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// Chapter 5: No Such Thing as Time Off 
// Story: Peace Hunters 
// by NA_SolarEclipse 
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-When your life becomes difficult don’t ask to be stronger ponies, ask why your life is so hard-



The sun rose over the mountains and lit the lush green plains hiding behind them. It was spring, and all of the joyous animals were awakening to face another day of sunshine and rainbows. The field practically sang to Cherri as she cantered down the dirt road path in the warmth of spring. She smiled out to the birds as they sang their song, and nodded to the bees as they searched around the flowers for fresh pollen. Everything was as happy as it could possibly be for the bright pink unicorn, until she saw the flames.
At the end of the dirt path she cantered down was an orchard and its farmhouse. She found herself galloping toward it in desperation to see if she could find anything, but when she arrived it only became worse. Two burning skeletons stumbled out of the farmhouse and right before Cherri, where they fell to pieces on the ground. Worse yet, they spoke. “Why? Why didn’t you come earlier? You could have saved us, but you did nothing. Why Cherri? Why?” 
Cherri felt herself start to cry as she watched the skeletons burn to ash with the rest of the farmhouse and orchard. The ash swirled around her and covered everything from one horizon to the other. A buffalo and a ring of cactus rose from the ashes. “Really shouldn’t have gotten involved in what you don’t understand.” Thunder said as Cherri sank into the ash that was now sand. 
Darkness obscured her vision. Cherri looked all around until she found the skylight. She looked back down to see the pony of fire grinning at her and staring with burning red eyes. “You only follow him because he tries to be everything you aren’t.” It spat venomously. Cherri tried to back away. She tried to escape but she turned to see a disappointed Arkay, he simply sat there and gave her a long look of disgust and turned away. 
Cherri tried to chase after him, but his slow canter out ran her gallop. “Arkay stop!” She called out to him, but he didn’t. Cherri stopped and fell to her haunches, and cried. “Why?” She asked as tears rolled down her muzzle and to the non-existent black ground. With a rush of feathers and wind, the black ground dissipated and revealed the classroom she had spent hours in daily learning magic. 
The classroom was empty, but Cherri somehow didn’t feel alone. She looked to the back of the class, then back to the front and gasped. Out of nowhere, Luna sat in the front of the classroom with a very concerned look in her eyes, her light blue mane softly swaying in wind that wasn’t really there. “Cherri you kept falling deeper and deeper into your own nightmares. I kept trying to intervene, but things just kept getting worse. So, I tried bringing you somewhere a bit more pleasant. You seemed to have some fond memories in this classroom, so I brought you here. Are you okay?” She asked concerned. 
Cherri wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to regain her composure. “Yes, of course princess. I just… no. I’m not okay. I always have a reoccurring nightmare about my family’s old cherry orchard, but these new nightmares are just that. New. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be a reminder of what all has happened recently, or if it’s a warning of some sort. All I can be sure of is that it is definitely not normal. What should I do Princess Luna?” Cherri felt the tears coming back. 
Luna looked over the crying pink unicorn with a sad, and definitely concerned expression. “You have a lot you shut away Cherri. You never express your fears or feelings to any pony sincerely. I think this might be the cause of your fears running rampant through your dreams and turning them into nightmares. You can’t just hide away all of your fears forever Cherri. If you do, they never really go away. They just sit within your mind and fester like this, into an inescapable maze of terror and fear. You need to let these out and keep them from becoming any worse than they already are.” Luna explained calmly. 
Cherri mulled over this for a moment. There was no reason for her to plague her new friends with her fears was there? “I’ve always found that sharing how I feel with others never really goes as well as planned. The last time I did that, I ended up in worse shape than before. I don’t want my new friends to go through all that stuff again.” Cherri said sadly. Most of those nightmares had been shared with the others, there was no need to bring up that it was a scary moment for her. 
Luna chuckled a bit. “But you are wrong Cherri, remember when you talked to Arkay about your parents? He didn’t judge you. In fact, didn’t he try to comfort you? There isn’t any reason for you to be afraid to share your fears with others. Even if they don’t try as much to comfort you, at least you will get it off your conscience. There isn’t any need for you to dwell on the past, instead you should focus on the moment. Live for the day or night, whatever time it happens to be.” 
Luna’s words ran though Cherri’s mind and gave her some solace. Perhaps there wasn’t any reason to keep all her fears to herself. Fear is a natural emotion, and shouldn’t be hidden away to dwell on. Cherri nodded to Luna, a little bit more cheerful. “Good.” Luna said. “Now, you should wake up soon. I am sure that you have a lot to talk about with your friends.” Luna started out the door of the classroom, but stopped. “Oh, and definitely have a talk with Arkay. I gave him the element in his dream, but he has some stuff he needs to get over too.” 
Cherri tilted her head slightly. “Like what?” She asked. 
Luna chuckled again. “He has some issues with falling that you may want to look into.”
Cherri’s heart dropped. “What do you mean by that Lun…a?” The princess of the night was already gone before she could even ask. “Oh horseshoes. Why does she have to leave at the wrong time?” 




Cherri’s eyelids again twitched in her sleep. It seemed that whatever she was dreaming about was either upsetting or confusing to her. Aurora stood over her and stared at the pink unicorn’s closed eyes. She was looking for some way that she could see past those closed eyes and view her dreams with her. She wanted to see what was getting the once member of high class so concerned, but couldn’t nail down anything from her twitching eyes. No matter how much she looked about the unicorn’s aura, Aurora couldn’t find anything about whatever her subject was dreaming about. Eventually curiosity got the better of the Pegasus with magical eyes and she decided to take action. “Wake up sleepy head.” Aurora whispered in said sleeping unicorn’s ear, to no avail. She simply turned over to her other side. A flustered frown crossed Aurora’s muzzle. The desired result didn’t happen, so she ruffled her wings and tried again. “Wake up sleepy head.” She said, louder than before. However, this just made Cherri yawn in a rather out of character fashion. At this point, Aurora had enough. “Wake Up Sleepy Head!” She yelled to the sleeping unicorn, whom of which was suddenly very awake. 
“Hazza-whut? Fifteen! Wait, where am I?” Cherri looked into the eyes of the Pegasus standing over her. She blushed slightly and giggled quietly. “Hah, um I think I remember a dream like this once. Aurora, would you do both of us a favor and give me some breathing room?” 
Aurora stared into the pink unicorn’s eyes for a moment longer, calculating her with a very serious expression. It didn’t hold for long though. With a blink, Aurora was smiling and looking down at Cherri with nothing but cheer in her eyes. “Alright. Sorry I woke you up.” She said cheerfully and jumped off of the bed Cherri was sleeping in. “The other two woke up a while ago and Arkay was all like ‘uh, we should stay quiet because Cherri is still asleep.’ And Nero was all like ‘no…’ but he was anyway. At any rate, they went downstairs to look for something to do and I decided to stay up here and watch you sleep.” The smile on Aurora’s face told Cherri that she believed there was nothing wrong with this. 
Cherri shook her head and sighed. She didn’t really know a lot about this perky Pegasus, so she decided to try to. “So, how is it that you know Nero?” She asked as she got out of bed and fixed her mane with magic. It was a simple magic, but it was such a great time saver for messy mane mornings. 
Aurora positively beamed at this question. “Oh that’s easy! I grew up with him when we were young. He was my closest friend. We had to leave though, because they were going to kill us. But I found him and I am staying with him from now on. I’m glad I did too, it took forever to find him.” When Aurora was asked a question, she certainly answered it…and any others you might have about anything to do with that answer. “How did you meet him?”
Cherri’s mind was still spinning from the flood of information so quickly given. “Oh, um we met when the princess made him stay at the hotel I was working at. Kind of got off to a rough start, but I think that we have a better understanding now.” Cherri remembered the way that Nero so casually hit on her. Definitely wasn’t the best of introductions.
“Ha-ha that’s funny. How could you have gotten off to a rough start? Nero wouldn’t do anything egregiously out of line.” Aurora said easy with a wave of her hoof.
Cherri wore a board expression. “He hit on me.”
Aurora simply giggled. “Oh that’s silly. Why would any pony hit you? You seem nice enough.” 
Cherri sighed loudly. “No, he hit on me as in he wanted to… never mind. The bottom line is that he has a problem with talking to mares alright? Just keep that in mind.” Cherri really didn’t take kindly to the various suggestive comments she used to receive on a fairly regular basis. At first, it was flattering. Then it became irritating. Nero had ‘crossed a line’ by almost being in this group of inconsiderate stallions, but they had come to an understanding now. 
Aurora either didn’t understand what Cherri meant, or was blinded by her perspective to mind the pink unicorn’s comment. “You are being really silly about Nero. How could he have a problem with talking to mares? I am sure he talks to them all the time.” 
Cherri sighed heavily at the blue Pegasus’ voluntary ignorance. “You don’t understand, that is the problem. He does talk to them all the-hey!” Aurora didn’t hear the rest of Cherri’s rant as she was already out of the room and on her way downstairs. Once at the bottom of the stairs and in the entrance room of the treehouse library, Aurora saw the two other Pegasus of the group sitting at the stump table talking. 
“Why do you let your mane grow out so long Arkay? It seems a bit…unmanageable.” Nero asked, almost prodding. 
Arkay sighed in exasperation. “I let it grow out because I like it long. How many times do you have to ask?” Clearly the two had discussed this before.
“Yeah, but doesn’t it get in the way when you fly? It can’t be that aerodynamic. Come on now Arkay, cut your mane. How long has it been since you have had a serious hair cut?” Nero said getting out of his wooden seat. 
Arkay gave his long-time partner a stern stare. “You aren’t taking me out to get a haircut Nero.” 
“Come on.” Nero was clearly going to attempt to wear his friend down. 
Arkay however was not going to have any of this, and got up from his seat as well. “No Nero. I am not going to get a haircut and that is final.” He turned to storm out of the room, but was face-to-face with the piercing eyes of Aurora. “Oh, hello there. I was just leaving.” He stepped around her and continued toward the stairs, where he was again stopped by Cherri coming down the stairs. 
“Oh hello there Arkay, where were you going? Upstairs?” Cherri asked curiously as the Pegasus in question stopped in his tracks.  Arkay spun around to face the open front door of the library. He was clearly not in the mood to speak to any pony this morning. “Wait, Arkay I have a question for you. It’s kind of serious.” Cherri called out.
Almost out of the door, Arkay stopped and turned to face his three companions. “Alright then, what is it Cherri?” He wanted to at least humor her.
