//------------------------------//
// The Society of the Lavender Arrow 
// Story: The Lavender Arrow 
// by DisneyFanatic23 
//------------------------------//

Back at Midnight Castle, the buttercream-colored face of a lone pegasus mare was looking out a tower window, her sad teal eyes focused on the horizon. She had a lovely head of pink hair that flowed beneath her small, white crocheted cap. In her hooves she held a piece of paper against the bodice of her silk white gown.

The door to the mare's bedchamber opened and in walked the unicorn maid, Rarity.

Rolling her eyes, the maid said, "Really, Fluttershy. Are you going to spend every hour of every day staring out that window?"

Still clutching the paper to her chest, Fluttershy turned her body towards her. "I want to see him the second he returns."

Rarity sighed as she walked towards her mistress. "Darling, it's understandable that a wife should miss her husband," she muttered under her breath, "though your taste in males is questionable," she looked back at Fluttershy, "you simply cannot waste your time waiting. Why don't you go out for a walk in the garden, or at least get some sewing done! Not everything about your life needs to revolve around your husband."

"I know, Rarity, but," she said, looking down at the paper, "he's just been gone so long that I can't help but worry."

Rarity looked at her sympathetically. "Oh, sweetness, I wouldn't worry about him. He has all that magic to protect him."

"But you heard what happened to Sir Wind Rider yesterday. He was turned to stone like Discord had been before Lord Tirek freed him." She looked at the unicorn with concerned eyes. "Wind Rider's killer had named Discord as one of his next victims! Do you have any idea what it had been like for Discord the first time he'd been turned to stone?" Her eyes filled with tears. "What if the killer's caught up with him already?"

Putting an assuring hoof on her shoulder, Rarity said, "There, there, darling. This only happened yesterday. Chances are slim that this Joust Amend-All would've caught up with Discord already." She glanced at the paper in Fluttershy's hooves. "Is that the same letter that messenger had brought along with the summons to Trottingham?"

Nodding, Fluttershy handed the letter to the maid. "Could you read it to me? I…I like to hear his words aloud."

"Oh," Rarity said, clearing her throat. "Of course."

After smoothing out the page, she read the letter aloud:

"My dearest, darlingest, most beautiful wife,

"It has been two-hundred-thirteen hours, twenty-four minutes and thirty-two seconds since I last held you in my mismatched arms, and forty seconds more since I last tasted your sweet lips, and seventy-five seconds less since these ancient eyes have clasped on your beautiful face. This cheap imitation I wear around my neck simply isn't enough, for its lips taste like paint. And the lock of hair that goes with it is too small a piece of the wonderfulness that is you."

Rarity paused a moment to roll her eyes. "Well, if anything, he's at least somewhat romantic."

"Isn't he?" Fluttershy said, blissfully sighing with her eyes closed.

"We have just departed Hoofington and are on our way to Applewood," Rarity continued to read. "Old Tirek has a scheme that can earn him money from both sides of this war. I'm not allowed to go into detail, but let's just say you're gonna be getting a new lady friend to gossip with." The unicorn raised an eyebrow. "Now what do you suppose he means by that?"

"I don't know. But keep reading."

"I swear, the things this old crone makes me do. Then again, I suppose I should be grateful that he gave me the greatest reward anyone could ask for."

Rarity glanced at Fluttershy and saw that she was blushing.

"Oh, my darling, I can't wait to have you in my arms again, to feel you against my chest, to tangle my claw in your mane, and move my paw down to your…" It was Rarity's turn to blush as she wore an expression of horror. "Oh my!"

"Oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, snatching the paper back in embarrassment. "Sorry. After that it gets a little bit…intimate."

"Ew!" The unicorn held up her hooves. "Ew, ew, ew! No! No! It's hard enough imagining the two of you together at all, but I didn't need to…" She stuck out her tongue as she exited the room. "No! Just…no!"

As Rarity shut the door behind her, Fluttershy giggled to herself as she read the rest of the letter. It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but glancing out the window, Fluttershy couldn't help but wish that Discord could be with her more often.

Since Lord Tirek had been the one to release Discord from stone, the draconequus was indebted to him until Tirek saw it fit. As a consequence, Discord was often away fighting battles for Tirek, leaving Fluttershy alone with no pony but Rarity to talk to. It was a miracle Tirek had let Discord get married at all, for he kept a tight ship at Midnight Castle.

