//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2- The Dragon Under Canterlot 
// Story: Song and Dance of the Desert's Garden 
// by Renaissance Muffins 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2- The Dragon Under Canterlot


Several days passed by on the journey back to Canterlot with the dragon in tow, tied onto a large wagon made for lumber pulled by nearly fifty stallions and a bit of help from those who could enchant strength unto the soldiers. The princesses, quickly left after the encampment was safe and finally dismantled, busy with other tasks that required them elsewhere. The filly that Abner had spotted in the tent during the battle was a member of the village that he left behind. 

Her name was Lark, was quiet but grew to adapt to her new surroundings, chatting with those she was interested in. She stuck with Abner throughout the trip. Abner appeared to enjoy her company, glad that he was not the only survivor. Her calming blue coat, dark brown black streaked mane, hazel eyes, and white hooves made her stand out from a lot of the soldiers and contrasted greatly against Abner's own soft white fur. Abner had vaguely remembered seeing her sing at a talent show the village school held at one point, her voice was lovely if he recalled correctly.

Still, this didn't entirely fill the hole in Abner's heart. He had no idea where his family was, where they could've gone and whether or not they're even alive. During the nights when the battalion would rest, Abner would wander over to the dragon, who was sleeping throughout the trip, to see if he would wake up. Then he would wander back to Charger's squad and watch the coals burn solemnly. Every spark seemed to remind him the fires that destroyed his home, sometimes he would try and see how many sparks he could control before getting too tired. 

The river they had camped by tonight reflected a beautiful full moon, no clouds to block the view. Abner sat by the trunk of a large tree overlooking the bay pondering the thoughts of where to begin, how, what to learn, and the possibility of never seeing his family, or anyone else that he knew. Unbeknownst to him, Lark had walked up beside him, humming a traditional song that was known in  their village as a song of good luck, strength and spirit. Slowly, Abner drifted to sleep, his worries seemed like a distant memory.

“Another night, another day.” Charger said as the morning horns sounded. Once again, the battalion moved closer to Canterlot and by the afternoon they could see the castle embedded into the side of the mountains. The town below came up over the horizon after another hour or so. The troops pulling the dragon branched off after reaching the main road a ways out from the town. “Almost there. Whisk, it seems like you'll be back to bakin' cakes again.”

“Charger, my cakes are awesome, you know that. The best dish I make though has to be the Alfalfa Penne Pasta with some asiago sauce. Everypony I know that is a regular usually orders that.” Whisk nudged Charger with his hoof, “I keep telling you to try it it too, but no, you always want the Hay Grain Apple Sandwich.”

Charger nudged him back, chuckling, “You know what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor aw-.”

Cuff quickly butted in,rolling his eyes, “You're making that lame excuse for a joke again?”

“C'mon doc, have some humor would ya?” Whisk replied. Cuff didn't respond.

Marina's accented voice, strong on A’s and O’s, came from behind Abner who was walking in the middle of the group. “You colts need to keep that stuff for when we're off duty.”

Lark giggled, Abner smiled a bit, Charger and Whisk laughed some more, and Cuff sighed.

Once in the Canterlot's lower village, Abner stayed beside Whisk, Lark stayed with Marina, Charger and Cuff went to the castle to deliver proper reports about wounded and other paperwork. Wrecker was helping to tow the dragon into an nondescript location along with other notoriously strong members of the legion.

Following Whisk around long winding roads up the side of the mountain to his new home, Abner noted the various things that caught his eye: the view over the town, the drifting music from the outdoor orchestra, the small jeers of young colts and mares, the songs of birds from the trees that dotted the mountain side and the sun barely setting over the horizon.

Whisk's voice broke his wandering thoughts, “Hey Abner, over here.” Whisk motioned him over to a restaurant called the Fuax Blue Tavern. Two windows in the front, one holding an unreadable sign, to Abner at least. It sat a good distant away from the main road, behind a shoe store and clothes shop. The building itself was a pale gray blue, the windows had vanilla white shutters and the frames were the same. The roof was slightly pitched and uni-directional towards the left side. Approaching the front the second floor towards the back of the building slowly disappeared from view.

He guided him through the small lobby, weaved between the numerous round tables that filled empty space on the floor that the booths didn't cover. The beams of sun through the window hinted small spots where a thin layer of dust showed on the edges of the table cloths. It was clear that the place had been closed down for quite some time, as if Whisk had slowly neglected the place as time went on. Soon enough, Whisk had guided him through some double doors into the back, where the kitchen was, a rather spacious one. Knives and other utensils hung solemnly from the beige walls. Portion pans sat stacked on green barred shelves hoisted to the walls. Three metal counters with lost sheen sat on the opposite wall. A series of grills lined the wall on the other side with grease hoods stretched along the ceiling to catch smoke and thickened air made by food. 

Lastly, Whisk opened another door leading to a flight of stairs to the second floor. Abner followed him up the stairs and into a room that was somewhat unorganized and the floor littered with blankets and cook books. The room was shaped much like a trapezoid, had is bed against the wall separating the room from the stairs. Whisk quickly glanced around the room, telling Abner that he'd work something out for bedding and food, rambling on about how he could order the food from a market. Without warning, Whisk pushed over a large empty three tier bookshelf, tossed several of the blankets on top, folded them and placed a pillow on one end. “That'll work, go ahead and try it out, may want to set your sword up against the wall though.”

Abner followed through, resting the zweihander against the wall horizontally and then hoping up on to the hard wood backing of the bookcase. He nudged at the blankets until they felt right to him and moved the pillow into the corner. Abner then slowly let his eyes drift away, clearing his mind of the days stress. Vaguely he could hear Whisk trot around the room and clean things up.

Finally drifting away into a deep sleep, Abner again found himself in a field of fog. He heard a familiar voice speak out, “Ah, Abner, nice to see your mind has calmed a bit more.” Prudence emerged from the other side of the fog, her translucent horn aglow to part the fog between them. “I see you met the Princesses, and that your magic helped to save them. Admittedly they may have just been just fine however.” Again the events appeared behind her in detailed stained glass. “The dragon Charger, Marina, Wrecker, and the others helped to subdue; they've imprisoned him in a cavern of ice, where the air sits still enough so birds can't even fly.” She seemed nervous, a visible chill went down her spine. Suddenly the environment of the cave surrounded them both, as if they were actually there. They both could see the dragon in all its glory. “Stribog truthfully, is under a weak amount of Blight, or corruption so it were.” She slowly walked around the dragons large snout, who was still heavily asleep. “The biggest problem here is that the Blight will spread to those who wield magic, starting with the unicorns who helped to subdue Stribog.” A worried look crossed her face, this is a problem that I've had all my life, however I've managed to contain it, until I met you.”

Abner walked closer to Prudence curious by what she was on about. Her eyes seemed to water up but she didn't cry. “Anyways I'm sure Stribog here told you what to do with that sword, return it to its rightful place and all will be peaceful once again, so we all hope.” She looked down, dismayed. “Abner, I ask you to complete this task, whether it be on your own or with your friends.”

She walked past Abner,her head hung down to his height. Abner was curious about her, why she too had to deal with this 'Blight'. “If you're curious about the Blight, it is not quite dark magic, but a corruption of light and dark magic. Any research of it proves fruitless aside from what I've said.” Abner could her voice echo off the cave walls, leaving a slight ringing in his ears. “For myself, the Blight was an unfortunate encounter with an infected creature that had wandered into my home when I was young. My parents casted seal upon seal to keep it in check, eventually the Blight infected them as well, slowly corroding their magic until they finally passed away because of it.” She walked over by Abner again, he could her voice shake a bit, “In the end however the seals saved me, I learned how to contain it using a spell combining both light and dark magic.” She lifted a hoof to wipe her eyes, “When I met you, that container transferred over to you. It seems that the Blight can only affect living beings, I'm glad that it didn't back fire.”

Abner sat in front of the dragon, curious of what to do when he did find the dragon. How would he find it in the first place. When would he even be able to. Prudence spoke up again, sighing, “Abner, learn what you can, seek an audience with Celestia, then seek out Stribog's location. Lark's singing, I have a feeling will help you out in the long run.”