“I heard that you have a problem with falling. Is that true?” Cherri asked easy.
Arkay froze at this, his eye occasionally twitching involuntarily. Cherri was about to try and break him out of his incoherent state, but he managed to himself. “I’m not afraid of falling, that is ridiculous. I am a Pegasus Cherri, I’m not supposed to have a problem with falling. That’s what flying is, falling with style and occasional ascension. Who told you that?”
Cherri breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly it was not as she had feared. Fortunately for her, Arkay was a really terrible liar. With the way that Luna said it in her dream, she was afraid that the poor Pegasus had fallen for her. “So, you don’t have a problem with falling to the ground?” 
Nero lifted the green Pegasus up and dropped him just far enough to scare the daylights out of him and laughed. “Oh absolutely. He has hated falling with a passion ever since he was a colt in flight school and I saved his butt from the oh-so-terrifying ground.” Nero was sure to dramatize the last part of his statement to make it seem like a foolish fear. 
The two standing Pegasus shared a chuckle as Arkay got up from his ungraceful and short fit with gravity. “Okay fine, you happy now? Yes, I hate falling because I almost DIED from falling as a colt. I don’t have to impress you ponies, so that’s right I hate and fear falling. It’s not like my new injury makes it worse or anything, so go ahead and laugh it up.” Arkay snorted indignantly. 
The chuckling stopped and was replaced with uncomfortable silence. Arkay looked about the room to see if any of his friends would make a counter comment. “Just playing around, jeez. No need to get so serious on us Arkay.” Of course Nero would have a remark.
Arkay was gearing up for an argument with his old friend, but Cherri interrupted it altogether. “Well, I am afraid of being buried alive. If that’s any consolation. I never liked how you had to bury seeds to get them to grow, because I never wanted that to happen to me. So I never did accompany my mother in planting the new cherry trees for the season.” She said wistfully, almost as if looking back at it made her both regret and enjoy it at the same time. 
Sensing the shift of the mood in the room, Aurora too spoke up. “I hate the idea of losing those close to me. I lost Nero long ago, and hated it for so long. I tend to not make any personal relations with any other ponies as much because I’m afraid that they will go someplace and I won’t be able to go with them. I mean, I do like having friends by my side. I just don’t want to say goodbye.” The sad mare with the magic eyes began to tear up slightly.
Arkay and Nero looked to the two mares and decided to stop their fighting…for now. There was no need for them to continue something that was clearly going to be a problem if they did. “Well, I’m not afraid of anything.” Nero proclaimed proudly. Arkay simply gave his treasuring hunting partner a look that he knew all too well. Disbelief.
Aurora, suddenly not on the verge of tears, giggled at this. “Oh come on Nero, there has to be something that you are afraid of. Don’t you know it isn’t healthy to keep stuff like that all bottled up?” She asked with considerably high spirits. Cherri nodded her agreement. 
Nero looked side to side about the group and smiled. “Nope, nothing. Bears, Manticores, Dragons, even the dreaded Hydra; I’m not afraid of a single one. Whenever I find something that I’m actually afraid of, I’ll be sure to let you know.” He claimed proudly. 
Arkay knew better and was about to voice the case, but there was a loud and abrupt knock on the door. All four ponies inside looked to the door, then each other. Was any of the expecting a visitor? Cherri opened the door with her magic and saw a small piece of parchment, rolled up and placed neatly on the treehouse’s doorstep. They again shared a look. “Who is this from?” Asked a legitimately confused Nero. 
Cherri picked up the mystery letter and observed it closely. “It has the royal seal on it!” She exclaimed as she showed it to the others. With her magic, she unrolled the parchment and read the message aloud to her companions. “Can’t communicate like this anymore. Dragons can’t be trusted. Come to Canterlot castle at your earliest convenience. Signed Princess Celestia.” She looked about the now bewildered ponies in the room. “That can’t be good.”
Aurora gasped suddenly. “Oh no! What if those mean old dragons ate Celestia and she could only send us one letter pleading for help, but she couldn’t actually put what situation she is in on the letter and she needs us to save her or EQUESTRIA WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF THE SUN AGAIN!” 
Nero, Arkay, and Cherri could barely keep up with how fast their new (old in Nero’s case) friend could speak. It almost was a jumble of words and dramatic gestures to the three listening ponies, but her message processed from her exclamation a moment later. “Um, Aurora I don’t think that Celestia would be in danger like that and not do anything about it.” Cherri stated flatly. “Furthermore, I think she just wants to see us in Canterlot…for what I do not know. It sounds important however, so I believe we should get up there post haste.” Cherri suggested calmly, downplaying Aurora’s ludicrous word jumble. 
Nero wore a hurt expression. “But, but I was going to make Arkay cut his hair.” 
“You weren’t going to do that at all Nero.” Arkay huffed.
“Okay, let’s all just go up to Canterlot before some of us say or do something that we all regret. Shall we go to the station?” Cherri wanted to end this argument at least for the day.
The two stallions gave each other a long stare, but caved. “Okay, fine we can go to Canterlot. But this isn’t over Arkay. One of these days you are going to wake up without a mane.” Nero warned as he walked out the door. 
Arkay simply gave a long sigh. “Yeah sure, and you will forget about it as soon as you see a big gemstone or a pretty mare.” He grumbled as he too exited the library to go to the Ponyville station. 
With the male half of the group gone, Cherri and Aurora shared another look. “Those two sure know how to argue huh?” The ladder said with her perpetual upbeat tone and trotted out the door with almost a bounce to her step. Cherri followed behind the cheery mare and closed the treehouse door behind herself with her magic. 



The train station of Canterlot was as it usually was in the late morning hours: deserted. Apparently any pony that was important was not out and about yet, as the streets were mostly empty. Nero, Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora found themselves moving through the disturbingly uncrowded streets of the Canterlot market. None of them spoke in fear of startling the ghosts that were probably not even there. On the deserted streets were a few ponies out and about, but they moved quickly and avoided eye contact. At the end of the not busy market street was the Canterlot castle in all of its glory. The massive fortress sprawled out off the side of the Canterlot cliffs and braced itself against the higher mountains that were too high to bother building on. Clearly, the architect responsible for the massive structure wanted it to be a magnificent backdrop to the capital city of Equestria. 
As the four summoned ponies approached the door, it opened slowly and on its own. Nero and Arkay knew that it was the butler ponies working behind the scenes, but Cherri and Aurora were awestruck by the way that the doors simply opened when they were needed. To them the well-practiced service was amazing, but Nero and Arkay had already seen this all before. “It must be amazing to live in the castle. It most certainly would be nice to come home to doors that you don’t even have to open.” Cherri voiced her admiration while Aurora simply stayed relatively quiet, only softly gasping at the magic doors. 
“They just have some of the butlers open the doors for those that are expected. It’s not magic or anything. So don’t think too much of it.” Nero deadpanned as they progressed through the entrance another set of doors that led to the main foyer. These doors too opened as soon as the four stood in front of them, aided by unseen butler ponies. 
Within the foyer, at the top of the glorious stairs of marble, was the princess of the sun waiting for their arrival. Her pink mane blew in a wind that was nonexistent, and her muzzle wore an expression of joy as the four entered the foyer with a dazzled Cherri leading. “Welcome my little ponies, I see that there are indeed more of you. I am sure that we will have the chance to meet properly in a moment, but there is something important that has come up.” Even under duress, Celestia’s voice danced about the room and graced all that had the opportunity to hear it. 
Nero was not entranced however. “Yeah, there are some concerning things that we need to discuss. How about we start with the Elements of Harmony?” He asked with a certain amount of bitterness.
Celestia sighed at this. “All of your questions can be answered in due time. However, first you need to know more about the dragons. Their behavior… concerns me. That is why I cannot receive letters from or send letters to my informant Thorn anymore. He has decided to go to his fellow dragons and assist them. However, I cannot really say what the dragons are doing and this concerns me. Could I ask that you go and check in on them?”
Arkay thought over Celestia’s words as she was asking of them. Sure this was informative and by all means a request, but there was a detectable tone in her voice that was unnatural. Almost as if she were putting forth a front. Aurora however, didn’t look into it as much. “Sure Princess! We can go over and see how those dragons are doing and tell you why they are-um, what are they doing again? Well, I don’t know they are dragons. Oh! Wait, we can’t because we are gonna be busy with that one thing at the place for the raisins.” Aurora’s thoughts were difficult for any pony in the room to follow, except her of course. 
Celestia rolled her eyes and retrieved some parchment and an ink pen from a nearby desk with her magic. She then wrote on it while she descended the stairs. “Oh, I see. If you are too busy running simple errands for…raisins, then I will stop wasting my time. Clearly there are better ponies for the job than the four of you.” She stopped writing and crumpled up the paper and tossed it at Nero, the paper simply fell at his hooves. “Now, there are other things that I need to attend to. Good day to you ponies.” Celestia said pointedly, then ascended the stairs out of her four guest’s view and to another room in the castle. 
Nero picked up the crumpled paper and gave it a quick look over, not even un-crumpling it. He then threw the wad of trash away from him, landing next to Cherri. “Alright whatever. I’ve been to worse social gatherings, but that was just strange. Anyway, I’m going back to the station. I don’t think that there is anything here for me.” Nero then started cantering out of the foyer. He was right, there wasn’t any reason to stay here.
Cherri too picked up the wadded up paper, but took the time to smooth it out and read it. As she finished it, she shot a look to Aurora and Arkay. “Well, you are right Nero. Let’s get going shall we? You two may have been right about the glamour of this castle. Not exactly a lasting feeling.” She then quickly made her way after Nero in exiting said castle. Arkay was curious about her look and followed her closely. Aurora on the other hoof stayed in the empty foyer, giggled to herself, then followed her companions out. She didn’t want to give Nero a chance to get too far away again. 


On the outside of the castle, Cherri looked around the empty streets. Nero was already on his way to the station but she pulled him back with her magic. “Hey! What the hay are you doing?” The grey Pegasus protested.
Cherri shushed him and motioned for the other two to gather round. “That paper that Celestia crumpled up was her real message for us. She only said what she did as an act. Here, this is what she wrote.” She said quietly to the three Pegasus. 
Cherri then hooved over the letter to Arkay. However, it was intercepted by a very eager Aurora, who took it in her hooves and read it in a fabricated voice of sophistication. “Peace Hunters, I cannot speak to you face-to-face or by letter. If you go to the church of the Sun, you will find a very zealous priest. Talk to him and no matter he says, keep listening. He will give you a necklace. Have the unicorn, Cherri, say his short prayer to it while you are all around. We will speak more after that.” Aurora turned the letter upside down, and in every direction in an attempt to find deeper meaning. “Well, that’s dumb. Who the hay are the Peace Hunters? More importantly, why is there a church of the sun? Seems like the Princess has a bit too much pride in her work if you ask me.” 
