> A Magical Odyssey
>  by Yoh_3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Late Night Robbery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1
A Late Night Robbery

In a darkened room, during a moonlit night, in the magical kingdom of Alkarzar, sat a figure in a Canary-yellow robe and hood. The figure stared down at a sketch pad, in one hand a pencil. The figure would periodically glance up at it's subject, a staff made of polished wood with a fiery red ruby adorned at it's point. The staff sat upon a pedestal, a cushion of red velvet underneath it. The person in the yellow robes would then look back down at the pad, the next part of the drawing memorized. A bit of moon light filtered into the room through one of the many giant windows, allowing enough light for the figure to draw. The figure was so intent on it's task it didn't notice the great doors slowly creaking open, allowing another figure, this one in gray robes, and the creak of them as the gray robbed figure pushed them back closed. The gray robes took a couple steps toward the hunched over yellow robes, before they seemingly noticed something amiss. The person in the gray robes then spoke up, a young, gruff voice emitting from within the hood.
"Pastel? What are you doing here?"
Pastel, who would be the figure in the yellow robes, jumped and turned toward the source of the voice, before letting out a little laugh when she saw who it was.
"Oh, it's just you Shade. Man you scared me."
Shade pulled down his hood to revel a boy who could barely be 17, unruly black hair left unchecked and the dark circles under his light brown eyes giving him a decidedly tired look.
"You haven't answered my question Pastel, what are you doing here? You know it's Cinder's shift." Shade crossed his arms, while his voice took on a disapproving tone.
Pastel pulled down her own hood, her long blonde hair finally free from it's confines. Her face held her trademark easy smile, and her golden eyes twinkled a bit, the many multicolored flecks in her eyes changing colors simultaneously.
"Oh, lighten up Shade. Yeah, I know it's Cinder's shift, in fact he came down here 'bout an hour ago to relieve me, but I just had to finish my drawing. I mean when do you ever get the chance to draw The Solar Staff, the very staff King Solar himself used to win us our independence. Plus, Cinder didn't seem to mind me taking an extra turn." With this said Pastel turned back to her drawing, continuing to scratch at the page.
Shade sighed and walked to join his friend, who was paying more attention to her pad. Shade glanced down at an admittedly detailed sketching of The Solar Staff, before glancing up at the genuine article.
"I guess I shouldn't be mad at you, Pastel. I mean you are still guarding the Staff. But, Cinder, however, should know how important this is, and how big of a honor it is. I mean, the Staff that gained our independence, the staff that will surely strengthen our already good standing with Equestria. Only one of the most powerful artifacts known to human kind. But does Cinder care? Noooo, he ditches it as soon as he can, delegating his duty to someone who should have been in bed an hour ago! Argh! That man could drive King Asher himself to murder!" Shade had slowly worked himself up, until it got to a point where Pastel wouldn't have been surprised to see smoke rolling out of his ears.
"Calm down before you blow a gasket, Shade." She muttered barely looking up from her drawing. "You and I both know Cinder isn't made for sitting in one spot for hours on end. Really it's for the best that he let me take his place, I mean the room would probably been set on fire by now if he had taken his turn."
Shade was about to shout that wasn't a good enough reason to shirk one's duty when he noticed something out of one of the big windows. There was a person, shrouded in a black set of robes. While this normally wouldn't have been any cause for alarm, the fact that the room in which The Solar Staff rested in was situated in a tower 20 stories tall did give the piece of information a bit of suspicion. The person appeared to have reached the zenith of the arc that had launched him/her up that high, and in his/her right hand they held a wand, from which a faint light glowed at it's point. The figure was the process of swinging the wand in an arc, which, when finished, would point at...
Not thinking twice, Shade suddenly leapt, tackling Pastel in the process. Pastel was going to ask what the hell his problem was when a giant boulder smashed through the window and landed right where Pastel had previously sat. The boulder shattered into a thousand different pieces, each having a different color and shape. Shade quickly drug Pastel behind the only piece of cover in the room, the pedestal on which The Solar Staff rested, and peeked around it as the black figure landed. The interloper glared at where the two mages had taken cover, and slowly approached it, holding up his/her wand, the faint light still lingering at it's tip, and the pieces of the broken boulder zipped over, gathering into a roughly spherical shape over the wand.
"Well that's just great." Shade grunted to himself before pulling his own wand, a jet-black piece of hickory with a black tassel hanging from one end. He glanced over at Pastel, who had just recovered from the shock of the giant boulder, and was sizing up their situation herself. "I'll keep him distracted, you get an emergency letter to Sentinel and the rest of the guards." Shade whispered to her. Pastel nodded before tearing a stray page out of her sketch pad, and started hurriedly writing. "By the way," Pastel glanced up to see what else he had to say, "you owe me." Pastel rolled her eyes before returning to the task at hand. Shade, meanwhile took a breath, steeling himself, before rolling out of cover, diverting the figures attention from the pedestal.
Shade came up in a crouch, muttering what would have sounded like gibberish to anyone else. Shade then touched the tip of his wand to one of the many shadows that littered around the room, and then swung his wand horizontally, the shadow following in a 20 foot, razor sharp arc. The shadow was just long enough to reach the intruder, and probably would have taken his/her head off if he/she hadn't leapt back at the last moment, breaking any sort of concentration they had, the small stones clattering back to the floor. Shade jerked his wand arm back, the shadow following it, and then swung it in a big overhead smash, taking a step forward to accentuate the action. The figure sidestepped just as the shadow came down hard enough to leave a chip in the floor where the figure had just been standing. The figure glared back at Shade, and then started muttering himself, three small shards floating up. Then, with a quick grunt, one of the small shards rocketed off like it had just been fired from a cannon right at Shade. Shade took a step to his right, narrowly dodging the projectile, and then quickly ducked to avoid the second stone. Expecting the last stone, Shade let most the shadow drop, it landing on the floor with a bloop, leaving it about the size of a small knife, and then swung at the last rock just in time to deflect it.
Meanwhile Pastel had finished her letter, explaining the situation in as few words as possible. She reached into her robe arm, and pulled out her wand, a repurposed stylus. She then touched the wand to the now rolled up letter, and muttered a couple words. The letter disappeared in a flash of light, and Pastel turned to see how Shade was fairing. She saw Shade dodging rock after rock, not one touching a hair on his head. However, Pastel could tell his was tiring, and would eventually be hit by one of them. She held her wand out in front of her and, with a quick muttering, the end of it started glowing red. With a few quick strokes a red rectangle about six feet tall floated in the air. She rotated the rectangle so it's face faced the intruder. With one final grunt, a solid red wall extended from the rectangle's side, intercepting a rock that would have surely hit Shade in the chest. She then ran toward Shade, hugging the wall. She quickly drew three circles in the air one blue, one green, and one yellow. As Shade glanced at her she shouted.
"Hit the dirt!" She then dived, allowed the wall to drop to about chest height, and fired a beam of solid color from each of the floating circles. The intruder was able to dodge the blue and green beam, but the yellow one caught him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
"Nice!" Shade shouted, standing up, only to be tackled by Pastel right before a silvery-white beam shot through the air where Shade's head had been a second before.
"Now, we're even." Pastel murmured, the easy smile back on her face. The two then disentangled themselves from each other and peeked over the wall to see another black cloaked figure standing by the shattered window. In one gnarled hand the new arrival clutched a platinum colored wand, it's end smoking slightly, and the other held...
"The Solar Staff!" Shade stood up, only to be pulled down again by Pastel as another beam tore through the air. The second intruder stalked over to the prone form of the first and growled at it. The first quickly jumped up, and seemed to apologize to the second, before being silenced with a wave of the second's hand. The two black cloaked figures calmly walked over to the shattered window and, with out a seconds hesitation, stepped out of it.
The two mages let out two similar cries of surprise, before vaulting the red wall, and ran over to the broken window. Staring down, they could see that, somehow, their two attackers had made it to the ground unscathed, and were piling themselves into a wagon beings pulled by two being they hadn't expected to see.
"Equestrians?" Pastel voiced the question that was on both on their minds. The wagon pulled away from the tower, it's passengers trying to make themselves discreet, and was quickly swallowed up by the night. The two mages sat there for a couple minutes, wondering what in the name of King Solar had just happened, when the great doors suddenly burst open. Guard-mages filed in, wands drawn, expecting a showdown, only to find Shade and Pastel staring out the shattered window. One of the mages, decked in purple robes, marched up to the pair, question already on his lips.
"What happened here, Shade, Pastel? Where's the intruders?"
"They escaped, Sentinel," Shade answered, not looking at Sentinel, "and they took The Solar Staff with them."
"What!?" Sentinel whipped his head around to confirm that The Solar Staff was, indeed, not there. "Oh, that not good, not good at all! King Asher must be told at once!"
"He certainly does, he certainly does." Shade muttered to himself, still staring down at where the wagon had disappeared.


