Oblivion walked forward. His hooves taking him through the dense forests that littered the hillsides of the country of Toussaint. The black Unicorns ears flicked as he listened for the telltale sound of the burrowing giant centipedes. He had fought enough of them the last time he was there to last him a lifetime. As he traversed the slight hills that lay before him the Witcher was quiet as his mind went over the possibilities and he made sure that he was set in his own path. The stallion remained silent as his eyes were trained ahead of him. He didn’t look back nor did he allow himself to deviate from his course. As much as he knew that using his wings would get him to his destination faster he was leery of using them. At his sides, the great black wings flicked and he paused to look to the wings. They extended from his sides and spread to their sixteen-foot wingspan. He knew that they were oversized, but it had not bothered him. In his mind, they were a size that would hold a body that was his height and weight.
He leaned back onto his haunches and breathed as he unbuckled his saddlebags to tend to a chafe line that had been rubbed into his skin. He had not paid much attention to the straps of his saddles bags until the last few hours. He could see that it had chafed deeper into his hide than he had thought. He clicked his tongue at himself and dug into his saddlebags for a strip of cloth to wrap the straps in to prevent any further problems. He wrapped the offending straps and slid them back into place. The black stallion got to his hooves and once more trekked forward. He weaved through the copse of trees and looked both ways before jumping across a well-worn road and into the shade of the trees once more. His clawed hooves thudded dully against the leaf-littered ground as he broke into a slow trot to cover more ground. While he had been setting a steady pace toward the vineyard that Geralt now owned. He had not spent as much time in Toussaint as his fellow Witcher, but he had been there long enough to decide that the nobles were even more insufferable than in the other countries.
His ears flicked as he halted his trot and listened. Under him, the ground trembled and he grimaced as a curse spilled from his lips and he broke into a hard gallop. Behind him, he heard the grounds rupture as a giant centipede burst from the ground. Dirt peppered his flanks as they erupted from the ground behind him. He glanced back to find three of the creatures lunge back into the soil and race after him. The Witcher could feel the vibrations of their movement under him and he growled under his breath as he spread his wings and took to the air. His wings held firm as they held above the ground, close to the tops of the hanging trees. The creatures burst from the ground and the stallion fought the urge to slay them from above. It served no purpose. He could get away from them and didn’t need to destroy the monsters. He looked up and saw the day fades to night and gave up on staying on the ground for the time being. He flapped his wings just enough to hover as he scanned the near roads to see if he could spot a sign that would give him an idea of his current direction.
He gave an affirming sound as he spotted a crossroads and angled his body to land close by. He scanned the road signs and he gave a pleased sound as he read the signs. The sign that earned a noise from him pointed to the Cockatrice Inn. A location that he had been to previously. It was a good spot to reach before he stopped to make sure that he was heading in the right direction. As he spun to jump into the shadows of the trees once more a quiet sound caught his focus. His right ear flicked to listen back the way he had come. His first thought was that the centipedes had followed him further than he thought, but after a moment he realized that it was not a monster. A man fell from the trees and rolled onto the dirt road. The scent of wine caught his nose and Oblivion watched in silence, waiting for the man to stand up. When he rolled to sit the human saw the black stallion and squinted as he stared ahead of him. When he said nothing the black Alicorn waited as the scent of wine grew stronger. Oblivion snorted as the scent rolled over him with the slight change in wind direction.
“Well. I don’t have to worry about you trying to harm me. You’re already marinated in a few bottles of wine.” He said aloud and watched as the man tried to stand. “I wouldn’t.”
His words came too late as the human face planted with his rear in the air. A giggle escaped the man as he fell to the side once more. Oblivion sighed and shook his head slowly. The black stallion walked slowly over to the prone human and used a foreleg to hoist the human and allowed him to lean against his shoulder. The man wrapped an arm around the stallion’s withers and held on desperately. Oblivion groaned as the man’s breath rolled over him. “Gods below man. What did you drink?”
The human laughed at the stallion’s commentary and looked to see the black Unicorn staring back to him. “I drank…” He wavered in his standing and Oblivion moved against him and held him up. “Right…I drank, it all!” He cried out in a merry tone.
“Grand. Do you mean an entire vineyard or just half the wine cellar?”
“The wine…Umm…” The human looked uncertain suddenly as he pondered the words.
“Cabinet?”
