Equestria was dark, even in the late afternoon. Thick clouds hung overheard, reaching from horizon to horizon and casting everything into a permanent twilight. Beneath the foreboding sky, a collection of equines trudged onwards through the desert, their home a full day behind them.

"I don't like this," one of the pegasi muttered, looking up at the sky and shifting uncomfortably, her wings rustling. "Clouds shouldn't look like that... not over Equestria..."

At the head of the herd, Ironside glanced up, then back at the pegasus who'd spoken. "It's been a long time since any of us have seen proper clouds, Grace. Looks like a storm from what I remember."

The pegasus, Grace, shook her head and fluffed her wings out, looking up nervously again. "A Weather Pegasus never forgets, Chief. That storm when we came up should've cleared the skies all the way to Dodge Junction, but it's like the closer we get to Equestria, the more clouds there are."

Ironside frowned and slowed, bringing the herd to a halt. "You're sure?"

Grace nodded. "Sure as Celestia's Sun shines, chief."

"Alright." Still frowing, Ironside checked his Pipbuck. "There's a sietch about two hours away. We'll head there, get some rest and start again tomorrow. Grace, think you can get us some sunlight when we get there?"

Looking confident at the thought of returning to her old job, Grace nodded again. "I'll do my best, chief."

"Good to hear." Ironside tossed his mane and looked over his team. "Let's go, people." With that, he turned and started walking again, the herd quickly following, eager to reach Equestria, but wary of the almost forgotten world had become. As they traveled, their hoofprints cutting a trail across the sands, Ironside found his mind wandering towards his prospective herdmate and her flutterpony companion, wondering where they were and if they were making better progress.

Lorikeet's muscles ached. The Hiveborn flutterpony had never been one for constant flying, not when there were places to land, rest or walk all through the Hive. Damsel never would have admitted to it, but she, too, was feeling the strain, the Guardsmare not as young as she'd been the last time she'd made the journey. Shared determination and the reassuring presence of one another in the otherwise silent hivemind drove them onwards, though, and a full day of flight had taken them far from their Hive.

Featureless dunes and drifts were all around them, pierced by the occasional rocky outcropping or dark rift in the landscape. Even from their high position, the pair could feel the heat rising from the sands, the relentless mid-day sun covered by less and less clouds as they ventured further and further from Equestria. It was an intimidating place, and only the first barrier they would have to breach to find Flutter Valley.

A query through the hivemind, Lory requesting a short break as they passed over a large ravine, the overhanging rocks throwing the depths into shadow, tempting him with their promise of relief from Celestia's burning gaze. Damsel replied, first to deny the request and then, when Lorikeet asked why, to tell him to stay close. Together, they dived towards the jagged crack in the earth, flitting mere feet above it.

Suddenly, Lorikeet understood, the dive bringing the ravine into his range. He sensed something, a group of somethings, all of them hungry, and the dive had caught their attention. Flutterpony and changeling rose again as the first howls of the rock hound pack echoed out, the pair quickly returning to their previous height for safety and to keep the hounds from following them.

A silent conversation passed between the two, Lorikeet acknowledging his mistake and Damsel reassuring him that, with just an hour's flight, they would be somewhere safe, a place to rest and wait out the worst of the day's heat. They just had to bear it for a little longer.

Ironside and his team milled around at the base of the cliff, a short outcropping of stone that jutted up from the sand, waiting for Grace to return from her scouting flight. They were all wary, the first time most had left the safety of their Stable in two decades, and for some, the furthest they'd ever been from the hidden shelter in their lives. One of the changelings, stationed atop the cliff on watch, let out a cry, alerting the team that Grace was returning.

They all watched the pegasus, circling as she descended, stumbling slightly as she landed, the team moving to check on her.

"Report." Ironside said, before taking a step back from the mare, his muzzle wrinkling. She had the harsh smell of ozone and was shaking slightly, drawing the attention of the changeling medic. "Are you alright?"