Thinking of the incident with Sir Wind Rider, Fluttershy feared that all these years of service to Tirek had finally taken their toll on Discord.

"Be safe, my love," she whispered as she returned to the window.

Bringing her hoof to her lips, she blew a kiss out towards the horizon.





"Ya sure ya know where you're goin'?" Applejack asked as she pushed a tree branch aside.

"Yup," Spike said, glancing at the map as he walked forward. "According to the map, this way's much quicker than just taking the normal path."

He was about to trip over a log when Applejack quickly grabbed him and carried him over. When she put him down, he seemed too engrossed in the map to notice what had happened.

"Besides," Spike said, "you were the one who insisted we stay off the path so we don't run into anyone else looking for you."

"Still, we could've picked a route less," she redirected Spike to the left before he could fall into a pit, "treacherous."

"Ah, don't be such a girl. There's nothing treacherous about this route."

An enormous Venus flytrap opened up above his head. Gasping, Applejack swiftly used her knife to cut through the plant's vine. It dropped behind the dragon.

"I wouldn't trust a map made by that Discord," she said, sheathing her knife in her belt.

"Hey," Spike said, "he may be a prankster, but he's not diabolical."

"Still, maybe we should find some pony and ask 'em for directions."

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "We don't need directions! We've got the map here!"

She rolled her eyes. "What is it with males and not askin' for directions?"

"Besides, these woods are crawling with outlaws! Who's to say we can trust anyone here?" He grunted. "Of course, I could've asked Discord, but you didn't want him to know where you were going, so…"

"Of course not! Do ya forget he helped kidnap me?!" She plunged her hoof into the map. "Which is why I say this here map he gave us is phony!"

"The map is fine!" Spike said, snatching it away from her. "You're the one distracting me with all your whining!"

She gawked. "You sayin' it's my fault we're lost?!"

"We are not lost!"

"You're right." She folded her hooves across her chest. "We're just stranded in the most dangerous part of the forest!"

"There's no danger here! Quit being a wuss!"

Suddenly, there was a low growling sound. Yelping, Spike jumped into Applejack's hooves.

"What's that? Is it a bear? A Timberwolf? An Ursa Major?!" He gasped. "IS IT ZOMBIES?!"

Rolling her eyes, Applejack set him down. "Relax, Sugar Cube." She put her hoof to her tummy. "It's just my stomach growlin'. As much as I love apples for breakfast, one's not enough to hold me over."

Spike pointed to the bag on her shoulder. "I have some cheese in there, but we might wanna ration our food. We still have a long ways to go, and don't forget I still have to make the trip back."

She shrugged. "I can get ya food once we get to Applewood. But ya got a point there." She turned her head from side to side. "Wonder if there are any berries or mushrooms around here we can eat."

"Careful," Spike said. "We don't know which ones might be poisonous."

Applejack sighed. "Still, it'd be nice if we had somethin' to eat that wasn't soggy."

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "I'm so hungry, I can almost smell mushroom stew boiling over a fire."

"Hang on a minute." Applejack took a whiff of the air. "That is mushroom stew."

The two of them sniffed all around.

"Someone must be cooking nearby." Spike gasped. "Maybe they can share!"

"Spike, no, wait!"

But he ignored her as he raced in the direction of the smell. Groaning in annoyance, Applejack ran after him. Thankfully, he slowed down when they reached the edge of a clearing.

"Spike," Applejack said, panting, "we don't know who…" She stopped too once she saw what had the dragon so spellbound. "Whoa."

An enormous oak tree stood in the middle of the forest. Or rather, what was left of an enormous oak tree. Its bark was black, and its branches were too burnt to hold any foliage. The base of the tree suggested that the trunk had been at least twenty feet wide, but it was hard to determine how tall it had grown, for the upper part of trunk looked as if a bite had been taken out of it.

It looked as if someone had once lived in the tree, for wedged into the charred base of the trunk was an ashen red door, and a lone shattered window sat not far away from it.

"Whoa," Applejack said again. "Whoever lived here must've really liked their privacy to be all the way out here in the middle of nowhere."

Looking to her side, she saw that Spike was no longer there. She looked back to the burnt oak. Spike was walking towards it, gazing up at it in awe.