The scenery slowly faded back into a fog. Abner could feel his mind slowly bend back into reality. For a moment he wondered what he dreamt is something he should follow through with, they're simply orders from a complete stranger. Although the circumstances put much against it being just a dream. He heard an owl call from outside the window, Abner's ears perked up. Opening his eyes as Whisk's snoring became audible. The crickets and cicada's chirping were loud and obnoxious, just as they were back home. He hopped down from the makeshift bed and walked towards the window. It had enough space on the window seal for him to sit on and so he did. Staring out into the clear and beautiful night sky, a full moon. He could almost make out an aurora borealis in the distant, shimmering its teals and pinks and light blues, dancing it seemed, to the wind. The lights in the town below marked streets and those households that stayed up later than anyone else. His heart felt so content with this, staring at the moon, the stars, the sound of nightly critters filling the air.

Suddenly he heard Whisk grumble something aloud, “No waiter, I'll have the usual...why wait...muffins...pancakes...” Abner smiled, amused. He saw a latch on the window, he opened it and walked onto the fenced deck. Vaguely, he could hear singing, the same song that Lark had sung before. Letting out a melodic howl into the deep night sky. After howling, Abner felt lighter, as if something had been lifted off his shoulders. Shrugging it off, the song died down and as he turned around to go back into the house, he saw a large flowing shape standing on the roof. 

“We welcome thee to Canterlot, Abner.” Princess Luna stood atop the roof, just above the window. Abner sat down intrigued. Her voice was unquestionably loud, strong, and moved the air around her. “Thou expressed a most divine howl into our night sky. Tell us, dost thou speak?” Luna questioned her volume slowly decreased to a more appropriate level. Abner simply shook his head no. “Shame. Perhaps enrolling thee into Canterlot's finest academy will help. We also are curious, would thou recall a Prudence?”

Abner for a moment, thought how to explain the issue. Without realizing it, his horn lit up and a ghostly image of Prudence appeared beside him. She was smaller than her size from his dreams, only the size of his paws put together. She spoke, her voice the same as it was in the dream. “Luna, I apologize that I return in this form. It was all I could do, to save Abner and my consciousness.”

Luna seemed heavy hearted, she lowered her head, “Please explain Prudence”

Prudence sighed, “To begin, I was scouting out the village. Celestia sought a treaty agreement with the village for its crafting skills and was willing to offer protection for them should something happen. I was with the village mayor when the initial attack occurred, I was able to protect the mayor and myself but in the confusion we got separated. I tried to make my way out when I encountered Stribog. Personally, I tried to fight him off but the Blight within him kept canceling out my magic. Eventually he struck me with a fatal blow and the wound was too grave to heal with my magic. I stumbled upon Abner, whose yelp I heard over the fire. I used my special talent of fate sighting on him. What I saw was our salvation if I saved him, and our destruction if I didn't. Anypony could try and return the sword but they would all fail.” she paused for a moment, as if to take a breath.

Luna softly spoke, “Intriguing, we ask thee to continue.”

“That way of speaking never gets old, Luna.” Prudence remarked. “I saw that I could revive Abner if I induced a massive flow of magic throughout him. Summoning up a transfer spell, I used up all my magic. In doing so, I sacrificed my horn, the magic veins, and the Blight container. My physical body turned to dust and went up with the ashes. Now I reside, spiritually, inside of Abner.”

“We understand, Prudence. However, how does time fair in light of this?” Luna asked.

“My best guess is that if Abner doesn't visit Stribog soon, not very long at all. Otherwise we perhaps have a month or so. That only delays the Guardians from finding the sword by force.” Prudence explained.

“What would thee do when thou confronts the dragon?” Luna asked.

“I still haven't quite figured that part out yet, I'll think if something when we get there I suppose, maybe even beforehand.” Prudence answered. “Perhaps I can transfer the Blight into the container that I created.” Prudence looked over to the horizon, the sun was breaking, faint hues of orange and yellow slowly graded into the dark night sky.

“We should be on our way.” Luna seemed disappointed that should could not stay to talk longer. “Tis' a shame that we must leave. We advise caution when approaching Stribog. Farewell for now, Abner and Prudence.” In a large puff of smoke she vanished and Prudence's ghostly figure fade away. 

The magic projection left Abner with a slight headache. Abner turned his head towards the rising sun, another astounding sight from this view in the mountains. “Beautiful sight isn't it?” Prudence's voice echoed in his head.

Abner yawned, feeling sleepy again, wandered back inside and lied down on the bed that Whisk threw together for him.

The roasting of fire and food woke Abner in the early afternoon. Groggily walking down the stairs his ears picked up the chatter of the ponies in the dining portion of the restaurant. Whisk was busy prepping food laid out upon the counters. “Hey there Abner, hope you enjoyed your sleep.” He looked out the window in the wall, giving him nearly full view of the dining area. “I take out the closed sign in the window and I'm already busy. Fortunately, I sent notice to my employees ahead of time.” He turned to one of the other chefs, a monochromatic blue colt, “Weave, don't burn the apples.” Whisk turned back to Abner, “Marina and Lark I think her name was, are waiting for you outside the door. Marina said she'd guide you around the town and if possible, the castle.” Whisk hurriedly grabbed a satchel and attached it to the harness that Abner wore. “Here's some lunch for later, not the same meal as before, but its a favorite here. Now go, meet up with Marina.”

Abner found his way through the dining area and to the main doors. Outside he saw Marina chatting with Lark, who seemed to already know the Equestrian language. At first, Abner thought Lark was a filly, instead she was a young mare; a misconception for her age he figured. “There you are!” Lark zipped over and hugged Abner tightly until he made a slight squeak sound. “Oh, sorry, my fault.” she giggled and Marina had good laugh from it. Abner sighed after a short cough.

Marina spoke up, “Looks like she pretty happy about seeing you again. Anyways, lets get going, I suppose we'll go by some of the major landmarks first.” 

Walking down the well paved walkways, they made their way to a short clock tower located in the middle of a courtyard in front of a large academy. Cobble sidewalks met and circled the tower with foliage lining the foundation. The old red brick and grout had years of wear and the clock faces on each side seemed to have lost some of their shine. The academy itself was a duller blue bricked structure with arms branching outward toward the main road. A large bell hung from a small belfry above the main entrance. The architecture used the theme of pointed arches just about everywhere, from the pillars to the doors.

“This place looks pretty important, what is it?” Lark asked curiously, tilting her head in Marina's direction.

“It's the famous Canterlot Academy. Ponies of any creed and species can attend here, whether to learn magic, writing, music making, fine arts, or history. There's many more than that though.” 

“Are the teachers nice at least?” Lark asked as the three of them approached the main entrance.

“Depends on who you take really. One teacher's style of may suit you, but another may not.” Marina answered confidently. She seemed quite eager to show the two of them around.

“Does Marina come here to learn at all?” Lark wondered.

“I used to, got a degree in writing. Joining the legion allowed me to attend here though.” Marina replied. The entrance exams are very rough and legion soldiers are exempted from some of the prerequisites for entry, however going the soldier route is very rough and tough. Gotta be able to keep up with the bigger ponies.” She chuckled merrily as the group entered into the main library just across from the entrance.

The library was large, it seemed to hold the entire encyclopedias of the known world, mysteries, nonfiction and nonfiction novels alike, art books, architecture, music studies, and magic books that covered everything from levitation to brewing a thunderstorm. Rows and rows of shelves covering three whole floors. The library itself was circler, the main desk positioned front and center, several filing cabinets in a semicircle behind the desk. 

Behind the desk stood an lavender coated, a dark indigo mane with two streaks, one pink and one purple. The violet eyed unicorn shifted her nose through some pages of a book while organizing some files with magic that glimmered the same lavender tone as her coat. The mare seemed entertained by whatever she was reading. The magic encompassed her horn and whatever she levitated through the air or moved about. Her cutie mark consisted of a small cluster of six point stars, one large pink one with a smaller white one behind it and surrounding the center star were five tiny white stars in random places. 

Marina spoke up in a soft voice, “Miss Twilight Sparkle, it's been awhile. How do you do?”

Twilight quickly shuffled away the files and turned her attention away from the book and to Marina, Lark, and Abner. “Indeed it has, Marina and I am doing quite well as usual. How may I help you on this fine day?”

Well I've got two little folks here that could use some apprenticeship in magic if you're at all interested.” Marina asked in a polite tone. Twilight gazed in contemplation, raising a hoof to her chin. Twilight moved out from behind the desk to inspect them further. “Well?” Marina questioned.