“Yes!” He shouted and wrapped a hand in Oblivion long silver mane. “Now…My new friend…I need to get back to work. I can’t be seen talking to anyone…Not even a marvelous being…such as you.”
“Can you walk?” Oblivion asked him in a bland tone.
“Ah course!” He drunkenly shouted.
Oblivion gave a disbelieving snort and watched as the human pushed away from the stallion’s body and was able to walk several feet before he began to wobble and then collapsed to the dirt once more. Oblivion sighed and walked over to the collapsed man. He was laying on his back and saw the face of the stallion enter his vision. A wide smile crossed his face and he reached out to the stallion. Oblivion sighed and allowed the man to grip his long mane and use it to stand once more. He gripped Oblivion's saddlebag strap across his back and the stallion began to slowly walk forward.
“Where do you live?” The Unicorn asked. Though after asking he was certain the human had no idea.
“I am from…Rave…” He sagged against the stallion, who had paused for a moment.
“Castel Ravello?”
“Yes, my friend.” The drunk replied merrily.
“It’s past where I am heading. Though I can go to my destination then send you on your way, once you have sobered up some.” He reasoned.
The human sagged again and Oblivion got his shoulder under him and was able to get him to fall across his back. The human had finally passed out and was now asleep draped across Oblivion's shoulders. The stallion shrugged under him to move the body farther down his back. The man’s body laid on top of the stallion’s large wings and saddlebags. Oblivion ignored the light snoring now coming from the human on his back and started to walk in the direction of the Cockatrice Inn. He was going to have to gallop over the bridge that the Inn was on due to his appearance and now that he had picked up a passenger he could not fly. Though the body would hide his wings well enough. It was his horn that would give him still more issues now. He walked as quickly as he dared and contemplated how he could hide his horn.
He paused and a sound of laughter came from his muzzle but ended just as quickly as it began. He shifted the human and reached into his saddlebags. A leather helm caught in his claws and he pulled it free of the saddlebag. He sighed in relief as the helm had been altered to accommodate his equine head and neck. He slid it into place and his horn now appeared to be a part of the armor he was wearing. The leather helm ended just past his withers and he shifted the human once more to land across his body. He checked his image in the puddle once more and was pleased enough with what he saw staring back at him. The leather had some decoration and had small runes and gems that came from the forehead down to the sides of his muzzle and gave it the appearance of being an ornamental piece.
“Good enough.” He said aloud and once more started down the road for the Inn.
He was certain now he would be able to pass over the bridge at a trot to avoid being stopped. He was hopeful that he appeared to be a horse that was taking his drunken rider home. He had seen many horses that new the roads well enough the take the path on their own. As the night dragged on his hooves did not stop nor did he change his swift pace as he came around a corner and he could see the Inn and the bridge it rested on.
“Let’s see if this works.” He commented aloud and broke into a smooth trot, so as to avoid possibly awakening the human on his back.
The stallion’s long legs carried him swiftly to the top of the bridge where the Inn rested. As he reached the top he had not earned the attention of many people so far. He was forced to slow down due to a wagon slowly crossing before him. He looked to the right and found that even as think as he was he could not get past it. On the left were more riders that were going with the wagon. A quiet groan escaped him as he was forced to slow to a walk. His ears flicked as people began to laugh and jeer at the body on his back.
“Tipped one too many.” One called out and the others laughed with him.
Oblivion ignored the laughter and walked behind the wagon in silence. He looked up and the wagon stopped at the call of one of the riders. Oblivion could see that they were now looking to the black stallion behind them. His mind sharpened as he focused on them and listened in.
"That drunk has quite the horse. Even has some fancy armor on.” One commented as the driver leaned out and looked back to the stallion behind them.
The driver gave a quiet whistle and nodded in agreement to the rider with him. Oblivion suppressed the urge to curse at them about holding up the whole bridge, but he had to play his part. “Must know the way home, too.” The driver replied after staring for a moment or two.
“I agree. Taking his drunk master home.” Another rider commented. A sly grin crossed his mouth as he stared. “Think it would matter if that horse gained a new home?”
The riders smiled and nodded to the driver. “Just keep in front of it. Once we get to the other side we can change up a horse or two.”
Oblivion listened to them and realized after listening that they were travelers as well. Merchants from across the border if he had their accent right. Most likely Novigrad. ‘This should prove interesting.’ He thought to himself as he slowly followed the wagon.