"Spike?" she called, following him.

He didn't answer her as he raised his claw to the blackened doorknob. As he pushed the door open, flakes of ash fell from the frame. Inside, tattered and burned books were scattered all over what used to be a floor. Upon seeing a tipped over bookshelf, Applejack concluded that this room had been a library of some sort.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"I've been here before," Spike murmured.

She looked over at him in surprise. "Ya have?"

Nodding, he glanced around at the ruins. "This was Lady Twilight Sparkle's home. Father used to take me here as a kid."

As he walked forward, he stepped on a charred book. Looking down, he saw that it was open to a faded illustration of an armored dragon equipped with a sword. He knelt down to it curiously.

"Twilight read this to me once," he said quietly. "I…I was afraid I wouldn't be a knight like my dad. Ponies didn't really trust him because he was a dragon, and I was afraid they would treat me the same. Then Twilight showed me this book about this dragon knight saving the day, rescuing the damsel in distress, and she said, 'See, Spike? Dragons can be the hero too.'"

A tear fell from his eye. He quickly wiped it away, but not in time to escape Applejack's notice. With an expression of sympathy, she gently laid her hoof on his back. He neither accepted the gesture nor rejected it.

"What happened here?" she asked.

He hung his head. "After my father was…Uncle Tirek ordered Discord to set this place on fire in order to smoke Twilight out."

"Ah," Applejack said, nodding. "That would really explain why she has a grudge against them."

He jerked away from her touch. "They had every right to do it! After what she did to my father!"

She glanced at the open book. "It just doesn't make sense. If this Twilight Sparkle cared enough about ya to read ya a story to cheer ya up, why did she orphan ya?"

Scowling, Spike kicked at the book. "Because mares are liars. That's why."

She sighed. "Whatever makes ya feel b—"

She trailed off upon hearing someone hum in the distance. Putting his finger to his lips, Spike gestured for Applejack to follow him through the ashen pile of books. They crept carefully, trying their best not to make any crunching noises, until they reached the other side of the room.

There stood an oval window with fragments of glass still lodged in the frame. Peering through it, the two traveling companions discovered the source of the mushroom smell.

A pink mare was stirring a pot hanging over a campfire. She wore a brown vest over a light green tunic. Tan tights covered her legs, along with a pair of bright blue boots. If her pink mane hadn't been long and curly, they almost wouldn't have been able to tell she was a mare.

"All you have to do is take a cup of mushroom," the mare sang as she dropped a white mushroom into the pot, "Add it to the mix!" She tossed her spoon into her other hoof.

"Now a little something to spice this lunchroom,
A bit of bark, just a pinch!"

Applejack and Spike gagged as she dropped a piece of bark into the stew. Some pony else gagged as well. Lying at the base of a nearby tree was a cyan pegasus with a long rainbow mane, wearing an outfit similar to the pink mare's. A bow and quiver sat near the pegasus. Spike had to tilt his head as he tried to figure out whether this pegasus was a mare or a stallion.

"That soup smells better than it sounds, Pinkie Pie," the pegasus said with a groan. "Why ya gotta put weird stuff in there? Aren't mushrooms enough?"

Pinkie Pie huffed. "The bark is for the extra flavor! I mean you can't possibly have mushrooms all by themselves! This is a stew! So ya gotta stew something in to make it a stew otherwise it's not a stew!"

There was another groan as a griffon equipped with a bow and quiver swooped down from the sky and landed next to the rainbow-haired pegasus.

"Face it, Rainbow Dash," the griffon said to the pegasus, "the mare makes a better thief than a cook."

The unseen onlookers glanced at each other fearfully upon hearing "thief."

"Excuse me?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, raising her dripping spoon at the griffon. "I'll have you know, Gilda, that before I was a thief, I was the best baker Equestria had ever seen!" With a huff, she continued to stir. "Not my fault there are so few ingredients in the forest, and not my fault the boss wants us to cut back on stealing!"

The griffon, Gilda, rolled her eyes. "Hate to say it, but Lame Brain has a point. It would be easier if Miss Sparkly just let us steal like we normally do."

"We have to trust her judgement, Gilda," Rainbow Dash said, sitting up. "Remember, she was the one who encouraged me to pursue knighthood, before that Tirek jerk ruined everything, making it impossible for any mare to become a knight! As easy as it would be to steal like we've been doing for the past ten years, I can't doubt my friend."