“Interesting, I've read about tribes of wolves and ponies living together in the paper and through some old folk tales. I've also read about magic induction, something very hard to do. Achievable, but there are many risks to it, extremely dangerous ones.” Twilight stopped walking around the two for a moment. “Perhaps, instead of physical training, Charger should be able to handle that. I can lend out a few books for beginners. Do remember to bring them back though.” Twilight lead the three of them up some stairs the curved with the central circle's edges. She stopped at a section labeled by a sign on the side of the bookshelves stating, Beginners Magic, 0 to L. “This is where you should begin. I'd start with the more basic ones, starting with Forming and Levitation: First Edition.”

Marina asked, “You wouldn't happen to have any books for traditional folk songs would you?”

Twilight laughed delightfully, “Marina, you should know by now that I have a book for just about everything. What for, I'm curious.”

“It's for this young mare here, Lark. She says her special talent is singing, and from the few songs I've heard from her, she says they're passed down in her family.” Marina answered.

Twilight, without much thought said, “Well there are quite a few books on those alone, finding ones with just the lyrics shouldn't be too difficult. Come with me Lark, I'll pull out a few books for you to choose from.” They both began to walk off after Twilight remarked that Marina should stay with Abner out of concern for safety. 

Abner had already been looking through the books during the conversation, seeing which ones he could use for light magic. The Equestrian alphabet transformed to his own language when his eyes passed over them. There were plenty abound. Each book a different color, a different binding structure, a different leaf page, various authors, thicknesses, heights, some with gilded linings, and some with extremely decorative covers. Through the hours, three books caught his interest the most. 

First, Light Based Magic: First Edition by Gleaming Phosphorescence, a book with the brightest white covers and gold decorating the corners, aging pages turned beige, and the writing were more notes and quick sketches of what the results should be. Extremely simple things were described,  creating a candlelight by which to guide oneself during the night, a sphere of light to help not only the caster but others who may be following them, or simply bringing up a light from one's horn to read more easily in dark areas.

The second book, Levitation and Projection: Do's and Do Nots by Levo Promineo, a flat shade of purple and a simple dull yellow border meeting the edges, the pages were not worn, and the writing was simple with no marring and easy to understand imagery on separate pages from the text. Some of the writings described example encounters and problematic situations and how to get over them, one situation it described the hypothetical of a broken down bridge over a canyon. The solution being that levitating oneself over to the other sider, projecting a temporary bridge to connecting the two edges together, or bringing the broken halves of the bridge back together if at all recoverable.

The third book, Advanced Shaping Techniques: Shaping Magic Into Forms by Alter Way Forming, bound together by threads due to its worn out covers which held stains of tea or coffee on its blue surface with corners lined with a rugged leather like material, the pages were filled with hundreds of small sketches and notes on thought processes for certain techniques. Transformation techniques ranged from turning a blade of grass into a small dagger to turning the large leaves of a ficus tree into a large shield to protect from dangerous weather conditions.

Content with the books after skimming through a majority of the pages in each, Abner shelved the books atop of the satchel Whisk had given him earlier in the day. Bringing a strap over the books to keep them in place, somewhat. Marina had fallen asleep whilst reading a novel of her own, The Grand Adventure of Hoofbert and Gallamane, a book sage green with out much decoration other than the white letters in the title and two thin stripes along the binding. Carefully, Abner nudged her foreleg a bit until she drowsily awoke. Coming to, she hastily remembered what she was doing, bookmarked the page she was on then closing the book all the while pacing to a slow trot as she lead Abner back down the stairs and to the front desk where two other ponies had been getting some help by a small purple and green spine finned dragon named Spike.

One pony had a frantically happy voice and a cheerful smile to go along with it. Her speaking was quicker than what the translation magic could keep up with. Her eyes a cyan zooming around the room as if they were directing her head. The dark pink mane she had was as fluffy as a cloud. Abner, following close behind Marina, saw that the pink pony was carrying a basket on her back. He was somewhat curious, but before he could finish his thought the excited pink pony zipped over to Abner and immediately began to ask questions. “I haven't seen you around before! Are you new!? How'd you get that horn? Do you want to have a party because I love throwing parties, parties are my special talent. Do you have a special talent, mine is throwing parties!” She began to hop an unusual height around Abner filled with more glee without a breath wasted. 

Marina spoke up for Abner, “He can't speak our language, he also seems to be rather mute or just extremely quiet. So, Pinkie Pie, please for a moment, calm down. Twilight is around I just need to find her.” Marina had talked to Pinkie Pie in a bit of stern tone, as if annoyed by all her talking and hyperactivity. 

Pinkie Pie had calmed down for a moment and then began to eye Abner as if she was going to stalk him. The other pony, a unicorn, that is with Pinkie seemed to be very upright with her mannerisms. A finely groomed curled indigo mane and tail contrasting from her light azure grey coat made her stand out from others. She had azure colored eyes, finely tuned lashes, and light blue eyeshadow. Certainly beauty and grace on multiple levels and tell tale signs of Spikes slight nervousness whilst speaking to her were some proof of that. “Spike,” her  was voice elegant, clear, proud, “darling, where is our dear twilight, Pinkie Pie does miss her so.”

“Well, Twilight is usually pretty busy in the library here.” Spike pointed out.

“Yes, of course, but she should drop by and visit more, I worry about her becoming a shut in.

“Rarity, she has made many friends here, just as she did at Ponyville.” 

“Of course, but still-” She stopped herself and looked at Marina, “Marina, dear its been much too long.”

“It certainly has Rarity.” Marina replied.

“Spike, could you be a dear and fetch Twilight for us?”

“Of course Rarity, anything.” 

Spike hopped down for the chair behind the front desk and ran off to search for Twilight. Rarity approached Marina, “I finished that dress for you dear, its back at the boutique though. I didn't know if you'd be coming back. Did Prudence happen to come back?”

“Relax Rarity, I told you I'd be fine.” Marina looked down, disheartened, “No, we lost her during the initial attack on Abner's village, this poor wolf's home. A dragon of wind came down and utterly destroyed the village, Prudence was lost in that.”

Rarity in turn was disheartened, shocked, Pinkie's mane went from it's fluffy cloud look to extremely straight. “That's rather unfortunate,” Rarity's voice audibly shaken, “She was a good pony, always helped out, always helped me out with my dresses without asking for anything in return. She was a good student of Twilight's too.”

Suddenly Twilight's voice broke in, confused, “Who was a good student?” For a few minutes there was an awkward silence, enough for Abner to start hearing every heartbeat. Pinkie, Rarity and Marina shot glances at each other. Twilight broke the silence, “Is it something to do with Prudence?”

“Yes.” Marina spoke up, “She went missing in action a few days ago when the dragon incident occurred in Abner's town.

“That's...unfortunate.” Twilight's voice went from a subtle joy to a slight sadness. “Lets get your books check out.” she sighed and wandered over to the front desk. Abner tried for a moment to recall what she looked like, to see if he could again get Prudence to appear as a projection. However, it didn't work, not even Prudence's voice met his conscious. Perhaps its something that requires the presence of a much stronger magic. Twilight looked at Abner, “Put the books on the desk.” Abner did so. She looked at the books intrigued, flipping through them for the numbers to check for listing them as currently checked out. “This is a very interesting selection here: Gleaming Phosphorescence, Levo Promeneo, and Alter Way Forming. Each one of them use sketches, notations, and comparisons to common things in their writing.” Twilight was mildly amused. “Alter's writing is quite humorous when remarking mistakes in casting spells.” It's as if she read through the books a multitude of times before. “Levo is kind of strange, his drawings are more like blueprints using geometric shapes, his notes archaic. Hard to read if you're not used to the style.” She skimmed through the pages of each book to make sure each one was there, intact. “Gleaming is a popular author, light based magic is always nice to know when finding your way in the dark. Even helps working in areas that natural light can't reach.”

Twilight handed the books back to Abner, and asked Lark to hand her the book that she had. After making several remarks about finding it the wrong location. Twilight admitted that misplacements do occur, luckily her magic helps quite often when it does occur. Twilight asked Spike to keep tend to the front desk. She appeared disheartened, trying to hide her sadness. Rarity consoled Pinkie for the moment and Marina read through Lark's recently checked out book. Twilight teleported herself to the top floor and with everyone busy, Abner sneaked away up the to the top floor of the library. 

