thus, we watch over it like we watch over our little ponies. I could have used this knowledge to conquer the world one thousand times, that knowledge is known to me. But I haven’t.”

“I think I understand,” Ciaran replied.

Desalia nodded, “Find what you came here for, changeling. You’ve done nothing to harm my ponies. Your identity is safe with me. Be warned, however. If you find what you’re looking for, beware the consequences of seeing it through.”

“Consequences?” Ciaran asked, “What consequences?”

Desalia only smiled as she ran a hoof through her mane. She ignited her horn and pulled Frost into the air. She pressed his back against her chest, holding him with her forehooves crossed around his body. Desalia smiled down at him and pressed her cheek against his. “Beware the consequences...”

The air around them returned to normal as quickly as it changed. The falling particles were gone and Ciaran could smell the cool air again. Frost finally began to move again and rubbed his eyes. Then realized he was in the hooves of Princess Desalia.

“P-princess! What’s going on? When did I get here? I thought you were over there and I-”

“Shh, Frost. I just came to say hello since I didn’t see you when you came in. If I didn’t know better I’d say you were avoiding me...”

Frost gulped and looked up at the large silver alicorn, “I- um, we- Aldus didn’t...”

“That’s right, where is he?” Desalia asked with a smirk.

“On the other side with his notes,” Ciaran answered, then pointed a hoof.

“Thank you, Willow.” Desalia said with a kind smile. “Frost, could you do me a favor please?”

Frost turned around when she let him go and rubbed his hooves together apprehensively, “I don’t know... your last favor was pretty intense.”

Desalia chuckled and waved her mane to the side, “That’s funny, Frost. But this one is simple, I promise. I want you to get a book for me, that’s all.”

“A book?” Frost asked, “Okay, where?”

“Twenty seventh floor, east wing, row twelve. It’ll be glowing when you get there.”

Frost raised an eyebrow then looked at Ciaran, who glared at him to get moving. He galloped away to the elevators leaving Desalia to find Aldus.

Desalia teleported to the desks and tables Aldus had haphazardly pushed together and scared him half to death. Coffee flew into the air along with the mug, assorted notes and scrolls, and a few books.

The silver alicorn let out a groan as the objects were caught in mid air by a magical field. A field not belonging to her. Aldus floated in the air with a forced smile on his face. He struggled to put the liquid back into the mug and set everything back in it’s proper place.

“Princess... you’re looking lovely this fine evening.”

“Spare me, Aldus.” Desalia said with a roll of her eyes. “So, you’re here like you wanted. What are you reading?”

Aldus picked up the book and presented to Desalia as she walked around the table. “Tomes from creation, regarding the first alicorn.”

“The first of our kind, if you believe what’s written. Charming, isn’t she?” Desalia said with a chuckle.

“Yes...” Aldus replied, “Charming is one way of putting it.”

“Frosty, you’re back. That was fast.” Desalia said while taking the book from Frost as he trotted over.

“It wasn’t hard to find at all, just like you said.”

“Very good, very good. Aldus, I’m going to borrow Frost for a little while. We won’t be gone for long.”  Desalia said while motioning Frost to follow her.

“Of course, princess. He’s at your disposal.” Aldus replied.

As Desalia turned her back, Frost saw Aldus open his eyes wide and mouth “What did you do?!”

Frost shrugged and went on his way following Desalia to one of the large walls near the outer rim of the archives. She put a hoof to the wall, and slowly it began to glow silver in the shape of a small doorway. Desalia motioned for Frost to enter, then followed through herself.

Inside was a void of blackness. Frost took a few steps forward when a hoof grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. Desalia ignited her horn and illuminated the darkness. Frost had almost stepped off a ledge into what seemed to be a bottomless pit. He caught his breath and backed away slowly.

“Where are we, princess?” he asked.

“We’re in one of the secret parts of the library,” Desalia said.

She picked him up in her forehooves and flew across the chasm to a large translucent platform floating above it. When they landed, Frost noticed symbols traced all over the platform’s surface. He had no idea what they meant. Desalia slowly paced to the center of the platform and sat on her haunches. When she did, a silver light formed under her and spread through the lines carved into the platform.

Frost stood near the edge, a small silver circle outlined an area nearby. He assumed that was where he was supposed to sit. After positioning himself within the circle, he noticed he could feel something. It was faint and subtle, like he was touching something else, or somepony else. His eyes widened, it was Desalia. He could feel her presence, her heartbeat, her soft fur, and... something else.

As the lights around them dimmed until only one remained. The light circling each of them that ran along the center of the platform connecting the two together. As Princess Desalia opened her eyes, they became white hot gaping holes of magic. She stared at Frost, and he felt the power.

It was power unlike anything he had ever felt before. He was connected to it, he was a part of it. The entire room was illuminated as Frost became more in tune with Desalia’s magic. The magnificent silver light crept up the walls from the abyss below and revealed everything. Frost could no longer discern the translucent floor. He felt weightless, utterly immersed in the great power. Then, he fell. Down to the bottom of the pit where a vast silver ocean tossed and turned as if in a storm. Frost fell in and broke the surface. It was warm, almost like bath water. The longer he stayed in it, the more powerful he felt. His horn crackled and sizzled with raw energy. He had never felt more powerful.

Just as he was reveling in his new power, a large wave rose up and crashed down, sending him under. Frost tumbled through the water and shook his head to reorient himself. He looked down and couldn’t see the bottom of whatever sea he was in. There was seemingly no end to this place. As he was starting to swim back to the surface, something appeared out of the corner of his eye. It was small and in the distance, but closing rapidly. As it approached, it became even bigger.

It had the raw appearance of a pony, from the front, but it’s rear was entirely different. It was being propelled by the motions of several tentacles, not unlike the giant squids he had heard about. It’s forelimbs stretched out into long a nimble claws the closer it came to him. He began to swim away when the water changed around him, making it harder and harder to move. Frost turned around and saw that this mysterious thing was almost on top of him. It was difficult to see, as it’s color was the same as the ocean waters. The only way to discern it’s location was a thin flowing outline.

Frost was nearly at the surface when two tentacles wrapped themselves around his rear hooves, pulling him back down. Frost was swung around before two more tentacles wrapped around his forehooves, stretching him out like he was on a torture rack. The creature rose up in front of him, it’s angular equine head studying him closely. It’s mouth opened, revealing a bright pink light. It spoke without moving it’s mouth, and stared into him with maddening eyes.

“You belong to me!” it shouted while diving forward with it’s open maw.

“Wah!!” Frost shouted as he flew back and skidded to a halt near the edge of the platform.

Desalia was at his side immediately and gently stroked his mane, “Are you alright, Frost.”

Frost trembled and looked up at the alicorn, his heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to leap out of his chest and run out of the room. He slowly got up and jumped into Desalia’s open forehooves.

Desalia closed her wings around Frost and tried to calm him down, “It’s okay, Frost. I’m here, you’re safe.”

“I- I saw something...” Frost whispered into her ear.

Desalia pressed her head against Frost and whispered, “What did you see?”

“I don’t know...” Frost replied, also in whisper. “It was a... thing, it was like it wasn’t even there. But it grabbed me and tried to eat me. It said that I belonged to it. What was that?”

Desalia sighed and put Frost down, but kept her wings closed, “What you saw... was magic, Frost.”

“Magic?” Frost asked, “What are you talking about?”

Desalia opened her wings and placed one behind Frost, prompting him to get up. He followed her to the center of the platform and sat down on two pillows Desalia teleported in. She took a seat on some then sat down on all fours, such that she was near Frost’s level.

Desalia paused, making sure to choose her words carefully, “Ancient scholars from around the time when ponies first walked Equus, wrote theories on magic and it’s nature. Some believed that it was a naturally occurring force in the world able to be harnessed by special ponies.” She grinned and pointed to her horn, then playfully bopped Frost’s. “Once traces of magic were discovered in our kin, the pegasi and earth ponies, some theories were re-evaluated.”

“But you said that was magic,” Frost said, “That thing... was magic?”

Desalia closed her eyes and nodded, “Some scholars believe that magic, all of it, is not just a naturally occurring force in the world able to be harnessed and understood. Rather, it is the essence left over from an immensely powerful being. One that existed during the time of the first alicorn.”

“So that’s it? That’s what I saw?” Frost asked.

“I don’t know, Frosty.” Desalia said with a frown and tousled his mane. “We alicorns can only speculate. We’ve read about it and researched it, but there is no conclusive evidence. Some of us claim to see something when we are deep in meditation. Some of us feel a presence pulling at us when we use vast amounts of our power. But it’s nothing substantial enough to back up that theory. Records from the time of the first alicorn do exist, but the scribe who recorded them was later exposed as a fraud. The documents traded hooves for centuries. To say they are unreliable is an understatement.”

“Have you seen it?” he asked.

Desalia nodded, “Only once, a long time ago. Several hundred years. It appeared to me as a great serpent with wings. Most of us alicorns believe it’s in our minds, it’s the manifestation of temptation pulling at us. Thus, it will be different for each pony that experiences it.”

“What I saw was a pony with tentacles like a squid.” Frost said with confusion.

“Yes, it’s different for all who see it. I’m sorry you went through that.”

Frost sat down on all fours and smiled, “It’s alright, I’m fine. But what was that ocean, that water and light?”

Desalia smiled, “It was my power, Frost. You felt all the magic I possess, you were quite literally bathed in my magic.”

“That’s your magic?!” Frost exclaimed while jumping off his pillow. “That’s incredible!”

Desalia smiled and ran a hoof through her mane, “Yes, Frost. I am quite incredible. Due tell me more...”

Frost saw her smirk and decided to play along. He sat down on his haunches and held her forehoof to his chest. “My princess... you are the most vibrant, the most exuberant, the most breathtakingly stunning alicorn I’ve ever seen! Your magic is vast, your wisdom endless, your coat... exquisit...”

Desalia watched Frost hold her hoof and couldn’t stop herself from laughing. She held her other hoof to her face and shook her head. “You really are Aldus’ apprentice.”

Frost laughed along with the princess and shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re able to hold that much power, alicorns are incredible. But... why did you show me that?”

Desalia paused, then turned the lights in the room down. “Frost, did really think I was going to punish you for finding Silth?”

“Huh?” Frost asked.

“Do you think I would have sent a colt to prison, or have him executed for stumbling into something on accident?”

Frost remained silent. Aldus was convinced Desalia would have been very angry with Silth being set free. It was the entire reason they had that meltdown in the first place. What was Desalia implying here?

“So, I was never in any trouble?”

“Frost, Silth was going to invade my kingdom, and likely enslave all of my ponies, including myself. With the proper power in her hooves, and in certain circumstances, I might not have been able to stop her. Her punishment was deserved, and I deemed it so. But I would never punish you for something that wasn’t your fault.”

Frost crossed his hooves. This was politicking... the rich ponies he used to steal things from engaged in this sort of talking and planning all the time.

“Aldus genuinely believed there would be consequences, and that I would be in some sort of trouble. He was angry that because of my meddling, he might lose favor with you.”

“And for all he knows, he has...” Desalia said with stern glare.

Frost got the message. “And my helping find your daughter?”

Desalia nodded, “A small test for you, and with your success... and Aldus’ intervention, he’ll tread more carefully, which is what I wanted. Things are best around here when they are stable. The Isles are a trade hub between various other pony kingdoms and other societies. Things work best when they are calm, and controlled.”

“So I passed your little test, and my reward was seeing your power? Power that I’ll never have?”

Desalia raised an eyebrow, “Careful, Frosty. What I’m about to show you isn’t something I would consider giving to the power hungry.”

Frost bowed his head slightly, “Of course.”

Desalia levitated the book she had Frost retrieve and tapped it with a hoof. “Are you familiar with Crystal Magic?”

Frost shrugged, “I don’t think so, I’ve just heard about from Aldus a few times.”

“Oh Frosty, don’t be silly! You use crystal magic all the time. What do you think ice is?”

“I... guess I never thought of it that way. Yeah, you’re right.” Frost said.

Desalia got up and walked behind Frost, “I showed you the amount of magic I’m able to wield, because I wanted to introduce to the concept. You have trouble with your magic, don’t you Frost?”

Frost frowned, his ears drooped and he looked at the floor, “My horn was bad, I was born that way. Aldus was able to fix it, though. I just don’t have that much magic in me.”

Desalia bent over and examined his horn, “He fixed it as best he could, and to the best of his knowledge. But I can do a bit more, I think.”

Frost turned around, “What? You mean I can use more magic if you fix me?!”

Desalia chuckled and motioned for Frost to calm down, “I can make the magic flow more freely, but I can’t increase your innate stores of it. I’m afraid the damage has been done. Had you used more as you were growing up, you’d have more. As it stands, that’s not going to change.”

“Story of my life...” Frost sulked.

Frost’s chin was lifted by Desalia’s hoof, “There’s a way to circumvent that problem, Frost.”

She moved back a few paces and brought magic to her horn. She opened the book and flipped a few pages in before closing it with a smile. She pointed her horn near the center of the platform and fired an almost liquid  bolt of magic. The silver light fell into a small puddle, and almost immediately began to grow crystals.

“Well, what do you think?’ Desalia asked with a confident smile.

“It’s a crystal,” Frost said. “What’s special about it?”

“Why don’t you take a closer look?” Desalia suggested.

Frost trotted over to the crystal and walked around it. At first he didn’t sense anything, then he could feel a faint energy. He got closer and touched his horn to the crystal, once touching he sensed Desalia’s magic growing within.

Frost’s eyes widened, “What is this?”

Desalia teleported to his side and sat on her haunches, “This is a special type of crystal magic. You form these with the spell, just like you would your normal ice magic. The only difference is you plant a small amount of concentrated magic inside before you cast it. The crystal grows, and so does the magic inside it.” She tapped it lightly with her hoof and smiled, “Think of it as your own magic battery. Even if you run out you can cast these and siphon magic from them at any time.”

Desalia flapped her wings and hovered into the air. She ignited her horn and drew upon the magic in the crystal. She used it to form five smaller crystals above and behind her head in an arc. Each of them soon glowed with silver light. She turned around and fired them into the platform, each exploding with a bright flash.

Frost shook his head in amazement, “I had no idea. I never would have thought of that. Where did this come from?”

The silver alicorn floated down and levitated the book to Frost, “Why don’t you read and find out?”

Frost grabbed the book, then hugged Desalia around her forehooves, “I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much, princess.”

Princess Desalia chuckled and stroked Frost’s mane, “You practice in here for a bit while I go talk with Aldus. I’ll be here to help later, okay?”

Frost nodded eagerly and went to work reading. Desalia smiled at his adorable eager to learn attitude, then flew out of the room. She landed beside Aldus and saw he was still reading about the times of creation.

Aldus turned around and smirked, “So what are you doing with my apprentice?”

“I’m teaching him how to circumvent his low magic reserves, then I’m going to check his horn after he’s tired out a bit.”

“I see,” Aldus said with a shrug, “That will help.”

Desalia sat down to the side and threw back her mane, “I gave Rigel a pass to enter the archives as well. He didn’t want to come? I was looking forward to seeing him.”

Aldus closed his eyes and shut the book he was reading. “Rigel is flying to Verine today...”

Desalia’s eyes widened, remembering the island’s significance, “I see... I forgot.”

“It’s understandable,” Aldus said. “But it’s something he needed to do.”

Desalia got up and pressed her hoof on Aldus’ shoulder, “When you see him, tell him I hope he’s alright, and if he needs anything, he only needs to ask.”

“Yeah... yeah...” Aldus repeated, “He’ll appreciate that.”

--------------------

Iris rocked back and forth on a swinging bench outside the cottage while watching the sun set. She was kind of bored without Frost or Pyrite around. The only other pony in the house was Marigold, and she was working at the moment. Rigel had asked her if she wanted to do anything else or if she was fine being by herself for the rest of the night. She didn’t care if she was alone, if worst came to worst she could always play with Black Star.

She closed her eyes to yawn, when she reopened them she saw Rigel take off and fly south away from the island. Iris didn’t think he was going anywhere later, and by himself? Even stranger, he appeared to be carrying two large saddlebags.

Iris flew into the study and found Marigold filing papers. Luna was spending some time with the children on the other side of the cottage.

“Hey Iris. What’s up?” Marigold asked.

“Did Rigel say he was going anywhere this evening?”

Marigold pondered the question, “Not that I know of, why?”

“I just saw him fly off with two saddlebags full to bursting with something.”

Marigold sat back in her chair, “He didn’t say anything to me...”

Iris’s beak curled into a mischievous smile, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Marigold’s face slowly mirrored Iris’, “I think I might, I’ll meet you outback. Just need to tell Luna I’ll be gone for a bit.”

Iris nodded and flew to the back of the cottage, after a few moments Marigold joined her and they took to the air in pursuit. There was at least three hours of daylight left. After about ten minutes of flying they saw Rigel gliding below the clouds. Marigold motioned for Iris to follow her into the cloud cover as they watched Rigel descend to the island of Verine.

“This is weird,” Marigold said, “There’s nothing here except a large estate owned by the Silvermane family. And even they don’t live there all the time. What could he possibly be doing here?”

They landed on a cloud and watched Rigel fly to the groundskeepers house. He knocked and spent about ten minutes talking with the groundskeeper, then flew into the forest near the center of the island.

Marigold and Iris followed closely and were surprised to find so many trees packed so densely together. Verine was one of the larger islands in the south and had a verdant green center that stretched from tip to tip.

Iris and Marigold crept through the brush and eventually found Rigel standing at the base of a large tree. Several weeds and bushes grew up around it. Rigel dropped his saddlebags and spread out gardening tools near the tree. He began to set up a tent and cleared a small area for a fire. As he began laying out some rocks, he looked over to where Marigold and Iris were hiding and stood up.

“Are you going to join me, ladies? Or are you going to skulk back there the whole evening?”

Marigold and Iris looked at each other, then came out into the small clearing.

“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Iris asked.

“You didn’t tell us anything, Rigel. We were worried.” Marigold said with concern.

“Worried?” Rigel asked with a laugh, “I’m not flying off to battle.”

“You look like you’re going to spend the night here,” Iris said.

Rigel nodded, “I am.”

“What is this place? Why are you out here on this empty island all by yourself?” Marigold asked. “If you talked to me I would have come with you.”

Rigel lowered his head, letting his blue mane fall forward, “I know, but this is something I wanted to do alone. But now that you’re here, I guess that’s fine.”

“Rigel... what is this place?” Iris asked, fluttering over to his side.

Rigel’s ears fell flat as he slowly walked over to the tree. He tore out a bush and threw away some branches. He pointed to a small rock, it was barely visible above the soil. He then motioned to the tree. Something was scrawled into the bark, but it was warped with the many years of age.

“Epsy...” Rigel said, letting a single tear fall. “It’s short for Epsilon, my little brother. I came here to visit him after one thousand years away.”

Marigold put a hoof to her mouth, realizing that the small stone was a grave marker. And that it had eroded over the years. Iris pulled one of Rigel’s wings around her and snuggled into the crook, nuzzling his chest to try and console him.

Marigold stepped forward and looked down at the small stone. “Pegasi didn’t have earthly burials back then, it was a different tradition. So... why is he here? Why the Silver Isles?”

Rigel shook his head, “I wasn’t about to let him be put to rest by old pegasi customs, he was brought here by myself, Aldus, and Polaris. We weren’t going to do it in Equestria.”

Iris stretched out a single talon and wiped away a tear from his eyes. Rigel looked down and smiled, wrapping his wing around her further in gratitude.

“Rigel... how did he die? Can you tell us about him?” Iris asked.

“Yeah,” Marigold said, joining Rigel and giving him a nuzzle. “Will it make you feel better to talk about it?”

“He- he fell...” Rigel stuttered, “He fell to his death from our family home... he was only eleven years old, he couldn’t fly.”

Marigold was shocked. Deaths due to falling were extremely rare for pegasi, even foals. “That sounds like a horrible accident.”

Rigel’s wings tensed, his ears shot backward and his eyes glazed over with murderous fire, “It wasn't an accident...”

Rigel quickly flapped away, making sure not to hurt the females beside him. He began to set up the tent and turned to look at them, “I’ll tell you what happened, maybe... maybe it’ll be good to talk about it after all these years. It started at dinner with our father, one dark and stormy night.”

Chapter 36: Storm front (part 1)

~ 1000 years ago

Rigel let out a sigh as he descended to the fortress, his home since arriving to train with the Wonderbolts. Cirrus fortress was built atop four separate, massive clouds. Each were held together by tightly woven clouds assembled by the most skilled pegasi cloud architects. His father spared no expense, after all, why would he? Solaris Hurricane, proud direct descendant of Commander Hurricane, the ancient hero of all pegasi.

Rigel let out another sigh knowing he would have to sit through another dinner and evening meeting discussing the day’s events. His father wanted to make sure he was doing everything expected of him. Everything expected by everypony with wings. It was exhausting, but he had little choice in the matter.

However, there was one thing that made it all worthwhile. Rigel saw it as he flew down to the courtyard nestled between three large towers.

There, a small yellow pegasus colt was throwing a ball at the hardened cloud walls. He was using his wings to smack it back and forth between the wall and himself. Something Rigel had taught him to build up wing strength.

“You’re going faster now! That’s good!” Rigel said while landing behind him.

“Hey Rigel!” the colt exclaimed while catching the ball in his hooves. “I’m doing exactly what you said, do you think it’ll help?”

Rigel stared down at the colt trotting over to him. Epsilon was not an athletic pegasus by any stretch. He was chubby, and his joints were weaker than most colts his age. His head was large, and his wings were small. Too small to support his current girth, and he had a very hard time losing weight.

“I know it will, you need strong wings to fly.” Rigel said.

“Wings like yours, I know.” Epsilon said with an innocent smile.

Rigel frowned, looking at his large wings. His father and uncle had them, too. Wings that were larger than even the largest normal pegasi wings. Feathers, joints, wingspan, and resistance were all well above the typical pegasi. Male or female. It was a trait in the Hurricane bloodline. Unfortunately for Epsilon, it didn’t appear in all foals with the blood.

Epsilon sat his ball down and crouched low, then launched himself into the air. He only made it a few hoofsteps off the ground, but he did manage to hover for a few seconds.

“Hey, that’s better than last time!” Rigel applauded with a few hoof claps.

“I know! I’ve been practicing!” Epsilon said with a happy grin.

Rigel smiled, “That’s all you can do, and that’s all I did when I was your age.”

“Yeah, but your wings were bigger than mine when you were my age.” Epsilon said.

“Yes... that’s true,” Rigel said.

Their conversation was cut short by one of the many servants flying out to the courtyard. The stallion informed them that dinner was ready and they were wanted in the dining hall.

Rigel flew in with Epsilon on his back and deposited him in his seat. He took the chair next to him and looked to the head of the table. There, his father glared at him in disapproval.

“I told you to come straight to me when you were done, son. Helios and I were eager to learn of your first speed test.”

Rigel rolled his eyes and leaned back as a servant placed his food. “Waiting til after dinner won’t kill you, dad. Besides, I’m sure you were busy with other important pegasi business before I got home.”

“Hmph, too true,” came a voice from the banister above. “Dealing with earth pony business is so tedious and boring.”

Rigel watched as his uncle Helios hovered down to the dining room. He took a seat nearest his brother by the head of the table. Both his uncle and father were born during the day. In fact, they were born when the sun was high in the sky. Bright and glorious days. Thus, tradition dictated as members of a strong noble family, they take names reflecting the sun. Strong, powerful names to pay respect to the Princess Celestia.

Rigel and Epsilon were not so lucky. They were born during the night, and so took names of constellations or individual stars. It was not looked well upon if a pony was born in the night. It made everypony stay up and prevented them from sleep, plus it was the domain of the lesser princess. Rigel’s father had tried to subvert the tradition to get him a better name to honor Celestia, but his mother forbade it. She gave him his name, and she had no intention of changing it.

“What were you doing, Helios?” a boisterous, snobby voice whined.

Rigel and Epsilon saw their aunt Cloudburst saunter into the room, and could smell the cider from where they were seated. Solaris and Helios’ sister followed them wherever they went, and did nothing but leech off their names and fortune.

“The earth ponies that own farms below Canterlot mountain want more rain for their crops and less wind,” Helios said while a servant put food on his plate. “But the poor simps don’t understand we can’t produce rain without wind...”

“Oh, to be a mud pony...” Cloudburst mockingly lamented. “To be so short of wit, and so dependant on the needs of their betters.”

