//------------------------------//
// Chapter Twenty Four - Past and Present 
// Story: Fairlight - To the Edge of Midnight 
// by Bluespectre 
//------------------------------//


CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

PAST AND PRESENT


My hooves clopped along the blue-white corridors of my home, echoing and yet sounding strangely vibrant to my ears at the same time. There was a different feeling in the fortress now from when I’d first found these tortured ruins. Whether it was my imagination or not of course remained to be seen, but there was something in the air, a sense of ‘returning life’ about the old place that was as elusive to pinpoint as it was exciting. It certainly hadn’t been an easy job either. Bringing the tribe here from Smiling Borders by carriage and chariot was one thing, but clearing the massive amount of trees and undergrowth that had grown up, around, and through the old road over the last thousand years was quite another. It was going to take more than a few months of physical toil to shift that lot. Without a skilled engineer everything was reliant upon air transportation, and our sky wagons could only carry so much. Magic had been a help of course, however the residual magic field around the fortress as well as the Everfree itself, interfered with unicorn magic causing instability. Apparently it was due to some old lingering wide area effect spell on the road that the wendigo had used to prevent nature reclaiming it that was, ironically, causing the difficulties. That sort of thing was over my head and best left to the wiser magic users amongst our number. Still, it would all come together in its own good time. 

I think the worst thing we had to face here though was the massive task of clearing the upper levels of the fortress. We’d asked for volunteers for that, and had been surprised by the unanimous decision of the entire tribe to deal with it as soon as the equipment arrived. Below the devastation on the surface and upper levels that the Celestian forces had wrought, the fortress was surprisingly intact. When you looked past the masses of rubble and the ice and snow covering centuries of abandonment and decay, the inside was as strong as the day it had been built. A honeycomb of corridors and rooms had been built deep into the living rock of the mountain, stretching like roots into the base all the way to what we had begun to call the ‘forest gate’. The higher levels however, were a different story altogether. Melting ice and snow had flowed through from the mountain above, slowly sneaking in through the cracks, holes and splits in this once beautiful place to hide the crime of war. Like glaciers, impossibly thick ice filled corridors and stairwells that had once teemed with life, choking the arteries of the fortress and trapping the mortal remains of those who had never escaped the onslaught. We had found them by the dozen. Hundreds even. Wendigo and non-wendigo alike: foals, colt, fillies, mothers, fathers… Some were wearing armour, but most were not. Many of the ones we’d found had been reduced to no more than rag covered skeletons, but horribly all too many were little changed from the day they had fallen lifeless to the floor. It was a nightmare, and one that was taking its toll on those in the work crews tasked with melting the ice and chipping the poor souls free from their ancient tomb. At least we could bring them some sense of peace now, and give their mortal remains the respect and dignity in death their enemy had never given them in life. There were no names to the dead, nor any living soul who would remember them, let alone recognise them. But we still treated them with as much love and gentleness as we could. For now we had laid them out in the great warehouse, each one placed in a coffin donated by our carpenters. They’d worked round the clock too, and it seemed oddly appropriate that their own descendants would be doing such important work to send them off. In some ways I suppose it was a little ironic, especially since I’d probably met some of the souls that had once inhabited these very bodies. Whereas others had in all likelihood already been reborn. It was indeed a strange, strange world.

Up ahead the chatter of lively voices deep in conversation washed over me like a warm summer rain. With the removal of the old rotten tapestries and paintings, many of which were well beyond saving, the smell of damp had receded and the air felt as well as smelled cleaner and fresher. Shadow and Tingles had brought in flowers that they put in old vases adding a pleasant floral, and dare I say ‘homely’ scent, to the ancient halls. We had even replaced the magic elements within the lamps, much to my personal delight. I loved old lamps, and to see these working again after so long hardened my resolve to turn the fortress once more into a home where families could live in peace and safety. The door was open, and inside a veritable sea of books littered the floor together with a certain orange pegasus, a lavender unicorn, a plate of biscuits, and a small purple and green dragon who was presently engaged in pouring out cocoa.

“This. Place. Is. Amazing!” The unicorn mare floated the book over her head while she lay back on the rug munching a biscuit. “I mean, look at this: they actually managed to create a distillate of Tampasta Root, Bumbleberry Leaf, and combined it with magic filtered from natural springs within the mountain. The springs must carry trace residual elements of raw thaumaturgical events from the first epoch!”

“Uh-huh.” Tingles closed her book and took another from the small tower beside her.

“I know, right?” The young mare took a sip of her cocoa, “I wonder if they still do? I’d need to collect samples of course, and protective clothing would be-” 

“-Not a problem,” I smiled walking in. “Hello Twilight, glad you decided to come visit us.” I gave Tingles a wink, “Hello, love.”

She smiled up at me, quickly stifling a yawn, “Have you any idea how many books there are here?”

“Too many,” Spike groaned. “These are only from the first room, and there are at least ten more. Then there’s the scrolls, papers, documents, and… ugh! Wax tablets!”

“Wax tablets?” I raised an eyebrow in surprise, “They must be from way back, maybe even older than the fortress.”

“Before the invention of paper,” Twilight said absently. “Around two and a half thousand years ago, although the invention of paper had been accredited to-”

I cleared my throat, “Um, Twilight, I don’t mean to be rude, but have you had any success in finding what we’re looking for?”

“Not yet,” the lavender mare said happily, “but there are just so many…. Oh, my Celestia!” She suddenly jumped up, nearly upsetting the cocoa which was expertly fielded by Spike. “Entwhistle’s Dogma and Providences!” Her purple eyes shone like amethysts in the well lit room. “It’s… It’s the missing volume!”

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Tingles smiled at me. “Absolutely fascinating. Can you believe we’ve only been doing this for four days now, dear?” I noticed the slight twitch to her eye as she spoke, “How was your trip?”

“Very fruitful,” I said honestly. Spike appeared with a chair and a mug of cocoa which I took gratefully; my hooves were killing me. “We’ve got a years trial contract arranged with Chase Falls for cut timber, ironmongery, furniture and so on. If all goes well we’ll have it extended to a five year rolling contract. The bakery, brewery and distillery extensions are nearly finished, and if all goes well we should have our first batches ready for market in about three months.” I checked off the mental list in my head, “The farmlands are all ploughed and the tenants settled into their new homes, which means that all in all we’re finally going to get Smiling Borders back on the map as a trading village.”

Tingles stretched out and groaned loudly, “I want to see the sun again. I can’t stand being cooped up in here all the time, it’s…” She glanced at Twilight and sighed, “Never mind.”

“I know, love,” I said gently. “Tell you what, why don’t I take us all to the hot springs and we can enjoy a good soak. Gods know, I could do with one. How is it my hooves are aching when I’ve been flying everywhere?” I looked down and groaned, “Luna’s ears, look at the state of them...”

“You’re not kidding, they’re all chipped!” Tingles got up and walked over to me, the tiredness showing in the shadows under her eyes. “For goodness sake, didn’t your wear boots like I told you? You know what Chase Falls is like for muck, Fairlight. It’ll rot your hooves.”

I saw Spike’s sympathetic glance and smiled, “I know, love, but they make my legs sweaty.”

“You have heard of ‘Soft hoof’ haven’t you?” Tingles asked levelly. “Thrush maybe? And you wouldn’t be smiling if you got an abscess I can tell you.”

“I know, I know.” I held up my hoof in surrender, “I’ll wear them next time, I promise.”

“Huh, right!” Tingles sniffed, “You’re in luck though, Spike found a store room that has all sorts of grooming things inside.”

“Way ahead of you,” Spike beamed. “Here you go: one hoof care kit, courtesy of yours truly.”

I reached down and gave his scaly head a rub. “Thanks Spike, you’re one of the good ones.”

The strange little fellow beamed happily, and then quickly turned away as his cheeks flushed a deep red, “Uh, I don’t suppose, you know...”

“Hmm?”   

“Um…” The little dragon cleared his throat, “Have you seen Tarragon yet?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head sadly, “No. I’m sorry Spike, I haven’t.”

Tingles reached up and put her hoof on my hind leg with a sympathetic expression that showed the sadness and loss we both felt. “We haven’t seen her for a while now, Spike,” she said quietly. “I wish I knew where she was, but in the last year or so she would just fly away for days on end. Eventually… she didn’t come back.”

“But she will come back, right?” Spike put his claw on my leg, looking up at me pleadingly, “You did say I could see her when we came to visit, and-”

“Spike?” Twilight called over. “Could you look for a volume called “Intricacies and Variabilities by Professor Emble Scalde, please?”

“But-”

“Please, Spike?”

The little dragon’s shoulders slumped, “Okay...”

Spike slunk away through the archway into the next room, leaving us in silence. He sure wore his heart on his sleeve that guy. Metaphorically of course. Watching the way Spike interacted with Twilight was simply heartwarming, but reminded me of my own loss. I hadn’t seen Tarragon since the day I’d died and there was never a day that went by without me remembering that little thing and the way she’d snuggle up to me for a snooze by the fire. She’d saved my life and, I think, my sanity too. I missed her.

Twilight watched the archway a moment and waved me over, keeping her voice to a whisper. “He doesn’t know it yet, but…” She closed her eyes, a ghost of regret passing over her gentle features like a cloud on a summers day. “I’m going to have to remove his memory of our time here.”

“Do you really think it’s necessary?” I asked. “It seems a bit drastic.”

Twilight nodded, “The princess doesn’t know I’m here helping you, and as much as you may both be on better terms now I’m not so sure she’d be too happy about me, um… ‘doing this’. And besides, Spike likes to talk. A lot. If the wrong ponies heard...”

Holding my hoof up I closed my eyes and nodded, “I know. I wish I could say things were that different now, Twilight, but… I’m not so sure.” I took another sip of my cocoa. It really was good. No wonder Twilight liked to keep Spike around. “I wouldn’t want you to risk yourself or Spike. This is my problem, and-”

“-Our problem you mean,” Tingles cut in. She turned to the lavender unicorn, “Twilight, do what you have to do to protect yourself and Spike. It won’t hurt him though, will it?”

Twilight huffed and waved a hoof dismissively, “Pfff! Of course not! I’ll do it when he’s asleep and he’ll wake up thinking he’s just had a long nap.”

“Hmm, well if you’re sure.” Tingles rubbed at her mane, “You’re not the only one who needs a groom and a wash, I’m all itchy and my feathers look like they’re getting mange.”

“Then that settles it,” I said draining off the last of my drink. “Let’s pack up for the day and head back to the hot spring. We’ll pick up Shadow and youngsters on the way and...” I paused. Something was behind me. Watching me. Slowly I turned and found myself staring into the stony eyes of… “Maude? Gods, girl, you trying to give me a bloody heart attack?”

Maude’s aquamarine eyes watched me quietly. “No.”

I sighed, “Well, that’s a relief!” I got off my chair and picked up my pack. “Why don’t you grab your things and join us for a dip in the hot spring back at the village. It’s not too far by chariot.”

The grey mare looked at the others and then back to me as if she could see something written on my eyeballs that I should have know was there all along. “You could use the bath here,” she intoned as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“What bath?” I looked to Tingles and Twilight who just shrugged.

By way of answer, Maude reached back into her pack and pulled out a large yellowed scroll. All our eyes watched it as it unfurled, the lines and writing displaying a map of some kind. “It’s here,” she said in her deadpan voice.

Twilight hurried over, her eyes as wide as mine. “This is...” She nearly tripped over her words. “This is a map of the fortress!” 

“That’s how I found you,” Maude replied simply. She tapped a word on the map, “Athanaeum.”

“A what?” I asked staring at the map in disbelief. “What does that mean?”

“It’s an old word for a library,” Twilight said dismissively. “You can read ancient Equestrian, Maude?”

“No.” Maude lifted up the map for us to see better, “There are pictures.”

Sure enough a small picture of a pool of water and what was quite clearly meant to depict steam was displayed above the word ‘Thermae’. Further down was a picture of a book and the word ‘Athanaeum’. Other words and pictures showing beds, an armoury, hospital or medical facilities and so on had me nearly wetting myself with excitement. I wasn’t the only one either. Twilight was virtually shaking as she studied the map. “We have to explore...” she whispered licking her lips. “We simply have to. There’s no way around it, it has to be done.”

“What?” Tingles pushed in, looking at the map warily, “Now hold on there Daring Do, we don’t know if these areas are even accessible yet. The clearance teams are working round the clock, but even when they’ve shifted everything we still don’t know if those areas are safe to enter or not.”

“She’s right, Twilight.” I glanced towards the door. The faint sound of thrumming could be heard all the way down here. “I was constantly tripping over pipes just coming up the stairs.” 