There he found a simple door, purple in color and golden hinges and handle with a deadbolt lock. Abner sat in front of the door for a moment and proceeded to knock on it with one of the books. The door opened, its hinges squeaked quietly as Twilight poked her head out. “Ah, it's you, Abner if I recall correctly. You're quite the silent one.” She thought for a moment and opened the door further, “Come in, I suppose I can give you some back story to Prudence. Maybe if we're lucky she'll appear before us.” She let out a short laugh that also exposed her sadness. Closing the door after Abner slowly walked in whilst putting the book back in the satchel.

Her room was quite typical couple of shelves for her own books, chest-of-drawers with a large mirror on top with some makeup equipment on laying on top. An ornate room divider for dressing behind, a large bed against the wall with a circular window allowing sunlight through. Another door led to a balcony that gave a good view over the central area of the academy, a park or zen garden of sorts. The floor was a deep purple as was a majority of the furniture, and the walls are a off white cream color much like the skin of a tree, beneath the bark.

Twilight looked in the mirror, recollecting all the memories, quickly placing them in a proper order and began her story of Prudence, “Prudence was a good friend to have for those who knew her.” She turned to Abner, who sat still and listened intently. “She came into Ponyville looking for work. She wandered in without her parents, who she says passed away due to an illness on their journey here.” Twilight slowly walked over to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room and pulled out a photo album. “She first delved into the many books in my library after helping Applejack in the apple orchards. Willing to helping anypony out, her heart was generous much like Rarity's and she held strong bonds with each of us. A young mare at the time, she was full of energy, staying up late and studying in her own house that carpenter's recently built at the time. Eventually she decided to attend Canterlot Academy, coincidentally around the same time I moved here to work the library.” Twilight sat down on the bed and motioned Abner to hop up while flipping through the pages with her magic. Abner sat beside her, looking at the pictures of Prudence helping with party arrangement's, modeling dresses, feeding animals, reading books, collecting apples, and moving clouds. “There was one night though, Prudence came to me feeling sick and her magic appeared to be going haywire. Asking for a book on sealing spells I gladly helped her out.” Twilight stopped at the last picture she had of Prudence, one of her before she left on her journey to Abner's hometown. “I had asked her what was wrong, however she didn't reply and she didn't look too happy either. She took the books with her and returned them before she left. I've heard of magic going haywire during pregnancy, but she didn't look it.” Twilight looked out the large circular window and sighed as a longing look crossed her face. “Still today I wonder what she needed the books for, as she usually told me why she would need a book and chat about the subject before leaving.” Abner could tell that despite not knowing Prudence very well, she had quite the impact on whomever she met. “Speaking of her leave,” Her head quickly turned back towards Abner, “She said one thing beforehand to me in secret, unusual for her, 'A wolf born of light quieter than earth will come in my stead.' I guess this is what she meant by that, perhaps that's what her cutie mark resembled, foretelling.” Twilight began to cry slightly.

Abner again tried to recall Prudence, to project her before Twilight. Then her voice seeped into his consciousness, “Abner, you've sought out Twilight as I told you, good. Why is she crying?” Abner pointed his eyes towards the photo album. “Oh dear, Marina told her, didn't she. Twilight knows well that a dragon attack of the scale leaves little to no survivors.” Abner could hear her voice echo inside his head. “Just a moment Abner, I need to tap into certain parts of your nervous system, that talk with Luna drained a majority of the magic that I had stored within you. Are you willing to risk temporary and even perhaps permanent impairment for this?” Abner nodded his head yes, without Twilight noticing. “Very well, prepare yourself.”

Abner's head began glowing a brilliant white light and a ghostly white fire emerged from his eyes. The fuzzy projection of Prudence appeared on top of the pages. Twilight for a moment reeled back in surprise when the magic began to pour out. “Whats happening?” she questioned worriedly. When the magic settled down, she realized what occurred. Prudence was right there, before her very eyes incarnated as a translucent projection from Abner's horn. “Prudence,” she stammered, “is that really you?”

“For the most part, yes.” Prudence answered. She then told the same story she had told Luna, starting with her mission to treaty with Abner's village to its ending of her physical form turning to ash after transferring her magic and horn to Abner. Towards the end, her projection began to fizzle and fade. “I can't hold this form much longer, I'm already endangering Abner doing this. Please, Twilight, don't mention this to anypony else.”

“You have my word, Prudence.” Twilight remarked confidently.

“Promise me” Prudence said sharply.

“I promise, Prudence.” Twilight said with high esteem. “It's good to know that you're still around”

“Thank you, Twilight.”

They both smiled as the projection of Prudence fizzed away into the air, as well as the brilliant white magic that went with it. Abner's eyes went back to normal, rendering him blind for a few seconds. He could feel his entire nervous system burn up and pricking skin coursed throughout his body. He endured the pain until it faded away a few moments later leaving him breathless. Twilight was crying, glad that she was in some way, able to say goodbye again. Looking into Abner's eyes Twilight hugged him saying, “Thank you Abner, for bringing Prudence back to us.” Abner tried to hug back, but it was difficult to move. “Tell you what, I'll lend you a book to help increase your magic efficiency. Don't worry about returning it, it's a book I wrote, I have quite a few copies to myself.” She broke away from Abner and lifted a book from off her desk and placed it in Abner's satchel. “Come back again tomorrow around noon, I'll give you a few lessons to start it.”

Twilight led Abner out the door and watched him walk down stairs. When Abner approached Marina she asked, “Where's that lunch that Whisk gave you, Pinkie's feeling mighty hungry and hopping around quite frantically now. Rarity managed to cheer her quite a bit.” Abner proceeded to pull out the lunch from the outer most pocket of the satchel and handed it over to Marina. 

The group made their way out to the central garden on the middle of the Academy. Other ponies wandered about, making their way to their own classes or lunch. Pinkie guided the group near a large tree that provided quite a bit of shade. She chatted about the delicious sweet food she brought with her in her picnic basket as Rarity pulled out a large red and white checkered, flattening it out and placing it on the ground. Immediately Pinkie began pulling out food ranging from cheesecake to a bunch of chocolate glazed apples. Rarity quickly organized the food and placed the large salad that Whisk made. Marina said that Whisk always knew what she liked for food, further stating that that colt is such a romantic sometimes. 

Abner heard familiar voices coming from the nearby entry way. Eventually a familiar sight, Charger and Cuffs followed by Wrecker who towered over them. Lark began running over after Abner had pointed his head in their direction. Lark dragged them over, Cuff looked displeased as if he was already busy enough. The three were not in uniform, Wrecker however still wore armor to keep his face and the majority of his body hidden. Charger was enjoying the situation, “I see you're all out on a little picnic. Ah, Pinkie Pie and Miss Rarity, it's been quite some time. Pinkie, how about you set up a party for Abner and Lark at Whisk's restaurant.” Pinkie quickly scarfed down one of the cakes she brought along, whole and quicker than you could say higgledy-piggledy. She dashed off as nothing more than a pink blur.

Abner was dumbfounded, he had never seen anything move that fast before. Charger was amused and Cuff barely twitched a muscle in his face. Rarity spoke up, “Charger, I see you're in as good shape as ever. How is one of our famed captains of the Legion doing these days?” Rarity asked, still calming herself from laughing at Pinkie's quick departure.

“Other than taking down a fearsome dragon who controlled wind, not half bad.” Charger answered nonchalantly. 

Cuffs appeared visibly irritated, “Not half bad? Charger I hope you realize how many casualties that dragon caused. Everypony that was critically injured may not be able to serve again, there are limits to what healing magic can do.”

Charger rolled his eyes, “I know Cuffs, stop being a negative nancy. Now I hear you need an audience with Celestia, Abner.” Abner's ears perked up, “Tomorrow, late afternoon before the sun sets, I'll be waiting in front of the castle's inner gate.”

“How is it that this wolf is able to understand every word that we say?” Rarity asked.

Cuff swiftly answered, “Probably translation magic, whoever gave him the ability to use magic likely casted the spell that either has an extremely long duration or permanent. Permanent effects require materials other than the spell itself, much like alchemy. Prudence was pretty knowledgeable about that sort of stuff. Helped out when we didn't have proper materials” Cuffs way of speaking was a lot like Rarity's, upright and proper, well mannered. He seemed easily irritated though, a colt more for logic than nonsense.

The conversations carried on, as if they were all old friends meeting up again. Rarity left after realizing she was going to be late for an appointment with a client. Packing the blanket and remaining dishes and food back into the basket Pinkie had left. Eventually they all made their way back to Whisk's place, the Fuax Blue Tavern as the sun began to set. Lark was asleep, carried by Wrecker and for the most part the walk was quiet. The scenic view over the lower town lit up  by the setting sun was breathtaking. Marina, Charger and Wrecker had seen it numerous times before, but to Abner it was stunningly beautiful.