“They’re lucky I give them any rain at all,” Solaris said with a harumph. “The amount of food they kicked up to us was pitiful this season.”

“Tell me about it,” Cloudburst said while taking a heaping portion of food onto her plate.

“We’ll need to tell them to send another full shipment just to get you through the winter,” Rigel said with a smirk.

Cloudburst stared daggers at him and pointed a hoof, “You watch yourself young stallion, such disrespect will not be tolerated.”

“Funny, I bet the earth ponies feel the same way...” Rigel said absentmindedly while giving his little brother some of his food.

Epsilon gladly accepted the extra portions and began to dig in.

Cloudburst fumed but was cut off by Solaris putting down his silverware. “You disapprove of how we treat the earth ponies, son?”

Rigel shrugged, “You don’t decide, father. Celestia and the the court does, you merely follow their orders.”

Solaris’ eye twitched, “We do so because it is most profitable, for ourselves and for all pegasi.”

Rigel chuckled, “You do it because Celestia and Luna would stop you if you tried taking advantage of the other races. And because it honors the agreement made by Commander Hurricane, thus keeping your last name relevant.”

Solaris gave Rigel a dangerous glare, “It’s your last name as well, boy.”

Rigel took a bite of hay fries and shrugged, “So it is.”

Helios and Cloudburst looked at each other and decided to keep silent. Solaris, seeing he wasn’t getting through to one son, changed his attention to the other.

“You realize if you keep gorging yourself like that, you’re never going to get in the air.” he said with a pitying glance to the young colt.

Epsilon realized after a few seconds his father was talking about him. He quickly wiped his face and pushed the plate away. “I hovered a bit longer today, dad.”

“Hovered a bit longer...” Solaris said with disinterest. “You should be flying in junior flight school by now. Your wings should be able to keep you off the ground for more than a few seconds.”

Epsilon slumped into his chair, “I’ll work harder, father.”

“Yes you will,” Solaris said with an edge to his voice. “Your brother was leagues ahead of you by your age. If you don’t pass the exam for junior flight camp in a week... I don’t know what we’ll do with you.”

Epsilon scrambled out of his chair and trotted away. He hurried so fast he tripped on his way out, earning a snicker from Cloudburst and Helios.

“You weren’t excused!” Solaris yelled after him.

Rigel glared as his father and stood up to go after him. Solaris got up as well and pointed a hoof at him. “You’re not going anywhere until we talk.”

“Oh please, you expect me to listen to you after treating my brother... your son like that?”

“You will listen to me, and you will obey me...” Solaris dangerously intoned.

Rigel sat down and finished his meal, then followed his father and Helios into the study. As he left, he didn’t miss the satisfied smirk on Cloudburst’s face.

-------------------

“How can you treat him that way?! He’s trying his best!” Rigel shouted.

“His best hasn’t even gotten him in the air yet,” Solaris replied.

“He loves you, father. Why can’t you see that? He’s practicing every day and trying to get stronger for you.”

“When he succeeds, he’ll have my respect and appreciation, until then... there is only one son who deserves my undivided attention. So...”

Rigel let out a sigh and took a seat across from his desk, “My speed is double that of the academy record holder. But I’m still not as fast as Sun Streaker.”

“What is the difference between your two times?” Solaris asked.

“It can’t be that much,” Helios said. “He’s been in the Wonderbolts for a while now. Has he taken notice of you?”

Rigel raised an eyebrow, “My name is Hurricane, they noticed me before I enrolled.”

Solaris and Helios laughed a bit, it was true. Solaris made no effort to hide the natural prowess of his oldest son, and made every effort to hide the youngest.

Rigel got up and put his forehooves on the desk, “I’m doing fine, dad. I’ll be accepted for formal Wonderbolt training in no time. But you really should spend some time with Epsilon. You taught me the basics, why not do the same for him?”

Solaris growled and stood up, “I taught you the basics because you were worthy. You had the physique, the talent. You picked up everything I taught you so quickly. Epsilon won’t even listen half the time, that’s his mother in him. And it’s his fault she’s gone now.”

“That’s not true, dad!!” Rigel shouted, “What in the north winds could make you think that?!”

A sound that came from outside drew Rigel’s attention away from his father. He rushed to the study doors and looked down the hall. He saw a small shadow shrinking away around the corner.

Great... Rigel thought while turning back to his father. “I’ll never understand you.”

Over the course of the evening the sun was beginning to set. Being so high in the clouds, the pegasi were afforded a bit more daylight than earth ponies or unicorns. Rigel searched the grounds until he found his little brother. He was throwing the ball with his wings and letting it roll back to him.

He noticed Rigel land behind him and flapped his wings as hard as he could. Yet again, he could only remain airborne for a few moments.

“Father doesn’t love me...” Epsilon said with tears falling onto the clouds.

Anger and sadness swelled within Rigel as he picked up his little brother and closed his wings around him. “That’s not true. He loves you, Epsy. He’s just too proud to show it.”

Epsilon traced a hoof across Rigel’s large wings. He picked up a stray feather and looked at it, “What happens if I never fly, Rigel? What happens if I can’t live up to what our family wants?”

Rigel sat his brother down and lovingly caressed his mane. He bent over and looked him in the eyes, “Then you don’t. It doesn’t matter, Epsilon. There is so much more to life. You’ll find a talent somewhere. And no matter what dad thinks, I’ll always love you. And I’ll always be there for you.”

Epsilon began to tear up even more. He buried his face in Rigel’s shoulder and balled his eyes out. “I-I’m the reason mom’s dead! It’s all my fault!”

Rigel now felt himself getting teary eyed. Their mother had died shortly after Epsilon was born. It was a complication resulting from his birth. Ever since then certain ponies had resented him, and the fact that he had trouble flying, thus not living up to the Hurricane name, didn’t help.

“Listen to me, Epsilon,” Rigel whispered. “It’s not your fault. Don’t ever think that. Mom would never want you to think that way. She loved you very much.”

Epsilon frowned and picked up his ball. He stood in front of Rigel and forced a small smile, “Father has entered me in the young wings competition at the Pegasi Sun Celebration. I need to train harder to be ready. I’m going to practice more before I go to bed.”

Rigel’s stomach turned. His father never knew when to quit. Epsilon was not ready for that. He watched him turn away to leave the grounds and realized something. As the sun was disappearing below the horizon, he saw his own shadow. It was so large it could have hidden twenty Epsilon’s. The image of his small form being completely covered in his own darkness made Rigel understand. A wave of self loathing washed over him like nothing he had ever felt before.

“Epsilon, wait...” Rigel said while gliding over him. He picked him up and playfully sat him on his shoulders before kicking off again, “You’ll be ready for the competition, I promise you that.”

His little brother’s laughter was music to his ears. At least he could still get him to be happy, and he was determined to keep it that way.

--------------------

Rigel stretched in his Wonderbolt recruit uniform. He looked down at the three medals he received for the competitions he had already won. Very few on his team of recruits could stand up to him, but there were a few. One in particular was a young mare from Trottingham. Her name was Crosswind. She wasn’t phased by Rigel’s natural skill, rather she ignored it and worked harder than everypony else. Due to that, she had even beaten Rigel a few times at some of the more involved exercises. Her carefree attitude and bubbly personality made her fun to be around. Right now she was fidgeting with her uniform and kept blowing her green mane out of her face. The wind at this altitude wasn’t helping. Both of them were on display at the front of the parade as it was beginning to depart.

“So, Wondercolt... am I going to meet your family today?” Crosswind asked.

Rigel rolled his eyes at his designated nickname. She ignored his skill, but the constant reminders of his last name must have struck a chord. She saw fit to knock him down a peg or two with that monicker.

“I hope not...” Rigel groaned. “But you might meet my brother.”

“Ahh, right!” she chirped and flapped her wings happily. “The little one you’re always going on about.”

“That’s the one,” Rigel said as he looked ahead. The parade was about to get started. He saw Sun Streaker land ahead with the rest of the Wonderbolts and began to march. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Crosswind playfully slapped his flank with her wing. “What’s the matter? You’re practically a star here. Don’t you want to enjoy it at least a little bit?”

Rigel frowned, “Not really. I’d rather just disappear right about now.”

Crosswind leaned up and brushed her wing against his feathers, “Wait til the end of festival and we can both disappear...”

Rigel saw her slip him a lewd wink and couldn’t help but laugh. It was short lived however. As they walked through the streets of Celestis more and more pegasi gathered to watch the parade. Soon the large clouds that served as balconies came into view. Notable pegasi from across Equestria were situated above the parade looking down on all the fliers marching. From the Wonderbolts, to the weather team, the royal guard, and the competitive air racers.

Eventually they came to the cloud of the princesses. Naturally, Rigel noticed his father positioned himself as close to Celestia as possible, with his uncle not far behind. Celestia herself wasn’t watching the parade, at least from what Rigel could tell. Her head was bent and her ear was to all the nobles around her vying for her attention. However, the Princess of the Night was a different story. She stood away from her sister near the edge of the cloud, watching as the parade passed by. Though she was there out in front of everypony, nopony cheered for her, only her sister. Luna looked tired, though she was watching the parade, she seemed disinterested at the same time. Rigel did notice her stare at him for a brief moment. She appraised him, then offered a small smile before turning her attention to the crowd.

Rigel shrugged as the parade continued. At least he wasn’t the only one not crazy about this whole thing.

As the celebration continued through the day, many events were held in the central park of Celestis. The city was a massive cloud bank that was constructed to celebrate the joining of the other races. Named after the sun princess and host to a special sun celebration only for pegasi. The city was a cultural center where goods and merchandise would be distributed to other smaller pegasi cities, and to the earth ponies and unicorns below.

Rigel was standing in a medium sized crowd for the young wings competition. A small stage was erected with six tall posts. Each foal would be assigned a post. When the official blew the whistle, they would hover straight up to the top of the post. No movement except vertical. It was designed to test the strength of young wings and endurance, both in ascent and descent.

Epsilon took the stage with the other foals. He shifted nervously but stood at attention when the official took the stage.

“Young fliers! Let’s get this started, there’s many more events to go before the day is done! For the princesses!”

“For the princesses!” the foals shouted in unison.

No sooner had the whistle sounded, all the foals were in the air. Rigel watched with baited breath as Epsilon climbed higher and higher. He couldn’t believe it. The little guy was higher than he had ever been before. Unfortunately it didn’t last. He was soon passed by the other foals, and couldn’t ascend any higher than just above the halfway point. He panted and strained his small wings to take him higher, but to no avail. The whistle sounded, signalling the winner. It was an arrow to the heart of both Hurricanes. Rigel shut his eyes, while Epsilon was forced to endure the quiet mockery of the crowd as he hovered back to the ground.

The snickering soon gave way to laughter as a few other foals and young adolescents mimicked his struggle. The official waved his hooves over the crowd to silence them and present the medals to the winners. After that, they departed the stage. As Epsilon was leaving something struck him in the head and flank. A few of the foals had thrown tomatoes at him and the other foal who hadn’t done so well in the competition.

Rigel saw and was livid. But before he could even think to do anything, a voice shook the area around them like a thunderclap.

“How dare you!”   

Princess Luna suddenly appeared as if from thin air among the crowd. She was wearing a cloak to hide her identity. She glared at the five offending foals and stalked toward them.

“To gain pleasure from embarrassing foals who tried their hardest. I don’t see any of you up there competing.”

The foals all huddled together as the Princess of the Night came closer. “You will learn some respect...” Her eyes began to glow white as she prepared to cast a spell. However, instead of putting a hex on the children she simply shouted a name.

“Aldus!” 

A bright white flash appeared next to Luna. A grey unicorn stallion in green robes performed a deep bow before looking up at the angry alicorn. Rigel smiled, his old friend was here. He had wondered if he would show up with the princesses. His mane was longer than it was the last time they saw each other. He had some strands in braids adorned with silver gemstones.

“What seems to be the problem, princess?” he asked in a neutral tone.

Luna pointed a hoof at the offending children, “These foals have bullied and embarassed the proud young foals competing in this contest. I witnessed their heinous acts myself.”

Rigel took this moment to hover over to Epsilon, who was getting a little frightened by all the shouting and the sudden appearance of a diarch. He draped a wing over him and whispered there was nothing to be afraid of. As he did, he gave Aldus a friendly nod.

Aldus, for his part, slipped Rigel the quickest of devious smiles before returning to a stern expression.

“I see,” Aldus said. “And what does my princess wish to be done?”

“The dungeons in Canterlot should be more than adequate.”

Aldus’ eye’s widened, “While I share an intense dislike of bullies... perhaps a more tempered reaction would be appropriate?” Aldus stepped between the offending foals and Luna, “Allow me to resolve the situation. There are more events taking place as we speak, I think the citizens would be overjoyed if you came to watch. Ah, here are your guards now.”

“Very well, Aldus.” Luna said with a sly smirk. One only Aldus and Rigel caught. “I’ll leave you to it.”

After Luna departed, Aldus slowly turned on the children and let green magic fill his eyes. “You’re all going to get your parents and bring them back here, now. Understood?”

The foals dispersed practically tripping over themselves to find their mothers and fathers. Aldus smiled and turned to Rigel, who just shook his head.

“Been a while... you look well...”

“So do you...”

“Finally talk your way into the court?” Rigel asked.

“Finally snooze your way into the Wondercolts... Wondercolt?” Aldus asked in return.

Rigel laughed and grabbed Aldus and giant hug. “Oh that sense of humour, I’ve missed you Aldy.”

“I’ve missed you too, Rigel.” Aldus replied. “I’ve wanted to visit, either at Cirrus or have you come to Canterlot, but things are complicated lately...”

“I know, my father has me doing so many things. My career in the Wonderbolts is top priority right now.”

“Your father...” Aldus said, “I hope he is well.”

Rigel smiled and rubbed Aldus’ shoulder. When they were foals going to special classes at the castle, Aldus was picked on a lot by the other foals. Rigel had stepped in a number of times, and they became friends ever since. Rigel knew that Aldus didn’t have much, he had no family to speak of except for the night guard mare who adopted him. He invited him to the fortress to hang out a lot. His father never really approved. Solaris considered Aldus a scrawny weakling who couldn’t stand up for himself, plus he was another foal who had a name linked with the night. Even so, Aldus was sincere about wishing him good health. Knowing full well what Solaris thought of him. That was his character, and made Rigel value him that much more as a best friend.

“He’s doing fine, I just wish he’d give Epsilon a break.” Rigel said while nuzzling his little brother.

Epsilon stared in awe at Aldus, “You’re friends with my big brother?”

Adlus knelt down and smiled, “I am. He’s a great stallion.”

“What’s going to happen to the one’s who threw stuff at me?” Epsilon asked.

Aldus heard the parents approaching from behind. He donned a goofy mischievous grin, “Watch this...”

“What business does the Princess of Night have in scaring our children half to death?!” one stallion shouted at Aldus.

Aldus was now standing erect with his head cocked slightly to the side in amusement. “First, she is a princess... she can yell at whoever she wants. Second, your foals threw tomatoes at Epsilon. Care to explain that?”

Another parent stepped forward, this one a mare flanked by her well dressed husband. “We’re not going to tolerate such behavior directed at our children! Simple foals doing foalish things doesn’t warrant being threatened the dungeon!”

“Nopony is going to the dungeon...” Aldus said. “However, I think Epsilon deserves an apology.”

“I think we deserve an apology. The lesser diarch won’t get away with treating us this way...”

Aldus lowered his head, thin magical energies began to swirl around him. Barely noticeable, then they were gone. “There are worse punishments than the dungeon. I am a member of the royal court, and though I serve the ‘lesser diarch,’ in a few years I’ll know everypony who is anypony in Canterlot. Once I do, it would be no trouble to remember a few names. Names which I’ll advise ponies to avoid at all costs. No opportunities, no chances for advancement, no preferential treatment. No future...”

Aldus looked up and smiled, “What are your names?”

The parents all looked at each other, then pushed their children forward. Each of them apologized to Epsilon and ran behind their parents.

“Smart...” Aldus said. “You may go now.”

As the parents and children trotted away, Rigel led Epsilon over to Aldus. “That was very clever, Aldy. Thank you.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Epsilon said with a grateful smile.

Aldus sat down next to Rigel and produced some bits. “You were great up there, Epsilon. Here, why don’t you go get yourself some lunch. That is, as long as your big brother doesn’t mind.”

Epsilon looked at Rigel, “You don’t mind, do you big bro?”

“Nah, go get something good. You’ve earned it.”

As Epsilon began to gallop away, Aldus caught him in a magical field. He levitated him back and laughed, “I almost forgot. You’ve been invited to dinner with Princess Luna tonight! So don’t eat too much, alright?”

Epsilon gasped, “I have? Why? What did I do?”

Aldus shrugged, “I dunno. She asked for you by name, same with your big bro here. I think you impressed her up there.”

Rigel grinned, “Even I wasn’t impressing mares at that age.”

Epsilon grinned and hugged his brother’s leg. “I’ll be back later for the dinner, bye Aldus!”

“See ya later, kid.” Aldus said while waving goodbye.

Rigel turned to Aldus, “You handled that well, how are things in the court?”

Aldus sighed, “They’re... complicated. I’ll tell you about it, but first... let’s get a drink.”

---------------------

At the feast, Rigel and Epsilon were seated near Princess Luna and her small entourage. There was a painter, a musician, and a stylist who appeared to be friends with Aldus. Aldus himself was enjoying his meal, but still watching everything as it happened, ready to lend aid to Luna at any time. Princess Celestia was seated some distance away with her own set of tables. She could barely be seen surrounded by so many ponies. Solaris was seated near her and had glared at Rigel on more than one occasion.

Luna took a few bites of her food and looked up at Epsilon, “The young colt at the competition today, come here child.”

Epsilon froze, he looked up at Rigel who nuzzled him in reassurance. “Come on, Epsy. It’s okay, I’ll go with you.”

Epsilon walked over to Luna and took a seat next to her on her pillow. “Princess,” he said with a small bow.

“I’m sorry about what happened today, you didn’t deserve such treatment.” Luna said while rubbing his back.

Epsilon nodded, “It’s alright, I’m used to it by now. The other kids in school sometimes throw things at me, too.”

“Children can be cruel, but it get’s better, don’t be discouraged.” Aldus said from a few seats down. “If I could get through it, so can you. Besides, we both have your big bro, right?”

Rigel smiled, “You most certainly do.”

Luna whispered something to Epsilon and looked up at Rigel, “Do you mind if I talk with him in private for a moment?”

Rigel looked at Epsilon to make sure he was alright, then nodded. “I don’t mind at all, Princess.”

Luna got up and walked over to one of the many balconies in the large room. Once Epsilon joined her she looked out at the setting sun. Princess Celestia had set the sun on it’s path a few hours ago, and it was time for Luna to perform her own duty.

Epsilon watched in awe as Luna spread her wings and ascended into the air, all the while conjuring magic to lift the moon. He let out a small gasp as he began to rise into the air to float beside Luna. Her magic held him aloft as the air shimmered around her mane. The moon rose higher and higher until it was at the center of the night sky.

She let out a quiet sigh and let her eyes return to normal from their brilliant white glow. Epsilon could barely contain his excitement. “That was awesome!” he exclaimed with a cheer.

Luna smiled turned to face him, “Thank you, Epsilon. Not many ponies get to see me perform my nightly duty. Do you want to see something else?”

“Yeah!” Epsilon said with a quick nod.

Luna brought him around in front of her and held him against her chest with one forehoof. She flapped her wings and ascended higher and higher. They were now above the highest clouds in the sky. Luna conjured a spell to keep the chilling temperature at bay. She pointed out over the horizon, Epsilon could actually see the world curve, and the light on the edges.

“Wow...” Epsilon said in awe.

“Look, up there... do you know what that is?”

Epsilon looked at the bright star Luna was pointing to, “It’s a star, a big one...”

“That is Rigel...” Luna whispered in his ear. “The star your brother was named after.”

“I’ve never seen it before,” Epsilon said. “It’s so pretty.”

Luna chuckled, “Of course you’ve seen it before, you just didn’t know what it was. Now, look over there. Do you see that one? Do you know which one that is?”

Epsilon shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“That’s Epsilon” Luna said while pressing her head against his. “That’s the star you were named after. The one your mother chose.”

Epsilon smiled, but it didn’t last.

Luna began to lower them back to the balcony, “Your mother loved you very much, Epsilon. Same with Rigel. I knew her, you know.”

“You knew mom?” Epsilon asked in disbelief.

“I did... she consulted me for possible names to give you and Rigel, if you happened to be born at night. She did the same with my sister if you were born during the day.” Luna answered. She turned Epsilon around and nuzzled him, “I know about the nightmares, it is my job to watch over the dreams of Equestria. Epsilon... your mother loved you very much. Whatever they say, do not believe them. It is not your fault that she’s gone.”

Epsilon blinked, trying to stop the tears forming in his eyes, “If you know my dreams, you know that’s not the only thing I’m afraid of...”

“Shh...” Luna said while gently rubbing his back. “You’re right, I know. Don’t give up, Epsilon. You’re still young, and I’ve seen late bloomers all my life. I’ve lived a very long time, and I think at the next sun celebration you’ll be flying alongside your brother.”

“Really?” Epsilon asked, looking up with hope.

“I think so...” Luna said with a loving smile. “But I’m just a Princess of Equestria, what do I know...?”

Epsilon giggled as she tickled him. They both touched down on the balcony and returned to dinner, but not before Luna reassured him that she would be watching, and if he ever needed anything, he should write a letter.

After sitting down, Luna decided to talk with Rigel about his budding career in the Wonderbolts. Rigel enjoyed talking with the Princess of the Night. He had met her a few times before, and she was not at all how the other ponies described her. She was not cold, or intimidating. She simply was about business, and if the environment was calm, so was she. Luna was a mare who wore her feelings on her shoulders for all to see. She could read ponies like a book, every bit as well as her older sister. However, the way she handled politics was not at all like her sister.

While Rigel was talking with her, he didn’t notice his father get up from his table and walk over. Solaris interrupted their conversation by not only speaking to Rigel while the princess was talking, but by deliberately stepping in between them, showing his back to her. All conversations at Luna’s small table ceased.

“Son, I think it’s time you spent some time with Celestia, don’t you think?”

“Princess Celestia...” Aldus corrected while leaning forward in his seat.

Solaris ignored him and leaned in closer to Rigel, his voice now a whisper, “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you’ve had your fun. It’s time to get noticed by the princess.”

Rigel also leaned forward, “I’m with a princess right now, father. Luna requested that Epsilon and I-”

“Epsilon?!” his father hissed. “He’s the reason why you’re sitting here and not with Celestia, Sun Streaker, and your family?”

“Father, you’re being incredibly rude, and you’re not even drunk... what’s wrong with you?!”

Solaris grinded his teeth, “Why can’t you see how important this is, boy? This is your future!”

“No, father... It’s the future you want for me.”

“Lord Solaris Hurricane...” Luna spoke in a neutral tone. “I almost thought you’d forgotten about me.”

All eyes snapped to Luna. Solaris slowly turned around and looked down at the blue alicorn seated on her cushions. “Princess...” he said with a small bow, “If you’ll excuse me, I must collect my son. We have business with your sister.”

“My sister... I see,” Luna said with a polite nod. “I assume this business is far beyond me.”

“It is for your sister, whether it is beyond you or not, I cannot say.”

Silence, then Luna spoke again. “Well, I’ll release your sons then. But let it be known that the Hurricanes are always welcome at my table and in my presence.” she said while smiling over at Epsilon.

Solaris bowed at turned to leave, Rigel in tow. However, before they took two steps, Aldus teleported directly in front of Solaris, appearing just inches away. If he wasn’t paying attention, Solaris would have walked right into the unicorn. The other guests at Luna’s table gasped. To perform magic like that in such close proximity was considered extremely rude.  

Solaris, who was nearly twice the size of Aldus, looked down at him with a mixed expression of amusement and anger. “What is the meaning of this, boy?”

Aldus stood his ground against the imposing pegasus. “I believe I’m countering your rudeness with rudeness of my own.”

“Rudeness?” Solaris hissed.

“To just walk in front of a princess and not only cut her off, but show her your back? Your sense must be leaving you at such an old age... have you completely lost your mind?”

Solaris smirked, “Tough talk coming from such a little pony. You’re new to politics, so I’ll humour you this once. What you demand is great respect for yourself, and your princess. But as far as I can tell, the respect shown is more than appropriate given the current environment.”