Pumps brought in from our mining contacts at Chase Falls had been a goddess-send. The very latest in steam powered machinery, the huge iron monsters we’d hauled here were outside the forest gate pumping water from the melting ice and dumping it in the river day and night. The steam inside the corridors and rooms choked with centuries of ice was horrendous, and magically operated extractor fans had similarly been bartered for to ventilate the working areas. Even so, noise, damp and the dreadful conditions meant we could only work short shifts. Unicorns using fire magic together with the brute strength of minotaurs with pick, axe and shovel, were making steady progress. But like the map showed, it was going to take a long, and I mean long time to clear everywhere. And that in itself was only part of the problem. The higher we went the more dangerous it became, and the more unstable. Certain parts of the fortress had been protected by magic, and the library had been exceptionally well preserved. Charms, wards, and area effect spells had combined to keep the place at the perfect humidity to prevent mould and deterioration of delicate tomes and scrolls documenting the history of Equestria. From what Twilight had told me it seemed that the fortress had been a regular haunt for scholars, mages and historians for many years before the war. Its loss must have been a huge blow to the academic world, and it was incredible it had survived at all, let alone in such near perfect condition. There was one question that hadn’t been answered though:

“Maude, where did you get this?” I asked.

She blinked slowly. “He gave it to me.”

“He?” I frowned in confusion, “Who’s ‘he’?” Oh gods, she didn’t mean that bloody wizard Star Swirl did she? The old sod had gone before I’d got back here, and according to the girls had simply disappeared one day after pinching a sandwich. I still couldn’t work out how he was toddling around the mortal realm like he out on a leisurely Sunday stroll from the afterlife either.

“Oh, er, sorry.” A grey face with yellow eyes and a black mane appeared behind Maude, “I should have introduced myself earlier but I wasn’t sure if the library was open?”

I should have known. Gods above, I’d put them out of my mind altogether, but here was one of them standing in front of me as bold as brass. In my home! “And you are?” I asked.

“Um, my name is Glacies,” the stallion said a little nervously. “My family and I have been tending the orchard and our small holding waiting for the lord’s return.” He bowed formally, making my mane twitch. “My lord, we could sense the bond when you came back to us.”

“Mmm,” I raised an eyebrow, “and you provided food and drink for my mate and foal I understand.”

Glacies nodded, “It was nothing, my lord. To help the lady Shadow and your daughter was a blessing for us all.” He took a breath composing himself. The poor sod looked quite overwhelmed. “The stories amongst my family foretold of the day you would return to the fortress, and we have done what small things we can to protect it from the prying eyes of outsiders. And this...” he pointed to the map, “was entrusted to us so that we may protect it until the lord came back to claim what was his once more.”

“And who is this ‘us’, exactly?” I asked.

“There are twenty of us in all,” Glacies said politely. “We have lived here, hidden deep within the forest since the fall of the fortress and the destruction of our people.”

“On site caretakers,” I said shaking my head, “all these years.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but then the way things had been going, nothing should have surprised me at all. Singing turnips and flying bananas wouldn’t have me turning a hair these days. A thought occurred to me, “Didn’t your family know about the tribe’s village of Smiling Borders? They’ve never mentioned you.”

“We knew about them,” Glacies replied. “But my ancestors decided that it would be prudent to avoid all contact with non-wendigo for fear of detection. Later we began to trade with some of the outlying villages, but Smiling Borders had become unwelcoming of ‘outsiders’. To the villages we visited we were merely a family of woods ponies who traded in hoof crafts.”

Tingles cocked an eyebrow at the fellow, “And your family are… all related?”

Oh wonderful! That was about as subtle as a flying brick. Might as well have asked the guy right out ‘Are you all inbred?’ Still, he looked okay. Four legs, one head, two ears… the usual.

“We married those who had the appropriate attributes from outside the village,” Glacies explained. “We would welcome them into the family as one of our own, as has always been the way of our people.”

“Well, I can’t say I can offer much in the way of hospitality to you and you family, Glacies,” I said honestly, “but please, be welcome amongst us.”

Glacies bowed, “Thank you, Lord Fairlight.”

Just when I thought we’d managed to settle things, Twilight pushed in, looking the newcomer up and down. Then, to my wide eyed horror, she started prodding the guy like some he was some sort of lab experiment. “So you’re a wendigo?” she asked curiously. “A descendant of the tribe that lived here in the fortress?”

“We are,” Glacies replied proudly lifting his muzzle. “We have kept our traditions, songs and stories alive as our ancestors directed us.” I was quietly impressed with the way he ignored the overly curious unicorn’s poking.

Twilight gasped, “These have been passed down through oral tradition?”

“Oral and written,” Glacies clarified. “Our books have been re-written by the family to preserve their wisdom, and on occasion translated into modern Equestrian. But we kept the originals, returning them to the fortress for protection when we were able.”

“Ah, the whole ‘library’ thing,” I said with a nod. “Well, I think that’s enough for now, right Twilight?”

“Uh… Yes!” Twilight blinked in surprise but mercifully backed away. “Yes, we can, um… talk more later!”

The newcomer bobbed his head, “I would be delighted, my lady.”

Ho, ho! And did she ever blush at that! I clopped my forehooves together, “Right then, those who want to have a look at the bath come with me. The rest of you can stop here and enjoy the comforts of the ‘Athanaeum’.” I felt quite chuffed with myself for remembering that. 

Tingles gave her wings a stretch and sat down on one of the chairs, taking a biscuit in the process. “You guys go ahead. If it’s good, come and get us. In the meantime I’ll stop here and see what Spike’s getting up to.”

Now with even more ponies in tow, we set off following the archaic map. It was an absolute gem of a find too; different levels were represented in superb detail, and other than the ancient language, had been made with so much care and thought that a pony who was illiterate could navigate their way around the fortress with relative ease. And it was essential too. The fortress was vast, with some of the deeper levels in total darkness where even my eyes would struggle. Occasionally magical lighting still worked, if only barely, but mostly we kept to the blue-white walled areas and when we need to go deeper, lamps were the order of the day. 

“Have you been in the fortress before?” Twilight asked Glacies.

He nodded, “Many times before the lady came home to have her foal. The mares of our family helped during the birth. To have a new life within our ancestral home brought a great deal of joy and hope to us all.”

Very profound… I don’t know why, but I had a strange sense of trepidation around Glacies which I couldn’t quite put my hoof on. Did I trust him? No. Did I fear him? No, of course not. He and his family had indeed helped Shadow when she needed help the most. If not for them, then Shadow and Horizon may not have survived in this cold old place. And where were they now? Outside playing beneath the apple trees that the family of wendigo had planted in readiness for our return. A return that may never have happened for all they knew as they lived out their lives in the seclusion of the forest, generation after generation. They could have robbed the place blind and yet from what Shadow had said, all they had ever done was borrow books in exchange for food for her and our daughter. And now I was back I’d all but told the guy to sod off the moment I’d met him. Gods, sometimes… sometimes I could be a real cock.

I turned to Glacies and bobbed my head, “You have my gratitude for everything you have done for my family, Glacies.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

I bobbed my head to him, “May I ask what your family will do now?”

“Now?” Judging by the look on his face he obviously hadn’t. “I don’t know, my lord. We did our duty, and now that you’re back… we expected you’d give us direction.” Suddenly his expression turned to one of horror and he bowed dramatically, “Forgive me. I spoke without thinking, my lord. It is not my place to suggest-”

“-Will you please stop that!” I groaned and rolled my eyes with a loud snort, “I always wondered what it was about wendigo that got my back up, and now I know what it is. You’re either stuck up and holier-than-thou or you’re bowing and scraping all the damned time like I’m the bloody messiah or something!”

“And he’s not the messiah,” Twilight laughed, quoting from one of my favourite movies, “he’s a very naughty boy!”

“Highly amusing, Miss Sparkle,” I sniffed, shooting her a look. “Listen, Glacies, if it makes you feel more comfortable to call me ‘My Lord’ or ‘Lord Fairlight’, then fine, knock yourself out, but if you want to call me just plain old ‘Fairlight’ then I’m just as happy with that. Just... for Luna’s sake, would you please stop bloody bowing all the time? It’s giving a flaming migraine.”

Glacies looked a little crestfallen, but soldiered on regardless. “Of course, Lord Fairlight.”

“Good lad.” I decided on a quick change of subject. “Maude, any more insights into the make-up of the fortress itself?”

Maude nodded, “The base material has the characteristics of blue hemimorphite, a sorosilicate mineral which contains significant quantities of zinc. Up until recently it was known commonly as calamine.”

“As in calamine lotion?” I asked. 

That was the stuff used to treat bites and stings when I was a foal. Mum would often lace me in the strange pink fluid, especially after I’d been savaged by midges during one of my many forays into the woods near the stream that came down from the hills. During the summer those nasty little things swarmed like mad along waterways, making a feast of any passing warm blooded adventurer. But did that stop me? Of course not. So it was back home, a good scratch, and then out came the lotion. No matter how careful you were it used get everywhere too, and had a weird undefinable smell that I’d never forgotten.

Maude nodded. “Hemimorphite is notable for its fluorescent properties, however due to the infusion of thaumaturgical matrices, the base structure of the mineral has been altered to enable it to fluoresce without the need for an initiating light source.”

“What, so it’s like a battery that doesn’t need charging?” I asked.

“In a way,” Twilight explained jumping in. “Fluorescent minerals normally rely on an external lighting source, such as the sun, to enable them to effectively ‘discharge’ the stored energy in the form of luminescence. In essence, they ‘glow’. Maude and I believe the core matrix used during the construction sends light from the naturally lit higher areas throughout the fortress, essentially using nature as a, um, ‘battery charger’.”

“Sounds a bit complicated when a magical lamp will do the same job,” I muttered to myself. 

Still, I had to admit the effect was amazing. There were no shadows, no pools of light or unlit areas. The whole corridor was alive with that blue-white light which made me feel strangely energised. Well, miserable sod I may be at times, but I could concede a point when I was proved wrong. And yes, given the choice between this and a lamp, I’d choose this. I still liked lamps of course, but everything in its place as they say. 

We walked on for around ten minutes or so, passing the occasional table or chair that had been left behind by the clean up crews. Of course it was entirely possible they just hadn’t been this way yet and it was one of the areas the forces of nature simply hadn’t encroached into, but it was hard to tell the difference. The dedicated teams of villagers were doing a damned good job, slowly but surely turning a mausoleum back into a home once more. Grimble was organising things back at the village and had delegated the cleaning to those who were a touch more in tune with ‘aesthetics’, for want of a better word. This had been jumped on by members of the tribe who excelled in such things, and there had been an absolute clamour to get aboard the ‘redecoration train’, stopping at ‘cost a bloody fortune junction’. Thank the gods we had some cash in the kitty, but it was rapidly disappearing. If we didn’t get some regular money in soon we’d be on the proverbial champagne taste on a bread and water budget route before we knew it. Fortunately selling the knackered old tapestries and damaged furniture had proved extraordinarily popular with the antique lot out there, but we were still waiting for the payment from the auctioneers in Canterlot for that last sale. Nothing new there then!

Unfortunately the wall of ice around the next corner killed any chance of progress deader than a gopher in a minotaur and mallet competition. I summed it up in one word which we could all get behind too, “Bollocks.”

“That’s a shame,” Glacies opined. “Is there no other way in?”

“Not according to the map,” I said lifting it up to the light. “There’s several more bathing areas listed, but I can tell you now they’re way up there past all the rubble. Chances are they’re absolutely beggared.”

“Do we go back?” Glacies asked.

I shrugged, “Not unless one of you guys can pull something out of the hat. Twilight?”            

The lavender mare scratched her chin in thought. “I could use fire magic, but we can’t melt it without pumps or ventilation because the water would flood the lower levels. Although… I may have another solution we could try.”

“Oh?” Now I was intrigued.

“Mmm...” Twilight closed her eyes in thought. “Caterwaul’s Conversion Incantation should do the trick.”

“What’s that- WHOA!” I jumped back in surprise as I found out very quickly what ‘Caterwaul’s’ blasted conversion actually was. Green light burst from Twilight’s horn and hit the wall of ice with a sound like screeching cats. All of us covered our ears as the sound grew, and then…

PING.

“Ping?” I blinked in surprise, checking myself to make sure I was still in one piece. “I did just hear something go ‘Ping’, didn’t I?”

“It’s to tell you the spell’s done,” Twilight said happily. “Defrost can take a little longer, but I find several seconds on full intensity does the trick.”

“Remind me never to ask you to make the dinner,” I said warily. “Sooo what now?”

