The train ride was quiet. No-pony really talked, well to me in general. With things the way they were I’m not sure where we’d go with things after we gave the artifacts to the Canterlot museum.

Elijah sat across from me in the train booth. “How are you feeling?” He asked with sincere kindness. I just gave him a blank, yet emotionally pained, expression. He sighed. “I know how you feel. Would you like to talk about it? Sometimes it helps.” He asked me and I looked to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Do you? Do you really know what I feel like at this very moment? Elijah let me let you in on a little secret… Before John, I had another coltfriend many years ago who died because of my arrogance… and I promised myself never to love again but… I let John in because I thought he was the one, my special some-pony. You couldn’t possibly understand that.” I told him as tears came to my eyes.

He got up and sat down beside me, setting his left hoof atop of mine. He looked into my eyes with his only golden eye. “Daring… I have been at war for nearly my entire life. I have watched my friends… sometimes my own family, be blown away right in front of me. I know how you feel, the only difference is that it was my friends dying, not my special some-pony.” He told me and I gave him another expressionless look.

“So what are you suggesting? That I just forget about John and move on to another stallion?” I asked coldly and he shook his head quickly.

“I never suggested that. All I’m saying is perhaps you’d like to talk about it.” He replied. I gave him a cold look. I didn’t want this, not right now.

“We’ve talked about it. That’s it. John is dead and I’m… alone.” I told him. He sighed then nodded.

“Well, when you’re ready… I’ll be waiting to talk.” He informed me then trotted over to another booth with Bear.

We had left Nostalgic and Marry haltered at Dodge and decided to take a train to and from Canterlot. It had been a day since we left Dodge and we were only now ascending the tall mountain of Canterlot.

I felt the weight of John’s M1911 riding in the shoulder holster. Christ the thing must’ve weighed a ton. A pony could probably take down an Ursa with this pistol. Somehow it made me feel safer but at the same time reminded me painfully of John.

I leaned my head back and soon dozed off. It wouldn’t be long now.

My head throbbed. My lungs burned. It felt like I was suffocating. I gagged and wheezed as my vision blurred and my body lay on the sandy shoreline and got splashed by the small tides of water.

My lungs continued to burn. I tried to stand but almost immediately my hindleg muscles strained and tensed painfully. I gasped and collapsed on the ground before finding the inner strength to get up. “That is the spirit. You will survive. You have always survived.”

I gasped as Elijah gave me a gentle nudge awake. I was sweating profusely. “Are you okay? You’re sweating pretty badly and keep stirring in your sleep.” He told me. I slowed my accelerated breathing and wiped the sweat from my damp forehead.

“I’m fine… I’m fine.” I told him through a swallow. My saliva was sticky and coarse, making it difficult to swallow.

“Were you dreaming? What were you dreaming about?” He asked. I tried to remember but couldn’t. It was so vague yet it seemed so familiar. I shook my head.

“I… don’t remember…” I trailed off. He nodded then stood up and offered me his hoof.

“Come on. We’re at the Canterlot train station.” He informed me. I took his hoof and let him help me to all fours.

As we departed the train I took a glance to the all too familiar city streets of Canterlot. The place was always bustling with high-class ponies, posh looking ponies, or simply poor ponies who thought they were too good for every-pony else.

I led the others towards the museum, making sure not to detour to other parts of the town, despite Brixie’s constant pleading to look at the city sights. I kept telling her there was nothing exciting in this town but she wouldn’t listen. I just wanted to get this done and over with.

We approached the museum and quickly entered. The others looked in fascination to all the historical artifacts, some of which I had retrieved myself. I looked around for the mare I needed.

“This way.” I told the others who quickly followed in attention. I approached a slime green mare who was greying and as soon as she spotted me, she rushed over.

“Ms. Do!” She exclaimed happily. I simply nodded as she stopped right in front of me with a wide grin splayed across her face. “I presume you have yet again out done yourself, hmm?” She asked and I rolled my eyes. I outdid myself alright. I got a stallion, who I let into my heart, killed, again!

