Copper Head had been wandering the earth for what seemed like an eternity; he could see the light that marked his body in the distance, but he never felt any closer. It was strange being a spirit. He never got hungry, tired, or thirsty. He was always restless and his need to get to his body became increasingly dire. He thought he had finally caught a break when he crossed paths with a unicorn. He followed her hoping that she would lead him to a town, but of course, she didn’t know Copper Head was there. Copper Head moved on because the unicorn stopped randomly to look at birds or something. He didn’t have time for that. He headed in the direction that the unicorn was heading and eventually found a dirt road.
Setting upon that road, Copper Head was surrounded by grassy plains that stretched on for miles. The horizon held no landmarks, and there was nothing to judge how far he had gone. As the sun was beginning to set, he started to notice seabirds filling the air. Gull calls and soon the sound of waves crashing disrupted the natural silence. Eventually, Copper Head found the source of water. A small channel separated where he was from a land mass that didn’t look too far away. “I need to get over there,” he said to himself, “That’s where the light is, and my body I guess.” He trotted through the rocky shore and up to the water. He stared at the channel for some time, wondering how he was going to get over. “I guess I can’t drown, since I’m already dead. Might as well try it out...” Copper Head tried to test the waters with his front hooves, but was repelled by some invisible force. Once his confusion was cleared, Copper Head tried to run at full speed into the water. Once again, the stallion was thrown backwards by that same force. After several failed attempts, Copper Head decided to find another way around...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Three weeks passed since the scuffle between Copper Head and Shadowstorm. Shadowstorm, Grand Prix, and Spot agreed to pretend like they didn’t notice “Copper Head’s” apparent change until they could find something to do about it. On one seemingly normal morning, K9 barged into his students’ room without warning. Most of them were still asleep or just waking up. Shadowstorm was actually already awake and trying to cook, but all the food ended up on the wall after K9 surprised him. The teacher rounded them up to give them the fateful news. “I think it’s about time for a field test.” K9 eyed them all. “You’ve done well in your first training simulations so I’ll be sending you out on a short excursion. If all goes well, it’ll be just like in your simulations.”
“Yes!” Shadowstorm jumped for joy, “I’ve been waiting for this! Time to prove how awesome I really am!”
Grand Prix smacked him in the back of the head, “Stay quiet!” Shadowstorm just laughed and rubbed his head.
“Anyway...” K9 grunted, “You’ll be leaving in just a few minutes. I’ll be back once you have gathered your things.” K9 left the room and the students returned to their own rooms to get ready. Spot really wasn’t as excited as the others were, she was the only one who was assigned to that snowy cold wasteland in the middle of the griffin homeland. In fact, she didn’t know where anypony else was assigned to. She thought she might as well ask. She inched cautiously up to “Copper Head” and asked. He retorted that he was going to a changeling kingdom. Spot found it strange, but she couldn’t get any more information out of the earth pony. As for Shadowstorm and Grand Prix, they were both going to some town called Ponyville. After Spot had gathered up her things, she said a small prayer to Bito that they would be safe... The sudden gesture shocked herself. She hadn’t been keeping up with her prayers to Bito. She did have a small shrine to him in her room, but she had completely forgotten about him; something that didn’t bode very well for the unicorn.
K9 reentered the room not long after. “You’ll only be spending three days in your respective locations, so I don’t expect any of you to get into any trouble.” He pulled out some very large parcels and handed one to each of them, “These contain a few things that you need. One thing you will find inside is a warp crystal. Just grip it as hard as you can and the magic will react. After three days, you’ll come back using the crystals. If you aren’t back after the allotted time, we WILL come looking for you. Also inside, you will find your instructions for this assignment written by the King himself. You need to get as many of the listed tasks finished in the allotted time. Any questions?” The group remained silent, “Good. Remember everything I taught you and I wish you all luck.” K9 watched as each pony gripped their crystals and vanished in a flash of light. Once they were all gone, K9’s stern looked turned sullen, “Come back safely.” He whispered.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
To Copper Head’s dismay, he had found himself on an island. Being surrounded by water he was unable to cross, Copper Head had tried alternative means of getting off the island. He found that he was able to phase through objects and tried to go under the water, but that didn’t work. He tried to cross on a boat that docked there for a short time, but even that didn’t work. After giving up all hope, he rested under the shade of a palm tree while staring out at the water. He didn’t really “rest” since he never got tired, but the idea of resting calmed his troubled mind. As he stared over the ocean as the sun was setting, he noticed something in the sky. At first, it was just a small black dot against the sun, but it grew bigger as it approached. Copper Head figured it was just a normal pegasus and didn’t think anything of it. But the pony looked like it was heading for him. As it alighted on the ground, Copper Head felt something familiar about this pony.
“Hello my friend,” the pony said, “I’m glad that our paths have met again.”