Twilight’s grinned widely, “Just a little breeze, and… POOF!”

There was a collective intake of breath as the wall of ice suddenly burst like a pinata. Goodness know how many feet of solid ice instantly turned into pure white, and decidedly fluffy, snow. 

“Extraordinary...” I shook my head in amazement, “I take my hat off to you, Miss Sparkle. That was one amazing piece of magic.”

“Gosh! Urm… thank you!” She beamed from ear to ear, her cheeks flushing red. “It was nothing really.” 

She looked away shyly. It was quite cute really, and reminded me of more innocent days which the majority of ponies probably still enjoyed by and large. I’d gone astray somewhere along the line, but here I was, and stood in the corridor of a museum come to life from the pages of history. I walked ahead, forging through the snow, past the stairwell where the water had trickled down over centuries and along the silent corridor that glowed with the same fresh blue aura that it had from the very first days wendigo walked here, until now. I stepped carefully, reverently even, in this hallowed place of my ancestors. It was strange to think that when I had first found the fortress I’d had such strong emotion regarding it: fear, wariness, even hatred. Whether this was a result of the mental turmoil I had been going through at the time or as a result of the magic within the fortress itself I’ll never know. What was truly important was that now, this place, this most magnificent of structures, felt like it had been waiting for me all this time, that it was waking up from a long slumber to welcome me home. Walking underneath the gold leaf worked arch, through the open double doors of wood as black as midnight, I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.

It was beautiful. So, so beautiful. A great bathhouse of marble, gold and silver, lay out before me in all its archaic glory. Shower rooms, wash rooms, places to store your belongings, a reception area… it was all here. All of it. The water was gone, but the huge golden carp where the water had once flowed sat as they always had, their emerald eyes gleaming in the blue light. Gently, silently, I walked around the outside of the pool, touching, caressing, and just taking it all in as much as I could. It was a dream, and I the dream-walker. Awakened. 

Maude said something to Twilight and the two stepped forward, staring at their surroundings with wonderment in their eyes. Well, all except for Maude whose expressionless gaze would have made her the most perfect poker player in the history of the game. She walked over to one of the fish, leaned forward, and sniffed at it. “Wustite, Hematite and Magnetite,” she said as if it were obvious. She looked up at my baffled expression. “Limescale has choked off the pipes and blocked the flow of water,” she said lifting a hoof and pointing to the blue-green deposit dripping from the mouth of the carp. “I can remove it, if you want.”

“Yes,” I said simply. “Do it. Please.”

“Just a second, please.” Twilight approached the edge of the pool and muttered something under her breath. As she did so, a purple glow began to fill the pool almost like water, and then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. “Bacterial and viral elimination spell,” she explained. “Better to disinfect the area first. Who knows what’s been living in here!”

“Not much,” I said looking around at the tastefully designed baths. “But better to be safe than sorry.” It certainly beat getting in there with a scrubbing brush and bleach. Still, like everything else here it looked remarkably clean and in pretty good repair considering.

“Look at these tiles!” Twilight exclaimed suddenly, “These are gold vein black marble from the Bay Mountains. To find the marble alone, let along quarry it and bring it here, is simply incredible!” She shook her head in astonishment as she marvelled at the wall, “The royal palace has some in the guest bath house, but not this much.”

“I doubt money was much of an issue when you all work for the ‘common good’,” I said joining her. 

“Huh? I’ve read they were a utilitarian society,” Twilight replied.

“I’ll have to take your word for that,” I chuckled. “All I know is that they worked together to protect one another, build their home, and fight as mercenaries in whatever war took their fancy. Money seems to have been a means to an end, not something to strive for. If anything, the goal of the wendigo was to join with the spirits and become, I suppose, like me.”

Twilight tore her open mouthed gaze from the magnificence of the baths and back to me. “Does it, you know, feel strange at all?” she asked. “Do you feel different inside from how you did before you accepted the spirit?”

“I’m not sure I’d use the word ‘accept’, but no, not really.” I thought for a moment, “Although you always know its there, just sitting there ready to tap into when you need it. Most of the time anyway. I think what’s most telling is when its not there.”

“Not there?” Twilight frowned, “You mean it disappears sometimes?”

“No.” I shook my head, “Horn locks will do it.”

“That’s barbaric!” Twilight went pale. “Who would do something so awful to a unicorn!”

I sighed, “More than you’d think.” 

Twilight didn’t know about my trip to the eternal herd, and I wanted it to stay that way. I’d never met a more inquisitive mare in my life, and if she found out I’d met her idol, that supercilious tool Star Swirl, I’d never hear the end of it. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about him, and… Meadow. Gods, I still didn’t know what to think about that. Star Swirl had denied anything had happened of course, but Meadow hadn’t exactly done much to put my mind at ease. Neither had I for that matter. I’d simply put it out of my mind and locked it all away. But every now and again, just when I thought I could finally relax, it would sneak out and grab me, pulling at my heart until I could batter myself mentally back into submission and ignore it once more. It wasn’t a good solution, but it worked for now. Damn it, I hated all this secrecy! I wish I could have told Twilight about my experiences in the herd, but as that was intrinsically linked to that bell wearing wizard, it would remain off the discussion agenda for the foreseeable future. Maybe I’d tell her at- 

What the hell was that weird noise? I scratched at my ear irritably. “Can you hear something?” I asked Twilight.

She was looking towards Maude and I turned to follow her gaze. The curious grey mare was stood there in silence, moving her hooves like a snake charmer, swaying this way and that. At first it looked like she’d lost her marbles until I noticed something: it was the way she was moving, as if touching something invisible to everypony other than her. She slid her hoof along, tapped, moved back a little, and tapped again. Each time she did it the odd grating sound got a little louder, faded, and then came back once again.

“What’s she doing?” I asked. “I know she’s the foremost geologist in Equestria, but I thought she’d use tools or… something a bit more tool orientated?” 

Twilight nodded, watching Maude carefully. “She’s adjusting the ley energies in the mineral’s structure to break it up. It’s a little like what I did with the ice blockage back there.” She reached into her pack and passed me a biscuit. Before I knew it I was munching away too. “Earth ponies can interact with the physical world around them,” Twilight continued, “Rocks, earth, water courses and so forth. We can see them too with the right incantations, but earth ponies have always had a natural ability to work with the physical elements of the land.”

“It’s magic then?” I asked in surprise.

“Not as you or I know it,” the little unicorn said, licking a crumb away, “Wood Tick’s Wonderful World describes it as a-” She stopped and held up a hoof. “I think we’d better move back.”

“Why?” I glanced at her just as the rumbling began. “Ah, understood.” 

Something was coming. 

I looked behind me and waved Glacies back. The poor guy looked lost in a dream world, but he followed my lead and backed away. Meanwhile Maude bolted out of the pool and up the steps just in time. Behind her the vibrating, rumbling sound rose to a heady crescendo of reverberating notes that rolled around the empty bathhouse until suddenly, finally, it stopped. 

Glacies opened one eye, peering cautiously over the edge of the pool, “What was that? It sounded like-” 

It didn’t give him the chance to finish. A coughing, spluttering gout of water shot from the golden carp and spattered, steaming, into the empty pool. Taken by surprise, Glacies lost his balance and nearly pitched head first into the bubbling mass, but thankfully I was able get a hold of the stupid creature and pull him away in time to avoid being scalded. Water continued to boom into the pool, sending clouds of steam up into the vaulted ceiling and making the whole room shake.

“It’s working!” Twilight shouted, “It’s actually working!”

She was right, it was, and then some. I was absolutely mesmerised by the sight. Hot water plumed into the bath which was quickly beginning to fill. And then, to my surprise, the other fish coughed and sputtered into life as Maude worked her own particular brand of magic with the thing. I walked over for a closer look. It was cold. 

“You move the tails to control the flow,” Maude pointed out.

“Good grief, all we need now is bubble bath,” I said shaking my head in disbelief.

“Do you want me to look for some?” she asked.

“No, Maude.” I smiled, “I don’t think we need to worry too much about that just yet.”

A commotion from back along the corridor brought  with it familiar voices, and from around the corner, familiar faces too. Shadow, Tingles, Horizon and Lumin all trotted in one after the other to stare in amazement at the fabulous treasure we’d found.

Tingles shook her head, walking up and testing the water, “Is it safe?”

“I used a spell to disinfect it,” Twilight informed her proudly. “It’s perfectly safe.”

“And the water?” She sniffed it tentatively. “It smells a little sulphurous, like the hot springs.”

Twilight shugged, “I suspect it will be from the same source, however without more detailed geological surveys any theories on that right now would be pure conjecture.”

“Good for your skin though!” I called over as I took off my cloak and tunic. “Getting in gang?”

“Oh!” Twilight looked shocked, “I didn’t realise. Is this mixed bathing?”

Maude was already disrobing and hung up her clothes on a peg near the pool. “It is,” she said walking down the steps.

Outnumbered, Twilight finally decided to join us, albeit more sitting with her hind legs dangling in the water rather than dunking herself the way the rest of us were.

“We’ll have to have a look at the showers later,” I said happily. “Maude, would you be able to help with those too?”

“Sure,” came the expected reply.

Tingles nodded, “We should have washed off before getting in, but I suppose considering the circumstances I can live with it.”

Shadow huffed loudly and pushed off from the side, upside down, and floated out towards the far end of the pool using her wings like oars. She always brought a smile to my face. Now more than ever really. Meanwhile Horizon and Lumin were leaping around like lunatics, spraying water at each other and laughing. Tingles made sure they kept near her and the steps though, just in case. Little legs and over excitement were not a good combination in a deep bath, and we’d had enough tragedy in our lives without risking attracting more. Beside me, Twilight was talking with Glacies, or to be more specific, ‘interrogating’ him. Gods, he didn’t know what he was in for did he? While he was enjoying that little treat, I’d enjoy searching through the rest of fortress. Now that we had the map there were several places in particular I wanted to see, but they could wait until I’d had a good soak and had my hooves sorted out. Unfortunately there were some things that simply couldn’t be overlooked nor put off for too long or else they’d come back and bite you on the arse. Maybe not today, nor even next week, but they would sooner or later. Besides, Tingles never overlooked anything. 

******************** 

“You’re sure this is the right way?”

“Of course. Cartography is a skill we learned in fourth grade, and I’ve been studying it in my free time ever since.” The lavender unicorn floated the map in front of her, adjusting a pair of blue rimmed reading spectacles that made her look ridiculously cute. “Besides, this ‘map’ is more of floor plan and it’s hardly complicated.”

Well pardon me! I let out a sigh and rubbed my mane, “My apologies, Miss Sparkle, I find it a little hard to put my faith in others sometimes.”

She smiled, looking up at me in the glow of her magic, “Oh, it’s quite alright, Lord Fairlight. After speaking to you and learning more of your peoples ways...” She cleared her throat, “I mean your ancestors ways of course, it’s only natural a leader in your position would be a little, um… sceptical?”

“That’s a very polite way of putting it,” I replied with a wink. 

We left the others exploring more of the bath house’s secrets, and now that Maude had the showers working, the tired and mucky clearance teams were already beginning to discover the joys of clean, fresh and deliciously warm water. Tingles had dashed off to see where we could find bathing essentials such as soap, towels and so on, whilst Shadow had wandered off with Glacies to the library to give Spike a break from his incessant ‘inventorising’ or whatever silly word he’d called it. In the rush the poor guy had been left behind, and I felt terrible about it. Twilight had assured me he hadn’t wanted to come for a bath when there were mares there due to his apparent shyness, but instead would go there later when there was a more ‘male orientated bathing session’. In all honesty I’d never even thought about it. Whenever I’d been indulging in the luxurious waters of the hot springs or soaking in a bath at the barracks, it had always been mixed bathing. He was a funny little fellow, but you had to respect his sense of morality. And duty. Twilight trusted him implicitly, and it was a pleasure to see the way they worked together as a team. He also made one hell of a good cup of cocoa. I’d have to ask him for the recipe before he went home. 

Speaking of home comforts, this part of the fortress we were in now was a million miles away from the ambient warmth and gentle light of the corridors and rooms of what I’d come to think of as the ‘main part’ of the labyrinth my ancestors called home. It was cold, pitch black, and the magical lighting had failed long ago. Twilight was using her magic to produce a brilliant sphere of bright white light that did nothing at all to make me feel at ease. The glowing orb cast shadows everywhere, and my wendigo spirit shifted uneasily in my chest. There was a sense of… not so much fear, but… blood, death, danger, and an undercurrent of what I could only describe as excitement. It was strange. Very strange. I could feel the hairs standing up along my spine, my hooves and horn itching more and more with every step. As for Twilight, the little mare seemed completely unaffected. Was it just me? Perhaps it was, as I nearly walked right into Twilight when she stopped suddenly right in front of me.