Gilda sighed. "You and your loyalty, Dash."

The griffon and pegasus jumped as Pinkie started banging loudly on the boiling pot.

"Soup's on, every pony!" she hollered. "Come and g—"

As quick as lightning, Rainbow Dash left a rainbow streak as she zipped over to Pinkie and clasped a hoof over her mouth.

"Why don't ya summon the whole Lunarian army while you're at it?" Rainbow whispered harshly.

Leaves rustled as ponies emerged from all parts of the wood. Some crawled out of shrubbery, others climbed down from trees. Most of them were mares, and they all donned green and brown traveling attire. Some sported swords, some clubs, and many carried bows.

A yellow earth mare with a pink and blue mane approached the cooking pot. A green unicorn mare with white and green hair followed her closely behind.

"What's on the menu for today?" the yellow earth mare asked.

The green unicorn took the spoon with her magic and sipped it.

"Mushroom and bark stew!" Pinkie exclaimed.

As soon as the stew touched her lips, the unicorn spat it out. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Look at what you've done to Lyra," the yellow earth mare said, patting her companion on the back.

"I'm fine, Bon-Bon," the unicorn said as she continued gagging.

"Next time I'm doing the cooking."

"Sheesh," Pinkie said, shaking her head. "Every pony's a critique."

They all turned as a gray pegasus mare with a blond mane and yellow eyes looking in opposite directions began lapping up the contents of the pot. "What ya girls talkin' about? This is delicious!"

As the band of ponies groaned, Applejack turned to Spike. "Who do ya suppose these ponies are?"

"Outlaws, it would seem," Spike said. "I've never seen so many mares dressed like stallions at once. Who do they think they're trying to fool? You can clearly tell they're mares!"

Applejack rolled her eyes and mumbled, "You'd be surprised how many mares can get away with such a disguise."

They returned their attention to the outlaws as they suddenly fell silent. A darkly cloaked figure stepped out of the wood, walking slowly and mysteriously. Applejack and Spike immediately recognized the figure, for she had the bow and quiver of lavender arrows slung over her shoulders. As she approached the outlaws, she swept back her hood with her hoof.

Her coat was as lavender as her arrows. Her mane was a dark indigo, with streaks of purple and pink. Her eyes were a deep purple, and they held a sense of maturity and leadership.

Spike narrowed his eyes at the unicorn. Glancing sideways at him, Applejack saw his fury.

"Twilight Sparkle?" she whispered.

He nodded. "It is her."

He went for his bow, but Applejack quickly stopped his claw.

"No!" she hissed.

"She killed my father!" Spike said.

"You'll give our position away!"

"At least she'll be dead before they can see us!"

"Spike, ya can't!"

He snatched his claw away. "I'm not letting her escape again!"

As he gripped his bow, Applejack gripped onto its other end. He opened his mouth to protest, but the glare from her eyes silenced him.

"Spike, there are at least twenty of 'em. Even if ya get a shot in, we can't take 'em all on our own."

He stared at her, unsure of how to respond. Then he turned his head when Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat.

"My friends," she said, addressing the outlaws. "I bring wonderful news." Using her magic, she levitated a lavender arrow from her quiver. "Sir Wind Rider," she said, hoisting the arrow into the air, "is no more!"

The outlaws cheered excitedly.

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash said, pumping her hooves. "I never liked that guy!"

"Serves him right for telling every pony he had witnessed you killing Sir Spikus!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Yes," Twilight said with a frown. "I just wish Spike hadn't been there when I did the deed."

Rainbow gasped. "Hang on. You killed Wind Rider in front of Spike?!"

"Unfortunately," Twilight said as she returned the arrow to her quiver. "But he had to see the note. I knew Tirek would've hidden it from him had he not been there."

"Ooh!" Pinkie said, raising her hoof. "Did he like the poem I wrote?"

Gilda rolled her eyes. "Still can't believe you allowed her to turn that death threat into a rhyme. Like anyone's gonna take a wimpy little poem seriously!"

"Its point was still made," Twilight said, setting down her bow and quiver.