“No bridle on it either.” The first rider commented as he stared at the black stallion. “Must be very well trained. It takes a lot of time to train a horse to take you home without a bridle. Most would have bolted and run home alone.” He replied as the others chuckled. “Or he sold the bridle for wine.”
Oblivion listened and began to formulate his own plan. ‘Most thieves are likely to release a horse that causes a scene or become unmanageable. All I have to do is act out.’ He thought to himself. ‘Even in the dark people will hear the ruckus and look into it.’
As they finally reached the end of the bridge the riders blocked him in and he halted in place. One reached out to grasp the bottom of the helm he wore and he pulled away, his head higher than the man could reach. While the Witcher had never worried about his full height he now gauged himself to be over sixteen hands tall at his withers. Which put him at his natural height before Equestria, six foot two inches. He snorted and pranced as the man kept trying to reach for his head.
“Damn thing is taller than I thought.” He complained to the others.
“Grab the mane then. Worst he can do is yank it out.” Another yelled back.
“I like the length it’s at, but your right, it’ll grow back.” He lunged for the black stallion’s mane and paused. “It’s got swords across its back, under the drunk.”
“What?” The driver looked back and gave the rider a strange look.
“It was a while back, but I have seen swords like them. On a Witcher.”
“Wait. So that’s a Witcher across his back?” The other rider hollered.
Oblivion said nothing as they yelled back and forth. “There any Witcher's around here?” The man close to him asked aloud.
”There was the one that the Duchy hired.” The driver called back.
“Well. No matter. We can drop off the swords and the drunk on the road and take the horse. Just have to act fast.” He lunged for the stallion’s mane once more and grabbed a handful.
Oblivion snorted and began to pull away. He pinned his ears and bared his teeth as the human began to pull him in another direction. He pawed at the ground, trying to appear every bit of a Witcher's own horse. He had seen his mare Sasa react badly to being handled by anyone other than himself.
“Let him go!” The driver shouted as the stallion lunged for the man’s arm and bit down.
Oblivion's sharp teeth bit into the bicep and released quickly. His goal was to have it appear more of a vicious horse bite that broke the skin versus the teeth of a predator. The human shouted and released the stallion’s mane. Oblivion fought the urge to spit out the blood in his mouth and instead lunged at the human once more. Giving him more incentive to get out of the way, adding to the torn arm.
“Let him go!” The other rider hollered and pulled the other horse out of the way.
Oblivion broke into a controlled gallop and lunged past them. His passenger remained in place as he raced around a bend in the road and slowed to listen to the men he had left behind. He could hear them commenting on the stallions bite and how they needed to have it looked at. He looked up and found a new road sign that he could read easily enough with his odd angle. A sign pointed down the main road reading Corvo Bianco.
“Finally.” He muttered and began to trot down the road toward his goal. A slight chuckle escaped him as he recalled the men he had left behind. “Fools.” He said aloud and kept up a brisk pace. “Hopefully that will be the last of the foolishness till I reach the vineyard. If I arrive and find that Ciri has left for Vizima I am going to be rather annoyed.” He commented as he trotted ahead.
“So no pony has seen any sign of him?” Blue Blood asked the pony. “He’s hard to miss. A tall black Unicorn.”
The gray pony shook his head and walked away from the questioning Prince. Blue Blood gave an audible groan as he looked to the guards he had with him. Cross stayed close to Silver due to his deafness. He had mentioned it to Blue Blood, who had nodded and told him it would be fine. He could still be of great help to the search. Silver looked back to the Prince and shrugged.
The Prince walked over to the other ponies and shook his head. “Well. No pony has seen anypony that looks even a little like him. No pony in the area has a coat that dark.”
“Same here. No sign of any pony in the area either. This is becoming more concerning the longer we are here.” Silver replied.
Blue Blood looked to Cross who shook his head as well. Blue Blood growled under his breath for a moment before he nodded to the two guards with him. The Prince of Equestria looked back the way they had come and then to the map they had made as they looked for the Black Unicorn.
“Hopefully, Shining is having more luck.” He grumbled. “I’d give my right hoof for a good clue.”
Silver chuckled and nodded. Cross looked to them and agreed. The Thestral raised his head slightly as a thought struck him. “Prince Blue Blood?”
Blue flicked an ear and looked to the quiet stallion. “Yes?”
“Where did the note that the Princesses receive come from?” He asked quietly.