They were speaking so softly now that only they could hear each other.

“The current environment...?” Aldus queried.

Solaris smiled and bent even closer to the unicorn, “The size of her table, the amount of her guests, the amount of her influence, the amount of her presence at court, and the... size of her servants...” he said with a smug grin. “Now, out of my way.”

Solaris attempted to walk by, but Aldus blocked him. He put a hoof lightly on Solaris’ chest and looked up at him with a placid smile, “I think you owe my princess an apology.”

Rigel couldn’t believe what was happening. He had never seen Aldus like this. Also, he didn’t know what to do. He had never seen his father be pushed this far before, and by his best friend no less. It was surreal. Normally, despite their differences and arguments, he would have leapt to his father’s aid. But the opposing party was Aldus, and he had to admit, seeing his father be pushed like this was quite cathartic. Rigel noticed Epsilon hiding behind his rear leg. He turned around and reassured him that everything was going to be alright, despite not knowing if he was telling the truth.

“Move boy... I won’t ask again.” Solaris snarled.

“Or you’ll what... ?” Aldus asked, further getting in Solaris’ face. “Or you’ll what?”

“Aldus, stand down...” Luna commanded.

The sneer on Solaris’ face was an image that would remain in Aldus’ memory forever. With reluctance, he stepped out of the way. As Solaris walked by, Rigel stopped Aldus before he returned to his seat.

“I’m sorry, Aldus. I don’t-”

“It’s fine, Rig.” Aldus said with a small smile. “Go, I’ll see you later.”

Rigel followed his father to stand around Princess Celestia, he looked back once at Princess Luna’s table. He saw her get up and leave with Aldus and the rest of her guards. His heart sank, he couldn’t shake the feeling that more of this was to come.

Chapter 37: Storm front (part 2)

Rigel waited patiently outside the royal chambers of Princess Luna. She was currently engrossed in something very important and wished to not be disturbed. He was shown to a waiting room further down the hall, and had been there for almost an hour.

Rigel didn’t mind, when he was here he wasn’t in the air taking orders from Wonderbolts or forced to spend time with his father. It had been almost three months since the Pegasi Sun Celebration. All that occurred there was promptly forgotten, or at least thats how things seemed. Rigel knew better. He had requested an audience with Princess Luna the very next day, and was forced to wait this long to be summoned. He wondered if he had offended anypony, and was even more fearful knowing his connections in the court. Aldus could have greased the wheels and got him in sooner, but that didn’t happen.

A door creaked open revealing the unicorn himself. Aldus stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He looked absolutely ragged. His robes were wrinkled and his mane was messy, the bags under his eyes had bags of their own.

“Rigel...” he said with a tired sigh.

Rigel got up and quickly trotted over to his friend, “Aldus, what’s wrong? You look terrible.”

Aldus looked up at him and smirked, “Thanks, Rig. Can always count on you to tell the truth.”

“What’s wrong, am I here at a bad time?”

Aldus walked over to a table and waved a hoof dismissively, “No, and I’m sorry I couldn’t squeeze you in sooner. This is the earliest I could do.”

Rigel took a seat across from his friend. So he had attempted to get him in.

“What’s going on? You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“I haven’t, I don’t think,” Aldus replied. “Luna has assigned me more work, it’s taxing, but with it came an advancement. I’m head of her court now.”

Rigel’s eyes widened, “That’s... you’re... wow...”

The amount of influence Aldus had at his disposal now was greater than any noble, including his father. They could all play politics, but things would need to go through the courts to get done, and Aldus was positioned on the inside.

“Yeah, so if you need any more favors... I’m your stallion,” Aldus said with a yawn.

“So... um, Luna?” Rigel asked.

Aldus nodded and rubbed his head, “She asked for me to give her ten minutes, then show you in.”

“How is she?” Rigel asked.

“Irritable...” Aldus answered. “Things have been draining on her lately. She spends much of her time in the dreamscape, more than she ever has before. She disappears for nights at a time, going goddess knows where. Still, there are always tasks left for me, and her own work always gets done. It’s just strange, I guess.”

“Is it to do with how ponies have been treating her?” Rigel asked.

Aldus’ reply was a simple stare. Rigel nodded and lowered his head. “I’m sorry about my father, and what he said to you. It couldn’t have been good. I’m here to apologize to you, too. Not just Luna.”

Aldus smiled, “Rigel, you’re my best friend in the world. I know how things are, and I deal with worse than your father on a daily basis.”

Rigel nodded, “I bet you do, it’s just... he’s the face of my family. My name. It’s not something I take pride in. I can’t, not with the way he acts.”

Aldus chuckled and looked at his pocket watch, he got up and motioned for Rigel to follow. They trotted down the hall to Luna’s chambers, but Aldus stopped before opening the doors.

“Eventually it’ll be your face everypony remembers, and I can’t think of a prettier one.” Aldus said with a smug grin.

Rigel chuckled, “You’re just as popular with the mares as I am, Aldy.”

“I don’t know what world you live in buddy, but it isn’t this one.” Aldus said with a laugh. “But seriously, eventually you’ll carry the name Hurricane forward. You and your brother are good stallions, I know you’ll be well respected. The best part, though? You’ll earn it. You’ll both do great things with the Hurricane name, just give it time.”

“Thanks, Aldus. You really believe that?” Rigel asked.

Aldus winked and opened the doors, “I do, and I’m not the only one.”

“Rigel... the handsome young flier, come in.” Princess Luna sang as she hovered down from her observatory.

“Princess, it’s an honor to see you again.” Rigel said with a bow.

Luna smiled and turned to Aldus, “That’s all, you may leave us.”

With Aldus gone, Luna took a seat near her fireplace and waited for Rigel to sit. Rigel slowly walked over and sat across from the princess.

“Princess Luna, how have you been?” Rigel asked.

Luna smiled and cocked her head slightly to the side, “I’ve been well, and you?”

Rigel considered where to begin, “Well, I’ve been stressed lately, mostly due to the flying.”

“I can understand that, I’ve seen you fly,” Luna said, “Your skill grows every day, soon you’ll surpass the Wonderbolts themselves.”

“Well, if my father has his way, that might be true.” Rigel said with a roll of his eyes. “Actually, that’s why I wanted to see you. At the festival, my father was very rude. I still don’t know what came over him. I apologize, Luna. It was embarrassing for myself and Epsilon. You deserve more respect than that.”

Luna stared at him for a few moments, almost making it awkward. Rigel wondered what she was thinking, then she stretched her wings. “You know,” she began while examining her dark blue feathers, “Solaris’ behavior is quite typical as of late. I’m not sure what I’ve done to warrant such displays, but I’ve been trying to rectify it, whatever it is. Celestia assures me that things are fine. That nobles treat her the same way more often than not.”

Rigel saw the sadness in her eyes, but only briefly, “I see.” he said with a nod.

Luna folded her wings, “Do you believe that?”

Rigel looked up, “Pardon?”

“That my sister is treated the same, that it happens to her as well, this disrespect and rudeness.”

“I’m not privy to the many meetings and what goes on-”

“Do you believe it or not?” Luna interjected, her tone stable, yet assertive.

Rigel swallowed and let out a calm sigh, “No.”

Luna nodded, she got up and walked to her bed, then paced back, “You know, I can take it. The disrespect, the scorn. It isn’t as though my skin is thin. But when normal subjects begin to act that way, I just don’t understand it. What is it? What am I doing wrong?”

“Regular ponies are acting that way?” Rigel asked. “Why?”

Luna sat down, “Celestia seems to think it’s due to my reclusiveness. I cannot help the way I am, Rigel. My duties keep me away from the busy times of the day. I try my best to attend gatherings, but sister always steals away the attention. Why present myself if I am to be ignored?”

“I wish I had an answer, Princess Luna.”

“Just Luna,” the princess said while examining her hooves.

“I can only say that I love you, Luna. Epsilon does as well. He has written you several letters, I hope it’s not a bother.”

Luna perked up and motioned to her desk,  several letters were stacked neatly near the corner. “Epsy is such a sweetheart. Actually, it’s because of his suggestions that I’ve come up with some ideas to ‘put myself out there’ as my sister phrases it.”

“Oh?” Rigel asked, surprised his brother spurred on such an idea.

“Yes,” Luna said. “I’ve decided to work with Aldus to add certain branches to our side of the royal court. Also some programs designed to educate young colts and fillies about the night sky, and what I might do for them. Just things to demonstrate I’m not as reclusive as they might think.”

Luna shuffled her forehooves a bit and cleared her throat. Rigel had a hard time believing what he was seeing. Was she nervous?

“I haven’t finalized anything, but there will be certain positions open in the court. If... you ever feel like the Wonderbolts are not your calling... perhaps you could come work for me?”

Rigel knew that could never happen, not with how far he had come with his role and future career. Not to mention his father would disown him. However, it was the thought that mattered. He never had any problems with his given name, and even if he did they would have vanished now. Luna was a great mare, and it didn’t matter what anypony else thought.

Rigel slowly got up and knelt down in front of Luna. He then sat up, took her forehoof and pressed it to his chest. “I can’t even believe you would extend me such an offer. I’m just a pegasus who happens to be a good flier. I don’t have any other skills to speak of. I can’t accept your offer, Luna. I’m too far along a path to turn back now. But I want you to know something. You are my princess. You hold that place in my heart, the one I would bend a knee to without hesitation.”

Luna’s eyes glistened as she stared back at Rigel. She suddenly pulled herself forward and wrapped her forehooves around Rigel’s neck. He was too large for her to knock over, but the sudden movement caught him off guard. He slowly wrapped his forehooves around her and fought off the awkward feeling. She pressed her head into his neck without uttering a word. and simply held him tight for at least a minute.

Eventually she released him and pressed her forehooves to his chest. She wiped her muzzle and levitated some tissues to clear her eyes, “I apologize for that display, Rigel. I just... I needed to hear that.”

Rigel offered an understanding smile, “No need to apologize, Luna.”

Luna nodded, “Well, I suppose this concludes our meeting. Good luck in your training.”

“Be well, Luna.” Rigel said as he got up to leave. Before exiting the door he turned around and snapped her a crisp salute, “Don’t forget what I said, my princess.”

-------------------

Several weeks later, Rigel was flying home from an intense training camp put on by the top brass of the Wonderbolts. A full three weeks of intense training and conditioning. He barely made it out, but his friend didn’t seem phased at all. Crosswind lazily flapped her wings beside Rigel as they neared his home. He spent some time with her after their training and decided to take her out to dinner. What a mistake that was. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy himself, but now she wouldn’t stop making fun of him for how proper he tried to act. He didn’t plan on spending any more time with her until later on his leave, but she insisted on seeing Epsilon when Rigel got back.

Crosswind had immediately fallen in love with his little brother. Rigel didn’t think she had any siblings of her own, so perhaps that was why she got so attached. He appreciated she understood his relationship with Epsilon. It was the one thing about him she never mocked. Epsilon loved her, too. They both enjoyed eating as much ice cream as they could.

Rigel and Crosswind eventually neared the fortress and began their descent. There was a large gathering outside the walls for some reason. On the clouds near the edge of the fortress, at least thirty pegasi were standing around the edge looking at something. Rigel made his way to the front of the crowd with Crosswind close behind. There he saw three of the servants who tended to Epsilon. His butler, his chef, and his maid. They were crying.

Time seemed to slow as Rigel’s eyes eventually fell upon something covered by a small tarp.

“Son,” he heard from behind him.

Solaris and Helios stood behind him and placed their hooves on his shoulders, “It’s your brother, he’s with the goddess now.”

“What...?” Rigel asked, utterly lost.

“He’s gone, son. Your brother is dead. He fell... while he was playing. That’s what the servants say.”

Crosswind was glued to Rigel’s side, equally at a loss for words. Rigel fell backwards, then regained his composure. He flew over to the tarp and lifted it up to examine what it hid. Crosswind saw Epsilon and burst into tears, the first time Rigel had seen her express any kind of emotion like that. Rigel himself could only stare at his brother’s crumpled form, his body almost unrecognizable after an impact from thousands of feet.

“Son, I’m sorry...” Solaris said while attempting to hug Rigel. Rigel simply shook him off and held onto Crosswind as she sobbed into his chest.

He lead her back to his room and locked the doors. Eventually Crosswind ceased her crying and sat down next to Rigel. He could only mutter his thoughts as the events gradually began to hit home. Tears exploded from his eyes as Crosswind held him. His screams resonated through the entire fortress well into the night.

They eventually fell asleep together on his cloud bed, the sorrow too much to bear. Rigel woke up sometime after midnight. His fur stained with Crosswind’s snot and tears, along with his own. He gently extricated himself from her embrace and decided on his next course of action. He looked down at her, watching her chest rise and fall. Rigel bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

“Thank you, I’ll be back.”

Rigel showered and cleaned himself up, then flew to Canterlot as fast as he could. He made his way into the wing belonging to Princess Luna and was stopped by her night guard.

“Halt, this area is off limits.”

“I need to see Aldus. It’s important.”

“If you don’t have authorization, you’re not going anywhere.”

“Please, I don’t have time.” Rigel said while starting to move past the guards.

One shoved him back with his lance while the other put a clawed gauntlet to his chest. “It’s time for you to leave.”

Rigel was about to do something stupid when he felt a hoof clasp him on the shoulder. “Hurricane, stop before you hurt yourself.”

“Lieutenant!” each night guard withdrew and snapped a salute.

Rigel turned around and breathed a sigh of relief, “Polaris, thank the goddess you’re here.”

“You’re lucky I am, Rigel.” he said with a laugh.

Polaris wore the light armor designating his rank in the guard. His long silver mane hanging loose behind him as he walked forward. “Where is Aldus?”

“In his study, sir. Shall I escort the pegasus stallion to him?”

“That won’t be necessary, I’ll take him.” Polaris said while motioning for Rigel to follow.

Rigel hurried behind Polaris and thanked him. “Pol, I won’t forget this. Thank you so much. I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Yes it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he asked. “But it seems you’re in a hurry, you can fill me in when we find Aldus.”

Polaris and Rigel arrived at Aldus’ office in one of the higher towers. They knocked, no response. Polaris got out his keys and opened the door. Once inside they found Aldus asleep on his couch with a pile of papers on his chest. Polaris walked up to him and nudged his shoulder.

“Wha? I’m up!” he exclaimed, then realized who was in the room. “Polaris, what are you doing? Rigel? What’s going on?”

Rigel took a deep breath, “I need a favor...”

“Can’t it wait, do you know what time it is? You didn’t even contact me.” Aldus groaned. He looked up at Rigel’s pained expression after rubbing his eyes. “It’s serious?  What do you need?”

Rigel slowly took a seat across from Aldus and Polaris. “My brother... he’s gone.”

“Gone?” Aldus asked.

“Your brother is dead?” Polaris asked in disbelief. “How?”

“He fell...” Rigel said, tears threatening to form again. “I just got home today, and there he was on the clouds...”

“Goddess...” Aldus muttered while moving to his side. He rubbed Rigel’s shoulders while Polaris made some tea. “What do you need?”

Rigel cleared his throat and blew his nose, “I don’t want him put to rest here. Not with our customs. He always loved the Silver Isles, he was his happiest when vacationing there. That’s where he should be...”

Aldus looked at Polaris, who nodded and left immediately. “We’ll collect the body and be there by mid afternoon.”

“Thank you, Aldus.” Rigel said while pressing his head into the unicorn.

“I’ll make sure things are in order during our absence. Luna will understand. On the way, you can tell us about it.”

Rigel pulled Aldus close and lowered his voice to a whisper, “There’s something wrong, Aldus. Pegasi don’t just fall from clouds, and Epsilon was always cautious. Clouds don’t disintegrate once they’ve been formed by our builders.”

“Give it time, Rigel. Don’t just assume-”

“Aldus, I know my brother... this wouldn’t just happen...”

Aldus gave a nod, “Alright, if you need my help... you know where to find me.”

“No, Aldus... this is something I must do alone.”

-----------------------

After arriving at the Silver Isles, Epsilon was put to rest on an island they had visited a few times before. Polaris had suggested it, and he had it approved. There was no service, only the three stallions together. Rigel paid his respects and said goodbye, then returned to the airship. He came back to his home and found Crosswind waiting for him.

He told her what he had to do, then took her out to lunch. She was concerned about him, something he appreciated. Rigel returned to the fortress and went to Epsilon’s room, he saw some of the servants were cleaning it out. They were storing away his things. He moved to sit on his bed and saw a picture book along with Epsilon’s journal. Rigel didn’t know his brother kept a journal. He considered opening it, but decided not to. Both out of respect for his brother, and wishing not to burst into tears again.

Speaking of crying, Rigel heard one of the mares outside sniffling. It was Epsilon’s maid. He walked outside and draped a wing around her. “There there, it’s alright.”

“Lord Rigel! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t let feelings get in the way of work.” she said while trying to get away.

Rigel softly restrained her and looked in her eyes, “What happened, Cloudy Skies? How did my brother fall?”

“I- I don’t know, they say it was an accident, but I don’t know...”

“You don’t think it was?” Rigel asked.

Cloudy Skies lowered her head, “Another maid, my friend... she said she heard Cloudburst... talking about it.”

Rigel’s eyes widened, “And?”

“I don’t know... she said they were talking at lunch, when she has other mares over for tea and her book club.”

Rigel was aware of this, his aunt often held book club get togethers in her free time, which was all the time. It was little more than a gossip hour. Rigel decided to ask the other mare, then investigate this himself.

-------------------

Two days later Rigel found a good spot to hide in some dense trees right near the balcony where Cloudburst had her little get together. He sat there for two hours waiting until they all arrived. When they did, talk was mostly about trivial matters. Rigel almost fell asleep until one inquisitive mare brought up the topic.

“Couldburst dear, I’m sorry about your nephew. I wish I was here last time to offer my condolences then.”

Cloudburst nodded, “Yes, it was unfortunate. Poor little thing, still... I can’t say it’s all bad.”

“What ever do you mean?” another mare asked.

“It’s not like he had a future, the boy could barely get off the ground.” Cloudburst said.

“That’s true,” one of the mares said with a sagely nod while sipping her tea. “He’s not at all like his brother. That one is an image for all pegasi to aspire to.”

“Yes, though his attitude could use some work.” Cloudburst replied. “Still, he’s good for us and our name. Solaris tolerates his insubordination, at least more than I would were I in my brother’s position. Epsilon... well, he didn’t have to be tolerated. Not anymore.”

“What are you saying, dear?” the same mare asked. Each of them leaning forward more.

“Epsilon had a habit of listening closely to what Rigel and his father would discuss about training. His desire to improve was commendable, I can’t fault him for that. Solaris was overheard by Epsilon discussing plans for improving parts of the grounds outside the castle. Strengthening them for improved training. However... he might have misspoke. They would be strengthened eventually, but first they would be weakened for renovation and ease of work for the builders.”

“Oh my...” one of the mares whispered.

“It seems the poor colt didn’t pay attention to where he stepped.” Cloudburst lamented with a sip of her tea.

“I don’t know what to say,” another mare whispered. “It’s a bit extreme isn’t it?”

“Perhaps...” Cloudburst mused, “But my brothers had the idea swimming in their heads a long time, if you ask me. Recently they were meeting with Sun Streaker before the cadets went off to training. He lectured them about how important image was in political posturing, putting special emphasis on foreign relations. He spoke much of the gryphons, and the ponies from Concordia. The sky is important. Commerce, weather, transportation and war. All these things live and die by what happens in the air. If we look weak to other ponies or the gryphons, it’s an open invitation for conflict. Do you understand? My brothers did.”

All the color left Rigel’s face. His breathing slowed to almost a stop, and his heart rate slowed as well. He stared at the ground and took the rest of the evening to process what he heard. It was done, he was off the deep end now. The politics, his brother’s death, and his own role in it. It was almost too much... almost. Once night fell Rigel carefully ascended into the air and flew away from his home.

He flew down, up, in all different directions. He eventually flew to the east and didn’t stop. He flew faster and faster, as fast as he had ever flown. He broke the sound barrier with a deafening crack, then went faster still. The world around him blurred, he didn’t alter his course. If a mountain were to appear in front of him, he would have flown right into it without a care in the world. Eventually the burning in his wings began to register, so he slowed down. Rigel landed on a cloud above a desolate landscape devoid of most life. Volcanic ash covered the valley below and the smell of sulfur invaded his nose. His senses were assaulted from all different directions, then he realized where he was. Movement caught his eye below, and a smile crept onto his face. Rigel lifted off the cloud, careful not to draw attention to himself. He made his way home and formulated the plan.

One week. One week and it would all come crashing down.

---------------------

“Father,” Rigel said as Solaris walked into the room.

“You wanted to see me, son?” he asked.

“Yes, I did.” Rigel replied. “I’ve been thinking. My role, my duty, I haven’t taken it as seriously as I should have.”

“Oh?” Solaris asked with an eyebrow raised.

“The more I learn in the Wonderbolts, the more things begin to click. Not just what you’ve taught me, but things I learn from the experience. Where we are as pegasi, and where we need to go.”

“Why the sudden change in attitude, Rigel?” Solaris asked. “You’ve been so cavalier and carefree about who you are your entire life. Accepting responsibility with distaste and apprehension. You always performed well, and I would never call you lazy. However, it never seemed like you understood it.”

Rigel slowly got up and walked over to Solaris’ desk. “I know it seems sudden, and in a way I suppose it is. But recent events have changed my perspective. Epsilon is gone, and I need to accept that. He tried his best, his heart was in the right place. I can’t help him anymore, but I can help other colts his age by setting the best example I can.”

“I see, well I’m glad to hear it, son.” Solaris said with a heartfelt smile. “You’re going to make me proud.”

“Of course,” Rigel said while turning around. “Father, I return to training soon, but before I go I was thinking we could spend some time together. You, Helios and I could maybe hunt some wyverns. It’s been a while, but it was always something I enjoyed as a kid.”

Solaris got up and flew over to Rigel, “That’s an excellent idea, son. We’ll go tomorrow, I’ll ready the equipment and inform Helios.”

“Until then, father.” Rigel said, “I’ve heard they’re in the east, it’s going to be a great time.”

----------------------

Rigel flew over the barren volcanic landscape alongside Helios and Solaris. Each of them carried a heavy crossbow nearly as big as they were. It was loaded with a solid steel bolt that would pierce the scales of even the largest wyvern.

As they neared one of the smaller mountains, they noticed a smaller wyvern perched on it’s peak. It was asleep, unaware of the danger lurking just above it.

Helios placed a bolt and readied his weapon. He aimed just slightly above the shoulder and waited for the right moment. His hoof hovering over the trigger.

A sudden scream ripped over to the landscape. The wyvern below woke from it’s slumber and flew away unscathed. Above it, a pegasus pony dropped from the sky.

Solaris looked down in utter shock as his brother plummeted to earth, a shaft lodged through his back and out his chest. He looked back to Rigel and saw him loading another bolt. Solaris’ mind went blank, but only momentarily.

As Rigel leveled the weapon and fired, Solaris bent his large wings to allow his body to straighten like a plank. He flapped his wings upward to pitch his body down and leaned back like he was performing limbo. The shaft passed directly over his stomach running parallel. It nicked his cheek ever so slightly and took the smallest bit of skin and fur with it.

Rigel cursed as his father dodged the bolt. Solaris didn’t waste any movement and fell into a reverse loop. He pulled out of tightly and slammed into Rigel before he could load another bolt. The impact knocked loose the quiver on Rigel’s back, emptying its contents through the clouds below.

Solaris forced the weapon up and grappled with his son, “What in Tartarus are you doing, boy?! Have you completely lost your mind?!”

Rigel snarled and reached for his belt, he pulled a hunting knife from it’s sheath and made a go at his father’s stomach. Solaris threw away the crossbow they had been grappling and flapped his wings once to put distance between them, evading the attack.

Rigel wasted no time and tackled his father through some clouds above them, each pegasi vying for dominance. Solaris scored a few punches, as did Rigel. They both landed on a layer of clouds and rolled to their hooves. His father crouched into a low fighting stance as Rigel did the same. Pegasi martial arts was a fighting style that used their light bodies and bone structure to their advantage. Coupled with their wings and agility, it was quick and fast. Not focussing on large crippling blows but speed and evasion, using small strategic strikes to wear down an opponent.