“This looks like it,” Twilight said holding up the map. “The Armamentarium.”

I looked at the map, then up at the large wooden door in front of us. The wood was darkened with age, secured with heavy iron strapping and studs nailed into its surface. The wendigo certainly didn’t do things by half. It looked like it was built to withstand a siege engine, and then some. A closer inspection revealed a key hole at the top and a corresponding one at the bottom, but where those keys had gone in the last thousand years was anyponies guess.

“Any thoughts?” I asked.

Twilight scratched her chin in thought, “There’s no immediate indication of any defensive spell matrices here, but I can’t be certain without a more in depth analysis.” Her brow furrowed, “I would advise caution.”

“Without keys, caution may not be an option,” I said honestly. I looked at the door and closed my eyes, trying to will the memories of my ancestors to give me a life line here, but as bloody usual when I wanted the damned things they remained infuriatingly mute. “I could try blasting the door open,” I suggested.

“Blasting it open?!” Twilight looked horrified. “If you do that then you could damage the artefacts inside!” She shook her head emphatically, “Absolutely not!” The little unicorn took a step back and closed her eyes. “Wait, I’m going to try something.”

“What?” I asked. “Twilight, don’t do anything dangerous. I don’t want you being hurt.”

“I’ll be fine, honestly.” Twilight gave that look which told me I was worrying unnecessarily, but I wasn’t convinced. “The Reserare Ianua charm should do the trick,” she said quietly. “It’s old, but since the magic in the fortress is too, this one should work out okay.” She levelled her horn at the first key hole and a thin, wobbly trickle of red magical light left her horn and entered the lock. “Right,” Twilight said confidently. “One, two, and-”

The crack of magical feedback made my heart jump in my chest, sending me backwards onto my haunches. The corridor was plunged into complete darkness. Twilight was… Damn it, where was she?! “Twilight?” I shouted staring into the darkness,  “Damn it all!” I sent a trickle of my own magic into my horn, conjuring my hopelessly pathetic flame into existence. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to illuminate the still figure of Twilight lying on the cold stone floor of the corridor. “Oh, gods no.” I hurried over to her and slid to a halt, checking her over for injuries. The little unicorn’s eyes were closed, but mercifully her chest rose and fell steadily, and her heart beat felt strong. Judging by the tingling in my horn, her magic was in flux, wavering in and out. ‘No defensive spells’, my arse! I had to get her-

Intrusus. Intrusus. Intrusus.

Okay, now that didn’t sound good at all! The grating, archaic sounding voice echoed down the corridor accompanied by a pulsing red light that seemed to materialise all around us with no visible originating source. I had the distinct impression I’d been here before, only this time I couldn’t exactly ‘give it legs’, as my old watch instructor had so eloquently put it, with an unconscious mare bouncing around on my back when I couldn’t see much more than a few feet in front of my muzzle. Then there was the problem of there only being one way in and one way out too. I’d just have to haul Twilight up onto my back and do my best to keep her there whilst we got the hell out of that damned corridor, all the while praying I didn’t break a leg on the way. 

In the distance a bell began to clang, the dull sound reverberating all around us over and over. I was out of time. Well, I thought to myself, old school it is then. I bent down to pick up the unconscious mare when I saw her eyes flicker.

“Ooohhh, my head!” 

“Twilight!” I reached down and helped her to sit up. “Where are you hurt? Can you stand?”

“Y… Yes...” She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her forehead. “What hit me? Spell feedback?” She looked up at me in alarm, “What’s happening? What’s that flashing?”

“We’ve triggered some sort of alarm,” I said hurriedly. “I think we’d better get out of here, and...” I looked down at her. She was staring off into the darkness. 

Twilight swallowed, “I think we may be in trouble...”

Shadows were moving towards us. In the flashing light I could just about make out what appeared to be pony shaped ‘things’, shadows, advancing in the darkness, clanking along one after the other. Twilight’s horn began to glow, her magic quickly building until, with a barely discernible fizzing sound, it winked out plunging us once more into that eerie red light. It was enough. In that brief flash of magic it showed us the ghastly truth of what was coming towards us in heavy, shuffling steps that thrummed through the floor and up my legs. 

“Golems!” Twilight squeaked, covering her muzzle in fright. “The alarm spell must have activated them. They’re impervious to magic! What are we going to-”

“SHIT!” I roughly pushed her down as a crossbow bolt fizzed over her head, narrowly missing her and ricocheting off the wall. “Get behind me!” 

The magic leaped to my defence. And vanished. “Oh gods...” A cold chill ran down my spine. It was like the empire all over again; the nullification field around the portal that blocked your magic as effectively as a horn lock had somehow been replicated here too. Those blasted wendigo had thought of everything! And here I was with no magic, no sword, and only a glorified fruit knife on my belt to defend us. With a locked door behind us there was no way out of the corridor except past the armoured lumps that were bearing down on Twilight and myself with all the momentum of some unstoppable landslide. Magical constructs they may be, but those crossbows they were holding were real enough, and I didn’t fancy going hoof to hoof with one of them either.

“Can you buy me some time?” Twilight shouted, dashing for the door.

“To do what?!” I yelled back, drawing my dagger. “The door can’t be breached with magic, we’ve already tried that!”

“Just do it!” she snapped.

Well, here go again. “This must be my lucky day,” I hissed under my breath. 

Crazy odds, bugger all chance of survival, and a problem of my own making. What wasn’t to like? Well, other than staying alive of course. With no ranged weaponry, the only chance I had was to try and close the distance, keeping the golems attention away from Twilight and focussing on me instead. I leaped at the first of them, throwing myself at it bodily and knocking it into the wall. Behind it I heard the twang of a string, and then a snap as the ancient string failed. Looked like a millennia hadn’t been that kind to the bloody things after all! Unfortunately for me their swords looked more than capable of chopping any nearby Fairlight’s into sashimi. 

I saw the first blow coming in from a mile away. The golems were brutishly strong, but their clunky movements telegraphed their intentions loud and clear giving me a chance to dodge out of the way. If there’d been a little more room of course that might have given me an actual advantage. As it was, all I actually succeeded in doing was thumping my head into the wall like some blind drunk on a Friday night. Thankfully the golem’s downward stroke was wide, and, predictably, very mechanical in nature. Lifeless eyes set in dusty ancient armour told me nothing about my foe, only that it had one purpose, and one purpose alone: to kill. Even if somehow I managed to best the thing, behind it were plenty more all lining up for a piece of the intruder into their ancient home. I lifted my dagger, trying to deflect the strike, but was pathetic against such an immovable being. I might as well have been trying to fight the mountain itself, and in a way I suppose I was. Not that such philosophical considerations were exactly helping me right then! 

The golem turned and delivered a back-hoofed blow to side of my head that sent stars into my vision and a bolt of pain though my skull.

“Twilight...” I spat a gobbet of blood out of my mouth, trying to kick the things legs away. “Hows it going?”

“I’m not sure!” Twilight shouted back. “The charm’s blocking my attempts at disarming it. I think I may need to use-”

The first golem crashed into a heap. Unfortunately, right on top of yours truly. “Just hurry up!” I yelled, kicking at the damned thing. “Please!”

“I’m working at fast as I can!” came the panicked reply.

I took the next cut along the blade of my dagger, slipped, and only by sheer luck avoided the downward thrust that would have turned me into a kebab. “WORK FASTER!” I bellowed, “I can’t keep this up for long!”

The one sided battle continued, although I had the horrible feeling it wasn’t going to last much longer. I was tiring quickly and taking one hell of a beating in the process. With each thump, every blow and swipe, I was being pushed back towards Twilight and that damned door. And then, suddenly, she called out.

“Fairlight! Quickly! Say something!”

“Like what?!” I shouted back.

“I don’t know!” Twilight shook her head in frustration. “Something in ancient equestrian!”

“I don’t know any ancient bloody equestrian!” I ducked, pinning my ears and watched as the blade sparked off the granite wall. And then, as luck would have it, one phrase popped into my head that I remembered from school. Some wag had scrawled it on the toilet cubicle wall…

“Licet mihi ad latrinam ire!” I shouted.

Twilight stared back at me in amazement, “You need to go to the bathroom?!”

“Damn it!” I bucked out, smashing my hind hooves into the golem with the predictable lack of any positive result. “Ego sunt insanus!”

“I don’t know about being mad, but try… try...” She closed her eyes and then looked up, her eyes catching the sparks of light. “Aperi Ianuam.”

“Aper- What?!”

“Aperi Ianuam!”

“Oh, bollocks!” I rolled, taking a kick to the stomach that had me winded and near retching. “Ap… A-Perry...” 

A flash of magic sizzle past me, catching the golem in the face. It paused, looked up, and turned towards its new target completely unharmed. I couldn’t breath, my mind was a muddle of words and panic. Behind me Twilight screamed as the magical feedback nearly floored her.

“Ap...” Gods, the pain! My stomach howled at me and my lungs burned, but finally, finally! “Aperi Ianuam!”

Everything stopped. 

Quickly, or as quickly as I could with half a dozen broken ribs, I pulled myself away from the wall and staggered over to Twilight. “You… Are you okay?”

Purple eyes stared up at me from mere inches under the sword’s blade, “Y… Yes?”

The click of a lock behind her made us both look round slowly, a shiver of cold running down our combined backs. The door, slowly, had swung open a few inches. I glanced at Twilight and she nodded back to me. Well, we’d come this far, it seemed a shame not see what death dealing delights we had waiting for us on the other side. Still, I didn’t want- 

“In we go!” Twilight chirped, and vanished inside as happy as a foal in a sweet shop.

Ah, well, that resolved that little problem then didn’t it! And lighting too apparently, as lights popped on around us one after the other, stretching off into the distance and illuminating the room so brightly I had to shield my eyes. 

“Twilight, stay close to me, and for the goddess’s sake don’t wander off,” I said trying to catch up with her. “We don’t know what’s in here.” 

Yeah… I may as well have been talking to the golem for all the difference that made. Twilight was lost in a world of her own, trotting around staring about her in open mouthed wonder at the most incredible sight I could have imagined. It was armour. Armour, weapons, tunics, packs – in fact everything for the discerning army on the go. Row after row, dozens, no, hundreds of suits of full plate armour lined the walls and floor, along with innumerable swords, lances, spears, bows, crossbows, throwing spears, javelins, and more… so much more! I felt delirious, like an alcoholic given the keys to the brewery. Dear gods, I didn’t know where to look next! Panniers, satchels, and leather work of all kinds hung from countless racks all neatly lined up waiting for their next customer. Tunics, cleaned and ready for wear, sat on hangers whilst padded jerkins and chain mail hung from armour trees waiting for when they would be needed for battle once more. I slid my hoof along the mail, feeling the way it slipped over the metallic surface as gently as a ripple on the surface of a pond. The swords, all different types, length, and every single one as sharp as a razor, sat oiled and greased in the racks next to their scabbards.

“Fascinating. The area effect spell here has several redundancy matrices.” Twilight’s voice washed over me. In my wide eyed state of bewilderment I barely heard anything she said as she continued, “The magic has a bactericidal and fungicidal aspect as well as maintaining a climate controlled environment, thus arresting any decay in the organic materials and oxidation in the metal.”

I lifted one of the swords from its rack and felt the weight. It was perfect. The right length, the right weight, and the balance point was right where it should be for me. I took up a fighting stance, shifting my weight, sliding my hind legs back... and swung. Normally a sword would swipe through the air, the air resistance making a ‘whooshing’ sound that I was familiar with. But not this. This didn’t so much cleave the air as glide through it, parting the emptiness around it so that it allowed the hardened steel edge to pass. It was near silent. My eyes gleamed with the reflection from the surface that felt… right. 

“That’s not steel,” Twilight observed walking over. “Hmm...” Her horn glowed, the magic enveloping the blade and then winking out. “I’ve heard of metal like this before. It’s called Heart Steel.”

“Heart Steel?”

“Uh-huh.” Twilight turned away, her attention flitting from one thing to another like a confused butterfly. “It’s a blend of iron taken from high background magical field areas and carbon steel. Only the very best blacksmiths could forge it and it commanded ridiculous prices. One sword, known as the ‘Sky King’s Feather’, was bought by King Erindar the third of the griffin kingdom for a whole fifth of his kingdom. Of course it could be nothing more than a legend, but a sword by that name still exists to this day as a symbol of the king’s office. Whether it really is one and the same remains to be seen of course, but I’d love to find out!”