Entering the Tavern, the inside was nearly pitch black with curtains drawn over the windows. An eerie silence crept about and the air was still. Suddenly, just seconds after the door closed, fires lit up the candles around the room. Ponies popped out from behind every booth and table, Pinkie Pie was right in front of them with a party horn in her mouth and blew it until just the tip hit Abner's nose. Everyone of the ponies yelled surprise. Charger smiled, Cuffs didn't react much and made his own way over to a series of tables that were set up for a vast amount of food Whisk and his team of chefs had prepared along with various deserts. Whisk quietly escorted Wrecker to his room to let Lark, who was still fast asleep, sleep someplace more pleasant.

All throughout the night, guests came and left until the moon was at its highest point in the sky. Charger was busy retelling the battle with the dragon but made sure he never mentioned the name. Whisk was there too, telling his own version of the story with crazy incidents that never actually occurred. Cuffs sat by himself for most of the time, busy writing papers. Marina headed upstairs to keep an eye on Lark and perhaps get some sleep of her own. Pinkie was constantly bouncing around to check on things. Wrecker seemed to have disappeared after Whisk escorted him upstairs. Abner sat across at one of the larger tables being introduced to everypony that was at the party, Most of them didn't seem too bothered by the horn on his head.

Once the party finally died down, confetti scattered across the floor balloons floating dangerously close to the candles, a table or two knocked over and somehow Whisk wound up stuck in one of the chandeliers, leaving Pinkie to laugh hysterically. Charger fell asleep at the table he was telling his tale with strokes of black ink turning his face into a canvas of random drawings. Abner headed to the back and up the stairs to Whisk's room and once again went to sleep on the makeshift bed not minding Lark and Marina cuddled up against each other with a blanket drawn over them. Wrecker was still no where to be found. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, a training session with Twilight, an audience with Celestia, and perhaps going to icy cave where the dragon, Stribog, awaits.

The next morning the chime of brass bells marked the hour after the had risen, echoing into the distance. Abner again awoke to the smell of food. He felt a heavy weight against his side preventing him from moving the lower half of his body. Lark had snuggled up against him in his sleep and Marina slept on the other side of Abner, a large blanket draped over the three of them. Abner was somewhat amused, although a bit confused why they both moved over to him in his sleep. Squeezing his way out, Abner made his way downstairs, bringing the zweihander with him, sheathed. 

Whisk had this time cooked him some breakfast, a pasta much like the salad from the day before. Large leafs of romaine lettuce, rigatoni noodles, some sliced chicken that was bread and cooked to a golden brown. A few sprigs of rosemary garnished the meal, with a little bit of shredded parmesan cheese sprinkled across the top. “I don't do breakfast meals very well, so instead I cooked you something that I might serve for lunch or dinner for a carnivore like you.” Whisk spoke up, sitting in a chair pulled up to one of the counters. He had a very exhausted look on his face, as if he had stayed up the entire night. “Gah. I feel like crap.” He complained. “I cooked Lark and Marina something too. I guess you managed to sneak down here without waking them.”

Abner took him up on the breakfast, he enjoyed it much to his surprise. After finishing his meal, Lark and Marina came down the stairs, tired and groggy. Lark quickly spotted the food sitting on top of the counter. Her eyes widened and dashed over but before she grabbed the bowl of salad, she politely asked Whisk after looking around the room for him, “Whisk, is this for me?”

“Yea. It is. The other bowl is for Marina. I already ate so don't worry.” Whisk answered. Happily, Lark grabbed the bowl and took it out to one of the tables in the dining area; Marina did the same. “Abner, good luck.”

Later that morning, towards the early afternoon, Abner and Lark guided again by Marina, headed to Canterlot Academy's library to see the great Twilight Sparkle. Marina had to leave to attend to other duties of her own, saying that the small aquatic zoo she worked for needed her help. She describe it as a large glass square holding thousands of gallons of water. In the water stirred various amounts of creatures that thrived in the oceans, from krill to extraordinary large angel fish.

Twilight Sparkle came down from the top floor, she seemed eager to teach them as a cheerful smile ran across her face. Twilight asked Spike to attend the front desk again, then she guided Lark and Abner to some archery grounds. The grounds were located behind the academy and had been unattended for some years as training for archery dwindled eventually the course was dropped from the curriculum altogether. The targets at the other end were overgrown by vines and weeds and the points to take stance that were once barren dirt gave way to lush grass and patches of flowers.

Lark seemed anxious to learn, Abner was curious to see what kind of spells he could learn. “Today,” Twilight started, “I will show the both of you the very basics of magic. First we'll see how well your focus is.” Twilight's horn gleamed lightly, a translucent purple sphere about the size of her hoof in front of her nose. “Okay. Concentration is key here. Imagine that the magic is an extension of yourself, clear your mind. Have it take shape as a sphere in this case.” 

For next hour or so both Abner and Lark tried forming a sphere about the same size as Twilight's. Abner tried to think back to the moment when he projected the force field to help protect the Princesses from Stribog before. He didn't think much other than casting some form of protection. Before he could form his own sphere, Lark cheered loudly, sharply stinging Abner's ears. Twilight quickly congratulated her. Glancing over at Abner, who was still having plenty of trouble trying to even draw out any magic. Twilight realized that his magic was too low to complete the task. Instead she had him read the book he checked out by Alter Way Forming. Demonstrating a few of the sketches from the book for him and Lark.

As the sun came close to setting, Twilight guided them towards Canterlot Castle's main gate. She then told the guards that Captain Charger is awaiting their arrival. “This is where we part for today, I hope to see you tomorrow. I did thoroughly enjoy teaching again.” Twilight waved goodbye and trotted off back down the cobble road. 

The guards allowed the two of them entry, a third guard led them to Charger, who stood still in a full suit of armor. “Ah, Abner, Lark, you two finally arrived. I don't think you two understand how hot it get wearing all this armor.” Charger whispered. Him and the guard that led Abner and Lark switched their positions. “I'm honestly not sure how Wrecker walks around in his all day long with out much of a problem.”

Opening a door built into the inner gate, Charger guided them into a large foyer. A grand staircase and large glass chandelier met their eyes first. The entire room was filled to the brim with royal purple hues with yellow highlights from the pillars and stained glass to the carpet and intricate crown moldings along the ceiling and floor. Celestia sat on a golden throne carefully carved two match the awe and nobility of her grace. “You're early.” She said, her eyes behind a large scroll she was reading. “I see you've brought the wolf and his friend. You wanted to guide him to the prison of that dragon we've imprisoned, correct?”

“Yes, your Highness.” Charger sternly replied. “I assure you that there will be no trouble in doing so. I'm sure your sister has already told you what the consequences would be in not taking care of the matter.”

“Indeed she did.” Celestia recalled, rolling the scroll back up and making it vanish into thin air. “ Luna also stated that she had gotten this information just two days ago from her apprentice, Prudence. Whom I recall went missing in action after the initial attack on this young wolf's village.”

“Well, she also told me last night, Luna did.” Charger looked to be in some disbelief.

“Explain.” Celestia was intrigued, her interest piqued.

“Well, it appears that Prudence used some magic that is ill-advised to use out of safety for oneself and possibly others. Transference magic combined with healing magic. She knew she couldn't save herself but she knew she could save the wolf after she stumbled upon him. Abner had suffered a glancing blow from the dragon's tail it would seem. Prudence's use of the magic consumed the rest of her, reducing her physical body to ash.”

Celestia, once interested, was now saddened. “She was one of my diplomats, I had hoped to see her return before her birthday came up where she was also to receive a promotion.” She paused for a moment, looking confused. “You said her physical body correct?”

“Well, when she used her transference magic, she also transferred her consciousness somehow. I don't know how your unicorn mumbo-jumbo magic works. It also seems like she can't come out on her own free will so I'm not entirely sure you can talk to her right now.” Charger answered, his voice  full of sorrow but he was trying to hide it the best he could.

“There's a lot more to her than I remember. She'll be awarded with the proper medals and a proper funeral. I'll make it a private one, you are all welcome to come. I'll be sending the letters to Twilight tomorrow.” She began pulling out papers from thin air and writing on them. “Now onto the matter of the dragon and the wolf, you already know where to go. Be safe, we certainly don't want Canterlot being turned to shambles. You have two days.”