---The Day After---


If Princess Celestia was forced to choose a favorite part of the day, she would say that it was just before noon, 11:00 - 11:45, to be exact. Why? Because this was the part of the day where she would listen to any grievances her subjects had, any petition with an adequate number of signatures, or just any problem that needed a royal touch to fix. While many monarchs would probably find this to be the most annoying or stress filled part of their daily routine, Celestia enjoyed it immensely. Mostly because this allowed her to become closer to each those she ruled over, something she didn't get to do often through the rest of her day, which was usually filled with the ever shifting chess game that was diplomacy with the neighboring countries. Plus, she just loved making the life's of her subjects better, always feeling a pang in her heart when she saw anyone suffering, no matter how small that suffering might be.
This particular day found the princess of the sun nearing the end of the session, listening to one Pony with concerns over the price of grains. She argued that, with the abundance of grains in all of the major farms all over Equestria, that 10 bits for a one pound bag of the stuff was much to high and should be lowered.
Celestia nodded and listened, thinking over all the points the Pony set before her, before thanking the mare and sending her along her way. She sat contemplating whether the price should be lowered when, with a flash of light, a rolled up letter materialized in front of her. Using her magic to casually catch the letter, she brought it close so she could see who it was from.
King Asher, ruler of Alkarzar. When she read the name, she felt a surge of joy. While she didn't usually enjoy the political side of ruling Equestria, her recent correspondence with the young king had been surprisingly enjoyable. Not only had he proved himself to be a just and wise king on multiple occasions, but he was also, surprisingly, a funny and good-natured man, uncommon for a someone who had fought in a civil war on a side that was losing through out most of it. Plus, there was the generous gift of The Solar Staff, the object that had single-handily turned the tide of what would have been a failed rebellion.
Princess Celestia unrolled the letter, eager to see what he had written. But as she read it, she paled, no good news in the letter at all. The king wrote about how The Solar Staff had been stolen the night before, how the two mages guarding the staff had been attacked by two shadowy individuals, and that he had his best 6 mages, which included the two that had been attacked, looking for it as they spoke, and that he was terribly sorry, but it didn't look like she would be receiving the staff anytime soon. As she finished the letter she sat back, closed her eyes, and thought.
The Solar Staff in the wrong hands could be disastrous, not only for Alkarzar, but for Equestria, a close ally of Alkarzar, as well. Any human wielding the staff would have their magic amplified a hundredfold, enough power to go toe-to-toe with King Asher, or even her, and with a pretty good chance of coming out on top. Anyone with a perchance for conquering would be unstoppable with it, free to take over any country he or she pleased.
She sat back and thought about who would want to steal the staff, Possibly someone who held a grudge with Asher, or maybe the whole of Alkarzar. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. Celestia thought she knew who had stolen the staff, and, if she was correct, she knew they would need her help to find the perpetrators. The princess of Equestria started searching for some paper, a quill, and some ink. She had two letters to write. One to King Asher, the other to her personal student, Twilight Sparkle.
> The Twelve Meet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2
The Twelve Meet

Twilight Sparkle sat in the the largely empty main hall, reading an early essay penned by Starswirl the Bearded detailing his theory behind one of his most famous contributions to Pony society, the Animorphic spell. A read that Twilight herself would describe as interesting, if a bit dated. If any other pony were asked their opinion on the work their immediate reaction would probably be 'Starswirl the who-now?'
Rainbow Dash was one such pony. All six of the wielders of the Elements of Harmony had been summoned to Canterlot by Celestia with little to no reason why other then they had to meet a group from the kingdom of Alkarzar. The six had been herded into the main hall with assurances that the group should arrive in about 30 minutes. An hour and a half went past with no signs of the foreigners. Now, most of them had been able to busy themselves while waiting; Twilight with Starswirl's theory, Fluttershy and Pinkie with 873 games of tic tac toe (all won by Pinkie), Rarity with her drawing the newest design for her next dress. Applejack hadn't quite been so successful with finding something to distract her, however she was also able to sit quietly with the hope that the wait wouldn't be much longer. Rainbow Dash, however, after finishing the one Daring Do book she had brought, had swiftly grown irritated and taken to pacing, with frequent glances out the windows.
"Where in the Hoof are they!" Rainbow shouted, her last strand of patience frayed through.
Twilight looked up from her reading, a look of disapproval on her face. "Rainbow, Calm down. Just have patience and I'm sure they'll be here soon."
"I have been patient, for an hour and a half, now where are they. I mean, for Celestia's sake, there's so many other things we could be doing. I could be perfecting my newest, top secret trick. You, Twilight, could be... doing whatever egghead thing you do," a flush of annoyance crossed Twilight's face, "Applejack could be bucking her apples, Rarity could be making her dresses for whatever hoity-toity customer she has."
"Actually," Rarity interrupted, "Uppercrust just put in an order that darling new sundress, you know the purple one with the-"
"Yeah, whatever," Rainbow said, cutting off Rarity before she could continue, "and Fluttershy could be watching her animals, or whatever else she does, and Pinkie... Hey! Where's Pinkie?!"
Fluttershy looked up from where she had been considering her next move to see, that, indeed, Pinkie had disappeared without a trace. A few cursory glances from the five remaining ponies confirmed one thing. Pinkie was nowhere to be seen


---


A carriage plodded into Canerlot, one mismatched, obviously thrown together with unskilled hands, wheel clunking every couple of feet or so. The Carriage was being pulled by two ponies, who were readily identified as royal guards to Princess Celestia herself. The two guards appeared flustered, like they were terribly late to the party, and they were the guest of honor, or, at least, the ones being pulled in the carriage were.
Six humans sat in the carriage, six humans that anypony with working knowledge of countries outside of Equestria would be able to identify as mages of the kingdom Alkarzar. However, not many would able to name their importance to Alkarzar. These mages were widely recognized as the six most powerful mages of their generation back in their home country, the six personal students of King Asher. It was widely believed that all six would all be frontrunners to succeed King Asher when the time came. However, earlier that day, during their journey from the Capital of Alkarzar, Kilif, to Canterlot in fact, they all found out they were lousy as handymen.
In the carriage the six sat on opposite sides, three facing the other three. On one side sat Pastel, her face full of wonder as she stared out the window, sketching anything and everything she could. Next to her was Shade, who was attempting to reread Princess Celestia's letter to King Asher through squinted eyes gained after a couple sleepless nights. Next to him sat a mage in icy-blue robes, his white-blonde hair cut short. He breathed evenly as he read the letter over Shade's shoulder, his breath easily visible, like he was sitting in a climate much colder then Equestria on the verge of it's Summer Sun Celebration. This is Arctic, the oldest of the group. Across from him sat a young lady in a set of olive-green robes and hood. Her frizzy red hair was cut just above her shoulders. She stared, bored, out the window at the passing buildings and the ponies that stopped to stare, casually tapping her finger against the sill, a little bzzt sound issuing forth every other tap or so. Meet Sparks, the first of the mages to start her tutelage under King Asher. Across from Pastel sat another young lady, this time in dark blue robes. Her light brown hair looked like she had dunked her head into a pool of water and it had stayed wet permanently. She sat slumped forward slightly, a quiet snore escaping her lips. This is Torrent, and she doesn't say much. Finally, across from Shade, sandwiched between the two previously mentioned young ladies, sat a gentleman in orange-red robes. The air around him seemed stuffier and dryer, as if the air around him came from a house who's hearth had been kept lit when no one had been around. He had been impatiently tapping his foot for the last 20 minutes of their journey. This is Cinder, and he was not a happy camper
"Remind me, why are we doing this again?" Cinder asked, irritation evident in his voice.
Shade looked up from his reading, bleary eyed. "You've heard the letter, same as all of us, Cinder. Princess Celestia seems to have a theory about who stole The Solar Staff and, for some reason, she needs to see all of us in person."
"Yeah," Cinder said, crossing his arms, "but why? Why are we going to see the princess and these six ponies, why can't they just came to Kilif and tell us her theory there."
"Their Summer Sun Celebration is in two weeks," Arctic responded, "she can't just up and leave with such an important ceremony that close, just as King Asher couldn't if he was summoned when The Feast of Independence was a week away. Besides, our investigation back home has turned up nothing, we need as much help as we can get."
"But that's my point, Arctic," Cinder's irritation growing in his voice, "we should be back home looking for clues, not having some tea party with a pony princess while some second rate mage heads our investigation."
"You do know Track is heading the investigation while we're away, right?" Arctic inquired, a small smile sneaking it's way onto his face.
Cinder seemed to shrink a little bit. "T-track's the one heading that right now?" Cinder asked in a small voice. Arctic nodded while the others tried to keep their snickering under control. Cinder gulped and looked around, like he was making sure no one else was listening. "Y-you won't tell her I called her second-rate, right?" Torrent chuckled a bit, before performing a very good impression of a whip crack, flicking her finger at the same time. "Oh, shut it, Torrent." Cinder huffed, which caused everyone else to burst out laughing.
"Arctic's got a point, Cinder," Sparks said, after recovering from the giggling fit, "we do need all the help we can get, and the investigation's in safe hands with Track and Sentinel back home."
"I guess your right," Cinder conceded, "I'm still not happy about this though."
"You don't have to be happy about it," Shade said, trying to rub some tiredness out of his eye, "you just have to listen to what she has to say."
The carriage trundled to a stop in front of Canterlot Castle. "We're here, sirs and madams." One of the guards called into the carriage. Cinder was the first one up and out, muscling past Pastel and Torrent.
"Well," he said, opening the door, "let's go meet this-" he was suddenly cut off when a shower of streamers and confetti blindsided him, catching him completely off guard. A Pink Pony about half the size of him seemed to materialize of out of nowhere, her poofy, Candy Cotton like hair bouncing, the silliest looking smile ever plastered onto her face.
"Surprise!" she shouted, throwing even more confetti in a festive manner. The six mages were a bit confused to say the least.