“Ugh, did you really have to read that out loud? Who knows who could have heard that?” Cherri chided with a cross look on her face. “At any rate, I think Celestia was being wary of listening ears and said what she did to throw off whoever might be listening. Why else would she enclose a completely different message in a letter?”
Nero thought this over for a moment. One thing bothered him though. “I’m not going to some church to hear some priest say some dumb prayer. Prayer doesn’t work, and there isn’t a need for religion.” He huffed. 
Arkay was surprised that Nero could even sound indignant. “Either way Nero, we are going to do as the princess asks. Obviously there is a reason to-Hey!” Arkay didn’t even get to finish his statement before Nero ran off into the gardens. 
As Nero galloped away, Aurora chased after him. Cherri too joined in the Nero chasing, but looked back at Arkay. “You going to come along and help us get your friend?” She asked only a little rushed.
Arkay sighed heavily and nodded. “Alright, might as well before he terrorizes the town. Let’s go.” The flustered Pegasus said as he and Cherri then followed in pursuit of Nero.



The Canterlot gardens were a somewhat exotic representation of the Equestrian wildlife and vegetation. There were of course rabbits and birds present, but there were also a set of Toucans and even a chameleon hiding in the grass. The two ladder animals were obviously imported, as they were out of place and definitely not native to the land. Furthermore, there was a lot of exciting plant life. Large colorful flowers grew around and on vine-adorned trees that looked ancient. There was a certain amount of peace to the gardens that was not achieved so easily in the normally busy streets of Canterlot. 
This peace however was ruined by a flustered Nero escaping his three pursuers in an attempt to outrun their insistence on going to church. “I’m not going to that stupid church just because that note said so! You are being ridiculous! All of you! Ridiculous!” Nero yelled back to his companions as they were slowly outrun by the fleeing grey Pegasus.
However, the chase was now over. Nero had taken a wrong turn and ended up cornered just by the three of his friends and a very large tree. Cherri in particular was panting at the physical exhaustion. Sprinting after a Pegasus wasn’t easy for those that were not used to a consistent exertion like flying. “Okay-hah. Don’t keep on-hah running away Nero. There’s no-hah reason to be so-hah so unreasonable about going to a stupid church.” She couldn’t quite get all of her words out evenly, but managed to get her point across.
“She’s right you know.” Arkay chimed in. “We are just going there so that we can get a simple little necklace for whatever Celestia has in mind. It can’t be that bad.”
Nero however was not swayed. “Yeah, maybe they can tell you your future too? Religions might have different denominations, but they are all the same at the core. They all just want you to ‘give to their own divine purposes’ so that they can use your money to fund things that don’t need it. Why would any family need to give a church their money so that they can use it to fix a leaky pipe in the building, or pay some workhorse to mow the lawn of the chapel? Religion is just a glorified charity that doesn’t really care for its funders.” Nero spat at his listeners. 
Aurora nodded to her old friend. “I have to be with Nero on this one. Nothing good ever comes from religion. Sure they praise and worship their idols, but is that really something worth fighting over? Why would it ever be logical to fight over which imaginary deity could save more than another? It’s ridiculous!” She exclaimed bitterly as she cantered next to the cornered Nero. 
Arkay and Cherri suddenly felt very much outnumbered, even if the two opposing sides were equal as far as numbers go. It wasn’t like the two of them were incredibly religious, but neither of them felt it necessary to fight over religious standing. Cherri stepped forward to the two now not so cornered Pegasus. “Alright, tell you what. You don’t have to come with us to get the necklace. You can canter around Canterlot until we get that necklace. Sound better?” She said as calmly as possible. She had no idea this would become a serious debate over faith because of something as simple as a necklace. Whatever had them so up in arms was obviously going to be best dealt with later. 
Nero gave the two brightly colored ponies a long stare. With his one red eye, it felt rather frightening to stare back to Cherri. It reminded her of the evil flame pony that haunted her nightmares, but she stood her ground and stared back into Nero’s eyes just as aggressively as he stared into hers.
A light breeze blew through the gardens that had so easily fallen silent. Nero finally broke into a big smile, breaking the uneasy tension that fell over the divided group. “Hah, alright then Cherri. I’ll take you up on that. I don’t care if you two convert to some weird sun religion or whatever it is, just as long as you don’t ask me to join in. So, you have fun going to church and giving your life away to some cult. Me and Aurora are gonna go ahead and ‘canter around Canterlot.’ Sound good?” Nero had enough of religion when he left the old city, and he didn’t want to have anything else to do with a group that claimed that some deity was powerful enough to save a pony from crimes that may or may not exist. Aurora simply gave Arkay and Cherri a big smile. Much more pleasant than a venomous stare. 
Aurora then started laughing at the silliness of the situation. It started as a giggle, then became a chuckle. Soon the four ponies dropped the anger and laughed together, even if it was a somewhat nervous laugh. Cherri finally let out a breath she didn’t even realize that she was holding in with her laughter. It was easy to let laughter take the opposition out of a situation so easily. “Alright then it’s settled.” Arkay said loudly in the laughter. “I’ll go with Cherri to a church that may or may not kill us, and you two can have fun walking around a city that is absolutely suspicious of Pegasus in general. I promise that nothing can go wrong with this plan.” 
“Hey what’s that?” Nero asked, completely ignoring Arkay’s nervous bantering. The three others turned to where Nero was looking. There around the statue of the imprisoned Discord, the very embodiment of chaos, were several dark hooded forms. Amongst the dark hooded forms were candles and strange shapes burned into the grass. The hooded shapes seemed a little large to be ponies. Nero started prowling toward the group of hoods “Come on, they look that they are up to no good.” He said determined.
“Wait Nero, we can’t just assume that they are… never mind you aren’t even listening to me.” Arkay said shaking his head. He then looked to Cherri and Aurora. “Let’s follow the leader shall we?”  The ponies in question simply nodded and joined in on the prowling that Nero led.
Nero was the first to arrive next to the chanting circle. The voices of the hooded shapes were definitely not pony, they were low and growling. “Hey, what are you guys doing?” Nero asked blatantly to them. However, he got no answer. They simply went on chanting. 
Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora joined Nero next to the circle around Discord’s statue. “So, any luck there?” Arkay asked after standing next to his Pegasus friend for a few seconds. Nero simply shook his head sharply. The four ponies continued staring at the group of four somewhat large hooded figures for a moment longer. “Alright, enough of this.” Arkay said agitated. He then stepped forward and reached out a hoof to touch one of the hooded figures.
However, the hooded figure wasn’t going to have any of this. It quickly turned around and faced Arkay, whom of which backed away upon seeing what was under the hood of the figure. Its face was not the colorful coat and mane that the green Pegasus had expected. Instead, the figure had a wooden face and glowing green eyes coupled with sharp rows of wooden teeth. These were timber wolves, but how could they be doing anything but simply hunting? “Oh, um sorry there. Didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I’ll just go over here and leave you alone.” Arkay stammered as he backed away from the woodland predator in fear. He hadn’t been this close to one such beast in a while and was quite uncomfortable being so close to something that could easily tear him to shreds in a matter of seconds. The timber wolf turned around and went back to chanting with the others.
Nero stepped forward. “Well, whatever these things are doing it can’t be good. Come on, we have to stop them!” He yelled to his companions as he ran around to the other side of the circle. Aurora too immediately sprang into action and went around to one of the side wolves. Arkay and Cherri exchanged a look then joined in on attacking the hooded timber wolves. Nero sunk in a good punch with his prosthetic hoof into the wooden head of his target, shattering it into splinters and causing the owner of said head to collapse to the ground. “Hah! I don’t know why you things are considered a threat, you break easily.” The victorious grey Pegasus gave a proud laugh of triumph over his fallen foe. 
Cherri found herself at a loss for how to go about stopping the timber wolf before her. She had tried some magic, but whatever symbol they had burned into the grass surrounding them was stopping her. This was some serious magic at play if it canceled out hers. “Well then, looks like I’m going to have to get my hooves dirty this time.” She said determined. The pink unicorn turned around to give the noticeably unmoving wooden wolf a strong kick to the chest, but the beast anticipated her move and dodged to the side far enough to get out of her range. The timber wolf then lashed out at Cherri, wooden claws ready to bear down on the surprised unicorn. However, it was now out of the circle. “Bad move wolfy.” Cherri muttered as she caught the writhing beast in a field of purple-red magic. “Oh, what to do? Hmm, maybe throw you against a wall? Nope, no walls here. Oh, idea! How about a nice trip down the Canterlot cliffs? No, that would take too long. Or, I could just start pulling those little wooden legs apart.” With some effort, she managed to pull off the beast’s left hind leg. In response the timber wolf let out an unearthly screech of pain. 
However, the howl was cut short as Aurora flew in and pinned the previously floating timber wolf to the ground. “You really take your time with this sort of thing don’t you Cherri?” The unfathomably cheery Pegasus giggled as she playfully, and quite brutally trampled the poor thing into the ground with a series of excited steps and stomps. The timber wolf was quickly reduced to nothing but twigs by the time she was done. “I wanted to play tag with the other one, but it kind of fell apart after I tagged it into a tree.” Aurora chirped while Cherri simply gave her a concerned look.
Arkay stared into the glowing green eyes of the final timber wolf, both slowly circling each other in an attempt to get the optimal chance to strike. “You know, we can just work this out. You can just walk away and get back to the forest of something. There isn’t any reason for you to be in the Canterlot gardens anyway.” The timber wolf simply gave a choppy wooden growl. “I don’t think you can really understand me, but at least I gave you the chance.” Arkay said almost sad that things couldn’t be handled without violence. The timber wolf lunged forward to the peace-loving Pegasus, who dodged quite easily. However, this wolf wasn’t simply a one-trick-show. Before the timber wolf even touched down to the ground, it shifted around in the air to swipe at its target. Arkay, not expecting this, was surprised to feel the painfully sharp wooden claws rake across his neck and right shoulder. However, Arkay didn’t let this stop him. The injured Pegasus turned and gave the timber wolf a sharp kick in the face, shattering it into twigs and dust. “Last time I let a piece of lumber get a chance at killing me.” He said mockingly to the now immobile timber wolf. 