I slipped the sword into its scabbard and admired the tooled silver and leather work. It was quite clearly depicting wendigo flying through the clouds over stylised mountains beneath a harvest moon. Beautiful. Quite, quite beautiful. I took another down, looking it over and admiring the quality of the carving, the sheer quality of the metal and the skill of the blacksmith. It too seemed to glow in my hooves, as if it was… alive. 

“Twilight?” I turned to face her. “Can you hold this a moment?”

“Oh!” Her ears flopped in concern, “Um… I don’t know. I’ve never used a sword. In actual fact I’ve never even held one, except a prop during a performance on stage, and-”

“Twilight, please. I just want you to hold it a moment,” I assured her, “that’s all.”

The little mare nodded and trotted over. She looked unsure, almost afraid of the weapon I was holding out, but eventuality her innate curiosity won out and she took it from me. At my direction she lifted it in her forehooves before lifting it in her magic. She chuckled nervously, “I don’t know how you can stand on two legs like that. It feels very unnatural.”

“Practice,” I said simply. “But more to the point, did you feel anything from the sword? Any magic, or anything that strikes you as unusual?”

Twilight frowned in thought before passing it back to me. “Not really. There’s- Hmm…” She stood back and peered at the blade, adjusting her spectacles. “Look! Can you see? It’s reacting to you. Like the door it seems to be attuned to a certain thaumaturgical wavelength. I wonder...” She suddenly stomped a hoof as if having some sort of epiphany, “Can you change into your wendigo form for me?”

“Sure.” 

Thank the gods the hesitance from earlier was gone. Once the flashing light had winked out and the golems ground to a clanking halt, my magic had trotted back into my metaphorical grasp as easily as a happy kitten at dinner time. I closed my eyes and felt for the magic, letting it slip free. The spirit of the wendigo flowed as pure as spring water, filling me with its familiar power and strength, flowing not only through me but up my forelegs and... into the sword itself. Before my very eyes the blade began to glow with a soft blue light. It was only faint, but it was there alright, seeming to almost dance in my grip, following my movements and will with a level of grace that made my heart skip a beat. Quickly, I slipped it back into its scabbard and let my magic drain away. 

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked with a concerned look on her face, “You seemed, um, a little ‘carried away’ there?”

I took a breath, clearing my mind as well as my lungs. “I’ve never felt anything like it,” I said quietly. “My ancestors were a warlike people, and with weapons like these it’s no wonder. They feel like they’re an actual physical part of you. I’ve been told before that you should treat a sword like an extension of your body, but it was always in the metaphorical sense.” I shook my head in wonder, “The wendigo who made these actually turned a concept into a reality. It was...” I looked up at her in surprise. “What are you writing?”

“I’m making notes,” Twilight muttered, her quill scribbling away frantically. “There’s just so much to do here. So much research that needs doing! There’s literally months, no, years of investigation and practical archaeology to explore and document! Ooh, I’m so excited!” She paused and gazed at me with those big purple eyes. “I… I can research here, can’t I? I mean, say no if you’d rather I didn’t of course, but if-”

I placed a hoof on her shoulder, “Miss Sparkle, it would be my honour and my pleasure if you would be our official research director. I can’t promise it will pay much of course, and I don’t want to get you in trouble with the princess, but if you like you would be most welcome to come here whenever you wish.”

“Oh my Celestia!” Twilight paled, “I… I don’t believe it! I really can! Oh… Oh, I think I’m going to be sick...”

“Well don’t do it in here,” I chuckled, “the floor looks like it’s only just been polished.”

“Hello?” A familiar voice called from the corridor, “Lord Fairlight, are you- Aha!”

“Come in, Grimble,” I grinned as the old griffin’s wizened features appeared from the gloom. “Come and feast your eyes, my friend.” I held out my hoof, watching in delight as the curious fellow went as pale as Twilight had.

“Dear goddess have mercy upon my old soul.” The griffin’s large avian eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. 

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction, “I think you said something about our equipment being out of date?”

“I- I did, but...”

I turned to face the extraordinary display of armour and weapons. “This is ours, old friend. The armoury of our forefathers has been returned to its people at long, long last. It may be old of course, but when did that ever stop us, eh?”

Grimble just shook his head slowly, his mouth hanging open in silent awe.

“Lord Fairlight, do you have a minute?” Twilight walked up and lead me away from the stunned griffin. “I’ve been doing some calculations. The spell matrix that controls the security here is still active, and its tuned to a specific user.” Her eyes stared right into mine. “And that user, is you.”

“Me?” I looked to Grimble who was wandering off along the rows of armour. I didn’t know what to  say, except, “How the hell is that possible? How could it be tuned to me when I hadn’t even been born when this place was built?!”

Twilight shook her head, “I’m not certain, but I’d say it has something to do with the ‘link’ you spoke of with the members of your tribe; the ‘bond’ they all share with the current lord. I’m not sure whether it’s inherited or there’s some other method of delivery that marks out a particular user, but I believe I can alter the spell matrix to accept others if you’d like.”

“Can you deactivate it altogether?” I asked.

“I believe so,” Twilight confirmed. “Are you sure you want me to do that though? It was put here for a purpose after all.”

I scratched my chin and stared at the doorway. “I can’t risk anypony being killed just for walking down a corridor, Twilight. What happened to us could happen to anypony. What if it was one of my children wandering off down here and those damned golem things went on the rampage again?” I shook my head, “No. It’s a last resort, and I believe that’s why it was activated in the first place.” When you considered what was happening at the time it didn’t take a genius to work out that at least some defences would have been activated on the more valuable areas. 

I waved Grimble over. “Twilight, shut it off. Grimble?”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Appoint a chief armourer and assistant armourer,” I instructed. “Two guards are to be posted on the armoury door around the clock. I’ll leave you two to work out the problem with finding keys that work so we can rely on a less lethal way of getting in and out of here. And I want a full inventory kept and records set up so everything, and I mean everything, is accounted for at all times, got it?”

Grimble bobbed his head, “Yes, my lord. I’ll get on it immediately.”

Twilight’s grin spread across her face until she was positively glowing. “I can complete an inventory? And set up records?”

I nodded, “Please, Twilight. I can’t think of anypony more qualified for the job.”

She began to shake, bouncing from one hoof to another in unbridled excitement. “I’ll need paper. Lots of paper. And quills, ink, and… I need Spike!”

“I’ll send him up to you,” I smiled, giving her a wink. I took a look down the dark corridor with its now silent statues. “And Grimble? Can you see about getting some light down here? I can’t see my arse from my fet-” What the hell? Something was staring back at me from the darkness. Something...

“Hello.”

Gods! A pair of sultry aquamarine eyes materialised out of the gloom, morphing into a pony that seemed the polar opposite of Twilight. “Maude?” I said incredulously. “What are you doing down here?”

“I was looking for you,” came the monotone reply.

I looked from her to the others, but they were already deep in conversation about how to categorise this and that and something else. I sighed and returned to Maude, “Well, you’ve found me. What can I do for you?”

The answer came completely out of the blue, “I’ve found the heart of the mountain.”

“You’ve… You’ve what?!” I nearly choked on my own tongue. I rubbed my face and tried to regain my focus. “How?” I pulled out the map from my pannier.

“It’s not on the map,” Maude replied simply.

My throat went dry. Surely she couldn’t be mistaken, could she? No. No, of course not. Maude was a professional, and when I’d been told she was the best in her field they hadn’t been exaggerating either. How the hell somepony like this was related to the raving pink menace in Ponyville was something only the gods could explain. But that didn’t matter now. What did matter was that this pony held the key to my dreams in her hooves. Metaphorically of course. The ‘key’ itself, if that’s what it truly was, was currently hanging around the neck of Tingles. I shook my mane and readjusted my cloak. 

“We’ll need some back up,” I huffed. “Twilight?” 

The lavender mare stopped what she was doing and looked up curiously, “Hmm?”

“I’m sorry to pull you away from your work so soon, but Maude has found something and I need a magic user.” I nodded to Grimble, “Hold the fort old friend. I’ll have some of the warriors sent up to help you.” I turned back to Maude, “Lead the way, Miss Pie.”

Twilight hurried after us fiddling with her pack, but I still managed to catch a glimpse of the disappointment in her eyes. To her I’d given her something she’d loved and then snatched it away without so much as a second thought. I knew myself how such tiny seeds of unhappiness could germinate and grow into distrust, and that was something I couldn’t afford. Especially from one so talented, let alone her connection with the princess. I looked over my shoulder and smiled as gently as I could. 

“Don’t worry we shouldn’t be long, Twilight,” I smiled. “We can collect Spike on the way, and once our investigation is complete you may return to the armoury for as long and as often as you wish.”

She peered back at me, apparently a little unsure. “What investigation?”

I nodded, “Maude’s found the heart of the mountain.”

Twilight’s eyes suddenly went wide. “You’re kidding, right?” She stared past me at Maude, “Maude, are you sure it’s the heart of the mountain?”

Maude nodded, “Yes.”

Twilight looked at me and I could only shrug in response. Getting information out of Maude was like figuring out one of those interminable ballroom dances: if you didn’t know the steps you’d end up flat on your face or looking like a bumbling buffoon. In cases like this it was best just to avoid the dance to begin with.

“Twilight, what’s with all this ‘heart’ business anyway?” I asked as we continued to follow Maude. It wasn’t just idle curiosity either, I was genuinely perplexed. “Heart steel, Heart of the mountain, Heart stone. Somehow I doubt the ancient wendigo were especially sentimental about such things, so I’m guessing there’s some connection other than simply the name, or perhaps some meaning I’m not understanding?”

Twilight bobbed her head, “From what I’ve been able to discover so far, the ‘Heart’ refers to the physical centre of the mountain which the fortress is built into. It’s also where the veins of iron, infused with elemental magic, were mined until the last lord halted operations for fear of structural destabilisation. As for the Heart Stone, I haven’t been able to find much out yet, except that it was a gift to Maroc’s wife, Arathea, and you told me that yourself.”

I had too. Twilight had a particular way about her that put your mind at ease and had you divulging every single intimate detail held within the remotest nooks and crannies of your soul before you knew it. What an amazing interrogator she’d be! No torture, no persuasion, no beatings… Send in the Twilight. I smiled to myself as we walked beneath the light from the young mare’s magic. Maude, however, didn’t appear to need much in the way of light, although I did notice she had a torch in her pannier along with various other pieces of equipment that I’d caught a passing glimpse of. With the amount of weird and wonderful gadgets the girl had she reminded me of another pony, who in all honesty I’d really rather forget all about. Still, it was a bit of a concern how I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the irritating wizard since the first day I’d ‘arrived’. After exploding out of my icy cocoon like some nightmarish jack-in-the-box, his ugly mug was the last thing I wanted to see. I can’t say I missed him either, and his prolonged absence suited me just fine.

We walked for what felt like hours; up stairs, along corridors, down stairs, and sometimes past junctions I was certain we’d already passed though at least once. Many of the passages we traversed were magically lit, whereas others were not and in complete darkness, but that didn’t stop Maude. She just kept on plodding along with Twilight and I right behind her – the shepherdess and her flock. It was, on some level, almost therapeutic I suppose. After all, for once in my life I didn’t have to worry about whether I ‘knew the way’ and ‘whether everypony was going to be alright’ and so on and so forth. Instead I simply put one hoof in front of the other following a pony whom I had faith in to lead me to where I needed to go. Being a follower rather than a leader certainly had its advantages. 

Maude Pie was the sister of the lunatic I remembered from Ponyville, but whereas the pink one was a hyperactive sugar soaked party animal, Maude was the complete other end of the spectrum. I think it would be safe to say that Maude threw herself into her work far more than your average pony. The word ‘obsessed’ may be a little excessive in her case of course, but it wouldn’t be all that far from the truth. Stories about her remarkable knowledge in the field of mining and mineralogy had reached even Smiling Borders, and I gave thanks to the goddess that she had agreed to come here and help us. Twilight too for that matter. Now Twilight I could understand; she was fascinated with all aspects of discovery, learning and magic. Whereas Maude, I wasn’t so sure. She’d finished up her contract with the North Eastern Equestrian Mining Company before coming out here, so she hadn’t exactly dropped everything and come running when she’d received the letter. And yet I still found it a little strange that she’d readily agreed to help me without knowing much about the job, nor even for that matter, enquiring about any pay. Perhaps with Maude, work really was its own reward. Huh! I just hope she didn’t quietly hoof me a bill that cleaned out the last few coppers in my already depleted pocket. And speaking of depleted, the air down here tasted different than it had earlier. It had a weird, almost metallic hint to it that made my mouth salivate slightly with the peculiarity of it. And it was cold too. Very cold. We could see our breath, curling up around our muzzles in little white clouds. All we had were simple cloaks for warmth too. Nothing like being prepared, eh?