---


Pinkie Pie bounced into the main hall to many a confused glance, smile still stuck on her face. Twilight was the first to speak up.
"Oh, there you are Pinkie, we were wondering where you we-" she stopped speaking when six unfamiliar creatures in robes followed Pinkie in. They all seemed to be staring at Pinkie with confusion, accept for the one in dark-blue robes, who seemed to be trying to stifle a little smile. All six froze in place when they noticed the other five ponies in the hall.
"Ahem," the gray robed creature cleared his throat, "um, hello, um, sorry if we're late, our, uh, wagon broke down, hit a rock the wrong way, and we're not exactly carpenters."
"Oh, it's no problem." Twilight replied, "So, I assume you're the mages from Alkarzar."
"You assume correctly," he smiled, "My name is Shade," he pointed to himself, "and these," he motioned to the other mages, "are my friends. This is Pastel," Shade indicated the young lady in the yellow robes.
"Hiya." Pastel waved.
"Arctic," Icy-blue,
"Greetings." Arctic muttered.
"Sparks," Olive-green,
"How ya' doing?"
"Torrent," Dark-blue,
Torrent, for her part, just giggled and waved.
"and Cinder." Orange-red,
"Yeah, whatever." Cinder growled flippantly. Rainbow Dash arched her eyebrow at Cinder's response, which Cinder returned.
"It's nice to meet you all." Twilight said, ignoring the silent exchange between Rainbow and the red robed mage. "I'm Twilight Sparkle," Cinder let out a little laugh, which earned him a elbow to the ribs from Arctic and a glare from Rainbow Dash. "and this is Applejack,"
"Howdy." The orange cow-pony tipped her hat.
"Rarity,"
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Fluttershy,"
"Um, hello." The little yellow Pegasus tried to make herself as little as possible.
"I think you've all met Pinkie Pie,"
"Oh, yeah," Shade laughed, "by the way, Pastel, you still have a bit of confetti in your hair."
"Oh, really?" Pastel shook out her hair, causing a couple slips of confetti to fall from it.
"You got it."
Twilight laughed before finishing up, "and Rainbow Dash."
"Yeah, hi." Rainbow continued to glare at Cinder.
"So, can you tell us why Celestia called us here?" Twilight pried.
The six mages shared a confused glance. "You mean," Arctic started, "she hasn't told you yet?"
"Pray tell, what hasn't she told us?" Rarity said, her air of dignity adding a bit more weight to the question.
"That she had a theory about who stole The Solar Staff."
"The Solar Staff has been stolen!?" Twilight suddenly shouted, causing everyone to jump. Her five friends stared at her, confused. They had little knowledge of Alkarzar between them, and none of them had any idea of what this 'Solar Staff' was.
"Indeed it has." The Ponies and mages turned to find that Celestia, crown Princess of Equestria, had slipped in with no one noticing. All of them kneeled, slightly embarrassed that they hadn't seen her at all. "And I'm sure that you all have many questions, but seeing how it is nearly noon, and I'm assuming that none you have eaten, I think it would be a good idea for me to explain the situation to my subjects and my theory to you over lunch."
"That's kind of you to offer, your Majesty-" Shade started, raising up.
"Just Celestia will do." Celestia interrupted.
"Celestia," Shade amended, "but we would like it very much if we could get back to our search as soon as possible, and I don't think any of us is particularly hungry." As if just to contradict him, a growl emanated from the stomachs of the five other assembled mages. Shade glanced back, and annoyed expression on his face. "You tell your stomachs," he said, completely seriously, "to keep out of this." All the assembled Ponies and mages burst out in a jolly laugh, sucking out all the seriousness that may have been left in the room.
"I can appreciate that you want to get back to your search," Celestia said, stifling a grin, "however, I must insist you stay for lunch." With that, the regal princess turned and walked out of the room. Shade shot a glance at Twilight, who just shrugged her shoulders and followed her princess out, her five friends following her. After a moment hesitation the six mages followed suit.


---


The mages and ponies found themselves seated around the table in the formal dining room. The lunch had been slightly more vegetarian than the mages were used to, but they still enjoyed it none the less. Celestia had just finished explaining the situation to the six ponies, with an occasional interjection from one of the mages.
"So let me get this straight." Applejack said, adjusting her hat. "This Solar Staff, an important artifact to your home and a gift to Equestria, was stolen two days ago? You two," Applejack motioned towards Shade and Pastel, "were attacked by the varmints that stole it while you were guarding it?"
"Uh-huh," Shade confirmed, "I was there to relieve the previous guard for the night, and an hour later Torrent would've relieved me. 'Course, Cinder was supposed to be guarding the staff at the time, not Pastel." Shade shot Cinder an annoyed glare.
Cinder scratched the back of his head and shied away from Shade's glare. "I said I was sorry." Cinder muttered.
"Anyway," Twilight said, bringing attention back to what they had been discussing, "after securing the castle, you launched and investigation which, as of yet, has turned up no clues?"
"Other than they were obviously Humans with Equine accomplices, pretty much." Sparks said.
"Which," Shade said, turning his attention to Celestia, "brings us to why we're here. You said that you had a theory of some kind and that these six," Shade motioned towards the ponies, "would somehow help us find The Solar Staff."
"Yes I do, however I would like to hear a couple of leads you might have turned up." Celestia said, her voice betraying nothing.
"Oh," Shade was slightly taken aback, "well, one of the first theories was that Equestria was involved somehow." There was an outcry from the six ponies.
"It got shot down pretty quickly though." Arctic added, quelling their hosts.
"Yeah," Pastel continued, "it just didn't make sense. I mean, why steal something that you're going to get in a couple days anyway?"
"Exactly." Shade said. "The next theory was that this was some kinda inside job. That one some of our mages, for one reason or another, stole the staff, hiring some random ponies for a getaway."
"But," Sparks said, holding up a finger, "we went through our records, and all the individuals with similar talents that the intruders displayed all had watertight alibis. We were in middle of trying to form another one, when we got your summons."
Celestia had leaned back, eyes closed, nodding her head while they had explained their flawed previous theories. When they finished she cracked her eyes open just a little bit. "All the theories would make sense, if it wasn't for the evidence to the contrary, however, you seem to be ignoring a more... obvious explanation."
The non-celestial attendees shared a glance.
"A more obvious one... princess?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, a group that would hold a grudge with your country, one that hasn't held a particularly friendly relationship with ours." Celestia said, setting the idea in front of them.
Shade closed his eyes in concentration at the same time the lavender unicorn did. They thought for a minute before both their eyes snapped up, an epiphany dawning on both of them at the same time.
"Shangdai!" they said in unison. Their respective friends gave them inquisitive looks.
"Shangdai?" Arctic asked.
"Yeah, Shangdai." Shade said, a plan already forming in his head. "25 years ago it's a magical powerhouse, Alkarzar being one of it's important colonies, not only for its resources, but for any military operation. It's self sustainable, it's got easily guarded borders, and easy accesses to many of it's old enemies. Suddenly, there's a revolt in the perfect colony. People born and raised there sick of not having any say in how it's governed. So what, it's a rebellion fueled by mostly farmers and peasants. Not a whole lot of skilled combat mages in that lot. It was predicted that the rebellion would be squashed just like that." Shade snapped his fingers for emphasis. "For the most part, that looked exactly like how it was going to go down."
"But," Arctic said, seeing where Shade was going with this, "someone pops up right at the projected end of the war, The Battle of Evergreen. A certain mage in pristine white robes appears, in his hands he holds a staff topped with a fiery red ruby. The officials probably laughed it off, some peasant whose trying to make some kinda big showing. Suddenly this 'peasant' fires off a beam of white hot energy that takes out half of the Shangdai forces. They are stunned. They see this mage getting ready to fire off another one. They want nothing to do with that. They take off running, tails firmly between their legs. This mage turns out to be the future king of Alkarzar, Solar. Just two months after the battle all semblance of Shangdai is forced out of Alkarzar, leaves Solar king, and gives Shangdai a hell of a reason to hate Alkarzar. Without Alkarzar, they're forced to tone down their ambitions, leaving them much less powerful than they were before. Any old blood would be left seething after that."
"And, I don't mean to butt in here," Pastel added, "that mage that nearly took Shade's head off the other night gave off a distinctly old blood feel, if I do say so myself."
"There's something else to take into consideration." Twilight said, inserting herself into the mage dominated discussion, "Shangdai and Equestria has always had a notoriously poor relationship with each other. So our two countries recent correspondence might come across as a slap in the face to them. The agreement to give us The Solar Staff might have been the last straw. Not wanting such a powerful item to fall into the hands of someone they see as their enemies, they might have taken the chance to steal The Solar Staff, perhaps hiring the ponies to throw us off their trails. Plus, from what I've read, the current prince of Shangdai, Steel, served as the general at The Battle of Evergreen."
Sparks coughed then, bringing them out of their formation of the theory. "Okay, so we've got a motive for Shangdai, possibly a grudge, possibly sanctioned by the prince himself, however, we're missing something right now. Evidence."
Shade groaned, rubbing his chin. "Solar's Robes you're right. But we've exhausted our search back in Kilif, we'd have to continue our investigation in Shangdai if we wanted to get anywhere."
"Well that shouldn't be to big of a problem," Cinder grunted, "we'll just request that we continue our investigation in Shangdai, and if they refuse then we can take a pretty good guess why."
"Not good enough," Shade said, "if we do request that they'll know that we're suspicious, meaning they can take whatever move with The Solar Staff they may have done anyway, or if they do allow us to investigate they have ample warning, allowing them to hide any sort of incriminating evidence. No, we have to get into Shangdai without anyone being the wiser,  to get into Shangdai undetected we'd have to head right through the heart of the Everfree Forest, then through The Terra Mountains. The mountains are bad enough, but the we'd never make it through that ever twisting and ever treacherous maze that calls its self a forest without some kinda guide."
"Which," Celestia said, breaking the silence that she'd occupied since setting the original idea before them, "brings us to why my personal student and her friends are here." The six mages glanced at her, questions in their eyes. "I'm sure you remember when my sister returned a couple years ago."
Cinder snorted, "Oh yeah, we remember. A insane Alicorn trying to plunge the world into eternal night isn't something you just forget about in a couple weeks. King Asher was this close to sending in the troops, when, out of the blue, the sun just comes up. The only reason why I got was that Luna got cured of whatever madness had over taken her."
"Well, what you weren't told, was that six courageous ponies journeyed into the Everfree Forest in search of the Elements of Harmony, which they then used to cure my sister." The was a bit of shuffling from the six ponies, various levels of bashfulness on their faces. A spark of recognition played across Shade's eyes.
"By Solar's Crown, I can't believe I didn't recognize you. You six, you're the Elements of Harmony. The ones that cured Luna two years ago, the ones that banished Discord nearly a year ago, the ones that sent the Changelings and their queen packing just three months ago. It's an honor to meet you all."
Twilight cleared her throat, trying to overcome the embarrassment. "Really, we're more like the wielders then the actual Elements. Also that last one was more my brother and his wife, Cadence."
Shade smiled at their modesty. "Well, it's still an honor to meet you."
"Okay," Cinder said, clearly not as impressed as Shade, "so they have an admittedly good track record, how exactly are they going to help get into Shangdai?"
"Wait," Arctic muttered, "you said that they've been in the Everfree Forest, right?"
Celestia nodded, a small smile on her lips.
"Y-you want them to be our guides, don't you?" Pastel asked. The eyes of the six ponies popped open wide and they glanced towards their princess.
"Only if you and they have no qualms."
The six mages sat considering for a minute. "Well," Arctic said, his eyes closed "we definitely need to get through the forest."
"And," Shade added, "we'd look less suspicious with them then if we just showed up by ourselves."
"So," Celestia said, "I assume you'll accept their help."
"Only if they're willing to extend it." Pastel said.
The ponies shared a quick look and a nod before returning their attention to the mages.
"Well shoot," Applejack drawled, "we're always willing to help folks in need."
"Plus," Rainbow added "if this Solar Staff is as dangerous as you say it is, you're going to need our help."
"Thanks, I think." Cinder said, arching his eyebrow at Rainbow Dash.
"But," Twilight said, holding up her hoof, "we need to stop by Ponyville to prepare first."
"That's probably for the better, none of us are really packed for a long trip. By the way, we're going to need some supplies, hope that's not to much trouble." Shade said.
"Oh, no trouble at all darling," Rarity assured, "in fact, I've been working on a travel bag designed for humans, all of you will be perfect to test them."
"Okay, wait a minute," Cinder called, bringing attention to himself, "what in the name of Solar's crown are we doing, just sitting here, when we should be getting ready to sneak into Shangdai?"
"He has a point." Sparks said, getting up.
"That he does." Shade agreed, raising up himself. Shade turned towards Princess Celestia and bowed. "Thank you Princess Celestia, for all your help."
"You are most welcome. I wish you luck on you journey." Celestia said. Shade nodded his thanks before turning and walking out of the room, his comrades in tow. "Oh, and Twilight," Celestia said, as Twilight and her friends got up to follow. Twilight turned towards her, a question in her eye. "Stay Safe." was all Celestia said.
"I will, Princess." Twilight said, before following her friends out of the room.