“What?” Copper Head was confused, “You look familiar, but I’m not sure if we met before.” She had a horn so Copper Head guessed she was a unicorn, but she was also able to fly. Maybe unicorn magic?
The pony laughed, “I suppose it was awhile ago. Do you remember a chained up pony you helped out in a dungeon some time ago? Had a chain that looked a bit like this?” The unicorn pointed to her neck, and hanging there was a collar and a short chain with a spike at the end.
Copper Head started to put the pieces together in his mind, “You’re the pony me and Spot met! Back in that dungeon...”
“You are correct. Your actions weakened the rock around the chain. With your help, I was able to free myself, but I am still not free from this collar.”
“Oh, it was nothing. I would have done that for anypony. How can you see me by the way?” Copper Head questioned, “I would think that normal ponies wouldn’t be able to see me.”
“I am no normal pony!” The unicorn seemed a bit angered, “I am Queen Soul Glow! An alicorn!”
“An alicorn?!?” Copper Head was surprised. But he soon understood. She was a cloudwalker alicorn: she had cloudwalker wings and a unicorn horn. Copper Head wondered if he should bow to her, but something inside him cringed at the thought of submitting before her. Instead he apologized, “I didn’t realize you were royalty! I’m very sorry!”
“Hmmm, you are forgiven.” She replied, “I have dominion over the emotions of the soul. Most of the time, emotions are shackled by the physical body, but your bodiless form has allowed your emotional energy to run free. This is partly the reason why I can see spirits. For what is a spirit, but emotions without a body?”
“I... suppose so...” Copper Head wasn’t one for deep thinking, “So, why did you come here? I wouldn’t think that you would target me in such a remote location.”
“Oh, it was very easy to find you.” Soul Glow smiled, “There aren’t many spirits still hanging around in the world, and you’re the only one trying his best to cross a body of water. Also, I knew to look for you, especially after I found out what Krafty had done to your body.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I believe he killed you on purpose. He really likes to have total control, and he knew he couldn’t control you. So he got rid of you, but kept your body. He would have done the same to me except my powers would have prevented him from doing so. I’m here to get you back to your body. I don’t know what Krafty is planning, but I do not want his schemes to succeed.” Soul Glow offered Copper Head her hoof, “Spirits normally cannot cross the water, but you can if you cross with me.”
Copper Head took a hold of her hoof and was lifted into the sky. To his amazement when they crossed over the water, he wasn’t pushed back like usual. As they gained altitude, Copper Head looked back and saw the entire layout of the island. Towards the far end, he could see the area where the entrance to Tartaros was located. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to go back soon. Copper Head decided to get a few answers from the alicorn. “So, why did your husband lock you up? I wouldn’t have thought Krafty to be that cruel.”
Soul Glow laughed hysterically, “Krafty? MY husband? No, I’m married to his older brother, Kindle. He’s the real king. Krafty is just an ambitious younger brother.”
“What happened to Kindle?” Copper Head asked, “Did he die like everypony in Cloudwalker Kingdom thinks?”
“Of course not! Krafty tricked him into thinking there was some kind of rebellion in the caverns. There was nothing there except a trap, though; I’m not sure exactly what Krafty did with my husband.”
“Maybe he’s in another dungeon in Cloudwalker Kingdom? Kind of like how you were imprisoned.”
The alicorn thought for a minute before responding, “I don’t think so. Kindle was forced through a long range portal. Perhaps he is being held prisoner in some foreign nation. I’m not sure. I haven’t had much time to search.”
Copper Head wanted to volunteer to help her find her husband, but he felt like he would just hold her back since he can’t fly. It would probably be best to let her sort that out, he reasoned. I have my own problems to deal with right now. The two traveled in silence. They flew over territory unfamiliar to Copper Head. He could see large cities here and there with smaller towns distributed around them. There were castles, skyscrapers, and other wonders that Copper Head probably would never see before. It was a nice flight, but out of nowhere the light that Copper Head assumed showed where his body was disappeared.
Copper Head shouted and pointed out the fact which startled Soul Glow she almost dropped her passenger. “Calm down, you! Look over there.” She banked to the left so that the light came into view again. “They must have teleported your body somewhere. We’ll have to hurry.” Soul Glow picked up speed as they raced towards the beacon of light.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Ugh! This place really is as boring as it was in the simulation!” Shadowstorm slumped over a park bench in Ponyville. “Could it get any more dull?”
Grand Prix pushed him off the bench, “Calm down will you? I’m actually enjoying this. Some peace and quiet is just what I need.” Grand Prix leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the sun soak her in its light.