“We’re here.” Maude stood back and gave us the full view of the doorway. 

It was, to put not too fine a point on it, absolutely enormous. Huge wide double doors stood before us, shut, locked and chained, with a short pair of rail tracks that terminated a couple of yards outside. Two oil lanterns hung dark and silent, one either side of the great doors. Around us the walls had changed too. Gone were the smooth blue-white corridors and rooms with their ambient glow. Gone were the chiselled and neatly carved granite wall of the lower levels. Here there was no mistaking that you were far away the comforts of hearth and home. Around us the rough rock of the mountain sat dark, silent, and untamed. Even the air felt different, and my horn tingled with the faint glow of magic. Quickly I waved the girls behind me and let the flood of magic flow through my body, the blue tinge to my eyes helping me to see in the darkness. Strength sizzled in my veins and muscles, and I stood tall, watching the gate for any signs of danger.

I took a deep breath, sending my voice out loud and clear, “Aperi Ianuam.”

Nothing.

“Are you picking anything up, Twilight?” I asked quietly.

The little unicorn shook her head, “Not that I can tell. Wait a moment, please.” 

She took off one of her packs and began fiddling with various pieces of equipment that emerged one by one from its depths. Some of the brass oddities I recognised, and it wasn’t long before the familiar tripods and blinking coloured gems appeared like Hearthswarming decorations, blinking and flashing around us. There was little festive cheer to be had here however. Twilight adjust one of the tripods and slipped a headpiece on that could have come straight from Star Swirl’s personal collection.

“Hmm...” Twilight frowned. “The passive sweep hasn’t detected anything, but that’s not to say it isn’t embedded and shielded against such measures.” She tapped another gem and began shaking her head irritably, “The background thaumaturgical energy eddies are interfering with the readings. Tch! How am I supposed to work like this? Agh! It’s so frustrating!”

I placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder, “It’s alright, Twilight, there may be nothing here at all anyway. Just do your best, I know you can do it.”

“But if I miss something we may have more of those golems to deal with!” Her young eyes caught the light and I could see the beginnings of tears forming in them.

Damn it all, this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have made such a young mare come with me on a dangerous exploration like this. She’d already nearly been killed when we’d tried to get into the armoury, and now, who knew what the hell was going to happen here. “We’ll go back for now,” I said calmly. “I want to try to get a better handle on what’s going on here before I risk any more direct-”

There was a loud click, and then the creak of… hinges?

Twilight and I both looked up in open mouthed shock at the open door. Or more specifically, the wicket gate that Maude was standing next to.

“How-?” Twilight began.

Maude blinked slowly and furrowed her brow, “I said I had found the heart of the mountain.”

“But the door…!” Twilight gasped.

Maude glanced over her shoulder. “I turned the handle,” she said obviously. “The door opened.”

“Why look for a complicated solution when a simple one will do,” I quoted from the old school text book. I stared at the open door and the darkness beyond.

“Well, it’s a slight misquote,” Twilight offered, muttering distractedly, “but…” She cleared her throat, “Shall we?”

I nodded, girding the proverbial and checking my sword was free. Like many stallions of my age, ‘Ladies first’ were words that had been hammered into me from birth. Mares, apparently, were special and needed to be protected and honoured at all cost. After all it was a stallion’s duty to give his life happily and willingly to protect a mare, family or otherwise. However one of the things I had discovered early on in life had been that mares were more than capable of defending themselves, their honour, and could sure as hell open a bloody door without my help too. Still, the older generation expected it, shooting you dirty looks and tutting loudly if you didn’t, say for example, hold the door open for them. It just goes to show that old habits really do die hard. You know, now that I think about it, why open a door and let a mare in first anyway? What if there was danger inside? Was this little societal nicety conceptualised merely as some sneaky way of using unsuspecting mares to test for traps or ambushes? I mean, I can see how that would work – you shove the mare inside, and if there was an ensuing commotion you could ‘give it legs’ in the other direction without any risk to yourself. Good gods, who comes up with this stuff?! In this particular case however, the mares had already decided for me anyway and stood back as the ‘hero of the hour’ walked through the wicket gate and into… Well, not much actually. I’ll say this though, “I wish I’d brought my brolly.”

Water dripped, or more accurately poured from the rock roof high above, soaking everything and making it feel like I was in the middle of a bloody rainforest. It was akin to being in a heavy downpour, and coupled with the darkness made for a loud and very uncomfortable place to be.

“One second...” Twilight’s horn glowed with the purple aura of her magic. Moments later a dome of energy materialised over us, deflecting the water perfectly. “There we go!” she smiled, “Handy little spell for bad weather, indoor or out.”

I nodded my thanks. Perhaps she could teach me that one day? My magic had to be of more use than lighting candles and basic object manipulation. Still, the wendigo magic opened up a whole new panoply of magical possibilities for me. Providing they were combat orientated unfortunately, but you had to work with what you had. One useful spell I’d managed to glean from Twilight was the illuminatus spell, and I put that to good use now. The white light was surprisingly bright and hovered over us, showing the extent of the workings. And ‘workings’ was exactly what they were too. Rotten mine carts sat rusting on old metal tracks, abandoned long, long ago. All were empty. Pipes, workbenches, tools and drilling equipment which looked surprisingly advanced considering how long it had been here, lingered in corroding nooks and crannies of what was quite clearly an extensive mining operation. My horn itched, and moving closer to one of long empty mine carts only emphasised the fact that these had once been used to transport high energy magical ore. Twilight and Maude had been bang on the money alright. The three of us huddled a little closer under our unicorn fabricated umbrella, with Maude leading the way into the total blackness. 

Somepony once said that if you stare long enough into the void, the void stares back at you. In this particular case it could very well have been doing just that right at that very moment, and I wouldn’t have had a bloody clue. It was quite literally pitch black down here, and even our magical light was only effective up to a point. Every so often we passed the remains of corroded and long dead lamps nailed to the rock wall, with others lying in heaps on the ground where the hook had finally succumbed to the steady force of nature and time. Had it always been this wet down here? Or had this been the effect of years of nature slowly working to reclaim itself from the intrusion of the wendigo a millennia ago? It must have been a sight to see back in its day, yet now the smell of damp and the beads of moisture building up on our fur was a reminder of just how insignificant we were against such an immutable and ancient force. And yet, we pressed on.

The tunnel lead the three of us further and further down into the unknown bowels of the mountain as water sploshed under hoof, echoing around us in the all encompassing quiet. As my mind wandered I found myself following the mine cart tracks rather than Maude, my thoughts drifting off to ponder things that I probably shouldn’t have. Meadow, Sparrow, Shade, Briar… How many had I lost? Dead or alive, I somehow always ended up leaving somepony behind, didn’t I? Ha! Maybe it was just as well I was being kept busy with everything that was going on now, otherwise I’d probably have ended up as a gibbering wreck sooner or later. And speaking of wrecks, we seemed to have passed the last of the old mine carts a while ago, the tracks veering off along another tunnel. Strangely the dreadful damp had eventually vanished too, although how exactly was a bit of a mystery. Water travelled downhill, didn’t it? The tunnel here was bone dry, and the air almost fresh, as though a breeze was coming from somewhere up ahead. I’d heard how miners would design their works to allow for the flow of air, so it wasn’t all that surprising. Perhaps there was an adit or ventilation shaft somewhere that was open to the outside? After the horrible dampness it was quite invigorating really, and the mood that had been descending over me began to lift in kind. 

“Can you feel that?” Twilight asked as if in answer to my unspoken thoughts. 

I nodded, “Clean air.” I gave myself a shake, throwing off the last of the moisture that had clung to my coat. “Maude, are we nearly there yet?”

Maude stopped and held up a hoof, pointing to a rock wall, “It’s here.” 

It was a sheer rock face. I watched in silent awe as the quiet mare slowly traced invisible lines with her hooves, gliding them through the air and lost in total concentration. There was an audible ‘click’, and the wall before her shuddered slightly. Before my very eyes the immense rock slab silently swung outwards, letting in a burst of silvery white light. Almost unbidden, my legs took me forward, through the rock archway, and into a land of unimaginable beauty. Twilight’s gasp was lost to me. I had seen such things in dreams, in the memories, but I had never imagined such a place could really exist as anything more than in a realm of fantasy. I had seen the groves, I had been to other worlds and realms, but this… 

“It’s… full of stars...” Twilight whispered.

I walked through the grass, letting my forehoof brush the tops of the lush greenery that shone with life and light. Around us as far as we could see, bushes of silver glowed in the darkness, heavy with their luscious fruit. A stream gurgled merrily alongside the white gravelled path, adding its own music to the fields of magic. High above our heads, pinpoints of light twinkled like the most perfect of night skies. But it was nothing compared to the centre point of the orchestra of beauty laid out before us. I walked towards it, my heart racing in my chest. It was so beautiful, so unimaginably breathtaking, that I was lost for words or thought. The tree. The tree at the centre of the mountain. It was as tall as it was broad, and glittered in the light from a thousand bushes. A myriad of tiny sparks of magic, eternally shining in the void of the universe.

“Lord Fairlight?”

“So… beautiful...”

“Lord Fairlight!”

Words. What were words to me now? In the presence of such magnificence, such splendour, they meant… nothing. They could only distract, no, detract, from the sublime peace of the moment. I could feel its pull. It was the afterlife, the herd, calling me back to her, to Meadow, Sparrow, Shade and all my friends. The ones I had loved, that I had lost, and were grieving for me even now. To them I was dead once more, lost to-

Water splashed onto my face in a freezing cold plume making me cry out in shock. I jumped back, spinning, and dropped into a fighting stance. Who would dare to… to… “Twilight?” The young mare cringed back from me, her eyes wide in fright, and here I was looming over her with my teeth bared, my wings spread, and… “Oh, goddess.” I let myself relax and dropped onto my haunches. “Twilight, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head. “I don’t know what happened. One second I was okay, and the next… It was like I was being drawn to the tree.”

Twilight held up her hoof, “It’s fine, but can you, you know, please not use any magic right now?”

“Magic?” I frowned in thought for a moment before catching sight of my blue eyes reflecting in Twilight’s. I took a deep breath and nodded, “Of course.”

I closed my eyes and tried to relax my grip on the power within myself. Letting go of my wendigo magic whenever I wanted to had been a surprisingly hard skill to master when I’d first developed the ability to change, in some respects even more so than calling on it in the first place. This time, for whatever the reason, the spirit power inside me wasn’t just reluctant to return, it was right on the very verge of fighting me. That might sound hyperbolic, but letting go of my magic in that strange plce took all my will to rip away the death grip I had on it and push it down like some irate puppy desperate for attention from its master. Quickly my more ‘normal’ self returned, accompanied by a gut wrenching sensation that felt as if somepony had torn part of my heart out while doing so. What the hell was going on here? I’d never felt anything like this! The overwhelming feeling of irritation fuelled my confusion at what I was experiencing right then, but it wasn’t directed at Twilight, it was at myself. I wasn’t in any danger here, I knew that. On some subliminal level I simply knew it to be true, and yet it was all so inexplicably strange I felt oddly disjointed somehow. I took a sip of from my flask and nearly upended the whole bloody lot. My hoof… I stared at it in horror – it was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

“Hold still, please.” Twilight held up one of her devices and passed it over me, nodding to herself as if affirming something she already knew. “Hmm, thought so.” She put her hoof under my chin and lifted my head, staring into my eyes. “Dilated pupils, palpitations and raised blood pressure.” Carefully, she reached back into her pannier and took out a bottle, tipped two bright orange tablets into her hoof, and tapped me on the nose. “Open...”

They were disgusting. “Twilight?”

“Shush.” The little unicorn passed me my canteen and motioned for me to drink, which I did with considerable relief. The vile taste vanished in an instant, and, thank Luna, so did the peculiar feeling I’d been experiencing. Mostly. I looked at her in amazement, “What the hell was that all about? I feel like I’ve had my brain sucked out and rammed back in. Backwards.”

“We’re in a very high magical energy field,” Twilight explained. She panned her hoof around us, indicating the plants and tree. “Using magic in a place like this can cause feedback in magical creatures, like unicorns, that can unsettle your own magic and even lead to unconsciousness. Didn’t they teach you anything about dangerous magical fields in school? Good grief, it’s bad enough for me, but I can only imagine what it would do to a wendigo!”

“Hurt,” I replied groggily. “Oh gods...” I rubbed my temples, feeling the giddiness subsiding. So much for bloody warning signs, then. “That was why they had oil lamps all the way down here, wasn’t it.”