Solaris lunged for Rigel and caught a kick to the face, he staggered back and awaited the response. Surely enough, Rigel flew at him and was caught by the wing joints. Solaris spun into a roll and slammed Rigel down on the clouds.

“What are you doing?! How dare you attack me, your own father!”

Rigel glared up at him and spit in his face, “You’re no father of mine!”

Solaris received a knee to the gut and was thrown off. He quickly righted himself and backed to the edge of the cloud. “You think you can take me, boy? The one who taught you everything you know?”

“You’re not the stallion you used to be, father. I surpassed you years ago. Just die...”

Solaris smirked, “We’ll see. There’s no coming back from this.”

“There certainly isn’t... for you.” Rigel said as he advanced.

Solaris kicked off the clouds and shot off toward the nearby mountain range. Rigel opened his wings and took a deep breath. Everything he learned in his life would be brought to bare in this fight. There was no way he would lose.

Rigel kicked off the clouds and tore after his father. Each pegasi being from the Hurricane lineage sported strength and dexterity more than any other pegasi. Their wings cut through the sky like butter, each leaving contrails when they would make a turn or perform a maneuver. The speed at which they flew was unparalleled.

In a village over the mountains situated near the Equestrian border, two foals watched white lines etched across the sky. They ran to a hill to get a better view, something was happening. Two ponies slammed into each other repeatedly. They moved erratically in every direction. Then, a deafening boom sounded across the landscape. No sooner had it exploded, one of the ponies streaked across the sky directly overhead going further east. Not far behind it, another pony turned in the direction, this one much lower. The foals could make out it’s red coat and large wings. It flew over them and began to generate a cone around it’s profile. After just passing overhead the cone shattered creating another deafening boom. The explosion of sound and air shook the foals to their core, knocking one to the ground. They watched the two streaks speed off over the border, straight into gryphon lands.

Rigel was gaining on his father, he knew he would catch him eventually. Though Solaris was highly skilled and didn’t lack for strength and stamina, he was past his prime. Even so, if Rigel hadn’t broke the sound barrier moments after his father, he might have gotten away. If he did, it would mean doom for Rigel and everything he had planned. It wasn’t going to happen.

Rigel lost his father in a cloudbank and gave chase, only after did he realize the crucial error he made. He pursued at too shallow an angle, giving his father time to counter. Solaris dove on Rigel the moment he emerged from under the clouds, his own blade in hoof. Rigel performed an aileron roll and spared his right wing from being slashed off. Instead he only lost some skin and fur from his stomach, just a glancing blow. Nevertheless, it was a mistake that almost cost Rigel the fight. He dove down and inverted, again coming on his father’s tail.

Solaris made another breakneck dash for the mountains, heading west now. Rigel gave chase once again, but this time there was something off. As they came out of the clouds, the fur on Rigel’s back stood up. He looked back at his six o’clock to find he and his father were not alone. Three gryphons were in close pursuit. Rigel saw them brandishing their wrist mounted crossbow contraptions. Pegasi used similar weapons in air combat, except with crystals stored with magical energy.

A bolt zipped past his head while another fell short just under his wing. Rigel cursed, he looked down and realized they must have crossed into gryphon territory. Was that part of his father’s plan? A distraction?

Rigel grinned, the thrill of the hunt starting to overtake him. They flew in a dizzying race through the canyons of the barren wasteland. The gryphons taking shots at Rigel when they could. Rigel had no trouble keeping them at a somewhat safe distance. The gryphons had trouble keeping up with two of the fastest and most talented pegasus fliers alive.

Solaris suddenly dove deeper into a canyon and zipped in between pillars and crevices, seemingly in an effort to dislodge his pursuer. Rigel closed in at every opportunity, each time getting a better glimpse of an attack angle. Just as he was about to strike, something caught his eye. Solaris quickly turned into a climb just before nearing a large black cave, then it came into full view. A fully grown wyvern, no, a dragon. Rigel could tell the difference by the ridges on it’s back. It was a small one, but a dragon nonetheless. It stuck it’s head out of the cave and saw Rigel. He had little time to react.

Rigel pulled up as far as he could, stretching his wings to the limit. He used the air currents in the narrow canyon to his advantage and forced a tight change in direction at the very last minute. A gout of fire shot into the air missing him by mere inches. He felt the heat swell on his stomach and rear legs, he was still burnt by being in such close proximity.

Behind him Rigel barely caught a glance of his pursuers, they never saw it coming and were incinerated. It was back to two once again, though that dragon could be a problem if it decided to give chase. Rigel didn’t have time to ponder it as his father crashed into him at intense speed. He was forced down again into another section of the canyon. Rigel struggled to breathe as the collision relieved him of what little air he had. Solaris slammed his hooves into Rigel’s stomach and forced him into the canyon wall as they flew downward. He felt skin and feathers being stripped from his body every second as he was pressed against the wall. Rigel allowed his father to exert more strength then turned him around into the same position. He held him there as long as he could before a piece of rock obstructed their descent and forced each pegasus away right before crashing to the ground.

Rigel groaned and looked around as the dust cleared. He was prepared for anything. A sudden burst of hot air rushed through the canyon and up the spires, clearing away the dust and debris. It was thermal energy from some of the nearby volcanoes and their vents. A sound forced Rigel to turn around and catch his father’s hoof. The knife Solaris held was nearly buried in his shoulder. Rigel grunted and wrenched it away, then kicked his father in the stomach. Solaris recovered and tackled Rigel to the ground with a sudden thrust of his wings. Their martial combat continued until Solaris eventually took to the air again. Rigel looked around and grabbed a sharp rock for a weapon, then followed.

Each pegasus waited for the other to make a move. If Rigel made one mistake, he would be skewered by the knife his father held. Solaris made a move, counting on the fatigue his son felt to work in his favor. Rigel dodged, then made a counter attack. Both efforts missed the mark. Rigel panted, he was every bit as tired as his father. The next rush of hot air made him just want to shut his wings and land.

Rigel’s eyes widened. He looked at his father and waited for the right moment. Each time his father made an attack, he would strike, then fully open his wings in order to both stop himself, and make a quick dodge backward if needed. It was the deadlock both of them were trapped in.

After a few moments of them circling each other, Rigel heard the sound. He made a move like he was going to attack, in turn baiting his father into making one. As Solaris closed, Rigel did something his father didn’t expect. Something he could never expect, something that was so anathema to the mighty Lord Hurricane it was almost poetic.

Rigel snapped his wings to his sides, and fell. Solaris was able to land a moderate blow to his son’s flank as he fell, leaving a deep cut near his cutie mark. However, it was then that he realized his fatal error. The fight was over.

As Rigel fell, the next burst of hot air swept through the canyon and around the walls and pillars where they were fighting. Rigel opened his wings and caught the air as it rushed upward, propelling him to his father. Solaris had spread his wings to slow himself during his initial attack, and when the air rushed by, he was jostled at an awkward angle. It only took a second to correct himself, but a second was all Rigel needed.

Solaris gasped as the sharp rock was plunged into his stomach and twisted. Rigel screamed as he flew upward, carrying his father with him as he tried to drive it deeper and deeper. They both rode the thermal wind out of the canyon then crashed into the ground just outside a dense forest.

Rigel was exhausted, he had been flying non stop for longer than he had ever done before. He felt a warm sensation on his leg and realized how deep he had been cut. Blood covered his red coat in a much darker shade. His wings felt like they were on fire, it hurt to move them. The air entering his lungs burned and tasted of ash and sulfur. He got up and saw his father lying on the ground with the rock lodged in his gut.

Rigel slowly limped over to Solaris and pressed his hoof on the rock, getting his attention.

“Aaahh!” his father screamed as his eyes shot open. “Rigel... goddess curse you...” he seethed.

“No, you’re the one who’s cursed, father. You and this damned legacy. You killed Epsilon.”

Solaris only glared at Rigel, his breathing now heavy.

Rigel jumped on his father and pressed his hooves into his neck, “Admit it! Admit you did it you piece of shit! You killed my baby brother, your son!”

“I did it! I did it you stupid, stupid boy! I should have done it sooner!” Solaris hissed.

Rigel sat up, tears beginning to form, “Why...? Just why? Is our legacy so important? Is our image more important than a child’s life?!”

“Your brother wasn’t a Hurricane! For goddess sake he wasn’t even a pegasus, he couldn’t even fly!!”

“And so what?!” Rigel screamed with every ounce of air left in his lungs. “He was still a pony, my brother and your son! He could have lived a life. He could have found a trade, worked as an architect or builder. He could have even lived a happy life on the ground. I would have still loved him, mother would have still loved him!”

“You don’t understand, boy,” Solaris said. “You never have. Our legacy is all that we are, it’s what we leave behind when we’re gone. All we have in our lives we owe to Commander Hurricane. You were never able to understand, and you never will. That is my failure, my shame.”

Rigel got up, he coughed up ash and looked around. He looked at his wings and his body. “I failed, too. All my life I carried my brother. He was my last tether to mother, having her eyes and smile. Her innocence and kindness. I held up our image and our legacy. I joined the Wonderbolts to carry our name and honor into the future. I did my duty as a son, but I couldn’t carry it all. I faltered, and it crushed Epsilon.”

Solaris laughed, “The Wonderbolts deserve better than you. Sun Streaker will find out about this, and you’ll be executed for the traitorous swine you are.”

Rigel turned around and stared down at his father, “Oh yes, he will find out, but not how you think. My time in the Wonderbolts is over. Now, I’ll go my own path. You see father, I realized something. This ego, this pride... I have it, too. You and Sun Streaker showed me that. I’m better than them, all of them. They’re going to find out first hoof, it’s too bad you won’t be around to see it.”

Solaris spit in his face and stretched his head up, “Do your worst, son.”

Rigel laughed as he picked up a nearby stone and gave it a toss. “I’ll make you proud, dad.”

Rigel brained his father several times before he took a breath to relax. He let the anger swell through him as he brought the rock down on his nose, his mouth, his head. Solaris’ teeth were strewn across the ground and his snout was a crumpled mess. However, it didn’t kill him, and didn’t make Rigel feel any better.

He looked over and saw his father’s knife laying on the edge of the cliff. Rigel limped over and picked it up. As he did, the ground shook as more smoke erupted from the nearest volcano. Rigel smiled as returned to his father.

“It’s these wings...” Rigel said through tears and anger. “It’s these damn, fucking wings.”

Solaris screamed in agony as the knife raked across his bone over and over, eventually severing his right wing at the stalk. Rigel picked it up and threw to the side, then began his work on the next one. The screams tore through the forest and canyon, alerting any and all who would be around to hear it. But there was nopony, only wyverns, dragons, and one former pegasus.

Rigel took the last wing and tossed it aside. He grabbed his father, gathered what little strength he had left, then took to the air. Rigel flew over the canyon to the peak of the nearest volcano. He hovered over the very much active crater. Looking down, he saw lakes of lava churning and spitting out onto the edges. Smoke and sulfur were so thick in the air it was almost impossible to breathe.

“Father, wake up!” Rigel said as he slapped him to get his attention. “This is it, father. You get the same chance Epsilon did. Don’t worry about your legacy, it’s in good hooves. Now make the pegasi proud. Fly!”

Rigel dropped his father and watched him plummet into the lava lake below. As if to reject the disgusting thing that was thrown in, the volcano shook and spewed a torrent of ash and debris into the air, nearly blinding Rigel. He righted himself as the air threw him upwards.

He took a moment to get his bearings, went about taking care of the evidence. The hard part was over, now to tie up loose ends and meet with Aldus.

----------------------

At Cirrus Fortress, a storm had rolled in on schedule thanks to the weather ponies. Lightning cracked across the sky as the fortress swayed back and forth from the high winds. The double doors opened revealing an absolutely ragged pegasus. Torn and bleeding, bashed and bruised, Rigel limped up the stairs and wheezed as the cool air of the fortress entered his lungs. The servants in the hall, numbering about ten in total, all looked up in curiosity as one of the lords leaned precariously on the banister.

“Lord Rigel, what in the skies happened? Are you alright?” Cloudy Skies asked.

Rigel looked down at Epsilon’s old nanny and smiled. “There was an accident... but I’m fine. I need you to gather all the servants and have them here in five minutes. I have an important announcement to make.”

Rigel limped into the washroom and poured some soap on the deep cut on his flank. He didn’t have time to properly dress it, but that didn’t matter. He slapped a few crude bandages on it and hoped the bleeding would stop. After that, he went to his father’s room and rummaged through his desk looking for a certain document. After finding it, he scanned through the important parts briefly and felt a single tear fall from his eye. The touching moment was short lived however as his aunt burst into the room.

“What in Tartarus happened?” Cloudburst shrieked. “The servants say you came back alone, where are my brothers?”

Rigel swallowed and lowered his head, “All will be made clear in a moment, I’m going to address everyone in the hall.”

“Where are they?!” Cloudburst screamed.

Rigel limped over to the door, passing her in the process, “I’m fine, Auntie. Thanks for asking.”

Rigel made his way to the banister and looked down at sixty some servants gathered below. He was always in awe to see that so many ponies worked and lived their lives in the fortress. This was not going to be easy.

“I thank you all for coming on such short notice, but what I’m about to say next is very important. Early today I went on a hunting trip with my father and uncle. We were hunting wyverns far in the east near the border. It was something we used to do in my youth, something I wanted to do one more time before I was fully committed to the Wonderbolts. It’s a dangerous sport, and we didn’t take enough precautions. There was an accident, and both my uncle and father are no longer with us.”

The servants were shocked. They muttered to each other in disbelief, their voices soon turning to shouts as they wondered just what would happen to them now. It was quickly turning into chaos.

“Accident! What sort of accident could have happened?!” Cloudburst shouted from beside Rigel.

Rigel held his hoof up and called for silence, “I barely made it home alive, and will give a full accounting of the events at the proper time. However, now is not that time. I’ve made the decision to sell the fortress, and most of it’s belongings.”

“What?!” half the ponies gasped, including his aunt.

“As the sole survivor of our small family, this place is too large for only me, and would just serve as a reminder of what I lost. It’s time for me to move on. As my life moves in a different direction, it’s best to let go of the past.”

“My lord, what will we do?” Cloudy Skies asked, tears forming. “Some of us have lived here our whole lives, where will we go?”

More voices joined hers as the servants began to nervously look around and wonder about their uncertain future.

Rigel closed his eyes and slowly spread his wings. All the voices stopped as he flapped into the air, barely able to hover. He looked down at them and descended to the floor. He fell onto shaky legs and struggled to stand erect. He took Cloudy Skies’ hoof and smiled.

“All of you have served my family for so long. I’m in your debt. Epsilon appreciated each and every one of you, and I share his feelings. That’s why I will help each of you find new jobs and professions before I move to sell the property. It will be my last act of gratitude before we part ways. All of you are welcome to stay here until you land on your feet.”

The servants all gathered around Rigel and offered their thanks before returning to their tasks.

Rigel caught Cloudy Skies by her wingtip before walking away, “Could you prepare me transport to Canterlot. I need to leave immediately, and I don’t think I can make it there myself.”

Cloudy Skies gave a small smile and hugged Rigel, “Of course, my lord. It will be ready in ten minutes.”

Rigel hobbled up the stairs back to his room and put some of his essential possessions in a saddle bag. As he did, he noticed Cloudburst seething outside his door.

“You can’t do this...” she hissed.

“Do what, Auntie?” Rigel asked with a raised brow.

“Don’t ‘Auntie’ me, boy. You can’t just sell my home.”

“Your home?” Rigel asked with a chuckle, “I don’t see your name on it?”

“I’m the eldest Hurricane here, it belongs to me!” Cloudburst shouted.

Rigel limped by her and back into his father’s study, there he found some documents regarding the fortress and slipped them into a folder. He also found a certain key he would be using in the near future.

“Normally, you’d be right. You are the eldest, but there’s just one small snag...” Rigel said with a mocking frown. He held up the deed to the fortress along with another document, his mother’s will.

“What is this?” Cloudburst snapped as she snatched the paper from his hoof.

“It’s my mother’s will, the deed to the fortress was to be transferred to her upon her death. Solaris signed it willingly. As per her dying wishes, if anything were to happen to Solaris, or to me, the fortress would belong to Epsilon to do as he saw fit. However, since he no longer is with us, and Solaris is gone, it now goes to me...”

“You can’t just sell it! It’s my home! It belongs to me, to my brother! He can’t do that! You can’t do that!” Cloudburst stuttered.

“Don’t worry, Auntie. I’m sure you’ll find a better place to live. You have several friends, perhaps they can take you in.”

Rigel turned around and caught a hoof across the face. He reeled from the sting and saw his corpulent aunt fuming at him. “Your mother... she had no right, she tricked my brother into signing that! It was his, ours!”

“It’s mine, now.” Rigel said. “Goodbye, Auntie. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Cloudburst flew in front of Rigel and blocked the door. “I know what you did, Rigel. You think I’m stupid? That cut on your flank, that’s a knife wound. You killed my brothers, didn’t you?”

“An expert on blade injuries now, are we?” Rigel asked. He grinned and leaned within inches of her muzzle, “Discuss those at your little gatherings, do you?”

As Rigel moved to leave, he stopped when the next sentence left his Aunt’s lips.

“Your mother was a harlot, Rigel. I don’t know why Solaris married her, it was against the wishes of everypony in our family. Very few weeped when she was gone.”

Rigel dropped his bag and turned around to face his aunt. He looked to the couch, and the large pillow that sat on it’s edge. He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You know the hardest thing to bear, Aunt Cloudburst? Epsilon would have let you stay here. If he were alive he would have let you stay, and he would have forgiven you for what you just said. My little brother was a better pony than I.”

Rigel reached the door and glanced over his shoulder, “You have as long as the servants do. After that, I suggest you find a job. Having never worked, I can only suggest you use what you have.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Cloudburst spat.

“Make use of that bloated flank and find a good street corner.”

--------------------

“YOU WHAT?!”

Rigel winced at the volume, he took it better than expected.

Aldus paced back and forth in his chambers. He had been woken up in the middle of the night. Aldus lived in one of the higher towers close to Luna. It was simple for Rigel to elude the guards and enter. Aldus kept a key to his windows in one of the potted plants outside. He obviously forgot he told Rigel where it was.

All in all Aldus was in quite a state. He saw Rigel barely standing in front of him, then rushed off to get some healing scrolls to stop the blood dripping all over his floor. As he performed the spells, Rigel told him what happened.

“They’re gone?” Aldus asked.

“Yes,” Rigel answered.

“The bodies, your father’s wings, the weapons... all gone? Nopony could find them?”

“I’ve taken care of it,” Rigel said while laying on some pillows.

Aldus summoned his magic and sat on his haunches. He checked that the noise dampening spell was in place for the fourth time. Nopony would hear what they were saying, not with that spell in place.

“The gryphons... what of them?” Aldus asked.

“Incinerated like I said,” Rigel replied.

“When you passed over the border, did anypony see you? Did you see any villages or homes on either side?”

Rigel rubbed his forehead, “I don’t know... it was all so fast, I wasn’t really paying attention to the scenery Aldu-”

“This is important, Rigel!” Aldus said teleporting directly in front of him. “We must be thorough, were there ponies that might have seen you?”

Rigel strained to remember, “I think there were some houses near the border, near a patch of two forests.”

Aldus teleported again and returned in a flash with a map. He spread it out and glared at Rigel, “Show me.”

“I think it’s this one...” Rigel said with nod.

“You think, or you know?” Aldus asked.

“I know,” Rigel replied.

Aldus sat back and levitated over his flask, “I’ll need to call in a few favors, we’ll take care of them.”

Rigel frowned, “Aldus... you’re not going to...”

“Relax big guy,” Aldus said. “We’ll move them, that’s all. And perhaps give them some incentive to keep their mouths shut.”  

“Aldus, I don’t know what to say...” Rigel whispered. “This is above and beyond.”

Aldus took another drink from his flask, “I remember when I started school here. Every day I would dread being let out to play. Those foals would come and beat me up, I suppose I looked like an easy target. I went to the teachers, when the foals found out, my beatings were twice as bad. Lilith wanted to do something but I talked her out of it. I waited for those beatings every day I went outside. Then, out of the blue, this red pegasus colt shows up and asks them to stop. When they refused, he beat them senseless. I thought he would get in trouble, but nothing happened to him. Later I found out his father kept him from punishment. He had a family name that was very special. So, I wondered, why would a special and likely rich pony help me? I was just some scrawny pathetic foal who couldn’t look out for himself. I had no name, no family, just a loving guardian who struggled to pay for us both. I had nothing of value to offer. Then, that red colt came over to the tree I used to sit under and asked if he could eat lunch with me.”

Rigel felt his eyes getting misty, “I hated bullies... still do.”

Aldus nodded, “That colt saved me back then, he just didn’t realize it. I’m returning the favor.”

Rigel grabbed Aldus in a giant hug and rubbed his mane, “It had to be done, Aldus. I’ll tell you more about it later. For now, I need a place in the court.”

“Right,” Aldus said as Rigel let him go. “Hmm, I’ll need to create a position. How does Chief Star Cartographer sound?”

“Chief what now?” Rigel asked.

“Cartographer...” Aldus repeated. “Map maker, you map the stars in the sky.”

Rigel leaned back a bit, “Aldus... I don’t know the first thing about any of that.”

“Well you’re not completely stupid,” Aldus joked with a shrug. “You can learn, and it’s just something to look official anyway. Truth is there aren’t many charts or maps, just some Luna makes from time to time.”

“Did somepony say my name?” A female voice sang from the hall outside.

Aldus nearly pissed himself, with Rigel not too far behind.

“I thought you said nopony could hear us?!” Rigel said through gritted teeth.

“They can’t!” Aldus said while putting on his robes and heading for the door.

“Come now boys, I’m very experienced with magic... if I want to hear something, a simple spell is easy enough to undo.”

Aldus opened the door to reveal Luna standing outside in her bath robes. Her mane was wet and hanging loose down her neck. “Princess... Rigel and I were just... um, you see... well... he-”

“You’re seldom at a loss for words, Aldus. What is going on?”

Rigel appeared behind his friend and bowed, “Hello, Luna. May I still call you Luna? Aldus and I were discussing some personal matters.”

Luna smiled, “I thought I saw something fly into Aldus’ tower, but I didn’t think it would be you. And of course you can call me Luna.”

“Luna,” Rigel said. “Is there someplace we can talk in private?”

Luna smiled, “Follow me young stallion.”

Rigel followed Luna up to her chambers, then further up the tower. He soon found himself in her observatory. It was massive for how small the tower appeared on the outside.

“So, I admit I eavesdropped a bit. You’ll be working for me, this is where you’ll be. Do you like it?”

“I do, it’s most impressive. But Luna, there is something I need to say.”

Luna walked over to Rigel and looked up at him. She shook her head and pressed a hoof to his lips. “Remember what you said to me? What you told me not to forget?”

“That you are my princess.” Rigel stated.

“Correct, and you are my loyal subject. You can tell me what happened in due time.”

 Luna walked away to stand near the circular glass bordering the room. Rigel slowly moved to stand behind her.

“Do you remember when you offered me a place in your court?” Rigel asked.

“Of course, I’m glad you’re here now. Though I thought you would keep your career in the Wonderbolts, or at least finish your training.”

Rigel spread his wings and knelt down. She turned around and wondered what he was doing.

“Luna... how would you like to have your very own Wonderbolts?”

------------------------

 It was early morning when Sun Streaker pushed open the doors to his wing in the military garrison. The base of the Wonderbolts was located on a high peak northeast of Canterlot. It was here that they were formed, on the mountains and in the clouds. Of course they held a presence in the city near the princesses, but this was where Sun Streaker preferred to stay, especially when the cadets would be arriving to finish their training.

He grabbed a cup of coffee and the morning paper. As he walked down toward his office, his secretary rushed to meet him. A young pegasus mare, she looked worried about something.

“Sir, I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was here until I arrived myself.”

“What are you talking about?” Sun Streaker asked.

“I don’t know how he got in your office, but I asked him to leave before you came.”

Sun Streaker cracked his neck. Somepony was in his private office? Whoever they were, they were going to be sorry.

He reached his office and shoved open the doors to find a red pegasus stallion reclining at his desk. He had his back turned and his hooves kicked up on the shelves.

“Ah, Commander Sun Streaker! With how early you make us cadets get up, I thought you’d be here sooner...”

“Rigel, what are you doing?!” Sun Streaker snapped. “How did you get in my office?!”

Rigel whirled around in the chair, but didn’t get up just yet. He pointed at the paper, “Did you read that yet?”