“Very well Celestia. I shall see what I can do.” Charger confidently replied, turned and had Abner and Lark follow him. 

As they left the castle, Lark was downtrodden, sad about what she had heard. “Mister Charger,” she asked. “Is it possible that my parents are still alive?”

Charger smiled, trying to put on a happy face, “It's perfectly possible that they're still alive. They may be making their way here already or at some other safe haven.” 

Lark didn't seem entirely cheered up, but it gave her hope.

The next day, Abner and Lark went to Twilight early in the morning. The grass at the archery range was soaked from the nights rain. Today, Abner managed to form all sorts of different objects from a small sphere to a large wall. Twilight worked with Lark to have the songs she learned become magic spells that acted like enchantments and controlled certain elements. Learning from the books, Abner sought Twilight's help when he needed to. It was all good practice, it opened up both of their minds to new ways of doing everyday tasks.

Later that evening, Charger rounded up the squad but left Whisk and Cuffs to attend their daily jobs. The group headed outside of town and around the base of the mountains into the lush woods below. After sometime walking along the steep mountainside, they approached  a cave tucked away and hidden by trees. “Alright, stand back and let me handle this.” Charger let loose his large white and silver tipped wings and pulled himself up towards the sky. He positioned his body parallel to the mountainside, circled to pick up speed and flew straight into a hole further up in the rocky mountain. 

Suddenly, after a brief pause, the trees blocking the caves entrance moved. They were fake, placed on large camouflaged cogs that turned beneath the ground. The caves entrance was larger than Abner and Lark had originally anticipated. They entered despite feeling the cold freezing drafts of air that came out. Charger rejoined them half way through using some access tunnels from elsewhere. “When was the last time we had to imprison a giant beast here, I wonder.” Marina thought aloud.

“Well, according to the texts I've read, about five or six years after Discord's imprisonment after his reign.

“Whatever happened to it?” Larked asked, scared, sticking close to Abner's side.

Charger mused the thought, “Well, I think it died from old age and if I recall correctly, it was a shape-shifting creature whose original form wasn't unlike our own. One more thing I remember though is that it seemed to lack its ability to do its talent once it was here though.”

As they traveled further into the increasingly icy caves, their footsteps echoing, they began to hear the dragon's snoring. A sound which got louder and louder the more they approached it. Lark was getting very nervous and stuck to Abner more and more. Marina, Wrecker, and Charger didn't seem nervous at all, as if they had all been here quite a few times before. 

“Strange, I don't remember the cave being this long before.” Charger remarked.

“Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?” Marina asked.

“Not that I can tell...let's keep moving” Charger answered.

Eventually, the group happened upon the dragon, Stribog, who slept in deep hibernation. The stalactites and stalagmites had been broken from bringing him in here or from him furiously tossing about in a fit of rage. The large dome shaped section of the cave contained the dragon quite well. The dragon was curled up, hiding his face behind his massive tail. Its wings were folded up and its light blue scaled skin reflected the dim light from the torches perched high up on the walls. The ground was cold, the air was stiff, and the  silence was overwhelming. For a moment the dragon stirred and the group became frightened.

“Abner,” Wrecker spoke up, his voice was deep, powerful, and perchance could move mountains if he shouted loud enough. “Go.”

Abner shook Lark off of him, having Marina hold her. Approaching the beast, Abner was scared, but he kept his feet moving knowing that if he backed down unfathomable events may occur in the future. Stirring up again, the dragon arose from his slumber, “So, you've finally arrived. The sword, hand it to me.”

Prudence's voice again echoed in Abner's conscious, “Do as he says, trust him, the Blight is not affecting him at the moment.”

Drawing the zweihander from its sheathe, Abner placed the sword on the ground and backed away from it. The 
dragon reached one of his claws down and grabbed the sword.  His hands began to burn, the dragon endured the pain. 
Then in an instant, Stribog thrusted the zweihander into the center of his chest where his heart is. Sudden rushes of white and black air released from the dragon's body. Stribog began to quickly age before them, his scaly skin peeling away with each progression. His webbed wings decayed, broke and shattered.  The torrents of air rushed around the chamber and the ponies huddled up against each other. Abner stood steadfast against the wind and Stribog's body began turning to dust.

The winds ceased, the dragon faded away, and the sword clanged several times against the ground. What was left, a floating wisp of pitch black that fluctuated and pulsed. “Pick up the sword, touch the dragon's soul with your paws.” Prudence's voice rang out in Abner's mind.

Following her words and entirely unsure of the consequences in doing so, Abner picked up the sword and approached the wisp which gradually lowered itself to the ground. Reaching one paw out to touch the wisp, the wisp itself began reaching to him. Before he realized it, he was entirely engulfed by the dark wisp. Scared, Abner panicked and began using light magic to keep it from seeping into his body. A voice called out to him, “Do not resist. This is not the will of the Blight.” The voice was familiar, it was the dragon's. It seems that he is going the same way Prudence did.

Calming himself yet still nervous, Abner felt the constant pricking in his nerves and skin as the engulfing wisp slowly merged into is own body. A shockwave of silver colored magic ejected outward after the ritual completed throwing the group of ponies back a ways. Able to see again, Abner sheathed the sword and began walking back towards the group. His entire body burned, as if he were an inferno. Coughing quite a few times, he began to stumble in his walking and moved until finally collapsing.

Lark quickly ran towards Abner, crying out his name with tears in her eyes. The rest of the group quickly followed. Lark nudged her nose against Abner to see if he was still alive. Marina checked his vitals and confirmed that he was still living. Lark was happy, Wrecker quickly lifted Abner up and placed him on his back. Charger quickly led the group out of the caves as the ceiling began to collapse around them. Marina guarded the group as they left with a magic force field. Quickly heading back into town, Charger lead the group to the small hospital where Cuffs worked.

Placing Abner in an intensive care unit, they waited for the diagnostics. After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, Cuffs came out to them, “He'll make it, unfortunately it's going to take several days for recovery. It seems an exceedingly large intake of magic overwhelmed him, what exactly happened?”

“Well, we're not sure, we went into the dragon's chamber and it used the sword to kill itself practically. Turned into some ball of gas, Abner touched it and it swallowed him I guess would be the best way to put it. Then it seemed to merge with him I suppose.”

“That's...quite unheard of.” Cuffs was puzzled. “Now you've got me curious. Charger, go ask her to come and visit would you. You're all welcome to stay until visiting hours are over as usual, just remember to check in with the nurse at the front desk.”

The days past by ad Abner's health slowly began to change for the better. After being discharged from the hospital, Abner resumed his training under Twilight Sparkle. The day of Prudence's funeral swiftly passed. The night after the funeral, Abner's dreaming became a nightmare. Beginning as a walk through Canterlot on his own, everything back engulfed in black and blue fire. He could hear the voices of all the ponies cry out in terror and pain. He could hear the flames snap and crack in the air. Prudence's translucent body appeared before him, “Abner, we may not have much time left after all. The Blight contained within the dragon wasn't extinguished, instead, it merged with the Blight that I had contained. I've managed to contain it again with the dragons help. His soul is now part of yours but his consciousness is not. Your magic power is tenfold of what it was before.” 

Abner could feel the heat of the fire singe the tips of his fur. Prudence began to ran off motioning him to follow. Trying to follow her, the fire beginning to singe his fur. Abner's legs felt heavy and slow to moved. He could feel something pulling him down. He could see the flames ceasing to wave wildly and Marina's steps become slower. The world began to distort and twist until it snapped to black. A white light surrounded Abner for a moment, he tried to keep running but his movements felt stiff. Looking behind him he saw arms of black burst out of the ground, entangle and cling to his feet and back. It was akin to trying to escape a tar pit. The arms of black eventually engulfed him entirely.

Quickly snapping out of the nightmare, Abner awoke gasping for air. The sound of nightly critters quickly filled his ears again. The open window let in a cool breeze. Abner again went outside onto the deck, the breeze softly shifting his fur, a full moon lit the peaks of the cloudless mountain tops. The constellations just a bright as the moon dimly twinkled in the sky above. Thin cirrus clouds slowly shifting across the sky changing colors as they moved in front of the moon.