“That would be my conclusion,” Twilight replied with a nod. “The tablets I gave you will help even out your thaumaturgical flow and dull the effects of the field, but you can’t use magic again in here, okay?”

I groaned. She didn’t have to tell me twice. “Yes, Miss,” I muttered.  Twilight smiled but then looked horrified, no doubt at the way she’d spoken to me and my possible reaction. I lifted a hoof and bobbed my head to her, “Thank you, Twilight. You’re one in a million.”

“Oh!” She blushed furiously and looked away, “You’re, um, welcome.”

“The ley lines converge here.” Maude appeared out of nowhere like some bloody wraith, nearly scaring what little life remained in me out the back of my breeches. Oblivious to my fragile state she nodded towards the tree, “We need to go there.”

“No magic?” I clarified.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and grinned, “No magic.”

I let out a resigned sigh and checked my sword, feeling its reassuring weight by my side, “Off we go then.” 

Apparently the ones who ‘went first’ here had to have a first name beginning with the letter ‘F’. I’m sure it stood for something else right at that moment, but since this would appear to be little more than a pleasant stroll across a lush green field to the base of a tree, I couldn’t really complain now could I? Besides, coming down here was my idea after all, no matter how foolish and uninformed that might be. For once though I was pleasantly surprised to note that nothing murderous popped out of thin air to try and dismember me. Mind you, Maude had already scared the living crap out of me earlier so I was long past caring about any more blasted jump scares. If something dropped down from the tree or out of the ground or whatever now, the last thing it would see would be my blade passing through its damned throat. Ooga bloody booga...

Maude held out her hoof to point to the only unnatural looking in the already strange landscape. “I think this is what we’re looking for,” she said calmly.

Twilight and I both focussed on where Maude was indicating. Sitting there amidst the flush green grass, sat a white stone plinth. At face value it looked as innocent a thing as you could imagine. I’d seen objects like this before in museums and books on ancient equestrian civilisations. It was around three feet high, and carved to look like a small ionic column. But it was what was sat on the top of it that interested me. We walked closer, carefully checking to see if there were any traps or other ‘unexpected surprises’ that might take us unawares. 

“Anything?” I asked Twilight.

The young unicorn shook her head, her eyes focussed instead on the object rather than me. I couldn’t blame her either, I was doing exactly the same thing. The focus of our attention was a small dish of shining silver. Not especially exciting to look at I suppose, but the fact that it was still shining and didn’t show even the slightest hint of tarnish, screamed ‘magic’ loud and clear. We all took a step closer, staring at the dish in wonder.

“The heart of the mountain,” I breathed. “It really does exist.”

The moment popped like a soap bubble. “Well we found it,” Twilight said happily. “Sooo what now?”

“That depends on Maude,” I said turning to the lavender maned mare beside us. “Can you do it?”

Maude shrugged, “I don’t know.”

She… didn’t know? My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach so hard I’m surprised I didn’t hear a splash as it dropped my dreams into a pool of despair. “You don’t know,” I echoed.

Maude watched me with those fathomless aquamarine eyes of hers, “I don’t know because I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Wait a second,” Twilight lifted her hoof and placed it on my shoulder as she leaned towards Maude. “What are you two talking about? What are you planning on doing here, and what has it to do with this dish?”

Oh damn, I hadn’t told her had I? Bugger me, I’d been dreading this moment… “I should have told you earlier, Twilight,” I said honestly. “The heart of the mountain. The heart stone. They’re linked. I thought you would have known from all your research what that would mean.”

“But I don’t know what it means!” Twilight said suddenly. “There’s mention of them, yes, but nothing I’ve read covers what they actually do.” For a second she looked away, and then quick as a flash locked onto me, “You’re hiding something from me. You brought me down here and I want to know why. What’s the significance of this plinth, the dish and the heart stone? Great galloping alicorns, you’ve even brought Maude into this!”

“Maude know why she’s here,” I said calmly. “I’ve hidden nothing.”

“Really? Then why weren’t you honest with me too?” Twilight huffed loudly. “If you’ve hidden nothing, then you can tell me why we’re here, can’t you?” Her deep purple eyes flashed dangerously; quite an accomplishment in such a young mare, and one who had never struck me as much of a warrior either. I was quickly beginning to reassess my views on this surprising unicorn.

“It wasn’t my intention to lie, mislead, nor to be dishonest with you, Twilight,” I said levelly. “Although I confess that at first I was concerned that your close relationship with the princess might have… ‘prejudiced’ our work here if I went into detail about my plans.”

“My ‘relationship’ with Princess Celestia has nothing to do with my professionalism,” Twilight bit back. “And suggesting that I might ‘prejudice’ you work is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard!” She closed her eyes and took a calming breath, “I have been open and up front with you, Lord Fairlight, since the very first time I met you, and I have not once, not once, betrayed your trust.” She leaned forward, locking eyes with me. “And yet you don’t seem to think you can trust me?”

“I don’t trust anypony, Miss Sparkle.” I could feel my anger tingling in the background as I spoke. “Not you. Not anypony.”

“You expect Maude and I to trust you though!” Twilight muscles twitched, and I could detect a rising sense of anger from her that I hadn’t seen before. It was almost… invigorating. “I was nearly killed by golems helping you,” she continued, “and now we’re here in the bowels of only the goddesses knows where, and you won’t even-”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“-listen to...” She paused, “What do you mean, ‘I wouldn’t understand’? Understand what?”

I sat down on my haunches and reached into my pocket, reminding myself not to use any magic as I did so. In my hoof the small red heart shaped pendant sat there innocently, looking for all the world like any other piece of jewellery. I could see it reflected in Twilight’s eyes as she stared at it.

“The heart stone,” she said quietly.

“I found a reference to it in the library,” I said calmly. “I believe it holds the key to restoring the fortress to its former state.”

“Former state?” Twilight couldn’t take her eyes away from it. “Wait…” She furrowed her brow in thought before looking up at me, “You’re saying it holds a magical blueprint of the fortress, and that by placing it in here,” she motioned to the silver dish, “that it could, what, rebuild the entire structure?”

“That is what I believe, yes,” I replied simply.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that!” Twilight took a step back, her ears pricking straight up. “To do that, even if it was possible, would take incredible magical power that…” She stopped in her tracks and stared up at the tree. “That’s why it’s here, isn’t it,” she said in a near whisper. “This place, this tree… It’s a link to the eternal herd. This whole area, this… this place, it’s a hub of raw magic and… and you’re planning on tapping into that to rebuild the fortress.”

My earlier assessment had been right on the money. Twilight would have made an excellent detective. “Exactly,” I said.

“But you can’t!” Twilight squeaked. 

“Why not?” I rounded on her suddenly, “Because your precious princess would get upset at the wendigo having their home back? Well I’ve got a newsflash for you, Miss Twilight Sparkle, Celestia has already given us our lands back, and that includes the fortress you’ve been living in for the last few days. I’ve got all the paperwork upstairs to prove it if you don’t believe me.” I tossed my mane, trying to keep my temper under control. “What I do with my home is my concern, and nopony elses. For goodness sake, Twilight, you can hardly object to us getting the bloody repointing done!”

“It’s not that!” Twilight shouted suddenly, “If you use magic like this and it’s… it’s untested, you could end up destroying the whole mountain and everything in it, including us! You wouldn’t be rebuilding your home, you’d be setting off the largest bomb Equestria has ever seen. You could kill us all!” She stomped her hoof, “Please, Fairlight, don’t do this! You have a home here now. You’ve made it a place of such wonder, life and light, don’t throw it all away on a fantastical dream!”

I stood there watching her, gazing into those large frightened purple eyes. She knew so much, and yet Twilight didn’t see what this truly meant to me, or to my people. How could she? She wasn’t a wendigo, she was a unicorn - a young, highly adept unicorn, who had so much life to live. As my daughter would have had if she hadn’t been… murdered. 

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, “Maude?”

“Yes?”

“Do you believe we would be creating a ‘bomb’ if we used the pendant?” I asked.

There was a long, and very disturbing pause. “I don’t know,” she replied. “It is possible.”

“And once you start down this path there would be no stopping it,” Twilight reasoned calmly. “It would be a runaway train with no driver and no brakes, taking you and your family with it into oblivion.”

I shook my head in disbelief at what she was saying, “I cannot believe that my ancestors would have such a dangerous thing in their possession.” I looked at the small pendant in my hoof. “To think, to even suggest, that this is some sort of, what, a ‘doomsday device’ that could wipe us all out?” I shook my head, “No, Twilight. The texts I have read and the memories I have seen don’t mention anything about such an… extreme act.”

“But you don’t know that for sure, do you?” Twilight gave herself a shake, composing herself. “Fairlight, I’m not a wendigo. I can’t even begin to understand how much this means to you, your family and your tribe, but I’m not a fool. I can understand pain, and loss, and the desire to bring back that which is lost. My fear is that you are acting out more of desire rather than through reason. You didn’t understand about high magical energy fields when we first entered here and nearly lost yourself to them. Doesn’t that tell you something about how dangerous they are? I have studied them since I was a foal, and I know how dangerous and unpredictable raw magical energy can be. To unicorn’s like us, magic is like a warm breath on a winters day. Raw magic, the magic here in this place, is like a hurricane that could take the very flesh from your bones. Your ancestors may have fashioned the jewel, but since it hasn’t been used I doubt even they could have known exactly what would have happened.” She reached out and placed her hoof over the pendant, her eyes drawing me in. “The choice is yours, Lord Fairlight. But please, look inside your heart as well as your head and ask yourself: Is it truly worth the risk of losing the ones you love?”

Was it? She already knew the answer before she’d even asked it. Using my family to get me to bend to her will could be considered a low blow, but I couldn’t dispute the truth held in her words. It just didn’t seem plausible that this tiny pendant could do something so… so terrible. Star Swirl had told me I already held the key in my possession, or words to that effect, but he’d left it as vague as he always did, hadn’t he. Could that old rat have engineered this whole situation? Had he sowed the seed in my mind only to sit back and watch as I annihilated myself and my family from the face of the world when I naively believed I would be rebuilding our home? Goddess forgive me, I think he would. I really do. He had no love for the wendigo, he had shown that by his actions during the war. And the gods, who were in essence his patrons, wouldn’t bat an eyelid if myself, my family and every other wendigo here and in the tribe simply vanished from existence. Removing the four winds tribe would tidy up a lot of loose ends both here and in the herd. Of course, it could be exactly what I had originally believed it to be – the key to restoring the fortress to its former glory. Twilight had been right before, and she knew a hell of a lot more about magic than I did. Looking into her eyes, those sweet, innocent eyes, my resolve wavered. 

Perhaps… perhaps it really was time I put my trust in somepony.

“Twilight?” 

“Yes, Lord Fairlight?”

I smiled sadly, watching the pendant spin as it hung from my hoof. “Take Maude and go back to the others.”

“What?!” She balked, her eyes flicking from me, to Maude, and back again. “You’re not going to-”

I turned to look at her, my heart as cold and sallow as it ever had been, and yet… had I really lost my hope for the future when I had gained so much? Tingles, Shadow, Lumin, Horizon, and all my friends in the tribe, were here in this world. The fortress was being cleared and we had done so much already, even in the small amount of time we’d been here comparatively speaking. I looked down once more at the tiny pendant, at the beautiful deep red heart that had meant so much to Arathea, and to Tingles. It seemed extraordinary that such a simple thing could hold such unimaginably destructive power. Would a loving husband really hang the key to a device that could murder so many around the neck of his own wife? It didn’t seem plausible, and yet Twilight… Yeah…

“Please,” I said quietly. I held out the pendant, “Give this back to Tingles.”

Twilight stared at me, her eyes going wide. “I… Um… Sure.” Gingerly she took the pendant from me, but rather than putting it around her neck as I half expected, Twilight slipped it into a small case that she put in her satchel. I could feel the relief radiating from her as she asked, “But what about you?”

“I’m going to stay here for a while,” I said with a gentle smile. “I am the lord of this fortress after all. I doubt I’ll get lost on my way back.” I turned to Maude, “It would seem I’ve wasted your time, Maude, and for that you have my deepest apologies. I’ll see that you’re well compensated for your time, and of course you are welcome back here, both of you, whenever you wish.” I stared up at the tree and rolled my shoulders, “Friends are always welcome.”