Shadowstorm picked himself off the ground and got back on the bench, “Well, why do we have to wear these stupid shoes? My wings are starting to ache.” He pulled at a special “shoe” that was on his rear legs. They matched his coat color and looked like they weren’t there. “I know we use ‘em to hide the fact that we’re different, but couldn’t they make them more comfortable?”
“I know what you mean.” Grand Prix actually agreed, “But we can’t let anyone know about Cloudwalker Kingdom. It’s one of the rules, and it’ll help us with spying.” They continued to sit there watching as the citizens of Ponyville walked by. They weren’t simply crowd watching, but actually looking for specific targets. Grand Prix pulled out a list and started to go over it. The list was in order of most importance: a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle was at the top, followed by some Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Towards the bottom of the list there was the mayor of the town, some zebra that lived in the nearby forest, and a baby dragon. “I wonder who we should gather info about first.”
“How about that one?” Shadowstorm pointed to the picture of Pinkie Pie, “Didn’t Copper Head say that she was his cousin, once?”
Grand Prix nodded, “I think you’re right. I guess we’ll look for her first.” She lowered the list and almost screamed as Pinkie Pie was standing right there, hidden by the paper.
“Hey! Sorry I startled you! I was just about to go to a surprise party when I noticed you two sitting here. I haven’t seen either of you before so I thought I would invite you! I always throw a party for everypony I meet so I thought it would be just perfect! Unless you want to have your own party. Which is fine by me! But sometimes having a party now is better than having a party later. Oh! I totally forgot! My name is Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?”
The two cloudwalkers stared blankly at the pink pony. Shadowstorm was the first to recover from the verbal attack, “Uh, my name is Shadowstorm and that’s Grand Prix. We’ll be sure to go to your surprise party.”
“Great! Follow me!”
As Pinkie Pie started bouncing away, the two followed her from as far away as they could without looking suspicious. Grand Prix sighed, “Well that was easy, but this one is kind of… hyper. Reminds me of you.”
“Please. I don’t even have that much energy.” Shadowstorm replied, “This party might help us with or spying though. Maybe the other targets will be there. Easiest assignment ever.” They traveled across the town until they arrived at some giant gingerbread house. Pinkie Pie went right inside, but Grand Prix and Shadowstorm stopped outside.
“Alright you.” Grand Prix stepped in front of Shadowstorm, “We’ll split up alright? That way we can get more information. Now, I know K9 had to help you with your short term memory problem, but I feel certain you can focus enough to get something useful. You understand?”
“Of course I understand, ‘boss’.” Shadowstorm retorted as he brushed past her, “I got this all under control.” Grand Prix had her doubts, but there was nothing more she could really say as they entered the strange sugar-filled building.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
It wasn’t hard for Spot to find a place to stay in the small griffin city of Talonfall. It was almost exactly like the replica back at the academy. She rented a room for three days at the Six Shield’s Tavern and also found work to pay for the lodging by doing odd jobs around town. Unicorns were rare in that part of the Griffin Kingdom so many citizens just wanted something fixed that would normally take forever without magic. She was not without her objective however. She was tasked with investigating the rumors of an “ice dragon” that had been spotted in the region. Newspaper reports were spotty at best, and no photographs have been taken of the creature. However, many eye witnesses have come forward saying that they have seen an entire dragon made of ice slithering through the snow-covered mountains.
Spot arrived back at the inn after a full day of work and handed the innkeeper, an elderly female griffin named Glyph, a bag of gold coins. “Thank you stranger,” the griffin replied, “It’s not often that your kind visits these parts. Mind telling me what you’re after?”
“The rumored ‘ice dragon’. I want to see if it’s real or not.”
“Ha!” the griffin laughed, “You and that fool Cirrus. I’m sure if you talk to him, he’ll show you where he saw it. He comes in here every day at 5, so if you wait a while, you should find him.”
“Thank you ma’am.” Spot ordered some hot tea, before sitting down to wait. The common area of the inn was nice and cozy. In the middle of one wall was a fireplace that filled room with a constant swathe of warm air. The occasional cold breeze swept by whenever someone entered the inn and there was a constant drone of conversation. Combined with the softness of the couch, Spot was bound to fall asleep had she not been vigilant in meeting this “Cirrus” that the innkeeper had mentioned.
Exactly at five, a grey-blue griffin hurried into the inn and headed straight for the bar. He ordered something and was about to leave, but the innkeeper directed him to Spot. He warily made his way to where Spot was; like the way most of the griffins in town did when walking around the unicorn. “Hey,” he said in whispered tones, “you looking for the ‘ice dragon’ too, huh?”
“Sure am, I’ve been sent by a prestigious university to study the phenomenon. I presume you are Cirrus?” She extended her hoof, “I’m Spot. It’s a pleasure.”