He tried to recall the dream, but the memory faded until he couldn't remember. He looked down at the road and saw a shadowed figure with glowing white eyes. “Abner,” Lark called out from behind him, Abner turned to towards her. “You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Abner noticed that she was speaking the language of their village. Abner calmed down and looked back toward the road, the shadowy figure gone. “I suppose you may not have been sleeping too well.” She walked over by Abner and sat down, looking at the moon. “The nights beautiful isn't it? Perhaps a song might calm you down a bit, I'll try not to be too loud.”

Softly, she sang a song that brought out emotions of relaxation and happiness. The words gently graced his ears, each melody of the sweetly enchanted words danced in the drums of his ears. He had realized that the translation magic wasn't changing the words of the song, but it didn't matter. The tone of the song helped him forget the troubles of today and remember all the good times that he had with his family.

A time when his oldest brother, Lev, showed him the blacksmith shop to show him how crafting metal objects worked. His second oldest brother, Kafziel, who had moved away to participate with a group of adventurers. Kafziel and Abner always raced through the town to see who would be the first one home. Naamiy, his oldest sister and twin to Lev, was well known by everyone in the village. Nitza, the youngest and his sister, looked to the family garden and helped his mother to sell flowers to other villagers. His father was the leader of the village and somehow he managed to make time for his family every night. His mother looked out for them, always giving them some sort of guidance in the morning.

As Lark's song neared its end and the memories subsided a bit, Abner's eyes let out a few tears. He smiled and wiped his eyes leaned against Lark's side. Lark continued her song, the moving sonnets relaxed his eyes. He had forgotten how much he missed his family, he wanted to see them again. But how in Midir's name would he even be able to find them? 

Before he realized it, he had fallen asleep again, drifting into a dream that had him drifting in auroras across a clear blue sky with stars dotting the air around him. He twisted his body as if he were swimming underwater. The aurora danced with muted sound of Lark's song. A warm and comforting air surrounded him like a blanket. He swam through the air, shooting stars trailing behind him. He could hear the voices of his family echo and collide. Suddenly, they formed out of the aurora and greeted him with a loving joyful smile. However, their movements were like photographs, frame by frame with each blurring into the next. Series of stars made up their skeleton structures in a simple manner. In the midst of the illusional reunion, the aurora turned into a cloud of blue and pink smoke and the ground became reachable again. 

His family faded away with the smoke and from it, another wolf whose form bled a fiery golden light from their back cutting through the colored fog. The form quickly morphed into a glowing sphere and whisked its way around Abner. It slowed down above Abner's and stretched itself out along his back. The warm light coursed throughout his body and pricked every nerve. The sensation lasted for minutes on end. As the sensation faded away, he could feel him self wake up from his slumber. 

The sun began to rise, lighting the town ablaze in vivid colors of oranges and yellows. He had been covered with a thick blanket, but he could feel another body against his, Lark's. She slept beside him, the words of her sonnet still rang in his ears. The sun rise was cut up by clouds of which he could spot a few pegasi sleeping on. He could hear the rustle of wagons moving through the streets below, their squeaky wooden wheels clacking against the cobble.

Bringing himself to his feet and pulling the blanket over Lark, he made his way out of the Tavern with his zweihander sheathed away in the harness and headed towards the Library Canterlot Academy. 

On his way, an odd gray pony with crossed eyes carrying a messenger bag handed him a letter. The pony gave him a look of confusion for a moment, “Abner?” Abner gave the pony a look just as confused as hers, but shook his head yes to confirm his identity to her. She clapped her front hooves together and flew off. Thrown off by the encounter, Abner continued making his way to the library, taking the letter with him.

After arriving to the library and realizing that it was currently closed until later in the morning, he took the opportunity to open the letter he had received. Multiple pages had unfurled from the ribbon binding holding it closed. They were letters, one from Pinkie Pie, another from Rarity, and one from Charger. Pinkie had sent him a invitation to a welcome back party for a pony over in Ponyville. Rarity had come up with a new design for the harness that Abner had, one that would be sturdier than the current. Charger wrote some ramblings about getting time off so that he could train Abner in physical combat. It appeared he disliked the current way of taking time off, a lot of paper work he complained.

After he had read through the letters, he saw Spike coming in from the main door with some books in his hands humming a little tune not unlike Lark's sonnet from before. “Oh, hey there Abner, coming in early today I see.” he said pulling out the key from a small bag slung around his shoulder. “Twilight's been pretty cheerful as of late, been trying for a teaching profession it appears.” Opening the door, Abner followed Spike inside where beams of sunlight fired through the windows lighting the shelves in golden white hues. “Always nice seeing this every morning. Never grows old.” 

Twilight was looking through a book at one of the tables on the first floor wearing blue and yellow starred pajamas. Her eyes were relaxed and she sipped on a cup of tea. Every time she flipped a page, she used her nose instead of magic. Spike went over to her dropped off the books he was carrying, told her that he would head off to sort some of the new books and check the rest of the library  for books any that were lying around on other tables. She thanked him and continued reading, not noticing Abner's presence.

Abner decided to explore the library on his own and traversed the floors of the library, looking for one based on sword fighting meant for larger melee weapons. Eventually, after spending a few hours in the library and finally finding the proper section, he pulled and replaced a great number of books looking for the right one. Eventually he came upon the book Combat: Pikes, Spears, and Zweihanders by Art Bihooves. Faded brown frayed hardcover book with etchings of the weapons on the front cover. Shelving a different book he had pulled out, he went over to a nearby table and began looking through the pages again, having quickly skimmed over them beforehand. The drawings of the ponies taking each step were similar to the movements that the smithy master that had started training him before the attack on the village.

An hour past by. The pillars of sunlight faded away leaving the room in a more normal coloring. Conversations of the students traversing the hallway could be heard quietly echoing in the hallways. Abner had fallen asleep at the table he had been sitting at and awoke from the smell of cinnamon. Recovering from his dreamless rest, he closed the book back up and carried it to the front desk. Twilight was attending it as usual, “Oh Abner, when did you get here?”

Spike cut in, standing on a ladder behind her filing some folders in a cabinet, “He was he this morning, I tried talking to him a little bit, still as mute as ever.”

“Of course, he doesn't know how to speak our language but the translation magic that Prudence gave him gives him full comprehension of our Equestrian language.” Twilight replied, not seeming to pick up on her assistant's subtle sarcasm. “Anyways, looking to check another book I see.” As Abner levitated the book from his back and onto the desk. “Hmm, I see.” she said looking over the book like she did the other ones. “Charger is taking the reigns of training in physical combat, I'm guessing?” Abner nodded his head yes and Twilight stamped the book before handing it back to him. “Any idea when?” Abner shook his head no. “Very well. You should head to the archery grounds again, practice a bit. I'll send a letter to Marina and Whisk letting them know that you're here.” She called for Spike while Abner made his way out of the library. 

Making his way through the towering halls and stairways, he found his way to the archery range by heart. It felt different coming here without Lark and Twilight's presence, Spike sometimes came along when he could. The wind was whirling around more than usual, the sun was blocked by passing clouds and various pegasi flew around pushing them in coordination. Abner opened the book once more and turned to the beginners section. Drawing the zweihander from the sheathe, designed to hold just the end and the guard in place, Abner held the hefty blade by its hilt using his mouth. Swinging the sword around a multitude of times using simple movements helped him get used to the balance again.

Oddly, he saw a shadow swiftly pass by from the corner of his eye and footsteps on the wooden roofing covering the stands. Turning around to face the stranger, Abner saw nothing. Confused, Abner cautiously went back to practicing and kept himself alert of the surroundings. He heard the footsteps again but didn't turn to face the stranger, only holding still, listening closely to the movements. It sounded like a normal earth pony that appeared to be stalking him, not Pinkie though, wasn't the right scent. This scent was dark, ambiguous, and strange, as if the stranger had come from the cave that had collapsed. “So this is his latest offspring, I'm quite surprised.”  Abner heard the beginnings of the words he spoke, the same ancient language that the dragon Stribog spoke. Abner immediately turned and reared himself into a fighting stance. The stranger vanished before he saw him. “Relax,” his voice was light, jokingly putting his words together, “I am one of your ancestors companions, Drystan.” 

He went on explaining the story of what happened to his ancestor and the group that went with them and how they crossed the desert before the Guardians temple. An odd tale of meeting a nomadic tribe, inexplicable blizzards and monsoons that occurred knocking down their visibility to a minimum even with a magic force field around them, and the last part that seemed to irk him the most, his ancestors death finally placing the sword into the altar of their lair. “We took his body home and buried it and as far as I know, I'm the only one left. Now you may wonder, why am I telling you all this, it's simple really. You need to be prepared. Now another question that you for a fact I know you want answered, as well as the others like Prudence for example.” Abner felt Prudence's conscious become alert with the mention of her name. “Oh, that startled her didn't it. Anyways, the sword was broken, worn and weathered by the elements. Naturally the sword also began to lose its power to purify the Blight corruption.” He paused for a moment, “So I stole it from it's resting place, and passed it to the smithy in your village. There it was reforged anew.”