Nero trotted over to his friend. “Hey, you alright? That doesn’t look all that comfortable.” He asked somewhat concerned. The two of them may not have always agreed on methods and situations, but they always looked out for each other. 
Arkay touched the wound on his neck tentatively, flinching away at the stinging that followed. “Ugh, yeah I’m not dead if that’s what you’re asking. I do think that I need to get it covered or treated soon though, can’t be good to have a timber wolf wound open and exposed for too long.” Arkay again chanced a touch at the wound, but shied away from the pain that resulted.
Aurora flew over to join the two Pegasus in observing Arkay’s wound. Aurora of course had to input on the situation “Oh! That makes you look tough, maybe a little stupid for letting it happen, but trust me the scars will make good party chat. You sure do know how to get beat up though Arkay. If you keep this up you are going to be a pile of mush by the time that we get back to Ponyville.” She wasn’t even phased by the blood that matted up Arkay’s green coat. The result was an ugly dark color that just looked unhealthy. 
Last on the scene was Cherri. As soon as she saw the wound on Arkay’s neck, she flinched away and put on a fabricated smile. “Oh my, um it doesn’t look that bad. Just a bit of gauss and you will be good as new in a matter of days.” Her smile dropped, she couldn’t keep up her act this time. “Alright in all reality Arkay, that is a pretty serious wound. Especially if it was from a timber wolf. Who knows what kind of bacteria or disease you could get from that if it goes on unchecked for too long. Before we go to any church or get any necklace, we have got to get that looked at by a medical professional.” While she seemed legitimately concerned for Arkay’s health, she couldn’t have sounded more like a mother chiding their foal for getting a scrape on the knee.
While the four ponies were fretting over Arkay’s neck, a loud growl sounded throughout the gardens. Unable to discern where exactly it came from, they looked around for the source erratically. Nero was the first to spot the large black wolf prowling toward the burned spell circle and pointed his friends to it. They quickly got into a defensive position, ready for the wolf to pounce. However, it did not. Instead it spoke. “Ugh I can’t even turn around for five minutes without you useless pieces of timber falling apart, can I?” 
Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora gave the black wolf a confused and bewildered look. A wolf that spoke their language? This was most certainly odd. Nero on the other hoof kept on his defensive expression. “What are you doing here at Discord’s statue? More importantly, what are you exactly? There isn’t a reason for wolves to run with their wooden counterparts.” Nero inquired apprehensively.
The large black wolf chuckled, but with the growling in his voice it definitely didn’t sound jolly. “Well, you have a point there. These wooden creatures are really not worth my time, but their magic was necessary. You see, I needed something that had been around for a long time for this. Timber wolves are like trees and can live for many years longer than regular wolves, furthermore they have an innate magic about them that in necessary to my task anyway. So basically they are only useful for their age and magic alone, not their fighting skills. However, looks to me from your wimp friend over there that they were dangerous enough for you.” The wolf growled. It spoke in understandable words, but they were constantly distorted by the low growl to its voice. 
Cherri felt a sinking in her chest. “Who are you and what exactly are you trying to do here?” She asked cautiously, even though she was afraid she already knew the answer to the second question. Almost as if on cue for bad omens, clouds began to gather overhead. 
The black wolf sighed, rather out of place for a vicious predator. “Not surprising that you don’t know me ponies, all but one of you anyway. After all, who would think that wolves have any system of organization? To answer your first question, I am Domitian the leader of the Chaos wolf pack. As for your second question, a story. Back before the sealing, chaos reigned supreme throughout the land. There was no order, nothing that could stop our hunt, and none of the ponies knew well enough to band together. It was great for our pack. There was always enough food for all of the pups and other packs would back down because of our numbers. We were unstoppable.” The black wolf Domitian gave a sad sigh. “But then we were stopped. When the sealing happened, things became bleak. Our regular prey, the ponies, were organized and stopped our hunting in its tracks. Without ponies under chaos, they were well off enough to drive us out and force us to hunt other prey. This went well enough for a while, but even then the greedy ponies would stop us from hunting the lesser animals. They ‘protected’ these smaller animals from us, and in turn caused us to lose our food source.” As Domitian spoke, the ‘dead’ timber wolves reassembled and stood by the large black wolf. “With order in the daily working of things, we slowly started to die out. Every one of us died out over the years, except me. I was the last born of the Chaos pack, and I intend to ensure that our lifeline doesn’t end with me! My ancestors thrived on the chaos that the Imprisoned wrecked across the land, and I intend to bring it back. You ponies are selfish really. You don’t know how much you affect the rest of nature when you take away the prey of hunters. It is a natural working of things, and without it there is an imbalance of nature that results in dead forests and stripped grasslands. It may not be apparent now, but every action has a consequence. You ponies are just too blinded by your order to see it.” 
The four ponies exchanged a look, but neither could think of anything to say. Except Nero that is. “Well, if chaos is so important then why didn’t you stay around to make sure that whatever voodoo ritual you have set up here went on without a snag?” 
The black wolf, Domitian, smiled a toothy smile. “Well, I was just going out to get a sacrifice for the summoning. Needed the souls of a few animals willing to die for the good of nature. Looks like I found them.” Arkay gave his friend a look that he knew all too well, one that simply shouted ‘really?’
The four timber wolves, now not broken to pieces, once again lunged toward the four colorful ponies. Cherri split one apart with strong telekinesis while Aurora again ‘played tag’ with the wolf closest to her. Arkay managed to not get scratched again before crunching the wooden ribs of his target and Nero grabbed his offending timber wolf, flew into the air, and dropped the beast to the ground where it shattered into twigs and wood chips. However, this did not last long. The timber wolves quickly put themselves back together and cornered Aurora, Arkay, and Cherri against a tree. Nero rushed down to the timber wolves to save them, but the voice of Domitian stopped him. “You there! I have a proposition for you Nero. The wooden ones won’t attack unless I tell them too, so I suggest you listen while I still have patients.” 
Nero thought for a moment. If this wolf was looking for a position of power to use as leverage, he had found it. Of course his friends could easily take care of the timber wolves, but one thing bothered him. “How exactly do you know my name?” He asked blatantly.
Domitian gave a low rumbling laugh. “Oh, so you really don’t remember huh? Am I really so easily forgotten?” He asked with an almost sarcastic tone.
Nero shook his head. “Nope, sorry. I only remember important stuff. If I saw you before, you didn’t leave a very lasting impression on me.” Perhaps if he really had met this wolf before, the memory was still behind that door in his mind that Orian cautioned him not to look into. 
Domitian lunged at the contemplating Pegasus with claws and teeth bared, but Nero dodged away from the wolf to put some distance between himself and this sentient predator. The two began to slowly circle around each other, keeping their distance. “You had just left your home to go searching for something, and you were lost in the forest. I found you aimlessly looking around and ended up talking to you. It was hard to use the same words as you, but you understood enough.” Domitian said calmly. These words were only to distract Nero however, as the black wolf again tried to dig into his target with claws and teeth. Instead of dodging though Nero turned and gave the wolf a strong kick to the chest, sending the surprised Domitian flying into a nearby tree. Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora could clearly hear some bones snapping from where they were. However Domitian got right back up, almost not even phased by the blow. “Hah, still a fighter I see. You were all alone and so was I for the moment, but we decided that it was better to have a companion than continue on being lone wolves. We were both young, and didn’t understand a lot of how the world worked. We didn’t even think twice about how odd it was for a pony and a wolf to travel together.” Domitian growled, again approaching Nero slowly.
“Look, I don’t care how much you say that I knew you wolf. I don’t remember, and I only remember important things.” Nero retorted quickly. This time it was Nero who made the offensive, taking off and flying straight at Domitian. 
The black wolf laughed and jumped to the side to avoid the speeding Pegasus projectile, but Nero foresaw this and kicked off of the tree Domitian had hit, sending himself again toward the wolf at high speed. Prosthetic and natural hooves sunk into Domitian’s side, sending the two combatants sliding for a short distance. Domitian gave out a pained growl as Nero flew away from the attack, touching down a few feet from the wolf. “We searched the entire forest for whatever it was you were looking for.” Domitian continued as he got back up onto his feet and stared at Nero intensely. “We made it a game to see who could cover more ground faster. It was ultimately won by your wings, but it was fun. After that you said we could be friends.” Domitian growled at the word. “Friends Nero. We were friends. All I ever had was my dying family, and here you were saying we were friends.”
Nero racked his mind for what this supposed friend was talking about, but came up blank. “Sorry, I think I would have remembered being friends with a wolf. How can you be so certain it was me? I mean, this was a while ago apparently. Couldn’t you be thinking of some other grey Pegasus?” He asked uncertain and defensive.
Domitian gave a steady shake of his head. “No. I don’t know any other pony that has two different eye colors. That’s how I knew it was you Nero. Now, enough of this talk. I need a sacrifice to bring back the chaos that once reined, and you are going to be that sacrifice.” Domitian snarled. Nero took a few steps back, looking to his captive friends. Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora were still unharmed. However, they seemed to be planning something. Whatever it was wasn’t worth worrying about for the grey Pegasus, he was fighting off a wolf. A wolf that was now running directly at him with terrifying speed. Domitian went for another lunge, too close for Nero to get out of the way properly.
So instead of dodging, Nero simply blocked with his metal prosthetic hoof. Domitian chomped down on the hard metal casing of Nikola’s heavier model of hoof replacing prosthetics, but this did not dissuade the wolf from trying to chew it apart. “Hey, quit it.” Nero chided, trying to shake off the large wolf from his metal hoof. “Alright, that’s enough of this.” Nero yanked his metal hoof from Domitian’s mouth and gave him a strong kick to the face, which audibly cracked from the impact. Domitian fell to the ground, and then attempted to clutch his face and back away at the same time. It was a rather silly maneuver. 
Aurora cheered from the distance, causing the timber wolves to give her a growl. She gave them a sour look, but didn’t move otherwise. Domitian got back to his feet, blood oozing from the wound on his face. “Nero, we can still work this out you know. We can use one of your other friends for a sacrifice or something. I doesn’t have to be you. Maybe...” Domitian never finished his begging. A bolt of lightning struck down on the black wolf with a deafening crash.
Nero took a surprised leap back from the now very toasty wolf. “Did that really? Damn it!” Nero yelled out to the sky. “I could have remembered something eventually, if it was important enough.” He looked down to the ground in anguish as it started to rain. “I need to find out if he was right.” 