Blue Blood paused as he thought over the question and probed his mind for the memory. “It came from the desert. Well, a village close by the edge of the Sahorsean desert.” He replied.
“Well. Shouldn’t we try there? He was there when he sent that letter.”
Silver blinked and then smacked his hoof to his own face. “I cannot believe none of us thought of that.” He groaned and looked to Blue Blood, who had a similar expression.
Blue Blood smiled as he realized how stupid they had been. “I’m going to pretend that was the next part of our plan and…Ahh…Cross was reminding us of our…Timeline…”
Silver nodded almost frantically. “By Equestria.” The solar guard broke into laughter as he wrapped a foreleg around Cross’s shoulders and laughed. “Thank Faust, you’re here Cross. Or we would have forgotten our…Deadlines.” He replied as the Prince began to chuckle as well and Cross gave a meek smile.
“Yes, the deadlines,” Blue replied and began to walk back to their carriage. He slowed and, looked to the guards behind him. “This is never spoken of again.” He said to them and tried to elegantly flee for the carriage ahead of them.
Behind him, Silver erupted into laughter and Cross giggled as well. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know why we landed here first.”
“We needed a little break?” Cross volunteered meekly.
“Yes. We needed to land for a bit.” Silver replied and patted his fellow guard on the back and trotted after the still fleeing Prince, who was laughing with them.
“We need to send a letter to my Aunts about our change of course.” Blue Blood said to them as they reached the carriage and they nodded in agreement.
Blue Bloods' horn lit up as he pulled out a small machine that had an enchantment inside it that it would send any letter to the intended recipient immediately. He quickly penned a letter to his Aunt Luna, due to the later hour and sent it to her. The pale stallion set the little mailbox back into the carriage and climbed in, as the guards finished getting into the traces. The Prince sat quietly as they finished and looked back to him and he nodded to them.
Luna cracked open one eyes as a letter puffed into existence, drifted down and landed on her snout. She sneezed and it landed on the ground in front of her. Her blue aura gripped it unfolded it to for her to grip in her hooves.
Aunt Luna:
We didn’t find anything in the area of the monsters. So we are going to check in on the desert that Oblivion was close to when he sent the last letter you received. Hopefully, we get some good news.
Your nephew,
Blue Blood
She nodded to the letter and set it aside as she got out of her bed and stretched. She teleported to her sister's side and had her read the letter as well. The Sun Princess smiled and nodded her understanding.
“We are pleased to hear of their progress.” She said to her elder sister.
“So am I.”
Blue Blood watched as the carriage covered the ground quickly and it fell away beneath them. As they began to descend the Prince looked over the side of the carriage and waited for the Pegasus to come to a halt. The guards quickly got out of the traces and met the Prince next to the carriage.
“Okay, so we need to find out if anypony saw him. The least we need is an idea of the timeline maybe.” Blue said to the others with him.
“I agree.” Silver responded with Cross nodding his assent.
They walked into town and started to look around them. Blue blood trotted deeper into the town with the others on his heels. He paused beside a mare and waited for her to look up to him.
“Yes?”
“Pardon me. I am looking for a friend of mine.” Blue replied.
She scoffed and then sighed. “Let me guess. A black unicorn.” Blue Blood blinked at the mares tone, but then simply nodded to her. “Geez. This pony must be the most searched for Unicorn in history.” She replied, her voice sarcastic. ”You are the second group to come through here looking for him.”
“Second?” Silver asked.
“Yes. Another group of three came through here yesterday.” She replied.
“A white Unicorn with a Pegasus and a Thestral?” Silver asked her.
“Yes. They took the road out of town to find this other pony. I told them if they were interested in the desert then they needed to wait for Sand Comber to come through or they would not survive the desert.” She replied to them and walked away from them.
Blue Blood blinked as she departed and he opened his mouth to give her a royal piece of his mind when Silver bumped his shoulder hard enough to stagger him slightly.
“I know. Rude as hell. But come on Prince Blue Blood. We need to see if the Captain, Striker, and Vantage found anything yet.”
Blue Blood regained his balance and huffed, but allowed the Pegasus to guide him away from the town and back to the carriage. The guards got back into the traces as Blue jumped into it behind them. They took to the air and Blue Blood began to scan the ground for any sign of Shining and the guards with him. As the Pegasus and Thestral began to bank, Blue spotted their carriage and shouted for their attention. He pointed and they nodded as they saw what he was pointing at. They landed next to it and jumped from the traces as well. The group began to trot down the edge of the desert and the forest that was close by.