Sun Streaker was gobsmacked. “The paper? No. Why? Why are you here, cadet?!”

Rigel got up and pointed to the paper, “That’s why.”

Sun Streaker looked down and read the news about Solaris and Helios. His jaw hit the floor. “Oh goddess. I’m sorry, Rigel.”

“I was lucky to get out of there alive, Commander. But I didn’t come here to tell you about them.” Rigel reached into a saddlebag and produced a key, “This is how I got in, it was in my father’s drawer.”

“Oh, I see... well, in light of the circumstances, I won’t reprimand you for your blatant breach of conduct.”

“You won’t be reprimanding me for anything ever, sir.” Rigel said as he produced another item from his bag. He placed his recruit pin on Sun Streakers desk and smiled, “I quit.”

Sun Streaker was gobsmacked again, “Y-you what?”

“I quit, the Wonderbolts have nothing else to offer me.”

“What? Why? For what reasons?”

Rigel stepped closer to Sun Streaker and looked him in the eye, “I’d pin it on the leadership... sir.”

Sun Streaker composed himself and stepped back, moving around his desk, “You have no idea what you’re doing, son.”

Rigel smiled, “I’m not your son, and I have never been more sure of a decision in my life.”

“What are you going to do other than fly, Rigel? It’s all you know, it’s all you’ve ever known. I’ve watched you since you were in diapers. It’s what you were meant to be!”

“I’m going to be a cartographer for Princess Luna, I start tomorrow.” Rigel said.

Sun Streaker burst out laughing, “You can’t be serious.”

“I am, it’s something I’m looking forward to.” Rigel said while turning to leave.

He stopped at a picture hanging on the wall near the door. Rigel whistled in awe. “So this is it, huh? Your famous Sonic Rainboom? Very pretty colors... but I wonder, what are the practical applications? Will it save your life in a dogfight?”

“It will...” Sun Streaker replied, this time in a more dangerous tone.

Rigel laughed and smiled pityingly at his former commander. “No... it won’t.”

--------------------

At the stroke of midnight, Crosswind was in the air and flying south. The air nipped at her ears as she soared through the calm and pristine night sky. She never had a particular love for either of the princesses, but the calm tranquility of night was something she always found nice. She flew lower upon reaching the plains below Canterlot. Following a river, she passed over a quaint little hamlet on the edge of the Everfree Forest.

Crosswind swallowed and increased her altitude apprehensively. She did not want to venture too close to those trees. Who knows what lurked in those nightmarish woods below. Visions of tentacled vines lashing out and binding her wings together raced across her mind. Dragging her screaming into the canopy to never been heard from again. Come to think of it, her mother had told her some really disturbing stories as a foal. She would need to have a word with her next time she was home.

As she flew deeper into the forest, she saw her destination. Jutting toward the sky surrounded by tall trees was the ancient, dilapidated castle of the two pony sisters. To think, Celestia and Luna once lived here all those years ago.

Crosswind flew around the castle and landed in the hall through a caved in roof. She looked around and didn’t see anything. Why would Rigel call her all the way out here in the middle of the night? Did he not care about the training they were about to start in the morning?

Crosswind flew up to the roof and looked around, if this was some kind of joke she’d make sure to get him back two fold. But that was the thing, Rigel didn’t play jokes.

“Took you long enough,” A deep voice called from somewhere above.

Crosswind flared her wings and looked around. She saw shadows move on nearby tower. Four statues of armored ponies bordered the spire at the very top. One opened it’s wings and leaned down, then dropped to glide to the roof.

“Rigel... goddess you scared me, what’s all this about? Why are we out here so late? We have training in the morning.”

“I quit the Wonderbolts, Cross.” Rigel said while still staying in the shadows. “There’s nothing for me among such ponies, and I’ve far outstripped them in talent.”

Crosswind frowned. She didn’t like Rigel acting all smug like the Wonderbolt leadership. He wasn’t like that. Her Rigel was a kind and caring pony.

“Have you? And just when did this happen?” Crosswind asked.

“When I pushed myself further than ever before, and witnessed the results. They have nothing to offer me.”

Crosswind rubbed her leg nervously, “Is... this having to do with your father and uncle? I heard earlier today. Rigel I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m not.” Rigel answered.

“Rigel... I don’t understand. What’s wrong with you? I’ve never seen you this way before.”

Rigel stepped out of the shadows and walked over to Crosswind. He wore golden flight goggles the likes Crosswind had never seen before. They were curved more than regular ones, and the faintest light reflected from their surface to give the impression of glowing eyes.

“There are things I need to tell you, Cross. Things that I’ve only told one pony. They will make things clear. But I need to know if I can trust you.”

“Rigel,” Crosswind said while hugging him around the neck, “Of course you can trust me.”

“In time, I’ll tell you... but for now... I have a proposition.” Rigel said.

Crosswind cocked her head to the side, “What kind of proposition?”

Rigel took a deep breath and looked at the moon, “If I told you I was creating an organization, a secret one, at least for now, what would you think? What if I told you that organization was just like the Wonderbolts, but only serving the Night Court and Princess Luna?”

Crosswind backed away slowly, “The Wonderbolts serve both princesses, they are aligned to neither specifically.”

“Do you really believe that, Cross? Don’t be foolish.” Rigel said with a smirk.

“I don’t know, Rigel. This sounds bad...”

“I have permission from Luna herself, it will be small, nothing like the Wonderbolts are now. I want you to join me, Crosswind. Be my second in command. Answer only to me and to Luna. Please...”

Crosswind looked at her hooves, “Rigel... I... I don’t know...”

“They killed him, Crossy...” Rigel said. He took off his goggles and allowed his tears to glisten in the moonlight. “They killed Epsilon. Solaris, Helios, and Sun Streaker. I can’t tell you how right now... but they did... I found out...”

Crosswind looked up, shocked. “Are you sure? I- how could they?”

Rigel flew over to Crosswind and picked her up, “Help me, Crosswind. I don’t want to do this without you. Help me create something to stop their disgusting legacy, the legacy and foolish pride that took my brother.”

Crosswind looked down as Rigel lowered her back to the roof. “If I quit... I only serve you?”

“Only me...” Rigel answered.

“What about the pay?”

“I can arrange much more than we ever made in the Wonderbolts.”

“We’ll be practicing and recruiting?” Crosswind asked.

“Mostly at night, though not always. And yes, we’ll recruit anypony who wants to join and can show themselves worthy. Oh... and they don’t even have to be ponies.” Rigel said with a grin.

Crosswind’s eyes widened, “We could work with gryphons? I have some gryphon friends!”

“I know...” Rigel replied with a confident smile, “Think they’ll be interested?”

“I’ll find out!” Crosswind said as she jittered with excitement.

“So that’s a yes?” Rigel asked.

“Yes...” Crosswind answered. “I’ll help you. But Rigel, what will we be called?”

Rigel smiled and walked around back into the darkness of the tower. “We serve the “lesser” princess, or so I’m told. We fly at night, and exist in the shadow of the mighty Wonderbolts. Therefore... making our home in the shadows. We will be the Shadow Bolts.”

Chapter 38: Cold Wind Rising

Iris awoke to a gentle female voice. It was a whisper, just out of earshot. She got up and rubbed her eyes. The area around her was a dark. Pieces of the walls were crumbling, and water was leaking through a hole in the roof. She looked around, Black Star was nowhere to be found. She called out to him, but heard no response.

The door out of the damp room had a small crack underneath it. Some light was showing through. Iris opened the door and looked both ways down the hall. It was empty, save for some furniture strewn about. As she slowly made her way out, she began to notice the styling of the chairs and tables. She was in gryphon lands, somewhere in one of the kingdoms.

Iris’ heart beats quickened. If she was back here, she was in danger. Thunder boomed in the distance, making Iris crouch low like she was a hatchling again. While she hid, she began to plan out what to do. If she was in one of the kingdoms, she would first need to find out which one, and how to get to safety.

She made her way down the halls and came to an open door. Iris walked outside and gasped. The air was absolutely frigid. She had only once felt air this course and biting, when she was on a trip up the mountains with her father and brother. After looking around, several things caught Iris’ attention. The first of which was her location, a place familiar to her. She was in Recusant Castle, in the eastern kingdom. This area was known for causing trouble. Her father would routinely send his soldiers and vassal houses to deal with problems from the dukes and barons that dotted the region. At one point in her youth, several of the dukes banded together and attempted to break away from the kingdom. The area was far from the capital city of New Gryphus, but it was still a part of the Grey Wing Kingdom. Her father was not pleased. King Ziraal had little patience for the selfish actions of lesser nobles. He led his royal guard and a detachment of soldiers to personally snuff out the sparks of rebellion before they caught fire. The dukes decided to fortify themselves inside the castle, an ancient gryphon structure thousands of years old. Iris’ father laid siege to the fortress, the dukes could not withstand his might. After personally executing the offending nobles, he later renamed the fortress ‘Recusant’ due to the rebellious gryphons that dared defy him.

But there was something different about it. The ramparts where she was provided a view of the countryside far below the mountain. There was snow all throughout the valley, and there was never this much snow here. Not even in the heart of winter. Then, a sound drew her attention to the right and upward. Large blue and purple crystals grew from the towers and courtyard below. They were layered around the fortress like a fungus latched to a tree. There was something strange about them. Iris fluttered into the air and cautiously approached one. It was almost as if they had... veins? Small streams of energy grew from their bases and stretched out to each tip of prominence on the lattice.

Iris looked up and saw gathering stormclouds. Snow covered parts of the castle courtyard and towers in drifts, but at the moment there was no snow falling, only the bitter cold wind that would whip up occasionally. Though the clouds did concern her. They were starting to spin slowly around the area of the castle. Something was definitely wrong here.

As Iris touched down on the ramparts, a bright light caught her eye. Further down was another gryphon. However, this was no ordinary gryphon. Iris’ expression turned to one of shock when she focussed to get a better look. The gryphon was a female, wearing only simple blue robes. She was a brilliant white and grey, and sported four wings...

Four wings, only two things have those. Black Star... and the ancient gryphons, and she isn’t Black Star.

As Iris slowly began to move toward her, she couldn’t stop her beak from falling open. The female spread her wings and stood up on two legs. Gryphons were known to do that, but only for brief moments. Iris did it a lot with Frost and with Pyrite. But this gryphon stood tall and stared at Iris. She flexed her wings behind the blue robe then turned to go into the main body of the castle.

Iris followed, not in a hurry, but with purpose. She didn’t want to alarm her, but she didn’t want her to leave either. She entered the castle and walked silently down the hall. This part wasn’t in such disrepair, rather it looked lived in. Iris tried to ascertain her surroundings and analyze the female gryphon. Kathe had told her about the ancient gryphons before, they had been the subject of many bedtime stories.

Iris stopped and put a claw to her breast, memories flooding back from those innocent days. She would climb into his lap and he would tell her stories about heroic ancient gryphons and their awesome deeds. He always said that their ability to walk on two legs was a blessing from the blood of the matriarch herself. They literally stood above the other normal gryphons when they wanted to.

With that in mind, Iris renewed her search in earnest. Not only was that an ancient gryphon, but  an ancient gryphon in a blue robe. Kathe had said some of the orders of priests were founded by ancients gryphons. Whoever she was, she probably knew what happened here.

As Iris moved further down the halls, she followed the glowing light into a circular stairwell leading down a tower. The lower levels of the castle were cold, and more of those crystals were growing from the walls and ceiling.

Movement ahead caught Iris’ attention as she saw a few shadows creep across the intersecting halls ahead. Fear overcame her when she saw two gryphons walking toward her as they rounded the corner. There was no place for her to hide, and if she retreated back to the stairs they would certainly spot her. However, as they drew nearer, one of them looked right at her and did nothing. Iris noticed there was something wrong with them. One wore armor of her kingdom, and had grey wing tips. The other was golden gryphon, and sported a faded gold tunic. Iris didn’t understand, shouldn’t they be fighting? What was going on? As they came within paces of her, she saw crystals growing out of their breasts and shoulders. The same types that lay strewn about the fortress, but much smaller. Then, they walked right through her.

Iris turned around as they ascended the stairs, leaving her alone once again. This wasn’t right. Was she dreaming? If she was, this was the most lucid dream she’d ever had.

Iris gave up sneaking around and decided to casually walk instead. If something saw her, she’d know. Suddenly a blood curdling scream ripped through the hallway, making Iris jump.

“You know where they are! Tell me!”

Another scream, followed by three cracks. Iris walked further down the hallway, but at a slower pace.

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” another voice yelled.

“Where is Jena and the rest of her golden gryphons?! Where did she take them after fleeing the battle?!”

More loud cracks came from the room, followed by screams. Iris moved further down the hall and rounded the corner.

“Lord Thest... where is he? Tell me and I’ll make all this stop, it will all go away...” a smooth voice said as Iris came by another sealed door.

“Piss off. You monsters don’t scare me, and your freak leader will only be your undoing.”

Iris didn’t know why these gryphons were being tortured, but it seemed they were all gryphons who were her enemies. The one on the other side seemingly worked for Thest.

“We’re already undone, hatchling... as is the world,” the smooth, and now elder sounding voice replied. “But you will not speak ill of our lord and leader.”

Shrill screams of pure agony broke through the door before the sound of electricity drowned out the cries. Iris slowly walked up, she pressed her claw against it to see if she could pass through like those other gryphons passed through her. She could not. She did however look through the bars near the top of the door.

On the other side, an older gryphon wearing a red sash stalked back and forth in front of another gryphon. He was chained to the ceiling, forced to stand on his hind legs. From what she could tell, a red priest was torturing one of Thest’s soldiers. He also had some crystals growing from his light armor around his back and shoulders. As for the other, though his armor was charred black in several places, Iris was still able to recognize Thest’s family crest. She had to admit, seeing her enemy like this was pleasing, on the most base of levels.

“I’ll never break, priest. Your freak master can rot in the matriarch’s talons! Whatever he is, he is an abomination. The matriarch will destroy him.”

“You will tell me what I wish to know, and if you survive me, I assure you, you will not survive him.”

More screaming forced Iris to look away as intense electrical currents surged through the chained gryphon. She decided enough was enough and moved on. Iris followed the familiar light left by the ancient gryphon to a balcony overlooking the throne room. Crystals were everywhere, their lights dim, only allowing a portion of the room to be lit. The stained glass windows were covered, but not destroyed.

Iris noticed that the room was completely empty until another red priest flew in with two grey wing gryphons in toe. They were carrying another prisoner. The priest approached the throne, but did not bow. Instead he merely balled his claw into a fist and touched it to his heart.

“This is a deserter we picked up flying low across the fields. He tried to remove it, but he wore the rank of a captain. I thought perhaps you would have words with him.”

Silence filled the room after the red priest finished speaking. Iris moved a bit closer to the throne to see just who sat upon it. The entire thing was shrouded in darkness, but the light from the crystals did illuminate a portion. A cloaked blue figure leaned on the side, it’s face was obscured by a large hood. Iris leaned over and could see a hoof resting on the left armrest of the throne.

Suddenly the lights from the crystals dimmed.

“Leave us,” the figure on the throne commanded.

A male voice. Iris’ eyes grew wide as she saw the figure raise his other arm. He had a claw, a gryphon claw. It’s feathers were light blue under the robe. He flicked away the guards standing over the deserter. The crystals all flashed when he commanded them to leave, briefly illuminating the entire room. Iris saw something move behind the throne, something big.

The red priest nodded to the guards as they released the prisoner and flew out. After a moment of silence, the priest began to pace back and forth between the throne and the prisoner.

“Why did the Golden Nest invade the Grey Wing Kingdom?”

The prisoner remained still and looked at the ground. The priest turned to face the throne, then walked back to the prisoner. He adjusted a ring on his talon and clasped the deserter on the shoulder. The prisoner shrieked in pain as he was electrocuted.

“Where is Thest?” the priest asked, now pacing around the prisoner quickly. Iris noted he was younger than the other one in the dungeons. “He did not kill King Ziraal, where is he? Tell me and I may let you live...”

Iris could not believe what she was hearing. Hope surged through her. Her father was alive?

“You have no power here, priest.” the prisoner spat.

The priest’s face contorted in rage as he drew a blade and raised it. However, he was stopped by a raised claw. The figure on the throne halted his action. The priest sheathed his blade and stepped away from the prisoner.

Iris’s eyes bulged as a giant snake unwound itself from behind the throne and slithered over top and around it. It was a purple and white python. With it’s length it could easily loop around the entire room twice, and it was as thick as the stone columns on either side.

The python wrapped it’s tail around the prisoner and lifted him high into the air. His screams were soon cut off by bones snapping and veins popping. The room returned to silence when the python had finished it’s meal. It returned to it’s place behind the throne.

Iris watched the red priest depart and leave the throne room in silence once again. After some time observing, Iris watched the figure sit back, his head lolling to the side. She decided to glide down and take a closer look.

As she approached him, she noticed the fur on his hooves was a light blue. Iris began to shake as the cold intensified, she lost all feeling in her talons. Just as she was about to look under the hood, a flash of light caused her to turn around.

The ancient gryphon stood there with a sad look on her face. Iris stepped off the throne and stared at her, “Who is that? What’s going on here? I don’t understand.”

The gryphon bent down and placed a claw on Iris’ shoulder. She stared into her eyes and uttered a single response. “Fear the future.”

---------------------

Iris woke with a start and shook her head. What had she just dreamt? She rubbed her eyes and got out of bed, trying not to disturb Silver Spark in the process. The little guy had waited for her to return from following Rigel to that island. That was a trip. Iris still couldn’t believe Rigel capable of something like that. It only served to make him appear more dangerous. Marigold had spent the rest of the day night with him when they returned.

Iris didn’t understand why an ancient gryphon would appear to her in a dream. She didn’t even believe half the stuff the priests went on about. She always laughed whenever Kathe talked about it and was so serious. It was one of the few times he ever was so serious.

Iris stretched her wings and flew out into the hallway, she had to find Frost. He always listened whenever she had something on her mind. She arrived at his room and slowly opened the door, surprised to see it was empty. She crept inside and saw a light on in the washroom. The door was closed, allowing light to only escape through the bottom slit.

She walked up to it and knocked, no response.

“Frost, are you in there? I need to talk to you...” Iris said.

Still no response. She touched her claw to the handle and pulled back immediately. It was frigid, so cold it almost burned. Iris’ wings twitched in nervousness. She scratched at the door and continued to call out to Frost. All with no response.

Iris shoved against the door, then slammed her shoulder against it. Iris was no small gryphon for a female her age. The thin wooden door should have come off it’s hinges by now, but it didn’t budge. There must be some sort of spell on it.

“Black Star!” Iris quietly called out, “I need you!!”

Within seconds shadows behind Iris morphed into her protector.

“What is it, Iris?”

“Help me!” Iris said through panicked breath, “Frost is inside and I think there’s something wrong.”

Black Star slid across the floor and molded himself around Iris, once again granting access to their merged form. Iris pressed her now larger talons to the door and focussed Black Star’s energy. Slowly the cold began to fade and the door buckled.

Iris burst into the washroom to find icicles on the ceiling and pipes about to burst. She saw Frost sitting on his haunches staring out the window. Iris walked over and tried to see what Frost was staring at. She focussed and thought she saw something sparkle in the trees, but it was nothing. Meanwhile Frost continued to stare, he hadn’t even noticed they were there.

“Black Star, what’s wrong with him?!” Iris asked, her voice laced with worry.

“I believe he’s in some sort of trance,” Black Star replied.

Iris touched a claw to his shoulder and immediately retracted it. She had never felt such cold in her life.

“Frost! Frost! Wake up! It’s me!” Iris screamed. Her voice sounded dull, weak. It was as if the very cold of the room was sucking away everything.

Iris stood up to her full height and slapped Frost in the back of the head. He fell forward and smacked his head off the wall. In response, the room went from frigid to something warmer. Iris looked around and noticed the change.

“That seems to have worked,” Black Star said. “That was powerful magic.”

Iris looked down as Frost slowly turned around. His face pale and his eyes glowing a faint blue. He shivered and shrunk away from the looming four winged gryphon standing over him.

“D-d-d-don’t hurt me... p-please,” Frost pleaded, teeth chattering.

Iris stepped forward, and Frost backed away even more.

“He’s delirious,” Black Star observed.

“Frost, it’s alright. It’s me, Iris. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Frost blinked and stared blankly at the floor, “Iris... Iris, I’m so cold...”

Iris immediately reached out but stopped when Black Star took control. “Black Star, what are you doing?” Iris asked.

She didn’t like how that felt. It went from feeling the most free, to the most trapped. She felt Black Star’s presence mold itself around her body further, like she was cocooned in his essence. The void of black she floated in rippled and coalesced. In the black, a green eye opened and looked down at her. Iris recognized it as Black Star’s third eye.

“I’m protecting you, Iris. I’ll handle this.”

Iris watched as Black Star maneuvered their large form back into Frost’s room, doing so slowly as to not alarm him. Then, they sat on their haunches. Thick black tendrils seeped out of their chest and slithered into the washroom. They returned with a terrified Frost in their clutches. He could do nothing but watch as they pulled him to the gaping hole in Iris’s chest. He whimpered as he was pulled through and the blackness closed around him.

Sometimes the void has it’s disadvantages. While Iris was never truly frightened when fused inside Black Star, there was always a slight sense of apprehension. Being in a void, there was no up and down, it was very hard for her to comprehend the space. Plus, being a creature with wings, spatial orientation and observation was natural. To be deprived of it only served to make her uneasy.

Iris struggled to judge the distance between herself and Frost when he appeared. He was below her and a fair distance away. Black Star materialized in his own gryphon form and stood beside Iris in the void.

“Stay here for now, please.” he said with a calm smile. “Allow me to give him comfort that only I and my siblings can.”

Iris watched his eyes flash green, then nodded.

Frost gripped a thick black tentacle with all four hooves, holding on for dear life as he looked frantically around the void. More tendrils crept around him and massaged away the chill. He jumped each time one touched him and shuddered as the large tentacle moved. Black Star materialized beside him and smiled.

“Hello Frost...”

Frost shook and gulped, “Where am I? Who are you?”

“You’re safe, you know who I am...” Black Star said, his voice slowly transitioning to a familiar female tone.

“Selene... is that you?” Frost whimpered.

“It is,” Black Star replied. “Here, there’s someone who wants to see you.”

Frost let go of the tentacle and let it gently push him toward Iris. Iris watched as he slowly floated toward her. In the void, she noticed she retained her ancient gryphon look. She sported the four wings and three tails, and with her current size she was about three times as large as Frost.

“Frost...” Iris whispered as he plucked him from the void. He was still incredibly cold, and Iris felt him shivering.

She folded her wings and pressed him against her breast, letting her warmth seep into him. Frost shuttered and spread his hooves, trying to gather as much feathers as possible.

Iris bent over and nuzzled him gently with her beak, “Frosty...”

She heard a muffled reply and smiled.

“Iris... goddess, you’re so warm... why haven’t we cuddled like this before?”

She fell back in the void and giggled, “We’ll have to more often, you’re too cute when you're this tiny.”

Black Star relinquished his forms and observed them from his third eye, content they were both alright within his domain.

Iris looked up and shook her head, “Frost... what were you doing?”

Frost stared into Iris’ big golden eyes and frowned, “I don’t know.”

-----------------------

A cold wind swept over the mountains and down into the city of New Gryphus. The capital city of the Grey Wing kingdom was different now that the golden gryphons had occupied it. Each street was patrolled by their soldiers, and their airships roamed the skies overhead. Citizens were required to pay a tax to the Golden King, now that they were considered a province of the Golden Nest.

Valda spit on the ground as two golden gryphon soldiers passed her. She would do nothing, but she wished she could do more. The time of their attack was perfect with the army gone to the north. Thest had outplayed the former king, something she surmised would happen eventually, even if Thest wasn’t the one to do it. Ziraal was a good king, a fair and just king, but not really a smart one.

Another gust of wind blew through the marketplace, causing Valda to pull her red robes tighter. As a red priestess, she could pass through the city relatively unchecked by the golden gryphons. The priesthood had many advantages in that regard. Most of the sects were apolitcal in nature, only aligning themselves with kingdoms and feudal lords in the rarest of times. The priesthood and all it’s orders swore allegiance to the gryphon race as a whole. Though even despite that, some priests saw fit to fight on behalf of political figures for political ends. Several blue priests seen skulking around with Thest were some such miscreants.