The timber wolves abandoned their captives and ran to the side of the now fallen Domitian. Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora gave the normally emotionless wolves’ confused looks, then ran to Nero. “That was super cool Nero! You were like whoosh! And the wolf was like ‘grr’, but then you were like BAM! I especially liked the part where you made the lightning cook him up all toasty.” Quite clearly, this was a more of a show to Aurora than a fight. Especially since it was Nero who had won.
Nero shook his head. “I didn’t make the lightning strike, it was a freak of nature. Lighting is supposed to strike from the tallest object around, and the statue of Discord was close enough to divert it. Why didn’t it?” He asked to no pony in particular. 
None of them had a good answer. “I really have no idea, but we should go. It’s raining and it looks like it can only get worse.” Arkay spoke up in the confusion. “Let’s get out of this and to a clinic or something. I want to get some bandages on this wound before I die of an infection or something.” He started off toward the exit of the gardens, soon joined by Cherri. 
Nero and Aurora stayed behind for a moment. “Hey, come on. Let’s make sure your friend doesn’t have to get a neck replacement.” Aurora kidded. “I don’t think a metal neck could be nearly as cool as a metal hoof though.” Nero gave her a small smile and the two started toward the exit as well. After a few paces, Aurora stopped. “Hey, we should probably get rid of those annoying timber wolves.” 
The two gave each other a firm nod and turned back to the statue of Discord. Just as they got turned around however, another bolt of lightning struck; this time on Discord’s outstretched talon hand. “There, see? Lightning is supposed to do that.” Nero pointed out. However, three more bolts of lightning struck the statue soon after. “Okay, not like that though.” He corrected himself. 
Arkay and Cherri came running back. “We saw a bunch of flashing, what is going on?” Cherri asked concerned. Nero and Aurora shook their heads, but pointed with their hooves to the statue of Discord. It was no longer being struck by lightning, but now a small tornado was spiraling downward toward the charred remains of Domitian. 
The four ponies turned tail and ran away from the wind storm. “Why the hay are the Pegasus programming such destructive weather today?” Arkay yelled to Nero as they fought the wind to move forward. 
Nero managed to hug a tree to keep himself on the ground. “I don’t think it’s the Pegasus doing this! It has to have something to do with that spell circle Domitian had burned into the ground. I think he got his sacrifice.” Nero was fighting to speak over the strong gust that was attempting to pull the four ponies into the now black tornado. 
Arkay held onto another tree while Aurora found refuge behind a rock. Cherri on the other hoof was struggling to keep herself on the ground with her magic. “Well, whatever the cause, I hope it ends soon. I don’t think I can hold this spell too much longer.” Cherri huffed, but her voice was lost in the wind. 
“Don’t stop that spell Cherri!” Arkay yelled over to her.
“Oh, thanks Arkay! I probably would have let go if you told me otherwise! I’m doing the best I can, but magic can only go so far you know!” She yelled back. 
Only a moment later, the wind stopped. It was not a natural steady slowing and the wind either, it simply stopped as if turned off by a switch. Nero and Arkay let go of their respective trees. “And you said that tree hugging would never save your life.” Arkay poked at his friend. Nero simply gave a tired huff in response. Aurora got out from behind her rock and regrouped with the other three ponies. 
After making sure they were all okay, they looked over to where the black tornado had once been. However, they wished that they hadn’t. There, standing where was once a powerful and unnatural wind storm, was a much larger black wolf. It had glowing yellow eyes that pierced through the oppressive black mist that obscured the surrounding area of the wolf. It slowly looked around itself and saw the statue that was Discord, then to the comparatively tiny timber wolves not surprisingly intact. The wolf gave a great, terrifying roar and dragged its massive claws through the timber wolves as well as a portion of the ground they were standing on. The victims of the slash did not break apart as they should have, instead they turned to ash as the giant black wolf’s claws cleaved through them. Cherri and Arkay gasped at this. Timber wolves were supposed to be hard to truly destroy, it had to be done with fire. But this giant wolf simply turned them to ash with its claws. 
Nero stepped forward. “Domitian!” 
The giant wolf in question slowly gave the grey Pegasus its attention. It blinked its yellow gleaming eyes slowly. Again, it sounded a loud and frightening roar throughout the gardens. But this time it was somehow confused. “Domitian, this isn’t you! I think you were right!” Nero again yelled to the great wolf. Domitian turned its massive head and stared at the statue, Discord. It then spoke incomparable words to the statue, and then to Nero. None of the ponies could tell what this wolf was saying this time. Domitian then howled to the sky and evaporated into the black mist that surrounded him. This black mist then slithered away, toward the edge of the garden leading off to the cliffs. 
Nero stared at the place where the transformed Domitian once stood. Aurora was the first to approach him. “What was that about Nero? Why did you try to talk to it?” She asked innocently. Nero simply stared though, not responding. 
“That was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever seen.” Arkay said as he and Cherri approached the two Pegasus. “I don’t think that whatever ritual he had planned out went exactly as it should have. Otherwise, I think that Discord would be moving again.”
Nero turned to his green friend. “You may be right Arkay but I think something just as bad, if not worse has happened. First of all, I think that whatever power Domitian meant to bring back is now his. Worse though is that I think he was right about my knowing him.”
Cherri tilted her head in confusion. “Why is that worse? I think that a now chaotically powerful wolf running around Equestria is a bit more of a big deal than weather or not you remember said wolf from your colt hood.”
Nero took a step toward her. “My memory is none of your business, I remember what’s important… most of the time. I still don’t know if it’s just the suggestion that I may have or not.” He took a step back from her.
There was silence for a moment. The four ponies looked to each other, trying to see if any of them had something to say about this. So Arkay broke the silence. “Alright then, now we really have to get that necklace from the church and tell Celestia about this. Since she won’t talk to us face to face, we will just have to comply with her request.”
Cherri nodded in agreement, but Aurora and Nero shrugged almost in unison. “Alright whatever Arkay. I’m still not going to some dumb church though. You two are on your own. Come on Aurora, let’s go see if we can’t find something to eat. All this danger and gloom has gotten me starving!” Nero said with a noticeable amount of vigor. 
‘Well, at least he’s not going to go searching for that damn wolf on his own.’ Arkay thought. Aurora and Nero started toward the garden exit at a quick trot. Arkay and Cherri watched as they made their exit. “So, what’s your take on all this?” Arkay asked the pink unicorn. 
Cherri gave a small laugh, noticeably not the usual giggle. “Just because I’m a unicorn doesn’t mean I have all the answers Arkay. I don’t know what to think really. I guess it’s good that thing didn’t bring back Discord, or we would have a serious problem. However, it’s still a bit unsettling though. Now, on top of political negotiating, we have to worry about a magical wolf that will probably kill us. It may be a bit difficult for communities and cities to band together under a new republic when there is a giant magical wolf running about.” She looked around suspiciously. “Come on Arkay, we should clear out too. With stuff like this happening so close to the princess, there’s no doubt the royal guards will be here soon. I don’t think Lunar Republican negotiators should be at the scene of something like magical tornados and spell circles.” She urged. Arkay nodded sternly, no need to tell him twice. The two brightly colored ponies galloped toward the garden exit as quickly as possible. 



The market district was now alive with busy ponies. They were either on their way to some fashion store, or trotting about aimlessly. Nero found no order to this mess of well-maintained hooves and terrible fashion. He and Aurora were sitting in the outside dining area of one of the many ridiculously expensive restaurants on the market street. “I can’t believe this city! It’s everything I dreamed it would be!” Aurora exclaimed excitedly between munches of the tiny salad she had ordered. 
Nero simply had a bored look on his face, upheld by his bionic metal hoof leaned on the glass table the two were sitting at. “Expensive? Uptight? Full of itself?” He listed sarcastically.
Aurora gulped down the last bite of her salad. “Exactly! These ponies have so much money that they can waste it on things like expensive necklaces and fancy giant hats! Look at that one there.” Nero hardly looked up at all, but saw what he could suspect she was pointing out. “That mare has so many frills and bows on her hat that she could probably clothe three foals with that thing. So many other places are struggling just to get things like clean water and good food, but these ponies waste all their time and money with fashion and expensive versions of normal meals. It’s amazing! I didn’t think I’d ever get to see this place, ever.” Aurora somehow sounded perfectly legitimate with her amazement while listing the ridiculous transgressions of the city of Canterlot. 
Nero gave a bored sigh. “Yeah, I love paying seventy-something bits for a tiny plate of salad that is probably less flavorful than the grass outside of the city. Why did you want to eat here anyway?” He asked confused. He honestly hated it here in Canterlot, but the price and noise of the market district was better than a cult based around the sun. 
Aurora gave a sly giggle. “No reason to be here in particular. But I thought it would be fun if we… went shopping!” 
Nero slowly turned his head to face the bright blue Pegasus sitting across from him. He stared into her eyes and expression, trying to find the joke she was assuredly hiding. But there was no trace of one. “Do you even know me?”
Aurora blinked a few times. “Well, it’s not like we would have to buy anything. It’s just that there’s one thing that I want to see.” She hinted with a small smile on her muzzle. Nero stared again, waiting for what horrors were about to befall him. “Remember when we picked out those fancy clothes for that wedding we were supposed to have?”
Nero’s gaze narrowed dangerously while he stopped supporting his head on his hoof. 
Aurora gave him another sly smile. “We never got to. So I was thinking...” However she was now talking to a cloud of dust. Nero had taken off, quite literally, and was now flying above the market street away the restaurant Aurora was still sitting at. “Oh, you always know how to make this fun Nero.” She said to herself and took off after him, calling his name in a sort of taunt.




The church of the sun was not at all discreet. The front of the cathedral had a giant stain glass window of the sun rising green hills, spreading light all about the empty glass world of green planes it sat upon. This stain glass masterpiece was set on the great grey stone walls that rose above the other surrounding buildings around it. Leading up to the entrance of this somewhat massive building were matching grey steps filled with ponies eager to have salvation preached to them. Arkay and Cherri found themselves in the front of this crowd.
“…And this my fellow brothers and sisters is why we must always give the sun our prayers! Life is freely given by her and her grace! Not only does the great spirit of The Sun, Amaterasu, give life to us all. She gives it FREELY my brothers and sister! FREELY!” The priest pony pacing at the top of the stairs received a resounding ‘praise the sun’ from the crowd of ponies before him. The yellow stallion smiled. “Here we stand today my brothers and sisters, weak and blind. But one day…. One day, we will trot humbly with the giver of life and death, the beginning and the end, the light in the darkness! One day we will all join The Sun in her warm embrace!” Another ‘praise the sun’ sounded among the crowd. 