Cirrus eyed her hoof before cautiously, “Right, a pleasure…” Spot realized from her previous training that you had to be very hospitable around griffins from small towns. They’re very distrusting of outsiders and troublemakers. “We can’t talk here… Come, my house will protect us from prying ears…” The griffin was about to leave, but he remembered his drink, “Um, we can go after I drink this. I took one of Glyph’s mugs before and she wasn’t happy with me.”
Spot assured him that it was no trouble at all. Normally, Spot was would be untrusting of being alone with a male of any species after the incident with Gate Crasher. But while she was training, she got into a mare self-defense class that taught her what to do in those situations. Plus, she had her magic. The two had an almost-normal conversation, mostly about the mysterious ice dragon that had been plaguing the area. From what Spot had gathered from the griffin, a handful of griffins had been found frozen solid across the mountainside and the townsfolk were getting scared. However, they didn’t want to admit their fears that it was some kind of dragon. Instead, they put the blame on the victims themselves; that they shouldn’t have gone out in the cold. Anyone who publicly voiced their opinion of the dragon was shot down and thought of as a paranoid fool. After Cirrus finished his drink, he escorted the unicorn to his house.
After entering the house, Cirrus led Spot to a room with a large map of the mountain. Red dots covered the map and many of them were clustered together in one area not far from the outskirts of town. “This is the map I made giving the position of all the victims.” Cirrus noticed Spot eyeing the map and couldn’t help but tell her its purpose. “I believe that the dragon lives near to where most of the victims were attacked.” He pointed to a section of the mountain close to a sheer cliff. “I believe that there is probably a cave around here where the dragon sleeps. I’ve wanted to search the area at night when the dragon is asleep, but I wouldn’t be able to do anything against the dragon if it were to wake up.”
“I can take care of the dragon,” Spot sort of boasted, “I just need to get a few things sorted. How about I meet you here tomorrow?”
“Uhh, sure…” Cirrus had prepared a lot more evidence just in case anyone wanted to learn about the dragon, so he was surprised when this unicorn had made up her mind to join him after only showing her a simple map. “Same time, I suppose?”
“That’ll be fine. You take care now Cirrus, I’ll see myself out.” Spot waved and put on her “totally innocent mare” appearance. It seemed to have worked as Cirrus just waved back and turned to re-examine the map. As Spot made her way to the door, she veered off into what looked like a living room. On the mantle above the fireplace, a glass case enclosed a marble slab with slightly glowing runes etched into the face. This was what Spot had really come for. The "ice dragon" was just a reason to gain the trust of a paranoid griffin. She closed in on the case and focused a magical spell on the glass surface. Unfortunately, the case was unaffected. Spot furrowed her brow. Now she was going to have to use an even more difficult spell. Instead of simply moving the case, Spot was about to attempt to teleport the slab from a distance. This spell was incredibly difficult as anything in the way, including the air, could possibly disrupt the spell. As her horn sparked with magic, she was hit from behind by something. She sprawled out on the floor and tried to get back up, but she wasn’t quick enough.
Cirrus was standing over her with a scowl on his face, “I knew it! You were just after my family heirloom!”
“Whatever are you talking about? I was just curious!” Spot lied, “Please let me go? I’m sure a big strong griffin like you wouldn’t hurt a defenseless mare like me.”
Cirrus hesitated. “N-no! I don’t trust you! I can’t let you leave now… heh. You are kind of cute…”
“What’s with everyone trying to get with me?” Spot delivered a quick kick to the griffin’s crotch. As Cirrus instinctively cringed in pain, Spot pushed him off of her. “I wish I knew it was that easy to get males off of me before.” She picked up a nearby chair with her magic and threw it against the glass case. The glass shattered and Spot happily retrieved her prize. She turned to leave, but Cirrus managed to grab a hold of her tail.
“Wait…” he said, “I’ll help you… translate it…”
Spot paused, “Really now?” She knew she shouldn’t trust him, but she was curious. “What do you know about something so ancient?”
“You really don’t think I haven’t studied it before now? Look, if you help me with the dragon, I’ll give you all of the notes I made about it.”
“What if I just take the notes now? With my magic, it shouldn’t be too hard to pry it from your claws.”
“My notes are encrypted,” he said with a grin, “There’s no griffin more paranoid than me.”
“Fine,” Spot agreed, placing the tablet on a nearby end table. “I’ll be back tomorrow and you better be here.” Cirrus nodded. Spot left the griffin and walked out into the street. It had grown incredibly dark in such a short period of time. She quickly made it back to the inn and went straight to her room. She collapsed on the bed and immediately started crying into her pillow. She hated treating people like she just did. During her training, K9 informed her that she was too soft when approaching others in her simulations. So K9 somehow reconditioned her to be crueler than normal at certain times and it caused turmoil with Spot’s heart. Even during her simulations, when she knew that the ponies and griffins were just acting, she would cry until she fell asleep. And tonight was no different.