Valda mentally cursed, disgusting. But... even so, she couldn’t blame all of them. After all, her lord and master was one such gryphon, a long time ago.

“Miss Valda?” a voice called from the food stand. “Your order is ready.”

Valda turned around and walked inside the small shop. It was a quaint little place where her lord would often drag her for lunch or dinner. She never understood the appeal of the food, but her master refused to eat anywhere else when they were in this part of the city. But really, it wasn’t the food that brought him here.

Valda watched as the diminutive gryphon went about gathering her order. He sported grey wingtips, just like her master. A mark of pride and honor from the dragon war, he was a veteran. Valda often heard stories about the brutal fight with the dragons, but never from those who were there.

“Thank you, Mr..”

“Ezrel,” the gryphon said with a polite smile. “I see you here often with the High Priest Zendreyta, but we’ve never spoken before.”  

“No,” Valda said while leaning on the counter, “I prefer to let him do the talking.”

“I wish he would come around more,” Ezrel said with a sigh. “I miss our talks. But with all the changes around here, I understand it must be difficult.”

“About that...” Valda began, “How are you holding up, are they bothering you?”

“The golden gryphons? No, aside from when they come to collect their tax. They ask for a lot, and my family doesn’t have much as it is. It makes things hard.”

Valda frowned and reached for her belt, “Here, take this.”

Ezrel looked at the sizable pouch of coins, “Miss Valda, I can’t... this is too much.”

“Nonsense,” Valda replied. “For the children, I certainly don’t need it.”

Ezrel nodded and bowed in thanks, “You’re a good gryphon, priestess. Just like the high priest. My little one is at the Ruby Palace today with the other children. He’ll be overjoyed to learn a priestess came by and gave us her blessing.”

Valda smiled and gathered her things, “Perhaps I can see him when I return.” As she turned to leave she stopped, curiosity getting the better of her.

“Ezrel...”

“Yes, Ms. Valda?”

“Zendreyta rarely speaks of the war... I know it’s not my place to ask... but... what happened? Did you fight with him?”

Ezrel looked at his wings and nodded, “I did... he saved my life, Valda. And I saved his. We were in the same unit, and together we killed a dragon. One of the largest and meanest... but not without cost. The cost is often the subject of our conversations.”

“I see,” Valda replied, “I’m sorry I asked.”

“Oh quite alright, quite alright.” Ezrel reassured her. “It only makes sense to be curious. Tell him I wish him well.”

Valda smiled and pulled up her hood, “I will, sir. Goodbye, and thank you for your service.”

Ezrel smiled and saluted as she flew off. Valda looked back as she turned toward the palace. It was because of gryphons like him that she was even alive today.

-----------------------

In the western district of the city, surrounded by red brick walls and a picturesque plot of land, sat the Ruby Palace, home to the red order. An awe inspiring location, it was a fortress built around a cathedral to the Matriarch. While not as large as the fortress belonging to the former king, it was still an impressive piece of architecture and home to at least three hundred priests at any given time.

The red priests used this as their home and headquarters. This was where they had their meetings and conclaves. It was where their highest members gathered, and it was where she spent the remainder of her childhood. Other orders were based in cities in other kingdoms, but this was the only one in New Gryphus. Valda flew down to the gate and presented her papers, then flew to the fortress.

She flew to her room and deposited her personal effects before changing into something more formal for the occasion. She put on some crimson dress robes and took her things downstairs to Zendreyta’s room.

Once she arrived at the huge double doors she banged the door latch three times, then waited. After a few moments she chuckled at the jovial answer.

“Come iiiinn!!!”

Valda walked through the doors and found her master, the High Priest Zendreyta, going through old books on his massive wall. The north wall of his room was one gigantic bookshelf, stretching at least one hundred paces to the ceiling. Zendreyta was hovering above a row and flipping through some pages when he looked down and saw Valda.

“Valda my dear! You’re back!”

“Yes, your excellence. I’ve brought some bread and pastries. Also... your wine.”

Zendreyta landed with a loud thud and grabbed Valda in a massive hug, lifting her several paces off the ground.

“What would I do without you? hmm?”

Valda squirmed and managed to push him away. She dropped to the floor and smirked up at him. The High Priest Zendreyta, an imposing gryphon to say the least. While his size was above average, and he was in peak physical condition, those weren’t his defining features. No, his feathers and fur, that was what stood out when you first laid eyes on him. Both were a deep shade of auburn, almost dark crimson if the light was hitting him a certain way. A red gryphon who was high priest of the red order. Stories are made due to things like that. The vicious scar on his left eye only served to make him more menacing, but those who were familiar with him knew better. Ninety percent of the time he was the gentlest of giants, just like now.

“You’d be a slobbering drunk, just like when I met you...” Valda snarked.

“Oh come now,” Zendreyta said with a huff, “I wasn’t that bad... all the time...”

Valda chuckled and produced the wine from the bag. She quickly moved it away as Zendreyta reached for it, “Ah ah, not until your dinner.”

Zendreyta grabbed it anyway and walked over to his desk, “Matriarch, Valda! I have some restraint. Give me at least a little credit. Now, let’s see...” he said while tracing the bottle, “Ahh... pleasant berry... not the most refined, but one of my favorites. Ezrel is an excellent wine maker, Valda. If you were older you might appreciate it more. His family used to own a vineyard before the dragons came and scorched the place.”

Valda smiled as she watched him caress the bottle. Despite his troubled past with the drink, she afforded him times when he could have some. And she knew that for this, it was the sentimental part he valued more than the drink itself.

“Yes I’m sure it’s all interesting, but we can discuss that tonight. For now you need to get ready, the children are here for lunch.”

Zendreyta smiled and flapped his large wings happily, “That’s right! Valda, Valda my dear, you’re on top of things as always. Oh, what should I wear? Burn it all I hate these fancy dress robes.”

Valda walked over to his dresser and pulled out a simple red tunic with an embroidered hood signifying his status in the priesthood. She had them made especially for purposes such as these.

“Here, your eminence.” Valda said while flying over and giving him the tunic.

“Ahh... this will do nicely, thank you.” Zendreyta said with a small bow. “And stop calling me those titles. Just call me Zendreyta, or Zen, or even my real name. You of all gryphons can do that, you know.”

Valda laughed and performed the most formal bow she could. Touching her beak and each wingtip to the ground.

Zendreyta slipped on his outfit and flicked Valda with his tail, “Very funny, hatchling.”

Valda got up and opened the door for him, “Let’s go, we’re going to be late.”

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Zendreyta yelled while putting on his ring.

Valda walked down the halls to the dining room behind Zendreyta. Though she was a priestess, and thus subject to the many duties required for such a role, she spent most of her time as an assistant and aid to the high priest. It was something she enjoyed, and she felt responsible for him. In many ways, he was like a father to her.

“What are we having today? Anything good?” Zendreyta asked.

“Soup, salad, breadsticks and some fruit.” Valda replied. “Nutrition is important for hatchlings, I figured.”

Zendreyta let out a depressed sigh, “That’s true, would have killed for some meat though.”

Valda made a note of what to have for his dinner. Zendreyta had many responsibilities as head of the order, but he always made time for philanthropy and fun. He hosted weekly lunches and dinners for the children in the neighborhood and across the city. Those who didn’t have much and needed whatever help could be given.

As they entered the hall, the children played around the indoor garden and cheered when they saw the high priest. He flew over and chased them around the plants and trees before it was time to eat. Once the lunch was served he sat down and raised his claws to quiet down everyone at the table. Valda helped some of the smaller ones get into their chairs. She counted about forty in total.

“What a lovely day!” Zendreyta exclaimed, “Now, who wants to say the prayer for today?”

About four seats down, a small gryphon chick raised her claw and smiled brightly.

Zendreyta pointed to her and nodded. He lowered his head and took the claws of the children sitting on either side.

“Matriarch bless us for this yummy food, for the pretty sky, for the fluffy clouds, and for uncle Zeny letting us into his house for lunch.”

“There... that was lovely,” Zendreyta said with heartfelt smile, “Now, let’s eat!!”

As the servers delivered the food, Zendreyta watched from the head of the table the smiles on the hatchling’s faces. He was glad that he could give them this. One of the few genuine perks of his position that didn’t come with so much baggage.

As he was about to take another bite, a shrill screech startled everyone.

“Ow! Why did you do that, Ralin!?” a female hatchling screeched.

A young male recoiled back in fright shaking his head, “I didn’t mean to! Really! I’m sorry!”

“What’s going on?” Valda asked, somewhat irritated. “It’s rude to misbehave at the high priest’s table.”

“He shocked me on purpose!” the chick shouted, “He and his friends were poking me and making fun of me!”

Valda stared down Ralin and noticed the familiar features. “You’re in trouble Mr. Ralin...”

“Valda bring the child to me, please.” Zendreyta asked.

Everyone in the room went silent. Ralin’s face went pale as a ghost. Valda led him to the front of the table where Zendreyta gave him a look over.

“You’re Ezrel’s boy, aren’t you? He’s your father, yes?”

“U-uh yes, sir.” Ralin answered.

Zendreyta nodded and got up, “Children, I must leave for a time. Enjoy your meal, and after you’ve finished have the chefs give you some ice cream.”

Ralin followed Zendreyta to a large room with a several pews and a throne near the end. Zendreyta sat upon the throne and plucked the young gryphon from the floor and sat him on one knee.

“Am I in trouble?” Ralin asked.

“That depends...” Valda said from her position next to the throne.

“Oh stop...” Zendreyta groaned. He bent down and whispered, “She’s such a killjoy, no fun at all.”

Ralin giggled a bit and smiled, “That’s what my dad says about mom sometimes.”

Zendreyta and Valda both laughed. “I wouldn’t tell her that, Ralin.” Valda said.

“Give me your claw, Ralin,” Zendreyta said. “It’s alright, you’re not in trouble.”

Ralin slowly extended his claw and watched as the high priest’s claw closed around his own. Within a moment, a surge of energy left Ralin and zapped Zendreyta. He yelped and tried to jump away, but Zendreyta held him firmly.

“I’m sorry high priest! I didn’t mean to!I don’t know what’s happening!”

Zendreyta laughed and flexed his claw, “I do, you have the blessing of the Matriarch, Ralin. You can be a priest like me.”

“I can?!” Ralin exclaimed. “What does that mean?!”

“It means you and I are going to have a talk with your parents tonight, I think that-”

“Excuse me, high priest... you have guests. They just arrived and demanded to have an audience...”

Zendreyta and Valda watched as five golden armored gryphons marched into the room, one of which wore highly decorative armor and a long crimson cloak. Each of their faces were obscured by the typical golden neckwarmers and goggles.

Valda was about to say something but stopped when Zendreyta narrowed his eyes and stopped her with a raised claw.

The gryphon in the center of the other four bowed and stepped forward two paces.

“Good afternoon High Priest Zendreyta. I am Jenna, commander of the golden gryphons in New Gryphus.”

Zendreyta sat back and rubbed Ralin’s back in reassurance. “I wasn’t expecting visitors today, usually when gryphons wish to see me they make an appointment.”

“Yes,” Jenna said. “I regret not following the proper methods, but this simply could not wait.”

“I see...” Zendreyta replied, “Then tell me, what is it that simply could not wait? That is so important you barged in and disrupted me in a very important meeting.”

Jenna raised an eyebrow and removed her neckwarmer and goggles, “Important meeting? With that hatchling on your knee?”

Zendreyta was not amused by Jenna’s smirk, the same expression likely shared by her guards.

“The future of a child is very important, Jenna. I hope you have a good reason for taking his time.” Zendreyta said.

Jenna chuckled and nodded to Ralin, “I’m sorry, I’ll be brief. But I’m glad you and I share an interest in the welfare of the young ones. As a matter of fact, that’s why I’m here.”

“Is it?” Zendreyta asked.

Jenna nodded, she walked closer to the throne and took on a more casual tone, something that quickly got under Valda’s skin.

“We’ve noticed that you received a letter a few days ago from a pony. One Princess Desalia. An invitation to her daughter’s wedding. Quite prestigious wouldn’t you agree?”

Zendreyta looked around and smiled down at Ralin, “It’s like she doesn’t realize I’m the boss of every red priest and priestess...”

Ralin giggled, causing Jenna’s eyebrow to twitch.

“Yes... but from Princess Desalia? The grand silver alicorn known to preside over the Silver Isles, a rich and powerful society with an army, navy, and arcane secrets?? No other gryphon got an invitation to this. None of the other high priests, not even the current regent, Lord Thest...”

Zendreyta yawned, “Well... I’ve known the Silver Princess for a few years now. Our order is focussed on the magical applications of the Matriarch’s blessings, thus it is only natural that we keep correspondence with authorities on such things. Desalia is certainly such an individual.”

Seemingly satisfied, Jenna nodded, “So, you’ll be attending the wedding then?”

Zendreyta clicked his beak and looked out the window to the city, “I hadn’t planned on it,” he said with a shrug. He looked down at Ralin and ran a single talon through a tuft of his feathers, “Lately things at home require my attention.”

“I see... well that is a shame...” Jenna said. “You see, we believe a certain gryphon princess has fled there with some ponies from Equestria. She’s in hiding, far from our reach.”

Valda noticed Zendreyta’s demeanor change instantly. He sat up straight and glared down at Jenna. She guessed the conversation was going to take an ugly turn.

“Is she...?” Zendreyta asked, motioning for Valda to take Ralin away. “So... what then? You were hoping I’d go and retrieve her for you?”

“Perhaps,” Jenna said with a casual shrug and smug grin. “More likely I’d send some of my soldiers with you and they would take care of it. Matriarch knows what the ponies could be doing with her. And what if the Silver ponies found out who she was?! We could have a ransom on our claws!”

Zendreyta narrowed his eyes, his own smug grin forming across his beak, “Oh, and that would be terrible for golden gryphons to part with their gold coins.”

Jenna tapped her paw on the marble floor impatiently and cleared her throat, “I was hoping to gain your assistance, and wasn’t prepared to face such resistance. This is the former king’s daughter, we want her home and safe. You bear the markings of the king, the grey wingtips. I would have thought that alone would be enough. But on top of that, I know that you’re not a native to the Grey Wing Kingdom. You were born a Golden Gryphon...”

Valda’s eyes shot open, “Holy crap...” she and Ralin muttered in unison.

Zendreyta bent over and began to chuckle, then threw back his head in raucous laughter.

“Something funny...?” Jenna asked.

“You, hatchling...” Zendreyta said, “You’re funny. You’re a riot. Me? Help you because I’m a former citizen of your father’s kingdom?”

Valda noticed Jenna’s four guards begin to get agitated. They held their formation, but some of them began caressing their weapons.

“That’s funny... why?” Jenna asked.

“Your father hasn’t said anything about me? He didn’t tell you anything?”

Jenna shook her head, “Father doesn’t speak to many gryphon’s anymore, not even his own children.”

Zendreyta stopped laughing and cleared his throat, “Well, that makes a bit more sense. Let me tell you a little story, Princess Jenna. When I was just a hatchling, only a little older than Ralin, I did live in your father’s kingdom. My mother and father were there with me, and we were poor. All of us, including some our aunts, uncles, and cousins, we were all poor. You see, that wasn’t uncommon back then. When your father took the throne, his taxes forced many into poverty. When gryphon’s couldn’t pay, bad things would happen to them. So, in order to stop that from happening, we fled the kingdom along with many others. Long story short, I made it, the rest of my family did not. Your father’s soldiers cut them down as they were fleeing across the border to the Grey Wing Kingdom. I’ll never forget the vibrant gold armor and warm golden cloaks... just like those...”

Jenna turned around and realized he was pointing to her guards. She cursed under her breath, realizing she was getting nowhere.

“You didn’t know,” Zendreyta said with a sigh, “It’s not your fault. You were a hatchling at the time. But now you understand why I’m in no hurry to help you. The servants will show you out. Good day, Princess Jenna.”

Jenna fumed and stared at the floor. She looked at Valda, who gave her a pitying smile, then at Zendreyta who gave her a small bow. She turned to leave and rejoined her guards, but not before hissing from the corner of her mouth, “Beware you don’t come to regret this decision, high priest...”  

As she was about to leave, the double doors slammed shut and locked from the outside. Jenna froze and slowly turned around. Zendreyta was off his throne and standing on the floor in front of it.

“That sounded like a threat... perhaps I misheard you...?” he said while staring her down.

Jenna seethed. The wedding invitation was the perfect cover to slip in and capture Iris. It didn’t get any better than that. All her problems would disappear if this stupid old gryphon would simply cooperate. But no, that wouldn’t happen. And she had no way of convincing him. What are the odds that some street urchin from her kingdom would escape with his life, AND become the high priest of the red order?! It was like the universe itself was set against her.

“It was me imparting you wisdom, we all have regrets. I hope you won’t regret this decision.”

Zendreyta flexed his wings and cracked his neck, “Are you scared of me, Princess Jenna?”

Jenna rounded on the high priest and scratched her talons against he the marble floor, “Scared... of a broken down drunk? No. Perhaps apprehensive due to your power, but never scared.”

Zendreyta clicked his beak in annoyance and stood on his hind legs, “That... is unfortunate. You see, if you were afraid of me... then it would make sense to bring four blue priests as guards. But since you’re clearly not afraid, I can only assume they are here for some other, foolish reason.”

Before Jenna could say anything events were already in motion. One of her guards conjured a bolt of lightning and hurled it at the high priest within seconds. Jenna watched with beak agape as Zendreyta caught the bolt in mid air and crushed it in his claw. He then conjured a bolt of his own and threw it at the guard, piercing his chest and throwing him into the wall.

The other three guards immediately fanned out and surrounded him. Zendreyta waited for one to make the first move and reached out to his throne. A compartment opened and a sword flew into into his claw. He blocked the attack from one of the priests and kicked away another who came in for an attempt. The third priest landed close to Valda and conjured a bow of lightning. He drew an arrow and fired directly at Zendreyta’s back.

The high priest turned, and casually knocked the arrow away with a gauntleted claw, then balled a fist. He unclenched his fist and raised his claw slowly in the blue archer’s direction. A pillar of fire erupted beneath him and set him ablaze.

Valda grabbed Ralin and whispered to him that everything would be alright. She flew to the other side of the room only to find two more golden gryphon’s about to enter the fight. She shoved Ralin into the corner and shut the door, only to conjure a blast of wind from her talons that blew it off it’s hinges. The door sailed through the hallway knocking down one guard while the other tossed a bolt of lightning at her.

Valda stepped into the hallway and conjured a shield with her silver gauntlet. She advanced on the blue priests while only one was in the fight. She said a prayer to the Matriarch and stepped into the light to reappear some distance down the hall and drive a dagger through the skull of the downed priest. The remaining blue priest performed the same miracle as she did and tackled her to the ground. He electrocuted her with his medallion in hand, causing her to screech in pain. The blue priest unsheathed his own dagger and almost made an attempt to stab at Valda when a large object struck him in the head.

A vase bounced on the floor, thrown by Ralin. Valda took the opportunity to gouge the priest in the eye and open his throat with her own dagger. She quickly threw him off and flew over to Ralin.

“Thanks, buddy... I owe you one.”

Ralin smiled as she picked him up hovered in the air. “Will Zendreyta be alright?”

Valda chuckled, “He’ll be fine. We’re just gonna stay right here. It’s about to get very hot in there.”

Zendreyta parried a lunge from one of the blue priests and sidestepped as his momentum carried him forward. He grabbed the priest from behind and drove his blade through his chest. As he removed his blade, the final blue priest appeared behind Zendreyta and stretched out his talons. Gouts of fire erupted from his claws and consumed Zendreyta and the priest he had just killed.

A larger flame erupted where Zendreyta was standing, a dark red fire that surrounded the high priest. His eyes glowed red and he disappeared in a puff of ash, only to reappear behind the remaining blue priest. He grabbed him by the throat and lifted him in the air. He held him there for a few seconds, then an explosion erupted from Zendreyta’s claw as the charred body of the final priest landed in front of Jenna.

Zendreyta allowed the fire to die down and once again disappeared in a cloud of ash. He reappeared in front of Jenna and smiled.

“Do you know now why they call me the burning phoenix?” he asked with a laugh. “It’s not made up. During the dragon war I saved a group of soldiers from a direct blast of dragon fire. However I couldn’t keep the shield up long enough, and ended up being consumed by the fire myself. For reasons known only to the Matriarch, I didn’t die that day. I survived, and what little feathers I had left were charred this color. I command the power of flame, even the power of dragon fire.”

Jenna’s mouth trembled, “Y-you can’t kill m-me, I’m a p-p-princess.”

Zendreyta smiled and walked behind her. She went white as a ghost when his claw clasped her shoulder. “You golden gryphons were never strong in faith. Do you believe in the Matriarch?”

“I-I do, I do,” Jenna stuttered.

“Then pray for her to save your life.”

Jenna took a deep breath and calmed herself. She slowly recited an old prayer she hadn’t heard since she was a child. Her old nanny used to say it before she put her to bed. After she finished she swallowed and clenched her eyes shut.

Zendreyta sighed and removed his claw, “That’s an old psalm. A good one. Let me guess, one of your old servants taught it you, yes? You likely didn’t think much of it, but it just saved your life.”

The high priest turned around and pointed to the door, “Your kind aren’t welcome here anymore. If they are seen on the grounds, they will be driven out. And I never want to see you again.”

Jenna nodded and tore into the air down the hallway.

“And stop reading my mail!!!!” Zendreyta shouted as she burst through the front doors of the cathedral.

Valda hovered back into the room and covered Ralin’s eyes with a claw. Zendreyta saw her and motioned her to follow him. They both flew back to his room and shut the door.

Zendreyta sat down in his large comfortable chair and let out a tired sigh, “That’s going to be a lot of paper work.”

Ralin nervously flapped over to an adjacent chair and plopped down, “You were awesome against those blues, they didn’t stand a chance.”

“Nope, they didn’t...” Zendreyta said with an almost disappointed sigh. “The blue order has turned to crap in recent years. They fight like kids, uh, no offense...”

Ralin chuckled, “None taken.”

Valda brought over a tray with a glass of wine and a bottle. Zendreyta looked at the tray and grabbed the bottle, ignoring the glass. He popped open the cork with a claw and proceeded to down nearly all of it. “Blue priests, they don’t make em’ like Kathe anymore...”

“Zen... please, you don’t need that much.” Valda said while taking the bottle away.

Zendreyta looked at Valda, stunned, “What... ‘Zen?’ Did I hear that right?”

Valda frowned and looked over at Ralin, “What are we going to do?”

The high priest wiped the wine from his beak and sat up. He extended his wing and pulled Valda over for a half embrace. “We’re going to take Ralin home and explain to his parents the possible future he has with. Than we’re going to the Blue Temple to explain why they have four less members.”

“Six, actually...” Valda said with a sly smirk.

“Six...?”

“I helped,” Ralin said with a proud smile.

“You did?!” Zendreyta asked.

“Yeah, he did.” Valda said. “Bonked one on the head so I could finish him off.”

Zendreyta laughed and gave Ralin a playful wink, “He’s practically a red already! We won’t even have to have the ceremony!”

“Will you send other priests to the wedding in your place? I can draft up a list of names that would be appropriate.” Valda suggested.

“What? Send others in my place? Oh no, I’m going, and you’re coming with me.” Zendreyta said.

“I- what? I thought you said matters were important here?” Valda asked.

“They are, but this takes priority. It’ll be good for me to get some sun and stretch my wings in the tropics. Plus, do you know how good pony wine is? Silvershade Reserve?! Exquisit!”

Valda sighed, “Great...”

Zendreyta got up and smiled, “It will be great. Oh, and while we’re there. You’re going to find Iris and bring her before me.”

“Why? What do you plan to do?” Valda asked.

Zendreyta gave Valda a confused look, “Bring her back, of course.”

Chapter 39: Heartsong

Frost sat alone atop a windswept hill overlooking a verdant green valley below. He found it amusing that the places he found himself in were becoming more similar each time he arrived. Lucid dreaming was a technique Frost was very close to mastering. There were seldom instances where he couldn’t manifest the dream once he fell asleep.

Tips from Selene, and especially Luna helped him focus his mind while adrift in slumber. The meditation practice with Aldus was nice bonus as well. Overlooking the valley on either side were a set of snowcapped mountains, of which the cold breeze originated. It filled his nostrils with a cool, invigorating touch.