---


Shade and his friends had been left waiting at the fountain in the town square of Ponyville while Twilight and the others had set off to prepare. They'd arrived to a few stares and a bit of muttering, but much of the town had moved on after a couple minutes. Shade was standing there, feeling like he'd forgotten something, when Pastel whispered to him.
"Hey, Shade." Pastel was looking down at her sketch pad, where she was drawing, in fine detail, the town hall about 20 feet away.
"Yes?" Shade replied.
"There's a green unicorn over there. I think she has a lyre for a cutiemark."
"Yeah, so what?" Shade asked, confused.
"Well, she's been staring at us for about ten minutes now."
Shade glanced up to see that, indeed, there was a green unicorn with a lyre cutimark. She was also, indeed staring at them, with the strangest look of joyous rapture on her face. She was standing next a mare with a white coat and a blue and pink mane. She happened to have a particularity embarrassed look on her face.
"So there is. What do you think she wants?"
"I don't know." Pastel said, not looking up. "Try waving at her."
Shade waved, half-heartedly, at the green unicorn. She proceed to faint with the most blissful look on he face. Her friend sighed and started dragging her away.
"That was weird." Arctic muttered.
"Yeah." Shade said, still a bit confused. "Hey, do you guys feel like we're forgetting something?"
"Well," Arctic said, an unsure look crossing his face, "now that you mention it yeah. Almost like we were supposed to write something."
Shade smacked his forehead as the realization came to him. "Oh by Solar's Robes, we forgot to write our report to King Asher." The other five mages groaned. It had been drilled into their heads at a young age to always report back to King Asher and they'd totally forgotten.
"Hey, Torrent," Cinder sighed, "you won't mind writing the report, will you?" The other mage just shook her head before producing a piece of paper and a quill from her sleeve arm. She started explaining the situation and their plan to the king. That's when the six ponies came back. They all had saddle bags slug across their backs, their buckles resembling the cutiemarks of their respective owner. Behind Twilight floated six identical messenger bags.
"Okay," Twilight said, "this should be all that you should need." The six bags floated over to their respective mage, where they were casually grabbed and slung over their shoulders. "They have enough food and water for seven days, basic survival equipment, and a guide to the flora and fauna known to be found in the Everfree forest."
"Right," Cinder said, adjusting the strap on his bag, "hey, Torrent, hows that report coming?"
Her only answer was pull her wand out, something that looked like it had been fitted together using conflicting pieces of wood, and touching the report, it disappearing in a flash of light.
"Good," Arctic remarked, rubbing his hands together, "well, if that's everything, I think we should be on our way." Arctic moved to take a step away.
"Hold your horses," Applejack barked, "I know that they're probably traditional and all, but you folks really shouldn't be traipsing around in the forest in those robes."
Six mages glanced down at their floor length robes and then back to each other. Then, confusing the ponies, they started laughing.
"Oh man," Arctic laughed, "we're forgetting everything today, aren't we?"
"Oh yeah," Shade said, before gripping the collar of his robes with both hands, "on the count of three?"
"Sounds like a plan." Pastel said, doing the same with her robes. The other 4 mages followed suit.
"One..." all the mages, except for Shade closed their eyes, "two..." Shade closed his eyes, "three..." there was a flash of light. When the ponies worked the spot of their eyes, they could see that the robes the mages had been wearing were replaced with comfortable looking traveling cloaks, all of them the same color as the robes they had previously worn. They noticed that all of the mages wore a leather chest plate under their cloaks, but they decided not to comment on that.
"Marvelous," Rarity said, amazement in her voice, "however did you create a set of robes that could change into cloaks at will?"
"Well," Sparks said, "we didn't. These are actually the creation of the royal seamstress, Stitch. We don't quite know how she did it, but she did. All we have to do is feed a bit of magic into them, and, poof, they change."
"Oh, I simply must know how she does it." Rarity declared.
"She'd probably be willing to show you how, you know, if you ever meet her."
"So," Shade said, halting the fashion talk before it could continue, "is there any more objections before we start?"
Applejack shook her head. "Nope, you folks look ready to take on the Everfree forest."
"Good," Shade said, turning, "then let's get this show on the road." With that he took a step forward, one step closer to finding The Solar Staff.