Prudence spoke from Abner's mouth, he usual soft voice enraged by this Drystan character, “You son of an ass! Explain yourself at once or so help me I will tear you apart with gravitational forces that you would never be able to comprehend.”

“Oh oh ho. Hold your tongue prissy pants. You couldn't hope to touch me for I bear a power quite rare. I took it to his village because that's where Abner was, I could care less about the rest of them. Abner, you're something else, your body now holds the soul of a great dragon of wind and a unicorn whose power is just barely able to rid the Blight forever.”

“Then why Drystan, why didn't you leave the sword alone?” Prudence sounded to have calmed down a little.

“Reason reason reason. Ah, right. There's a certain ability that his species is born with that skips generations and that is the ability to absorb souls but only through death of the subject. His brothers and sisters could've wound up with the sword, but it was luck that Abner picked it up. His siblings are able to do it, but it still has to be unlocked for them, so to speak.”

“You talk quite a lot don't you?” Prudence remarked

“I was the talker of the group. I do my research meeting those I meet, maybe a little reading here and there. You could say I was like the Mysterious Mare Do Well. I do pride myself on it.” Drystan boastfully spoke. “I suppose next you want to ask what I look like don't you. Not going to happen, you see I'm a shape shifter. I could easily be a shadow or another pony in a crowd, oddly enough, I can't remember what I used to look like all those centuries ago. I do wish I could stay and chat for a little while longer, please do take care of yourself, don't need you dieing now.” he laughed as the footsteps that he took slowly faded away with his voice.

“His presence may become problematic.” Prudence stated as she pulled her control from Abner's body. Abner was thrown off balance once she did this and quickly regained his balance. He rested for a moment, to let his mind rest the thoughts. He could hear Prudence's voice echo in his head, rambling on about the whys and hows this Drystan character came to them and no one else. Enjoying the breeze of the warm wind, Abner climbed up onto the fence on the side of the small field and precariously perched himself and one of the posts. “I suppose we'll all have to play along with his little game for now.” Prudence grumbled .

Abner took in the view from the archery range. It overlooked another expansive valley filled with forests and single river running through it. He could see a large flock a sparrows moving about from tree to tree. Larger birds soared in circles over the river, looking for a meal that may likely be in the large river. One of the peaks reached well into the clouds and covered in blinding white snow.  All this beauty of nature's work, something that Abner would like to protect. He wanted to protect his new friends too, but he would like to see his family again as well.

“Abner, what are you doing!?” Lark shouted out from behind and quickly running up to him. Abner turned his head toward her and smiled, Lark stopped in her tracks. Lark saw the beautiful scenery in the valley below, “It's gorgeous. I never really looked down there before.” A long pause rose between them until Abner stepped down from the fence post. 

Both Twilight and Charger stood in the doorway, like they were watching over children. “Shall we get to work?” Twilight asked.

“After you, I don't need tired students first day of training them.” Charger wittingly replied.

For the remainder of the afternoon, Charger took over training Abner after Twilight was done training him with magic spells involving force fields and having them contain special properties to allow certain items to pass through. Twilight took Lark with her to the library to look up more spells that could be incorporated into the songs that she could sing.

Another two days passed by without much incident. No sign of Drystan for the time being. Abner and Lark began packing up food and the books Twilight let them keep.  They received a train ticket for a late evening train ride. They took the day before off from training to relax and hangout for awhile.  There wasn't a party thrown, just enjoying the weather. Abner and Lark stayed together for a majority of the day. They found a relatively quiet place in the one of the parks and the two of them sat down.

From here they could see the valley that was overlooked by the archery range. A low hovering rain cloud poured over the middle valley. Some of the larger land animals were visible from their spot in the park. “Abner, do you know why I'm always concerned about you?” Abner thought back for a moment but noting rang a bell so he simply shook his head no. “I figured as much. Your parents asked me to babysit Nitza a couple of times and oddly enough you were always away when I was at your house. Coincidentally, your father asked me to keep an eye on you just before the tragedy occurred.” Her voice was tinted by sadness. “I promised him I would, I'm so glad that I didn't fail on that promise. I do hope the rest of your family is alright though. You never did learn to speak our language very well did you? I'm rambling a bit much. I just wanted to be sure you're okay. I'll stick with you till the end, Abner, I want to see this adventure through.” she mused a thought and became suddenly delighted, “Perhaps I should sing a song that represents good luck on our journey and companionship.”

So she sang again. The song lightened their hearts and the birds in the trees nearby seemed to chirp along, the wind providing some unexplained ambiance to it all. The melody was delightful, cheery, and its notes danced with the chords. Abner couldn't help but tap his foot along with it, Lark did the same to keep her beat proper. 

After the seemingly short song was finished, Lark took a nice long deep breath of air. “Perhaps that will give us some good luck on our way. It would be nice to stay here but I'd rather journey with you.” she began to walk away from Abner who hoped that she was right about the good luck. “Come on, we'll miss the train.”

Abner turned just in time to see a dark figure swoop down from the sky above.  Abner quickly reacted and shoved Lark out of the way. Abner felt the talons dig into his body and yelped. Drawing the sword using levitation magic, he cut at the massive vulture with three successive strikes. Releasing its grip and reeling back. Falling to the ground with his stomach feeling as if it were stuck in his upper chest. He held the sword with the magic, not realizing how far up the creature had taken him. Stumbling, Lark regained her balance and saw what was happening, she quickly used levitation to slow Abner's descent to the ground. Once he managed to reach the ground, he immediately looked around for the vulture which had limped in flight, the massive bird had crashed to the ground and was completely unable to move. 

Abner swiftly ran down the sidewalk of the park and jumped through the bushes where he estimated the creature's point of impact would be with Lark following close behind him. The wounds in Abner's side stung and burned giving him a slight limp. His instinct drove him harder, not caring about what else he ran into. He ran with the sword levitated behind his back and the gaping wounds left a trail of blood behind him. Finding the foal vulture through scent and hearing, Abner drew his sword against the vulture and pinned it while it was crawling away. Approaching the blackened vulture, he saw that it resembled the ink like substance that appeared to have drowned him in his dream. Prudence spoke up, clueless to what was going on, “What in the hay is going on Abner?” He felt her eyes look through his. “This must be a manifestation of Blight. Slay it, we cannot allow it spread. I do hope that Celestia's magic will be able to handle any more of this if it gets out of hoof. Who knows how far its already spread.” 

Without much thought, Abner dispatched the vulture like creature with a single blow to the heart. A stir of black air whisked into the air and surrounded Abner and merged with his body just like the wisp from the dragon had turned into before. “Abner, why the sudden shove and falling from the sky? Whats with the wounds in your sides?” Lark asked as she began to move closer to Abner who now had a sort of mysterious black aura around him. She gasped, “Abner?”

The mist of black air surrounding Abner dissipated into Abner's body, his eyes aflame in a ghostly white that slowly fizzled away as he turned to face Lark who had been standing in a pillar of sunlight that created a sense of helplessness. Abner approached her, dragging the sword behind him and slowly sheathing it away. Lark lowered her head to him and he simply walked on by, further revealing the shallow wounds that were left. 

Abner healed himself using healing spells in increments of time. Lark was confused and followed Abner back to the Tavern. Abner 's breathing was heavy and the wounds ached enough to make him limp. Lark realized that the spell he was using was shoddy and improper. Silently singing a song of healing she had combined with a magic spell and directed it towards his wounds. The pain remained but the wounds closed up, leaving small bald spots of fur in his coat.

They arrived at the Tavern one last time before leaving for the train. Chargers entire squad was able to go with them. Wrecker and Charger were to go as escorts, Cuffs for medical attention, Whisk handed the Tavern over to another pony that also ran the place and to act as the food provider, and Marina would be the one that would help protect the group from extreme weather conditions. Abner's wounds completely healed by the time they had gotten to the train as the sun was beginning to set. The train then set off for Ponyville, where Abner is going to attend a welcome back party and retrieve potential research that Prudence had in her home there.