Arkay and Cherri exchanged a concerned look. Was this pony really the priest Celestia had talked about in her quickly scrawled letter? He was certainly zealous, but he had not once mentioned Celestia by name or even by reference. Cherri stepped forward from the crowd suddenly. “How do we know that we will?” Suddenly, the crowd and the priest fell eerily quiet. So she continued. “I mean you are giving promises of a life after this one, but where is the proof? And why have you not mentioned Celestia at all? Surely the one who raises the sun is noteworthy in your sermon, or whatever this is.” 
The priest shook his head with an odd chuckle. “Here we see my brothers and sisters a seeker! She seeks the answers because she wishes to find more than an answer. She wishes to find SALVATION! Only in Amaterasu do we gain our salvation. Only in Amaterasu! You say that Celestia raises The Sun, Amaterasu, but where is your proof?” 
Cherri suddenly felt the eyes of the entire crowd upon her. She gave an uncomfortable look to Arkay, who simply returned it. She turned back to the priest unsure. “Umm, we don’t have proof. But for years unicorns had raised the sun with magic to give life to the...”
“To GIVE LIFE my brothers and sisters! TO GIVE LIIIFE!” The priest interrupted. “My sister, you are right though. Without our martyr Celestia, we would be nothing but slaves of our faith! The unicorns of old dedicated their Entire Lives to prayer to the sun. They never stopped so that ponies like us could relish in the life given by Amaterasu. Faith was not a choice for them, they were called to serve. But faith is a choice for US my brothers and sisters! Faith Is A CHOICE!” The priest received another resounding ‘praise the sun’. “Now we have the choice to be faithful my brothers and sisters! Those who are unfaithful will be left when the rapture comes and takes the faithful to the side of Amaterasu. They will stay here and wither away to nothing when our great Amaterasu takes us to her side! Salvation will be ours, and the unfaithful will be weeded out to make room for another beginning for the world. And when all the demons and the unfaithful have been burned from the land, the land will be ready to once again receive the life that Amaterasu gives to us all! We will be born again in newness of life and receive everlasting salvation with our savior Celestia and our lord Amaterasu!” 
Cherri tried to step back into her place in the crowd, but the priest stopped her. “You my sister have received this message today. I tell you assuredly that your sins, your transgressions, your flaws have all been forgiven this day before Amaterasu herself!” The priest pulled the sun necklace around his neck off and put it on Cherri, whom of which simply wore a scared look. “Wear this necklace from this day forward, and the world will know that you are saved! Spread this message that you have received and your salvation with Amaterasu will be sealed! Praise the Sun!” The crowd responded with yet another ‘praise the sun’ as the priest turned around and entered the large cathedral. Much of the crowd followed him and the others left, leaving Arkay and Cherri on the steps alone.
“That was perhaps one of the worst social gatherings I have ever participated in.” A confused Cherri uttered walking down the stairs. “Nero and Aurora were absolutely right about this church, it might as well be a self-serving cult.” 
Arkay followed the pink unicorn down the grey stone steps. “Well I can see the point of being grateful for the sun giving life to plants and animals, but this is just ridiculous. Sure Celestia raises the sun, but I don’t think she sees herself as a martyr. I don’t know what her whole story is, but I can be certain that she didn’t sacrifice everything to do what she does. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here to raise the sun.” As the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs, Arkay continued. “Well, now that we have what we need we can find Nero and Aurora and go back to the library. I think we should at least tell Luna about Domitian.”
The two ponies were making their way down the market street again, except this time there were many ponies out and about. There was still enough room to get around, so their movement was not impeded much. “Well, be that as it may we have to be careful. We need to think of a good excuse as to why we were in Canterlot in the first place. I don’t think Luna would feel too good about our being around her sister in any way. Plus, if she doesn’t believe us she could simply enter our dreams and figure otherwise.” Cherri pointed out. 
Arkay scrunched up his face thoughtfully, but nothing came to his mind. The two walked in silence toward the train station, until an idea dawned on the green Pegasus. “Oh! I know the perfect solution.” He exclaimed suddenly, perking Cherri’s interest. “We just need to have an embarrassing reason to be here.”
Cherri gave him a skeptical look. “Whatever do you mean by that? Why would that work?” 
Arkay chuckled as the two passed a well-dressed and well-aged mare. “Have you ever doubted some pony if they had a story that made them look silly? You wouldn’t have to because you have no reason to doubt something that is embarrassing. So all we need to do is think of something embarrassing to tell Luna, and she won’t give our being here a second thought.” Arkay couldn’t have sounded more out of his mind.
“You really think that if we come up with some stupid embarrassing reason we were here that Luna won’t think about it? If you think that is a legitimate way to lie, you aren’t as smart as you like to portray that you are.” Cherri deadpanned as they neared the station. 
Arkay huffed indignant. “Well, I don’t see you coming up with any plans as to how we can tell her that we witnessed a wolf getting some kind of magic power in the Canterlot gardens without giving her a reason to explain why we were there in the first place.” 
“Easy, we just tell her that we came here to relax and take it easy. We ended up going to the gardens and saw a wolf get zapped by some lightning and turn into black mist. We say he might be a threat and move on to our assignment we start on tomorrow.” Cherri sighed heavily. “So much for getting time off.”
Arkay wore a frustrated expression as they arrived at the station. After paying for the fare back down to Ponyville, the two of them turned the corner to the boarding platform. However, they froze in their tracks from the sight they beheld before them. “Oh my goodness, Aurora! What are your wearing?” Cherri absolutely gushed. 
The pony in question looked over and gave a sweet smile. “Well…we went shopping. And not to have a big head or anything, but I make this look good.” Aurora was wearing a beautiful black and blue dress that seemed to sparkle as much as her eyes, even her mane was done up in a braid. Nero, right next to her on the platform was wearing a black suit jacket with a dark blue button down shirt adorned by a black formal tie. Both of the Pegasus’ wings were covered but their clothing, and they seemed to mind quite a bit about it. Nevertheless, Nero wore his best confident smile and Aurora simply beamed. 
Aurora popped her head out from her well-dressed Pegasus friend and shared her smile with Cherri and Arkay. “One does not simply go to Canterlot and not buy some of the best fashion in Equestria. I didn’t quite have enough for it myself, but sweet Nero here went and got it for me. And while we were at it, I decided that Nero should match! So I managed to get him into what you see here.”
Arkay and Cherri exchanged a look, but only the bright pink unicorn had anything to say. “Well, I think that the two of you are absolutely fetching. You see Arkay? This is what clothes are useful for. Looking drop-dead amazing.” In the distance the wail of the steam engine horn sounded and the squeal of the brakes could be heard, announcing its arrival to the soon to be passengers. “Hey Arkay.” Cherri spoke up as the steam engine neared the station. “I think I just thought up of a good reason to be in Canterlot.” 



The evening was giving way to nighttime as the steam engine passed the last curve of the mountainous path down from Canterlot. There was a calming silence in the twilit hours of the day, if one didn’t count the noisy steam engine disrupting that altogether. That same silence was present in the single passenger car of the steam engine as well. Once again having Pegasus aboard caused the rest of the passengers to remain silent. 
“So if your butt mark is a cherry and you’re good at making cherry pies and stuff, why don’t you?” Except for said Pegasus of course. Nero hadn’t heard Cherri’s story about her foal hood and simply had to ask now that they had some time to talk about it. 
“Really, butt mark? Anyway yes I got my Cutie Mark when I helped my mother make a cherry pie once, but I felt like I could go beyond just making pies and growing cherries.” Cherri was sure to enunciate the proper term to Nero in particular. “So I went to magic school to learn what I could to further myself as a unicorn. I have to admit it was really rather difficult to learn more advanced magic after I got the basics out of the way, but with a certain amount of perseverance and self-discipline I managed to pull through.” She said, quite proud of herself.
Silence gripped the passenger car once again, but not for more than a moment. “Well, where did you go to learn about this advanced magic? Nero and I were flying around Canterlot for a while earlier today, and I didn’t see any magic schools. Did you Nero?” The well-dressed stallion shook his head in agreement. “See? No magic schools.”
The question made Cherri immensely uncomfortable. She hadn’t realized it, but it was actually making her sweat a little. “Uh…. Oh! Oh my Arkay, that cut on your neck really isn’t looking good at all. I don’t think that’s a healthy color for blood to be at all.” 
Nero narrowed his eyes slowly. Aurora on the other hoof simply went along with it, perhaps another time. “Oh, you’re right. We need to get you to some medical treatment as soon as possible. Why didn’t you get that looked at in Canterlot?” 
Arkay sighed heavily. “I really, really didn’t feel like going to a doctor in Canterlot. Everything is expensive in Canterlot you know – food, water, hotels, and especially health care. Those uptight doctors think that they are a gift to the world with their knowledge of what kind of ‘magical bandage’ they put on a scrape or cut. I’d hate to see the bill for a cut like this, so I’d rather we go to a much cheaper clinic or something in Ponyville. As for the brown-ish color, that’s just what color blood turns when it dries.” The green Pegasus laughed to himself. “You were right though Aurora, I do know how to get injured. Another bandage and I’ll look like my father did when he would come back from a skirmish.”
Cherri saw the opportunity to shift attention away from herself and decided to take it. “Skirmish? What exactly did your father do Arkay?” She asked in such an innocent and sweet voice.
Once again, that horrible blush graced Arkay’s face. And here he was thinking he had gotten over something so foolish, but he collected himself to answer the question. “Well as you know my father was, and I can only suspect that he still is, a part of the Pegasus military. Pegasus in general have usually kept to themselves throughout the years, that’s why Nero and I usually get the odd looks and such when we go places. Most other Pegasus believe themselves to be both literally, and figuratively above the other races of ponies. Anyway, that’s tangential. The Pegasus always keep a private force of loyal soldiers available in the case of invasion or in the need of an assault, and my father is a part of this. There was never a big need for the soldiers, but from time to time we would have a disagreement with the griffons; anywhere from skyline border disputes to what the weather should be like. This is where the skirmishes come in. My father would always be on the front lines of these stupid disagreements, and would sometimes come home injured by either griffon weapons or claws. He believed that ‘there ain’t no race like the Pegasus’ and that anything else was beneath him and his race. He often tried to get me to buy into such thinking, if only he knew that’s what was pushing me away. Anyway, the last time I heard from him he had landed some cushy job in the Citadel. Not that I care that much though.”