---Author's Notes---


I'd like to preemptively thank the new editor for this story, Longshot, he has already given me some good advice and I'm sure he'll continue to do so.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book about Abraham Lincoln slaying vampires to read.
> The Journey Gets off to a Rocky Start
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3
The Journey Gets off to a Rocky Start

Although the Everfree forest was not what anyone could call a safe place, in fact it would be a place anyone would say a wondering mind might land you a place in a predator's stomach, everyone in the group were overcome by the forest. The mages by a quiet wonderment at the wild yet majestic forest, and the ponies would seem to be taken over by bouts of nostalgia at random. The gawking and reminiscing didn't leave much room for anyone to talk, though there were many questions on the minds of the mages.
A bit past a quiet little stream, Arctic decided to get a conversation rolling.
"So," he said to no one in particular, "what exactly is our plan?"
"Well," Twilight Sparkle explained, looking over her shoulder, "around the center of the forest, there's a castle that should provide good shelter during the night, after that, it should be a simple matter of casting a navigational spell and comparing that to a map to get our bearings."
"Quick question," Cinder said, holding up his hand, "why is there a castle in the middle of Everfree Forest? Doesn't seem like prime real estate."
"Well," Twilight continued, "this castle was the ancient castle to the Alicorn sisters, Celestia and Luna, however it was abandoned sometime after Luna gave into insanity. Right now it's just an empty castle, but when we arrived there the first time, it was actually the resting place for the Elements of Harmony."
"So why did Celestia abandon it?" Pastel asked.
"From what I gathered, I think there was just too many painful memories of what used to be."
"Hmm," Arctic nodded, "all right one last question... what in Solar's name is that rumbling?" Stopping, they all noticed that there was indeed a rumbling, coming and going every few seconds, shaking the ground.
"I'm... not sure." Twilight said, glancing around.
Suddenly there was a tearing noise to their right, like whole swaths of tree and bushes were being uprooted. Pony and mage alike stiffened and stared towards the source of the sound, which seemed to be behind an almost implementable looking thicket of trees and other assorted flora. All the mages, reached into their cloaks, fumbling for their wands in preparation for what was ahead. At that moment, a giant stone arm reached through the thicket, grabbed a handful of trees, and tore a hole through the thicket to it's left, like it was just opening some curtains. Through the new hole in the thicket stepped a giant stone figure, with a big, round, featureless body, and legs the size of tree trunks. It seemed to stare at the group with it's nonexistent eyes and started lumbering towards them. The whole group started backing up.
"W-what's that?" Fluttershy asked, quivering behind the bulk of the group.
"I-it almost looks like a Stone Golem from Alkarzar... but it's totally featureless." Sparks said.
"Is it living?" Shade asked, still backing away.
"No," Twilight said suddenly, "I couldn't feel it before, but it's definitely being held together by magic. However it doesn't feel like any Unicorn magic I've studied before."
"Probably animated by Human magic then." Shade said, scratching his chin.
"Okay then, what's my chances at being able to melt that thing down?" Cinder inquired.
"I'm not sure," Twilight responded, "but it'd be a risk."
"Plus," Pastel added, "you'd probably burn down some of the forest if you tried."
"Well, whatever we're going to do," Rainbow Dash interjected, "it's getting closer, and we don't have a lot of room to move." The group glanced around themselves, taking note that the sides of the narrow path was all tightly packed thickets.
"Okay," Sparks said, "farther down the path, is there somewhere with more room to move?"
"About a hundred feet down," Twilight responded, "there's a clearing, but we have to get there first."
"Alright then, on the count of three, we all make a break for it, agreed?" Shade said.
"Why wait for a three count?" Arctic asked.
"It's so no one gets confused and lef- Hey! Where's Torrent?" Shade suddenly asked, noticing a sudden lack of the blue robed mage.
"S-she took off down the path as soon as Twilight mentioned the clearing." Fluttershy said.
"Aww, screw it," Shade groaned, "Run!"


---


The mages and Ponies ran into the clearing, panting. Glancing behind them, they couldn't see the giant, but the rumbling from it's footsteps could still be heard.
"Alright," Cinder panted, "it doesn't seem to be that fast. Maybe we can just run the rest of the way to the castle."
"But then," Shade panted back, "then we'd have to keep on the move, there's no way we'd get any rest. It's going to catch up to us sometime. By the way, where in Solar's name is Torrent?!"
Looking around, the saw the mage standing in middle of the clearing, staring up at the sky as if thinking. Shade stormed over to her.
"Thanks," Shade grunted, "for just ditching us back there Torrent!" The other mages and Ponies gathered behind Shade. "Torrent I thought you were more responsible then that! Why in the world did you just lea-."
"I have a plan." Torrent said.
"Huh?" Everyone else asked.
"I have a plan." Torrent repeated.
Shade stared at her for a second before turning towards the others. "Cinder, watch for the giant. Okay, Torrent, what's the plan?"
"The ol' freeze and smash."
"Uh-uh." Arctic said, shaking his head. "I know I can freeze small stuff, but that thing is way to big, it'd take way too much energy."
"Not if I drench him in water first." Torrent said matter-of-factually.
"Okay then," Sparks said, "where in the world are you going to get this water?"
"Look up."
Above head they could see that the sky was filled with dark clouds.
"Guys, he's coming." Cinder said.
"You're going to get water from the clouds?" Shade asked, ignoring Cinder.
Torrent nodded her head.
"Won't that take too much energy too?" he asked.
"You seem to be forgetting that we have a couple of Pegasi on hand." Torrent said, smiling.
Shade glanced at the two Pegasi. "You two have experience moving clouds, right?"
"I do it all the time back in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash confirmed.
"Um," Fluttershy murmured, "I don't actually work with clouds too much, but I should be able to help."
"This... might actually work." Shade muttered.
"But, that thing isn't going to hold still and let you do that. I mean, not unless you can anchor it somewhere." Pastel said, glancing toward the clearing entrance.
"Actually," Shade said, holding up a finger, "I should be able to handle that."
"Okay guys," Cinder said, turning to face the group, "if we're going to go with whatever plan you've got, we need to do it fast." The rest of the group glanced past Cinder. The giant had entered the clearing and continued lumbering towards them.
"Alright," Shade said, clapping his hands, "Torrent, do you mind me hijacking your plan a bit?"
"Not at all." Torrent said, readying her wand.
"First, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, you girls fly up and bring down as many clouds as you can, Torrent and Arctic, you guys hang back and get ready to freeze the guy. Twilight, you're adept at shield and teleporting magic, right?"
"I'm not as good at shields as my brother, but I can definitely do them, and I'm especially good at teleportation."
"Good, then I'm going to need you to get me behind the giant and shield me while I start working on anchoring him. Meanwhile, Applejack, Pastel, Pinkie Pie, Sparks, Rarity, and Cinder will keep Mr. Smashy off Torrent and Arctic. Try not too get crushed guys. You ready?"
There was a general sound of agreement.
"Alright," Shade said, turning to face the giant, "let's do this then."
"Grab On!" Twilight said, a magenta glow surrounding her horn. Shade complied, settling his hand on the curve of her back. In a flash the two disappeared, only to reappear a second late behind the giant, it none the wiser. Twilight seemed to have not have been bothered at all by the magic, but Shade seemed a little disoriented, although he quickly shook it off and drew his wand. He quickly leapt forward, stabbing his wand an inch into the ground that was covered by the giant's shadow. He started muttering while Twilight trotted forward, standing next to him with her horn glowing, ready to throw up a barrier if need be.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, meanwhile, had zipped up to the cloud bank, and were busy gathering up as many clouds as they possibly could. Below, Torrent and Arctic stood, holding their wands, Torrent above her head and Arctic pointing his, a stick of wood that looked to be covered in frost, in the general direction of the lumbering behemoth. At the tip of both of their wands, a blue energy seemed to be gathering, Torrent's a darker blue then Arctic's.
Everyone else, meanwhile, had fanned out in front of the giant, diverting it's attention just a little bit. The giant seemed to calmly observe the deterrents before it, before seeming to focus the cotton candy pink mare slightly to its left. Suddenly, it leapt forward, much faster then it's gait had suggested it was capable of. It brought one of it's huge fist down on pink pony, shaking the ground for miles around. For a few horrible second the mages and ponies thought that Pinkie had been flattened into a pancake, before she suddenly popped out from behind Pastel, scaring the living daylights out of her.
"That was close." Pinkie said, staring at the spot that she had been standing. Besides her mane being a bit more ruffled then usual, she looked none the worse for ware.
"H-how did you do that?" Pastel asked, trying to regain her composure.
"Do what?" Pinkie asked innocently.
"Never mind," Pastel said, turning back to the giant. "Careful guys, he's faster then he looks."
Suddenly, a small bolt of electricity seemed to snake out of nowhere, striking the giant in the undefined torso. While it did leave a scorch mark, the giant seemed more annoyed then anything else. The giant turned toward the direction of the bolt, and there stood Sparks, her wand sparking with static, a mocking, smug look on her face.
"What, too shocking for you?" Sparks asked, grinning at her own bad joke. The giant just stared at her and then started to take a step. Suddenly, the giant leapt forward, trying to use it's original slow speed as a distraction from it's ability to explode into action. Sparks however, ready for it, leapt backward to dodge the heavy, deadly fist. The giant seemed to ready itself to leap again, when a fireball about the size of a human's fist rammed the giant, distracting the giant from the mage.
"Hey, try not to ignore the rest of us there, rocks-for-brains." Cinder said, preparing another fireball. He stood in a relaxed stance, betraying a certain comfortableness in situations such as he found himself in now. The giant turned to face Cinder, but stopped halfway through the turn. The giant had finally noticed that two of it's quarry weren't accounted for. The giant turned to face the way it had came and found the missing two. It saw Shade, knelling with his wand stabbed into the ground. Around the wand, the shadow of the giant swirled in a inky whirlpool. Next to Shade, Twilight stood, her horn still glowing with magenta light, her stance betraying a certain fright, but also a steady determination. The giant started walking towards them.
"Oh no." Pastel breathed. "Shade, he's coming!" She shouted, before shooting off a purple beam, attempting to distract the menace. The beam glanced off the giant's back, leaving nary a mark, the giant paid her no heed, continuing it's slow march towards Shade and Twilight. No matter what hit, Spark's bolts, Cinder's Fireballs, or Pastel's beams, the giant would not be deterred.
"He's coming Shade," Twilight whispered to the gray robed mage, "are you almost down with your spell?"
"Another minute," Shade muttered curtly, eyes squeezed closed, his voice filled with tension, "then we need to wait for Torrent and Arctic. Try and hold him off for a little bit." He returned to his obscure muttering, his voice taking on a new urgency.
The giant leaped forward, ready to smash Twilight and Shade. For Twilight, time seemed to slow down. She'd seen the explosive speed the giant could summon up when it was ready to kill, but it was totally different to be the target. What had seemed as slow as a tortoise now bared down on her like a speeding train. She almost believed that her magic wouldn't be fast enough to intercept the fist. But she knew she needed to get her shield up quick, not just for herself, but for the mage that knelt next to her, relaying on her to protect him, for her and his friends who needed the spell he was preparing to survive. With a spark of energy, a barrier formed an inch from the point of her horn, encasing he and Shade in a light pink force field a second before the fist met the barrier. Twilight had been expecting a lot of force, but what she got exceeded her expectations. She felt the impact reverberate through out her body, leaving Twilight shaken and breathing heavily. The barrier had a hairline fracture, she wasn't sure it could take another hit like that. But the giant brought his fist up again, ready to smash again. Twilight closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable. She heard the whoosh of the first swinging down, she readied herself for the impact. The impact came, but oblivion didn't.
Twilight cracked her eyes open, surprised she was still there. A layer of crystals had coated the barrier, leaving the barrier just enough buffer to hold. Twilight looked around, wondering where the crystals had came from. About 10 feet behind the giant, Rarity stood, her horn glowing a light blue, a look of concentration on her face.
The giant seemed just as surprised as Twilight at the sudden appearance of the crystals, and was surprised even more when a clear orange platform appeared underneath it's feet, lifting it off the ground, leaving about enough room for a pony to slide under the platform. Taking advantage of this, Applejack and Pinkie slid under the platform and pushed the platform with their hind legs, exhibiting surprising strength in the awkward position. The giant flailed it's arms in an attempt to stay up right, but it toppled over regardless, landing with an earth shaking thump.
"Thanks girls." Twilight said, panting heavily and taking the chance to drop the barrier.
"No problem, sugar cube." Applejack replied, dusting herself off. Suddenly, Rainbow shot over to Twilight and Shade, her wings flapping faster then usual.
"Arctic said he and Torrent are ready when you guys are." She informed Twilight and Shade.
"Good timing," Shade said, rising up slowly, "I just got done with the spell." His eyes snapped open, and what Twilight saw surprised her. His eye, normally brown, had taken on a dark shade of gray, an unsettling change and something she'd have to ask him about later. He also seemed to ooze a confident, almost cocky, aura, as if he knew he held immense power within and he knew exactly how to use it. The shadow still swirled around his wand, but when he flicked his hand, it splashed onto the ground and seemed to writhe and bubble. With another flick, the shadow shot across the ground, settling under the giant, who was attempting to stumble back to it's feet with little luck. With one final flick, four giant inky shackles shot out of the shadow, clasping around the wrists and ankles of the giant, before quickly retreating back into the shadow, slamming the arms and legs of the giant back into the ground, locking the giant in place. It struggled against the shadowy restraints, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Arctic and Torrent stood surrounded by a veritable cloud bank. The energy at the tips of their wands had taken shape, for Torrent a giant water drop and for Arctic a Snowflake. Their eyes had taken on unnatural shades of blues, which worried Fluttershy, who hovered about five feet away from the mages. She glanced at the main action just in time to see the giant being shackled, and let out a startled gasp at the sight.
"I think that's the sign." Arctic said, a little smile touching his lips.
Torrent didn't say anything, she merely leveled her wand, pointing it at the now prone form of the giant. as if reacting to the lowering of the wand, a great deluge of water poured out of the clouds and gathered at the end of the wand, around the ethereal water drop. With a grunt from the Torrent, the ball of water shot towards the giant, eventually hitting and soaking it and the area around it. With this done, Torrent's eyes returned to their normal color and she collapsed, only managing to not crack her head because Fluttershy barely manged to catch her.
"Oh my goodness, is she okay?" Fluttershy asked, lowering Torrent slowly to the ground.
"She'll be fine." Arctic said, focused on the now soaking wet giant. "But, I might need you to do the same for me." With out explaining what he meant by this, he grunted, the snowflake seemed to dissipate, appearing over the giant a second later. The snowflake slowly descended, and, when it touched the giant, there was a flash of blue light. After the light dissipated, the giant had been frozen solid, it's thrashing ceasing. Arctic let out a little laugh before he started falling back, Fluttershy barely able to catch him in time.
"There's the freeze," Cinder said, backing up away from the giant-cycle, "now we just need the smash."
"I've got that covered," Shade said, his eyes still gray, "just gather 'round and get a shield up Twilight." The group dashed to stand behind Shade, weary about what he was about to do. As Twilight put up her slightly worse for ware shield back up, Shade flicked his wand up, and with that the shadowy shackles flicked up into the air, bringing the frozen giant with them, to about 10 feet, and with a flick downward, they slammed into the ground, bringing the giant crashing into the ground, it shattering into glittering chips of ice, leaving no sign that there had been a giant there.
With the giant now gone, Shade slumped, his form suddenly becoming haggard.
"It's been a while sin-" Shade didn't get to finish the sentence before he himself collapsed. Pastel stepped forward quickly, catching Shade under the arms.
"Whoa there." Pastel grunted. "You're going to have to take it easy, as are Arctic and Torrent. You guys haven't done magic that intensive since that one time those Manticores nearly destroyed three villages."
"We need to get going before something else comes along." Cinder said, glancing around like he expected something else to jump them right then and there. "I'll carry Shade, and, whoever thinks they can, can carry Arctic and Torrent." Soon Shade was riding on the back of Cinder, resting and out cold, Arctic on the back of Applejack, and Torrent on Rainbow Dash. The group continued on their journey, going with more caution then before.