"I still think you're taking this whole revenge thing a bit too far," Rainbow said, glancing at the lavender arrows. "I mean I want those jerks gone as much as the next pony, but isn't turning them to stone with the same arrows they used to frame you a bit extreme?"

"It's poetic justice," Twilight said, placing her hoof over her heart, "and I owe it to my old friend, Sir Spikus de Dragon, to see that his murderer and his accomplices are brought to justice."

Applejack's eyes widened upon this declaration. She looked to Spike, who was still scowling in anger.

"Still," Rainbow said, pointing to the arrows, "won't this just convince ponies further that you were the one that killed Sir Spikus?"

Twilight huffed. "They think I'm a murderer? Let them think that." She levitated the quiver to her face. "I'm certainly one now. But it won't matter once Tirek, Scorpan and Discord all get what's coming to them! Speaking of which," she said, putting down the quiver, "Lord Tirek's troops are in the forest right now."

There were several gasps.

"Half of them are headed for the Great River Horse," Twilight continued. "The rest are on their way to Ghastly Gorge, with Sir Scorpan at the lead." She smiled deviously. "We'll have ambushed them before they can make it out of the gorge."

The outlaws clapped their hooves and cheered.

"I get it," Rainbow said. "If we attack them from above, we can trap 'em in the gorge!"

"Half of Lord Tirek's army will be laid to waste!" Gilda exclaimed.

"I care not what you do with the others," Twilight said. "Rob them blind if you so wish." She levitated her quiver. "Leave Sir Scorpan to me."

Spike let out a gasp. "They're gonna kill Uncle Scorpan! We gotta stop 'em!"

He reached for his bow again. Applejack grabbed his arm.

"You crazy?!" she whispered. "Didn't ya hear what they just said?"

"Yeah!" Spike said, scowling. "They're gonna ambush Uncle Scorpan and half our army in Ghastly Gorge!"

"No! I mean about your father!"

He yanked his arm away. "She has the lavender arrows! What more proof do we…?"

"Hey, you guys hear something?" Pinkie asked.

Clasping her hoof over the dragon's mouth, Applejack pulled him below the window. Meanwhile, Twilight signaled to Gilda and Rainbow Dash and pointed towards the burnt oak tree. Nodding, the two of them flew off to investigate.

Applejack and Spike kept their heads low as they crawled across the crisp floor. The dragon's nose wrinkled as ash flew into their faces. There was nothing he could do to hold back the sneeze.

"Ah-CHOO!"

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash called.

Applejack looked up and saw the pegasus and griffon soaring overhead. "Run!"

Their position compromised, Spike and Applejack jumped up and bolted out the front door and towards the trees.

"Intruders!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Stay where you are!" Gilda yelled.

Glancing around, Applejack recognized their surroundings.

"This way!" she cried, grabbing Spike's claw.

"What?" Spike asked, seeing that she was taking them down the path they had taken before discovering the oak.

"I got an idea! Trust me!"

They came to the pit where Spike had almost fallen into earlier. Looking around hastily, Applejack spotted a large bolder. She went over to it and pushed it towards the pit. Spike's eyes widened upon seeing how strong she was.

"Wow."

She grunted. "Could use a little help!"

He raced over to her side and helped her push. The rock rolled into the pit. Fortunately, the rock was just small enough to fall through.

"Now scream," she said.

"What?"

Cupping her hooves over her mouth, she hollered, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Shrugging, he did the same. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Over there!" Rainbow Dash's voice called in the distance.

Spike cried out as he was suddenly hoisted onto Applejack's back.

"Hang on," she whispered.

Using all the strength in her legs, she leaped onto the trunk of a tree and started climbing. Spike had to keep his claws wrapped around her neck to keep himself from falling off. By the time they had gotten to the top and were concealed by the foliage, the boulder had reached the bottom of the pit with a loud thump!

Applejack and Spike watched from above as their pursuers landed beside the pit.

"You don't think…?" Rainbow said.

Gilda squinted down through the hole. "It's too dark to tell. But I heard 'em falling."

Rainbow sighed. "Real shame if ya think about it."

"Yeah, well," the griffon said with a shrug, "we were probably gonna have to kill 'em anyways. That's life, I guess."

The two outlaws took off, but Applejack and Spike waited a while before releasing their breaths.

"Wow," Spike said, looking at the disguised mare in amazement. "That's twice now you've saved my life!"