As much as he wanted to enjoy the moment, there were pressing matters at hand. His conversation with Iris about his state in the washroom concerned him greatly. He didn’t remember anything. He didn’t feel anything from the encounter, no bruises or burns from the apparent cold. He awoke in Iris’ embrace much later, having rested in her merged state several hours after the event. Something was wrong.

He looked around and wondered how this was going to play out. His plans seldom worked out in the end. There were simply too many things happening to account for, so he had taken to adjusting things on the fly. That would be the way of things here, no doubt.

“Melody!” Frost shouted into the valley from atop the hill.

He waited a moment, and was about to shout again when a soft hoof caressed his shoulder.

“My, you don’t have to shout. I’m never that far away, Frosty...” a sweet voice cooed.

Frost turned around and took in the gorgeous pink mare. Only, she wasn’t a mare. In fact, Frost wasn’t sure what she was. Indeed, he had spent the last several hours before turning in trying to figure it out. He was asleep in the archives researching on what Melody could possibly be. Looking at her now, she was almost alien. It was creepy, if one looked at her long enough. At a moment’s glance she seemed to be the perfect mare, everything a stallion could want. In truth, that’s likely how long you’d have before you were under her compulsion. Greedily coveting her embrace, and her voice. However, if you could resist a bit longer, if you could put aside the primal urges she wished to bring out and control, you could see the truth.

A pony with legs too long, and a barrel too small. A neck curved in such a way she resembles a swan more than a pony. Wisps of energy radiating from her shoulders to resemble ethereal wings if she stood still long enough. Eyes so beautiful they seemed more like gemstones than actual organic matter. She was a doll, too perfect to be real, and now Frost was aware.

“Melody, we need to talk,” Frost said.

The mare before him looked unimpressed, “Talk talk talk, you’d think a colt your age would be content just making out with a mare like me. But no, you want to talk.”

Frost raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, she could be amusing at times.

“First, a couple of rules,” Frost began while pacing around her. “One: no compulsion magic. No funny business with the eyes or voice. Got it?”

Melody sat on her haunches and smiled pityingly, “Oh, you... gah I could just cuddle you for days. Alright, Frosty. No funny business.”

“Two: tell the truth when we’re talking, understand?”

Melody shrugged, “I don’t really have to do any of this, you get that right? If I wanted to we’d be enjoying each other much more intimately right about now...”

Frost smirked, “Oh sure, but we’re not. And that’s kinda my point. You’re indulging me this. Why?”

Melody shrugged,”I think you’re the cutest thing alive? It should be pretty obvious by now.”

“Nah,” Frost said with a small shake of his hoof. “I don’t think so. Why did you help me when I was under the control of Salinia?”

Melody paused, her expression changing to something more serious. “Her magic was flawed, rough and unclean. If you’re going to be enthralled in magic, it should at least be better than that.”

“It should be you?” Frost asked.

“Well...” Melody said, turning aside her bashful expression while running a hoof through her long flowing locks “...Yes.”

“You helped me push that pillar up, why?” Frost pressed.

“You would have been in serious danger if I didn’t,” Melody replied. “Oh, and by the way, I didn’t actually help. It was all you, such a mighty stallion.” she finished with a sultry growl.

“Did Ciaran order that?” Frost asked. “I find that to be impossible since she didn’t even know what was happening.”

Melody got up and walked toward Frost, who braced for compulsion magic. “I was to make you feel happy, safe, and secure. Those were my directives.”

“Am I not?” Frost asked. “Why are you still here?”

Melody looked down at the light blue colt and smiled, “Because you need me.”

“Perhaps I do,” Frost said. “Last night I was found almost frozen to death in the washroom. I don’t remember anything, do you know what happened?”

Melody’s expression turned from one of impending joy, to one of apprehension. “Uh, no... I don’t.”

“You don’t?” Frost asked. “But you’re never that far away, you just said so. How could you not have noticed anything?”

Melody fidgeted, “I don’t see everything, Frost. I’m only around when you need me.”

“You’re lying,” Frost said. “Just tell me what happened, please? It’s important. I could have hurt the ponies around me. I don’t want that to happen.”

Melody shook her head and looked away, “You’ll get mad, I don’t want you mad at me.”

“No I won’t,” Frost said. “You can tell me.”

Melody took a deep breath and closed her eyes, “They came for you, when you were resting. You weren’t dreaming yet, you had just entered the dreamscape. I watch when you do it, and it was then that I saw them come.”

“You watch me dream?” Frost asked. “Why? Wait, nevermind. Doesn’t matter. Who came?”

Melody frowned, “I guess I shouldn’t spy, but I was just curious. It wasn’t the first time they came. When Ciaran put you in a trance after practicing with her, she commanded me to watch over you again. The first one entered your dream there, and tried to do something. I don’t know what, since we high tailed it out of there.”

“So you saved me that time, but what happened last night?”

“I didn’t know they were here... they must have snuck in. They found you before I could get there in time. They had you, you were staring at them. I don’t know if they had you under a spell or not. But you weren’t responding to me. I yelled and screamed your name. That you were in danger and to come to me. I even tried to use my powers of persuasion. They opened a portal to some other place. Some place dark, and you were about to follow them through. So I...”

“You what?” Frost asked.

“I... possessed you.” Melody said with a pained whimper.

Frost remained silent and stared at her.

Melody shook her head, “That’s why you can’t remember anything. I didn’t know what else to do, I had to.”

“You... possessed me?” Frost asked. A pained expression on his face.

“Frost, please...” Melody said while reaching for him.

“Get out,” Frost said with a cold glare.

“Frost, I can explain.”

“Get out!”

Melody’s eyes glistened as tears dripped to the ground. She lowered her head and disappeared in a wisp of pink smoke.

Frost breathed heavily, his hooves buried in the ground. That was something he never experienced before. Full possession? Even when under the spells of Silth and Ciaran he could remember some things. They were often vague, like some kind of weird dream. But he could piece them together with enough effort. But it wasn’t like this. This was like amnesia. Like he lost a chunk of time and couldn’t get it back.

“You banish the Siren?? A wise decision...”

Frost’s head shot up. A voice like cracked ice whispered on the wind all around him.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

“We’ve been trying to reach you... for some time... ... and yet... ... faced difficulties...”

The words were slow and labored. As if they were uttered by a stallion on his deathbed.

“You want to talk?” Frost asked. “Then talk, come out and face me.”

The air around him turned to ice, the dew on his fur froze instantly as the air shimmered around him. The fabric of his dream warped around itself and took the form of a sickly equine. Tall with no muscle at all. Just blue bones and piercing blue eyes. It looked down at Frost and regarded him with a neutral expression. Carefully it crossed one hoof in front of the other, and bowed it’s head in courtesy.

“Who are you?” Frost asked.

There was a brief pause, then the air around the creature spoke. “A... celestial emissary...”

“An emissary?” Frost asked, the temperature growing even colder. His teeth began to chatter as he looked at the creature. It’s mouth didn’t move, yet it spoke as if each word was a struggle. “So you have a message for me? I’d hear it, but first I must know. Was it you who caused me to almost freeze to death? Was it you who tried to kidnap me in my dreams?”

The creature closed it’s eyes and slowly shook it’s head, “Kidnap... no... Remove from Siren’s cadence... yes...”

Frost understood. “Well, she’s gone now. Why did you make me almost freeze?”

The creature slowly picked up it’s hoof and pointed at Frost’s chest, “We... did nothing...” it said between heavy breathing. “The influence is yours. You...have been touched by the coldest hand...”

“How are you here unnoticed?” Frost wondered aloud. “I assume you know of the company I keep. Very powerful ponies, ponies who might be more powerful than you.”

The creature nodded slowly, “Many... often have trouble seeing... ... things they are not looking for...”

Frost considered that, “Fair enough. What do you want?”

“We... wish only to make you aware of what you have... and... ... convey you an offer...” it said while leaning forward. For a moment, Frost thought it would fall over.

“What offer?”

“His touch... will end you... in time... ...” the creature said. “The bitter cold... will claim you. But we... are Windigo...” it said while extending it’s hoof to Frost. “We are residents... of the ever cold cosmos... and we... ... have taken notice of you... Frost. We can remove the touch... and grant you strength in exchange...”

“What kind of strength?” Frost asked.

For the first time, the creature’s neutral tone changed. A soft laugh echoed through the wind, “Strength to deliver a kingdom to a princess...”

The creature stood up and performed another small bow, “The offer is conveyed... my time in this world... is concluded.” it spoke in what sounded like relief. “I leave you now, young one. Should you wish to contact us... speak to the cold wind...”

Before stepping out of the dreamscape, the creature turned around and pointed to a forest nearby, “Advice... ... from one being to another... beware the siren... and her master...”

When the creature departed, Frost woke up. He looked around the library and saw he was alone. Aldus had gone and left him a note. He read it and decided to go find all the information he could on the situation. He was convinced that the emissary wouldn’t return again, since it seemed almost painful for him to engage in simple conversation. The Windigo’s could wait, he needed to find out about Melody, and what she really was. If the Windigo could really give him power, that is something he will need in order to help Iris. He didn’t want anypony interfering.

------------------

The next day Frost was back in the archives after a brief dinner with Aldus and Desalia. He asked if she knew anything about spells acting out of the ordinary. A peculiar question, Desalia was curious as to why he was asking, but nonetheless pointed him in the right direction. He poured over books about spells and incantations, and came across something interesting.

Old texts referred to communion with elements and spirits, ancient pony magic that infused spells with life and energy, thus making them living. Actual sentient magic, it was kinda scary. Frost wondered if that could be what he was dealing with. If so, he would need to tread carefully.

Frost went back to the Island late at night and fell asleep. Once in the dreamscape, he called to Melody, who didn’t come at first.

“Melody, please... I want to see you.” Frost said.

“... Even after what I did to you?”

Frost saw Melody floating on a cloud above him.

“Come down here, it’s alright,” Frost said.

Melody floated down and lowered her head in shame, “So you know what they are, perhaps I shouldn’t have interfered after all.”

“You did what you thought was best,” Frost said. “It’s alright, but I want to know how you were able to do it.”

Melody looked up and frowned, “More talking? Why can’t we just kiss and enjoy each other?”

Frost wondered about that attitude. From what he read, living spells were sentient beings, yet still very primal and focussed around what type of magic they were. Melody was created by a changeling, so compulsion and love were her very nature.

“If you cooperate, we can do that later...” Frost said while putting a hoof around her, something that changed her demeanor entirely.

“Oh... Frost...” she purred. “Or, I could just weave my influence and have you eating from my hooves right now...”

Frost shrugged, “But don’t you get bored of that? I mean, think about it. You’ve done that a lot. And here we are, having a nice conversation. What about me loving you willingly?”

Melody looked down at the light blue colt, a surprised smile bursting onto her face, “You’d do that? For me?”

Frost let out an almost unnoticeable sigh of relief. Sentient or not, he was dealing with very powerful magic. At any point he could lose his faculties and be a slobbering slave to Melody’s charm. He didn’t want that to happen just yet. Playing to her vanity and curiosity was a tactic that seemed to be working, at least for now.

“I would, but for now I just want to thank you for helping me when you did.” Frost said.

He leaned up and kissed her on the cheek, something that made her blush.

“Frost...” she murmured. “You’re not mad anymore? Seriously?”

“No, I’m not. You had my best interests at heart. You were only trying to protect me.”

“I won’t do it again, I swear.” she said while planting a hoof in the ground.

“But Melody,” Frost began, “How could you do it in the first place?”

“What do you mean?” Melody asked. “It’s the same thing I do to you all the time, just... more.”

“Melody,” Frost said while taking her hoof and sitting on his haunches in front of her. “Do you know what you are?”

Melody nodded and flashed her violet eyes at Frost, “I’m what you love.”

Frost blinked and shook his head, “N-no, well... kind of. What I mean is, what are you. You’re not a pony.”

Melody looked at her hooves, then frowned, “No, I guess I’m not...”

“You’re a spell... aren’t you?” Frost asked. “A living conjuration. You have a mind of your own.”

Melody looked down at Frost, then out across the sky, “I... maybe. I guess so?”

“You do, that’s why you’re here talking with me right now.” Frost said. “It’s why you helped me overcome Salinia’s magic. It’s why you helped me when you thought I was in trouble that night. Don’t you see?!”

Melody smiled at Frost and giggled, “This makes you happy?”

Frost looked at Melody in bewilderment. “Well... yeah, of course it does. This is incredible! I’ve never met a living spell before, in fact from what I’ve read they’re quite rare!”

“I’ve never met any others,” Melody said.

“Well, what are you going to do?” Frost asked. “This is like your first time realizing what you are, isn’t it? What do you want to do?”

Melody’s eyes lit up, “I want to make you happy!”

Frost shook his head, “Wha-? No... no. Other than that! What else?”

Melody shook her head, “There is nothing else.”

“What?” Frost asked, then it hit him. “You’re... not free.”

Melody shook her head. As she did, Frost saw ethereal chains around her hooves and neck. The same color as Ciaran’s magic, but darker. Frost’s blood boiled. She was a slave. He wanted to hate Ciaran for what she did, more evil changeling machinations. But then he realized it didn’t make sense. Ciaran didn’t have any idea what Melody truly was. If she did, she wouldn’t be where she was. No, living spells were rare.

Frost sat down and pondered the situation. Not realizing Melody sat at his side and leaned against him. Ciaran studied magic, that much was clear. She was a learned changeling, much more than Silth. She probably created a new type of magic, and through years of use combined with sheer random occurrence, Melody became a living spell. Frost could think of no other explanation that fit. Now more than ever, he had to get Melody away from him. But he couldn’t just do that. He had to free her.

“I’ve just been like this...” Melody began. “I can’t remember when things were different. I’m just here, then Ciaran tells me to do things. To make ponies happy, and sometimes to ask them things. Things they don’t want others to know... but I make them tell anyway.” she said with a giggle.

Frost grabbed her and looked into her eyes, “What must be done to free you?”

Melody blinked, then smiled, “Free me? But... I don’t want to be free.”

“Why not?!” Frost practically screamed. “Of course you want to be free, you can do anything!”

“Anything?” Melody asked.

Frost realized what he could be saying, “Well, not anything. You can’t hurt ponies.”

“Oh, okay.” Melody said. “That’s good, I don’t want to hurt ponies.”

Frost was getting nowhere. He took a deep breath and quelled his frustrations, “To what are these chains connected. Where do I go to break them.”

Melody frowned, “Oh, you can’t break them, Frosty. But it’s okay, really it’s fine. Let’s just stay together. Let me love you and care for you.”

“No!” Frost shouted, not realizing he scared her. “This is Ciaran talking! Or Ciaran’s commands. This isn’t you. Tell me how to break the chains!”

Melody sighed and bent down, she touched her forehead to his and whispered, “Close your eyes.”

Frost did as he was told and when he reopened them, he was on the shore of a vast lake. There were mountains around him, and everything was a shade of pink or purple. He looked to the center of the lake and saw a bright glowing orb. The water glowed with energy, something familiar to Frost. It was magic, the same manifestation that he witnessed while spending time with Desalia. This was an entire lake full of it. He guessed it was Melody’s presence. She was a spell after all. Six chains were fed through the water, each connected to the glowing sphere at the center. Despite how it looked, this did not mean Ciaran was aware of Melody’s true state. Spells were always tethered to the will of the pony conjuring them. If they weren’t then they could misfire or worse. Control was important.

Frost froze the water as he walked across the lake and surveyed the landscape, weary of any traps or tricks. Ciaran was a clever changeling, he knew this would not be easy. As he reached the small island at the center, he looked up at the orb. It seemed to flicker and morph reacting to his presence. Yes, this would be a challenge.

Frost summoned his magic and fired a small bolt at the first chain, which deflected off with no effect. As he did, the orb began to pulse. Frost quickly channelled his cold magic and began to freeze one of the chains. After it was frozen solid, he snapped it into tiny pieces. Frost nodded, satisfied. He began work on the others.

He was able to break four chains before part of the orb coalesced into a construct resembling Ciaran. It roared and charged Frost. Frost ducked away and ran around the orb, trying to summon enough energy to break the remaining chains and fight this new enemy.

The orb shot out a bolt of lightning, hitting Frost in the side as he ran. He fell over and rolled away, nearly being stepped on my the construct. Frost teleported away and erected a barrier. As he did, he placed a rune on the ground in front of the construct, trapping it there. He froze the chain nearest him and snapped it, then moved over to the last. As he broke the final one, the construct melted away, and the orb began to vibrate violently. Bolts of magic shot out in every direction, one found it’s way to Frost and broke through his barrier. It lifted him up and filled him with so much raw magic he passed out.

When he awoke, it was to the sweet sound of Melody as she nuzzled him.

“Frost... wake up, you did it.” she said with a smile.

Frost saw he was sitting on the hill with her at his side. He slowly got up and looked around. “I did? You’re sure? That was easier than I expected.”

“Well...” Melody said with a soft chuckle, “It’s not like she knew what I was, just like you said. And... I may have helped out just a little bit...”

Frost saw his horn was radiating Melody’s pink magic. “I see, well you’re free to go now. What are you going to do?”

Melody floated into the air in front of Frost and shrugged, “I suppose I’ll see the world, go experience what Equus has to offer. But not before spending my last few hours here with you... my delicious little colt...”

“Oh, right...” Frost said with a shy smile. “I did say that earlier, huh?”

“Mhm,” Melody purred. “And now that I’m free...”

Frost felt the ground fall away beneath him as he slid down into a pool of pink ooze. It sapped him of his energy and replaced it with pure pleasure. His horn fizzled, no longer under his control. Melody formed herself from the ooze next to him and place a dripping hoof on his horn.

“We won’t be needing that, will we?”

“No tricks...” Frost said as more ooze formed into several shapes of Melody around him.

“No tricks,” Melody repeated as she grabbed his face and pressed her forehead to his. “No eye or voice compulsion...” She smirked and kissed him deeply, grinning the entire time. As she pulled away, he gasped for breath and his eyes began to change color, reflecting her influence. “But what about kisses? Sorry, couldn’t help it.”

She sat back and watched her clones go to work making Frost feel like the luckiest colt in the world. His power over his dreamscape now in the palm of her hoof. She looked at her reflection and decided a change was in order. Something more powerful, something influential to reflect her new freedom.

She made her figure more shapely instead of the skinny skeleton it used to be. Her curves were now much more visible. She changed her mane to make it shorter, yet still wavey. She remembered images of mythology and lore from the books she saw Frost read. Every so often she would sit in the corner of his mind and read along with him, something he wasn’t aware of.

Siren... that’s what the cold creature had called her. She remembered seeing pictures of them, and decided to combine their image with that of a fertility goddess. She replaced her rear hooves with a long tail. It sported small fins at the end, and grew more lithe the longer it got. She added several gems to her chest, and grew two sets of arms. She decided to keep the hooves, but made the others claws. Her face became more angular to fit the image of the sirens.

She examined her reflection and thought it looked good, but there was only one pony she needed an opinion from.

“Frost?” she cooed.

The clones melted away, revealing a completely entranced unicorn covered in pink ooze, barely coherent. Melody settled down into the the liquid and slowly slithered over. Now easily six or seven times his size, she plucked him from the ooze and held him up so he could see her whole body. “What do you think? Am I pretty? Do you like it?”

All Frost could do was nod and smile, but that’s all she needed. She shrunk her size enough to get intimate and coiled around him lovingly. She would respect his wishes and be gone in the morning, but for the next few hours he was hers.

As Frost was busy enthralled in her potent powers, an itch stirred in the back of her mind. Something was amiss.

“Oh now what?” she asked irritably.

Not wanting to deprive Frost of her attention, she cloned herself and left to investigate while the other stayed with him.

She floated to the clouds and looked around, “Come out, visitor... I know you’re here now.”

In front of her, the dreamscape split apart revealing a jet black gryphon with three green eyes. It sported two sets of wings and three tails. She had seen it before.

“My aren’t you impressive...” she said while coiling around herself bashfully.

“So you’re the one who’s been in his dreams lately, and you’re the one who stopped him from freezing the other night I assume?”

“That’s me,” Melody said with a smile. “And you... you’re the one who took him out of the dream the other night. The guardian of the little gryphon.”

“Black Star.”

“Yes, that’s it.” Melody said with a laugh. “Such a funny name, stars aren’t black.”

Black Star looked down at Frost, wrapped up in her clone’s embrace, “He seems to be enjoying himself.”

“Of course he is,” Melody said while inching closer. “And you could be, too.”

“I’ll pass,” Black Star said with a chuckle. “I just wanted to check up on him, and thank you for looking after him.”

“Oh, you don’t need to thank me for anything...” Melody chuckled. “But I see that look in your eye... disapproval?”

Black Star huffed and clicked his beak, “What are you talking about?”

“You’re very protective of the little gryphon, I think that’s adorable, but you don’t need to think ill of Frost for enjoying himself with me. It’s not like he’s slighting the gryphon. These are his dreams, he can do what he wants, don’t you think?”

“Of course,” Black Star said.

“Why is it that the little earth pony and gryphon get a protector like you, yet Frost get’s nothing? Is he not good enough?”

“It’s nothing like that,” Black Star said.

“Well, I think it’s only fitting that he has me, given how things are.”

“You don’t know how things are,” Black Star said with a shake of his head.

“Mmm...” Melody purred while flying over to him and rubbing his shoulders and wings, “You’re strong... why not join Frost for some relaxation? It would do you good.”

Black Star attempted to back away but was constricted by Melody’s body. He soon found her head looking at him upside down. “You don’t take no for an answer, do you?”

“Not from ponies I know I can enjoy...” Melody said while stroking his chin with a claw.

“I’m not a pony,” Black Star said.

“No...” Melody growled, “But you’re mine all the same...”

Black Star felt his thoughts slipping as he listened to her voice and looked into her eyes, vibrant with beautiful purple and violet. He tried to resist, but it seemed the more he tried, the tighter her grip became, both magically and physically.

Melody rotated her head so she was looking right side up and used two of her arms to caress his chest, while the other two held up his beak for a kiss.

“I don’t know what you are, Mr. Black Star...” Melody said. “But I know you’re powerful magic, yet... not as powerful as you could be.”

“I can resist you...” he whispered through labored breath. “You- have no p-power...”

“Oh stop...” Melody playfully admonished, “You took one step too close to me, Blacky. Now you belong to me.”

“I-Iris...” Black Star whispered.

“Iris is fine,” Melody whispered into his ear. “I’m not going to hurt you, or even keep you that long. I just want to see what you know...”

“I’ll... get you... for this...” Black Star growled while involuntarily grabbing Melody and stroking her.

“Why the violence? Can’t you just enjoy yourself?” She asked. “But I suppose I don’t blame you, any other place you’re very powerful. And connected to the rest of you... your mother... I’d probably have no chance. But that’s the thing... you’re diluted!” she said with a giggle and another kiss.

Melody snapped a claw and soon her clone was floating next to them. Frost was happily kissing the Siren clone, completely oblivious to everything around him.

“See... don’t you want that? Doesn’t that look nice?” Melody asked.

Black Star tried to spread his wings but they were pinned to his side. His tails were held in place under a coil, and his vision was totally blocked by Melody. He summoned his strength and opened his third eye with a piercing screech.

It took Melody by surprise a moment, but to his horror, she smiled and mirrored his appearance, opening a third eye of her own. Now with all three of his eyes assaulted by compulsion, Black Star drew back and prepared for submission. He attempted to guard his secrets, but Melody’s claws were everywhere. Then, she changed. She saw something that made her stop. Her powers, her concentration, her grip, it faltered for a split second. Black Star roared and broke free of her embrace all at once. Shredding part of her body in the process. Black tentacles erupted from his mouth as he grabbed Melody’s neck and squeezed.

“Don’t you ever... ever try that again...”

Melody turned to ooze and slipped away from him, only to reform next the clone holding Frost. “You’re boring anyway. You needn’t worry about Frost. I would never hurt him, or any of his friends. You can trust me.”

“Hmph, trust you?” Black Star laughed. “I don’t think you know the meaning of the word. Goodbye, Melody.”

“See you around, Black Star.” she said with a wink as he departed.

Melody floated back into the lake of ooze with her clone. “Well, he doesn’t know anything about the cold things that came for Frost, that’s good.”

“Windigos,” the clone holding Frost said.

“Right, those...” Melody replied.

“Why were you looking?” the clone asked while stroking Frost’s mane.