---


Finally the group saw the giant crumbling castle. They were weary just from the first day of their quest and they were ready to bring the day to a close. The three who had collapsed had regained consciousness, although the still seemed a bit lethargic.
"Hurry," Shade mumbled slowly as they started crossing the rope bridge, "before something else pops up."
"I could move faster if I didn't have to carry you." Cinder grunted, still shouldering his weight.
"Are they going to be okay?" Rainbow asked, looking back at Torrent, who weakly held onto the flying Pegasus.
"They'll be fine," Pastel said, assuring Rainbow Dash, "they're just a bit groggy from using that much magic."
"Well, I hope they'll be ready to go tomorrow." Twilight said, being the first one to step back on solid ground.
"Well be fine," Arctic insisted, barely holding onto Applejack. "we just need to rest for a night."
"Shh," Sparks hushed suddenly, bringing the group to a stop, "do you guys hear that?" Straining, they could hear the silent pad of what sounded like canine feet, and the sound seemed to be coming from east of the castle.
"Oh, what now?" Applejack said, getting ready to run or fight if needed.
As if in answer, a brown blur burst out of the forest, only stopping when it was about ten feet away from the group. Now that it had stopped, they could see that it was a medium sized wolf with shaggy brown fur. The wolf was staring at the group with an intelligent glare. A magenta glow surrounded Twilight's horn, ready for whatever was about to happen, but Cinder stopped her with an almost dazed wave of his hand.
"Track?" Cinder asked, staring at the wolf. The wolf snorted derisively and with a flash of light, it was replaced. In it's place stood a girl with tan skin, brown, unkempt hair, and crossed arms. Her eyes were an unsettling golden color and they seemed to stare holes through both pony and mage alike. She wore a mottled green cloak.
"Nice to see you too Cinder." Track said, the corners of her mouth turning up a bit.
"What are you doing here?" Cinder asked, shifting uneasily.
"King Asher seemed uneasy about you six heading into hostile territory and asked me to head here to make sure you knew what you were doing. But I see you've already faced some hardships." She said, motioning toward the barely conscious mages.
"You should see the other guy." Torrent joked from the back of Rainbow Dash.
"Are you supposed to try and convince us to come home, Track?" Shade inquired.
"If I deem it necessary, then yes." Track confirmed.
"Whoa, hold on here!" Applejack said suddenly, bringing the conversation to a halt. "Who in the wide land of Equestria are you?"
"Allow me," Sparks said, stepping forward, "wielders, I'd like you to meet Track, leader of the Royal Scouts of Alakarzar."
"Greetings." Track bowed shallowly.
"Howdy, and you're here to convince them," Applejack indicated the six mages, "to head back home with you?"
"Again, if I deem it necessary, yes." Track responded.
Pastel sensed that she was about to deem it necessary. "Hey, Cinder," Pastel said, moving close to him, "how about you talk to Track while we get Shade, Arctic, and Torrent into the castle."
"Wha, oh yeah sure." Cinder said distractedly. He slowly lowered Shade until his feet touched the ground and let Pastel move to support him.
"He might be a bit heavy for you." Twilight said, looking between Shade and Pastel, "hold on, I'll help." With a quick spark, Shade was in cased in a magenta orb and levitated off the ground.
"Thanks, Twilight," Pastel said, stepping toward the castle, "have fun talking to Track, Cinder."
"Yeah, sure." Cinder said, still seeming a bit dazed.
Leaving Cinder behind, the group entered the decrepit castle and hurriedly set about setting camp. Pastel used her magic to set up three make shift cots for the semi-lucid mages to rest on, while Rainbow Dash and Sparks investigated the castle, making sure they were the only ones there. Rarity and Applejack, meanwhile, set about building a small fire for that night's dinner, although Rarity eventually left Applejack and Pinkie to cook the food, although she was slightly worried when she heard Pinkie ask if they could try some obscure Buffalo cuisine. Most Buffalo dining mostly involved a semi-recognizable mush, and was not know for it's taste unless you yourself was a Buffalo.
They'd cordoned off a area for the fire, so when Rarity exited the area, she saw that Sparks and Rainbow weren't back from scouting the castle yet, Cinder seemed to still be talking to Track, Twilight was busy studying a map of the Everfree Forest, and Pastel, along with Fluttershy, was keeping careful watch over the resting mages.
"Cinder's not done talking yet?" Rarity asked, trotting over to look at Twilight's map.
"I think he and Track have a lot to talk about." Pastel said, not turning to look at Rarity.
"Castle's clear." Rainbow Dash said, trotting out of a side passage with Sparks right behind her. Rainbow looked around and noticed the lack of a red robed mage. "Is he still talking to that wolf girl?"
"Uh-huh." Twilight muttered, scrutinizing the map.
"Planning our route tomorrow?" Sparks asked, floating over to look at the map herself.
"Yes, though the way Track talked, there may not be a need to. She seemed intent to bring you guys home." Twilight said, tracing a small path on the map.
"You won't have to worry about that." A voice said, surprising mage and pony alike. Cinder stood in the doorway, holding it open.
"You mean you convinced her that sneaking into Shangdai was the right thing to do?" Sparks asked, surprise in her voice, "Wow, I'm impressed."
"Well," Cinder said, walking into the room, "I didn't convince her, per say, but she did realize that she probably wasn't going to convince us otherwise."
"Where's Track?" Shade asked, attempting to sit up, though Pastel gently pushed him down again.
"She said that she needed to continue the investigation back in Alkarzar." Cinder informed him. "But she did say she'll be keeping tabs on us."
"Hmm, did she say anything else."
"Um," Cinder's cheeks took on a red hue, "some private stuff."
Torrent laughed from her cot.
"Torrent, hush." Sparks chided. Torrent's own cheeks turned red although she turned away from the group before anyone else could see, except for Rarity, who, while confused, said nothing.
"Well," Shade said, attempting to sit up again, although Pastel just pushed him back down again, "I think it's time to set up shifts for tonight."
"Mush's on everypony." Pinkie called, popping her head out from behind the curtain they'd set up.
"After dinner?" Cinder asked, walking toward the area.
"Fine," Shade sighed, "after dinner." Shade attempted to get up, yet again, just to be pushed down by Twilight's magic and Pastel at the same time.
"Rest." They ordered simultaneously. Shade just huffed, leaned back and closed his eyes.
> Strange Happenings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4
Strange Happenings