While Cherri took in all that Arkay had said, Nero decided to chime in. “Pegasus really aren’t all their cracked up to be. A lot of us fly around a think that we are better than every pony else simply because we can fly and the others have to stay grounded. I’m pretty sure Pegasus are solely responsible for the earth ponies being called ‘mud ponies’ and the rumors about unicorn curses don’t start themselves. I only trust three Pegasus in all of Equestria; Arkay, Aurora, and myself. The rest are either loyalist or cultists.” 
The squeal of the brakes sounded, announcing that the passengers would soon arrive in Ponyville. Cherri let out a sigh of relief as the passengers were told to make preparations to leave. Aurora was the first to get up, then Arkay, then herself. Nero, got up last and pulled Cherri close to whisper in her ear. “I know you’re hiding something. You may have Arkay eating out of your hoof, but I don’t buy it. If you have some kind of agenda, I will find out.” He then moved forward and made his way off the steam engine, but not before shooting the slightly frightened unicorn a suspicious look. Not knowing what to think of this, Cherri simply shook her head and followed the way out of the passenger car.
The town of Ponyville was again dark and somewhat foreboding, at least to Arkay anyway. “So, I think that we should at least see about getting some bandages for that cut of yours. I’m getting tired of seeing such an ugly color on you.” Cherri said in an almost pointed tone. 
Aurora rolled her eyes at Cherri belaying the point. “Alright, we are going to the clinic now to have his neck looked at. Then we are going straight to the library. We have a job we need to hear about after all.” Neither Nero nor Arkay could come up with a good argument. It was probably best after all, even if Arkay’s wound was already scabbing up. “Now, which way is the clinic?” Aurora asked plainly. 
Cherri perked up a bit. “Oh, I know where it is. I saw it yesterday night when Arkay and I were out looking for dragons. Follow me!” She galloped off in a seemingly random direction but her lead was better than none, so the three Pegasus followed the light purple and red-ish glow of Cherri’s magic.



The Ponyville clinic lobby was less than appealing. The four cold, plain white walls made Nero, Aurora, and Cherri feel quite boxed in and trapped. There was, of course, the exit on one side of the room that any of them could have used to get out but none of them really felt it necessary. On the other side of the room, behind a small reception desk, were the doors to the treatment ward. All of them wore bored expressions while waiting for Arkay to get back from the supposedly short treatment, but it had already been more than thirty minutes. Perhaps it was just the fact of the waiting, but it most certainly felt like more to Nero, Cherri, and Aurora. 
After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was simply five more minutes, Arkay and the doctor stepped out of the doors behind the reception desk. “Alright Arkay, just keep that covered for a day or so and you should be fine. As far as that wing goes, whoever bandaged it up did terribly. As far as the cost of your visit,” the orange doctor mare looked over some papers again, “Looks like you will be paying about 52 bits for the bandages and check-up.” 
Arkay shrugged, it seemed fair enough to him. As he brought out the proper amount, Nero, Aurora, and Cherri stepped forward to join him. The doctor simply looked up at the three others with the same bored expression they had worn a few minutes before. “You two just get married or something?” She asked regarding Nero and Aurora, whom of which were still wearing their Canterlot fashion. 
Aurora sighed wistfully. “No, just did some shopping.”
Finished with his paying, Arkay laughed to himself quietly and began on his way out. “I don’t think that any mare could tie Nero down.” He said as he passed the two Pegasus. Nero and Aurora exchanged a thoughtful look, but didn’t say anything to one another. Cherri passed by during this thoughtful look, trying to avoid drawing too much attention to herself, and followed Arkay out the door. Not wanting to be left behind, Nero and Aurora too followed and left the building. Apparently no pony wanted to be in the clinic more than necessary. 



The library was somehow not as homely as it had been before, instead of feeling at ease there was a feeling that Nero, Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora couldn’t shake; almost like none of them should be there. Wasn’t this supposed to be like home? It certainly didn’t feel safe to the four ponies standing at the door. Why was it that political and royal espionage had to make things so complicated? “Alright, so just to get our stories straight: We went to Canterlot to spend our day out shopping. I was mugged and got this cut on my neck, then we tried to catch the thug but he got away into the gardens. When we got there we witnessed….whatever that wolf’s name was getting turned into a larger more magical wolf. We ran as fast as we could to get away from it and tell the guard, but got roped into being given a necklace and from there we came back. Right?” Arkay wanted to make sure that he covered everything so that there was no unnecessary slips that could get all of them banished. 
Cherri, Nero, and Aurora just gave him a strange look. “You know, I don’t think we have to have an explanation for everything Arkay. It was our day off, we could do whatever we wanted. If she asks for the reason for something, we tell her. It’s not like we did anything terribly out of line today.” Nero assured his friend. “After all, why bring Domitian up at all? Luna is bound to figure out about him anyway.”
Arkay huffed indignant. “Well fine, don’t come crying to me when you get banished to some island infested by lizard bats. Remember how fun those guys were to deal with?” Nero’s gaze narrowed at that. He most certainly had not forgotten about them, but retaliating wasn’t going to solve anything so he kept quiet. 
Cherri rolled her eyes, uninterested in the subtle disagreement going on between the two Pegasus. “Alright, are we ready to go already? It’s getting late and I’d like to get some sleep before we head out on whatever it is we are going to do tomorrow.” Arkay and Nero simply shrugged. “Good.” Cherri knocked on the door loudly. No response. The pink unicorn gave the door an angry look. “Hello? Any pony home?” She yelled while knocking harder on the door, but this time the door slowly opened. Within the library there was darkness, none of the usual candles were lit; causing the normally homely tree house library to harbor a sense of uncertainty. 
The four ponies stepped in carefully. This was not normal at all. The last time they had returned, it was lit and Luna was waiting for them. Cherri used her magic to light the main room. “Any pony home?” Aurora called up the stairs. Almost in response, a gust of wind blew down said stairs and slammed the door shut. “Whoa!” Aurora squealed, being sent back down the stairs from the gust. Nero sprang into action and managed to catch her before she hit the floor though, still fairly quick even without his wings readily available. She gave her savior a thankful smile but Nero couldn’t see it, it was too dark. 
A ghostly voice filled the library. “Foolish trespassers! Leave this place now or face the wrath of the night!” Cherri and Arkay looked around, trying to find the source of the voice to no avail. 
Nero recognized the voice immediately though. “Alright Luna, it’s just us. You can come out now.” Suddenly the candles relit themselves, lighting the room and revealing Luna standing at the door. 
“Well, it is most certainly good to see you again too.” She almost complained. “You could have at least acted surprised by the ghost of the night.” Luna wore an expression that could only be described as pouting, but she quickly switched to her usual frown. “I see that two of you went shopping. And you” She regarded Arkay almost suspiciously. “Why do you always insist on getting injured?” 
Arkay looked around a bit, but none of the others offered any words. “Um, got mugged in one of the alleys in Canterlot. Little ruffian had a knife that got me pretty bad, but it’s nothing serious. Won’t slow me down in the slightest.” He tried his best to sound confident like Nero did from time to time, but ended up looking and sounding silly.
Luna chuckled quietly. “Well don’t hurt yourself too much Arkay. I need you alive for what we are trying to accomplish.” She then looked to Cherri. “What is that?” 
Cherri shifted uncomfortably, and quickly formulated an excuse. “Um, it’s a necklace I got in Canterlot while Nero and Aurora were shopping and Arkay was getting patched up. I was thinking that it could be useful as a sort of cover up for our being political spies. If we happen to be in a town that sympathizes with Celestia, I think we will be questioned less with me wearing this necklace.” 
Luna narrowed her eyes a bit, but accepted her reason and nodded. “Excellent thinking Cherri. With Outpost on our side, it’s no doubt that Celestia is going to try and solidify her loyalty from some of the cities and towns around Equestria. We will have to prove that our republic is the more logical choice of the two to these towns to get them on our side.” Luna cantered over to the center table and motioned for Nero, Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora to gather around. “Alright, I think that our next course of action should be getting another one of the Elements of Harmony.” She unrolled a map of the known world; this being Equestria, the Crystal empire to the north, Mexicolt and to the south, the Griffon kingdom to the northwest, the Stradivarius islands far to the east off the coast, the mountainous lands to the west belonging to the dragons, the massive lands of the zebra across the ocean, and a small section of sea circled off to the south east where there was no defining land mass nearby. Luna pointed at the circle. “Here is the last known location of Amphitrite.”
Nero bristled at the mention of his home. “Amphitrite?” Cherri asked curiously.
“Yes, this is the last known location of the Element of Loyalty. From what I know, the city is one of highly religious Pegasus who used the Element to make their city fly. It was a city quite loyal to me and Celestia when we were ruling together, but something went wrong. After some kind of schism in the beliefs of those in charge and those under rule, rioting caused the citizens to tear each other apart. No pony has heard from them since, we can only assume that there were no survivors.” Nero and Aurora exchanged a look, but neither said anything. “They had some kind of belief that the stars held the answers to all questions, but could only be read by those who understood. Needless to say, when the ponies under rule didn’t like what the rulers where telling them they tried to take over. At any rate, if there even were any survivors we aren’t interested in getting help from fanatically religious ponies anyway. All we need from Amphitrite is the Element of Loyalty. If what I was told still holds true, it should be in the highest chamber of the main temple. The only ponies with the ability to get to Amphitrite are the Pegasus of the Citadel. While I doubt that those militaristic hounds would have interest in something magical like an Element of Harmony, we should still be prepared in case they did retrieve it. If that were the case however, Amphitrite wouldn’t be flying at all. So if what my night guard have told me is true, it should still be there.” Luna stepped back from the table and began cantering around it slowly. “I fear that those fanatics in Amphitrite have placed traps in order to keep their precious Element safe from those that would try to steal it, so expect the unexpected.”
Arkay raised his hoof as if he were in school. “Um, how will we get to this place if it’s floating? I don’t think I’m in any shape to fly, and I don’t think that Nero and Aurora could carry me and Cherri miles to get to it.”
Luna nodded. “Tomorrow, you four will take the first steam engine to Brandonbuck. From there I will have some of my night guard waiting with a chariot to transport you to Amphitrite. No passports should be necessary since you won’t be passing through Mexicolt to get to Brandonbuck, so the trip will be the simple part. Once you are within Amphitrite, be on guard at all times. If there are any survivors, they will be hostile. If you should you need some weapons to protect yourself, buy them from Brandonbuck. Any questions?” She looked to all four of the listening ponies individually, one by one. Luna took the silence as a no. “Alright then, sleep well tonight ponies. There will be much to watch for tomorrow. Now if you will excuse me, I must fulfill my duties as Princess of the Night.” Luna sounded almost labored by her title, but she took her leave out the front door anyway. 