“Silver!” Blue Blood called to the Pegasus close to him.
“Yes?”
“Go ahead of us. Fly as far as you can and see if you can spot them.”
“Got it.” Silver shouted and gave a bow of his head as he took to the air and quickly was far ahead of them.
Blue Blood slowed to a walk and looked up at the sun. “Geez. Never thought I would be anywhere that I did not like my Aunt’s sun.” He commented, earning a quiet chuckle from the Thestral at his side.
The Equestrian prince watched the ahead of them and perked up when he saw Silver coming back to them. The Pegasus dropped to the ground ahead of them and smiled. “Found them. They are ahead of us, but they said they’ll wait for us.”
Blue Blood smiled. “Good news. Okay, let’s go.”
“Go ahead. Cross. You and I need to get the carriages. They have all of the supplies. We will catch up.” Silver said as he ushered the Thestral back the way they had come.
“Can you get them both alone?” Blue asked them.
“We can. We use two normally to make it easy for both of us. But we are able to pull them alone. It’s no big deal. Go ahead.” Silver replied.
Blue Blood nodded and broke into a lope and pulled away from the guards. As he ran his mind went over ideas about how to find the pony the rude mare had mentioned, Sand Comber. He looked up after several minutes and saw Shining Armor and the others waiting. He quickened his pace and reached them after another minute. The Captain of the Guard saw him and a wide smile crossed his muzzle.
“Blue Blood!” He shouted and trotted to greet the panting Prince as he slowed to a walk. “Its good to see you. I assume you had an epiphany similar to ours?”
“Yeah. If you mean that I was reminded about the letter that he sent to Aunt Luna and then realized that we were in the wrong place? Then, yes.” He responded.
“The same one then. I was reminded about it the day before. I am embarrassed to admit it had not occurred to me.” The Captain replied.
“Same here. We had agreed to never mention it again.” Blue replied with a chuckle.
“I like that option,” Shining admitted with a wry smile.
They waited as the other stallions joined them and helped them out of the traces. The guards greeted their counterparts and set aside to plan their next move.
“Have you had any luck?” Blue asked.
“If you mean finding Oblivion, no,” Shining responded. “We have been watching for a pony named Sand Comber.”
“We were told that we needed to find him or die in the desert.” Silver piped in.
“By a rather curt mare, I assume?” Shining asked.
“The rude one? Yes.” Blue added.
Shining nodded. “The same mare then. But that doesn’t matter. We have been combing the desert edge for this pony since yesterday. So far nothing.”
Blue Blood cringed. “I had hoped you had already found him.”
“Same here. I haven’t seen any tracks coming out of the desert either. So at least we haven’t missed him. So, Oblivion has been missing for close to two weeks now.”
“Almost, yes. It just becomes more unlike him the longer it goes.” Blue admitted.
“Agreed. I may not know him as well as others but it does not seem normal for him to vanish like this. Especially to the point that Sasa can’t reach him.” He replied. “Silver. You and Striker go ahead and start scanning the edge of the desert in opposite directions. Don’t overdo it with this heart. No armor either.”
The guards saluted and took to the air. Blue Blood sighed and looked back to the Thestral’s and saw they were trying to stay in the shade. “Oh!” Blue Blood got up and trotted back to the carriages. “Cross, Vantage, come here.” He called for the two ponies and began to rummage through the bags they had with them under the carriage. He pulled out a set of robes that they could wear to keep the sun off of their skin. “Here, wear these. Aunt Luna had them packed in case you two were out in the sun too long.”
The two guards looked grateful as they took the sun armor that the prince gave to them. Blue went back to the Captain and sat down. Shining smiled as he regarded the Prince. “I had no idea those were there. Thank you for that Blue Blood.”
“It’s no problem. Aunt Luna gave me a list of things that she had packed and I asked her about it. She said she had forgotten to give you any so she added in a second set just in case we ran into each other. Thestral’s are a bit sun intolerant.”
“I had been keeping Vantage hiding in the trees.” Shining chuckled.
“Effective. But not a lasting solution.” Blue jabbed at the white stallion.
Shining laughed and nodded. He looked back the way Blue had come and stood up. “Incoming.”
Blue moved out of the way and watched as Striker streaked toward them. He landed in front of them and saluted the Captain before speaking. “I found him. And he knows Oblivion.”