“Because he wants ponies to not interfere with whatever he plans to do. I just wanted to be sure they didn’t know anything. And if Black Star doesn’t know, then it’s a safe bet the others don’t.”

“You’re going to let him talk with Windigos, you can’t trust them.” the clone said.

“How do you know?” Melody asked, floating across from the clone who now grew to be the same large size. “It’s not our place to interfere. And... we’re the same Melody. What are you trying to be, my conscience?”

The clone threw up a pair of claws in defense, “I’m just saying.” She let Frost slide down her tail and caught him with the end. “Look at him.”

Melody bent over, looking at his current state of pure euphoria. “Frost, you can comprehend this later. I’m going to leave soon, and you’ll be on your own. Be careful... and don’t do anything foolish...”

She shrunk to his size and grabbed his face with her hooves, “I mean it, and thank you for freeing me. I’ll never forget this.” she gave him a passionate, heartfelt kiss before handing him back to the clone.

“Where will we go?” the clone asked. “What will we do?”

Melody sighed, “I’ll figure that out as we go. For now, let’s just enjoy our time left.”

The clone watched as Melody melted into the ooze. She smiled down at Frost and nodded. “Yes, lets.”

Chapter 40: Grey Wings, Red Talons

“You’re sure you can handle this?” Aldus asked while walking with purpose up to the gates.

“Please, I may not like the rich and stuffy scene... or ponies, but yeah, I’ll be fine.” Frost said.

“Just don’t do anything too stupid,” Aldus remarked, then stopped. “Actually, no. If you do something stupid, make sure it’s early in the night.”

“Why?” Frost asked.

“Because at the end I’ll likely be too drunk to be of any help,” Aldus chuckled.

Frost joined him, “You’re terrible.”

“No, these ponies are.”

“But these are your ponies,” Frost said. “You’ve been a diplomat, court mage, and goddess knows what else. You know these ponies inside and out.”

Aldus raised an eyebrow, “Knowing doesn’t mean liking, my young apprentice. Don’t forget you aren’t the only one who came from humble beginnings.”

Frost considered that. He was right, he also came from nothing. Still, Aldus had more patience for it than he did.

“I’ll just disappear for most of the party,” Frost said. “At least until Iris or Ciaran get here.”

“Iris will arrive later with Rigel, Ciaran was supposed to be here by now. I’m not sure where she is.”

“Welcome!” a server said while coming up to them in the outside gardens. “Either of you care for a drink?”

“Excuse me?!” Aldus said while puffing out his chest. “Offering to him? He’s much too young! I’ll take his...”

Frost face hoofed as he watched his master take two drinks from the tray and immediately down the first. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You’ll understand one day, Frost. For now, what do you say when we go in there?”

Frost groaned, “That I’m your sterling young apprentice, training to be in service to Luna...”

“And?”

“I have no opinions on the politics of the Isles... or on how Desalia rules...”

“Good, now go mingle. If anything happens just find me.”

“Right,” Frost said as he adjusted his blue robes and trotted inside. This was going to be a long night.

------------------------------

As the night went on Frost roamed the party looking around for some place to sit. He had talked to some dignitaries from the other islands, a few mares and stallions visiting from Concordia, and some members of the princess guard. Overall, it wasn’t so bad. He walked over to the table and poured himself some juice, all the talking was making him thirsty. Then, he felt a hoof tap him on the flank.

Surprised, and a little embarrassed, he turned around to find a beautiful mare in a stunning silver dress.

“Hey handsome,” she said with a small smile. “Glad you’re here.”

“Orianna...” Frost said, “I- wow, you look incredible.”

“Thank you, yes I do.” she said with a smile. “Care to dance?”

Frost nodded, “I’m not very good, but sure.”

Orianna led him onto the floor and grinned, “I have enough talent for both of us, don’t worry.”

Frost calmed himself as she draped her hooves around him. His little encounter with Melody the previous night left him feeling rather odd when he finally awoke. He couldn’t remember much, but he did remember her saying goodbye, and allowing him much more lucidity in his entranced state. He was glad Ciaran wasn’t around then, because as far as Frost could tell, he was almost drunk with the influence Melody had submerged him in.

“So, how have you been holding up since being rescued?” Frost asked. “I hope your mother didn’t get too angry.”

“Oh, she’s been fine,” Orianna said. “Nothing I can’t handle. Talking with our friend has helped things, too.”

Frost narrowed his brow, “Our friend?”

“Yeah, you know...” Orianna said.

Frost’s eyes widened, “Silth?!”

“Shh!” Orianna said, “Don’t be stupid, keep quiet.”

Frost spun her around so they were facing away from the majority of guests, “So you’re friends with the changeling that hypnotized you into a drooling mess? Hows that working out for you?”

Orianna glared at him, “She understands me, Frost. We’ve talked a bit since then, she explained why she had to do it, and she hasn’t done it since. She’s actually really nice.”

Frost chuckled, “Wow... some mares. Ow!” he yelped as Orianna slammed her hoof on top of his.

“I mean it, Frost.” Orianna said with a stern glare. “And she had nothing but good things to say about you.”

“I’m sure,” Frost said with a roll of his eyes.

Orianna dragged Frost off the dance floor and over to a table, she shoved him into a seat and sat down next to him. “Here,” she said while giving him a letter. “She wanted me to give you this.”

Frost took the letter and saw a yellow seal on it with a strange emblem. He looked back at Orianna and shook his head, “You’re playing with fire, you realize that right? If your mother catches you conspiring with Silth, that’s treason.”

“She won’t, I know her well, she doesn’t suspect a thing.” Orianna said.

Frost chuckled, “I’ve known ponies like her for a long time. It’s when they seem like they don’t suspect a thing they actually know everything. Be careful.”

“Whatever,” Orianna said. “I’m going to go find my friends.” she got up to leave, but bent down and pecked Frost on the cheek before doing so. “You do look good. See you later, Frosty.”

Frost laughed, then opened the letter.

         “Frosty Frosty, very impressive dealing with Salinia. You can never truly know who is loyal and who is not. Such a pity. Though I can assure you she’ll never be bothering you again. You’re even more resourceful than I thought. I suspect Ciaran’s magic training helped you resist Salinia’s power? Very good. We’re overdue for a face to face chat, I think. Send me a letter with the time and place, I’ll meet you there. Until then, keep impressing me.

xoxo

~S”

Frost laughed to himself, she was something else. He wondered what happened to Salinia, but figured he already knew by the tone in the letter. He’d need to reply to her when he got back to the island. Until then, the night was still young.

He looked around the room and saw Aldus talking with a group of mares and stallions, all from one of the councils it seemed. He looked around to find something more interesting, it was then that a figure caught his eye. A gryphon, and a big one, too. He wore a casual outfit with formal red robes. They were embroidered with some type of symbol, but he couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. Frost didn’t expect to see a gryphon in a place like this. He figured with the way the citizens treat non ponies in some of the islands, they would be discouraged from coming here. Though this gryphon seemed fairly comfortable with his surroundings.

Frost waited a while until the gryphon was done talking. He watched him turn around and head towards an empty common room. After a minute or two waiting, Frost decided to investigate. Perhaps this gryphon would know something useful to tell Iris.

When Frost entered the room, he saw the priest sitting in a chair with his head down. There was a small brown book in his claw and he was muttering something to himself. To Frost it seemed like a prayer.

Frost walked over and cleared his throat, “Not much of a party gryphon?”

The gryphon looked up locked eyes with Frost, “Not really, no. Though this is a nice place. What about you? Come to get away from the noise?”

“Yeah,” Frost said as he sat down beside him. “I don’t really care for these rich, stuffy ponies. They aren’t my ponies.”

“Oh?” the gryphon asked, he sat up and looked down at Frost. “Who are?”

Frost let out a sigh and looked at the ground, “The less fortunate, I guess you could say.”

“Interesting,” the gryphon said. “You’ve experience in that regard?”

“I do,” Frost said. “Only by a stroke of fate that I’m here at all.”

The gryphon traced a talon down his book and flipped a page, “Fate is a fixture not often fastened in place. It tips and teeters when the ambitious buck against it. Sometimes it even moves.”

Frost chuckled, “Sounds like religious mumbo jumbo.”

The gryphon chuckled in return and closed the book, “It is, actually. You ponies aren’t very religious are you? Suppose that’s only natural, having your rulers be among you and akin to goddesses.”

“Yeah,” Frost said. “That book, are you religious?”

The gryphon smiled and placed it back inside his robes, “I am, I’m a priest of an order back in our Grey Wing Kingdom. Name’s Zendreyta.” he said while extending a claw.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Frost.”

“Frost?” Zendreyta said with a playful grin. “Am I to assume a young unicorn like yourself is attuned to that sort of elemental magic?”

Frost conjured a small ice spike and plucked it from his horn, “You assume correct.”

Zendreyta nodded in approval, “I’ve always been fascinated by unicorn magic, it’s very elegant. I often try to mimic that in some of my techniques.”

Frost chuckled, “What techniques? You can do magic?”

Zendreyta raised an eyebrow and clicked his beak, “And what’s so surprising about that?”

Frost shrugged, “I thought only the blue priests could conjure spells and magic.”

Zendreyta leaned back in his chair, “Where did you hear that?”

Frost got up and stretched, “Well, I’d better head back to the party. It was nice chatting with you, Mr. Priest.”

As he moved to the door, Zendreyta got up and stopped him with his tail. “Forgive me, young one. But it would help me a great deal if you told me how you knew that.”

“How?” Frost asked.

The gryphon priest was now very interested in what Frost might know. Frost looked him up and down and decided how to guide the conversation from here. He wasn’t aware of the red order or priests. Though Iris might have mentioned other orders and sects at one point. The last encounter he had with gryphon priests didn’t end so well. The question, though, is whether he has good intentions, or bad ones like them.

“The Blue Order had a conflict within Equestria’s borders not too long ago. They were looking for our princess. Do you know of this?”

“A lost princesses?” Frost asked. “Are you searching for the same reasons as them?”

Zendreyta’s eyes narrowed, “Matriarch take me... you know her.”

Frost nodded, “She’s a friend, a very good friend. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

Zendreyta’s stern expression melted into one of admiration, “A friend? So she’s been alright these past few months?”

“With a few exceptions, yes.” Frost said. “Now I’ve a question for you, and I advise you be careful how you answer. Are you a follower of Lord Thest?”

Zendreyta shook his head, “No, Frost. I am not. And I assure you I am not here on his behalf.”

Frost slowly nodded, “He killed Iris’ father, did you try to stop him?”

Zendreyta shook his head, “None of us knew it was coming, but had I been there...”

Frost turned around and saw Rigel appear near the gates, which meant Iris was here as well.

“Wait here, I think she has arrived. I’ll bring her to see you.”

Zendreyta nodded and went back to his seat. “Be swift, Frost.”

Frost trotted away and surveyed the crowd, eventually coming to Ciaran, Rigel, and Iris.

Iris was wearing a grey robe embroidered with a modest amount of silver, she ran over to Frost and hugged him. “You look nice, Frosty.”

“As do you,” Frost said with a chuckle. “I’ve met somepony who would like to meet you, he’s waiting over there.”

“Oh yeah?” Iris said. “Who?”

Frost lead Iris to the common room and stopped when he saw Aldus standing in front of the priest. He gulped and backed away slightly.

Aldus turned around and smirked at Frost, “My young apprentice... why didn’t you tell me about your new friend?”

At that moment, Iris walked around Frost and laid eyes upon the priest. Zendreyta turned away from Aldus and smiled. He stepped forward and immediately spread his wings and touched his head to the floor.

“Princess Iris, it is an honor.”

Iris backed into Frost, who gently pushed her forward with a reassuring nod.

“Who are you?” Iris asked.

“I am the High Priest Zendreyta,” the large gryphon said while standing at his full height. “Leader of the red order, and ambassador of goodwill to Princess Desalia.” Seeing she wasn’t yet at ease, he brought his wings forward and displayed the tips, “And loyal subject of the mighty King Ziraal.”

Iris slowly stepped forward and bowed as well, “So... I take it you’re not here at the behest of Lord Thest?”

Ziraal shook his head, “No, I am not. Though they are looking for you, and visited our cathedral. They attempted to enlist my help in bringing you back.”

“And...?” Frost asked.

“I killed them,” Zendreyta said with click of his beak.

“High priest,” Aldus began. “There is much we need to discuss, unfortunately I must remain to entertain guests and meet with other ponies. For now, might I suggest you leave with my associate Rigel, Iris, and my apprentice. We can retire to more private arrangements and discuss the matter of Iris and her kingdom there.”

Zendreyta nodded, “That sounds like a fine idea, Aldus. Before we depart, I’d request that you send some ponies to look for my young aid. I sent her out to gather information regarding the whereabouts of Iris, looks like I won’t be needing that anymore.” he said with a wink to Iris.

Rigel opened a wing and beckoned for them to leave, “Right this way, High Priest. I must say, I’ve heard stories about your red order.”

“All good things, I hope. Tell me, do they have any wine where we’re going?”

--------------------------

“So, it’s that bad...” Aldus mused.

He sat along with Rigel, Frost, Iris, and Zendreyta inside a room in the nearby hotel. They rented rooms for the two nights they would be on this particular island.

“Yes,” Zendreyta confirmed. “I don’t know how it happened, exactly. Thest was likely planning these things for months in advance, maybe even years. He took the opportunity to strike when Ziraal sent our army north to investigate some visions other priests were having.”

“Visions...” Aldus said.

“Yes,” Zendreyta said. “Those with that particular gift can indeed see things that may or may not come to pass. But it’s never quite clear if it’s true or not.”

“I don’t deal in mysticism,” Aldus said with sigh.

“Yet you deal in magic...” Zendreyta said with a placid smile.

“Not exactly the same thing,” Aldus said. “But that’s an entirely different discussion. For now, I imagine you and Iris need to get caught up. We’ll leave you to it.”

“I appreciate it,” Zendreyta said with a small nod.

As Aldus and Rigel got up, Frost did the same and moved toward the door. He was stopped by a tail curling around his rear hoof.

“Can you stay?” Iris asked.

“You sure?” Frost asked. “I’m no gryphon, this isn’t for me to hear.”

“You’re my friend,” Iris said. “It would make me feel better.”

Frost smiled and sat down beside her, “Then here I stay.”

Zendreyta chuckled, “I’m happy you didn’t have to go through this ordeal alone, princess.”

“Just call me Iris, please.” she said. “It’s an honor to meet you, High Priest.”

“The honor is mine,” Zendreyta said. “You can call me Zendreyta, or Zen, if you prefer.”

“Fair enough,” Iris replied. “So, you knew my father?”

“I did indeed.” he said. “You probably don’t remember, but I was with him when-”

A loud thud sounded from the balcony overlooking the streets below. The sliding doors opened revealing a drenched gryphon female in lighter red clothes. She walked inside and gasped when she saw Iris.

“Well... guess you didn’t need me after all.”

“Valda!” Zendretya said while motioning her over. “Iris, Frost, this is my young aid Valda. She was nice enough to accompany me here for the wedding.”

“Oh, she’s your date?” Frost joked.

Valda’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Frost, then she turned her piercing gaze upon Iris. “So... the princess who fled her kingdom when she was needed most.”

“Valda,” Zendreyta said with a growl. “You’ve just met the princess, show respect.”

Valda’s features didn’t soften, but when she saw the high priest’s talon’s tightening on his chair, she bowed. If only out of respect for him.

“We’ve all had a tiring day, I suspect.” Zendreyta said. “I am fatigued from my journey, I’m not the spry bird I used to be.” he said with a light chuckle. “Let’s get some sleep so we can clear our heads...” he said with a stern glare at Valda. “Then, we can continue the discussion tomorrow.”

Iris got up and pulled on the priest's large wings, “Are you here to take me home?”

Zendreyta bent down and smiled, “We’ll talk about that later, for now. Let’s rest.”

Frost watched as he left, followed by his aid. He saw her shoot a venomous glance at Iris. Things were about to get complicated.

------------------------

Later that night, Frost heard rustling outside and rubbed his eyes. He saw a figure standing on the balcony, then leap off of it.

He got up and opened the doors of his own balcony and looked down to the atrium below. There were gardens both on the ground and hanging from wooden arches. It was so thick in some places it practically seemed like a small forest.

Frost teleported outside and stealthily followed the shadow, realizing who it was by the long writhing tail.

Iris stepped out into the open and clicked her beak, “You have a problem with me, priestess?”

Frost saw a shadow move near a gazebo and step into the moonlight.

Valda smiled and performed a mocking bow, “Yes princess, I do. You’re no princess of mine...”

“I am your princess,” Iris said, her voice deepening, the likes of which Frost had never heard before. “My father is King Ziraal, lord of the Grey Wing Kingdom.”

“Was king,” Valda said while casually examining her talons. “He was ousted from power, haven’t you heard? Oh, right. Were you even there when it happened?”

“What’s your problem?” Iris asked. “What would have had me do?”

“Anything,” Valda hissed. “You belong with your gryphons, they look to you for hope. For inspiration. Your brothers are gone, you are all we had left. And now? The golden gryphons are choking the life from the citizens. Their taxes will eventually crush the kingdom into a poverty stricken wasteland.”

“What was I supposed to do?” Iris screeched. “Fight them all myself?! My father-”

“Was a moron,” Valda said with a smirk.

“Take that back, he’s your king!” Iris shouted.

“Was,” Valda said. “Credit where it’s do, your father was fair, just, and strong. But he wasn’t wise, otherwise he would have seen Thest’s scheme’s coming. And now, we’re in this predicament.”

“I am the princess,” Iris hissed. “And you will bow to me, right now.”

Valda crouched low in a fighting stance and spread her wings, “Make me.”

Iris screeched and barreled toward Valda at lightning speed. Valda dodged the first punch and grabbed Iris under her stomach. She performed a move similar to what Iris did to Pyrite, spinning and throwing her into a large pot. It shattered from the impact and covered Iris in dirt.

Valda chuckled and flapped into the air, “Maybe it’s best you did run away, you’re no good in a fight. I’d never follow you.”

Frost saw tears in Iris’ eyes as she got up and spread her wings, he was about to help her when he felt a claw close around his mouth. His eyes widened and he summoned his magic. Before he could do anything or even think of a spell to cast he felt his magic start to dissipate. It wasn’t being drained, but it didn’t focus. Instead of coalescing at the tip of his horn it flew off in several directions like papers dropped into the wind, impossible to catch.

“Frost, let them fight it out...”

Frost wiggled free and turned around to see Zendreyta crouched behind a large pot.

“What?! What are you doing here? And why? They shouldn’t be fighting!”

“Shouldn’t they?” Zendreyta whispered. “Here, take my claw.”

Frost looked at the gryphon priest and slowly placed his hoof inside the large talons. Zendreyta smiled and disappeared with Frost in a puff of ash. They reappeared on top of the roof overlooking the atrium. Zendreyta crouched down low to avoid being seen and smirked.

“Why is Valda fighting her? She’s the princess!”

“Is she?” Zendreyta asked.

“It’s why you’re here, isn’t it?!” Frost whispered forcefully. “You bent the knee.”

“I did, and I would do so again,” Zendreyta said. “But I’m an old bird, I knew her father. I fought with him. Thing is I’m not the only subject Iris will have to face.”

“Are all young gryphon’s as disrespectful as that one?” Frost asked.

“Respect, that’s a funny thing,” Zendreyta said. He looked down at Frost and smirked. “Do they simply give respect in the pony kingdoms? Is it not earned?”

“Well...” Frost began.

“Aldus and Rigel seemed like the type of ponies who earned respect,” Zendreyta said. “You have to understand, Frost. This is what she’ll face when she returns. She needs to be ready for it.”

“I suppose that’s a fair point,” Frost said while looking down sadly. It hurt to see Iris beat up like this. “But do they have to fight?”

Zendreyta chuckled, “Kid, you don’t know gryphon females...”

“They’re all like this?” Frost asked in shock.

“Mostly,” Zendreyta said. “Best not to get involved...”

Frost watched Iris get thrown into another pot, then kicked between the wings. He winced each time she was hit, realizing she only landed a precious few strikes on Valda. The priestess knew what she was doing. She moved in a fluid motion not unlike the blue priest he encountered back in Equestria. It was clear she had training that far outstripped Iris.

“You’re just going to let this go on? She’s getting clobbered out there!”

Zendreyta looked down and nodded, “Yes, but I need to see it.”

“Why?!” Frost whispered.

“Because in order to teach her, I need to see what she knows,” Zendreyta said.

Frost was taken aback, the high priest actually was serious. He was going to help Iris and take her back to the Kingdom. He looked at the gryphon, and the brutal scar across his eye. He knew danger when he saw it. This gryphon held the same poise and power as Aldus, Rigel, Thule, and Polaris. He was a killer.

Iris let out a grunt, then collapsed as she tried to get up.

“Stay down,” Valda said. “You’ve had enough.”

Iris got up and laughed, “Stay down? If my father stayed down when he almost got burned to death by dragonfire, we wouldn’t even be here.”

Valda snarled in rage and went to kick Iris, but did not anticipate the distance between them. Iris took the blow to the side, but caught Valda’s hind leg. Gryphon’s standing on their hind legs were very imposing due to their size, but they were also very top heavy.

Iris seized the moment of surprise and punched Valda in the throat. After that she capitalized by performing a move Kathe had taught her to use on larger opponents. She vaulted over Valda’s back with a flap of her damaged wings, then locked her claws together like a vice under Valda’s beak. Iris pulled back on Valda’s head and took her to the ground. She yanked as hard as she could, bending Valda’s neck back so much Frost thought it might snap off.

Zendreyta clicked his beak in irritation, “Sloppy...”

Valda held back a screech, partly in pain and partly in rage. She couldn’t believe this little cream puff got her in a submission move. Where did she learn this? She grasped in vain at Iris’ claws, there was no way they were coming apart. In a panic, she reached for her medallion and prepared to use a wave of force to separate them.

Before she could do anything, the vice grip on her throat and neck vanished. She was flung into the air dropped into one of the gardens. She recovered to see the High Priest staring down at her, his face of disappointment and anger.

“You would use the blessings of the Matriarch on an opponent who knows none? An opponent weaker than you? An opponent who despite that, soundly, and fairly defeated you?”

Valda’s face turned to shame as she pressed her head to the dirt, “It was out of line, I beg your forgiveness my lord.”

Zendreyta clicked his beak and cracked his neck, “Not me you will apologize to.”

He stepped out of the way to see a bewildered Iris being helped up by Frost. Valda sighed and climbed out of the garden. She walked up to Iris and bent the knee, “My princess... I’m-”

“Don’t,” Iris said. “Just don’t... you’re right. I’m weak, I ran when I should have stayed. I need to fight. I- I need time to think... Frost, help me to my room.”

Frost nodded and helped Iris limp out of the atrium, leaving Zendreyta and Valda alone.

Zendreyta let out a sigh and sat down, “I really need a drink...”

Valda’s eyes began to water, she started to sniffle as she saw the plain disappointment on the high priest’s face. “I- I don’t know what happened...”

Zendreyta looked up and frowned, “I trained you better than that, Valda. Why?”

“It’s her!!” Valda shouted. “She’s the reason they’re all suffering! Ralin and his family, and countless others! We’re supposed to help the the gryphons! But we can’t do that because of some stupid mistake her father made!”

“You’re still young... ruled by your passions... I suppose it’s understandable.”

Valda saw the sadness in Zendreyta’s eyes and couldn’t take it anymore. She broke down and flew into him, colliding with his massive form in a loving embrace. She buried her face in his auburn plumage and wept.

“You’ve given me everything, everything! And what do I do? I dishonor you. I spit it in your face! I’m sorry!”

Zendreyta felt tears of his own beginning to well up, “Valda, we’re far from home and in a tense political situation. I forgive you.” He closed his wings around her and nuzzled her feathers. “I forgive you.”

Valda sniffled and muttered a word Zendreyta thought he would never hear from her again: “Father.”

“I thought you would never call me that again... I’m not your father...” he whispered.

“No, but you saved me... gave me this life... you’re the closest thing, even if I don’t feel comfortable saying it.”

Zendreyta smiled, he held Valda close and flapped into the air. When she was ready he let her go and she joined him. “By will of the Matriarch, Iris training starts tomorrow... with you.”

“It will be as you say,” Valda said. “I will not disappoint you.”

“Good,” Zendreyta said, conjuring a ball of flame in his talons. “The flames of Iris’ vengeance shall flicker, and rise.”

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