Rarity yawned as she watched the darkened entrance to the ancient castle. She'd been woken about ten minutes earlier by Pastel to take her shift. After dinner all of the ponies and half the mages; Shade, Torrent and Arctic had been excluded on account that they needed their rest, had pulled straws to determine who would take what shift. Rarity had been lucky enough to pull the longest and chose the last shift, on account that it and the first shift had the most hours of uninterrupted sleep. While that fact was appreciated, Rarity was still missing that one extra hour of beauty rest. She'd also learned a few thing about guard work. 
1. It was dreadfully lonely and boring work.
2. One of the male mages snored quite heavily, although she couldn't tell which.
3. Heavy snoring made it quite easy for one to stay up while doing guard work.
As Rarity reflected on these lesson, she heard a slight shuffling coming from the area where the three drained mages rested. She tensed and tried to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. From out of the gloom of the castle's main hall stepped a blue robbed figure, their hood pulled over their head. The figure glanced around, somehow not noticing Rarity's pristine white coat, and proceeded to shuffle out of the castle. Rarity assumed that whoever they were, they must have had a lot on their mind to not notice her. After a second's hesitation, Rarity followed whoever it was out.
The Sun was peeking coyly over the horizon, coloring the landscape in a orangeish-red. The figure sat on a small knoll, staring at the rising sun, not moving. The figure had also been kind enough to pull her hood down, and the damp looking hair was an instant give away for Rarity.
"You know dear," Rarity said, trotting up to the preoccupied mage, "you really should be resting after what you did yesterday." Torrent shot a quick glance at the Unicorn before returning her eyes to Celestia's handy work.
"Rested enough." She muttered, her voice monotone. Rarity settled down next to Torrent to watch the raising sun for a minute.
"So, what's on you mind, dear?" Rarity pried. Torrent shrugged.
"Stuff, I guess."
"You know, if you want to talk, I've been told I'm a fairly good confidant." Rarity said.
"I'll keep that in mind, Rarity." Torrent laughed, standing up. She turned and walked back to the castle, with nary a backward glance.
As Rarity watched her reenter the ruins, Rarity had the feeling that her help was needed.


---


"Everyone get ready to go," Shade's voice echoed through the hall, "I want to make it to the base of the Terra Mountains by nightfall." 
"Take it easy, Shade," a passing Pastel said, "you know working yourself too hard after that much magic usage could be hazardous, it won't do us much good if we lose a whole day because you ran yourself rampant." 
Shade just grunted and walked off, to gather his supplies. Pastel watched him go with a touch of concern.
"Don't worry." Twilight said, surprising Pastel. Pastel looked at Twilight, who had trotted up to Pastel without her noticing.
"Huh?"
"I said not to worry," Twilight continued, "I took Shade's, Torrent's, and Arctic's condition into consideration when planning our route, so it's going to pretty easy going, and, by my calculations, we should make it to the base of the mountains right before night fall."
"Thanks Twilight." Pastel said, a smile touching her lips.
"Don't mention it, I know what it's like to worry about a friend working themselves too hard." Twilight said.
"Still, Thanks." Pastel insisted.
"Your Welcome," Twilight laughed, "now, if you'll excuse me, I need to perform the navigational spell, and it needs plenty of light to actually see it." Twilight trotted out of the ruins, her horn already starting to glow.
Pastel, her worries eased a tad bit, walked to her sleeping area to gather her supplies. She happened to run into Rarity on the way.
"Excuse me," Rarity said, walking with Pastel, "there's something I need to ask you about."
"What about?" Pastel asked.
"Well, it's about Torrent." Rarity continued. Pastel's eyebrows furrowed.
"Torrent?"
"Yes." Rarity confirmed. She then went on to explain her and Torrent's encounter earlier that morning.
"She's still doing that?" Pastel asked once Rarity's story was over.
"Excuse me?" Rarity's voice jumped a pitch, "This is a common occurrence?"
"It used to be," Pastel explained, "but we thought she stopped. You see, sometimes one of us would find Torrent on the roof of the castle, just watching the sun rise."
"And you've all found her watching the sun rise?"
"Yep," Pastel said, "well, all of us except for Sparks, but she's a fairly heavy sleeper, in fact, I don't think she's ever not had a good night's sleep."
"Has Torrent ever said what was on her mind." Rarity pried.
"Not as far as I know. She was always pretty morose when we found her, well, more so then usual. Sorry, but I kinda need to get ready to go."
"Oh no," Rarity said quickly, "sorry for holding you up, dear."
"No problem." Pastel said, hurrying off. Rarity glanced at Torrent, who was rolling up her sleeping bag. Something was eating at her, and she was going to get to the bottom of it, sooner or later.