Grace saluted, coughing once. "I'm fine, chief." She coughed again and fluffed out her feathers, her plumage almost crackling with electrical charge. "Just a bit shocked by all the clouds. Didn't expect them to be that thick." A pained smirk crossed her face before falling. "Sir, those clouds are wild. I couldn't do a thing with them before they closed over again..." At the medic's prompting, Grace spread her wings, little pops and crackles filling the air as her feathers sparked against each other, static arcing between them. Her ears drooped. "It's like a sea up there, chief. Clouds as far as I could see. No sign of other pegasi."

"Alright." Ironside nodded to the mare. "You did your best." Grace saluted again as he turned to the rest of the team. "We're staying here tonight." He motioned the changeling who'd been on watch over, lowering his voice slightly. "Damsel said there was a sietch hear. Can you find it?"

The changeling chittered and saluted before darting over to the base of the cliff and buzzing around for a few moments before calling out an affirmative and vanishing from sight, then reappearing a moment later. The rest of the team followed, Grace having checked out as fine, and soon began to vanish into an almost invisible gap in the cliffside.

Pipbuck lights were activated as they filed in, Ironside bringing up the rear and pausing at the entrance. He gave it a critical look and stepped back outside before whickering appreciatively. If he hadn't known where it was, if he'd looked at it from any other angle, it would have looked like a solid wall of stone. Even knowing it was there, it just looked like a shallow crack, not even deep enough to hide a single pony. With a single look back, at the desert which was vanishing into dark nothingness as the moonless night fell, he snorted and trotted back into the hidden shelter.

It was impossible to get lost, the tight walls guiding him down a single, crooked path. A minute's walk, much of it sloping gently downwards, and he emerged into a small chamber that bore the hallmarks of changeling construction. Every piece of stone was smoothed, turning every surface into a place to rest, with alcoves set into the walls for sleeping. There was little resin to be seen, only small patches stuck to the walls, the changelings quickly touching their horns to the hard material and charging them with magic, bathing everything in the soft green glow that they all recognized from the changeling built tunnels of the Stable.

Small holes could be seen in the ceiling, airshafts that led to the surface and were doubtless hidden from prying eyes. Futher back, the soft dripping of water could be heard from through a dark opening, a hidden waterpit, the airshafts gathering condensation and moisture from the air, every drop left to drip into the pool for drinking. Ironside had been briefed on the sietches, on the ways the desert-travelling changelings had found to survive, but hearing about it and seeing it were two different things.

With a small smile, he joined the rest of his team, preparing their evening meal. They'd made enough progress for the day, and it was time to rest.

Damsel fluttered her wings, stretching in the cool air of the sietch, before topping off her reserves from a love crystal. Tucking the diminished, though not empty, crystal, back into her bag, she stood and nodded to Lorikeet, who was finishing his own meal. "Are you ready to go?"

Lorikeet nodded, swallowing his last mouthful of ration bar and mimicked Damsel's actions with his own love crystal, though taking far less than the pure changeling had. "I'm ready, ma'am."

The two walked in silence, returning to the surface and emerging from the comforting confines into darkness, Luna's moon just beginning its journey overhead. High on the canyon wall, where their shelter was hidden, they paused a moment, stretching one final time, and Lorikeet spoke. "Ma'am, how do you know where the sietches are?"

Damsel groaned as she stretched out her foreleg, before blinking at the young hiveborn. "The sietches are our gathering places, Lorikeet. They are where we rest, where we retreat in times of trouble. We made them to keep us safe when we left Flutter Valley, so that anyone who found them would believe that was where we truly lived." She grinned, baring her fangs. "Not many ever did find them, though. As for how I know where they are... I am a Queen's Guard, young flutterpony. I know everything," she teased.

Seeing the conflicted look on Lorikeet's face, how he was torn between believing her and his surety she was simply playing, Damsel took to the air, her wings buzzing. "Come. We'll travel at night and rest during the day." She bared her teeth in another grin, feeling alive beneath the moon. "It is much safer, and I have some sietch tales to tell you."

Lorikeet took to the air, joining Damsel eagerly. "Sietch tales, ma'am?"

Damsel nodded as she led the way, leaving the desert behind. "Yes, Lorikeet. Our legends, and our history. And the first is of the Sietch Maker, the Desert Mouse..."

The pair flew onwards, passing beyond the desert's edge and crossing into the Shattered Lands.