“Oh just listen to me ramble.” She stated and I realized that my thoughts had drifted to John so I hadn’t heard her pointless ramblings which she always did when I brought in an artifact for the museum. “Come, come. This way.” She told us and quickly led us to an office.

She opened the door for us and let us into her own personal office. “One moment. I didn’t expect this much company.” She told us then quickly returned with chairs for Elijah, Brixie, Billy and me.

We all took a seat and she sat across from us with a still widening grin. “Daring… I must say, your new look is… very western. I take it you had a rather wild experience.” She told me but my face stayed expressionless. He smile deterred but only a little.

“We have something for you… somethings, actually.” I said as I pulled out the small casket containing the civil war gold. Her eyes widened as she gazed upon the casket which I set in front of her.

“May I?” She asked and I nodded. She carefully opened the box, with a pristine carefulness that made it look like she was handling something from several millennia ago.

“The civil war wasn’t that long ago. It’s not that old.” Elijah muttered and Mrs. Gemini, who was the museum owner, gave him a curious look. Elijah rolled his eyes. Mrs. Gemini decided to open the casket a little faster but still with a cautious pace.

Finally she opened it completely and gasped from the sight in front of her. “Is this… is this what I think it is?” She asked, gazing upon the many gold billons. “But… the confederacy gold it… it’s just an old foal’s tale!” She exclaimed and Elijah chuckled.

“That’s what they say but only a few ponies know that it’s a little more than that.” Elijah informed her with a small smile.

“So if the gold is true what about… it?” She asked and I raised an eyebrow. “You know… if the gold is true then so is… Celestia’s revolver, right?” She asked. I was lost. I didn’t know much about the confederate gold tale but what I did know was this: Near the end of the war, the confederate army gave gold billions to its most legendary generals and some of the colonels. The Lunar Union tried to do the same but couldn’t pool the resources together.

Elijah chuckled. “Now that… that is a foal’s tale. Every-pony knows that Celestia’s revolver is just a fabled myth.” Elijah spoke and Gemini sighed.

I looked to Elijah with a curious look. “What is Celestia’s revolver?” I asked and he smiled as he looked to me.

“Celestia’s revolver is just that. A revolver that belonged to Celestia herself, or so the tale begins. When Celestia received the gun from the confederate army as a token of appreciation she immediately customized it with magical enchantments and the pistol became legendary for its power. But on top of that there was a catch. Only ponies with truly pure intentions could use the gun, otherwise it wouldn’t work. Well that’s how the tale goes anyway.” He informed me.

“What’s this?” Gemini asked and we all turned our attention back to her. She was holding a small scrap of paper. She continued to observe the piece of paper before handing it over to us. “It doesn’t look like an artifact… it actually looks like something that was crudely drawn not too long ago.” She informed us and I looked upon the picture.

It had several pictures detailing where to go. The picture on the top left of the page was marked with ‘I’. It had a small desert look to it and had an arrow pointing to some small rocky cliffs.

The second picture was in the middle of the page and was marked ‘II’. It had a picture of a large arch made of rock with the sun rising directly behind it. There was an arrow that pointed to the opening inside the arch.

The third and final picture was at the bottom of the page, marked by ‘III’. It was a close up of the rocky arch with and arrow pointing to the left side on a small embankment.

I scratched the back of my head in confusion. It was a treasure map, without a doubt. Though I had no idea of where to even start looking. “It’s… a treasure map.” I said aloud.

Gemini nodded then spoke. “Indeed. Well I will have these artifacts up within the hour. This is a truly rare find. I will have you your payment for the next time you visit Daring… and your friends?” She asked. I nodded. “Indeed, I will have payment for them too.” She told me.

I got up and gave her a weak smile as I extended my hoof. “Well Mrs. Gemini, it’s been a pleasure.” I told her as we shook hooves.

“The pleasure is always mine Daring, I can assure you that.” She told me with a squee of delight. The others shook hooves with her as well before we all began to depart. “Oh and Daring… I like the new look. It’s very… unique.” The comment brought tears to my eyes.

Author's Notes:

Anyway, so I figured it out a little bit. Still not exactly sure how it's gonna go down but have an idea.