Once Luna was gone, Cherri yawned loudly. “Well, I am beat. Is there anything we have to discuss?” She asked, however she wasn’t hoping for an answer.
Arkay looked to Nero, then Aurora. Neither of them looked like they had anything on their mind. “Well, I… never mind. Not important. I guess it’s off to Amphitrite tomorrow. Shall we?” 
Quite exhausted, Nero, Arkay, Cherri, and Aurora made their way up to the bedrooms. They were pleasantly surprised to find that there were two extra beds across the hall from the original two. Accommodations from Luna. “I suppose the two of us will be in this room. You two boys can share the old room.” Cherri did not know how relieved Arkay was with her suggestion. He hadn’t slept on an actual bed in a few days. 
“Aw, I felt so safe with Nero sleeping by my bed the other night. Oh well, I’ll see you in the morning guys.” Aurora trotted into the second room, after giving a last wink to Nero. The recipient of which rolled his eyes and entered his own room without a word. 
Arkay started to follow Nero, but was stopped by a nudge from Cherri. “Hey, what were you going to say before?” She asked concerned.
Instead of blushing, Arkay found himself almost sad. Almost. “It was really nothing Cherri. I just…. I was going to ask if I could sleep on a bed tonight instead of on the floor, but I guess that didn’t really matter since we have our own beds this time.” Arkay forced himself into a smile, as much as he hated forcing such things. “Now, I’m going to get some sleep. Treasure hunting isn’t safe for a tired mind. You should too….see you tomorrow Cherri.” He then trotted into his room quickly, wanting to avoid more questions. Even after the door to Nero and Arkay’s room closed, Cherri remained in the hallway. After a few moments, she too retired to the room for her and Aurora. 



The moonlight shined down on the town of Ponyville brightly. On a night like this, when the moon was full, one could easily see the roadways throughout town without any sort of assistance. With her magical eyes, Aurora saw the different auras within the various houses. They were calm, innocent even. From the balcony of the library, she could see all the way to Canterlot and even down the steam engine tracks leading to the mountain path up to the elaborate city. The bright blue mare sighed into the night, why couldn’t she find this sort of peace? 
“You know, we’re supposed to be sleeping. I don’t think staying up and looking wistfully at the stars will help us tomorrow in our search of that supposedly floating city.” Aurora looked back to see the purple eyes of Cherri, whom of which cantered alongside her and looked over the town as well.
“I don’t see you sleeping either, what’s got you up?” She asked quickly. 
Cherri giggled quietly, apparently finding some mirth in how quickly Aurora was to defend herself. “Well, the last time I tried sleeping I ended up having nightmares. Needless that encourages me to stay awake as much as possible. How about you? Why are you up still?” 
Aurora sighed again, looking over Ponyville once more. “I used to have a set schedule for sleeping while I was searching for Nero. My sister and I tried as much as we could to limit how long we slept in one place, we had to keep our tracks covered as much as possible for years. We were on the run from….well I guess our past really.”
Cherri looked over to the frowning Pegasus. “What could possibly keep you on the run for years?” However Aurora didn’t even look up. “Tell you what, I’ll tell you a little bit and then you can tell me a little bit. I don’t know a lot about this mare that has been searching for a stallion like Nero, and I’d like to.” Still no reaction. “I ran from my own home too, right here in Ponyville. I may have told you that earlier on the passenger car, but there’s more to it.” Cherri paused for a moment. “I….you were right. There aren’t any magic schools in Canterlot.” Aurora looked over, now interested in the conversation. “I wondered for a while. I didn’t have any direction to go. I inevitably found some trouble in a small little town far south, near Mexicolt. Some rough-and-tumble ponies wanted to ‘see if I tasted like my name’. They had me cornered, and I was sure that I was going to die or get violated horribly.”
Aurora cringed at the thought. “What happened? They didn’t…”
Cherri wore a small smile. “No. I was saved both of those fates by a mule by the name of Crow. He had some of his gang friends with him and he beat those ruffians out of town. He told me that such a mare like me shouldn’t be anywhere like where I was, but I told him I wanted to be away from the rest of the world. After I saw my family’s orchard burned to the ground, I felt like I didn’t deserve to be treated well. I guess I was looking for trouble like I found. At any rate, he told me he had somewhere I could go. So I went with him back to Mexicolt to see what this offer was. Anything was better than being in Equestria. Turns out, Crow owned a little bar near the border and he needed a good cook. I guess having cherries as your cutie mark was a pretty good sign that I could manage cooking treats. So I stayed there for a while, cooking cherry pies and such for drunken mules and ponies who watched the show mare Alexis sing. She had the most beautiful voice, and I found myself singing along with her eventually. When he heard that, Crow asked me why he let a singer like me cook. I really didn’t know all that much about singing before I saw Alexis perform on a daily basis though. When Crow asked if Alexis minded if she had a singing partner, she couldn’t have been happier. So then I made a living singing in that tiny bar in Mexicolt for a few years. Not exactly glamorous, but I felt like I had direction there.” 
Aurora again looked over Ponyville, no longer concentrating on seeing the aura of its inhabitants. She was instead thinking over Cherri’s story. “Alright now your turn.” The pink unicorn insisted. 
“But wait, I wanted to hear what happened after you started singing.” Aurora defended.
Cherri giggled once more. “Oh no. You are going to tell me about what you were doing in your search for Nero. Also, I want to hear about your sister. What was she like?” 
Aurora pouted, but gave in. “Well fine. My sister was, in a few ways, like you….but only in a few ways. She was a unicorn, like you, and had a knack for getting other ponies to see things her way. It was strange how she was a unicorn. Most other ponies in Amphitrite were Pegasus.” 
“You used to live in Amphitrite?” Cherri asked, almost appalled by the notion. 
Aurora nodded. “Yeah, Nero and I used to live in Amphitrite. It was a nice place too. Every pony was nice to each other, and we had our little place in the sky all to ourselves. Hardly had any visitors though. Just some Pegasus from the Citadel that would occasionally come by and ask if we wanted to join the ranks, we always denied them though. Anyway, since Amphitrite was made of stone we couldn’t really grow anything in the city and clouds weren’t an option either. So, every day fishing parties would go out and get fish from the ocean.”
“Wait, you ate fish? Like…fish-fish?” Cherri felt herself almost throwing up at the thought.
“Yeah.” Aurora brushed off the question as if it were nothing. “We ate fish. We always had. Some of the ponies even developed fangs to better tear into the scales, like Nero. I never did though, guess it wasn’t in the genes.”
Cherri tilted her head thoughtfully. “Really? I never noticed him having fangs.”
Aurora simply shrugged. “Well next time you get the chance, look. Nero and I were best friends growing up. Any time I fell, he was there to help pick me up. We hardly ever left each other’s sides. It was simple back when we were young. Anyway, my sister was the only unicorn in the entire city. That immediately got her a place in the oracles, the ruling power in Amphitrite. They looked to and recorded signs from the stars. The oracles found that most questions from the past, and most questions being asked could be found in the stars if you knew where to look. They recorded all their findings on The Wall – a sort of record of the past and glimpse into the future. My sister knew all of its secrets, and told some of them to me. Most of it was boring, but one stood out. According to The Wall, the pony with two different eyes and his allies would be Amphitrite’s downfall. The only pony in all of Amphitrite with two different eyes was Nero, and I was kind of his only friend. He didn’t trust any pony else. I didn’t get it at first, but my sister told me that the oracles were going to kill her, Nero, and me to save the city. We had to leave, I wanted to tell Nero but sister wouldn’t let me. She said the only way he would leave and be safe was if he didn’t know where we went. So we got a little sky chariot that night and I flew my sister away from Amphitrite. I wanted to stay back somewhere and wait for Nero, but my sister didn’t let me. She said the oracles were surely after us, and we couldn’t afford to wait anywhere longer than necessary. For years, we were on the run. Never sleeping in the same town, never making any ties with any pony. A routine that I still follow today. Until now anyway.” 
Aurora was on the verge of tears, Cherri didn’t want her to cry though. “Here, let me tell you about how I learned magic.” The sad Pegasus blinked away her tears and listened in. “While singing with Alexis was fun and all, I felt pretty worthless. A unicorn who can cook and sing? Not really that impressive. I had made a point to Crow that I wanted to go to school and learn some real magic, not just telekinesis. But for years he told me not to worry about it, all I needed was my voice and my cooking to make a living according to him. He wasn’t wrong, but I hated him for it. Anyway, Crow and Alexis surprised me one day. They gave me a large sum of bits and told me to go to school. They even arranged for me transportation up north to the Arcana, where some of the best unicorns taught and perfected magic. I wanted to tell them no. I wanted to tell them that what they did was too much, but they forced me to go. I hated to leave them, but I respected their wishes and complied. On the long trip to Arcana, I heard why they sent me off. Some pony burned down Crow’s bar and killed him and Alexis. When I heard that, I wanted to break down and stop. But they wanted me to leave and better myself for a reason, so I did as they asked. I hate to say it, but Crow and Alexis were better parents to me that my own parents. Crow never tried anything with me, and Alexis was completely clean. They were a good, honest pair just barely making it in the world. They didn’t deserve what they got, I should have burned instead of them.” Cherri felt herself begin to cry, she couldn’t catch her breath.
Aurora nudged the sobbing unicorn. “Hey, Alcina- I mean Cherri don’t cry.”
Cherri finally caught her breath at that. “Alcina?” 
Aurora cringed a little. “Yeah, Alcina. My sister. She used to cry over our home. I was too young to understand what it meant to her, but she loved her home in Amphitrite. She had no reason to do what she did for me and Nero, but she still gave everything she had for us- even her life. In one of the towns we were staying in, we were found by the oracles. She knew they were coming, and gave herself to them so that I could escape. Sometimes I wish she hadn’t, but she wanted me to have a future. You shouldn’t feel sad about Crow and Alexis. They believed in you enough to give everything they had so you could live on. Surely they knew it was going to happen, so they made their choice to help you.”
Cherri gave a sad little laugh. “You’re right Aurora. Thanks.”
Aurora smiled big. “So…what did you learn in magic school?”
Cherri couldn’t help but match the cheery Pegasus’ smile. “Oh so many things, but maybe another time. We really should get to sleep now, we have a flying city to explore tomorrow.” 
As Cherri started toward the interior of the library and down the hall, Aurora sighed. “I just hope I’m ready to go home.” 
“You don’t have to be, you are home. Here….sister.” Cherri replied quietly.