Maude and Twilight left soon after. I think trusting Twilight to take the heart back to Tingles came as something of a shock to the young unicorn. Whether it was because she was surprised that I’d shown her trust, or because I wasn’t going to potentially wipe out half of Equestria, I couldn’t say. The best part though, was the surprise hug I received. Not just from Twilight, but also from the phlegmatic Maude. If ever I’d had any doubts about what I was doing, in that simple act they evaporated like dew on a summers morning. I sat there for a while, watching the tree and the way the light sparkled on its leaves like stardust. It truly was a marvel of the world, and so extraordinarily beautiful that I could have happily fallen asleep beneath its protecting branches. 

I yawned, taking a look around myself at the incredible scenery. The cavern I was in was enormous, and brim full of the now familiar spirit berry bushes. I’d not fed for some time, and a little taste wouldn’t hurt. Carefully I reached down and plucked one, popping it into my mouth and closed my eyes. It was delicious. As sweet and tart as I remembered, I took a few more for later, putting them into the empty flask in my pannier. Too many berries could have very unpleasant side effects, so for now, one would do.

“They’ve gone,” I said, wiping my hooves and stretching my legs. “You can come out now.”

Yellow eyes. Oh, how I had fallen so helplessly in love with them all those years ago. Now they watched me from beside the great tree, just as they had when I’d first met her taking shelter from an unexpected cloud burst. The green mare, wearing a dark blue overcoat and matching hat that complemented her mane and tail, approached slowly. I didn’t have to see the trepidation in her movements; I could feel it in the air and through very the ground itself. My senses were more finely attuned here. Each and every sound, every movement, every smell, reached me with crystal clarity. She was wearing a light perfume – plum blossom. I’d always loved that. I’d never been able to associate the scent with anything else since it had first danced its seductive undertones through my heart. But that was a long time ago now. I could only wish it didn’t feel like it had only happened yesterday.

“Hello, Fairlight.”

“Meadow...”

The two of us stood there like statues. Neither of us moving, nor even making eye contact. For the first time since this nightmare had begun, my mind was a complete blank. Maybe it was a defence mechanism to stop me from feeling, to avoid the emotional pain that would inevitably follow, who can say. If I ever availed myself a psychiatrist they’d probably end up in a nut house themselves after I’d deluged them with the crap I’d been through. Still, I wasn’t bitter about what had happened. At least, I didn’t think I was. 

“You can’t even bring yourself to look at me any more, can you.” Meadow’s voice cut through my heart like a white hot blade.

I looked up at her, willing my eyes to meet hers. “Of course I can,” I said mildly. “Why wouldn’t a husband want to look at his wife.”

The green mare shook her head sadly and sat down on the lush grass. “Do you remember when we first met?” she began.

I nodded, “I do.”

“It was beneath a tree, just like this one,” Meadow said quietly, “A lot smaller and less magical perhaps, but it seems… ‘fitting’ to see you here again. Like this. The two of us.”

I said nothing. My heart was pounding in my chest, and yet all I could do was sit there like a lump of bloody lead.

“Fairlight...” Meadow took a breath and sighed it out, her eyes taking in the bushes as they sat all around us glowing like silver fireflies in the night. “I never wanted to hurt you, you know.”

“You could have told me,” I smiled bitterly. “Do you remember when I cut my leg climbing a fence when I was chasing that burglar? I’d left the bandage on so long that no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t get the thing off. We soaked it for hours, and you asked me whether I wanted it removed quickly, or in short, painful tugs.” I closed me eyes, “Since then I’ve always preferred to get things over with quickly rather than have them long and drawn out.”

Meadow grimaced. Of course she remembered. She always did. “You didn’t believe me when I told you there was nothing between Star Swirl and me, did you?” she asked.

I shook my head and leaned forward to rest my muzzle on my forehooves, “I know you better than that, Meadow. You don’t live with somepony for years and not come to understand them at least to some degree. I could see it in your eyes and hear it in your words. I wanted to believe you, I really did, but I knew. And I think, on some level, I had for some time.”

“You thought I was having an affair with Star Swirl?” Meadow asked in surprise.

“No,” I said simply. “But I knew that deep down something had changed between us, and that the flame that had once burned so brightly when we were together had begun to lose its lustre, and to… grow dim.”

“You always did have a sense for the dramatic,” Meadow replied.

I shrugged, “Old habits die hard.”

We sat quietly for a while. The gurgling of the distant stream seemed unusually loud in the silence, but at least I could hear something other than my own beating heart. Finally, the question I never thought I’d ever have to ask, demanded to spoken.

“Do you love him?” I asked.

Meadow looked up at me suddenly, and then, slowly, let her head sink slowly once more, “I… I don’t know.”

“Well,” I said with a sigh, “I can’t fault you on your choice, love. He’s one of the most powerful wizards around and well connected with the palace. A bit devious for my liking, but so long as he’s good to you and Sparrow, I couldn’t ask for any more.”

Meadow blinked and then turned to me, her eyes full of curiosity. “You’re not angry?”

“Why should I be?” I asked. “My wife’s found somepony who cares for her, and I know you’re both safe. It’s your happiness and your well being that’s important, Meadow. Yours and Sparrow’s.” I chuckled, “After all, it’s a stallion’s duty to protect his herd, isn’t it?”

Meadow closed her eyes and rubbed them on the back of her foreleg, “How are Tingles, Shadow and the children?”

Children. Plural. “Ah, you know about Horizon then,” I pointed out. “Of course, your ‘friend’ would have told you, wouldn’t he? But yes, they’re all doing just fine. Naturally they were upset that they couldn’t contact us in the glade when I was in the herd with you, but I think we all know who was behind that little parlour trick don’t we?”

“You know why he did that,” Meadow huffed, confirming my suspicions.

“Oh, yes, that’s right,” I replied bitterly. “He wanted to ‘shock me’ by sleeping in my bed with my wife and cutting me off from my family so I was completely alone and one step away from slitting my own throat. How stupid of me to forget that little gem of a fact.”

“He was trying to help you.”

“He was ‘trying’ to help himself!” My mane bristled as the anger I had tried to hard to keep down began to bubble slowly but surely to the surface. “He wanted a stooge, Meadow. He wanted a puppet he could control to do his dirty work so that he could keep his own sneaky little hooves clean. Damn it all, he as good as told me that himself!” I thumped my hoof on my hind leg, “Gods, of all the ponies you could have picked. If you wanted to leave me for somepony else, have an affair, or buck half of bloody Haven, I wouldn’t have given a toss if you’d at least been honest with me. But no! You had to go and sleep with the one guy, the one devious little turd of a stallion in the whole of the eternal herd who had done everything he could to wreck my life, my marriage, and cause me more suffering than all the demons in bloody hell!”  

Meadow closed her eyes, quietly letting the moment ebb away like the sea retreating from the shore. She’d had years of practice after all. “You still have Shadow and Tingles,” she said softly.

“Yes...” I leaned back and gazed up at the star-like pinpoints of light in the roof of the cavern, “Yes, I do.” I flicked my mane out of my eyes and swallowed. “They miss you, you know. All of them. Tingles knows something’s wrong but she hasn’t said anything. Shadow too, I think, but you know how secretive she can be.”

“But you will tell them, won’t you?” Meadow asked. “About… us?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied honestly. “I don’t want to upset them any more than they already have been. They love you, Meadow, and to see us like this would break their hearts.” I shook my head sadly, “There’s been enough sorrow in this place. A home should be a place of light, happiness, and good memories. They don’t need to know everything that’s happened, and unless they ask I won’t tell them either.”

Meadow peered at me, her eyes catching the silvery light and resonating with what was left of my heart. I had to look away, or else… I don’t know. I just… don’t know…

“You want to make the fortress a home for your family.” She huffed under her breath, the wan smile ghosting across her face as it had all too many times of late, “You never used to have grand dreams, Fairlight. Not like this. You were always happy just to be you and live a simple life.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a simple life, Meadow.” I hid my muzzle in my forelegs, taking comfort in that most simple of acts. “All I ever wanted was to be with you and Sparrow, growing old together and being… happy.”

“Happy,” Meadow echoed. “Such a simple sounding thing, isn’t it? And something so fleeting too. You know, I’d loved you from the very first moment I met you, and even after what happened to Sparrow and I, I never stopped loving you.”

I could feel a stinging sensation in the corners of my eyes and rubbed it away fiercely, reaching down to take a sip of my water in the hopes she wouldn’t have seen me.

“What went wrong, Fairlight?”

I froze, staring at the old battered canteen and closed my eyes, letting it drop into my lap. “I don’t know,” I breathed. “Somewhere, somehow, I lost my way.” I turned slowly to face her, “I could never find my way home again.”

Meadow squeezed her eyes shut and sniffed, taking a hankie from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. “I… I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back to see you again,” she managed, clearing her throat. “Star Swirl said that the royal family weren’t happy about us using the groves, and-”

I held up a hoof. “It’s alright, love.” I took a deep breath, brushing the grass from my legs and put the canteen back in my pannier. Carefully, I rose to my hooves. “Just… look after yourself, and Sparrow. Give her my love, and...” I sighed, “Please, don’t think too badly of me.” I gave her a gentle smile and turned away. “Goodbye.”

“Fairlight, wait!” Meadow jumped up and hurried to stop me. “There’s something I need to tell you!”

“I think enough’s been said already, Meadow.” I felt a shiver run through me. “Forgive me, I’m tired and I’ve had about all I can take for one day.”

“Damn it, Fairlight, will you listen!” Meadow’s bloodshot eyes stared into mine. “Star Swirl said to tell you that the empire is going to return any time now, and that could mean war with Equestria! He said to-”

I could feel my teeth itching, my eyes narrowing and my muscles burning. That… thing! Even here. Even now! Couldn’t I get away from that meddling creature even in my own home?! 

“Fairlight?”

My answer left no ambiguity, “I don’t give a damn what that wizard says or what he wants, Meadow. I don’t want to hear his name again for as long as I live, either here or in the herd.” My wings burst from my back, erupting in a shower of ice and snow that had the green mare stepping back in surprise. “I will live my life as I see fit, and I will do whatever needs to be done to protect my family and my people without interference from him nor anypony.” I felt the magic surge through me, resonating with the magic in the cavern, but not fighting it as it had earlier. Instead, it seemed to call out to it, blend with it, and let it flow through me as naturally as the blood in my veins. “But I do have a message for you to pass to him, Meadow. Please tell Star Swirl...” I gave my mane a shake and stared up at the dark roof of the magical cavern, “If I ever see him again, be it in this life or the next, I will destroy him so utterly the pages of history will cry tears of blood just to utter his name.”

Meadow said nothing.

I had nothing left to say either. My final goodbye to my beloved wife had turned into yet another interfering episode where that bastard’s name just had to crop up. He was like a curse you could never escape now matter how hard you tried nor how much you prayed. Dear goddess, what had happened to me? To us? I walked away, picking my way along the stone path, along the passage and upwards… ever upwards. 

“Fairlight?”

A pair of bright green eyes stared into mine as if from behind a veil of fog. I was only vaguely aware of where I was, and I didn’t care either. I was swimming in grief, the pain and loss ravaging my heart and soul unlike anything I had ever experienced before in my life. Dying was nothing compared to this. Nothing at all. Something touched my neck, something else brushing against my flank, and I went where I was guided as obediently as a whipped dog. I was broken, defeated, and all I had within me now were the shattered remnants of the dreams I had once held so dear. I knew I could start again, but… but it was so hard. So, so hard... 

Tingles guided me onto the bed, pulling off my cloak and my packs, carefully and methodically stripping me down until I sat there, bare to her eyes. And the eyes of the black mare beside her. I could feel the bed give slightly as they sat either side of me and, to my surprise, began to… groom me. The stiff brush glided through my coat, while on the other side my mane was given the same attention. Grooming had always comforted me, and reminded me so much of home, of my mother brushing me when I had been little more than a foal. Emotion rolled through me, drowning me in a sea of grief, of pain and tears the likes of which I’d thought had long since dried to dust. Gently, Tingles took me in her forelegs and began to sing, rocking me like a babe. 

“Never forget you are loved,” Tingles whispered quietly, “Never forget.”

Shadow, her eyes burning so brightly even beyond my tears, kissed me on the muzzle. Slowly, she turned to the open door and waved. Moments later two worried faces appeared before me.

“Mummy? Why’s Daddy upset?” Lumin put his tiny hoof on my hind leg. “Boys don’t cry, do they?”

“Everypony cries, love,” Tingles replied softly. “Everypony.” She kissed my forehead, stroking my mane so gently I felt like I was drifting away. “Sleep now, my brave Fairlight,” she breathed in my ear. “Tomorrow is the start of a new day, and your family are all here.”

“Will you be here when I wake up?” I managed.

“Of course,” Shadow smiled, rubbing my mane. “All of us.”