---


Normally, the sound of the Everfree forest can be summed up as the sound of leaves rustling, the creak of the occasional falling tree, and the growls of strange animals not before seen by Pony or Human kind. However this day introduced a few other sounds to the environment; the tromp of marching feet and hooves, the flapping of a pair of Pegasus wings, and a little tune originating from a certain bubble gum pink pony.
"Ooooooh, 1,257 bottles of cider on the wall!
1,257 bottles of cider!
Take one down, pass it around!
1,257 bottles of cider on the wall!
1,256 bottles of cider on the wall!
125-"
"Remind me, how long has she been singing that?" Cinder asked, cutting a glance back at Pinkie. To his surprise, Pinkie Pie seemed to have disappeared.
"About 4 1/2 hours now, why?" Pinkie's voice said from directly in front of Cinder, causing him to whip his head back around in confusion. Indeed she was now in front of him, and walking backwards, so she could face him while she talked to him.
"How did you do that?" Cinder asked, checking behind him again just to make sure he wasn't going crazy.
"Do what?" Pinkie inquired, continuing her reversed pace. Cinder looked around, seeing if anyone else was as confused as he was. Rainbow Dash, who was flying by, merely shrugged her shoulders and kept flying.
"Speaking of the time," Sparks said, shooting a glance at the little sky they could see, "you took rests into considerations when you planned our route, right, Twilight?"
"In fact I did." Twilight pulled out her calculations to consult them, "we should actually be due for one soon."
"Is there a chance we could ski-?" Shade started.
"No." Pastel answered, not waiting for him to finish, much to his annoyance.
"Well we should find a safe place to take a break first." Arctic said, glancing about, "I'd rather not present myself on a silver platter for any animal with a taste for Human or Pony meat."
"Well, that house over there looks like a good place." Pinkie said, pointing. Every eye instantly followed Pinkie's hoof, and, what do you know, there happened to be a house there. It stood a respectable two stories tall, it's red shingle roof missing a few shingles, the forest hadn't quite over taken the dwelling, but it was giving it's best shot. About twenty feet away was the remains of some other building, the only thing that still stood where two walls and a foundation with a few holes in it.
"What is that doing there?" Twilight asked as they approached the anomalous house.
"Oh," Applejack said suddenly, "I know what this is. My granny's told me about places like this. Before Princess Celestia gave our family the land for our farm, there were other attempts to set up farms on the edge of the Everfree Forest, but until my granny discovered zap apples, none of them were able to make enough money to run the farm, so they had to abandon them and the forest must have grown around them."
"Well," Shade said, "this might be a good place to rest for a little bit, anyone else agree." Everyone in the party nodded their agreement, except for one.
"Um, it might not be safe." Fluttershy muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone glanced at the shy Pegasus. "Well," Fluttershy said, shying away from the attention, "animals might be using it as a home, and they might not like our company."
"Hmmm, you might be right." Cinder said. "Well nothing else to do I guess." Cinder reached into his cloak and when his came out his clutched his wand. With a spark, a fireball appeared at the tip of his wand and he took a step toward the entrance of the house. 
"Wait!" Fluttershy cried, she suddenly appearing in front of Cinder. "What are you going to do?!"
"Well if there's animals in there that aren't going to enjoy our company, I've gotta clear them out." Cinder said, the fireball crackling at the end of his wand.
"B-but we can't just barge in and demand they get out, this is their home." Fluttershy stammered, holding her ground.
"Well I'd rather not get my face scratched off by a rabid squirrel." Cinder retorted.
"Well...," Fluttershy thought for a second, "what if I asked them politely if we could rest here for a little bit."
"Hold on," Cinder said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you can talk to animals?"
"Umm, kind of." Fluttershy answered, her cheeks reddening just a tiny bit.
"Right, I've gotta see this," Cinder said, extinguishing the flame at the end of his wand, "why don't you guys check the perimeter, while Flutters here and I go make some furry friends."
"And if you need help?" Shade asked.
"Just listen for a girly scream." Cinder answered.
"And what if we hear Fluttershy?" Torrent asked.
"Heh-heh-heh," Cinder deadpanned, "it is to laugh. Come on Fluttershy." Cinder pushed past Fluttershy and slowly pushed open the door to the house, the door letting out a low creak as it presumably opened for the first time in many years.
"If you guys aren't back in 10 minutes we're coming in after you, alright?" Shade said.
"Sound's good to me." Cinder said over his shoulder, before stepping into the house, Fluttershy following a couple of steps behind. The door seemed to swing close much faster, shutting with an audible thump.
The two stood in a living room that might have been comfortable in the past but now was only dusty and a tad sad, a shoddily preserved memory of what the house might have been like long ago. In one corner of the room was the remains of what might've been a rocking chair, now only splinters and an armrest that somehow survived what ever had crushed the chair it had been attached to. The rest of the furniture had held out about as well as the rocking chair, either left a molding/rotting mess or having been destroyed long ago.
"Alright," Cinder said, looking about at the sad scene, "what exactly are we looking for?"
"Um," Fluttershy considered the question, "a cool dark place, some animals like to sleep in those, but some animals also like to sleep in a sun ray..."
"So just look around until we find something?" Cinder asked. Fluttershy simply nodded. "Right, so just speak up if you find anything, okay?" Fluttershy just nodded again.
So they searched the bottom floor of the house, looking into the remains of cupboards, a few closets, and various other places, not finding anything. Cinder, closing the door to a wardrobe, was beginning to think that maybe, somehow, the animals had decided to avoid settling in the decrepit house, until he heard a loud gasp from Fluttershy in another room.
"Found something?" Cinder called.
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy called back, glee lining the sound of her voice. Cinder quickly joined her in the room in which she had made her discovery, which happened to be what looked like a master bedroom, that oddly, seemed to have aged a tad more gracefully then the rest of the house.
It was still dusty as all get out, but nothing seemed to be to broken, which included a queen sized bed, covered in orange sheets and blankets, a wardrobe, and a vanity pushed against the wall. Fluttershy was peaking under the bed, seemingly trying to hold back a large amount of excitement.
"What'd you f-" Cinder started, before being quickly shushed by Fluttershy, who motioned for him to join her. Cinder sighed but walked over, got on all fours and peaked under the bed as well. What he saw was a furry animal that appeared to be about a foot and a half long, with a tail about as long as the rest of the body. It had lemurish looking face, although it had a shorter snout and rounder, tinier ears then the lemurs Cinder was used to. It was currently curled up, fast asleep.
"What is it?" Cinder asked, staring at the animal.
"It's a Kinkajou!" Fluttershy explained, just barely able to restrain her voice to a whisper in her excitement. "Ooh, I've only ever seen a couple before, but they're so adorable, with their little eyes and the way they use their tail to climb." She looked to be on the verge of squealing in delight.
"So have you asked it if we can stay here yet?" Cinder asked.
"Oh, no, um one second." Fluttershy cleared her voice before continuing, "Excuse me, Mr.Kinkajou." The kinkajou cracked open one of his eyes, staring at the mage and pony with a hint of irritation, "Sorry for disturbing your sleep, but we we're wondering if you or anypony else would mind us and our friends resting here for a short time." The kinkajou continued staring at the two for a short while longer before yawning, turning it self slightly away from them, and falling asleep again.
"So, I assume he doesn't mind." Cinder said, standing up while dusting off his knees and hands.
"Nope." Fluttershy confirmed standing up herself, "We should go tell Twilight and the oth-" Fluttershy started, turning to leave, before abruptly stopping, her voice dieing in her throat and her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.
"What?" Cinder asked, turning to see what would have caused such a reaction, it didn't take long for similar symptoms to settle in for Cinder. Because, standing in the doorway was a transparent, hazy form.


---


Meanwhile, outside, the rest of the group, after checking the perimeter of the house, were waiting, growing increasingly concerned with each passing minutes.
"Eight minutes." Twilight informed the rest of the party.
"Two minutes left." Shade finished. They had kept the running count together for the last few minutes, keeping a steady watch on the door.
"Okay, I say we just go in now." Rainbow Dash said, stopping her pacing for a second or two.
"I promised Cinder 10 minutes." Shade said, although he himself wasn't all that against the plan himself, "Cinder can get kinda sore if he thinks you don't have faith in him, and I'd rather not deal with that." Rainbow was about to continue the argument with Shade when they all clearly heard twin yelps of fright from the house.
"Okay, that's it!" Rainbow growled, before busting through the door, it slamming forcefully against the wall. "Fluttershy!" Rainbow's voice echoed through the house as the rest of the party followed close behind. They all herd a weak little whimper that might have been Fluttershy and followed that sound as closely as they could, eventually leading them to the room. As Rainbow came around turned a corner into the room, she leapt back to dodge a fireball about the size of her head, which hit the wall opposite of the room, leaving a small scorch mark.
Rainbow peaked into the room, more cautiously now. In the room she found Fluttershy and Cinder backed into a corner, both visibly shaken. Cinder kept his wand pointed at the entrance, although his grip wavered noticeably, despite his attempt to steady his wand with his second hand.
"Be careful with that!" Rainbow called into the room, more for their benefit then her own, "Do you always set your friend's heads on fire!?" Cinder lowered his wand, releasing a breath he had been holding.
"Solar's Crown, it just you guys."
"Yeah, just us." Rainbow said, the group entering the room now that there were less flying fireballs.
"So, what was with the pyrotechnics?" Arctic asked, glancing back at the scorch mark.
"I'm sorry," Cinder said, "but there was th-this thing it-"
"It was awful," Fluttershy uncharacteristically interrupted, "it was hazy, scary, and, and-"
"Mist like, undefined and peaking around the doorframe?" Pinkie asked. Everyone stared at Pinkie for a quarter second in amazement.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Cinder said slowly.
"Because he's standing right behind us." Pinkie said matter-of-factly.
Everyone slowly looked behind them, and peaking around the doorway was the hazy figure. Everyone hurriedly backed away, settling back into the corner they had Cinder and Fluttershy in. Well everyone except Pinkie, who simply stared at the figure, even cocking her head just a tad bit.
"Solar's robes what is that?" Pastel whispered, reaching for her wand, mirroring every other mage present in the corner.
"I don't know," Twilight whispered back, "I don't know."
Pinkie, meanwhile, glanced back at her friends, cowering in the corner, glanced back at the figure, and, to the surprise of everyone, just walked up to it.
"Hi!" Pinkie greeted, and, to everyone's continued surprise, a booming laugh echoed through the room.
"Hello to you to, my pink equine friend." The voice said, seeming to come from nowhere, and the rest of the figure came around the door frame, and, continuing to dumbfond everyone who wasn't a pink pony, it seemed to be holding a silver tray with a tea pot and 2 tiny cups on it. It held out a hazy appendage to Pinkie. "It's very nice to meet you miss...?"
"My name's Pinkie Pie." She answered, taking the appendage and shaking it.
"Miss Pinkie Pie, although I've appeared to have frightened your friends, terribly sorry about that folks."
"Um, it's... Okay?" Shade said, not quite sure what to say.
"No no," the figure said, holding up his appendage, "I must make it up to you."
"We kinda need a place to rest for a half hour." Torrent quietly.
"It's settled then, I'll lend you my home for a little while, follow me, I'll make tea for the rest of you." He left without another word, with Pinkie close behind. The rest of the group simply looked at each other, a couple of shoulders were shrugged, and they followed them out of the room.