She blushed slightly. "Four times, actually, but who's countin'?" She began climbing down the tree. "Looks like we're gonna have to find a way around those outlaws if we're gonna get to Applewood."

"Forget Applewood," Spike said, leaping off her back once they were close to the ground. "We gotta get to Ghastly Gorge before those outlaws do!"

Applejack paused in her climbing. "Say what now?"

"The Society of the Lavender Arrow's gonna ambush Uncle Scorpan and those soldiers in Ghastly Gorge!" He unrolled the map. "We gotta warn 'em!"

Jumping off the tree, she landed in front of him. "They also said that your so-called 'uncles' are responsible for yerr father's death."

Spike huffed. "You think I'm gonna believe the words of thieves and cutthroats?" He crossed his arms. "They were obviously lying!"

"Spike," she said slowly, "I know this might be hard to accept, but what reason would they have to lie? They didn't know we were listening."

"Maybe Twilight fed those thieves those lies just so they would follow her!"

"That still doesn't make sense. If Tirek, Scorpan, Discord and Wind Rider didn't frame Twilight Sparkle for your father's murder, why's she so intent on takin' revenge on 'em?"

He sighed. "You may be swift in a rescue, Applejack, but you're not very bright. Obviously, she wants to get back at them for telling on her and trying to bring her to justice when they burned her house down. Now she's trying to pin my father's murder on them in hopes that no one will object to her killing them.

"Now," he said, raising the map to his eyelevel, "if we head west, we should make it to Ghastly Gorge in less than…"

She lowered the map from his view, scowling at him furiously. "Look, believe what ya will about your father's murder, ya still promised ya'd take me to Applewood. And you're not takin' me anywhere near the goons who abducted me! Besides," she said with a sigh, "if we go, we'd be caught in the middle of a battle and might get hurt in the crossfire. It's just too dangerous."

After staring at her for a long while, he heaved a heavy sigh. "My word is my word. We continue to Applewood."

Applejack smiled. "Shall we then?"

As she walked ahead, Spike looked at the map and focused on the illustration of Ghastly Gorge. That doesn't mean we can't take a detour.





Flim and Flam had their hats over their eyes as they snored soundly in their docked rowboat. At the gruff noise of someone clearing their throat, the twins jolted awake and pulled out matching wooden clubs.

"Stay back, stay back!" Flim shouted, frantically swinging his club about.

"We didn't mean to take those travelers across, madam, we swear!" Flam exclaimed.

"Please don't shoot us with those lavender arrows!"

"Lavender arrows?" said a voice.

The twins yelped and dropped their clubs upon seeing Lord Tirek onshore. Behind him was an entourage of Diamond Dogs and pony soldiers.

"Lord Tirek!" Flim said, forcing a smile. "How nice to see you to—"

He was cut off as Tirek wringed his claws around both the twins' necks.

"What was that about lavender arrows?" he demanded.

Flim and Flam choked as they struggled to breathe.

"Well?!" he said, shaking them hard.

"A mare," Flam wheezed, "in a cloak…paid us…"

"Not to let," Flim gagged, "anyone…cross…"

"Threatened us with…lavender…arrows…"

Tirek growled. "Twilight Sparkle." He glared at the unicorns. "You said you took some travelers across anyway. Why?"

Their faces were blue from lack of air, so Tirek loosened his grip a bit.

"The she-stallion," Flim wheezed, "threatened us too…"

"She-stallion?" Tirek said, raising an eyebrow.

"A mare dressed as a stallion!" Flam exclaimed.

"She thought she could escape with her lover," Flim said.

"But she didn't fool us!" The brothers shook their heads. "No, sir!"

"Lover?" Tirek jerked them closer. "What lover?"

The twins glanced at each other nervously.

"M-Master d-de Dragon, sir," Flim said, wincing.

"Your w-ward, sir," Flam said, closing his eyes.

Tirek stared at them a long time. They yelped as he shook them hard.

"AND YOU JUST LET THEM THROUGH?!" he bellowed. "BECAUSE A MARE THREATENED YOU?!"

He released the stallions and they fell limply to the ground. So, Tirek thought, my two little wards have found each other. Exactly how much did that meddling mare tell the brat?

"No matter," he said, gritting his teeth together. "I'll find them both soon enough."